Naruto: Path of Uchiha

Chapter 17: Attack On Konoha

Naruto's POV

It had been a week since the second part of the chunin exams. It was announced that in less than a month, the final part of the exams will commence. The final part will consist of hand-to-hand combat.

Today is the day the pairs going against each other will be announced.

Sasuke and I were now in our room at the Uchiha compound. Sasuke is resting, recovering from the shock of being bitten by a grown man who acts like a snake. He told me that he still gets the shivers. It is understandable, though.

Being lost in the book I am reading, I didn't notice someone enter.

'Sasuke! Naruto!', Obito Nii-san calls out, Itachi Nii-san and Kakashi Nii-san in tow.

They are all home for a while due to the chunin exams.

'What?', Sasuke asks, clearly annoyed by the interruption.

'The pairs are announced. You and Naruto will go against each other', Itachi Nii-san answers.

'Huh?', I say, 'YES!', Sasuke says at the same time.

'He is way too happy to be fighting me, you think it's the curse marks effect?', I ask Kurama.
'Nah, that's just plain old Sasuke for you'

'You look way too happy to be fighting your brother', Kakashi Nii-san says, mirroring my thoughts.

'Sorry, Naruto, but I have been dreaming about this',

'Pleased to know I am the person in your dreams', I say, hitting Sasuke's head.

'It's really fortunate you two are against each other, having the same level of skills more or less, this will be very fun to watch', Itachi Nii-san says, causing giggles to break out in the room.

***

However, it was not fun to watch; there wasn't anything to watch, as it didn't happen at all.

A month later, the day finally came when the last part of the exam was going to take place.

Team 7 gathered for their one-on-one tournament battles, with Sasuke going against Naruto, Hinata going against a boy from the hidden cloud village, and Shikamaru going against a girl from the hidden sand village.

'You two are up first', Shikamaru says, looking at the list of participants, then to Naruto and Sasuke.

'What a bummer', Sasuke exaggerates.

'Why is that a bad thing?', Hinata, who didn't understand why Sasuke was upset, asked.

'There will be high expectations from us', Naruto answers her.

'Candidates Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, join us in the fighting ring', an announcement is heard.

'Good luck', Shikamaru encourages.
'I will be rooting for you both!', Hinata exclaims.

Naruto and Sasuke make their way to the training ring, both unsure of what the outcome will be. Naruto had an advantage with the Kyubi chakra, which will cause him to faint immediately after serving its purpose, as Naruto was still not used to it.

Sasuke had to focus on not giving Naruto the opening to use the chakra. While Naruto had to find the perfect opening to use the chakra.

As they both get into the fighting ring, the instructor shouts, 'Begin!', and they both charge at each other.

However, this doesn't last long, as a loud explosion is heard in the distance, causing both boys to stop.

Screams of people envelope the hall.

***

Naruto's POV

Our fight has come to a halt.

'Someone has attacked'.

Itachi Nii-san appears by our side and says, 'Get to safety immediately. Orochimaru has attacked', he instructs us.

'What about Hinata and Shikamaru?', I manage to ask, still shocked by the abrupt change in situation.

Before Itachi Nii-san has a chance to answer, Sasuke asks another question: 'What about Mama and Papa?'

'Obito went to your friends; Kakashi went to Papa and Mama', he assures.

'You both get to safety now; I don't want to see you guys anywhere else', he says, in a rather stern tone.

I guess he is worried. It doesn't surprise me. Konoha is literally getting attacked.

Sasuke takes my hand, and we go through the crowd.

We are about to reach safety when suddenly someone pulls both of us.

'Got you both', says the man who pulled us.

I look up to see the same white-haired person I saw on the mission on which we escorted our clients Akie and Haku, Kabuto.

'Sasuke, run', I whisper so low that Kabuto can't hear us.

'No way, I am not leaving you',

'You have the curse mark; who knows what will happen to you if he successfully captures you? So, run'.

After hesitating way too much, Sasuke runs.

As expected, Kabuto tries to go after him, but I quickly make enough shadow clones to make a barrier between the two.

'Ugh, you are such a nuisance', Kabuto grunts.

He turns his attention toward me. Great. I succeeded in getting Sasuke out.

'You need my help?'
'You will know when I do'

The fight between Kabuto and me starts with normal hand-to-hand combat. Though it escalates quickly as Kabuto starts using chakra-infused scalpels with his taijutsu style,

'It's unfortunate that you will die at such a young age', he says, throwing a punch at me that I barely manage to dodge.

'Keep on talking, and you will be the one dying', I reply, my focus still being on defense.

The fight continues; he manages to get many hits on me, but I get none on him.

'Ahaha, you are very weak for a jinchuriki! Is your fox stupid or what?', he says, getting way too ahead of himself.

I take it as a perfect opportunity.

Using his distraction as an advantage, I throw a chakra-infused punch straight at his stomach.

'Agh', he momentarily stops.

To my surprise, he gets back up, 'you think that could hurt me? I can heal myself almost immediately',

'That's bad. You think of a plan?'
'No, let me think',

I can't hit him, as he will regenerate. The only way to hurt him would be if I threw my punches with great strength and speed, but I am not that fast. Kurama is.

'Lend me your chakra; I have a plan'.

The orange chakra envelopes me; I feel a surge of strength and speed.

'Oh? The fox is finally helping you?', he says, showing off confidence, but I can see a hint of worry in his eyes.

'Scaredy cat', I say, earning a shocked look from him.

'Wha-', before he has a chance to finish, I sprint towards him with great speed, throwing punches continuously at his stomach.

I was so strong and so fast that he couldn't possibly recover. If he does, I am doomed. But, to my relief, he doesn't.

I keep throwing punches, angry at him. Angry as he has caused so much trouble for us. I was angry that he attacked my village.

'Stop, kid, that's enough; he is out', Kurama says, but I don't hear him.

I continue hitting him, but it stops. Not by me, but by someone who has come to my rescue. Unable to open my eyes, I see faint images of Sasuke and Kakashi Nii-san. At last, my eyes succumb to darkness, and I faint.

***

Naruto opens his eyes at the sight of a hospital room coming into view.

'Naruto's awake! Oh, thank Kami, you're awake. I thought you wouldn't make it... I-i thought it was wrong to leave you there. I should have stayed with you; I am so sorry, Naruto', Sasuke says, all in one breath, tears streaming down his face.

Seeing this, Naruto gets flashbacks of the event when both the boys drowned when learning water walking and Sasuke deemed it to be his fault.

After taking a deep breath, Naruto takes a look around the room. To Naruto's surprise, no one else is there—not his family, not his brothers, not his friends—only Sasuke is here.

'I am okay, Sasuke; I was the one who chose to fight alone', Naruto says, then pauses. 'Where is everyone though?', he asks, getting worried at the sight of the empty room.

'Oh they... They will be here soon; I-i will go call them', Sasuke says, hurriedly exiting the room.

Moments later, Hinata bursts into the room.

At the sight of her, Naruto releases a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding.

Hinata goes straight towards Naruto and hugs him. 'Why do you always get in danger? You should leave some to us', she says, not planning to let him go anytime soon.

'I am okay... See?', Naruto says, pointing towards himself. 'I heal fast', he adds.

'What happened though? Is the village Oka-', Naruto doesn't get to finish, as many people start coming into the room.

First, his Mama and Papa; both of them hugged him right away, murmuring their worries to him.

Then entered his friends, Sasuke, with Shikamaru in line.

Shikamaru raises his eyebrow at Naruto, and the blonde nods in reply. That's all they needed to do to know that they are both okay.

The last ones to come in are his elder brothers; they all look tired, covered in bandages of all sorts, though nothing looks serious.

Naruto releases another sigh of relief at the sight of them.

They all rush right at him, with Obito looking the most worried. After living with them for his whole life, he is sure the others might not show it, but they are equally as worried.

Kakashi kneels down next to his bed, Obito and Itachi hovering above him.

'What is with you and fighting shinobi having three times as much experience as you?', Obito says, hoping to lighten the atmosphere, but everyone knows he is being serious.

'I am sorry. Are you three okay though?', Naruto asks, his worry for them clearly evident.

'We should ask you that but yes, Naruto, we are okay, everyone is safe, the village is alright, we managed to fight off the threat, you were a huge help in capturing Kabuto, and we now can get all sorts of information from him', Kakashi explains.

Someone who doesn't know their relationship might find it odd that Kakashi is explaining the situation to Naruto while he is hospitalized. But Kakashi knows that this information will help Naruto calm down; it will help in making his worries go away.

'What about Orochimaru?', Naruto asks, his voice bitter.

'He managed to escape; we managed to defeat a huge amount of the reincarnations he brought with him, though', Fugaku answers, putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

'Oh', Naruto answers, disappointed that the snake sannin still lives.

Shortly after, the door opens, and the person who Naruto least expected to be here enters. Jiraiya.

'Oh! Jiraiya-sama, you're here? I thought you would not be back till the end of the month', Naruto says, surprised at the presence of the toad summoner.

'Yes, kid, I am here', he says, his voice ragged.

He looks so different; his cheery personality is all gone.

Naruto feels an eerie silence loom over the room.

Something is up, he figures. Something has happened, and everyone is keeping it a secret from him.

Naruto then takes his time to observe his surroundings; all of his family is here except Ji-chan. Coincidence or not, everyone is wearing black clothing, like they just attended a funeral.

The dots click in Naruto's mind.

'Kurama, don't tell me what I am thinking is true. Please Kurama. Please say no. Kurama?'
'I'm sorry, Naruto', was all Kurama could say.

'Ji-chan, where is he?', Naruto manages to ask, his voice hoarse.

Naruto looks over to everyone; no one says anything.

'Please tell me! Where is he!', Naruto asks, his voice loud, something that is very rare for a usually calm and composed Naruto.

He again looks at everyone, one by one, his gaze lingering on Jiraiya.

But he knows he won't get the answer from him, so he turns to look towards Itachi. His Nii-san, who's been supporting his ideas his ridiculous whole life, His Nii-san, who he's sure will tell him the truth no matter how harsh,

'Nii-san, please tell me the truth', Naruto pleads.

Itachi sighs, then opens his mouth to say something.

'Naruto...the Hokage... He is no more',

Naruto's never been a crier; the last time he openly expressed his sadness was when his brothers got hurt on the mission to kill Danzo.

But this time, loud sobs escape from Naruto. Naruto, who is way too young, only 8 years old, experienced another loss of his life.