Author's Note: Man, this Coronavirus thing turned out to be far more serious business than what most of us believed. My country is pretty much in state of alert, a lot of businesses have been forced to close their doors for the time being, and you can even get fined if you're on the street without a good reason. Plenty of events have been cancelled or delayed because of this pandemic.
But do you know what HASN'T been cancelled or postponen? This fanfic! Yeah, I know is not a lot, but hope that, at least, it will keep you entertained and distracted from the flow of bad news for some time. Enjoy the second part of my Road to Ninja Adaptation:
Chapter 98:
Road to Ninja, Part II
or
Battle of the Fake Doubles
Konoha, Hyuga Estate
Jiraiya watched how the Moon Acolytes unfurled a massive scroll onto the estate's main yard. On the scroll was an equally large sealing array arranged in circular paterns, which formed a portal gate that would teleport whoever stepped on it to another portal, allegedly in the Moon. So far, very few people knew about its existence until now, Jiraiya being among the priviledged few.
"I had my best seal masters study this scroll, but they were barely able to decipher it," Jiraiya inwardly lamented, as he saw the scroll completely unfurl. "The secrets of teleportation, right into our very hands..."
Everything was ready for her departure. The team that would escort Hinata to the Moon would be led by Shisui Uchiha, since Jiraiya felt they would need another Sage (the fact that they had to send two Sages so far away from the front lines hurt immensely), Sai, since his jutsu could provide easy aerial transportation (fortunately, they weren't as lacking in that department, as they had many ninjas that could summon flying animals), several Hyugas that vounteered for the job, such as Tokuma, and several Moon Acolytes, Nori among them.
Naturally, most of the Hyuga Clan was there, ready to bid Hinata good luck on her mission.
"The Moon Portal is ready, Hinata-sama," Takuya told the Hyuga Clan Head. "Step into the circle of seals, and we'll activate it."
"How safe it is?" Hikari asked. "I would hate if my daughter and her companions ended up floating in the outer space or something like that."
"Worry not, Hikari-sama, we have tested this portal multiple times," Nori assured her. "We wouldn't risk any life, much less Hinata-sama's, on such venture if there were risks like that."
"Good luck up there, nee-chan," Hanabi said, as she walked towards her sister and gave her a hug.
"I'm sorry I have to leave on such a critical moment, Hanabi-chan," Hinata said, hugging her sister back. "I'll try to get back as soon as I can, so we can fight in this war together."
"Don't worry about me, I have a Tenseigan too, I can take care of myself," Hanabi replied. "If that creep shows up, I'll give him a beating on your behalf. Now that I have Sage Mode, that guy won't be able to even touch me."
Hinata smiled at her. "I'm sure he won't."
They broke the hug, and Hinata walked towards the rest of her group, who were already standing inside the circle of seals.
"Begin the teleportation process!" Takuya commanded.
The Hyugas and Moon Acolytes placed around the circle of seals brought their hands together, and started to channel chakra into the circle. The seals started to glow with a white and blue light, and in a bright flash, they were gone.
"The teleportation has been a success," Takuya announced. "Now, all we can do is pray that they suceed in their endeavor."
"Good to hear that," Jiraiya said with a nod. "Now that that's out of the way, we can focus on the war here. I think it's about time for the army of the Ninja Alliance to gather."
…
Turtle Island
After a night of sleep followed by some light sparring with Killer B, Naruto and Fu were in front of the Falls of Truth once again. They weren't sitting on the lake's small island, though. After the experience in the mental world, the sight of the waterfall induced them a sense of respect that they lacked before. While Naruto paced around, trying to think in strategies that would help him deal with his dark half, Fu was sitting at the edge of the lake, skipping stones across it.
"So, if we go beforehand and boobytrap the arena..." Naruto wondered aloud, even if he was talking to himself. "No, they would see through that. For some reason, they know what we're going to do before we even do it."
"How about switching opponents?" Fu suggested, as she tossed another stone across the lake's surface, bouncing many times until it sank with a splash. "Your evil twin won't know what I will do or how to counter it."
"I don't think they'll let us," Naruto said, shaking his head. "Besides, wouldn't be that like cheating?"
"How so?" Fu asked, turning her head at the blond.
"Well, we're supposed to fight them ourselves," Naruto said. "Imagine if we had to do this alone. We wouldn't be able to rely on the other for help. Meaning that, even if we fight together, we'll have to beat our respective dark sides ourselves."
"Yeah, guess that makes sense," Fu admitted, as she dejectedly tossed another stone. This one bounced fewer times before it sank. "Should we ask B for tips?"
"I already did," Naruto replied. "He said it's different for everybody, and that we need to figure it out ourselves."
"Poop," Fu childishly said, before tossing yet another stone.
"I think we aren't taking the right approach," Naruto pondered, as he rested his chin under his hand. "These guys are the embodyment of our inner darkness. They can't be beaten through brute strength alone. The question is: how do we beat our inner darkness?"
"By... being kind?" Fu offered, though she sounded unsure. "Because that's all what I have."
Suddenly, a realization dawned upon Naruto. "Wait, that's it! Of course we've been doing this all wrong!" the blond said, excited. "We can't beat our inner darkness with violence, but with kindness! We need to show them that we're stronger than them not because of our fists or jutsu, but because they have no power over us."
"That... makes a lot of sense," Fu agreed. A grin developed on her lips. "Come on, let's do it!"
"Yeah!"
Both Naruto and Fu sat once again on the small island, adopted the lotus position, and closed their eyes. Soon, their minds were no longer inside their bodies, but on another plane of reality.
…
A few minutes later
"Turn out that wasn't the way to beat them," Naruto said, tiredly lying on the grass.
"Yeah. We should have guessed that being our dark sides and all that, they would use our kindness to backstab us," Fu lamented, also lying down on the grass. "You know, at least it's a good thing that our friends from the mental world didn't remember the previous day. Or else they'd be mad at us for walking on them the first time at the restaurant..."
"Guess that, since they don't really exist, they don't have long term memory," Naruto concluded, before letting out a sigh. "Back to square one."
"You know, I have the feeling that we're missing something..." Fu said, standing up and walking towards the edge of the lake.
"Yeah, I have that feeling too," Naruto replied. "And I've never been one to solve mysteries. Hinata-hime and Haku always got that part covered."
"Same with me and my Shino. He's so smart... I'm sure that he could figure this out in an instant," Fu said, kicking the water lazily. "Maybe we could ask his other counterpart? But given how much he talks I don't think he'll even let me do the question to begin with."
"Well, we could try-" Naruto began, before suddenly going silent. His eyes grew big as a smile developed on his face as a realization dawned upon him. "Hey, that's it! If we can't do it alone, then we can ask others for help!"
"Wait, I thought you said that was cheating," Fu replied.
"It may be, but I think it's the key to everything," Naruto said, his excitement growing by the moment. "Suddenly I remembered something the evil me said. Come on!"
Naruto then pulled Fu by the wrist and dragged her towards the island in the middle.
"Whoa! Calm down! I can walk on my own!" Fu protested, shaking her wrist free. "Okay, so what are we supposed to do?"
"Let's do the same thing we did during the first time, but when we're at the restaurant, follow my lead, okay?" Naruto asked.
"You got it," Fu said with a nod.
Naruto and Fu sat besides each other in the lotus position on the small island, and closed their eyes. Soon, their minda abandoned their bodies and traveled to a different world.
…
Mental World
Once again, Naruto woke up in his bedroom, or the equivalent of his bedroom, inside the mental world. This time, he merely bid his mother a quick "good morning", had a nice breakfast, and headed outside. After creating a clone and send it to look for Fu, Naruto headed towards his team's training grounds. Just like he expected, the rest of his teammates were there.
"Hey there, handsome," Hinata said, using the same seductive tone as in the same time. Naruto, however, knew that that sweetness was actually a honey trap. "I was afraid you wouldn't come. What took you so long?"
"Sorry babe, I had a dream with you and I didn't want to wake up," Naruto said, giving her a peck on the lips. "But then I thought that having the real one between my arms would be better."
Hinata's face turned beet red, as she averted her eyes and her lips formed a wide smile. "Oh, Naruto-kun, you always know what to say to make me feel special."
"Well, that reaction is more Hinata-like," Naruto thought. He then looked at Haku, who was impatiently waiting for the two lovebirds to stop greeting each other and get on with the training. "Hey Haku, looking good! Have you been working out on your own?"
The Ice Ninja beamed upon hearing the compliment. He then supressed the smile, and tried to turn it into a smug grin. "Yeah, I did! Of course you noticed, didn't you?"
"Hehe, it's hard not to!" Naruto chuckled. "Say, how about a one on one? I want to test how strong you've become!"
"You're on!" Haku eagerly said.
Kurenai shook her head, but chuckled in mild amusement. "Well, it seems that the boys are fired up today. Do you want to spar against me, Hinata?"
"I guess I have no other choice," the Hyuga said with a shrug.
And thus, the training began. While Hinata fought against Kurenai, Naruto faced Haku. Naruto made sure to compliment the Ice Ninja and to measure his own attacks, careful not to hurt the poor guy's fragile ego. After an hour or so, Hinata requested a change, and Naruto went to spar with her. This time, however, he decided that the aggressive Hyuga wouldn't appreciate if he held back against her. Which wasn't a very good idea either, since whenever Naruto landed a solid hit, Hinata would moan and gush about how strong Naruto was.
"Geez, let's hope the real Hinata isn't a masochist deep down," Naruto thought, cringing a little.
After the second sparring matches, Kurenai decided it was time for some teamwork exercises. Something Naruto was extra careful with, and made sure they went down without a hitch. When the sun was at its highest, Kurenai decided to stop.
"Today has been a pretty productive training. You guys appear to be extra motivated. Good work, you three," the raven haired woman praised. Her three students nodded and smiled proudly. "Say, how about we meet again after lunch? In the meantime, I'll see if there are any missions for us to do."
"As you say, Kurenai-sensei," Naruto nodded, as he saw his sensei walking away. "So, you guys want to eat? Because I'm starving!"
"Yeah, me too," Haku agreed. "Icharaku's?"
"Sounds good, but... I feel like eating with more people, you know? It's been a while since we did that," Naruto suggested. "I could send a clones to our former classmates, and have all of them meet us at Yakiniku-Q. The place's pretty big."
"We almost never eat with our former classmates," Hinata pointed out. "What's the occasion?"
"Yeah, I can see why," Naruto inwardly deadpanned. "I dunno. I feel like having a big meal with everybody else."
"You seem to be in a very good mood today, Naruto," Haku pointed out. "Did something good happen to you today?"
"What, can't I just happen to be in a good mood?" Naruto replied, though trying not to sound too defensive.
Hinata wrapped her arms around the blond. "If you're so happy today, I won't be the one to sour your mood. We'll eat with the others if that's what you want."
"Heh, I knew I could count on you, Hime," Naruto replied, smiling.
…
An hour later, Yakiniku-Q
Just like the time before, the first team to arrive was Team Kakashi, with Fu in tow. And like the last time, Shino was telling his day to Fu.
"... before Kiba was slammed against a tree. Our training has been pretty good. Kiba and Tamaki didn't fight as much as they usually do, and guess what? When Kiba smashed his face against that tree, it broke its bark, and I managed to found several green beetles lurking underneath. Did you know that green beetles are extremely rare in the Land of Fire? And speaking of rare, I hope that this time they don't burn my order, since I only like medium..."
Naruto, sitting between Hinata and Fu, could see how both ladies were starting to grow exasperated, and just like before, Hinata was ready to tear the Aburame's head apart with her bare hands. However, before that could happen, he leaned onto Fu, and whispered into her ear.
"Hey, I know that you prefer to be the one to talks rather than the one who listens, but... could you try to humor Shino just this time?" Naruto told Fu.
"What? Are you kidding me?" Fu whispered back in shock.
"I know, but this is part of my plan. Trust me, if everything goes well, this will be of a huge help later," Naruto reassured her.
"Hey, what the hell are you two whsipering!" Hinata screeched.
"If you say so," Fu said, unsure of what her fellow jinchuriki was planning, but decided to play along. She turned at her not-boyfriend, and smiled. "That sounds mostly interesting, Shino. Can you tell me more about those new beetles you found?"
A huge smile developed on Shino's face. Seeing the normally stoic Aburame (the real one at least) making such a display was unsettling to the point of creepyness.
"Really? Wow, nobody really ever told me that!" Shino excitedly said. He gathered his thoughts, and started his explaination. "You see these kind of beetles usually leave in areas with a very specific climatological contidionts, which happen mostly in the are between the Land of Waterfall and..."
Shino continued to talk nonstop, though he seemed to address solely Fu rather than everybody else, much to their collective relief. Still, Naruto knew that he wasn't out of hot water yet, since he had to address his temperamental and jealousy-prone not-girlfriend.
"I was telling Fu that he should try to listen to her boyfriend a little more," Naruto said in a reassuring tone. "Sorry if I made it look like something different."
Hinata glared at him, but her scowl disappeared. It seemed she accepted the explaination. "Well, given that she'st his girlfriend, it should be her job to listen to that chatterbox of a boyfriend, and let he rest of us in peace."
The door of the restaurant opened again, and like it happened before, Shizune's Medical Squad entered.
"Hello there, ladies, your man Sasuke is here!" Sasuke said, winking at Hinata, Tamaki and Fu just like he did before. And seeing it again didn't make it any less jarrying. "You don't need to fight for me, there's enough Sasuke for everybody."
"Don't begin!" Sakura chastised. "You know, if you dedicated half the time you spend trying to get on every girl's pants to become a better ninja, you would be Jonin already!"
"Come on, you need to relax a little, and enjoy the finer pleasures of life," Sasuke said, as he tried to put an arm around Sakura, which she quickly pushed away. "If you weren't so obsessed with training and being a better ninja so much, people would like you better."
"Sasuke, I think Sakura is right," Naruto interceded. "Plus your constant flirting makes many of the girls here uncomfortable. Try to rein your impulses in."
"Ha!" Sakura laughed, emboldened by the blond's support. "I told you I wasn't the only one to think like that. Thanks for agreeing with me, Naruto. I knew a ninja of your skill would see that I'm the one in the right."
"Though, even if I find admirable how much time and effort you put into being a better ninja, nobody is forced to follow your pace," Naruto added. "There are other things in life besides training and missions. Like friends and having fun."
"Heh, I knew my man Naruto wouldn't let me down!" Sasuke replied, now being the one emboldened. Naruto cringed upon hearing the Uchiha calling him 'his man'. "You had to, otherwise you wouldn't be dating that blue haired wild beast."
"Wanna see how much of a 'wild beast' I am, Uchiha?" Hinata seethed, as she activated her Byakugan for added emphasis.
Naruto merely grabbed Hinata's hand, and the tempramental Hyuga quickly calmed down.
"Please, let's try to eat in peace," Fu intervened, briefly pausing his conversation with Shino.
"There's no peace in such a place of death and blood like this one," Karin girmly said.
"Come on Karin, I'm sure that there are places far worse than a mere barbecue restaurant," Fu said, before the redhead could go on a gloomy and long winded rant. "Plus, we all know you love meat."
Karin wanted to say something in response, but she merely shrugged and sat down. "Alas, disarmed before I could even begin an argument. Like a little chick tragically killed before it can grow up into an eagle and learn to fly."
That seemed to be the end of it. Though Naruto knew that his job was only halfway done. And the next challenge appeared when Asuma's Tactical Squad entered the restaurant, with Choji and Shikamaru arguing about something, and Ino trying and failing to play the peacekeeper.
"Why did you drag me to this place?" Choji complained. "You know I hate the food they serve here."
"It's not just for the food, but all our friends are here," Shikamaru said. "Why do you have to act as if you're better than everybody else?"
"I'm not acting like I'm better than anybody else, I just expressed my dislike of this restaurant," Choji insisted. "You know, your inferiority complex can be quite grating at times."
"Who are you calling inferior-"
"Now, now, let's not fight, okay?" Ino softly asked, placing a hand on each of the boys' shoulder. "All of our friends are here, let's try to have a good time."
"Come on guys, Ino is right," Naruto interceded, much to the Yamanaka's gratitude. "You just entered here. You can't haver such a shitty attitude."
"Easy for you to say. Nobody is forcing you to go to a restaurant specialized in food you don't like," Choji replied, crossing his arms indignantly.
"That's because nobody feeds exclusively on salad and egg yolk like you do, Choji," Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes.
"You know, Choji, while this is a barbecue restaurant, they do have salads and other kind of dishes low on fat or with no meat," Naruto pointed out.
The fit Akimichi was taken aback. "They do?"
"You can check the menu if you don't believe me," Naruto said, handing it to Choji.
"Come on man, you aren't going to die if you don't eat salad one day," Shikamaru protested.
"Hey, let Choji eat what he wants," Fu interceded. "In what way does whatever he eats affects you?"
"I just wanted to enjoy himself once in a while, that's it," Shikamaru said defensively.
"Maybe he enjoys eating healthier food. Haven't you think of that?" Naruto asked.
"Thank you," Choji said, giving Shikamaru a dirty eye.
"Now, now, let's stop arguing. People here seems to be in a good mood today. Let's relax and have some fun, okay?" Ino asked.
Both Shikamaru and Choji wordlessly nodded, and the three of them sat alongside the rest of their former classmates. Naruto couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, one more team to go. Fortunately, this one shouldn't be too hard," the blond thought, just moments before the restaurant door opened once again, and the last members of the not-Konoha 15, Gai's Close Combat Squad, made their presence known.
"Tenten-chan!" Haku jumped upon seeing his grilfriend, rushed towards her, and gave her a very passionate kiss. "Hey everybody, my girlfriend is here! Yeah, I have a girlfriend! And I wouldn't if I wasn't so manly!"
"Now, now, Haku-kun, we talked about this, didn't we?" Tenten said in a midly chastising but very gentle tone. "If you let your insecurities rule your life, you shall never be happy. You need to learn to look inside, and find your inner beauty and strength. Which is what I did."
"You should listen to your girlfriend, Haku," Fu chimed in. "She likes you for what you are, not for what you're pretending to be."
"See? Everybody else also thinks I'm right," Tenten said, before turning her head at Fu and nodding in gratitude.
"I guess so. Sorry, I kind of forget about that," Haku replied, rubbing the back of his head. His enthusiasm didn't disappear, though. "Come on sit besides me! So, tell me, how was your day? You've been training, yes?" Haku asked.
"I've been training in my medical arts. Because why harm, when you can heal? It's much more rewarding," Tenten replied. Despite not being the first time he heard it, it was still weird for Naruto to reconcile the real Tenten with this one. "My teammates haven't trained either. Lee has been all the time sleeping under a tree, and I bet Neji has been using his Byakugan to watch other girls' underwear."
"Tenten, you goddamn tattletale! Why do you have to tell them that?" Neji protested, before realizing what he just said. "Er, I mean... how do you know I was peeping on girls? You were focused on your book all the time, you couldn't tell what I was doing!"
"You were standing in the same spot for two hours straight, and you chuckled perversely from time to time," Tenten replied. "One doesn't need to be a genius to know what you were doing."
"She's right, Neji," Lee added.
"Shut up! You were asleep the whole time! How can you tell if she's right or not?" Neji protested again.
"How can you waste the time sleeping like that, Lee?" Shikamaru intervened. "You should use that time to train so you can soar to new heights! Man, if I only had a quarter of the talent you possess, with my hard work I'll be Konoha's top ninja!"
"Eh, it's too tiresome. Why train when you're as strong as I am?" Lee said with a shrug. Though Naruto could tell he wasn't really boasting, his lazyness was really irritating Shikamaru. "Besides, we're living in a age of peace. It's not like we're going to be needed for any future conflict."
"That's irrelevant! Hard work is a reward on itself! The satisfaction of achieving something with the sweat of your brow! Of moving forward! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"ENOUGH!" Naruto yelled, raising his voice above everybody else. A deafening silence fell upon them, as they stared at the blond in both fear and awe. His eyes rested on Neji first. "Neji, your behavior has no excuse."
"Ha! You tell him, Naruto-kun!" Hinata boasted, though Naruto ignored her.
"And Lee, no matter how strong you think you are, training, even just a little, is a must for a ninja," Naruto told him. "You don't have to train your body to death, but enough to keep yourself in shape. Remember that we don't work alone, the lives of our comrades depend on us."
"Oh... I haven't realized that," Lee said, sounding a little ashamed.
"Thanks for agreeing with me, Naruto. I knew you would," Shikamaru said with a nod.
"Don't think you're in the right here, Shikamaru," Naruto said, as he turned towards the Nara heir. "I find your dedication to training and being a better ninja encomiable, but like I said before, not everybody needs to spend every second they have training. Let everybody spend their free time as they see fit. Don't go imposing on others."
"I..." Shikamaru wanted to protest, but found himself disarmed of any argument. "Yeah, you're right. That wasn't very nice of me, was it?"
"Hey, it's okay, just don't do it again," Naruto replied, smiling reassuringly. "Now come on, let's sit, eat, talk, and have a good time!"
Unlike the first time they were there, the meeting didn't devolve into a cacophony of screaming contests. And whenever it threataned to, Naruto and sometimes Fu were quick to play the peacekeeper role before things could escalate. But overall, everybody ate in peace and had a very good time. Now that Naruto had finally set the proper mood, it was about time to set his plan in motion. He hoped that it would work.
"Hey everybody, may I have your attention?" Naruto asked, as he stood up. Everybody dropped what they were doing, and looked at him. "Let's say, Fu and I had a little jinchuriki problem, and we were hoping that you could help us with it..."
…
Forest of Death, that night
Just like they did the previous times, Naruto and Fu landed on the arena marked by a circle of lit torches. Unlike the other times, thought, their dark counterparts were already there, rather than waiting to make a dramatic entrance.
"Hey look, they came back for more," Dark Naruto chuckled. "You guys think third time's the charm?"
"So, what's going to be this time?" Dark Fu jeered. "Because boy, trying to befriend us the last time was so fucking gold! That's going to be hard to top!"
"You know Naruto, he thinks he can talk his enemies into surrendering and being friends," Dark Naruto said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, that was dumb on my part, trying to be kind to the literal embodyment of my evil," Naruto admitted. "That's why we decided to go back to the first idea and give you a good ass whooping."
Their dark counterparts merely chuckled.
"Well, it works for us," said Dark Fu said with an evil grin, as she cracked her knuckles.
Dark Naruto, meanwhile, made the tiger seal. "Though this time, let's skip the warm up and jump directly into the fun. Nine Masked Beasts!"
A massive mandala appeared behind Dark Naruto, with nine kanjis inside nine rings, arrayed in a cross pattern. The circled kanjis started to glow, turning into portals that summoned the creatures that Dark Naruto had used during their previous fight.
"Come on, I'd love to see what kind of strategy you guys came up with in order to desperately close the gigantic gap between you and us," Dark Naruto chuckled. "Attack!"
The nine masked monsters all lunged at Naruto and Fu, who made no effort to dodge or defend, much to their dark counterparts bemusement. Not just that, but they looked fairly confident in their chances. That moment, Naruto quickly made an arm wave.
"Vacuum Palm Wall!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
"Ice Release: Testosterone Blizzard!"
The nine charging monsters were hit by a destructive wave of fire, ice and vacuum that resulted in multiple blasts that knocked them backwards. It wasn't enough to put them down for good, but the attack did some serious harm to them.
"What?" Dark Naruto asked in shock. "Just how...?"
"You can come out, guys!" Fu called, clapping her hands twice.
That moment, the rest of the alternate Konoha 15 left their hiding spots, and landed besides Naruto and Fu. All of them were in fighting stances, ready to battle.
"What? You brought those guys into the battle?" Dark Fu asked in shock. "But... but... you can't do that! That's cheating!"
"Says who?" the green haired girl challenged. "The fact that they can stay here and that their attacks can harm you tells me that we can use their help to take you down. Otherwise, the Waterfall wouldn't allow it."
"What was that thing you told me during our first encounter? That they were as real as you are?" Naruto asked in a mocking tone. "Thanks for the advice, by the way."
Dark Naruto didn't say anything in response. He merely gritted his teeth and growled something inaudible.
"So... this are the guys you told us about?" Hinata asked. "Your dark sides?"
"Yep, that's them," Naruto confirmed.
"That raises a lot of questions," Shino began. "Like how they came to exist, for starters. Where they always living inside you, or did they exist as separate entities? Do we need to kill them, or should we keep them alive in order to seal them back into the originals? The metaphysical implications to such-"
Fu stopped Shino's rambling by placing a finger on his lips. "Shino, honey, forget about irrelevant questions. Just help us beat them. That's all we need to do."
"Okay. But I want an explaination after this is over," Shino demanded.
"So, Hinata, ready to take down the evil me?" Naruto asked his not-girlfriend.
"Aw, but he just looks like you. Such a handsome face. I don't think I can't bring myself to hurt him when he looks so much like you," Hinata said with a somewhat dramatic pout.
"In that case, try to imagine he did something that infuriated you," Naruto said. "Maybe a version of me who cheated on you with Sakura."
Hinata didn't have to picture such scenario in her mind in order to make her blood boil.
"YOU'RE SO FUCKING DEAD!" Hinata bellowed, as she activated her Byakugan and leaped at the black haired Naruto.
"Hinata, wait- oh shit, she's going to get herself killed," Naruto said, shaking his head. "Everybody else, attack!"
The rest of the alternate Konoha 15 members leaped into the nascent battle. The nine masked beast had completely recovered, and rushed to aid their masters. However, Both Dark Naruto and Dark Fu knew that they no longer held the advantage in this battle. Naruto and Fu had found the key to victory.
"Shit, there's no way we can beat so many people!" Dark Fu said in panick. She turned at her partner in crime. "What are we going to do?"
"For the time being, fight! These guys don't matter! If we can kill Naruto and Fu, victory will be ours!" Dark Naruto said, as he charged forwards while creating an army of Shadow Clones, with Dark Fu reluctanctly following him.
"Try to focus on those creatures while we take care of our evil selves!" Naruto told the alternate version of his friends.
"Though if you can lend us a hand againt them, we would appreciate iut a lot!" Fu added.
And thus, the huge battle began. Fu deployed her wings in an attempt to fly above the incoming army and reach her evil counterpart, but was stopped when a piece of cloth tightly wrapped against her legs, and pulled her down. It was one of those masked beings, the one who looked like a priestess. That's it, until a swarm of angry beetles descended and bit the cloth until it was cut, releasing the green haired girl.
"Thank you, Shino!" Fu said, giving her not-boyfriend a thumbs up.
"Anything for you. Now go and kick that fake's ass!" Shino encouraged her. "Though, if you're as strong as she is, how are you-"
Shino was interrupted when one of the masked creatures, shaped like a strange bird, swooped at him. The Aburame was forced to jump back. Waving his arms, he commanded his swarm to attack the incoming bird. However, it flapped its wings at a fast pace, creating a powerful gale that blew most of Shino's insects away.
"My beetles are of no use here!" Shino say no one in particular, as he took a step back while pulling a kunai. "What should I do, to defend myself from this nefarious beast? Alas, I must think how-"
Before the bird could skewer him with its talons, it was sent back flying by a powerful punch coming from a giant fist. The next second, Choji landed besides Shino.
"You know, you could have asked for help instead of going into an aimless ramble," Choji told Shino, before going after another enemy.
At another side of the battleground, two of Dark Naruto's masked creatures, who looked like monks wielding fox-shaped staves, had trapped Ino, Neji and Kiba inside a purple chakra barrier powered by seals. Kiba and Neji tried to break it by slashing it and hitting it with Gentle Fist strikes, but to no avail.
"What the hell this barrier is made of?" Kiba angrily cursed, as he continued delivering swipes.
"Guys, watch out!" Ino warned, pointing to one side.
The three ninja could see the scythe-wielding being leaped at them, and reared its scythe back, which started to glow with chakra.
"Can its attacks bypass the barrier?" Kiba asked incredulously.
"So it seems!" Neji said, as he prepared to take the hit.
However, just before the creature could attack, several chains wrapped around its body, immobilizing it completely, before he was violently launched against a tree. The chains then retracted back into their caster, Karin. Following that moment, Tamaki rushed towards them, followed by Akamaru.
"Come on Akamaru, let's save my boyfriend!" Tamaki happily shouted. "And Ino and Neji, I guess. Fang Passing Fang!"
Tamaki and Akamaru turned into living drills and lunged at the two staff wielding masked men, who were forced to jump back, undoing the barrier in the process.
"Thank you, Tamaki, I got them now!" Ino said, pointing her hands at them. "Mind Disturbance Jutsu!"
The masked creatures were paralyzed on the spot. They struggled to break free, but they were unable to overcome Ino's mind control.
"Eight Trigrams, Sixty Four Plams!" Neji dashed towards the twin enemies, ready to unleash his most powerful combo. "Two strikes! Four strikes! Eight Strikes! Sixteen Strikes! Thrity Two Strikes! SIXTY FOUR STRIKES!"
He finished the combo with a double palm hit in opposite directions, sending the two creatures flying away, until they crashed against a tree each.
"Three down," Ino said, pleased, before turning at Karin. "Thanks for your help, Karin-san. Your timing was impeccable."
"Whatever," the goth redhead said.
"Oh Kiba-kun, I was so worried when those meanies got you!" Tamaki said, as she rushed towards her beloved.
"Don't worry my love. Not even death itself can keep us apart for long!" Kiba replied.
"Of course, because I love you so much!" Tamaki replied.
"No, I love you more!"
"No, I love you more!"
"No, I love you more!"
"No, I love you more!"
The two of them started to passionately kiss each other, only stopping to breathe and exchange even more compliments, and to claim who loved the other more.
"Though in hindsight, I should have let that creature kill Kiba at the very least," Karin deadpanned.
Neither Neji nor Ino could disagree with her. Neji, however, perked up when his Byakugan picked up something.
"Over there! Watch out!" Neji warned.
Suddenly, a group of a dozen Dark Naruto clones leaped at them, each wielding different weapons, ready to strike. However, before they could a green blur intercepted them.
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
The green blur, who was Rock Lee, delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to the clones. Even if he really didn't hit any, the kick carried so much force, it created a powerful shockwave that instantly dispelled the clones. The shockwave expanded into every direction, shattering nearby tree branches, and leaving deep gashes on the surrounding trees, resulting in a rain of shards of bark and sliced leaves, before landing in front of Neji, Ino, Kiba and Tamaki –the latter two were oblivious to what happened, as they continued with their make out session–.
"Wow, that was... amazing," Ino said in awe.
Suddenly, Lee dashed towards Ino and reared his fist back, ready to punch the surprised blond. However, rather than her face, his fist passed her left ear. Even if he did punch thin air, the punch carried so much force it created another shockwave, which blasted another of Dark Naruto's masked creatures, this one looking like a cross between a dragon and a seahorse, the force of the shockwave violently lunging it against a tree, which was snapped in two.
"Uh... t-thank you, Lee-kun," the shocked blond stammered.
"There, I did it, I contributed to the fight," Lee wearily said. "Can I go home now? I'm tired."
"Not now, Lee," another voice said, as Tenten clamly walked to the group. She made several hand seals, before slamming her hand into the ground. "Sealing Art: Safe Zone!"
A circle of seals formed around the group, as they started to glow with a green light. All the Konoha ninjas inside the circle were surrounded by a green healing aura that started to restore their forces.
"While I abhor fighting, I can still help you with my jutsu. If you're tired or injured, you can rest inside my Safe Zone," Tenten helpfully explained.
Meanwhile, Dark Fu was in the middle of fighting her good counterpart, Sasuke and Shikamaru.
"Shadow Binding Jutsu!" Shikamaru made a hand seal, as he send his shadow in the form of multiple tendrils to catch Dark Fu. "If this enemy is as strong as Fu, then it's going to be a fight worth remembering! I'm so pumped right now!"
Shikamaru's excitement caused his shadow tendrils to grow larger and travel faster, making Dark Fu's attempt to dodge them all the harder.
"Goddamit, I prefered you when you were a lazy ass!" the black haired girl complained. She was then alerted by the sound of a thousand birds chirping. Looking around, she saw Sasuke diving at her with his hand coated in electricity.
"Chidori!"
Before she could be impaled, Dark Fu managed to grab his wrist and using his own momentum, tossing him against a tree. However, Sasuke was able to land on his feet.
"The hell? How do you know how to use Kakashi's jutsu?" Dark Fu asked, incredulous.
"Interested? How about if I you let me treat you to dinner tonight at a fancy place, and I tell you?" Sasuke asked, as he winked at her in a suggestive fashion.
"Goddamit Uchiha, that's the embodyment of my inner darkness you're trying to flirt with!" the real Fu protested.
Sasuke merely shrugged. "Hey, I don't judge anybody. Especially not pretty girls. And given that you have rejected all my advances for Shino's sake of all people, you can't blame me for trying my luck with your lovely doppleganger. The black hair and red eyes combo makes a nice contrast. Very Uchiha-like. That's a sign meaning that we belong with each other!"
"Fu is right, you can continue your inane flirting once we're done with this!" Shikamaru hotly shouted, as he changed his hand seal. "Shadow Sewing Jutsu!"
The shadow threads emerged from the ground, forming sharp edges, as they tried to impale the evil jinchuriki. She deployed her wings and tried to evade them by gaining some altitude, but that's what Sasuke was expecitng. The moment Dark Fu took off, he leaped at her from his standing point, ready to impale her with another Chidori.
"Sorry beautiful, but no pretty girl escapes the Uchiha sex god," Sasuke cooed, winking at her again.
Dark Fu managed to spin around herself and succesfully avoid the electrical attack aimed at her gut. But by doing so, she left her wings exposed, which took the brunt of Sasuke's jutsu, and were instantly shattered. As a result, Dark Fu pummeled to the ground.
"My wings! No!" she cried, before crashing down with a thud. She rubbed the spot where her wings used to be. "Ow... this is going to hurt tomorrow..."
"It ain't going to hurt more than THIS, I can assure you as much!" Fu shouted from above.
Dark Fu looked up, and saw Fu diving at her, the giant oak log between her hands, like a meteor made of wood. Given her speed, dodging was impossible. "Oh shi-"
The giant log slammed into Dark Fu, resulting in an explosion of earth and dirt, opening up a massive crater, and most importantly, ending Dark Fu's existence.
Meanwhile, Dark Naruto was trying to evade Hinata's aggressive assault. He tried to put some distance and counterattack, but the angry Hyuga wouldn't let him any time to breathe. She was reletnless in her attack, each blow carrying loads of anger.
"What the hell, is this Hinata's dark side or what? How is she so goddamn brutal?" Dark Naruto said, as he tried to evade her blows.
"Heh, I doubt the real Hinata is that vicious," Naruto chuckled, mostly to himself.
"Minions, to me!" Dark Naruto called.
However, no help came. Half of his masked creatures have already been destroyed, and the remaining few were busy fighting against the alternate Konoha 15. Dark Naruto noticed this, much to his desperations.
"Minions, come to me this instant!" he yelled.
"Shut up already!" a new female voice said.
Between dodging Hinata and trying to locate his minions, Dark Naruto didn't notice Sakura getting closer. When he turned around, he saw the pinkette's fist a few centimeters from his face, before it impacted, sending the black haired jinchuriki flying, and crashed against a tree.
"Urk," the evil doppleganger said, coughing some blood, while trying to stand up. "That was...uh?"
"Ice Release: Iceberg of Manliness!"
Just as he was standing up, ice and frost started to quickly gather around the evil jinchuriki, encasing him inside a block of ice, leaving only his head exposed.
"What the hell!?" Dark Naruto yelled.
"You have been trapped inside my Iceberg of Manliness! Do you know why I call it that? Because you need to be manlier than I am to break out of it!" Haku boasted, waving his arms in a taunting fashion. "And since you can't break it, that means I'm manlier than you are! How does that feel, huh? Huh? HUH?"
But Dark Naruto had no time to address Haku's boasts, as he heard an horrible, whirring noise. Looking in the direction of the noise, Dark Naruto saw his good counterpart, in Sage Mode, flanked by a couple of clones and a Rasenshuriken above his head.
"Good job guys, I'll deal the finishing blow!" Naruto told the others.
"No, no, NO! This can't be happening! You can't beat me! YOU CAN'T!" Naruto's evil counterpat yelled.
"You're right. I can't beat you. Not alone, at the very least," Naruto admitted. "But guess what? I don't need to beat you alone. I don't need to beat any of my enemies alone. I used to think that I had to protect everyone, all by myself. And that it was my fault if things went wrong and people I cared for died. But guess what? I can let others protect me as well. As long as I have them, I won't have to face my darkness alone."
"So that's it, huh? You're going to let others do the heavy lifting. You're an useless brat that can never succeed on his own, so he needs to go crying to others for help! You can't win unless somebody else helps you!" Dark Naruto screeched, both out of anger, but also in an attempt to escape his predicament.
"That's the beauty of it. Alone, we are weak, but together, we're strong," Naruto replied. "Power might give you strength to do things on your own, but love allows you to join your strength with those of others, and form part of something greater than you are. Not that I expect you to understand it. Now die already! Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
The chakra shuriken flew at the trapped evil clone, resulting in an explosion of razor sharp wind gusts that destroyed him almost instantly. When the dome was finally dispelled, there was nothing left but a crater. Dark Naruto was no more.
"Naruto!" Fu shouted, as she landed besides him. "Hey, you did it! You also destroyed your evil side!"
"So, does that mean that you also won?" Naruto asked. Fu nodded vigorously. "Awesome!"
"So, what do we do now?" Fu asked. "Should we-"
There was a bright flash of white light that blinded the two jinchuriki, and made them feel dizzy. When the light banished, they were back in front of the Falls of Truth. Upon realizing that they had passed the test, the two jinchuriki got up on their feet, cheered hugged each other. Somethign Naruto regretted since Fu was hugging way too hard.
They stopped hugging upon noticing that they weren't alone. Killer B was watching them from the edge of the lake, arms crossed, and a smile of satisfaction on his face.
"Congratulations, you two, I knew there was some spunk in you," Killer B told them. "To fight the beasts you're now ready, for your soul and mind are steady. Though, I feel I need to ask, are you ready for the coming task?"
"Yeah!" Naruto cheered. "Bring it on, Octo-pops!"
"Me too! I feel like I can do anything!" Fu agreed.
Killer B merely nodded. Though, even if they passed the first test, he couldn't hep but wonder if these kids had what it takes to tame a Tailed Beast. Especially one as vicious as the Nine Tails. He'd find the answer soon.
"In that case... follow me."
Author's Note: Okay, why was the bottom's author's note cut? Well, guess that I have to write it again.
So, I hope you guys enjoyed my version of RtN, and hopefully, liked it better than the original. I already said that I hated how criminally underutilized the alt!Konoha 11 were, especially lacking a cool fight scene. Nothing against the heroic Akatsuki of that version, but I think the alt!Konoha11 deserved it better. And as a nod to canon, Sasuke has the Chidori here.
As for Naruto and Fu's dark counterparts being beaten: I know that in the original, Naruto wasn't supposed to physically beat him, but accept his inner darkness as part of him. However, if I went to do something different, the conclusion had to be different as well. So here, they defeated their inner darkness by learning that they didn't have to do it alone, but let others help them if they find problems too big for them alone.
Next chapter, the moment you've been waiting for: Naruto will finally face the Nine Tails!
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.
So, what were yout thoughts on my version of Road to Ninja? Are you excited to see Naruto finally taking on the Nine Tails? Tell me your thoughts in a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!