Chapter 25:

The Lesser of Two Hatreds

Mumbling words of anxiety, Naruto leaped off of the rock he was resting on and yawned. Although his back hurts, he walked without signs of distress and confronted the boy who led him to this oasis.

"Wow Inari, thanks for taking me back here! I thought after so much time that this place would be a wreck!"

Looking around, the blonde could see a berry bush to his right, and decided to pick one as he admired the scenery. The walls, although of solid stone, were smooth and straight. The floor was covered with stepping stones, creating a floor to cover the mud beneath. Around the center of the room was a set of comfortable patio furniture, including a small and round wood table with a book on top. The furniture had an exotic vine design with green and black as the primary colors. To the left was a small cascade against the wall that provided the water for the large fountain. In the fountain were three small snake statues evenly distanced around a larger one in the center, from which the water would flow from its mouth.

Inari smiled and said, "After you left I decided to refurbish this place. It was hard though, because the rain season was starting. I brought in furniture and decided to build a roof above the skylight. It redirects the water to the side of the cave, keeping this place cool and dry."

Naruto looked up and identified the bottom of the roof, "Good man…hehe…how exactly we found this cave again?"

Inari frowned, "Well, you were feeling bad that day…a few months ago. You were having deliriums and fled... I followed you all the way here. We decided to talk and spend the night…and I guess this became our special-secret spot. I kind of wonder how you forgot."

Naruto smiled, using the expression to end the train of the conversation, hoping not to dwell in that topic too much.

Returning to the table to retrieve his book, Naruto sighed and said, "I promised Tsunade I'd bring her a souvenir from the town…but I am afraid to enter the city."

Exiting the cave, the two realized that it was still pretty early in the morning so Naruto said, "Quick, make me a Water Dragon."

"Huh?" Inari looked at Naruto quizzically as the blonde placed his book next to a tree a good distance away and then leaped back into his previous position, only a little farther away from Inari.

"Pop quiz, think fast!" Naruto pulled out a kunai and charged after the young teen.

Inari blurred the proper seals and the ground around him began to slowly decay. The whip of water encircling him gradually morphed into a serpent.

'Too slow…'

Naruto side stepped before the full dragon took shape and held the tip of his kunai at Inari's throat.

"Hmm…I'd have to say that is a C. You slacked while I was gone…"

From the sky came a loud cry, "You know me better than that!"

Inari once again blurred some seals, but Naruto didn't realize these seals were different.

"Water Clone Explosion Technique!"

Swept off his feet, Naruto flew through the air, earning a proud grunt from Inari until, with a gust of wind, Naruto disappeared.

Looking around his perimeter, Inari couldn't find Naruto.

A soft, cold breeze blew across Inari's face. He almost froze over. There was something in the air that wasn't right.

A sigh from nearby awoke Inari from his half-awake state. A look of disappointment was plastered across the face of the one who reappeared right in front of him.

Naruto stared Inari in the face as they fell. Then, Inari smirked, "Look out below."

A roar echoed through the skies, the water serpent Inari initially started leaped high.

Before Naruto could say a word, Inari faded from above.

Performing a quick flip in the air, Naruto was only meters away from impact.

'Still too slow…'

Holding his hand in front of him, and aiming at the oncoming water serpent, Naruto made a slight thrust.

A serious face soon became confused, nothing happened. Naruto fell through the sky, and made impact with the water dragon.

Inside the flowing water, Naruto curled up into a ball, and then rapidly stretched out his whole body. Another gust wrapped itself around the serpent, and then constricted, causing the water dragon to split into mere droplets.

Waiting on ground level, Inari wore a happy grin. A rough "thump" sounded as Naruto landed, drenched and tired.

"So what grade do I get now?" asked Inari as he positioned his hands at his waist.

Naruto tapped his foot ten times, locked in thought, and then disappeared.

"What? Where did you go?" said Inari going into fighting position.

"I'm over here." said Naruto, sitting comfortably under the tree he set his book under.

Inari's mouth hung low and dry, his eyes were wide and pale, and a large sweat drop rolled down his head.

"I finished reading. Who would have known the protagonist was the one who set off the end of his company. What a shame to his friends. Uh…you can get out of combat stance when you feel like it."

"But but but…" Inari slouched forward, frowning.

"Ninety-one." Naruto stated plainly.

"What?"

"A-minus"

"Well it is not like I could have known the second you was a shadow clone too! Besides, you are a master clone user and have years more experience than I do!"

"That is not why you got an A-minus. I didn't expect you to find the real me…you would have made my book wet."

"Then what did you grade my performance on?"

"Speed, hand-seals, cunning, and movement."

Naruto stood up and Inari walked closer to him.

"You see Inari, your hand seals were great, pretty fast. You didn't stay in one place, but up in the air you are wide open for attack, shouting out while up there isn't good too…trust me…I have done that far too many times. Not good. Fun though."

Inari laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"However, you managed to control two jutsus at once. While you executed the water clone explosion, you managed to continue forming your water dragon. However, you took too much water out of the ground; you need to learn how to make water out of the air around you and your own charka. I can help with that."

Naruto sighed, "On second thought, I'm going to have to give you a 95."

Inari smiled and held his fists in front of his face, "Really? Really?! Wait…just what did I do?"

A slight chuckle escaped Naruto's mouth, remembering how he tried to destroy the water dragon before impact. It was supposed to break apart, no matter how little the air inside…

"Inari, your water dragon didn't have a single pocket of air inside it. It was extremely dense and it hit my clone like a brick wall. It almost couldn't take the impact. That is also the reason it was a bit slower than usual and took longer to form. It was heavy."

"Wait, how did you know there was no air in my dragon?"

Naruto took a moment to ponder, "I uh…you see…it is a jutsu I developed while I was…gone."

Inari's face lit up brighter than ever, "Really? How does it work?"

Yet another sigh came from Naruto, "Watch closely."

Softly placing his hand on the tree next to him, Naruto frowned and closed his eyes.

"This tree, although sturdy, it is filled with pockets of air scattered inside. There are hollow parts to simply put it. I have a wind affinity. If I tap into the air inside, expand, sharpen, and mold it…then I can…"

The tree stood about thirty feet tall, and many branches stretched from the top of the trunk. When Naruto removed his hand from the tree's side, slowly, from the very spot Naruto had his hand, the tree's bark began to break into pieces as small as tooth picks. Gradually, the speed of the jutsu sped up, and in seconds, all that remained of the tree was a tall pile of splinters and cut leaves.

Naruto looked at his work in shame. He wondered how many twigs were in the pile, and compared them to the work of his past. Could these twigs ever match the number?

"Wow that was incredible!! You didn't even use a lot of chakra! I can't imagine what you could do at full power. You have to show…"

The boy's words slowed down to a halt and his wide eyed and grin wonder turned into a frown.

"Naruto, it is ok, there are plenty of trees in the forest…thanks for showing me! It was really something. Don't feel bad!"

The blonde lifted his head slowly, and for a split second, Inari could have sworn Naruto's eyes were pale.

As fast as it came, it was gone, and Naruto flashed a fake smile, trying to reassure Inari. "Yeah, you're right!! No problem! Let's go back to your place!"

Kakashi sat on a cushioned rocking chair, reading his usual erotica. Sakura was still in pajamas lying down on the nearby couch having a toasty pastrami and Swiss-cheese sandwich. Tsunami walked through the hallway to the right and rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning everyone and-" She was cut off as she realized what Kakashi was reading.

"Oh my, that book…"

Kakashi's eye "smiled" as he asked, "You read?"

Tsunami scoffed, "Not in a million years. My father though, I wish I could get him off of it."

"Really now? I should talk to him more often. Where is he right now?"

The woman wrapped her arms over her chest, completely irritated, and said, "Getting more bread and milk. What about Sasuke?"

"He went to go train. I don't know how but that boy managed to get Naruto to fight today. That once go-lucky blonde has been quite passive and quiet lately. I am glad I will get to see a bit more of the energetic side…I hope."

Sakura nodded and formed a slight frown, "Me too, I wish he'd loosen up a bit..."

"Speaking of the devil…" said Tsunami as she looked out the window and identified the two boys nearing the house, stopping at the mail box. Today there are a little more letters than usual.

Inari walked into the door, holding it for Naruto and the load of mail.

"Top of the morning all!" said Inari happily and in a joking mood.

Naruto sat on the floor with his back against the wall and legs stretched out, the right one on top of the other. As he read the mail, Naruto immediately began throwing most of it in the trash can.

Tsunami was quite annoyed, as Naruto was rummaging through her mail.

"You know, it is impolite to go through another person's mail and throw it away without their consent." Said Sakura before Tsunami could get to it.

Naruto glared at Tsunami, "Apparently somebody told the villagers that "team seven" was staying the next few nights here…here is your mail Tsunami. You know what else is impolite? : Going around the village telling citizens of our whereabouts without our consent." Naruto then handed Tsunami a single letter as he tossed most of the rest in the trash automatically. Tsunami was now angry as Naruto talked back to her, but kept her mouth shut for she did in fact "spill the beans".

"How does that have to do with anything?" asked Sakura now sitting on the couch, and leaning on her knees with her hands.

Naruto grunted, "I thought you'd pick up the joke right away. However, seeing as you are so eager to read your mail. Here you go, first letter for you…"

Naruto opened a pink envelope with a lip-shaped seal and read the small note, "Meet me at the lake shore at 9, I love you so much. You won't forget this night. I waited so long for the day you would return to the village to meet me; now we can gather in solitude."

By now Sakura was shivering and her eyes looked like they were about to explode. Naruto held back a chuckle which Kakashi noticed, and smiled behind his mask. Tsunami was quite oblivious and asked, "Aww that is sweet, what are you laughing about Naruto?"

The blonde smirked, "This guy misspelled solitude. Sakura, you could be this guy's match! Your brain could compliment his lack of one."

Sakura was trying to avoid confrontation with Naruto and although steaming with anger at the moment, she decided to let it pass. Naruto finished, "From: Your caramel dove. Tell me Sakura, who is the lucky guy you are meeting tonight?"

The kunoichi's eyes went on fire as she said, "I have no idea and you better quit it!"

The smirk shrunk to more of a surprised face as Naruto said, "Don't even get me started on Sasuke. You can't imagine what people put in these envelopes for him…there are even a couple of packages."

Naruto continued to rummage through the mail, and found a stuffed animal.

"What do you know? I got something. I guess somebody really did notice me before I disappeared yesterday. This means I am expected in the village. This is getting bad…"

Naruto identified the stuffed animal as a small and green baby platypus. It was the most original thing he had seen all day, sadly though; there was no sender, just a tag that said: 'To Uzumaki Naruto, thanks so much for helping.'

"Cuuuute…I am keeping it."

As he continued through the mail, Naruto came to the last piece of mail. It was a huge letter that looked like an early Valentine's Day gift. The top read: "To Sakura."

"Sakura, this last one is for you! It has a poem that begins with the word: suppurating!"

Naruto said the last word with an unmatched sarcasm and vigor. Sakura froze over and stuttered the sentence: "N-n-no thank you…p-please…carry on."

Chucking the last piece of junk into the mail, Naruto made a sick grin and placed the baby platypus on a small table nearby. By now, Inari had already come back out of his room. After patting the platypus on the head, Naruto opened the door and said, "Inari, I need a body guard. Are you any good?"

Inari turned around and said, "Sure, I'll do my best."

Naruto looked up before leaving the house and said, "Tsunami, please make some lunch for me when I return. By the time I get a souvenir for Hokage-sama I will be starving. Lunch will be impossible."

Tsunami smiled, "I send you travel mercies."

"Mom, we're home, and we're starving!" shouted little Inari as he led a dizzy Naruto down the front lawn.

Tsunami opened the door and immediately noticed the bruised and empty handed Naruto.

"What happened? I thought you were going to get Tsunade-sama a souvenir!"

Naruto frowned, "Hehe, well you see…"

That plan worked splendidly for about 10 minutes. The second Naruto stepped into the city he already received some odd stares. Inari began to fidget, making them seem more suspicious.

Eventually, a little girl shouted: "It is him! It is Naruto-sama!"

Naruto stared down at Inari, "How good did you say you were?"

Inari shivered, "I said I'd do my best!"

"Well how good is that?"

Inari slouched over, "Not good enough."

The two boys drowned into the on-coming stampede of the crowd.

Tsunami chuckled, "Well what did you expect? You and your friends are celebrities here!"

"I really wish people would find another team to obsess over. I like the attention, but enough is enough…it took me twenty minutes to wipe the lipstick off of my face damn it!"

"What are you going to bring the Hokage then?"

Naruto looked around the room, "Meh, I'll just give her the platypus…"

Tsunami took a glance at the stuffed animal, "D'awww, but it looks so cute with you!"

Naruto smiled and took a seat on the couch and said with sarcasm, "A darn shame too."

From the corner, an eerie voice resonated, "Don't get to comfortable. You know what is next."

Naruto closed his eyes in distaste, and replied with a greater hostility than Sasuke did, "I have no intention to fight if I haven't eaten yet."

Sasuke stood up straight from the wall he was against and put his right hand at his side, "Neither have I. I trained all morning. What have you done today?"

Naruto said plainly, "Jack squat, so I don't think you'd have a problem if we both took a quick break. It is only 3:45. I am going to eat. We can fight at five before the sun goes down."

Sasuke didn't want to admit he was hungry, nor give it off, so he left the living room with a mere glare.

Sakura, who was hiding in the hallway, heard the whole thing and thought, 'When they were kids, it was always jokes and games…but now…it is hard for me to convince myself that they are just playing around with each other. Their tone is so dark and cold…'

Before she could walk back into the room, a hand rested itself on her shoulder, giving her a startle.

Kakashi looked depressed as he whispered, "Not a word, we would just make things worse."

Sakura nodded, and as she entered the room, she could not but help get a glimpse of Naruto's eyes before he shut them. They were a cold bright blue.

She gasped, earning her a few words from Naruto, "Something wrong?"

"N-no, nothing at all…"

Kakashi too noticed this phenomenon and shed a look of concern, but brushed it off, deciding he would ask Sakura if she had took alarm to this as well later during the day.

The whole meal was shrouded in silence, and Naruto was eating quite slowly. By the time everybody was done, Naruto was only half-way through.

Everyone but Sasuke looked at Naruto in concern; he obviously showed no vigor for the upcoming fight. Uchiha on the other hand was growing impatient.

It was ramen too. Naruto didn't really show his appetite like he usually did. Eventually, the blonde came to a complete halt. He began staring at this strange pendant around his neck.

Another couple of minutes passed by, and the silence was broken by a hand slapping the bowl of ramen into the wall nearby with a force void of any emotion but anger.

"Would you hurry the hell up dope? You promised me a fight, I expect a fight! It is almost five!"

Sakura dropped to the floor to pick up the remains of the bowl saying to Tsunami: "I am so sorry. Please excuse their behavior…Sasuke…don't do this!"

Sasuke's eyes made a death lock on Naruto and said, "I've waited a long time to test my strength. This time I don't expect anyone to interfere like in the past!"

Everyone's eyes were now on Naruto, who has been silent this whole time.

Slowly, Naruto placed his pendant back under his jacket and stood up from his seat. Opening his eyes, they were now dark blue, deep dark blue. It seemed as though a hurricane was forming within his orbs.

"I don't expect you to hold back then Sasuke."

Sasuke's sharingan quickly formed, and he followed the timid blonde into the field behind Inari's house.

The landscape was smooth with exception of some trees scattered across the area. The sky had begun to turn orange and about a dozen birds danced in the air.

Kakashi, Inari, Tsunami, and Sakura placed a good distance between them and the two boys. Tazuna was out of the house again. Apparently he has a business negotiation to attend to.

Understanding that the boys would not be taking this battle lightly, Kakashi moved his headband into the proper position, revealing his own sharingan. He had left Make-Out-Paradise in the house; this battle had his full attention.

Sakura on the other hand had her eyes fixated on Kakashi for the first minute, as though expecting him to call of the fight. Sasuke and Naruto weren't children anymore though. Sadly, all Sakura could do was watch.

Sasuke smirked, "I plan to use my sword. Do you have a weapon with you?"

Naruto didn't reply, rather, he made a single hand seal and then stretched the same hand he made the seal with forward, and a gust of black wind engulfed Naruto's arm.

"What is that?" asked Sakura right off the bat.

"A summoning jutsu…let's just pay attention."

The black wind quickly disappeared, and from the darkness emerged Naruto's sword, Midnight's Gale.

Shoving his sword into the ground, Naruto removed his jacket, not wanting to damage it. As he let go, the wind carried it and let it rest under a tree nearby Inari. No headband was present on Naruto's forehead, nor Sasuke.

The audience noticed a glimmer in Naruto's eye, before they heard a loud clash of metal.

Sasuke now had his sword pressed against Naruto's and said, "Too slow."

Faster than Kakashi could see, Naruto kicked up into the air, and flipped to the right, taking Sasuke by surprise, and then kicking him on his waist, causing Sasuke to slide back slightly.

"Your sword may be an extension, but don't forget the rest of your body."

A flash of light, and the two boys took to the skies. Although Kakashi could see, Sakura only mustered to catch the faint sound of their weapons breaking against each other.

Both Naruto and Sasuke landed on the floor in sequence, and then dashed towards each other. With Naruto's spare hand, he grabbed some shuriken from his holster and chucked them at the arrogant swordsman.

While Sasuke took the time to deflect the projectiles with his sword, Naruto tossed half of Midnight's Gale towards Sasuke, and leaped into the air. Sasuke decided to follow Naruto into the air in order to dodge the oncoming blade.

However only a couple of meters away Sasuke hear the sound of cutting wind. Glancing down, Sasuke noticed Naruto's half-sword rapidly approaching him.

'Yo-yo Blade' thought Naruto as he pulled the blade closer to Sasuke.

Taking evasive maneuver, Sasuke blurred some quick hand seals. A quick boost of electricity plunged Sasuke higher into the air, taking Naruto by surprise, and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Good luck." said Sasuke, twisting and throwing Naruto into the range of his own weapon.

As the blonde fell, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Naruto whispered, "…Idiot."

Naruto suddenly faded, and the sword passed right through him. Before Sasuke could react, Naruto reappeared underneath his sword, grabbing it. Now dual wielding, Naruto approached the open Sasuke. However, before Naruto was even close, he swiped his sword through thin air, creating a sharp energy wave in the shape of an X.

'Wind element…perfect.' Thought Sasuke as his blade set up in flames. Tossing it down at Naruto, the blade broke the energy wave, and the flames surrounding the blade doubled in size.

Reconnecting the two halves, Naruto twisted his blade, making it turn rapidly alone in the air. "Windmill Defense!"

The winds emitting from Naruto's sword hindered the decent of Sasuke's, until eventually, Sasuke's blade came to a halt. The flames combined with the blowing winds from Naruto's sword, creating a fire vortex.

Sasuke, before falling into the vortex, made a substitution jutsu. Of course, the flames quickly devoured the substitution.

Once the vortex died down, Sasuke's sword fell back to the floor, firmly wedging itself between the dirt.

As the real Sasuke appeared on ground level, he wondered, 'Where the hell is Naruto?'

Everybody's eyes locked onto the one floating down to the floor. Almost weightless, Naruto landed softly, performing a God like decent.

"Sasuke, I know you can do better than that."

"Fuck you." Stabbing his sword back in the ground, Sasuke immediately formed a Chidori in his hand and charged at Naruto with alarming speed.

Mimicking Sasuke, Naruto softly shoved his sword between the dirt and shaped a rasengan. At Sasuke's same speed, Naruto ran with no intention of stopping.

By now, Kakashi and Sakura were ready to intervene. However, both wanted to keep what little peace they had between each other and watched in pain as the boys expressed the darkest of emotions towards each other.

Sasuke thrust his hand forward, expecting Naruto to do the same as they did long ago in the Valley of the End. Already at peak speed and with no way of stopping, Naruto smirked, and Sasuke's line of thought stopped. He knew he did something wrong.

Naruto halted all together, letting Sasuke's rampage draw closer. With his rasengan still in one hand, Naruto, in the other, pumped his wind element through his chakra pores.

With unrivaled speed, Naruto, with his wind element hand, grabbed Sasuke's wrist and canceled out Chidori. Spinning Sasuke around, Naruto threw the Uchiha into the air.

Leaping high, Naruto made a clear shot, pushing his Rasengan deep into Sasuke's gut. The reaction was obvious. Sasuke's shirt tore into shreds and he only flew higher into the orange sky.

The bystanders stared in awe, attempting to comprehend how easily Naruto countered Sasuke's Chidori.

A rough landing on the floor left Sasuke's limbs in pain, and his pride shattered. Death shined from Sasuke's eyes as he glared at Naruto, who at the moment had his back turned and was removing his sword from the earth.

Taking this moment to his advantage, Sasuke sneaked some shuriken from his own holster and prepared to strike.

Before he could even move his wrist, Naruto said in a cold tone, "Don't try anything stupid. Pick up your sword."

Sasuke placed his palms flat on the ground, almost as though surrendering. Naruto knew right off the bat that it was a trick.

"Just what are you going to do-?"

The ground below Naruto began to break; a loud hiss escaped the bottom of the land. Making a giant flip backwards, the blonde barely evaded the serpent that emerged from the dirt, almost demolishing him.

The snake now glared directly at Naruto with its bright yellow eyes. It was colored white and green, making Naruto chuckle, "Reminds me a lot of Orochimaru Sasuke…this must be one of the few things you learned from the dead retard huh?"

"Better than anything you might have learned baka." said Sasuke as he stood up from the ground, katana in hand.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that."

Naruto bit his thumb and stretched his arms out in front of him. Naruto then placed his hands together, making a single hand seal, and pressed his palms against the floor.

"Come on out Ligar!"

A huge roar made the hair on Inari and Tsunami's head stand up. Sakura even twitched slightly at the intensity of the roar.

The orange beast leaped from the smoke created by the summoning and immediately confronted the serpent.

"Leave it to me Naruto!" shouted Ligar attempting a swipe at the other summoning.

Moving his attention back to Sasuke, Naruto sighed.

Dark chakra began encircling Sasuke. The cursed tattoo marking Sasuke's neck began to spread, enveloping most of his body.

"Still haven't given up on the cursed seal huh Sasuke?"

Naruto closed his eyes and took another deep breath. The winds around him began to fluctuate in random directions. A bright yellow aura began to outline Naruto.

Kakashi felt a wave of cold air run down his spine. He felt this energy before, but couldn't identify it. The only question he could muster was: 'Who taught Naruto light nature chakra?'

Sasuke had never witnessed such a jutsu, but that wasn't going to keep him from going in head strong.

An incredible shockwave blew through the land as Sasuke sprinted from his position towards Naruto.

A bright flash of light pervaded the area, blinding Sasuke temporarily. When the bright light cleared, all that was left of Naruto was bits of glittering energy in the air.

'Where did that bastard go?'

The air around Sasuke began to spin, almost making him dizzy. The wind was a strange shade of yellow and white.

At first, the air around Sasuke looked as though he was in the eye of a twister, but eventually, his surroundings became less and less visible as the air around him blew faster and the color grew thick.

"Is this a genjutsu…? No…"

Looking for a way out of the strange ambience, Sasuke glanced above him, but realized that the winds were surrounding him completely.

"Chidori current!" shouted Sasuke, thrusting his arm into the ground, attempting to cancel out Naruto's jutsu.

As quickly as the lightning appeared, it faded. The wind's constant movement interrupted the electric current.

The storm was closing in, and Sasuke could see that the grass on the ground was ripping to dust. A couple more seconds and Sasuke would be left in scraps.

'If I use a flame jutsu at this distance, I'll cancel out Naruto's jutsu, but end up burning myself…however…'

Looking down, Sasuke smirked, "Can't get me down there…time for an escape."

Before he could finish his hand seals, Sasuke heard the distinct sound of the ground breaking beneath him. Acting quickly, he leaped into the air, only high enough though so that he wouldn't cut through the current above him.

Out from the ground emerged Naruto, sword in hand. The twister around the two boys turned into one single, golden current of wind and then merged with the blade of Naruto's sword, painting it a bright gold color. If one listened closely, a chorus could be heard singing.

This jutsu was foreign to Sasuke. Not knowing how to counter it, all he could do was pull his sword in front of him and attempt to block the incoming attack.

"Raaagh!! Kogane Koukyoukyoku Yaiba!!" (Gold Symphony Blade)

As the sword sliced through the air, it left behind a gold ribbon of light. Sasuke, in a last ditch attempt, pushed fire element chakra through his blade. He assumed that he could cancel out part of the jutsu.

The two blades clashed, and the epicenter of the blow exploded into a huge gust of light and wind.

Before the place was engulfed in light, Kakashi glared at Naruto, 'How in the world did you learn this jutsu? I could tell you held back…even after you promised you wouldn't. Naruto…just what have you gone through to change so drastically?'

The bright light blinded Kakashi's eyes, 'and…where have I seen something like this before?'

Once the illumination returned to normal, Sakura, Inari, and Tsunami stood up. Kakashi at the moment had all ready been on his feet looking in all directions for the two boys. His eyes found a dust cloud. Sakura thought, 'Naruto didn't give Sasuke even a chance to use his cursed seal…'

Once the dirt returned back to the ground, only one of the boys was standing up. Even so, he was slumped over, as though very exhausted. From Kakashi's point of view, and his sharingan, he could already tell something was wrong.

In his weak voice there was a hint of doubt, Sasuke asked, "What's the matter baka? Your own jutsu backfired? Your wind cannot match my fire!"

Sasuke chest now had numerous gashes through it. Blood stained his pale white skin and black hair. He needed medical attention soon, or his wounds could let infections pass through. His pants and boots were also ripped in many places. The boy was bent over and hyperventilating. Somehow, he still held his sword. However, a gaping crevice ran down the middle of Sasuke's blade.

Naruto, although he had his knees pressed against the floor, one of his hands was as well. The other was under his mouth. Naruto began to vomit blood.

Kakashi, at first, believed what Sasuke thought. However, the jonin's knowledge told him otherwise, 'His fire didn't cancel out Naruto's jutsu…the blade held the chakra, and although Naruto was using wind chakra…'

The silver haired man noticed Naruto's clothing wasn't torn, only wrinkled and dirty. More importantly, the clothing, nor Naruto's skin, had any burns.

'the wind chakra was combined with light nature…meaning to fire there would have been a neutral effect…and Naruto would have still overpowered Sasuke's defense…explaining Sasuke's damage…the boy really did hold back…and that was a strong defense Sasuke put up…but then…what is going on?! Why can't Sasuke see this?'

"Get up idiot. I win again!"

Naruto stared at the blood in his hands with eyes filled with fear. A weak gasp echoed from his lungs as Naruto checked under his shirt.

'Is it still here?!'

Naruto's doubts were confirmed as he identified his pendant, completely intact.

The blonde sighed in relief, but then to Sakura's shock, he continued to vomit blood.

"N-Naruto?! Naruto!!"

Sakura was ready to run between the boys, but Kakashi put his arm in front of her, "Until I figure this out, we will not interfere…" Taking a double take at the fight, tears formed in Sakura's eyes, it was unbearable to see them like this.

Naruto glared at Sasuke as he slowly stood up, taking sword in hand. Although Sasuke did find Naruto's lack of bruises or wounds odd, his pride pushed the thought away. The Uchiha straightened his back in an arrogant fashion.

"Stay down, or I am going to have to keep fighting."

Naruto stopped shaking, but dropped his sword, as though it was too heavy.

"Bite me Sasuke, this fight is over. It is a tie, live with it teme."

Sasuke gripped his sword tight and glared at Naruto, "Like hell it is!"

Charging at Naruto and taking him by surprise, Sasuke swiped his sword at Naruto's chest, hoping to damage his chest and pendant. He wondered what was so important about that dumb necklace.

Naruto's eyes widened and turned dark red. His feral teeth grew in size, the whisker marks thickened, and Naruto's eyes gazed at Sasuke in disappointment.

In one fluid motion, Naruto took a big step back, and grabbed Sasuke's oncoming blade.

Blood dripped from Naruto's hand, and Sasuke stared at Naruto in shock. The blonde glowered.

"Seishuku Hankai." (Silent Destruction (Partial destruction)) whispered Naruto, relinquishing his grip on the sharp metal.

Sasuke, hearing the name of Naruto's jutsu, stared at his sword in confusion. Right before his eyes, Sasuke's pitch black blade broke in two.

Naruto turned around to walk away, dragging his sword behind him.

His primary action was a small gasp, and then, rage filled his lungs. Sasuke shouted, "Don't you turn away from me!"

Using the half of his sword he was still grasping, and still sharp, Sasuke lunged forward, driving his sword straight through Naruto's shoulder.

The audience to this fight now knew it had gone on long enough.

Once he removed his sword, Naruto roared, making Sasuke step back in fear. Next, with a deadly grip on his sword, Naruto clashed it against Sasuke's, knocking it right out of Uchiha's hands.

Suddenly, Naruto dropped his blade and began to cough again. Sasuke then said, "The fight goes on!" the curse seal started to cover his entire body, and a black cross began to form between his eyes."

Before the tension could grow any larger, a large gust of wind formed between them, knocking leaves and blades of grass into the air. Sasuke ceased to transform. Kakashi appeared, and in a strong tone said, "Don't you dare. This fight is over. Meet me behind Inari's house after dinner."

Sasuke glared at Kakashi and took a look at his blade before he shouted, "Kuso!"

Sakura began to run over to the two boys and Kakashi disappeared. Inari and his mother had left after she pulled the young teen away, avoiding unnecessary confrontation.

While still alone, Naruto looked up at Sasuke. His eyes were back to the dark, emotionless blue he wore before the fight started.

"I will never understand why you have to push yourself so hard! You pretend to be pathetic, but then at the same time, your demeanor reflects you as a strong, arrogant, and proud jack ass! You make things seem as though all you have in life is work and growing stronger! Do you really want to be miserable?! Do you really want to hate everybody?! Take it from me…you do not want to be miserable, you have no idea what pain is! Open your damn eyes!"

Naruto's form began to disappear, as though he was being erased by the wind. Then, he was gone, as though he never existed. His words however, were definitely real. They reflected themselves in Sasuke's eyes, as they were angry and confused.

Sakura arrived too late, Naruto was gone. Staring at Sasuke's wounds, Sakura began to cry and said, "You pushed him too far you idiot!"

Pushing Sasuke forward, Sakura immediately began to work her medical ninjutsu without a word. This left Sasuke to think in silence.

Night had fallen on the village of the wave, and Sasuke had left the inside of Tsunami's home, and entered the back yard. Tonight, Sasuke did not have the stomach to eat.

Now outside, he was immediately brazened out by Kakashi, who was just around the corner of the left wall.

"Sasuke, do you know what happened today?"

"What do you mean "what happened"?"

Kakashi sighed, "I mean the jutsu. Do you know why you weren't knocked out? Do you know why you aren't in the hospital right now?"

Sasuke smirked, "Yeah, because I reversed the dope's jutsu!"

"Don't tell me you didn't feel anything. We both know you took massive damage. Sakura still needs to give you treatment tonight!"

"What other explanation is there?"

"That Naruto held back and that he is very sick! We both saw that he didn't receive any burns or wounds until you stabbed him through his shoulder blade."

Sasuke chuckled, "You really expect me to believe that Naruto is stronger than me?"

Kakashi frowned, "I'm not saying that. What I mean is that Naruto has improved greatly. You better watch your back. That and I have a hunch that he is very ill. So I forbid you from challenging him from this day onward until further notice."

Sasuke grimaced, "What do you mean?!"

Kakashi looked at him with eyes as cold as stone "Didn't you just say that you don't think Naruto is stronger than you? Well if you believe that is so, then I don't want to hear you argue about how you would like to challenge him. Besides, after all we have done to him, and after so much time being alone and away doing things we do not know, I don't find it that hard to believe that Naruto can even match up to me Sasuke."

At this, Sasuke glared at Kakashi, "Fine…"

As he walked back inside, Kakashi said, "Keep an eye on him though. His health is now of great concern to me. Remember though, you don't always have to be the best at everything. Also, in case you are wondering…Naruto's tiger dominated your own summoning. It ripped your snake to pieces."

Once Kakashi returned inside, he was immediately asked by Sakura, "Have you seen Naruto? He is not in the house and it is time to sleep. After that fight, he shouldn't be running off! I don't know if his wound is ok!"

Kakashi smiled bitterly under his mask, "It is alright, Naruto's wounds will heal themselves…"

Far away, a cry of pain pierced through the silence of the forest. At the bottom of a tree stump sat Naruto, using a first aid kit and alcohol to clean out the wound Sasuke tattooed on his body.

Currently, his shirt was hanging on a branch, exposing his white skin, bloody wound, the strange scar that ran down his neck and into his chest, and lastly, the dove pendant that hung from his neck. Naruto held it tightly in his hands and said, "I miss you so much…"

Looking back at the first aid kit, Naruto removed two pills and scoffed them down.

Naruto flinched, "Gah…disgusting."

Slowly, Naruto lowered the lids of his eyes. Returning to the cell of his mind, Naruto opened his eyes once more and stared at a demon straight in the eyes.

"Today you almost gave me chakra…you know that I can't take any! I was doing fine on my own!"

The Kyuubi growled, "Well you idiot, I was just to heightening your senses. If not, you'd be in the hospital with a giant scar across your chest and that pendant would be split in two!"

Naruto was silenced, he couldn't argue with Kyuubi's words, "Yes but…you know I am sick…today was a reminder of that…"

Kyuubi too now hushed, the death of Naruto meant the death of him too, but then, the Kyuubi smirked, what kind of life was she living in a cell anyway?

"I suggest you avoid confronting that Uchiha. If he gets in your way, make sure he doesn't ever do it again….and today…you could have knocked him unconscious, more over you could have even killed that bastard. Trying to be the better man?"

Naruto sighed and looked down at the drenched and moldy floor in despair, "I…I thought if I showed some reluctance, he'd call of the fight...but then I began to choke up blood, making him believe he countered the jutsu."

"But we both know-"

Understanding what Kyuubi was about to say, Naruto said, "Yes, he should have noticed I had no burn marks or wounds...I thought he would notice. I thought he'd give a damn. God I hate that arrogant son of a bitch."

Kyuubi laughed with no pity, "What in the world gave you the idea that he would show understanding and call of the fight?"

Naruto looked up at the demon fox, and in unmatched anger shouted, "I thought he changed!"

Turning around and walking out of his cell, Naruto's final words were, "I guess nothing has changed one bit! I shouldn't have expecting anything from people when I returned. Let's face it; nobody learns their lesson and nobody will ever change!"

"You changed." Replied Kyuubi bluntly before Naruto could exit the room.

Before returning to reality, Naruto turned around, and revealed his teary, angry eyes, "That is because I had no choice."

Awakening from his trance, Naruto remembered Kyuubi's words, "Trying to be the better man?"

The blonde stood up and put his jacket around his shoulders, "No, but if I want even the slightest chance of changing people…well…I have to do it myself."

Now back in the field where he fought earlier that day, Naruto walked to the center and gathered the two remnants of Sasuke's katana.

As though putting two puzzle pieces together, Naruto reconnected the blade and thought, 'Kyuubi, I'm going to need some of your fire element...'

So it was done, as Naruto's hand begun to emit a red glow. Placing his palm over the area where the halves connected, Naruto inserted chakra through the blade, causing it to melt and weld together.

Now, Naruto converted his chakra into wind element, and summoned a cool night's breeze to cool the blade and shaped it properly.

Kyuubi thought, "It actually looks better and stronger than before…also, that blade represents Sasuke's power and time with Orochimaru…why would you want to repair a blade that represents so much struggle and hatred to you?"

Naruto frowned as reflected in the blade was the full moon. His eyes turned a frigid, emotionless, ice blue, "Because I don't care anymore."

The next morning, as Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi were about to leave Inari's house to go confront the council, Hatake noticed the absence of Sasuke's weapon at his waist and asked, "Where is your katana? You might need it today."

Sasuke's face constricted and in a cold voice he said, "It is worthless in pieces."

Kakashi smiled, "Then what is that over there?"

Sasuke followed Kakashi's pointed finger outside the door, and his eyes rested on his katana, now fixed, and looking better than ever, stabbed only a couple of meters away in the ground right outside the front door.

Staring at it in awe, Sasuke said as he removed it from the ground, "Is this some kind of joke?"

Then, from the corner of the house emerged Naruto, geared up and ready for the day. As he walked past the group, receiving odd stares, Sakura ran up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Naruto thought to himself, 'Here she goes, about to get angry with me about how I could have hurt Sasuke. Probably will punch me square in the face too…'

As Naruto turned around, his blue orbs locked with concerned green emeralds, "Naruto, are you feeling well? Do you think you can make it through today? I didn't get a chance to heal your wound…"

Naruto's gaze suddenly turned into a glare. He tilted his head down and slightly to the side but kept his eyes locked on Sakura's face. Then, everybody froze as Naruto, insultingly, laughed at Sakura.

Once he was done, in a sarcastic tone Naruto said, "Oh come on. Don't joke with me."

Sakura's voice was fragile, and only made her seem more concerned and innocent, "What's wrong?"

"The best cure is silence, so please leave me alone. How about we all just get a move on?"

Kakashi nodded, "You're right. You all can settle your differences later. Sasuke, hurry and catch up with us once you get the sheath of your katana from the house. Let's go team."

Naruto followed right behind Kakashi, but Sakura and Sasuke took a moment's pause to register what had just occurred to each other respectively.

A.N.: Thanks for reading and waiting! This chapter took me a long time to write! The usual: Please review, and be sure to tell me if I made any mistakes throughout this chapter. I hope everybody is enjoying their summer! Take care! Expect the next chapter within 2 weeks.

A.L.