A bead of sweat dripped from the brow of the Nine-Tailed Fox.
"Oh, I don't know… maybe the guy who discovered chakra and created ninjutsu as we know it? Ring any bells?" Kurama asked sarcastically, his voice echoing in Naruto's mind with biting mockery.
"Nope," the blonde replied with a clueless grin and a sheepish chuckle.
"Kami above… When we get back to Konoha, I swear I'll personally fix your education. I can't have my jinchūriki going around like some clueless baka. Why, of all people, did I get stuck with this idiot…?"
"Hey!" Naruto protested aloud.
"We'll talk about that later, kid. For now, grab the emo and get moving. I've already patched you up a bit, but you're still injured. You push too hard and I won't save your skin twice."
And with that, Kurama's voice faded as he cut off the link.
"Whatever…" Naruto muttered. He bent down, grabbed Sasuke by the ankle, and began the slow trek back toward the village.
The path through the forest had turned unrecognizable once lush and vibrant, now shredded and scarred like it had been stomped on by a drunken giant. Tree trunks were splintered, the ground cracked and torn from the battle that had taken place.
As he trudged forward, a soft sound caught his attention a faint, pained whimper. He stopped. Carefully placing Sasuke down, Naruto leapt toward the source.
Perched on a pile of broken logs, he spotted a redheaded kunoichi pinned beneath a massive tree trunk. Her legs were crushed, her body bloodied, her breathing ragged.
When she raised her head and saw him, her expression twisted in fury.
"You've gotta be kidding me…" she spat in disgust.
Tayuya's POVPain.
If I were dead, I wouldn't feel it. But I did a searing, deep agony radiating from my legs, my back, everywhere. My first thought was appropriately poetic:
"Damn that pineapple-headed bastard. Damn that sand hussy too. Damn everything!"
I cursed the sky, the trees, my team, fate, even the air for existing. I screamed myself hoarse, but it didn't help.
I tried to move stupid. My legs were pinned. My flute was gone. No Doki summons. No chakra. Just me, a busted body, and a damn log.
So this is how I go out?
Crushed. Alone. Forgotten.
No surprise. Shitty life, shitty ending.
I blinked back something wet tears, probably. I always masked pain with anger, with profanity, with threats. But now there was no one around. No Kabuto. No Sakon. No Orochimaru.
No audience. So why pretend anymore?
I hated this.
I hated being weak. I hated that if I did crawl back to Orochimaru, he'd probably kill me for failing the mission if he didn't have something worse in mind.
My so-called teammates were probably alive and laughing, leaving me here like discarded trash. Cowards.
I imagined the worst. Maybe they'd left me behind on purpose. Maybe they'd circle back and finish me off if I survived. I wouldn't put it past Kimimaro or the others.
I laughed bitterly a half-giggle, half-sob. Maybe I really was losing it.
"Whatever," I whispered. Kin… if you're out there somewhere, maybe I'll see you soon.
And with that thought, I closed my eyes and waited for the end.
After Kami knows how long, I heard a rustle and felt an unfamiliar chakra signature nearby. I tried once again to lift the damn log crushing my legs, but the result was the same: nothing. Just pain.
Then I heard it. A soft thud on one of the fallen trees nearby. Thankfully, not one resting on me my battered legs couldn't handle another ounce of weight.
I looked up… and wondered if I'd finally lost my mind.
Standing there bright as daylight was a blonde kid in the loudest, most "I want to die" orange jumpsuit I'd ever seen.
No mistaking it. It was that idiot from Konoha.
Naruto Uzumaki.
My eyes dropped to what he was holding a limp leg. My gaze followed upward.
Sasuke.
I'm so dead.
He looked at me. I looked at him. We locked eyes. And I gave the most fitting response I could muster.
"F*."**
What the hell was up with his eyes?
Normal POV
Silence.
Both of them just stared, unsure of what came next. Neither moved.
Tayuya, never one for patience, broke the tension first.
"What the hell are you staring at, idiot?" she snapped.
Naruto blinked, raising an eyebrow.
"You look familiar… Where have I " he squinted at her, then suddenly brightened. "Oh! You're that foul-mouthed kunoichi from the Sound Four!"
A vein pulsed on her forehead.
"Foul-mouthed?! Screw you, you leaf brat!"
Naruto let out a dry chuckle at her fire but it vanished instantly when Sasuke groaned behind him. Without hesitation, Naruto leaned over and slammed his fist into the Uchiha's jaw, knocking him out cold again.
"Tch. Figures you tree-loving traitors stick together."
His gaze returned to her colder now, sharper. His hand slid toward the kunai on his belt.
Enemy, he thought bitterly. She helped him escape. She's one of them.
Tayuya's breath hitched. Her body trembled. She saw the kunai coming out and swallowed hard.
"Just… make it quick," she muttered, holding his gaze.
She stared straight at him, refusing to show fear but she couldn't stop the way her body shook. Then she looked deeper into his eyes.
What… are those?
Purple. Six rings. Swirling with chakra. The Rinnegan.
A chill crept up her spine. She should be terrified. But some strange part of her twisted and messed up was in awe.
What the hell is wrong with me? He's about to kill me and I'm thinking about his eyes?!
The fear crept in anyway. Her eyes welled up, but she held back the tears. If she was going to die, she'd at least face it head-on.
Naruto approached but slowed. Something in her face struck him.
He remembered her earlier fierce, smug, defiant. Now? Her eyes screamed pain. Helplessness. Loneliness.
They looked just like his.
The eyes he'd seen in the mirror after being beaten as a kid. The eyes he wore every time he patched himself up with trembling hands and fake smiles.
"She's just like me…"
He kneeled. Pressed the cold metal of the kunai to her throat. She flinched.
Tears slid down her cheeks. But she didn't look away.
Naruto stared into those broken brown eyes.
"She's just like me…"
Something cracked in him.
Something told him that killing her would be a mistake.
"What's your name?" he asked, voice soft, uncertain.