Animaman: I'll be honest your review actually caused me to give Jiraiya more attention this chapter so thanks for the review. I will gradually bring information about Sakura's reason for redemption later on and Tsunade may have a moment in the future for redemption, I don't know it'll depend on how the story's going. I will say that Tsunade recognizes that even if she apologizes, there's not really a place for her in Naruto's life (so she thinks). I don't want to make Jiraiya so stupid that he would try to gain support to take down Naruto but I think down the line he will be able to redeem himself in Naruto's eyes maybe. SPOILER ALERT yes Orochimaru is a good guy, you'll see why next chapter. Naruto won't face the twins before they leave the village because it would be so laughably one sided that he would end them with probably one punch. I want to wait until later because the twins are going to get MUCH more powerful. Anyway thanks for the continued support, ideas,and the review.
AnimeKing211: Yeah the twins are evil and while the fight is down the line a ways, SPOILER ALERT there will be a second person fighting with Naruto against the twins. Thanks for the support and review I appreciate it.
PinkiePieParty122894: Thank you for the continued support and reviews I'm glad you're still loving it.
Gammagyro: I'm not sure if I'm gonna do lemons but I'll definitely keep you in mind. As for the twins learning that they are weak from Naruto, they won't fight him until later because I want them to realize that even at the peak of their strength, they can't match their brother (But it will be a close fight which may or may not have character deaths). I like your ideas about the team members especially Yakumo and Sasuke. In fact the Sasuke comment gave me an idea for a future part of the story. Thanks for the review and ideas.
Jiraiya walked through the village with a smile. It had been months since he had been in Konoha but it was a sacrifice he made to be a spymaster. Heading to the hokage tower, the toad sannin was preparing for the conversation he needed to have with Minato. Their last talk had not gone very well but he needed Minato to understand that the entire world was at stake. The twins' training needed to be upped, especially when they were revealed to the ninja world in the chunin exams. Reaching the tower, he hopped up to the window and went through it. Although this was his usual entrance, Minato seemed to take no notice and continued doing paperwork. Jiraiya frowned. His student must still be upset about their last talk.
"Hey kid, how's the village been?" Jiraiya asked with a smile as Minato raised his head to look at his sensei. "The village has been fine. The chunin exams have started so we're dealing with that" the hokage responded. Jiraiya's smile widened. "Yeah I heard. I was actually hoping that you would let me train Menma and Narumi for the final round. I haven't seen the little brats in so long, I wanna make sure they haven't been slacking in their training" he said. Minato stared at Jiraiya for a long moment before responding. "You can train them now if you like. They should be at training ground 7 with Kushina and Kakashi" he said which gained a confused look from the sannin. "Shouldn't they be taking the exams right now or do they start later today?" he asked getting a shake of the head from Minato. "No Jiraiya, it was decided by both of their senseis and by me that they would not be allowed to take the chunin exams this year" he responded.
Jiraiya was shocked. Menma and Narumi were the children of prophecy, they needed to be on the fast track to success, but they were being held back by their own parents! "What?! Minato why would you not let them in the chunin exams?" he asked. Minato took a breath. He was disappointed in his sensei. "They were not allowed to enter because Menma put his teammate in the hospital and Narumi tried to sacrifice the same teammate on a previous mission. The two have also shown signs of mental instability as well. They are lucky that their ninja licences haven't been suspended. Yet" he said which made Jiraiya even more shocked. "Let me train them! That's the main reason I came back as fast as I did anyway" he asked which gained a sigh from Minato. "I won't stop you from training them but Jiraiya, I'm done with their arrogant attitude. I don't want you treating them as if they're royalty, that's not what they need right now. If you ask me, I think you should try to train them to be more like Naruto" he said getting a frown from his teacher. "So that's it huh? You've given up on your kids? You're gonna neglect them for your other kid?" he asked. Before the sannin could say another word, he was slammed against a wall.
"Listen to me sensei. I have done nothing but try to get Menma and Narumi to grow up and become the ninja I know they could be. I sacrificed my relationship with my oldest son to do so, we all did. Me, Kushina, Kakashi, Tsunade, you. Don't you ever say that I gave up on them. The only child I gave up on was Naruto, but thank Kami I realized my mistake before it was too late. So go train Menma and Narumi, your "children of prophecy", but don't you ever say that I didn't try" Minato finished, letting go of Jiraiya. "Now unless you have information beneficial to the village, you're free to leave my office" he said. Jiraiya wordlessly left, thinking about Minato's words.
(Hospital)
Jiraiya made his way through the hospital without a word. Coming to Tsunade's door, he didn't even bother to knock before entering.
Tsunade looked up to see her fellow sannin enter her office. "What do you want pervert?" she asked annoyingly but was actually a little concerned. Jiraiya didn't look to good. "You okay Jiraiya?" she asked. Jiraiya simply sat down in a chair in front of her desk but didn't say a word. "Jiraiya, are you okay? Jiraiya? If you make me ask again, I swear I will punch you through that wall" she said which got Jiraiya to raise his head. "Tsunade, I think Minato is giving up on Menma and Narumi. Kushina might have as well. I need your help. We need to train the twins so that-" "Stop" interrupted Tsunade raising her hand. "Jiraiya, why are you interested in training those kids. Is it only because of the so called prophecy that the toads gave you?" she asked. Jiraiya shook his head. "NO! I love those two as if they are my own grandchildren just like I love Minato and Kushina as if they are my own son and daughter. I care about the prophecy but not as much as I care about them" he said strongly.
Tsunade looked at her teammate and shook her head. "What about Naruto? Where does he fit in your perfect family? Shouldn't he be included as a grandchild?" she asked which gained a scoff from Jiraiya. "Tsunade, we both know that the kid showed no potential. He just doesn't fit. You know this as well as I do" he said but saw that Tsunade had an angry look on her face. "Jiraiya, I made many mistakes. I was a fool neglecting a little boy who only wanted someone to notice him. We both were, and now I have no place in that boy's life and it hurts me deeply. It should hurt you too. If Narumi needs help with the slug contract she can come to me herself, but otherwise, I have a new apprentice. I realized my mistakes Jiraiya and it's about time that you realize yours as well" she said then went back to her paperwork. Jiraiya stood up and left very confused. He was sure that he would be able to get Tsunade on board for training the twins but instead she drops a bombshell of having a new apprentice. As he made his way to training ground 7 he couldn't help but think about the kid that Tsunade mentioned. Naruto. Why was he so important to everyone all of the sudden? He quickly pushed away the thought and rushed to the training ground.
(Training Ground 7)
Menma and Narumi were in the middle of walking up trees when their godfather entered the training ground. Upon seeing him, the two quickly rushed over to him hoping for a jutsu to learn. They had gotten here early and were told by their mother that they were to work on chakra control for the entire day. She had checked up on them twice now and said that she would be back and forth to check up on their training. "Pervy Sage! Are you gonna teach us a new jutsu today?" asked Menma which gained an irritated look from the old man. "I told you not to call me that" he said angrily but quickly switched his frown to a smile. "So kids, where's Kushina?" he asked. "She told us that we are supposed to work on our chakra control by tree walking all day" Menma replied. Jiraiya shook his head. "Well lucky for you, I am here to train the two of you!" he said with a large smile. "So are you gonna teach us a new jutsu or what?" asked Narumi who was already annoyed with the old man. Her brother and her were not going to be in the village much longer so they wanted to get all that they could before they left. The only reason that they weren't slacking off today was because they hoped that their mom would teach them something new if she felt that they did satisfactory work.
"Well kids, today I will show you how to create one of your father's most powerful jutsu. The Rasenshuriken" he said which made both Narumi and Menma go wide eyed. Looking at one another, the siblings both smiled wide.
(Entrance to Forest of Death)
Naruto was standing with his team among the other genin that had passed the first exam. Sasuke, Yakumo, and he really hadn't done anything but answer the questions on the test and watch as more than half of the applicants were either thrown out or quit when given the option after the risk of never being able to surpass genin rank was revealed. It was after the test was finished that an erratic kunoitchi named Anko Mitarashi burst through the window. Her appearance alone caused most if not all of the boys in the room to gain heavy nosebleeds. The fact that Naruto had a nosebleed as well was why Yakumo had kept her glare on him the entire way to the Forest of Death. After some words from Anko, the teams were finally able to enter the forest, each with a scroll.
(Middle of Forest of Death Time Skip 2 Hours)
Team 11 was moving at a fast pace towards the tower that they were told to take the scrolls. They had recently taken the scroll they needed from an average team of Sound ninja. Now, they just wanted to hurry up and get to the tower, especially Yakumo who had freaked out after seeing a giant bug. When Naruto and Sasuke started laughing at her, she quickly put the two in a genjutsu that shook both of them up enough that they had gone for an hour without speaking.
"So, you guys think we're almost there?" asked Sasuke as they continued to hop the trees. Before Naruto or Yakumo could answer, a giant tail smashed through the trees in front of the genin team who were barely able to avoid impact but still hit the ground hard. When the group was able to get up and form into attack formation, they were met with a sight that made their blood run cold. In front of them stood a giant snake but this wasn't what made the three begin shaking. On top of the snake stood a pale man with long black hair. Konoha's public enemy number one. Orochimaru.
"I must say that I'm surprised that the three of you were able to avoid that" the snake sannin said while the three genin stood in fear, no words able to form. Naruto, seeing his teammates in such a state, clenched his fists and strengthened his resolve to face the S ranked ninja. Walking forward to the shock and horror of his teammates, Naruto spoke. "What brings you here Orochimaru?" he asked which gained a sinister smile that screamed death from the man. "Ah, Naruto. I've heard of you. An impressive swordsman with well above genin level skills. I suppose it would be useless to ask you to join me?" he asked which gained a nod from the boy. Orochimaru sighed. "Fine, but fortunately or unfortunately for you, you are not my concern" he said before jumping of the snake and landing on a tree nearby. Naruto was confused about what the sannin said until the man snapped his fingers and the snake attacked. Swiping its tail, this time it hit Naruto knocking him out of the area. The snake quickly followed where Naruto was hit to finish the job.
Turning to the other two genin who were still scared, he smiled. "Now that he's gone this should be much easier" he said. As he prepared to jump at the two, he felt a sharp pain in his arms. Looking at his appendages, he was surprised to see two large tree branches sticking through the muscles and spreading throughout the entirety of his arms. Realizing it was a genjutsu, Orochimaru smirked and pulsed his chakra ending the genjutsu but was confused as to why the injuries were still on his body. Looking at the genin, he saw the brown haired girl smiling. "As you've probably realized by now, my genjutsu aren't just illusions. Those tree branches pierced both of your arms and shredded the muscles inside meaning that you're gonna need a pretty good doctor if you want to have use of them again so I recommend that you leave now" Yakumo said fiercely. Sasuke smiled at his teammate. She had come from a shy, frail, fragile girl to being able to stare down Orochimaru.
Orochimaru smiled in response to Yakumo's suggestion. "You took me by surprise, I'm impressed" he said with a smile. "But do you really think that a genin can take on a sannin? This is a minor injury, I assure you that it will not keep me from my goal. Although I will say this, you seem to have potential little girl. So I'll make you a deal, give me the Uchiha and you live. Does that sound fair?" he asked which caused Yakumo to pull out her kunai. "I'd rather die" she said preparing for her fight. Sasuke looked at the determination in his teammate's eyes and followed her example by pulling out his own kunai and activating his sharingan. "Last chance to get lost Orochimaru" warned Sasuke which gained a dark chuckle in response. As the snake sannin jumped at the two from his tree, Yakumo jumped back to begin casting her genjutsu while Sasuke stood his ground doing handsigns quickly.
"Great Fireball Jutsu" shouted Sasuke before launching a large fireball at the sannin knocking him to the ground. Looking at the area where Orochimaru landed, he waited for the smoke to clear. 'There's no way it could be that easy' thought the Uchiha as the smoke cleared out. Instead of the charred body of Orochimaru, a pile of burnt mud was in his place. Sasuke's eyes widened before receiving a kick to the back which knocked him head first into a tree. Getting up quickly, Sasuke turned to reengage Orochimaru in combat. The sannin meanwhile had one thought on his mind. 'He will make a great vessel' he thought before he began to be swallowed into the ground. Pulsing his chakra again, Orochimaru stopped the genjutsu but still had half of his body underground. Sasuke quickly took advantage of this. "Dragon Flame Jutsu" the Uchiha shouted as a stream of fire spewed out and engulfed the snake sannin. When the jutsu ended, Sasuke and Yakumo looked at the result and were met with the sight of a charred corpse halfway in the ground. Sasuke fell back onto the ground smiling. Sitting up but panting lightly, he looked towards Yakumo who was also lightly panting. He smiled and she smiled back. The two of them had just defeated a sannin! It was an exciting thought and had the two genin in a good mood until they heard clapping from above. Looking up, the two were met with the sight of Orochimaru clapping without a burn mark in sight and a large grin on his face.
(With Naruto)
Naruto sat up slowly and groaned in pain. Looking at his left arm, it was obviously broken with a part of the bone sticking out of the arm. Mentally going over his injuries, he felt pain sources in both legs, his ribs, and his head. After checking himself, he heard the falling of trees, a lot of them. Forcing himself to his feet, he held his right arm out summoning his sword and waited for the snake to appear. The genin didn't have to wait long as the snake cleared the trees and now stood in front of Naruto. Gripping his sword tightly, Naruto jumped up just in time to avoid the snake trying to eat him. As soon as he launched upwards, he yelled out in pain. Immediately after missing, the snake recoiled and prepared to launch again and would have but a wave of chakra came speeding down from Naruto's position and destroyed its eye. Hissing in anger, it wrapped around the tree, chasing upwards to catch Naruto. The blonde haired ninja continued to jump higher, a risky plan in mind. One that would require a specific amount of power, not too little and not too much, and he didn't have any time to concentrate. Reaching the top of the tree, Naruto took a deep breath. His injuries were starting to take their toll but he couldn't think about that or he wouldn't make it out of this alive. Taking one more deep breath, he pushed the chakra into his legs and jumped high above the treetops.
Reaching the peak of his jump, Naruto flipped so that he was in a diving motion. Speeding down, he gripped his sword and began spinning. Faster and faster he spun as the snake kept coming. When the boy was within eating distance, he opened his mouth and prepared for him to land in his mouth, but instead of just landing, Naruto's speed increased so much that a boom sounded throughout the air as he spun right into the snake's throat. Still speeding downwards, the blade began to shred the insides of the snake causing it to let out a cry of pain. A moment later, the snake fell to the ground, not moving and not breathing. As the snake continued to lie still on the ground, a bulge could be seen expanding in the middle of its body which was quickly increasing in size, Right when it seemed that the bulge couldn't get any bigger, the area burst open in a shower of blood and out crawled Naruto covered in blood and gasping for air.
Now that Naruto was no longer in danger of suffocating, he wiped the snake's residue off of his face and shakily stood up grimacing in pain. The spinning attack belonged to one of his previous swordsman and it was called Sanctity's End. While extremely powerful, it required perfect timing, balance, and speed to start the spin. Looking back at the snake, Naruto chuckled. It was a pretty good attempt for his debut of the move. And to think, that wasn't even half of its full power. His mind quickly shifted back to the situation at hand and with great pain, sped off towards his team, praying that he wasn't too late.
(With Sasuke and Yakumo)
Sasuke and Yakumo stood side by side panting heavily. It didn't matter how hard they hit Orochimaru, it just didn't seem to even phase him. Sasuke had a dislocated elbow, a broken jaw, and what he was sure was a concussion. Yakumo had an eye swollen shut and a heavy pain in her chest. They were getting beaten to a pulp and the sannin wasn't even using his arms! It both infuriated and horrified the genin. Sasuke looked at Yakumo and then at Orochimaru. There was no way that they were winning this, and they had no idea where Naruto was or if he was even still alive. Making a decision, Sasuke slowly stepped forward gaining Yakumo's attention and Orochimaru's interest.
"Orochimaru, if you let Yakumo go, I'll go with you" he said which caused Orochimaru to raise an eyebrow and Yakumo's one eye to widen. "Sasuke no! You can't give in to him!" she shouted at her teammate. Sasuke turned to her with a stern look. "Yakumo, he will kill you to get to me, this is the only way that you'll make it out alive. Thank you for being my friend Yakumo. Tell Naruto that I'm sorry and thank you. You two are my best friends so let me do this" he said with a small smile making Yakumo start to cry. "Sasuke, I won't let you do this. As your teammate and as your friend, I'm not letting you give yourself over to this psychopath for me" she said. She was about to continue until Orochimaru decided to add his input reminding the two that he was still here. "Sasuke, you will be coming with me regardless. As a matter of fact, your teammate has annoyed me quite a bit with her genjutsu so I may just kill her anyway and there is nothing you can do about it" he said with a smile which soon turned to a frown before jumping backwards to avoid a sword flying towards him. Looking in the direction of the sword, he was surprised to see Naruto enter the battlefield.
Stepping into the battle area covered in blood, Naruto called back his sword which reappeared in his hand. Both Yakumo and Sasuke's faces turned from ones of despair to ones of hope. "Orochimaru, your pet was strong, but not quite enough of a challenge, and honestly I'm a little bit disappointed" he said with a smirk which caused a small giggle from Naruto, a smirk from Sasuke, and a scowl from Orochimaru. "Took you long enough Naruto" commented Sasuke which received an eye roll and middle finger in response. "So Orochimaru, I hope that you're ready for me. I'll try to be gentle" he said. Orochimaru didn't respond but opened his mouth wide as a blade appeared out of his throat. Naruto tilted his head. "No gag reflex huh? I bet that's useful for your Friday nights" he said causing Orochimaru to attack which was easily blocked by Naruto's sword.
The shock on the sannin's face was easily visible. The Kusanagi was supposed to be able to cut through anything yet here it was being stopped by a genin's sword. Naruto smiled and pushed Orochimaru back following up with a slash to the snake's chest. The sannin was able to avoid the sword but was still hit by the chakra wave which knocked him into a tree. Naruto spun his sword in his hand. "You know Orochimaru, the first thing my master taught me was that it's the swordsman that makes the sword, not the other way around. You are a shining example of that. People like you, taking swords just because they have powerful qualities and calling yourselves swordsmen. It's pitiful and it pisses me off pretty bad. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to give you the privilege of seeing a real swordsman's attack firsthand. Do you get what I'm saying? This is the end for you" he said with an amused look that quickly turned into one of pure determination and willpower. Raising his sword up, he shouted "Hammer Slash" and swung the blade down launching a massive wave at the sannin. Orochimaru tried jumping back to avoid it but it came too fast and slashed through his chest. He continued flying out of sight of Team 11. When the attack finished, Naruto smiled and fell face first to the ground.
Yakumo and Sasuke rushed to their fallen teammate. Right when they arrived, they too fell to the ground from the pain of their injuries. As the two were both kneeling on the ground, they took notice of Naruto slowly rising. Turning to his team, Naruto simply said "Let's head to the tower" before holding out his right hand helping Yakumo up. Sasuke rose on his own and looked at his leader in admiration. To be able to stay conscious with the injuries that littered his body and probably dealing with chakra exhaustion as well was nothing short of astounding. As the team started towards the tower, Yakumo was the first to speak. "The tower isn't far off so we should be there soon and we can get medical help there" she said which caused all three genin to smile. The idea of being able to finally rest and get rid of the injuries that plagued them at the moment was a good one to say the least.
(With Orochimaru)
Orochimaru finally landed near the entrance of the forest of death and was now lying on his back. Looking down at his chest he saw the extent of his battle with Naruto. A deep and bloody gash from his shoulder to his waist was the result of one sword slash. The boy was powerful that much was for sure. It was true that he had not been able to move his arms and if he could things would have ended very differently, but that wasn't the concern at the moment. He had to get out of Konoha and get himself healed. He began to slowly try and stand when he heard laughter that made his eyes go wide.
"Well isn't this a treat. The great Orochimaru beaten by a mere genin" said a figure that stopped in front of the sannin. "Iliel" Orochimaru whispered. "Iliel, help me I need to get this wound taken care of" he said which caused Iliel to laugh louder. "Help you? You failed us and you want me to help you? No Orochimaru but you will help me" he said before slamming his foot down on Orochimaru's stomach causing the man to gasp in pain. The kick caused Orochimaru to start coughing and choking up his Kusanagi. Before long, the sword was out enough that Iliel grabbed the blade and pulled it out of Orochimaru himself. "Take a good look at this place Orochimaru because this is where you will die. And once you're dead, I'm sure that the animals will have tons of fun with your body" he said before vanishing into thin air.
Orochimaru fell on his back and stared at the sky wondering how things ended up this way. Before he closed his eyes, he was able to see three figures approach him, each with ANBU masks on.
(With Team 11)
They had made it despite their injuries and lack of energy. When the three entered the tower, Naruto fell to his knees and Yakumo quickly knelt by him checking him over. Sasuke meanwhile took the two scrolls and opened them both after reading what was on the wall. With both scrolls opened, a poof of smoke appeared and out of it came their sensei Itachi with a small smile. The smile quickly dropped however when he saw the status of his team. Making two shadow clones, he took his team in his arms and sped to the medical wing while secretly thanking Kami that they were safe and made it on the first day. They were injured pretty bad and would need all the team they could get to heal if they wanted to continue in the chunin exams. As he gave his genin to the doctors, he couldn't help but wonder what type of opponents they must have faced to leave them in such a condition. Before the jounin could contemplate further, an ANBU appeared in front of him and told him to meet the Hokage at T&I.
(Near Fire Country)
Konan was following the power of Sera's sword. It's presence had just reappeared recently and it seemed to be leading her to Konoha which was still quite a distance but she needed her sister. The fate of the world could rest on Sera's shoulders and she would be there to help her sister carry the burden.
Author's Note: Once again thank you everyone for the support. I hope it is still entertaining. Next chapter deals with the preliminary round of the chunin exams, what happened to Orochimaru, and more. Also REVIEW! The reviews definitely help as I've gotten a lot of inspiration from the reviews that I've received.