OH GOD! CHAPTER 16 ! FLAMING PANDAS!

Yeah this isn't really a chapter…it's just a short little update so I can leave you with another cliffhanger. Isn't that fun?

Chapter 16: Naruto Vs Sasuke Continued

The crowd waited with baited breath for the dust to clear so they could see the victor. After several moments the dust cleared.

Tears welled up in Hinata's eyes. What those teary eyes beheld chilled her to the core. Sasuke stood holding a very, very bloody arm over Naruto's unmoving and equally bloody body. After a moment Naruto coughed up some blood. He was still alive, but at Sasuke's mercy.

"N-NARUTO-KUN!" Hinata yelled ready to jump out and help him. However she found herself unable to move. Everyone was holding her back. "What about Naruto-kun!" she yelled angrily.

"This is how it has to be…" Kakashi said.

"NARUTO-KUN HAS TO DIE!" She yelled even louder. "I CAN'T…I WON'T ACCEPT THAT!"

"Please Hinata…" Shikamaru said calmly. "All we can do is watch."

"But…" tears welled up in her eyes again. "N-Naruto-kun…" She shrunk down into a ball and cried.

TO THE DUEL!

Sasuke hovered above Naruto's body examining him. He was still breathing in short raspy breaths. His lung was pierced. It looked grim for his former comrade.

"So…this is the end Naruto…" Sasuke said turning around. "I won't finish you…lay there and think of happier times."

Naruto lay on his side in a puddle of his own blood. He looked up at the sky. Happier times? He thought. He remembered how excited he was to be on Sakura-chan's team…team 7. He remembered their first mission, catching a cat for some old lady… their first real mission to the wave country…against Zabuza and Haku. That was the first time the Kyubi really came out. The Chuunin exams and his fight with Kiba, Hinata's fight with Neji all came back to him "…Hinata?" He opened his eyes and looked over towards the girl. She was crying. He reached out to try and touch her but he found himself unable to reach. "H-Hina-chan…" He said to himself. He didn't know why she was crying, but he knew he didn't like it when she cried. "Don't…cry…Hina-cha-an…" he said with a slight cough. "I—I can still fight…"

"I'm surprised that you can still talk Naruto-kun…" Sasuke said glaring down at the motionless Naruto.

"Sas…suke…" Naruto said looking back at him. "Was… it you?"

"Hmm?" Sasuke said in confusion.

"Was it you…who made Hina-chan sad?" he said coughing up some more blood.

"Yes." Sasuke said after a moment. Naruto frowned.

"Don't do that…go apolo…apolo…apolog-gize…now…" Delirium was setting in now.

Looking at his former comrade in this state made Sasuke sad. Something he hadn't felt since he left the Konoha. As he watched Naruto slowly dying, his eyes began to spin and change shape.

"Sas…suke…" Naruto said. "You…got something…in your eye…" and with that, he let out a sigh and let his head fall to the side.

Sasuke looked at him. Tears streamed down his face. "You were my best friend Naruto-kun…" he said through the tears. "I didn't really want it to end this way." His eyes stopped rotating revealing a Mangekyou Sharingan. "And this isn't the way I wanted to attain this eye…" He said covering it up in shame. "You failed once again Naruto-kun…" Sasuke said walking away. "Now all of your friends will surely die. Today you lost more than your life…you lost your honor as well…"

INSIDE NARUTO'S HEAD! IT'S EMPTY! HAAHH! GOTCHA!

Naruto awoke to find himself in an empty black room. He stood up and looked around. He saw nothing. The space around him was totally vacant. He heard a grumble behind him. He snapped his head around to see the nine tailed demon fox sitting there.

"You failed kid."

"Yes…but there's nothing I can do now…I'm dead."

"I wouldn't go that far yet kid…" the Kyubi said. "You're still breathing."

"But with those wounds…I doubt even you can cure me…"

"Yes…that is true." The Kyubi said.

"So please then…don't taunt me with false hopes…"

"Whoever said that they were false?"

"Please…There's no way."

"You'd give up on all your friends that easily?"

"I don't want to…but there's no choice…"

"Really?" The Kyubi scoffed. "I seem to remember you coming out on top of impossible situations before…"

"None of them were like this baka kitsune…"

"So? Lemme get this straight? You're gonna let a little thing like death stop you?" The fox asked.

"That's pretty much the size of it."

"Look at this…" the fox looked to his left revealing a small hole of light. Naruto looked into it and saw Sakura trying to rip out of her shackles to get to the body. "You're really gonna let Sakura-chan die?"

"N-no…but what can I do?"

"How about this?" He motioned to another one right next to it. Naruto looked in. Inside were all of his comrades. Neji, Lee, Hina-chan, Shikamaru, Kiba, Akamaru, Kakashi-sensei, Tenten, and Kaoshi-kun. Everyone was upset. Tenten was crying. Neji was too, but trying to hide it. Kiba was looking down trying to hide his tears. Shikamaru wiped them away. Hinata was curled up in the fetal position screaming, 'Why, why, why! Why Naruto-kun!' Naruto averted his gaze. It hurt him to see her like that. "How does that make you feel?"

"Make it stop…"

"Only you can make it stop."

"HOW! I'M A FUCKING CORPSE!"

"You will be if you keep sitting around here doing nothing."

"WHAT CAN I DO!" He yelled standing up.

"Let me put it to you another way…" the fox said angrily. "If you don't stand your body up right now, I'll possess it and use it to kill everyone I see. Including your friends."

"YOU WOULDN'T DARE!"

"Try me."

Naruto glared at the fox.

"Gimme some chakra." He said firmly.

"THAT'S more like it!"

"Shut the hell up and gimme some damn chakra…"

"All right already sheesh…how does five sound?"

"Shutup and do it."

TO THE REAL WORLD!

Kakashi looked at Naruto's corpse.

"Damn it…" he said lowering his head. "You just expect him to pop up and say something stupid in an attempt to be witty…"

Suddenly, a huge chakra emerged from the center of the arena.

"What!" Kakashi yelled. "It can't be…"

Red chakra started to cover Naruto's body. Tails started to emerge from the motionless body. They stopped coming after the 5th one emerged.

"Dammit…" Kakashi said clinching his teeth. "This had better not be what I think it is…"

The red chakra completely covered the body making it impossible to see. The body picked itself up and set itself on all fours. He looked like a miniature Nine Tails only with five tails.

People started to get afraid. They recognized him as the Kyubi now and started to flee while the leaf nin looked on in horror. Hinata was still crying on the ground ignoring the immense chakra.

"Dammit." Kakashi said again. "This might get ugly."

Suddenly…the chakra stopped increasing. Everything suddenly became silent except for a low buzz. The chakra around Naruto diminished but the five tails remained. There stood a completely healed Naruto ready to battle.

"It's over Sasuke." He said glaring at his former comrade.

"Why…" Sasuke said looked back at Naruto. "Is it that you try is hard?"

"Because Sasuke…" Naruto said with a grin. "The people whom I love need to be protected."

"Well then…" Sasuke said, smiling. "It seems Naruto-kun…that you've turned into a man."

"A very immature one." Naruto said with a smile.

"Indeed."

The two remained silent but charged their attacks. Their chakra was swirling about them even more powerfully than it had before. The two lunged at each other. Their hands met with a powerful roar as the stadium around them began to crumble. Their eyes were locked on each other, looking for any sign of weakening.

"Surely…" Kakashi said. "If either of them give an inch…they'll die."