Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Sorry for the bit of a glitch in the update schedule, but here's the chapter now .
"Why are you trying to leave?" Hinata asked him as they sped through the forest. "Is this to do with the fact your replacement team was taken aside?"
"Yup." Naruto landed on his hands and cartwheeled along the ground. "We have to get to Rain in three days and I've been put in charge of getting out of here."
"Three days?" She looked at him like he had said something crazy.
Gai: Don't you need to get there as well rival?
Obito: Oh I will as soon as my trio of idiots get their shit together and get something hashed out because they are all over the place at the minute.
Gai: Well Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan are avoiding my team rather impressively if it's any consolation. And Rin-flower's team should enter the scene in a few minutes, they're not…totally hopeless.
"There's a guard by each door so far Naruto-kun." Hinata murmured and Naruto gritted his teeth. She slowed down to spin around a tangle of vines.
"Woah!" Naruto pushed Hinata in the back to speed her up. "Don't slow down."
"Is there something wrong Naruto-kun?" She asked urgency lacing her words as she jumped over monstrous roots under interlocking canopies. The forest was vast with trees wider than most houses reaching high into the sky holding all sorts of creatures in their branches and roots. Green light and darkness tinted everything as the duo sped underneath.
Naruto tilted his head back as he flipped over a branch at head height. He had been feeling bloodlust in the air ever since they had entered the grounds but it had been muted and aimed at everyone. But just for a second some of that bloodlust had sharpened into a pin point and a warning chill had run down his spine.
"Yes." He answered. "I think we're being watched."
Asuma: He has some pretty good senses Uchiha, what on earth have you been feeding them?
Obito: Heh, never underestimate my kids.
Rin: Naruto's instinct has always been strong.
Hinata's eyes were wide, blank and bulging at the veins. She didn't stop but her expression grew fiercer as she concentrated.
"Yes." She whispered softly. "You are right. There is someone a hundred metres away at an angle of thirty five degrees from the horizontal in our two'o clock direction. Naruto-kun…they're not genin, their chakra network is far too developed."
"Give me a smoke screen." Naruto murmured, increasing his speed as fingers fell into his familiar cross shape.
Hinata spun, leaping off one foot and bent so that her fingers dragged through the dirt throwing up a chakra enhanced dust cloud before she bent somehow in mid-air and continued with the other hand and landing perfectly on her feet, still running.
Kage bunshin! Henge!
Fourteen copies of Naruto and Hinata sped away from the dust cloud all in different directions.
"Umm Naruto-kun." Hinata, henged as Naruto, murmured nervously. "Why are we running towards the person?"
"Because only an idiot does that." Naruto, henged as Hinata, answered ducking underneath a branch, leaving a breeze behind as they ran. "If he's smart he'll realise the ones running away are a decoy and we'll be running towards him but still away from him for maximum advantage. Only a complete idiot would run towards him and I'm hoping he'll throw a few kunai at us and just pass us by while we release the henge we have on now."
"If he's a bit smarter than that?" Hinata whispered incredulously.
"Kawarimi is our friend if he's smarter than that." Naruto smiled at her to prove that he had thought this through and hadn't gone with a suicidal plan.
Obito: Every single area is triple covered?
Rin: Yes?
Obito: *tap screen* Then why can't I see my student? *static*
Gai: *silence*
Asuma: *silence*
Rin: *silence*
Obito: Motherfuc-
She stiffened. "There's two of them now!"
Her head snapped to the side in alarm, "Naruto-kun! Your clo-"
And he felt them die. Dizzying flashes of pale scales, searing red mouths and darkness flooded his brain and he lost his train of through for a second. What the hell? He changed his mind abruptly.
"Run." He urged and they changed direction sharply. Anyone who could attack his clones simultaneously while standing still was not worth taking on at this time. And he had a friend. Joy.
A flash of dirty scales. Sunlight flashing off two long swords. A snake with a body as wide as a tree trunk reared its head, mouth extended to its fullest extent on their path as it waited for them to run in.
He swore. She shrieked. They scrambled to change direction and they managed – the snake's monstrous head smashed into where they had been, hissing like a vat of boiling oil, throwing up dust and clods of earth as it left a small crater behind. Hinata was pale and looked seconds away from hyperventilating.
White snakes.
WHITE SNAKES.
What the fuck was Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin, bounty of half a village treasury, the Slithering King himself doing here?
"Ah." Came an unfamiliar voice from above. A Kusa genin elegantly jumped onto the giant snake's head and surveyed them imperially. A hat shadowed the top part of his face, his hands were long and beautifully formed (What? The same one who had been smiling creepily earlier? This was not Orochimaru) Dark hair spilled out from under his hat and Naruto hesitated to meet the dark pits where the eyes should be because that seemed like he was issuing a challenge. Every single movement the foreign genin did spoke of an unbelievable grace, limbs long and thin and Naruto suddenly became aware that apart from when he had spoken, the genin had made absolutely no sound at all.
He swallowed. Maybe he could admit this could be Orochimaru. In disguise? They were so screwed.
Hinata meeped. He whirled around to see the second genin enter the clearing at their backs.
'Genin'?
Pale hair ran down the second genin's back in a spiked braid. Dark blue eyes like ink spilled on snow conveyed his amusement at the cornered genin.
They were trapped between a possible Sannin standing on a mammoth snake's head and a blank faced uncertainty. But there was one thing he was sure of, the second one was not another Sannin and if they expected them to escape they would expect them to take that side to flee from.
"You were one of the genin removed before the test." The first one murmured, leaping onto the leaf covered ground with nary a whisper. He straightened, his eyes came into view, white flashes in his face. Naruto's spine crawled.
"Not quite." His voice was slightly hoarse.
"Ah." The Kusa genin said. "Dispell the henge." He sounded very well educated, with each syllable pronounced separately and it sounded like his words were all chosen with great care.
He did so. His tattooed henge seemed like a flimsy mask at best now but there was a chance of it working.
"I said." The Kusa genin said softly. "Dispell the henge."
There was a threat in that soft voice. Feathers skimming the edge of a blade. Silk sliding off steel.
This was very bad. But Naruto let it drop and the boy with the hat smiled humourlessly.
"So Sasuke-kun is indeed in the forest. You have my thanks, teammate of his."
His protective instinct flared. He was after Sasuke? What did Sasuke have that a Sannin could want? Oh fuck-there was a Sannin after Sasuke.
"What do you want from him?" And Naruto was proud because it came out strong like he wasn't afraid, because he was, and who wouldn't be frightened upon coming face to face with a Sannin and having him declare an interest in your brother. He was afraid for Sasuke and that was the difference between him backing down and running away and him calling a Sannin back.
"Everything." The Kusa Nin replied, words weaving webs in Naruto's mind like a legion of spiders. "And I think I will start with you." He patted the monstrous snake on its flank and it hissed in vicious amusement.
"How did you get in?" Naruto asked and Hinata sent him a look and he knew she knew what he was thinking. "No, no I have a better question. How do you plan on getting out?"
"Is that a threat?" The Sannin asked sounding dreadfully amused.
"No." Naruto answered. He didn't elaborate.
"Hmm." The Kusa genin considered. "Nagi. Eat him."
He heard Hinata scream. He saw a wide red and black cavern suddenly engulf him and he felt the sickening realisation that the snake had been holding back the first time.
Then the next thing he realised was that it was hot. It was wet, slippery and cramped. The muscles of the throat bunched against his struggling form and he kept his eyes and mouth tightly shut to avoid filling them with mucus and saliva. It was very lucky he wasn't claustrophobic. It felt like he was being squeezed through a fleshy tube and the worst part was that the way he had been swallowed meant that his head was below his feet and the blood was rushing to his head.
He dragged his hands together, the heat of the bunching slick muscles actually making him feel sick.
Oh he would enjoy this.
The Sannin was after his brother, Naruto could slow him down by brutally killing his pet.
"Kage Bunshin" He whispered, moving as little of his lips as possible. It helped his teeth didn't have to prise apart during the pronunciation.
He felt like he was being put through a pair of rollers as the pressure dramatically increased. He gasped as something in his chest protested with a creak.
The flesh gave with a sickening ripping sound. Blood rushed into his eyes, nose, ears and mouth. He was falling and landed rolling on his hands, straight up into a defensive pose, deaf and blinded. He spat out the rancid blood and wiped his eyes out hastily. Was Hinata alright?
The snake lay on the ground, throat split like a used banana skin, his clones littering the ground and emerging from the wound like very short and blonde worms. Blood was everywhere and it was his first time seeing it in this much quantities; he had underestimated the stench copious amounts of blood had.
He brushed the bloody pieces of dark crimson flesh off his shirt and coughed. His sandals squelched when he moved them.
The second genin was smiling widely, blue eyes narrowed to a pleased slit. The Sannin was staring at the corpse of its pet like Naruto had managed to do something interesting. There was a blood splatter up his cheek. Poor Hinata hadn't been spared and her jacket was more purple than blue now.
Maybe the Sannin was taking it easy on them because maybe he thought they thought he was a genin. Or maybe it was because most skilled ninja tended to start off playful because it was laughable to go full strength against someone obviously far less competent. He had fully been expecting to come back to Hinata's corpse.
"If I had time." The Kusa Nin said genially. "I would point out the flaw in your technique before removing your head from your body. But I don't, so interesting team mate of Sasuke-kun'-"
"Brother." The second genin spoke for the first time. He was smiling lazily. "I believe they are brothers Orochimaru-san. Oh don't look at me like that, he already knew."
He felt like crawling up inside his skull and screaming. Why couldn't he have been wrong? And who on earth was the second guy?
"Let me deal with these two." The pale genin continued, fingers sweeping out at Naruto and Hinata. "The boy seems interesting and I have unfinished work with the Hyuuga. That leaves you free to go after your target."
Pale hair. Unfinished work with the Hyuuga. Naruto accidentally swore out loud.
Firudo grinned at him lazily, the curve of his mouth was viciously amused.
Firudo and Orochimaru working together. Now there was a combo for the nightmares.
"What business do you have with my family?" Hinata asked, voice slightly higher than normal, but she stood firm Naruto noted approvingly.
"He was the one to kidnap your sister." Naruto answered before Firudo did. Orochimaru tilted his head.
"You're a well-informed genin aren't you?" He said chillingly. "Figuring both of us out at a glance."
"Hah." Naruto said not feeling as brave as he sounded. "You say that like both of you didn't put blaring signs of your identities before us."
Firudo chuckled.
Hinata had gone very still. "You took my sister." She repeated in a breath too faint to be a sign of weakness. Rin used the same faint breathy voice when she was on the precipice of fury and outrage.
Oh no.
Oh no oh no.
"What are you doing here?" He asked loudly stepping forward and trying to ignore the way Hinata's face had wiped itself blank.
Firudo tapped his chin. "Well I had a reason I'm sure." He glanced at Hinata. "Maybe I came here to have a laugh at how pathetic the soldiers my former home turning out are." He smiled at her kindly, condescension and amusement wrapped up in soft calm words. "But then if the raw fuel they have to work with is weak I can't fault Konoha."
Hinata's chin was high. "My sister is not weak."
Firudo chuckled and shifted to his other foot. "Wasn't talking about her sweetheart."
Hinata's face tightened into angry lines. She looked ridiculously young when she was frowning and when her forehead was pinched.
Orochimaru sighed irritably from the corner of Naruto's vision where he had been keeping an eye on them both. The Kusa genin hopped up onto a branch and surveyed the situation coolly.
"You will handle these two." And for the life of him Naruto could not understand if that was a question or a command. But it sent a chill down his spine all the same.
"Hey!" He snarled. "Leave Sasuke alone!"
"Why?" The Sannin asked pleasantly. "He is of use to me."
"Because your reputation is infamous as a traitor and whatever you want him for can't be good." Naruto spluttered. It felt very surreal having a conversation with the man after he had given the order for Naruto to be killed.
"Emotional attachment." Orochimaru mused. "That could be difficult if Sasuke-kun reciprocates. It really is fortunate you are here and he is not. Firudo."
The second genin laughed. "Don't worry, I'll make that brat's head touch the ground."
Naruto was forced to let go of all subtlety and grab Hinata by the shoulders correctly guessing that her tenuous hold on her temper had snapped. He had been right, if he had been a second later Hinata would have leapt at Firudo's throat with an intent to kill.
"You attack without a plan, you will get killed." He whispered, tightening his grip to try and soothe the furious trembling in Hinata's limbs.
"My sister would have suffered a life of an animal because of him." She hissed. "Losing her eyes, parts of her body, her dignity! I cannot let that go Naruto-kun!"
"What he did was unforgivable." Naruto agreed. "But trust me that man probably stands on even footing with Zabuza Momochi. Orochimaru brought him along. Your pride and love for your sister is admirable, it genuinely is, but don't get killed for it now."
Hinata twisted her head to look at him. "Does that mean?" She asked hollowly, "That you'll let Orochimaru go after your brother because you'll get killed if you attack him?"
Naruto's breath froze in his lungs. He would never do that!
"My sister is the hope of the Hyuuga. Her along with Neji Nii-san." Hinata spoke. "I will protect them and this man made me break that promise I made to myself." She shook herself free. "Our siblings are in danger Naruto-kun, I know what I'm going to do. What about you?"
Naruto felt like laughing even though there was nothing funny about this situation. He should have seen this coming, it was Hinata's fierce gratitude that had secured the alliance between them in the first place. Where was this strength when she was acting as Head Absentito? How very unfair.
The two missing Nins' eyes crawled like scorpions down their bodies.
Two genin up against two metaphorical monsters in human form. Naruto's mouth tightened; he could even the odds slightly but bringing a third monster into the mix could just kill Hinata. He had almost no experience in using the Kyuubi's power in combat and there was no guarantee that he wouldn't snap and go berserk. That was what happened in the stories when people used powers that weren't theirs.
"Hey." He said to Orochimaru. "If you stick around for five minutes, I'll show you something interesting."
"Oh I hardly think so." The Sannin said. "Your brother is far more fascinating at the moment to me. The Uchiha Heir with one of the least protected set of Sharingan eyes in the world. Can you see why I don't want to waste my time with trash like you?"
"I'm going to move away from here." Naruto murmured to Hinata so that the two adults couldn't hear him or read his lips. "My kekkei genkei is destructive and extremely so. Under no circumstance follow me. I may not be myself."
There was just one problem with this plan. He didn't actually know how to use the Kyuubi's chakra. He didn't know what he was looking for inside himself to access that ferocious power. Luckily he had a Hyuuga.
"Also." He added. "Chakra strike me to the stomach would you?"
Hinata didn't ask a single question. Her eyes didn't narrow. Her face reminded Naruto of the marble cut masks Neji used most of the time. He had no idea what she was thinking he thought ruefully. She placed a hand on his stomach and he breathed in. The area in contact went rapidly numb and tingly as if the blood supply had been cut off.
"In fact." He said through numb lips. "Cut it all off. Seal off every single primary coil in my body."
Hinata's jaw muscle jumped but the tingly feeling spread making him feel like he was floating in thin air. This was such a stupid plan.
"You plan to fight." Firudo said gleefully. "Well here's a tip for you brats. Do all your preparation before!" His voice rose as if he was going to attack and the two of them ducked and spun away only to find him grinning and rocking back on his heels in the exact same place he had always been.
There was an uncomfortable sensation in his stomach and Naruto felt very uncomfortable. It was as if he had swallowed acid and the corrosive liquid was trying to burn through his stomach and intestines. His throat was the acidic pipe it became before he vomited.
"You-" Hinata cut herself off looking strangely sad. "What ugly coils."
"Yeah." Naruto gasped. He raised his hand and flicked his wrist at the mildly curious Orochimaru.
There was the sound of thunder breaking directly overhead, his eardrums protested furiously and the trees in the line of his flick stood still for a second, hanging in the air with a shiver, their trunks having disintegrated in that blast of chakra, the bark rotting and breaking apart from the edges.
Then they fell with an almighty crash, branches snapping, leaves sounding like a hurricane. The very ground shook with the force they hit the ground. They hit other trees and stuck, until the area they were standing in resembled a box of very messy pencils.
Asuma: Anko says she's not going to investigate unless something more concrete shows up.
Rin: …More cameras just short circuited.
Asuma: That's the thing, some genin can be good enough to take out cameras if they feel like they're being spied on. She won't go in until there's proof there's something seriously wrong. Otherwise Konoha loses face at panicking about skilled genin.
Obito: Is she seriously going to ignore the sonic boom right now?
Asuma: She pulled a file for me, there's a Sound team in there and one of them has power over Sound waves. There is a rational explanation for this. Obito, calm down, I know it's your student but that's just a coincidence.
Rin: Excuse me, my student is there as well.
Asuma: Sorry but I thought you were distracted by the rest of your team and Gai's team.
Gai: *intently watching screen* Our genin are ingenious and resourceful rival, do not worry, and let them mature in combat. It is the only way they will gain strength. Look how youthful my team is and they achieved this only through experience!
Obito: …Alright, but I don't like this.
OhmyKami. Whatthefuck. Whatthegenuinefuck.
Even Firudo's grin slipped off his face for a second. Chakra blasts faster than the speed of sound weren't that funny. Hinata looked as if one feather blow could knock her over.
He had put as much energy in that blast as he would put into a long distance Kawarimi. That was the power of a Biju. He gasped as the pain in his stomach spiked and his head swam slightly; this was crucial, if he lost control Hinata died. His shock faded quickly into flabbergasted irritation and resignment when Orochimaru slid down one of the tree trunks that was diagonally resting on another. Seriously? It hadn't even given him a scratch?
"So." The Snake Sannin hissed. He reached up and ripped part of his face off revealing one malevolently glittering eye and sharp cheekbones set in a face so pale they nearly matched the white of his eyes. Naruto's feet felt like there were iron nails driven through them.
He and Hinata watched in horrified silence as the Sannin ripped his face off and peeled the skin from his hands like gloves. Purple marks surrounded golden eyes and maybe Naruto was imagining things, but that was the intensity of a wild animal.
"Maybe I can spare a minute for an impudent child." Orochimaru rotated his wrist, fingers bending into almost breaking positions.
There was a slight breeze at his back. Hinata had taken towards Firudo like a comet but he couldn't see! If he turned his back on Orochimaru he would die. That was fact. But Firudo against Hinata had an obvious outcome! He couldn't let her die after entering an alliance with her!
He swung blast after blast at the Sannin; thunderclaps echoing, air rippling with the shockwaves as everything in the way disintegrated. A coiling anger tightened in his stomach making his attacks more powerful as they started to leave trenches in the ground. How dare the man go after his brother? How dare he.
Obito: You want me to ignore that as well? The very ground is shaking from the blasts. You want me to believe a genin can do that much damage?
Rin: Tch. Our view is limited Obito, the more of the cameras get taken out, the less we can see of what's happening. But for anyone to get past Anko and her team…that's a tall order.
Obito: And so, whoever did it is dangerous and we're just sitting around finding rational answers to the events instead of following our instinct. My instinct is that my genin are in danger.
Asuma: Of course they're in danger. They're in the Chunin Exams, there can be monsters in there. Sit tight Obito, reckless genin-
Obito: Che. That's easy for you to say when your team is safe and you can see them. I dare you to repeat the comment when they disappear and the area they were in blows up for some reason.
There was a brush of fingers on his jaw as his head was snapped brutally to the side to meet the Sannin's cool yellow eyes. When had he got there? How had he got there without Naruto noticing? He fired point blank into the Sannin's chest and the man's image flickered, the grip of his jaw loosened slightly then returned as the man evaded and returned in a fraction of a second.
Frustration and fear was replaced by an irrational rage as his stomach felt like the acids were eating through the muscle layer and hitting the nerves.
"You look familiar." Orochimaru murmured turning his head this way and that and finally releasing him when Naruto swiped at him, corrosive chakra leaking from his fingers.
"What a filthy chakra. Reminds me of a woma-" Orochimaru stopped, turned an incredulous eye on him and began to laugh.
The anger in Naruto's grew. Was the man laughing at him? The Sannin had the gall to laugh like that after Naruto had released the power of a metaphorical god in order to fight him? He sent repeated blasts at the Sannin; trees disintegrated, thunder boomed, rocks atomised and the man almost danced his way this way and that avoiding each blast with ease.
"Hilarious isn't it?" Firudo spoke from behind them, his face clearly told Naruto how amused he was at the fact neither genin knew what Orochimaru had realised. He was slapping away Hinata's furious attacks with a gloved hand, not even paying attention to her, but some part of Naruto was glad that he was treating her like a child and not an enemy.
The Sannin's laughter teetered on the edge of madness. "Oh what cruel irony." He said to the sky. "To think that I'd meet your son and he would attack like there was no tomorrow." He clapped his hands and the ground shook, the earth cracked and scraped against each other as the mini earthquake turned the smooth ground into a playing field of shattered rocks and ill-fitting jigsaw pieces of land.
"Tell me boy." Orochimaru said, eyes shining like the sun lit them from behind, anticipation curving lines around his eyes and mouth. "What do you want to be?"
"Hokage." Naruto spat.
The Sannin's laughter was loud and joyous. It spoke of madness and obsession, it was the laughter of a man deriving the highest pleasure but the sound was twisted at the edges, like glass pieces piercing through silk and satin.
"I wanted to be Hokage once upon a time." Pleasure turned his words into a low hiss. "I was ready to die for this village. What nostalgic memories…"
Naruto adjusted his power output.
The area in front of him disappeared in a crunching roaring mess, his eardrums gave out in a spike of agony, the shockwave uprooted both Hinata and Firudo from their feet, the forest swayed and screamed as the pulse of the blast spread like a ripple in a pond.
Obito: *leap up* Fuck, that's it.
Rin: Oh my Kami, that's all of them.
Gai: Rival…that destructive power…
Obito: *pacing* THIS IS WHY I DIDN'T WANT TO ENTER THEM. WHY DOES NO ONE LISTEN TO ME?
Asuma: Anko still won't authorise it.
Obito: WHAT?!
Rin: WHY!?
Asuma: Oh just listen to her yourself. *hold out walkie talkie*
Anko: Listen you idiots, yes I know the entire forest is shaking around like it decided to throw a tantrum. But the chakra signature we're picking up is the Uchiha's brat's. The blond one. The one that should be on the way to Rain-
Obito: They decided to try and be clever and it backfired on them! Never mind that, why won't you investigate?
Anko: Because it's laced with Biju chakra! Pay attention!
Gai: Isn't that more of a reason to investigate?
Anko: Oh ye Kami, use your heads. The Kyuubi is a weapon. Use of it ranks the same as the brat using a kunai. It's his weapon. We can tell him to be careful with it at other times but now he's operating under faux battle protocol: Anything goes. That's perfectly allowed in the rule book! In fact there's a section on Jinchuuriki! If they release their power we turn out priority destruction critical point to angry kage. We can't go barging in jutsus blazing because he's using what we put into him.
Obito: Are you …being serious right now? The Kyuubi could be running free in there-
Anko: HAVE MORE FAITH IN YOUR SENSEI'S SEAL BAKA UCHIHA. The only reason we interfere if there are unauthorised personnel in there.
Rin: Alright but who is he using the Kyuubi chakra against? Isn't that a cause for concern? Won't the other villages throw a fuss because a Jinchuuriki killed their genin?
Anko: I'm going to assume you mean the unfairness of pitting a Jinchuuriki against a genin and not the killing. And yeah they might but they've got no ground to argue on, they've all sent Jinchuuriki to exams before and they've all killed people. Don't worry your heads you little housewives, if we find anything suspicious we'll go in.
What…awesome power…
There was a deep chuckle in his mind as the ringing in his head grew and grew.
Enjoying the taste of my glory brat?
His veins were singing to him. It was surreal but he could feel the flow in them; in the delicate tissues, in his neck and joints. It made him feel vulnerable but power sizzled in his blood and body and warmed him up from the inside. He could feel every heart beat-
How fragile was his body? It felt on the verge of giving out, it teetered on the edge of ruin and victory, walking the razor sharp wire of control and Naruto knew the fear of having an enemy inside his head.
"Kyuubi." He spoke in a whisper.
The voice in his head was deep and dark, like a tiger growling in a cage of paper, it resonated through his head and the whisperings of anger and vengeance at the corner of his mind grew stronger.
You're losing brat and badly. Why don't you take a break and leave things to me for a while?
Teeth grinning a Cheshire smile. Fangs grazing over his neck. Naruto's instincts screamed and his heart beat hard.
After all I can't let my host die.
"I am not losing." Naruto whispered, sending another shockwave rippling through the forest just in case Orochimaru had dodged the first one. He would not surprised if the whole forest of Death was shaking. This corrosive chakra like dog filth was not covering a wide enough area to alarm the examiners. There would be no help there.
You let me fight and they'll be dead within the minute.Came the dark promise. Can you afford to be picky when it's your friends' lives on the line?
"Who are you talking to Naruto-kun?" Firudo spoke from behind, head bent over Naruto's shoulders. His approach had been silent despite the rocking earth and pulsing air. He smiled at Naruto when his head snapped to the side and he skidded away.
Where was Hinata?
Orochimaru came out of nowhere, like a streak of pale colours and darkness and the punch he delivered to Naruto's stomach was enough for the genin to collapse on his knees and cough up blood. He was losing.
He could barely take on Orochimaru with the power of the Kyuubi. How could he take on Orochimaru and Firudo? The two adults stood over his form, surveying him with all the mocking indifference with one viewed an insect.
He blasted the ground, dialling his power dial up, the Kyuubi laughed loud and terrible, shaking the nerve centres in his body. The blast sent up plumes of dirt, earth and ash from the charred black earth. His hand was pale against the dark earth, with smudges across the popping bones in the back of his hands.
A radius of ten metres in every direction was charred black and he stood in the middle of a crater.
Your heritage is showing.The Kyuubi whispered in his ear, voice soft as a feather balancing on the edge of a blade. With a jolt he realised instead of standing at a centre of a circle, he stood at the centre of a spiral. Somehow the explosion had carved his family crest into the ground instead of following the laws of physics.
Asuma: I'm getting slightly worried at the skill of the opponent if Uzumaki feels the need to use the Kyuubi chakra for so long.
Obito: That's not how it works, he's inexperienced, if he uses it slightly it'll be a struggle for him to stop using it. This is stupid! I need to stop this.
Gai: Can't you argue that the Kyuubi is unauthorised personnel?
Anko: *static* Oh spare me! You think we're sitting here chatting and enjoying the show. I know, it's the fricking Kyuubi and we don't know what's happening. But the chakra sensors in the forest are still working, the level of the Biju chakra is under the Kushina-Mito line. Even considering how inexperienced the brat is, it's a perfectly safe amount of Biju chakra for him to use, what's amazing is how much damage he's wreaking with it. It's a quarter of the raw chakra Kushina-san needed to wreak the same amount of damage.
Rin: I never thought Naruto's first experience with the Kyuubi chakra would be without any supervision.
Obito: *cough* *choke*
Asuma: Kurenai!
Gai: *whisper* Oh dear.
Kurenai: I heard about the situation. All of you are on an amber standby, orders from the top himself. We're to see how he can handle the chakra and if he's got sufficient control over it so that he can be properly trained with it.
Obito: You're treating him like an experiment?
Kurenai: No. I'm treating him like a soldier.
Obito: *glare* Are you-
Rin: Kurenai-san. Are you sure this is wise? Obito has the most experience out of all of us with dealing with Jinchuuriki and he feels very uncomfortable with his scenario. Surely there is some merit to his instinct?
Kurenai: The Jinchuuriki we are talking about is the equivalent to his son. His judgement is likely impaired and so his instinct is that of a concerned father and not a trained Jonin.
Obito: You overstep your limit. I am both.
Gai: Rival…
Asuma: Sheesh, what tension.
"Oh spare me." Firudo muttered at the edge of the crater, fingers covering his eyes in exasperation. "I've had enough of Uzumakis and their unique brand of security. You know, Naruto-kun, if you are feeling threatened there are other ways to react than unleashing the power of a god. I don't think anyone in the history of your clan learnt that lesson."
"Where is Hinata?" He asked firmly.
Firudo's mouth curved into a humourless smile. "Why don't you ask again a bit more politely?" It wasn't a suggestion.
"Tch. How boring." The lines on Orochimaru's face tightened. "This isn't even a challenge."
He was…not good enough. He had all this power but it wasn't working. If he was the cannon packing tons of explosive power then Orochimaru and Firudo were the katanas, swift, elegant and packing deathly precision. But he could not give up now. He had to protect his team and Hinata.
You're an embarrassment. Kyuubi drawled. Imagine having the power to shear mountains to dust and still losing against two pieces of trash.
"Shut up." He muttered. "Shut up. I won't lose here."
You're thinking too much.The fox said disapprovingly. What if I try this? Will this trick work? And I'll tell you it won't because your understanding of me is lacking. You can try to control my power as much as you like but it'll blow up in your face every time. Face facts brat. All you can do is expel my power and destroy things like a child. You're a leaky faucet.
He shook his head. "The last Jinchuuriki could control your power and so could the one before her."
Don't flatter yourself. You don't even know their names, what do you know what they could do?
Naruto shook his head.
All you have to do.The Kyuubi said. Is to give me a bit more control. You don't know what you're doing.
Anger soured his stomach as a rage rose inside him, growling its displeasure at the fact he was losing. If they had killed Hinata he would kill them.
It took him a few seconds to notice that the growling wasn't in his head and that it was his throat making those sounds. His skin was coated in a wiry red chakra and they extended over his fingers to form wickedly sharp points.
(What was this?) He snarled, the sight of the two unaffected missing Nin pissing him off so much his vision went funny with how hard he was glaring.
Bestial instinct and human logic don't mix well. Fall into despair fool.
He leapt off towards Orochimaru and was there in two bounds, speed massively boosted, the Sannin's kunai met his claws and the metal began to hiss and disintegrate, falling apart into tiny slivers of metal that ate itself up from the inside. Using the block as a pivot, Naruto swung his legs up and at the Sannin's head, the red chakra shaping itself into reaching hands with too many claws.
Something hard wrapped around his middle and threw him far away, tearing the skin off his arm and shoulder as he skidded on the ruined ground. Firudo stood there, pale braid hanging over his shoulder, a long black whip spiralling in the air around him as he spun his wrist to keep it moving.
"Naughty." He deadpanned.
Naruto's snarl ripped out of his throat so ferociously, his voice box hurt with the strain.
Something cracked and the left side of his face, chest and arm exploded in pain. His arm shot out and grabbed the end of the whip, his fury enhancing the corrosive chakra and it fell apart in his hands into a mess of burnt and tangled mush.
Firudo surveyed the two thirds of his whip that had survived. "…"
Naruto roared and punched the air. The resulting shockwave sent both Nin leaping back into the heights of the trees to avoid being picked up and smashed into the ground like a pair of ragdolls. He wanted to rip them apart, piece by piece with his fingers digging into the wet flesh and peel apart the muscles from the bones like an obscene fruit.
One swipe of his hand blew out the bases of all the trees in a twenty metre arc. They fell amongst the sound of thunder gracefully slow and relatively silently. Then they hit the ground and Naruto felt his bones judder. Then there was heat.
His eyes hurt from the intense light as a hissing searing snake formed from a twisting tornado of fire, eyes formed from points of white fire, body blazing with all the scales licking at the air. It flew up in spiralling circles, growing tighter and tighter until it streaked down from the sky like a shooting meteorite and slammed head first into where Naruto was standing.
Everything was burning. Everything was fire. Maybe Naruto was screaming. Maybe it was the Kyuubi laughing in his head. Oh Kami where was Hinata?
The remaining whip wrapped around his neck like a guillotine as Firudo hauled him to his feet, the muscles in his arm bunching as he pulled tight, eyes watching dispassionately.
"Even a demon depends on the host being conscious." He said softly, fire reflected in his blue eyes. Naruto wheezed, the pressure in his chest increasing dramatically. He couldn't breathe!
You know what would be nice in this scenario?The Kyuubi's voice was slightly strained. A demon fox with enough power to blow this exam ground to smithereens. Such a pity you don't have one of those.
His vision was going dark at the edges. No! He couldn't stop here! He had dreams; to become Hokage, to grow older with his team, to get rid of the parasite in his stomach.
"Help me." He mouthed. If he wanted to live he had no choice.
Why, I thought you'd never ask.
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