"Let's go, Uchiha!"
"Face me, Uzumaki!"
Immediately, Naruto used a shunshin to appear in front of Sasuke. Sasuke had to dodge as Naruto already had an uppercut prepared. Sasuke leaned back just enough to avoid it and caught Naruto's arm. Seeing his right arm gripped by Sasuke, Naruto spun clockwise pulling Sasuke along with him and threw him over his shoulder.
As he was thrown over Naruto's shoulder, Sasuke adjusted his body such that he landed on his feet and was facing Naruto. He immediately lashed out at Naruto with a side kick which was blocked by Naruto's forearms. Naruto grabbed onto Sasuke's ankle and pulled him closer to him. Sasuke was met by a kick to his torso which sent him flying off the Madara statue.
Sasuke recovered midair and went through hand seals, " Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu) !" He called out as he sent a large fireball Naruto's way.
" Suiton: Teppodama (Water Style: Liquid Bullets) !" Naruto shot out a water bullet that was as big as Sasuke's fireball. The two jutsu met and cancelled each other out with steam being its result. Naruto jumped through the steam and landed on the river that flowed below. Sasuke was waiting for him as Naruto had to duck under a kick that was meant for his head. However, he wasn't prepared for the back kick that came afterwards. He skidded across the water like a skipped rock.
He corrected himself a few moments later and stood on the water again. As soon as he looked up, he saw a hail of shuriken and kunai flying towards him. His hands reached for Arashi that was on his waist and got into his stance as he bent his knees slightly. " Uzumaki Style: Typhoon Blade ," he whispered.
Click
In a split second, all the projectiles that were flying at him were sliced in half. For anyone watching with the naked eye, it seemed as if Arashi had not left its sheath at all. However, with his sharingan, Sasuke could see the wind chakra and the extreme speeds Naruto had used to slice all of the projectiles. He had never seen Naruto use this technique before but internally he was excited. It meant that Naruto was not holding back and neither would he. 'Let's go, Naruto.' Sasuke thought as his cursed mark flared and half of his body was covered in black flames.
Naruto had the same thought as Sasuke. 'Let's go all out, Sasuke…' Naruto released his resistance seals and appeared in front of Sasuke with a light step. Naruto sent a roundhouse kick to Sasuke's torso but he dodged and kicked Naruto's leg away. Naruto recovered by twisting and landing on the leg that had been kicked away while sending a back kick with the other. Sasuke saw with his sharingan and ducked underneath it and came in close to Naruto.
Jabs, crosses and kicks were exchanged as they duelled it out with taijutsu. Sasuke jumped over Naruto's leg sweep and aimed a kick to Naruto's head. Naruto dodged it by going low to the ground before kicking up to right himself. He tilted his head to the left to dodge Sasuke's punch as he attacked Sasuke's elbow with his fists. Before he made contact, Sasuke's other hand pushed it upwards so it missed by mere centimetres. Naruto used the same hand to chop at Sasuke's neck but Sasuke reacted by kicking him away. The close combat was slowly turning in Naruto's tide.
" Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu) !" Sasuke shot multiple fireballs that spread across the area where Naruto was. Naruto weaved in between the fireballs as they hit the water below, creating steam. After dodging the fireballs and escaping the jutsu area, he immediately turned around and pulled out Arashi. His blade was met by two others. Sasuke had used a shunshin to appear behind him with two kunai coated with lightning chakra.
Naruto pushed the kunai away and jumped over Sasuke. As soon as he landed, he aimed a low swipe with his sword. Sasuke jumped over it but this time, his stomach was introduced to Naruto's sandal as Naruto continued his swiping motion and used the momentum to kick Sasuke. Sasuke spat out blood as he was sent flying across the water. Naruto felt that his body was being pulled along before he realised there was ninja wire wrapped around his arms and legs.
Looking towards Sasuke, he saw the two kunai coated with lightning chakra coming closer to him. Using a kawarimi, he substituted with a nearby log which was hit by the kunai.
Sasuke recovered from Naruto's kick by rolling across the river bank to reduce his momentum before he landed on his feet. As soon as he looked up, he saw three different Narutos coming after him. Two were coming from his flanks while one came from his front. He parried a kunai that was thrown at him before he jumped to dodge a pair of hands that tried to grab him from below. He split kicked the two that came from his sides before throwing a kunai wrapped with an explosive tag at the Naruto infront of him. He stabbed the Naruto below him and all four of them dispelled in a puff of smoke.
He ducked under a punch and kicked backwards. Seeing as he connected and he didn't hear the sound of a clone dispelling, he pressed his advantage. Sasuke kicked Naruto in the stomach which caused him to spit out blood before giving him an uppercut to the chin, sending him up into the air. Sasuke jumped up to Naruto's level and got in two more hits before sending Naruto down into the valley with a heel drop.
Seeing the ground fast approaching, Naruto turned to face the ground and created two clones. " Futon: Reppusho (Wind Style: Gale Palm) ," Naruto slowed down his descent before landing safely on his two legs. Looking up, he saw a fire dragon rushing towards his position. Going through several hand seals, Naruto called out, " Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu) !" A large water dragon emerged from the water that filled the valley and immediately rushed towards the fire dragon. The two met and the valley was filled with steam. This was the perfect environment for Naruto. Focusing on his sensory abilities, he sensed Sasuke standing 10 metres in front of him and immediately made his way there.
Sasuke could see nothing and was shocked when a sandal met his face, knocking out a tooth. He was then punched in the gut sending him flying into the wall of the valley. Pulling himself out from the minor dent he made in the wall, he went through hand seals and blew a fireball into the valley. The fireball caused the steam to dissipate but Naruto was nowhere to be seen. What could be seen, though, was the barrage of shuriken coming straight at him. Going through hand seals he had seen multiple people do, he placed his palms on the rock beneath his feet. " Doton: Doryuheki (Earth Style: Mud Wall) " It was usually frowned upon for the Uchiha to copy his comrade's jutsu but he did it with Kakashi and Shikamaru's permission.
The mud wall protected him from the shuriken and he wasted no time in jumping away from his position. It was for the better too as a wind style jutsu hit moments later. Immediately after landing, he brandished two kunai and saw Naruto approaching him with Arashi. He ducked under a strike as he tried to slash Naruto's stomach. Naruto front flipped over Sasuke to dodge. Landing on his feet, Naruto turned to block Sasuke's attempt to cut his throat.
Naruto tried to swipe Sasuke off his feet, but he jumped before sending a kick to Naruto's chest. Naruto had the air knocked out of him but he quickly recovered. They continued their series of blocking, attacking, and parrying with their blades for a minute. Sparks flew every time their blades of wind and lightning met.
Sasuke tried to go for a stab which Naruto sidestepped before grabbing his arm. Naruto twisted his arm, making him let go of the kunai in his left hand. Sasuke retaliated with his other kunai but was parried away by Naruto. Naruto turned his sword in a reverse hold with the blade pointing at him before he grabbed onto Sasuke's other arm. Naruto placed his legs in between Sasuke's to prevent him from kicking. They were in a lock. "I'm going to borrow this," Naruto stated as he used his free hand and intersected their fingers together. He placed both of their index fingers pointing up, creating the tiger seal. Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw Naruto make the seal before he was sent flying back with a kick to the chest.
" Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough) !" Sasuke looked up to see a large ball of wind heading straight for him. Sasuke used a kawarimi and switched with a rock behind Naruto. His sharingan slowed down movements around him as he saw Naruto's leg on a course for his head. He caught it with both of his hands before swinging Naruto around and letting him go flying towards the valley wall.
Naruto crashed into the wall fast, drawing blood. He pulled himself off the wall only to meet a sandal to the cheek. He skidded across the ground before he regained his bearings. Looking up, he saw multiple fireballs approaching. He used a kawarimi and substituted with a log which took the hit for him.
Naruto stood across from Sasuke as their battle came to a standstill. They had been fighting for over an hour. They had multiple bruises, blood dripping from their mouths and other wounds. They had tested each other on the likes of ninjutsu, kenjutsu and taijutsu. The valley had also taken its toll as there were multiple cracks and dents in the valley's walls. The water was also heated due to the fire jutsu that were used.
Seeing Sasuke was about to rush him again, Naruto held his hands up to stop him. "Sasuke, wait. Kakashi-sensei is coming, I can sense him. How about one last move to end it all?"
In the heat of battle, the initial reason they had this fight had slipped Sasuke's mind. He needed to leave for Oto and if Kakashi came, his mission would fail before it even started. "Ok, Naruto. One last dance," he said as he went through hand seals and lightning crackled in the palm of his hand.
Seeing this, Naruto smirked. Naruto gathered chakra in his palm before it rotated quickly and wildly. The chakra took the form of an orb that was slightly bigger than his palm. "One. Last. Time." Naruto said as he charged towards Sasuke with his rasengan in his right palm. Sasuke did the same as he charged towards Naruto with the chidori in his left hand.
Their jutsu were going to meet, but then, Sasuke saw it. Naruto reduced the flow to his rasengan and shifted his body ever so slightly. If he didn't have the sharingan he would've missed but Naruto knew that he wouldn't, especially with the eye smile he gave. He couldn't stop it, he was too far ahead.
Sasuke's chidori cut through the rasengan like a hot knife to butter before the sound of flesh getting cut echoed throughout the valley. His chidori went through Naruto's chest on the right side. Blood was flowing from the sides of Naruto's mouth as he turned his head towards a stunned and wide eyed Sasuke.
"Goodbye, Sasuke. You have a mission to do," Naruto said as he coughed out blood.
'No no no…' The flames from his cursed mark retreated back into the mark on his shoulder as his eyes were wide. Sasuke's thoughts were racing around his mind frantically. He felt his arm getting warmer from Naruto's blood. 'This was not supposed to happen…'
"Don't worry, I won't die until I'm Hokage with you and Shika by my sides. Stay safe, my brother…" Naruto said with an eye smile before he pulled himself off Sasuke's arm.
Sasuke stood stunned as the water below him stained red from Naruto's blood. He could see chakra being pumped to the hole he had made and it was slowly healing. Sasuke looked up to the sky as a drop of water hit him on the face before it started pouring. "Thank you, Naruto, Shikamaru… I too won't die until I stand by your side," Sasuke said towards the sky as blood started flowing from his eyes. If Sasuke had looked down into the water, his reflection would've shown a different set of eyes staring back at him before it turned back to solid black.
He carried Naruto and placed him on solid ground. He took off his headband and stared at his reflection. 'No turning back now…' he placed the headband beside Naruto and in a flash of lightning and the rumbling of thunder, Sasuke disappeared.
"We're getting closer, Kakashi! About 2km!" Pakkun called out from in front of him.
Kakashi increased his pace as the trees went by in a blur. The rain was pouring heavily and they were lucky that Naruto and Sasuke's scent was strong and close, else they would've been lost. He had just returned from a regular border patrol mission when he was informed about his team. It was reported that Sasuke was seen with a group of Oto-nin and were leaving the village. Neji, Choji, Kiba, Shikamaru and Naruto had been tasked to chase after them. Immediately after hearing this, he summoned his ninken, Pakkun, and asked him to follow Naruto's scent.
The green trees they were traversing through ended and the Valley of the End was in sight. 'Where are you?' Kakashi frantically searched the area above the valley and saw that it was empty. He then turned his search to the valley and his heart dropped. 'No, Naruto…'
He jumped down into the valley to see Naruto sprawled on the ground with a hole in his chest. "No no no. Naruto, are you there?" He called as he tapped Naruto's cheek lightly. He got no response. He could see the Kyubi's chakra making its way to the wound but it was not fast enough for his liking. He carefully carried Naruto, placing one arm under his knees while another under his back. "Pakkun, let's go!"
The darkness that was night time had fully engulfed the village. The illuminating moon and shining stars were the only things that stood out in the canvas of darkness. Kakashi slowly made his way to the hospital from his visit to the Hokage's office. He couldn't help but think about the conversation he had with the Hokage.
Flashback
"What the fuck did you do to my team?!" Kakashi asked, his voice sewed with anger as he slammed the door to the Hokage office open. Tsunade signalled for her Anbu to give them some time alone and activated the room's privacy seal. "That was not my team! I've been with them for so long and know them closely. My team doesn't shove jutsu into each other's chest!"
"Maybe you don't know your team well enough then," Tsunade simply said, not displaying any emotion.
"Don't play with me, Tsunade-sama. People don't go from watching a movie together all cheery to shoving an arm through another's chest! So tell me now, what did you do!?" Kakashi asked/shouted as he slammed his hand on the Hokage's table. Kakashi was seething with anger and frustration. He had met up with a crying Shikamaru at the hospital and what he thought was bad, became worse.
Tsunade looked at Kakashi impassively. "Is that the tone you use when talking to the Hokage, Kakashi?"
"I'm not talking as a shinobi to his Hokage. I'm talking as Kakashi Hatake to Tsunade Senju. The same Tsunade that I know cares very much for the brats of team 7. So please, tell me what did you do?"
Tsunade stared at him through her fingers, judging and analysing his face and body language. After a few moments, she sighed and leaned back into her chair. She reached for her secret stash of sake under her table and placed it on the table, inviting Kakashi to take a seat. She poured some into two saucers and motioned for Kakashi to take one. Kakashi didn't take the saucer and merely waited for Tsunade. Tsunade drank hers in one gulp and decided to finally talk.
"Where should I start this off? Firstly, I have to say I'm sorry…"
Flashback End
'Did you really have to go as far as to take a chidori to the chest, Naruto?' Kakashi thought as he walked through the hospital's halls. He reached for the door handle to Naruto's room and with a sigh pushed the door open. Naruto had just finished surgery a while ago. It was an hour or so long surgery to ensure that he didn't lose his ability to use his arm. Although the surgery was made easier with the Kyubi's help, they still wanted to make sure.
He entered the room to see that he was not the only visitor. "How long have you been here?" he asked as he closed the door behind him. The top of purple hair did not look up at him and continued to gaze at Naruto.
"Only a few minutes. As soon as I got off work, I made my way here."
Kakashi nodded and took the only other seat in the room. It was a private room that Kakashi requested for the hospital to place Naruto in. It had a hospital bed in the middle with two chairs on each side of the bed. There was a large window that showed a view of the Hokage mountain as soon as someone entered the room.
"I can't believe he did that. Naruto was his friend and he just went up and stabbed him through the chest," she said, breaking the slight silence that befell them. Kakashi cringed slightly as one of the few people who knew what had actually occurred.
"Unfortunately, we don't know what really happened between them. Maybe Naruto tried to kill him first. Maybe Naruto jumped into his jutsu willingly."
"But why would he jump into the jutsu willingly?" He was interrupted before he could speak more.
"Again, I don't know. But what I do know is that Naruto is unpredictable. We don't know what happened and all we could do is guess. However, we can't take whatever that occurred at face value too. You know the saying: "Look underneath the underneath." Kakashi said as he glanced at Naruto's unconscious form. "What is most important though, is that Naruto is strong and he will bounce back from this."
"You don't have to tell me that for me to know. I did train him after all," she said as for the first time since he entered, her eyes met his. She had a small smile etched on her face.
"Not as much as I have though," he teased.
"Always wanting to be at the top of everything. You never changed, senpai," Yugao said with an eye roll.
"Oh I've changed. It's just that I chose what I wanted to change…" with that, the atmosphere turned moody again and Kakashi wanted to smack himself. It was going so well and he just had to say something bad.
"Have you eaten?" she asked, preventing them from going into silence for too long.
"I've eaten lunch, not dinner though. Why? Want to ask me out?" Kakashi asked with raised eyebrows.
"Always with the romantic and perverted thoughts, senpai. I was merely curious," she said with a shake of her head.
"Well, how about you?" he asked.
"I have eaten…" her grumbling stomach snitched on her. She looked to see a laughing Kakashi.
"Ok, how about I treat you to dinner? For old time's sake, Yugao-kohai," he asked with an outstretched hand. "We can visit Naruto again tomorrow."
Naruto's eyes flickered open to a white ceiling, silence, pain and the distinct smell of a hospital. It was the surroundings he had been seeing for the past few days. A week had passed since his battle with Sasuke. He now had a scar on his right chest, a reminder of that day. He got a mixed dose of nagging, berating, concern, and shock over the past few days from Shizune, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Yugao and his friends.
Shikamaru had also informed him of their team's condition with tears in his eyes. A thing that Naruto could not fault him for. It left a bitter feeling in him knowing that their mission could have nearly caused the end of his friends lives.
Neji, like him, was also pierced through the chest, only missing his heart by several centimetres, but the difference between them was, Neji didn't have a giant fox with giant chakra levels to heal him. Choji had taken supplements to increase the strength of his clan's jutsu. However, it affected his chakra negatively as a drawback. Kiba, Shikamaru and Lee received help as the Sand siblings arrived at the request of Tsunade. Compared to Neji and Choji who needed surgery, their injuries were not as severe.
He took out the only past time he had other than staring at the blank white walls of his room, a book. It was the same novel he read during his trip in the Land of Snow and he was nearing the end of it.
'Pfft, something like this will never happen in real life.'
'You're reading, Kurama?!' Naruto was flabbergasted. He never thought Kurama bothered to read any of his books through his eyes.
'No. I just needed to point it out. Two people from enemy sides falling in love like that will never have a happy ending. I've lived for a long time, Kit. There'll be too much hatred between the countries that it could not end well. Her people could kill him or his people could kill her. Unfortunately, they will never have a happy ending with war going on.'
'I see where you're coming from but of course it can happen. It could happen if their countries create peace with one another.' Naruto argued.
Kurama snorted. 'Do you really think that they could have peace that easily?'
'Of course not. Peace is something that needs hard work and it is something that needs to be strived for. But in cases like this, you never know, love prevails.'
'Pfft, love prevails… Do you know how corny you sound? Give me one example where love prevails?'
'My parents. They loved me so much that they trusted me with their greatest enemy. Guess what happened after that? We're talking about a fucking love novel for god's sakes.'
'Touché, Uzumaki. However, the chances of that occurring is slim. We were just the product of one of those that succeeded. Given the same odds, who knows what would happen?'
'I guess if that happened, I'll just have to grasp those odds in the palm of my hand and make sure I succeed. The same with peace, it's hard but I will work hard to make sure it happens. Now, hush. I need to finish this before I leave the hospital.'
'You really do believe in that, don't you? To strive for peace and make sure it happens. You remind me too much of the old man…' Kurama thought as he laid his paws over each other in front of him and closed his eyes.
Few days later
"I'm not one for many emotional words, but I still wanted to say a few things," Kakashi started. He had invited Shikamaru to join him and Naruto for dinner to say a few goodbye words. They were going to leave the village for the next few years and this was their last night in the village. "I'm proud of you. I'm glad to have been your sensei. You've grown a lot since I took you in as a genin. Don't let recent events weigh down on you too much." He focused more on Shikamaru for this.
Shikamaru felt guilty when he saw all of his team members in the hospital. Yes, he and Naruto were the same rank but he was the one in charge. On his first mission as captain, every member on his team was injured. Some nearly died. However, after a small talk from his father and Kakashi, he willed himself to move and make sure it never happened again.
"This is the best time to improve and expand your horizons. When you come back, I want to see you strong and fellow jonins. Ok?" Kakashi said as he placed his hands on their
shoulders.
He received two grins and nods. "We will, sensei. Thank you for being our sensei and no matter how old you get, you will still be our sensei," Shikamaru said and Naruto agreed. He gave them a slight hug and brought them out for some dango as dessert.
Naruto and Shikamaru stood in front of Konoha's main gate. Naruto had a backpack filled with storage scrolls and his clothes. Shikamaru was packed similarly to Naruto. It was finally the time for Naruto to leave for his training trip and for Shikamaru to leave to work at the Land of Fire's capital. A group had gathered to send them off for their journey.
Tsunade, Shizune, Yugao, Kakashi, their friends and Shikamaru's parents - Yoshino and Shikaku - stood around the gate as they said their goodbyes. Firstly, Naruto and Shikamaru said their goodbyes to their friends. Those that had joined them for their mission against the Sound Four and Kimimaro were bandaged in various places. They should've been at home recovering but they insisted on joining in sending Naruto and Shikamaru off.
"Goodbye, everyone," Shikamaru started off.
"Yeah, keep getting strong. When we come back, you better not be slacking," Naruto added.
"We'll never slack! We will train day and night and we'll show them the power of our YOUTH!" Lee exclaimed with an enthusiastic thumbs up.
"Yeah, don't get too cocky now or we'll go right past you," Kiba said.
Naruto chuckled at that. 'Ah, never change guys.' Naruto and Shikamaru gave them each a goodbye. Many hugs, handshakes and words of encouragement were exchanged between them all.
"Take good care, Naruto, Shika. Make everyone proud," Kakashi said as he gave them pats on their shoulders and an eye smile.
They gave him nods of understanding and each gave him a goodbye hug. Their goodbye was swift as most of what needed to be said was already said the day before during their dinner and after it. Shikamaru went to talk to his parents while Naruto talked to Yugao.
"Take care, ok. Promise me that you won't do anymore stupid things like getting a chidori to your chest ever again. I don't know what will happen to me if I lose you. You're like family to me." Yugao said with tears in her eyes as she hugged Naruto.
"You too, Nee-chan. Be careful and take care. When I come back, I'll be stronger than you. That is a promise," Naruto whispered in her ear before releasing her embrace. Yugao gave Naruto a small peck on his forehead as she wiped a stray tear.
He walked up to Shizune and Tsunade. Shizune gave him some healing cream and some words of encouragement. She also gifted him a new novel which he accepted before she gave him a goodbye hug.
"Alright Gakis. Take care of yourselves and don't find trouble," Tsunade said, addressing both boys.
"But I don't find trouble, Baa-chan. Trouble finds me," Naruto said as everyone went silent.
Everyone waited for Tsunade's reaction to his name calling but she surprised everyone as a smile made it to her face. "I'll let it go for today. Make sure you don't waste this opportunity. Come back healthy and strong, understand?" Shikamaru and Naruto nodded as Tsunade patted their heads. "All right, time for you to get going."
Shikamaru and Naruto waved their final goodbyes as they walked past the gate guards and were out of the village's boundary. Two figures landed beside them as soon as they faced away from the village. "Alright, we're finally on our way. First we will head to the capital to send off Shikamaru and Fumiko-san before we start our own journey, Gaki," Jiraiya stated.
"Ooo, how exciting. It's like in those mangas where the story has a time skip before something big happens," Fumiko giddily said.
"You read manga, Fumiko-san?" Naruto asked.
"Of course, I do."
"Huh, I don't know why but I feel like I should've expected that," Shikamaru commented, getting nods of agreement from Jiraiya and Naruto.
"But you know what's better?" Jiraiya said as he reached into his pocket.
"NO. We are not giving Fumiko-san one of your books. Nope, not happening." Naruto interrupted before anything could happen.
"Ah but I've already read Jiraiya-sama's books," Fumiko said, surprising the rest.
"You have?!" All three of them exclaimed. One was in ecstasy while the other two were in shock.
"Yeah, I didn't like it," she said with a shrug.
Jiraiya's face faulted as his happiness went away as fast as it came. "Aww, my books…" he pouted as he drew circles in the ground with his finger, getting laughs from the other three.
"This is going to be a long journey…" Shikamaru said as he gazed up at the drifting clouds.
"You can say that again. But it definitely feels…feels like…hmmm…the end of an era. Yeah that's it. The End of an Era." Naruto said as he gazed up into the sky. Unlike Shikamaru, he was looking at a bird flying over them. The bird was leaving its nest and Naruto couldn't help but think about how similar their situations were.
'I wonder what the future would hold?'
'Drama much?'
'Oi, can't I even monologue in peace?'
Looks like we've finally reached the ending of the original Naruto. The valley of the end fight is my first major fight with just two people duking it out. Like, with the wave fight, it was multiple different perspectives so I could cut out things here and there but I don't that luxury for this.
I also focused more on taijutsu rather than ninjutsu. I didnt just want the whole fight to be them spamming water/wind/fire jutsu at one another. If my writing is descriptive enough, you'll probably recognise some moves from one of the best fights in the anime.
Please tell me what I could improve on. No matter how long this fic has been going on, it's still my first. So any help would be appreciated.
Aight, till the next chapter :D