Monkey Versus Ninja
The first words Naruto says after grabbing Goku's pouch and bolting into the forest are, "That was too easy! I knew Sasuke was full of hot air." Naruto smiled to himself while imagining what Sasuke and Sakura were going to say after they got back to camp. His mind exaggerated Sakura praising him while Sasuke laid hands and knees on the ground grumbling about being wrong. Naruto then said out loud, "Isn't that right Sakura!" He waited a moment expecting a reply but when none came, he repeated her name using a confused tone, "Sakura?" He then looks to his left and right and realizes his team is nowhere in sight. Naruto begins to panic yelling out, "Where the hell did, they go?" Meanwhile, farther east of Naruto's position Sasuke and Sakura are themselves looking around for Naruto.
Sakura grumbles about the current circumstance, "Where did that idiot run off to?" Sasuke has an irritated look on his face as he says to himself, "Great what do we do now?" He then peered behind him and thought to himself, "At least we're not being followed but is that because we lost them or because they're chasing Naruto?" Back with Naruto, he begins to panic as he jumps from tree to tree. He now imagines Sasuke and Sakura yelling at him for getting lost. He says to himself, "I can hear him now, "Why can't you do anything right Naruto?"." Images of Sasuke scolding him distracts him enough that he only barely hears something far behind him, "Gi-ve Gra- dra- b-ck." The distance phrasing catches Naruto's attention who peers behind him only to see a blue figure gaining on him.
At this point the figure comes into full view, and it yells at Naruto, now it's much clearer, "Give grandpa's Dragon Ball back!" It was the guy Sasuke warned Naruto about, the same person Naruto took the pouch from. It was Goku gaining on him while riding on a yellow cloud. Naruto freaks out upon seeing him yells back, "What the hell!" Naruto didn't know what to make of what he was seeing; now only was the person he took from chasing him, but they were riding a cloud to do it. Goku is now ten feet behind Naruto who curses to himself while considering what he should do. "Damnit, Damnit, Damnit, he's gaining on me! How is he even riding that thing?" Naruto shook his head and said out loud, "No, how did he even track me? I had a head start and he barely saw me!" Naruto thinks to himself, "Should I distract him with my clones like Sasuke told…" Naruto stops himself and says, "No, I can take him, If I win then Sasuke was just being dramatic. I might even impress Sakura!"
The logic in Naruto's head clicks somehow and he descends to the ground below and starts zipping between trees while conjuring up three extra Shadow Clones which confuses Goku. All four circle around the trees ahead of him and upon making a U-turn charge Goku who slows his Nimbus to a stop and then jumps off preparing to take the thief head on, he says to himself, "How'd he do that? I'm seeing four of em'." The three clones charged Goku ready to dog pile him when Goku took out his power pole and it began to glow red and increase its length when Goku yelled out, "Power Pole extend!" He then swung it swift fully across his front effortlessly carving its way clear through several trees while catching two of Naruto's clones in the chest.
They immediately burst into a puff of white smoke. The two remaining Naruto's jumped backwards into the air with one saying, "How the hell did he do that?" and the other pulled out a pair of kunai knives and said, "How about this!" The other Naruto copies the other one's motions and they both simultaneously throw out four in total Kunai Knives at Goku. Goku yelled out, "Power pole retract!" It immediately returned to its original length after which Goku quickly twirled it in front of him deflecting the four knives. Goku then jumped toward the two Naruto's who were still stuck in midair. Goku had almost reached them when they both said, "How about this!" They then pulled out a handful of shuriken throwing stars and hurled them at Goku only for him to twirl his Power Pole in front of him again and deflect the shuriken as easily as he did the kunai from earlier. Goku immediately threw his power pole like a spear and hit one of the Naruto clones and then came into punching range of the other. The clone his Power Pole hit disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving only one.
Goku threw a couple jabs aimed at Naruto's midsection only for Naruto to successfully block them. When Goku attempted to knee Naruto in his gut, Naruto used his own legs to block them which is when Naruto went for a right hook only for Goku to block and then quickly deliver three jabs to Naruto's stomach. Naruto winced in pain, he couldn't believe the amount of power behind Goku's attacks, but he was still conscious. He was about to make a hand sign when Goku twisted right and attempted to elbow Naruto's face only for Naruto to abandon his hand sign and instead use both his arms to block it.
He stopped the blow however the force of it sent him flying to the ground faster than before causing him to slide through the dirt below until he hit the trunk of a tree which stopped his launch. Goku landed on his feet several feet away from Naruto but when he landed his feet shook a little from the impact of that fall. It stunned him for a moment. As Goku attempted to recover his composure Naruto used the moment to do the same. He was reeling from the blows that made it through, but he was especially surprised by that last attack. He spoke to himself quietly, "Even though I blocked it I can barely feel my arms." Naruto clenched his fists and unclenched them over and over to test how numb his arms were. Naruto let out a low groan and said out loud, "If I let another blow like that through then I'm done for."
Goku finally gathered his bearings and said, "You shouldn't steal from other people. Give me back Grandpa's Dragon Ball, please." Naruto was confused by the statement but then realized he was talking about the pouch he stole. Naruto then thought to himself as he peeked at the pouch he now held around his waist. It was one of the artifacts that Pilaf hired them to collect, so Sasuke was right to have him grab it. Naruto grumbled while saying to himself, "I hate it when he's right." He then thought to himself, "But I can't just hand it over, I told them I'd handle it. I can't go back on my word now." Naruto tried to pull himself to his feet, but his gut started to hurt the second he made a move. He grasped at the sore spot and thought to himself, "I guess it's easier said than done, damn It."
Naruto then said, "They were already stolen." Goku let out a simple, "Huh" out of confusion. Naruto then said, "I'm bringing them back to their real owner so you can just back off, you petty thief." Goku yelled back angrily saying, "I ain't no thief, you're the guy who stole from me!" Naruto ignored his reply and just grasped the ball firmly in his hand thinking to himself, "What do I do know? I can't get up let alone fight him." He then reached into his Kunai holster and brought out a single Kunai. He held it backwards and brought his knife-holding arm up front while bending his elbow in a knife holding stance. He waited for Goku's next move unsure of what he was going to do next.
Right when Goku was about to take a step forward when he suddenly heard a loud explosion and upon looking in its direction, he saw a massive ball of fire heading his way. Already feeling the heat from the explosion, Goku made a massive leap backwards narrowly dodging the raging fireball as it created a larger explosion where he used to be standing. The force of the explosion pushed Goku a few feet farther. Suddenly Sasuke appeared in front of him with his back facing Naruto. Without looking Sasuke said, "Saving you is such a nuisance, Naruto." Naruto felt a sudden pulse agitation upon hearing his words, but it was soon overshadowed by a feeling of disappointment considering he was the one that got himself in this situation. Naruto instead asks, "How'd you find me?" Sasuke immediately answered back, "It wasn't difficult, I heard a commotion and assumed it was you." Naruto then asked, "Is Sakura with you?"
Sasuke lowers his tone and speaks quietly, "No, I told her to take the balls to our camp. We'll meet up with her afterwards." Sasuke then glanced at Naruto and whispered to him, "Can you walk?" Naruto moved his limbs around but stopped when his gut started hurting again. Sasuke took that as his answer and said, "Damn you really put me in a tight spot." Naruto grumbled and said in an aggravated voice, "I know that you don't have to tell me!" Sasuke smirked and said, "That's fine. I wanted to test myself anyway."
Meanwhile Goku was still shocked by the massive fireball that was just launched at him. Goku couldn't help but question how it even happened, he said out loud, "How'd he do that, was it magic or somethen'?" Sasuke was a bit put off at the dumbfounded response from Goku, but he then shakes it off reminding himself of the fight ahead. Sasuke then dashes to his right which puts Goku on guard who matched his pace and dashed to his left. Goku and Sasuke clashed right next to the crater Sasuke created. Sasuke aimed a left hook for Goku's jaw, but he dodged left only for Sasuke to throw in a roundhouse kick which Goku blocked with his left arm. Sasuke then simultaneously vaulted over Goku while delivering a sharp elbow to Goku's left side, Goku winced at the pain as Sasuke threw in three quick jabs at Goku's right shoulder and back while in midair. Sasuke landed right behind Goku where he launched an elbow strike aimed for the middle of Goku's back. Goku however leaped backwards vaulting over Sasuke narrowly dodging his elbow.
Sasuke was still in the middle of his elbow strike when he felt something wrap around his waist. It felt like hair or fur before he could figure out what it was. He felt his body getting yanked a step backwards which was followed by a sharp pain in the middle of his back. Sasuke glanced below him and saw a furry brown monkey's tail wrapped halfway around his waist which then let go and pulled itself out of view. Time moves slower from Sasuke's perspective as he peered behind him and saw that Goku had delivered his own elbow strike to his back. Goku was positioned sideways with his elbow facing Sasuke's back. Goku then twisted his body in a full circle and delivered a sharp kick to his back which knocked him on his chest. Sasuke's back was in intense pain, he attempted to pull himself to his feet but the pain in his back heightened, halting his attempt.
Goku paused for a short moment as he watched Sasuke who remained motionless on the ground. Goku's mind was blank as he looked forward, questioning to himself what he was feeling right now. This is when his vision shifted a bit to his right, and he realized something was missing. The guy who took his Dragon Ball was gone, at that moment he heard something moving behind him. Goku quickly turned around only to see something fly his way he moved his head to the right narrowly dodging a shuriken which grazed his left cheek. However, before he could register what threw it a fist connected with his right cheek knocking him off his feet. Naruto had hit him with a strong right hook but before he could throw a second attack, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head.
Goku had used the momentum of Naruto's attack to deliver a roundhouse kick to the back of Naruto's head. His vision blurred and Naruto landed on the ground face first, unconscious. Goku's body twisted all the way around causing him to land on his back while facing forward. When he finished falling, he looked up at the sky and took the moment to examine it as he further explored what he was feeling. He thought to himself, "That hurt but…" Goku couldn't put his finger on this feeling he was having but his mind was unnaturally calm. After a full minute of staring at the sky, he pulled himself to his feet and then looked at his two opponents, both faces first on the ground. Sasuke watched Goku as he made his way to Naruto. Sasuke tried to pull himself up, but the pain proved too much and again he failed to get up.
Grim thoughts flooded his mind as Goku got closer and closer to Naruto, "No, no, not again." Memories of his childhood fogged his mind, images of dead people he once knew occupied his mind until Goku finally reached Naruto. Sasuke held his breath as Goku reached down to Naruto only to grab something from Naruto's waist. Goku stood back up while holding a pouch which Sasuke recognized. Sasuke felt his breath return to him and a wave of relief washed over him. He had honestly forgotten about the reason Goku was after them out of fear for his beaten teammate. Goku took the Dragon Ball out and said to himself in a cheerful tone, "Finally I got you back grandpa!" Sasuke listened in on what Goku was saying. He felt very confused, Goku was treating the ball as if it was a treasure, figuratively speaking. Sasuke didn't know what to think of it.
It's true that he still didn't believe Goku was a bandit, but he was under the assumption he bought it from them or from someone the bandits sold the artifacts for. Goku however was treating it as if it meant more to him than just a shiny object, he bought from a souvenir shop. Sasuke couldn't wrap his head around the contradiction in his head, he soon passed out not knowing what to think about the strange boy with a monkey tail.