Shattered Sun

Not weak

The Oto-nin stood no chance against a focused Naruto who sat vigil for two days straight. He had taken their scroll and send them running. The pressure he exuded was enough warning to the Oto Genin, reminding them of an apex predator not in the mood to play around. He almost snapped the arm of the noisy boy and choked the girl before she could throw her senbon, almost snapping her neck. He looked at the other boy and warned in colder than artic voice, "I know that you enjoy trampling on others but I am not in the mood to compare who has the bigger dick. So either you surrender your scroll right here and now or you can kiss your teammates goodbye permanently,"

The girl whimpered when he tightened his grip and the boy with the weird arms shrieked in pain as his captured arm creaked. In the end, they complied to his wish and left.

Sakura had gawked at how easily he handled them. Naruto was not in the state of mind to play around. He's already barely holding on to his sanity. He turned to her, "How is Sasuke?"

She gulped, noting how he still refused to look at them and turned to Sasuke who started to show signs of waking up. She said so and Naruto nodded, "We will move after breakfast," He created a clone, the clone popping into existence with nary a sound or a smoke, sending him to hunt down breakfast. He then unsealed some basic camping provision.

She recalled that he had handed her and Sasuke some energy bars for sustenance the other day and again last night when she woke up hungry. His clone came back with eggs, some wild tomatoes and some fishes. Soon enough Sasuke woke up to the scent of food being cooked. He sat up, groggy as he looked where Naruto's quietly cooked. Sakura looked at him and smiled, "Good morning. Are you alright?"

He touched his neck, "What...how long was I unconscious?"

"Two days,"

He looked at Naruto who handed him a plate of simple meal of grilled fish, tomatoes and fried egg. His stomach grumbled as he watched Sakura ate her own food hungrily. He ate his own slowly but then hungrily. He didn't know why but Naruto sure know how to grill his fish. Naruto has always been particularly good at fishing, he noticed during the few times they had to camp out and there's a river nearby. He's also good a grilling over open fire.

He watched as Naruto buried everything and started to move. He shared a look with Sakura and silently followed the once blond. He didn't know what to call Naruto's hair color, he mused distractedly, as it wasn't the golden blond it once was or white like Kakashi's. It wasn't the same shade as the Yamanaka Clan either, too silvery.

He looked at Sakura who filled him in over the events that happened while he was unconscious. She told him that Naruto did something to ease the pain of the bite on his neck.

Sasuke rubbed the spot, confused.

They made a slower progress to the tower, Naruto being particular about Sasuke's body's limit. Sasuke didn't like being protected but...he supposed it felt nice. His face pinched in distaste. He should be stronger than this.

Naruto seemed to notice as he said, "There's no shame in being defeated by someone like Orochimaru. Not even Kakashi can face him and survive. Take it as a waking call. There is always someone stronger, especially when they're older. But your younger age simply meant you have greater room to grow,"

Sasuke blinked at the once blonde's back. Naruto still won't look at them and it frustrated the Uchiha endlessly. He didn't like this...wiser and sadder...Naruto...

They came across a red head running from a giant bear. Naruto was quick to rescue her. He looked at her, but averted his eyes from looking at her face just like he did to all of them. He asked, "Are you alright? Sakura here's a medic,"