Chapter 2
Okay, the character deaths are over, though there is still a little fighting left. Nothing too extreme is going to happen, so you should be safe to read , I get that Naruto can only handle so much Kyuubi chakra at a given time, but in this story I'm AUing it a bit. It's kinda going off of levels of pissed here, not level of power. In any case, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Orochimaru was practically dancing through the trees in his glee. His ideal host would soon contain the sharingan, and he could help the Kaguya to evolve it to the required stages by medical means. He'd had plenty of chances to experiment on the sharingan before the massacre, and thus knew its inner workings. He would have his revenge on Itachi for defeating him by mutilating and possibly killing his little brother, and he would have his ideal host with both the Kaguya and the Uchiha kekkei genkai.
He was that much closer to obtaining immortality and all of the jutsus in the world.
He was jerked from his thoughts by a wave of vile chakra and a pissed off roar, along with the abrupt loss of Kabuto's chakra signature. He frowned. "My seal failed?"
It should have been impossible. That seal had been added on top of the seal of the Yondaime, who had sealing capabilities to surpass even Orochimaru's own. Somehow, though, the Kyuubi had managed to break through not just Minato's seal, but his own as well. Just how well could this boy control his bijuu's chakra? From what he knew of the jinchuriki, he had only learnt of his burden a mere six months prior.
A blond boy whipped through the trees and skidded to a halt on all fours, snarling at Orochimaru, three whirring chakra tails poised behind him. Orochimaru had dodged just in time to avoid losing a hand. He grinned. "Ah, so it seems that I was wrong. You don't have excellent control over the kyuubi... in fact, you can't control it at all!"
This was going to be simpler than he thought. Facing a jinchuriki who had bonded with their bijuu was one thing. Fighting a mindless rampaging monster was another. He would nip this at the bud and perhaps even escape this with the ninetails in his possession.
So, summoning a horde of snakes, Orochimaru began to attack.
The bubbling orange chakra-claw of the Kyuubi dispelled the majority as they attacked for the first time, and the boy's face twisted in increasing agitation as Orochimaru and his summons fought him, slowly but surely driving him into a corner.
He frowned, however, as he went to attack from behind with the Kusanagi.
Was that a fourth tail forming?
The boy's skin began to peel as the chakra output began to get more intense. His whole being seemed to darken, and the kyuubi's chakra circled him in a dome. Orochimaru stopped, curious as to what was happening.
Of course, curiosity was what killed the cat.
The chakra around the boy was a dark purple orb that, when it formed, leveled a small amount of forest and created a small crater to add to the growing list of craters the boy had already created. Orochimaru felt no pity for the splattered remains of Dosu in one of those craters. A small smoky trail of chakra (or was that burning flesh) streamed off of it.
And, just as suddenly as it formed, the chakra condensed and an explosion blasted wind everywhere. A deafening scream of a roar sounded, and as the dust cleared, Orochimaru found himself staring at a white eyed, miniature, four-tailed version of the kyuubi. The chakra output had increased dramatically in the area, and Orochimaru knew immediately that he'd made a mistake.
The kyuubi's chakra attacked at a speed almost too fast for him to follow. Fortunately, he was just as fast as his adversary. It attacked with swiping chakra claws and lashing tails, and he struck with his jutsus and summons in an attempt to get close enough to seal it away. There was a crash as all four tails slammed between them and sent the boy rocketing backwards to put distance between them.
Then, the fox-like chakra cloak shook out its fur. Blue balls of his chakra and red of the kyuubi's flew from its side and began to condense above his upturned head, four tails framing the point. Orochimaru frowned. He did not like the looks of whatever that was.
Fortunately for him, it seemed the boy didn't have enough chakra to keep up with the demon, buying him time to quickly leap back as well and put up his Tripple Rashoumon, a prized barrier jutsu that had never failed him thus far.
Then the attack, whatever it was, tore forwards.
Behind his barrier, Orochimaru found himself seeing blinding flames of chakra on all sides. Then his barriers were almost gone, and he flung himself back further and summoned the jutsu a second time.
By the time it subsided, he was down to a single heavily damaged barrier. A massive trail of destroyed landscape laid through the Forest of Death, and he was left with no illusions as to just what he would look like had that attack connected.
It seemed, however, that this was the most powerful attack it could come up with, and it had winded the kyuubi too. After a brief pause, their battle resumed.
Looking back on it, Orochimaru was glad he'd just sent the eyes off with the Sound Four to out into his next host. He'd hate for his effort to amount to nothing.
He was slammed into a tree again as the forest was systematically leveled by a rampaging four tailed chakra monster. It roared with blood lust and fired a Bijuu dama in his direction, which soared past the dodging Sanin to 'harmlessly' explode in midair. He summoned several large snakes to hold it off, and then he fled.
The thing was, no matter how much he could pretend, he wasn't Minato. He couldn't fight a nine tailed Fox Demon on his own, and even Minato had died in the end. Orochimaru intended to survive the encounter, thank you very much.
As it turned out, he didn't have to risk it. As the last of his summons were dispersed, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari arrived on the scene, following Gaara's hunt for a strong opponent
"No way…" Temari backed up in fear. Kankuro did likewise. The beast roared in a pissed fashion, tails lashing wildly. Gaara stared in shock. Another Jinchuriki? What had happened to it?
Sensing their presences, its white soulless eyes locked into him. The monster, for it hardly even counted as a human anymore, spun on all fours and roared at him, the sound laced with enough chakra to send them flying. Gaara transformed his arms and dug them into the ground, and then charged. This proved to be a mistake. There was a crack as his ribs broke when the beast collided with him, shattering his sand armor.
Before he could be killed, as the other jinchuuriki made to finish the job, it paused as more chakra signatures flared, distracted. It snarled and leapt away from Gaara to confront the new threat.
"NARUTO!" A loud voice shouted, as if trying to connect with the boy in the beast, which only roared in response.
Naruto? The cheerful blond from the first exam who didn't put anything on the test? How could he be doing this? How could someone like him possibly be a jinchuriki? What could have possibly sent him over the edge to such an extent? Death? Betrayal? Anger? Gaara doubted his seal was anything like the blonde's, but if it was... had he been knocked out or have fallen asleep?
"ROOOOOAAAAAAAAR!" The demon bellowed out the noise, turning to attack the Konoha ANBU that were circling it, along with a white-haired man who he recognized as their Jonin Sensei. It focused its attacks on one in a turtle mask, who braced themselves with a chakra shield but was still sent flying back. As this happened, one in a cat mask stepped forwards and made a series of hand seals.
The beast was restrained by wooden materials that sprung from the ground. His bestial form was physically torn off of him, revealing a bloodstained blond with the top few layers of skin burnt off collapsed to the ground. Konoha ANBU escorted him off the field, and examiner's raced through the field.
"ALL EXAMINEES! A DANGEROUS S RANKED MISSING NIN HAS INFILTRATED THE EXAMS! YOU ARE ALL TO EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY OR FACE DISQUALIFICATION OR DEATH!" It was a stern, elderly male's voice. Maybe the Hokage? Whatever it was, he intended to listen. He was already hurt, and he didn't want to fail the exam. Dimly, it registered in his mind that yes, he was indeed injured. This person had actually hurt him.
"Let's haul ass!" Kankuro took off, and Temari followed. Gaara paused, but quickly came to his senses. Father wouldn't be happy if I failed. Gaara turned to follow after his siblings. It was the first time he'd ever had to run away from anything.
Sasuke didn't want to be awake.
He wasn't in pain, but that was because he was on so many painkillers he was sure he was only awake for fear of what came when he was asleep. Well, he didn't hurt physically anyways.
Sakura was dead. She literally died for him. She was dead, and he was blind.
Well, what changed there? He asked himself bitterly. He was so, so blind. To everything. Sakura died for him, and the only nice thing he'd ever knowingly done for her was to say thank you once after she did him a favor. What kind of person would die for someone like him? He had been so obsessed with revenge that he couldn't even see the people they were. It made him sick.
What made him sicker was the image burned into his mind. He'd woken up dry heaving every time he fell asleep because of it; Sakura's entrails all over him, her head next to his arm and her body parts strewn across him. So much blood and then Naruto with a hole in his side…
He turned and dry heaved where the nurse had told him the trash can was.
It was pitiful. He had wanted so badly to get revenge, but now he knew with stunning clarity that he never would have gotten it. He was weak and pathetic.
The tears burned to cry, which just made him feel worse. He didn't care that Naruto was right there.
"I can't…" He choked and hiccuped a bit. "I…"
"You'll make it through this, Sasuke. We both will, I promise."
Sasuke heard footsteps echoing nearby. A door opened somewhere to his right. Someone knelt by his bedside and he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry." Kakashi. It was Kakashi. "I thought you were ready. I taught you nothing and sent you into this. If I'd been more responsible, not entered you in the exams, you'd be okay. I'm sorry. I failed you."
Sasuke bowed his head, shaking. He couldn't speak quite yet. Naruto didn't say anything either, and Sasuke couldn't even see his face to discern why. Eventually, after a long silence, Kakashi left again.
There was a short pause. "Do you need anything?"
Sasuke nodded shamefully, miserably. "Water. Water please."
The sound of a cup lifting from the table reached his ears and it was raised to his lips. He took a drink, feeling even more pathetic. He couldn't do anything now. The last time he'd tried to pick up the glass, he'd just knocked it over. His coordination was shot. He'd tried to sit up once and couldn't manage it without getting dizzy and unbalanced. The doctors said it was because of how major a sense sight was, especially for someone with a dojutsu. They got most of their information from the world around them through their eyes, and when they were suddenly gone his other senses had to compensate for the loss.
Naruto had become a constant companion and refused to leave the room. the last time he saw Naruto flashed through his mind, and he asked, "How's your wound?" He couldn't help it if his voice shook a bit, almost scared to hear the answer. How was he even there right then? His wound should have put him in critical condition.
"It's fine. It missed my vitals, and I heal insanely fast." Naruto responded. "Don't worry about me."
Sasuke let out a shuddering breath. "Insane? That's impossible... I remember where it hit you..."
He felt Naruto grab his hand and felt him pressing fingers onto slightly scabbed skin with a few stitches. "That's it. I'll get the stitches out by the end of the week. This is temporary." The words 'worry about yourself' and 'yours is permanent' were left unsaid. Sasuke was glad for that. He wasn't sure what he'd do if Naruto said that out loud.
"What happened?" Sasuke asked.
"The second stage of the chunin exams was postponed." Naruto said. "The teams that failed before the event are still out."
In other words, Team Seven was out of the running. Even if they still were, Sasuke would have fore fitted. So would Naruto, he was sure. Besides, Sakura wasn't there anymore...
As if reading his mind, Naruto spoke up. "Sakura's funeral is in a week. You're not in critical condition, so if you go with assistance and a medic nin nearby, they'll let you out of the hospital for it."
"Are you going?"
"Yeah." Naruto replied.
Naruto was serious now. It was impossible for him to stay the same after what had happened. Sasuke knew that he would never recover from it. Naruto was probably suffering as well.
They lapsed into silence. Naruto sighed. "It's late. You should go to sleep."
Sasuke swallowed. "Easy for you to say."
Naruto laughed a bitter chuckle. "Yeah. Yours have to be much worse than mine. I won't sleep, okay? If you have a nightmare or something, I'll wake you up."
Sasuke frowned, but hissed and winced. It stung a bit to move around the areas around his eyes, like it hurt to try and blink and hurt to cry. He relaxed after a moment, the pain gone, and then asked, "first, could I have some more water?"
The glass returned, and he drank some more, then, reluctantly, gave into sleep.
Alright. Orochimaru is gone for now. Yep, I killed Dosu as well. Somebody had to get in the way of the fight and die, and Dosu got killed anyways so no loss to the storyline there. Poor Sasuke. I honestly hated his character a bit when I came up with this idea. Now that I've learned to empathize with fictional characters, though, I feel really bad for writing this. Oh well, what's done is done. This creation exists for all to see.
To my fellow writers... Don't you just hate it when you try and put a document on Doc. Manager and it turns it into computer code and you have to go through and edit the whole thing back to the way you want it? It took me an hour to fix this one. Hopefully this does not happen with the next chapter. Anyways, I hope the people actually reading this story because you want to read it enjoy what they see. Stay tuned for chapter 3!
