The Hidden Truths of the Village Hidden in the Leaves
Summary: Starting after the trip to the Land of the Waves, Sasuke has developed a sense of overprotectivness a shinobi feels towards their partner and Naruto has to deal with new surprises every day. The secret behind the Uchiha clan massacre is revealed and Orochimaru is scared of one man. ANBU and foxes flock towards Naruto as much as danger does. A whole new take on the life of Team 7 and co.
A/N: Hi! I just wanted to apologize for a mistake I made. I just rewatched the episodes in the Forest of Death and saw that Orochimaru had a Grass forehead protector, so sorry if it caused any confusion. It will be Grass from now, just so you know. Thank you for reading so far and I hope you like this chapter, too.
Sasuke cursed as he felt a second enemy close by, wondering why everyone seemed intent on attacking them out of all the other 77 teams. They were lucky that the first one was just one and a dumb and weak one at that. The idiot couldn't even make a convincing henge for Naruto or defend himself. Sasuke had felt indignant on the blond's behalf.
Their morning had been interesting, to say the least. They arrived to the place they were supposed to take part in the second stage of the Chuunin Exams, only to find themselves in an area named "The Forest of Death". It was an ANBU training ground, meant for the best ninja to practice and hone their skills. The patch of forest really looked dead and weird. They had heard all sorts of sounds coming from beyond the fence that was surrounding it. They then received the explanation of how the second stage worked (after Anko all but terrorized Naruto for a stupid comment. The blond had shivered in fear when one of the Grass ninja came up behind them both and returned Anko's thrown kunai with his three foor long tongue) and they received some forms to fill out that were supposed to state that Anko was not to be blamed if they were maimed or died during this stage of the competition.
The filling out of these forms was rather interesting for everyone when a square shaped rock started following Naruto around before the blond snapped at it and it all but exploded, only for it to reveal Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi once the smoke cleared up. They had been there for a school report about the chuunin exams and the teams from Konoha's Rookie 9 and Team Gai that were participating this year and they had decided to interview Naruto snd Sasuke. Obviously, Konohamaru still liked to glare at the impassive Uchiha, fighting for his nii-chan's attention, but he no longer detested the older boy and considered him an okay addition to their little quartet. Being saved by the raven haired genin had obviously not put any respect in Konohamaru for him, as it was shown every time he stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. Not that the Uchiha cared, but it did get annoying after some time.
When they left, everyone handed in their forms and received their scrolls of Heaven (a cream colored scroll with the character for 'Heaven' written on it) or Earth (a black scroll). When Team 7 handed in their forms, they received the Heaven scroll and it was decided Sasuke would carry it, so the older boy put it in his pouch before they went to their designated gate. They would be released one by one, as in team by team, into the forest by one of the chuunins overlooking the Exams at certain intervals of time. Naruto was vibrating in his place with adrenalin already pumping through his veins by the time they were let passed their gates and they made quick progress into the forest.
When they paused for a break, Naruto had slipped away to take a leak only for a poor imitator to come back in his place. Sakura hand, t even noticed that his kunai holder was on the wrong leg or that the blond before them was lacking the fresh cut on his left cheek from where Anko's kunai had grazed him before the beginning of this stage. The guy was pathetic and ran away before they could fight him, but Sasuke was still pissed that someone like that had tried not only attacking them, but tricking them, too. They wouldn't have been able to trick Sasuke into believing they were Naruto even if they were the best genjutsu or henge users in the whole damn world. He had studied Naruto very closely since the day he started acting strange and backed away from Kabuto before the written test. Every detail was embedded in his memory by now.
He had found and freed Naruto rather quickly, ignoring the relief he felt when he saw that the guy hadn't killed him, only tied him up and gagged him. The Rain guy took the opening he left in freeing the blond and got behind him, but Sasuke only smirked as Naruto returned the favor. Sasuke had then activated his Sharingan and used chakra to redirect the kunai Naruto had thrown after their enemy once again, grazing his leg and then jumping after him, stabbing him by the armpit. Sakura had called out his name and he was rather annoyed she was just standing there, doing nothing. Jeez, what did she think? That they were on vacation? The guy ran off after that, like a coward that he probably was.
But there was a second enemy closing in and he had noticed that they were using some strange jutsu with the help of a cut bamboo tree to listen in on their conversations, so he had come up with a complicated password. Sakura was an unlikely target to be used as a henge but Naruto was perfect for it. Sasuke had decided to play a little game with whoever wanted to attack them.
And it would have been fine, too, had their opponent not just decided to literally blow them apart with some really strong wind. Sasuke cursed as he lost sight of his teammates, not at all happy with the situation. Seriously, why them?! There were lots of other genin around!
After the dust settled down, the first Sasuke ran into was Sakura and she was the actual Sakura, so there was no problem there. But then "Naruto" had stumbled towards them and actually remembered the password. Sasuke couldn't believe Sakura fell for it. As if Naruto would ever remember something so long in his entire life after hearing it only once. He was a good actor but Sasuke knew what he was looking for and this guy had messed up big time. Sakura was on guard as soon as he told her what was wrong with this picture and the nagging question of where the real Naruto was entered and refused to leave Sasuke's mind. He just hopped the dobe was once again still alive and just tied up somewhere.
"Show your real self, faker." He demanded rather rudely and the Naruto imposter before them continued to look at him with those big blue eyes before a sly and impressed look crossed over his face. A too long to be Naruto's tongue slipped past his lips and he licked them slowly, as if savoring the remaining taste of some sweet.
"I see," Sasuke fought down a flinch when the creepy voice exited Naruto's mouth. He tightened his grip on a kunai he had just drawn and watched the faker closely, waiting for him to move. He released his henge, revealing yet another foreign ninja, Grass this time, this one with long black hair and a rather feminine look to his features despite obviously being a guy. He was wearing some sort of cream colored dress and black tights, a large purple bow around his waist, tied at the back. He was holding his straw hat as he observed the two Konoha genin with a strange glint in his dark eyes. "But if you knew he was going to forget it, why didn't you use a shorter password?"
Sasuke had a little smirk on his face as he answered. "I knew you were eavesdropping on our conversation inside the ground. That's why I made a long password."
"So you don't let your guard down." The man stated rather than asked and Sasuke remained unchanging in his expression. "Looks like I can have more fun than I expected." And there came the tongue again as the man took off his straw hat. Seriously, this guy was creepy as fuck. Sakura repressed a shiver as she wondered about where Naruto could have went and she hoped he was okay. He suddenly reached behind his back and pulled out the Scroll of Earth and asked them if they wanted it before wrapping his tongue around it and swallowing it whole in one smooth go. "Now, let's begin ..." He licked his lips. "The fight for our scrolls." Sasuke and Sakura stiffened with surprised expressions. The man looked up and his eye suddenly resembled a snake's. "By putting our lives on the line."
Suddenly, an intense killing aura surrounded the two tweens as his blood lust reached their senses. It was so intense that Sakura and Sasuke could practically see and feel the ways he wanted to kill them. Visions of blood filled their minds and they shakily dropped to the ground. They were panting for breath out of fright and exhaustion that suddenly overtook their bodies. Sakura daren't look up or move from her spot. Sasuke couldn't stop the vomiting that overwhelmed him as he doubled over and lost his light breakfast from that morning. The man just watched them as Sasuke tried to get back up to his feet but only fell back on his backside. His body was paralyzed! 'Who is he?'
He looked over to Sakura to see that she was shaking uncontrollably. There'll be no getting through to her. 'This isn't good. We need to run.' Sasuke barely got to his feet with a kunai in hand, only to freeze up again when the man spoke up again.
"What are you going to do with that?" He couldn't move, even as the creeper walked towards them. "Relax. I will end it in a flash. You don't have to suffer." He stopped a few feet away, raising a hand with two kunai, ready to throw it at the paralyzed children. "I wanted to have more fun, but ... Now I'm disappointed." He said as he casually threw the kunai. Blood fell to the ground and the man looked at the spot the dark haired boy had been previously, impressed despite himself. To break the paralysis by stabbing his own thigh with a kunai ... that took guts. And he managed to move away in time, even bringing the girl with him.
The man was impressed. He was not normal prey.
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Meanwhile, a certain blond was having quite a struggle at hand. When he had recovered from the sudden wind attack, he had found himself upside down against a thick tree. Just as he got up and was ready to search for his teammates, the biggest snake he had ever seen appeared from beyond the surrounding trees and it caught him with its tail before swallowing him whole. He had tried stabbing its insides with a kunai but its skin was way too thick. He had struggled and struggled, only to go down deeper in its body.
It was sleeping now and he wondered if this was where he was going to die. It didn't quite seem befitting a future Hokage but he didn't know how to get out. He couldn't help bit feel a bit tired and sleepy. It was warm in here, despite it being disgusting as hell.
His mind was invaded with the faces of his most dearest people. Once upon a time, there would have been only one or two faces, but that's changed now. He's made a few friends and they were precious to him. The first that had come to mind was Iruka-sensei, smiling kindly for him like no one else does. Then it was Hokage-jii-chan, the man that had tried his best to keep his life at least tolerable. He then thought of Konohamaru, the first person to think he was great and to call him nii-chan. It was followed by Kakashi-sensei, the man who was willing to train him, watch over him, protect him and believe in him. That was more than he could ask for. He thought of the pretty Sakura-chan and how she had somehow grown to accept him, to care for him. He still had a crush on her, but that childish little flame was slowly dying down as he realized he really never will get to be with her. Her heart was set on someone else, but her kind smile still set hos heart racing.
And then he thought of Sasuke, the arrogant teme that he was. A lot happened between the two of them, even before they graduated from the Academy and became a genin team. Fond memories raced through Naruto's head as he thought about the bell test, when Sasuke offered him his lunch, when the raven haired boy protected him from those two ninja on the start of their journey to the land of the waves, the way they worked together against Zabuza without needing words to communicate their plans, their tree climbing training and the moment they reached the top, then the return to Tazuna's hut.
He thought of all the times they spent together and realized that Sasuke spent most of his time looking out for him in one way or the other. He never was far when Naruto needed him, always sticking close to the blond. And he had shared with Naruto far more than Naruto had with him.
'That's right. I still haven't settled things with him yet!' He realized. He owed Sasuke, a lot. For the trust and the protection the Uchiha had been giving him, as if saying "It's okay. You get stronger on your own time. In the meantime, just let me protect you." But that's not right! Sasuke didn't deserve to be burdened by Naruto so much! He should start looking out more for himself, damn it! Naruto had Kurama to heal him but Sasuke was still only human and would take a lot of time to heal! 'I've got to get out of here on my own! Sasuke and Sakura-chan might need my help!'
He tried stabbing the snake again, stronger this time and even channeling some chakra into his blade but the result was the same none the less. Growling, Naruto tried pushing the flesh away before an idea occurred to him. 'If you're not going to throw me up, I'll make you!' He barely managed to bring his arms up and together, forming the right seal with his fingers in the shape of a plus.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
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Sasuke sat against the bark of a thick tree, panting from pain, exhaustion and the remains of fear as he recovered from dragging both himself and Sakura out of the way of the kunai at the last moment. His thigh throbbed with pain where his own kunai was still piercing flesh and muscle. He had used the crudest but most effective and fastest way of getting rid of paralysis but this was going to cost him.
At least Sakura was back among the real world and no longer shaking in fear. Good. He wasn't sure if he could haul her around all the time. Not with his leg injured. Although now she was talking, as f he needed her to be loud now. He couldn't sense the chakra of their enemy so he would have to listen out for him. Just his luck that Sakura was now trying to make noise. Even with his hand over her mouth, she was loud. He focused his senses but he couldn't hear anyhting.
Sakura suddenly removed his hand from her mouth and screamed. ''Sasuke-kun! A snake!'' Sharingan eyes looked to the side just as said giant snake sprang to attack. They barely dodged in time but they also got separated as the serpent bit into the thick bark of the tree.
'I was so upset that I didn't even notice the presence of a snake?' The young Uchiha thought as the snake wound around a tree and rushed towards him while he was still in the air. He couldn't dodge out of the way like this. Then the man used some genjutsu or something, because Sasuke swore he saw the man's face just behind the snake's head,, looking at him with those cold eyes of his and Sasuke took out some shuriken and hurled them at the snake, hitting it dead on and the giant snake reared back before falling against a tree and staying there, dead.
Sasuke landed on a branch and watched in horror as the snake's skin broke at the neck and out came their enemy, talking about never letting one's guard down and how prey always strain themselves, running around in the presence of a predator, and he said it in such a creepy way that Sasuke swore even Utsukushi was preferable to this guy. And he hated that bitch! And there goes the fucking tongue again. Sasuke repressed a shudder, fearing that if he started it, he would never stop shaking.
The guy suddenly sprang towards him, his body becoming snake like as he wrapped himself around a tree and rushed towards Sasuke. Sasuke flinched back as the man continued towards him, only to be stopped when some shuriken and a few kunai embedded themselves into the tree and he had to stop unless he wanted the weapons to puncture his head.
''Sorry, Sasuke.'' A voice behind and above said and something in Sasuke that felt like terror and horror mixed intensified, even if he felt relief too, at hearing that voice. 'No! No, o no! He can't be here! Not now! I can't protect him now! Get out of here!' He desperately thought as he looked over his shoulder, desperately hoping he was actually hearing things and that was someone else. But there he was, in all his orange glory, standing with legs far apart and arms crossed over his chest. A big smirk on his face.
''Naruto!'' Sakura called in relief, smiling.
''I forgot the password.''