The Monster in the Gray Overcoat

Chapter 4

Naruto and Sasuke move straight ahead from the old woman's place together while the other four shinobi split into teams of two to search on the wide left and right of them.

After another hour of walking, Naruto and Sasuke come upon a small, dilapidated shack...with smoke coming out of the chimney. There was someone inside with a fire going. Naruto and Sasuke look at one another, communicating with only their eyes what they are both thinking—that's gotta be him. Without bothering to notify anyone with their headgear, they rush to the front door—and bust it down with two strong, simultaneous kicks. They race in, Chidori and Rasengan at the ready.

The man inside, long black-and-gray hair stretching down his back, turns to face his captors as if they were expected company. "Well, isn't this an honor," he says calmly. "Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto." He laughs.

"You've got nothing to be laughing about, you bastard!" seethes Sasuke, now having facial confirmation that this is *the guy.*

"It's no matter," the man replies smoothly. "You can punish me, lock me up, kill me...but I've already gotten my revenge. That's all that matters to me...And boy was it sweet!" He licks his lips, closing his eyes halfway, as if remembering a tasty meal.

Sasuke and Naruto scream in rage, slamming Chidori into Fujioka's left shoulder and blasting Rasengan into his right. Fujioka flies backwards into the wall and then falls to his knees. Sasuke had wanted to strike directly into the bad guy's chest, but he knew that might kill him—and that would be letting him off way too easy.

"This guy is mine, Naruto..." growls Sasuke. Naruto, face twisted in fury, reluctantly backs off and blockades the entrance. As badly as he wants to avenge Sakura, he knows Sasuke needs to. He bows out of the fight as his friend asked of him.

"She'll leave you, ya know," says Fujioka with a sinister smile. Sasuke punches him so hard a tooth pops out. Then Sasuke picks Fujioka up by his shirt, slams his back into the wall hard, and knees him in the groin. Fukioka folds over in pain.

"Y-you're...fighting...for nothing," Fujioka croaks out. "Women always leave. They betray. You'll find that out. Someday you'll thank me for what I did to that deceitful bitch!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW, GODDAMMIT!" Sasuke punctuates his screamed sentence with a hard knee to Fujioka's downturned face, breaking his nose. It occurs to Sasuke that Fujioka doesn't seem to even be trying to defend himself, but doesn't care enough to ask about it.

Fujioka laughs again, rising back up to face Sasuke with blood pouring from his mouth and nose. "I bet she tells you she loves you, doesn't she? She's her daughter! She lies!"

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!" Sasuke knees him in the stomach, then karate-chops the back of his neck when he bends from the blow.

"I...I...I speak the truth, Sasuke," a wounded and winded Fujioka utters toward the floor. "You can't trust a woman. Especially a Takahashi!"

Sasuke has no idea why Fujioka is referring to Sakura by the wrong last name, but he doesn't want to hear his voice one more time. He jabs Fujioka in the ribs as hard as he can with his elbow, making sure to break them; knees him in the groin again with all his might; and slams a fist made of both hands joined together into his back, dropping the man to the floor, flat on his face. Sasuke then kicks Fujioka's sides repeatedly, stomps on his back a couple of times, and slams his face into the floor again and again. Then Sasuke flips the criminal over, straddles his middle, and begins to punch his face from side to side, blackening both eyes and breaking the man's jaw.