A/N: Heyo! Sorry this was so obscenely late(and obscenely short, I didn't want to delay it any longer), fight scenes were and still are a deep thorn in my side. Plus, I also had to do some creative licensing with the Ningen Ningen no mi which took a few days to fully flesh out.

Speaking of flesh out, how was the chapter? I try not to do things like exposition or info-dumps, or excessively boring scenes that serve only to increase the word count, but as you can see by the site I'm currently writing on, I'm not yet a fully-fledged author!

Still, I do hope you enjoy what I do, and please feel free to leave a review.

(And for those willing, please gib me a lesson or two, I eat that shit up like its breakfast. Srsly tho, I'm kinda tired from self-teaching)

Naruto was unamused.

He cracked his knuckles, the pop! echoing eerily throughout the water.

"Is that so?" He stood before the giant with his arms crossed, "I apologize if this hurts you but…"

BANG!

"I find that hard to believe."

One moment he was there, and in the next he was not. The giant felt waves of pressure being released all at once right in front of it, and by instinct, it released a strike of its own in hopes of neutralizing the incoming force.

It succeeded, albeit not without damage. For one, feeling had left its arms; now numb and useless, they could only hang there as decor. And for two:

"Give up." Naruto was still very much alive, "Your hands are totalled,"

"Ngh…! You think I need my arms to beat you down?!" That was a bald-faced lie, and both of them knew it. Even now it barely held down the urge to puke out the blood that had risen to its throat, the only thing stopping it was pure power of will.

Naruto didn't let up, however, continuing his blitzkrieg on any weakness he could pinpoint. Joints creaked from his abuse; Bones whimpered and complained with each punch or kick; unconsciousness lingered just above, like a loan-shark waiting to collect on her dues.

By the end of his assault, it was on its last legs. Blood cascaded out of its ears, mouth and nose. And yet, it remained upright.

"You're still standing? Heh, you're one tough cookie to crack, ain'tcha?" Naruto had to admit, he was impressed.

The giant didn't speak, its only reply was to start walking. Whether that was to conserve energy or for convenience's sake, though, he couldn't care less.

Thud! He watched it slow to a halt a few feet in front of him, its abrupt stop sending tremors far and wide. Naruto craned his neck back to meet its gaze. It was only now did he realize — out of the heat of battle — how small he was in comparison.

"So, now that you've been roughed up a bit. How about giving me those ber—"

Naruto wasn't able to finish his sentence before he was cut short by an errant fist. Fortunately, he had expected such a reaction and had prepared accordingly.

Fwish! He reappeared behind the giant, a smile on his face, "Don't ya know it's rude to interrupt when someone's talking?"

His answer was another fist. And when he escaped that too, one more soon followed. But it was all the same to him; slow punches were still slow no matter how many you threw at him. Then, when he saw it fit, he would retaliate with brutal efficiency.

The fight slowly grew into this numb monotony: one would punch, the other would dodge; one would punch, the other was just forced to take it.

But as with all things, it eventually came to an end…

"Fine. If you won't give it to me willingly…"

[Shadow Clone Jutsu!]

"I'll just take it from you!"

With a poof! Two copies of Naruto suddenly appeared.

"...What."

"Woah!" Both the giant and Miana had something to say about his clones, though their reactions differed wildly.

The culprit, Naruto, simply smiled in response.

Right. Time for the hat-trick! With a single glance from their master, his shadow clones understood what to do immediately, and began to prepare.

[Senpo…]

First, they concentrated one-third of their chakra reserves in their palms, each drawing from a different power reserve.

[Fuuton…]

Then, with a simultaneity only possible with clones, they combined their chakra into one gigantic ball. One clone handled wind chakra, the other handled sage chakra, and the final one — Naruto himself — moulded them into his signature move:

[Senpo • Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!]

The end result was a gigantic sphere of volatile energy, surrounded by four razor-sharp blades made for the sole purpose of extermination. It hurts just to hold despite the ample amounts of sage chakra he'd inputted into it.

"Ngh… Let's see you survive this!"

This. This was his magnum opus.

And he wasn't going to go through all this trouble just for it not to work!

Inhaling deeply, Naruto began to extract all the chakra he had left. I may not have Kurama with me right now, but never underestimate a member of the Uzumaki clan!

It didn't take long for results to show; the previously basketball-sized rasenshuriken ballooned to nearly uncontrollable levels, matching that of the rasenshuriken he created during his Six Paths Sage Mode.

I can't hold on any longer… time to see what this baby can do! And with that, he launched the gargantuan rasenshuriken at the Gamu fish.

In the blink of an eye, the water that surrounded it was evaporated into burning-hot steam, doing absolutely nothing to hinder its path.

Except… the target itself.

[Ningen Ningen No Mi: Kings Cross!]

It was almost imperceptible, but Naruto could spot a thin blue film that encompassed the whole of its body right before contact.

A forcefield? Well, whatever it is, it won't— BOOM!

That was it. That should've done it; Naruto was sure.

But first… to see the fruits of his labour. As the smoke cleared, and his eyes were finally able to penetrate the thick cloud of dust, a sharp gasp involuntarily escaped his throat.

I-I-It… It was still alive!

Skin may have been ripped from its face, arms may have been on the verge of separating from the body entirely and death could've been hanging ever so closely, but that didn't change the fact that it was still. Alive.

"...Now this is just ridiculous," Naruto couldn't fathom the notion. How can it be that it withstood that and still stand? His mind went a hundred miles a minute trying to answer this very question, but as each idea was proposed and subsequently dismissed, a light-bulb lit up in his head:

Wait. Could it be…? Naruto wasn't able to make good on his guess before it moved.

Gritting its teeth, and with herculean effort, the giant flung itself into—

Miana! The world seemed to slow as Naruto watched his adversary draw near. Every breath he took, every time he blinked, and every second spent blankly staring as it came closer and closer.

All these moments wasted compounded into…

"I've caught you!" The cry of victory was uttered, and the consequences of such a declaration ran their course.

[Ningen Ningen No Mi: Kings Martyr!]

Naruto felt a hand gripping his body, felt the world go white, and for a moment, felt like he was in the arms of his wife once more…

What a nice feeling… her embrace. I'm so happy I could feel you again, Hinata.

Hm, you must be tired, Naruto. Come, go to sleep in my arms. You deserve it…

"So—is the—I have to—" He said.

"—at?!—can't let you—that!" She replied.

"—are—decide!" He was furious.

"I-I-I… I…" She was scared.

"Well?" She was terrified.

"I'm—" Of him.

"Hahaha!—better be!" Of what he could do.

"Come! Bring—with you!" But.

"..." If it's for that man…

"Huh? What's—you now?" If she can repay her debts…

"—" Maybe she can be brave, just this once!

"What?!" He was furious

"I—NO!" But she isn't afraid.

Not anymore.

"Boys!—her!" Even if she'll die today…

"Sure—" Naruto is going to live!

"Eh?!"

"Hel—me!"

"Boss! The—fish is—up!"

"Gaaah?!"

"Grr… Fine! Just—retreat!"

"Aye!"