Prophecy (Naruto Neglect Fanfic)

Naruto vs Karah Namikaze

A/N: Another short chapter... and the next one will be short as well. Anyway, hope you enjoy :)

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Naruto looked down from the Hokage Mountain. The people below him were like ants. Behind him were the unconscious bodies of Hinata Hyuga, Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee. Naruto hadn't treated any of them with a single inkling of care as he unceremoniously dealt with them. He watched for a second longer before the rain that covered him reminded him of his duty. The storm was going to get intense. He sighed and took a step forward. He allowed the wind to guide him as he levitated into the air. He shut his eyes and let the rain trickle down his face. It was somewhat cathartic. He allowed himself to fly higher and higher until he was at where he wanted to be. He stood solemnly in the air and put his hands together in a special sign. His chakra caused a bolt of lightning to be drawn to him, missing by mere inches. Naruto released the hand-sign and looked at the village below him. He held out his hand as if ready to drop something.

'I'm so close...'

Naruto opened his hand and let what he had seemingly been holding drop.

"Salvation."

A brief moment later, there was a gigantic explosion from where he had dropped what had been in his hand. Naruto watched emotionlessly as his jutsu ravaged the village and destroyed all the structures in its wake. He exhaled and continued to feel the raindrops hit his body. All he had to do was wait.

Karah stared at Naruto readily. She slowly moved into her special fighting stance. She had trained to have her own style and one that could not be predicted at all. She had to make sure her movements went under his radar so as not to lose the element of surprise. She would have to be smart. She carefully viewed his every tiny movement down to the tiny, almost unnoticeable, moving of his chest as he methodically brought fresh air into his lungs. Naruto stared back at her. His eyes were grey. They had lost all colour. Despite focusing all of her attention on him, Karah could find no emotion or expression in his face. She took a step forward and finally opened her mouth to speak. The place was deserted. The only people in the area were her... and him.

"Naruto!" she called out, "I know what you did to Lee." There was no response. Karah kept talking, "I know there is no hope trying to save you." Again Naruto did not respond in any way. "I will show no mercy." Naruto did not care. Karah knew this. Acting as if Karah hadn't spoken a word at all, Naruto finally began to talk.

"I will finally bring you retribution," he said quietly. If Karah was not completely focused on him and only him, she would not have heard his words. Karah shook her head.

"I'm sorry Naruto," she took another few steps forward, "This is where it ends."

Naruto did not respond. He simply continued to watch Karah with the same dead eyes. Karah seemed to begin to glow as she walked forward. Her chakra began to spike upwards exponentially. Naruto still did not react. A gold-tinted aura began to surround Karah as she finally stopped walking and looked up at Naruto with a serious frown on her face. Her eyes turned to yellow, toad-like irides with orange pigmentation surrounding them. She had gathered enough natural energy. She was completely ready. This was Sage Mode.

Naruto held out a hand in front of him and stared at his palm. It was slightly quivering. He steadied it and watched as the rain made a small puddle in it. He looked back to Karah and with slow deliberation moved his hand back into his pocket. Karah stood still in anticipation. The rain began to fall heavier. The sound of its landing on the ground was becoming deafening. As each drip landed on Karah it instantly evaporated turning into a small wisp of smoke. Naruto suddenly moved, thrusting his hand out of his pocket and throwing a kunai that was placed in it. It flung directly at Karah. With a single movement, she deflected it with her own, sending it flying to the right. Naruto teleported to the kunai and lunged from where it had been. Karah caught his hand and threw a punch at his head. It seemed to go straight through him as he seemingly teleported to behind Karah. She spun around and dodged his attack from behind. She hit him with her palm and then back-flipped back a couple meters. She calmed her breathing. All she needed was a little space. Naruto stood parallel to her, seemingly unfazed by the whole ordeal. Without warning, he disappeared. For a split second, Karah was confused before being hit by an uppercut to her stomach. Her lungs felt like they had been smashed. She was lifted into the air by the punch. Then allowed to hang there for a single moment before being comboed into a flurry of blows. Karah saw an opening and caught Naruto's fist. She landed gracefully on the ground, still holding Naruto's arm. She yanked the muscle hearing a deafening crack. Naruto flinched. He recovered quickly and pulled Karah off. In seemingly automatic response, Naruto lifted his spare arm over his injured one. A green light emanated from his hand and another crack was heard. Naruto shook his previous injured arm to see that it healed. He looked back to Karah. She was performing hand-seals. His eyes widened as he recalled what jutsu she was about to perform.

"Fire Style: Inferno of Death."

Like a dragon, Karah's mouth screamed out fire. She held her hands out seemingly amplifying her chakra. A whole circle of fire surrounded the two. Karah moved her head to try and catch Naruto in the flames. The blazing fire was like a flamethrower powered by the suns. Naruto repeatedly dodged the flames, making sure not to accidentally jump into the ring of fire that circled them. In an astonishingly quick motion, Naruto performed his own hand-signs in mid-air. As he landed, the ring of fire was extinguished and Karah's mouth stopped breathing fire. A few last embers left it before it stopped. Karah readied herself for Naruto's jutsu. She had not seen all of his hand-signs but she knew enough to recognise it as a Water Style. She once again took up her stance and watched Naruto intently. He was not moving at all. He was simply staring at her. Finally, he moved slowly raising an arm as if calling the start of a race. Karah's eyes suddenly widened. She felt a lone raindrop fall off her face. The rain had stopped? But she still heard it! Karah slowly raised her head to see what was above her.

A huge globe of water lay in the air directly above her. Its size was incredible. It had a diameter as big as the crater she was currently standing in. The water inside it was coursing; fluid. It almost looked like a huge ball of energy. Naruto let his arm drop. The water fell with it. Karah could not dodge it as it hit her. Karah was absorbed into the ball and forced to be at the mercy of the savage tides inside it. She was pulled around relentlessly. She could not control herself at all as she was pulled left, right, up, down. It was like she was in a 3-dimensional pinball machine. She felt her lungs grow tired as she failed to continue to hold her breath. She emitted a gurgle as she opened her mouth and let the water instantly overtake her vascular system.

'I'm... gonna... die...'

Naruto watched emotionlessly as Karah was flung around by the water inside the ball, like a doll. The jutsu would dissipate soon. He would have to be quick.

Karah felt as her energy began to slowly trickle away. Soon she would lose Sage Mode... and then she would drown. She mentally called out for help as her body wouldn't allow any talking.

'Help... me...'

A hand grabbed her. She opened her eyes to see who it was. She was pulled out of the water and onto the ground below her. She looked to see who was holding her in their arms.

"Tou-san..." she whispered weakly. Minato did not look at her. He was too focused on the figure in front of him. Karah took a step back. Minato spoke without even looking at her.

"Rest for a second, alright? I'll finish this." 

Speaking to Naruto was pointless and Minato knew this. He knew that his Naruto was gone. Now it was his duty to put this pretender in his body down. He clenched his fists. It was like staring into a dark mirror. His face was practically identical to his own apart from the whisker-like birthmarks on each cheek. His eyes used to blue like his own but now Minato noticed they were a dark grey. His expression was lifeless; like a corpse walking. Minato supposed that was what he was. Whilst Minato was dressed in his Hokage attire: white and gold, Naruto wore his Akatsuki cloak: red and black. Naruto was much taller than him, almost by a foot but Minato was undeterred. He knew what he had to do. He was no longer a father... He was the Hokage. He slowly and deliberately moved a hand to his pocket and awaited Naruto to move first.