Still Don't Own Naruto!
Chapter 41: Iwa's Second Task.
Naruto stood in the centre of a large group of his fellow competitors, they were all awaiting the arrival of the proctors for the second task.
The second task was going to be held in a deep valley with large pillars that rose from the ground to make insurmountable walls that seemed to burn red at the top as steam rose off there peaks, these continued for almost as far as Naruto could see. After that there was a large open space with several rocky alcoves that provided good cover, this stretched all the way into the distance where they could see a large Snow capped volcano in the distance.
"I wish the proctors would hurry up and arrive already" Tenten sighed as she began to look around for the other Konoha ninja.
"Yosh! There lateness is most unyouthful"Lee pronounced, Naruto just sat there and waited patiently.
After around 45 minutes several ninja arrived and took up the stand at the front indicating that they were indeed the proctors.
"Good morning and welcome to the second task, this task is designed to pit your team against others in a race to claim one of six of these pendants" one of the proctors said holding out a large disk shaped object on a rope with the symbol for Iwa engraved on each side and authenticity seals to eliminate cheating.
"Your task will be to race against the other teams and retrieve one of the pendants dealing with extreme condition's and return here from the volcano you can see in the distance. You will have five day's to return here, after that any pendants still in the field will be useless and the teams will fail, also should all pendants be returned before the five days are up, there will be a signal to the remaining teams that the test is over. You may also use what ever force necessary to obtain a pendant from one of the other teams" a second proctor said loudly.
"Very good now please make your way up the front with your team to be given a starting location and to sight the consent forms in case you die" the first proctor spoke up indicating a large stack of papers that needed to be signed.
After Naruto and his team signed the papers they headed off to there starting location. "This is going to be Amazing" Naruto said with a smile as the buzzer rang and the teams entered the large maze.
(Ten Minutes Later)
"This is Fucking Shit!" Naruto moaned loudly wiping sweat from his brow.
"Indeed the heat coming off these rocks is immense, it is unlike anything I have experienced before, even Suna was not this hot" Lee admitted.
"We should just push on through it will have to get cooler than this later on after all if they give us five days to complete the task they there will have to be at least some places cool enough to set up a camp to rest" Tenten said willing her words to be true.
"I hope your right Tenten but while we are not currently being attacked by anyone I suggest we form a plan as the best way to get the pendants. There are two options I can see, we go and make sure we get one of them first and defend it, or ambush a team as they exit a cave with one" Naruto said honestly.
"I agree, I say we go straight after the target, with you and Lee the top at Taijutsu and you top of Ninjutsu, teams will think twice about attacking us for a pendant, also I can see there being the majority of teams that would go for the Ambush option which could lead to pointless fighting with other teams who don't have what we are looking for" Tenten said receiving a nod in agreement from both Naruto and Lee.
(Sasuke's Team)
"Well now what were separated from our target by a maze and it's fucking hot in here, I hope I don't need to remind you my body is over 90 percent water, I'm fucking evaporating here" Suigetsu said taking a large drink out of a water bottle.
"I don't care, we need to capture that Iwa Bitch, and that is exactly what we are going to do. Karin have you found her yet" Sasuke said.
Karin closed her eyes and began searching for Kurotsuchi but she was having a hard time finding her with all the other chakra signatures that were in the area. It was also difficult because Karin only had a quick glimpse of the Iwa kunoichi when it was her turn to compete in the first round and hadn't had a good read of her individual chakra signature.
"Sorry Sasuke, I cant find her just yet, we need to get away from the rest of these people" Karin said after she finally had given up on locating Kurotsuchi.
"Hn fine just don't fail in your task, if you cant even find one kunoichi what kind of sensor are you" Sasuke said still brooding like always.
(With Kurotsuchi's Team)
When the test had started Kurotsuchi had begun using her Yoton to melt a path through the mountainous walls that formed the maze. It was for this reason that her team had pulled out far in front of the others early on.
"Hey Kurotsuchi are you sure this is smart, you know you using all your energy this early on in the task if we get into a fight later you will be tired" one of her team members asked curiously.
"I will be fine, if we can get to the volcano before anyone else we can be out with a pendant before anyone even realizes that they are missing. We just go in and get out before anyone else arrives, that way we can get though this round without even having to fight" Kurotsuchi said confidently.
"I hope you are right" her other team mate said as they walked though another hole Kurotsuchi had made in the wall's.
(Several Hour's Later With Naruto)
Naruto and his team sat sweating in a small opening in the maze, steam was rising around them off the rocks that lay scattered on the ground.
"Kami it is so fucking hot, how much more of this is there" Tenten said to nobody in particular.
"I dont know I could probably head up the top and check, I will just have to use sage mode to keep myself from burning to a crisp with how hot the walls are, that proctor really wasn't kidding when he said this would be a test in extreme condition's" Naruto said and he began gathering senjutsu choosing not to use one of his seals incase there was an emergency and they were needed.
Jumping to the top of a nearby wall that instantly began to singe his robe Naruto looked out to find that they were about half way to the large open area's.
"Oh so we are about half way there but I cant stand this heat we have to move through here quicker" Naruto said desperately.
"Well how do you propose we do that?" Tenten asked.
"Like this" Naruto said and he created a couple of clones and began adding Suiton chakra into his rasengan.
The new Suiton form of the rasengan looked a lot like the Oodoma Rasengan, the differences were both subtle and obvious. The subtle was the much darker tone than the light blue now appeared dark blue and seemed thicker. The obvious was the loud roar the jutsu made that sounded like rapids crashing over rocks.
Unlike the Rasenshuriken the Suiton version of the elemental rasengan did not have the same weightless flow and was unable to form blades like Fuuton could, Naruto theorised that each different version would end up in a different shape.
"Suiton Oodoma Rasengan!" Naruto roared and slammed the spinning ball of water into the Cliffside. The effects were instantaneous, Water erupted from the ball and began to drill through it with water pressure alone. And it didn't stop with one of the large pillar like walls, it continued to destroy everything in its path.
Tenten and Lee couldn't help but look on in awe as the huge torrent of water continued to tear its way through all that opposed it. "Why didn't you tell us you could do that, we have been walking arround trying to navigate this maze for the past four fucking hours and you come along and make us a clear path just like that" Tenten raged.
"Well the truth is that was the first time that I have used that jutsu, I mean dont get me wrong I have formed it plenty of times, it was my first task after mastering the Suiton element but I never actually used it before" Naruto said scratching his head in typical Naruto fashion.
In the area surrounding Naruto's team other teams could hear the powerful roar and feel the earth shake as the jutsu tore through the maze. At that time there was only one conscious thought running through there heads 'What the fuck was that'
(Sasuke's Team)
Karin froze they were a fair way away from Naruto but she could still sense the power in the jutsu that Naruto had used 'Again... just the same as in the first round only different, how could he have more than one justu that was that devastating, just what is he' she thought as she shivered uncontrollably.
Suigetsu noticed this and stopped walking "What's wrong with you Karin you look like you have just seen a ghost, or maybe you just realized how useless you really are" the former Kiri ninja laughed while leaning on the sword Orochimaru had given him for the exam's.
"Shut up Suigetsu it was nothing lets just go our target is still moving much faster than we are" Karin said.
Sasuke had just realized he was not being followed and turned back. "What are you two doing back there, we need to find this Iwa bitch and get out of this place" He said before returning to his brooding.
"Leave? I thought you wanted to fight that Naruto guy who kicked your ass in the first task" Suigetsu joked.
"He is nothing compared to me, I'm an Uchiha a elite, he is nothing compared to me. With my sharingan if we were ever to fight he wouldn't stand a chance against me, I will crush him like the worthless dobe he is" Sasuke said his arrogance more evident than ever.
"Whatever lets just get back to finishing this fucking job" Suigetsu said and he moved to catch up to the brooding Uchiha.
(Naruto's Team)
Naruto, Lee and Tenten arrived at the caves just before nightfall on the first day, after they had left the Mountainous maze the temperature dropped considerably. After the maze they enters a large almost flat area, large boulders were the best form of cover. This flat rocky area stretched on to the end of the valley the test was being held in, this was where they came to a large wall with six large tunnels that looked like they were almost carved out just for the exams.
"Huh Six tunnels for six pendants, but which one should we take" Tenten asked.
"Well from what I can sense we are the second team to arrive with the Tsuchikage's granddaughter's team arriving slightly before us, the went into the tunnel on the far right... So I say we take the tunnel next to them, that way we can use them as cover. They will more than likely get out of there tunnel before us, so the way I see it if the other teams are around two hours behind us give or take, so if it takes longer for us to find the amulet it will also take them longer as well. That way if any team arrives and decides to set up an ambush, they will get Kurotsuchi's team and not ours" Naruto theorized.
"Yosh! An excelent plan Naruto-kun, I can see it is not just for your strength in battle that Gai sensei picked you for this team" Lee said.
"Uh thanks Lee, but given the task we have to complete now I think a Byakugan would be of more help than my plan" Naruto said modestly.
Entering the tunnel they were forced to use torches as the cave was so dark inside that the only light source was from glow worms and the occasional small river of larva. They searched the cave taking note of where they turned not wanting to split up incase another team entered the cave and they had a sensor to be able to defeat there team by attacking each member individually.
It took quite awhile but they soon found themselves in a large room at a large entrance. In the center of the room sat a large pillar and on that pillar was a small white pedestal. The problem with this was the fact that surrounding the pillar was a large pit of magma and the only thing that connected the entrance where they were currently standing and the prize they so desired to get into the next round was a thin bridge only wide enough for one person to walk across at a time.
"Well good thing it's not a trap" Naruto said sarcastically.
Tenten let out a small laugh at this statement and Lee went on a rant about how Naruto was turning out like Kakashi with that hip attitude of his. Naruto had to do it he couldn't help himself "huh you say something Lee"
Lee collapsed anime style at these words and began another rant about Naruto's flames of youth being corrupted by others hip attitude.
'Wow he really is just like Gai sensei in every single way, of all the people to get a clone... I want a clone he would be awesome I could have him do my bidding while I sit down and do nothing... hey wait a second that's what I do for Jiraiya sensei...does that means that I am sensei's clone?... No I'm not a pervert' Naruto thought completely ignoring the imposing problem that lay before him and his team.
"So what do you think Naruto" unfortunately for the blond he only caught this last part of Tenten's idea.
"Oh I'm sorry Tenten I wasn't listening, what was your idea again" Naruto said this in all honesty and was genuinely sorry for not listening. This however did not stop Lee from going on yet another rant about Naruto's 'hip attitude'.
"I said it would be wise to only send one of us in to get the pendant and have them tethered to the other two, that way should something happen we can help pull them back if they need it" Tenten suggested.
"Sounds like a good plan but who's going, I mean we don't exactly have straws to draw the short one" Naruto said.
"I will do it, this is something that I can contribute to the team, I am fast enough to get out of the way should anything go wrong" Lee said and immediately removed some rope from his pack and began tying it around his waist.
"Ok good luck lee, be careful" Tenten said as she accepted the other end of the rope.
Lee walked slowly across the thin bridge and arrived on the platform holding the amulet that they needed for the exam.
After inspecting the area for traps Lee removed it safely but when he turned around the ground began to shake.
"Uh Lee no pressure but it looks like the larva is rising" Naruto called out as large chunks of rock began to fall from the walls and ceiling.
Lee acted quickly and began to race as fast as was safely possible to get back across the bridge. In the end he made it with no time to spare, as the second he made it across a large boulder crushed the bridge and landed in the molten rock below.
Once they had time to catch there breath they made a second startling discovery, the whole tunnel system had began collapsing. Acting quickly they began making there way out as fast as they could but often were forced to take other paths as the way they had come was being closed off by rising larva or cave ins.
They were fast approaching the exit when a large cave in almost crushed Tenten. Naruto was just able to pull her away, the problem was they were now blocked off from the exit and the cave was still collapsing.
"We need to bust through here its the safest way out, if we go back and take another exit we could be trapped deeper in the cave" Naruto said.
"well destruction IS your area, isn't it Naruto" Tenten said remembering just how powerful the Rasenshuriken and Suiton Oodoma Rasengan were.
"I guess your right... Oodoma Rasengan!" Naruto yelled.
The blockade that had almost crushed them blew into nothing more than tiny rubble, but Naruto and his team did not have time to admire the destructive nature of Naruto's jutsu and quickly made there way upwards where they hoped they would find the exit.
Around three minutes later they could see moonlight shining in from an entrance around one hundred yards ahead of them. Picking up there speed now that they could see a good distance in front they could also feel the whole cave system they were in begin to collapse. 'It must be rigged so teams don't waste there time searching for already taken pendants, so that once the team is near the exit the whole system of tunnels for that target and will collapse completely' Naruto thought as they all made a jump for the entrance to the cave they came in which crushed shut behind them.
"Phew that was close" Tenten sighed as they rolled over to stare at the now closed hole that they just jumped from.
"Yes now lets make our way back before anybody knows we were here" Lee suggested.
"It's a little late for that" came the voices of two men behind them.
"Well well look what we have here, its the Namikaze" the fist one said. He was tall and had short black hair, he wore a standard Iwa chunin vest over dark red shirt and pants that had seemed to be the standard Iwa uniform.
"Yeah it myst be our lucky day I'm going to enjoy watching you die Namikaze" the other said. He looked almost identical to the first, which to Naruto anyway suggested they were brothers. In fact the only difference that was obvious between the two was the one who just spoke wore small black sunglasses.
"You really want to do this?... I'm warning you if you try and attack us you will loose. Maybe you should go play with some of the other teams" Naruto suggested.
"No way we are going to be hero's for killing you" the brother not wearing glasses spoke and prepared to charge.
Naruto acted so fast nobody else could see him move, only lee was able to follow his movements as he blurred away and reappeared with his palm open just away from the brother who just spokes stomach and began gathering chakra. "No you wont" Naruto whispered before slamming the newly formed ball of spinning chakra into his gut. "Rasengan!"
Naruto's attack had left the other brother completely stunned he hadn't even seen him move. It was even more unfortunate for the pair that Lee had recovered from Naruto's attack first and sent the Iwa ninja who was still standing over to join his brother in unconsciousness with a roundhouse kick to the face that sent him flying.
"We should get out of here and find a safe place to set up a camp" Naruto suggested as it was getting late.
Getting nods from his team they began to head back towards the large maze, this proved to be harder than they thought however as there were now battles being fought everywhere. The night sky was ablaze with lights from jutsu and flames as well as various volcanic eruptions from within the maze that told Naruto it was not a safe place to be at night.
"This is insane which way do we go" asked Tenten as she tried to find a safe path through the battling teams that lay ahead.
"I have an idea if I use sage mode I can find Kurotsuchi's team, that way we can follow them at a safe distance, any teams in our way will attack her team rather than us" Naruto suggested.
"Sounds like a fine plan" Lee said proudly.
"Ok she is this way" Naruto pointed after entering sage mode and locating her chakra signature. He then ran off with Lee and Tenten hot on his trail.
"Ok were close to them but far enough away that they wont be able to sense us, by the looks of it they have set up a camp, I say we do the same and head off after them in the morning" Naruto said coming to a halt.
Naruto left to set up some defensive trap's to keep them safe while Lee and Tenten set up the camp but decided against a fire as they did not want to give away there position despite being well hidden in a rocky area.
"Ok so after who has first watch" Naruto asked the pair when re returned.
"I will take fist watch" said Lee followed by Tenten who offered to take second.
"Sounds good to me, I can get some scouting done in the early morning before anyone else is up and leave some clones here to stand guard" Naruto said and he sat down to eat some dinner.
(Sasuke's Team)
Sasuke was currently moving across the field at a fast pace, he had killed any team that got in his way, this was the fate of a team from Iwa and from Suna. Both teams had engaged the Oto team for different reasons, the Suna team wanted pay back for there last Kazekage and the invasion on Konoha while the team from Iwa just wanted to kill an Uchiha, something with Sasuke said was "Impossible... Only and Uchiha can kill an Uchiha"
It took them a large portion of the night to move into range of there target who was currently on watch during what was most likely the second shift.
"So what do we do, attack now or wait till she's asleep" Karin asked.
"Not that it matters, but it will be easier to take her alive is she is asleep then we can kill her team members and get out of here" Sasuke said.
"Fine by me, just make sure we get this done, I don't want to go back in the fucking glass jar again" Suigetsu said.
(With Naruto)
Naruto was sleeping soundly when Tenten came into his tent to wake him up. "Hey Naruto its your shift" she whispered but he didn't respond. "Come on Naruto wake up" she said louder still nothing. "Damn it wake up" she said annoyed he had yet to wake and gave him a kick which did the trick.
"Oh hey Tenten... my shift already?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, you know you are really hard to wake" Tenten said.
"Just exhausted I guess" Naruto said.
"You still going to scout the area?" she queried wanting to know what Naruto had planned to do before morning.
"Yeah that way I might be able to find an easy rout through the field so we can avoid anymore teams coming after our pendant" Naruto said.
"Oh ok... say what happened to it anyway I haven't seen it since Lee gave it to you in the cave" Tenten asked.
"Oh I sealed it away, only way to get the pendant now is if I willingly unseal it, it has a blood and will seal on it, so even if by some chance they happen to get my blood it will tell me exactly where they are and what they are trying to do, as well as not being able to open it without me allowing it" Naruto said before getting into a more detailed description of the seal that went totally over Tenten's head.
Naruto left to scout shortly after that. He hadn't been out long when he felt something from Kurotsuchi's camp. 'Teme! So what is so special about that team you decided to attack them it cant just be you knew they had a pendant... I'm going to go get a better look' Naruto thought and he changed his direction.
(With Sasuke)
Sasuke was sticking to the shadows his chakra levels suppressed below the level someone without special sensory abilities would be able to sense. While this was going on Suigetsu was approaching the tent that the other member of Kurotsuchi's team was currently sleeping in.
Sasuke gave a silent signal and they attacked, lightening sparked into existence and there was the unmistakable sound of bird's chirping. The Ninja on guard spun around just as Sasuke slammed his fist through his chest and felt as his heart exploded in the Uchiha's hand before collapsing on the ground dead.
In the next tent the was a loud yell as Suigetsu ran his blade through the sleeping ninja. This woke up Kurotsuchi who rushed out of the tent to find Sasuke standing over his victim and Suigetsu slicing his way out of the tent. Karin who had previously held back arrived at Sasuke's side.
"What the fuck" Kurotsuchi yelled out as she prepared to defend herself.
"We are going to need you to come with us, Orochimaru need's you for his research" said Sasuke in a confident slur.
"Fuck off I'm not going anywhere with you Uchiha" Kurotsuchi yelled in reply performing two hand signs and sending a wave of larva at Sasuke who dodged out of the way.
Suigetsu and Karin used this time to help Sasuke surround the Iwa kunoichi and stalking inwards.
Kurotsuchi knew she was in trouble but would not give up without a fight. "Doton: Earth Wall" she screamed and slammed her hands into the ground. A large wall shot up from the ground blocking her from Sasuke's and Karin's view. Running through some more hand signs she spat several large chunks or larva at Suigetsu.
The larva hit the former Kiri ninja straight in the chest but before she could celebrate lessening there numbers hey joy turned to a look of horror as the lava seemed to fly right through Suigetsu and come out the other side as rock hardened by water.
Suigetsu was in pain but quickly re hydrated himself reforming the area's the Yoton user burned away.
The distraction of this was all that Sasuke and Karin needed, Sasuke appeared behind her and chopped the back of her neck rendering her unconscious while Karin began tying her up.
Once they had finished Sasuke picked her up and dumped her on his shoulder and began to leave the clearing.
"Heh that was way to easy, stupid girl had no idea who she was dealing with" Suigetsu said.
"yes and now we can get out of here Orochimaru has his target we just have to get he- Look Out!" Karin yelled at the end unable to finish her sentence.
Just as she finished Naruto landed slamming his fist into the ground next to both Karin and Suigetsu sending them flying to opposite ends of the clearing.
"Hello Sasuke-teme, still up to no good it seems" Naruto said staring the Uchiha down with his yellow bar like eyes.
"Hn, so what... why do you care what happens to this bitch" Sasuke said dropping Kurotsuchi on the ground before turning to face Naruto and activating his sharingan.
Neither party was aware that the sudden drop had woken Kurotsuchi up, even though she was helpless she could still see who it was that had saved her and she couldn't believe it 'Namikaze... but why'
"Like I would let you take her to Orochimaru, I wouldn't let anybody be subjected to those sick experiments of his... Sasuke don't do this, if you do any chance you have is gone, you will be an internationally wanted criminal never able to settle down anywhere. You will never be allowed back into Konoha, even if you do somehow kill your brother" Naruto almost pleaded with Sasuke.
"Hn like I care about that weak village, now get out of my way" Sasuke said. Karin and Suigetsu had just recovered from being sent flying by Naruto's arrival.
'He saved me, and not just me he would save anyone who was going to be taken to be experimented on, maybe your not so bad after all Naruto Namikaze' Kurotsuchi thought as she lay on the ground helpless, all the while Karin and Suigetsu approached Naruto from behind ready to strike.
"Sasuke just stood there and glared at Naruto while he watched his team ready a killing blow, however when it came Naruto lazily slid out of the way and delivered a deadly kick that sent Suigetsu flying and dissolving into water and Karin a chop to the back of the head knocking her out.
Naruto though Karin to the side and once again turned to face Sasuke who now had a furious snarl on his face because he knew he was alone.
"Fine dobe if you think you can stop me I will just have to kill you" Sasuke screamed and created a Chidori ready to charge, however just as he was about to attack he stopped and his eyes bulged wide.
A large flock of crows flew between the pair who were staring each other down. "I'm afraid I cant let you do that Sasuke-kun, you see Naruto-kun is important to our organisation" came the smooth voice of Itachi as he appeared in a crow Shunshin.
Sasuke was now completely distracted and charged at Itachi screaming about how he was going to kill him. Itachi just jumped away onto a rock. While Sasuke slammed his fist into the ground where Itachi once stood.
"You cant beat him Teme, at least not while you attack like that" Naruto said not taking his eyes off Itachi as he gave him a questioning look which wasn't answered.
"Leave Sasuke-kun this is between me and Naruto-kun, you do not interest me" Itachi said.
Sasuke who was still on the ground with his fist buried deep into the earth because of his Chidori seethed in anger. "How Dare YOU!" he screamed and lunged at Itachi again who jumped out of the way. "You will Fight me NOW!" Sasuke roared as he began destroying the surrounding landscape chasing Itachi in what could only be described as a world class temper tantrum.
Naruto during this time raced over to Kurotsuchi and began untying her. "You alright there Kurotsuchi" Naruto asked as he removed her gag.
"Thank you" she choked out.
"Don't mention it but you should probably get out of here this could get rough, my camp is about half a mile to the south go there my clones are on guard at the moment so I will inform them that your coming" Naruto said gently as he cut the final piece of rope holding her and helped her up.
"What about you, they are both highly dangerous criminals" Kurotsuchi said.
"Yeah that's true. I guess it's a good thing that I am dangerous as well then" Naruto joked before creating a clone to inform the others about what is going on. There now my clones will be expecting you, don't worry we wont let Orochimaru get his filthy snakelike hands on you" Naruto said before kicking off to join in the fun with the two Uchiha.
Kurotsuchi just stood there dumbly for a moment before leaving in the direction of Naruto's camp 'I cant believe I wanted to have him killed...He's not a monster, but I was' she thought as she ran along.
Naruto arrived on a large rock to see Sasuke and Itachi engaged in a taijutsu match, deciding not to let them just fight it out Naruto joined in but decided against using the extended range that his sage mode offered him so that he could for one gauge Sasuke's skills and secondly talk to Itachi and find out what he is doing here.
"Mind if I cut in" Naruto said as he knocked Itachi away with a kick from his blind spot behind him, then using the fact Sasuke was infuriated that Naruto had managed to get in a good hit against his brother something that he couldn't do sent Sasuke flying with a kick to the chin while he back flipped back to land in between both brothers.
Itachi and Sasuke had mirror movements reaching up and grabbing there head as they stood up, both ran through the same hand signs but only Sasuke yelled out "Katon: Grand Fireball Jutsu"
both sets of flamed rushed at Naruto who only had to quickly perform his own seals. "Suiton: Water Encampment Wall" he yelled and water from several seals located on Naruto's cloak shot up and circled Naruto cancelling out the fire jutsu. 'Phew thank Kami I put those seals containing water on my cloak, because I don't think I would have survived otherwise' the blond thought as the two raven haired Uchiha looked on with two very different expressions on there face's.
Itachi looked impressed, Sasuke on the other hand was pissed. 'Who does the dobe think he is, that was an Uchiha technique, he should be burning right now' Sasuke thought as he ran through another set of hand seals "Chidori Senbon!" Sasuke yelled.
Countless lightening senbon needles flew at both Naruto and Itachi. Naruto was impressed that each needle seemed to be heading for one of his and Itachi's vital spots, and it was a very fast attack.
Itachi jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being impaled by the tiny blades of lightening. Naruto on the other hand took a deep breath in and blew out a huge gust of wind to send the lightening needles flying away.
"Not a bad attack teme, I would be interested in seeing a competent ninja using it" Naruto taunted getting the desired reaction from Sasuke who charged at the blond.
Itachi saw this and responded by rushing at Naruto himself. Arriving shortly after Sasuke who sent a punch at Naruto that he narrowly avoided, he was however unable to avoid the kick that Itachi hit him with, this did not hurt Naruto so much but it did send him a good few yards away while Sasuke and Itachi exchanged hits both unable to get a hit in on the other thanks to there sharingan.
Standing up Naruto began to run though a new set of hand signs. Itachi and Sasuke paused there fight mid punch when they felt a massive chakra spike "Sage Art: Fuuton: Almighty Breakthrough" Naruto yelled.
A huge torrent of air erupted from Naruto's mouth and began to tare up the ground and throw large rocks around like they were pebbles, Itachi and Sasuke were only able to brace themselves and add chakra to there feet in an attempt to remain grounded. Needless to say it failed as the senjutsu powered version of the great breakthrough sent them both flying.
Itachi was stopped by a large rock but felt like he was just hit by Tsunade when he landed. Sasuke however was sent far further away. And was currently out of sight.
"Impressive Naruto-kun but you are still holding back" Itachi said as he struggled to his feet.
"I could say the same to you, not even using your mangekyo sharingan" Naruto replied and prepared to attack again, then he stopped when another thought came to his mind. "You showed yourself to help me save Kurotsuchi, didn't you" he asked.
"In a way, I knew it was just like you said, should he take the girl he would never be able to return to Konoha or even find a new place to live and settle down, I did this to save him as much as the girl" Itachi said.
They stood in silence for a moment before Naruto charged, he found the skills Itachi possessed in using his sharingan to be far superior to Kakashi's as nothing he attempted could get through. 'Well I could beat him if I used the Frog Kumite but at the same time I might accidently kill him, the last thing I need is an angry Sasuke coming after me for revenge for denying him his revenge... … Kami I hate that teme' Naruto thought to himself while narrowly avoiding a kick from Itachi.
"Well its a good thing your not a taijutsu syle ninja because you sure are fucking hard to hit" Naruto joked attempting a leg sweep that Itachi somersaulted away from before attempting a kick of his own to the side of Naruto's head which he easily avoided.
"Perhaps, but I know we still aren't taking each other seriously, your taijutsu and speed is much faster than this, I saw that for myself in the first round of the exams" Itachi said before jumping back.
"Yeah you caught me, but I don't want to kill you, just like you don't want to kill me" Naruto said plainly.
Itachi was about to respond when he heard a loud explosion and a huge ball of fire raced towards the pair.
Jumping out of the way Naruto and Itachi both turned to see Sasuke in his second stage curse seal form glaring at them both. "You think you can make fun of me!" he roared sending more and more smaller balls of fire at the pair who were dodging easily. "I will Kill you both!" he screamed before he flapped his fleshy claw like wings and flew quite literally towards Itachi.
It was Naruto who intercepted him however and kicked him onto the ground despite having the attack blocked by one of Sasuke's wings.
Itachi looked saddened at seeing his brother in such a form and it disgusted him. "Enough of these games Sasuke you are not strong enough to challenge either one of us yet, I told you not to come before me until you had eyes like mine" Itachi said activating his mangekyo sharingan. "Allow me to demonstrate the power of these eyes" Itachi said and he turned towards Naruto "Amaterasu"
Naruto went wide eyed as black flames shot from the eye of Itachi. 'Well that doesn't look friendly' Naruto thought as he narrowly avoided the black flamed which began to burn through rock.
Naruto then had to dodge again as Itachi began sending another wave of Amaterasu at Naruto. On the third wave however Naruto unsealed his two chakra rods and began activating the seals on them. "Time Space absorption seal... Fuin" Naruto called out and the two seals created a portal in time and space that absorbed the black flames of Amaterasu.
Naruto spun the rods around to the release seal was showing and sent Itachi's jutsu straight for Sasuke.
Sasuke wasted no time and using the power of the curse seal blew a huge wall of fire to prevent Amaterasu from hitting him.
All three of them were once again involved in a uneasy stand off neither wanting to make the first move Naruto was about to start a the hand seals for a Fuuton jutsu when a large burst of lightening struck the volcano behind Itachi and it began to rain as a loud shot of thunder sounded around them.
This caused Sasuke to begin to laugh in a quite disturbing manner which earned questioning looks from both Naruto and Itachi.
Sasuke jumped back and up to the top of a rather large boulder as he began to raise his hand in the air and gather electricity. 'I don't know what jutsu that is but I'm not going to find out I am putting an end to this fight now' Naruto thought and released his restriction seals.
"Get ready to Die! Both of you, you cant laugh at me anymore" Sasuke cackled madly.
Itachi looked on in interest but Naruto was not so relaxed as he prepared to attack. As Sasuke shot a small bolt of lightening into the cloud and began forming more hand signs "Hey teme!" Naruto roared and kicked off.
"Shut up dobe I am about to avenge my clan and kill you in one go now DIE! KIR-gah"
Stopping mid sentence and unable to complete his jutsu, Sasuke could only look down as Naruto ran a small blue orb into his gut. "Just shut up! Rasengan!"
Sasuke went flying and landed on the ground still conscious but coughing up blood and unable to move as his curse mark energy faded.
Naruto then turned back to Itachi who seemed to have collapsed but was standing back up even if he was breathing heavily, he still looked ready to fight if he needed to.
"Well now that the pest is taken care of shall we continue" Naruto asked unsure of what Itachi's response would be to seeing his brother be impaled with a rasengan.
Itachi couldn't reply as he was drowned out by Sasuke screaming in agony about how he would make Naruto pay for denying him his revenge and mocking the Uchiha.
"Shut up before I finish you off Sasuke-teme, you were always so arrogant let this be a lesson to you" Naruto said not taking his eyes off Itachi. "And you two don't you remember what happened last time you tried to attack me from behind" Naruto called out to apparently nobody but then Suigetsu and Karin both appeared looking scared. "Now take the teme and leave, and if I see you again during these exams I will kill you all" Naruto warned and they both shuddered before running to grab Sasuke who was struggling to stand a coughing out blood.
Sasuke screamed in denial as Karin helped him up onto her shoulder and they fled the area. Sasuke being dragged out by Karin on one side and Suigetsu in the middle both were refusing to listen to his demands to be left so he can kill Itachi, pure rage and hatred etched all over his face.
Once they were out of range Naruto relaxed slightly and began to enjoy the feeling of the rain hitting his face. "So you still think he can be saved" Naruto sighed.
"I have to believe it, he's my brother" Itachi said looking a little weak and sitting down on a rock in order to catch his breath. "I cant except that he is lost, if I can get rid of that piece of Orochimaru that is inside of him, he can be saved, but for that to happen Orochimaru needs to be no more" Itachi said and began coughing until a small amount of blood began to flow out of his mouth.
"Hey are you allright, you look like your falling apart" Naruto asked concern evident on his face.
"I have an illness that is killing me, I am fine most of the time until I exert myself then I deteriorate I don't think I have too long to live" Itachi admitted.
"Then let us help you, Tsunade Baa-chan could cure your illness, after all she is the best medic there is" Naruto said.
"No I cant, if we were to do that then the Akatsuki would know, also so would Sasuke and that would direct his hatred at Konoha, which is something I cant have. All I need is to survive long enough to face my foolish little brother one last time" Itachi said as he coughed out some more.
Naruto remained quite for a moment until he felt three chakra signatures approaching. "You have to leave my team and Kurotsuchi will be here in a few minutes" the blond said helping Itachi to his feet.
"What will you tell them happened here" Itachi asked.
"That I injured Sasuke and his team saved him and ran while you and I fought and I managed to make you retreat" Naruto said.
"Very well that is acceptable, I will need to give a report to the group and it will help if there are not two stories" Itachi said before turning into a flock of crows and fading away.
Naruto rested on a boulder until his team and Kurotsuchi arrived, they had seemingly already packed the camp.
"Oh Naruto, thank Kami. What happened here" Tenten asked with Lee and Kurotsuchi still looking around at the scorched earth and black flames still burning as the rain continued to fall from the sky.
Naruto then went on with a slightly edited version of events from the time that Kurotsuchi left.
"So what now" Lee asked.
"Well we head back to the start and get out of this damn task" Naruto said feeling slightly exhausted from his efforts.
"And what about her" Tenten asked pointing to Kurotsuchi.
"She has a Pendant so do we, I'm not letting her go out alone incase the teme comes back to try and kidnap her again. But he should be out of commission for awhile" Naruto said then decided it would be better if he at least asked Kurotsuchi " that is if you don't mind travelling with us I know your not my biggest fan" he said.
"No that's fine thank you I would be grateful for the assistance. Also, I'm sorry I was blinded by the past, can you forgive me" Kurotsuchi asked her head hung low in shame.
"Of course I forgive you, I never held anything against you at all, we cant move on and stop all the fighting if we cant forgive each other" Naruto said kindly.
"I guess your right, well with me in the group we can make it though the maze easy and this rain will cool it right down" Kurotsuchi said.
"Well than what are we waiting for lets head out" Naruto said and jumped off towards the giant walls of the mountainous maze that separated them and the finish line of the second task.
End Chapter!
Ok you have no idea how much I wanted to kill off Sasuke in this chapter, sorry if there are any fans but he's just a complete dick. I also hope you liked the Task the teams had to complete, made it so the finals shouldn't need a prelim round.
Finals I am thinking Chojuro and one team member, Kurotsuchi, Team Samui and the three Rookie leaf teams that are competing, tell us what you think or if I should change anything.
Other than that hope you liked it and that I made the fight believable, couldn't have Itachi use any genjutsu because he found out they don't work on Naruto last chapter.
Thank you to Rixxell Stryfe for his suggestions that helped me design the second task.