End of One Struggle

End of One Struggle

Kisame could feel the blood draining from his body. He wouldn't last much longer against this enemy. Lifting Samehada to guard himself, Kisame grounded his feet in the sand beneath him. This was not his element. They had tracked him to the Akatsuki base in Wind country. He knew for a long time that the plan had failed. The power of the demons was simply incomprehensible.

To his left, one of his water clones turned to steam as some form of partially visible fire clone rammed into it. Sticking his sword into the sand, he formed two more clones. He immediately saw that that was a mistake. The demon tracked his chakra and red eyes fell on the Shark-like man. Seeing that he was exposed, Kisame picked up Samehada and ran at the rampaging demon.

He threw Samehada at the blonde demon and formed a series of hand signs. When the combination was complete, wind formed around his body in a protective sphere. He kept running into its fury. The demon was blown back but seemed to just brush the hit off. It formed a seal and the sand beneath Kisame began to shift. He looked down to see two hands of sand coming at him. It had learnt the sand clone jutsu as well. It was to be expected of the clone master. The hands grabbed his ankles and began to pull him under.

Swinging Samehada to the ground, he dug it into the sand and pulled his feet out. He was just in time to see the clawed arm moving towards his back. Kisame instinctively dislocated his arm to block the attack. He was surprised to still feel pain spread in his back. Looking over his shoulder Kisame saw a fist disappear through his back. Below it was a shattered Samehada with wisps of chakra pushing out of the breaks.

It was over. Samehada was more than a sword; it was a constant companion and a part of him. Not only was there no reason to live, but the reserve chakra he had been using for the last ten minutes had come from Samehada. As the life seeped out of him, he was forced to look into the eyes of the nine-tailed fox. He would never see the 'red dawn'. Akatsuki was over.

Naruto gave a sigh of relief as he pulled his bloody arm out of Kisame's dead body. He forced the dark chakra back through the seal and blocked out the sound of the fox banging against the cage in his mind. His self control was coming back and he recalled what had just happened. The fight had been brutally fought for hours. Even in the midst of a barren desert the swordsman fought well and unhindered. If Naruto could not control the fox's power, he wouldn't have kept up. Even the fire jutsus had to be suppressed or he would use up large amounts of chakra healing the burns he caused on himself. In the years since Itachi's death, Kisame had grown many times stronger as Akatsuki became weaker. He had focused on learning jutsu from every village and his sword skills were impossible to match. He was nothing like the 'average' S class missing-nin he was before. He surprisingly had been the last of the Akatsuki to fall. Finally Naruto could rest with both eyes open. He could go home without bringing trouble with him. After so many years, there were a few people he wanted to see again.

But that thinking was for another time. More urgent matters were at hand. Near the beginning of the battle, Jiraiya had been caught in a form of sandstorm jutsu. It seemed that Kisame had learnt a wide variety of jutsu from his three partners since Itachi's death. Searching for Jiraiya, Naruto viewed the scene of the final battle. Through the rubble and debris from the many attacks made by the shark-like sword wielder Naruto saw the Toad Sannin's white hair sticking out of the dunes. He ran up to his sensei and ignored the moist feeling in the sand around him. Getting to his knees, he began to dig furiously at the earth, hoping that he would dig out his friend in time.

He kept hope even when he saw sand fall from Jiraiya's mouth and the eyes that had rolled back into his head. Even after seeing the extent of the sandstorm jutsu, the lacerations that had riddled the body to the point of removing fingers, Naruto kept hope. Only after five minutes of CPR did he let the feeling of uselessness seep into his body and send it into spasms of sobbing. Memories of past battles and experiences flashed through his mind as he cradled the damaged body of his friend.

Jiraiya had been there for all of it. Every new technique, every memorable moment since he was thirteen had something to do with the Toad Sannin. Hundreds of hours of training and years of traveling together had formed a strong bond between the two. He was one of Naruto's best friends and now he was dead. He had saved Naruto's life several times, the latest being making Naruto wait until Kisame was in the desert to attack him. The battle would have ended much differently by the ocean.

After Sakura died, Naruto had felt unbridled hate for the world that had nothing to do with Kyuubi. His anger enveloped his mind and brought forth the demons chakra, sending him to wreak mindless havoc on anyone who was between him and Kisame. With heightened senses, Naruto easily saw that his prey was going to the coast. Getting on all fours, the jinchuriki began his chase only to be blocked two seconds later. Naruto did not try to dodge the looming figure that blocked him, deciding to pummel right through it. Only when it was too late to change course did Naruto recognize a swirling ball of chakra aimed at his stomach. When the dust settled, Naruto a spiral burn on his stomach, but was healing quickly. His eyes went back to their sky blue look as he got up. Because he was thinking clearly again, he realized that Jiraiya had saved his life.

If it had not been for Jiraiya, Naruto would have chased Kisame right into a trap waiting at the coast by the ocean. Not only had Naruto not repaid the favor, but his blind rage at seeing Kisame when they finally tracked him again had practically caused his masters death. He had run straight at the swordsman and began sinking into the sand. Kisame had formed several hand signs. The wind grew stronger and began to spiral around Naruto. Jiraiya had to jump in and pull Naruto out of the sand, but didn't have enough time to get himself out. Naruto hadn't had enough time to check on the Toad Sannin. The battle had been too constant. Jiraiya and Sakura had died because of Akatsuki and all he could do now was cry about it. There was no way to save either of them, no going back and absolutely no hope.

So there he stayed, crying over a dead body as the sun rose over the horizon. It was sadly ironic. This truly was a red dawn. Whether it was minutes or hours later, Garra caught up to him. Garra had been healed from his battle with Tobi, but his arm was still in a cast. He stepped over shards of glass and mountains of debris that had formed from numerous jutsu of all forms through the night to reach Naruto's sobbing body. Garra took in his surroundings and immediately saw the reason for Naruto's grief.

Kneeling beside Naruto, The Kazekage placed a consoling hand on the blonde's shoulder and spoke in as comforting a voice as the demon of the sand could.

"He died so that you and many others may live. Greif is natural…but be careful not to waste the time he has given you on this earth. You must have a reason to live. That is something you taught me." Garra said

Naruto looked up to his friend and nodded his head. Garra was right. He did have a reason to live. There were still precious people he could protect and as long as they were there, he would help them…but there were still two less of them.

Authors notes: OK there it is. Hopefully the first of many chapters. This one was pretty much done to set the stage and to give an estimate of Naruto's power. I also wanted to give an example of my fight scenes so that if anyone has suggestions, they could do it when the story is new.

So review about how you like the fight scene and feel free to be frank.