Authors Notes 1) I don't own Naruto or its characters.
2) Thank you to my friend Alex for his help.
3) Constructive criticism is welcomed, as are compliments.
4) The characters are 16 in the first chapter of the story. I have not seen if Sasuke's defection to Sound was successful or not. For the purposes of this story, I am assuming that it was.
O-O-O
Orochimaru frowned upon entering his office. He was tired of dealing with the problems of the Hidden Village of Sound. Nothing was going well lately. Konoha was increasing pressure again, and while he enjoyed hearing about the deaths his ninja inflicted upon the pathetic village he had once called home, it was getting far too annoying. A war with the Leaf he could deal with, but there had to be some sort of payoff involved. The idea, originally, had been for him to possess the body of Uchiha Sasuke. For that, he would have been willing to deal with the constant skirmishing his village was now engaged in. It was his own fault, he knew, that the Uchiha had slipped away from him. He had been ready to transfer bodies for several years, and yet had chosen not to. He had gotten too greedy, he reflected. He had wanted the sharingan, and could have had it, but the lure of the mange sharingan had proven too strong. He had let Sasuke continue his quest for revenge, hoping that the boy he had selected as his next vessel would succeed in his task. Perhaps in slaying Itachi, Sasuke too would have unlocked the ultimate stage of the Uchiha doujutsu. But it hadn't worked out as he had hoped. Itachi was dead. This much he knew from several contacts he had been able to secretly maintain within Akatsuki after his departure; but he was unable to locate Sasuke. He had simply disappeared, taking with him all hopes of possessing his body - the entire reason Orochimaru had been willing to invade the Leaf in the first place. Ah well, it wasn't all bad. The border skirmishes were in fact quite useful. Promising shinobi were sent to the area to hone their skills in true combat. And disappointing ones, well, it was certainly a convenient way to get rid of them. All in all it wasn't so…
The scroll was sitting on his desk. That alone was not unusual. He was the leader of a ninja village after all. It was his job to review requests for missions, and as such, he always had many scrolls from prospective clients to examine. However, he had told Kabuto not to receive any mission requests today. As well, the kunai sticking through the scroll, nailing it to his desk, suggested that this was something else.
With a few quick seals, Orochimaru examined the room, as well as the scroll. There seemed to be no traps; whatever this was, it did not appear to be an attack. Pulling the kunai out, Orochimaru unrolled the parchment and began to read. His eyes widened in surprise.
Greetings, Orochimaru-sama.
I will not bother you with my name or personal history; it is beside the point. All that is relevant is that I am a ninja of considerable power. Before you dismiss this as foolish boasting, please take note of the fact that I have successfully penetrated into the heart of your village undetected, and delivered this note. I realize that it is an odd request, but I am in need of a large amount of help. I am a lone missing-nin with a personal problem. One that would take the backing of a powerful ninja village or criminal organization to solve. As I do not have the money to hire a village's aid, nor do I possess anything an organization such as Akatsuki would be interested in (besides which, I have heard they have lost several of their more powerful members), I have nowhere else to turn, but to you.
As I have previously indicated, I do not possess the funds to hire your personnel. I do, however, believe we could come to an alternate payment method. There is a seal at the bottom of this letter. When broken it will contain a map which will guide you to where you must go if you wish to negotiate with me.
I hope you will forgive me for not negotiating face to face, but I would rather not be in the center of your village, should the discussion turn sour. Along with the map you will also find a small vial. Yes, that is blood in it. I suggest that you have it analyzed.
I hope to hear from you soon. With deepest regards: A prospective customer.
The sannin frowned. None of this made any sense. A lone missing-nin was actually approaching a village and attempting to hire them out? He triggered the seal, and examined the items that puffed into existence. There they were. A map, and a small vial of blood. Well, he didn't understand what was going on, but it shouldn't hurt to play along for the first little bit. He thumbed the intercom on his desk. "Kabuto, could I see you for a moment."
"Of course Orochimaru-sama." The door opened a moment later as his assistant strode in. He stopped in front of the sannin's desk, bowing. "What is your bidding, my lord?"
Orochimaru held up the vial, and casually tossed it to him. "Have this examined. I suppose it should be done as soon as possible. Get someone to take care of it."
Kabuto nodded. "If it is as important as you make it sound, I shall personally take care of it right now. I should be able to have results for you within an hour, my lord."
"Very good." The snake sannin dismissivly waved his hand. "Let me know how it turns out." As Kabuto left, he turned his attention back to the map. It seemed that whoever was sending this, planned to meet in territory belonging to the Hidden Village of Cloud. His eyes narrowed. He had never established any contacts with Cloud. They had fought a war with Konoha previously, he knew. Perhaps they were testing the waters to see what he would do. The first stage towards deciding whether they wanted to attempt some sort of agreement, perhaps? Yes, that was probably the most likely explanation. Cloud was hoping to form some sort of agreement, and were testing him to see what his response would be. Settling back into his chair, he began to think, examining the different angles. He had just twenty three minutes to do so, before Kabuto came running back into his office.
"Orochimaru-sama. The blood. I have done an analysis of it." He was panting, out of breath. It looked like he had sprinted the whole way to the office to report his findings. "Sasuke-kun. There's a one hundred percent match. It's Sasuke-kun."
"Sasuke? Are you sure?" The Sound leader was incredulous. Kabuto nodded, before straightening himself to attention.
"What are your orders, my lord?"
Orochimaru sat back, his mind analyzing the situation. Kabuto stood waiting as the time dragged on. After ten minutes, Orochimaru nodded. He handed the letter to Kabuto, and allowed him time to scan it before he spoke. "Send a standard three-man team. Jounin, mid-level. They should be competent fighters, but speed and stealth will be more important. One of them will also need to be an excellent negotiator. They are to find out who has sent this message and what they want. They are to offer to escort the missing-nin back to here - although should he refuse, they are not to press the issue. Tell them we require further proof that his proposed payment is intact, and if it is, that we are more than willing to help him with whatever he wishes to contract us for. They will get the particulars of his request and return. Hopefully with him, but again, we shall not press that matter. Do you understand, Kabuto?" When his assistant nodded, Orochimaru continued. With a couple of hand seals, he created a copy of the map. "Give them this. Tell the team that this is a short - to mid-term A-class mission. I want a team out of here before the end of the day. Can we do it?"
"Of course, my lord. I already have several possible teams in mind. I shall examine my choices quickly, brief them, and have them on their way in no more than four hours."
The snake sannin's mouth spread into a cruel smile. The kind a predator has when stalking its prey. "Excellent."
O-O-O
It took a little more than a week for the response to come back. Orochimaru entered his office to again find a scroll affixed to his desk with a kunai.
Orochimaru-sama,
I received your envoys. I assumed you viewed them as disposable when you sent them to meet with me. I sincerely hope so, as I pretty much disposed of them.
Perhaps I was unclear in my last letter. When I stated that I wished to hear from you soon, I meant exactly that. You. I have no desire to relay messages back and forth through petty couriers. I have something you want, and I want to see you to discuss your help. If you are unwilling to meet with me, I shall have to attempt to find other help for my problem. Perhaps the village of Konoha will be interested in reacquiring the last sharingan user.
I do not mean to resort to petty threats, merely to point out I do have at least one more option at my disposal. I understand you are hesitant to come to me. It is unreasonable of me not to expect as much, when I am refusing to come to you. Therefore, I would be more than willing to speak to you if you were to bring an escort. I will speak to you alone, but will not complain if you are escorted by a three-man team.
I hope to hear from you soon. With deepest regards: A potential customer
P.S. If you do come, could we please avoid the unpleasantness of you bringing more than one team, and having the remainder stay hidden. I would really hate to have to deliver another scroll. I am supposed to be on the run. Staying in one spot is somewhat difficult you know.
Orochimaru's brow furrowed. He did not like the tone of the letter. Who was some missing-nin to talk down, or rather, write down, to him? Still, the man had a good point. He could indeed attempt to go to Konoha and obtain help from them. Orochimaru suspected that his former teammate, Tsunade, would be much less inclined to deal with a missing-nin than he was. It was unlikely, however, that they would allow the ninja to walk away. The snake sannin sighed. As much as he disliked it, he saw little choice but to follow the rules that this outcast set. Sitting up from his desk, the leader of the Hidden Village of Sound strode out of his office, into his assistant's work area.
"Kabuto! Assemble two high-level jounin. They, along with you, shall be my escort to meet the missing-nin we sent the last squad to make contact with."
Kabuto stood instantly. As he did, he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "Of course, Orochimaru-sama. You wish to only take one team, then?"
A cold stare told him all he needed to know. "I wish to do none of this." At that, Orochimaru strode out of the room, calling over his shoulder as he did so. "Two high-level jounin, Kabuto. I will appoint someone to run the village in my absence. I want you prepared to leave as soon as I return."
"Of course, Orochimaru-sama."
O-O-O
The Sound delegation made its way along the river. They were well inside the territory belonging to the Hidden Village of Cloud. The river cut through the territory, and led towards the area the map designated they would meet in. It seemed, in fact, that the missing-nin who sent them the map, had wanted them to follow the river. For what reason, they did not know. It appeared that their potential client merely wanted them to take the most direct route. None of them believed that, however. Orochimaru was one of the most deceptive and suspicious ninja known; he never took something at face value. Kabuto was his personal assistant. He, in this case, could truly claim to have learned from the best. The remaining jounin that made up the party were some of the best the Sound village had to offer. They had certainly not gained their positions without learning the folly of trust.
They were spread out as much as was possible, their muscles tense, their eyes scanning for trouble. There had been no serious problems so far, although they had needed to make several detours to avoid patrols from Cloud. One of the first lessons a ninja learned was not to draw attention to one's self, after all. They moved slowly, taking care in every movement. Not a twig snapped beneath their steps. It was slow moving, but Orochimaru had stressed the importance of stealth in this mission.
Kabuto had chosen their companions well. Varshin was the best scout that the Sound Village had to offer. He had done the reconnaissance on the Sand Village years ago, before Orochimaru had murdered, and temporarily assumed the role of, the Kazekage. The final member of the group was known as Gen. It was a nickname he had earned as a master of genjutsu. Neither Kabuto, nor Orochimaru had worked with him before, but they held the utmost confidence in his ability. He was one of the youngest jounin serving Sound. Unlike most of their shinobi, he was not recruited from another village, but rather was in the third graduating class from the Sound's own ninja academy. It was said by his fellow shinobi that had sparred with him that he was the greatest genjutsu user they had ever seen.
His talents were now being put to use to help mask his leader and his party. He was utilizing one of the techniques he was most proud of. It could be used against any number of opponents, with no increase in chakra, due to the fact it targeted an area, and not a person. All Gen needed to do, was use his blood to etch a small seal onto an object, perform the hand seals, and infuse the amount of chakra he wanted. Once done, it created a 'bubble' around the seal. Unless he had previously marked the person, anyone looking into the bubble would see exactly what they expected. The more chakra he used, the longer he could make the illusion last, and the larger the diameter of the bubble became. Currently, he had his illusion centered on a bracelet he was wearing, the bubble extending out fifty feet from him. Every few hours, he would signal that he needed a rest, taking the time to relax, before feeding more chakra into the illusion. It was a tedious task, which slowed the four even further than they otherwise would have been, but it was worth it. Orochimaru-sama had wanted stealth, and he would get it. All things considered, it would take an elite ninja to have a chance of finding them.
The first technique used was an advanced earth element ninjutsu. Only an elite ninja would be able to perform it. Varshin was in the lead, with Gen following. Orochimaru came third, as Kabuto acted as the rear guard. Varshin held up his hand, and the party came to a halt. Cocking his head, the scout seemed to be listening for something. At the last second, his hand sliced downwards, the signal to scatter, as he leapt to the side. "Move!"
The others heeded his advice, breaking in all directions as hands of dirt and stone shot out of the earth, grabbing at the spots they had stood in less than a moment ago. Varshin was the first to land from his dodge. Sparing a second, he whipped his head around, trying to see where the attacker was. He would have been better served to continue moving, however; a point driven home when two more hands shot out of the dirt to grab hold of his ankles. The remaining three Sound ninja continued to dodge the earthen limbs, as more and more hands shot out of the ground to latch on to their companion.
Varshin was panicking. He was being pulled into the ground by the attack, and if it succeeded, he had no illusions about his chances of survival. His entire body strained as he tried to thrash his way free of the binding jutsu. His hands began to run through the seals for a move he hoped would save him, but further hands shot out to pull his arms apart. A moment later, his arms had disappeared into the earth. It was over, he knew. His head sank below the ground, his mouth filling with dirt as he screamed.
As the unfortunate Sound ninja was being pulled to his death, a green-clad figure flashed through the upraised hands. It made straight for Kabuto, coming in from the side. Out of the corner of his eye, Kabuto saw the movement, and propelled himself straight into the air. The figure carried on below him, not bothering to adjust for the dodge. Beyond Kabuto was Gen, his back turned to the approaching danger. While the genjutsu specialist was an excellent ninja, physical combat was his weakest area. He was still more than proficient, but it was something his fighting style tended to avoid. His reflexes were dull; dodging the earth attack, he never even detected the danger approaching from behind.
From the air, Kabuto saw it all. The green blur extended an arm, and, moving it a top speed drove it into the back of his comrade. Blood erupted from Gen's chest as the limb tore right through his body. The green-clad enemy twisted his body, bringing his arm forward. The impaled teen flew off of it, landing with a splash in the river. His right arm drenched in blood, the cloaked figure turned to face down the sannin. "Those were two of the best that you have? Really, how in the hell is your village still functioning?"
Orochimaru remained cautious as he answered. He did not intend to be surprised, although he doubted he would be unable to escape from the earth jutsu, even if his opponent should try using it against him. "I thought that I was allowed three men to escort me? You certainly did not seem to indicate that you would harm them."
"I failed to indicate many things. If you didn't want them killed, you shouldn't have brought them along. By the same token, unless Kabuto there is expendable, tell him to stop sneaking up behind me."
The second-in-command of the Sound Village paused. Did this man have vision that allowed him to see behind him, or was he simply guessing?
"Really, Kabuto, you don't need to smell so surprised. You are standing upwind, after all."
Kabuto took the time to push his glasses back up his nose. Whoever this was, he was certainly good.
"So what now?" It was Orochimaru who broke the silence. "Do you wish to negotiate with me, or was this all an elaborate plan to bring me out here and ambush me. If it is the second, I must say it is a needlessly complicated way to commit suicide."
"We can negotiate, I suppose. We'll start with the important parts. Would you rather I cut off your head, or tear out your heart?"
The snake sannin shook his head, chuckling. "My now, we certainly are confident, aren't we? Will you at least tell me what became of Sasuke-kun? After all, it's only fair that I get some reward once I kill you."
"If you killed me, you would have your life. If you knew what I am, you would consider that reward enough. But, since you asked, after I beat him half to death, I took him home. I promised that I'd bring him home for someone, so I tossed him through her window."
"Naruto!"
The masked ninja whirled around. "Shut up, and stay out of it, Kabuto. I won't even bother to deal with you. I'm leaving that job for my teammate." He gestured to behind the Sound ninja, who turned to find Hisashi staring him down. He was breathing heavily, resting his hands on his hips.
"Really?" Kabuto's voice was filled with mirth. "He hardly seems like a worthy adversary to me."
"I'm fine. That earth jutsu took a hell of a lot out of me. But don't worry about it." His face slowly spread into a grin as he spoke. "I promise, I don't need much chakra to beat you."
Naruto returned to glaring at Orochimaru. The older man, it seemed, was not so much looking at him, as trying to look through him. "Uzumaki Naruto? I heard that you had died."
"Obviously not. Now then, I realize that you'd rather talk than fight, but try to understand; I'm a busy man. I've got a lot of killing you to take care of." At that, Naruto threw himself forwards. His right arm, soaked in the blood of his first victim, was cocked back. His hand, rather than forming a fist, was splayed open, allowing all five clawed fingers an opportunity to pierce into Orochimaru.
At the last moment, Orochimaru dodged to the left. Naruto's momentum prevented him from stopping his all out charge. He soared right past the Sound leader. As he did, Orochimaru's head sped forwards. His neck stretched beyond normal human means, as his fanged mouth headed for Naruto's throat.
Kabuto took three steps towards Hisashi, before funneling chakra into his legs, and leaping into the sky. Hisashi began forming seals. His chakra was definitely low. In this case, if he had to take an extra couple of seconds to make seals, fine. He hadn't lied in either case; he didn't need much chakra to fulfill his end of the plan, but that earth jutsu had taken way too much out of him. It was beyond his level, and he had rarely had time to practice it. If he was careful, he had perhaps three good jutsu left in him. He finished the last seal, and pulled six kunai out of his holster, three in each hand. Lightning crackled into existence, coating the six kunai. With careful aim, he threw the three in his left hand at his airborne target. There was no way Kabuto could dodge it in time.
Moments before the kunai struck home, Kabuto finished his last seal. In a puff of smoke, he disappeared, the incoming weapons bouncing harmlessly off of a rock that plummeted to the ground.
Hisashi spun, throwing the other three weapons behind him. Off balance, his aim was poor. Two sailed clean past Kabuto, while the third was deflected by one of the Sound ninja's own kunai. He moved back franticly, still off balance. His hands were racing through a new set of seals. A kunai, glowing with chakra, sunk into his forearm; he had been unable to fully dodge. The glow vanished as the jutsu was triggered. The chakra flowed through Hisashi's arm, severing every muscle it came into contact with.
Already on unsure footing, the pain was enough to knock the last of the Sun ninja from his feet. He landed hard, stifling a cry of pain as he did so. Kabuto came at him. His right arm useless, Hisoka's eyes flashed yellow. He was wounded, and almost completely depleted. Did he have enough chakra left for this?
The leader of the Hidden Village of Sound sunk his teeth into Naruto's throat, pumping venom into his bloodstream. There was a gurgle from Naruto, followed by his breath sliding out, as he hissed in pain.
In a puff of smoke, he disappeared. The destruction of the shadow clone left Orochimaru off balance. He began to fall forwards. Naruto landed on his neck, just below his head, pinning it to the ground. In a chopping motion, he drove his hand down. His claws were sharp as razors; they made contact with Orochimaru's flesh, and passed clean through it. In one move, Naruto had severed the head of one of the three sannin.
Which, along with his body, was dissolving into mud. Orochimaru streaked in from the left. With expert aim, he slid his sword through the cartilage between two ribs, piercing the heart. Raising his head, the snake sannin hissed into Naruto's ear. "How does it feel boy; to lose to your own trick?" He punctuated the question by twisting his sword, and grinned. He could not see Naruto's face, but his hiss of pain came clearly through his mask.
"You… tell- me." The clone vanished.
Naruto's fist impacted into the sannin's kidneys. Orochimaru flew forwards, landing in a heap. He picked himself up, blood trickling from his mouth.
Kabuto dragged himself back to his feet. Where the hell had that come from? How had that kid pulled off a lightning bolt without one of his hands? He could feel his heart pumping unsteadily. If it weren't for his ability to heal at such an advanced rate, he would be dead by now. At least his opponent wasn't doing too well, either. Hisashi was back on his feet as well, but he was wavering. It looked like all it would take was a good push to bring him down. He pulled out a kunai, and threw it. It barely went in the right direction. Unsteadily, he advanced, pulling out another kunai as he did so. His synapses were fried right now. If he didn't want to give his opponent time to recover, it looked like he was going to have to go hand to hand.
Hisashi watched his opponent come in. He was tired. He had never depleted his chakra to this level before. His eyes were still yellow. He had one trick left, but was he going to be able to pull it off without seals? Steadying his breathing, he concentrated, collecting what little power he still had left. A bit more than he initially thought. He probably did have the power to do this. Once. Desperation pushed his exhaustion to the back of his mind. He allowed himself to sink down to his knees. He wouldn't have the strength to stand after this anyways. Kabuto stood over him, and thrust his weapon downwards. Hisashi's arm flashed up; grabbing Kabuto's wrist, he played his last card. Energy flashed through Kabuto's body, paralyzing him.
Hisashi struggled to maintain the jutsu. It had taken the last of his chakra to set it off, but it took only a small amount to sustain it. If he could just draw the chakra out fast enough, he would be able to keep feeding it.
Naruto slowly moved towards his opponent. Beneath the mask, he wore a feral grin, watching the fear play across Orochimaru's face. "How does it feel then, coward? It must be terrible to feel such helplessness. To have to watch death approach you." He could feel the bloodlust within him. There was excitement in watching his terrified victim, but there was also impatience. After this, came the kill. And that was everything. The desire to hurt, to spread fear, they were powerful; but they paled in comparison to the lust for blood. Sometimes, Uzumaki Naruto would fight these urges, but now, he reveled in them.
Orochimaru shifted his stance slightly, leaning his body forwards, to obscure the motion of his left arm. He failed to completely hide it however, allowing Naruto a partial view of what he was doing. A five element seal. Orochimaru wanted to cut off his access to Kyuubi's chakra. Alright then, let him do that.
Orochimaru slammed the seal into Naruto's chest, grinning. Naruto responded with an uppercut that sent Orochimaru sailing backwards. As the sannin picked himself back up, Naruto slowly applauded.
"Wow! A five element seal. Nicely done! You know, I remember when you used that against me back in my first chuunin exam. That was what, six, no seven years ago. That was a great trick. It messed up my own seal so I couldn't access all the demonic chakra sealed inside of me. Worked great seven years ago. Hell, probably would work great now, if not for that one thing. Here, let me show you." He pulled the hood of his cloak down, revealing his hair, and reached up for his mask. "I suppose I could take my shirt off, and let you check out my chest. But still, you're probably smart enough to figure it out from my face." He let the mask fall to the ground, locking his gaze onto Orochimaru. The older man's eyes were wide with shock, realization slowly spreading across his face as he stared at Naruto. "That's right. No seal anymore." Naruto brought a clawed hand up, holding it in front of his own face. "Meet the new, and improved, Uzumaki Naruto."
He moved so fast that Orochimaru lost sight of him. One second, they were staring at each other, and the next, Naruto's foot was connecting with the bottom of his jaw, sending him into the air. Palm open, Naruto leapt after him, a rasengan swirling into view. When he had first learned the rasengan, training with Jiraiya, it had always been blue. Later, before he had deliberately removed the seal that the Fourth had placed upon him, he had discovered that when he used Kyuubi's chakra, it would appear red. Since he had removed the seal, they had become a third colour. Shouting, he drove the swirling purple ball of chakra into the back of his opponent.
"Rasengan!"
The ball exploded with power, sending Orochimaru further into the air. Landing, Naruto formed a cross with his hands. Since he left his village three years ago, he tried to avoid using his signature moves too often. If Konoha were to hear of someone fighting with shadow clones and rasengan, they would investigate. And Naruto had no desire to have to deal with his former village. But this time, he wanted to do it the old fashioned way. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
Seven clones came into existence. They, along with Naruto, watched Orochimaru fall. The sannin hit the ground; there were multiple snapping sounds from his body. Two of the clones sprung forth, picking him up. One held the man in a full nelson, preventing him from bringing his arms together. The other wrapped both of his hands around their victims throat, preventing him from drawing air. The real Naruto, along with the other five clones moved into a circle around them. In unison, they formed the seals for the same jutsu, releasing it as one.
Six dragons, made purely of flames, streaked to the three figures in the center of the circle. As the two shadow clones were destroyed, Orochimaru shrieked in agony; his body withering into ash. The six held the attack for long after the screams had stopped. Finally, the dragons died away, the clones winking out of existence.
The center of the circle held no trace of remains; the heat had scorched everything away, fusing the surface into glass.
Naruto turned, and began making his way towards the remaining two combatants. Hisashi shivered; he rarely saw his companions face, and he did not like the grin that was on it at the moment. "Naruto, are you alright there?" There was panic edging its way into his voice. "That was pretty extreme, even for you."
"I'm fine." Hisashi allowed himself to relax slightly at the answer. "That bastard just had it coming, that's all. You're back on your feet. Able to pull out more than you need to use?"
"Barely, otherwise I'd have finished this guy off. This is that Kabuto you've told me about right?"
"Right."
Kabuto was struggling to break free, but it was no use. He didn't know how it was happening, but he could feel himself growing weaker and weaker. Whoever Naruto's companion was, he was draining the energy out of him. And the damn jutsu was still paralyzing him. Electricity was continually shooting through his body, scrambling his nervous system. He could feel his healing factor dealing with it, but even as it repaired the nerves, they were being refried. And the bastard was taking his energy to fuel it.
"So now what?" It was Hisashi who asked the question, directing it to Naruto, who was standing right in front of him and his prisoner. Instead of answering him, Naruto instead spoke to Kabuto.
"Kabuto, you betrayed what was once my home, the Hidden Village of the Leaf. I know what you are thinking, but no, I did not. They… abandoned… me! I… gave up my… life! And the village… they celebrated my death. Celebrated! I didn't return home, but I never betrayed them." His voice lowered to a whisper. "I hate traitors." He took a moment to let his words send fear through Kabuto, before he continued. "Still, you helped me in the chuunin exam, even though it was for your own gain. And I remember hearing rumors about the mysterious ANBU who healed Hinata while I fought Neji. His description matched you pretty well. So I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."
His fist snapped forwards, knocking the Sound ninja unconscious. Hisashi let him fall, not bothering to keep the contact needed for his jutsu. There was no point. Kabuto was out cold.
Naruto picked the unconscious ninja up, and made his way to the river "You're lucky, Kabuto," he growled. "It's been a long time since I've gone out of my way to make an enemy's death less painful."
O-O-O
Sorry this took so long. I have been unable to get anything to my editor for some time. I thought about posting it unedited, but figured since it was already late, I may as well wait until he could correct it.
Here's the good news in any case. Chapter five is about half done. I plan to finish it this week. I figure I'll post it quick to make up for the delay. I'm going travelling all week, so I won't be home to type until Friday night, so it will be done Saturday. Alex is pretty busy, so I figure it will be another week to get edited. So, yeah, chapter five should be up inside of two weeks.
P.S. Naruto will return to Konoha at the end of next chapter. I know I said that last time, but this time it is for sure. Finally! Sadly, he won't interact with anyone inside the village until the first paragraph of chapter six.
P.P.S. Usually I respond to those who ask me questions right away, so that I don't forget. I'll be in the middle of a forest in Ontario for the next week, so that won't happen. But I'll be back on August 19th, and it will be one of the first things to do on my list.
