Naruto: Sage of Konoha
Chapter 3
Traitor
Orochimaru went flying from the flaming wreckage of the basement laboratory he'd been keeping beneath the shopping district of Konoha. His legs morphed into the tail of a snake before he landed, allowing him to dart into the crowds. ANBU was already on him though, running across buildings to keep up with him.
From beneath the smoldering remains, a haggard, yet determined voice rang out.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
There was a great rush of wind as the Third Hokage ,in full battle gear, his hat and robes tossed aside, leapt from the smoke followed closely by the Monkey King Enma, his personal summon. The two landed in the streets.
"So Orochimaru has finally turned traitor?" said Enma, his white hair billowing in the breeze.
"We must find him!" shot Sarutobi as the two of them leapt onto the buildings above, following the ANBU squads tightly. They spotted Orochimaru making a beeline for the Konoha public park. As soon as he made it out of the crowds, Sarutobi leapt into action.
"Now Enma!" he shouted.
"Henge: Kongōnyoi!" Enma shouted, running through hand signs. With a burst of smoke he became a massive adamantine staff. Sarutobi grabbed Enma and leapt in front of Orochimaru, slamming the staff into the ground in front of his former student. Orochimaru stopped in his tracks.
"So my explosive traps were no match for the Professor," growled Orochimaru with a sneer.
"What have you done Orochimaru?" Hiruzen pleaded. "Why did you kill all of those innocents?"
"To further my ambition Sensei," said Orochimaru, not bothering to act amused or sarcastic for once. "I want to learn every single Jutsu in the world."
"You're insane!" shouted Sarutobi.
"I will be immortal!" Orochimaru shouted back, lunching at his sensei, his neck extending like rubber as a long thin blade erupted from his gullet. The sword Kusanagi was Orochimaru's infamous double-edged jian. The blade extended from its sheath, aiming straight for the Hokage's heart.
Sarutobi lifted Enma to block the attack, but was shocked and horrified when the sword pierced Enma's diamond hard form, forcing the Monkey King out of his transformation. When the smoke cleared, the sword's blade was sticking through Enma's abdomen. Enma grabbed the blade and kept it from growing any longer.
"Enma!" cried Sarutobi.
"I'm fine Saru!" replied thesummon with a pained cough.
Orochimaru finished regurgitating the sword, taking the hilt in his hand and yanking it out of Enma. The blade shrank back down to normal, Orochimaru taking a kenjutsu stance fifteen feet from Sarutobi and Enma.
"I'm sorry Hiruzen," said Enma.
"It's okay old friend," said the Hokage. "You can go."
Enma nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Suddenly, ANBU had Orochimaru surrounded. Orochimaru merely grinned and bit his thumb, slamming his palm into the grass.
A giant blue snake appeared and coiled around Orochimaru. He latched onto it and the snake burrowed into the ground.
"Damn!" shouted Sarutobi, looking around. Suddenly the ground underneath multiple ANBU exploded upward, the Snake snapping up some of them in its giant maw, swallowing them whole. Sarutobi looked on in horror as it arched around, grabbing more ANBU as it burrowed down again. Time slowed for the Professor when he saw Orochimaru gripping the snake's scales and grinning at him.
The angle that the snake was burrowing in told Sarutobi that it was heading straight for the shopping district. With his lab destroyed, Orochimaru was planning on taking as many Konoha citizens with him as he could before escaping. Sarutobi and his three remaining ANBU ran for the area, people already in a panic due to the explosion.
"Let's get everyone out of here!" shouted Sarutobi.
"There's too many Hokage-sama!" replied an ANBU. "We'll never get them all out in time!"
Just as they arrived the snake was coming out of the ground. Sarutobi could only watch as his people tried to avoid the rising ground. Suddenly—
"Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu!"
There was a loud popping noise as Gamaken fell from the sky right onto the snake's emerging snout. It hissed in furious pain as the giant toad climbed off of it. When it tried to crawl back underground, Gamaken trapped its head underneath his spiked sasumata, holding it down as Jiraiya came down from his head to greet Sarutobi.
"He's finally gone off the deep end?" asked Jiraiya, turning to watch as Orochimaru scrambled from the damaged road, fuming.
"He's murdered hundreds of my people," said Sarutobi with a shaky voice. "I cannot let him leave here alive! Where's Naruto?"
"He's safe," said Jiraiya. He'd made Naruto hide with some other children in a shop. He hoped that the kid wouldn't move, but Naruto was just like him, impulsive.
"Jiraiya," growled Orochimaru, holding Kusanagi at the ready. "Why do you dog my every step?"
"Because you've gone insane!" said the Toad sage, taking a step towards his teammate turned traitor. "Stop this now and you'll have a chance to repent!"
"I don't want your retribution!" said Orochimaru, sticking his sword in the dirt before running through hand signs and slamming his hand into the ground. Snakes erupted from his sleeves and sped towards Jiraiya and Sarutobi. "I only need my own power!"
"Katon: Endan!" Jiraiya spat a massive torrent of flames at the snakes, burning them all on contact.
"Doton: Doryu Taiga!" Sarutobi ran through hand seals, his jutsu turning the ground beneath Orochimaru's feet into soft mud, pulling him towards his opponents like a river. The Hokage followed it up with another Earth Jutsu. "Doton: Doryudan!"
The earth next to Sarutobi turned to mud, forming into a giant dragon's head that opened up and released a volley of mud balls at Orochimaru, pelting the Snake Sage until he was nearly covered. Orochimaru reacted after a few seconds, performing another summoning jutsu. There was a great burst of smoke and the King of Snakes, the purple horned Manda appeared.
"Orochimaru!" it roared. "You dare call on me without notice? For this, I demand one hundred and fifty human sacrifices!"
"You shall receive!" said Orochimaru, hopping onto Manda's head. There was another burst of smoke and then Jiraiya was standing atop Gamabunta, the Toad Chief smoking his pipe and regarding Manda with disdain.
"Finally," he said. "That snake skin wallet is mine!"
"Not today cur!" screamed Manda as the two of them clashed, Manda clamping his jaw down on Gamabunta's sword. Jiraya and Orochimaru leapt off of the heads of their summons and engaged in a brutal exchange of taijutsu.
Naruto had hidden underneath the counter of the store his father had pushed him into, along with two boys about his age and a little girl who appeared to be much older than they were. One boy had pineapple shaped hairdo and the other was rather pudgy, munching on chips nervously.
"Hey," said the girl to Naruto, attempting to distract the frightened boys from the battle outside. "I've seen you in my Dad's ramen shop with Jiraiya-sama!"
"Jiraiya-sama?" Naruto asked, before it clicked. "Oh, my Dad. Yeah, he's out there fighting right now."
"Wow, your Dad is Jiraiya of the Sannin?"
Naruto nodded, glad for the distraction.
"I'm scared," said the pudgy boy.
"That's a funny name," said the pineapple head, his voice shaking slightly as he tried to tune out the sounds of screaming and destruction.
"Shut up Shikamaru! That's not funny!"
"I'm Naruto!" said the blonde.
"I'm Ayame," said the girl.
"My name," the pudgy boy emphasized. "Is Chouji."
"Shikamaru."
"What are we gonna do?" asked Chouji, looking at the other kids. "We can't run. I heard Naruto's Dad say to stay here."
"I think we should run and find out Moms," said Shikamaru, burying his face in his knees.
"I want my Dad," said Naruto, looking like he was on the verge of tears. Ayame waved her hands in front of them.
"No crying!" said the older girl. "Let's play a game."
"I don't want to!" wept Chouji. These boys were not optimistic today.
"Let's sing a song then!" she said and began to sing a song." I used to chase rabbits on that mountain. I used to fish for minnow in that river. I still dream of those days even now. Oh, how I miss my home town."
The three boys knew the song. Their mothers would sing it to them sometimes, though Naruto had Ma for that. They slowly followed her lead and sang together.
Soon the noise quieted, and everything went silent. They stopped singing and looked around. They peaked over the counter to the outside window and saw nothing. Naruto, not thinking, ran to the door, assuming the fight was over. He ignored Ayame screaming his name as he ran out the door. He suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eye and screamed when it came down upon him.
Orochimaru was wounded severely, as was Jiraiya. Sarutobi could only look on as the two of them clashed from atop their mammoth summons. If he attempted to approach their battle, he would only get in Jiraiya's way. Gamaken was still wrestling with the smaller snake, pinning it down only for it to break free and try to bite him.
Jiraya leapt back from Orochimaru, nursing a gash on his stomach left by Kusanagi. Orochimaru retreated as well, his body worn down and covered in burns and lacerations, as well as caked on blood and mud.
"Now Bunta!" shouted Jiraiya. The toad shot a torrent of oil into Manda's face and Jiraiya followed up with a massive wave of fire. "Katon: Gamayu Endan!"
When the flames cleared, it seemed as though they had won, but were unsurprised to see a charred snake skin rather than a charred snake, and a hole in the ground at Gamabunta's feet. Suddenly, the ground rumbled and Gamabunta leapt out of the way as Manda burst from the ground beneath him, fangs ready to bite down on the Toads. That's when Gamaken intervened and tackled Manda to the ground.
"I've defeated my opponent," said the great red toad, smacking Manda repeatedly with his sasumata. "Despite my clumsiness."
Gamabunta took the opportunity and plunged his sword into Manda's body, getting a loud screeching hiss from the giant snake. Manda spat insults at his enemies before vanishing in a large cloud of smoke.
Gamabunta and Gamaken panted heavily, looking around for Orochimaru.
"There he is!" shouted Sarutobi as the Snake Sage sped towards the market district.
Orochimaru knew he had lost this battle, but there was nothing to be done about it now. He could only retreat and act another day. Besides, he had copies of his plans in the Rice country. He would fight another day. Another opportunity always revealed itself.
Then that opportunity came. He saw Jiraiya's adopted son run out into the street, unaware that Orochimaru was speeding in his direction. Orochimaru smiled savagely, leaping towards the boy, fangs outstretched. The boy spotted him too late and could only scream.
"Naruto!" screamed Jiraiya, trying his best to catch up. He could only look on in pure terror as Orochimaru descended on his beloved child. Then the unthinkable happened.
"Don't touch my Naruto!" screamed Tsunade, kicking Orochimaru in the side of the head. The Snake Sage was caught entirely off guard and was thrown into another building. Orochimaru staggered out, screaming in fury. Before he could lunge at Tsunade he was met with yet another kick to the head.
"Dynamic Entry!" roared the Jounin Maito Gai, appearing on scene. Orochimaru was sent staggering away, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
"RASENGAN!" Jiraiya absolutely screamed, driving a spinning blue ball of chakra into the gut of his former friend. Orochimaru screamed and wailed in terrific pain as the ball was driven further and further into his abdomen. Jiraiya was aiming to kill.
Suddenly, Orochimaru's eyes snapped into focus and he cackled madly, grabbing the sides of Jiraiya's head. He leaned his head back and opened his mouth. His jaw unhinged and another body shot out from Orochimaru. He had shed his skin, so to speak. Orochimaru took their shock as an opportunity and darted up the building, scaling it as fast as he could in his weakened state.
"Raikiri!" shouted a new voice as the silver haired ANBU Kakashi buried his lightning covered hand in Orochimaru's tail. Orochimaru screamed in pain as volts of electricity ran through his system. He rotated his torso one hundred and eighty degrees to face the young ANBU and began mercilessly punching him in the face, resisting the paralyzing shock of the attack.
Kakashi grabbed Orochimaru by the back of the head and pulled him off of the building, the two of them tumbling to the ground below. Orochimaru pushed Kakashi off of him and stood up, his legs returning to normal. He was about to bite his thumb for a summoning jutsu, but froze in place.
"Kagemane no Jutsu," said Shikaku Nara from across the street. "Complete."
His two team mates, Chouza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka appeared next to him. There was nothing Orochimaru could do. He was completely outnumbered and outgunned, so he stood silently, trapped in the Nara's shadow possession.
"Dad!" cried Choiji as he ran out of the shop towards his father, who scooped him up and glared at Orochimaru.
"Hey old man!" said Shikamaru, running to his own father.
"Mind telling us what the hell happened here Hokage-sama?" asked Inoichi.
Tsunade walked up to Orochimaru and punched him squarely in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.
Sarutobi looked at Kakashi and Gai.
"Take him for interrogation," said the Hokage. "Let Ibiki have at him."
Jiraiya dropped the corpse he had to the ground and turned to Naruto. The boy was crouching, his eyes closed tightly. Jiraiya approached the boy and dropped to his knees, pulling him into a tight embrace.
"I can't believe this," said Tsunade, her voice shaking uncontrollably. "He was our friend!"
"He's not the same man he was Tsunade," said Sarutobi as he joined his remaining students. "Is Naruto alright?"
Jiraiya drew back from his son, who was looking at him and sniffling.
"I'm okay," said the child. Jiraiya smiled at him. This kid was strong.
"Alright," said Tsunade, refusing to look at the bloody form of Jiraiya or the abandoned corpse. "Let's get you guys to Shizune."
"Jiraiya," said Gamabunta. "Let me take Naruto home. He needs some rest. Pa will take care of him."
Jiraiya nodded and looked at Naruto, still kneeling in front of him.
"Go with Bunta, okay?" he asked.
"Alright Dad," said Naruto, climbing into Gamabunta's hand. The summons swiftly poofed out of Konoha, taking Naruto with them.
"Care to explain Jiraiya?" asked Shikaku.
"I can explain it better," said the Hokage. "All of you, to my office in one hour."
"Us too Hokage-sama?" asked Gai as he and Kakashi grabbed Orochimaru, prepared to haul him in for questioning.
"I suppose so Gai," said the Hokage. "Just be quick. I don't want him to wake up any time soon."
"How very unyouthful," said Gai sternly as they Body flickered away with the unconscious Sannin.
An hour later, everyone involved in the fight with Orochimaru aside from Naruto or the other children were packed into Sarutobi's office with a lot of questions. The Hokage ignored their stares as he looked over their individual reports of what had transpired, puffing on his pipe.
"Orochimaru," said Sarutobi. "Has been officially branded as a traitor to the Leaf. He has been experimenting on our villagers and our shinobi, right under our noses. Hundreds of people have been taken, and not a single peep was heard about it. My ANBU began noticing that some familiar faces of the crowds were not showing up anymore, and several Shinobi were not showing up for their duties. Orochimaru has gotten sloppy with his madness, and we were able to track him to his laboratory."
"So what?" asked Inoichi Yamanaka. "Did we get anything significant? What was he trying to do?"
"Most of his papers and notes were lost when he set off his explosives. We hope that Ibiki and you, Inoichi will be able to get into his head and find out. What we did find were notes on sealing techniques of the Uzumaki Clan and some that I've never seen before. It appears he was marking people, and it was altering their chakra somehow, but I just don't know."
"So what do we plan on doing?" asked Jiraiya. Tsunade stood behind him, her eyes trained downward.
"We'll find out from him personally. Inoichi. Get down there and pick his brain apart. The rest of you are dismissed. Take a few days to rest, you all deserve it."
The ninjas present nodded and took their leave, aside from Jiraiya, Tsunade and strangely, Kakashi.
"Jiriaya-sama," said the young Anbu, his eye the only thing exposed on his face. "Was that child who called you dad-?"
"Yes," said the Sage. "That was your sensei's son. I've adopted him."
"He seems to be doing well," said Kakashi, turning to leave. "Maybe I'll be able to teach him a few things when he becomes a shinobi."
Jiraiya grinned at the idea and turned to face his sensei, his expression dropping when his eyes met the old man's.
"Sarutobi-sensei," said Jiraiya. "What do we do now? He was our friend. Our teammate."
"You don't have to attend the execution," the Hokage said coldly, turning his chair to the window. "Now leave me."
Jiraiya turned away, taking Tsunade by the shoulder and leading her out. They did not want to see their Sensei cry.
Sarutobi took off his hat and set it on the desk behind him, and began to weep.
"Oh god Orochimaru," he clenched his teeth and pounded on the arm of his chair. "Where did I go wrong?"
When Inoichi got to his department his face went white. The entirety of the place was completely torn apart. Bodies were everywhere. Some of the bodies were utterly burnt up and some were completely torn to shreds. It was a war zone, the evident use of jutsus covering the place.
When he finally ran to Orochimaru's holding cell, it was empty, save for his companion Ibiki Morino, who was slumped against the wall, covered in his own blood. His skin was pale, a sure sign that he was on the verge of bleeding out.
"What the fuck happened?" hissed Inoichi as he began tending to Ibiki's wounds.
"It looked like ANBU," Ibiki whispered back. "But they weren't ours. I have no idea who it was, but they busted him out."
"Did you find anything?" asked Inoichi. "Anything at all?"
"Orochimaru had more labs in Konoha," he gasped out. "Some of them… have children in them… find them!"
Ibiki then passed out.
When Orochimaru came to he'd been the guest of Ibiki. The torture he endured was excruciating to say the least. He decided that it would be in his best interest to divulge some minor information. Besides, the only thing they would get would be that Tenzo kid. Orochimaru didn't know whether his experiments on the child worked or not, but he would probably find out soon enough.
Besides, as far as Danzo knew, they were a success, and that was enough for the old war hawk to come retrieve him.
Orochimaru sat in a chair in the middle of ROOT Headquarters, the home of Danzo's secret legion of ANBU ninjas. Danzo paced back and forth in front of Orochimaru, his cane clacking noisily on the stone floor.
"So what do you want?" asked the Snake Sage.
"You know my price. I want the wood release, and I want the Sharingan."
"I can give you the wood release," said Orochimaru. "But how do you expect me to get you a Sharingan? Even I haven't been able to get an Uchiha to experiment on."
"I know for a fact," said Danzo. "That the Uchiha are planning a coup de etat on the village. It won't happen for many years to come, but when the time comes and that clan is wiped out, their eyes are ours for the taking."
"How long?"
"I do not know," said Danzo. "But I will remain in contact. I'll smuggle you to Rice Country as soon as you are well enough to travel."
"How did you know about my base there?" demanded Orochimaru.
"I know of all your labs," said Danzo. "Do not underestimate me snake. I have far more resources then Jiraiya."
Orochimaru's expression became one of suspicion. He would do well not to piss Danzo off.
"We have an agreement then," said Orochimaru coldly.
When Naruto returned to Mt. Myoboku, Gamabunta took him the Ma and Pa to fill them in on what happened. As soon as they heard about Orochimaru going for the boy, Shima nearly had a break down as she clung on to her precious Naruto-boy. Naruto had a brave face on however, and refused to cry as the images came back to him. Of course he wanted to, but he resisted. Shima dragged him to their house so he could be fed. Human food of course. Fukasaku kicked her out of the kitchen and made Naruto a sandwich from the food Jiraiya had provided.
The toad sages and Naruto all sat down for a meal together, Gamaken and Gamabunta left for the tavern. Naruto picked at his sandwich for a bit before putting it down.
"Hey Pa?" said Naruto abruptly. "Who were the guys who beat up the scary one?"
"Those were probably ninjas Naruto-boy," said the Elder Toad as he stirred his own pill bug soup.
"They were strong," said the boy with a slight smile.
"Ninja are very strong," said Fukasaku, returning his human grandson's smile. "Your father is a ninja. The Hokage is a ninja. Even Gamabunta, Ma and I are ninjas."
"Wow," said Naruto, his eyes full of excitement. "I wanna be a ninja when I get big! Then I can beat up scary guys all by myself!"
Fukusaku smiled at the boy.
"Look at those eyes," He thought to himself. "Despite the traumatic events of today, he is determined to overcome. Instead of being afraid, he knew Jiraiya-boy was there for him. This is strength. This is what it takes to be a great shinobi."
"Finish your lunch Naruto-boy," said Fukasaku. "And I'll teach you about some of the greatest ninjas who ever lived. When you get older, your father will want to teach you how to be a ninja yourself."
"Thank you Pa!" cheered Naruto as he dug into his sandwich.
Orochimaru's escape from Konoha was a complete and utter disaster. No one knew who helped him or why. They found several more labs around the city. The only living thing they found however, was the boy Tenzo. According to the notes left there, the boy was injected with the First Hokage's cells to see if he could develop the Wood Release. It was unsure on whether it worked or not, but he was taken to Tsunade's house for medical examinations.
The Hokage had word sent to Sunagakure and their other allies that Orochimaru was classified as an S-ranked Missing Nin with a kill on sight order.
Danzo, of course, blamed it all on Sarutobi's softness, but even the council did not buy that. Danzo was scorned for his accusations and was nowhere to be seen for several days. It was assumed that he was brooding as usual.
The Uchiha's Military Police were put under scrutiny for not reacting immediately to the disaster in the shopping district, but they made the excuse that they were having meetings about conduct and their overall role in the village. The Hokage did not buy it and put pressure on the clan leader Fugaku Uchiha to either try harder, or be disbanded as a liability. Fugaku did not take kindly to the threat and spent following council meetings almost silent, glaring at the others in the room.
The only true bright spot in the Uchiha's current reputation was that Fugaku's son Itachi had graduated from the academy at the top of his class at the age of seven. He was currently the youngest Genin in the village, as well as one of the most skilled and talented.
Jiraiya didn't make it home for two weeks. He'd been scouring the country for any sign of Orochimaru, but came back with his hands empty and his mood sour.
He was happily surprised to see Naruto studying the history of ninjutsu with Fukasaku. Apparently the toad had caught the boys interest with the reward of instant ramen every time the boy listened to his lectures and was able to absorb the information given to him.
Jiraiya decided then that starting next year, Naruto's training would begin.
After seeing what Ninja are capable of, Naruto begins studying to become a ninja! Despite only being two years old, Fukasaku is teaching him the history of the Ninja world. Jiraiya will train him in ninjutsu as soon as he is old enough to comprehend the chakra control exercises.
Will Naruto be a genius of the Ninja world? Or will he be the dead last?
Only Time Will Tell!
So, next chapter there will be another time skip, and Naruto will have grown in both size and skill.
See you next time!
