A DIFFERENT KIND OF SUMMONS
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto or earn any profit by this.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to Librastar for beta reading this. Also, thanks to all the fanfic authors who provided inspiration for aspects of this story.
CH.14
Sakura was worried. She'd been told to expect Orochimaru during the second phase of the exam, but there wasn't a lot she could do if he really did show up. Summoning another version of herself to fight him, even with a Transformation, would as good as reveal that she had stolen the scroll.
She had to do something, though. Her other selves had warned against letting Orochimaru put the curse mark on Sasuke. Most thought that that action was what had turned him against Konoha, the corruption caused by the curse mark breeding foulness and decay in his soul while preying on his insecurities and thirst for vengeance. One or two had suggested that Sasuke had been troubled even before that, but there were differences between the worlds. While she had promised to be more careful in her approach to him, she wouldn't believe that he was capable of some of the things that other Sasukes had supposedly done.
Shoving aside those thoughts, she focused on spotting Orochimaru or anyone else that might turn up. Naruto took point as they moved through the trees. Like Sakura, he knew what to watch out for, but unlike her, he had a plan for dealing with the snake sannin if he showed himself.
After traveling for just over two hours at the best speed they could while still maintaining an effective watch for enemies and natural hazards, the group paused for water and food. They found a spot they could defend and settled in for a quick meal. When lunch was over, Naruto announced he needed to answer the call of nature. While Sakura looked annoyed and disgusted, Sasuke suggested the use of a password, to which Naruto readily agreed, before warning him not to wander too far. Naruto nodded and moved off into the bushes.
Once out of sight, he performed two jutsu. First, he created some clones to keep watch and before the smoke had cleared, summoned the first version of himself he'd ever met, as per their arrangement. "Orochimaru?" the other asked even as he performed a quick Transformation to make himself look like just another clone.
"He's around here somewhere," Naruto whispered. The original put on a show in case he was being watched while his summons joined his clones in keeping watch.
When he rejoined the team, his clones fanned out to provide extra eyes. The summoned Naruto stayed close at hand but made sure that he was not the closest, as he wanted to blend in with the clones. They had barely resumed their journy when Sasuke was struck by a kunai in mid-leap.
The Uchiha managed to twist in mid-air and land on his feet on a tree roughly twenty feet off the ground, but a trickle of blood oozed from his thigh where the kunai had struck him, staining his white shorts red.
"Kukukuku! Well done!" The strange laughter seemed to come from all around them. The thre genin jumped into the trees and took up defensive positions, warily scanning their surroundings for the source of the attack. A shinobi wearing a Kusa headband appeared on a tree limb about 40 feet off the ground.
"Who are you?" Naruto demanded, although he already had a strong suspicion.
"Just someone who wants to test himself against the infamous Sharingan," the man answered. "You two may go." He gestured to Naruto and Sakura carelessly. Before either could answer they were both forced to dodge a pair of enormous snakes.
Sakura had to use everything she had learned over the past few weeks just to avoid the beast pursuing her. There was no opportunity to fight back. Naruto fared better, feeding the snake an exploding clone before moving to help her.
Sasuke was hard-pressed just to stay ahead of the strange shinobi's attacks. One thing became painfully obvious after the fifth nearly successful attempt on his life. This was no mere genin. As the fight wore on, he slowly realized that he was having an easier time matching his opponent's attacks. At first, he thought his enemy was simply slowing down as he tired; then he realized that the man's movements had simply become easier to follow. The Sharingan, he realized. It's active, but he had little time to celebrate as his enemy, seeing the change in his eyes, had increased the speed of his attacks. The Kusa-nin seemed delighted at the latest development and wanted to see everything the famed bloodline could do.
Sasuke wasn't sure whether to be grateful or annoyed when a group of the dobe's shadow clones attacked the Kusa-nin. He barely seemed to notice them as he swatted them down like insects. Although Naruto's taijutsu had improved he was still no match for their current enemy. The clones simply came in a wave, not even trying to defend themselves. Sasuke recognized the tactic and allowed a smirk, even though he doubted it would work. The Kusa-nin also realized what the clones were doing and seemed more amused than worried as the cloud of smoke from the dispelled clones grew thick around him, at least until a solid strike landed, sending him flying into the trunk of the tree.
Sasuke took immediate advantage, throwing kunai guided by wires to wrap around and trap the enemy against the tree. The smoke cleared, revealing a Konoha ANBU operative, and Sasuke realized the man had disguised himself and blended in with the clones. As he walked towards their captive, his first words shocked the Uchiha. "Hello Orochimaru. Welcome home."
All trace of amusement vanished from their opponent's face. Orochimaru, Konoha's most notorious traitor, glared at the ANBU silently for a few seconds before dissolving into a pile of mud. Sasuke glanced at the ANBU in confusion.
"Mud clone," the man explained. "In case you haven't figured it out, Orochimaru is here for you. He probably wants your Sharingan."
"He wants to capture me," Sasuke nodded. Similar things had happened in the past. Kumo-nin especially, were obsessed with bloodlines. He re6called that they had tried to abduct the Hyuuga Clan heiress when she was just a baby. Given the numerous advantages that such bloodlines granted their users, it was no wonder that such users were coveted by every village.
"Or cut your eyes out," the ANBU nodded. "Either way, let's not make it easy." Naruto and Sakura joined them on the branch, having gotten rid of the last snake together. The pink-haired kunoichi had picked up a few scrapes and bruises, but was otherwise fine. Sasuke took in every detail of his teammates with his newly activated bloodline, amazed by what he could see and what he could deduce from what he saw. He didn't immediately recognize the significance of the tear in her dress just above her right hip, or what he could see beneath it, but he wasn't long in putting the pieces together. It would have to wait, though
The ANBU glanced at Naruto. "How many clones can you make?"
"A few hundred," the blond shrugged.
"Make 300 and split them into groups of three. Disguise two of each group as your teammates."
Naruto grinned. "I like the way you think." A moment later, after the smoke created by the jutsu cleared, there were 100 copies of Team Seven in the clearing along with the original. At an unspoken signal, all of them took off in different directions, the real Team Seven lost among them.
The summoned Naruto hid himself during the chaos and watched carefully for Orochimaru. It wasn't long before he spotted the infamous traitor and took off after him. He had picked a particular group to focus on and was gaining on them. He dodged the summoned Naruto's first few attacks, but in the process, lost track of the team he had been following. Cursing silently, he turned to face the troublesome and soon to be dead member of Konoha's special forces.
Orochimaru wasted no words, but went straight on the attack. Utilizing one of his signature techniques, he stretched his jaws wide in a manner no normal human could and summoned a large number of poisonous snakes. To most, it appeared that he was producing the vipers from within his own body, literally vomiting the snakes at his opponent. Many a hardened jonin had been unnerved by that technique. His current opponent didn't flinch, but that was to be expected of one of Konoha's elite.
The ANBU neatly avoided the attack and dispelled most of the summons with a wind technique Orochimaru was unfamiliar with. It sliced through the river of vipers as if they were paper streamers. He then directed the same technique at Orochimaru with no discernible pause between the end of the hand seals for the first technique and the beginning of the second.
The snake sannin saved himself with a quick Substitution jutsu before drawing his sword and attacking from above. The man moved with a speed that few not of Orochimaru's level could have followed, and the traitor barely brought his blade up in time to block the counter-attack. Doing so numbed his arm, and he was forced to retreat. His speed and strength are impressive, Orochimaru noted, raising his estimation of the threat the man posed.
The sannin leaped away to avoid a brace of shuriken rather than blocking them and had his caution justified when they exploded on impact with a tree. He had only caught a glimpse of etching on the shuriken, but had seen no reason to take chances, especially not with this opponent. An explosive seal etched into a thrown blade was not new, but it was not a tactic he saw often.
He created two mud clones and sent them to flank his opponent while he laid a trap, but both were dispelled within seconds. His clones had struck simultaneously, hoping to overwhelm him, but their target had exploded with impressive force, leaving the real Orochimaru to wonder where the real ANBU had gone.
He didn't have long to wonder, as he became aware of an incredibly bright ray of blue light shooting up past his face just before he became aware that he had lost all feeling below his chest. He fell from the branch he had stood on in two pieces, shocked by the sheer power of the technique, even as he activated the regeneration jutsu that he had experimented on so many Konoha citizens to learn.
Deciding there was nothing to gain by further conflict, he slipped away as soon as he finished shedding his old ruined body the way a snake would shed its skin. What was that technique?! The scent of ozone indicates a lightning jutsu of some sort, but… what was that!?
The summoned Naruto spent an hour looking for the traitor with no luck. Anko, Orochimaru's former student was looking for her teacher with murder clearly on her mind, and the summons decided to leave her to it, while he went after his summonner, admiring the chaos the boy had left in his wake. Four teams of clones had apparently ganged up on the team from Oto and wiped the floor with them, rescuing Team Ten and Rock Lee from Maito Gai's team in the process. "Is everyone here okay?" Shikamaru nodded, dusting himself off.
"We're fine," he answered. "Why are there ANBU in the forest? What's gone wrong with the test?"
"Long story. Which way did Team Seven go?"
"That way," each of the genin answered, pointing in a different direction.
"Of course," Naruto sighed. He should have seen that coming. "An S-rank missing-nin is in the forest. None of you are his target, but there is no reason to linger. Get to the tower at the center as quickly as possible, scroll or no scroll."
"Fortunately," Shikamaru said, "the Oto team had a couple of each." He tossed one he didn't need to Rock Lee.
Lee thanked him profusely before leaving to find his team. The summoned Naruto left as well, resuming his search. He passed but did not speak to the Suna team. The Gaara of this time period was still extremely dangerous to be around.
As he traveled, he saw evidence of other encounters. There was a very confused looking Inuzuka Kiba who, for some reason the summons decided he didn't want to know, was holding a melon of some sort at arm's length and eyeing it warily. He passed Hyuuga Hinata who looked equally confused and seemed to have acquired a permanent blush.
Several equally intriguing scenes were passed on the way to the tower, but he ignored them. He only needed one team or rather one Naruto that could pass a message to the original and found such a team just as Anko Mitarashi did. The tokobetsu jonin was advising them to leave the forest for their own safety.
"I don't believe that will be necessary, Mitarashi-san," he said, appearing next to them.
"Orochimaru is in the forest," she began.
"I know. I engaged him briefly, but he retreated. He's looking for the Uchiha boy, but he has little chance of finding him before he reaches the tower at this point."
"Why is that?" Anko asked skeptically. The summons nodded to 'Sasuke' who gave an uncharacteristic grin and vanished in a puff of smoke. Anko stared. The other two clones nodded to the ANBU and vanished as well.
"Uzumaki used his shadow clones to make multiple copies of his team and sent them off in different directions. Your former sensei will never find the real one in time."
"If you think that will deter him, you don't know Orochimaru."
"It will delay him. The village needs to be warned. I'll continue the hunt for the traitor. Get everyone organized."
"Right," she agreed reluctantly and headed for the edge of the forest. She would have preferred to kill Orochimaru herself, but the ANBU, Anko had to admit, had a better chance. Personal vengeance couldn't get in the way of duty. As long as the job got done, Anko told herself, she'd be happy. With that small justification in place, she headed for the fence to check on preparations. She had discovered a murdered team from Kusagakure two hours ago and sent word to the Hokage while she went in search of her former sensei. The ANBU she encountered must have been the closest at hand.
When she arrived, she found a team waiting for her, led by an ANBU in a cat mask. Anko gave them a thorough, concise report. The operative in charge nodded and instructed her to report to the Hokage, before he and the rest vanished into the forest.