Naruto:A New Path

Mission Accomplished!

-Flashback-
Naruto panted as he watched the rubble that had been a boulder less than a minute ago. His right arm shook violently, blood ran from his shoulder to his wrist, pieces of skin had been peeled off and his black glove had been left in tatters. The Chunin bit his lip, trying to keep his discomfort a secret from his master.
Jiraiya stood behind Naruto with his arms crossed. His apprentice had asked him to see the jutsu he had come up with. He had thought that it was a new kind of Sexy Jutsu so he left with an eager smile. When he saw that Naruto was focusing chakra and creating something similar to the Rasengan his smile faded to be replaced by a serious look. It wasn't until the aftermath of the attack that he had seen just how reckless it was, using it would only risk Naruto's life in the end.
It had been an impressive jutsu, one of destructive power that not only penetrated its target but also did internal damage. He could tell that he had gotten his inspiration from the Chidori and Rasengan but perfecting this jutsu would require a lot more training, years even.
"I forbid you from using it again," Jiraiya suddenly announced, shocking Naruto.
"W-what? Why?" Naruto asked in slight irritation, he had worked hard on coming up with the jutsu for it to be just tossed aside like a failed experiment.
Jiraiya sighed. "It's way too dangerous to use," he began with a frown on his face, "You have to have a lot more chakra control if you want to ever using it again. How do you think you got those wounds on your arm? Your wind manipulation is not perfect and that's why it backfired on you."
"Fine…" Naruto muttered with his arms crossed.
Jiraiya frowned, he knew that Naruto was disappointed at having his first original jutsu shut down like that. No matter how old you were it always hurt whenever someone pointed out the flaws of something you worked hard to do.
"How's this? You can't use it on any fight except for when it's an emergency," Jiraiya sighed out. Naruto instantly perked up and looked exited before the sage pointed a finger at him, "But you have to remember that it will take you out of a fight if you use it. Make sure to have tried all your other jutsu before using this one. I can tell that the jutsu will only get stronger with the proper training, but we'll get to that later on."
"Don't worry about a thing Jiraiya-sensei!" Naruto replied with a smile on his face, not noticing the slight twitch on Jiraiya's right eye.
-End Flashback-

Naruto looked at his enemy with determination burning on his blue eyes. This would be his last shot, he could not fail. His friends were depending on him and he would never let them down. Wind encircled his right arm, before he began to manipulate it. The wind spun on his arm, making him grit his teeth in pain. He could tell that his skin was already being chirped off by the violent wind on his arm but he needed to hold on.
Katsu smirked as he watched Naruto charge up the attack. It was useless now, his master's power was coursing through him and any attempt against him was futile. Nobody could compare to his master's gift. He began to swirl his chakra around him, he would prove his master's powers by using his chakra to block the attack.
Naruto smirked, his right arm was covered by a violent wind that circled around his arm, giving it a transparent gray color. "This is it," the Chunin announced as he walked towards the Sound ninja, "You're finished!"
Naruto broke into a run, holding his arm back. Katsu smirked as he flared his chakra around him, making a deep black orb of pure chakra completely surround him. As the Chunin grew closer he brought his arm down on the large orb of concentrated chakra, making the chakra around his arm spin uncontrollably.
The two different chakras clashed in a fury of wind, creating a small crater, ripping branches from trees and kicking up large clouds of dust. Naruto gritted his teeth as he added more pressure into his punch, making it enter a small part of the orb. Katsu's eyes widened as he watched the fist enter his most powerful defense.
Naruto gave a cry of pain as the charka cut into his arm before he put even more pressure into it, wanting to get the fight over already. The Chunin's attack continued to push against the orb of chakra until finally a shockwave rocked the area as the attack broke through the chakra orb, revealing a terrorized Katsu with a look of disbelief.
"Take this! Wind Style: Drilling Fist!" Naruto roared as his attack met with the man's stomach, instantly digging into his skin.
Katsu screamed in agony as the attack dug onto his stomach, breaking tissue and organs alike. Blood shot out of his mouth as the attack dug deeper into him, his insides were in agonizing pain and he could do nothing but watch the now blood-soaked face of Naruto glare at him until he got a look of alarm on his face.
' Not now!' Naruto screamed in his head when he felt his attack losing strength. The wind left little by little until it left nothing but the Chunin's bloody arm inside of Katsu.
Katsu looked at Naruto when he felt the attack stop. "Y-you…" he began in a look of disbelief before it turned into one of pure anger, "You fucking brat! I will kill you for this!"
The Sound ninja took hold of Naruto's right arm, making him scream in pain before he ripped it out of his stomach. He then brought his right fist to the Chunin's chest, knocking him several feet back. The blond Chunin fell on the ground with a cry of pain, he looked at his arm only to see tattered skin completely soaked by his and Katsu's blood.
"Dammit…" he muttered as he tried to stand but was suddenly stopped by a clawed-foot on his chest. The Chunin screamed as the claws dug into his chest, instantly drawing blood.
"I will show you true pain," Katsu muttered with hate on his eyes, "I took it easy on you before because I was looking for a good fight." He took his foot off the blond before bringing it down on his chest once more, making him scream in agony, "But now I want nothing more than to kill you!"
The man stomped on Naruto without any mercy. Blood came out of the Chunin's mouth as the punishment continued, he could no longer think straight, his vision grew blurry and his body refused to move. All that was left was pain.
"Die!" Katsu roared as he brought his foot down on Naruto's chest, earning a choked scream from the blond. The Sound ninja smirked before breaking into a laughing fit, "Die! Die! Die!" He continued to stomp on the Leaf ninja before kneeling next to him and grabbing him by the neck. Without hesitation, he brought his fist down on the blond's face. The Sound ninja laughed as he mercilessly punched the semi-conscious Chunin's face.
Blood soon covered most of Naruto's face as the Sound ninja continued his assault, laughing as he did it. The Chunin felt his body go numb, no longer did he feel the pain or anything else for that matter. He could hear the Kyuubi roaring on his cage, telling him to fight back but he simply didn't have the strength anymore. His eye-lids grew heavy as he began to lose consciousness, welcoming the darkness.
"You bastard!" came a loud voice, making Katsu look around in confusion, "Fang Over Fang!"
The Sound ninja frowned when he saw two rotating blurs heading straight for him. "I've had enough of you kids!" Katsu roared as he charged at the two blurs, dodging one by side-stepping to his left and throwing a chakra-enhanced punch at the other one. He smirked as he watched his fist make contact with the face of a brown-haired ninja with a loud 'pop.'
Kiba sailed through the air before crashing head-first against a tree. He fell limply on the floor, feeling himself losing consciousness. 'I can't be out yet!' he screamed in his head as his blurred vision watched the man walk towards the fallen form of Naruto once more, 'I have to help Naruto! I might not like him a lot but he's still my comrade. I can't let him… die…'
"Kiba!" Shikamaru yelled as he ran at the now unconscious Inuzuka, Akamaru already by his side giving sad whines. The lazy Chunin gritted his teeth as he looked at his enemy. "W-what?" he choked out when he saw the bloodied form of Naruto.
' Is this why Kiba ran ahead of us earlier…'
he wondered as the man turned to him, clearly frustrated, 'I can't let Ino see Naruto like this, she would just freak out and put the mission in danger.'
"NARUTO!"
' Dammit," Shikamaru cursed as Ino ran ahead of him, 'That idiot! She can't just charge at the enemy.'
Katsu growled as Ino ran at the unconscious Naruto. "You're not going anywhere!" he exclaimed as he charged at the kunoichi.
Ino glared at the man and ran through hand signs. "Water Style: Raging Waves!" she exclaimed as a torrent of water came out of her mouth and pushed the man back, giving her enough room to aid Naruto.
Katsu recovered from the attack and tried to charge at Ino but found that his body was unwilling to move.
"Shadow Possession Success…" came the voice of Shikamaru.
"Do you really think you can hold me here?" Katsu growled in pure anger.
"That wasn't the plan!" Choji exclaimed as he charged at the man, using his body expansion jutsu to create a giant fist. He punched at the man, making contact with his chest before knocking him against a tree.
"Naruto…" Ino muttered as she kneeled next to the blond. Tears fell from her eyes when she saw the condition he was in. His face was bloodied and bruised, his nose was broken and he had swelling on his left eye. The rest of his body was covered in blood and bruiseds, his chest was completely bruised with many deep stab wounds and his right arm looked as if it had been trampled on.
"Ino this isn't the time to check on him," Shikamaru urged with a look of worry on his face, part of him thought that Naruto wasn't even alive anymore, "We'll take care of this Sound ninja and then take Naruto back to Konoha to get him some medical attention."
"No!" Ino snapped at Shikamaru, "I know some of the medical jutsu they taught at the ninja Academy. I'm going to heal him!" She put her hands around a large gash on Naruto's arm and poured charka into it, hoping to heal it.
"They only showed us how to heal minimal wounds," he argued but found that Ino wasn't even listening to him. There was something that those two weren't telling him but he would let Ino be for now, she was too distressed to fight either way.
"Shikamaru are you done with the base?" came the voice of a tired Neji, accompanied by Lee and Shino.
Shikamaru nodded. "Tell me about that Sound ninja," he ordered with a frown on his face, "He's not a normal one."
"He's the leader of the Sound ninja at this base," Neji explained with a serious look, "He used a strange chakra to make himself stronger though its taking a toll on his body. I'm sure that if we attack the place with the most strain we'll defeat him."
"I'm going to need all of your help," Shikamaru stated as he turned to Choji, "We're going to keep him in a hold and then they'll attack at once."
"Sounds good," Choji replied with a firm nod.
"I'm going to slaughter you!" Katsu roared as his chakra flared once more, knocking away the tree he had crashed into.
"Let's go!" Shikamaru ordered as he took out two kunai and threw them at the man. Smirking when he watched him dodge the projectile, it appeared he hadn't noticed that the first rays of sunlight had filled the area, giving him the perfect fighting field.
Choji used his body expansion to grow giant arms before charging at the Sound ninja. Katsu smirked when he saw the Leaf ninja charge at him, it was too easy. He moved to dodge but found that his body had been paralyzed once more. Choji's hands instantly wrapped around the man, holding him as tight as possible.
"This won't hold me for long!" Katsu roared in fury before wincing at the bugs latching to his skin, taking away his chakra. He moved against the hold and failed to noticed that the bugs had gathered around a certain area of his body, the middle of his chest. As the Sound ninja struggled he suddenly winced in pain, feeling that the wound Naruto had inflicted was acting up.
Neji and Lee charged at the man as fast as possible, giving Choji a nod as they grew closer to the man. The Genin understood and dropped his hold on the Sound ninja, who instantly tried to break free of the shadow hold. Shikamaru winced under the strain his jutsu was going through, it was only will that let him keep going.
Shikamaru watched Neji and Lee only a few steps away from the man and smiled. 'Got him,' he thought in relief.
Lee's threw a hard kick at the man's chest, using the momentum of his run to inflict even more damage. Katsu growled in pain as Lee jumped away from him, being replaced by Neji. The Hyuuga used a hard palm-strike on the same exact spot Lee had just hit before moving away from him. The Sound ninja's eyes widened when he felt the pain of Naruto's attack hit him all together. Screams filled the area as he kneeled on the ground and held his side, it was as if he was reliving the moment it had pierced his stomach.
Katsu fell on the ground, feeling the strength of his master leave him. The pain on his stomach came back even stronger than before, making him choke in pain before throwing up. His eyes widened when he saw only blood on the ground, he had thrown up a large pool of blood.
"What's happening to me?" he muttered to himself as his body began to return to normal.
"That's an easy one," Shikamaru responded with a frown on his face, "You were simply using too much of that chakra. From the looks of it, it somehow managed to have your adrenaline going for an unlimited time. You would have died eventually if we didn't stop you, well, you're still going to die but you get the idea. The wound on your stomach came full force when we cut off the chakra going through your system and that's about it."
"I…I'm going… to kill you," Katsu gasped out in pain.
Lee moved to where Kiba was, carrying him on his back. Neji, Choji and Shino went to check on Ino and Naruto leaving only Shikamaru with the man. The lazy Chunin took out two kunai with explosive tags on the handles, twirling them on his fingers.
"I'm not a very passionate person," Shikamaru admitted with a serious look on his face, "But when someone puts my friend's lives in danger then I get mad." The Leaf ninja threw the kunai at the man's stomach, digging into the skin on the hole Naruto's attack had left. He then threw the other kunai at the other side of the cliff, near the edge of it, "This are some of the explosive tags my friend Naruto gave me. They blow up when you do a certain hand sign."
Katsu shook in terror as Shikamaru turned to leave. The lazy Chunin walked to where Naruto was before turning to the Sound ninja one last time. The man's eyes widened when he saw him do a hand sign.
' BOOOOM'
' Where am I?' Naruto asked himself as he opened his eyes. He was met by a dark star-filled sky and the smell of burning wood. He tried to move his arm but stopped when a wave of pain went through his body. His whole body ached terribly, his right arm was annoyingly itchy and his vision was a little blurred.
"I see you're awake," he heard Shikamaru say. The blond Chunin turned his head to his right to see Shikamaru sitting on a log with a bored expression on his face, "It's been two days since you fell unconscious."
"Where…" Naruto tried to talk but broke into a fit of coughs. His throat was hoarse and his chest hurt terribly with each cough, "Where am I?"
"We're only a few hours away from the Leaf village," Shikamaru responded, "We haven't been able to move fast since we had to carry you and Kiba and we're not exactly in shape right now. We also did our best to heal you guys but some of your wounds we only managed to wrap in bandages and Kiba..."
Naruto's eyes widened. "What happened to Kiba?" he asked in slight worry, "Is he alright?"
Shikamaru nodded as he turned his gaze to the sky. "He attacked the Sound ninja you were fighting and got badly hurt. He hasn't woken up since then, that's why we have to hurry back to the village," he sighed, "Please tell me you'll be able to walk tomorrow, I'm getting tired of carrying you."
Naruto chuckled despite himself. "Sorry about that," he apologized as he managed to sit up with pain written all over his face. He looked at his body to see that it was mostly bandaged. His right arm was completely covered in bandages, which explained the itchiness, he brought a hand to his face and noticed that it was mostly bandaged too. He sighed, he would need to go to a hospital when he got back but he didn't want to worry for now.
A yawn escaped his lips as he took in his surroundings. He was in a small clearing with his friends fast asleep around the fire, his eyes widened when he didn't see a certain kunoichi, "Where're Ino?"
"Calm down," Shikamaru sighed out, "She's right next to you. I can't believe you didn't see her."
The blond Chunin turned to his right to see Ino sleeping with her sleeping bag right next to his. A small smile graced his face and he used his left hand to move away a few strands of her hair that were on her face, liking the feeling of her soft warm skin against his hand. Ino leaned her head against the warm hand, sighing in contempt.
"What exactly is your relationship with Ino?" Shikamaru asked in curiosity, "I feel like I'm missing something."
Naruto smiled, "You don't know the half of it."
Orochimaru walked on a mountainous road with a smirk on his face. Next to him walked his assistant Kabuto and the newest addition to the Sound Four, a teen with orange hair and a downcast expression.
"Is something the matter Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto asked, noticing his master's amused expression.
Orochimaru chuckled. "It seems as if my little pet, the one called Katsu, has been killed," he explained with an amused expression, "I wonder who was able to kill him."
"He had a knack for playing around with his foes," Kabuto mused with a smirk of his own, "The Curse Seal level 3 was far too unstable, that mixed with his overconfidence makes him rather easy to kill once you have him figured out."
"Right you are Kabuto," Orochimaru praised with a smirk on his face, "I think that the world did me a favor by getting rid of that fool, he outlived his usefulness."
"Are you okay?" Ino asked in concern.
"Yeah," Naruto replied.
"Are you sure?" she asked in worry.
"Yeah," he replied once again.
"Are you really sure you're okay?" she insisted in a worried tone.
"Ye-"
"He's fine!" Came the collective voice of the group of annoyed Leaf ninja.
Ino crossed her arms and pouted. Naruto grinned as he continued to walk with his arm around Ino's shoulder for support. His right arm hung limply on his side and he had a slight limp as he walked, trying to prevent himself from forcing most of his upper body. He still felt tired from the fight with Katsu be he would be okay as long as he got to spend time with his friends. He pulled Ino a little closer, trying to get her to calm down.
"I'm really okay Ino," he said with the grin never leaving his face. Ino smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder as the two continued to walk.
"Lovebirds," snickered the rest of the ninja.
As soon as the sun had been out the group of ninja had set off to Konoha once more. It had been a hectic morning since Naruto had awakened and everyone was asking how he was, Ino being the one to ask the most. She had been ecstatic to have Naruto back and hadn't left his side since morning. Kiba was still unconscious so it was good news that the gates of Konoha were only a few feet away from the group.
"Long mission guys?" asked the guards at the gate, seeing the condition the ninjas were in.
"You have no idea," Naruto replied with a weary smile. He watched as one of the guards disappeared in a cloud of smoke before reappearing a few moments later with a group of Medical ninja.
"We'll take him to the hospital," one of the medical ninja said as they took Kiba before disappearing in clouds of smoke.
"Where do we go from here?" Shino asked in his monotone voice.
Naruto looked thoughtful for a second before breaking into a grin. "I'm going to get some ramen then see the Hokage, how about you guys?"
"Oh no you don't! We're going to the hospital first and then we'll see the Hokage," Ino ordered with an angry look on her face.
"S-sure," Naruto answered with a nervous look, growling at the snickers coming from his friends.
"Let's go then," Ino announced as she pulled Naruto towards the hospital, the group following right behind them. It had been a hard mission but they had pulled through and they were closer than before, understanding each other a little better though Shino, Neji and Lee still wondered what the red chakra around Naruto was and planned on confronting him about it.