Author's note: It's been a while, but I'm back. I'm going through these old fics so that I can stall for my Bleach story and wait for inspiration. By the way, the reason Sasuke seems OOC in this story is because, well, we don't ever get to see Sasuke truly happy or… non-emo, except for one filler episode in the anime. So basically, I'm guessing how he is when he's happy.

Disclaimer: Do not want, er… own!

Chapter eleven: Snake in the grass

It was a quiet day in Konoha. The village had been rebuilt since the Sound and Sand's attack four years ago, and Akatsuki hadn't planned anything in a while. Truly, peace was here at last.

"Ahhh," thought Naruto, cradling Hinata lovingly, "Truly, this is what people call 'the life'.

"Naruto-kun?" piped up Hinata.

"Yeah?"

"I'm taking the Jounin exam next week… do you think I can pass it?" she asked meekly, peering into her love's sapphires.

"Are you kidding?" he said, stroking her long, raven tresses. "You'll be fine, you'll pass with ease!"

She smiled. "You think so?"

God, he loved that smile. "Yeah. I know it."

Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura were having a good time as well. "You… want me to move in with you, Sasuke-kun?"

"Yeah," he replied, "It's really… lonely in my house, what with, you know, no one besides me being there. I'd love it if you were there with me, Sakura."

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, of course I'll do it! Just give me a few days to move my stuff, okay?"

Sasuke smiled. "That's great. Now, you'll have to excuse me, I've got to go to my daily sparring practice with Naruto. I love you," he said, kissing her lightly.

"I love you too," she said, then added, "Have fun!" and ran happily to prepare her things.

-------------

"Ready?"

"Always," said Naruto, usual cocky grin on his face, "I've got a killer new technique I'm working on, just gotta fine-tune it before it works."

"Whatever. You want to do a summoning battle?"

"Sure, but we'd better get to the forest so that we don't, you know, kill anyone."

"Right."

After relocating, the two shinobi performed identical seals, planted their right hands on the ground and cried, "Kuchiyose no jutsu (summoning technique)!" With a puff of smoke, the two giant beings emerged: Gamabunta the frog boss and Manda, the terrible snake.

"Who the hell sum- oh, it's you, Sasuke-sama," said Manda, calming down from his rage, "I am at your command."

"Sasuke was able to get that beast under his control… that's something even Orochimaru couldn't do," thought Naruto. "Alright, Gamabunta, you ready to do this?"

"Always, kid. Always."

The battle raged for a short time, each ninja controlling their summon expertly. They smashed and slashed and tore at each other until each tremendous beast was drained of power, and then dismissed them. When the dust settled, Sasuke stepped through and said, "Well, that was good."

"You know it! Now let's get some ramen!"

"Yeah… you go on ahead, I'm going to go find Sakura."

-------------------

"State your name and team, please," said the proctor for the Jounin exams, a few hours later.

"I am Hyuuga Hinata and my team is the Kurenai cell, composed of Yuuhi Kurenai, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and myself."

"Thank you. Please proceed to the testing area. You will be graded by several ANBU members and observed by two other Jounin."

She did as she was told, and though she'd been heartened by Naruto's kind, supportive words, she was so nervous her knees were rattling. After a few therapeutic breaths, she calmed down, somewhat ready to take the test.

"Alright. Allow me to introduce the ANBU and Jounin that will be observing you."

The door opened to reveal several black ops agents masked, and…

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" exclaimed Naruto, waving excitedly.

"Good day, Hinata-sama," greeted Neji, bowing respectfully.

Both were smiling and, encouraged by those smiles, Hinata's fears were dispelled. "Are you ready, Hinata-san?"

She grinned. "Absolutely."

The tests might've been difficult for a regular Chuunin, what with the intense physical combat, the requirement of the dual-wielding elements, and the need for an illusion so real it hurt, but for Hinata, who'd recently completely mastered the Hyuuga style (and quite a bit of medical ninjutsu), it was a breeze. She passed with flying colors.

"See? I told you it'd be easy," said Naruto as they left the testing grounds. Neji had decided to give them some alone time.

"Well… I saw you smile for me, and that gave me the strength to do my best," she replied, leaning on him."

"You know I'll always smile for you," he said. "Now, we gotta celebrate this. Let's do anything you want."

Hinata blushed furiously, harder than she had since she and Naruto had become a couple. "Uhm…" she muttered, trying to gather her strength for the incredibly embarrassing thing she was about to do. "I know a good way to celebrate," she said huskily, a deep tone to her voice.

"What is it?" asked Naruto densely, and then felt an incredible burning sensation rising in his face. "Oh…" he said, breathing slowly. "Okay, just… play it cool," he thought. "Ithinkthatsoundslikeagreatidea!" he babbled, then clapped a hand over his mouth. "Dammit! Try again." "Hinata-chan… that sounds great" he uttered smoothly. "Nailed it." "Let's go to my place," he said, not noticing the immense sigh of relief that escaped Hinata's lips. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The man-sized frog appeared before them. "Alright, Gama-kun," said Naruto, leaping on his back, "Let's get us home in a hurry." With that, he, Hinata, and the frog sped off toward the Fourth Hokage's mansion, where the two loves slammed the master bedroom's door, not to open it until much, much later.

----------------

"Huh…? Where the hell am I?" Sasuke pondered this late at night, and then realized he was atop the third Hokage's face. "And why is my Sharingan active?" He promptly shut off the eye technique, wondering about his situation.

Seconds earlier, he'd been dreaming about someone's voice, very familiar, that kept saying, "Soon, soon… I'm getting closer," and now, it seemed that he had sleepwalked over to the top of the third Hokage's face and activated his Sharingan in the process. "Weird," he thought, and began making his way back to his home.

-------------------

"They're doing well," said Kakashi. "Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke… all of them are progressing tremendously. I think you would've liked them. You would've especially liked Naruto, Obito. He's a goofy guy but courageous when it counts… just like you. Of course, he doesn't come from what was the most powerful and influential house in the village, so there's that. Instead, he's just a regular guy who struggled a lot growing up. But now he's more powerful than I. Makes me proud."

"You still talk to him?" asked a figure behind him.

"Of course. Pretty frequently, actually."

"The last time I talked to him was when Sensei died. I should say hello sometime."

"Why not now?"

"Well, because now, I want to say hello to you, Kakashi. Hello."

"Hello," he said, turning around, "Rin."

She decided to ask the question that had been weighing on her mind for years. "Are you… are you mad at me for leaving?"

"Not really. I know you had your reasons and frankly, with Sensei and Obito gone, I can't really blame you. "

"I just… I couldn't take it anymore. After seeing Sensei give up his soul like that, I couldn't live in Konoha anymore."

Kakashi nodded. "I understand. So why did you return?"

"I heard little Uzumaki Naruto was getting some heat from Akatsuki."

Kakashi chuckled. "He's not so little anymore, Rin. But I do see why you care. You are the one who delivered him at birth."

"I didn't do it alone. You were right there with me, despite not being a medical ninja. I forgot to thank you for that."

"Don't worry about it."

She smiled. "You know, I never got why you wear that mask," she said, hand approaching the article of clothing in question. "You're so handsome, it just doesn't make sense for you to hide that face of yours."

He didn't react as she pulled the piece of cloth off of his face, revealing his handsome features, nor did he react as she pulled up his forehead protector, exposing his Sharingan and showing his entire face for the first time in a while. "Here, I'll show you why," he said, words clear without the mask. The Sharingan spun for a while, then stopped, and Rin was filled with understanding.

"Your father?" she asked, "White Fang wore a mask?"

"Yep," Kakashi said simply, not elaborating as usual. "By the way, since Obito and Sensei died, you're the only person that I allow to see me without my mask."

"I know," she said, leaning in, "And I'm honored."

As she was a hair's width from his lips, Kakashi pulled back, saying, "You might want to stop there."

She too pulled back, a little surprised, and then gained a crestfallen expression. "You're right… I've thought about you every day since I left, but you don't have those feelings for me anymore. I understand." She began to walk away when Kakashi gently grasped her wrist.

"No, I don't think you do," he said, pulling up his mask and down his forehead protector. "The feelings aren't dead, they're just buried. If you stay here, they'll probably resurface," he added with his one-eyed smile.

She too smiled, showing a bit of happiness behind her disappointment. "Okay. I'll stay. It's not like I have anywhere else to go."

"Good," said Kakashi. "Now, I believe you should say hello to Obito."

------------------

"Mmm… wha, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura had been woken up in the middle of the night only to find Sasuke standing over her, Sharingan activated, a grim expression on his face. "Sasuke-kun, what are you doing?" He inched closer to her. "Sasuke-kun, you're acting very strangely…" Closer still, he raised his fist and the familiar crackling of lightning chakra began in his fist. "Please stop, you're scaring me!" she squeaked.

Suddenly, Sasuke snapped out of it. "Wh… what am I doing?" he asked, shaking his head.

Sakura was confused. "You mean… you don't know what just happened?"

"No… Oh God, not again," he said, clutching the sides of his head. "Things like this have been happening over and over recently, Sakura… I'm afraid I'm losing my sanity. Each time before it happens, I hear this weird voice that I think I know from somewhere, telling me, 'Closer and closer… soon, all will be mine.' I can't figure out what it means, unless-" An epiphany struck him. "No… it can't be!" He immediately turned and bolted, telling Sakura, "Don't follow me, whatever you do!"

------------------

"Ahh… what a nice night," Naruto said, walking the streets of Konoha. After his and Hinata's "fun night," Naruto had stayed and cuddled with her, waited 'till she had entered a deep slumber, and then went for a stroll, as he did every so often. Just then, a figure wandered into his view. "Huh? Who's there?" The figure neared, revealing itself to Naruto. "Oh! Sasuke! You'll never guess what happened to me tonight, it was-"

"Sorry," said Sasuke, cutting him off in a twisted tone of voice. "Sasuke-kun isn't home."

"Wh-what?" said Naruto, his voice soft. "That voice… no way!"

"Kukukuku," the person in Sasuke's body laughed, "Have you figured it out, Naruto-kun? This is not Sasuke, but instead the man who will have all before him, Orochimaru!"

"Bullshit!" yelled Naruto, disregarding the fact that it was the dead of night and people were mostly asleep, "Orochimaru is dead! Sasuke killed him!"

"Kukuku…" he laughed again, "Dear Naruto-kun… do you want to know what happened? Let me… show you!" The Sharingan spun, and Naruto was filled with understanding.

"So… you were in Sasuke's soul, but… he took over?" Naruto asked. "Then how did you take his body?"

"His hatred for Itachi blocked me from taking over his soul. But now that Itachi's gone, it seems my Sasuke-kun has become happy… that made it easy for me to conquer him, slowly and stealthily. And now, I'm going to kill everyone who stood in my way, starting with you, Naruto-kun!"

"Shut up," Naruto said quietly, facing the floor "Didn't I tell you a year ago…?" He glared at Orochimaru, fangs bared, eyes red and whiskers thickened, then leapt at him, fist raised. "Never call him yours in front of me!"

"Haha! Come, Naruto-kun!" he shouted in pure bliss while blocking and countering with a heavy fist to the side, "Let me show you how one who has studied the Sharingan intently can use it perfectly!"

"If you won't leave Sasuke's body," Naruto roared, forming the cross seal, "Then I'll force you out of him! Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Mass Shadow Clone technique)!"

Thousands of Naruto bunshin poured out of the air, pouncing at Orochimaru ferociously, fighting like an enraged fox. But Orochimaru merely laughed maniacally, dodging and punching away the clones as he screamed, "This is incredible! This is more than I'd ever imagined! Truly, Sasuke-kun's body is amazing, and now it's mine!"

"You bastard… I said not to say that!" Chakra started oozing out of Naruto. "Damn it," he thought, "I've gotta keep cool… otherwise the kyuubi could come out too much." As he thought this, the chakra began to recede, bringing him back to his zero-tailed state.

"Do I upset you, Naruto-kun?" asked Orochimaru. "Would it make you feel better if I acted like Sasuke-kun?" Suddenly, he began forming very familiar seals. "Katon (fire styl)! Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Great Fireball Technique)!"

Naruto was so thoroughly enraged that he blew the fireball away with raw energy. "How the hell am I going to force him out of Sasuke's body? His Chakra is flowing through Sasuke's veins…"

"You don't like it when I act like your friend, Naruto-kun? Very well. I'll just be myself." As he swiped one hand over his face, his appearance changed from Uchiha Sasuke to Orochimaru's devious grin. "Hmm… let's see. What would be the best way to kill you? Oh, I know!" Performing some seals, he powered lightning through his left hand. "Sasuke-kun cused to prefer the first stage of this technique, the Chidori (one thousand birds), but I'll opt to use the true form." More lightning began flowing through the fist. "Behold! Raikiri (Lightning Blade)!"

"Yeah? Well I used to be able to only use the first stage of this technique," Naruto returned, gathering Chakra in his palm. "Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)." "Shit," he thought, "I can't use the RasenshurikenSpiraling Shuriken) on him… It's too dangerous to Sasuke's body. I'll have to settle for the other version." As a clone appeared before him, more chakra began swirling. "Here I go!" He rushed at Orochimaru. "Oodama Rasengan (Great Ball Spiraling Sphere)!"

The two techniques clashed, creating a massive explosion that flung both of them backwards several yards. A few others had come out because of the commotion, but now nearly everyone in the area had come out to see what was going on. "What's going on? Who's Naruto fighting?" asked Sakura, who'd just stepped onto the scene. "Is it an Akatsuki?"

"No," said Kakashi, Sharingan examining the area. "It's something… far worse."

"What is it?"

"I can't believe it… but Sasuke's body has been taken over by Orochimaru."

A horrified expression came over Sakura's features as she began hyperventilating. "Please… tell me it isn't true…" she fell to her knees, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Please."

"I wish I could tell you that it's just a lie, Sakura. But the man Naruto is fighting is not our Sasuke."

"Then we should help him!" she said, rising to her feet. "We should beat Orochimaru out of Sasuke-kun's body!"

"No."

"Why not?" she shrieked, outraged at this denial.

"Because Naruto is the only one of us who has a chance of getting Sasuke back."

-----------------

"This is so much fun, don't you think, Naruto-kun?" said Orochimaru, dodging what must have been the one thousandth fist thrown at him. "But I think it's time to end this." Forming the appropriate seals, he planted both hands on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Suddenly, multiple snakes appeared, with Orochimaru riding on Manda. "What can you possibly do to fight this onslaught, Naruto-kun? Don't tell me you expect to summon those ridiculous frogs."

"Not exactly," said Naruto, drawing blood and forming the same seals. "Please," he thought, "Oh please, please work. I haven't perfected this yet… but I need it to work right now!" "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he cried, planting his left hand on the ground.

Red and blue chakra began to erupt around Naruto. "Left hand?" thought Orochimaru. "I thought that brat summoned with his right."

---------------

"So he's trying to use that technique…" said Jiraiya, appearing before Sakura and Kakashi.

"What technique do you mean, Jiraiya?" asked Kakashi, turning to the Sannin.

"Naruto usually summons his toads with the right hand. That's the hand that he used to forge a contract with them via the summoning scroll. But now, he's using his left."

Hinata arrived just as Jiraiya was explaining this. "But… what does that imply, Jiraiya-sama?"

"It means, Hinata, that Naruto's using a different summon," said Kakashi.

"Not just that," continued Jiraiya. "He's using his own created scroll."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Wh-what? That's impossible! Only one person every several decades creates one!"

"It wasn't easy. For the longest time, even with his great outpouring of chakra, he couldn't do it. They refused to be summoned because they are a proud species, moreso than the frogs. He had to contact them and offer his contract. Eventually, it worked, but he could only summon small ones. But that kid's a brilliant idiot. I think he can do it."

"Who's 'they,' Jiraiya-sama?" asked Hinata.

"Just watch."

-----------------

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" The first time hadn't activated the summon, so now, with swirling chakra all around him, he repeated it. There was a tremendous explosion, one that shattered several of the windows in the buildings in the surrounding area. "I've never studied them before, so I don't know,"said Naruto, appearing from the smoke, "But I think that foxes eat snakes."

Orochimaru's new Sharingan eyes widened as he observed the creature Naruto was standing on. A tremendous fox had emerged from the summoning with enormous fangs and claws to match. "You… you brat!" Orochimaru exclaimed, an angry look on his face. "There is no fox summoning scroll! You dare try to fool me with such an obvious genjutsu?"

"I know there was no summoning scroll," said Naruto cooly, grinning smugly through his own fangs. "I just invented it."

"Hey, Orochimaru," said Manda, "You're supposed to give me one hundred human souls before you summon me. I'm going to kill you if you don't have them ready."

"Be patient, Manda," said Orochimaru. "The being atop that fox holds the Kyuubi within himself. Don't you think that's a suitable soul?"

"The Kyuubi, eh?" said Manda, intrigued. "That sounds delicious. Let's feast!" With that battle cry, he and the other snakes began slithering at the fox, poisonous fangs bared.

"Okay, Kitsune-chan?"

The fox growled. "Don't call me 'Kitsune-chan like we're so familiar. Just because you hold the spirit of our God within you doesn't mean you can treat us like you want. Let's fight this snake," she said, the last word dripping with acid, "and then we'll see if you can call me 'Kitsune-chan' or not." With those words, she gracefully leapt to fight the wicked snakes.

----------------

The chapter is done! I hope there are a few of you out there who remember this fic. Anyway, if you're a newcomer, welcome, or an old reader, welcome back! Either way, please send me a review, not necessarily for just this chapter, either!

By the way, I thought Kakashi and Rin's reunion would be short, seeing as Kakashi's not the type to get too emotional or to elaborate on things.