Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Shadowed Wolf: Sasuke's Tale ❯ Why Diversion? ( Chapter 4 )

A.N.: Couple o’ things: 1: I’m trying to keep things believable, so if Sasuke acts too OOC, tell me and I’ll try and revise. 2: I’m hoping to be a genuine author sometime in the nebulous future, which means I need to practice and perfect my art and style. So if all y’all can yell at me when I go too fast, go too slow, fail to describe something, etc, etc… It’d be a big help. That is all, domo arigatou. #bows#

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Disclaimer: Why do I bother writing these things? Everyone knows I own nothing or else this would be published in the Naruto manga instead of being posted here!
#Text# = demon speech
“”Full sentence text”” = person to person telepathy
Single word, single phrase italics = emphasis
Full sentence italics = personal thoughts

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Morning came far too early according to Nibiiro, as usual. But he got up as pre-dawn light streaked the sky with shades of blue and gray, stretched until his back popped and tried to rouse Sasuke. ‘Tried’ was definitely the key word, rousing the dead probably would have been a more fruitful venture. The kid was so out of it that Nibiiro checked for a pulse to reassure himself that Sasuke was still alive. I don’t think I’ll be getting him up anytime soon, Nibiiro thought, might as well make some breakfast.

The thought was parent to the deed. He made a quick survey of the surrounding forest and found many edible plants. A slight application of his powers made it so that he had a sizable feast of tubers, out-of-season berries and other tasty veggies with maybe fifteen minutes work. A little more snooping led him to a crystal clear streamlet with several fine, fat fish. Another mild application of Byakko’s borrowed power snagged him two large ones. He headed back triumphantly to cook his spoils, only to find Sasuke-

Still asleep. The older Nin frowned down at the boy, then shrugged. He probably reached the end of his endurance and his body’s forcing him to recoup in spite of his nightmares. Cooking smells ought to wake him. I have yet to see a teenage boy who doesn’t eat twice his weight in food each day; myself included! But Nibiiro had underestimated Sasuke’s determination to remain in dreamland.

Nibiiro eyed the slumbering youth sourly as predawn became dawn which further progressed into day, munching on his own fish.

“C’mon Sasuke, time to get up!” He said, poking the youth with his toe. No response.

“C’mon!” Nibiiro rose and shook the boy. Light snores emanated from the form.

“Wakey, wakey!” the just-adult Nin yelled, shaking harder, “Bright the day and all that jazz!” More snores greeted his efforts. Nibiiro huffed through his nose and violently stripped Sasuke of his blankets.

Sasuke curled up into a ball and shielded his face from the sun with his hand in a kittenish gesture before sighing and settling into deeper sleep.

Nibiiro glowered and growled, grabbed the water bucket and stomped off.

~*~*~

Sasuke was enjoying the deepest and most peaceful sleep of his life until there was a mild interruption. He was vaguely aware of being jostled, but since there was no threat or pain, he merely slept through it. Finally peace returned; and then…

Sasuke was doused with the coldest water he’d ever encountered this side of freezing. He was so shocked by the cold that he couldn’t even shriek, only gasp noiselessly as the water soaked him to the core.

But he could, and did, move, leaping to his feet and scanning the area, trying to locate the source of the attack. He noticed Nibiiro, holding a dripping bucket and looking unbearably smug.

“Good morning,” the older Nin said sarcastically.

“You! What-? Why-? Evil!” Sasuke gasped out.

“When one comes upon a stubborn foe, one uses all resources at one’s disposal.” Nibiiro stated calmly, still looking disgustingly smug. “We need to get moving soon and you refused to wake up in spite of everything I tried.”

Sasuke glared fiercely, clearly not believing what he heard. Evil, cruel, awful man! He’s- He’s-! Sasuke couldn’t think of anything harsh enough to call him. He’s unforgivable!

“There’s food,” Nibiiro offered gently. Sasuke looked down at the wide variety of food-stuffs and sat down to begin munching. Okay, maybe I’ll forgive ‘im. Few grudges last past an offer to fill a teenaged-boy’s empty stomach.

Nibiiro choked back a laugh as he watched Sasuke attack the food but still shoot indignant glares at his companion. But it was hard, as Sasuke munched on his fish and glowered at Nibiiro he looked like a cat that’d had his tail stepped on and knew he was being pacified with food.

That or a puppy glaring at a bigger dog over a bone, he added. “When you’re done eating, I need your help with something.” Nibiiro requested calmly.

“Should’a thought of that before the ice bath…” Sasuke grumbled into a roasted tuber.

“Pardon?” Nibiiro feigned deafness.

“Nothing.” Sasuke said sullenly, then, as his blood sugar rose to an acceptably level: “What do you need me to help with?” Ah, food, the sovereign cure for the early morning sulks.

“It something complicated, and something I’m going to forbid you to use while you still have even the slightest scrap of that curse.” Nibiiro said firmly, looking Sasuke straight in the eye. The youth rocked back a little and grabbed the place where the curse seal could still be seen. One of the three marks was missing, proof that Nibiiro had done as he claimed and had neutralized part of it.

“What’s this something complicated?”

“It’s an illusion spell.” The older Nin said, “I’m going to need some extra strength, so it’s probably a good thing you slept in.”

“Spell?” Sasuke asked skeptically, “There’s no such thing as Magic; only Chakra.”

“Yes and no,” Nibiiro contradicted, “There is Magic, but not as the sharpsters would like us to believe. What you can do with it is limited, but strong. For example,” Nibiiro leaned forward, launching into his teacher mode, “I could light a candle with Chakra or Magic, and the Magic would exhaust me. But,” he raised a finger in emphasis, “the candle lit by Magic would never go out, even if it were dumped in water. The flame would never burn the candle stick down, it would never burn anything at all, and it would remain until I or a stronger Mage came and put it out with more Magic.”

Nibiiro had Sasuke’s complete attention now. “O-kay… How does it work?”

“You know that Chakra is a mix of mental and physical energy correct?” Nibiiro asked, Sasuke nodded, “Magic is spiritual energy, which is why it’s so dangerous. If used incorrectly, you could kill your soul, leaving your body to linger.” Nibiiro scowled suddenly, “Which is what I think Orochimaru does.”

“Eh?!”

“That curse seal is so tough because it’s a mix of Chakra and Magic and it eats away at both as time goes on. Fortunately that’s been paused with its partial destruction and your soul will repair itself even as your body and mind does.”

Sasuke slumped in relief; Nibiiro’s description had made him paranoid for a moment there. “Okay, but if I’m repairing myself, then how does Orochimaru kill the souls of his vessels?”

“I think, but I do not know, that the body transplant Jutsu is a kind of accelerated curse seal. That’s my guess.”

“Fair enough, but if you need my help with Magic, and you just forbid me to use it, then how the heck am I supposed assist you?”

“‘Cause I’m also going to use Chakra-base Jutsus and that you can help me with. So finish eating while I get things prepared.” Nibiiro moved off to the small amount of stuff that they had managed to take with them in their flight and started to fuss with it. Sasuke blinked at him before attacking the rest of the food eagerly. When he finished, he moved to Nibiiro’s side and watched him curiously as the older Nin tore through the few packs in search of something…

“Ah-hah! Here it is!” he cried triumphantly as he finally fished out a plain quartz crystal. Sasuke looked askance of him. “Yeah I know,” Nibiiro replied to Sasuke’s expression, “it’s just a rock, but I’ve used this several times so it’s tuned into my Chakra pattern.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” The youth replied. Nibiiro arched a brow then gestured for Sasuke to sit down across from him.

“I want you to first go into a light trance,” the older Nin instructed, ignoring Sasuke’s skeptical comments, “then comes the tricky part.”

The young teen obeyed, centering himself and falling easily into a mild trance state where his body was distant from him but his mind could still respond to verbal instructions.

“Good, now with your mind reach out to me.” Slightly puzzled in how to do this, Sasuke still tried to obey. And tried, then tried some more.

“RELAX! You don’t have to fight so hard!” Nibiiro commanded in exasperation after the fifth attempt. Sasuke’s own exasperation had thrown him out of trance so with a sigh he reentered the state and just let himself center for a moment. When he felt calm again he reached, slowly towards Nibiiro with his mind. He felt something grab his extended ‘hand’.

“”Good, you got it.”” A voice that didn’t sound so much as feel like Nibiiro said into Sasuke’s mind.

“”Nibiiro?”” The youth thought hard at the feel.

“”Not so loud! I can hear you just fine.””

“”Oh, um sorry?””

“No problem, I understand.”” Nibiiro Said kindly, “”Now comes the even trickier part; you have to convince your subconscious that it is indeed okay for you to let your Chakra flow into me. Now, relax some more and visualize a stream made of your power flow into me. This will probably take a while for you to get right so don’t fret about it.””

Sasuke heaved a purely mental sigh, to Nibiiro’s amusement, and tried to do as he was asked. Still holding on to his connection with Nibiiro, the teen focused in on himself and tried to visualize his Chakra as a lake of blue power with a stream that he could direct out to someone else. Fumbling a bit, he tried to direct it to the greenish-gold mass that was Nibiiro and thought that he made connection. Only… it didn’t Feel right, instead of Feeling green-gold, this Felt pure white. He reach towards it to try and figure out what this white mass was when if came into sharp focus in his mind’s eye.

Sasuke suddenly found his Self in some kind of hall and standing before him was a huge White Tiger staring down at him benignly. Around It’s, His paws were shackles with chains that led back behind Him into the unlit hall. As Sasuke stared gaping at Him, the Tiger winked at him. That was a bit too much for Sasuke to handle and he fell completely out of trance.

Sasuke came to lying on his back, gasping, with Nibiiro leaning over him.

“Sasuke! Sasuke are you alright? Talk to me!” the older Nin yelled, shaking his younger friend.

“What- was- that?!” the dark-eyed youth gasped. Nibiiro slumped in relief, briefly leaning his forehead against Sasuke’s chest.

“I did not think you’d be able to do that…” Nibiiro mumbled, “Gods that scared me.”

“Do what?” Sasuke asked, sitting up and gently pushing Nibiiro back. He was still too dazed to take offense at his personal space being invaded. “What the hell was that… thing?”

Nibiiro looked up and straightened slightly, “that Thing, was Byakko, the Tiger demon inside me. You somehow managed to bumble your way into the place where He’s Bound.” Nibiiro’s eyes unfocused for a moment, “By the way, He says hi and to tell you that He’s sorry He scared you.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Sasuke said faintly, “Um, maybe I should say sorry for barging in uninvited?”

Nibiiro’s eye’s unfocused again, “He says there’s no need to apologize, since He’s convinced it’s somehow all my fault, but He accepts your apology anyway. He also says that He likes you, so if you do manage to get there again, you don’t need to be scared, since He won’t do anything to hurt you and there’s no way you could possibly hurt Him.”

“Ah, okay.” Sasuke swallowed nervously, “Do you think we should try again?”

“Yes I do, you almost had it, you just need to not be so enthusiastic.” Nibiiro said with a lop-sided grin that didn’t quite disguise his own nervousness. Sasuke nodded and pulled his legs underneath him so that he was sitting cross-legged again. Nibiiro backed up a bit so that there was less than a foot of space between their knees and assumed the same position as Sasuke. With a nod from his mentor, Sasuke dropped into trance again.

This time was different. Maybe it was because he now knew he could See things like this, but this time he Saw Nibiiro. There was a human shaped form of green-gold energy where Nibiiro sat with a spot just beneath his chest of white energy so tightly focused that Sasuke thought that it should be painful to Look at. But somehow it wasn’t.

The youth refocused on the task at hand and concentrated his own Chakra again and, gently, carefully reached out to Nibiiro again. The white energy moved before the green-gold could.

#Gently, young one,# a powerful foreign voice Said, #I shall not harm you for the world, I merely am trying to lend my aid.#

#oh…# Sasuke responded weakly. The white energy that had to be Byakko carefully guided Sasuke in how to let his Chakra flow into Nibiiro. When Nibiiro realized what Byakko was doing, he Said some interesting words. Sasuke wanted his note pad.

The Tiger merely laughed and kept on assisting the flow. But it was at that point that Sasuke fully understood Nibiiro’s earlier comment of working against his subconscious. He could clearly Feel the energy draining out of him and it was disturbing, like a freely bleeding wound only without pain. It Felt wrong, and he wanted to cut the flow, but his conscious mind kept insisting that this was okay. His subconscious responded with a ‘you suicidal maniac’ type comment.

When Sasuke started to feel really weak and a little dizzy, Nibiiro, with Byakko’s help, stopped the flow from their end.

“”That’s more than enough, thank you Sasuke.”” Nibiiro Said, “”You get some rest; I’ll take care of it from here.””

“Alright…” the youth Said, his mind-voice tinged heavily with exhaustion.

“”I wouldn’t be able to do what needs to be done without this; you’ve been an enormous help.”” Nibiiro stated firmly. If Sasuke hadn’t been focused entirely inside his Self, he would have blushed at the praise. Instead, he drew himself back out into his body. And then hastily caught himself from flopping back and passing out. Ah, I think I’ll just lie down for moment, so I don’t fall down.

~*~*~

#Thank you, Byakko-kun# A female voice Said softly while Nibiiro was focused on weaving his Jutsu and Sasuke was focused on staying awake.

#No problem at all, Moro-san.# Byakko replied, #Although, I am somewhat curious as to why you wish to remain hidden?#

#That is easily explained.# The Two-Tailed, Wolf demon Moro, also called Nibi Said, #The fewer people who are aware of my existence here, the fewer people there are to let it slip.#

#Even your host?#

#Even my host, he is young, he may say the wrong thing at the wrong time. I do not wish this to happen.#

#But are you not limited this way?#

#There is still much I can teach him and do for him, but yes, I am more limited. Still, I feel that this is safer.#

#Well, if that is what you wish…#

# This is what I wish.#

#Then there is nothing I may say. Good luck.#

#My thanks.#

~*~*~

Nibiiro was completely oblivious to the silent exchange, but not to Sasuke’s exhaustion. He focused his mind out a touch, just enough to see that while the youth was indeed very tired, more accurately drained, he was otherwise fine and already recovering. Much more quickly than I would have thought. Huh, looks like his stamina is finally kicking in, about time. I was beginning to get worried that he’d never fully recover from what Orochimaru did to him.

#A valid concern.# Byakko muttered.

#Oh? Did you See something I didn’t?#

#Yes and at the same time no. I Saw that curse had inflicted damage deeper than you had originally thought, but that is now fully healed.#

#Your work perhaps?# Aside from, or maybe because of, the plant power, Byakko could also Heal. He and his host couldn’t Heal anything complicated, but if there was damage, they could Heal even where others couldn’t. A soul-deep wound that other Healers would declare impossible, the Jinchuuriki could fix. Some poisons, however, were beyond their skill. Still, Nibiiro wasn’t about to quibble over it.

#Some of the healing was indeed my work, yes.# the Tiger responded.

#You’ve been doing an awful lot of favors for Sasuke.# Nibiiro commented suspiciously.

#I like him.# the Tiger repeated.

#Huh, the kid is likable, but still, is he really that likable? He can be more than a bit of a brat.#

#He has potential.#

#And you still won’t tell me in what, will you?# Nibiiro asked wearily. The Tiger merely chuckled and receded back into his place in Nibiiro’s Self, leaving the Jinchuuriki to craft his Jutsu. Nibiiro gave a mental shrug and focused all his attention to the task at hand. The Jutsu he was making was not going to be an easy one.

The physical components were two quartz crystals, one being the focus, the other the trigger. The trigger was his favorite crystal, he wasn’t letting go of it that easily. The focus was just some random crystal he found was gathering food earlier. In it was the bulk of the Jutsu, one that would negate all Chakra based activities within a four-mile radius. Nibiiro would trigger this with his other crystal, sending his Chakra through it to another stone like it. Since the only other stone within range that was going to be quartz with his Chakra in it, that part was simple.

That will knock out any spy seals that are floating around. But to make sure that they don’t immediately send more seals at us, I have to use misdirection. That’s where the Magic came in, four spells to be exact, pushing Nibiiro’s limit. Which is why I needed Sasuke’s strength. The spell itself doesn’t use Chakra-type strength, but crafting it does. If I have more strength to make the spells, I won’t waste as much Magic. I hope. Ah, man! I am so going to be Unhappy when I’m done!

He finished crafting the Jutsu while the sun climbed higher. It was surprising how much time this part took, especially when compared to the whole ten minutes it took for Sasuke to figure out how to transfer energy and then complete the transfer. Finally, one hour after he started, Nibiiro finished making his Jutsu and storing it into his crystals.

He stood and stretched and then went over to shake Sasuke awake. Inwardly he was dreading another ordeal over waking the youth up, but for some bizarre reason he woke easily this time.

“You want to watch and see how Magic is used?”

~*~*~

The working of Magic was a lot easier than Sasuke would have believed; it was just like using Chakra, but using a different source. That’s what scared the piss out of him.

The young teen used Sharingan to watch, and apparently his earlier trance state had given him an insight on how to look at things differently. Sasuke was able to see Nibiiro’s and Byakko’s aura as the former crafted his spell. And for Nibiiro to craft his spells, four of them, he had to basically spin out a part of his essence. He was putting a chunk of himself, not his power, not his thought, his self, into the spell.

The thought was terrifying; I’m not going to have a problem following Nibiiro’s orders in not using Magic while I’m still cursed. In fact, I don’t believe I’ll use Magic, ever.

But still, frightening as the sight was, it was still fascinating to watch. The spells that Nibiiro made were illusion spells, but far more powerful and complex than anything that Sasuke thought was even possible. The first two illusions not only looked like Nibiiro and Sasuke, but smelled, sounded, and even felt like the two of them. Right down to the proper level of Chakra that the two currently had. But that wasn’t all, oh no.

When the two Eagles joined them, Nibiiro explained that for the next seventy-two hours, these illusions would go through all the motions of the real deals, even in making illusionary camps at night. Hopefully Akastsuki would be fooled

And that was where the other two illusions came in. These two illusions would be placed over Nibiiro and Sasuke themselves, and erase their presence from all senses. Nibiiro included a little addition that would allow the two to see and hear each other, but all others would not know that the two existed there.

And as for the why of all this? The first step was for the Eagles to carry the two fugitives to the shore of a gigantic lake, a needed rest-stop because Nibiiro was about a pace or two from passing out and Sasuke wasn’t too far behind him. At this stop, the older teen would activate the four illusion spell, switching spy focus from the real forms to the fake.

The Eagles would then carry the shirt and the pair of pants that held the illusion for Sasuke and Nibiiro respectively out into the middle of the lake. When they reached that point, Nibiiro would trigger the Jutsu that he sealed into the quartz crystal that he had sewn into the pants pocket. This would knock out any Chakra-based spell or jutsu within the four-mile radius that was its limit.

The illusions would still hold, they were Magic-based, not Chakra-based. When the Eagles reached the shoreline, Akastsuki would be watching for them and their passengers. And see the illusions, but not the real things. The real things would be on the opposite side of the lake, resting for a day before swiftly heading off. They would be undetectable for another two days, while the other illusions would be clearly detectable for the same period of time. By the time the illusions faded, for Magic of this level could only be sustained for so long, Nibiiro and Sasuke would be far from any area that Akastsuki thought that they were.

Ingenious, if difficult. Sasuke could see why Nibiiro was fussing over every last detail; this kind of thing was not something that could be done multiple times over in a short period of time. To do so would be to court soul-death, which was worse, far worse, than real death.

The teen ideally turned the rabbit-on-a-stick over the fire and fretted. The Eagles had already taken off, with many thanks, and Nibiiro had triggered his Jutsu. After that, he had promptly passed flat out, completely and utterly drained. Sasuke figured that his guardian and mentor would be hungry so he’d gone hunting. Sort of.

My strength wasn’t exactly in top shape before Nibiiro took as much as he safely could. Good thing rabbits are stupid and fall for half-hidden snares. Rabbit was a safe food, easily recognizable as edible, prepared and cooked.

Sasuke poked the blackened greasy mass that was smoking over the small fire he’d made. At least, it was recognizable as food. The snare had been properly constructed and hidden to the best of Sasuke’s current ability, the fire had been made expertly, the rabbit field dressed as if by a pro. The cooking however… So I’ve got an ability gap, doesn’t everyone? He thought, trying to console himself.

Nibiiro stirred and groaned. Sasuke perked up and watched him, hoping that he’d wake up this time. And hopefully cook for me. His silent prayers were answered as Nibiiro levered himself up into a sitting position, blinking blearily.


“You’re awake.”

“Technically. What time is it?” the older teen said in a very groggy tone.

“Late evening, early night.” Sasuke responded, “Take your pick.” He took one of the blackened bunnies and handed it to Nibiiro. “Charred rabbit-on-a-stick?”

Nibiiro took the stick with the thing attached to it and almost automatically took a bite. Inner instinct must have warned him to look at it first, which he did, examining it minutely.

“Uhm….” He said. Sasuke didn’t respond, he just continued to poke the other one that he really didn’t want to try and choke down with a stick. Nibiiro tentatively nibbled at his, or started to at least. Once the taste hit his tongue….

“Sasuke.”

“Yes?”
“You don’t know how to cook do you?”

“In theory yes. In practice…” He and his mentor exchanged irony laden glances.

“No.” “Nope.” Nibiiro sighed heavily.

“Well, you’ve proven that you can catch food. Go get another couple conies, I’ll roast them this time.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Sasuke said with a smile while he heavily rose to do as he’d been asked.