Chapter Four: Showdown
The next week was spent in the company of Tazuna.
They saw no sign of their pursuers, and they spent time learning about merchant work. Now and then, they encountered signs of bandits, and Hinata and Naruto would go after them. They used the tricks they were learning from the scrolls and tested them against them. And every time they did, the others chasing after them would arrive and take care of the rest.
It was actually pretty fun.
Naruto was learning more on the road than he ever had in class. Hinata helped him relearn the basic jutsu, and they practiced all the time. And before long, Naruto found that his skills were increasing hugely. In sparring with Hinata, he learned how best to fight against a Hyuga and good counters. Apparently, thick garments limited the effect of the gentle fist and forced the use of more power.
Travel became easier, and they washed on the road using sponges and well-water or streams. Tazuna often would give them good advice on how to bargain and speak of business. It turned out that bandits had become a major issue long before today. And they had only gotten worse with the prolonged peace as the army was downsized.
"Why wouldn't the Old Man do something about it?" asked Naruto. "He's gotta know about it."
"Ninjas keep to themselves," said Tazuna. "And the bandits are good for their business. When there isn't a war on, it gives them something to hunt. You don't think you pay for all those high walls and buildings with goodwill, do you?"
"I guess not," said Naruto. "But hey, I guess we're fixing that now, aren't we?"
"Maybe so," said Tazuna. "But I wouldn't hold out for a paycheck if they get you."
So it continued for days and days as they darted all over the place. But little by little, they stopped seeing the others. Now and then, they'd catch a glimpse, and Hinata would describe attacks on bandit camps. Yet soon enough, they stopped seeing them following at all. Naruto wondered if they'd been forgotten.
"Anything?" asked Naruto.
"No," said Hinata. "Nothing yet."
"Do you think we lost them?" asked Tazuna.
"I don't know," said Naruto. "Kiba and Shino should be able to pick up our trail, shouldn't they?"
"Well, they are both really good trackers. If it had rained or something, maybe," said Hinata. "But we've had clear skies.
"But, I don't think we could fool them easily."
"So you don't think we've lost them," guessed Naruto.
Hinata paused. "No."
"So why aren't they catching up?" asked Naruto.
"If I had to guess, um..." Hinata paused. "Kiba likes hunting; he might have decided to outlast us. They can't catch us, so maybe they are lagging behind out of Byakugan range."
"Meaning they just keep following us beyond your sight," guessed Tazuna. "Until eventually we get careless, and they can come on us unawares."
"Yes," said Hinata.
"You ninja are smart," noted Tazuna. "Well, I suppose we'll have to ask ourselves what our plan is. Where are we going?"
"I don't think we can stick around with you much longer, Tazuna," said Naruto with a sigh. "If they caught us with you, you might get blamed."
"I see your point," said Tazuna. "What is your plan then?"
Naruto paused. "I think that we've got to do something to throw them off the scent."
"Mr. Tazuna, can you get us those spare clothes you bought us?" asked Hinata.
"Yes, but why?" asked Tazuna.
"If we swap out our clothes for new ones and send some clones away with them, it should divert the scent," said Hinata. "At the same time, we can go into a river and swim downstream a ways.
"Once we're clear, we can get off almost anywhere, and Kiba will be lost."
"Alright then," said Tazuna. "But you'd better keep under cover when we get to this next village. If they find out you were buying clothes, they'll be able to guess what you were doing."
"You're pretty smart," noted Naruto.
"Well, I know a thing or two. Just hurry," said Tazuna.
And they got to work. Tazuna brought the clothes, and they quickly dressed themselves before creating clones. Dressing the clones in the outfit, they sent them off away to draw them off. Then, at last, it was time to go. "I recommend heading up that way; the nearest river starts in the Valley of the End.
"There's more than enough water to cover you."
"Thanks. Let's go Hinata," said Naruto. "Tazuna, I'll try to meet back up with you in the Land of Waves when we're stronger."
"Don't rush too hard," said Tazuna with a smile. "I'm increasing my cash flow, and you've got a long way to go, runt."
"Hey, who are you calling runt!" said Naruto.
"Relax, I'm sure you'll sprout up," said Tazuna, and he road off. "See ya!"
Naruto smiled. "Right."
And then they hurried off.
As they did, Naruto realized the past few weeks had been the happiest days of his life so far. He'd been wanted by people, had important to do, and more friends than ever. Even if Neji hadn't had his best interests at heart, he kind of owed him.
"Okay, hurry, Hinata. We're nearly there, but if they spot us-" said Naruto before he caught a look of shock on her face.
"Naruto, um..." Hinata paused.
"What is it?" asked Naruto.
"We have a problem," said Hinata. "Kurenai-sensei is after us. She and Shino, and Kiba are on our trail. They ignored the scent and headed toward the water."
"What?" asked Naruto. "How? Is Neji there?"
"No, but I don't they see us. Ino's team is a bit away," said Hinata. "It's like they guessed our plan."
"What? How?" asked Naruto.
"Kiba must have realized I'd what he was doing," said Hinata. "So he sent some of the teams to the nearest river. The counter to his sense of smell is lots of water after all."
"And we're heading toward a dead end," realized Naruto. "Alright, hurry it up. We'll see if we can make it."
And they did, sprinting all the faster. Hinata seemed to be looking all around in worry and several times nearly tripped. "They've changed course and are closing on us.
"If Kurenai-sensei gets eyes on us, it's over. Her genjutsu can even bypass a Byakugan. I helped her train to do it."
"Well then, come on, we gotta go faster too!" said Naruto.
And so the race began. Shino's insects filled the air behind them as Hinata spoke of enemy movements. They ran and ran, faster than they'd known they could. Only this time, it was over finite distance, and Kiba and Shino were stronger. Naruto realized he had gone far beyond his limits before.
They all had.
"Any sign of Sasuke, Sakura? Or Neji?" asked Naruto.
"No, not yet," said Hinata.
"Then we'll just have to go at top speed! Come on!" said Naruto.
On they ran, faster and faster until little by little, Naruto began to hear the sound of running away. "Are we past them?" asked Naruto.
"Yes, we're far ahead now," said Hinata. "But... wait."
"There's another squad moving to cut us off. It's Sasuke and Sakura. I can't see their jonin, but they are heading after us. Sasuke is going all out, and Sakura is just trying to keep up. I don't think he's stopping for her at all.
"It's like they are coming for the river."
Naruto thought about breaking off, but then he smiled. TIme to settle a score and see how he'd advanced. "Well then, let's head for Sasuke."
"What? Why?" asked Hinata.
"I've got a score to settle with him and Sakura," said Naruto.
"We've got to make it quick, Naruto," said Hinata.
Naruto surged through the trees faster and faster until he saw Sasuke and Sakura. The two surged forward toward one another and halted a moment away from one another. They stood two sides of a tree branch, at a deadlock.
"Sasuke," said Naruto.
"Naruto," said Sasuke, voice scornful.
"Naruto?! What are you doing!?" said Sakura. "Do you know what penalties there are for a ninja going rogue?!"
"Somehow, I don't think you care, Sakura," said Naruto.
"I do care," said Sakura. "I mean, look, I wasn't your friend when I should have been, and I should have been nicer. But this isn't about me. The Leaf Village has really strict rules about this kind of thing.
"If you walk out on them..." She faltered. "They'll kill you."
Naruto was surprised at the concern in her voice, but he shrugged it off. "No one would miss me."
"That's..." Sakura halted. "Look, Naruto, even if that were true... you're going to get yourself, and Hinata killed! Right now, legally, this thing is a missing person case! But the longer this goes on, the more likely you are to get called a missing ninja!
"How are you going to survive with no income and the ANBU hunting you?"
"Well, I..." Naruto faltered, thinking about it. He'd done pretty well, but that was against genin. And sooner or later, other villages might go after him. How long could he run?
"Look, just come back to the village, okay," said Sakura. "You've made your point and gotten back at everyone. You'll probably get a field promotion or something and get to be on a team.
"It's a better chance than what you have right now.
"Hinata, you don't really want never to see any of your family again, do you?"
"Actually, I wouldn't care, Sakura," said Hinata, speaking for the first time. "Everyone in the Leaf pretends to be these wonderful, nice people. But they're all awful. I'll go wherever Naruto goes."
"I've heard enough," said Sasuke.
And then Sasuke shot forward at full speed with what should have been contemptuous ease. He was faster than before, faster by a long shot. Yet Naruto turned his blow, grabbed him by his collar, and hurled him down to earth. Sasuke whirled in midair, making a three-point landing just in time to dodge a dropkick from Naruto.
Taking a stance, Naruto turned a punch from Sasuke before bringing around a right hook. But Sasuke to block it. A knee lashed up, but Naruto moved aside, allowing Sasuke's momentum to pull him forward. Then he brought up a knee of his own. Yet Sasuke caught it with a hand and spun away.
"It's not going to be that easy this time, Sasuke. I've been training nonstop during this trip," said Naruto. "You're not dealing with the dead last anymore."
"Fine, maybe I'll get a decent challenge then," said Sasuke.
At that moment, Hinata descended behind Sasuke. He leaped away, dodging and weaving before an onslaught of strikes. Sakura rushed forward to try and restrain Hinata, but the Hyuga girl spun away. "Hinata! Stop!" said Sakura. "If you attack a Leaf Ninja, it'll only make everything worse for all of us! What if one of you kill eachother! I... I'll fight you if I have to!"
And Hinata surged forward at Sakura, and the two met in a series of melee strikes. Naruto noticed that Sakura wasn't completely destroyed, so he turned his attention to Sasuke, who was distracted and decided to get serious.
Putting his all into things, he went on the offensive, kicking and punching. Sasuke fended them off, trying to stay on his feet. But Naruto leaped over him, and as he did so, created a clone above Sasuke's head. It raced off, and Naruto descended to clash with Sasuke.
"What's the matter, Sasuke? Can't keep up?!" said Naruto.
"Says the guy who couldn't even graduate from the academy!" said Sasuke, judo throwing him.
Even as he spun through the air, Naruto landed on one knee and hurled a kunai. Sasuke knocked it aside before Naruto went at him with another. "Yeah, I'm a nobody street rat. And you're an unparalleled prodigy with a Sharingan and years of private tutoring. And somehow, it still seems like a fair fight."
"Cute," said Sasuke, as they went at it, knife to knife. "You know, maybe if you read a book once in a while, you might not be so deluded!"
Naruto turned Sasuke's kunai and struck him across the face. The blow sent Sasuke reeling, and he spat blood as he landed. "Well, looks, whose taken the first hit."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Fire style:
"Fireball Jutsu!"
Wait what?
"Sasuke, no!" said Sakura.
A wave of flame shot toward Naruto from Sasuke. As it moved to engulf him, he used a substitution jutsu. Instantly, he swapped with his clone as it was destroyed. Even so, he felt the heat on his face. "Wow, that was pretty ruthless.
"I always knew you were a jerk."
"Naruto, that was too close for comfort," said Hinata, landing.
Sasuke was seething, and Sakura was majorly dusted up. She had numerous bruises and was on one knee. The others were probably coming now. "Yeah, you're right.
"Let's go, Hinata."
And they hurried on, quickly. As they did, they moved on at top speed while Hinata looked troubled. "Sasuke has left Sakura behind; he's coming after us."
"Let him," said Naruto. "Hinata, get out of sight. I'll wait here and when he comes at me, knock him out."
"Right," said Hinata.
Leaping into the trees above, Naruto turned to see Sasuke rushing out of the trees. There was a kunai in his hand, but Hinata descended and set a hand to his neck as he walked. Instantly, his eyes widened, and he slumped to hit the ground.
"Let's go," said Naruto.
And then they came out of the trees and onto a cliff. There they are, behind the two statues of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama. They were facing one another with hands pointed toward each other. Their faces appeared noble and solemn, so much so that Naruto forgot he was being pursued.
Moving forward, he and Hinata leaped onto the head of Madara to cross over the flowing waterfall. And then he landed before them on the head of Hashirama. He had wild, white hair and wore a mask that covered all but one eye when combined with his Leaf Village headband. His outfit was a Jonin Flak jacket, and he was thin.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid this is as far as you go," said the man.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Naruto.
"Kakashi Hatake. Some might call me the copycat ninja," said Kakashi. "Sorry my team couldn't be here with me; I figured I ought to cut you off at the river. As fun as it has been chasing you around, I can't let you go beyond the borders of the Land of Fire.
"The others should be here shortly. So, how did Sasuke and Sakura do?"
"Well," said Naruto. "Sasuke was pretty much evenly matched with me and had better jutsu. But when Sakura was knocked down, he chased after us, and we caught him off guard. Sakura tried to talk us down and did a good job stalling for time.
"She also kept Hinata off Sasuke's back, at least until he ditched her."
"Well, that's a pretty useful assessment of what I saw while you were fighting," said Kakashi. "Would you like to learn a bit of history while we wait?" And he looked at the statue. "The Valley of the End is where Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju had their final battle. Madara mortally wounded Hashirama, but Hashirama had a shadow clone standing by. And that shadow clone, in turn, killed Madara before Hashirama died.
"After that, Tobirama took power, and from him came Sarutobi, who ruled for decades. At one time, Sarutobi attempted to pass power over to the Fourth Hokage, my sensei. However, he and his wife were killed by the Nine-tails' assault on the village.
"They were succeeded only by their lone son."
"So what?" asked Naruto.
"You are the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze," said Kakashi.
The wind was the only thing Naruto could hear as it clicked. He struggled to find something to say. "...That can't be true, that's impossible!"
"Also, your Mother was Kushina Uzumaki. She was of the royal family of the Whirlpool Village," said Kakashi. "It's actually just downstream, albeit in ruins."
Naruto faltered. "Um, that is pretty improbable. Although I guess we share names, and Neji did mention it."
"And you're actually the Chosen One of prophecy. Destined to make a great change in the ninja world," said Kakashi.
"That is very unlikely," said Hinata.
"And also you and Sasuke Uchiha are the reincarnations of two eternally feuding Gods. In fact, all of history revolves around you two and your relationship," said Kakashi. "Any apparent inferiority you have is due purely to your own laziness."
"...That's a lot to process," said Naruto, halting. Somehow it seemed right, and he could only assume the adrenaline had gone to his head.
"Well, how fortunate that only the first two are true, then," said Kakashi.
"We're leaping off this statue now," said Naruto.
"Sure, have fun," said Kakashi. "I'd better go check on Sasuke and Sakura."
"Don't you have to stop us?" asked Hinata.
"Please," said Kakashi. "Those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their teammates are even worse than scum."
Weird ideology.
Naruto and Hinata leaped from the head of Madara into the stream below at a dive. Plunging into the water, they surfaced and were swept down. Even as they surfaced, however, Naruto looked up to see Kakashi on the water.
"Here, let me help you out," said Kakashi, making hand signs. "Water style:
"Rapid Water Jutsu!"
Naruto had only a moment to wonder how he had a technique like that. Then the stream became rapids and swept them away.