Chapter 1: Orochimaru's Grasp

As the sun rose over the trees, the early morning birds chirped and flew around in the air. The dew that settled overnight glistened as the sun rose. Everything was quiet and peaceful as the sound of the slow flowing river took over all other sounds. And standing right over the river was the bridge that leads to the village of Konoha. The same bridge that team 7's group is always meeting on. Speaking of which, they are now on the bridge waiting for their sensei, as usual.

The three person group consists of three very different people. The first is Uzumaki Naruto, a blond haired hyperactive nitwit who doesn't think before he acts, or talks. He has the spirit of the legendary nine-tailed fox sealed within him. This 14 year old boy has been able to release and control part of the fox's chakra over the past 2 years. He is now one of the strongest ninja in his age group and probably even stronger then most sensei. But that doesn't make him any smarter.

Now speaking of smart, the next chunin in the group is Haruno Sakura. She is one of the top students in her age group. Over the past 2 years she has been training and advancing very fast in her ninjutsu and genjutsu. She now carries around a bow and quiver of arrows. But one things hasn't changed about Sakura, she still has the biggest crush on the most popular guy in the village, Uchiha Sasuke.

Now Sasuke is the kind of person who doesn't let anyone know much about him. When they are supposed to meet their sensei on the bridge he is always the first one there, but something isn't right about today.

As the sun got higher into the sky, Naruto and Sakura were sitting on the rail of the bridge waiting for Kakashi and Sasuke. It is usual for Kakashi sensei to be late but Sasuke? Something isn't right about today and until Kakashi arrives, Naruto and Sakura didn't really relize anything.

As they both waited on the bridge, Naruto was leaning up against the rail with his head facing down slightly and an angry expression on his face. He had his arms crossed and was tapping his right index finger impatiently while groaning.

Sakura was sitting on the rail across from him. She had both hands holding on to the rail on each side of her with her legs crossed slightly. She was looking out towards the road that lead into the village with a worried look.

" i wonder what is taking sasuke so long, he is usually here by now."

Naruto then bursted out, leaning off the rail and holding his fist slightly out infront of him.

" What is taking them so long?! We've been waiting here for two hours!"

Sakura took her eyes off the path and looked over at Naruto.

" Calm down Naruto," she said calmly " they'll be here soon."

Naruto then put his hands down against his sides and looked at Sakura with a blank look.

" Sakura is so pretty, maybe i can ask her to lunch or something before kakashi and sasuke get here."

As he took a step forward and reached his hand out slightly, he opened his mouth to say something then two figures appeared infront of him from nowhere.

"Huh?"

Naruto then got a look of who they were and started throwing a rampage.

"What took you guys so long?! Do you know how long we've been waiting?!"

Kakashi then turned around and put his hand on Naruto's head and smiled.

" Calm down," he said calmly " I'm canceling todays mission, so now you guys can go home."

Naruto looked up at Kakashi with a slight shocked yet confused expression.

" But why?" Naruto asked softly.

Sakura just looked at Sasuke with a blank face and didn't even care about what Kakashi sensei just said. Sasuke was all beat up. He had bruises, cuts, and was bleeding slightly from a few of them. He was breathing slightly heavy but still remained in an upright position. He put his hands in his pockets and started to walk off the bridge heading back into the village. As he did, Sakura looked at him quickly and then quickly jumped off the rail and started after Sasuke.

On the bridge, Kakashi sensei and Naruto were still standing there. Kakashi had took his hand off Naruto's head and stared at the river in deep thought. Naruto looked around Kakashi at where Sakura was sitting on the rail and noticed that she had left her bow and quiver leaning against the rail.

"Oh," he mumbled as he walked around Kakashi and picked up the bow and quiver. He put the quiver over his left shoulder with the strap crossing his chest as he held the bow in his right hand. Kakashi looked up and turned around to see what Naruto was doing and noticed the bow and quiver.

" Hey, Naruto, where did you get those?"

"Huh?" Naruto said slightly as he looked down at the bow and shot his head right back up looking at Kakashi with a smiling face.

"Oh! These are Sakura's. She left them here and was just going to return them."

Naruto turned and started running towards Konoha.

" See you later Kakashi sensei!" Naruto yelled out while waving his hand in the air.

Kakashi just looked over at Naruto and smiled.

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As Sasuke came closer to the end of the path a little ways before the village, Sakura came stumbling up next to him, breathing slightly heavy. She looked at his cut up face with a worried look and noticed that he looked depresssed, and that worried her. She had never seen him so sad before. Wondering what was wrong she decided to try and find out.

" Sasuke,... what happened to you?" she asked in a sad tone. "I've never seen you like this, and you were gone for a few months. I've been worried."

She looked down with sadness in her eyes, then decided to stop walking. As Sasuke continued to walk at a slow pace, Sakura looked down at the ground and her body relaxed. She started talking to him in a shaky tone as if she were close to crying.

"Sasuke, I'm not going to make you talk to me about what happened although I wish you would."

He then stopped and looked over at Sakura with a blank face and started walking back towards her. She looked up at him as he stopped infront of her. She stared at his blank face but his eyes were shut and a slight smile started to grow on his face as he slowly opened his eyes. She then gasped in shock and stumbled back a few feet. She had a petrified look on her face as she slightly put her hands over her lips.

" No!" she said quietly as she froze infront of him.

Sasuke's sharigan was different now. It now had a single larger black eye in the middle with three curved spikes sticking out. Then as he talked to her, his voice was a mix of his own and Orochimaru's as he chuckled slightly.

"Sakura? Are you surprized it is not your precious Sasuke?" he chuckled again as he stood up straighter and tilted his head slightly.

" It's ok though, he heard what you said. But right now I'm talking through him to you. Since he is weak, I can now possess him without a struggle."

Sakura just stared at him then suddenly turned around and while stumbling, ran as fast as she could so she could get away from him.