Returning (Naruto Shippuden x Male Reader)

8

I was scrolling through this story to find out what happened so far and then I went to this draft, which I thought was a published chapter, and it had 200 words in it. Needless to say, I was very confused
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We were at a standstill for a while. Chiyo began to explain how the Sharingan could be combatted as long as there was more than one person. From what I know, it is one of the most feared of the three great dojutsus. This is due to Itachi's legacy in the Leaf, but that is irrelevant if I have no combat experience with it. Sasuke was a sole survivor of the clan, but I was never able to experience its abilities myself even if I knew him.

Kakashi stopped Chiyo from telling Naruto any more strategies against Itachi's techniques, as it was ineffective against the type that Itachi wields. His technique is more than just in a person's head since this Akatsuki member apparently has achieved the Mangekyo Sharingan. "This type of Sharingan has a much stronger visual jutsu than an ordinary Sharingan. If you receive his visual jutsu, then you will experience his genjutsu in a second. In other words, even though it may seem like a second to others, the person who receives the jutsu will feel it for hours or days. In my case, I roamed around in his jutsu for three days, and lost consciousness for more than a week. It's not a matter of ending or not ending the genjutsu," Kakashi stated, his one visible eye showing concern for our situation. I furrowed my brows and stared at the man's robe, as we were instructed to not look near his eyes.

Ah, I could simply use my kekkei genkai. Sasuke's goal is to kill this man himself, so I don't believe I should be the one to end his life, as I have no personal vendetta against him besides him standing before us as an enemy. He doesn't feel completely like.. Itachi. Something is strange about him. It's not that he's a puppet, but he's also not his own person. If I had some kind of eye kekkei genkai, I would have found out what was happening by now, but I do not. If this is not Itachi, I should not use my technique against him. At the same time, he is not Itachi, so I can kill him without worrying about Sasuke's revenge. I weighed the ideas in my head and ended up putting a hand out, ready to kill him, when Kakashi put a hand out in front of me.

"Hitori, I understand that you are powerful, and that you could be of great help here, but I need you to go on ahead of us. We can take care of Itachi with all of us here. Clear a way for when we're done," he mumbled with his visible eyebrow furrowed. I looked between him and the others. He is right. Plus, I am told he has previous experience with this Akatsuki member. I nodded to him, choosing to take off. Of course, Itachi tried to stop me with a fireball, but I dodged it and kept running while the rest took his attention away from me.

I entered the forest again and got a long while away before I had to guard myself. A kick landed on my readied forearms causing my back to hit a tree. A blue skinned man who had features reminiscent of a shark. He held a large wrapped sword in his hand with a smirk on his face, "Look what I've got here. Glad that jutsu wore off or else you woulda got past and ruined some plans." I said nothing, simply observing him. He rose a brow and pointed his sword to me saying, "You talk much less than the rest of the ninja I've fought. They'd usually piss themselves at least."

I took a defensive position, "Missing S-rank ronin, previous member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist," I addressed him. He seemed a little taken aback by this, but he quickly put up his guard.

"Knowledgeable. Let's see how far that gets you," he grunted, leaping towards me and attempting to slam his sword into my side. I quickly whipped out a kunai and used it to block the attack from making harsh contact with me. The force from the strength of the blow still picked me up from the ground. I pushed off of a tree and threw the knives towards his eyes, which he blocked with his bandaged weapon. I was about to use my kekkei genkai but he was much faster than I anticipated, making me doge another attack. 

I smashed one of his water clones into a tree to undo the jutsu and pushed chakra into my hand, breaking the tree into splinters. He started running at me again but I performed some hand signs and sent the sharp shards of the bark at him as projectiles as I jumped away from him. He didn't get hurt, but I didn't have any injuries yet either. I don't think he expected this because he seemed puzzled, his smirk gone.

I heard footsteps and then I heard Kisame mutter something about time. He took off before I could do anything about it, and a few seconds later, Kakashi and the rest of the group caught up to me. I quickly informed them of what happened, and we were traveling through the trees again as quickly as they came.

"Chiyo said that they were buying time to extract the tailed beast.." Sakura told me as we jumped across tree branches. My fists clenched and I broke the branch I pushed off of, which drew her attention. "I'm sure we can get there before it's too late, Hitori, so don't stress out too much," she reassured. I looked towards her for a second and then back at the others who were leading the way in front of us.

"Gaara is someone who doesn't deserve this, so even if we don't arrive on time, I will find a way to get him back," I replied. She did not respond, but I didn't wish for her to. She does not know Gaara and I'm sure the redhead doesn't care to know her much either. Kakashi landed in a clearing and the rest of us stopped with him. 

The group looked to him for an explanation, to which he said, "We will be taking a break here."

Chiyo agreed with this, but Naruto ran in front of the Jonin and furrowed his brows, "Why?! You're the one who said we don't have time! If we waste time taking a break here, Gaara will be..."

Kakashi reasoned that we were going slower than before, and if we were to keep going now, we would most likely have to fight against more strong forces. The blond agreed after hearing this, so we quickly set up a fire. By then it was sunset. I sat down and leaned my back against a tree, beginning to focus on my chakra movement as a type of meditation.

That was quickly interrupted by Naruto, though, who had already taken out his sleeping supplies and laid down beside me. "Hey.. we'll get to Gaara on time right..?" he muttered, staring at my face. His hands were clutching at the fabric of my pants.

I stared at him a while, not knowing how to respond. The reason I said that to Sakura earlier is because I know that there is a slim chance we will enter the scene with an unharmed Gaara. The odds are simply against us in that aspect, especially since Kisame had left that fight early, meaning there was no need to stall further. I cannot deny that I hope that he is still alright, even if I know I shouldn't be. I didn't notice that my fists were clenched until I felt a hand cover my own. I made eye contact with Naruto once again and slowly nodded, "I believe we will get there on time. Even if we don't we will find a way to fix it all."

At the second half, I could feel him tense up. I relaxed my fist and held onto his tensed hand, making him roll onto his side to look at me. "Yea.. We will find him. Without a doubt," he muttered, shifting his eyes so that they laid on our handhold. I just stared up at the now darkened sky. When I looked back down, the blond was completely asleep. That was quick. My eyes traveled to where Kakashi was sitting. I was going to talk to him, but it turns out that Naruto has a strong sleep grip.

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Oh man. Ya know how I said I scrolled through the story? I looked at the comments and I had no idea you guys were so invested in Kiba getting nailed by Hitori. I'll happen, don't worry