Chapter Three
The Fight Sasuke vs. Naruto pt.2
Sasuke is the first to pull himself to the water's surface. While he waits for Naruto to emerge, he remembers looking up at the mountain and seeing the back completely blown away. That was when he realized how strong Naruto was. As Naruto climbs to the surface, Sasuke's mind drifts to Kakashi's warning from three years back.
A third Chidori won't happen.
As Naruto crouches on the water's surface, Sasuke allows the seal to take over. Seeing that Naruto has tears in his eyes Sasuke starts talking to Naruto.
"Two first class ninjas should be able to read each other within the first few moments of a fight. But you're naïve. You haven't yet been able to read my attacks" Sasuke tells Naruto. Sasuke assumes attack mode.
"Katon: Housenka no jutsu" Sasuke yells as he start spitting fireballs at Naruto and then following up with a series of punches.
Naruto remembers how he grew up alone. When he met Sasuke, he was so happy there was someone like him that he wanted to speak to him right away. But he couldn't. Sasuke was always in the limelight, winning the praise of everyone, while Naruto was always left behind. This made Naruto competitive. He didn't want to lose to Sasuke. Even after Group 7 was formed, he kept up this façade, never explaining the way he felt. In truth, Naruto always admired Sasuke. And when Sasuke finally asked him to fight, he was happy because Sasuke finally acknowledged him.
Naruto's thoughts return to Sasuke's words - they're friends. Why did he say that? Did he mean it? Naruto always assumed they were friends, but maybe they really weren't.
Sasuke holds Naruto above the water with one arm while his free hand forms Chidori. He pulls back and hits Naruto on the shoulder. Blood splatters everywhere as Naruto's mind returns to his flashback.
Chibi Naruto remembers playing with his schoolmates at a playground. As the sun set, everyone's parents came to collect them. Except for Naruto's. He has always been alone. As he walked home, he looked down to see Sasuke sitting by the docks staring out into the water. Though he wanted to stop, he kept walking.
Sasuke pulls his hand out of Naruto's shoulder. Though Naruto was able to avoid a critical hit, his shoulder is still badly damaged so he won't be able to perform seals or Rasengan.
But Naruto fills with rage at the thought of Orochimaru taking Sasuke. He glows orange and the Kyuubi appears above him. Sasuke stares, horrified, as Naruto heals before him. More steadfast now, he makes a vow.
"I won't let Orochimaru have you, even if I have to break every bone in your arms and legs" Naruto vows.
Sasuke watches as Naruto finishes powering up.
"What are you?" Sasuke asked while staring at Naruto.
"Your friend. That's why I won't let you go" Naruto replies. Naruto takes the offense, punching the water and then rushing at Sasuke. He lands several punches and kicks before hammer fisting Sasuke into the water below. When Sasuke floats to the water's surface, Naruto doesn't give him time to breathe before skating atop the water's surface and continuing his assault. Sasuke blows flames, but Naruto blocks them and again lands on top of his friend. They fight underwater. On land Naruto slams him into the cliff wall and asked Sasuke a question.
"Have you come to your senses yet? If not I'll continue to pound away" Naruto hissed.
"SHUT-UP, How can you possibly understand? You never had siblings or parents. You were alone from the start, so you don't understand what it's like to lose them" Sasuke yells as he then rushes at Naruto, pushing him off the cliff.
"I may not know anything about parents or siblings, sometimes when I'm with Iruka-sensei, I wonder if that's what it's like to have a dad. And when I'm with you, I wonders if that's what having a brother is like" Naruto yells back.
Sasuke stares at Naruto in a surprised way. "Why would you go this far for me?" Sasuke asked. "Our friendship was one of the first bonds I ever had. That's why I'll stop you" Naruto replies. This reply triggers new respect for Naruto as he faces Naruto, his Sharingan evolves to the full 3 marks.
"Then I will break this bond" Sasuke replies. Now that Sasuke's Sharingan has evolved, he can see Naruto's patterns of attack and easily dodges them, giving him the advantage in the fight. These new eyes allow him to conserve chakra so he doesn't have to rely on the seal, which is very chakra intensive. As Naruto takes another hit and falls backwards into the water, he realizes Sasuke can now read his movements perfectly.
Naruto clones burst out of the water, but Sasuke dodges all attacks and easily defeats the clones. Naruto then forms a clone chain and pulls Sasuke under the water. Using his clone chain as a whip, he smacks Sasuke into the cliff above.
"Katon! Ryuuka no jutsu" Sasuke counters as he burns up the remaining clones. As lava meets the water, the Kyuubi awakens. Naruto looks up at his friend in awe.
"That technique was amazing" Naruto utters. Sasuke pulls away from Naruto.
"Shut-up" Sasuke tells Naruto before tossing him backwards. He catches Naruto in mid air and guides him to the ground head first in a pile driver. Naruto's limp body rolls off the bank and falls into the water as Sasuke dry heaves on the shore, thinking he just killed his teammate.
If it had been anyone else, they'd be dead for sure, but not Naruto, who has the Kyuubi to protect him.
"You're weak and should be thankful, the Kyuubi lends you his chakra and animates your body" Sasuke tells Naruto. Sasuke stares in amazement as Naruto stands up and punches him in the face. Naruto then assumes a fox stance and sends a tidal wave at Sasuke. He follows up by smacking the crap out of Sasuke, whose Sharingan isn't powerful enough to see the movements of Kyuubi's chakra.
Sasuke spits fire, but the Naruto fox dodges all, using his chakra to protect himself. Sasuke decides to keep his distance, but Naruto sends a massive fox hand to grab him. Sasuke dodges, but Naruto counters with water, washing Sasuke onto the beach where Naruto's fox hand traps Sasuke against the wall. Sensing he has no other choice, Sasuke goes level 2 cursed seal. His hair turns blue and a black star forms on his nose.
Naruto rushes at Sasuke, who has just transformed into level 2 cursed seal. He picks up a fist full of dirt and tosses it, but when the smoke clears, Sasuke's new wing has shielded him from the blow. He quickly swats off Naruto and a matching wing grows from his opposite shoulder. Still, Sasuke's not too keen to stay in this state for long for fear the cursed seal will take over and he'll lose himself forever.
Naruto flashes back through his friendship with Sasuke one more time before the boys face off for one final chidori vs. rasengan.
As the two techniques connect, there's an explosion. Sasuke reaches into Naruto's chest while Naruto manages to scratch Sasuke's forehead protector. The chakra is so great that even Jiraiya, who's still a ways back, can feel it. The chakra ball engulfs them and everything fades into the multicolored light. Inside, the boys float amongst the energy.
When the technique finishes, Sasuke is standing over an unconscious Naruto, a ray of sunlight highlighting Naruto's face. The sky opens up and it starts to downpour. Sasuke is suddenly overcome with pain in his shoulder and coughs up blood. He falls to his knees and crouches directly above Naruto's head for one final moment to come to terms with what just happened.
Jiraiya arrive, to find Naruto's body and discover he was too late. Jiraiya picks up Naruto and puts him on his back and apologizes that he should have came. Realizing what went down, he looks off in the distance for Sasuke.
Alone in the rain, Sasuke can barely walk. He remembers his family and knows that Itachi will always be the wall he must overcome. But, he promises himself that he won't use Mangekyou Sharingan. He won't kill his friend and play by Itachi's rules.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes. "I-I c-couldn't…bring…him back" Naruto says as he faints once more. Jiraiya looks at Naruto and decides to take him back to Konoha so someone can tend to Naruto. Jiraiya begins walking to go back to Konoha.
As Sasuke was walking he started think about when he went back to school after the massacre happened. How everyone whispers about the massacre but no one talks directly to him or offers condolences. Later, he sits alone on the dock by the lake, lost in thought. As he stares, his brother's reflection appears in the water below and Sasuke vows to obtain that power. From that day forward, he's an avenger.
As he continued walking he started to think about Hinata and Naruto's words.
What about Hinata-chan…she's been waiting for you all this time…for three years now waking up everyday not knowing if you're even still alive or if you're even ever coming back to her…she really misses you and she also wants you to come back
Sasuke thought about Naruto's words for a few more seconds but quickly let his words fade away.
As the raven haired ninja was walking he stopped when he saw Orochimaru standing ahead of him.
"Oi Sasuke-kun…that was some type of performance you just did there" Orochimaru said as he started smiling. Sasuke snorted as he walks pasted him. "I'm going to be gone for a few days" Sasuke tells the snake guy.
"Really where are you going? You aren't going back to Konoha are you" Orochimaru asked while narrowing his eyes. Sasuke shrugs. "Not sure and if I did you're not going to stop me" Sasuke glares at his sensei. Orochimaru smirks at Sasuke's actions.
"If you're trying to intimidate me Sasuke-kun it's not going to work…but go do want you want I don't care" Orochimaru says as he grins before walking away.
Sasuke stares at Orochimaru for a while until he too leaves.
Meanwhile with Jiraiya, he finally made it back it Konoha and he immediately took Naruto to the hospital. When he arrived there the doctors took him away to the operating room. Naruto had lots of broken bones due to his fight with Sasuke and they needed to be repaired.
Three hours had passed since Naruto's surgery and he has been sleep ever since. Jiraiya watches Naruto's sleeping form but looks up when he sees the door open to notice that it was the female Hyuuga…Hinata.
"Oh hello Hinata-chan" Jiraiya greets her quietly. Hinata smiles as she walks inside the room and closes the door.
"H-Hello Jiraiya-sensei" Hinata said as she walks closer towards Naruto's bedside. Jiraiya studied Hinata's face and noticed that she seemed quite worried about Naruto.
"He's going to be alright…he's just sleeping right now that's all" Jiraiya insures Hinata. Hearing this Hinata smiles as she nodes her head. "W-What happened to him?" Hinata asked as he touches Naruto's hand.
"That's something Naruto should tell you" Jiraiya says as he stands up. Hinata looks up at Jiraiya. "Well I better get going now…Naruto he will be really happy to see you when he wakes up" Jiraiya states before is disappears in a poof in smoke.
Hinata looks back down at Naruto. "What happened to you Naruto-kun?" Hinata says to herself as she looks at Naruto. She noticed how handsome he has gotten over the passed two in half years. Hinata found herself blushing as she looked at him.
"He almost looks like the fourth Hokage" Hinata thinks to herself.
Hinata had stayed by Naruto's side for three days straight until he finally woke up.
Naruto slowly open his eyes to see Hinata sleeping at the chair by his bedside. Naruto sat up looking at her smiling. "She's really gotten even more beautiful" Naruto thought to himself as he blushes. Hinata had grown a little taller, her face looked more like a mature woman, and her hair was longer touching her back now. Naruto was happy to see Hinata again as he reached over to brush a piece of hair that was in her face. Hinata slowly opened her eyes to see Naruto's hand on her face.
"N-Naruto-kun…?" Hinata said quietly as she opened her eyes a little wider. "Naruto-kun you're awake" Hinata said in an excited tone as she jumps out of her seat and hugs Naruto. Naruto was taken back by her actions but he hugs her back while wearing a crimson face.
"H-H-Hinata-chan" Naruto stutters as he hugs Hinata. "I was so worried about you Naruto-kun…I…was so…worried" Hinata said quietly as she continues to hug Naruto. Naruto smiles as he pulls her back to look at her.
"I missed you Hinata-chan…I missed you a lot" Naruto explains as he looks at Hinata in the eyes. "I missed you too Naruto-kun…but…what happened to you" Hinata asked as she sits on the side of his bed looking at him. Naruto looks down at his hands.
"…I'm sorry Hinata-chan…I tried I really did but…I failed" Naruto says quietly. Hinata looks at him in a puzzled way. "What are you talking about Naruto-kun?' Hinata asked while looking at him.
"Our promise…that I made three years ago" Naruto says with guilt in his voice. Hinata looks at him as her eyes widened. "Y-You mean…Sasuke-kun…he's de-"
"NO. He's still alive but I failed at bringing him back to you" Naruto says quickly seeing that Hinata misinterpret his words. He looks at Hinata trying to read her expression. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan…I'm still going to try to bring him back to you no matter what" Naruto said as he looks at her determination. "But N-Naruto-kun…you don't have to…I don't want you to get hurt anymore" Hinata said as she looked at him with pleaded eyes.
Naruto didn't know why but he felt angry, he thought that Hinata was trying to say that Sasuke was stronger than him and he thought that she pitied him.
"Listen Hinata-chan…I'm not someone to underestimate and I can defeat Sasuke…don't think that I can't because I can" Naruto exclaimed as he looks at Hinata while frowning. Hinata looks at Naruto in shock. Naruto had never talked to her like that before and she was shocked.
"No N-Naruto-kun you must misunderstood me…I didn't mean it like that, I just don't seeing you hurt like this Naruto-kun…I know you a very strong person that's why I admire you…but I hate to see you get hurt" Hinata explained as she looked at Naruto. Naruto looked at Hinata in shock as he glowed.
"Hinata-chan I-"before he could even finish his sentence someone came inside the room.
"Hinata I've been looking all over for you" The blue haired teen looked at her but then he looked at Naruto as Naruto stared at him.
"So I finally get to meet Uzumaki Naruto the number one hyperactive ninja" He said while grinning as he pulled a seat next to Hinata. Naruto looked at the teen. He didn't have a clue who he was.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked while looking at him with one eyebrow cocked up.
"I'm Akira Miyazki, I'm good friends with Hinata here" Akira said while flashing Hinata a grin. Naruto glared at the blue haired boy. Akira felt Naruto staring at him and could sense why he was.
"Hinata I and met two years ago…I was injured really bad from a mission that I was on with my team and Hinata healed me with her medical jutsu and ever since that day we've began really close friends" Akira stated while smiling at Hinata.
Naruto looks at Hinata. "Medical Jutsu?" Naruto asked Hinata while looking at her. Hinata blushed as she nodes her head.
"I-I'm a medical nin now, N-Naruto-kun…Hokage-sama trains me and Sakura" Hinata says while she blushes. Naruto had known that Sakura was studying medical justu's but he didn't know about Hinata.
"Wow that's amazing Hinata-chan" Naruto says as he touches Hinata's hands as Hinata smiles. As Naruto's hand was on Hinata's hand Naruto noticed that Akira was giving Naruto the 'get your hand off of her' look as he was growling really low so no one heard him. Naruto frowned at Akira as he took his hand off of Hinata.
"So Akira where are you from" Naruto asked while his frown disappeared.
"I'm from here…Konoha" Akira replied. Naruto stared at him for a while.
"I never remember seeing you here before" Naruto said with a frown. "Really I've always seen you around the village…I've been here all my life…except I grew up by myself…no family, no friends…no nothing" Akira explains. Naruto looks at Akira in shock. "He's just like me" Naruto thought to himself.
"Like you, you tried to get people to acknowledge you by pulling pranks and doing all sorts of other things. Me, I didn't do any of that…I was a loner very antisocial and cold towards others, I wouldn't let anyone in when I got put on my team I was still acting like that arrogant person I was, thinking that I was better than them but when I met Hinata I…well let's just say she change me for the better" Akira confessed as he looked from Naruto to Hinata. Naruto stared at him for a while. Akira reminded him of him in some ways and Sasuke in other ways.
Akira looks at his watch. "Well I better get going…it was nice meeting you Naruto no it was an honor meeting you" Akira said as he stuck out his hand for Naruto to shake it. Naruto looked at his hand before shaking it.
"Yeah you too" Naruto said as he smiled. Akira turned to Hinata and blushed. "And I'll see you later Hinata" Akira as he disappeared in a poof of smoke.
When Akira left Naruto looked at Hinata and give her a certain look. "What's the deal with that guy…does he like you or something?" Naruto asked while looking at his best friend/ crush.
"…Ano…he has told me that…h-he likes me…but I told him I have…a b-boyfriend already" Hinata says as she blushes.
"You tell him about Sasuke?" Naruto asked being quite curious. "No…but I told him that he's not in Konoha now…that's all I told him" Hinata said. Naruto looked at Hinata, he didn't like this Akira fellow to much when it came to Hinata. Sure he did still like Hinata but Hinata was he's best friend girlfriend and he wasn't going to let Akira get close to Hinata no matter what the cost was.
"Hinata-chan have you been by side since I been here?" Naruto asked. Hinata nodded her head. "Jiraiya-sensei was here when you first came but then he left and I stayed here with you…Sakura, Lee, Neji, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Kakashi, and TenTen even Gaara-sama had even came to visit you" Hinata said as she looked at Naruto's expression which was a surprised one.
"All of them came to visit me?" Naruto said as he felt his heart pounding in his chest. He was happy to hear that of his friends came to visit him and that Hinata and stayed by he's side this whole time. "Thank you for being by my side this whole time" Naruto said gently as he looked at Hinata and gave her a generous smile. Hinata smiled back.
"The doctors say you can go home tomorrow" Hinata explained while breaking the silence. "Really, that's good" Naruto says in an excited tone but than he's stomach starts to growl. Hinata looks at Naruto and giggles as Naruto blushes from embarrassment.
"I'm really hungry" Naruto says as he looks at Hinata still blushing. Naruto watches Hinata as she pulls out some fruit in a basket. "Here I brought this for you…I was going to make you some ramen but the doctors said that it's better if you just eat fruit for now. Naruto nodded his head as he took the fruit.
"Thank you Hinata-chan for being so kind" Naruto replied as he gave Hinata one of his famous grins. Hinata looks at Naruto and blushes as she gives him a small smile.
"You should go home Hinata-chan and get some rest" Naruto explains as he takes a bite of the apple. Hinata nodes her head but then she looks down at her feet. Naruto notices her expression change and stares at her.
"What is it Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked in a concerned way.
"W-Well you haven't been here for two in half years so I know you don't know…but…I don't live at the Hyuuga manor anymore" Hinata confesses. Naruto looks at her in shock.
"What? Why? What happened?" Naruto asked. He had a feeling it had something to do with her father. "Otou-san…and I got into an argument about me being an medical nin and…well he didn't want me to be that and he told me that I was…useless and a failure as the clan's heiress and as his daughter and that I wasn't fit to become the heir so he made my little sister the heir and told me to move out…and well that was two years ago and…I haven't been back since" Hinata explained as her bangs covered her eyes as she looked down.
Naruto looked at Hinata, he had felt sorry for her he wanted to comfort her and tell her that everything will be okay and that he will always be there for her no matter what so that's what he did. Naruto pulled Hinata by her arm towards him and held her in his arms, which took her by a surprise.
"N-N-Naruto-kun" Hinata stuttered. Naruto continued to hold her.
"Hinata-chan…I want you to know that I'll always be here for you no matter what happens…and don't listen to that stoic father of yours because you're not a failure nor are you useless…you are a very caring, strong, intelligent, amazing, and a very beautiful girl and don't let anyone words bring you down ever" Naruto said as he looked at the now blushing Hinata.
"N-Naruto-kun…I-I…" Hinata didn't even know what to say. She was so flabbergasted by his words she couldn't even speak the only thing she could do is blush and say Naruto-kun and stutter the word 'I'. Naruto looked at Hinata and smiled.
"Now go home and get some rest…oh by the way where are you staying?" Naruto asked out of curiosity.
"The apartments near the Hokage statues…I'm apartment 26B" Hinata explained.
"Well I'll tell you what…the first thing I'm going to do when I get out of here is go to visit you and then we could just hang out just you and me" Naruto said with a smile.
"B-But Naruto-kun don't you want to see Sakura-chan and everyone else…you know they really want to see you" Hinata replied. Naruto frowned.
"That might be true but tomorrow is reserved just for you and I…everyone else is just going to have to wait because you come first before anyone Hinata-chan" Naruto grinned at the blushing Hyuuga female in front of him. "Well if you insist Naruto-kun…I'll be waiting for you" Hinata said as she stood up.
"Ja ne Hinata-chan" Naruto grinned at Hinata as she walked towards the door. Hinata looked back at Naruto and gave him grin which she hardly ever does as she waved back at him.