Downstream

The Demon Fox Cloak around Naruto slowly faded, and he regained control of his body. To him, everything that had just happened had been like watching a movie he could stop at any time. He had held on because he wanted to see how it ended, but he also knew that if he kept going, his consciousness would vanish completely. Then the Nine-Tails would take full control of his body and destroy everything in the area.

"All right, it's over." Breathing hard, Naruto knelt on one knee, then pushed himself to his feet and walked toward Sasuke.

He bent down to hoist Sasuke onto his shoulder, only to hear a sudden round of applause.

He whipped around and saw a ninja with gray-blue hair and black-framed glasses smirking coldly at him.

"What a splendid performance, Naruto-kun. Unfortunately, I can't let you take Sasuke-kun away. He's very important to Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto Yakushi said, his face full of mockery.

"Kabuto? What are you doing here?" Naruto demanded, glaring at the uninvited intruder.

"Oh, Lord Orochimaru anticipated that you might interfere with this retrieval operation, so he sent me as insurance. It seems the trip wasn't wasted after all. If I hadn't shown up, you would have won. You must be exhausted by now, right? With your current level of development, after using the power of two tails, there's no way you can draw on that fox's chakra again so soon." The smile never left Kabuto's face.

"You're not taking him." Naruto settled into a loose fighting stance.

"Heh, still so brave. Too bad your cat lover can't come save you this time." As Kabuto spoke, the glow of Chakra Scalpels spread over both his hands.

They charged at the same time, but Naruto had just fought a fierce battle with Sasuke after running flat out for two whole days without sleep or rest. He was utterly exhausted and couldn't keep up with Kabuto's speed. In their very first exchange, Kabuto punched him in the ribs. Naruto coughed up a small mouthful of blood and staggered, barely managing to stay upright, but his body swayed uncontrollably with exhaustion.

"You're surprisingly resilient. Looks like I'll have to finish you off for good," Kabuto said with a cold smirk.

Kabuto knocked Naruto back and forth like a ball, leaving him almost no chance to fight back. For every punch Naruto landed, he took ten in return. Watching Naruto get knocked down again and again, only to stubbornly climb back to his feet each time, filled Kabuto with pleasure.

"That really does fit your ninja way... Never give up, never admit defeat, right? Unfortunately, Sasuke's awake now, and he looks pretty angry. So let's end this here." Kabuto looked down at Naruto on his hands and knees. Cuts covered the corners of his mouth, his forehead, his eyes, and his arms. Blood kept flowing, soaking his hair.

Naruto lifted his head and first looked toward the deep crater where he had slammed Sasuke earlier. Sasuke stood there, one arm clearly broken. Then Naruto looked back at Kabuto, who stood smugly before him.

Kabuto grabbed Naruto by the hair and hauled him up. Naruto no longer had the strength to support his own body and could only hang helplessly in his grip as Kabuto slowly punched him in the stomach, over and over.

Naruto watched helplessly as Sasuke approached step by step, his eyes gleaming with malice. Sasuke extended his uninjured hand, slowly gathering a Chidori in his palm as he advanced toward the defenseless blond boy.

"Dead last, did you think you could humiliate me like that and walk away unscathed? Dream on! Chidori!" Sasuke roared, driving his hand viciously into the other side of Naruto's chest, just clear of his earlier wound. Naruto's Chunin Vest fell to the ground. Unable to hold on any longer, he collapsed heavily.

The agony made Naruto's eyes bulge, and his consciousness rapidly slipped away. Before darkness swallowed him completely, the last thing he heard was Sasuke's icy command: "Throw him in the river. Let's go."

Kabuto obediently carried out Sasuke's order. He grabbed the Jinchūriki's limp body and tossed him to the foot of the waterfall, watching him drift downstream with the rushing current.