A/N: Well, what do you know? I decided to release this chapter a bit earlier this week. I probably just want to get the Akatsuki fight out of the way, it's tough doing action scenes. Anyway, I dunno if there'll be another update this weekend. Possibly next weekend? Earlier? We'll see. Anyway, hope you enjoy, and as usual, please review with your opinions or comments and tell me if you like this or not! Thanks to everyone who reads this!
"You're telling me that only a handful of ninjas are causing this?" Tsunade yelled angrily to the ANBU ninja in front of her. Outside her windows, a surprising amount of carnage was seen, buildings ablaze and the sounds of battle filling the streets.
"H-Hokage-sama! It's the Akatsuki! Those spies that told us they were encamped – they were agents working under Akatsuki! They deliberately forced Boxer-sama to leave so they could attack us!"
Tsunade bit her lip nervously. "Those cheap bastards… Bloody Boxer-sama, if it wasn't for him…"
"Hokage-sama!" another ninja had run in, one of the gate guards. "A massive frog is heading our way, fast! It could be working with the Akatsuki!" The guard was in a panic, freaking out madly. "WE'RE GONNA DIE!"
Tsunade had a pretty good idea of what he was talking about, and after quickly checking outside her window, gave the guard a light slap on the face, which ended up sending him reeling across the floor. "Get a hold of yourself, wimp! That's our reinforcements!"
Boxer-sama stood on Gamabunta's head, gazing out with a sense of urgency. "Can't you go any faster, Bunta?"
"Calm down, twerp!" Gamabunta hollered in annoyance. "We're almost there!"
Boxer-sama grunted madly. He hated being in a position where he had to watch while something bad was happening. When they were finally at the gates, Boxer-sama leapt off in a hurry, running into the village in haste. The others chased after him, fending off the occasional Akatsuki agent as they tried to catch up. Jiraiya, on the other hand, was still standing on Gamabunta's back.
"Care to explain who that stranger was, Jiraiya?" Gamabunta asked impatiently. "I feel as though you're handing my scroll of summoning around like some kind of toy."
"That," Jiraiya paused to effortlessly punch away a ninja that attempted to attack him. "That was Naruto."
"Naruto?" Gamabunta repeated before bellowing in laughter. "What a weird servant I have!"
Jiraiya chuckled with him, before Gamabunta disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Yep, Naruto's definitely not your average guy."
Boxer-sama ran through the village, stopping only momentarily to take down any Akatsuki ninjas that stood in his way. Judging from the way they appeared to swarm him almost instantaneously, Boxer-sama realized that they must have been told about the legendary superninja, and were no doubt offered a massive bounty for his head.
"Wait for us, Boxer-sama! It's dangerous!" He heard voices calling for him, but his mind was in a rage to locate and defeat the Akatsuki, and stop the madness that had fallen over Konoha. He continued moving, picking us his paces. Soon, he found himself in front of Tsunade's office building, and judging from the voices inside, the Akatsuki members were up there as well. He dashed up the steps rapidly, and soon found himself in Tsunade's office, along with all nine members of the Akatsuki. Tsunade was being paralyzed by some sort of powerful Jutsu being applied to her by one of them.
"Ah, it seems that young Boxer-sama is not the fool we played him for," Itachi said monotonously. "I was hoping he would continue to search for our 'camp' while I looked for his family here." Itachi began to shiver with excitement once more, causing Kisame to roll his eyes.
"I don't care if you guys want to kill me," Boxer-sama began, pointing at them indignantly. "But if you're going to hunt me, hunt only for me!"
Itachi looked into Boxer-sama's red eyes, his Sharingan recognizing the flair and zest as someone he had known before. "You feel familiar…" Itachi said to him, causing Boxer-sama to flinch in surprise. Luckily, Itachi couldn't seem to put his finger on it. "Who are you?"
Boxer-sama looked at him angrily. "I'm the one that's going to kill you!"
Itachi looked at him with his usual bored eyes, then suddenly stepped forward. "Kisame, take the others and search for anyone who could be related to Boxer-sama in any way, and see if you can capture them for me. Kill them if you must. You, keep the Hokage where she is. I want to deal with Boxer-sama."
Boxer-sama boiled with rage at Itachi's words. "Stop them! Nobody in this village is related to me!"
"Is that so?" Itachi said, then reconsidered his order. "In that case, all of you are to slaughter every ninja of Konoha. No prisoners, seeing as how none of them are related to Boxer-sama."
Before Boxer-sama could react, the Akatsuki had bounded off together, save the one that was binding Tsunade, and Itachi, moving at incredible speed, had grabbed Boxer-sama, and effortlessly tossed him out through Tsunade's window, sending glass shards flying as Boxer-sama flew through the air, crashing through the wall of a nearby pagoda-like structure. Itachi jumped off after him, landing inside the pagoda through the newly-made entrance thanks to Boxer-sama's body.
'C-Crap, that hurt…' Boxer-sama thought with a grunt, trying to pull himself to his feet. He was surprisingly helped up by someone, and to his disappointment, it was Itachi. 'Aw, crap.'
As easily as Itachi had helped him up, he had once again threw him into the ground, sending Boxer-sama through the wooden floorboards. He landed on the next floor down with a painful thud, coughing up a spurt of blood. Itachi landed softly next to him once again.
"Within these walls, there is nobody to witness our battle," Itachi began. "And nobody…" He lifted Boxer-sama by the throat, watching him flail about like a fish out of water. "… To witness your death."
He tossed Boxer-sama lightly into the air, and as he began to fall down, Itachi's knee met his stomach, sending Boxer-sama flying up once again, this time two floors up. He crashed through two sets of floorboards on the way up, headfirst. He crashed onto the floor again, his head spinning.
'At this rate…' he thought to himself. 'At this rate… I'm going to die.'
Itachi had jumped up next to him again. He picked Boxer-sama up by his headgear, and smashed him face first into the pagoda wall, his face crashing through it in a flutter of wood pieces and rice paper. Itachi's hand continued to pressure his head into the wall.
"I hoped you would be more fun than this," Itachi said dully. "How did you manage to defeat my grandfather, who was the greatest Uchiha of all time?"
Boxer-sama painfully opened his eyes, and saw the streets outside. Buildings were in blazes, ninjas were fighting everywhere, and he also saw the remaining eight Akatsuki, who he noticed had engaged his previous company. And he also noticed that, due to the boys being out of commission, his previous company was harshly overpowered. Even with Jiraiya's help, they seemed to be in a tight situation. Suddenly, something in his head clicked.
'At this rate…' he thought once again. 'At this rate… My friends are going to die.'
Boxer-sama remembered why he was fighting, why he had fought up to this stage in his life, and why Boxer-sama came into existence in the first place. He didn't have time to worry about his own life; he knew there was too much at stake. A whole village was at stake. A whole village that he loved more than life itself was at stake.
"I…ta…chi…" Boxer-sama's voice called. "I'll say it again… I'm… Going… To kill you!"
Boxer-sama's body burned red with chakra, which was seeping through his skin. His body began to heat up fast, quickly reaching a point at which Itachi grunted in pain as his hand was singed. He let go in an instant, backing away in surprise.
Boxer-sama charged at Itachi this time, reeling his fist back and aimed at Itachi's face. His fist connected, and sent Itachi flailing into the pagoda wall the same way Boxer-sama had.
'Gotta finish this fast!' Boxer-sama thought to himself. 'So I can go help the others!'
Itachi looked up at Boxer-sama, his expression not showing a sign of surprise. "This power, I know I've seen something like it before…"
"Oh yeah?" Boxer-sama growled. Suddenly, Boxer-sama smirked. He knew the fastest way to get Itachi out of the way. He just hoped his theory on the common male adult was correct. "I've got something I doubt you've ever seen before. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Five Boxer-samas surrounded themselves in an arc, cornering Itachi onto the wall. They made a series of hand seals, a combination that Itachi, in all his experience, was not familiar with. Finally, Boxer-sama clapped his hands together firmly, looking up at Itachi menacingly.
"Harem no Jutsu!"
A flash of smoke shielded all the Boxer-samas from view, and when they returned, Itachi noticeably flinched backwards onto the wall. Where the Boxer-sama's once were, were now a handful of beautiful, bouncy young women, completely naked. Itachi squirmed lightly.
"H-Hmph," he remarked, stuttering for the first time in his life. "I don't see how this can defeat me. I am not as shallow as other people."
'I'm not done, yet. I noticed your greatest weakness!' Boxer-sama thought to himself with a smirk. This time, each of the Boxer-sama's began forming different seal sets, again ones that Itachi had never seen before. That's not surprise, however, as these were special techniques that Boxer-sama had devised to use alongside the Harem no Jutsu. Ones that Jiraiya had been quite infatuated with, which greatly disturbed him.
"Kazoku Harem no Jutsu!"
Another puff of smoke appeared, and when it cleared this time, the female Boxer-samas were no longer naked, this time dressed up. One was wearing a business suit, one of them in an apron, two of them dressed as kids, and the last one dressed like Itachi.
"Hello, honey, I'm home!" the suited female Boxer-sama said to the Boxer-sama in an apron.
"Hello, dear! The children miss you deeply!" she replied, kissing the suited Boxer-sama passionately, with plenty of tongue visible for Itachi.
Itachi stared at them, then stared at the one dressed as him. He gasped uncharacteristically, realizing what Boxer-sama was doing.
"Hello, daddy!" the two Boxer-sama dressed as children squealed. "We love you very much!"
"And I love you, kids!" the suited Boxer-sama said again.
'Itachi' Boxer-sama waltzed up to them, the female trying to act grumpy like Itachi, and instead managed a kind of cute insolent look. "I'm Itachi! I'm going to kill your family!" he said to one of the Boxer-samas dressed as a kid.
"Iya! I'm being killed!" the apron-wearing Boxer-sama squealed, as she fell to the ground.
Itachi began to sweat, his breathing quickening as he gulped down the saliva filling in his mouth.
"Oh no! Me too!" the suited Boxer-sama said, following after the 'mother'.
He began licking his lips, his face burning red.
"Younger brother, Itachi has killed me, too!" one of the child-dressed Boxer-samas said, as she also fell to the ground.
Itachi was now rubbing his nipples unconsciously.
"Now you," the 'Itachi' Boxer-sama said to the remaining child. "You must…"
Itachi was dying to hear the words.
"Hate me…"
"Ah…" Itachi moaned.
"Loathe me…"
"Mm…"
"Despise me…"
"Ah, yes, yes…" he moaned girlishly.
"And…"
"Oh, say it… Say it…"
"LIVE IN AN UNSIGHTLY MANNER!"
That was the last thing Itachi could take. His nose blew up in a flurry of blood, sending him flying through the pagoda wall, hitting the streets with a thud. Boxer-sama had noticed Itachi's obsession with family when he heard the way he talked about it earlier. Coupled with his relations with Sasuke (as well as Sasuke's speech, which had been drilled into his head thanks to his constant repetition of it) Boxer-sama realized that Itachi had a strange murder-your-family fetish.
Near where Itachi had landed was the battle between Boxer-sama's group and the remaining Akatsuki. The girls were looking as worse off as the guys at this point. Even the Jounins were on their last legs, while the Akatsuki members looked relatively unhurt. Their confident attitudes soon changed as they saw Itachi flying through the air and crashing to the ground in a puddle of blood. Halting their battle, to the relief of the girls, the Akatsuki quickly gathered to Itachi's side.
"Itachi! What happened to you!"
Itachi's eyes rolled back and forth, his breathing deep and sharp. "S-Such power, I have never seen before… Boxer-sama is… Incredible…"
They glared at him in shock. They had never known anyone to beat one of them so badly, and Itachi was one of the strongest of them.
"HEY!"
The voice caught their ears as they swung up, staring at the pagoda, which was riddled with holes from the previous battle.
"If you bastards think you can get away with hurting my friends, you've got another thing coming!"
The remaining Akatsuki members looked up at him nervously, fear visible in their eyes. Kisame hurriedly barked out orders to his stunned comrades.
"Retreat, now!" he yelled out. "We don't stand a chance at this rate!"
Kisame hung Itachi over his shoulders, and the seven of them dashed off hurriedly. The final member of Akatsuki was coming fast from their rear – after hearing Kisame's order, he had released his seal, only to be met with Tsunade's pissed off fist. As they disappeared in the distance, Boxer-sama hopped down the buildings, hurrying to his friends' aid.
"Are you all okay?" he asked worriedly. 'If anything bad happened, it's my fault.'
The girls looked up at him wearily. They were all covered in cuts and bruises, but thankfully, they said they were all fine.
"I'm glad… I'm so glad… You're all… o…ka…"
Boxer-sama hit the ground with a thud. The girls rushed up to him urgently, only to hear him snoring peacefully, his body curling up like a child. Jiraiya walked through the crowd and picked him up.
"Don't worry, the kid's just tired," he explained with a smile. "He hasn't slept for awhile… The little guy was running on fumes. I'll take him home, you girls should get to the hospital. I'm sure Tsunade can do something for you all."
All of Boxer-sama's group headed in the direction of the hospital, including the boys, who were busily discussing what had happened.
"H-He beat one of the Akatsuki? That badly, too?" Kiba exclaimed in surprise.
"Indeed, I'm impressed… I guess," Shikamaru replied, shrugging in annoyance.
Sasuke, however, was in a state of shock. He was frozen, jaw open, eyes bulging wide open. The others stopped walking and looked at him nervously.
"He's gonna lose it, isn't he?" Chouji whispered to Shikamaru quietly.
"Probably," Shikamaru sighed, blocking his ears with his fingers. "This won't be pretty."
'H-He beat Itachi? B-But how? Only I can beat Itachi! I lived my whole life to beat Itachi, and now Boxer-sama comes and just… What the hell!'
At that point, Sasuke's intense rage made him lose the ability to have an inner monologue. Much to everyone else's dismay.
"NOOOOOO, BOXER-SAMA YOU BASTARD! I TRAIN MY WHOLE LIFE TO BEAT ITACHI, AND HE'S DEFEATED BY SOME MORON IN UNDERWEAR!"
He glanced at Neji, who was standing next to him.
"WHY?"
Then turned over to face Lee, who was on the other side of him.
"WHY?"
Then he looked up, raising his arms to the sky dramatically.
"WHYYYYYY-ugh!"
Sasuke hit the ground, a large bump on his head. Standing behind him was Shikamaru, wielding a two by four. The others looked at him with a mix of relief and confusion.
"God, that was annoying."
Jiraiya crept in through Naruto's apartment window, shutting it behind him. He lay Boxer-sama on the bed, unwrapping his headgear.
"You did great as always, Naruto," Jiraiya congratulated the sleeping youth, who gurgled in response. Jiraiya chuckled. These were the times he felt like he was really Naruto's father.
Naruto slept peacefully, his wounds already healing steadily. Jiraiya glanced onto Naruto's back, and noticed that for some strange reason he still had the large scar crossing diagonally down his back.
"Huh? This isn't normal…" Jiraiya touched it curiously, noticing it still felt as though it was fresh. As though…
"The wound isn't healing…"
Jiraiya felt suddenly alarmed. It wasn't normal for wounds to not heal, especially in Naruto's case, when he should be healing at an accelerated rate. Jiraiya touched it again to be certain. Realizing it was really not healing, his face hardened.
"What could this mean…?"
END CHAPTER 11
A/N: Kazoku – means 'family' in Japanese… Not sure if it's in the right context, or if I even spelt it right, but hey, that's what you get from someone who's at Beginner level Japanese. If anyone has a better suggestion, I'll change it. Wonder what'll happen next chapter?