The Power to Heal and Destroy by Phoenixsun

Chapter 18: Uchiha

Naruto once again lay on the floor, nothing short of a bloody mess on the crater that had been formed by his body. The young man was dimly aware of where he was and it cost him a great deal of effort not to pass out right then and there.

Looking at the damage he had caused, the former Kiri nin had to force himself not to continue on laughing. "Heheheh... Not bad, not bad, brat." He commented. "Had the circumstances been different, if you had a chance to mature and harness your potential, you would have become a terribly powerful shinobi, with that strong will of yours." The man swung his sword to his back, deeming it unnecessary to deal with what remained of his prey. "To tell you the truth, this makes me a little sad. I would have loved to fight a more mature and experienced you." Kisame admitted as he crouched down and started to move his hands towards the Jinchuuriki's collard, the Akatsuki member was ready to capture his target.

Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp...

The deafening sound of birds suddenly overwhelmed the area, catching the missing nin's attention. A second after the blue haired man had jumped out of the way, the ground beside the young Jinchuuriki seemingly exploded, sending dust and rubble into the air. Kisame brought his hand back to Samehada as he watched the dust settle, a smirk forming on his face.

There, between the Mist Swordsman and the beaten up blond, stood how Kisame had always pictured Itachi would have looked around five years ago. Dark locks falling over an unscratched Leaf headband and encasing a pair of Sharingan eyes glaring at him. The churning and flashes of electricity on the boy's left hand only added effect to the picture.

Sasuke's glare narrowed at the strange man's smirk. Shifting his eyes, the Uchiha caught the current state of his teammate that lay on the floor. A surging pang of anger rose through the raven haired genin at the sight of his friend's blood pooling around his body. "What did you do...?" The Sharingan user asked, the lightning chakra in his hand intensifying for emphasis.

The widening in Kisame's grin showed that he had disregarded the question. "So, you are Sasuke, uh? I heard a lot about you." The blue haired man commented. "I was hoping I get to run into you while I was here." He continued as he brought his sword forward. "There are a lot of people that expect big things from you, did you know?" The former Kiri shinobi started to emit overpowering amounts of chakra. "And I wanted to see for myself if you were worth all the fuss." He watched the young Uchiha closely for any reactions.

If the Leaf genin was intimidated by the missing nin, he had manage not to show it as his face never betrayed the anger he was feeling. "What did you do to Naruto?" He asked again, still receiving nothing but a smirk from the blue haired man. "Answer me, damn it!" The raiton jutsu in his hand flared once again.

"Sa...Sasuke..."

A stir and a pained call from behind him caused the raven haired boy to turn back and set his attention on his friend. The blond was trying to once again push his broken body off the floor. "Naruto!" Sasuke called out.

Gritting his teeth, the young Jinchuuriki fixed his eyes on his teammate. "I...I'm alright..." He assured him weakly.

With his Sharingan activated, the raven haired genin could see how his comrade's chakra was slowly gathering on his wounds. "It's not supposed to be like that..." The boy's mind pondered. "Naruto has always had more chakra." He thought as he suddenly came into a realization.

Sasuke had been already on his way home, having decided to take the scenic route just in case Kiba and the other were still trying to catch him, when he suddenly felt the clashing chakra in the nearby area. Recognizing one of the chakra signatures as Naruto's and soon realizing that it was fading, the boy did not hesitated in forming a Chidori and charging in. But now, seeing the current condition of his friend and the uncharacteristic behavior of his chakra, the young Sharingan user knew that fight had been underway for a long time.