All that was left was one option.
Going through it.
Naruto ducked, dodged, weaved, jumped, shifted, and ran through the attack like the world's most dangerous obstacle course, feeling some of the waves narrowly clip a bit of his clothes and hair as he made it through.
As expected, the blond managed to dodge the last wave and stepped foot on the solid ground as soon as he was safe again, with nary a wound on his body, despite the cuts all across his clothing.
But when he turned to find his opponent again, he found her eyes to be far closer than he would have liked.
"Got you."
That was all Naruto heard as a sharp blade ripped right into his skin, ramming all the way through his body as it exited out through his back.
Blue eyes widened in shock as blood leaked from his mouth, staring at the sword that had impaled itself through him, blinking rapidly as he only just begun to register what had just happened.
Yellow eyes looked at him with a solemn air that the hero didn't really expect to be feeling, somehow...uncomfortable with watching the young man's life pass before her eyes.
He said it himself...maybe it didn't have to end this way.
"It's over." Yuki claimed quietly, waiting for the blond to lose his life, somewhat listless in her demeanor as she watched.
She honestly wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not, but it needed to be done, of that...she had no doubt.
Then, in a sudden jerking motion, the hero snapped her eyes in shock as she heard something that she shouldn't have heard from the blond.
He was chuckling.
Nonaka Yuki gaped at him openly as Naruto finally stopped chuckling, unable to believe that he was able to do such a thing in a time like this.
Still, the shinobi tilted his head up, with blood still dripping from his lips, meeting her eyes with his own.
"Bzzt." Naruto said with a bloody grin.
"...Bzzt?" Yuki couldn't help but repeat, such was her confusion.
Then suddenly the blond man *popped*, as if he was a party balloon full of smoke that was just popped.
Yuki had absolutely no idea what had just happened, as she was terribly confused.
Then she heard the voice of the source of her confusion, which didn't sound anywhere near death's door.
"WRONG!"
Her eyes widened as she tried to quickly turn around to-
Too late.
A fist smashed against her stomach and embedded itself in her, a distant part of her mind that wasn't reeling from the pain couldn't help but compare the feeling to the force of something like a freight train.
It was really that bad.
She was sent flying and crashing through several trees like a live wrecking ball, before making a human-sized crater into the forest floor, with dirt and dust being sent high up into the air.
Yuki just stared up into the sky, thoroughly tired and disoriented after suffering what felt like back breaking injuries, unwilling to move lest she genuinely shatter what was left of her spine.
Also, she couldn't help but think that speed types never punched so hard.
That meant that he wasn't just a speed type, yet another thing that she learned about Uzumaki Naruto that she should have before this fight.
She continued to stare at the sky listlessly until she saw a flash of blond hair, aware of who it was.
Uzumaki Naruto walked out from the bushes to reach her fallen form with a small grin.
She couldn't help but notice that he had no stab wound.
"...How?" Yuki asked with difficulty. Everything hurt, just moving her lips felt like hell at the moment.
Naruto just nervously scratched the back of his head. "An old technique of mine, it's called kage bunshin no jutsu and it allows me to create copies of myself." he answered easily.
To him, honestly speaking, it was fine that he told her about this, since she just saw it in action anyway.
That being said, he wasn't gonna tell her the fact that he could make a lot of them, or that they share intel when popped.
He had to keep some things to himself.
"...When?" Yuki asked, now staring up into the night stars.
When had night fallen?
"When I smashed you into the ground, I replaced myself with a clone and let him fight you. It was the only way to get around your Sacred Gear's powers without the battle taking too long." Naruto explained easily, even though he wasn't exactly being factual.
He had other options...it's just that those would probably have killed her.
"...I see...well it seems...that you are the winner...Uzumaki-san...kill me if you wish..." Yuki murmured, resigned to her fate as she closed her eyes.
No matter how kind of a man he was, Uzumaki was still her enemy, just as she was his. This was how the world worked.
She couldn't begrudge that of him, she would have done the same in his shoes.
Everything was silent for a moment as Nonaka Yuki waited for the inevitable blow, faintly feeling herself unwound from the worries that plagued her about her faction.
It was almost...peaceful.
That silence was broken by her enemy's voice.
"Why do we have to be enemies?" Naruto asked, a genuine tone to his voice that supported his earnest expression.
He honestly didn't want to kill her, seeing no point in it, especially when this entire fight was based on nothing more than a misunderstanding.
If anything, if she just chilled with the 'me vs them' mentality, maybe they could even be friends.
Yuki opened her eyes and stared at Naruto, a faint bit of incredulity coloring her orbs as she answered him. "It is impossible. I am a hero and you are an ally of devils. There is no middle ground."
Naruto shook his head and leaned down towards her, unable to agree with that line of thinking.
"Isn't it a hero's duty to do the impossible for the betterment of those they protect?" Naruto asked with a frown, he didn't know much about the history of this world, but he was sure that the word 'hero' wasn't different from his world's version.
"No, the duty of a hero is to protect humans from the supernatural..." Yuki replied quietly, having no idea where was he going with this.
Naruto regarded her for a moment before turning away to look to the stars.
"If that is what the definition of a hero is in this world...then I feel sorry for it." the blond claimed listlessly, before turning back to the now openly glaring Yuki.
"A hero is a person who does their best to protect the weak against the strong, someone who stands for justice, someone who stands for peace." Naruto began, his voice getting more passionate, heated even. "A hero is supposed to be a symbol, something to aspire to that others wish to follow, and a beacon in the times where others would fall into despair and give up!"
Yuki's own eyes flared at his words. "You don't think that's what we do...? We protect humans from the abuses of the powerful supernatural factions, standing as defenders and champions of the group that can't protect themselves...of humanity! We are heroes!" Yuki ground out, her own voice tightly wound up due to the high emotional tension.
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