Sharing Lives | SasuSaku ✔️

Chapter 18 - Sasuke

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 at Sasuke's fingertips subside, and he is left staring at something surreal. The redhead before him has his head thrown back in maniacal laughter and an arm the size of a tree trunk, all made of sand.

"What the hell?" one of Naruto's clones exclaims, joining him, but Sasuke ignores him. 

His hands quickly curl into fists as he thinks back to his chidori, all the energy he's put into learning this jutsu, all the chakra he's spent. It should have harmed his opponent. It should have been enough to stop him. Instead, the arm that took the blow keeps expanding as the boy morphs into a beast. He worked so hard on that jutsu. It made him believe, for a moment, that he could surpass his brother and avenge his family. But it's not even enough to defeat a genin from Suna...

What to do, now?

Naruto's clones will never be enough, and he's produced his second chidori, his limit.

"Yosh! Let's go, Sasuke. We can't give up now!"

The remaining clones lunge at the redhead, shouting, but Sasuke stays behind and watches the fight with a pang in his heart. He wonders how his teammate does it. How can he still fight after all that wasted chakra while he, Uchiha Sasuke, the sole survivor of the famous Uchiha clan, cannot even put a foot in front of the other anymore?

Sasuke witnesses another failure of Naruto's attempts, his chest heaving and his heart crashing against his ribcage. The redhead doesn't even need to see the punches coming. His sand comes to the rescue, blocking every blow. It's as if he has a sharingan to predict the other's movements.

But with his own sharingan on, Sasuke sees that nothing logical can explain the accuracy of this sand. No dōjutsu, chakra strings, or help from the pigtail kunoichi standing behind. Nothing. And he cannot wrap his mind around that expanding arm. How can someone become stronger after getting hurt? What does that mean? How are they supposed to end the fight, then?

When Sasuke's forehead is no longer damp with cold sweat, and his legs have stopped shaking under his weight, the black-haired boy prepares for the next opening with little hope. He watches one clone getting smashed against a tree, then another being crushed by the sand until its body disappears in a cloud of smoke. When Naruto's eyes meet his, the blond nods and Sasuke moves his hands in front of his chest. Then, his chakra morphs from blue to burning red, his chest expands, and a warm feeling settles in his lungs, bubbles up in his throat.

The clones lunge at the redhead and shield him from Sasuke's view, leaving the black-haired boy no choice but to lean forward. He jumps in the melee right when the blonds are propelled backward under the strength of a blow.

Sasuke snakes his body around the falling clones with chakra to his feet to enhance his speed, and when he gets a good view of his opponent's back, he spits the growing fire awaiting in his chest. The balls aren't worthy of an Uchiha, and Fugaku would probably sigh in disappointment if he could see them, but that's all Sasuke can manage without emptying his chakra reserves.

And as expected, the sand blocks them all. Sasuke frowns in frustration and puts all his effort into the last fireball. The second after it leaves his mouth, the sand arm grabs his ankle, and he feels his body thrown several feet away. He knows he's broken a few bones when he lands in a tree. He winces and lets his head fall back against the trunk, eyes closed.