Crossover Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ NAvatarUTO ❯ Naruto vs Zuko ( Chapter 21 )

Azula took her seat in the middle of the royalty balcony located in center of the left viewing podium. Above and to her right, in the center podium was the Hokage's box, reserved for the leaders of the ninja villages. It vexed Azula that she was put in only the second best seat of honor. How dare these peasants put members of the royal family second to their filthy kake? It was yet another reminder that the entire world was not under the divine rule of the Fire Nation. Yet. She contented herself by the fact that soon the Sand Village would destroy this place.

Azula sat back and waited for the show to begin. She had wanted to see an exam take place ever since she herd of the barbaric ritual of setting children against each other in mortal combat. It was just her kind of entertainment. Reading the test itinerary, Azula saw that the matches would be one on one, sort of like a less honorable Agni kai, she thought. Finally the participants gathered in the arena. Then, all but the two competators filed out and the match began.

Naruto's face was set with determination. Zuko looked in disgust at the boy in orange before him. Naruto raised his arm and defiantly pointed, “I give you my word Zuko. I will win!” He declared. Zuko was taken aback. “How do you know my name?”

“Katara told me your true identity” Naruto answered.

Zuko laughed. “If she told you that, then she must have told you how powerful I am. You're dumber than you look if you think you can beat me!”

“Don't count me out!” Naruto warned as he rushed at Zuko.

Zuko easily blocked the straight frontal attack with a blow of his own. He watched Naruto's form fall to the ground in flames. Something was wrong. Bodies don't burn so rapidly. He approached his victim. `Is this… a log?' Zuko stumbled as Naruto's foot collided into his back.

“What? Never seen substitution before?” Naruto yelled confidently. Another Naruto appeared in front of him and Zuko was propelled in the air by the force of the shadow clones' kicks. Zuko roared and fired flames in every direction, dispelling the clones. He landed and skidded backwards, one hand on the ground for balance. He realized that his outburst had singed the mask he wore over his face. Zuko tore it off, it would only be a hindrance and there was no one here who would recognize him, or so he thought.

Azula leaned forward in her chair. Was that? It couldn't be. But it was. That was her pathetic brother ZuZu fighting down there. Azula cackled at the realization. Yet again ZuZu was making an embarrassment of himself. Well, after this was over she had better have a little chat with big brother to stop him from making more of a mess of the family name and see what he had learned of the Avatar.

Naruto found that it was much harder to get anywhere near Zuko now that he had wizened up to his tricks. None of his clones could make it through Zuko's walls of fire. He had no choice but to suffer the inferno. Leaping and dodging the fiery attacks coming his way, Naruto was making no progress towards his enemy and could only barely avoid being hit. Panting, he wiped the sweat out of his eyes. He was hot.

“All tired out yet?” Zuko asked.

“Not a chance!” Naruto spat back. “I never go back on my word and I don't give up, especially to anyone who mistreats my friends.”

“What did I ever do to your friends?” Zuko asked.

“You chased them all over the world, that's what.” Said Naruto. “All they wanted was to live their lives and you decided to hunt them down like rabbits!”

“What do you care?” Zuko sneered. “Ninja hurt people all the time. Your people are nothing but thugs for hire, petty assassins. You carry out your missions no matter who it hurts as a duty to your village. I am only fulfilling my duty to my country by eliminate the danger the Avatar poses to my father.”

“What danger?” Naruto asked. “How do you know they're a threat to you? Haven't you ever heard of talking to people before attacking them?”

“Shut up!” Zuko yelled firing once again. “This is the path set for me and it's not for a lowlife like you to understand the mandate of heaven. I will capture the Avatar and finally be welcomed home as a hero. As prince of the Fire Nation, I am destined to be fire lord but I must regain my father's approval first.”

Panting as he rolled away from Zuko's blasts, Naruto asked, “Is that really what you want? To gain respect from a father who burns and banishes his own son? Just to follow in his footsteps? I wouldn't follow a father like that even if he were the hokage.”

“Enough you peasant!” Zuko said quaking with anger. “Let's end this.”

Zuko sent a flying kick at Naruto who was too slow to get out of the way. Covering his face against the flames with his arms, he thought that surely this was the end. Shrieks filled the stadium as everyone saw Naruto get hit. But then, he opened his eyes. “What the?” Looking at himself Naruto saw that he was alive. Shrugging it off as good luck, Naruto took advantage of the shock and went on the offensive.

“What just happened, Kakashi sensei?” Sakura asked. “I thought I saw Naruto get hit but did you see anything different with your sharingan?”

“No. Naruto was hit all right.” Kakashi confirmed. “It seems it was his sweat that saved him.”

“Huh?”

“Take a look. Just a moment ago, Naruto was dripping with sweat, now he's totally dry. The fire caused all his sweat to evaporate and took the brunt of the heat.”

“Eeeew!” Sakura squealed.

Kakashi ignored his student's squeamishness. Something was very off about this Li character.

Flames chased Naruto around the ring; his attempt to get near Zuko failed. He was dodging and running and could still only barely stay uninjured. This was bad, he thought. There was no way to get past all that fire. While on the run, Naruto made hand signs for the shadow clone jutsu and fifty Narutos scattered all around the arena. As an enraged Zuko picked off the clones one by one, the real Naruto was waiting in the wooded area.

Zuko looked around him once he dispelled the last clone in a puff of smoke. Behind a tree something caught his eye: a patch of orange. Eager to finish the match, Zuko went in for the attack but discovered that it too was a clone. “Come out here coward!” He yelled. He ran around the trees searching for his opponent.

Kakashi narrowed his eye. “That Li is acting weird. He only uses fire style but he is from the Sand Village, and now he is running around so conspicuously that it almost seems like he's not even a ninja.” With each blow Zuko sent Naruto's way, Kakashi was more and more certain that he had seen this fighting style before. A long surpressed memory bubbled up from the back of his mind and Kakashi clenched his teeth under his mask. Sakumo Hatake, the white fang of the leaf village, lay burned and betrayed by his best friend. Now Kakashi was certain of it. Li was a fire bender.

Zuko skidded to a halt when he saw Naruto standing in a clearing under a tall tree. “Don't tell me you're a fake too.” Zuko snarled.

“Nope.” Naruto replied. “I'm the original.”

“So you've finally stopped running away and hiding behind your clones, you coward?” Zuko asked.

“You have it backwards, Zuko.” Naruto said.

“That's prince Zuko to you.” Zuko snapped.

Ignoring him, Naruto went on. “You're the coward. All you do is hide in your father's shadow.”

“Shut up!” Zuko yelled. “This is the path I am meant to take.”

Naruto laughed. “Only cowards stay on the path.”

Zuko threw his flames but Naruto blocked with a wall of clones. Zuko attacked again, moving closer to his target but Naruto only made more clones. “Just accept your fate.” Zuko spat. “Unlike me, whose path will lead me to greatness, you will go nowhere. You will always be nothing.” Zuko advanced for his final attack.

“Now!” Naruto yelled.

“What?” Looking up, Zuko saw that above him in the branches of the tree hung hundreds of shadow clones all leaping towards him. He shot out fire but there were just too many of them and Zuko was soon buried under a pile of squirming orange bodies

“You're wrong you know.” Naruto said. “True greatness can't be gained as a birthright. I want to be hokage but there is no way that I would accept the title if it was just given to me from my parents. That's not what it means to be hokage. To be Hokage means to be the best, to protect the village like family. That is a true leader, that is real greatness and anyone can achieve it. Even someone like me, an orphan without any family ties at all. When I'm hokage I'll know that I got there on my own two feet. Will you be able to say that when you are fire lord? It's those of us who have to struggle to get recognition that becomes strong. I don't care how good you are at fire bending, as long as you keep on taking what is given to you instead of getting it yourself then you are weak.”

“The winner is Naruto Uzumaki” Genma announced. The crowd cheered. Naruto grinned and waved at the crowd. He then collapsed from dehydration. Should've listened to the writer.