AN: Hi people! I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update, I've been dealing with a lot lately plus some writer's block. But anyways Thank You for all the reviews they were appreciated.

Thinking ' '

Talking " "

Please Enjoy!


Fight & Flight

Shikamaru stood in between the two opponents nonchalantly as he ran over the rules that Sasuke had announced earlier, having to tweak them a bit to fit this particular match. It was officially battle time and he had a gut feeling that this battle would be extremely troublesome, Judging by the two rivals long-time competitive streak.

As he stood between the two men, he began to weigh both sides of the scale. Shikamaru knew for a fact that that although Sasuke was chakraless he was hardly defenceless, that detail being partnered with the fact that his favourite weapon was at his dispense. Which meant that Naruto's challenge wasn't going to be an easy one. Naruto on the other hand was a demon holder and the strongest ninja in the village by title, which would be a difficultly for Sasuke.

Being a natural born genius, Shikamaru usually was able to plot out the outcome of a match in his head as if envisioning game plan of his opponent in a game of shogi. But knowing Naruto and his unpredictable behaviour and not knowing the full extent of Sasuke's skill because of the years of his absence, the ninja was at a total lost in direction as to where this match was going. The man's only hope is that the two men wouldn't take it too far.

"Alright here are the rules, Naruto since you will not be using a sword you're allowed to use any form of basic jutsu which does not involve the elements, Uchiha the original rules are the same for you, Do you guys understand?"

Receiving an "Hn" from Sasuke and a "Believe it from Naruto", the ref decided to start the battle.


The Uchiha not being one to waste time, he rapidly removed the katana from the sheath, pulling it smoothly from its coat. Sasuke lounged at the Hokage in the blink of an eye, sending the blade to the Hokage's neck. The crowd held their breaths as they watched him glide the sword across and down the blonde's neck to shoulder forming a right angle, swiping a way all flags from his opponent's right arm.

With a smirk and a daring look Sasuke asked "Still slow I see?"

Realising their breaths the children erupted into cheers and shouts of excitement. Feeling the adrenaline high he went for Naruto's other shoulder, only to completely miss as the blond fell back on to his back like the matrix, elevating a kick, sending his left leg up he managed to remove two flags from the Uchiha's leg.

Clumsily moving backward to avoid losing anymore flags, Sasuke embraced to rush of flight and fight that raced through him as he anticipated Naruto's next move. The two combatted each other for a while, both equally matched. Naruto realizrd that there was no way regular taijutsu could defeat Sasuke, so hand signing his favourite jutsu, Naruto summoned two duplicates.

Leave up to the blonde to spruce it up a bit. His focus had to be keen in order for him to have a fair chance at winning. Sasuke made sure to keep his eyes locked on the blond man who once stood in the centre between his replicas, as all off three ran around each other haphazardly. One Naruto was doing back flips as way to appease the crowd; another was waving a peace sign with a huge smile while the other ran in-between the other two sticking his arms out like a plane. Could the idiot get more ridiculous?

Proud that all three of him managed to pep the audience up, Naruto decided to return to the mission at hand. As all three of them ran towards him, Sasuke saw the real problem here, the chance of being de-flagged had tripled and what else took the cake is that if he mistook the real Naruto for a clone and end up slashing him by accident, he would be disqualified.

As the three identical men approached him to surround him, the Uchiha threw his sword into the air it flipped three times, before he caught the blade in his hand with projecting the handle outward. Throwing the sword like a kunai, the handle managed to strike one in the abdomen causing him to crouch in pain. Out of sheer luck it was a clone.

Suddenly feeling vulnerable because of his loss of weapon, he quickly devised a plan to stall time. Running into the roaring crowd, the Uchiha nearly lost his hearing as move only enhanced the excitement among the crowd while causing them to scatter like ants. Most of them trying to keep up with the action while others were trying to avoid possible harm or danger.

The crowd rushed into field with screams of pleasure and fear, all thrilled to be a part of the entertainment. The Narutos had to step back a little, slowly drowning in the sea of confusion. Each man desperately searching for the missing raven that was now lost in the herd of raging bulls. Using his natural born abilities of grace and agility, the Uchiha manoeuvred through the crowd effortlessly as he was able to reclaim his sword.

Glancing at the puzzled faces of the two Naruto's, Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. He was so proud of his diversion, his plan had executed perfectly. Watching as one of the Naruto's leant over and whispered into the other's ear, receiving a nod as a response. Sasuke now had a clear idea of who was the original and who the duplicate.

He watched as the two split up, each going in separate directions in their pursuit for him. With the crowd quickly dissipating, he decided to make his move. Running speedily among the patrons, the Uchiha ran up to the clone and engaged him in a short lived combat, before causing him to vanish.

Getting a high off his success, the Uchiha didn't even slow down as he allowed his natural drug induced mind to take over, Embracing his risk taker wild side. The two battled on in taijustsu, a flag dropping after each fatal attack. Each trying to push the other to their limit, as Naruto mostly defended while Sasuke attacked, creating a strange counterbalance.

Sasuke felt on edge and disgruntled as another one of his flags fell, leaving with his final flag located on his shoulder. While Naruto had two flags left all on his chest. Sasuke couldn't think he could bare the shame of losing a battle in front of his students fearing that they would lose respect for him, while Naruto just wanted to just win the bet.

Flying a kick in the air, Naruto was able to disarm Sasuke. He thought that the game was over and that he had finally gotten his chance to win, only to see the Uchiha with a smirk on his face and his two remaining flags between his fingers.

"How!" Naruto exclaimed in confusion, pointing at the Uchiha.

The Uchiha didn't even get a chance to reply before he was bomb rushed by his students and some parents, all congratulating him with their shouts of joy. Sasuke had to admit he felt proud as he battered ego began to inflate again.

Amongst the excited gathers Sasuke could see the dejected look of his former teammate as he shook his head as if asking why, he watched as Shikamaru approached the blond, resting a hand on his shoulder while the blond continued to stare at the ground. The blond looked like he was about to tear up. Feeling a tad bit guilty, Sasuke decided to at least allot the blonde a chance to explain himself.

The Uchiha waltzed over to the blond with his arms crossed, eyes squinted and a scowl in place. Seeing the approaching man, Shikamaru tapped the blonde on the shoulder, and then gave a lazy wave as he excused himself.

"Good fight Dobe, I must admit I'm impressed."

"You only won by an inch bastard!"

"A win is a win Dobe" the Uchiha said smugly.

"Well I guarantee you aint wining the next time Teme"

"Hn whatever Dobe, next time then we'll see"

A huge grin appeared on the blonde's face. Things seemed to be looking brighter and better on his side. The Uchiha had a small smirk on his face as he nodded a slight bye. Turning around and leaving the hokage the same way he had come with his head held high, posture up and his arms crossed.

"See you around Bastard!" Naruto shouted with enthusiasm.

The slight turn of Sasuke's head was the only indication that they had made progress.