Ficlet: Not Enough
Summary: Naruto's last thought was of how weak and helpless he still was despite all his training. He hadn’t been given a single chance to put in an attack of his own and defend himself. How the hell was he supposed to save Sasuke like this?
Disclaimer: Naruto is Kishimoto's.
Theme: 034. Not Enough ( fanfic100)
Naruto Uzumaki did not have time to think. He threw his weight to the side and rolled out of the way of the incoming rain of wooden senbon. He bunched his limbs into a tight ball to protect his head and torso, and hoped that he had moved fast enough that none of the poisoned needles would pierce his skin.
Once it was clear again, he brought his hands up in the crossed shape of the Shadow Clone hand-seal. This ninja technique required a large amount of chakra, though, and standing still to mould it left him vulnerable to attacks. A new hail of wicked needles flew in his direction.
This time, his blind roll brought him close to the foot of the tree his teacher slumped against. Jiraiya had been the target of the first surprise volley and one of the weapons had scratched his arm. It would have been an inconsequential wound, if not for the fast-acting, paralysing toxin coating the senbon. Naruto ground his teeth together in rage against the enemy and his methods, as his eyes met the unblinking ones of his teacher.
Jiraiya was silently ordering him to run from the clearing, to hide himself in the surrounding forest until the enemy either lost track of him or gave up pursuit, but the fourteen-year-old blond paid him no heed. There was no way he would ever leave one of his precious people behind at an enemy's mercy.
Naruto finally turned away from his teacher’s gaze and it was only then that he realised his mistake. He should have ignored Jiraiya and remained alert. He felt the dark, red-patterned cloak of his attacker brush against his cheek, before a hand materialised at his throat and squeezed. One tiny prick later, and Naruto had been injected with the paralysing agent.
Little by little, the blond genin lost the ability to struggle against the choking hold, until he was hanging from the clawed grasp of the dark half of his strange opponent. There were no doubts that, unless he found a way to break loose soon, Naruto would die.
If he could have moved his hands, there was the chance that he might be able to complete the Shadow Clone technique this time and have his copy release him. However, it was proving impossible to so much as twitch one finger. There was no way he would be able to make a full hand-seal. Naruto found himself thinking back to when he had been learning how to create the Rasengan, wishing he had learnt how to do it without the help of a second pair of hands.
But that training had taught him more than just the deadly A-rank technique of the Fourth. The coldness of the enemy’s metal ring pressing against his neck reminded him of when Jiraiya had painted a spiral on the palm of his hand. The ink had felt cool against his aching chakra-burned palm, but more importantly, it had taught him that when he focused all of his energy on one spot, the results were very different than when he struggled at random.
The poison had already gone deep enough into his system that Naruto couldn’t close his eyes to envision the path his chakra would have to take, but that did not deter the teenager. He looked inward and concentrated on regaining control of his arms.
He didn’t think he had moved, but he must have had a measure of success because the hold around his neck intensified.
“He still fights,” the deep, yet shrill voice of the half holding him said. The glowing white eye fixed on him and the unnaturally black skin were unnerving to look at, up close. The chilling sight thwarted Naruto’s attempts.
“Not for long,” the creature’s human half replied to itself with a spreading smile.
He then lifted his free hand - the human one - and held it in plain sight of Naruto. The Konoha genin was horrified to see one of the fingertips change shape to create an orifice that extended beneath the fingernail. There was no blood, but it was a sinister spectacle, only worsened by the fourteen-year-old's thoughts of what this half-man had to have done to himself to be able to do that. That finger was pointed directly at his face, but before the young blond could so much as get a look at what might come out of the opening, it shot out a thick, green cloud of dust and spores.
If he hadn’t been paralysed, Naruto would have screamed. As it was, he could only give a pathetic whimper, as the acidic cloud burned everything it came into contact with, including his wide-open eyes. The grip on his trachea suddenly became a blessing, as it kept him from sucking in the toxins into his lungs.
“The leader will be pleased to hear that we have captured our first demon host for Akatsuki.”
Naruto tried not to listen to the infuriating pleasure in that voice, just as he was trying to ignore the pain and blink away the tears and burnt to clear his vision. He’d forgotten all about trying to move his arms.
Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw some movement, but whatever hopes that might have given him were dashed when a new volley of senbon imbedded themselves on and around his teacher. The Akatsuki member’s human half had also noticed Jiraiya’s imminent recovery.
Empowered by his rage, Naruto’s furious attempts to yell at the enemy translated into an incomprehensible grumble. The failure to formulate his insults further frustrated the blinded teenager, but the half-man half-creature saw it differently. The circular white glow of the dark half’s eye narrowed to match the shape of the frowning human half.
“He is a dangerous one,” the half shrouded in impenetrable darkness hissed. “We should finish this quickly.”
The lighter half agreed and Naruto was dismayed to feel the grip on his neck tightening further. His airways were being crushed shut and not a slip of air made it past the strangling point now. Survival instincts took over and the genin’s attempts to move became even more frantic, but he was trapped.
He couldn’t see anything other than a smudge of colours, but that was still enough to make out the sun shining down from behind one rustling treetop to halo the Akatsuki member. The single white, glowing eye on the left side of that face was all the more ominous, as Naruto’s vision darkened everything around it and he slipped into unconsciousness.
His last thought was of how weak and helpless he still was despite all his training. He hadn’t been given a single chance to put in an attack of his own and defend himself. How the hell was he supposed to save Sasuke like this?
(26. Abr. 2009)
Disclaimer: Naruto is Kishimoto's.
Theme: 034. Not Enough ( fanfic100)
Naruto Uzumaki did not have time to think. He threw his weight to the side and rolled out of the way of the incoming rain of wooden senbon. He bunched his limbs into a tight ball to protect his head and torso, and hoped that he had moved fast enough that none of the poisoned needles would pierce his skin.
Once it was clear again, he brought his hands up in the crossed shape of the Shadow Clone hand-seal. This ninja technique required a large amount of chakra, though, and standing still to mould it left him vulnerable to attacks. A new hail of wicked needles flew in his direction.
This time, his blind roll brought him close to the foot of the tree his teacher slumped against. Jiraiya had been the target of the first surprise volley and one of the weapons had scratched his arm. It would have been an inconsequential wound, if not for the fast-acting, paralysing toxin coating the senbon. Naruto ground his teeth together in rage against the enemy and his methods, as his eyes met the unblinking ones of his teacher.
Jiraiya was silently ordering him to run from the clearing, to hide himself in the surrounding forest until the enemy either lost track of him or gave up pursuit, but the fourteen-year-old blond paid him no heed. There was no way he would ever leave one of his precious people behind at an enemy's mercy.
Naruto finally turned away from his teacher’s gaze and it was only then that he realised his mistake. He should have ignored Jiraiya and remained alert. He felt the dark, red-patterned cloak of his attacker brush against his cheek, before a hand materialised at his throat and squeezed. One tiny prick later, and Naruto had been injected with the paralysing agent.
Little by little, the blond genin lost the ability to struggle against the choking hold, until he was hanging from the clawed grasp of the dark half of his strange opponent. There were no doubts that, unless he found a way to break loose soon, Naruto would die.
If he could have moved his hands, there was the chance that he might be able to complete the Shadow Clone technique this time and have his copy release him. However, it was proving impossible to so much as twitch one finger. There was no way he would be able to make a full hand-seal. Naruto found himself thinking back to when he had been learning how to create the Rasengan, wishing he had learnt how to do it without the help of a second pair of hands.
But that training had taught him more than just the deadly A-rank technique of the Fourth. The coldness of the enemy’s metal ring pressing against his neck reminded him of when Jiraiya had painted a spiral on the palm of his hand. The ink had felt cool against his aching chakra-burned palm, but more importantly, it had taught him that when he focused all of his energy on one spot, the results were very different than when he struggled at random.
The poison had already gone deep enough into his system that Naruto couldn’t close his eyes to envision the path his chakra would have to take, but that did not deter the teenager. He looked inward and concentrated on regaining control of his arms.
He didn’t think he had moved, but he must have had a measure of success because the hold around his neck intensified.
“He still fights,” the deep, yet shrill voice of the half holding him said. The glowing white eye fixed on him and the unnaturally black skin were unnerving to look at, up close. The chilling sight thwarted Naruto’s attempts.
“Not for long,” the creature’s human half replied to itself with a spreading smile.
He then lifted his free hand - the human one - and held it in plain sight of Naruto. The Konoha genin was horrified to see one of the fingertips change shape to create an orifice that extended beneath the fingernail. There was no blood, but it was a sinister spectacle, only worsened by the fourteen-year-old's thoughts of what this half-man had to have done to himself to be able to do that. That finger was pointed directly at his face, but before the young blond could so much as get a look at what might come out of the opening, it shot out a thick, green cloud of dust and spores.
If he hadn’t been paralysed, Naruto would have screamed. As it was, he could only give a pathetic whimper, as the acidic cloud burned everything it came into contact with, including his wide-open eyes. The grip on his trachea suddenly became a blessing, as it kept him from sucking in the toxins into his lungs.
“The leader will be pleased to hear that we have captured our first demon host for Akatsuki.”
Naruto tried not to listen to the infuriating pleasure in that voice, just as he was trying to ignore the pain and blink away the tears and burnt to clear his vision. He’d forgotten all about trying to move his arms.
Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw some movement, but whatever hopes that might have given him were dashed when a new volley of senbon imbedded themselves on and around his teacher. The Akatsuki member’s human half had also noticed Jiraiya’s imminent recovery.
Empowered by his rage, Naruto’s furious attempts to yell at the enemy translated into an incomprehensible grumble. The failure to formulate his insults further frustrated the blinded teenager, but the half-man half-creature saw it differently. The circular white glow of the dark half’s eye narrowed to match the shape of the frowning human half.
“He is a dangerous one,” the half shrouded in impenetrable darkness hissed. “We should finish this quickly.”
The lighter half agreed and Naruto was dismayed to feel the grip on his neck tightening further. His airways were being crushed shut and not a slip of air made it past the strangling point now. Survival instincts took over and the genin’s attempts to move became even more frantic, but he was trapped.
He couldn’t see anything other than a smudge of colours, but that was still enough to make out the sun shining down from behind one rustling treetop to halo the Akatsuki member. The single white, glowing eye on the left side of that face was all the more ominous, as Naruto’s vision darkened everything around it and he slipped into unconsciousness.
His last thought was of how weak and helpless he still was despite all his training. He hadn’t been given a single chance to put in an attack of his own and defend himself. How the hell was he supposed to save Sasuke like this?
(26. Abr. 2009)