AND BACK AGAIN [ NARUTO ]

[ 27 ] zombie-sasuke

previously. . .

Naruto held eye contact for a whole five seconds more before he raised his brush and smiled. "Good! You do that. Now, why don't we try to pinpoint a specific area?"

Shikamaru raised a brow. He stayed rigid for a while longer before releasing a long, tired sigh.

Troublesome.

///\

It was dark.

Only moments before, electricity ran through his veins and his adrenaline was rushing. The power in the palm of his hand screamed and he could see his target. Standing there. He was going to make it. I'm going to hit him.

But nothing was ever that easy and Fate had never cared much for Sasuke's preferences.

His chidori collided--not with the torso of a man who'd destroyed the world but with the bark of a large tree. Sasuke's perception of the space around him shifted so suddenly that he stumbled, trying to regain his bearings. The chakra that he could sense was immediately different--Naruto's warm, steady signature was gone and Sakura's evaporated with a comfort he hadn't realized it'd been providing.

Sasuke let the lightning fade from his palm. He was no longer on the battlefield of the Fourth Great Shinobi War--at least not the main grounds--that much was obvious. He'd seen Uchiha Madara's lips moving with silent words before striking. . .

A transportation jutsu?

This wasn't Konoha. It was the dense forests he'd come to know in his youth and realization dawned on him--not Konoha, but the forests of the first hideout Orochimaru had inhabited when Sasuke trained under him.

Why here?

He settled a steady, almost spring-like hand on his sheathed chokutō, glancing around.

Something was off.

Then he felt it. A spike of chakra--chakra that he knew wasn't his own--pierced what felt like behind his eye sockets. Sasuke hissed and reached up to grab his head.

"What the hell--"

His mind went blank. Pupils dilated. What had he been saying? What was wrong?

Nothing. Nothing.

He had a purpose now, a place to be. . .he thought?

Sasuke straightened. He unsheathed the sword. Did he have any explosion tags on himself? He hoped he did.

Uchiha Sasuke stumbled forward with a train of thought that wasn't his own.

///\

"This is where you'll find him?" Tsunade ran her fingers along the map spread across her desk. Her cheek rested against a palm. "And you're sure about this?"

Naruto glanced to Shikamaru.

"There's, like, a thirty percent chance that we actually have the right place," the newly appointed chuunin said for the blond, scratching the back of his neck. "But it's probably the best shot you've got."

"If Orochimaru's even behind this," Tsunade muttered. She sighed and leaned back, rolling the scroll neatly and handing it back to Naruto. "Alright. Team 7, plus Naruto, will be dispatched as soon as they can."

Naruto nodded, a sharp grin spreading his whiskers. "Got it. I'll let the others know. We won't let ya down, Tsunade-baachan!"

She stared at his outheld thumb, dangerously close to her face. "Mhm. Just get going."