65 Arc 3: Phase 2: Face Off Part 1

Author's note: Hey there Readers!, Welcome to Arc 3 Phase 2. I Hope you guys enjoy! I would also like to thank you guys for the Reviews. Favorites, and follows :)

Expect some grammar and spelling mistakes along the way.

Thank you for Understanding :)

P.S

I also have a new story called "Resurrection" The story is about the dead mysteriously coming back to life years after the war. Feel free to check out the story:)

Arc 3: Phase 2

(Flashback)

"Mama, what was it like when you first met Papa?"

Curiosity had finally caught up with the little girl. Sarada observed a set of small picture frames displayed on a certain table located in the living room. One photo had been giving her all the curiousity for years already, that one photo which contained the only image of her father, who she hasn't met in person before.

The little girl adjusted her glasses as she continued to observed the lone image of her mysterious father. She had no idea when this was taken but she assumed that her father was very much very young in this photo, specifically during his teenage years.

"Was He always this serious-looking?" She added to her questions. Was her Papa really that kind of person?

Sakura, who was busy ironing clothes, could only smile as she began to reminisce the good old days. Right from time of her childhood to her teenage years until now, she still couldn't figured out on why her husband had retained that serious look in him.

"Well, Your father has been always serious since we were kids." Sakura replied as she gave a small giggle.

Little Sarada could only raised an eyebrow in confusion." So that's why he was center of attention with the girls." She asked.

Another smile was let out from the pink haired woman." That's right!" She simply said. She had been expecting this from her daughter for awhile now, and she was glad that she was ready for anytime that she asked about him.

Little Sarada then gave an amused look." Looks like it, but I'm still don't get why would a lot of girls like serious people." She wondered, as she observed her younger Papa's eyes.

Those eyes, as if he had went through a lot of things.

Just then a new question popped out and she proceeded to ask.

"Was there are time that you guys had an argument or maybe the first time you guys fight over something?" She added the question to her list of curiosities.

As for Sakura, there were a lot of memories from the vault and there was this one memory regarding a certain person to which she had ultimately lost during that silent night years ago.

She still remembered those last words.

There was silence around the living room, Little Sarada was very much confused to see her Mama, staring at the blank space as there small tears falling from her eyes. Was she okay?

Sakura gave a small smile." Yes, there were a lot of times." She simply replied, turning her eyes towards her daughter." You know Sarada, your father was a very different person back then." She added, before continuing." He was more ambitious with his goals, and you wouldn't like him as a person." She explained.

"Wouldn't like him? Come on Mama, I know a lot of kids, who has that same attitude." Sarada gave another skeptical look.

Sakura could only gave a small smile." Well, but not as tacky as your father." She said, her daughter having no idea that she had to go through a lot of challenges and hardships just to bring back him back from the darkness, which kept him for many years.

As for Little Sarada, she was unable to get the big picture regarding her Mama's story. What was really going on with them when they were young? Did something happened that made the relationship sour before?

The raven haired girl might not know the real story but she hoped that she will understand it when the right time arrives.

She hoped to meet him soon.

Present Day



Cold sweat was all over her skin, Sarada hid behind a certain boulder as she silently watched the scene unfold from behind. At this moment in time, she was frozen to the point where she can't even move her whole body properly, the pressure was high as she could feel her heart beating fast. The wind was in its peak completing to what is now, the tense atmosphere.

The rookie moved her eyes around to observed the rest of the surroundings. The whole place was pretty much messed up by the unexpected explosion. She almost found herself being crushed to death by the falling debris but she was able to avoid danger by swiftly evading all of them and even destroying a boulder into pieces.

Everybody, except for two certain blondes, stood still as all their heads were looking up, staring at a the raven haired teen for the first time.

She was now just an observer as she found herself witnessing scene in history unfold. She recalled when she was a kid, her Mama used to tell her stories, her experiences as a Shinobi during her younger years and there was one time that she told a memory regarding Team 7's first encounter with the Uchiha years after his defection.

"Could this be it?"

"Could this be that moment?"

She thought to herself before changing positions to take a good look on what was happening right now.

She narrowed her eyes closely and observed.

So far there were only three people at the scene, the main members of Team 7, consisting of Sakura and Sai, and the former member, Sasuke Uchiha, who was standing on higher grounds, overlooking down at them.

The sun was in its peak, bringing nothing but the heat and blinding light. Silence was all over the ruins except for the wind that continue to blew passed by.

As for Sasuke, the raven haired teen moved his eyes around in order to see if there was anyone besides them here. A few moments later, he suddenly remembered that there was something missing, someone from his past.

There was only one more person that was missing and by the time that person arrives, the reunion would now be complete and all he have to do was to wait.

(Interview)

"It was pretty much a different atmosphere, I knew that it would be very plain stupid if I immediately reveal myself just to forcefully take over the situation, so I chose to stay hidden for awhile and observe more."

-Sarada

(Meanwhile)

His heart was racing.

Naruto dashed his way through the final pathway of the corridor. By the time he had heard the conversation and that the rest of the team had managed to find the long lost Uchiha, a sudden burst of adrenaline took over him as he felt the need to head to that area where the rest were currently at.

His only fault was not telling the rookie before he left but he managed to wave a goodbye sign towards Showtaro and his friend, telling them to catch up once they have recovered.

All those three years that he had trained and worked hard was for this moment. He considered himself to be ready and prepared to finally confront him. He still remembered that fateful day which he failed to bring him back because he wasn't strong enough. That wss still stuck in his mind, which kept repeating everyday.

Naruto narrowed his eyes in determination. He found himself going through different directions and time passed he found himself running towards a certain exit which would eventually led him towards his final destination. From a distance he could finally see two people standing there, which soon revealed to be his two teammates in the form of Sakura and Sai.

He shook his head as he didn't believed that he was too late. No matter what happens, he's going to prove that all those years wasn't a fluke and he will make sure that promise that he made will be fulfilled.

He briefly stopped his tracks and rested for several seconds. He was gathering every confidence that he could find as there was no turning back once he proceeded on. Naruto took a deep breath and soon continued on his feet as he headed towards final exit.

As He finally reached the end of his journey, he let out his last words before entering the scene.

"I'm gonna bring you back, Dattebayo

By the time he stepped out from the darkness, he was immediately greeted by the bright light as he found himself being almost blinded by it. His vision was blurry and could only see the glimpses of his teammates, who were all standing in the middle and looking upwards.

"What are they doing?" He asked himself as he stopped his tracks once he arrived at the middle.

"Are you guys alright?" He immediately asked the two, although thr blonde didn't get at least a response from them.

Naruto continued to expand his mind as he proceeded to looked around the area that he was currently in right now. It seemed that this place was a training room or somesort that had been recently destroyed. He then recalled that there was a mysterious earthquake that rattled the whole hideout before, and it was all finally coming to him.

He immediately felt a familiar presence from above and as soon as he stopped his direction and looked up like the rest of his teammates were now doing.

By the time he looked up, his vision became clearer and he widened his shocked to see a familiar face that he had not seen for these past three years.

A face, which had very cold eyes staring at him right now.

"Sasuke." Naruto muttered under his breath. His body was frozen in shocked as he had no idea that all of this would be so overwhelming for him.

It was a very unexpected moment for him and he stood there staring with a mixed of disbelief and shocked.

As for Sasuke, the guy kept his emotionless state, He narrowed his eyes towards the trio as he continued to observed them, especially the blonde." So you're here huh?"

So far there were only three of them and without any Jounin captain leading them, which gave confusion.

Where was Kakashi?

Was He too sick to go?

Or Was He usually late as always on his arrivals.

" I assumed Kakashi is with you somewhere here." The Uchiha said, although there was no response from the other party.

Although, it doesn't matter since it was kind of an amusing thing for him to see them all once again after three years. He had to admit that those two had really changed since he had last saw them. He wondered on how strong they were now.

He kept his eyes towards the trio and continued to observed them. By the time he had laid his sight on the black haired teen, which was Sai, He finally realized the revelation.

"So he's my replacement?" He asked, wanting to know the clarification from the rest, but there was still no response, giving him another chance to make another comment of his own.

"So another loser has join in the ranks."

(MEANWHILE)



It was indeed a very shocking and surprising moment for the team, especially for Naruto and Sakura. Everyone had expected this to happened, they were ready for every possiblities ahead of them although still they weren't able to to immediately act by the time the moment had arrived.

They were all silent, especially Naruto, who's mind was on overdrive, thinking of any ways to bring his professionalism out of him. He wanted to show everyone that he had matured and he can handle this types of situations.

Although, the only problem was that he had been quiet for too long already, he was pretty too late which instead brought more awkwardness to the situation.

He looked to his right and saw his pink haired teammate, who's also having the same kind of problem as well." Sakura-chan too!?" He thought to himself, as he briefly observed the girl, who was having a tough time to recuperate.

While the two teens where still finding their confidence, Sai had other plans, He was more in the side of getting things done, with a very serious face, he proceeded to raised up his katana, getting the attention of everyone, even surprising the pink haired teen.

"What the heck Sai!?" Naruto widened his eyes in surprised and exclaimed out.

Sakura, being the calmest stood there baffled once more. She thought the teen haf already change and turned into a new leaf." Sai, you're mission was to-" She was suddenly interrupted by the latter.

"Yes! My original mission was secretly assasinate Sasuke-kun." He said, before continuing on." But I don't care about my orders anymore." He added, narrowing his eyes towards the Uchiha.

"I want to act my own free will now, and I want Naruto-kun to help me remember to what its like to feel." He explained, finally showing his true colors to the everyone.

"And I think it was something important."

Naruto and Sakura continued to listen to the young root. This was the first time that they hear speak like this. It was not the usual strange emotionless teenager that they met days ago.

As for Sai, he gave his all his voice out and exclaimed towards the Uchiha." I don't know much about you but I know there's a reasom why Naruto and Sakura came all the way here just for you!" He said.

"They're all going out here just to keep that "Bond" from being severed." He said, as he took glances at the two." I still don't understand that."

"But for you, you must understand that!"

There was silence that took over once more. Sai finished his speech strong as he expected it to be. He really wanted the Uchiha to realized that "Bond" And he hope that guy would understand everything that was happening right now.

Although, his efforts were still yet to be considered worth it.

Sasuke could only gave a small smirk and shook his head. What was this guy saying? Does he even know anything about his history? Why was he blurting out words as if he already knows the truth?

"You don't know anything." The Uchiha replied towards the teen." You see, I have a different "Bond." He added, as his mind began to trigger the memories of his big brother, especially that fateful night.

"I have a bond of hatred with my brother." He continued." Surely, other bonds had merely confused you and I understand why." He explained." And distract you from your greatest desires and emotions that matter."

He was a person who never lets himself be taken over and weakened by these bonds, he had to stay like this way in order to achieved his goal. Heck, he would not even hesitate to severe his former bonds with his old teammates, apparently he considered the bonds that tied him to them, a hindrance to his goal.

He was showing everything from his despise and carelessness just to make them believed and realized that they should have given up. The last time they had a chance to save him was three years ago, during his battle with the blonde at the valley..

As for Naruto, He was narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth in annoyance. He refused to believed the Uchiha's statement.

"Then Why Didn't you Kill me!?" The blonde said, referring to his last battle with the Uchiha at the Valley of the End." Is this your Idea of cutting off bonds!? Sasuke!" He furiously added, much to the concern of his pink haired teammate.

There was quietness once more as Sasuke closed his eyes, remembering his big brother's last words to him." The reason is simple." He said." It's not that I couldn't cut off my bonds with you."

"The idea of doing what he said in order to become more poweful made me sick." He added.

Naruto narrowed his eyes." What are you trying to tell me?" He asked, all of these was vague for him.

Sasuke continued to be emotionless expression." That day I left you on a whim..." He trailed off, still recalling his unexpected victory three years ago, before jumping down towards the blonde in a blink of an eye.

The rest of everybody was startled and shocked to find the find the Uchiha in front of them already and He was leaning on the blonde as he continued to his speech." Come to think of it, wasn't your dream to become Hokage?" He asked.

"You should've spent these three years training instead of wasting your time around chasing me, right Naruto?" Sasuke added, secretly giving a small devious smile.

"And this time I'm going to kill you on a whim." He finished his sentence as he drew out his blade, and pointed it on the blonde's back, He was serious in his words and he was really going to do it.

Sakura was still shocked, as much as she wanted take action right now, she was unable to, because her whole body was frozen and she can't even move a single muscle. She directed her eyes towards the young root, who was still standing there." What are you doing Sai!?" She exclaimed.

(Interview)

"Every single thing was happening at the same time, I really wanted to help Naruto, but something was preventing me to do so. Sai on the other hand was obviously going to take matters in to his own hands."

-Sakura

(MEANWHILE)

Sarada held gripped her hands on the giant boulder that she was hiding in. She was now on the point of getting out of her position in hopes of saving the seventh but it would only reveal her presence to the rest.

She was now eager and ready to do it. It looked as if her teen Papa was really going for the kill and she had no choice but to take action right now or else.

And as she was about to make her move, something unexpected interrupted and prevented her in the form of certain familiar male voice from behind.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

(MEANWHILE)

Naruto stood there still, he was in fact surprised, despite the distinctive sound of the blade being drawn he still decided to handle the situation in a more calmer way, he still remembered and kept the blonde rookies' advices, he knew that it was the only way to do it.

He was still on the Uchiha's grasps and it was the perfect time to respond." Someone who can't even save even one friend isn't fit to become Hokage." He replied back, towards his former teammate.

"Right, Sasuke?" He added, with a little dose of sarcasm.

Sasuke stayed in silence." So be it" He said before proceeding to stabbed the blonde on the back.

The world began to slow down as the rest watched the Uchiha slowly directed his blade towards the blonde's back. Everyone thought this was finally it since it was too late to interfere but in the last few seconds, a certain black haired teen quickly rushed and blocked the attack.

By the time Sasuke had proceeded to stab the blonde, the young root took action and as swiftly as the wind he appeared in front of the Uchiha, and behind the blonde's back, blocking the attack by immediately grabbing raven haired teen's hand.



It immediately grabbed the attention and caused both surprised reactions from Sakura and Sarada at the same time, although Naruto remained calmed, He had already expected the young root to take action.

Meanwhile, the momentum was transfered between Sai and Sasuke, as they engaged on a stare off.

"That's the correct way to block my attack I'm surprised." The Uchiha commented with a sarcastic tone of voice. In truth, He was a bit amused since the other guy was treating this seriously.

As for Naruto, He gave a brief eye contact towards the young root as he decided to make the first move by suddenly grabbing the Uchiha's arm in order to incapacitate him long enough for Sai to make the second attack by knocking him down.

Although, The Uchiha was a step ahead of them as a series of lightning bolts began to appear on both of his hands summoning a familiar technique.

"Chidori Nagashi!"

Not more than a second a the ligtning quickly spread out and headed towards both of the two teens beside him. It unleashed a small explosion causing the teens to forcibly let go of the Uchiha as they were sent flying away to a distance, crashing on the ground.

Sasuke stood as the lightning static was surrounding him. He observed his surroundings

It didn't stop from there as the Uchiha turned his direction towards the blonde, who was still recovering, and proceeded to charge at him at full speed.

As for Naruto, The blonde was still recovering when he suddenly felt a presence fast approaching him. He immediately looked up and saw his former teammate charging at him at full speed.

He wasn't able to react that much since the other teen was faster, and for a few seconds there, He really felt helpless and just stared at him waiting for his supposed demise.

Luckily, He was able to gather himself up as he felt this strange energy that burst out inside of him and it wasn't from the Kyuubi. As if it was an untapped energy or just merely an unknown instinct that he wasn't aware of.

Naruto quickly evaded the attack, causing the Uchiha to hit the ground instead.

The blonde stood up as he immediately drew out his Kunai, anticipating another attack from the latter which happened in a matter of seconds.

Sasuke drove towards Naruto once more, gripping his blade, as he was ready to give another attack once more.

Naruto, this time prepared, braced himself as he sided on the defensive stance. He knew that this was going down the line, and as the Uchiha finally reached him, he gripped his Kunai and sway his hand thus clashing with the other's blade.

The battle between the blonde Uzumaki and raven haired Uchiha resumed once again since their last battle three years ago at the Valley of the End.

"Damn!" Naruto gritted his teeth. He was almost overwhelmed by the sheer power that Uchiha projected and he could feel the blue electric sparks of the Chidori trying to transfer to his body and harm him.

He could feel his hands shaking and so as the force of the blade pushing through against him. He had little time left before everything could go wrong for him. Luckily, he managed to avoid another supposed fate as he jumped away from the Uchiha, doing a backflip and landing a few distances away from him.

Sasuke continued to charged at the blonde, who braced himself once more, and this time his attempted strike was blocked yet again by the blonde, which was followed his counterattack via a quick uppertcut up to the chin which stunned him.

Naruto slowly turned to the offensive side as he followed a series of strikes towards the Uchiha, who immediately anticipated it, and evaded those attacks with ease.

The battle was slowly turning into a Taijutsu fight.

Naruto gritted his teeth in annoyance as he can't seemed to land any of his attacks on the Uchiha since his sneaky uppercut. Even though, his Taijutsu wasn't on the elite levels, yet still he believed in his ability and continued to held his own against the Uchiha.

As for Sasuke, He kept a small amused look, He never really expected the blonde to be keeping up with this. It was very typical of him to be unpredictable right now, yet he still can see the flaws in the blonde.

After a handful of time engaging on a Taijutsu battle, The Uchiha decided that it was finally enough as he looked forward to end this once and for all. He swiftly evaded one strike by the blonde by ducking down causing the teen to gave a surprised look. He then proceeded to immediately strike the blonde right on the stomach using the handle of the Katana to incapacitate him.

He didn't used his Chidori or even strike him with the sharp edges of the blade because of reasons that he can't even explained.

Naruto cringed as he felt the pain in his stomach, he let go of his fighting stance as he was then sent flying towards a distance via a strong kick from the Uchiha. The blonde landed and came crashing on ground and also letting go of his Kunai.

Sakura stood there as she helplessly watched the the scene unfold right in front of her. Here it was again, as her own fear was taking over and she couldn't even bring herself to helped the blonde. The atmosphere was very tensed as she tried to move her wobbly legs towards the scene.

She kept her eyes on the Uchiha, who was still dealing with the blonde.

A thought then suddenly came up to the pink haired teen. If she could act fast enough, she could end this battle by sneaking up to the Uchiha in hopes of knocking him out. It was indeed a really good idea but the only problem was that she didn't have enough time execute her move since she felt a presence from the behind.

Sakura widened her eyes in surprised to see that raven haired teen was gone in front of her and by the time she turned around, she saw those familiar onyx black eyes looking at her own.

The pink haired teen was startled as she slowly took a few steps back. She never expected that it would turned out this way. Her mind was on overdrive as she thought of ways to handle the situation. She was going into a state of panic.

Although, outside of her state of shock, was a calm Sasuke Uchiha who just stood there giving her a look that no one had seen before. There were no signs of him going to attack as in that very moment, the raven haired teen just observed the pink haired teen as if he hadn't seen her in years.

For Sakura, she also noticed something different in his eyes, they were weary and tired, of course it would be very obvious since he lost his family, been a rogue genin that was training under Orochimaru, but it was different, as if the guy had been through a lot of things in a span of decades or maybe that was only her guess.

The pink haired teen was speechless, she tried to bring out any words from her mouth, but at the same time, she was running out of things to say.

It was at this time that the raven haired teen began saying something to her, to which she didn't clearly heard. It was a faint whisper, something in the lines of "I'm sorry" or simply just mentioning her name. It made her more confused and wondered if he was really going attack him or not.

As Sasuke took the steps forward, he was then prevented once more as he then felt another headache which forced him to cringed in pain and held his head, much to the surprised of the pink haired teen, who took a few steps forward to see if he was alright.

"S-Sasuke." Sakura mentioned the teen's name, as she slowly neared him.

As for The Uchiha, the pain was taking its toll as images and mysterious memories began to flashed right before him. Seeing also a mysterious blurry vision of a man carrying a staff and hearing a cryptic sentence from him.

"You'll be forever trapped inside, and you will never come out!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth." No!" He exclaimed to himself as he tried to resist it once more. Everything was going down for him as the darkness was pushing him back.

It was at this time that something unexpected had happened in form of a new arrival, as he felt a force immediately surrounding him and something had wrapped around him in the form a number of Ink subtances that was summoned by a certain black haired teen from behind.

"Sai!" Sakura exclaimed as she too was surprised.

From behind the Uchiha was the young root Shinobi as he finally recovered from the electric blast that he had received just awhile ago. He used all the remaining time that he had to prepare himself and waited for the right moment to strike and he knew this was the moment that he had been waiting for.

While the Uchiha was still incapacitated, he wasted no time as he made his move by drawing out his Kunai and began to charged at him, along with some ink creatures beside him. He was going full forced on this one as he seemed to have the upper hand already.

Although what he didn't expect was that the Uchiha's headaches had stopped and the teen suddenly turned his attention towards the young root with full blood red eyes of the Sharingan.

Sai widened his eyes in shocked as he felt his body slowly being paralyzed from head to to toe. Although, this time he was mentally prepared as he continued his charged as his ink creatures continued to disintigrate one by one.

As he finally reached the Uchiha, he proceeded to raised up his small blade in an attempt to strike him down, but in an unexpected twist, The ink substanced surrounding the Uchiha vanished into thin air, causing the teen to fully turned around and gave the young root a smirked.

"Too bad." Sasuke muttered before finally making his move as he thrust his blade towards the young root's shoulder completely stabbing him and sending him towards a boulder crashing on it.

Sai winced in pain as he felt the blade go through his flesh as blood began coming out from his wound thereafter. Half of his body going numb because of the pain that he had received.

Sasuke was gave a cold stare at the teen as he let his blade pinned the young root on the boulder." You always had the bad timing but I've gotta to say that it was a clever bold move." He commented with slight amused tone.

Sai could only grit annoyance." Dammit! I thought I had him." He cursed to himself. He felt disappointed and at the same time helpless. There was really no stopping this guy unless all three of them and the missing Yamato would team up together to defeat him.

He even doubted the fact that Yamato could even stop him alone. Speaking of the brown haired man, Where was he? What has happened to him? Did he got lost in the maze as well?

He could only watched helplessly and thought of the possiblity of this moment being his last.

On the other hand, Sakura had just snapped back to reality. She really had to something or else the situation would go at hand. She was disappointed at herself for not being to attentive and this time she was going to make up to her mistakes.

And as she was about to charged at him, she was prevented once more by the Uchiha himself.

"You don't have to fight me, You know what will happened if you did, Sakura."

She stopped her tracks as she was then startled and surprised that he had spoken to her for the first time. Although, there was something in his voice that continued to baffle her.

The atmosphere slowly began to calm down as there was a stoppage of fighting that happened thereafter.

(MEANWHILE)

"I wouldn't do that If I were you."

Sarada took a deep breath as she immediately turned around to face a certain hooded figure in front of her. The raven haired rookie soon went into her fighting stance, she can sense the danger surrounding her. She wondered on what would this hooded figure's intentions be this time.

"You again?" Sarada replied back as she narrowed her eyes in a hostile manner towards the figure.

There was silence that followed giving the raven haired teen another chance to speak once more.

"Alright, If you're gonna try on fighting me, you might as well keep that hood on!" The Uchiha girl warned the person if anything else goes down the drain. She was already establishing her presence as early as possible.

It was also at this time that the hooded figure decided to removed his hood as a familiar face surprisingly greeted the raven haired rookie.

Sarada widened her eyes in shocked as she found herself staring at the familiar face of a person to which she seen before. "Tensai" She muttered under breath.

Tensai stood there calmly as he finally revealed his identity to the girl." You look like you've seen a ghost." He commented with a small smile.

Sarada kept her guard on as she continued the conversation." So you're the one responsible for making all of this happened!" She said, ignoring the other's comment.

There was silence in the air and in between the two, a conversation was established.

Tensai smiled as the young man then moved and sat down on a certain boulder, much to the surprised of the teen. He beckoned the raven haired Uchiha to observed the main scene happening in front of them.

Sarada had let her guard down as she did on what she was told. She turned her attention towards the main scene of the battle and saw the current aftermath.

Tensai slightly nodded." I wasn't fully responsible for this event, I'm only here to monitor on what has been controlled, but sometimes we have to think that some of the slightest actions can change things for the worst." He explained as he freely raised up his hands towards the scene of the battle.

"As you can see, there were supposed to be 5 people in there, The kid over there wasn't supposed to be impaled on that boulder." He explained, before continuing on." I can really see that because of your meddling, things would be worst than it was before." He said.

Sarada raised an eyebrow." So you mean that someone will be killed today because of us?" She clarified the other's statement.

Tensai simply nodded but gave a slight shrugged." Who knows? But once the event has been changed, it will likely happen." He said, before standing up.

"But my question is..." He trailed off as he observed the raven haired teen.

"Who are you people?" He asked." How come I've never seen you and your friend before?" He wondered." You two would always appear on the worst moments."

Sarada gulped as she was found herself in a situation where there's a possiblity that their real identities would be revealed, so she pretended to not know anything.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The Uchiha girl replied." We're merely just rookies that want to contribute in this mission." She explained.

Tensai gave a small smile." Well, rookies that could handle a heavy situation much like what happened back at the bridge?" He said." As if you two know what was going to happened next." He added.

There was another quietness that took over once more, Sarada was a bit annoyed but surprised that the man knew every word to make her admit the truth.

"If we knew what would happened then, what is it you?" She replied back." Why do you care so much about our presence?"

Tensai gave small smile as he moved closer towards the girl." Because, you two were deemed potential hindrances to the plan since from the start." He explained." I'm not the only one who's doing the job here." He added, implying that there are more people like him who has been monitoring and manipulating this events.

Sarada stopped for a moment to think as she recapped her memories, recalling that her blonde teammate claimed to have seen white hooded figures during their first mission and up until now. She's now realizing that there's something up with all of these things happening around here. Continuing her memory searching, she finally found a small revelation.

"So you mean, Lady Chiyo and Sasori weren't supposed to die in that mission." Sarada said, finally figuring out a mystery.

Tensai simply nodded." Correct, although we really had to manipulate it in some way, so that the favor would go to ours." He explained." Now that one of them has been save, I guess we have to adjust to that."

Sarada widened her eyes as she then took a brief looked at the main scene." Then that means..." She trailed off as she focused on her teenage Papa." He was supposed to be saved earlier!" She thought to herself as there was an urged growing inside, which was also telling her to finally enter the scene before it was too late.

By the time she was about to jump and make her presence known, she was then interrupted by the young man once more.

"I hope you don't get yourself killed out there."

She once again stopped her tracks, as she wss beginning to have second thoughts. If she were to interfere right now, would she only caused unexpected changes that are considered to be fatal consequences? Would here meddling be just useless since it would only cause a life or even her?

At the same time, her walkie talkie came back to life as static was then heard, followed by a familair voice.

"Sarada-chan! are you still there?"

"Please let me know if the fighting has started!"

"I'm almost there."

The communication stopped at the same time as the raven haired teen was about to give it all up. When she heard the blonde knucklehead's voice, all of those doubts were erased, as she finally realized that no matter what happens right now, things would still be end up the same, she gave a smirk and muttered:

"Consequence my ass!"

Sarada then gave a short glanced at Tensai, who was still there and to the young man's surprise, she gave him a small confident smile followed by shaking her head before turning back towards the main scene. She didn't care what would happen to her, as long as she would put an end to this once and for all.

(Interview)

"I really don't bother much about this whole consequences thing, someone's going to die out there and here I am doing nothing! What's the purpose of this mission if I don't even contribute to it? Whoever this guy is, I'm pretty sure he's been worried much about this whole thing if ever interfere."

-Sarada

(MEANWHILE)



Location: Mindscape

It was the one place that he always hated going to. It often smelled like a sewer and looked very much like a giant isolated prison, it was none other than his mindscape. The place where the Kyuubi No Youko was currently sealed and residing and waiting for any chance to come out.

The atmosphere was tense inside as the Kyuubi began taunting the blonde, tempting him to use his power in order to kill the Uchiha.

"This is our chance Naruto."

"Let's show him what we're like when we combine our powers together!"

The fox said as he began to physically manifest in the form of crimson bubbles that build up to form a giant head of him.

"You've waited so long to finally face him and yet still you find yourself on the brink of being defeated once again"

"You're weak!"

The blonde stood there, in front of the cage, where the big fox himself resided, ignoring the tempting words the tailed beast as he fought to keep his sanity in check too." You stay away from this furball!" He exclaimed, showing no fear but calm as he turned around to walked away from the scene.

There were crimson bubbles surrounding the blonde as he decided to walked away from the fox to avoid any temptation. Yet he still received a more number of taunts and words from the fox.

"Get back here Naruto!"

"You needed my power!"

"Without me you're nothing, Kit!"

The Kyuubi was getting furious as seconds passed by. He seemed to be struggling to control the teenage blonde this time and he doesn't even know how the heck was this happening. He seemed to be a different person than the last time he saw him back at the bridge.

The last few moments of him walking away, the big crimson fox saw what appears to be an outline of a taller person, walking alongside the Uzumaki, He seemed to have the same body structure as the kit but more taller and share same blonde hair as him but taller, he had this long white coat with orange fiery designs and there was a simple Kanji symbol of "Seventh" imbedded on the middle of the cape.

The Kyuubi himself was also confused, this was the first time he had seen that person in this mindscape. He thought of every explanations that he could think of but still he can't explained on what was happening in front of him. There is a higher possibility that he may never know that mystery person.

The only question that was circulating around him was that:

"Who was that person?"

(FACE OFF)



Naruto closed his eyes as he kept walking away from the place, a little later his world began to change and he found himself back on the real world as the light of the sun greeted him first.

The blonde still laid on the ground, beaten by the Uchiha prior ago, Although, he could feel himself recovering fast as he noticed a little hint of crimson Chakra surrounding him. He gave a small smirked as he didn't expected the fox would lend a helping hand this time.

"What made you so generous?" Naruto thought to himself as he slowly stood up grabbing his own Kunai on the ground.

Now fully recovered, He focused his eyes on the Uchiha once again, as this time he was ready for another round of fighting. He will never give up no matter what as he charged without any second thoughts.

This was also noticed by a very worried Sakura, who tried to stopped the blonde from continuing on, although she was already too late to prevent him for getting another beating.

"Naruto, Please stop!"

With the rest of Team Kakashi, incapacitated, Sasuke stood in triumph as he stabbed Sai on the shoulder, pinning him against a giant boulder. The Uchiha gave an emotionless stare at the young root, reminding him on not to interfere with other people's business once again.

"Sasuke!"

Then again, the familiar voice of his former blonde teammate exclaimed as he then turned around only to meet the teen charging towards him once more with a kunai on his hand. The same blonde, who he had tried to penetrate the mindscape in hopes of seeing the Kyuubi in person but was unable to due to unexplainable reasons.

Sasuke gave an arrogant smirked." It's no use, He's can't even control his own balance." He thought as he proceeded to removed his blade, which was stuck from Sai's shoulder.

He then proceeded to make his next move by swaying the blade towards the charging blonde in hopes slicing him in half, although his efforts were suddenly interrupted by something he didn't expected.

The world around him slowed down in motion as he felt something headed straight for him, He was just about to activate his Sharingan when suddenly he felt someone grabbed his hand from behind, preventing him from slashing Naruto, who also stopped his tracks, and when he turned to face that certain someone, he widened his eyes in surprised to see the raven haired rookie, Sarada Inoue in front of him with a looked that felt like a knife in the heart.

He was distracted for awhile as another presence had unexpectedly entered the scene, to which he also felt. The second that he was about to turned around, He saw what appears to be small blue ball of energy, which appeared from thin air and flying straight towards him with incredible speed.

The last thing he saw before being sent away was a flash of yellow lightning.

"BOOOM"

Everyone was startled and shocked of what had happened just now. The sudden appearance of the rookie, Sarada started it all by appearing beside of the Uchiha in a blinked of an eye as she grabbed his arm to prevent him from slicing Naruto in half.

It was also at the same time that a new but familiar presence arrived at the scene in the form of a certain blonde rookie, who just couldn't wait to get there in time and help the rest.

Boruto stood on top of a debris as he finally arrived after a long run with the maze. How he was so glad of getting out of the endless hallways and corridors. By the time, he was on his way to the exit, he immediately saw what was happening and he decided to take action by using his Vanishing Rasengan once more to temporarly take down his young master.

"I'm sorry that I had to do this, Uncle Sasuke." He muttered to himself as he observed what was happening around him, also successfully receiving reactions from the rest.

"Rookie!?" Naruto was the first one to react as surprised and confusion took over him. He was glad that his blonde counterpart was alright but he was confused because of the ball lf energy that hit Sasuke just now. He hadn"t seen that kind of technique before, but it somehow resembled the Rasengan.

As for Sakura, she was more focused on the Rookie, Sarada Inoue, as all of her concerns regarding the raven haired teen had been cleared. She was glad that she was alright but how did she managed to get out of the maze by herself?

Sai was surprised as much as the others, it was indeed another same scenario happening once more as these two rookies had appeared out of nowhere to save the day. He was starting to realized the negative effects of underestimating someone.

He was really sorry for it now.

For the meantime, Boruto and Sarada stood as they calmly observed the Uchiha, who crashed landed on a boulder. Both of them had that feeling that things were about to get escalated from now on.

There was silence in the air as both of them watched the Uchiha as he slowly recovered from the crash. Unbeknowst to the two, he had a smile and a small tear fell from one of his eyes.

He really can't believed that they were here!

Boruto and Sarada waited as they positioned themselves into their fighting stance. Both also turned their heads to Naruto and Sakura, who were still in shock mode.

"Go somewhere safe!"

"Don't worry, we'll handle this!"

They both warned their respective young parents, before turning their attention back towards the main scene.

As for Sasuke, He wasn't angry about what happened just now, getting hit in the face by some kind of Rasengan was the only thing new that happened to him once and awhile. If his not mistaken, the blonde person in front of him had the guts to performed it right in front of his face literally. The raven haired one had that grabbed his arm, had that fierce look in her eyes, which kind of reminded him of a certain person.

It was all coming back to him right now, the mysterious memories and flashes of dreams, it mean't something more and these two people in front of him could know the answers.

A small smirked slipped on his lips as the Uchiha finally recovered. He stood there thinking about the possibility of engaging these two on a battle right now. He wanted to see how strong they were or how strong they've gotten.

He'd been waiting for a worthy and strong opponent for a long time and these two could possibly be the ones so far.

"I never really thought that this day would come." Sasuke commented as he adjusted his blade." I wish I could've known it earlier, but showing it to me as a suprise is fine with me."

Boruto and Sarada paid no heed to the Uchiha's statements. They were ready for another face off once more as they kept their fighting stances. The only strange thing that they noticed was that their opponent seemed to have a different aura now. It seemed so familiar yet they couldn't figured it out. Although, both noticed an outline of another taller person alongside the Uchiha.

As for the two rookies, they found themselves in a very familiar situation.

"Is it me or are we going to have an unexpected sparring session with Uncle Sasuke?" Boruto commented as he recalled the many times that he had engaged his master on a session.

Sarada could only sigh." Looks like a full blown fight to me knucklehead." She replied back with slight sarcastic tone of voice.

Boruto gave a small chuckle. He knew he was in trouble for being late, although he was going to make it up for it this time. He gripped his kunai tight as he focus his eyes on the opponent.

Both of the two knew that this was no ordinary opponent. It was a young Sasuke Uchiha, former Shinobi of the leaf, and the lone of survivor of the Uchiha massacre.

As for Sasuke, The teen proceeded to walked slowly towards the two, gripping his blade as he was ready to go full on out towards them. The excitement was there once more as he activated his Sharingan and at the same time, his own world began to change back amd forth as the mysterious memories began to flash in front of his eyes once more.

The last thing he saw in those memories was that of two kids that eerily looked like the two newcomers, who seemed to be grown up versions of them. As moments passed by, an unexpected feeling of Deja vu overwhelmed him.

A very familiar scene indeed.

(CHAPTER END)

(Interview)

"We really found ourselves in a situation that was pretty much bound to happen, I've been having that kind of expectation since from the start."

-Sarada

"I never really thought that I would have to face a very young Uncle Sasuke, with two complete arms! It's weird and mind blowing at the same time!"

-Boruto

Extra Scene:



The corridors of these place were eerily quiet. Showtaro always hated this type of atmosphere in every similar place that he went to. Now thrust with a new task of escorting his still weakened Otsutsuki friend, things could get more worst as the feeling of being watched was always there. They were now heading to the exit, where the rest were located, as fast as they can, they still have the task to assists the rookies and the rest of Team 7, especially for Showtaro who also cared for the teens' safety.

What was to expect besides this?

Although unbeknowst to them a certain silver haired young woman, was actually observing them from certain spot with a wide sadistic grin on her face.

"Oops, Looks like I broke another promise, Tensai-kun."