72. i will kill you

(1 Day to Go before the reset and we are kicked out of the less than 30 days section, So, I shamelessly ask for all your property... I mean powerstones!)

"Sorry, but Pervy Sage said not to wander off with strangers. Especially ones who sound like they have a kunai stuck where the sun don't shine!"

There was a beat of stunned silence from the other side of the door. Naruto's jaw dropped, his eyes wide with a mixture of horror and admiration.

Naruto didn't even understand the joke but it did sound cool.

Then, faster than either boy could react, the door exploded inward in a shower of splinters.

As the dust settled, two figures emerged from the doorway. One was tall and imposing, with blue skin and gill-like markings on his face. The other, slightly shorter but no less menacing, had dark hair and eyes that glowed red with the unmistakable pattern of the Sharingan.

Sora and Naruto found themselves face to face with Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha of the Akatsuki.

And Sora, in true form, couldn't help but quip, "You know, there are easier ways to enter a room. Knocking, for instance. It's this cool new trend, you should try it sometime Mr Shark Face and Mr Constipated Face"

As the words left his mouth, Sora realized that perhaps, just perhaps, he should have kept that particular thought to himself. The look in Kisame's eyes promised that this encounter was about to become very, very funny indeed.

While Sora was saying that, He weaved some hand signs and leapt back before the scary duo could do anything, an Explosive tag exploded, and beneath where they were standing, the duo leapt back and from the smoke came a barrage of water senbons, Kisame blocked it with his bandaged sword and Itachi used a kunai with deadly precision and speed and blocked all the senbons, He didn't even need to use his Sharingan for this.

They also were able to block the wooden splinters from hurting them by releasing a layer of chakra from their body.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sora had already exited the inn and were standing on the outer wall of the room they were residing a few minutes before, Naruto didn't need to take his bag as that was mostly containing rocks which he had carried for physical training. 

He always carried important stuff with him.

Sora and Naruto were walking on the wall of the inn, trying to escape from the Akatsuki members who had just broken into their room. The tension was palpable as they moved carefully, hoping to avoid detection.

Suddenly, Sora's instincts flared. "Jump!" he warned Naruto urgently.

Without hesitation, Naruto leapt away from the wall. Sora followed suit, his body twisting in mid-air. It was a good thing they reacted so quickly because, in the next instant, the section of wall they had been standing on was destroyed by Kisame's massive sword, Samehada.

As they fell, Sora's mind raced. They were in a vulnerable position, falling through the air with two S-rank criminals after them. He needed to do something, fast.

In mid-air, Sora weaved hand signs, summoning a large amount of water from the seal on his bracer. He manipulated the water to create a barrier between him and their pursuers, hoping to obscure their vision momentarily.

While still falling, He weaved some gang signs, Sora concentrated intensely, shaping the water into a dense, small projectile. With precise timing, he launched the water ball shaped like a small arrow at very high speed towards Kisame.

To Sora's horror, Kisame effortlessly batted away the water projectile with Samehada, like a baseball player, sending it hurtling back towards Sora at double the speed.

Time seemed to slow down for Sora. He realized with growing dread that his shape-shifting jutsu wouldn't be fast enough to dodge this attack. The water senbon was aimed directly at his head, and it was coming too fast.

In a moment of desperation, Sora's hands moved on instinct. He formed a shadow clone with one hand, crossing his index and middle fingers. Just as the water projectile was mere inches from his head, the clone materialized beneath him and yanked him downwards.

The water projectile whistled past, barely grazing the top of Sora's head. He could feel the rush of air as it passed, a stark reminder of how close he had come to death.

As they landed hard on the ground, Kisame's voice rang out, "Kid, don't play with water in front of me."

Naruto, who had just touched down himself, looked at Sora with wide eyes, having witnessed the near-miss. He gulped audibly, the reality of their situation sinking in.

Naruto wasn't able to process what happened as he only saw Sora launching a water projectile, a shadow clone forming and yanking him down, and a hole forming in the ground a few metres away from Sora, but Sora's expression was everything Naruto needed to know what happened.

Sora was shaken, his heart pounding in his chest. He had never come so close to death before, not recently at least and the experience left him rattled. However, he knew they couldn't afford to dwell on it. They were still in grave danger.

As Sora's clone prepared to use the Body Flicker technique to buy them some time to explode on the face of the scary duo, a shuriken whizzed through the air, striking the clone and causing it to explode. The blast caught Sora off guard, sending him tumbling across the ground.

When he came to a stop, Sora found himself in agony. His body was covered in burn marks from the clone's explosion, and to his shock and dismay, he discovered a shuriken lodged in his gut.

The pain was unlike anything Sora had ever experienced. Despite his training and bravado, he was still a six-year-old boy, and his pain tolerance was far lower than that of more experienced ninja. Unable to contain it, Sora let out an agonized scream, his small body writhing on the ground.

He never had been lodged with a kunai or shuriken in his body, yet alone this deep, He also had never experienced a shadow clone exploding a few metres away. Luckily He was able to minimize the damage by releasing chakra from all his body like how Hanabi does to counter Exploding Tags.

Itachi appeared next to Sora's prone form, his Sharingan eyes observing the boy's suffering with detached interest.

Naruto, seeing his friend or more like little brother figure in such distress, felt a surge of rage. His eyes began to turn red, and an orange-reddish chakra started to emanate from his body.

The situation had escalated rapidly, and both boys were now acutely aware of the vast difference in power between them and their pursuers. As Sora struggled with the pain and Naruto grappled with his rising anger, the true gravity of their predicament became clear.

They were in way over their heads, facing opponents far beyond their current abilities. And help seemed nowhere in sight.

As the situation intensified, a new presence suddenly burst onto the scene. Sasuke Uchiha arrived, his eyes blazing with fury as he took in the tableau before him.

"I will kill you!" Sasuke yelled, his gaze fixed on Itachi. The air around him crackled with killing intent, his emotions running high at the sight of his brother. He was having flashbacks of the day of the massacre.

Sasuke's hands flew through a series of hand signs, and the distinctive sound of chirping birds filled the air as he prepared his Chidori. However, as he readied his attack, his eyes fell on Sora's writhing form on the ground. The sight of the young boy in such pain seemed to fuel Sasuke's rage even further.

Sora was the only close person besides Team 7, heck on his list of people he hates, Sora would come in 12th Position, which is the lowest position!

For reference, the First 7 names on the list are Itachi 7 times, coz why not, On the 8th and 9th comes Sakura and that blonde fangirl, they are the most annoying ones among his fangirls.

The 10th Position is for Naruto, the 11th for Kakashi and there is no one in the 13th position and beyond.

Heck, Sasuke was even jealous of Naruto having a kind of brotherly bond with Sora.

His gaze then shifted to Naruto, noting the red eyes and the ominous chakra surrounding his teammate. At that moment, Sasuke pieced together what had transpired, and his killing intent doubled.