Vengeful Sage

Chapter 11: More Than He'd Asked For…

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto…

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A young blond boy sat with his head resting on the backs of his interlocked fingers, lost in thought. So much had happened in so little a while, it felt almost surreal. Just a month ago, everything had been normal – or as normal as things could have been, given how the village continued to ostracize him for something far beyond his control, but of course, he had learned to ignore them long ago. They were beneath him. And he was above giving a damn.

He continued to learn under the tutelage of his mentor, and teacher, and dare he say it, the person he could say came closest to being considered his friend, and then, it was all wiped out in a heartbeat. Danzo, the commander of Root, the Black Ops organization he had joined in order to gain experience in the practical world and hone his skills had sent him to retrieve the eyes of his master, the fabled eyes of Uchiha Shisui, eyes that had grown legendary for their ability to cast Kotoamatsukami, one of the most powerful genjutsu of all time. He himself had merely heard of its capabilities, through tales that his master had regaled him with.

He had poured all his power into arriving on time, but alas, he was too late. He could do nothing but watch on as Shisui lay dying, and as his teacher breathed his last, comply with his last wishes and desecrate his eyes. He had escaped when he realized Itachi had arrived on the scene, and left the elder Uchiha to take care of the body. He was cowardly, immensely so, but he had done it. He had handed over those legendary eyes to his commanding officer. He had proven his loyalty to Root, above all else. In the eyes of Danzo, he had finally broken all bonds of fellowship, and breezed through his rite of passage. He was now a full member of the Black Ops, but his heart wasn't in it.

After that, it was one piece of bad news after the other. Soon, the Uchiha had all retreated into their compound, barring him and anyone else from entering, and the next morning, the adults were all found dead, with all evidence pointing towards his other friend, Itachi as the culprit. He was confused. He didn't understand why Itachi would have, or even could have done this. Sasuke was left as nothing but a shell of his former self for days on end.

By the time he recovered, he had become obsessed with revenge, spending day in and day out training, in preparation for the day he would finally unleash his sorrow upon the brother that had shattered his Utopia and slain his parents, leaving only some of the Uchiha children alive, with him being one of the oldest.

Without any adult guardians to look over them, they had become easy pickings for anyone who wanted to get their hands on some Uchiha blood. In the first day alone, there had been no less than two dozen kidnapping attempts, nearly half of which were successful. He personally knew of at least four young Uchiha children that had been picked up by Root, who, had things been any different, he would have had to train.

However, today was the graduation exam, and in about a week, he would be assigned to his Genin team. Good thing too… He couldn't bear to work any longer with Danzo. The man was atrocious, killing loyal men just to gain more power. Well, he may have done the same, had the situations been reversed, but then who gave him, and Sarutobi, and every other freakin' group in Konoha the moral high ground to claim that they worked for the betterment of the village, or to establish peace among the lands.

No, they all merely endeavored to consolidate their power base is all. And then, they called it the greater good. At least the other villages weren't so hypocritical about it.

It was only when the total Uchiha population of the village had dropped into the single digits that the Hokage woke up from his neglectful stupor, and arranged for anyone not yet a ninja to be adopted by a shinobi family / clan, while the Genin were forbidden from living alone. Sasuke and Kiyomi, along with two other genin were all the ninja that were left of the once mighty Uchiha clan. And Itachi, of course, but his very name had become taboo. And him, but then, the number of people who knew that could be counted on one hand.

Naruto was broken out of his thoughts when the door slammed open, as two of the greatest annoyances known to man barged into the doorway simultaneously, each one trying to push the other out of the way as she placed her foot into the classroom. In the end, it was Sakura that came out victorious, and the second round of pink versus blond electro-static glaring commenced.

Naruto would have ignored the duo had they not been racing over to where he sat the very next second, foregoing their earlier rivalry to put up a united front in the face of the daunting figure of their whiskered classmate who had usurped their rightful place beside their beloved. Despicable.

The very sight of such pathetic individuals whose days were squandered vying for the attention of a boy who had made it plain for all to see that he wasn't interested occupying the position of top kunoichi of the year disgusted him. It just went on to show how truly worthless this place had become. Not that he cared of course.

On the seat beside him sat his long time friend and training partner, who he had won over the day he had first defeated him in a spar at his clan compound. Sasuke Uchiha, hailed as a genius, one of the last known wielders of the Sharingan in Konoha, tied for top in everything with the blond, was brooding. Over the past weeks, his mood had grown ever worse, with Naruto as the only one who could ever cause him to cheer up, even then, not for long. Only while training did he truly feel free, for he knew that with each moment he spent in the training field, he was drawing ever closer to his ambition. To finally killing 'that man'.

Before the two female menaces could get their clamor going once more, the entire class immediately froze as a giant head - bloated way out of proportion – suddenly filled the space between the teacher's desk and the ceiling, a shrill exasperated shout emanating from within.

"Quiet!"

And lo and behold, there was silence.

Two chunin stood at the front of the class. To the right, was their head instructor – Iruka - a man with dark eyes and brown hair that he kept back in a ponytail. A scar running across the bridge of his nose formed one of his most well-known defining characteristics. By his side, stood his assistant Mizuki, a man with green eyes and white, shoulder length hair, with a hint of blue mixed into it.

Having garnered the class's attention, Mizuki walked over to the door and slammed it closed, just as a bell rang in the background, signaling the start of what for many would be the last day of the academy before the term break, and for others, would be the day of their graduation exam, and possibly the day they became shinobi in full.

A pair of heads could be seen peeking into the classroom from outside the door, undoubtedly tardy students that had couldn't arrive before the doors were closed. Pathetic. To think they thought they could be shinobi!

As the teacher passed out the exam, he could tell that he would pass, hands down. The level of difficulty that this test posed was no greater than what he had grown accustomed to over the years, absolutely pitiful.

An hour later, he walked out of the academy building, donning a leaf hitai-ate across his forehead. Hopefully, he wouldn't ever have to return. He felt no pride in putting on the symbol of the leaf, which – years ago – had been a dream. He was past that now. No, this was no more than the means to an end.

As he began his trek back home, he sensed a presence watching him. Coming to a stop where he stood, he looked behind him to see no one. He continued on, as if nothing unusual was afoot, and entered into the small set of trees that bore proximity to his position. Once he was confident that he was beyond range of any potential watcher's gaze, he waited. Moments later, Mizuki emerged from behind the academy building, making his way towards a young boy whose sullen expression as he swung back and forth in the playground revealed that he had failed his graduation test. It was a pity too.

Sado was a really hard working boy. Despite being an orphan, he had managed to scrape by outside of the academy, and for a short while, had been Naruto's only friend, long before the blond had begun to leave his peers behind in the dust. Naruto had even taught him his sexy jutsu, which, he had newly come up with at the time, and which Sado had continued to make use of as pranking material, much to the ire of Iruka-sensei. Of course, they had slowly drifted apart as the Jinchuriki gained new priorities to his life, and his old life became relatively insignificant.

What Naruto now held for the boy could no longer be termed friendship, nor any sense of attachment for that matter, but he could relate. He could empathize with the difficulties of a fellow victim of the same system, and wish him well as a final statement of defiance against the people of Konoha and what they represented. Of course, he wouldn't go out of his way to help him either. The blond himself had excelled on the basis of his merits alone, and Sado would have to do the same. If he failed, then he wasn't worth his time anyway.

However, Naruto knew the kind of person Mizuki was. He trampled on anyone he could, especially if he knew they couldn't fight back, and that is what made him wary of the man in the first place. Seeing the sinister smile on his face when he approached the young boy, he knew something was up. Sado, on the other hand, was far too meek and innocent to realize the mal-intent that his instructor reeked of. And so, it was no surprise when the boy's face lit up like it was his birthday.

'Definitely a dastardly plot to humiliate the boy even further, and gain something for himself out of it.'

And so, it was curiosity that led Naruto Uzumaki out that night, following after Mizuki from the shadows as a kage bunshin of his trailed Sado. Soon, he realized what the plan was. While Mizuki led all the village ANBU on a wild goose chase, posing as a rogue Kiri-nin, Sado infiltrated the Hokage Tower to steal a large scroll. A scroll that he recognized on sight. The forbidden scroll of sealing. The naïve young boy ran, and Naruto's clone followed. Pretty useful technique, that Kage Bunshin was, all thanks to Shisui – his soul rest in peace.

Meanwhile, it was interesting to see how Mizuki threw off his chasers by discarding his clothing, dropping his Henge, and reporting to the nearest ANBU team for duty. Conveniently enough, the black ops leader assigned him to search in precisely the location he needed to be, where Sado was waiting. By the time he got there though, he realized he had been bested by Iruka, who had gotten hold of both Sado and the scroll before him. Damn those ANBU for detaining him longer than necessary!

Mizuki readied his Fuuma shuriken, and let loose with a violent throw at the boy. At the last second, Iruka leapt up at the oncoming missile, defending the boy with his back. His body speared through with a foot long blade, Iruka crumpled to the ground. Oh, how he knew this would happen. How he had anticipated this very turn of events. Those emotional fools could be so predictable sometimes. Mizuki had known that Iruka was the only threat there. And were it not for the time limit, even he was not much of a challenge. The boy could be dealt with at any time. And so it was, that with pinpoint accuracy, his kunai descended into the chunin instructor's neck, putting him to his final rest.

As Mizuki jumped down to the forest floor, Sado took hold of the giant scroll tightly, not willing to let go of the valuable object that his teacher had given his life trying to protect. Mizuki towered over the boy's cowering form as he extended his hand, "Hand over the scroll, boy."

"No way! Iruka-sensei died to protect this scroll. You lied to me! I won't let you have it…" Sado exclaimed, as he retreated, crawling.

It surprised Naruto how the kind and soft-spoken boy he knew seemed to have grown a backbone. Perhaps there was some hope for him yet…

"Then you can die too protecting it. Say hello to Iruka for me, would you?"

With that, he body flickered over to the boy's position and plunged his kunai downwards. However, instead of the soft flesh he had expected, it was a solid, unwavering tanto that his blade impacted with. Naruto had jumped in at the last second, deciding to spare his childhood friend one last try at making something of his life.

Not wanting to lose the element of surprise that he still held, the blond let loose a powerful sidekick into Mizuki's stomach, sending him careening into the foliage behind him.

Sado released a quiet sigh of relief as he discovered the identity of his last minute savior. He had been practicing with the Shadow Clone Jutsu for half an hour, and he was dead on his feet. Even now, he had been going on sheer adrenaline, else he would have succumbed to unconsciousness fifteen minutes ago. The technique required a monstrous amount of chakra, and despite him having more chakra than several of his peers - barring some of the clan kids and Naruto of course – he was nowhere near prepared for the amount that the Kage Bunshin demanded. Only forming one clone, with varying levels of success; had lowered his reserves to dangerously low levels. Seeing one more capable than himself entering the playing field, his eyes grew heavy as Nature took its due course. Within seconds, he was asleep.

It didn't take long for Mizuki to get back up, ready to exact retribution on the one who decided he could mess with him when he was on a tight schedule. And that kick hurt too. But all this while, Naruto wasn't sitting idle either. The moment Mizuki emerged from the cover the trees provided him, he was forced to dodge to the left as a flight of shuriken came his way. Jumping to the side, he pulled out a kunai from his weapons pouch, deflecting the second and third volley of projectiles that came soaring his way.

The Kyuubi brat… The kid that had been the cause of several dozen headaches back in the day, just before spontaneously going quiet and apparently repenting from his prankfully wayward ways. Regardless, he remained a victim of his loathing and ill-feelings. The boy was a symbol of all that he had lost, his uncle, cousin, aunt; all lost at the hands of the walking natural disaster that was the demon fox. He had – for years – wished he could get back at it somehow, make it feel the misery it had inflicted upon him, make it somehow experience his pain; and the only way he knew how was through its container. And if he killed the container, the Fox's spirit too would be snuffed out; or at least that's how it should work… And now, the very same individual who needn't do much to earn his ire in the first place, stood in his way to success; to power beyond his wildest dreams. How fortunate that he could kill two birds with one stone. (Same bird, really…)

As he parried the weapons that rained down upon him, he jumped up to a tree branch above him and returned fire with his signature Fuuma Shuriken, a glint of steel revealing the shinobi-grade wire that trailed behind. Naruto dodged the giant weapon and leapt upwards, pushing through the air with a Futon: Reppushou. As Newton's Third Law ran its course, Naruto rocketed through the air in pursuit of his target, zigzagging like a deflating balloon. In a matter of seconds, he was upon the academy instructor, a wind chakra enhanced kunai clasped firmly in the reverse grip typical of shinobi.

Of course, Mizuki never knew that. So it came as a debilitating surprise when the kunai he had put up to block the jinchuriki's blow was sliced through like paper, leaving a deep gash running down his forearm. He leveled the blonde with an irate look as he pulled.

It was only thanks to his heightened reflexes honed by extensive training with his Sharingan that Naruto knew he had to duck. Even then, he merely escaped by a hair's width as Mizuki's wire controlled giant shuriken erupted from the place he stood just moments before. Without missing a beat, Naruto spun around with a rising kick to Mizuki's chin, propelling him off of the branch the two stood on. Not willing to give his former teacher a moment of reprieve, he shot off behind him.

Naruto knew that he was up against someone with many more years of experience under his belt than he himself did, but that did not worry him. He had dealt with many a chunin before, and even held his own against jounin, though he couldn't say he had bested many. Nevertheless, in his honest – if not humble – opinion, Mizuki did not pose much of a threat. What worried him though was the fact that other Konoha shinobi could arrive any minute now; and he needed to be over with this fight before they did. Otherwise, he would not only have to reveal his skills to the Hokage, but also would lose this perfect opportunity to get his hands on the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing; an object of monumental importance. After all, it had been a depository of the knowledge of some of the greatest shinobi to walk the Land of Fire, if not the entire continent.

And so it was, that Mizuki - who had barely recovered from the blonde upstart's kick to the chin - found himself staring into a burning ball of fire that flew into his path. With no way to avoid it however – 'smart bastard' – he was forced to Kawarimi with a nearby boulder. However, it appeared that the brat had anticipated the maneuver, for a violent gale of wind blasted him off his feet as he went flying once more.

'Where is all this power coming from? He never exhibited such proficiency during any of his spars… It seems I'll have to turn things up a notch.'

That was his last thought before his back was slammed into the trunk of a gigantic tree. Oh, he would be sore tomorrow morning. Momentarily dazed, the man was too late to evade the Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Flame Technique) that followed.

As the smoke from the explosion began to fade, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. His Sharingan still blaring – he couldn't afford being caught unaware at this point – he walked over to the slumped form of Sado, who held the scroll tightly to his chest, despite having already fallen unconscious long ago. It said much for the boy's sense of determination that he continued to hold fast to his objective, even subconsciously.

Regardless, it was no tall task for the blond to pry it out of his clutches into his own eagerly awaiting hands. Had the time and place been appropriate, he would have let out a sinister cackle, to mark his successful procurement of such a sought after article. He immediately sealed it into a mazelike seal tattooed onto his upper forearm, ready to make himself scarce.

Fate though, seemed to have other things in mind as an explosion of chakra from under the charred remains of the tree he had lain waste to was witness to the fact that his adversary had not truly been defeated.

Out of the destruction emerged a tall robust individual that he could barely recognize as his teacher (…..not!) for years. He had gained a wild and feral look, the visible portions of his body covered in tiger like stripes. But most importantly, his chakra felt different. Much more dense and powerful; vile. Delicious…

His Sharingan flared back into life as he observed the man turned beast. A layer of purple chakra covered his body, a similar colored aura permeating the air above him.

Mizuki felt like he was living for the first time. The sheer amount of chakra running through his tenketsu was phenomenal. He felt invincible, unbeatable. No one could dare challenge him now. He would give the Kyuubi brat what had been long coming, and then, he would escape with the scroll. This was the fruit of working for Orochimaru-sama and leaving his pathetic 'friends' behind; and it was just as sweet as he was promised. Soon, he would be the holder of power beyond what anyone in that shit hole of a village could ever dream of, and then there would be payback. He'd serve them their just desserts for treating him like he was expendable. And of course, he couldn't forget the money either. He'd finally be able to settle down with Tsubaki and convince her to come live with him in Otogakure.

'I underestimated the brat earlier. This time, I won't make the same mistake.'

With that, he pounced on the blond unexpectedly, knocking him over to the ground as he stood over his spread eagled body. The strength flowing through his arms was wonderful. With one strike he had downed his opponent, and this next one would be the final blow. Raising his bloated arm high into the air, he brought it down into the jinchuriki's face.

When the dust cleared, nothing but a crater remained where Naruto's face had once been. As the rest of his body dissolved into mud, hands sprouted out from the ground.

'Shit! A clone.'

He immediately leapt high into the air, landing on a tree branch. Almost instantaneously, a volley of kunai shot out from behind another tree trunk, impacting against his large burnt arms which he crossed in front of him. Shrugging off the attack, he jumped off in the direction the attack came from. His bulky arms cut the trunk in half, a poof of smoke from behind it revealing the attacker to have been a shadow clone.

'This is taking too frickin' long! What with all the chakra output, the ANBU will be on us in a couple minutes.'

The same thought presided over the Uzumaki's mind. This was a do or die situation. Naruto ran through a series of hand seals as the shadow clone beside him flashed through hand seals of its own. A massive amount of chakra was pumped into the technique as he held his index and middle fingers in front of his mouth.

"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

"Futon: Atsugai!"

The combination jutsu evolved into a literal firestorm as the blazing inferno rained Hell upon his target. Mizuki - who had felt his body growing slower with each passing second in his transformed state - could not hope to outrun this gargantuan conflagration, and so, he tried in vain to shield himself with his prided arms. Nothing but the smoking remains of a scorched corpse became of efforts. He was finally dead.

Naruto panted as he sought to control his breathing. He had put too much chakra into that combination. Even though it went against his pride to have to resort to such a maneuver where much more subtle methods existed, however, his enemy didn't give him much choice. Even now, he didn't have much time to dally, as half the village was probably aware of his position. He had to leave; now.

But once again, he was hindered. A tall pale shinobi stood before him, with purple lined yellow eyes and waist length black hair. A purple colored rope was tied around his waist, a predatory grin set on his face.

"Absolutely marvelous, young Uchiha. My compliments on defeating Mizuki. Now tell me, where is the scroll?"

"What scroll?" He questioned, perfectly in stride. His confidence didn't waver for a second, though even the way the man walked was reminiscent of the most arrogant shinobi, shinobi who had built up that arrogance over years of experience. He knew this wouldn't be an easy one.

"You amuse me, child. Nevertheless, show me what you can do," the ever present condescending smirk still plastered over his features.

Naruto knew he was working on borrowed time, so he charged, drawing his tanto and running wind chakra through its blade. The man opened his mouth, from which emerged a snake bearing an elegant straight sword in its mouth. Taking hold of the sword, he parried Naruto's swipe, violently pushing his tanto off to the side as he pierced deep into his shoulder, wrenching it downwards towards his heart, then pulling out. The rest of the body disintegrated as it fell lifeless.

Meanwhile, the real Naruto hid below ground, racing away from the battlefield. 'Thank Kami that Kawarimi was just in time,' he expressed a sigh of relief at the close call. 'Holy shit, what is Orochimaru of the Sannin doing here?'

Having witnessed his foe's blatant use of snake summons, he knew immediately who he was up against, and he was far out of his league. He would be extremely lucky if he escaped from this encounter unscathed.

Alas, the man was an S-class shinobi for a reason, and it wasn't for being unresourceful.

The earth split open as Orochimaru slammed his palm onto the ground, spitting out the escaping blond. A giant snake followed in the wake of the powerful display of nature manipulation. Naruto wasted no time in ensnaring it in one of his ocular genjutsu, before rushing off towards the village once more.

A moment later, his path was blocked by the snake like shinobi, whose very stare very nearly inhibited his muscular movements. Very nearly being the key word; he narrowly avoided being reduced to paste as a chasm opened up beneath him, at the ready to swallow him up. Despite the sharingan's ability to process lightning fast exchanges instantaneously and show them to the user in slow motion, he was nowhere near fast enough to react in time to the punch from behind, nor the drop kick that appeared out of thin air as the man materialized in front of him, in line of his trajectory.

In one short minute, he had gone from tiredly victorious, to exhaustedly defeated. Running through so much chakra in his fight against Mizuki had been a mistake, though given the circumstances, he would be hard pressed to do any better. He needed to end the fight as quickly as possible, and with the chunin's heightened physical abilities due to whatever it was that he had done, going head to head in a Taijutsu bout would have led to a highly drawn out battle of attrition, which would have been a lose-lose situation anyway. Even still, he couldn't place the blame on his previous fight alone.

He still retained a substantial amount of chakra by normal standards, but the order of magnitude by which his new opponent's skills eclipsed his own was without contest. It was over, and he knew it.

Naruto struggled to stand once more, the pain racking his body nigh unbearable. He gathered chakra for a second, and then with a set of successive shunshins on end, traversed almost half the distance to Konoha's outer walls before a long and red ropelike object circled around his foot, arresting his momentum and causing him to land on his hands, cartwheeling back to a standing position. Another tug on his feet and he came crashing down too the ground, but not before running a wind coated hand through the binding holding him, which on later inspection was revealed to be an extension of Orochimaru's tongue. 'A lot could be said about how gross that is, if I didn't have much more stuff important to deal with right now…'

"I must say, I am quite impressed, young Uchiha. My name is Orochimaru; and I'll be leaving you with a gift, a mere inkling as to what awaits at my disposal. I'm sure you will enjoy it immensely. If it's power you seek, you will know where to find me. Kukuku…" A sinister cackle to go with his typically villainous monologue was followed by his neck extending forth from his body; and Naruto was left powerless to do anything but watch as the Sannin bit the boy on the neck, eliciting a pronounced groan emanating from his throat.

The blond's gaze blurred as semi-unconsciousness overtook him, the departing Sannin's final words ringing in his ears.

"I hope you'll live up to my expectations, young Uchiha…"

And Cut

Nope, not apologizing for being late as hell. I've been doing that so much, it's going out of fashion.

What did you think? Excited? Disappointed? Intrigued? Feel like flaming the author?

Make sure I find out… Leave a review. I absolutely adore them.

Also, for the last time (I promise this time), I need your suggestions with respect to the team placements, and the pairing as well. As you can see, team placements can't be put off any more. It WILL be done next time.

So far, it seems to be either Kiyomi, Yakumo, or Ino. Your feedback matters, people.

Try to leave a review on your way out.

Also, if you're interested and haven't done so, don't forget to check out my Harry Potter story, Shadow Mage.

Thanks.

I'm out.