章節 207: The Fated Battle - Part 1
"Finally, I have the time to train," Naruto murmured as he landed at the entrance of the Hidden Leaf Village.
"You are… Uzumaki Naruto?" The guards posted at the entrance asked.
"Yup!" Naruto nodded.
"I see," The Guard looked through his books.
"I don't see your name here,"
"You are not returning from an official mission are you?" The man asked.
"Nope, it's an off records mission ya know, something I went to take care of from the previous mission," Naruto replied.
"Noted,"
"Please report to the Hokage's office along with me as Chūnins aren't usually authorized to leave the village without permission," The man said as he stepped out of the guard's post.
("Looks like they were put on alert since Lord Third went out officially…") Naruto thought as he silently followed after the guard.
("Naruto,") Kurama called out from within.
"Huh, What's up?" Naruto asked.
"Be on guard, Someone locked onto us," Kurama informed.
"I see…" Naruto took it seriously since he could only access Kurama's abilities to sense intentions only when he was actively using the power.
("I knew that brat wouldn't be quiet any longer…") Kurama thought back to the sensation he felt. It was very similar to when Naruto first met Sasuke after he had disappeared for two and a half years.
Kurama smiled from within, ("Now Naruto what will you do…?") Kurama thought as he decided to watch.
…
A few minutes after Naruto left, Sasuke showed up at the village entrance. Sasuke was running at top speed while Sakura closely followed from behind.
"Hey, Stop right there!" The second guard at the post stood up, seeing Sasuke run at top speed towards the entrance.
< Lightning Style! >
(Whoosh)
Sasuke simply increased his speed using lightning style and flashed past the guard.
"STOP!" The guard shouted taking out his kunai from the kunai pocket.
"WAIT!" The guard heard a voice from behind.
("Who is she…?") The Guard thought.
Sakura quickly arrived before the guard and apologized.
"I'm sorry, My teammate had something urgent to do," Sakura spoke.
"You're Team 7, Hatake Kakashi's student right?" The man asked.
"Yes!" Sakura immediately bowed towards the man.
"Look, your teammate is supposed to follow the rules. As ninjas, you know how short we are on manpower for guarding the village during the event. Now that lord Hokage has left with a few jōnins, we have even a bigger responsibility than ever to protect the village." The man reprimanded Sakura.
"I understand…" Sakura bowed once, but within her mind, she was preoccupied with thoughts on Sasuke, especially after he showed a power he had never used in front of her before.
("That look in his eyes…") Sakura thought back to the dangerous-looking eyes of Sasuke, that had yellow irises and narrow slit for the pupil instead of a minuscule round one at the center. These eyes were similar to the one she saw in Orochimaru. The same amount of intensity, but was even more awful when coming from the one she considered dear.
…
("I'm getting close….") Sasuke itched to have a battle so bad that he was completely obsessed about finding Naruto.
"Hmm?" Sasuke stopped on the rooftop of a building which was a few buildings away to the spot that Naruto was heading to…
("The Hokage's office?") Sasuke cursed his luck seeing that he couldn't stop Naruto.
…
"I see…" the first guard who accompanied Naruto was reading through a mission report.
"Yeah…"
"It was an urgent mission, ya know," Naruto smiled holding the back of his head with his right hand.
"But the land of waves is far from here, How did you get there so quickly?" The guard asked.
"Oh you know, the transportation jutsu…" Naruto explained his circumstances.
"W-wait, you're…" Naruto immediately stopped the guard from revealing more about himself.
"Yup, That's me, ya know, Hehe…" Naruto walked away clumsily towards the gates of the Hokage's Office.
"Naruto!" A voice was heard.
"Eh?" Naruto was surprised.
"Sasuke… I was jus…" Naruto's eyes were suddenly drawn towards the Sage eyes of Sasuke.
"Sasuke, you…"
"Fight Me!" Sasuke shouted.
Sasuke thought back to the time he had asked for a fight against Naruto only to find out that Naruto had been interrupted by a sudden mission. But this time he wasn't going to let Naruto off easily…
At this moment, Sakura had also arrived on the scene, but the moment she got into the range of these two, Sasuke said "Fight Me!". Sakura was scared.
"Sasuke, wh…"
"Stay out of this!" Sasuke immediately scolded Sakura.
"Sasuke that's going too far…" Naruto said in a low voice.
"I don't care, I only want one thing right now," Sasuke said.
…
("What are you gonna do Naruto?") Kurama asked.
"…"
("We have to go to that festival tomorrow. And the last thing I want is for us to fight now…") Naruto mulled over.
(Bang!)
"Fine!, If it's a fight you want, I'll put you on the ground!" Naruto punched his left palm which caught his fist as he declared the statement.
"Hmph!" Sasuke was relieved to have a chance to fight Naruto.
"I'll punch you till I get the truth out of you," Sasuke said.
Sakura was feeling worried for the two, feeling as if the team was almost about to split apart.
_________________________
On another side of the Hidden Leaf…
Hinata and Neji were sparring against each other.
(Bang!)
Hinata landed on her butt, falling after facing against a simple palm. Neji looked at Hinata.
"Lady Hinata, I'm afraid we must stop training," Neji said.
"Please… I must continue…" Hinata stood up slowly, but steadily.
Neji shook his head.
("Ever since that day at the hospital, she hasn't been able to concentrate… Whenever I ask, she would refrain from telling me about it. How should I deal with this…") Neji thought.
"Yo!" Neji and Hinata heard a voice.
"Kiba-kun," Hinata looked at her teammate Kiba and his dog Akamaru who sat over his hood comfortably.
"I see that you are training," Kiba said as he walked over to the two.
(Woof!) Akamaru barked. It hopped off of Kiba's head and ran over to Hinata.
(Woof!) Akamaru started licking all over Hinata's face.
"Stop it!" Hinata laughed trying to hold Akamaru back.
(Woof!) (Woof!) Akamaru barked happily in return.
"Hmm, That's strange…" Kiba said.
"Huh?" Neji was confused.
"Akamaru usually does not do that, unless someone close to me had to be cheered up," Kiba said.
"Cheered-up?" Neji asked.
"Yeah, You see usual dogs can sense the emotional state of a human being by hearing the tone of their voice or reading facial expressions to a certain extent… But ninja dogs have trained a 6th sense, No matter how a person tries to fake their body language or facial expression, ninja dogs can usually tell if a person is happy or sad," Kiba explained.
"So you are saying Lady Hinata spirits are low…?" Neji asked as he stared at Akamaru continue to play around next to Hinata.
"I think so," Kiba said in a low voice.
Neji stared at Hinata laughing at Akamaru continuing to lick her face…
_______________
On another side of the Hidden Leaf…
Two figures were in a park. One sitting on a bench, the other doing one-hand push-ups.
"So, you are telling me that you cannot use Chakra to perform ninjutsu?" Deidara asked.
"Indeed, My body cannot use Chakra for Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. I am only able to perform Taijutsu or physical activities that may require chakra. That is why I train every single day, so I do not fall behind, but I can hope to catch up and even surpass my friends someday," Lee explained.
"I see…" Deidara nodded with interest.
"So how did you get to know Naruto-kun?" Lee asked.
"Me? I met him during a mission where we were supposed to take care of this Orochimaru or whatever," Deidara explained.
"I see," Lee nodded as he continued with his push-ups.
"…"
"Naruto, what is your opinion on him?" Deidara asked.
"hah…" Lee panted as he paused doing push-ups.
"Naruto-ku…" Lee thought back to all the times Naruto had been there for him.
From training along with him, believing in his potential, and even supporting him in his fights.
"He works very hard and cherishes his friends. Naruto-kun would do anything and everything for the people close to him. He is one of the greatest ninjas I know." Lee said as he thought back to everything he knew about Naruto from the time they trained together, to Naruto facing his battles. Naruto's character, attitude and his strength everything was attained by him working all the way for it.
"…" Deidara listened silently.
"During the second phase of the Chūnin exam, I've realized how much hard work I have to put in to even try to catch up with Naruto-kun and the others. Even now, I try to train more than I do regularly since I remember Naruto-kun told us to train hard recently…" Lee said.
"Hmm? Train hard," Deidara found it a bit strange when he heard that.
"Yeah, I don't know what Naruto-kun was trying to convey, but I know that there is something down the line that all of us have to face, and we have to be ready for it," Lee said as he started doing push-ups once again.
"Hmmm…" Deidara had a nagging feeling that something was about to happen.
___________________
Hidden Leaf Third Training Ground…
Naruto and Sasuke stared against each other, meanwhile, Sakura just watched from the side.
"I've been waiting for this…" Sasuke stared at Naruto with mad excitement, on the other hand, Naruto stared at Sasuke with a solemn gaze.
"After I showed that place to you, I thought it would be plenty enough for you to understand the gravity of the situation. But I guess I neglected the fact that your vision is still clouded with the idea of revenge…" Naruto said.
"Hmph, I would've agreed if you called it revenge before, but I have a feeling that there is something else behind what my brother did," Sasuke said thinking back to his dream of that dreadful day.
Itachi had relayed his hateful words causing Sasuke to have trauma, but before he left, Sasuke was able to spot tears coming out of Itachi's eyes. Whether it was real or not was up for debate as Sasuke had only started seeing this in his recent dreams/nightmares. Sasuke had combined Naruto's words and his illusionary dream to connect impossible dots of what could have been the handiwork of someone else, making Itachi a pawn. It could be a person or fate itself, but what Sasuke had been denied was of the reason to the notion behind such a decision. A reason that he as the last Uchiha of the Hidden Leaf was entitled to know. Why should someone else close to him yet not even part of his family withhold information about his brother, especially one that had led to the destruction of the entire Uchiha Line?
Naruto frowned, would it be right to tell him or not? was a question that had been plaguing him since the time he had revealed the truth about himself back in the forest. He had simply thought he could hold the answer off until Sasuke had become stronger and wiser. In this timeline Sasuke had already far surpassed his past self at this point, He could pretty much be stronger than the Sasuke he was when Naruto had met him with Team Yamato outside of Orochimaru''s hideout but what he had lacked was the ability to comprehend the true meaning behind one's actions and the wisdom that goes along with it to take the right decision should he know what had forced Itachi's hand.
"No matter what I still think it is not the right time for you to learn about it," Naruto said.
Sasuke brought his hand towards the sword hilt at his back.
"It doesn't matter, I'll beat it out of your I have to!" Sasuke said.
(Clang!)
Naruto's kunai had parried against Sasuke's sword.
"We'll see about that!" Naruto said, signifying the beginning of their match
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