Before Deidara could even move—hands still forming seals, clay birds half-molded in his palms—he suddenly felt something tightening around his neck. Cold, iron fingers clamped like a vice.
He looked down, eyes bulging in shock, and saw Naruto standing right in front of his expression flat, almost bored.
"I honestly am not in the mood," Naruto said—voice low, calm, almost conversational.
The next second a powerful gust of wind exploded outward, razor-sharp, howling like a living storm. It tore through Deidara in an instant giving him chance to even scream.
The wind shredded him clothes, his paper like flesh, disintegrated in a violent swirl of white.
Naruto dusted his hands once casual, like shaking off flour then turned to Kabuto, who was slowly pushing himself up from the broken spike, blood trickling from his split lip, glasses cracked but still perched on his nose.
"You've grown stronger, Naruto," Kabuto said—voice smooth despite the pain—wiping blood from his chin. "I wonder how you fare against your friend Sa—"
Before he could finish the name, Naruto moved—in a blink, faster than sight.
One heartbeat Kabuto was standing; the next Naruto was right there—hand already clamped around his throat, fingers squeezing just enough to lift him off his feet. Kabuto's eyes widened. Glasses lasses slipping down his nose, hands clawing uselessly at Naruto's wrist.
"That's getting old, you know," Naruto said quietly, almost tired. "Always mentioning Sasuke when I'm around. You're not Orochimaru, you know that, right?"
Kabuto tried to speak—voice choked, air cut off but Naruto didn't wait for an answer. He simply launched him.
One flick of the arm—Kabuto flew backward like a ragdoll, body tumbling through the air. He crashed into more of the turtle's white spikes—*CRUNCH*—several breaking with sharp cracks as stone shattered and tumbled in a loud, rolling rumble down the shell's slope.
Dust and fragments rained down; Kabuto landed in a heap amid the debris, coughing blood, body crumpled against the broken rock.
Naruto sighed , long, almost disappointed—then turned away.
"Bro… just go. You have no chance of surviving this."
He walked off , boots crunching on the shell's surface. His hands slipping back into his pockets.
Ōnoki and his team landed in front of him—rock platform crumbling beneath their feet as they touched down. Kurotsuchi stood to Ōnoki's left black hair whipping in the wind, eyes wide; the large bodyguard Akatsuchi flanked the right arms crossed, expression stunned.
"Seems like you've dealt with the problem," Ōnoki said—voice dry, cane tapping once against the shell.
"Yeah," Naruto replied—casual, almost bored. "So when am I leaving this place? Or are you going to keep me here? And don't plan to deploy me?"
Ōnoki smiled, wrinkles deepening around his eyes. "You're smarter than you look, you know."
Naruto didn't respond, his attention shifting to Kurotsuchi instead.
She met his gaze—then blushed immediately, cheeks turning pink under his steady look. Her eyes widened slightly—heart skipping, before she quickly looked away, ponytail snapping.
Before anyone could speak—
A sudden surge Kabuto lunged from the rubble body twisted, teeth bared, he aimed for Naruto's back.
Naruto didn't even turn fully. In one fluid motion, leap, twist, kick—his leg whipped around like a comet.
*BAM!*
The kick landed square in Kabuto's midsection—force so sharp the air cracked. Kabuto's body folded around the impact—eyes bulging, breath punched out—then he was airborne again, launched off the turtle's shell entirely.
He sailed outward—tumbling through the sky—before plummeting toward the sea far below, disappearing into the churning waves with a distant splash.
Naruto landed lightly, foot touching the shell without a sound—then turned back to Ōnoki as if nothing had happened.
"So… what's the plan, old man?"
Ōnoki told Naruto that he was not to leave Turtle Island. The old Tsuchikage floated a few feet off the shell's surface—rock platform crumbling faintly beneath him—arms crossed, cane tapping once against the stone for emphasis. His small frame seemed almost comical against the massive white spike behind him, but the weight in his voice carried the authority of decades.
Naruto nodded slowly—pulling his hands out of his jacket pockets, letting them hang loose at his sides.
"What if I don't want to stay?" he asked—voice calm, almost curious, blue eyes meeting Ōnoki's without flinching.
Ōnoki chuckled—dry, raspy, the sound like gravel shifting underfoot.
"Then we'll have to stop you from going… using any means necessary."
Naruto chuckled too—low, easy, the corners of his mouth lifting just enough to show teeth.
"Well then… guess I'm staying." He shrugged one shoulder. "Don't want to fight the Legendary Ōnoki of the Particle Style. I'm sure you could eradicate my existence in a blink."
Ōnoki's eyes narrowed slightly—then crinkled at the edges with faint amusement.
"You're not wrong," he said, voice proud. "But I am old now. I have my weaknesses." He puffed out his chest—small, wrinkled frame somehow managing to look imposing. "In my prime, of course."
Kurotsuchi sighed beside him—long, exasperated—rolling her eyes so hard her ponytail swayed. She knew that tone; her grandfather could ramble for days about his past glory, the Dust Release that once turned armies to dust, the battles that left craters where villages once stood.
Naruto turned and began walking—boots crunching softly on the shell's rough surface, hands slipping back into his pockets.
'I am in no mood. God, why am I so bored? Maybe it's not me… but the author.'
『A/N: I seriously would like to end this fanfic soon.』
Ōnoki began carrying the turtle—hands raised, chakra flaring in faint green pulses as he lifted the entire island-sized beast into the sky. The shell groaned; waves churned violently below as the turtle rose—slow, majestic—spikes glinting like white spears against the dark clouds. Naruto watched from a high ridge—wind tugging at his jacket, hair whipping across his forehead—and smirked faintly.
'Yeah… I need that technique.'
Time passed—days blending into one another on the floating island. Naruto sat in one of the stone temple structures carved into the shell—simple, open-sided, overlooking the endless sea. He'd practically closed himself off from the world—legs crossed, back against cool rock, eyes half-closed as he talked to Kurama in the quiet of his mind.
"I didn't know you were a pussy," Kurama rumbled—voice deep, amused, echoing through the mental space like distant thunder.
Naruto smirked without opening his eyes.
"Come on, you know why I'm doing this. I only want time to pass. Can't enter the war too early or too late."
"Yes, I understand," Kurama replied, tails shifting lazily behind the gates. "But with the power you have now… I think you can afford to do that."
"I agree," Naruto said. "Still not going though."
Kurama snorted—low, mocking.
"You are a pussy."
Naruto laughed—genuine, head tipping back against the stone.
"Wow… you're really taking advantage of the slang from my past life."
"It works well in this situation," Kurama said with a nod. "Also, who's this Goku fella? I'm sure he can't even scrape one of my tails."
Naruto shook his head—disappointed, almost fond.
"Kurama… Goku could convince you to learn ballet. Through means that I refuse to say."
"Hmmm…" Kurama rumbled thoughtfully. "I don't fear him still. He doesn't solo or whatever you used to say."
Naruto sighed, long-suffering, leaning his head back further.
'Glazing Goku is the reason why the heart still beats. Then again, I did die… so did I stop glazing Goku before I died? Hmm…'
The mental space fell quiet—only the soft rustle of Kurama's tails and the distant crash of waves far below.
Naruto opened his eyes—staring at the temple ceiling, cracks in the stone forming faint patterns like constellations.
He exhaled slowly.
'Can't wait to see Hinata again'
And no, this isn't those cliche scenes where a character dies after saying something like t—
TO BE CONTINUED