A/N: I am SOOOO sorry that it took me so long to update this story. No excuses. As a piece offering, I am going to be posting 3 chapters at once. As a side note, I have edited and re-written some of the story. Not very much, just enough to make the story sound better and to remove redundancies.
Chapter 10
Naruto felt cold and wherever he was, it was dark. He knew something was wrong, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was. The more he fought the darkness, the more he became aware. He was in his subconscious, he could feel it. But something was wrong. He could just barely feel his chakra, like something was trying to block it. The more he focused, the more chakra he could feel, until he was finally able to access it.
Naruto pushed his chakra throughout his body and it was as if a bright light was lit. He was fully aware and his memory was back. He could feel the Kyūbi, but there was something else here with them. He was in a small, empty room made of cement: the room he created for anyone that tried to break through into his mind. In the corner of the room was a small white snake.
"Let me in, Naruto-kun. I can give you all the power you ever wanted. I can make you strong." The snake hissed persuasively, with Orochimaru's voice.
"I don't need more power. I have all the power I could ever need." Naruto told the snake with an angry growl.
"I can teach you things. Things you never even knew about before. Let me in and I will open your eyes to more than you ever imagined. I can make all of your dreams come true." The snake was slowly slithering its way towards Naruto. When it was close enough, Naruto materialized a sword into his hand. This was his mind and he controlled what happened in it. He slashed the snake in two then burned it.
"I don't have dreams." Naruto said, watching the snake turn to ashes. He frowned. There was something else here, but he couldn't tell what it was. It didn't feel like anyone was trying to get into his mind, but his chakra felt slightly different. He looked around the room thoroughly, but couldn't find anything else in it. Naruto then closed his eyes and when he opened them again he was standing in front of the Kyūbi's cage.
"Damn snake! How dare he try and control you?! You did well, destroying that vile creature and not giving in to it." The Kyūbi told him. He was sure anyone else would have given in. Power was incredibly addictive, but his jinchūriki was strong, both mentally and physically, and would never fall prey to cheap promises of easy power.
"There is something else here. Can you feel it?" Naruto asked him. The Kyūbi lifted his muzzle, almost as if it was sniffing and tilted his head to the side, closing his eyes.
"I feel nothing but us." The Kyūbi finally answered. Naruto frowned. Was he just imagining it? He couldn't place it, but he knew something was different. He nodded to the Kyūbi and then left his subconscious.
When Naruto came back into his body, it felt incredibly heavy and he had to struggle to open his eyes. When he did, he stared blankly ahead in confusion at the ceiling of the root cave. Why was he at his second home? He shifted his eyes to his right, finding Sasuke laying next to him. He could feel the same chakra that came from white snake coming off of him. Naruto narrowed his eyes and rolled onto his side to get closer to Sasuke. Just as he was reaching for the Uchiha's collar, he suddenly became aware of the chakra signatures outside the cave. He recognized Sakura and Shikamaru's team's chakra, but there were three others there as well.
Naruto struggled to his feet and, using the roots for support, made his way to the opening of the cave. When he got there, he saw Ino and Chōji tying up three knocked out shinobi. Naruto recognized them as from Amegakure.
"Looks like you guys didn't need my help." Naruto told them. They turned to him, each with looks of relief on their faces.
"Naruto! You're okay!" Sakura said running up to him and hugging him. Naruto froze in surprise, looking at Shikamaru blankly. Shikamaru just gave him a sympathetic smile back. It seemed Sakura realized what she did and let go of Naruto quickly, with a deep blush on her face. "Is, uh…Sasuke up too?"
"Nope, still out. We should head to the tower anyways though. We need to get out of this forest." Naruto told them.
"But we don't have enough scrolls. We both have heaven scrolls and we were able to get an earth scroll from the Ame team, but we still need one more." Ino said. Naruto and Shikamaru shared a glance. Both had matching grins when they pulled out both the scroll of heaven and earth from their pockets.
"We've had both scrolls from the very beginning. The one we just got is an extra." Shikamaru told them. His smirk grew larger at the shocked looks on the rest of their faces.
"H-how?" Chōji was the first to ask. Shikamaru turned to Naruto.
"I had a clone swipe them from two teams before they even entered the forest. There wasn't a rule stating we had to wait until we were in the forest before we took them, so I just jump started on it. I had a clone give one of the extra scrolls to Shikamaru and I took the other." Naruto said with a shrug as he and Shikamaru put the scrolls away. "Now we should really get out of here." He said walking slowly back into the cave, still leaning against the roots, followed by the other three.
"What do we do about him?" Shikamaru asked, gesturing towards Sasuke with his thumb. They all looked blankly at the still unconscious Uchiha.
"…What do you think happens when you seal something into a scroll?" Naruto asked seriously after a pause.
"Think it would work on a person?" Chōji asked with just as much seriousness.
"Only one way to find out." Shikamaru threw in.
"NO!" Sakura and Ino yelled at the same time, covering Sasuke with their own bodies. The three males just gave them deadpanned looks.
"We weren't serious." Shikamaru said, but it sounded only half true.
Teams 7 and 10 made it to the tower later that evening. It had only taken them a little over a day and a half to complete the test and it looked like they were the first teams to arrive. Luckily, they did not have any further interruptions on their way. They entered the tower, Naruto leaning on Shikamaru for support, Sakura and Ino carrying the backpacks and Naruto's coat, and Chōji once again carrying Sasuke on his back. The moment they stepped in the tower, they were met by the Hokage and Kakashi.
"Kakashi, take Sasuke and follow me. Naruto, you come too." The Hokage demanded.
"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but I believe Shikamaru should come with us. He knows of the situation." Naruto requested. The Hokage gave Naruto a disapproving look at first, then a look of contemplation.
"Nara Shikamaru? Shikaku's son?" He asked, looking towards Shikamaru.
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Shikamaru replied, with his head lowered in respect.
"Very well. You may come." The Hokage relented with a nod, leading Kakashi, who was carrying Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Naruto further into the tower. "How much do you know?"
"Everything, Hokage-sama." Shikamaru replied, "Everything." He emphasized, noticing the glance the Hokage and Kakashi shared, to which Naruto gave a nod of agreement. They shared a surprised look, before a relieved smile showed on their face.
"You have an excellent friend there, Naruto." The Hokage told him approvingly.
"Eh, he's alright." Naruto replied nonchalantly with a shrug.
"And you're an egotistical prick." Shikamaru replied in kind. Naruto again just shrugged, but they shared a smile.
"Ah, children these days…" Kakashi said with a sigh, shifting Sasuke slightly on his back. The Hokage cleared his throat with a smile, before it disappeared and he got serious.
"We found some bodies of Grass-nin outside the Forest of Death. They were missing their faces, which are believed to have been removed and used as a disguise. We received word from the examiner, Mitarashi Anko, that she believes it was Orochimaru's doing." The Hokage informed them. Naruto nodded.
"My team encountered Orochimaru and two of his men in the forest. It would seem that their target was Sasuke. My belief is that they are after him for his Sharingan. We were able to hold him off, and I disposed of his accomplices, but he did something to Sasuke." Naruto reported.
"Why do you believe that Orochimaru was after Sasuke?" The Hokage asked.
"Once my team entered the forest, we were almost immediately confronted by Orochimaru and his team. He sent his two accomplices to distract me while he went after Sasuke. It seemed as though Sakura wasn't even on his radar, since he didn't look at her once. Once I had disposed of the two diversions, I entered back into the fight, during which Orochimaru was able to bite Sasuke and inflict his Cursed Seal of Heaven on him." Naruto had checked Sasuke's neck before Chōji picked him up earlier and verified what he had theorized after waking up. The Hokage and Kakashi narrowed their eyes.
"This is…disconcerting news. And what has happened to you?" The Sandaime asked, eyeing Naruto.
"Hm? Oh, just a bit of chakra exhaustion. I should be fine soon." Naruto replied with a shrug, hoping they wouldn't get suspicious and ask more questions. His chakra was actually a bit low after trying to fight off Orochimaru's from invading him. If they knew Orochimaru had bit him as well, he didn't know what they would do with him, but it wouldn't be good and they would definitely pull him from the exam.
"Did you find out anything else?" The Hokage asked, opening the door to a small room that only held a chair in the middle. Naruto figured this was probably an interrogation room. Kakashi walked over to the chair and placed Sasuke into it backwards, leaning him forwards so that his chest was against the backrest.
"A few things. The first being that I think we have at least one internal spy of Orochimaru's." Naruto explained, pulling out the cards he had swiped earlier. "Yakushi Kabuto. I got a few of these off of him. It looks like he has information on a large amount of Konoha-nin and even some shinobi from other countries. I don't know if his teammates are involved, but I would assume so until we know for sure." Naruto reported, handing the cards to the Sandaime who took them with a frown.
"And the second?" He asked when Naruto paused.
"The jinchūriki of Suna is here. I believe he is an essential part to Orochimaru's plan." Naruto supplied with a frown. The other three looked at him in shock.
"You're sure he's a jinchūriki?" Kakashi asked.
"Without a doubt." Naruto replied with a nod. "But he will not be an issue. I will keep my eye on him and subdue him before anything happens." He felt the Kyūbi shiver in excitement.
"You sure you can do that?" Shikamaru asked wearily. Naruto just gave him a confident nod in return.
It would be my pleasure. The Kyūbi almost purred with glee.
You seem very excited about fighting one of your own. Is it a power-play kind of thing? Naruto asked him.
Somewhat. But none of the others could ever hope to match me.
Cocky, aren't we? They'd have to get through me first, you know.
The four of them moved until they were on either side of Sasuke and looked down at the mark against his neck.
"I could use the Fūja Hōin* on him, but I don't know how well it will hold up. I would like to think it would work, but…" Kakashi trailed off, but didn't need to continue. Everyone there knew about Sasuke's mentality.
"If I may…perhaps I can try something? I have been studying the Cursed Seals for a while, for Anko actually." Naruto supplied. Kakashi gestured for Naruto to continue. Naruto pulled out his ink and brush from the seal on his arm and started writing on Sasuke around the Cursed Seal.
"What is it that you're doing?" The Hokage asked in interest, never seeing such a seal before.
"I am attempting to extract Orochimaru's chakra from the Cursed Seal. It is the part that makes up the largest portion, so the seal's power should be diminished if it is removed. I have already used it on Anko, so I know it works." Naruto replied in concentration.
When he had finished writing, he sealed back up his ink and brush then rubbed his hands together, before placing them on either side of the seal and pushed a small amount his chakra through his hands into Sasuke. Sasuke's body jerked and the seals started glowing brightly, before disappearing into the Cursed Seal. Once the seals disappeared, Sasuke bolted upright, suddenly awake.
"Where…?" He asked sluggishly, eyes looking blurrily around.
"Tower in the center of the Forest of Death. We passed the second test." Naruto told him. Sasuke's eyes landed on Naruto and started clearing.
"How long have I been out?" Sasuke asked him with a frown.
"Only about a day. You didn't miss anything, don't worry." Naruto told him reassuringly. Sasuke caught sight of the other three in the room.
"What's going on?" He asked in confusion.
"Nothing to be concerned about. We were just confirming that Orochimaru didn't do anything damaging to you." The Hokage told him kindly. Sasuke frowned, looking confused for a minute before he remembered the altercation. His eyes shot to Naruto.
"He got away after he bit you." Naruto told him, before he could ask. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he looked at the ground.
"We have the village on the lookout for him." The Hokage supplied.
"How're you feeling?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke frowned and was quiet for a minute.
"Fine." He finally replied, gruffly. Naruto and Kakashi narrowed their eyes.
"Well, if you're fine, then we should meet back up with the others." Naruto said waiting for Sasuke to stand. "Hokage-sama, we'll see you later." Sasuke used the wall of the hallway for support as he, Naruto, and Shikamaru made their way back into the waiting area of the tower, Kakashi following behind.
"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled once catching sight of them, running up to him. She stopped right in front of him, looking him over carefully. "Are you okay?" She asked with worry.
"Fine." He grumbled back.
"Looks like we head this way." Naruto said, walking towards a door that said "Enter" on it, finally able to walk on his own without support. It looked like his strength was finally starting to return. Once he opened the door he found a man that looked vaguely familiar standing in front of them.
"Good job kids. Now you just have to wait for the time to run out." The man said.
"Asuma-sensei! We have to wait three and a half days? Where?" Ino questioned.
"Here." Asuma said, gesturing behind him to where there were five large couches.
"But what about food?!" Chōji asked with a look of fear on his face.
"I hope you have enough on you, because you're on your own." Kakashi said airily. Chōji looked like he was starting to convulse.
"Kakashi! Not funny! You'll be given food, don't worry Chōji." Asuma reassured him with a hand on his shoulder.
"And showers?" Sakura asked timidly. Ino nodded her head animatedly.
"And showers. Everything you need." Asuma said, cutting Kakashi off from whatever false comment he was about to say. Everyone but Naruto and Sasuke sighed in relief.
Naruto made his way to one of the couches and sat down, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. He felt the seat on either side of him become taken and opened his eyes just a slit to see Sasuke on one side of him and Shikamaru on the other.
"Mendokusai." He head Shikamaru sigh in annoyance.
"So hungry…" Chōji mumbled, on the couch that was next to Shikamaru.
"I can't believe we have to wait here for three and a half days! Can you believe this Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked in a huff, on the other side of Chōji. Sasuke didn't even respond. Naruto snuck a peak at Sakura, who was also quiet. She was on the couch next to Sasuke, intently reading a book on poisons. Naruto inwardly smiled. 'Yup. Definitely got the best team.' He thought, before taking a light nap.
Jutsu List:
Fūja Hōin (Evil Sealing Method)A technique used to suppress technique-induced marks on a person. Seal relies on the will of the indiviual on whom it is placed. A-rank, Supplementary, Short-range.