Author's Note: Ugh, I haven't written anything in weeks. Damn writer's block. Fortunately, I still have several chapters already written, but that may change soon if my inspiration doesn't return. Anyway, at least, this story now has become my most popular story in terms of views, favorites, follows, and reviews! Thanks a lot to everybody who helped this!
Now, enjoy the ending of the Land of the Rice Fields Arc:
Chapter 19:
First C-Rank Mission, Part IV: The Escape
or
Goodbye to the Land of Rice Fields
After greeting their former classmates, Team Asuma was assigned to help the villagers with their luggage. With the six extra arms, and Naruto's Shadow Clones, they finished a couple hours before sunset. Since the evacuation wouldn't start until the next morning, the only question left was what to do in the meantime.
"Maybe we should get some training in, you know, to get ready before the inevitable Oto attack comes," Naruto suggested.
"From what your sensei told us, you barely came out alive from your latest fight, then you've been helping these people pack their stuff, and yet you still have energy for training?" Shikamaru asked incredulously. "Man, I get exhausted by just being near you."
"Maybe that's why he's so energetic, because he siphons the stamina and chakra of those around him?" Choji suggested half-jokingly.
"If that was the case, then Shikamaru would be unaffected since he has none to begin with," Ino replied. "But then again, I agree with Shika. Besides, tomorrow's mission is going to be insane. We should get all the rest we can."
"I agree with Ino...besides, I still haven't recovered completely from the battle with Mizuki..." Hinata mentioned, making a conscious effort to suppress the "-sensei" honorific.
"Speaking of which, I can't believe that guy ended up joining another village, and one created by Orochimaru, no less. To think that he used to be our instructor..." Shikamaru mused as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Maybe we will see him again, if he decides to finish the job." Choji mentioned.
"Heh, if that traitor's stupid enough to show his ugly face a second time, it will be ME who's going to finish the job." Naruto punched his palm vigorously. By the way he spoke, everybody guessed that Naruto actually wanted for Mizuki to show up again.
"We still haven't decided what are we going to do until we go to bed..." Shikamaru reminded everyone.
"How about some culinary tourism? This is the first time I've been out of Konoha, and I'd like to see what they eat in other countries." Choji suggested.
"There were only like two restaurants in the town, and both of them are now closed due the evacuation thing," Naruto explained, and noticed how Choji's mood soured.
"But that doesn't mean that we aren't going to have dinner." Hinata interceded, hoping to at least reassure Choji a bit, aware of the Akimichi's love of food. "In fact...why don't we have dinner now?"
"Yeah, that can work too." Naruto agreed. "Let's go back to the inn. That way, we can check on Haku as well."
While they walked the relatively short distance towards the inn, the group of five separated into two subgroups, boys and girls. Though a more accurate statement would have been Ino grabbing Hinata and dragging her away from the three boys, who were casually chatting with each other. Hinata wasn't sure what Ino wanted, but her unnerving smile made her a bit nervous.
"Okay Hinata, we didn't have a chance to talk after we graduated, so now you're going to spill everything." Ino demanded in an oddly commanding tone.
"Spill? W-What are you t-talking about?" the Hyuga Heiress asked.
Ino grimaced. "About the state of your relationship with Naruto, duh," the blonde replied as if stating the most obvious thing. "Come on, everybody knows that you have the hots for him, and you got lucky enough to be in the same team as him. I mean, I can see that you're not formally a couple yet, but I'm sure that you progressed in some way beyond the 'just friends' stage, right?"
Hinata turned extremely red, averted her gaze, started to fidget with her fingers while she tried to elaborate a response, but all that came from her mouth was inelegant blubbering. That was enough for the gossip-hungry blond.
"Nothing yet!?" Ino grimaced. "Come on girl, if you don't take the initiative, some other girl will take him away from you! While Naruto may not be my type, he's kind of cute, plus he's the son of two Sannin, which will increase the popularity factor, and thus, the number of girls after him."
"Well, i-it's that...N-Naruto-kun is my f-friend and I-I don't know if h-he likes me that way..." the shy Hyuga replied.
Ino wrapped an arm around Hinata's shoulders and her face came uncomfortably close to Hinata's. "Nonsense! You're a cute girl, and Naruto would be a dumbass if he doesn't realize what he has in front of his eyes. Unfortunately, we have more pressing matters at hand now, but once all of this is over and we're back home, we'll work to make sure that blond knucklehead notices you!"
"Hey!" Naruto shouted, indignantly. "Who's this blond knucklehead you are talking about!?"
Ino didn't realize that she had raised her voice that much, and that Naruto wasn't that far away from them. While he didn't catch the whole conversation, his ears perked up at those two words.
"N-Nobody!" Hinata quickly replied. "W-We're talking about a cousin of Ino t-that's been annoying her lately!"
Shikamaru, and even Choji, realized that Hinata was telling a huge lie. However, the blond merely smiled.
"Oh, if you say so. I believe you. I know that you would never badmouth me behind my back, Hinata," Naruto happily concluded, before returning to his conversation with Shikamaru and Choji.
Hinata sighed wearily. While it would have been heartwarming in any other circumstance, Naruto's blind confidence in her made her feel even worse. "I can't believe I lied to Naruto-kun like that..."
"Well, it was me who called him a knucklehead, not you." Ino reassured, her voice now being lower. She then grinned. "But did you see that? He trusts you a lot. That's a good sign."
"Ino...is there something I can do or say to make you drop this topic?" Hinata asked exasperatedly.
Ino's smile grew even wider. "Nope, nothing!"
…
Senju Residence, Konoha
Upon arriving home, Jiraiya saw that Tsunade was already there. After greeting her, he decided to get to the point, and told her about Naruto's message. As he predicted, Tsunade pretty much exploded. Though given that the house was still standing, her reaction wasn't as...catastrophic as the Toad Sage had initially feared.
"So Naruto goes on his first mission out of the village, and he accidentally stumbles on Orochimaru's secret lair!" Tsunade shouted as she threw her hands in the air. "I knew that something would go wrong, dammit! I should have never given him that accursed necklace!"
"Listen, there's no way we could have known what was going to happen." Jiraiya tried to reassure her. "Besides, I already sent reinforcements. Naruto will be fine."
"You sent another rookie squad, and Orochimaru's former pupil. Kami knows how many ninja that snake has under his command." Tsunade countered.
"Hey, the Uchiha Insurrection did a number on our forces. That was the best I could come up with at the moment."
"Not the best. You could have sent me." Tsunade replied, as her frown deepened.
Jiraiya frowned in return. "Tsuande, no. We can't forsake our responsibilities whenever Naruto faces some danger. The life of a ninja is a dangerous one. We know it and he knows it. We are needed here."
"I...I know. But I can't help but feel worried...he's still a kid..." Tsunade rubbed her arms, as she averted her gaze.
"I'm worried too. But I have something that will alleviate some of those worries." Jiraiya said, and much to her confusion, he spread a map of the Elemental Nations in front of her. Then, the white haired Sannin made a hand seal, and multiple tiny symbols and kanji appeared on the map, most of them concentrated on Konoha.
"Jiraiya, what is this?"
"I have marked many people with a tracker seal that allows me to pinpoint their location on this map at any moment." Jiraiya pointed to a tiny symbol on the Land of the Rice Fields. "This is Naruto. The seals are linked to their life forces, meaning that if they died, they would not appear in the map, and I would feel the seal disappear."
"So, Naruto is still okay." Tsunade said, somewhat relieved. Then she frowned again when a realization dawned upon her. "Wait a minute, how many people did you mark with that seal? I hope I'm not among them!"
Jiraiya just chuckled. "I know better than that, Hime. The marked people are Naruto, Hagane, Kaida, and a bunch of people that haven't earned my full trust yet."
Tsunade's mood somewhat lightened. "So Naruto's safe for the moment. But that could change anytime soon."
"From what I know, Naruto and the others should return to Konoha. I also know that tomorrow one of my strongest Jonin will return from his mission, and I will send him as additional backup."
"You speak of Itachi?" Tsunade asked.
Jiraiya shook his head. "He was my first option, but sadly he won't come back in time. Fortunately, I got news that another group finished their mission, and send them a message to go to the Land of the Rice Field to assist Naruto's group. They're ANBU, so they should be enough."
"If you say so..."
Jiraiya then came close to Tsunade and kissed her on the cheek. "Come on hime, have some faith in Naruto. I'm sure that tomorrow night he will be back here in one piece, and we will laugh at how worried we were."
Tsuande sighed, but solemnly nodded. "Okay, I'll try not to get too worried."
…
Sawa Town, Next Morning
The two Jonin and one Special Jonin were awake half an hour before the sun would rise, Asuma was up even longer than that since he had taken the last watch of the night. They woke up the six Genin and told them to wake up the villagers in return, so they could start the evacuation as fast as possible. The Genin did as instructed, but still it took almost an hour before everybody was ready to go. After taking one last look at their hometown, the residents of Sawa Town began their march.
Shikamaru, Ino and Choji were placed at the head of the caravan, which would serve as a reconnaissance force. Naruto, Hinata and Haku were placed in the middle, and between Naruto's clones and Hinata's Byakugan, they would make sure that the caravan wouldn't fall prey to potential ambushes. And lastly, Kurenai, Anko and Asuma were in the back, where it was more likely for an attack to come from.
The atmosphere was tense. Very tense. And it wasn't just the civilians. The ninja, both children and adults alike, knew that they were in hostile territory, and they wouldn't be safe until they reached the Land of Fire. Anko decided to start a conversation, not just to keep her mind busy, but to get as many details of Orochimaru as possible.
"So tell us Kurenai, what exactly did you see in the capital?" Anko inquired.
"The city had been completely ravaged. There was some signs of a fight, but it appeared as if it was the work of a colossal beast rather than an army of ninja." Kurenai recalled.
"That sounds awfully a lot like the job of a snake summon." Anko concluded. "More than likely Manda, the Snake Boss. Orochimaru never earned his respect, and had to offer sacrifices in order to appease him. I guess that he probably summoned Manda to destroy the capital and thus get on his good graces, killing two birds with one stone."
"That bastard..." Asuma growled. "Those poor people never had a chance to begin with, right?"
"Sadly, that appeared to be the case. These may as well be the last free citizens of the Land of the Rice Fields. Too bad we couldn't save more." Kurenai mentioned while she looked at the caravan in front of her.
Anko smiled a bit. "Hey, focus on the people you saved than on those you couldn't save. You did a great job."
Kurenai smiled in return.
"So, how long until we reach the border with the Land of Fire?" Asuma asked.
"I guess that a couple more hours should do, give or take a minute." Anko replied. "But I wouldn't put it past Orochimaru and his minions to ignore the borders and chase us into the Land of Fire."
"That would be a suicide. Orochimaru may be a madman, but even he knows that doing such a thing would be like declaring open war upon us." Kurenai interceded.
"Well, you guys kinda entered his domain first."
"Because we got a mission request from one of its towns!" Kurenai loudly protested. "If that bastard wants to use that to claim to other villages that Konoha invaded his-"
"Kurenai-sensei!"
A loud yell made the three Jonin to turn their head to the source of the voice, and saw Naruto, or rather, one of his clones, rushing at them.
"Naruto! What's going on?"
The blond stopped in from of the three adults, panting. "Hinata saw something with her Byakugan! A massive snake coming from behind!"
The three adults looked at each other, exchanging worried looks.
"How far?" Asuma asked.
"The range of her Byakugan is one kilometer, so I guess it would be that. But now it will be even closer. It will take a couple minutes for the snake to arrive."
Kurenai walked to the clone and grabbed him by his shoulders. "Naruto, Asuma, Anko and I will take on the snake. Your team and Asuma's Genin will protect the caravan while we fight. There might be a chance that this is just a trap to get us out of the way, so if you pick up more enemies or are under attack, send us a signal."
"Shikamaru knows a couple of fire jutsu, so that should work." Asuma added.
"Is that clear?"
"Protect caravan, call for help if we're under attack." the clone repeated.
Kurenai nodded. "Stay safe, and watch each other's backs." Kurenai said before she stabbed two fingers on the clone's neck, dispelling it.
The earth started to shake. The three adult ninja slipped into their usual fighting stances.
"Here it comes!"
The ground shattered as a massive, gray snake emerged from below. The three Konoha ninja leapt backwards, all of them making hand seals while in air.
"Fire Release: Great Flame Jutsu!" Asuma expelled an expanding stream of flames at the snake.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Jutsu!" Anko released flames shaped like a dragon that flew at the snake.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Kurenai motioned her arms forward, creating a huge gust of wind that increased the potency of Asuma and Anko's attacks.
The snake loudly hissed in pain upon being hit by the attacks, its skin catching fire. The reptile, however, quickly shed its skin and put some distance between them. At that moment, two figures landed on the giant snake's head.
"Kukuku...impressive display...I think you three will be more than enough to test my new abilities..." one of the figures said.
Anko's blood froze upon hearing the new voice. From atop the giant reptile was the unmistakable pale visage of Orochimaru, wearing the black and red Akatsuki cloak, smiling teasingly at her. Besides him was a glasses-wearing, silver haired man that Anko paid no attention to.
"Orochimaru?" Asuma asked, mildly shocked.
"I knew that he had conquered these lands, but I never thought that he would come out to fight us personally..." Kurenai replied, trying not to shake. She knew this was a foe in a league way above hers.
Anko noticed her friends' reaction and decided to intervene. "Don't be afraid of him! That's what he wants! Deep down, he isn't that strong!"
Orochimaru merely chuckled. "Not that strong? You hurt my feelings, Anko-chan." Orochimaru's lips formed a cruel smile. "But if you're so sure, you're welcome to fight me. The last time we saw each other I was on a schedule, but now I have plenty of time to spare. And I want to check how much have you grown since the last time we fought."
"Orochimaru-sama, what about the Genin and the civilians?" his lackey asked.
"Take care of them, Kabuto. Killing mere Genin and civilians won't be a good way to test my new strength."
"Right," Kabuto then jumped from the snake and dashed towards the bulk of the caravan.
Kurenai attempted to stop the silver haired Oto ninja, but in the blink of an eye, Orochimaru was in front of her, his expression unchanged. Now the three Konoha ninja were surrounded by the Sannin and his pet snake.
"I'm afraid I can't let you interfere with Kabuto's mission. But if you care so much about your students' well being, it should serve as a motivation to defeat me, right?" the Snake Sannin chuckled. "But even all the motivation in the world is useless without an equal amount of strength and the skill accompanying it."
"Listen, we don't need to defeat him. Just create an opening for one of us to leave and help our Genin." Asuma suggested.
"As much as I enjoy a good conversation, I believe this chattering has gone long enough." Orochimaru adopted a fighting stance, while the giant snake behind prepared to pounce them.
"I agree. But first, let's even playing field." Anko bit her finger and ran through hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu!"
From a cloud of smoke, a giant snake appeared, though it wasn't as big as Orochimaru's, it looked visibly surprised upon seeing one of its own, a reaction which was mirrored by the second snake. However, the shock was short lived, as both snakes looked at each other, and nodded as if reaching some sort of unsaid understanding, before finally disappearing in a puff of smoke, much to Kurenai and Asuma's confusion.
"Smart. Really smart, Anko-chan." Orochimaru praised his former student, his smile remaining unchanged.
"Anko? What did you do?" Kurenai asked, a bit puzzled.
"Easy. Two summons of the same tribe can't fight each other. If two summoners are at odds, as is the case of Orochimaru and myself, then our summons will refuse to fight for us until the dispute is over. So neither Orochimaru nor I will be able to summon snakes as long as the other is present. And given that Orochimaru can summon stronger snakes, I deprived him of an advantage." the Special Jonin explained.
"Your constant underestimating of my abilities had some naive charm at first, but now it's starting to become irritating. It's about time I show you three the huge gap between our power." Orochimaru quickly motioned his arms forwards. "Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
A myriad of angry hissing snakes emerged from the Sannin's sleeves and flew towards the Konoha ninja, who jumped back in an attempt to avoid their poisonous fangs.
'Dammit, that bastard still has access to some snake-based jutsu...but if he can, then so can I!' Anko thought as she fend off the snakes.
Asuma's hands flew through hand seals. "Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!" Asuma then exhaled a huge cloud of gunpowder that covered Orochimaru completely. Asuma made a hand seal, making the gunpowder to explode, engulfing everything within the cloud in fire. However, much to his shock, Orochimaru jumped from the explosion almost unscathed.
"Sword of Kusanagi!" Orochimaru opened his mouth, and a snake came out of it, which in turn vomited the sword in question, which flew at Orochimaru's hands. "Killing you will be a nice way to get revenge on my former sensei!"
Asuma quickly pulled out his chakra blades and parried an incoming swing from Orochimaru's sword. The two of them continued trading blows, Orochimaru acting more aggressive, forcing Asuma on the defensive. Fortunately for the latter, he had two kunoichi that could provide him some backup.
With a kunai in each hand, Kurenai dashed at Orochimaru, who quickly raised his sword to protect himself from the red-eyed woman's swings, and deliver one of his own. However, much to Kurenai's surprise, the Sword of Kusanagi cut through her knives like they were butter, and the kunoichi barely avoided being slashed by the legendary sword.
Thinking that such action left Orochimaru wide open, Anko pulled out a single shuriken and infused it with fire chakra before tossing it at Orochimaru. But before the flaming star reached the Sannin, Anko cast another jutsu in the span of a second.
"Shadow Clone Fire Shuriken Jutsu!"
Orochimaru, however, saw the attack, and in the blink of an eye, stabbed his sword on the ground, and formed more hand seals at an imperceptible speed.
"Wind Release: Wind Wall!"
A tornado formed out of nowhere, encasing Orochimaru and protecting him from all harm. The shuriken were unable to fly any further, their fire snuffled out by the powerful winds before being pushed outwards. The wind was so intense that it hurled the three Konoha jonin backwards as well. Fortunately for them, the wind barrier didn't last long.
"Kukuku...I was afraid that I would kill you without having the chance to test my new power..." Orochimaru said in an almost orgasmic tone. "I'm glad to see that that's not the case."
Anko was the first one to get back on her feet.
"How did you see my attack? I knew you were fast, but that...that was impossible, even by your standards..." Anko complained, frustrated.
"Because these eyes can see through everything, my dear student..."
At first Anko didn't realize what he was talking about, but it took no time for her to see it. Orochimaru's eyes were no longer yellow, but red. They also had three tomoe around the still slitted pupils.
Anko paled in shock. Orochimaru somehow had acquired the Sharingan. Their already low chances of survival had become even smaller.
...
"Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"
Kabuto jumped over the cone of wind generated by Naruto, and landed gracefully in front of his six rivals, while sporting a smug smile.
"If that's the best you have, then you may spare me the trouble and give up already." Kabuto taunted, not bothering to slip into a fighting stance.
After Hinata detected Kabuto coming after them, the six Genin decided to face him all together, and sent the refugees going, escorted by several Naruto clones. Hinata's Byakugan didn't see any more enemies coming after them, so she thought they would be fine. Hopefully, the clones would be enough until they reached the Land of Fire's border.
How were she and her friends going to escape this four-eyed menace? That was another problem she wasn't sure how to solve.
"Give up? Nobody has been born yet that can make me to give up on anything!" Naruto replied as he formed another hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Ten Naruto's appeared around him and charged at Kabuto, whose smile grew even bigger.
"You seem to be an entertaining bunch. I'm sure Orochimaru-sama won't mind if I drag this fight a bit for my own amusement." Kabuto said as he engaged the clones.
While Kabuto was busy with the clones, Haku pulled out a small scroll from his kimono and unfurled it on the ground. It was a sealing scroll with the kanji of "Water" in the middle. After making a hand seal, Haku stepped on the kanji, and water started to pour from the scroll, creating a large puddle.
Shikamaru, meanwhile, was trying to piece a plan together as fast as he could. The Naruto clones weren't going to buy him much time.
"Alright, this enemy is easily as strong as our Jonin-senseis, so we need to tread extremely carefully. Naruto, Hinata and Choji are the best hand to hand fighters, so they should be at the front, while the rest of us support them from behind." Shikamaru started to explain. "We have the numbers advantage, so we should exploit that to its fullest. That means that we will attack him from every possible angle. With some luck, we might land some hits on him."
After Shikamaru finished explaining his admittedly not so good strategy, Kabuto finished off the last Naruto clone.
"Okay, let's see...I should make sure that the Jinchuriki, the Hyuga and the Ice Release user are incapacitated without receiving much damage." his sight then moved towards the other three Genin. "Hmmmm...you three look like the newest incarnation of the infamous Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Given that your bodies are nothing outside the ordinary, I guess Orochimaru-sama won't mind if I'm not as considerate on you." Kabuto mused as he menacingly advanced towards the six Genin.
"Naruto-kun, I think that it would be wise to bring some reinforcements." Hinata interceded.
While Team Asuma didn't know what she was talking about, Naruto merely nodded. The blond bit his finger and made five hand seals before slamming his hand on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Naruto hopped that Gamakazu would be enough to tip the scales in their favor. However, much to his horror, from the cloud of smoke didn't appear his usual summon, but a much smaller toad.
"Hi, I'm Gamatatsu! It's so great that somebody summoned me at last. Do you have some snacks?"
Gamtatsu was a chubby, happy-looking yellow toad, with orange markings around his eyes and lips. Like Gamakichi, he was also wearing a blue jacket.
"AAAAAAAAAARRGHH!" Naruto brought his hands to his head in horror. This was the last thing he needed. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!? WHERE IS GAMAKAZU?"
'Naruto-kun didn't summon the intended toad?' Hinata inwardly asked. Upon glancing at Naruto, she realized there was something slightly off about Naruto. 'His chakra network seems...irregular. Maybe it was something Mizuki did to him?'
"So you didn't want to summon me? Oh, what a pity..." Gamatatsu said, a bit downtrodden as he lowered his head.
"I'm sure Naruto-kun didn't want to hurt your feelings, but right now we're fighting a powerful enemy, and we need a combat-capable toad who can assist us." Hinata softly explained.
"Well...I never fought before...but I have some training...I can help if you want."
"Better you than nothing." Naruto conceded. Gamatatsu regained his carefree smile, and hopped on Naruto's shoulder.
Resigning to having Gamatatsu as his partner for the time being, Naruto faced Kabuto once again, who was ready to attack.
"Let's see how well Konoha train its Genin." Kabuto set his sights on Shikamaru, and dashed at him. "Let's start with you, Nara!"
"Of course he had to go after me first. So troublesome," Shikamaru formed a hand seal. "Shadow Imitation Jutsu!"
Shikamaru's shadow extended towards Kabuto forming a somewhat think line. Kabuto merely sidestepped aside and continued his rush. The shadow split into multiple tendrils that tried to grab Orochimaru's second in command's shadow, but he dodged all of them expertly. In no time, he was in hand to hand range with the lazy genius.
"Disappointing. Now die!" blades of chakra formed from Kabuto's hands, and he thrust one of them at the shocked Nara.
Though rather than kill Shikamaru, Kabuto's attack hit an ice barrier that wasn't there a second before. Choji appeared behind Shikamaru, grabbed him, and jumped backwards, putting some distance between them and the silver haired man.
"Wait...that looks like Mom and Shizune-neechan's Chakra Scalpels! Does that mean this guy is a medic-nin?" Naruto pondered. "Guys! Do not let him touch you with that! They can cause internal damage!"
"This is my chance!" Hinata thought as she ran towards Kabuto while she made some hand seals. "Lightning Release: Thunder Palm!"
Hinata's hands crackled with electricity, and upon reaching Kabuto, tried to hit him with a lightning-infused palm strike. Kabuto parried her attacks, and tried to cut her with his Chakra Scalpels, but Hinata was able to block them as well. Meanwhile, Haku was preparing an attack.
"Ice Release: Multiple Piercing Icicle Shot!"
Suddenly, sharp icicles started to rain upon the Oto Jonin. He dodged some of them while shattering others. And the Konoha Genin weren't going to give him any time to breathe.
"Human Bullet Tank!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Once again, Kabuto was barely able to dodge the massive rolling meat boulder that had become Choji, as well as Naruto's wind jutsu. He was so focused in doing so that he momentarily lost sight of what Shikamaru was doing. And that moment was all what the lazy genius needed, as Kabuto suddenly found it nearly impossible to move. Looking down, he realized that Shikamaru had trapped him with the Shadow Imitation Jutsu.
"Shadow Imitation Jutsu, success." Shikamaru announced, complacently grinning.
However, his grin was short lived as Kabuto started to overpower his jutsu.
"Congratulations for catching me, Nara, but that pitiful jutsu of yours is nowhere near enough to contain me." Kabuto said, not losing his cool one bit.
"Then maybe this will calm you down!" Ino made a hand seal pointing at Kabuto. "Mind Scream Jutsu!"
Just like the name of the attack implied, Kabuto felt as if somebody screamed into his eardrums, though it appeared as if the scream came from inside his head rather than outside. He tried to instinctively bring his hands to his head, but Shikamaru's jutsu didn't allow him to.
"Naruto, Hinata, Haku, attack him with everything you have!" Shikamaru shouted.
The three Assault Squad Genin nodded, and prepared for the attack.
"Wind Release: Toad gun!" Gamatatsu exhaled a huge stream of water, which was combined with a gust of wind created by Naruto.
"Ice Release: Piercing Icicle Shot!" Haku formed an ice spear that flew at Kabuto.
"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!" Hinata thrust her palm forward, releasing a vacuum shell.
"And now, my turn," Shikamaru said as he ran through hand seals. "Fire Release: Shadow Fire Thread!"
Shikamaru exhaled a small fire stream that ran along his shadow in a straight line. The four attacks collided, creating a huge explosion.
"Woohoo! Nice one, guys!" Ino cheered, jumping and pumping a fist in joy.
Ino's mood wasn't shared by Hinata, who saw what really happened through her Byakugan.
"He somehow used a Body Replacement in the last second!" Hinata warned as she continued to scan the area for the silver haired man. "Haku-kun, he's right below you, underground!"
Haku jumped a fraction of a second before Kabuto's hands could catch his ankles.
"I'm going to admit that you brats are a bit stronger than I had expected." Kabuto said as he started to unearth himself. "But the game ends now."
"I agree," said a female voice.
Suddenly, a tree grew right behind Kabuto, its branches wrapping around the silver haired man, immobilizing him completely.
"What the hell, Wood Release?" Kabuto asked in shock, but further inspection revealed otherwise. "No, it's a genjutsu..."
"Very clever," Kurenai's voice said, as the red-eyed Jonin appeared before him from thin air. "But knowing that won't be of any help."
"What are you doing here? There's no way you and your two cohorts could have defeated Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto asked as he tried to break free from the branches that kept him in place.
"No, sadly, we didn't. I managed to get past Orochimaru's eyes to come help the Genin. But then again, I saw that they weren't doing so bad after all."
"Thanks, Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto replied, blushing a bit.
"What are we going to do with him, Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata asked.
"He seems to be some sort of lieutenant of Orochimaru's, which means that he has plenty of intel about him. We'll bring him to Konoha with us for interrogation." Kurenai made a hand seal. "Don't worry, this won't hurt. When you wake up, you will be in a cell in Konoha."
"Like hell I will!" and much to Kurenai's shock, Kabuto kicked her in the guts, no longer restrained by her genjutsu. Using that window of opportunity, he made a hand seal, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Kurenai-sensei, he's one hundred meters to the northwest, and running away in that direction! If you're quick you will catch him!" Hinata was quick to inform.
"No, that's what he wants." Kurenai replied as she stood on her feet. "I need to go back to help Asuma and Anko with Orochimaru."
"S-Should we go with you?" Ino asked, a bit afraid.
"No. Orochimaru is way too powerful for you, especially now. Return with the refugees, they should be pretty close to the border with the Land of Fire."
"But...what about you, Asuma-sensei, and that other woman?" Choji asked. "If this Orochimaru is that strong as you say..."
Kurenai smiled at the Akimichi kid. "Your concern is touching, Choji, but don't be afraid for us. We can take care of ourselves. Now go!"
Kurenai and the six Genin rushed in opposite directions.
…
As the third member of the Sanin, Orochimaru was considered one of the most powerful ninja that Konoha ever produced. Jiraiya was a genius of hard work who never gave up, and Tsunade was part of a lineage of powerful ninja, but Orochimaru was a prodigy. He was intelligent, strong, cunning, and most of the time, merciless. Very few ninja would dare to fight him.
The Sharingan was one of the most feared Bloodline Limits to ever exist, even to the majority unaware of its terrifying evolution, the Mangekyo Sharingan. With a mere glance, a Sharingan wielder could instantly copy a jutsu that would take a normal ninja weeks or even months to master, besides being able to predict the opponent's movements with fearsome accuracy.
So naturally, most people would think that fighting a Sharingan-wielding Orochimaru was a fool's errand. A suicidal fool's errand.
Asuma Sarutobi never felt like a biggest fool in his life than now.
His clothes had multiple cuts that reached his skin, some which leaked blood. His pair of chakra blades had been destroyed by a particularly vicious swing of the Sword of Kusanagi. Fortunately, he always carried a spare pair. He had pumped even more chakra into the blades to endure the hits better, but doing so made his chakra reserves to pummel.
He couldn't stay on the defensive all the time. If he wanted to survive –he had come to terms with the fact that there was no way they could win against him pretty quickly– he needed to attack as well. Hopefully Anko would be able to provide him an opening. He saw that the Special Jonin was making had seals. However, this slight distraction allowed Orochimaru to sink his legendary sword on Asuma's shoulder.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!"
Anko exhaled once again a dragon-shaped stream of fire at Orochimaru, which nimbly dodged, while acting as if the attack was just a nuisance. Grabbing his injured shoulder, Asuma took advantage of this and jumped backwards, and ignoring the burning pain, started doing hand seals.
"Wind Release: Dust Cloud Jutsu!"
Anko would swear that he heard two voices shouting the name of the attack. Which proved to be true as both Orochimaru and Asuma exhaled a gust of wind with grey dust on it against each other, clashing in the middle. Unfortunately, Orochimaru's attack had more power, and pushed Asuma's backwards. Fortunately for Asuma, he wasn't alone.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!"
Anko combined her fiery attack with Asuma's, creating a huge stream of fire with burning dust that quickly overpowered Orochimaru's attack. Unfortunately, the Sannin used a the Body Replacement, leaving a log in its place, which was promptly obliterated.
"He...he copied my jutsu!" Asuma exclaimed in disbelief. Now he knew how Kakashi's enemies must feel.
"The Sharingan is sure something, isn't it?" Orochimaru gushed as he appeared in front of the two Konoha ninja. "You don't realize how blind all of us are until you see the world through these magnificent eyes. Not that you will see much in the near future."
"Asuma! Anko!" Kurenai's voice called, as the red-eyed Jonin landed behind them. "The refugees and the Genin already crossed the border! We need to go!"
"Right! Asuma, do you need any help?" Anko asked to her male partner.
"My shoulder hurts like hell, but I still can go on. Let's go!" Asuma said, as he and the female Jonin prepared for their escape.
"How cute, the prey think they can outrun their predator," Orochimaru was genuinely amused. His smile, however, turned into a scary snarl. "Do you think you can escape from these eyes?"
"The Sharigan is far from invincible, you traitorous bastard!" Anko reached for her pouch, and pulled two smoke bombs, which she used to create a thick and wide smokescreen.
While nothing escaped the Sharigan, Orochimaru still needed to see his opponents, if they escaped his vision, the Sharingan was pretty much useless. And as much as it pained the Sannin to admit it, a mere smoke bomb was more than enough to neutralize it and create an opening to escape.
"You're merely delaying the inevitable." Orochimaru said, still amused, as he began the chase.
The Snake Sannin took no time to reach one of his so-called prey, Asuma Sarutobi. Asuma had suffered some serious injuries in his duel against the Otogakure leader, and thus was the slowest. He probably told Kurenai and Anko to go on without him born out of some ridiculous sense of chivalry. His pale hands flew through hand seals as he prepared a jutsu.
However, said jutsu never came to be, as he was interrupted by a barrage of kunai coming from his left flank. In no time, Orochimaru's Sharingan locked onto another pair of red eyes.
So they actually were preparing a trap, and Asuma was the bait. That meant that Anko wouldn't be too far either. Big deal, the result would be the same. From what he could see, Asuma seemed to care especially for that woman. He decided to target her instead, and maybe lure Anko as well. And, as expected, Anko reacted with another barrage of kunai aimed at the Sannin the moment he appeared to prepare a jutsu.
Orochimaru cursed on the inside. This was dragging on way too long. If he could summon snakes, then this hunt would have ended a long time ago. But as long as Anko was there, that wasn't an option. That meant that Anko had to go, even if her two partners wouldn't let him touch her.
Once again, Orochimaru shifted her target, expecting a preventive attack from Kurenai and Asuma. But said attack never came, and when Orochimaru cast his wind jutsu, Anko used the few seconds the Sannin had to slow down to increase the distance between them.
"Keep going! I can already see the border!" Asuma encouraged his female partners.
"Do you think that a border between countries means anything to me?" Orochimaru replied back as he increased his pace. "Such trivialities won't stop me! You won't live to see the dawn of another day!"
"No, but maybe we can stop you." a new voice said. "Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"
Orochimaru's chase was stopped by several wooden pillars emerging from the ground, forming a thick and tall wall that stopped the Sannin in his tracks. Several Konoha ANBU landed on the top of the wall and on tree branches, surrounding the Sannin.
"So, for the first time in years, you finally decided to show your face, Orochimaru," the leader of the ANBU squad, a man with brown hair who was wearing a cat-like mask, stated, while crossing his arms. "That will be your last mistake."
"Kukuku..." Orochimaru couldn't help but chuckle. Despite the mask, he knew perfectly who was that man. "Ah, my old guinea pig. It's good to see you again. I see that you're making a great use of my gift."
"Your 'gift' resulted in the death of more than fifty children, monster. And that's just scratching the surface of your disgusting career. You have a lot to answer for," the ANBU captain retorted. The rest of the ANBU started to unsheathe their swords. The captain made more hand seals "Wood Release: Wood binding Jutsu!"
More wooden branches emerged from the ground and wrapped around the Sannin as, ironically, snakes around their prey. At the same time, about half the ANBU jumped from their positions and landed near the Sanin with their weapons drawn. Still, Orochimaru looked undeterred.
"I guess that there's no way I can win against these odds, right?" Orochimaru asked.
The captain smirked behind his mask. "You got it right."
"If that's the case, the best course of action will be a tactical retreat and try again under better odds. Farewell," and suddenly, Orochimaru melted into a puddle of mud, much to all the ANBU's frustration.
The ANBU were about to chase him but the captain stopped them. "Let him go. If we chase him now, he'll pick us off one by one. Let's go back and escort the refugees to a safe place."
All the ANBU nodded, and followed their captain's orders.
…
Hours later, the nine Konoha ninja arrived at Konoha. The sight of the gates was truly a gift for their sore eyes. Kurenai couldn't help but let out an almost exaggerated sigh of relief.
"I never thought I'd be so happy to see the village," the red-eyed Jonin exhaustedly commented. "First mission out of the village, and we run into freaking Orochimaru."
"I'm sure other ninja also had similar misfortunes during their first mission. Such is our life." Anko shrugged.
"And you three..." Kurenai turned to cast murderous glares at her team. "If I ever hear you complain again about doing D-Ranks, I'm going to use you as practice dummies for my A-Rank genjutsu, understood!?"
While Hinata and Haku nodded and whimpered, Naruto wasn't deterred. "Hey, we only wanted a little more excitement, none of us asked to fight against an S-Rank ninja!"
"Speaking of which." Shikamaru spoke up, while looking at his sensei. "Asuma-sensei, did you know that we would face ninja of such caliber? Because this was the first time we also left the village as well."
Asuma sighed, trying to suppress his guilt. "Yes. But my intention was to keep you from the fights. Your job would have been to help the other Genin escort the refugees, while Kurenai, Anko and myself did the heavy lifting. Of course, none of us were expecting that Orochimaru himself would show up."
"But all of us came out of that alive, and that's what it counts. Live today to continue kicking ass another day!" Anko cheerfully added.
"Given who we actually had to fight, I wasn't expecting you to be so cheerful, Anko." Kurenai commented.
Anko just shrugged. "I already told you that I'm good at seeing the positive side of things. If I wasn't able to...well, I don't think I could ever get out of the bed every morning. That, and the thought that that bastard will pay some day, preferably at my hands."
After crossing the gates, the Genin were dismissed, while the adults headed to the Hokage Tower in order to report Jiraiya the outcome of the mission.
…
Senju Residence
"Hey, I'm home!" Naruto announced as he walked in. "Mom? Shizune-neechan? Kaida? Hagane?"
"Naruto!" the orange-clad boy heard Tsunade's voice as she entered the living room. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you back!"
"Hehe, it was nothing, mom. I know that the mission kinda went south, but in the end everything came out fine." Naruto replied with a foxy grin.
Tsunade sat in the couch and patted a spot near her, hinting Naruto to sit as well. "Come on, this was your first mission out of the village, tell me everything!"
"Okay! You see, after a day or so traveling, we arrived at this town that..."
Naruto's tale started harmless enough, but it quickly took a dark turn with the mention of Mizuki, the Academy teacher who fled from Konoha the night of the Uchiha insurrection with the Scroll of Seals in tow. If that traitor was working for Orochimaru, then that meant that the fallen Sannin had the scroll in his possession as well. But that was nothing in comparison to what happened next.
"Wait, wait, wait...you said that Orochimaru personally went to fight you?" the horror in Tsunade's voice could be heard.
"Yeah, but Kurenai-sensei, Asuma-sensei and Anko kept him at bay. By the way, he somehow had a sharingan despite not being an Uchiha. But then again, Kakashi-sensei also has one."
"Orochimaru has WHAT!?" Tsunade was close to hyperventilating. The fact that Naruto had survived this mission was a miracle.
"Calm down, mom! I already told you that everything went fine in the end. The ANBU arrived in time to drive Orochimaru away and escort the refugees to a safe place."
"Yeah, sorry, it's that...well, I was worried about you. This was the first time you left the village, and had to face one of the worst missing-nin of the entire elemental nations..." Tsunade forced herself to smile. "But let's be thankful that both you and your teammates returned in one piece. I'm sure this won't happen the next time. Still, what you told me about the Land of Rice Fields and Orochimaru was...worrying, to say the least. Your father needs to take some action against this, or else this could blow up in our faces."
…
Hokage's Office
Meanwhile, Kurenai, Asuma and Anko just gave an oral report of the mission to Jiraiya, which was more or less nearly identical in essence to what Naruto told Tsunade, only with far more details.
"So, not only Orochimaru managed to acquire the Sharingan, but has his own country now," the white haired Sannin sighed heavily. "Things can never go right for us just once."
"What are we going to do, Hokage-sama?" Anko asked. "In my opinion, we should deal with this problem before it gets worse. I doubt Orochimaru will be able to withstand and attack from our forces, especially if we ask Suna for some help."
"While I share your idea, it's not that easy," Jiraiya replied. "Orochimaru might ask for other villages' help, arguing that we're abusing our superior military to stop an emerging village from developing, and it could devolve into a massive war. No, first we must show the world that Orochimaru is a global threat before we take any action against him."
Anko cursed under her breath, but nodded in resignation. "What do you suggest to do, then?"
"For the time being, we will send a team of spies to gather information about this new village. Once we have enough information on our foe, we will discuss our next course of action," Jiraiya stated. "Now, given the kind of mission you just came from, I believe you earned a few days off to rest. Come back for another mission once you feel your teams are at one hundred percent."
"Yes, Hokage-sama." the three Jonin replied in unison, and left the office.
Jiraiya got up from his chair, and looked through the window, pensive.
"So, the rumors were true. You created your own village. Alright Orochimaru, if you want a war between our villages, I'll be happy to oblige. Nothing will be more satisfying than beating you at your own game."
Author's Note: And thus, another arc comes to an end. Fortunately, this will be far less controversial than the Uchiha Coup D'etat.
The whole thing with the "two summons of the next tribe can't fight each other" is entirely my doing, mostly because there was no instance of two enemies that had the same summons fighting against each other. Well, there was (Orochimaru vs Anko, and later vs Sasuke) but they didn't summon snakes. In my opinion, I think it's logical for summons to refuse to fight their kind.
Well, you guys know what comes next, one of the most popular arcs, as well as one of my personal favorites: the Chunin Exams!
...truth be told, that's not entirely true. The next chapter perse will be a transition chapter, in order to set up the next arc. The chapter after that will be the beginning of the Chunin Exams. But hey, the next chapter will introduce a character that I like a lot, and that in my opinon, should have had way more focus in the manga before she died. Let's see if you can guess who she is ;)
While you wait for the next chapter, don't forget to review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!