Naruto: Shoton of Konoha

by Arch-Daishou00

: For Stormy Rebel, miss you, Joachim, and thank you: "By the actions of the traitor Mizuki. Naruto awakens a rare Kekkei Genkai. And his path has now changed. And in the darkness awakens an ancient threat more terrifying than the Akatsuki, which only stirs thought of myths from a lost and forgotten age." : huge world expansion story, OC. Co-Author: Etheral-23

11. The snake in the forest!

Chapter 11: The Snake in the forest! Orochimaru vs. Sasuke and Sakura!

Darkness. Pain. Hatred. All he could feel was those things. He didn't know where he was, or when he was… who was he again…? Oh yeah, he was Uzumaki Naruto, orphan of Konohagakure no Sato, Jinchurriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko, hated by the shinobi, despised by the villagers… The Kyuubi… The source of all his suffering… And that because of a single man; Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, Konoha no Kiiroi Senko, war-hero of the third great shinobi war… Why him? Why did the strongest shinobi in centuries choose him? Why was it him that had to be damned? Hadn't the Kyuubi taken enough from him? Wasn't his parents' death enough for the Yondaime? Hadn't he suffered enough?

The pain, this unbearable pain! It wasn't only his non-existing body that hurt now, but his heart too. Everything hurt, and he had nowhere to run… There was only darkness, darkness to swallow him up whole, darkness mock him in his darkest hour, darkness to remind him of all the things he didn't accomplish, all the things he wouldn't accomplish, and the things he never could accomplish… He had never hurt this much before. He wanted to get away, but there was nowhere to go, nowhere to run…

Then out of nothing came flash brighter than the strongest Katon jutsu, so bright that he thought it was a new sun. It was somewhere, instead of this nowhere. He began running towards it, he started to feel his body; his chest, his legs, his arms, his head, his everything. He was something, somebody.

The darkness grabbed out after him, trying to hold him away from the beautiful light, the godsend light, but he wouldn't lose. He used all his powers to struggle, to get away from the awful thing that was darkness. He was getting closer! He could feel the warmth, the caring, and the love. He had to get there. But the darkness was so strong! He was so close! He couldn't be shown the way out, just to have it taken away. But he started to slow down. The darkness came from him again, dragging him away from the light, from the warmth, the caring, and the love. He couldn't take it, the hatred, the pain, the darkness. It came for him again. He started to lose to it, slowly, inch by inch; it won, dragging him away from the light. It got colder.

That's when he heard the voice, that familiar yet completely alien voice. It was soothing, knowing, caring. It gave him strength. He fought, he couldn't lose to the darkness, and he wouldn't. He had things to do, goals to accomplish! He was going to pass these exams, he was going to be acknowledged by the village of Konoha, and he was going to become the Hokage!

He used his newly gained strength to get out of the grasp of the coldness, the darkness. He used all his powers to get to the voice, to the light. He was winning. He was so close now, just a few more meters. Five meters, three meters, a half meter. He stretched out his hand to touch his savior. He was so close to the warmth, it burned his hand. But he didn't care; anything but the darkness. And he touched it.

Light exploded all around him, chasing the darkness away, the coldness away, the pain and hatred away. There was only light, only love, only warmth. He blinked a few times to get use to the brightness. What he saw was not what he expected. He was standing what he guessed was a room, but without walls. There wasn't much furniture here, only a small table, a chair, and a crib. He heard low, light breaths from it. He slowly stepped over to it, his breath getting stuck in his throat when he saw who was laying in it.

It was a baby, which couldn't be more than a day or two old. That wasn't what had gotten to Naruto; it was its appearance. Three very familiar whisker marks were across the cheeks, his blond hair was spiky and uncontrolled, bristling in all direction. The baby had his eyes open to show him the most deep, cerulean eyes, which he knew very well.

He got a shock as two people appeared in the middle of the 'room'. A blond man was kneeling, holding a long, red-haired woman to his chest. You could see that she was very beautiful, despite appearing so sick and weak. Once again his breath hitched as the man rose from his kneeling position, showing his full appearance. He had the same spiky blond hair as the baby, but longer bangs, framing his head, the same deep, cerulean kind eyes was position in his face. His whole body structure just shouted 'I have power, and I'm not afraid of using it if I'm forced'. It was the Yondaime Hokage.

"Why" the red-haired woman weakly spoke. The pair didn't seem to have noticed the stranger in their home. Naruto stood frozen, not daring to make any movements

Minato began walking over to the crib "never mind that now… Just stay with Naruto." His eyes widened in realization as he heard what the older blond said. He looked in disbelief between the man standing over the crib, to the woman lying in it beside the baby.

The woman hugged the baby tightly, her eyes watering "Naruto…" She didn't notice the dark and grim look which was displayed in her husband's face. His fist tightened a second as a resolute expression took over the grim look. He went to where a wall should have been, and opened what appeared to be a closet. He quickly took on a white cloak with red flames dancing at the bottom. On the backside the kanji for 'Yondaime Hokage' was displayed. Naruto had no doubts now; this was the legendary Konoha no Kiiroi Senko.

"Minato… Thank you" the woman spoke, "good luck".

"I'll be right back" and with that he disappeared in a flash of yellow.

She just lay there, looking at her newly born son. He began to sob lightly, almost as if he knew what would come to be. The woman comforted him "There, there Naru-chan. everything will be all right." But he didn't stop, he began to cry louder. "Shhh, nothing is going to happen to you, just go back to sleep." But it didn't stop him; she sighed deeply with a smile on her lips, and began to sing for him. Chills went down Naruto's spine as he recognized the voice; it was the voice that had saved him from the darkness, the voice which had haunted his dreams, since he don't know when. He sat down on the chair simply listening to what he could only guess was his mom. A serene smile spread on his face

"Just when you think

Hope is lost

And giving up

Is all you got,

Blue turns black,

Your confidence is cracked,

And there seems no turning back from here

Sometimes there isn't an obvious explanation

Why the holiest hearts can feel the strongest palpitations

That's when you can build a bridge of light,

That's what turns the wrongs all right

That's when you can't give up the fight

That's when love turns nighttime into day,

That's when loneliness goes away,

That's why you gotta be strong tonight,

And only love can build us a bridge of light"

Naruto could've listened to that for hours, maybe even days, and not get tired of hearing it. He closed his eyes as the song went on and on, just reveling in the peace he felt. But he suddenly frowned when the voice became lower and lower. He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't. He could only sit there as the angelic song was taken away from him.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto winced; he could feel all the pain in his body. He wasn't in the light anymore. What was that place anyway? Had it all been a dream? He really wasn't the Yondaime's son…? No, it couldn't have been a dream, not with all those emotions he felt. He could still feel the peace from the light, the love, and the concern; two feelings he never really had felt before, but instantly knew what they were.

He turned over to feel a warm glow from behind his eyelids. It was nice. Kept him warm now that he was lying here on the forest floor. But how could that be? How did he get here again? The last thing he remembered was the snake, the snake which poofed away, just like a summons's? A snake summoner? The only Konoha-nin with a contract to the snakes were Anko, and no one, not even her, was allowed to interfere in the exams. But who else could have the snake summon? Who again was holding the contract? He thought about it for a few seconds, before the realization came crashing down on him 'Orochimaru! It was Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin! But then… Sakura, Sasuke!' He sat up as soon as he had concluded it, but quickly regretted it and grasped his head. He got very lightheaded, and his whole body still hurt – not as much as before, but still a lot. He winced and looked down his body; he was covered in bandages. He frowned once again 'but who could've done it? For that matter, why am I sitting in a camp, and not lying beaten up somewhere in the forest?'

"Oh, you're finally awake. I have been waiting for quite some time" a foreign female voice sounded. Naruto, while still quite dazed by the lightheadedness, looked lazily over at the direction the voice had come from, and looked straight at a blond girl. He recognized her from the day before, at Ibiki's exam. He analyzed her face; it was smooth, beautiful even. Especially her eyes drew his attention; they were light blue, and her pupils were slit, just like a cats eyes, while they were set in an angle. They were just under her hitai-ate, which proudly displayed the three clouds which are Kumogakure's symbol.

'Wait' Naruto thought 'Kumogakure… Kumogakure!' Naruto didn't waste another second. He didn't show any concern to his body's condition, as he jumped from the makeshift bed as fast as he could, making a crystal tanto in the process, and got into a battle stance at the other side of the camp. He realized his grave mistake to disregard his body, as the crystal shattered and he fell clutching his left side.

"Baka! You're in no condition to jump around like that! You flew like a cannonball through several kilometers of forest!" it came from the Kumo Kunoichi as she stood up and made her way over to him

The blond Konoha Genin looked carefully at her, not really sure what to make of her, "You're not going to attack me?"

She snorted "and why would I do that? Not after all the trouble I went through to treat you"

No, Naruto really didn't know what to make of her. Why would a foreign shinobi, a shinobi from Kumogakure nonetheless, treat him? It was normal that Genin from the same village helped each other, or at least not attack or hinder each other, during the exams, but it was very rare, even for allied nations, to help teams from foreign villages. Naruto didn't take his eyes off her, trying to keep his guard up as much as he could "You treated me? Why?"

"Why? Because you were beaten up pretty badly, that's why" she answered a little annoyed. Here she had used hours to treat him, and he reacted like this. She stopped walking waited for him to put down his guard

Naruto shook his head "That's not what I meant. Kumo and Konoha aren't allies; far from it. You used the peace treaty as a way to try and get your hands on the Byakugan. It's just disgusting how you would use Konoha's good faith like that"

The Kumo Kunoichi snorted yet again; he had no idea what really happened that night. She looked at Naruto yet another time; he was barely standing, his whole body shaking lightly in exertion, and blood dripping from the now loose bandages. She raised an eyebrow 'while it's rather foolish to go around jumping like that with such serious injuries, I can't deny that I'm impressed… But even with his so-called healing abilities, he still is far from in a condition where he could safely move around. Then again… If he really is one of us, then it isn't that surprising.'

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, before resigning and sat down on the ground. "Look, I'm not going to attack you, and neither are my teammates"

Naruto narrowed his eyes; he had forgotten everything about her teammates "Then where are they?"

She shrugged "out getting wood, water, and food. Now come here so I can treat you before you pass out again from blood loss."

Naruto didn't get out of his sloppy stance 'Should I really trust her? If she wanted to get rid of me, then why would she treat me? But what other options do I have? I could try run for it. But, with these injuries I wouldn't get far… She would catch me within a few minutes. I could call for help using that, but I don't think I have enough chakra to do it without passing out, leaving me at her mercy. And I could of course just put my trust in her… Sigh, doesn't seem like I have a choice. No matter what I do, I will be at her mercy. Might as well not waste any energy'.

He carefully got out of his stance "fine. But I'll be watching you." He limped over to the now standing Kumo Genin, who helped him over to the campfire again, where she began changing and tighten the bandages. He couldn't help but blush as he stood bare-chested, as she looked over his wounds.

She raised an eyebrow at what she saw; he really did have rather impressive healing abilities. The long gashes he had when they found him, where almost gone. 'If all his wounds heal as fast as these' she thought as she began stroking his chest lightly, feeling the wounds 'he must never have gotten, and never will get, any scars.'

"Hmmmh" it came from Naruto

She looked inquiring up at him. His cheeks was as red as a ripe tomato. She soon noticed why; she had been stroking him all over his muscular chest, checking for the wounds. As she realized what he must've thought and felt, she blushed deeply, and quickly changed the bandages. She sat down on the other side of the bonfire.

"So, what's your name?" she asked, eager to shift from the awkward atmosphere that had appeared

"You first" Naruto said, still not trusting the girl completely

She rolled her eyes "My name is Yugito. Nii Yugito"

Naruto pulled his knees up to his chest, and rested his aching head on them with closed eyes "Name is Uzumaki Naruto"

- Hours earlier -

"Fūton: Renkudan!"

"NARUTO!"

Sasuke and Sakura watched in horror as their teammate was hurled away, through the trees with enormous force from the hidden Sannin's jutsu. The now obvious non-Genin turned her attention back to the two Konoha shinobi in front of her. She cracked a smile

"Now, where were we?"

Sakura was shaking out of control. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't stop shaking. It didn't help when Naruto, the strongest Genin she knew – yes, even stronger than Sasuke – was shot through the forest, without the Kusa shinobi even breaking a sweat. She felt something wet hitting her arms and legs. She looked down to find droplets of water. Still shaking, she moved her hand to her chin, feeling more water. 'Tears?' she thought 'even with all the training I have been going through, It still only took that little effort from him to take me down. Naruto could handle it with no problem, and Sasuke is also able to move… Wait, what is he going to do with that kunai!?' While Sakura had been trying to get herself under control again, Sasuke had done his own thinking; they needed to get out of there. He had taken out a kunai, and was standing up, barely. Sakura's eyes widened in realization as she knew what he was going to do.

"And what do you think you're going to do with that, Sasuke-kun?" the Kusa-nin asked as she began walking towards them.

'She is coming. But what can I do? I must… Naruto could pull it together. Sasuke pulled it together… I also have to pull it together!' the pink-haired Kunoichi thought. That thought repeated more as she saw their opponent now taking out two kunai

"Relax; I will end it in a flash. You won't have time to suffer" she said, as she almost casually walked closer to them, meter by meter, step by step. She stopped when she was only a few meters in front of the frozen members of Team 7, drawing back the kunai, ready to throw "I wanted to have a little fun, but… Now I'm disappointed. Maybe your teammate will be a bigger challenge. Maybe I should go look after him, when I'm done with you." He threw the kunai.

As surge of determination crashed through Sasuke and Sakura when their friends name was mentioned; they couldn't give up… he never would. Sasuke turned the kunai towards his thigh, rushing his kunai towards it, while Sakura, with all her strength and might, grabbed her left pinkie, twisting and turning it. There sounded a nauseating crack, and a sickening stabbing sound, and the two Genin was away, leaving the kunai to sink deep into the bark of the tree behind them.

Orochimaru looked down on the bloodied grass, and couldn't help but crack another smile in excitement "I see… They got rid of the fear with pain. Even the civilian-born… Maybe I will have a bit of a challenge after all"

- A few hundred meters away -

Sasuke and Sakura sat oppose to each other on a large branch, away from the maniac. Sakura looked down on her now purple and swollen left hand. Her pinkie was sticking away from the hand, defiantly not sitting in the right position. She winced as she tried to move it. She moved her right hand over the left, grabbing it

"Sakura, what are you doing?" Sasuke asked, with… with concern?

She didn't have time to care about it, or answer him. She had to do this before her determination left her again. She took a deep breath, and snapped the finger back in place. She bit down her scream, clenching her jaw tight, and tears streaming down her cheeks again. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Finally she answered her crush's question "I had to set it back in place… else it would get infected, or start growing back together at a wrong angle. It would hurt much more later on." She took out bandages and wrapped it around her injured hand.

Sasuke nodded at the explanation, finally taking out the kunai from his thigh 'We need to get out of here. We need to run. She's going to find us out soon. But how?! How should we run away from something like that?' He was so distressed he didn't even notice the blood seeping out from his wound. While still shaken up, Sakura had somehow managed to calm somewhat down – or at least going from panicked to distressed.

"Sasuke-kun, we need to stop the bleeding. We can't afford to have you pass out now!" she said, beginning to treat the wound, not even waiting for an answer. However, Sasuke quickly pushed her away, while jumping back, and activating his Sharingan in the process. She was about to ask him why, when she saw it. A giant snake was currently coming down at the exact spot they had been, biting the branch to toothpicks.

"I was so upset that I didn't notice the presence of a snake before it was over us…?" the Uchiha heir asked himself in disbelief as he flew through the air. He didn't get an answer, as the snake now launched of off the branch, aiming for him. As it did, he felt the presence of him. Panic struck like a lightning bolt.

"Don't get near me!" he screamed while throwing six shuriken at the snakes open mouth. They went straight through its head, and it soon lay dead in the trees, blood seeping from its head and mouth. Sasuke and Sakura tried to get their breath from the attack, thinking it was over. How wrong they could be.

The snakes' skin started to crack at its neck joint, like something was trying to get out. Slowly but surely, the fake Genin emerged from the snake

"You can't let your guard down for even a second" it came from the evil woman. "Prey need to strain their minds all the time, and run around… in the presence of a predator!" She was now fully emerged. She launched from the snake, aiming at Sasuke again. But she was changed; from the waist down she almost looked like a serpent-like. She even moved like a snake. Approaching the panic-struck Sasuke with incredible speeds. She got closer, and closer! She was now on the same branch. Just as she was about to attack, she stopped in her tracks as kunai and shuriken alike struck just in front of her.

"L-leave Sasuke-kun alone!" it came from the pinkette

Sasuke looked at Sakura with the same wide eyes he had been looking with for the last half hour. Though she was still shaking lightly, she was ready to attack. This was a Sakura he hadn't seen before. She was way different from the girl at the academy, or even the girl in Nami…

He couldn't let her die here.

"Sakura, run! Do not die here! She is way above our level! Run while you can!"

First she looked at him in shock, shock that he cared enough her that he would give his life for her. Then, to his great surprise, she glared at him "like hell I am! We are a team, all of us, no matter if you like it or not! I get that you're only on this team to get power, to get your so called revenge, but you're still my teammate, Naruto's teammate, Kaka-sensei's student! I'm not going to leave you to the likes of that… that… Hebi-teme!"

No one but Naruto, especially his so-called fan club girls, had ever spoken to him like that. It struck a chord. If she spoke to him like that, he must've been really far out. His eyes slowly changed, his posture changed. He looked back at the hidden Sannin, who noticed it all 'so… He wants to fight? That's great. I will finally see what the last 'loyal' Uchiha can do!'

"And so… it begins!" the female Kusa Nin laughed while changing back to having legs. They stood like that, the Uchiha heir and the snake user, just looking at their opponent, ready to react at the slightest movement. It was the snake-user that finally did the first move

"Sen'eijashu!" she said in a punching motion. Dozens of snakes appeared out of her sleeve, aiming their poisonous fangs at the Uchiha. His eyes widened, and he quickly jumped over at the branch Sakura was standing. Orochimaru smiled, as if it had been part of his plan. He pulled up his left sleeve to show a weird looking seal. He bit his thumb and smeared the blood over it, and began to go through hand seals. Sasuke immediately recognized the seals, but before he could warn Sakura, Orochimaru yelled the name of the jutsu

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The two Genin were hit by a rough gust, as chakra emerged from their opponent. When it was finally over they found the snake-user had summoned a very large snake; it was at least thirty or forty meters long. He laughed again "What cute prey we have here. For now, eat them!" The snake didn't need to be told twice, it brought its head back, before striking.

Sakura acted before even thinking. She remembered her training; mold chakra in her arm to increase its strength, and strike! She punched the branch below them, causing it to break from the tree, and fall down into the depths of the forest. Sure, they would maybe get hurt by the fall, but it was better than fighting a giant snake!

Sasuke was surprised by the sudden free fall, but quickly realized it was Sakura's doing. They both collected chakra at their feet, and came to a hold on the tree's bark. They nodded to the other, and started to jump through the rotten-looking forest together, trying to get away from the snake summoner. It hadn't been more than a few seconds later that they heard the forest behind them getting destroyed by something big; it was the snake, with its summoner, going after them. It was that train of thoughts that left them totally unprepared when the summoner came from their right side, punching Sakura harshly into a tree, and Sasuke through the air. He saw the giant snake behind him, coming to its summoner call. Sasuke twisted in the air, and landed on a branch

"Sakura!" he called her. He looked at her with worry, relief filling his face when he saw her crack open an eye. He turned to glare at the summoner; he reminded him way too much of a certain man. He remembered it like it was yesterday. He closed his eyes, as he remembered what he had said to him… 'Foolish brother. If you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me… And survive in an unsightly way… Run… Run…! And cling to life!' No! He wouldn't let anyone he cared about the least get hurt again! He opened his eyes, his Sharingan now evolved.

Orochimaru smiled yet again 'he is definitely part of the Uchiha Clan. His blood must be making him excited.'

Sakura jumped down on a branch, violently coughing up blood as she kneeled down. Sasuke saw it 'we can't keep running in this condition. Then… I must fight him with everything I got!'

Orochimaru pulled up his sleeve again. "I will take my time to see how strong you are" he laughed, and recalled his snake to its own summoning world, getting into his stance.

Sasuke didn't even flinch at the gust. He had made a resolve, and he wasn't going to back down now. He brought out a kunai and put it in his mouth 'I have to survive to kill my brother. When that thought came to my mind… I realized that I was the one who was acting like an idiot. Naruto… Sakura… How can someone who can't even risk his own life here, even think about killing the man who slaughtered his own clan?'

Sasuke charged. He jumped into the air, throwing several kunai at his opponent, who dodged them with ease. He jumped from tree to tree, finally getting to the snake-user, and brought a punch and a kick to his chest, both of which Orochimaru simply blocked. He retorted, and tried to kick Sasuke while he was in the air, but Sasuke spun around, barely dodging it. He used the momentum from the spin, and landed crouching a few meters away. They didn't stay that way for long, as both charged again with amazing speeds. They engaged in close combat, each trying to get into the other's guard. Unbeknown to Sasuke, Orochimaru was merely trying, but was greatly impressed by the skills of this Genin. They kept throwing punches and kicks at their opponent. Sasuke dodged under another kick 'I can see it!'

Orochimaru punched at Sasuke's chest, the force forcing them a few meters apart. The snake-summoner decided to take a different approach. He ran around Sasuke in a radius, with speeds approaching jounin-level. The only reason Sasuke could see it, was because of his newly evolved Sharingan 'I can see!' He dodged when his opponent came at him, ramming into the tree where he had stood a fraction of a second earlier. He brought the ram seal up, took a deep breath, and spewed fire at the snake. And again. And again! Soon Orochimaru was engulfed in a sea of flames.

The flames dispersed to show no Orochimaru, but Sasuke saw where he was; inside the tree, making his way to Sasuke. He emerged from it, slashing at Sasuke, who jumped back and dodged it. The fight came to a hold, with Sasuke standing meters away from the half emerged snake-user.

Orochimaru looked analytically at Sasuke 'Good. He was able to predict where I was going to move, and attacked accordingly. He must be able to see me, even at mid-jounin-speeds.' Orochimaru gathered wind chakra in his hand, and used a seal-less 'Fūton: Reppusho', forcing Sasuke to jump away once again.

The raven-haired boy jumped the trees again, until he was just above his opponent. He gathered chakra in his feet, and pushed off, grabbing his opponent in the process. He latched on to the head-down snake-user

"I got you now!"

They approached a branch at increasing speeds. Then they hit it, Orochimaru head first, making cracks in the bark. He stood like that, head buried a few centimeters, before his arms went limp. Sasuke jumped away, watching as the legs also went limp. He almost thought he had won, but then the apparently dead Kusa-nin began to shake, and then transformed back into earth.

"Kawarimi?" Sasuke asked, but had to dodge a hail of kunai before he could think further about it. He was forced out over the branch. Mid-air, he took out wires, and latched them onto a small branch, swinging around the whole tree, landing on another branch. Before he could get foothold, his opponent emerged from the shadows, and completely pummeled him with punches and kicks much faster than before. He punched hard, making Sasuke fall on the branch a few meters away.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura arrived, having gotten left behind, and saw the situation. She felt hopeless; she wanted to help, but she was in no condition to do it. She felt so weak, so helpless right now!

Orochimaru walked closer to the Uchiha heir and 'hmph'ed'.

"That was too easy. You're not living up to the name of Uchiha, I'm disappointed. Oh well… I'm going to slowly beat you, and then kill you… Just like a bug" the hidden Sannin preached. What he didn't know was that Sasuke had planted small bombs on him. And they went off now. She was surprised by the small blast wave, forcing him to take a few steps forward, and got down on one knee.

Sasuke used the distraction to get back up, and jumped into the air. He threw a bunch larger, different shuriken at his opponent, all connected with wire. They all flew past Orochimaru, and the tree behind him. Soon enough the snake-summoner was surrounded by wires, but it wasn't the end of it. Sasuke pulled at the wires, forcing them to come back at him. For the first time in the fight, he was actually surprised 'These are Sharingan-Controlled Triple Windmill Blades!' The wires tightened, and he was latched onto the tree.

Sasuke, holding a wire in his mouth, went through hand seals "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

A large fire quickly ran all the way with the wire, assaulting Orochimaru's body with intense heat and fire, even burning through the tree behind him. The scream he emitted was other-worldly, and Sakura couldn't help the chills that ran through her body. The intense inferno lasted for a good fifteen seconds before dying slowly down. And there was silence. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura dared move; they knew this opponent was strong, and they weren't going to let their guards down once again. But even then, Sasuke sunk down a bit. This was one of the strongest and most chakra-taxing techniques he knew. And he had already used a lot of both energy and chakra at the fight.

Sakura saw it, and while keeping her guard up, jumped down to him with a limb.

"Sasuke-kun, are you ok? You got to get a hold of yourself" she asked concerned.

He didn't get to answer. His opponent got free of the burned-through wires, and opened his eye in his melted face. Sakura fell down on her knees right away, while Sasuke began shaking once again 'A paralyzing jutsu?'

"I must say that I'm impressed" She said. But her voice sounded different; almost like two voice overlaying each other. "That you can use your Sharingan so well at your age. You live up to the name of Uchiha indeed" now his voice was completely changed. It was way deeper, masculine and older. I want you after all"

Sasuke took a closer look. Half the face was burned off, and underneath was… another face? He could see very pale skin, and around the eyes were purple-like markings. His hitai-ate had also change; it didn't show the Kusa symbol anymore, but the music-note that is the newly founded Otogakure's symbol. He screamed in frustration; would this bastard ever just die?

"You two are definitely brothers" Orochimaru continued. "Your eyes carry more potential than Itachi."

Sasuke froze at the mention of his brother's name "Who are you?!"

"My name is Orochimaru. If you wish to see me again, get through this Exam as if your life depended on it. In other words, you'll have to defeat my subordinates."

Sakura couldn't stay quiet anymore "What nonsense are you chattering about? We never want to see your face anymore!"

Orochimaru laughed at her outburst "it doesn't work that way." He brought his hand in a weird seal, and his neck extended. Before either of the Genin realized it, he was biting Sasuke's neck.

"Sasuke-kun!" there was no response.

Orochimaru let go of Sasuke, and brought his neck back to normal size. Three marks appeared on Sasuke's neck. He quickly grasped it in pain.

"Sasuke-kun! You! What have you done to Sasuke-kun!?" Sakura asked with both worry and anger.

"I gave him a farewell present. Sasuke-kun will seek me. He will seek me for power. It was fun being able to see a lot of your moves. But not I got to go… I have an appointment with a certain blond-haired shinobi" he replied as he sunk into the ground

Sakura's eyes went wide "You stay away from Naruto!" But he was already gone. She watched the spot with horror 'I'm sorry Naruto… We couldn't stop him. I hope you will be ok…' She was broken from her thoughts when she heard Sasuke scream in pain. She got over to him "Get a hold of yourself, Sasuke-kun… Come on!" He screamed one last time, before passing out onto her.

"Sasuke-kun… Naruto …" she almost sound pleadingly. She couldn't hold her tears anymore; the whole situation was just too horrible. There was a maniac named Orochimaru running loose in the forest. He had send Naruto crashing through gods knows how many kilometers of forest, had beat up her and Sasuke, giving Sasuke a weird mark in the process, and was now going to find Naruto and probably do the same. It was too much. She hugged Sasuke tightly.

"I… What should I do…?" she asked herself closing her eyes in hopelessness.

'You're strong Sakura-chan. You just don't realize how strong'

Her eyes opened again, as she remembered what Naruto had told her. Who was she to ask what she should do? She already knew what she should do.

- With Orochimaru -

The sun had gone down by now. The forest was covered in shadows and darkness. Orochimaru emerged slowly from the earth; the fight had taken a lot more from him, more than he had expected.

"I guess I'll rest for now… By tomorrow Naruto-kun should be good as well…" he smiled "I can't wait to see what your son can do Minato-Kun, Kushina-chan." He leaned up by a tree, slowly sinking into it. When only his head was exposed, he closed his eyes, and resigned himself to the slumber.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto twisted and turned in his sleep. While he didn't get back to the darkness, he didn't see the light either. But the red-haired woman, who he could only presume was his mother, haunted his dreams with her song. In every corner her saw her red hair, in every place, she heard her song. She was almost there, but not quite.

That was not the only thing that haunted him; he could only imagine what Orochimaru was doing to his teammates and friends. He was angry with himself, angry for charging so carelessly at a so obviously stronger opponent, angry that he got hit by that Fūton jutsu, angry that he got so hurt, and angry that he couldn't heal faster. If it took this long for the Kyuubi to fix him up, then it must've really been bad. The best thing he could do now was rest, and let the fox do its work. Or he would, if someone wasn't talking so loudly

"But, what if he really is what you think he is? What if he loses control and kill us all? What if he destroys the whole forest, us with it? Then A-Sama would declare war because of- OUCH!" a male voice sounded

"Gosh Omoi, that won't happen! Look at him, does he look like he could go on a rampage?" a female voice scolded

"Does Yugito look like she could go on a rampage?" the male retorted

And there was silence for a few seconds. "He got you there" sounded the amused voice of Yugito. The other female sounded like she snorted at it. But what was it they thought he was? Did they know about the Kyuubi? No, they couldn't… could they?

"Why is it we're helping Kumo again?" another male voice sounded. It sounded familiar, as if he had heard it before, and yet he couldn't put a face on it.

"Because they're helping Naruto-kun! And stop complaining now!" Sounded an irate female voice. He knew that voice... it was… Haku! But what was she doing here? That must mean that it was her team that were the other three shapes he had seen before he passed out, with the first three being Yugito's team.

"I-I hope he is o-ok. I can't e-even imagine who co-ould've done something l-like this to him" a nervous voice sounded. Chojuru's voice Naruto concluded.

"Wonder how his weak teammates are. Probably lying dead somewhere" Kouhei said.

His teammates. Sakura! Sasuke! How could he have forgotten about them? He opened his eyes and sat up, surprising the six Genin in the campsite. It was filled with sunlight, so he had slept through the night. That must've been enough rest. He had to go now. He looked around to see their faces. He already knew Haku, Chojuru, Kouhei, and Yugito. The last two he assumed was Yugito's teammates; a boy and a girl. Both had very dark skin, only common in Kumo. The girl had red hair, and the boy had white.

"Naruto-kun! Are you ok?" Haku asked quickly at his side.

"Yeah, I am now. But I need to get going" Naruto said

"Hey, you wait just a second mister" the red-haired teammate said. "We help treat you and watch over you, and you're not even going to explain yourself? Who the hell did that to you?"

"Orochimaru" he answered flatly. When he saw their faces of recognition and shock he nodded, "yeah, that Orochimaru, of the Densetsu no Sannin."

"But how do you know that?" the dark-skinned boy asked

"The snake that attacked me" Naruto said while looking for his shinobi gear around the campsite. "The snake dispelled when it died. And only summoned animals does that. And before you ask, I know it was Orochimaru's because only one other person has signed the snake contract; Mitarashi Anko. And as you all know, she isn't allowed to interfere in the exams, unless it's a really dire situation." He paused as he began equipping his gear "even if Orochimaru let someone else sign the contract, it would only be someone who was in league with him. To be honest, I really hope it was Orochimaru, else we have two jounin-plus level shinobi running around in here." He checked if he had all he needed, and then turned towards the two foreign teams "Thank you for treating me, but I really got to find my team. If Orochimaru really is in here, Kami knows what he has done with them." He was about to take off when both Haku's and Yugito's voices sounded

"Wait"

"Hold on"

They turned to look at each other, and Haku continued first "We're coming with you"

"What!?" Kouhei said, while Chojuru just looked even more nervous

"Us too" Yugito then said, causing similar reactions from her two teammates.

Naruto looked at them for a second, and then shook his head "I can't ask you to do anything like that"

Yugito gave him a real cat-smile "then it's good you didn't. We're coming whether you like it or not, right Omoi, Karui?"

Omoi sighed "I guessed it can't be helped… If we don't go, you won't let it go, and you will probably end going off by yourself, and up against one of the Sannin, you will- OUCH"

Karui rubbed her hand "Stop over-thinking things!" She turned to Yugito, took a look at Naruto, and then back at Yugito "I guess if we treated him like that, it wouldn't be very good to let him go on his own. Besides, we already have our scrolls, and there is still over three days till we gotta be at the tower"

Haku was also trying to convince her team, looking at Kouhei with her puppy-eyes. He made the grave mistake of looking, effectively losing the argument. He signed resigned "fine, we'll go with blondie"

The Hyoton-user looked at Chojuru, who just smiled at her "you know I'll go with you anywhere"

The six genin looked at Naruto, expecting him to lead. He smiled broadly at him, and bowed low "thank you very much. You won't regret it! You will have a favor with the future Hokage of Konohagakure!" They nodded at him.

"By the way, how are we going to find your team? This place is rather big, and your team is sure to have moved from where you last saw them. And we need to contact the outside somehow; we can't take on Orochimaru all by ourselves" Omoi said. Karui and Yugito looked surprised at him, as he had actually said something straight to the point. He shrugged and took another lollipop in his mouth "I have my moments."

Naruto grinned at them "Already thought about that." He brought his hands together in a seal none of them recognized; he brought two fingers from each hand into a cross.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The whole clearing was covered in smoke. When it had cleared, all six foreign shinobi had eyes as big as teacups. There must've been close to, if not more than, a thousand Naruto's. The original nodded at them "you all know what to do. Look far and wide after Sakura and Sasuke. If you find them, then make another clone, and make it dispel. If you get the knowledge that one has found them, find a hiding spot, and try not to get spotted. Dispel twenty every five minutes by then. Now, go!" With that the blond army jumped through the trees. Soon enough there was only the original Naruto with his new allies.

Karui got out of her daze "That takes care of that, but how are we going to contact the outside? We can't exactly just go out a gate."

Naruto only shushed her, making her glare a bit. Naruto brought his hands together in the ram seal and concentrated. 'Feel the chakra throughout your body. Mold it, and focus it at the hara… Compress it into a sphere, squeeze and compress from every side. Once it compressed as much as possible, release it all at once!'

The six Genin were shocked once again, as Naruto's navel area began glow blue with chakra, and even more so when it expelled in a thick wall of chakra, knocking them all of their feet. They could see it go on and on throughout the forest in all direction. Naruto panted lightly, but it wasn't too bad "Hokage-Jiji knows that I'm the only one in the village that can do that. When he sees it, he will know something is wrong"

"B-but Naruto-k-kun, the Hokage-mansion is in the o-other end of the v-village" Chojuru said

Kouhei snorted "Yeah, do you expect it to travel over hundred-and-twenty kilometers?"

Naruto shrugged "It will travel at least ninety kilometers, which is enough. He will be able to see it, and if he doesn't, the ANBU are sure to alert him." He ignored the look of awe from five of the six, and then got a stern look on his face. Upon remembering the seal he made on his arm he looked seeing it was broken in places, 'Shit. Must have been damaged when I was cannonballing through the forest.' He looks to everyone.

"Now, we really need to get going."

With that he started moving; the Kumo and Kiri teams following him close behind. While he knew the situation was dire, he couldn't help but be impressed by their little gathering. Here he was helped by a team from Kumo, a village Konoha was barely having any relations to at the moment, and a team from Kiri, a village that had been ravaged by civil war, and hadn't been in alliances – ever.

He jumped through the forest, getting to the location he had last seen his teammates 'Sakura-chan… Sasuke-teme… Please be ok'

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sen'eijashu - Hidden Shadow Snake Hands: This technique allows the user to eject snakes from their wrist or sleeve, usually after a punching motion. The snakes are used primarily to attack from a distance and, being snakes, can inflict multiple poisonous wounds on the victim's body or hold them in place. The snakes can also open their mouths to extend Kusanagi-like blades.

This technique can also be classified as a variation of the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. This technique can also produce snakes from different parts of the user's body, as seen when Orochimaru created a snake in his mouth to attack the Sandaime Hokage during their battle.

Kuchiyose no Jutsu – Summoning technique: The Kuchiyose no Jutsu is a space–time Ninjutsu that allows the summoner to transport animals or people across long distances instantly.

Before an animal summoning can be performed, a prospective summoner must first sign a contract with a given species. The contract comes in the form of a scroll, on which the contractor uses their own blood to sign their name and place their fingerprints and once signed is valid even after the contractors death. After this they need only offer an additional donation of blood on the hand they signed the contract with, mold their chakra with hand seals and then plant the hand they signed the contract with at the location they wish to summon the creature. The amount of chakra used during the summoning determines how powerful the summoned creature can be.

It should be noted that anyone can summon a contracted animal as long as they have the blood from someone who has made a contract, the seal of the summoned creature, along with a source of sufficient chakra that the summon will accept. A creature is capable of determining who is attempting to summon it from the chakra used.

Once summoned, the animal can perform a task or help the user in battle. The summon is not required to help the user, and may be more of a hindrance than an ally. In addition, summons are able to summon their summoner. They may also wear a hitai-ate, suggesting a loyalty to only one village, or clan.

Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu – Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique: The user breathes fire along a cord or any other type of long object, which rushes forward in straight line catching the enemy on fire. A line of enemies can be used as the conductor as well. The flames are meant to target, and assault the enemy's upper body just like a projectile weapon.