-1AN: I am ashamed! The only thing keeping me from throwing myself out of my window and falling to my death is that then the story would remain unfinished (And I live on the ground floor.). I have no excuse, it was fully my fault for being so negligent in my writing. On a lighter note I would like to point out that this is the longest chapter I have written to date. I would also like to thank all who reviewed. It means so much to me that you would take the time to let me know what you think about my writing. Let's see, some info you all will probably like to know: In-between this chapter and the previous one the aspects of Kokorozashi's armor are revealed, off-screen. I feel that I do not convey what is now known about the armor well in the story, but am stuck on how to make it better. So I'll just tell you: Certain parts of the body can only be wrapped so many times before they will not work anymore: fingers, joints, etc. so those area's are also reinforced with more traditional armor as well.
Questions that I will answer: Yes Konoha missed Naruto, however Naruto was underground for a while (literally) and they eventually stopped looking for him after a while (5 years is a long time.). Next Naruto carries most of the scrolls that he found at the ruins with him. Sealed in a scroll that he carries with him. He probably could find his way back to the ruins, given enough time (or someone who can read a map). Kokorozashi is completely mine, his original idea was based of some fanficiton that I never finished. I plan on parodying a scene from the work he was originally in later on in the story, so that should be fun (For me). As for why Sakura didn't heal Doki the answer is that the danger is the organs shutting down. Once Doki deactivates her Bloodline her body begins to restore the normal levels on their own, so that danger would not be serious. If the organs don't shut down, she'll be fine. Naruto does in fact care about his friends he's just 'in disguise' so he's pretending not to care. It's kind of like a prank for him, "haha I got you!" kind of deal. Pairing wise? To tell the truth I hadn't planned on pairing Naruto with anybody in the main part of the story. Do you think that Naruto needs to be paired with somebody? Just so you know I don't write Yaoi. Nothing against it, I just don't find it enjoyable personally, and I write what I like.
Chapter Six: Cat: 1 Bag: 0.
"Now that we have seen that fight there is no doubt that we should try and recruit them." Danzou's grin threatened to split his face in half. "The youngest is the sole remaining member of a clan that had a powerful bloodline limit. To pass up this opportunity would be nothing short of madness."
"You also seem to have forgotten that there was an extreme lack of self-control from them. Not only did one almost blind my daughter, another attempted to assault me in my own home!"
Tsunade smirked, "Not your brightest moment, hmmm, Hiashi? Almost getting smeared across your own walls really doesn't look good does it?"
Hiashi responded with a glare.
"Enough insults," another council member cut in, "What we have here is a very unique opportunity. With Orochimaru not acting against us in recent times, we must assume that he is planning something especially insidious. These people could be of assistance to use in combating him, already one has found a way to neutralize one of Orochimaru's favorite creations, the Cursed Seal. To face Orochimaru unprepared is paramount to suicide. The Third was not prepared for the twisted and dark techniques that Orochimaru had created and he paid the price."
A silence fell over the chambers as all present considered those words. At last Danzou spoke up in a placating tone.
"Now, Lord Hokage, I think that I may have a solution that we can all live with. If these people are offered a chance to join Konoha and they accept, then you can have full say in all matters relating to them. This would allow you to decide how long they are watched, who watches them, and anything else you feel that you need to do to protect the safety of this village."
Tsunade sighed. She looked around the chambers meeting the eyes of all the members of the council.
"Is this an acceptable arrangement for all present?"
All the members of the council nodded, some grudgingly and others with outright glares.
"All right then," Tsunade said tiredly. "It is getting late so we can present our offer to them tomorrow morning before they leave. If that's everything then I think that this meeting has been concluded."
With those last words the council stood and began to leave. They filed out past the Hokage until at last she was the only one left in the chambers. Looking towards the ceiling she let out a sigh.
"I hope that we are doing the right thing."
Restaurant in Konoha
"All right I think that it's just about done." Sakura said as she finished healing the large bruise that adorned Doki's forehead.
"You couldn't tell me you where going through a door?!" Doki glared at Kokorozashi.
"You should have been paying attention."
"I thought that you would at least warn me!"
"Yeah? Well, sucks to be you."
"Um," Hinata spoke up in an attempt to stop the arguing, "Kokorozashi…why is it that you are have not fully removed the armor about you face?"
Kokorozashi paused in his eating for a moment. He had unwrapped many of the layers of metal strips that covered his face and jaw revealing a hinged metal jaw covering his real one. This metal jaw was open just wide enough so that food could be inserted into it, but it was not open wide enough to get a look at his face. Sakura had to admire the complexity and efficiency of the armor. There was a limit to the number of strips that the man could wrap around himself, especially in places like his fingers. So, he had placed more traditional armor on those places and wrapped those in his strips. Sakura's respect for the Kokorozashi, what little she had, had gone up. He had been shoveling food into his mouth using an abnormally large kunai, due to his armored hands being to large to hold chopsticks properly. After a short pause Kokorozashi snorted.
"I never take off my armor if I can help it." With that he went back to impaling a half-dozen dumplings and consuming them with a sickening rapidity.
"Can you clarify what you mean, when you say you never take it off you mean…?" Shino asked as he adjusted his glasses.
"He means that he wears it all the time, eating, sleeping, actually the only time he takes it off is to bathe." The Sealmaster explained between bites of dumpling, which were inserted under his mask. Kougi was quick to cut in.
"Unfortunately he tends to go far to long between those instances. Much to our chagrin of course."
All present turned their gazes to the mountainous form that sat upon the floor at the end of their table, and still loomed over them. Kokorozashi paused in his eating for a moment before flipping Kougi off. He then went back to his eating. Sakura, however, was still curious.
"But why would you leave your armor on all the time? Wouldn't it get in the way?"
Kokorozashi gave a long sigh before he put down his kunai. He turned to Sakura who was looking at him curiously.
"Look it's like this, how would you feel if you were naked right now?"
"WHAT!" Sakura practically shrieked.
"How would you feel if you were naked at this very moment?" Kokorozashi repeated slowly as if speaking to a small child.
"Embarrassed!"
"Physically how would you feel!"
"Cold!"
"Weight-wise dammit!"
"Lighter," Sakura replied after a pause, "I would feel a little bit lighter."
Kokorozashi gave another sigh. "Finally you give me the right answer. Now why would you feel lighter when you do not have clothes on? We are not born with clothes, so tell me why do we not notice the weight of the clothes that we wear all the time? Why does not wearing clothing leave us feeling a tiny bit lighter?"
"Because our bodies are used to the weight, of course." Sakura was quick to respond.
"Why are our bodies used to this weight?" You could practically hear Kokorozashi's smile as he asked the question.
"Because we wear clothes all the time. Oh…" Sakura paused at this revelation. "You wear it all the time because that way you are used to the weight! You don't even feel the armor your wearing do you?"
"Nope, not a bit. What I typically do is I add a little more armor and soon I adapt to that weight, and after a while I don't even notice a difference. I have slain many people who have underestimated my speed while wearing this. That speed I owe to the fact that my armor does not feel like armor to me, it is like it is a part of my body."
The table grew quite as the Konoha ninja digested that piece of knowledge, and as the outsiders digested dumplings. Finally it was the Sealmaster who broke the silence.
"In a way it could be said that Kokorozashi trains twenty-four hours a day."
Sakura shuddered. "Please don't say that again."
The Sealmaster leaned forward. "And why shouldn't I say that again?"
Sakura sighed. "There is a ninja in this village who is a bit obsessed with hard work and training. His name's Rock Lee, and if he heard of someone who was training for twenty-four hours a day he'd probably end up killing himself trying his training for the same length of time. His trainings brutal enough as it is."
"Would you say that this Rock Lee is particularly strong?" Kokorozashi asked with something akin to glee in his voice.
"Oh yes. He's probably in the top…Why do you want to know?" Sakura asked.
"No particular reason, I just think it might be fun to meet this Rock Lee before we leave that's all." Kokorozashi chuckled menacing. As he finished his evil chuckling his arm snapped up to point at Hinata, who started.
"You! Only Hyuga that I have seen who doesn't look like you were beaten with the ugly stick as a child! You haven't had a bit to eat, now everyone else has eaten something but you haven't. What little conscience that I have will not allow me to eat in peace if you starve yourself!" Here he let out an overly dramatic sigh. "Now don't tell me that your on one of those ridiculous 'girl diets'.
"I'm sorry… It's just that I already ate before the mission. I'm just not…not hungry." Hinata replied looking a little bit intimidated at the imposing figure. Sakura however had no qualms about yelling at Kokorozashi.
"Hey! Why do you keep calling Hinata all those weird nicknames?! It's rude."
"So?"
The Sealmaster sighed. "Kokorozashi simply does not care enough to remember a persons real name. He also doesn't care if he's rude and he gets sick pleasure out of both pissing people off and humiliating them. Ignore him, he won't go away but you might learn to tune him out…If your lucky."
Sakura glared at Kokorozashi for a long moment before turning her gaze back to the Sealmaster. "We have a nice hotel picked out for you to stay at, compliments of the village. We set aside a nice suite on the top floor-"
"Bottom floor, with no basement." Kougi cut in.
"Huh? Why not the suite?" Sakura asked curiously.
The Sealmaster pointed at Kokorozashi who waved cheerily.
"He weighs enough to collapse just about any floor you put him on, unless its set on the ground, or heavily reinforced."
"I make life harder for everybody!"
"That you do Kokorozashi, that you do."
Outside the Restaurant
As the group filed out of the restaurant non noticed the pair of red eyes peering down at them from a nearby tree with burning intensity, and beneath those eyes was a grin of pure anticipation.
The next morning outside of a hotel with no basement, which had a suite on the ground floor.
Kokorozashi crouched down next to the Sealmaster before leaning close and whispering quietly, "I understand being ready in advance, that cuts down the chances of any of this village's pathetic excuse for ninja from figuring out who you are. So it's good that they're not trying to run us out of town. But I don't see how this is going to get your goals accomplished."
"Wheels within wheels Kokorozashi, wheels within wheels."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean."
"It's a saying."
"Didn't I tell you that if you used one of those moronic sayings again I was going to beat you with my sword?"
"I believe that I have proven on several occasions that you are not good enough to follow through on that."
"This is different."
"How so?"
"Before you had yet to accomplish your goal, but now you have. This means that the power you gained from trying to accomplish your promise is no longer there, so now I have the advantage."
"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard."
"Hi guys were ready!" Doki came bouncing out of the hotel followed closely by the much more reserved Kougi, who quickly meet the Sealmaster's gaze.
"Has our escort arrived yet?" Kougi asked even as he subtly glanced toward a nearby tree.
"No they seem to be running a little late." The Sealmaster said as he rubbed the back of his neck. His gaze meet Kokorozashi's and as he brought his arm down from his neck one of his fingers pointed for just a moment at the same tree that Kougi had gestured towards. Kokorozashi gave a loud growl anticipation as he spun around before he began to circle the group seemingly pleased.
"When I find them I'm gonna kill them!" he shouted as he delivered a kick to a nearby tree. The same tree that the Sealmaster had pointed towards. The tree turned out to not be strong enough to withstand the force of the kick and the point of impact completely shattered. As the tree toppled to the ground two ninja quickly leapt from the upper branches of the tree to the safety of the ground.
"Wow," Doki said with a grin, "It looks like ninja do grow on trees."
"Ah, yes." Kokorozashi added, "I thought that there might be a hive of pesky insects buzzing around up there. I guess I'll have to exterminate them."
"Now Kokorozashi, if you did that then we wouldn't be able to find out what they were doing spying on us. Not to mention, one of them is our guide from yesterday, remember."
"Oh yeah, pinkie head. How could I ever forget that ridiculous hair?"
Sakura put her head down in embarrassment. "Sorry, but we were asked to see how you would react if you thought you were alone. I guess we couldn't hide well enough." Sakura gave a strained laugh. Her accomplice on the other hand didn't even try to appear amused.
"What the hell were you thinking knocking that tree over like that! Give me one good reason I shouldn't beat the hell out of you?!" Kokorozashi didn't hesitate before answering.
"Because you can't." Sakura wasted no time in cutting in.
"Um, this is Yamanaka Ino. We were asked to observe you for a little while before meeting with you. I guess we weren't good enough to hide from you guys!" Sakura finished with an admirable attempt at a winning smile.
"That much is painfully clear." Kougi deadpanned.
"Yeah, um, the Hokage should be along shortly. Until then, how about we get something to eat?"
"We have already eaten," Came Kougi's reply. "we finished off some of our older travel supplies before they went bad."
" How about we go… maybe we could stop at th-" Sakura was cut off by Tsunade, who had managed to get right behind her undetected. Behind her were several notable members of the council.
"I don't think that will be necessary Sakura. I'm here now so we can get right down to business."
"Lord Hokage, it is a pleasure to see you again. I hope that everything is alright with Sasuke? No side effects of any kind?" The Sealmaster asked politely.
"No," Tsunade answered, "He was fine last I saw. Nothing to lead us to believe that something went wrong."
"That is good to hear, now then lets get down to the matter at hand. How much were you planning to pay us for our services?" The Sealmaster said as leaned up against the front of the hotel.
"Actually, that is something that I would like to talk to you about. The Council and I were so impressed with your skills that we are going to offer you the opportunity to become shinobi of Konoha. Now something you should understand is that we would instead of the money you would normally receive we would supply you with a place to live. All in all it is a very unusual and generous offer. You would be able to receive missions more consistently and probably make more money than you would otherwise."
The Sealmaster turned his head towards his companions for a moment making eye-contact with each of them in turn. At last he turned back to Tsunade.
"I will need to discuses this with the rest of my group, if that is all right with you?"
Tsunade nodded and stepped a few paces backwards, away from him. The Sealmaster turned and stepped closer to his companions, so that they might talk unheard.
"So," he started "Do any of you have any problems with this arrangement?"
Kokorozashi raised his hand. "I have a question. Did you do something intentional to have this happen or did you just come in here and wing it? 'Cause I think that your probably the freaking luckiest bastard alive."
The Sealmaster shrugged. "A little of both. I had a plan, it was just a very vague, open-ended plan. So what do you guys think? I know we hadn't really discussed would happen when I got invited back but I always assumed that you guys would be hanging around. You know I won't force you though."
Doki laughed. "What would I do? I don't really have anything else than this, so why would I leave? I'm perfectly content with staying with you." Doki finished with a shrug.
Kokorozashi spoke up next. "Hey I gave my word that I would hang around you until I finally crush you. That whole never break our word so we can be strong deal."
Finally Kougi spoke. "I have yet to pay you back for the life debt that I owe you. To leave now would forever stain my honor."
The Sealmaster turned to face the Hokage patiently waiting behind him. "We all agree. Were do we sign?"
Tsunade nodded before holding up a small scroll. She walked over to where they were standing and handed it to the Sealmaster. "You all must sign it. In your real names. I know that you have an aversion to giving out your name but you are now apart of this village."
"That's perfectly reasonable. Now lets see… Yes everything on here looks alright. Now lets see where did I…" The Sealmaster began to go through several pockets on the inside of his cloak finally pulling out a pen. He stepped up next to the wall of the hotel and held the scroll their with one hand as he signed with his other. The way he was standing had his body blocking his signature. Once he finished, he moved aside to allow Doki to add her signature next to his. Then Kougi, followed by Kokorozashi who used an abnormally large pen that the Sealmaster had pulled from another pocket on his cloak.
"There we are, all finished, here you go Lord Hokage." With that the Sealmaster tossed the now signed scroll to Tsunade, who held up a hand to catch it. However, before the scroll made contact with her hand it was intercepted by a blur that shot passed them, to come to rest leaning against a nearby tree.
"Sasuke! What do you think your doing!" Tsunade shouted at the young man, who was casually tossing the scroll into the air and catching it over and over.
"I was just making an entrance that's all." Sasuke said without so much as looking at her, his gaze locked solely on the Sealmaster. "Here, you wanted this right?"
Sasuke tossed the scroll to Tsunade, who caught it easily. Tsunade was openly seething at the disrespect the Uchiha was showing her. "What has gotten into you? Blatant disrespect we have come to expect from you but have you lost your mind? Interfering in not only a council meeting but then disrupting us now, what would possess you to act so stupidly?"
Sasuke smirked. "That moron over there told me that we would have a fight today if he had the time. I don't see any reason for him to back out now, isn't that right?" His last remark addressed to the Sealmaster.
"No, I suppose I don't have any excuse not to. I believe I did say I would fight if I had the time. Well I guess I have all the time I could need now." The Sealmaster shrugged. "Where are we going to have this delightful match? A street in the middle of the village might not be the best place."
Tsunade began to step forward to put an end to this fight before it started when she was stopped by Danzou.
"Just a moment, Tsunade." He whispered to her. "This could prove beneficial to us. Not only do we lack data on this Sealmaster's fighting style but the outcome could be beneficial to us as well. If this Sealmaster proves to be enough of a challenge for the Uchiha then the Uchiha may very well throw himself back into his training, and get him out of our hair for the time being."
Tsunade paused to consider this. Sasuke lived to kill his brother. When he had been returned to Konoha the amount his skills had grown was awe inspiring. Since his return he had continued to grow at an almost frightening rate. Recently however it seemed that he was beginning to think that he might be strong enough to defeat and kill his brother. His training had slowed somewhat and he had begun to make a nuisance of himself trying to convince her and the council that he should be allowed to seek out his Itachi. While it was still unknown if the Uchiha was, as some of his fan (stalkers) claimed, the strongest ninja in the village. He had however easily defeated several high ranking leaf ninja who had challenged him. It was possible that a defeat could get the Uchiha to stop bothering them and focus more on training. It was also true that they had little knowledge of the Sealmaster's fighting style.
Tsunade nodded her agreement to Danzou as she heard Sasuke finish telling his soon to be opponent the location of their match.
"Are you sure you can find your way? Or will you just end up getting lost?" Sasuke finished.
"Oh I think I will manage just fine. All right, I want their to be a nice crowd for when I make Sasuke cry. So Doki, I need you to go and attract people, be obnoxious and rude if possible. Kokorozashi… just go be yourself. Kougi your with me."
Kokorozashi saluted and Doki gave a thumbs up before they headed off on their tasks. Kougi got the Sealmaster's attention with a polite gesture before leaning in close so as not to be overheard.
"The crowd that Kokorozashi and Doki will draw will end up on the side of the battlefield that is closest to us. It would be better for us to enter the training grounds from a different direction." The Sealmaster nodded his understanding.
"Lord Hokage my companion and I are planning on taking a few minutes to get to the location of the match. I would hate for you to waste your time. So was there anything else that you needed me for?"
Tsunade shook her head. "Shizune here only needs to give you your forehead protectors," Tsunade turned and walked away calling over her shoulder. "Oh, I plan on watching this match of yours so try to put on a good show."
The Sealmaster chuckled. "I'll do my best."
Large, out of the way training field.
A moderate crowd had gathered made up of ninja, villagers (Who were keeping well back), and the Hokage, followed by her entourage of council-people. Most were to various degrees in a bad mood, most likely due to the antics of the Sealmaster's companions.
"That's right everyone today is your lucky day! You get to see the Uchiha smeared across the ground!" Doki was standing on Kokorozashi's shoulder with one foot resting on his head in an attempt at a dramatic pose.
"Were also taking donations! This money will be put to the good use of surgically removing the stick from the Uchiha's ass! Then as an added bonus we'll beat him over the head with it! So donate now!" Kokorozashi was going for the vulgar approach.
Sasuke himself was a ways away from the crowd standing perfectly still. The expression on his face might have been one of serenity if not for the fact that his Sharingan was blazing.
Most of the crowd was discussing the upcoming battle. Those that knew of the Sealmaster's recent addition to the forces of Konoha had wasted no time in letting the others know. There were some who disliked the Uchiha for his disrespect, others for the fact that he had at one time betrayed Konoha. However none doubted his power. The battle between the Uchiha and the well known Sealmaster had attracted the attention of many.
The crowd quitted as Sasuke abruptly turned away from the crowd towards the other side of the training field. As they all watched two figures came into view. A hush seemed to have fallen over the entire crowd allowing the pairs conversation to be heard by those present.
"Are you certain that it is wise for you to reveal it here?" Kougi asked.
"They would find out soon anyways, I did sign the contract after all." Came the Sealmaster's reply.
"True, but in the presence of such a large number of people…"
"They will make no move so long as the Hokage is present." The Sealmaster cut Kougi off.
"If you are sure."
As they neared Sasuke the pair separated, Kougi heading towards Doki and Kokorozashi, while the Sealmaster walked within a few meters of Sasuke. Here he stopped an looked Sasuke dead in the eye.
"Well," The Sealmaster said at last, "It's been awhile hasn't it Sasuke?"
"About two years if I'm not mistaken. I have been waiting for a chance to redeem myself from that embarrassing lose. For the sake of clarity, what is the score up to this point?"
"Tied one to one I would say."
On the sidelines Sakura turned to her two instructors. "Tsunade, Kakashi, what are they talking about? Did Sasuke ever fight the Sealmaster other than the time Sasuke was returned?"
Kakashi shook his head. "Not to my knowledge. Could it be that Sasuke fought him on a mission and neglected to inform us?"
Tsunade snorted amusedly. "Not a chance. He hasn't gone on a solo mission since he was reinstated as a Konoha shinobi. We would have heard about it if he had fought him from his teammates."
Sasuke after a long pause finally spoke again. "I see this as our first real fight."
The Sealmaster tilted his head, "Oh? Why is that?"
"Because this is the first fair fight we will have had. In our last conflict you had the element of surprise as well as a well laid out trap, giving you the advantage. In the fight before that you were tired out from several battles beforehand causing me to have the advantage. Here we are both well rested and neither of us will have set traps beforehand."
The Sealmaster laughed. "I suppose in a way your right. I never thought about that way before. Oh! Now I'm really excited. I can hardly wait for us to begin!"
Sasuke nodded. "However something needs to be done before we begin."
"Oh? What's that?"
"This." Sasuke reached into a pocket and pulled out a leaf forehead protector and tying it to his head. As he did this the crowd murmured. While the Uchiha was a ninja of the village he, for the most part, choose not to wear his forehead protector. He stated that he did not need it as he was to powerful to allow himself to get hit in the forehead. His second reason was that he did not wear against opponents that he did not recognize as powerful. Only two opponents since the day of his return had received the 'honor' of Sasuke battling them with his headband. Other than that he wore it only when ceremony required him to.
"There," he said as he straightened his forehead protector, "I wear this to show that we fight as equals, both as true shinobi of the Leaf. Isn't that what you always wanted?"
As the crowd continued to murmur, Tsunade noticed Shizune pushing her way though to reach her. As the younger woman finally reached the Hokage, Tsunade spoke up.
"Well how did everything go?"
"Fine, I'm sorry I took so long. I had difficulty finding you in this crowd. Like I said everything was fine. Except for one strange thing."
"Which was?"
Shizune shrugged. "I gave there leader enough for all of them, but he gave me one of them back. He told me that he already had one."
At this Tsunade frowned. The most likely explanations of that would be if he was a missing nin from leaf or he had killed a leaf ninja and had taken theirs. Both possibilities worried her. She was shocked out of her thoughts by the Sealmaster suddenly laughing. After a moment his loud, bellowing laughter faded.
"I like this. I like this a lot. This fight is going to be great. I have no doubt of that."
Sasuke sighed. "Hurry up. If this was a race you would really be living up to your dead last status."
At those words most of the crowd turned to each other in confusion, failing to understand the meaning of Sasuke's words. Some however stiffened as understanding struck them.
Sakura was gaping in shock. "No way, it's not possible. It's just to…to… it's not, theirs no way."
Similar reactions were coming from her old classmates.
The Sealmaster nodded his understanding to Sasuke and reached into his cloak before pulling out a leaf forehead protector. Reaching up and grabbing his mask he tore it off in one sharp motion. The head cloth slipped off revealing short, spiky, shockingly bright blond hair.
Most of the crowd now seemed to have caught on. Some of the council members seemed on the verge of heart attacks as several of Naruto's old classmates were doing decent impressions of fish, eyes bulging and mouths opening and closing. Villagers too were stunned, some seemed to be scared, others simply awed. Ignoring the reactions of the crowd, Naruto finished tying his forehead protector on. With a quick motion, Naruto removed his cloak, allowing it to flutter to the ground. As he finished he smirked at the Uchiha across from him.
"Well, I've been waiting five years for this so lets not waste anymore time."
Sasuke nodded. "I've been waiting for this too Naruto, lets get started."
With that the Uchiha drew his blade.
"Hold on!" At this shout Sasuke merely sighed in annoyance, while Naruto actually looked a little worried. Sakura had gone from shocked to pissed. "What the hell do you think you are doing?! You disappear for five years and then you just show up and pretend not to know us? I'll kill you!"
"Now, now Sakura I did it for you. I brought him back. You really can't be made at me for that now can you?" Naruto tried to placate the enraged girl.
"Not be mad! Five years damn it! We didn't even know if you were alive!" Sakura began to stomp her way towards the now terrified looking Naruto. Naruto's friends were starting to look pissed. Tsunade on the other hand was beginning to look amused at the scene. The council members… were still gaping.
"It was necessary Sakura. Just calm down. There's no need for unnecessary violence. If you knew where I was then you would all send someone to go force me to come back. I couldn't do that before I finished you see?" Naruto was now starting to back up as Sakura continued to stomp closer.
"What about the last two years then? Asshole!"
"I knew that I would have gotten in trouble so I tried to come up with a plan to get back into Konoha without getting arrested. I also found a way to remove the cursed seal! It worked right? So…no hard feelings, okay?"
"Die!" Naruto dove out of the way of Sakura's fist, which managed to mangle a rather large area of training field, just in time. As he stared at the mangled remains of what was once flat, solid ground he found himself able to say only one thing.
"Scary…"
Tsunade gave a kind of nervous laugh. "Uh… Sakura? I don't think we need to kill him you know? It would kind of defeat the point of him being back in the village, now wouldn't it?"
Sakura paused obviously debating the merits of killing her former teammate. Finally after a long pause, she pointed straight at him while giving him a look that told him that he was not off the hook yet.
As Sakura made her way back to her two teachers, Naruto made his way back towards Sasuke, who seemed to be fighting down a smirk.
"I'm beginning to have doubts, if Sakura can scare you that easily."
"That's different! Shut up, I thought you wanted to get this started?"
Sasuke lost the battle and his smirk was now full blown. "That's right I do. Now I don't want this fight to be too short, so here, watch closely."
Electricity began to flicker over Sasuke's body as well as crackling down the length of his blade. Sasuke gave a slightly maniacal grin as he spoke the name of his technique.
"Chidori Nagashi (One Thousand Birds Current). You had better find a way to counter it or else this fight will be over before it begins. Here I come!"
Sasuke surged forward lightning crackling around his blade. Lightning fast, he struck downward, straight at Naruto's head.
Naruto raised his arm, a shimmer appearing in the air around his hand, and blocked Sasuke's blade with the sword that had just appeared in his hand. Even as Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise, Naruto drew back his other arm as if to stab Sasuke. Driving his arm forward another sword appeared in his hand, heading straight towards Sasuke's face. Sasuke flipped backwards narrowly escaping severe injury, or worse. Landing, Sasuke reached up and lightly rubbed his thumb across the shallow cut he had just received.
"Your sword never made contact." Sasuke said in an almost accusatory tone. "Not only that but you were not effected by the Chidori Nagashi. You are using wind elemental chakra."
Naruto chuckled. "Very lucky for me isn't it Sasuke? I'm the type that's best against you."
Sasuke shook his head as a smirk appeared on his face. "You need every advantage you can get. This advantage of yours won't even slow me down." Sasuke raised his sword once again.
"You'd better stop underestimating me, Sasuke." Naruto leapt forward swinging his blade downwards in a viscous arc. Sasuke swung his blade upwards into a perfect block. But something happened that stunned nearly all the people there. Naruto's blade seeming to pass through Sasuke's as if it was insubstantial. Sasuke managed to react swiftly to this unexpected event, but even as he leapt away from Naruto, the sword bite into his flesh. Sasuke glared at Naruto suspiciously as a thin stream of blood flowed from the cut to his chest.
"What the hell was that? I blocked your strike."
"It's my unique fighting style. A style of swordsmanship that is absolutely unblockable."
Sasuke frowned. "That's impossible. There is no such thing as an unblockable sword style."
Naruto laughed. "Yes that was true, up until about a year ago anyways!" Naruto raised his blades in preparation of an attack. "Well Sasuke, do you want to make the next move, or should I?"
As both held their ground, neither willing to make the first move, Sakura took the opportunity to turn to her teachers and ask a question that had been bothering her from the beginning of the fight.
"Where did Naruto's swords come from?"
The answer however, came from her other side.
"He released them from seals."
Sakura turned and saw that it was Tenten who had answered her. Sakura also noticed that several of Naruto's friends and classmates had gathered around her as well, presumably to discuss the shocking reappearance of their long lost friend. Sakura for the time being however, was more focused on getting her questions answered to pay them much mind.
"But there was no smoke, or a popping noise like when a person releases something from a seal."
Tenten nodded. "It is possible to release something without smoke. It's usually preferred though, so an opponent can't immediately tell what it is you have. It's to buy a momentary advantage. But the smoke is optional. I don't know how he released it without some kind of sound however."
"He modified the seal used to hold the weapons." Sakura, along with most of the group turned to see Kougi standing a bit behind them. Even further back they could see Kokorozashi and Doki, who was still on his shoulder, pushing their way closer.
"But how did he modify the seal?" Sakura questioned, Kougi nodded.
"Normally when an object is released from a seal it forces the air from the place that the object is going to occupy. This rapid movement of air causes a sudden noise. To counter this indicator that he is releasing something from a seal, Naruto modified the seal so that it sealed the air from where the sword is going to be even as the sword itself appears there. This makes it so that the air does not get rapidly pushed away. Thus the release of the swords cause no audible noises."
Those who had heard the explanation digested this for a moment. They were however, brought out of their contemplation by Naruto's sudden laughter.
"Oh, don't tell me Sasuke that after all your talk and boasting you are afraid to attack!"
Sasuke frowned at Naruto's remark. "No, the advantage in a fight many times lies with the defender. Attacking leaves one open to counter-attack."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Really? I never knew that."
Sasuke scoffed, "And you claim to be strong."
Naruto shrugged, "But no one has ever lasting more than a few seconds against my style when I was going full out so I guess it's never really applied to me."
Sasuke gave a snort of amusement. "You really haven't changed after all have you?"
Naruto shrugged again. "You haven't changed either have you?"
Sasuke looked down. "No. I haven't changed. In fact I have pushed myself to stay as close to the way I was when I left as possible. I have kept myself separate from others as much as possible. I have formed no significant bonds since my return. You see… in that battle, at the valley, I may have only won due to the advantages I had at the time. When we fought it was meant to be a battle to see who was right. You or me. You fighting to keep our bonds, I was fighting to sever them… I need an answer Naruto. I can't live with doubt, I need to know which of us was right!"
Sasuke's head snapped up and he stared fiercely at Naruto. Naruto on the other hand was nodding sadly. "You want to know if it was for nothing, you trying to flee. That's what's really eating at you. You don't want to acknowledge that for all your running away from Konoha you could have gotten just as strong, if not stronger here."
"So you understand. You were always good at understanding things like this, even if you were a moron at everything else. I can't wait. I need to know now."
"Well then, I guess I ought to start things off again," Naruto replied cheerfully. "It would just feel wrong for you to be the impatient one in this fight, so I'll get things rolling then."
Naruto surged forward, both of his swords weaving a deadly pattern as he approached his long time rival. Sasuke, sharingan blazing, dashed forward with equal fervor. When the two mighty forces meet it became one of the most unusual matches many of the shinobi present had ever seen. There was no loud clashing of blades, or screaming of jutsus. In fact the only noise present was rustling of their clothes as they moved and the whistling of blades through the air. Sasuke, with his sharingan, was evading Naruto's blades with near perfect precision. Sliding between strikes with barely a centimeter to spare, his sword moved with inhuman precision, taking advantage of every opening. Naruto was unrelenting, unceasing in his veritable whirlwind of strikes. Every time Sasuke tried to land a blow, Naruto's barrage of attacks would force him to break off the attack.
It was over a minute before contact was made at all between the two combatants and if it were not for Naruto's wind elemental chakra, blood would not even have been drawn. Naruto ducked a blow, Sasuke's blade coming so close to Naruto's head that it severed a few hairs. Naruto's blade had in the meantime, carved a thin, shallow line across Sasuke's nose. The two fighters both broke away from each other each trying to put distance between them. They paused catching their breath. After a moment, Naruto began to smile.
"You must hate it, doubting yourself. You went so far down the path you thought was best and now you can't stand the thought that you were wrong."
Sasuke frowned. "I'm merely using this as an opportunity to quell the few doubts I may have. I am sure that I will emerge triumphant from this fight. This is no different from the fight we had at the valley, except for us starting on more even ground, of course. However I will still prove to be superior."
Naruto shook his head. "So that's why you showed me your Chidori Nagashi. I was wondering why you would demonstrate your technique to me prior to the fight if you wanted an even match. Your trying to recreate our fight at the valley. At that fight we both knew each others finishing moves. For this fight you showed me a technique and forced me to show one in turn, my ability to use wind element chakra. Are you really that trapped in the past?"
Sasuke glared. "I'm not trapped in the past. Your talking nonsense, lets continue."
Naruto frowned thinking. "You are trapped in the past. Your obsessed with you're the murders your brother committed, which was in the past. You desire to know if you truly beat me all those years ago. Your desire to figure out which of us is stronger comes from your obsession with the past. You hate for things to change, and when they do you try to destroy whatever it is that caused this change. Like when you tried to kill me, I was threatening your position as the best of the rookies. As soon as it looked like I was better, off you go. And when I followed, you took that opportunity to try and kill me. The greatest example however is your brother, he changed everything for you."
"Shut up!" Sasuke growled. "I said lets keep fighting." With a snarl, Sasuke leapt forward to continue there battle.
As Sasuke and Naruto clashed once more, Sakura turned to the ever growing group of friends and teachers who had gathered there.
"I still don't get it. Usually when you watch shinobi fight, the secrets to their techniques start to become obvious. But I still have no idea how Naruto gets through Sasuke's blocks!" Sakura looked towards Tenten, resident weapons master and the one to help her with her last question. Her response came from her other side though.
"It has something to do with seals placed on his arms." Sakura turned and saw that it was Neji, byakugan activated who had answered her. Seeing confusion on the faces of those present Neji clarified.
"He is sending chakra through seals that he has on his arms, on a regular basis. The flow of chakra coincides with his strikes." Kakashi frowned.
"Are you sure? Can you take a closer look at the moment he sends the chakra through the seals?"
Neji nodded. He starred intently at the fight for a few moments, before stiffening and turning sharply to look at Kakashi, a startled expression on his face.
"It's two pulses of chakra close together! Did yo-… How did you know?"
Kakashi nodded. "I had a suspicion when you first mentioned the seals, it seemed like it would work when I thought about it." Tenten gasped as understanding hit her.
"The same way he unsealed his swords at the beginning of the fight!"
Kakashi nodded. Tenten turned to the others excitedly.
"He's sealing and unsealing the swords almost simultaneously! First, as the blade is about to make contact with Sasuke's, Naruto seals it away. His hand still moves however, so when he unseals the sword it's beyond his opponents block. Since the sword is only gone for only an instant, especially since they can both strike so fast, we don't even really register that it's gone. The blade can't be blocked because it disappears whenever you try to block it!"
"It seems that the young Naruto has truly entered the Springtime of Youth!"
As they turned to greet this newcomer, many of those present had looks of terror upon their faces.
"Hello Gai. What brings you here?" Tsunade asked.
"I heard that there was a match going on between two students of my hip rival Kakashi. Furthermore, Naruto has been a great inspiration to my adorable student Lee! His defeat of Neji and his mighty attempt at retrieving his friend inspired both Lee and I to work even harder! Is that not right Lee!"
"Yes Gai-sensei! Naruto's Youth is an inspiration to us all!"
"Oh, Lee. I didn't notice you there. I thought that the two of you usually trained at this time."
"Normally yes. However we were informed by a ninja that one Uzumaki Naruto had returned. We decided that it would be for the best if we came to greet him immediately. To do otherwise would be most un-Youthful. Now we see him in match with Sasuke. He is doing very well, although his excessive leg movements are allowing Sasuke more openings. He more than makes up for it though with his burning intensity!"
Kakashi looked at Gai curiously. "Wait. You said that Naruto's footwork is flawed? Naruto's entire fighting style seems impressive to me."
Gai nodded. "Indeed it is. However there is a tiny amount of unnecessary movement, it's very subtle but it is there."
"Sensei are you sure? I think I would have notices if he had…" Neji trailed off. Those near him noted that his eyes seemed to bulge from his head and all the blood seemed to drain from his face. "That's why he's been fighting so intensely. Not to get a hit on Sasuke, Naruto knows that Sasuke's to fast. He's distracting him, the flaw with his feet it's intentional."
Even as the group was digesting this new development Sasuke choose this moment to begin taunting Naruto.
"It's only a matter of time now Naruto!" Sasuke was grinning as his blade arced dangerously close to Naruto's side. "Thanks to the sharingan I'm reading your style and adapting to it. Soon it will be worthless against me."
Naruto sighed. "I suppose that is true. I guess I need to take this up a notch, right Sasuke?" Naruto broke out of the pattern of dodging and attack the two had formed, he dove forward onto his hands and used the momentum of his fall to twist into a upside down scissor kick. Sasuke flipped backwards to avoid it, landing a few meters away.
"Is that the best you got? You need more than that to beat me." Sasuke smirked. Naruto cocked his head.
"How about this then? You remember this don't you Sasuke?" Sasuke was not put off by Naruto's words, he was used to him talking big. It was the expression on his face that worried him. It was the same expression he had when he had set the trap for Kakashi on the day after their graduation. The expression that he wore when an opponent would dispel one of his shadow clones, believing it to be Naruto. The expression that meant Naruto knew something he didn't. Worse, knowing Naruto, it was going to be something completely off the wall.
Naruto fell to his knees, even as he slammed his palms into the ground. As his hands touched the ground a giant seal appeared, surrounding Sasuke. Sasuke had leapt into motion as soon as the seal had begun to appear and dove over the perimeter just as the electricity began to flare. Sasuke landed outside the seals, teeth gritted in anger and pain as his leg twitched and spasmed, having barely been caught in the electricity. Sasuke's sword sunk into the ground a few meters away, due to him reflexively dropping it when the electricity had surged through him.
It took Sasuke a moment to notice that the seal had vanished, and another moment to note that a shadow had seemed to fall over him. Looking upwards, Sasuke saw Naruto descending towards him both blades pulled back ready to strike. Rather than letting Naruto cleave him into bloody chunks and lacking a blade with which to counterattack, Sasuke took the only available option left to him. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrists as he struck, stopping the attack. The two of them pushed against the other for a moment struggling for dominance, Sasuke took the opportunity to get in a verbal strike.
"If that is supposed to be you taking it up a notch then I'm not impressed."
Sasuke smirked as he watched Naruto swell up with indignation. Then he realized that it wasn't indignity that Naruto was swelling up with, he was just taking an extremely deep breath. The same kind of breath that he, Sasuke, took before using a katon jutsu. Naruto couldn't use a katon jutsu though because he was preventing him from making hand seals. Right?
Sasuke's eyes went wide as fire, so hot it seemed to shine like a sunbeam, burned up the small space between them.
AN: Cliffhanger! I will explain how Naruto is doing the seeming impossible in the next chapter. I also will explain the sealless jutsu (and it's not that he has great chakra control, or that he has 'mastered' the technique. Actually it's one of my more unique (or so I tell myself) idea's. The fights just getting started so hang on, this is where I start to pull out all the stops (especially for Sasuke). Also before I hear a ton of complaints about possible overpowered character, in this chapter or the next, I would like to say one thing. For those of you who keep up to date on the manga, you know how strong Sasuke and Naruto are now, and the high powered moves that they used? Well this is two years after that, two years foe them to take themselves to even greater heights. That thought should scare you, cause it does me. Oh, and once again I apologize for my laziness.