The Atma Chronicles

By Narakusnoone

Disclaimer: The Disclaimer, always an important part of every fanfic. It's a requirement that it be put on every story on this site. Am I Complaining about it? NO! I am simply stating a fact. And in a way, I appreciate its qualities. It gives you poetic license. It releases you from all obligation related to the material upon which you write. But in claiming the right of the disclaimer, you must make sure it is known that you don't have any monetary gain from what you write. It's perfectly okay to advertise what you like, but you can't make any money based on it. But nothing wrong with that. Besides, being a free writer I can tell you how hard it is to come up with a world right on the spot. But that's not the case here. You see it's as simple as taking the lore you've assimilated and making it your own as long as you make sure you slap on a disclaimer. How wonderful is that? Very in my opinion. Any way, I'm ranting again. So anyway, yeah... I...uh, don't own anything.

Chapter Twelve: Naruto Vs. Sasuke Round 2 the prelude

It had been a full week since Anko took on Naruto and Hinata. And considering what she had to work with when they began, she was quite impressed with their progress so far. Three days in they had both mastered the tree walking exercise and were now working on the water walking exercise. They were physically trained into the ground. Naruto was openly practicing Kenjutsu with the help of one of Anko's friends , one Yugao Uzuki, and Anko was teaching Hinata Serpent Style Taijutsu. And as said before, Anko was impressed with their progress.

It was getting close to the point where Naruto was going to place his challenge against Sasuke and to tell the truth, he was not really looking forward to it. Sasuke was not one who liked to lose. But he was also predictable. If Naruto played his cards right, Sasuke wouldn't even know that he was being manipulated. The only question was how much strength he should use. He would of course have to use enough to just a little stronger than Sasuke but at the same time hold back enough just in case there were unfriendly eyes watching them. But what level of power was appropriate?

As for Sasuke, he was currently at The Uchiha Clan compound training himself. But Here's the thing. He was always trained but he only trained what he wanted to train. If it came down to something that he may have found useless, like advanced stealth training or even basic skills, he didn't give it the time of day. He believed that he was above skills like that and focused on skills that were more devastating, like high powered fire jutsus, or more advanced taijutsu moves only for them to fail. And if they didn't work for him, he didn't bother training with them because they were "Beneath" him. That was how Sasuke handled failure. Nice kid isn't he?

Anyway, Today he was working on his taijutsu. Practicing alone is one thing but he failed to realize that the only way to be good at fighting hand to hand is to actually fight against someone, and he was dead set on becoming a master on his own without help. Now mind you, he set himself up this way because he was so used to doing things on his own up to this point in time. He was so used to being alone. But he was also afraid. He was afraid of his brother, and of losing. The latter more so than the former, because to him losing meant he was a failure which in his mind was why Itachi didn't kill him. In his own Mind, He believed Itachi wouldn't kill him because he was in no way a threat to him and it made him angry.

How dare Itachi continually haunt his darkest dreams. How dare he look down on him as someone inferior. He was an Uchiha dammit. He was an elite born. Nobody could defeat him. And that was where his thoughts faltered. There was someone who did in fact defeat him. But it must have been a fluke. That was the only way that he could have been beaten. He had no flaws so it couldn't have been his fault. But still, he couldn't get it out of his head. How did the dead last beat him?

He brought from his thoughts by the sound of his doorbell. "Who dares enter the compound without my say so?" he asked no one in particular with a haughty tone. The doorbell rang again. He scowled. "Who ever has the gall to interrupt my training..." He let it trail off there.

When he got to the door he yelled through it to the otherside, "What do you want!?"

"Just the girl scouts selling some cookies mister!" came the obvious voice of Naruto yelling from the other side. "What the fuck do you think I want!? I'm here to see you retard! Now open your god damn door!" Sasuke opened his door and was glaring at Naruto.

"What do you want dobe?" That's when Sasuke got a good look at Naruto. He looked for lack of a better term like he'd been through a meat grinder considering the nicks and cuts that were visible on his body. He was also sporting a few shiners on his person. "What the hell happened to you?"

"New Sensei. She just loves beating the shit out of me. Not that I'm complaining. Hell, I feel ten times stronger than when I started under her."

"Hmph. Ten times nothing is still nothing." said Sasuke arrogantly.

"Well considering that I'm nothing, and I kicked your ass once already, what does that make you?" shot back Naruto. 'Alright. There's the bait.' "I mean honestly, If I can beat you anybody can."

"That was a fluke! A lucky mistake at best and it will never happen again! You're not stronger than me! You hear me!?"

'He's biting. Good. Now to reel him in.' "You seem so sure of that. Alright. How about an all out spar? You and me. And I'll even let you choose the terms. And if you win, I'll... hmm, I know! I'll openly proclaim you as the best in Konoha and even publicly apologize for embarrassing you during the Genin Exam. But If I win, You have to join me and Hinata for training at least once a week."

"It's only been two weeks. You can't have gotten that strong. And further more, Why would I waste my time on a spar with someone as weak as you?" asked Sasuke.

"Okay. I guess I'll just have to openly proclaim your cowardice then because it's quite obvious that you're afraid you'll lose." 'Hook, Line, and Sinker.' "Or maybe you're just sick. Are you sick?"

"If you call me a coward one more time, I'll take you down right here."

"Wuss, Pussy, Scaredy-cat, Poopy Diaper Baby, Weakling, Coward..." he was stopped by a punch to the face. But he seemed fazed for just a second. "Wow! That hit sucked. You're not only a Coward, but you're a wimp too! Oh I gotta tell everybody."

"Shut Up! Just Shut Up! What will it take for you to go away?" asked Sasuke in exaspiration.

"You and Me. One on One at training ground 44. Dawn, Tomorrow. If you refuse to show I start dragging your oh so precious name and reputation through the mud. I will prank away all your credibility and turn you into a laughing stock. Go ahead, I dare you to turn me down now." Naruto had a neutral smile on his face so Sasuke didn't know whether he was serious or not. But anybody who really knew Naruto knew better than to call any bluff he made.

"Fine. But when I win you never bring up this foolishness again." Said Sasuke. And he closed his door in Naruto's face.

"See ya tomorrow! Don't be late!" he started to walk away. Then he shouted out, "Oh I just remembered! Sakura sends her eternal love and affection and so does Ino!" he didn't need to see Sasuke's reaction. He already knew that a shiver was running up Sasuke's spine. He just loved having the last word.

R&R.