A/N: Mandalore-holics and True Believers, in this installment of the Archive Rejects here is another sneak peak at what's to come for Ultimate Experiment: Weapon-X. However, know that the long wait for Chapter 7 is now over, as it has been completed and under final review at this very moment. It WILL be up by the end of the week.
A young man dressed in a yellow, black and blue suit underneath a tattered, tan trench coat struggled to sit up as he lay face down on the ground in a crumpled heap.
"What the hell happened...?" he asked himself aloud, meanwhile his observer stared at him with wide eyes and gasped in astonishment. Her youngest brother, Gaara, had never fought so fiercely against anyone and yet... This guy... He just kept getting up.
The serene silence of the forest was broken by a pained yell. Konoha's Wolverine, Uzumaki Naruto, had just reset his dislocated elbow and shoulder. Temari could only stare speechlessly at the severe amount of pain her fellow blonde had to be experiencing.
Naruto then shook his sleeves, clearing a large amount of sand out of them.
Just as the echoes of Naruto's yell faded into nothingness there was a crazed yell of fury. Temari paled as she caught sight of her brother. His lumbering yokai form came bearing down on Naruto from its' perch high above.
"Right... That." said Naruto as he back flipped out of the way of the titanic sand beast. Gaara then landed where Naruto had been only seconds before, creating a rather sizeable crater.
He couldn't help but stare at her. She knew what it was like. She knew what it felt like to carry an inescapable burden. It was her fate to remain broken and used, manipulated and hated and yet... She rebelled against that fate. She would not let the weight of the past hold her down.
And for that, he couldn't help but remain mystified by her. If he was honest with himself, he was slightly enamored by her and her strength of will to defy fate. Even with her bandages removed and the fishlike scales visible, he thought she was one of the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen.
"I'm not going to have to give you the big brother speech, am I, Neji?" asked a voice that suddenly appeared next to him.
Neji snapped his gaze away from his target of interest to the one that served as a brother like figure to the girl, Uzumaki Naruto, who was looking at him with calculating interest.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, baka," Neji replied in an annoyed tone. He then turned away from Naruto and stormed off.
"Let's make this more interesting," said Naruto as he faced down the Slug Mistress, Konoha's Legendary Sucker and Miracle Healer of the Elemental Countries, Senju Tsunade.
Naruto wore a yellow, black and blue ensemble similar to the one he wore during the Chuunin Exams first and second rounds, only now the hooded mask was pulled back, revealing his golden blonde locks and dark brown whisker marks.
"Stalling? I guess the mere prospect of facing one of the Sannin has you thinking second thoughts." replied Tsunade tauntingly.
"Maybe if I wasn't facing the weakest of the group," Naruto shot back.
"What did you say, gaki!?" demanded Tsunade furiously.
"I said you're nothing but a pathetic old bitch!" yelled Naruto.
"You have a lot of nerve to say that to me, boy!" Tsunade yelled back. "I'm going to make sure there isn't enough of you left to pick up."
"Then you won't object to a little bet," said Naruto with narrowed eyes.
Shizune's eyes widened in realization. Just the sheer confidence the young boy was showing told her that he knew what he was doing and was luring Tsunade into a trap.
Jiraiya looked between the two worryingly. He knew and had heard second hand what Naruto was capable of. His godson was ruthless and would stop at nothing to win, and Tsunade's own inebriation would do her no favors. If things got too far out of hand, Jiriaya wasn't sure he could stop things from escalating further.
Tsunade looked at the boy calculatingly.
"What are the terms?" she asked with a determined tone.
'Hook, line and sinker...' Naruto thought as he let a feral smile appear on his face.
Naruto and the Genin watched the scene before them in varying degrees of anger.
'Poor girl...' thought Ino, 'What could she have done to be treated like that?'
A growl from Naruto signaled that he was close to snapping. However, when his teammates turned to look at him, and perhaps try to stop him from doing something they might regret, he was already gone.
"Get out of here, we don't serve people like you around here!" the stall vendor yelled at a brunette girl in bandages.
"And why not, bub?" demanded a person from behind the shop vendor. The girl's eyes widened in familiarity and she took a step back, trembling.
"Wha-" the vendor began to ask when he suddenly found himself slammed against one of the wooden posts of his stall. A slightly enraged Naruto held him by the neck with his right hand, while applying pressure with the claws on his left hand to the man's chin. "P-p-please!"
Naruto tightened his grip on the man's throat. "Now here's what's goin' to happen, bub. You're not only going to help her, but you're also going to give her a hefty discount. And then you're going to tell the other shop keepers that if I even hear rumors of my imouto being mistreated, I will kill each and every single one of you. Is that understood?"
"We need to find a way to deal with Orochimaru and Akatsuki," said Sarutobi, looking directly at Naruto.
"Hold on, Sarutobi," interjected Jiraiya. "I think his little scuffle in the Forest of Death proved that he's no where near ready for that. He's not strong enough to take on one or the other, what makes you think he's capable of going after both?"
"I'll do it," Naruto responded. "If anyone could find a way, it's me."
"I know, that's why I want you to put together a task force to deal with them," said Sarutobi.
"I work alone," Naruto argued.
"And how's that worked out for you so far?" asked Jiraiya.
"I haven't seen you do anything yet, despite having been tracking both Orochimaru and Akatsuki for the last few years," Naruto shot back.
"Naruto, Jiraiya, enough!" snapped the Sandaime.
"Why do you disgrace yourself further?" asked Neji maliciously. "Take your defeat with some dignity."
"N-Neji-nii-san… I… I am n-not the one lacking dignity in light of… Of y-your victory… It's you…"
The sudden, sharp spike in Neji's killing intent was all the warning anyone got before he charged at Hinata with speed previously unmatched by nearly anyone else in the preliminary round.