Sasuke wanted to deny everything Sakura had said, but what if it was all true? He had asked Orochimaru many times, yet he always says nothing is wrong.
Seeing his look of denial, Sakura giggled in her heart. She didn't need to keep pushing that theory onto his head, her only motive for this was to make it so he wouldn't suspect her to be the real Sakura after all.
"So, how have you been doing lately?" She sat him down and sat next to him.
Itachi took this chance to sit down before them with a smile on her face.
"Why do you care?" Sasuke scoffed
"You're right, why do I care? I wouldn't have cared if you didn't care though, you're tired, you want someone to talk to, to relate to, so while you're here, you can say whatever you want, no one will ever know" Sakura said, as she spoke, she realised how devious Naruto is with his schemes.
The things he suggested her to say are all building towards making him think he is in here due to his desires. If that is the case...what about the Itachi?
"She's right, spill the tea~" Itachi smiled
Knowing that this is Itachi made it extremely unsettling for Sasuke, no matter how many times he has seen 'her'.
"I don't care, I won't say anything" Sasuke said in a low voice, prideful till the end, even if he believes these two are merely illusions, saying anything to them still felt humiliating to him.
Sakura punched his arm lightly
"C'mon, don't tell me I was manifested just so you can ignore me" Sakura sighed
"Let it sink in, he's done it for months to me now" Itachi chuckled
"Wow, months? Sasuke, she's your onee-chan, how can you ignore her like that?" Sakura gasped
"She's not my sister! She is just an illusion, just like you! Neither of you matter to me!" He yelled as he stood up
Sakura stared up at him, his words struck her quite badly, but it wasn't as bad as the pain she felt when she realised how powerless she was at stopping him, nor the pain she felt when he has left the village for good.
"We're just illusions, yes, so why are you letting simple illusions like us anger you so much?" Sakura asked
"Tch, at least you know your place" He muttered, his anger going down slowly after she pointed out how exaggerated his responses are when they are simply 'illusions'.
"Aw, aren't you a smart one, every time I tried to calm him down, he only got angrier, but you got him to calm down after just one meeting" Itachi winked at Sakura, who was still baffled with how realistic this illusion made by Naruto is.
"Shut up" Sasuke growled
"As feisty as ever~" Itachi giggled
Sakura laughed faintly
"So, ready to tell us how your day was?" She asked
"...tch, I'm tired, there, are you happy?" He snapped at her
"Nope, I also want to know why you're tired" Sakura replied
Sasuke glared at her
"I'm sick of this" He growled, however, he knew that he could do nothing about it
Every time he falls asleep, he came to realise that he cannot wake up no matter what until he has gotten at least seven hours of sleep, which was what resulted in his third tomoe awakening out of sheer rage and frustration.
There are exceptions of course, which is when his sleep is interrupted by someone outside, but that rarely occurs in the lab, unless Orochimaru wants to check on his curse mark.
"Sasuke, don't you want revenge though?" Sakura then whispered into his ears
Sasuke lifted a brow
"Against whom?"
"Itachi of course, you hate him, right? So why not..." Sakura shifted her gaze to Itachi, who was smiling across them.
However, Sasuke broke into a cold sweat
"What's wrong? Dear brother" Itachi smiled sweetly, but behind those sweet words, was a venom laced tone.
"...shut up" Sasuke growled, but his words were much weaker than before
Sakura smiled
"Right, you can't even beat her, so if you can't even beat an illusion, what are the odds that you can beat the real thing" Sakura chuckled, Naruto had told her already, in the dream space, Itachi is actually the strongest existence there is.
He made it that way so Sasuke can do nothing about her, even if he wants to. He had attacked Itachi before, only to result in an absolute thrashing.
So Sakura's words hit a sore spot of his
"There's a way to get stronger though, stronger than you are now" She said
"How?"
"Would you look at that, this got the most reaction out of you all day" Sakura laughed
Sasuke's face turned red with embarrassment
'Sasuke-kun's flushed expression is also so cool' Sakura gulped
"Don't you realise? Do you ever feel tired here? No, this is a dream world made to suit your desires, but perhaps you missed one vital thing about it" Sakura smiled
"Wh-What?" He asked
"Why is it so realistic?" She asked
"Th-This, it's because of the damned assistant of Orochimaru's! He just wants me to suffer in here, and messed with the curse mark, and-"
"Not at all, it's nothing to do with all that, have you ever actually tried...training in here?" She asked
"Tr-Training?" Sasuke asked cluelessly
Sakura burst into laughter
"Of course you haven't, so this is why I have been manifested! I needed to tell you everything, I guess the smartest girl you can think of is the one that gets manifested" Sakura chuckled
Sasuke looked away
'Do I think Sakura is the smartest girl I know? She did ace the Chunin exam's initial test despite it being supposedly impossible for genins...then training here...can I get stronger?'
"Will training here really work?" He asked
"Only one way to find out" Sakura smiled, she couldn't believe it either at first, but Naruto had personally told her that himself.
-During the meeting with Naruto-
"What I said above is how you get him to lower his guard around you, the next is what can get him to become more trusting in you" Naruto smiled
"What is it?" Sakura asked
"You see, Sasuke is observed with strength, so if you tell him how he can get stronger, he will slowly begin to show trust in you" He replied
"But I don't know how he can get stronger" She responded
That's when Naruto revealed a sly smile
"I will tell you"
"You? You're going to willingly tell him a way to get stronger? Wouldn't you be more eager to leave him half dead?" Sakura spoke in disbelief
Naruto rolled his eyes
"Trust me, I may be a bad person, a hypocrite, a menace, but, I am definitely true to my friends, if it can help you get closer to Sasuke, I will definitely help you" Naruto patted his chest and said proudly
"....I can't help but feel there's a ploy"
"Wha~t? No~, I would never~" Naruto laughed
"Urgh, fine, tell me how"
"You see, in the dream space, you are completely immersed, you may be unconscious, but a portion of your mind is kept awake inside the dream space" Naruto explained
"Interesting, and then?" Sakura nodded
"If you train in there, you may not retain any physical benefits, but combat experience can be kept" Naruto smiled
!!!!!
Sakura's eyes widened
"Seriously!? Is that how you trained to get that strong then?" She asked
"Bah, I keep sleep and training separate, when I train, I give it my all, but when I sleep, I hate being interrupted" Naruto replied
"...."
'Then how did he get that strong???'
Ahem
Naruto let out a cough to drag her mind back into the conversation
"The point is, you get to be his personal training partner if you meet him in the dream space, also, the Itachi in there is practically invincible, if Sasuke's ego grows too much, have her knock him down a peg" Naruto said
"Right" The first half, she was more than happy, as for the second half, it sounded weird
"Wait, so if you trap someone in that dream space, you can beat anyone?" Sakura thought of the possibility of Naruto just trapping everyone he fights in there, and exclaimed
Naruto stared at her as if she was stupid
"F**k no, the reason I said it's practically invincible is cause it's up against you two, in there, the only thing you have is your physical strength, no chakra, no jutsu, no kekkei genkai, if someone stronger than me goes in there, they'd demolish the realm" Naruto waved his hand and said
Sakura nodded understandingly, so she was overthinking it
-Back in the dream space-
"A-Are you ready, Sasuke-kun" Sakura spoke with a shy and blushed look on her face
"Don't talk like that" Sasuke snapped
"Aw, I thought this is how this girl acts when she's around you" Sakura smiled
'Ah, that was close, thankfully Naruto told me to say this if I ever slip up' Sakura looked playful on the surface, but she was sweating, afraid she'd mess up.
Sasuke scoffed, before taking up a battle stance
Sakura noticed a look of contempt in his eyes, and knew why. He was looking at Sakura, or rather, the old Sakura, who he was able to knock out easily.
'That look he's giving me...it hurts...so as Naruto said, I'll knock his ego down a peg, have Itachi do that? No, I'll do it myself, I'll show him I can stand beside him proudly, I am Sakura Haruno'
Sakura's fists clenched tightly
'I'm sorry Sasuke-kun, but I need to beat you as thoroughly as I possibly can, so you will not see me as someone below you' Sakura thought to herself, as she tossed away the compassion in her heart to prepare for what she is about to do.
Itachi sat across the river, smiling
"So my master finally decides to show?" She spoke
*Rustle*
A figure leapt down from the tree and sat beside her
"Creepy, don't call me that, I decided to see how their first meeting will go...also, were you always self aware?" The blonde boy stared at Itachi with a look of shock
Itachi laughed faintly, a sly glimmer rose in her eyes
"You made me in accordance to your own personality, skills, and traits...did you think I wouldn't understand the seals that created this world after being in here for so long?"
"Well, calling it a world is an overstatement, it's barely the size of half a training ground, but I guess even I'm shocked by my own creations...oh, they're starting"
Naruto and Itachi turned their attention to Sasuke and Sakura, who were just about to make contact.
*Bang*
"Eh?"
"Say, why does Sasuke look like he had zero guard up, and just took that punch into his guts?" Naruto asked
"Because he had none" Itachi replied
"Well...this will be fun" Naruto grinned
*Bang*
Sakura punched his stomach with an upward strike, causing his stomach to cave inward. Sasuke let out a cough as his face twisted with pain and confusion. But Sakura didn't let go of this chance as she grabbed his face with one hand and slammed him into the tree behind, smashing the tree into bits.
Sasuke was breathing heavily, although no injuries appeared on his body, the pain felt real.
"I'm not done yet" Sakura said in a low voice and threw him to the ground.
She then ran at him at full speed before delivering a kick to the side of his arms, sending him crashing into another tree.
"Ooh, that looks like it hurts...nah, I'd hit him harder" Naruto muttered as he watched
He could tell that Sakura was holding back, because even if she forced herself to harm him, she really couldn't go all out.
Sakura ran towards the near unconscious Sasuke, and grabbed him by one leg
*Bang*
She then swung his entire body over her head, right into the ground. The impact was so powerful that his body actually bounced off the ground a little, and during his moment of being airborn, Sakura grabbed his leg once more and lifted him up again before slamming him back down.
*Bang*
This went on three more times before she stopped.
"Hah..." She was panting, it wasn't because she was working hard to beat him, no, that was the easy part, the hard part was to put real strength into her blows.
"Sorry Sasuke-kun, but you need to view me as an equal" She muttered as she stared at the unconscious Sasuke in a small crater...
Naruto on the other hand rubbed his chin
"How does one become unconscious in a dream?" He muttered in confusion
"No, the mind here is still part of the overall consciousness, it simply means that all the parts that were meant to be inactive during sleep are now all inactive"
"But that doesn't explain you" Naruto shifted his gaze to the Itachi he created, who somehow managed to gain consciousness...
"Who knows" Itachi smiled
'F**k man...I can't get a read on this b*tch, why did I base her personality off myself' Naruto cursed in his heart
Naruto sighed, seeing that Sasuke has been knocked out, he decided he's already seen the highlight of the day, and left the dream space.
On the other hand, Sakura carried Sasuke back to where Itachi was
"You look strangely happy" She noticed Itachi's smile was a little different before
"Something fun just happened" Itachi replied
"Oh"
'Did she like watching me beat up Sasuke or something???'
"Pass him over" Itachi said
"Huh? Oh" She passed Sasuke over to Itachi, who laid him down on her lap
!!!!
"You want to join? I have two laps" Itachi chuckled as she patted her free lap
"I-I'm good" Sakura waved her hand and said
'I should ask Naruto about this tomorrow, how is an illusion so realistic'
She decided to just sit down and stared at the sleeping Sasuke. She felt a little bad brutalising this while he cannot use any jutsu or his sharingan, but she felt that she had to do it in order for him to see her as an equal.
-Orochimaru's lair-
Naruto teleported into his lair, and found Orochimaru reading through a pile of scrolls, with the Uzumaki clan's shinigami masks next to him.
"Found the corresponding one yet?" Naruto asked
"You're here? If you are, come help me" He replied without looking up
"Why not"
Naruto sat down and began reading through each scroll as well.
"What brings you here again?" Orochimaru asked
"Came to check on the pellets I asked for, and ask what you know about illusionary worlds" He replied as he switched to another scroll.
"The pellets are done, they're in the room next door, but why ask about illusionary worlds" Orochimaru asked
Naruto sighed
"As you know, I created an illusionary world where Sasuke sees his brother as a woman, but that woman has gained sentience" Naruto replied
!!!!
Ororchimaru stopped reading the scrolls and stared at him in disbelief
"S-Sentience? How did that happen?"
"I based off the skills of that woman off myself, so I guess she unravelled the world herself and realised what she truly is" Naruto replied
Ororchimaru was left speechless, that sounded illogical
"The seal itself isn't high level, while the level of seals she has access to is higher than that seal's level, so I guess it isn't impossible, but it still shocked me when I entered to see how it was" Naruto muttered
"Truly, you're just throwing surprises at me every time we meet" Orochimaru chuckled
His gaze became serious
"Can you...extract that sentient consciousness out then?" He asked
"I doubt it, the illusionary world I made can't exactly connect to the real world, so the chances of it happening is low" Naruto replied
"That's a shame"
"Why is that?" Naruto asked
"As you said, she has your personality, so if you create more, and bring them into reality, we will have a lab full to work with" Orochimaru responded
Naruto paused, his words made his eyes light up
"A lab, yes, we have a lab, but we don't have enough people, so far it has only been you and me doing all the research, thus....we just need to move the theoretical portion into a dream space!" Naruto said as he stood up
"Ah, also, I found the mask" He added shortly after
"...." Orochimaru's lips twitched, he knew that once Naruto's brain starts running like this, there's no stopping it.
'I spent hours just to find it, but couldn't find it, while he sat down, read two scrolls and found it?' He was a little annoyed by this matter as well...
Naruto laughed, not noticing Orochimaru's expression
"This is fantastic, you just keep giving me so many fun ideas" Naruto laughed as he patted Orochimaru's back
Orochimaru ignored the back pats, he was turning his attention to what Naruto just said. To move the theoretical portions of their research into the dream space...is it truly possible?
"I need to create a seperate dream space, where the theories we worked on so far can be tested inside, and experimented on without worries, once it is complete in there, we can take out the final result, and use it for ourselves, but to do this, we also need someone to oversee it, one of us will need to go in...or do we?" Naruto muttered
He tapped his chin
"Perhaps a clone can be used, the consciousness of a clone should be no different to the original"
"I need to test this" He created a clone, and slapped a seal onto it.
The clone then took out a pill and ate it
After a bit, the clone opened its eyes.
"The inside is just a white void" He replied
"...it didn't work? Why not? Wait...wait wait wait, the environment! I didn't think much of it at first, there shouldn't be an environment in the dream space, so why was there one in the one I made for Sasuke"
Orochimaru realised that Naruto had become entranced again, and went to work on other things while Naruto figured himself out.
"Did Itachi do something?" Naruto muttered
"Or did it develop over time after extended exposure?"
Naruto scrambled his hair
"Urgh, this is frustrating" Naruto groaned
He turned to his clone
"Change the seal, go into the one created for Sasuke" Naruto said
The clone altered the seal, and ate another pill before falling asleep, fully knowing the main body's intention of having him do so.
His goal now was to analyse that world, allowing Naruto to be free to do something else. Naruto let out a faint sigh.
"I will leave it to the clone I guess, I'll see if he can get any results" Naruto picked up his unconscious clone and said
"Right, mind if I have the pellets?" Naruto asked
"I'll get it for you" Ororchimaru walked to the other room, and came back with a small pouch in hand.
"Take it" He threw the pouch over
"There are ten of each in there"
"Should be enough" Naruto smiled as he took out the smallest one, which was smaller than a marble
'At this size, it should be good'
Naruto placed it back into the pouch and tucked it away.
"I'll come visit again" He then teleported away with his clone in hand
Once he left, silence befell the lab, and to Orochimaru's surprise, he actually found it tobe a pity that Naruto left.
"I've gotten too attached to that kid" He chuckled to himself
-Konoha-
Naruto dropped his clone off onto the couch, and changed his own hair colour to black, before changing into a different set of clothes. One that is fully black, and a mask that covered his lower face, leaving only his eyes for show.
'It's about time for the first step'
He placed a concealment seal on himself, before teleporting. As for where....it was into a deep underground lair, where dozens of puppet like guards stood around without movement.
'No matter how many times I see this, I can't get used to it'
He took out a pellet, injected it with Kurama's chakra, before closing his fist and glanced towards the closest guard. Naruto pressed his hand against the floor, and a seal formed, isolating all sound within the room.
He then approached the root member slowly, and released poison into the air. The room was quickly filled by his poison, colourless and odourless.
He stopped near the guard, who still has yet to notice him, and waited in silence.
*Thud*
*Thud*
One by one, the guards in the room dropped, not even knowing why. Naruto took this chance to remove the mask of the guard, fed the pellet to him, before doing the same with nine others.
He then cleared all the poison in the air, and all traces of his seals before clapping his hands before teleporting. The clap of his hand woke up the members in an instant, and it was as if none of it happened, they returned to their posts in silence.
'Step one, complete, I'll need to wait longer for the next part of the plan' Naruto appeared on top of the Hokage statues, his gaze swept down to the fourth statue.
"Dad, I'll eliminate them one by one, then bring your soul out of the reaper's stomach, and allow you to enter the pure land where mum is waiting for you" Naruto muttered as he sat down on the sculpted face of his father.
He didn't move from that spot, just letting the wind blow past him
Amidst his thoughts, Kurama spoke to him
[Kid...I think my chakra in your clone is about to run out]
"Oh sh*t!" Naruto jumped up and quickly teleported back home, where he replenished the tailed beast's chakra in his clone.
Seeing that he made it in time, he heaved a sigh of relief
"Damn, if you didn't warn me, they'd have had their progress slow down" He muttered as he glanced to the side, where Kimimaro was sleeping on another couch.
'My house is actually getting to cramped now...should I ask sis for a bigger house?' He thought to himself
'Urgh, how much of my precious wine will I use up this time? I only have five jars left, if I give anymore, what will be left to age? The next batch is also still being made, and will still take a while' He sighed to himself
He had given Tsunade so many jars of wine already, he even began wondering if bringing her back to be Hokage was even a good idea...
At this moment, he then remembered Asuma's words
'It's alright to rely on the adults...'
He smiled
'Yeah, I do that alright....wait....'
"That's what I f**king forgot! Asuma you b*stard, you never taught me how to infuse chakra into my weapons!" Naruto held his head and exclaimed
He had been so busy most of the days, now that he is only training, he was slowly getting his thoughts together. And it is only now that he remembered, during the mission, Asuma promised him a training session!
"Damn my terrible memory" Naruto clicked his tongue and muttered
He glanced out the window
"Should I go wake him up to annoy him? Nah, he'd probably refuse to teach me if I did that, I'll just wait until tomorrow and go ask him" Naruto sighed and headed to his own room.
-Next day-
Naruto walked out, and noticed his clone was still in the dream space, so he replenished its chakra before doing the same with the one he keeps with Tayuya and Kimimaro.
"Now, let's go find Asuma sensei"
He was about to teleport when he realised...he doesn't even know where Asuma lived! So the next best place to look for was...
"Sup Ino, you know where Asuma sensei lives?" Naruto appeared in Ino's house while the family was still eating breakfast.
"Uh, j-just by the Hokage's office, a little to the right, you can tell it's his house if you see cigarettes around the floor" Ino replied, she didn't think Naruto would appear in the morning and suddenly ask her this question.
"Thanks Ino~, love you, bye~" Naruto waved his hand and vanished
"....he just comes and goes like the wind" Ino let out a faint sigh as she continued to eat
"Oh? Not reacting to his little 'love you'?" Kiku asked with a smile
"I'm used to it by now" Ino replied
"Used to it?" Inoichi gave her a dark smile and asked
"He says things like that every day, I'd be a dummy to blush at something so simple" Ino huffed
Kiku chuckled
"Dear, your ears are red" She said
"Eh? No way!" Ino covered her ears and exclaimed
"Seems like you're not as used to it as you think you are"
Inoichi ate quietly, after he finished, he placed his chopsticks down.
"Ino, I'll be honest, I'm still somewhat against you being with Naruto" He said calmly
"Dear" Kiku smiled
"What? Dad, come on" Ino pouted
Inoichi gestured for Kiku to not get angry
"I got news that Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama both acted together in order to warn Danzo, the elder, and leader of the Roots organisation in Konoha" Inoichi said calmly
"W-Warn him? About what?" Ino realised that Inoichi was talking about a very serious matter, and her attention became more focused.
"He tried to capture people close to Naruto so he can keep him under control" Inoichi replied, he felt that as his daughter, Ino should at least know this much, as this matter may soon be related to her.
"What! That's absurd, he's an elder of the village, our village, why would he want to keep Na-kun controlled?"
"Because he's gotten stronger too fast, but Ino, the main point is that Danzo may target you next, if you're with Naruto, you will be involved with the people targeting him" Inoichi said, his eyes flashed with concern.
Kiku also became tense when she heard that, but maintained her calm exterior
"But dad, Na-kun is always there for me, if I am not there for him when he's in danger, then what sort of person would I be? I like him, and I don't care who he is facing" Ino replied proudly, her gaze was firm and resolute.
Inoichi saw the spark in her eyes, and slowly, he smiled
"I figured you'd say that" He chuckled
"I will update you on any information related to this matter in the future, what you do with the information is up to you" He said
Ino was taken aback when she heard this, he is willing to help her on this matter?
"Th-Thanks dad" Ino said shyly
"You're my daughter, your happiness is my priority" He smiled and stroked her head gently
"Hehehe" Ino giggled
-Meanwhile-
"Asuma sensei, open up!" Naruto banged on the door that belonged to Asuma
He had made sure with Kurama, who checked his chakra to make sure it was indeed Asuma in the house.
*Clank*
"Naruto? What are you doing here so early?" He asked after he opened the door
"I wanna know how to infuse my wind chakra into my weapons, I've tried on my own, and failed" Naruto replied
Asuma stared back, the look in his eyes seemed to have dropped....
*Tsk*
"D-Did you just click your tongue at me?" Naruto was speechless, just how lazy is this guy!?
He suddenly wished more people are like Guy, who was so proactive about training that you can train with him just by asking. Asuma on the other hand, definitely remembers that he promised to teach him, but never mentioned it again so Naruto will gradually forget.