I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Final Round
Naruto sat in his seat in silence. For the most part his thoughts had been filled with thoughts of how to save is father but also with questions about some of his father's actions during the Chunin Exams. Like not punishing Neji for basically killing Naruto.
"Hey Mom?" Naruto spoke up finally.
"Yes dear?" Kushina replied.
"When Neji nearly killed me, why didn't Dad ever punish him?" Naruto questioned.
"Well," Kushina said placing her fork down and sighing. "Your father wanted to. I wanted to even more. However, you father decided that you should be the one to do it in your own way since you were only injured saving Hinata's life. He knew you wouldn't be fighting Neji to get even with him for nearly killing you, but for trying to kill Hinata. It took a lot of restraint for us to not...punish Neji, believe me. But we wanted you to put him in his place rather than simply punish him for fighting."
"I see," Naruto nodded. "You're right. I wasn't fighting for myself. But..."
He trailed off but before he could find the words to ask what he really wanted to, there was a knock on the door. He answered it to find Sakura standing in the doorway.
"N...Naruto," Sakura said on the verge of tears. "S...Sasuke...He's gone."
"What do you mean?" Naruto questioned wondering if Sasuke had already left to find Orochimaru.
"He...He left the village," Sakura said before bursting into tears. "I-I think h-he's g-going to t-train w-with Orochimaru!"
Naruto sighed and shook his head then looked up at her.
"I'll go after him," Naruto sighed. "I'm going to see Tsunade to get permission to take some of the others with me. Then we'll leave."
Sakura nodded, still sobbing and Naruto glanced at Kushina who nodded, having already learned of Naruto and Sasuke's plan to kill Danzo.
"Come on inside Sakura," Kushina invited. "I'll teach you how to make a cake to welcome Sasuke back with."
Sakura smiled, still crying a bit but nodded. Naruto slipped out past her and ran to Tsunade's office and she agreed to his chosen team. Then he left and went to find the team. He sent clones out to find most but went after their tracker himself. He figured he might as well. They still had a ways to go before they could be counted as friends.
Naruto arrived at the Hyuga compound within minutes and landed in a courtyard to find Neji explaining to Hinata why she had lost but much less rudely. It also looked like they had fought.
"Are you fighting again?" Naruto questioned.
"Neji's agreed to train me a bit," Hinata explained. "Is something wrong?"
"Sasuke left the village," Naruto stated. "We have a mission to get him back. Neji, Tsunade wants you to go with us."
Neji nodded and Hinata stared at her feet shyly.
"U-um, c-can I c-come?" Hinata questioned.
Neji glanced at her then back to Naruto before leaving to get ready. Naruto sighed quietly but smiled.
"No," Naruto decided. "I'm sorry but if I'm right Sasuke will be escorted by some of Orochimaru's best fighters. I don't want you placed in that kind of danger. I promise that I'll bring Neji home though."
Hinata nodded and Naruto sighed. He turned and jumped over the wall, before running to the main gate and finding Kiba, Akamaru, Shikamaru, Choji, and Neji all waiting.
"Alright," Naruto sighed. "I'll handle Sasuke myself. For now, let's go see if we can't catch him."
They all left moving as fast as they could and soon to a clearing where a group of shinobi were recovering from a battle. Actually, two were recovering, the others were all dead.
"What happened?" Neji questioned.
"Four ninja attacked us," one stated. "They were impossibly strong before but they had these, marks that spread over their bodies and made them much stronger."
"I see," Naruto sighed. "They've got curse marks. Alright then. Shall we?"
They all sped up but soon came to an explosive tag. They stopped and Neji explained that it was a box trap. they went around it soon coming to a field of trip wires that were obvious but had more hidden in the shadows of the first. They made their way through the wires carefully before continuing and soon landing in a field, Kiba reporting that they were close. Just as they touched the ground, a dome made of dirt rose around them. The moment it closed, it began sucking the chakra out of them.
"Please tell me you left a kunai outside," Neji pleaded looking to Naruto.
"Sorry," Naruto sighed. "Kiba, they want our chakra. Why don't you give them a hand."
Kiba grinned and nodded, before giving Akamaru a food pill. Akamaru turned into a Kiba clone and both began spinning.
"Fang Over Fang!" Kiba shouted as he and Akamaru slammed into the wall, staying there for a moment before exploding out through the wall.
The others followed and saw the same four ninja that had sealed Minato and Orochimaru during their fight. One was fat with orangish red hair, one was extremely thin with black hair in a spiky ponytail and six arms, one had silver hair and a second head facing backward behind his normal head, and one was a girl with dark pink hair, a black hat with purple strips, and was holding a flute. The fat one removed a large cylinder from his back, placing it down and stepping forward.
"Alright tubby, let's-" Naruto began but Choji held his arm out.
"I'll fight him," Choji stated. "You guys have to focus on getting Sasuke."
The other three Shinobi were suddenly gone, along with the cylinder so Naruto sighed and nodded. He and the others sprinted after the ninja who let them pass choosing instead to fight Choji. After a few minutes, they were caught in a web as they jumped between two trees. The web covered them all in a cocoon but Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, the real one landing on a branch just as Neji cut himself free with Gentle Fist then freed the rest.
"I'll handle him," Neji stated glaring at the ninja with six arms, from whom the webs had come.
"Ten minutes," Naruto grinned referring to how long it would take him. "I got this."
"No," Neji stated shaking his head. "You have to be the one to reach Sasuke. You know you'll have to fight him. He's better than us."
"Alright," Naruto nodded. "Be careful then."
Neji nodded and the others continued. After a few miles, they began to catch up with the rest of the ninja and the one with the silver hair and two heads leapt out of the trees at them. Before he could reach them, Kiba and Akamaru tackled him, all three falling into a crevice and out of sight as Shikamaru and Naruto continued. Finally they caught up with the girl and she turned to face them just as Naruto appeared in front of her, kicking her backward and taking the cylinder that Sasuke was sealed inside of. Just as he was about to land, yet another ninja dropped past him, taking the cylinder before swinging off the branch below them and landing beside the girl. He was in his lat twenties with long white-silver hair, two red dots on his forehead, bags under his silver eyes with red eye shadow, and a curse mark that looked like Sasuke's only thinner and the marks longer between his collarbones. He wore a light lavender, loose-fitting, long-sleeved, zip-up shirt, black pants cut off around mid-calf, bandages wrapped around his ankles, traditional shinobi sandals, and a purple, rope-like belt tied in an inverted bow around his waist.
"You're taking too long," the ninja stated landing beside the girl. "I'm here to make sure the boy makes it to Lord Orochimaru."
"We had it handled sir," the girl stated.
"You do realize that there are two of them and one of you, don't you?" the ninja questioned. "And you're not exactly the best fighter on the team."
"I can handle them," she stated.
"No, you can't," the ninja stated. "But you will be slowing them down while I take the boy. Good luck."
And with that, he left, taking Sasuke's container with him.
"Damnit," Naruto growled.
"I'll handle her," Shikamaru stated drawing a kunai and holding it so that Naruto could see the teleportation seal on it. "You go get Sasuke."
And with that, he through the kunai at the girl. She leaned out of the way and when it hit a tree, Naruto teleported to the seal and then ran after the other ninja. The girl tried to follow but Shikamaru appeared in her way and she stopped in her tracks growling in frustration.
After a few more minutes, Naruto landed in a field and saw the other ninja waiting, the cylinder a short distance away.
"You truly are very determined to retake your friend," the ninja stated as Naruto surrounded him with clones.
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Naruto growled. "So, what's your name and what's your Kekkei Genkai?"
"My name is Kimimaro," the ninja stated as bone spikes grew out of his shoulders, palms, and knees. "And this, is my Kekkei Genkai. Now let's see yours...Naruto Namikaze."
Naruto's eyes widened before he and all of his clones crouched and spread seals across the ground under them.
"No Kekkei Genkai," Naruto stated. "It sucks, I know."
He stood as Kimimaro began to laugh.
"The son of the great Kushina Uzumaki doesn't even have a Kekkei Genkai?" Kimimaro laughed. "That's sad. Shame. Guess it doesn't matter though, does it?"
Before Naruto could react, Kimimaro darted forward and slashed at him. Naruto teleported out of the way and Kimimaro's attack was blocked and caught by two clones before three dozen fists collided with his back. Kimimaro spun, shredding a dozen clones before retracting his bones and growing a handle out of his arm. He gripped it and pulled upward and drew a short sword made out of bone. Then, he charged into the clones and began shredding them. For all of Naruto's skill with his teleportation jutsu, Kimimaro was too fast for the clones to be able to find room to use it. Finally Naruto released his clones and Kimimaro turned toward him.
"I think a slightly more personal touch is required here," Naruto stated summoning his training sword.
Kimimaro grinned and readied his own as Naruto took his most practiced stance. Kimimaro charged at him, slashing at Naruto's head and Naruto sidestepped the slash and swung at Kimimaro's stomach then teleported to the far side of the circle of teleportation seals where the cylinder was sitting before his hit landed.
"Game over," Naruto grinned lifting the cylinder then freezing. "That BITCH!"
"She moved your marked kunai did she?" Kimimaro grinned. "Good. Now, shall we actually fight?"
Naruto sighed and set the cylinder down then charged at Kimimaro. Kimimaro attacked Naruto again and this time, Naruto blocked the slash, allowing his blade to slide along Kimimaro's before dropping it down and slashing across Kimimaro's stomach. As he turned to face Kimimaro, the ninja held up a sword between his fingers, twirling it and Naruto looked down as his mouth fell agape. He looked back at Kimimaro and saw a cage of bones protecting his stomach.
"My bone sword is harder than steel," Kimimaro stated. "Sliding your sword along mine was a good move. However it simply allowed my sword to cut through your blade. Then it was a simple matter of blocking your counter attack. Now what will you do?"
Naruto threw three shuriken and Kimimaro easily cut them all in half perfectly with his sword. Naruto charged forward and formed a Rasengan. Kimimaro moved to stab Naruto as Naruto teleported behind him. At the same moment, Kimimaro spun with inhuman speed, his curse mark suddenly covering his body and stabbed at Naruto again. This time, Naruto was too close to avoid the stab. At the last second, a foot with an orange leg warmer collided with the side of the sword, knocking it away before the owner grabbed Naruto and jumped off the blade, leaving Kimimaro where he had been.
"Lee?" Naruto questioned as Lee set him down just as the cylinder exploded and Sasuke sprinted away.
"Go," Lee commanded. "I will handle things here."
"Alright," Naruto nodded. "Be careful. He's fast."
"As am I," Lee stated removing his leg weights.
Naruto grinned and sprinted after Sasuke. Lee had the best chance to beat Kimimaro since Naruto couldn't fight while teleporting, only directly afterward. As good a method as it was, Kimimaro had already proven that he could beat it. After nearly an hour of running, he finally caught up with Sasuke at a valley with a statue of the First Hokage and an Uchiha standing opposite each other and forming the Seal of Confrontation with a massive river running between them. Sasuke was waiting at the edge and Naruto landed beside him, seeing that one of his eyes was black.
"So," Sasuke began. "We both know that they'll expect us to fight so you can bring me back. What do we do?"
"Technically we never did get to settle who was better," Naruto grinned. "But I have to ask. Why exactly do you want Danzo dead so bad? Before Shisui, I mean."
"Simple," Sasuke stated. "He got my father sent to Hozuki Castle, a terrible place for several reasons. As he did this, he was trying to get my entire clan, myself included, massacred. Danzo would have wiped us out without a second thought. I swore to kill him mainly when Itachi told me that Danzo offered to let me live if Itachi had been the one to kill everyone. Itachi told me that he would have done it, too. Then Danzo murdered Shisui for his eyes, and succeeded in getting one. I will not allow him to live. I will avenge Shisui and make Danzo pay for what he tried to do."
"Very well," Naruto sighed. "So, shall we begin?"
Sasuke grinned and jumped, spinning and aiming a kick at the back of Naruto's head. Naruto ducked under it and threw his own punch at Sasuke. Sasuke caught it then did several back flips away from Naruto and landed on his feet, Sharingan activating and his eye returning to normal. They charged again but Sasuke easily outpaced Naruto. Finally Naruto managed to spread tags on the ground and tag Sasuke's foot when he caught a kick.
"Slow, Naruto, too slow," Sasuke sneered.
Suddenly Naruto was behind him and already had a kick moving. Sasuke felt the foot collide with his head and flew away from the seals. Naruto placed his hands down and sent seals in all directions for a mile. Sasuke stood and grinned at the seals then at Naruto.
"Let's try this again," Sasuke grinned forming a Chidori.
"Battle of power huh?" Naruto grinned forming a Rasengan. "Sure. I'm game."
The two charged but before either was a quarter of the way there, Naruto stepped on a trip wire and the ground began to crack and glow. Sasuke grinned and leapt off of the cliff and Naruto teleported to the seal on him just as the ground exploded from God knew how many seals Sasuke had placed while waiting for Naruto. Naruto caught Sasuke's foot and spun, throwing him down into the water. Sasuke swam to the surface and stood just in time for Naruto to appear behind him again and smash him into the water with a kick before leaping away, landing on the water and forming a Rasengan.
He waited for Sasuke to surface but he didn't. After a few seconds, Naruto began to worry he had hit him a little too hard. Just then, Sasuke exploded out of the water a few feet away with a Chidori ready.
"That's more like it!" Naruto grinned charging to meet his friend.
He shoved his Rasengan forward but Sasuke's free hand swept it aside then drove the Chidori into Naruto's right shoulder, just missing a fatal point but still where it would make him pass out.
"Too slow Naruto," Sasuke whispered before leaping backward away from Naruto.
Naruto coughed up blood and glared at Sasuke as his eyes turned red and his pupils elongated. Then, his wound healed and he straightened up.
"So that's how you want to play it huh?" Naruto growled. "Fine. Let's go."
He created four clones and all five shot forward in a blur, moving so fast that they were more skating across the water than running. They were also creating massive waves in their wake. When they reached Sasuke, he dodged two, kicked one into a fourth then felt the real Naruto's foot hit his chest. He flew backward bouncing off the water twice before regaining his footing. Naruto shot forward again then leapt onto the cliff face to his left to avoid a Fireball Jutsu. He began dashing along the side of the cliff on all fours kicking up dust behind him as Sasuke fired three more fireballs at him. The last found its mark and exploded but the Naruto was gone with the smoke from the explosion. Just as it hit, Naruto himself exploded out of the water behind Sasuke and slammed both fists into his back, driving him under water. Sasuke exploded out and landed on the surface a safe distance from Naruto as the third tomoe appeared in each of his Sharingan and the amount of chakra it required to use dropped to next to nothing in comparison.
"Alright Naruto," Sasuke said breathing hard. "I'm impressed. But now you can't win."
Naruto charged forward again, again sending up massive waves with his speed. This time, when he reached Sasuke, Sasuke was able to keep up thanks to his Sharingan and either blocked or dodged all of Naruto's attacks for several seconds before dropping under a punch and kicking Naruto back up to the top of the cliff. He followed and as he fell toward Naruto, Naruto threw a punch at him. Sasuke blocked the punch, pushing out of the way and flipped, planting a foot in Naruto's face and then pushing off to land in a roll. Naruto stood and charged while Sasuke's back was turned, throwing a punch but Sasuke ducked under it then jumped and spun, kicking Naruto off the cliff again. Naruto teleported to his seal, this time, and smashed into Sasuke, both of them flying off the cliff and crashing down in the water. They both stood and Naruto charged at Sasuke but Sasuke dropped to his back kicking him into the air. Naruto landed on the side of the cliff and created a dozen clones. Then, they all leapt off, the sheer force of it leaving a crater in the cliff face. The Narutos shot toward Sasuke and he began dodging them, each Naruto crashing down around him. He blocked a few attacks and met one punch with a kick but the Naruto exploded leaving none in the air. Suddenly, the water below Sasuke began to glow and Sasuke looked down as a pair of hands shot out grabbing his legs.
He was dragged down until his knees were level with the water then a massive chain of several hundred Narutos shot out of the water dragging Sasuke with them. The chain began swinging in a circle before flying outward and smashing Sasuke into a cliff. None of the Narutos disappeared but Sasuke didn't care. Both were battling on pure instinct by now. As a result, Sasuke sent flames shooting along the chain of Narutos, destroying all of the clones and leaving the one holding his ankles burned and wounded, barely able to move.
"S...Sasuke," Naruto groaned starting to stand.
"It's too late Naruto," Sasuke stated, completely shocked by what he had done. "This will knock you out."
And with that, her kicked Naruto out of the crater they were in before jumping out after him. He wrapped his arms around Naruto's legs and his own legs around Naruto's torso, pinning his arms at his sides then allowed them to fall, slamming Naruto head first into a massive rock by the water. He stared in shock at the blood leaking out of Naruto's head. He had meant to put Naruto into the water one last time. He had miscalculated, badly.
He jumped away as Naruto's body fell into the water, floating away. He stumbled backward, turning to run just as a massive amount of chakra surged behind him. He looked back, eyes wide as Naruto's body was suddenly floating in a small pool of boiling red chakra. He sprinted over, praying Naruto was alive but just as he arrived, Naruto stood up and smashed his fist into Sasuke's nose, breaking it and sending Sasuke flying. Then, the chakra covered him in a cloak of sorts, with two ears made out of chakra and a tail, making it look kind of like a fox.
"That was for burning me," Naruto growled before shooting forward and slashing at Sasuke with his claws his arm moving so fast the chakra shroud couldn't keep up.
Sasuke felt the hand hit then the chakra. the first hit weakened his jaw and the second dislocated it before sending him flying.
"That was for the Chidori," Naruto growled. "And this, is for the fall!"
And with that, he went ballistic. The first punch relocated his jaw, the second broke two ribs, the first kick broke another three and the landing broke a leg, and then Naruto began to beat him with everything he had. Suddenly he stopped and jumped away, leaving Sasuke laying in a crater against the side of the cliff, too many bones broken to count and too weak to move.
"Fine," Sasuke sighed. "I'll have to use this then."
His curse mark spread across his skin then grew until his skin was a pale grey, his hair was a dull, dark, faded blue and was down past his shoulders, and his eyes both had black sclera with his Sharingan. Then, two massive webbed hands grew out of his shoulder blades like wings and he grew claws of his own. In addition, his bones slowly began to heal as he was in the form. After a minute, he was able to stand and a minute later he had his arms back.
"One last try," Sasuke suggested forming a Chidori out of black lightning. "What do you say?"
"Sure," Naruto grinned forming a Rasengan from the cloak around him. "Should be fun. Whoever wins this wins. I don't have any energy left and you can't fight any longer."
Sasuke grinned and nodded and the two leapt at each other from the statues they were on, Naruto on the Hokage's and Sasuke on the Uchiha's. They flew toward each other and slammed their jutsus into each other's. The force of it made it so that it didn't explode. Not at first, anyway. First, the raw chakra given off by the collision formed a dark purple sphere around them that turned pitch black as more chakra joined it. Then, the two jutsus cancelled out and Sasuke's claws embedded themselves in Naruto's chest while Naruto's own slashed a single gash across the Leaf Village symbol on Sasuke's headband. then, the sphere turned white and flew away from the two in an explosion, very nearly obliterating the two statues. When the smoke cleared, Naruto was unconscious on the ground, his wound from Sasuke's claws already healing but him not having enough chakra to stay awake. Sasuke was standing over him staring down at his friend.
"Tie," Sasuke sighed before his still injured leg gave out and he nearly fell onto Naruto. "I'd stay to make sure you get home but, I have to go. Sorry."
And with that, he left.
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