Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Backwards World ❯ Positive + Negative = Uh Oh! ( Chapter 9 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

I was really excited about writing this chapter, since it's like the climax of the story, so I started writing this the minute after I put up the last one. But I have to warn you all; I am really, really bad at action scenes. I've tried my best, and please enjoy! Oh, and...well....I don't own any Naruto rights! So just shut up about it! >_<

*****SPECIAL NOTICE****: I'll just be making up the other Naruto's moves off the top of my head. So when you see them, remember: THEY ARE NOT REAL JUTSU....I think. I'm not very good at making up names, so please don't laugh at me. And remember, people: I SUCK AT ACTION. Sorry.

Naruto's eyes bulged as the figure stepped out of the shadows and into the streetlights.

He looked exactly like Naruto. Except for a few features. His outfit was the same as Naruto's, but it was completely black, and the little whisker marks on his cheeks were gone. His eyes were a steely, emotionless blue color, cold and hard. His arms were crossed as he displayed a mischievous though deadly smirk at the startled boy. When Sakura finally got her lips out from a gap in the bench and looked up to see both Narutos, she screamed and ran away like Hinata if she saw Naruto in the shower. (Like that's a surprise...)

Naruto just stared at the boy in front of him as if he were looking at a darker version of himself in a mirror. His cold exterior was more mysterious, serious...bloodthirsty. He just gazed at him with expectation, almost glaring. A jolting shiver came up his spine as he heard him speak once again.

"I understand you've been looking for me..." Naruto gulped. He couldn't understand why he was so nervous. He thought his opposite would be an idiot who didn't know any good techniques. But he looked quite...intimidating. Nonetheless, Naruto tried to swallow his anxiety. "T-That's right! I've come to defeat you!"

"Why is that? So you could go back to the place you came from?" he asked.

"Y-You know...?" Naruto choked.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. There are many possibilities." he answered with a bored tone. Naruto blinked with confusion. But the second he blinked and opened his eyes again, he was gone. The boy's head frantically scanned the area.

"Damn it! He got away!"

"Are you sure?" The boy's head flung up to the sky as he saw the other Naruto descending straight to the ground. The real Naruto screamed as his arms flung to his face to try and protect himself. But he felt nothing. Only the cool night air.

"I'm over here." Naruto screamed again as he turned his head and saw him right behind him. He vanished again, and popped up back in front of Naruto. "And over here." Then again, beside him. "Here, also." Another time, on his other side. "Not to mention here." And then, back in the black shadow of the trees. "And back here."

Naruto began to growl with frustration and annoyment as his other toyed with him so. The infuriated flame that ignited in Naruto's ocean-painted eyes made his other chuckle. It was a deep, low, dry laugh. It made Naruto shiver again. But he shook it off and brought his hands up quickly in an immediate handsign.

"It's about time I took care of you, so I can go home!" he announced as the flame in his eyes snapped and crackled with fury. His opposite laughed harder, as he rested his hands behind him.

"Well, now. Shall we get down to it?" was all he said, as his stormy blue eyes created a sly smirk upon his face. Naruto gulped softly as he made his quick handsigns.

"Art of the Doppelganger!!" Over fifteen Narutos appeared from a small cloud of smoke, standing by the real Naruto. The boy's other chuckled again as he suddenly leaped in the air, away from the group.

"After him!!" Naruto ordered the others, and in a flash, they all soared through the air, following the imposter. It was somewhat difficult for them to catch up to him; his speed was twice as better as the real Naruto's. They kept going until they were in the wide training grounds. It was then that Naruto's other stopped, landing swiftly to the ground. The leader of the group landed as well, but his copies were charging towards Naruto's other. But instead of panicking, he only shook his head lightly from side to side, and leaped again into the air. With his hands still behind his back, he made handsigns in the heat of a microsecond.

"Air Style! Art of the Weeping Storm...The Warping Breeze!!" Just then, when the doppelgangers were about to strike him down, a swirling barrier of angry winds began to manifest, and soon surrounded the boy. The copies were immediately impervious of entry and were repelled backward violently, plummeting to the ground. The second they did, another cloud of smoke enveloped each of them as they vanished. Naruto gaped at the scene. 'What was that? He just whipped up a huge wall of air, and I didn't even see him making any signs!' The boy then came down swiftly once more, his hands still behind his back. Naruto then thought: 'Wait! What if he's making the signs behind his back! Yeah! That must be it! But how?'

"I can tell just by your expression..." Naruto's other began to speak as he landed. "that you are in awe of my technique. That you are in awe of watching each and every one of your shadow doppelgangers vanish with one strike. That you are surprised by the fact that I do my handsigns behind my back."

"Well...yeah." was Naruto's only response. His other laughed again, which still made Naruto shiver as if cold.

"It does not matter whether or not I can see the signs I make. It is mostly depended on muscle memory. It is not what you thought you remember, but what you felt you remember. And that is a fact when one is a ninja." he said. Naruto only stared at him. His other only shook his head, disappointed. "If one such as you does not even understand something so simple, then one such as you is not fit to be a shinobi."

Naruto growled at his words. "And that is a fact." he said last. "Yeah, whatever! You're the last person I'd want to hear any kinda advice like that from! You're my other! Another side of me! A negative version of my own personality! And that means you're nothing but a chicken who just wants to show off and hide his talent! So don't ever try to talk to me about being a shinobi, because if I am, then you're not!!" Naruto said, pointing a finger at him, the fire in his eyes still blazing greatly. His other made no reaction as he responded.

"Fool. Though I am still naught but a reflection of you in a mirror, a shadow of your heart, a twisted version of your past and future, I am still you. No matter what, I am you. I do and am everything that you aren't and cannot. For instance, I take my opponents seriously. I am patient when it comes to the progress of my training. And..." he paused as he grinned evilly and began to make more handsigns behind his back. "I actually think before I act!"

"Air Style! Art of the Dancing Hurricane...The Air Cutter!!" Naruto was sent back as he felt a certain tension build layer after layer in the air. Just then, he felt snake-like whips of wind snap against him, feeling them pass right through him and creeping through his veins. Naruto's hands flew to his chest as he began to moan unbearingly and hauntingly. He suddenly felt his energy being drained right from his limbs. It was as if the strange winds were absorbing his strength.

"Haha. Somewhat painful, isn't it? It isn't, really." The other Naruto said, smirking at the boy. He looked up slowly to see him. "W-What!?"

"My Air Cutter Jutsu. It is a very special move that allows the wind I control to move through your body and devour your chakra through your chakra points. Yet it is almost painless. It is basically no different than being ill." He said. He was sounding like he was a doctor. An evil one. And very obviously, Naruto could see that.

'It's like...these strange winds are sucking the life from my body...!' Naruto continued to groan as he gripped his shirt, but kept standing. 'I can't believe this! This battle only just started and already my chakra is all gone! Man, talk about bad mileage!' The boy growled as he tried to remove his sweaty hands, gripping his aching chest helplessly, and made his handsigns with them. His other cocked an eyebrow slightly at the boy's actions. "That's a bit odd. All of your chakra should be expended; you should not be able to even stand, let alone use any more jutsu." Though he seemed somewhat surprised, it was a bored surprise.

The hardship of just being able to stand ate away at Naruto's drained body quickly, and though it was easy to be bold, it wasn't so much to push it to a certain limit. And that's the undeniable truth when it came to people like Naruto. It was mostly easy to just talk brave and cool, but not so much as to actually show it. Because of that, he's mostly thought of as a fool. (As if most of us don't know that already. Me? Never did, never will. ^_^)

'What am I gonna do!? If I try to fight back, he'll probably use that Warping Breeze jutsu on me like he did my shadow clones. And I'm almost all outta gas; a blow like that could really kick my can! Though I could just try and dodge his moves a while, and hopefully my chakra will start to come back. But what if he could see that? If I even get at least a speck of chakra back in, he'll use that Air Cutter and sap me dry again! What the hell am I gonna do!?' He argued with himself for a moment until a desperate idea came to mind. 'Wait a minute! What if I...?' Naruto rummaged through that thought for a minute. It was clever, but extremely dangerous. He couldn't even guess the outcome. He wondered what might happen to him if his opposite was killed. Even so, he anxiously considered his options. He didn't have much time though; his other was beginning to yawn with boredom.

"I expected as much from my alternate counterpart. Though even I am surprised above my own expectations. Surprised, but bored. I suppose I should just rid you from my sight now, while I still have at least a bit of patience." his other said, once again making hidden handsigns behind his back. Naruto noticed and quickly drew a kunai from his belt and flung it at him. He ceased as the knife went right past his arm, distracting his technique. They both stopped. Naruto panted quietly as a tear in his sleeve became visible, and a small red cut appeared on his arm. He looked down at it, then back at Naruto, cracking a small smirk. "It's about time you decided to act. Took longer than expected on my part. But I guess that's how strong my Air Cutter is; though I'm impressed you can still move with such speed. You've earned that much." He chuckled again as he lightly grazed his index finger over the mark.

Naruto cringed again as his other began to make his handsigns again behind his back. "Air Style! Art of the Winter Swallow...Feathers of Ice!" Naruto looked up suddenly to see a whirlpool of sparkles surrounding his other. They aligned in orbit around the opposite Naruto as they began to grow slightly larger and emit a bright but freezing light. They soon formed feather-like blades, hard as diamond and sharp as shattered glass. 'W-What the--? What are those!?' The blonde haired boy began to panic as his other brought a hand up and pointed his finger at his counterpart, ordering his ice minions to attack. They suddenly pointed straight towards Naruto like arrows, and faster than the blink of an eye, raced towards him.

Naruto screamed and groaned as he felt the blades pierce him. They tore his clothes to ribbons of tattered cloth and deeply pierced his perspirated skin, leaving behind mark by mark, cut by cut, scrape by scrape; blood trailing over each and every one. On his arms, legs, waist, shoulders, and cheeks. He stammered breathlessly as his body trembled from the pain and the strange warmth of his own blood while his body felt cold. He fell to the ground by his weakened knees, enthralled in the immense pain that conquered his drained body. His face fell to the ground as he lay motionless.

Instead of a victorious laugh, as expected from normal bad guys who won, Naruto's other shook his head with disappointment and scowled, crossing his arms. "I only wish I could've had a more enjoyable experience with my counterpart."

Though he was about half-concious, Naruto could hear what he was saying.

"And to think, this is who the great Uzumaki Naruto is; an easily-startled target for any shinobi to take. A could-be warrior who doesn't even know how to think before he acts. An easily-angered fool who never takes his opponent or situation seriously. An overly enthusiastic and overconfident idiot who never even thinks of attempting any hard work at his goal. Face it, Naruto. You'll never be a great ninja like you want to."

Naruto began to breath hauntingly as he listened to his insulting words.

"In order to be the best ninja, you must act, think, and prepare like one. But all you do is just talk bold and brave. Your only weapon is basically your big mouth!"

A menacing but quiet growl escaped from Naruto as his bare teeth shown, becoming increasingly upset at his comments.

"If you cannot defeat me, who is obviously much more serious and knowledgable than you, then you can never get back to the pitiful place you call "home." You can never truly be proud of any of your own accomplishments if you feel they were only minor. You will never be respected by the fellow villagers whose feelings for you were that of an annoying nuisance. And you will never be Hokage!"

Red, mad knuckles deeply dug through the ground into an angry fist as another growl erupted from Naruto. But it was much darker than before. It was overflowing with evil and bloodthirsty. His body began to tremble again, but it was not from pain. It was from great anger of his counterpart's piercing words. His legs seem to move on their own as the soles of his feet found the flat ground and he stood tall again. His opposite's eyes enlarged a small bit as he examined the boy's unpredicted actions.

"Hmm. Anger is quite the powerful emotion." he said, crossing his arms again. Naruto ignored it as he began to breath angrily. Just then, an uncertainty in the air made his other's eyes twitch with question. He could feel a spike of an unfamiliar aura surround Naruto. Infuriated gusts of crimson winds began to circle the boy, feeding and manifesting from his anger.

"Don't...ever..." Naruto started. His voice was richly thick with rage, with no sign of hesitation. The aura around him became stronger as his thirst for blood grew. It was then he slowly lifted his head, revealing his mad face.

The whisker marks on his cheeks were darkened and red, as if they were deeply cut by a large piece of broken glass. Sharp, foaming fangs formed in his teeth, gleaming from his saliva. His eyes were heavily painted with bloodlust; like those of a rabid dog. He growled with deadly malice as his menacing glare pierced through the cold blue ones of his opposite's. He showed no emotion in his evil-contorted face. Only rage. He was no longer afraid, startled, frantic, or regretful. At that moment, he no longer wished to go home, to see his real friends, to get back to the life he previously lived in; his only goal right then was to wipe this person off the face of the planet.

"Don't you ever...underestimate me!!!" he cried with fury as he stood unafraid in front of his counterpart, ready to erase him from existence.