Disclaimer: Still in the process of getting part time ownership rights; stay tuned for further details. Until then, I don't own Naruto.
Chap. 11: Only the Trees Know
Naruto and Gaara were bounding through the dense forest, constantly looking around them to spot a potential threat. It was about ten hours or so into the second part, and things were going well, considering nothing happened yet. They needed to retrieve a Heaven scroll, that much they knew for sure.
"Gaara, you sense anything yet?" Naruto asked, and Gaara shook his head. A few little clouds of sand flew back into Gaara's gourd as the two young boys continued their search for any possible targets. With Gaara's tracking sand at work, and Naruto being able to track air movement with only his middle and index fingers extending outward a bit, they would eventually find someone.
Baki had once told Naruto that his affinity to wind was almost inconcievable. He had great a natural talent at using wind power, and aside from the Jounin and Temari, his control over it was the best out of the Suna team. He had learned how to sense ripples in air flow caused by chakra, breathing, and heat or cold. The only drawback was that it required a lot of concentration.
Suddenly the two stopped, and jumped in opposite directions to avoid a spray of senbon needles. The two Suna Genin landed in a small clearing, and turned to see a group of three ninja wearing straw hats and carrying umbrellas. The tallest one, and apparant leader of the group who had a scar over his right eye, stepped forward with a grin. He looked to them and spoke, "Allright small fry, hand over your Earth Scroll and we'll let you live."
Naruto smiled under his mask, "So, that means you got a Heaven Scroll then." He turned to Gaara, and the red headed Jinchuuriki nodded to his teammate. Naruto turned back to the three Rain nin and laughed, "Nah, I think we'll take your scroll instead. It would be easier than for us to win against you three than pretend to lose and hand over our scroll." Naruto then went into a fighting stance while Gaara did likewise.
The leader of the Genin of the Hidden Rain team just grinned, "Fine then. Baiu, Midari, I'll handle these two myself." The guy pulled out his umbrella and laughed, "You idiots were stupid enough to enter as a two person team, and now you challenge me to a fight? Heh, whatever, your funeral."
"Shigure, don't you think that's a leaning towards overkill with these two?" spoke Midari, the second tallest of the three with black markings over both his eyes that resembled facial paint. Shigure gave him a look, and Midari was quiet after that.
Gaara gave Shigure a look to the opposing Ame-nin, "We would advise you to surrender. It would be in your best interest to give up and hand us the scroll instead of attacking us."
Shigure shook his head, "Whatever, this battle will be over soon enough." he tossed his umbrella in the air, and made a few handseals, "Take this! Jouro Senbon!" the umbrella sprayed out a shower of senbon needles that was aimed for Naruto and Gaara.
"Tch, I've had worse." Naruto laughed, and crouched a bit with his palms opened up, "Fuuton: Buyou no Senkaze no Jutsu!" Naruto quickly spun around as a whirlwind kicked up the dust in the area. The needles were deflected by the maelstrom, and Naruto stopped shortly after with a smirk on his masked face. Gaara meanwhile had covered himself in a cocoon made of sand. The sand crumbled away, dropping the deflected needles to the ground harmlessly.
Shigure looked irked to say the least. He barely had time to react as a fist to the fist sent him flying backwards a bit. Naruto stood in his low crouching stance while Gaara sent a torrent of sand towards the three ninja.
Gaara lifted his two hands and spoke, "Suna Kanadzuchi!" three seperate streams of sand sprouted out of the ground, and sent the three Ame-nin into the air. Gaara quickly caught them, and slammed them into a nearby tree. They all slumped to the ground, unconcious, but not dead. Gaara was pleased with this outcome.
After scrounging through their pockets, the two Suna-nin found their scroll, and it was indeed a Heaven Scroll, "Well, that was easy. Let's go, Gaara."
"Right. I'm sure Nee-san and Kankuro will be joining us at the tower soon enough." spoke the sand user. They jumped into the woods, heading to the central tower.
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As the two Jinchuuriki left the clearing and the three unconcious Ame-nin, Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame came out of their cover and looked around. Akamaru, while not terrified by the battle, was a bit jumpy. According to what Kiba understood, those two were quite powerful. What bothered him more was that the masked Suna-nin was bothering Kiba's sense of smell. His scent...it seemed familiar...but why?
"Um...Kiba-kun, we should get moving if we plan on getting an Earth Scroll." Hinata spoke quietly, shaking the boy from his thoughts. He nodded, and the three Leaf Genin jumped off to find said scroll.
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Temari and Kankuro were taking a short break, since it was around lunch time. They had been in the forest for almost ten hours now, and had seen nothing aside from a few squirrels and a snake (which Temari promptly killed out of sheer fear of being bitten. Kankuro would later identify it as nothing more than a harmless garter snake).
"Man, it sure is harder to find anyone without Gaara and the squirt to help us track movements." Kankuro said, and Temari nodded. She finished her ration bar, then took a swig from her canteen before passing it to Kankuro.
Suddenly, a snap of a twig was heard. The two teens stiffened slightly, but remained motionless. They slowly began to continue their activities while sending each other silent messages with their eyes. The sound of a kunai whizzing through the air caught their attention, and they jumped back to avoid injury. A group of Leaf ninja appeared before the group. All three were male, and were grinning. Temari immediately categorized them under the 'No-talent-but-managed-to-get-this-far' group. Kankuro sighed. They looked to maybe be third year Genin, as they were around the same age as the siblings.
"Well, well, looks like we lucked out. Give us your Earth Scroll or we'll have to fight you. We've got the fight in our favor, three to two." spoke one of the three. Kankuro snorted at those words.
"So you've outnumbered us. Big deal, ever here of the saying that it's quality, not quanity, that determines a fight?" spoke the puppet user.
Five minutes later found the three Genin tied to a tree by wire while Kankuro was putting the newly acquired Heaven Scroll in a pocket while whistling. Temari turned to the three angry Leaf-nin and winked at them, "It's been fun boys, but we have places to go and people to see." and with that, the two siblings left the Leaf nin humbled and humiliated.
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Naruto and Gaara were about halfway into their journey to the tower when the felt a breeze blow through the trees. Killer intent suddenly washed over the area, and Naruto froze in place while Gaara stiffened a bit. This feeling was...horrid...a murderous intent that seemed almost inhuman.
"W-what the hell?" Naruto spoke while he turned to Gaara. Gaara shook his head, and uncorked his gourd.
"I don't know...but it's in our pathway to the tower...we should be ready." Gaara replied, and Naruto nodded as the two slowly moved through the darkness.
Minutes later found the duo overlooking Konoha Team Seven facing off with a Grass-kunoichi. She had taken off her straw hat and was now running through the thick foliage as Sasuke tried to keep up with her. Naruto and Gaara themselves were having difficulty tracking down the amazing speed that Genin usually didn't possess...usually...
"Well?" asked Gaara. Naruto shook his head as Sasuke was kicked into a tree. Sakura jumped in front and spoke to the Grass-nin.
"Stop, we give up! Just take our scroll and leave us!" the pink haired kunoichi threw her Heaven Scroll to the taller kunoichi. However, what happened next made Naruto's concern rise.
The Grass nin laughed, and ignited the scroll into flames, "I'm not here for a silly little scroll, you foolish girl. I'm here for Sasuke." she pulled out a kunai, and threw it in Sakura's direction.
Sakura was prepared to block the weapon with her own kunai, but was surprised to see a wave of sand catch it instead. The Grass nin then turned and was blasted by a strong gust of wind.
"Hey, I don't know what your problem is, lady, but the girl just said she gives up! Leave her and her teammate alone!" Naruto spoke as the enemy kunoich landed gracefully on a nearby branch.
"Heheheheh...well, if it isn't the Suna nin. What are you doing protecting the Leaf nin? Run along before I decide to make things painful for the two of you." laughed the Kusa-nin. She went into a taijutsu stance and smiled wickedly.
"Are you okay?" Naruto asked Sakura, and she silently nodded, "Hey, Gaara, this crazy lady's fast, let me take care of her. Do you think you could guard them while I deal with her?"
"Sure, just be careful, Naro." Gaara nodded, and moved closer to the two wounded Leaf nin.
Naruto then turned to find that the woman was gone. He closed his eyes, and lifted his two middle and index fingers. He didn't feel anything irregular...
"Naro, behind you!" cried Sakura. Naruto whirled around to see the Kusa-nin appear out of the tree behind him. She quickly delivered a punch to his gut, and followed up with a kick to his jaw in a matter of seconds. He went flying into a nearby tree, and smacked the back of his head, knocking him out. Sakura quickly threw a kunai to his general direction, and the weapon imbedded his jacket into the tree, holding him in place.
Gaara went into a stance, and turned to the now standing Sasuke, "I'm going to need your help...I'm not as fast as her..."
Sasuke nodded, "Watch out though, she can use Doton substitution." Gaara turned back to the enemy, and blasted a wave of sand at her. She jumped to the side, and avoided the attack completely. However, she didn't notice that Sasuke was now at her side. He quickly delivered a powerful kick into her ribs, and she crashed into a tree. Gaara sent another wave of sand, and trapped her to the tree, only one hand was left free. Sakura threw a kunai, piercing the hand and imbedding it into the bark, leaving the Kusa nin vulnerable.
Sasuke took his chance and went through a series of seals at rapid fire pace, "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!!!" using some guided wire that he wrapped around the Kusa-nin, a stream of fire towards the woman. She screeched in pain as she was incinerated by the flames...that is until she suddenly metled.
"Substitution!" Sasuke yelled out, and the kunoichi reappeared behind Gaara.
"Well, well, the Shukaku boy, eh?" she smirked at the small amount the shock on his face. For a split second, the woman's hands glowed an eerie blue hue. She delivered three precise jabs to the boy's navel at blinding speed before his sand could react, and he reeled over unconcious. She sneered at her victory, and turned back to the remaining Konoha-nin, "Now then...to take care of what I came here for..."
Her neck suddenly stretched and before he could react, bit her teeth into Sasuke's neck. He cried out in pain as burning sensation was felt rack through his body. The Kusa-nin retracted her neck and laughed as she looked upon the Uchiha boy.
"Sasuke!" Sakura ran up to said boy, and held him up as he screamed in pain, "What did you do to him?!" she screamed out.
Instead of answering the girls question, the woman put a hand over her face and seemed to peel away the skin there. A pale, ghastly face with snake-like eyes replaced the womanly features just moments ago, "Oh, don't worry about him. If all goes well, he'll be even more powerful than before."
"Who are you?!" Sakura yelled, standing up with kunai in hand. She was scared, yes, but she would be damned if she didn't protect Sasuke and the other two who had helped them.
"I am Orochimaru...and if Sasuke wishes to seek power...then he will come to me in due time, kukukuku..." spoke the person, who appeared to actually be a man.
"You freak!" Sakura was about to run at the man, but Orochimaru dissapeared in flurry of leaves.
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Sakura was sitting under a tree's upturned roots, watching over the three boys who had been unconcious for about a day now. This wasn't good...Sasuke had a fever, Gaara was out cold, and the blonde boy she had confirmed to be Naruto was unresponsive. She had chanced to look under his mask, and indeed, it was her missing teammate. It took every bit of her willpower not to hug the boy out of joy, but she had to attend to the matter of the wounded right now.
"I just hope you three are going to be okay..." she spoke, and suddenly Naruto stirred. He looked around, and noticed that he was under a tree. He felt that his mask was still on, and turned to his friend Gaara. He checked over him, and realized that he was alive, yet unconcious.
"Did you bring us here?" Naruto asked Sakura after taking a seat.
Sakura nodded, "Yeah...I figured that since you two helped us out that I owed you that much..." she dropped her head, and turned to Sasuke, "That woman...was actually a guy named Orochimaru. He did something weird and bit Sasuke in the neck. There's some weird marking there now. He's got a fever now too."
Naruto turned to the shaking boy, and noticed she was right, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you two better. Gaara and I are strong...but that guy was fast..."
"He also did something weird to Gaara..." she spoke again, and that got Naruto's attention, "He made his hands glow blue, and did some weird kind of punching attack on his stomach...he's been unconscious for awhile now..."
"How long has it been since we started the second part?" Naruto asked her quietly.
"It's been about twenty-three hours and fifty-two minutes..." Sakura replied to the masked blonde.
"That long?" Naruto got on his knees, and picked up a rock. He tossed it at Gaara's head, and was pleased to see that a small stream of sand deflected it. What did the attack on Gaara do then?
The two remained quiet for awhile, then Sakura spoke up, "Naro...can I ask you something?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Sure?"
"Well...um..." before she could finish her sentence, a blast of wind interrupted their conversation.
Sakura and Naruto turned to look in the clearing, only to see the same three Sound nin from earlier today. Naruto cursed under his breath. He gave Sakura a look, "Stay here, I'll-"
"No, I'm not leaving you to take them on alone. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't fight." she pulled out a kunai, and looked to see Naruto...smiling?
Naruto felt his pride for Sakura grow as she looked defiantly at him, and he nodded, "Okay then...looks like at least one of them can use wind...this should be fun for me."
The two jumped out of their hideout, and they stared down the three with glares, "What do you guys want?" Naruto asked, gritting his teeth.
The leader of the group, Dosu, who was covered in bandages, stepped forward, "We're here to take care of the Uchiha..."
Naruto growled, "Hey, what's with it and attacking an unconscious? Get out of here and I'll pretend this never happened."
Zaku, a boy with hair standing up sneered, "Hey, it's Shorty! I was hoping to get a chance to fight you." Zaku lifted his hands, and smirked.
Sakura quickly threw a kunai, and it went past the group, and cut a string. Dosu soon found himself avoiding a giant log by mere inches while another one came flying at him from the other direction. He avoided the second one, only to see Sakura throwing a spray of kunai at him. He rolled to the side, and felt himself get knocked back by a blast of air.
He crashed into a tree, but quickly got up with a growl, "So, you're a wind user too? Heh, this should be fun for Zaku then."
Sakura was occupied with avoiding Zaku's blasts of wind while trying to find an opening. She had no traps left, and none of them had worked. She landed, and felt a tug on her hair, "Hmmph...what beautiful hair you've got here..." Kin, the female member of the Sound team mocked, "You know, if you spent more time training and less time on this hair of yours, maybe you wouldn't have been caught in such a predicament."
Sakura, however, remembered a lesson she recieved from Kakashi about such a scenario. She slowly turned around with kunai in hand, and cut her hair with a swift slash of the weapon. Pink strands fell to the ground. Sakura gave a silent prayer for her once beautiful hair, and ran at the black haired girl with renewed sense of determination. Kin, who had not expected this, fell back a few steps only to find the girl she was fighting gone.
Suddenly, the world began to spin around her. She found herself growing dizzier by the second as it spun faster and faster. Just when she thought she was about to vomit, she felt herself stop, and felt a tug on her own hair, "Hm...now what was it you said about hair? I will admit, mine was beautiful, but if I'm not mistaken, a kunoichi with extremely long hair is just as bad as a girl who purposely keeps her hair in great shape and longer to catch an enemy in this kind of situation..." she pulled at Kin's hair as she spoke into her ear, "...but getting caught in a genjutsu as simple as the one I pulled off is just as bad." Sakura yanked at Kin's long strands, earning a scream of pain from the Oto-kunoichi. Sakura quickly delivered a snap kick as she spun Kin around, and the enemy kunoichi was sent flying backwards as Sakura took her stance, staring at Zaku, "Well, what are you waiting for?"
Zaku smirked, and yelled out as he opened up the valves on his hands, "Zankuuha!" the blast went flying at the kunoichi, and she didn't have time to avoid the supersonic blasts of wind.
Bracing herself, she put her hands in front of her face to shield herself. However, a giant tree seemed to fall from nowhere, and she looked to see the wooden mass take the attack, shattering it into millions of pieces of bark. Before she could say anything further, a figure in green jumped down and went into a stance.
"Lee?" Sakura spoke, looking at the Taijutsu specialist that she meet earlier...and had been slightly creeped out by.
"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" he asked, and she nodded, "Good to hear. Do not worry, I shall protect you and assist the Suna-nin." he gave her a thumbs up, and jumped over to assist Naruto.
Naruto was having difficulty with this Dosu character. Naruto, for some reason, felt that he should avoid that metal arm at all costs. Why, he wasn't quite sure though. He would feel a slight uneasiness in his stomach whenever he got too close to the bandaged ninja, and thus brought Naruto to his decision that close range was not a good idea for him. Naruto moved to avoid another attack from the bandaged Genin, and this time it brushed against his side. Naruto felt his body shake a bit, and he fell over in a sudden daze. The world wouldn't stop spinning...
The blonde looked to see Dosu give him a cold glare with his one visible eye, "Heh, impressive. You're still standing after I managed to hit your side...your tough, but no Genin can survive a direct hit from my Melody Arm and stay conscious..." Dosu pulled back his right arm to attack, but was knocked a few yards back by a green blur.
Naruto eventually gained his bearings and looked to see a boy with a bowl cut and green spandex. He was a Konoha nin from the hitai-ite around his waist, "Are you allright, Suna-nin?" Naruto nodded, and got up slowly with the boy's help, "I am Rock Lee, and I have come to help you. You have protected Sakura-chan, and I cannot let these enemy ninja defeat you. Allow me to assist."
Naruto gave him a grateful nod, "Thanks, my name's Naro Uzaki. I appreciate your help." Naruto turned to Dosu, who was getting up with a groan, "That was fast...I didn't even sense you unleash any chakra when you did that..."
Lee grinned, "That is because I am unable to mold chakra. Even though I cannot perform ninjutsu or genjutsu, I still will become a great shinobi with my taijutsu. Hard work can beat even genius, and I wish to prove that."
Naruto found himself grinning, but then looked back to Zaku, Dosu, and Kin, who were all getting ready to attack. Sakura joined the two boys, and turned to them both, "Lee, thanks again for the help. Naro...are you okay?"
Naruto nodded, and quickly blocked a few senbon with a kunai as Kin ran at the them again. Sakura went at her and the two were soon entangled in a dance of taijutsu and steel. Naruto decided to go toe to toe with Zaku, seeing as they both were able to use long distance attacks. Lee, using his speed, was proving to be quite an inconvenience to Dosu.
Lee ran around Dosu a few times, and then suddenly appeared in front of the Oto-nin. Dosu had no time to react as he was kicked straight into the air. Lee unraveled the bandages around his arms, and jumped into the air, and within an instant was behind Dosu, shadowing the boy's ascent into the air. Lee quickly wrapped his guaze strips around the Oto-nin, and then grabbed a hold of the sound user. The two started spinning downwards at a dangerous speed, as they began to increase speed in their descent to the ground.
"Omoto Renge!" Lee yelled as they hit the ground, creating a large crater as Lee flipped through the air landing on his feet, avoiding damage from the impact at the very last second. As the dust cleared, Lee slowly got up, and tried to walk, but opening the first gate and using the forbidden taijutsu took its toll on the boy. He staggered, and looked behind as he heard a groan from the Oto-nin he had thought to be defeated, "What?"
Dosu got up, and laughed as he cracked his neck, "Not bad...but luckily for me I had managed to shift the bandages grip on me with my sound waves to loosen them. I was able to lessen the impact by rolling to the side a bit to lessen the impact...still hurt though..." Dosu lifted his Melody arm with a masked smirk, "Time to say goodnight, kid. Leave the work of shinobi to those who can actually use their chakra." Lee suddenly felt his entire body shake as sound vibrations ripped through him. He fell to the ground, unconscious and unmoving.
Naruto saw his comrade fall, and growled in frustration. He was occupied with avoiding Zaku's sonic wave attacks, and now he had Dosu and Kin to worry about as well. Sakura was holding up quite well it seemed, but she was tiring out a bit. Still, her taijutsu was quite better than what Naruto remembered it to be when he was still part of team seven. Her hits were faster, her movements were more graceful. Most of her attacks were with her feet and legs, but her punches were nothing to scoff at.
Naruto suddenly felt himself get knocked back as he was caught in mid-air by Zaku's attack. Naruto was about to crash into a tree when he heard a shout, "Baika no Jutsu!" Naruto bumped into a rather rubbery surface, and turned to see Chouji Akimichi using his clan's signature technique to stop Naruto from crashing into the tree.
"Thanks..." Naruto said as he and Chouji landed. Chouji nodded, and then looked to see Dosu was stuck in place and putting his hands at his sides as though he were wearing pockets, "Kage Mane no Jutsu...success," came the drawling voice of Shikamaru Nara. Dosu growled as he was forced to lift his right arm, and then noticed his other hand going to his Melody Arm. Shikamaru smirked, "You know, it's funny...I noticed that you're mainly a close range guy from the looks of it. I, on the other hand, need to keep my distance in order to use my technique effectively in most cases..." Shikamaru and Dosu slowly walked closer to each other, and the scowl never left the bandaged nin's face. Shikamaru knew that these darkened woods were hindering his family's technique, but he would only need to borrow sometime until Ino used her technique on the girl...
Ino was hiding in a nearby tree, waiting for the right moment. Kin and Sakura were fighting close combat right now, and it didn't help that her family's Shintenshin no Jutsu needed the opponent to remain still in order for it to work properly, "Come on, Billboard Brow...keep her in place for just a few seconds..."
Sakura managed to deliver a swift kick to Kin's ribs, and the black haired girl fell as she lost her wind for a few seconds. Ino gave a silent cheer, and quickly jumped to the ground and hid behind a bush, while performing the needed hand seals. Seconds later, Ino slumped over as Chouji landed next to her body to watch over her as Ino took over the Oto-kunoichi.
Kin was about to get up when she stopped, and drooped her head a bit. Seconds passed, and Kin got up and gave a smile to Sakura, "Hey, Billboard Brow."
Sakura took a step back, but then noticed that Shikamaru and Chouji were here as well, "Ino?"
'Ino' nodded, and picked up a kunai from the ground. She turned to Zaku and Dosu, and put the kunai to her neck, "Give up now, or the girl dies." she held the kunai a little closer as it pressed against her skin. Zaku and Dosu seemed to catch on, and looked to each other.
"You're bluffing..." Dosu said with a hint of humor. Truth was, he had no clue if she was or not. The girl was still Kin...but there was something different...some kind of jutsu was being used to control her.
Zaku was about to raise his hands to strike when the whole area was flooded with a sudden malign chakra signature. Everyone looked towards a swirling, purple vortex, and Sakura let out a gasp as Sasuke Uchiha slowly got up. His skin was covered on his left side in black, flame-like markings. He turned to Sakura, then the others, "What's going on here?"
Dosu smirked, "Heh, so the Uchiha's finally awake. About time..." Dosu sensed the tainted chakra of Orochimaru's curse mark, but he didn't care. As far as he was concerned, this Sasuke wasn't anything more than a kid playing ninja.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "So...you and your team are responsible for attacking us?" Dosu merely nodded, and felt himself become freed as Shikamaru lost control of his jutsu.
Naruto was giving his old teammate a wary look; that chakra...something wasn't right about it. When Sasuke suddenly grinned maniacally, Naruto knew something was up, "Sasuke?"
Sasuke turned to see Naruto, and his eyes widened. He stopped himself quickly, then nodded, "Naro...thanks for helping us...but I'll take it from here..."
Sasuke suddenly dissapeared, and Dosu was sent flying forward as he skidded to the ground. Sasuke grinned a bit, and took out a kunai. He ran at the bandaged nin, and delivered another powerful blow to the head. Dosu was coughing up blood, and his bandages were now stained as he tried to get up. The Uchiha planted the Oto-nin's face into the dirt, and took a look at Dosu's Melody Arm, "Hmm...so...this a device you use for amplifying sound? Nice..." Sasuke drove a kunai into Dosu's right shoulder just below the nerve where a pressure point was, and Dosu howled in pain as the Uchiha seemed to dig the weapon deeper into the boy's skin, "Well, I wonder how useful it will be if you can't even move your arm." Dosu continued screaming as he felt muscle being torn into, and Sasuke only grinned sadistically as he heard the pained cries.
"Sasuke, stop it! He can't fight back anymore!" Naruto yelled, seeing that Dosu was no longer struggling, to overwhelmed by the pain. He was now unconscious, and Sasuke got up. He turned to the others. Suddenly, Sasuke lurched forward as a pain racked throughout his body. He felt a burning sensation on his neck, and fell to the ground.
Ino had removed herself from Kin's body upon feeling the malicious chakra from Sasuke. She was now being held by Chouji as he waited for her to wake up.
Zaku was mad now. Not only had they wasted too much time, but their target had managed to take out one of their teammates, "That's it! I'll just blow you all away in one clean sweep!" Zaku lifted his arms, and Kin's eyes widened as she recognized what was about to happen next, and jumped back quickly as he opened his air valves all the way, "Time to die! Zankyokukuuha!!!"
A giant blast of super sonic wind flew at the team, Naruto being in the front. He went into auto pilot as he went through some seals faster than he usually did, "Fuuton: Kazebakufuu no Jutsu!!!" a wave of high speed winds collided with Zaku's attack, and the two boys were now locked in a battle for dominance over wind power.
"What?!" Impossible!!" Zaku yelled, seeing the short haired boy holding his own against Zaku's ultimate attack. Zaku increased his chakra output, and growled as he strained to knock the blonde Suna-nin away.
Naruto, despite his amazing chakra reserves, was at a disadvantage. He still didn't have complete control of his wind affinity yet, so to keep pouring more and more chakra into his attack was an effort. He turned to the others behind him, "I don't know how long I can hold this attack back, you all need to get out of my way in case I lose ground here!" As he spoke those words, he began to get pushed back a bit. This technique of Zaku's was powerful, he wouldn't deny that. If only he could get a better footing, and if only he had more time to prepare...
The Rookie Leaf nin jumped away, and Naruto began to pour more chakra into his attack. He could see the powerful winds of Zaku's attack slowly gaining the upper hand, and Naruto growled in anger, "You call this a wind attack? Heh, my girlfriend's given me better fights!"
Zaku smirked, "In all fairness, this attack isn't really a wind affinity; it's simply compressed air and supersonic waves being blasted from these air valves!"
Naruto dug deeper into his reserves, and felt himself begin to gain more power, "That's it...a little more..." he let out a burst of chakra, and Naruto's Kazebakufuu no Jutsu began to push Zaku's blasts of air waves, "It's over!!!"
Suddenly, the two attacks erupted, and sent Naruto and Zaku flying into different directions. Naruto crashed into some underbrush while Zaku eventually fell into a small shrub. Kin, while holding Dosu, ran to Zaku. The two turned to Sakura and the others, and she picked up her Earth Scroll and tossed it to Sakura, "We give up." and with that, they left.
Sakura pocketed the scroll, and quickly ran to where Naruto was. She saw a small trail that seemed to be where he skidded when he hit the ground. He was trying to get up, and groaned. That's when she saw it.
Naruto's mask had come undone, and his whiskered face was visible to the world. He saw her, then noticed his mask was off. He panicked, tried cover his face with a sleeve, and quickly pulled his scarf back on. He knew it was too late though.
"Naruto..." she said softly, and walked closer. His eyes widened, and he turned away.
"I...I don't know anyone by that-"
"Naruto, please don't hide from me like that...I know it's you..." she felt some tears fall; her missing teammate and unofficial younger brother was home, "I won't tell..."
Naruto turned to her, and upon seeing her tears, drooped his shoulders, "I...I had a reason to leave...it wasn't be-"
"I know...Kakashi-sensei told us..." she said softly as she gave him a hand to help him up. He quickly retracted it as he heard that last part.
"Wait...you know about...?" he put a hand on his stomach, and she nodded sadly. He immediately turned away, "Well...I guess you really-"
"No, Naruto...we don't hate you for it...if anything...we've got a greater respect for you." she wrapped her arms in a hug that spoke all the emotions of sadness and guilt she had experienced in the past months, "We missed you, Naruto...for awhile, I thought you were..." she didn't finished, and slowly cried.
Naruto found himself silently crying too, "It's okay, Sakura-chan...I'm alive..."
After a couple of seconds, Sakura drew away with an awkward smile, "When did you get so darn strong?"
Naruto blushed, "I have Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari-chan to thank for that...especially Temari-chan..." Sakura sensed a hint of pride when he spoke the Suna-kunoichi's name. She smiled knowingly, and leaned close to her old teammate.
"Uh oh...Naruto, you didn't find a girlfriend...did you?" she raised an eyebrow, and laughed as he blushed, "Wow, Naruto...I didn't know you were into exotic women..." Naruto was beet red now, but managed to speak.
"She and her brothers, and almost half of Suna knows of the fox as well...and they all see me as somewhat of a hero..." Naruto left out the part of Gaara being a Jinchuuriki as well; that was Gaara's choice...wait, Gaara!
Naruto quickly ran to where the others were, and noticed Sasuke seemed to be standing again. He looked to Naruto, and the two seemed to suddenly realize what had happened. Naruto knew Sasuke wasn't dumb enough not to recognize the dobe. The blonde ninja crouched down by Gaara, and looked to Sakura, "You said he got hit where?"
Sakura gave a thoughtful look, "In the stomach...three times I think..."
Naruto gave a groan, "Crap..." Naruto went into his pocket, and pulled out a kunai. He pressed the kunai down to Gaara's arm, only for the sand to stop it. Naruto let out a sigh; Naruto's friend was okay. Naruto shook Gaara gently, and after a minute or so, the redhead opened his eyes slowly.
"Naruto?" the Shukaku Jinchuuriki asked quietly enough that only said blonde heard, looking around. He sat up, and winced in pain as he felt a sharp pain rack through his abdomen.
"Easy, Gaara. You've been unconscious for almost fourteen hours. Sakura-chan here brought us to a safe place after that Kusa-nin got away." Naruto explained.
Gaara looked to the pink haired girl, and gave a nod, "Thank you...Sakura-san." Sakura smiled lightly, and nodded.
"Thank you, Gaara. You and Naro here helped save us earlier, so it was the least I could do. Besides," she smiled, "Suna and Konoha are allies, right?"
Gaara and Naruto nodded, both silently agreeing with those words.
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After a kunoichi named Tenten came and fetched Lee, and team ten made sure everyone was okay, the two Suna nin and team seven went onward. Naruto and Gaara were okay with the scroll situation, but Sakura and Sasuke were still in need of a Heaven Scroll. Naruto briefly told Gaara that team seven was aware of who he was, and explained that he was fine. Gaara seemed acceptant of it, but still warned the group politely not to reveal Naruto's identity for his safety. The two Leaf Genin agreed.
The foursome had taken a short break to rest and eat when a few kunai were caught buy Gaara's sand out of nowhere. Gaara quickly turned to his immediate left, and noticed three ninja wearing breathing masks and wearing Hidden Rain hitai-ite.
"Allright, kiddies, hand over your Earth Scroll, now..." spoke one of the three.
Sasuke got up, and so did Sakura, "You really expect that to happen?"
The same ninja spoke up, "Well, I was hoping for this to go quick...Mubi, Kagari, you know what to do." the three melted into the ground, and now the four Genin were on their guard.
Gaara looked around, and his sand was constantly sending out tendrils...though much to Gaara's surprise, he was having some difficulty in directing it where to go, "Something's wrong with my chakra..." he spoke to Naruto, who turned quickly.
"That Orochimaru guy told you about...he hit you in the stomach three times with some kind of chakra technique...I think he went for your seal..." Naruto spoke quietly, and was relieved to see that neither Sakura nor Sasuke had overheard them. Gaara nodded, and continued with his scanning of the area.
Sasuke's Sharingan was activated and looking over the area, and he sensed no presence with his eyes, "They're hiding themselves well..." he pulled out a kunai, and waited for an attack. Sakura held a few shuriken in each hand, listening for the slightest sound of movement.
Gaara's eyes suddenly snapped open, "They're under us!" the Genin instinctively moved, and fifteen seperate Rain nin jumped out of the ground, weapons drawn and aiming where the four had been.
Sasuke looked over them with his kekkai genkai, "They're all fakes...some kind of clone jutsu..."
"Well, looks like they discovered our secret, Oboro. What now?" one of the clones asked as he turned to the Rain nin with both eyes visible.
"It makes no difference, Mubi, we'll kill them and take the scrolls either-" the clones were cut off from their conversation as a blast of sand destroyed them all. Gaara pulled back his sand a bit slower than usual, and frowned.
"My sands beign weighed down...by water..."
"Hn...Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu...just like when we fought Zabuza..." Sasuke said, and he continued to scan around the area.
Naruto suddenly found a hand grabbing on to his ankle, and the next thing he knew, two solid figures burst from the ground and punched him. Unforutnately, they didn't have time to avoid Gaara's sand as it grabbed a hold of the two. He spun them around by his tendrils, and smacked the two together. They fell with a solid thud, and didn't dissolve. They were real.
"Well, that's two down." Sakura said, and looked around. She suddenly felt cold steel pressed against her neck, and she slowly turned to make brief eye contact, "How did-?"
The Rain nin pressed his weapon against her a little harder, and she turned around again, "Hand over the scroll, or little cherry blossom here dies."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as his Sharingan spun, two tomoes in each eye watching every movement. He slowly developed a smirk on his face, "You're bluffing..."
Oboro laughed, and without warning, slashed at Sakura's throat. Naruto screamed out, and Gaara's eyes became expressionless. Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Sakura-chan!!!!! NO!!!" Naruto ran at the Rain nin, fury blinding him. He was about to aim for the masked nin's throat with a kunai when the man's eyes widened, and he let out a breath. He then fell over as Sakura appeared behind him, hand formed in a shape for chopping at the neck. She had knocked him out.
"Nice job, Sakura." Sasuke said as he deactivated his Sharingan.
Naruto stopped, and looked to where the body of Sakura had been, only to find it gone, "What-?"
"Genjutsu." Sakura said simply with a grin. She rummaged through the unconscious shinobi's pockets, and found the needed and Naruto nodded. Since when did she use that?
Gaara looked to the sky, and then to the others, " I suggest we try and make it to the tower. I'm sure Nee-san and Kankuro are waiting for us..."
The others agreed, and sprinted through the trees towards their destination with their needed scrolls. Within an three hours, they had found the tall building, and a wave of relief spread throughout the group, even to Gaara. They entered the tower, and immediately sat on one of the benches, weary, yet relieved.
They had made it.
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Upon opening the scrolls, Naruto and Gaara were greeted by none other than Baki, "Well, I was wondering when you guys would show up. Temari and Kankuro were getting worried about you two from what I heard from the ninja that their scroll had summoned."
Naruto gave a weary grin underneath his mask. He decided to not tell Baki about his teammates' knowledge of who he was, and instead settled for a hearty laugh, "Sorry, Baki-sensei, Gaara and I got held up helping out someone who was being attacked for no reason. We formed an alliance with two Leaf nin, and made it through with their help."
Baki, despite the fact that his two youngest and possibly most talented students had gotten sidetracked, smiled a little, "Well, I'll be sure to tell the Hokage about that. Never bad to put in good word to your ally's leader, right?" he patted Naruto on the head, "You two have made me proud. Wash up and get some rest, and be sure to see Kankuro and Temari before you go to bed." with that, Baki disapeared in a puff of smoke.
Naruto and Gaara were no more than a minute into their journey to the designated floor where they would stay until the second part was up when the two boys felt an ominous feeling of danger behind them. Naruto slowly turned while Gaara turned around in his usaul placid manner, though if one looked closely in his eyes they could see some slight uneasiness in them.
There, down at the end of the hall was a very distraught looking Temari no Sabaku, and behind her was Kankuro, mouthing the words, 'Run!'
"Where the HELL were you two?! Huh?!! Kankuro and I got through that forest in less than thirteen hours, and here you guys are after a day and some odd hours! I feared the worse! You guys shouldn't have taken that long to-"
"T-Temari-chan, we can explain..." Naruto raised his hands to protest.
"Nee-san," Gaara said, feeling the killer intent from his older sister, "we were-"
"Can it!" she said, pulling out her fan, "I won't be the one your telling it to!" she nodded to her battle fan, unfolded, and being held like a hammer. She unleashed a war cry, and ran at them.
Naruto followed his instincts and ran like the smart shinobi he sometimes was. He knew all to well what Temari could do when angry, and he wasn't in the mood for a review right now.
Gaara was a strong shinobi, and a relatively level-headed boy. He had stared numerous assassins in the eyes as he crushed them, and had killed Jounin with three times his experience with relative ease. Needless to say, he wasn't one who was easily scared. However, there was one thing he knew that held more power than the most deadly of Suna-jounin in all of Wind Country. That thing was an angry Suna-kunoichi. Unfortunately for him, his sister was both one of the best kunoichi in Wind Country, and also very mad. Bad combination for the two Jinchuuriki. Gaara decided for once to join Naruto in his retreat from an inevitable beating. Gaara would most likely hide in his Suna no Muya after some running, and let Naruto take the damage. Naruto would understand, Gaara told himself.
An hour later found a broken and beaten Naruto on the ground while Kankuro explained to a group of Konoha ANBU what had happened so that no arrests would be made. Gaara stayed inside his cocoon of sand, even though Temari had calmed down and was now applying some bandages to her boyfriend.
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When night came, Gaara sat in a small room meditating while Kankuro and Naruto slept. Temari was in the room that was connected to theirs by a door, sleeping soundly as well. Gaara frowned as he opened his eyes. He felt off, and his control over sand was a bit harder to do. His shield of sand still protected him, but when he wished to manipulate sand on his own, it took more of an effort and more chakra. He noticed this back in the forest, and when his sister had banged on his sand dome when she went berserk on the two Jinchuuriki. He sighed, and decided to continue meditating. Until he could find a way to figure out what that Orochimaru person had done, he could only bare with this problem and try and rest his body for now.
After all, he only had three more days until the second part of the exam was over. Who knows what could happen next?
End of Chapter Eleven: Howdy there! This is chapter eleven in all it's Forest of Death glory...hm...I found it a bit short...but I guess it could have been worse. I wanted to change some things a bit, and I guess I succeeded at that. Anyway, Naruto's identity is officially known by team seven, but they'll keep his secret safe. Will he be able to hide it from the others without risking exposure? Well...I could tell you...but I won't, so ha! I may not have chapter twelve up for a week or so...but I promise that it will be full of fun, some humor, some possible fluff, and FLAMES OF YOUUUTH! Ahem...right. Leave me any thoughts, and I'll try and give you feedback! Later!
Jutsu notes:
Jouro Senbon- (Sprinkling Needles)- (Original) As the name implies, this technique involves a shower of senbon needles. Commonly used among Rain nin, this technique involves the user to throw their umbrella in the air and unleash a flurry of senbon down to the battlefield. By utilizing their chakra, the user can guide the needles towards their enemy.
Fuuton: Buyou no Senkaze no Jutsu-(Wind Release: Dance of a Thousand Winds Technique)- (Mine) After his spar with Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro when he first came to Suna, Naruto had tried to work on the spinning move he had used to negate Temari's wind attack. He practiced at it for a few weeks until he had managed to get it down into a decent defense/broad area offense technique. Naruto spins around rapidly in a circle while releasing wind chakra from his palms. He creates a miniature whirlwind that deflects most weaponry and weak offense jutsu, as well as enemy shinobi nearby.
Suna Kanadzuchi- (Sand Hammer)- (Mine) As Gaara trained with Naruto and his siblings, he thought that he should use less violent techniques, such as the Sabaku Sousou (Desert Coffin). Suna Kanadzuchi is merely an attack where Gaara compacts his sand tendrils and gathers harder minerals from the soil to make a condensed bludgeon of sand to hit enemies with a lot of force. While not as lethal as his other techniques, it's faster and should be noted while fighting him.
Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu- (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)- (Original) A fire technique used in conjunciton with a guide wire that helps send a powerful stream of fire to the bound opponent. Sasuke actually used this in the Forest of Death in his battle against Orochimaru, and several times since then. Other shinobi of Konoha know this technique as well, such as Anko Mitarashi.
Zankuuha- (Decapitating Air Waves)- (Original) The Sound ninja Zaku's signature technique. Using the air vents in his arms, Zaku can release blasts of supersonic waves and pressurized air. These blasts are so strong, they can aparantly break rock if enough power is put into them. Zaku uses this technique frequently in his battle against the Konoha nin in the Forest of Death.
Zankyokukuuha- (Extreme Decapitating Air Waves)- (Original) Zaku's ultimate technique. It's basically a stronger version of the Zankuuha, except that it's much larger and is capable of wiping out an entire area in front of Zaku's line of fire. He uses this technique on team seven in the Forest of Death.
Fuuton: Kazebakufuu no Jutsu-(Wind Release: Wind Blast Technique)- (Mine) Is currently Naruto's most powerful wind technique. Simpy put, this attak is a wind based move where Naruto unleashes a high speed wind from his palms to blast away opponents. While it is powerful, Naruto still has a long way to go with perfecting the technique and maintaining control of it. He created this technique during his training in Suna with the Sand siblings and Baki.
Omoto Renge- (Front Lotus)- (Original) A taijutsu techique that is in the forbidden category, due to the fact that it causes bodily strain to the user when it's used in combat. Lee opens up the Initial Gate (First Gate of the Eight Celestial Gates) and releases the restraints in the brain to push his body's limits further, such as increasing his speed and strength when Lee uses it. In Lee's case, he loosens up the bandages on his arms, and begins to dash around the enemy, and suddenly appears in front of them to deliver an upward kick, sending them into the air. Lee then jumps up into the air, chest facing the opponent's back, and wraps his arms and bandages around the opponent to prevent escape. As the two fall downward headfirst, Lee spins the two around at a high speed, and crashes them into the ground. At the last second, Lee lets go of the enemy and releases his bandages to prevent bodily damage from the fall. However, the attack still takes a toll on Lee since he experiences pain from opening the First Gate.
Baika no Jutsu- (Multi-Size Technique)- (Original) One of the Akimichi clan's signature techniques. This jutsu allows the user to alter the size of their body to various sizes. However, this technique uses up body calories, and therefore clan members are often seen eating high calorie food. In Chouji's case, these foods are potato chips usually. This technique is used frequently by Chouji throughout the series, often in conjunction with other clan techniques.
Kage Mane no Jutsu- (Shadow Imitation Technique)- (Original) A technique developed by the Nara clan that involves manipulating the users shadow with chakra. This shadow can further its reach by connecting with other shadows, however, the range of the move is limited by the surface area of the original shadow that was cast. Once the shadow reaches the opponents target shadow, the enemy is frozen in place, and limited to copying the moves of the shadow user, in this case Shikamaru, and speaking and looking around with their eyes. However, if the user's chakra is low, the move will begin to fail, and return to its caster. This move is used quite often by Shikamaru throughout the series, and surprisingly always seems to work on his opponents in the end.
Shintenshin no Jutsu- (Mind Body Change Technique)- (Original)One of the Yamanaka clan's signature techniques. The user makes a few handseals, and then projects their spirit out of their body towards another living being, be it human or animal. The user then has control of the opponent's body and mind, and casts the body's mind aside so that they can take control. However, while this technique is useful for spying and such, it does have its drawbacks. First and for most, it is a slow paced technique, and should the target move out of the way of the user's spirit's path, the user's body will be helpless and lifeless until the spirit returns to the body. Even if the move does work, the user's body will be lifeless, and unable to defend if attacked. Also, any damage done to the target's body, then the user's body will take damage as well when their spirit returns to the original body. Confusing explanation...chances are you already know how it works though, right? Ino uses this technique a few times throughout the series, the first time being on Sakura in the written test portion of the exam so she could steal Sakura's answers.
Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu- (Water Clone Technique)- (Original) A clone jutsu that involves creating water into a physical state matching the user. Unlike an ordinary Bunshin, one made of water has the ability to carry out attacks and deal damage. There are drawbacks though, such as the limited range of the water clone; it cannot travel to far from it's creator. Also, if attacked, the clone reverts back to its water state.
A/N- Wow...um...didn't see that coming with the jutsu notes...I think I'll be doing the one time deal with explanations for each technique...maybe I'll leave a note saying where to find the technique explanation afterwards...all I've got to say is helps a lot with jutsu definitions...and I also want to thank my friends at H&E for your suggestions and tips. By the way, if you've managed to read this far, I salute you...thanks much for reading over the results of my blood, sweat, and tears (of joy).