Naruto: Rinnegan Chronicles

Rivalry

Fire Country: Konoha / Hokage Tower

The trip home had been uneventful; they had stayed until Koyuki had been instated as the new Spring Daimyo and she agreed to ally with Konoha and the Fire Country as a thank you. On the trip back Sakura was doing what she normally did and constantly pestered Sasuke. Yugito had been surprisingly quiet after she found out that Koyuki would still remain an actress and would be playing a part the new Icha Icha Movie.

Then there's Sasuke...

The glare he had been sending at Naruto the entire way home was beginning to get on his nerves; it didn't matter if they liked each other as long as they could work together. At least that's what Naruto had thought but something changed during the Battle of the Frozen Glacier as the locals of Spring Country now called it.

Naruto didn't know what had changed exactly but whatever it was made him very uneasy...

This brings us to our current situation...

"Mission Accomplished," Naruto stated clearly as his team stood before the Hokage.

Kakashi nodded and looked over the report, "impressive if a bit reckless".

"We had to split up; taking them on as a group would have been suicide," Naruto explained his reasoning.

Kakashi waved it off, "believe me Naruto. If I were in your shoes I would have made the same call; no matter how reckless it was, it was still the right decision".

"Thank you sensei," the squad-leader nodded.

Kakashi sighed, "Go take a break; all of you. I'm sure there'll be another mission for you tomorrow so go get some rest. Dismissed".

The four nodded and exited the room; they were just about to reach the stairs when once single sentence changed their fates forever...

"Hey dobe," Sasuke spoke up getting the others attention.

"What do you want Teme?" Naruto asked over his shoulder.

"Fight me...now," Sasuke said with a glare surprising the two female members of the team.

"What? Sasuke we just got back from a mission; what the hell are you talking about?" Naruto asked confused.

"Shut up and fight me," he said, anger dripping in his words.

Naruto just stared at him, "...Sasuke I can't. I'm a Chunin now; I can't just go around and pick fights with people anymore. And even if I could; I don't have the time to deal with your ego". He turned and started towards the stairs again; Sasuke saw this and grabbed his shoulder to pull him around. Naruto turned swiftly and slammed the dark-haired boy against the wall, "what the hell is your problem?!"

"You and me; training ground seven...right now," Sasuke's glare intensified

"Sasuke you're not getting it; I have bigger problems than you now. Orochimaru, Akatsuki...your brother," at Naruto's words Sasuke's Sharingan activated.

"I said fight me," the Uchiha sneered.

"No," Naruto responded no longer playing around.

"Are you scared?" Sasuke asked with a smirk.

"I'm not the scaredy-cat," the blond Uzumaki responded.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as Naruto turned to continue on. He spoke up again however and Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, "then if you won't fight me...perhaps demon girl here will".

Yugito sent him a glare at the name he had called her, 'that bastard. What's his problem?'

"Take that back," Naruto turned around and activated his Rinnegan.