Naruto Uchiha
Hello everyone, I'm back. Thank you to all of you that reviewed, favorited, and/or followed my fanfic. I appreciated the input on the unusual behavior of the ANBU in the previous chapter. I didn't realize that their ignoring of the members of Team 7, all of whom belong to members of Konoha's most prestigious clans, when they were in trouble, was an unusual choice of action, even with the Chunin Exams in place. I'll see what I can do about explaining things.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of Kishimoto-sensei's works.
Hinata was currently pacing in the room Team 7 had been given in the central tower of the forest, worrying about her teammates. After Team Gai had carried her crush and his brother to the tower, they had opened the scrolls to find that they created a summoning array, which called a Chunin to congratulate the Genin teams and inform them about the next phase. They were to wait in the tower until the time for the exams had expired, and when that time came, they would learn what the third and final phase of the exam entailed.
Sasuke and Naruto had been quickly whisked away to be examined by the medics to determine what Orochimaru had done to them, leaving her worried and wondering how they were doing and regretting not being strong enough to protect them.
"It won't happen again," said Hinata softly but firmly, "I won't be too weak. I'll become stronger, that's a promise."
xXsceneXx
As Naruto and Sasuke lay on two beds in a room of the tower, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakashi were consulting Jiraiya about the current condition of the two Genin.
"It seems my wayward student has perfected his Cursed Seal," sighed Hiruzen, "and if he marked young Sasuke here, he must be after the Sharingan."
"It would match his style," said Jiraiya, "use the Sharingan in order to learn all Jutsu available."
"Can you remove it?" asked Kakashi, getting a shake of the head from the Toad Sage.
"Even though Orochimaru is still considered an amateur in the art of Fūinjutsu, it seems he has managed to turn that weakness into an annoying strength by creating this twisted and convoluted seal. From what I can tell, it forcibly draws Senjutsu energy from the surrounding area and merges it with the user, allowing for a pseudo-Sennin mode transformation. Not only that, but it seems that the snake bastard managed to find a way to seal a fragment of his very soul into the Curse Mark. With that being said, I don't know of a way to safely remove the seal."
"What about Naruto-kun?" asked Hiruzen.
"His condition is not as serious as Sasuke," said Jiraiya, "he's suffering from the aftereffects of Orochimaru layering a second seal over the one that houses the Kyuubi, messing up his flow of Chakra. I should be able to remove it without any trouble."
"Do so," said the Sandaime Hokage, "once he is revived, we can see about dealing with Sasuke-kun's problem."
"Right," said Jiraiya as he raised a hand and caused five flames of chakra to sprout, one on each finger, "Gogyō Kaiin!"
Jiraiya placed his hand onto the seal that Orochimaru had placed over Naruto's Ten Tetragram Seal, reversing and removing the odd numbered seal, causing Naruto to stir.
"Jiji?" he asked groggily when he opened his eyes before bolting up, "Nii-san! Hinata-chan! That Snake bastard was…"
"It's alright, Naruto-kun," said Kakashi, "Hinata managed to hold off your attacker until fellow Konoha Genin were able to get you to your goal along with your scrolls. However, Sasuke-kun is still out from what Orochimaru did to him."
"What happened?" asked Naruto, "I mean, I saw the snake-bastard bite him."
"Sasuke-kun was branded with a Curse Mark," said Jiraiya, "it is a particularly twisted form of Fūinjutsu that the user can use to control or restrict the person or people branded with the mark."
"Is there anything you can do for him?" asked Naruto.
"Unfortunately no," said the Toad Sage, "the Mark has partially fused with his Chakra network and has begun contaminating his Tenketsu by absorbing Nature Chakra and forcing his body to assimilate it. To top it off, the bastard seems to have fused a small portion of his own soul into the seal matrix, allowing him to influence and activate the seal at will."
"How will that affect him, Jiraiya-sensei?" asked Naruto.
"The forced assimilation of Nature Chakra, combined with the influence of Orochimaru's soul fragment, will likely push Sasuke-kun into a darker mindset while his body is eventually altered into a more monstrous form due to the effects of Nature Chakra on the body," said the Sage.
"I've been meaning to ask," said Naruto, "what is Nature Chakra?"
"Well," said Jiraiya, "Nature Chakra, is energy produced by every plant and animal in the world around you. Normally people don't know it's there and can't harness or mold it, but there are some that learn to absorb it into themselves. However, the process isn't without risk, and unless one can perfectly balance the Chakra ratios, then their bodies will be altered until the Chakra is expelled."
"It seems that right now, the only thing we can do is seal away the mark," said Kakashi, "I think the Fūja Hōin, would be sufficient for now."
Naruto watched as the adults talked amongst themselves and wished there was something he could do to help, when suddenly he blinked and found himself face to face with the Kyuubi in his mindscape.
"Heh," laughed the Kitsune, "looks like that brother of yours with those accursed eyes is in a bit of trouble."
"Shut up!" growled Naruto, "This is serious."
"So I see," smirked the fox, "that seal the snake placed on him is a real piece of work."
"Look," said Naruto, "I've got a lot going on, so why did you call me here? Tell me or I'm leaving."
"Tch, so impatient," muttered the Kyuubi, "fine. There might be a way you can help that brother of yours."
"And what would that be?" asked Naruto skeptically.
"Think back to the training you did with the old Toad," said the Kyuubi.
xXflashbackXx
One-week prior, Jiraiya had just watched Naruto learn how to use another of his Rinnegan's abilities, and quite frankly, it scared him. During their training, Naruto had learned several new Jutsu, and unlocked one other Rinnegan ability, which the Kyuubi had called Paths, the ability to absorb Chakra from a person's Jutsu or body through a projected invisible barrier called the Fūjutsu Kyūin, allowing him to block and neutralize most Jutsu, but this newest technique wasn't like the others he had used.
The new ability, allowed Naruto to literally rip the soul out of a living being, absorbing their memories in the process. If used haphazardly, the technique was quite dangerous, despite the advantages it had as an interrogation tool, the fact that it left the victim a corpse made it something the Toad Sage didn't want his student to use too often.
"Naruto," said Jiraiya, "I need you to promise me that you will never use that technique unless you are ABSOLUTLY sure that you know what you're doing."
"Yeah," said Naruto, shuddering at the memory from his Kage Bunshin of getting its soul ripped out, "I promise, Jiraiya-sensei."
"Right," said Jiraiya, "now, how about I show you more Jutsu?"
xXflashback endXx
"Do you really think that could work?" asked Naruto.
"Would you rather let that snake bastard's soul corrupt him?" asked the Kyuubi.
"But if it doesn't work…" said Naruto.
"Do you have a better idea?" growled the Kyuubi, "Not even that Toad-ningen could remove the seal and he's a master level specialist."
"Fine," said Naruto, "but if it doesn't work, I'm using it on you next."
Naruto opened his eyes and found the adults in the room glancing at him worriedly.
"Was it the Kyuubi again?" asked Jiraiya.
"He said there might be a way to help Nii-san," said Naruto.
"Naruto," said Hiruzen, "I know he's helped you in the past, but you can't trust a demon."
"If it means helping my brother, then I'll try," said Naruto as he walked up to Sasuke's body and placed a finger on the Curse Mark.
"NARUTO WAIT…" yelled Jiraiya as he realized what his student was doing, but he was too slow.
Naruto felt the foreign presence attached to Sasuke's soul and he gripped it with hic chakra before pulling. He drew his hand away from Sasuke's neck pulling the foreign presence out of his body, causing Sasuke to breathe easier.
"Naruto," said Jiraiya angrily, "you promised."
"Jiraiya-sensei," said Kakashi as he checked over Sasuke, "he doesn't seem to be in pain anymore. He's sleeping peacefully now."
"Naruto-kun," said Hiruzen, "what did you do?"
"I ripped the Snake-bastard's soul out of the mark," said Naruto as he held his head. The influx of memories gave him a headache.
"Is he going to be alright?" the Hokage asked Jiraiya as the seal master examined Sasuke's Curse Mark.
"The Gaki did it," said Jiraiya, "the corrupting influence of the bastard's soul is gone. With the new matrix, the kid could learn to control and harness the power of this Mark without having to worry about Orochimaru's influence."
"Excellent work, Naruto-kun," said Kakashi.
"I'd like to thank you, Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto as he massaged his head, "but we have a big problem."
The Genin turned towards the Third Hokage and gave him the most serious look the old man had ever seen on his face.
"Oto and Suna are planning an invasion."
To be continued…
Author's Notes: yes, part of this chapter was inspired by A Different Scroll, but I won't be copying that story's plot. This is my fanfic and I'll do it my way.