a/n- Oh my god! I can't believe how hard the Laziness no Jutsu hit me this time! It's because of the upcoming fight... You see, this is the first actual fight scene I am ever going to write, so, I was a bit confused as to what I have to write... I wonder if this is what they call writer's block? Oh, and please bear with me if this fight is a bit... crappy... At this point, I have no idea at all as to who is going to win this fight!

Anyway, let the chapter begin!

Konoha's Orange Maelstrom

Chapter 9

It was a bright, cloudless day in Konohagakure no Sato, with the sun still 1-2 hours away from reaching it's peak. At the academy, in a certain outdoor sparring ring, two academy students -Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke- were facing each other, 10 feet apart, making the seal of confrontation, and they both had very determined looks on their faces.

The ring had a diameter of 25 feet, which isn't too much space for a shinobi to fight in. Right outside the ring were the proctor of the match, Mizuki, and the judge, Iruka, and a bit further away were the rest of Iruka's students who would be entering that very ring to fight each other in an effort to graduate from the academy and finally become ninjas.

On any other day, everyone would say that Naruto doesn't stand half a chance against Sasuke in a fight. However, today, Sasuke was... different... It was very subtle, but those who knew him well, especially his fangirls, could tell that he appeared a bit... tired... Even though Sasuke had taken a soldier pill to try and replenish the chakra he had lost when he tried to perform the 'trick', there was still a slight deficiency of chakra in his system, and, while taijutsu doesn't normally consume chakra, your physical capabilities do take a hit when you are low on chakra, so, it's fair to say that Sasuke had a handicap big enough to actually worry about losing to a perfectly fit and healthy Naruto.

Both Naruto and Sasuke were waiting for Mizuki to give the signal to start the match.

"Hajime!" Mizuki shouted.

Naruto and Sasuke sprung into action, straight at each other. With his right fist, Naruto tried to punch Sasuke in the face, but Sasuke blocked the blow and caught Naruto's fist with his left hand, leaving Naruto wide open for a counter attack.

Sasuke mustered all the strength he could to deliver a punch to Naruto's ribs with his free hand. Naruto winced with pain, but it didn't hurt too much, thanks to the cushioning effect produced by his (relatively) thick jacket. Sasuke was expecting Naruto to be doubling over in pain after a punch like that and then, he planned to control the match from then on, but, thanks to the cushioning effect, and Sasuke's chakra deficiency, Naruto was able to counter by performing a clockwise kick.

Sasuke let go of Naruto's fist and jumped backwards to dodge the kick. However, Naruto didn't let Sasuke catch a breath, as he rushed at Sasuke, sliding in an attempt to knock Sasuke off his feet.

Sasuke jumped over Naruto, and landed where Naruto was a second ago. Naruto got up quickly, but before he could get into a proper stance, Sasuke was already on him, and delivered a left uppercut to Naruto's jaw.

Naruto flew a few feet, thanks to the blow with Sasuke's dominant hand, and landed on his back just a foot away from the edge of the ring.

Sasuke just stood there, waiting for Naruto to get up, so that he can knock him out of the ring. The reason Sasuke was not attacking while Naruto was down was because, in a taijutsu only fight, attacking an opponent on his back was not necessarily a good thing, because your opponent can counter with kicks easier in that position, and we all know that kicks hurt worse than punches.

Naruto got up as quickly as he could, and he was met with the sight of an Uchiha flying with his left foot extended, aimed at his face. Naruto did the only thing he could think of- duck!

Sasuke was caught off by this. Apparently, the chakra exhaustion influenced Sasuke's reaction time as well, and he was a bit late in performing the kick. Sasuke was now right above Naruto's ducking figure, and, in a last ditch attempt to not lose by ring-out, he grabbed the back of Naruto's jacket's collar. He didn't know what the consequences would be for this simple move.

Naruto felt his throat being crushed from the sudden jerk produced by Sasuke's attempt to stop himself. Naruto's eyes widened as he coughed up his own blood and went down on his knees. His throat was deformed really bad, and he was not able to breathe.

"Well... That escalated quickly!" Kurama said from inside the seal. He had developed a somewhat twisted sense of humour over the years. "But... This is bad... the gaki could actually die... and... Yes! That could work!" Kurama said, for once, excitedly.

Back in the outside world, everyone was watching the scene that unfolded before them with shock. Training fatalities were very rare in Konohagakure, and this looked like it was going to be one of those rare statistics. Naruto's classmates had their eyes wide open, disbelieving the scene that just happened, and Hinata's eyes were welling up with tears. She yelled-"Naruto-kun!". You hardly ever survive a crushed throat like the one Naruto had, and it seemed that this was the end for Naruto.

Sasuke was standing, wide-eyed, staring with shock at Naruto as he fell to the ground face first, while holding his neck. Sasuke was not okay with this. He didn't want to be responsible for his classmate's death. Sasuke's eyes turned red for a brief moment (I mean, the pupils). His sharingan had activated briefly, and both eyes had two tomoe. If it were under different circumstances, Sasuke would have been celebrating, but now, nobody, including Sasuke, was aware of this development. All eyes were on Naruto.

Iruka however, didn't just stand there like everyone else was, he yelled at Mizuki- "Don't just stand there Mizuki! Go get a medic! Quick!" Iruka said as he ran to Naruto's side, and Mizuki said- "Uh, oh yeah! Medic!" as he ran off.

Once Mizuki was out of sight, he took on an evil smile- 'You asked me to get a medic for the demon! Pfft! As if I am going to do that! It's a good thing that it is going to die right now without me doing anything!'

Back with Naruto, he was now lying face down on the ground, clutching his throat, panicking, not knowing what to do. If he didn't act fast, he would be dead.

'Urgh! I can't believe this is happening to me! I can't die yet! I am yet to become the Hokage!' Naruto told himself.

'I don't know what is worse, dying due to a head cracked by a tree or... Hey wait a minute! I can go to Kurama to ask what to do!' thinking this Naruto concentrated on getting to Kurama.

Seconds later, Naruto was lying on his chest in front of Kurama, blood streaming from his mouth, raising his head to look at Kurama with the last ounces of strength in his body. However, Kurama had an uncharacteristic feral grin plastered on his face. He said while laughing- "Ha! So this is all my container is capable of! Death by crushed throat during spar! How pathetic!"

Naruto got ticked off by this. He was about to tell Kurama that it was not the time for jokes, but no voice would come from his throat.

"Don't even bother speaking. You are so weak, that you can't even speak! Ah! Now you are literally dumb! Hahaha! No wonder I was able to manipulate you so easily!" Kurama said, with an evil grin plastered on his face.

Naruto was feeling very insulted as well as confused. Why is Kurama acting like this?

"You still don't get it? This was all part of my plan to finally get out of your wretched body! I was carrying out the plan ever since we met! Everyday, I would force my chakra into your chakra network while you train! That way, the chakra in your system is being replaced by my chakra, and, all you need to know is that I had made arrangements so that when you die, I can get out of this damn seal! In fact, I had been waiting for this to happen for months! And when I finally get out of here today, I will start by destroying this damn village of yours!"

To say that Naruto was shocked was an understatement. He was thunderstruck! He couldn't believe that Kurama, whom he had seen as his best friend, had betrayed him like this! Their 'friendship' was just one big lie! Naruto felt like crying at first, but when he heard that Kurama would be destroying Konoha's, a new emotion exploded inside him- Anger. And not just ordinary anger, Naruto was furious.

Naruto's face was now making an expression filled with pure hatred for Kurama. The negative emotions in his heart had increased a lot. If Naruto could, he would have shouted some big dialogues at Kurama, but now that his throat was crushed, he couldn't, and this was adding to Naruto's anger.

From the other side of the barrier separating Naruto and Kurama, Kurama was feeling relieved that his plan was working.

'iI am sorry for doing this, Naruto... If you are to survive, this is the only way...' Kurama thought, as his own chakra flooded Naruto's chakra system.

Back in the real world, everyone was awestruck once again, not because of the pool of blood next to Naruto's head, but from the malevolent red chakra that was now surrounding Naruto. It was twisting like a twister around him, and at the top, had taken the shape of the Kyuubi's head, while Naruto was still lying unconscious on the floor, heads down.

Iruka had to step away from Naruto because of the red chakra.

'This is bad! The Kyuubi is getting out! I have to do something! But what?' Iruka thought. However, when he saw Sasuke dangerously close to the red chakra, he remembered what he had to do- 'Oh yes! I have to protect the rest of my class!'

"Everyone, get back! Stay away from Naruto now!" Iruka shouted, sweating profusely. He was extremely nervous now. After all, who wouldn't be nervous when you are dealing with the Kyuubi?

All of Iruka's students followed Iruka's order, backing away from Naruto. They had absolutely no idea as to what the hell was happening. One moment, they were hoping that Naruto would miraculously make it out of his situation alive, and now, they were hoping that they themselves made it out alive. Some of the students even pissed in their pants due to fear of the sheer malevolence of the chakra... And one of them was able to figure out just what that chakra was...

'That head... It looks just like the head of the Kyuubi... Could it be? The Kyuubi was sealed into Naruto? Yes! That would explain all the looks he got from the grown-ups...' Shikamaru thought.

Meanwhile, Sasuke, who was standing a good 30 feet away from Naruto was baffled by this development. A few moments ago, he was sure that Naruto was dead, but then, this happened.

'Naruto... Just what are you?'

Iruka had his kunai on the ready, taking up a defensive stance in front of his students.

Naruto was still on the ground, not moving at all. It was safe to conclude that Naruto was dead, and the seal had somehow broken due to it and the Kyuubi was escaping.

All of a sudden, just as Iruka was about to order his students to run away, the red chakra suddenly vanished.

All of them let out a sigh of relief. Iruka was relieved that Konoha was not going to be destroyed.

"Iruka-sensei... What just happened?" Kiba asked.

"I... I don't know..." Iruka lied. He was one of the two people among the crowd that witnessed this who knew what was happening.

The other person who knew what just happened, Shikamaru, just kept quiet, because it would be too troublesome trying to explain his theory and reasoning. Besides, he knew that Iruka knew exactly what was happening and he knew that if Iruka was pretending that he didn't know what he actually knew, he should also pretend that he knew nothing.

"I-Iruka-s-sensei, w-will N-N-Naruto-kun be O-Okay?" Hinata asked hoping that she got a positive response, with a lump in her throat, tears streaming from her eyes.

"It doesn't seem so..." Iruka said, himself very sad, gazing at Naruto's dead body.

However, as soon as he said this, Naruto's body disappeared, and in his place was a Kawarimi log.

"What the..." Iruka couldn't complete his sentence as he saw a kunai right in front of his face. Iruka was too shocked to react. He just froze. However, before the kunai embedded itself onto Iruka's face, it was replaced by a blond with pale skin wearing an orange jacket, who also happened to have blood dripping from his mouth.

"Boo!" the blond said.

"Argh! Ghost!" Iruka yelled, and he fainted.

The pale figure sweatdropped. "Looks like I went a bit overboard there! He he!"

He then saw his classmates. All of them were staring at Naruto with white faces. And they looked like they were frozen in their places.

Naruto dropped his Henge and returned to his normal self, and everybody's eyes widened when they saw that his throat was perfectly OK.

Everyone was still staring at him.

"What? You seriously thought that I was going to die from something like that? Pfft! Have some faith in your future Hokage dattebayo!"

This broke everyone out of their stupor when they heard this. There were mixed reaction to the news that Naruto was still alive. Many were now scared of Naruto, which was perfectly logical. Who wouldn't be after what they had seen? However, since no damage was caused, the number of people in this group was limited to some extent. However, due to Naruto's awesome display, almost everyone thought that Naruto was immortal, or had some awesome Kekkai Genkai (which was kinda true). Some were just glad that Naruto was still alive, and this group included most of the soon-to-be rookie 9. Sasuke belonged to all of the above groups. He was a teeny weeny bit scared by Naruto's power, and he was convinced that Naruto had a Kekkai Genkai, and a subtle irrational part of him was wondering whether Naruto was immortal. But most of all, he was glad that he didn't kill Naruto, and Sasuke even had something on his face that nobody had seen in years- a smile. And there was one group that was extremely happy that Naruto was still alive, consisting of just one person- Hinata, who had tears of happiness on her face. If Hinata were an ordinary girl, she would have ran up to Naruto and given him a hug, but, Hinata being Hinata, she just stood there, smiling, glad that Naruto was alive.

Everyone was itching to ask Naruto what he had done, but it was at this moment that an ANBU wearing a cat mask with intricate green and red marks appeared right behind Naruto.

'Oh... It seems I didn't have to do anything. And Naruto appears to be safe... Good.' The ANBU thought to himself before making his presence known to Naruto.

"Naru-"

Naruto jumped, surprised by someone suddenly appearing behind him.

"Hey! Don't surprise me like that!" Naruto shouted at the ANBU.

The ANBU ignored this, and he continued- "Hokage-sama has asked you to meet him as soon as possible."

Naruto was sort of expecting this. He knew that something like this wouldn't go unnoticed by the Hokage. But nevertheless, Naruto still cringed when he heard this.

"Yeah... I am coming..." Naruto said.

"Just a minute." The ANBU said. "There is one more thing I have to do before we go." He walked up to Iruka, who waking up from his short sleep. The ANBU told Iruka- "I'll be taking Naruto to Hokage-sama. Naruto will be back by noon. And please do carry on the graduation exam."

Iruka nodded his head.

The ANBU then walked back to Naruto.

"Let's go Naruto." The ANBU said.

Naruto complied and followed the ANBU on The Road to Hokage. (See what I did there?)

Naruto was now standing in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, in his office. Naruto was nervous now, not because he felt that he had done anything wrong, but because he was worried that he would miss the graduation exams. He wanted to get this over with as fast as possible.

"Naruto-kun..." Hiruzen spoke "...would you please explain why the Kyuubi's chakra was released from your seal?"

Naruto knew that there was no way around this, and tried to give an explanation that was as short as possible, yet, satisfactory. Naruto began- "Well... It all started because Sasuke-teme crushed my throat, by accident (I think. Or else he would have killed me years ago.) I went into the seal to ask Kurama for help, but he started to insult me and told me that he betrayed me and he was going to destroy Konoha-" Hiruzen gasped at this. Hiruzen still couldn't bring himself to trust the Kyuubi, even after 2 years had passed since Naruto established contact with the Kyuubi.

Naruto caught this gasp and said casually- "Don't sorry, it was all part of Kurama's plan to get me really angry, and then, somehow loosen the seal, and get me to use enough of his chakra to heal my throat, which is why I am talking to you right now. Kurama explained all of this to me once my throat had healed, and it was around then that my rage subsided and the effect of Kurama's chakra wore off."

Hiruzen took all of this in. He found Naruto's reply satisfactory, as this explained everything that happened in the last 10 minutes. Hiruzen then said- "Very well... Thank you for your time Naruto-kun. You may now go back to take the remainder of your graduation exam."

Naruto grinned as he turned around and ran for the door, yelling- "See ya later jiji!"

Hiruzen just smiled at this. He had been initially worried that the Kyuubi had corrupted Naruto, but it seemed that Naruto was still the old Naruto he knew... And maybe the Kyuubi, or rather, Kurama, was not really as bad as he thought he was... Hiruzen let go of these thoughts nos... He needed a break...

Hiruzen's smile grew exponentially wider as he took out a certain book from his drawer. Which book it was? 2 clues- 1) It had an orange cover and 2) It was written by one of his students... Yes, that's right, it was the book Hiruzen regularly read for research- The Wonders of Iryō Ninjutsu by Senju Tsunade. (What? You thought that Jiraiya was the only one who could write?)

Meanwhile, Naruto was running full speed ahead to the academy.

'No way am I going to miss the graduation exam dattebayo!'

Phew! That took me way longer to write than I thought it would!

I honestly had no idea that Naruto would go through another life-or-death situation up until the part where Naruto ducked!

Oh, and if you think that I made a mountain out of a molehill with the throat crushing part, I did some research, and here is what I read- It takes as much force to crush a throat as it does to crush an empty soda can, though I really don't recommend that you try to verify this.

Oh! And don't forget to tell me what you think about this chapter!