And Chapter 2 is here, much quicker then I thought, but hopefully it's still a high quality piece of literature.
To those Expecting Naruto to just start spamming Shinra Tensei's left right and center, you're going to disappointed.
Nagato couldn't, so why should Naruto.
All the eyes really do here is crank Naruto's chakra sensitivity up to 11 and allow him to see how his opponent's chakra flows
in preparation for their Jutsu.
Anyway, without any further preamble.
Chapter 2: Parting of the Ways
He could feel the Chakra rolling off of himself, no scratch that, he could see the chakra flowing off of himself. He could see how the Chakra in Sasuke's Sharingan was flowing, well he assumed that was what he was seeing, he didn't really understand what had happened in the last few minutes.
"This is the price for power, real power. The Fox was a crutch, a shortcut; you relied on far too much. You no longer have access to its strength; you will no longer heal inhumanly quickly. You'll have to get by on your own strength Ningen, as is the way God intended."
Well that he understood. No more Kyuubi, no more super healing. Which meant no more taking Chidori's to the chest.
"So, Sasuke, one more chance. Do I need to force you to come back, or are you willing to surrender quietly?"
He saw his teammate start slightly, his eyes darting towards the border and then back at Naruto.
"Naruto... I'm glad. I never wanted to kill you, no matter what I said, your death was never something I truly desired." He sighed. "But I can't come back Naruto, Konoha can't offer me the strength I need to defeat Itachi, the freedom to look for him. I have to do this Naruto, I swore to my clan that I would end Itachi, I have to do this Naruto, I'm sorry."
"So you've said." Naruto sighed. "But I'm not here as a Shinobi of Konoha Sasuke, I'm here as your friend, your brother, to bring you home to our sister and our Teacher." He sighed as he removed his headband, tucking it in his pocket. "I'm not sure what's happening to me Sasuke, I don't know why I'm not dead right now, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth. Come on Teme-baka, we're both out of Chakra, Taijutsu only. Whaddya say?"
Smirking slightly as his Sharingan swirled Sasuke answered back with a quick nod. A second later, they moved.
Only to be stopped as Naruto was impaled.
"What...?"
"Naruto!"
"Now now, Naruto-kun. You are an infuriating little nuisance." A smooth voice whispered in his ear. Turning his head tiredly, he stared into the cold grey eyes of Yakushi Kabuto.
"You..."
"Yes, me. There aren't any Sannin here to save you this time, and Orochimaru has deemed you an annoyance to be eliminated." Naruto watched Kabuto's hand as he was kicked off the kunai in his gut, he watched as a green glow seeped out of Kabuto's hand, solidifying into a solid green blade. Was this how Sasuke felt when he fought Rock Lee, able to see the attack coming, but not able to even begin avoiding it? "It's nothing personal, ya know, even if you did but a Rasengan through my gut, but orders are orders, so can you die now please?"
Sasuke started, it wasn't supposed to happen like this.
He saw Naruto's new eyes, whatever the hell they were, widen knowingly, as he stared at Kabuto's right hand, charging an attack meant to kill the blonde.
His body moved on its own. Three seals, Ox, Rabbit, Monkey. Grab wrist. Charge Chakra with Lightning. Then charge.
He saw Kabuto turn, eyes widen in surprise as Sasuke came up to him, hand blazing.
Scalpel met Chidori as Naruto fell to the side, forgotten.
"What do you think you're doing Uchiha?" Kabuto ground out, as he felt the Chidori start to overpower his Chakra scalpel. "I'm on your side. I'm helping you!"
"I don't care what Orochimaru has ordered, as long as he wants me as part of his village, Uzumaki Naruto is off limits, is that understood?" He snarled, Chidori blazing.
"He's not going to let you leave. As long as he's alive Uzumaki will hunt you down to the ends of the world." Kabuto chuckled. "For Itachi to die by your hand, Uzumaki must die by mi-urk..!"
"As much as you like talking about me Kabuto, you seemed to have forgotten I was standing right behind you." Naruto spat out, hand through the man's chest, Rasengan dying out.
"This... this isn't happening. You... a no name Genin? You can't be my killer... YOU CAN'T BE!"
"Too bad. I am."
Kabuto chuckled, his body slumping as his strength left him, blood flowing freely down his chin. "Too bad... huh?" a wet slurping sound was heard as Naruto threw the spy off his arm onto the rocky shore. "Perfect summation... of this world of Shinobi... Naru...to...kun."
And Yakushi Kabuto's life ended. Dead at the hand of a no name Genin.
Naruto stared into Kabuto's lifeless eyes. The son of a bitch had haunted him since the Chunnin exams, then they had fought outside of Tanzuka Gai. If not for Tsunade, Kabuto would've ended him there, and if not for Sasuke...
"Dobe..."
Speaking of, Naruto looked over at his troubled teammate, as the onyx eyed boy stared at him with worry in his eyes. Oh right, Kabuto was his first kill, he should be distraught or something. He wasn't though. Why waste his time over the bastard? Kabuto didn't deserve it.
"Don't worry Teme, I'm fine."
He heard the Uchiha sigh in relief, it seemed the idiot really did care for him, as impossible as it seemed. Uchiha Sasuke had opened himself up to bonds of friendship and brotherhood, to Naruto of all people. It boggled the mind.
But the boy was troubled, he sought out power to avenge his clan. Naruto understood that, really he did. But to go to Orochimaru, one of the biggest traitors in Konoha history? He could never understand that.
But Sasuke had saved his life, first in Wave against Haku, and now again, against Kabuto. As illogical as it was, Naruto owed Sasuke and he could only see one way to pay the boy back.
He just knew he was going to regret this.
"Promise me Sasuke." he said, staring the Uchiha right in the eyes; "Promise me that you won't let that son of a bitch use you as a cheap suit."
"Naruto..."
"Goddamint Sasuke, promise me. Cause I swear to God if you let Orochimaru take control of you, I'm gonna drag you ass through Wind Country on your face!" Naruto shouted.
"I promise, Naruto. I wasn't planning on it anyway."
"You have 10 minutes Sasuke, go! And when Itachi's dead, we'll meet back here, and finish this fight. You got that Teme!"
"Tch, it'll just be a waste of time you know. It's obvious I'll win. A deadlast like you, could never beat a prodigy like me." Sasuke shot back in jest, turning away, running towards the border.
"You wish Teme..." Naruto's last words before he slipped into unconsciousness were wasted, the last Uchiha of Konoha had already left, his untainted Hiatae fallen in his wake.
Naruto stared at Jiraiya incredulously.
"The hell you say Ero-Sennin?" He spoke quietly. "Give up on Sasuke? Like hell I'm giving up on him you dirty old bastard!"
"Uchiha Sasuke abandoned Konoha of his own free will, which is bad enough on its own, but the fact that he's defected to Sound and Orochi-teme makes it 100 times worse." Jiraiya sighed, hand massaging the bridge of his nose "There's no redemption for him anymore. You need to accept that."
"What the hell do you know? The only time you ever met him was when he was unconscious! What the hell would you know about him?"
"Everything. I was Orochimaru's teammate you know, he was the genius prodigy and I was the talentless dead last." "I tried making excuses for him too, when he first defected. But after 10 long hard years, I've finally come to accept that there are no excuses for him, just as there are no excuses for Sasuke. If you ever want to be a proper Shinobi you'll accept that and forget him."
Forget Sasuke? Give up on him? Like Hell! He'd promised Sakura after all, a promise of a lifetime, that he'd bring their brother back. Just like he'd promised Sasuke, that he'd meet him again, and that they'd come home together.
"If that's what it takes to be a proper Shinobi... Then I'd rather die!" he spat vehemently. "Sasuke is nothing like Orochimaru! So don't you dare compare the two you asshole! We'll meet again, I'll bring Sasuke back... and when I do, I'm gonna laugh in your face and piss in your sake!"
Jiraiya stared at him, an unbelieving expression on his face. "You have got to be the biggest idiot I have ever met... fine. You want to chase that traitor around, fine, be my guest. If experience is what you need to prove I'm right then experience you'll get." the old hermit declared at the top of his voice. "From now on, you! Uzumaki Naruto, are my god damned apprentice! I'll train you to be the strongest goddamn Shinobi in Konoha, so you can not only survive against the Akatsuki and Orochimaru and the Uchiha, but when I'm proven right, and i will be proven right, about your little boyfriend I'm going to laugh in your face and dress you in a Spandex suit just like Gai's, for a year, before chucking you in the forest of Death for 3 weeks! You got that Baka-Gaki?"
"Bring it you Scum sucking Old Perv!"
And that was the day The Toad Sage Jiraiya took on his Seventh, and final, student.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Konoha in the halls of the Hokage Tower, fierce Green Eyes stared hard into Dark honey brown ones.
"Train you? Now who are you to request that of me little girl?" Tsunade spoke challengingly, staring at the pinkette standing before her.
"I'm nobody Hokage-sama." Sakura said sadly. "Nobody at all. Ever since I obtained my hiatae, I've done nothing but hide behind the strength of my teammates, and that's no longer good enough. Please, Hokage-sama, train me! I don't want to be Nobody anymore!"
Quirking an eyebrow, the Slug Sannin considered the girl before her. "You understand that if I agree to this, and that is a big if, you will have to do everything I say without question. You will have to endure breaking your physical and mental limits on a daily basis, with zero complaint, and that if you do anything less, I will drop your sorry ass like the pots of 5 week old Ramen cups in Naruto's kitchen?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" The girl bit back resolutely.
"And even knowing all of that, you're still willing to ask me to train you to be the best damn Kunoichi you can be?"
"Without question."
Smiling softly the Godaime Hokage turned, and began walking away, Sakura's face dropping at the perceived dismissal.
"We start on Monday." Tsunade muttered softly, stopping at the door at the end of the corridor. "Meet me at Training ground 7 at might just make a ninja out of you yet."
Sakura's face lit up, as she bent low. "Arigato, Tsunade-Sensei!"
The dark, dank underground village of Otogakure no Sato was cold, near freezing, lit only by torches bracketed along the walls. That wasn't how it was in Orochimaru's throne room, even if the lighting was the same as the rest of the caverns, it was noticeably warmer, sweltering really compared to everywhere else.
"Welcome to Oto, Uchiha Sasuke, I hope the facilities will be to your liking." Orochimaru hissed, staring down the Black Eyed Teen striding into his throne room. "Kabuto's death was a great loss, but still, you came to me willingly, that pleases me greatly." Sasuke grunted slightly his Sharingan flashing on, causing Orochimaru's grin to widen. "Tell me, Sasuke-kun, are you ready to gain power unimaginable?"
Sasuke glared hard into the Sannin's snakelike eyes resolute, Sharingan spinning wildly.
"I am."
Smirking wildly, the Snake Sannin spoke. "Then welcome to my ranks Sasuke-kun. Take the weekend to prepare yourself, for on Monday I am going to drive you into the ground."
Are we done? Holy shit we're done! That's chapter 2 in the bag, and Jesus did this give me some trouble. I was stuck on Kabuto's death for 3 days just wondering weather or not I should do it, and if I got his character right or not, and I really don't think I did that cold mofo justice, but well, I did my best, and I can always re-edit it later.
I hope you enjoyed the last 3 scenes of all the Sannin taking on team 7, I really wanted to leave the first over-arc behind and get us to Shippuden as fast as possible. So next time we get to Naruto's triumphant return to Konoha.
If I screwed something up, or missed some details, drop me a line. I survive on criticism and reviews.
Thanks for Reading - Jordan out!