Punch was met by punch and kick was deflected by yet another kick as a battle raged on. It seemed as if there would be no clear winners as the blows were effectively at the same level and neither combatant was allowing any leeway. Both sent particularly powerful kicks to each other and were both sent a few yards away from the opposites. They both looked to each other across the space between them and had a smile spreading across their faces as they looked on.
"Final attack decides the winner?" one of the combatants asked casually with a smile.
"You bet'cha" came the hyperactive reply. Both people's faces grew into much larger smiles and without much more a due they had charged at each other with their fists prepared for that final strike.
The fists connected together with a deafening crack followed by a loud cry of "Damnit!" which in turn was eventually followed by a feminine voice.
"Naruto, What have I told you about swearing near your sister?" Narino asked from her vantage point in the kitchen. Naruto turned to look at his mother with a sheepish grin on his face and rubbed the back of his head.
"Sorry mom" he called back to her before he turned back to his 'enemy'. "Where do you pull all of that power from? Honestly it seems as if every time that we spar you just become stronger" Naruto complained to his companion in his training ground are out the back of his house.
"My brother helps me to train, every night that he is able to come home he trains me in the ways of the Uchiha" Sasuke answered him as he smiled at the look Naruto had given him. "What?" Sasuke asked the pouting boy with a small laugh.
"That's not fair, your brother is the commander of the ANBU and not to mention very proficient in the ways of your clan. I don't have anyone to teach me any techniques to get stronger, all my father trains me is how to control my chakra,, he says I will need it when I unlock my second chakra supply. He didn't tell me when or how though" Naruto complained to his friend while at the same time Sasuke was left thinking about what Naruto had just pointed out.
"I will give you that, my brother is very smart and indeed very proficient. You have got ability however that some find it hard to achieve and you will be far ahead of others in our year at school" Sasuke told his friend and found it amusing how Naruto's face lit up when he heard he may be ahead of others for once.
"Go on, I'm interested now" Naruto said to his friend as a devilish grin spread across his features.
"I don't know if that's a good idea, I wouldn't want you to get big-headed on this, also it helps me if I keep you in the dark about your apparent ability" Sasuke joked as Naruto looked absolutely destroyed for a second before finding his grin again.
"Then I'll just have to find out what this ability is then wont I? Until then though, what say you to another spar?" Naruto asked confidently as he shook his wrist free of the knacks that had been hurting for a few seconds, now feeling excellent. Sasuke almost groaned in exasperation as Naruto had said this.
"I tell you this Naruto, your ability in conjunction with your determination is a scary thing you know that?" Sasuke asked his friend as he fell into his own stance again, prepared for Naruto to charge again.
Naruto took a moment to again try and figure out what Sasuke meant about his ability, but did not dwell on the fact as Sasuke's foot had come shooting towards his face. As quickly as he could he brought up his right forearm to take the brunt of the hit. After taking the shock of the attack Naruto pushed away with his arm and forced Sasuke to turn around.
With Sasuke's back to him now Naruto tried to aim an attack for his friends head with his fist, but before he could land such a hit his hand was caught. Sasuke looked at him side on with a smile "Honestly Naruto, you're going to have to fight me a lot harder if you want to beat me with only Taijutsu" Sasuke chided on as Naruto felt his face getting hotter. Sasuke grinned as he could see that he had succeeded in getting under Naruto's skin, he loved this fighting banter.
"Shut up!" Naruto yelled as he sent his other fist crashing forwards at Sasuke's face only for Sasuke to twist out of its path and pull at his hand sending Naruto into a mid-air twist that had him landing on his feet only at a ninety degree angle. He looked up to Sasuke who was the only reason he had not hit the floor yet and with a smirk Sasuke let go of him. With a thump Naruto had hit the ground.
"Cheap shot" Naruto complained from the ground as Sasuke laughed at his simplistic complaint about what had happened. Naruto jumped back onto his feet again and went back to his onslaught of Sasuke. He was sending punches and kicks left right and centre, only for Sasuke to dodge the majority of them all of the time. For Sasuke's entire prowess however he was still only a child and therefore had a limit to his stamina and endurance, and right now they were running low.
Naruto's attacks were becoming faster to his eyes and he could feel that he was slowly beginning to lose against his friend, of course this was how it usually happened, sure Naruto would complain about him getting stronger and in all honesty he did usually get stronger. That was just so that he could last a little bit longer against Naruto though. Sasuke could always win their first spar but as it usually dragged into their second or third that was when he would begin to find himself in trouble of losing.
Naruto sent a punch for Sasuke's head that Sasuke managed to back step away from, the way he positioned himself however he was facing Naruto diagonally to the right. With a quick movement Sasuke had dove in at Naruto and sent an open palm right at Naruto's stomach that had the blonde coughing and spluttering. Taking the momentary victory Sasuke took the precious moments to catch his breath before Naruto would recover enough to fight again.
Naruto was quick on his recovery and was ready to fight again before Sasuke was quite ready to fight again and it was then that Sasuke realised his attack had not had the desired effect. He had hoped to keep Naruto out for two minutes at the most as the technique was supposed to do but Naruto had managed to override it as easily as he managed to do with some of his other techniques. Within seconds Naruto was all over him again with his attacks becoming much more ferocious and Sasuke struggling to keep up with the movements it was like Naruto was becoming a blur. With one final punch Naruto was finally able to catch Sasuke on his chin and sent him through the air.
Sasuke landed on the ground with a grunt and for the slightest of seconds he felt as if he saw a flash of red cross his vision and when he looked at Naruto he could see a strong blue chakra flame floating from his body but all around the outside of Naruto an almost cocoon like chakra of orange colour had surrounded him in the visage of a fox with nine tails. Upon closing his eyes and re-opening them Sasuke found that his vision was back to normal and that Naruto had made his way over and was holding his hand out to help Sasuke back onto his feet.
With a grunt Naruto had pulled Sasuke back onto his feet. "Sorry about that Sasuke, I just wanted to be able to beat you after losing only once for a change, I didn't want to go too far" Naruto apologised before Sasuke placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at him seriously forgetting about what he had seen only a few moments before.
"Don't be, that is your ability Naruto, your sheer endurance and determination is on a level that not many can compare with" Sasuke said to his friend with a smile, noticing Naruto's mood not changing much he continued on. "It's even stronger than my own" Sasuke finished. Well damn if that didn't get a response. Naruto instantly looked up at him.
"Really, I have more endurance and determination than you? I find that hard to believe, you always win our first spars and at school you are more capable of beating everyone in spars, I can't beat anyone in fights at school, they always beat me" Naruto began as he could feel the crushing weight of forever losing to everyone in their year at school. "It's like everyone's families teach them fighting techniques and family techniques but my father doesn't want to teach me any more than how to control chakra. It's as if he just doesn't want me to get anywhere in the ninja world" Naruto said finally as he landed on the ground in a sitting position.
"I doubt that highly Naruto, your dad at least gives you attention and shows you his love for you, mine barely even recognises my existence" Sasuke said to his friend as he stood in the same position as before whilst looking down at Naruto where he sat.
"You still have your brother though Sasuke, he loves you and gives you attention, he realises your potential and wants to help you reach it, I don't have anyone to teach me anything, while you are able to use fire techniques I'm stuck channelling my chakra into nothing" Naruto complained from his sitting position while playing with loose strands of his sandal.
"You are sounding almost selfish Naruto, it's most unlike you" Sasuke pointed out to his friend with a raised eyebrow.
"I know it may sound selfish but I am honestly doing it for selfless reasons, I want to get to learning techniques as soon as possible so that I can protect my family and my precious people" Naruto answered him back with no hint of any hesitation felt in his voice.
"Naruto, we are seven years old, we have got plenty of time before we really have to worry about being fully fledged ninja, anyway with my brother and your father we don't need to look after ourselves right now" Sasuke told Naruto, yet noticing how Naruto's mood did not change in the slightest Sasuke changed tactics. "I'll make you a deal, if by the time we graduate from the academy you haven't been taught any techniques I'll try to train you myself" Sasuke said to the blonde haired boy and smiled due to the instant grin that wound its way onto Naruto's face.
"You got yourself a deal partner!" Naruto sais to Sasuke as he lifted himself off of the ground and looked directly at Sasuke, he moved his arm out in front of himself and readied his hand for a handshake. Sasuke took the outstretched hand and shook it thoroughly.
Across the courtyard a figure stood watching both of the boys as they made their pact, a smile spread across their features too before they sprang from their standing position into the air. They landed right in-between both of the boys while they were still shaking hands. The looks of shock crossed their faces seconds before the persons fists had connected with both of their faces and sent them to the adjacent wall of the courtyard. Naruto collided with the wall while Sasuke managed to twist in order to have his feet connect with the wall. Bending his knees on impact Sasuke then dropped to the ground in order to pick Naruto up from the ground.
With a grunt of pain Naruto was up also and both of them stared at their sudden enemy. They stood in a complete black suit, black sandals, sock, pants and mesh shirt. Across the mesh shirt they had on a black trench coat like clothing that billowed in the wind and was left open. Their face was covered as there was a bandage like substance that was coating most of the head besides the eyes. They would have been normal bandages had they been white and not as ragged as they were. Through the gap for the eyes, Sasuke could have sworn that he could see nothing but blank expanses. The person appeared to be fully prepared for what it was doing as it had the different weapons pouches and even scrolls ready to do whatever must be done. So here they stood two seven year olds completely unready for battle against a fully kitted out battle ready person. Isn't life a bitch sometimes?
"Naruto we don't stand a chance against this guy" Sasuke pointed out to his ally and to his relief he could see that Naruto understood this perfectly due to the way his head nodded ever so vigorously.
"I know, the way he holds himself coupled with his attempt to hide everything about himself makes me think he has something to hide" Naruto answered as he finished his one-over of the ninja opposite them.
"For two young boys you are surprisingly smart, however I cannot have you surviving as it will cause some problems" The person said to them both as they sprinted from the spot right over to Naruto and Sasuke's position, taking barely any time to reach them and as such left both boys unprepared for his presence so close so such, neither were prepared when Naruto was kicked halfway across the courtyard and Sasuke was lifted high into the air by the collar of his clothes.
The person looked deeply into Sasuke's eyes with their expanses of space it had in place of eyes. Sasuke stared back defiantly, he wanted to check up on his friend but knew for a fact that a hit like that would not keep Naruto down; he just got back up from everything. He was stuck in that position for barely even a few seconds before he could see Naruto's face phasing in next to their attackers head with his foot primed for the person's head, just as Sasuke thought, Naruto wasn't down for all too long. His foot connected with the person's head and sent them skidding along the ground, dropping Sasuke to the ground in the process.
Naruto looked sideways at Sasuke who was picking himself up off the ground. "You ok?" Naruto asked concerned without ever once taking his eyes off of their opponent. Sasuke looked to Naruto's face and looking to his eyes could see the faintest traces of ruby within those normally caring and considerate cerulean eyes. The way that Naruto was standing was also most unlike him too. He was standing with more of his back showing to Sasuke, more as if he was protecting Sasuke than expecting him to help. He never acted like this, Naruto always knew Sasuke to be capable but this was not like the Naruto he knew.
The power that Naruto had shown was most unlike him too, sure enough Sasuke knew he had power as he had experienced it before but Naruto had hit him with his full power before and Sasuke was able to stand his ground. That kick though, it had lifted the man right off of his feet and sent him skidding along the ground. Now here Naruto stood with his body tense in front of Sasuke just standing there staring at the person.
After he was finished physically examining Naruto Sasuke finally gave his answer "Yeah I'm fine thanks, I don't think that we can take this guy on, come on we better run and find a Shinobi to help us" Sasuke said to Naruto as he turned prepared to leave the courtyard but was somewhat surprised when Naruto did not follow.
"No, I can't leave here, my family are all inside and I won't leave them with an enemy so close" Naruto answered slowly as he turned fully towards the enemy "I will protect my family in any way that I can! I don't care if I have no techniques or ability! I will never allow harm to come to my family!" Naruto shouted before he was ready to run away but was stopped surprisingly by Sasuke standing right in front of him. Sasuke's head was lowered and his hair hid his face, but after a moment his head lifted and Naruto could see the smile that was on Sasuke's face.
"Then at least let me help you yeah? I mean I know for a fact that you'd help me if my family were in trouble, and that you wouldn't take no for an answer" Sasuke said to his friend as his smile done nothing else than grow in size. "Let's beat this guy together alright?" Sasuke asked with a high degree of determination for a seven-year-old.
"That sounds good to me" Naruto answered back before Sasuke twisted around and they both charged towards their enemy.
The person was able to get their bearing back on time however as they turned to the boys charging towards them. Naruto went low with an uppercut punch aimed for the man's gut, while Sasuke had went high and had jumped into the air and aimed his left foot for the person's face. Said ninja took precious moments to figure out his parry and decided on stopping the most dangerous of hits. Bringing his left arm down sharply he parried Naruto's hit and at the same time caused Sasuke to pass over the ninja.
Sasuke landed behind the ninja and turned back to take his chances with the ninja's back, however the ninja had other ideas as he had Naruto right in front of him and momentarily shocked he took his chances. While in his crouched position the ninja reached into his waist pouch and pulled out an item. Naruto looked up in time to see a white glint cross the eye holes of the ninja attacking him and looked down in terror when he saw the item the ninja held. The black kunai glinted in the partial sunlight still balancing in the air. Naruto tried desperately to leap backwards but was ultimately unable to do so as the blade was struck right into his stomach.
Naruto's eyes widened instantly at the shooting pain that screamed through the entire core of his body. Sasuke's reaction was much the same as his eyes also bugged out of his head at the severity of the motion, his friend had been stabbed. With this realisation came a newfound emotion to the young Uchiha, having been brought up by his brother to be a positive person and try his best to refrain from the negative emotions in his life this was something new to Sasuke.
He could feel it building up inside of him. It was like a fire had been set in his soul and the image of the offending piece of metal that was inside of Naruto only managed to add fuel to the raging inferno that took place in the mind of one young Sasuke Uchiha. The ninja could feel an acute force of killing intent spilling off behind him and pulling the kunai out of the young blonde haired boy and eliciting a gasp of pain as they done so they turned to the other boy that had been there.
The gasp of pain from Naruto was all that was required. With that Sasuke was fully and completely aware of how he felt now, he felt unimaginable amounts of rage and guilt all rolled up into one thing, that was Sasuke. He sent his right fist flying towards the man at a speed he should not have been capable of and caught the ninja off guard as he done so and sent the ninja back a step as he took the hit onto his crossed arms. Sasuke was by no means finished however. He followed up by the opposite fist following the motion and after being blocked as well was followed by a swift kick to the ninja's feet which surprisingly enough to the ninja themself they were laid out on the ground.
Sasuke brought his foot around and drove it back down to the ground towards the masked ninja's face at a shockingly quick pace before the ninja was able to roll out of the way and allowed Sasuke's foot to connect with the ground. As it done so there were noticeable cracks forming from where his foot had landed, indicating a strong blow. The ninja leapt onto their feet and looked at the boy directly now as he seemed to have stopped the attacks for a moment.
The boy had black hair and was wearing a set of white shorts accompanied by a black long sleeves shirt. He could see the boy looking over to the blonde boy for the slightest of seconds before the little boy's gaze was back on him, that was when the ninja got the shock of his life. Those eyes, those damned eyes. The entire eye had turned completely red and all besides the black singular tomoe in each of the little boys blazing red eyes. The little bugger had a Sharingan.
The ninja could see Sasuke's face vacate all visible emotion except from pure and unrequited rage before he could see the boy running through different handsigns. The thoughts running through Sasuke's mind were haphazard at best but the most of what he was thinking was along the lines of 'this is my weakest jutsu that my brother has taught me but it has the capacity to be the strongest, I just have to hope that it's enough'. The ninja sped towards Sasuke as soon as they realised what the hand signs meant but was ultimately too slow as Sasuke took a deep inhalation of oxygen and holding his index finger and thumb together at the tips over his mouth blew out.
"Katon: Gyokaku no Jutsu!"
What resulted was magnificent in its simplest term and horrifying in the ninja's eyes. A great ball of flames sprouted out of the mouth of the young boy and flew directly at him, he was barely even afforded the time to lift his arms to defend himself from the great flaming ball that made its way across the courtyard floor towards him. The flames reached him and in the resultant blast sent him flying through the air until he was able to feel the ground below his feet, focusing chakra to his feet had dug his feet into the ground while at the same time sent chakra to his forearms in an attempt to stop the burning effects of the flames attacking him.
Sasuke had to let the attack stop eventually as his earlier fight with Naruto and now this use of his chakra was pushing him well beyond his limits, he knew that if he were to go on any further than this his body would expire from lack of chakra, simple as that. He just hoped that the technique had been enough to either beat the ninja or enough to discourage him enough for him to leave. Sasuke felt his chest starting to heave as he inhaled again after exhaling so much for the flaming technique. His chest felt extremely tight and his head felt light after doing such a feat, after struggling so long with it he manages to pull off something like that, was he really expecting it to be easy?
Falling to one knee Sasuke looked over to Naruto to find him still lying prone on the ground with his face lying on the ground. Sasuke's breathing became laboured as he noticed the flames in the direction he had sent them were dying down. Sasuke's anger started to leave him as he could not find any person within those flames at all and allowed his body to finally relax slightly and let loose a sigh.
"Do not take me so lightly child!" came a venomous voice from behind him and Sasuke turned only in time to see a fist that came speeding towards his face and connected with a strong surge that sent Sasuke flying through the air until he hit a tree in the corner of the courtyard. With a grunt of pain as he hit the tree Sasuke slid down until his body collided with the ground and he looked up at the person who had slowly made their way over to him.
"You know you had me worried for a second there, when I saw those eyes I had a feeling that maybe you would have caused me more of a problem…" the person began before they went to move their arm but were instead sent into a state of severe pain due to the burns on their arm "… well maybe you did cause me a problem, these arms hurt like fuck now" the person complained as they stared down at Sasuke who gave back a still defiant look.
"Why the fuck are you still looking at me like that? You lost and your friend over there is going to die" the person indicated by pointing their thumb in said direction, and then when Sasuke still did not answer him but kept his stare at the person, they became irritated and in anger reached down and grabbed Sasuke's clothes by the collar. Hefting him up into the air the person stared directly into Sasuke's sharingan, usually a bad idea, but he had already deduced that it was new at best.
"I'm still looking at you like this because you hurt my friend; I cannot ever forgive you for what you done to him" Sasuke said to the masked ninja who just stared on at him, motionlessly. A movement behind the ninja caught Sasuke's eyes and the sight done no less than terrified him. "By the looks of it though, I'm the least of your problems" Sasuke said in a terrified voice as he watched the ninja turn away from him in a more confused manner before finally looking behind him.
As soon as he had seen the flames above the walls he had rushed over, he had no idea the sight that he would see. He had half expected to see Naruto with burns of course, with Sasuke apologising for misjudging the size of the fire ball, as children do, they make mistakes. To his surprise and horror however he comes home and into his courtyard completely ignoring his wife and daughter as they were sitting in the playroom, far away from the courtyard. He made his way outside only to come face to face with his son lying prone on the ground and Sasuke being held up in the air by a completely covered ninja. Needless to say Yuuka was definitely not a happy man now.
He turned to apparent perpetrator and could see the look of terror that took over Sasuke's eyes, he should feel terror, invoking the wrath of Yuuka Inoyichi was never a smart thing to do, the Black Flash of Konoha was not as forgiving as the Yellow when it came to his enemies, if they ever touched his family he made sure the enemy knew never to do it again. A second passed by and Yuuka had appeared behind the man in a flash of black and had released Sasuke from the persons grip before coating his fist in lightning and punching the person square in the face. Catching Sasuke in his right arm he slowly turned around to watch as the person flew across the courtyard and into the opposite wall.
With another black flash he was over Naruto and picking him up into his arms, walked over to the porch where he lay his son and his son's friend before turning his full attention back onto the perpetrator.
"Aha, just the man I wished to see, I wondered if killing your beloved boy would be enough to register your attention" came across the sickly voice of the individual. "I guess it is only fair that you know who I am no? I am pretty sure that you will remember my face when you see it" The person said in a still sickening voice as he reached up to the bandages all over his face and revealing it for all to see. The black bandages fell from his face to revel it.
Golden short hair was revealed alongside a set of golden eyes that seemed to shine out with the presence of the bandages gone. On the man's face were markings that ran across both of his eyes like tribal tattoos, and finally a large scar that ran from his right eye down to his chin. Yuuka took a step back in utter shock, by all rights this man should be dead, and there was no way that he could be alive.
"Kuromi… I thought you were dead?" Yuuka asked through more shock than fear.
"Nope alive and well thanks to your damn friend's pity, I would have much more liked to kill him but since I hear he's dead anyway I guess you'll have to do!" the man yelled before he charged across the courtyard towards Yuuka, Yuuka instantly took up defencive stance and prepared for the fight of his life.
'This really cant be good if this all goes like last time then no-one stands a chance of getting out unharmed or alive for that matter' Yuuka thought to himself as he prepared for the inevitable attack. 'This had better not escalate too far' Yuuka hoped to himself before he moved also, two fists connected in mid-air and created a large blast, kicking up dirt and dust.
Sorry about the late update and the rather short chapter but imma make the next chapter bigger how does that sound? Anyway I hope you like this new chapter of The Demon Of Peace and continue to read on as I continue, I would like to thank those who have been stiking with it and ask that you continue to do so, and drop off a comment as I continue writing this, otherwise I can't address any problems you may have with this fic. Well that is me done my rant so I bid you farewell until next chapter, R&R as always and see you laters guys, Cheerybyes - Varrukh