Review Reply:
Chosha Kurenai: haha, yeah that would be funny. I'm trying to get Yondaime to show up some more but the storyline takes precedence right now, he'll show up more in the next arc.
Turok1: Yes he is.
Cloudfightback: Yeah, I felt that Arashi needed to be serious with her for a bit and finally drive home her want to protect Konoha. It can't be just Naruto who does it
Grapfruit.ninja: It was so totally an Ino move; I laughed while I wrote it.
Static44: Nope, no Kabuto Kekkei Genkai. It's just an ability so Arashi can't take it, too bad that would make things interesting…especially with some of my future plans (Laughs maniacally)
Raiton77: Yeah that is a big question, how will she do it?
Animeskid: I didn't try to get him to come off Yondyish there; it's just how Arashi is. He's similar but that was all him.
De-raz-bomber: As long as people review I will continue dead reader!
Uchiha-itachi-3434: I thought that the Shino part was quite funny, and he seems to me like a person who lives by logic so Irony is perfect for his sense of humor.
The Elven-Spear: I have no idea what you're talking about!
Royal Snaza: Yeah and thanks for all the support…you really need to get online some more!! I've been wondering where you've gone!!
Ryumikratos: Yes there is fighting, now that you've reviewed them all I'm going to need your character name, try to make it a cool sounding one. Just either put it in the review for this chapter or PM me.
SwordofMagus: That wasn't a flashback with Team 10 it's what happened, and the Team 8 training comes into play in this chapter, Muahahahaha!!!
RasenganRendan01: I'm going to need your character name soon as well.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, only Arashi!
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The wind blew gently past the female Sannin as she stared down the two before her. Her glare was directed specifically at the spectacled one at the moment, her chance ruined. The Sannin's gaze was then met with the pale face of Orochimaru who just scowled at her. "Why have you given me such an answer Tsunade?" His eyes then snapped wide in rage. "How dare you try to kill me!" Tsunade's eyes narrowed at her former team mate for being found out. "At least I can trust the loyalty of Kabuto. Luckily he showed up in time to see the killing intent hidden with in your so called healing hands!"
"Of course, we both have trained in the same medical jutsu. It was easy to sense the approaching attack."
Orochimaru sighed heavily before he turned his attention back to Tsunade. "Oh Tsunade…I was serious when I spoke of reviving them…and I even promised not to crush Konoha. You had everything within your grasp…and let it slip through your fingers!"
Tsunade could only look down at the ground sadly due to the truth of Orochimaru's words as the gentle wind blew her bangs to and fro before her face. Raising her head her gaze flashed back to an intense glare momentarily before retracting back to the blank, depressed, and lonely look that seemed to show the true workings of her heart. "Orochimaru…you were lying about not destroying Konoha. You're a fool if you thought I would believe you, I know you." Her shoulders then began to quiver as she felt the inevitable tears welling up in her eyes. "I already knew…I…"
"Hm…" Orochimaru smirked as he could feel the pain rolling off his former team mate in waves, he reviled in it, he delighted in it. It made things all the better for his enjoyment considering what he planned to do soon.
"I..I wanted to see both of them, just one last time. Just one last time…I wanted to see them. Just one last time…I wanted to touch them. To see their faces…their smiles…but. I realized the moment I felt that feeling creep under my skin…to be able to se Nawaki and Dan again…I realized…" A gust of wind blew by her, almost knocking her down in her emotional state. Opening her pained eyes she could see four perfect leaves dancing in the wind before her eyes, taunting her even now. "I'm an utter fool!" She said loudly as she thrashed her head to the side, flinging off her accumulating tears that now fell to the ground, and as they trickled down her face they dripped off her chin and onto the last thing that connected her to the ones she loved. "The two of them…just remembering their faces…I was blinded by it!" Images of the two deceased Shinobi flashed before her eyes, still looking as happy as she had ever seen them. "I loved them; I really and truly loved them. That's why…" She then opened her arms and wrapped them around herself, receieving the only hug she had gotten in years. "…I wanted to see them and hug them!" Still trembling she pulled her arms back to her side as new images materialized before her eyes, ones of the two new people dedicated to achieving Hokage.
"But…I couldn't…not after those two showed up." She said quietly as the memories of what she had seen recently had changed her. The memory of Naruto panting heavily while on the verge of chakra exhaustion, but still refusing to stop, refusing to lose the bet. The memory of Arashi laying amid a pile of shredded balloons while he slept, and the terrible chakra burns on his right hand that Tsunade had felt so bad about that she had healed him right on the spot, breaking her 10 year probation on medical jutsu.
"Because of those kids, I remembered their dreams. After I had tried so hard to forget them…" "This village is Grandfather's treasure! And I'll protect it with my life because I'm Shodai Hokage's grandson!" Nawaki's voice said as it sang out in her head. "I love both the village and its people. That's why I want to protect it." Dan said in his calm voice. "I will become like grandfather and receive the Hokage name!" Nawaki called out once more before newer voices called out to Tsunade's heart. "Unlike you…unlike you, we really want to become Hokage!" Naruto said with determination in his voice and the same look in his eyes as Nawaki and Dan when they proclaimed their dreams of Hokage. "My sister's death…That's the reason I have kept on going. That's why I will become Hokage. To protect everyone's happiness." A large tear splashed off of the crystal around her neck before the voice of the fourth one to haunt her heart spoke up with a powerful message. "Because we push to be the best, we want to be Hokage so we can protect the ones we love and the village. Like Oji-san used to say, it's our Will of Fire that drives us…I really hope you do accept…with Oji-san gone we need a strong Hokage, and Naruto and I just aren't strong enough to protect every one. We need you…Konoha needs you."
Next, the Sannin saw an image of all four of them standing side by side before the Hokage monument with the same look on their faces and in their eyes. "Because being Hokage is my dream!" They all said in unison.
"Those two, who risked their lives to chase after their dreams…the possibility of making their dream come true disappeared right before my eyes." Orochimaru just stood there smirking, he loved the pain she was in, plans were already churning in his sick mind of when to spring the final truth on her. She then locked eyes with him, still with the blank stare she had been wearing for the majority of their meeting. "You once said that all things that have form will fade…" Her world then went black as the only thing she could feel was the sound of a single tear splashing off of her necklace. From the rippling water of her innumerable tears shed for them, the forms of Nawaki and Dan appeared as the only thing in her mind. "But…this memory is the one thing that will not."
Once more a strong gust of wind blew by the two Sannin. "A negotiations breakdown? Not much of a choice, I suppose." Orochimaru said as he narrowed his eyes at the woman before him. "Looks like we will have to force you to do me this favor."
Rubbing the tears from her face, Tsunade almost instantly composed herself and was once again breathing calmly. With a snap of her eyelids, he whole demeanor had changed, she was no longer an emotional wreck but instead a dangerous warrior with one goal in her mind…kill Orochimaru. In a blink of an eye she charged at the two before her and leapt high in the air with a leg extended high above her. At the last second Kabuto and his master managed to jump back and avoided the massive heel drop that managed to make a gigantic crater that was as wide as the alleyway and about 10 feet deep. From their new perch atop the walls at the side, they looked at the destruction at hand and were met with a glare of killing intent from the powerful woman standing at the bottom of the newly created crater. "Orochimaru-teme!" She shouted up at him.
"That's right, come to think of it I've never fought against you before!" Meanwhile the wind had picked up and was blowing debris from the destroyed alley away from them. With a serious look in her eyes Tsunade removed her jacket and let it go into the wind, leaving her with just her grey sleeveless top and blue sash the same color as her pants.
"It's a pity!" He said as she bolted for their new position with hate in her eyes.
"How can you say that…" Kabuto said as he tensed up for the incoming attack. "I'm the one stuck fighting her!"
She kicked up dust as she sped towards the stone wall where the two Oto Nin were perched. "You useless bastards! I'll kill you both where you stand!!" With a strong punch, she effectively shattered the wall into a thousand pieces. Once again Orochimaru and Kabuto and jumped backwards at the last second and now were on a large tree branch that luckily was behind the wall.
"It's just like it's always been, with her insane strength…" He said as he was crouched down and the branch before he turned to look at Kabuto. "One hit and it's the end of the story."
"I can tell that just by looking." He replied as he looked down at Tsunade standing amongst the smoking ruble. "It looks like fighting around the castle is going to be a bit complicated."
"Shall we relocate?"
"I think that would be in our best interest…there is also something else…" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow to his comment while Tsunade sighed below them. "There was somewhat of a troublesome person with Tsunade's subordinate." Tsunade then shot out at them and in an instant she was at their level with her leg sights on their heads. "Who knows when he will show up."
"Die!!" She yelled as she only missed Orochimaru's face my inches, with a quick rotation she spun around and brought her heel down on the tree, decimating it in a cloud of splinters.
The two she was aiming at leapt back in time yet again and dashed back hoping to lure Tsunade to more open ground. "This troublesome person…who is it?" Orochimaru asked.
"He's like you and Tsunade-sama…a Sannin."
'Kukukuku…Jiraiya' Orochimaru thought as he and Kabuto jumped away leaving Tsunade standing beside a newly made hole in another wall. Picking up a stone she crushed it into dust with a glare on her face.
'You won't get away!'
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"Gah! That was hell!" Kiba yelled to Akamaru as he trudged along with his team while on wobbling legs. He had never thought that training could be that…terrifying. He had never done so much work in his entire life and wasn't planning on doing it again, training to him was playing with Akamaru and getting him to pee on random things. He felt like jelly and looked like it too, wobbling to and fro dramatically.
Looking back he saw the stoic form of Shino, who didn't look phased by the intense workout they had just received. But if you looked closely you could tell that he was walking significantly slower and taking much smaller steps. But Sakura was definitely the worst out of the three, being the least physical out of the team didn't help her at all in 'Maito Gai's School of Youth' as he had lovingly called his training. The pink haired girl looked like she was about to keel over any second and simply pass out on the ground. "I now what you mean! No wonder Lee-kun is so strong!" She replied to Kiba's initial answer. Then with a pained laugh she looked at Shino. "It looks like even you were affected by his training Shino-kun."
"It was a strenuous day of training to say the least…I'll see you both tomorrow. I'm meeting Otome for dinner later." With that the bug user vanished in a cloud of bugs.
After a while Sakura and Kiba found themselves still a while away from Konoha, Gai had finished their training far away from where they usually did so it was taking them much longer to return home than expected. It had been a beautiful day, possibly the only thing that kept Sakura from going crazy and just giving up. The birds had been chirping and she had seen numerous animals in the surrounding forest as they had trained. But now, she didn't hear anything, and the only animal she saw was Kiba. She was about to say something to him when Akamaru had apparently figured the same thing out and yipped something to his scruffy master. A serious look then passed over his face, a look that Sakura felt was and odd combination with his face, it was more accustomed to Sasuke's. "You're right Akamaru, it's a little too quiet around here…"
Taking a whiff of the air Kiba knew something was wrong, he could smell no animals anywhere near them. But he was getting a faint scent of something human mixed with something odd. He turned to Sakura and nodded to her, confirming her suspicions. It was at that time that the faint sound of metal clanking against metal was heard. Whipping around the two Genin were faced with a man in a large hooded grey cloak leaning nonchalantly against a tree behind them and on the opposite side of the path they were on.
There was something off about this man and the two had never seen him before in their lives. The only thing visible to the two was the shine of two yellow eyes coming from within the shadow of the hood. "You two wouldn't be lost…now would you?" His raspy voice said from within the darkness of his cloak, sending a chill up Kiba's spine.
"No we're not…now who the hell are you?!" Sakura shouted at the man, apparently not getting the same feeling Kiba was, all he wanted to do at the moment was run like hell. Which in his present state wasn't very fast or far at all, so he figured sticking with Sakura might be a good idea at the moment.
"Me? Kukukuku…oh…I'm nobody important…just a passer by." He said almost sarcastically, but with an odd glint in his eye that had Kiba's spine freaking out. "But I do have a question for you two…"
"Which is?" The oblivious pink haired girl asked in an annoyed tone and her arms crossed.
"I wanted to know everything you now about Arashi Himura…" The man said as a wide sadistic smile crossed over his face, his teeth reflecting the light of the forest to become illuminated from beneath the hood.
Kiba couldn't move, he didn't know if it was fear, curiosity, or the training. But all he knew was that he should try to answer the man's questions. He was about to respond to him when once again Sakura spoke up instead. "What do you want to know?"
"First…is it true that he has unlocked the Kekkei Genkai of the Himura?"
'The what??' Kiba thought with a puzzled look on his face.
"Yes, he has." Sakura replied flatly, she hadn't liked this guy to begin with. But now he was starting to sound like someone she shouldn't be talking with, someone foreign.
'Good, actual confirmation…Master will be pleased…very pleased indeed. Now to dig deeper…before I break the rule and slaughter these brats!' 'You wouldn't happen to know what his most powerful jutsu is and any of his weaknesses?"
Sakura snapped at that, raising a fist at the man she began to yell. "That's enough! Who the hell are you!?!" She then pulled out a kunai, ready to attack to the best of her current abilities. This man wasn't from Konoha and wanted something to do with Arashi, something she couldn't quite figure out.
But before she could rush at the man he broke out into a hysterical yet sinister laugh. Suddenly he stopped and flung his arms up, out of the sleeves shot two large and thick chains that almost instantly wrapped themselves around the two Genin and pinned them to a tree that stood behind them. As soon as he had seen the chains Kiba knew what the sound was he heard earlier and why the smell of metal was all around them. Looking up at the man he actually saw what he looked like. The motion of throwing out the chains had thrown his hood back, leaving his head exposed to the two. He had limp stringy black hair that fell to his shoulders, a defined jaw, a strong chin, and a tanned, chiseled face. But there were two things that caught Kiba's attention the most about his face, one was the long vertical scar that ran from the top right side of his forehead and down through his right eye, over his lips and down to the side of his jaw line. The second was the about three inch thick metal collar that hung tightly on his muscled neck, it had two rather large chain links hanging from the front of it, and a small insignia etched into the left side. Unfortunately Kiba couldn't make out the symbol from where he was. "WHO the HELL ARE YOU!?!?" Sakura screamed once more as she too took in his intimidating features
The man smirked even wider at her, his smile looking more deranged than an actual smirk. "The name's Zankoji Toushura…the last person you'll ever see if you don't tell me the Himura's weakness! I don't CARE if Master said no killing while on my mission!! Now talk! Or I'll tear your flesh off your bones inch by inch with my chains!" He then broke out into his hysteric laughter as the chains began to tighten around the two, making them feel their skin begin to catch on the links.
Sakura just glared at the man, she was a Shinobi damn it and there was no way she would betray a fellow Konoha Shinobi. Looking into his eyes she could see the desire to kill, the obsession with blood, the love of mutilation, and it scared her. Not since her tangle with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death had she felt killing intent that strong and lustful. But she wouldn't crack, she wouldn't tell him the one thing she knew was Arashi's weakness. "Hinata-chan! That's it, it's her!!" Kiba screamed in a horribly pained and frightened voice.
"Hinata-chan…who's that?" The chain wielder asked, in a dementedly interested voice. But just as he was about to torture them for the answer he felt someone closing in on them. With a snap of his wrist the chains released the two and wrapped themselves back into their original position around Zankoji's arms. "You two got lucky…just pray you don't ever hear the name Zankoji Toushura ever again….because if you do it'll be the last thing you ever hear!" With that he disappeared into a cloud of smoke and was gone.
It was at that moment that Gai burst through the trees with a smile on his face and three green training suits in his hands. "Hey you two I…" He then saw the state they were both in, as well as Akamaru who was out cold against a nearby bush. Looking at them, they had chain imprints all over them from getting squeezed by them, also Sakura was glaring hard at Kiba.
Kiba could only look down in shame, summoning the courage needed he raised his head and looked into Sakura's enraged eyes. "Traitor." She said coldly as she stormed past a confused Gai and back to the village, deep in thought. 'Why did he have that engraved on his collar thing? It was like Asuma-sensei's sash…but not from the Land of Fire…'
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"Wh-what happened here?!" Naruto asked as he looked down at the destruction that was in place of the alley he had been in about a week ago.
Jiraiya and Shizune looked back and forth, surveying the damage and surmising the cause of it. "Oh my…what a mess that woman had made." The Sannin said while shaking his head.
But out of the four, Shizune was the most concentrated on the ruble. 'Does this mean…Tsunade-sama refused?'
With a grumble Arashi stepped forward into the crater and looked around, seeing the path of destruction seemed to lead out of the city he sighed. "Now where did Tsunade-baachan get off to?" Walking past the crumbled wall he felt something softer than rock beneath his feel. Looking down he saw the green jacket of Tsunade sitting under his feet.
"Ton-ton, which way?" Shizune asked as the pig sniffed the jacket and immediately picked up a scent. Shizune then reached down and carefully folded the jacket up and motioned for the others to follow the pig.
Arashi just had a dumbfounded look etched into his face at seeing a pig used for tracking. 'I could have summoned Ragna…at least it wouldn't have looked as ridiculous as using a PIG for tracking!!' After a second call the Himura sped off with the others to catch up with Tsunade and aid her in the apparent fight she was in.
Elsewhere several rocky craters litter the grassy landscape just outside the city. "BOOOOM!!!" Was all that was heard as a plume of dust and debris erupted from where Tsunade now stood, fist clenched and flat against the bottom of the new crater. Kabuto was safely perched atop a nearby boulder and was under the dangerous glare of the Slug summoner. "It looks like you're running out of breath, Tsunade." Orochimaru said as she breathed heavily while still at the bottom of the newest crater.
With a sigh, Kabuto reached back and put his hand inside his weapons pack, rummaging around for something. "Taijutsu was never my specialty…" Pulling his hand forward he placed a small black pill on his tongue and then bit down on it.
'A soldier pill?' After ingesting the pill, Kabuto let out a long sigh before speeding through many hand signs, his hands looking more like a blur than the signs he was making. 'Those seals…!' Tsunade thought as she watched while his palms began to glow blue. 'This brat…he's using medical ninjutsu.' Suddenly the rock he was perched atop blew up and left nothing by it. Jumping up, Tsunade barely missed his glowing hands as they shot out of the ground underneath her and went for her legs. While in midair she thrust her fist downward, slamming it into the ground. Unfortunately Kabuto had zipped away just before the attack had landed. With a pivot she shot out at the dodging boy with a fast drop kick, shattering trough a rock as Kabuto ducked under it.
Still shooting through the air, Tsunade rebounded off of a rock behind the one she had just shattered. Sailing through the air upside down she had her head tilted back so as to loc onto Kabuto's position as he stood up. In a flash he was gone from the minimal protection a boulder could give someone who was fighting Tsunade. Twisting so that she flipped over to land upright on the rock she was surprised to see Kabuto appear before her as she touched down on the rock.
But as she landed he simply patted her right arm and the back of her right leg. The second she felt that she thrashed out and connected a blow to Kabuto's chest, sending him skidding back a couple feet with a smirk on his face. The Sannin then attempted to stand, but found her muscles has been torn and cut. 'My muscles!' She thought as she gripped her right arm.
"I've hit your biceps and hamstrings…now you won't be able to use that insane strength of yours."
"Chakra scalpels…why aren't you going after my arteries?" She spat out with a glare at the medical Nin.
"That's true; I could have severed your arteries or veins. But doing so during battle is difficult, seeing as I would have needed a longer and sharper blade to do so. As of right now I can't make anything long enough to reach that deep into your muscles and arteries." He then rushed forward to the damaged blonde, palms ready for muscle slicing. "But if I could hit your neck…it could get messy!" Tsunade was set for a while, dodging his blows left and right, she even managed to connect with a leg sweep. But the crafty Oto Nin recovered midair and flipped forward to land a glowing strike directly to her chest.
Tsunade then fell down to her knees in a stint of violent coughing, leaving Kabuto to stand menacingly over her with a wide smirk on his face. 'Kuso…my diaphragm…I can't breath right…need to focus chakra on my lungs!' She then looked up at the person before her, the sun reflecting off his glasses. 'This punk…he's not a normal ninja…his sense for jutsu and movement is better than mine!
"I can't let you die just yet." His hands then lost their blue glow as he smugly pushed up his glasses. "I won't be going after your neck, but at least you can't move for now…" Before he could say anything else she head the sound of someone moving very fast, then he felt a swift blow to the back of his neck. He then fell forward onto his face as he skid across the grassy field while Tsunade stood behind him with Orochimaru watching their moves carefully. 'What an amazing person…usually they'd be gasping and struggling for air. It looks like I need to weaken her a bit more…' Kabuto thought as Tsunade fell to her knees while breathing hard. Getting up Kabuto got into a squat as he glared at Tsunade. 'To the edge of her life.'
He then felt a spark surge off of his hand, stopping his movement for a weapon. A completely new feeling washed over him, he had no control of his body any longer. 'I'm trying to move my arm…but instead my leg moves! Could it be!?' He was then suddenly and very painfully brought out of his thought as Tsunade's super charged fist came crashing into his cheek, sending him flying back about 20 meters.
'In this situation, is this all the strength I can muster? He'd be in the stratosphere if I was at 100 percent!' Kabuto was currently just trying to sit up, but in his current state it was near impossible. At the moment he was flailing around on his hands and knees looking somewhat lie a turtle.
Orochimaru couldn't help but chuckle at his assistant's predicament. "I see."
Still flailing around the Yakushi was trying to get his thought straight after being ratted by the earlier hit. 'This isn't just a hit…it's a nerve attack!'
"So you figured it out…it was a nerve attack! It's the use of chakra, converted into an electrical current. Which I flowed through your system!" She said as Kabuto flopped around spastically until he was once again in a squat position.
'The brain and the body's communication are all done by electrical signals. So Tsunade disrupted that flow, by sending electricity into his nervous system a brilliant tactic!' Orochimaru thought as he mused over the battle going on before his eyes.
With a flash of her hands Tsunade's palm began to glow a healing green. Pressing it to her chest she began to heal the damage Kabuto had done. 'Healing uses up too much chakra…at this rate…'
'Even after not fighting for so long…is this really the power of one of the Sannin?' Kabuto thought before he shut his eyes to concentrate on his movements. 'When I move my right hand…my left leg moves. When I try to move my left ankle…my right shoulder moves.' He continued going through movements and what they did for about a minute before his eyes snapped open. 'I think I've got about 75 percent of my movements down…that attack what a pain it is!' Spinning fast he pulled out a kunai with a fluid movement and then spun it rapidly around his finger. "Don't look down on me!" He yelled as he charged the still healing Tsunade.
'What?! How can he move in that condition??'
Running fast, his kunai was raking along the ground before he raised it up to a stab position. "You are scared of blood aren't you!? I'll show you plenty right now!!" He yelled as he began to bring the blade down toward her. But suddenly a smoke bomb flew in front of both of them and exploded, making Kabuto leap back with a guess of who it was.
Orochimaru glared as the form of his old friend and team mate appeared from within the smoke along side Tsunade's assistant, the Kyuubi brat, and the boy who had made a fool of Kabuto during the preliminaries of the Chunin Exams. "It's been a long time, Jiraiya." The snake said mockingly, remembering their last meeting.
"Orochimaru…I see your eyes are as crazy looking as always." The Gama-Sennin replied sarcastically.
Looking around, the first thing Naruto noticed was the silver haired man standing before him with a deep glare on his face directed at Arashi. "Kabuto?" He said questioningly.
"I see you three know each other." Jiraiya said once he noticed the glare between Kabuto and Arashi.
"Yeah we took the Chunin exams together; Arashi beat him to go to the finals." Naruto answered, making Kabuto unconsciously rub his jaw. "Why are you here?"
But before he could say anything Tsunade leapt up from where she was and shoved Jiraiya to the ground and took off after Kabuto. "Move! I'll deal with him!!" She yelled as she leapt high in the air and then came down angrily with a side kick that swept over Kabuto's head as he ducked, blowing his hair everywhere from the force of it. Continuing with her kick she landed a second one that knocked the kunai out of his hands and shot it over and into a nearby rock. "Even if you can move…" She said as he weaved back and forth, dodging her punched. "Your body still isn't at 100 percent!" With a leg sweep coning Kabuto flipped back moved closer to the kunai he had lost. "So you can't move as much as you like!" With a final jump backwards to avoid an incoming punch he fond himself with his back to the rock and his hand next to the kunai. "I'm not going to let you escape!" Grabbing the kunai he jumped at her just as she was throwing a strong punch. "Too late!!"
The next thing everyone saw was a sprat of blood shoot up into the air. Stumbling back, Tsunade began to shake as she looked up at Kabuto, who had slit his own wrist to drench her in blood. "It looks like my body movements are back to normal." He said with a smirk while still bleeding.
'Blood…so much blood…' Tsunade thought as she trembled in fear.
"Facing two Sannin is a bit too dangerous for me." Putting his kunai away he stepped forward with a fist drawn back, ready to strike. "But at least…I have one down!!!" He yelled as he connected a hard hit to her face that sent her flying back. Tsunade then crashed into Shizune, who caught her master as best she could.
"I knew I had a funny feeling about you Kabuto." Naruto said as he narrowed his glare at his forehead protector. "It's a shame Arashi didn't hurt you more the last time we met! He could have flushed out a spy!"
"That's right…I was a spy of Otogakure." He said calmly before returning his gaze to Arashi. "My mission was to gather information on Konoha Shinobi for Orochimaru-sama."
"But you were a Konoha shinobi yourself!" Arashi yelled at him loudly.
"No…it was just an act. Much like the act you portrayed in our fight…and again in your fight with out other follower Dosu." Arashi drew back for a second at Kabuto knowing how he had held back. "What? Did you really think people wouldn't pick up on how you preformed in our fight? How you got through it as fast as you could…you didn't want anyone to find out what you are truly capable of! Or how you preformed that sound cancelling jutsu without hand signs…that was all it took for your Kekkei Genkai to be added to my data…so how many have you copied?" He asked with a smirk, laying out the knowledge he knew. "With Naruto-kun as well, do you expect me to believe you weren't capable of taking Neji out with minimal effort? I saw you take out those Ame Nin during the second exam…you just wanted to get your point across and got in too deep. You both are fools, covering up your talents when you should strive to gain more power! That's why Sasuke will pass you both; you're different from Sasuke-kun."
Naruto's glare deepened at those words, Kabuto had struck a cord with the mention of Sasuke and Arashi could see it. He fists were clenched hard and shaking and Arashi could see that he was about to jump the guy. Raising his arm in front of Naruto he effectively calmed him down but in the process glared ever harder at Kabuto. If there was something Arashi hated more than a traitor…it was a snoop, and before him stood a person who was both and had been snooping around in his and Naruto's business. "You're wrong…that's why Sasuke won't be strong. He thinks only of himself while we fight for out friends and loved ones…we aren't blinded by our revenge." He said intimidating.
But he didn't get the reaction he was looking for, instead Kabuto let out a small chuckle. "Oh Arashi-kun, you know about Itachi-san as well. Do you really think you can intimidate me? If I had gone all out on you the last time we fought you'd be dead right now!"
Behind the two Genin, Shizune had wrapped the trembling Tsunade in her jacket. 'This is the first time I've seen Tsunade-sama like this.' Taking a handkerchief out of her roe Shizune began to dab the blood off the blonde's face tenderly. "You don't have to do everything yourself…I'm here to serve you." She said while cleaning her face of the paralyzing substance.
Arashi still was staring down the purple clothed man with a deep scowl. "You don't need to make such a scary face…you're nothing more than a little Genin. I used to think that you were powerful along with Naruto-kun…but in front of the legendary Sannin you're nothing but a joke! You're like a tiny insect among wolves!" He then smirked at his own irony. "If you interfere…then I'll kill you." He said very calmly, adding to the message he was sending.
Arashi knew he wouldn't stand a chance against a Sannin but against Kabuto…he had already faced him before and he didn't know how much he had been holding back the last time. With a yell the Himura shot out at Kabuto leaving a streak of dust in his path. "Stop it, Arashi!" Jiraiya managed to shout out before he fell to a knee. 'My body is still in bad shape!'
Speeding at him Arashi was already formulating a plan. 'If I can just line him up…' "Ahh!" He yelled as he flung punch after punch at Kabuto, all of which were easily blocked. Jumping back he then disappeared from sight.
'I'll have to keep an eye on that speed of his…' Kabuto thought before catching a blur racing towards his right side. 'He's trying to use my injury as a handicap…fool.' With a sling of his arm Kabuto meant to spray some blood over the blonde's eyes. But for some reason it didn't hit him, still seeing him coming he struck out with his foot to catch him with a devastating kick only to find his foot pass right thru his body. 'An afterimage?!' In a flash of black and crackling blue he was once again met face to face with Arashi's Raiton jutsu. 'Shit! I underestimated him…I can still dodge it though!'
"Raiton: Raire-za no jutsu!" He shouted, his eyes a blazing silver. The bolt of condensed lightning shot out of his finger and lanced by Kabuto who had dodged at the last millisecond. But Kabuto noticed that Arashi's eyes didn't move at all they weren't even focused on him…they were pointed behind him.
Snapping his head around he realized all too late that Arashi had been moving him with his attacks so that he and Orochimaru were lined up. "Orochimaru-sama!!" He yelled out as he saw the incoming bolt streak towards his master. Seeing the bolt coming at him Orochimaru went to move but at that very moment his arms flared up and he hesitated for a split second.
"GAHHH!" He screamed out in pain as a smoking three inch hole now decorated his right upper arm. With murder in his eyes he screamed to Kabuto. "Kill him! Kill him NOW Kabuto!!"
Arashi now found himself in a very bad position, he was still in midair and Kabuto was currently standing right in front of him with a grim look upon his face. With a smirk Kabuto brought his arm back and then slammed a fist into Arashi's stomach sending him shooting across the field and unfortunate for Kabuto, into Shizune's awaiting arms. Skidding back, Shizune spit two needles out towards Kabuto's position. 'Poison needles!!' He saw them about a foot from his face when he realized he couldn't dodge them. 'My reflexes haven't recovered yet! I can't dodge!!!' With a tilt of his head he managed to deflect them with his forehead protector.
'It missed!' Shizune cursed in her mind as she came to a sliding halt, still holding tightly onto Arashi.
'What a guy, able to deflect those in his condition…' The white haired man then looked down at his student who was currently clutching his gut in pain. 'Even though he got his ass handed to him, he managed to get a shot off at Orochimaru…who's our real enemy. Good thinking Arashi.'
Setting down Arashi he looked in pain but managed to stand while rubbing his throbbing abdomen. "Thank you nee-chan." While this happened Kabuto had leapt back to Orochimaru's side.
"What are you doing? Kill that brat!!" He said in a pained voice, his arm stung like crazy but compared to the burning of his arms this wasn't even close. Kabuto didn't even respond, instead he reached into his pack and pulled out a small deep red pill.
Shizune gasped at the sight of the pill. "That's…a blood clotting pill." Gaining an odd look from both present Genin.
"Is it to make up for all the blood he lost?" Jiraiya said musingly as he started down his former team mate and the still smoking hole in his right arm.
'That kid…he's the same as me. A medical ninja.' The black robed woman thought as she looked at Kabuto intently.
Orochimaru was glaring at Kabuto for not obeying and killing the Himura on sight for what he did. But something in Kabuto's eyes said that he too wished for Arashi's death. "Orochimaru-sama, please remove the bandage on your left arm." With a sickening smile the pale man shakily brought his arm up and bit down on the bandages, making them fall to the ground. What everyone saw was his now purple arm hang limply at his side while they just stood there eyeing everyone before them.
"So he is Orochimaru…" Naruto said with anger in his voice as the thoughts of Sarutobi entered his mind as well as when he head that name from Sakura concerning what had happened with her and Sasuke in the Forest of Death.
"It's time to show off some of our skills…" Jiraiya then looked back to see Tsunade still trembling beneath her jacket, lightly petting Ton-Ton. "Shizune…you take on four-eyes." Then turning he gazed directly into the only pair of yellow silted eyes looking at him. "And I'll deal with Orochimaru."
The pain in his arm dieing down at the prospect of fighting against Jiraiya. "Kukukukuku! You will try…but you'll fail just like last time."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Ahh…this is so troublesome." Shikamaru said as he laid back to watch the clouds, the only problem was that it was a perfectly clear ay with not a cloud in the sky. With a groan he sat back up and addressed his visitor. "Why does it have to be me?"
"B-Because I have no one e-else to talk too. N-Naruto-kun isn't here and I n-normally go to him w-when I n-need to talk about s-s-something. You're a-also loyal a-and would keep a s-secret if asked Shikamaru-kun." Hinata stammered out while pressing her fingers together.
"When did you get your stutter back? Plus this is more of a thing for Chouji or Ino…"
"I-It has to d-do with w-what I need to t-talk about, and no I can't g-get Chouji-kun or Ino to talk w-with me. Ino likes to gossip s-so I absolutely c-can't let her k-know…and she w-would get t-the information out of Chouji-kun s-somehow. So…so please Shikamaru-kun, promise me you w-won't speak of t-this to anyone." She managed to get out as she sat beside the Nara still fiddling with her fingers.
The shadow user could see the truth behind her words, and from the seriousness of her nervousness he was oddly interested. "Fine…but don't you be going around telling people I hand out counseling sessions." He got a happy nod from the pale eyed girl at his reluctant acceptance. "So I'm guessing this has to do with Arashi, he's really the only thing that makes you stutter like that."
Pausing for a moment Hinata could do no more than look at her legs folder beneath her. "Anou…you see…I…I mean we…"
"Spit it out girl, what did you two break up?" Shikamaru asked, trying to get this done quickly.
Snapping up Hinata held her hands in front of her defensively. "Oh no! Not that…it's just that something h-happened with O-Otou-san and I d-don't k-know how Arashi w-will feel about it or h-how he'll react…"
"And that would be?" He asked before taking a long sip of his water bottle next to him.
"…M-M-Marriage…" She said quietly.
Suddenly at hearing that word the contents of Shikamaru's mouth spewed out into the air before he looked bug eyed at her. "WHAT!?!?"
"Otou-san s-set up an a-arranged marriage between me and A-Arashi-kun with the l-late Hokage-sama some time a-ago…h-how am I going to tell him!?" She asked in a frantic voice.
"Wait a minute you're arranged to marry the guy you're head over heels in love with and your freaking out? Shouldn't you be really happy?" Shikamaru proclaimed as he got to him feet
"Am I, I've never been this happy in my life…maybe when we told each other our feelings…but it's not that I don't want it. I just don't want it to be forced on Arashi if he doesn't want it." She said while thinking of the blonde Himura that was at the center of her heart.
Shikamaru then let off a small chuckle. "You're going to be a good wife someday…hold on. If your going to be wed to Arashi, then you'd be a Himura…so who's going to run the Hyuuga with you not there?" He asked, oddly intrigued.
"Hanabi-chan has been n-named the heir." She then saw an odd look from the pineapple haired Nin. "She won't tell a-anyone…Otou-san t-threatened her with p-putting Neji-nii-san's C-Caged Bird Seal on h-her and m-making him heir if s-she uttered a w-word to anyone. I-It's safe to s-say she won't be t-talking. But w-what am I going to do a-about A-Arashi-kun?" The future Himura pleaded.
Sitting back down Shikamaru fell into thought for a moment before opening his eyes and looking hard at Hinata. "You shouldn't tell him until you absolutely have to. If the wedding isn't for a long time then perhaps he'll ask you to marry him and the whole thing can be avoided. If you told him now it might not be good, stuff like that level of commitment usually scares the hell out of guys, so I would say to wait a while unless you absolutely have to. It doesn't really matter though, you're going to get married no matter what either of you say or think about it…all that really matters is that you love each other. Do you really love him Hinata?"
She nodded happily. "Hai!"
"Knowing Arashi, I know he loves you too, he might take it hard but I almost guarantee he'll be happy with it." The shadow user said with a smile.
He then suddenly was tackled to the ground in a tight hug. "Thank you Shikamaru!" Hinata said as she held onto him with him struggling to free himself from a possibly bad looking embrace. If anyone was to stumble upon them they might take it the wrong way and that was the last thing he wanted.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"So what do we do Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked of his sensei as Arashi came and stood beside him, their eyes locked on Orochimaru and a scowl plastered on their faces.
"That kid was right, with present company you two are just weak little kids. Stay and protect Tsunade." He then turned to Shizune. "But first I need Tsunade to do something bout my body."
"Sumimasen…but I believe that the poison's effects will last for a while longer. Even I can't do anything about it.
Snapping his head at her in surprise, the boys shook their heads at his love of over dramatizing his actions. "What?! Is that true?!?" Seeing that rolled eyes of his students he returned to the closest to normal that he could get. "Geez, not much of a choice…I guess I will just have to deal with this, won't I? Tsunade, you should use your healing jutsu and let your body rest."
"Come on I can fight! If we work together…" Arashi said to Jiraiya his eyes still locked on the pale Sannin.
"I said no! You just got defeated by that Four-eyes and you think you can do anything against Orochimaru?! HA! Your skill levels are too different. This opponent is the same as me, a Sannin, and the one who killed Sandaime Hokage. An eye for an eye! I am the only one who can deal with him!"
"Oji-san…" Arashi said under his breath. "But that's why I have to…"
"Plus that Four-eyes brat, he's as skilled as Kakashi."
Suddenly Naruto stepped up with his hands in their favorite position. "In that case…Kage Bunshin no…"
"I said no! Don't use your Kage Bunshin, there would be no point." Turning the Sannin's gaze fell from his orange clad student to the purple bow wearing traitor before him. "It wouldn't have any effect against him. It would just be a waste of chakra." 'Now to deal with these two…' He thought as he surveyed what was needed to be done. "Well…it's go time!" Biting his thumb Jiraiya drew blood as Kabuto swiped his finger over the slice on his wrist.
Streaking it down the summoning tattoo on Orochimaru's arm at the same time that Jiraiya spread it onto his palm they both went into a couple hand signs before slamming their palms to the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" As the smoke cleared Kabuto and Orochimaru now stood atop the head of one of the two gigantic snakes that were summoned. But on Jiraiya's end he groaned loudly as the smoke cleared to reveal Gamakichi.
"Yo!" He said, looking up at his summoner.
"What is this!?" Jiraiya screamed as he, Naruto, and Arashi stared bug eyed at the lack of a good summon. "What the hell is going on?!?"
Everyone was confused, but Shizune had a saddened look in her eyes at the spectacle before her. 'Jiraiya-sama…because of the poison he can't mold his chakra properly.'
"Kukukuku…it looks like you haven't recovered from your stupidity, have you? Even though you don't have any talent that was pathetic!" Orochimaru said insultingly as Gamakichi glared deeply at him. "It looks like Tsunade has done something to you."
Standing up from his summoning position Kabuto decided to put in his thoughts. "It's because that jutsu needed two sacrifices…apparently she didn't think it through. She probably gave him a poison that limits his power."
A sick grin swept over Orochimaru's face at the thought that Kabuto was implying. "To sacrifice Jiraiya, eh? It doesn't exactly sound like what Tsunade would do, but…"
With a grim stare at the man atop the summoned snake, Jiraiya knew that Orochimaru had an idea of what was going on. "Kuso, they noticed my handicap so quickly.'
"You were always like that, you fool." The pale Sannin chided from the towering snakes.
'Damn, those guys are making Ero-Sennin look stupid…only Arashi and I can do that!!' Naruto thought as he brought his thumb up to his mouth and bite hand, drawing blood. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" He yelled after flashing through several hand signs and slamming his palm to the ground.
Orochimaru suddenly got a shocked look on his face. 'This one can summon too? Knowing that idiot he's trying to make another Yondaime and gave him the contract with the toads…' "Maybe I should have killed him the first time we met…" He thought with a grin. "I sealed the power within him and let him go…" A large plume of smoke arose from where Naruto had been standing. "But the only one able to unseal it is the Sannin and Sandaime."
"Does that mean that Jiraiya-sama has done something to Naruto-kun?"
"It would seem that way; from the look of it he's taken the brat and the Himura on as new students. So if Naruto is able to use the power of the Kyuubi…" Orochimaru said as the smoke began to clear. Everyone surrounding Naruto simply stared at him in shock, as the smoke cleared it revealed not a useful summons, but instead a small yellow toad with bloated cheeks and a blue vest. Seeing the tiny toad Orochimaru let out a small laugh. "That dim witted child is even more like Jiraiya than I thought! It would seem he only unsealed my seal, not taught the boy…"
"What the hell?" Naruto said to himself as he looked down at another one of his failed summoning attempts.
Jiraiya sighed deeply at him and followed it up with a disappointed look at the boy. 'It looks like he's not ready yet…I should have taught him more on it instead of peeping…' He admitted to himself.
Gamakichi just looked at the yellow toad with an ashamed look on his face. "Hey! Gamatatsu, what are you doing here?!"
The bigger yet stupider looking toad turned slowly to see a familiar face. "Ah, Gamakichi-niichan…this is my first time being summoned! I wonder if I can help!" He said while waving his arms in the air with a brainless look plastered on his face.
"Baka! You'll be a snack for him, you better hide!"
"I get a snack?" The toad said while jumping for joy, causing Naruto and Arashi shudder at the stupidity of Naruto's summon.
Feed up with the spectacle of idiocracy before him, Orochimaru readied himself for combat. "Here we go!" He said while Kabuto shot off to the side. Seeing the movement the Gama-Sennin took on a grim look at the prospect of fighting Orochimaru in his condition. "I'm going after Jiraiya!" The pale man shouted as Kabuto leapt atop the second snake's head. "I'll leave the others to you…unless you really don't think you can handle the Himura again…"
"I'll have no problems with them…it's a shame though, I wanted to fight with the legendary Sannin Jiraiya-sama." With a slam the snakes crashed into the other's positions, throwing dirt and ruble high into the air. Grabbing Tsunade, Shizune sped off to get out while under the cover of the debris. This was not the case as Kabuto suddenly appeared before her and while in midair planted a hard right hook into her face, sending her and the incapacitated Sannin spiraling to the ground.
Seeing this Arashi leap high as Kabuto landed on a still falling rock. Jumping off of another large airborne rock he shot off towards the medical Nin with fists tightened. But he was caught off guard when from within the smoke one of the Snakes appeared and shut its mouth tight, in an attempt to eat the Himura. "Arashi!!" Jiraiya yelled out as he saw this transpire from another falling boulder.
"Your opponent is me!" He heard from below him as Orochimaru was closing in on his falling position from atop the second snake.
With an intense glare the white haired shinobi did several hand signs while gathering as much chakra as he could in his poisoned state. "Doton: Yomi no Mura!!" Suddenly the ground beneath the two snakes was transformed into a murky, stinking swamp that pulled the snakes deep into it, firmly holding them in a swampy prison. Landing on the head where Orochimaru was standing the Sannin was crouched and ready or battle as he talked to himself, going over what just happened. "Kuso! I can't sink it with this pathetic attempt!" 'The poison is still affecting me…' "But at least I stopped the snake's movement." He said as he looked over to Orochimaru, who was standing with his back turned to him.
On the ground Shizune had just fired off a prepared needle shot at Kabuto, who dodged easily. Charging his hand with chakra they glowed blue as he connected with a palm thrust to her chest, sending her skidding back with a pained look on her face. Reaching head back she took in a large breath of air she prepared for her attack. "Ninpo doku gasu!" She said as with an exhale a stream of purple poison gas flowed out at the similarly clad ninja.
Looking at the incoming cloud of poison Kabuto had a worried look upon his face. "If I get caught in that, I'll be in trouble!"
As the smoke dissipated into the air Shizune was suddenly hit with a gripping pain in her legs. Looking down she saw a glowing pair of hands coming out of the ground and were gripped tightly around her ankles. As Kabuto rose out of the ground, Shizune fell to her knees. 'My ankles! He cut my Achilles tendon!'
"Grrr…ahh!" Arashi let out a guttural groan as he struggled to force the giant snake's mouth open and ensure his escape. With a final push he leapt out if the snake's mouth, only to find that as soon as he touched the ground that the head was coming down on his fast to crush him. The gigantic head collided with him hard, sending him crashing into a nearby rock, bouncing off of it before the snake sank under the swamp completely.
Seeing this Naruto was torn, he had orders from Jiraiya to protect Tsunade, who was soon to be under attack due to the now injured Shizune. But then he had to go see if his friend was all right, it was then that an idea struck him. An idea that he would berate himself for not figuring out sooner. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu." He said to himself as a second Naruto puffed into existence. "Go see if Arashi is alright!" He ordered before the clone rushed over to his downed friend.
"Here I go!" Orochimaru said with a smirk as he rushed his old friend with murderous intent. Seeing him flash through several hand signs as the wind blew his hair every which way, Orochimaru thrust his neck out like a snakes and shot it at his opponent.
"Ninpo…marin jijizo!!" The Sannin said before his hair hardened into thousands of spikes and wrapped around his body, leaving only his face exposed so he could see. The hair defense went up mere seconds before Orochimaru's foot crashed into it, piercing it several times. But with his foot now attached he pulled it apart slightly with a pull of his leg, this new opening was immediately capitalized on by the snaky Sannin. Thrusting his elongated neck into the opening he clamped down hard on Jiraiya's neck with his teeth. "Kuso…you sure use some messed up jutsu!"
"You too, using your crazy hair to cause me such trouble!" Orochimaru responded, chidingly. "Just give up already…you never will be able to defeat me…dobe!"
Naruto could only watch almost helplessly as Kabuto planted another left hook onto Shizune's face, knocking her down to the ground and splashing a small speck of blood on the still trembling Tsunade, making her shake even more with fear. She saw the battered bodies of Shizune and Arashi and couldn't help but see the corpses of Dan and Nawaki lay beside them. Naruto however was scanning the area to see what else was going on as Kabuto slowly made his way closer to the two. He could see the Jiraiya was having some trouble with Orochimaru, and that despite getting thrown into solid rock hard, Arashi was slowly picking himself off and getting told something by his Kage Bunshin. Then with a nod of his friend's head his Kage Bunshin puffed away. Naruto's gaze then shifter back to the purple clad ninja before him. 'So Arashi's going to go try and help Ero-Sennin…wait a minute how did I know that…? Now's not the time, I need to take out this freak!' With a burst of speed, Naruto shot out at Kabuto as he neared them. "Bastard!!" He shouted.
But his rush was in vain, seeing as how with a quick backhand Kabuto had knocked him effortlessly off to the side in a heap. He didn't even break stride, his focus had been entirely on the woman before him and did not want anyone interfering. Having swatted the fly away he continued his course towards the target. Seeing the glint in his eyes, Tsunade's heart began to beat faster and faster with each step he took closer to her. This continued until he was at arms length away from her. As he reached his hand out, she smacked it away as she yelled in fear at the movement. Kabuto could only look at the woman he had once had so much respect for in disgust. "What a pity…since we are both medical ninjas, I respected you."
"Stop! Don't come any closer!!" She screamed, trying to inch herself away.
"Get a hold of yourself Tsunade-san." He replied, his respect for the Sannin gone. "At this rate, you'll bring Orochimaru to tears." With that he began to simply kick her farther to the ground, all the while with a smirk on his face.
Orochimaru now stood on one side of the snake's head, his arms dangling lifeless by his side. 'Damn, if I had the use of my arms I could have branded him with a curse mark and I wouldn't have to deal with him anymore…curse you Sarutobi-sensei!' He thought as he glared into the eyes of his former friend. But in a blur off black and green a second person was there, Orochimaru simply smirked as his eyes met with the silver ones of the Himura. "So I was right, so have activated it!" 'Perhaps I should have gone after him instead of Sasuke-kun…'
Jiraiya just scowled at his student, making the Himura lower his head slightly. "I told you to stay with Tsunade!"
"But…" He said before returning his blazing silver eyes to the Snake Sannin before him.
"I know you want to avenge Sarutobi, but this is a fight you can not win! You said it yourself earlier, you're not blinded by your revenge, so open your eyes and help Naruto!!" Jiraiya yelled, pointing to his now downed friend and Kabuto who was stomping on Tsunade. "Now GO!!" He screamed, with a nod of his head Arashi disappeared in little more than a blur. 'Damn, that kid is fast.' Jiraiya thought before he surpassed Arashi's speed and looked no more than a blur, clashing again and again with the other blur that moved just as fast as he. 'I need to end this soon!'
Landing from their high speed clash Orochimaru chuckled at the man kneeling before him. "In the past you were the hero of the village, and now your dragging those brats around. One who can't summon to save his life and the other who thinks he can defeat me!! From what I see, for someone as strong as you…those brats are worthless!"
Jiraiya simply scoffed at his old friend. "It's true what they say; the eyes are the first to go with old age. If you can't see what they can do you're truly too old for your own good. In time those two will be able to take you down with no problems! If I wanted to have no fun and just teach someone who'll pick up everything I can teach them in an instant I'd go with that Uchiha kid…but where's the fun in that." He said while holding his right hand behind his back, trying to start up a Rasengan but to no avail. 'Kuso, I don't have enough chakra to use it!'
"No, it's because they both are like you used to be…and like your last prize student…"
With a smirk Jiraiya replied. "You have no idea..."
"Huh? Besides, Sasuke-kun is perfect with his Sharingan; he'll be the prefect student once I get my hands on him! The most talented shinobi are the ones that are able to handle the most skills. The word 'ninja' refers to al people who use ninjutsu."
"That isn't what a Shinobi is at all. You never did learn that did you? A ninja is…something a Shinobi becomes. I will tell you one thing, you son of a bitch. The most important thing for a Shinobi…" Meanwhile Kabuto was once again closing in on a trembling Tsunade. "It's not the number of jutsu he can use. The most important thing is…" Kabuto clenched his fist and pulled it back for a hard punch. Thrusting his fist forward he was suddenly met with something he wasn't expecting…Naruto. The punch had landed on the boy's forehead protector. "Determination!"
Naruto's piercing blue eyes were now locked with Kabuto's, a look of determination etched into his very soul. Hearing the sound of something getting smacked repeatedly Kabuto looked down to see a spinning orb of blue chakra begin to form in Naruto's hand. Kabuto's eyes went wide as it formed up, but it was just rotating fast, it wasn't contained or concentrated. He smirked to himself as he saw him reach back to launch the attack. Suddenly his eyes went wider as Arashi appeared behind Naruto with a deep scowl across his face and the exact same jutsu spinning in his hand, exactly the same rotation and lack of containment. 'Shit! Two of them, I don't know if I can dodge them both!!' He thought as his hands burst into their glowing blue forms.
"Will...and the determination to never give up…both of those boys have more than enough of that to overcome any obstacle!" Jiraiya said wit a large smirk on his face.
With both boys now shooting at him with an attack coming towards him, Kabuto rolled forward, missing the incoming Rasengan by inches as they sailed over his head. He then slapped the back of Naruto's leg and the side of Arashi's left hip, sending them falling to the ground. 'I don't know what kind of jutsu you've learned…but with that kind of motion there is no way you can hit me.'
Naruto was kneeled down and gripping the back of his leg while Arashi was laying flat on his stomach and in extreme pain. Trying to sit up he found that he couldn't, his leg wouldn't respond and whenever he tried to move a horrible pain in his hip streaked to his brain. "Kuso, we can't hit a moving target so easily." He said to Naruto as he tried to figure out a way to at least get to his feet.
'I know, and I still haven't perfected it yet! It's not condensed and contained enough!'
"Kukukuku, from the looks of it you fractured your leg when you were hit by that snake Himura, and now that I severed your muscles attached to your hip…you won't be moving for quite sometime. As for you Naruto-kun, I severed the nerves in your leg; I don't foresee you posing a problem to me."
'Kuso! What should I do? Arashi's out of commission and think I can move if I absolutely have to. But with that jutsu…I need to use both hands! If he get's one I'm done for!' Then at that moment for some reason his thoughts trailed back to how he had known Arashi was going to Jiraiya when it was his clone who found out the information. Then it hit him, and an idea was planted firmly inside his head.
"Kukuku, doesn't this just make you want to run away?" He said in a voice very full of himself, reaching into his pack he whipped out one of the cards that he had shown then during the time they first met. "Naruto-kun, when you were in the Chunin Exams, this is what you said… "Don't look down on me, I will not run away! You can act tough all you want, you guys aren't gunna scare me off! I don't care if I do get stuck as a Genin for the rest of my life! I'll still be Hokage someday!!" Could you say the same thing to me?"
Hearing that Naruto had actually said those words stirred something inside Tsunade. "We're not like you...we'll definitely receive the Hokage name!" Then once more she saw all four of the faces that had been haunting her thoughts recently. "Because becoming Hokage is my dream!"
"You really should give up, just look at your situation. If you want to run away, then run away." He was met only with the determined glare of Naruto and the same from what he could see of Arashi's as well. "What's with those eyes? I'm only trying to help you; if you stay…you'll die. If you die, your dreams will be nothing…brats like you think that everything is so easy. That's why they talk nonsense and have such utterly unrealistic dreams. That's why they don't give up when they should." Kabuto said as he approached Naruto to beat him into submission.
Lifting a foot up to smash it down on his injured leg he was surprised to find that the blow had been caught by Arashi, show was just close enough to move his arm and catch it. "You can keep spouting off crap like that, but we said we'd become Hokage and never give up…and that's our Nindo, our ninja way!!" Arashi's words seemed to give a new flame to Naruto's determination. With several grunts Naruto lifted himself up to his feet, coming to a weak stand before the imposing medical Nin.
Tsunade could only watch on in shock as the boys refused to give up, even at the bitter end. What happened next made her glare hard at the spectacled person before him. With a swift kick, Kabuto sent Arashi skidding until he finally stopped at Tsunade's lap, turning his gaze to Naruto his hand flared glowing blue once more as he laded a swift chop to the boy's neck, sending him flying over to in front of the Sannin in a crumpled heap. "If you two had just laid there, it would have been alright."
Looking down, Tsunade saw two more people that looked as if they were also going to die before her in their pursuit of Hokage. "Why…" She squeaked out as miraculously Naruto rose to his defiant feet and she held tightly onto Arashi's shoulder from where he laid, his eyes barely still open.
"Hey Tsunade-baachan…" He said as he slowly made his favorite hand sign.
"Why won't you give up!?" Kabuto asked, clearly pissed off at the boy.
"Just like I promised in that bet, I will win that necklace!" Tsunade could only look on in awe of his determination and the small tugs she was feeling from Arashi, clearly trying as best he could to get up and fight alongside his friend. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto said as a second Naruto appeared beside him once the smoke cleared.
'What's the point of a Kage Bunshin??' She asked herself, the fact that a Genin could do such a high level jutsu not even registering in her mind. "You don't need to protect me any longer Naruto! Just stop it!" She cried, trying to avoid what was cemented in her mind.
With a sweep of his arm Kabuto whipped out a Kunai and looked at the boy defiantly standing before him. "I told you that if you keep on with that attitude, you will die!!" He then sped off towards the awaiting Narutos. "And if you die, your dreams die as well!!"
"That's enough! Get out of the way!!"
The blade was getting closer by ever step Kabuto made, and yet Naruto smirked at the impending doom he faced. "It'll all be alright dattebayo." Seeing the kunai he lifted his arm up, but not to block. The blade pierced straight through his palm, but that wasn't all. Ass soon as it had gone through, Naruto clamped down hard on Kabuto's hand, effectively trapping him in front of him. "Until…" He said as he lifted his right hand over to the Kage Bunshin beside him. "Until I become Hokage…I will never die!!" Kabuto was now trying his best to pull his hand away but it was proving too difficult at the moment. "You…now you won't dodge this one! Here I go!" The Bunshin then began to slap his spinning chakra against the one in Naruto's hand, the chakra then began to condense and speed up, fully contained in the growing sphere. As Arashi watched through his half open eyes he knew what Naruto was doing and let out a pained chuckle.
"It's the same jutsu they used earlier! No…it's different! This is…!"
'I see, he used the Kage Bunshin to compress the chakra to its fullest!' Tsunade thought in awe of the boy. 'He mastered it in a week…it should be impossible!!'
"If I can compress my chakra…I can make my move!!" Pulling the spiraling ball back behind him he then shoved it hard into the trapped man's stomach with as much force as Naruto could muster, completely draining him of all strength. Kabuto let out a very pained scream as the orb collided with his body. "RASENGAN!!!!"
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Wow a very intense chapter, I had been wanting to get to some action and this quenched my thirst for it. I also got to add some stuff for the upcoming arc! YAY! I actually just finished the full plot for that arc and I think it's going to be great!
So yeah the next chapter should be the last one of this arc so after I put that up it will be the end of the reward if you can get them all in before I post the next chapter I'll still. So everyone who wants to do it you need to hurry and review them all. I already introduced the one for SwordofMagus.
Well I hope you all really liked this one and as an added bonus I'm going to give you a present because of what I felt was a chapter not as good as it could have been last time. Okay so the present is the first Omake!"
T.A.C. Omake: Fury of the Himura!
Sano had returned to his house after his first official date with Kenshi. She was as of yet still in the exact same spot she had been standing in for the last 2 hours after she received her first kiss from the Himura prodigy. The one thing that suddenly snapped her out of her trance was the snickering of a certain Namikaze that just loved to mess with her. With a quick whip of her ever present Katana the fence fell apart into about a hundred triangle shaped pieces, exposing a horrified Arashi Namikaze and a stoic looking Hiashi Hyuuga…her team mates. She was just glad her crazy Sensei wasn't currently present. "What on earth ore you two doing there of all places?"
Arashi was just about to speak up when he was silenced by Hiashi's hand placed before his mouth. "We came to get you for a team meeting."
But the hand wasn't kept there for long. "Yeah but that was like two hours ago! How long were you planning on daydreaming about…Sano-kun!" He said, making a kissy face that just made Kenshi's blood boil. "Come on then, Ero-Sennin is waiting for us." The future Hokage said while spastically moving around his new Chunin vest.
Kenshi just looked at him oddly. "Uhh…Arashi, I don't think your supposed to wear that under that." She said pointing to his as of yet, ever present white and sky blue hoodie.
"But I love my hoodie, and I have to wear my vest…how else am I supposed to wear it??" The blond asked questioningly, causing the Himura to laugh slightly at his antics.
"You baka, you're not supposed to wear the hoodie once you become a Chunin!"
Sticking out his lower lip, Arashi trudged alongside the other two. "Well at least Ero-Sennin thought it looked good…" He said under his breath as they neared the training grounds.
"Why do you insist on calling him that? You do know he's one of the legendary Sannin, right?" Hiashi chimed in, rolling his eyes at the boy's blatant disrespect of one of the most respected people in the village.
"It's because he is…like when I call Kenshi a Sano-obsessed-sword-freak…it's because she is." He could feel the killing intent coming off of said Himura but decided to prod even further…after all what could she do? "Hey Hiashi-kun, what do you think their first kid'll be? A boy or a girl?"
Hiashi knew that she was about to lose it, but hey…it wouldn't be on him. "Well seeing as how they are both so physical I think it'll be funny when it's a girl and she doesn't want anything to do with swords…"
Arashi thought for a moment on that before bursting out laughing. "Yeah and I don't think Arashi would be a very good girl's name!"
"THAT'S IT!!! HOW DARE YOU ASSUME I'LL NAME MY CHILD AFTER YOU!! I'M GOING BREAK YOUR DAMN ARM!!!!" The next thing that was hear for about a mile as a horrifying scream of fear and then one of pain.
"She really did a number on you this time!" Jiraiya said as he shook his head in shame at his prize, and now incapacitated student. "When will you learn not to mess with that Himura fury!?"
Arashi just shrugged his shoulders and sat back against the hospital bed with a sigh. "And with my left arm broken I can't do hand signs so I can't even train when I get out of here tomorrow!!" A serious look overcame the Namikaze as he lay in bed, then suddenly it seemed as though a light went off in his head. "Ero-Sennin! Got get me a bunch of water balloons please!!" He shouted ecstatically and with a big smile on his face.
"Sure whatever, you just better not throw any at me you little brat!" He said before fetching the balloons that would later lead to one of Arashi's greatest achievements three years later.
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There you go the first Omake.
I hope everyone liked it and this chapter. Now please review!!! Reviews are like Kage Bunshin to Naruto…you can never have to many!! Also I updated my profile so everyone go on there and read what I put down. If anyone is interested in what I said towards the end of it please contact me. Till next time!
Also could someone PLEASE start a thread for this story on Naruto Manga Returns fanfic section!! Threads started by the authors don' really get people's attention, so it would be GREATLY appreciated if someone would do that for me!!
So REVIEW!!! Or I'll hit you with an Oodama Rasengan!!