"Guys..." Ariza said, her breathing less rapid, and drawing her sword. "I... will kill you all!"
"Ari, don't obey them! You don't want this, Ari!" Naruto shouted, not believing his ears.
"Naruto, remember when I said I wanted to see all of Ariza's power?" drawing the tekko-kagi, I took a stance.
"Uh-huh," Uzumaki nodded unusually maturely.
"Well, I don't want that anymore."
"Too late," Ari said and instantly vanished from my sight.
"Damn! Where is she?!" Jiro shouted a second before all the air was knocked out of my lungs. I caught her strike out of the corner of my eye but couldn't block it. Rolling twenty meters across the ground, I noticed she'd managed to attack everyone. Jiro lay ten meters from me, clutching his eye in pain; a bit further lay Naruto, who seemed knocked out by the blow. And next to him lay Makoto, also out cold.
To scatter us all in one instant, I thought, pressing my hand to my wounded stomach. I hadn't even imagined how far ahead of Naruto and me she'd gotten in strength. I'd cherished the thought of protecting my beloved, but now I realized just how strong she really was. And how much she'd trained for it, spending nights on the training ground!
I often asked myself: "Where's she rushing to?", "Why chase power?", "Why train so hard?". I never understood. It takes the strongest motivation. Naruto has it—he wants to become Hokage. I do too—I want to surpass my brother. Yeah, not insanely strong, but it's there. To be at least equal to him, so they don't look at me like a defenseless kid. Even Jiro has one. But what's hers? Why? Why?
All the other girls in the class often hang out in cafes, at hot springs, constantly pamper themselves, and shop for new stuff. Just like everyone else. They're more future moms of the next generation than shinobi.
But not her. Not Ari. She spends all her time on training grounds, in battles, training. Constantly. Endlessly. Runs to different sensei, asks for advice, guidance. Torments herself to exhaustion, as if it's not her who'll raise our heir later. Her record, as I recall, was five days of nonstop training. I found her after and carried her home in my arms, scolding her along the way. Why push yourself so hard?! It's not wartime. No war's brewing. Yeah, there was the conflict with Suna, but genin mostly didn't participate.
So why chase power so hard? She's told me more than once that her dream life is just staying home in peaceful times, caring for kids, keeping the house, and inventing new techniques. So why overexert?
Whenever I asked about it over and over or said she shouldn't strain so much because I'd protect her from all troubles, she'd condescendingly hug me, as if she wanted to protect me from something scary.
I'd never really thought about my girlfriend being stronger than me. Yeah, it interested me a lot since she always hid something. But I didn't see her as a rival. I have two rivals—my brother and Naruto. And putting your beloved as a rival is wrong. I want to protect and shelter Ari, not fight her. I want to hold her tight and save her from the cruel world. I want her always by my side. Trusting, believing in me, loving only me.
She's as important to me as family, since she's basically my future family. The one I want to share the rest of my life with. Life without her is pointless. Without her, I see no meaning in anything.
Next to her, I lose control
"You okay, Sasuke?!" Jiro called out, pulling me from the abyss of emotions, and activating his Sharingan, stood up.
I decided to follow his example and, struggling to my feet, activated my Sharingan and looked at my teammate's chakra. It circulated completely differently, not like before. She was under the strongest genjutsu. If it even was genjutsu. Either way, it needed to be dispelled somehow.
"Can you fight?" Jiro asked, coming closer to me.
"I think so," I replied, and we both looked at Ariza. She stood with her eyes squeezed shut, holding her sword.
"Why didn't she strike with it? She could've killed us all with one swing."
I was worried, very worried for her. How do I save her? What do I do?
"Seems like she's resisting, Hitoshi," the shark-head said to his comrade, who just snorted in response.
"Ariza, you don't want this! You're with us! You're our friend!" Jiro shouted convincingly. And the word "friend" got to me. I remember a few months ago when he and Ariza got close, I was insanely jealous. If I couldn't picture Ari and Naruto together, Jiro fit the role perfectly. Back then, I even met him specially and made it clear Ari was mine. He patted my shoulder and cheerfully said Ari couldn't wait to marry me. I mentally choked at that. I know I'm not great at reading people, or more precisely, if not pointed out, I won't get what someone feels for me. But Jiro was different. He saw right through people and understood them. Next time we brought up Ariza, he said she felt a lot for me but wouldn't show it actively. She's not like the other girls in the class. She's more shinobi, hides feelings more, relies on logic and strength. It attracts and intoxicates, but also tenses.
She's always on combat readiness, as my brother said when he first met her. I was a kid then and didn't get it. But now I do. With her, I feel easy and relaxed. But in moments when talk turns to fights and training, she gets tense and serious. I just hope someday it'll pass and she'll become more open, more trusting.
"I think it's useless trying to call out to her," I told Jiro. "We either take down your brother Hitoshi or try touching her and dispelling the illusion."
"Let's try the second first. I know my brother's very strong, and no matter how much I want to fight him now, I won't win."
"So that's how it is…"
Jiro's very restrained and smart. If I were in his place, I'd probably lose control and charge in rage and fury. But Jiro has incredible shinobi endurance; reason guides him, not feelings. I've always envied him and my brother for that.
"Anyway, let's move," Jiro didn't finish before Ariza vanished from sight again. This time we spotted where she went, and we had enough speed and reaction to dodge the big fireball.
She outclasses us in speed and strength. And probably in taijutsu and ninjutsu too. All that's left is kendo and genjutsu. And even that's not certain.
"We're in deep shit," flashed through my mind. Key is figuring if she thinks during attacks or if genjutsu controls that; if she fights smart, we probably won't win.
Then we engaged her in battle. She smoothly parried strikes, dodged, and attacked. Only when weapons entered did we gain some edge—she was weaker at it than me. But just a bit. Now I understood the Sharingan in her eyes was just a technique effect. Her reaction was better than usual but she didn't predict attacks or create genjutsu. That eased things a bit. A real Sharingan would've been game over.
Realizing she couldn't take us that way, she jumped back several meters to catch her breath and rest a bit. We did the same.
Scanning the training ground, I suddenly spotted her clones.
She'd made them before the technique. But why? Doesn't matter—they're probably on her side.
I pulled kunai and threw at them, but both synced, opened their eyes, and deflected the weapons. Only then did I notice their eyes had changed, more beast-like than human—black vertical pupils like Kiba's. And the eye color changed: bright blue, iris glowing. Black-gold pattern around the eyes. It distracted me for a second—I couldn't tear my eyes from the clones; they were incredibly beautiful.
The clones, spotting us, were instantly beside us.
They're even faster than Ariza! I didn't see them at all!
"What happened?" one asked, and Jiro and I looked at him in surprise.
"You're not under the technique?!"
"What technique?" one clone asked.
"My brother cast genjutsu on her, and now she's fighting us," Jiro pointed at Ari standing ahead.
"Damn! Did she hurt anyone?" Ariza's clone asked immediately.
As always, thinking of others first.
"She knocked out Naruto and Makoto," I nodded at them. One clone instantly appeared next to them, the other hissed:
"Are you idiots or what, leaving them?!"
"What are y—" Jiro didn't finish before Ariza threw kunai at us, but we all dodged.
"Jiro! To Naruto NOW!" Ariza's clone shouted, and turning, we saw Hitoshi running straight at Uzumaki. The Uchiha didn't argue and ran to his comrades. "They came for the Jinchuriki, and you left Naruto alone!" Ariza's double landed nearby.
I didn't get to respond—the real Ari lunged with new force. She channeled fire along her sword, forcing me to counter with lightning.
Ari's clone stood aside watching—she said if Ari dispelled her or she got hurt, all the accumulated chakra and power would transfer to the original, and then I couldn't beat her.
With every strike, I thought one thing—don't hurt Ariza badly. She wanted to kill—that was clear—but I didn't want to harm her. I'd never wanted to raise a hand to her off the training ground—I couldn't even imagine it. And I think she felt the same.
A minute into the fight, I barely managed to knock the sword from her hand and tackled her to the ground, grabbing her arms. Touching her and staring into her eyes, I stopped her chakra circulation. One tomoe vanished. But the Sharingan in her eyes said it wasn't enough against the technique.
So how the hell do I save her?!
At my futile attempts, she just smirked slyly and vanished in a smoke cloud. Substitution?! As she disappeared, I heard the hiss of explosive seals under me and, looking down, saw a log covered in explosive seals.
It'll tear me apart! I won't make it!
Suddenly someone appeared and shoved me hard aside. In the air, I saw it was Ariza's clone, who vanished in the explosion cloud a moment later.
Thanks…
Grouping on landing and plowing several meters of earth, I stood right up.
I stared into the fire, expecting attack any second. But suddenly a scream echoed across the clearing. Turning, I saw the rogue ninja holding limp Jiro by the throat, then hurling him into a tree with a crack, the immobilized guy falling. After, Ari's clone appeared before Hitoshi, guarding the just-awakened Naruto and Makoto.
What did he do to him? I didn't finish thinking before shuriken whistled through the air.
Deflecting them all, I watched Ariza emerge from the smoke. Her eyes had changed even more. No longer like Sharingan or the blue eyes. Something in between.
What the hell is this technique?! When did you get this strong?
Angered by my weakness, I charged her. But this time it was different.
She reacted instantly, attacks fast and incredibly strong. In seconds, several ribs cracked. I couldn't form seals for substitution or Chidori. She gave no breathing room.
She struck my chest a few more times, and flying dozens of meters, I plowed the ground face-first.
She always held back in spars with everyone, but not now. No mercy. She's strong… Very… Or… am I weak? And I haven't even touched her… Not once…
I realized I couldn't stand. I tried, but all I did was spit blood and gasp. Vision doubled. Sharingan faded. All I could do was watch her draw a kunai and approach.
Is this how it ends? Here? Damn… I thought I was the strongest on the team.
Thoughts grew muddled and sluggish. I realized I was sinking into darkness. Into the abyss…
But suddenly a man in a green vest landed before me—I recognized Kakashi-sensei. He turned over his shoulder and looked at me puzzled.
"O-na… kh. In illu…sion… kh," I hissed through the pain, and the last thing I saw was Kakashi's nod.
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: Granulan