Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything from his universe. I only own Nazo who I created.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
AN: I recently looked at my own story on the site and noticed it removes the large spaces between paragraphs when I change scenes. I went ahead and tried to make it easier to realize, sorry for it having gone unnoticed for so long. Hopefully it worked too, if not sorry I suck. Also Nazo wanted me to say sorry to Angelic Sakura Blossom for him, it was never his intention to scar anyone for life. As always I hope you enjoy and I encourage you to review.
You Can't Be Serious
Chapter Nine
Chuunin Exam Part Two
"Hey Nazo long time no see" Jiraiya looked down at the younger man.
"Yes well, if you're going to continue to block my sun it can go back to that."
"What do you mean?" Jiraiya asked genuinely confused.
"Can't you see I'm working on my tan?"
"You do realize you're fully clothed in your usual attire. The only bit of your skin showing is your face and neck."
"What's your point?"
"Never mind, look we need to talk."
"Oh you're damned right about that Jiraiya" Nazo said sitting up, no amount of humor upon his face. "Where do you get off telling anyone at all about my secret?"
Jiraiya took a nervous step back and put his hands in front of him defensively. "Now Nazo I can explain. You see I thought you had already told him and he isn't going to tell anyone and" Jiraiya said reaching into his pockets "this!" he proclaimed loudly as he pulled a book out of his jacket and held it triumphantly.
"Is that what I think it is?" Nazo asked glaring at the old sage.
"It sure is" Jiraiya beamed.
"Hmm" Nazo looked at the book skeptically, inspecting every inch of the outside cover. "OK" he said while he pocketed it "you're off the hook for now. Seriously though, what were you thinking though?"
"Come on Nazo, you really should get back to your life" Jiraiya's face held a somber look. "I know what she meant to you and that you would do anything for her, but she is gone. I think it's time you move on friend."
"Jiraiya" Nazo sighed as his friend put a comforting hand on his shoulder "you were there, you heard her."
"That I did" he said cutting Nazo off "but she didn't even ask you to promise. The promise was all you, and she wouldn't hold you to it. She would want you to be happy and you know it. Honestly Nazo, what happen to you since then?"
"Well" Nazo laughed softly at the question "I grew up Jiraiya. I have been thinking about it though, not hiding everything I mean."
Jiraiya raised his eyebrows at the statement. "What? I didn't have a single hope of getting you to even think about it. Who did this to you?"
"My genin team, Naruto mostly."
"Minato's boy? He is actually the real reason I'm here."
"What's up?"
"Have you ever heard of an organization called Akatsuki?"
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"Let me think." Nazo sat down once again and thought back to all the time he had been gone from Konoha. He had encountered several so called organizations, none of which deserved the title. If they couldn't handle Nazo accidentally stumbling into their base of operations, then they deserved what they got. The only thing he could recall involving the name Akatsuki was when he had last seen Itachi. Itachi had mentioned something about them, but he couldn't remember what. "I have heard of them, why?"
"That bitch is crazy" Naruto muttered to his teammates while nursing a quickly fading cut on his cheek.
"Don't be a baby, it was a tiny cut and it only bled for like a second." Sakura was taking the chance to berate Naruto for being such a big baby after all the times he had teased her in the past. They had just entered the so called Forest of Death signaling the start of the second part of the exams. They had discussed it briefly and figured taking it slow would be best. It was a pretty solid guess that every other team had dashed off as quickly as possible into the forest when the whistle blew.
"Wasting energy and chakra" as Sasuke had so delicately put it.
They figured that by simply walking, but staying alert, they would be better rested than any would be opponents at the very least. That tactic would probably only work for today if longer than the first several hours at all. They had played with several ideas for a plan until Sakura had come up with a winner. Naruto had suggested they simply go to the end tower, set a trap, and await another team to show up. Sasuke pointed out that the chances of another team wandering into their trap wasn't guaranteed and a lot of other teams were probably thinking the same thing. Sakura took that and said they should simply fall into another teams trap and turn it against them.
"You really think it'll work?" Naruto questioned as they continued walking along.
"I don't see why not, besides it's as good an idea as any of the others we came up with." Sasuke sighed as he walked alongside the blond "I just hope you can find them before they find us using your Shadow Clones dobe."
"Of course they will find them first teme!" Naruto shouted before clasping his hands over his mouth. "Sorry" he whispered ashamed of possibly letting others know they were there. Sasuke sneered and Sakura hung her head in her hands while Naruto smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. Naruto stopped walking and looked behind them.
"Something wrong?" Sakura asked staring into the tree line that Naruto's gaze was fixed on. He whispered something she didn't hear so she asked again "what is it Naruto?"
"Really big snake" he said and pointed just in time for Sasuke to look as well and see an enormous snake plow through a few trees and stare down at them.
"That's one big snake" Sasuke said with a raised eyebrow "what the hell has it been eating out here?" The snake hissed at them, it's serpentine tongue becoming visible for the brief second.
"That's disgusting" Sakura said quickly looking away.
Naruto made a growingly more familiar hand sign as he smiled "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Several more Naruto' poofed into existence beside the original. With a shout of "yeah" every one of the nine Narutos charged at the large snake. As they neared the snake hissed once more and it's massive tail whipped around. As the tail hit and dispersed each of the Shadow Clones it continued on before connecting with Naruto, sending him flying into the tree line. The snake cast a glance at Sasuke and Sakura before hissing once more and slithering off, giving chase to their airborne teammate. Sasuke and Sakura shared a worried look as they set off after their teammate and the snake, but found their path blocked by the Grass Shinobi with a long tongue who was involved in the altercation with Naruto and the crazy examiner lady.
"Going somewhere Sasuke-Kun?" the ninja cooed.
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Naruto sat up and looked around, his bearings off from having bounced off several trees before falling to the ground. He stood up, brushed the dirt off his jacket, and did a few quick toe touches to help relieve the soreness in his back. He was startled as the ground shook slightly and the giant snake plowed through several trees and gazed directly down at him. 'OK Naruto think. Did Nazo-Sensei ever cover fighting giant snakes?' The snake hissed and shot forward hoping to swallow him in one go. Naruto leapt to his right, narrowly avoiding the gaping mouth of the serpent. Jumping to his feet he turned to find the snake surging toward him again. A loud scream escaping his mouth Naruto ran straight ahead and up the trunk of the tree in front of him. He smiled while looking down as the snake recoiled from a direct head butt with the tree. Try as he might Naruto couldn't help but bust out laughing at the sight.
"Stupid snake" he shouted down at it while sticking out his tongue and pulling his eye. (That classic anime taunt) Now Naruto was no genius, by any stretch of the mind, but he was pretty sure the comment made the creature even angrier than hitting the tree had. He leapt off the tree just a split second before the snake's mouth latched onto it, bit down, and snapped it in half. 'Don't snakes swallow things whole?' Naruto asked himself while gulping. He stared up at the snake which in turn stared back at him and hissed. Naruto raised his hands and formed the hand sign he used so often he could do it in his sleep. "Alright snake let's see you get me now. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" As three other orange clad blonds appeared alongside the original they looked to each other and nodded. With a small battle cry the four Narutos charged at the snake. Unfortunately for him Naruto didn't pay attention in class the day they covered serpents, so as the snake swallowed the real Naruto, he was left wondering how. Screaming and struggling in desperation he was unaware that snakes have an incredible sense of smell.
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"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Sasuke asked, with mild confusion, the ninja confronting them.
"Yeah, and where are your teammates?" Sakura chirped.
"How cute, you think I'm here for the exams" the ninja laughed at what she said. "I'm Orochimaru and I know your name because you're the reason I'm here Sasuke-Kun."
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Sasuke asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"Oh don't worry, you'll find out when the time comes" and with that Orochimaru lunged at them. Both teens jumped away and Sasuke threw two kunai at him. Sakura was stunned as she watched him bat the sharp objects aside like paper balls. Sakura made a few hand signs hoping to stop him with a simple Genjutsu. She gasped as Orochimaru, unfazed, continued and punched her in the face while laughing.
"Stupid girl. It's going to take much more than that to even tickle me."
"How about this ugly?" Sasuke smirked, having launched several fireballs at him. The fireballs hit him directly causing him to turn to mud and fall to a puddle on the ground. To his horror Sasuke turned around just in time to see Orochimaru's heel drive into his skull and send him skipping along the ground. Sakura sat up rubbing her face and watched her teammate go sliding in the dirt past her. Reaching into her pouch she grabbed a pair of shuriken and infused a small amount of chakra into them like Nazo had shown her. 'Let's see him bat these away' she thought as she threw both of them toward Orochimaru, who was currently walking toward her with an evil smile. Seeing the shuriken flying toward him he could only think why she even bothered, but that was before both metal objects bit into his hands as he went to deflect them. Orochimaru looked down at the weapons embedded into his hand and noticed the chakra laced in them.
"You little bitch!" he snarled as he ripped the shuriken from his skin, splattering blood on the ground and his sleeves. "I guess it doesn't really matter if you live or not, I only need Sasuke after all." Orochimaru once again wore a sinister smile. He raised his arm in her direction and to her dismay severals snakes shot out toward her. All Sakura could do was crawl backwards feebly as the snakes raced toward her, their mouths open and fangs dripping with poison.
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Naruto sat inside the snakes stomach, slowly being pushed further and further along. He had recently stopped fighting as much and began thinking of a way escape the belly of the beast. His first idea had been to try and cut his way out with a kunai. That idea didn't last long as the small metal knife was too small to do any real damage to the massive creature, even from the inside. It didn't fare too well against the digestive acid either. His next idea to use a Futon Jutsu to escape didn't go so well either. The only thing that idea managed to do was bury him deeper into the gullet of the snake. As he thought he remembered back to a time he had seen a snake eat a bunny as a child. That snake had swallowed the rabbit whole, just as this snake had him. After it had swallowed the bunny it appeared as a large lump in the snakes body. The lump very slowly had moved down the snakes body, growing smaller as it was digested. When it was first eaten though the bunny was larger than the snake and the snakes skin was tightened to quite a degree, having been stretched to accommodate the large meal. That was when Naruto got the idea, large meal. He smiled as he thought to himself 'let's give this thing a bigger snack than it can swallow.' Bringing his hands together within the confines of the serpents belly Naruto formed the only hand sign he could make in his sleep and whispered "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." As it's insides began to fill up with the hundreds of Naruto clones the snake began to stretch and swell on the outside. The snake, curious as to what was occurring inside its own body, stopped and looked at itself. As it watched itself stretch and swell, its skin began to tear before violently ripping apart. Blood and guts spewed outward, raining down upon the surrounding area. Naruto fell to the ground with a thump, covered in snake parts, and watched himself litter the ground all around him before dispersing in large groups. Wiping the blood from his pants and jacket Naruto stood up and looked around. While trying to ascertain where his teammates might possibly be he heard a shout.
"You little bitch!" someone in the distance roared in anger.
Without so much as a second thought Naruto quickly took off running in the direction of the voice.
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Sakura closed her eyes, reading herself for the death that awaited in the fangs of the snakes. Instead of feeling fangs sinking into the flesh of her arm Sakura heard the sound of flesh being cut. Opening her eyes she was rewarded with the sight of Naruto standing before her, covered in blood, kunai in his hand. They both watched as the snakes turned to ash and faded away. Orochimaru's eyes widened with intrigue as Naruto stepped in and saved his pink haired teammate.
"As much as I enjoy playing with you I grow bored. It's time to do what I came for." Soon as he finished talking Orochimaru seemed to melt into the ground and disappeared completely. Sasuke wobbly walked to his teammates and leaned against a tree.
"We should leave, he is obviously way above us all."
"I agree with Sasuke-Kun Naruto."
"OK. I guess you're both right."
"Oh, but you can't leave just yet" Orochimaru said as he emerged from the tree in between the three of them. He kicked Sakura in her side and shoved Sasuke into the tree, effectively ridding himself of them for the next few moments. Before he had time to move Naruto found Orochimaru's hands around his throat. He watched the blond teen struggle against his grip, grabbing and clawing at his hands trying to break free. Orochimaru began to smile as Naruto's face started turning a slight bluish shade. The blond's clawing slowed and eventually stopped as his hands fell limply at his sides. Orochimaru turned toward Sasuke, who was staring at him horrified, and tossed the lifeless body of Naruto aside.
"Now time for why I'm here" he said locking eyes with Sasuke. Unable to move Sasuke could only watch as Orochimaru's neck stretched and his head came toward him.
"Sasuke no!" Sakura screamed, her hand outstretched in a feeble attempt to save him. She watched in absolute terror as Orochimaru bit into Sasuke's neck, drawing blood. Three tomoe formed at the site of the bite and Orochimaru withdrew from Sasuke's neck, a small amount of blood trickling from his teeth. He smiled at his work happily as Sasuke fell to the ground unconscious before he felt a sudden, huge burst of evil and hatred. Turning his head so fast he almost gave himself whiplash he looked at the blond, who he had just seconds ago strangled to death and tossed aside like a rag doll. Naruto was crouched on all fours, an evil gleam in his eyes as his entire body was engulfed in a red demonic like chakra.
"What are you boy?" Orochimaru asked to himself quietly as the blond growled menacingly at him. Naruto leapt at him, tearing the ground beneath him and giving Orochimaru so little time to react that he almost lost his head. Orochimaru ducked under the wild swing from Naruto's arm, but Naruto flipped in the air and drove his heel into the top of his skull. Flattening against the ground, Orochimaru left a small indentation in the ground from the collision. Feeling the need to escape from the maddened genin he began to melt into the ground like before. As soon as he had completely sank into the ground he thought himself safe, but a fist forced its way into the earth and grasped his hair before violently yanking him back above the surface. Orochimaru glanced around as he was hurled into the air to see the blond race up a tree and leap into the air above him. As the blond flew toward him in the air he noticed the seal on his stomach and he realized almost immediately what was occurring. Fearing for his safety for the first time in quite a long time Orochimaru quickly formed several series of hand signs and grasped his right wrist. His right hand began glowing purple at his fingertips and when Naruto got within arms length he thrust his fingers into Naruto's stomach where the seal was.
"Gogyo Fuin!" There was a bright flash and Sakura watched as Naruto let loose a blood curdling scream of pain. When the light dissipated she saw Orochimaru holding an unconscious Naruto in his hands. His lips moved and she saw him whisper something before dropping the blond unceremoniously to the ground. Orochimaru looked directly at her and smirked, then a look of worry flashed across his face as he peered into the line of trees to his left. He cursed and turned to a small puddle of mud, leaving Sakura sobbing loudly to herself as she sat between the bodies of her not so peacefully sleeping teammates.
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"So you don't know exactly what their up to or for that matter who is even in the organization?" Nazo asked, blankly starring into the sky.
"Pretty much" Jiraiya answered "but I told you the only things that matter."
"Right. It's a group of at least ten, composed entirely of S class nuke nin who are capturing anyone containing a Bijuu."
"Nazo that's bad for many reasons" the older ninja sighed. "Not even you can take on that many S class nin alone. Besides that fact, you don't know a single thing about the nine Bijuu."
"What's your point?" Nazo asked shrugging.
"My point is Naruto is in danger and you don't know the first reason why!" Jiraiya said, his voice raising slightly. "I don't know why they want the Bijuu containers, but there is no way it's a good thing."
"If they come for Naruto I'll stop them" Nazo responded uninterested.
"What if you can't beat them? What if they are stronger than you? I heard they never travel alone, they are always in groups of at least two."
Those questions made Nazo sit up quietly. His face took on a serious look and he seemed to be contemplating something. "If that happens Jiraiya" he said sighing "then I will die protecting the son of my best friend. I will die making sure he gets away to safety so he can live."
Jiraiya couldn't help but crack a smile at his words. "As sincere as that is Nazo I'd rather not have either of you die. I know you're a strong bastard, hell probably the strongest ninja I have ever known next to Minato. I don't doubt you could easily defeat one of the Akatsuki, you might even be able to beat two of them. The chances of you facing four or more at a time though could be pretty high considering what they are after, and then I'm pretty sure you will die."
"I thank you for your concern Jiraiya, but if you want to help Naruto then why don't you find out more about this organization?"
"Trust me, I have every single spy I employ looking for information on these guys, but their pretty shady. I didn't even know they existed until recently" Jiraiya said with a defeated look. "So do you have any other ideas on how I can help?"
"Yes, actually I do" Nazo smiled "when my team passes the second part of the exams, and they will, I want you to train Naruto until the third part of the exams starts."
"Why not you?" Jiraiya asked skeptically. "You're just as qualified, if not more so, a sensei as me."
"I want to go find out what I can about the Akatsuki myself" Nazo said with a grin on his face.
"You'll get yourself killed if you find them wont you?"
"Of course not, I won't even engage them in combat. If I run into them and should they actually notice me I will run."
"You have to make that a promise Nazo. I can better protect Naruto from outside these walls, so you need to be with him."
"Don't worry, for Naruto's sake I promise not to do anything stupid" Nazo said and held up his hand in a traditional boy scout salute. They shared a smile before both becoming startled by a swirl of leaves appearing between them.
"Nazo you need to come with me quickly" an out of breath Kakashi said quickly.
"Why, what's up Kakashi?" Jiraiya asked curiously. 'I wonder what could get Kakashi so worked up.'
Kakashi looked over at the old sage curiously. "Oh Jiraiya you're here too? Great you might as well come along."
"Kakashi what's going on? Why are you interrupting me when I'm trying to work on my tan?" Nazo asked, a dead serious look upon his face.
"You can't be serious" Kakashi said with a cocked eyebrow. Nazo just returned it with the same serious look. "You are serious" Kakashi said as he sweat dropped. "Look, there was an intruder in the chuunin exam. He attacked and killed the team from Grass before the exam and attacked a genin team during the second portion of the exams. I have ANBU searching every part of the forest for him now."
"Who is the intruder?" Jiraiya asked, concerned with the fact that the ANBU commander was this worked up over a single person.
"We are pretty damn sure it's Orochimaru" He said flatly.
"Kakashi" Nazo said suddenly worried about who the intruder was and the fact that a genin team was attacked by him. Not only that but Kakashi was here to grab him, and Nazo had a team of genin in the exams. "What team did he attack?"
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Team Seven looked around as they entered the tower. It was the last day they had to reach the tower with both scrolls before being disqualified. Luckily for them Sakura had noticed the earth scroll Orochimaru had dropped during his fight with Naruto. She had spotted it while she setting traps, just in case another team wandered nearby, so she could go watch over her unconscious teammates. Both boys had just waken up the day before, both in very large amounts of pain. Sakura was lightly supporting either said teammate on each shoulder.
"Whew, we made it" Naruto said trying to lighten the somber mood a little. "We are in time right? It's a great thing you found that scroll Sakura."
"I got to agree with the dobe there" Sasuke said wincing in pain "good job Sakura."
"Thanks guys" Sakura said trying to smile.
They walked until they reached a dead end with a large portrait with words on it. The three of them sat on the ground and read the words on the wall trying to make sense of it. After a brief exchange of what it meant Naruto suggested they open the scrolls now. Sakura and Sasuke both agreed and took out the two scrolls. Sakura set them on the ground before them and motioned for Naruto to open one while she opened the other. They unrolled the two scrolls at the same time and were surprised as smoked began to pour from them. The two teens tossed the scrolls to the ground in front of them, just in case. They were further surprised as Nazo, Kakashi, an old man, and several ANBU poofed into existence within the small cloud of smoke. Nazo quickly ran up to them and knelt before them.
"Are you all OK?" he asked, his voice full of concern as he checked each of them up and down.
"I'm fine, just sore, tired, and hungry sensei" Naruto said scratching the back of his head.
"What happened to you out there?" Kakashi asked as he walked to stand beside Nazo.
"Well we were walking along when an enormous snake came out of nowhere!" Sakura said excitedly.
"It smacked Naruto away and chased after him" Sasuke offered in a pained voice.
"Yeah then it swallowed me!" Naruto yelled "but I got out by using my Kage Bunshin to make it explode!" Everyone's eyes widened at the statement, most wondering what had given the kid the idea to do that.
"After it chased Naruto away a ninja from Grass attacked me and Sasuke" Sakura said before stopping to compose herself. "He was about to kill me when" she stuttered "when Naruto saved me. Then he threw Sasuke into a tree and kicked me away, and I watched him strangle Naruto." Nazo looked worriedly to Naruto and saw that the blond was fine, though he did have evidence of being choked on his neck.
"Then what happened Sakura?" Kakashi asked softly.
"Well Naruto stopped moving and he tossed him aside. Then his neck stretched really far and he bit Sasuke's neck."
"Let me see" Jiraiya said and he moved to look at Sasuke's neck. He only had to inspect it for a second before turning back to Nazo and Kakashi. "It's the Cursed Heaven Seal." Kakashi nodded in understanding but Nazo, who didn't know much beyond the basics of sealing, scrunched his face in confusion. "Kakashi go take care of it, use the Fuja Hoin." Kakashi nodded and help Sasuke stand before leading him to another room. "Sakura please continue."
"OK" she nodded. "Then Naruto got back up, but he was different, he had a red chakra around him. It felt really scary" she looked at Nazo "like back at the bridge sensei. Naruto was doing fine against him but I heard him use something called Gogyo Fuin on Naruto. It made Naruto pass out, then he left." Tears threatened to fall from her face as Sakura finished telling them the story.
"Nazo was it that?" Jiraiya asked concerned.
"Yes, it happened once before. Naruto how do you feel?" Nazo asked looking directly at him.
"I feel funny ever since I fought that guy. My chakra feels funny, it's really hard to even make a single clone."
"Probably the seal Orochimaru used" Jiraiya said thoughtfully.
"I don't know anything about seals, but I assume it's bad?"
"Yes Nazo, it's interfering with his chakra flow, maybe it's flow too."
"Can you fix it?" Nazo asked hopefully.
"I'm pretty sure I can, but I have a whole month for that don't I?" Jiraiya asked smiling.
"Thanks, I'll owe you one" Nazo said gratefully.
"Sensei what's going on?" Naruto asked confused, Sakura sharing an equal look.
"Well you three just passed the second part of the exam. Since only a few teams managed to pass there is no preliminary round needed. So you now have a month to train and get ready for the last part of the exam, which is one on one combat in front of a massive audience from all over the elemental countries."
"Are you going to be training us sensei?!" Naruto asked, beginning to hop up and down with giddiness.
"No Naruto I'm not. I have to go take care of something, but I found someone to help each of you. Naruto Jiraiya here will be helping you and before you say anything Naruto, yes he is strong. In fact he had a hand in training me, he also trained the Yondaime Hokage." Naruto's eyes were practically sparkling with admiration for the old man after those words. "As for you Sakura, you might not like it at first but I found someone to help you train too. You need to meet her at training ground seven tomorrow morning. She didn't specify a time so just show up before lunch, and you better enjoy it no matter what. I had to work my ass off for her to do me this favor." Nazo said with a smile that was obviously forced.
"Hai sensei!" they shouted simultaneously.
"Good, see you both in a month."
Jutsu List
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu;Shadow Clone Technique
Gogyo Fuin;Five Elements Seal
Gogyo Kaiin;Five Elements Unseal
Fuja Hoin;Evil Sealing Method
