Naruto's POV (Team Nine's Training Ground - Hidden Leaf Village)
Naruto had to admit the bastard was tough. With a cry of "Sixteen Palms!" Naruto was hit with a barrage of blows; they made his arms numb and still, and each touch on his body caused a pulse of agony from within. Naruto could barely keep up with it all, by the time he tracked a blow, it had landed and the next was on the way. The barrage stopped with two jabs to his legs, making them buckle for a moment. "Thirty Two Palms!" The next barrage was blindingly fast; Naruto could scarcely tell where he was hit, his body sliding back at speed as he was stunned, the pain overwhelming him. "This is finished, Sixty Four Palms!" Naruto felt none of the blows, only the force of them driving him off his feet and through the air. His entire body was aching with pain, a cold numbness dulled it, yet it echoed throughout him. He blacked out for a moment, the air driven from his lungs as he impacted something brutal and unforgiving. The shower of bark as he bounced off it and fell face-first on the ground.
"That is the difference between you and I." Neji sounded off as Naruto groaned into the dirt. "I am a genius, one of a kind, the sort of man you could never hope to best. I will admit this was… fun, you were much more capable than I had thought… And I'm sorry this is the case. I, too, once bemoaned the way of the world; that is why this was so important… I wanted to show you the truth for myself…"
Naruto felt truly angry for the first time in the fight. Neji had been arrogant and dismissive of his abilities, sure, but many had to Naruto before. No, it was the pity placed in Neji's tone… Naruto did not need his pity! He required his damn respect!
He clutched at the dirt, clawing it as he forced himself up on all fours. With a roar of effort, Naruto rose to his feet. Seeing a shocked Neji turn around to face a panting, bloodied Naruto glaring at him. "This isn't over. If that's all you got, you can't beat me." Naruto declared passionately. "I won't lose to you, or anyone like you!"
"I have shut down nearly every chakra point within your body," Neji replied evenly. "I am impressed you're somehow standing, even more so willing to keep going. But continuing this fight at this point would be a farce. Without chakra, you're left to Kenjutsu and Taijutsu, both of which I think this battle has shown I have a decisive edge in. Combine that with my ultimate defense and you have no chance of standing before me."
"I already survived your biggest attack," Naruto said with a bloody smile. "And with this next attack, I'll shatter that defense and end this fight too."
"You're right in one sense, this fight has gone on long enough," Neji replied with a smile. "You wish to end this in a test of strength? Do you truly believe you can swing that sword hard enough to break my Kaiten? Do you truly believe you could ever beat me?!"
"One way to find out right!" Naruto roared as he charged forward. collecting Riptide from the ground and rearing it back for a two-handed swing. "Besides,
"KAITEN!" Neji howled as he spun, and a giant orb of chakra, the largest yet formed, surrounded him.
Naruto smirked. He had wanted this, but he wasn't sure it would work. But nothing else he had tried had thus far. If he could punch through this and land it clean on Neji this fight was over. He leapt into the air. Riptide reared over his head as he fell toward the rotating orb of chakra. Neji was right, Naruto could barely channel his chakra. He couldn't even summon a shadow clone, and in most cases, this would be the end of it. But his mom had shown him the true power of Riptide the night before. It seemed the blade was capable of storing chakra over time, meaning when Naruto had spent an hour the night before pouring his full chakra into it, it stayed within. Surely a blow containing most of his power would be enough?
Naruto didn't bother thinking it over; however, with a roar, he unleashed his newest and hopefully strongest technique. "Riptide: Unleashed!" The blade began to grow a brilliant blue, growing slightly in length and mass as Naruto swung it mere feet away from the Kaiten.
As he did the chakra raced from the blade in a beam colliding with the Kaiten with an unearthly screech of grinding chakra. However, the orb of Neji's collapsed in, dispersing as the beam punched its way through and engulfed Neji for an instant. Naruto ended the attack as soon as it did. Smoke rising from the now flattened and scorched training ground, revealing a burnt-up and exhausted Neji lying below him.
Naruto stomped forward, tiredly. He had never been pushed like this before, but assuming the Hyuga wasn't somehow even more badass, this was over.
Neji lay flat on his back, still as a statue. It was clear he was exhausted from his deactivated Byakugan and his gaze fixed the sky. The two of them were silent, an exhausted Naruto staring down at a defeated Neji. "Can I ask you something, Naruto? How do you dare dream so high? How can you surpass… yourself? Is the goal of becoming Hokage motivating to you?"
Naruto collapsed to his knees with a chuckle next to Neji. "I can answer that if you can keep a secret?" The downed Hyuga nodded; it seemed the audience recognized the fight was over and the two were having a moment. "Hokage, well, it is part of my dream… but it goes deeper than that. I have lived my life hated by some for reasons I cannot control. And have met so many people suffering in their own ways, including you. I just don't get the point of becoming these powerful and wise shinobi and not fixing anything!"
"Fixing?"
"This world, Neji, while we disagree on the influence we have over it. We do agree it is a dark and hard one." Naruto replied with a sigh. "I've learned we can make it a lot better, but you gotta put the work in. But no one is doing that; we're all too focused on power or survival, probably both. So I will become Hokage, the most influential shinobi within the village, and in the process make the Leaf different. Make it a place where everyone can have a fair shot… a place we're all given a chance to live a great life… to do what we want…"
Neji chuckled dryly at him. Naruto frowned but realized for the first time it wasn't mocking. "It's funny, Uzumaki. Normally, such a dream would seem impossible, yet right now… forget it."
"Wait, what?!"
"I said forget it!"
"What were you gonna say?!"
"That you're an idiot!"
"Bullshit!"
Naruto's POV (Uzumaki Residence - Hidden Leaf Village)
Naruto woke up as he often did. He wished he could sleep an ever-increasing bit more, confused about the where, how, and why, and as the most physically active bit, he was just a tad sore. There were certain things different about this morning. Though this morning was a bit different, he wasn't nearly as sore as usual but was twice as confused, even disoriented. His head pounded in waves of pain he had yet to suffer. In short, he was miserable. Tired and even somewhat sickly, Naruto decided that being awake now was a terrible idea. Though he was hot, perhaps he needed to get up momentarily and reposition. His plan was chosen, and Naruto began to enact it.
The second he moved his body, the pain and nausea grew; even attempting to sit up made him want to vomit. The pain and sickness convinced him to give up. Instead, he shifted, trying to get onto his side. But he had a significant weight on him, which made turning difficult. It was too heavy to be any regular blanket; it was to the touch. The blonde reached forward to see what was weighing him down. His hand reached and touched some kinda warm cloth. His hand slid down, attempting to discover what it was, but he stopped once he felt something similar to skin. Naruto's eyes popped open with an alarm, and someone was beside him.
The alarm woke up his mind as well as his body. He noticed the head on his chest, obviously female from the messy but well-kempt hair splayed across him, some even tickling his face. Naruto then saw the unconscious face of Ino. Naruto felt panic fly through his body; in a comedy, he'd get beat senseless for this. He needed to remove himself without disturbing her, an on-the-spot, fluid ploy to survive. 'Ino's kinda cute when she is sleeping.' His mind unhelpfully added. 'She also has a known temper!' He countered himself. Dear Kami, he was talking to himself.
There were many new teammates, but they had gotten along well thus far. Indeed, they recognized this for the absurd situation it was. But she would be awoken to unfamiliar surroundings in the company of a new friend. Escape was his only option…
Naruto pondered the situation before genius struck him. He slowly lifted a pillow off the floor and slid it between him and Ino. As he did, he slowly lifted her arms and placed them upon herself; success again!
So far, so good. How would he escape this without Ino beating the tar out of him? Naruto knew he had grown more intelligent with his mother's and Kakashi's training. But he simply did not see a method of removing her without waking her up. The same result would occur if she awoke before he did. He considered a body flicker, but he was new to the technique, and it always produced a heavy cloud of smoke. Ma had banned him from using it inside till he got it down with no smoke. Naruto wracked his brain for three painful minutes.
His thoughts raced, his heart as well. It offered no aid again; he found Ino was enjoyably warm and soft. It was comfortable and could even be something he'd like to continue. All truthful observations his mind offered but were useless. But his newly discovered peace was disturbed by Ino shifting.
Her arms wrapped around him as she snuggled closer. Naruto could feel his heart stop. She sleepily nuzzled against his face. His unruly hair poked her nose as she did so. Naruto watched with bated breath as she did this twice. Her nose twitched, warning him of his doom.
Ino sneezed quietly, her eyes opening after. Blue eyes met blue eyes. The two silently stared, her eyes growing alert to match his own. Ino's eyes held confusion, embarrassment, and quickly growing anger. Naruto's eyes were much more straightforward. They had a primal fear.
"Now, Ino, I have a perfectly reasonable explanation for this." The blonde didn't get to start his rousing speech, but he was sure he would've won her over. Instead, she locked her arms around his head sweetly. This lasted seconds before she used a shoulder throw to launch him into the kitchen. Kami took some level of mercy on the blonde; his arc was high enough to avoid the bar counter. But he smashed into the kitchen table with a crunch. The wooden table was unable to endure the crash. Naruto groaned pitifully. His mother would kill him.
"Oh, my bad, I didn't realize where I was," Ino said tiredly as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "I have the most awful headache."
"Ditto. But, for the record, I did nothing." Naruto replied as he crawled slowly to his feet. Looking as if he was prepared to flee.
"Oh, blondie, I know a nice guy like you wouldn't do a thing. You should be more worried about me." Ino said teasingly as she fixed her hair into a ponytail.
"Stop. Calling. Me. Blondie." Naruto said, annoyed. Boldness returned now that he realized she wouldn't be attacking him. "Wait, if you knew, why did you throw me?!"
Ino's smirk merely grew as she approached the blonde. She stepped well into his personal space. A giant smile on her face. A nervous frown on his. Their faces were mere breaths away. "One, because I wanted to~. Two, Make. Me." She said defiantly. The tension between the two grew.
"INO! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? " a male voice bombed, making them launch from the bed. Ino, in particular, seemed fearful, and Naruto was mostly embarrassed.
"Naruto! You just can't do whatever you want, you know?!" His mother's voice added; now he was fearful.
Both jumped up as both of their parents called out. Naruto felt fear yet again; he wasn't sure if his mother being pissed or interested was worse. Ino was embarrassed; she knew her daddy well. Despite his raw intelligence, he lost his mind when it came to boys. Indeed, in his eyes, it was romantic! Not that he should have any say, but her father had always been overbearing.