AN: Well, glad to see you all made it alive and well to chapter 25. I guess you might say we're getting towards the climax here. It's definitely looming on the not too distant horizon, and I must warn you, I write endings like Ninjas duel and fight. I'll leave you to ponder that, but in the mean time I've got a story to tell. Oh and just one quick thing. I know that some of you are screaming at me for not including enough fluff with Sakura. Well I don't want to ruin the plot for any of you, so all I can do is ask that you trust me a while longer when I say that Sakura is bound for her time in the sun. (please don't hunt me down and kill me.) On with the fic!!
The Serpent Emerges
It was dark, and cold. There was no light coming from any source and Sasuke couldn't see his hand in front of his face, or anything else for that matter. As near as he could tell he was in a massive room, the dimensions of which were unimaginably huge, and he was alone, or at least he couldn't hear anything. But at the same time he didn't feel alone.
It might just have been the fact that he was blind in a place with which he was unfamiliar. It could have been that he'd arrived with no memory of how he got there. Or perhaps it was that no matter which way he turned, there always seemed to be a hot, sticky wind blowing down the back of his neck, like breath.
"Perhaps this is Hell," said the raven haired boy, trying to sound unfazed by the situation. "Am I dead?"
Nothing answered, and Sasuke looked around, peering into the darkness. He reached out and waved his hand as if to clear away some mist, hoping to disrupt whatever it was that was keeping him blind, but to no avail. The darkness was nothing his eyes could pierce or his hand could waft away.
"Well it's no good just sitting here waiting to starve," said Sasuke taking a step in front of him. He took another step after testing the ground in front of him to ensure it was solid, and then another and another. Soon he was walking at a cautious pace through the gloom with his hands stretched out in front of him like a blind man, but it didn't seem right. After coming this far, he thought, he should've come to some kind of wall or obstacle. But he hadn't. There was nothing to hinder him. The room was totally open and void.
"Where the hell am I?" the boy wondered aloud, "I can't remember a blasted thing."
For what seemed like endless hours Sasuke wandered. The sticky breath on the back of his neck got warmer and warmer with every step he took and seemed to bring with it a sickness, a haze in his mind that made him want to vomit. It was only once this sickness became unbearable that he hesitantly changed directions, but it didn't matter which way he went in the void, every step made him more and more ill.
Finally his foot struck something and he froze. His hands had touched nothing so he knew whatever it was couldn't be more than a few feet tall. No matter he thought, I'll just step over it and move on.
Sasuke cautiously raised a foot and moved to climb over whatever it was so he could be on his way, but as he did he suddenly found it impossible to move and stumbled over. He landed hard on his side in a puddle of something that surrounded the lump. Whatever this liquid was it was as warm as the breath on his neck and dripped off his hands and clothes back into the puddle with little splashes.
"What, what is this?" Sasuke muttered, terrified and confused.
Silent he stared at his hands as the faintest color began to seep into his world and make the void visible. Crimson; his eyes saw nothing but scarlet shades, red as blood flowing into his mind. Only then did he see what he had stumbled over. Sasuke's face paled as his heart nearly stopped beating. He was laying next to a corpse. His hands and clothes and face were soaked in its blood.
"What is this?!" he gasped, starring down at the body.
His eyes were suddenly drawn to the landscape around him. Everything was blood, he could see nothing unless it was red, but all around him were hundreds, no, thousands of corpses; each one somehow familiar to him. They wore scarlet robes that seemed to burn against the blackness of the floor and background.
"Who are you!?" he shouted, irrational with terror.
Again, there was no response. The bodies just lay there, long gashes torn into their forms from which flowed a seemingly unending puddle of blood. The heat on Sasuke's neck intensified as he stared on in utter horror. This was sick, it wasn't right. Sasuke leapt up, desperate to run, but couldn't stop himself from looking down at his hands and the body at his feet instead. Both were dripping with the warm red liquid.
"I've got to get out of here!" shouted the Uchiha boy in stark terror.
He whipped around and set himself to run, but instead screamed and fell backwards, tripping over the body and landing again in the blood. A corpse behind him had risen up and stared at him. It looked to have once been a woman, but now just a cadaver, a husk of life, hunched over him and staring at him through empty eye-sockets.
Training and discipline both failed Sasuke. Instead of jumping to his feet to confront the menace he turned and started to scurry away from it in the same way a frightened rabbit would flee a wolf. He shambled over other bodies, running as fast as his feet would allow, but for him, no speed was fast enough to carry him away from this place. Deeper and deeper he charged into the plain of bodies, stopping only to look over his shoulder at the one corpse, sinking into the distance. Finally Sasuke stopped. Out of breath and sweating he turned to look at the specter in the dark, still hunched where he left it.
"Sasuke…"
The boy froze again, his eyes wide with horror. The voice came from the dead woman. It was empty and dry and dead: hollow and unearthly cold, though he instinctively knew that it should have been warm and comforting. This voice was some perversion.
"Sasuke…" it said again, the whisper carrying over the hundreds of yards between them.
"What do you want!!" Sasuke screamed.
"Revenge," the voice uttered. It was his mother's.
Something stirred around him. Sasuke looked in every direction and choked on his fright. This was impossible. The bodies were standing up. All throughout the field of corpses the bodies were getting up as though drawn by some cord tied to their neck. They turned to face the Uchiha boy, starring with cold dead eyes.
"Get the hell away from me!" Sasuke yelled at the top of his lungs.
But the corpses were as deaf as they were dead, and each one began to slowly float towards him. They didn't walk, nor move any muscle on their own, but each was animated almost like it was on a conveyer line, being drawn towards him.
"I said stay back!" he yelled again, fear causing his voice to waver and crack.
They were closing in around him and Sasuke knew he was done for.
"Cling," said a collected voice from somewhere beyond the void. "Cling to life in an unsightly manner. Hate. Hate for you have nothing to love. Kill. Kill for all life is utterly meaningless."
Sasuke knew the voice, but in his panic couldn't place it. All he knew was that one of the bodies closing in around him was carrying a sword. Sasuke reached out and took hold of the handle, jerking it from the sheath with such force that the man's belt was ripped from his waist.
"I warned you!" Sasuke shouted, "NOW DIE!"
Sasuke whirled around in a blind flurry, whipping the sword through the air and hacking down a trio of his undead enemies. The bodies collapsed to the ground, still and oozing out a torrent of blood. The Uchiha twirled again, and two more bodies fell. But there were so many more. They were all still advancing.
Ten, then twenty, then fifty, then a hundred all fell beneath his sword. He sliced them in two and hacked off their heads and rammed the sword through their chests. They were all dying a second death as soon as they came close. Men, women and children all he utterly destroyed until there was only one left: his mother.
"Sasuke," she muttered in the same tone as before.
"Stay back or I'll"
"Sasuke…"
With one fell swing he severed her head which fell to the ground right alongside her body. She was still finally, leaving Sasuke the only figure again in the gloom. He was panting hard and sweating. He was covered in blood and grime.
"Impressive," said the same voice that told him to kill.
Sasuke whirled around to see Itachi, in his black cloak standing atop a mound of bodies. His brother was grinning maniacally and looking around at all of the destruction. "Couldn't have done it better myself."
"You," said Sasuke, pointing the sword directly at Itachi's heart. "I'll kill you!!"
Sasuke leapt like a tiger, descending on Itachi who refused to move, and hacked at his throat like a lumberjack. Itachi's head rolled off his shoulders as Sasuke landed behind the pile of bodies and turned around.
The severed head fell to the ground with the decapitated body, then rolled off the back of the pile, stopping t Sasuke's feet and looking up at him. A smile crossed the head's face, just before the mouth opened in an uproarious laughter. Sasuke screamed at the sight and stomped the head fiercely, trying to shut it up.
"I couldn't have done it better myself!" it shouted.
"What do you mean!" yelled Sasuke in terror.
"Look around. I couldn't have done it better myself."
Sasuke looked up from the head and gasped. He was no longer in a dark void, but in the center of the Konoha market. All around him were dead bodies with long gashes and torn in their forms by the sword he still held in his hand. Each one of them he recognized as a past acquaintance or friend. Many of them had been his family, but they were all dead now. Blood was splashed against the walls and pooled in the mud all around.
"No no no no no no no no no no no!!!" Sasuke howled, his eyes wide, "This can't be possible! What have I done?!"
"You've killed them all," said Itachi's voice.
Sasuke turned around just as Itachi appeared behind him, alive and well. The older brother shoved the sword in his hand through Sasuke's belly before the younger could react. Blood sprayed from the wound and Sasuke instantly fell forwards into Itachi's shoulder.
"You've killed them all," Itachi repeated, "And with your own friend's sword no less."
Even as his vision began to fade, Sasuke raised the weapon in his hand to eye level. It was indeed Naruto's blade, the darker of the two at least, though now it was somehow different. Long and wickedly sharp teeth had grown from the blade and a ruby sat in the hilt like an eye.
"Dear little brother, you've killed them all," said Itachi mockingly, just as Sasuke's eyes failed him, "and now I've killed you."
SC
Birds were chirping. The sun was shining in through a window and falling across Sasuke's face. He opened his eyes slowly, half expecting to see Itachi, but instead saw the ceiling of a nicely decorated hospital room. He sat up in bed, still tense and a little confused, but had his wits about him enough to realize he was in no immediate danger. The room looked secure, and comfortable on top of that.
There were several potted flowers scattered about, from the Yamanaka garden no doubt, and a half dozen get well soon cards lined the bedside table. Sasuke picked one up and flipped it open. He read the message inside and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Only Naruto," he muttered before putting the card down and laying his head on the ample supply of pillows. "That was crazy, man what a nightmare. I-"
Sasuke lurched up in bed again, shock carved on his face.
"That wasn't a dream," he said tensely, throwing off the covers and finding himself clad in a white patient's gown. "Itachi really was here. Naruto and I really did fight him and he did something to me. Where's Naruto? I have to find him now? Where are my clothes? What day is it?"
Sasuke marched from the room shouting for a nurse. One immediately ran up from that floor's desk, rambling something about his health, but Sasuke ignored it.
"Where are my clothes?" he barked loudly, "And what day is it?"
The nurse stopped in her tracks, "Umm," she stammered. "Your clothes are in the bin behind my desk, and it's the fifteenth."
"Fifteenth," repeated Sasuke, "good, so I've still got six days till the exam meaning I've been asleep for two, plenty of time. Get me my clothes."
The nurse, not wishing to further anger the ninja who'd been brought into her care with a warning from another ninja, immediately scurried off to fetch the boy his outfit and returned with it in less than a minute. Sasuke wasted no time in running to his room and changing into his black outfit, then walking back out into the hall and b-lining for the stairs.
"Excuse me," called the nurse, "But you'll need to check out."
The Uchiha pulled the door to the stairwell open and disappeared through it.
"Or… not."
Sasuke nearly ran down the stairs, feeling refreshed after almost forty-eight hours of sleep, even if it was marked by horrible dreams, and bolted out an emergency side door into the beaming sunlight. He shielded his eyes for just a moment before taking off running down the street towards the Yamanaka's. If anyone knew where Naruto was, he thought, it would be them.
Sasuke reached the popular flower shop in two minutes flat, and knocked on the door. Mrs. Yamanaka answered, wiping some dirt off of her hands with a dishrag and told Sasuke that Naruto, Sakura and Ino, along with Neji were just outside of town in a field training for the Chuunin exams. Sasuke thanked her and bolted off, not wanting to waste another minute.
The boy dashed down the street, blowing by surprised citizens and dodging anyone foolish enough to step out in front of him. Before long, he had reached the city's gate and hopped out the huge wooden doors like a cat, looking for any signs of his team.
It didn't take much observation. The Uchiha immediately heard the sounds of battle echoing from his left and dashed off in that direction. He cleared a bit of bramble and came into a field where he saw four figures. Two were Ino and Sakura, sitting side by side in the grass, while the other two, Neji and Naruto, whirled about one another inside of a dirt ring about twelve feet across. The girls looked to be dirtied up from their own training and sat watching as Naruto attempted to outdo the jyuken prodigy.
"Naruto!" yelled Sasuke, despite the battle raging in the ring.
The blonde genin looked away from Neji towards Sasuke just long enough for Neji to get the upper hand and subsequently put two fingers over Naruto's heart without actually striking him.
"Dead," said the Hyuuga, "For the fifth time today."
Naruto grinned, and motioned for Sasuke to come over then turned back to Neji. "Yeah, but that's out of twelve matches. I'm seven and five right now. Not bad for a rookie wouldn't you say."
Neji nodded as Sasuke walked up beside them and the girls got up and walked over, completing the group. "True," said Neji, "But you must remember, Hinata-Sama is … far better that one might expect. I didn't stand a chance against her. I understand you're holding back but even so, you still have to do better."
"I've still got a week," said Naruto.
"Suit yourself," said the Hyuuga, deciding not to argue.
"Now," said Naruto, turning to Sasuke, "What's up? Glad to see you're up and around."
"Yeah," chimed in Sakura, "We were worried you'd sleep through the exams."
Sasuke shook his head and asked if he could speak with Naruto alone for just a minute. The genin agreed, adding that there were a few things Sasuke should know before time ran out, and with that, the two walked a fair distance into the field to talk, while Ino and Sakura again began to spar. Neji just watched.
"So Hinata is possessed?" asked Sasuke, about ten minutes into the conversation.
Naruto nodded, "That's what Neji says. According to him it's some kind of monster from ages ago that was sealed in the first Head of the Hyuuga Clan and has been passed down like a bloodline ever since, for whatever reason it's just found the strength to get out and take over Hinata."
"Why don't the Hyuugas just destroy her then?" asked the Uchiha, "Or at least seal it up again."
"That's what I suggested," said Naruto, "But Neji says that even Hiashi couldn't kill her or seal it without starting a battle that would wreck half of Konoha. The best thing that can be done right now is to just wait and try not to provoke her."
"You mean until you try to kill her in the exams."
Naruto looked at the ground. "That's the plan…"
"And just how do you plan on killing a demon Naruto? Don't you think a genin should leave that for someone like the Hokage?"
"I can do it," said Naruto sternly, looking up at Sasuke, "we both know that I'm not an ordinary genin. And neither are you as far as that goes. We're both exceptions to the norm."
Sasuke just nodded in agreement. "But even so, I still hesitate to say you can take on a demon alone, even if it is just working through the body of a little girl."
"You'll just have to trust me," said the blonde, "Now why did you come rushing over here so quickly? What's on your mind?"
Sasuke paused and looked around as if to make sure no one was listening in before clearing his throat. "I don't need to tell you what it means now that Itachi's come back."
Naruto froze. He'd been dreading this moment for the last two days. He knew exactly what was coming, but didn't know what he was going to say or do. "Enlighten me," mumbled Naruto, "I'm not sure what you're getting at."
Sasuke grinned al little maniacally. "You're right Naruto, neither of us are normal. We're both exceptional, unique. We're both more powerful than anyone our age and together there's no one who could stop us."
"And?" probed Naruto, trying to buy himself time to think of a response to what he knew Sasuke was ready to suggest.
"I want you to help me kill Itachi. Just because I'm an avenger doesn't mean I have to kill him alone. There's no shame in it as long as Itachi dies and I'm involved in the fight. And on top of that, if you agree to help me, I'll help you defeat that demon in the Chuunin Exams. It's a win-win deal."
"Sasuke," began Naruto, looking down at the ground, "You know neither of can beat Itachi. We already tried and it nearly got us both killed."
"But he caught us off guard," growled Sasuke, not liking Naruto's resistance.
"No, you had been tracking him. You were ready, and by the time I attacked, so was I. But he still beat us both like we were nothing."
"But maybe we could catch him off guard," said Sasuke, hiding his emotions behind a wall of feigned apathy. "And then it would all be over."
"We can't Sasuke, not yet. Neither of us are that powerful, even together."
Sasuke drew back with a pained look on his face, almost like Naruto had struck him. He turned back to the side and stared off into space for no less than a minute as he thought, contemplated something deep within the confines of his mind. Naruto looked at his friend and started to say something, but quickly shut his mouth and decided to let Sasuke have the moment in his thoughts.
"Odd," said the Uchiha, "That you of all people should be the voice of reason speaking to me." Sasuke grinned almost merrily, though Naruto could tell that some dark thought was bubbling within Sasuke's brain.
"I know… I can taste the irony in it." Naruto said after a moment. "But it's the truth. We can't change it."
"But I wonder," interrupted Sasuke, turning back to Naruto, "just how relative truth is. I wonder how much of truth is just an interpretation of our own thoughts. It makes me think that what is truth can change."
"What are you saying Sasuke?" asked Naruto."
"I'm going to change the truth Naruto," said Sasuke emphatically, starring straight at the genin across from him with eyes widened by fervor. "It may be true now that I can't kill him, but I will change that. I will make my own truth. If you won't help me, then I'll go to whoever will."
"Sasuke," said Naruto placating, "I didn't say I won't help, just that I can't right now. Later, after we're Jounin maybe I can help, but not until then for sure."
"It'll be too late by then," Sasuke hissed through gritted teeth, suddenly angry. "He'll be too strong for any of us then. I have to reach a peak sooner than that. I need power, infinite power soon. I need power."
Sasuke's eyes were wild and his stance was aggressive. He hunched forward with white knuckled fists clenched and teeth bared as if to bite. Everything about him was somehow animalistic, and worse, his transformation had been so rapid. Without warning Sasuke had swung from a calm and collected demeanor to feral persona.
"What's gotten into you?" Naruto asked quietly, taking a step back. "Sasuke, this isn't right. This isn't you at all."
Sasuke's lips narrowed into a grin and he started to say something in a hushed voice, but the look of concern in Naruto's eyes slapped Sasuke in the face. He straightened up quickly, as if recovering from a daze and wondering exactly where he was, then closed his eyes and put his hands up to his face.
"I'm sorry Naruto," said the Uchiha in a hushed tone. "I didn't mean to come across that way. I'm still not fully recovered from … a few days ago."
"What's the matter?" asked Naruto, putting a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
Sasuke reached up and took hold of Naruto's wrist, but just stood there, drawing support from a friend. "Just bad dreams s all," said Sasuke, looking up at Naruto with pain etched on his face. "Just a nightmare."
"We're here for you Sasuke," said Naruto, "Ino, me, Sakura, Old man Hokage, Kakashi, we're all on your side."
"I know," said Sasuke. "and you have no idea how much it means."
Naruto grinned, and Sasuke weakly returned the smile. Suddenly the Uchiha boy felt heavy with fatigue and it showed again on his face and in his eyes.
"You should go rest up," said Naruto, "You look really tired."
"I am," said Sasuke, "But I don't have time to sleep if I'm going to get ready for the exams."
"Sure you do," said Naruto. "After all, that Sharingan of yours puts you leagues ahead of the competition, except for me of course."
Sasuke chuckled and shrugged, "I suppose, but that's a theory we'll just have to test in the final stage. But for now… You're right. I need to get some sleep."
Naruto nodded. "Just relax."
"I will," said Sasuke, turning around to walk off but stopping a few paces away. He looked over his shoulder at Naruto. "I am sorry," he said, "I still don't know what I was thinking."
Naruto waived his hand dismissively and shook his head. "It's nothing to be sorry about."
Sasuke smiled weakly again and began walking back towards Konoha, but as he did, his collar slipped and revealed the black seal left on his shoulder from the Forest of Death. To Naruto it seemed, though he couldn't really tell, that the three snakes that made up the seal had somehow uncurled just enough that their tales formed small toma marks on Sasuke's shoulder.
A shudder shot down Naruto's back as he caught sight of the mark, but he decided it was Sasuke's business and not his, so the blonde genin turned around and jogged back towards his training partners.
Sasuke, unnerved by the recent turn of events, decided that rather than go back into Konoha he had to find something to do. Despite his fatigue he needed to find some way to occupy his time before he went crazy, and what better way to do that than to force his mind to work. He ran several ideas through his mind, before finally settling on practicing some of the more difficult Ninjutsu.
"I really should do at least some basic exercises before I go to relax," mumbled the Uchiha.
Looking up at the sky and guessing by the sun that it was just about noon, Sasuke turned and jogged off towards a nearby patch of woods, taking out a few shuriken out of his pouch on the way. Reaching the trees he tossed the shuriken around like targets in spots that would be difficult to hit and centered himself between them all. He pressed his hands together and ran through a quick set of seals, then drew in a deep breath.
Fire burst from the boy's mouth and a single pillar of the blaze burst into a dozen or so smaller needles of fire that Sasuke concentrated on guiding through the trees with chakra to their targets, guessing a bit at the locations. He heard the puffs of the needles impacting something and began to search through the trees for the small metal targets. Most of the shuriken had small singe marks scuffed into them from a direct impact, but a few had been missed entirely. Overall it hadn't been a bad run for an exercise he'd come up with off the top of his head.
"Not bad," said an icy voice from behind Sasuke.
The boy whipped around, half expecting it to be Naruto playing a trick, but saw no one. He looked around the forest and activated his sharingan, scanning for any danger.
"A trick of the wind?" wondered Sasuke after he confirmed that no one was around. The woods were even clear of animal life, which was, needless to say, strange for that part of the region. "That must be it?"
"Oh," said the voice in an almost amused tone, "You're far from alone. I'm right here."
Sasuke's mind flashed back to the dream he'd had of Itachi. He battled to get the memory out of his head but the images of the blood seemed to stick in his mind by some will of their own. He turned around, looking for whoever was toying with him but saw no one.
"Where are you?" Sasuke asked aggressively. "Show yourself."
"Come and find me," said the voice, "Follow the scent of death."
Sasuke readied himself to fight, building up chakra behind his eyes so he could call on the Mangekyou at a seconds notice, and began to walk deeper into the forest. He followed a path that he seemed instinctively to know would lead him to wherever he needed to go. Before long he stumbled onto the edge of a small pond choked with reeds, cat tails and muddy water.
"Down here," said the serpentine voice.
Sasuke looked down at the water at his feet, and saw not himself in the reflection, but instead a tall man, garbed in tan robes. He had a pure white face with jagged angles and yellow eyes set under long black hair. Sasuke, much to his own surprise, didn't recoil at seeing a reflection other than his own in the water. It somehow felt almost natural.
"I don't understand," said the genin, "Who are you?"
"How rude of me," said the face in the water, "My name is Orochimaru."
That name! thought Sasuke, his mind flashing back to the forest of death.
"Yes," said the reflection, "So do you see now?"
"No," Sasuke answered, "How is this possible?"
The seal on Sasuke's shoulder suddenly throbbed. It wasn't overpoweringly painful, but more than enough to draw the boy's attention. Orochimaru grinned, "That," he began, "is a very special seal. It allows a small portion of my being to move directly in and out of your mind."
Sasuke jumped and put his hand up, covering the black mark. "What?" he exclaimed, "Get out of my mind!"
"Oh but Sasuke," said Orochimaru, speaking directly to Sasuke's brain, "you didn't let me finish. That seal, 'Cobra's Hood of Heaven' is an ancient one, if you just let it activate and let me in, you'll become nothing short of a god."
"I don't care," said the Uchiha sternly, "I don't want anything to do with you. I-"
Images of the dream exploded back into Sasuke's mind. Pictures of the bodies, of his mother, and of Itachi flashed before his eyes. Sasuke dropped to the ground, desperate to block out the images, but unable to see anything else.
"Stop!" growled the genin, "You're messing with my head! Get out!"
"Too late for that," said Orochimaru, "I'm already quite comfortable in here."
"What do you want?" asked Sasuke, hoping that he might strike a deal with the monster.
"Why, to help you get what you want," said Orochimaru. "I want Itachi dead just as badly as you do, but like yourself, I'm not quite powerful enough on my own. However, if the two of us were to work at it together then I'm sure that even the mighty Uchiha Itachi wouldn't stand a chance against us. After that, I'd hoped you might be willing to serve me for a while."
Sasuke paused, unconvinced. "I don't want you in my head," he said after a moment. "I'm going to kill Itachi, but I swear I'll fight this every step of the way if you try to take over my mind and don't let me be."
Something like laughter flowed through Sasuke's thoughts. "Indeed," said Orochimaru, "That would be most troublesome. But I think I have a deal that would satisfy us both. If you come to me and help me do away with Itachi then give me your body willingly after that's done, then I won't force my way into your mind right here and destroy your consciousness in the process. Sound fair?"
"The hell it does," barked Sasuke.
"Well fine then, I'm disappointed but I guess I'll just have to break you the old fashioned way and MAKE you see things my way. You leaf nin are all the same… so stubborn."
Instantly a stabbing pain surged behind Sasuke's eyes. It was like a metallic claw was trying to gouge its way into his skull through his temple. The genin dropped to the ground, clutching his head. He tried to scream, but found himself unable to control his breathing. Images were rioting through his mind, memories from his childhood. He saw his mother's smiling face, then his Father. His first day at the academy suddenly appeared before him. All of his memories were being drug out by Orochimaru but Sasuke had no idea what he could do about it. He was in too much pain to concentrate. Slowly he felt something cold begin to seep into his thoughts like slime. It was a sticky poison that crawled into his mind and began to fester there.
Sasuke knew he had to resist, he could feel his mind fading away. He found himself thinking that it was his duty to serve Orochimaru. He knew it wasn't true, but he couldn't get the thought out of his mind that he somehow belonged to the snake nin. It was all happening so rapidly. Sasuke wasn't being allowed time to mount a defense.
Slowly he opened his eyes. He knew he had to try something. His enemy had now reached the beginning of the mission to the wave and Sasuke just knew that if Orochimaru got through all of the memories, it would be over, Uchiha Sasuke would be gone and replaced by some puppet.
The battle on the bridge flashed in Sasuke's mind and a thought occurred to him. Sasuke opened his Mangekyou, and looked around. A small stone caught his attention and he immediately focused on it, memorized everything about it. He memorized how small it was, its exact color and shape, the texture of its surface, everything. Immediately he forced his mind to see the rock and nothing but the rock. He focused on it to the exclusion of all else.
Sasuke could feel the icy talon in his mind stop, like it had run into some kind of barrier as soon as Sasuke thought of the stone. It was working the genin thought, and he redoubled his efforts, building a wall around his mind from that solitary little rock. He could feel the claw smash up against his thought, but to Sasuke's elated relief, the attack simply couldn't get through. Over and over the attack came against Sasuke's mind, bet each time, the genin's consciousness was safe behind the wall he'd created from the rock. The single thought of the pebble he'd memorized with the Mangekyou was something Orochimaru couldn't get passed. The seal on his shoulder was burning like fire, but it was nothing Sasuke couldn't shrug off.
"You see?" said Sasuke through gritted teeth, "I'm not like anyone you've met before. I don't care how much power you're offering. You can take it all and shove it straight up your ass."
An image of Naruto passed through Sasuke's mind. He dwelt on the thought for just a second, relieved that it hadn't been Orochimaru who conjured it. "I've got my friends," said Sasuke resolutely, "and I'm not going to betray them."
Sasuke could feel the fury and the killer intent on the other side of his mental barrier. "You know you'll never be strong enough!" he could hear Orochimaru faintly shouting. "Never without me!"
Then another thought occurred to the genin. "You're the reason I was messed up earlier. When I was talking to Naruto and acting crazy it was because you were trying to get in. But it doesn't matter now. You might as well give up because I'm not going to let you through."
Another wave of killer intent exploded from behind Sasuke's mental barrier. He could sense that Orochimaru wasn't used to being beaten, especially by someone so much weaker than himself.
"Fine!" shouted the Snake Nin, "Not today, but very soon, you will waver and I- I will destroy your mind and you will serve me! I swear it Uchiha Sasuke! Just wait, something will come along and it will distract you long enough for me to finish this. Very soon you will belong to me!"
Sasuke felt the presence recede from his mind, and with it, all the foreign and traitorous thoughts that it had brought. He could think clearly again and stood up, deactivating his sharingan and rubbing his aching head.
"This is bad," muttered the Uchiha. "I held him off today, but as long as I've got this seal stuck to me, there's nothing to stop him from mounting another attack and if I'm not ready for it then I'm not going to be able to put up a fight."
Sasuke looked around and began hobbling back towards Konoha. He was thankful at least that the pebble trick had worked, and decided that he was going to train his mind to always keep the barricade around his core thoughts so that if and when Orochimaru attacked again, he wouldn't be caught off guard and would have time to put up another barrier.
"Even so," he muttered to himself, "If I slip up and lose concentration while he's trying to get in I'll be helpless…"
Suddenly the Chuunin Exams took on a whole new level of peril.
SC
The days flew by in rapid succession, each and every hour faded seamlessly into the next for the four genin of team seven. Naruto especially barely noticed the passage of time. He was continuously training, either with Jiraiya or Ino, Sakura and Neji. The boy was quickly approaching the point where even the strongest Jyuukin attacks Neji could muster were only glancing blows against his specialized defense. Naruto was even beginning to pick up some of the basics of Jyuukin from the Hyuuga prodigy, though he knew that the true power of gentle-fist was far beyond his natural capabilities.
Naruto also noticed a distinct change in Ino too. When she wasn't with him, she and her mother were off in a field outside Konoha along with Momo (Ino's grandmother.) The two older women had kindly asked that Naruto not come near them during those times, and vaguely hinted that it was a family matter, and he respectfully agreed and obeyed.
Sakura too was changing quickly. She had apparently taken up the study of some moderately advanced genjutsu as well as undergoing rigorous chakra building exercises. She was keeping all the details to herself, but Naruto worried that she was pushing herself too hard, though he kept his fears silent. He didn't want to make her think less of herself and he certainly didn't want to come across as chauvinistic.
Even Sasuke stepped up his training, frequently going off with Kakashi, presumably to work on his mastery of the Sharingan and the Chidori.
Every night, Naruto spent hours in his own mind, (where Kyuubi's absence was surprisingly unmissed.) Over and over he would duel shadow-clones, trying to force himself to improve with his wakizashi, while at the same time becoming less and less dependent on them. He practiced the gravity jutsu and experimented on fueling it with Demon Chakra. The result was dramatically more powerful, though surprisingly draining.
And before anyone had the time to wonder where the days had gone, the Chuunin Exam's final stage was at hand, and the whole of Konoha, as well as hundreds of foreign visitors were crowding into the giant stadium in the eastern quadrant of the Leaf Village.
The stadium was laid out like an enormous animal pin, with scores of rows encircling an arena cut deep into the ground. From above it looked like a funnel delving underground, and teeming with ants.
Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, Sakura and the rest of the contenders were all gathered in a special row of catwalks suspended about fifty feet above the arena floor, which was made up to look like the verdant terrain surrounding Konoha. It was a staggering sight, Ino thought. She'd never actually been in the arena before, much less competed within its walls and she found that butterflies were stirring in her stomach.
Naruto glanced over at her, catching the worried expression on her face. Smiling, he subtly reached over and touched the back of her hand with his fingers. She turned to him, almost jumping from the anxiety, and smiled after composing herself a bit. She slipped her hand in his just as the announcer came over the speaker system.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" shouted the man's voice, "Greetings and welcome to the final stage of the Chuunin Exams! Today you will witness the very best of each village's newest recruits … (blah blah blah, you don't really care about all that drivel. I'll skip to the good part.) … First up are the two lovely Kunoichi of Konoha's rookies, Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino!"
Both girls gulped, casting sidelong glances at each other and Naruto, before walking down the long catwalk stairs onto the field. The whole trip down neither said a word to the other, while the announcer gave a brief overview of both of their academy years. Ino positioned herself about ten paces away from the southernmost wall of the arena, while Sakura readied in the exact center. Both knew that the other's victory would hinge on distance. If Sakura got close, which she might be able to manage with the aid of a Genjutsu, Ino knew she was finished. But Sakura knew that if Ino stayed at a distance long enough to pull off some kind of mind-body attack, the Yamanaka girl would walk away with an easy win. However, as the Chuunin instructor stood between them and raised his hand to begin the match, Ino shifted and drew a tiny blade out of the back of her dress, catching Sakura's eye.
Why such an offensive stance? Sakura wondered, she should be on the defensive unless-
"Begin!" shouted the instructor, jumping back to avoid getting in the way.
Ino disappeared in a bluster of dirt and leaves, and Sakura spun around, anticipating an attack from behind. But none came. The arena was silent.
"She's hiding," Sakura realized. "Clever, but no matter." I'll just use a broadly sweeping fire jutsu to flush her out.
Sakura flashed a few hand seals before taking a deep breath and taking aim at a particularly dense region of the trees, not too far from where Ino had disappeared. The pink haired girl spat out a surprisingly large fireball that collided with the trees and instantly reduced them to cinders. Ino wasn't there.
Up in the stands Naruto looked over at Sasuke and joked, "If Sakura doesn't take it easy she's going to torch the whole place."
Sasuke didn't even so much as nod. He continued staring blankly off into space.
"Why so distant all of a sudden?" Naruto asked, stepping a little closer. Sasuke still didn't respond, "Ever since you woke up you haven't quite been yourself."
Sasuke looked over at Naruto, an expression of frustration, but not with Naruto, on his face. "Now isn't the best time," he said in a low drone, "we can talk about it later if we have time."
Naruto nodded, respecting Sasuke's privacy. "But if this keeps up there won't be anywhere for us to duel in the final round."
Sasuke's lips twitched up into a smile but before he could say anything, Hinata's laughter broke out from the other side of the stands. Naruto and Sasuke both looked over at her, guarding their expressions. Neither one had seen her for almost a week, but there was no doubt that the demon was gaining control over her. Everything about the once innocent girl was different. Her baggy jacket was gone, replaced by a skin-tight, leather vest with matching pants, and her hair was now jet black. Even her eyes were taking on a slightly orange hue, as opposed to the Hyuuga's subtle lavender.
"In the finals," said the demon, "Will be only myself and Sabaku no Gaara. I hate to break it to you but neither of you will be leaving this place unless it's in a body-bag."
Sasuke turned to face Naruto, standing close enough to whisper and cleared his throat.
"I doubt that even if you did manage to knock her out that allowing Hiashi-Sama to reseal the demon would work. It looks like the Hinata we remember is pretty far gone."
Naruto glanced over Sasuke's shoulder and eyed the girl. He took note about everything he saw, than woefully nodded to Sasuke. "She's totally different."
"I don't want to see anybody die here but it looks like there might not be a choice.," whispered Sasuke, stepping back beside the Uzumaki.
By this point in the fight below, Ino had leapt out from underground and was now engaging Sakura in fierce hand to hand combat. The Yamanaka girl was trying numerous different attacks that focused on assaulting the spirit directly, but Sakura never gave the relatively sluggish Justus a chance to connect. Sakura however was having almost no luck herself. Ino was proving incredibly resilient to her attempts to use genjutsu, removing Sakura's biggest advantage.
For several minutes the two clashed with Kunai and various chakra based attacks, though neither seemed to be gaining the upper hand until Sakura disappeared in a puff of smoke, throwing Ino off guard just long enough for the pink haired genin to reappear behind Ino and smack her in the back of the neck with the side of her hand.
Most of the crowd, Naruto especially, gasped when they saw the well timed and perfectly executed kage-bunshin that essentially sealed Ino's loss of the match. The Yamanaka girl, stunned by the sudden shock to her nervous system collapsed to the ground and Sakura was promptly declared the winner.
"Naruto taught me that one a while ago," whispered Sakura into Ino's ear.
"Didn't see that one coming," commented Sasuke, he seemed better now. "I didn't know she could do a shadow clone. Did you teach her that?"
"Yeah, but I didn't expect her to use it against Ino," said Naruto as he carefully watched Ino struggle to her feet and begin to hobble off of the field.
Naruto jumped over the edge of the railing and landed beside Ino, who refused to look up into his eyes. He smiled without saying a word, and took hold of her arm, slinging her elbow up around his neck and helping her walk up the stairs.
"You really don't have to do this you know," Ino muttered in a low tone as they climbed "I can walk now."
Naruto grinned playfully. "I know. But this gives me an excuse to be close to you."
Ino blushed and looked down without smiling, though her grip around Naruto tightened just a little as she pulled herself closer to him.
Why did he teach Sakura…? Ino wondered to herself. She glanced up at him and quickly planted a kiss on his cheek. Naruto smiled again and looked at her, then silently mouthed 'I love you.' Ino let a small smile cross her lips and whispered the words back, amazed by how much she enjoyed saying them.
While Kiba and Temari began walking down to the arena for their match, Sakura came trotting up behind Naruto and Ino, stopping beside them and asking if Ino needed any help. Naruto was worried that Ino might react poorly, despite the seemed concern in Sakura's voice, and his fears were not groundless. Ino turned over her shoulder and nearly spat the words at Sakura, telling her that she neither wanted nor needed help from the likes of her.
Naruto groaned. It looked like their tenuous truce had, for whatever reason, come to an end. I'd best stand between them for a while, he thought to himself, maybe Sasuke would help me keep them apart.
SC
Temari had destroyed Kiba. There was no other way to say it. As soon as the mistress of the sand had unleashed the full fury of her fan, Kiba hadn't stood a chance. Shikamaru on the other hand had faired quite well against Kankuro, catching the sand nin from behind and subduing him with a clever combination of Shadow manipulation and a simple concrete wall.
The three previous matches had captivated the audience, but now, as Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto walked silently down to the arena, there wasn't so much as a peep from anyone in the stands. This was the match everyone had been waiting for.
Naruto cast a sidelong glance at the audience, his eyes falling immediately on Hiashi and the ten other Hyuuga warriors, including Neji, sitting with him. All of the lavender-eyed ninja sat on the edges of their seats, as if poised to move at an instants notice. Even from this distance, Naruto saw the worry on their faces, especially Neji's and his own heart sank. He was confronted with a horrible dilemma.
On the one hand he could fight all out and likely kill the demon possessing Hinata, and free Konoha of that evil, but on the other the thought of hurting someone who had once been so innocent made him sick. He could try to simply knock her out or subdue her long enough for Hiashi to do his work, but there was no guarantee that he would stand even the slightest chance if he held back. If Neji was correct and Hinata was growing exponentially more powerful by the day, then it was likely she was already too much for him unless he fought to kill.
Naruto breathed a pained sigh and looked across the twenty or so feet of cultivated turf separating him from the demon. The Hyuuga girl was already in an aggressive stance and ready to pounce. Her teeth were bared in an almost feral smile and as she stared at him with the Byakugan Naruto could feel the waves of killer intent rolling off of her.
The blonde genin breathed another painful sigh and set himself to the job.
She has to die, he thought. There's no other way I can end this without a lot more people getting hurt.
The Chuunin instructor looked between Naruto and Hinata. To anyone there to watch it was obvious the man was very uncomfortable standing where he was.
Naruto delved into his demonic chakra and began loosing the bonds keeping it contained. His eyes took on a faintly red tint as the pupils began to slowly elongate into thin slits. The whisker marks on his cheeks deepened just a little and his fingernails subtly sharpened till they resembled daggers or claws more that nails.
Hinata grinned, perfectly aware of the reason behind the slow shift in her opponent's appearance, and set herself a little lower to the ground. Her own eyes began to glow with a dim orange light while her fingertips flexed like the talons of a crow.
"Begin!" shouted the Chuunin, jumping back like a frightened hare.
Naruto charged forward without a second's hesitation, and reared back to strike. Fiery red energy was swirling around his hand like a maelstrom as he moved in hoping to end the battle before it had a chance to begin. The red chakra spun in his hand as he focused it into Jiraiya's "secret" move: The Rasangen.
In the fraction of an instant that it took Naruto to charge in close to Hinata, the girl had already shifted her weight to spin out of the way as Naruto struck out with the attack. Whipping her clothes in the gust it caused, the Rasangen passed by her harmlessly. Hinata grinned and drove two fingers into Naruto's wrist, disrupting the flow of chakra to his hand and cancelling out the attack.
The blonde genin turned on her like a beast and slashed fiercely with his other arm, red claws protruding from his hand splitting the air. But Hinata was still too fast for simple tricks and spun out of the way again. This time however she jumped behind him.
Naruto however instantly recognized the move from his sessions with Neji, buying him the second he needed to turn and catch Hinata's wrist. He could see the surprised look on her face just before he tossed her in the air. Naruto crouched and leapt up after her, flipping around and planting his foot squarely in her stomach. Hinata was thrown even higher up, but chuckled to herself as she saw Naruto performing a familiar set of hand seals.
"Old tricks. You're going to need something new," she muttered as Naruto finished and she felt herself become suddenly heavy. "Something like this!"
Hinata closed her eyes, forming the seal of the ram and concentrated as she became heavier and heavier. Suddenly a blue line shot from her 7th chakra (between the eyes in the forehead) and connected to Naruto's chest. A red burst of chakra, the same energy Naruto was using to fuel the gravity shift, surged along the line and wrapped around Naruto. The boy gasped, and found the ground speeding towards him. He was plummeting towards it at a mind bending speed.
Oh shit! was all Naruto could manage to think before he smashed into the earth, sending chunks of rock and a cloud of dirt high into the air. Hinata landed gracefully beside the somewhat human-shaped hole in the ground and leaned over to stare down it.
"Quite a mess!" she shouted, "all this dirt in the air is going to make it hard to see for several minutes; just enough time for you and me to finish this don't you think, Oh Kyuubi no Kitsune? I tire of these mortal games, why don't we come out and play as we did in the old days?"
Hinata cocked her head off and waited for a minute, but nothing came from the crater.
"Did I kill him?" she asked herself, "That would be no fun at all… We'd barely gotten started."
There was a deep rumbling from somewhere underground, causing Hinata to stumble and glance around to see what was going on. Then it stopped as quickly as it had happened, and again things were quiet. The cloud of dirt and debris still hung in the air obscuring everything within it, though it was beginning to fade and sunlight was starting to shine in, giving the whole scene an eerie feel of desolation.
Hinata walked back to the hole and looked in again. This time however, she leapt back as a white hot beam of energy, tinged with red, burst out of the crater and shot into the sky. Naruto, glowing with a crimson light jumped up, landing only a few paces away from the Hyuuga girl.
"This should be fun," muttered Hinata.
Naruto ran forward and slashed at Hinata, who rolled to the side and retaliated by jabbing her fingers into Naruto's calf. The blonde genin sank to one knee but jumped back up as red chakra burst from his leg, unblocking the Tenketsu. Hinata struck again, lightning fast, catching Naruto in the chest with her blow, but again Naruto just undid the damage with a burst of fiery chakra.
Seconds passed as the two dueled relentlessly. It was incredible to listen to the battle. Both were sweeping around so fast the wind was whipping around them in a gale, as the ground at their feet was being slashed by the speed of their movements, throwing more debris into the air.
"Where are they now?" Sakura asked quickly, glancing between Sasuke and the chaotically swirling cloud of dust below.
"Hard to say," said the Uchiha, glaring into the fray with his sharingan. "They're not staying in one place any longer that a tenth of a second at most, and the cloud isn't helping any."
"Is Naruto alright?" asked Ino, pressing her hands together.
Sasuke looked harder, trying to get a feel for what was going on, using his intuition as much as his eyes. "I don't know. I won't be able to see clearly unless I open the Mangekyou and I can't afford to waste the chakra."
Ino looked back down into the arena, wringing her hands. "I had no idea Hinata was this strong," she said worriedly. "She always seemed so timid back at the academy."
Sakura looked up at her, a subtle grin on her face.
"Naruto didn't tell you?" asked Sakura.
"Tell me what?" Ino was hesitant.
Sakura glanced at the battle raging below. Red and orange flares of energy were routinely bursting out of the cloud. Chaotic chakras were entwining in midair and searing the ground all around. The battle was not unlike the scheme hatching in Sakura's mind.
"I can't believe he didn't tell you?" Sakura asked finally, drawing out the words like she was dreading speaking them.
"Tell me what!?" Ino practically yelled, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Ino," Sakura said slowly, "That's not Hinata-Chan down there. Naruto's fighting a demon possessing her."
Ino was speechless, and whirled back to look at what was going on. The cloud was beginning to clear up just enough to see, and Ino could occasionally catch glimpses of Naruto and Hinata, or… what had been Hinata, exchanging blows with chakra clad fists. The silence was maddening for Sasuke and Sakura, who were both wondering what was raging in Ino's mind.
"Why did he tell you…" mumbled Ino, a deadly cold edge in her voice, as she turned back to Sakura, "But not me?"
Sakura froze, but then shrugged her shoulders. That had been the question she was hoping for. "I assumed he did." The pink haired girl then turned around and pretended to watch what was unfolding beneath, though in truth, she was calculating her next move. "After all," she continued after a moment, "What reason could he possibly have for telling me something but leaving you out of the loop?"
For just an instant, Ino's jaw dropped and her eyes pouted like she might cry, but then she immediately turned on her heel with a hardened glare on her face. "What reason indeed?" she growled before she started walking off into the infrastructure of the arena.
"What was that about?" asked Sasuke tentatively, once he was sure Ino was out of earshot.
Sakura turned to him with a quizzical look on her face. "What?" she asked.
"You know he only kept it from her because he didn't want her to worry, and he directly told us both of us not to tell her. What are you trying to do here?"
Sakura just shrugged and smiled, leaning down to rest her chin on the railing. "Sasuke, you have got a lot to learn about the way girls operate to get what they want."
The Uchiha just shook his head. "I suppose it's pointless to interfere, but this is disgustingly immature."
Sakura didn't answer.
Down in the clash below, both Hinata and Naruto were showing signs of wearing down. The Uzumaki boy was breathing heavily and dripping blood from the corners of his mouth, undoubtedly due to the strain of using so much demonic chakra. While Hinata, battered and bruised from finding herself on the wrong end of numerous blows to the face and using so much Jyuukin, was bleeding from her nose the tips of her fingers.
"I've got to end this," muttered the demon girl, "he's too resilient and this body isn't handling well."
Hinata looked around for something she could do to end the match, but the only thing that came to mind was the audience. If she "missed" with some kind of attack and wound up obliterating a few of the observers, then there was a good chance the officials would call off the battle.
Naruto closed in with another Rasangen, hoping to end it there, but Hinata summoned up what little strength she had left and struck at him, slamming her open palm into his chest and nearly bursting his heart with the attack. With her other hand however, Hinata took aim at a random bystander in the crowd and unleashed a blue spike of chakra.
The bolt of energy sizzled through the air and slammed into the pink haired woman's chest, knocking her to the ground and killing her instantly.
The crowd screamed and instantly scattered away from the victim, and Naruto looked up to see what was happening. This was just the distraction Hinata needed, and she flipped up, kicking Naruto in the jaw and sending him spiraling away from her.
In the panic in the stands, Sakura turned, wondering when she heard the screams, and paled. She burst up from her place, running towards the action as fast as she could. "Mother!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs.
Naruto was just getting up, when Kakashi, Gai, and Asuma all appeared down on the wrecked battlefield between Naruto and Hinata. The Uzumaki boy immediately sealed up the demonic chakra again, and Hinata straightened herself up.
"That's enough from both of you," Gai said sternly, "especially you." He glared at Hinata who just smirked back at him.
Gai looked as if he was about to say something more, but didn't have time before a thunderous boom echoed through the air on the perfectly clear day. Everyone looked up towards the West where a plume of smoke was rising into the air. A second later cries and screams drifted in on the breeze.
"This is trouble," said Kakashi, "We're under attack!"
All five ninja on the battlefield turned around as a giant purple barrier shot into the air around the VIP section of the stands, sealing in both Sarutobi and the Kazekage, who were by this time the only two still in that section.
"This is even worse," growled Kakashi, as Asuma and Gai disappeared in poofs of smoke. "Naruto, go find the rest of the team and head straight for the Western Gate. Something tells me the Town Guard is going to need all the help they can get…"
Naruto nodded and leapt up into the stands and began scouring about for Sakura, Sasuke, and Ino, while Kakashi, darted off towards the giant purple force-field.
"Looks like I'm off the hook," said Hinata.
"Not quite," said a voice from behind the Demon.
Hinata turned around to see Hiashi, Neji, and nine other Hyuuga warriors standing behind her. Each and every one of them had activated their Byakugan and were marching to surround her. "It's time we put an end to this," said Hiashi.
AN: Feels good, knowing this is finally building towards the grand finale, but not quite as good as getting another chapter up and running. Well at any rate, here you go. I hope you enjoyed, so please review!