Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto; just Arashi and any other OCs.
Gomen…Gomen! I am so very sorry that this has taken so incredibly long to get to! I can't exactly say that I have been too busy to work on this, because I wasn't. I just had lost interest in it for a while. But now the clawing feeling in the back of my mind has gotten too much for me, so I dedicated myself towards getting back into TAC! In doing so I went back and re-read the entire story in two days. Once again I'm sorry that this has taken so long. But the good news is that the chapter after this one is the last chapter in this arc and then we get to the Sasuke retrieval Arc! I have so many plans for that, that I can't wait! So the updates will be coming much much faster once I start that! Thanks for continuing to read my work and please review!
Okay, so here is my A/N from when I finished the chapter. Like the paragraph before this I must say that I am incredibly sorry that this has taken so incredibly long to come out with, it truly is something I'm ashamed with. But as most of you know, and experience; fanfics are not the only thing that happens in life. I'm in college and taking time out to do this is extremely difficult as well as a drain on my time to do other things that are necessary for my success. So in that sense I have no guilt in taking a break on this, I had lost my interest in the arc I'm writing and only have since got it back after re-reading it for a second time. More or less, I re-sparked my interest in this arc simply for the fact that I have so many ideas for the things to come, things I'm actually excited about. So instead of going back and deleting this arc I'm gritting my teeth and finishing it while making it as good as I can. Also I still do look forward to Hinata's chapter; it really is this chapter that I haven't been too excited about. So as someone who has been writing for a couple years I once again thank you for continuing to read my work and as always your reviews are greatly appreciated and looked for.
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(Previously)
Naruto just put his hands behind his head and strolled off in the direction they had been heading in, making sure to stay in the tree cover and away from the rocky drop just outside it. "Besides, I'm here! And I'm not going to let anything bad happen!"
"BOOOM!" Suddenly an explosion rocked the spot where Naruto had just stepped, tossing him high into the air.
"Naruto!" Hinata yelled, watching him float in midair, looking frantically around him for a source of the blast.
Then in an instant a blur collided with Naruto, a fist slamming hard into the boy's gut. Sending him careening out of the tree cover and over the edge of the cliff, followed closely by whatever had hit him.
Sprinting to the edge Hinata looked in horror as Naruto fell beyond her sight. "NARUTOOO!"
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"AAHHHH!" Naruto screamed as he plummeted downwards at astonishing speeds. 'Gotta think! Gotta think!' He screamed in his mind before coming to an idea. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He said as he crossed his hands in the all too familiar seal, resulting in the new existence of a second Naruto falling alongside the original.
"Throw me!" He yelled to his clone, who merely nodded. Gripping onto his jacket, the Bunshin twisted in the air and flung Naruto towards the cliff side. Directing chakra to his hands he lashed out at the rock and attached himself to it. Now with a grip on the stone he grabbed harder, slowing himself down until he was finally dangling about twenty feet from the tops of the huge bushes that littered the rocky ground below. "Well that was close…" He said with a sigh.
But just as quickly as the last hit, Naruto was suddenly hit fast and hit hard by a kick coming from straight above. Causing the blond ninja to careen towards the welcoming shrubbery, only to smash into one of them and rip through its branches, finally coming to a painful stop on the rocky ground.
Crawling out from under the thick leaves, Naruto looked up to see a boy maybe three years older than him glaring down at him. "Why, oh why do I get the flunkie?" He muttered to himself as he pulled the hood of his back to reveal his spiked and braided dirty blond hair. "He's far below my level."
Hearing himself be referred to as a flunkie again wasn't something that Naruto really wanted to hear, making the Jinchuuriki glare hard at him as he got up and dusted himself off.
"Scary looks and optimism aren't going to get you out of this one kid, you're up against someone bigger than you." The guy said in a condescending voice as he led his arms crossed before him.
"Bigger than me? What are you joking? You're shorter than me bud!" Naruto exclaimed as the other person's eyes began to twitch in anger.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT YOU WANT TO SQUISH LIKE AN ANT!"" He screamed back at Naruto as he jumped up and down angrily.
Meanwhile Naruto just looked on with a dumbfounded look. "I never said anything like that…"
"It doesn't matter! Anyone who makes fun of the greatest vertically impaired person on the planet will pay! You have insulted the great Oki and will pay with your life!" He yelled as he pulled a kunai seemingly out from the large box he wore on his back, but what got Naruto's attention was that there was a thin wire attached to the end that led back to the box. "Who the hell do you think I am?" He chuckled before thrusting the kunai skywards while showing a confident smirk directed at Naruto. "Known far and wide as a shadow of death in the night, the great Oni leader of the 12 Shinobi Guardsmen and the man whose kunai will pierce the heavens! I am the great Oki-sama!"
'Is this guy an idiot or something?' Naruto screamed in his head as he stood there slack jawed at the ridiculous person before him. "Regardless…" Naruto said as he reached to his right and produces a kunai of his own from his weapon holster.
Naruto was about to continue but was interrupted by Oki. "It doesn't matter what you think you're going to do or how you're going to do it. Nothing you could have done in the past could warrant you winning here today."
The orange clad Shinobi just raised an eyebrow to the other. "Warrant it? What the hell does that mean teme?"
"The world works on the premise of equivalency." Oki stated like he was repeating a mantra as he looked coldly at Naruto. "To achieve anything in this life you must first give something up; to obtain, something of equal value must be lost. It is the governing law of this world, something that can not be broken and that nature itself follows." After finishing, he sighed lightly before scowling at Naruto. "So what have you lost in order to think you could defeat me?"
Naruto didn't at first respond, he had never thought of the world in such a way. He knew that to get something he had to work hard and devote himself to something, but he never thought of it as losing something. Could time be equated as equal to the payoff of training? Could the final product of his dreams be set at a certain value that he had to reach before he obtained his dreams? In thinking about that he found what to say in response. "I've given up nothing."
Oki just chuckled at the boy. "Then you might as well just let me kill you!"
"Oh yeah? Well what have you given up then?" Naruto sneered at Oki.
"A life and loyalty…" He responded grimly. "I betrayed my previous master Ieyasu-sama so that my new master could rise to power. The man I had sworn to protect was killed because I had put my faith in his son and the change that will come about with his ascension to the throne." There was pain in Oki's eyes as he retold what had happened before. "It is my belief in what Akuhei-sama will do, that he will bring about a better world for myself and my family, that gives what I have done value. A value that is to be put to use in securing the success of my mission! I believe in the me who believes in him, and that belief give me the strength needed to defeat anyone in Akuhei-sama's path."
Now glaring fully at Naruto, Oki began to twirl the kunai in his hand by the wire attached to the back of it. "Now…it's time for your life to end. I want to end this quickly so come at me with all you have; I want to get back in time to assist the others!" He said with venom and contempt dripping from his words as he slowly waked Naruto's way.
"Heh heh heh…" Naruto chuckled as he thrust his hands to his back and pulled out the brass knuckles that Hayate had given him, falling into a taijutsu stance while still keeping the kunai held tightly in his right hand. "For once I think we're on the same page!" Naruto said through a smirk. "Let's go!"
Leaping forward Naruto struck out at his enemy with a lightning fast side kick aimed at Oki's exposed head. But with a smirk and an instantaneous duck under Naruto's kick, he lashed forward with his kunai towards Naruto's gut at he floated through the air. Seeing the incoming blade attack the Genin latched onto Oki's thrusting arm and with a twist in the air landed with both feet on the ground. Turning with his arm still in a death grip, Naruto pulled the boy towards him, making him stumble forward, falling directing into the brass knuckled punch rocketing for his nose.
But with a pivot of his foot Oki spun low, avoiding the possibly devastating punch and sweeping his legs with his own. Making use of the grip on his arm Oki continued to spin, flinging Naruto off him in the process.
Coming to a sliding stop, Naruto smiled brightly at the level of taijutsu he was engaging in, he always loved a good brawl and here he was going to get a high level one. But his grinning was cut short as he dodged left to avoid a high kick from the other fighter. Trying to gain some distance, Naruto soon was forced to weave in and out of a flurry of swift kicks thrown at incredible speed.
'He's great on his feet, fighting with primarily kicks while being capable of holding up a defense with his arms.' He thought as he continued weaving through the massive kicks being thrown at him, while blocking the ones that got through with his now throbbing forearm. 'It's not exactly my style, but it's something I can use to my advantage!'
Falling to his knees, Naruto raised his left arm over his head and caught a vicious heel drop aimed at his skull. "Too close!" Naruto exclaimed with a large grin as he pushed the blocked leg aside, then jumping upwards he threw his metallic fist hard into Oki's unprotected stomach. But his smirk was knocked off his face when the knee of Oki's other leg came crashing into the boy's face, sending him flying backwards.
Both fighters hit the ground with a sharp thud, but as quickly as they fell, they were both back on their feet glaring down their opponent. 'Damn, how did he hit me with his other leg? Did he jump to do it?' He thought as he saw Oki grimace as he stood straight, gripping his abdomen, resulting in Naruto having to fight down a growing smirk. 'He sacrificed the hit in order to attack me…what an idiot!' Whipping the blood trickling down from his nose, he looked optimistically at his opponent.
"Whatever you're thinking…it is not going to work." Oki uttered when he saw the grin plastered on Naruto's face. Standing up while still holding his abdomen, he glared hard at his opponent. He had hoped that the blow he gave him would be hard enough to rattle his brain around, but it would seem that he had pulled himself back enough so as to not take the full force. Reaching back he replaced the kunai he had before and while getting down in his taijutsu stance he started to see how he could end this meaningless bout.
'I shouldn't give him time to think, he might be like Shikamaru.' Naruto thought, moving quickly he approached Oki to cut his thought processes off before they figured out what was going on. Rolling to the left to avoid a finely placed kick that would have seriously hurt him, he sprung out of his movement so that he was now soaring above Oki.
"Fool! You're a sitting duck up there!" Thrusting his hand forward he threw one kunai directly at Naruto.
Spinning in mid-air, the blond ninja managed to move just out of the way. Stabilizing himself he began to feel the familiar pull of gravity once more. Coming down right on top of Oki, Naruto gripped his kunai tight in both hands and held in over his head. Intending on driving it deeply into his enemy.
'Is he serious?' Oki thought, when he saw Naruto open himself up for an easy counter-attack. "I don't think so! You die NOW!"
They were now only just a few feet apart, Naruto's kunai plunging downward directly towards Oki's skull. All the while the Kumo Nin wore a smug grin on his face; moving with the experience of a seasoned ninja he raised his left arm and pull back his right in preparation for an attack. Slamming into his raised arm, Naruto was surprised that Oki had been able to fully block him in time. Hearing the chuckle of his opponent, Naruto's eyes went wide as he realized the counter attack heading his way. Thrusting his right arm forward while holding one of his trusty kunai, Oki aimed for the orange clad stomach sitting right in front of his face.
'No…' Naruto thought a split second before he felt the cold steel rip through his jacket and plunge into him. Driving in deep so that Oki's arm was partially inside his enemy's abdomen.
"Fool!" Oki remarked as he heard the blood splash at his feet. Then he saw something that didn't fit the situation, he saw Naruto smiling his patented grin. Then suddenly he was gone, replaced by a cloud of white smoke and a popping sound. "What the hell?" Looking at the area of smoke he searched for the trademark log that Konoha Nin kawarimi'd with, but finding none he quickly came to a conclusion. "Kage Bunshin?"
"That's right." He heard behind him, turning around as fast as he could he was met face to face with the very boy he had just mortally wounded, or so he thought. Stepping out of one of the many large bushes littering the area was Naruto.
"So…I've been…"
"Fighting a Kage Bunshin the whole time!" The blond boy remarked with a smile, basking in the apparent confusion of his opponent.
"That makes no sense! I landed a hard hit on you! If it was a Bunshin it should have dispersed!"
"About that…" Naruto said with a grin as he rubbed the back of his neck. "If I pump a lot of chakra into only one Kage Bunshin and keep my focus on him I can make him last through physical attacks. Plus, it's not like that little attack of yours did thaaat much damage."
'Shit…that little kid tricked me. I wasted some valuable time as well as showed him some of my fighting style, not to mention he got some attacks in on me and hes' perfectly fine.' Oki thought as his glare deepened on Naruto. 'Calm down, don't get too worked up, that's what he wants…' Reaching his hand up he bit down on his finger to calm his nerves. 'Think of a way to use this, we only exchanged taijutsu, I haven't used my kunai to their full potential yet and I haven't used any ninjutsu either. But then neither has he, except for Kage Bunshin, but that had been in our briefings. How stupid can I be for falling for that trick? He landed in that same freaking bush, and I just assumed that the real him stepped out of it. That kid…he's better than our intelligence pointed out, it said he was brash and overzealous; instead he's been scouting my abilities while minimizing any risk to himself. How do I even know that what I'm seeing is the real him?'
Acting quickly Oki reached behind him and flung an unwired kunai directly past Naruto and into the bush he had emerged from. Within seconds the paper bomb attached to it erupted in an explosion of fire and dust, erasing the bush from the face of the Earth. Naruto just stood before the blast unmoving with his arms still raised behind his head looking at Oki. "Oh I'm the real me, I don't think I could use the same trick on you twice. Hehe."
Sneering at him, Oki's agitation at the situation just increased. Just who did that kid think he was, not moving an inch from the blast? Had he read the situation and knew that he was out of its range, and that it wasn't aimed at him? 'Or is he just an idiot…'
A slight grin began to spread across his face as he started to think rationally again. Once more he reached behind him to his extra weapons pouch, seeing this Naruto continued to stand where he was, not bothered with something that he could easily get past. Raising his arm up high, Oki then slammed the object in his hand directly downwards, resulting in a thick purple smoke to cover him fully. "Smoke bomb?" Naruto remarked with a puzzled face.
The out of the smoke something came flying at him, with the quickness and precision of what a Shinobi should have, Naruto sent a kunai flying into the incoming object resulting in another explosion of smoke. But almost instentanionsly afterwards a kunai came slicing through the smoke and slashed through Naruto's upper left arm.
"Gah!" He grunted in pain, jumping back away from the smoke. Only for another kunai to blast forward at him, pulling his kunai out he went to block it, but no sooner had he made contact with the flying attack, the kunai cut through the metal of Naruto's blade like a knife through warm butter. Resulting in a long gash appearing on the left side of his face. 'It was electrified! He's running chakra down the wires so that those kunai can slice through anything with ease!' He thought as the blood trickled down his cheek. Getting further back, he ran through a set of hand signs and focused on the growing cloud of smoke before him while he inhaled deeply, filling his lungs to the maximum with air. "Fuuton! Kazekasui!" He exclaimed as a stream of wind expelled from his mouth, shooting towards the pillar of smoke before him. Smashing through the cloud, the wind began to push the smoke away and out over the river they were next to. Leaving a shadowy mass at the edge of the smoke as it exited the area.
Looking at the shadow as it materialized into an object, Naruto was about to rush in for some more taijutsu when his eyes widened in surprise. Instead of Oki, there was a something that looked like a snowman made out of rocks, with a face etched into the head stone so it looked like it was sticking its tongue out at Naruto.
"Kuso!" Naruto remarked as he immediately look upwards, to see the form of Oki high in the air and two wired kunai streaking straight at him. They were close…too close to dodge.
"DIE!"
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Walking slowly through the forest road, the two cloaked members of Akatsuki were exchanging a conversation once again that focused on their own respective art forms.
"Beauty lies in that which can out last time and be appreciated forever."
"There you go again Sasori no Danna, how many time to I have to correct you, uh? That type of thing is total shit; true beauty comes from that which can only be grasped in the split second it is created before its beauty is lost to the world!" The blond man remarked in an agitated voice, it astounded him how many times he would have to reprimand his partner.
"Blasphemy..." The crouched monster of a man remarked harshly, having finally lost his patience he was finally about to forcefully impose his views on art to his retarded partner. But just as he was about to take out his tail a robed man stepped out of the thick trees surrounding the road.
"Greetings Akatsuki." The man said, sweeping his hood back to reveal a head of silver hair and a pair of circular glasses.
"State your purpose immediately before I lop that head off your body! I'm in a really foul mood…that and I don't like having to wait." Sasori snarled at Kabuto.
"There is no need for any violence here Akatsuki." He remarked defensively as he waved his hands in front of himself. "I come bearing a message from my master, Orochimaru-sama."
Deidara just grinned as he shoved his hand into the small pouch he wore at his side. "About time, we were just on our way to say hello to that nasty snake."
Kabuto saw the man's preparations for attack and started to inch backwards, wondering if this really was a good idea. "W-Well, Orochimaru-sama knows the reason you have been searching for him at all costs and wishes for you to stop the destruction of his bases."
"Hmmm…that snake really thinks he knows why we're after him." Sasori remarked quizzically, perhaps Orochimaru was as much of a coward as he had always thought him to be. "And just why have we been searching for him, Boy?"
Reaching into his pocket, Kabuto pulled out a small ring with a kanji on the top over a purple background. "This would be the reason you're after him, the Akatsuki ring that he kept with him when he left your organization. He figured that your Leader would eventually want it back." Kabuto said very matter-of-factly.
"What luck, uh?" Deidara said with a mischievous grin plastered on his face. "We can finally quit wandering around this shitty country looking for that sicko and get back to an actual mission where I can actually have some fun!"
"Excellent, all Orochimaru-sama requests is that you halt your actions in his country and stay out of his business. If you do, he will stay out of yours as well." He said in a negotiating tone as he took as step forward to give them the ring.
But he was stopped by the gruff voice of Sasori. "Not so fast brat!"
"Is there a problem Akatsuki-san?"
"I used to be partners with that pedophile, and I know him all too well. There is no way that he would just hand over something like his Akatsuki ring, no questions asked." He sneered, knowing that either something was up or Orochimaru was desperate to get them off his back because of other plans of his.
"Oh, so you must be Sasori-sama. I cannot say your name has been spoken of highly or frequently in our bases, but it has been mentioned." Kabuto replied in his normal neutral voice. "Orochimaru-sama has some important plans about to be enacted and cannot afford to have people such as you and your organization sniffing around his business at the moment, I can assure you there is no malcontent or deception in our offer."
"Direct some chakra into that ring and we'll see just how truthful Orochimaru is about this little 'deal'" Sasori growled as he did the same.
Not really getting the caution Sasori was using in the matter, Kabuto did as he was told and injected a bit of his chakra into the ring he held in his hands. He then watched as it began to glow a faint light green color, reacting the same way the ring in Sasori's hand was doing.
"Well look at that Uh! He really is giving up his ring Danna!" Deidara remarked in surprise, from hearing about Orochimaru from Sasori he too had doubts on how this transaction was going.
"Very well, we agree to your terms boy. Hand over the ring and we will leave Orochimaru to his own devices." Sasori grunted, still not truly trusting the situation, there was something fishy about this. His suspicions had been correct in that the Snake had an important plan setup. But now he was curious as to just what exactly it was, if it was Orochimaru, even Tsunade could win a bet saying that it had to do with Konoha.
Tossing the ring over, Deidara caught it, depositing it inside his cloak and casually turning around to return the way they came. "It was a pleasure doing business with you." Kabuto finally said before he shunshin'd away, leaving only a cloud of smoke.
Turning to follow Deidara, Sasori began to chuckle to himself. "So he's still Orochimaru's subordinate…hahaha."
Elsewhere in a dark candle lit room, Orochimaru sat in his large chair, groaning in his perpetual pain. Looking up when he heard footsteps coming towards his chamber he was soon greeted by the grinning face of his most trusted subordinate. "How did it go Kabuto?" He hissed.
"Perfectly. They took the ring and are now leaving the area. But you were right about Sasori-sama, he did ask to show that the ring was real." Looking over to the table next to Orochimaru, Kabuto eyed the old shriveled hand with the ring still on it, seeing it he just smirked even more. "It seems that the flake scratched off the stone within your ring worked the way you thought it would."
"Yes, and with the tracking device hidden in it we will be able to locate their main base of operations as well. No doubt Leader-sama will want the ring so he can hand it out again." He said with his all too familiar evil laugh. "But it is hidden so well that even Sasori's expertise will be able to find it. They will think it's the real deal. Only after it fails at its purpose will they find out its not real. But by then my plans will have already happened and we will be long gone!"
"You truly are a genius Orochimaru-sama…so when does the plan begin?"
"Soon…very soon." He uttered with the kind of malice and nefarious intent that only someone like him could produce.
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"Shit!" Naruto yelled as he saw the sparking blades right before him, they were to close to dodge, so he did the only thing he could in the situation. He crossed his arms in front of him, trying to protect his abdomen and chest.
'Plunk' He heard, the sound of kunai hitting their target, but oddly enough he didn't feel the sharp pain of being pierced by the bladed weapons. Pulling his arms aside, he quickly looked around and found that the kunai had missed him completely and were lodged in the ground on either side of him.
"HA! You missed me you short ass retar…" Naruto began to yell confidently at Oki, when suddenly the ground beneath him exploded with tremendous force, just like it had done when he was separated from Hinata and Getsurei.
Flying backwards, he skidded across the rocky ground, finally coming to a stop about twenty feet away from where he had been. Groaning in pain, he could smell the distinctive reek of burned cloths as well he could feel what would clearly be dark bruises from the rocks that had hit him. 'What the hell was that? Does he have paper bombs hidden underground?'
"DON'T CALL ME SMALL!" Oki then yelled at the downed Shinobi, Naruto could clearly see the anger reflected in his eyes. "Well how did you like the blast? You might as well get used to them because you have a lot more in store for you."
Struggling to get to his feet, Naruto glared at Oki, resting his arm on his knee as he bent over. "Why are you doing this!"
"I thought I had already made that clear. I am securing the success of Akuhei-sama's reign as the new Daimyo of our country. Ensuring a life of peace and prosperity for all those who accept his rule, and death and damnation for those who rise against him." He remarked coldly, spitting out words passionlessly.
"No, I mean why are you following a guy like that? You said that he killed his own father to get what he wants, and you're trying to kill his older brother so that he becomes Daimyo! Doesn't that seem wrong!"
"It is merely a sacrifice to what will come. I believe in Akuhei-sama, he has my unwavering trust in his decisions and I will continue to support him for as long as I am permitted to live." Looking down, and showing a bit of humanity through his expression. "When my family needed assistance he was the only one who helped…he was the only one that wanted to help. Ieyasu-sama said there wasn't enough room in the budget to assist me. But Akuhei-sama paid to help us out of his own money, he believed in me and what I can do, so in exchange for his sacrifice I will help him so I can repay the debt I owe him."
"What did he help you out with?" Naruto inquired, he couldn't put his finger on it but there was something about him that he connected to.
"My little sister, she had a medical problem a few years ago and she would surely die if she didn't get surgery. But we couldn't afford to pay for it, I went to Ieyasu-sama about it but he refused. Then Akuhei-sama offered to pay for it all, he said I was one of his friends and that what was his was mine when I needed it. We had gone to the academy together so we truly had been friends, but once getting deep into the Shinobi life we drifted apart. It wasn't until I became a guardsman that I met him again, I was happy to be protecting my friend's family. And it wasn't just with the surgery, he has many things he is going to do when he becomes Daimyo that will help everyone who will accept them."
Shaking his head, Oki's face returned to a glare. "I don't know why I'm telling you that, but let's reverse the question. Why do you follow the Himura?"
"Follow?" Naruto said questioningly before breaking out into a hard laugh. "I don't follow him, he's my best friend and we both believe and support each other. We've grown up together, done pretty much everything together, and we strive for the same things. We help each other out, it just so happened that he was promoted Chunin first, so I'm under him for this mission. I don't follow Arashi, we're going on our journey through life together."
Oki then began to laugh at the answer he had been given. "You sound just like me, a long time ago, before I knew the true nature of the world. You're how I was with Akuhei-sama back in the day! We both believed in each other and assisted each other to reach our goals." Suddenly his face turned from amused to serious. "But that isn't how life is, life is competition, scratching and clawing your way towards what you will become. Damn those in your way, they will only hinder your progress. I learned that the hard way when Akuhei-sama showed me how superior he was to me. Since them I have accepted that I am beneath him, even thought we once thought that we could continue through life side by side." He said before laughing at Naruto once more. "You'll learn soon…or you would have, since you're going to die here today. You would have learned that you would have eventually settled just who is superior and who is inadequate."
"You're even more of a fool than I thought!" Oki continued. "No matter what, you can't go through life equally, sooner or later you'll have to show who's the best. You shouldn't be trying to support each other, instead you should be trying to crush and surpass him! Hahaha! You're a total idiot!"
But his laughing was cut short as he felt the air around him begin to swirl towards Naruto. Looking over he saw the boy standing erect with his hands tightly clenched and a deep scowl on his face. "I'm nothing like you…" He growled at the man before him. He had never thought of Arashi as an obstacle he needed to surpass in order for his dreams to come true. He had always seen it as them fighting towards the same dream, fighting together. In his mind, Naruto had never seen any outcome other than them both achieving what they sought for. But just hearing Oki speak on his past, even if it was only for an instant, he did see a connection between them. As much as he hated the thought of it, he could sense truth in what he was saying, sooner or later someone would have to come out on top.
He's had this feeling before, resentment, he felt it earlier in the mission when Hinata was clinging to Arashi as they traveled. They were so happy together, and there Naruto was, alone and without Sasame. But he knew that Arashi had feelings of the same nature, his glare was hard not to notice whenever the fact that Naruto mastered the Rasengan first came up. But in that one second where Oki's words slipped into the core of Naruto's mind, he came to the single question that this way of thinking brought up the loudest. 'What will I do if Arashi is chosen as Hokage instead of me, and what of the reverse situation…what becomes of us?'
Oki, just grinned as he watched the inner turmoil plastered on Naruto's face. He knew that it would have hit home with him. But he did not like the feel of the atmosphere around them, he didn't like the look in Naruto's eyes, the anger he saw there; or the feel of the chakra now swirling around the blond youth.
Suddenly Oki felt the dispersed chakra condense back in Naruto, looking at him he saw a look of determination on his enemies face along with him standing in an offensive stance. "I'm nothing like you…" He repeated again, but with much more conviction in his voice than previously. "There is no way I could ever think of my friends in such a lowly way, we're comrades, friends, brothers…and we always will be!"
Oki's face instantly contracted into a scowl, he hadn't made the reaction he had sought for. Throwing his right arm backwards with his fist still clenched, Naruto focused his chakra around his arm to quickly form a spinning vortex of wind around it. Thrusting his hand forward he opened his fist into an open palm pointing at Oki, effectively launching the wind that had collected around his arm at the Kumo Nin. "Fuuton! Teikaitsu Shotto"
The blast moved far quicker than Oki had foreseen, he had only had enough time to pull his arms defensively in front of his body. The force of the wind tried to throw him backwards, but in a show of strength he struggled against the attack, holding his ground as best he could. Still slamming against him, the jutsu was slowly pushing him backwards, leaving two streaks in the ground from where Oki's feet were trying to dig themselves in while they were pushed backwards. "ARRRRRGGH!" Oki screamed as he pushed with all his strength against the offending wall of chakra infused wind being blown at him, in one final push he shoved upwards and released himself from the pressure being put on his body. Following the path made by his push, the wind blasted upwards into the sky before finally fizzling out high above them.
"You piece of…" Oki began to spit out at Naruto before he was met face to face with Naruto's incoming foot. Moving quickly, Oki leaned back until his hands made contact with the ground under him, falling backwards he jumped with his hand backwards, Naruto's spinning kick catching nothing but air.
Springing back Oki thrust two kunai towards Naruto. But once again Naruto easily dodged them, leaving the two knives to stay plunged into the ground on either side of him. But then he noticed Oki's grin as he landed from his back hand spring evasion. "Wrong move!"
Naruto was suddenly thrown up into the air by a heavy explosion from directly underneath him, just like the last time. "What the hell?" He managed to groan out as he fell back to earth, landing in a heap of orange and blue on the ground. 'Was that another hidden paper bomb?'
"You Konoha Shinobi really are the runts of our world…" Oki laughed as he looked at Naruto's shaky attempt to return to his feet. "This has gone on long enough, you're getting on my nerves!"
Throwing out another set of kunai at Naruto, they were once again wide. Seeing this Naruto jumped backwards, feeling there was something fishy going on with how his opponent was fighting. Just as the kunai struck the ground on either side of where he had just been, the ground erupted in a violent explosion once more.
But he didn't have time to ponder just what that meant, he had to doge again the incoming pair of kunai and the resulting explosion of their impact on the ground.
Oki was laughing loudly as he thrust out kunai after kunai, the blades instantly and automatically reeling themselves in after setting of the blast, restocking themselves so that Oki could throw them out for his attacks once more Naruto had no choice but to go into full evasion mode, what ever was going on he knew that he had to avoid getting between the incoming kunai, he needed to avoid them completely. 'It looks like he's figured out what I can do, at least a little bit.' Oki thought with a grin as he threw out more kunai at Naruto. 'I don't think he's figured out exactly what my Kanden attack does. He may think that I'm setting off paper bombs under him, not what I'm really doing. When my kunai hit the ground I sent my chakra down the wires as an electrical current, that current goes into the ground and meets in between the two kunai, creating a huge electrical explosion. As long as I can pin him down between two kunai I can fry him…'
Zipping to the left, then the right, flipping backwards just as he was showered with chucks of rock after an explosion went off. Naruto was speeding around, his eyes fixated on Oki's hands as he threw the kunai, figuring out where they were aimed almost instantly. In the midst of this he began to fire off kunai of his own, knocking some of the incoming attacks down, while others were aimed at Oki, who simply side-stepped to avoid these minuscule attacks.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Now there were suddenly seven versions of Naruto dashing around before Oki. Things were starting to get more interesting as Oki was showered with the incoming attacks of the clones. But no matter, he grinned as he caught two of them in one explosion, resulting in the familiar sound of their dispersion. But four more clones were created in their place.
"This could get bothersome…" He stated as he watched the speed of al of the Narutos increase even more. 'This kid's fast, faster than I thought. I need to ground him or he'll start rushing forward for physical attacks instead of just dodging.' Her thought, but just as he did he heard the odd sound of rushing chakra, turning around he noticed that two of the Kage Bunshin were doing something together. Looking closely Oki saw a small orb of spinning chakra start to take form in one of their hands while the other seemed to be pushing air on is extremely fast. It didn't take but a second for Oki to realize that nothing good could come out of this, he needed to get rid of these Kage Bunshin, especially the two forming that spiraling ball.
Leaning forward, Oki dipped his head so that he was now squatting with his hands on the ground, and his box parallel to the ground. "Launch!" With a spike of chakra, all of the kunai stored in his box fired in all directions, instantly almost all of the clones were killed off, pierced by the incoming blades.
The original Naruto had jumped back to avoid the attack, and had succeeded in doing so. His clones were gone now, and he had been slowed down. He watched as Oki looked up to stare him down eye to eye with a grin on his face. "Time to end this!" He uttered just loud enough for Naruto to hear.
"I agree." He said with a grin. Oki was confused, why was he grinning the way he was. Watching Naruto further, he saw him casually point downwards, a signal for Oki to look under him. With a confused look in his eye he looked down, only to see some of the kunai Naruto had thrown, laying under him.
"What's he getting at…" He quietly said, right before he heard the pop of something disengaging a Henge, his face was suddenly met with the rising fist of a Naruto that had appeared out of no where. Slamming into his jaw, the strong uppercut sent Oki soaring backwards and skidding across the rocky ground.
Getting up as fast as he could he looked in shock at the Kage Bunshin standing proudly where he had just been launched from. "You really think that I would miss all those times? What kind of Shinobi do you take me for?" Naruto laughed as he raised a kunai and flung it directly at Oki. Then in an instant his cheek was lit up with pain, putting his hand to his face he could feel the blood oozing out of the fresh slice of a kunai.
"Bastard! So then all those kunai were Kage Bunshin!" Hearing another pop, he rolled to the side, to avoid another Bunshin that appeared right below him. 'Shit, these things are every where. How is this kid so good? How does he have the chakra to keep these things under Henge and at that number? I've seriously underestimated this guy…' Backing up, Oki made sure that there were now no stray kunai near him; after the burst of attacks he had shot off he now was standing still and catching his breath along with planning out what next to do. But looking into Naruto's eyes, the chunin didn't like what he saw. There was a distant look in them, like Naruto was thinking deeply, but that wasn't the biggest thing that bothered him, it was the fact that his eyes were slowly turning blood red and his pupils were stretching into vertical slits.
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Naruto groaned when he felt the cold sting of the murky water that he was now forced to walk through. "Of all the times!" He grumbled in frustration. Taking another turn down the hallway of dripping pipes he came to the expansive room hidden within the dark and dank passageways of his mind. With an annoyed look he stood with his hands resting at his waist before the gigantic cage that held his prisoner.
"So you came after all." He heard rumble out from within the shadowy cell.
"Well I can't really help it, I don't know how to get outta here on my own! I'm kinda busy at the moment, unless you haven't noticed!" The boy spat back at the most powerful Bijju like he was speaking to a misbehaving child.
"Now now kit, no matter how long we chat in here it'll only be perhaps a few seconds in the outside world." Kyuubi reassured Naruto.
"Yeah, but still. You shouldn't bother me when I'm busy like that, how would you like it if I came barging in if you were in the middle of something important?
"Well I don't have that luxury kit, unfortunately there is nothing to do in here other than observe what you are doing." The fox said almost with a laugh, at least that's what it sounded like. But back in the shadows where Naruto couldn't see, the fox was glaring as hard as it could at her jailor.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that. I'd give you some games if I knew how to make some stuff in here." He laughed back, even though he had heard stories about the Kyuubi and what it had done, he never really thought they must be true. Especially after having contact with his 'room mate', they never fit with how he knew the Kyuubi was. The stories always depicted her as the vilest and most evil beast in existence, something that kills out of boredom, destroys whole villages for fun, and wipes entire countries off the map just because she didn't like its name. But he knew that was wrong, ever since he the academy when she helped him pass the graduation test, she has willingly helped him out in any situation. Whenever he asked, she would lend him the chakra he needed to give him that extra push to victory.
She was a nurturing fox that referred to him as Kit. How could something like that be evil, she cared for Naruto, even if initially it was because she is linked to him. But Naruto liked to think that he had grown on her after all this time together.
"So why did you pull me in here Kyuubi?"
He then heard the sound of the great fox moving close to the sealed gate, now he was looking the Bijju straight in the eyes, seeing the massive form of her. "That's quite simple, I want to help you out in this fight…explain a few things that you can't figure out, and give you some power to end this bout quickly so that you can go off to assist your friends." She said in a very matter of fact manner.
Naruto just stood there with a pondering look smeared across his face, what could he had not figured out? He didn't really think he needed to collect on the fox's rent and get some chakra, he got the feeling he had his fight with Oki pretty much under control. "So what don't I get?" He then asked, figuring that whatever it was it would probably help him out.
"It's those explosions, you think that he's setting off paper bombs don't you?" When responded to by a nod of the blond boy's head, the Kyuubi simply rolled her eyes at the boy's denseness. "There actually aren't paper bombs under you; he's using those wires to send his chakra down the kunai and into the ground. Smashing it together under you and creating an explosion almost instantly, its because you're in between the two kunai that you get caught in the blast."
Standing there with his hand rubbing his chin, Naruto thought on the explanation given. Finally he flashed the fox one of his wide grins and started to laugh. "I guess that makes sense, hehehe, I mean how would he have planted paper bombs precisely where I was going to be standing beforehand?"
"Now then, come closer and I can give you more than enough power to end this immediately." The fox replied in an excited tone that Naruto had never heard come from the fox before. Walking closer, Naruto began to get the feeling that nothing good would come of this with each step through the cold water. "That's it, you want power? I can give it to you…" The fox almost laughed, the sweet nurturing voice that Naruto had always heard from the fox slowly began to deepen and become more ominous. Now just a few feet away from the gate separating the two of them, Naruto was all of a sudden getting a feeling in his stomach that this was a very bad idea, he had never been this close before and something was screaming inside his head to back away.
"I can give you unlimited power, enough to topple the Hokage, enough to rule Konoha with an iron fist…all you need to do is step through these gates and accept it…" A wide fang filled grin sweeping across the fox's face.
"I…I don't think this is a good idea, I can beat this guy…I…I don't need your help." Naruto stammered out, there was something about the situation that was just not right. Shakily he took a step backwards that was responded to by a huge echoing roar with the fox.
Jumping backwards, Naruto just barely missed the claws of the fox as the slammed down right where he had been. "RAAAAGHH!" The fox roared, the caring feminine voice that Naruto had always heard had suddenly changed to a deep, gruff, and malice filled one, distinctly masculine. "13 YEARS! 13 GOD FORSAKEN YEARS! I've kept up that facade of caring for you, nurturing you, and all for what?" Kyuubi roared to itself. "I had earned your trust, you went along with everything I said without a moment's hesitation, everything should have gone to plan."
Falling backward into the water, Naruto looked wide eyed at the Kyuubi. "W-what…I don't understand…"
"Of course you don't, you never do!" Kyuubi sneered at the boy, his claws pressed up against the cage wall. "Did you really think a creature like me, something that with the swipe of my tail can topple mountains and create typhoons, would be a caring woman? No, but I'm smart enough to do what it takes, I had gained your trust all I needed was for you to come within the cage and I could use you how I saw fit." He roared at the boy, his long laid plans had all been for nothing now, all those years of posing as a female and actually giving a rat's ass about the boy. Pretending to care, when all he really wanted to do was squash the boy between his mighty claws.
Glaring back at the fox, Naruto stood now with this fists clenched and his teeth gritted. He had been betrayed, something he had thought was there to assist him, was nothing like what he thought, it had only been there so that one day it could overtake him and rise to power again. "Bastard…" He uttered through his teeth, while his mind raced around what had happened. Was this how the world worked, was everyone only doing things to get ahead of him? What about Arashi…was he like this too? Would he betray him when the time was right so he could overtake him and solidify his power like Oki told him he would? 'No, Arashi isn't like that…' He thought half-heartedly.
"Baka Kitsune! I'll never rely on you again! I don't need your power, and I don't want it." He yelled with hate filled words.
The Fox simple began to chuckle in his deep and evil voice. "Oh you'll need it one day, wither you want to admit it or not, you'll come seeking it out. You'll use my power if you want to or not…" He growled ominously as his eyes glowed out at Naruto from within the shadows. Naruto then felt his vision blurring over, blinking to fix his sight he suddenly found himself looking out at Oki once more.
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He had never felt such killing intent before in all his life, nor a more frightening gaze. Oki had been terrified when those eyes began to change towards the blood red cat eyes, but all of a sudden they had turned back to the deep blue eyes that Naruto actually had. 'The only other person I've ever felt with chakra that sinister was Killerbee-sama…' Oki shuttered as he thought back to when he had meet the Raikage's brother.
But now the fear had passed, and all that was before him was his target. Shaking his head he focused back in on what he needed to do. "I don't know what you are kid, but you end here!"
Naruto had brought himself back into the fight as well, disregarding all of the thoughts concerning what had just happened, he knew that he needed to finish soon. He needed to get back to Hinata and finish this mission, not to mention get back with Arashi, he still hadn't forgotten about the plume of fire that had come from where he was fighting earlier. Pulling out a pair of his own kunai he held them in each hand, his gaze fixating on Oki.
Just as Naruto was about to make his move, he stopped his movement when he saw Oki leap backwards. Landing on the water's surface of the river behind him, Oki bean to flash through hand signs. "Suiton: Ouitsunami" With a burst of chakra, a large wave rose out of the water and rushed over the shore as well as Naruto, submerging him under its rushing water as it flowed over the landscape. Running out of water, the attack retreated back to the river, leaving the rocky ground covered in water and Naruto now fully soaked to the bone.
Getting back up to his feet, Naruto felt the sloshing that came from taking a step in any direction in the now drenched terrain. But looking up he quickly put two and two together when he saw Oki smirking as he held onto just one kunai instead of two. Naruto then leapt high into the air just as Oki flung his electrified kunai into the conductive water.
"You're smarter than I thought!" Oki laughed as he saw the ground light up when his electricity sparked and crackled across the water ridden ground.
Naruto waited until the crackling had subsided to make his move, and the moment it did he formed his familiar cross shaped hand sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A clone appearing behind him grabbed the boy and whirling in the air, flung his directly as their common enemy.
'Fool…' Oki thought as he watched the blond ninja rocket towards him. Falling backwards, he narrowly avoided a slash from Naruto's kunai aimed at his neck. Landing with his back on the ground, Oki caught Naruto using his legs, then relying on the leg strength attained after years of taijutsu training specializing on his legs; he flung Naruto back up into the air.
Rolling to get back to his feet, Oki flung a pair of kunai upwards, so that either blade soared past Naruto. Bringing his hands up he formed a hand sign just as the wires were on either side of Naruto, a large sadistic grin plastered on his face as he watched Naruto about to use a Kage Bunshin again to escape. "KANDEN!" He yelled as blue electric chakra shot down the wires, searching for the closest thing to arc into, it quickly found the unprotected Naruto.
"GAAAAH!" Naruto screamed as his whole body was lit up by the electric attack. Crashing back to the ground he could smell the odor of singed flesh and cloth. He hadn't expected that, for him to re-launch his attack when he was in between the returning wires. 'What do I do? I could try that out…I haven't gotten it perfectly yet thought. It very well might just blow up in my face if I try it out…its risky but I need to try it. Judging by my chakra now, I should have enough to pull it off and then maybe two attempts at Rasengan…' Naruto thought, running what to do through his head. 'But first I need the time to get it done.'
"How'd you like that? Quite a shocking experience, eh?"
"S-Shut up, it's about time I put an end to this…I have friends to go help." Naruto responded shakily as he rose to his feet, gripping his kunai tightly in each hand. Groaning as his joints screamed in rebellion to what his brain was telling them to do.
"How sad, the fool thinks he can stand on my stage! Oki the Great will end you right now! I'm the man who's kunai will pierce the heavens, the Big me can't be stopped by someone as small as you!" He laughed to himself. Reaching behind him, he pulled out another pair of kunai, already sparking from the chakra already running through them. "Now you DIE!"
Thrusting them forward, Naruto stood his ground. If what he planned worked, then he would have time to pull off his attack, if not he'd probably be blasted up and over the cliff he had fallen from. Watching the kunai closely as the sped towards him, he suddenly threw his own kunai directly down just as Oki's hit on either side of him. But there was no explosion resulting from the attack. "WHAT?" Oki exclaimed as he looked at what had happened. On either side, Naruto had thrown his kunai down right next to his own, resulting in the electricity flowing into them instead of smashing together to create the explosion.
His attack had been countered, and with the sound of a Henge being preformed, Oki then saw the Fuuma Shuriken launch from Naruto's hand aimed directly at him. "Oh no, not this time!" He laughed, leaping high in the air, he planned now on killing Naruto now, ending this fight with his finishing attack. "I said that now you die! And I wasn't lying…now it truly is time for you to die!"
Spinning in the air, and focusing all his chakra into the blades in his box, he shot all of the kunai at the same time, aiming to surround Naruto on all sides with his wired kunai. The explosion would be so great that it would vaporize the blond boy, it was a move that couldn't be stopped, and couldn't be avoided, Naruto was too close to dodge and didn't even look like he was going to move. "Raiton: Dai-Kanden!"
But looking downwards as his kunai streaked towards him, Oki was confused at the smirk appearing on Naruto's face. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" In an instant a clone appeared next to Naruto, holding out its hands it began to shuffle them around the growing orb of chakra that resting in the original's hand. It was the same thing that Oki had seen some clones attempting earlier. But from the degree that Naruto was panting it seemed like this was the last thing he was able to do at the moment. The crackling kunai were getting closer and closer, but before they did Oki watched as a shining shell seemed to be formed around the spiraling blue ball of chakra, the Kage Bunshin disappearing upon its completion.
"You got one thing wrong…" Naruto grinned as he looked upwards at Oki and the cliffside behind him. "It's you that dies here…NOW!" He seemed to call out, but not to Oki. In a flash, Oki heard the appearance of something behind him, looking there; he saw that the Shuriken thrown at him was, like the others, a Kage Bunshin in Henge. It had dropped the transformation and had jumped so that it was now directly behind the Kumo Nin. "Now witness my newest jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he prepared to attack himself. "Kage Bunshin…Bakuhatsu!" In an instant the clone suddenly exploded violently, several times more violent than the explosions from Oki's Kanden.
Being that close to the sudden blast, Oki was immediately shot downwards like he was being blown out of a canon, shooting directly at the waiting Naruto. "NOOOOO!" He screamed as he shot past his now useless kunai.
"This is the end!" Naruto yelled as he leapt forward to collide with the incoming Oki. "RASENGAN!" The ultimate attack slammed into Oki's chest as they smashed into each other.
"GUUURAAAAAHHH!" Oki bellowed in pain as the chakra began to drill into his chest before rocketing him backwards. 'BOOOOOM!' The ground shook as Oki slammed into the cliffside behind him, puncturing several feet into the hard rock, ending his life in the process. The only proof he was there were the dozens of wired kunai, hanging limply out of the hole drilled into the rock.
Falling to his knees, Naruto began to suck in air as hard as he could. Even him and his incredible amount of chakra was near the breaking point. If that hadn't worked he would have only been able to try a Rasengan maybe one more time. What had drained him so much was his new type of Kage Bunshin. To make the Kage Bunshin Bakuhatsu, it was like squishing 700 or so clones into one body. The point was to put so much chakra into it that it would become unstable, barely being able to function because of the massive amount of stored chakra inside it. It had become even more of a drain on Naruto because he was forced to keep it under a Henge for a long period of time. But once he let go of trying to keep the clone stable, it became basically a living bomb. It's not a jutsu that he could do often, but it was necessary for ending his battle with Oki.
"Naruto!" He suddenly heard echo down to him from up above.
Looking up, he instantly began to grin widely when he saw Hayate looking over the edge of the cliff at him. "Oi! Hayate-sensei!" Looking closely, he could see an unconscious Arashi slung over the Jonin's shoulder, something that caused Naruto to frown deeply, he didn't want to see his friend hurt.
"Can you get up here? Or do I need to come get you?" Hayate called down again, he had only got there, finally finding Naruto's location from the shakes in the ground resulting from him finishing Oki off.
"Yeah, I think I can get up there. Give me a minute!" He yelled back up to him. Going over to the cliff, he began to slowly and painfully walk up the side of it.
After a few minutes, Naruto jumped up and landed at the top of the cliff. "Well, you've seen better days, I can tell you that." Hayate told the boy after seeing the electric burns, bruise, and cuts on him as well as the shabby state of his clothing.
"I could say the same for you." Naruto remarked when he saw Hayate's arm and his now blood soaked sleeve. Leaning to the side to look at Arashi, his face was swept over with a look of concern. "Is he going to be okay? What happened to him? His arm looks really bad…" Naruto began to spout out frantically.
"He'll *cough* be okay, he got that when he lost to that woman. He's lucky I got there when I did, or else he's be dead."
"W-What? Arashi…lost?"
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Finally! Done! I'm glad to have gotten this done, the layout of what happened actually changed a lot from my original plans for this chapter. I guess my thinking as changes since I began this chapter! Anyway, I really appreciate everyone who's read this, I know its been like 6 months since I uploaded an actual chapter, and I feel bad about that. So I hope you all look forward to the next one.
Naruto wins his fight and learns that Arashi didn't! How will he react to that? Also, Hinata meets with leader of the enemy faction face to face, what will come out of it and how will Getsurei feel about seeing his little brother again? Find out next time!
Jutsu Translation:
Fuuton: Kazekasui – Fuuton: Wind Streak
Fuuton : Teikaitsu Shotto - Fuuton: Cyclone Shot
Suiton: Ouitsunami - Suiton : Overflowing Wave
Raiton: Kanden - Receiving an electric shock
Raiton: Dai-Kanden - Receiving a huge electric shock
Kage Bunshin Bakuhatsu – Shadow Clone Explosion