Senju's Heir
~~Years ago, Konoha~~
"They're the ones that started it," Naruto grumbled, his lips pursed. "Stupid Iruka-sensei... Always taking everyone else's side..."
Naruto kicked a random pebble standing in the way, his face pouting furiously. He turned back to the road that led to the Academy and stopped just to stick his tongue out in their general direction. Finished with his petty attempt at retribution, he continued on his way to no particular place or direction.
Naruto sighed seeing the sky starting to lose its color, as if warning that darkness was not very far off. He groaned feeling his stomach start to rumble in protest, no doubt angry it had nothing to provide nutrients. He dug his hands into the pockets of his undersized shorts and pulled out whatever they contained. He sighed yet again seeing a mere three coins, eight coins short of a good meal at a dango shop.
Deciding he had no choice but to skip dinner -too lazy to hunt or fish-, Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets and decided to go for a walk.
After hours of pointless droning, Naruto came across a lake not far from the Uchiha clan's compound. He did not know how he ended up there, but Naruto ignored the reason in favor of exploring it. He ran his way to it and noticed that a small pier ran across the lake.
At the edge of said pier was Uchiha Sasuke, the kid he hated above all else in his classroom; even more than Iruka-sensei.
Naruto stopped himself from climbing the remainder of the hill keeping him from the lake moments after noticing Sasuke. Instead, he observed the boy as he sat at the edge of the small pier with obvious despair. He couldn't blame him, however, considering his clan had been massacred a short time ago.
From the rumors he had heard, his entire family had been killed as well, at the hands of his elder brother, no less. It was like something out of a horror story to Naruto.
...
Without his knowledge, Naruto's feet began to climb the remainder of the hill, until they were firmly standing atop a cemented sidewalk. His hands still in his pockets, Naruto's lilac eyes softened at the sight of Sasuke's hunched figure. He felt a pang in his chest which he couldn't very well identify, a sour and unpleasant pang that urged him to join him.
Before Naruto knew it, he had outstretched his arm and even opened his mouth to speak. But before saying anything at all, Sasuke turned, his onyx eyes red and puffy from crying. Feeling like a fish caught out of water, Naruto immediately brought his hand back to awkwardly scratch at his head, a sheepish grin across his face.
Not being in the mood to act social, Sasuke glared and turned away from the blond, his eyes returning to their original purpose of staring at his reflection. He innocently glanced over his shoulder to see Naruto's reaction and wasn't surprised to see him glaring in complete outrage.
Naruto mentally kicked himself for trying to -yet again- start a conversation with Sasuke. He marched his way across the sidewalk as his hands kept themselves busy in his pockets. Once he was sure they were both out of hearing distance, he peeked over his shoulder and found Sasuke doing the same.
Both boys immediately turned away from each other, deciding their pride was more valuable than a possible interaction. Feeling not so alone in the world, they smiled, the sun finally setting in the distance. For one of them, it was his first time smiling in weeks.
"Rasengan!"
"Chidori!"
The exact moment they reached the floor was the exact moment Naruto and Sasuke released their Jutsus. Destruction was forced to a higher tier of meaning as the wooden dragon exploded upon impact, dealing maximum damage with its mass alone. Then came the systematic booms of two destructive Jutsus colliding with flesh, dirt and grass, all in a split second of difference of each other.
The center shockwave blew dust in every direction, obscuring vision halfway up the height of the giant pillars of the surrounding area. The trees closest to the explosion were bruised by dents the size of lamp posts, and only a massive crater remained to tell the tale of what had caused the damage to the environment. Residue chakra could still be seen coming in and out of existence in the cloud of dust, speaking volumes of the density of chakra required to create such destruction.
Sasuke appeared with Naruto on the branch they left behind, the latter's arm around the former's back. Both of them were panting, but Naruto's were more shallow and rapid. Sasuke's, on the other hand, were regulated and mild, but the sweat in his brow indicated he had exerted himself beyond his limits.
"You know what" -Shikamaru landed grinning from ear to ear- "I'm beginning to question whether you two are really human. Cause seriously; damn."
"Hey."
"Shikamaru...!" Naruto grinned back as he tried to take a step forward, only to collapse and have to resort to use both of his closest friends for support. "Woh, I feel, kinda woozy..."
"Oi!"
"You overdid it again," Shikamaru remarked dryly, though his smile remained. "Coming from you, I'm not surprised. But you could at least try to stop worrying us so damn frequently. It's gotta be shaving years from our lifespan."
"Stop ignoring me, dammit!" Kiba finally snapped. "What the hell happened? Is everyone alright? Is it done?"
Shikamaru glanced at Naruto, his expression softening. "This is all you. It's best if you let them know."
Naruto chuckled as he nodded. "Hey, guys... How you doing...?"
From Ino's location, Tenten audibly growled into the feed. "Dammit, stop stalling and kill the suspense already! Just tell us if you landed the Jutsus successfully!"
Naruto turned to Sasuke, the latter nodding in approval under his right arm. "Neji, do me a favor and take a look, will ya? I know you're tired beyond all hell, but this is kind of important."
Neji reopened his eyes, the veins around them growing in size. "One moment..."
Neji made his way to the location where he could see Naruto's group from overhead. Once there, he started his way toward the floor, where dust was heavy and residue chakra was even heavier. For a moment, he could see nothing within due to his exhaustion and the density of chakra in the atmosphere. Still, as he adjusted his focus to better see the insides of the dust, he made out something immediately.
Neji's eyes broadened at a revelation. "This may be optimistic of me, but I think there's a body in the middle of all that destruction... A body mangled beyond recognition, and without a single indication that it harbors any life...! I think... I think Orochimaru, is dead...!"
Hinata nibbled on her lip as her own Byakugan confirmed Neji's evaluation. "Naruto-kun... I can see it, too...! You guys may have really...!"
Landing next to Kiba, Chōji grinned, his right hand pumping into the air. "WE FREAKIN' DID IT! I say we celebrate with some barbecue! Naruto's buying!"
"YOSHAAA!" Lee somehow crowed through the line. "Behold the power of youth, my dear comrades! We managed to defeat a Kage-level ninja!"
Hearing Neji and Hinata's deduction, Naruto allowed himself to hope, his eyes turning to Sasuke. "Oi, do you think we really...? I mean" -his eyes actually watered a little- "could we have actually done it...?!"
Sasuke could not help but notice that he and Naruto may have just done the impossible by working together, something he didn't take for granted.
"Naruto," he started, the left side of his lips rising. "That time in Shin's lab, you remember what I told you, right?"
"Heh, about killing someone like Orochimaru...?" Naruto's face started losing color, and after a moment of silence, his head simply nodded forward. "Yeah... I remember..."
Seeing Naruto's eyes starting to fall over, Shikamaru sighed. "Let's take him back to Sakura. It may be too late now, but maybe she can knock some of the stupid out of him."
Sasuke scoffed at Shika's banter, his head nodding in agreement.
...
After regrouping with all their scattered friends, Naruto was rested between Hinata and Neji, Sakura sitting overhead. All twelve of them had smiles on their faces. Most of them were sitting around the injured, except for Sasuke, Shikamaru, Lee and Kiba; they were conversing about the events each of their teams went through.
Tenten was balancing a kunai on the tip of another as Ino watched in fascination. Chōji was eating chips next to Shino, who was happy to have found a form of rare bug he could breed with his own. Sakura had her hands over Naruto's face, and while the latter was conscious, his eyes were closed to gather all the energy he could.
The atmosphere between the group was warm and welcoming. They represented in every sense of the word a united unit, a group of soldiers who survived what countless others would not. And as they joyously socialized amongst each other, they were ignorant to any outside threats because they were in each other's presence, and they trusted each other to be capable of handling it.
It was no surprise that no shred of hostility existed among them, despite the life or death exam they found themselves to be a part of. It was all thanks to what they survived as a team.
After a small portion of his health had been restored, Naruto instantly pounced to an upright position, startling Sakura in the process. "Woohoo! I finally feel somewhat better!"
"You don't!" Sakura flicked Naruto's ear, dragging a startled yelp from the blond. "For God's sake, Naruto! You just finished fighting two ninjas! And one of them was a Kage-level Sannin! At least let your body acclimate to the condition its in before you try and move, otherwise you'll risk a serious injury."
"But I'm fine! Look!" Naruto raised his arm so everyone could see, and as they all turned, they saw as the chakra burns in his arms healed right before their eyes using the last remnants of the Kyūbi's chakra. "If anything, I-" he winced as a sharp pain inside of him brought him back down on his behind. "Crap...! Looks like I'm still not ok internally... Must be my exhausted chakra network..."
Kiba, like many others, still had his mouth open in disbelief. "Did your wound just heal in a literal instant...? I know you're a Senju and all, but isn't that overkill even for a Senju...?!"
"Yeah," Chōji agreed. "And what about that ridiculously powerful increase in chakra back with Orochimaru...? It looked as if you were fighting toe to toe with him...! We even thought Shika's plan would go to waste."
Naruto realized his mistake far too late. He returned all of his friends' gaze with one of his own, but unlike theirs, his wasn't brimming with worry and suspicion. After coming across Hinata's worried eyes, then Sakura's troubled ones, Naruto finally gave with a melancholic sigh.
Sakura placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, the latter turning to come across warm and kind emerald eyes. "Naruto, do you... do you have something to tell us?"
Naruto stalled the question as long as he could. But after another few seconds of tense silence, he crossed his legs and rested his elbows over them, his bangs of blond hair cascading over his right eye. Everyone began to near Naruto once they realized it was a serious matter, with Sasuke squatting right in front of him to make sure he did not miss a single detail.
Naruto sighed one last time, his fingers twiddling with a leaf that had been attracted by his own sense of vulnerability. "What you're about to hear is classified intel. I don't need to tell you what will happen to us if it ever gets out." He waited for any sort of response, but all he received was silence, indicating they wanted him to continue. "You all know the tale about the Yondaime and the Kyūbi nearly fourteen years ago, right...?"
Shino nodded hearing this, his wrist pushing up his glasses. "It is common knowledge among Konoha's citizens. It's the tale of how the Yondaime died to kill the Kyūbi, correct?"
"That's a lie," Naruto frostily retorted. "The Kyūbi can't be killed. Not by conventional means, anyway. The truth is... the Kyūbi was sealed. Inside a newborn baby, no less... But it wasn't just any random baby, either; it was the Yondaime's firstborn son... It needed to be a baby because a baby's chakra network is still undeveloped, therefore a perfect host to adjust to the Kyūbi's immensely powerful chakra. And well... To put it bluntly, Shika, do you remember the date the Kyūbi attacked...?"
Shikamaru's eyes began to widen. Everything, even their childhood together, was starting to make sense to him now. "October... 10..."
Tears began to drop from Hinata's cheeks as she stared at Naruto's troubled eyes. "Naruto-kun... T-that's the same day you were born... Then, that means you're the Kyūbi's host and the Yondaime's only son... right?"
Sasuke's teeth were grinding against each other. "How could I have never realized this myself...?"
Kiba's eyes and mouth were wide open. "Naruto... I... I treated you like dirt when we were kids... I'm sorry..."
"Screw you...!" Naruto somewhat playfully retorted. "I'm not telling you guys this so you can feel bad for me...! I just, you know, I feel I needed to... I do admit I was a little scared, though... I thought you'd hate me for it, like the villagers did..."
Sakura gingerly took the edge of Naruto's scarf between her fingers, her tears falling despite her attempts to hide them. "I... I never knew... Why didn't you ever tell us...?"
Naruto chuckled, "Eheh... Well, to be fair, I didn't know either. Not until recently..."
"It was right after we left Port City, wasn't it?" Sasuke asked. "I remember you taking Kakashi to the side. I couldn't care less back then, but now, things have changed..." He glared at Naruto. "Back when we were kids, we were the same... Why didn't you ever approach me?"
Naruto had an immediate response to that, but instead of using it, he closed his mouth shut and lowered his gaze. As Sasuke's glare helplessly intensified, his mind struggled to bring back memories of a lake near the Uchiha compound.
Shikamaru rubbed his eyes as he spoke, "If I remember correctly, you guys are classified as Jinchūrikis, right?"
Naruto nodded. "I bet your smart-ass figured it out ages ago, huh?"
"No," Shikamaru denied. "I had my suspicions with Gaara, which eventually lead me to wonder about you, but I never imagined things were this convoluted. Your parentage, though... that... that has me in more of a trance than anything..."
"Seeing that Jutsu, it should've been obvious..." Neji commented, who had been silent out of respect for Naruto's feelings. "That Jutsu he used to defeat me, the Rasengan, it's a Jutsu made by the Yondaime himself..."
"Amazing..." Lee muttered under his breath. "So my new rival is the Fourth Hokage's son, huh...? What a challenge it will be to surpass you, Naruto-kun."
"Wait," Tenten suddenly urged. "This is all making sense and all. But going by what you're saying, doesn't that mean your dad's a Senju, too?" The silence she created was unsettling even by her standards. "I mean, by the crest on your chest I can tell you're an Uzumaki, and we all know the Yondaime was most certainly not an Uzumaki, so... What does that leave?"
Ino stared at Tenten with as much interest as everybody else. "She's right, isn't she...?"
"Yeah," Naruto confirmed. "Believe it or not, my old man is the son of my grandma Tsunade, and my grandpa, Jiraiya. It's the reason some of you guys have heard me calling her Tsunade-obaa... It was a genuine honorific, not just me trying to mess with her..."
Chōji's fingers stopped picking chips for a moment, guilt apparent in his face. "Me and Shika used to hang out with you when we were kids... How did we never catch any of that...?"
"The same reason nobody could believe he was a Senju," Shikamaru replied. "How could someone who everybody thought was a loser consider he was the son of a Hokage who was said to be one of the strongest ninjas to ever live? To gullible fools, it was an insult to even consider it."
"I concur."
All startled eyes snapped toward the source of the unfamiliar voice. At the entrance of the hollow tree they were using for shelter was Orochimaru, unhurt from head to toe; even his clothes lacked a single imperfection. His arms were smugly crossed across his chest, and his eyes held a hint of amusement; the type a psychopath would have once triggered.
"I-impossible...!" Neji stuttered, his left arm helping him into an upright position. "We saw it with our own eyes...! He should be dead...!"
"You are centuries too early to think you can put a genuine scratch on me, little Genin," Orochimaru informed. "Lost limbs, fatal injuries... Such things mean nothing to me..."
Lee, as the most able ninja present at the moment, was the one to act first. He rushed Orochimaru, his leg cocked behind him as he flew through the air. Horror etched everybody's face, however, seeing Lee, a proficient Taijutsu expert, knocked from the air with a merciless elbow to the face. He rebounded off the floor, only for Orochimaru to bring his heel down on the back of his head.
Lee was immediately knocked unconscious, blood seeping from the side of his head.
"LEE!" Tenten shrieked.
Orochimaru wiped every trace of playfulness from his face. "Unfortunately, time is running short, and my patience is wearing thin. I no longer have the luxury to hold back and play with you."
"Ino!" Shikamaru howled.
Nodding nervously, Ino responded, "I'm on it!"
Once their minds had been connected once more, all of them rushed; even those that shouldn't be moving. Naruto and Sasuke were at the helm of the group seeking to get a quick blow in.
Orochimaru lifted a single hand as he riled his chakra. After they were mere feet from him, he released whatever chakra he had bottled up.
The hollow tree they were in was blown apart by the pressure alone. Shrapnel flew in every direction, the only objects following a perfect line being the bodies of the Konoha-Nin. They rolled on the floor like rag dolls, their arms and legs ending up on awkward and odd angles.
Kiba raised his head to see Orochimaru nearing, his eyes fixed on Naruto, who laid motionless behind him. "I won't let you..." he snarled. "Not today..." He snapped his head back seeing his partner. "Akamaru! Let's go!"
Orochimaru's expression and direction remained unchanged seeing Kiba rush toward him with his partner on his head. Once the boy's fist was inches from his face, he took Kiba's arm and struck him under his elbow, breaking the arm in an instant. Kiba released a blood chilling cry feeling the pain, but Orochimaru was not finished. His fist struck the Genin's face, breaking his nose and sending him flying back.
"Kiba!" Naruto yelled from the floor, still unable to move due to his exhaustion.
Shikamaru cursed, "Dammit!" In an act of desperation, the young Nara brought his hands together to use his clan's signature Jutsu. "Sha-!"
Orochimaru appeared before him, his right leg reeled. "The genius architect of their last assault. Ridding you will make them all collapse..."
Both Ino and Chōji felt their stomach sink seeing what was about to occur. "SHIKAMARU!"
Ino and Chōji barely managed to come between Orochimaru and his target, just in time to share the damage done equally among their group. Only Shikamaru was able to lift his arms to absorb his share of the impact. They were launched back, skewering through two massive trees each, their mental connection flickering between on and off.
"SHIKA! INO! CHŌJI!" Naruto cried, the seal on his stomach keeping him from drawing any of the Kyūbi's strengths. It was becoming more and more apparent to him where he lacked ability-wise. "Stop this, Orochimaru!"
"I can stop whenever you like," Orochimaru informed. "All you have to do is accept the gift I want to give you. Otherwise," he appeared over Hinata's barely conscious form, his leg high in the air. "I am going to kill every single person here..."
Naruto felt himself about to snap. "HINATA!"
"Kaiten!"
Neji appeared under Orochimaru and the latter was forced to jump back to avoid the blue field materializing around him.
Neji stood before Hinata, his usually flawless form sloppy and tilted. And while his Byakugan proved to be activated, they lacked that solid shine that they showed when they first fought against Naruto. Instead, they were clouded and glossed with exhaustion. Combined with his injuries, Neji was having a hard time just standing.
Orochimaru sneered, "The Branch family comes to do its solemn duty once more..."
Neji only stared, his panting being the only indication he hadn't passed out on his feet. "Duty...?" He struggled to keep both Byakugan eyes open, so instead opted with keeping only one. "No, you are wrong... I do this not out of duty... not anymore..." He managed to raise his palm at an angle that he could feel comfortable with. "I do this because I want to..."
Hinata's eyes widened hearing Neji's words.
Orochimaru chuckled, his hands calmly going through seals. "A noble sentiment. Wind Release-"
"Fire Release!" Sasuke ran past Naruto, the latter staring helplessly as his best friend was forced to protect them once more. "Great Fireball Jutsu!"
"Sasuke!"
Sakura raised her head hearing Naruto's desperate cry, her heart pounding in her ears. She raised herself from the dirt below and looked around. She settled on Ino once she came into view. Like her, Ino was sitting, unmoving and lacking any type of sign she was breathing. It was as if she were unconscious.
"Ino...?" She finally said, worried. "Hey, Ino...?"
Ino stood back to her feet, her arms limp and scraped from beginning to end. "Sakura..." she finally said, her body still facing away from the pinket. She began to turn and her grinning face became fully visible. "I may have a potential problem here..."
Once she turned completely, a bark of wood could be seen encrusted deep inside of her abdomen. The grin she had softened, and a river of blood began to pour down her mouth and onto her outfit, drenching the upper portion of it a colorful red. She instantly fell to her knees, her eyes starting to turn glassy and lifeless.
Sakura's already pale face turned even whiter. "INO!" She rushed toward the Yamanaka heir at full speed, her mind drowning out the pain in her body so she could catch Ino in her arms. "No, no no...! This is all wrong, this isn't supposed to be happening..."
Ino's blue eyes almost seemed green as tears welled inside of them. "Sakura..." She smiled feeling the euphoria granted by adrenaline. "I feel faint... Is that normal...?"
"Of course not you idiot...!" Sakura's fingers gingerly examined the wound in Ino's abdomen, the tips of them immediately turning crimson. "Oh, God... Ino..."
Ino, dazed and disoriented, cupped Sakura's left cheek with a wry smile. "D-dammit you're so pretty... I've always envied... your stupid soft skin..."
"Don't do this...!" Sakura growled, her tears mixing with Ino's as they landed on the latter's cheeks. "There's still so much we have to do together...!"
"Ino!" Chōji cried from a distance, his back against a large root. He cursed feeling his every breath as excruciating as a broken femur. He tried to lift himself, but was knocked down by a wave of pain that peaked over his right shoulder, signaling it could be broken. 'Yep, broken shoulder. I can't even breathe without it hurting...!'
Sasuke knew glaring was useless at this point, but he did it anyway. Shino was standing next to him, equally tired as he, but with a strong mentality. Tenten stood on his other side, in her hands a blade and a scroll. Weapons were littered everywhere, but without a single one ever coming close to coming in contact with the Sannin across from them.
It was as if Orochimaru were suddenly invincible...
Orochimaru unclenched his right hand, his legs bending at the knees. "I grow bored of this..."
Sasuke's Sharingan eyes widened seeing Orochimaru nearly blink out of existence. He was the only one to see him appear in front of Tenten, plant his opened palm right above her chest, and appear behind Shino and he a moment later. But before they could even react, both could already feel their face being pushed down as they crashed against the floor.
Tenten was sent flying back until she was stopped by a sturdy tree, a few of her ribs breaking on impact. "Crap..." She slid down, until she ended up on the floor, unable to move. 'This may really be the end of us...'
Orochimaru kneeled next to Sasuke, his hand brushing away the bangs of hair covering his neck. "Now that we're here..." He grinned, his canines ready to dig into flesh. "We might as well see what will result from you, Sasuke-kun..."
"ENOUGH ALREADY!"
...
Naruto's desperate and furious cry stopped Orochimaru from doing any more to Sasuke and Shino, who could only just lift their heads from the dirt under them. Sasuke turned to Naruto, his eyes receding to their original onyx. Shino also stared at the blond, the lenses on his sunglasses cracked down the middle.
Both remaining fighters gasped seeing Naruto somehow stand back to his feet. What surprised them above all else, however, was seeing Naruto willingly making his way toward Orochimaru. They examined him for any type of sign that gave away his intentions, but all they found were signs of resignation.
Orochimaru smiled seeing Naruto nearing him without an ounce of hostility in his movement. "Well, well... It seems you've finally understood... Should I assume you have decided to take the seal in Sasuke-kun's stead...?"
Naruto wordlessly stopped a short three feet away from Orochimaru, his shoulders sagged and his head staring at the small amount of leaves around his legs. Finally, after a moment of silence, the guards near him fell, as if resigned to their fate.
"Just get it over with already," Naruto snarled, his hands fiercely clutched next to him. "And leave them all alone!"
"As you wish," Orochimaru chuckled, his fangs bare for Naruto to see. "You should know, however, that your chances of surviving this Cursed Seal are a little over twenty percent. Even with your pros as a Senju-Uzumaki. But if you do survive, it will be irrefutable proof that I can turn you into one of the strongest ninjas to ever walk the earth... Of this, I am certain."
Naruto's eyes began to widen. "One of the strongest...? You...?"
Orochimaru nodded. "That's right.
Naruto quickly glared up at the man. "Then would you really risk whatever the hell you're planning with such a high chance of death...?"
Orochimaru licked his lips like a snake would, "Hm, I wonder about that..."
Naruto turned to see Sakura with a bloodied and delirious Ino in her arms. Then, he turned to Neji, the latter on his knees in front of Hinata, his palm still outstretched. He turned to see Lee and Shikamaru unconscious not far from there. Tenten was battling to fight unconsciousness a few yards away from Chōji, and Kiba was cradling Akamaru in his unbroken arm.
Finished with what he wanted to see, Naruto took out a kunai he had been keeping as a good luck charm. It was the kunai he took from Sasuke in their first encounter in the Academy all that time ago. He flicked the kunai upwards, and it landed right in front of Sasuke's face, who like a true ninja, immediately recognized it as one of his own.
Sasuke managed to remove his arm from under him and took the kunai by the handle. He turned back to Naruto, who didn't have it in him to return his look of confusion. "Naruto... what are you trying to...?" Realization hit him seeing Naruto's hand showing a peace sign over his head. "Oi... OI! Did you learn nothing from what you felt through that Jutsu...! You said it yourself, right? That you would rather die than take that seal. So why are you deciding to take it now?!"
"I said I was willing to die to keep that seal away from me, Sasuke," Naruto clarified as he removed his scarf. "But I never said I was willing to let you guys die. You heard him. There's a twenty percent chance I'll live. My odds aren't that great, but" -he turned to Sasuke and gave a grin- " I guess it's better than nothing..."
"Stop, Orochimaru..." That expression on Naruto's face, Sasuke had seen it once before; on his brother several years ago. "I SAID STOP-!"
'I'm sorry, Jiraiya-ojii, Tsunade-obaa...' Naruto smiled. 'In the end, I couldn't keep our promise...'
Orochimaru plunged his teeth into Naruto's neck.
The amount of pain Naruto felt was equivalent to the amount all of his friends felt in the entirety of the exams. As a black, inky dragon circled a swirling pool over his left shoulder, Naruto screamed as much as his lungs were capable of screaming. Tears of agony made trails down his whiskers as Orochimaru removed his teeth from him.
Then, falling to his knees, all eyes came to rest on Naruto.
First there was a flash of green light, a dark and powerful flash of iridescent, blinding light. After the initial brightness came the trembling, as if the earth itself had suddenly caught a cold. Then, like everything prior acting as a mere introduction, the two phenomenons combined, giving way to one of the greatest expositions of raw chakra ever witnessed.
Even Orochimaru could only stand back once the flailing green form of his potential pupil exploded into a green frenzy. 'This... is ungodly... It isn't even normal chakra... it's Natural Energy...! The seal is unearthing what was once being suppressed at a rate his body can barely handle... This isn't a Curse Seal transformation...! This is what the boy's Sage Mode will eventually become!'
Naruto spread his arms apart and clutched his fists, his eyes switching between a bright gold, and their usual enchanting purple. Strings of green chakra threatened to enhance the color of his golden hair, and burgundy markings could be seen struggling to form a swirling tattoo under his forehead protector.
The earth under him cracked and small pebbles nearby disintegrated the moment they came too close to Naruto. Trees began to sprout all around their location, all of them tall and with a perfectly full head of lush leaves. One final, lasting blast lifted the dust remaining and uncovered the pure bedrock slumbering under it.
Finally, after what seemed like hours but were really seconds, everything stopped. Naruto was still on his knees and his friends were hopeful that the blond had survived yet again; like he always does. But before anyone could even utter a single word, reality came crashing down in the form of Naruto simply falling back, like he were nothing more than a sack of rice.
Everyone knew what that meant.
Sasuke was the first to start crawling his way to Naruto, Hinata and Sakura being the first to start sobbing. "Naruto..." He lifted his bleeding arm over the other, his eyes starting to feel numb for reasons beyond his knowledge. "Oi... Naruto..." He ignored the background of cries coming from behind him; it was as if nothing else existed. 'Not again... Please...'
Tsunade and Jiraiya suddenly appeared a few yards behind Orochimaru, the former already in his version of Sage Mode.
Orochimaru ignored the two old friends landing behind him and instead focused on the results before him. 'Hmm, what an interesting development...Time for part two, then...'
Sasuke reached Naruto and immediately placed his finger against the blond's throat. He lowered his head to stare at his chest for any sign that he was breathing, but found no movement whatsoever. He went higher to focus on his face and saw someone he could barely recognize.
Naruto's half-lidded eyes stared at nothing, as if void of any life or light.
Images started filling Sasuke's head the moment his flickering Sharingan came across Naruto's grape-colored eyes. Images of when they were children who were misunderstood and lonely with nowhere to truly call home. He saw through Naruto's eyes as the blond made several attempts to make contact with him, to speak to him. Unfortunately, every time he did, all he saw was himself dismissing the blond without exception.
It was an endless loop which was finally severed the day they had both been placed on Team Seven.
As he explored the blond's memories of him one by one, including those of the discrimination he suffered, Sasuke dragged himself to an upright position and closed Naruto's lids entirely, his hand shaking uncontrollably. Seeing his eyelids remain closed, Sasuke's mind could not handle the trauma. It simply turned itself off.
~~Forest of Death, East, Moments Earlier~~
Jiraiya sped across roots at speeds normal ninjas wouldn't dare to match. A wrong step or even a slight breeze would be bad at such a pace. He could even put his own body at risk if he wasn't careful. Only another ninja of similar quality would be able to keep up with him, and even they would find it difficult.
Tsunade was one of those few ninjas capable of keeping up with Jiraiya, though even she was struggling to keep up with him, despite her limitless chakra control. But the reason she was having trouble at all was because of the two summons on Jiraiya's shoulders; the two Great Sage Toads from Mount Myōboku, Fukasaku and Shima.
"Well?" Tsunade asked as they somersaulted and ran with the floor over their heads. "Please tell me you can feel something! Because I can't tell the difference between a tree and a ninja even if he were coming right at me! Just how powerful can these Uzumaki seals be?"
"Don't underestimate the Uzumaki, Tsunade-chan," Fukasaku warned. "Originally, the Uzumaki's Fūinjutsu was a variation that stemmed from the same lineage as ours. But it wouldn't be an exaggeration ta say that they evolved their technique ta somethin' far superior in the short time they had. Which, I might add, wasn't much considerin'... Who knows how powerful they would've become had they had more time."
Jiraiya suddenly pressed for more Natural Energy, his toad-like feet cracking the strong roots under them. "Where the hell did Orochimaru get these damn things from...! It shouldn't be possible, not when most of the Uzumaki's knowledge was destroyed in the disaster that struck them."
"Calm yerself, Jiraiya-chan!" Shima ordered, the stress of maintaining their delicate balance through Jiraiya's emotions starting to get to her. "It's impossible ta say where he could've gotten 'em! But one thing's fer certain, wherever he got that knowledge from, it couldn't have been in small quantities!"
"There's a rumor going around in the Land of Rice," Jiraiya retorted while on the subject, his experience as a seasoned ninja soothing the angered lines across his mutated face. "They say some of the Uzumaki, fearing their own destruction, safeguarded some of their knowledge in some type of vault or scroll. It may have been done behind the backs of the Uzumaki clan's leaders, though. I doubt they would've willingly left behind something that could drastically shift the balance of power in the world with almost as much potential as the Bijū."
Tsunade actually swallowed back her fear hearing such a thing. "Direct knowledge from the Uzumaki clan...? Decades of a civilization's research involving Fūinjutsu, all of it cramped into a single scroll..." The image of Minato manipulating seals like they were clay made her shudder. "My God, any minor nation would grow exponentially with such knowledge. In time, they could even challenge any of the five Great Shinobi Nations..."
Fukasaku nodded, his hands still pressed together. "It's not farfetched ta think some of the Uzumaki wanted to preserve some of their knowledge and culture... Even if it meant risking the stability of the world."
They all froze feeling the sudden malignancy in the air.
Jiraiya, receiving most of the signal, narrowed his eyes feeling the raw heat of the Kyūbi's chakra. The instincts offered by Sage Mode screamed at him where that signal was coming from. He had sensed where Naruto's location was the moment he achieved the transformation, but it was like following an afterimage. You never really got a good look at it. But now, it was as clear as the sun in midday.
"Hurry!" Jiraiya barked, his legs blasting him off in the general direction he was originally following. 'It's you, Naruto...! You're signaling me, aren't you...?! You're trying to tell me where you are!'
Tsunade was forced to use her full strength just to keep up with Jiraiya. "You can feel it, can't you? Even I can feel that!"
"What power..." Fukasaku whispered. "I've lived hundreds of years, and I still get chills feelin' the Kyūbi's chakra... How the Uzumaki could develop something that can restrain such power is a marvel of human ingenuity..."
"I know exactly where he is!" Jiraiya declared, the wind whistling in his ears. "Don't hold back! We don't know how long it'll take Orochimaru to figure out what Naruto is trying to do!"
After just a couple minutes of traveling, Jiraiya stopped yet again.
Tsunade nearly crashed against Jiraiya's back as she used chakra to stop herself. "Why are you stopping...?!"
Jiraiya frowned, his fists hardening and the summons on his shoulders tensing. "Concentrate and tell me what you feel."
Tsunade closed her eyes and did just that. She reopened them and flared her chakra to loosen up her body. "We're surrounded. And by Anbu level ninja, no less. They're obviously not Sarutobi's, they aren't supposed to be here just yet... Everything's all static, but I can feel twenty, and you?"
The Anbu agents, all of them dressed entirely in black, appeared around them in a perfect circle, with both Sannin in the middle.
"Thirty," Jiraiya snarled.
Despite their obvious intentions, all of them were a reasonable distance away from the two Konoha ninjas. It was as if they had intentions for combat, but not the desire nor the gall to expect a victory. Their goal was purely to serve as a diversion.
"I don't have time for this..." Jiraiya disappeared from sight and appeared behind two Anbu operatives. He took them from the nape of their necks and crashed their faces against the floor, mud and grass erupting around them. "I don't care what nation you're from, step aside and I won't harm you..."
Once they all turned to Jiraiya with blades in the open, it was clear the Anbu were going to do the complete opposite of what he asked.
They all attacked at the same time.
Tsunade immediately took her place next to Jiraiya and swung her fist in the direction of the two agents closest to them. Something cracked the moment her fist made contact, though it was unknown whether it was the Anbu's armor or their ribs. Seeing those two agents skewered through several trees was enough for the Anbu to finally stop and consider their options.
Tsunade retook her relaxed demeanor and simply muttered, "Jiraiya."
Jiraiya sighed, his eyes scanning the Anbu for any leads of their affiliation. "I know. But even we can't outrun this many, fight them and follow Naruto's trail at the same time. Wherever they're from, they knew they were coming here to receive a beating. They're nothing but fodder sent to get killed just to buy some time. It has Orochimaru written all over it. Still, this means we must be getting close..."
Tsunade cursed as she brushed her hair back. "But this many...? How did they manage to infiltrate the Forest of Death...?"
Fukasaku narrowed his toad eyes at the large group. "A friend of that snake of yers must've gotten 'em in once Konoha was blinded."
"Shit...!" Jiraiya cursed, his fists trembling with bottled-up frustration. "This'll take time to finish..."
Shima growled seeing the large group crowding together, like little mammals cowering at the presence of a predator. "Enough of this! The Child of Prophecy needs us, yer grandson needs us, Jiraiya-chan! We don't have time ta waste on these puppets! Pull up yer trousers and fasten yer belt! We're going all out!"
Jiraiya smiled. "Yes, ma'am!"
~~Konoha~~
Gaara liked to think he understood how the world worked; he truly did. He knew the lengths people would go to achieve their personal goals because he had some of his own. But sometimes even he found himself questioning the logic of certain people. Not because they countered what he thought to be rational thinking, but because they truly made no sense to him.
The female gender was one of those rare few things that truly made no sense to Gaara.
"Ichiraku?" Gaara found himself asking, said shop standing right before them. "I'm sure you said you didn't want to eat more than three times a day. So why, may I ask, are you insisting on eating yet again when we just finished eating dango not ten minutes ago?"
Hazuki hummed as her coy smile only grew. "You obviously don't know how the female mind works, Gaara-kun. What I meant with not eating more than three times a day, really meant that I want to stuff my face in with as many plates of food as humanly possible..." She whimpered seeing Gaara's eyes simply stare at her. "Stop judging me with those cruel, empty eyes of yours... Unlike you, I can't eat whatever I want whenever I want. It's unladylike, so goes the etiquette rules back in Papa's estate..."
Gaara sighed, but nodded understandably. "Very well. But I'm telling Naruto. This can't possibly be health-"
Gaara suddenly stopped and clutched his seal.
Hazuki turned to Gaara in bewilderment, her body taking a careful step toward him. "Ano..." she muttered, her red eyes starting to brighten seeing the crazed look in Gaara's eyes. "Gaara-kun...? Are you... are you ok?"
Gaara's eyes widened feeling the dread of the beast trapped within him start to consume him, a cold sweat instantly taking over his face and neck. He shot his eyes down the crowded street as his animalistic instincts urged him to get a better understanding of his surroundings. It was almost like he had heard the final howl of a fellow member of his species, one that he knew firsthand.
Moments later, Gaara could hear the growling of the Tanuki locked within him, almost as if he were telling him what he already knew. He could hear the rattling of a cage, no doubt its massive tail banging against it. After the initial growling came the outright screaming, forcing him into a long and unpleasant grimace.
Gaara could actually feel the extra restraints Jiraiya placed on his seal starting to grind against each other.
Then, after a moment of tense silence, Gaara's hands came up to his ears as he released his own unrestrained scream. Onlookers immediately stopped to stare, and Gaara could hear the voice of the Anbu agents through the radio asking frantic questions. He fell to his knees understanding the possibility of what may have happened, but not before Hazuki immediately did the same right in front of him.
"Gaara-kun...!" Hazuki tried, her expression indicating she was terrified and confused. "Please snap out of it...! Are you feeling unwell? Please, tell me what's wrong!"
"Hime-sama!" A female Anbu shouted as she landed, her fellow agents landing around them. "Please step back from him! He may have lost control of himself!"
"Lost... control...?" Hazuki asked, her face pale as she recalled the image of a younger Naruto glossed in red chakra, three tails protruding out of it. 'You mean... like Naruto-nii...?' She finally came to, feeling the female Anbu's hand on her wrist. "No!" She immediately yanked her hand out of hers . "Gaara-kun!" She tried again, her hands on his shoulders. "Can you hear me? You recognize me, right...?"
"N-Naruto..." Gaara stuttered, his hands pulling on his raven hair. "It's Naruto... I have to... get to him...!"
"To Naru-nii...?" Hazuki blossomed into a red tomato feeling Gaara's head collapse onto her lap. Immediately brushing those feelings aside, she turned her attention to the Anbu standing next to them. "Uzumaki Naruto," she said simply, her voice altered to signal command, like her father taught her. "Where is he?"
~~Forest of Death, East~~
Jiraiya blasted the last remaining Anbu agent clear across a field of gaping holes, until he was stopped by a massive root not far from there. He turned to Tsunade a few yards from him, the ends of her nails smothered in a liquid he knew she was far more familiar with than he. Seeing her standing there, her back to him, it was like a scene of a cruel goddess. A goddess in search of her most beloved treasure.
Jiraiya decided it wasn't the time to be inspired and instead cleared his throat with a loud harrumph. "You finished with your lot?"
Tsunade allowed a few more drops of blood to spill from the ends of her nails, just so she could try and get a feel of Naruto's chakra in the distance. "Yeah. Let's keep moving..."
"It's... no longer there... The large source of chakra; it's gone...!" Shima cursed, her hands remaining locked. "Dammit, he must've figured out what the boy was doing...!"
"Shit!" Tsunade also cursed, her hands closing shut. She halted further cursing seeing the amount of bodies in the area. "What do we do with them? Most of them are still breathing."
"We don't have time to take them back to base," Jiraiya quickly responded. "We have to keep moving. I can still feel small remnants of the Kyūbi's chakra that indicate where Naruto was last using it. And I don't know what the hell it was, but I felt an explosion of chakra that sent waves through the area. I can only imagine that being Naruto and his posse of Genin."
Fukasaku slightly altered his seals as he nodded. "Then let's move. I'll have one of our messengers tell Hiruzen about the location of these poor saps. Move!"
"Yeah!"
...
After just a few minutes of traveling, Jiraiya landed where the enormous source of energy sprouted from.
From a root overlooking the crater in the middle, he jumped down and landed inside of it. He scowled seeing the mangled remains of something reminiscent to a human body. Seeing such an unsightly scene reminded him of the remains of a snake shedding its skin, in other words; Orochimaru.
"Naruto was here," Tsunade confirmed as she landed next to Jiraiya. "I can feel it..." Her eyes softened feeling Naruto's chakra in the atmosphere. It was warm, erratic and somewhat demonic; everything Naruto represented. "He fought here against Orochimaru..." She frowned seeing the remains in the center of the crater. "To think he actually pushed him into using Jutsu."
"He didn't do it alone," Jiraiya quickly added. "There's more here... I can feel the combined efforts of several chakra signatures scattered about. Strangely enough, though... there's one besides Naruto that stands out. I assume that's the chakra of his little Uchiha friend?"
Tsunade nodded, "Most likely. If you feel it potent enough, then it's most certainly that Uchiha's chakra." She narrowed her eyes at Jiraiya seeing him stare with those frog-like eyes. "What?"
Jiraiya averted his eyes and waved his hand in dismissal. "It's nothing..."
"Just spit it out," Tsunade scolded him. "You know how I it hate when you beat around the bush."
Jiraiya smiled, acknowledging her hardheaded nature. "Fine, fine..." He muttered back. "What do you think of the relationship between those two...? You do remember what happened the last time an Uchiha befriended a Senju... right? I can't say their relationship will end the same, but I can certainly pick-up on the parallels between their ancestors."
Tsunade smirked, "It's a little late to tell Naruto who he can and can't be friends with, Jiraiya."
Jiraiya grimaced hearing her say that, his two summons solely focused on searching for nearby signatures. "That's not what I meant... I just think we should keep an eye on them. If they're anything like them, you have to admit it's something to think about. You can't ignore the fact that these two hold an uncanny resemblance to your grandfather and Uchiha Madara. It's something that's been costing me sleep nowadays..."
Tsunade dropped her playful expression and adopted one of worry. "You're serious about this...? You're seriously thinking there might be more than a mere coincidence between these two...?"
"I don't know about Sasuke," Jiraiya continued. "But I know about Naruto. And I can tell he's a talented young boy who will one day sit at the top of what a ninja is capable of. I can't help but worry that Sasuke will too. And if he does, Sasuke will be the only one standing in Naruto's way and vice versa... I have a bad feeling of where this is headed, Tsunade..."
Tsunade's eyes were bold as she took a step forward. "Are you saying... that Sasuke may some day be the one to...?"
"No," Jiraiya instantly denied, more to appease his own mind than Tsunade's. "It may end up the other way around. We just can't know. Still, I don't plan on doing nothing and just wait and see..."
Tsunade nodded understandably, "What are you planning on doing?"
Jiraiya tsked as he tightened his fists. "That's the golden question right there..."
The eyes of both Legendary Sannin widened feeling a tremor and a gush of winds strong enough to lift their long bangs of hair from their original spot. They turned to the source of the extraordinary explosion of chakra and saw a green aura eminating not far from them. Only Jiraiya could detect the exact source of where that chakra, which challenged even the Kyūbi's in prominence, was being unleashed.
Fukasaku couldn't believe what his instincts were telling him. "This feeling... this pressure... It can't be, can it... at his age...?!"
"Impossible...!" Shima argued. "He's barely a teenager!"
Jiraiya bluntly said what they were all suspecting. "Naruto is releasing... Natural Energy...?!"
"It can't be..." Tsunade silently argued. "Not even grandfather... not this early..."
It was as if Naruto's chakra had taken a physical form just so it could tell Jiraiya, the only one capable of deciphering its message, where he was and what was happening to him. Which could only be one thing.
'He's far too young...' Jiraiya's logical side started. 'His coils aren't anywhere near ready to handle that much power... He doesn't have the chakra reserves to balance it; not yet...' Fear of what this could mean made the air in his lungs hitch right when it reached his throat. "NARUTOOO!"
"Jiraiya, wait!"
Jiraiya pierced through several large trees standing in the way of where he could basically see Naruto. He could only just make out the sounds of Tsunade on his trail, at her own pace, but nonetheless right behind him. He could barely feel the cuts left behind from the result of punching through trees, his eyes narrowing feeling Naruto's life force draining with every passing second.
"WHERE?" Jiraiya roared just to make sure.
"Straight ahead!" Shima assured. "Keep movin'!"
Finally, Jiraiya landed with a subtle thump, Tsunade right next to him. There he saw Orochimaru's back, Sasuke right in front of him, and the latter's fellow Genin sprinkled about, a few of them in their own pools of blood; but none of them dead. Jiraiya was too fixated on the body in front of Orochimaru, however, to concentrate on anything else.
A body which he could feel was the only one that had no life being emitted.
"Orochimaru..." Jiraiya finally whispered, his voice hoarse and so very unlike himself. "What have you done...?"
Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin that left Konoha years ago, turned and smiled like the summons he enjoyed mimicking. "What does it look like, Jiraiya?"
"Jiraiya..." Tsunade murmured, her eyes glistening with tears and void of any sign that she was conscious. "Not again..."
Fukasaku's eyes fell seeing Naruto. "We were too late...!"
Jiraiya walked past Orochimaru like he wasn't even there. Instead he stopped before Naruto's body and quickly checked for a pulse, knowing well that he wouldn't be feeling anything. He stared at the boy's face and saw a quick flash of Minato's face with the exact same expression. It snapped something inside of him realizing he had failed yet again.
"How interesting," Orochimaru chuckled seeing the look in Tsunade's eyes. "I haven't seen that look in your eyes since your son's funeral, Tsuna-"
Jiraiaya appeared right in front of Orochimaru before the latter could even finish his sentence. His fist, strong and enhanced with Natural Energy, struck Orochimaru right between his lungs and stomach. Jiraiya's mouth was an uncharacteristic thin line that spoke of a single desire, a desire that he would not be denied.
Orochimaru's eyes turned as white as eggshells feeling the power of Jiraiya's blow rupture nearly every organ in contact with his fist. Blood erupted from his mouth and colored Jiraiya's shoulder a bright red, his mind momentarily blanking by the sheer pain his body had received.
From above the forest, Orochimaru could be seen carving a road across an entire kilometer of land lifting dust and toppling trees. Another speck could be made out following after him with more than clear intentions.
Beta: PrincessDystopia, April 25, 2017.