Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Clone ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

A/NI hope I got the necessary fight scenes down pat and thanks to all of you who took the time out to review, it means a lot to me it really does. I am hoping to break the 100-review barrier with this chapter; lets view it, as a challenge we have to overcome together shall we? You review as much as possible and I promise to make more of an effort in putting more detail and length into my chapters. Until the end note, cheers.

 

 

Darklighter

 

“Human speech”

“ Demon or summon speech”

“Human thoughts”

“Demon or summon thoughts”

Disclaimer: …………………………̷ 0;………………… whatever

Chapter 10: Finally a confrontation!

 

Naruto took further inventory of his state as he progressed with his warm up. Kyuubi and sleep had ensured that he had more or less retained his form; he slipped smoothly from the final form of the tiger crane into the opening form of the more esoteric tiger style.

Flashback

“Naruto you have, for all intents and purposes mastered the basic tiger-crane stances. From here on out I could teach you one of three branches of the style each of which emphasizes a different fighting mentality.”

“ What are the different styles sensei?”

“Power, fluidity and the middle path balance.”

Naruto stared up at the sky briefly thinking about which would suit him best, fluidity sounded more like a defensive thing so he wasn't too sure about that one. Power seemed to be more suited to his preferred approach to combat but then he didn't want to become a lopsided ninja focusing in one discipline. Perhaps balance was what he needed in his life…

Jiraiya grinned, easily reading the emotions playing across the boys face. He would have to get round to teaching him to be a bit more obtuse, an open ninja was not exactly ideal.

“Perhaps it would help if I told you the iconic representations of the styles.”

“Yea I think that would help a bit.”

“ Well power is usually represented by the tiger, fluidity by the snake and balance by the mongoose.”

“Is there any particular advantage in any of them?”

“Well assuming you were engaged in a hypothetical taijutsu battle with someone of your exact skill tiger beats mongoose, mongoose beats snake and snake beats tiger. It's a lot more complicated than that though.”

Naruto resumed his intent examination of the skyline, one of the clouds looked like… a tiger. He grinned it was a fucked up way to make such an important decision but what the hell!”

“Give me power sensei, and lots of it.”

End Flashback

That was a couple of weeks ago before Jiraiya had upped and absconded to god knows where and Naruto had gotten the first important mission of his life. He had fully mastered the first three of 15 tiers in the style though he had yet to truly reach the level of proficiency when the attacks and guards were mere muscle memory. Grinning to himself at his irrational decision he began the dance of the tiger, the whirl promising instant death.

Hinata paused for a moment to watch Naruto, she had sensed the change when he suddenly switched styles, she could tell at a glance that this new style was based off the other but it was different somehow, more… violent… more animalistic. For a moment she pitied anyone on the receiving end of his flashing hands and feet. Suddenly she remembered that she would face the same thing in her spar with Naruto and began to examine his style more closely.

He was fast considering he wasn't from her a knowledge a taijutsu orientated fighter he also seemed to be quite flexible but she was sure she was distinctly faster than him and from what she knew about Sasuke he might be capable of running circles round the blonde. In power, tenacity and sheer craziness his style surpassed theirs though. Watching him his movements seemed so… unpredictable, just when she felt sure he was about to perform a certain punch or kick next he would launch himself into an intricate airborne maneuver, or he would change the pitch of a strike mid blow. It was amazing to watch more what she would expect from a wild animal set free from its cage for the first time. The unpredictability however was a problem, the evasion techniques old one eye had painstakingly drilled into her brain would be useless especially when she could not tell her opponent's next move from his muscle patterns alone. It wasn't that much of a problem, she would just have to rely more on her speed and amazing dexterity to get her out of trouble rather than using the byakugan. She lost track of time as she watched his lithe panther like movements. Trying to gain a feel for his capabilities by simply observing. After what seemed like a long while she noticed something was off… Naruto had not slowed down, at all. Using the sun to make a quick estimate she guessed that he had been working at it for at least an hour. No one she knew could keep up that kind of intensity for that kind of period. Stamina would be another advantage of his then.

Meanwhile Sasuke was also watching proceedings in the clearing below him though not with quite the avid interest Hinata was showing keeping her byakugan on while her back was ostentatiously turned. Naruto was somehow… less than he had expected, his taijutsu form was good true but to Sasuke his speed was nothing to write home about. Suddenly he felt a flare of jealousy and anger that he suppressed ruthlessly. He knew that a Sannin's training was wasted on the dumb blond; nevertheless he would prove his worth tomorrow. Konoha would never again think to slight the last Uchiha.

It would be of interest of the reader to note that Kakashi being his usual enigmatic self had flatly refused to date all requests from any of his teammates to battle each other. In fact he had forbidden them from sparring with each other without his permission, which of course was never given. Instead during group meetings he had, had the team practice various exercises both mental and physical meant to foster teamwork and unison. Though he would never say it to them the C class mission had nearly ended in disaster. Sasuke had fallen into a depression when he realized that Naruto had actually completed his objective and helped Hinata while he himself was about to die at the hands of the mysterious hunter-nin. The mission tired out his team; a friendly little spar couldn't hurt could it? Sasuke finally had the chance he wanted to prove his worth (though Kakashi did not value him any less than the other members of the team.) and if he lost so what? Maybe he would calm down a little and lose the arrogance that was holding him back from achieving full strength. He had some doubt but Kakashi was of the distinct opinion that it would all work out in the end. Turning back to his Icha Icha he decided to treat himself to one more chapter before bed.

 

The next morning Naruto woke up full of expectation, Sasuke across from him was already awake and ready, winding bandages around his arms.

“Ready dobe?”

“Of course teme… get ready for a royal humbling.”

“I'm deadly serious Naruto… today is the day I prove my worth regardless of the consequences”

Naruto suppressed a sudden shiver; it wouldn't do for Sasuke to see him express his sudden trepidation “Jeez out of dozens of potential partners why did I end up with the guy who would not hesitate to kill me if it boosted his fucking inferiority complex?” After much pondering while he showered and got ready Naruto decided he must have been something really bad in his previous life, a killer maybe or even worse (shudder) a girl.

Yawning loudly Naruto slipped out of the cold shower quickly. Taking extra time to belt on his clothing and protective gears he checked his depleted weapons supply. One of his four remaining Kunai was cracked, useless for close knife fighting. Sighing he dropped it carefully on the Spartan desk beside his desk. Closing the door behind him he headed down the corridor and slid down the stair banister waltzing into the kitchen. Everyone, including Kakashi surprisingly, was already down and eating. Taking his place at the table Naruto noticed that the boy, Inari he now knew, seemed to be visibly excited for a change. A welcome change from his usual and irritating melancholy and sullen expression his grandfather the bridge builder and de facto leader of the wave also seemed to shake off much of his lethargic demeanor since is rescue.

“You two seem slightly happier than usual?” Naruto questioned as he picked up his chopsticks and started eating; his lone comment drew the attention of the whole silent table.

“Sensei told them about our spar so they probably feel like watching.” Surprisingly it was Hinata who broke the awkward silence.

Noticing for the first time the tension in the air, especially between Tazuna and his daughter Naruto put on an uncertain smile. “That's good then Sasuke, three more people to watch me wipe the floor with you.”

Hinata looked down at her plate concealing her sudden anger at Naruto “Men… he knows I'm as much of a threat and in some ways more of one than Sasuke yet he takes it for granted he could beat me.”

Pushing back her chair abruptly, Hinata mumbled her polite excuses to the table before heading upstairs. Naruto was too busy watching Hinata's retreating back and wondering what he had done this time to notice Sasuke's response to his quip. The Uchiha's hand tightened for the tiniest microsecond on his glass of orange before relaxing, taking a final shot of the juice Sasuke stood up just as abruptly as his other teammate and made his not so polite excuses which consisted of a single grunt.

Kakashi had been watching the exchanges curious to learn more about his team, Naruto showed little to no tact much like his other teacher. He could not have missed the tension in the air between Tazuna and Tsunami, neither could he have failed to notice the tension both Hinata and Sasuke were feeling each eager to prove themselves in the coming brawl. Smiling slightly to himself Kakashi also made his excuses and left the table.

Naruto looked around uncomfortably everyone was acting really tense… deciding to break the ice he talked to Tsunami. “Are you gonna come Tsunami?”

“No” her answer was curt and Naruto became if anything even more uncomfortable he felt something was going on that he did not understand, something deeper than his innocent questions. Pushing away his food his insides a tumble of emotions he made his own polite excuses and left the table, heading for the ladder leading outside. The temperature changed once his head poked out of the concealed entrance; he never noticed till he exited just how humid it was in the building. The clearing around the safe house was still slightly trampled from all the remedial training that had been taking place the previous day. It had rained the night before and the dew still clung to the grass and trees. Naruto could still hear and to some extent see the crickets creating an unholy but strangely soothing racket in the grass. The surrounding forest was peaceful though on occasion his trained and newly hardened eyes could see shadows flitting from tree to tree. Settling down on the grass Naruto closed his eyes and sought his inner calm, he was still riled from the debacle he had instigated at breakfast and he turned to an old meditation technique Jiraiya had taught him in his restless youth. Extending his Ninja senses he was immediately assaulted with the vague but strong chakra signatures of the surrounding wildlife. Selecting one animal he tracked its location and then selected another. The process continued until all of Naruto's concentration was focused on tracking the exact location of 40 creatures. Time passed outside his awareness until after a while he sensed the three more focused signatures of his teammates.

Opening his eyes Naruto watched them approach, the exercise had calmed him considerably and he was ready for the pending duel. Kakashi began to outline his plan as soon as he reached Naruto's spot on the clearing.

“Now then we're going to have a little sparring session” closing his book briskly “Anything goes weapons, taijutsu, Genjutsu even jutsu. However I don't want any accidents” he glared at Sasuke briefly who had the grace to look slightly mollified “don't put enough chakra into you jutsu to cause undue injuries or death, the duel will terminate when one party is in a position that could result in death or when I say so.”

“What are the match ups?” this from Hinata, Naruto could see that she seemed slightly more tense than usual, at that moment Tazuna and Inari exited the safe house and began to approach them visibly excited.

“Match ups? Ohh we will star with Naruto vs. Sasuke then the winner vs. Hinata and the winner of that vs. the loser of the first round. Is that acceptable?”

Sasuke settled for a nod while both Naruto and Hinata voiced their approval of the setup.

Tazuna and his grandson had crossed quickly enough to hear the match ups'

“I shall observe with our. Spectators from the northern quadrant, Naruto you two can begin whenever you are ready.

Naruto watched absently as Hinata leapt unto a nearby tree to observe the fight while Kakashi and their guests walked over to the northern part of the clearing, most of his attention however was on his opponent who had backed up leaving a space of a scant 20 meters between them.

“Ready whenever you are… teme.” Sasuke did not deign to reply responding with a charge and a flung kunai.

“And these two are your charges Kakashi-san?”

“Yes, in accordance with our treaty you are entitled to an exhibition by Konoha's finest genin to see our capabilities, though if I may say so your decision to send Inari along with the other 20 children to be trained in Konoha is somewhat peculiar.”

“Hmm his mother does not agree either, however I feel it is in the wave's best interests to have on of my relations trained as well.”

Kakashi tracked the thrown kunai, “looks like their starting we better watch.”

Naruto saw the approaching kunai and decided to dodge instead of block it with one of his own, it whizzed by a mere 4 inches from his head and he ran forward to engage Sasuke, Sasuke opened with a high kick which Naruto barely managed to duck under “he's fast.” Naruto converted his duck into a role and came back up with a roundhouse kick that would have snapped Sasuke's neck if it had connected. He caught air and Sasuke was nowhere insight, suddenly he saw a shadow cast on the ground, the prodigy was above! Coming into a guard he barely caught Sasuke's snap kick and the following lightning punch sent at his face.

“He's fast.” Hinata was also monitoring the taijutsu exchange Naruto's taijutsu form was just as good as Sasuke's but he couldn't keep up with the other ninja's speed. He seemed to notice it as well and was trying to put some space between himself and the implacable Uchiha probably to open up with his salvo of jutsu, Sasuke was having none of that however keeping up the pressure constantly, Hinata winced slightly as Naruto caught a particularly nasty hit, Sasuke had lashed out with his right arm at Naruto's head and Naruto had pulled a high double guard, Sasuke converted at the last second kneeing Naruto in the abdomen with all the power of a sledge hammer.

Naruto felt the blood rush to his mouth as Sasuke hit his stomach, no punches were being pulled then, he was in a particularly bad situation, his speed just wasn't up to par, he felt more than saw Sasuke's elbow speeding down towards his neck and caught it just in time, instead of blocking however he held on to Sasuke's arm and pulled him closer drawing a kunai.

Sasuke was having the time of his life, he was fighting and so far winning, until that is Naruto opted for the easy way out grabbing his hand in a vise like grip. Naruto had successfully nullified his speed advantage by keeping him close and they were both trying their best to stab each other with the kunai in their hands.

Tazuna couldn't help but wonder at what he was seeing, many of the exchanges had been faster than he could follow and these two were supposed to be beginners! If the wave had it's own defensive ninja force Gatou would have thought twice before attacking, hence the stipulation in the pending treaty that Konoha would help train and establish a defensive ninja country in the wave subject of course to the fire country. Currently the two ninja were trying their best to stab each other, the blond had a knife in his right hand and was being blocked by his opponents grip on that hand, the black haired boy had gone for an underhand stab but he was also being blocked by his opponents grip on his arm.

Kakashi had put away his book once the fighting had escalated, no one would have noticed but he was ready to burst in on the fighting the moment it got out of hand and someone's life was threatened, as it was to the inexperienced eye they had reached a stalemate neither able to drive home their weapon, uncovering his sharingan to better analyze the fight however Kakashi could tell that Naruto was winning this particular exchange by sheer attrition, he was showing no sign of tiring while Sasuke was, the outcome of this would be… interesting.

Naruto could see Sasuke was tiring, however the boy would surely not allow this continue, therefore he had to find a solution to the stalemate before Sasuke could, taking Sasuke by surprise he pulled the other boys weapon towards his side instead of pushing against it, leaning back into a roll he took Sasuke completely by surprise planting a foot firmly on his chest and sending him sailing above and behind him to crash into a tree, taking the breather he had gained he formed a hand seal even as he scrambled to his feet.

“Batsu Bunshin no jutsu.”

Inari watched the maneuver eyes popping and tongue hanging slightly out of his mouth. Naruto had pulled off an amazing maneuver and then out of nowhere summoned a dozen spitting images… if the wave had this kind of power maybe Gatou would not have come and he would not have had to die. Closing his mouth Inari made a decision, Kakashi-san had said yesterday that he had the potential to become a ninja, what he was seeing had strengthened his resolve. He would go to Konoha, and he would bring back this… This power and use it to defend his loved ones.

Sasuke cursed as he climbed back to his feet, Naruto had gained the opening he needed and there were a dozen clones converging on his position. One of them was standing apart from the fight however… calculating his intercept vector rapidly he charged the rapidly approaching horde.

Naruto couldn't help but smile slightly as Sasuke approached the clone standing aside, he had fallen for the bait. He had to admire the boy's speed and strength however, each bunshin took at least two hits to disperse but the boy was destroying them at a rapid pace having already dispelled three. He watched as one of them managed to crack Sasuke across the jaw before getting stabbed and dispersed by the weapon in the boy's hand. Sasuke tripped yet another and then jumped and twisted over another leaving the way open to the Bunshin standing apart. Rushing it quickly Sasuke pinned it to the ground kunai hovering over its neck.

“I win” he declared eyes blazing in triumph.

“No” the bunshin replied with a slight smile “You lose”

Sasuke watched with increasing horror as the clone dispersed. He got up just in time to catch a kick in the jaw from one of the other Narutos sending a tooth flying. Falling to the turf Sasuke tried to scramble to his feet and block multiple approaching blows, failing at both.

Hinata watched as Sasuke tried his best to fight back, he was in a disadvantageous position, the real Naruto she was sure this time stood back from the fight and was routinely summoning clones so that as Sasuke managed to take out one he was immediately swamped with two more. Like the immortal hydra Naruto was routinely doubling the pressure on Sasuke, it may take a while but Sasuke would run out of stamina long before Naruto ran out of chakra.

“I can't… I can't lose like this!” Sasuke surged back to his feet sending a clone flying with a viscous uppercut and with the same motion flinging his last kunai into another dispersing it immediately. Yet another clone dove forward to tackle him, but he rolled away to the side.

Naruto watched calculatingly as Sasuke rolled away and through a kunai at that exact instant piercing him in the thigh. This was almost too easy….

 

A/N

Sorry everyone but this was getting wayyyy too long. I shall try my best to publish the conclusion as soon as possible. Peace ez and MERRY CHHRISTMAS!!

 

Darklighter