Itachi and Kisame were currently retreating towards the closest Akatsuki hideout and while doing so, Kisame couldn't help but notice that something was off about Itachi.
"Yo, Itachi, what's wrong? Did you overuse your eyes?"
Itachi, however, was still thinking about what happened earlier and tried to find out why he acted the way he did. Now that he thought about it calmly, he felt like he overreacted, but for some reason, he also felt like he absolutely couldn't allow himself to be hugged by the female Sasuke.
'How weird, my instincts told me that I should avoid him...her no matter the cost. I wonder why? Did Yuna do something again to make me feel like that? I might have to go over the whole...'
"Itachi!"
Itachi flinched a little when he heard Kisame saying his name right next to him. He was so deep in thought, that he didn't even notice that Kisame was talking to him.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something. What did you say?"
"I asked whether you overused your eyes and if that is why you are acting so weird."
Itachi thought about it for a moment before shaking his head in denial.
"I did overuse them, but that isn't the problem."
"What is it then?"
"Yuna Uzumaki is the problem. She is significantly more dangerous than we thought she was."
"Oh? I didn't see much of your fight, but despite being pretty strong, the male Kyuubi brat's strength more or less fits the information we got about him. Is the sister that different?"
Instead of saying anything, Itachi slightly moved his cloak and revealed a red patch of blood on his clothes.
"That first attack was much closer than it looked. If I had reacted a fraction of a second later, she would have taken out my heart."
Kisame's eyes widened when he heard that. He was a bit far away, so he couldn't see what exactly happened, but he thought that Itachi simply swapped places with a desk and easily dodged the sword strike. If Yuna could sneak attack Itachi like that, then she could probably do so for almost everyone in Akatsuki if they were in the same situation. The same situation, in this case, meant that they were about to use a big jutsu and didn't know of her presence.
As for Yuna turning his Tsukuyomi on him? Itachi would take that secret to the grave. Especially, what happened after Yuna took control of the realm. As for Yuna telling people about it? Itachi doubted she would do something like that. First of all, it would be unlikely that people would actually believe her, and second, spreading a story like that would make Itachi her enemy and might even cause him to chase her down. Considering what Itachi has seen from Yuna so far, he was sure that she understood the reason why Itachi had joined Akatsuki and wouldn't want to become his actual enemy.
Meanwhile, Yuna and Naruto were inside Yuna's mindscape, even the two Kuramas were present. Unlike the normal snow-covered forest, Yuna's mindscape was colored black and white, with a crimson red sky. Yuna and the two Kuramas were happily munching on some popcorn, while Naruto was currently in the process of suffocating from laughing too hard. All four of them were currently watching the scene of a half-naked female Sasuke chasing after Itachi.
[This is quite an interesting way to look at memories.]
[Yeah, it feels much more immersive like this.]
"I agree, but this isn't easy to do at all, so I reserved it for a special occasion."
"BWAHAHAHA!!!"
[Oops, will you look at that? Sasuke-chan has lost her bra.]
[Damn, the way they moved made it almost looked like Itachi was the one to remove it.]
"Yeah, it took me quite a long time to orchestrate that properly."
"PFAHAHAHAHA!!!"
[Oh? Why did a female Itachi suddenly appear as well?]
[I think I have a pretty good idea where this is going.]
"Haha, since controlling this jutsu takes a lot of mental strength, I only went all out in the last ten minutes. This is what you are seeing now."
"Haha, oh? What is the female Itachi goi... OHHH!"
[*Whistle* They sure are going at it, huh?]
[I have seen worse...Much worse...Even if I didn't want to...]
"Haha, there are only ten minutes left after all. I should at least give Itachi a good show."
"WHAT IN THE… OH MY GOD!!!"
[Haha, that was quite a good show. If you get another batch of entertaining memories like this, we should repeat the event.]
[Indeed, especially if it involves an Uchiha getting humiliated.]
"Haha, sure, if I get anything good, I don't mind having another gathering like this. Do you want to watch it again, when I show it to Hinata and Anko?"
"..."
[I would rather not be the third...fourth wheel, so I am out.]
[Same.]
"Haha, alright. Guess I will leisurely enjoy it with my girlfriends then."
"..."
Yuna took a glance at Naruto, who has been rather silent for a while now, and couldn't help but chuckle a little when she saw his face. His mouth was wide open, his eyes were red and bulging out a little, while a small trickle of blood was flowing out of his nose. He was still staring at the place where the female Sasuke and Itachi disappeared a short while ago.
"Well, that might have been a little too much."
[Ding! Individual Naruto Uzumaki's corruption has reached 100%]
[Host, Yuna Uzumaki has gained title: Kin Corruptor]
While Yuna chuckled a little when she heard what Yin Kurama said, Yang Kurama gave his other half weirded-out looks.
[What was that all about?]
[My coping mechanism to fight back the insanity...Or maybe I already AM insane and this is how it manifests? Oh well, it's something like that.]
Seeing the distant look in the eyes of his other half, Yang Kurama decided not to ask any questions about it. No need to stare into the abyss, after all.
Yuna, meanwhile, was poking her finger against Naruto's head to get him out of his daze.
"Helloooo~ Anybody in there~"
Moments later, Naruto woke up and checked his surroundings. When he saw the smirk on Yuna's face, his face immediately flushed crimson and it certainly didn't help that the two Kuramas that were behind Yuna were smirking at him as well.
Naruto quickly stood up and hastily walked out of Yuna's mindscape. Yuna chuckled again when she saw that.
"Hehe, guess he has to use the bathroom."
While Yuna was busy snickering at Naruto's plight, Yang Kurama gave his other part a look of pity, while Yin Kurama thought about throwing in another system message.
Sasuke, meanwhile, was still flying through the air. It had only been a few minutes, but he had gotten used to the feeling by now. At first, he couldn't help himself but scream...no, not scream. Roar. A manly roar filled with masculinity. When he realized that he was falling very slowly, however, he quickly calmed down.
Since he got some time to ponder what Yuna said, he did just that.
'She said I should put more effort into becoming stronger but aren't I already doing everything I can? Itachi said I still don't have enough hatred to fight him, but what am I supposed to do? What is holding me back from becoming stronger? Yuna mentioned Lee and said that he has no special bloodline and that he just puts a lot of effort into training, but that is obviously nonsense. He can compete with Yuna while she is using the Kyuubi's chakra after all. It is impossible for him not to be special. Even Yuna herself claimed that she is nothing special, but no matter how I look at it, that is complete nonsense.
There must be something else. Something that is stopping my progress. Something that is reducing my hatred...'
If Yuna and Itachi could hear Sasuke's thoughts, they would, without a doubt, both facepalm themselves and then "facepalm" Sasuke.
Itachi did indeed tell Sasuke that he needs to hate him more. Itachi hoped that this would push Sasuke to do everything he can to get stronger, pushing himself over the limit, but Sasuke instead interpreted it as "You can only get on my level of strength if you hate me even more".
Yuna, meanwhile, told him that he needs to put more effort into training, which Sasuke combined with Itachi's statement and came to the conclusion that he needs to put more effort into hating Itachi.
As for Yuna's statement that he wasn't special, Sasuke simply dismissed it. If you are told for almost all your life that you are someone special, that belief won't crumble just because one person told you that you aren't.
'...No matter how I look at it, isn't the problem Konoha? All that nonsense about fighting as a team and all these useless D-rank missions are holding me back, aren't they? All that time doing useless things could be spent on getting stronger, but instead of that, I am forced to rely on useless teamwork during worthless missions. Should I leave Konoha? But where am I supposed to go?'
For a moment, Sasuke thought about the seal that was put on his back as he sank into deep contemplation.
*Author Note*
You are probably thinking that I am making Sasuke a complete retard, and, although you are not wrong, he honestly wasn't much better in canon.
*End of Author Note*
Oh boy, Sasuke is special alright, just not the way he thinks.
Great work! Thanks for the chapter!
I think I could make a very good argument for why his thinking can be considered "special" lol.
*Posted at 3 AM. Might regret later
Sasuke rides the short bus.
@Deipnosophist I have no memory of writing this comment.
Yeah, all three of the team are/were people with 'single-track minds', for Sakura it is 'sasukesasukesasuke', for Sasuke it is 'revengeitachirevengeitachi' and for Naruto it is 'hogakehogakehokage'. So yeah, I feel it is logical character progression.
But. I am 98% certain that the seal Yuna put on Sasuke is not the 'Will dissolve in time' -type, but a 'Needs to be removed' -type. So we will have more of Sasuki-chan's adventures later. Maybe Orochimaru will not like her anymore?
Also @Maerry , thanks for writing this. I enjoy this more than original tbh.
Talvez seja um selo que esteja alterando permanentemente o corpo dele durante esse mês
but for some reason, he felt like he absolutely couldn't allow himself to be hugged by the female Sasuke.
he also felt (it sounds better this way)
Meanwhile, Yuna and Naruto were inside Yuna's mindscape, while even the two Kuramas were present.
mindscape, even the two (the "while" is wasted here)
[*Whistle* They sure are going at it, huh?]
[I have seen worse...Much worse...Even if I didn't want to...]
Yang is chill, Yin is... enduring.
No need to stare in the abyss, after all.
stare into the abyss
While Yuna was busy snickering about Naruto's plight,
snickering at Naruto's
It has only been a few minutes, but he has gotten used to the feeling by now.
it had only been; but he had gotten
At first, he couldn't help himself but scream...no, not scream. Roar. A manly roar filled with masculinity.
... just
I see you're making it inevitable for Sasuke to go to Orochimaru. Well, this was actually quite expected. I just hope the two clashes between Sasuke and Naruto before Sasuke leaves and after they meet again are different. In cannon, Sasuke had to exert quite the effort to beat Naruto before he left and almost killed him one-sidedly after they met again.
If you could let these two conflicts happen, but have Sasuke lose them both, a lot of people will be so happy...
BTW, when did cannon Sasuke get the idea to join Orochimaru?
Thanks like always.
Well, I have plans for that conflict, but I won't tell ;)
I think Orochimaru's guards ( the four weirdos that could transform with the cursed seal) were the ones that convinced Sasuke after they broke into his house.
@Maerry And I'm guessing when he gets the invitation, he won't even think twice before accepting.
Cause based on what I'm seeing here, that's where his mind is turning towards...
Or rather, how long did he consider before accepting in cannon?
@ARFitS I think he waited like a day or two because he had gotten the lecture from Kakashi either just before or just after the invitation
i don't think naruto would chase after sasuke except if it was a mission, i guess the sound four battle would change
@yurei Why did he try to stop him in cannon?
@ARFitS Because Naruto considered him his friend
I thought Kimimaro made the invitation with the promise of power or something. Not really sure, been too long.
@Maerry Well, that can't exactly be the reason this time, can it?
What can the reason be this time? That, despite everything, he's still a teammate and having said teammate betray Konoha wouldn't quite sit right with him?
Then again, I highly doubt he will be all that motivated to stop him this time, cause there's absolutely no way Sasuke can win, so I'm honestly expecting Naruto to just let him go thrashing him...
@ARFitS friend and family, theusual naruto
@JustSomeoneRandom kimimaro just come to stop the recue team
@ARFitS mission from hokage, take back the last uchiha. that is the only reason naruto will go, though i wonder if they will even send them, sasuke is not as special as in canon as yuna already made a new uzumaki clan for konoha that could made all sort of seals. what is the worth of a single uchiha that don't know anything, not even an especialy talented one
@yurei The sharingan?
@ARFitS what use it is compared to seals that can be used by all shinobi?
@yurei Not much, but at this point, it's the only worth he has left, you know...
BTW, is anyone else hoping Sakura bows her head to Yuna for training and by the start of Shippuden, she surpasses Sasuke? (as in, Shippuden Sasuke?)
Then there's also Ino and Haku and, with the new flame of youth burning within him, Lee as well, all follow in this growth. We can also add Kiba and Shino there, since they both have Hinata as someone to catch up to as well as someone who can help them grow stronger. So, when Sasuke comes back, he realizes that, not only has he not surpassed those that were already stronger than him, but even those that were weaker than him also surpassed him...
@ARFitS That would be hilarious. Can't wait to see it.
@ARFitS lee would just chalenge yuna every time he have a chance and would train harder every time he loose. dunno about sakura but ino and especialy haku will at some point as long as they are with naruto. as for kiba and shino, i would like hinata to train them, hinata is trying to stand side by side with yuna so teaching those 2 should help her grow too
@ARFitS he made a promise to Sakura his crush and Naruto never break his word. Sai even bit*hes Sakura out later in the series by pointing out everything to her face making her feel very guilty to the point she does that fake confession to Naruto before knocking everyone out to kill Sasuke by herself.
@xRoymustang always creating trouble, how is she going to kill sasuke when even naruto who is stronger than her can't beat him
Will snake man live past his meeting with the twins? if not i could see Sasuke just going full ronin samurai or something more original like doing self training while joining nobody and randomly discovering the home land of a summons tribe or something that's helpful.
@xRoymustang if not orochimaru, obito would probably take him
@yurei ya but obito would have to dodge itachi or the hideout would be smashed. Very cloak and dagger like plus Obito would still be worried his cover gets blown by what he sees as a useless brat currently, there is a high chance he may just killed him for an extra pair of eyes or gift wrap sasuke to itachi while asking why are you not killing him yet as tobi rofl.
@Maerry I think it was his hospital room, since in canon he fought Itachi and got injured so he was put in the hospital, and then the Sound Four arrived and convinced him that Orochimaru would help him get stronger. After that they then shoved him in a barrel, with seals on it to help the curse seal fully develop, and ran away carrying it.