naruto doesnt have to get beaten to lose this fight...his failure means the failure of everyone...shikamaru will fail his first mission
neji and chouji will have sacrificed their lives in vain...naruto will fail sakura...for naruto to lose the conditions are clear:
sasuke doesnt return...and that is the ultimate goal of this arc
if sasuke kicks narutos ass - naruto loses
if sasuke runs away like the punk he is - naruto loses
futhermore i dont think anyone will butt in this fight ... itachi showing up is just silly and there is nothing that even points into the direction of that happening
and if there is a time jump it is not a bad idea...someone said good animes have flashbacks bad animes have time jumps...care to explain what makes a time jump so bad?