[Zuo Ming] Bone Eater

He seemed to have seen the scene of that day again.

In the darkness, a huge beast was clamoring.The huge one-eyed eye of the monster kept spinning, emitting a bright red light.

The giant beast had ten tails, and its roar shook the heavens and the earth.Just one mouthful creates massive suction, engulfing sand and villages.

He stood far away, trying his best not to be swallowed, but his body still flew into the air involuntarily.

Later, he was swallowed, and felt the pain of gastric juice erosion in the dark, and felt the creaking pain of bones being squeezed by the monster's stomach muscles.But just when he was remorseful and angry that he was defeated by his subordinates, a clear and fiery golden light tore the monster's stomach, and he was released.

That ray of light still feels so warm and comfortable so far.

He once stared at the source of the light source for several seconds in a daze.

It seems to have seen many things in the past, and seen through some kind of righteousness.

Thinking about it carefully, that was the last time he felt Naruto's presence.The last time I felt alive, his breath.

And that golden light is also the most beautiful fireworks that Naruto left behind after the most tragic battle.

"!!"

Perhaps the pain brought by the memory was too clear, and he woke up from the dream.

Holding his chest, he felt pain there, and covering his head, he felt pain there too.

My whole body hurts, my nerves have been completely paralyzed and controlled by the sadness in my memory.

Naruto……

He sat in the dark, looking at the four walls, his brain was spinning tightly, but there were no thoughts.It just turns numbly and mechanically.His eyes were wide open, the muscles in his face were twitching slightly, and the sweat was streaming down.Only in the dead of night did he seem to return to some kind of reality.

He seemed to remember something, and his reason came back at this time.In his sight, everything began to blur.Tables and chairs, potted plants on the window sills, everything began to look like nothing.

No, no, it can't be!

He said so tightly to himself.Holding his head with his hands, he tried to calm himself down.

Fortunately, after several breath adjustments, his mind regained his composure, everything became concrete again, and he could see clearly again.

However, just as he calmed down a little, the sound of something breaking suddenly came from downstairs.When Sasuke heard it, he immediately crawled out of the bed and went downstairs quickly.

What happened? !

When I came downstairs, I saw a few broken bowls lying on the kitchen floor, surrounded by wet water, and there seemed to be muddy footprints of animals.

Under the moonlight, he followed the footprints vigilantly, but the footprints disappeared all the way to the backyard.

Just when he was puzzled, he suddenly heard the sound of ping-pong-pong fighting upstairs. He hurriedly chased after him, and vaguely heard the cry of wild animals in the dark and narrow corridor.

By the way, because they couldn't find any trace of the beast at night, they planned to suspend the topic and continue searching tomorrow.Then for two or three days, the family seemed to be constantly harassed by this thing, but it was never caught.I didn't expect this thing to come again without fear of death.

Thinking of this, he followed the sound and ran towards Naruto.

"Brother Guiyue, come quickly, that monster has appeared again!"

"where is it?"

"Brother Zunyue's room!"

Hearing that, he hurried to Itachi's room, but saw Itachi standing at the door, looking out of the window sill.

"It ran away? What are you doing, why aren't you chasing it?"

Seeing that after a while of fighting, Itachi watched the guy run away, Sasuke was simply baffled.

He hurriedly ran to the window sill to have a look, only to find that there were new paw prints on the wooden window rail, the same as last time.

If you look outside, you can't see anything.

"Damn, what are you thinking? With your ability, it's not difficult to catch this thing! Why let it go?!"

"..."

"Why don't you talk?!"

Sasuke was very angry, he grabbed Itachi's collar and asked in an unbelievable tone.

Although I don't know how harmful this monster is, it can actually break into Naruto's house without him noticing, and it is still rummaging through boxes and cabinets in the kitchen without anyone noticing. It can be seen that this monster still has two brushes more or less of.Maybe it's actually a trick of some ninjas from other countries.But Itachi actually watched it leave, which is a bit inexplicable!

However, if you look carefully, Sasuke will find that Itachi's eyes are a little weird, which Sasuke can't understand.

That seems to be a kind of compassionate color?

Is this a look of sympathy for that monster?

What's wrong with Itachi, he actually has sympathy for a monster? !

In the end what happened? !

Sasuke and Itachi exchanged eyes, but there was still no explanation, and the atmosphere inexplicably became colder.There is a bit of tension between the two brothers.

Fortunately, the door was pushed open at this time, and Naruto ran in, followed by the young Sasuke who heard the sound.

"What's the matter with you? Why didn't you go catch the monsters, but quarreled here?" The black-haired boy behind Naruto frowned and asked when he saw the two of them holding each other.

Neither of them answered, the black-haired boy sighed: "Forget it, I'll go and have a look."

After the words fell, he immediately left the room.Naruto looked at the back of Sasuke leaving, and always felt that the bleak midnight had covered him with a layer of lonely cold clothes.

He seemed to be in a bad mood.

Seeing Sasuke like this, Itachi didn't stop him.He just said to Naruto: "Sorry, I didn't catch it because I don't know how to deal with it. I hope you don't feel scared."

Naruto asked curiously: "So, brother Zunyue saw that monster? What does it look like?"

Itachi was silent, and said for a long time: "It's just what it looks like. This thing, as long as I'm in your house for a day, it will appear again. Because its target is too big, it might kill me. "

Naruto's face tightened, and he immediately said: "Then you have to be careful. Brother Zunyue, if it doesn't work, you should leave first."

Itachi listened and shook his head.

"I'm leaving, what will he do?"

He squatted down, put one hand on Naruto's shoulder, looked at him quietly for a while, and said: "I promised before, that I will live in harmony with my younger brother and live a happy life together. Although the latter did not fulfill it, But if I let him go, someone will be sad."

After saying this, Naruto stared at Itachi in a daze.He admired and said: "Yes, brothers should support each other. If you give up this bond and relationship, those who care about you will be sad."

When Itachi heard this, he closed his eyes and said softly, "Thank you."

After finishing the words, he looked towards the window sill, his eyes were as deep as the night.

It seemed that there was no longer any delay.I thought it would not be so fast, but if all these things grow out, it will be too dangerous.

***

I don't know why, the palpitations are so.When he was running, he felt that his thoughts were as empty as the vast sky.

Even when turning a corner, he was still insensitive, and was ridiculed by the black-haired boy beside him.

"What are you doing, idiot! Is my future self so useless? Hurry up, that thing is going to go away!"

"Don't talk, brat!"

He yelled loudly and quickened his pace, even far surpassing the boy himself.Then he took advantage of his eyes to conduct a wide-angle survey in the forest.

【What the hell is Itachi thinking? 】

His brother's eyes kept wandering in his mind, Sasuke was a little confused.

He didn't like the look in his eyes, found him annoying, and didn't even want to see him again.

But it felt like he was telling me something.

And at this moment, not far from them, he saw that figure that looked like a wild dog.But when he was about to get closer, Sasuke found that the monster looked a little strange. Its hands were like the claws of a crab, and the pattern on its body was also strange. When he saw the monster's face by accident, he was stunned, and for some reason, his heart beat faster up.

Although he didn't see clearly, he had a bad feeling.

【What does it feel like?

Why... why do I feel a little scared when I get close to it?

But it's not the kind of fear of the enemy, but it seems that I want to expose something that I can't say.

Why does that thing only attack Itachi again and again, why does it keep appearing in Naruto's house?

Could it be...]

Getting closer to the monster, Sasuke suddenly felt the same discomfort as at night, as if the surrounding scenery was about to disappear.Everything around began to turn into lines and shadows, and the colors began to distort.

He seemed to lose the world.

Sasuke's footsteps stopped, he covered his head tightly, and stood silent.

The black-haired boy quickly passed behind him and said loudly: "What are you doing, that thing is leaving! Hurry up!"

"Do not……"

"what?"

The black-haired boy looked back at Sasuke, but saw him staring straight ahead, his eyes and expression were very strange.As if frozen, his feet couldn't move any more.

***

"Ah, you're back, did you catch that thing?"

Seeing Sasuke and the black-haired boy come back, Naruto, who was sitting on the sofa waiting, immediately got up and asked.

The black-haired boy sighed and said, "I was about to catch it, but someone suddenly stopped. I don't know why."

This was his rare opportunity to talk to Naruto, so he took this opportunity and walked to Naruto's side while talking, but Naruto didn't let him approach, but walked quickly to Sasuke.

"Brother Guiyue, what happened?"

Sasuke didn't speak.

He looked up at the second floor, ran up immediately, and found Itachi.

Itachi was sitting in the room at this time, the lamp was dim, illuminating his ambiguous expression.Seeing Sasuke coming, Itachi said, "Did you find anything?"

Sasuke looked closely at Itachi, clenched his hands into fists, and gritted his teeth.

Seeing it, Itachi said softly: "I saw its appearance, and I also felt its desire to kill me. And I know that as long as I am still here, it will appear again, without warning, without warning. Gone without a trace. Because that's..."

"Enough, shut up! What do you want to say!" Sasuke stopped Itachi loudly. "Finally, Naruto is back. You saw him too. I just need to work a little harder, and I can change everything."

Itachi heard it, but didn't answer.

After a while he said, "Come back with me, I'll take you to see Naruto."

After saying this, everything around stopped still.

Whether it's the sound or the heartbeat.Sasuke stared blankly at Itachi, like a statue.

"Naruto……"

"I'll take you to see him, haven't you been looking for him?"

Itachi finished speaking, stood up, walked to Sasuke, looked at him and said:

"I know the regret in your heart, and I understand your pain. But you also feel that the world is collapsing bit by bit, and strange things emerge one after another. You have gained happiness for a short time, but you are constantly breeding enemies And the devil. The longing for Naruto made Naruto appear in your hallucinations. Because you wanted to protect him, you killed all the enemies here. The subconscious guilt about his being raped, Let you create Neji and Dou in this space. You think that you are not qualified to be with Naruto, so you leave this world with your young self in hallucinations. When you come back, this world has passed a year It’s time for you to miss and make up for everything. And now you hate me, and you create that beast that messes with me and even wants to eat me.”

"Shut up, you're talking nonsense!"

Sasuke said excitedly: "You actually said that I made that thing that I have never seen before?!"

"But I saw its face, which was exactly like yours. You saw it yourself in the forest. Otherwise, how could you let it go?"

Sasuke was stunned by this.

His hand clenched even tighter.

After Itachi finished speaking, a figure suddenly appeared in the window behind him.That's nothing else, it's a clone of Itachi.This avatar is holding an animal in its hand. The monster has two pincer-like hands, and its figure looks like a wolf or a dog.And when the monster struggled up and looked at Sasuke, Sasuke saw its face.

...is Sasuke's own face.

"I originally wanted to stay here with you for a while longer. But I heard that when a person is poisoned by this ruby, the hallucinations will become more and more strange, and even start to create creatures that do not exist in this world. That means that his brain has been severely deranged. If the monster he fantasizes looks like himself, it means that he has begun to split, and even started to harm himself. Sasuke, enough is enough. Let's go."

After saying that, Itachi walked up to Sasuke with a compassionate look, and said in a low voice, "Go to Yaomu, Naruto is waiting for you there."

His hand touched Sasuke's shoulder, but Sasuke took two steps back tightly and avoided it.

Itachi's words were terrifying, revealing something, but Sasuke still resisted and said:

"No, Naruto is here. That monster is just some kind of magical creature." Sasuke said nervously: "It's just a creature that hasn't been discovered before."

"It was born of your jealousy against me."

"Bullshit!"

After Sasuke finished speaking, he turned his head quickly, gritted his teeth and said: "I will prove that you are talking nonsense! Don't try to use Naruto to suppress me! Everything I do is for Naruto to get him back to me! You were just afraid that he would be snatched away by me, so you ran out and said these weird things!"

"Do I need to fight with you? As I said before, you subconsciously think that Naruto loves me, so Naruto in this world also actively approaches me. Your heart has been betraying you. There is no point in staying any longer. Sasuke! Everything here is fake. Naruto is, is not here. He has been dead for a long time."

Sasuke suddenly yelled, his eyes were red, and he drew his sword and rushed towards Itachi.

"shut up--!"

99. Homecoming

Assistant Sa was holding the knife heavily, his nerves were tense, and his eyes contained a strong killing intent. In his opinion, Itachi's repeated "provocations" had already reached the upper limit of his anger tolerance.

[Why do you keep saying those specious things!

Why must it be emphasized that Naruto has passed away and is irretrievable?

Damn man, don't you like him the most?Didn't you take him from me!

Why do you want to give up on him now, why do you want to prevent me from saving him! 】

All kinds of thoughts flashed through Sasuke's mind. In fact, rather than saying that Sasuke's anger had reached its limit, it was better to say that his mental endurance had broken through the tolerance range.

He didn't even know what he was doing.Obviously the monster that harassed the villagers and Itachi was right next to him, and it should be the monster he wanted to kill, but his knife unconsciously turned towards Itachi.

Are you running from something?

Are you afraid of something?

He doesn't know, doesn't know!

He only knew that it would be very dangerous to let Itachi continue talking!

With one slash, it almost passed close to Itachi's cheek, and after it dodged, he slashed again.

Sasuke's eyes turned purple again, and his attacks became more and more merciless.

Then they jumped into the dark night, the endless forest.Sasuke followed Itachi closely, wishing he could turn into a corpse right now.Suddenly he felt a change in his body, he felt his strength grow rapidly, and the speed under his feet was faster than before.Itachi, who had fled a hundred meters away from him, gradually moved away from him only a few steps away.

"The prerequisite for me to be able to enter the dream of your brain is to accept your unconditional spiritual domination. The most dangerous thing about this approach is that when you intend to kill me, you will be able to gain hundreds of times the power to overwhelm me, and you can also freely Transform your own ability to attack me. Sasuke, look at you now, you have got the power of a monster."

Even though he was running away, Itachi spoke methodically.He hoped that his words could wake him up, but Sasuke would not listen at all. Seeing Itachi was still running faster, he suddenly grew a pair of wings from behind, waving vigorously and flew towards Itachi.

The long knife in his hand has been plated with chakra, which can easily kill people. Sasuke's face began to change into the horrible appearance when he was eroded by Orochimaru. To put it bluntly, it is a new monster.

The chasing and killing lasted for half an hour. Finally, on a hillside, the speed of the person running ahead suddenly slowed down. Sasuke behind him saw the opportunity and raised his long knife and pierced the body of the person in front of him viciously.Blood gurgled and soaked the grass, and Itachi fell to his knees.

"Hmph, what's the matter? Can't run anymore? I still feel guilty, so I just caught him?"

The stabbed Itachi knelt on the ground clutching his chest, and said softly, "I just think it's useless to run away. If you just want to kill me, I'll let you do it."

"Yo, it's like saying that love is boundless. It's really disgusting to see you so indifferent."

"No, it hurts, but because you are my younger brother, and because he has told you to do so, I don't care about your hurting me. If you think this can relieve my anger, then you can hurt me whatever you want Right. Just, Sasuke, even if you kill me, please wake up quickly."

"Don't talk nonsense!"

The knife went deeper, and Sasuke also became excited: "Stupid Uchiha, stupid you. It's all because of this stupid world and your stupid teachings. I, I lost him. I lost Naruto !!"

After these words, some kind of repression was released, Sasuke became more and more agitated, and his face became distorted.

He let go of the suffocated breath, and shouted heartbreakingly: "What shit Uchiha, what shit elite, what shit world, what becomes powerful!! This is the education you gave me, what you hoped for me, Now I have done it, but I have nothing!! Naruto is dead!! I have nothing!! I have completely lost the meaning of living, and this is all because of you-!! It is you who killed me Killed like this! How good it was to kill me back then, how good it was to die back then!! Even if you let me live, don’t let me take revenge on you. If I knew that you were not a murderer at all, I wouldn’t have so many Resentment, I will not become a fool and idiot. In the end? I became a complete idiot, a lost dog. The person I love the most, he died!!! I became mentally ill, my brain has problems, not all Is it your fault??"

These words of deep resentment and despair were buried at this moment.

And at this moment, the truth that this world is just an illusion seems to be truly acknowledged and revealed.

These words stabbed Itachi's heart and made him feel extremely guilty.

His hands clenched into fists, trembling all over his body, and he said after a long time, "I'm sorry, Sasuke. As an older brother, I was wrong. The only thing I can do for you now is to get you out of here and let you start over."

"Start over? How do I start? You bring Naruto back to life, and I'll start over."

As soon as Naruto's name was spoken, Itachi's eyes were filled with despair.

Patter, it began to rain again, silently, I don't know who is sad.

Looking at his own shadow in the puddle, Itachi said in a low voice: "More than anyone else, I hope that he will appear again. Come back to me. If possible, every moment and every second of him back then, I hope Get it back. Even if it’s a word I said to me, an expression on my face. I want to come back to him. I miss him a hundred times more than my life. However, I can’t Let him come back. The only thing we can do is to keep the promise we made to him back then and let you and me live. Sasuke, let's go."

After saying these words, the knife was pulled out fiercely, and slashed fiercely at the person in front of him again. However, when the mind was in a state of confusion, the direction of the knife's swing was also chaotic. Although it was fierce, it was not sharp enough.Therefore, this knife was easily accepted. With a sound of "Dang", the knife was taken away and thrown away, but Sasuke was not beaten, but was hugged tightly instead.The arm that hugged him was his elder brother, his own brother Itachi Uchiha.

Both time and space fell into a stillness and blankness.Sasuke's body shook violently, but he didn't push away the person who was hugging him.He was just trembling for unknown reasons, and all the bones in his body seemed to be ringing.

Aware of this, Itachi put his hand on Sasuke's hair, and gradually stroked it more vigorously.It's like when Sasuke was young, when he was crying in his brother's arms, comforting him.

"Go back, I'll take you to see him! Here, you will only get further and further away from him."

He yelled again, louder than anyone who had spoken to Sasuke before.The sound resounded through the sky, and the short-haired man who was about to resist suddenly froze.

He can, now he has enough opportunities, as long as he has enough hatred to drive him to do so, he can choose to kill his own brother with one knife.

However, for some reason, maybe it was inspired by the brotherhood, maybe it was because he really wanted to see Naruto again, or maybe it was because Itachi repeatedly pulled him out of his dream at this moment, making him realize what he had done It shouldn't be, after a long time, tears slipped from Sasuke's eyes.

"Are you taking me to see him?"

"Yes, I will take you to meet him. Stop wandering, Sasuke, Naruto doesn't want to see you like this. I just feel Naruto's thoughts, so even if I risk my life, I will take you back. All of this, It's all Naruto's expectations, he hopes you are safe and sound, Sasuke!"

Naruto……

Naruto……

Naruto's name entered his ears again and again, and Sasuke's tightly clenched hand suddenly loosened.

The elimination of resentment allowed him to retract his weird wings, and his appearance returned to normal.

In the end, Itachi's apology and longing for Naruto made him give up his paranoid state.

Kneeling on the ground, he looked at himself in the puddle, suddenly lowered his head, choked up.

He actually knew it, he knew it from the very beginning, he didn't need Itachi to tell him, he also knew that this was just a world of his own dreams.

Everything here is fake.

He was just, reluctant to part with Naruto's shadow.

***

"Brother Guiyue, Brother Zunyue, do you really want to leave? After hearing that you killed the monster, Granny Tsunade was very happy and said she would promote you."

Sitting at the dining table, the blond boy asked the two people packing their luggage. Sasuke didn't answer, and Itachi whispered in a gentle tone:

"Well, Naruto, I want to take him out of this village. Because I have the whereabouts of the target he wants to find."

After saying this, Naruto was startled.

But soon, he smiled at Sasuke, who had his back turned to him: "Isn't it great, Brother Guiyue, I finally found him, so we don't have to wander and wander!"

But after saying those words, only a figure from his back answered him. "Eight Princes Returning to the Moon" never faced him.

Seeing this, Naruto felt strange, but he didn't speak, but the black-haired boy who was beside him ran over.

"What the hell are you thinking? Didn't you promise me to..."

The black-haired boy stared closely at the man in front of him. Every face looked so realistic and his behavior was so similar to himself. He didn't know how to answer, but itachi took the first step.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. We're leaving. In the future...if there is any future, please take care of Naruto."

Saying goodbye is as simple as that.Even if the young Sasuke had objections, Sasuke himself would not answer or explain.Because he said it in detail, he was afraid that he would lose control again.Can't control my heart.

Before leaving, he glanced at Naruto again, he saw that his doubts and reluctance were so obvious.The same goes for the black-haired boy, who looked at him with a completely incomprehensible and distrustful expression. He felt very stressed, and his spirit could hardly support him. If Itachi hadn't been pulling him forcefully, he might have stopped in his tracks.

But in the end, he still left this place.

only--

"Brother Guiyue!"

Before the two left, Naruto called after them.Sasuke stopped when he heard him laughing.

"Although I miss you, it's great to see you go home. Don't run so far willfully in the future. People who love you will worry about you. Some people are gone, but you remember him, he He will also remember you. All he wants is for you to be happy."

Hearing this, Sasuke's eyes blurred, and he quickly turned around, only to find that the road behind him was empty.

The blond boy disappeared.

"Naruto……"

He looked at the empty road and tears welled up.

***

"I'm sorry I kept it from you."

A month later, the two arrived at a beautiful and peaceful lake that was as bright as a mirror.Accompanied by Itachi's best friend, Yamazaki Shunji.Everything here looks very good, the trees are shady, the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant.The lake water is even more clear and cold, like blue brocade, quiet, gentle and elegant.

"Where is Naruto?"

He doesn't like to talk nonsense, he just looks forward to seeing through this area.He is searching for Naruto's whereabouts.At this moment, all he wanted to see was Naruto.

But Itachi standing behind him was silent for a long time, and it took him a long time to say something slowly.

Listening to his words at first, Sasuke's expression was always calm.

But after listening to everything, and after all the answers were answered, he opened his eyes wide and stared at the blue lake.

There was a sharp pain in his left chest, and he tugged at it, longing to know what it felt like.

Ten thousand arrows piercing the heart?

No, it's not that chic.

Distraught?

No, no, how could it be possible to describe all his feelings with only such words?

He just clenched his fists and trembled from his bones.Then, he suddenly stepped forward and ran towards the lake.

Stepping his feet into the cold lake water made his heart beat even more violently. He threw himself into the lake recklessly, and then dived into it.

"Sasuke—!!"

It seemed to hear such a shout behind him.But he didn't care at all.

He just sank into the lake with his eyes open.

In the turquoise water waves, he seemed to see his back.

Seeing the box of snacks he prepared for himself that he never ate, and hearing every word he spoke to himself.

He remembered the way he stood at the entrance of the village looking at his house before leaving Konoha, and remembered the promise he said would make his illness better.

I also remember his pale and gentle smile at the end.

【That day, I planned to leave this world with Naruto, so I took him into the canoe and lit the fire.But it happened to be seen by Yamazaki, and he dragged me back, but Naruto disappeared into the lake with the fire. 】

Will I never see your face again, Naruto? !

Tears were mixed with the lake water, and the black-haired man was heartbroken.

He searched eagerly for his figure in the water, but could see nothing.

Naruto!

Gradually, the fury drained from him, and he sank in the blue water of the lake.

With his eyes closed, he felt his breath.

The light penetrated through the lake, casting a bright golden light. He reached out to touch it, and his fingertips felt a little warm, as if touching his hair.

【Sasuke, are you back? That's great. 】

He seemed to hear Naruto saying that with a smile.It was as if I saw his blue eyes again, saw his tenderness and smile.

He couldn't hold back the tears anymore, and stretched out his hands, embracing the golden lake as if embracing Naruto, and then quietly sank into the boundless serenity.

Naruto, sorry.

I am back.