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Title: New Wind Nation: Alliance
Chapter 6: Lair of the Snake ~ His Answer (part 5)
Notes: Last part in this arc. Next, an interlude back in Hidden Sand, then the Chunin Exams. You all should know what's coming in this chapter, when you think about it...
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The place Kimimaro and Jirobo traveled to was another island, further north and east from Land of the Sea - a nameless, apparently uninhabited rock sticking out of the waves.
"Where did they go? Is there another underground base?" Naruto asked, looking around as they made their way onto land.
"The entrance is further in, I believe," Kaze said. "But it's better not to approach it, or we run the chance of being detected. I can scout from here with my jutsu."
Naruto shot him a dubious look, which Kaze met with irritation.
"You don't need to distrust me so much," he said shortly. "I told you, no one wants war, not even the Kazekage. If Orochimaru is truly planning to betray us, I - we - need to know now. The future of the village is on the line. So I won't hold anything back."
Chastised, Naruto could only nod and fall back as Kaze concentrated, closing one eye.
He had kept a small amount of chakra infused in his Gold Dust, the entire time it was with Naruto and then with Kimimaro. It was simple to feel it out and form it into his Third Eye. Doing so subtly, without drawing attention from any of the shinobi inside, was more difficult, but soon an artificial eyeball was clinging to Kimimaro's tunic, observing the dull, dim hallway he was striding down.
'Prison cells,' Kaze noted, ignoring Naruto - who was trying, only somewhat successfully, not to fidget impatiently. 'Are there more experiments being conducted here? No, it doesn't matter… He's going deeper into the base. Is he going to report to someone?'
That assumption was correct. Soon, Kimimaro arrived at the innermost chamber. Slipping inside, he knelt deferentially before the pale figure sitting on the throne-like chair in the center.
"Orochimaru-sama," Kimimaro murmured, "I have a report that may interest you."
"Oh? Did you encounter something unexpected?" Orochimaru drew out, watching his loyal subordinate with a cool, predatory gaze.
"Yes. One of the people who had entered your base was Uchiha Sasuke," Kimimaro said, keeping his head respectfully bowed. Orochimaru did not give any sign of surprise or even interest, but Kimimaro knew he had his master's full attention. "I tested him, and his bloodline awakened during our battle."
Orochimaru hummed thoughtfully. "Is that so…" he murmured.
"He is being taught by Sharingan Kakashi," Kimimaro added. "Jirobo and I withdrew once I had confirmed Uchiha Sasuke's Sharingan. I did not see it as wise to reveal the Level 2 Cursed Seal state." And without it, they would not have been able to take on a shinobi of Kakashi's level.
"You did well to bring me this information," Orochimaru praised, waiting until Kimimaro relaxed instinctively under his words. "But… it seems you also brought back something annoying. Kimimaro, you were followed."
His subordinate froze, and somewhere above them, Kaze did the same as he read Orochimaru's lips. A snake shot out from the Sannin's sleeve, ripping away the Gold Dust eyeball, in the same instance as Kaze dropped the jutsu and opened his eyes in the real world.
He didn't waste time cursing. The first thing he saw was the giant snake looming silently behind Naruto. Kaze's hand snapped out to grab Naruto by his cloak, and the jonin flickered out of the way, just as the snake struck. Its heavy triangular head pulverized the ground where the Sand shinobi had been standing, engulfing all three of them in a cloud of dust.
As the giant snake pulled itself free and lifted its head again, a kunai burst out of the dust to plunge into its eye. The explosive tag attached to the weapon's handle ignited, the explosion followed by the thud of the snake's body hitting the ground.
Kaze landed a short distance away, Naruto hefted under one arm. The genin stared, shocked by the sudden way they had been attacked and the equally sudden end to their assailant. 'T-this guy's pretty good,' Naruto thought, somehow surprised by the realization.
Low, mocking laughter reached the two Sand shinobi, and both of them turned toward the source - a pale, ominous figure that was instantly recognizable to them.
"Well, I certainly didn't expect to see you of all people here," Orochimaru commented as he surveyed the sudden battlefield, Kimimaro a respectful two steps behind him.
"Of course we'd be here!" Naruto burst out. For the first time, the Snake Sannin's eyes turned toward him, but Naruto refused to cower. "We know all about your stupid plan! And we're not going to let you use our village for your petty revenge!"
Naruto didn't actually know anything. But he was absolutely certain that Orochimaru planned to betray them, and he probably had some grudge against Hidden Leaf, since missing-nin usually did. Thus, a plan of betrayal and revenge.
Whether Orochimaru realized that the boy was bluffing, there was no way to know. His expression was simply mocking as he studied Naruto, glaring, and Kaze, impassive, for several long moments. Then, the Sannin chuckled, spread his arms and drawled, "Oh, you figured me out. How unfortunate… for you."
Kaze had kept his grip on the back of Naruto's cloak, aware that it would be up to him to keep the boy alive in whatever came. That proved a wise choice, as he was forced to retreat quickly - dragging Naruto along - when more snakes shot out of Orochimaru's sleeve, toward the two Sand-nins.
A sharp gesture sent a whip of Gold Dust lashing out to behead the snakes.
"So you really were planning to betray us," Kaze noted sourly. "Do you think you can get away with this?"
Orochimaru shrugged, unconcerned. "This is a bit ahead of schedule," he said lightly. "I had intended to deal with you just before the third round, to deal with all the details of the invasion, but if your village can function without you there, then there's no need to keep you alive. Don't worry, I'll make good use of your face… Kazekage-dono."
'Kaze… kage…? Kazekage?!' Naruto thought, stunned.
"Don't think I will be so easy to dispose of," Kaze said coldly, his Gold Dust already swirling around him.
In truth, he couldn't even be surprised by Orochimaru's sudden, apparent betrayal. It was only natural - they had never trusted each other to begin with. It had just been an alliance of mutual benefit, and by appearing without warning at one of Orochimaru's hideouts, the Kazekage had overstepped the unspoken bounds. It was not so much a matter of suspicion, but of becoming more trouble than he was worth.
Orochimaru had no way of knowing if this was just the prelude to the Kazekage selling him out Hidden Leaf.
To be honest, even Kaze hadn't known.
But he had more or less brought this on himself, from the moment he decided to go with Naruto. Had he really expected any other outcome? Or was this the outcome he wished for? To be relieved of the responsibility of making the choice? Now, there was no way to carry through with the original plan, whether it had been wise or foolish.
Despite his words, Kaze knew the best - possibly only - option would be to retreat as quickly as possible. The Sannin were not simply Kage-level. They were nearly unmatched, and any one of them was capable of turning the tide of a war. Facing Orochimaru would not end well, especially not if he also needed to protect a rookie genin…
As the two S-ranked shinobi stared each other down, it was Naruto who acted first.
Ripping himself free of Kaze's grip, he spun around - facing away from the enemy, but not to run. He clapped his hands together, and a strong wind slammed into Kaze's chest, taking him by surprise and sending him flying back.
In the same motion, Naruto finished his spin, turning the full three-sixty degrees to face Orochimaru again, and swept out one hand. "Kamaitachi no jutsu!" he barked, unleashing a wide-area cutting gaze that engulfed both Orochimaru and Kimimaro behind him. "Hurry up and run!" Naruto yelled over the howling wind.
'If the Kazekage is killed…!' Naruto thought desperately. 'What'll happen to the village?!'
Kaze flipped to land on his feet easily, but taking him by surprise allowed Naruto's jutsu to fling the jonin quite a ways. Whether that kind of lead would mean anything when the opponent was one of the Sannin was doubtful, but Kaze did not even try to escape.
For the good of the village, the Kage's life should be a priority. But if this was where his scheming had led, then didn't the village deserve a better, wiser leader? He remembered what Naruto had said - that he would bring the village to ruin.
If he died here… then his value was only this much to start with.
Naruto's Kamaitachi was suddenly cleaved in two, the jutsu completely dispersing - revealing Orochimaru, unharmed and casually holding a long straight sword. The Sannin moved before Naruto could do more than flinch instinctively, the Kusanagi flashing as it was brought down.
Gold Dust sprang up like a wall between them, as Gaara's sand had protected Naruto several times. But the sword never hit. Orochimaru smirked - it had been a feint. His body twisted unnaturally at the waist, more like a snake than a man, and his torso zoomed past Naruto and the Gold Dust barrier in front of him.
His target was the Kazekage, left open by his efforts to protect Naruto. The man's eyes narrowed, and he moved to dodge, even though he could already see he wouldn't be able to evade the attack entirely.
"Die, Kazekage!" Orochimaru sneered, stabbing with the Kusanagi.
Neither of them expected a giant toad to drop down from the sky between them.
Perhaps calling the toad giant was an exaggeration, but it was certainly larger than a man - taller, and several times heavier, and bright red. Its tongue snapped out, wrapping around Naruto's waist and dragging him into its mouth, all before he had a chance to do more than yelp in protest.
Even experienced shinobi, who had seen battles turn in a heartbeat, could only stare in shock. Orochimaru recovered first. "You!" he hissed. But when he tried to strike it, the toad leapt away with an unhappy croak. Its tongue snapped out again, this time grabbing the Kazekage, who wore an uncharacteristically emotional expression of stunned disbelief.
The moment the man disappeared into its mouth, the toad vanished in a puff of smoke, escaping by unsummoning itself.
Returning to his normal form, Orochimaru glared at the spot where the toad had been, then turned away sharply. It would seem he needed to revise his plans.
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Meanwhile, the large red toad reappeared next to its summoner and quickly regurgitated its two passengers.
Naruto looked somewhere between shell shocked and ready to barf himself. The rollercoaster of revelation and panicked emotion had been a little too much for him, and all the boy could do was plop onto the rocky ground and absently run a hand through his now sticky hair as he tried to sort it all out.
"Ah!" he yelped, his mind finally jump starting. "Kaze-san?!"
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, momentarily distracted as well - it sounded more like an affectionate nickname for the Kazekage, than an alias.
"I am uninjured," Kaze muttered flatly. One hand was splayed out over his face, hiding his expression - likely, he had not yet been able to entirely recover his composure.
Naruto smiled in wibbly relief, but his expression quickly shifted into an angry scowl. "Idiot! Why the hell didn't you tell me?!" he barked, making Jiraiya's eyebrows rise even further.
"Why are you reacting like this? It's hardly something for you to worry about," Kaze said coldly.
"Protecting the Kazekage is every Sand shinobi's duty!" Naruto snapped. "It doesn't matter if I don't like you! It doesn't matter if you're an idiot! You're our Kage! Where do you think the village is going to end up without you?!"
Jiraiya's eyebrows had all but disappeared under his headband, as he watched the two Sand-nins glower at each other. Finally, he cleared his throat pointedly, making them turn to stare at him with rather unfriendly expressions.
"What are you doing here? I thought you weren't investigating this lead," Naruto said, narrowing his eyes at Jiraiya suspiciously.
"I wasn't," Jiraiya shot back, also glaring. "Until you went and poked your head into a snakes' nest! You should be grateful. It wasn't looking very good for your two!"
Naruto scowled but didn't refute his claim. "So you followed us," he accused instead.
"You should have seen that one coming, kid," Jiraiya said. "Seriously, what did you think was going to happen? Of course I'm going to follow when the Kazekage starts looking for one of our missing-nin! If you wanted to keep it a secret, you should've, you know, been subtle about it. Like a ninja."
Hearing suggestions of subtlety come from a man who thought giant red toad was a great battle tactic really rankled. The Kazekage's "I told you so" expression was almost equally annoying. Naruto crossed his arms and glared at them both.
Jiraiya glared back, refusing to show any sign of guilt or dishonesty - despite the better part of what he said being at least not mostly true. He had barely paid attention to the jonin with Naruto and had definitely not recognized him as the Kazekage, not until he saw the man's Gold Dust. Blatant as it might have been, the veil the Kazekage so often wore had been rather effective.
Instead, Jiraiya had ended up unable to to stop thinking about Naruto and whether he had made the right call. No matter where circumstances had led them, he was technically the boy's godfather. He had a responsibility to him, and to Minato's memory. The chances were slim, but what if he did end up running into Orochimaru? Or even just one of the snake's underlings?
He had also… not exactly been able to follow them. Jiraiya had met up with Kakashi in the Land of the Sea, as the other jonin was sending off a messenger to Hidden Leaf. Unfortunately, even Kakashi couldn't track over water, and Jiraiya had been forced to just make a guess and set out.
In the end, he lucked out. Despite his impressive stamina, even Naruto had limits, so the two Sand shinobi had been forced to stop at a small wayside inn, to get the boy patched up. Jiraiya had heard about them from the cute girl at the counter, who had been all too happy to gossip a bit and point out the direction they had gone. There was only one island that way, though the locals never went near it.
After that, well, Jiraiya had sent his toad in just in time.
Not that Jiraiya was going to admit to how close it had been. Let them think he was all knowing and mysterious.
Judging by their expressions, neither Naruto nor Kaze were particularly impressed.
Jiraiya cleared his throat again. "You should train your apprentice better, Kazekage," he said.
"Take as my apprentice? This naive, stupid brat?"
"Huh?! This guy, my master?!"
Naruto and Kaze reacted with matching looks of disbelief and revulsion. So much for appearing all knowing, Jiraiya sighed. But if they weren't student and teacher, exactly what relationship did they have? Why would the Kazekage bring Naruto along? Especially since Jiraiya was almost entirely certain that the man didn't know about Naruto's father. In fact, didn't it seem like Naruto had taken the lead on this mission?
Whatever the mission was. Jiraiya still didn't even know what these two had been trying to accomplish.
"Right," Jiraiya said, coughing into his fist again, this time embarrassedly. "In any case, it seems like we have a lot of things to discuss."
Kaze nodded. "Yes. But first, we should move elsewhere," he agreed, already turning away to set out.
"...Where are we going?" Naruto wondered. What he really wanted to ask was, "What did you decide? What is your answer?"
"To Hidden Leaf," Kaze called back. "The Hokage and I have much to discuss."
It took a moment for the meaning to sink in for Naruto. Then, slowly, a wide smile spread over his face. 'I'm so glad,' Naruto thought. 'I'm so glad… We're going to be okay after all!'
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Q&A:
Why did Orochimaru attack them? Why not? He was planning to kill the Kazekage anyway. And for all he knows, the Kazekage was thinking of pulling out of the invasion. So better to just kill him and take direct control of the Sand forces.
Why did Jiraiya show up? What, did you think he just told Naruto where to look for an S-rank missing-nin and let him go off on his own? If anything, that would be weirder, even discounting that Jiraiya would want to know about how and why Sand was involved in all this.
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