Booyeah! Been wanting to get this out ever since I first read a fic for the Missing Hokage challenge! And now I FINALLY get to! Anyway, this will be one of the LAST two new fics I'll be posting until I finish one of the ones I'm already working on. Hope you guys enjoy this!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own the Rokushiki from One Piece or ANY canon techniques for it. Kishimoto owns Naruto and Oda owns the Rokushiki.
Assassin Apprentices: Hokage in the Shadows
Chapter 1: New Beginning at the End
In a training ground in Konoha, Hinata was practicing on her own. She finally had a clean bill of health, considered fully recovered from Neji's attempt to kill her in the Chuunin Exams Preliminary Round, and now she was trying to get back in top shape. She was doing good, practicing her coordination and speed by hitting a wooden post. The only problem was a headache she was struggling to ignore.
Despite what her clan wanted, Hinata had always been Naruto's friend, even if they couldn't be open about it. There was an unspoken agreement between them to not make it obvious, a decision made based on the fact that the idea of announcing themselves, as great as it was, would spell disaster. And for some reason, not new disaster, but continued disaster. As if they had already tried that and it didn't work.
The more she thought about it, the worse it made her headache. Especially when she focused more on the good times she and Naruto had had together and how he encouraged her when she trained together, even if he did point out some things she felt could use improvement in his own, Narutoish way. But she was hardly one to talk. In her own way, she did the same for him.
Pausing for a moment, Hinata held her aching head, trying to will away her headache. 'Stop it! Let me think about Naruto-kun in peace.' Somehow, the headache only got worse.
Eventually, the headache worsened to the point where Hinata dropped to her knees, grabbing her head in sheer agony. It felt like her skull was cracking from the inside, like her brain was trying to explode. Then finally something did crack, but not in a literal sense. No, what cracked was her memories.
Images she never knew she had seen before flooded her eyes and mind, almost too fast to perceive. Her body went into convulsions with the overstimulation of her central nervous system, and her nose bled without dirty thoughts being a cause. She collapses and breathed in heavily, looking up at the sky. Then it passed, and she could take in what she just experienced at a more sedated pace.
She remembered... she remembered the things that they tried to force her to forget. Her training alongside her Naruto-kun in a Taijutsu style long thought to be just a myth. How they trained to and beyond their limits until their bones creaked in protest under a Shisho from Hell. One who turned out to also be an old Hyuuga from the Branch Family, thought to have died during the Second Shinobi War.
The stories about how their master learned the art from his master after his master saved him from certain death, as well as being told of how the old master himself died. Their master's connection to Jiraiya of the Sannin. Of Naruto encouraging her as they trained together. How they grew so close that she began to develop a crush on the blond.
Many happy memories between her and her blond crush both inside and outside of training. Eventually, Naruto sharing with her the secret of why so many villagers hate him, as well as him telling her when he learned the truth, how he found out, and of his interactions with his "tenant" ever since the day he met it. Them returning to the village after six years, their master escorting them to the village gates before they said their temporary farewells to him. Both of them, exhausted from their journey home, walking home, only to be ambushed from behind.
Her seeing a woman from the Yamanaka clan in her mindscape before the woman sealed her memories at the request of the Hyuuga elders...! Once Hinata saw this, rage flooded her as the woman's face came back to her mind. Hinata sat up, glaring in a way that would make an Inuzuka proud before wiping her nose. 'Oh, there will be blood, but not mine! And I'm making sure there's no way they're getting out of this!'
Clenching her hands into fists, Hinata left the training ground. And her destination was at the front of her mind.
Scene change – Hokage's Office
Tsunade was working in her office, albeit not happily but doing it nonetheless, when suddenly the door to her office burst open. Her years of reflexes made her get up and ready to fight, only to still herself when she saw it was just the Hyuuga heiress. "Oh, it's just a kid. What made you think you could just barge in here?"
"I'm here to inform you of an emergency."
"I'm busy. Unless the village is in danger, tell the ANBU." Tsunade said, getting back into her chair.
"I would have thought that you would feel differently, since it concerns Naruto-kun and he's the reason you even returned to Konoha." Hinata stated.
"Naruto's not even in the village right now. He's on a mission with his team. I sent them there two days ago. How can he be in danger and you'd know about it?" Tsunade pointed out, not fully convinced.
"Before I tell you, I insist that the Anbu guarding this room leave. All of them." Hinata stated.
Tsunade shook her head. "That's not an option. Anything you can say regarding Naruto you can say in front of ANBU."
"I could, if the ANBU weren't involved in it." Hinata stated.
Tsunades eyes widened at this for a moment, but soon narrowed. "That's a bold statement, girl. You sure you have the the proof to back it up?"
"Yes, but it's for your eyes only, Hokage-sama. I don't trust anyone else currently in the village with this. If you want it, everyone else has to vacate. If not, I will instead, and I might do something you won't like." Hinata told her superior.
"Sorry, but I'm not convinced that what you're telling me is significant enough to warrant such secrecy." Tsunade told her.
Hinata frowned. "Someone in the village mind-raping a jinchuuriki and clan heiress isn't significant to you?"
Tsunade's eyes widened in shock at this. "Naruto and a clan heiress were WHAT, now?!"
Hinata crossed her arms. "You want more? Get rid of the ears in the walls."
Tsunade ground her teeth. "You don't get it, girl! The Hokage being alone in their office with someone else would be a security risk!"
Hinata's eyebrow rose in an 'Really?' kind of way. "A bigger security risk than a so-called loyal Konoha shinobi mind-raping a Jinchuuriki to make him weaker and doing so to a clan heiress JUST because she chose to be close to said Jinchuuriki? Besides, part of what I'm about to tell you is a secret that was only known by the Sandaime, Otousama, myself, Naruto-kun, and Jiraiya-sama. One that the Sandaime classified as possibly being even more top-secret than Naruto-kun's Jinchurriki status, even IF that wasn't a very well-kept secret."
Tsunade didn't know HOW Hinata knew of Naruto's Jinchuuriki status, but she intended to find out. And the fact of the matter was that, no matter HOW Hinata knew, she knew AND had information that would reveal a security risk worse than the Hokage being alone in their office with someone else. One that the Hyuuga heiress had deemed for her ears only.
"Hinata, how do you even know what a Jinchuuriki is? Where have you heard that word before?" Tsunade questioned.
"It's simple. I've literally forgotten more about Naruto-kun then you will ever knew. Knowing what a Jinchuuriki is kind of comes with the territory." Hinata replied. "We've known about it for years."
"Years?" The blonde hokage repeated to make sure she heard that. "That shouldn't be possible."
"Lots of things that shouldn't have happened have." Hinata stated calmly.
Tsunade's eyebrow rose. "Such as?
Hinata shook her head. "Again, not until we don't have an audience."
Tsunade sighed, having had enough of going in circles like this. "Tell you what, let's discuss this somewhere where I can be alone. I'll still have to have the ANBU nearby, but I'll be able to have them not be close enough to eavesdrop on us. They'll even be able to make sure no one interrupts us."
"That should suffice if you make sure you're not followed. Lest I become convinced you're in on it and wish to silence me. Again." Hinata warned.
Tsunade felt herself become uneasy at that last part. but nodded. There was one place she knew she could be alone. Even if she swore she would never go back there because of all the bad memories. Then again, she also swore she'd never return to Konoha, but a Genin got her to do that, too.
Scene change – Senju Clan Compound
"Here's the privacy you insisted on." Tsunade said when they entered the main building of the Senju estate, a place that had a lot of memories for her, both good and ba,d but mainly made her feel lonely. "So who was it that supposedly mind-raped you and Naruto?"
Hinata shook her head. "Before I get to that, I need to tell you why she did it. Tell me, Tsunade-sama... have you ever heard of the Taijutsu style known as the Rokushiki?"
"Who hasn't? Even the civilians have heard of that famous Taijutsu style. But it's just a legend." Tsunade stated, wondering if the question was relevant to what Hinata had to tell her.
Hinata smirked, like she just got a chance to win a game. "Behind every legend, there's at least a grain of truth."
Time skip/Scene change – Valley of the End – Within Naruto's Mindscape
In a place renowned as the site of a climatic battle of old, where two rivals fought to the death, two new rivals were fighting in what could very well have been their own fight to the death. Uchiha Sasuke was trying to defect to Orochimaru, and Uzumaki Naruto was trying to stop him. The two had exchanged A-Rank jutsu and been left at a deadlock, dodged fireballs from one and clones from the other, and exchanged fists and weapons before one of them gained the upper hand. Sasuke had managed to impale Naruto with a Chidori through the chest, hitting the blond Uzumaki in the part of his chest near his right shoulder instead of his heart, due to Naruto diverting the blow with his left hand, and taking out a lung.
It had seemed like Naruto was dead until he grabbed Sasuke's hand, clenching it painfully tight, as red chakra poured out of him. The red chakra of the Kyuubi no Yoko sealed inside him. Sasuke got to a seemingly distance as Naruto's wound closed, his features changed to signify the chakra of the Kyuubi affecting him, and an image of the strongest of the nine Bijuu appeared in the silhouette of the blond Hokage-wannabe. Naruto then had Sasuke on the ropes, moving faster than his Uchiha rival could see and pummeling him with blow after blow.
But then Sasuke's Sharingan evolved to the next level and gained it's final tomoe in each eye, once again evening the playing field. After another clash between them featuring more clones and fire, Sasuke managed to kick Naruto off of the edge of one of the wall-like ledges of the Valley of the end. He dove after Naruto, grabbed the blond by his legs while locking his own legs around the blond's neck, and pile-drove him into the ground below, breaking his blond rival's neck and rendering him unconscious. This is where we join Naruto now, within his mindscape with a representation of his body in front of the seal keeping the Kyuubi trapped within him with another representation of him, a conscious one, being deeper within his mindscape.
"Oh great, just where I want to be while I'm in the middle of an important fight!" Naruto groaned.
Getting up, since the blow to his neck was only physical, thereby not applying within a mindscape, Naruto began to try to think of a way out and back to the battle against his rogue rival. But before he could make a decision, he felt something. Some kind of pull in a particular direction. Oddly enough, it didn't feel like it was pulling him to Kyuubi, but away from it.
"Good, maybe my own mindscape is trying to get me out of it." He said, giving in to the pull rather than fighting it. To his shock, it didn't take him back to reality, but to a place he hadn't seen before. "Oh come on, is there a second thing in here? How many things can you seal into a person?"
Deciding to get this over with, Naruto let the pull carry him to his destination. When he finally got there, what he saw both surprised and confused him. Right before him as a cracked door with worn and weakened chains on it locking it, the kanji for "Memories" right in the center of the door.
"Memories? What's the point of taking me here? How will memories help me stop Sasuke?" He complained, but nevertheless he opened the door.
Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly depending on your perspective, the door opened easily, the chains shattering like glass, before the door disappeared and a rush of wind and images hit Naruto.
'What the hell? What's going...?' He asked himself, before he was forced forced to grab his head, the sudden surge of information overwhelming him to the point it felt like he might burst into flames from it.
Before Naruto could blink, it was over. Memories long sealed had returned, the images hcaused by them as clear as a cloudless day. When he could think clearly, he didn't know whether to smile or glare, so he settled for a more urgent priority. "I'll have to think about Hinata-chan and that one bitch later. Right now, I need to take the teme down, and now I can do it."
With a smirk, Naruto disappeared. At the same time, the Kyuubi was sending its chakra to its Jinchuuriki. Once the chakra hit the blond, his eyes opened and he shot up before the vulpine Bijuu.
"Oh yeah, this is going to be sweet!" He said, flexing his fingers as if itching for a fight.
Kyuubi, upon seeing the change in its Jinchuuriki's body language, smirked. "I see you've reawakened your true self... Naruto...!"
"Glad to be back, Kurama! Sorry you had to deal with that other me for a bit." Naruto apologized to his tenant and sort-of friend.
"You can make it up to be by dealing with the one who made you into that imbecile." Kurama replied.
"With pleasure! But, for now, you'll have to settle for my renegade teammate." Naruto told it.
"Beating an Uchiha is a welcome experience." Kurama's smirk grew, taking on a dark tone. "And I'll bet you're going to enjoy the Uchiha seeing what the TRUE you is capable of, correct?"
A smirk turned just as dark as Kurama's appeared on Naruto's face before he turned to leave. He then chuckled sinisterly and looked back at Kurama before saying "Do you REALLY need to ask...?"
As its Jinchuuriki disappeared, Kurama chuckled and said "It's good to have you back, Naruto...!" It then got itself comfortable and settled down to enjoy the show.
Scene change – Valley of the End – Real World
'He looks like he won't be getting up, but I still better make sure he stays down.' Sasuke thought, getting ready to ensure his annoying teammate didn't keep pursuing him.
With a dark smirk on his face, Sasuke began walking towards Naruto while going through handsigns for another Chidori. The killing blow. But what he didn't expect was for an aura of bubbling red chakra to emerge around Naruto as his body somehow began swinging upwards until he was standing upright.
Sasuke stopped his jutsu. "What the hell kind of trick of this? Kakashi didn't teach you this!"
"Yeah, what was your first clue numb-nuts? Was it the fact he's never done this and given it to you, or the fact he's never bothered training anyone but you?" Naruto asked, a smile on his face.
Sasuke smirked at Naruto. "Are you jealous, dobe?"
Naruto smirked himself, but his was darker than Sasuke's was. "Not really...!
Sasuke was surprised by this. As long as he'd known him, Naruto had always been jealous of him. And there was something about that smirk on his blond rival's face that was, surprisingly, creeping him out. "Why not?"
Naruto's smirk grew as he chuckled, which creeped Sasuke out further. "Because, over the course of six years, I've learned skills that you can't copy with your damn Sharingan."
Sasuke's eyes widened at this. Something that the Sharingan couldn't copy?! But soon, Sasuke returned to his usual stoic self with a disbelieving smirk on his face. "Hm... yeah right, dobe! And just what might those so-called "skills" be?"
At this, Naruto's smirk became sinister as Sasuke began to get a bad feeling about it. "Heheheheh...! Well, for one... this...! Soru!" Naruto said, disappearing from Sasuke's sight upon uttering the last word.
"What the hell?" Sasuke asked, looking around but unable to find him. 'Is this what he meant, some kind of invisibility to trick my eyes?'
As soon as Sasuke thought this, he shook his head. 'No...! Even if he turned himself invisible, I'd still be able to see his chakra with my Sharingan! So how...'
Sasuke's thought process was interrupted when he felt an unseen blow impact his stomach with incredible force, pushing him back and making him tumble against the water before coming to a stop several feet away from his original position, doubled over in pain. Grabbing his stomach, Sasuke couldn't help but wonder what hit him. For a brief instant, he saw what he thought might have been some kind of chakra-filled blur, then he was sent tumbling by a hit to the gut and got up doubled over. Looking up, he saw Naruto standing in front of the position he was in before, that same smirk from before on his face.
"Surprise!" He said. "And here's another!"
Naruto disappeared again. In the time it took Sasuke to blink, he was sent flying with another blow to the gut, this one being a kick. As Sasuke began to try and right himself in midair, a kick to the back sent him rocketing into the water's surface below. When Sasuke came back up to the surface, he saw Naruto standing five feet away from him, stretching.
"Man, I feel kinda out of shape!" Naruto stated as he continued stretching, then turned to face Sasuke with that same smirk on his face. "Mind helping me warm up, Sasuke-chan?"
Sasuke glared at his blond rival. How dare this clanless fool refer to him by that honorific! It was like Naruto believed him to be some kind of weak, little child! He'd show this dobe!
At this, Sasuke began to activate his Cursed Seal. But, in the time it took him to blink, Naruto had disappeared from his sight again. 'This is impossible! Even with my Sharingan, I can't track him!'
"Over here!" Sasuke heard annoying and familiar voice from behind him say. Sasuke looked behind him, only to get sent flying by a kick to the face. Once Sasuke came to a stop and looked up again, he saw Naruto standing behind where he'd been.
"Think you're so special just because you were born to a strong family, teme? Hate to burst your bubble, actually I'd love to burst your bubble, but you were born just as pink and naked and helpless as the rest of us. And after I'm done with you, you'll be back in diapers." Naruto stated, his smirk growing.
Sasuke glared at Naruto while going through hand seals. "Shut the hell up! Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" From his mouth came a fire ball aimed at the blonde, who looked bored, as if it was moving too slow for him.
The fireball seemed to hit. Sasuke, thinking that he'd hit Naruto, snickered, which soon turned into full-blown laughter. "Hmhmhmhmhmhm...! Hahahahahahahah! Who's going to be back in diapers now, Naruto?!"
Unfortunately, his celebrating was cut short as he was sent flying again with another unseen kick to the stomach. Getting up, Sasuke noted the sound of running water in his ears and the feeling of droplets of water hitting his back, indicating that he was extremely close to the waterfall. Sasuke began to use his Sharingan to scan the area and search for any sign of chakra, which could indicate where Naruto was. He didn't see any sign of Naruto in front of him, above him, to his sides, or below him.
Before he could question there whereabouts of his blond rival, he heard a familiar voice whisper to him over the roar of the waterfall. "Where're you looking... teme...?!"
Shocked, Sasuke turned to look behind him and saw the waterfall just in time to be impaled in the gut by a chakra-cloak covered finger with a clawlike nail at the end of the finger, which connected to a chakra-cloak coated hand and arm that were coming out of the waterfall. The sudden attack unsurprisingly knocked the breath out of Sasuke as Naruto's voice harshly whispered "Shigan...!"
Naruto then stuck his head out from the waterfall and withdrew his clawed finger from Sasuke's stomach before kicking Sasuke in the stomach, right over the wound, and sent him flying. Naruto's smirk grew as he saw Sasuke skidding to a halt on the cliff-side's surface, sticking to it with chakra and clutching the spot where he'd been stabbed by a clawed finger of all things. "That's why you'll never be able to copy what I do teme. You have to see it coming first, and, with me, you never see it coming."
Sasuke glared at Naruto and roared while flipping through hand seals again. "I said shut up! Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Sasuke expelled another fireball from his mouth at his blond rival, this one MUCH larger than the last one.
Naruto seemed to have a bored look on his face as he lashed out with a vertical kick. "Rankyaku!" When Naruto unleashed his kick, a sharp, compressed air blade went flying towards Sasuke's fireball. When the air blade met the fireball, it sliced it in half and kept sailing towards Sasuke, who looked on in disbelief. On instinct he managed to dodge it, but his sleeve got torn off and blood was drawn on his arm. Not only that, but Sasuke noticed that the sharp, compressed air blade sliced into the side of the cliff, right where Sasuke himself had been.
"What the hell are you?" The young Uchiha asked, not believing his eyes.
"I would say I'm your friend, but that was the old me. This me... is the real Naruto." Naruto stated.
Sasuke frowned and let his chakra surge from his Cursed Seal, calling upon the second stage the Sound Four had bragged about. "It doesn't matter, you're still a zero!" He shouted as he transformed, his skin turning grey, his hair turning white, and he cast an aura of black chakra, like his own cloak.
"Then why do you have to go all out to beat me? If I'm a zero and forcing you to reach maximum, that means you're just a negative number." Naruto calmly replied, as if unfazed by the transformation of his teammate.
His chakra perked up again as Sasuke ran forward, starting a new black Chidori.
Naruto's smirk reappeared and he slid on the ball of his foot, sidestepping the blow and easily evading it. Sasuke swung around and tried to hit Naruto with it again, but Naruto merely slid on the ball of his foot and dodged it again. Sasuke tried over and over to hit Naruto with his black Chidori, but Naruto continued dodging it. Finally, Naruto had enough of dodging and caught Sasuke by his wrist on his most recent attempt to hit Naruto with the demonic black-colored Chidori.
Sasuke tried to deliver a blow to Naruto's stomach, but Naruto caught his fist. With a smirk on his face, Sasuke leaned forward as a handlike wing shot out of his back and straight at Naruto. Naruto just threw down one of Sasuke's arms and put his hand out to block the demonic wing, easily stopping it, before having to do the same as another handlike wing shot out of the other side of Sasuke's back. Using his Soru technique, Naruto disappeared again and got behind Sasuke, then grabbed the first wing and pulled it back until it was out straight, unbalancing Sasuke in the process.
Naruto held the handlike wing up and slammed his other elbow down on it, breaking whatever bones where in it with a loud and sickening crack while loosing an agonized scream out of Sasuke.
"You bastard!"
"Yeah, yeah. Call me something I've never been called before, Sasuke." Naruto said, prepping a Rasengan, without the use of a clone, and thrusting it into Sasuke's other wing, shredding the skin and muscle and grinding the bones into dust, earning another scream of agony from the Uchiha.
Sasuke's black Chidori faltered for a moment before roaring back to life as his chakra spiked from his anger. Blinded by his unadulterated rage, Sasuke roared and turned on his heals, attempting to ram his black Chidori into Naruto's face. But Naruto just grabbed Sasuke's hand by the wrist again and threw it aside. The blond Jincuuriki then kicked Sasuke in the chest, sending him flying into the valley cliff-side again.
Naruto chuckled and shook his head, a smirk on his face. "You see, teme? There is something better than elite or prodigy! It's called expert!"
"You? An expert? Don't make me laugh!" Sasuke sneered, getting up and sticking back to the cliff-side with chakra.
"Okay, then I'll make you bleed!"
With this, Naruto's smirk turned sinister, sending an odd shudder up Sasuke's spine, before he disappeared again. This time Sasuke was focused completely on Naruto before he vanished, which allowed him to notice that he actually disappeared in a burst of speed, surprising the Uchiha to the point where his eyes nearly bugged out of his head. 'N... no way...! To completely disappear from sight of someone with a Sharingan! Nobody's that fast!'
Sasuke felt Naruto attack before he saw him, and when he felt it, it felt like he was being hit by a small cannonball at full force. The blow of Naruto's knee hitting his stomach completely knocked the wind out of Sasuke. And the grab to the back of his head that came after followed by a headbutt to the face hurt even more.
Sasuke felt himself passing out, the dark chakra of his curse seal receding. 'I... I actually lost... to the dead last...' He said before everything started going dark for him.
Forcing himself to stay awake, Sasuke glared and managed to surprise Naruto by knocking him away with a kick. Naruto just landed on his hands and did multiple back-flips before landing on his feet atop the water below. Naruto looked back up at Sasuke with a smirk on his face, seemingly amused, but also excited for some reason. "Not bad, teme! Glad to see that you've still got some fight in you!"
"I've got nothing but fight in me!" Sasuke said, trying to call back his second stage form, but it was slower than before.
Naruto's smirk shrank for a moment, seemingly in disappointment. "You sure? You're looking a little run-down." His smirk grew again. "Is Sasuke-chan running out of steam? Aw, poor little baby!"
"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted, gathering up the remnants of his chakra, both natural and unnatural, for one more Chidori, knowing if this didn't work he wouldn't have any chakra left in him to continue. For him, this had to count more than it ever counted in any fight, including the one against Gaara. Something more important than his life was on the line, it was his pride.
Naruto just chuckled while sticking his hand out to his side. "Is that all you know how to say anymore, teme?" He asked, making a Rasengan with one hand. But, unlike his normal Rasengan, this one was a light purpleish color and was surrounded by an orb made from the chakra cloak around him.
"Soru..." Naruto started, disappearing in a burst of speed. Sasuke began to scan for Naruto, but Naruto appeared right behind of him, slamming the Rasengan in his hand into the back of his dark-haired rival's torso "Rasengan!" With an explosion of power, the Rasengan, whose force had been boosted by the speed of Naruto's Soru, unleashed it's fury upon Sasuke. The force of the impact sent Sasuke flying at at downward angle into the wall next to the statue of Hashirama, surrounded by spiraling chakra from the attack. The chakra surrounding Sasuke detonated on impact with the wall, kicking up a large cloud of dust and rocks.
Naruto stopped and stretched his legs. "Damn, I'm really out of practice. I can't keep the Soru up for more than one attack at a time. Oh well, one attack at a time is enough to beat this joker!"
The dust cleared and Sasuke was standing up, albeit using a rock as support.
Naruto smirked at his obviously defeated teammate. "You done yet...?"
Sasuke snarled at Naruto as best he could, his pride wounded by the fact his teammate, whom he thought to be beneath him, defeating him so easily and wounded further by Naruto's comment. "This isn't over until I say it's over." He said, charging up a black Chidori. "And I say it's over when you're dead!"
Naruto just yawned while walking over to the platform of rock at the base of the statue of Uchiha Madara, seeming bored. "Talk is cheap, Teme. Just like you."
At this, Sasuke was seeing red. he'd had enough of Naruto belittling his skills for one lifetime. And he intended to shut him up. Permanently. "I'LL KILL YOU!" Sasuke roared as he rushed at Naruto as fast as he could, black Chidori blazing while carving a path along the water as he held it low while running.
Despite his focus on slaying his annoying one-uping teammate, Sasuke did manage to see something in the water just long enough to boost his spirit. His reflection, with a more mature Sharingan. Three tomoe in each eye, possibly even the Mangekyo Sharingan. Though he didn't really know what a Mangekyo Sharingan looked like, so he couldn't say with absolute certainty.
Didn't matter anyway, he had something more important to focus on then his reflection. Killing Naruto, even if it meant chakra exhaustion for a week. Unfortunately, Sasuke didn't count on Naruto deflecting his Chidori as easily as Itachi had when he first saw his older brother again, causing an explosion as it made contact with the ground. He also didn't count on Naruto gripping his wrist tightly enough to break it, which he could tell that it did because of the audible snap and breaking sound it made when Naruto clenched it his hand around it.
"You can't run, you can't hide, and now you can't attack." Naruto listed, smirk still on his face. "Looks like all you can do now is give up."
"Damn you!" Sasuke yelled as he tried to throw a punch at Naruto. Naruto merely caught his former rival's fist before connecting with a hard punch to Sasuke's stomach, knocking the breath out of him. He then connected with a punch with his other fist to Sasuke's kidney, a hard right cross to Sasuke's face, another punch to the stomach, and finally sent him flying upwards with an upward kick to the jaw.
Looking up at Sasuke, Naruto jumped up after him. Naruto then seamed to prepare for another jumped, then said "Geppo!" Once the word left his lips, Naruto literally jumped off the air itself, propelling himself after Sasuke. He continued to do so until he was directly ahead of where Sasuke was heading, then when into a forward spin. When Sasuke was within range, Naruto delivered a spinning ax kick to the back of his black-haired teammate's head, sending him soaring back towards the ground.
Naruto landed after Sasuke did, standing his ground in case the Uchiha again refused to listen. As it turned out, Sasuke was once more attempting to get back on his feet, but before he could get off his hands, his curse seal receded and he collapsed, like a puppet with it's strings cut.
'I... I actually lost...! To a dobe of all...' Before he could finish, he blacked out.
Naruto's smirk grew and he chuckled as the chakra cloak around his disappeared. "Yeah... you're done...!"
Now came the really hard part, bringing him back to Konoha while making sure he couldn't escape in the process. 'Ugh, I feel out of practice with my old skills. Can't rely on them to travel while carrying cargo. Guess I'll have to do it the hard way for a bit.'
Some ruffling was heard, and Naruto got defensive, preparing for another one of Orochimaru's goons to come out and take a crack at him. What emerged instead was Kakashi and Pakkun.
"I must say, Naruto. It looks like you really did a number on this boy." Pakkun said, his permanent scowl hiding any real expression he might have.
Naruto chuckled at bit. "Well, he was trying to betray the village and was willing to try to kill me when I chose to get in his way. Figured I should return the favor if I wanted to be able to bring him back." It wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the full truth.
Kakashi bent down to check Sasuke's pulse. "At least he's still alive. Let's get him back before that changes."
"Alright, but restrain him first." Naruto ordered. "He may not be much now, but with, a little rest, he could be up and ready for more if we don't suppress him first."
Kakashi was surprised by this. Was his blond, knuckle-headed student... actually thinking ahead? This was a big surprise. But, at the same time, Kakashi couldn't help but feel a little proud of the blond Jinchuuriki for his forethought.
"Lucky for you, I came prepared." The cycloptic jounin said before taking out wire, cuffs, and mobility suppression seals and started applying them.
"I'm going to assume you carry that stuff on you all the time and didn't come here expecting having to detain one of us." Naruto commented.
Kakashi nodded, but also sighed. "Except for the cuffs, more or less. I'm just disappointed that I have to use them to detain someone I trusted enough to teach my prized technique to."
Naruto shrugged. "Wasn't your fault, sensei. You thought you could change Sasuke and get him to give up on revenge. Problem is that you can't help someone that doesn't want to be helped."
Kakashi sadly nodded. "Yeah. But I hadn't given him the benefit of the doubt, if I had assumed from the beginning he didn't want help, what would I have been?"
"Trying to save someone who had the potential to be a force of good, but was wasting it." Naruto replied.
Kakashi smiled. "That might be the smartest thing I've ever heard you say, Naruto." He then hefted Sasuke's body over his shoulder. "Hey, how did you beat him, by the way?"
Naruto smiled and rubbed the back of his neck in slight embarrassment at the compliment, but then had to suppress a frown when he realized that he'd have to lie to his sensei. Or at least tell another half truth. "It wasn't easy at first, honestly. I was holding back because I didn't want to try to kill him, but he wasn't holding back at all. What's weird is that he actually told me that, even though he considered me his closest friend, he was trying to kill me because he considered me his closest friend. Finally, after he managed to plunge a Chidori into my chest, lit me on fire, and broke my neck, I stopped holding back. Part of the only reason that none of those killed me was because of the Kyuubi's chakra healing me."
Kakashi was aghast. "You were holding back only until after three highly lethal attempts on your life? That was not a wise thing to do, Naruto."
Naruto nodded in acknowledgment of his past self's mistake. "Yeah, but, in my defense, my objective was to bring him back. If I hadn't held back, there might not have been enough left of Sasuke to bring back in a body bag."
Kakashi's eyes widened at this. Searching Naruto's face and looking him in the eyes, Kakashi realized that Naruto wasn't kidding. He truly felt that, if he'd wanted to, he could have destroyed Sasuke. And, judging from the wounds the young Uchiha was sporting, Kakashi was inclined to believe him.
But Kakashi noticed that there was something off about Naruto. Something... different. "Naruto, you are feeling normal, right?"
"Can't exactly answer that after taking a Chidori, now, can I?" Naruto asked back.
Kakashi winced slightly. "Right, poor choice of words. But are you feeling okay? Or, at least, close to okay?"
Naruto felt his stomach rumble a bit and put his hand over it. "I could sure go for some ramen right about now."
Kakashi smiled and resisted rolling his eyes. "You're doing just fine, then. Now let's go home."
Naruto smiled back at his sensei. "You don't have to tell me twice!"
With that, the two Konoha shinobi made their way back to their village. With the traitorous member of their team unconscious, restrained, and being carried on the older one's back. After the two left, something emerged from the trunk of a tree, a being half black and half white with a venus flytrap-like growth surrounding the collar bone.
"That was rather impressive." The calm voice of the white half said.
"You have no idea." The sinister voice of the black half remarked. "That fighting style... it can only be the Rokushiki."
The white half frowned lightly. "That's not good! If he's mastered the Rokushiki, it will make it all the more difficult to eventually retrieve him!"
"Then we are fortunate. He appears to only have a portion of the style at hand, and even admits to being out of practice with it. He has not mastered it yet." The black half noted.
"Are you certain?" The white half asked.
"We will soon see for ourselves."
The white half nodded in agreement. "Still, it would most likely be a good idea to report this in. The others will need to know this if we're to come up with a perfect strategy to defeat him."
"Yes, they will." The black half agreed, then the entire being sank into the tree, disappearing back to wherever it came from to whoever it served.
To Be Continued...
Well, there you go! Chapter one, done and done! Hope you guys like it! Also, bear in mind that, unless I decide to give Naruto, Hinata, or ANYONE in this fic devil fruit powers, this will remain a partial crossover. And if it remains a partial crossover, it will remain in the normal archives. Anyway, please remember the four R's. Read. Review. Recommend. Repeat. Later, readers! Also, if you wanna know more about the Rokushiki, either watch the One Piece anime, read the One Piece manga, or just check the One Piece Wiki site.