Shooting Straight

Chapter 23

When Arrow finally came to, his head was spinning and he felt like he was going to throw up. He laid on the ground for a couple of minutes, unable to ground his brain enough to recall what had happened, where he was, or what he was supposed to be doing. He forced himself to focus on trying to remember the events that had led up to where he was now but continually drew a blank. Another wave of nausea ran over him as he tried to sit up, and his vision went hazy as his body threatened to pass out on him again. 

And so the teen laid in the grass, eyes screwed shut as he forced down the contents of his stomach that were trying to come back up. He was exhausted, like all the energy had been sapped from his body, leaving him as just a mass on the ground. The sun shone brightly, warming his face through the gaps in the tree canopy. Arrow seemed to feel all the weariness in his body ease out and into the ground he lay on, and a feeling of deep contentedness washed over him. 

No matter how much he tried, he couldn't recall why he was here. As if on the tip of his tongue, Arrow couldn't help but wonder how he'd gotten to such a blissful place of peace and serenity. His brain still felt fuzzy, almost like he was missing some pieces of a grand puzzle he played a part in. That fact bothered him, but not enough to motivate him to search for answers. 

As Arrow basked in the warmth of the mid-day sun, letting a breath out as he simply enjoyed life. Then, as if perfectly timed to ruin his happy moments, the realization of what the midday sun meant crushed him. He jolted up, wide-eyed as he stared in horror at the blazing ball of gas, high in the sky above him. Guilt consumed him as he suddenly became all-too aware that he'd left Sakura alone with two unconscious teammates, to potentially fight off a whole team of enemies alone. 

Arrow jumped to his feet, ignoring the wave of wooziness that threatened to send him to the ground again, and took off running. He didn't exactly know which way he should be going, but he didn't give himself time to think as he forced each foot in front of the other. 

~~~

Confusion washed over Sasuke's features as he found himself floating in a space of gold flecks, feeling at peace, and as if the war inside himself he constantly fought was at a standstill. It was calm and quiet, and he looked around to try and place himself at a precise location. While doing so, his eyes fell on a shadowed figure in front of him. 

The figure's face was downcast and shadowed by his bangs, and he had a solemn aura around him. Sasuke felt curiosity spark inside him, accompanied by a hesitant caution about this shady character. As the figure's face raised to meet Sasuke's, the ravenette's eyes widened in shock as he found himself staring down at a younger version of himself. 

"Father and mother didn't need to die!" The younger version yelled, pain and anger evident in his voice and on his face. And with the drop of a tear, Sasuke was thrown back into a whirlpool of memories and nightmares about the night of his clan's massacre. He gasped for breath but couldn't seem to get any oxygen in his lungs as the stench of death choked him. All at once he was overwhelmed with the same feelings he'd felt on that night, accompanied by a vengeful white rage that tore through his body. 

"I have no power and the whole clan was destroyed." the young Sasuke continued, fueling the intense waves of anger that began to consume the present Uchiha from the inside out. Sasuke stared down, jaw clenched and eyes wide as he tried to make sense of what was happening around him.

"Everyone was killed, I'm so worthless," Young Sasuke persisted, holding his head in his hands as he stood over the bodies of his deceased parents. When he paused, the real Uchiha looked in horror as the younger version lifted his head to reveal crazed, tear-stained charcoal eyes. "No, it was you who let them die." He covered his left eye, scratching it as if to tear it from its socket. "You only watched. They were like lambs to the slaughter. If only you were stronger." The figure continued to tear into the skin, ripping it off like a covering to reveal Orochimaur's gleaming yellow iris.