Ahoy! I haven't got much to say o.o… that's a first. xD Oh well… I hope you like this chapter and please continue to review! Feel free to point out any mistakes or questions you may have :3 they help me to become a better authoress (which means easier reading for you guys)! Oh! There is something I'd like to throw in; ok. So Orochimaru, we're going to say, is drained of his energy after giving Sasuke the cursed seal. It requires three years for his strength to recover. That's why Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura trained for only three years and are now going to find Oro. Hope that may clear up some things o.o….
Review Corner:
Itachi-rin: xD yes. I finally updated. Hehe, like I've said before, I hope my updates will be quicker than they have been now that summer is here. Thank you for all of your reviews!
TheSunshineGirls: :3 yeah… it was short. I just needed to get that part out while it was fresh in my mine. Making up Kitsune's past was surprisingly easy but I wish I could have added in more 'evilness' to make it stand out more. :D Thank you for your reviews!
DeathAngel-Lavenda: x3 Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it.
Ky0Kichi: Lol, we're all perverts at heart xD. Thank you for your reviews :3.
Azamiko: I'm not really sure what part you're talking about but I didn't mean actual ninja missions, just stuff to help them train to defeat Orochimaru. Soo… I guess I didn't really mean to make it seem like Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were ninja, just trying to stop Orochimaru. I guess that could make them ninja ; eh heh… sorry. And I know I didn't say that Tsunade was Hokage but I did eventually so… nyah x3. I guess I always thought of Tsunade as like, ruler of the country that the Uchiha Manor is in (Konoha) so she just held an overall power over the land or something… yeh. I think that helps a little. :) Sorry again. Thanks for your review.
Alana-StarSugarCat: Hehe :3. Yes. And thank you again for your last review! I'm glad you like this story.
Rosemarykiss: xD You and a lot of other people, haha. Yeah, I'll try and update more, I promise :3. Thank you for your review!
Insert smiley face here because this site is stupid and won't let me: xD Yeah! Now that you mention it I did kind of make Orochimaru seem sort of like Itachi there. Haha, whoops. Well… I don't really think there is anything wrong with Orochimaru . he's just evil. :3 Maybe we'll see later, ne? Thanks for your reviews!
AxFaTaLxiLLuSioN: Your name is hard to type xD (I think I got it right though :3)! Sorry just had to point that out. Argh! You caught me, lol! I noticed that after I had posted it but um… I'm lazy so I didn't change it v.v… I'm such a bad person. Oh well, his um… eyebrow-bone-area thing rose :3. Yeah… hehe, thanks for your review.
OokamiHanyouGurl: Haha, thank you for all of your reviews! And thanks for helping me out with the "Kyuubi" thing :3 I understand it a lot better now!
Your reviews mean so much to me! Thank you for helping me out with things I may have missed or just giving me encouragement :3. I lurve you all –huggles-!
Pairing Update: Slight one-sided OroSasu in this one (if you squint)… all other pairings still the same.
Recap:
Orochimaru slithered away with a final smirk as Kitsune leaned against a tree. She was alone. And she was weak. She had let down her friends and now she would pay for it. She would suffer. But she deserved it, or so she thought. And she would obtain revenge for her friends… even if it meant using her demon powers… just to kill the man that killed her life.
A stray tear slipped down her cheek.
She would kill Orochimaru.
Good Night My Knight!
Chapter 19: Snake Eyes
Not but five miles away from where Naruto and the others were, Orochimaru sneezed.
'Someone must be talking about me…' Thought the dark haired man (1).
He shrugged it off and sat down in a dark-wood chair in his underground base. Sitting amongst the candles he had lighting the dark room he began to ponder when he should go back to the Uchiha Manor. His strength had returned since giving the cursed seal and now he was ready to begin his plan…
He had waited quite a long time to gain control over Uchiha Manor. He'd began working there under Itachi to gain information. Information on the weaknesses of Uchiha Manor and of one Uchiha Itachi. It had been harder than he'd imagined. Getting the weak points in the palace had been a synch. By observing the stone structure and base Orochimaru easily found the weak stones and points throughout the castle walls. But Uchiha Itachi was not as easy to observe as castle walls were. By becoming the Manor's doctor Orochimaru was able to observe Itachi's bone structure (2). Itachi had a weak point in his left knee and a few others in his arm but the points were small. This made Itachi a difficult one to overcome. Sasuke was a different story. When Orochimaru heard that Sasuke would also be under his care a different plan came into mind. If he could get to Sasuke then he could get to Itachi… and in turn, the possession of the powerful influence of Uchiha Manor.
But Sasuke proved a trouble to get to as well… Sasuke had trusted Orochimaru less than Itachi did. It was hard to break through Sasuke's rough exterior and find his weakness. So far as Orochimaru new, Sasuke's bone structure was much like that of Itachi's. Few weak points were within the solid Uchiha genes. Kabuto helped Orochimaru run tests on bone marrow, blood samples and many other DNA tests but nothing could be found that would take down either Uchiha physically. Orochimaru began to contemplate other ways to 'break' the young Uchiha. Taking Sasuke wouldn't be too much of a challenge, and after getting under his skin and into his emotions, Itachi would be the next to fall. Orochimaru grew more and more impatient and tempted to bring his plan into action when that fateful day came of Naruto's arrival.
Naruto had managed to break under Sasuke's skin with a glance. When Orochimaru saw this, he new that Sasuke wouldn't want Naruto anywhere near the 'doctor'. This made him begin to think of other, more devious ways to get to the power of the Uchiha Manor. The cursed seal wormed its way into Orochimaru's plans. The plan took off in Orochimaru's mind as genius. If he marked Naruto, Sasuke would become desperate for Naruto to return from Orochimaru to the point at which Sasuke would most likely give into Orochimaru's wishes. But, since Sasuke himself had been given the cursed seal, Orochimaru's plan would likely drag both boys in either way. With Sasuke and Naruto's combined and trained powers under Orochimaru, taking care of Itachi would be child's play. With the power of the Uchiha Manor under his wing with the mysteries of the Sharingan, Orochimaru would be unstoppable and Konoha would be his to take. And with the strength of Konoha, came the world.
Orochimaru allowed a sly smirk to grace his lips as he thought over what was to come oh-so-soon. A knock came from the doorway…
Xoxoxoxoxoxox
"Kitsune-san?"
Kitsune sat next to the river watching the fish hungrily as they jumped upstream and swam gracefully along.
"Kitsune-san?"
Oh what Kitsune would give to catch one and just play with it for a while before biting off its head. She felt her primal instincts kicking in and she licked her lips. Just one juicy fish and she would be all set…
"KITSUNE-SAN!" Shouted the pink haired shinobi next to Kitsune.
"EEH?" Kitsune lost her balance from her spot next to the river and fell to her side.
"Gomen, Kitsune-san. You were spacing out and we're getting ready to leave…" Sakura said trying to explain her actions to the slightly ticked fox demon.
"Aah… well then I guess I'm ready. Ikuzo." (3)
"Hai."
The two joined the others at the campsite/rest area and the group checked to make sure they didn't leave anything behind. Jiraiya noticed that one of his Icha-Icha Paradise books had slipped out of his coat.
"Nooo!" He yelled and jumped over to the poor, defenseless por—er… book.
As Jiraiya leaned down to pick up the book his defenses picked up a kunai flying at him. He ducked down, picked up the book and rolled to the side. He faced the direction of the kunai's attack.
"Show yourself." Jiraiya shouted towards the shadows.
A soft, dangerous laughter came from the bushes, "Well, well… who are you to command me on foreign soil, ne?"
Jiraiya was silent as the rustling in the bushes approached the group. The others assumed an offensive position waiting any possible future attacks. A tall, bulky figure immerged from the shadows. There stood a man about six feet two inches with a bald, gleaming head. His eyes were black, all black, no white could be seen in those eyes. Down the sides of his face was a scribbled kind of kanji that read "Power," "Death," "Hate," and "Malice,". He wore a black and navy coat that covered from his neck down to his feet. The coat was loose, easy for hiding things under. His face twisted up in a evil grin as he looked over the group before him.
"This is the best Konoha has to offer? Tsk, you'll all be so boring to Orochimaru-sama…"
"So you work for Orochimaru?"
"Yes. I've worked under Orochimaru for a long time and he has taught me everything I know… none of you stand a chance," He skimmed them again and his dark eyebrows twitched in amusement as he looked at Sakura's slightly frightened face, "You can't be serious. What's this little girl doing here?"
Sakura suddenly puffed up in defiance, "I'm not a little girl."
A gust of wind later the man stood his full height behind Sakura, a deadly smirk on his face, "That so girly?"
Sakura quickly turned. Kitsune and Naruto, who were standing by Sakura, pulled her back a bit and moved farther away from the unknown man. Sakura was reluctant to back down from the man. She was eager… eager to test her new power. She hadn't spent three years training for nothing! As she was pulled back with the group they began to talk. Jiraiya was the first.
"Let me stay here and take care of him… the rest of you can pass ahead. That way we won't need to waste time getting to Orochimaru."
"Will you be ok by yourself? We still don't know his full power…" Tsunade whispered back.
"I'll be fine. It's not like this isn't anything I've handled before. So just quickly, go ahead and--"
"No."
"Nani?" Jiraiya asked, startled by the small voice.
"No… please. Let me fight him." Sakura looked up at Jiraiya with a fighting spirit in her eyes.
"I don't know, Sakura…"
"Please! I didn't spend those three years with Tsunade-sama doing nothing! Tell them Tsunade-sama! I can take him." She protested self-confidently.
All eyes went to Tsunade who simply sighed and nodded, "She is ready… for this kind of battle… I think it will be good for Sakura to fight him."
Sakura brightened up with a smile, "Thank you. Now please, go!"
The others nodded and with that they were off. Sakura calmed her smile into a small smirk.
"Oh? So you are going to be my opponent? How foolish…"
Sakura smiled sweetly, "We'll see…" (4)
Xoxoxoxoxoxox
"Come in." Ordered Orochimaru when he heard the knock from the door.
Kabuto entered and gave a low bow, "Orochimaru-sama."
"What is it?"
"We have news from Seeka. He has spotted the group not far from here. He will be challenging them."
"Seeka… that fool…" Orochimaru spat, "How far are Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun's little friends exactly."
"We've estimated about five miles, Orochimaru-sama."
Orochimaru's face twisted into a sick grin, "Perfect."
End Chapter 19
Short! Short! I know! But my plot is moving! –cackles-
(1) Usually when someone sneezes it is said that some one is talking about them xD hence the reason why Orochimaru sneezes after Kitsune has said that she would kill him. Yes, my lame attempt at humor….
(2) When I thought about this in my head I was like "Yeah… Orochimaru checkin' out Itachi's bone structure…" and then I thought about it and was sssoooo tempted to write something yaoi-ish involving that xD.
(3) Ikuzo Let's go
(4) I like Sakura. She was sort of "ehh…"-ish in the beginning chapters of 'Naruto' but as the manga has gone on she's gotten pretty cool –nod nod- :D While she can still be annoying as hell she's a lot better now then she was so… I like making her kick-ass and spunky in meh stories.
I will try to add in more SasuNaru-ness in the next chapter -sigh- I've noticed that the recent chapters have been lacking yaoi-ness.
Please review, or else… or else… I don't know! But it will be baaddd…. xD
Anukis
