Disclaimer- Okay, I'm just going to stop putting this because everyone knows I don't own Naruto.
Kimiko skidded to a halt in the center of a clearing, along with all her other companions. She watched Naruto carefully to see their next move. He himself looked dubious, and Kimiko wasn't even sure if he had a plan. The next person she searched for was her mother and Kiba. The pink-haired girl soon found them standing close, Kiba whispering, what must've been, words of comfort to her.
Kimiko had no more time to look for anyone else, for Orochimaru had just skidded into the clearing, along with Karin, Kabuto, and his other followers.
She felt someone nudge her shoulder. She turned and saw Sasuke staring down at her.
Kimiko glared at him and he winced inwardly. She'd found out all about him training with Orochimaru. "We don't have time for talk, Dad."
"I don't want to talk." He muttered. "I just want you to be careful of your brother, more than yourself."
Kimiko's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Why?"
"He's much more unstable than you are. It may have been you who used the curse mark first, but his seems to be more active." Sasuke said quietly. "I think it's possible that he's Orochimaru's target."
The girl shuddered and glanced at her brother. She barely even knew who he was anymore.
I can't even read him at all anymore.
Just as she was about to tell her father this, Orochimaru's horrid voice slithered its way around the clearing. "So, shall we begin this little skirmish?"
"With pleasure." Sasuke hissed.
"Then…." Orochimaru looked at his minions. "…Begin!"
Kimiko heard Naruto yowl a war cry as he and her father leapt at Orochimaru. She saw her mother and Karin going at it, and Kiba faced off with a man who Kimiko didn't recognize. She didn't have anymore time, for a boy, who she suspected was her age, jumped her.
The girl sprang into action. She immediately threw him off and formed her proper seals. "Katon: Goukyou no Jutsu!"
A huge fireball seemed to swallow the boy whole, but he emerged from the flame without so much as a burn. His silver hair wasn't even singed.
"I guess I should have higher standards for those who work with Orochimaru." Kimiko seethed.
His golden eyes glared at her. "Don't put me on his level."
Kimiko's eyes widened with shock. What…?
Before she could prepare herself, he lunged at her again, and this time, they barreled into the depths of the forest… and into a deep, dark hole.
NAO, AT THESE MOMENTS
Concentrate, you idiot!
Nao leapt out of his attacker's way. He grabbed the man's wrist and threw his onto a tree. A large crack erupted from his body, and Nao guessed he'd broken his spine. Blood leaked from the man's mouth, but for a split second, just before he felt anguish, Nao felt power.
He almost punched himself for that.
But he didn't. Instead, he turned to face his next challenge with his blood red eyes.
KIMIKO
"What the hell…? What's this hole?" Kimiko heard a boy's voice.
She opened her eyes and looked at him. She must have been knocked out for a second.
He looked back at her. The boy seemed to study her for a moment, and then held out his hand to help her up. Kimiko found this strange, but she wasn't one to distrust, so she took it.
"What's your name?" he asked her.
Caught off guard by the question, Kimiko stood there, shocked. When he raised his eyebrow, she merely asked, "Why aren't you attacking me?"
The boy leaned his head to the side. "What?"
Kimiko was truly baffled by him. "You were with Orochimaru." She said, and he nodded. "You attacked me." He nodded again. "And now were in a secluded hole, and you're not doing anything?" He nodded once more.
She narrowed her eyes at him, activating her sharingan. Although, something deep, deep inside her heart was telling her that it was wrong to do so. Something told her that he wasn't evil, but that he was very good.
The silent threat didn't even faze him. Instead, he asked her again, "What is your name?" with a smile on his face.
But it wasn't a REAL smile. It wasn't fake, though, either. It was lonelier than anything. It seemed to Kimiko that the weight of his loneliness could crush the world.
So she smiled back at him. "I'm Kimiko," she said, "Haruno Kimiko."
His eyes shot open. "Kimiko-san. Please… you need to come with me."
She stepped back. "Wh…what…? Why?"
"Because you and I are going to save your brother,"
WITH NAO
Nao kicked off his latest attacker. "Dammit! Where are all these people coming from?!"
He stood; huffing and he put his hands on his knees, his head hanging. The raven-haired boy looked around and saw his father and Naruto struggling to get up. "Dad! Naruto-Nii!" he called, just about to run to them. But before he could, a hand tapped his shoulder.
"Nao-kun." A horrifyingly familiar voice slithered into Nao's ear.
He turned to face the man. "Orochimaru."
Orochimaru slid towards him and Nao activated his sharingan.
"Orochimaru!" The two turned to see Kimiko and a boy who Nao did not know. "Get the hell away from my brother."
The snake man snickered. "Yuki-kun, my dear boy. Why have you brought the girl? I just might have to punish you for disobeying me again."
"This goes beyond disobeying you, Orochimaru." Yuki growled. "This is betrayal."
Kimiko looked at him. She hadn't known him for long, but she felt increasingly proud of him.
"Then I guess I have to kill you, then, Yuki-kun." Orochimaru said with a glare.
Kimiko snapped. She activated her sharingan and stepped forward. "Don't you dare touch him!"
Nao looked back and forth between the boy called "Yuki" and his sister. The pair of them together seemed vaguely familiar…although, he couldn't place it.
"Oh…?" Orochimaru drew the conversation out as the war cries droned on in the background. "Yuki… have you…? Again…?" he began cackling. "Oh, you stupid boy! This… she…with only lead you into darkness again and you with drag her along."
Kimiko looked up at Yuki. She had no idea who it was the first time around, but she did know that Orochimaru was talking about her this time.
She turned and looked for her father. They were Uchiha, but even so, three Genins couldn't defeat Orochimaru, as recent events, and history, told them. Kimiko spotted her father battling off three men, trying to get to them.
"Dad!" Kimiko yelled to him. As she tried to get to him, Yuki grabbed her arm.
"Let him be." Yuki whispered. "Uchiha Sasuke is strong. As his student, and his daughter, you should know this."
She stared at him, wide-eyed. How had he known that she was his student? What about how he knew she was his daughter?
Kimiko turned back to the snake man. She felt Nao's gaze burning through her, but she didn't look his way. All she could do was look at the beady black eyes staring back at her.
We can't beat him. Dad was our sensei, so since he was with Orochimaru… he'll know everything we do before we can even pull out a kunai. As for Yuki-kun, I don't even know his abilities, and he was with Orochimaru, too.
So what the hell are we going to do?!
"Are we just going to stand here forever? Or are you children really going to take me on?" Orochimaru said with a sly grin.
A firm and fell upon Kimiko's head. "Not today, Orochimaru. Leave this village, or I'll kill you for real this time."
Kimiko looked up in shock, along with Nao and Yuki. "Dad?!"
Sasuke didn't look at them. He kept his cold, steady gaze on the man who was trying to take his son.
"Sasuke-kun!" Orochimaru said. "Come to join the fun, eh?"
"Your fun has gotten old, you old pedophile." Sasuke seethed, surprisingly seriously.
Orochimaru's amused gazed faded. His face seemed to say, "I've heard that just one too many times, Sasuke-kun." If she weren't feeling the weight of each moment, Kimiko would've laughed.
"Kimiko, Nao, Yuki," Sasuke said, without looking at them, "get out of here."
He knows Yuki-kun…?
"No!" Nao exclaimed. "We're not going to leave you here!"
"Go, Nao."
Nao shook his head. "No. Before you're our father, you're our sensei. Would you have left Kakashi?"
Sasuke shook his head this time. "Fine. But if this gets too rough, you leave!"
Kimiko said, "Roger!" before Nao could contradict him any more.
The silver-haired boy turned to look around. When he turned back, he said, "It'd just Orochimaru and us now. It looks like the Konoha Ninja are much more impressive than I thought. Even Kabuto-kun is dead."
The shock was clear on Orochimaru's face. Kabuto was his right-hand man, but it was true he'd gotten older.
"And… Karin?" Sasuke asked, half reluctantly.
"I didn't see her, so I don't know."
Orochimaru seemed to shake himself from the trance that Kabuto's death had put him in. He didn't have any back up, not that it should've bothered him. Although, for some reason, it looked like it WAS bothering him. Now that Kimiko looked at him, with the amount of medical training she'd recently had, he looked weak, and sick. She knew that he switched bodies ever three years. Was his this his third year? That was her best guess. Anything else, for a Sannin like him, just seemed unreasonable. The body was beginning to wear out.
"He can't fight…!" Kimiko said.
Sasuke, Nao, and Yuki looked at her. "What?!"
"That body's not strong enough to sustain him much longer. That's why he's so eager to get his hands on Nao." Kimiko explained. "A slip up, eh…? Orochimaru…?"
Orochimaru smirked. "I knew you were a smart one, Kimiko-chan. To figure all that out just by looking at me…? I'm impressed."
"Kill him."
The three turned to Yuki. He had a very dark look on his face.
"I agree." Naruto, and everyone else's consent came. "Why wouldn't we kill him?"
"No reason." Sasuke seethed.
Orochimaru stood his ground, as always. "I'll kill you all." He said. "I will live, and Uchiha Nao will be mine."
He coughed up the snake that held his sword, and took it from him. Then he stood with the sword pointed at the people before him.
And they charged.
Kimiko couldn't see anyone even with her advanced sharingan. All that was there was blurs of people and blood. Other than that, she couldn't tell a kunai from a shurikan.
The last thing she felt was a blade slash across her stomach.
The last thing she heard were people crying her name.
The last thing she tasted was blood.
Then it was all dark.
And everything was gone.
A/N:
CLIFFY! Well, mostly. Sorry if this SUCKED. And I'm sorry I've been gone so long! Really, I am!
B.T.W, by the next chapter, the battle will be over, but you get details..
REVIEW!! Haha. Really, please do. I haven't gotten one in a rather long while! T.T hehe. Thanks for reading!!