Naruto: The Weapon Master
Chapter 38: Opposites attract and yet can Repel
Naruto frowned as he stood on the statue of Hashirama at the Valley of the End and was staring at Sasuke who stood away from him on the statue of Madara with an expression of disdain on his face.
"What's going on with you, Sasuke? Instead of even helping me with that bone guy, you just run off and away from the village," Naruto demanded answers from the Uchiha.
Sasuke scoffed in response "Because I'm through wasting my time playing ninja with everyone in the village. I have my own path to follow and no one is going to steer me away from it,"
"Playing ninja?" Naruto couldn't believe what he's hearing. Is Sasuke trying to say that the mission at Wave, the attack on the village by Orochimaru, the bodyguard mission of Princess Koyuki…where many almost and did lose their lives is seen as nothing more than children's games? Not to mention…
"And what about Shikamaru and the others who risked their lives for you?" Naruto asked all too calmly.
"Well isn't that nice of them?" said Sasuke sarcastically.
He turned to leave only to find Naruto standing right in front of him with an emotionless expression as he had instantly teleported over there and grabbed Sasuke by the throat and lifted him into the air with one hand.
"Didn't I already warn you not to take another step or I would have to hurt you?" Naruto then proceeded to slam Sasuke hard onto the ground with his hand still tightly gripped around his neck "I don't know and frankly don't care anymore whether the Cursed Seal is messing with your head or not. But I'm not gonna let you downplay everything that everyone in the village went through just to satisfy your ego,"
Sasuke merely scowled "If I had continued to stay at the village, I would have never gotten this power. Which is why I'm going to where Orochimaru is,"
"For some reason, this doesn't surprise me. Typical Uchiha mindset, always thinking about themselves and no one else," said Kurama with a scowl, recalling her history with the clan.
"For someone whom everyone calls a genius, you're a complete idiot. Did you forget that Orochimaru cares for no one but himself, whatever he would offer you is nothing more than an enticing bait to lure you in and you'll never be able to escape…like a sheep to the slaughter," said Naruto angrily.
Sasuke scoffed "I could care less, my matters to me is achieving my goal and nothing more," he reached out to grab Naruto by the throat as well "If you plan to get in my way, then it can't be helped,"
"I'm warning you now, Sasuke. Should you attempt to resist, it is within my mission parameters to apply force,"
"Hmph, like you can do anything to me as I am now,"
Sasuke started to apply pressure around Naruto's throat in an attempt to suffocate him, but Naruto reached with his other hand to pry it away. Uchiha frowned, seeing how Naruto pulled his hand away and was now tightening his own grip around his throat, forcing him to use the Substitution jutsu to switch places with a wooden log to escape.
Naruto stood up and sensed killing intent from behind as he spun around and parried an incoming punch from Sasuke with a swipe of his forearm as he dashed backwards with a frown on his face. Naruto crouches slightly then dashes forward with great speed before attacking with an assault of punches and kicks which Sasuke seems to be able to block and parry without having to using the Sharingan before he counters with a punch towards the face but the blonde ninja merely titled his head to dodge it before swiftly grabbing the outstretched arm and flinging him away with a shoulder toss albeit Sasuke twisted his body in midair to land on his feet.
"I have reasons to believe that him being inside the coffin earlier might have caused the Cursed Seal to develop further which in turn enhanced his overall physique," said Chinami thoughtfully.
"And in turn strengthens Orochimaru's hold on him, that idiot has no idea of the consequences that he's ignoring," thought Naruto as he glares at Sasuke who looks back at him arrogantly.
"Stay out of my way, Naruto. As I am now, you don't stand a chance," said Sasuke.
"You've always had an ego which people could tolerate, but it seems like the Cursed Seal only boosted it to the point that I wanna punch you in the face a lot and this mission is all the excuse I need to do so," Naruto retorted.
"Then prove with your actions instead of words,"
"You asked for it!"
Naruto began launching a barrage of fireballs from the palms of his hands towards Sasuke who darted from side-to-side to evade the incoming projectiles whilst rushing up to Naruto to engage him in close combat. Both ninjas exchange punches and kicks with each other while trying to figure out how to defeat the other. Sasuke saw an opportunity to land a high kick to Naruto's chest, sending him flying off the statue's head and plummeting to the waterfall below.
Thinking quickly, Naruto creates a Shadow Clone who grabbed him by the arm and spun rapidly to build up momentum before throwing him back up to the top of the statue where he managed to tackle Sasuke as they rolled along the ground before stopping with him on top of the Uchiha. Naruto proceeded to rapidly punch Sasuke in the face multiple times but was disrupted when he managed to grab him by the forearms and fling him away.
Springing back to his feet with a look of annoyance, Sasuke sped through a set of handsigns "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower jutsu!" he took in a deep breath before launching a barrage of fireballs at Naruto. Seeing the approaching attack, Naruto teleported by hopping to sink into the ground then reappearing behind Sasuke while attacking with a front flip kick. But Sasuke instinctively dodged the attack by darting to the side with a small crater forming at where he once stood.
"Flying Kick!" Naruto launches himself at Sasuke with a Flying Front who saw the incoming attack and was finally forced to use his Sharingan in order to intercept by grabbing the outstretched leg and spun round to slam him onto the ground. He was about to lift Naruto up from the ground to slam him again but the blonde ninja channeled chakra to his hands to grip the floor tightly before using his other leg to kick Sasuke away then kipping up to his feet.
"You sure are in a hurry to seek power from someone weak," said Naruto with a scoff.
Sasuke frowned at the statement "What are you trying to say?"
"Let me point out certain things to you, Orochimaru didn't have it in him to face Hokage-jiji until he grew old and even then still couldn't beat him, forced to run off with his scaly tail between his legs after getting his ass kicked by the other Sannin. Heck, I'm pretty sure that the reason he came after you is because he tried his luck with Itachi and got his ass kicked as a result,"
"You don't know what you're talking about…,"
"Yes I do, you think I didn't read up on your brother but I did. Your brother became an ANBU ninja at a younger age than us, took part in the Third Great Ninja War and has many achievements under his belt. If I don't know any better, I bet Orochimaru tried to capture Itachi for his Sharingan but got his ass kicked so he decided to come after you instead since you wouldn't be able to beat him up and lure you in with power. Orochimaru may see himself as a predator but even snakes can be hunted," said Naruto with his arms crossed.
Scowling at Naruto, Sasuke sped through a set of handsigns and took in a deep breath "Fire Style: Grand Fireball jutsu!" he exhaled a large fireball which flew towards Naruto with great speed.
In response, Naruto had also sped through his own set of handsigns "Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!" a large stream of water shot out from the waterfall nearby and took on the shape of a serpentine dragon that launched itself towards the giant fireball with a roar, resulting in both attacks cancelling each other out.
While using the steam from the collided attacks and sensing Sasuke's negative emotions to his advantage, Naruto teleported once more behind Sasuke who was ready for him this time and turned to counter but Naruto wasn't being repetitive either as he was performing a Double Pass Teleport for a feint attack as he fully reappeared from Sasuke's blindspot and attack with a double palm strike which sent the Uchiha flying off the statue's head and plummeting to the bottom of the water. Naruto himself followed afterwards, leaping off the statue as well and freefall in pursuit. Suddenly hearing the chirping of numerous birds, Naruto looked down to find that Sasuke had already resurfaced and preparing a Chidori to attack him while his Sharingan is now active.
"Kakashi-nii is definitely not gonna be happy when he hears of his jutsu being used against me," Naruto thought to himself.
"Then he shouldn't have taught him in the first place, the Uchiha hardly care about anything besides themselves," said Kurama angrily.
"Kurama-san, please calm down. You're becoming too easily upset right now," said Chinami with concern.
"*Sigh* I'm sorry, it's just that…this place brings back very bad memories that I'd rather forget,"
"We'll talk about it later, right I've got an idiot to stop," said Naruto as he began forming a Rasengan in his hand while freefalling.
The blonde ninja landed on top of the water's surface and began charging towards Sasuke who was already dashing towards him with great speed, soon both combatants met in the center and unleashed their attacks towards each other.
"Rasengan!"
"Chidori!"
The two attacks clashed, releasing a force powerful enough to be constantly pushing the water around Naruto and Sasuke away as they struggle to gain dominance with one trying to kill while the other is trying to detain. However, the clash resulted in an explosion which sent them both flying away from each other and falling into the water.
Sasuke was the first to resurface, coughing out water then looked to see Naruto also resurface "That jutsu of his, to think that it could evenly match with the full power of the Chidori…," he looked to see Naruto staring back at him with a frown on his face "To think that he became a Chuunin before me; a clanless orphan and deadlast at the Academy…yet my brother overlooked me for him…just what is so special about him?!"
In his anger, Sasuke's will destroyed the Restraining Seal that Kakashi had placed on the Cursed Seal and allowing its dark power to flow through him as seen by the black flame markings spreading across his face. Naruto frowned even more, sensing the increase in power then he heard Sasuke call out to him.
"You know what they say, Naruto. That when two powerful ninjas face each other, they're able to read the other's thoughts simply by an exchange of fists without ever uttering a single word," said Sasuke.
"Yeah, I know of that," Naruto replied.
"Then can you tell what my thoughts are, can you tell me what's on my mind!?" Sasuke weaved through a set of handsigns "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower jutsu!" he launches a barrage of small fireballs at highspeed that Naruto was forced to leapt high into the air to evade the attack but was taken by surprise to find that Sasuke was already upon him with a punch, forcing him to cross his arms together to block but the impact sent him flying away and landing back on the water's surface with a long skid.
"His strength has increased greatly…," Naruto looked at his forearms to see the bruises on them from the punch earlier.
"Naruto, I know that you're already restraining yourself by not using the bracelet or the Muramasa blades. But you need to fight more seriously for he intends to kill you to get his way and I will intercede should that happen in order to protect you," said Kurama with a serious tone.
"I know, which is why I'm gonna step things up a bit," Naruto turned to the approaching Sasuke and focused intently "Shaolin Flame!" he claps his hands together, engulfing them in flames as he took a combat stance, making Sasuke falter upon seeing the new technique of his opponent.
"Yet another technique which I can't seem to be able to copy with my Sharingan, where on earth did he learn these jutsu?" thought Sasuke, feeling frustrated since these Fire jutsu would have been very useful to him for his vengeance.
Seizing the Uchiha's moment of hesitation to his advantage, Naruto rapidly closed the gap between them and landed a couple of fiery punches before Sasuke regained his focus and was now forced to the defensive for a moment before going back to the offensive. As the intense fight continues, Sasuke was being very cautious of making any physical contact with the flames enshrouding Naruto's hands to avoid getting burned while the blonde ninja was keeping pace with the Uchiha's boost in power from the use of the Cursed Seal.
Sensing an incoming punch, Naruto went for the counterattack; he took a unique stance right before Sasuke's fist made contact, instantly disappearing in a burst of flames to reappear behind Sasuke and swiftly deal a surprise punch to his back with a strong force enough to send him skipping across the water. Sasuke manages to recover and slam a palm on the water's surface to launch himself into the air and retaliate with another Phoenix Flower jutsu towards Naruto.
"Water Style: Water Shield!" Naruto channels his chakra to manipulate the water he's standing on to form a circular wall around himself to defend against the incoming fireballs before dispelling once the attacks ceased.
"To think you'd force me to using this, you have no one to blame but yourself Sasuke…," Naruto crossed his arms in front of himself and closed his eyes in concentration before releasing a loud roar as his body begins radiating a blood red aura while covering his entire body in flames.
Sasuke felt the killing intent radiating from the blonde ninja "This pressure…,"
He didn't have time to finish his thought when Naruto was right in front of him and buried a fist into his gut with such a strong impact that he almost lost his conscious right then as Naruto proceeded to pummel him with fierce punches on his face and torso before ending the assault with a vertical cartwheel kick then following up with a fiery uppercut to launch Sasuke into the air before jumping after him pursuit "Bicycle Kicks!" he attacks with a series of multiple pedaling kicks to the torso to propel both himself and Sasuke higher into the air before they began to freefall back down.
"Why you…!" Sasuke retaliated angrily with punches and kicks as Naruto responds in kind while they continue to fall. Dodging an incoming punch at the last second, Naruto channels more flames to his fists then spins around quickly, hitting Sasuke multiple times before firing a boosted Dragon Blast to knock Sasuke hard into the ground which formed a crater upon impact while he landed nearby.
With his Brutality Mode deactivating, Naruto frowned as he sees Sasuke struggling back onto his feet "Stand down, Sasuke. Continuing to resist will only make things worse for you," he wants Sasuke to stop this as he doesn't want him to lose his very soul to Orochimaru just because of revenge.
Sasuke gritted his teeth at the words "Shut up already…how would you understand anything, you never had a family in the first place!" he looked up at Naruto with anguish "YOU WERE ALONE RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT, HUH?!"
"…," Naruto didn't respond, but it was clear that those words struck a nerve as both Kurama and Chinami were angry at the Uchiha.
"I'm suffering because I had those ties, how could you possibly know how it feels to lose all that!?"
"…it's true, I didn't get to know how it feels to have parents or a brother and the pain that you get when losing them," Naruto glared back Sasuke "But don't you dare claim that it's better being an orphan! You have no idea how painful it is to hunger for familial love, to watch others have what you don't!"
"Naruto-kun…," Kurama bowed her head in guilt and self-loathing.
"But…I met people who were able to help me feel some of that love," Naruto smiles softly "Iruka and Kakashi-nii being like my big brothers, Jiji as my grandfather, Pervy Sage and Granny Tsunade being eccentric godparents. Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi as younger siblings who see me as their big brother and inspiration. Hinata, Sakura, Anko and so many others…they all helped drive away the painful loneliness in my heart and replaced it with the love I so desperately sought. I had finally understood that blood isn't what creates a family but rather a bond that connects us all. Such is the way of the Leaf Village,"
Listening to Naruto's words, Sasuke stood on his feet and reached into his pocket to bring out his ninja headband which he hadn't been wearing until now as he put it on "That is not the path I follow unlike you, I am an avenger and I will not rest until Itachi pays for what he did to my dead family with his life," it was at that moment, Sasuke's Sharingan changed with a third tomoe appearing.
"You still intend to go to Orochimaru, in spite of knowing the darkness waiting to consume everything that makes you who you are?" Naruto asked.
"Hmph, I'm not so weak-willed that you would have to worry over me. What I do doesn't concern you or the Leaf Village. So, I'll say this; stay out of my way or you and anybody else won't live to regret it," Sasuke declares.
"*Sigh* I guess the time for talking is over, our actions shall decide all this in the end,"
Naruto leaned forward slightly before dashing towards Sasuke at blurring speeds and attacked with a flying roundhouse kick which was smoothly evaded by Sasuke, Naruto landed and spun round to attack with multiple punches and kicks but for some reason, they don't seem to be able to connect while Sasuke defends effectively and counters with his own attacks.
"I can see…his movements that were too fast before…I can see them now! Then that means…," Sasuke realizes that his Sharingan has matured further which enables him to read his opponent's movements more accurately.
Naruto was attacking strongly with the Shaolin Flame active but Sasuke seems to be able to defend himself more accurately unlike before as he receives a counter punch to the face and was forced to retreat for the moment.
"Something's up, Sasuke wasn't able to keep up with me before," thought Naruto with a small frown.
"Naruto-sama, take a look at his eyes," Chinami called out to him.
Naruto looked at Sasuke's eyes and notices the change "Three tomoes…I recall there only being two before,"
"That must mean that, his Sharingan must have developed further during the fight and is the reason why he's able to read your movements unlike before," said Kurama with a frown, realizing that the tide of fight has turned against them.
"That explains the change in his fighting style, he used to act first but now he's reacting to any moves I use against him," thought Naruto.
"So, what will you do now?" asked Kurama with concern.
"A change in tactics is required for this, I've been developing this for a while now…," Naruto channeled his chakra and created several Shadow Clones without forming a handsign, making Sasuke frown warily.
"What is he up to?" thought Sasuke with caution.
"Okay guys, let's do this!" Naruto commanded.
"Roger!" the clones responded in affirmation.
Elsewhere, two blurs were seen darting across the treetops and it was soon to be revealed to be Kakashi and his ninja dog Pakkun. He had returned to the village from a solo reconnaissance mission when he heard that one of his students had defected from the village that the team with Naruto in it went to retrieve him. However, he was worried as he had been noticing Sasuke's recent strange behavior when it comes to Naruto and had been making it a point to keep them away from each other.
"Pakkun, do you still have their scents?" asked Kakashi urgently.
"Yeah I do, we're getting closer," Pakkun responded.
"We've gotta hurry, I've been noticing that Sasuke has been expressing signs of envy towards Naruto because of his recent achievements and I fear for the worst that he would attack him with killing intent,"
Pakkun nodded in understanding "You're not the only one, we've also been noticing,"
"Then let's move quickly,"
"Right,"
Back at the Valley of the End, things are at a stalemate as Naruto attacks Sasuke alongside his Shadow Clones with the former at first holding his own but then he notices that the opponent and his clones were attacking him in coordination as one would attack him head-on and few others try to flank him which he would be able to defend himself but then they would precisely attack him when he's in mid-action and receive quite a bit of damage. Other times, they would pin him down long enough for another clone or the original to swiftly move in to land a hit before backing away from him.
"His fighting style has changed, or to be exact he altered it with his clones in addition," Sasuke thought to himself.
Naruto created one clone after another as he grabs them and flings at Sasuke like human missiles before forming his signature handsign to launch a volley of clone missiles then teleporting to get up close once he caught Sasuke off guard for an attack only for the Uchiha to react in time to block his attack and counterattack which he was able to defend himself against it as well.
"Cyclone!" Naruto moves forward whilst spinning rapidly like a top which struck Sasuke several times before reaching out to grab him while still spinning to use the built-up momentum to throw the Uchiha across the water and slamming into a cliffwall before he falls to his knees.
However, Naruto heard Sasuke start to chuckle rather darkly before he spoke "Oh well, I guess there's no getting around it. Once I go ahead and let this power take over, I have no idea what will happen to me. But you're not exactly leaving me with a lot of choice, Naruto," the curse seal begins to expand and change his body.
Naruto frowns as he senses the power of the Cursed Seal increase even further than before which puts him at edge from the negativity which he's feeling right now.
Sure enough, Sasuke stands before him completely changed; his skin has turned gray with a black star appearing on the bridge of his nose while his hair grew larger and had turned from black to purple.
Sasuke chuckles again "There's no question that you're specially. However, you're not as special as I am,"
Naruto glares in response "We'll see about that…," he charges in alongside his clones as they rapidly approach in zigzag patterns or rapid teleporting then they all attack simultaneously from all directions.
But…
"Wh-What the heck!?" Naruto was shocked at what he's seeing right now with the same going for Kurama and Chinami.
Shielding Sasuke from Naruto's attack is a giant grotesque webbed hand with numerous fingers which then sent him and the clones flying without any effort as the latter were forcefully dispelled and the former slammed into a cliffwall at the opposite direction. Recovering from the pain, Naruto was horrified to see that the giant hand was some kind of wing protruding from Sasuke's back then another burst through his shirt to join the first one.
"Sasuke, you…what have you done to yourself?" asked Naruto in disbelief at what he's witnessing right now.
"What is the cost for such an evil power?" asked Chinami in horror.
"Naruto-kun, the power of your Brutality won't be enough to deal with him this time. I'm going to provide you with a larger amount of my chakra than usual which will grant you with the Fox Cloak. That should help even the odds," said Kurama in a serious tone.
"Thanks Kurama-chan, I really appreciate it," thought Naruto.
Kurama proceeded to channel her Bijuu chakra as the red aura burst out from Naruto's body and swirls around it all the while healing his injuries. Sasuke was stunned by this sudden development and watches as the red chakra settles on Naruto's body to form a cloak in the form of a fox with a single tail which waves around like it has a will of its own.
"Where did he get this power? I see now, this could be the reason why my brother is targeting him?" thought Sasuke.
Naruto glares at Sasuke with red slitted eyes as he goes down on all fours due to Kurama's influence "Time to save you from yourself, Sasuke,"
Sasuke scoffed in response "Just try to stop me,"
Music Start: Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus OST; Awe Of She ~ Dizzy's Theme
Naruto charges forward while running on all fours like a wild beast while Sasuke makes use of his newly acquired wings to launch himself into the sky and began attacking with multiple fireballs towards the blonde ninja who was darting from side-to-side to evade the incoming projectiles while at times make use of the chakra tail to deflect a few other fireballs as he continues to target the Uchiha.
"I need to be careful and keep my distance, I should be fine since I'm able to fly," thought Sasuke.
At that moment, Naruto leaps into the air and thrust a hand forward to launch a chakra arm which shoots towards a surprised Sasuke who darted out of the way only for the chakra arm to perform a U-turn to make another attempt to grab him. While this was going on, Naruto used his other hand to launch a barrage of fireballs as he continues to control the chakra arm.
As he evades both the chakra arm and the incoming fireballs, Sasuke swiftly weaves through a set of handsigns "Fire Style: Grand Fireball jutsu!" he breathes out a massive fireball towards Naruto and successfully lands the attack with a fiery explosion. Suddenly, he felt something wrap around his leg and looks down to see a long chakra tendril which proceeds to yank him towards the place of the explosion as Naruto emerges from it unscathed with a fist reared back for a punch.
"Get grounded, asshole!"
Sasuke barely used one of his wings as a makeshift shield in time before Naruto's punch made contact, but he had underestimated the power of the attack as he was sent plummeting down to the ground with great speed and forming a crater upon impact. Sasuke rose to his feet but flinch with great pain then he notices the scorched bruise on his wing which had blocked the earlier attack and can't seem to be able to move it, let alone fly anymore.
"It must be that strange chakra that he's using, it's unnatural which might be why Itachi is targeting him," thought Sasuke.
He was snapped out of his thoughts he saw Naruto diving towards him from above with a giant chakra arm reared back for an attack. He swiftly darted away for the punch to strike where he once stood which created a large crater upon impact, but Naruto was already upon him once more and attacking with an assault of claw swipes and bestial kicks, the Uchiha could keep track of the incoming attacks but the fox cloak soon showed to be able to act outside of Naruto's action as it would launch chakra tendrils and arms without any warning.
Sasuke gritted his teeth "Darn it, he's not letting up on his attacks!" then he performed another Grand Fireball jutsu, Naruto's eyes narrowed in focus as he forms a giant chakra arm to catch the fireball with it then redirected the attack into the air before turning his focus back to Sasuke.
The Uchiha made to move but something suddenly burst out from the ground and grabbed him, revealing to be yet another chakra arm with the rest of it emerging from the ground to be connected to Naruto's other hand. Turns out that he sent the chakra arm underground to take him by surprise.
"Get over here! I got a knuckle sandwich for ya!" said Naruto angrily before pulling Sasuke over to him and landing a powerful punch to the face, sending him crashing into a cliffwall with the debris on top of him.
Moments later, Sasuke burst out and landed nearby as he scowls at Naruto but then he felt pain all over his body then he recalls what Sakon warned him about using the second level of the Cursed Seal.
"Remember that if you unleash it for too long, the cursed will start to eat away at your body. And once it spreads throughout your body, your former self will be gone…never to return,"
"In that case…," Sasuke leers at Naruto "I can't afford to waste anymore time!"
"Naruto-kun, you need to hurry and end this battle. Your body won't last much longer after everything you've gone through since you began this mission," said Kurama urgently.
"I know, I plan to do just that," thought Naruto then he heard Sasuke call out to him.
"Naruto, I've had enough of this time-wasting fight. Let us end this with our strongest attacks and prove who the true victor is!" Sasuke proclaims.
"I could care less about the winner since you caused this stupid fight, I'm starting to prefer you knocked out so I won't have to hear your whining when taking you back to the village," Naruto retorted.
Both ninjas stared at each other silently for a few moments before preparing their strongest jutsu in their arsenal with Sasuke initiating the Chidori before it was further enhanced and influenced by the power of the Cursed Seal as it now emanates a dark gleam along with the distinct sound of flapping wings instead of the chirping of birds. Naruto on the other hand formed a Rasengan before infusing it with Kurama's chakra to boost its power. They looked at each other intently before dashing forward with great speed before simultaneously with their attacks.
"Black Chidori!"
"Vermillion Rasengan!"
The results from their clash was the one nobody has ever seen before as there was an explosion of blue and red chakra that forms a swirling black sphere of energy. Inside the black sphere, Sasuke was thrusting his hand towards Naruto's chest to pierce but he dodged at the last moment to land a punch into his face.
Music End
Drawing close to the place of the battle, Kakashi could see and sense the massive amount of chakra emanating from there and feared for the worst.
"That chakra…Pakkun hurry!" said Kakashi urgently.
"I know!" said the ninja dog, increasing the pace as much as he can.
Back within the black sphere; Naruto and Sasuke are seen hovering in the air, gazing sadly at each other. Then there was a vision of a younger Sasuke and Naruto in their with more innocent expression. The young Naruto extends a hand to Sasuke with a hopeful smile as the latter extends his as well but then pulls back with a hesitant expression which saddens Naruto. The bright light then slowly dissipates and as it fades away, Sasuke is shown lying on the ground and slowly losing consciousness with Naruto gradually walking towards him with a sympathetic look in his eyes, revealing that the Uzumaki has emerged as the victor in their fight.
"Why…?" Sasuke could barely mutter.
"*Sigh* There's so much that you don't know about that night. The secrets that your brother kept from you that includes the very core of the village itself that you need to know if you weren't doing this. You should be seeking justice…not vengeance," said Naruto sadly.
"What…are…you…talking…abo-," at this point, Sasuke could no longer retain his consciousness and blacked out.
Naruto sighed tiredly, feeling the exhaustion starting to set in as he looked at himself, his clothes and gear seriously damaged from everything he had to go through to this point. Things were difficult but now he c-
"NARUTO-KUN, WATCH OUT!" Kurama suddenly yelled out with great urgency.
Feeling his instinct practically go haywire, Naruto immediately dashed backwards right as something struck at where he was standing before, revealing to be a giant jade-green crystal shuriken which resembles a snowflake. Then someone landed to confront him.
It turns out to be a kunoichi who wears red lipstick and has a fair skin complexion, dark eyes and light blue hair which she keeps in a spiky ponytail with long strands of hair framing her face. Her outfit consists of a green dress with a long left sleeve and a short right one, a red turtle-neck which has a white fluffy collar and brown gloves. Under the dress, she wears a one-piece red suit. For shoes, she wears calf-length brown sandal boots.
"More of you, just how many is Orochimaru gonna send over here?" Naruto groaned in annoyance.
"As many as he wants in order to acquire his vessel, Orochimaru-sama will not be denied," said the kunoichi stoically.
Naruto unsheathes the Tsukiotoshi from his back with a look of annoyance "Yeah right, like that's gonna happen," he dashes forward to engage the new enemy.
"Hmph, Crystal Style: Crystal Needles!" the kunoichi creates long sharp pink crystals around herself which she then launches towards Naruto at extremely high speeds with a wide range, forcing Naruto to stop and defend himself.
"Secret Arts: Cyclone!" Naruto jumps into the air and begins to spin vertically like buzzsaw whilst deflecting the incoming crystal needles that were aimed at him then he switches to the offensive "Secret Arts: Earth Runner!" he then swings the Muramasa blade along the ground to launch a conically-shaped shockwave towards the kunoichi.
"Crystal Style: Tearing Crystal Falling Dragon!" the kunoichi converts some of the material around into crystal and then turns it into a pink Chinese-like dragon with several pink horns and jade-green eye irises. She sends the crystal dragon forward to barrel through the shockwave and continue on to attack Naruto.
"Secret Arts: Log Chop!" Naruto readies his blade as the crystal dragon approaches him then he took a quick step forward with the blade raised above his head before swinging it downwards and cleaved the crystal dragon in half in one fluid motion. He looked to see that the kunoichi had picked up Sasuke's unconscious body and slung over her shoulder "You're not getting away!" he made to intercept but the kunoichi stomped her foot on the ground to make a large red crystal wall to emerge in between them as she sneered at him.
"Orochimaru-sama always gets what he wants, we shall meet again. And by the way, my name is Guren," the kunoichi creates another crystal dragon to ride atop it as they flew away.
"Darn it, my chakra's too low to use the Summoning jutsu to pursue!" Naruto could do nothing more than watch as they flew away. Then he heard another voice call out to him from behind and looked to see that it was Kakashi and Pakkun "Kakashi-nii…,"
"Are you okay? Where's Sasuke?" asked Kakashi with concern.
"…," Naruto bowed his head in shame and disappointment in himself "They got away, after all that. I should have noticed that she was keeping out of sight and waited until I either wore myself out when fighting Sasuke or I got killed by him. DAMMIT!"
Kakashi placed a hand on the blonde ninja's shoulder with a sympathetic look in his eye "I can understand that feeling all too well, Naruto. Having done everything right the progress going smoothly with high likeliness of accomplishment only for some unexpected to suddenly occur that would turn everything upside down, resulting in failure. Even worst if it came at the cost of your comrades' lives. I've been through such missions, no matter how hard I tried to avoid such possibilities,"
"But I had him right there, I was able to subdue him when he tried to resist and go to Orochimaru, and yet…,"
"You're not at fault here, we all underestimated just how badly Orochimaru wanted Sasuke brought to him, sacrificing many of his ninjas to do so. But this isn't the end, we can still find them. We need to keep our ears to the ground and noses in the air in order to find them," said Kakashi assuredly "Plus your team mates are still alive, thanks to you. You may have failed the mission but still kept them alive,"
Naruto felt a little better upon hearing that "Thanks Kakashi-nii, I needed to hear that,"
Kakashi eye-smiled "It's the job of an older godbrother to lift the spirits of the younger one. Now come along, let's get you all home,"
"Okay,"
The two ninjas and dog began making their way back to meet with the others before returning to the village in spite of the failed mission, considering it to a hard-learned lesson for the future.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, as you could see that I had placed my focus on the battle between Naruto and Sasuke in this chapter which I admittedly found tricky since I didn't want to it seem like Naruto got nerfed against an enhanced Sasuke after how he performed in the previous arcs till now. So basically he won the fight but Guren swooped in to take Sasuke which he had exhausted himself from the bout. However I placed a small seed of doubt in Sasuke's mind about there being more than what he was allowed to know on the night of the massacre which will come to play when the Shippuden series come around.
So yeah, he didn't use any weapons from the bracelet since he was aiming to subdue Sasuke and doesn't want to accidentally kill him. I also added in several movesets of Liu Kang and Kung Lao from various Mortal Kombat games so as to make things interesting, so I hope that you aren't disappointed. Anyways, I've decided to follow the filler arcs and movies then the Shippuden will be in a second season which means more opportunities for many weapons to make their appearance along the way. Be sure to read and review like always.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out and staying alive.