A/N: I seem to be almost as inconsistent with my chapter lengths as I am with my posting frequency.

Remember to ask any questions you might have. I'll probably answer them.

Disclaimer: I'm like a monk. I don't own anything.

Naruto awoke in a dank cell. There were no windows, and the door had only a small peephole for someone outside to look in. The walls, ceiling and floor were all dark grey and grimy, made of some kind of rough stone. The only three objects in the room with him were a mattress and a chamberpot, neither of which were clean, and a small lightbulb that provided the meager amount of light present in the room. Naruto himself was disarmed, and all of the seals that he had drawn on himself had been removed. He was wearing what appeared to be hospital scrubs, though they were far from sterile. He was also bound with chakra suppression handcuffs, preventing him from doing much to escape captivity.

Hey kit, you feeling alright? You got a pretty bad knock to the head there.

Yea, I'm ok… a little sore, but it doesn't feel like I'm injured. Where the hell am I?

I have no idea, kit. I can feel some chakra signatures above and below us, so we're either in a building or underground, but we could be anywhere from Kazi no Kuni to Kaminari no Kuni and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I can't sense anything when you're unconscious, so I don't know how far we went or in what direction. Best guess I have, based on those weird headbands, is that we're in a minor hidden village, probably in a minor country. Doesn't narrow much down, but it trims the haystack down a little.

Do you think you can overload these chakra suppression cuffs?

I know for a fact that if I powered you up you'd be able to break out. The problem is that if even half of the people I'm sensing have that vile chakra we felt earlier, even if I gave you all you can handle they'd still beat you. They'd all come running if they sensed my chakra.

So, what, do we just sit here and wait for them to kill us?

If they wanted to kill you, they'd probably have done it already. If there's something else going on, we might be able to make a break for freedom when they try to get us for whatever's going to happen. It's probably good that you didn't use my chakra; if the two who collected you had backup, you'd still be here and they'd be able to prepare for my intervention. Your chances aren't horrible, kit, just sit tight and wait for a good opportunity.

The prisoner and his prisoner waited in silence, keeping their ears peeled for approaching footsteps or some indication of where they were. After an indeterminate amount of time, they heard a noise coming from somewhere nearby.

Is that… crying?

Sounds like it. Remember those other kids the two that grabbed you were carrying? We're probably not the only captives here.

The two fell silent once more, listening as more noises joined the crying. Some of the other children being kept there shouted out for help, some pounded on the doors, others still shouted out various threats of violence and retribution. Eventually, the Jinchūriki heard the distinct sound of incoming footsteps, followed by a door opening and a single voice screaming above the rest to let him go. The footsteps and the prisoner moved away, getting progressively quieter as the remaining captives made even more noise.

Naruto sat on his mattress in a cross-legged pose, closing his eyes. He soon fell into a meditative trance, somewhere between sleep and awareness, to relax and prepare his mind. His body recovered faster if he relaxed, and he didn't intend to squander the advantage that time to prepare gave him.

Several minutes later, the footsteps returned; the voice of the captive that was taken was conspicuously absent. Another door, another panicked victim, and the prisoners were down by one more.

This time, the space of time between the footsteps leaving and returning was noticeably smaller. Another detainee was lead away to their fate.

Exactly 833 seconds later, according to Naruto's count, the footsteps arrived again. Another cell was emptied and another child was lead away. The footsteps were coming closer to Naruto's cell each pass, and he estimated that after another dozen repetitions it would be his turn.

For almost two hours, this pattern continued. Sometimes the delay between prisoner retrievals was as low as four minutes, sometimes is was as high as fifteen. As the number of cell occupants dwindled, so did the noise level, and eventually the survivors gave up trying to get help and simply fell silent.

Finally, the footsteps returned one more time, stopping in front of Naruto's door. It clicked open, and a man with a music note hitai-ate stepped inside. The Jinchūriki offered no resistance, knowing it would be futile as long as those cuffs were on, and allowed the man to grab his arm and lead him out into the hallway. It was in the same style as the rooms, with the dark walls and the dim lighting, lined with cell doors similar to his own on either side. One end of the hallway was a dead end, with merely another cell door in the wall. The other had a distinctly different looking door, brighter than the ones surrounding Naruto.

Before long, he was on the other side of that door, in what appeared to be a grimy science lab. The lighting was similar, but the walls and floor were brighter. There were countertops with various glassware, apparati, cabinets and complicated-looking charts and diagrams scattered across them. In the middle of the room, there was a single table with arm, leg and neck restraints built onto it. It appeared to be adjustable, currently in a nearly vertical position. A glance at the sealing arrays on the restraints and Naruto knew they matched those on the chakra suppression cuffs, meaning that they would not provide his opportunity for escape. It seemed that the kids being led away were used as test subjects for something, and that it probably ended up killing them. Being a Jinchūriki, Naruto felt that any kind of toxin or seal that they could cook up to put on him would be quickly neutralized by Kurama. Comparing the odds of surviving a poison that normal kids could live through for fifteen minutes to the near-certain death that attempting an escape would be, and the boy quickly concluded that he had only one reasonable option.

The blonde was lead to the table and strapped in, his cuffs only being removed after the neck and leg restraints were in place to suppress his chakra. Soon, he was on his back spread-eagle, listening as his guard left and two more music note nin entered. One quickly moved to the far end of the room, where one of the counters sat against the wall, and the other opened a drawer and removed a tape recorder. He clicked it on and began to speak into it.

"Shikotsumyaku transfer experiment, formula number eight, subject batch number four, subject number seventeen. Subject batch number four consists of individuals between the ages of six and twelve. Subject number seventeen displayed notable combat prowess during retrieval, probable shinobi training. Test will commence at…" The man looked up at a clock on the wall as his partner moved to the side of Naruto's table. "21:51."

The other apparent researcher withdrew a syringe filled with a brown-red substance, pushing Naruto's head to the side to expose a vein on his neck. The boy watched as the clock ticked toward 9:51, anticipating the pinprick of the syringe.

Do you have any idea what that 'Shikotsumyaku' thing is?

If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably a kekkei genkai of some sort, but for all I know it could be some sort of juinjutsu or something else entirely. If it's a kekkei genkai, this will probably hurt like hell, but unless these guys a fucking insane and think some sort of major anatomical bloodline can be transferred I wouldn't count on it being fatal to you. If it's a juinjutsu, I'll be able to knock it out and keep you from being affected, or at least protect you from it by bringing you behind the seal. Still, brace yourself, this isn't going to be pleasant.

The second hand struck twelve, and Naruto felt the syringe pierce his skin. Immediately, liquid fire seemed to spread through his veins. His eyes widened and he screamed in agony. The internal inferno spread slowly through every inch of his body, first engulfing his head, then his torso and arms, followed by his legs and feet. The burning pain dug deeper, permeating every vein, artery and capillary. He could feel it pump through his heart into his lungs, flow through his arteries into his brain, travel from the center of his chest to the tips of his fingers and toes, searing every nerve ending along the way. Then, the pain seemed to abate for a moment.

Oh shit, they just had to be fucking insane, didn't they. Hold on kit.

Suddenly, the boy felt something shift inside him. Several somethings. All at once, every bone in the Jinchūriki's body began shifting around, mangling skin, muscle and organs alike. He felt as though his insides were being liquified. Bones broke through the skin in their movement, ripping open gaping holes that bled profusely as blood vessels received similar treatment.

Almost immediately, the fire that was flowing through Naruto's veins was matched by another, much more familiar warmth. Fiery red demon chakra erupted from every inch of the boy's skin, melting the chakra suppression restraints on the table and atomizing the researchers. The movement of his skeleton seemed to slow, and the holes that had been opened in his skin quickly closed. The Shikotsumyaku injection was still fighting though, tearing through the blonde's skin and mangling everything inside him as fast as the fox could heal the damage.

The pain soon overwhelmed the child, and he fell into his mindscape to suppress it. He appeared in front of his prisoner, whose face was contorted into a snarling rictus of concentration. Chakra flowed out of the bars in waves, washing over the entirety of Naruto's mindscape. The physical representation of the boy's mind was quickly crumbling, cracks appearing over every surface as rubble rained down upon the two. Every wave of red chakra repaired the cracks and cleared away the debris, but almost immediately they returned. The fox spoke quickly and laboriously, his entire focus being on keeping his container alive.

"In here. Safer."

He hastily joined his prisoner behind the bars, being enveloped by the red aura emitted by the fox. The damage being done to his mindscape seemed to slow as the boy watched from behind the protection of the seal and his companion within. The damage was still terrifying, but now the cracks were less deep, the rubble falling less substantial. The fox let out a brief sigh of relief as the effort required of him diminished slightly, even as he continued to emit more chakra than most ninja possessed every second.

Outside the mindscape, the boy's body was writhing involuntarily. Four limbs made entirely of chakra flailed around the room, upsetting many of the items on the countertops. Bones continued to shift around, breaking the skin before receding and letting it heal, then repeating the painful process. Organs were compressed or torn before being rebuilt, muscles were pulled apart or ripped to shreds and then reconstituted.

Guards came running, curse seals activated. A few burst through the door, only to be met with a heavy impact as demonic chakra met tainted juinjutsu chakra. The few that remained on their feet watched as the boy underwent the procedure before their eyes, his body distending in ways a human body shouldn't.

Within the seal, the damage continued to recede with every pulse of the Kyūbi's chakra. The cracks became less substantial, large chunks of the structure stopped falling, disconnected pieces of floor stopped shifting, walls stopped bucking and collapsing. Soon, only hairline cracks appeared after each iteration, then none appeared at all. Kurama exhaled slowly as the demon chakra receded, before collapsing to the side opposite Naruto, panting. Two of the fox's tails dispersed, the chakra sustaining them having been used up.

Holy… fucking… shit… I haven't… used that much chakra… since the Valley of the End. Tell me straight… kit, am I getting fat?

Naruto chuckled weakly, unsteady because of the traumatic pain and severe damage his body had undergone.

"I always assumed you were just fluffy… Thanks for keeping me alive, Kurama. I owe you."

Yea, you most certainly do… at least you're grateful… that fucking Uchiha twat certainly wasn't.

"Shit, you're down to seven tails. Those grow back, right?"

Of course they do, you nitwit… It might just take a few weeks or so… A tail is a ton of chakra, after all…

The boy relaxed fully and collapsed in an unconscious heap, soon disappearing from the mindscape as his subconscious receded to dreamland.

As the ninja outside the seal observed, the movements began to slow, gradually decelerating before coming to a complete stop. One of the tails of demon chakra dissolved into nothing, followed quickly by another. The other two receded back into the boy, and the aura that surrounded him faded. He visibly relaxed as the pain disappeared.

Orochimaru's soldiers looked at each other in shock before quickly approaching the unconscious boy, slapping cuffs on him before bringing him to the maximum security cells. They wanted him secure so he couldn't escape before their master got there. This was the first time anyone had survived the procedure. If the boy had gained Shikotsumyaku, he would be an invaluable asset to Orochimaru, even without considering that incredibly powerful red chakra. It would almost certainly be their heads if they let him go.

…

Kabuto waited in the antechamber of the snake sannin's personal laboratory. Nobody was allowed access to the lab proper but the S-ranked missing nin himself, not that anyone without an equal or higher classification would survive for long inside between the security measures and the experiments themselves.

A messenger had arrived claiming that their experiments to transfer Kimimaro's priceless Shikotsumyaku had borne fruit. Such an important success warranted Orochimaru's direct attention, but the man was busy experimenting with an improved version of the Ten no Juin, so his most loyal subordinate was forced to wait until he was available.

Kabuto didn't have to wait long. Within twenty minutes of his arrival, Orochimaru concluded his experimentation and exited his lab. The unnerving smile that adorned his face faltered slightly at the unsolicited presence of his right hand man, as such situations often preceded bad news.

"If there's a problem, I leave it in your hands. I have no intention to ruin this good mood with misfortune."

His right hand man smiled. "On the contrary, Lord Orochimaru, one of our satellite establishments experimenting with the Shikotsumyaku have produced some results. The bloodline was successfully transferred to a boy of about eight, though the description provided of the procedure leads me to believe the subject only survived because he is a Jinchūriki."

The missing nin's snake-like visage contorted into a vicious grin. "Excellent, it seems I can field-test my new seal. It's a shame we haven't discovered a way to transfer the ability to a viable vessel, but having a Jinchūriki with the Shikotsumyaku under my control has the potential to be an even greater boon. I will go greet my new weapon in person, you are dismissed."

…

If he weren't aching all over, he would feel a bit of deja vu at waking up in another dank cell. This one was larger, with the same facilities as his previous abode. However, the walls and door were lined with complex sealing arrays clearly meant to keep anyone inside where they were. There were strengthening seals, locking seals, repair seals, chakra sensing and suppression seals, as well as seals that would knock out most people if activated. If examined closely though, it would be clear that the seals were inactive.

The boy, however, was too focused on the aches he could feel all over his body to be bothered by such details. It wasn't that the pain was intense; it certainly wasn't anything to scoff at, but it paled in comparison to the feeling of having one's body ripped apart by its own skeleton.

No, it was the other, utterly foreign feeling of pain that gave the Jinchūriki pause. It felt like parts of his body were displaced, in a way, like they weren't where they should be. He would have just shrugged it off as a temporary side effect of whatever those idiots that were keeping him captive had done to him, if not for the tidbit Kurama had said right before the second stage of the process.

Yo, Kurama, you said before that they'd have to be fucking insane to give me something to change my anatomy significantly, then you called them fucking insane. Is that why I feel like this?

I'd say so. Your chest cavity has been rearranged pretty significantly, and your skeleton was pretty much torn apart and put back together again differently. Your chakra system, though...

What? Did my chakra coils get damaged from overusing your power?

Well, they did, but that isn't noteworthy. What is, though... chakra doesn't normally flow through minerals, like the calcium in your bones. Before, your chakra only flowed through the marrow of your bones, because that was the only chakra conductive part of your skeleton. Now, it flows through the entirety of your skeleton, calcium included. I bet whatever they did allows you to do something freaky with your bones now. Try pushing chakra into your hand or something.

That wouldn't do anything, though. I've got these chakra suppression cuffs on.

Chakra suppression cuffs don't completely cut off internal chakra flow, or else you'd lose whatever appendage they were placed on. (Naruto filed this tidbit away; it gave him an idea for a new weapon he could make with fuinjutsu) It does enough to weaken people who enhance their strength with chakra, but not enough to prevent you from pushing some extra chakra into your hands.

The boy did so, and promptly screamed in surprise and slight pain. Bones were suddenly protruding from the tips of his fingers, back of his hand, his knuckles, his palm, and his wrist. The bones from his wrist tore straight through the chakra suppression cuff with little resistance, ripping it from his hand violently. The sudden and extreme reaction that his skeleton had to chakra startled Naruto into cutting off the flow, causing the bones to recede back into his hand.

Holy fucking shit on a stick, what the fuck is that?

… That reminds me of an ability possessed by an ancient, powerful, corrupt being. I pray the fools who gave you this aren't tampering with things they shouldn't be.

The two were silent as Naruto examined his hand, first watching the wounds from the skeletal protuberances heal over before experimentally pushing some chakra into the tip of his finger, causing a bone to extend from the end of it. He increased the chakra flow, watching the bone extend, before cutting it back, causing the bone to recede partially. Curiously, the boy pushed as much chakra as he could into his finger, only to jolt in surprise when the bone shot out of his hand and embedded itself in the wall across from him. He was about to continue his experimentation, but was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps.

His eyes widened; here was his chance to escape! He quickly shredded the other chakra cuff with his new ability before pressing himself against the wall, out of sight of the small peephole on the door. The footsteps paused at the door and Naruto heard muffled cursing as keys jangled in the lock frantically. The door opened and another man with a music note hitai-ate stepped through, only to be met with Naruto's arm bone protruding through his head.

The body slumped to the ground and Naruto made to grab the man's kunai pouch before pausing. He had biological weapons at his disposal, he didn't need to weigh himself down. The Jinchūriki silently exited the room, prepared to run or fight if his impromptu assassination had drawn any attention.

Luckily, the hallway was empty. Naruto darted toward the closest end of the hallway, hoping that the door situated there would lead to an exit. He was disappointed when the door opened into another lab similar to the one in which Naruto had undergone his transformation. He was about to try the other door leading into the testing room when he heard an alarm sound somewhere nearby. Footsteps immediately sounded from both doors leading into the lab, leaving Naruto trapped.

How many?

At least a dozen, and they have tainted chakra. I see an air vent, get in there.

Naruto hadn't even noticed the air duct built into the wall. It was large enough that he could crawl through it, and small enough that nobody would be able to follow him without being at a severe disadvantage. The boy used a bone from his arm to leverage the covering off the wall, exposing the opening for him to escape into. He dove in and began scrambling away as both doors to the lab burst open and music-note nin flooded in.

"Shit, did we miss him?"

"No, he's in the vent!"

"Fuck, I can't fit, go find a map of the vent system and cut him up ahead."

"Which way is he going?"

"Fuck it, I'm flushing him out."

The Jinchūriki's eyes widened as he heard one of his former jailers call out a Fire Release jutsu. Remembering his previous encounter with fire, he focused his chakra into a dense slab and pushed it out behind him.

"Uzumaki Secret Technique: Chakra Barrier!"

Being formed internally, rather than externally, the barrier held up much better against the assault. Naruto didn't get out unscathed, though; the barrier broke after ten seconds under the focused, juinjutsu-enhanced flames. The burns were much less severe than the ones he'd sustained previously, however, and he managed to crawl away from the duct opening before another jutsu could cremate him.

Away from immediate danger, Naruto now needed to figure out where he was going.

Any idea how I can get the hell out of here?

Go up. Either we're in a building and you'll reach the roof where you can jump off, or we're underground and you'll reach the surface. Anywhere else could be a dead end.

The blonde gave a mental nod before continuing his crawl, staying away from anywhere he could hear activity. He climbed up every vertical pathway he found, slowly getting closer to the top of whatever structure they were inside. Soon enough, the boy was forced to exit his escape route, having reached a dead end as high as he could go.

The room he entered appeared to be an abandoned cottage, probably a disguised entrance for the lab. The Jinchūriki paid it no mind as he threw open the door opposite the vent, escaping into the outdoors. He paused to breathe a sigh of relief, only to stiffen as he heard a slow clap coming from the roof of the building behind him.

"Well done, you managed to evade my subordinates. You are not free yet, though."

The speaker leapt down from the roof, landing in front of Naruto. In response, the boy grew out his knuckles to make claws for his kitsune style taijutsu and got into a ready stance, preparing for a fight. The man in front of him smirked.

"Ah, such audacity, such determination! You certainly appear to be a fine specimen, but we won't really know until we fight, won't we?"

The blonde drew on as much of the Kyūbi's chakra as he could, unwilling to risk what happened when he was captured. An aura of red chakra enveloped him, and two tails sprouted out the back of the chakra cloak. Naruto frowned; he had tried to draw four tails, but could only feel the power of two. His frown deepened into a scowl as he remembered that the fox had used up two tails keeping him alive, meaning he'd be limited until they grew back. Still, two tails should be enough for one opponent, even if they have that tainted chakra, right?

The boy charged, hoping that his chakra-enhanced speed would be enough to catch the other man off guard. His claws aimed for the man's neck, but only passed through air as his opponent dodged. Immediately, he was flying backwards from a kick, having left himself open by overextending. He landed on his feet and charged at the man again, but to no avail. His opponent flowed and twisted unnaturally, evading every strike and delivering devastating counters at every opportunity. Even with the fox's chakra, Naruto knew he was badly outmatched in taijutsu.

He jumped back, preparing hand seals to turn the tide in his favor with ninjutsu. His adversary came at him to interrupt, but the boy finished too quickly to be stopped.

"Wind Release: Eroding Tempest"

The jutsu caught the man as he attempted to strike the boy, blowing him back and tearing into him with dozens of small, sharpened blades of wind. He crumpled to the ground several feet away, bleeding. Naruto smirked, but quickly shifted into a scowl as his opponent suddenly turned brown and melted, denoting that he had been fighting an Earth Clone.

He turned just in time to block a blow aiming for his head, but was forced to jump back and gain space when the man followed up with a kick. The Jinchūriki tried to surprise his adversary by launching his finger bones at him, but the slimy music-note nin simply dodged in his unnaturally fluid way, avoiding every single projectile easily.

"Hmmm, so you figured out how to perform the Shikotsumyaku: Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets on your own? I'm impressed."

The man pressed his attack, flowing from strike to strike without pause, even when forced to dodge one of Naruto's counterattacks. Despite the incredible resilience endowed to the Jinchūriki by his demon's chakra, he was quickly weakening under the brutal onslaught of fists and feet. He lashed out recklessly, hoping to give himself some leeway. The unexpected maneuver managed to score a glancing scrape on his opponent, who was forced to break off and dodge.

The half second his blitz bought him was all he needed to regain the advantage. The boy jumped back immediately, molding much of his abundant chakra to produce a technique that could overwhelm his opponent. His hands formed the tiger seal, focusing that chakra into the boy's favorite technique.

"Uzumaki Secret Technique: Super Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Smoke surrounded the two combatants. A breeze quickly cleared it away, generated by some minor elemental manipulation from Naruto. In its place stood 50 identical hospital-scrub-clad eight year olds with bones protruding from their hands, surrounding their opponent. They each adopted identical kitsune style taijutsu stances, awaiting their opponent's reaction.

The unsettling nin's only response was to raise an eyebrow, surprised at the chakra capacity of the boy he was fighting. Shadow clones were easily dealt with, even "super" ones (if the boy was to be believed), but to be able to create so many was quite a feat for someone who would normally be three years away from Genin.

What intrigued him even more than that, however, was the clan name the child proclaimed alongside his technique. The old fool Sarutobi's replacement, the damned Namikaze that had stolen his position as Yondaime, was rather fond of a girl that went by the clan name Uzumaki. Beyond that, the boy had the Yondaime's hair color, the Shadow Clone Jutsu was a jutsu used primarily in Konoha, and the boy had plenty of fuinjutsu supplies on him when he was captured, a field in which both the Uzumaki clan and the Yondaime were renowned.

The clincher, however, was that the boy was about eight years old and a Jinchūriki. If he was indeed from Konoha, that would mean that he was born, and therefore had the demon sealed within him, around the time the Yondaime sacrificed himself to supposedly "kill" the Kyūbi no Yoko. Orochimaru was well aware from his time in Akatsuki that it was nearly impossible to kill an unleashed bijū, so that meant that it must have been sealed. Minato was too much of a treehugger to force someone else to sacrifice their child as a vessel for a demon.

Altogether, it seemed that the boy in front of him (and behind him, and to either side of him) was the child of the most powerful shinobi in recent history (even Orochimaru was not conceited enough to pretend that he could defeat his rival in open combat), and was carrying not only the signature Uzumaki longevity and fuinjutsu skill, but also the most powerful of the nine bijū and the Shikotsumyaku kekkei genkai. At around eight years old, the boy was purportedly able to take down two B-rank missing nin singlehandedly, putting him at the skill level of a high Jōnin (B-rank), if not an ANBU (A-rank). That was before he received arguably the most powerful combat-oriented kekkei genkai in existence.

The snake sannin unsheathed the Kusanagi, unwilling to let the battle become protracted. The boy had passed his test with flying colors, but now he had to be subdued. No doubt his status as a Jinchūriki would protect him from the poison on the blade, but it would certainly weaken him enough to provide the opening Orochimaru needed to apply his new Ten no Juin.

The ex-Konoha nin struck hard and fast, slashing through the clones that Naruto had created. To his surprise, however, the first clone to get its claws up in time was actually able to block his sword. If it was the original, he wouldn't have been so shocked. Shikotsumyaku-enhanced bones were extraordinarily strong, and the added strength provided by the Kyūbi's chakra would make them even more so. However, clones were typically much less resilient than their original creator, meaning that he should have been more than able to dispel one by cutting through a bone. Perhaps he was too hasty in dismissing the strength of the boy's "super" clones.

The remaining Narutos all charged, hoping that numbers would overwhelm skill and buy the original time to get away. He had used the smokescreen created by his clones forming to cover his escape, though he was sure that the creepy bastard he was fighting would be able to sense his chakra as soon as his clones were defeated. Unbeknownst to him, the aforementioned creepy bastard already knew he was running, and was confident that he could finish up with the clones and catch up to the boy easily.

The clones nearest the front attacked simultaneously, using various Kitsune style attacks to strike from all angles and all directions. Their opponent had clearly been holding back before, though, and his sword blurred around him as the melee attackers were dispelled or repelled. Orochimaru was further impressed that some of the clones could sustain a direct impact, either a punch or a kick, and not dispel. He had no idea how the kid had made such strong clones, but it must have taken at least a few times more chakra than typical shadow clones to form them.

The clones that were farther back from their S-ranked opponent opted to either use Shikotsumyaku: Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets, as their enemy had called it, or some Wind Release: Air Knives to provide ranged support. Most of the Drilling Bullets were parried, being entirely unable to hit him because of his speed with the Kusanagi, but the Air Knives proved mildly challenging to avoid because of their tendency to split into two smaller blades when parried. The sannin's evaluation of the boy rose with every slight nick he received from the wind technique, despite him dodging at full speed. He hoped the Ten no Juin worked; it would be a shame to be forced to put down such a talented young upstart.

The clones' numbers continued to dwindle as more and more were forced into close quarters combat with the sannin, which invariably resulted in their quick demise. Before long, all of them had been cut down, and the snake summoner was free to pursue the original.

Some distance away, Naruto sat against a tree and panted, having released his chakra cloak out of necessity. He hoped he was far enough away that he'd escaped the man; his last clone was just dispelled, and he'd put at least a couple of miles between him and the disguised lab. Human sensors could be sensitive, but only the absolute best of the best could sense someone from that distance, even if they had a chakra presence as pronounced as Naruto's.

The battle had been grueling after the severe damage he'd received from that damn procedure, despite the fox's chakra. The human body simply wasn't made to fight after having been torn apart and put back together again differently. It was all he could do to maintain consciousness; he knew he wasn't nearly far enough away to be safe, but he would collapse if he took another step. He gave himself five minutes to recuperate, more than enough time for a Jinchūriki to catch its breath, and then he'd be on his way again. He knew that, considering how fast the slimy nin could dodge and weave, the bastard would probably be able to catch up with him. He was betting on the fact that his opponent wasn't a high-power chakra sensor and wouldn't know which direction he went, and usually he had pretty good luck with bets.

Unfortunately, it would seem that luck was not on his side today. After a measly three minutes, he looked up to see the very same creepy bastard crouching in front of him, tilting his head at a curious angle.

"I must say, I'm impressed at how well you could hold your own against me. There aren't many who walk this earth that could draw blood against me like you did. Yes, I believe you'll be a fine specimen… Oh dear, it appears we forwent formal introductions earlier. My apologies, may I ask your name?"

Naruto just sighed resignedly. He was far too weak to fight against someone so powerful in his current state, and he couldn't handle another round in his chakra cloak for awhile. He was helpless, and both of them knew it.

The boy croaked out his name. "Uzumaki Naruto."

The pale-looking man smiled. "I am Orochimaru, one of the Densetsu no Sannin. It is a pleasure to meet such a fine young warrior."

Without warning, the snake sannin's head shot forward, his neck extending unnaturally, and he bit into the boy's neck, implanting his newly improved Ten no Juin to corrupt the child's mind. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, before he collapsed into unconsciousness.

A/N: I guess I can take it as a compliment that nobody has been angered to the point of flaming me yet, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm asking for them. There's no better way to light a fire under my ass than with flames.

But favorites, follows and non-flame reviews also accomplish this task. Just not as well as flames.

Oh, and I s'pose I should clarify what I consider each of the different rankings and stuff, for future reference. E=Civilian/Academy student, D=Genin, C=Chūnin, B=Jonin, A=ANBU, S=Kage, SS=Bijū (For example, Namikaze Minato went toe to toe with the Kyūbi and they kinda ended in a draw, so I'd rank him as SS), SSS=Holy Fucking Shit He Just Beat The Shit Out Of A Bijū (For example, Uchiha Obito and his ability to control the Bijū with his sharingan)

Techniques of each rank are techniques that (1. can be learned by most people of that rank, but not the rank below it, and (2. are powerful enough to be significantly threatening to/useful against someone of that rank.

Anyway, thanks for reading!