"Naruto." Said Blonde growled lowly when the silk-woven voice weaved its way through the dark, dank chambers that Naruto had found himself residing for much of the past 3 years of his life. He turned around slowly, his intense sapphire orbs he called eyes meeting with the vile, almost sickly looking snake-eyes of the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru. The man he'd been leeching off of for 3 years, gaining strength under his cruel guidance. "Yes, Orochimaru?" Naruto's cold voice pierced the silence, standing there, with his waist twisting slightly and his chin resting barely over his shoulder allowing him to meet eye-to-eye with the wicked snake.
Kabuto, the man's personal bitch, in Naruto's eyes anyway, snarled and glared at Naruto for the thousandth time. "You will treat Orochimaru-sama with respect lest you wish to meet a quick death!" Kabuto shouted, angrily. Orochimaru chuckled, the man standing there, before his cold hand came into contact with Kabuto's shoulder, the gray-haired teen suddenly stiffening and casting his eyes up into the snake's eyes. "Do you know the definition of Insanity, Kabuto? It is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results each time. You have told him to respect me thousands of times, what makes you think he will change the next time if he didn't that last thousand?" Orochimaru chided, an amused tone in his voice.
Naruto clicked his tongue, making the pair turn and look at him. "You both are insane." Naruto stated, his eyes cold and uncaring. Kabuto glared, before suddenly snickering and smirking. "Really? You always glare at things as if a simple stare will make them wither and die. Doesn't that make you insane as well, Naruto?" Kabuto challenged, until suddenly he felt his very heartbeat within each of his veins, the way it sped up and struggled to maintain the blood within the confines of said veins. He looked up, Naruto was glaring. Suddenly, Naruto withdrew the glare, shoving his hands within the black ANBU pants he was wearing, and turning around. "It seems as though I can kill you with a glare, Kabuto. That doesn't make me insane, that makes me restrained, to have not killed you with a glare yet." Naruto stated as if he was talking about the weather. He and Orochimaru were the only two that held real power within this room, occupied with only a trio of people. And Kabuto knew that, with the way he shrunk into himself with a snarl.
"Orochimaru," Naruto's voice cut into Kabuto's dark mutterings, the Snake Sannin smirking as he looked at the back of the blonde's head. "Yes, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru questioned with a sick gleam in his eye. "What was it you had to tell me?" Naruto demanded, still staring at the wall, trying to memorize its strange, infinite pattern that changed every time he gazed at it.
Orochimaru's grin widened as it gained a dark, sinister aura. Naruto felt it behind him, but did not turn, too intently focused on the wall in front of him to care. Orochimaru found that, despite the boy not having been his original target, he was far, far better than the Uchiha girl he had originally planned on getting, however he somehow believed it was an incredibly risky gamble to try and claim Naruto's body as his own. Yet, Orochimaru knew he would succeed. And he would gain strength, strength so vast he'd drown in it, but then he'd find immortality, giving him all the time he needed to swim back up in the sea of strength.
"It seems, that a Konoha team sent to… Heheheh, 'retrieve' you is on their way here." Orochimaru did not see any outward reaction from his newest body-candidate, and this made him smirk. Naruto merely continued to stare at the wall. "Do you know who is on this… this 'retrieval' team?" Naruto questioned, though Orochimaru felt as if the boy already knew the answer, and was just needing a confirmation. Orochimaru grinned once more, crossing his arms.
"Yes. There is a total of 5 people. Kakashi Hatake, Kushina Uzumaki, Sauske Uchiha, Suki Uzumaki-Namikaze, and a boy with no surname, named Sai." Orochimaru answered, and once more he watched as his new body did not react to the news, at least that Orochimaru could see.
Naruto pondered what this could mean for him and his ambitions as he stared at the wall. 'So my old team is looking for me again, with a few additions. Suki's mother for one. And that Sai boy, he would not be allowed to be on the team if he wasn't at least strong. Hmm… troubling.' Naruto thought to himself, before looking over his shoulder. "What do you intend to do, Orochimaru?" Naruto questioned with a soft, uninterested voice that oozed distaste as he stared at the man.
"Naturally, I will be confronting them with Kabuto. You are free to come along, Naruto-kun." Orochimaru informed, turning around and leading the way as Kabuto straggled behind him. Naruto returned his gaze to the wall, his eyes trailing the endless pattern that scrawled the wall before him. He couldn't stop the frown that made its way to his face when the thought of his team encountering Orochimaru invaded his serene calm. Suddenly, he glared at the wall, willing it to explode. It never did, merely defiantly staring back at him, before he growled and turned around quickly, catching up to Orochimaru but keeping his distance. He'd show them, make them understand. He didn't need their help, nor was he worth their time. He was on a quest of vengeance, one he knew was a self-destroying path. But, he would take it if it meant his family would be avenged. They would never understand.
Kabuto smirked as he looked over his shoulder at the seemingly-uninterested boy that was trailing behind them. He watched as the blonde carefully took his hands out of his ANBU pant pockets, raising one up to flatten out a crinkle in his tight-black shirt, and raising the other to guide it uneasily through his hair, though his face displayed no emotion. "Ne, Naruto. If I didn't know you better, I'd say that you were nervously shuffling about and making sure you look your best for the two girls on your team." Kabuto teased with a grin, until once more his body felt as if it couldn't handle his rapidly beating heart as Naruto's glare suddenly awakened, forcing Kabuto to turn around with frightful eyes.
"And if I didn't know you better, I'd say that you were going to die the second you step into the battle we are willingly walking into, Kabuto." The way Naruto merely said his name made Kabuto's body almost die from fright, though he took a shaky breath and shook his head.
Naruto sighed, looking down, mentally preparing himself for the confrontation, until his eyes widened when he barely heard a muffled shout of "Rasengan!" leak through the wall to his left. Instantly, Naruto jumped back as the stone exploded in a glorious display of swirling chakra and debris. Sun began to shine through as Naruto slowly raised his head, cold blue eyes meeting a group of 5 people. Naruto gazed at them all, his eyes lingering slightly when they passed a blood-haired girl, and a ravenette girl. He allowed an arrogant smirk to make its way onto his face as he looked down slightly, before looking up once again. "So, Team 7 reunites." He stated, smirking at the determined faces of his team. He wasn't surprised, but he was slightly saddened. He'd have to crush that determination underneath his ambition.
Without warning, Naruto appeared in front of the group, slowly and dangerously withdrawing the sword that was sheathed at the small of his back. His eyes were shadowed by his hair as he did so. Orochimaru and Kabuto slowly withdrew from the dark stone tunnels as he completely unsheathed his sword, raising his head and pointing the blade at his team with a gleam in his eyes. "Let's see which one of us has prevailed in this tournament of strength, ne?" Naruto offered, before blurring as the madness ensued.
Naruto found himself fighting the two girls of his team while Orochimaru handled Kushina, and Kabuto handled Kakashi and the unknown boy named Sai. Naruto stood across from the clearly distressed pair, staring at them without emotion present on his face. The Blood-Red haired girl stepped forward. "Naruto! We don't have to fight! Just come back to Konoha with us!" She screamed at him with such urgency that Naruto almost felt himself sway to her words, almost. He chuckled, the hollow sound filling the silence.
"Oh Suki, foolish little girl. You've always been quite the determined one, haven't you? But, you've always been quite the stupid one too. Why would I 'come home' now, when I'm so close to accomplishing my goals!? My Ambition!? You remember don't you!?" Naruto questioned with a manic glint in his eyes as he stared intently at the girl, the violet eyes she received from her mother scrunching up and holding back tears, as her whisker-scared cheeks she got from the beast within her gut distorted with her sadness.
The other girl, Sasuke Uchiha, stepped forward with the same burning determination in her eyes. "Yes, we remember! Don't you remember what we said as well!? We'll help you, Naruto! You don't have to do this on your own! No one should have to do anything alone!" Sasuke shouted, tears threatening to fall to her pale cheeks. Naruto's eyes darkened as he heard her words. His back straightened and a shadow fell over his entire face, only his intense blue eyes shining through. "I knew it. I thought you had understood, the day I told you. But, neither of you could ever hope to understand. No one could ever hope to understand. This isn't something you can just get help to do. This has to be done alone. That man must be put in a grave, and I will be his gravekeeper." Naruto muttered out, before he rushed the pair with his sword drawn, crackling with black electricity that danced over the cold steel.
In an instant, Naruto's world exploded in a daze of steel and chakra. He heard rather than saw the attacks coming from his once-teammates. They certainly had been preparing to bring him back, by force. His eyes darkened with each jutsu they threw at him, dodged each time. He had grown strong too. He would show them. Naruto jumped into the air, watching as the mighty fireball that Sasuke had launched at him burned and signed the ground before it died out. Naruto sheathed his sword and quickly wound his fingers through a series of handsigns, launching a wave of fire from his mouth at his teammates. As Naruto fell to the ground, his fire dying slowly, he pushed chakra out to his hands and feet, watching as a light green hue began to shine slightly above them. Wind Chakra had begun to coat his limbs.
"Sasuke watch out!" Suki called out, watching as her blonde teammate fell towards the aforementioned girl, a green chakra lighting his hands. Sasuke looked up, before attempting to jump away. Naruto swiped at her, his fist creating an arc of wind that continued past his body and cut into Sasuke's side, leaving a shallow, but long cut up her side. Sasuke grit her teeth as she stumbled back onto the ground, holding her now bleeding side. Suki glared at the wound, trying to will it to heal, but she couldn't. She turned her eyes back to her other teammate, glaring with a cold determination at him. 'Damnit Naruto, why can't you see that we just want to help you!? Why can't you see that Orochimaru is just using you!?' Suki thought to herself as the blonde she was thinking of dashed towards her, his hands screeching as they tore the wind.
Quickly, she threw her hands forward and unleashed a blast of wind that hit Naruto, causing the boy to barrel backwards into the ground, though he quickly got up and dashed at her once more. Suki grit her teeth, withdrawing a kunai and raising it to slash at the boy. The sound of a sword being drawn hit her ears, before her kunai met the resistance of Naruto's sword, his right arm raised to hold that hand back. He glared up at her. "You should just go home, Suki." Naruto growled through grit teeth, his blue eyes meeting her violet ones.
Naruto began to flash through handsigns with only his left hand, before he held it out beneath him with a concentrated gaze. A chirping noise ceased all fighting as black lightning began to build around Naruto's hand, concentrating into a ball that began to lash out at everything around it. Naruto raised his hand, Suki's world going into slow motion as she stared at the very familiar Raiton Jutsu. The very same one that Naruto had, at one point, used to protect her. And now, she was going to die by it. Naruto glared into her eyes, as he screamed. "CHIDORI!"
Flashback
Suki chuckled at a joke that Sasuke had made to her left, the two girls giggling amongst themselves as they sat in the Ramen booth, happily eating their meal. Standing, alone against a wall with one foot curled to meet said wall, arms crossed and eyes closed, stood Naruto. The only male, excluding Kakashi-Sensei, of Team 7. Suki eyed him from over her shoulder, as the blonde continued to merely stand in the Ramen Stand instead of sitting and eating with them. He appeared to be thinking rather intensely about something, as his face would twitch every so often.
Suki wouldn't know why she did it until later on, when Naruto had already left Konoha with Orochimaru, but she called him over with an excited gaze. "Naruto, come sit down and eat already! Stop brooding in the corner like a creep!" Suki demanded, causing Naruto's eyes to open and Sasuke to stare wide-eyed at Suki. It had been a month since Team 7 was formed, and only Sasuke and Suki talked within the three-man cell. Once again, excluding Kakashi.
Suki and Sasuke looked at the glare the boy was giving Suki. Suki blushed, for, at the time, unknown reasons, and looked down. "Sorry, I just thought-" "Shut up." Naruto ordered as he sat down across a table from the girls, picking up a menu and looking through its contents. Suki, despite being annoyed that he told her to shut up, smiled softly. Sasuke leaned forward, and pointed to something on the menu. "I recommend the Miso Ramen." The Uchiha suggested, and watched with a blush that she also, at the time, didn't know why she had as Naruto gazed at her, before nodding and closing his menu, standing up and walking over to the counter to order his food.
Flashback End
Suki smiled, despite the lightning-coated hand that was inching towards her chest. She would cherish the memories of the blonde, and the blonde if he would let her. She closed her eyes, accepting her death, until she opened them once more, noting that it never came. She looked at the blonde in front of her, and watched as the lightning in his hand slowly died. He glared at the pair of them, Sasuke and Suki, the Uchiha closer since she had ran to try and stop Naruto. He snarled, despite the merciful act he had done. "Leave. Next time I won't be so merciful." And, despite themselves, Sasuke and Suki smiled. Naruto still was, and always would be, Naruto.