Disclaimer: I surprisingly don't own the Naruto franchise or any of its characters.
Naruto stared down Orochimaru of the Sannin with a look of pure hatred as he saw the unconscious, and hopefully not dead, bodies of his friends. He struggled to keep the incredibly heavy sword on his back with one hand, but did so anyway.
Orochimaru is masquerading as that pale freak? How the hell did no one notice there was something up with that guy? Naruto thought.
"Hohoho…the Kyuubi brat decides to come now? I assumed the snake would take longer than that to defeat—oh well. That sword…where have I seen it before? In fact, what is it? It's not like any jutsu I've seen before," Orochimaru whispered slowly, a look of interest overcoming his face.
"It doesn't matter what jutsu this is," Naruto said, putting the sword in front of him with both hands. "I'm going to kill you either way."
It was false bravado, but was something that he needed. If he himself didn't believe he could win, there was no chance of him winning, let alone saving his teammates. Of course, Naruto wouldn't be delusional either. He couldn't beat a Sannin—they had read about the three during his Academy days—but he could in fact try and stall until help came or somehow try to escape with both his teammates. For now, he had zero ideas other than brawl with the human-snake.
Naruto leapt forward with surprising speed, as Orochimaru widened his eyes slightly. He's almost as fast as the Uchiha. Keke…let's see how he fights.
Orochimaru only smiled widely, and quite creepily, Naruto would add, as he easily blocked Naruto's incoming punch, before slithering away from the secondary kick as if his body's as made of rubber.
He wasn't attacking back.
If he's going to underestimate and try to toy with me, I'll make him regret it. Naruto thought as he put his hands together.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Clones of Naruto, each with their own copy of the sword, rushed towards Orochimaru, who looked at the moving clones playfully.
His long, slender hands moved through a sequence of hand signs. "Lightning Release: Great Lightning Dragon!"
A ferocious being of lightning formed behind Orochimaru, taking the grand form of a dragon on the offensive. The construct crackled with power, before diving at the now startled clones with immense speed. Naruto felt each of his clones cease to exist as the quick response by Orochimaru left them helpless.
Naruto merely watched in silence, preferring to analyze the situation rather than charge in and lose immediately. Right now, he was in a horrible position. Orochimaru stood 'protectively' in front of Sasuke and Sakura, who both looked blacked out regardless of the raging battle around them. Furthermore, Naruto's own MP was draining by the second as he kept Shadow Zabuza active, who also was nowhere to be seen. Naruto cursed the shadow who said there was merely no point in fighting a Sannin.
He had forgotten what kind of man Zabuza was before he died. Calculating, selfish, and didn't take too many risks. If he hadn't made the deal with the wretched backstabber, Zabuza would definitely be alive and kicking right now. Zabuza didn't want to take the risk of fighting Orochimaru, even though he most likely couldn't die anymore in the shadow form.
Dismiss Shadow Zabuza. Naruto thought angrily.
The legendary sword in his hand disappeared a second later.
The Saanin narrowed his eyes. I wonder…
Naruto made a quick glance at his MP bar. Large enough. He didn't know at which rate the MP regenerated, but he was sure it increased as he leveled up. Using skills back when he was lower leveled was an utter pain.
He needed to think. His Battle Strategics skill, which had only grown in terms of level as he continued to fight, was proving vital in the fights he had fought.
He summoned more clones, this time not letting them rush so easily. The clones circled around the pale man, who didn't lift a finger at the sight. He watched with a measuring gaze at Naruto, who started to go through an assortment of hand signs.
"Water Release: Surging Sea!" Naruto yelled along with his clones, who had attempted the same jutsu at the same time.
Streams of water erupted from each of the clones' mouths, aiming at Orochimaru with colossal pressure, enough to dent the toughest of men in. It was the most amount of water Naruto had ever managed to form. But Naruto knew that it wouldn't do anything to the Sannin.
"Summoning Jutsu."
The water blasted away from Orochimaru as a swirl of smoke flared around the man. The smoke cleared to reveal the tall man, now on the head of a titanic snake of a brown colour. Its narrowed, yellow, eyes glared at him dangerously.
The snake's coiled snake burst out with surprising quickness, rotating in a wide circle and destroying his clones one by one. Naruto jumped upwards onto a higher branch as he narrowly missed the hit.
He froze as he lost sight of Orochimaru, who was no longer on the infuriated snake. His eyes widened as he felt a cold, moving sensation on his neck.
[Ding!]
[Warning: Extreme Bloodlust Detected!]
[The system urges that you run for your own safety.]
Orochimaru's snake-like tongue retreated. "You're interesting, aren't you? My, my…container of the Kyuubi, having jutsus that I myself have never seen, and control over elemental manipulation so early. Why haven't I heard of your progress yet? It's so exciting."
Naruto spun his kunai, attempting to stab the enemy behind him, only for his weapon to get swatted away at the last second. The blond immediately put his hands up, facing his enemy head on.
[Activating…]
[Skill: Uchiha Clan Taijutsu- Lvl 3 Activated!]
[Usage drains 15 MP Points each minute. User can use this skill for 1 minute without draining MP.]
Naruto briefly engaged Orochimaru in combat. His movements were dreadfully slow against the well experienced shinobi, who could see his moves from a mile away, while blindfolded. His opponent had a lazy grin on his face as he continued to block and dodge.
Then he struck.
Naruto immediately was launched backwards at breakneck speed as a palm striked his stomach with scary speed. He felt his back lurch in pain as he landed on the rough bark of a tree. He coughed out scarlet blood, looking at the liquid with wide eyes. The blond got up soon after, swearing he won't let a surprise attack like that happen again. A brief tremble in the earth came next as Naruto felt himself pulled into the ground as a hand appeared from underneath the ground and grasped his leg.
When had he—
Naruto substituted with one of the several branches from around him in an instant, preventing what would have been a sticky situation otherwise. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, keeping an attentive track of his surroundings.
Orochimaru stood in the middle of the clearing between the swarm of trees, which was formed by the summoning of the giant snake, which was now nowhere to be seen. "Hmmm…it's so boring having to fight a moving target in such a large space. Why don't you come closer, Naruto-kun? I want to…test you properly."
Naruto complied.
With another substitution, he made his way to the Saanin, who chuckled throatily at the nearing presence of the Genin.
If Naruto didn't do anything—there was no doubt about it—he was going to die. He couldn't restrict himself against the man in front of him, or the Jinchuuriki would be no more. Naruto really only had one last trick left in the bag, and something he had refrained from using so far, having not seen a good opportunity to do so. But now was his only chance.
Summon Shadow Haku. Naruto commanded.
Orochimaru crossed his arms. "It's amusing to see a Genin so brave—"
"Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
A dome of ice formed around the two as Naruto smirked widely. Haku had used his technique immediately, which was exactly what he wanted him to do. Naruto felt a wave of memories wash over him as he saw the reflecting mirrors encircling the two.
In each mirror lay the image of a shadowy figure, who could be no one else but Haku. For the first time since the fight started, Naruto noticed the look of genuine surprise in Orochimaru's eyes. If anything, he looked purely confused. Naruto didn't particularly blame him—he would have been equally bewildered as well.
"This jutsu…another one that I don't recognize. What exactly have you been hiding, Naruto Uzumaki?" Orochimaru asked, eyes shining with excitement. "Ice? Spectacularly done. Such a feat would require discipline and concentration of the highest degree to accomplish, and I doubt you have the skill for that considering you hold the beast inside you. The voice from earlier…who exactly was that?"
Naruto didn't care anymore. He rushed forward, ignoring the numerous questions that Orochimaru placed.
Orochimaru sighed. "There really is no point in—"
Haku flew past the mirrors in a blur, punching Orochimaru in the jaw, whose face recoiled in shock at the hit. While the extraction had weakened his base stats, the jutsu which he already perfected functioned at the same strength, fortunately. Naruto followed right after, aiming a jab at the opponent, but couldn't land it to his inhuman reflexes.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The clones continued to distract Orochimaru, who quickly dismantled them with practiced, precise strikes. Haku, from the safety of his mirrors, threw senbon at the man, who caught the projectiles with his bare hand, before looking at them in interest.
"You certainly can't use senbon, can you?" Orochimaru asked, eyes watching him with interest. "Whatever. It's time to get out of this. I'm wasting enough time as it is."
Naruto was launched to the side as one of Orochimaru's hands stretched unimaginably long and struck him hard in the side of his gut, pushing him to the mirrors. The blond struggled to get up, ultimately falling back to the ground on his back as he clutched his leg in pain. The Sannin bent his knees, before exploding with speed. He cranked back his arm in the process, before he impaled the dome of ice with his fist. The structure cracked immediately, collapsing into a bunch of ice shards and crystals.
Naruto watched his shock as sharp, ice crystals fell downwards as he tried to crawl away.
A pair of shadowy arms took hold of him and swept him away.
Naruto looked into the dark eyes of Shadow Haku, before nodding in thanks.
"We can still try and stall until we get Sakura and Sasuke out of here, Naruto-san."
Naruto smirked as Haku let him down. "Who says I haven't already gotten them evacuated?"
The second before Haku had summoned his ice mirrors, he had clones take his teammates away. He had to thank him technique for being capable of closing a Saanin inside, for however short a time that would be. For now, Haku's use was over. His MP was quickly running out as well, with his activation of the Uchiha Taijutsu and previously using Zabuza for his sword.
Dismiss Haku.
Naruto was left alone.
Orochimaru walked through the rubble of ice. "You've piqued my interest, Naruto-kun. I must admit, I had assumed the Uchiha would have been the strongest on your team, but I have been proven utterly wrong. Techniques that I've never seen before, speed and strength at a level far above what you currently should be at, and a cunning intelligence that kept you alive so far. Who would have thought the Kyuubi could have such an effect on its Jinchuuriki?"
Naruto guffawed silently. He thinks the Kyuubi made me like this? He tried not to correct the man, and ended up biting his tongue to stop himself.
The man's voice suddenly darkened. "The Sharingan would be wonderful to have. The vast amount of skills achieved with a single activation of that damned eye. Or at least that's what I thought. The Kyuubi is an infinite source of chakra at one's fingertips, and seeing just the effect on you…I can only imagine what I, Orochimaru of the Saanin, would reap."
Why is he talking like he could steal those abilities or something? Naruto thought incredulously, feeling his leg finally start to heal.
Orochimaru grinned. "And that's why…I'll mark you."
[—-]
Anko inspected the dead body of the beige-shirted woman in front of him. The smooth, toy-like face of the girl was horrifying to the eyes.
Orochimaru has begun.
She felt exhilaration, fear, and a healthy dose of raging anger fire into her veins.
"Send a message to the Third Hokage! I don't care what appointment or meeting he is in! This is of utmost importance! Tell him his student is here!" Anko instructed her subordinate proctors, whose faces paled at the realization. "I'll be going hunting."
How was Orochimaru able to get in? And why now specifically? Anko thought as she began running the facets she ever had in the past year.
She unconsciously grasped the mark on her neck. He probably is going to mark someone if I don't get there faster. But that can't be the real reason he's here…just a side-hobby he could conduct while he has the time. There's something bigger going underneath the Chuunin Exams.
Her mentor was ruthless, calculating, and the most dangerous man she knew, even more than the Third Hokage. Everything he did had a reason. The International Chuunin Exams sounded like something too good to be true, and Anko was getting more and more sure of that every second that passed.
She gritted her teeth as she urged her muscles to go faster. I'll kill you, Orochimaru!
[—]
Mark? What the hell is he talking about? Naruto thought confusedly.
Whatever it was, it didn't sound good at all. Orochimaru grasped his face, before pulling out his skin. The real skin he has underneath was even paler, and looked even more reptile-like. Amber circles with a thin slit acted as his eyes, and an ominous grin manifested on his new face.
"This won't hurt…too much," Orochimaru purred.
The blond's eyes dilated as Orochimaru's head sprung out of its place, the neck extending past the distance between the two, aiming for his head with his long, sharp teeth. Before he could even move, the pale neck wrapped around his body, before the neck made its way to his neck.
"This was originally supposed to be for Sasuke," Orochimaru whispered into his ear. "But your performance made me change my mind."
Naruto's mind ran at a pace of a hundred miles per hour at the same time Orochimaru spoke.
He's going to bite me. He's going to bite me. He's going to bite me.
Orochimaru lunged.
ACTIVATE IRON SKIN!
[Activating…]
[Skill: Iron Skin- Lvl 1 Activated!]
[Usage takes 10 MP and lasts for one minute before a skill cooldown of ten minutes applies.]
Orochimaru bit down, his eyes crazed with eagerness as he imagined all the power he would have with the Kyuubi in his hands.
Thud.
He tried to bite down again.
Thud.
Naruto tried to keep the smirk off his face, before grasping whatever energy he had left in him to reach for his kunai and attempt to slash at the elongated neck. Orochimaru retreated with a frown on his stark-white face, looking at the blond's neck curiously.
"You never cease to stop surprising me, do you?" Orochimaru asked amusedly. The look of desire in his eyes seemed to deepen. "It's no fun when prey doesn't struggle, so I thank you for the hard work you've put so far. It only makes the inevitable more satisfying, after all."
"You're just an insane cannibal, aren't you?" Naruto asked, standing up and wiping the dirt off his clothes. "It's no wonder you were kicked out of Konoha, if you're so, so desperate to eat little kids."
Orochimaru frowned at his little antics, before his face perked up suddenly.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
A pillar of fire blew past Naruto in a straight line towards the smiling man in the shape of a dragon. The fire pelted against the spot that Orochimaru was on, before finally ending.
"Oh, my dear student, didn't I tell you that you should never yell out a jutsu like that beforehand?" Orochimaru said mockingly, completely unscathed by the flames.
Anko, the proctor for the Second Exam, stood crouched on a tree branch above Naruto.
"FINALLY!" Naruto shouted to the woman, who looked back at him with surprise. "WHY THE HELL IS THERE NO SECURITY IN THIS PLACE?"
The purple-haired woman scoffed, tossing aside his quite valid concerns without a second thought. "Do you really want to argue about that when you have him right in front of you?"
Fair enough. But I almost died several times along with my team.
Orochimaru waved magnanimously. "Anko! You look as magnificent as ever. May I know the reason for your interruption?"
"Don't play the fool with me, Orochimaru. I know you're running around marking kids, and I'm gonna kill you before you get out of here alive," Anko said angrily, clutching the kunai in her arm even tighter.
"Marking kids? I haven't marked a single one, Anko. You would do such a thing to accuse your beloved sensei?" Orochimaru asked. "Ask the child yourself."
Anko sent a glance at Naruto, who simply shrugged. How the hell did this Genin survive against Orochimaru for so long?
I need to get out of here, and quickly. Naruto thought with a frown. We still need to pass the Chuunin exams.
[Iron Skin has deactivated.]
Naruto looked at the lady above him. "Hey, Proctor! Can you automatically pass us considering we had to fight Orochimaru in the middle of the Chuunin Exams?"
The glare Anko sent back at him could only be described as smoldering.
A couple more shadowy figures with animal masks showed up behind Anko, similarly crouching.
The Anbu.
"Only a mere five to fend off Orochimaru of the Saanin?!" Naruto asked hysterically, eyes large with frustration as he saw the small group face off the infamous shinobi.
Anko winced. "More is coming, brat."
Orochimaru put a hand on his chin, thinking deeply. "Should I face off all of you at once, and kill five shinobi, or be generous and leave for now, letting you five survive?"
Is he really giving us a choice? Naruto thought, startled.
The group remained silent, not knowing whether Orochimaru would take their response seriously or not. Obviously, they would clearly want to say leave.
Orochimaru turned their back to them. "I'm feeling quite kind today."
I have a new target now. Orochimaru thought as he thought of the blond. Naruto-kun, your rate of improvement is astonishing. Keep on improving, keep on getting stronger. All of your work will be fed to me sooner or later.
He disappeared in a swirl of wind.
Naruto looked at the remaining Jonin. "I'm going to leave now."
[—-]
"I-Is she gone?" Sakura asked, stuttering.
The blond forgot how Sakura hadn't seen the Saanin without the disguise.
Naruto nodded. "For the time being."
After his encounter with Orochimaru, Naruto had immediately ran towards his teammates. His clones had gone in a specific direction which he had told them to beforehand, so it didn't take long for him to find them. They were still unconscious by the time he was there, with Sasuke waking up soon after. They were right now sheltering underneath an incredibly large tree which gave them some cover as they whispered.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "How did you manage to get us away?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I didn't really do much, to be honest. The crazy Proctor lady came with some reinforcement, and gave me time to escape."
Sasuke looked into his eyes for a few more seconds, before he moved his gaze away. "It's fine, I guess. But now we're at a severe disadvantage."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke grimaced. "The others had more chances to find the scroll they needed, and got the opportunity to scout beforehand. That man's interference left us scrambled right out the get go. We need to focus back on our goal and the objective—the Earth scroll."
Sakura switched her eyes to target Naruto. "Naruto, have you got any information from your clones?"
Naruto shook his head. "Not really…there's really only one clone active right now. The rest were dismantled while I fought earlier."
Sasuke looked to the sky. "It's turning dark. We should walk a bit to the east before we rest for a bit. We'll take turns staying up; I'll go first."
[—-]
Meanwhile…
Naruto's clone disabled his Henge as he made his way through the slowly darkening forest.
I'm the only one alive so far, aren't I? The clone thought smugly. He noticed with an annoyed expression that he still referred to himself as a clone. He was Naruto, clone or not. Naruto.
The blond traversed from branch to branch, looking around for anything to scout to the boss.
He stopped right before he jumped from the high plateau of the treetops, before crouching downwards as saw something very, very peculiar. Naruto stuck his feet to the tree and began running downwards at a quiet pace, making sure he wouldn't be seen.
The entire circle of forest had been cleared by what seemed to be a wide-ranged attack. Trees were thrown downwards and were completely blown out of their respective roots, showing just how powerful the attack should have been. Naruto, shocked, just crept further downwards.
I shouldn't be scared! I'm just a clone! Naruto insisted to himself, feeling the sweat flow down his face.
It doesn't matter if I disappear, right? I'm not…alive.
Just a clone.
Just a bunch of chakra.
Naruto made his way to the clearing, making sure to not make any noise as he walked with his shinobi sandals. Sneaking wasn't his specialty, but every shinobi had some experience in hiding around; that's what made them ninja. The darkness certainly helped, but the bright orange clothes definitely didn't either. Naruto cursed the original for not changing his clothes so far. A shinobi wearing such colorful clothes didn't make much sense. But blaming the original would be hypocritical.
Naruto walked around, inspecting every inch of the ground for any clue for what happened.
His eyes largened comically.
Blood red liquid pooled around his feet as he walked into a puddle of blood. Naruto looked at his foot in surprise, before looking for the source of the blood. The clone shouldn't be scared!
Naruto made his way by the length of blood, before it eventually reached the eventual body that kept it going.
Glasses, scrawny, and an aristocratic face. Naruto coldly noted the small cut in his gut, the cavity seemingly formed from a clean, single hit on the relatively untouched, remaining body of the boy.
He knew this person.
Ubuki, the teammate of Kurotsuchi.
And he was alive.
Naruto quickly clutched at the boy's face, before shaking him to wake up. He first searched the boy's pockets for any scrolls which he could bring back to the Boss. To his surprise, Naruto managed to find something. It was definitely a scroll, but he wasn't sure which one it was until he brought it out of the boy's vest.
An Earth scroll.
The clone tried not to leap with joy as he found exactly what his Boss needed. He once again smugly noted that he was the clone that survived the longest, and managed to find the Earth scroll. He dug the scroll deep into his jacket.
Ubuki woke up after his meddlings.
Damn, I shouldn't have woken him up. Eh, I'll just lie through whatever he says and escape afterwards. Maybe find out what tried to kill him?
"W-why are you here?!" Ubuki whispered, his voice frantic.
Naruto could see the look of pure terror in his face. Curiosity filled him as he wanted to know what happened.
"What made you like that, Ubu—uhh…fellow Genin?" Naruto asked, messing up in the middle.
"Y-you need to get out! Those monsters…those monsters are fighting each other!" Ubuki said, slowly crawling past Naruto.
Ubuki's knees slowly went back to a functioning state as he went back on his legs, before he started walking away. "They're over there, if you want to see. I'm getting out of here."
Naruto looked at where he pointed.
He went through the assortment of bushes before he came to the sight of what Ubuki was mentioning.
[Ding!]
[Warning: Bloodlust Detected!]
Gaara faced off against Fuu.
Jinchuuriki versus Jinchuuriki.
He instantly tried to run away before a tendril of sand pierced through his body.
Bye, Naruto.
[—-]
Naruto woke with a gasp as he felt memories flood his mind.
Those two…they were ahead of him in every way.
He clenched his fists tightly.
I need to get stronger.
[-end-]
Yo!
I hope you like the chapter—it kinda flowed off me this time. Naruto's clone witnessed the other Jinchuuriki's strength, and realized he seriously needs to get stronger.
Orochimaru is now obsessed with Naruto. Scary for our favorite blond.
Onto the questions:
Question 1: Who is your least favorite Naruto character? Like one you absolutely hate? A lot of people might say Sakura, but I'm not on that train. Uhm…Kaguya?
Question 2: What abilities do you see Naruto's gaining from the skill tree?
Sorry for the broken update schedule! I had a busy week in general this time around. This fic will probably update this Friday, before coming back to regular. My other fic Harry Potter, and the Art of Repsawning will update this Tuesday, so check it out if you're interested.
As always, review! I read everything and I'm not sensitive to flaming or any criticism. It definitely makes me write faster.
Follow and favorite so you don't miss out on the next update! We passed a 100K hits, which is a cool milestone.
Cya' there.