Best of the Best: The prelims (rewrite)
Naraku vs. Itachi
Announcer: It's time for the first match of the preliminary round! Naraku and Itachi, please step forward!
Naraku: Kukuku, this will end quickly.
Itachi: Yes, your head will go rolling before long. I have not forgotten the insult you gave me. Naraku, you --, you will die!
(sidelines)
Inuyasha: Yes! Die Naraku!
Sesshomaru: Inuyasha, you idiot, they haven't started yet.
Sasuke: Itachi is tough, but this Naraku guy… ugh.
Naruto: Death to Itachi! Kill him, Naraku!
Kagura: (bonks Naruto "ow!") Shut up, twerp. Naraku has to die for me to be freed. (murmuring) Good luck, Itachi. You'll need it.
(in the arena)
Itachi: Fireball Jutsu! (spits out a big ball of flame)
Naraku: ! I've never heard of a human who can spit flames… (muttering) though that Kagome girl has come pretty close… (Gets hit, loses an arm, stub spewing miasma)
Itachi: koff Poison gas! --, I should have brought an antidote… Guess I have no choice… (sharingan marks merge to form a three-pronged windmill shape) Mangekyo Sharingan!
(in the crowd)
Hakudoshi: What the -- does Naraku think he's doing out there, just letting himself get fried like that?
Muso: Naraku, like the rest of us, can regenerate, Hakudoshi.
Sakura: What the--? (slams Muso "oof!") Put some clothes on, you jerk! There are girls here you know.
Muso: I would, but there aren't any worth stealing. (nice sized lump starts swelling up)
Kanna: …… sigh my siblings can be so immature sometimes…
(sidelines)
Sesshomaru: Naraku's miasma… Itachi's only human; he's finished
Sasuke: Not yet, Sesshomaru. Look at his eyes! That, as much as I hate to admit it, is the true secret of the Uchiha clan! Itachi… (muttering insults)
Inuyasha: (to Naruto) He and Itachi hate each other, don't they?
Naruto: Believe it! How'd you guess?
Inuyasha: Well, Fluffy-sama over there and I are pretty much the same way.
(luckily for Inuyasha, Sesshomaru was busy watching the fight and ignored him)
Naruto: Fluffy-sama…? Oh, I get it! 'cause of that big furry thing, right?
Other contestants: idiot…
(in the ring)
Itachi: Tsukuyomi, Nightmare Realm! (eyes shine briefly, then Naraku's mind and his go to an alternate dimension, with inverted colors and Naraku temporarily paralyzed)
Naraku: What the--? What is this place?
Itachi: This is Tsukuyomi, the nightmare realm, created by my Mangekyo sharingan. I control all time and substance in this world. (jabs a sword into Naraku "ghh…") You will be repeatedly tortured in this world for 72 hours of its time… (more swords, shiruken, kunai, etc.) Enjoy your stay…
(72 hours of nightmare realm time later, the world vanishes to reveal the arena exactly as it had been. No time has passed.)
(sidelines)
Kagura: What? Why is Naraku so worn out all of a sudden?
Sasuke: Itachi used the Tsukuyomi, the nightmare realm, to trap Naraku's mind in a tortured state. It took up no time to us, but there, three days have passed. There is a down side, though. Look at Itachi.
(Itachi is breathing hard, looking worn out.)
Inuyasha: -- this is bad for both of them.
Sesshomaru: you said something intelligent for once, Inuyasha. I congratulate you.
Inuyasha: Sesshomaru--!
(other contestants try to keep them from killing each other)
(in the ring)
Itachi: Maybe… it was a… bad idea… to use Tsukuyomi… (is swaying slightly from exhaustion and miasma's effects)
Naraku: I can't believe that a mere human has such powers… Ah, good. He's about ready to fall… Maybe I should help him, kukukukuku… (shoots tentacles at Itachi)
Itachi: (gets hit) aaahh!……… (stumbles, then regains footing)
Naraku: Kukuku… (spews more miasma) Let's see how long a mortal can last against this…
Itachi: koff --, I inhaled some of the stuff… No choice then; brace yourself, Naraku! (blood drips from Itachi's right eye as it turns slightly bloodshot) Amaterasu! (black flames shoot toward Naraku, engulfing the miasma and nearly consuming Naraku himself)
Naraku: What the--? (dodging the fire) what is this stuff? (fire follows him, he dodges again) Demon fire? No, if that were the case, then Itachi would be consumed too… It has something to do with those eyes of his… never seen a human with eyes like that before… I'd better finish this quickly so I don't waste energy regenerating too much before my next match.
Itachi: You're finished, Naraku! koff Miasma's… still at it… huh? I don't… have much time left to… finish this… (Amaterasu flickers) Not enough… chakra left, either. (murmuring) I'll have to do this the "old-fashioned way" then. (closes right eye, Amaterasu stops; pulls out a kunai and two 'demon wind shuriken,' then throws all three at Naraku)
Naraku: Kukuku… physical attacks don't work too well, as Sesshomaru and Inuyasha have learned only too well… (dodges easily) You'll have to do better than that!
(sidelines)
Sasuke: Itachi's half dead already… He's done for.
Inuyasha: yep, but I can't help but wish he'd weakened that -- Naraku a bit more…
Sango: I agree. At least he's survived this long, though.
Naruto: Whoo! Go, Naraku! Kill him!
Kagura: Oh, shut up, brat. (smacks him with her fan "Ow!" )
(in the crowd)
Kagome: Come on, Itachi! Pull yourself together!
Shippo: Uh, why are you cheering for him? Inuyasha's gonna be real ticked off if he hears you.
Kagome: Anyone who can survive that long and that well against Naraku alone is good enough to cheer for in my opinion! (resumes cheering)
Sakura: … (glares at Kagome, then at Itachi) she must really hate that Naraku guy
(in the ring)
Itachi: … (breathing hard, obviously out of energy) …koff koff Cursed… Miasma… it's sealing… my chakra…! (eyes revert to normal Sharingan)
Naraku: kukukuku… almost there… just a bit more… (holds out a grapefruit-sized orb) wake up, my dear little pets… (Saimyosho fly out)
Itachi: …wasps…? (Saimyosho fly at him, buzzing insanely) ! (barely dodges the first wave)
Naraku: Oh, Itachi, just stop struggling and accept your death with grace! It'll be quick and almost painless, you know! A quick sting, and it's all over. (sends more Saimyosho out after Itachi)
(Itachi continues to dodge, Naraku continues to send more and more wasps after him until there's no room to run)
Itachi: If I'm… going down… then… you're coming… with me! (breathing becomes harsh and uneven from overuse of energy, blood drips down right side of face like tears from his right eye) let me have… enough chakra… for this Amaterasu! (black flames engulf all Saimyosho; wasps burn and die A/N: my pyromaniac side is laughing insanely as I write this and flames shoot toward Naraku)
Naraku: not again… he shouldn't have enough power left! (gets hit by black fire) Aaagh! (is burning) -- you, Itachi!
Itachi: … k-hack! (coughs up blood) there… got him… (shudders, then collapses from severe exhaustion)
Announcer: And… Itachi is down! ……… (ten seconds later… goes over to check for vital signs) Itachi is still breathing, but barely. Can I get a healer over here? (Yukina comes over) Ah, thank you.
Naraku: … so, did I win?
Announcer: ah, right. Sorry. NARAKU WINS THE FIRST MATCH! (wild cheering from Naraku's fangirls/Itachi haters, booing from everyone else)
(sidelines)
Inuyasha: Well, I think we all saw that one coming.
Sesshomaru: (nods)
Sango: poor Itachi… What happened to his eye? He was weeping blood… (shivers slightly)
Sasuke: …--, Naraku didn't kill him… Well, at least that means I'll get to enjoy killing him myself…
END
A/N: Well, as my long-term fans can tell, I beefed up this section a bit. After I finished typing it, I went back and did some Itachi research. I realized that I had made the Itachi in my story far too weak. So, in response to my research (and because Itachi is my favorite bishounen) I changed the fight itself (not the result; Itachi never had a chance to begin with) to reflect Itachi's inner strength.