Once More by ItsHardToFindAPenName

Chapter 27: Darkest Hour

Naruto was sent flying into a wall. His back slammed hard into the cold stone with a loud "thud".

What the...?! So this is his true power?

Naruto had known that the weakest in Itachi's abilities was taijutsu. His lack of stamina was the very clue allowing Naruto to figure out the hand of another person in the Uchiha massacre, and that Obito's words had been a complete lie.

However, he had completely forgotten something even more important. Itachi, lacking in stamina or not, had still been an ANBU-level shinobi; the most talented ANBU in history, to boot. His skill and experience in battle, therefore, way surpassed a 16-year-old boy like Naruto, despite the latter being sent back four years to the past. Murdering a whole elite clan might have been out of his reach, but handling one person, jinchuriki or not, he's definitely capable of doing.

And that was the reason why his ass was being kicked around by the Uchiha although he had full access to the Tailed Beasts' chakra.

The fact that he hadn't even expected something like this to happen didn't help him a little bit. Had it not been for Goku, who was a master of taijutsu, in his head, he would have been pulverized by the relentless assault coming from the Uchiha a while ago.

"You're no match for me, Naruto-kun," Itachi started walking toward Naruto, his menacing figure towered over him. "Surrender and come with me quietly if you don't want to get hurt even more."

"Grk..."

Goddamnit... What should I do now...?

From the right sleeve of the Akatsuki cloak Itachi was wearing poked out something, and Naruto felt a chill in his spine when he realized what it was.

It was the blade of a short but incredibly sharp tanto.

Sweat started rolling down Naruto's forehead. According to what jiji told him, tanto was the favorite weapon which Itachi was most skilled at. If he pulled it out so early in the battle...

Itachi charged forward, his weapon brandished. The metal of the blade gleamed menacingly in the light of the torchs in the hallway when it descended down Naruto's head.

"Projection!" Not wasting even a second to think, Naruto willed a pair of big kunais to appear on his hands. His skill with the Projection Jutsu, especially with this particular weapon, had improved so much he could do it as if it was in his instinct. He brought it up to block the tanto on Itachi's hand, which was coming down on his head.

The bladed weapons met each other with a "clang".

"Hmm... So that's your new ability, huh? Manifesting weapons from nothing?" Itachi noted when pushing his tanto down even further, grinding the blade of his weapons on Naruto's kunai in the process.

"So what... if it was...?" Naruto gritted his teeth, struggling even more to push Itachi's short sword back up.

"Impressive," Itachi spoke, and Naruto felt scared when he realized he couldn't hear any strain in the Uchiha's voice. "But having a lot of weapons... doesn't mean you have the skill to utilize all of them!"

Then suddenly Naruto felt the weight which was pushing him down leaving abruptly. He jerked his head down, but his reaction could only help him lean back when Itachi's tanto slashed horizontally across his neck, avoiding decapitation in a nick of time.

A thin line of blood trickled down Naruto's neck. He backflipped a few steps, panting heavily. Never before had he felt death coming so near.

What the... Is he trying to kill me or something?!