Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke and Sakura would have gotten together a long time ago...too bad.
Not So Simple After All
Chapter 7
Sasuke felt his strength waver as he once again dodged Orochimaru's attack. And once again the Cursed Seal throbbed painfully.
He'd been trying not to use the seal during the fight, but now…that theory just wasn't possible anymore. Of course, he didn't really believe he could pull that off in the first place, but he still found it infuriating at how much he depended on that damn seal.
It was like Orochimaru had been playing with him before. One minute, the fight seemed to be evenly matched. The next, well…the odds were similar to David and Goliath…
He ducked as another punch as the air whooshed over his head and he rolled to the side as Orochimaru tried to knee him in the face.
It was attack after attack, and Sasuke was too busy evading them to launch one of his own. Every few moves Orochimaru would get a good hit, Sasuke would try to counter it, but then he would have to ditch that cause to block another onslaught.
Sasuke put his hands together and formed a seal, ready to attack. But once again, it was foiled as he moved to dodge another one of Orochimaru's punches. Just then his arm stretched around behind him and pushed him forward into Orochimaru's katana, which he seemed to have whipped out of nowhere. There was a "poof" and Sasuke disappeared in a puff of smoke. It had been a clone. So, where was the real Sasuke if—
"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!" (Fire Element: Dragon Fire Technique)
It had been his father's favorite jutsu, and one that Sasuke had wanted to learn ever since he was a little boy. He even had the seals for it memorized long before he had enough power and chakra to pull it off.
The attack hit directly on target. Finally, after all that waiting and planning to get it just right, where Sasuke had an opening and Orochimaru wouldn't have enough time to move out of the way, it had been accomplished.
Waiting for the smoke to clear, Sasuke began planning his next attack. He quickly made another clone. The clone then charged in the smoke with his katana drawn.
But when the smoke started to clear, another problem came into view. Fire was entering the room. It was around the corners and edges and spreading inwards. The fire would consume the room in a few minutes. This could work to an advantage…
Now the smoke was clear. The Snake sannin had shed his skin and healed himself. Sasuke's clone had apparently already been wiped out. He was nowhere to be seen.
Sasuke could feel the heat of the flames at his back. He had to get out of the corner or he would be trapped. He began to charge again; maybe he could win if he forced Orochimaru in the flames.
And that's just when he felt his Sharingan falter and the Cursed Seal erupt over his body. He would have to hurry up. Orochimaru's arms were stretching at an amazing length. It was one of his favorite techniques.
Ducking and weaving he almost made it to Orochimaru, almost. Sasuke felt the Snake sannin's hands wrap around his ankles and bring him to the floor.
Sasuke grunted as the Cursed Seal seared across his flesh. Looking back up, he saw that Orochimaru had disappeared, but there was still something holding his ankles together. It was chakra strings, and attached to them was an explosive tag!
Quickly utilizing a replacement jutsu, he escaped just in time. But now he had other dilemmas. He didn't know where Orochimaru was. His stab wounds and bruises ached. The only thing keeping his Sharingan activated was the Cursed Seal. And to top it off, he had to think of a new plan.
On his way to Sound, he had been carefully laying out his battle strategy. Majority of the strategy included surprising Orochimaru. Now that he had lost the element of surprise, it made all that scheming about as valuable as Sasuke was talkative. Useless is what it was, perfectly useless.
Suddenly, part of the roof caved in. 'Damn it!' Now he would really have to hurry. He sensed Orochimaru's presence behind him, gathering up his chakra.
"Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Kuu no Tachi!" (Kusanagi Sword: Long Sword of the Heavens)
Sasuke used all the speed he could muster to scramble away before Orochimaru brought the sword down. Hiding behind Orochimaru's throne, Sasuke prayed for a little more time. He could pull out his own Kusanagi sword, but it still wouldn't match up to Orochimaru's. Oh well, it was worth a try. Maybe he could even combine it with chidori later, once he got a good shot.
An idea suddenly popped into the Uchiha's mind, a new plan. He carefully planted a few traps around the throne and surrounding areas. He could feel Orochimaru's presence nearing him again. Still, a smirk appeared on his face as he prepared himself to summon his own Kusanagi sword.
-------------------------------------------------------------Moving Too Fast to Name a Specific Location------------------------------------------------------------------------
Already Naruto could feel the Kyubi's chakra starting to churn and circulate through his body. He was using it to propel himself as fast as he could. Running at these high rates didn't even allow his eyes to catch up; so the only way Naruto knew where he was going was the blue blur of the river in the corner of his vision and the rough feel of compacted dirt of the snake trail beneath his feet.
Well, whatever Sasuke was going, Naruto was catching up fast. Running as fast as he could, Naruto would be invisible to naked eye, not that anybody was watching him. The whole area seemed to be deserted. Naruto hadn't sensed anyone's chakra except his teammates' chakra which was slowly fading away out of his range as he sped forward.
Suddenly, a mass of chakra came into range. Naruto was sure he was now nearing the Hidden Sound Village. He depicted Sasuke's familiar chakra and Orochimaru's chakra. He was too far away to be sure, but it seemed as though Sasuke's chakra had already been consumed by the Cursed Seal's chakra. He was battling someone.
Pumping more chakra into his legs and feet, he eased the burn in his muscles. They were on fire. He arched his back and tried to run faster. The Kyubi was unsettling itself inside him; aroused by the amount of chakra Naruto was using. Naruto would reach there in minutes; it seemed, with all his concentration focused on his destination.
At least, until he tripped and fell flat on his face…
"What the—"
He was cut off by the most unexpected sight. It was Kabuto, dead. Naruto bent down to get a better look and hopefully, an idea of the cause of his death. Aside from a few drops of blood on his shirt, Kabuto didn't even have a scratch. The item next to him was just as unexpected. It was a Sound headband. Naruto sniffed it cautiously. The Kyubi, from deep inside him, said, "It carries the scent of the Uchiha. It was his."
Naruto stored the headband in his bag and gently pulled Kabuto's eyelids over his lifeless eyes. Enemy or not, always give the dead respect. Then he stretched the collar of his shirt down to find two distinct puncture wounds.
Kabuto had died from a snake bite. Sasuke's headband was found at the scene of death. He was on Sasuke's trail, which, now that he took notice, stopped right in the area. Sasuke had made a visit to his former teammate at 2 in the morning and left. Sasuke was also in a battle at the moment.
Putting all the facts together in an organized and scientific method, Naruto came to a well-constructed conclusion.
'Ah! What the hell is going on? Goddamn it! My head hurts now!'
And with that, Naruto gathered himself together before returning to his journey to the Hidden Sound Village. He would find out when he gets there. Looking back to where he imagined his teammates to be, he vaguely wondered if they were as clueless as he was.
Now that the gigantic trail had ended, Naruto could no longer just run without thinking. He decided to follow in the direction where he sensed Sasuke's and Orochimaru's chakra. Maybe they were training? Suddenly, he sensed a spike in both their chakras. Maybe they were training intensely? But why would Sasuke kill Kabuto?
Concentrating chakra to his legs and feet again, he continued running. Then, he turned on his earpiece and mini-microphone. "Sakura-chan! Hey Sakura-chan, are you there?"
"Naruto?"
"Sakura-chan, can you hear me?"
"Yes, Naruto. What is it?"
"I found something strange. I think you need to know."
"What's so strange?"
"Kabuto's dead."
"What?"
"Kabuto's dead. I found his body further up the trail by the river. I think he died from a poisonous snake bite."
"Okay, I'll tell the team."
"Oh, and I found Sasuke-teme's headband right next to him."
"That can't be. You already have his headband."
"No, not the one with the slash in it. It was his Sound headband."
"I didn't even know Sasuke-kun had a Sound headband. He wasn't wearing one when we saw him two years ago."
"Same here, but the Kyubi said that his scent was all over it. It had to belong to Sasuke-teme."
"Why would Kabuto have Sasuke-kun's headband?"
"I don't know, Sakura-chan. But I think Sasuke-teme killed him."
"But why?"
"I don't know. I'm about to reach the Sound Village; I'll find out there."
"Alright, I'll notify the rest of the group."
"Oh, and one more thing. I can sense Orochimaru's and Sasuke-teme's chakra up ahead. I'm not sure if they're training or something, but they're using a lot of chakra. And Sasuke-teme's using the Cursed Seal."
"Okay, is that all?"
"Pretty much."
"I'll tell everyone else the news. Now just remember, Naruto, I sent you ahead to get us some more information, not to fight. I don't want you plunging into battle on your own. Got it?"
"Hai, Sakura-chan!"
"See you later, Naruto."
"Ja ne!" Naruto then clicked his earpiece and mini-microphone off, wondering how Sakura-chan and the rest of the group would take the news.
---------------------------------------------------------------Inside Orochimaru's "Office"----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sasuke and Orochimaru were locked in a heated battle using the two Kusanagi swords. And Sasuke was once again on the losing side. Being stabbed several times already, it only made the new wounds hurt even worse.
All during there sword fight, Sasuke had been strategically steering Orochimaru closer and closer to his throne. They were so close to the flames, both of the ninja had burns on their bodies.
Using the flat of his blade, Sasuke suddenly pushed Orochimaru away. He kept one hand on the handle of his sword and the other to form one-handed seals.
"Chidori Nagashi!" (One Thousand Birds Current)
His chakra surrounded his whole body and protected him as Orochimaru swung his sword of heaven. Using the Chidori Nagashi as a defense, he stopped Orochimaru's attack and shocked him, temporarily paralyzing most of his body.
Orochimaru grunted with his back leaning on the chair. He could barely lift his sword and could not stand. He glared at Sasuke, prepared for the next attack. He was expecting him to use the chidori or stab him with his Kusanagi sword. So he used his chakra to form a shield in front of him.
But Sasuke was pulling a kunai out of his holster. He then threw it a few feet to the left of Orochimaru, setting off the traps he set earlier. They were arranged like a mine field; when one went off, it set a chain reaction. The main difference was that there were no explosions.
Orochimaru suddenly felt a chakra string attached to him and pin him to his throne. And then another one came, and another one and another one…till there were six in all. Orochimaru then concentrated on the chakra strings, weakening his shield and his hold on the Kusanagi sword.
This was his chance. He formed a different set of seals and he gathered his chakra in his fist. This jutsu should be strong enough to break through Orochimaru's shield.
All the while, Orochimaru was concentrating on releasing the chakra strings that were binding him. Using his chakra, he was slowly unraveling and tearing Sasuke's chakra strings. Yes! There went one!
Then he noticed Sasuke preparing for his ultimate attack. Two!
And Orochimaru was gaining the feeling back in his limbs. Three!
The chakra was glowing in Sasuke's hand. Four!
Sasuke touched his fist to his own Kusanagi sword and his chakra spread along the length of the blade. Five!
Lifting his blade and pouring all his chakra into it, Sasuke swung down. SIX!
"Habataku Chidori!" (Flapping One Thousand Birds)
Instead of the usual chirping sounds of the chidori, the habataku let out a frightening roar. It's power was far more that the normal chidori.
Orochimaru tried to move his blade in time to block the attack. Sasuke's blade cut through the shield like butter and then through Orochimaru's flesh. He hadn't been fast enough…
Both of the swords of heaven could be heard clattering to the ground. Orochimaru's head sagged unceremoniously as his whole body slumped to the ground, motionless. Sasuke collapsed on the ground, sight going in and out of focus.
He slowly turned his head to get a look at his former sensei. He was dead. Orochimaru was dead. Orochimaru is dead. I won…
'Great, I won the battle. Now, how am I going to get out of here? I can't move my body.' Across the room, another part of the roof caved in.
It had been like an on/off switch or something. First, he had had all that chakra and energy wielding the habataku chidori along with the…the Cursed Seal! That was it! Since Orochimaru, the source of the seal's power, was dead, the Cursed Seal was gone. With his chakra and the Cursed Seal gone, Sasuke found himself in another rather grim situation. He was a sitting duck! And the flames were closing in and down below he heard another crash. The building would fall to the ground!
He tried to find some part of his body that he could still move…his left arm…and his right foot. Using those limbs, Sasuke slowly pulled/crawled/dragged himself over to the part of the wall that had been blown out earlier. He could throw himself out of the doomed building…to die at the hands of a nine story drop. Perfect, he was trapped.
This had to be the hardest chapter to write. At first, I could only write a few sentences a day. But then just yesterday, I started writing again. I wrote the rest of this today. Hopefully, this signals the end of my writer's block. HOPEFULLY... But I'm going to go out of town again (just for three days this time) Let's all pray I have the inspiration to write like crazy when I get back.
Haha! I killed Orochimaru and left Sasuke in a crumbling building paralyzed. Bet you all were thinking once he killed Oro that this would be over--No! I'm just mean like that. And I felt kinda bad leaving Sakura out of this one, so I added her little speaking part. There was supposed to be some Hinata x Naruto in this chapter, but...it wouldn't work out.
Now review! Maybe your reviews will be transformed into chakra that Sasuke can use to escape the building! Maybe not... who really knows? ME!