Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.
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The Demon and the Container
At a waterfall near the Hidden Village of Konoha, there were two people on the ground, and hundreds of one person standing on a branch adjacent to the water fall. Of the other two, one was reading a book and the other was sitting in the center of six standing stone slabs. The one reading the book had half his face covered by a mask and had white hair. The other one was wearing something that looked like half a helmet.
The hundreds standing on the branch were all the same person. They were just hundred clones. He had blond hair and light blue eyes. All their hands were touching the waterfall. Suddenly, the waterfall began to split into two. Then as suddenly as it started, the waterfall went back to being one.
'Hey, Naruto! Come down and take a break!' the white haired person shouted.
'Coming, Kakashi-sensei!' Naruto shouted back and all the clones disappeared leaving only one Naruto.
'You can stop now, Yamato.' Kakashi told the last person. And he got up from the center and walked out of it and lay down on the ground.
'Hey, Kakashi-sensei, how much more longer will I need to master this thing?' Naruto asked.
'How would I know? It all depends on how hard you work and concentrate. You've grown up now, Naruto, you should understand.' Kakashi replied. Naruto sat down and did not say anything else. Then suddenly he jumped to his feet and went back up to the branch.
'Then I have no time to rest. I need to master this and the new move which is supposed to be my own. I need to find Sasuke and this time I can't afford to let him go again.' Naruto said. 'Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!' he shouted and hundred clones appeared again. Kakashi was speechless. Then he smiled to himself and told himself that Naruto was not the same kid he was before.
'Well then Yamato, looks like you can't rest either. Sorry, but like he said, we need to get Sasuke back before Orochimaru transfers again. Three years are almost over since he last transferred.' Kakashi said.
'It's fine. I don't mind.' Yamato said and went back into the circle again and performed the suppressing jutsu. But he suddenly stopped. He and Kakashi saw six people flying towards Naruto with kunais in their hands. Both of them just prepared to attack when--
'Rasengan!' Naruto shouted and out of nowhere, six clones came and squarely hit all the enemies with Rasengan. Kakashi and Yamato looked shocked. Kakashi had to tell himself the same thing once again. Naruto looked down at the six people who were lying on the ground. All the clones disappeared and he landed on the ground just as Kakashi and Yamato came there.
'They're Orochimaru's Sound Ninja.' Yamato said looking at the forehead protectors.
'But why this sudden attack?' Kakashi wondered aloud.
'Because Orochimaru-sama wants that Kyuubi brat out of the way.' a voice answered him. All three spun around and saw that the entire width of the field was filled with Sound Ninja. Without warning, all of them attacked. Yamato performed a seal and put his hands onto the ground. The earth rumbled and an enormous cage rose out of the ground and trapped all the Sound Ninja at once. They tried to break out but the cage was too strong.
'He wants Naruto out of which way?' Kakashi asked, walking up to the cage.
'Orochimaru-sama understands that the Kyuubi brat can influence Sasuke-sama greatly. Before Sasuke-sama got Orochimaru-sama's invitation, he had almost completely forgotten about revenge, and had become peace drunk and beleived in his friends, and that was all because of the Kyuubi brat. Orochimaru-sama also understands that Sasuke-sama can be found by you guys any time, but he does not want Sasuke-sama to meet the Kyuubi brat because he cannot risk to lose Sasuke-sama.' the leader said, and suddenly, the cage fell apart and all of them charged once again.
Kakashi was about to attack when--
'Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!' Naruto shouted. Hundreds of Naruto clones appeared, enough to even the numbers. 'Rasengan!' he shouted and all the clones did Rasengan. All of them charged forwards and managed to hit every Sound Ninja. Soon the army was a dump of bodies.
'You've really grown, Naruto. You're not at all like I remember.' Kakashi said proudly. 'I'm also surprised that you're still standing after so many Ransengans. You should have run out of Chakra.'
'I have. I guess I'm forced to take a break.' Naruto said and fell to the ground.
'Come on, let's go back to Konoha and get some lunch.' Kakashi said and lifted Naruto onto his shoulders.
They reached Konoha and went to Naruto's favorite place for ramen, Ichiraku. Naruto quickly finished his and didn't even ask for seconds. He got to his feet and was about to leave when Kakashi stopped him.
'Let me go, Kakashi-sensei! I need to master--'
'Of course you need to! But Yamato needs a break.' Kakashi said. Naruto realized it and sat down again. 'Have seconds it'll be my treat.' Naruto looked up at him, shocked. Then he went outside and looked at the sky. Kakashi was dumbfounded. 'Hey Naruto! What are you looking at?'
'I want to see if a tornado or something is coming.' Naruto said.
'For what?' Kakashi asked.
'Because you said you'd treat me.' Naruto said. Kakashi understood and fell off his chair.
'Just shut up and finish your seconds. It's ready.' Kakashi said and Naruto came back inside, grinning. He finished that as fast as he finished his last bowl. After that he ate at least ten more bowls. All the bowls were piled up next to Naruto and Kakashi, who had been busy talking to him, had not noticed how many Naruto had eaten. Soon afterwards, the bill came and Kakashi took it. He looked at the total and fell off his chair again. The owner of Ichiraku came towards Kakashi with outstretched hands and an evil grin.
All three of them were walking back to the waterfall, Kakashi with a sheepish look on his face. Naruto was sporting an empty wallet.
'Never ... never again am I going to beleive you when you say you'll treat me.' Naruto growled.
'I meant I'd pay only for the second bowl.' Kakashi said.
'Kakashi-sensei you liar. You didn't pay even that, did you?' Naruto said. Kakashi laughed. 'Stop laughing!'
'Kakashi-san!' a masked man suddenly shouted and came running towards them.
'Ah, Naruto-kun is still safe.' the Anbu guy said.
'From what?'
'As Jiraiya-sama had suspected, all the Akatsuki have divided into groups of two and are searching the whole place for all the nine Bijuu. One of the groups are near Konoha. They have already got two Bijuu, and the worst part is that the team led by Asuma that went to stop them, they were defeated. The Akatsuki were too powerful, but Asuma and the others were able to send them off, but Asuma was killed.' he said.
'What!' all three of them shouted.
'Asuma-sensei was killed?' Naruto shouted.
'Are you sure?' Kakahsi asked.
'Yes. The report has just come to Konoha, and Tsunade-sama is shocked at it. We know the identity of the two Akatsuki who killed them. Their names are Hidan and Kakuzu. The report also said that Hidan was immortal and that Kakuzu always killed people with a bounty and exchanged their bodies for it. But fortunately, they were forced to retreat, so he couldn't hand over Asuma. The other three are bringing back his body.'
'And all we can do is wait.' Yamato cursed. He suddenly looked around and saw that Naruto was not there.
'Kakashi-senpai! Where's Naruto?'
'Huh?' Kakashi looked around. 'Oh don't worry, I don't think Akatsuki got him. He'll have gone back to the waterfall. We'd better go too, just to be safe. Call us when Asuma's body arrives. This is too shocking ... ' Kakashi told the Anbu guy and he and Yamato went to the waterfall.
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A man was standing, panting with his hands on his knees and there was a teenage boy opposite to him. Both of them were sweating and panting.
'You've become greatly stronger since you came, Sasuke-kun. You are very near to Itachi. Keep this up and in another week you can get your revenge.' the man told the boy. This man had a white face and eyes like a snake.
'How do you know that?' Sasuke asked Orochimaru.
'I know, as I have been with him for quite some time.'
'But that was long ago. Itachi was always good in everything. For all I know, he could have improved just as much as I have.'
'There's no need to worry, Sasuke-kun. There are limits to how strong anyone can become. Your lifetime is long enough for you to see that limit in Itachi.' another boy who was a little older than Sasuke and had spectacles said, as he walked into the room.
'Kabuto's right.' Orochimaru said. 'You just have to keep improving. Let's stop for today.' Orochimaru said. Sasuke walked out of the room. Orochimaru watched him go with great delight.
'You seem vey happy, Orochimaru-sama.' Kabuto said.
'Of course I am. He is my dream container. He is a better container than Itachi. His capacity is greater than Itachi's, though his rate of picking up things is a little slower. But that doesn't matter. Sasuke-kun is the best container I could ever obtain. Kinimaro was and is nothing compared to him.'
'But you have to be careful, Orochimaru-sama. If he gets stronger than you before you make the transfer, the transfer might not be possible.' Kabuto said.
'You're right. But even if he does become stronger than me, he will still fight Itachi some day. I would, of course, be with him. Even if Sasuke-kun succeeds in killing Itachi, it will be impossible that he will not be weakened. He will be greatly weakened. As he himself said, Itachi too will have improved almost as much as him. During his weakened state, I can eaisily take his body.'
'You seemed to have planned this out, Orochimaru-sama.' Kabuto said with a smirk.
'Do I?' Orochimaru sneered and started laughing and he and Kabuto too left the room.
A/N: wow, that was long. this in the longest chapter i've written in my whole life. well did you like it? plz review, all of you! i want to know how well i'm doing with my fics!
Kai Hiwatari II
