This happens after Naruto and Sasuke clashed, on the roof of the hospital [in chapter 176]. The only difference is, Orochimaru’s Sound Ninja’s didn’t attack Sasuke afterwards. So, in other words, you’ll have to have read the manga, to be able to follow the story.
Chapter 1
There was a loud crash, and as the birds scattered away from each other, a whiny groan came from a boy that fell out of his window onto the ground.
“You know, you really are a total moron…”
The fallen boy looked up to see a dark-haired boy, his rival. He frowned at him as he began dusting his butt off.
“Naruto… I came to talk.. about yesterday..”
Naruto got up and stood almost eye-level with Sasuke. He scratched his nose and prepared to say something.
“You came to try me again? Bring it on, Sasuke!!”
Sasuke shook his head at Naruto’s stupidity. “Shut up, blockhead.” Sasuke paused momentarily. ”I came to talk things out.”
“Talk things out?” Naruto seemed puzzled as he put his finger beneath his chin.
Sasuke sighed. “So.” Sasuke sighed again, this time for preparation. ”I’m sorry, for challenging you yesterday.”
“Uh?!” Naruto gaped.
Sasuke turned around and began walking away.
“Uh.. Hey!” Naruto pointed his finger at Sasuke’s back. “You call that talking things out?!”
Sasuke paused and turned around. “Kakashi is out on a mission. It seems we have a few days off.”
“Hmmm…” Naruto responded.
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“Hey, Wide-forehead Sakura!”
Sakura grumbled something incoherent. ‘Damn Ino pig.’
“Did you hear about Lee yet?”
This peaked Sakura’s interest however, as she turned around to face the blonde Ino.
“What?” Sakura asked.
“His sensei seems to have requested an operation. And it seems Lee asked him to do so.”
‘Lee did? …. And Gai allowed it?’ “… When?”
“Tomorrow.”
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“Hey.”
Naruto seemed shocked to hear the sudden voice from the left and was taken away from deep thoughts. The person that called him however, seemed to have surprised him even more.
“Neji!”
There stood (or rather leaned) against a tree, Hyuga Neji with folded arms.
“Naruto-kun. I wanted to say thank you to you for a long time. And forgive me for calling you a loser.”
Naruto was in total awe. “Uh.. S-Sure.”
“Now, I have a request.” Neji began. “My sensei, Gai, is paying way too much attention to Lee. And I have a great need to get stronger. You have beaten me, and I want to become stronger than you.”
Naruto was listening to him with great interest. “Uh.. Go on..”
“I want to train together.” Neji let out, completely surprising Naruto.
“Hyuga Neji, is it?”
Both Naruto and Neji looked up at the sudden introduction from an older man.
Naruto responded enthusiastically. “Pervert-SenNin!!”
The older, white-haired man became agitated with this response. “It’s Jiraiya, damn it!”
“Jiraiya?” Neji reacted with complete respect. “One of the three Legendary..”
“Ahum, indeed.” Jiraiya boasted as he knocked himself twice softly on his own chest. “Naruto, I think it’s good to team up with Hyuga-san here.”
“You really think so?” Naruto questioned.
“Yes. The two of you together will result in both of you getting stronger in a short time.”
Neji smirked and Naruto cheered wildly. “Okay!! I will become stronger!!!”
Neji smiled at Naruto’s enthusiasm. “However, we need another person to train with us.”
Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, so he stopped jumping around as he looked at Jiraiya and Neji.
“Now who will we take with us then?”
“A girl!! Definitely a girl!!” Naruto screamed.
Neji seemed to hesitate at Naruto’s proposal. “A female? That will only slow us down.”
“Not necessarily..” Jiraiya began. “If it’s a girl you two both like, maybe you'll fight to become stronger than the other to impress the girl? See what I’m getting at?”
“There is no need for rivalry over a female. We need a person that is just as strong as us.” Neji concluded.
Jiraiya shrugged. “Suit yourself, just trying to help a hand in getting one of you laid.”
Naruto and even Neji, in smaller extent, mind you, blushed at this sudden admission.
“Anyway… Maybe Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto?” Neji asked Naruto, ignoring the old pervert standing before them.
Jiraiya frowned “No, Sasuke is getting private lessons from Kakashi.”
Neji’s ears perked up at this. “Private?”
Jiraiya smirked. “Yeah, I don’t know what they’re doing when they’re alone either.”
Both Neji and Naruto groaned loudly.
Naruto suddenly spoke up. “Maybe… Gaara…”
Neji turned his head quickly to from Jiraiya to Naruto. “Gaara? You mean that guy with all the sand? Didn’t he attack Leaf Village?”
Naruto hesitated in talking “Well, Gaara attacked us, but not Leaf Village. But… I believe he has changed!”
Neji considered this for a moment. “You know what? This is excellent. We will seek Gaara. If he hasn’t changed, we will simply kill him. If he has changed, he will join us and train with us.”
Jiraiya smirked at their idea. “I’ll be accompanying you on your mission then.”
Neji and Naruto spoke at the same time. “Mission?”
“Well, I made it one, ok?” Jiraiya paused. “Besides, you need someone to protect you weaklings.”
Both Naruto and Neji seemed to have been greatly insulted by the comment just made.
Jiraiya seemed speechless... 'Youth these days.. Not a single trace of a sense of humour.’
“Well, let’s depart.”
“What about saying goodbye?”
“Who cares if YOU'RE gone?”
“Shut up!!”
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Sasuke was training in his own apartment. ‘Naruto…. I will become stronger than you… and then I will become a true danger to my brother.’
‘I don’t know how the hell this happened, but Naruto is really stronger than me…’
Flashback
As both Naruto and Sasuke were stopped by Kakashi in their duel, both their attacks hit two different water tanks.
As Sasuke looked up, after evading one of Kakashi’s lectures, he saw the damage Naruto’s Rasengan(*_1) made and compared it to his Chidori’s(*_2) damage. Naruto’s made far more damage than his…
End Flashback
‘That attack… So powerful… even more powerful than the Chidori…’
‘I will become stronger!!’
Sasuke flinched as a sudden image of Orochimaru entered his mind.
Sasuke stopped training that day, for he sweated all day from fear..
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Jiraiya, Naruto and Neji sat around a camp fire as they talked about all kinds of stuff. But the subject ‘Getting Stronger’ was repeated several times.
“You know what could be good? To test if your Kaiten is getting stronger.” Jiraiya began.
Neji seemed interested in Jiraiya’s idea. “No.”
“Try to defend Naruto’s Rasengan.” Jiraiya calmly said.
Naruto eyes’ widened. “But, I.. I might kill him!”
Neji smirked at that. “This is good. I will not be killed that easily.”
Naruto looked seriously into Neji’s eyes. “Neji… The Rasengan… it’s really dangerous… Do not underestimate it.”
Neji chuckled a bit. “I’m not saying it’s a weak attack. I’m saying it’s perfect if it can kill me. My Heavenly Spin must be able to protect me, especially from lethal attacks.”
Naruto sighed. “You are sure?”
Jiraiya seemed quite pleased with this development.
“Yes.”
Naruto performed a single hand seal. “Bunshin no Jutsu!”
“Bunshin no Jutsu? Not Kage Bunshin? Why are you doing a Bunshin no Jutsu anyway?”
Both Naruto’s seemed embarrassed to answer. “Well, this technique, I still can’t do it with only one hand, so… I only need two bodies.. So Bunshin no Jutsu is sufficient.”
Neji smiled partly. “Well, train so you’ll be able to use it with one hand. But for now, attack!”
Naruto prepared the Rasengan as the other Naruto used the spinning technique in the other hand’s palm.
Neji seemed puzzled when he saw the chakra WITHOUT using the Byakugan… ‘This must be an incredible amount of Chakra…’
Jiraiya seemed also somewhat surprised. ‘Heh, Naruto has been practicing this… he’s getting better at putting all his chakra at the center… this only makes the Rasengan more lethal.’ Jiraiya looked at the surprised Neji to his left. “I hope Neji sees this is too much for him… let’s hope he dodges it rather than trying to block it…”
Neji clenched his teeth in anticipation. “Byakugan!!”
The veins appeared around Neji’s eyes, and pupils were finally in the centre in his eyes. But as he saw the complete Chakra Naruto formed just for preparing this attack, his eyes widened a great deal and his mouth hung wide open. ‘This is…. Naruto’s power?’
“Rasendan!!!”
Jiraiya slapped his forehead. ‘Naruto sill doesn’t know it’s Rasengan, and NOT Rasendan! What a stupid idiot…’
Neji, for the first time, panicked as he saw Naruto storming toward him. ‘Shit….. I-I’m going to die…’
Jiraiya became concerned a bit. ‘Naruto’s this strong already? Without tapping into Kyuubi’s (*_3) Chakra… I never expected him to grow so fast in power…. If he taps into Kyuubi…. Even I…. even I would… have a bit of a problem.. if that attack were to hit…’
Neji hesitated and everything seemed to slow down as Naruto approached him. ‘Kaiten is way too weak for this! Kawarimi no Jutsu is no good either, there is no escape!’
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and prepared himself. ‘Damned.. Naruto has improved this much.. I didn’t expect this.. Neji is not strong enough to be able to escape from this attack. I must step in…’
Naruto ran toward Neji in high speed, but he was surprised when he saw Jiraiya appear between him and Neji. He was equally surprised as Jiraiya punched him back to where he began. The Rasengan was released toward the sky.
Naruto immediately jumped back up. “Hey!! What did you do that for?!” His bottom lip was bleeding a bit.
Jiraiya knew for sure now. “He didn’t use one bit of Kyuubi’s Chakra for this.. He wouldn’t be bleeding otherwise..”
Neji was dumbstruck. To believe Naruto had improved that much and in such a short amount of time. ‘He’s… not normal…’
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The next day, Sakura, Ino and even Sasuke were present at the hospital. The Fifth Hokage was doing the operation. Gai seemed tense, as he stood beside Sasuke, behind a window, observing Rock Lee lying on a hospital bed.
“Uuh.. Gai-sensei.. Do you think Lee-san will be alright?”
Gai only turned his eyes toward Sakura, “I don’t think so.. I KNOW so, My Lee will never give in!!”
Although this didn’t give Sakura much hope, she was given hope a bit, after all.
Sasuke looked at Rock Lee. ‘Lee….. Thanks to you I mastered TaiJutsu (*_4), it would be wrong if you couldn’t fight anymore. I would like to battle you again…’
Ino seemed to frown at the people beside her. ‘Sasuke-kun looks so sexy when he’s all serious like that!!’
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Jiraiya was still snoring when Neji and Naruto were sparring.
Naruto smirked as he was hit hard by Neji’s fist. This is a great way to fight. Neji is stronger than Sasuke. And he was on par with Neji here, considering hand to hand combat. Naruto was proud of himself. When he learned to control his Chakra, it seemed his ability to move at higher speed and power increased as well.
Neji promised not to use Jyuken (*_5) in combination with Byakugan. Naruto said he would like to be able to tap into his own Chakra (as well as Kyuubi’s). Neji decided this way would be great to get better as well. Besides, even though he would like to have trained with Sasuke, Naruto seemed to be stronger than him. In the Chuunin exam Naruto showed that when he got serious, he was truly powerful. He was definitely for more powerful than Sasuke when he went… all crazy.. against the Sound Ninja’s in the Forest of Death.
‘My Byakugan indicated so…. If I’m stronger than Naruto… I can become as strong as I want to be… That’s what I see with my Byakugan… and it never lies…’
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"Hmmm…"
The Copy Ninja known as Kakashi moved swiftly from under the tree branches, after he saw a young man, about his age, leave what seemed to be his house. Kakashi hid behind the tree and spied at the man.
"Come out, Hatake. I’m not an amateur. You should know.."
Kakashi appeared quickly in front of the man.
"Kato…" The man, obviously named Kato, looked Kakashi right in the eye. "I came here to kill you…"
The man smiled gently and turned his back to Kakashi. As soon as Kakashi couldn’t see his face, his expression became sad.
"I know, Kakashi-kun. It just had to come to this… But… I wonder, can you do it, Hatake-kun?"
Kakashi looked serious as he answered, never wavering, "I’m a Shinobi. I can not let things like friendship bother me in these kinds of situations."
Kato smiled at Kakashi, "Is that so?" Kato paused "You said the same thing a few years ago.. You weren’t ready for it then, you aren’t ready for it now."
Kakashi shook his head, trying to say Kato is wrong, "No, this time is different. There isn’t an entire lineage in danger. And besides, you were the one making the decision then."
Kato smiled as he closed his eyes. "That lineage is history now, isn’t it? What you possess should have been destroyed. The two that are left, will be killed. If not by another, than by each other. It was wrong, what I did. And it is wrong, what you will do now."
Kakashi seemed puzzled by the statements let out by his old friend, "Why are you like this, Kato? Are you afraid to die now?"
Kato shook his head in delight, "No, No, not at all. I just want to know why you want my life to end?"
Kakashi seemed to doubt the person before him. ‘Something is wrong... Kato knows why he will be killed… he knows the secrets of the Sharingan, for that information he risks his life.. He already knows this..’
Kato seemed to read Kakashi’s facial expressions, ‘Oh well, I guess I underestimated Kakashi again..’
Kakashi’s eye widened as Kato transformed, with a smoke cloud, into, Kabuto.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes very dangerously, "Kabuto!" Kakashi took a fighting stance. "What did you do to Kato?"
Kabuto chuckled shortly. "That stupid fool killed himself, after he saw I was too much for him." Kabuto ignored Kakashi’s fighting stance. "I am sorry, but I am not able to fight with you today. Perhaps another time." Kabuto winked and waved at Kakashi. "Later." And Kabuto left the scene.
Kakashi was left all alone, in front of the house of his deceased friend. ‘Kabuto…. Orochimaru… You will pay for this…’
Kakashi took one last glance at the place, ‘Kato, may you rest….. in peace..’ and he left.
-------------------
Naruto was jumping, skipping, hopping and screaming forward as he was followed by Neji and Jiraiya.
‘He sure is hyper…’ Neji noted, and flinched as Naruto screamed loudly at a bird that mistook him for a meal, ‘And loud as well.’
Jiraiya walked behind the two young ninja. He walked in total silence and was apparently deep in thought, ignoring Naruto’s yelling. ‘Orochimaru might make his move soon.. Then there’s the Akatsuki, who are after Naruto, and possibly Gaara as well. I will train these two, and make them powerful and teach them to control the awesome power that they hold within. In a couple of weeks, I’ll have them strong enough, they might even be able to defend themselves against ninja who are on the same level as Kakashi. But with Naruto’s speed of improving, he might exceed that. And with Neji’s will to grow stronger than everyone, it’s the same. If we get Gaara, this team will be a great defense for Leaf Village. I hope Gaara will join us..’
Naruto ran after the bird that just attacked him, but as he ran, a stranger appeared before him, pushing him back.
The stranger seemed to check the ground, before he turned toward Naruto.
"Naruto… Forgive me for pushing you..’ The stranger paused and let himself come out of the shadow the tree to the left was creating. "But you were about to step on one of my destruction bugs."
Naruto reacted completely surprised as he recognized the stranger before him. "Shino!" Naruto looked at the bug at Shino’s shoulder. "Oh, Sorry!’
Neji glanced at Shino, ‘It’s the guy from the Bug Clan.. I wonder how strong he is really...?’
Shino looked away from Naruto and stared at Neji, ‘A Hyuga? Traveling with Uzumaki? How odd.’ Shino looked up at the tall Jiraiya. ‘I do not know him, but the fact that Neji Hyuga is here, means something important is going on. Very inconceivable, since Naruto is here as well.’
"Aburame Shino..." Shino turned away from Jiraiya and looked straight in Neji’s eyes through his sunglasses, as Neji called his name. "My name is Hyuga Neji.’
Shino frowned, as if he knew what Neji was about to say next.
"I wish to have a duel….. with you…’
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"Have a little patience, Maito-san!’
"But, I want to know what happened to my precious LEE !!!"
"All in due time! Now if you don’t want me to, well, knock you out. Then just sit right over there!" Tsunade pointed toward a seat next to Ino, who was seated beside Sasuke. Next to Sasuke, Sakura sat, waiting in anticipation to hear about Lee’s operation.
Tsunade watched as Gai seated himself next to Ino. She walked away from them and entered the room Lee was in.
Lee was fully awake, much to Tsunade’s surprise. ‘This kid sure has a will to live..’
"Well, Lee, I have good news, and bad news for you." Tsunade said sadly.
Lee waited nervously for Tsunade’s explanation. "The good news is, you’re still alive!!"
Lee pouted seriously. "And.. The bad news?"
Tsunade smirked, "The bad news is you won’t be able to train you body for at least a month. But after that, you’re back in business!"
Lee was petrified. After about two minute staring at him, Tsunade left the room. ‘Weird Kid..’
Lee was let alone, and in an instant he cried dozens of tears out, tears of complete happiness.
In the waiting room. Kakashi entered. Tsunade walked past him outside, but not before saying, "Come with me."
Sasuke watched Kakashi enter the room, and leave again. ‘I need to talk to Kakashi. I just wished Ino stopped holding my arm like that.’ Sasuke looked to the pink hair that blocked his view to the right. ‘Or that Sakura would stop sleeping on my shoulder.’
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Further away from Leaf Village, in the Sound Village..
Kabuto entered the room Orochimaru was lying in.
"Orochimaru-sama."
Orochimaru opened his eyes for an instant, taking a glimpse of Kabuto’s eyes.
"You have failed, haven’t you, Yakushi-kun?’
"…Yes…" Kabuto said, slumping forward. "It seemed Kato was prepared. He vanquished himself with a special Jutsu."
Orochimaru nodded with his eyes closed, lying on his bed. "Ah.. I know that Jutsu… It’s actually a self-burning Jutsu."
Kabuto nodded. "Indeed. People who know they have to die because they know too much learn that technique at all costs."
Orochimaru opened his eyes again. "Did you encounter any… problems?"
Kabuto snarled inwards but kept his smile on the outside. "Yes. Kakashi appeared.’
"Kakashi, ey? He’s starting to annoy me a little bit."
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"A… Duel? Here?" Shino was clearly surprised by Neji’s request. "Why?"
Neji folded his arms as he faced Shino. "Because I want to see how I’ll manage against you and you against me."
Jiraiya observed the bug guy before him. ‘He’s from the Aburame Clan, ey? This might be interesting then.’
Naruto was thrilled to see a fight between two strong guys like these. He might be able to learn something from them just by watching them fight. "Match Start!!"
"Not so fast.. ’ Jiraiya began. "This is not a life or death battle. Just… try each other out before you do your best." Jiraiya grinned. ‘Let’s see if this duel shows what the difference is between the Aburame Clan and the Hyuga Clan… This could be educational… and very enjoyable..’
Shino frowned at Naruto and Jiraiya, ‘I haven’t even accepted the fight yet. Oh well… I could use the exercise I guess.. But this Neji guy… he’s strong…’
"Very well. I accept your challenge."
Neji smirked. "That’s good. Let us begin then!"
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"But… the secrets weren’t released then?"
"No…. He had prepared himself." Kakashi sighed. "Kabuto is a smart ninja, Tsunade. One that needs to be taught a lesson."
Tsunade smirked. "Yeah, well, Shall I give you the mission to teach him that lesson?"
Kakashi frowned at Tsunade. "I accept, I will take my underlings with me."
"That won’t be possible. Jiraiya seemed to have left the village with Naruto."
Kakashi yawned a bit as he turned away from Tsunade. "Again, huh? Those two must be getting along fine, then."
Tsunade gazed at Kakashi’s back. "Jealous? You have been kind of neglecting him, you know, Kakashi. And Haruno-san, too."
Kakashi turned more serious. "I’m not jealous. I haven’t talked to Naruto for a long, long time, that’s all. Besides, Naruto is improving so quickly.. he will exceed me in no time. Sasuke can still learn from me. And I have the Sharingan too, you know? I do regret not paying attention to Sakura, though."
Tsunade shrugged. "Well, I guess it can’t be helped. You just train what can be trained, huh? I'll teach Sakura a few lessons then."
Kakashi seemed somewhat surprised. "Hmm. Very well. But first I need to check up on something before I get Sasuke."
"You have that problem again?"
Kakashi blushed slightly. "Yeah…. It’s not something I enjoy.."
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"Kikai Bunshin no Jutsu!!"
"Byakugan!!"
Neji tried to see which of the two was the real Shino, but both were using Kikaichuu no Jutsu. ‘Impressive, to be able to make an exact copy of a body like that.’
"Taiyuu Kikai Bunshin No Jutsu!"
Neji’s White Eyes widened as he saw more Shino’s. And all were completely the same, all with the same amount of bugs inside, and the exact same movements. ‘This guy will definitely make my Byakugan better…’
Neji attacked one clone and tried to find out what strengths it possessed. With a quick blow to the nose, one Shino fell backwards, his back hitting a tree.
Neji was surprised to see bugs coming from out of his nose, healing every aspect of the wound Neji had just created. ‘Wa.. was that the real Shino?’
Another Shino, from behind Neji, tried to kick him in the back of the neck, but Neji already noticed him a few seconds earlier, stepped aside, and swept Shino hard on the jaw. Shino fell to Neji’s left.
‘Damn, this Shino has bugs healing him as well’ Neji thought as bugs were healing a scratch Neji’s shoe made.
Shino could read Neji’s surprise. "Do not mistake these clones for Shadow Clones. All of them, are actually me. You see, I am consistent of bugs, and therefore, I can duplicate my self for real. But the amount of clones is limited."
Jiraiya smirked. ‘Now, if Shino’s speed and power is well-trained, he might actually stand a chance against Neji.’
Naruto enthusiastically watched the Shino clones, as they surrounded Neji. ‘I can beat this, no problem! Just a little Kage Bunshin here, a little Kage Bunshin there! No problem! But the fact that they’re healing themselves is a problem.’ Naruto watched as Neji began to formulate a plan. ‘Neji’s going to use Jyuken… no worries there...’ Naruto’s eyes widened as he saw him perform the preparation for the 64 points attack, the Opening Points Attack.. "No way…"
Jiraiya watched as he could see what Neji was going to do. ‘Aha, the Opening Points Attack, huh? He mastered it on his own, what a genius... It surpasses an Uchiha easily. But I wonder… In this situation the bugs hold the chakra, not the person… Can he even see Opening Points within Shino?’
*_1: Rasengan, a skill only useable by the 4th Hokage, Jiraiya and Naruto.
*_2: Chidori, or, The Thousand Birds.
*_3: Kyuubi, the Nine-tails Fox.
*_4: TaiJutsu, fighting style Lee and Gai use.
*_5: Jyuken, or Gentle Fist. A technique the Hyuga clan possesses.
The next chapter you’ll see the result of Neji versus Shino. Kakashi briefs Sasuke about their new mission. And Sakura receives an extra tough training from the Legendary Woman!!!