Back to the story: Here
is a recap. Chapter 1.2 - The Greatest Rivals!
Naruto and
Sasuke will fight. Sasuke will try to kill him,
and will pull out
the Level 2 Curse. Right when he is about to kill him,
Naruto
will explode with chakra, and will begin to turn into the demon fox.
This time, he will sprout nine tails, red/orange fur, and will
begin to
resemble a fox more than a boy. Note that somehow the
seal is not broken yet
on Naruto. They will both go for one final
assault on each other and unleash
an enormous amount of energy.
This will create an enormous explosion and
demolish a whole bunch
of land. The leaf genins will notice the explosion,
and
in
Konoha village, people will see a flash of light on the horizon and
wonder
what it is. Someone will mention that it is in the
direction where the Genins
and Shikamaru left, and someone(s)
will pray for the safety of the others or
start thinking about
them ( I.E. The Hyuga family, Kiba's family, Shikamaru's
mother,
Sakura for sure, Hinata for sure for Naruto and Neji, and probably
Gai, Jiraiya, Tsunade). Back where the Genins are, Shikamaru
makes the
decision that they need someone to go see what that was
but at the same time
they need to collect their wounded. Gaara
goes on ahead, and what he sees
confirms the new beliefs that he
holds. Naruto and Sasuke are still standing,
but suddenly Sasuke
falls, defeated. He asks Naruto to kill him, and Naruto
calls him
a moron and confesses that he will bring him back to the village
since he can't kill his friends. He also says he did not
completely call the
Demon Fox for the reason that he didn't want
to kill Sasuke. They manage to
make it back to Konoha with the
help of Gaara. At this point, Gaara's opinion
of Naruto has
grown. They get back and will both end up in the hospital for
awhile...
Chapter 1.3 - Return and the end of a quest
The Leafs and Co. Begin to head back to the village. As they
leap through the
trees, they spot Neji on the ground. He is in
extremely bad condition, but
still alive. Kiba takes out a
blood-stopping pill and takes one for him and
one for Neji. Neji
groans, but the bleeding stops and he starts to relax. Kidomaru is
starting to stir behind then. Temari and Kankuro immediately grab
him by the
neck and question him. He laughs that Sasuke is
already with Orochimaru and
they can't do anything. Kankuro and
Temari laugh, say "Oh yeah?" and then
Kankuro knocks
him
out with some paralysis poison from the puppet. He gets his
other one out and
puts him in the other puppet, saying that they
should interrogate this guy.
Shikamaru agrees, and then decides
that they need to go and get Choji. They
find Choji, and are
surprised at the carnage. Lee picks up Choji by the arm
and
states that he is not dead, it is just his body has produced so much
chakra and expelled it that he will need to rest. They then all
head back. As
they reach the gate, they are joined by Gaara, who
has an unconscious and
bashed Sasuke and a shirtless, almost sad,
looking Naruto, both supported by
Sand Clones. They ask him what
happened with the explosion. He said that it
was a big fight and
did not say with whom, only that the fighters (Sasuke's
Level 2
form and the Naruto-Demon Fox being) are gone. They enter Konoha, and
immediately people start to stare and shout that the Genins are
back. Sakura
and Tsunade immediately runs up to great them, while
others like Hinata and
the families stay back some. She is
shocked to see everyone, especially
Sasuke and Naruto, battered.
She asks what happens, and the only response she
gets is from
Gaara who said that "There were some problems convincing him to
return (referring to Sasuke), but he fine now". Hinata
watches and
thinks "Naruto-kun..." Shikamaru cuts
everyone off stating that they are
happy to see them, but if they
don't hurry, someone will die (he says this
while sounding like
his old self, which makes Temari Chuckle to herself).
They all
then head to the hospital, where the Leaf Team is put in care
immediately. Kidomaru is taken to the hospital escorted by 3 ANBU
captains.
Chapter 2.1 - Far away
Everyone is
currently in the hospital. In the Lobby, Sakura loudly berates a
worker for not letting her in to see the others. The worker says
that the
patients are still too damaged to see anyone. Sakura
yells that it has been 2
days since they returned, so why can't
she see Naruto or anyone else. The
worker says that she may see
the others, but not Sasuke or Naruto. Hinata
shows up and timidly
asks if she could see Naruto. Sakura notices that she
has a
geranium (flower of determination) in her hand and asks if that is
for
Naruto. Hinata blushes a furious red, and says yes. Sakura is
surprised, and
tells her that the flower suites her. Hinata looks
up at Sakura in surprise
and says thank-you. The worker then
tells them that they still can't see
Sasuke or Naruto. He then
says, "Physically, those two have recovered and
their
internal structures are fine. However, they can get no response from
them mentally. This is the best way to put it...(Pan to shot of a
shocked
Sakura and Hinata) It's like they are here, yet there
minds are lost in
another world. (Pan to picture of Naruto and
Sasuke in separate rooms lying
in a bed with their eyes open, but
glazed as if in far-off thought.
Chapter 2.2 - Neji's
achievements
Three days later....
Neji is dreaming in
his mind. He remembers the words that Naruto spoke to him
during
the Chuunin exam and the fight he had between him and Kidomaru. He
then thinks or his father and family, smiles that his father had
been right
before, and then he thinks of all his friends, and how
everyone is strong and
they respect him. He hears a voice that he
thinks is his father telling him
to awaken to the light. He opens
his eyes to find Hiyashi Hyuga standing
over, smiling and asking
if he is okay. Hinata and Hinabi are with him as
well. He says
that he is fine and sits up. He winces slightly and looks at
the
points where the arrows pierced him. The holes are gone, but there is
a
scar in place. Hiyashi said that he had been out for five days
and they were
extremely worried about him. He then takes a box
out of his robes and says
that Neji desires this now since he has
proved himself beyond anything else.
Neji opens it and finds his
father's headband and a note saying that if he
got this, he would
have excelled beyond anything he had hoped. Neji is
overcome with
emotion. Hiyashi says that he needs to return to the Hyuga house
when he is completely ready. He ends the sentence with the
address
of "beloved nephew", smiles and leaves. Hinabi
follows him, and Hinata asks
him if he is fine. He says he is
fine and thanks Hinata for her concern. She
smiles. He suddenly
remembers the mission and asks if they got Sasuke back.
Hinata
says they did. Neji asks why she suddenly looks so sad. She says that
Naruto-kun was badly hurt and seems to have suffered some mental
damage and
will not come "to this world". Neji looks
down thoughtfully. He then says
that if anyone can return, it is
him. Hinata looks up, and agrees with him
with a smile and a
prayer.
Chapter 2.3 and more to come next time!
Choji's
new strength, Shikamaru's new purpose in life, Kiba's determination,
the Sands new conviction, and the terrible secret behind the
condition of the
rivals!
