Sonic: (jumping up and down) I'm pumped man! So pumped!

Sasuke: (sighs) And why is that?

Sonic: Can't you tell? This chapter's gonna be action packed!

Sasuke: You just now figured that out? How slow can you be?

Sonic: (huffs) Slow? Who are you callin' slow?

Sasuke: (shakes head) We don't have time to get angry with each other, the chapter's starting.

Bullet

"Say goodbye to your past life, Sonic…" He's so close that I can smell his breath. Orochimaru chuckles. "Because from now on…you'll be working for me…" The pale ninja raises the sword higher and I close my eyes, waiting for the impact that will no doubt drag me under to the unconscious world.

Then I hear gunshots.

Sonic's POV

"Wha?" I wheeze out, ears easily picking up the familiar noise. "Shadow?" There is no way that I imagined that sound. The more important question is that how in the hell Shadow even got here! I mean, not that I'm complaining, extra help would be awesome, but…how? If he's here, that means that he had escaped the hospital…My eyes widen as realization sinks in. Yes, Shadow's here, but he's still hurt. Any other day, I wouldn't question his involvement, but there is no way that those wounds had healed so quickly without exposure to the Chaos emeralds. Dammit…and now he's going to be thrown in the middle of this…?

"Shadow?" Orochimaru hisses out, hearing me say his name. He narrows his snake eyes before lowering the sword and standing straight up, searching around for the source of noise. He still has most of his weight on my chest, so I couldn't take a big breath, let alone shove him off of me. The snake's master then hisses in pain when a bullet grazes his arm holding the sword. Before he can recover, more bullets barrage him, some even whiz past my head. Calm down, Sonic. Shadow's hurt, don't plan any type of retaliation. He's hurt.

After I reluctantly agree with my conscience, the sound of metal bouncing off metal is clearly heard. Orochimaru lets out a sound of surprise and I see the katana tear out of his grip, landing on Manda's head. Quickly thinking, I maneuver my leg and kick the sword hard off the purple serpent's head, sending it toward the ground. Orochimaru glares down at me and prepares to make a move that'll no doubt injure me severely in some way, but another bullet comes and buries itself into the ninja's abdomen. Cringing in pain, Orochimaru holds his stomach through his now blood soaked clothes; he shifts his weight a little.

When the pressure on my chest decreases, I take a deep breath and push him fully off me. Orochimaru staggers back and I hop up, gritting my teeth at the sharp pain of my leg. Ignoring him for the time being, I swiftly search the clearing and find what, or rather who, I'm looking for. He's nothing more than a black dot on the ground, but I can make out the glint of the sun on the gun he's aiming.

Not wasting time, I jump off the head of Manda, curling in on myself when I get close to the ground to reduce the pain of impact. The drop was a bit higher than I thought. After bouncing a few times on the grass, I speed over to where Shadow is and take in his condition.

He looks better than I thought he would be. The only injury on him is the wide slash that's stitched up and healing nicely, from what I can tell. It hadn't reopened on his way here, I say that's a good sign. That's the good news; the bad news is that Shadow is trembling, badly. The hand he's holding the gun is shaking as well and I thank my conscience for keeping me level-headed. Shads is also breathing heavily, wheezing way worse than I was when Orochimaru was standing on me.

Completing my examination, I frown at him. "Shadow, you shouldn't be here right now!" Turning around to look back at the cloud of smoke, I see that Orochimaru isn't on top of Manda anymore. My heart skips a beat and my eyes rapidly search the area for him. "You're barely able to stand on your feet! You should be back in the hospital."

Shadow puts the gun in his thick quills, still quivering. "No, I couldn't…stay there…any longer." I glance over to him, feeling guilty that all the injuries he's suffering from are all my fault. I shake my head to clear those thoughts. This is neither the time nor place to get distracted. There is a snake out there that wants me, and won't stop until he gets what he wants. Shadow reaches up and snaps a vine wrapped around him in two. This is my first time noticing the scroll that was held behind his back by said plant. The other hedgehog holds the rolled up paper in front of him. "This scroll has the…Chaos emeralds so I can…heal."

I stand there staring at the paper in awe. "That's the-that means that you stole-" Shadow, seeing my expression, smirks and nods. I chuckle, not believing that he did. "You stole that from the Hokage! Good one, Shads!" The smirk on the other's face melts away and he glares at me for using that nickname. I shrug. "Eh, what're ya gonna do?" I then focus on the scroll and reach out to grab it. "Since you have it, let's hurry up and open it!"

Shadow unexpectedly jerks the paper out of arm's reach and shakes his head. "I've tried…to open it on the way…here. We need…a ninja."

I furrow my brow, cross my arms, and start to tap my foot at our current dilemma. Shadow's right. Kakashi was the one to seal the emeralds in the scroll, so we probably need some chakra to crack that sucker open. I glance over at the ash cloud. All of the ninja are currently occupied with their own task, so how are we going to-

"I'll gladly open the scroll for you…" A very familiar voice whispers behind us and we turn around sharply only to see Orochimaru smirking at us, swordless. His stomach puncture is still bleeding, but he isn't paying any attention to it. We both jump away from him to make some distance between us. Shadow coughs, holding the scroll closer to his body. Orochimaru glances in between both of us before focusing on my rival. "Ah…so you're the other one. Shadow. Interesting…" He takes a step forward and we take two back, not taking our chances with this guy. He tilts his head at us mockingly, dropping the Shadow subject. "Why so shy?" There is a glint in his eyes now. "I said I'll open it for you…no charge…"

I clench my fists, his face just makes me angry. "Why would we give this to you?!" I yell, seeing red. "You will never get ahold of the emeralds again." Especially not after the last time.

Shadow then starts to cough harshly, almost doubling over. When the attack is over, he glares at the pale snake with newfound hatred present in his red eyes. "You're…Orochimaru?"

The smirk widens and he humorlessly chuckles. "Yess, of course…" The ninja eyes Shadow. "You're hurt aren't you?" He asks in a falsely sympathetic tone. Orochimaru then drops his smirk and the air around us seems to drop a couple of degrees. The snake glares back at Shadow with equal, if not greater, force. "You don't need to answer. It'll just be easier to get rid of you since you'll only get in the way of my prize." I lowly growl at him while Shadow scowls. "Besides, what kind of person would I be to not give you a gift after you gave me mine?" I shift my gaze downwards to his bullet wound. That is no doubt what he is referring to.

I return my eyes to his face to find him staring at Shadow with an eerie blank face. Shads glares back, meeting Orochimaru's gaze; however, it's slightly less effective because of his slightly heavy breathing and the uneasiness present under his confident exterior. Tensing my muscles, I wait for anything and everything to happen. Orochimaru is way too unpredictable to be comfortable around. 'Comfortable' might not be the right word. No one should be comfortable around a villain. What I'm trying to say is that with Eggman, I didn't have to worry as much unless things really got out of hand. With Orochimaru, one false step could be your last.

They stare at each other what seems like hours, but only a couple minutes have passed. A cruel smirk grows on Orochimaru's face and I narrow my eyes at him, watching for any sign of an attack. Shadow does the same, holding the scroll against his body, almost squishing it. There is no sound but the background noise of the other ninja fighting Manda and said snake complaining about the cloud dissipating too slowly for his tastes.

At first nothing happens, but with each second, I get more apprehensive about the situation. When I see something glisten in the corner of my eye, I realize I have every right to be feeling that way. Turning my head fully, I see that same sword as before fly towards us with shocking speed. No wait, it's not coming for me, but Shadow. Without any hesitation, I lunge at the other hedgehog just as the katana sails over the spot Shadow was standing in. The power of my dive makes my rival let go of the scroll and it goes sailing over to the very edge of the ash cloud, luckily not disappearing inside. I'm about to rush and go get it when Shadow starts to wheeze under me.

I quickly get to my feet and help the other sit up, while Orochimaru grins victoriously before running over to get the scroll. I want to run after him, but I gotta see if Shadow's okay or not. Putting a hand on the other hedgehog's shoulder, I squat down and see him struggling for breath. "Are you alright?"

Every time Shads coughs, he winces and places a hand on his chest. Despite the pain, he shrugs my hand off and points over to Orochimaru who's steadily getting closer to the emeralds. "Go…" I hesitate for a second, concerned for his health. Shadow glares at me and I nod before standing up and turn around, getting ready to go maximum speed. When I look, I freeze.

Sasuke has the scroll.

Sasuke's POV

I growl under my breath when I realize that my attacks are doing nothing to Manda's thick scaly hide. The kunai I use just bounce off when I throw them and do close to nothing when I use them to cut and slash. Punching the rough scales are murder on my knuckles. Scowling, I step back from the massive body, but not too far away that I can't see it anymore in the ash cloud.

Glaring at the purple body, I hear the others around me calling out their own jutsus that no doubt would do some seeable damage. I curse under my breath. Yes, Asuma's ash has made this easier for us, but I can't use any of my fire jutsus without blowing the area and everyone in it up. I wonder if lightning will do the same thing…better not risk it.

Then I hear it. I have no idea what 'it' is, but I know that there is a lot of them, rapidly reoccurring over and over again. I've never heard that sound before, so I can't identify it. The closest thing I can compare it to are explosions, but that is overly exaggerating it. The sounds don't last as long and are less loud.

Thinking that my lack of participation will be unnoticed, I turn around and start to walk back out of the dark cloud, knowing that this is the way back to the light.

I go about three steps when I hear a slightly aggravated voice behind me. "Where are you going, Sasuke?"

Sighing, I spin on my heel to face Kakashi, who is close enough so that I can see him clearly. "I was going to go see what those noises were. Don't tell me you didn't hear them." I deadpan.

Kakashi nods. "I heard them too, Sasuke, but we need to focus on Manda right now." He glances back at the snake. "I can tell that we're wearing him down. He's getting more tired." The jonin focuses back to me. "We need everyone to attack, including you."

I frown at him. "What am I supposed to do, Kakashi? I can't use any of my fire jutsus or the Chidori, and my kunais aren't doing anything to him!"

"Everything you do does something, whether you think so or not." With those final words, he hops back out of sight, going to attack the blinded monster snake yet again. Gritting my teeth, I grab a kunai from my holder and run up to stab the snake, only for it to go about one-eighth of an inch through the scales. The only thing that keeps me from yelling out in exasperation is the fact that Lee has to have it worse than I do.

Pulling out the kunai with little effort, I'm about to do some slashing moves when I faintly hear a voice over the calls of jutsus. Straining my ears, I pause on my attack to listen.

"-we give this to you?! You will never get ahold of the emeralds again."

I'm bombarded with a mix of emotions when I identitfy the voice. I'm relieved that Sonic isn't dying or anything like that like if he got hit by something (yeah, he's a murderer, but I don't want him to die), angry at being reminded of what was said earlier today, curious to know what he's doing, and confused as hell about who he is talking to. From what I can tell, all of the genin and jonin are busy fighting this huge purple snake and that Orochimaru is still sitting pretty on top of his pet's head. Wait…

"- ahold of the emeralds again."

My eyes widen marginally. Sonic is talking to Orochimaru! Focusing my eyes and ears, I don't see or hear Kakashi anywhere near me. Making a decision, I turn around for a second time and walk out of the cloud of ash, this time not running into any problems.

When I pass through the threshold, I blink a couple times to adjust to the bright light. Checking my surroundings, I'm surprised to what I see. Over in the distance some are Sonic and Shadow, the latter having some sort of coughing attack and the other hedgehog is leaning over him. How is Shadow here anyway? He's supposed to be in the hospital!

Knowing that I'll pry that information out of him later, I notice something down at my feet. It's a scroll. Bending down, I pick it up and dust it off, wondering why some random scroll is out here like this. I'm pretty sure that this wasn't here before Asuma made the cloud.

Glancing back up, I almost jump out of my skin when I see Orochimaru standing about four yards away with a sword staring at me, or rather, the scroll. His narrow eyes then lock onto mine and he smirks. "Sasuke…let me take that off your hands…" I glare at him and grip the scroll harder. If that snake wants this, I have to keep it away from him as far as possible.

"Oh, crap…" At the additional voice, I turn to Sonic who is taking steps toward me. Now that he's closer, I can see the slash he has on his leg. To think of it, Orochimaru has blood on him too. They must've been fighting before. The blue hedgehog is smiling warily at me. "Sasuke, whatever you do, don't let Orochimaru get that scroll. It has the Chaos emeralds in it." What?! The Chaos emeralds? How did this end up here? "Shadow followed us and brought it with him." Okay, that question's answered, now for another one: he stole from the Hokage?! "Matter of fact," Sonic holds his hand out as he gets closer; he is still behind Orochimaru. "Unseal it and throw it over here."

"Now why would you do that?" Orochimaru doesn't take his eyes off of me and I'm starting to get uncomfortable, but I hide it by glaring harder at him. "You know the lasst time Sonic had all of the emeralds…" My glare slightly lessens, heeding his words. As much as I despise saying this, Orochimaru's right. The last time Sonic had all of the gems, many lives were lost. The anger radiates from my body and I give Sonic a shifted glance, sending daggers his way. The hedgehog visibly cringes and his ears lower before he takes another step closer.

"I know you're wary of me, but remember what I said in the restaur-"

"Do you want the death of more people, Sasuke?" Maybe I should keep this to myself…

There is a low growl and Sonic turns to Orochimaru with a scowl. The snake doesn't turn around to acknowledge him. "You are the last person to be talking about murder!" Sonic then speeds forward and pulls back a fist. When his close enough, he jumps and aims his punch at Orochimaru's head. The snake ducks at the last second and Sonic flies over him. The hedgehog twists his body and lands on the ground on his feet, sliding back until his quills almost touch me. Without speaking, Sonic spin dashes Orochimaru at high speed, only to be blocked by the ninja's sword. The incredibly sharp quills grind against the metal so fast that sparks fly off the katana. Orochimaru actually gets pushed back a couple inches from the forceful impact.

The Sannin smirks, despite the hot sparks flying close to his face. "Your moves will do nothing." His only answer is a grunt as Sonic stops pushing and drops back down. The fast hedgehog immediately goes for a side kick that Orochimaru dodges, frowning, he follows up with another kick, going for the head. The ninja actually grabs his foot, spins around, and launches Sonic away. Sonic lets out a shout before rolling once and hopping back up, glaring at Orochimaru, completely focused. He dashes back to his adversary. I see Orochimaru grip his sword harder and, before I can say anything, swings at Sonic when he gets close enough. Sonic ducks under the deadly sword and low sweeps, which Orochimaru jumps over. He brings his sword down in a vertical slice and Sonic very narrowly side-steps it. The speedster then lands a punch on the snake's stomach, by the blood stain. Orochimaru actually winces at the hit, hissing at the rodent. Sonic doesn't make any cocky comment; he gets back into his fighting stance. The Sannin narrows his eyes, getting into his own stance. All is still for a moment before they clash again, Sonic a blur of blue and the katana a blur of glistening grey.

I watch in nothing short of awe. I've never seen the escaped inmate fight so hard before, and matching up to Orochimaru no less. During the invasion, the Third Hokage couldn't even hold up to the Sannin, so this is nothing short of shocking to me. Well, it could be the fact that Orochimaru isn't using any jutsus from what I can tell.

"…Sasuke…"

Tearing my focus off of the fight, I shift my gaze over to Shadow who is still on the ground, holding his chest. His face is twisted in pain. Those red eyes lock into mine and I quickly go over to him, knowing that he wants me over there. He holds out a hand and I grab it, helping the ebony hedgehog up. Shadow nods in appreciation. "Sasuke…" He repeats, face serious. "Open…the scroll."

I hesitate, knowing how dangerous the emeralds can be in the wrong hands. I'm not suspicious of Shadow, but I don't want Sonic or Orochimaru getting ahold of them. The latter I'm absolutely sure of, the former...I'm still on the fence about. Glancing behind me to see the two still going at, I sigh and pour chakra into the hand holding the scroll for a moment. Now knowing that it's open, I unfold it and pause when a pained yell echoes around the area. Turning around, I see Orochimaru holding a bloodied sword in front of his face and Sonic standing away from him, holding a part of his arm that's dripping blood. The hedgehog is also looking pretty tired while the snake barely seems winded.

Shadow tenses beside me and scowls. Sonic takes his hand off of his arm and examines the blood before going in for another attack with more determination; I could see it on his face. Shadow focuses back to me. "Hurry…and get the…emeralds out." I glare at him weakly for telling me what to do, but I understand his haste. Though I wouldn't admit it to the dobe, but if he was fighting someone that was seemingly impossible to beat, I would want to jump in as soon as possible.

Rising my thumb up to my mouth, I bite on it hard enough to draw blood. Shadow looks at me like I've gone insane, but I ignore him. When a drop of the red liquid forms on my digit, I sweep it along the width of the paper. The opened scroll glows a bit before the light fades out, revealing the seven colorful Chaos emeralds sitting on the paper. Peering at Shadow's face, I see a badly hidden smirk. The expression then melts away to be replaced with concentration. The emeralds then rise and circle around the hedgehog. I drop the scroll and back up away from him, giving him space for Shadow to do whatever he's about to do.

The gems spin faster and faster before absorbing themselves into the black fur. Shadow glows white and I have to shield my eyes. When the light dies down, I watch as a golden Shadow clench and unclench his fists. He floats about a foot in the air and he chuckles lowly. For a brief moment, I'm horrified at the idea that I let loose another serial killer, but then Shadow looks at me with normal and completely sane red irises. He grins a bit. "Took you long enough." Also, the gash on his chest is completely gone along with the stitches (I don't know where they went, but they're gone). He also is breathing way better than before. Shadow then glares at the still fighting pair, who are obvious to this new development. "Orochimaru doesn't even have a chance." He growls out.

"GO FOR IT, MY YOUTHFUL RIVAL!"

Both Shadow and I blink slowly before turning to the source of the very loud shout of, dare I say it, youthfulness. We stare at the big black cloud and out of the corner of my eye, see that Sonic and Orochimaru had also stopped fighting to look at the ash, far away from each other of course.

We four stare into the black cloud until Kakashi appeared over the cloud, apparently having been thrown into the air, no doubt by Guy. He keeps going up high into the sky, holding his arm out at an angle at his side. I recognize that stance and a smirk grows on my face. Goodbye Manda.

It's quiet in the clearing until the sound of birds chirping explodes, filling my eardrums with nothing but the noise. Kakashi is now falling at a fast speed over Manda's head. Said snake is looking everywhere for the source of the noise, but it seems like the chirping is all around you, so Manda isn't going to get anywhere with that.

When Kakashi is close enough to the snake so that the serpent wouldn't be able to dodge, he shouts out, "Lightning Blade!" I then see a green snake rapidly flying up its way toward the falling Kakashi. Following the body of the slender snake down, I see that it's coming out of Orochimaru's arm. Said ninja is glaring death up at the jonin, focusing on trying to stop my sensei from doing his finishing move. Luckily, Sonic, who is way closer to the Sannin than I am, spin dashes into the growing snake, cutting it from its source. The reptile shrivels and fades away. Orochimaru hisses dangerously at the hedgehog, but doesn't do anything after that because Manda's piercing scream fills the air.

Focusing back on the purple snake, I almost cringe when I see Kakashi elbow deep in Manda's head, most likely hitting the brain. The massive serpent's mouth is still open as his eyes glaze over. My sensei pulls out of the head, blood drenching his arm. Manda then starts to fall and Kakashi jumps off yelling, "Get out the way! He's going down!" Kakashi lands right on the outside of the cloud, rolls, and ends up in a squatting position watching as the now deceased snake falls toward the ground. When the serpent hits the dirt, the impact blows all of the ash away. I squint to protect my eyes from the debris.

When the cloud dissipates, a very dead Manda is surrounded by a group of celebrating genin, high-fiving each other and looking very content. The jonin watch the snake cautiously, as if Manda would magically come back to life. The huge summon then shrivels and fades away, not unlike how the snake out of Orochimaru's arm disappeared.

"Woohoo! You showed him, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Don't get too happy yet, Naruto." The silver-haired shinobi turns toward Orochimaru. "We have one more snake to take care of." Everyone that was in the cloud turns as well and looks at the Sannin and they all glare at him.

"Don't worry, guys." Sonic starts and the others take in his injuries, showing different expressions. The blue hedgehog meekly smirks. "I wore 'em down a bit."

"Not at all, hedgehog." Orochimaru retorts, face blank. He then brings the katana up to his mouth and licks the blood of off the metal before swallowing it again using the snake inside him. "Looks like I'm going to have to use my jutsus after all. Time for you all to die."

"Not if I can help it." Shadow responds, hovering higher in the air. They all finally look over in this direction and take in the ebony hedgehog's appearance before the Konoha ninja effectively freak out.

I raise my voice over the loud gasps. "Calm down!" I gesture to an unamused Shadow. "Can't you see he isn't psycho?"

The powered up hedgehog sighs and crosses his arms. "You all are paranoid idiots."

Kakashi eyes Shadow for a few more seconds before relaxing a bit. "Well, I apologize for our actions, but you can understand why…" He glances to a very happy Sonic.

"So you can transform also…" Orochimaru licks his lips. "Very interesting…"

Sonic laughs out loud. "You bet it is! And guess whose turn it is to do it too!" The blue hedgehog sprints over this way and is almost here when a kunai zooms in front of his face that stops him in his tracks. The thing is, it wasn't from Orochimaru. It was from Kakashi.

The jonin glares at a confused Sonic. "You aren't going near him. If you do, I won't hesitate to kill. We can't take our chances." He glances at Shadow. "And you're going to share your little story later." I can easily sense the hostility in his voice. Shadow did steal from the Hokage.

Orochimaru chuckles humorlessly. "Like I said before, I love drama, but that can wait until later." The Sannin then lowers himself on all fours. "I take that back, you all aren't going to have a later." He opens his mouth wide and a multitude of snakes slither out, heading for all of us. The snakes have their own swords inside that are sticking out. Sending chakra up to my eyes, I activate my sharingan so I can see the fast movements of the snakes. Too bad I activated them too late. The serpents swarm around me and I have to have both hands holding kunais so I could block and parry all of the swords coming my way. The snakes are all over me, one wrong move could mean a deep gash or something even worse. I get to stab a couple of them, but that barely puts a dent in the number. Without my sharingan, I sure wouldn't have been able to be fast enough to avoid many injuries. I do get a couple of shallow cuts, but nothing serious.

This continues on until a bright continuous bolt of yellow lightning sweeps across the area, wiping out all of the snakes. It only takes a few seconds for the clearing to be clean of the blade wielding serpents. Looking to my left, I see Shadow lowering his arm, no doubt performing that move. Sonic lands on the ground a few yards away from me, having jumped out of the way of the snakes in time. I don't acknowledge him.

Glancing around the clearing, I see that the jonin are more or less the same state I'm in, being experienced in the field and all, but the genin are a different story. The amount of various injuries, but they all have numerous cuts all over their bodies from the onslaught of reptiles. They are panting also, having worked their hardest to keep most of the snakes at bay. It's a good thing Shadow did his attack when he did, if he had waited any longer, the results of this may have been entirely different.

"Good job, Shads!" I hear Sonic praise Shadow and the latter just grunted in response.

Orochimaru across the way stands back up and glares at Shadow with intense hate. "You're going to be more of a problem than a previously predicted. You wiped out my snakes in one shot." He then creepily smirked, looking at us ninja. "No matter. You all will get what's coming to you sooner or later." I replay his words in my mind over and over again, sensing some hidden meaning, but not finding it. What does he mean? "Losing Manda is a setback, but he was annoying anyway." He raises his arms and faces his palms outwards. "I'm taking what's mine today!" I wince inwardly at that. He's meaning me and Sonic. "The rest of you will die!"

Snakes burst out of Orochimaru's palms, thicker and more threatening than the one's wielding the swords, if that is possible. They are bigger, faster, and have longer fangs, dripping with venom. I tense my muscles, ready to shield myself when a female voice rings out, "Twin Rising Dragons!" The next thing I know is that a barrage of sharp weapons rain down in the serpents, slimming down the population down to half of what it was.

Wanting my time in the limelight, I smirk and go through the seals of my second favorite jutsu (it was my favorite, but the Chidori has it beat by a long shot). Putting my fingers over my mouth, I breathe in and feel the heat. It doesn't bother me at all. I then blow out harshly, sending a massive fireball over to the remainder of the snakes, smothering them in the heat of the flames. When those serpents disappear, no one celebrates, knowing that the threat is nowhere near over. The blaze eventually dissipates and Orochimaru isn't anywhere to be found, uprooted grass and disturbed dirt are the only signs that the Sannin had dug under the ground.

"Wha? Where did he go?" Sakura searches the ground, along with everyone else, to see if they can pinpoint Orochimaru's location.

"Neji!" Guy barks out and the genin gives him his full attention. "Use your Byakugan!"

The Hyuuga nods. "Right!" Veins bulge near his eyes and he looks around the clearing. Hinata joins in too when her sensei says to use her Bloodline limit also. The two cousins focus on the ground until Neji gasps and points over to where Kurenai is standing. "He's over there by you!"

Before the older kunoichi could react, Orochimaru springs up from the ground and punches her in the abdomen, sending her backwards. She rolls couple times before standing back up, holding her stomach. Kiba starts to growl. He turns and scowls at the long haired snake. "You pay for what you did to Kurenai-sensei!" He digs into his pocket and gives himself and Akamaru soldier pills. The puppy turns red and feral while his owner obtains more wild traits. Kiba makes a hand sign. "Ninja art of beast mimicry: Man-Beast clone!" There is a poof beside him and there are now two Kibas on the field, snarling at an impassive Orochimaru.

"Wow…" I hear Sonic say. "That's kinda cool."

"You would choose this time to gawk, Faker."

Blocking the two quietly teasing hedgehogs out, I focus back on Kiba and Akamaru who are both now on all fours. "You're going down!" Before anyone could stop them, Kiba and Akamaru charge at the Sannin, claws ready to slash. Orochimaru almost seems bored as he sidesteps both of them as they careen past him. The two Inuzukas immediately turn around, sliding back in the dirt before going for the Sannin again.

Orochimaru glances back. "Fools." Two snakes come out of his arm and careen straight for the two. The pair of serpents, the fastest one's yet, twirl around each other heading toward the genin and his pet. Kiba and Akamaru are going too fast to even try to dodge the incoming reptiles, so they brake, upsetting dirt. The snakes are right on them at this point, about to take a bite until a yellow Shadow suddenly appears in front of the genin and Chaos Spears the reptiles into oblivion.

Kiba lets out a sigh of relief. "Man, that was close…"

Shadow glances back at him. "You shouldn't charge in recklessly like that." He then smirks, shifting his gaze to an irritated Orochimaru. "You simply aren't fast enough." With those words, the formerly black hedgehog turns into a yellow streak of light and the next thing I know, Orochimaru is flying across the field from a well-aimed punch to the chest. The Sannin flies into trees on the other side of the field mercilessly, plowing through the foliage, disappearing from sight. Shadow shakes his hand up and down. "Damn…that guy has a hard head."

Sonic pumps his fist, grinning like a maniac. "There you go, Shads! Give 'em a taste of what happens when he messes with us!" He is walking toward Shadow, but Kakashi gives him a warning glare. Sonic gulps and stays where he is, not getting any closer.

Guy smiles, glittering teeth and all. "Such show of the flames of youth!" Sonic smirks knowingly and I inwardly chuckle. Yeah, as much youth a fifty-year old could have.

"Those emeralds are really somethin'." Asuma comments, looking at a floating Shadow.

"You got that right!" Naruto agrees, looking at the hedgehog akin to awe. "It must be awesome to have all of them in you like that!"

Shikamaru nods, lost in thought. "Speed and strength like that is definitely a plus."

Neji crosses his arms, wincing a bit when the movement rubs a little cut the wrong way. "True, but let's not forget what else they can do." He sends a glare over to Sonic, whose ears lower a bit.

Shadow narrows his eyes at the Hyuuga, sending daggers. "All right, you listen to me-"

"It's okay Shads. I know why they feel that way." Sonic turns to Neji. "I know that you're still mad, but, remember? With the Chaos emeralds, I can go into anoth-" The blue speedster is cut off when the bushes on the other side of the clearing start to shake. Everyone tenses at the noise and get ready for anything. It's not long before Orochimaru stumbles into sight. Mirth shows on my face when I take in his condition. The snake's right arm is severely twisted, obviously broken, and it looks like he has a sprained ankle. His face has many bloody cuts on it, no doubt from the tumble when he finally hit the ground. His eyes drain any happiness in my system however to be replaced with uneasiness. They are glowering at Shadow and I wouldn't be surprised if they are picturing the most gruesome way the hedgehog could die.

The uneasiness is then replaced with the feeling of utter disbelief at the sight in front of me. Orochimaru had taken more steps in the field. He now opens his mouth wide, wider than I think is natural, and turns his head up to face the sky. What comes out of his mouth is another him that's completely injury free. The previous him just falls to the ground and Orochimaru steps out back onto the grass. It's like he had shed his own skin, like an actual snake.

"Oh, that's just nasty." Ino says, probably scarred for life.

Orochimaru chuckles lowly, coming slowly closer, only focused on the yellow hedgehog. "What an impressive hit, Shadow." His voice drips venom as he says the name. "It only makes me want the emeralds even more." The Sannin goes through hand signs with celerity and I narrow my activated eyes, ready for anything. "Sound Wave Technique!" A circular dome of sound waves bursts outward from Orochimaru towards us, too fast to dodge, if you even could.

When the wave hits me, I get thrown back into the air and my eardrums feel like there are about to explode. I cry out in agony before all of the air leaves my lungs upon impact with the hard ground. Struggling to get precious oxygen back into me, I feel something dripping from my left ear. Reaching up, I touch the liquid before bringing to my face and cursing. It's blood. Panicking a little, I focus on the pained sounds the others are making and sigh in relief when I can actually hear them. Groaning, I pick myself off the ground just in time to see Orochimaru actually slithering, snake body and everything, over to a still downed Shadow. With those big ears of his, the sound wave would have affected him and Sonic the most.

Orochimaru is getting closer to him, going for a finishing move on the yellow hedgehog. That is until there is a, "Multi-Size technique!" The ground starts to rumble and a Choji in ball form is speeding right for the Sannin. Orochimaru, keeping himself from getting flattened, quicksteps backwards as the genin careens past him. This allows Shadow enough time to get back on his feet, along with everyone else who had been still on the ground from that blast.

"Multi Shadow clone jutsu!" Now, there are about twenty Naruto's making their way toward Orochimaru, all with kunais in their hands. They aren't alone though, a huge swarm of kikaichū are following the blondes.

The Sannin looked at the incoming group with contempt. After some signs, he shouts, "Wind style: Great Breakthrough." A huge powerful gust of wind blows the bugs and Narutos away, the latter disappearing on impact except one. He bounces on the grass a few times before coming to a stop in front of Lee. The green clad boy helps the other up and Naruto nods in thanks.

"Oh?" Turning my attention back to Orochimaru, I see that he's frozen in place. Recognizing the move used immediately, I glance down in the snake's feet to see a dark shadow. I follow it back to his owner, Shikamaru, who has his hands together making a sign, concentrating on his jutsu. "It seems that I can't move." I'm highly suspicious now. Orochimaru said it like he was talking about something mundane like the weather, not concerned at all about his predicament.

"Good thinking, Shikamaru." Asuma praises his student.

"Yeah, yeah…"

Then, there is the instantaneous noise of birds chirping. Looking over to Kakashi, he is completely focused on the immobile Orochimaru, Chidori ready at his fingertips. "No, you can't." He responds to the Sannin's comment, shifting his stance. "And now, you'll pay for everything you've done to our village and our neighbors. The only punishment fitted for your crimes is death."

"Whoa, whoa!" Sonic shakes his hands in front of his face. "You're going to kill him? I thought we were just gonna knock him out so you can throw him in jail!"

Kakashi glances over to him with a look of stone. "Jail time isn't enough. He doesn't deserve to live."

"But-"

"Sonic." Shadow cuts him off. "This is like the death penalty back home."

"I know! But it's just that…" Sonic clenches his fists. "Nevermind. Just do it." He then turns away from the action. I guess he doesn't want to see the death itself. I can understand that, with all the death he's seen already.

Kakashi stares at Sonic's back for a moment before focusing back on Orochimaru. "These are your final moments." The white lightning flares at his fingertips. "Chidori!" He sprints towards the Sannin, the jutsu being dragged along the ground, leaving behind charred blades of grass. When he crosses the halfway mark, something completely unexpected happens. The Chidori disappears. Kakashi stops in his tracks and holds up the hand that was once holding the lightning jutsu. "What? Why did it go out?" I'm pretty sure that everyone in the clearing, sans Orochimaru, is asking that question in their heads. Staring at my sensei, I realize something that I have just now acknowledged.

My sharingan is deactivated.

When in the hell did that happen?! I never stopped sending chakra to my eyes; it should still be there! What's going on here?

"Ah!" Neji cries out and I look over to him to find that his eyes are back to normal too. He had them activated the whole time. "My Byakugan stopped working!" He turns to his cousin. "Hinata…?"

The pale-eyed girl nods to her kin's unspoken question. "M-Mine's gone too…"

"Ack!" Shikamaru is panting now. "I can't…hold the jutsu any longer!" The shadow capturing Orochimaru separates from the snake and shrinks back into Shikamaru who has he hands on his needs. "Man…so troublesome…" The strange thing is that when the Sannin is freed, he doesn't move, he just watches us with a sick smile. Warning sirens go off and a red flag rises in my mind. I think, no, I know that he did something to us. I just don't know what yet.

"Hey…does anyone else feel woozy?" We all turn to Ino who is swaying back and forth on her feet, holding her head. Now that I think about it, I do feel a little weird. It's like I have a small tingling sensation all over my body and I'm starting to get light-headed. "Because I sure do." Ino then falls forward to the ground, screaming in surprise. She tries to get up, but it seems that her muscles don't want to listen to her. The kunoichi's eyes are huge. "W-What? I-I can't feel my body!"

"Are you serious?" Choji takes a step forward only to meet the ground like Ino not half a minute before. He grunts to try to get back on his feet, but can't. "She's right! I can't feel anything!" He shuts his eyes, then opens them a second later, swirling with panic. "I can't feel my chakra either!" This is not good, definitely not good. All of the Konoha ninja fall on by one to the grassy ground, including myself when the swaying gets too much to handle and when my limbs don't cooperate. I try my hardest to draw up some, any chakra, but it's being blocked by something, so I can't reach it. I growl under my breath and look up, at least I have control of my head. Shadow and Sonic are looking at us with shock written all over their faces. The latter whirls around to glare at Orochimaru.

"What did you do to them!?"

The Sannin licks his lips. "I inserted body numbing and chakra blocking poison." He then focuses on Naruto with a glint in his eyes. "All kinds of chakra." The blonde scowls at him, radiating hate.

"When?" Kurenai asks, laying on her stomach. "When did you do it?"

Orochimaru shrugs. "It was simple really. The snakes wielding the swords had that special venom on the blade. All I had to do was wait until it kicked in."

"Why? Why didn't you just use venom that kills us off instantly?"

The Sannin smirks. "So that I can kill you all myself, and so that my prizes won't die." His lips then turn downwards as he looks at Shadow and Sonic. "However, I wasn't anticipating these two rodents dodging the snakes and not getting hit at all." He throws up his katana again. "It looks like I'm going to have to deal with them myself."

Shadow scowls at Orochimaru, rising a little in altitude, while Sonic sneaks a look at my sensei, seeming to have an internal battle. He then determinately nods to himself. "Kakashi!" Said jonin looks over to him. "I have to do this!" Before the silver-haired shinobi could say anything, Sonic jogs over to where Shadow is and they both look at each other before closing their eyes at the same time. The former black hedgehog holds his arms out for a moment before Sonic begins to glow brightly.

We ninja on the ground know what he is doing and hold our breaths, nervousness fluttering in our stomachs. We really don't need Sonic going crazy right now. It wouldn't help our situation at all.

When the bright light dulls, it reveals a yellow Sonic, but he doesn't look that same as the first time we saw him glowing. His fur is tamed, he doesn't have any claws nor fangs, and most importantly, his eyes weren't spirals seeking the blood of others. His red irises shined with unwavering confidence. Sonic grins at all of us before giving Kakashi a thumbs up. "See? I'm fine! I'm not gonna…rampage, or anything. What I was going to say before is that at the restaurant, I told all of you that I have a couple forms that link with the Chaos Emeralds." He gestures to himself. "This is one of them."

"In Super and Hyper form I can fly and go even faster than I do now, also I turn golden and multicolor respectively."

Yeah…I remember now. He did say that. I frown to myself. I let the anger get in the way of common sense. I had completely forgotten that he had more than that psycho form, even though I've witnessed a more dark and hairy one before. "So…" I speak up, feeling a bit bad. Not a lot, I'm still mad about what he did, but enough. "This form is Super, right?"

Sonic chuckles. "Yeah. You're lucky, if it was Hyper, you couldn't look at me for an extended period of time before throwing up." He gives everyone a big grin before turning to Orochimaru, seriousness completely taking over his playful attitude.

Sonic's POV

Looking at Orochimaru, the rage steadily builds up inside me. How could he do that to the others? I draw the line when he gets everyone else involved in this thing that's going on between me and him.

The snake glances in between the two of us, sword ready. "Hm. Two against one. A little unfair, do you think?"

"For you, yes. For us, not so much." Shadow clips, floating beside me.

"And you don't have that big snake to help you out." I give him a cruel grin. "It's a shame, really."

"I don't need him." He retorts shortly, slipping into a battle stance.

We go quiet after that, sizing each other up. Then, it's like we can read each other's minds, Shads and I lunge for Orochimaru, ready to punch. We both make contact. I aimed for his cheek and Shadow aimed for his stomach. The snake, for a second time, goes flying. What's different this time is that Orochimaru lands on his feet, getting back into his stance. If it isn't for the bruise forming on his face, I wouldn't have known that he did anything to him. He looks like we didn't hurt him at all. Shadow and I share a quick look before flying over to where he is, ready to attack again.

Shadow goes for a side kick and I spin dash. Defeating the odds, Orochimaru dodges Shadow's foot and brings up his sword to block against my quills, like before when I was fighting him. Backing off, I watch as Shadow and Orochimaru go at it. The former throwing lightning fast punches and kicks only for the snake to block or dodge them like it is the easiest thing in the world. I don't get it. How is he keeping up so well? And if he was this fast to begin with, why didn't he dodge Shadow's first punch or the coordinated one we just did? Wait a minute…he was observing how fast we were! Ugh, now we have to be careful.

Getting back into the fighting mindset, I dash forward and go for a punch in his side. Even though he's busy with Shadow's onslaught of attacks, Orochimaru actually dodges my hit by jumping backwards. Without giving him time to recover, I go in for another spin dash while Shadow hangs back. The katana blocks me again and I stop spinning just to see the snake swiping his sword, aiming for my side. With quick reflexes, I push myself backwards in the air, so close to the blade that the metal cuts off some of my golden fur.

Not liking how close I was to getting cut, I fly behind Orochimaru and attempt to kick him in the head. The ninja ducks and a snake appears out of his unoccupied hand, mouth gaping with razor sharp fangs. Before it could get to me however, yellow lightning stops it in its tracks, disintegrating the serpent. Orochimaru hisses (in pain? I have no idea) and puts some distance between us. He smiles at Shadow before throwing the sword, now glowing, at him. My rival scowls and moves out of the way only for the katana to follow him. Not expecting the change, Shadow hesitates in his movements and the sword slashes his arm. He grits his teeth, but doesn't lose focus as he dodges the formerly inanimate object.

While he's doing that, I return my gaze to Orochimaru and see that his fingers are moving in synchronization with the blade. So he's controlling it huh…I smirk inwardly. Let's see how good this snake is at multitasking.

I perform a spin dash, knowing that now Orochimaru doesn't have that katana to protect him. "Wind style: Great Breakthrough." Ah. So he's gonna use that again. Not a second later, I feel the strong gale of wind, but I push myself through it and successfully get a hit on Orochimaru's chest. Uncurling, I celebrate on the inside seeing the snake roll head over heels from the blow. My ear twitches when there is a faint thud behind me. Glancing back, I watch Shadow come up beside me, leaving the deactivated sword on the ground.

"I'm glad you took care of that." Shadow says, crossing his arms. "I couldn't really fight against a sword."

I chuckle. "What? Shadow found a weapon he couldn't handle? This is newsworthy."

He glares at me before focusing on Orochimaru who's back on his feet. "Listen. You are going to have to move the ninja further back from this spot."

I look at him, my confusion no doubt showing on my face. "Why?"

"Just do it." Shadow then disappears from sight only to pop back into existence in front of Orochimaru. The snake doesn't expect the sudden teleportation, so he gets a face full of fist. Hearing a whooshing sound, I turn just in time to get out of the way of the now flying sword going toward the fighting duo. Shadow Chaos controls out of the way of the incoming blade, appearing behind Orochimaru. The shinobi turns around quickly, making a diagonal slash aiming for Shadow's midsection. Shads teleports again to dodge and shows up by the snake's feet, performing a low sweep only for Orochimaru to jump over it.

I want to go help him, but I have another job to do…for whatever reason. Actually, I have an idea about what Shadow is trying to accomplish, but knowing him, he probably has something completely different in mind.

Taking a deep breath, I fly over to the nearest downed ninja, that being Kakashi. He follows my movements with his one eye. Beside him, I ground myself and rub my hands together. Imma have to do this fast; Shadow can keep Orochimaru busy for only so long. Glancing down at the jonin, I meekly smile. "Okay…this is going to be slightly uncomfortable for both of us. I'm gonna have to pick you up bridal style." I start to bend down to get him.

Kakashi sighs. "I'm sorry."

I pause in my movements and tilt my head. "Why are you sorry?"

"I should've let you transform before this. We probably wouldn't be in this predicament if I had."

"It's alright." I say sincerely as I continue to pick up his limp form. When I get ahold of him, I bounce him a bit so I can grip him better in my arms. "You were just being cautious. I get it." I grin down at him as I carry his body to where the trees are still standing, not knocked over by Manda's tail. "Can't be too safe, right?"

I place him down gently, turning him so he can still have a great view of the fight. Checking up on Shadow, I see him still duking it out. He doesn't seem hurt in anyway. Kakashi nods. "Right." He's also watching the fighting pair. "So you understand?"

I nod. "Completely." I then zoom back to where all of the others are and one by one transfer them to where Kakashi is, in the exact same position. No one was nearly is talkative as Kakashi had been, but there was the occasional 'sorry' and the even rarer glare. I don't think the latter was even directed at me, but at the embarrassing situation of them in my arms. The only real glare I got was from Neji. He didn't even talk to me; he just set me on fire with his eyes (figuratively, of course). I never took him as a person who gave out free smiles and hugs.

When I put him next to Tenten, I regard all of them. "Hold tight guys, I think Shadow's got something up his sleeve that's gonna end this fight."

"Really?" Lee asks, looking up at me with his big eyes. "What would that be?"

I glance out into the clearing to see Shadow dodge an air slice. "I've got a hunch, but it might be wrong."

"W-Whatever it is…be c-careful."

I smile down at Hinata, loving her forgiving nature. "I will." I then dash back into the clearing, floating a distance behind Orochimaru's back. My presence instantly grabs Shadow's attention. He locks eyes with me before glancing upwards very quickly. It was just a twitch, but I got the message. Staying out of the snake's sight, I fly up high into the air, watching as they weave and dodge each other's attacks.

Shadow then goes for a low kick and Orochimaru jumps high into the air. Apparently, that's what Shads wanted him to do. My doppelgänger stands right under the airborne ninja and closes his eyes. "Chaos…" My hunch is right! He's gonna Chaos blast him! That's why he wanted me to get the others away, so they wouldn't be in the blast range. Great plan, faker, great plan. Ruby eyes open again. "Blast!" Shadow glows red for a second before a pulse of pure energy blasts out, sending Orochimaru up towards me.

In the sky, the snake looks around and when he finally notices me, his eyes widen a fraction. Before he could react at all, I do a front flip and crash my foot straight into his chest, making him plummet way faster than normal. I follow him down, punching him hard in the same spot I kicked him, earning me some badly hidden winces. Close to the ground, I let up and watch as he impacts the hard surface with enough force that I could hear the breaking of bones. Not risking anything by celebrating early, I swoop down and land in him, thinking in the back of my mind that we had switched places. I raise a fist, about to give the final blow, but stop.

It should be easy enough. This bastard deserved it from all of the stuff he did in the past. Not to mention the mark he put on my neck that caused me so many problems. Wait. I place the hand I wasn't making a fist with on my shoulder and am surprised when I don't feel the mark. I guess Chaos Emeralds are miracle workers too. Focusing back on a barely conscious Orochimaru, I repeat the reasons why I should end his life here and now.

But I just can't.

Shaking my head, I get off Orochimaru and look at Shadow. "I can't do it. I can't, no won't, have another death on my hands."

My rival sighs, stepping closer to the broken snake. "Well, if you won't-" He pulls the gun out from his quills, cocks it, and aims the weapon right between Orochimaru's eyes. I have to turn away. "-then I will."

A single bullet ends the fight.

A/N- Yep, Orochimaru's not a threat anymore. He's gone…like gone gone. Isn't Shadow the most forgiving little hedgie in the world? Alright, let me show you the real reason I added this author's note.

Shadow- 5

Silver- 4

Zonic- 2

Amy, Blaze, Scourge- 1

Knuckles, Rouge, Espio- 0

These are the votes for the main character that'll be joining Sonic and his mystery partner in the sequel. Looks like Shads is in the lead right now! If you don't want that black little hedgie to win, go to my profile (or review) and vote for whoever you want! Even if you want Shadow to win, vote anyway! There's always a chance that I'll put the second place winner in there!

Update: 7/19- It's come to my attention that someone is spamming in the review section who they want in the sequel. Because of this, I would like for you all (my devoted readers) to go on my profile to vote for your choice of character so spamming could be avoided altogether. I'm sorry if this inconveniences any of you. All votes before the spammer will be accounted for.