Before I start this chapter, I would like to announce that I'm discontinuing this story. Why you may ask? It's simple: my interest in Plants vs Zombies is begging to wane. Don't get me wrong, I like PVZ, but ever since I beat PVZ 2, I've started getting rather bored writing this story for some reason. Now, if any of you want to take over this story, you're more than welcome too. But for me, I just can't get the motivation to put some context in.
Enjoy what might be the last chapter for this story.
"So what's the plan?" a Kiri-nin asked his teammate who was hiding in a bush discussing a strategy. The third member was out scouting.
"We wait until Azama gets back and we move out. If we stay here for two long, we're dead," the only female said as she examined her nails while awaiting Azama.
"Yeah well, I don't like waiting. I say we...YAAAAAAAHHHHH!" the sudden cry of shock startled the Gennin as they looked around for the source. "OH CRAAAAAAPPPPPP!" There was the scream again.
"That sounded like Azama! Let's see if he's alright!" the male said as he began to jump through the branches and eventually reached his teammate who was... hanging upside down from a tree with his foot attached to a rope. Azama himself was unconscious, most likely from the blood rushing to his head.
"How'd he get up there?" the male Gennin asked as he looked around for any hostiles.
"I have no idea! But we need to get him down!" the female Gennin said as she jumped onto the branch where Azama's foot was attached to. "Don't stand there! Catch him when I cut him down!" she snapped at her teammate who nodded and got ready to catch Azama. The girl then pulled out a Kunai and began to sever at the rope attaching Azama to the tree.
"MMMMMPPPPHHHHH! MMMMPPHHhhhhhh..." The male Gennin's muffled cry could barely be heard as he fell to the ground unconscious just as the female Gennin cut the rope. THUD! Azama's body landed right on top of the male Gennin's, sparing him from a hard fall.
"What happened Takumi!?" Oboro cried as she felt something connect with her ankle. "YYYYYEEEEEAHAAAHAHHAAHAH!" the scream could be heard throughout the entire forest. It could even be heard by Anko who was outside the perimeter.
"Heh. Sounds like there're having a ball in there. Wait until they meet Saber..." Anko giggled mischievously as she thought of her little 'pet' - if one were to even call it that.
"Did you guys just hear that?" Ino asked her teammates nervously, who just nodded nervously.
"Yeah... I gotta take a leak!" Naruto butted in completely ruining the moment for everyone.
"Go in a bush and make it quick!" Ino snapped and the blonde wasted no time running into the trees to relieve himself. A couple minutes later and he came back looking all refreshed.
"Ahhhhh... that feels so much better! I even wrote my name!" the blonde stated gladly and before Ino could scold him for doing such a thing, Sasuke rushed Naruto and punched him in the gut, sending him flying into a tree.
"Why'd you do that Sasuke!? Isn't attacking one teammate good enough for your standards!?" Ino shrieked in terror at the sudden attack to her teammate.
"Yeah Sasuke-teme! Have you gone crazy or something!?" Naruto exclaimed to his teammate who just launched a kick at the boy who thankfully dodged this time by jumping onto a tree branch. However, Sasuke followed with another kick, successfully connecting with the blonde and sending him sprawling heavily onto the ground.
"Well Naruto. Are you gonna use your plants to face me or are you too scared to show off your real power?" Sasuke bragged and his suspicions were confirmed when he saw Naurto's eyes widen.
"I er... left them at home," Naruto said meekly, which gave him away instantly.
"Yeah. Of course you did faker. Now what did you do with the real Naruto?" Sasuke accused the blonde pulling a kunai and charging at the supposed Naruto who also pulled out a kunai and drew blows with the Uchiha.
"Hold on. What do you mean fake and real Naruto Sasuke?" Ino asked, totally confused about the whole situation.
"Well for starters, Naruto's Taijutsu and Ninjutsu sucks so he pretty much needs his plants to fight. And where is the cut on his cheek?" Sasuke pointed to Naruto's cheek where indeed, there was no blood or mark where the wound that Anko left once was.
"I..." 'Naruto' started trying to think of a lie to work his way out of this mess, but not before Sasuke called something that only he noticed. Then again, he noticed everything wrong with the fake Naruto.
"Oh, and did you know that Naruto is right handed and not left? I suppose that explains the misplaced Shuriken holder on your leg. If you're at least going to disguise as someone, at least do some research on him first dummy," Sasuke said and on cue, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced with an Ame-nin wearing a gas mask over his mouth.
"Alright you got me. Not that it matters cause I'm still gonna take your scroll. I'm gonna give exactly one chance to hand it over or else," the Ame-nin said through his mask, which muffled his voice slightly.
"Let me think about that for a second... no," Sasuke replied with a slight sneer, aggravating the masked ninja.
"Fine! I'll just have to..." POWIE! A sudden explosion sent him to the ground unconscious. The real Naruto came walking from the trees having just thrown a Cherry Bomb to deal with the Ame-nin.
"What took you so long? You missed the whole thing," Sasuke complained much to Naruto's annoyance.
"Yeah well it's my fault that I drank an entire gallon of water this morning! I was holding it in through the whole written exam!" Naruto retorted making his teammates eyes widen in surprise. "...what?" he asked shaken by the attention he was getting.
"You missed a horrible ambush by some lousy Gennin all because you needed to go relieve yourself?" Sasuke tried to confirm and was dismayed when Naruto nodded. "How you even managed to hold it this longs is far beyond me," this earned a tick mark from Naruto.
"Listen, it's clear from that guy earlier that we can't trust appearances. I say we should come up with a password that only the three of us know or something like that," Ino spoke up changing the subject before a fight broke out.
"Good idea Ino. And you or me should ask it because I don't think Naruto will remember," Sasuke replied as the blonde's anger reached an all time high. "The question that I'll or you ask will be..." he paused in thought for a second. "What zombie is the biggest of all?"
"Oooh! I know! Those giant guys with the things on their backs and have a..." Naruto was shut up by Sasuke who slammed a hand over his mouth.
"Do you want everyone to hear us idiot!? If they know the password, they'll fool us for sure!" Sasuke hissed venomously before sighing a bit. "But yeah. The answer is those giant zombies with the poles. I don't think people believe that zombies are real so they might not take it that seriously. If they don't know the answer to that or don't know what we are talking about, then they're an imposter for sure," Sasuke explained the plan which they used.
"Fine fine. Can we ju-" Naruto's complaining was cut off when he heard a very familiar thumping noise coming from behind him.
"WATCH OUT DOBE/NARUTO!" Sasuke and Ino shouted simultaneously, making Naruto dive out of the way as an All-Star Zombie tried to ram his brains out. But the footballer did a hard-turn-around which nobody was expecting. Thankfully, Sasuke recovered first and threw a kunai at the All-Star's legs stopping its charge and making it fall face first onto the ground.
"How are there zombies here!? I thought they were still in Wave!" Ino exclaimed in shock as she thought she saw more figures shuffle about in the woods.
"Guess they must have found a way. How they managed to get over the giant fence surrounding the village is anyone's guess," Sasuke replied watching the zombie get up. Just as he was about to unleash a fire Jutsu to burn the undead to ash, a very strong burst of wind attacked the team.
"HOLD YOUR GROUND!" Sasuke commanded applying chakra to his feet and making them stick to the ground allowing him to not get blown away. Ino was barely able to get it in time, hence the way she was struggling to hold on. Naruto however, wasn't so lucky as he was sent flying.
"SEEEEEE YOOOOUUU GUUYYYYSS!" he somehow managed to yell as he flew into another part of the forest.
"BBBBRAAAAAAAINNNNNNSSSS!" The All-Star Zombie didn't even try to put up any resistance of any kind as it was sent hurtling away. Thankfully, not in the same direction as Naruto.
"What the heck was that!?" Ino exclaimed in shock as Sasuke just shook his head in an "I have no idea" way.
"HEY GUYS!" Naruto's voice came bounding from the trees as the blonde came back relatively unscathed.
"What's the password?" Sasuke challenged Naruto who seemed to be thinking really hard.
"Err... the guys with the big newspapers?" Naruto responded dumbly. Sasuke frowned and threw a kunai at the imposter who dodged in a way that Naruto wouldn't dodge.
"Alright. Drop that disguise. Sure you know about the zombies, but you haven't actually seen them before," Sasuke said boredly causing a snake-like smirk to appear on the fake's face.
"Indeed I haven't," the fake Naruto said popping into a puff of smoke to reveal the Kusa-nin that had returned Anko's kunai. "And believe me, I would love to learn more about these so called zombies. Would you kindly share some information about them?" the grass-nin asked in a sickly sweet tone.
"There're dead and eat brains. That should be about it," Sasuke said bluntly making the Kusa-nin frown slightly.
"True, but that doesn't answer the ones that wield weapons. I shall have to research this when this is all done. But enough about that, come at me if you dare!" the Kusa-nin smirked, getting in an unfamiliar stance as Sasuke entered his Uchiha battle pose. Ino was only thinking one thing: "Where are you Naruto?"
"Ughhhh... I feel like I lost an argument with a brick wall..." Naruto groaned as he picked himself up from the small crater he was in and quickly saw that his teammates were nowhere to be found.
"Well that's just great! How am I supposed to fi..." his compliant was cut off when a giant snake towered over him.
"...woah," Naruto just mumbled in shock as the snake slammed its head where he was sending him flying from the unexpected headbutt.
"EAT CHERRY YOU OVER-GROWN LIZARD!" Naruto yelled, quickly throwing a Cherry Bomb at the snake. More specifically, it's eye. POWIE! "HISSSS!" The snake withered in pain which allowed Naruto to quickly jump away on the tree branches. The snake however, quickly recovered and slithered after its intended target.
RAAAAAAGGGHHHHH! Or at least it would have it weren't for the ground underneath turning into lava. The snake hissed in pain observing the damage done to its body; it was just a small burn, it's scale armour helped reduce the Lava Guava's attack.
"SO LONG SNAKE BREATH!" the cry of a certain Konoha-nin brought the snake out of its analysis before returning to chasing after Naruto.
"HIIISSSSS! (I'll get you for that you damn brat! Then Orochimaru-sama will reward me with some delicious blood biscuits!) The snake hissed in its natural tongue before a blue light enveloped it and it quietly disappeared.
"Good job there little guy!" Naruto applauded one of his new plants which had done its job perfectly.
The plant was a small herb-like flower with a big smile on its face. It also had a stem which was connecting it to a small nest of leaves. It then suddenly vanished in a blue light.
"Aw where'd you..." Naruto started to complain but then heard the snake's hiss of anger. "Never mind, I'll find out later!" He deftly jumped out of the tree to find his teammates and found them staring down at the Kusa-nin.
"HEY GUYS! If you see a giant snake, don't tell him where I am. I just got away from being eaten alive!" Naruto shouted at his teammates and quickly remembered the password when he saw Sasuke pull out a kunai. "And the biggest zombies are the giant guys!" he added quickly to avoid being stabbed.
"I'm impressed Naruto-kun. You actually managed to escape one of my snakes. Your usage of the plant that you used intrigues me. That shall be my bonus prize along with Sasuke's Sharingan," the Kusa-nin said with a snake like grin.
"Oh yeah! And who the hell are you!?" Naruto retorted earning a fresh laugh from the Grass-nin as she covered the Kusa village sign with her hand.
"Kukukuku. I thought these two were never going to ask," The supposed Kusa-nin replied, her voice changing to a male's, revealing the female was actually a male. The ninja moved his hand away from his headband to reveal the Oto sign on it, signifying that he was also a sound ninja. But what he did next really took the cake: he peeled his face off revealing it to be a full on flesh mask. His real face was pale-white, snake like eyes with yellow pupils, some purple marks near said eyes, and his black hair still stayed the same colour, but was slightly messier.
"That feels so much better. You have no idea how difficult it was to impersonate that Kusa brat," the sound ninja said while stretching his body. "My name is Orochimaru of the Sannin. Now my young Genins, this is a test. A test to see if you're worthy of my power. Whoever proves themselves, will move to the top of the class," the now revealed Orochimaru explained doing some seals. "Summoning Jutsu!" the snake man hissed as a giant snake appeared underneath him.
"HHHIIISSSSSSS! (It's you! I'm gonna string you up like a salami and leave for display!)" The snake from earlier hissed as it charged in Naruto's direction with Orochimaru applying some Chakra to his feet to not get thrown off.
"You again!? Don't eat me! Eat this instead!" Naruto groaned throwing a JalapeƱo into the snake's open mouth, causing it to stop as it tried to swallow the object. Orochimaru looked at his summon in slight confusion while Sasuke and Ino waited for the inevitable stomach ache that was going to occur.
GLUP! Nothing happened for a good thirty seconds until the snake's face actually started to turn red.
"What's the matter with you?" Orochimaru asked, clearly not knowing what was going to happen.
WOOOOOSSSSHHHH! A literal flamethrower is what could easily describe what came out of the snake's mouth as it thrashed about. It's fiery breath set the trees ablaze.
"EASY!" Orochimaru bellowed at his minion who struggled to stop freaking out as the summoner gritted his teeth in growing anger.
"This is not good. No doubt the fire is going to attract a lot of unwanted attention. And Anko's probably found the bodies of the Gennin I disguised as and is coming with a horde of ANBU. I have to register the curse seal on Sasuke-kun now. But first to deal with the Jinchuuriki and his ridiculous plants," Orochimaru thought, angry that he couldn't stay to actually fight, but the situation he was in deemed so otherwise.
"Well little kids, I have your test results!" Orochimaru declared out loud earning him looks of confusion. Grinning, he used the moment to ensnare Naruto with his tongue and bring him up to his eye level.
"LET GO OF ME YOU SNAKE CREEP! WHEN HOKAGE-JIJI FINDS OUT ABOUT THIS, HE'S GONNA BEAT YOU INTO OBLIVION!" Naruto roared at the Sannin, who disdainfully rolled his eyes at his antics and lifted his shirt up revealing the seal that held the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, otherwise known as the Kyuubi no Yoko.
"First, You Naruto-kun show great promise with your plants and might actually become a decent ninja. But however, this is a test of Jutsu and not your toys. So because of that, YOU FAIL! FIVE ELEMENT SEAL!" and with that, he slammed his fingers into the seal causing another one to appear on top of it. But to top it all off, it sent Naruto flying and unconscious as he slammed into a tree.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO NARUTO?!" Ino shrieked not knowing about seals.
"I blocked his ability to use ITS chakra to make those plants. And you fail too Miss Yamanaka. Your punishment is to survive against the Oto-ninja that serve me," Orochimaru hissed evilly before turning to his prize.
"And you Sasuke-kun. Oh you pass with flying colours! Here's your prize!" As soon as the snake man was done, he did a hand seal and his neck stretched itself from his body and his head sunk his snake like fangs into Sasuke's neck.
"Agh! Let... go... you... creep!" Sasuke groaned in pain as Orochimaru removed his fangs revealing a black tattoo shaped like the Sharingan's tomoe.
"Now what did you do!?" Ino asked nervously as Sasuke held his newly gained curse mark in pain.
"I just have him his reward for passing my test," Orochimaru replied as he felt a familiar chakra signature.
"Now if you excuse me, I have a meeting with a certain somebody. If you ever want power, come to my village of Otogakure. I would be more than willing to take you in," Orochimaru sneered before leaving on his snake deep into the woods to his next destination.
"And... he's gone. Damn," Ino muttered as she walked towards Naruto and picked up his unconscious body and carried it towards Sasuke who was still reeling in pain. She didn't know, but the sound ninja that Orochimaru was talking about were watching her that very moment.
"So what? We just kill the Uchiha and go back to Orochimaru-sama?" the only female asked her teammates, who nodded with slight disdain. Just then, Naruto woke up suddenly.
"Oh hey Ino. Who the hell are they?" Naruto said dumbly,somehow seeing the Oto-nin making them attack a little earlier than planned.
"I've got to hurry and kill that snake-teme! Before he hurts anyone else!" Anko thought as she rushed through the forest in search of the traitorous snake man Orochimaru. She followed his signature and found him standing at the base of a tree.
"Why hello there Anko-chan. It's certainly been a while hasn't it? Orochimaru hissed with a menacing smirk without even looking at her.
"Indeed it has sensei. And I'm not leaving until you're dead. Even if it kills me," Anko snarled in response before pulling a few senbon out of her trench coat and threw it at her former master.
"Good luck with that. Kukukuku..." Orochimaru chuckled, dodging the needles with ease and using his snake like tongue to grab Anko's arm and pull her towards him so he could deliver some blow of sorts. But as she got very close to snake man, he suddenly let go and dodged something that seemed to try and sneak up on him.
SMASH! "Ugh. Ugh..." A Gargantuar was slouching towards Orochimaru who was eyeing it with high interest.
"Is this some sort of failed science project of yours professor?" Anko mocked, although that confidence wavered when she saw zombies of different types emerge from the trees.
"No it isn't Anko-chan. Although I am rather curious about it. I suppose I'll have to take one with me before I leave!" Orochimaru cackled lunging towards a Basic Zombie which the Sannin grabbed in a headlock. But Snaky forgot that zombies rarely travel alone, and soon he was mobbed by his friends who ate the Sannin's brains. Or so it seemed. The Orochimaru that had his brains eaten was in fact a mud clone.
"Hm... it seems I'm going to use a Jutsu. And don't you interfere!" the real Orochimaru hissed, activating Anko's curse mark making her collapse in pain as her former master started doing hand signs.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" A massive gust of wind blew from Orochimaru's mouth sending some of the undead flying. However, some slammed into nearby trees and barely lived which gave the snake man his chance.
"Well, this has been a rather nice reunion Anko-chan. But I have business to attend to. Farewell for now, we will meet again," Orochimaru said as he grabbed a Basic and jumped away with it.
"Damnit, that was my only chance..." Anko thought as two ANBU wearing an Eagle and Rabbit mask appeared behind her.
"All you alright Anko!? What are these things!?" Eagle asked pulling out his sword to chop up a Conehead Zombie that had the bright idea to try and sneak up on him. The cone fell off first, followed by the zombie's head and the body eventually evaporated into dust on the wind as zombies do when they die.
"I have no idea. Looks like they're some sort of dead people. Might be from that damn revive-the-dead Jutsu that the snake-teme is known for," Anko said with the slight hint of a growl in her voice as she sent her snakes to push away a Buckethead that was getting too close for her liking.
"We need to tell the Hokage about this! Water Release: Gunshot!" Rabbit exclaimed putting his hands in a gun like-motion, and a small but powerful burst of water shot from his finger hitting a group of Basic zombies. Oddly enough, they actually lost their arms despite the attack going through their chests.
"Agreed. Let's get the hell out of here dodge!" Anko snapped, disappearing in a Sunshin with the two ANBU operatives following with a Sunshin of their own, just as an All-Star was about to slam into Rabbit. The zombies appeared to look stunned as their catches of the day got away. However, they heard an explosion in the distance causing them to shuffle in that direction. They didn't hear the sound of someone teleporting on a tree branch behind them.
"So, they're even in Konoha too..." Madara murmured to himself as he thought of this unexpected development in his plans. A group of zombies riding strange devices with fire coming from the bottoms got into Ame without Pein somehow knowing. By the time Madara found out, Pein had disposed of them using that Deva Path of his before he could tell him not to.
WOOSH! Madara looked behind him to see a zombie with a big red balloon with a savage smile on its face riding towards him.
"Yes, you'll do just fine," Madara said sucking the Balloon Zombie into one of his pocket dimensions where it floated aimlessly about until Madara needed it again.
"Now to have a chat with Zetsu..." Madara mumbled teleporting away in a black swirl as another Gennin team came by.
"Why did you lead me here again Nibi? Yugito asked her tailed beast who had told her to come to this specific location much to the confusion of her teammates.
"I felt a presence that shouldn't be here. But whatever it was is long gone now," Nibi told her host who nodded.
"Why'd you drag us here Yugito-san?" one of Yugito's teammates, a seemingly emotionless girl, asked blandly.
"Nibi thought she felt something. She must have been messing with me again," Yugito replied suddenly detecting an evil surge of charkra from the distance. "But I do feel an evil presence coming from over there," the catgirl said rushing to see the source. She wasn't the only Jinchuuriki investigating.
"I swear if you're playing with me you big insect, you're gonna get it!" a certain Taki-nin asked her tailed beast who sighed in exasperation.
"I swear Fu, I never play," The beast replied as its host sped towards the evil chakra. They didn't know that the events here would affect the future in a big way.
And that's it. That's all I can muster. I really can't find the motivation to write more of this story. Like I said at the top, if any of you want to take it over, go right ahead. I'm not going to stop you.
I MIGHT come back to this story one day, but that will be when PVZ has motivated me again.
Thanks for sticking with me through this story.
