Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles Re-Version:

Hey everyone, hope you've been doing good. Welcome to the next chapter of the story. This is the second to last chapter of this arc. After that I'm moving to focusing on another story. The first chapter of that is on my pat reon right now. If you'd like to consider supporting my work, type in the pa treon web domain and add /rinnetaicho. Or you can visit my AO3 profile of the same name where there is a copy and paste link. Well, enough from me, hope you enjoy the chapter!

Arc V: Kusanoka's Revenge:

Chapter 31: An Empty Victory

-x-x-x-x-x-x- NTUC -x-x-x-x-x-x-

Whisps of smoke twisted through the air. Kakashi hid amongst a dense cloud of it as he finished his hand seal. Pressured built in his stomach and pushed up through his throat. A roaring torrent of water as thick as a pillar erupted from his mouth and sped toward Hiroshi. At the last second the Grass shinobi spun and sliced through the water. It collapsed into a harmless puddle that quickly absorbed into the dry earth. Only a dark stain was left to hint at the jutsu's existence.

A second later Hiroshi's kunai sword pierced the ground where Kakashi had stood. The black chain rattled eerily. Luckily he'd already absconded behind a tree. This was as it had been since the battle had begun. Hiroshi had opened by unleashing a chakra blade that split a mighty pine in half vertically. His enemies ability to harmonize his chakra was truly terrifying. Before him standard jutsu were useless. That left only two options. Abandon jutsu and fight up close, or try and take pot shots whenever an opportunity arose. Given the fact Hiroshi could cut him to ribbons if he tried the former, Kakashi had been hitting and running for the entire battle. He used the chakra of smoke bombs to disguise his techniques, but it was in vain.

"Come now Kakashi, you're doing well to try and hide your moves, but we both know you can't keep this up forever. Why not confront me directly already?" Hiroshi shouted. He didn't move from his position.

Kakashi used the Ventriloquism Jutsu before responding, "And get cut to pieces? No thanks. Afterall, I'm the only thing between you and my cute little genin. I'll keep my distance for now." He said cheekily. His voice echoed from every angle, impossible to pinpoint. It bounced off trees and rocks as if the land itself was speaking. He took a breath and dove into the ground. Using the Hidden Mole Jutsu, he darted around the battlefield and scattered paper bombs. The earth moved out of his way like water, turning back into hardened clay seconds later. When he was done, Kakashi popped up out of the ground and prepared to make his next assault.

"Naruto told me that girl all those years ago was your sister. You have my condolences. I know what it's like to lose someone close to you." He called.

While he meant the words, he wouldn't object if they threw Hiroshi off his game. Not that he expected much. His enemy was as cold as the harshest winter. Indeed, Hiroshi stood in the center of the battlefield stoically. He was like a granite statue, cold and rigid.

"You can save your condolences. They mean nothing. Obtaining my vengeance will be my solace." Hiroshi replied.

Kakashi took a deep breath and prepared for his next assault. If this worked, it would change the entire battle. If it didn't … he wasn't sure what then. He steadied his nerves and prepared to strike.

He reached into his pouch and pulled out a seal tag. Indecipherable black symbols were scrawled on it in interlocking spiked wheels. The paper was yellowed with age, but the formula was as crisp and clear as the day Minato-Sensei had drawn it. He reached to grab a kunai, but his hand froze. This was the last of them. Once the tag went off he'd lose a precious memento of working alongside his sensei. Part of him thought to save it to give to Naruto. Perhaps he'd be able to recreate his father's work. If not … yet another piece of his sensei would be gone. Kakashi shook his head. Now wasn't the time for that.

There was no room for such silly sentiment in a fight like this. Better to use it properly to ensure he and his team survived the day. He ignored the pit of melancholy in his stomach. With grim determination Kakashi snagged a kunai from the holster at his thigh. In two swift moves he wrapped the tag around the hilt.

'Thank you sensei. I'll use this how it was meant to be used.' He thought.

He took one last breath, then ducked out from behind his cover. His arm arched out in and old familiar motion. Honed from years of practice, it flew true. The kunai hurtled towards Hiroshi. At the last possible second Kakashi activated it.

The tag glowed blue. Hiroshi scrunched his eyes in annoyance and batted the kunai aside.

Ching!

"Damn those seals!" He cursed.

Heedless of his rival's frustration, Kakashi flew through a set of hand seals. "Earth Style: Earth Dragon!"

A serpentine dragon of earth erupted from the ground. It's body was as thick as a tree. The dragon coiled up. It launched itself at his enemy. Hiroshi's eyes screwed up in concentration. Just when it seemed like the dragon was going to hit him the man danced to the side. A gleaming black blade tore into the dragon and easily sliced into its sides. In seconds Kakashi's jutsu came apart at the seams. All that remained was a pile of loose brown clay.

Kakashi held up a ram seal.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Explosions rent the air. The paper tags he'd spread out had been sucked into his dragon. Balls of smoke and fire erupted from the earth. Dirt fell like rain. Chaotic noises of explosions and shifting earth filled the air for several moments.

Suddenly, from amidst the cloud of dust Hiroshi emerged. A terrible scent of burnt flesh hung about the man. The right side of his shirt and flak vest were in charred and melted tatters. His right arm and side were badly burnt, the skin red and blistered dripped from his arm. It must have been an agonizing injury. The man skidded to a halt. His hair hung limp. Sweat beaded his brow, and his breath came in gasps. Yet nothing of his agony reached his eye.

Not that Kakashi needed to see any. With the sharingan he could see the minute tells in the man's movements. How his arm twitched involuntarily. Hiroshi seemed to have a struggle moving freely.

It was just enough to make it safe to engage him up close. With the Sensing Disruption Seal in effect, it was his best option.

He pinched the clasp of one of his scroll pouches. It released with a sharp click. A scroll dropped into his hand smoothly. Without taking his eyes off Hiroshi, Kakashi unfurled a foot of it. There sat a seal with kanji for 'White Fang' at its center. His fingers pressed firmly onto the seal and let out a pulse of chakra. A puff of smoke burst forth. Amidst the smoke was a tanto with a straight blade and round guard.

Kakashi's fingers closed around the hilt. His opposite hand gripped the sheath. It felt at once familiar and alien. How many years had it been since he'd held this blade? 'I know I don't use this often father, but let your blade give me the edge I need.'

The metal sang when he unsheathed it. A stream of brilliant white chakra trailed in the wake of the blade.

He closed rapidly on his opponent. Hiroshi swung with his right blade. It was nothing but a feint. A way to disguise his follow up with the left The sharingan saw through it easily. Kakashi danced out of reach of the first blow. His blade met Hiroshi's in a shower of sparks.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the other sword coming back around. In an instant he drew a kunai. Blue-white lightning crackled through it to extend knifes reach. Kakashi's arm shook at the fury in the strike. He just managed to deflect the blow. It was only the continued presence of the chakra disruption that saved him from losing his arm. Otherwise Hiroshi could have cut right through the chakra.

Their blades continued to meet in a dance of steal and chakra. Even injured Hiroshi was a dangerous foe.

The skin on his arm started to crack and bleed as they fought. Rivulets of blood streamed down his body. Still, the man continued to fight. Kakashi tried to catch him in a genjutsu, but it was for naught. It seemed Hiroshi had learned his lessons in the sixteen years since their fight.

A searing pain raced across Kakashi's cheek when Hiroshi grazed him with his blade. He returned the favor by opening a shallow cut on the forearm. Back and forth they went, side to side. Their fight carried them all around the clearing.

He could taste the coppery tang of blood from the blood-stained cloth of his mask, and the scent of it filled his nostrils.

Suddenly, Kakashi saw a blue glow on the edge of Hiroshi's blade. He had a split second to replace himself with a log. The next instant a massive, razor thin wave of chakra launched from the blade. The ground split like a ripe fruit. It carried into the forest where trees and brush were split as well for dozens of meters.

"That was a close call," He muttered to himself.

The log he'd swapped with was split cleanly down the middle, as was the ground. It rent the ground for twenty feet further behind where he'd stood. He'd have to watch that. Eager to not give Hiroshi a chance to launch another, he was quick to re-engage.

His tanto met Hiroshi's left-hand blade. With his kunai he tried a backhanded slice. It was easily blocked by the other blade. The metal of their lightning coated blades ground together harshly. His skin tingled every time a stray arc of electricity strucj him. At the last possible second he stopped resisting and dodged into Hiroshi's guard. A wicked gash opened in the man's ribs. Pink flesh was visible between the tan cloth of his flak jacket. Blood fell like a crimson waterfall.

Hiroshi screamed in pain and rage. Kakashi had to haphazardly duck horizontal chakra slice. The wave passed just barely above his nose.

As soon as it passed over he struck. Hiroshi was still off balance from his attack. Kakashi took advantage by opening another cut on the man's bicep. The limb went slack momentarily. Hiroshi quickly used chakra to reinforce it. Fast as a striking cobra, the black-haired man lashed out with a slash. Kakashi just barely managed to get back quick enough to avoid being gutted. The blade easily cut through his flak jacket. The lightning that coated the edge made his stomach feel numb. He quickly retreated to get out of his opponents reach. A rushing sensation swept through him and settled as a pit in his stomach. Even a second later and his intestines would be strewn across the ground.

His eyes sought out Hiroshi. They stared at each intently. Several yards separated them. His sharingan saw the tensing of Hiroshi's muscles. He was preparing to strike. Kakashi's body tensed. He was prepared to mount a counter. Then, in the distance there was an obnoxious shout.

"OI, HIROSHI, YOUR BROTHER WANT'S TO SAY HI!"

The man snapped his head to the side, and for an instant Kakashi saw genuine shock in his eye.

'What in the world?' Of course he instantly recognized the voice. He glanced to the side to see his three genin gathered at the forests edge. Naruto stood beside the girls. Though the thing that surely caught Hiroshi's attention was what dangled from Naruto's grip. Face pale with glassy eyes, forever frozen in a look of rage was the dismembered head of Koroshi.

He quickly realized what was going on. Naruto was creating an opening. 'Good thinking Naruto.'

While Hiroshi was distracted, Kakashi dropped his kunai and reached into his pouch. His fingers grasped a small orb. He pulled it from the pouch and let the drop to the ground where he pushed it in with his heel.

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" He said loudly. At the same time he activated the smoke bomb. The ground muffled the minor explosion from the activation. Whisps of odorless smoke rose in snake-like tendrils beneath his foot. It rapidly spread just like mist, enveloping them in a thick haze. With the sharingan he could still see Hiroshi and the grey flame that represented his chakra. His opponent wasn't so lucky. He glared through the smog with annoyance.

"Tch, this trick again Kakashi? I've already memorized the chakra frequency for this jutsu!" Hiroshi growled. He swiped his blade through the haze. It parted and reformed around the kunai sword. "What the hell?"

For a brief moment Hiroshi had lost his composure. He stared at the apparent mist with shock. It was all the opening Kakashi needed. He dashed forward and looked Hiroshi straight in the eye. In a split-second his single acid green eye went blank. With just a glance Kakashi had frozen him in the illusion of a continued fight. His arm whipped forward four times. Each time he bit deep into the flesh of Hiroshi's wrists and ankles. The blade cut far enough to sever all the tendons and nerves that let you move.

Hiroshi slumped to his knees. The pain of the cuts had jarred him from the genjutsu. He blinked several times and stared at Kakashi in confusion.

"But we were just …" Hiroshi paused. Clarity flashed in his eye. "Ah … genjutsu … I've been bested again." He muttered. A distant look ghosted through his eye. " … What a waste of sixteen years." Then he did something that surprised Kakashi. Hiroshi threw his head back and laughed. The noise was unsettling. A harsh rattling wheeze, like a dying banshee. It was the laugh of a broken man. When he looked at Kakashi there was a resigned look in his eye.

"Well, get on with it. I'm eager to see my sister again." Hiroshi said.

Kakashi nodded solemnly. His arm lanced forth. Wreathed in blue-white lightning, it pierced through Hiroshi's chest with ease. The lightning did it's work quickly. The lightning made his heart explode. In a single instant Hiroshi's face turned deathly pale, and the light faded from his eye. His body slumped to soundlessly to the ground.

"Goodbye, Hiroshi Kusanoka." He whispered.

There wasn't really any satisfaction for him. He didn't get any feeling of closure. All he felt … was empty. This was an anticlimactic end to a rivalry he'd largely put behind him. In many ways Hiroshi was a glimpse at a path he himself had been so close to following. Obsessed with the mission. Cold, unfeeling, and ruthless.

His hand shook as he remembered his days in Anbu following the Nine-Tails attack. It was a time he'd tried desperately to forget. The terrifying part was he knew he could still be sent down that path. One tiny tipping of the scales might be all it would take to push him over the edge. He'd been close to it in this mission. What if Naruto hadn't acted during the ambush? Sasuki would likely be in the Land of Grass already and yet another person he'd failed. It was all his fault, too. For years Kakashi hadn't tried to push himself at all. He'd let himself become a dull knife.

'I'll just have to try harder, to make sure that doesn't happen.' He thought resolutely.

He let out a sigh. It was probably best to wrap this up so they could get going. He took a step towards Hiroshi's body and the world started to tilt and spin. For a brief moment he felt an unwieldy pressure in his head.

Before he could fall, an arm wrapped around his midsection. He caught a flash of blond hair. A small smile tugged at his lips.

"Whoa there, easy sensei. Looks like you overdid it." Naruto said.

Kakashi nodded tiredly. He'd been so caught up in the fight he didn't realize how much chakra he'd been using. After a moment he felt steady enough to push off of Naruto's shoulder. Unlike him, the boy looked totally uninjured. The only sign he'd been in a fight was the dirt on his skin and tears in his clothes.

The crack of a branch drew his attention to his other students. They were making their way relatively slowly, with Sasuki leaning heavily on Sakura. Her skin looked pale and she had a queasy look. Thankfully the pink-haired girl merely seemed tired.

"Are you okay?" He asked. The girl gave a non-committal grunt, which prompted him to look at her teammate for answers.

"She got poisoned. I don't think it's deadly, but I'll need time to counter it. A lot more than the counteragent for the gas took. It'd really help if we were in a comfortable and clean space." Sakura said.

He frowned. With how tired he felt, they'd need to find a place to rest anyways. The problem was they were quite a ways away from any village at this point. That left very few options. The cabin Hiroshi had kept Naruto in might have been an option, but according to Pakkun they'd been prepping to destroy it. Kakashi frowned. He was about to continue thinking of other options, but he noticed Naruto contemplating. The boy seemed almost … hesitant. After several moments he got over whatever internal struggle he was going through.

"Um, I know a place. It's not too far away." He said.

"A place?" Kakashi echoed. He gave his student an odd look. When had Naruto been to the Land of Rivers?

"Uh, yeah. It … it belonged to my grandparents."

-x-x-x-x-x-x- NTUC -x-x-x-x-x-x-

Well hope you enjoyed that. We got to see Kakashi's fight. I felt since the arc was at the core about Hiroshi getting revenge, it was fitting for this to be on last. But now something interesting is happening, what will happen at Madara's old home? Will Naruto manage to keep his secret, or will the truth come out? You'll find out in the next chapter. It will be coming out on patr eon in the next couple days.

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Anyways, that's all for now.

Until Next Time,

RinneTaicho, Signing Off!