Woohoo, Chunin Exams!
Naruto and Sasuke are entering as a duo, a duo of Sharingan users. Should be a lot of fun, and people in the discord have given me some more ideas on how to handle some events that happen.
I'm also in the process of working on a Mokuton Naruto fanfic, but that'll be more AU than this. This one is just "Naruto.. but Sharingan" while that one has changes starting really early on, like when Naruto is 5. So, if you also like the idea of a very alternate Naruto universe, check that one out. I talk about both in my discord, too.
Anyways, onto the Chunin Exams
Chunin Exams Begin!
As Naruto and Sasuke entered the building where they'd start the exams, they noticed a gathering of people on the second floor. They both saw two kids guarding a door that seemed to be the entrance to the exam, despite the fact that it was supposed to be on the third floor. Naruto and Sasuke shared a look before activating their Sharingan and seeing that it was a genjutsu.
"Should we say something?" Naruto asked Sasuke, who just shrugged.
"Eh. If they can't see through this, they probably shouldn't become chunin anyways. Less competition." Sasuke told him, and they both just walked away and deactivated their Sharingan.
The duo, though, didn't go unnoticed by the boy in the green jumpsuit that was supposedly being kicked on the ground. He quickly got up, his injuries seeming to disappear, and followed the two boys.
As Naruto and Sasuke entered a large room that led to the third floor, the boy in the green jumpsuit showed up in front of them. He pointed at Sasuke, his teeth somehow glistening. "I challenge you, Sasuke Uchiha!" He declared.
Sasuke just stared at him. "Who are you?" He asked, obviously unimpressed.
"I am Rock Lee! I wish to challenge you, the top of your class and the prodigy of the Uchiha! I will prove that me, the dead last of my year, can beat you through hard work!" Rock Lee told him.
Naruto, who was just watching the exchange, decided to butt in. "Hey! Why doesn't anyone challenge me? I'm an Uchiha too!" He whined, and Lee stared at him.
"You are an Uchiha? You were the dead last of your class as well, correct?" Lee asked.
"Yeah, but not anymore, Bushy Brows! I'm Sasuke's equal!" Naruto activated his Sharingan as a show of proof.
Rock lee tried to look up at his own eyebrows. "Bushy Brows? Oh well." Lee turned his gaze back to Sasuke. "Fight me, Sasuke Uchiha!" Rock lee told him, and slipped into a fighting stance.
Sasuke just stood there for another second before shrugging, activating his Sharingan and slipping into a fighting stance. 'He's even more of an idiot than Naruto.. but that doesn't mean he's weak.' Sasuke thought.
"Let us begin!" Lee declared, and charged at Sasuke, nearly too fast for Sasuke to react.
'This guys fast.' Sasuke and Naruto both thought, and Naruto watched the match with his own Sharingan. Sasuke managed to dodge Lee's punch, but he was sent flying by a follow up kick. 'Impressive.' Sasuke thought, and he landed on the wall. Rock Lee was flying at him again, but he was able to predict it with his Sharingan. He quickly moved out of the way and threw a kunai where he knew Lee would land.
When Lee landed on the wall where Sasuke was, he had to catch a kunai that would have landed in his back. Sasuke, expecting this, was quickly on him to turn the tables of the match. He landed a hit on Lee that sent him into the air, and landed another while he couldn't change his direction. These hits sent him crashing into another wall, but he quickly got up.
"You are good, Sasuke Uchiha. I can see why you are known as a prodigy. However, I will prove that hard work beats natural talent." Lee told Sasuke, and began to unwrap the bandages covering his arms. It was brief, but Sasuke and Naruto could see how beaten up his hands were. However, before they could get a better look, a pinwheel flew out of nowhere and pinned the bandages to the wall behind Lee.
When they turned around they saw a giant turtle.
"LEE!" The turtle shouted, and Lee ran over to it. Naruto and Sasuke just stared at the turtle in disbelief, and Naruto walked over to where Sasuke landed. "You are a fool!" The turtle berated Lee, who was on his hands and knees
"I am sorry, sir!" Lee apologized to.. the turtle.
"A shinobi should never reveal their secrets!" The turtle told Lee.
Naruto, his gaze unmoving from the weird scene in front of him, turned his head slightly in Sasuke's direction. "Is that.. a turtle?" He asked.
"Of course it's a turtle, you idiot." Sasuke told him.
"And he's.. apologizing to it?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke sighed. "Yes."
Before Naruto could ask another question, a man popped out of the turtle. He was essentially identical to Lee, but he was older and had more defined features. However, they shared their hair style, clothes, and even the bushy eyebrows. The only real differences between them were size and clothes.
The older Lee sent Lee flying with one punch. "You fool!" The older Lee shouted.
"I am sorry, Guy-sensei!" Lee shouted back.
"LEE!"
"GUY-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GUY-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GUY-SENSEI!"
The two clones were now crying to each other, and somehow the image of a sunset by the ocean appeared in front of them. Naruto and Sasuke, Sharingan active, tried to see through the weird sunset genjutsu but only succeeded in burning the image into their minds. The two clones went through a long conversation about youth, with Lee promising to do some weird workouts as 'punishment.'
Eventually, the sunset genjutsu faded and the older Lee noticed the two Sharingan wielders. Naruto and Sasuke just continued to stare, somehow finding it impossible to deactivate their Sharingan, when the older Lee smiled at them.
"Those eyes, you are Kakashi's students?" The older Lee asked, and both the Uchiha nodded their heads. "I am Might Guy, the Blue Beast of Konoha and your sensei's eternal rival!" The older Lee, now revealed as Might Guy, told them.
Naruto and Sasuke stared blankly for a few seconds until Naruto's face lit up. "Oh! You're the person Kaka-sensei called an 'interesting character,' he said you watch his feet when fighting him!" Naruto stated.
Guy's face lit up. "Kakashi mentioned me, eh? Did he mention that I'm actually stronger than him?" Guy asked.
Naruto shrugged. "Think he said probably? I dunno." Naruto told him, and he and Sasuke finally calmed down enough to deactivate their Sharingan.
Guy grinned. "YOSH! The flames of youth burn brightly in Kakashi!" Guy yelled.
Naruto scratched the back of his head, unsure what that even meant. "Yeah, well uh.. we gotta get going to the exams." Naruto said and turned to Sasuke with pleading eyes. "Right, Sasuke?" He asked.
Sasuke nodded with more energy than he usually used. "Yeah, uh, let's go." Sasuke agreed, and they both quickly walked away before the weird green twins could go on another weird bonding session.
Just outside the first exam area
Naruto and Sasuke were walking up to where the first exam was to be held, and they noticed their sensei waiting for them at the door. Kakashi looked up at them from his book with an eye smile.
"Hey Naruto, Sasuke. No Sakura?" Kakashi asked, though he'd predicted this.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, she didn't feel ready for it." Naruto told Kakashi, and handed him the entrance form. Sasuke followed suit, and Kakashi took both of the forms.
Kakashi's eye turned serious, and he looked at the forms in his hand. "Now normally, the two of you wouldn't be able to attend without a third member. I didn't tell the three of you this because I didn't want you two to pressure Sakura into coming." Kakashi told them, and Sasuke opened his mouth to object, but Kakashi held out a finger. "However, special circumstances can allow for genin to enter solo or as duos. As it turns out, the council wants the two remaining Uchiha to take the exams. So, you two will be taking the exams as a duo." Kakashi informed the pair.
Naruto grinned. "They really included me in the last two Uchiha?" He asked, causing Kakashi to give another eye smile.
"Of course they did, idiot." Sasuke told him, but he seemed to be smiling a bit at the edges of his mouth.
Naruto prepared to object to the insult, but Kakashi stopped him. "Maa, maa, Sasuke. Isn't very smart to antagonize your one teammate, now is it?" Kakashi joked, before turning serious again. "However, I feel it's necessary to warn you that, as a team of two, you'll probably be targeted more by other teams."
Sasuke's small smile turned into a smirk, and Naruto mirrored it like an Uchiha would. "Well, bring it on!" Naruto exclaimed.
Kakashi gave another eye smile. "So it'd be useless to warn you to be careful?" Kakashi asked, and they both nodded. "Alright, good luck." Kakashi told them, before disappearing.
Naruto and Sasuke stared at the door for a second, before giving each other a look. They gave each other a smirk, before opening the door and walking into the room.
First Exam Entrance
When Naruto and Sasuke entered the room, they were shocked by how many people were taking the exam. More than that, they were shocked by how much older everyone else seemed to be. There were a few people around their age, but almost everyone else seemed to be older than them. Before they could better assess the others in the room, they heard a familiar high pitched screech.
"SASUKE!" Ino yelled, and rushed to jump and grab onto him. Sasuke, again, just dodged and she crashed into the ground behind him. She prepared to insult Sakura, out of habit, but was surprised when she couldn't spot her pink haired rival. She stood back up and walked in front of the duo. "Where's Sakura?" Ino asked.
Shikamaru, already guessing what happened, had walked up beside his teammate with Choji. He already had his assumptions, but was remaining quiet for confirmation.
"She's not taking the exam. It's just me and Naruto." Sasuke told them with his usual stoicism. This just confirmed Shikamaru's guess, but it surprised Ino and Choji.
"It's just the two of you? Asuma-sensei said the Chunin Exams could only be taken in teams of three, so how are you guys taking it?" Choji asked, and reached into his bag of chips to eat more.
Before Naruto or Sasuke could answer, Ino spoke up. "It's because Sasuke is so awesome, he doesn't need a third teammate! I doubt he even needs Naruto, he could-" Ino started.
Sasuke, his annoyance steadily growing, cut her off. "Me and Naruto are more than enough. Sakura decided she needed more training before the exams, so she decided to not take it." Sasuke explained.
"And you two were allowed to enter because you're the last two Uchiha?" Shikamaru guessed, and Sasuke nodded.
Ino scoffed. "Should've known forehead girl wasn't ready-" She started, but stopped when Sasuke threatened her with an activated Sharingan.
"Sakura is being smart. It'd be idiotic to take this exam if you aren't sure that you can pass. People die in this, and uncertainty will get you killed. I'd rather be down one teammate for the duration of the exam than have my teammate killed because she wasn't ready." Sasuke told them, shocking team 10. Before any of them could respond, they heard a familiar barking.
They turned to the source of the barking, and saw three more familiar faces. One was mostly covered, one was bright red and staring at Naruto, and one had a grin similar to Naruto's, and he had a dog on his head. "Hey Naruto, Sasuke!" The one with the dog, Kiba, greeted.
Naruto, who hadn't really had a chance to speak yet, grinned. "Hey Kiba, Shino, and Hinata! You guys are here too, huh? Guess Sakura's the only one left out!" Naruto told them, and received the same looks of confusion from team 8 as Sasuke got from team 10.
"Sakura isn't taking the exam?" Kiba asked, and Naruto nodded.
"I-I thought th-that y-you h-had to be in t-teams of th-three." Hinata stammered, which Naruto wrote off as just a personality quirk.
"Well, I assume that, as the last two-" Shino started, but no one noticed.
"Well, Kaka-sensei said the council wanted us to take the exam. He also tortured- er, trained us pretty much nonstop for three weeks straight, so I think the two of us will be fine, y'know?" Naruto told them.
Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, that's logical. If both of you really have matured Sharingan, you're definitely above genin level. Especially if you were trained by Kakashi." Shikamaru reasoned.
Kiba laughed. "Doesn't matter if he has the Sharingan and was trained by Kakashi, Naruto still won't beat me! He's just the dead last!" Kiba exclaimed, irritating Sasuke and upsetting Naruto.
Before Naruto could object himself, Sasuke spoke up. "Naruto may have been the dead last, but he certainly isn't anymore. Since graduation, he has become my equal. I'm sure he could beat you without his Sharingan, Kiba." Sasuke stated. He was very proud of his clan, and that pride now included Naruto.
Naruto grinned at the praise. "Yeah, dog breath! What he said!" Naruto agreed.
The rest of the rookie genin were shocked by Sasuke's blatant praise of Naruto. They knew they were clan mates now, but Sasuke never praised anyone without reason. Before anyone could speak up, an older boy with silver hair and glasses walked up to them.
"Ah, you should stop drawing attention to yourselves. You don't want to be targeted by the other teams." The older boy warned them.
The rookie genin looked around, and the older boy was telling the truth. The other teams were staring at them, and the attention was strongly focused on the two young Uchiha.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked, ignoring the attention of the other teams. Sasuke was ignoring them too, the two Uchiha expected to be targeted. They were more curious about the boy who had tried to warn them.
The older boy gave them a friendly smile. "My name is Kabuto. This is my seventh time taking the exam." The older boy, Kabuto, introduced himself.
"Seven? Wow, you must suck." Naruto bluntly told him, making Kabuto chuckle.
"I think you'll find these exams harder than you expect. Rookie genin rarely pass on their first time." Kabuto told them.
Sasuke shrugged. "Rookie genin aren't usually Uchiha with matured Sharingan." Sasuke responded, and Naruto nodded his head.
Kabuto began to reach into his pockets and pulled out a deck of cards. "Well, even Uchiha could benefit from information. How about I help you out?" Kabuto asked.
Sasuke ended up asking about Gaara, Rock Lee, and Neji Hyuga. A team from an unknown village attacked Kabuto, and showed off some weird attack. Since Naruto and Sasuke didn't have their Sharingan active, they couldn't tell what the attack was.
Then, the instructor for the first exam entered the room and ushered them all to the room where the exam would be taking place.
First Exam
When Naruto and Sasuke entered the room for the first exam they were.. shocked. They were both expecting some sort of challenge, but it seemed they'd only be taking a test. Sasuke was calm, but Naruto looked towards his teammate with panic in his eyes.
Sasuke, noticing Naruto's panic, leaned closer to him and whispered "If you don't understand the questions just copy someone else with your Sharingan."
Naruto's panic subsided. "Oh, yeah. Honestly, sometimes I forget I can do that." Naruto admitted, and Sasuke sighed. Uchiha or not, Naruto was Naruto. Before they could talk any more, the exam proctors ushered the genin to their seats to take the test.
Naruto and Sasuke were, obviously, separated. They obviously didn't want teammates to help each other, not directly at least. Naruto was sitting by Hinata of all people, and Sasuke wasn't sitting by anyone notable. With a quick glance they could spot the other rookie genin, but the others weren't in direct line of sight that would allow either of them to copy their papers using the Sharingan. The only one in Naruto's direct view was Hinata, and he didn't feel good about cheating off of her.
The instructor, Ibiki, went over the rules. Sasuke could tell something was up, but Naruto took them at face value.
When Naruto flipped his paper over and looked at the questions, he knew he was screwed. Then, he remembered what Sasuke told him. 'Use my Sharingan.. hmm.. guess Sasuke was right. Let me just look around for someone who seems to know what they're doing..' Naruto thought, and spotted someone quickly filling out their paper. He activated his Sharingan and began to copy their movements. Before he knew it, the first 9 questions were all filled out. Sasuke had done the same, and now the duo just had to wait for the tenth and final question.
Ibiki watched all of the genin 'discretely' cheating to get the answers. He was a special jonin so, obviously, he could spot all of the cheating methods being used. He'd given the proctors under his command specific instructions on what to write down, and what to let slide. He saw a sand genin forming an eye of sand, which was.. interesting. He saw another sand genin cheat using a puppet disguised as an instructor, certainly a creative idea. He saw the Hyuga kids using their byakugan, a convenient and useful aspect of their dojutsu. He saw a lot of expected and unexpected cheating methods, but two boys stuck out specifically. It wasn't unexpected, but it was a sight to see anyways. Two kids, polar opposites based off of appearance, using the Sharingan to perfectly copy the tests of two planted chunin with the answers. That wouldn't have been very uncommon years ago, but it was a wonder now. The Uchiha Massacre had wiped out all but, apparently, three Uchiha. Itachi Uchuha, the murderer of the clan. Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi's younger brother. Naruto Uzumaki-Uchiha, who wasn't even known as an Uchiha until very recently. And Ibiki had Naruto and Sasuke sitting in the room, taking his exam, and taking the exam as a duo.
Ino Yamanaka was stressed. Right now, she was really wishing her rival was here. Sakura Haruno may have had little in terms of practical skill, but for a written test she would be perfect to cheat off of. However, Sakura wasn't here. The only other person she knew that was guaranteed to have the answers was Shikamaru Nara, but he wasn't in her line of sight. She knew Sasuke, the genius he was, probably had the answers too, but she wouldn't dare to invade her beloved Sasuke's mind. So, she was scanning the room for someone who appeared to have the answers. She was shocked to see that Naruto, the dead last of their class, appeared to have a fully filled out exam sheet. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to try, she performed her mind transfer jutsu on him.
Naruto was just sitting and waiting for the tenth question when he felt something pull on his mind. If he didn't have a literal demon in his gut, he probably would've written it off as nothing. However, he couldn't afford to ignore the feeling due to his status as a jinchuriki. He activated his Sharingan and met the pull he was feeling, and was relieved to find out it wasn't a demon invading his mind.
It was just Ino.
Ino was shocked when her mind didn't immediately invade Naruto's. Her technique wasn't very developed, but it would still take mental fortitude to hold her off. In the middle of a battle, adrenaline would probably allow more people to escape her control. But, this wasn't a battle.
Yet somehow Naruto, the dead last, fought off her control. More than that, he turned around and met her gaze. She saw his eyes turn red, and the spinning tomoe mesmerized her. Then, her view of the exam room was replaced by a blank, black area with just her and Naruto.
Still shocked by everything that had just happened, she jumped when she heard Naruto's voice.
"Hey, Ino!" He greeted, but she couldn't find the words to respond. Luckily, he filled the silence for her. "It's not very nice to invade someone's mind in the middle of the exams, y'know."
Trying to find the words for the questions she now had, Ino was only able to find one word. "How?" She asked, and Naruto smiled.
"Kaka-sensei really stressed how to resist control when training me. Guess he wanted me to be prepared or whatever. I dunno, I wasn't really listening." Naruto lied. Kakashi had trained him, that much was true, but he knew why. As a jinchuriki, it was a skill he desperately needed to have. Both to avoid the Kyuubi's control, and to avoid anyone who wanted to control the Kyuubi.
Ino nodded. "Yeah, uh, I guess that.. makes sense." She told him, and he grinned.
"Oh well. You wanted the answers, right? Get them from that guy to the left in front of me. That's how I got mine." Naruto told Ino with a grin. Ino just nodded, and suddenly she was back in her body. After a few minutes of collecting her thoughts, reevaluating a few of her opinions on Naruto, and just being generally shocked, she followed his advice.
Eventually, the time came for the tenth question. Ibiki explained what would happen if they were to fail it, which rattled the genin. Many left, but Naruto and Sasuke stayed firm in their seats. If they couldn't face a simple question like this, how could they ever face the killer of their clan?
Then, Ibiki explained that it was one big bluff. The rest of the questions barely mattered, and there was no tenth. Not really, anyways. The option to take the tenth question was the tenth question. He explained the purpose of the exam, and revealed his scars to the genin. As he was putting his full headed forehead protector back on, smoke entered the room.
When the smoke cleared, there was a very attractive woman standing in front of a large banner. She talked to Ibiki for a few seconds, before introducing herself as the proctor for the next exam: Anko Mitarashi. She told the gathered genin to follow her, and left the way she came in, through the window.
Outside the Forest of Death
Naruto and Sasuke, along with all of the other passed genin, were standing outside of a massive forest. Anko explained the exam to them, and gave them all forms to sign in case of their death. Naruto and Sasuke, without hesitation, signed the forms. Again, how could they face Itachi if they were scared of some forest?
They handed in their forms, and received a heaven scroll in return. Sasuke stored the scroll in a storage seal he'd copied with his Sharingan, something Kakashi suggested, and headed off to the gate where they'd start the second exam.
Forest of Death, Second Exam
The gate opened for them to start the exam, and both Uchiha immediately activated their Sharingan. By this point, both could keep it active as long as necessary, and regain the spent chakra while resting. Naruto, of course, didn't even feel the strain to begin with. For Sasuke, Kakashi's training had included increasing the time he could keep his Sharingan active. It was insanely uncomfortable at first, but now he could keep it active all day if he really wanted to.
They dashed into the forest and scanned the area for any sign of another team. Their Sharingan let them pick up the smallest details like imprints on the ground, or even feint traces of chakra. It wasn't as good for tracking as the Hyuga's Byakugan, but it was still good. Any time they saw a trace of an imprint, they'd rush towards it. They wanted to finish the exam as quickly as possible. They weren't afraid of the forest, but they wanted to show off their skill.
Eventually, they came across another team of Konoha genin. It wasn't anyone they knew, but them being from Konoha meant the duo would go somewhat easy on them. At the very least, they wouldn't ambush their fellow Konoha shinobi.
Naruto and Sasuke appeared in front of the trio of genin, who tensed up at the sight of other shinobi. One of them, instinctively, covered a pouch on his left thigh, which didn't go unnoticed by the duo's Sharingan. At first the trio was calmed by the fact that it was only two enemies, but then they noticed the eyes.
"The Sharingan.." one of them muttered.
Naruto grinned. "Hey, do you happen to have the earth scroll?" Naruto asked, his casual grin failing to put them at ease.
The trio snapped out of their shock. "You're outnumbered! Sharingan or not-" one of them started, but Sasuke was already on them.
Sasuke and the other genin engaged in a quick taijutsu battle, but Sasuke proved to be the superior fighter. With his Sharingan, he was able to easily slip into his opponent's guard and break their defense. He sent a palm to his opponents chest, and sent them flying into a tree. He turned around to see Naruto fighting the other two shinobi, and winning despite being outnumbered.
Naruto, after watching Sasuke engage one of the genin, attacked the remaining two. He only had to keep them from interfering with Sasuke's fight, but he could tell both he and Sasuke outmatched them. They were good for genin, but Naruto and Sasuke were better. With their three tomoe Sharingan and training from Kakashi, there were few genin on their level.
Sasuke's opponent got back up, and the group of three genin regrouped. They started to run through hand signs, and both Naruto and Sasuke recognized them with smirks. The duo began to copy the hand signs perfectly, and 5 massive fireballs filled the clearing. Naruto and Sasuke's fireballs dwarfed their opponents individually, but it was three versus two.
The 5 fireballs collided, and the trio assumed they won.
They assumed wrong.
Naruto and Sasuke, used to the burning heat of the fireball jutsu, rushed through as soon as the fireballs had dissipated. Before their opponents could react, they knocked out the two who weren't carrying the scrolls. Then, it was just Naruto, Sasuke, and the one carrying the scroll.
"Did you really just try to use fireball jutsu on two Uchiha? That is our clan's signature jutsu, y'know." Naruto told them, and knocked out the remaining member. Naruto reached into the genin's pocket and grinned when he saw what the scroll was.
"Earth scroll- perfect." Sasuke said as Naruto handed him the earth scroll. He put it in the seal with the other scroll. "Do you want to hurry to the tower? Or do you want to have some fun and find more scrolls?" Sasuke asked Naruto.
Naruto stayed quiet for a second, and gave Sasuke a smirk. "Let's have some fun." He said, and Sasuke returned the smirk before they both disappeared back into the forest.
After a few more minutes, they came across team 10. They were resting and Shikamaru seemed to be forming a plan, with Ino and Choji listening intently. Naruto and Sasuke decided to jump down and make their presence known.
"Yo." Sasuke greeted, a greeting he'd picked up from Kakashi.
Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji all tensed up when Naruto and Sasuke appeared, but calmed down a bit when they saw who it was. "Are you here for a scroll?" Shikamaru asked, though he knew they'd already be down if Naruto and Sasuke wanted the scroll.
Naruto shook his head. "Nah, we already have both of ours. We were just looking around to have some fun and saw the three of you. Need any help?" Naruto asked.
"Really? Already?" Choji asked, and Sasuke nodded. "Wow, that's amazing." Choji told them between chips.
Naruto grinned. "Well, we are the last two Uchiha. Of course we're done!" Naruto exclaimed, and Sasuke smirked. Naruto's pride in their clan was growing. "Ah, well, like I asked before. Need any help? Since we were just planning to have some fun by fighting the other teams, we may as well help you get your scrolls." Naruto offered.
Ino, of course, was ecstatic about the idea of working with Sasuke. "Yeah! I call dibs on working with Sasuke!" She squealed, and everyone else rolled their eyes.
Sasuke shook his head. "No, I'm not working with you, Ino." Sasuke told her, and turned to Shikamaru. "Do you want our help? If not, me and Naruto are just going to have fun and take out a few more teams."
Shikamaru thought about it for a few seconds before making his decision. "Hm, how about a bit of both? You and Naruto go have fun and we can meet back here in three hours. If you have an extra of a scroll we need, we'll take it. If not, no harm done." Shikamaru suggested, and Sasuke nodded.
Sasuke turned to his teammate. "That fine with you?" Sasuke asked Naruto.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah! That sounds perfect, we get to have some fun and help our friends!" Naruto exclaimed, and gave the other team a grin.
Sasuke turned back to team 10, specifically Shikamaru. "Alright, we'll meet back here in three hours. If we have an extra scroll that you need, we'll give it to you." Sasuke told him, and quickly disappeared back into the trees.
Naruto just stood there and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, yeah. He can be kinda dramatic sometimes. He really likes dramatic exits and sounding ominous. Think it's an Uchiha thing? Dunno, don't care, Uchiha are weird. Anyways, I'm gonna follow him. Cya in a few hours!" Naruto told them, and quickly disappeared after Sasuke.
"Uchiha thing?" Choji asked. "Isn't he an Uchiha too?"
Shikamaru just nodded and muttered "Troublesome."
30 minutes later
Naruto and Sasuke were hopping through the trees, searching for another team. Despite having the Sharingan, neither of them were actual sensor types so they had to rely on visual and audio cues to find other teams. Eventually they heard the sound of a bear growling, and they rushed in the direction to see if there was another team the bear was growling at.
They came across a small clearing, and saw a large bear that was about to attack a redhead girl. Without even thinking about it, the duo quickly rushed in to save her. Sasuke attacked the bear and Naruto grabbed the girl, setting her down away from the bear.
The redhead looked up at Naruto, who gave her a grin. "Who are you?" The girl asked Naruto, as Sasuke landed beside them.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki-Uchiha, and he's Sasuke Uchiha!" Naruto introduced himself and Sasuke, and the girl's eyes widened.
"Uzumaki?" She echoed, and Naruto nodded. "I'm.. Karin Uzumaki." She told them, and Naruto stared at her with wide eyes.
"You're an Uzumaki? Well, you do have the same hair as my mom did, so I guess it makes sense! Am I the only Uzumaki without red hair?" Naruto asked.
Karin nodded her head. "Yeah, I think so. I haven't really met any outside of my mom, but she had red hair like me." Karin told Naruto.
Naruto grinned even more. "Wow, I'm from two clans and look like neither of them! My dad's genes were really strong, y'know!" Naruto exclaimed. "Ah, well. Do you need any help? Where's your team?"
Sasuke sighed. "Naruto, we can't just help everyone we find in the forest." Sasuke told him, and Naruto's face fell.
"But she's from the same clan as me! We should help her, y'know!" Naruto whined.
"Ah, well. I can find my way back to somewhere safe on my own. Don't worry about me, okay? You guys should find your scroll." Karin told them.
Naruto gave her another smile. "Nah, don't worry about that. We already got both of ours!"
Karin's eyes widened again. "Really? It hasn't even been a day! Why are you guys still running around the forest?" Karin asked.
"We were just gonna have some fun, y'know? Take out some more random teams. We didn't wanna head back to soon." Naruto said.
Karin's eyes narrowed. "You find that fun? Why'd you help me?" She asked.
Naruto shrugged. "You needed help. We don't want to kill anyone, just have a little fun." Naruto told her, and turned to Sasuke. "Could we take her with us? She's the only other Uzumaki I've met, I wouldn't want her to die out here."
Sasuke frowned by nodded his head. "Yeah, I guess. I'd probably do the same if there was another Uchiha." Sasuke looked back at Karin. "How fast can you move? We'll help you to the tower, just don't slow us down too much."
Karin nodded. "Okay, I can move pretty fast. I can't really fight, though.." She told them.
Naruto gave her another smile. "It's alright. We've still got, what, 4 days? I doubt anything bad will happen, y'know." Naruto told them.
"You totally just jinxed us, idiot." Sasuke muttered, and Naruto gave him a look of confusion. "Never mind. Let's just go. Karin, do you have an special abilities?" He asked, turning to Karin.
"Oh, yeah! I'm a sensor, and I can heal people." Karin told them, and their eyes widened.
"Healing? I heal really fast too, is that an Uzumaki thing?" Naruto asked.
Karin shrugged. "Maybe? My mom could, and I can. Can you heal others by letting them bite you?" Karin asked.
"Bite me? Huh? No, I can only heal myself. Far as I know, at least." Naruto told her, and she looked confused.
Before the two Uzumaki could continue wasting time, Sasuke cleared his throat to get their attention. "Let's go. Karin, if you're a sensor then just let us know if anyone is getting close." Sasuke told her, and headed back to the trees. Naruto and Karin gave each other a look, and followed him into the trees.
An hour later
Naruto, Sasuke, and Karin were all traveling through the trees. Naruto and Sasuke could be going faster, but Naruto didn't want to leave Karin behind. So far, they'd ran into a few people, but no one Naruto or Sasuke had any trouble with. Thanks to Karin, no one was able to catch them by surprise. It was a pretty good setup, but suddenly they heard Karin stumble and stop.
When Naruto and Sasuke stopped and turned around, they could see Karin was obviously terrified. Naruto jumped over to where she stopped, with Sasuke close behind.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, concern in his voice.
Karin was only able to snap herself out of it thanks to Naruto's proximity. His warm presence was almost enough to forget whatever it was she was feeling. He was like the sun, but this other presence was.. evil. There was no other way to describe it, it was just blatantly evil.
"Something's.. coming" She muttered, and turned to the direction she felt it coming from. "It's.. evil. And it has a lot of chakra." Karin told them, concerning Naruto and Sasuke even more.
Naruto and Sasuke both focused their Sharingan in the direction she turned to, straining their eyes to see any hint of movement. Then, they saw the massive amount of sinister chakra coming their way.
"HIDE!" Naruto shouted at Karin, and she didn't think twice. She'd seen them fight, and she knew she'd only get in the way. She quickly left them to hide in the nearby forest. Thanks to her sensory skills, she wouldn't be found unless she wanted to.
Naruto and Sasuke braced for the coming fight. Despite all their training with Kakashi, they could already tell they were outmatched. The chakra presence was.. massive. It was purple, sinister, and massive.
The chakra presence arrived and they recognized the source of it. It was a genin from Kusagakure, but they could tell it wasn't a normal genin.
"Kukuku, where'd the redhead go?" The Kusa genin asked, and the duo tensed up. "Ah, no matter. I didn't come here for an Uzumaki."
"Do you want our scroll?" Sasuke asked, and his hand reached for the seal. He was arrogant, but he wasn't completely stupid. He knew the only way to leave this alive would be to give the Kusa genin what they wanted.
The Kusa genin began to laugh an awful laugh. "Your scroll? No. I want something much better than a silly scroll." They told Naruto and Sasuke, before suddenly punching both.
Naruto and Sasuke thought they were prepared, but this genin just hit harder than Kakashi. They were barely able to spin around in the air, landing on the tree with their feet. Before they knew it, the Kusa genin was on them again. They could see the attacks with their Sharingan, but they couldn't react.
The Kusa ninja sent them crashing against the same tree, and landed above them.
"Kukuku, I really expected more from the last two Uchiha" The Kusa genin insulted them. "With that level of skill, you'll never face Itachi."
Weeks ago, just the mention of Itachi would've set Sasuke off. However, thanks to both Kakashi and Naruto, Sasuke was able to keep himself in check. He and Naruto shared a quick look, and rushed up at the ninja.
Naruto put his hands in a single seal, using his best jutsu that had nothing to do with his Sharingan. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." He muttered. Kakashi had warned him against shouting his jutsu names, though it wouldn't matter in most situations Naruto found himself in. 50 Naruto clones appeared around him, and Sasuke transformed into another Naruto.
All 52 Narutos, Sasuke and the original included, ran at the Kusa genin with Sharingan blazing. The Kusa genin only bothered to raise an eyebrow as all 52 Narutos started to form hand signs. 25 were performing one set of hand signs, 25 more were performing another set, while the remaining reached into their pouches and pulled something out.
"FIRE STYLE: FIREBALL JUTSU" The first set roared, ignoring Kakashi's warning this time.
"WIND STYLE: GREAT BREAKTHROUGH" The second set roared, and the two types of jutsu combined.
While the fire and wind style jutsu flew at the Kusa genin, the remaining two Narutos rushed at them. Hiding behind the massive attack, they waited for the genin to try and dodge, prepared to attack them when they tried.
To their shock, however, the genin didn't even bother to dodge. The massive attack it them dead on, and the duo approached as soon as the smoke cleared. The genin was indented into the tree, their skin literally melting off.
When they got a closer look, they only became more shocked. "What the.." The Naruto on the right muttered, and the other 50 Narutos dispelled. The Naruto on the left transformed back into Sasuke, and the duo could only stare in shock.
Behind the melting skin, there was another face. It was paper white, with purple surrounding the snakelike eyes.
"Kukuku." The snakelike man laughed again, and stared directly at Naruto. "That was quite the attack. Ingenious use of shadow clones, and it must've taken a lot of chakra. It's a shame your.. inhabitant makes your body useless for my needs." The snakelike man hissed at Naruto, and turned to Sasuke. "You, however, I'll have to see more of you."
Before they could react, snakes shot out from the man's sleeves, instantly wrapping themself around Naruto, pinning him to the tree. The snakelike man got out of the indent in the tree, and Sasuke jumped back.
Naruto, unable to budge against the snakes pinning him to the tree, could only watch as the snakelike man lunged at Sasuke. His Sharingan was still active, and he could clearly see every hit his teammate took.
Sasuke was trying to dodge and fight back, but the man fought the same way he looked: like a snake. Sasuke was clearly outmatched, and now he was fighting alone. The snakelike man would get in the way any time Sasuke tried to reach Naruto. Every hit felt like ten of Kakashi's punches, and he was quickly wearing down. He could clearly see all of the attacks with his Sharingan, but that was useless if he couldn't react.
Suddenly, the snakelike man stopped and started laughing the same ugly laugh. "Kukuku, I never even introduced myself, did I? My name is Orochimaru." The snakelike man, Orochimaru, told them.
Sasuke recognized the name, but it took him a few seconds to place it. As soon as he recognized it, he realized how truly outmatched he was. Orochimaru of the legendary Sannin, one of the strongest shinobi the village had ever produced. And here he was.. fighting genin.
He was knocked out of his thoughts by a confused Naruto. "Who?" Naruto shouted at them, completely oblivious of the name he'd just heard.
"You don't even know who I am? I'm offended, Naruto. How do you think your father would feel if he knew you couldn't even recognize a Sannin?" Orochimaru mocked.
"You knew my dad?" Naruto asked, shocked. He still didn't know whatever the hell a Sannin was, but any mention of his father was sure to catch his attention.
Sasuke was still shocked still, and Orochimaru just laughed again. "How could I not? The man stole the title of Yondaime Hokage from me!" Orochimaru hissed, and Naruto's eyes went wide.
'This guy was considered for Hokage? Shit, why's he fighting us? We're no match for someone like this!' Naruto thought, the fear sinking in. "Wh-why-" Naruto began to ask, but Orochimaru just laughed even more.
"What do I want from you? Think, what do you have that's valuable? And I can assure you that I'm not here for the fox in your gut, so what else does that leave?" Orochimaru asked.
Sasuke, finally snapping out of his shock a little, widened his eyes in realization. "The Sharingan.." He muttered.
Orochimaru smiled evilly. "Kukuku, you're definitely the smarter of the two, aren't you?" Orochimaru said, and went back to attacking Sasuke.
Sasuke tried to fight back but, just like before, he was far outmatched. He was doing everything he could to just react to the Sannin's attacks, he knew that fighting back would be impossible.
Worst of all, he could tell Orochimaru was just mocking him. Deciding that taijutsu was worthless in a situation like this, Sasuke jumped back. He quickly ran through hand seals. "Lightning Style: Lightning Ball Jutsu." Sasuke muttered, and 20 balls of lightning came into existence around him. He sent them all at Orochimaru, and they all hit their mark.
"Did that..?" Sasuke asked himself, but the Orochimaru just melted into mud. "Where-?" Sasuke tried to turn around, but he was hit in the back and sent flying.
"Lightning style, eh?" Orochimaru asked, walking over to where Sasuke landed. By now, he hurt all over. He tried to get up, he'd landed closer to Naruto, but it was useless. It was all he could do to turn to Orochimaru who.. walked past him? "Ah, well. I've had my fun." Orochimaru said, and walked to Naruto.
"What-?" Naruto asked, and Orochimaru lifted his hand to Naruto's Sharingan.
Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized what Orochimaru planned to do. Orochimaru started to dig into Naruto's eye, and blood started to poor from it. Naruto was screaming, but Sasuke couldn't hear anything.
As Sasuke watched his teammate, his true brother, scream in pain, he couldn't help but think about that night. The sight of Itachi standing over his dead parents raced through his mind, the helplessness from then repeating itself now.
'All that training.. all of the new power I've gained, and I still can't protect my family. That snake bastard is going to steal Naruto's eyes.. and what can I do?' Sasuke asked himself, and could only watch in horror as Orochimaru delicately pulled the eye out of Naruto's eye socket. Naruto's screaming had increased tenfold, and Orochimaru pulled out a jar.
"Kukuku." Orochimaru laughed at the screams of pain, and finished pulling the eye out. He dropped it into the jar full of liquid, and the sickening 'plop' sound was the only sound echoing through Sasuke's head. It was quiet, but the sound was deafening to Sasuke.
He stared in horror at Naruto, blood pouring from his empty eye socket. Then, he looked at the Sharingan eye floating in the liquid. As Orochimaru reached for Naruto's other eye, still laughing, Sasuke snapped.
The tsukuyomi Itachi showed him that night raced through his mind, overlayed on the sight of when Orochimaru just pulled out Naruto's left eye. It was awful, and he couldn't stand to watch his brother suffer anymore.
Unknown to him, something changed in his eyes at that moment. The sense of helplessness, the sense of rage, and, most of all, the overwhelming urge to protect Naruto by burning away Orochimaru raced through his mind. His eyes burned, and he felt blood trickle down his face. He stared down Orochimaru, a glare that could literally kill, and Orochimaru's arm went up in black flames.
Somehow, Sasuke managed to find the energy to get up. The black flames were covering Orochimaru's arm, and forced him to drop the jar. Orochimaru's face became one of genuine shock as Sasuke rushed past him and grabbed the jar.
Orochimaru stumbled back, the black flames spreading across his arm. He tried to douse himself with a water style jutsu, but it didn't work. He tried to move the fire onto another surface, but it stuck to him. He glanced at Sasuke one more time, and he noticed something. Sasuke's eyes.. had changed.
He didn't know what kind of Sharingan that was, but it radiated power. 'The boy seems to have done something to me.. this fire won't go out. I'll have to take my leave for now.. but I'll definitely return for those Sharingan." Orochimaru thought to himself, and quickly detached the arm covered in the black flames. "You seem to have saved yourself this time.. Sasuke." Orochimaru told Sasuke, who was standing shakily on his feet, before disappearing back into the forest.
Sasuke stared at the jar in his hand, and stared at Naruto. The snakes had disappeared, but Naruto had already passed out from the pain. Sasuke could barely stand up himself, and fell to his knees.
Then, Karin showed back up. She was sure the evil presence had left, and ran over to Naruto and Sasuke. She was expecting it to be bad, but not this bad. Naruto was passed out on the ground, missing an eye. Sasuke was on his knees, staring at the eye in the jar he was holding. Sasuke was crying blood, literally, and he gave Karin a pleading look as soon as he noticed her.
Normally, Sasuke wouldn't hand a Sharingan to someone he barely knew, but he was desperate. He held out the jar to Karin, begging her with his eyes. "Please.. help Naruto. You.. said you can heal.. right?" Sasuke asked.
Karin nodded, and rushed over to grab the jar. As soon as he felt it leave his hand, he fell fully to the ground. The strain of.. whatever he just did finally getting to him. The last thing he saw was Karin rushing over to Naruto's unconscious form, and opening his empty eye socket. Then, his world went black.
Author's Note
Ahah! Finally, got another chapter out. I plan on getting at least one more out this weekend, especially since I couldn't leave you hanging on that note.
Sorry about the false update earlier, I had to make a small change.
Lastly, sorry but it's late and I'm too tired to respond to all the reviews. I'm not even sure I could separate what's responding to what at this point. If there's anything you really want to ask or say to me, I'm pretty active in the discord server: e67 UbSn Xr7. I'm still reading the reviews as they come in, but it's a lot to respond to and aim already tired. It's like 12:40.
Before anyone talks about the Mangekyo, I'll explain my reasoning. The Mangekyo isn't only guilt from killing someone you care for. In theory, any emotional extreme could awaken it. I went with an overwhelming sense to protect, along with memories to how he felt when Itachi killed his clan. It's a combination of things, and honestly just kind of a plot device. However, Mangekyo doesn't mean he'll be doing all the crazy Mangekyo shit he did in canon. He won't instantly blind himself, it'll be a while before EMS is even realized as a possibility.