Chapter 14: The Final Rounds


July 6th, 64 AFL

Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze walked into the arena, his eyes blinded by the sudden increase in light, blinking a few times he spotted the other competitors taking note of a missing Uchiha. The blonde made his way over toward his Nara comrade and struck up a small conversation,

"Shikamaru, what's up you lazy bastard, I can't believe you even showed," Naruto said with a foxy grin causing Shikamaru to snicker, "Yeah it's a drag but I'm here," he admitted. Naruto continued to smile as he asked, "You haven't seen Sasuke-teme have you?"

Shikamaru gazed at the blonde with a look that said shouldn't you know he's your teammate but before he could respond their proctor silenced both boys, "Shut up you brats, stand tall and present yourselves proudly, your representing our village after all," he told the two Leaf genin.

The proctor then turned to face the many spectators which included the Hokage and Kazekage as well as the many citizens of the Leaf who had come to witness the best of their genin in action, "Alright these are the finals, we will begin with the first match, Shino Aburame vs. Fu!"

The remaining genin headed toward the competitors boxes which were situated at the lowest level of the stands. Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru went to one and the Sand trio to the other while the two competitors in the ring stared the other down. Shikamaru started chuckling a little and that was enough for Naruto to inquire, "What's so funny?" Shikamaru stopped,

"Well Fu just has a smile on while Shino looks all serious. I'm just wondering what's going through their heads?" the Nara elaborated causing Naruto to nod in agreement as the match finally got started. It was true that Shino was looking at the blue haired jinchuuriki with a determined expression but it wasn't for the reason most people thought.

Shino knew how Fu had been treated by the Waterfall Village and was deathly afraid for her, 'If I don't end this quickly, Fu-chan's condition may be exposed and I can't let that happen, why because then the Leaf may hate her as well and on top of that…' Shino turned his gaze toward Gaara before returning it to his opponent,

'I can not allow her to battle that monster and it's because of those reasons that I will defeat you Fu-chan.' Meanwhile the orange eyed, blue haired girl had her own concerns about this match, 'I hate that I'm going to have to crush you Shino-kun but I'm probably the only one who can stop that freak,' the girl thought while quickly looking at Gaara and then back to Shino, 'Shino-kun, I'm so sorry your insects don't work against me, believe me I know how the village looks down on you as well as the Aburame clan in general.

You may not know but when I got my new headband and had my seals placed I saw your memories. I know what you've been through Shino-kun, it's almost ironic how similar our situations are,' Fu continued to smile as she got ready for combat, 'And someday I'm going to help you prove that the Aburame clan is more than just a few creeps with creepers running through our bodies, that's a promise Shino-kun but for now…' the girl looked into the boy's as she stated with confidence,

"I have to win!" she announced with pride and determination. Shino said nothing and the proctor quickly began explaining the rules, "The rules are the same as the preliminaries, fight until one of you is unable to continue, dies, or forfeits, you may now begin!"


Shino Aburame vs. Fu

Both genin stared at the other but then Fu's smile faded a bit, "Shino-kun, your insects won't attack me will they? You know, because of Chomei?" she half asked half stated sympathetically. Shino responded by sending a devastating horde toward the girl which made Fu go wide eyed for a second but as she tried jumping to safety, it was to no avail as Shino's insects took to the air in pursuit, engulfing the poor genin and giving her numerous bite marks and cuts from the little aggressors.

When Fu fell hard to the ground Shino called off his attack, "Fu-chan, I'm sorry but you and that idiot Mishito were wrong. You see my insects didn't attack you for another simple reason. They recognized you as my spouse and they would never attack that person with the intent to kill," the boy in shades explained calmly. Fu got to her feet as she cried out angrily,

"Then what the hell was that crap?" she asked confused and irritated at the moment. Shino just looked at the girl with an unreadable expression, "They will however attack you full force if they think you winning will put you into even greater peril, now Fu-chan this match is mine." the boy replied charging her full force with his insects once again but Fu responded with a silky counter,

"Blue Joro Spider Jutsu!" she screamed and just as suddenly roughly half of Shino's horde were trapped in the webbing that had been expunged from Fu's mouth. The rest of Shino's insects tried to get Fu but she began slicing with them using her kunai, unfortunately too little benefit. She finally got so aggravated she chucked the sharp object at Shino but he was able to easily block it using his bugs.

"Fu-chan your a close distance fighter, you'll never be able to reach me and you have no chance against someone who has this much of an advantage over you," Shino explained as he continued to send the remainder of his insects at the poor defenseless girl who was failing to come up with anything useful and realized there was only one hope in hell of defeating her buggy boyfriend,

'I really hope Shino-kun isn't too angry,' the girl thought as she closed her eyes and stopped moving altogether, allowing the merciless insects to continue their assault unchallenged, confusing Shino and everyone else in the arena. "What is she doing? She's just letting herself get attacked?" Shikamaru wondered aloud, "I think, I know," Naruto replied as he rubbed his stomach an unreadable expression on the Uzumaki's face. The Nara gave the blonde a sideways glance but chose not to reply,

'You'll tell me when you ready Naruto, I'm sure,' he thought when suddenly a huge eruption of chakra gained his full attention. Both boys looked on in shock but Naruto's jaw was stuck wide open he was so stunned, 'How is she controlling her tailed beast like that, I didn't think it was possible but if she could do it maybe I don't have to be so afraid after all,' he thought.

Meanwhile Fu was standing proudly in the center of the arena, surrounded by a dense orange cloak with one tail protruding from it, her eyes where slitted but that classic Fu smile never left her face, Naruto realized immediately, she had complete control at least with only one tails worth of demon chakra.

Shino's insects were quickly melted away from the girl's and the seven-tails combined chakra all of them passing from this life like she was a human sized bug zapper. The rest of the stadium where stunned as well but most of the village had only heard of the nine-tails and believed it to be the only demon causing the majority of the crowd to cheer thinking this was some sort of odd bloodline trait but the Hokage and Kazekage, as well as most of the shinobi in the arena knew the truth,

'How has she mastered the seven-tails chakra to such an extent, could it be possible with Naruto too?' the old man with the white beard in the stands wondered. Meanwhile Shino's expressions shifted from one of rage for Fu revealing her secret and the possible persecution she would face from the rest of the village to a soft smile as he read the crowds reactions,

"Let's finish this Fu-chan!" Shino said knowing he was now more than screwed and with that he launched his largest possible wave of bugs toward the jinchuuriki. Fu smirked, "Yeah let's Shino-kun,' she replied happily. Shino's bugs tried to catch the girl but her new speed made her faster than his insects and the ones that did get close were instantly fried by the girl's overwhelming chakra.

Shino knew he was finished and resigned himself to throwing a kunai when she got too close, but she was able to deflect it easily, landing a hard right to her soulmate's face breaking his shades and sending him to the floor in a state of unconsciousness, "Winner Fu!" the proctor announced and with that Fu picked up her buggy boyfriend, spoiling him with soft kisses to his cheeks and quiet apologies, immediately running off to the infirmary, carrying the boy she had defeated in her arms.

While the Aburame pair made their way to get Shino checked out the proctor revealed the next match, "Shikamaru Nara vs. Temari!" he said loudly. "Good luck Shikamaru," Naruto said but Shikamaru was stuck in deep thought remembering the day that he had first seen the terrifying beauty from the sand.

He remembered seeing her childhood, she had been pampered to an extent by her father molding her into the perfect kunoichi but deep down the Nara heir knew there was so much more to her than just that. That day, those few months ago, he saw the girl who cried tears every night that her little brother had been made into a human sacrifice and was slowly being consumed by the demon residing within his body.

The girl who was always kind to others when she wanted to be or the girl who could be as ferocious and witty as a lioness, he knew that the girl standing before him currently was not that girl. At the same time the Sand nin was having her own worries and doubts with a little anger mixed in,

'Damn that lazy brat, having some orb chase me down halfway across Suna, running through food stands and other shops trying to get away from that ugly brown thing. Not even my wind jutsu helped, that's actually what fucked me because it made me stop running, damn him, that was such a drag but regardless I have no choice.

I… I just have to kill him, then I won't feel this way anymore and maybe these troublesome ticks will stop.' she thought as she entered the arena and faced down her apparent soulmate, 'Besides I can't… I can't let him know what we're about to do to his home, it's better this way, he'll suffer far less in the end,' Temari finalized as she got ready for combat and the proctor suddenly said, "Begin!"


Shikamaru Nara vs. Temari

Shikamaru braced himself for the wind jutsu Temari had used on Tenten during the preliminaries but was shocked when she pulled a kunai and engaged him in close combat. The Nara quickly realized she was going for the kill as quickly possible and making many errors in judgement but unfortunately she was still preventing him from making any hand signs, having to use his own kunai to deflect her attacks.

When Temari went for Shikamaru's throat he was able to dodge and hit her with a kick to the midsection sending her back a few feet, the Nara snickered, "What's wrong Temari, I thought you were better than this, what a drag," he said like he didn't care at all. Temari's anger rose, "Fine, I was trying to be nice giving you a quick death but If your going to act like that, I'll just torture you instead," she screeched finally pulling out her fan and using her signature jutsu,

"Wind Scythe Jutsu!" she shouted and just as quickly a strong blast of wind sent the young man flying off into side of the wall but like Naruto in the preliminary round he landed on his feet standing perfectly parallel to its side. He immediately began throwing kunai and shuriken around the arena at an incredible pace but he wasn't aiming for his opponent, instead he kept throwing them to all corners of the arena,

"Are you fucking with me you lazy brat, Wind Scythe Jutsu!" she screamed sending Shikamaru flying and dislodging some of his weapons from the wall but Shikamaru just kept on chucking as he was thrown around in the air eventually landing on his feet again, Temari reared her fan again but Shikamaru was faster, "Shadow Possession Jutsu!" he shouted.

Temari was frozen in place as she screamed out in anger, tears manifesting at the corners of her eyes, "Kami damn it, how?" Shikamaru didn't respond at first as he looked at her trying to understand her distress, "What wrong Temari, why are acting like this?" "Fuck you, you don't know a fucking thing about me, why don't you just die already!" she said finally letting her tears flow causing the pony tailed genin to sigh as he used his clan's signature jutsu to force Temari closer to him,

"I don't know what's going on with you Temari-chan," Shikamaru started causing the girl to glare from the added use of honorific but the Nara's face never faltered, "I truly would do anything within my power to help you even if its a total drag," Temari scowl was breaking slowly as her tears continued to flow still completely immobile from her soulmate's jutsu. Shikamaru then gave the girl a rare warm smile,

"But if you really want me to die, we can die together," he said solemnly, "What are you…?" Shikamaru slowly pulled out his last kunai forcing Temari to draw her weapon as well, "If you're wondering how I caught you, you should see all the small shadows that my kunai are casting. You see I tied a fine wire to some of my weapons, as long as there are shadows, no matter how small, I can easily catch you. I know you know what this jutsu does from my memories so I assume you also know everything you feel I feel," he elaborated calmly.

"So like I said before if you really want me dead, then we can die together," Temari could do nothing as her body mirrored Shikamaru's as they slowly inched the sharp deadly weapons to their throats, "What the fuck are you thinking, do really want to die you dumb ass!" the kunoichi screeched her tears continuing to fall, "Of course not but if this is the only way I can get through you to you then I will gladly give my life," Shikamaru went to slice his jugular killing the both of them but was stopped when the kunoichi announced dramatically,

"I forfeit, I forfeit, I forfeit!" she screamed and repeated over and over again. Shikamaru released his jutsu at once but when he tried to approach the broken girl she only fled back to her box still crying her eyes out from a mix of varying emotions. Shikamaru sighed, "Damn, I had to get the most troublesome women in the five great nations, didn't I," he said quietly so no one would hear, "Winner Shikamaru Nara," the proctor announced and with that the boy went back to his box to prepare for his next match against Fu. As the Nara heir walked back he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder,

"Don't worry Shika, I'm sure she'll come around eventually and that was impressive, I thought you were really serious out there," the blonde grinned as he proceeded to the center of the arena. Shikamaru sighed as he got to his seat and mumbled under his breath, "I was you damn idiot." The Nara heir suddenly smiled as he looked at his old friend getting ready for his toughest fight so far,

"Good luck, Naruto," was all he said. Neji and Naruto were walking side by side scowling at each other as they made their way to the center of the arena, "Alright, Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuga, you may begin!" The two boys looked at each other with disdain as they got ready for a battle at least a month in the making.


Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuga

The boys said nothing as they got started, Neji attacking first trying to block the baka's chakra points as quickly as possible but Naruto backed away quickly avoiding the initial assault, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he roared creating at least a hundred clones that Naruto sent after the Hyuga,

"You're still using that pathetic trick, allow me to show you how out matched you truly are you failure!" Neji spun around quickly creating a spiraling absolute defense destroying the clones one by one as they continued their vicious assault, "I told you Uzumaki, now you're mine!" Neji screamed as he pursued the blonde not giving him any time to make anymore clones,

"Eight Trigrams - Sixteen Palms, Thirty-two Palms, Sixty-four Palms!" he shouted inflicting blow after brutal blow on Naruto's chakra points blocking off his power and screwing over his control while forcing him to the ground, "Hokage, Hokage, Hokage, that's all you ever talk about but your such a joke, a clanless dog and the bastard child of a Hokage's whore!" Naruto's anger rose to new levels as he slowly got to his feet,

"Everyone has their place for them filled out a birth, their soulmate, their future, their lives, and their deaths. All is determined before we are even born, the future is unchangeable and the weak will always be weak just like you and the Namikaze bitch," he said with venom and malice.

"Shut the fuck up you prick, I'm so sick and tired of your destiny crap, believe it! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" the blonde shouted sending in another half a dozen clones but they proved worthless as Neji struck them down one by one, "Do you really think that you're going to become Hokage just because it's your dream? The Hokage were born to be Hokage, it was their destiny to achieve that level. You don't just become it by proclaiming it, now I'll show you how much of a failure you truly are!"

Neji started his assault on his enemy again and the only thing Naruto could do for now was dodge his attacks and try to come up with a new strategy, 'Super crap, I let the bastard block my chakra, what the hell am I going to do?' he thought in a panic.

Meanwhile Hinata was having mixed emotions from this battle between two people she truly cared for, she only wanted Neji to see the light but this was getting bad, "Please tell me Sakura, there not really trying to kill each other are they?" Sakura looked at her counterpart before turning back to the fight, "No there not that serious but this isn't looking good for our baka, believe it," she said watching contently waiting for any sudden change in the battle.

Her attention was eventually disturbed by the sound of Hinata breaking down unto a coughing fit, "Hinata, Hinata what's wrong?" Sakura said in worry as she saw the blood on Hinata's hands and that's when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, "I'm a medical anbu let me help her," the masked man said.

Sakura nodded and followed the man who was now carrying the poor coughing girl and they quickly reached the edge of the stands. The unknown anbu extended his hand toward Hinata and it began glowing green as he started to properly treat the Hyuga princess internal injuries, "That's medical ninjutsu!" Sakura said impressed by the man's skill, "Yes it is," he replied flatly and within a few moments Hinata was conscious and finally fully healed.

Hinata looked around a little a little before seeing Sakura and the two quickly embraced but when they went to thank the unknown nin he had disappeared. The duo eventually made their way back to their seats, while she sat down next to Ino one thought was dominating Sakura's mind, 'How can I learn to be as good medic as he was? Who is there to teach me?' she wondered while the match below continued.

Without warning Neji ceased his assault and just scowled at the blonde, suddenly removing his headband showing off his caged bird seal once again, "You know nothing about the Hyuga clan and how sick and deprived they can truly be. You see I learned the truth when they murdered my own father," he explained with contempt. Naruto's scowl vanished slightly as he responded,

"I already know all about the horrible shit that went down between your father and Hinata's but that's no reason to treat her the way you do!" the blonde barked out causing Neji to laugh, "Figures she would tell you, fine then there's nothing left to be said, prepare to die Uzumaki-Namikaze," he said cruelly. Naruto's anger rose,

'Kami damn it, damn it, damn it! I hate this but I have to win for Hinata's sake as well as yours Neji so screw it! If Fu could control her's, then there's no reason I can't control mine!' he thought as he began trying to look deep inside himself and forming a hand sign causing a fox to smile sinisterly, 'That's right kit, you know you need my power, so here take it,' the nine-tails said from within.

Naruto was surprised how easily the demon's chakra flowed into his body but was able to cut off the connection before his mind was consumed. Suddenly like Fu before, Naruto was engulfed in a one-tailed cloak of orange chakra, his eyes slitted red, and his fingers mirrored claws but instead of malice the blonde's face only mirrored that classic Naruto smile.

Everyone in the arena looked on in shock by this new development and finally Naruto looked at his opponent with disdain using his now slitted eyes, "This is the curse that my own father gave to me, the very day I was born Neji, believe it," he announced solemnly and with that the two genin attacked each other full force using nothing but their taijutsu skills, kicking up and incredible amount of dirt and dust, blinding everyone in the arena and eventually causing a loud explosion as both fighters were sent crashing to the ground hard.

Neji got to his feet first laughing cruelly as he approached the injured blonde, he reared a kunai and sunk it deep into his opponent's chest causing two girls to scream out in fright but everyone was shocked when the boy turned into nothing but smoke. Neji tried turning around quickly but was too slow to stop the blonde behind him running through hand signs at a remarkable pace, "Summoning Jutsu!" he screamed using his last bits of nine-tails chakra summoning Gamabunta the chief of all toads right on top of the Hyuga prick.

Neji was immediately crushed by the toad's gargantuan weight and size breaking the bastards legs in the process. The Hyuga let out a cry of pain and suffering but was able to form one word while half his body was buried under the toad, "How?" he gritted out angrily. Naruto looked at him with an emotionless expression,

"You overused your eyes and that was the weakness I was waiting for, see as soon as I landed I created a clone and burrowed my way under the ground, directly behind you and used arguably my most powerful jutsu in order to fulfill the promises I made to Sakura and Hinata as well as you, from one month ago, believe it!" Neji did his best to remain conscious but was fading fast,

"Just like Sakura said I never go back on my word, I will become Hokage even if I was dead last of my year and even if I only have one jutsu to my name, I promise you I will fulfill my dream!" Naruto started walking to the competitors box but turned around one more time to face his defeated opponent,

"And I know you can do it too because unlike me you're not a complete failure," were the blonde's last words and with that the proctor finally announced, "Winner, Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto was almost inside the competitors box when the chief grabbed the boy by his tongue and brought him to his eye level, "Brat, don't you dare try to summon me for such simple bullshit again and just for this you can piss off for at least the next three months," the toad stated angry and annoyed that he had been used as nothing more than heavy ass weight.

With that the chief threw the blonde to the ground who landed with a thud and disappeared into a giant puff of smoke returning to Mt. Myoboku, planning on ignoring any call from his new henchman for quite some time. Naruto got to his feet and muttered something under his breath.

He finally got to his seat and Neji was dragged off to the infirmary when the next match was announced, "Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara," Without warning a poof of smoke was seen at the center of the arena and just as suddenly it dispersed revealing Kakashi and Sasuke looking better than ever, "Yo, sorry if were late," the jonin said simply and left just as quickly leaving Sasuke to stare down his sadistic opponent alone.

"Hey teme, thought you were scared of me!" Naruto waved to his friend with a huge grin. Sasuke turned around and showed a smirk, "I take it you won then, good just as I expected dobe." Sasuke replied, "Now I just have to deal with this ugly bastard, then I can put you in your place," he finished while returning his attention to his opponent. Naruto just warned him to be careful while Gaara's made his way to the arena taking the long way around.

"Shikamaru lets go upstairs," Naruto said without warning, the Nara looked at him about to argue but when he saw the odd look on his comrade's face he simply nodded and followed him to the upper levels of the stadium. It was within the next minute or so the pair were in full sprint and as they reared a corner and saw nothing but blood and tattered limbs on the ground.

In the middle halfway was Gaara wearing a sick smile while his killer intent filled the small corridor, the two quickly hid behind a corner letting the murder walk past them unseen. The Leaf genin gave each other matching looks that said, "We have to get the hell out of here," and raced to the stands meeting up with Sakura, Hinata, Ino, and Lee who had come to watch the finals but before Naruto could open his mouth to tell them the tale Gaara's horror his lips were sealed by a blushing Hyuga heiress.

As she separated from her soulmate she said happily, "Thank you Naruto-kun that was amazing down there," Hinata smiled brightly. "Yeah Naruto-kun, you really kicked his ass or crushed his legs if you prefer, cha!" Sakura added while throwing one arm in the air and hugging him with the other. Naruto was caught in a daze for a moment but before he could inform them of the danger Shikamaru whispered in his ear,

"Shut up you troublesome idiot, if it gets really bad we'll all interfere, it's a total fucking drag I know but don't worry them if we don't have to," he said simply. Naruto nodded in understanding and took a seat in between his cherry blossom and sweet moonlight while Shikamaru sat on the other side of his bossy teammate. Meanwhile Gaara had finally reached the arena and gave the last Uchiha an emotionless expression. when the proctor finally announced, "Begin!"


Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara

"Please don't be angry with me mother, I know that blood was foul," Gaara said seemingly in pain while he held his head, "But don't worry this blood will definitely be tasty," he finished while grinning sadistically. Sasuke had heard enough of this crazy shit and started hurling shuriken at his opponent with little signs of stopping but Gaara easily blocked them all with his sand.

Sasuke eventually relented and charged the sand nin using the taijutsu skills he gained from training and copying Lee's techniques but Gaara used his sand clones to try and distract him. Sasuke easily saw through it getting close enough to land a direct hit on the boy's face causing Gaara to stumble back and the raven haired teen to smirk, "That's your sand shield right, it's a good thing that I'm a lot faster than I used to be, now come on let's get serious!" the sharingan warrior said with a slightly cocky grin.

Gaara didn't move a muscle so Sasuke leapt into action first, "Fine I'll just come to you sand freak, funny how you'll be defeated by the same techniques you considered weak!" before anyone could blink Sasuke was behind Gaara landing a sharp kick to his ribs sending him back but Sasuke kept up his pursuit smashing the jinchuuriki face into pieces of sand,

"Is that all you've got, you're weaker than both dobes combined," In the stands an echoing duet of, "Screw you teme, believe it!" was heard throughout the arena causing the Uchiha to chuckle a bit. "Those are my techniques," Lee said with tears,

"Yes Lee, Sasuke saw how powerful you were and did his best to master the art you perfected," Kakashi replied. "Why?" Lee questioned even though he already knew the answer, Kakashi sighed, "He wanted to get stronger and even though he'll probably never admit it I think he wanted to avenge you too," Kakashi admitted. The genin looked on at the jonin solemnly for a moment before replying,

"I… I understand and tell him thank you," Lee said before looking to Naruto, "Naruto-san, congratulations on defeating Neji," the blonde shared a small smile with his friend before they redirected their attention back to fight. The last Uchiha looked at his opponent again and was surprised to see that he had been engulfed in his sand forming a perfect sphere around the red haired teen shielding him from any incoming attacks.

Sasuke tried using his taijutsu to break the shield but his attacks did less than nothing, 'Shit, nothings getting through, I have no choice, I just hope I don't have to use it more than twice,' he finalized as he backed away and began gathering chakra into left hand. Just like Kakashi in the Land of Waves his protege's chakra formed into lightning and the sounds of birds chirping echoed across the stadium. Naruto and Sakura looked at their sensei in shock the blonde adding,

"My turn next, believe it, Kakashi sensei!" The jonin's sweat dropped a bit but he simply nodded and the remaining members of Team 7 returned their gaze to their third member, "The reason I trained Sasuke myself and not you Naruto is simple, Sasuke and I, are exactly the same," Kakashi said softly as Sasuke's attack reached completion. Without warning his jutsu stabilized and his sharingan activated finally revealing his now fully completed six tomoe sharingan for the first time causing a snake to smile evilly,

'Perfect now I just have to kill Sarutobi sensei and your all mine,' the viper thought. Sasuke charged his opponent full force his new jutsu at the ready, his new speed helping more than he would like to admit, and his completed eyes allowing him to counter almost any attack. Within seconds Sasuke was in front of the sand nin and before anyone could blink,

"Chidori!" Sasuke screamed lunging his left hand directly into Gaara's sand aiming for the boy hiding inside. Unbeknownst to most several enemy undercover nin were preparing a powerful genjutsu, "Mother! Blood! Why is there blood mother?!" the sand jinchuuriki began breaking down at the sight of his own fluids and suddenly Sasuke's hand was trapped deep in Gaara's sand. Sasuke pulled away as hard as he could but when he did someone's arm came with his and it wasn't Gaara's,

"What the fuck!" Sasuke said as he backed away from the sand nin and without warning Gaara's sand shield and the creepy looking arm disintegrated. Suddenly feathers all fell around the stadium and many of the villagers and younger shinobi fell victim to it's knockout effects but luckily three kunochi noticed and made a quick hand sign, "Kai!, Release!" the three girls echoed and then began shaking Naruto and Shikamaru in an attempt to wake them from their current state of slumber.

Meanwhile the jonin engaged the enemy nin full force and the Third Hokage faced his deadliest opponent yet, his old student Orochimaru who had impersonated the Kazekage and planned this terrible plot. The Hokage and the snake found themselves trapped inside a barrier in which no one could enter and no one could leave. As they started to engage in their life or death struggle the sand siblings rushed to their younger brothers side,

"Gaara, Gaara what's wrong?" Temari asked trying to comfort her little brother, "Shit, what are we going to do now?" Kankuro said aloud and without warning their sensei appeared, "I'm calling it off take Gaara and retreat!" he ordered and then charged the last Uchiha but the proctor blocked his path with his kunai, "Sasuke, I'm sorry but the exam is already over but you should know I already consider you a chunin and now it's time to act like one, pursue those ninjas and take them down," the Leaf jonin ordered while pointing toward the escaping sand nin.

Sasuke simply nodded and followed in quick pursuit while Naruto and Shikamaru finally awoke. The platinum blonde suddenly spotted her Sasuke-kun, "Come on you lazy bastards, lets go!" Without warning Ino went after the raven haired teen, "The four of you listen close, I'm giving you an A-rank mission, follow Sasuke and Ino, and provide them with reinforcements, Summoning Jutsu! Pakun, lead these kids to Sasuke for me," Kakashi yelled as he sliced through two enemy nin using his kunai.

The four genin had no choice but to follow the nin dog in quick pursuit exiting the stadium finding themselves in the large forest of Konoha catching up with the bossiest girl in the Leaf, "So you finally caught up," Ino teased causing Sakura to smirk, "You have no idea where your going, do you pig," Sakura said. Ino rubbed the back of her head and fell into formation behind Pakun but it wasn't a few minutes later when the ninja hound smelled an unfriendly scent,

"At least ten enemies on our tail we have to do something!" Shikamaru looked to Ino who eventually begrudgingly nodded and went to stand just in front of Uzumaki-Namikaze trio, "Please just bring him home," Ino asked causing all three genin to grin, "Don't worry Ino, I'll drag the teme back if I have to, believe it!," Naruto said, "Yeah Ino, we're his teammates remember, we always have his back, cha!" Sakura added, "We promise Ino-san we'll save him together," Hinata finished. Ino smiled warmly at her friends before following Shikamaru to set up an ambush for their pursuers.

Meanwhile Sasuke had caught up to the sand nin but had been forced to engage Kankuro in battle letting Gaara and Temari move on ahead. Fortunately for him the Aburame's had their own score to settle with the puppeteer, "Sasuke, your mission is to defeat Gaara let us handle this one, why?" Shino started as he landed in front of the enemy shinobi,

"Because we have a score to settle with this prick," Fu finished as she landed next to the boy who was sporting a brand new pair of shades. Sasuke chuckled a little, "He's all yours," was his simple reply as he returned to the trees in order to track down the remaining sand genin.

It didn't take long as he found the pair in minutes but was shocked when Gaara let out a roar, "Sasuke Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha! I need your blood to make me feel alive!" he screamed in a sadistic fashion. "What is this freak?" Sasuke said to himself as he got ready for battle but deep inside he knew, the war for the Leaf Village had started and there was no going back.


"So Shikamaru what's our plan?" Ino asked but Shikamaru simply sighed, "Against this many enemies, the more I think about it, the more I think it would have been better if you went on ahead with Naruto and the others." This caused the blonde to scowl but after seeing his face she simply huffed out,

"And why is that?" Shikamaru's face remained unchanged, "I honestly don't see away we can distract them for very long without dying, there's too little water in the air for your mist jutsu to be effective. The only thing we can do now, is trap them with my shadow possession until my chakra runs out then…" the Nara smiled at his teammate but she ended up finishing for him, "Then they'll kill you," she said, realizing the truth.

She turned her head to her oldest friend with a look of determination as she said, "Then we'll die as comrades Shikamaru," the boy looked at her in shock about to argue but, "Shut up please, it's my choice, ok," she explained while holding her finger to his lips silencing him. Shikamaru huffed, "Fine, Kami what a drag, you really are going to torture me until my dying breath aren't you Ino," he replied while wearing a rare grin. Ino just smiled as a reply and the pair descended into a clearing where they knew the enemy would soon be coming.

Nine of the nin landed and started their search for the leaf genin, finding pawprints in the dirt and then without warning they were all frozen stiff. "Sorry looks like I caught you with my Shadow Possession Jutsu, guess I win," Shikamaru announced pissing off the sound jonin, "I can't believe we were caught by that brat!" one of the men echoed.

"Don't worry, he can't keep us stuck for long and then he'll be all ours," another gloated. Shikamaru chuckled, "You're probably right but maybe not," he replied and then looked to the trees. Sure enough Ino had taken the last nin by surprise, when the bastard tried to ambush the Nara and with that he turned his gaze to the sky wondering how in the hell they were going to get out of this troublesome mess.

Oddly enough the boy's prayers were answered when Asuma appeared behind him in a puff of smoke, "Well done Shikamaru, Ino, you did well. Now if you can still move go and catch up with the others. I'll handle the rest," he ordered the two members of Team 10, before the genin could blink the sound jonin were all defeated by Asuma's incredible skills and chakra blades. Ino and Shikamaru quickly obeyed their sensei's orders and did their best to regroup with their friends hoping against hope that they wouldn't be too late to help.


The sand genin quickly prepared his puppet for battle but Shino and Fu quickly scattered among the trees hiding themselves and preparing to strike. Kankuro looked around and thought he spotted a patch of blue hair sending his puppet in full force trying to use it's poison covered blades to strike the female jinchuuriki but when his attack hit she dissolved into nothing but bugs, 'Shit, where are they?' he thought.

Without warning Kankuro heard, "Secret Art - Scaled Powder Jutsu!" he looked up and was slightly blinded by the powder's shine. The sand nin rubbed his eyes quickly but was shocked when he felt something crawling on his face, "Eh, eh, what the hell how did that bastard get his bugs on me?" he shouted, trying to shake the many creatures off of his limbs and face, "Sorry, but I blinded you just long enough for you to lose concentration on your puppet and well, Shino-kun," the girl grinned and looked to the boy in shades,

"And that gave me the opportunity to latch my bugs onto your puppet. Why, because my insects love to devour chakra and your chakra threads were a great meal for them. As an added bonus they ended up leading right to you," Shino explained calmly. Shino and Fu shared a smile but as they went to capture the nin they were surprised when a kunai forced them back,

"Please don't kill him!" someone screamed as they headed through the trees and finally landed next to the eldest son of the Kazekage. Shino and Fu recognized the girl at once, she had long black hair with eyes that matched along with a pale skin complexion. On her head was a Leaf headband which forced both Aburame's do a double take. Finally Fu had the courage to ask the unknown girl, "Um, your name's Kin right?"


As Gaara let out his deafening roar the already distressed sand kunoichi backed away from the two fighters hoping against hell that her brothers would come out of this alive. Sasuke knew he had to end this fast otherwise that freak would complete his horrifying transformation. He quickly threw half a dozen kunai directly at the jinchuuriki but they just got trapped in the monster's massive sand hand.

This was what the Uchiha hoped for however as he quickly ran through hand signs while holding the wires that were connected to the kunai now buried in the boy's sand, "Fire Style - Dragon Flame Jutsu!" he shouted erupting a giant concentrated blast of fire from his mouth. It followed the wires and reached the paper bombs attached to the kunai exploding the arm and distracting Garra for long enough to prepare his real attack.

When the sand nin gathered himself and looked around quickly spotting the Uchiha in the same stance he had seen earlier. He immediately sent his sand after the raven haired teen but Sasuke's jutsu reached completion just in time, activating his sharingan and dodging Gaara's attack by inches he came closer and closer finally piercing the creature while screaming, "Chidori!"

Unfortunately for Sasuke, Gaara had avoided a fatal blow by inches only catching the red haired teen's arm, drawing blood but not damaging it enough to make a difference to the sand nin. Sasuke tried backing away but Gaara caught his arm in his sand again, "Fuck!" He screamed as his arm was crushed not as badly as Lee's but it was painful nonetheless. It did give him the opportunity to finally back away though.

This proved useless however as Gaara quickly caught the Uchiha using the sand but before any damage could be done to his body, "Get off of Sasuke, you bastard!" Naruto screamed as he created several clones and managed to get Sasuke out of the sadistic teen's grip. The trio of Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata stood on a branch as the clone quickly brought the sharingan warrior over to his boss.

"Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, stay back only I can finish this guy," the blonde stated with an unreadable look. Sakura went to argue but was stopped when Hinata put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. Sakura looked aggravated at first but after looking back to her baka and seeing his face she begrudgingly nodded and started to treat her raven haired teammates wounds.

Naruto jumped through the trees to face the boy who was more like him than he cared to admit and quickly formed a hand sign, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto's clones went in hard but they were no match for the jinchuuriki's strength quickly being dispelled but when Gaara thought he got the last one, "Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu - One Thousand Years of Death!

He heard the blonde shout behind him but after repelling his attacker he suddenly felt an explosion tear through his sand distracting him for a few moments as he regrouped, "Naruto Uzumaki, Naruto Uzumaki, I want your blood and then that pink banshee and Sasuke Uchiha as well. I will feed mother, she needs sustenance, I see you brought that Hyuga girl too. I bet her blood will taste delicious mother," the insane teen ranted on.

Meanwhile Naruto was doing his best to meditate and do something he never thought or ever wanted to do trying his best to get into that damn sewer he knew the fox was waiting for him. The next time the baka opened his eyes he was indeed inside the fox's seal and there he was standing behind thick bars looking down at him menacingly,

"What brat I assume you want more chakra in order to defeat that weak ass excuse for a bijuu Shukaku,' the nine-tails growled out. Naruto chuckled a little, "Yeah I hate to admit it but the only way to win is if you're willing to help me, believe it," he replied and then looked at the fox oddly before asking, "What's your name?" The fox actually softened a tiny bit but replied in a Sakura like manner, "Fine you want chakra see if you can handle two tails kit! Now get the hell out of here before I eat you!" he screamed.

Naruto felt the fox's chakra surge through him but was annoyed when he started getting pushed out of the seal, "Wait!" he cried, "You didn't answer me!" The fox gave him one last look of malice as he replied stubbornly, "Kurama, now go!" he barked and the next thing Naruto knew he was back in the real world.

He pushed whatever questions he had for the fox to the back of his mind as he stared down his opponent. He could feel the nine-tails chakra coursing through his body and the fox's mind trying to take control but that unknown party was nowhere to be found and he was able to suppress the majority of Kurama's influence over him even with two-tails worth of demon chakra. Without warning the blonde made his signature hand sign,

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted making his largest group of clones to date. The clones went in one after the other and this time they were fast enough and strong enough to devastate the son of the Kazekage through a series of brutal, punches, kicks, and stabs. Eventually the red haired jinchuuriki looked to the sky spotting the original Naruto with his foot coming down hard, "2000x Uzumaki Barrage!" he shouted while delivering a ferocious kick to the jinchuriki knocking him down to the ground.

Gaara just laughed a little as he got back to his feet and then grinned with blood lust emanating from every corner of the boy's mouth, "Yes Naruto Uzumaki now my mother and I will take all of your blood together, Play Possum Jutsu!" With that the red haired teen collapsed into a state of slumber and Shukaku finally took full control,

"Wooh, yeah baby, I'm free now to deal with you puny bugs," he barked out ecstatic to be free and to have victims waiting for him. 'Crap!' "Multi-Shad…" the blonde's words were cut off as the bijuu grabbed Naruto's whole body. He struggled to no avail as Shukaku's sand slowly crushed him to death and as he saw the last glimmers of light escape the monster's sand, he closed his eyes preparing for inevitable end.


When the Uzumaki finally opened them again he was surprised to find himself in all too familiar location. He saw he was standing in front of the academy and also in front of him was the boy he knew all too well, crying his poor little heart out on the lonely swing.

Naruto walked up to the boy and put a hand on his shoulder ceasing the boy's wails of pain and forcing him to face his elder self. Naruto's look of pity instantly turned to horror as he saw his younger self's face, his skin had been melded with that of the nine-tails making his face appear to be some sort of disgusting cross between human and animal. The younger began laughing as he asked,

"So we finally meet, are you ready to accept the truth then?" he asked in a voice definitely not his own or even Kurama's. Naruto still looked shaken as he inquired, "What… What do you mean? Who the hell are you?" The half fox half boy started laughing in a more sadistic fashion but replied nonetheless, "Well you see, I'm you or more precisely, the true you," he said causing the last of Naruto's fear to be replaced with anger and agitation,

"That's bull crap, I know who I am! My name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze son of the Four…" "Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki as well as the future Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village and husband of Sakura Haruno Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga Namikaze," the younger finished with a grin and then added, "Third jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed fox, Kurama!" he finished while he looked at his counterpart who was now stunned from the boy's knowledge.

The younger took advantage of his elder's state by quickly snapping his fingers and changing the landscape around them revealing Shukaku, Sakura, Hinata and Sasuke, "Let me show just how far you're going to go without me," he said with a cruel smile. Without warning Shukaku jumped into the air, "Wind Style - Air Bullet!" The bijuu screamed causing the largest gust of wind that Konoha had ever seen uprooting trees and removing branches but most importantly forcing most of leaves that were covering the leaf genin to fall to the ground.

The Shukaku laughed cruelly, "Good now for more blood, that blonde brat couldn't even satisfy me a little. I hope you'll prove more of a challenge Uchiha!" the massive monster wailed sending his sand straight for the genin. Even with a shattered arm he managed to push the kunoichi out harm's way and took the bijuu's attack full force being completely engulfed by the grainy earth. "Sasuke no!" the two girls screamed, tears already overflowing from the death of their beloved Naruto-kun.

The last Uchiha was able to cry out even submerged, "Hinata, Sakura, run!" were his last words, "Sand Coffin!" Blood splattered everywhere as the boy was crushed and killed dying as a true leaf shinobi protecting his comrades to the very end. Unfortunately the demon took little pity on the two remaining girls, grabbing them and submerging them both, only letting the two cry the other's name before, "Sand Coffin!"

Shukaku shouted again killing Sakura and Hinata, leaving them in a state similar to the Uchiha who had fallen just before. The elder of the two Naruto's broke down in tears, "Kami why? Why?" he repeated again in pain and suffering as he sank to his knees. The younger scowled at his elder's weakness before smirking, "That is what will happen if you refuse my power and just so u know Oji-san is already dead. Now what will you do?"

Naruto looked at himself in shock but his sadness turned into a deep scowl, "Fine you win, just tell me what the hell to do!" The younger snickered as he asked, "Are you sure?" Naruto almost exploded, "Kami damn it, I'd sacrifice anything to protect my friends, I love Sakura, Hinata, and Sasuke with all my heart, believe it! I don't give a shit what your intentions really are but if you can give me the power to save them, then do it already!" Naruto cried.

The younger looked at himself with an unreadable expression but finally said solemnly, "Take my hand," was his only reply. Naruto nodded and once the two boy's shook hands Naruto knew no more. Suddenly the three genin standing in the tree's felt a chakra almost as powerful as the bijuu trying to currently crush their comrade, "What is that?" Hinata asked. The two members of Team 7 looked at each other and Sakura answered as she began to cry,

"We really don't know," Sakura replied while breaking down at the state she knew Naruto was now in. Hinata looked back to the fight but was surprised when Gaara's grip was broken by her soulmate releasing a dark cruel and malevolent chakra which had possessed his entire body. Naruto was covered from head to toe in a deep crimson red cloak that even transformed some of his clothing and was just staring without emotion at the sand jinchuuriki while three long tails protruded from his body,

"Die," was all he said as he charged the bijuu full force shocking the creature with his new speed. 'What the hell is wrong with this kid? Is this that bastard fox's fault?' the bijuu's thought process was interrupted as his sand suffered brutal blow after brutal blow. 'Damn him he forcing me to waste so much chakra just to recover my sand,' Shukaku realized but before he could do anything the blonde was in front of the monster's host as he screamed out,

"Now you die!" the blonde wailed as he brought his clawed hand down to imaple the sleeping sand nin. Before this happened though two girls were able to break the spell the boy was under when they cried out his name, "Naruto-kun please come back to us! This isn't you! You're not the nine-tails you're our Naruto-kun!" they wailed and as they did all four seals that were embedded into their hands glowed brightly for the first time flashing different colors before the blonde realized he was back in complete control.

He hesitated for a moment and that gave the bijuu the time to counter, "Wind Style - Air Bullet!" he cried out blowing the blonde back through the trees but surprisingly enough he found he had the strength to stop himself just a few feet away from his loved ones. He looked down and examined himself, he still had all of his chakra as well as the three tailed demon cloak although it's color had lightened considerably almost to the point where it matched his personal favorite. He finally looked back to his friends,

"Thank you Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, without you two I honestly don't know what I'd do. I love you both so much, just please no matter what happens promise me one thing," he said to his soulmates. Hinata and Sakura both replied with a loving smile, "Anything," causing the blonde to smile back at the two girls,

"Promise me you won't die before I do," he said solemnly and then turned to his opponent, "And I promise I won't die until we fulfill our dreams and I become Hokage!" he promised and then shouted using his new power, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he screamed to the heavens. "You know the plan," was all he said and with that Naruto scattered disguising himself in the vast army he had created. "This stupid trick won't work Kurama," Shukaku wailed completely ignoring the fact that it was Naruto he was actually battling.

The sand demon hunted down the clones one by one crushing them out of existence but when he thought he got the last one, just above his head his anger turned to horror. The real Naruto was right below him with two clones using their hands to help the original form an unknown jutsu which was done before the bijuu could blink. Naruto's clone's tossed him toward Gaara using all of their chakra forcing them to dispel but it gave Naruto the opening he needed,

"Now wake up you stupid ugly bastard, Rasengan!" he shouted, sending a perfect blue orb of condensed chakra directly into his opponent's face, finally awakening the sand nin and forcing Shukaku back into his seal, "Damn you Kurama!" were the monster's last words and as he dispelled the two jinchuuriki fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"How? How are you so strong Naruto Uzumaki?" the red haired teen asked curious to how he as well as Shukaku had been defeated. Naruto rolled over on the ground to face him, "I was just like you once and I could've ended up just like you but the bonds I have with the people I treasure outweigh the evil in my soul and I know deep down you're the same way too, believe it Gaara," the blonde replied simply.

Gaara turned to face away and looked at the clear blue sky, "Maybe you're right Naruto Uzumaki," was all he said before the pair were swarmed by shinobi. Sakura and Hinata reached their boy within seconds and immediately started treating his wounds while Temari picked up her brother. "You had me so worried you damn baka!" Sakura said as she wailed into his chest and collapsed on top of the blonde in tears of joy.

"Silly Sakura, Naruto always keeps his word isn't that right Naru-kun," Hinata replied with a small smile and some tears of her own. Naruto looked at the pair fondly before simply saying, "I love you," and passing out a few moments later. Meanwhile the sand kunoichi retreated as Shikmaru and Ino finally arrived causing the Nara to sigh as he saw his crazy ass sand princess retreat back home and Ino went to check on her Sasuke-kun.

"Are you ok Sasuke-kun, I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner," Ino apologized but Sasuke just waved her off with his good hand, "Don't worry about it, just treat me the best you can for now, ok," he replied with a small grin from the blonde's presence alone and the fact that she was safe even after all of this crazy shit. The battle was over and it wasn't long after that both the Uchiha and Uzumaki-Namikaze clans found themselves in the same hospital room.


July 10th, 64 AFL

Naruto managed to recover after only a few days and was able to attend Oji-san's funeral with his two loves. After the ceremony the trio walked away solemnly but were stopped when an old pervert they knew all too well appeared in front of them, "Pervy Sage, what the hell do you want?" Naruto asked more confused than anything else.

The old man grinned before explaining their mission, "Congrats, you three along with myself are going to go recruit the next Hokage so meet me at the gates tomorrow morning, ok be good and don't do anything I would do," he said with a smile and disappeared before the trio could even blink. Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata all looked at each other confused as all hell, wondering who they were going to go meet and the fact that, that person would become the next Hokage.


AN: Wow this one was kinda hard just very long really.

Yeah Fu can control her one-tailed state with literally no problems and that initial revelation is what caused Naruto to even decide to attempt to use the fox's chakra if she can do it there's no reason he can't and he's the son of the Fourth he knows he can do it and no he would not have used it in a normal fight but Neji had to be defeated for his own sake and so did Gaara.

Seeing someone like him use that power is a much better argument than the old man he barely knows pressuring him to do it. He literally realized he had no other option in both instances.

I wish I could have done more with the flashbacks but anything more and it interfered with the pace of the story and I'm sorry for that

Because Naruto was exposed to his full one-tailed transformation on the bridge his body and mind have adapted to hold at least that level of chakra and like Fu is able to control one-tail without any real problems and after this chapter it will be up to two but anymore and gets way too dangerous with Kurama waiting to take over

I will confirm there are three personalities in both Naruto and Sasuke, for Naruto it's his own, Kurama and the unknown. As for Sasuke he has his own, the snake freak, and his own unknown persona as well

Shika vs. Temari was really hard and getting into Temari's head especially but I think I got her mostly right even a girl as strong as her can break please try to remember that at the end of the day they are just kids really and I think her distress was in reason and that is also why Shika was able to beat her was because she was so emotionally unstable and their relationship will develop more after the Sasuke retrieval arc.

As for Fu and Shino since he didn't go with the other genin during that mission there relationship will now develop for the most part off screen or off page if you prefer although they will still be around I see no reason in really exploring them too much more when the deal is already sealed for the most part and when they are not the main pairings in this fic

If you're wondering where Choji and Kiba were they were training, can't have every character involved all the time lol but Kiba's and Choji's time to be a badass is coming

Yes I completed Sasuke's sharingan with both the snake's arms messed up and Sasuke's hand borderline shattered all of the bastards focus will be on getting himself healed first as well as Sasuke which leads into the next chapter with Tsunade

Yeah Kankuro Kin bet you didn't see that one or if you did well done, yes it was Anko who found her in the forest and took her in for questioning but she didn't really know anything and after telling her story to the Hokage he took sympathy on her and gave her a home in the Leaf for now at least. Have plans for Neji like I said before but he still needs his redemption first and that starts with the Sasuke retrieval mission

Can't wait for the next one with Tsunade and having Sakura see someone just like her in the state she is in should be for some good drama lol will honestly probably focus more on those two more than it did with Naruto and Tsunade in the original but the old lady will still make all of the comparison with him and her brother and first love but since he already knows the rasengan it will definitely have to be a different challenge

Yeah Naruto tracked down the Pervy Sage after leaving the hospital that day and forced him to teach him the rasengan which he did master in seven days and he did not use against Neji because Pervy Sage told him if that attack collided with Neji's perfect defense then the shockwave could of potentially blown both fighters to all hell and I want this Naruto at least to always keep his promises, no matter how insane and yeah don't know how you guys are going to feel about the chief crushing Neji's ass but I loved it and allowed for me to make the ending I needed in order to progress with the story properly and also why the hell didn't he at least try summoning the chief to help capture Sasuke during their battle.

I haven't explained this yet but all of the crushes in this timeline were nerfed from the Soul Seal Jutsu's very existence, Sakura especially isn't stupid enough to put all of her dreams into something that may not happen and that's out of her control. All of the girls trained to become ninja in order to become ninja. It's as simple as that. Naruto is honestly the only one who was stupid enough to not know about the Soul Seal Jutsu so his crush would of been the only one unaffected

I chose Hinata and Sakura for Naruto because they were the girls in his life that cared for him the most and I truly believe he loved both girls deeply even if his love for Sakura went to a platonic level and Hinata's evolved into a romantic love in the original. He very clearly cared for them both which is the reason why they are Naruto's soulmates in this fic.

As for Sasuke I honestly could have given him Sakura but I honestly don't know how Sakura would have reacted to the massacre and especially at the fact that Sasuke might have had to actually kill Naruto for power. I do not believe she ever truly hated Naruto. She thought he was annoying but she would have never wanted him dead and it would have messed her up as well as made the plot a living nightmare to write lol

Karin was an easy choice because there are only two girls Sasuke ever gave a damn about and that was Sakura and Karin. I gave Ino her dream mainly because she did love him, she was breaking down crying just like Sakura did when Konoha decided he was an enemy that needed to put down and I do believe she would have genuinely cared for him if they were given the chance to develop properly. Really only explaining my thoughts when I started writing this if any of you are curious why I decided to explain this haha

Thank you all and I hope you enjoyed have to mention that I will be updating some of the older chapters with a few grammar corrections among other things within the next few days so be aware of that, actually should thank a random guest reviewer for pointing out my terrible use of contractions, if they hadn't I would of kept using the wrong yours and things like that without realizing so thank you.

Also Thank you gunner again your reviews are always great to hear, I definitely don't crave reviews like a lot of other writers do but it's always nice to know you enjoyed so thank you again.

Like I said before goodbye and thank you all and will try to get the next chapter which we'll likely cover everything from Sasuke's reunion with Itachi to the induction of the next Hokage and probably ending right after we find out who earned the rank of chunin. I'm sorry if the ending of the chapter feels a little rushed but really all I'm trying to do is set up the next part of the story when I do that and chances are i'll recount the meeting with Pervy Sage and the Uzumaki- Namikazes thoughts on their upcoming mission in the beginning of the next chapter hopefully within the next two weeks as per normal but we will see. Farewell and goodbye for now!