A/N: for those wondering, yes, the pairing is still Naruto / Samui. The reason she isn't in the bio is because while they are going to end up together, it's taking a bit of a back seat. If you're only here for the NaruSamu then you won't be disappointed because it'll tie into plenty of plot points, all of which will be hinted at as subtly as I can manage. Thanks for bothering to read my story! :]

IV: Curse Festival

"Sugoku~, Ibiki! You actually let 46 teams pass? Are you getting soft on me~?" Anko teased Ibiki, who rolled his eyes.

"You know damn well I don't 'get soft', Anko. There's just a strogner crop this year… some stronger than others," Ibiki said, looking right at Naruto near the end, as did everyone else. He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, looking at the ground.

Am I… am I actually being acknowledged? Naruto thought. Maybe not as a person quite yet… but they see some sort of power within me… that I can't see in myself?

Kurama groaned. "Not this Ashura again… Please not this one…"

Naruto cocked an imaginary eyebrow. What do you mean by that?

Kurama huffed. "There are six different Ashura archetypes. Going by the path you unlocked first, which foretells these, I suppose it was something I should've predicted… The Deva Path is the most powerful path, though, so I by turns you'll end up as the most powerful type of Ashura…"

Naruto rolled his eyes; Kurama was more mumbling to himself than anything. You can't just start dropping names that I don't understand. Who is Ashura, anyways? Was he one of my past lives, or something?

"He's more than your past life. He's all you've ever been," Kurama snorted, before shutting up completely. Naruto sighed and turned his attention back to the proctors.

"Anyways, brats, you'll be meeting me up with me at Training Ground 44! You've got a half hour to show up at the gates or you're automatically disqualified! Ganbaru~!" Anko launched herself out the window. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura quickly met up near the window while all the other Genin filed out the door.

"Sasuke, can you track her?" Naruto asked, activating his Rinnegan and looking out into the distance. He could certainly see farther than before, but he didn't have any kind of zoom. He certainly couldn't just ignore the triply-prevalent sun glare that smacked him in the face.

Sasuke gave a nod. "She's certainly got some Jounin-level skills; her stealth is similar in style to Kakashi's." Sasuke didn't track Anko through the use of his doujutsu— if he did then so could Naruto. He was being trained on using his other senses in case he was deprived of his sight, which people were likely to attempt once they caught sight of the war fan plastered to his back. Kakashi had suggested he removed the obvious target, but an Uchiha will always be an Uchiha. "I'll take point, then…" Sasuke jumped out of the window, followed by his teammates.

Meanwhile, Team Samui hung back after watch Team 7 depart. "So it seems that the entire team is a threat…" Samui muttered. "That's not very cool, is it?"

Omoi stood from his leaning position and popped a lollipop into his mouth. "It had almost seemed that Naruto was more bluster than anything else at first… he must be dangerous, to lower our guards like that."

"The Uchiha seems to be the leader, the Uzumaki the heavy hitter… and perhaps the girl is the glue or some sort of support?" Karui noted. "I'd also watch out for their fellow 'Rookies'... There were quite a few clans among them I noted off the bat. Nara, Inuzuka, Hyuuga, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Aburame. Some of the most dangerous in Fire Country."

Samui stood and walked towards the door. "Just keep your guard up. We have the edge over them, regardless."

"This is a special slice of Heaven called the Forest of Death!" Anko chortled, releasing her ki on the unsuspecting Genin. "In here, my rules are the law… and the purpose of that law is not to give you liberty, but to give you death!"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow and activated his eyes. I wondered why her ki seemed so intense… that mark on her neck is full of a twisted chakra. — It's like yours, missing something… but this one is much, much darker.

"That is pure Yin chakra, Naruto; and the one who gave her that mark is master of fuuinjutsu. Remember the signature in case you come across it again. It's likely a by-product of one of your many, many screw-ups."

Naruto stopped paying attention to Anko speak in order to question Kurama. It's infected her entire network, Kurama. I can pretty much recognize different purposes of seals by this point, and it seems that this one works like a drug. Was she some sort of human trafficking victim at some point? Or a sleeper agent, maybe…?

"Nothing like that. But at the same time, the truth likely isn't much better, if I recall anything about the origins of those sealing arts. My youngest brother Shukaku was the first to create a cursed seal, once again because of your meddling. In any case, it should be a while before you run into the one who gave her the mark, if they're even still alive."

Naruto blinked as a knife split his cheek open. Standing behind him was Anko herself. "What's the matter, brat? Am I not mesmerizing enough for you~?" she asked, licking the blood from his damaged cheek.

By the Sage her breasts are huge oh man this is just oh shoot ahhh—

"Naruto. Calm down. Geez, your human hormones are affecting even me, and I'm not even human," Kurama complained. Naruto steeled himself at that.

"It isn't anything personal, Proctor-san… it's just that the whole 'promiscuous sadist' shtick is oversaturated in kunoichi," Naruto explained, thinking back to one of Kakashi's many, many rants on intimidation tropes, of all things. "The more you deal with them, there are two outcomes in a male shinobi. Either you come to enjoy your encounters with them and even let them get a few shots in to get them really riled up, or you just develop a sort of PTSD and start cutting them down on sight. I ask you, Proctor-san, as someone who recognizes both their zealousness and transparency…" His Rinnegan locked with Anko's pupilless orbs, "Which category do you imagine I fall under…?"

Anko froze after staring into Naruto's patterned orbs. She shook lightly. Orochimaru… is nothing compared to this kid… He isn't human… Naruto deactivated his eyes and faced forward once more, releasing his mental grip on Anko. She composed herself and ignored the disbelief on the faces of the surrounding Genin. "This will be a no-holds-barred deathmatch. Your objective is to obtain both a Heaven scroll and an Earth scroll and bring them to the center tower within the constraint of five days. Do not open the scrolls, do not lose a teammate, and do not stay in there longer than five days… Or you'll fail. You'll also need to sign consent forms in order for you to participate, because I don't want your Kages pissed if you die in there. Let's get this started! Ganbaru~!"

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke sped through the forest at a high speed, both doujutsu wielders of the team constantly searching. Naruto also had clones scattered and hidden nearby as both extra eyes and ears and extra manpower. With this going on, Naruto decided to take a break from reality and question his jailer again. What are the Ashura archetypes?

"Naruto, I already told you that you needed to complete the objective I set for you before I reveal anything else. And even then, the next thing I wanted to tell you was about your eye; the nature of the different Ashuras is not useful to you at the moment."

Naruto scowled. I want to know what I was like in the past, and I want to know who I am now. I can almost feel a connection forming the longer I have my Rinnegan activated… but when I turn it off, I lose that connection and have to start again. There has to be something that you see here worth mentioning!

Kurama groaned. "Fine, you stupid human. I'll tell you one that I'm fairly certain doesn't apply to you; no sense in giving you a rundown of your character just so you can attempt to defy it for my sake. That always ends badly, by the way. The Human Ashura was always emotionally intelligent. I usually spot one as a Sage. That Ashura always lives to a ripe old age and uses Sage Arts from the farthest reaches of your Eastern maps. I believe all Human Ashuras also practice ninshu instead of ninjutsu, but that's revealing more information than necessary."

And you say that I'm not that Ashura? Makes sense— I've never seen myself as some kind of charm-peddling hermit.

Kurama laughed. "Senjutsu is one of the most powerful arts known to you humans, derived from your ancestors. But their versions are for superior to what humans are capable of these days. Even so, your father's use of Sage Mode would be enough to pulverize you even if you had full mastery of those eyes of yours."

My father was an Ashura, then? Naruto asked. He could feel the mental equivalent of Kurama shaking his head before going to sleep.

"We've got a team," Sasuke whispered. The trio dropped to the ground in formation. "Come out! We know you're there!"

Three Kirigakure Genin made themselves known, making Naruto grin as he unsealed his Executioner's Blade. The cockiness on their faces faded, and it was replaced with a pale fear. "No… no way… you were the one who killed Momochi?!" one of them shouted in terror. "You killed the demon of the mist?!"

"He was more like a kitten," Naruto snarled, his eyes rippling. He charged forward and swung his sword with a mighty heave. The closest Genin could not hope to escape the path of the weapon and was slashed lightly by the girthy blade. One had attempted to flank Naruto, thinking it would be difficult for him to counter with such a large weapon. He was wrong, but Sasuke beat Naruto to the punch.

"One Thousand Birds!" Sasuke called out, striking his lightning-coated arm through the Kiri Genin's chest. Sakura quickly defeated her opponent as well with well-placed punches, kicks, and a single kunai. Naruto sealed his sword and went to work searching for the scroll they needed.

"Damn, they had the same scroll as us," Naruto said, pocketing the Heaven scroll. "At least we'll stop another team from passing…" Naruto would've said more, but he was caught in an intense blast of wind. "...Eeeeeeeeeh~?!" he called as he was thrown through the foliage and away from his team.

"Shit!" Sasuke shouted. "We just lost our heavy hitter, and I feel a really ominous chakra…" He activated his Sharingan and palmed a kunai. Sakura quivered in fear. Standing on a nearby branch was a Kusa Kunoichi with an unnaturally long tongue.

"Kukuku Kukuku… What do we have here?"

In mid-air, Naruto was swallowed by a humongous snake. As he slid down the snake's interior, he began struggling."Let me go! Let me go, damn it! My team needs me!" His body began glowing with a horrible red chakra. Thanks, Kurama! "I said… let me go, you son of a bitch!" The red chakra exploded outwards, showering the nearby forest with snake gore. The chakra receded. "I've gotta get back to Sasuke and Sakura-chan…" Naruto muttered, taking off towards their last location.

Sasuke and Sakura had begun trading blows with the slippery kunoichi to no avail. Sakura came in high with a heel drop while Sasuke went low with a leg sweep, but the kunoichi hopped slightly and blocked Sakura's leg, grabbing her and tossing into the treeline. She then kicked Sasuke in the ribs. Sasuke spat blood and charged again. He put every ounce of himself into his blows, forgetting the Uchiha fighting style, and went into brawling mode. Sakura secretly cast a Genjutsu on the Kusa kunoichi, making her movements lock up just in time for Sasuke to shove a Thousand Birds into her heart, feeling it rupture inside her body. He removed his blood-coated hand as Sakura joined him. "She made Zabuza look like a joke," he wheezed.

Sakura sighed. "Maybe she has the scroll we nee…" she trailed off as a horribly grotesque thing began occurring. A second body began crawling out of the Kusa nin's ravaged one. It stood up, looking no worse for wear.

"How… how is that possible… I killed you!" Sasuke shook with terror, knowing he stood no chance of beating the invigorated enemy.

Sweat lined Sakura's brow. "We're finished… not even with Naruto could we even hope to defeat her!" she said. "It's hopeless!"

"Kukuku… I was hoping for a better show, Sasuke-kun. Well, when you receive my gift, I'll get what I'm looking for…" Suddenly, the grass ninja's neck extended past it's normal limits, straight towards Sasuke. Pain of unreal levels flooded his system as the grass kunoichi gave his neck a harsh bite, a seal appearing over the flesh. Suddenly, she was knocked away from him…

"Dynamic Entry!" Naruto shouted, kicking the Kusa ninja away from his friends. He turned to the enemy, his eyes glaring a wicked glow from his Rinnegan. He slipped into the Strong Fist stance. "Sasuke… Sakura… are either of you hurt?"

Sasuke recovered first. "We— we're shaken up more than anything… Can you do it, Naruto? Can you beat her?"

Naruto clicked his tongue. "Since when did you turn into a crybaby, Sasuke…? Your brother… do you think you'll be able to kill him while lying on the ground?" Sasuke's eyes became as wide as saucers while Naruto held his hand out towards the Kusa Kunoichi. "Universal Pull."

The Kusa ninja was pulled towards the jinchurikki, Naruto rushing forward to meet her with a strong punch. At the last second, the kunoichi pulled herself out of the orbit and launched a kick at Naruto's head. Naruto ducked and threw his fist forward, but the woman kicked off of it and pressed her heel into the back of his head.

She flipped through a few hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu…" after the smoke cleared, she stood atop a large snake. Naruto groaned.

"Not another one…!" Then Naruto's eyes widened. This chakra coming from Sasuke… it's the same as what I saw on Anko… Naruto glared at Orochimaru. "What the Hell did you do to him?"

Kurama spoke. "Naruto… his name is Orochimaru. And he is one of the many mistakes you've made over the years. Even though I told you the name of one of your powers, you never unlocked it… against him I'd gladly give you a boost." Naruto mentally gave the fox his thanks.

Orochimaru chuckled. "I simply gave him the means to an end. But with eyes like yours, Naruto-kun… maybe you should receive it as well?" Orochimaru charged at Naruto in an attempt to end the fight. Naruto instantly summoned two clones to meet the disguised man while he focused his eyesight. There was a strain over his left eye.

"Amaterasu…" Naruto muttered, and suddenly, a black flame lit Orochimaru's back. The man shrieked in pain while Naruto grabbed Sasuke and tossed him over his back. "Sakura, we need to run!" And so the team began moving at their top speed. "What the Hell were we supposed to do against him? — That was Orochimaru, Sakura-chan!"

"We get stronger," Sakura sighed. "We become Chuunin and train harder than ever. Orochimaru wanted Sasuke for some reason, and I'm willing to bet that it's bad news. I say we get out of the forest as fast as possible and tell Sensei. Even still… you protected us, Naruto-kun…"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "Did… you just call me… 'Naruto-kun…'?"

Sakura blushed. "We— Well… I mean…"

Sasuke weakly smirked. "So you've got a crush on the blonde idiot, now? Surprising, considering how revolted you were by him during our Academy days."

"It's not like that!" Sakura protested in vain. Naruto and Sasuke began laughing, and soon enough, so did Sakura.

Naruto stopped laughing. "Did you hear that?" He turned towards the woods. There were clearly chakra signatures hidden there. "Hostiles, nine o'clock. Sasuke, if you can fight, go ahead; but don't use any chakra. We'll need to have that seal looked at."

"Frankly, I'm surprised that he's still standing at the rate that seal is corrupting his chakra. No Uchiha can defend against that sort of thing; their chakra is naturally tailored to accept it. There must be some other secret to his body that we don't know about… and given exactly what's in your blood, I wouldn't be surprised if it were something big."

"I can fight, Naruto. But… maybe I shouldn't just yet." Sasuke kneeled on the ground, huffing. "Sakura, I may need you as a guard."

"Alright. Naruto-kun, you'll have to handle them!"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto called, forming a diamond around his team with his doppelgangers. A humble Sasuke? That's new.

"Indeed. I hardly expected that of all things out of Indra. While you foolish Ashuras flip-flop in your methods and ideologies, Indra always stood the same in his goals— perfecting his father's goals through twisted means. I should warn you, though, that with Sasuke's father… you may end up having to strike down your own friend one day. For now, he seems salvageable, provided that mark doesn't eat away the meagre light left inside of him."

Clones materialized on all sides, but Naruto instantly dispelled them all. A chakra-sensitive doujutsu coupled with extreme chakra control equals an immunity to Genjutsu. There they are… "Universal Pull!" Naruto called out, yanking all three of his opponents forth at once. I wonder if it's possible to fly with this Path?

"It is. Don't worry about it now, though. That's still a while off."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow as he laid the three Genin out in record time. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but you've been awfully helpful today, Kurama. Thank you for that. "If you three idiots don't want to die then pass up your scroll. No funny business, now. You'll get hurt otherwise."

"Sure… just don't hurt us, alright?" one of them muttered fearfully, handing over the scroll. Naruto grinned— they had an Earth scroll.

They made it to the tower within an hour. Inside the tower, there were words written on the wall. Sakura was quick to decipher the meaning, "Open the scrolls. That's the only way that we're advancing."

Kurama let out an amused snort. "I don't think that any of your past selves had a female companion quite like this one, Naruto. You Ashuras were never known for your intelligence, so consider yourself lucky."

Naruto hummed as Sakura prepared the scrolls. I don't know about that now, Kurama. Samui-chan is pretty damn beautiful, and Sakura was kind of mean for most of my life. But, hey; options are open.

In a puff of smoke, Iruka stood in front of Team Seven. He smiled as he looked over his former students, but when his eyes rested on Naruto, he gasped. "Naruto? You look so… so…"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "So what?"

"So kakkoii~!" Iruka exclaimed, causing the young Chuunin-hopefuls to sweatdrop.

"Okay… Iruka-sensei, why are you here?" Naruto asked, more than a little perturbed. Iruka cleared his throat.

"Well, since you've passed the second test, go on up and find a room to recuperate. Your team is is second place, so you've got down time until the next exam starts. There's a mess hall and everything. — I have to say, though, that I'm proud of what all three of you have become. You're my prized and most successful students. Continue doing well, and I'm sure you'll all realize your dreams." He gave them a smile before disappearing in a similar to fashion to his entrance.

Naruto and co. limped their way through the tower, Naruto frowning to himself. Somehow, I feel this is the easiest it's ever going to be, Kurama.

Kurama yawned lightly. "That's the case for any Ashura, not just you. And while you're kind of weird and hard to pin to single archetype, that doesn't mean much in the end. Every Ashura before you said the exact same things— 'I'll fix my mistakes.' 'I didn't mean for all of this to happen, but this time it's different.' 'Kurama, just give me a chance.' At this point, I don't even care. Just hurry up and die so I can be free again."

Naruto didn't respond to that. How could he?