A girl with short pink hair up to her shoulders ran through the woods. Strangely everything was silent, as though waiting. Sakura continued to run, hoping desperately that she was not too late.
Flashback
Sakura woke up and walked to the bathroom. She came out and left her room to go for a walk outside. She was surprised to see Naruto sitting at the edge of the lake. He seemed troubled.
Sitting down next to him she smiled.
"Good morning Naruto."
"Hey Sakura." He replied solemnly.
"Are you ok?" she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.
Naruto didn't answer.
"Naruto, please, you know you can talk to me." Sakura said firmly.
"He's coming. Sasuke's coming back" Naruto said.
Sakura's face lit up.
"That's great!!" she exclaimed while hugging Naruto. But he remained stiff. "What's wrong?"
Naruto stayed silent for a moment but then began.
"Sasuke and I fought before he left the village in the valley of the First and Second. It was then that I saw how much he'd changed. But I chose to deny it. And now, he's coming back because we never finished the fight, But, I don't know when he's coming so I'll just have to wait."
"But how do you know?" Sakura asked.
"I don't. . . . . ." Naruto replied.
He got up and began to walk away while Sakura just stared after him not sure of whether he was telling the truth, or just still in shock from his last encounter with Sasuke in Orochimaru's base.
Another flashback
"NARUTO!!" Sakura yelled.
She ran up to a crumpled heap on the ground. His fists covered in blood and a huge gash on the right side of his face. He was lying in a huge crater with all the trees around him splintered as though crushed with immense force.
"What were you thinking?!"
"I. . . . .have to . . . .g-get . . . . stronger." He said as he got up. But he immediately collapsed and passed out. Sakura began to heal his wounds and soon he seemed unscathed. Naruto opened his eyes only to have them closed again as Sakura knocked him unconscious with a small burst of chakra to his head.
Naruto woke up to find himself not in the medical center, but in Sakura's room. He slowly got up and realized that he felt fine. Naruto got up from the bed and walked towards the window. The sun was high so it was probably around noon.
"GET BACK IN BED!"
Naruto turned around to find Sakura red in the face and with tears in her eyes. Naruto obediently walked back to the bed and lied down slowly falling into a deep sleep.
Naruto woke up to find that it was night time. He checked the clock and saw that it was about eleven. Naruto looked around the room and saw Sakura sleeping on the couch. But suddenly he got a strange feeling.
"He's here." Naruto muttered.
Naruto stood up and quickly got his shoes on and took his kunai case. He then rushed out the door into the night.
A couple hours later Sakura woke up. She immediately felt that something was wrong. Looking over at Naruto's bed she saw that it was empty. His shoes were gone and so was his kunai case. She jumped up and ran out the door.
End Flashback
Naruto ran through the woods, knowing where he had to go. Somehow he knew that it would someday end here. Eventually he came to a clearing and saw a great canyon before him. There was a waterfall on one side with statues of the First and Second Hokage's watching over the Valley. Naruto ran to the top of the First Hokage's statue and saw a figure Standing across from him on top of the Second Hokage's statue.
"So, you knew I would come." The figure called.
Naruto stayed silent.
"Well let's finish this then."
"Why Sasuke? Why did you abandon the village? Why did you hurt everyone who ever tried to help you? Why did betray the closest thing to a family you had?" Naruto asked.
"Why? For power! All of you were holding me back. I realized the only way I could surpass my brother was to do what he did. Sever all the bonds I had made. Prove that I was worthy of power. Prove that I was not held back by any useless emotions like love or compassion. The only emotion I ever needed was hate. I HATE my brother. I HATE this village. And I HATE you Naruto. And now, I'm going to prove it. By doing something I was too weak to do four years ago!"
With this Sasuke threw a kunai at Naruto who easily blocked it. He then jumped down into the valley below while shooting fireballs at Naruto. Naruto jumped from the statue and threw kunai at Sasuke. Sasuke easily dodged and rushed at Naruto with his katana out. Naruto dodged back and a wall of water rose in between them. As soon as Sasuke's sword made contact with the water it was stuck. The water formed spikes and Sasuke was forced to let go of his katana. The water then encased the katana and rose into the air as a sphere. Naruto performed a series of complicated hand signs. Suddenly the water began to glow a bright yellow and was absorbed into the sword. As the katana fell, it turned into ash.
"So. . . . .you managed to destroy my katana." Sasuke said. "But that's not the only weapon I have."
Sasuke bit his hand and blood began to show. He then smeared the blood onto his palm and made a series of hand signs He then thrust his hand onto the water and a seal formed. A mixture of smoke and chakra flowed from the seal. When the some cleared, a dark blue and black wolf with eight tails towered over Naruto.
"The Hachibi?!" Naruto exclaimed, "but, you're not a jinchuriki! How can you summon the eighth beast?"
"It chose me. Just as the Kyuubi chose you"
"So, I guess its no use hiding it."
Naruto then performed a summoning jutsu and a dark red and orange fox with nine tails appeared. At this point the water was steaming because of the excess chakra being unleashed by the battle.
"Now, the real battle begins." Sasuke said smirking.
At once the Hachibi lunged at Naruto and Kyuubi who dodged to the side just in time. Kyuubi then released an intense burst of chakra that stunned Hachibi. Kyuubi then focused its chakra into a narrow beam and sent it directly at Sasuke and his wolf. But suddenly an enormous wall of dark blue chakra rose in front of Sasuke and Hachibi. The beam wasn't deflected but absorbed into the wall. Then a more powerful blast of chakra was unleashed from the wall. Kyuubi sent out another blast of chakra mixed with Naruto's own power. The two forces collided causing the water to boil, and the rock wall of the valley to crack. It was now a battle of wills.
Sakura was now frantically running through the woods towards the valley. She was hoping she wouldn't be too late. Sakura reached the clearing and what she saw made her collapse freeze in shock. There, in the middle of the lake, were towering structures of two animals. A wolf and a fox: It seemed as if they were roaring at each other. And on top were two shinobi. Sakura recognized them immediately as Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto stood on top of the fox, while Sasuke was standing on top of the wolf. She then saw that the statues were made of, not stone, but crystal. The wolf was made from dark blue crystal while the fox from dark red. The two somehow seemed to be in harmony: Balancing each other out. But Sakura only saw her two best friends, frozen in combat. She fell to the ground sobbing. But a soft breeze made her look up. She could have sworn she saw Naruto and Sasuke in front of her but then something else caught her eye. Words seemed to be carved into the statues. On the wolf in dark red letters it read:
Many seek to achieve power
But go about it the wrong way
Power is not the ability to put aside you emotions
To forget everything that matters to you
To be able to hurt the ones you love
Power is the ability to express you emotions
To remind yourself of everything that matters to you
And to be willing to protect the ones you love.
And on the fox in dark blue letters:
No matter how hard you trials are
No matter how many problems you're faced with
Never forget the people that matter to you
They will help you keep strong even when you feel weak
They will support you where no one else does
You family isn't just the people related by blood
It's everyone that you love
It's anyone that you are willing to die for in order to protect