Chapter 13: Fight in the Final Valley
Disclaimer: the material used in the fiction is owned by the respective owners of said material not me also before anyone asks yes I am using the dub name of the location since to me Valley of the end is too damn long a name for a landmark.
Naruto and Sakura stood on one side of the valley with Sasuke on the other. "What took you to so long?" Sasuke asked in contempt for his former teammates.
"Sasuke we're here to take you back to the leaf even if we have to break every bone in you body to do it." Naruto answered but Sasuke just scoffed and turned his back.
"Please loser, preach all you want but thanks to this I can finally take my vengeance out on Itachi and when that happens I'll take out you next." Sasuke said holding his ring in the air, "If I had to give my mind, body, and soul to Atrocitus then I would do it 1000 times over if it brought me closer to killing Itachi." Sasuke concluded.
"Sasuke you've allowed your hatred and anger towards Itachi to twist your mind and now you're damning yourself to become the very thing that you hate. Don't you even have the common sense to see that?" Naruto said as he launched himself at Sasuke and punched him in the face over and over.
"You're still a fool Naruto and you always will be." Sasuke said as he made a sword from his ring and took a swipe at Naruto who dodged it. Before getting kicked off the statue, Sasuke then tied some ninja wire around some kunai and threw the kunai on the ground, formed several hand signs and with his ring amplifying the jutsu he let it loose; "FIRE STYLE: DRAGON FLAME JUTSU!" He shouted as he released a deep breath placed his mouth at the rim of his ring and blew into it forming the dragon that he attempted to use to destroy his blue wielding opponent, however his attack ended up getting stopped by a dragon made of violet crystal that stopped the fire dragon in it's tracks causing a massive explosion that sent all three of them flying into the river.
"So he really means to kill us huh Naruto?" Sakura asked as she got back up.
"Yeah he does, Sakura but we can't let him escape no matter what it takes." Naruto said as he and Sakura teamed up on Sasuke forcing him to use his ring to defend himself from everything from crystallized violet fists, to an army of blue Naruto shadow clones, each time Sasuke had to resort to fists, and jutsu since anything that was thrown at him was meant to specifically keep him from using his rage again when the real Naruto showed up behind Sasuke and started kicking and punching him into a wall, Naruto then flew towards the wall and picked Sasuke up by the hem of his uniform. "ARE YOU WILLING TO WAKE UP NOW?!" He screamed at Sasuke who was stoic and arrogant as ever.
"Naruto my eyes have been open the whole time!" Sasuke screamed as a surge of red energy sent Naruto flying backwards into the Hashirama statue. Sakura took her chance at Sasuke and she had been able to give him a good fight even managing to hit with a pair of crystal Kali sticks in the gut, knees, and face the latter most breaking his nose and knocking a tooth out of his mouth but this only served to anger Sasuke even further as meanwhile back in the newly christened Hidden Rage village, Atrocitus sat on his throne in impatience knowing that the five he sent to fetch Sasuke were probably dead looking for fresh meat to replace the five that were sent out.
Meanwhile back in the leaf; Lee and Hinata managed to get Chouji and Neji to the hospital in time to treat their wounds as well as their own injuries, however Chouji and Neji had to be rushed into the intensive care unit where they saw Shikamaru, Chouza Chouji's father, and Temari standing outside the room. The only injury that the two could on Shikamaru was that the middle finger on his left hand was now in a splint.
"Hey guys." Shikamaru said turning to them, apparently he had to tell Temari and Chouza every last detail.
"Hey guys so is Chouji going to make it?" Hinata asked.
"To be honest I don't know but Kiba was brought in about 10 minutes ago; he and Akamaru took a beating but they're going to recover." Shikamaru replied as Hinata sighed in relief.
"Hinata I think Naruto and Sakura will need some help you should go and try to help them." Lee said as Hinata nodded her head, recharged her ring, and took off like a shot.
Meanwhile back at the final valley, the three lanterns were still going at it and by now the fatigue was setting in on all three of them; "Warning: Power levels 21% recharge required." Naruto's ring said to him as he nodded his head knowing that if it didn't end soon he would be in huge trouble.
"Warning: Power levels 17% recharge required." Sakura's ring told her she nodded as well.
"Warning Power Levels 12 % recharged required immediately." Sasuke's ring told him as he, Sakura and Naruto pulled out their lanterns again and said their oaths after pressing their rings against their lanterns giving them a full recharge.
"Now it's on Sasuke! Sakura please stay out of this fight." Naruto said to her which made her eyes widen in shock before Naruto explained himself. "I don't want you to get hurt, besides Sasuke really does want to kill me besides if anyone is going to stop him it has to be me." Naruto said.
"I understand Naruto by why does it have to be you?" Sakura asked.
"It's because he was the first person I ever forged a bond with." Naruto said catching both of them off guard. "Before I met Sasuke I always wanted to be popular like he was, maybe we could have been friends but my pride wouldn't allow that so instead, I made him into a benchmark, and surpassing you Sasuke became my goal." Naruto explained.
"Don't even try to think you and I are one in the same Naruto you loser, what do you know about me?!" Sasuke snapped.
"Other than deep down you're just a spoiled little brat who thinks no one understands what trauma he's gone through in his life. Well guess what Sasuke I had to deal with being isolated by the village for my whole life you had a family I never did but unlike you I didn't go around moping and whining like a little baby-back bitch, I found a way to cope with the loneliness and eventually I was able to forge bonds of friendship with many people." Naruto said as Sasuke's ignorance and hatred continued to burn when suddenly, Naruto charged at Sasuke and punched him into the air he then launched himself up towards where Sasuke was and leveled him with a large blue mallet to the gut. Sasuke began to descend when Naruto used his shadow clone Jutsu to make one clone to help in making the jutsu he had hoped would stop this battle. "Here Sasuke eat this Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he drove the spiraling orb of chakra into the Uchiha's shoulder sending him skipping along the water. Sasuke got up and tried to track Naruto with his Sharingan but that was proving to be fruitless as Naruto continued to stick and move striking Sasuke with various constructs of slingshots, kunai, shuriken, smoke pellets, and other things before finally kicking Sasuke in the face but Sasuke was able to get up on his feet very gingerly as he got up Sakura noticed that Sasuke's Sharingan while looking more like the Red Lantern emblem now had three tomoes around the emblem in both eyes which turned the tide towards Sasuke's favor.
"This is not good; now that Sasuke has the Mangekyo Sharingan he'll be able to anticipate Naruto's attacks again." She said to herself as she prepared to charge in for an attack. Meanwhile one certain Indigo lantern was following the signals of Naruto and Sakura's rings to where they were along the way she encountered Gaara who was now decked in a Green Lantern uniform.
"Gaara what are you doing here?" Hinata asked the vessel of Shukaku.
"Lady Tsunade ordered my siblings and I to come as back up in case something hindered your progress in finding and recovering Sasuke." Gaara explained before he began explaining how he obtained a Green Lantern ring after absorbing the information that she received from Gaara, Hinata thanked him for the help and headed back on the trail of Naruto and Sakura.
"I hope I'm not too late." She said to herself.
Meanwhile back at the fight Sasuke had Naruto by the hem of his uniform with a Chidori in his right hand ready to plunge it through Naruto's heart. "Well it looks like your hope has been snuffed out by my rage Naruto prepare to die!" Sasuke said evilly until he felt a surge of chakra come from Naruto.
Inside Naruto's mind Kurama and Aadara were watching what was going on with a bit of concern.
"This is not good one shot to the chest like that and he'll be dead." Aadara said before Kurama looked at him. "What are you thinking about fox?" The hope entity asked.
"I have an idea you old bird; the seal limits the amount of chakra I can give him right?" Kurama asked.
"Yes so what's your point?" Aadara answered.
"Well I maybe limited by the seal but you're not." Kurama said as Aadara started to get what the fox was saying as the two combined their energies and transferred them to Naruto who now looked like he had a blue/orange like fox cloak of pure chakra with fox like ears and a tail.
Outside of Naruto's body, the chakra and hope energy combined boosted Naruto's strength to where it once again turned the tide of the fight to his advantage, Sasuke tried to slow him down but to no avail, Sakura then chose now to attack Sasuke and like Naruto she was putting up a good fight but unfortunately Sasuke was able to anticipate her attacks again and knocked her out, suddenly Sasuke was punched from behind by Naruto who had seen what Sasuke did to Sakura he dove down into the water and swam as fast as he could to save her. He managed to form an air bubble shield to protect him and pulled Sakura into the bubble towards him. Once he broke the surface of the water Naruto then placed Sakura down on the shore and then turned ran towards Sasuke who was once again back on the statue of his ancestor.
"Well Naruto this is it this final attack will determine which of us is stronger between us every battle we've had now, since, and even yet to come, prepare to die Naruto." Sasuke said as he form three familiar hand seals and started powering up a rage filled Chidori, while Naruto began using Kurama's chakra, Aadara's energy, and his own chakra to place a Rasengan in his ring hand.
"I sure hope that this is enough." Naruto thought to himself as the two lantern ninja charged at each other slamming their attacks into each other engulfing both boys in a huge orb of energy. Sakura had come to by this point coughing up any water she may have swallowed and looked up at the sphere.
"Naruto please be okay." She said to her boyfriend mentally when suddenly the orb exploded when the light and dust cleared both boys were unconscious with Sasuke's right arm having gone limp and Naruto's shoulder having a huge puncture wound. "NARUTO NO PLEASE DON'T DIE ON ME!" Sakura screamed as she ran towards the boys around the same time Hinata appeared and gasped at the sight of what happened to the two boys.
"Oh my God, they must have pushed themselves beyond what their rings or their bodies could take though to be fair it's rather appropriate that this fight happened here at the final valley." Hinata said to herself as looked towards Sakura; "Sakura help me pick the boys up, we need to get out of here now." Hinata said only for a huge shadow to loom over them. This shadow belonged to a huge blood red alien with yellow eyes an intimidating physique, and pure rage and hate on his face this was Atrocitus.
"I will be taking that Uchiha brat." The Red Lantern leader said as he knocked Sakura aside and unconscious.
"I know who you are; you're Atrocitus founder and leader of the Red Lantern Corps." Hinata said defiantly though still admittedly frightened by the sight of this beast.
Hinata fired a shot from her ring in the form of an open hand palm thrust similar to her clan's fighting style but it didn't have any effect on the alien.
"I have no time for pathetic little insects like you Indigo." He said as he grabbed Hinata's head and slammed her to the ground knocking her out he walked over to Sasuke and left by the time Kakashi and Kurenai arrived on the scene the trio was in critical condition. Unknown to them a parasitic humanoid Venus flytrap known as Zetsu had witnessed the battle.
"Oh boy the boss won't be happy about this." He said to himself as he left to tell the other members of the Akatsuki what he just witnessed, unbeknownst to him however another ring that gave of an amber glow was hovering him; this ring was similar in certain aspects to the other rings but this one could only be handled correctly by someone who was capable of inspiring great fear; the ring of the Sinestro Corps aka the Yellow Lanterns. This was a lantern corps formed by renegade Green Lantern Thaal Sinestro of sector 1417. Once he had been considered the greatest of the Green Lantern Corps until it was discovered that he had been using his ring to oppress his home world. After being defeated by a former pupil of his Green Lantern of sector 2814 Hal Jordan, Sinestro was stripped of his ring and banished to the anti-matter universe; however he managed to escape and set up base for a new corps on the planet Qward in sector 0324 and thus the Sinestro Corps was born; Corps similar to the Green Lantern corps the only difference being that the Sinestros were willing to kill to enforce order. Their rings had an insignia similar to the Blue Lantern Corps but turned on it's side. At the moment the ring found it's candidate; Itachi Uchiha, who had been with his partner in a hotel near the Hidden Grass village following up on some scuttlebutt they had overheard about Orochimaru's old hideouts being taken over by one hot-headed alien.
"Why would this alien take over Orochimaru's village if you would even call it that anyway?" Itachi asked himself as he kept replaying the possibilities over and over in his mind when suddenly a voice called out to him.
"Itachi Uchiha of sector 2814; you have the power to cause great fear." The voice said revealing the ring and lantern; the former of which attached itself to Itachi's left ring finger; "Welcome to the Sinestro Corps." The ring said as it changed Itachi's cloak from black with red clouds to black with yellow clouds and a small unnoticeable version of the insignia of the Sinestro Corps on the collar of his cloak, figuring out what he had to do; Itachi grabbed the lantern and placed his ring in the head of the lantern.
"In Blackest day, in brightest night
Let your fears be made to light
Let those who try to stop what's right
Burn like my power
Sinestro's might!" He declared as the glow of the lantern consumed him and then died down a little later.
Several days later back in the leaf, Naruto woke up in a hospital bed with his ring sitting on a night table and his body wrapped in bandages from head to toe. He then noticed several of the others but didn't find Sasuke among them. "I guess the mission was a failure then?" He asked Shikamaru who nodded reluctantly.
"How long was I out?" Naruto asked the others.
"You were out for about two maybe three days brother Naruto." A voice said from the window Naruto and the others looked at the window to find Saint Walker and Jiriaya standing or floating outside. The Genin that had never seen Saint Walker before were thrown for a loop at the sight of him.
"Walker-Sensei, Pervy Sage what are you two doing here?" Naruto asked.
"Well I'll be damned, he is an alien." Kiba said with a look of surprise on his face at the sight of Saint Walker.
"I came to tell you guys that Orochimaru is dead since he was unable to perform his transference ritual in time and to Anko's delight we've burned the corpse to ashes." Jiriaya said causing the other Genin to cheer but Jiriaya was not done. "That's the good news, the bad news is that Atrocitus now has Sasuke and he's taken over the Sound village and renamed it the Hidden Rage village." Jiriaya said grimly causing all cheering to stop. "It gets even worse for you Naruto; the Akatsuki are preparing for something, I don't what it is but whatever it is it involves the nine tailed beasts and if it involves them then I know it's something bad." Jiriaya said.
"How long do we have until they're ready?" Naruto asked the perverted hermit.
"They'll make their move in about three years." Jiriaya answered as he looked at Naruto at that point Walker decided to intercede.
"Which means that the four of you are going to doing some training in both your ninja abilities and your skills as Lanterns?" Walker concluded.
"We understand sensei hopefully all will be well that when it's over we'll rescue Sasuke." Naruto said but Jiriaya wasn't one to hold on to a fool's hope.
"Whatever you say kid; you, Walker and I will be leaving in a week." Jiriaya said as Naruto got over his shock for a minute that he wasn't being given much time to spend with his friends.
"Speaking of which, I've placed a call in to a few individuals who are more than willing to train you with your rings." Walker said as Sakura, Hinata, and Lee nodded their heads in understanding.
Meanwhile Itachi had done his best to keep his ring hidden from Kisame and the other Akatsuki members as they had their meeting and talked about current events including the fiasco involving Sasuke which shook Itachi slightly that his little brother may be going down the wrong path of what he had intended for Sasuke.
Six days later back in the leaf, Naruto was in his room packing his bag for the long trip before finally slipping his ring on his finger when unexpectedly there was a knock on the door. He went over to answer it and was surprised to find Sakura standing there.
"Sakura what are you doing here?" He asked the Star Sapphire.
"I was hoping to see you off one last time before you leave for your training trip if that was okay with you seeing as how we won't see each other as ninja, lanterns, or even as friends for the next three years." Sakura asked him as he smiled at her.
"Sure come on in." Naruto replied as Sakura then climbed onto his bed.
"It's going to be pretty lonely around here without you." Sakura said as Naruto put a comforting hand on Sakura's shoulder.
"You won't be alone Sakura you still have Hinata, Lee, Kakashi-sensei, Granny Tsunade and everyone else in the village." Naruto said.
"That's true but none of them could ever match your level of excitement Naruto." She said to him.
"Touché Sakura." Naruto said with a grin as Sakura moved closer to him.
"It's also the reason why I wanted to spend this night with you." Sakura explained holding his left (face) cheek in her hand.
"With me?" Naruto asked starting to sweat bullets.
"Yes Naruto, I won't get another chance like this for three years so I wanted to make the most of tonight now come here you loveable idiot." Sakura said as she laid the hardest kiss she could on Naruto's lips. As they kissed their tongues battled it out for dominance with neither one giving in. After their kiss they parted as Sakura made out with Naruto she pressed her chest into his while Naruto feeling her up from behind going from her back to even inching downwards to her rear coping a feel, but she didn't mind because she was too busy enjoying herself with Naruto. She knew they couldn't engage in anything total hard core just yet, but give or take another few years and they probably would eventually. Until then they decided to enjoy each other as best as they could without going too deep for comfort before finally the two teammates fell asleep in the warm embrace of hope and love they felt for each other.
The next morning Naruto, Jiriaya, and Saint Walker were at the village gate ready to leave as everyone of Naruto's friends appeared to see him off after saying his goodbyes to the rest of the leaf 11, Naruto was off to train. How strong would he become after three years, nobody knew but one thing they did know was that all will be well.
Well there you have it folks the 13th chapter of this story next time I'm going to go into some filler and yes I know picking Itachi to wear a Sinestro ring is redundant but from my prespective the Sinestro Corps aren't necessarily evil, they have the right idea of enforcing order in the universe but they are just going about it the wrong way by using fear in a way that would harm those around them friends, family and foes alike. Anyway next time we go into some training filler with Lee boy is he going to be in for a Boar of a time. Next time: Lee the overly youthful poozer? Read and review folks.