By: Crystal Avatar
Disclaimer: All relevant character/place names etc. don't belong to me. They belong to a very powerful man named Kishimoto Masahi!
A/N: Thanks to the reviewers! The story gets to survive another chapter and I really liked Drolkrad's comment about this being an evil-Naruto fiction. It sure is!
C.A
Punctuation Notes
"Talking" 'Thinking' SFX (Author comments)
Chapter One – "Unholy Alliance"
Things were rapidly becoming darker in the forest, a pure reflection of what was happening deep inside my soul. Second thoughts and doubts clouded me, but a consistency rang through- I had to return home, at least to show my old 'friends' what I had become.
I wanted to show Sasuke and Sakura that they had some serious company now.
I had been leaping through branches, skirting over dirt paths and rocky obstacles, heading in a straight line back towards my home village, Konohagakure. 'That's where Sasuke and Sakura would be waiting for me,' I thought to myself.
And as I surrounded myself in these thoughts of what I intended to do and show to them, of what I was going to ask them and how I would harangue them both, something in the corner of my eye blinked. I detected someone close ahead of me, standing directly on my path. A still figure, not very big or old either.
"Hey!" The figure cried out suddenly, a dark silhouette standing amongst the backdrop of trees. It seemed like he had been standing there without moving for a while, as if expecting my approach towards the village. I saw that there could be no harm in inspecting his motives.
I slowed down and dragged my flight-like sprint, easily dropping down a couple of yards away from him. He sat down on the ground when he saw me approach and tended to a small fire he had been building for the night. I remained silent and waited for him to speak.
"Another traveler in the woods? Where are you going and why are you in such a rush? Has something happened at Konohagakure? I've just come from there. What news, stranger?"
His voice was calm, but genuinely curious. He did not appear at all afraid of the aura of power I imagined myself to be exhibiting. Perhaps the fox had made me unbearably arrogant too.
"I'm going there to make something happen," I replied enigmatically. "Who are you and what are you doing out here?"
I examined him with darkened eyes. Later I would be told that they had turned from light blue to a darker shade that seemed indistinguishable between black and the color of the dark sky.
He had long dark hair that rolled down to his shoulders and two eyes for narrow slits, and when they opened I could only imagine how a snake's mouth would look when it hissed. A hideous, evil grin seemed permanently plastered to his face as if I had come to bring him good news of a slaughter or a war starting somewhere. I smelt evil waft out of this man and his dark feelings seemed almost comparable to the rage that I stank the air with.
"My name is Orochimaru and I am not your enemy. I had another one of my own go into Konohagakure a few days ago to find someone for me. His name is Yakushi Kabuto and he had been sent to find someone named Uchiha Sasuke."
"Wow, that concerns me a lot," I replied, already bored with what this old-seeming man had to say to me. I could not see why he was telling me any of this, but I had the strange feeling that my bumping into him was no coincidence and that it was worth listening to his words.
"Does it?" he seriously wondered, ignoring my sarcasm.
"Well, you better tell your friend that his search might become a bit difficult for him after I murder that ignorant, little worm. He'll taste my sword first, then you can have him for whatever you want."
"Intriguing. Who do you think you are- a man that can defeat Sasuke…? He's no pushover, I have observed. I have been informed that out of all his rivals only one has ever come close to equaling him. But even then, his competition is stiff and not guaranteed."
"What is this rival's name," I asked him, a grin creeping down my lip.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
"Is he powerful, Orochimaru?" I wanted to see what he thought about me.
"Humph, not very likely. I don't feel he is anywhere near as threatening to anything as Sasuke seems to be. How his reputation as Sasuke's greatest rival came about I will never know."
My hands came up in front of me to deliver what I had to say to him next.
"Then I will show you."
I let my right hand snake around and feel for the hilt of the golden sword dangling above my shoulders. I drew the blade in one fluid motion and stared ahead at the dark man.
"On guard!" I warned.
Orochimaru didn't reply to me. He dipped his head to one side and simply smiled, waiting for my attack. I would make the next ignorant pig after Sasuke pay for his insult.
I charged forward with my sword in front of me, ready to dish the damage. Then his hands came together and began preparing a seal. I recognized what it was instantly- he was trying to perform the Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Paralysis Technique) and stop me in my tracks. Tough chance, I thought, as I swung my sword down heavily and cast the Kaze no Yaiba (Blade of Wind), sending a surge of sharp air towards him and ruffling him up enough to disrupt his motions. He cursed loudly, but his smile returned immediately.
"Strong move- the blade of wind. I had heard that only Baki of The Hidden Sands could perform that technique. You intrigue me to no end!"
His retaliation came quick and suddenly. He began to perform an extreme and desperate technique, possibly to see how I would react and how good my skills as a ninja were.
I'm sure that by surviving it I'd be able to prove to him that I was a pretty damn capable ninja. That's when an arousing thought entered my mind- an opportunity to really insult him.
I stood still and smiled, waiting for him to finish his move, not unlike what he had done to me.
His technique, I recognized straight away: the Chidori (One Thousand birds). This would be funny, I thought, and ironic, seeing as it was a move I had heard that the Uchiha clan could perform.
I performed a similarly complicated hand gesture and held my palm out rigidly and gracefully.
It was a look of pity and surprise shock I saw on his face soon afterward when his thundering fist collapsed on itself. The massive chakra buildup from his hand imploded, sending him reeling backwards across the ground.
'The implosion must've killed you, desperate, pitiful fool,' I thought to myself.
Orochimaru lay still and did not move for some time. I nearly thought I was correct, until I heard him laughing from his lying down position. He quickly looked up at me, then brought his head back to the ground because the next burst of laughter he threw out was simply too violent to contain. He was ecstatic, exited beyond all normal boundaries.
I had no idea how he had managed to survive his own powerful blow. And why was he laughing so much? Why did he seem to bawl and scream with intense pleasure?
"I REALLY like you," he finally announced, bringing himself to his feet and dusting himself off. He loosed a few more rapid chuckles and muffled laughs before he smiled at me with genuine glee. This really was one sick bastard I just had to say.
"How did you survive?" I asked him, brushing my brow.
"I have trained in many techniques with many great masters for longer than you can bother to imagine, but you… you are incredible. It's like you managed to change yourself seemingly overnight. How did you become so powerful in such a short time? If we were to fight with our current capabilities, we would never, believe me, never finish a fight."
Something inside me kind of believed what he said.
"You know who I am?" I grunted with a sneer.
"Uzumaki Naruto. Your hair, your eyes and even your body have changed immensely, but I can sense the demon fox burning within you," he replied, smiling and amazed.
I was impressed that he had managed to guess my identity. I slid the golden sword carefully back into the scabbard behind me.
"You even wield the sword of the demon fox," he remarked, noticing the hilt of my blade. "You have become something else entirely but I can still see how your mischievous prankster nature has finally matured into an arrogant and cruel killer nature. Essentially, your spirit is still there, Naruto, I can sense it. How did you manage to release the fox's power?"
"That's great old man, but I'm getting really bored of this. You have too many questions and I simply don't have any time for small talk." I was eager to leave. He had already stated that he could never win against me and that would be all I'd need from him for insulting my strength.
The old Naruto's strength, that is.
His face suddenly drooped down and became gloomy at the first mention of me leaving him. The excitement and glee rushed out of his face like blood from his pale cheeks.
"Wait! Don't leave!" He begged. "I know why you are going into that village and the truth is I may be able to help you! I know what you seek to do…"
I turned my face to him and brushed a black lock of hair from my brow.
"You seek to destroy your rival once and for all. You seek to destroy Sasuke."
"There is no way you'd be able to help me. My abilities have surpassed your own."
He sidestepped the insult and replied, "But perhaps the Hokage can still defeat you if you made too much of a ruckus in their town. If you don't watch your actions, you may find that they are too much for you to handle. Even if they were able to recognize you, it may already be too late. Don't let your new powers blind you from your limits. You are still new to this to world. You may have been reborn, but you are still a baby."
"What? And you are saying you have what it takes to defeat a Hokage?"
"I have trained under one for a long time," he claimed, failing to mention that he had even attempted to fight against Tsunade.
"This is useless."
By now I was trying to kill the issue. I had a score to settle and that score lay with Sasuke for now, back at Konohagakure. The Hokage paid little to my thoughts, right now.
I turned around to leave, searching for a high branch to leap towards.
"You don't know this yet, Naruto, but we are very alike. You will see also that our goals are aligned and we essentially want the same thing. That's why I'm going to be watching you from now on and assist you from the shadows whenever I have too."
"I don't need your help."
"And when the time comes," he went on, "I know you will help me, Great Naruto."
"Great Naruto… that's a first. I like the sound of that."
I scoffed at him, hardly believing what he had said. I turned around and gave him no more room to speak and, as I felt his eyes burn into my back, I leapt up into the trees and disappeared from his camping spot as quickly as I could.
Soon, through endless running, I could sense him no longer.
Orochimaru had long disappeared from my interests. He was just a crazy man who thought he was tough. As I continued to fly through the trees, two goals ran through my head.
One, destroy Sasuke, but not before extremely humiliating him. Old school style.
Two, make Sakura cry like a little girl. I wanted to break her heart, to make her feel the anguish and depression she had put me through so many times without knowing it.
Maybe I'd destroy her too, depending on how annoyed I'd become.
Soon, I promised myself, the entire world will fear me, not mock me. Soon everyone's lips will be turned towards me, begging me for mercy on their lives.
And on all those very lips, they will all call me, "Great Naruto."
A/N: Please RNR, readers! Just one is enough to make me write another chapter!
