Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
I'll try to keep the updates coming.
"Come out, come out where ever you are" Orochimaru said in his usual tone as he walked the streets of the village "I know you're here. All I want to do is train you."
"This would be easier if you would've taken that Hyuga's eyes, Orochimaru-sama" Kabuto said as he followed Orochimaru through the streets.
"I didn't think it'd be worth the time to take them," as he stopped walking "after all; the Hyuga clan is weak, so is the Byakugan."
"Of course, Orochimaru-sama" stopping too "what is it my lord?"
"He's here" with a smile.
"OROCHIMARU" roared through the village with a hint of blood lust.
"Naruto" with a chuckle as Naruto landed in front of him "how have you been?"
"I'm going to kill you once and for all" Naruto said with rage, his eyes red and his pupils slits.
"You failed to kill me last time," with another chuckle "so what makes you think you can kill me now?"
"This" with a demonic smile as he let the demon cloak engulf him and swayed four tails behind him.
"I see you've been training" with a smile "but so have I" as he flashed hand signs and said "Shadow snake jutsu" as he held his arm out towards Naruto and several snakes flew out of his sleeve at Naruto. When the snakes got close to Naruto they burst into flames and started to burn back along their bodies back towards Orochimaru's arm. "Damn" he said as he opened his mouth and shed his skin to escape the flames heading towards him.
"Last time I only took your arms," Naruto roared "this time I'm gonna take your life" as he disappeared and reappeared in front of Orochimaru with a Rasengan fully charged and ready for the strike "Rasengan" as he planted it in Orochimaru's chest. When he planted it in Orochimaru's chest, it cut and sliced into his chest as it spun wildly and sent him spinning out of control as he flew backwards.
"Nice try" Orochimaru said as he turned to mud "I was hoping you would've learned something new, but I guess I shouldn't be too disappointed. Do you really think I'd risk my plan in a fist fight with you, before I've received my prize? I'm already at that child's house, that family won't stand a chance against me" with a chuckle as the mud splattered on the ground. Naruto looked for Kabuto, but he was already gone.
At the bridge; "Why is this taking so long?" Guren asked herself "this should've been easy to handle" as she threw crystals at Sakura. Sasuke was having no trouble with Jugo, Kinzoku and Hanabi were having trouble with Suigetsu and Karin.
"I thought you said they'd be dead by now" Karin snapped at Suigetsu.
"If you're not going to help you're in the way" he snapped back at her as he pointed his sword at her.
"Kinzoku-kun" Hanabi said with concern as she helped him up.
"Don't worry" Kinzoku said with a smile "these aren't deep" as he held a few of the cuts Suigetsu gave him "I think it's time to stop screwing around."
"You don't mean…" worried that he might not be able to handle using that style of fighting yet.
"Ya, I do" as he stood on his own.
"You've used too much chakra to fight like that."
"I have enough" as he readied himself "I'll start" as he disappeared and reappeared in front of Suigetsu and landed a strong gentle fist hit into his left shoulder then disappeared again; Kinzoku no more disappeared when Hanabi appeared and landed several gentle fist hits before Kinzoku reappeared and matched her hits in Suigetsu's back. Then Hanabi disappeared and reappeared as Kinzoku landed a few gentle fist hits and matched them on Suigetsu's front. This pattern continued for a while.
"What's wrong" Sakura asked Guren "things looking too difficult for you?"
"Stupid girl, you think we're fighting at the best of our abilities?" as a curse mark expanded over her face and the crystals she was holding turned black.
"What the…?" in shock as she saw the mark expand. Guren threw the crystals at her, aiming at vital points.
"Get down" Sasuke said as he jumped and knocked Sakura over. This made the crystals that were thrown to bounce off the ANBU gear Itachi loaned him.
"Guren-chan" Gozu said with concern as he smacked Sai out of his way to help her. The hit knocked Sai unconscious as he fell to the ground. "Stay away from Guren-chan," he said as he brought his fist down where Sasuke and Sakura were.
"The Uchiha is MINE" Jugo said in a different tone than normal as he slammed his fist into Gozu's gut.
"Opening" Sasuke said as he did a Rock Lee kick on Jugo and sent him upwards into the air. He met Jugo about thirty feet up and punched him back into the ground.
"I'll kill you here and now" Jugo said as he got up and changed his right arm into a large group of spikes all clustered together. As he did that, Sasuke charged up a Chidori and charge at Jugo as Jugo charged at him. Jugo extended his arm too soon, this allowed Sasuke to duck underneath it and place his Chidori right into Jugo's heart.
"I'm sick of the two of you" Suigetsu said in anger as he grabbed Hanabi by her throat and threw her into a tree knocking her out.
"Teme" Kinzoku said as he appeared next to Hanabi to make sure she was ok "you were right," he whispered to her "I did use too much chakra to fight like that" as he stood up "now I'm vulnerable. I can't see. And I have no choice but to release them" as he unwrapped his forearms revealing what looked like tattoos on his forearms, two bands around each wrist, straight line from his wrist to his elbow, and two curved lines that went from his wrists curved underneath his forearms and met the top of the straight line.
"You're dead" Suigetsu said as he charged at Kinzoku with his sword ready to kill him with one swing.
"Release Chakra Shackles 1 and 2" as he quickly flashed four hand signs. When he released them the two bands around each wrist warped and looked like flames around his wrists. "You're the one that will be dead." The burst of chakra caused Suigetsu to get blown back.
"We don't have time for you to screw around fighting this weakling" Karin said to Suigetsu "and if it's taking you this long to take care of this guy, then you yourself are a weakling."
"You've insulted me for the last time" Suigetsu said as he brought his sword down across her torso.
"Traitor" she gasped.
"Let's move out" Guren ordered "we've spent too much time here. Besides" as she incased Sai in a crystal "we have what we were ordered to get." Gozu grabbed the crystal that had Sai in it and vanished.
"Fine" looking at Kinzoku "I'll finish you when we met again. But till then" as he threw a kunai at Hanabi.
"Hanabi-chan" Kinzoku said as he jumped in front of the kunai. The kunai got lunged into his shoulder and he screamed in pain.
At Tazuna's house; "There you are" Orochimaru said as he opened the door and saw the boy being protected by Inari with his crossbow aimed at Orochimaru as he walked in the house.
"Get out of my house" Inari ordered.
"Give me the boy and I'll leave" with a smile "otherwise I'll just level your house and take him by force."
"Last chance," as he put his finger on the trigger "get out."
"Earth style: Rasenshuriken" they heard as an odd shuriken came flying through the window towards Orochimaru. Orochimaru barely dodged the Rasenshuriken; when he dodged it, it sliced through the door frame and the wall which caused the roof to crash down on both Orochimaru and Kabuto. "Get him outa here" Naruto ordered Inari. Inari didn't argue, he just grabbed the boy and ran out the back door.
"Always ruining my fun" Orochimaru said as he pushed the debris off of him "but no matter, I'll get even very soon."
"Orochimaru-sama" Kabuto said to him "I just got word from Guren-san" with a smile "they got their target. But there were two casualties."
"Until next time Naruto" before he disappeared in a flash.
'Sasuke' Naruto thought with concern.
Back at the bridge; "She's the enemy" Sakura said to Kinzoku "my cell comes first when it comes to medical treatment."
"I don't give a fuck," Kinzoku snapped at her as he tried to stop Karin's bleeding "her wounds are worse than mine." He threw the large pile of gauze that he had on her wound onto the ground and quickly got more out and put pressure on it.
"He has a point Sakura" Sasuke agreed as he pulled out more gauze for Kinzoku and handed them to him "unless you hurry we'll end up losing someone that can tell us where Orochimaru's hide out is." Sakura didn't move.
"Either heal her," Kinzoku said with anger "or I will; and then lose what little respect and trust I have for you. If I heal her she'll have a very nasty scar though."
"I've used too much chakra" Sakura looking away from Sasuke and Kinzoku.
"Use mine" he offered without hesitation "it has to be used or when my shackles will overload when they reseal their selves." He whispered to himself "she used too much chakra my ass; she's suppose to be a Jonin with such little chakra."
"Fine," with a sigh.
"Uchiha" Kinzoku said uneasily "can you make sure Hanabi-chan is ok?"
"Ya" Sasuke said as he got up and went over to Hanabi, who was now starting to regain consciousness.
"Thank you" Karin managed to say.
Kinzoku didn't say anything back, he seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Sakura healed Karin with Kinzoku's excess chakra. When Sakura was done healing Karin they headed towards the town; Sasuke and Kinzoku were carrying Karin on a stretcher.
"Who's that?" Hanabi asked as she saw someone on the ground.
"That's Inari-san" Sakura said as she ran over to Inari and picked him up "are you ok?"
"I'm fine" as he rubbed the back of his neck "where's Joey?" in shock as he looked around.
"Who?" in a confused tone.
"The Jinchuuriki that we were supposed to capture" Karin said from the stretcher "Suigetsu's objective was to capture the boy after Guren-san captured the one you call Sai."
"We need to get Inari-san back to his house" Sakura said "so I can tend to his wound and finish healing our guest."
"I… I need to sit down" Kinzoku said as he set his end of the stretcher down and knelled on the ground "my chakra shackles are resealing now; and I used too much chakra during that fight" his eyes fought to focus on what was in front of him.
"You've lost a good amount of blood now" Sakura said as she looked at his wounds "I need to heal you soon," she took her bag off and pulled out some pills "take these, they'll help you replace what blood you've lost" as she handed him the pills.
"Plasma pills?" shaking his head "no thanks…, I don't… need any pills…" fighting to stay conscience.
"Take them or I'll force them down your throat" in a serious tone as she forced the container into his hand.
"And it'll be the last thing you ever do" as he took the pills.
"You're more hard headed than Naruto" shaking her head with disbelief "I didn't think that was possible."
At Inari's house; "Sorry about the roof" Naruto said to Tsunami as he finished clearing the debris from the ground "I'll pay to replace it."
"It's ok" she said with a slight sigh "it had to be done."
"We need beds" Sakura said as she came through what was left of the front door "two seriously injured and I need to examine Inari-san."
"Where's the boy?" Naruto demanded to know.
"They got him" Sasuke said as he walked in with the stretcher behind him "and they got Sai."
"Sasuke…" in shock "you weren't their target?"
"I was just as shocked" with a slight snicker "I figured they'd keep attacking me and try to force me to use the curse mark till it consumed me."
"Who's injured?"
"One of the ones that attacked us and Hifa-san" Sakura said looking at the ground "both have lost a lot of blood and need to be treated immediately. The only difference is Hifa-san used a lot of chakra and I can't treat that."
"I can" as he pulled out his fragment of Sage's Stone "where is he?"
"Here," Kinzoku said as he limped in with Hanabi supporting him "I couldn't kill that sword-teme," he noticed Tsunami giving him an evil look "sorry; that sword-jerk."
"Why would they take Sai?" Hanabi asked in confusion "I don't see any connection between him and Orochimaru."
"What on Earth is that?" Naruto asked as he pointed at a small drawing that looked like an animal.
"Sai knew this would happen?" Sakura asked herself quietly as she pulled a blank scroll out and opened it. When she opened it the animal stepped onto it and vanished into the scroll. Suddenly word started to appear:
"Hello my comrades, by now I have most likely been captured by Orochimaru's Sound Five. I was given orders to allow this to happen, I had no choice. I will explain in due time, but first you must rescue me from Orochimaru before I am forced to give him the information I was ordered to pass on to him. I do not wish to betray the village, my comrades or those who have become my friends; please hurry."
"Sounds like Sai alright" Sasuke said as he read the message "Lady Tsunade would never give orders like he says he was given."
"Is there something I need to know" Naruto demanded as he looked at Sakura.
"Kabuto was the informant for Sasori," as she lay Kinzoku down on a matted bed "he found us when we were on our way here. He gave me information that he was going to pass to Sasori if he were still alive" she pulled out her medical supplies and started to work "he said that someone with Sharingan in his right eye wants you and Sasuke-kun dead…" she looked closer at Kinzoku's wounds "these aren't very deep; with how much force he was swinging that sword with these should be deeper, much deeper."
"I've always been tough skinned" with a look away from her "he also said that there is a spy amongst us and he warned us about the ambush."
"I understand" Naruto said "and in order to keep it quiet you kept it to your selves" as he handed Kinzoku the fragment of Sage's Stone "he needs to be outside for the Sage's Stone to work to at a hundred percent."
"I'll heal him first" Sakura said as he did a few hand signs and her hands glowed green "then we'll move him."
"Will there be any scars?" Kinzoku asked.
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Cool," with a smile. Naruto, Sasuke, and Hanabi shook their heads at the same time and had the same thought in their head too; 'he's crazy'.
"I can tell you where Orochimaru's base is" Karin said from the stretcher.
"Why would you do that?" Naruto asked.
"Orochimaru ordered Suigetsu to kill me," with a deep breath "it's the only reason he would've betrayed me like he did. Any other time he would've only shouted back."
"Where is it" Sasuke asked "I'm tired of this curse mark."
"From the bridge it's four hours north," as she closed her eyes to remember "it'll be at the base of three trees that share the same set of roots. But keep a steady eye open, if you don't know your way around you'll end up in traps and dead ends."
"Good," Naruto said as he headed towards the door "Sasuke and I will take care of Orochimaru and the rest of the Sound Five…" he looked at Kinzoku "don't do anything stupid… stay here; that's an order."
"He won't go anywhere," Sakura said as she finished healing him "he'll be on the balcony upstairs under careful watch."
"Don't worry, I won't do anything stupid" Kinzoku said as Hanabi helped him upstairs to the balcony.
"Ready Sasuke" Naruto asked him as he walked out the door.
"I've been ready," Sasuke responded as he grabbed his bag and followed Naruto out the door "do you really think he'll follow that order?"
"Honestly…" with a smile "no."
On the balcony; "That teme cut through all my clothes in my bag" Kinzoku said as he pulled the shreds of clothing out of his bag "and I don't have enough thread to fix all of this" looking at his small sewing kit he brought with him.
"Just conceder yourself lucky that you're still alive after that fight" Hanabi said as she sat down next to him.
"Luck had nothing to do with it" looking out into the sea "you know the extent of my kekkei genkai. I have enough control of it to where I can use it on any of my body tissue; except my eyes, unless I wanna fight completely blind."
"I never got why that is, but it's probably for the better."
"I never got that either, and you're probably right" with a deep breath following his words. 'I should wait for at least half an hour before I head out.'
Down stairs; "Do you have a spare room we can keep her in?" Sakura asked Tsunami.
"There's one upstairs," as she handed Inari a bag of ice "we use it for storage mostly. But it should work."
"I have nowhere to run to," Karin said "why do you think I'd even try?"
"Better safe than sorry" Sakura said.
"They think I'm dead; if I were to show up, they'd make sure I'm dead. Why do you have such a hard time believing me?"
"Because you're the enemy right now."
"Uzumaki-san was your enemy for the past six years; yet you trust and believe him." Sakura didn't reply back.
Back upstairs; "Sweet!!!" Kinzoku said with joy "they made it through the fight!!!"
"What made it through the fight?"
"My jutsu scrolls" with a large smile "well…" looking at one scroll in particular "the jutsu scrolls."
"Whose scroll did you take this time?"
"It'd be better if you didn't know where I got it from…"
"You didn't…?"
"Yea…" as he opened the scroll "if anyone found out where I got it from… I'd probably disappear for a long time" as he read it "for your safety… you never saw this."
"Why do you do these things?" with a concerned tone.
"To prove that I can be a great ninja;" looking at Hanabi "to prove Naoya that I can do great things, even though I'm half blind."
"Why are you so obsessed with proving him wrong?"
"He has it easy," looking out to the ocean "I've had it hard; not as hard as Naruto but it was still bad. I was lucky to survive the surgery to get my eyes fixed but even that's not permanent; I have to use chakra to keep my eye sight so I can see."
"And that's why you created the chakra shackles."
"I didn't create them;" looking at his forearms "I just took Lady Tsunade's idea of cutting off one's chakra to another level…" he pulled out the Sage's Stone that Naruto gave him "I'm starting to like this thing. It's replacing my chakra faster than I burn it to keep my eye sight good."
"That's good," trying to get a look at the scroll "so how long till your chakra's back to normal?"
"Not sure" keeping the scroll where she couldn't see it "normally I have a faster chakra regeneration than normal ninjas; but with the stone I have no clue how long till my chakra's back to normally."
"I finally finished healing our guest" Sakura said as she walked into the room "how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," Kinzoku replied not looking up from the scroll "just studying right now…" his eyes raced through the lines of words on the scroll "I'm still confused about this…" rereading several lines over and over again rapidly.
"Confused about what?" Sakura asked as she tried to look over his shoulder and get a glance of the scroll "that looks like Kakashi-sensei's handwriting!"
"I don't know what you're talking about" as he rolled up the scroll quickly but calmly "and if you want me to trust you, you need to trust me."
"It's hard to trust a thief" with a suspicious and hostile tone.
"I'm not a thief," returning Sakura's glare "I borrow books, scrolls, and diagrams so I can learn; but I do return them after I'm done reading them."
"There's no difference," now angry "you sneak into places and take things without permission. You act like a brat that wants everyone to notice you; and you'll do anything to get noticed."
"SOUNDS FAMILIAR DOESN'T IT!!!" he snapped "YES I WANT TO BE NOTICED AND YES I'M WILLING TO DO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING TO GET NOTICED…" taking a deep breath to recollect himself to keep from snapping worse than he just did "but I'm not a thief, I'm not a little brat, and I've never had it easy in my life. I probably never will have it easy. But I'm going to make the best of what I got, I'll go to any length to prove I can be great, to prove I'm able to do great things; even if it means pushing myself to the point to where I can't be a ninja after that fight…" as he got up and walked to the railing of the balcony "I want to prove my worth," a tear ran down his face "to show that I'm willing to give my life for the village; by choice not by duty."
Sakura was speechless; 'he's like Naruto,' she managed to think 'I completely forgot that he and Naruto lived in the same orphanage when they were younger. But he seems more mature than Naruto was back then. And he even made a point about him taking everything he takes; he takes them to learn but puts them right back when he's done with them. I've seen the complaints that have flooded Lady Tsunade's office, but a few days after the person filed the complaint the same person came back and said they found it right where they last saw it before it went missing.'
"If you're going to keep trying to lecture me" looking back at her "just leave. I've broken into places I shouldn't have, I admit that, but I've always made sure I put very thing back where I found it."
"Who was your father?"
"That's a random question."
"I know, but that's all I can think to say."
"I don't know, I've never known; I've been told he was KIA before I was born. And that my mom died giving birth to me" he grabbed his shirt that was barely able to remain on him and ripped it off "but I'm sure they were both strong shinobi."
"Are all these scars from fights?" looking at just the scars on his back; but one in particular stuck out amongst the rest, a scar that goes from his right shoulder to the final rib on the left side and looks like it started to eat away the skin around it causing the scar to look very ugly.
"Training mostly," without looking back "and to be honest, I could've killed that sword-teme earlier; but I have to keep my abilities a secret."
"What are you talking about?"
"He won't tell anyone about it" Hanabi spoke up "he knows the rules and doesn't want that life style."
"Now I'm really confused" Sakura said with a dazed look on her face. She was expecting a vulgar remark from Kinzoku but didn't hear one. "Something must be bugging you badly if you didn't make a vulgar remark about my comment" looking at Kinzoku, who was still looking at the ocean.
"It's beautiful" Kinzoku said.
"Huh??"
"The ocean," with a deep breath "I've never seen one before." Sakura and Hanabi walked onto the balcony and looked out into the ocean. The sun reflected off the water and shone brightly as if it were being reflected off gems.
"Ya," with a smile "it really is." Kinzoku walked back inside and went towards the bathroom.
"I gotta pee" as he closed the door.
"Wait for it" Hanabi said as she waited for the flush of the toilet; she heard the flush, walked to the door and pushed it open, Kinzoku was gone.
"You're kidding me" Sakura said in disbelief as she looked at the open window in the bathroom. The drape flittered as the wind blew in through the window "how often does he do this?"
"Every time he's hospitalized" shaking her head "so about two or three times a month." Sakura's jaw almost dropped off in shock.
In Karin's containment room; Karin sat on the bed in the room, the door and window having seals on them that prevent her from escaping. She sighed as she reflected on her position and how she got in it "why would Orochimaru-sama want me dead? Did I find something out I wasn't suppose to; or does he no longer need my abilities?" she heard a tap on the window which made her jump slightly. "What are you doing Hifa-san?"
"I don't have time to explain" he said without hesitation "I'm going to help Naruto and Uchiha; and hopefully I'll kill that sword-teme and then we'll be able to kill Orochimaru."
"Why are you telling me this?" slightly confused.
"Because I have no intention of being able to make it back" with a serious look in his eyes "if the sword-teme has a curse mark I'll need to burn all my chakra and I'll be seriously wounded to top that off. So serious that I highly doubt the large forehead medic will be able to heal me."
"I can heal anyone, no matter how wounded, once a day" as she pulled up her sleeve "all you'd have to do is suck some of my chakra out and you're healed."
"Tell that to the medic, when she comes down here to get you to tell her everything about the hideout," as he turned around to leave "I don't want to die, but I will if it means helping Naruto."
"Those shackles you have" looking at him "they limit your chakra and forces you to constantly regenerate more" through her eyes she could see the massive amounts of chakra he keeps hidden "you have just as much chakra if not more than the Uchiha; at such a young age…" with a concerned tone now "you could be putting your body in serious danger."
"It's not your concern; but please make sure you can make it in time" before he vanished.
In Orochimaru's hideout; "How long till you can have my informant out of your crystal, Guren-san" Orochimaru asked.
"It'll take about four more hours my lord" as she made a few hand signs and the crystal that had Sai imprisoned slowly, very slowly, started to dissipate "I'm not used to undoing my crystals, but I'll try to make it quick."
"Good" as he turned to Suigetsu "did you do as you were ordered?"
"Yeah," with a smug smirk "that bitch pissed me off way too much; I was happy to kill her."
"And you made sure she was dead;" with an evil look that caused Gozu to take three steps back "right?"
"With how deep that cut was" with a chuckle "she drowned in her own blood within thirty seconds. There's no way she's still alive."
"For your sake," Kabuto said as he walked into the room "let's hope you're right."
"Guren-san will stay in her room with Gozu while she decrystalizes my informant," Orochimaru said as he walked to his chair at the top of a small flight of stairs "Suigetsu-san, you will stay in your room and think long and hard about if you really killed Karin."
"I did," Suigetsu snapped at him. The words no more left his mouth and he had Guren and Kabuto in front of him with kunai pointed at his throat.
"Watch your tone" Guren said angrily "when you're in the presence of Orochimaru-sama."
"He's no use to me dead" Orochimaru said in a surprisingly calm tone "just let this be a reminder to him to hold his tongue, especially in front of the child" as he rubbed Joey's head. Joey was trembling in fear not knowing what to expect from these people.
Kabuto and Guren lowered their kunai, Guren went back to decrystalizing Sai, Kabuto walked up the small flight of stairs and stood next to Orochimaru, and Suigetsu just left and headed to his room. As he walked through the massive halls he spoke to himself "I know I killed that bitch; without a doubt she's dead. Every time I trying to explain that I really did do as I was ordered, those two interfere" he pushed the solid steel doors to his room open "if Orochimaru was dead" with a smirk smile "I wouldn't have to answer to anyone again; I'd be free to be a swordsmen of the mist." He looked around his room; a massive pool that was the size of a pond, water pipes that runs through it, on the other side of the pool is a good sized piece of land with a door that leads to the labyrinth of tunnels and traps that awaited any poor soul dumb enough to wander into the hideout. "If anyone, and I do mean anyone, comes into my room" with an angry tone and a smug smile "I'll kill them without hesitation; even Orochimaru" he threw his sword at the only camera in his room and destroyed it.
Outside the hideout; "this looks like the right place" Sasuke said as he looked at the massive trees that shared the same base.
"Yeah," Naruto said as he took a step into the opening at the base "we need to be careful though;" remembering what Karin said to warn them "we're gonna need something to follow scents so we don't get lost" as he flashed a few quick hand signs "Manifestation Summoning Jutsu" as he put his hand on the ground.
There was a large puff of smoke and Kyuubi was standing were the smoke was. "Yes Kit?" she said as she adjusted her hair so it was out of her face.
"I need you to follow some scents so we don't get lost" pointing at the opening in the base of the trees.
"Orochimaru huh?" as she took a deep breath "I told you; you should've killed him when you had the chance."
"So this is the Kyuubi?" Sasuke asked as he looked her over "you don't seem to be all that strong."
"Watch it Uchiha" she snarled at him "I have enough reasons to kill you" as she headed towards the opening and led Naruto and Sasuke into the hideout. They made their way into the labyrinth of a hideout that Orochimaru had constructed to keep out intruders, much like their selves. Every few tens of meters Kyuubi would stop and take a deep breath to make sure she was leading her Kit and his friend the right direction. "Wait" she said as they came to a large room and she looked it over very carefully "there are traps in here, that snake's scent is in areas that it shouldn't be."
"Like mid air;" Naruto asked "or holes in the wall so he can be watching us" he spotted a camera on the far side of the room. He quickly took it out with a kunai aimed at the dead center of its lens.
"Uchiha" Kyuubi asked "can you use your Sharingan to locate the wires and pressure switches?"
"Already on it" Sasuke said as his eyes changed from their usual onyx color to the Sharingan.
"I'll just be in the way if I stay out in here" Kyuubi continued "I'll disappear back to your mind and you can resummon me on the other side."
"You read my mind" in a sarcastic tone. Kyuubi just rolled her eyes and vanished in a puff of smoke.
"You're gonna have to follow my led on this one" not taking his eyes from the complex system of wires and pressure switches that were put down to keep someone from proceeding any farther "we must be getting close if there's this many traps laid down to stop someone."
"Kinda figured that," as he rolled his head and popped his neck "so what are you waiting for? The door on the other side to just open up for us?"
"I'm making sure I didn't over look anything" as he prepared to jump "and here we go" taking a powerful jump to the closest column, landing on it precisely two meters from the ground, then to the floor twelve meters away landing on one foot between two tiles that were rigged to blow if anyone stepped on them, from there he jumped up to the top of a column that was five meters away; at this point Naruto started and followed Sasuke's exact movements. As Naruto jumped from one place to another he left small cuts where he landed, so they could find their way back without having to go home in many pieces.
"That wasn't too hard" wiping a drop of sweat from his eyebrows as he landed. He looked back and saw all the cuts he had left in the floors, columns, and ceiling. "So what's behind door number one" he asked rhetorically as he pushed it open.
Suigetsu waited patiently in his room, as patiently as his temper would allow, sharpening his sword with a kit he stole from the wave village; "Why the fuck is this taking so long?!!!" he shouted into the emptiness of his room when his temper gave out and he threw his sword sharpening kit through a glass tube of water. His breathing was heavy with anger and rage, the one thing he couldn't stand is to be just waiting around for something to happen. Before he was forced to join Orochimaru he would do as he pleased, but now his life was controlled by one person other than himself; he hated this. "I can't wait for Orochimaru to die" as he reflected on his previous lifestyle of killing for money, anyone for the right price. His favorite smell is the copper scent of blood and it was topped by the sound of the blood splattering against the ground and dripping from his sword.
The door to his room slowly crept open and Sasuke and Naruto stepped in; "we must be getting close" Naruto said as he stepped into the room "look who it is."
"It's been a while, Uzumaki" Suigetsu said looking at Naruto "our last fight nearly got me killed" he pointed his sword at Naruto "and caused me to be forced to be a servant to this snake-teme" he pulled his shirt up and showed his curse mark "now you're my only chance of getting freed from this hell of a lifestyle."
"Ironic isn't it?" Naruto laughed "it's because of you that I got involved with the Akatsuki. After our fight, I found Itachi-sensei and killed Kisame. Now I'm strong enough to beat even the fourth Hokage" a large smile grew on his face "and you're some lap dog."
"Careful with your words" Sasuke warned "he might let you go through; he has a lot to gain if you kill Orochimaru."
"No shit Uchiha" Suigetsu snapped "I WANT MY OLD LIFE BACK!!!!!"
"Naruto you go ahead" as he stepped onto the water "I'll handle this guy."
"Careful," Naruto warned "his sensei was Zabuza of the Blood Mist. My second swordsmen kill."
"Second…" Suigetsu laughed "so who's left for me to kill so I can get the title I deserve?"
"Choojuuroo, and the other three" with a smile "they shouldn't be too hard to track down and kill. I'd love to add their swords to my collection" as he sprinted across the water to the other side of the room and busted through the door and continued down the halls.
"As long as you kill Orochimaru I don't care."
With Kinzoku; "I need to hurry up and get there" he said to himself as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch "if what that Karin woman said is true they're gonna need all the help they can get." He picked up the pace and tried not to burn a lot of chakra.
In the wave village; "That no good" Sakura said with extreme frustration "he can't follow a simple order" as she stormed through the house towards the room Karin was in "he's lucky he isn't here otherwise I'd kill him!!!"
"You wouldn't be the first to try" Hanabi said looking down at the ground.
"What do you mean by that?"
"That scar you saw on his back, the real nasty one," she explained "was from our first Chunin exam about a year ago. He pissed someone off during the written portion of the exam and the person didn't let it go."
"Talk about an inflated ego;" still heading towards Karin's 'cell' "but I know what that's like. To piss someone off that badly."
"But he fought the person and his cell alone," with a tone almost as if she regrets not being there to help him "just as he's willing to fight what's left of the sound five alone to help kill Orochimaru."
Sakura stopped at the door when she heard this; 'he's willing to give his life… to see that Orochimaru gets killed… what kind of abilities does he have to where he'd be able to even stand a chance of fighting the last three members of the sound five by himself… or is that why he keeps them a secret?'
She snapped herself out of her line of thought and opened the door; "I was wondering how long till you would ask me where he went" Karin said with a calm tone as she looked out the window.
"So he did talk to you before he left" Sakura said with no surprise in her voice "what did he tell you?"
"To tell the large forehead medic that he has no intention of making it back alive" looking at Sakura and seeing a large tick mark appear on her forehead "and that even if you catch up to him you wouldn't be able to heal him enough so he'll live."
"I'm really gonna kill him" Sakura said under her breath.
"I can see he enjoys pissing you off" taking a few steps closer to Sakura and Hanabi "but there's something you need to know about him;" Hanabi's eyes widened when she said this.
'Did he tell her of his kekkei genkai?' Hanabi thought with concern.
"He's bipolar" Karin continued "it's not an extreme case, but it's enough to notice if you know the symptoms."
"That explains a lot about him" Sakura said as she remembered how he acts "he takes books and scrolls then returns them, he jokes around worse than Naruto used to but he'll fight without hesitation, and he trains just as much as he reads."
"You don't look shocked by this diagnosis Hyuga" Karin said looking at Hanabi.
"I've known" Hanabi said "he told me not long after we met in the academy. He takes medicine to help keep it under control."
"Did he take it today?" Sakura asked her.
"I…" trying to remember if he did or not. She quickly ran to the room that Kinzoku left his bag in, Sakura and Karin followed, went through his bag and got his medication. "He refilled it before we left the village" as she poured the pills onto the table and counted the pills "there's only twenty nine" with a shaky tone "he didn't take one today…"
"Is that bad?" Karin asked.
"Not really" she answered "but because he didn't take any today he's basically itching for a fight."
"That explains why he wants to fight Suigetsu so badly."
"He finishes what he starts…" Sakura said remembering the incident she had with Kinzoku before they left the village "that was his bipolar side talking then…" shocked now that she can see the connection clearly.
"We need to go after him" Hanabi said as she griped the bottle of medication tightly "he could get himself killed."
"Agreed" Sakura said looking at Karin "and if what you said is true only you'll be able to save him."
"I owe him my life right now, so I'm going to help how I can" Karin said as she handed Sakura a scroll "I found this while I was studying in Orochimaru's library; I got it open but couldn't decipher it."
"I'll look at it later" as she put it into her kunai pouch and walked out the door followed closely by Hanabi.
With Naruto; "This better be the right damn door" Naruto said as he pushed a massive stone door open "AWW SHIT" as he saw Gozu and Guren standing before him "there are times when I hate this job…"
"There must be at least two that have infiltrated our hideout;" Guren said "if you've made it this far."
"No," with a smile "I'm just that good."
"No matter" as she made several crystal daggers form into her hands "this is where you die." Gozu slammed his fist into the ground causing a large wave of mud to fly towards Naruto. Naruto jumped over the wave only to see three crystals flying at him, he couldn't move fast enough to dodge them and received all three in his chest. He landed on the ground and gasped for air; Gozu walked up to Naruto and grabbed him by the neck and started to squeeze. As he squeezed Naruto smiled and disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving a rock with multiple paper bombs on it.
"Boom" Guren heard behind her right before the bombs exploded. Gozu was caught in the blast and got blasted into the wall.
With Sasuke; "Fire style: phoenix flower jutsu" Sasuke said as he blew several fire balls at Suigetsu.
"Water barrier jutsu" Suigetsu said as he quickly did a few hand signs and landed on the water from the last attack. "you're annoying the shit outa me" he snapped "water style: water dragon jutsu" the water around Suigetsu shook and trembled as the dragon arose from the water and flew towards Sasuke, who had just landed.
"Chido…" he started but the dragon was closing in too fast for him to move let alone charge a Chidori. He was expecting a hit so he could us a substitution jutsu but instead he saw the dragon blow to smithereens by a simple rotating orb in front of him.
"You" Suigetsu said with a demonic smile.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays;
Now call your friends and spread the joy, spend time with your family and have a great vacation
Your author,
The three quarter demon