Chapter Two: Catching Up
Naruto Uzumaki sped through the trees, seeing the Leaf Village walls in the distance.
He hardly managed to contain his excitement as he raced onward. Years away from home had not weighed as strongly as he'd expected. But he was still glad to be coming back. "...Alright, we're nearly there! Just a little further, and I can finally see the others again! I can't wait to see how they've been doing!
"Although, something must be going on. I should ask Tsunade about the Akatsuki when I get there."
As he ran, however, he sensed a presence, a careful killing intent. Halting, he took a stance as three figures landed before him. "Hold where you are, traveler. You are approaching the Hidden Leaf by means other than the main road. What is your business in this place?"
Naruto blinked as he saw them, out of the shadows. Then he realized he was in the shadows too. "Huh? Hey, Neji! Tenten! Lee!
"How are you guys?" And he stepped forward.
Silence. Tenten stepped out of the light, and she'd grown up nicely, far curvier than before. Her hair was still tied up like before, but she'd traded in pink for brown. "Naruto, is that you?
"I haven't seen you in two years. You've grown a lot."
"Two and a half," said Naruto. Then he saw Lee standing very near him and stepped back. . "Lee... whoa, that was fast."
"Indeed, we both appear to have grown into splendid ninjas in our own right," said Lee. He wore a larger version of the same outfit with the very same hairstyle. "What has brought you back to the Leaf."
Naruto figured there was no need to go into the Gaara business instantly. So he shrugged. "Well, Pervy Sage thinks the Akatsuki is going to make their move sooner or later. And now he thinks I'm strong enough to fight them."
"That is good to know," said Neji, stepping forward. "However, I think there are other considerations beyond the Akatsuki." Neji was changed the most. His expression bore none of the concealed anger he once had, and he now wore a white tunic and pants. You might imagine a monk wearing such things. His brown hair was longer than before, but he still wore his headband over his brow.
"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.
That was how the three of them start talking about old times, as well as new times. They discussed the many adventures both of them had had from Naruto and Jiraiya's trip to the Land of the Rain to his friend's second Chunin Exams. It turned out Neji had been promoted to Jonin for saving Gaara's life, and Tenten and Lee were now Chunin.
They'd also made friends with a Jinchuuriki called Fu.
"So the Sound Village went over to the Cloud?" asked Naruto.
"That is correct," said Neji. "Many of their bases are spread throughout many different lands. The Cloud Village offered them their protection after they lost their headquarters. Now we are unable to target them without risking open war."
"Geeze, that sounds pretty bad," said Naruto.
"You said it," said Tenten. "We were preparing for a knockout blow before that happened. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino spent months tracking their locations down so we could hit them all at once. Now we can't."
"Indeed, and with the Mist Village now in a civil war, they are unlikely to be of any help to either side," said Lee. "Worse still, I am told the conflict there has become gruesome."
"You mean where Zabuza and Haku came from?" asked Naruto. He'd heard about this, but asking the question helped him get a feel for what they thought.
"Yes," said Lee. "After Zabuza died, another resistance leader named Mei absorbed his followers. They became much more of a threat and are battling Yagura even now."
"The Leaf has chosen not to take a side," said Neji. "It's a purely internal matter, and we have other considerations. Namely, the rising power of the Cloud."
Naruto crossed his arms and thought about all this. After a moment, he looked up. Tenten got to it first, though. "What I don't get is why the Raikage would trust Orochimaru? I mean, Orochimaru murdered the Kazekage and sent Suna's forces to die. And he pretty much disposes of everyone who works for him eventually.
"Seems like the kind of snake you don't want to warm by your fire."
"The Raikage may believe Orochimaru is desperate. Desperate enough that he won't betray the Cloud," noted Neji.
"Or he may think himself powerful enough to crush Orochimaru," said Lee.
"He's a fool, then," said Naruto, remembering all he'd learned of Orochimaru.
"Naruto?" asked Tenten.
"Orochimaru killed the Old Man. He almost beat Granny Tsunade and Jiraiya while at a fraction of his power and dying," said Naruto. "I'll bet he's come up with some kind of scheme to get his power back by now. With Kabuto with him, he sure could.
"Maybe he's even done it already."
"He also has Sasuke Uchiha working for him," noted Neji. "Even if he technically hasn't been put on the bingo books."
"Now hang on, Sasuke has been captured, Neji. He's Orochimaru's prisoner," Naruto was surprised Neji was raising the objection. He'd regarded Sasuke as a kindred spirit in the quest to save him. They'd both been in the darkness.
"He put a hole in your chest to get to Orochimaru's base, Naruto," said Tenten. "Choji and Neji nearly died, and if the Sand Ninja hadn't bailed you out, the entire team would be dead."
"Well, that wasn't Sasuke's fault," said Naruto.
"Wasn't Sasuke the one who left the village with them?" asked Tenten.
"Yes, but-" began Naruto, faltering.
"And didn't Sakura confirm that he left willingly, even rendering her unconscious?" asked Tenten.
"Yes, but Sasuke wasn't thinking clearly," said Naruto. "Itachi really messed him up mentally with the Magnekyo Sharingan."
"Perhaps," said Neji. "But I cannot help but notice that he only abandoned the village after you became stronger than him. I myself had plenty of incentive to go to Orochimaru. Especially with his mastery of sealing, he could remove my Caged Bird Seal."
"You'd never do anything like that," said Naruto, surprised Neji would think that way.
"Wouldn't I?" asked Neji. "I am where I am because I chose to repair my relationship with my family and focus on serving the village. I did not have to put my hatred beside me. I could have chosen to descend deeper into the darkness and ignored the hand offered to me.
"I merely didn't."
Naruto sighed, not liking to think about all this. "...Look, I'll admit I probably could have been a better friend, Neji. It was my job to get him back, and I failed.
"But Sasuke probably had no idea what he was getting into. I've seen the kinds of things Orochimaru has been doing. He's probably being held prisoner and trying to escape every day now."
"Well, it will certainly make retrieving him easier if he is," said Lee.
"Not all the news is bad, though. We've actually got some really good stuff," said Tenten. "Remember right after Orochimaru attacked the village? Well, it turns out that things were really bad after that. All the other nations sensed blood in the water and came after us.
"Remember all those mysterious ninja bandits who came out of the woodwork?
"Well, it turns out a lot of them were off-the-books agents for other Hidden Villages. Officially they were rogue ninja. But in reality, they were trying to take pieces out of our sphere of influence."
"Isn't that a bad thing?" asked Naruto.
"Don't you get what this means, Naruto?" asked Tenten.
"Um... no," said Naruto, meaning it this time.
"We stopped a war," said Tenten. "The Konoha 12, that's what they call us these days. Supposedly we're all the most talented young ninja in the Leaf. We didn't know how important our jobs were until a year after we'd done them.
"During all those missions we had, after Sasuke left, we shut down probing attacks. Mostly sent by the other Hidden Villages. We wiped out all of them and even brought an entire nation into the fold. The Leaf Villages hold is actually a lot more secure than it was beforehand. Now everyone knows how strong we are.
"And our reputation way better, thanks to you."
Naruto hadn't been aware they'd been that successful. I mean, he knew that those missions had been important. Saving Princess Haruno saved her land. Saving Isaribi shut down a Sound Village outpost. But he hadn't pieced together that all of it had added up to something bigger.
So they'd saved the world, in a way. "Oh, wow, that is pretty great, I guess."
"What is wrong?" asked Lee.
Naruto sighed. "Well, I... I ran into these mercenaries who mentioned they were trying to take down some bandits. Anyway, I kind of wonder if the 'bandits' weren't secretly working for another nation." Sasori and Deidara, though Naruto didn't want to say that until he said it to Lady Tsunade.
"In general 'bandit' code for 'off the books enemy agent.'" said Neji. "Though not always."
"Which means we've been fighting a war all this time, haven't we?" asked Naruto.
"If there wasn't a war to fight, we'd be out of a job," said Tenten.
Naruto smiled, but he felt sad despite it.
"Well, it matters not," said Rock Lee. "Our actions have made us heroes in the eyes of the Land of Fire, and you, especially Naruto."
"Wait, me? Seriously?" asked Naruto. "Why me?"
"It did not go unnoticed that you accompanied the Konoha 12 on every single one of our major mission," said Neji. "Apparently, someone came up with the idea that you were the leader."
Was Naruto the leader? When had that happened? "Oh wow, um, that's kind of wrong."
"That was my assessment as well," said Neji, who has been giving the orders on most of those.
"Well, I think I ought to go see Granny Tsunade," said Naruto. "I've got some stuff to talk to her about." And he stood up.
"Before you go, Naruto, may I make a request?" asked Neji.
Neji almost never made requests of anyone. He usually just made observations and did whatever was rational. So Naruto looked at him. "Yeah, sure, what is it, Neji?"
"I'd like a rematch," said Neji as he stood.
Hmm, that was kind of reckless. Naruto thought about a good way to turn him down. "A rematch, seriously?
"Um, well, I don't mean to sound condescending or anything, but I've gotten a lot stronger since we fought. So um, I'm not really sure it would be fair."
"I'm the youngest Jonin of my generation, Naruto," said Neji. "If you win, you could probably get a field promotion to Chunin without going through the exams again. And if you lose, you'll have gained valuable information."
"Well yeah, but... you sure?" asked Naruto, afraid of completely crushing him.
"Absolutely," said Neji.
"Alright then, Neji! I'm not going to hold back!" said Naruto, stepping away. Nice knowing him. Although, maybe Neji would look cute covered in dirt. Though if they were going to have a one-sided match like that, Naruto would prefer Tenten.
"Excellent, this will be a sight to see. A rematch between old enemies turned friends," said Lee as he and Tenten jumped to one side. "Tenten, signal the match."
Tenten smiled and cut her hand through the air.
Naruto made hand signs. "Alright, shadow clone-"
And then Neji was on him.
"Eight Trigrams: Air Palms!" said Neji, swinging his hands.
Naruto narrowly leaped over it as a wave of wind shot past him and shook the trees behind him. Before he could respond, Neji followed, and he found himself replying to an onslaught of kicks and punches. He'd fought Neji before, of course, and he was a lot better than last time. Pervy Sage had filled in most of the holes in his techniques and taught him some more.
But now, he found himself struggling to keep Neji off him. A few fingers brushing him could win Neji the match. Kicking off him, Naruto landed and took a stance as Neji surged toward him. A hand narrowly missed Naruto's face as he leaped back.
"Hang on a sec, that's-" began Naruto.
"Eight Trigrams:" said Neji. "Eight palms!
"Sixteen palms!
"Twentyfour palms!"
His attacks took on a feral quality, and Naruto felt Neji brush against several of his chakra points. Realizing how close he was to defeat, he swung a punch. Neji spun away from it before it connected, but Naruto found he couldn't use much of his chakra.
"Okay, seriously! Attacking me before I could use even my jutsu is kind of cheap," said Naruto. "Now we're right back to where we were last time!"
"Consider this a continuation of the duel," said Neji. "Nine-tails."
Naruto blinked. "Oh, so you know about that."
"A number of background checks and some deduction were enough for me to theorize," said Neji. "And it would explain your inexplicable ability to summon strange chakra."
"Does it matter?" asked Naruto.
"Not at all," said Neji.
Naruto shrugged. "Well, I guess that means I'm burrowing some power from Kurama then."
"By all means," said Neji. "I want to test the limit of both our abilities."
Naruto smiled and began summoning the power into himself. He'd learned to draw on it but control it and harness it. The spirit within him was a being of malevolence, but if you understood its rage, you could use it.
And then Naruto attacked.
He harnessed the power of the Nine-tails with greater precision and control than ever. And he expected to have the advantage. However, Neji managed to defend against it, redirecting his strikes as they came. Pretty soon, they were fighting hand again to hand.
Naruto's blows were far more powerful, and they were stronger than Neji could block. Yet the Hyuga boy ceded ground and maneuvered around it. Naruto had to check himself from overextending. Then Neji came at him from behind. Now Naruto was the one who spun away.
Both came to a halt, and Neji was breathing. So was Naruto; feeling this kind of hatred and rage wasn't fun. And it burned him out faster.
"You have improved," noted Neji. "When we fought last time, your taijutsu was functional but filled with holes. You made numerous amateur mistakes. And you compensated for them with creativity and brute strength.
"However...
"Your taijutsu has been completely transformed."
"Well yeah, Pervy Sage kind of put me through the wringer," said Naruto. "He said that I'd learned a lot of wrong moves and had to retrain me. I guess I should have paid more attention at the academy."
"You should have," agreed Neji. "You waste far less energy now."
"Thanks," said Naruto. "Still, you are really fast and good at blocking me. How'd you do that?"
"I've been challenged to a spar once every day by Rock Lee since we were in the academy," said Neji. "Lee specializes in speed and brute power. It's been good practice."
"Yeah, but you didn't do so well against my ability before," said Naruto. "What changed?"
"I decided to regard my matches with Lee as an opportunity to learn rather than an unwanted chore," said Neji. "A change of attitude has worked wonders. And, I've had motivation.
"There is a man I want to kill."
"Who?" asked Naruto, not liking the sound of that.
"The Raikage of the Cloud," said Neji. "He betrayed the Leaf Village, violated sacred hospitality. He kidnapped Hinata twice and then murdered my Father. More than any other man, I hate him.
"And even if I did not, my duty would compel me to avenge the insult.
"When the war comes, I wish to be the one who kills him."
"Sasuke thought like that, you know," said Naruto.
"I know," said Neji. "But I am determined that the innocent shall not suffer for my actions. I shall kill him honorably, or not at all."
Naruto figured that was as good as could be expected. "Well, either way, that's enough of a rest. That attack you went for was really tough to evade. But now it's my turn!
"Multi-shadow clone jutsu!"
Creating many clones, Naruto rushed at Neji from all sides. Even as they arrived, however, Neji used the same technique. Naruto himself stayed back with a few to set up an ambush.
"Haven't we been here before?" asked Neji.
"Guess again!" said Naruto.
All of the clones created Rasengan, and their swirling lights shot toward Neji. Though, of course, they'd stop before they hit him.
And then Neji spun around in circles, creating a wave of blue energy. But it was way larger than before, and the vortex destroyed all the shadow clones around him. The Rasengans impacted and pressed against the attack. Then they dissipated. "Kaiten!"
Even so, Naruto was able to come at him from above.
Neji looked up as Naruto descended toward him. "Rasengan!"
Neji's hands moved rapidly, however. "Earth style: Earthmeld jutsu." Then he sank into the earth, even as Naruto's Rasengan hit the ground. It impacted, and the explosion kicked up dust.
Looking back, Naruto blocked a strike from Neji that could have taken him out.
"I haven't faced this technique from you before," said Naruto, enjoying the fight. "Guess you've mastered an element."
"Two, actually," said Neji, leaping back. "Water style: Crashing Wave!"
A huge wave of water shot toward Naruto, who made hand signs of his own to counter. "Air style: Protective Vortex!"
The water was knocked away by the air, and it passed, drenching the woods behind. Naruto sighed,
"...A defensive technique," said Neji. "That doesn't seem your style."
"Yeah, I figured my techniques were big on misdirection and offense," said Naruto. "So I learned a defensive technique or two.
"... I think I'd better stop now."
"Why is that?" asked Neji.
"Well, the way things are going in this fight, I'd have to bring out some of my bigger moves to win," said Naruto. "And those could injure one of us pretty bad.
"Want to call it a draw?"
Neji relaxed his posture and brushed a strand of braid hair from his face. Naruto thought that he looked very, very, nice covered in sweat like this. "...For the moment, yes. It would seem both of us have changed in your absence.
"A question, however. Would you say that your Rasengan is even in power to Sasuke's Chidori?"
"Well, the last time we fought, yeah, definitely," said Naruto. He wondered what Tenten would look like with that kind of sweat. Either of the brunettes was fine by him, though. "Though the Chidori is better at piercing. Rasengan doesn't usually kill people when I hit them with it.
"Or at least, not in its base form."
"Base form? You've devised a stronger one?" asked Neji.
And that was way too much. "Sorry, can't talk about that! Gotta go!"
And he rushed off toward the Leaf. A pretty fun diversion, but Naruto had a lot of things to do. He couldn't wait to see Tsunade and Sakura.
