It had been Fourteen years since the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, and things had been going fine in the village of Konoha. The Seventh Hokage was a kind, powerful and wise leader. Yes this 40 year old Shinobi was definitely one-of-a-kind. His name was Naruto Uzumaki, son of the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze and his wife, Kushina Uzumaki and the strongest Shinobi since the First Hokage Hashirama Senju.
The Second strongest, Naruto's best friend and childhood rival Sasuke Uchiha was currently out travelling the world, but was planning on returning to the village soon for a visit. Meanwhile though, Naruto was worried. The last battle he'd fought in had been after the war and against Sasuke, and with the peace treaty amongst the five great Shinobi Nations, he hadn't had a chance to really fight at all, let alone be pushed to his absolute limits like against his friend.
Since that was so, the blond was afraid that the time of peace was making him lose his touch and become soft. That wouldn't be much of a problem at this point, except Naruto not only had his own family to protect, but also the entire village. The young man wanted to ensure he would be strong enough to protect them- he didn't want to be weak and just stand around and watch his friends dying for him, like he had during the war. He swore when he became Hokage, that no matter what, he would protect them. Because they were all his family now. The Shinobi and the civilians, the children and the adults- all of them.
And Naruto would be damned if he failed his family now, after everything. So it wasn't that hard to see why he was worried. Thankfully for him, Sasuke was coming back soon, and Naruto had a plan. He knew that the Uchiha Clan head was as board as he was with lack of action nowadays- though they would all take that over war any day- so the Seventh was going to challenge his friend to a battle. He had acquired some new surprises since the last time they'd battled, and he was sure Sasuke wouldn't be able to pass up the chance to fight him again.
But until he got back, Naruto would just have to wait. It was exceedingly boring. Sure he had his beautiful wife Hinata and his two wonderful children, Boruto and Himawari to keep him occupied, but they could only do so much. There are times in a Shinobi's life when only a life-or-death battle will do. He had to fight. It was the only thing that could make him feel truly alive. So here Naruto was. Sitting at his desk and mechanically filling out paperwork while he waited anxiously for Sasuke's arrival.
After a few more minutes of silence there was a knock at the door of his office. The whiskered blond grinned as he started to walk over to the door. Before he'd even moved out from behind his desk however, the door opened and their stood Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto's grin, if possible, grew even wider at seeing his friend, "Sasuke, you're finally back, It's been so long!" he exclaimed happily. The Uchiha smirked, and placed his left (and only) hand on his hip, "really? I didn't know you cared so much Uraskanachi (moron)" he replied haughtily.
Naruto rolled his eyes at his best friend/older brother figure, "yeah, you wish Teme". Then both young men grinned. Or rather, Naruto grinned and Sasuke smirked again, "it's good to see you home again, Sasuke" the blond said softly. "It's good to be home again- Naruto" the black-haired boy replied.
N/S,R
It was the next day. Sasuke was at home with his wife Sakura and daughter Sarada. Naruto was in his office again after spending the morning with his family. It was quiet… and boring…. And monotonous….. "Gah!" the blond cried, throwing his arms up in the air in exasperation, "I can't take it anymore! I'm going over to Sasuke's and asking him for a rematch right now!" he exclaimed, but was cut off by a: "is that so?" looking over t the door, he was met with the sight of a smirking Sasuke standing against it.
The young Hokage sweat-dropped slightly, "how long have you been there for?!" he demanded indignantly, though internally he was dreading the answer. His senses couldn't have dulled that much, could they? The Uchiha Clan Head pushed off the door and stood their examining his friend. Naruto stood still, waiting. Finally it seemed as though Sasuke had finished whatever it was that he was doing and he nodded, whether in approval or to himself the blond didn't know.
What he said next however, shocked and excited the Jinchuriki at the same time, "Naruto, I want to fight you- a serious battle like our last one at the Valley Of The End, I want- no, I need to fight you again- you're the only one who's a match for me, and I need to feel that again- to feel truly alive again- please?"Sasuke was just about begging. Well, it was a good thing that that was exactly what Naruto wanted. The blond Hokage grinned, " you took the words right out of my mouth Teme- of course I'll fight you Sasuke, but you'd better prepare yourself- I'm not called the Fourth God Of Shinobi and The Strongest Hokage Since The First for nothing you know".
The Uchiha scoffed, but internally he was curious. Just how much stronger had Naruto become to earn such monikers?
N/S,R
After Naruto had informed everyone that he was leaving to fight his friend, and probably wouldn't be back for at least a whole day, the two made their way out of the village. While jumping through the trees, Sasuke took the opportunity to gauge his friend. Naruto was wearing a black long- sleeved shirt and black long pants under armour that was reminiscent of the Shodamine's attire. But were-as Hashirama had worn red armour, Naruto's was bright orange with red Uzumaki spirals on the collar-like parts.
Typical Naruto. Sasuke himself wore a similar attire, only his armour was dark blue with the Uchiha crest on both collars. After travelling for many miles, the blond stopped at a large rocky plane. Naruto looked around before nodding to himself, this place would do. Turning to face Sasuke, the blond Hokage grinned, "I have a few surprises for you Sasuke, and I know you'll just love them," he said in a cheeky voice, with a fox-like grin just to add to the effect. "Surprise 1: do you remember how, when I became Hokage, you sent me that message saying that as a congratulatory gift I could choose any weapon from the Uchiha armoury and that you would give it to me?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Naruto had sent back a thank you note with a promise to show him what he'd picked once he returned to the village. So Sasuke had no idea what weapon Naruto had chosen. It seemed he was about to find out. The blond raised his left arm, the normal one and pulled back the sleeve of his shirt to reveal a sealing array. "You know how I like to be versatile in my battles, don't you?" he asked, almost absentmindedly.
Naruto chuckled, "well, what's one of the most versatile weapons out their?" he asked with another grin. Without warning, he sent chakra into the seal, and a cloud of chakra smoke appeared. When it cleared, the Uchiha felt his eyes widen. It was true that that weapon was very versatile, but he never thought Naruto would choose that of all things! It was a Gunbai, about as big as the blonds torso, a dark blue one with red around the edges, only this one didn't have the Uchiha crest on it. Which was strange really, considering it was supposed to come from the Uchiha armoury.
Sasuke's shocked look soon turned into a smirk, "so, you chose a Gunbai? Quite a surprise, considering how much you despise the last person to use that weapon from my family" he stated, while slowly drawing his sword from it's sheath at his back. Naruto's lips twitched into a smile, "just because Madara used the Gunbai as his main weapon, doesn't mean I have to automatically hate any Gunbai that I see" he replied, while preparing to jump into the air. Sasuke shifted his weight, getting ready to do the same.
There was a heartbeat of absolute stillness and silence. Then in the blink of an eye, the Uchiha and the Uzumaki were in the air. Their respective weapons clanged against one another in a spray of sparks. They clashed twice more in the air, before both Shinobi jumped back and skidded on the ground for a few meters. Sasuke stuck his sword into the earth and formed the Tiger hand sign with his only hand, "Katon: Fireball Jutsu!" he called, blowing out a huge ball of fire from his mouth.
Naruto smiled and formed several hand signs of his own, "surprise 2!" he called over the roar of the flames. Sasuke tensed, waiting for whatever the unpredictable blond would do next. "Suiton: Water Wall Jutsu!" he cried. The Uchiha's eyes widened once again. But Naruto was a Wind Style user, not a water style! However, it seemed the universe wanted to prove him wrong as a large wall of water formed out of the air and surrounded the blond Shinobi.
When the two jutsu met the result was a huge cloud of steam that blocked normal vision. But Sasuke had his Sharingan. The black-haired man smirked; "nice try Dobe, but you forgot about my Sharingan!" he called as his three Tomoe Sharingan appeared in his uncovered eye. The sight that greeted them however, caused Sasuke's eyes to widen once again. Everywhere he looked was blue. The young man grit his teeth in annoyance. The Uzumaki was using his insanely large amount of chakra to his advantage by saturating the air with it. This not only made finding him with a Dojutsu like the Sharingan impossible, but also created a kind of chakra sonar, allowing him to track his enemy even without using eyesight.
Naruto wasn't considered a genius of battle for nothing. Suddenly the blond's voice could be heard all around them, "Surprise 3". For a moment nothing happened, and Sasuke thought the other boy was just messing with him. Suddenly, a glint of light through the thick mist caught his eye, and he dodged just in time as a volley of kunai sped past him. Just as the Uchiha was about to breathe a sigh of relief and go on the offensive, there was a flash of orange and yellow and suddenly the Uzumaki was right next to him with a Rasengan in hand.
'That speed,' Sasuke thought, 'it was too fast to be a Shushin, that means-' but his thought process was cut off when his adversary slammed the violently spinning ball of chakra down into him. Or he would have if Sasuke hadn't kicked dirt into the blond's eyes a split second before the jutsu would have hit. The Rasengan impacted with the ground which instantly exploded and cleared the last of the steam.
Sasuke stood a safe distance away from the crater that was where he would have been if he hadn't reacted as fast as he had. He'd never imagined that his rival would have mastered the signature jutsu of the Second and Fourth Hokage's! As Naruto's form was revealed, the blond stood up and dusted himself off slightly, "as I was saying, surprise 3, Hirashin Jutsu (Flying Thunder God)," he chuckled, "and I still have plenty more to show you".
For a moment Sasuke was silent, before he began laughing. Not in a crazy way, but in a happy, excited way, "I was right, I'm going to enjoy this!" he exclaimed, "show me Naruto! Show me everything you've got- don't hold back! Let's make this a battle to overshadow even our last one!" he cried, it had been so long since he'd felt like this- he had no doubt that this battle would make them legends on the level of, or above their previous transmigrants, Madara and Hashirama.
Naruto smirked, "as you wish! Surprise 4!" he exclaimed, and his opponent tensed. The Seventh Hokage formed the Rat, Tiger and Ram hand signs in quick succession, and to his surprise, Sasuke couldn't copy them, "Mokuton: Deep Forest Emergence!" he called. "What!" Sasuke exclaimed. To say he was shocked would be an understatement. There was no way, right? Unfortunately for him, the universe took this opportunity to prove him wrong yet again, as the ground around the blond cracked and shook violently as deadly sharp tree branches burst out of the ground and shot towards him.
Sasuke cursed as he used the prediction abilities of his Sharingan for all they were worth. All he could do was keep dodging as he struggled not to be impaled. How the hell had Naruto become this strong in only Fourteen years?! And if he was this strong, what the hell was he worried about? He once again cursed as his inattentiveness cost him a deep gash on the arm from one of the tree branches. 'Okay, screw this' the Uchiha thought with a growl. He activated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and Curse Mark, going into his final transformation and flying straight out of the canopy of trees.
Once he was clear of the pestering forest, Sasuke formed the Horse Hand Sign with a smirk, "Katon: Great Fire Annihilation!" he called as he executed his previous life's signature fire style jutsu. In an instant, the trees were set alight. Scanning the burning forest for any sign of Naruto, his enhanced vision caught sight of a bright golden glow, which it identified as Chakra flying away from the current battle site. Sasuke grinned, so, he'd finally started getting serious had he?
The Uchiha head took off after the glowing form of his best friend, his perfect Susanoo forming around him to allow him to catch up faster. Naruto, who was currently in his Sixth Paths Sage Mode, looked behind him. And, sure enough, Sasuke was following him. Maneuvering in the air, he quickly dodged all the purple ethereal arrows that the giant winged construct shot at him from behind.
Flying into a mountain range, Naruto held out his right hand. One of his nine Truth-Seeking Balls came towards him, and, as he grabbed hold of it, it's form changed. Using Chakra Shape Manipulation, he formed the black ball into a giant sword, larger than the mountains they flew next to. Sasuke gulped inaudibly. That was a big sword. Just when it looked like the blond was going to attack him with it, he turned and sliced an entire mountain off of the ground.
As the sword returned to it's original shape and size, Naruto formed several hand signs, "surprise 5," now Sasuke went bug-eyed as the blond lifted the entire mountain into the air! "Super Lightweight Boulder Jutsu!" he cried, and threw the mountain at him! "Shit!" the Uchiha cursed, manifesting two of his own Susanoo blades and slashing the incoming projectile several times at lightning fast speed. The mountain fell apart into several large pieces, but they were small enough to hit the Susanoo and break into smaller pieces.
Naruto flew down to the ground, "Surprise 6!" he called as, against his better judgement, the Uchiha flew down to meet him. The Hokage formed several hand signs, "Yoton: Lava Pool!" he called, and stomped the ground with his right foot. The result was a giant pool of lava, spreading out from where his foot touched to a considerable distance. Sasuke was about to respond that as long as he stayed up in the air he was fine, when suddenly , two extra arms of golden chakra shot out of the pool and latched onto the Susanoo's legs.
Before the Uchiha had a chance to cry out, he was yanked down into the lava. Thankfully for Sasuke, his left Mangekyo Sharingan, which before had only had his older brothers implanted Amaterasu, chose that moment to awaken fully. The pattern on the Sharingan spun while the pupil itself glowed a brighter red. When Sasuke blinked, he was back up in the air. Looking down, he saw Naruto on the ground. "Surprise 6," he called out, and formed several hand signs. This time, Sasuke stayed up in the air. He was now sure of what had happened. His left Mangekyo had finally awakened its original power. And it looked like he had the same abilities as Madara's Mangekyo- rewinding time.
He was brought out of his musings by a large hand of yellow chakra shooting at him from below. Unfortunately, with how caught up he was in his thoughts, Sasuke didn't have time to doge and the hand grabbed onto his Susanoo's leg. As he was pulled down yet again, Sasuke deactivated the chakra construct, and instead, flew upwards with his Curse Mark form's wings.
Naruto growled upon realizing that he'd lost his opponent. Sasuke activated his Amaterasu, and, using Blaze Release, formed a bow and three arrows out of the black flames. 'The good thing about Blaze Release,' Sasuke thought to himself, 'is that I can use Amaterasu this way and not set myself on fire'. As he fired the arrows at the blond, Naruto used his Truth-Seeking Balls to intercept the attack. The black balls exploded upon coming into contact with Sasuke's attack, dispersing the flames.
Sasuke manifested his Susanoo again and drew one sword. The blond man scowled and reached out to one of his remaining six Truth-Seeking Balls. As his black-haired opponent expected, Naruto grabbed one and formed it into his big sword again. The two stared each other down for a moment, before Sasuke flew down, while Naruto flew up, both brandishing their giant swords. They met in the middle and the resulting clash tore up the remaining mountains that were nearby.
Once the smoke had cleared, it showed Naruto standing on top of a fully materialized Kurama, which he had been taught to summon by said fox as a gift for everything he'd done for all the Biju. With merely a thought, one of his Truth-Seeking Balls formed into armour around Kurama, two changed into swords that the fox grabbed with his front paws and the remaining three floated around him, ready to be used at a moment's notice.
Naruto put his hands in his Sage Mode position, "surprise 7," the sage markings appeared on Kurama's fur, this time they were black against the fox's red fur. As he finished entering Sage Mode, the blond opened his eyes, "I've completely mastered Sage Mode". Sasuke scowled and activated his Rinnegan, "let's see how you deal with this, Rinbo Henko!" Naruto's eyes widened when he sensed just how many shadows the Uchiha had created. "What the hell!? Even Madara couldn't manifest this many without becoming the Jinchuriki of the Juubi's tree form!" he exclaimed in shock.
The shadows then rushed at them. The blond gasped, "Kurama! Dodge left! Now right! Ah! It's right in front of you! move back!" the two did their best to dodge, but there were just too many. They ended up getting smacked around like rag dolls. Sasuke, meanwhile, was preparing his Mangekyo Sharingan. Naruto was currently beating back six of the shadows, while Kurama had to deal with thirteen. "Urgh, I hate these stupid things!" Naruto exclaimed. Kurama grunted in annoyance as another one scored a hit on him, "you don't have to tell me that!" he agreed.
The Kyuubi looked around for their Uchiha foe. Hey! Where'd that-" but he was cut off as Sasuke appeared right in front of his face and locked eyes with him before he could look away. The command in his Sharingan eye was too strong to resist, though the fox did his best: 'sleep'. Kurama struggled for a moment, before his eyes drooped and he collapsed to the ground.
Naruto noticed that something was wrong the instant he felt his partner still underneath him. "Kurama?" he asked, then cried out in shock when he felt the tremor of the earth as the fox hit the ground. "Kurama? Hey, what's wrong?" he called, worried. No response came and Naruto glared at the black-haired man, "what did you do Teme?!" he demanded to know. Sasuke smirked, "the fox is taking a nap, and you have more important things to worry about right now" as he spoke, the shadows rushed at the blond and fox again.
Naruto quickly formed several hand signs at a fast pace, "Mokuton: Wooden Dome!" he cried. Instantly a 3 meter thick dome of wood sprang up around them. The blond could hear Sasuke's shadows beating at the wood, but it would take a while for them to break through. The blond looked down at his sleeping partner, "damn it Kurama, how the heck do I break a Sharingan-induced sleep?" he asked, though he knew there would be no answer.
He thought and thought and thought, all the while Sasuke's shadows were whittling away their protection. Suddenly Naruto gasped, "oh yeah, I can force my Chakra in to disrupt Sasuke's Chakra inside Kurama's brain!" he remembered. Then he deflated, "but I don't have nearly enough Chakra to disrupt Kurama's Chakra flow," he moaned, getting depressed, "if only there was a way for me to get more Chakra…" Naruto paused, feeling some stray thought nagging at him from the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite- "ah! Nature Chakra! Of course!" he exclaimed.
The blond sat down on the fox's head and created ten Shadow Clones. At once, all of them began gathering Nature Chakra. As they sat, they blocked out the sound of the hammering coming from outside their shield. Finally he had gathered enough to enter Sage Mode, and just in time too. Naruto opened his eyes, the orange pigment surrounding them and the horizontal line in place of a pupil in his yellow coloured eyes. He took a deep breath and placed one hand on top of the fox's head and the other in the 'release' hand sign, "okay, here goes".
The blond then released all of his Shadow Clones at once and immediately channeled the Nature Chakra into Kurama's body. He almost lost himself in massive amount of Chakra, but he just managed to hold on. Suddenly the giant fox stirred, "urg, wha- what's going on?" he asked drowsily, "Kurama! Thank god you're awake!" Naruto cried in relief.
Kurama raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, they were distracted by the banging on the wooden dome, much closer now. "Damn, those shadows are persistent, they're almost through!" Naruto exclaimed. "Hey, Naruto, I've got an idea" Kurama said. The blond nodded, "I'm listening".
N/S,R
Meanwhile, outside the dome, Sasuke was getting board. It had been close to an hour now that his rival had locked himself and the sleeping Kyuubi inside that wood dome, and he'd almost managed to beat his way through it. But damn, was it solid. Well, no matter, he'd just about broken the dome down now. 'Almost there, a bit more, and-' his thoughts were interrupted when both Naruto and the Kyuubi burst out of the top of the dome.
The only thought currently on Sasuke's mind as he stared up at the sight before him was: 'are you fucking kidding me!' Naruto had covered Kurama in his Six Paths Sage Chakra as well, and now the two of them were floating around 80 meters in the air! There was a reason why Naruto was called The Number One Unpredictable Ninja after all. Sasuke just kept forgetting it.
Growling under his breath, Sasuke once again activated his perfect Susanoo and flew into the air to meet Naruto. As they both floated there, the two stared each other down once more. Sasuke formed a lightning cross bow and arrow while Naruto formed two unique RasenShuriken's with the Biju Chakra he still had. The two were preparing to use their final attacks.
At the same time, both launched their jutsu, both planning to finish the battle. As the attacks clashed, the biggest explosion yet lit up the sky.
N/S,R
Sasuke laid on the ground, utterly exhausted and defeated, panting and gasping for breath, both eyes closed and Dojutsu deactivated. Only Naruto could push him this far. No one else was a match for him. That was why he loved this feeling. Being pushed to the absolute limit, then becoming stronger for it. What a rush. Naruto on the other hand, was panting lightly, his Uzumaki Chakra reserves and stamina, along with the Senju DNA he now possessed, allowing him to recover much faster.
He stared down at his friend, "well, I beat you again, Sasuke" he said between pants. Sasuke sighed, "I guess you did- you really have gotten stronger since we were kids, haven't you, Naruto?" he asked, still with his eyes closed. The Uzumaki grinned, "you know it Sasuke!" As they watched the sun rise together, the two felt satisfied with their lives. The blond looked over at the dark-haired man, "you know I'm glad that you're my brother" he said softly. The Uchiha said nothing at first, then gave a small smile, "I am glad to have you for a brother as well- Otouto" he replied. The Uzumaki chuckled slightly, "thank you."
The end