Wow, It's been over a month³ince I last updated this story but never fear, I have returned
Wow, It's been over a month since I last updated this story but never fear, I have returned. I like to thank all the people who left me reviews for the previous chapter. It was a joy reading all of them.
Thanks to my betas Seilif and Weixun18 for being patient with my corrections. Props to you both.
'No Matter how we reach the conclusion, the ending will always be the same'
- - -
8:30 PM Konohagakure no Sato
Killing intent exploded from Naruto like a broken reservoir, the restraints that he once had no longer applied. His usual blue cerulean orbs were now turning into a shade of blood red, an obvious indication that he was angry.
"Why the long face Uzumaki...? Aren't you glad to see me or should I say… us?"
"You two must have a death wish for sticking around… Koharu… Homura." The names rolled off his tongue like a cobra's venom. "You dare to have the audacity to show your faces after what you did to me?" Naruto angrily said.
Short bursts of contemptuous laughter were their reply, "We know why you came here today demon, and I find it very ironic. For you see, today was the day that you first stepped foot into our world and it shall be the day that you leave it in pieces."
Naruto's eyes lit up as he flung his arms out, detaching his cloak from his shoulders. "Do you hear that?" He asked menacingly, his tone unrelenting and mocking. "Did you hear that sound?"
The room became still, not a sound was heard as Koharu and Homura listened for whatever Naruto was referring to. Hearing none, they became flustered, "What madness are you talking about now demon?"
A sadistic smile answered their question, "The sounds of your deaths."
- - -
Iwagakure no Sato
On the second floor of the Kage Tower, the once mighty chambers that once belonged to the Tsuchikage no longer remained intact. The events just suddenly occurred; one moment, the room stood together firmly and then… everything blew sky high.
Standing in the middle of the decimated room was the Godaime Tsuchikage of Iwa and a certain S-rank missing-nin.
Shibata calmly took a deep breath as a frown appeared on his face. "You dare use that taijutsu style in my presence?"
"Why the long face? Are you shocked that I was able to master this particular style? It's not a fluke by the way." To prove his point, Deidara slammed his fist into the ground, producing a mild shockwave.
The Tsuchikage narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Your mother would be crying in her grave right now Deidara, using her style in such a naïve way."
Deidara spat on the ground and glared hatefully at the old man. "Don't you dare speak about my mother like that! You lost that privilege on the day you abandoned her!"
"I can see the resemblance between you and her. She was a fool for teaching that style to an outsider and you are more of a fool to use it against me."
"If I'm such a fool, then why am I confident that I will wipe the floor with you?" Deidara taunted as he moved his left leg forward.
Shibata sighed. "Do you still understand nothing? You truly are a worthless grandson of mine." Moving like the wind, Shibata lunged forward and slammed his fist into Deidara's face, sending his grandson to the floor with one blow.
"Who the hell did you think taught your mother the Tenken style?"
Deidara growled as he supported himself up with one knee. The old man certainly surpassed his expectations with that one move. He didn't think he was capable of moving at that speed.
"Gangeki."
With no time to counter, Deidara did the only human thing possible. Take the attack head on. From the corner of his eye, he could see Shibata performing the attack but his body needed time to recover from the previous attack. Deidara summoned chakra to soften the blow as he felt the attack against his back.
"Gah…" Deidara felt a loss of breath in his lungs as air rapidly depleted from his lungs. Shibata wasted no time and prepared for another attack.
"Gangeki."
Deidara foresaw the attack and pushed himself away, rolling out of the way and dodging the near fatal blow that almost connected with his head. While he was rolling around, he flung several clay birds at the Tsuchikage.
Shibata was no slouch either. The title of the Tsuchikage was only given to the person when they were considered to the strongest and he was the strongest out of everyone. He slammed his hands into the ground, feeling the cold hard exterior of his floor.
"Doton: Dai Doro Gaeshi" The man firmly yelled.
A huge earthen wall appeared in front of Shibata, causing Deidara's projectiles to explode when they collided with the wall. "You're getting rusty Deidara. You cannot beat me with such sloppy tricks."
"Who's using tricks? That was merely a distraction." Deidara uttered as he smashed through the earthen barrier and stepped inside Shibata's defense. "You're mine. Tenken - hyaku jyuu go - Oushiutsu"
Deidara unleashed a fury of rapid strikes, all aimed with the sole motive of crippling Shibata permanently. He thought he had the upper hand when he landed one blow near the Tsuchikage's wrist, but his smirk slowly turned into worry when his grandfather started countering his move, one by one and eventually matched him in moves.
"What… the…" Deidara stuttered in surprise when he found his grandfather penetrating his defenses like it was nothing.
"HouShou."
Shibata quickly concentrated chakra to his fist and forcefully connected his punch with Deidara's chest, sending him spiraling to the floor.
"Oh you pathetic grandson of mine." Shibata said, shaking his head disappointedly. "The Tenken style which I developed was made especially for defense. It gives the user the natural control to feel the movements of the enemy. It is only natural that since the taijutsu style was created by studying the movements of the earth. Your techniques are useless against me."
The Iwa missing-nin wiped the blood off his mouth and glared at his grandfather, "You were always the hard-ass of the family. Tough as stone and cold as ice but I'm willing to bet that that defense of yours isn't so sturdy anymore."
He stood back up and tucked his hands into his back pocket. "I'm going to destroy you today old man and once I'm done mopping the floor with you, I can finally leave my past behind."
Shibata laughed. "My blood runs deep in your veins Deidara. You are my daughter's son. No matter where you go, who you kill, you will always be my grandson!"
With that said; Shibata dashed forward and leaped high into the sky. At his maximum velocity, he began twisting and turning before spiraling quickly down towards the ground.
"Ryuusei Tokken!" The Tsuchikage yelled.
Deidara saw the incoming attack and his body began to quiver. 'Is this fear?' He thought. 'No… I fear no one.' His eyes, which usually had a cocky look in them, was slowly being replaced with a fiery determination. "Tch, making me use this move."
The blond missing-nin began taking several deep breaths before flipping through a series of hand seals. Shibata, even with the distance between them, could see that his grandson was plotting something but it didn't matter. This attack will shatter anything that stood in his way.
"Doton : Kibaku Nendo - C5 Teppeki"
"NO." Shibata shouted as the name of the technique was revealed. He desperately tried to change the direction but at the speed that he was falling, there was no way to do it.
"This is it gramps!" Deidara yelled out. "Don't be late for your appointment with death!"
As Shibata came closer to the clay fortress, he forced himself to change his position so that instead of crashing headfirst, he would land backwards into the clay. "It's not over yet!"
Shibata turned his head slightly, measuring the distance and time he had left before he landed in the exploding clay. His hands quickly went to work, going through three hand seals. 'Ox… Snake… Boar…'
Deidara had a smirk on his face as he slowly anticipated the loud explosion that would soon follow. The triumphant expression then turned into a frown when he saw his grandfather hitting the clay but in an unusual way. Instead of crashing into it, his grandfather slammed his palm on top of it. His eyes widened when he saw his own clay fortress slowly twisting and shifting until it became an earthen golem.
"It's a pretty handy technique isn't it Deidara? Diberu no Ohotoko." His grandfather answered, slightly winded.
"I hate you…… I hate you…… I HATE YOU!" Deidara yelled out. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST DIE?" The Akatsuki member ripped off his special clay pouch and stuffed his hands into it. Within moments, he waved his hands around; clay began falling from his hands.
"Doton: Kibaku Nendo - C10 Sen Buben"
Shibata was a man who had seen almost everything, fought in many different kinds of battles and he considered himself well rounded enough. He never thought that today was the day when he would actually be rendered speechless.
A thousand soldiers created from exploding clay appeared in his office. Each hanging around or standing on top of each other, staring at him with their twisted faces.
It was an understatement to say that he was shocked. It was a thousand of them against his golem and him. It certainly wasn't his day.
"Die." Deidara coldly said.
Shibata pulled his golem to shield him against the oncoming attacks. His mind rushed to find many different solutions to this problem but all of them resulted in him dying. The last words that entered the Tsuchikage's mind were the name of his grandson. Deidara.
"DEIDARA!" He shouted with everything that he had. Shibata held up the seal of the ox and angrily glared at his grandson. "You're not the only one with a final jutsu!"
"Doton: Shinou Gojinka" Those were the last words from the Godaime Tsuchikage. After that, everything went black for the two warriors. The mighty epicenter from the earthquake swallowed Deidara's soldiers at once, causing a chain reaction that resulted in a huge explosion.
Deidara had a faint smile on his face as he felt his vision blackening out. "I did it…" He whispered as he fell into the ground, steadily losing consciousness.
The entire tower started shaking, indicating that it was at its limit. The earthen golem that Shibata created saw the building falling apart and in its duty, carried his master to safety.
"Sempai, I told you that I won't carry your sorry carcass back to the base but in the end, you did well." Tobi said as he emerged from the ground. "And it looks like you held up your end of the bargain." In his hands, there was a dusty old scroll that held the Iwa symbol on it.
"Let's go home." The orange-masked nin proceeded to lift Deidara up by his shoulders and disappeared into the night, making haste back to base.
- - -
Kirigakure no Sato
Zetsu sighed for the hundredth time as he continued searching the first floor library. With each passing second, he was growing more and more impatient with the search. This man had an endless supply of books and scrolls lying around. It could be days before they locate the scroll.
Just as he was about to reach for the next book, a small explosion occurred, causing him to drop the book. He felt another similar explosion and he sighed. His other half got bored. 'What are you doing?'
'I'm just having a little fun. This place bores me to tears.' His other half responded. 'And besides, the man should be killed. I say we hunt the Mizukage down.'
'No. Our goal is to find and retrieve the hidden scroll.'
'It just happens that I found it. It's a feisty little thing. Having the seal of Kirigakure and all. It must be important if the man had to keep it hidden behind his portrait.'
'It was hidden behind there?' Zetsu inquired. 'How did you know to look there? Wait. I don't even want to know.'
'Now that the boring job is out of the way. I'm blowing this joint. You have two minutes to leave the tower and meet me outside. I loaded the entire room with enough exploding tags that would make Itachi-san's Amaterasu look like a small bonfire.'
Zetsu frowned upon hearing his other half's reply. 'If Itachi-san heard what you were saying, he would castrate the both of us. If you're done, let us make haste.'
'I'm already outside.' His other half answered back, with some humor in his voice.
Zetsu growled as he stepped outside to the balcony and looked down. His other half was standing there, waving with a big grin on his face. 'Better come down before it blows.'
He leaped over the railing and landed gracefully next to him. "Why are you blowing it up?"
"Because the man's an insult to losers everywhere. I refuse to let his legacy continue."
"What does that have to -"
His other half held up his hand, shushing and demanding silence. "It's starting." A smile appeared on his face. He took out a small piece of paper and wrapped it around a kunai. With expert precision, the kunai lodged itself in the middle of the wall.
Zetsu was about to open his mouth again but an explosion beat him to it. In the place where the office of the Mizukage once stood was now a fireworks display. Fire erupted from the building, causing everything around it to go up in flames as well.
It was pretty impressive. He didn't think that exploding tags could do this much damage. He emitted a low whistle, showing that he was impressed.
"Good job."
"Thank you." Zetsu touched his counterpart on the shoulders and the two joined back into one entity. He held the scroll safely in his palms and carefully examined it. "The original scroll of the Mizukage. It's so old and fragile. I wonder if there's anything written on it."
"Don't." The lighter side replied. "Leader-sama would kill us if we destroyed the scroll."
He could feel his darker side quiver from the mention of their leader and he couldn't help but agree. Pein-sama was a cruel man who didn't tolerate failures. He shuddered to think about what happened to the last person who failed. It was a pretty gruesome sight.
"Let's make haste back to base." The two of them said in unison. Leaving the crumbling tower to fall slowly, the Ataksuki member disappeared into the trees.
- - -
Sunagakure no Sato
It was rather unexpected, even impressive to some extent but one thing was for certain, it wasn't amusing. To think that Gaara had the ability to pull something like this off, it made him rethink his entire approach. Maybe he should have just killed him right there and ransacked his office for the scroll.
Itachi scowled at himself as he judged his predicament. Never let yourself be caught off guard. That was his number one rule and he failed miserably. Itachi kept a frown on his face as his Sharingan slowly analyzed the situation. It would seem that the sand is a lot harder than normal and that was probably due to the stored chakra.
He didn't want to resort to this but Gaara didn't leave him with any other choice left. He sighed and closed his eyes, preparing himself.
Gaara was smirking the entire time, his hands slowly controlling the sand. "Breaking into my office I can forgive." He forced even more chakra forward, compressing the barrier even more. "Hiding in my office I'll even forgive."
The Kazekage took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Hell, I'll even overlook the murder attempt but to threaten my wife, just for that, I will not forgive you!" He lifted up his hands, as if he was lifting up an invisible tower, a pain-struck look developed on his face as he concentrated. His hands slowly closed themselves into a fist the barrier mimicking the actions
"Die." Gaara whispered as he felt the burden slowly slipping from the corners of his mind. Just as he was about to finalize the attack, he felt a huge chakra spike from inside the sand dome and he intuitively reinforced it with chakra.
Just standing outside, the temperature of the room gradually increased, causing Gaara to sweat. "Why is it so hot in here?" He asked as he felt sweat dripping down his face. His eyes widened as a black spot appeared. Not knowing what that was, he stopped his attack and jumped away. It was pure luck that he managed to escape because if he had stayed a second later, he would've been toast. A line of black fire exploded from his dome, incinerating everything in its path, including his office.
Gaara slightly panted as he watched Itachi slowly emerge from the sand, with that irritating frown on his face.
"Congratulations Gaara. You have done what others could not achieve. You have forced me to use one of my trump cards. Consider yourself lucky." Itachi stated as he took a step forward. Conjuring the Amaterasu was no easy task. It was extremely painful and it took a lot of chakra to maintain. It was a trump card as well as a double edge weapon.
Gaara chuckled slightly. "You should also consider yourself fortunate Uchiha Itachi. You are the first person to break out of that. There will be no more hesitation on my part to kill you, as there will no longer be a second time for you to escape."
"Kill me?" Itachi asked. "You cannot deceive the Sharingan, you fool. I can see your chakra reserves. Quit the dismal effort in trying to cover up your lack of chakra. That attack must have taken a lot out of you."
The kazekage shook his head, "I can say the same for you Uchiha. The Amaterasu drains the user of their chakra. You are in the same boat as I…… but you forget that even without chakra, I can manipulate the sand to my liking. I have the upper hand here. You are within my territory and my ANBU squad is patrolling the area."
"That may be true but you have forgotten something Gaara." Itachi said, raising his finger. "You're not in your world anymore. You're in mine."
The world that Gaara once knew suddenly disappeared, the beige colors of his office slowly melted away, being replaced by a dark shade of red and black.
"What the hell is this?"
"Welcome to my world Kazekage-dono." Itachi answered. "For the next 72 hours, you will be repeatedly stabbed and cut by this katana through the stomach." He saw Gaara struggling against his bindings, which amused him some more. "Don't bother to escape Gaara-kun. This is my world and in here, you will not escape. Let us begin."
Itachi plunged the katana straight into Gaara's stomach, causing the young Kazekage to scream out in pain. "71 hours, 56 minutes left."
"Wait." Gaara cried out, masking the pain behind his firm but shaky voice. "Just wait." Gaara begged.
"No." That was Itachi's answer as he plunged the sword into Gaara's stomach again. "71 hours, 53 minutes left."
"Arghh." Gaara yelled as he felt the weapon twisting inside him. "Th-Th- This is just an illusion. How the hell does it hu- ARGHH"
"71 hrs, 50 minutes left." Itachi's automatic voice answered. "Tsukuyomi is a unique technique only found in those of the Uchiha clan. You cannot hope to break out of this Kazekage-dono. I have you for 71 hrs. Prepare to experience pain like you have never experienced before."
In Gaara's mind, 72 hours passed by excruciating slowly but that was not the true objective of Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan. The purpose of the Mangekyou is to break the victim down, destroying their mental capabilities before physically crippling them. There had not been a person alive who could withstand the full effects of the Tsukuyomi.
Itachi took several slow deep breaths as he felt his headache increasing. "Too much usage of the Mangekyou…" He muttered. Gaara was a tough opponent to crack. His mental abilities exceeded those of normal humans.
Feeling his second wind, Itachi stood up and looked around; searching for the item that he came here for. A metallic safe caught his attraction but as he walked over there, he heard a small grunt coming from Gaara.
"It's… not… over yet." Gaara said as he pushed himself up.
Itachi sighed and ignored him. "I said it's not… over yet!" Gaara shouted.
"Take your defeat like a man Kazekage-dono. I don't want to kill you but if I have to, I will."
"Defeat?" Gaara huffed. "The battle isn't over until there is only one still left standing."
Itachi walked over and stood in front of Gaara. "I admit that you're a tough opponent Sabaku no Gaara, but don't misunderstand me. I am not pitying you. I am allowing you to live so you can see another day. Just tell me where the scroll is."
Gaara hesitated for a moment, before pointing to the metallic box on the shelf. The mental fatigue was finally too great for him, as his hands slowly dropped to the floor along with his body and he was already unconscious by the time he hit the floor.
"I commend you Sabaku no Gaara, for putting up a decent fight. If we met under different circumstances, we might have been brothers in battle. If you live to see another day, search me out so that we can finally settle the score." Itachi whispered. He quickly snatched the scroll from the box and proceeded to leave the room, making haste to leave Suna.
However, his mind kept nagging at him to do something about the still figure currently lying on the ground, and a deep sigh left his lips as he finally conceded to his conscience. He held up one hand and created a Kage Bushin. "Go alert his wife of what happened. After you have done that, disappear." The clone nodded and in a flash, he vanished.
"One day, Gaara, we'll meet again…...and by then, you had better no disappoint me." And with those words, Uchiha Itachi faded away amongst the winds.
- - -
Kumogakure no Sato
"What the hell do you mean we have to wait?" Hidan yelled. "Screw that. I wait for no one." He lifted up his scythe and with three quick slashes; the entrance to the Raikage's chamber was shattered into pieces, granting them entrance.
"You dare disrespect us Raikage-dono?" Hidan growled menacingly. "You're lucky that you have a bargaining chip or I'll be killing you as well."
"Hidan." His partner sharply said. "Behave yourself." Kakazu turned to the Raikage and bowed his head slightly. "I apologize for the rude actions from my partner, Raikage-dono."
The Raikage looked slightly frightened but quicly recovered his posture. "Er… It's okay Kakazu-kun."
"Do you have the requested item?"
"Hai." The Raikage pointed to the scroll in front of his desk. "The scroll from Kumo."
The Akatsuki duo looked at the scroll and nodded. Hidan walked up and gently lifted it up. He felt Raikage's gaze eyeing his every move and glared at him annoyingly, "You got a problem with me?" His killing intent oozed out and diffused across the room, making sure the leader of Kumo understood his level of irritation at the moment.
The Raikage never felt more uncomfortable in his entire life. He was stuck in the room with two Akatsuki members and to top it off, these were the two that were rumoured to be immortal. He shook his head nervously, "I gave you the scroll. Now please go."
"Ya know what? I don't like your face." Hidan exclaimed as he tightened his hold on his scythe. "Maybe I should rearrange it."
"We're leaving Hidan." Kakazu sharply said. "We take our leave."
- - -
"Why the hell are we leaving? I could have taken him!" Hidan complained.
"And then what? You would feel good for killing a chunnin?"
Hidan's eyes widened. "A chunnin? Are you telling me that the Raikage fled and left that wimp in his place?"
Kakazu nodded. "It seems like we're going hunting for the Raikage Hidan."
A big smile slowly appeared on Hidan's face, his facial features happily agreeing with his partner's actions. "We'll teach that bastard to run out on us but before we leave, I'm going to leave something behind."
Kakazu sighed, knowing what his partner was intending to do. "Just do it quick. Who knows where the Raikage could have disappeared to."
"With pleasure." Hiden lifted up his scythe and walked up to the Kage Tower, where the office of the Raikage was located in. "Let's see if this will cut stone…"
He raised his weapon and started spinning it around before swinging it forward. By adding the momentum from the centrifugal force, Hidan slashed the building, causing it to split apart from one strike.
Kakazu rolled his eyes as he watched the building split itself into two parts. "Showoff." Muttered the bounty hunter.
"Any leads on where that bastard ran off to?"
"We go west."
"Why west?" Hidan inquired. "How do you know he went west? I say we go east."
"Are you questioning my abilities to track?" Kakazu threatened. "Are you mocking my field of expertise?"
"No, no." Hidan raised his hands up in defense. "I was merely voicing my opinions."
"If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked." Kakazu closed his eyes, feeling the rhythmic beats of his many hearts. He listened for the sounds that were carried by the wind; it was one of those tricks of the trade that he picked up in his early career.
"West… About 3 hours away. We can catch up to him if we hurry now."
"Now you're talking!" Hidan said as he rushed off.
Kakazu nodded and chased after his partner but not before securing the document safely in his compartment. If it were to be destroyed in their hunt, leader-sama would kill them over and over for it.
Even immortals have something to fear for. An eternity of pain. No one wants that.
- - -
Konohagakure no Sato
"Are you making empty threats again Uzumaki? You won't kill us. You can't." Koharu said with an overconfident smirk on her face.
"And please enlighten me to the reason why."
"I have something you need, something you want." Koharu snapped her fingers as Homura took out the ancient scroll. "I heard you're searching for this. It would be a shame if this accidentally got destroyed."
Naruto growled under his breath but something didn't make sense. How could they have known what he was after? He narrowed his eyes when the conclusion dawned upon him. There was a spy. There has to be a spy from within the organization that tipped Konoha off.
"So who told you? Obviously you two can't tell a banana from an orange so who helped you?"
Homura coughed, clearing his throat. "Who told us doesn't matter but what does matter is that we will destroy this scroll right here. I cannot stand by and let your kind destroy the world. Evil like you should not be welcomed into this world."
Koharu nodded and began flipping through a small series of hand seals. When she stopped at the tiger seal, Naruto immediately knew what she was planning. Before he could do anything, both Koharu and Homura had their jaws slightly opened and a surprised look on their face. "Why…" They whispered before dropping to the floor.
Naruto caught the scent of blood and his eyes saw the crimson liquid flowing from their bodies. He had a confused look on his face but he ran forward, hoping to get the scroll and leave before he was discovered.
Just as Naruto was about to grab the scroll, something snatched it out of his hands. The figure slowly appeared from the shadows, a huge smirk on the person's face.
"Greetings again Uzumaki."
For the second time today, Naruto was shocked. "Danzo…" He quietly said. "You killed them?"
Danzo scoffed. "They served their purpose. There is nothing more for them except death. Oh, I'm sorry. You wanted to kill them, didn't you?" The warlord innocently asked.
"So instead of two old farts, I get to deal with an even older fart. It doesn't matter to me. I'll kill you this time around."
"I don't think you comprehend the situation. I have the scroll. You need it. You see how this works? You cannot threaten me."
Naruto's attention left the warlord and his eyes fixated themselves on the scroll that was located in Danzo's hands. There was no way he could be fast enough to move over there without Danzo noticing. After several moments of speculating the events, he arrived at a conclusion. "What do you want Danzo?" Naruto finally answered.
"Swear on the grave of the Sandaime that you would forever serve me."
If looks could kill, Danzo would have been dead in an instant. Naruto's reaction was undeniable. He was furious with the man's request and his angry snarl proved it. "You dare ask that of me? I serve no one."
"You will serve me!" Danzo roared. "OBEY ME NOW!" His hands clutching the scroll tightly in his fist.
Naruto wondered if he could summon his blade of wind and slice that hand off but this was Danzo here, the man wasn't senile yet. He may still be the same crippled man but he was still dangerous.
"Well my servant to be? Have you - gah." Danzo suddenly choked on his own words, his breathing became irregular. His eye trailed down to his chest, surprised to see a hand sticking through it.
"I finally found you Danzo."
Naruto stood there, a little shock at the turn of events. First Koharu and Homura tried blackmailing him but ended up dying at Danzo's hands that in turn wanted his absolute loyalty but also ended in his death. Was this just an unlucky cycle for whoever holds onto the scroll?
"Did you think you could escape from these eyes?"
Danzo gasped for air as he tried to form sentences but his strength was rapidly fading. "Uchiha… Sasuke…" He barely got the name out.
Sasuke shoved Danzo forward and revealed himself. He removed his arm from Danzo's chest and watched as the old warlord drop to the ground, taking his final breath.
"Is this what you want Naruto?" Sasuke asked, holding up the scroll.
"Are you going to blackmail me as well?" Naruto asked, rolling his eyes. "That would make you person number 3 or was it person number 4. I don't remember. I lost count after the first one."
Sasuke remained silently as he looked over Naruto's attire. "Akatsuki huh? That's a big step up from being the ANBU Commander."
"What the hell do you want from me Sasuke? You took everything that I had. Power… Respect… Love… Do you want my life as well?"
"I want a fight." Sasuke answered, his eyes staring at Naruto as if they were measuring his abilities.
"A fight?" Naruto asked with surprise, "Why a fight?"
"Have you ever wondered why I testified against you? We both knew that you were innocent." Sasuke answered with his own question.
Naruto remained speechless, showing nothing but an emotionless mask. "Enlighten me Sasuke."
"For power Naruto. For power. You had it all and I wanted it all. Shinrei offered me the chance to achieve great power and all I had to do was to testify against you in court."
"Shinrei?"
Sasuke shrugged. "He is not important right now. I'll say one thing Naruto. I have improved."
"Just give me the scroll and stop wasting my time. You know you can't beat me."
"Fine then. Here." Sasuke toss the scroll towards his old teammate but before Naruto could get a hold on it, Sasuke vanished from his spot and greeted Naruto with a fist to the face.
Naruto felt Sasuke's fist connecting with his jaw as he crashed into the wall. He narrowed his eyes and growled. "You were never the brightest one Sasuke. Crying over this, crying over that. I never saw Itachi cry once about slaughtering your twisted clan!" He angrily said.
"You work with Itachi?" Sasuke darkly asked. "Well this is pretty convenient then. If I beat you, that means I'm one step closer to beating Itachi."
Naruto laughed. "You? Beat Itachi? The man is the genius of all geniuses. There is no way a wimp like you can hope to beat him."
"I DARE YOU TO SAY IT AGAIN." Sasuke roared. Naruto shushin-ed from his spot and went for a karate chop but before his blow connected, Sasuke disappeared in smoke.
"Bunshin?" Naruto pondered. "If that was a bunshin… then…"
"Chidori!" Sasuke yelled out as Naruto quickly looked up. Sasuke growled angrily when he saw the blond's hand tightly gripping his wrist, stopping his attack from connecting.
"Your moves are boring. Why don't you try something new?" Naruto said in an uninterested tone.
Sasuke pulled his wrist down and smirked. "Right hand Chidori."
Naruto's eyes widened when he heard the name of the technique. Watching his ex-teammate form the Chidori without any hand seals definitely caught him by surprise.
He gritted his teeth, trying to keep himself from screaming as Sasuke impaled his right hand through his shoulder.
"How's that for interesting dobe?" Sasuke asked, sarcasm written in his voice. The Uchiha then began pushing Naruto, slamming him against it. With his left hand free, he waved it nonchalantly in his face.
"The right hand symbolizes respect while the left hand symbolizes glory. I respect you enough to acknowledge your power Naruto and now with my left hand, I shall be victorious!"
Naruto chuckled as he spat out a little blood. "Foolish little Sasuke. You have yet to understand the powers that bind us to this pitiful place. Until you realize that your world is nothing compares to others, you will never win."
"You…" Sasuke's sharingan rapidly began spinning. "Why is your chakra moving like this? What the hell are you doing Naruto?"
"You wanted power so badly Sasuke. Let me show you what power really is!"
- - -
"Tsunade-sama… Are you sure you can be sitting here like this?" Shizune half-heartedly protested. "What would the council say?"
"To hell with them!" Tsunade loudly answered. "If they don't like it, they can go… do something…" Tsunade took another sip from her sake and happily sighed. "There's nothing like a good cup of sake right… Jiraiya?"
The Toad Sannin merely grinned and nodded. "You bet your boobs that you're right Tsunade-hime."
Shizune sat in the booth watching the two talk back and forth. This was the first time in months that Jiraiya came back to visit and it wasn't on happier terms. "Jiraiya… What are we going to do if Akatsuki succeed with their plans?"
"Nothing!" Jiraiya laughed in his drunken state. "Tsunade-hime hid the scroll before we left. There is no way they can get their hands on it but if they did, it would mean the end of the world anyway!"
"Hear hear!" Tsunade joined in. The two held their sake saucers up cheered. "To the good life!"
"To the women at the hot springs!"
The two broke out in laughter as they chugged another bottle of sake. Laughing away their worries and reminiscing like old teammates.
"You two are embarrassing me…" Shizune quietly muttered as she slowly sank into her seat, wishing that she could just disappear.
- - -
Instead of a calm, happy night, a loud explosion occurred, causing panic to spread throughout the village. The outburst occurred near the location of the Hokage Tower, more specifically, the roof of it.
Sasuke panted slightly as he stood on top of the broken roof.
Naruto, on the other hand, stood there as if nothing happened at all. "Give me the scroll and I promise that I won't beat you so badly."
"Over my dead body dobe."
"That can be arranged teme."
Sasuke removed the Kusanagi from its sheath and slowly walked around. Naruto took notice of the weapon and produced several kunai from his weapon pouch. The two slowly circled around each other before attacking.
Naruto took the initiative and threw the kunai while leaping in the air. Sasuke saw the attack coming and instead of blocking with his sword, he held up his left hand and smirked. "Pathetic." His hand slowly began to glow and take the shape of senbon needles, which he then threw with pinpoint accuracy, effectively cutting the kunai in half. However, his eyes widened when he noticed that there were exploding tags wrapped around them.
Sasuke jumped aside, avoiding the exploding tags only to find Naruto coming at him with a huge Rasengan in his hands. In his eyes, he saw that he couldn't dodge the attack in time, so he braced for impact.
"Oodama Rasengan!"
Naruto shoved the attack into Sasuke, thinking that the match was over until he felt something moving afterwards. Something huge came through the smoke, smacking him in the face. Naruto did a back flip in the air and landed on his feet, his eyes never leaving the image in front of him.
"Finally… it comes out." Naruto stated. "I was wondering when I would be seeing it. The second level of your Cursed Seal."
"Shut it dobe or I'll close it for you…" Sasuke growled. In an instant, the two disappeared, exchanging blows that surpassed all limits. Blow for blow, it was countered and the force of the blows caused several small gusts of wind to stir.
Sasuke grunted as he blocked a hard left punch from Naruto but when he went to counter, the blond never took his left hand off Sasuke's foot, swing the Uchiha around like a doll.
Naruto grinned as he tossed Sasuke to the ground, enjoying the battle fully. "Come on teme-chan. Let's take it up a step." Naruto taunted.
Sasuke immediately pushed himself off the ground and performed a series of hand seals.
"Katon : Gokakyu no Jutsu"
Sasuke held his fingers to his lips as a fireball the size of a meteor came out. Instead of the orange color flame, a dark blue flame was produced. As the jutsu came closer, Naruto could feel the intense heat radiating from the technique.
Taking a mental note to avoid being hit by any future Katon techniques, he jumped out of the way. "Come at me with your scary level two form teme-chan. I want to see the power that Orochimaru-yaro gave you first hand."
"This is true power Naruto. Not the bullshit demon power that you have." Sasuke stretched his shoulders back, causing the giant wing-like hands to begin flapping. "This is what true power has granted me: the power of flight."
Sasuke leaped into the air and took out something from his back pocket. Naruto stood his ground as he pondered his next move.
Sasuke took this as an opportunity to finish Naruto once and for all. The object that he removed from his back pocket was nothing but wire. He smirked as he tied it around several pairs of kunai. Naruto was going to be the demonstration of the expression 'Going out with a bang.'
The Uchiha dived towards Naruto, his hands holding onto several kunai. Just as he was about to throw the projectiles, Naruto appeared in front of him with a boot to the face. Sasuke hit the floor hard but that didn't stop Naruto from continuing the assault. His sharingan flared when he recognized the blade in Naruto's hand.
"Fool. You can't cut me -" Before Sasuke could finish that sentence, he felt a sharp pain eliciting from his back and realized what happened. He immediately retracted the curse seal and dropped to the ground, the pain unbearable for him.
"How…" The Uchiha angrily asked. "How did you cut me?"
"Wind is not just a defensive element you naïve fool. I have the ability to make the wind so sharp that it can cut through even diamond. The next thing I'm slicing off is your head." Naruto held up the sword as Sasuke stood there, too shocked to move. "This is goodbye forever…" Just as Naruto was about to bring down the sword, something shifted in the wind.
Naruto looked around and sighed. "Sasuke…" Not taking the time to let Sasuke answer, Naruto began making a small circular motion with his right hand.
"Be gone teme."
Sasuke didn't have any time to react when he saw Naruto's fist come in contact with his chest. He didn't know what hit him. At first, it felt like ice but that quickly turned to shock when he suddenly vomited blood. A huge amount of wind exploded through his back, causing everything he had to scatter on the ground.
Kunai, keys, exploding tags, wire and the scroll.
Naruto saw the scroll fly into the air and flipped Sasuke over, slamming him into the ground. With a small leap, Naruto caught the scroll with ease and looked it over. "All this trouble for a piece of paper…" He muttered.
He turned his head to look at Sasuke one last time before disappearing. On the other hand, Sasuke felt his world come crashing down the moment Naruto cut his wing. His ears picked up the faint sound of people coming closer and hesitantly, he picked himself up. Gathering his possessions, he disappeared as well.
- - -
"Kakashi-sensei, what happened here?" Sakura asked as she surveyed the damaged rooftop.
"Hm…" The cycloptic ninja walked around as if he was looking for something. Noticing that something was off, he lifted up his hitai-ate. With the Sharingan now out, he could see the small visible trails of Chakra and there were so many scents in the area. The smell of blood was also strong here.
"A battle occurred and it was probably a big one." His eyes widened when he recognized a couple of the scents. "They - he - was here…" His voice shaking. "He was definitely here."
"Who?"
"Naruto…"
- - -
Just on the other side of walls that separate the world from Konoha, Naruto had his back leaning towards the wall, busily trying to fix the wound on his shoulder.
"Damn Kyuubi and his idiotic ways. My mistake so fix it yourself the furball says. Stupid demon. If he were real, I would show him a thing or two…"
Unknown to him, a figure was slowly watching him from the dark, deciding if it was a good idea or not. When the figure heard Naruto muttering to himself, there was nothing left but to go ahead as planned.
The figure held two fingers together in a triangular form and sighed. "Here goes nothing…"
Naruto stopped applying bandages when his keen sense of hearing picked up some whispering. He looked around cautiously and shrugged it off. The next thing he knew, he was falling backwards and the last words that he heard were…
"Shinranshin no Jutsu."
Finally the plot is coming together. Never again am I doing multiple fight scenes all in one chapter. I fried my brains out trying to be unique. Anyway, I'm kind of slow with the updates but I should be picking up the pace soon.
