Black Star looked over to where Tsubaki lay, her head resting on the lap of a pink haired girl. In front of him was one of the most obnoxious people Black Star had ever seen. The person wore an indiscreet black and orange jumpsuit and had spiky blonde hair.
Black Star had never met someone who looked so loud. That could only mean one thing: This boy was trying to upstage him, trying to be the bigger star.
He could not allow that.
"Who the hell are you?" Black Star asked, sizing up his opponent.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," the boy announced, drawing a kunai. "And I'm going to be the next Hokage!"
"Haha!" Black Star laughed partially at Naruto and partially at the puny weapon. "I'm Black Star, and I'm going to surpass God!"
"Oh really?" Naruto asked, his own anger sparking.
Two sets of angry blue eyes bored into one another.
"Yeah! Tell me what you've done to my weapon!" Black Star demanded.
"What weapon?" Naruto asked.
"Tsubaki of course!" Black Star exclaimed.
"And now you're going on about the flower again," Naruto muttered, running a hand through his blond hair.
"She's not a flower! She's just named after one!"
"That's stupid!"
"Don't talk about my weapon like that! Now, tell me what you've done to her!"
The pink-haired girl spoke, sounding strangely professional compared to the pissing match between the two boys, "She fell out of the sky and into a tree. I'm working on her now, but she'll need to go back to our village for comprehensive medical care."
"Wait," Naruto, whisper shouted to the pink-haired girl, "Sakura, they could be dangerous. Do you think it's safe?"
"It's what Lady Tsunade would do." The girl Sakura replied, somewhat snootily, "Besides, I need supplies that I don't have on hand."
Naruto grunted, "Who cares what that Granny Tsunade does! They could be a threat! What about Kakashi? What would he think?"
"Those names mean nothing to me!" Black Star shouted, charging at Naruto.
"I won't lose!" Naruto yelled back, running at Black Star.
The met in the middle, Black Star deflecting Naruto's kunai with his hand guard. Both boys leapt back. Naruto made an unusual sign with his hand while yelling, "Multi-shadow clone jutsu!"
Suddenly, the single blond-haired boy became many. Black Star wasn't a fan of any kind of math so he didn't bother to count.
They all attacked simultaneously. Without help from Tsubaki, Black Star had to use his Soul Force. Hands crackling with energy, he began to fend off the clones. Theses clones weren't very good fighters, but there were many.
The battle led them further into the forest. Soon, Black Star could no longer see Tsubaki and Sakura. He hoped that Tsubaki was okay. With surprisingly little fanfare, Black Star had successfully defeated all the clones.
"Rasengan!"
With a sudden burst of speed, Black Star barely dodged the attack. Two Narutos had powered up while he was fighting the other clones. Two became one, and that one had dealt devastating damage to the forest battle field.
"Black Star Big Wave!" Black Star came back with his own attack, getting close enough to hit the solar plexus.
The irritating boy disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Damn, another clone." Black Star muttered.
The wooshing sound of energy caught Black Star's attention. He steadied his own attack, though increasing the power.
"RASENGAN!"
"BLACK STAR BIG WAVE!"
The boys met in a rush. Blue and yellow. The magnitude of the attack caused an explosion.
The massive explosion downed hundreds of trees, creating a crater in the ground that was half a mile wide. Sakura and Tsubaki had been mercifully spared, and were now at the edge of the crater. With no trees, the view of them should have been clear, but overlaying dust was making it difficult to see.
The explosion, surprisingly, had not caused Tsubaki to stir.
"Naruto, you idiot!" Sakura called, "Look what you did!"
Naruto, despite being on the ground and barely conscious, still managed to look sheepish at the comment. Ten feet away, Black Star barely acknowledged exchange. It was a shame he couldn't move. Other ninja—or at least he thought they were ninja—approached. His vision began to blur.
The group landed between them. A mature-looking boy with surprisingly long hair and creepy eyes surveyed them, followed by a boy with a dark bowl cut and a terrifyingly green jumpsuit, a girl with her brown hair in twin buns who was carrying a large scroll, and an incredibly pale boy riding on what looked like a picture of a bird. And Black Star was not making any of this up.
"I always knew Naruto would do something this idiotic," The serious boy muttered, those unusual eyes narrowed, "Let's take all of them back to the village."
"Yeah, the damage is kind of ridiculous." The bun girl added.
"How youthful!" Green jumpsuit yelled while picking up Tsubaki.
"Be careful," Sakura instructed him.
Or at least he thought it was Sakura. Black Star's hearing had begun to go funny. The once foresty landscape had turned to white, then black and the voices had become nothing but static. What had that attack done to him?