My god! I am so so so so very sorry! Please don't shoot me! I know I haven't updated in a really long time, but I have my reasons. First off, my computer crashed on me. Twice. Not so fun, it was a good thing that I was able to salvage the file (though I don't really know how I did it.) I've also been really busy; I've had a lot to do over the past two months, ranging from tests to study for to essays to concerts (I'm involved in a variety of activities.)
Thanks to all of you who are still reading this story. I know its been a rough road, but this is the official last chapter. (Unofficially, there's going to be an epilogue. For the epilogue, I'll be asking for your feedback particularly; it's vital for the story to finish. Further info at the end of the story.) This may not be the best fight you'll read on this site (I've read some seriously epic fight scenes on ), but I will try. Sasuke might be a little OC in this chapter, so please bare with it. Onward with the story! Enjoy!
~Recap~
"Baka!" Ino shouted at him, hitting him upside the head. Naruto pouted, causing everyone to laugh. Lee gave Naruto, who had landed on the ground with an 'oomph' a hand up. Naruto brushed himself off, before tensing. He looked around, trying to find that source. 'It couldn't be…'
"What a nice reunion." A male voice said. The group of shinobi looked up to the branch Naruto had just vacated, and paled. (In Naruto's case, he paled even more so.)
"It's too bad that I'm going to have to kill you all," The man said, jumping down from the branch, a smirk on his face.
Naruto growled low.
"Sasuke."
~End Recap~
Sasuke stared at Naruto with a smirk and ice cold eyes. Naruto stared back with an impassive face, not even his eyes showing what he was feeling for his old teammate.
Seeing as how his friends weren't going anywhere, Naruto decided to make them leave.
"Go," He said, no, commanded his friends. He would not have his precious people in danger, even if it meant forfeiting his life in return. "Go and tell him that it's time." When the gang still didn't move, he growled. "Go!"
This seemed to get them moving, and they left the hill, albeit reluctantly. Only Shikamaru and Gaara remained.
"You better come back Naruto," Shikamaru threatened. "Or else I'll drag you're sorry butt back from the grave and kill you myself." Gaara nodded in agreement, and Naruto lightly sweat dropped.
"Don't worry, I will come back. You can't get rid of me that easily, Shika." Naruto smiled, and he was able to keep the sadness out of his smile. He knew, and Shikamaru and Gaara probably knew as well, that there would be no survivors after this battle.
Shikamaru nodded once, and the tow shinobi shun shined out of the area. Naruto turned back to Sasuke, who hadn't moved from his spot. The blonde cracked a smirk. "Aw, how sweet. Waiting for me to finish my conversation."
Sasuke snorted. "Please. I only waited so that when you were killed it wouldn't be in front of your little friends."
"Underestimating me already, Sasuke?" Naruto asked in an eerily calm voice, that put Sasuke on edge slightly. "I wouldn't do that; you'll end up dying quicker than you think."
That's when Naruto struck; while the two were talking, Naruto released the gravity seals he had on himself, and as he charged towards Sasuke, he was nothing but a yellow blur that was barely visible. Naruto struck with his Katana, which was in its true form. A four foot long blade the color of his sky blue eyes, and easily sharp enough to cut through metal. The hilt as black as an Uchiha's eyes. Adorning the hilt were small gemstones that were a deep sapphire blue and a red the color of Kyuubi's eyes. For the fight against the Oto-nin, it was in its sealed form. But now, facing against Sasuke, he needed to go all out, to make sure that Sasuke didn't kill his precious people.
Sasuke dodged the swipe easily and retaliated with his own sword, Kisangani, beginning the dance. Naruto dodged the horizontal attack by ducking and followed with a kick to Sasuke's legs. Said person jumped in the air and slashed downwards with his sword. Spinning on his right foot, Naruto dodged the slash and slashed his katana at a backwards diagonal slash with his left hand. Being thankful that he and Kyuubi created Shippu, his sword clashed with Sasuke's, and their dance continued.
0o0-0o0-0o0
The gang, now back in their twenty-year-old forms, rushed to the Hokage Tower. Shikamaru, who was leading the procession, got most of the stares, seeing as though he looked an awful lot like the Clan Head of The Nara's (aka Shikaku).
Upon entering the Hokage Tower, he traveled the familiar path to the office of his best friend, completely ignoring the secretary. Shikamaru knocked twice before entering the office. He didn't care what anyone said: his Hokage gave him an order, and he would complete them without fail.
Entering the office, Shikamaru was only slightly shocked at seeing all the Clan Heads of this time in the office. Everyone looked towards him with looks annoyance and curiosity. Shikamaru faced the Hokage, who was annoyed as well.
"What in the world is so important that you couldn't wait to get in here?" Minato asked with a steely voice. Shikamaru's eyes narrowed dangerously, forming a glare. This shocked the occupants of the room; if Shikamaru was indeed a Nara (which he obviously was), that look would be very bad for the receiving end.
"'What's wrong?'" Shikamaru bit out, his words were as sharp and cold as the tone of his voice. "I'll tell you what's wrong. My Hokage is out there fighting the most dangerous enemy in the Elemental Nations, and, instead of letting us stay there to help him, he sent us back here so we could warn you to evacuate the damned village!"
Shikamaru was absolutely livid; he was upset about the fact that he had to leave Naruto there with Sasuke. But the fact that the Yondaime sounded annoyed at his interruption when he should know that the only reason he would barge in was because of something deadly important. Minato's eyes grew wide in shock, though the infuriated Nara didn't find that satisfactory.
"We need to evacuate the village immediately." Shikamaru continued, his words not as icy as before, though still pretty frosty. "Knowing those two, there will be a lot of destruction; there always is."
Minato nodded sharply. "Alright. Sound the alarms immediately, and tell the villagers this is an S-Class emergency." Shikamaru nodded and left the room and didn't look back; he knew the Yondaime would explain the situation to the confused Clan Heads.
"What's going on, Hokage-sama?" Tsume asked, her voice low serious. "Why is this an S-Class emergency?"
Minato looked at her with hardened eyes. "I will explain when the village, shinobi included, is evacuated." The tone Minato's voice left no room for argument, and the shinobi there knew that to question their Hokage now would be a death sentence.
The Clan Heads quickly left the Hokage Tower and began rounding the citizens and shinobi. The villagers were vastly confused, and didn't cooperate fully. The one to clam them, though, was an unexpected one.
"Silence!" Hinata commanded, and the people ceased their chatter immediately. Hinata had a frown adorning her gentle face, and her jaw was set. "We are in an S-Class emergency. You all need to cooperate in order to secure the safety of yourselves, pets, and children. Now go!" The response was instantaneous; the villagers headed towards the Hokage Monuments where they would hide until the emergency was over.
Once all the residents of Konoha were safely in the Monuments, Minato stood in front of the people. Seeing their Hokage, they all quieted down.
"Minna-san, thank you for cooperating. The situation we have is dire, one that, if not taken care of, could result in a grave disaster." Minato's gaze swept over the people of his village before he continued.
"As most of you know, we are in an S-Class emergency, though most of you weren't told." Nods were made by the people and Minato continued again. "Right now, there is a dangerous nin in the village, though not by the city itself." He looked over towards Shikamaru, who took over, as the Hokage's assistant.
"I'll be blunt," Shikamaru began, garnering the attention of the people. "The most dangerous guy in the Elemental Nations, even more so than the Yondaime, is that nin." There were whispers of fright and looks of terror all over the places. Even the ANBU were tense. "But," Shikamaru continued, the attention on him once more. "This nin is not from this time period." Shock and terror went to confusion and anger.
"What do you mean by that?" A Chuunin called out. "It's impossible to time-travel, isn't it?" He asked, people agreeing with the Chuunin.
"But what if it was possible?" Shikamaru asked a question in return. "What if there was someone strong in the future that was skilled enough to make a time-travel jutsu? What would you say to that?"
"That person would indeed be very strong," Gai spoke up, his youthfulness attitude turned into a somber and serious one. "I suppose we all know who this person is, don't we?" Gai asked, receiving a nod from the lazy genius. "Who is he?"
About to reply, there was a sudden explosion, scaring all those who were in the room. Gaara, who had, until now, been leaning against the wall silently, stepped forward with the his third sand eye. Saying a quick jutsu, Gaara projected the wall to a place where everyone could see what was happening. And when they did, all were shocked, though none were affected as bad as Minato was.
"Naruto…"
0o0-0o0-0o0
Naruto had managed to land another punch on Sasuke with a left uppercut. The impact with Sasuke's jaw had sent said man flying and straight into a tree. The tree, who couldn't handle the pressure it was suddenly assaulted with, cracked and exploded, sending the Uchiha back even more.
There was smoke from the explosion, and Naruto remained on guard, trying to sense where Sasuke was. At the last second, he quickly dodged the stab aimed at his side, jumping away. The smoke cleared and Naruto got a clear view of his battered opponent; Sasuke's white shirt had, by now, been torn off him, and all he had left on now were his black ANBU pants. There were scratches and dirt all over his bare pale skin, and blood slowly leaked from wounds that had not been tended to. It wasn't like Naruto was any better, though; he, too, was in nothing but his standard black ANBU pants, his shoes obliterated, the remains all over the hill. The only part of the hill that remained was the sturdy oak tree. Naruto frowned at the destruction of the hill, hoping that, by the time he was back in the future (if he survived), the hill would be regrown again.
The blonde looked back towards his enemy; the two were breathing hard. They both knew that this had to end, though who would win, they didn't know.
"Done already, dobe?" Sasuke asked, setting his sword up in an attacking stance, his cursed seal activating.
"Please. You have a long way to go before you can kill me, teme." Naruto retorted, entering Sage Mode. He wondered how Jiraiya was reacting (Naruto knew that Gaara had left the Sand Eye here, and was, most likely, showing it to all the other villager, even tou-san and kaa-chan).
The two said no more as they danced their deadly tango; if one slipped, the other would, for sure, would kill him. No moves could be wasted, and you had to be able to match the other's speed, otherwise the difference in time could kill you.
Flipping backwards, Naruto kicked Sasuke in the jaw, sending the latter flying in the opposite direction. Naruto landed, going into a crouch. He sealed his sword back into his hand, and started creating his signature move, knowing this would be the last one. From where Sasuke had landed, he could hear the chirping of the birds, and knew that Sasuke, too, was preparing his final attack, giving it his all. Naruto sent a blade of wind to where he knew Gaara's Sand eye was; he didn't want anyone to be burdened with the sight that was to be seen. Feeling little satisfaction when he felt the minute tremor from the explosion of the Sand Eye, Naruto concentrated on his attack, moving the remainder of his chakra to his Rasenshuriken. This would be the end.
His attack complete, the blond Rokudaime charged forward towards the person who would forever be his best friend and rival. There was no going back.
"Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!"
0o0-0o0-0o0
And there you have it! Mean, aren't I? I know you wouldn't want it to end just like that, right? (Insert evil laugh here) Well, tell me what you think, and if you want what happened next in the Epilogue. Please review 'cause, if you don't, I won't be able to write the end to this story. And that would be bad. For you and for me. I'd die 'cause my muse would drive me crazy, and if I die, you don't get the end of the story. So please Review! Again!