Disclaimer: I don not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuuden or any of its respective outcroppings such as brands or characters. Please do not expect me to write a disclaimer on every chapter because it's not happening
Naruto leaped over the huge fireball that had been hurled at him and dodged the kunai that had came at him behind, his Sage Mode made his senses almost on par with that of the most skilled Sharingan or Byakugan user. a punch came from a small...very small blindspot connecting across Naruto's face, of course the flow of nature chakra was keeping him very resistant to injury, he still felt the punch nonetheless, he parried the following strike and fended his assailant off.
"You've gotten to be so strong...Naruto Uzumaki," Sasuke Uchiha said while picking up his sword. "Yeah, well you've been no slouch either Sasuke." Naruto gave Sasuke one of his trademark smiles. Sasuke let out a breathe and cracked his neck. "That new form of yours, I still haven't figured out what exactly it is..." Sasuke trailed off.
"This here, this is pinnacle of my training my greatest achievement!," Sasuke replied rather quickly, "It seems you got a bigger vocabulary as well," Sasuke let out a snide smirk. He stretched forward his Chokuto, ready for the nexr scuffle in what could possibly be his and Naruto's final confrontation after years of speculation..
"It was...so long ago that I killed my brother, 5 years now, I still seem to wonder 'what have I done with my life?' I can't help but think that. But I guess you never had to worry about that, after all, you'll soon be hokage of Konoha, am I right?" Naruto looked at Sasuke and said, "Yes, but that's not for another few months until the higher ups get used to a Jinchuuriki being the boss around the place..." Naruto was hoping to continue his rambling but Sasuke interupted him, "Naruto, perhaps we should dispense with the chit-chat and do what we came here to do, after all, it is our destiny, it is what he decided."
Naruto looked a little upset from Sasuke's interuption but knew it had to happen sometime, he had tried nogotiation in the past but it would never work nor would it last for very long, this had to happen, and it had to happen right here, right now. So Naruto took the scroll from his back and unraveled it.
"Shuriken Summoning Jutsu!," A large fan shaped shuriken appeared from the many markings on the scroll and Naruto hurled with his hurcelean Sage strength. Sasuke was able to anticipate its trajectory via Sharingan and was able to dodge, what he didn't count on, was the shuriken exploding under him while he was in mid-air and a shadow clone of Naruto jumped from the smoke and swing a kunai at Sasuke, but he blocked it with his Chokuto.
Sasuke destroyed the clone with a swipe of Chidori and shot a spray of Chidori Senbon at the real Naruto. He pulled out his own Kunai and was able to cut through all the needles with the natural chakra surging through the iron blade. He then threw the blade at Sasuke and then made a combination of handsigns, "Water Style: Aqua Bullets!" Naruto started to spit high velocity water bullets at Sasuke.
"You can use water style?!," Sasuke jumped backward and dodged into the trees, watching the water bullets rip through the trees like nothing. He jumped into the branches jumping away from every volley that came his way. He turned around to use one his many iterations of Chidori but Naruto teleported behind him and have him a left hook which sent him flying into the ground.
Sasuke countered the blow with a swipe of his Chokuto, leaving a cut on Naruto's left forearm and cheek. Naruto replied the hit with a kick but Sasuke jumped over and connecting with a sweeping kick to Naruto's face, turning him completely around, Sasuke capitalized by striking him in the back with a fistful of Chidori. Sasuke pulled the blade of lightning from his back and Naruto fell forward.
"Seems that form of yours didn't get the best of me this time around" Sasuke said with a patronizing tone in his voice. "No, I guess not, but then again..."Naruto trailed off. A shadow clone bursted from the ground, "Even in the middle of that, he was able to make a handsign?," the clone hit Sasuke in the chest with Rasengan, Sasuke was enveloped in the hurricane of chakra and the giant orb of energy carried him away from Naruto and into a group of trees. Needless to say, the trees were destroyed but were sturdy enough to stop the blast's progression.
Sasuke spit a few drops of blood from his mouth and caught his breathe. He was injured, no doubt about it, just the fact that it was a shadow clone and the Rasengan wasn't anywhere near its full power was most likely the only reason he was breathing at the moment. Sasuke picked up his trusty sword. "This is rediculous, what do I have to do to take this damn toad sage down!?," Sasuke made his own combination of handsigns.
"Fire Style: Lion's Fang Jutsu!," Sasuke spit a barrage of Lion shaped fireballs at Naruto, he stepped forward and thrusted a Rasengan into the biggest one, it exploded into hundreds of small fire strands, they wrapped around and then exploded. The other fireballs soon gathered and exploded into the smoke. Sasuke saw the ground in front start to break apart and move toward at blazing speed. He dug hand into the ground, "Chidori Current!"
Sasuke shot multiple lightning strikes into the ground, hoping to hit Naruto with one of them. Naruto bursted from the ground and mounted an offensive attack on Sasuke but Sasuke was too quick and parried his strike and impaled Naruto on his Chokuto, Naruto exploded into smoke and reappeared behind with a Rasengan in his hand. Sasuke spun around and struck blindly with a specially charged Chidori.
Chidori and Rasengan clashed like they did during Naruto and Sasuke's first battle, in the valley of the end. The immediate area was being affected by stray lightning bolts and wind bursts flying in every different direction. They bothed pushed with all their might, but either one would not budge. Sasuke started to be pushed back so he did something drastic, he made Chidori in his other hand and dug it into Naruto's arm, breaking his hold on his Rasengan, it dissaparated and Sasuke lunged forward and hit Naruto with his Chidori and then capitalized by hitting him with his other Chidori.
Naruto was injured, he didn't suspect Sasuke could create a Chidori in both hands. Naruto swung himself forward and headbutted Sasuke, "Fuck!" Sasuke screamed as the hit knocked him some ways backwards. There were stars clouding his vision but Naruto could see, and Naruto attacked and unleashed a flurry of brutal Taijutsu attacks on Sasuke, the final hit knocking him into some trees.
"Sasuke must this really be how it is? We don't have to do this." Naruto pleaded. "It does, it does have to be this way, we are destined to kill one another. That is our destiny, our fate, what we were born to do, you, a descendant of the Senju and I, an Uchiha, our families are destined to hate and fight each other until the end of time. Nothing will change that, NARUTO!"
Sasuke made another combination of handsigns and raised his hands towards the sky which was now darkening, foreshadowing the coming of a storm, a lightning storm.
"What are you doing, Sasuke?," Naruto asked adamantly. "You want to know what I'm doing? I'm gonna finish you with the attack I made to kill...Itachi..." Naruto stepped backward, "Sasuke leave it alone, this doesn't have to happen, we can end it right here" Sasuke replied with a resounding "We will end it right here, right here, right now, I will end your life and maybe bring this horrid fued between our families to an end..."
"You think this will change anything, if we kill each other, our children and their children and their children will never reconcile, will never be a family to one another. This will just make it worse.," Naruto finished his explanation, finally understanding that Sasuke would never back down, Neither would he, Naruto would not give up his endeavor and realized that only way to stop his best friend would be the thing he feared the most, killing his friend.
"I hoped it wouldn't have to come to this...," thought Naruto. He summoned 2 shadow clones next to him and they started to create Naruto's ultimate attack. "Things...didn't have to be this way...Sasuke...Uchiha...my friend...my brother..." The familiar jet engine roar of the Rasen-Shuriken filled the air and the coming storm started to produce lightning.
"Now Naruto, now this is where it ends, where everything ends for one of us, and something begins for the other. I hope you're ready, Naruto Uzumaki," Sasuke finished another handsign and strike of lightning from the sky curled around his arm.
"What is that?," Naruto asked.
"This...this is Kirin"
Naruto readied his attack and headed full force at Sasuke. Sasuke just brought his hand down like a axe and the large lightning strike ripped through the sky straight down on him, out of reflex, Naruto swung the Shuriken up in the air to defend himself. Soon a clash of amazing energy ensued. Kirin v.s. Rasen-Shuriken.
"What?" Sasuke said to himself with anger in his voice. He started using more chakra, summong more lightning to collectively rip through the Rasen-Shuriken. Naruto was doing more than holding his own, he was slowly but surely being able to straighten his legs and stand straight up, the Rasen-Shuriken spinning at near light speed eating up the lightning as fast as it recovered. The whole sky was painted blue and white and purple from the epic clash of power that was taking place.
"Just a little more," Naruto said, while pushing more chakra out. The thing is about using natural chakra was that as long there was a Earth to supply him with her power, his energies were nearly limitless, as long he could maintain Sage Mode. Sasuke didn't have such a clean break, his chakra was dropping dramatically, if he didn't hit Naruto with the attack now, all would be lost.
Sasuke readied his Chokuto in his other hand and channeled the energy from the stream of the Kirin into his Chokuto, the Kirin strike bearing down on Naruto started to fade away completely when Naruto swung around and met his Rasen-Shuriken with Sasuke's sword of pure lightning; being fueled by the sky itself. The sword and Rasen-Shuriken met with ferocious intensity.
Sasuke dug the tip of the sword straight into the orb in the center, hoping for a weak spot. Naruto pushed forward and Sasuke pushed back, neither attack would show any sign of weakening. Sasuke slammed his foot and ground, 'Chidori current!," the electric energy bursted from the ground and struck Naruto. He was withstanding the onslaught from the Chidori current and still pushing the Rasen-Shuriken. Naruto made a symbol with his free hand, a shadow clone appeared behind Sasuke a threw numerous kunai into Sasuke's back, he let a scream and a stray energy bolt from Sasuke hit the clone and destroyed it, Sasuke then shot Chidori Senbon from the ground and struck Naruto's free hand, all the nerves were numbed, Naruto couldn't summon anymore clones to help him.
Sasuke was nearly out of chakra, if he didn't have any chakra to control the Kirin, it would explode in his face. Sasuke did something...drastic...he energized his other hand with with what little Chakra he had left thrusted his arm into the Rasen-Shuriken, with his bare hand, he turned Naruto sideway and spun himself, removing the Chokuto from the Shuriken and dug into Naruto.
Naruto returned by hitting Sasuke with his Rasen-Shuriken, both chakras became quickly unstable from channeling into one another and a large, bright, white-blue explosion happened between them.
When the dust subsided only one form was seen visibly through the smoke that person was...
ONE YEAR EARLIER
"Awww come on Sakura, again with this?" Naruto questioned. "Yes again with this. How do you expect to be Hokage if you don't know any medical ninjutsu?"
"I was kinda hoping you or Ino would always be there...heh heh heh," Naruto said. "You mean you would rather have Ino around than me!?" Sakura asked adamantly. "well..." Naruto continued, "Ino is alot nicer to me than you are..." Naruto's reply was met with a punch in the face.
"I can't believe you'd say that to me, you asshole..." Sakura turned and walked away.
Naruto felt that he hurt Sakura's feelings so he got back up and ran to her. "What is it now?" Sakura demanded. "Sakura, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings..." Naruto trailed on. "I'm fine Naruto, really, don't worry about it"
"It's when a girl tells me not to worry about it is when I start to worry"
Sakura turned back to him and said "Everything is fine okay? Please don't worry about it, nothing wrong, you got nothing to worry about." Sakura turned and leaped onto a roof and ran away. Naruto was was now worried even more, what with the inconsistency of Sakura's explanation.
"I guess I'll have to talk to her another time when she isn't in such a shitty mood. If that will be this month, I hope." Naruto bemoaned his bad luck. He walked back to his place, all by lonesome. So since he had a free minute and nobody was around, he decided to go take a nap.
While Naruto was asleep, he was again seiged by a number of nightmares. Nightmares that seem to plaque him for no apparent reason. He decided to go see the experts in psychological stuff, in other words, the Yamanaka clan.
The next day, Naruto went to Ino's front door. "What is it Naruto?" Ino asked expectantly. Ever since Naruto came back to the village, she had developed kind of a crush on him, how could anyone blame her, Naruto matured quite nicely, he became a quite a handsome young man.
"Ino, I wondering if you could help me with something?" Naruto asked. Ino replied with a curious "Sure what do you need?". Ino led him inside her home, showed him a few rooms on the way to a sitting room. "Naruto, maybe we could go talk in my room?" Ino asked expectantly. Naruto looked back at her quizically, "What for?," Ino replied quickly, "Well this little nightmare problem should be between us huh? Maybe everyone knowing your little problem might restrict you from ninja duties if the village thinks your not psychologically fit".
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ino took Naruto's hand and led him upstairs to the farthest room on the left. Naruto walked into the room, the walls were painted a sage minty green color. There were violet curtains on the window. On the far side of the room, there was a queen size bed. There was also a small TV, a radio, a few botany and jutsu scrolls, a picture of her old team with Shikamaru, Choji, and...Asuma.
Ino sat him down in a chair next to her bed and she set cross-legged on the edge of her bed. "So...." Ino continued, "Tell me some more of what's going on."
"Well it started a few weeks ago, see...I've been getting alot of solo missions lately and doing them pretty frequently and on one mission, I fell asleep during an operation, thank god there was an ANBU ops member in the area, the enemy would've slit my throat if he didn't find me. Anyway, after that, every night I have recurring nightmares of all my friends on different missions and it ends the same way, Sasuke is there...and he's been turned into Orochimaru's slave and he kills them, I don't know what to do..."
Ino nodded and said, "Well without a doubt Sasuke is the cause of your nightmares, another possible cause is you getting promoted to solo missions now, which must be hard for you considering you are so used to 4-man cell squads. It seems that both these interwining with the fact you were on Team 7 with Sasuke and now he's gone might've been the straw that broke the camel's back."
"So what should I do?"
"I would suggest maybe taking a little vacation, get your head together, try to be around other people. I know how good friends you and Sasuke were but...Naruto, you got to understand, he's not the same person we knew anymore, anger and hatred absorbed him, his body, his mind, his soul, he's just a shell of a man that lives only for vengeance, and even going so far as to give his own life to attain it."
"Ino, I can't believe that, I know he can change, I know I can change him...someday."
Ino sat and stared and Naruto, small bags under his eyes made it apparent that Naruto's problems were alot more prevalent than he made it appear. Ino couldn't help but feel concerned for him. He was her good friend and she had more...evolved feelings regarding him.
Ino leaned forward and put her hand on his face and caressed his face and ran her hand through his hair.
"Ummm...wow...Ino," Naruto thought.
"Naruto...please take it easy okay?"
Naruto looked in her eyes, her eyes were as blue as his. "Okay Ino, I'll see you later, okay?"
Ino nodded.
Naruto stood up and walked out. Ino stopped him and "Naruto, if you need to talk again, feel free to come and visit me, We'll have some ramen..." Ino finished her sentence with a smile. Naruto looked back at her with a smile, "Sure, anytime."
Naruto walked out of her home and made his way down the street. "Ino made a good point maybe I should just take it easy. I need to relax. I think I'll just take rest, get everything together, I'm sure everything will be fine..." Naruto stopped and touched his face, "Ino, she touched me...hmm..."
Naruto couldn't seem to get Ino out of his mind, she had matured into a gorgeous young woman, alot like Hinata and Sakura but Ino was different, she was so kind and yet mean to Naruto at points in his life. She made him feel bad about bwing himself, unlike Sakura, who scolded him and lectured him on how to act at every turn. Naruto wondered if maybe Ino harbored any...internal emotions toward him, he doubted it though, if he thought every girl that was nice to him was in love with him, he'd be the world's sexiest man...or something to that effect. (Author LOLZ)
Naruto jumped onto his apartment complex and walked into his apartment and laid down on the bed. "Just gotta not think about Sasuke and missions, just got to not thinnk Sasuke or missions...just got...to think...about..." Naruto drifted off to sleep.
Naruto woke up a few hours later, it was dark outside, no wonder since it was in the middle of December. The radio that morning did mention it would have been a very cold night tonight. Naruto got up and got another quilt from the closet and wrapped up on the bed. He made a few handsigns and shot a fireball from his mouth into a few lamps to warm the place up. After mastering his Sage Mode, Naruto started to gain affinity with other elements, now he was able to use all 5 elements, wind, of course was still his primary weapon since it is his original attribute.
He got up and walked into the hallway across from his bathroom. He passed by a picture, a picture of him and Ino on her birthday. He had almost forgotten it was there unless for today, regarding what happened between him and her in her bedroom. She was wearing a silk kimono, as is custom, she looked...beautiful, Naruto thought. Naruto couldn't seem to make heads or tails of his feeling regarding the ladies in his life.
He heard a knock at the door, he wondered who it could be in the middle in the night. He said that he was on the way. After about 45 seconds he opened the door and he was greeted with a punch in face, Naruto was knocked into the opposite wall. The figure ran into the apartment, flipping over a lamp and table, starting to set fire to the bed. Naruto jumped up and swung a kunai at the assailant. He dodged the knife and swung another punch. Naruto grabbed his arm and through through the wall, into the bathroom.
Naruto ran through the hole in his wall and grabbed the man in black and smashed him into the tile wall. The masked figure threw a smoke pellet in his face, which spread fast in such a small room, Naruto tripped over the bathtub and the man grabbed his neck and started to drown him in the toilet. Naruto was glad he flushed last time he used the bathroom.
Naruto was able to wrestle himself free and punch the masked man in the chest and stomach with a louad thud with every punch. He picked him over his head and threw him into the medicine cabinet. The man picked up a shard of glass from the mirror, he threw it into Naruto's shoulder, Naruto let out a loud yelp. He got up and made a combination of handsigns, he inhaled and let out spit a large fireball enveloping the whole bathroom and blowing Naruto into the next room over, which was his next door neighbor's bedroom.
"Sorry!" Naruto yelled to the man laying in bed. The masked ninja jumped into the room and swung around and kicked Naruto in the face. "Shit, if only I could have a few seconds to gather natural chakra..."
The masked man headbutted Naruto and punched him in the face. Naruto caught the next punch and headbutted him back kneed him in the stomach and grabbed him by the head and pulled him up with all his might and swung him forward and then down, suplexing him into a table. Naruto picked up one of the table legs and broke it over his head and grabbed his arm and whipped him into the wall. Naruto picked up the other table leg and threw it at him, the unidentifiable person ducked and a table leg was stuck halfway into the wall where his head was.
"What do you want with me? Answer me now!"
The masked man stood up straight and brushed off some drywall from his shoulders. He finally said "This is nothing personal, this is just what I was paid to do."
"Paid? By who?"
"It seems someone wants you dead boy. I don't remember his name but he has a certain distaste for Konoha, I don't know...he said to find one the strongest shinobi in the village and kill him. Since I hear your name alot on the street, I guess I'd make you my target."
Naruto made a handsign, "That is the stupidest shit I've ever heard." A few shadow clones appeared and rushed the masked man, he swung forward and stabbed them both on kunai, destroying them, Naruto threw another table leg since he didn't have a kunai pouch. He dodged it and threw a kunai, Naruto kicked up the last table leg in the air, which took the kunai throw. Naruto grabbed the leg and the knife and swung, throwing the table leg, and then swinging around again and throwing the knife.
The man was able to dodge it barely but was scratched on his arm. Naruto lunged forward and punched him in the face with all his might and started kneeing him repeatedly in the stomach and then headbutted him. The masked man wrapped his legs around Naruto and brought him down with his weight and catapulted him into the wall. He ran forward and drop kicked Naruto into the kitchen. The man made a combination of handsigns, he released another large explosive fireball into the compact kitchen.
The room exploded, the walls nearly giving out. The masked man ran into the kitchen with a kunai knife in his hand.
"Where did he go...?"
Naruto jumped out of the refrigerator, ripping off the door with him, slamming him with the fridge door, and then rushing him using it as a battering ram, slamming the Masked man into the wall. Naruto let go of the door and stretched his hand out. Blue chakra started to swirl into his hand.
"Rasengan!"
Naruto dug the Rasengan through the fridge door into the masked man, the door was broken in half, leaving the masked man to take the fury of the Rasengan. The masked man was enveloped by the Rasengan and tore down the wall like paper back into Naruto's now burning apartment. Naruto pushed him into the now epicenter the burning building. The energy subsided and the masked man was what once was Naruto's cubby but was now embering splinters.
Naruto picked him up by the scruff of his shirt. "Now tell me, who hired you?"
The masked man looked up at him, Naruto could not see his eyes through the full head covering mask. The masked man dug into the pouch and threw a cylindrical object into an object, it exploded into white chaff completely blinding Naruto. After a few minutes his vision returned and saw that the masked man was gone.
Naruto looked around and saw that the building could not be saved so he jumped through the window and landed in a dumpster. He crawled and made his way to the street in front of it. There were already fire squads using numerous water jutsus to destroy the fire.
Neji appeared behind him, "Naruto, what happened here?" Naruto turned to him, " I don't know, Neji, I answered the door and I was attacked by some pyscho that said he was paid to attack me, as you could see..." Naruto pulled out the shard of glass in his shoulder, "He wasn't easy to get rid of." Neji replied, "Did he say anything else? How did he get away?" Naruto answered, "No, nothing else, and he kinda threw a flashbang in my face after I hit him with Rasengan."Neji replied jokingly, "No wonder he ran away."
Sakura had gotten there as well, "Naruto are you okay?" Naruto turned and said, "Sure I am, just a few scratches, I'm fine." Sakura sighed, "That's good..."
"Yeah, I suppose so, but now I have no house!"
Sakura said, "Don't you have anywhere to go?" Naruto looked back at her.
"Yeah, I know a place"