This chapter is mostly just pointless violence and fighting, but I like chapters like that here and there. There's only one more chapter after I finish this.

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Hey, Tsunade!" yelled Naruto, scrambling out of the tent behind the Hokage as she ordered the jounins off to take care of the problem. The Hokage stopped and turned to face him.

"Yeah Naruto?" asked Tsunade.

"What the hell's going on?" asked Naruto. "Are we under attack?"

The Hokage sighed. "We've been receiving info that Akatsuki is fond of getting revenge on the death of their most valued combatant. They've just entered our borders and are apparently intent on getting heir revenge on your night of celebration.

Naruto shifted his headband protector on his head with a smile. "Ah, good, a fight," he said cracking his knuckles.

"You're sitting this one out, Naruto," said Tsunade. "You only just recovered after a month of being in a coma. You're not fighting. I'm sure we have enough able bodies to take care of things."

"Oh come on!" shouted Naruto. "That's Bullshit and you know it! You know damn well that only just having recovered isn't enough to keep me out!"

"NO, Naruto-kun, you're not allowed," said Tsunade. "I order you, as Hokage and as a friend, not to fight under any circumstances. You'd better promise, or I'll kick your ass."

"You know I can't break a promise though," whined Naruto.

"Exactly," said Tsunade.

"Well, if you're going to play rough like that," said Naruto. "Fine. I promise…" The Hokage sighed a great sigh of relief. "I promise to disobey your order! HA!"

Before she could protest, Naruto disappeared as she blinked. "Wait!" she yelled to the wind. "I don't think it's safe for him to fight… He doesn't have the Kyuubi anymore… Does he realize that he won't have that strength anymore?"

Tsunade had to get to her own business. "Everyone, seek shelter immediately!" she shouted. "All civilians head to two large dining tents where you will be safely protected until it's all clear!

"All shinobi under jounin rank shall proceed to the tents also and stand guard and protect the civilians!" People were running about in an organized fashion to follow the leader's orders. The Hokage had taken her role as supreme commander in a heartbeat, calmly keeping the people safe with a clear head, even after partying.

"Hokage-sama!" yelled Sakura. "Where's Naruto-kun!"

"He left to fight," said Tsunade.

"Are sure that's a good idea?" asked Sakura in shock. "He just got out of the hospital! And he isn't accompanied by the Kyuubi anymore!"

"Follow your orders!" shouted Tsunade. "I tried to stop him, but I couldn't. Im way ahead of you, so don't insult my intelligence."

Sakura knew better than to disappoint her sensei, so she went to her duty of protecting the tents right away.

"Shikamaru!" called Naruto from the rooftops. The lazy ninja was standing on one of the rooftops with a few young jounin, giving orders quickly and tactically, sending them out in different directions.

"Hey Naruto," said Shikamaru. "You shouldn't be out here. You just recovered."

"Can it," said Naruto. "I'm here to help. You guys could use me anyway."

"Right," said Shikamaru with a grin. "We've got jouning and Anbu all over the city seeking out the Akatsuki agents. It seems they're scattered throughout the entire village."

"Great," said Naruto. Something flashed behind Shikamaru. "Duck!" yelled Naruto. Shikamaru hit the deck as fast as he could. A few hairs fell from behind his head.

They faced the intruder, and it was none other than Itachi's "partner" Kisame, holding his signature sword, the Samehada, over his shoulder. "Your eyes are good, Naruto-kun," said Kisame with a sneer.

"Get out of town," said Naruto. "I killed Itachi, so what makes you think you'll make it any farther than he did?"

"You aren't accompanied by the Kyuubi anymore," said Kisame. "Are you? My guess is, you're considerably weaker without it."

Naruto gritted his teeth. Up to this point, he had tired to not think of how that would affect his fighting. He didn't know honestly how much different he'd have to fight. Now, he'd get to find out though. "Shikamaru, get out of here."

"Nah, I'll help you," said Shikamaru.

"Don't be stupid!" shouted Naruto. "You're the genius here! Go help the others! They need you more. This is a one on one duel, so play to your own strengths and go do your strategizing thing elsewhere! You know what you have to do."

"Right," said Shikamaru shortly. "See ya. Don't die."

"I don't intend to," said Naruto as Shikamaru retreated. Naruto started things off by running at Kisame head on, his fists clenched to strike.

Kisame swung the Samehada down on Naruto as the boy disappeared, only to reappear and place a flying kick to the shark-man's back. Kisame fell off the roof onto the empty street below, where Naruto jumped down in pursuit.

Kisame righted himself and twisted to dodge a kunai being thrown at him. Halfway through his evasive move though, he was punched on the side of his face with a powerful left hook by Naruto. Kisame again flew backward and into a wall, cracking it where he hit into a spider web model.

He stood up. "Still think I'm considerably weaker?" asked Naruto. He thought he'd be weaker as well, but it evidently didn't affect him much that the Kyuubi wasn't in him anymore.

Kisame smiled his shark-tooth filled grin. "This just makes things more fun."

"You won't have any time to have fun," said Naruto with a growl. He ran at Kisame again while shouting. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

Four clones appeared alongside the real Naruto into a V-Formation as they ran head long at the enemy. Kisame slashed at light speed with his sword in all directions, cutting the air in a 360 degree sphere around him. Forming a sphere of destruction in all directions. (Imagine Neji's jutsu to protect all directions of himself while releasing Chakra.)

The clones of Naruto were all cut into pieces in an instant, derailing Naruto for a second as he watched in dismay how Kisame had instantly sliced his doppelgangers up with such ease. Naruto charge forward as Kisame stopped slashing and prepared for his next attack. Muttering and performing some hand seals, the environment around them began to change.

"A Water jutsu!" shouted Naruto as water came from all directions and flooded the entire street. It all closed in on him, and he found himself to be enclosed in a very tall and wide cube of water, sealed by some kind of gelatinous membrane all around. He couldn't breath. He had to hold his breath.

"Dammit!" he thought. "I'm useless underwater against a shark!"

Something slashed through the water towards him. It was the Samehada. His reactions were greatly slowed under water, but the water just seemed allow Kisame faster movement. The cut landed across his chest and one of his raised arms. It cut deep, and blood flowed around him from his own wound.

Another movement came from behind him. He was tackled in the back by Kisame as he rushed by, knocking the boy forward a few feet. He was running out of air too. He wouldn't last in this water prison. What jutsus did he know to get him out of this one! He tried swimming towards the barrier that sealed him in, but with every painful second that passed, he wasn't getting any closer to it, like it moved with him.

"What the hell?" he screamed to himself. "Wait! It's a genjutsu! I'm… not underwater at all! It's a powerful one too. I can't break it, even though I suck at genjutsu anyway. There's not any water around me at all."

Naruto tried closing his eyes and meditating to break the illusion, but it was no use. The water was still there. Kisame was approaching again, already beginning his downward swing with the Samehada. Naruto was slashed this time across the shoulder as he dodged. It would've cut his head off if he didn't already have good reflexes and reaction timing. He stifled a cry of pain, trying to hold on to all the air he could…

But, wait a second. There was no water… So he should be able to breath. "The illusion is that I'm suspended in water and that I can't breath. But If I inhale, I should just suck on air… That'll break the Genjutsu. At least, I hope it breaks the genjutsu."

Naruto inhaled a deep breath as the warm summer air of the night filled his lungs. He began to choke as the water faded away from around him. Kisame stopped his next approach. "You figured out the only method to breaking the genjutsu so quickly," he said. "Impressive. The only way to conquer it is through taking that breath, trusting that you aren't really in the illusion you're in. As you noticed, not even pain brought you out of the genjutu."

Naruto looked at his wounds… Well, he didn't have any wounds. "Those strikes were all just illusions too?" asked Naruto. "I get it now. The whole point of the illusion is that the victim suffocates himself until he looses consciousness, and it thus easy to finish off."

"Bingo," said Kisame. "But you've already beat that genjutsu, so the only way to finish this is one on one fighting."

"You mean the way that I was kicking your ass before?" asked Naruto with a smirk. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

"Mizu Bunshin No Jutsu!" shouted Kisame in response.

While there were ten Narutos, there were also ten Kisames, and one of each set was the real person. They all charged into each other in an explosion of roars and growls. Clones were exploding into smoke and water like mad while trading blows, until none remained but the two real deals locked in a grapple. Naruto was parrying the Samehada with a single kunai.

"To overpower the Samehada with a kunai?" asked Kisame in disbelief. "Unbelievable!"

"And this is only a percentage of my strength," said Naruto with a grin. Before Kisame could question him, he heard another battle cry behind him as another Naruto rushed his blind side.

"Another!" yelled Kisame. He kicked the grappling boy in the chest with his leg, causing him to burst into fog, while the real Naruto descended form above with a kunai slash. The blade cut across Kisames back as he turned, and he painfully yelled while lashing out with his sword.

The Samehada hit Naruto squarely in the chest, causing him to fly high into the sky. He had raised a second kunai to stop the blade, placing it just between his chest and the blade to stop himself from being cut in half. However, the impact drove him sky high, where he landed on his back on a tower above the festival grounds below.

Meanwhile, down at the tent shelters, all the civilians were huddled together in fear. All the Chuunins were gathered around the tents, their eyes watching everything. If Akatsuki attacked them, they'd have to get through these Shinobi before reaching the civilians.

An Akatsuki agent landed right next to one of the Chuunins, a new recuit who'd just graduated a year ago from the Chuunin selections exam. He jumped backwards to avoid a fist, which grazed his chest. He rebounded back into the cloaked man with a roundhouse kick, but the blow was easily blocked by the much more experienced Akatsuki man.

A fist came flying from out of nowhere and hit the Akatsuki agent in the face. The man didn't even scream in pain as his body was sent like a rocket into a wall. Sakura clenched her fists threateningly. "Who else wants their ass kicked?" she asked the sky, waiting for more evil to come.

"Thanks, Sakura," called the retreating rookie Chuunin. Sakura acknowledged the appreciation with a wave of her hand as she looked around.

Another man in a black robe descended from above behind her, followed by another pair of two that helped to surround her. "She's the Hokage's student," said one of them.

"Be careful," said another. "She's not too fast though. Just don't get hit by her physical attacks."

One of them jumped in at her from above. She raised an arm to block the assailant's round house kick while another ran in at her. She jumped a little to avoid a sweeping kick, but another to her back hit home, and she fell forward to the ground. She rolled out from under a finishing blow meant for her face just before it hit, causing the ground to crack. She flipped up to her feet and ducked immediately under another roundhouse kick that was placed too high.

She twisted and swept her leg out into a tripping kick that caught a man's leg and caused him to hit the ground painfully. She righted herself as she continued the sweep, lifting a single foot high up above the grounded mans' stomach. She brought the foot down swiftly into an axe-kick maneuver, and her heel drove straight into the man's gut. The blow knocked him out instantly as she once again was kicked in the back.

She stumbled forward slightly toward the second remaining enemy. She didn't have time for a counter maneuver as he raised a kunai for a stab. She tried to twist herself around to avoid taking a direct hit, grunting painfully as the kunai became lodged in her left shoulder. She grabbed the attacker's extended hand and threw him in a seismic toss to the ground as the third person left jumped for his next shot.

The kick landed in her side as she skidded to the ground. It had completely caught her off guard. She got up and pulled the kunai out of her arm while throwing it in one fluid motion, the blood still trailing from it. The man easily dodged it. She cursed as she tried to stand while the enemy ran at her, drawing a longsword from under his cloak.

He slashed at her in a horizontal move, forcing her to bend backwards in a perfect ninety degree bend. The man was temporarily stunned at her show of acrobatics as she kicked up with one of legs into the mans face. He stumbled backwards a few feet while slashing with the sword. It caught her in the leg, forming a deep gash the completely immobilized her.

She yelled in pain as she tried to stand on it. She couldn't. At least the other three guys were knocked out. "Sakura-chan," said Hinata to the side. "You've done enough. Go inside and relax. You're wounded."

"This is nothing," said Sakura. She placed her hands over the wound on her leg and released a glowing green wave of chakra into the gash. The medical jutsu stopped all the bleeding and healed the scar almost completely. "Good as new," she said.

Something screamed in pain nearby. She turned to see Akamaru with his teeth clamped on the leg of one from Akatsuki. The man screamed in pain as he tried to crawl away, clawing at the dirt and ground as Akamaru began pulling him backwards. All Sakura and Hinata saw after that was Akamaru drag the terrified man, screaming and yelling, clawing at the ground, behind the corner of the tent.

More screams and terrified yells could be heard, along with the sound of something being torn apart, like clothing, or flesh. They couldn't tell what was happening until the same man ran out form behind the corner screaming, covered in scratches, his clothes completely torn apart into shreds. Nothing was left of his robes except a few strands here and there. The man was borderline naked. He ran past them, crying and shouting, waving his arms in terror as Akamaru walked back out with a piece of cloth and what appeared to be the man's boxers, complete with little pink hearts, in his jaws, smiling cutely and wagging his tail. Kiba followed him, smiling and praising the dog for his wonderful accomplishment.

Sakura and Hinata laughed, despite the mood of panic. "Kiba kinda still has that Naruto-ish liking for fun," said Hinata. "It's really cute at times, but he's quite the annoying person here and there."

"I heard that!" shouted Kiba. They continued to laugh.

Kisame jumped along the rooftops to follow Naruto, who was recovering from his flight. He'd landed in the side of clock tower that stood right above the time square. It was the highest point in Konoha besides the Memorial Mountain with the Hokages' faces on them.

He crawled out of the hole his body had formed, shaking his head violently as though waking up and shaking off the sleep. Kisame appeared in front of him just then and slashed with the Samehada. The sword tore through the side of the structure, creating a huge gash in the side of the tower. Naruto had narrowly avoided it by flipping up and out of the hole to land on his feet on the side of the tower, clinging to the wall with chakra(duh).

Kisame ran up the toward towards him and slashed again and again with the large sword. Naruto dodged and twisted and turned every time, barely evading strike. Finally, he arrived on the small, pyramid-like roof. They both stood facing each other. Actually, Naruto was clinging to the top of the pyramid spire, the pole extending from the top. He held on with one hand while using his feet to cling to the pole as well. Kisame stood with his sword over his shoulder below him.

"Why attack the village?" asked Naruto angrily. "They didn't do anything to you! It was ME who killed Itachi!"

"I don't care" said Kisame. "The more people that die, the better, in my opinion. Besides, it would hurt you more o see the people of your village die rather than you yourself dying. Am I right?"

Naruto gritted his teeth in response. He was right. Kisame laughed. "Right now, your Shinobi are trying to defend themselves. I have no doubt that eventually, Akatsuki will be wiped out and that your nins will win. However, this mission is just to kill as many people as possible. There will be casualties, and you know it. You know that some of your beloved friends will die."

Kisame laughed evilly, his body shaking with every chuckle that escaped him. He focused on Naruto and frowned however. "Why are you smiling, boy?" he asked Naruto.

Naruto was indeed smiling, as though Naruto also found something amusing concerning the topic. "What's so funny?"

"You don't know the Shinobi of this village very well," said Naruto. "I know all of them personally, and I even fought with a bunch of them. I'd be willing to stake my life, Kisame, on the fact that not one Shinobi of Konoha will have died tonight."

"You bluff," said Kisame, frowning still. It was Naruto's turn to laugh.

"You say I'm bluffing, but your face betrays you," said Naruto. "No, the village of Konoha houses the strongest Shinobi you'll ever have the misfortune of encountering. The Shinobi here are more powerful than you can find anywhere else. We will not surrender to death for such a stupid, petty battle that you have started. Each and every Shinobi in this town will live, while every single enemy you put against them will undoubtedly meet their end." Naruto laughed some more.

"You don't understand," said Naruto. "We are the Shinobi in whom the Will of Fire has been infused. We will not give up or surrender to you, and that includes surrendering to death."

"You are a liar!" shouted Kisame, swinging his Samehada. The sword slashed off the top part of the roof, cutting off the spire on which Naruto was perched. He jumped down onto the remains of the room. He had to admit, it wasn't going to be easy fighting on such a small space to work with.

"This will be over soon," said Naruto, opening his hand at his side. In it formed a blue, spiraling ball of chakra. "Here it goes!" shouted Naruto.

"OODAMA RASENGAN!" (I'm not sure if this is the exact typing of it, but it's the Rasengan used against Itachi in one of the lastest manga chapters)

"Well, I think we've wrapped things up here," said Chouji, dusting himself off and finally relaxing. Several of the other Chuunins and some Genins joined each other. Shikamaru joined them, jumping down from above, followed by Neji and Lee and Shino.

"Hey, Shikamaru," said Ino. "We got things covered down here. There doesn't appear to be any more."

"Just about all of them have been captured or killed," said Shikamaru.

"The rest are retreating," said Neji. "Don't worry. I've already confirmed it."

"Whew," sighed Kiba. "That was a good workout though."

"Are you all alright?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah," said Hinata. "How's Kurenai-sensei and the others?"

"They're just fine," said Shikamaru. "They're still as strong as ever apparently."

"Gai-sensei was magnificent!" yelled Lee with a triumphant punch into the air. "He kicked everyone's ass!"

"Where's Naruto?" asked Sakura urgently to Shikamaru. "He was with you, wasn't he!"

"He was," said Shikamaru. "He was taking on Kisame the last time I saw. I had to leave him. He hasn't returned yet?"

Sakura shook her head. "I'm sure he's okay," said Kiba. "He's probably kicking that guy's ass anyway."

"I can look for him," said Hinata. As Neji wasn't there anymore, presumably having left to be with his pregnant wife, Hinata was the only one there with the Byakugan. Her eyes widened and glowed for a second.

"Found him!" she said.

A flash of blue light from above illuminated the entire night sky as everyone came out from the safety of the tents, told it was safe to be outside again. They watched as the glowing blue light fell from the sky, flickering, yet growing brighter. Soon, as the light fell farther and farther down, they could hear a scream accompanied with it. Naruto was behind that light, as they could plainly see, and right under that light was the shark-ninja Kisame, also screaming.

Kisame's back hit the ground with such force that it shook the entire village of Konoha as Naruto's Giant Rasengan packed him into the earth at his stomach. Naruto floated, suspended on top of his Rasengan for a second, until the bright light faded and the Rasengan discontinued. Naruto jumped down to land gently on his feet.

"You are foolish to think that you can stop my dreams," said Naruto with a frown at the unconscious Kisame. "You should feel lucky that you didn't suffer the same fate as Itachi. You'd be dead otherwise, wouldn't you?"

Naruto dusted himself off and looked up at the large crowd in front of him. The entire village was looking at him silently with their mouths agape. Somewhere, off in the distance, a wolf howled at the moon.

"Sorry about the crater in the ground," said Naruto with a laugh.

The crowd, in a delayed reaction of coming to their sense, started cheering wildly and yelling in applause.

The party, needless to say, continued on late into the night.

End Chapter Twenty-Two

The next chapter will be the last one. This is set in stone, and then it's finished for good. But have no fears, for I will of course be coming out with new Naruto Sakura stories after this. I've got a new idea, but I'm not telling you anything. You'll have to come back and check me out some time.

Well, I definitely wanted Kisame to seem like a pushover in this chapter. After all, Itachi was the badass for the most part, and Naruto took him down. We'll learn in the next chapter of the closing elements and finally get everything finished up. Next chapter I'll get to explaining why Naruto didn't become considerably weaker after loosing Kyuubi.