Chapter 11 – Fangs of the Serpent

The walk down the flight of stairs was a long and dark one. Anko advised her team to stay sharp and to prepare for anything. The team was careful not to trip any traps on their long way down. They began to ask more questions about this place but Anko kept her mouth shut. It put them off a bit but they continued to follow her down. Anko sighed a bit and did feel bad about how she was treating her team. Still, this was her problem and she didn't feel that it was right to bring them into it. That man was hers to kill and no one else.

They finally reached the bottom of the stairs and were now looking down a dark and long corridor. They were still on high alert and wary of traps. Surprisingly, it didn't take long for them to reach a dark room.

"Son of a bitch I can't see a damn thing." Jakken cursed.

"Me neither, is there a light switch around here?" Naruto asked.

"Hang on, I know where it is." Anko said and left the team. She reached the wall and felt where she remembered where it was. She found it and flicked it on. What the team saw would forever haunt them.

"What the," Naruto said in shock.

"Oh my god." Yakumo whispered.

"This… this is… I can't believe this." Jakken spoke in amazement. Surrounding them were tanks filled with unknown creatures. These didn't look like regular animals at all. Some of them looked to be passing their expiration. Yakumo couldn't take it anymore and found a spot to throw up. Naruto and Jakken held it in some but they looked ready to follow Yakumo's example. When Yakumo could speak again, she turned toward her sensei.

"Is this some type of sick joke? What the hell is this place?" she shouted.

"I didn't ask you three to come with me. You should have headed back to the village." Anko said calmly.

"Ok, I've had enough of you! Your bitchy attitude is finally run its course! You tell us what the hell this place is and tell us now!" Jakken shouted. Anko glared at him.

"Who do you think you're talking to boy?"

"We're talking to an irresponsible Jonin who needs to grow up." Naruto added. "How the hell are we to complete this mission when you completely shut us out? I don't really care what you problem is but you're putting us at risk." Anko looked on as all the members of her team glared at her in defiance. She scoffed at them but she would give them what they wanted.

"We are currently in one of the labs that was constructed by Orochimaru. What you see around you is result of his experiments." Anko said with an even tone.

"Orochimaru, the Sannin Orochimaru? The second most dangerous missing-nin ever from Konoha, he did this?" Jakken exclaimed.

"Yes and our mission is to gather information about what he was doing here." Anko said.

"You could have told us that is what we were doing here. Why did you keep this from us?" Naruto demanded.

"That's none of your business!" Anko snapped. She took a breath and looked at her team. "Now that you know what the mission is let's get to work." She said and walked off. The team looked at her retreating back with scowls.

"This is going to be one of those days." Jakken said with a sigh.

"I can't believe that she didn't tell us about this. What is her problem?" Yakumo asked.

"It's much deeper than she's letting on." Naruto said.

"I agree with you there pipsqueak. It's like she has a grudge against Orochimaru." Jakken added.

"Who doesn't have a grudge with him? Old man Hokage was his teacher and every time he speaks of his students, he talks of him as being his one greatest regrets." Naruto explained.

"So what are we going to do? I hate to say it but we have to look out for ourselves until we get out of here." Yakumo said.

"I'm with her. We can't rely on Anko at all." Jakken said.

"Agreed," Naruto said and placed his fingers in a cross. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Two copies of Naruto appeared. "I'll hang with Anko-sensei and you guys go with my clones. We should use our head-sets to keep in touch." The other two nodded and pulled out their head-sets. They set the channel that they were going to be on and tested them. They wished each other luck as they went their separate way.

Unknown to them, a pair of eerie yellow eyes watched them. She had a small smile on her face as she listened in on their conversation. A large python slithered across her shoulders and she lovingly petted it.

"Well, this has turned out quite interesting. Let's have some fun with them."

Anko was searching one of the rooms when she felt someone approached. Naruto entered the room and her eyes narrowed a bit. Naruto didn't look fazed by it.

"So what happened, you drew the short straw and have to deal with me?" Anko mocked.

"Say what you want. Let's just find something and get out of here." Naruto said rudely. Anko didn't look insulted and continued her search for something important. The two of them continued their search in complete silence. After minutes of not talking, Anko got bored. She looked to her student.

"So, you've been acting all high and mighty during these few hours. You think just because the Hokage trained you that you can talk to people how you want to?" she asked.

"No, I only talk to people like that when they are being stupid or ignorant. You should have informed us of the mission. In fact, I think the old man was wrong in giving you this mission in the first place." Naruto answered.

"Oh really? I didn't hear any objections when you guys continue along with me. Wasn't it you who didn't want to miss out on your first C-rank mission?" Anko asked mockingly.

"Yeah, I admit that but you've acting like we don't matter and it has something to do with your problem with Orochimaru." Naruto argued.

"Like I told you before, it's none of your business." Anko growled.

"You made it our business when this mission began! How do you expect us to become a team when you go off on your own like that? How are we to trust you when you won't trust us?" Naruto shouted. Anko took a step back as Naruto yelled at her. She was shocked that he was talking to her like a child. Naruto scoffed and placed two fingers to his neck. "Hey you guys, you got anything for me? What's your status?"

Jakken heard Naruto's voice over the radio and placed his fingers to his neck.

"All's quiet over on this end. Nothing to report." Jakken said. He looked at the room he was in. The place reeked of old blood and chemicals. He guessed that Orochimaru did his most gruesome experiments in this room. He could still see the dry blood on the ground and walls. "This guy was one sick customer."

"That's something we agree on." Clone Naruto said in agreement.

"Did the Hokage tell you anything about this guy pipsqueak?" Jakken asked.

"Nope, he was pretty tight-lipped about him. All I really know was that he was considered a genius in Ninjutsu and that he wished to know every jutsu known in the world."

"That's crazy and impossible. He would grow old and feeble. Besides, there is always a new jutsu coming out. He would have to be immortal if he ever wanted to do such a thing." Clone Naruto was about to answer him when they both hear something. It sounded like rattling. Jakken looked at the clone. "I'm not hearing things am I?" Jakken asked.

"Only if I'm not hearing the same thing." He answered.

"I was afraid of that." The two turned and were faced with a large and mean looking rattle snake. It boar its fangs at the two and was coiled. Jakken placed his fingers to his neck. "Uh, we've got a problem." Jakken reported. The snake lunged at them.

At the same time Yakumo was searching the computer for information. That's when she got Naruto's call.

"I've found nothing so far. It seems like the computer was wiped clean." Yakumo reported. She continued to search through the computer just in case there may be something in the hard drive. She suddenly came across something that looked interesting. She saw the file name. "Project Jugo, I wonder what that is?" She was about to get on her radio when Naruto's clone pulled her away from the computer. He did it just in time as something crashed into the console.

When they got their bearings, they were very surprised to see a large cobra looking at them. They clearly saw the serpent's intentions as it launch itself at them.

Naruto heard Yakumo's scream over the radio and got worried.

"Hey guys, what the hell is going on?" Naruto shouted. Anko was curious as well and moved closer to listen. Jakken was the first to answer.

"Uh, I can't talk right now. I'm trying to avoid becoming dinner for a rattlesnake. Check back later." Jakken's sarcastically replied.

"Someone else is here and they have sent some very large snakes after us." Yakumo reported. Anko eyes widen in shock and ripped the head set off Naruto.

"Yakumo, Jakken, report your positions now!" Anko ordered.

"I believe that you have to be more concerned about yourself." The two turned to the voice and Anko was even more shocked at who she saw. Her eyes blazed with rage.

"YOU!"

"Hello my dear Anko, did you miss your dear old sensei?" Orochimaru asked. Anko roared and charged at him. The man just smiled and took off. Anko was hot on his heels. Naruto put back on his radio and relayed back to his team.

"Send your positions to me, I'll send more clones to back you up." Naruto said as he ran out after Anko. He had to jump back as huge boa nearly ate him up. He watched as the snake blocked his path and growled. He touched his neck. "Looks like we're all in trouble, we have to beat these things and help Anko-sensei." The boa charged at Naruto who prepared himself for a fight.

Anko ran after Orochimaru with urgency. She chucked kunai after kunai at him but the slippery man dodged them all. Finally having enough, Anko thrust her hand forward.

"Sen'eijashu!" she shouted. Four snakes shot out of her selves and launched toward Orochimaru. The man saw this and used his chakra to push himself forward. He jumped and twisted in mid-air to avoid the attack. He descended to the ground of a large stadium. As he landed, he was about to take off when he was stopped by several kunais. Orochimaru turned to face Anko who had jumped down to confront him.

"I've been waiting for this day. Now it's time to end you." Anko said and got into a stance. Suddenly Orochimaru began to laugh at Anko but what confused her was that this voice was female. He looked at her with a smile.

"Sorry dear," the female voice said. Anko watched as the façade of Orochimaru faded and was replaced by a girl no older than eleven. "You're going to have to wait a bit longer for your revenge."

"Who the hell are you?" Anko demanded.

"The name is Midoshi. You can call me an acquaintance of that pale-skin freak master of yours." Midoshi answered.

"So he's not here?"

"Nope, it's just me. I was beginning to think that this trip would be a bore but it turned out very interesting. It wasn't hard to get you away from your team which surprises me. I thought Konoha valued teamwork and all that." Anko cursed at the fact that she was easily led on. She needed to get to the brats before those snakes ended their lives. Midoshi noticed where her mind was and put a stop to it. With a shout, she blew the entrance up on both sides of the crater. Anko watched as the entrances were blocked.

"Now, now, I went through all that trouble to separate you from them." Midoshi said sweetly. Anko growled at her.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Anko spat.

"Just a little spar, Orochimaru spoke very highly of your skills. If you impress me enough, I may let you continue to summon Mai." Anko was shocked at that revelation. "Are you ready yet? I do get terribly bored."

"You picked the wrong day to fuck with me girly. Get ready to die!" Anko said and charged at the young woman. Midoshi just smiled.

Authors' Notes: Been a while since I updated this story but the wait is over and a new chapter is up. It's a bit shorter than the others but it a new chapter. The chapter moves a bit fast but I promise that it will be the only one that does. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.

Sen'eijashu – Hidden Shadow Snake Hands