Konoha, Forest of Death
The Temporary Paralysis technique wore off.
"NARUTO!" Sasuke and Sakura both screamed and jumped towards Naruto's body as fast as they could.
"Wake up, dead-last! Wake up! Don't die on us!" Sasuke shouted at Naruto's body while checking his breathing.
"You can't die Naruto, you just can't!" Sakura cried out as tears began to roll down her cheeks.
"It's faint, but at least he's still breathing...but he needs help soon, because it's going away fast," Sasuke said to Sakura, who was sobbing uncontrollably.
'He took a sword through the heart! There's no way we can make it in time…' Sakura thought to herself as tears streamed down her cheeks. But she pulled herself together and flipped Naruto over to examine his wound and see what she could do.
Sasuke stood up. He turned around with Sharingan blazing in both eyes. He remembered Itachi's last words to him. But he realized…
'If I can't even put my life on the line here, how can I expect to face Itachi! The dead-last might be dead now…because I was a coward!'
"I'm going to kill you!" Sasuke said through clenched teeth. He whipped out a windmill shuriken and various kunai and other throwing weapons.
Unknown Location
The sound of dripping water rang out everywhere. Naruto lay face down on the ground, which was covered in black water. He got up slowly and promptly fell down to one knee, clutching his chest that was blazing with pain.
"You are pathetic, boy," a coarse voice boomed from high above him, from behind the giant vertical metal bars the top of which he could not see. "Come closer."
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not in a condition to move, furball," Naruto replied with a sneer as he put up a tough front after he noticing the massive nine-tailed fox in the shadows behind the bars.
"Silence, mortal! I will tear you to shreds!" The fox raged as it stepped into the light.
"This is my mind, isn't it? I'll say whatever I want," Naruto responded while finally managing to get up as he acclimatized to the pain. "So, give your chakra, or die!" Naruto demanded.
"You're threatening me while on the verge of death? How laughable." The Nine-Tails snorted.
"No, that's precisely why I can threaten you right now. The whole reason you pulled me here is to prevent yourself from dying with me, isn't it?" Naruto grinned back.
The Nine-Tails roared with anger and tried to attack Naruto with his claws through the cage bars, but fortunately, they were not long enough to reach. The force of the attack threw Naruto back to the ground. Simultaneously, a torrent of red chakra seeped through the cage bars to Naruto at high speed and blanketed him."
Konoha, Forest of Death
Sasuke jumped up and threw the Windmill Shuriken at Orochimaru. Orochimaru tried to dodge it.
Sasuke then pivoted off a tree and threw the rest of his weapons.
'Not bad…he's reading my movements and going for a critical hit,' Orochimaru realized as he tried to dodge yet again.
Then Sasuke landed on a tree with his back to it, using chakra to stick his feet to it.
'String?' Orochimaru noticed that all the weapons had strings attached to it. But even though he noticed, he was unable to avoid the string pulling around him, catching him in Sasuke's trap.
'To read all the places I could run and attack from where I can't see…'
"Dragon Fire Jutsu!" Fire flew out of Sasuke's mouth and burned across the string all the way to Orochimaru's face, which started to burn.
'Did I get him?' Sasuke wondered while panting.
The fire subsided to reveal a mass of skin peeling off of Orochimaru's face.
"To be able to use the Sharingan so well at this age…you are truly the man with the Uchiha blood…" Orochimaru stated with an evil smile. "I had fun testing your powers. You really are brothers. I sense power in your eyes that even surpasses Itachi."
Sasuke was shocked to hear Orochimaru say his brother's name.
"Who the hell are you!"
Just then, Orochimaru, Sasuke and Sakura all felt a powerful and evil chakra.
Southern Fire Country
"So, where exactly are we headed to now? I've hardly had to do anything during these last few bounty fights. Although, since I'm in the chuunin exams right now, that's probably a good thing," A Naruto-clone said to his partners in crime Zabuza and Haku while walking leisurely out of a hidden bounty reception warehouse. It was incredible how the bounty return system was hidden in plain sight, in buildings you'd think were completely normal – and were, if you didn't break some genjutsu or press a secret button somewhere.
"You can blame your vulnerability that we've only attacked small fry," Zabuza gruffed out through his mask. "But now, we're going to catch a big fish in the Land of Rivers."
"The Land of Rivers? That is more than a week away from here," Haku commented.
"Right, so start running," Zabuza responded as he leapt off the road and into the forest beside them which was so characteristic of the lush land in the Land of Fire. Naruto and Haku followed after him and caught up after a few seconds.
"Who's this big fish you're talking about? What's his bounty worth?" Naruto asked curiously while jumping from tree to tree beside Zabuza.
"He's a failure that should never have been allowed to become one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. But it's not just his bounty we're after. Apparently he conquered himself a goldmine."
"Woah!" Naruto exclaimed, then suddenly, "WOAH! ARRGHHH!" Naruto screamed out while jumping down to the forest ground. His whiskers became more pronounced, his nails and teeth elongated, and his pupils became slits. But he fell to the ground and started writhing wildly around in pain, as he felt his chakra body destabilize and threaten to end the clone technique.
Haku and Zabuza stopped and jumped down next to Naruto, and each pulled out their weapons, expecting an enemy.
Naruto tried desperately to hang on for dear existence with all of his chakra control skills.
Konoha, Forest of Death
"N-Naruto!" Sakura called out, too shocked to do anything, as she believed that Naruto was dead or almost dead. She saw Naruto rise up slowly, and watched in morbid fascination as the blood on him seeped back into him, and the wound closed itself at high speed. There was steam rising out of it as it closed. Sakura watched closely as circular black markings that looked like some sort of seal appear on his stomach. Then Naruto let out a low, animalistic growl.
Sasuke turned around to see Naruto standing, with some sort of visible chakra swirling around him. But, this chakra was red, and it seemed to bubble, almost.
"W-what's happening to you, dead-last?" Sasuke asked with wide eyes as he witnessed Naruto turn around, his wound completely gone. He also noticed the black markings on Naruto's stomach.
"Orochimaru…!" Naruto snarled with a deep, almost demonic voice. He started walking slowly towards the man whose name he called.
Orochimaru was also fascinated as he saw the unmistakable chakra. This was definitely the container of the Nine-Tails.
Orochimaru quickly summoned another giant snake to fight the Nine-Tails jinchuuriki.
Correspondingly, Naruto crouched down on all fours and…on his tail-end chakra began bubbling and moving, forming a tail, and seemingly trying to form more.
He then disappeared in a burst of speed and punched the snake that appeared, blasting it back into the tree trunk and causing it to burst into smoke.
What followed was a series barely visible movements as Naruto slammed Orochimaru around.
'What is this power?' Sasuke wondered as his eyes sharingan eyes were glued to the battle. It was so fast that even his 2-tomoe eyes could hardly see it.
'What's going on?' Sakura wondered as all she saw were cracks appearing on various trees and a few glimpses of red and occasionally some snakes.
'I can't play around anymore…they'll have found the bodies by now…and I still need to give my mark to Sasuke…!' Orochimaru thought before forming a series of hand seals, after using a giant mass of snakes to push Naruto back.
Naruto extended his arm and the chakra around him further extended, as if it became a third arm, moving towards Orochimaru.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Naruto was pushed back by the wind and slammed into the tree trunk the snake from earlier had slammed into. The snakes continued to hold on to him and further multiply until they bound Naruto by the arms and legs onto the tree trunk behind him. But Naruto broke free through sheer power and launched himself at Orochimaru. This time, he hit and continued to hold onto Orochimaru, pushing him at high speed into another tree trunk. But as soon as they hit the tree, the Orochimaru that Naruto was holding melted into mud.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
Then the mud condensed and became a dragon biting at Naruto. It forced Naruto down with his back onto a horizontal tree branch.
"Earth Release: Landslide!"
A mass of earth erupted from the trees and slammed down at Naruto, forcing him to stay down.
"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
The mud and earth moved up and hardened to surround Naruto, boxing him in. In another instant, Orochimaru appeared right in from of him and crouched down to the ground.
"Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!"
A huge torrent of countless snakes was released from Orochimaru's mouth, instantly shooting at Naruto. The majority of them grabbed onto Naruto's limbs while some of them opened their mouths and swords came out of them. They all stabbed into Naruto in various places, before several more snakes came out of Orochimaru's sleeve and tore aside Naruto's jacket and cloak to reveal the seal of the Nine-Tailed Fox.
Without losing a second, Orochimaru rushed forward with his right hand outstretched, chakra forming on each finger.
"Five Elements Seal!" He slammed his technique into the seal visible on Naruto's stomach.
"Ku-AHH!" Naruto screamed as the demonic red chakra exploded outwards, blasting everything away before receding back inside Naruto. His eyes returned to normal, and his whisker marks became thinner. He fell down on his knees before his eyes closed, becoming unconscious as he fell face-forward on the mass of earth that was still there.
'If he's also the Nine-Tails brat…with my seal disrupting his seal, and with a beast as powerful as the Nine-Tails…I might just release the fox accidently if I kill him and risk losing those sharingan eyes…and maybe he'll even get rid of some of those Akatsuki bastards later on…I'll leave him alive for now…' He felt Anko getting closer to him. 'No time left…!' Orochimaru thought as he turned towards Sasuke.
Suddenly both Sasuke and Sakura found themselves unable to move once again.
'Just what is this stupid Jutsu?' Sasuke thought angrily. But before he could think any further, he realized that Orochimaru was somehow already biting on the back of neck on the left side. Orochimaru had used the same technique as he used earlier to lengthen his neck.
There was a brief moment of stupor as Sasuke was dumbfounded that Orochimaru would take such a strange action, almost like some sort of vampire, before the pain hit him.
"AH!" As Orochimaru's neck shortened again, Sasuke gripped the spot where he was bitten with his right hand. 'What is this pain?' He clenched his teeth hard but found himself unable to take the pain, his legs losing strength as he went down on one knee.
"Well, it's time for me to go, Sasuke-kun. If you want to see me again…" He took out the Heaven scroll he grabbed from Naruto earlier and started burning it in his hands with some sort of Jutsu. "Survive and pass this exam. And the team of Sound genin too…"
"No way! We don't want to see your face ever again!" Sakura shouted.
"Kukuku…don't worry…Sasuke-kun will definitely come seek me for power…hehehe…"
Just as he said that, Sasuke passed out and fell down, with Sakura running toward him to catch him.
"Sasuke-kun!" When she had realized Sasuke had already passed out, she noticed that Orochimaru was gone as well, and that Naruto lay unmoving.
She was alone, with both her teammates passed out, and one of them with some serious stab wounds, and the other a victim of a strange jutsu.
Southern Fire Country
Finally, the Naruto-clone was relieved of his pain as the demonic chakra withdrew. It was right on time too, for he felt that any longer and he would have poofed out of existence as his chakra control failed to contain the disruptions caused by what was probably the Nine-Tails chakra. It was remarkable though, that disruptions in the chakra of the original could cause such reactions in a clone. This was a phenomenon he had no ability to explain, as he had understood the clone technique to create clones with chakra networks of their own, that were separated from the original. But then again, there had to be some link, or else there would be no memory transfer.
"Oh man, that was close… I almost dispelled," the Naruto-clone groaned as he pulled himself back up.
Zabuza and Haku stared down at him. "What the hell happened to you? There aren't any enemies nearby," Zabuza stated. He had pretty good detection skills, as to be expected of one who fought in total mist, and was quite surprised when an enemy had apparently hit Naruto with some sort of jutsu without him noticing anything at all.
"The boss got into an epic fight with a super-powerful ninja and was forced to use some last resorts. But he's alright now," Naruto responded. He wasn't actually sure what happened, since the last clone dispel was the group that kicked around that huge snake summon. He could only guess that his original must have gotten in a major pinch and the Nine-Tails decided to help out.
"That must be a very…painful last resort, Naruto, what kind of ninja could possibly cause you to do that in a chuunin exam? You are already quite strong," Haku remarked, as he helped Naruto to his feet.
"Someone who can repeatedly summon giant snakes fifty times bigger than me," Naruto responded as the three prepared to continue their journey west toward the Land of Rivers.
"That's one hell of an exam you got. Even I have to say I'm impressed. My chuunin exam was full of losers who ran after seeing my face," Zabuza noted as he jumped away once more.
Konoha, Forest of Death – Many hours later
Naruto's body felt like it was on fire. He was burning everywhere, with unimaginable pain. But for some reason, he couldn't move his body. He couldn't even open his eyes.
After a while, the pain seemed to subside somewhat. But now he felt utterly weak, as if he had no chakra. He also felt as though he'd been stabbed numerous times in various places, but couldn't recall how that could've happened.
"…p-tec-ti-I-die!"
No, wait, he could remember.
He'd almost died.
But then there was that feeling of incredible power surging forth from everywhere. It started from his stomach, and he felt a new chakra flowing through him. Then it went up to his chest and spread throughout the rest of his body.
"In-Shi…forma-ion"
Yes, he could remember a little now…the meeting with the Nine-Tails, the red chakra swirling around him as he got up from what should have been a mortal wound, the second fight with Orochimaru, and how at the very end, Orochimaru used the Seal Imprint technique to mess with his seal.
But where was he now? He tried to open his eyes. It seemed to work, but then he found himself still in complete darkness.
Faintly, he realized that he could hear some sounds. It seemed like a battle of sorts. He concentrated, listening for any words.
"Who did that to you, Sakura?"
Was that Sasuke? What's going on out there?
"I feel…powerful."
He clutched his head. To his surprise, his body seemed to respond. But everywhere was still dark. Just what was this place? Was he even awake? But his head seemed to hurt now.
"Here…take our scroll and let us go…"
The pain subsided once again. There was feeling coming back into his body. But it felt odd, as if there was something wrong with his chakra.
"What should we do? He still hasn't woken up…"
"Somehow, his wounds are almost all gone…we'll wait a little longer, but tomorrow we'll have to get a Heaven scroll by ourselves if we have to. You'll have to guard Naruto while I find a weak team."
"B-but that's dangerous! And what about that mark on your back?"
That must have been Sasuke and Sakura. He would have to wake up soon…
But, he felt so tired. Just a little longer…
A/N: This one is a little short, but the next one is coming soon...maybe...if you review ^_^. No really, it will be coming soon, since I already wrote it but I decided to split it because the title didn't fit and I wanted to change a couple of things. See you soon.