Chapter 55

"Really, either from the past or future, Konoha keeps interfering with my plans.", the mad Otsutsuki stated eyeing the kunoichi who possesses an aura he has encountered before.

"Where's Naruto?", Lhexi asks as soon as she arrives.

"Who knows?", the white-haired man replies as he shrugs his shoulders, his pale eyes seething with interest. "You. Are you a descendant of King Ryuujin perhaps?"

The girl takes out her sword and advances toward him. "I don't know any man with such a name."

"Is that so?", Urashiki's eyelids droop down, disappointed. "Well, in that case, I don't have any more reason to let you live."

He swings his rod, his hook flying toward Lhexi and she dodges in time by jumping into the air, swinging her sword as she did so. She counterattacks by slicing through the thin red thread.

"Your reaction time is quite fast.", he smiles before he twisted the handle of his weapon. "But, you're naive as expected."

Lhexi couldn't cut the angler thread and found it slicing neatly through her sword. She quickly retracts her weapon and jumps back only to feel a cold sensation piercing through her back towards her chest. She looks down, seeing a hook hanging loosely against her bosom.

Urashiki pulls his fish pole toward him and immediately lost his grin as he pulls the thread. He couldn't get her chakra. "How could another pest like you be so troublesome? Oh, it's one after the other."

She senses three chakra signatures and immediately ran forward, amplifying her speed with her lightning affinity. The Otsutsuki swung his rod once again, this time he intends to kill her rather than take her chakra, only to be blocked by the sword of the stranger who claimed to be Chitai.

"Go."

Lhexi didn't look back, knowing she was safe. She dashed inside the dark cave, her supposedly quiet footsteps echoing in the air. She came to a halt, looking around as she realized that something was wrong. She could feel the Kyuubi's chakra leaking.

"Naruto!", she shouts after realizing she couldn't feel Naruto's chakra signature because the immense dark chakra that surrounded the cave has buried his.

She flips her sword back to its sheath and walked as quietly as she could while looking around, trying to find an orange blob.

Hearing a heavy growl beside her, she turned her body to meet Naruto, in the cloaked form of the Nine Tail's chakra. She didn't say anything as she ponders how to deal with the situation. One wrong move and she might accidentally kill the boy who has lost himself.

She approaches him, raises her hand, and attempts to calm him down.

"Naruto, it's me.", she whispers, trying to be as gentle as she could be while she shortens their distance.

The boy, who was on all fours, took a step back, wary of the girl approaching him. "Naruto...it's alright...it's me..."

He hissed, his teeth seething with fume before he jumped up and swung his claws. Lhexi narrows her eyes, forming chakra around her palm.

"Sorry, this will hurt a little. I'll heal you later, don't worry."

As his sharp red claws approached her, she quickly stepped back and leaned backward. She encased her hand with chakra before penetrating through the red cloak of chakra in order to throw a backhand chop on his nape only to feel a stinging pain on her skin instead.

She retracted her hand immediately after and jumped away. She took a glimpse of her front hand and saw steam of vapor surrounding her burned skin. She reverted her attention back at once and saw Naruto gone who have now run to attack her from behind.

She pulled out a small sword from the holder attached to her hip and clashed against Naruto's next set of claw attacks.

Naruto's eyes were wide open and yet, he couldn't recognize anything. His skin burned with scorching heat and excruciating pain that he couldn't contain himself from screaming. He trashed around, swinging his claws, destroying everything that made a sound, that moved, that looked at him.

This all started ever since the white-haired man tried to take the Kyuubi hidden within him which weakened the seal.

It was draining, being angry at everything. But, he knew that releasing the fury and wrath, he kept deep within his heart for his whole life made him feel contented. He freely let go of his sanity and let the evil entity swallow his rationality as he rampaged.

Lhexi was frustrated, not because she wasn't able to quickly stop Naruto but, because of the look in his red-slitted eyes. The look of anger, contempt, and hatred in his eyes as he bore his gaze within hers made a great tremor overtake her whole body.

A tear tickled her cheek without her even realizing it.

Her chest was wrenched with excruciating pain, and she felt like her world lost its remaining color. With his every attack, her head fumbled with the screeching sound of nails down a blackboard.

With the next swing of his arm, she catches his wrist, burning her hand in the process even with the chakra she encased it with.

She touches his forehead, as she forms a ram sign. "Seal."

His eyes roll back to the back of his head then his body went limp. But before his body could even reach the ground, she extends her arms and encased him within her embrace.

She lets out a frustrated sigh after resting her chin on his shoulder. She strokes his radiant yellow hair, as the red chakra disappeared into thin air.

"Idiot...be more careful, will you? If something bad ever happens to you", she pauses as she buries her face in between his neck and shoulder. "I swear I'll fucking kill everyone.", Lhexi whispers into his ear but, was left unheard once again.

..........

"You're telling me you guys are shinobi?", Lhexi asks, her arms crossed over her ribs as she glares at the two.

"That's right. We came here on a mission to capture Urashiki.", the older man explained, sweatdropping at her glare.

They stood on a cliff surrounded by orange clouds caused by the sunset and the chilly wind that sent goosebumps all over their skin.

"Sorry, Alexa-san! We didn't mean to fool you..ttebasa.", Boruto bowed ninety degrees.

"You can stand up straight.", Lhexi orders trying to contain the anger boiling within her. She already knew that something was up ever since the two have appeared but, she never expected that an Otsutsuki was involved.

Boruto chuckles awkwardly as he scratches the back of his hair.

"Save your sorry for later, once you get rid of Urashiki.", Lhexi stated as she turns around. "If something ever happens to Naruto, I won't let you go back home."

Boruto grinned before giving her a thumbs up. "You can rely on us!"

She ignored the yellow-haired boy and locked eyes with the adult whose eyes didn't falter back at her. 'That gaze...again..."

She walked towards Jiraiya and Naruto who had just woken up from his deep slumber.

"Have you woken up?", Jiraiya asks as he sat next to his student.

"Ero-sennin...", he grumbles as he massages his neck. He was wondering why his body felt so stiff before he looked around.

"What happened dattebayo...? Why do you all look like you got into a fight...?", he trailed off before his eyes widened.

"Everyone here came to rescue you. You should be grateful to your girlfriend for saving you. And apologize to her later.", Jiraiya stated tiredly as he stood up from several hours of watching over the young boy.

Naruto tilts his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"The kyuubi took over your body, and you attacked Alexa. Thankfully, it didn't completely manifest or else you could have ended up hurting her."

Naruto's eyes widened as his hands dropped to the side. "Wha--? I did what...?" His blue orbs trailed toward Lhexi who simply stared at him.

Jiraiya placed his hand over Naruto's shoulder. "I'll leave you two alone.", he looks at the other two bystanders. "Let's go you two."

Boruto pursed his lips as he looks towards the pale and shocked expression his father made before he followed Jiraiya. Chitai followed close behind as they walked toward the forest.

"Lhexi-chan...I--...I'm sorry...", his raspy voice cracked as soon as they were left alone.

Tears brimmed in the corner of his eyes and his body trembled greatly when he tried to get on his knees. "I'm s-sorry..."

His eyes wavered around, trying to think of what to say with his empty mind. He looks up and meets her cold and calculating eyes. He stopped momentarily as he wondered why he felt so much fear.

He had always known that her eyes were so beautiful that even jewels were nothing in comparison. But, at that moment when she gave him that gold gaze, it was worse than the looks people threw at him.

'Stop it...don't look at me like that...like you're going to abandon me...'

"Naruto."

The blond looked up, she sounded so different, her dry voice lacked the sweet tone he used to hear.

"You should rest. I need to go somewhere."

Naruto had his knees remained stuck against the dry soil, his lips parting as he tried to talk. But, not a sound came out after Lhexi walked past him. He pursed his lips together to stop the tears that blinded his eyes from falling.

The setting sun came down with a burning sky, lighting up the mellow clouds in the twilight's calm. The sound of Naruto's low and rough, quivering breathing could be heard distinctively from the wind as his chest contracted painfully each time he took a fresh breath of air.

That day, the bond that connected them together began to slowly tear away. For the next several days, the blond boy was robbed of the chance to see and talk to her properly. However, he pushed this to the back of his head as he focused on training with Boruto first as instructed by Jiraiya in order to not fall for the same trap the Otsutsuki has used on him.

"Oi! What are you doing 'ttebasa?! You keep messing up!", he looked up at the similar face he looks at in the mirror every day. "Stop anything that's bothering you right now and focus on linking our chakra together."

"A-aH! Sorry! I was just distracted. slightly...slightly...", he places his hands a few inches above Boruto's before releasing the chakra from his fingertips.

Boruto bites his inner cheeks before shifting his eyes to the chakra that they were desperately trying to link together for the past few days.

'If Lhexi-chan was here...this would have been a piece of cake...'

Boruto's eyes widened, seeing an abnormal amount of chakra leaking from Naruto's palm.

"Oi! Oi! Oi! tou-s--Lord Jiraiya! This is bad!", Boruto panicked state got worse realizing Naruto was out of himself.

Jiraiya lowers the book he was rereading to see Naruto's lost expression and the fear in Boruto's eyes as the chakra grew larger than ever. He sighed first before he brought out a scroll, writing the kanji necessary to seal off the insane amount of chakra.

He punches his student on his head, pulling the boy back to reality.

"Ero-sennin...", he trails off as his hand traced towards the bump on his head, and only then did he feel the pain resonating. "Ouch! That hurts! What did you do?!"

"Brat! If you can't accept and live from a past rejection or at least use it as writing material, then you're not a real man! Getting dumped always makes a man stronger. But then again, men aren't meant to pursue happiness.", he crosses his arms over his chest as he heaves a breath of triumph.

Naruto gives him a black face as Boruto awkwardly deadpanned. "I didn't get dumped as you did with Tsunade-bachan. Lhexi-chan is just busy with something so, I can't meet her right now."

"Then why do you look so gloomy?", Jiraiya and Boruto simultaneously asked.

"Shut it! I'm fine! Let's go Boruto!"

------

The blue, azure sky that reflected its image against the calm river melted the girl's purple eyes as she sat on the slope of grass. She flutters her black eyelashes and by the second, she could no longer feel the heat of the sun. Staring down at the shadow of the figure who blocked the light for her, the corner of her lips lifted slightly.

"I'm a sensor and yet I didn't notice you."

Clouds drifted over them, casting a shadow drifted over the riverside.

"...Lhexi..."

She responds to her name and looks up, tiredly smiling at the frustrated look on his face. His eyebrows were scrunched together and he was contemplating the choice he made when he met with her.

"What is it?", she brings her knees towards her chest and hovers her crossed arm on top. "Chitai-san?"

She had a bored expression on her face hinted by a tired smile. It was just like how he last saw her, despite the lost purpose in her eyes caused by the hollow that consumed her heart, she was smiling back then.

He slowly raised three boxes of takoyaki tied together and nudged his head pointing at the food.

Lhexi raised an eyebrow at his gesture before she took the small gift using both her hands to show respect. "Thank you...I was hungry..."

"You should stop relying on soldier pills and eat a proper meal.", he suggested.

"I'm surprised you could tell at a glance.", she eye smiled before patting the grass next to her. "Then care to help me finish this?"

He unbuttoned his cloak and rested it over his arm before he quietly sat to watch the peaceful stream of the river.

"How are things going for you back in your hometown?", Lhexi asked as she watches the same river. Curious as to what happened in the future because the adult was not treating her negatively.

"I...", he paused before shifting his eyes toward the girl. "I'm waiting for someone..."

"You sound like you've been waiting for a long time."

"You're right...", his lips curved up as his hand traveled towards the inside pocket of his robe. He pulls out a bamboo sake bottle before he popped the lid off and swiftly took a sip.

"Do you usually carry that around?"

Lhexi's question made the grown man nod his head in return.

"Have you ever shared a cup of sake with that person you've been waiting for?"

He briefly stopped, his bottom lip touching the edge of the bottleneck before he pulled it away from himself. Lhexi was dumbfounded when the adult held the bamboo sake bottle in front of her, offering her to drink.

"It seems like you haven't.", Lhexi giggled lightly before taking the offer. "Thanks..."

She lifted the bottle towards her nose, sniffing the sweet aroma of pears. As soon as the smooth and light wine touched her lips and slid onto her tongue, she savored the sweet taste accompanied by an astringent sensation.

She looked at the bottle after she felt her cheeks heating up. "It's bitter.", she passes it back to him before she could gobble it whole.

The corner of his lips twiched up, amused before he finished the whole bottle.

"I didn't know you were that type.", Lhexi mused.

He props the bottle back to his pocket. "Today is special."

The girl raised her brows before she giggled to herself. Ah, the sake must have already gone to her head. She could already feel her cheeks heating up. Her new body sure is a light drinker.

The man was tipsy but, not as drunk as the girl who have been muttering incoherent words as she jabs her forefinger on his chest.

"Do you even know...hic...what I feel...?! Huh?! I...like takoyaki...! But! Where's the Okonomiyaki sauce...?!...are you an idiot or something...?". She pokes one takoyaki before throwing it in to her opened mouth. "...umai...!"

"There's only one shop that sells takoyaki here.", he responded smiling at the drunk girl who kept filling her mouth with food.

"Ah...", she pauses as she chews on her food.

"Lhexi."

"What? Wanna pick a fight?", she glares as she clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"I met someone just like you in the past.", the man starts and Lhexi crossed her legs as she straightened her posture. "She was a bright girl, warm and kind, one who would do anything to protect those dear to her. The moment she stepped into my life, I did nothing but kept on chasing after her. I wished that one day, I would be able to stand next to her, as her equal and as her other half."

Lhexi tilts her head to the side. "So...what happened?"

"I was too busy chasing after her that I didn't look at the path she was taking. I never considered her emotions and thought of her as a trophy. One that I must take no matter what. I thought that I could easily find someone like her, that I could abandon her but, I was abandoned instead. At one point I asked myself, would she feel what I felt if I did the same thing first?"

She smirks as her shoulders raised in entertainment. "Even when you're already this grown and proper...you're still a lovesick puppy.", Lhexi scratched her arms as her eyes got droopy. "Aren't you...Sasuke?"

She blacked out and fell forward. Sasuke's eyes dilated as he holds her by her ars after hearing his name from her lips. But, before he could even ask her how she knew, she have already fallen asleep on his lap.

The sun kissed her pale skin, lighting up her dark eyelashes and her features as she curls into a ball. Her pudgy lips touched her thumb as she slept peacefully.

Sasuke watched her breathe slowly with an impeccable expression on her face. He tucks a lock of hair behind her ear as she pursed her lips lightly, feeling a rough sensation brush against her skin.

"I forgot to tell you one more thing...I..."

His hand slowly slinked from her silky hair down to her dainty neck, where his fingers slowly grappled around her. He could feel her pulse beating slowly from the veins on her neck before he slowly pressed his thumb followed by the rest of his fingertips.

Just to what extent can the future change with the snap of his wrist?

"Oi! Shishou!"

He turns his head towards the familiar voice.

Right. That child won't exist.

..........

The sound of a knife hitting the floor made Lhexi's shoulder jump slightly. She looks around at all the dishes prepared on the table as she wonders why she was cooking breakfast for a group of people when she usually eats alone.

"How odd..."

She bends down picking up the knife when her eyes caught a familiar silhouette outside her window.

"Today is special..."

Running towards it, she slides opens the glass door to see Sasuke looking back at her, a little surprised. He was about to open the door to welcome himself in her apartment.

"Sasuke...?" 

An irk mark grew on Sasuke's face as he sees Lhexi's expression. "What? You look disappointed? Were you expecting someone else?"

"Not really...", she replies a little weirded out at herself. A strange wave of pain travelled to her head and she clutches her hair in return. Two strange yet familiar silhouettes flashed in her head and she creased her eyebrows at this.

"You're really pretty Lhexi-san!"

"...wished that one day...stand next to her...half...her equal..."

"Oi.", Sasuke suddenly grabs her by her wrist pushing her back to reality. "Did you eat something?"

Lhexi softly pushed him away. "Ah...I'm fine...just a little dizzy...", like someone forcibly erased my memories.

Her shoulders tensed at Sasuke's familiar touch when he placed his palm on her forehead and another hand against her neck. "You're not burning, not cold either...just what were you doing...idiot..."

"Anyway...just take a rest for today...do you have medicines with you?", he sighs as he pulls her towards the living room.

"They're in the cupboard."

Sasuke immediately notices the food prepared on the table. "Surely...you must be expecting someone else apart from me."

"Then that person must be a big eater.", she giggled lightly as she rests her head against the soft pillow on her sofa.

"Just how many servings did you cook by yourself?", Sasuke pondered as he grabs the kit box finding capsules and pills that relieves headaches.

"Perhaps around 7 if I'm not mistaken."

Sasuke sighed, just who the hell was she waiting for? "Eat something first then you can take your pills later."

"Alright...let me sleep first...", Lhexi replies as she covers her eyes with her arm.Hearing the sound of wood creaking, her eyes glanced at the young boy pulling containers from the kitchen cabinet.

She blinked her eyes as she watches Sasuke filling the containers with food while making sure they were evenly distributed.

The corner of her lips curled up before she resumed her little nap.

Naruto grumbled at the sound of knuckles hitting the door. He yawned loudly as he stretch his arms out while tiredly walking towards the entrance. He scratched his chest as he felt a rough part of skin. He stopped, lookimg down at the scar that stretched around the center of his chest.

He didn't pay it any mind and thought that it would probably go away in no time.  

"Who would wake me up this early...?", he rubbed his eyes before his body momentarily froze realizing there could only be one.

"Eh...!", he frantically rushed towards the door as he twisted the knob anticipating a black haired girl--only that it was a boy.

Sasuke stared back at the cerulean eyes of his teammate. "What? You look disappointed, were you waiting for Lhexi?"

Naruto heaved a heavy sigh as he began to close the door. But before he could do that, Sasuke kicked his butt out of the way and proceeded to enter his home.

"Konoyaro!", Naruto screams as he holds his fist in the air.

Sasuke didn't say a word as he left packed food on his table. He went on to open his fridge, taking the milk carton before pouring the liquid into the sink causing Naruto to panic as he runs beside the Uchiha, wailing his arms above him.

"Oi! Sasuke! You're going too far! I haven't even opened that one yet!"

"Shut up, usuratonkachi. It's way past the expiration date."

"But it was on sale."

Sasuke threw the carton into the trash can as his eyes glanced at the clothes hanging neatly outside the window, his laundry basket was empty.

"Have you been cleaning your aparment lately?", he asked a little surprised himself.

"Huh? Ah, Lhexi-chan is gonna nag me again if I don't, you see. And Boru--", he abruptly stopped.

"?", Sasuke tilted his head to the side slightly.

Naruto crossed his arms as he stare at Sasuke's onyx eyes, confused at the name that slipped out of his tongue. "Bo...? Huh...? Who was it again...?"

A/N

Man, I think I faced writer's block 'cause of this arc. I was thinking of dragging this arc to two more chapters but, I got bored.

Thanks and sorry guys for making you wait. PEACE!

Next Chapter:

"Get rid of her."