Nebula's Echo (a Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 22

AN: So, remember those kinda gory scenes I told you about? Well here tey coome~ Look out~

Third person POV

The mist was thick, obscuring everything in sight. The scent of blood hung thick in the air.

Sasuke stood inside the ice mirror dome, pierced with needles. Blazing red sharingan eyes slowly lost their luster and closed, as he fell back. Naruto instantly came up to catch him, gently lowering him down. His eyes were brimming with tears.

"Why...? You hated me, so why?!"

"I don't know, dobe...*cough* my body just moved on it's own... there wasn't enough time to think..."

Sasuke's voice was hoarse, already fading. His breathing turned quieter and shallower by the second. Kakashi and Sakura shouted his name from outside the dome, their voices filled with despair. But they were unable to do anything.

Holding Sasuke in his arms, Naruto lowered his head, his hair obscuring his eyes. Standing a few feet away, Haku lowered his head in respect before slowly melting into one of his ice mirrors.

"He was a true ninja... worthy of honor. Is this you first time? Seeing a friend die. This is part of what it means to be a ninja."

Haku's voice was soft, almost gentle. Naruto might have appreciated it, if it hadn't come from his comrade's killer. His best friend's killer.

"Shut up."

Naruto gently lowered Sasuke down, laying him on the ground. Then he just sat there, staring down at the ground. His shoulders were slightly shaking, and the smallest of whispers escaped his lips.

"...I hated you too, Sasuke. And yet..."

Suddenly, it was like a circle of warmth had surrounded the two of them. A perfect circle, with steam rising from it. Behind his mask, Haku's eyebrows rose.

The steam kept gathering, it's thickness not letting anyone see past it. And then, in an instant, it dispersed. What was revealed was a spiral. Of red, glowing chakra. Vicious, as it ripped the air apart. The ground around Naruto and Sasuke was crushed in the spiral's wake as it expanded, growing thicker, denser and spiraling faster, stronger. Slowly, in the midst of the spiral of red, Naruto raised his head, blazing blood red eyes with slitted pupils boring right into Haku. A guttural growl left his throat.

"I'm gonna kill you."

The chakra amassed before shooting out again, making the spiral rise to the roof of the ice mirror dome. Haku was staring, eyes wide with disbelief. He kept muttering to himself.

"What is this chakra? Chakra cannot be seen, yet it's clearly visible! It's something ghastly, I can feel the wrath, the bloodlust, like evil itself. This boy... what is he?!"