Karin was glad to feel Sasuke's chakra ahead as she followed Naruto, she thought the Uchiha felt like a bright beacon of power. Then she felt who he was fighting and her stomach dropped, she compared what she could feel and managed to push herself to follow the blonde genin.
Naruto's chakra still felt scarier than whoever was up ahead, that was not exactly a guarantee, but Karin noticed how the blonde genin's clothes were cut yet under the blood she could tell he was unharmed. She made a note to scold him about the safety of using a weapon to drench himself in blood with open wounds, didn't he know he could get diseases from that?
Regardless the Kusa kunoichi was certain that the blonde could not actually be matched for pure ferocity, it was almost bestial how he leaned forward and leaped towards the fight between his team, mostly Sasuke, and whoever was wearing Shiore's face.
Karin didn't actually like Shiore, she had honestly been a bit of a bitch, but still Karin wouldn't wish having her face stolen and used by an enemy like that on people she hated let alone people who were a bit annoying to be around.
Naruto swung his Nokogiribocho as he extended it, the metallic sound alerting his target who turned to catch the cleaving edge to the face. It was momentarily a very brutal display, teeth and blood flew. Naruto turned away because he could not smell blood and swung his arm out of the resulting cloud of smoke to smack the log off his weapon by smacking it against the tree he was standing on.
The blonde looked up the tree and saw the enemy shinobi wearing a Kusa kunoichi's face, "Naruto!" Sakura cried out in surprise, she hadn't expected to be happy to see the red eyed blonde. Wait that was weird, Sasuke was the one who developed red eyes fighting against the enemy so why did Naruto have them too?
The pink haired girl looked to Sasuke and examined the differences, she decided first of all that Sasuke's were definitely more attractive with the tomoe, while Naruto's made him look a bit like he was related to the Inuzuka almost.
"So you dealt with them already?"
Naruto did not like how confident his new opponent was, "You think all this blood is mine?" the blonde asked as he flicked his arm and pressed the mechanism to snap his blade folded shut again, his stance shifting slightly with the movement and his killing intent increasing.
The older shinobi looked surprised before they smiled, "Oh my, where have you been?" they crooned, Sakura thought that was the most creepy and predatory way the kunoichi could have put that.
"Could you take off that ladies face, yaju?" Naruto requested, earning a raised eyebrow each from his teammates and Karin at the nickname, before his teammates eyes widened in disgust at the implication.
"I suppose it's high time." The shinobi agreed, tearing off the kunoichi's face and revealing skin that was unnaturally pale, golden eyes with slit pupils like the ones in Naruto's currently red eyes, and purple eye make up, "I am Orochimaru, of the Sannin." he introduced, "Now, I was here for Sasuke-kun, but why don't you tell me what you've been up to, Naruto-kun?" he requested, "I doubt the Sandaime Hokage sent you down there, was it Danzo?"
Sakura was confused, wondering what was going on. Sasuke took a moment to catch his breath as he listened, he was curious since his blonde teammate had been a mystery since they graduated the academy.
Naruto did not like this, his hackles raised as he glared. He did not like the stranger knew his name, he did not like they knew about the depths, he did not like that the man had been attacking his teammate, and he hated the serpentine man for threatening to expose his secret in front of his team and a girl he'd only recently met.
The blonde's eyes darkened, quite literally his eyelids darkened along with his whisker marks as he began to crouch. Rather than make a one handed seal the blonde splayed his hand on the wood as he clung to the tree more closely, he focused his chakra.
Sasuke's eyes widened as instead of yellow he saw red chakra when Naruto leaped, the blonde was almost too fast for his Sharingan but Orochimaru evaded with another kawarimi. This log splintered as Naruto's saw blade ripped into the wood and sent the pieces flying, Naruto turned as his left hand palmed a kunai from his shuriken holster.
Orochimaru coiled around the tree up at the blonde like a serpent, Naruto stopped adhering to the tree and let gravity carry him down as he flicked his blade open in a swing at the serpentine man. However the right hand of the Sannin gripped his blade, much to his surprise, and he was thrown through the air.
Naruto cried out in pain as his back hit the tree, the other genin couldn't help but think it sounded too bestial to come from a young human though, and when Orochimaru swung again the blonde released his weapon and flipped through the air. He reached out with his right hand, grabbed a branch, and pulled himself into a low crouch with a snarl at the one who disarmed him.
The Sannin inspected the weapon, "Marvelous, older than the village itself but still in working order." he mused. Naruto flicked his kunai to his right hand and palmed a second with his left, then he focused his chakra and leaped.
Orochimaru deftly dodged and kicked the blonde in the head, but to his surprise the left hand kunai of the blonde genin sliced open the back of his right shin as the boy went sailing through the air. The man watched as the blonde twisted, tucked, and rolled to his feet ready to go again.
"I believe the purpose of this weapon is to put down yaju?" Orochimaru asked with a smug smirk, "Hm, but do I kill you now? It would be inconvenient for me." he mused as he tested the weight of the Nokogiribocho.
Naruto was reminded of the beast with the antlers he had died to a lot, he wondered if dying would get his weapon back. Nothing in the depths had ever actually tried to disarm him, but this man could do it easily. The blonde got angrier, his chakra seemed to respond as if his rage was a form of focus.
Naruto charged again, unable to think clearly through the red haze. Orochimaru swung the Nokogiribocho and the blonde felt the saw toothed edge of his own weapon rip from his right shoulder down to his left hip in a spray of blood.
"Naruto!" Sakura and Karin both cried out in horror as Sasuke stared in shock, the Uchiha's Sharingan burned the vision of Naruto being mortally wounded into his brain. The Sannin wasn't even done, his tongue lengthened impossibly and gripped the blonde.
Orochimaru chuckled, "Ah, blood. I suppose to your kind it tastes sweeter." he mused and the blonde shivered that this man knew that he wasn't human, then he plunged five flaming fingers into Naruto's navel, "I'll make this an experiment, let's see if you survive."
Karin heard those words but she knew the man had to be mocking the boy, and his team and her, because not even an Uzumaki could survive those wounds. Then the man just let the blonde drop, all three genin moved but to their surprise he flipped in mid air and landed on his feet.
"Are you still conscious? Or was that more akin to a cat landing on their feet?" Orochimaru asked curiously, "The human body doesn't quite have the structure to pull that off unconsciously, so if you're unconscious I might just have to take you back and dissect you." he mused.
Naruto was awake, of course he was awake, despite the agony being the worst pain he had ever felt only death or his silver bell could let him sleep, "Unconscious?" he asked, "I don't think my brain has gotten real rest in weeks, what makes you think pain will knock me out?"
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, "Consciousness is ironically the more impossible conclusion, I just used a Fuinjutsu that locked away a large chunk of chakra. The damage to your keirakukei should cause enough pain to knock anyone out, plus the sudden exhaustion is much like anemia." he explained.
Naruto frowned, "You use a lot of big words I don't get, but that did hurt about as much as dying." he agreed blandly, not thinking about what he said.
"I gave you a sucking chest wound and caused the symptoms of anemia," Orochimaru pointed out, "or did I miscalculate and I'm not talking to Naruto-kun?" he mused, noticing that while the boys eyes were blue the pupils were still slit.
Naruto frowned as his chest wound slowly sealed itself, he did feel light headed so he had trouble comprehending things, "Who else is going to be talking with my mouth?" he asked then he blinked, "Wait can the kitsune do that?" he asked.
Orochimaru laughed at the baffled, wounded young genin, "Oh you had no idea? Of course the Kyuubi no Yoko can speak through you! He could act through you too if you aren't careful, but my little fuin should have put a stop to that." he explained.
Karin, Sasuke, and Sakura's eyes widened, "Oh that's why his Uzumaki healing factor is so absurd." the Uchiha realized.
"Yes, that." Naruto agreed with a nod, he was having trouble focusing. The edges of his vision were fuzzy, he kind of wanted to see the doll again but he couldn't die in front of his team.
Orochimaru hummed as he considered the weapon, "Well, this will end up in my hands soon enough." he decided before he lodged the blade in the tree he was standing in then disappeared with shunshin.
Naruto's vision flashed white as an elbow impacted the back of his skull, impossibly he managed to catch his fall with his hands. A bit of blood sprayed from his chest wound to the ground beneath him at the movement, but the bleeding had slowed and his body was pulling itself together.
Orochimaru was on Sasuke next, the Uchiha defended himself again, even better than before the Sannin noted. Only awakened recently the Sharingan had three tomoe total between two eyes, now there were two in each eye.
It still was not enough, the Uchiha was still tired from before and had not deactivated his Sharingan. When Sasuke's back hit a tree Orochimaru weaved hand signs, his neck extended out and he bit the young genin on the right side of his neck near the shoulder.
Naruto reached into his tool pouch and pulled out his first aid kit, he opened it as Karin approached to assist the shaky handed boy but halted when she saw him pull out a strange blood vial and jam the needle into his chest next to the wound. Without any mechanism the blood ejected the vial and went into Naruto's body as if sucked up, his wound healed faster.
The boy was glad whatever fuin had been used hadn't messed with his blood abilities, then he saw Karin staring and turned paler than he already was. His head darted around in time to see Sasuke fall and Orochimaru disappear, Sakura ran over to the Uchiha and shook him while calling his name.
"Don't tell them." Naruto begged as he put his medical supplies away and began to stand, wincing away from the touch of the red head when she moved towards him.
"I won't," Karin agreed hesitantly, "but you have to tell me." she insisted as she attempted to help him up again, he didn't seem to need it but accepted the assistance as they moved over to Sakura. Naruto supposed it would be weird if he could walk on his own after injuries like that.
Sakura looked up as they approached, "Naruto?" she asked, she looked a bit scared.
The blonde had no idea he had slit pupils still, "I'm alive." he said dryly, he wasn't sure exactly how true that was but he breathed and had a heart beat. Also he was in a lot of pain, from what he recalled dying tended to actually stop the pain no matter how traumatic the events tended to be.
"I-I did what I could." Karin lied, "I know some iryoninjutsu, why don't you get Naruto-kun's weapon while I check on Sasuke-kun?" she asked.
Sakura frowned, having Karin come along had been her idea but the familiarity and usefulness of the girl caught her off guard. She couldn't help but feel a little threatened, but she nodded, the blonde would probably need his weapon if anyone showed up while Sasuke was still down.
The pink haired kunoichi hesitated as she glanced at Naruto, he looked awful. Pale with blood loss, shivering, and covered in blood. Sakura wondered how much the boy would even be able to fight as he was, but she got his weapon for him anyway, they couldn't exactly leave it behind and they needed to move.
It wasn't until they'd found shelter in the hollow of a tree's roots that Karin had the opportunity to ask Naruto what she had seen, Sakura was busy setting up traps and was trusting the Kusa kunoichi to watch her two injured male teammates.
Karin wasn't sure where to begin, "Are you really Uzumaki?" she asked quietly and the blonde nodded, "You better not be lying to me, because to reintroduce myself my name is Karin Uzumaki." she said sternly.
Naruto's eyes widened in alarm, "We're-!?" he began.
"I don't know, we definitely aren't closely related." Karin interrupted him, "Also, Uzumaki don't heal like that." she added with a pointed look at his chest.
"Uh, kitsune magic." Naruto decided on his excuse with a firm nod.
"Oh no, your team might buy that, but I saw that blood vial." Karin denied with a shake of her head, "Also that guy said he locked that power up with some fuinjutsu, meaning you did something else." she accused.
Naruto thought of another excuse, "Kinjutsu." he said, it certainly felt forbidden.
Karin frowned in concern and confusion, "There's a kinjutsu that lets you heal by injecting blood directly into your body without needing to worry about hitting a vein?" she asked incredulously, she tried to recall what she knew of kinjutsu but given her limited knowledge for all she knew that was how it worked, "Why do you even have that?" she asked, "Sounds like iryokinjutsu." she added the last part in a mutter.
Naruto opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. If he tried to claim he was a human super weapon his team, sensei, and Hokage, would all deny it, "I stole it." he confessed contritely, technically that had happened. The blood had been freely given though, so it was still a lie.
Karin sighed, "Why did you steal such a kinjutsu?" she asked without looking at him anymore.
The blonde frowned, "I uh, well I guess I didn't know what I was stealing y'know." he excused, "I wanted so badly to be a strong ninja, I didn't really think about the consequences until it was too late. So now on top of the Uzumaki and the Kyuubi I'm another level of different." he explained, "I really am an accidentally made super weapon." he mused as he leaned his back against the wood.
Karin frowned, "So, the Yondaime Hokage didn't intentionally put the Kyuubi there?" she asked and the blonde's eyes widened, he had not actually given much if any thought to the man who placed the kitsune where it was supposed to be.
"He needed somewhere to put it." Naruto guessed with a shrug, "Blonde baby who miraculously survives the destruction of his hospital thanks to Uzumaki genetic lottery wins the destiny lottery of having a mountain sized Chakra no Bakemono locked in his keirakukei." he joked mirthlessly.
Karin bit her lower lip before she looked up, "Are you okay?" she asked.
Naruto got asked that a lot lately, "I'm fine." he answered automatically, he was still a bit sore but he knew he'd be ready to fight again within an hour.
"Naruto!" Sakura snapped as she approached the two, "Are you opening up to a temporary ally before a cell member?" she asked, sounding vaguely hurt.
Naruto winced guiltily, "Uh, I guess the kitsune is out of the bag and she asked first." he said casually, hoping that was all she heard.
Sakura huffed before she sat down and hugged her knees, then she turned to Karin, "How are they?" she asked.
Karin sighed, "Naruto-kun is more worried about his secrets being out than the damage he's taken and I haven't even bothered looking at his fuinjutsu, not that I can make sense of this one on Sasuke-kun." she explained.
Sakura stiffened, "So that mark is fuinjutsu?" she asked quietly.
Karin nodded, "I think so, I can't think of what else it would be but I don't really know much about fuinjutsu so I can only treat the symptoms." she answered, "Fever, sweating, and he seems to be in pain." she clarified, "I don't think we should risk giving him any pain killers, not even ibuprofen." she explained.
Sakura nodded hesitantly, "I guess I'll just keep a cold head cloth on Sasuke-kun and wait for him to ride it out?" she asked and the red head nodded, "What about Naruto?"
Karin tensed, "He's strangely asymptomatic." she confessed warily.
Sakura frowned, "His pupils are not normally slit like that." she disagreed.
"My pupils are what now!?"
"I mean he's healthy." Karin clarified with some annoyance, she hadn't wanted to stress the blonde any further, "He's paler from blood loss but isn't suffering any anemia, or at least not any symptoms he'll admit to." she said the last bit with some bitterness.
Sakura frowned, "Well, why didn't that fuinjutsu work then?" she asked and the two other conscious genin stared at her blankly, "The one on Naruto? It didn't work right?" she clarified.
"I dunno, it's fuinjutsu, probably just doesn't work because of star alignments or something." Naruto latched onto the lie too quickly for Karin to be entirely comfortable with it.
Sakura remained silent for a moment so no one spoke, then the pink haired girl started to squirm while staring at Naruto. Finally she lost patience and leaned forward to slap the ground, startling the blonde into meeting her eyes, "I'm sorry I didn't notice you were a jinchuriki!" she said quickly.
Naruto blinked owlishly, "I'm a what?" he asked.
"Stop stressing my patient!" Karin hissed.
Sakura flushed red in embarrassment and lowered her eyes, "Sorry, that's what I read once. Someone who has a Chakra no Bakemono or other spirit locked in their keirakukei is called a jinchuriki." she explained herself, "I just, while I was setting up traps I was thinking back to the academy, and I remembered everything I read, and how jinchuriki get their name from the fact that their normal lives are sacrificed to turn them into living super weapons." she rambled, "Thinking about that, and how you were in the academy, and what you thought a date should be, and how you've been since you graduated, and I just realized I should apologize because I never noticed you just wanted to be normal and have friends."
Naruto was almost as red as the pink haired girl from the long winded apology, just having it directed at him had been embarrassing, "It's fine." he tried to excuse her.
"It is not fine!" Sakura snapped, "No wonder you have such a hero complex, your life is literally already dedicated to keeping the village safe from that." she said and while the blonde knew she meant the kitsune he thought of the beasts in the depths.
Karin felt like she had just been privy to something very personal, but figured she was in for the long haul by that point, "While we're airing secrets I'm an Uzumaki too." she told the girl with a gesture to her red hair, "I was a bit scared to mention it before." she confessed at the surprised look she received, Naruto sent his relative a grateful nod for breaking the tension.
Sakura misinterpreted the nod, "You knew?" she asked.
"I told him earlier," Karin explained, "it's part of why he was willing to confide in me." she clarified.
"Oh," Sakura said, "so being able to hold the Kyuubi no Yoko is an Uzumaki thing then right?" she asked, "Because I swear that's what Mito Uzumaki was famous for, the Shodai Hokage's wife. I cannot believe I never looked into that name before." she explained and finished the last part with a shake of her head.
Karin's eyes widened, "I forgot that was a thing." she muttered, "I guess so, it might be Uzumaki fuinjutsu but I mean, Naruto-kun and I won't know it." she pointed out with a shrug.
Sakura paled, "We need to protect Naruto." she said simply.
"How do you know the kitsune won't just die if I die?" Naruto asked dryly, if not for what he'd felt while fighting Orochimaru he'd almost believe the Yoko already was gone.
Sakura paled further as her eyes widened in alarm and horror, "Don't think like that!" she snapped, the term jinchuriki was bad enough without the blonde thinking his death would remove the monster from the world.
Naruto rolled his eyes, "How about we don't focus on what happens if I die," he decided and the two kunoichi nodded in agreement, "and, uh, I dunno." he confessed with a shrug, "You two sleep I guess, I'll keep watch."
Sakura frowned again as she glared at the blonde, "No, you sleep." she insisted, "You actually fought, I just set up some traps." she said.
"I can't." Naruto retorted with a shrug and the kunoichi slumped back against the inside of the tree hollow, she recalled he couldn't sleep around others but it hadn't occurred to her until that moment how big of a problem that was for their current situation.
"I know you aren't comfortable enough around people to sleep," Sakura said sadly and the blonde felt another tinge of guilt, "but you're the only chance we actually have of surviving if an enemy team shows up." she confessed, "I may have been top kunoichi in the academy, but I don't think I can fight at this level. I don't think I fully appreciated what Kabuto-san meant when he said everyone had sent their elite, he didn't mean people like me, he meant people like Sasuke-kun or you."
Naruto scratched his cheek bashfully, while it was nice to have his strength acknowledged how he had gained that strength being praised left a slightly sour taste in his mouth. Karin however was messing with her own first aid kit, "I think I have some strong sedatives," she muttered, catching the attention of the other two genin, "this should work regardless of Uzumaki physiology." she assured as she held up a small vial.
Naruto shook his head, "I appreciate the thought, but I'll be fine." he denied the chemical assistance, "I can last a few days without sleep and still be combat capable, I killed Mizuki-sensei without sleeping for three days." he revealed the last part a bit dryly.
Karin looked worried to Sakura, "Wait why did you kill Mizuki-sensei again?" the Haruno asked which only concerned the Kusa kunoichi further.
"He turned traitor and tricked me into stealing some scroll from Hokage-jiji."
Karin took a moment to replay the words in her head a few times, "You stole from the Sandaime Hokage and got away with it?" she asked.
Naruto considered the question, "Huh, I guess so." he realized with a wry smile.
Karin turned to Sakura with a sudden look of sympathy and understanding, but also a hint of jealousy. Her team outpaced her too but at least Sakura's teammates seemed nice mostly. Naruto was scary sure, but she understood why to an extent now at least.
Sakura sighed in resignation finally, "Alright, fine." she agreed finally, better she was rested so she could at least support him than they both be exhausted. Karin nodded in agreement, and soon the blonde was the only one awake tending to the cloth on Sasuke's head.
As Naruto waited he lifted his Nokogiribocho and inspected the edges, he'd felt its saw toothed edge personally that day and had even almost lost the weapon to Orochimaru. He vaguely recalled that Sannin was supposed to be an impressive title but he couldn't remember anything about it, but the true face of the man matched a description he recalled.
The blonde still remembered the strange old man who gave him the old blood, he'd mentioned by description two people he had seen in the depths and Orochimaru matched one of those. Worse the serpentine man definitely knew too much about that place beneath Konoha, he knew Naruto had been altered, that the weapon came from down there.
However from the way Orochimaru spoke he also did not truly understand it at all, he didn't know the blood conveyed a form of immortality or had at least implied a lack of knowledge regarding such a thing. The idea of the golden eyed man learning Naruto was immortal because of the old blood made the blonde shiver, that man had mentioned dissection without knowing even that much as it was.
The blonde was certain that the dream, his immortality, and the doll could never be described to normal humans. If he kept the beasts in the depths then he would never even need to explain that much, he just needed to hunt them to keep them from ascending to the surface, maybe drive them deeper if he could.
Naruto caught his reflection in the metal of his weapon, the moonlight illuminated his eyes. Blue as always, but the pupils, while rounder than they had been earlier that day, were more bestial than before. In the light of the moon they constricted more to slits from ovals.
The blonde Uzumaki sighed and stared up at the moon through the trees, he wondered if it was bright enough for everyone else to see just fine too or if that was another sign of his inhuman abilities. Unfortunately staring at the moon made the blonde agitated, for some reason it made where his navel had been struck by that strange fuinjutsu ache.
By morning Naruto's eyes had bags under them again and his hair was wilder than ever, he was still a bit bloody and his clothes revealed where he had been wounded, but aside from the torn clothes and dried blood it was hard to tell he had even been hurt.
Naruto refused to get rid of the jacket though, knowing they weren't sold anymore he was determined to repair it. Unknowingly the torn and bloodied jacket over torn and bloodied shirt and a healed chest wound was an intimidating sight to spying shinobi.
At some point a squirrel entered the clearing in front of the hollow, but thankfully Sakura was already awake and threw a kunai to scare it away from her traps. Naruto frowned since it looked like something was stuck to its back, but he couldn't make it out.
After that the three Oto genin from the first phase arrived, Naruto groaned in exaggerated exasperation, "What now?" he snapped, "You better have the Chi no Sho." he added under his breath as he stood.
"We're here for Sasuke Uchiha."
Naruto glanced at his male teammate, still unconscious and sweaty, "He's busy, you can take a number." he retorted sarcastically.
The bandaged faced genin chuckled at his humor, "We really must insist, we have business with him you see." he explained.
"Yeah, we have to kill the bastard!"
Naruto glanced at the one with the kanji for death on his shirt three times, "Why not four times?" he asked and the Oto genin looked confused, "You know, four like the number, death like when you get killed. You have the kanji three times." he pointed out, it was one of the few kanji he knew so it bothered him a little.
The Oto ninja with the death shirt looked annoyed by the questions, "Would you quit stalling? We're here to kill Sasuke not make small talk with his cronies!" the boy snapped.
Naruto's eye twitched, "Alright, you want to act like yaju," he began as he lifted his Nokogiribocho, "then I'll cut you down like one." he threatened, but it wasn't until he lowered his stance that his killing intent actually hit the three Oto genin.
The Oto genin who had spoken crassly covered his fear with anger, "You think you can punk!?" he dared as he lifted his hands at the blonde, small holes in his palms, "Zankuha!" he declared and from the holes the blonde heard a strange ringing sound, then the air rippled, the ground tore between them.
Naruto tensed up as he realized if he dodged that the tree hollow would be hit, "I've got Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out and he saw red hair move but he was too late to dodge and took the hit against his guard.
"Hah! Direct hit!"
Naruto's eye twitched, that had hurt, but it wasn't exactly a big deal. It hadn't even cut him, "You want to see a real attack?" he asked as he gathered chakra to his feet.
"What the hell are you-!?"
"Zaku look out!" The bandaged faced genin tried to warn his teammate but Naruto already pounced, the ground cracking beneath his chakra enhanced leap. He extended his Nokogiribocho into the left shoulder of his prey, and sweet blood sprayed over him.
"Kind of funny how such a simple attack works the best." Naruto mused as he yanked his weapon free and turned to face the remaining two Oto genin, both looked suitably intimidated by that point.
"Dosu," The kunoichi spoke up, "I think we should quit." she said simply.
The bandaged face genin scowled under his face wraps, "I think we'd die if we did." he snapped.
Naruto frowned at that, if his opponents were being compelled to fight him out of fear of another that made killing them feel a little different, a bad kind of different that he didn't like, "Do you need somewhere to hide?" he asked.
"Do not go heroic now!" Sakura snapped at him.
"It sounds like they're being coerced though!" Naruto responded.
"Where did you learn the word coerced!?" Sakura cried out in alarm, holding her hand up to her mouth aghast.
Naruto rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, I'm not that illiterate." he grumbled in complaint.
"With words it's a lack of verbosity." Karin supplied helpfully.
Dosu looked exasperated, "We can't pass the test, but we can still kill Sasuke." he insisted angrily.
"Can you?" Naruto asked dryly as he pointed his extended Nokogiribocho at the remaining male Oto genin, "Can you really?" he added with narrowed eyes.
Dosu considered his options, and immediately swung his gauntlet clad right arm at the blonde. Naruto moved to dodge, but it was effectively impossible for him to dodge sound. A high pitched whine assaulted the ears of the blonde and he doubled over in pain.
"Yeah, I think I can." Dosu said smugly as he delivered a left hook to the blonde genin, "It doesn't matter how fast you are against sound, and it doesn't matter how tough either!" he proclaimed as he thrust his right arm at the blonde again, "Against my Kyomei Supika any human is defenseless, not that you can hear this explanation anymore!" he finished mockingly, Sakura and Karin watched in horror.
Naruto grit his teeth in pain as he stumbled back, he swayed unsteadily on his feet as his vision swam but he could still vaguely hear Dosu speaking. The blonde sighed morosely at the reminder that he simply was not a normal human anymore, then a green clad blur appeared between the two fighting genin and kicked the bandaged one in the bandaged face to knock him back.
"Now what!?" Dosu snapped at the newcomer.
Lee stood there in a fighting stance ready to go, "Konoha no Utsukushiki Aoi Yaju," he said and the blonde flinched at the term at the end, "Rock Lee!" the genin finished his introduction.
The Oto kunoichi looked over the competition, "I still think we should just cut our losses." she told her teammate, "I doubt we'll be killed for backing off at this point." she added.
"Kin, if you try to leave I'm telling him you defected." Dosu said blandly and the girl flinched.
"Defect!? I would never!" Kin denied hotly, "I'm suggesting a tactical retreat you jackass, Zaku is dead!" she pointed out.
Lee had not expected his presence to result in the enemy debating retreat, "Would you guys just give me your scroll and leave already?" Naruto asked impatiently.
The two Oto genin stared at the blonde for a moment, "He can hear us." Dosu realized.
"Yes, your stupid gauntlet sucks." Kin retorted dryly, it had not worked well against the blonde either time.
"No!" Dosu snapped, "What the hell is going on here!?" he exclaimed as he lifted his arm and glared at the hole filled gauntlet then at the blonde, "What are you!?" he demanded accusingly.
"Uzumaki are built different." Naruto excused, grateful that Karin would not be contradicting him on that.
"That does not fully explain it!" Dosu denied angrily.
"Just gimme your scroll!" Naruto snapped back with equal anger.
"Will you explain how you withstood those sound waves if I do?"
Naruto stared incredulously at the other genin for the offer, "Yes." he lied, the Oto genin pulled out a Chi no Sho and tossed it, Lee looked vaguely disappointed as the blonde caught the prize, "Alright, Uzumaki are built different." he repeated himself.
"Oh to hell with you!" Dosu snapped and lunged, he swung his right arm but both Konoha genin in his path treated the gauntlet a bit more seriously and dodged wide before he'd even begun the swing. Then Lee caught him in a sweeping kick combination, sending the genin into the arc of Nokogiribocho as Naruto swung the extended weapon.
Dosu's body and head dropped to the ground separately as blood sprayed over the blonde and the scroll, the boy looked down at it for a moment, "This is probably fine." he decided hopefully.
Kin looked nervously at the Konoha shinobi, then she decided to cut her losses and run.
Sakura looked at the clearing, "You didn't even try to use my traps." she complained with a pout.
"Sorry," Naruto apologized as he snapped his weapon folded closed with a flick of his arm, "the opportunity didn't really come up." he excused, "Also that opening attack that first guy used took out a lot of them." he added.
Sakura sighed, "Thank you for coming to help us, Lee," she began gratefully, "but why did you?" she asked curiously.
"I came," Lee began, "because you needed me, and I always will!" he declared proudly as he gave a thumbs up and a grin, he even winked.
Sakura blinked in surprise, "Wow, that's cheesy, but thanks for the help this time." she said honestly, "What about your team though?" she asked, concerned since the boy who seemed to be a Hyuga did not seem easy to get along with like the bushy eyebrows boy tried to be.
Lee tensed up at the mention of his team, "You're right!" he realized with alarm, "I hope to see you in the next phase." he said with a formal bow to Naruto and Sakura before he left almost as quickly as he came.
"I'd say your village is full of weirdos, but I'm beginning to think weirdos just gravitate towards becoming shinobi." Karin decided as she glanced back at Sasuke only to see the Uchiha stirring, "Oh, Sasuke-kun is awake," she commented before she frowned because his chakra felt off to her, "are you okay?"
Sasuke slowly stood with glowing marks growing across his skin, his Sharingan active as he looked at the blood stained Naruto and the corpses. Then he glanced down at his hands and flexed the fingers there, "I've never felt better." he decided.
"Oh good," Naruto said, "we can get moving then right?" he asked, they had been still for a bit too long.
Sasuke stared at the blonde for a long moment, then the markings on his skin slowly receded, "Yeah, I want to talk about that kitsune business I overheard before that bastard got me though." the Uchiha agreed, with a slight stipulation.
