Snakes and Foxes

By: roterritter

A/N: Nothing new to say. Enjoy!

Chapter 04: Snake Skin

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

The blonde haired young man blinked in surprise. Nowadays there were very few people that knew his name outside of Konoha. They were scattered around here and there throughout his travels, but he hadn't really seen another Konoha ninja in nearly three years.

Well, seen was a matter of perspective.

The Anbu he was currently looking like nothing more than a black robe and a white mast that glowed under the moonlight. The red strips were particularly prominent against the shape of a dog's face. The Anbu also stood completely still and straight, his arms and legs weren't even set in a combat position, despite the kunai held his hand. It was the same kunai that was about to cut his clone's throat a moment before.

"Anbu-san, you are from Konoha right?" Naruto asked. He couldn't hide the playfulness in his tone; he seemed overjoyed that he actually sneaked up on an Anbu.

"Ah…correct."

The voice behind the mask was hesitant. Maybe he was still surprised, maybe he didn't want to tell Naruto of all people, or maybe he didn't know himself. Naruto didn't care. The voice seemed familiar, but he couldn't think of who it was. As far he knew he didn't know any Anbu and it seemed too old to be one of the ninja his own age.

"I'm on a mission here. Do you intend on interfering?"

"What!" Naruto asked in surprise, a little too loudly. He knew Anbu had two main jobs: assassinations and escorting high officials. Since the Anbu had tried to kill on a rooftop, Naruto guessed it was assassination. Had he been gone from Konoha too long?

"Idiot!" the Anbu whispered harshly from under his mask. "Not you! I'm here for the merchant who lives here."

"Oh, that guy?"

The Anbu sighed from underneath his mask.

"You might have grown, but you are still the same Naruto."

"What is that suppose to mean!" growled the young ninja.

"Never mind," said the Anbu as he put away his kunai. "I must complete my mission, but I must ask again. Do you intend to interfere?"

"Ah, I don't care about that! You can kill the bastard if you want, but I'm here to save the people!" Naruto yelled with a hard determination in his eyes.

"People?"

"The people that have been disappearing from the nearby village," Naruto explained impatiently.

"Why?"

"I don't know!"

Naruto's information was incomplete at best; not that he was going to tell the Anbu. Jiraiya had begun investigation the mystery they stumbled upon. His information network was surprisingly good despite the Perverted Hermit's tendency to disappear off to the local bath for "research". Naruto figured all of the Perverted Hermit's spying skills might have begun from his early interest in peeking techniques, either way he was still very good at it.

Unfortunately Jiraiya never finished his investigation and Naruto didn't know his information network well enough to receive the last information himself. The ambush by the Akatsuki had been completely unrelated. They just thought Naruto would have been easier prey without his teacher and protector. They were wrong.

Now he was stumbling headfirst into an unknown situation, which might not have been wise, but he wasn't going to have any more regrets. That is what he had decided in the quarry.

"So is there no convincing you to leave this place?"

"No," Naruto said boldly.

"The look on your face. That hasn't changed either," the Anbu said with neither the hatred nor fear Naruto was accustomed from most people from Konoha.

"Anbu-san, you're wrong. I'm not the same Naruto who left Konoha," Naruto said softly with a fox grin.

Sometimes it seemed as if Kyuubi was growling from within his sealed prison, a giant roar of inhuman rage echoed deep inside Naruto, making his whole body tremble.

It was a constant reminder of the red chakra that continued to flow through him. It was getting easier and easier to pull massive amounts of that chakra and all the while he often forgot the feeling of red-hot rage that came with it. Although he only used it in the worst situations it was getting harder not to use it.

Konoha…it had been so long since he had been there. Through his child eyes it had seem even longer. During his travels he had began to notice the lack of hateful eyes always watching him, but it was that lack that made his memory of them burn even more.

He tried to remember the good times, but more often than not realized how deceptive they really were. How often had Sakura yelled or hit him after saving her? How often had Sasuke had made some scornful remark when Naruto had only done his best? The bad memories had always defiled the good ones, leaving him with nothing.

Yet three years with the Perverted Hermit had done him well.

From the first time they had met, Jiraiya had recognized him as neither the demon fox nor a hopeless idiot. Sure, there were times when he called Naruto an idiot or that he had no talent, but Naruto eventually learned that was only the Perverted Hermit's way of motivating him.

Naruto had learned a shocking amount of techniques, many of them more difficult than what others had ever had the patience to teach Naruto, but with Jiraiya he had stubbornly refused to give up until he had produced results. Every time he seemed to make the Perverted Hermit prouder of him.

However, the Perverted Hermit was gone now and the only thing left to him was a promise of a lifetime made three years ago to girl.

Yet, he knew if he returned to Konoha even for his promise he would be alone again with only hateful stares and Kyuubi's red-hot chakra slowly eroding who he was on the inside.

The circle was broken and he hadn't been the one to break it.

Orochimaru sat on an old wooden chair in the middle of a candle-lit basement with his hands gripping the arms of the chair making them creak with the subtle force he applied with his fingers. A brave person may have said he was brooding, but then again he would have likely kill that person for such words.

"How dare they?" he hissed. "If anyone had the rights to kill him it was me!"

The basement was a typical basement, having many dungeon-like qualities such as stone walls. It was not luxurious, but its original purpose was to store many priceless antiquities and unused expensive furnishings.

Yet all that was gone, now replaced bodies, some dead and some alive. The basement was filled with agonizing screams and pathetic whimpers.

"Was it necessary to do experiments here?" Kabuto asked softly, wary of Orochimaru's latest mood. They were far from the Hidden Village of Sound and yet Orochimaru had insisted on beginning new experiments.

"Inspiration isn't a thing to waste, Kabuto. This trap has made me feel nostalgic. I wanted the trap to be perfect for Jiraiya!" Orochimaru spat. "Damn the Akatsuki! They have taken something from me so I will take something from then ten times greater!"

Kabuto stopped himself from sighing. Orochimaru had not been in a good mood since discovering Jiraiya was dead. Sometimes talking to Orochimaru was as dangerous as trying to pick up a snake. One must always we be weary of the fangs and the snake's lightening quick strike.

However, the trap had continued. Orochimaru had gone to great pain to lure Jiraiya in and create the masterpiece of his trap that would kill Jiraiya, but what would work on Jiraiya was sure to work on Naruto, even better perhaps in Kabuto's opinion.

"The immortality technique is far from perfected. I thought I could learn something here while we waited," Orochimaru continued in a strange tone.

Kabuto thought in silence. It was true the technique was not perfect. It took nearly three years after taking a new body before he could take a new one again.

"When creating a technique for a certain goal there are many paths to take and further branches from those paths. Take the wrong one and it will lead you to a dead end, wasting valuable time," Orochimaru explained.

He slowly stood up and walked over to a table with serpentine grace. He picked up a scalpel and watched it shine from underneath the candlelight. His hands were as articulate as they ever were. In a way three years of being in this body he hadn't desired were worth undoing the results of the Third's technique. He often laughed knowing the Third had thrown away his soul into the Shinigami for nothing. He may have taken the arms of his soul, but all it took was another mind transfer to get new ones.

Orochimaru smiled at the perfect flesh.

However, the flesh was aging. It was slow, undetectable my human sight, but he was sure it was happening.

"I have saved my mind from being trapped in an aging body, but what I desire is a body with advanced bloodlines that will aid my ambitions to become the ultimate being. What use are the Sharingan eyes if they eventually wither away with age? I still need eternal youth if I am ever going to learn all the techniques in existence!"

Eventually that perfect flesh would grow old and fail. The joints in his fingers would stiffen, preventing him from forming seals. Even the abilities of the Sasuke's Sharingan eyes could not stave off age. Their effects would eventually grow dim and all the trouble he went through to gain him would mean nothing. It may take him generations to learn all the techniques possible and the advantages of advance bloodlines would not last forever.

Unless he found a way…

"A body that never ages…is really possible?" Kabuto asked.

"Perhaps. I have gotten close before, but they didn't serve my purpose and I discarded them. It was before your time, before I left Konoha."

Kabuto didn't ask any more and watched Orochimaru silently. The Sannin seemed deep in thought that moment. Slowly a cruel smile grew on his face. It was an evil thing to see and Kabuto had yet gotten used it. It still sent a shiver down his spine.

The basement was soon filled with new screams. Orochimaru worked almost like a craftsman, splitting flesh with the scalpel and bending it to his will by using his vile techniques. Kabuto watched his master work diligently, but eventually the body stopped moving and Orochimaru frowned.

"Perhaps you were too hasty in throwing away your original experiments," Kabuto said carefully.

Orochimaru started laughing and his voice echoed in the cold confines of the basement.

"Kabuto, I told you inspiration should not be wasted. There maybe something that can still be learned even from trash."

Her skin felt stretched as if it had grown tight around her muscles and bone.

The ache was slowly growing and she felt if she moved in the wrong direction that her skin would rip apart, revealing something underneath that she didn't want to see. She was afraid that beneath her skin instead of crimson blood was green serpentine scales or perhaps something worse.

A soft melancholy laughter escaped her lips. She should be happy, she had eternal youth to a limit. She never had to write down her real age. She never had to act her age. She was still as young as the day that horrible technique was used on her, at least on the outside.

She didn't want to think about her insides. It hadn't suited his needs. That alone told her it wasn't good. She only hoped that the eventual difference between youth and age wouldn't tear her apart.

Yet, she knew it was confusing to others, especially those who had known her long enough to notice she never changed, but she covered it well with exuberance and loud behavior. Despite her true age she was as rash and impulsive as ever. That had never changed.

Neither had the haunting dreams at night.

They were often strange, reminding her of something she had forgotten. The truth remained in the corner of her vision and on the tip of her tongue, but never to be really reached. However, they were equally horrible, twisting memories with nightmares.

She sometimes dreamed of being successful in killing him instead of failing. With the last technique that he had ever taught her she gives her life over and over, but once in while instead him it is the only man she ever loved. Fulfilling the fate she had once upon a time.

Other times she dreams of a round belly. She can feel the life inside kicking from within and she remembers a happy smile, but once again the dream twists into a nightmare. She gives birth to a litter of snakes and only then does she scream.

Author's Note:Yes, it is Mitarashi Anko. More on that and why in the future chapters.There is a method to my madness.Don't worry, I am trying to be as canon as possible, while providing a plausible explanation to her age.
Version 1.1:

1.0: Original. Manga Chapter 245 happened before this posted, marking the return of Naruto and start of Part 2. Thus, this is definately AU.

1.1: Cleaned up the header. Added "Author's Note".