Naruto - Part 12

Sasuke scowled to himself as he walked through the streets of Konoha.

The source of his expression was, as usual these days, Naruto. He just didn't get it. How could the blond be so strong? Everyone kept saying that he had no talent and yet he was so incredibly powerful. He couldn't believe that it was just because he worked hard. That didn't even make any sense!

The last few missions, Naruto hadn't used anything except his newly acquired Kusanagi to fight, using the missions to practice with it.

The Uchiha was fiercely envious of the fact that his teammate had a sword like that. It would have been perfect for him! A legendary weapon that could resize itself, was incredibly sharp and had who knows what other abilities.

But it was yet again Naruto who got it instead of him. What did Naruto need all that power for anyway? He didn't have a clan to avenge and apparently wouldn't have cared even if he did. The only thing that the blond was doing with his life was sleeping with every other woman he laid eyes on.

Despite that he had one of the Sannin training him, while Sasuke had to be content with Kakashi. Oh sure, the one eyed Jounin was powerful in his own right, but he wasn't on the level of a Sannin.

Even Sakura was getting trained by a Sannin! Why were both of his teammates, who had no important goals in their life, getting trained by legendary shinobi while he was left behind?

And it showed, as it felt like Naruto was getting further and further away from him in power instead of the gap being closed. At this point, Sasuke honestly had no idea what Naruto was capable of with his Fuinjutsu, but it was frustrating beyond measure to know that his teammate, who couldn't even use most Ninjutsu, wasn't even slowed down by that. Naruto was somehow never in a position where his lack of Ninjutsu was a problem, his chakra chains and other abilities easily compensating and then some.

Sasuke had driven himself into the ground with his training ever since learning of Naruto's heritage and status as a Jinchuuriki, but it didn't make any difference. He was still being outpaced as badly as ever. It felt as if all the training in the world was worthless when faced with the blond powerhouse.

Sasuke had even become desperate enough to catch up that he had started experimenting with his curse mark, despite warnings from Kakashi not to. He remembered the deep rush of power in the forest and wanted more of it. That power could be the key to closing the gap between Naruto and himself and after Naruto, Itachi.

It worried him a great deal that he had been hearing stories about how Naruto had found a way to remove the cursed seal. He was already so far behind Naruto and the blond was going to take even that from him? He knew that he would never be allowed to keep the curse mark. If he didn't agree to have it removed, then they would remove it by force.

So when the Sound Four showed up at his home with an offer of apprenticeship to Orochimaru of the Sannin, along with the knowledge that the curse mark could be made even more powerful, it was too tempting to turn down.

He would get a Sannin teacher and his curse mark would boost his power enough to finally surpass Naruto and give him what he needed to avenge his clan.

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The group that Shikamaru had been able to gather was just about set to leave when they were interrupted by the rushed arrival of Sakura.

"Naruto, I know that you don't owe me anything, but please, please bring Sasuke back!" She begged tearfully.

Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji, Kiba and Lee moved a short distance away to give the two teammates some privacy, feeling that they shouldn't be present for this conversation.

Sakura was asking this because she knew that Naruto would be able to defeat Sasuke and bring him back. She had tried to stop him herself, but he wouldn't listen and she wasn't anywhere near strong enough to force him. She felt so terribly useless, having to rely on Naruto to do everything again.

Her training with Tsunade-sama was making her stronger and more useful, she knew that, but it would be a long time before she would be at either of her teammates level. But she would get there. Once Naruto brought Sasuke back home, he would remove that cursed seal that Orochimaru placed on him and they could be a team again.

She didn't even care too much anymore if Sasuke didn't return her affection. The fact that they were a team had sometime in the past months that they had been together become more important than her crush on Sasuke.

She just wanted her dysfunctional team back, where Naruto could annoy her and Sasuke with his sleeping around, Kakashi-sensei could giggle like a little girl at it and they could do missions together.

"I'll see what I can do Sakura." Naruto told his pink haired teammate.

He wasn't going to be making any promises, but he would make the attempt. Sakura had actually taken steps to make something of herself and that he could respect. She wasn't the useless little girl that was good for nothing but cannon fodder anymore. She might still be a bit on the weak side, but strength would come with time and training. It was more important that she had set her heart on something worthwhile and it wasn't chasing Sasuke.

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The entire retrieval team stared as the wall repaired itself after Kiba's attack on it, wondering about this strange earth technique they were trapped in.

They had caught up to the Sound Four easily enough and Shikamaru's plan to trap them in his shadow had also worked perfectly. Too perfectly apparently, as the Sound Four had kept someone in reserve just in case.

Naruto now regretted going along with Shikamaru's plan instead of just charging into them and starting a straight on fight. Though he did have to admit that some caution was warranted when dealing with unknown opponents who were clearly used to working together. It was just that in this case caution seemed to have betrayed them.

"This is bad, the dome is draining our chakra." Neji announced the bad news after taking a look around with his Byakugan.

"How unyouthful! They would not even face us in battle!" Lee shouted with a fist clenched in front of his face.

Naruto was not particularly concerned for himself. The fat guy outside would rupture his chakra coils before he managed to absorb all of his chakra, but the others wouldn't be so fortunate. Despite not being in any real danger though, it was still an irritating situation. The constant chakra drain was enough that it was screwing up his ability to create a Rasengan or his chains, so that wouldn't work for getting out.

"Feh, if Kiba's attack wasn't strong enough to break down the wall, that just means that we need a stronger attack." Naruto said unconcernedly.

"An attack more explosive than mine would be Chouji's." Kiba said.

"Yosh! I could also open the first gate and break through." Lee said enthusiastically.

"No need to strain yourself kiddies, I'll just slap a high powered explosive tag on the wall." Naruto said with a grin.

Before anyone could stop him, Naruto did just that. Everyone scrambled to get to the other side of the room, hoping that they wouldn't be blasted to pieces because of this insane maneuver.

When nothing happened for several seconds, they looked towards the explosive tag, sitting innocently on the wall.

"This technique drained the chakra from the tag before it could explode." Neji announced.

"Well, shit. I didn't think that was possible." Naruto said, sounding more fascinated than upset.

Shikamaru was thinking furiously for a way to get out of the dome, but couldn't think of anything better than the brute force approach, which may or may not work. He just didn't have enough information on this technique to figure out any weaknesses.

"Hey Neji, is this dome connected to the chakra network of that fat ass outside?" Naruto asked, bringing Shikamaru out of his thoughts.

"Yes." The Hyuuga confirmed, wondering what the blond was up to this time.

"Excellent." Naruto said with a grin and brought out his Fuinjutsu supplies.

"What are you going to do?" Shikamaru asked warily. He did not want another attempt at an explosion.

"I'm going to make a Fuinjutsu array and fill it up with my chakra, then I'm going to slap it on the wall and release the chakra in a single burst." Naruto explained absently as he drew the array.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Shikamaru asked, making the blond look at him. "I mean, our chakra is already being drained and you're going to use up a lot of chakra to do this." He elaborated.

"Oh please." Naruto scoffed. "I have more than a thousand times as much chakra as all of you put together. The idiot outside would either rip his coils apart trying to absorb it all or he'd be standing there for a month before he could do it safely."

They all stared at him again, before figuring that this was because he was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. It was still a bit shocking to hear just how much more chakra than them he had. They'd known it was a lot, but not that much.

Jirobou hastily removed his hands from the earth dome as he felt a massive surge of raw chakra being pushed into it. He enjoyed absorbing chakra from his enemies, but apparently one of the people inside had enough chakra that he could try such an insane tactic as that.

Unfortunately, his earth dome only stood for as long as he kept in contact with it, which meant that it collapsed and released his captives.

"I'll take this guy, you guys should catch up to Sasuke." Chouji said.

He had no illusions about the fact that he was the weakest of the retrieval team and knew that this one must be the weakest of the Sound Four. Aside from that, both of them were strength oriented fighters. Hopefully he would prove to be the stronger of the two.

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The retrieval team, minus Chouji rapidly closed the distance between their remaining prey. The barrel that Sasuke was in was slowing them down a great deal and made it simple enough for the Konoha shinobi to catch up.

Kidomaru saw the approaching group of shinobi and spat webbing at them, hoping that it would capture them and prevent pursuit.

Naruto drew out the Kusanagi and charged it with chakra, slashing the web apart, while Neji destroyed it with the Juuken. In retaliation, Naruto pointed the Kusanagi towards them and extended it, the blade spearing towards the remaining sound shinobi. They all dodged it, the redheaded girl cursing viciously as she did so.

Kidomaru passed the barrel to Sakon and prepared himself to delay them as much as possible.

"I will deal with him, his webbing is vulnerable to my Juuken." Neji said.

"You sure you can take him? He looks pretty strong." Shikamaru said with concern. He didn't want anyone dying on his first mission as a Chunin.

"Even if he is stronger than me, the four of you should have no trouble with the girl and the two headed one and then come to my aid." Neji reasoned.

Naruto, Lee, Kiba and Shikamaru nodded at the logic and sped after the last two, who hadn't gotten very far.

The two headed guy used the same tactic without hesitation, intending to hold back all four of them so that the redhead could escape with Sasuke. The plan was foiled by the fact that Kiba offered to take him on alone.

Naruto was frowning deeply as he thought about their tactics. Staying behind to delay the group all alone was either a stupid, brave or incredibly arrogant tactic, but Naruto suspected the influence of the cursed seal in this.

The fat guy had been somewhat understandable, seeing as he thought that he had them captured without hope of escape in his earth dome, but the two headed guy and the spider weirdo had no such excuse. They had stayed behind, facing certain death against superior numbers just so that the remaining members of the team could complete their mission. That showed incredible loyalty to Orochimaru, loyalty that people like Orochimaru weren't known for inspiring. He had only caught a glimpse of a cursed seal on their shoulders, but it was enough to make him suspect the influence of that thing on their minds.

Anko had rejected the curse mark utterly and never used it, which was probably the only reason that it's corrupting influence hadn't affected her. These four didn't seem like the type to refrain from using it, which didn't speak well for their state of mind.

Since the delaying tactic had failed, the remaining three Konoha Shinobi had no trouble catching up to the kunoichi.

"You can't beat us all, so just give us Sasuke and there won't be any need for fighting." Shikamaru said diplomatically as the girl stopped on a large tree branch.

"You are a disappointment to Orochimaru-sama Tayuya." A new voice came from behind the redhead just before a tired looking white haired teenager with two red dots on his forehead appeared.

"Ki-Kimimaro!" Tayuya exclaimed in surprise and fear.

"Delay them while I deliver the new vessel to Orochimaru-sama." Kimimaro commanded, before taking the barrel and making off with it, uncaring of the fact that Tayuya had no chance against this many foes. Orochimaru-sama's wishes were more important than their lives.

"Go after him, I'll deal with this one." Naruto said to Lee and Shikamaru.

"I think it would be better if you went ahead Naruto. That guy looked dangerous and you're the strongest of us." Shikamaru argued quietly.

"I think she's a Genjutsu user, so I can take her out quickly and catch up to you guys. Now go." The blond explained and commanded, ignoring the fact that Shikamaru was technically in charge and not him.

Lee and Shikamaru looked at each other before nodding and chasing after Kimimaro.

Now, Naruto wasn't certain that Tayuya used Genjutsu, but she definitely didn't look like a Taijutsu specialist and none of the others had seemed inclined towards the illusionary arts, so he was guessing that she was the one who covered that role in their team.

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Tayuya prepared herself to face off against the huge blond that had stayed behind to fight her while his last two comrades went to their death chasing Kimimaro. She was utterly certain that they didn't stand a chance against the white haired bone user. If even the entire Sound Four couldn't beat him, then two wimps from the Leaf definitely couldn't do it.

The red haired sound kunoichi observed her designated opponent and instantly labeled him as a meathead that relied on his huge size to win fights. Pretty much exactly like Jirobou actually. She didn't expect to have any trouble taking him apart with her Genjutsu.

"I'm Tayuya of the North Gate and I'm going to kill you shithead." She said insultingly.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto of the backdoor and I'd love to see you try." The blond said, chuckling to himself. What kind of inane nickname was 'Tayuya of the North Gate' anyway? He hadn't been able to resist the dirty joke upon hearing what she called herself.

Tayuya quickly started playing a tune on her flute, casting a wide area Genjutsu that was sure to trap the blond as soon as he heard it.

Naruto did feel the Genjutsu attempt to ensnare him, only to be blocked by his condensed chakra. Instead of disorienting him, the melody revealed her exact location and Naruto wasted no time in charging towards the redhead.

Tayuya was so shocked by how easily he ignored her Genjutsu that she had no time to react as the blond smashed into her and trapped her between his body and a tree.

"Get off me you motherucking piece of shit or I'll shove that sword up your ass!" She raged and desperately tried to kick him off.

"Oh you cheeky little dickwaffle, what naughty language! Maybe you'd like me to stick my sword up your ass instead?" Naruto snickered as the girl tried to push him away even more desperately, only to find that she was nowhere near strong enough to budge him. The girl was way too young for that kind of thing, but she had such a foul mouth on her that Naruto couldn't resist messing with her.

"NO! Get away!" Her voice took on a terrified quality even as she pushed her cursed seal directly to level 2, making Naruto jump back instinctively.

He frowned even as he observed the transformation she was going through. He wondered if this was what a fully released curse mark did to it's bearer, allow a physical transformation? Though he had to wonder about the utility of growing horns like she had just done.

More than her new appearance though, he was bothered by her reaction earlier. He could only come to one conclusion based on what he knew so far.

Fuck me and my soft spot for girls with a sob story.

Her violent reaction to his dirty joke and physical proximity revealed a high probability that the girl had a history of sexual abuse and if there was one thing that Naruto had a soft spot for, then it was girls with a traumatic past.

He knew that she was his enemy and that he should probably just kill her and be done with it, but he already knew that he wasn't going to be doing things the easy way.

She took his moment of distraction as an opportunity to use a technique.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu(Summoning Technique)!"

Her summoning technique brought forth three ogres and she quickly used her flute to direct them to attack the blond.

Naruto knew that he didn't have time to play games with her if he wanted to catch up to Lee and Shikamaru, so he took out the Kusanagi and manifested his chains. The ogres were strong, but they were slow and therefore unable to avoid getting tangled in the chains and cut down by the Kusanagi.

The first went down easily to this tactic. The second one evaded the chains a bit longer before succumbing and the third fell when the blade suddenly extended and skewered it through the heart.

She frantically played her flute, throwing Genjutsu after Genjutsu at him, but everything just slid off him like water until he had her tangled in his chains.

Tayuya struggled desperately against him, but the strength granted to her by the curse mark wasn't infinite and there was only so much that it could do to enhance a body that wasn't built for power.

"Calm down Tayuya." Naruto said, keeping his voice as calm and neutral as he could.

"I'm not going to hurt you, but you have to listen to me very carefully." Naruto said slowly. "Do you understand?"

Tayuya nodded, still tense and wary, but willing to listen.

"I can remove your cursed seal and you can come back to Konoha with me where you'll be safe from Orochimaru, but you have to swear to me that you won't try to fight against us any more. If you can't promise me that, then I'll have to kill you right here and right now."

"Fuck you! I'm not letting you take my curse mark and I wont betray Orochimaru-sama!" The redhead spat at him.

Naruto frowned deeply as her struggles increased again. He suspected that Tayuya had been carrying the curse mark for years now. There was no telling how messed up her mind was if she used it as frequently as he suspected.

"You'll be safe from Orochimaru in Konoha and you can get strong there without needing to rely on the curse mark. A friend of mine is a Genjutsu specialist, I'm sure she could teach you a lot." He offered her.

"Fuck off! Let go of me so that I can kill you shithead!" She growled at him.

The blond sighed at her reaction. She was obviously deeply indoctrinated and the fragment of Orochimaru's soul in her seal had no doubt been twisting her mind into pretzels to make sure that her loyalty was absolute.

He hated killing girls, especially young ones.

"I'm sorry Tayuya." He whispered to her and quickly broke her neck, making her death as painless as possible.

A few minutes later, Temari arrived at that spot, looking a bit confused at the fact that it was all over. With a shrug she decided to head back towards Kankuro. Her middle sibling was far more likely to need help than Gaara.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He didn't have to go far to find the battle between Kimimaro, Lee and Shikamaru. Though it seemed that only Lee was still fighting. He and the white haired teen were engaged in a furious Taijutsu exchange in which Lee seemed to be getting nowhere.

Shikamaru was on the floor, his legs bleeding from several small wounds. A closer inspection revealed small spikes of bone impaled in his Chunin flak vest, which was likely the only reason that he wasn't dead. Who knew that those dumb vests actually served some kind of purpose?

"You alright there Shikamaru?" Naruto asked he he approached the downed Chunin.

"No, Naruto, I'm not alright. That guy shot his finger bones at me, troublesome bloodline." Shikamaru grumbled back irritably.

Naruto grinned at the typical response and made a shadow clone to carry the wounded Chunin further away from the battle, while he drew the Kusanagi and closed in with Kimimaro.

Kimimaro himself was ever so slightly concerned at the appearance of the blond. He had taken down the Chunin, seeing his use of shadows as a capture method more dangerous than the spandex wearing Taijutsu specialist. The pony tailed Chunin had dodged a few attacks and showed dangerous intelligence in his capture attempts, but he was far too weak to succeed, which had led to him getting taken down by his finger bone projectiles.

The Taijutsu user was distracting, but not a true threat. This blond however may well be capable of taking the barrel while he was distracted, so Kimimaro attacked him at the first opportunity.

"You will not interfere with Orochimaru-sama's wishes." The white haired teen said monotonously as he used his small bone sword to block the Kusanagi.

Naruto frowned when he saw that not even charging chakra into the blade allowed him to cut through the bone. Going for a different tactic he angled the blade so that it was pointed at Kimimaro's chest and extended it.

The sword pushed into Kimimaro's chest and forced him back, but it didn't penetrate beyond the skin even though it should have slipped through his ribs.

"Those are some hard bones you've got there." Naruto commented as he and Lee faced off against Kimimaro again.

"This is the Bloodline Limit of the Kaguya clan. It allows me to manipulate my bones and harden them until they are stronger than tempered steel." Kimimaro stated, again in monotone.

Naruto narrowed his eyes in thought at those words. That could mean any number of things, but considering the fact that he had bones where there shouldn't be any, it could well mean that Kimimaro was more or less impervious to physical harm. This was quite unfortunate since physical harm was the only kind of harm that he and Lee were capable of dishing out.

The barrel holding Sasuke chose that moment to explode open. For a moment Naruto caught sight of wild grey hair, before it faded back into black. Sasuke gave a small, evil chuckle before running off in the direction of Otogakure.

Naruto cursed at the idiocy of his teammate. It seemed like they had already activated the second level of the cursed seal and the retarded Uchiha thought that this was a good thing.

"Lee, delay this guy while I go get Sasuke. Don't fight to win, you won't be able to damage him with those bones of his, but keep him from coming after me for a while at least." Naruto told the spandex wearing genin.

"Yosh Naruto! Leave it to me." Lee said confidently and prepared himself for a hard battle as the blond ran off after Sasuke.

Naruto was hoping that his decision wouldn't end with Lee getting killed, since the Taijutsu specialist was actually someone that he respected. He might have been able to trap Kimimaro in his chains, but he was quite sure that Lee wasn't strong enough to take down Sasuke, especially if the Uchiha was stupid enough to use his cursed seal, which Naruto knew he was.

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Naruto caught up to Sasuke in the Valley of the End, finding his teammate standing on the statue of Uchiha Madara. The blond jumped onto the head of Senju Hashirama, mostly so that he was eye level with his idiot teammate rather than any kind of symbolism.

"You can't stop me Naruto, I have to go to Orochimaru and get the power to kill my brother." Sasuke said portentously.

"Personally I think that's really stupid, but I'm going to do you this one favor Sasuke." Naruto began. "You're old enough to be making your own decisions, so if you want to shack up with a weirdo like Orochimaru, that's fine with me, just make sure that you can live with the consequences." The blond offered.

He may have told Sakura that he would see what he could do, but he figured that Sasuke deserved a chance to make his own decisions, even if they were stupid decisions.

"Wait, you mean you're just letting me go?" Sasuke asked in shock. He had been expecting that he would have to fight Naruto first.

"We both know that you're not even close to being strong enough to get away from me unless I let you. So run away little boy, run away and escape the only way that you can. Because I let you." Naruto mocked with a sneer.

Sasuke's eyes widened at those words, remembering the long ago time that his brother had said something very similar, right after he had killed their parents.

Run away little brother, run away and survive in an unsightly way.

How he hated to be reminded of that. Sasuke couldn't stand the thought of running away again like he had done that terrible day. To be allowed to run away again was the greatest insult that Naruto could have given right now.

With an enraged yell, the Uchiha began making hand seals, intending to fry his teammate for saying that.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu(Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!"

A large fireball roared out of his mouth towards his teammate, who swiftly took out a scroll from his coat.

Still a slave to your own pride and arrogance Sasuke? Naruto thought to himself even as he readied his technique.

"Fūka Hōin(Fire Sealing Method)!"

Greater men than you have gotten themselves killed because of that.

The fireball was surrounded by a blue-ish chakra nimbus as the seal did it's work. It twisted as it was drawn towards the seal written on the scroll and within a few seconds it was trapped.

Sasuke looked stunned at having his fire technique captured into a flimsy looking piece of paper, but didn't have long to gape as the scroll was thrown at him. Some instinct told him to get away from it, which is what saved his life as the scroll exploded with great force, obliterating Uchiha Madara's stone head.

"How do you like my Fire Sealing Method, explosive note combination? It takes the energy of any fire technique and turns it into explosive force." Naruto asked with a fanged grin as he jumped onto the water some distance away from Sasuke. Blowing up Madara's head like that had felt pretty damned good.

Sasuke said nothing, but the muscles in his jaw tensed, clearly showing that he was grinding his teeth together. He didn't dare engage Naruto in Taijutsu as he was now, knowing that the Sharingan alone wouldn't help him overcome the blond's physical superiority. It had never helped before. The blond had no fighting style to copy and even if he did, Sasuke couldn't have used it because it would no doubt rely on having a body as powerful as Naruto's

Flame markings spread across Sasuke's face before they settled into black. With the markings came a rush of power, power that he knew would help him win. It wouldn't be like that time in the Forest of Death, this time he wouldn't be charging blindly.

"I'll use this power to kill you and then Orochimaru will give me the training and power to kill Itachi." Sasuke said, feeling utter certainty in those words. At this very moment, the differences between Naruto and his brother were blurred and he wanted them both dead. They were both the same age and both had said very similar words to him. With the cursed seal muddling up his mind, they might as well be the same person.

"You're delusional. That hickey of yours didn't help you last time and it's not going to be any different now." Naruto shot back.

Sasuke charged into melee range, fully matured Sharingan activating and glaring into the blue eyes of his opponent. They clashed and Sasuke was infuriated to note that he was instantly put on the defensive. Naruto was simply too big, too strong and too fast for it to be any other way. Aside from that, he now had more than enough combat experience that he wasn't leaving any glaring openings in his defense that Sasuke could exploit. The only thing keeping him from having his skull rattled was the predictive capabilities of the Sharingan.

Jumping back from a low kick that would have no doubt snapped his knee, Sasuke loosed several kunai at his teammate.

"Hari Jizō (Needle Jizō) !" The protective cocoon of steel hard hair effortlessly deflected the kunai, making Sasuke curse. Naruto could easily activate that technique to defend himself from nearly any physical attack.

The Uchiha was just preparing to fire off another fire technique, thinking that hair wouldn't make a good shield against fire when the blond preempted him.

"Hari Jigoku(Needle Hell)!" Sasuke was forced to make heavy use of his Sharingan again in order to dodge the shower of hair spikes that Naruto fired at him. He hadn't stopped making handseals though and fired off his technique before Naruto stopped using his hair technique, counting on the blond not having enough time to pull out another scroll to absorb it.

"Katon: Karyū Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)!"

The intense, dragon shaped fire engulfed Naruto and Sasuke was left panting from the effort of using the powerful technique. He was certain that there way no way that Naruto had survived that.

Which was why he was completely blindsided when Naruto came flying out of the fire, armored in water and drop kicked him in the face, leaving a painful burn mark. His fire technique had done nothing except heat the outer layer of Naruto's water armor to boiling temperatures, making it all the more dangerous.

"What kind of idiot fights a Suiton user on top of a lake." Naruto mocked as he dropped the technique. There had been no time to get out the rebreather, so he couldn't keep it up very long without suffocating. Despite his mocking words, that had been a close one, but there was no way that he was going to let Sasuke know that.

Glaring furiously at his blond opponent, Sasuke went for a technique of a different element, seeing as fire had backfired on him (no pun intended). Making rapid hand seals, a Chidori formed in his right hand.

Sasuke charged towards Naruto, his lightning covered hand fully extended.

Naruto eagerly faced the challenge head on, forming a Rasengan and charged as well.

"Chidori!"

"Rasengan!"

The two powerful techniques met in an explosion of chakra and Sasuke was sent flying away, cradling his arm, which was screaming in agony.

"If you're going to get into a chakra pissing contest, then maybe you shouldn't have tried it against someone that you know has chakra more powerful than you." Naruto lectured in a bored tone, further infuriating the Uchiha.

Sasuke roared in fury and activated the second level of his curse mark, growing deformed brown wings that looked liked giant hands and becoming surrounded by an aura of foul chakra. Fangs poked out of his upper lip, which was now an odd purple color and his hair turned wild and grey.

"You are one. Ugly. Motherfucker." Naruto said slowly as he looked his transformed teammate up and down.

"With this power I'll destroy you!" The transformed Uchiha roared and charged at Naruto with another Chidori prepared, his arm having healed during his transformation. The lightning technique was tinted black due to the corrupted chakra that Sasuke was using.

Naruto shook his head and prepared another Rasengan, putting more chakra than before into it. His Rasengan was already a lot more powerful than it would have been otherwise due to his super dense chakra, but now it glowed brightly.

The two techniques crashed together again and once again Sasuke was sent flying back, though this time his arm wasn't damaged as badly.

"Did you know that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?" The blond asked in a bored monotone, unknowingly imitating Itachi.

"Itachi! I'm going to kill you!" The transformed Uchiha roared, once more closing into Taijutsu, thinking that the vast power boost given to him by his level 2 state would allow him to overwhelm his opponent, but it was also messing with his head. Naruto and Itachi's faces were overlapping in his vision now. The blond hair shifted to black, the blue eyes to Sharingan red and the fanged and whiskered face turning impassive with tear troughs under the eyes.

Despite the great power boost given to him by his transformation, Sasuke was still a boy that had only recently turned 14. Naruto was a man that had not long ago turned 18, nearing the prime of his life, who put himself under harsh training every single day, with only his healing factor allowing him to get away with it.

That wasn't to say that Sasuke didn't get a few hits in, because he did. His Sharingan allowed him a degree of perception that was supernatural in clarity and the transformation enhanced his reflexes enough that he could react in time to the blond's swift and powerful attacks. He landed several strong blows to Naruto's face and chest, sliding around his arms and striking before the blond could bring his guard up. A grin stayed on Naruto's face though, clearly enjoying the fight, despite the fact that he wasn't getting in any more hits.

The tide turned once Naruto brought out his chakra chains, forcing Sasuke to react to an additional four appendages that could attack from unorthodox directions.

He dodged an attack from a chain to his right, only to feel his teeth rattle from a thunderous right hook. The blond allowed him no respite, forcing Sasuke to backpedal from a furious assault of chains and fists.

"WHY?! Why are you so much stronger than me?! I'm an Uchiha! I SHOULD BE THE STRONGEST!" Sasuke bellowed, the blow to the head ironically clearing his mind enough to realise that he wasn't fighting Itachi. His anger and frustration however, caused him to swing his fist with far too much force, leaving him off balance and vulnerable when the blond dodged.

"Because you are an arrogant!" Naruto yelled at him even as he punched him in the gut.

"Blind!" This was puncuated by another blow to the face, causing blood to fly out of Sasuke's mouth.

"Stupid boy!" Naruto emphasised his words by kicking his teammate in the chest, making him spit out some more blood and sending him flying a good distance away.

"You'll never amount to anything and you'll never measure up to Itachi, until you learn how to be a man!"

Sasuke growled bestially, barely holding on to any kind of sanity and unsealed his final ace in the hole. A sword. He had taken it from the Uchiha compound and practiced with it in secret, even going so far as to spy on spars with his Sharingan active to copy the Kenjutsu skill of the fighters. He might not be able to match up against Naruto with his fists, but a sword fight was something else entirely.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and brought out the Kusanagi. If Sasuke had any idea at all on how to use that sword, then things had just gotten a good deal more dangerous. As long as the fight had stayed restrained to fists, there was no particular danger of anyone dying. Even Sasuke's fire Ninjutsu was easily countered by Fire Sealing Method scrolls or judicious application of water armor and the only lightning technique he seemed to know was Chidori. A sword fight however, had the potential to turn lethal at the slightest wrong step.

Without exchanging any further words, the two teammates crossed blades with a clang of steel, the well crafted Uchiha sword against the peerless edge of the Kusanagi.

Naruto found himself quickly forced to use his chains, as Sasuke showed remarkable skill for someone who had only recently picked up a blade. They danced around on top of the lake, blades crashing together forcefully. Neither one of them was able to gain an advantage, as Sasuke retained enough sense to heed the warnings his Sharingan fed him about the danger of the hovering chakra chains and Naruto couldn't push his advantage because Sasuke could see through all his attacks and react accordingly.

For several minutes they played their dangerous game, with Sasuke managing to get in a few small cuts on Naruto, doing more damage to his coat as the wounds healed quickly. The Uchiha stayed careful despite his rage, allowing Naruto to attack first so that he could make maximum use of the Sharingan's predictive ability.

"Looks like that hunk of junk you're using isn't going to last much longer." Naruto taunted, referring to the nicks on Sasuke's sword. They had been slamming their swords together with considerable force and the steel could only take that kind of abuse for so long. The Kusanagi was still pristine however. It had been created by a man that had wielded the power of a god and wouldn't be damaged so easily.

Sasuke gave a mad grin and used what he was certain would be the finishing move.

"Chidorigatana(Chidori Katana)!" His sword sparked with black lightning and Sasuke swung it in a powerful arc, intending to cut right through Naruto's sword and into the blond himself.

He had practiced this move a great deal in the privacy of the empty Uchiha compound and found that it could cut even through steel. Nothing so far had been able to withstand this technique.

In his exultation at his perceived certain victory, he didn't see savage grin on Naruto's face until it was too late, just like he didn't see the shimmer of sharp wind around his blade until it was too late to pull out of the attack.

I've blundered.

That was the only thought that Sasuke had time for. Intellectually, he knew that Naruto was a wind type, which was strong against lightning, but he had never seen him use it, so it had faded into background knowledge.

The two swords crashed together again, the wind chakra dispersing lightning and cutting through steel right afterwards.

Naruto's face was sprayed with blood as the Kusanagi cut a deep gouge into Sasuke's chest, cleaving through the ribs and cutting into the lungs, causing the Uchiha to collapse instantly. Naruto quickly grabbed his teammate before he could sink below the water and carried him towards the riverbank.

"Now look what you made me do princess. You just had to make me get up early in the morning didn't you?" Naruto asked in a resigned tone as he crouched next to his dying teammate. He wasn't a medic, but even an idiot could see that it was a mortal wound.

"My clan...need to...avenge!" Sasuke forced out even as the blood bubbled from his mouth.

"No Sasuke, you don't need to avenge them. They're dead. They don't give a shit whether you avenge them or not." Naruto said with a sigh. Even while dying the idiot was being melodramatic.

He and Sasuke had never been close, so he couldn't say that he was terribly upset about killing him, In particular since Sasuke had seemed quite determined to do the same to him, but he hadn't been intending to do it either. Sasuke had only been 14 years old and it left a bad taste in his mouth to kill children, even incredibly stupid children. The entire retrieval mission had been one giant fuck up that had accomplished nothing at all except get people hurt and killed.

"Kill...Itachi." The dying Uchiha choked out in a pleading tone through the blood in his throat, clearly asking Naruto to kill his brother for him.

"He's in Akatsuki, so I might eventually find myself killing him." Naruto said with an uncaring shrug. Someone else's need for revenge really wasn't something that he had any interest in dedicating his life to.

"You really should have gotten yourself a girlfriend Sasuke, your priorities probably wouldn't have been so fucked up if you had a girl to squeeze."

Naruto saw that his teammate had already stopped breathing by the end of his first sentence. With a sigh the blond closed Sasuke's eyes and picked up his deformed body, heading back towards Konoha. He saw the swiftly approaching silver hair of his sensei and gave another sigh at having to explain this to him, not to mention the shitstorm it was going to kick up in Konoha.

He had just finished off the Uchiha clan after all.

XXXXXXXX

Sakura was waiting anxiously for the return of her two teammates by the gates of Konoha. She had no doubt that Naruto would be able to bring Sasuke back, he had proven himself to be the stronger of the two on many occasions after all.

She was terribly worried though, as she had seen the others from the retrieval team being brought back with serious injuries. It was heart wrenching for her to realise that they had gotten hurt because Sasuke had run away.

She all but slumped in relief when she saw the tall forms of her blond teammate and sensei, walking side by side, apparently uninjured. The relief was short lived when she saw that Naruto was carrying something in his arms, Fear gripped her heart at the thought that Sasuke might be dead and it was all she could do not to rush towards them and demand answers.

As they came closer it became obvious that what Naruto was carrying couldn't possibly be Sasuke. The shape was much too big and it was a dark brownish color. But that still left that question of where Sasuke was.

"Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, what happened? Where is Sasuke-kun?" She asked when they approached her.

Kakashi's eye clouded over with sorrow, but he didn't say anything, so Naruto answered instead.

"The idiot wouldn't listen, he just kept coming at me with intent to kill. I'm not sure if he hated me that much all along or if it was the curse mark messing with his head, or a combination of both. Either way, he kept escalating the fight until things got out of hand and forced me to kill him." Naruto said with a sigh.

Sakura felt her world collapse at those words. Sasuke was dead? Her teammate and long held love interest had tried to kill Naruto and died trying?

"But...but, why? How?" She stammered not even sure what she was trying to ask.

"Look at what the curse mark turned him into." Naruto said and directed her attention to the misshapen bundle in his arms.

Strange deformed wings that looked more like giant hands, wild greyish hair. When she looked at the face, tears started steaming down her face as she saw that it still looked like Sasuke, though somehow holding an innate menace and having fangs poking from the purple lips.

"The whole time during our fight he just kept raging about killing Itachi and me. He wouldn't stay down either. He might look ugly but that transformation made him a lot stronger. He kept escalating the fight until it got out of hand and I ended up killing him." The blond explained with a resigned tone.

Sakura couldn't deal with it any longer and ran off without another word, crying hysterically.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What do you mean you're taking me on a 3 year training trip?!" Naruto demanded. He was not in favor of this idea.

"I mean that I need to get you out of the village for a while. You've got too much attention on you right now." Jiraiya explained. He was a bit surprised at how vehement Naruto was being about this.

"Such as?"Naruto asked a bit more calmly.

"Such as your revealed heritage and Akatsuki, not to mention the political shit you've gotten yourself into by killing that Uchiha teammate of yours. With all of that put together, I wouldn't be surprised if you'll have half of the Elemental Nations after your ass soon." The toad sage said dryly.

"Wouldn't it be better then, to stay in the village instead of gallivanting around the continent?"

"You'd think so, but no. You need to disappear from the world for a while, at least until the worst of the heat dies down. And it's not like you'll be wasting time those three years either. We'll be working on getting you as strong as possible to make sure that you're easily able to defend yourself from any potential assassins."

Naruto growled irritably. He wouldn't actually give a damn about staying in the village if not for the fact that he had things going on here that he wouldn't be able to continue if he was on the road.

Leaving the village meant that he couldn't continue teaching Tenten Fuinjutsu, it meant that he would have to put his ongoing project to turn shy little Hinata into a badass on hold. It meant that he wouldn't see Ayame nee-chan anymore and most importantly it meant that he probably wouldn't be seeing Xanna during that time either. Jiraiya might act like an idiot, but there was no way that he would miss a redheaded woman with very sharp teeth and slitted crimson eyes appearing randomly out of nowhere.

"I've already talked it over with Tsunade and she agrees with me. You're not strong enough yet to defend yourself against everything and everyone that might come after you right now, so we need to get you out of sight for a while.

Naruto scowled. It looked like there wasn't going to be any avoiding this.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'll miss you nii-san." Hinata said sadly.

Naruto had sought her out to to tell her about his impending training trip. Hinata had been quite upset to hear that he would be gone for so long. She had gotten used to having him around and he had helped her so much already. She now carried his resistance seals, though tuned to a significantly lower intensity than his own. That had been an embarrassing ordeal to get through, but she was glad of it. She knew that it would help her a lot in her training.

Neji and she hadn't been able to get their hands on the caged bird seal instructions, so that was also another reason that she was sad. It would be 3 years before he would be able to help them with that again and they would be on their own during that time.

"You'll be so busy training that you'll barely notice I'm gone."

Instead of replying, Hinata gave him a hug, which was a bit of a surprise for him. She had never initiated any kind of physical contact before, no doubt a side effect of growing up in the emotionally cold Hyuuga compound and her innate shyness.

"It won't be the same without you." Hinata said as she let go.

"Will you do something for me little sister?" Naruto asked her seriously.

"Um, alright." Hinata agreed hesitantly. She loved her brazen blond big brother, but sometimes he was just a little too shameless and it was better to be cautious about what you were agreeing to.

Naruto grinned at her nervousness. She was just too cute. "Don't let anyone tell you what you should be like, no matter who they are and don't take life too seriously either, you're not going to get out of it alive anyway."

Hinata looked at him oddly at this particular piece of questionable wisdom. Of course she wasn't going to live forever, but that hardly seemed like a good reason think lightly of her life. Still, she knew that it was his own way of encouraging her to be more confident.

"Uh, sure nii-san."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"But you just started teaching me!" Tenten protested upon hearing that he was leaving.

"I know, and it's not like I'm leaving by choice." Naruto responded.

"So I'll have to wait 3 years for you to come back before you can continue teaching me Naruto-sensei?" The weapons user asked despondently.

In response, Naruto brought out a thick notebook and gave it to her. "That notebook contains some of my notes on Fuinjutsu. It should give you plenty to work with for the next 3 years."

Tenten took it almost reverently. There was a lot of Fuinjutsu knowledge in there and she knew that having access to his original notes would be a big help.

"Most of the things in there are somehow offensive in nature, but some of it is more general Fuinjutsu knowledge. I'm sure you'll be able to make good use of that, so make sure to work hard while I'm gone."

"I will Naruto-sensei, thank you." Tenten said gratefully.

She had only been able to learn Fuinjutsu from Naruto for a short while, but it had been a great time and she had learned a lot. Gai-sensei was a good teacher, but she wasn't too well suited to his usual methods, not to mention that she was never going to be a Taijutsu powerhouse like him and Lee or even Neji.

"Umm, before you go..." Tenten started nervously, blushing and fidgeting.

"Yes?" Naruto asked curiously. Why was Tenten suddenly acting like Hinata?

"Can I try out your sword?!" She squeaked out so fast that she was barely understandable, blushing furiously. She REALLY wanted to try out that sword.

"How bold of you Tenten! Asking a man if you can play with his sword at your age!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin.

"Huh?" Tenten asked in confusion.

"But I'm sure someone like Neji would be a more appropriate choice for some swordplay."

Tenten looked even more confused before suddenly understanding the blond's perverted innuendo and blushing like a ripe tomato.

"Idiot! I meant the Kusanagi, not THAT sword!" The fire faced weapons user yelled at him.

"You really need to lighten up Tenten, it was just a joke." Naruto chuckled as the weapons user tried to kick him.

"Ero-sensei!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You finally got in over your head huh?" Ayame asked with a smirk as she set down the blond's ramen bowl.

"I still think that Tsunade and Jiraiya are blowing this out of proportion." Naruto grumbled and started eating.

"They hadn't struck me as the type to do that based on what you've told me about them so far."

"That was before they decided that I needed to hide from potential threats."

"You know that you're just grumpy because you won't get to snuggle up to your special lady friend all the time anymore." Ayame teased, making a veiled reference to Xanna.

"Hmph, I also won't be around to protect you anymore." The blond said without denying it.

"I'm a big girl Naruto, I don't need protecting all the time you know." She said softly and made her way around the counter to hug him.

"Better safe than sorry." He countered as he returned the hug.

"Just make sure that you use the next 3 years well. After all, I'd like to see my little brother get married." Ayame said quietly with a giggle.

"I'm a lot bigger than you now you know." Naruto protested, but was inwardly happy that she believed he could do it.

"You'll always be that cute little boy to me that showed up here one day looking like a drowned rat." She teased.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I see. It appears that there is indeed no way to avoid this." Xanna said as Naruto explained the pending training trip with Jiraiya.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do for 3 years without you."

"It's only 3 years Naruto and this godfather of yours does have a point. Despite your victory over Shukaku, there are shinobi out there who could crush you as you are now. If the man is a spymaster as you've said then he likely knows what he's talking about." The demoness argued her point.

"Yeah, I know. But that doesn't mean that I'm happy about it. I've gotten used to having you around and it's going to suck to have nobody but my perverted godfather as company for 3 years." Naruto grumbled.

Xanna smirked at him, quite amused at how upset he was over a measly 3 years. As far as she was concerned, that was an eye blink. It would also give her plenty of time to sort out her own feelings for the blond. It was easier to think clearly when the source of your confusion wasn't always there.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll miss you too." The demoness said teasingly.

"That does make me feel a bit better actually." He admitted. "Will you be here when I come back?"

"I will and I expect you to be stronger than you are now." She said.

"Count on it!" The blond replied with a grin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I really don't think this is a good idea Anko." Kurenai protested as the two kunoichi skulked in a dark street in Konoha.

"You're still going along with it even though you're saying that Nai-chan." Anko countered with a grin.

"That's just because I'm trying to keep you from getting in trouble." Kurenai insisted.

"Suuure you are." Anko drawled, clearly not believing a word of it.

"I'm serious! There is no way that this is going to end well!" The Genjutsu mistress hissed.

"Shh! It's almost time!" Anko hissed back, completely ignoring what her lover had just said.

Kurenai frowned, but quieted down all the same. The silence didn't last very long, as the time of execution for Anko's crazy little plan drew closer. When the time came, the silence was broken by the use of a special ninja technique.

"Sen'eijashu( Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto experimentally flexed his wrists, noting that the snakes holding him instantly tightened their hold on him, binding him even more securely to the chair he was on.

Imagine his surprise when he was suddenly wrapped up in snakes while walking down the street towards the gate where he was supposed to be meeting Jiraiya. Today was after all the day that he was supposed to be leaving the village, but it seems that Anko had some other plans and decided to waylay him.

He could have gotten free, but he was honestly curious about what Anko was up to.

"So, what can I do for you ladies?" Naruto asked the two women standing in front of him. Anko was grinning victoriously, while Kurenai was looking rather embarrassed.

"Well, we heard that you were leaving on a training trip..." Kurenai said and trailed off with a blush.

"And we never got to properly thank you for removing my cursed seal." Anko finished with a wide grin.

Even several days afterwards, she couldn't help but feel thrilled every time she thought of it. It had been torture for her to stay in the hospital for observation after the removal, when all she wanted to do was run across the rooftops and cackle with glee at her new freedom.

Without the curse mark screwing her over, she could train to her limits again without fear of any backlash. She didn't have to suffer the twinges of pain it sent her from time to time and best of all, she didn't have to carry around a piece of Orochimaru's disgusting legacy.

"You already gave me that very nice kiss." Naruto pointed out.

"I hardly think that a kiss is a good enough thank you for something like that." Anko scoffed.

"So, did you kidnap me to perhaps bake me a cake or make me a sandwich?" Naruto asked with a grin starting to pull on his lips.

"Oh no, this is going to be a different type of 'thank you'." Anko said and ambushed a blushing Kurenai with a kiss.

Naruto watched the show being put on in front of him and took note that Kurenai wasn't struggling anywhere near as hard as she could have, giving the distinct appearance of only trying to make it look like she was struggling.

He couldn't say that he wasn't enjoying himself though. It was definitely a situation that most men would kill to be in. Jiraiya being foremost among them.

Speaking of Jiraiya...he was supposed to be meeting the man at the gate in a few minutes. Ah well, he would just have to wait.

The two women had by now fully divested themselves of clothing and were moving towards him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several hours later, Kurenai was lying on the bed, unconscious. This was due to the fact that Anko and Naruto had decided to team up on the Genjutsu mistress until she passed out.

The tired, sweaty, but still awake Anko grinned at her passed out lover. Kurenai liked to think that she wasn't a pervert, but she sure hadn't minded being the center of attention.

Her musings were interrupted as Naruto grabbed her from behind and bent her over the passed out woman, chains forming and binding her arms behind her back, while a collar went around her throat.

Anko's eyes widened at the realisation of what Naruto was planning on doing. If Kurenai woke up to see her taking it from behind while bent over the Genjutsu mistress, she was going to be royally pissed at both of them.

Rather than frighten her, Anko found the idea to be a huge turn on. She opened her mouth to tease Naruto about his impending death at Kurenai's hands once she found out about this, but found a ballgag shoved into her mouth.

Her eyes widened again at just how much balls the blond had to just shove a ballgag into her mouth with every intention of screwing her over another woman's unconscious body. She let out a slow, muffled groan as he slowly pushed himself inside her.

"Since you decided to kidnap me for your own pleasure, I'm sure you'll understand if I return the favor." Naruto said into her ear while his hands teased her nipples, using the chains to keep her from collapsing onto Kurenai.

The steady rhythm was interrupted when his right hand migrated down to her clitoris, rubbing it slowly at first, making her give out another groan. Her breathing deepened heavily when she felt the now familiar swirl of his chakra around his hand.

He had done this to her before, but it had only been focused on that specific nerve bundle. This time he was directing it to as many erogenous zones as possible, but keeping the intensity low enough that her orgasm was delayed.

Anko had no idea what he was up to, but she felt the buildup of a massively powerful orgasm. 15 incredibly frustrating minutes of being denied release, while feeling the pressure inside her getting stronger constantly left Anko nearly screaming in frustration around the ballgag.

When he finally decided to push her over the edge, Anko did scream, and she would have let the entire street know what was going on if it wasn't for the ballgag. Dimly, she felt the blond shooting his own release inside her as her head lolled limply and she panted for breath, all strength leaving her.

Opening her eyes, she saw that she had completely drenched Kurenai during her explosive orgasm. The chains retreated and Naruto gently set her down on Kurenai and whispered into her ear after removing the ballgag. His sperm had already started leaking out of her and pooling on Kurenai's crotch and stomach.

"Have fun explaining to Kurenai why she's so sticky and covered in my cum when she wakes up." The amused blond said and left back to his apartment to take another shower. He was definitely not going to start a training trip reeking of sex.

The bastard pranked me! And now he's going to be gone for 3 years so I can't even get back at him! Anko fumed inside her own mind.

It wasn't that she hadn't enjoyed it, because she really did and definitely wouldn't mind a repeat even if Kurenai might get a bit upset over it. She could be convinced to do the same thing anyway...probably.

What pissed her off was the fact that nobody got one over Mitarashi Anko and got away with it, and yet Naruto had done it. He might be gone for 3 years, but Anko swore that she would get back at him when he came back.

Right now though she was going to take a little nap and hope that her legs stopped quivering before the red eyed woman woke up. She might need those to do some running if Kurenai was particularly upset.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was beset by his remaining teammate before he reached the gate. The pink haired girl looked rather nervous. He hadn't seen her since telling her about Sasuke's death.

"Naruto..." Sakura began in a sad tone.

Sakura had been devastated by Sasuke's death, spending several days just holed up in her room and crying. Ino had come by to try and comfort her, but she had remained inconsolable. She had even felt bouts of anger at Naruto for killing Sasuke, unable to help her feelings.

Ino's own crush for Sasuke had died when she saw her teammates injured and in Chouji's case near death, all because Sasuke had decided that Konoha wasn't good enough for him.

Sakura had only left her room to attend Sasuke's funeral. Afterwards, she had learned from Tsunade that Naruto and Kakashi had argued to have Sasuke buried as a loyal Konoha shinobi despite his attempt at defection. The elders had opposed it, saying that traitors didn't deserve to be buried as if they were loyal, claiming that it would tarnish the sacrifice of those who had been truly loyal.

Tsunade-sama had told her that Naruto's exact words were to ask the elders what good it did to piss on the graves of the dead, especially since Sasuke had made a stupid decision rather than a treasonous one. His argument on the mind altering effects of the cursed seal was what convinced Tsunade to grant the request.

The elders had also apparently taken that opportunity to propose making use of the cursed seal themselves, seeing potential in the seal as a means of ensuring loyalty, especially since Naruto seemed capable of applying it with less risk than Orochimaru. The suggestion had severely angered Tsunade and gotten them thrown out of her office.

Sakura's anger at Naruto died when she heard that. He had done the best he could and Sasuke had just pushed him too far. Even though Sasuke had tried to kill him, Naruto had still fought to at least preserve his dignity, which was something that she appreciated.

She hadn't missed her now deceased teammate's darkening mood whenever Naruto's strength or achievements were mentioned, but she had hoped he would be able to move past it. Sakura just couldn't understand why Sasuke was so jealous of Naruto. He was so strong and talented and had progressed very far in the short time that they'd been Genin. She just couldn't make sense of his obsessive need to be the strongest.

Now that Tsunade-sama had given her some perspective on Sasuke's death, she couldn't help but feel guilty. If she hadn't been so weak, then she could have stopped Sasuke herself, or at least alerted someone before he left the village. That way, maybe things wouldn't have gotten so far out of hand.

Chouji near death from a strained chakra network and using his family's secret food pills.

Neji also near death from multiple arrow wounds and a gaping wound in his stomach.

Kiba and Akamaru severely injured, though thankfully not life threatening.

Shikamaru with his legs badly wounded, alive only because he had been lucky enough to be wearing a Chunin vest.

Lee had only suffered mild injuries, but according to what she'd heard, would have been killed if not for the timely intervention of Gaara.

And Naruto ended up killing his teammate when Sasuke took their battle too far. Tsunade had let her read Naruto's report on the battle and she'd been horrified to see that Sasuke had used every lethal technique that he had against Naruto, along with several she hadn't known he had learned.

"What is it Sakura?"

Sakura noted that he hadn't called her pinky or any other kind of insulting nickname in a while now, but he had kept on calling Sasuke princess. She could only guess that he had seen something in her that he could respect enough to call her by name and he hadn't seen the same thing in Sasuke. She couldn't help but be proud of that, despite her still fresh grief over Sasuke's death.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"What for?" Naruto asked in honest confusion.

"If I'd been stronger I could have come with you and maybe we could have saved Sasuke-kun."

"Maybe." Naruto admitted. "But not very likely."

"Huh?" Sakura asked in confusion, not knowing what he meant.

"Sasuke was pretty far gone by the time I got to him, he even mistook me for his brother once. I think that he was pretty far gone even before he decided to leave the village and activating the second level of the cursed seal just pushed him over the edge." The blond explained.

"Oh...you mean we didn't even notice that we were losing him?" Sakura asked, feeling sad and guilty that she had failed her teammate like that.

"In our defense, he didn't act any different than usual and he was always broody and anti-social. If you ask me, he could have really used the help of a Yamanaka therapist, but you know that he never would have agreed to that."

"Yeah..." Sakura agreed slowly. She couldn't see Sasuke going to therapy for any reason at all, he would have been too proud to admit he needed help. He had always been too proud.

Naruto was deeply surprised when his pink haired teammate hugged him. Apparently she had somehow managed to form an attachment to him in spite of the fact that he'd been constantly irritating her.

"I'll get stronger Naruto, so that I won't just be in the way all the time." She promised tearfully. Losing one teammate had been bad enough, she didn't want to be a useless bystander just watching helplessly as her remaining one fought alone because she was too weak to be useful.

"You do that Sakura and try to keep Tsunade from drinking too much while you're at it." The blond said and put one hand on her upper back. He had to admit that Sakura had surprised him. He had honestly expected her to do anything except find the resolve to get strong. She had been such a useless howling fangirl when they'd first become a team that it was hard to imagine she could change so much.

With that the two teammates said their goodbyes and went towards their respective Sannin teachers.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

OMAKE: The day before Sasuke's defection attempt.

Sasuke gurgled blood as his damaged lungs tried to provide air, but it was useless. Within a few seconds he was dead and the victorious Naruto turned away from him.

Everything changed though when a ghostly figure appeared in the sky and shot a beam of light into the recently slain Uchiha's body, bringing him back to life instantly.

The ghostly figure bore a disturbing resemblance to Masashi Kishimoto, but the two combatants below didn't know anything about that.

The resurrected Sasuke glared at his would be killer with eyes that were now a mixture of purple, red and black. They had a strange pattern of intersecting elipses, along with a ripple pattern.

"I suppose I should thank you Naruto. My death and resurrection has allowed me to awaken the Eternal Mangenkyo Rinnegan and with it's power I will achieve my ambition." Sasuke said with a crazed gleam in his shiny new eyes.

"These eyes now give me the power to use the Mugen Izanagi(Infinite Izanagi), a technique that allows me to rewrite reality as I see fit, and the best part is that it doesn't cost any chakra to use."

Naruto frowned at this ridiculous and improbable turn of events, but said nothing yet.

"For daring to slay an Uchiha, I will use this power to punish you!" Sasuke declared. "From now on, you will only be able to say 'dattebayo' and every time you say it, you will become more stupid. Also, you will be compelled to say it at least once every 20 seconds. In addition, the only techniques that you will know are the shadow clone and Rasengan!"

"Dattebayo!" Naruto said, before slapping a hand over his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that idiotic word.

Sasuke watched in glee as Naruto's sharp glare transformed into a clueless expression within 3 minutes. He was even more thrilled to discover that the blond was shrinking and his usual intimidating appearance was giving way to a shrimp in an obnoxious orange jump suit.

"Dattebayo!"

"From now on, you will be forever know as the dobe, the dead last, as it should have been!"

Laughing madly, Sasuke used the power of his new eyes to teleport Itachi in front of him.

"Itachi! Finally I will have my revenge!"

Itachi's impassive looked turned into a look of panic that didn't belong on that face in the slightest.

Before he could move, the elder Uchiha was engulfed in black fire that burned slowly, causing Itachi to scream in agony while Sasuke cackled in the background.

Once his amusement died down, Sasuke developed a slightly confused expression.

What was he supposed to do now? Itachi was dead and Naruto had become so stupid by now that he was trying to drink a rock.

Well, he did have a clan to repopulate didn't he?

Using the power of his new eyes, Sasuke transported himself to the Uchiha compound and summoned a large amount of beautiful women.

"Oh Sasuke-sama, we're so happy that you've decided to grace our bodies with your seed!" One of them said with happy tears leaking from her eyes.

They were already removing his pants and preparing to do their duty to the Uchiha clan and one of them commented on his equipment.

"Sasuke-sama, you're so powerful! Even your penis has a Doujutsu!" She squealed in glee.

Well of course his penis had a...Wait, what?

Sasuke looked down at the organ in question.

It looked back.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" He screamed at it, only to be horrified as it developed a mouth as well.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" It screamed back in a voice that was for some reason deeper than his own.

Sasuke all but flew out of his bed, gasping for breath, his heart pounding so hard that you would think it was trying to escape from his chest cavity.

The raven haired teen quickly took a look into his pants, sighing in relief when he found that there was no eye looking back at him.

He knew that he shouldn't have eaten those slightly spoiled looking tomatoes before bed, but they had been the only tomatoes he could find. But it wasn't all the fault of the delicious morsels to be sure. Naruto was no doubt driving him crazy and causing him to have weird dreams like that. He really needed a break from his insane blond teammate.