Chapter 12: Preparing for battle against the snake!

Team 9, consisting of Higarashi Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, and Rock Lee, were jumping through the canopies of the forty-fourth training ground. They had already beaten down some Ame Genin, and were lucky enough that they had had the Scroll of Earth – the scroll they needed. Now they were jumping, running, and anything in between, as fast as they could towards the tower. The longer they were in the forest, the bigger the risk was that they would be taken down by an opposing team.

They hadn't really talked much more than necessary, mostly because of Neji. He was still… upset Tenten guessed, because she had withhold information about 'an enemy', as Neji so affectionately had called him, from her team. Tenten sighed: she had respect for the branch-member of the Hyuuga clan, but he really could be a pain in the ass. It wouldn't hurt him to loosen up just the slightest.

Naruto had told her his Shoton secret, and had specifically asked her not to tell anyone, so of course she hadn't. That didn't matter anymore because of that four-eyed Kabuto-something. She wasn't going to betray her blond friend. While she didn't know why, she did know that he didn't have any friends… well now he had that pink-head, his crush nonetheless, as his friend too.

"Argh!" it came from Neji as he deactivated his Doujutsu, almost at the same time as birds from almost every tree took off.

"Are you all right?" Lee said, already being beside the kneeling Neji.

Said stoic Hyuuga blinked a few times, apparently to get spots away from his eyes. "Prepare yo-", was all he managed say before the air became thick and electric. Tenten and Lee immediately got into a defensive stance around the still half-blind Hyuuga, ready for anything coming at them. Soon after they saw what had blinded their teammate and making the noise; a fast-moving, thick wall of chakra. They braced themselves as it washed over them, ticking their skin in the process. As fast as it had appeared, it disappeared along with the humming and electricity.

"What was that!?" Neji asked to himself as much as his teammates. Tenten had a pretty good idea of what it was… she just hoped she wasn't right. Because if she was, then-

"Tenten, look at your pouch!" Lee exclaimed pointing at said pouch with large motions. Tenten twisted herself to see what he was talking about: through the crack of her pouch you could see a dimmed pink glow. She took the pouch off and put it on the ground. With her teammates at her side, they all crouched down, and carefully opened it to see what could be the source of the light. Lee's eyes showed recognition, while Neji's was immediately scrunched into a glare, as she took the crystal six-sided shuriken she had gotten from Naruto so long ago. She had a habit of taking it anywhere, even on missions. But she had never seen it like this: slowly pulsing with energy, and emitting beautiful light.

Neji turned his glare from the shuriken to his female teammate, "what is that?"

Tenten didn't answer right away: She was going over the possibilities of why Naruto had used that big chakra wave. Surely he must've mastered it enough by now to not make such a big one… which meant that he was sending a message… he was in trouble! Determination etched its way onto her face

"It's a gift from Naruto. We have to find him now!" she said, getting up from her squatting position and faced the way the chakra had come from

"No we are not! We need to get to the tower as fast as possible!" Neji said harshly. That blond was only fated to be last, not matter if he had a Kekkai Genkai or not, and he wouldn't waste his time on him.

"I don't care if you will come or not, Neji!" Tenten said in an equally harsh tone, surprising the other members of her team: she never talked to them like that. "Naruto is one of my best friends, and he is in trouble! I will go either way!"

Lee, who had stayed quiet so far, rather impressively if you take into account that he, was normally a bigger ball of energy than Naruto, and decided to finally come with an input. "Neji, I will go with Tenten. Naruto-kun is also my friend, and I will not leave him if he is in trouble", he said in a calm but steely voice.

The Hyuuga prodigy changed between glaring at the green-clothed boy, and the weapon-mistress, before finally giving in with an annoyed sigh, "fine. Let's go find him then."'

With that, Team 9 took off further into the Forest of Death to find a certain sapphire-eyed Genin from Konoha.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The examiner for the second exam, Mitarashi Anko, was sitting on top of the stall where the Genin had come to get their scrolls. She was swinging her legs lightly and drinking some broth, while chewing on her favorite snack – a dango.

"Yum! Sweet red bean broth goes best with dango!" she said out loud to no one in particular. She took another bit of her dango-stick, "After I eat this, I guess I'll go wait at the tower for the guys who get through this." She bit the last dango off, "this program is made so that the good ones should be arriving there about now." She threw the stick at the tree beside the stall, now showing a full Konoha symbol, made completely from dango-sticks.

"The Konoha mark is complete", she said with a cheerful voice and smiling/grinning to herself.

She was just about to take off, when smoke exploded in front of her and one of the Chunin guards appeared in from it. He was kneeling lightly, "we have an emergency, Anko-Sama!"

Anko frowned, "What is it all of a sudden…?"

"Corpses. Three of them."

Anko kept looking at him, showing him that she wanted more information.

"There is something strange about them… Please come with me", the Chunin asked almost desperately.

"Strange?" Anko asked to herself more than the Chunin.

- A few minutes later -

Anko and the Chunin arrived at the scene. Two more Chunin guards were there, guarding the bodies. Anko recognized them as Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, also known as 'the eternal chunin's', not that she cared about that.

The snake mistress noticed what this place was. She immediately gritted her teeth in anger, 'one thing is to kill inside the protective walls of Konoha, but it's a whole other thing to kill here'. What she was referring to was the small shrines beside the bodies, now splattered with blood. This was a holy place… even shinobi had a few of those. Even countries a war didn't desecrate holy sites if they could help. For someone to kill here… they either extremely ignorant, or they really meant business. Anko didn't know what she wanted the most… While it would be bad for someone to really want to fight Konoha, an ignorant enemy could be just as dangerous.

Anko was snapped out from her fuming when one of the Chunin, Kotetsu, spoke up, "From their possessions and ID's… We found out that they are shinobi from Kusagakure who registered for the Chunin Selection Exams. But as you can see…"

Anko looked closer and found out what he was talking about, "Their faces are gone…"

"Yes, their faces are gone as if they were melted off."

Anko's right arm moved up to where her cursed seal was, as reality began to hit her. 'There's no doubt… This jutsu is… his… But why is he at this exam?' She turned towards the Chunin who had reported to her at the stall

"Show me the pictures of these Kusa shinobi. It should be in their applications", she said with urgency in her voice. If she was right – and Gods did she hope she wasn't – then there was a predator, much worse than the animals, inside that forest with the Genin.

"Hai", the Chunin said and quickly took out three photographs. She looked at the picture, recognizing the face from the day before at the briefing, 'So he took this girl's face? Then… He must have taken it already back then.'

She turned towards the Chunin with a very serious face, "This is Ser-". She was interrupted by the chipping of thousands of birds. The four Konoha-shinobi all turned towards the source, in the direction of the Forest of Death, and saw the sky grown dark by the birds flying away. Then they saw what they were fleeing from: an almost solid-looking wall of chakra was flying through the air at incredible speeds, and didn't seem to slow or lose power or density in the progress. They all braced themselves as the thick chakra washed over them, making their hair stand on every inch of their bodies. When they were through it, they looked back to see it keep going towards the village, and in every other direction.

Anko recognized it… A similar wave had washed over a quarter of the village – much smaller than the current one – a few months ago. She was told by the Sandaime that it was that blond kid that had done it… Anko's unsettlement just grew stronger. She turned her face towards the Chunin again, who were all looking at the light blue wall in awe.

"Listen up!" she half-snapped, catching their attentions again, "This is no drill. You three let Sandaime Hokage-Sama know about this right away. And request for a mobilization of at least two ANBU squads to the Forest of Death. Also tell him that Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin has returned! I will go after these guys now. Understood?"

"Hai", they all said unison, and jumped off towards the village and Hokage-tower.

She stood a few seconds, just staring at the bodies while holding her seal, 'He… He's back in Konohagakure… But why…?' Anko's eyes widened in realization, 'What is it that snake wants more than anything in the world? Power… And who inside those fences have power? That Uchiha-brat and the Shoton kid… And it was the Shoton kid who used that big chakra wall! I gotta find them. If I find them, then I'll find him!' And she took off at her top speed towards the forest.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The seven Genin, all from various villages throughout the Elemental Nations, were all heading through the thick undergrowth of the forest. Normally they would've taken the treetops, being an advantage point where you could see far in any direction, but this particular section of the forest was half-rotten – more so than any other part of the forest - meaning that they would risk breaking branches. That could result in both injury, and letting the enemy know where they were, none of the choices being good in the situation. Although, none of the other Genin teams would go up against seven other Genin, it wasn't them they were worried about.

They were currently heading through the few kilometers of forest that Naruto had crashed through the day before. Now, many times he had cursed the Kyuubi to hell and back for what it had caused him, but right now he was glad he had it in him. He knew that without its chakra, he would either be dead, or at least extremely wounded.

As they ran, he could see from the corner of his eye, that the Kumo-Kunoichi that had changed his bandages was staring at him, not even trying to hide the fact. He glanced back at his companions, lingering a bit longer on the blonde girl from Kumo. As soon as he did, she looked away. He frowned, 'There is something about her… I just can't put my finger on it.'

"She is the same as you," the deep sinister voice of the Kyuubi sounded in his mind. He halted his movements for second in surprise; the fox had never spoken to him since the incident in Nami no Kuni. Well, once more during training with Ero-sennin, but never since.

- Flashback, training with Jiraiya -

"I don't really know if I can do it again, Ero-sennin", it came from Naruto.

"You just have to try hard enough. All Jinchurriki is able to speak with the Bijuu sealed inside them sooner or later, in one way or another. And you have already spoken to it once", the response came from Jiraiya

"Yeah, but that was when I had been shot – twice -, had almost zero chakra left, and was drowning. I have tried again and again to make contact to it, but it doesn't work! What would you have me do? Throw myself off a cliff!?" Naruto said frustrated. He was silent for a few seconds, and then looked straight at the Gama sennin, "That wasn't a suggestion. If you ever do that to me, you will find out why they called me 'prankster king from hell'. I may not have done any pranks since I graduated from the Academy, but it doesn't mean I don't want to, or have forgotten how to."

Jiraiya shuddered slightly at the thought. Although he hadn't been much in Konoha while Naruto grew up, he had heard the stories… If the boy was able to paint the Hokage Monument in broad daylight without getting notices, and sneaking into the Hyuuga Clan compound, steal all their robes, and dye them bright orange, then he couldn't, or rather wouldn't, imagine what he could do to him.

He put the thoughts behind him, as his thoughts returned to the current problem, "Look, you have done it before. The first couple of times are always the hardest. But after the first time it is just the slightest easier, since you know what to do. Just try it again, please."

The whiskered Genin sighed and sat down. The two Konoha shinobi were in the middle of a grassy field, inside a sealed-off area. The reason for that was what Naruto was training in; tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra. After what happened in Nami, and Jiraiya was sure the seal wasn't breaking, he had wanted Naruto to be able to tap into the chakra whenever he wanted to. And it wasn't as if Naruto couldn't see the advantage of it. If he could use it before he was dying, it would be nice.

But he still had the problem of actually making contact to the fox. For the last two or three hours he had been sitting in this field, just meditating. And nothing happened. Nothing at all…

He sighed as he thought 'well, twenty-seventh time's the charm'. He closed his eyes and slowed his breath. In, out, in, out, in, out…

He opened his eyes again, ready to lash out at Jiraiya and tell him it still didn't work. But he stopped as soon as he his eyes opened, and was looking down a damp sewer. He had done it! Now all he had to do was to find the beast… should be easy enough.

Soon enough he was standing in front of the same iron bars as he had a month or so ago. The eyes of the fox opened up

"You're back… Come closer," it came from the fox

Naruto frowned, "How stupid do you think I am? Wait, on second thought, I don't want to hear your 'ageless' opinion. Last time I was here you just tried to shred me."

A chuckle came from behind the bars, as the fox in all its might and glory came out from the shadows, "So, you're not as stupid as I thought. You even managed to trick chakra from me last time… Impressive. None of your predecessors had the guts to do that"

The blond human smirked back at the beast standing in front of him, "If I didn't know better, I would say you were complimenting me, Kyuubi."

The grin on the fox's face turned into a scowl right away, "Don't press your luck, human! I'm just saying you're that less puny than the rest of your race! Now, why are you here! I am suffering enough being stuck in here, without having to deal with the likes of you!"

"I want to use your chakra when I call for it", Naruto stated firmly, not beating around the bush.

This time the Kyuubi right out laughed at him, "And why did you think I would agree to that?"

"As I said last time; if I die, then you die."

"Not good enough."

Naruto scowled a bit. This was more difficult than he had initially thought… but then again; he was trying to get the chakra of a Bijuu. He pondered of things he could offer the fox, without putting himself at risk. The fox and the human locked eyes, while Naruto thought over the things he could offer; a feat that Kyuubi thought was most impressive – but he would never admit that.

Finally Naruto spoke, "What about this: I will grant you access to see what I see, and hear what I hear."

"And why would I want that?" Kyuubi asked sounding disinterested

"You said it yourself; you have nothing to do in here", Naruto motioned to the 'room'.

"I said no such thing!" Kyuubi growled

"Pft, you did too. Anyway, if you can see and hear what I do, then you have something to do."

The fox stayed quiet for a minute or so, actually thinking about the offer. Neither Mito nor Kushina had offered anything like this to him. He looked at the human in front of him, locking gazes again. He stayed like this for about three or four minutes, Naruto not wavering once. Finally it growled, "Very well. But don't think you will be able to tap into all my chakra! I will give you enough to fight a fight, but nothing more and nothing less!"

"Deal", it came from Naruto. To be honest, he hadn't expected anything more.

He opened his eyes – for real this time – and grinned largely at his teacher. Said teacher was looking expectantly at him.

"Did you do it?" the old pervert asked his student. He had a pretty good idea what the answer would be, with the large grin and all, but with Naruto you could never know.

"Hai! I did!" the now very happy Naruto said, and brought his hands together in the ram seal. A few seconds later Jiraiya could feel the fox's chakra leak out around him, in a much larger quantity than he had expected. Now the real training could begin!

- Flashback End -

He frowned, 'Kyuubi, I didn't give you access to my thoughts! How are you able to do talk to me this way!?'

"Relax human," the fox growled, "it's something all Jinchurriki are able to do with their Bijuu – if the Bijuu are willing to do it. I can't hear anything you." Half-lying since it could. His current host not nearly as knowledgeable as Mito or even Kushina.

Naruto sighed in relief. He really didn't want the fox to hear his thoughts – it would be something it could use against him. He then remembered the statement the fox had come with, 'what do you mean that she is like me?'

"She holds Matatabi," it said in his mind

'Who?' Naruto asked confused

"The Nibi. She is the Jinchurriki of the Nibi"

'So that's why she keeps looking at me like that… And it's why I felt something about her,' he hummed to himself. Then he realized what the fox had told him, 'Hey, wait a second! You called the Nibi Matatabi! Why did you call it Matatabi? Is that its real name? I knew your name couldn't be Kyuubi! What is your name then?' Naruto asked, laying two and two together. He didn't get an answer. Just silence. He chuckled evilly to himself, and getting some looks from his companions.

Omoi leaned over to Karui, "Hey Karui, do you think he is ok? He seems a bit… off."

Karui didn't answer, or hit Omoi; she just kept looking at Naruto. Yugito however, 'Nibi?'

"My guess is he trying to get that stubborn old fox to talk. The fact he is having a conversation with the old grouch is surprising," the female cat demon spoke up.

'So he is Jinchurriki… What do you know about the Kyuubi?'

"Promise to tell you later when we are all out of this hellhole," Matatabi winks as she goes silent.

'Fine,' Naruto said to the Kyuubi, 'if you don't want to tell me, I guess I will just have to come up with a name for you until you want to tell me… Ruben? Nah, to easy…' He mused for himself for a minute or so, finally coming up with a name, 'I got it! From now on I will call you Anthony! At least until you tell me your real name. Anyway, Anthony, how come you're suddenly talking to me…? Anthony? Are you there Anthony?'

"For crying out-! Fine! My real name is Kurama! Just don't call me something as vile as Anthony!" it snarled in his mind, spitting out Naruto's affectionate nickname like poison, more so than he had done with the word 'human'. The blond Konoha Genin snickered to himself at his little victory. "And to why I'm speaking to you? That's my own business!"

Naruto didn't answer. They had finally reached the place he had seen Orochimaru first. Naruto sighed in relief: no bodies. The snake Sannin could of course have taken the bodies with him, but there wasn't any blood either.

"What now?" Kouhei asked.

"Well", Naruto said, "Now we look around to see sign of battle. Sasuke may be an ass, but he wouldn't go down without a fight."

Kouhei snorted again, "He was up against a Sannin. He can't have been much of fight".

Naruto glared lightly at the Kiri-nin. What was his problem anyway? He wanted to give him a piece of his mind, but settled with just saying, "Don't underestimate Konoha's shinobi."

The Kiri Genin was about to retort when Haku gave him a sharp elbow in the rips.

"Ok, so now- watch out!" it came from Karui.

Naruto turned around to see what she was talking about; a lot of shuriken and kunai was hailing towards the seven Genin. Naruto quickly stepped in front of his new friends, and quickly went through a couple of seals, "Doton: Doryuuheki!" he cried out, and slammed his hands onto the earth.

There was a big rumble, and a medium sized wall made of earth sprouted out of the earth in front of them, effectively defending them against the shinobi weapons thrown against them. When there weren't any more weapons to deflect, he lowered the wall to not hinder their sight around them. Not long after he had done so did a dark chuckle resonate from the shadows of the forest – the same dark chuckle Naruto had heard before.

The Kyuubi Jinchurriki narrowed his eyes into a glare, "Come out, Orochimaru!"

"Ku, ku, ku," it sounded as said person came out from under a tree, "so you figured it out, did you Naruto-kun. I'm surprised that you're able to. But that is to be expected by the Kyuubi Jinchurriki!" The snake sannin smirked, "The 'dead-last' of his year turned out to be something special. To think, I had originally written you off."

Naruto ignored the gasp from the Kiri team, and just kept looking at Orochimaru. He glanced over at Yugito, who were looking back at him with a face that said 'I knew it!' He looked back at Orochimaru, "Yugito-san, don't hesitate to use the Nibi, if you can."

She looked at him with a plane face, "how long have you known?"

"Not long. Kyuubi told me that he sensed Nibi within you, on the way here."

"Oh!" it came from Orochimaru, "What do we have here? A little kitten lost in the woods? Did you know that snakes eat cats?"

"Shut up!" Naruto said and began channeling his tenant's chakra, "Now, tell me where my team is!"

Orochimaru chuckled, "and why would I do that? Sasuke-kun and I had so much fun. I even gave him a little gift. A gift I might also give you… if you're lucky".

"You can keep your gift to yourself!" The blond yelled back. He was beginning to get really pissed at this snake, "If you won't tell me, I will just have to force it out of you!"

"Naruto, don't!" Haku said in worry of her friend from Konoha, but it was too late: Naruto had already taken off. Now all she could do was to help him as much as she could.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Doton: Doryuuheki - Earth Release: Earth-style Wall: The user creates a solid wall of earth as a form of defense. Chakra is either converted to earth within the body or then spat out to form the wall, or the user can manipulate pre-existing earth to form the wall. The earth then instantly rises up and takes form. The barrier itself is also coated with chakra, making its strength incomparable to that of a normal mud wall. Because of the earth's special characteristics, the wall is highly resistant against, for instance, fire and water.