Chapter 39: Expected Battle
Naruto felt stunned when his passed-out sensei was stuffed into his arms. Despite Naruto being strong, his twelve-year-old frame didn't easily manage the long and thin man. Immediately he went on guard, as the white-haired boy stayed right in front of him. The moonlight caught the shadows under his eyes, making him look similar to Gaara in that moment. Only the wind blowing the grass made any noise, the tension in the air was palpable. They all knew, things could escalate at any moment.
Orochimaru's face lit up with ecstasy as Tsunade applied her healing jutsu to his arms. The healing process must have felt good. Or he was a masochist…
"Give it a few minutes," Tsunade said, not looking up from her work. Naruto knew his gamble would not pay if Orochimaru took his sensei back. He hoped Jiraya would put Orochimaru off trying anything. He secretly signaled to the Toad Sage who should be hiding his presence on top of the hill.
Minutes passed with Tsunade concentrating on Orochimaru's arms and not looking up. After the time it takes to boil a kettle, she was done. "That's as much as I can do Orochimaru. Medically, your arms are back to perfect condition."
Orochimaru's arms blurred to make a hand sign, Naruto's spine tingled, but nothing happened.
"Kabuto, Kimimaro," Orochimaru called out, his face ugly.
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto, like lightning cut himself with a scalpel right behind Orochimaru, covering Tsunade and Orochimaru in his blood. But Naruto was in no position to pay attention, a giant bone emerged from Kimimaro's hand until a bone sword was in his hand, pointed at Naruto's throat.
"If I had gotten my jutsu back, I might have been in the mood. It's not violating our agreement if I take you, is it?" Orochimaru joked, but his nasty glare revealed disappointment regarding his jutsu.
A spinning white blur slammed downward between Naruto and Kimimaro, forcing both of them to retreat.
"Never fear, Jiraya the Gallant is here!"
The ground exploded like a meteor hit it. Dirt and smoke filled the night air. While it pushed Naruto a distance, he noticed through the smoke, this Kimimaro barely budged. Was he just that solid? Orochimaru didn't pick people for no reason, and Kabuto was a lesson in underestimating people.
Naruto grabbed his sensei. Knowing it was now or never, he activated the incomplete Hiraishin. Jiraya would take care of the rest.
"Stop him!" Orochimaru screamed.
"Hiraishin no-jutsu!"
Kimimaro blurred and managed to catch sensei's foot right as they teleported. Fast! Crap, this was going to be a fight.
# # #
Jiraya smirked at his cool entrance, picking himself up from the crater where he had posed with a dab. The young kids still did that, right? This reunion was really going to make him look good. Hell yeah baby! But then, the odd-looking fellow who was with Orochimaru disappeared and his smile dropped. He bent his legs and made a leap out of the crater. Tsunade was completely paralyzed. The arrogant glasses boy, Kabuto, held a scalpel to her neck, drawing yet more blood.
"Orochimaru! I missed your last visit thanks to that snakey distraction. Now beating on you will feel like cheating, but I'm not above making myself look cool!" Jiraya and pointed and laughed at his old teammate. Orochimaru couldn't be underestimated, but he was a jutsu fiend like the kid. Maybe he could unbalance the man further?
"Oh Jiraya, you were never a consideration," dismissed Orochimaru, "Kimimaro has never failed me, ever. He's not about to start because of some brat. I don't need my jutsu to keep you busy."
Arrogant! Dammit, his track record with Orochimaru was not good. He wasn't the boy chasing after Orochimaru anymore though. Could Naruto handle himself?
"I don't think you recognize the position you're in, Jiraya of the Sannin," said Kabuto, emphasizing the scalpel in his hand.
"Tch, who's the one bringing brats to the battlefield Orochimaru?" That guy pissed him off more than Orochimaru. He was Jiraya the Gallant! Toad Sage! A snotty kid threatening the Slug Princess… Dammit Tsunade, wake up!
Orochimaru lurched forward, his arm twisting at an unbelievable angle. Jiraya barely managed to dodge in surprise. So uncool! "A little exercise for my newly recovered arms could be fun." Jiraya used a fist with an armguard to smash at Orochimaru's neck which had elongated.
*SCRAPE*
It hit a flash of metal, which came from Orochimaru's mouth, a sword! Jiraya kicked upwards to knock the sword out of the battle, but Orochimaru was faster and grabbed it with an elongated arm. Orochimaru retreated, raising the sword behind him in a lowered stance while using the other hand's two fingers to point at him.
"Kenjutsu of the White Snake!" Orochimaru hissed, his sword arm elongated and circled around, making it a tricky dodge. Instead, Jiraya backflipped until he was out of range. "You're taking this casually," Orochimaru remarked- right next to him! He spun out of the way of a cleave of the sword. There was bound to be poison on the blade, it just barely missed his liver from the side.
"Now I'm serious!" Jiraya made a Rasengan in his hand and charged at the sword. Got it! Orochimaru was caught off guard and the sword was flung away. Using the momentum, he kicked Orochimaru in the face. "THE FACE, BOOM!" Jiraya cheered, until a creepy sensation came from his neck, DOWN!
The swoosh of air from above proved his instincts correct, Orochimaru had some connection with the sword, as it returned to his hand. Jiraya made another retreat, this time more on guard. He took advantage of the lull of a few precious seconds to see what Tsunade was doing. She was still shaking, but… hold on, she moved!
# # #
Naruto found himself dropped in another field, but no hill was in sight. Those unstructured teleports were hell, he really regretted not prioritizing those seals. His sensei and Kimimaro were face down in the grass. That guy though, he slowly got up as if he was in no hurry and brushed himself off.
"Uzumaki Naruto, I don't wish to break you, but I will. Orochimaru only told me to bring you in alive," Kimimaro said in an emotionless voice.
"Kage Bunshin!" Naruto made the seal and created a clone which ran towards his sensei and picked him up. He unsheathed the tanto at his back, his blue trimmed kimono cardigan blew in the wind. As Naruto faced Kimimaro to defend. Kimimaro's eyes followed as the clone disappeared into the night, not moving a muscle except to cross his arms.
"You wouldn't give up if your sensei were at risk," Kimimaro explained. Bones erupted from his skin all over his arms, chest, and back. They formed a sharpened bone armor. And then, he pulled a spinal cord from his back until it made a sizeable sword. "My kekkei genkai allows my to manipulate my skeletal structure. This blade is stronger than most shinobi steel. Your sensei is safe, would you like to surrender?"
Naruto shuddered at the disgusting sound of Kimimaro's bones being pulled from his body. Tough, but that kekkei genkai had its own weakness. This guy was arrogant, and his kekkei genkai lent itself to being powerful right away. No surprises likely then. Thank goodness he had earth. Naruto gently stroked his tanto blade with earth chakra.
"My sensei's words were for me not to give up, and now you want me to surrender so quickly? You'll have to earn it." Naruto beckoned.
"Very well."
They ran at each other and clashed in the middle, tanto meeting spinal sword. Naruto grimaced, the tanto was stuck in a notch, and the sword looked flexible. They pushed against each other without budging, both of them shook. A drop of sweat fell down Naruto's brow, cooling in the night air. If it weren't for his taijutsu training, this strength alone would have overwhelmed him in his normal state.
"Sword breaker," Kimimaro muttered, pulling downwards on his spinal sword. Each notch acted like a saw, causing sparks to fly. Naruto pushed earth chakra into the tanto so it wouldn't break, gritting his teeth.
Naruto slashed with the opening! But was blocked by a small bone blade in Kimimaro's off hand. The spinal blade was waved like a whip, the sharp tip threatened Naruto, and Kimimaro used the smaller blade to slash at his head.
"Fuck!" Naruto swept his tanto, making sure it was flooded with earth chakra.
*TING* *TING* The threats were swept away, but he was in range-
"Fu-" Kimimaro kicked him in the chest and he flew a bit. He had to be careful. Direct taijutsu could work, but it would have to focus on dodging. Naruto flipped and landed on his feet. He smiled, that fucking hurt. He'd never get a taijutsu opportunity like this very often. He'd play around, and use ninjutsu if it came to an emergency. Escaping should be easy enough against a taijutsu-
Kimimaro's fingertips flew at him like projectiles. Dodge!
"Good trick!" Naruto called out. Then he put his sword back as if to sheathe it, arm crossing his body. With his other hand he made a seal to shunshin. "Lightning draw!"
Instantly he appeared near Kimimaro his sword slashed out instantly, cutting a gash across Kimimaro's collarbone. Before the bone ninja could respond, he did a replacement jutsu.
Back a distance, the log where he once had been was covered in bones from Kimimaro's armor. The place where he had struck on Kimimaro bled shortly, until bone covered it.
Naruto jumped back into the fray. They exchanged multiple blows up close, blocking, dodging, with nobody gaining ground. Naruto felt his senses strained to their utmost. This guy was dense, but still incredibly fast, like a beast.
Finally, Kimimaro made a stab with a hidden bone dagger, and Naruto retreated. Making another stance for Kimimaro to attack.
"My time is limited… But maybe if I capture you, you can be traded for Tsunade's help. I can be useful again." Kimimaro's skin began to form lines.
Naruto had heard of this, it was like Sasuke's curse mark. But then the lines began to converge to the point where Kimimaro's skin darkened. His eyes changed as well, and the bones on his body began to grow out of the skin until he looked more demon or beast than human. Was this- the curse mark?
"Orochimaru's gift. So that I might become more useful," Kimimaro answered Naruto's unvoiced questions.
# # #
Tsunade was haunted. The blood. So much blood. There was nothing she could do.
"I'm sorry Tsunade."
"It's over Tsunade! He's gone! Stop it!"
"It was an explosion trap Tsunade, I'm sorry."
Her brother… her lover… Gone… GONE!
"I'm going to be Hokage sis. Just you wait! That is my dream!"
Why didn't Dan stay? Why? The tears streamed down.
"If I don't go, people could get hurt. It's my responsibility to my comrades Tsunade. The burden of the strong. As much as I wish we could stay in bed all day." Dan laughed.
The moonlight glared into her eyes, the tears causing it to shine brighter.
"You're happy about being too weak? To let people die?"
No. She wasn't. She was miserable. It all started because she couldn't save anyone, her medical jutsu couldn't save them. But that boy… Youth was filled with endless possibilities. Like Nawaki…
NO! Nawaki was dead! Dan was dead! That youth's future, the future of the Leaf was undecided. Those comrades Dan sacrificed for, how many of them still lived? How many could she have saved if she had stayed! All in? Gambling was a game with rules! She was a ninja, she could cheat! If she bet everything on Uzumaki, why not ensure her bet?
Kabuto's scalpel blade on her neck came back into focus. Her eyes refocused on everything around her. The explosions in the far background of Orochimaru and Jiraya. Here she was with some damn kid. Weren't they underestimating her?
She backed up from the scalpel blade, and put her hand on her neck to heal the small cut.
"Pointing a scalpel at me? You've got guts, medicine boy," Tsunade cracked her knuckles.
Kabuto smirked and threw more blood at her. At first, she flinched instinctually, but none of the memories came back this time. "A medical ninja who is scared of blood has no place to say anything. Medicine boy has become a bit of a sore spot with me… So don't test me, useless old woman."
Old… woman… she felt her heartbeat in her forehead. This fucking-
She punched out with absolute rage. "I'M A SANNIN TOO! FUCKER!"
Her knuckles smash his stupid glasses in. He reacted enough to survive at least, but his nose would be broken. Feeling bold, she licked the blood off of her knuckles. "Scared of blood? Since when!? EH!?" Even from a distance she heard Jiraya gulp loudly. She shook her fist at her old teammates battling. "Your little medicine boy is about to get fucked up for ignoring me Orochimaru! Useless!? I'm going to paint his blood on this hill! Just like I painted Jiraya's in that bathhouse!"
*Crack* Kabuto threw his glasses down and fixed up his nose. "Heh, bitch. It doesn't matter. I can at least escape. But Kimimaro will bring us the fox boy. Your bet was misplaced. Another one in the morgue, Tsunade-sama?"
She sent an axe kick to his face, this time, without the hesitation that she showed Naruto. Heh, arrogant kid probably thought he won a few exchanges. "1000 years too early to challenge me!" she yelled. Her heel connected with Kabuto's face again, knocking him out cold. The sickening crunch meant he wouldn't wake up for some time at least.
"Summoning jutsu!" Tsunade summoned Katsuyu and laughed.
"You're the only one crippled now Orochimaru," she said.
"OH YEAH! Tsunade back in business. That was sexy as hell!" Jiraya gave a thumbs up with a bloody nose. Damn perv…
Orochimaru melted and reconstituted where Kabuto was, picking him up. "Tch, useless medicine boy. I've obtained enough here. Tell the fox boy, the rest of the agreement is still on. Kukuku, well, I might just tell him myself if Kimimaro has any say."
"That boy is going to fuck your day up," Jiraya insisted, "Slink off."
Orochimaru glared, and then disappeared into the night.
Tsunade met up with Jiraya on the now ruined, much less grassy hill. She wordlessly healed a few nicks that had accrued from Orochimaru's kenjutsu. When she finished, her lip trembled and she lightly punched him. "Why didn't you use ninjutsu? Idiot."
Jiraya rubbed his arm. "Childish competition. Sorry babe-" She punched him in the arm much harder. "OWW! Okay! Okay!"
After a short silence, Tsunade spoke up, "I'm going to be the Godaime." Tsunade huffed. "I don't think I'll be good, but I can pave the way for the next generation to do it correctly."
Jiraya chuckled. "That's all the job ever was…"
