Saiyans Among Us Arc 2: Chapter 1

Neji was watching what could only be called the rematch of the century. Once again he was asleep, seeing that bald fighter as he brawled with a spiky-haired young man around the same age as himself. This time the man with spiked hair was easily outclassing the bald man. Tho the fight seemed somewhat even, Neji, even without the aid of his Byakugan, was able to tell the man with spiky black hair was winning. He watched as the young man's orange gi fluttered in the wind as the two paused to stare each other down.

In spite of himself, Neji found himself rooting for the bald man, hoping that a man using his family's style would be able to outclass the boy before him. Perhaps he still held a grudge at Naruto defeating , him and was wanting retribution by proxy? He wasn't sure, but he knew that as much as possible, he, wanted to commit the techniques to memory.

Maybe this was only a dream, but so far the skills he'd seen showcased were able to be copied. That was when Neji saw something he never thought possible, he watched as the bald man with three eyes and the teen with spiky black hair soared into the air, leaping as high as the clouds!

"I-Impossible! Not even Lee can do something like that!" he exclaimed. Sadly for Neji the dreamed ended at his proclamation and his face was met with the coolness of night.

Neji gave a heavy sigh, nonplussed at having been awakened. "Oh well," he grumbled climbing from bed and heading to the training ground. "I guess it can't be helped. At least I can go back to working on unlocking the third eye," he grumbled.

Neji glanced around the clearing within the clan compound, seeing nothing but an area of sand with a few large rocks here and there. Silently he centered himself, and sat in the lotus position, his legs crossed, back straight and hands resting palm-up on his knees.

It had been two months of watching the first fight between the two non-shinobi, and every night that he awoke, he would attempt deeper meditations. Not for the first time Neji wished he could have seen how the bald man trained, and not just the fighting.

Neji closed his eyes, and relaxed his body seeking his inner-chakra pool and began focusing on it. Had any Hyuuga been paying attention to the inner sanctuary of the compound they might have been privy to seeing a floating Neji emitting chakra from his body in rippling waves of white light.

Since Neji was the one meditating he had no idea of what it was that he was currently doing. Rather he was more fixated on achieving the true third eye. He could use any advantage he could get whenever Naruto's abductor came back.

It was well into 4 AM, and Rock Lee was training as hard as his petite, diseased boy would allow him. Momentarily Lee paused, frowning as he thought of his body as diseased. There was really no other way of describing it as his body literally fought against him producing chakra.

"1001, 1002, 1003," he called out resuming his front kicks from a low horse stance. 'only 6,000 more to go! If I can't do them in the next hours I'll have to do 2,000 one-fingered push ups!" he challenged himself, ignoring the neighbors' demands that he give it a rest.

Truthfully, Lee was perplexed. He'd been doing everything he could think of to increase his speed to the point of creating these "after-images", only at every turn, he'd hit a roadblock! If only there were some way I could augment my body like all the other ninja do with Chakra... he complained.

Knowing the truth of the matter, Lee doubled his efforts and went back into his training with five times the gusto. "YOSH! 1,998, 1,999, 2,000!" he cried. His legs were killing him, but even through the muscle-burn Lee was readying himself to go forth with his finger push ups.

For a moment, Lee could swear he felt something tugging on him, almost dragging his attention towards a direction. If Lee had the ability to use Chakra he'd have known to investigate the sensation as he would realize he was sensing energy. However, Lee had no such ability and thus he shrugged off the feeling, thinking of it as himself getting tired or distracted. Thus he pressed harder into his exercise, losing himself in the moment of his training.

(With Neji)

Neji could tell he was getting close! He could feel most of everything around him! It was like his Byakugan was active, but the vision was still murky as though a veil was over his eyes. He could sense the insects buzzing about, he could hear and feel the steady rise and fall of his clan-members as they slept and off in the distance – like a burning star – Neji could feel Rock Lee. He wasn't sure how he knew it was his teammate, but the feel of the energy was certainly that of Lee's. He tried to focus more on Lee, but after a few moments he felt his "eyes" rebuffed.

Frowning slightly Neji rubbed at his forehead where he felt an intense burning sensation. It was almost as if someone was running a blade along his forehead and digging into his cranium...

As Neji focused more on his sight, he noticed the pain increase. No! I can't give in to the pain! I have to push through... he thought grimly, gritting his teeth and locking his focus on the task at hand. He could feel the sensation slipping away from him.

"KUSO!" he shouted, waking several clan members up as he lost his meditation. Neji felt himself fall a distance, before feeling the ground impact his butt and thighs. "What was that? Was I flying?" he mused aloud.

Before he could investigate further Neji was surrounded by concerned uncles, aunts and cousins. Sighing, as he knew his training would halted one more night, he waved everyone off and started to head inside.

(Elsewhere)

Orochimaru was seething! First he'd lost the fight with that giant brute before he could even get started, second he'd been forced to lose the boy he desired for his next body. Now he was staring into the eyes of the only replacement body at his current disposal.

"Kabuto, remind me to kill you a thousand times after I've completed my transfer," he threatened, his voice sickeningly sweet as he stared at the body before him. It was a young kunoichi. He'd recognized her at one the Sound ninja that he'd sent the Chuunin Exams many years ago. Her name was Kin. Even now, she looked the exact same as before. Currently the kunoichi was standing stark naked, shaking like a leaf in fear. She had long black hair down to the middle of her back and a matching set of black eyes. Physically there was nothing impressive about the girl, however her chakra level was close enough Orochimaru wouldn't need to worry about burning out her chakra network for a few years.

"Girl, stop cowering and get over here. This body of mine is nearly depleted," Orochimaru demanded. Kin nodded and slowly stepped forward, prepared to receive her fate. Orochimaru wasted no time and extended his neck, the flesh growing scales as it elongated. With fangs most similar to that of the venomous snake he emulated, Orochimaru sank his fangs into the girl's neck.

Years upon years of information was exchanged as the two souls began to vie over control of the one body. Everything Kin had ever gone through in life was met with everything Orochimaru had accomplished. The two saw each others' most intimate details and memories.

But it was as the souls fought that the girl awakened a long dormant bloodline. One that she, as an orphan had no idea about. Orochimaru, who had never thought to test the useless girl for traits was equally surprised. Whereas he would always swallow the soul of the ninja whose body he snatched, this time Kin's bloodline allowed the girl to gain the upper hand.

No one outside was any the wiser, and hearing the girl's scream was a normal part of the function. Finally after many hours of shuddering Kin's eyes opened. Her normally black eyes turned to slits before flashing several times. Slowly the eyes turned completely purple. One by one silver rings appeared culminating in black, slitted irises.

Kin's face screwed up into a shrewd smile. "Kukuku," she giggled, her laugh not as menacing as Orochimaru's as she retained her own personality and traits. Turning to Kabuto she smirked at the young ninja. "It would seem fate has favored me," she spoke softly.

Kabuto took a step back, not sure of what was going on. Orochimaru normally henge'd into his own form as soon as he took a body. Why wouldn't he do so now? Wondered the silver-haired ninja. "You're... you're not Orochimaru, are you?" he hazarded.

Kin's smirk only increased, causing a general unease among those around her. "What was your first clue? Now, give me my clothes back, you fool. There's much to be done," Kin ordered, shades of the Snake Sannin in her voice. Walking past Kabuto to take her clothing from one of the Jounin in attendance, Kabuto could not help but marvel at the way she sauntered. The gentle sway of Orochimaru mixed with the natural feminine gait made for a most becoming sight to the medic nin..

"Kabuto," Kin called out, as she slipped her panties over her short, shapely legs. Kabuto fell into line swiftly, still unsure of what was happening. "Yes, Orochimaru?" he asked, inwardly biting his lower lip at his mistake. Kin seemed to not notice nor did she seem to care. Instead she took a moment to stare at her hands and marveled at the way her smooth skin continued to run unblemished along her arm and then to her body. She'd have to make certain not to get her body harmed too much.

As she lifted a sports bra over her head and slipped a set of ninja mesh over her top, Kin spoke again. "Get me the bodies of the Sound Five. I have use for them once again," she demanded. She idly looked over at the former body of Orochimaru's, now lifeless and beginning to decay. With a knowing smirk plastered onto her face she turned to a Jounin, ignoring Kabuto as he scrambled from the room, a slight trail of blood from his nose. "Put this body into stasis. I need to experiment on this new development," she ordered, pointing directly at the body that half of her soul used to inhabit.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama," replied the Jounin who quickly set about the task.

(Amegakure)

Pein (Yahiko) was standing before Itachi with as dispassionate an expression as the Uchiha. "I see," he intoned. He had been wondering why the Uchiha had come all the way to Amegakure rather than just speaking during a summons. "This new development certainly needs looking into. Itachi, take Kisame with you and capture the Nibi. Do not extract the Bijuu yet, so keep her in suppression cuffs."

Itachi nodded so slightly that only Pein could see. "There's still the matter with the Sanbi and Rokubi. Neither has surfaced yet," Itachi stated plainly.

Pein looked deeply into Itachi's eyes, Sharingan meeting Rinnegan. Silence reined for a several moments as the two used their eyes to communicate. {Itachi, I have a feeling that Madara is planning to move soon. I've already warned Konan to be on alert. With the Kyuubi missing, it's a waste of time to extract the other Bijuu. Gather the Jinchuukiri in one place and keep them prisoners. Seal them from the bijuu's chakra if you have to, but don't let any of the beasts find a way to roam free.}

Itachi's tired eyes flicked slightly to the left, pointing out the arrival of Tobi. Pein and Itachi separated, their exchange lasting only a brief instant.

Itachi turned to the goofy, masked man that was currently setting Hidan's robe on fire. "Oh noooo! Hidan-sama, your robe is burning! We must put it out," he announced dumping a bucket on Hidan. Said bucket was empty, thus Tobi managed to only cover the ninja's head before clanging the pail with a large wooden spoon.

Hidan withdrew his scythe and swung it at Tobi, trying to get his blood. The weapon passed right through the silly man who only chuckled shaking his head. Hidan purposefully lifted the bucket from his head. "Do that again and I'll be sacrificing you to Jashin-sama, you little fucker!' he declared, swinging his scythe again, only to have Tobi phase through his swipe.

Tobi shunshin'd to a corner where a dark cloud hung over him. "B-But... Tobi's a good boy..." Tobi stated, his voice shaky with barely restrained tears. Hidan merely snorted before putting out the flame at the base of his robe. "Fucking Asshole, you ruined by robe! Now I gotta get another one," Hidan declared obviously miffed.

End of Chapter

Oh man, I'm loving the direction this story is going! Now I know none of you expected the outcome of Orochimaru's Body Transfer! Hell some of you probably forgot that he needed to trade bodies so soon after Team 7's meeting with him. I just decided to up the deterioration of the body before Sasuke fought and killed him. Plus, this way we have a new baddy with similar interests. No useless Kabuto as a bad guy boss. And we now have a few contenders to fight the heavyweight match when Naruto and Sasuke return.

Pretty much everything in the Naruto world will remain on schedule, minus Naruto and Sasuke's influence.

With Kin as the new Otokage, will she continue Orochimaru's plan of taking over the Ninja world just to kill the hidden leaf village?

Also with Kin having the Rinnegan, The Sound Five and Orochimaru, I'm hoping to have a really good fight with Pein... Maybe?

SSTR87