Naruto vs Sasuke: The Aftermath

by Kingkakashi

At the Valley of the End, Sasuke nearly kills Naruto and it affects everyone in many ways. See a vastly different direction after this battle to the Naruto story, than what the Canon did. There will be action, surprises, & romance NarxHin KakxKur JirxTsu & many more. Warning be prepared for the most Evil Sadistic Sasuke ever, and Sakura takes a beating in the early chapters. Enjoy!

77. Prelude: Naruto vs Sasuke The Rematch

Summary: As Naruto, Kakashi, and Jiraiya settle into their new roles as husbands, the massacre at Usuki on their wedding day by their respective mortal enemies, has cast a pall of sadness over what should have been a joyous day for them. Now a new Leaf village may suffer the same fate as Usuki. Only Naruto and the others stand in the way to prevent that. While a reunion long overdue, is about to take place between the two strongest shinobi of their generation. Our heroes will have to fight to protect not only their friends and loved ones, but for their very lives as well.

Naruto vs. Sasuke: The Aftermath

Chapter 77: "Prelude: Naruto vs Sasuke The Rematch"

---

"He…... would be ME TEME!" Naruto shouted, as his punch connected with full force onto the left side of Sasuke's face. However, this was no ordinary punch that Naruto had unleashed, but a chakra enhanced strength punch made famous by his Grandmother Tsunade and the blow literally propelled Sasuke backwards like a rocket. In fact Sasuke flew back so far and so fast that he bowled over many of his cursed-seal monstrosities, before continuing on into the forest that bordered the village. But even the massive trees of the forest could not stop Sasuke's flight, as he blasted through their trunks for over 100 yards deep causing the mighty trees to snap in half at their base to fall over, before the Uchiha finally came to a halt.

When Sasuke finally stopped, he attempted to scream out in horrific pain, but found all he could utter was a strange gurgling rasp, as the left side of his face had been caved in by Naruto's punch. So sickening was the damage that Sasuke's left Sharingan eye had popped out of its socket and was dangling by its optic nerve from his destroyed face. The rest of his face was littered with dozens of fractures from the top of his skull to the bottom of his chin. In fact, had it not been for the demonic shield surrounding him, Sasuke was certain that Naruto's blow would have taken his head off his body in a most gruesome fashion.

The Uchiha could already feel his Sharingan eye begin to slowly retract back into his eye socket and he knew the regenerative powers of his curse-seal 2 state was starting to mend, and realign all of the fractures he bore in his face and head. But so extensive was the damage, Sasuke knew it would take several minutes before he was completely healed and restored to his full strength. Minutes he wasn't sure he had if Naruto decided to press his attack at that moment. And for the first time in his life, Sasuke felt something he had never felt before with regards to his former teammate…fear!

However, Kami for whatever reason must have decided to be merciful to Sasuke, because Naruto's attention was focused somewhere else at that moment.

---

As Naruto knelt down next to Kiba and gently placed his hand under his head to lift it slightly. It was all he could do to hold back a tear, at seeing his friend in such a bloody and battered state. In a saddened and choked voice, Naruto softly admonished his friend.

"Oh Kiba man, look at you. You promised me you wouldn't do this."

Kiba attempted to open one of his swollen eyes as best he could when he heard the pained tone of Naruto's voice, as he answered and stammered weakly.

"I, I know, but I did-didn't have a choice, I, I had to fight the bastard."

As Naruto listened to his friend struggle just to speak, he decided he could yell at him later about breaking his promise not to fight Sasuke. As gently as he could, the blonde shinobi lifted his friend up into his arms and was about to Hiraishin back to Hiezu village to get him some medical aid. When Kiba suddenly grabbed his arm and stammered out.

"Ak,….Akamaru?"

"He's alive and safe, Shino and Lee have already removed him the battlefield and he's receiving medical treatment as we speak." Naruto assured his friend.

Kiba cracked a small smile and nodded his head, before he then slipped into unconsciousness. A moment later, Naruto and his precious cargo disappeared in a flash of golden light.

---

As Sasuke still lay at the base of a tree, he winced and convulsed, as the regenerative powers of his cursed-seal two state continued to heal him. He silently cursed Naruto for making him endure such wretched pain. All the while he constantly looked fearfully at the channel of fallen trees between himself and Naruto. Constantly scanning for a speck of orange color moving towards his position to finish him off. However, what appeared before him out of thin air was not his former teammate, but instead a certain gray-haired bespectacled apprentice of the Sannin Orochimaru. Who looked down upon Sasuke and said with a bit of a derisive tone.

"My, my Sasuke, what a bit of mess you've gotten yourself into yet again."

"Ka, Kabuto, wh, what are you doing here." Sasuke asked in a sputtering voice.

"Following Lord Orochimaru's orders, that's why I'm here. He wanted to make sure you didn't exceed the orders he's given you, but if you did I was to step in and bring you and the rest of our forces back to the Hidden Sound village at once."

"So, so he assigned a babysitter to me! So I take it you're assuming command!"

"No, no, you're looking at it all wrong. I told you I wasn't to interfere with you unless you overstepped Lord Orochimaru's orders to destroy Hiezu village. And so far you haven't exceed his orders, so the command is still yours."

"Then why have you revealed yourself, if I'm still in command?"

"Why to help you Sasuke-kun of course." Kabuto replied with a smug smile.

Hesitant of that answer, Sasuke stared at his comrade and sometimes rival with dubious suspicion for a minute, before he finally asked.

"Help me, how are you going to help me?"

"I'm going to help you to defeat your former teammate and friend Naruto."

---

As Naruto returned to Hiezu village in a flash of golden light with Kiba in his arms. He quickly rushed over to a building Kakashi had commandeered to be used as a Command center and Medical Triage post and upon entering yelled out.

"I need a medic over here now!"

Quickly two nurses rushed over to help Naruto lay Kiba onto a gurney, followed quickly by Medic nin who immediately began running his green chakra glowing hands above Kiba's body to scan and determine the extent an severity of his injuries. As this was happening, both Kakashi and Shikamaru entered the room and stood behind Naruto. All three shinobi looked on with concern, before the medic ceased his scan and dropped his head in resignation.

"Wha, what are you doing, start to heal him!" Naruto yelled at the man in anger and frustration.

"I'm, I'm sorry Naruto-sama, I can't save this man."

"What do you mean you can't save him!" Naruto shouted, as he took a menacing step towards the young Medic nin, only to be held back by Shikamaru, as Kakashi asked.

"Are his injuries that severe?"

"His injuries are severe Commander Kakashi. Besides suffering a sever concussion, the Lt. Commander has ribs one through four on the right side have been broken and a piece of the third rib has pierced his liver, also ribs six through nine are fractured as well and have caused a Pneumothorax of his right lung. He also has fractures of several ribs on his left side and while they haven't caused a Pneumothorax of that lung yet, that's not to say they won't at any given moment. It's almost as if he had been crushed by a giant hand. This man needs immediate surgery to save him."

"So do it!" Naruto shouted in fury.

"I wish I could, but I'm just not good enough to perform such a surgery."

"Then who is?"

"The only people I know of who can perform such a complex and delicate surgical procedure with a reasonable amount of success for the patient to survive is the Hokage or one of her two apprentices, Lady Shizune or Lady Sakura."

"If that's all it takes to save Kiba, then give him to me and I'll Hiraishin him back to Konoha right now."

"You can't do that I'm sorry Naruto-sama, but your friend's injuries are so critical, I fear he wouldn't live through such a long journey using that jutsu." The Medic said in distress.

Naruto stood in the tent seething and staring daggers and the young doctor, before through gritted teeth, he declared in no uncertain terms.

"Fine, you say I can't bring Kiba to the people who can save him! Then I'll bring the people who can save him here!"

And before anyone could stop him the entire room was bathed in an intensely bright orange light, which momentarily blinded everyone within. After about 30 seconds of rapid blinking to remove the flash spots from their eyes, the young Medic nin asked in confusion.

"Wh,….where is Naruto-sama?"

Ignoring the young doctor for the moment, Shikamaru turned towards Kakashi and asked.

"What do you think he's going to do?"

"I think he's going to kidnap and bring back here either Lady Tsunade, Shizune, or Sakura. Now it's just a question of which one of those three he's going to run into first?"

Shikamaru could only nod his head in agreement, before he softly said to himself.

"Troublesome."

---

"What do you mean you're going to help me defeat Naruto?" Sasuke questioned with skepticism and doubt at Kabuto's motives.

"Exactly as I said , I'm going to help you. I know your injuries right now are quite severe, but they are being mended by your curse-seal, albeit slowly. So until you're fully healed, I'll stand guard and protect you, although that may not be necessary. As it appears Naruto is more concerned with the fallen Inuzuka you fought, as opposed to following up on his attack on you. He disappeared from the battlefield a few minutes ago with his comrade in his arms and hasn't returned as of yet."

"You mean the dobe ran away." Sasuke remarked smugly.

Kabuto could only shake his in disgust head at Sasuke's unfounded conclusion, before he sarcastically quipped in response.

"Yes, because I'm sure the image of you flying away from his punch screaming in agony did nothing but fill him with terror at the prospect of facing you in battle."

"Watch your mouth!" Sasuke growled out angrily at Kabuto, as he glared at him.

"No, your watch your mouth! Because if you don't, I'll just leave you here and now and forgo helping your arrogant ass. Make no mistake about it Sasuke, you've got a serious fight on your hands with Naruto judging by what I just saw. And whether you want to admit or not, in your present condition, you're going to need my help."

Sasuke inwardly seethed, as he listened to Kabuto, but the young man was right. In his present condition and judging by the power of that punch. He was in no shape to fight Naruto right now. So choking back the bile he felt rise within him, Sasuke penitently said.

"I apologize Kabuto-san, please don't go, as I do need your help. What do I need to do?"

Kabuto slightly smirked upon hearing Sasuke's apology and plea for help. As he knew it must have inwardly killed the pompous Uchiha to have to say them. However, much to his annoyance, the gray-haired Sound ninja also knew Sasuke was his masters #1 pet-project and was needed to help fulfill Orochimaru's future plans. So as much as he would like to follow through on his threat and abandon the Uchiha to suffer a potentially dire fate at the hands of his former teammate. Kabuto knew if he did leave and that happened, the Snake Sannin might take his displeasure of that result out on him. So taking a deep breath to calm himself, Kabuto succinctly answered Sasuke's question.

"Apology accepted, as for what you need to do is what you're doing. Just lay there and let the powers of your curse-seal heal you. Once that is done, then we'll see about bringing your chakra level back to full strength."

"There's nothing else I can do?"

"There's one thing you can do, pray to Kami that Naruto gives you the time to heal completely, because if he doesn't, you're in trouble."

Once again, Sasuke could only seethe and glare at his fellow Oto shinobi, but said nothing.

---

When Naruto suddenly appeared in a brilliant flash of orange-colored light of the courtyard in front of the Konoha hospital, it startled many a passerby. They gasped in surprise, as Naruto immediately raced into the hospital without pause. And while the younger generation who had witnessed this sudden arrival recognized Naruto. It still unnerved some of the older generation to see what appeared to be the living embodiment of the Fourth Hokage brought back to life.

As Naruto skidded to a halt inside the hospital lobby, he closed his eyes and took a moment to scan the hospital for the chakra signatures of either Tsunade, Shizune, or Sakura. After a few seconds, his eyes snapped open and he uttered one word.

"There!"

Naruto then took off and crashed through the doors of the stairwell off to the side and sped up the stairs towards the signature he had found.

Meanwhile, as Naruto was speeding up the stairs, Sakura and two nurses were exiting an O.R. Room, while pulling off their surgical masks and peeling off their gloves and scrubs. One of the nurses was Sakura's apprentice student Moegi of the Konohamaru Corp, who turned to Sakura and stated in glowing admiration.

"Sakura-sensei, you were magnificent in there!"

Sakura blushed a bit at the enthusiastic praise of the young girl, before she replied.

"Oh stop it Moegi, what I did wasn't that extraordinary. It was just a simple Appendicitis procedure that's all. With a couple more years of training, you'll be doing those surgeries just as easily as I did."

It was then the other nurse in the group spoke up and said.

"Don't sell yourself short Sakura-sama, that appendix was ready to blow at any moment. One slip of the chakra scalpel and it would have popped like a balloon. Then we would have had a real mess on our hands. I'm a bit older than the two of you and have assisted in surgeries with both Lady Tsunade and Shizune-sama and you deftly handle a chakra scalpel with every bit of control and skill as they do."

"Arigato (Thank you) Kazane." Sakura replied to the young woman, while bowing her head slightly in a show of gratitude.

It was at that moment the doors at the end of the hall leading to the hospital stairwell burst open and a very familiar shinobi dressed in an orange stood in the doorway.

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise.

"Boss!" Moegi cried out in equal shock as her mentor.

Naruto's head quickly swiveled from side to side, as he anxiously searched the hospital floor. When his probing gaze fell upon Sakura at the end of hall, he sprinted towards her without delay. When he reached his former teammate, Naruto rapidly said in a panicked voice.

"Sakura-chanyougottocomewithmerightnow!Kiba'sbeenhurtrealbadandyou'vegottosavehim!"

It took a few seconds for Sakura to get over her initial shock at seeing Naruto, as she knew he was supposed to be serving on the front-line of the border with the Rice Country. However, when she did recover, she stammered in confusion and peppered him with questions.

"Nar-Naruto, Sl-slow down! I can't understand you. Why are you here? Where do I need to go? What's this about Kiba?"

Naruto inhaled and exhaled a deep breath, before he answered in a slower cadence, yet still with an urgent tone to his voice.

"I said Sakura-chan, that I need you to come with me right now. Kiba's been hurt and it's really bad. If you don't come with me he's going to die!"

"Oh Kami, what happened, I mean what's wrong with him?"

"Kiba fought against Sasuke and …...lost. The teme busted him up pretty badly and I don't know all the medical lingo about all of his injuries, but one of his ribs has punctured his liver and the Medic nin says he's not good enough to save Kiba, but that you are. So can we please stop talking so I can get you to Kiba and you can save him!"

"A perforated liver, oh Kami that's serious! He could bleed out very quickly from that, but I don't think we can travel that far to the front-line in time to save him Naruto!" Sakura cried out in distress.

"Don't worry about the time, I can get us there in less than a minute using the Flying Thunder God technique."

"Oh right of course! Moegi go grab my emergency surgical kit and Kazane go to the blood bank and get as much O- blood that we have in stock. Both of you, please hurry back!" Sakura quickly ordered.

Both women nodded and ran off in different directions, while Sakura racked her brain trying to think of anything else she might need for the surgery. Suddenly, she turned and ran down the hallway and entered the pharmaceutical room on that floor. A couple of minutes later, she came back out and raced back to Naruto, stuffing various medicines and drugs into a bag as she went. Upon reaching Naruto, Moegi and Kazane arrived a few seconds later.

"Here's your surgical kit Sakura-sensei."

"I'm sorry Sakura-sama, I got all the O- blood we had, but it wasn't very much. You know it's one of the rarest of all the blood types. I don't think we have enough for an operation of this magnitude." Kazane lamented in sadness.

"Then we will just have to get some blood transfusions from people when we get there!" Sakura boldly declared.

"We?"

Sakura winced slightly upon hearing Kazane's query and realized she hadn't even asked the young woman or Moegi for that matter. If they would be willing to travel to the front-lines and assist her with this surgery. Bowing her head, Sakura with contrition etched in her voice apologized and asked.

"I apologize Kazane and to you as well Moegi, I should have asked this at the very start. I know that the both of you must be a bit tired from the surgery we just completed. But I'm going to need both of you to help assist me with this operation for Kiba. He doesn't have the time for me to go searching for other qualified surgical nurses to help me. So I humbly ask, will you both go with me and help save the life of Naruto and my own friends life?"

"Of course I'll go with you Sakura-sama. The Leaf village can't afford to lose any of the brave shinobi protecting us. Let alone one of the famous Konoha 11!" Kazane proclaimed with zeal.

'The Konoha 10 now.' Naruto thought to himself with sorrow, as even after several months, he still mourned the loss of his friend Chouji.

"I'll go to Sakura-sensei, you don't even have to ask!" Moegi excitedly declared.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow after hearing this and he turned his gaze towards Sakura. The pink-haired kunoichi caught the look of doubt in Naruto's face about Moegi. Looking Naruto square in his eyes, she gave him a firm nod of her head towards him. Silently conveying her belief and confidence that her student could not only help, but also handle any situation called upon for her to do. Naruto paused a moment, as he thought about Moegi, before he nodded his head in agreement signifying that he trusted Sakura's judgment on the matter. He then spoke up and asked.

"Is everyone ready then?"

"Hai, we're ready."

"Ok, before we go." Naruto stated, as he quickly went through a series of hand-seals and called out.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." (Shadow Clone Technique)

A second later, a shadow clone appeared in a plume of smoke and Naruto ordered.

"Go find baa-chan and report to her everything that's going on. Then I want you to find Hina-hime and check on her. Let her know I'm ok and that I love and miss her very much. Do not I repeat, do not saying anything else about what's happening to her. Do you understand?"

"I understand, I won't say anything to the boss lady other than what you've told me to say." The clone responded, while giving a salute.

"I believe you might find Lady Tsunade at Hokage Tower." Sakura interjected into the conversation.

Naruto's clone gave a quick nod towards Sakura, before it sprinted down the hallway and out the stairwell doors. As the trio of ladies watched the clone race away. They didn't notice Naruto move behind them, until two muscular arms wrapped around the waists of Sakura and Kazane. Pulling both of them close to his body and causing the young nurse to squeal in surprise and giggle out.

"Oh my!"

Sakura couldn't blame Kazane's verbal reaction or the blush she now sported upon her face, as she herself fought to control her own blush. For it wasn't that long ago, before Rock Lee came into her life that Sakura herself on more than one occasion had fantasized about what it would feel like to be held in Naruto's arms and pressed against his muscular body. And now that it was happening and though she hated to admit it. The sensation of it all was causing some...yearnings to stir within her body. Sakura's attention from her internal struggle was snapped back to reality, when she heard Naruto say.

"Moegi, move around to the front of me and wrap your arms around my chest."

The grin that appeared lit up Moegi's face, as she quickly complied with Naruto's request. Both Sakura and Kazane felt a slight twinge of envy, as they watched the young kunoichi close her eyes and snuggle her cheek deep into Naruto's chest, while wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she could.

Naruto, oblivious to all of the reactions of the three women stated.

"I should warn all of you, since you're not use to traveling by the Flying Thunder God technique. When we arrive you may feel a bit dizzy and disoriented. Don't worry about that, it will quickly pass. Alright, hang on tight because here we go."

Naruto then raised his right hand and in doing so, much to Sakura's chagrin inadvertently pulled her even tighter into his body, as he placed his two forefingers to his temple and a second later. All four of them disappeared in an blazing flash of orange light.

---

Back in Hiezu village, Kakashi and Shikamaru were crouched over a table examining with scrutiny a map of of the village, They were looking for any weaknesses of the defensive fortifications being set up off the recommendations of Shikamaru. After a few minutes, they both rose in unison and each of them exhaled a sigh, before Kakashi commented in approval.

"It's a good battle plan you've devised to not only defend the village, but to also inflict the maximum amount of damage to the enemy from the forces we have available. I can't find any fault in what you've come up with."

"Thank you Commander, but the plan does have one potentially significant fault to it." Shikamaru replied with concern.

"What fault is that?" Kakashi asked in curiosity.

"It's troublesome, but my plan is totally contingent upon Sasuke still being a complete idiot when it come to strategic thinking and planning. So long as he does what we expect him to do in his attack, we should be fine. If he doesn't, then we could have...problems."

Well, from what Kiba's NCO Renzo reported, as to how Sasuke attempted to attack the village previously. I don't think he's going to deviate from his original plan. He's supremely confident that he has enough forces to simply overwhelm us and take the village by sheer brute force. And knowing him, I think the only change he'll make to his plan will be that he won't just send a portion of his army to attack as he did before. He'll send all of his monstrosities at us in one massive attack to take the village."

"I hope you're right, because that's what I'm counting on for my plan to work."

At that moment, Rock Lee and his NCO a young ninja named Gero strode into the Command HQ and Lee snapped off a crisp salute to both Kakashi and Shikamaru, before he then launched into his report.

"Commander Kakashi, the fortifications devised by Major Nara have been completed and are in place sir."

"Very good Lt. Lee, and what is the radius of of the defenses?"

"Two blocks around the main gate per the Major's orders sir However..."

"What is it Lt?"

"There are three village structures within the defensive perimeter. What should we do about those sir?"

"Any thoughts Major Nara?"

Shikamaru took a minute to consider the problem, before he then ordered.

"Remove anything of value from the buildings and then fill each of them with as much crude oil and explosives we have available. We'll detonate them once all the rats are in our trap."

"See to that at once Gero." Lee ordered his subordinate, who saluted and then quickly left to carry out those orders.

"What about the main gate Lee?" Shikamaru then asked.

"It has been rigged and set so it will not close properly. It will appear to the enemy that it has been broken somehow, as per your orders."

Kakashi looked over to Shikamaru, who nodded his head in approval, before he then openly stated.

"We still haven't decided who's going to close the door once they get inside?"

"I'll be closing the door to your trap personally. Kakashi calmly replied.

Lee walked over to the table and briefly studied the map Kakashi and Shikamaru had been looking at earlier. After a few moments, Lee rose up and announced with admiration.

"It is an excellent plan you've come up with Shikamaru. The flames of youth of should burn very hot and bright for our forces when the battle commences."

"Thanks Lee, I appreciate it."

Then, without warning, the entire room was bathed in a flash of orange-colored light, as Naruto appeared with three women draped upon his body.

"Sakura-chan!" Lee cried out, as he saw his girlfriend let go of Naruto and step away, before she began to waver on her feet and then started to fall to the ground.

Almost instantly and displaying an amazing burst of speed, Lee was by Sakura and caught her in his arms before she hit the floor.

"Lee-kun!" Sakura blinked in surprise, as he gently lifted her back onto her feet and asked with concern.

"My sweet cherry blossom, are you alright?"

"Hai, I'm fine, I just..." Sakura began to say, before she paused a moment.

Suddenly, Sakura grabbed the back of Lee's head and brought his lips crashing down upon her own in a smoldering kiss. This action stunned everyone in the room who could only look on wide-eyed and in silence at the passionate scene before them. After a minute, the loving couple finally broke away from one another. Both of them panting slightly from the effort, as Sakura brought her hand up to gently stroke Lee's cheek and said.

"Arigato Lee-kun, I, I needed that."

The pink-haired kunoichi then turned her attention to Kakashi and Shikamaru and sternly asked.

"Where's Kiba?"

Before either man, who were both a bit speechless at what they had just witnessed, and before they could answer her question. A voice rang out from the doorway of the adjoining room.

"Sakura-sama, Lt. Inuzuka is in this room!"

"Medic Ryota, it's good to see you. What's the status of the patient and give me a full report of his injuries. Sakura offered in greeting, as she marched towards the young man followed close behind by Kazane and Moegi.

Ryota's chest swelled with pride and he felt honored that the apprentice of the Hokage herself knew who he was and the man quickly reported.

"The Lt. Commander has been unconscious since he was brought in, but he is stable right now. However, his vitals have been slowly dropping. As for his injuries, the Lt. has suffered many Contusions, Lacerations, and possibly one or more Hemotomas, however none of these appear to be life threatening. Of the more serious injuries, the Lt. shows signs of suffering a grade 4 concussion. Of his internal injuries, his ribs one through four on the right side have been broken and a piece of the third rib has pierced his liver, also ribs six through nine are fractured as well and have caused a Pneumothorax of his right lung. He also has fractures of several ribs on his left side and while they haven't caused a Pneumothorax of that lung yet, that's not to say they won't at any given moment."

"My Kami, how could he have suffered such injuries?" Sakura openly remarked in disbelief.

"I know, as I mentioned to Commander Kakashi earlier, it's as though a giant hand grabbed the Lt. and squeezed him with crushing force."

"Or a giant winged claw!" Naruto spat bitterly, as he had entered the room followed by Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Lee.

Sakura's breath hitched in her throat, as she had seen Sasuke in his Curse-seal 2 form during the Battle of Konoha and knew exactly what Naruto was talking about. The pink-haired apprentice of Tsunade took a moment to clear her throat and her mind, before she then spoke with absolute authority ringing in her voice, as she began giving orders to various people.

"Kazane and Moegi, go prep three beds for setup for blood transfusions and have a fourth one on standby if necessary. Shikamaru, I need you to get me three men from our forces with O- blood type and I need them here asap. Medic Ryota, you'll assist me in getting Kiba prepped for surgery. Commander Kakashi, I need assurance from you that this building is secured and protected during the battle. I can't be fighting off any curse-seal monsters, when I've got Kiba's chest cracked open."

Except for Kazane and Moegi, who both immediately went into action, everyone else stood around dumbfounded, as they tried to process all of Sakura's orders.

"Now!" Sakura's voice boomed throughout the room, shocking everybody out of their stupor.

"R, right." Shikamaru stammered, before he hurriedly left the room to pull the files of all the Leaf shinobi present within Hiezu village.

"At once Sakura-sama." Medic-nin Ryota replied with a salute, before heading over to attend to Kiba.

"I'll increase the security protection detail of this building Sakura, before the battle commences. You won't have to worry about any interruptions during your surgery, I promise you. Lt. Lee, come with me." Kakashi assured his former student, before he and her boyfriend exited the room.

As Sakura turned to go help Ryota get Kiba prepped for surgery, Naruto spoke up and offered.

"If Kiba needs blood, you can have some of mine."

Sakura turned around and flashed a small smile to her former teammate, once again amazed at his unwavering selflessness. Here he was about to have literally the fight of his life, yet he's still thinking of the well being of others over himself. Sakura shook her head sadly, as memories of how she had treated him when they were teammates, reared their ugly head, as they did from time to time within her mind. And once again, she silently cursed herself for not seeing or recognizing back then how truly special Naruto had always been. Quickly wiping a tear away from her eye, the pink-haired kunoichi said.

"That's very kind of you to offer, but your blood type is B+, so it won't work for Kiba."

"How is it you know my blood type and back at the hospital, you also knew Kiba's blood type without looking it up?" Naruto questioned in interest.

Sakura paused a second, before she softly answered.

"I've memorized the blood types of all of our friends Naruto-kun."

"All of us!" Naruto blurted in disbelief.

Sakura merely nodded her head in affirmation, before a shout from Ryota at the other side of the room captured their attention.

"Sakura-sama, Naruto-sama, Lt. Inuzuka is regaining consciousness.

---

As Sakura and Naruto were rushing over to check on Kiba. Shikamaru sat at a desk in the adjoining room serving as Command HQ. Grumbling to himself about troublesome bossy females, he checked file after file of the Leaf shinobi available for their blood type. As this was happening, Kakashi was issuing orders to Rock Lee."

"Lt. I want you to pull five members from your squad and have them report to Lt. Aburame who is in charge of the security and protection of this Command HQ and of the adjacent Medical Triage center."

"Hai Commander, those men will be disappointed that they will be unable to display their flames of youth in battle. However, the protection of the Command and Medical centers along with my beloved Sakura-chan is of vital importance and must be kept safe. Which is why I would like to volunteer to be part of that protection detail sir."

Kakashi considered Lee's request, but ultimately decided to dismiss it for two reasons. The first reason was the fact that Rock Lee was one of the strongest and skilled fighters he had under his command, and he would need that strength and skill for the upcoming battle. The second reason was that Lee had specifically mentioned Sakura in his request. And Kakashi feared that if the Command and Medical centers did fall under attack. Lee's focus and attention would most likely be to protect her over anything else. Kakashi couldn't blame Lee for that, as the silver-haired Jounin knew he would probably do the same thing if it was Kurenai in the next room.

"I'm sorry Lt, but I'm going to have to deny your request. I need your flames of youth out on the battlefield to not only help in defeating our enemies, but to also inspire your fellow comrades around you."

Lee was disappointed at the denial of his request, but his spirit lifted when heard Kakashi's reasons for why he was denying it. Yo hear the legendary Jounin and his own sensei's eternal rival speak so eloquently about the flames of youth. It filled the green-clad shinobi with a sense of pride, before he gave a vigorous salute and declared.

"Hai Commander, I and my flames of youth shall not let you down sir!"

Lee then turned around and quickly exited the HQ to carry out Kakashi's orders.

"I need your flames of youth, ha! What a crock. You complain about that philosophy of Gai-sensei more than anyone else I know." Shikamaru sarcastically accused his commander.

Kakashi exhaled a weary sigh, before he responded to his second in command.

"Maybe that's true, but you know as well as I do that every shinobi has different motivations or inspirations that they carry into combat to help them fight. And if mentioning the flames of youth inspires that young man to battle with the unrelenting fervor and zeal I've seen Gai fight with. Then I see no harm in using it."

"You have point, although I grew up with Rock and I doubt he needs much inspiration. As the intensity at which he fights is already through the roof."

Just as Kakashi was about to retort, Shikamaru suddenly bellowed, as he slapped a file on top of two others.

"Finally, leave it to Kiba to have such a pain in the ass blood type!"

Shikamaru then called out to one of the two shinobi standing guard outside and when the man entered he ordered.

"I need you to find each of these three men and have them report to the Medical Triage center at once. You'll find each of their names and the unit they are attached to on this paper."

"Hai Major!" The shinobi acknowledged with a salute, before he left the building.

"Well, that should make Sakura happy." Kakashi openly commented.

"What a drag, I hope so. You know one of the few benefits of being assigned to this post is that it got me away from all the troublesome bossy women back home who inundate my life like a plague and what happens. Another one of those women gets dropped into my lap by Naruto and starts barking orders at me like I'm a Genin fresh out of the academy." Shikamaru groused in irritation.

"I would have thought you'd be used to taking orders from bossy women such as Ino, your mother, your wife, and even the Hokage." Kakashi quipped in amusement.

"That's not the point. I have to do that back in the Leaf village, because I have no say with any of those troublesome women you just mentioned. But out here, I thought I was free from having to do that, and then Sakura shows up. You do know we both outrank her, yet you jumped to follow her orders like everyone else."

"That's true, but if I recall correctly, you were the first one to jump and follow Sakura's orders."

"It, it was a conditioned reflex, that, that's all." The Nara heir stammered in embarrassment.

Kakashi gave a small laugh, before he flung an arm around Shikamaru's shoulder jovially commented.

"Well, I wouldn't worry. I don't think Sakura is trying to take over my command or usurp our authority. She's just worried about Kiba and that's her sole focus at the moment. You see, when it comes to medical emergencies, I've found over the years that Medics tend to ignore rank. As all they want to do is what's best for their patient. Also, you've put up a good front, but I don't believe you're as mad as you're pretending to be about Sakura arrival."

Shikamaru exhaled heavy sigh, before he then admitted the truth.

"Troublesome, I know Sakura isn't trying to take over command, and I know she was calling out orders because of the medical emergency with Kiba. And you're right, I'm not really mad at her at all. I don't know, I think I'm complaining, just to be complaining about something. Maybe I'm just stressing out waiting to see what Sasuke's going to do?"

"As if on cue, a deep thunderous, yet still recognizable voice to the two shinobi resonated from outside the main gate throughout the village. It was so powerful, it actually caused the building to vibrate, as it roared out one name.

"NARUTO!"

---

As Naruto and Sakura rushed over to Kiba, they gazed down with sympathy at their friend. Kiba could barely open his severely swollen eyes and his vision was hazy at best. However, though her face was blurry, he recognized the unmistakable mop of pink hair and in a weakened and raspy coughing voice asked.

"Sak-Sakura (cough), what are you doing here?"

"I'm here Kiba-kun, because I heard you went and got yourself hurt protecting this village."

"Oh man, if you got called in, I must be more than just hurt, (cough)."

"Don't worry about that, you're going to be fine. I just got called in to help with a minor complication on one of your injuries that's all." Sakura assured her friend, trying to downplay how serious some of Kiba's injuries were.

However, it didn't fool Kiba, as with his canine senses, he was able to pick up on subtle changes with Sakura both verbally and biologically within her.

"You're a terrible liar Sakura. They don't call in one of the best Medical-nin's in all the Elemental nations to deal with...minor complications, but that's ok. I won't even ask what's wrong with me, as it would probably just freak me out (cough). But I do feel a lot better knowing I've got one of the best and a friend working on me."

Sakura's heart swelled with gratitude upon hearing Kiba's belief and confidence in her, as well as him calling her a friend. For it had taken Sakura a long time to win over Kiba and earn his forgiveness for hurting Naruto and in some ways his own teammate Hinata in the past. And to now hear him say that he did consider her a friend filled Sakura's entire being with strength and determination, as she leaned closer and declared with conviction.

"Kiba-kun you're going to fine, I promise, I'm going to take care of you! Soon you'll be back in the Leaf village, bouncing unruly customers from Ichiraku's in no time."

Kiba gave a small laugh at hearing this, before he then asked.

"Ha,(cough), thanks, but how did you get here so fast?"

"Naruto came and got me."

"Naruto's here!" Kiba exclaimed in shock.

"I'm here Kiba, don't you remember?" Naruto answered with concern, as he moved closer to Kiba.

"Yeah,...um I mean no,...Um I mean sort of, damn it why is everything so fuzzy?" Kiba growled in confusion.

"You've suffered a bad concussion, just lean back and try to relax. The memory lapses should only be temporary." Sakura stated with assurance, as she could hear the frustration in his voice.

Kiba did as Sakura ordered and after a minute, he spoke up and announced.

"(Cough) I do remember you now Naruto. You came in the nick of time to save my sorry ass from getting aced by Sasuke. Thanks for that buddy."

"No need to thank me, you'd have done the same for me."

Kiba then hesitantly asked.

"You're not going to yell at me for breaking my promise to you about not fighting Sasuke are you?(Cough)"

"Nah, by the looks of it, you've already had a pretty rough day. Maybe after Sakura-chan gets you fixed up and after I go take care of the teme right now, I can yell at you then," Naruto responded merrily and in good-humor.

Upon hearing Naruto speak of facing Sasuke, Kiba's hand shot out to grip his friend's arm. Before he then spoke in a tone laced with a tone of sternness and seriousness Naruto had never heard before from his friend.

"Naruto, (cough-cough) I know at one time Sasuke was your teammate and maybe even your friend, but that Sasuke no longer exist. What he is now is every bit as monstrous, as those freaks he brought with him to attack and kill everyone in this village. He's evil Naruto (cough-cough), during our fight, Sasuke bragged about being the one to crucify Commander Mamoru and the others back at Usuki village."

Sakura gasped in shock after hearing this, while Naruto clenched his hands into fists, as Kiba continued on in a choked voice at what he was about to reveal next.

"But, but that's not the worst of it. That, that bastard also joked about killing Chouji, he laughed about it (cough-cough)."

"He laughed about killing Chouji." Naruto uttered in a monotone voice, that belied no emotion.

"However, both Kiba and Sakura could sense and feel the killing intent rise within their friend with each passing second.

Kiba let loose a string of coughing and he was starting to drift off, before he shook his head to try and revive himself, as he carried on.

"(Cough-cough-cough) I'm telling you all of this, because I need you to understand the Sasuke you once knew died a long time ago. And what remains now, is nothing more than a vicious animal that needs to be put down...forever! I tried to do it, but failed. I know now that you truly are the only one who can do it (cough-cough). But don't show him any mercy in your fight, because if you do Sasuke will kill you. And Hinata doesn't deserve to become a widow so soon and your kid shouldn't have to grow up without a father. Believe me, I know what that's like (cough-cough-cough)."

Kiba then squeezed Naruto's arm and said.

"I know I'm being hypocritical to ask this of you. But promise me you won't hesitate to kill that son of a bitch because of the past connections you two once shared. Take that piece of shit out once and for all (cough-cough)! Because if anyone deserves to be sent to Hell for the sins they've committed, it's Sasuke...he's earned it (cough-cough-cough)."

Naruto stood in rigid silence, as Kiba's hand fell from his arm, as the Inuzuka was too weak to continue to hold it. After a moment, the blonde Jounin turned his gaze towards Sakura and seemingly tried to peer directly into her soul. Naruto had heard from all of his friends upon his return to the village from his training with Master-Jiraiya and Kakashi about how much his former kunoichi teammate had changed for the better, while he had been gone. And from what he had seen since his return, it had appeared that she'd given up her obsessive love for Sasuke. However, here was the ultimate test of that. Would Sakura agree with Kiba, or would she offer up some plea for leniency or mercy and try to convince Naruto not to kill Sasuke.

Sakura bore a sad melancholy look upon her face, as she stared at the floor, but instinctively she suddenly felt Naruto's gaze upon her. Looking up, she stared back at Naruto face and deep down she knew what he wanted to know. Giving her former teammate a nod, she softly agreed.

"Kiba's right Naruto-kun, finish Sasuke off...forever."

Naruto sternly nodded his head in both agreement and approval towards Sakura, before he leaned down to Kiba, who was barely conscious and promised his friend.

"I promise you Kiba, I won't show any mercy to the teme when we battle. I also promise you that today is the day Sasuke's reign of terror ends...forever! And when it's done and after Sakura-chan fixes you, you can help me and Shikamaru stick the bastards head on a pole in the center of Konoha square."

"Thanks Naruto, that sounds awesome, I'll definitely be thereeeeeeee." Kiba relied in a whisper, before he drifted back into unconsciousness once more.

Suddenly, a voice both easily recognized by Naruto and Sakura erupted from outside the main gate, as it seemed to echo throughout the village. The scream so powerful, it actually caused the building to vibrate, as it roared out one name.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto stood up straight a gave a roll of his shoulders to loosen them, before he turned to Sakura and said with finality.

"I've got to go now."

"I know, please be careful Naruto-kun." Sakura quietly answered, in a voice filled with both concern and a little apprehension.

Both Naruto and Sakura gazed at one another with a myriad of emotions swirling within them. No words were spoken between them, as truthfully neither one could think of what to say. Kakashi might have disbanded Team #7 years ago, but the fight Naruto was about to undertake against Sasuke. One way or another it would truly be the end of their team. Finally, with a nod of his head, Naruto strode purposely out of the room, while Sakura exhaled a somber sigh, before she turned around to focus all of her attention into saving Kiba.

---

Kakashi and Shikamaru turned their heads in unison to stare at the closed door that separated the Command center from the Medical center of the building. It went unspoken between them, but both men knew their student and friend had heard Sasuke's scream just as they had. The two shinobi waited anxiously, expecting that door to burst open at any moment and for Naruto to stride forth from it. Suddenly, the door slammed open and Naruto stood in the doorway and bore the most determined look upon his face that either man had ever seen on him before.

"I guess it's time." Kakashi solemnly declared, as a grave look of sadness spread across his face.

Like Sakura, memories of the past bubbled up from within the one-eyed Jounin. As what he about to witness was one former student fight to the death against another former student and teammate. The fact that it had come to this with his students seemed surreal to Kakashi. However, because he had allowed it to reach this point, Kakashi felt a sense of overwhelming shame at what an abject failure as a sensei he had been to his team so long ago. Kakashi's self-recriminations were cut short, when he saw Naruto begin to march towards the front door and he called out.

"Naruto stop!"

Naruto halted mid-step, as he turned his head to gaze at Kakashi and he asked.

"What is it Kakashi-sensei? You're not going to ask me not to go out there and face the teme are you? Because I can't do that, he must be stopped! And I'm the only one who can do it, you know that."

"No, I'm not going to ask you not to fight Sasuke. You're absolutely right, he must be stopped. I just wanted to give you something to help you accomplish that." Kakashi stoically answered, as he reached into one of the pockets on his Jounin vest.

Naruto's curiosity was piqued, as he stepped towards Kakashi to find out what the man wanted to give him. A second later, Kakashi pulled out a pill vial and unscrewed the cap, before dumping a red pill into the palm of his hand. Holding said hand out towards his fellow Jounin, he requested.

"I want you to ingest this pill, before you go out and fight Sasuke."

"What kind of pill is it?"

"It's an Akimichi Red Food pill, and it will give both your physical strength and your chakra reserves a significant boost in power."

"Keep it, I don't need any damn pill to help me beat the teme, I'll do it on my own,...believe it!"

Kakashi stepped forward and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, as he urgently tried to convince Naruto.

"Naruto, you know as well as I do, that using the Flying Thunder God technique depletes a lot of one's chakra, and weakens your physical strength as well. An in less than an hour, you've used the technique several times to transport the reinforcements we gathered to this village. Not to mention your little round-trip excursion back to Konoha, which is hundreds of miles away to retrieve Sakura and the others. So, whether you want to admit it, you're not at 100% both physically and with your chakra reserves. All this pill is doing is getting you back to that level. You need to be at peak strength when you face Sasuke, because I guarantee you, he'll be at 100% of his fighting capacity."

"I don't know, it still feels like I'm relying on something other than myself to beat the teme. Like I'm cheating somehow to do it."

As Shikamaru listened to this conversation, he was starting to get a little peeved at his friends stubbornness and reasoning at his refusal to take the pill. However, the Nara heir knew exactly what to say to get Naruto to ingest the Red Food pill for his own good.

"Naruto, you're looking at this situation all wrong, you should look at it this way. It's an Akimichi Red Food pill, the best rejuvenation pill there is, which means Chouji had a hand in creating it. So instead of looking at it as cheating if you take the pill. Look at it as a way that both you and Chouji can fight together to kill that Uchiha prick. Even if it's just through you, it's the only chance Chouji will ever have to extract some payback for what Sasuke did to him."

Naruto's brow scrunched up, as he stared at the pill in Kakashi's hand and contemplated deeply what his friend had just said. After a minute, he looked up and announced.

"That's a damn good way of looking at it Shikamaru, I like it."

Naruto then grabbed the pill and quickly swallowed it, before he and Shikamaru bumped fists and they both said to each other'

"For Chouji."

Suddenly, a loud explosion reverberated throughout Hiezu village and a moment later a Leaf shinobi burst into the Command center and in a rushed voice reported.

"Commander Kakashi, the Leaf village traitor Sasuke Uchiha just blew up the main gate using a Katon (Fire) jutsu sir."

"What a drag, that was a waste of time to rig those gates." Shikamaru muttered in annoyance.

"Also Commander, the Uchiha's army of monsters are beginning to lay downed trees across the moat Lt. Inuzuka had dug around the village. I believe they're going to use them as makeshift bridges to cross over the chasm sir."

"Where are the trees being placed over the moat Sgt. Souta?"

"In the front of the village where the army initially emerged from sir."

"Nowhere else are the trees being placed around the village?" Shikamaru interjected.

"No sir Major Nara."

Both Kakashi and Shikamaru turned to look at one another and grinned brightly, before Nara heir openly commented in mock gratitude.

"Thank you Sasuke, for being so predictable and stupid."

Kakashi nodded his head in agreement, while he questioned to his second in command and chief strategist.

"Does the loss of the main gate affect your plan at all?"

"Initially I believed it was troublesome, but after some additional thought about it, I'd say it actually helps us. Sgt. Souta, have some men begin the pretense of building a barricade in front of the destroyed main gate. However, the moment they see those mutant freaks start crossing their tree bridges to attack. They are to abandon constructing that barricade and return to their assigned battle positions at once."

"Hai Major Nara." Sgt. Souta replied with a salute, before leaving the room.

"Whoa, Naruto commented in surprise, as he grabbed a desk to steady himself.

"Those Red Food pills kick in pretty fast, believe me I know. Kakashi stated, as he remembered his own experience with them. When he brought Sakura back to the Leaf village after Sasuke's sadistic attack upon her.

"This is awesome, I feel great! Maybe I should have another one."

"That's a bad idea Naruto, taking another pill is a very dangerous thing to do. It may even cost you your life, as very few people who weren't of Akimichi blood have ever taken more than one red food pill on the same day and lived to tell about it. You remember what happened to me don't you."

"Oh that's right, I do remember now. But how long will the pill last?"

"From my own experience 3 to 4 hours, but the time does vary dependent upon how much chakra the person who takes the pill uses."

"Well then, let's not waste anymore time around here, I've a got a teme that needs killing!" Naruto confidently proclaimed, as he turned to march out of the Command HQ followed by Kakashi and Shikamaru.

---

As Kiba was making his impassioned plea to Naruto not to show any mercy towards Sasuke when they fought. Said Uchiha was slowly rising from the ground, as the demonic powers he got from his curse-seal had nearly healed his entire body. Bringing his hand up to rub the left side of his face that Naruto had so recently shattered. Sasuke looked over to see Kabuto standing there with his arms crossed and with a smirk on his face, before he commented in mild amusement.

"It must be your lucky day Sasuke. Naruto didn't follow up on his attack and has allowed you the time to recover and get healed up. Apparently, he was more concerned about getting his friend some medical attention than finishing you off."

"A mistake on the dobe's part, one that will cost him his life the next time I see him!" Sasuke growled angrily, as he took a step forward, before unexpectedly dropping to one knee and grimaced, while questioning in confusion.

"What's going on, I thought I was fully healed? Why do I feel so weak?"

Kabuto merely shook his head in , as he knelt down and helped the fallen Uchiha back onto his feet, before stating.

"You're weakened because you used up a lot of your chakra in your battle with the Inuzuka. And while your curse-seal can virtually heal any physical wounds you suffered. It can't replenish your chakra capacity within you."

"Then what am I supposed to do? I can't face Naruto like this!" Sasuke cried out in a voice laced with trepidation.

"Calm yourself Sasuke, I told you I would help you in your fight against your former teammate and now I shall." Kabuto coolly assured the panicked Uchiha, as he pulled a pill bottle from his pocket, before dropping a pill into his hand and offered it to Sasuke and said.

"Here, take this."

Sasuke looked briefly at the pill in Kabuto's hand and then commented.

"I remember that pill, that's the one you gave me at the Battle of Konoha , when we had to make our escape back to Lord Orochimaru."

"That's right, if you remember that, then you'll also remember that it will replenish your chakra and bring you back to full strength."

"Yeah, I remember it will do all of that, for about 10-15 minutes. And then when it wears off and I crash, it will leave me weak as a Genin. I barely had enough chakra left in me to kill that fat bastard Akimichi classmate of mine back then."

"I've made significant improvements to it since then. Now the effects of the pill will last an hour, maybe even a little more." Kabuto boasted with confidence.

"Hmmf, I heard that the Akimichi pill will last three times as long as that." Sasuke scoffed in derisive reply.

Kabuto scowled at the ungrateful Uchiha, as unbeknownst to Sasuke he had struck a nerve with his fellow apprentice of Orochimaru. For it had frustrated Kabuto for years that he had been unable to create a rejuvenation pill, as effective as the infamous Akimichi Red Food pill. So a little bit angered by Sasuke disrespectful comment. The bespectacled Oto Jounin closed his hand around the pill and pulled his arm back and declared in a curt tone of voice.

"You don't want the pill,...fine! Go face Naruto as you are, see if I care!"

Sasuke was taken aback by this action and attitude Kabuto was showing towards him. How dare this orphaned peasant treat him with such impudence. He was an Uchiha, an elite. Born in to a clan that was meant to rule all that they could see. Kabuto should recognize Sasuke's superiority over him and bow down in respect and reverence to him, as should anyone who is in his presence. The pompous Uchiha was about to demand that Kabuto hand over that pill. When unexpectedly, a rare moment of clarity came to Sasuke. As he realized that he might need Kabuto's skills now and in the future, as he remembered what his fate might have been at the Battle of Konoha without his help. So once again choking back the bile he felt rise within him at being forced to do this, Sasuke apologized with all the fake sincerity he could muster.

"I apologize Kabuto-san, it was not my intention to insult your skills. If you say the pill has been improved and will last an hour, that will be fine. I doubt if I will even need an hour to kill Naruto and raze that village to the ground."

'Once again, that Uchiha overconfidence that's going to get you killed one day.' Kabuto thought to himself, before he responded to the Uchiha.

"I accept your apology Sasuke, now hurry take this pill, as I doubt Naruto is going to grant you the gift of time much longer. Also, it takes a few minutes before its full effects will kick in. So I would suggest facing him initially in your human form and gradually increase your powers using the curse-seal during your fight."

Sasuke took the pill and quickly swallowed it, as he and Kabuto made their way back to the front line of his curse-sealed army. As they walked, Sasuke noticed several of the trees he had knocked down from Naruto's punch and an idea emerged within his mind. After reaching the head of his army, he turned to ask Kabuto once more.

"So I'm still in command of this army and the destruction of Hiezu village?"

"Yes, yes, I told you Lord Orochimaru only sent me here to observe you and see that you didn't exceed his orders. Only if you did was I to take over, but you haven't done that, so destroy the village as you see fit."

A wicked evil grin spread across Sasuke's face, as he called his NCO and second in command over and ordered the man with authority.

"Have our curse-sealed soldiers take those downed trees over and lay them across that damn ditch filled with oil. Well use them as makeshift bridges to bring the troops across when we launch our attack."

"Hai Lord Sasuke. Where would you like the trees placed?"

"Just out in front from where we are now." Sasuke casually answered, with a wave of indifference with his hand towards his NCO.

'A tactically stupid move on your part Sasuke. It would be more strategically advantageous to place these trees around the village and open up several battle fronts, as opposed to just one front.' Kabuto mused to himself in irritation, at how militarily inept Sasuke was proving to be.

As Sasuke's orders were being carried out, he and Kabuto walked out in front of their army and stopped at the edge of the moat Kiba had placed around the village. It was 12ft across, a relatively simple leap for any shinobi with a modicum of skill. Inhaling and then exhaling a deep breath, Sasuke turned to Kabuto and arrogantly announced.

"Well, I shouldn't waste anymore time around here, I've a got a dobe I need to kill!"

And with that said Sasuke pumped some chakra into his legs and then leapt high into the air and cleared the moat by nearly 20 yards.

"What an idiot." Kabuto muttered to himself, as he turned around to walk back to the curse-sealed army he had helped to create with Orochimaru.

When Sasuke landed, he took a minute to collect himself. Then he began to channel chakra into vocal cords and into his lungs. Then using a variation of the wind jutsu Daitoppa to help carry his voice. Sasuke let loose a booming scream of one persons name.

"NARUTO!"

After the echo of that mighty call died down, Sasuke thought with a smirk.

'That should bring the dobe out and when he arrives I'm going to make him pay for sucker-punching me, but I won't kill him quickly. No, by the time I'm done with him, he's going to be begging me for the sweet release of death!'

However, after several minutes had passed and Naruto still hadn't shown up, Sasuke was growing impatient and silently mused to himself.

'Where is that dobe? He must be too afraid to come out and face me man to man. I guess I need to provide him with some incentive.'

Sasuke then began to speed through a series of hand-signs and shouted.

"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" (Great Fireball Technique)

The Uchiha then drew some chakra from his mouth into his chest and then immediately exhaled it blowing a stream of fire, which erupted into a large sphere of flames. Only this time he also channeled some chakra into his lungs and again using a variation of the Daitoppa wind jutsu to augment his Katon jutsu. The fireball he created was triple its normal size and as he brought his hand up to his mouth to control and direct it screaming towards the Main gate of Hiezu village.

Many of the Leaf shinobi who were around the gate saw the fireball careening towards them and were able to jump away and escape in time. Nonetheless, when the fireball struck the mammoth gate with such incredible force, it completely obliterated the structure in one massive fiery explosion.

"Holy shit! Did you see that?" One of the Leaf shinobi stationed high upon the rampart wall that surrounded the village exclaimed to his comrade next to him."

"Of course I saw it, how could I not!"

"How the hell is the Fourth's kid supposed to fight someone who can do that?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen him in action myself, but I've heard he can do some pretty amazing shit as well. I also heard a rumor that he's been personally trained by Commander Kakashi, as well as the Toad-Sannin Jiraiya."

"Well let's hope the rumor is true, because if it isn't, that psycho Uchiha is going chew him up and spit him out.

---

As Naruto walked through the two block area that Shikamaru had cordoned off around the entrance of the main gate of Hiezu village. He quietly took in the space and was suitably impressed with the trap the Nara genius had devised for defeating Sasuke's curse-sealed soldiers. The blonde Jinchuuriki thought it was an ingenious plan and openly praised his friend walking next to him.

"It's a brilliant plan you've come up with Shikamaru for taking out the teme's mutant army. It should be like shooting fish in a barrel for you guys."

"Ahh, it's not that brilliant, but thanks to Sasuke being a strategic moron. It's the best plan I could come up with on such short notice considering our situation here. Because even with the reinforcements we brought and even some of the villagers volunteering to help us fight, we're still outnumbered 4 to 1. I just hope my plan works to overcome that disadvantage." Shikamaru replied, with a little concern etched in his voice.

"It will work, you're too smart to ever come up with a plan that won't work." Naruto stated in both compliment and confidence.

"Thanks Naruto, I appreciate your faith in me."

Naruto smiled at his comrade, before he turned his vision towards the now destroyed main gate of the village. He could see several Leaf shinobi hastily attempting to throw up a makeshift barricade. However, it was three ninja who stood off to the side of the gate that caused him to smile once more, as he walked up and greeted them with genuine affection.

"Neji, Lee, Shino, it's great to see you guys, are you here to see me off?"

"Yosh, what kind of friends would we be not to see you off and to wish you good luck, as you go forth to battle the traitorous Uchiha!" Lee enthusiastically proclaimed, before he took Naruto's hand and shook it vigorously.

"Bah, he doesn't need luck, he needs skill and power to defeat Sasuke, which we already know he has to do the job. Neji scoffed and declared, before he offered his hand to Naruto and said.

"End the specter of Sasuke from our lives for good Naruto."

"I will Neji, I promise."

Shino then stepped forward and offered his hand, which Naruto gladly shook, as the Aburame clan heir stated.

"Although I agree with Neji that you already have sufficient power and skills to end the Uchiha once and for all. I will still wish you good luck on the endeavor and ask that you be cautious when you fight him. For I have no wish to see Hinata grieving and in pain over losing you."

"Thanks Shino, I will be." Naruto acknowledged, before the insect wielding shinobi then asked.

"How is Kiba doing?"

Naruto's visage hardened a bit, as he thought about Kiba, before he answered in a concerned voice.

"Not good, the teme busted him up pretty badly in their fight."

Everyone who was present had a somber, crestfallen look spread across their faces upon hearing the grim tone Naruto had delivered the news.

But Sakura-chan is here now and she'll get him fixed up good as new!" Naruto declared, with optimism ringing in his words.

"Yosh, that's right! My sweet cherry blossom will not allow the flames of youth of our friend and comrade to be extinguished on this day!"

Naruto chuckled after hearing Lee's fiery and confident declaration regarding Sakura and replied.

"Yeah, what he said."

Everyone cracked a smile at this, before Kiba's NCO Renzo came running up to the group. Snapping a crisp salute to Kakashi he reported.

"Commander Kakashi, all Leaf shinobi forces are in their assigned battle positions sir."

"Very good, and the position of the enemy forces?"

"Still on the far side of the defensive moat, but they have finished laying trees across it. So they could launch an attack at any moment sir."

"And the position of Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Unchanged sir, he hasn't moved since destroying the main gate. It almost appears that he's waiting on something."

"Not something, someone,...Me!" Naruto proclaimed for all to hear.

Naruto then turned his gaze to look out the destroyed gate and across the field in front of it. It took a moment, but off in the distance he spied a figure dressed in dark blue pants, over which hung a blue cloth that covered the figure from his stomach to his knees. All of this was secured with a purple rope belt; similar to the one worn by Orochimaru. The figure complemented this ensemble with a white long-sleeved shirt kept open at the torso, some type of katana strapped to his back, and black arm guards that cover his forearms. And though Naruto couldn't quite make out the face, he didn't need to, as he knew who it was.

"Well, it would be rude of me to keep the teme waiting any longer." Naruto playfully joked, before he then turned back around and held his fist out to his friends and said.

"I want to see all of you guys alive and well when this is over."

In unison, Shikamaru, Neji, Lee, and Shino raised their arms and bumped fist with Naruto and each other and nodded their heads in understanding. Kakashi stood off to the side and watched this scene with a sense of pride and remembrance. For he, Gai, Asuma, Genma, and Itachi had done the same thing on the eve of their first major battle together years ago. The silver-haired Jounin was brought out of his nostalgic reflection, when Naruto turned and began walking towards the main gate.

There were no more words left to say, as the five shinobi watched their friend march out the gate towards his inescapable destiny with Sasuke. A pall of silence seemed to envelope all of them, as Naruto disappeared from their sight. Kakashi finally broke the chilling stillness of the moment and ordered with authority.

"Alright, Naruto has his fight to deal with and we have ours. The three of you get to your assigned positions and make sure your squads are ready. Shikamaru, you're in charge of the battle until I return after closing the door on our uninvited guests. I also echo Naruto's words, I want to see all of you alive and well when this battle is done."

The four young shinobi saluted their legendary Jounin Commander and then disappeared in a swirl of leaves. While Kakashi gave one forlorn look towards the battlefield Naruto and Sasuke would soon be fighting to the death on. Wishing their was something he could do to stop that battle and save them both. But he knew their interwoven fates with one another had reached the point of no return. This fight was inevitable between them and all Kakashi could do was silently pray to Kami that Naruto would emerge the victor.

---

As Naruto strode out of the village, all the shinobi working on the barricade in front of the recently destroyed main gate, froze and stared silently at him. The younger shinobi gazed at Naruto in awe, as unbeknownst to the blonde Jounin, his reputation was steadily growing into legendary status. While some of the older shinobi present marveled at how much Naruto resembled his honored father. The veteran ninja felt if Naruto was just as skilled as the Yondaime, then that traitorous Uchiha didn't stand a chance. One of them conveyed this belief when he shouted to Naruto.

"Give that Uchiha bastard hell and then send him there Naruto!"

Naruto nodded his head in acknowledgment to the man, before he closed his eyes and began channeling chakra into his feet and legs. When Naruto was away on his training trip with Jiraiya and Kakashi, he had self taught and learned his grandmothers Chakra Enhanced Strength technique. He discovered that it could be used for more than just decimating the ground or killing opponents with a single strike. Naruto found it could also be used to make incredible jumps by using it's core principles of releasing chakra onto the ground with pinpoint timing.

After a minute, Naruto stepped back and then took a running start towards the barricade, before he released the chakra in his legs and feet and leapt high in the air over the structure. All the Leaf shinobi, both on the village wall ramparts and below on the ground who had seen Sasuke's leap onto the open battlefield had been begrudgingly impressed by it. However, Naruto's astounding jump had left most of them awestruck and dumbfounded, as their mouths hung open watching the blonde ninja clear 60 yards in mere seconds.

Sasuke had been equally astonished at seeing Naruto unexpectedly fly through the air towards him. When his former teammate landed a mere 20 yards away, he actually cratered the ground a bit underneath him. Causing Sasuke to take an involuntary step back, startled that he could feel the tremor of the powerful impact.

Naruto rose up and began to casually brush away the dirt and dust from his uniform that his landing had kicked up. When he was finished, Naruto looked up and leveled a deadly glare towards his former friend and announced in an icy tone of voice.

"I'm here teme!"

Sasuke was a bit unnerved by Naruto's tone and the fearsome glare being directed towards him. The look of resolute and fierce determination the blonde Jinchuuriki bore on his face also added to the unease the Uchiha was now feeling. Mustering up as much courage and bravado as he could, Sasuke answered in an arrogant and sneering tone.

"It's about time you got here dobe. I was beginning to think you had tucked your tail and run away. Not that I could have blamed you for doing that. I wouldn't want to face an elite Uchiha like me either if I were in your shoes."

Upon hearing this, Naruto tilted his head back and began to heartily laugh in amusement, before he then replied.

"Ha, ha, ha, there's that unwavering arrogance I remember oh so well. I'm an Uchiha, I'm elite, blah, blah, blah. Give it a rest teme, it's boring to listen to. As for running away, far from it, as it never even occurred to me. You see I've been looking forward to this little reunion of ours for a long time. I would have been here sooner, but I had some things I needed to take care of first."

"I hope those things you had to take care of was to say goodbye that motley group of classmates of ours that you call friends." Sasuke spat with derision.

Naruto scowled and his eyes narrowed after hearing this, as he grit his teeth in rising anger. Sasuke took note of this reaction and feeling braver decided to poke at his former friend some more and said.

"That's right dobe, this close to the village I can sense some recognizable chakra signatures from the past. Let's see who all is here that's going to die with you on this day. When I let loose my curse-sealed soldiers upon this insignificant speck of a village."

Sasuke then closed his eyes and stretched his arms out towards Hiezu village. After a few seconds, he grinned wickedly and with his eyes still shut, began to speak once more.

"Oh Kakashi's here, interesting. I'll have to be sure to remember to carve that Sharingan eye out of his skull after I kill him. It's an unforgivable insult and an affront to my clan for a non-Uchiha to possess what is our birthright. Now, who else is here? Ahh, the so called Nara genius is here as well. I always thought his supposed high intelligence was overrated and probably just P.R. bullshit from his lowly clan. Let's see who else is here to die?" Hmm, that loser Hyuga you beat at the Chunin exam is here to. Well, he's nothing more than a fool just like the Inuzuka, if they can't even defeat a loser like you. I also see those two freaks the bug-boy and that bushy-browed annoyance I fought at the Battle of Konoha are also present.

"What's this?" Sasuke cried out in amazement, before then adding.

"Even though it's faint, I can still sense the chakra signature of the mutt, that surprises me. I figured he's be dead by now after I crushed him like a soda can. But wait, is that who I think it is next to the dog-boy. It is, its our old teammate, your precious Sakura-chan dobe. I wonder how she got out here? Sasuke openly questioned.

The Uchiha then dropped his arms and opened his eyes to gaze at Naruto, before he stated with feigned compassion.

"So many of your precious people to kill dobe, it almost feels like Christmas." Tell you what, since I'm feeling so charitable, I'm going to do you a favor."

Naruto stood rigid and in silence listening to Sasuke and with every word he spoke. Naruto's anger and killing intent rose like lava inside of a volcano, as he asked through clenched teeth.

"What favor is that?"

"The favor is that I won't kill you right away, I'll let you hang on for awhile. That way you can watch me nail all of your precious people onto crosses and they can die a slow agonizing death by crucifixion. Well, that's not accurate, I won't nail all of them, I'll keep Sakura around for a bit. Besides, if I want to, I've got another way to nail her, as I did a few years ago, ha, ha,ha!"

Sasuke's vile and malicious laughter was cut short, when a massive wave of killing intent slammed into him like a punch to the chest. The impact of it caused the Uchiha to drop to his knees and he panted heavily for breath. Looking up, Sasuke gasped in disbelief, as he gazed at Naruto who stood looking to the ground, his hands balled up into fists hanging by his side.

However, it wasn't Naruto standing there that began to fill the the Uchiha with apprehension. It was that he could actually feel waves of power radiating off of Naruto's body. In fact, so much power was emanating off his body, that small stones were rising from the ground around Naruto before exploding in mid-air.

It was then that Naruto looked up and Sasuke flinched, as he stared at the two glowing red eyes that his former teammate now sported. At that moment, Sasuke realized he had pushed Naruto too far. This was confirmed when Naruto began to speak in a growling tone filled with fury to Sasuke.

"You just fucked up teme...Big time!"

Naruto let loose another wave of killing intent, as he continued on.

"Threatening me is no big deal. I've gotten those for as long as I can remember, but you should know better than to threaten the people who I care about. You called them my precious people and you're right, they are precious to me. So I will do whatever I have to against any threat to protect and keep them safe. Make no mistake teme, your arrogant mouth has just bought you a one way ticket to Hell and I'm the one who's going to send you there...Believe it!"

"Big, big talk from someone who lost the last time we fought." Sasuke nervously stammered, as he had never heard Naruto's voice filled with such vitriol before.

"I made a mistake back then, but I won't make it again when it comes to you. This time I'm not holding onto any illusions of saving you from the dark path you are on and bringing you back to the Leaf village. No, I'm going to do what Itachi should have done when he took out your self-serving traitorous clan. I'm going to kill you teme, right here, right now!"

Unfortunately for Naruto, just as Sasuke had made the mistake of threatening friends and loved ones, which is a trigger to instantly set Naruto off. The blonde Jinchuuriki, had just made the same mistake regarding Sasuke in mentioning Itachi and the massacre of the Uchiha clan. That event has always been the motivation that sent Sasuke down his dark path. It was also the trigger within the Uchiha at that moment, which sent his powers, killing intent, and rage skyrocketing to match Naruto's. Any apprehension or nervousness he had been feeling in facing Naruto instantly disappeared upon hearing what his former teammate had just said, as he screamed in a murderous rage.

"You dare to mention my brother and what he did to my clan! You miserable trash, I've changed my mind! I'm not going to keep you alive to watch your friends die. No, I'm going to reach down and pull your heart out of that insolent mouth of yours right now, but before I do!"

Sasuke then tapped an earbud radio and ordered to his NCO.

"Attack Now!"

A loud and voluminous roar erupted from all of the cursed-sealed soldiers, before they seemingly appeared to move in one mass towards the tree bridges they had laid. As the monstrous beasts crossed over the bridges and raced towards the open main gate of Hiezu. They made sure to move around both Naruto and Sasuke, who stood glaring at one another with murderous fury. For even though the curse-sealed soldiers were little more than mindless creatures. Even they could sense the danger of intruding upon those two, as the killing intent radiating off both of them was staggering in pressure.

If Sasuke had thought ordering his soldiers to attack would distract Naruto's attention, he was sorely mistaken. Naruto's focus and vision never left his former teammate, as he trusted that Kakashi and Shikamaru along with the others had the situation well in hand. As the last of the mutant monstrosities went by, Sasuke dropped into an offensive stance and proclaimed.

"I'm going to kill you now dobe!"

"Not gonna happen teme!"

Sasuke smirked at this response, but in a small show of respect, both former friends and teammates finally addressed one another by their names when Naruto said and Sasuke replied.

"Goodbye, Sasuke."

"Goodbye, Naruto."

Then with a mighty lunge, both of them raced towards one another, with their fists raised in the air to deliver the opening blows of their epic battle.

---

Author Note: An interesting chapter to write, not what I originally envisioned would come out, but I'm pleased with it. When I write a chapter I usually have a few general ideas or concepts I want to convey, but for the most part I just let my imagination run wild sometimes. Lol! Now I know a few of you are probably a little annoyed with me, as many of you were looking forward to a massive beatdown of Sasuke to happen in this chapter. Well, that was my original intent, but then I realized I had a few problems, if I immediately started the chapter with Naruto and Sasuke fighting to the death.

The first problem was I wanted both Naruto and Sasuke to be at full strength when they faced one another. How could I do this? As Naruto was fatigued from transporting all those reinforcements and Sakura and the others to the village. And Sasuke was obviously depleted because of the awesome fight Kiba had given him. Fortunately, I was able to solve that problem with both characters from previous aspects I had written in past chapters.

The second problem was the fate of Kiba, given the severity of the final beating Sasuke had unleashed upon him. So I needed to come up with a way that he could be saved. Hence Sakura's strong appearance in this chapter. I truly believe that she has now reached 100% redemption in this story. And her story in my mind has always been one about redemption, since I first started writing this tale years ago.

The third major problem was I don't just have Naruto and Sasuke's fight to deal with, but also the actual battle of Hiezu village. So there were certain elements of that I needed to lay the foundation for, before that battle commences. Finally, there were some minor issues here and there that also needed to be addressed as well. So, when all of those potential problems were taken care of, I suddenly had a chapter of over 14K words. Which seemed to me a good place to stop, as I think adding a portion of Naruto and Sasuke's fight didn't really seem to fit with the rest of the chapter. Truthfully, I thought the buildup this chapter did for the fight will make the start of that fight much more anticipated and exciting for the readers.

And as you can see by the end of this chapter, that fight has begun and will be prominently featured over the next few chapters. Yes, I said few chapters, as a Naruto vs Sasuke battle is so epic, it can't be told in only one chapter.

Anyway, I hope everybody enjoyed the chapter even if it wasn't what you were expecting. I'm anxious to see what your reviews will be for it. I do wish to thank everyone both old and new readers who took the time to review my last chapter. I did learn that this story still has a strong fan base of readers. I enjoy reading many of your reviews, so please leave lots of them, as they do help a writer get a sense of the thoughts and opinions of the fans of a story. They also can help lift the spirits of an author as well. Also, to any readers who are staff members to any C2 communities, please feel free to add my story to your community if you feel it is worthy of it. I won't mind, I swear. I'll even pinkie swear if I need to?

---

Alert Notice:

I don't know if any of you have noticed, but for nearly two months none of us have received any PM alert notices in our emails. I only recently discovered this and sent several emails to FanFictionsupport trying find out why? I have yet to get a response, kind of shows you how much they actually care about their members. I finally discovered the reason to this problem by sheer luck on my part. I got on the FictionPress twitter page and they had sent out a tweet on Nov 30, 2019 which said the following.

"Out of caution, we have disabled PM email alerts until a more secure anti-spam feature is installed which can thwart the continuing efforts by some nefarious spam bots."

Fine, now I know, but would it have killed FanFiction to just send out an email to all of its members saying they're going to do this. Or at the very least post something about it on their homepage. Not everyone has a twitter account or uses it! I would go off further about this, but what's the point?

Now what does all this mean? Basically, if you receive a PM from someone, it will not show up in your email, but it will show up in your Inbox on your FanFiction account page.

So to many of you who have sent me PM's, over the last 2 months, that's the reason why I didn't respond to any of them. Because I had no idea they were even there, as I never saw an email notification for them like I normally did. However, I did find them in my Inbox and have responded in kind since then.

Now when are we going to be getting back our PM email alerts? You're guess is as good as mine, but I'm not going to hold my breath, that's for damn sure.

---

I've decided to bring back a reader favorite for many of you, Kingkakashi's rants yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Since the manga is no longer in existence, I'll have to rant about other Naruto related media forms such as Gaidens, Movies, and possibly the Boruto manga. I've decided to start my first rant on the first chapter of the seven issue Gaiden, which came out after the end of the Naruto manga and is titled.

NARUTO GAIDEN: The Seventh Hokage And The Scarlet Shining Moon

Now, I should point out that Kishimoto is not writing the Boruto manga. He is just supervising it. The manga is being written by Ukyō Kodachi.

Chapter One: Sarada Uchiha

Okay, I'll admit after seeing the title of this first chapter, my enthusiasm level dropped a bit. However, I did my best to keep an open mind. Now, the chapter basically starts as a sort of informal introduction of all the kids of the Konoha 12. You essentially learn who's kid belongs to who as you go through the chapter. The most interesting thing about the start is that Shino Aburame has taken the role of Iruka Umino as Academy Sensei for this generation of kids.

As the title suggest, this chapters focus is on the daughter of Sasuke and Sakura. She spends the first few pages acting all moody and emo. I guess she really is Sasuke's kid, lol. And then the chapter goes into showing the various fathers Naruto, Shikamaru, Chouji, Sai training their kids for the Academy graduation exam.

After that we get into the reason why Sarada Uchiha is acting moody. It's because she's questioning whether or not her parents are actually married. She questions rather bluntly to her mother Sakura about this and of course Sakura loses her temper and smashes the ground in her backyard using the Chakra Enhanced Strength technique taught to her by Tsunade. This leads into what I thought was the funniest part of the chapter. As Sakura's punch inadvertently cracked the foundation of her house and it collapsed right before her eyes. The stress of this causing Sakura to faint and be hospitalized.

While Sakura is recovering in the hospital, Sarada goes through her wrecked home looking for family pictures. She finds them only to discover that one of the photos of her father had been folded over hiding someone who was in the picture with Sasuke. The person in the photo is of Karin and the chapter ends there.

Overall, the chapter is alright, not really unique or extraordinary in any way. My only real question is why wouldn't they put out a gaiden that focuses on Naruto and Hinata's kid Boruto right after they ended the Naruto manga?

---

School Time:

Pneumothorax

Definition: A condition in which air or other gas is present in the pleural cavity and which occurs spontaneously as a result of disease or injury of lung tissue, rupture of air-filled pulmonary cysts, or puncture of the chest wall or is induced as a therapeutic measure to collapse the lung.

(In layman's term, Kiba suffered a collapsed lung)

Etymology: New Latin 1815-1825a.d.

Part of Speech: Noun