Thank you guys for all of the awesome reviews I love you guys so freaking much! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it has some action in it as you will see.
Also I wanna say like, twenty chapters in advance (lol) that I'm not sure I'm great at writing from Obito's pov and there is a chapter written entirely from him. Admittedly it's shorter than my normal chapters but I did my best with him.
The four Genin had been moving for less than an hour before Karin froze up, nearly making Naruto trip up at the sudden stop. "Something's wrong." her voice was panicked-terrified even. "Something's wrong. Someone strong is coming. A lot of chakra it... it feels-" she shuddered, and Naruto frowned.
"That sounds bad."
"We need to get out of here." Sakura said quickly, "We have our scroll so-"
"Let's run." Sasuke nodded, "As much as I don't mind a good fight it's probably better to get back fast." he knew if it wasn't for Karin they'd already be closer-Naruto was weary of using the Hirashin in front of someone they'd just met, family or not.
Naruto didn't hesitate, "On my back Karin-chan."
"I- what?"
"Now!"
"Okay!" Karin leapt onto Naruto's back, clinging tightly as they all took off running, and Naruto could feel the red haired girl shaking-she felt somewhat guilty for that but there wasn't much that she could do about it right now really.
Clearly whoever was coming wasn't good though.
They hadn't been moving long before Karin let out a scream, "It's in front of us!" and Naruto skidded to a halt, Sasuke and Sakura beside her, and up in one of the trees, perched on a branch was the girl who's tongue Naruto had grabbed only a few hours before.
"How very interesting, the little red haired one sensed me." there was something about that voice that made Naruto shudder, and Karin clung onto her tighter.
Naruto gripped Karin's legs tightly, trying to silently reassure her, though she found herself feeling oddly nervous herself.
This girl didn't feel like a normal Genin, Naruto just couldn't put her finger on why she didn't. She glanced to her two teammates, who were in defensive stances clearly ready to fight, and Sasuke gave Naruto a very small nod, as if prompting her to take the lead. Well she could do that.
"Who the hell are you?" Naruto forced her voice to stay completely steady, a determined glint in her eyes.
"That's unimportant." the woman smirked, "Hand over the Uchiha and I'll let you live."
"What?" Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise, and Sakura moved to stand in front of him protectively, as did Naruto, letting Karin slip off her back, though she used an arm to keep the red haired girl behind her.
"Okay first of all, why should I believe a word you say? What do you even want with him anyway?" Naruto shook her head, "We're not going to let you take our teammate you creep."
"What I want with him doesn't concern you." the woman hissed, " And even if you don't believe me it changes nothing. I will take the Uchiha."
"I see how it is." Naruto took a deep breath, "Sakura-chan, you, Karin-chan and Sasuke-kun make a break for it while I deal with this asshole-"
"But-" Sasuke started to protest, but Naruto shook her head.
"No. No there's something not normal about her."
Then Naruto was rushing forward, and the woman was moving-and that alone told Naruto she wasn't some normal Genin, the woman was faster than
Naruto's mom. Probably faster than Kakashi-sensei.
Naruto resisted the urge to curse loudly when she saw the woman rushing towards her teammates.
But Sasuke was already moving, hands flying through the familiar signs, and then his hands were by his mouth and he was breathing out a fireball-and as the woman went to dodge Naruto launched herself at her, shoulder hitting the womans back and sending her back into the path of the jutsu-and the scream and the smell of burning flesh was something Naruto doubted she'd ever forget.
She shuddered, grimacing and shaking her head as she pushed herself back in a smooth motion and flipped, landing and twisting, half expecting to see the woman on the floor unconsious-but no, the woman was crouched, almost hissing with fury clutching her face, and when she lowered her hands Naruto's mouth dropped open in horror at the sight that met her gaze.
The face was melting away revealing another face beneath it.
She heard Karin let out a terrified scream, saw the girl scramble backwards while Sakura yanked her behind her, clearly defending her.
"Who the hell are you?" Naruto breathed out, a horrified look on her face.
"Kukukuku." the laugh was strange, unnatural, just like everything else about the man-and it was a man, he'd been wearing a girls face but it was easy to see that he was a man now. "What does it matter if you know little girl. You'll be dead soon."
"No she won't." Sasuke spoke up-and he was shaking-the killer intent that was seeping from the man in front of them would be overwhelming for most people-Naruto was proud her two teammates were standing as strong as they were.
Naruto herself was fairly immune-when you lived with a demon that had repeatedly tried to scare you into submission for the first year or so of you spending time with it you grew used to handling such things.
"Hm... perhaps Sasuke-kun." the man's voice was coaxing, "Perhaps we could come to an arrangement, you wish to protect your teammates yes?"
"I'm not going to let you hurt them-"
"And I won't let you hurt anyone either." Naruto added firmly-she didn't like the way the man was looking at Sasuke. It was the way a predator looked at it's next meal.
"You want to kill your brother yes?" that made Sasuke straighten up, his eyes bleeding red as he activated his Sharingan.
"What do you know about my brother?"
"I've met him." the man chuckled again, "He was very strong. You'll need help. I can give you that. I can make you strong."
"Sasuke-" Naruto shook her head, "You can't listen to this guy-"
"What do you mean you can make me strong?" Sasuke demanded, his eyes wide, "How-"
"My name-" the man hissed the words, a smug smirk on his lips, "Is Orochimaru."
Naruto gasped, her eyes going wide at that. She'd heard of him of course, seen his entry in the Bingo books. This man was one of the Sanning and a traitor. This was very very bad, Naruto was pretty sure there weren't words for how bad this was, and clearly Sasuke recognized the name too because his eyes widened as well.
"You're one of the Sannin?" he demanded, "You're legendary..." and Naruto shot him a slightly panicked look when she heard the note of hope in his voice, saw the gleam in his eyes, "If anyone could make me strong enough to kill Itachi it would be you-"
"Sasuke no!" Naruto shook her head, "Don't be stupid-"
"Don't interfere little girl." Orochimaru hissed.
"Don't call her that!" Sakura yelled the words, "Sasuke-kun don't listen to this freak-" she had a hand held out, keeping Karin behind her, protecting the red haired girl.
"I need to get strong." Sasuke's voice was firm, "I need to, you two don't understand... what, what can you do to help me?"
"I can give you more power than you've ever imagined." the man hissed the words, "You'll be able to kill your brother, avenge your clan-"
"What would I have to do?"
"Just stand still." and then Orochimaru-his next almost extended-it was disgusting to watch and Naruto shuddered at the sight as he lunged for Sasuke, mouth open and clearly aiming for his neck, and Naruto moved, launching herself at him, so that she was between the Sannin and Sasuke, kicking his face hard, knocking him to the side, even as a kunai Sakura had tossed hit the Sannin in the shoulder-and if he were anyone else the wound would have probably done more than mildly inconvenience him. Sadly Orochimaru wasn't exactly a normal opponent.
"What are you doing Sasuke?" her voice was panicked.
"He said he could make me strong! What the hell are you doing interfering? It's nothing to do with you!"
"He's one of the Sannin he's a traitor! He's experimented on humans before you can't trust him!"
"I need more power Naruto I have to get stronger!"
"So you'd let a traitor who you can't trust give you power?"
"I need it!"
She so didn't have time for this. Naruto gritted her teeth, "Sorry, you can yell at me for this later." she lashed out, punching him hard and summoning a shadow clone, which picked him up quickly, and she handed it a Hirashin Kunai, just a second before Orochimaru launched himself towards her again, and Naruto launched herself towards him too, even as her clone flung Sasuke over her shoulder and rushed to Karin and Sakura, the four of them making a break for it as Naruto and Orochimaru met head first, Naruto ducking a blow aimed at her face as twisting as she did, foot catching the Sannin in the stomach and sending him flying backwards, though he caught himself against a tree and launched himself forward once more, hands moving lightning fast-and Naruto barely had time to leap up as the ground beneath her feet shot upwards, almost impaling her as she twisted to the side and let herself drop down, hitting the ground in a rolling up and onto her feet again, biting her thumb and swiping it against the seal that contained her kunai-her normal ones, pulling one out and tossing it at Orochimaru, the man twisting to avoid the sharp weapon, chuckling.
"Well aren't you an interesting one. If I didn't need the Uchiha's eyes I'd take you instead." he licked his lips, "You're a strong one aren't you. Not some normal Genin. You know you do look oddly familiar..."
"What can I say, I kick ass." Naruto was sprinting towards Orochimaru again, her own hands flying through the familiar signs, and then she was imbuing her own chakra with wind Chakra, and it formed nine blades made of pure wind which flew towards Orochimaru at frankly insane speeds.
Much to her eternal frustration the Sannin managed to dodge away from all bar two of them, and neither of those hit anywhere fatal-one in the left led the other slicing the side of Orochimaru's arm.
Still she imagined it was more than a lot of Jounin would manage against someone like Orochimaru.
"Well look at that." Orochimaru tilted his head, "I may just have to take you seriously after all. You drew blood." then he was rushing her again, and they exchanged blows, Naruto ducking under punches as kicks, hitting back with her own-staggering from a blow to her back between her shoulders but swinging herself around, her foot flying out to try and catch Orochimaru's-catching his ankle, though it didn't know him over before leaping back onto a tree branch, Orochimaru stepping back for a moment to size her up.
"Where did you come from I wonder. Your taijutsu is excellent."
"I'm sure you mean that as a compliment but impressing you just doesn't feel that good." the blonde shot back before leaping off the branches, hands flying through the familiar signs as she channelled her chakra and it formed a tornado which span towards Orochimaru, he dodged it easily-just in time for Naruto to catch him with an earth jutsu-he'd been distracted for a split second and the ground cracked open beneath his feet causing him to fall into it.
Naruto took the chance, surging forward, hands still flying, and as he leapt out from the giant hole in the ground she breathed out a ball of fire, which caught him in the chest and sent him falling back into the hole with a roar of fury.
She let out a breath, panting-she was aching somewhat from the taijutsu battle-he was fast and he had a lot more experience than her, but he'd underestimated her, as long as she was quick-
The ground gave out beneath Naruto's feet and she yelled in shock as she fell, he'd used the cover of the hole to copy her idea and make her fall.
She winced when she hit the ground, her ankle twisting awkwardly under her.
She forced herself to her feet, ignoring the pain-Kurama would heal her-as if her thinking of him had summoned him his voice echoed in her mind; "Brat whatever you do, be careful. Orochimaru is strong."
She resisted the urge to snort bitterly as she ran up the side of the pit that she'd fallen into, that was glaringly obvious. If she could go all out she was sure she'd be doing better but there was so much risk.. she dodged the three kunai that soared through the air towards her as she burst out of the pit-only to see Orochimaru smirking a few steps away from her-the one to throw the kunai had been a shadow clone she realized-and she realized it a moment too late because then he was breathing out-and clearly he was fucking with her, copying her previous actions, revenge for her catching him out probably.
She turned and pushed herself forward enough that instead of hitting her head on the fireball hit her back and shoulder, burning through her clothes.
She hit the ground and rolled, gritting her teeth at the burning pain. It hurt. A lot, she'd gotten injured before in training but this was different.
Still if she gave up now Orochimaru would go after her teammates and she couldn't let that happen so she forced herself to her feet and rushed at him, dodging two Kunai, hands flying again, and she breathed out a great chakra enhanced gust of wind that knocked the Sannin backwards making him snarl furiously as she rushed him, he managed to throw up his hand in time to block her punch, twisting with the blow and hooking his ankle around hers and tugging it back, knocking her off balance and onto the ground.
"You really are impressive. Such a shame that you're in my way."
"Really 'cause I think you're the one in my way." Naruto bit her thumb and swiped it over a seal, pulling out more Kunai and lunging at Orochimaru again the second she was on her feet, kunai slashing the already burned skin of his face, cutting his cheek open-and she realized her mistake a moment too late because his hands were moving and a spike of earth tore out of the ground and impaled her calf.
She did let out a cry at that, wrenching herself off, hands moving once more, summoning half a dozen shadow clones and leaping back, letting her clones distract the Sannin for just a second.
But even if she was holding her own pretty well Naruto knew she was fighting a losing battle. She was good. Insanely good for her age-she could beat most Jounin, but up against a Sannin? Now that just wasn't a fair fight. She'd need something huge to get the advantage, but she'd been avoiding using the Hirashin and Rasengan-she didn't want someone like Orochimaru to know who she was, that would be asking for trouble, which also meant that using Kurama was off limits unless she had no other choice... but... there was one move that might tip things her way that might not give away the truth about her heritage if she could just get it right.
And she'd always done best under pressure hadn't she?
She turned around and made a break for it, ducking and dodging through the trees, hearing Orochimaru racing after her. "What choice do I have Kurama?"
"Brat are you sure about this?"
"You haven't completed it! It blows up in your face every time!" "Well hopefully this time I can blow it up in his face."
Naruto skidded to a halt, racing up to the top of a tree and hiding as best as she could in the branches as she focused, feeding wind Chakra into her hand as she carefully made it swirl, slowly forming a ball, and she pushed down a spike of pride and elation as it started to form the shape of a shuriken-though it kept disappointing and reforming.
It wasn't stable. She hadn't perfected it yet-but in this case unstable might just be a good thing.
She panted as she saw Orochimaru arriving in the clearing beneath her, saw him lifting his head to look up at her, and then she was launching herself down out of the tree, and he was laughing-clearly unaware of just what she was doing, and then she was on him, driving the unstable next step of the Rasengan into the mans back just as it lost all shape and exploded.
She cried out in pain as she was thrown backwards as Orochimaru was forced down into the ground, but her uninjured hand was moving even as she flew, and then she was gone in a flash of yellow, and she reappeared hitting the ground hard as her clone dispelled, and she could hear Sakura and Karin crying out in shock as Sasuke hit the floor too, and then Sakura was by her side even as Naruto curled in on herself with a scream of pain, her hand clutched to her chest, skin shredded by the wind chakra.
Sakura let out a horrified whimper at the sight of Naruto's hand, but she moved quickly, her own hands glowing green as she ran them over the damaged flesh, "This is bad-I don't know how much I can do-"
"I can help." Karin pushed Sakura to the side gently, her face pale as she took a deep breath. "Naruto-san, I need you to open your mouth and bite me." even as she spoke she was tugging her arm up, and Naruto frowned weakly, confused.
"What?"
"Bite my arm."
"I.." Naruto was inn too much pain to argue-Kurama would heal her of course, but the damage was pretty extensive from what the fox was snarling about, anything would help.
She bit down when Karin pressed her arm to her mouth, and she grimaced at the taste of copper, but she felt chakra rush into her, soothing the damage done to her hands and the rest of her body-though it didn't made it go away.
She pulled back quickly, spitting out the blood as the wounds covering her body started to heal a bit, and Karin slumped to the side panting.
"W-what was that?" Naruto managed to choke out.
"When people bite me my Chakra heals them." Karin managed to get out, "You should have kept biting you'd be more healed."
"I heal fast anyway." Naruto let out a shaky breath, pushing herself so that she was sat up, "We need to get out of here before Orochimaru catches up." she closed her eyes, dispelling all of her clones and breathing a sigh of relief.
"One of them was at the tower." she closed her eyes, "Sakura-chan, grab Sasuke. Karin-chan grab my shoulder, not the burned one, and grab Sakura with your other hand."
"I-okay." Karin nodded, and once Naruto's teammates and relatives were all gripping onto each other she let her uninjured hand flash through the handsigns, and in a flash they were just outside of the tower and Naruto let herself topple forward, Karin managing to catch her before she hit the ground.
"I can't stand up any longer."
"Karin-san." Sakura's voice just barely trembled, "You carry Naruto and I'll carry Sasuke." with that Karin was pulling Naruto to her feet, half carrying half dragging her as Sakura physically carried Sasuke into the Tower, the two Kunoichi placing Naruto and Sasuke down.
"What now?" that was Karin, "What do we do now?" she glanced around nervously, "I... I can't sense him anymore but-"
"But he'll be searching for us. For Sasuke." Naruto finished for Karin, "Sakura-chan... we're at the Tower what next?"
"Right." Sakura looked deathly pale but she nodded quickly, looking around and spotting a large message pinned to the wall across from the entrance,
"That's gotta be a clue. Karin-san, you defend Naruto and Sasuke." she ordered, "I'll figure this out." she moved quickly, standing right up next to it, "Okay. So, If qualities of heaven are your desire acquire wisdom to take your mind higher, if earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are opened together the perilous path will become righteous forever. Something is the secret way that guides us from this place today."
"What the hell does that mean?" Naruto coughed, mentally added broken ribs to her mental checklist of injuries-she must have gotten them when one of Orochimaru's earth Jutsu had sent her crashing into a tree.
"We need to hurry." Karin said quickly, "Before he finds us Sakura-san."
"I think I've got it." Sakura rushed over to Naruto, "Where did you seal the scrolls?"
"Left arm." Naruto bit her lip, whimpering as she lifted her injured hand-at least there was already blood there and she didn't have to bite it for once.
She carefully swiped it over the storage seal and Sakura moved quickly, pulling the scrolls out.
"Good." Sakura took a deep calming breath, "I think we have to open both of them together here."
"I trust your judgement." Naruto let her injured hand drop to her side, wincing slightly.
"Karin can you help me?"
"Of course." Karin took the earth scroll as Sakura took the heaven one, and together they both unrolled the scrolls, and Karin's eyes widened when they saw what was on them "Sakura-san throw them to the side! They've got summoning jutsu."
"Right!" both girls tossed the scrolls to the ground quickly as smoke poured out from the seals in the centre of both scrolls.
And then with a pop a figure appeared, shrouded in the smoke.
