I DON'T OWN KINGDOM HEARTS OR NARUTO
Okay, curse seal time!
Also, to clear it up, the dark energy Sora felt in the last chapter was Orochimaru, not Riku.
Okay, Let's get started:
The grass ninja in disguise looked up at the blonde ninja who had just interrupted him. That Kyuubi brat…, thought the snake charmer, annoyed by the intrusion.
"Naruto!" Sasuke called, wanting to warn his comrade to run away while he had a chance, "Get out of here! This-thing-is out of our league!"
The demon container ignored the warning and instead threatened the grass ninja. "I don't know who you are, but I'm gonna kick your ass if you think you'll get our scroll!"
Hmm…interesting. He seems to be immune to my killer intent, noted Orochimaru. It must be because of the Kyuubi inside of him.
Sora had stopped, pressing his back against the tree and, carefully, peering around the corner. Confirming his suspicion, there was a rival team in his path. He focused his vision on there head bands. Sora identified the objects as sound notes. It's those sound ninjas from before, Sora discovered.
"All right Dosu, where do we find the Uchiha?" asked the one with camouflage pants and spiky black hair to the other guy with bandages all over his body, except for his left eye. "Don't you remember our orders, Zaku?" replied the bandaged one. "We have to search for the Uchiha, and then kill him."
Sora let out a silent gasp. They want to kill Sasuke? But why?
"And what do we do about the 'Keyblade Master' Orochimaru mentioned," spoke up the girl with long black hair and similar clothing to the one called Zaku.
Now Sora had many questions. Who's Orochimaru? How do they know about the Keyblade? What do they want with him? Sora repeated these questions over and over in his mind as Dosu spoke up again. "Orochimaru wasn't very specific. All he said was, 'Keep your eye on the Keyblade Master'."
Sora let out a silent sigh of relief. At least they didn't know who the Keyblade Master was.
"Should've guessed as much. He's left us in the dark about everything else going on," was Zaku's response.
"Stop complaining, Zaku, and just do as you're told," the girl said.
"Shut Up, Kin," Zaku shot back, insulted.
The sound team was soon gone, unaware of Sora's presence. Sora let them go, not wanting a battle for two reasons: 1) He was out numbered and 2) He still needed to check out the dark aura.
Sora continued his pursuit of the energy source, eager to find out what it was. He couldn't help feeling that it had something to do with what the sound ninja were discussing.
Naruto placed their team scroll into his weapon pouch, angry at what Sasuke had tried to do. Sasuke had attempted to trade away the 'Heaven' scroll for the grass ninja to leave. Naruto intercepted the scroll, however, as Sasuke threw the scroll to the grass ninja.
Naruto charged at the grass ninja, kunai out and ready, as Sasuke was yelling at him to stop and get away. But it was too late, because the snake charmer summoned another giant snake, which pushed Naruto into a tree branch. As he fell, Naruto felt an overwhelming energy overtake his body.
His body transformed quickly, eyes becoming red, fingernails extending, his teeth becoming more feral, and his cheek marks becoming darker. Also, all of his visible wounds healed at an unbelievable rate.
The snake was about to gobble up the transformed blonde, but Naruto spun and delivered a kick that was strong enough to cause the snake to stumble back. Orochimaru was intrigued by how Naruto had managed to channel the Kyuubi's chakra to such a degree. The snake, on the other hand, did not find the kick intriguing and instead pushed Naruto back again with its head.
Naruto was taken back, but rebounded off the tree behind him and began to launch a flurry of fists on the snake's face. Unfortunately, the reptile's skin was too thick to leave any significant damage. In any case, the other two members of team 7 were amazed at the level of power Naruto was displaying.
The snake batted Naruto away with its massive tail, which sent Naruto flying through branches and leaves. Sasuke didn't have time to see if he was okay, because as soon as Naruto was out of the picture, the snake approached Sasuke, prepared to devour the Uchiha. Sakura was too shaken by the events to move. (A/N: As usual…oops, sorry to interrupt)
Sasuke couldn't move, either, even as he saw the colossal snake come nearer. After seeing what the grass ninja could do, he was frightened to the point of madness.
The snake opened its jaws, ready for its meal.
Sora stood in the place he originally felt the dark energy emerge. There wasn't anyone there, just two kunai knifes lodged in the log in front of him and some blood on the ground at Sora's feet.
Sora also noted that a couple of foot prints lead off into the trees away from the blood. What happened here? Sora wondered. He decided to follow where the foot steps lead, hoping to find answers.
Naruto had stopped the charging snake by jumping in front of it and plowing two kunai into its enormous head and pushing it back. Naruto only had time to mutter, "What's the matter, Scardey-cat?" to Sasuke before he was scooped up by the snake charmer's lengthy tongue.
The snake rider brought Naruto up to his face, lifted his shirt to expose his stomach and dug his fire-lit hand into Naruto's mid section. The blonde's red eye's widened in shock and pain as they slowly faded into their normal deep blue. While this was happening, the seal on Naruto's stomach gained five more prongs on the outside.
The now unconscious blonde hung lifelessly in Orochimaru 'grasp' (If you consider being wrapped in someone's tongue 'in their grasp'). This boy will soon become very powerful with the Kyuubi's chakra, he thought to himself. But for now, he is only a nuisance.
Orochimaru tossed the blonde over his shoulder, leaving Naruto to fall at a great height. Sakura thought fast and flung a kunai which caught Naruto by the shirt and stuck him to the tree, saving him from falling to his death.
Sasuke continued to stand motionless, still afraid of the grass ninja. Sakura had enough of the Uchiha's inactions. "Sasuke," she yelled, "Naruto may be annoying at times, but at least he isn't a coward!"
That snapped Sasuke out of it. She right, he told himself, but I see now. If I don't have the courage to face this demon, how can I expect to kill him?
Sasuke's thoughts drifted to what happened to his clan, how his brother, Itachi, had killed them all except for him. He remembered what Itachi had told him. "Foolish little brother, you can't kill me. Your hate's not strong enough, you're not strong enough. Your life is too precious to you, so run. Run away and live in shame." "NO!" Sasuke shouted out loud, activating his Sharingan again.
The disguised Orochimaru smiled, thinking, Finally, his Uchiha blood has come to a boil, I think I'll play with him a little and test his strength.
The two of them began their battle. Sasuke first tried to throw kunai at the demon ninja, but Orochimaru simply dodged them. Soon, the battle quickly changed to hand to hand combat. Sasuke was able to see and anticipate the grass ninja's attacks with his Sharingan and dodged or blocked accordingly.
Orochimaru was deeply impressed with the Uchiha's ability to use the Sharingan, and was even more so excited.
Sakura couldn't even keep up with the two fighter's speed, deciding to stay out of the match in order to not be a burden to her teammate. So instead, Sakura retrieved Naruto from his position on the tree, taking him to a safe place.
Sasuke thought he had the demon beat once he had smashed its head into the earth between his legs and heard a sickening spine crack, but, to his surprise and disappointment, the body turned to mud in an instant.
"A Substitution!" Sasuke exclaimed before narrowly avoiding the salvo of kunai that were thrown his way. The grass ninja caught the Uchiha off guard and knocked him to the ground. "I am disappointed," it taunted, "I was expecting more from you. The Uchiha clan should thank me for killing you."
Unbeknownst to the ninja, Sasuke had stuck tiny explosives to its back while he/she/it was knocking him down. The grass ninja didn't know what hit it when the explosives ignited. Sasuke took the chance and jumped away, throwing shuriken attached to thin, metal wires at the stunned ninja. The shuriken wrapped around the tree truck, and pulled the grass ninja into it when Sasuke pulled on the ends of the iron strings he held.
As the grass ninja was tied to the tree, Sasuke focused a great amount of chakra and formed a string of hand signs.
FIRE STYLE! DRAGON FIRE-JUTSU!
A ring of high-intensity fire surrounded the Uchiha and then flowed down the iron string, crashing into the grass ninja. The fire scorched it and the tree as the grass ninja let out a scream of surprise and pain.
Once the fire subsided, Sasuke fell to his knees, exhausted and slightly burned by his extraordinary attack.
The tree became barren, blackened by the intense flame, with the impact zone still ridden with embers and smoldering.
Sora wasn't far from the battle area and saw the fire. Without a second thought, Sora dashed off to see what the cause was. He was so intrigued by the fire that he didn't notice that the dark aura that he had been chasing was in the same area.
Twang
The grass ninja, half of his face burnt away, revealing pale skin and a golden eye, walked away from the still burning tree, snapping the wire that surrounded him. He used a paralysis-jutsu to keep Sasuke and Sakura, who had just rushed to the Uchiha's side, in place.
Sakura fell to her knees while Sasuke stood, asking the badly burned snake charmer, "Who are you? WHAT DO YOU WANT?"
"My name is Orochimaru," answered the grass ninja, whose voice changed drastically from a teenaged voice to an adult one. "Sasuke, I must say that I am impressed. You wield the Sharingan with much skill. Why, I believe that your eyes are even keener than Itachi's."
Sasuke was surprised to hear about his brother from this freak, but he ignored most of what he said and tried to escape from the paralysis.
Orochimaru made a single hand seal, out stretching his neck to an amazing length. He covered the distance between him and his target in an instant, and then exposed his snake-like fangs.
Sasuke looked up just in time to see the head of a demon approaching him, before he felt a pair of fangs pierce the skin of his neck, digging into him. Sasuke gave out a small grunt, his eyes wide in shock, as he sensed some kind of poison being injected into his blood stream.
Sora had arrived at the scene of the fire just in time to see Sasuke being bitten on the neck by some mysterious guy with an extremely long neck. Sora didn't waste any time and jumped down to Sasuke, unsheathing his sword and slicing for the neck of the strange character.
Orochimaru released his grip and his neck rebounded back to its body before Sora's attack hit. Sasuke grabbed the bitten area, which now felt like it was on fire.
Sora was close to charging at the snake-man when Sasuke fell to the ground, letting out screams of agony as he held his neck. Sakura went to check what was wrong with him while Sora stood in the front, holding his broad sword threateningly, and demanded, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"I have given Sasuke a gift," answered Orochimaru, enjoying the events taking place. As he continued, he placed his hand on his forehead protector, and when he removed it, a sound mark replaced the grass mark that was there previously. "He will come to me in search of power."
As this was said, Sakura was checking on Sasuke. She saw three dots, which seemed to be similar to the dots she saw in Kakashi sensei's Sharingan eye, form on Sasuke's left shoulder. Sakura had tears in her eyes from hearing the screams of pain coming from her precious Sasuke's mouth.
Sora dashed forward, covering the distance between him and Orochimaru quickly, and slashed at Orochimaru. His attack was easily avoided with a jump. Orochimaru landed on a branch higher up in the same tree, taking off the mask of seemingly real skin he used as a disguise and throwing it away, revealing his whole face. His skin was a sickly pale color and he seemed to be middle aged, with long black hair.
The unmasked Orochimaru pressed on his stomach, causing a snake to slither out from his mouth. Out of the snake, a sword was brought forth, which Orochimaru took, taking a relaxed fighting pose. Sora, seeing all this, said out loud, "That's disgusting."
"So, you're the Keyblader I've heard so much about," Orochimaru observed, amused. Sora took a step back, realizing that this was the 'Orochimaru' the sound ninja were taking about, but regained his composure, and asked, "What do you what with me and Sasuke?"
Orochimaru gave a chuckle, entertained with Sora's curiosity. He answered, "What I want with Sasuke is my business. But I'll tell you what I want with you." Orochimaru continued to smile, and said, "A friend of mine is intrigued with you and asked me to do a favor for him."
Sora ran up the truck of the tree, sword blazing in the disappearing sunlight. Upon reaching the level Orochimaru was on, he rebounded off the tree, swinging the sword at the pale man. Orochimaru easily guarded the blow with the Kusanagi, and as the two of them clashed blades, he said to Sora, "I am curious as to what their curse mark does."
Sora stared at the sannin, confused at what he meant, when, suddenly, Orochimaru pushed him back, out stretching his arm towards Sora. "Striking Shadow Snakes," he commanded calmly, creating four snakes that shot out from his arm. Sora was caught off guard by the move and the snakes wrapped their bodies around him and pinned him to the tree, causing him to drop the Keyblade. Only his right hand exposed. Before Sora could summon the Keyblade back to combat the reptiles, Orochimaru punched Sora in the face, momentarily stunning him.
With Sora temporarily down, Orochimaru took out the scroll, all black with the Nobody insignia on the front, that was given to him by a member of Organization XIII and opened it. Using one hand, he held the opened scroll over Sora's right hand so that a circle, surrounded by inscriptions, was over it. As he was told by the cloaked man, Orochimaru forced his palm onto the circle, injecting some of his dark chakra into the circle on the scroll.
Sora was regaining consciousness just as Orochimaru did this. The circle began to emit a strange dark energy and glowed with a purple aura. Then, Sora felt the dark energy force itself into his right hand, causing him to yell out in pain. Dark power erupted in all direction of the scroll, and Orochimaru braced himself, almost shocked by the amount of darkness that was leaking into the teenaged boy.
Sakura, holding an unconscious Sasuke, saw the dark energy, and began to fear for Sora's safety. She placed Sasuke on the floor and made her way up to the branch where she heard Sora's screams.
The darkness subsided, leaving Sora to hang his head down, unconscious from the enormous pain he had felt during the process. The scroll Orochimaru held disintegrated into nothing.
Orochimaru called back the snakes that held Sora in place, making Sora fall to the ground lifelessly. Sakura arrived on the branch in time to see this, and see ran to check up on Sora. She switched her gaze to Orochimaru, who smiled evilly and said, as he disappeared into the tree, "Looks like I'll have to wait to see what the curse mark's purpose is."
Sakura gathered up her three unconscious friends and brought them to the base of a tree. The tree was slightly uprooted, so there was a small space for the team and Sora to stay.
She camouflaged the entrance of their 'base', hoping that nobody would find them, and placed the three downed guys on the floor. Sakura put pieces of cloth she brought, soaked in water that she managed to forage from the nearby river, on the foreheads of her teammates.
Sakura also placed traps around the perimeter of the tree, trying her best to protect the people who had protected her many times before.
With the traps set, she went back to her unmoving friends to take care of them. A 'cure' spell didn't have any affect on them, so she tended to their wounds the old fashioned way.
There she sat for many hours until dawn. Sakura was close to nodding off, her eyes heavy and her head bobbing every other second.
Outside, three ninja's with sound village markings on their head bands hid in the bushes, watching Sakura and the others under the tree base through a gap between the camouflage and the tree.
"Come on, let's get them," said the impatient Zaku.
Dosu gave an invisible smile and said, "All right, let's go."
The team of sound ninjas stepped out of their cover and approached team 7 and Sora in the morning daylight.
And that's it for chapter 12.
Oh no! Sora and Sasuke have curse marks!
What will Sora's do? Wait until the next chapter!
And thanks to all my readers who left positive comments.
Next chapter will be up soon!
