'Oof~ Yeah, I expected that to happen.' I thought with a frown as I watched Sasuke storming out of the room, nodding at Kakashi as he glanced at me before bowing to the old man as he sighed.
"I'll go see if I can't calm him down."
"Of course. Report to the Mission Office tomorrow for the official ceremony."
'There's a ceremony?' I thought with a slight frown, but nodded before walking out of the room and closing the door behind me.
Walking down the hallway and towards the main entrance, I wondered just how I was going to find the red-eyed bastard, but it appears that my luck was as high as ever when I watched him leap onto a rooftop.
"Oi, Sasuke! Wait up!" I shouted as I leapt after him before frowning as the guy turned his head to glare at me before he rocketed away as fast as he could.
However, he was dealing with a master of movement in Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm as two clones appeared besides me before they slingshot me high up into the sky.
Another clone appeared to my right before rapidly spinning in a circle and yeeting me through the air, with me trying my best to keep the bugs out of my mouth as I found myself gaining on the Uchiha.
Quickly creating another pair of clones, the one in the middle threw us both forward right as Sasuke leapt into the air, a grunt escaping his lips as the clone and I tackled him before all three of us landed on one of the rooftops.
The clone dispelled as both Sasuke and I rolled with the impact, both of us already on our feet the next moment as I dusted off my pants while looking up at him.
"Just know that if you jump away, I'm going to catch you again so you might as well talk." I called out before the Uchiha could stop in his tracks and he looked as if he was going to jump before I sighed as he turned and glared at me.
"What the hell do you want?"
"To figure out how pissed you are now."
"Very. Now go away!"
"Not just yet. I feel like if I do, you might go and do something you regret later down the line."
"Naruto, I am not in the mood." I knew he was serious when he called me Naruto and not idiot, but I am going to try my best here to make sure the idiot doesn't do the same stupid shit he did in the canon universe.
"Good, neither am I. Now, come and follow me."
"Why the hell would I do that?"
"Eh, just thought you would want to blow off some steam by beating the shit out of each other." I spoke before I leapt away, heading right towards Training Ground 3 with a soft hum while smirking as I heard footsteps rushing after me.
"Just to be clear, you can't hide behind your summons again."
"Sure, as long as you don't bitch and throw a tantrum when I win."
Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu/ Water Style: Liquid Bullet
The moment Sasuke and I landed on the grassy terrain of Training Ground 3, neither of us didn't waste a single second as we weaved through hand signs before spitting out a large orb of orange flames and a water bomb of equal size.
The water was mostly evaporated by the flames before they pushed on, Sasuke leaping back and away from the bomb only for three clones and I to rush through the steam and towards the Uchiha.
The moment he landed, the first clone was on him with a jumping spin kick, but the Uchiha leaned under it and to the side to dodge the attack before raising a hand to stop the punch aimed at his face.
A third clone slipped around the second that punched at Sasuke and aimed a heel kick at his side, but he was quick to stop the attack by bringing the second clone into the path of the attack and letting it take the blow for him.
Unfortunately for him, I smirked as I jumped up into the air right as all three clones popped with a high-pitched whistle that disoriented the Uchiha, Sasuke barely able to look up right as I landed a vicious right hook to his jaw.
The punch sent the Uchiha rolling across the ground, but I was not done as I slid in with a kick aimed at his face.
However, I cursed as I stared into a pair of red eyes the moment Sauske rolled over, not caring for the kick I landed as I was quick to leap into the air.
Pulling on a sliver of Kurama's chakra, the world around me shattered like glass right as I gasped for air when a kick was slammed into my side and sent me flying off to the side.
The world spun for a brief moment as I ragdolled across the ground before I flipped to my feet and looked at the Uchiha already besides me with a leg sweep aimed at my feet.
Falling with the attack, I reached out and grabbed his leg as he went for a leg drop, making his eyes as I pushed the leg away while spinning to land on my hands and bringing my leg around for an overhead kick.
Sasuke grunted as the kick grazed his shoulder and forced him to roll with the attack, which I took advantage of as I placed a tag on the ground before making a clone besides me that threw me out of the radius and activated it.
A moment later, the spot exploded with a powerful blast that sent small chunks of dirt and grass flying everywhere, but I knew that was not enough to take him out especially with how fast he has gotten.
As if to prove me right, the Uchiha was crouched on the ground out of the blast radius, but I smirked as I saw the slight burn marks on his arms and headband.
Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu.
Raising two fingers to the sky while holding two fingers in front of my chest, I knew Sasuke recognized the jutsu as his eyes widened slightly and he charged to me, but it was too late as I took a deep breath before blowing out a sea of thick mist.
Within mere moments, the entire area was nothing more than foggy forest clearing as I leapt back and deeper into the mist, taking another sliver of Kurama's chakra to heal myself as well as make sure that I can sense his negative emotions.
However, I blinked as I couldn't feel anything, a frown adorning my face as I tried once again only to be met with the same results.
'Uh, Kurama? Explanation, please.'
"Unless I ALLOW you to use it, you can't."
'So, you're just going to make me lose?'
"If you win, I get good entertainment in seeing an Uchiha get his ass kicked. If he wins, I get good entertainment in seeing the son of the man who put me here get his ass handed. No matter what I do, I get good entertainment so it doesn't matter at all."
'Great, I guess it's Plan B, then.' I thought with a huff at Kurama's stubbornness as I weaved through a few hand signs before taking a big gulp of air.
Water Style: Explosive Water Shockwave.
The next moment, I spat out a torrent of water with a jutsu I may have overcharged slightly using Kurama's chakra and watched as the tidal wave spread out in all directions.
The mist was pushed back for a brief moment as I landed on the now muddy ground, the chakra in my ears helping me keep track of the now audible footsteps of Sasuke before I blitzed to the side.
Sasuke, however, seemed to have the same idea as we both raised an arm up and clashed with each other, the shockwave from our clash pushing the mist away as I dispelled the jutsu before we pushed each other back.
Leaping back with the push, Sasuke did a corkscrew instead before the two of us rushed towards the other once more, my body instinctively sinking into the mindset of the Gentle Fist as I aimed a knife hand at his head.
Sasuke was quick to lean out of the way of the attack while lashing out with a high kick, but I caught it with my other hand before spinning with a leg sweep aimed at the hand supporting him.
I managed to knock him to the ground, but the Uchiha surprised me as he pulled his leg free before landing a heel kick to my face, sending me stumbling back with a spin right as he rolled and leapt at me.
Sliding under the spinning kick he tried to land, both of us spun around and lashed out with a punch, to which I caught his with my free hand while he wrapped his free arm around mine.
However, I surprised him as I did a front flip and forced him to come with lest he break his elbow, both of us landing back first on the ground before he coughed as I slammed a backhand into his chest.
He was quick to recover and grab my arm before going for an armbar, but I pushed myself up and linked my fingers, gritting my teeth as I felt him trying his best to pull my arm back before his eyes widened as I lifted him up with sheer power and slammed him back down with a powerbomb.
Pulling my arm free while also pulling a kunai from my pouch, the Uchiha was able to push himself away despite his disoriented state as I tried to place the kunai against his throat, rolling to his feet and leaping away with a flip.
Landing with a slight stumble, I frowned as I looked at his chest the moment the Uchiha looked up, already holding my right hand out with the palm facing up as I saw him weave through three hand signs and grip his left wrist.
The cry of potent electricity echoed in the air as a Chidori formed around Sasuke's hands while the wind around me whistled as the maelstrom of rampant chakra known as the Rasengan condensed on my hand.
A tense silence hung in the air as we both crouched, each placing our free hand on the ground before the ground shattered as we lunged at the other.
"Not on my watch!" I cursed as the ground under me turned to mud and made me fall face first into it, the Rasengan exploding prematurely and making me grunt as I got sent flying out of the red mud and across the ground.
Rolling and flipping to my feet, I sighed as I saw Kakashi standing next to Sasuke while grabbing his wrist, his own hand covered in a Chidori as Pervy Sage landed besides me.
"I thought you were supposed to stop him?"
"Think he was just going to stop at a few words?" I asked back, knowing the response he wanted to give as the man sighed before we looked as Kakashi sighed and Sasuke leapt away.
"That jutsu you used…you shouldn't use it so recklessly, Naruto."
"Considering you taught Sasuke a jutsu that's just as dangerous, I feel like you need to not play favourites, sensei." I answered with a shrug and the man frowned slightly before looking at Pervy Sage as he cleared his throat.
"I'll reprimand Naruto. You go make sure the Uchiha doesn't aim that assassination jutsu at someone else that can't stop it." I was surprised to hear that from Jiraiya as I looked at him.
The uncharacteristic frown on the man's face made me question if this was a genjutsu before I looked back at Kakashi to catch a nod from the nod and he vanished.
"Do I need to tell you not to do that?"
"No."
"Good. Then, come with me."
"Why?" I asked with a raised eyebrow even as I leapt after the man, the two of us leaping from tree to tree as Jiraiya sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Because I just got word that my old teammate got attacked in his escape from the Leaf by some shinobi and now he might be going after our old teammate to get healed."
'…Who the hell is strong enough to injure Orochimaru to the point that he needs to go to Tsun-Akatsuki! Hah, I almost forgot about those bastards.'
"Who the hell is strong enough to beat up Orochimaru like that other than you and the old man?" I asked, just wanting to make sure my thought process was right as Jiraiya had a serious look on his face.
"Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, two very dangerous shinobi from a group of S-Class shinobi."
'Well, isn't that lovely?'
"I see you're back in my office, eh Naruto?" The Hokage asked with a smirk and I rolled my eyes while a bit confused at the sight of Karin waiting in front of the desk and looking just as confused as I did.
"It's like a second home to me, old man. Anyway, I'm surprised to see your lazy ass out of bed."
"First of all, go jump off of a cliff. Secondly, I'm here because an ANBU told me that the old man wanted to talk to me." I blinked at that before looking at the old man Hokage as he nodded.
"I did indeed wish to talk to the both of you actually. You see, Orochimaru was attacked when he was busy escaping from the village according to Jiraiya's spies near the outside of the village. The assailants were identified to be Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, but the two had vanished before our shinobi could find them."
"And the spies that saw them?"
"All dead, taken out with a swift cut on the neck and a stab to the brain." Jiraiya answered and I was not surprised to hear that considering how powerful Kisame and Itachi were in the manga and anime.
"So, they injured Orochimaru for us? That's a good thing, right?" Karin asked and I frowned as I shook my head.
"Normally, but since one is a rogue ninja of our village and the other is a rogue ninja of another village, that means that they didn't do it out of some form of camaraderie or anything of the sort. That's not mentioning that they were close to our village which means that the Leaf has something they want, but since they couldn't sneak in, they were forced to retreat for the day."
"That is correct, Naruto. Itachi is a very dangerous criminal that slaughtered his entire clan and Kisame Hoshigami is a monster that has killed numerous daimyo along with being involved in the plot to overthrow the Land of Water's government. According to Jiraiya here, these two men make part of a group of S-Rank rogue shinobi that have an unknown motive and end goal for their organization."
"Why do I feel like you two know what this end goal is?" Karin asked with a narrowed gaze aimed at both old men and I smirked at her fast mind as the two of them nodded.
"We do, but if we tell you two, it might cause them to accelerate their plans and attack earlier than we want. Therefore, we have to not take them out or else we'll be stuck facing off against a group of S-Rank shinobi that are each on the level of a Kage."
"…Fine, keep your secrets."
"You're awfully quiet." Jiraiya spoke up as he looked at me and I shrugged as I crossed my arms.
"Because I think I know what the guys want especially with the village being this destroyed and I think it's something to do with nine, right?" I said, smirking as Jiraiya simply narrowed his eyes at me while the old man chuckled and Karin was confused.
"What do you mean 'nine'?"
"Am I wrong?"
"No, you are right, but I'm certain you know that you're definitely not strong enough to take them on."
"Don't worry, I know."
"Excuse me! What does 'nine' mean?!"
"No need to shout, Karin. I'll tell you another time."
"…I hate your secretiveness."
"I know. So, is this why Pervy Sage fetched me from the training ground? You think they might have already sneaked into the village?" I asked as I diverted the topic, the old man looking thankful for the tactic as he nodded and cleared his throat.
"Yes. With Orochimaru being injured and most likely needing a powerful medical shinobi that is able to heal the wounds of his body since his guards needed to carry him away from the battle, we believe that he's heading for the last of the Sannin. Her name is Tsunade Senju, but her grandmother was Mito Uzumaki, making her a distant cousin to both of you."
"…Seriously?" Karin asked in shock while I frowned slightly as the old man nodded with a chuckle.
"Seriously. That is also the reason I called you both to my office. I want you two to go with Jiraiya here to persuade Tsunade to come back to the village and make sure that Orochimaru cannot have his wounds healed. This is an S-Rank mission that is not to be spoke of with anyone, understood?"
'Barely a Special Jounin for a day and I'm already going on an S-Rank mission? …Yeah, that's that Shonen protagonist luck hitting there.'
A/N: Apologies for the late upload! I just got home from a meeting so I had to do this first before I go take a shower.
Also, I couldn't figure out if I wanted to do a canon arc first and then a filler arc or a filler arc and then a canon arc, so I decided to kind of do two in one. That will be explained later on.
Anyway, Naruto and Sasuke had their first 'official' battle and it appears equal between the Uchiha and the Uzumaki, but who knows how the battle could have gone after the Rasengan-Chidori clash.
Also, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Tayuya. That's something for after this next arc, but I can't say anymore.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Ba-Bye~!