Tenten put her sword down, now covered in blood, as the last masked sound-nin fell to the ground, lifeless. Not too far from her, a genin wearing a sweater was standing next to his dog, both having their claws covered with the same red liquid. The main contrast between them was their reaction after the battle. The girl was considerably less affected, while the boy was clearly not used to such bloodshed.

"They weren't that strong." Tenten said, sitting down to rest a bit. "I wonder if this was just a distraction."

The sound of claps suddenly filled the silent desert around them, amplified by the strong wind. Tenten turned around, while Kiba and Akamaru didn't have the need to do so to face the newcomers.

"Just to get you tired, to then kill you more easily!" Said a sound-nin, wearing a purple happuri with bandages covering the lower half of his face. His forearms were covered in what, at first, looked like heavy armor.

"And faster, of course, since our master awaits our arrival." Added another, more familiar face. His dark blue hair and the second head hanging from his back made him very easy to recognize.

Kiba gasped for air, being notably tired, while his dog growled at the enemy shinobi. Inuzuka could never believe how loyal and brave dogs were, always willing to give their lives for their loved ones. Seeing this, he knew he had to give it his all to stand up to Akamaru's loyalty.

"Alright, come at us then!" He yelled, putting his claws forward.

Tenten stood up and grabbed her bloodstained blade. She knew it wouldn't last much more, so she grabbed one of her scrolls and summoned a battle axe. With each weapon held in her hands, she pointed the blade at their opponents.

Sakon and Ukon started laughing, while their companion remained focused and serious at the coming fight.


Once they caught up with the remaining two members of the Sound Four, the saiyan let Shikamaru and Naruto down, while he landed with a kick on the girl's face. Next, Gohan punched the six-armed boy, who seemed instantly knocked out as a result.

Neji caught up just in time to see Kidomaru fall down unconscious, which was earlier than the saiyan expected. However, the prodigy had asked too much from his body, kneeling down to take some rest after running at his top speed.

"Where is Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked as Tayuya stood up.

Blood was dripping out of his mouth. She noticed herself completely surrounded, while her teammate was knocked out. She gritted her teeth, before letting out a small laugh.

"I guess that was it for me," said the girl, while shrugging. "Kill me, it's not like it matters anymore."

Naruto made a couple of hand seals, and summoned a shadow clone almost immediately, but the saiyan beckoned him to stop. The blonde boy was left confused, but Shikamaru nodded to reassure Gohan's gesture.

"If we do that, then we won't be able to find Sasuke." Explained Gohan.

"Right." Replied Naruto, while Tayuya grinned.

"But what if I end myself?" She grabbed a kunai and pointed it at her neck. "In the end, death is better than what would happen if Lord Orochimaru found out that we told you his location."

As the saiyan tried to protest, the girl immediately tried to nail the weapon in her neck. The end of the small blade just barely penetrated inside her neck, causing small drops of blood to come out of the wound. Her eyes were widened and her hands were shaking. She was forced to open her hand by the saiyan's strong grip on her wrist.

"H-how?!" Said Tayuya, unable to believe that, in the blink of an eye, a mere chunin was able to stop her from killing herself.

The rest of the leaf nin standing around her were also surprised. Naruto was amazed and cheering for the saiyan, while Nara just gulped some saliva, being unable to produce any other reaction.

He can't be human. This is impossible, this should be. Shikamaru thought, still awestruck by such feat. However, contrary to the blond shinobi, he wasn't excited, rather being concerned at someone possessing such power. He has been holding back all this time. Could he have saved the Hokage? Could he have stopped the invasion? What even is he?

Gohan remained silent and threw the kunai away, with such strength that it flew out of their sight in a couple of seconds. Sweat started to drip down the girl's face, believing she was about to be annihilated. However, all the saiyan did was throw her down, with a gentle push.

Now covered in sand, the moon shining over his spiky hair, the girl believed to be in front of a god. Though this wasn't the encounter the girl had imagined when thinking of meeting a god, being filled with nothing but fear instead.

"Where is Sasuke Uchiha?" Asked Gohan.

"Not here." Another voice replied, from behind Uzumaki.

The blond boy yelled as he was grabbed by the neck, though the hand was quite soft. A white-haired boy, with red tattoos on his forehead, and intense green eyes, was revealed to be the one grabbing Naruto.

"Hey, hey! Let me go, dumbass!" Yelled Naruto again, trying to force his way out of his grip. This effort was useless, however, and only lead to the mysterious boy putting his other hand over his mouth.

"Now you answer," said the white-haired boy. The saiyan noticed his purple rope-like belt, which revealed his allegiance to Orochimaru, and therefore the Sound. "What are you?"

Shikamaru grunted. "A human, like you and me, weirdo."

"Are you blind, or are you just hiding your own concern?" The sound-nin replied, as Tayuya crawled closer to him. "This guy is clearly not normal."

Nara was left silent, while his teammate looked down at the floor. Naruto was finally freed from the enemy grip, as his struggle had stopped a couple of seconds prior. He raised his head, to more comfortably look at the saiyan, expecting an answer to the question. He was confused at the uncomfortable silence, as well as Shikamaru's apparent distrust.

Gohan looked back at his early childhood, the calm days at Mount Paozu, playing with the animals and his father. Possibly the only time when his family was consistently together and stable, when he lived a proper live for such a young kid. Then, he started to remember the day he was taken out of Mount Paozu for the first time, the day he went to Kame House for the first time. And he forcefully interrupted the memory. No need for that now.

"I am the son of the strongest man in the world." He moved his sight upwards to directly stare at the white-haired boy. "And so I not only have inherited his strength, but his duty as well. His duty to protect the world from people like the man you serve."

The green-eyed sound-nin grinned. "Lord Orochimaru isn't much different from the people you are serving."

Naruto turned around with a furious expression. At that point, Tayuya was already standing up next to the other sound-nin. Shikamaru clenched his teeth, knowing their advantageous position had been lost.

"But I don't blame you for your ignorance, because there's a good chance you are too new here to realize that." He added. "Which isn't the case for the two others. Sadly, they have been brainwashed with propaganda already."

Gohan's eyes snapped open, which made the white-haired boy close his eyes as he was proved right. He was confused, how could anyone possibly know he wasn't from that world. He admitted his fall from the sky was suspicious in itself, but to assume such impossible things like him not being from that world... Maybe he wasn't the first one.

Naruto jumped on the sound-nin, who easily dodged every attempted attack. Uzumaki then took a couple of steps backwards, before summoning several shadow clones. Tayuya threw an explosive tag, that eliminated half of the clones. For the rest, the other sound-nin destroyed them using a small bone dagger he took out of the palm of his hand. For the real one, he was just kicked away, as if he was nothing but a toy.

"Don't waste your energy with me. I'm not here to fight." This statement surprised even his female companion, who walked further from him in fear of a betrayal. "Soon you will have your own battle."

"What exactly has the Hokage done to be similar to Orochimaru?" Asked Gohan, ignoring everything that had happened before.

"I see, another curious mind. Well, you see, I'm sure you have noticed that these friends of yours are not precisely adults, so in that sense they are just the same as Lord Orochimaru." He explained, now having broken the spirit of a tired blond genin that was left gasping for air on the floor. "And that's not to mention the massacres her predecessors have committed, many of which she has participated in herself as a soldier."

"Hmm." The saiyan put his hand over his chin, and started scratching it. Since he had become a shinobi, he had experienced and learned more about what being a shinobi meant. His opponent was right, he was too new in that world to know enough, but he took the decision anyways. Now, he was starting to get more information that makes him question what he chose back then.

"What are you even talking about?! How can you even compare the Hokage to that idiot Orochimaru?!" Naruto asked, furious. He stood up and stared directly at the white-haired boy. He put his hands in the position of the hand seal that he usually did to summon his shadow clones.

"I told you to not waste your energy fighting me."

"Shut up! You're going down!" Replied the furious Uzumaki, summoning twenty shadow clones in the spot.

The horde ran towards the sound-nin, who this time remained completely still.


The masked shinobi continued their advance through the desert. Now being late at night, the intense cold was starting to affect them. Their breaths could be seen in the air, due to the low temperatures. None of them expected a desert, a place known for its scorching heat, to change temperatures so drastically. The Land of Wind really was the toughest land in the whole continent.

"I wonder where everyone is." Said the one of the owl mask. "Weren't there supposed to be leaf-nin sent by now?"

"Maybe the Hokage never sent them." Replied the one of the cat mask.

"We would've been called back by now." Countered the ANBU of the ant mask. "I doubt they sent no one, leaving the Sharingan to the enemy."

"Maybe."

"We should rest for now." Suggested the shinobi of the owl mask, stopping his sprint and forcing his companions to do the same. "It's too cold and we've been running for the entire day."

"Whatever." Said the one of the ant mask, while gasping for air.

The shinobi of the cat mask, however, was looking at the opposite direction. The other two ANBU tried to call his attention, but his only response was beckoning them to be silent. They finally decided to get next to him and look at the same direction.

"Holy shit." The boy of the owl mask started shaking at the mere sight of the man approaching them, while his ant-masked counterpart gulped some saliva.

In a matter of seconds, the Snake had slithered all the way to their position. They were now directly facing none other than Orochimaru, one of the legendary sannin, and one of the most dangerous criminals in the shinobi world.

"Ah, I knew they would send some of you." He grinned. "Kidnapping the Sharingan has gone just as I expected."

"Why do you want it?" Asked the boy of the cat mask, with a completely emotionless tone. The lack of anything in his voice shocked his two partners, who were nervous and terrified at their current situation.

"Hmm, that would be good to know, wouldn't it?"

"I don't care about the Uchiha, kill him if you want to." Said the same ANBU. "I just want to know why you want the eyes."

Orochimaru giggled. "Oh, so you're one of his, interesting." He opened his mouth in an inhumane way, that would completely destroy the jaw of any normal human being. From his throat, he took out a long sword. Once it was out, his jaw went back to normal. "I'll put it this way: why wouldn't I?"

The ANBU of the cat mask finally jumped back as he was threatened by the presence of the sword. The other two shinobi got into their fighting positions, with the one of the ant mask releasing swarms of small, black bugs from within his clothes and even from inside his body. Orochimaru immediately cut the swarm in half with his sword, and used the small space that had formed to dodge it and go for the source of the bugs. In the blink of an eye, the head was cut alongside the recognizable ant mask, covering the other two ANBU with drops of blood.

As a drop of blood fell on his owl mask, he became paralyzed due to the immense shock the situation had caused to him. The leader of the Hidden Sound chuckled at their reactions. They had no chance against him. The owl-masked ANBU could see a pair of black glasses come out of his now dead partner's body as it fell down to the floor.

Next, Orochimaru very gently grabbed the ANBU's head, and removed the bird mask just to check on his face. He let out an inhumanely wide smile, before licking all the way from the chin to the forehead.

"It seems I was right." He said, before getting closer to his ear. This time, he whispered. "You are next, little half-blood."

To finalize, he licked the boy's ear, and then appropriately placed the mask back on. He turned around, like nothing had happened, and ran into the dark desert. The ANBU of the cat mask remained unsurprised and emotionless as he watched everything unfold before him.

"We should go back to the village."

While his heart was racing, and his face was now covered in sweat, he nodded. He still wasn't able to push any words out of his mouth.