Shonen Jump | War With Words

Today in FAN, I continue my account of how I’d write Naruto, starting where the other article, Part 1, left off.

After the Kakuzu and Hidan fight, Naruto and the group get back to the village and Naruto begins training again. He gets sage training with Jiraiya, and other training from Kakashi as Tsunade looks on, happy. A few weeks down the line, they get word that Sasuke and Orochimaru have been spotted and Tsunade questions their appearance. “What why? Why would they pop up now?” She asks. “That’s why.” Says Jiraiya as he points to an Itachi spotting in the same place. “They’re going to end it all right here.” “Not if we have anything to say about it.”

The two tell Naruto and tell him to assemble a team as they do the same. They choose Kakashi, Guy, Anko, and Hiashi Hyuga. Naruto takes Neji, Shikamaru (he refuses due to not wanting to lose anything more to Sasuke and this fruitless mission), Shino, Lee, Kiba, and Sakura. Hiashi bows out due to Neji’s appearance. He says Neji is all they need. “To beat Itachi?” Jiraiya asks. Hiashi is silent. “Nonetheless, one of us should hang back. We need someone competent to watch over the Village.”

The two groups split up: Tsunade’s group goes after Itachi, while Naruto’s group goes after Sasuke (and Jiraiya tails Naruto’s group to fight Orochimaru should they need to).

Naruto’s group finds Sasuke fairly easily with Kiba and Shino, both excellent trackers. As soon as they do, Sakura yells his name and he glances back at them, before taking off at great speeds. The team goes to follow, but Kabuto drops down in front of them.

“No one passes.” He says, pushing up his glasses. “I got this.” Says Kiba, stepping up. “Don’t be foolish. We’ll need multiple people to beat him. He’s easily Elite Jounin level.” Shino will say, stepping forward. Lee and Neji look at each other for awhile and finally Neji looks away. “You stay Lee. I’m the only one left who can track Sasuke.” Lee nods and gets in his stance.

Naruto and Sakura continue the chase for Sasuke and only stop due to interference by Orochimaru. Jiraiya then jumps down and says he’ll handle it. Orochimaru smiles. “Think again, old friend.” He says as he summons Manda. To counter, Jiraiya summons Gamabunta as other snakes are summoned to fight Naruto and Sakura. They’re forced to stop as Neji continues on, chasing Sasuke.

Neji eventually reaches Sasuke as they stop in an open clearing. Neither say a word, Neji simply takes his stance and Sasuke draws his sword. Since this is my version of Neji who has been injured from the Valley of the End, Sasuke’s original escape, he only has one arm. However he’s still fast, has a mastery of the Gentle Fist, can dispel jutsu with the Gentle Fist, can use it from far range via Air Fist, and can use one hand faster than most Hyuga can use two. He also knows how to open and close gates and knows all 361 tenketsu/chakra points, but will only 360 in this case to keep Sasuke alive.

The two fight and it’s mostly even, with Neji having the advantage. Neji avoids Sasuke’s sword while getting in gentle fist shots here and there. Sasuke backs up and tries a fireball, but Neji hits through it. He tries Chidori Nagashi and Neji blasts through that as well. He then gets close to Sasuke and hits a strong Gentle Fist strike to the chest, backing Sasuke up and paining him.

The two continue fighting with Neji gracefully dodging or blocking (with Heavenly Spin) Sasuke’s jutsu and getting a few hits here and there on Sasuke. Sasuke’s chakra is completely backed up now.

“Hn. I acknowledge you as a threat. Too bad here is where you die!” Sasuke states, using his Cursed Seal to break through the chakra sealing. Sasuke is now faster and stronger than Neji and begins tossing him around and even timing his Heavenly Spins and throwing off Neji’s timing due to the increased size of his jutsu. He’ll even ping pong Neji a bit before Neji uses the physical contact to seal the Cursed Seal and stop its chakra flow. Sasuke will return back to normal and out of breath, and Neji too will be breathing hard. Both charge each other, but Neji is thrown back by an invisible force.

At that moment, Orochimaru will interfere, having from his fight with Jiraiya and look Neji over.

“Hm…your eyes…maybe another time.” He says before him and Sasuke leave to go after Itachi.

At the same time, Kabuto is fighting Shino, Kiba, and Lee.

Kiba and Lee keep up the high speed attacks as Shino watches on. Kabuto has difficulty dodging the speedy attacks, but he does nonetheless due to his skill and experience. At one point, he dodges into some bugs and is surprised and jumps away, only to get hit by Fang over Fang, right into a Leaf Hurricane. He gets up and wipes his mouth with a smile. “Child’s play.”

“What’d you say?” Asks Kiba, irate at the taunt.

“We’re on completely different levels. There’s no way you can hope to win.” Says Kabuto with a smirk.

“Yeah, well we’ll see about that!” Kiba goes in again with Akamaru, Kabuto’s hit again, but stays standing. He tsks him.

“How do you think a flea-ridden mutt like you can hurt someone like me?”

“What’d you call me?” Kiba shouts in anger.

“Kiba…” Shino warns. “Calm down.”

“I’ll be calm when he’s dead! Come on boy!” Kiba goes 2-headed wolf and charges, Kabuto moves to the side and downs him in one hit.

“Too easy.”

“He baited him into making himself an easier targeting before taking him down in just one blow. He’s no normal opponent.” Says Shino in a contemplative tone.

“Of course not.” Says Kabuto. “In fact, I didn’t just take him down, I cut a valve in his heart. So if you don’t get him some help soon, he’s going to die.” Kabuto explains, pushing up his glasses.

“Lee.” Shino says quietly. Lee nods.

“Right.” He begins to pick up his body when a hand touches his arm.

“Lay him right there.” Tsunade interrupts. She then begins healing him.

“Ah Lady Tsunade! What a pleasant surprise!” Kabuto says mockingly. She heals Kiba and remains silent until she does. She then looks at him and then at Kiba, Lee, and Shino.

“Leave.” They all jump away in compliance. She smiles and cracks her knuckles in anticipation.

“I see you’re ready for round 2.” Kabuto taunts.

“And I see you’re ready for a beating.” She replies with a grin.

Kabuto charges, swiping at her left and right and right and left, his hand glowing the entire time. Tsunade easily dodges his attempts with a straight and serious face. She sends a punch his way and misses (clearly on purpose), but the wind still ends up sending him back.

“To think you can compete with a Sannin? Tch. Such arrogance. I’ll end this quickly with only one finger.” She says with a smirk. With that she disappears and re-appears behind Kabuto as she slams her finger down into the ground. Kabuto will dodge her just barely causing her to make a giant crater in the earth beneath them. As he’s jumping she’ll follow and be right up on him, causing his eyes to widen. She then goes to throw a fist, making him flinch, and stops short. He opens his eyes when he doesn’t feel the impact and she extends a single finger, flicking him in the chin and sending him flying from the impact.

“Tch. Too easy.” She says in disgust. She then hears word from Guy, Anko, and Kakashi that they’ve found Itachi. She rushes to meet them.

During all of this, Jiraiya and Orochimaru will be having their summon fight. Orochimaru will taunt Jiraiya about himself having a flashback to their last fight (which Orochimaru won), but Jiraiya says it’ll be different. The summons then engage as Gamabunta slams Manda as the giant snake constricts him. Orochimaru laughs and sends snakes from his sleeves at Jiraiya, who impales them with his hair. He sends a fireball at Orochimaru but Orochimaru eats it much like a snake eats its prey and then laughs.

“What are you?” Asks Jiraiya.

“Perfection. Immortal.” Responds Orochimaru. He then vomits up an Earth snake that slithers through the air at Jiraiya. Jiraiya uses his hair shield to block it after failing to dodge (due to it being homing). He then uses swamp of the underworld to stop Manda and Orochimaru, but Orochimaru extends his tongue and pulls himself out of the swamp.

“I’d love to play but…I have other more important matters to attend to.” He then melts into the ground to escape.

Itachi will now be fighting Anko, Kakashi, Guy, and Tsunade. Anko will be heavy on the attack, forcing Itachi on the defensive. She’ll send fireballs at him, as well as snakes from her sleeves and even some from the ground. Itachi will stop dodging finally to deliver a insult.

“You’re good with snakes Anko, but I’ve seen better. Mainly, your master.” This gets her angry and she charges, only to get KO’d with a kick. Guy attacks next, but Itachi dodges him and genjutsus him all in one move. Suddenly the air around Itachi distorts and Kamui is used on him, trying to end him for good. Unfortunately for Kakashi, crows will fly out of the wormhole and reassemble as Itachi behind him. Kakashi will turn and swing, but Itachi will catch his arm. He goes for Raikiri, but that arm too is caught.

“Sleep Kakashi.” He speaks as he places Kakashi into a genjutsu. He tries to resist, but ends up falling unconscious still. The second long hesitation allows Tsunade to get there in time and attack from behind. Itachi dodges and kicks her away, but she just comes back with another punch. He dodges, dodges again, and even parries her third hit in the combo, before punching her in the gut and spin kicking her away. She steadies herself and looks up and he’s gone.

“Coward.” She spits venomously. She then looks around. “At least everyone is still alive.”

Next Itachi will be accosted by Sasuke as he tries to leave. The two will fight and it won’t be close at all. Sasuke will try Chidori Nagashi, Fireballs, Chidori Senbon, an actual Chidori, and even Kirin, but none will work and either Itachi will dodge them or turn into crows when hit. Even when he goes CS2, it won’t do much but make Itachi actually try. He’ll catch a Black Chidori by the wrist, knee Sasuke in the gut, and hit him with Tsukuyomi. Sasuke will resist the damage as he’s stabbed and tortured while watching his family die over and over again. When he comes to the real world he’ll still be hurt however, stumbling and staggering with short breath.

“Foolish little brother. You stand no chance against me-” Itachi will be cut off by Orochimmaru appearing, wrapping his tongue around Sasuke and bringing him closer to himself and away from Itachi.

“Sorry to interrupt your reunion but…I’ll be needing his…body. You understand.” He’ll say with a smirk. Itachi’s visage will transform to uncaring and passive to perturbed. Before he can attack however, Jiraiya shows up. Jiraiya will look at the two before tentatively moving to Orochimaru’s side.

“Sorry kid, but you’re more dangerous right now.” Itachi says nothing, only glancing at Jiraiya. The fight begins, 2 on 1, and it’s close. Itachi’s fireball is eaten by Orochimaru after his shuriken flurry is blocked by Jiraiya’s hair. Jiraiya gets put into a genjutsu but Orochimaru splits into two, having one of his halves go and break him out. Orochimaru tries to attack with snakes and other snake-like jutsu but he can’t get a good hit on him. Jiraiya jumps in with hair spikes shooting from his head, but Itachi easily weaves through them.

They try a taijutsu attack, but Itachi dodges them both at the same time and even catches a foot from Jiraiya and Orochimaru’s wrist as he tries to stab him with the Kusanagi. Itachi suddenly explodes and Jiraiya barely gets away with minimal damage due to his hair acting as a shield. Orochimaru’s body is mangled.

“Damn, an exploding clone.” Jiraiya says, looking for Itachi. Orochimaru’s body throws up a new Orochimaru in perfect condition, though covered in fluids.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to try harder than that to kill me.” Itachi appears behind him and sticks a kunai through his back, but Orochimaru grins bends his arms backwards to try and constrict Itachi. Itachi jumps back and throws his kunai at Jiraiya who ducks and uses Swamp of the Underworld. Itachi is swallowed by the swamp but then a murder of crows fly out of it and reform into Itachi’s body, unharmed.

“Sleep.” He says, pointing at Jiraiya and Jiraiya is instantly out. Orochimaru tries to vomit his sword at Itachi, but he splits into crows and goes up close and personal with Orochimaru, looking him in the eye. “Tsukuy-”

Before he can finish, Tsunade joins in with a thunderous punch from behind. Itachi explodes and Tsunade is forced to heal herself as she’s bloody from the damage. She walks over to Jiraiya and wakes him up from the genjutsu.

“You OK?” She asks. He nods.

“Yeah. How’re you princess?” He says with a grin.

“Ready to kick some ass.” She then glances at Orochimaru’s new body crawling out of his previously damaged one. “What about him?” Jiraiya grimaces.

“We’ll deal with him later. Right now…Itachi is more dangerous and we need him to win.”

“Tch. I guess.” She agrees with a sneer.

The Three Sannin now stand together, facing Itachi. From here it’s a three on one attack with constant pressure of taijutsu and ninjutsu with Itachi getting no time to rest. Eventually he forces room with an exploding clone into three fireballs, one for each Sannin. Jiraiya blocks it with a water shot, Tsunade punches it, and Orochimaru eats it. Itachi then closes his eyes.

“I don’t have time for this.”

“Well make time a-” Tsunade starts, though she’s cut off as he opens his eyes and a wall of black fire appears in between them.

“Amaterasu.” Tsunade goes to punch it but Jiraiya yanks her back and shakes his head.

“Don’t touch it. It’s dangerous. I’m not sure even you can recover from that.” Tsunade looks hesitant but nods, going along with him.

“So what do we do about-” She looks over and Orochimaru’s gone. “Dammit!”

Jiraiya just smiles. “We’ll get him princess, don’t worry.”

After this, Akatsuki begins taking down villages one by one. Kisame goes after the Mist Village, destroying most of it and stalemating the 7 Swordsman in a close battle. He’s driven off when the Mizukage arrives to aid them. Deidara takes out the Earth village, killing Onoki, the kage, in an epic battle, and leaves the entire place in ruin, forcing them to elect a new Kage and start rebuilding. Pain goes after Konoha as he’s the leader and ruins most of it with ease. He ends up hurting Tsunade badly (breaking every bone in her body with a powerful Shinra Tensei and placing her in a healing coma), killing Jiraiya (Sage mode and all), and almost mortally wounding Kakshi. He fights an almost-Sage Mode Naruto and takes him down, capturing him and going on his way.

At the same time, Orochimaru enters Sasuke’s room in the Sound Village.

“It’s time.”