Naruto: Faint Smile - CH 81

[Arata Takeshi - POV.]

I watched the Masked Man with a mixture of amusement and contempt as he threw another barrage of attacks at me—flames, earth spikes, explosions—none of it made any difference. Each one hit, ripping through my flesh, tearing fur and scales, but I didn’t flinch. I didn’t even bother dodging.

Why should I?

This body… this —power—. It was glorious.

This power, this hunger, this existence—I had never felt anything like it. I couldn’t imagine why… I ever tried to stop this, to fight against this, to fight against this pleasure. I had become something more than a pathetic kid clinging to what little he had. I had become something more than human. I had transcended.

Every move I made, every breath I took, I felt it. A deep, almost primal level of pleasure, of joy. Being like this—this monstrous form—felt right. It was like my body was always meant to be like this, and now that I was… I was free. No more limitations. No more weaknesses. Just pure, unrelenting power.

I yawned, looking at him, a faint smile on my maw, as his attempts failed to do a thing. No matter how much damage he dealt, I regenerated it faster than he could deal it. My skin, flesh, and bones knitted themselves back together almost instantly, the pain disappearing before I could even register it. It was almost laughable, really. He was desperately trying to hurt me, to stop me, but nothing he did mattered. It was like being swarmed by insects—annoying, yes, but harmless.

Hm… maybe not insects, I didn’t like insects… but the point stood.

The more he fought, the more I wanted to devour him. His fear was delicious. His desperation even more so. And his despair… would be the final ingredient to make this meal perfect.

I glanced down at the Masked Man, his body still phasing, still intangible, trying to buy himself time. It had been a few minutes since he activated that annoying technique, trying to use every bit of time he had to turn the situation in his favor.

He hadn’t figured it out yet, had he? How futile it all was.

I supposed it was time I stopped playing with my food. Lady Mikoto would get mad at me if she saw me, and we couldn’t have that, could we?

With a sickening grin, I reached out, moving faster than he could react, tearing a chunk of his leg from his body. My claws sank in, ripping flesh and bone clean away. His body jerked in shock, a gasp of pain escaping him as I bit down on the severed limb. Blood filled my mouth, warm and thick, the taste bitter, downright awful—like dirt, like shit… and metal—but satisfying all the same.

Ahhh… yes. This was what I wanted. What I needed.

The Masked Man stumbled back, alarm clear in his eye. He was panting, confusion written all over his face. He was trying to make sense of it, to figure out how I had managed to reach him when he was intangible.

How adorable.

“How…” he gasped, clutching the bleeding stump of his leg. “How did you—?”

I chuckled, wiping the blood from my maw with the back of my clawed hand, licking every last drop. "How did I touch you?" I mimicked his tone mockingly with a low growl, savoring the growing fear in his voice. "Well… that was rather simple.”

He watched me, trying to stay calm, but I could sense it—the rising panic beneath the surface.

"You see," I continued, grinning wider, “while you were throwing everything you had at me, I decided to watch… to feel your annoying little trick. That technique you kept using to keep me from eating you.”

I took a step closer, my claws flexing, dripping with blood. “At first, it was infuriating. Sure, I knew you would run out of time soon, but still… knowing that I couldn’t get close. I couldn’t touch you, it was like waiting for the food to cool down… But then…”

I paused, watching as his eye widened, the realization dawning on him far too late.

“I started to sense something. A faint trace… a flicker of chakra, even when you were phased. You weren’t really gone. You were still there, in between—just enough to leave a mark. And once I felt that little sliver of you…”

At this, I began to vibrate my arm in front of him using my chakra at the same frequency as his phasing state, the motion so fast it seemed my arm was gone. “All I had to do was match it.”

The terror in his eye was intoxicating. He knew now. He understood what that meant. He finally realized his place in this world, his place in the food chain.

“You really thought I was going to let my meal decide when I get to eat it?” I snarled, my voice a low, guttural growl. “Don’t you get it? You are nothing but food… you are no threat to me, no enemy to me, you are nothing but food… and I’ll rip you apart piece by piece, no matter where you hide.” I leaned in closer, savoring every second. “So, run all you want. It won’t matter.”

Watching my prey take a step back, I grinned, ready to strike again, the taste of blood still fresh in my mouth, the pleasure of ripping into him thrumming through my veins as my hunger gnawed at me, demanding more, demanding I finish this, demanding I had my fill.

Wasting no time, I lunged forward, claws extended, savoring the moment, but then—something shifted. Something… changed.

A sudden fog crept into my mind, clouding my thoughts, slowing my movements. I froze, my clawed hand hovering in the air, inches from tearing through him. The world around me flickered, as though something was wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

My head… it felt heavy. Wrong.

I growled, shaking it, but the sensation didn’t leave. My thoughts… were muddled. Why had I stopped? I should be finishing him—devouring him. That’s what I wanted. Wasn’t it?

I blinked, stumbling slightly, my hand dropping to clutch my head. Why was I… questioning this? Of course that was what I wanted… I was hungry, and he was my meal, so why was I questioning the natural order of things?

For a moment, everything felt distant. The hunger, the rage, the pleasure—it was all still there, but muted somehow. A part of me wanted to rip into him, to have my fill as it was my right, but another part… something deep inside me, something I think I had forgotten, was clawing its way up, scratching at the surface.

“What am I doing…?” The words slipped out, almost involuntarily.

Something was wrong. I wanted to tear him apart, but now I felt like… like I didn’t know why. My claws twitched, still aching to strike, but a dull whisper echoed in the back of my head, pulling at my thoughts, making me hesitate.

—What’s happening?— 

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[Uchiha Shisui - POV.]

I could feel my chakra draining fast, as fast as the black creature filled it back up, my body trembling with mental exhaustion, but I couldn’t stop. I —wouldn’t stop—. My right eye burned as I poured everything into it, pushing the Kotoamatsukami to the very limit, pushing everything I had into Takeshi’s mind, trying—begging—for it to work. But this… wasn’t enough, I had managed to plant the seeds of doubt, but they were so faint, so weak, that they wouldn’t hold for long. Takeshi had changed, he had become a monster, something new, and the thoughts I was injecting inside his mind were nothing but whispers against a tidal wave of hunger and hate that now resided inside him.

I could see that… he was confused, hesitating. But it wasn’t enough. He would break free of the Kotoamatsukami eventually.

The black creature—hovered nearby, feeding me more chakra, keeping my reserves at full power. I hated the fact I had to rely on my enemy to do this but I knew that without his help, I would have collapsed long ago, that without his help there was little to no chance to save my friend. I didn’t know what its true agenda was, but for now, I took solace on the fact that our goals aligned.

"You need to do more, Uchiha… your power isn’t holding up," The black creature hissed at my ear, and he was right, from where we were I could that the thoughts I’d had planted weren’t holding, they were breaking one by one, like paper. His mind was too strong, and too far gone. Whatever humanity was left inside him, whatever friendship we once had, was buried beneath layers of rage and hunger. And despite the fact I could reach his mind, I—I wasn’t strong enough to do anything.

—Damn it!— My chest tightened, watching the monster wearing my friend’s body snap out of my control. No matter how much chakra the black creature gave me, no matter how much I tried, the result would be the same… My Mangekyo… The Kotoamatsukami—it simply wasn’t enough. I couldn’t save Takeshi by just… implanting thoughts, suggestions, I needed more that just that.

My vision blurred from the strain or maybe I was starting to go blind for the overuse of my Mangekyo, either way I clenched my teeth in desperation clawing at my mind. I wanted Takeshi back. I —needed— him back. Itachi and him, they were like my little brothers… and this couldn’t be how it ended. Not like this. I couldn’t lose him to this nightmare. He was still in there—he had to be.

That arrogant faint smiling bastard was far too prideful to let this consume him.

"Is that all you can do for your beloved friend? Uchiha?" The Black creature hissed at my ear, mocking me. "I can’t continue fueling your chakra for much longer, once my reserves run out… you will lose everything."

He was right, if I didn’t stop Takeshi now… I would not only lose him, but everything else. Once he was done with the Masked Man, he would go for the others, he would go for me. And after that… there was no telling what he would do.

Would he hurt the village? Would he hurt Mito? Lady Mikoto?

I didn’t know, but I couldn’t let it happen. Takeshi would never forgive me if I didn’t stop him from doing that. "I won’t let that happen!" As I said those words, something within me snapped, a deep crack of desperation that rippled through my whole body. Flooding every part of my mind, my very soul. And then I felt it—a surge, a burning heat behind my left eye. My vision blurred and sharpened, and I knew something was different.

My left eye… it was spinning. I could feel it. It was alive with power I didn’t even know I had. And just like that, I knew what the power of my left eye was.

The power of my eyes… was like a coin, two sides spinning in tandem. One side whispered—a subtle suggestion, a nudge so gentle it felt like your own thought. It plants seeds of doubt, of hesitation, weaving itself quietly into the mind. The other side, though... the other was control. Absolute. Unyielding.

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[Arata Takeshi - POV.]

I shook off the strange feeling in my head, that dull fog creeping in and out, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. My hunger surged, and with it, my focus snapped back to the Masked Man. He was still standing there, bleeding, faltering—but he was still alive. Not for long.

With a snarl, I lunged forward, closing the distance in an instant. My claws tore through the air, slicing cleanly through the Masked Man’s other arm—this one was different, though. White, gooey, unnatural. I stared at it for a second, my lip curling in disgust as it fell to the ground with a wet splat.

“What the hell is this? A vegetarian option?” I growled, almost amused by the absurdity of it.

I was ready to finish him, to tear him apart piece by piece, when suddenly, a sharp pain pierced my skull. I froze, my hand halfway raised for the next strike, but my thoughts... they weren’t my own. My head… something was wrong. I clutched my temples, trying to push through it, trying to stay in control, but the pressure was building, like a tidal wave threatening to drown me.

I blinked, and everything around me shifted.

Suddenly, I wasn’t in the forest anymore. I was somewhere else, somewhere familiar yet… new, like a dream I couldn’t place or a memory. It didn’t take me long to figure out where I was, my mindscape, I hadn’t been here in so long, and yet, somehow... I wasn’t alone.

Sitting in front of me, calm and composed, was Teresa. Her silver eyes gleamed in the dim light, her expression unreadable but somehow... knowing.

"Well, aren’t you lucky?" she said, her voice cutting through the fog in my head like a blade. "Your friend has quite the peculiar power. Strong enough to overcome even the will of someone on the verge of awakening. I had my doubts for a moment, when he kept trying and failing, but his efforts paid off at the end."

I… had awakened.

I blinked, trying to make sense of her words, my thoughts still jumbled from the sudden shift, from the fragmented information I had. I didn’t remember much, first… the masked man, the pain in my throat, then… nothing, just bits and pieces, it was like having part of a puzzle, it was hard to see the full picture. "I… died, no… I awakened I think?"

Teresa shook her head, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "You came close. Very close. You went pass 90% with your Yoki, going over the point of no return, but your subconscious... it fought back, rather hard might I add. Somewhere deep inside your mind, you didn’t want to become what you were turning into. You held on, hoping something would stop you before you reached the ultimate threshold."

My chest tightened as her words sank in. I had been fighting against it all along?

Teresa tilted her head slightly, watching me carefully. "If it weren't for him, you wouldn’t have made it back. You owe him your mind, Takeshi."

"I can’t remember what happened after that man cut my throat open," I admitted, my voice barely a whisper. "Just... glimpses. Sounds. The taste of blood."

Teresa nodded slowly. "That was the catalyst, Takeshi. The moment your life was in mortal peril, your instincts took over, and you… well, almost awakened. I’m not surprised you can’t remember much. That being said, those memories will come in time… not sure you will like them, but they will come."

"And... Shisui?" I asked, my heart pounding in my chest, dreading to hear the answer. If my mind had… really turned into that of a monster, and Shisui had been the one to stop me, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had… hurt him, or worse…

Teresa's small smile didn't waver as she replied, "He's alive, barely. But not for long… his unlikely ally will most likely kill him now that you are… subdued."

All of this… for nothing?

I tried to push myself out of the fog of my mindscape, desperation rising in my chest. Shisui—he was out there. I couldn’t just sit here while he had put everything on the line. I had to help him. I couldn’t let the Masked Man or that black creature kill him. Not after all this. Not after everything he’d done to save me.

But when I tried to move, a sharp pain shot through my head, and I collapsed to my knees inside my mindscape, gasping. The world around me swirled, my vision hazy as I struggled to focus. I pressed my hands to my temples, trying to fight off the wave of dizziness and pain, but it was no use.

"Don’t bother," Teresa said calmly, her voice cutting through the haze. "Your mind is… mostly broken, right now and it’s focusing on healing. After what you went through, well… let’s just say you’re not going anywhere for a while. It’s going to take weeks for your mind to heal."

I gritted my teeth, frustration burning through me. "So, what? Shisui saved me for nothing? Now that he stopped me, they’re going to kill him. They’re going to kill both of us. We are nothing but liabilities, and easy targets at that."

The weight of my failure crushed down on me. I had nearly turned into a monster. And now that I was free, I couldn’t even repay Shisui for pulling me back. I was stuck in here, useless.

Teresa, still sitting calmly in front of me, tilted her head slightly, letting out a sigh. "It’s true. You’re in no shape to fight. Not right now." She paused, her expression softening into something almost… sympathetic. "But there is something you can do."

I looked up at her, confusion and a spark of hope rising within me. "Whatever it is, I’ll do it."

She smiled faintly. "Let me take control."

Wait… I can do that? she can do that?. "What?"

"You’re in no condition to fight, Takeshi. Your mind is broken, wounded, but mind… is not," Teresa continued, her voice still calm, almost soothing. "I can take over for now. Let me guide your body, and I’ll handle the rest. I’ll keep Shisui alive, and I’ll make sure neither of you falls to those two."

"I didn’t know that was even possible," I replied.

"I never intended to tell you, after all, because I know you, our personalities are very similar and I knew you wouldn’t like the idea of someone else fighting your fights," she said softly, her smile widening just a little. "Regardless of that, the choice is yours. I can’t do this without your consent, and I mean that quite literally… your mind, even if broken has as your friend calls it, eternal dibs on your body, so without your approval, I can do a thing."

Fuck it, if that’s what it took to save my friend and myself, so be it. "Do it."

Teresa smiled, patting me in the head. "First Clare and now you… two brats I find myself saving. I wonder if this is what being a mother is?"