CEP 5: Battles

The foxes started the attack as the lieutenant dished out the orders as he put half the foxes in a triangle position and the other half in a straight line. After a few seconds the foxes charge Aimi at speeds which Aimi could easily dodge and did but found they all where distracting her as Naruto flew up into the air and swinging the sword as if he were fighting her, then she heard almost like bombs dropping as she saw and transparent boomerang like object coming towards her. She jumped as it hit the ground making a huge cut nearly 1 meter in length. The transparent objects kept falling as Naruto continued to slash and dice the air. She started running as the objects kept falling, now running out of room, she ran up the wall, the object one by one falling towards her as she continued to move up the wall. She reached just above Naruto's height and jumped towards him and took out her own blade she hid in her sleeve and parried Naruto's blade before it could make another attack. They started falling to the earth as Aimi smiled being on top.

"You gonna get it now!" Aimi shouted as Naruto took the impact only to disappear into smoke. Aimi looked behind her as she saw Naruto pulling his swords behind him, cutting the ground. She jumped back as he swung the blade in front of him, releasing that looked like two swords of lightning, one of which she dodged. The other one hit her in the shoulder which caused her to scream in pain. Naruto flash stepped behind her and placed both his swords to her throat.

"Give up." Naruto requested because he really didn't want to hurt her. Aimi smiled as she melted into the ground. 'An Earth clone…' He noticed that he had really hit her, from the blood still laying on the ground but the earth clone was to avoid more damage. He turned to see Aimi holding her shoulder as she caught her breath.

"Not bad Idiot. You might actually be more of a challenge then I thought." Aimi stood up and did a few hand signs as she created two more earth clones. She then did another hand seal and sent the two earth clones to attack Naruto. Suddenly the battalion of foxes re-appeared and destroyed the two earth clone immediately causing Aimi to re-think her plans. She decided since she was getting low on chakra she should have to use this last move before switching to Taijutsu. She charged the battalion of foxes and disappeared behind Naruto who knew exactly what she was doing. "Earth style: earthen might!" She screamed as her arm became rock and went for a knockout punch to Naruto who stopped the punch but crossing his two blades and surprising Aimi. "No sword on earth could stop my attack." Naruto chuckled lightly at that comment.

"I'm lucky these swords aren't from Earth then!" Naruto responded knocking Aimi backwards and into the wall. Naruto could tell she was low on chakra and put both his blades on her shoulders. She looked up at him with a scowl on her face.

"Got ya!" Aimi said. Naruto noticed her arm was in the ground too late. A large fist then broke the ground under him and a large hand appeared and grabbed him tightly. It then rose to nearly as tall as the sand tsunami and then fist first, plowed him into the ground. Aimi smiled as she saw Naruto hit the ground. Naruto lay on the ground for a few seconds before blood appeared on the sides of his mouth. A small smile crept across his face as he sensed Aimi walking towards the crater. He jumped to his feet and jumped out of the crater as if he was unharmed. Aimi was struggling to move and had one hand on her shoulder which she gripped tightly when she saw Naruto still standing. "What is it going to take to kill you!" She demanded. Naruto stared her down. The foxes, who had been ignored up till now, surrounded her and began growling.

"We got her lieutenant; you and your soldiers may go now." The fox bowed before Naruto.

"As you wish, Lord Naruto-sama." Giving his unit a bark before they all disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Naruto stared her down again as She clenched her shoulder.

"Let's finish this." Naruto said with lightning speed pushing both hilts of his blades into her stomach, sending her flying into the wall and into la-la-land. The proctor watched as Naruto walked over to Aimi's body and carefully picked it up. He looked over at the proctor who nodded.

"Winner is Uzumaki Naruto!" The proctor yelled as the crowd cheered for him yet again today. Naruto then flash stepped over to the proctor who, in fact feared Naruto, took Aimi from Naruto. Naruto then flash stepped over to the stands where Hinata, Tayuya and Kushina hugged him again. Hinata used her thumb to wipe away the blood from the sides of his mouth and plant a kiss on him. He looked at the blood on her thumb before breaking the kiss.

"You know I'm sorry for worrying you like that." Naruto apologized as he put his thumb to his mouth and checked to see if there was any left. Hinata shook her head.

"I knew you could do it Naruto, I always have faith in you." Hinata said smiling. Both of them completely ignoring Tayuya for the second time, who was starting to get a little pissed. Suddenly Garra and Tsunade came up from behind him. Tsunade, who was still a little pissed off that Naruto ditched her with that kid awhile ago, crept up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey brat!" Tsunade said in an angry tone. Naruto flash stepped with Hinata to the other side of the arena.

"If I die, make sure you know that I…" Naruto as explaining as Tsunade gave a huge dash and knocked Naruto out of the Arena and into orbit with her famous punch. He eventually came back down and Hinata started treating his face with the little medical jutsu she knew.

"So why did you just leave an unconscious kid laying at my feet while you got all comfy cozy with your two girlfriends over there?" Tsunade asked still a little pissed at Naruto.

"Glad to know someone noticed me." Tayuya said feeling neglected all day.

"Wouldn't you like see the ones you love after not seeing them for ten years?" Naruto said. In truth, Tsunade forgot that he spent ten years in the demon realm.

"So I guess I don't make that list brat?" She came up with quickly. Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Well I wanted to see my wife to be first Baa-chan!" Tsunade gave up on the conversation already.

"In any case, you seem to be impressing me… slightly, but after leaving me with a unconscious brat and ditching me that impression isn't all that strong now…" Tsunade teased. Naruto knew this.

"Anyway Baa-chan my next match is tomorrow and I still have to go see Garra-sama." Naruto smiled and went to turn around when he saw and heard.

"I thought I said not to call me –sama Naruto." Garra said walking up to him. He allowed Garra to just call him by his name only without a tag.

"Sorry Garra." Naruto said rubbing the back of his head. Suddenly a man and two women behind him came into the room behind Garra. Naruto's expression went from friendly to hostile as he remembered the man from before.

"Now now, I'm not here to fight. I'm here to talk." Now everyone was on guard. "And here I was trying to be friendly." The man retorted as he walked into the room. "Now do you know why we want her?" The man said towards Naruto. Naruto clenched his teeth. Garra looked behind him also and started moving sand.

"I'm not giving you Aimi-chan! I don't care how powerful she is, I'm not letting you have her!" Naruto yelled. The man sighed. Tsunade clenched her fist and realized this was the powerful man who beat Naruto a few weeks back and attacked his squad.

"Why do people have to be so difficult?" The man asked who appeared to be his wife.

"I don't know hun, maybe they just don't like us too much." One of the women responded.

"I mean are we really that bad? Can't we get some sort of agreement out of you? What will it take?" The man asked Naruto.

"How about I kick your ass!" Naruto screamed.

"Fine, how about this, we fight and if I win I take her and none of you interfear and if I lose…" The man scratched his head. "Well that probably won't happen but what do you suppose I do if I lose?" He asked Naruto.

"Give up on Aimi-chan and tell me everything about this mission of yours." Naruto asked trying to remain calm. The man laughed.

"Yeh sure why not?" The man laughed and so did the women with him. "Let's not fight here, let's go outside the village for this."

"Agreed." Naruto said leaving with them. Tsunade tugged at his shoulder.

"Naruto-kun, did you forget that you have a match tomarrow and you can't afford getting beat up right now?!" Tsunade pleaded with a slight hint of anoyiance in her voice for Naruto rushing things like this.

"Please don't stop me Tsunade-chan." Naruto said in almost a cold voice. Making her retreat her hand. "I always value my friends and teammate's lives above my own. If these guys will leave her alone if I do this, then so be it." Naruto said to Tsunade who was still shocked. "Lots of things changed through me in the past ten years, but one thing I will never give up is my love for my teammates and friends. If I don't try this then they will keep hunting Aimi-chan. If I can try this and probably fail, then at least I tried." The man looked touched by Naruto speech.

"Such dedication to your friends. I may not kill you when I'm done with you." The man said walking away. The two of them found a suitable place far outside Suna for their duel. The two removed their outer clothing. "Ready?" The man asked in a sleavless t-shirt and a pair of ninja pants. Naruto removed his hood and cape handing it to a figure behind him that the man didn't recognize.

"Ready." Naruto said getting in his defensive stance. He started by powering up his body and forcing his chakra around him causing a riptide of wind at the man who in turn did his own, bashing against each other's and starting the fight. After a few seconds of chakra bashing, an explosion occurred whicxh knocked them both back a few hundred yards. Naruto did a few hand signs and unsheatled his swords and ran them through the ground causing his blades to charge. Nearly 20 yards from the man, Naruto un-grounded his swords and putting his swords straight over his head, causing black storm clouds to gather overhead, then his blades uncharged into the sky. The man watched as lightning struck all around them and closer and closer. The man smiled in amusement. His boy was going to be his best challenge yet. The lighting all struck in the middle of them and caused a huge discharge of eletrisity in the area. The burning ground started filled the air as two figures stood in the center of it all and both wielding their swords. Each of them started discharging chakra like last time as they prepared for an assault on each other. Their chakra's collided again and this time when friction occurred they both kicked off with so much force that the ground broke beneath them. The clash between both their swords and energies created a hurricane like wind that blew both compeditor's backwards. The man landed first and disappeared and so did Naruto, reappearing with sparks between their swords as Naruto's sword absorbed the sparks and they broke it off again. The man did some hand signs as he slammed his hands into the ground causing the earth to break in front of him. "Earth style: Earthen point break!" As suddenly as lightning, the ground broke towards Naruto. Naruto dodged it barely to find the man behind him. "Earth Style: Earthen Hammer!" He swung his sword at Naruto who blocked it but found himself hurled backwards into the ground. The man now on top of him slamming down on Naruto. The earth beneath them breaking and becoming dust. Naruto shoved him off with a quick kick to the gut and did a few more hand signs and slammed his swords into the ground.

"Lighting spike!" Naruto screamed as two lighting needle like figures went after the man who dodged one and the other scraping his arm. He fell to the ground and now watched as Naruto was across the creater from him staring at him. Both eyes locked for the third time. The black clouds swirled around them and lighting struck the ground between them, cracking the ground and both men began hand signs.

"Earth Style: Earthen Might!!" The man yelled as his arm became stone and charge Naruto.

"Death's strike!" He shouted and his black blade began glowing (the one the fox gave him) and charged the man faster then . Both men shouted loudly as his rock fist and his black sword clashed into each other causing a massive white lighting to form as they both where consumed by it. The land around them blew up into the air causing it to rain … the ground. Both men landed on the ground at their backs. The tiny bits of ground, charred from the lighting fell, making it seem like snow. Both men watched each other and Naruto's eyes now changed before him. Naruto's eyes became more determined and focused but maintained his composure. They clashed sword again and again dodgeing again and again. Each when the other thought they got an advantage, the other would take it back. Both men now exhausted from nearly five minutes of intense sword fighting stood there. The man spit blood on the ground and watched as Naruto breathed heavily.

"Not bad kid, but I was planning on ending this sooner. Let's make our final attack right here right now. hit me with your best shot and I'll hit you with mine." Naruto stood there and nodded.

"Let's finish this." Naruto said funneling the last reminants of his chakra into his swords, causing them to glow in blue fire. Naruto slammed both his swords hilts together. The blue chakra flames consuming the swords as they bursted into thousands of shards around Naruto. The shards flamed blue as Naruto did hand signs. The man smiled.

"This should be interesting, Earthen style: Earthen rain of death!" the man shouted as the ground shook and the ground broke apart and rose above their heads. The ground then broke into millions of pieces. Naruto and the man stood with smiles on their faces as Naruto screamed,

"Secret Blade Art: Thousand blades of death." Naruto watched as his attack went for the man as his attack met his half way there. The two jutsu's clashing and break each other's power. The blades kept coming from Naruto's blade hilts with blue fire and the man kept using the ground beneath him to continuously pouring their chakra and energy into the final attack. Both attacks seemed to go very far from each other as the man began to struggle and fell to his knee. Naruto barely finding the streangth to stand up but continued to pour everything he had into it. The man smiled as he pushed his last strength into a final wave, as did Naruto who fell to his knee and watched as half of their attacks surpassed each other heading to both men and hitting them as both men screamed and collapsed into the large crater that used to be the outskirts of Suna. Naruto struggled to get to his feet and couldn't. He started to crawl over to where the man lay.

"Hey kid, the fight is over, we both lost." The man admitted nowing he wouldn't be able to move. Naruto continued to move over to him.

"I told you before, I'll protect my friends, even if costs me my life!" Naruto shouted as he continued to drag his body across the rim of the crater and closer to the man. The man smiled at the sky and let out a sigh of relief.

"I guess only I lose then." The man said looking over at Naruto, who was barely able to crawl now. Naruto had to crawl on his side, because the "rain" in the man's jutsu where like needles and rolling on his stomach would push all the needles into himself. Naruto crawled and finally couldn't crawl anymore less than a yard away from the man who turned his head and smiled at Naruto. "Got to say kid, you got some guts. I wouldn't have expected you to compete with me as well as you did." The man said standing up slowly as Naruto gripped his teeth together. "Then again I did train you well." The man said revealing his red sliced eyes. Naruto laid there in disbelief.

"Why Kyuubi? Why would you try and harm my friends?" Naruto begged.

"I was never going to harm them kit, but you have exceeded everyone's expections when your friends are in Jeopardy. I needed to see if your determination and you love for your friends, along with my training made you strong." Naruto didn't want to hear it.

"Kyuubi, why would you do such a horrible thing?" Naruto pleaded once more.

"Because kit, when I had you do that seal transfer jutsu a long time ago, I made it into a special seal that made it so I can come and go as I please. Of course it's not very popular among sealing demons inside people so of course no one uses it." Kyuubi looked down at Naruto who was still confused. "You see kit, while I was training you, I saw that you never showed any true resolve until I remembered that you became unstoppable when your friends were in danger. So i needed to test just how much more your improved so I can train you further. Also, you should know that Aimi who you faced is the keeper of the two tailed cat, she is only five years old because she used the two tailed cats power to her full extent and made herself young again. She renamed herself in order to hide from the Akatsuki. She then fled to Konoah in search of starting a new life. She pleged that she would be loyal to Konoah and help you in your training of me if she was allowed. Tsunade didn't want you to find out till later because she wanted to see how the two of you interacted. Needless to say, once she knew it was me, she panicked and was in fear of me. I however wasn't really after her, I was after you, to know exactly how good you where without me before I trained you. Once the sand ninja appeared, I couldn't fight them all or reveal myself so I went back inside you and helped you heal up." Naruto was getting fuzzy as his blood loss became more severe. "Which leads me to my last part, I', staying with you kit, for a very long time. It has been so much fun finally being out, but I must admit kit, you are by far the best human I have ever met. I will almost be proud to call your body home for awhile." The fox smiled at Naruto as the fox disappeared and Naruto felt the fox's chakra run through his system healing his wounds. "Rest well kit, you've earned it." Naruto passed out as Tsunade, Hinata and half of the Jonin in the sand village were sent on a mission to recover Naruto. Garra ordered it after he saw the large amounts of chakra and explosions, that shook Suna, happened. Naruto's hearing cut out and only saw Hinata's last words before he passed out.

"NARUTO-KUN!" She screamed at his body.

"Rest well kit, your'll need it soon enough…" The fox whispered as he continued to work on Naruto's wounds. "Uchiha Madara…" The fox said before Naruto's body was getting looked over, then worked on by Tsunade.

End of chapter.

Next Chapter CEP: Conclusion, Fight between the two happens in much later chapters. (Sorry guys, No Pain action unless someone wants to help me write it. Was never really great at understanding Pain's PoV(Point of view) and creating his character close to him. I tried writing him a few times and never like the result. Anyway stay tune to your computer screens, or as I sometimes do T.V. screen, to read the next chapter.