"My lovely little Dragon Lily, reduce all to ash." ~Naruto
"Okay wimps! Behind me, you'll see a chain link fence, which is the only thing separating Training Ground 44 from the general populace. For the next five days, you'll have to survive inside of here, while heading for the tower located in the center of the Forest, approximately 5 kilometers from the outside, an easily task for any half-decent shinobi, so maybe a few of you will make it." Anko shouted; the assembled Genin standing silently as she read off the instructions for the second part of the Exams. Naruto and the rest of Team 7 slipped silently into the crowd.
"So, you'll also need to collect two keys to get into the tower. You'll need one Heaven Scroll," She paused to raise her arm, showing a scroll to the crowd, the outside marked with the kanji for heaven, "and one Earth Scroll," A repeat with her other hand, "from each other." She finished, smirking at the discontent coming from the Genin. It was to be expected that not all of the team would be prepared for combat in what was supposed to be a peaceful Exam.
Naruto shut his eyes, his sensory bubble spreading over all the Genin, his mind working overtime to commit as many to memory, the blonde taking his time to organize the special cases ahead of the others. Among this group were Gaara, Neji, Kabuto, and a certain Grass-nin.
While he analyzed the chakra signatures, Naruto's thought went to his meeting Kabuto.
(Flashback)
"Fww, we made it in time." Naruto said; his statement mirrored by his teammates, although Sasuke didn't look particularly worried, his own arrogance shining through as he thought they would hold up the Exams for the 'Last Uchiha'. Oh, how wrong he was.
"Sasuke-kun!" A loud needy voice shouted as Ino shot out of the crowd, far faster than anyone had ever seen her move as she tackled Sasuke to the floor, rubbing her cheek on his chest while he shot murderous glares at the platinum blonde. "Oh, I've missed you so much, and I was worried about you, sweetie." Her voice was dripping with enough sugar to kill a diabetic.
"As much as I loathe admitting it, Sasuke doesn't need someone worrying about him. He can handle himself, Pig." Naruto snorted as he suddenly pulled a Sasuke, putting his hands into his pocket and half-closing his eyes as he glared at a wall.
"Shut up, Naruto-baka! Someone has to worry about Sasuke, especially when he has a teammate like you!" Ino shouted back, her grip on Sasuke growing slowly tighter as the Uchiha felt his oxygen supply beginning to dwindle away.
"What is that supposed to mean, I could protect him better than you ever could. Why, a strong breeze would probably break you in half, Hone." Naruto hissed out, and Ino was taken aback by the insult.
"Wha-Whatever, Baka, no guy would find a fat girl attractive. I'm only watching my weight so Sasuke will love me." Ino growled back, and opened her mouth to say something insulting when Naruto chuckled darkly.
"I don't think it's working, considering you squished him. Maybe you should try something different, or Sasuke will never find you attractive." Naruto said and turned to leave, hearing Ino fretting over her 'precious Sasuke-kun'.
"Well, at least I didn't almost get him killed on his mission!" Ino shouted at Naruto, who froze mid-step, the whole room somehow quieting down as the blonde boy lifted his head. "That's right, I heard around the clan grounds how my father had to perform a psyche evaluation because you almost got him killed." Ino continued, and Naruto glanced over his shoulders at her.
"First of all, medical records are considered private and spreading them around can be considered treason, and depending on how important the patient is, possibly execution. Considering the council practically licks the Uchiha's feet clean, I don't favor a lenient sentencing. I'm obligated by law to inform an unbiased Jounin about this, thank you for your help, Ino-chan." Naruto said, walking away calmly as Ino went sheet white; she rose to chase Naruto down, and tell him to forget it, and threaten him if necessary, but he'd vanished into the crowd, Hinata strangely also vanishing into the crowds.
"Stupid Hone-Pig. I hope she breaks a nail and maybe loses a few teeth too, for all the trouble she causes me. I almost pity Sasuke if he upsets her, although he could probably tell her to bend over for every man in the village, and she'd be glad to." Naruto raged, although his face had grown free of all emotion.
"I agree; she does need to be put in her place." A voice said from behind Naruto, and he turned slowly to see who it was to find a white haired man who looked around seventeen. He had round glasses, and although he was smiling genially, Naruto didn't trust him. The fact that his reserves were around high-Jounin level. If this man was a Genin, Naruto was the Hokage.
"True, but I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting someone who shares my views on some of my classmates. I'm Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto introduced himself, extending his hand while the other one stayed in his pocket.
"Yeah, I know. I'm Kabuto Yuushi, a seven time failure at the Chunin Exams." Kabuto said, taking Naruto's hand, but before, Naruto could question what he went, a loud voice shouted out.
"Okay you maggots! …"
(Flashback End)
"No one introduces themselves as a repeat failure unless they're trying to throw off suspicion from them and/or their skills. Even I only took three times to get through the Graduation, and that's only because the teachers hated me." Naruto thought as the teams were divided up, each signing a waver and taking a Heaven or Earth Scroll from the assistants manning the small booths.
"Okay, we got a Heaven Scroll, so we need an Earth Scroll. And I can't sense Neji or Gaara, so they're at least in a different area than us. However, I can sense that creepy Grass-nin nearby, so we'll have to be on guard. And Kabuto … appears to be talking with the Grass-nin. Just great, now we'll have to watch out for him too, although I already didn't trust him." Naruto said, and silence reigned for a few seconds until a loud explosion signaled the start of the second part of the Chunin Exams.
(5 Days Remain)
After ten minutes of running, the trio stopped as Naruto turned to look at his two compatriots, even if one refused to acknowledge Naruto. "Okay, I can sense a team in that direction who we could probably take, but, Hinata, I would like you to use the Byakyugan to verify how many there are, and see if you can tell what scroll they have." Hinata nodded, making the activation seals for her own Dojutsu. "Sasuke, I can also sense a second team heading this way, think you can handle them, oh high and mighty Uchiha?" Naruto requested, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow before shaking it off, and pulling some kunai out in preparation for battle.
The first one burst through the bushes, his hands full of shurikan as he planned to get the drop on the unsuspecting team. However, what he instead caught was a kunai in the shoulder, another following quickly that clipped his arm, leaving a shallow cut as he hissed, dropping his shurikan.
Sasuke was caught off-guard as the second one appeared behind him, his leg already in motion as he tried to kick Sasuke's exposed side. Sasuke's eyes widened as he went flying, however, the Genin wasn't expecting Sasuke to burst into smoke, a broken log appearing in his place. He had just enough time to utter, 'Kawarimi." Before Sasuke reappeared, a kick sending the Genin into the tree trunk, knocking him unconscious as he joined his teammate on the ground.
The third and final member of the attacking team was far more cautious than her teammates as she threw several shurikan at Sasuke who managed to weave through them using his Sharingan before returning fire with three kunai which the Genin avoided. She then shot at Sasuke, who got his kunai up in time to block her slash, the two weapons grinding against each other. While she was so close, Sasuke finally caught sight of their headbands which had a snowflake on the metal, and Sasuke sweat dropped.
"Ýukigakura is competing too? That seems, foolish, considering we live in the land of Fire, and you use Snow to attack." Sasuke pointed out before jumping back, the girl pressing her advantage, too focused to respond to Sasuke's half-taunt.
But, it was not to be as Sasuke sidestepped her attack, dropping down as he swept her legs out from under her, sending her tumbling to the ground below. She impacted the dirt below, sending a cloud of dust into the air as she lay there, knocked out cold by the fall. Sasuke smirked, his arrogance shining through in the end, as he rummaged through their clothes and bags.
Once he found what he was looking for, he returned to the side of his teammates, who were staring into the darkness, as if seeing something unseen, which was possible considering the two.
"So, I take it you were able to handle them, Sasuke?" Naruto asked sarcastically, he was well aware that Sasuke could handle the trio, hence why he sent only Sasuke to handle them.
"Hnn, they were far too weak to give an Uchiha any trouble, although it was stupid of Yuki to send shinobi to compete. I looked through their stuff, and found another scroll." Sasuke held the scroll up, having already checked it; Naruto felt no such need, considering how Sasuke wasn't bragging about it.
"Good work, I figured you could handle them, the real question is, do you think you can handle a shinobi with some actual training?" Naruto asked, once again sarcastically as he knew Sasuke's answer already. The Uchiha would always think he could handle anything, despite how he nearly died to Zabuza's Water Clone.
"Of course, none of these weaklings can hope to compete with me." Sasuke growled back, feeling like Naruto was insulting his skills.
"Good, then let's get started, shall we?" Naruto said rhetorically, leaping into the trees as Sasuke followed, Hinata nodding to herself as she brought up the rear, although all three were soon side-by-side as they leapt through the trees, heading for their targets.
The Genin apparently weren't expecting competition so soon, as they were caught with their pants down, literally as one was behind a tree peeing when Naruto dropped down, a kunai pressed to the Rain-nin's neck before he sighed, slamming the Genin's head into a tree, sending him into sweet, blissful unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was dodging a rain of needles from the lead Rain-nin, the annoying Genin refusing to stop tossing the lethal umbrellas into the air. Though he was avoiding a majority of the sharp needles, it still brought back bad memories of the Uchiha's fight with Haku, who managed to make the boy resemble a hedgehog before finishing him off; apparently this Rain-nin was trying for a repeat performance.
Finally, he slipped through the rain, nailing the Genin in the got with a kick that sent him skidding back, his arms crossed to block the standard kick. He smirked, making a quick set of hand seals before not one, not two, but three umbrellas filled with needles went spinning into the air, their cargo quickly slicing downwards towards the Uchiha.
Sasuke growled in anger as he used a quick Kawarimi to escape the rain of death, the log looking more like a pincushion than wood. The Uchiha clenched his fists, weaving through the field of needles as he went through his own hand seals, exhaling a large fireball right at the Rain-nin, which exploded on impact sending the Rain-nin flying backyards into a tree.
"Hnn, I finally got the rhythm of your dance down." Sasuke said, crossing his arms as he looked at the beaten Rain-nin with a smug grin on his face.
Finally, with the sole female member of Team 7, and Naruto's crush, Hinata was engaged in a somewhat heated Taijutsu battle with the last Rain-nin who was grinning almost manically as he charged Hinata down, his kunai moving to block the Jyuuken strikes. Neither side could take the advantage as Hinata was skilled enough to fend off his frequent attacks; however, the Rain-nin was no pushover either as he kept escaping from Hinata's range with barely centimeters to spare.
After one such exchange, the rain-nin broke the repetitive attacks by jumping back, throwing his kunai at the bluenette Hyuuga, who crossed her arms to protect her body, the kunai whizzing passed her before she could realize that it was a distraction as the Rain-nin advancing on her, pressing his attack with a straight kick that sent Hinata tumbling backwards.
As she breathed heavily, wiping her mouth as a bit of blood could be seen running out the side of her mouth. However, as she rose, the Rain-nin attacked once again with one of the kunai he grabbed from where he'd tossed them. She couldn't dodge in time, but still tried to jump back only to press her back up against a tree as her eyes widened, the kunai coming right at her.
She closed her eyes in anticipation, only for the kunai to slice through the front of her jacket, allowing the two sides to hang limply to the side, her fishnet shirt visible underneath the cream-colored jacket. As she opened her mouth to cry out, a thick hand brutally gripped her throat, slamming her into the tree, her vision swimming from the sharp impact.
"Oh, would you look at the body on this one. I think you'll sell for a good price on the market, after you've been broken in properly, of course. That pretty little mouth will look so sexy wrapped around my meat, or screaming my name night after night." The rain-nin said, his slimy tongue slipping out to lick at Hinata's cheek, licking away the tears that began to fall.
"Oh, don't cry baby, it'll feel great, I promise. Just you wait, baby, until I get rid of those annoying pests of your teammates." The Rain-nin whispered to Hinata, who tried to yell only for it to come out a garbled croak.
"Oh, you feisty minx, if you didn't want to wait, then you should've just said so." He said, his spare hand reaching down, his slimy tongue hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Just as his fingers dipped beneath her pants, Hinata reacted in absolute fear, her foot shooting out to connect with the rapist's jewels, sending him crumbling to the ground as she was dropped, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
"Oh ho ho, I got a sadistic little slut today. Your kind is always the most fun to break." He groaned out, only for Hinata to rise slowly, her bangs overshadowing her eyes as she clenched her fists tightly, the knuckles turning a chalky pallor.
"How about you-" "SHUT UP!" Hinata screeched, her fists shooting out to connect with his face, blood coming from his now broken nose, but still Hinata didn't let with her assault, her fists hitting wherever she could reach before she got a little space between them, the man rubbing his now bruised body.
"You little whore, as soon as I take care of you, I'm going to hunt down your teammates, chop off their pretty little heads, and hang them over my doorframe. And then, I'm going to-" He got no further as Hinata activated her Byakyugan seallessly and slammed her Jyuuken palm into the man's chest, sending the destructive chakra right into his heart as it exploded from the impact, the man's eyes widened as he wobbled slightly before crumpling to the ground, blood oozing from his clenched teeth.
Hinata breathed heavily as she glared at her rapist before her actions caught up with her, and she looked at her hands, imagining them coated in blood. It seemed to eat away at her hands, like some intoxicating acid. She shook her hands, crying out as she crawled away from the dead form of the Rain-nin, who even in death seemed to mock and terrify the young Hyuuga.
This was the scene Naruto came upon, Hinata curled into a ball, pressing her body in the tree behind her, trying vain to get further away from her first kill. He ran to her side, dropping the Earths scroll they had been rewarded with, his arms encircling her in an instant as he pulled her against him, rocking her and whispering words into her ears which went mostly unheard except for the occasional "I'm here now.", and "I'm sorry." Even Sasuke seemed to understand the situation, his usual arrogance dropped as he leaned against a tree, crossing his arms.
The trio stayed this way for maybe an hour, before Sasuke made the first move, leaving for a few minutes before returning with the two remaining Rain-nin, who took a second to run to their teammate's side. After a short argument between the two rain-nin and Sasuke, the two Rain-nin picked up the body, stalking away, but not before vowing that they would have revenge for their teammate.
(3 Days Remain)
It was two days later, and Hinata still hadn't uttered a word to her two companions. Naruto was starting to get worried for the girl, his crush notwithstanding. Sasuke, on the other hand, was wholly unconcerned for his female teammate, regardless of the fact that she'd cared for him while he was traumatized in Wave.
The trio had slipped off to sleep that night, Hinata turning fitfully as she did every night, until Naruto came to rescue, his presence at her side fighting the nightmares away. As had become the custom, Naruto would awaken to find Hinata whimpering and turning fitfully and pull his sleeping bag next to her, pulling her over to rest her head on his shoulder as the pair drifted back ot sleep peacefully, but not tonight, as someone had other plans.
As Naruto rose to take a pee break, his chakra sensors went off, blaring like a claxon horn as he felt an evil chakra fast approaching the small camp the team had made for the night. His sleepiness kept him busy for a few precious seconds as he tried to identify the signature before his eyes widened, his mind's eyes drawing up the creepy Grass-nin days ago.
"Kuso," Naruto mumbled under his breath, quickly running back to the camp to wake his teammates. "We can't hope to fight this guy, I'll just have to hope we can escape or reach the Tower in time!" Naruto hissed through clenched teeth as he barged loudly into the camp.
"Sasuke, Hinata, wake up!" Naruto yelled out, throwing caution to the wind since the chakra signature seemed to already know where they were. The two other members of Team 7 grumbled as they sat up, Sasuke glaring at Naruto, and Hinata immediately clambering to her feet at Naruto's fearful look.
"Hn, what is it Dobe, did a shadow scare you?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto sided against a sharp retort as he began gathering things up, packing them as Hinata followed his example.
"If you must know, Sasuke, I sensed a powerful chakra signature heading straight for us. We need to go now!" Naruto ordered, Sasuke sighing as he sat up slowly, gathering his things up, his slow work mocking Naruto's warning.
Once they had things packed, the trio deciding against packing up their tents, and the fire had dwindled down to little more than embers at this point, they leapt into the tree, heading for the center of the Forest, and safety.
Despite the fact that the team was all skilled shinobi, two heirs and Naruto, who practically trained in his sleep, Naruto could sense the signature growing quickly closer, not even pausing for more than ten seconds at their camp before resuming the chase.
The blonde sighed, stopping suddenly as Sasuke and Hinata stopped several branches away, the pair turning to their teammate as he shooed them onwards. Hinata glanced between the two males, who were having a staring contest, before tensing her legs and leaping back to Naruto, grabbing his wrist as she pulled on him, but the blonde resisted, and refused to be moved.
"Come on, Dobe, stop being so dramatic." Sasuke grumbled as he crossed his arms.
"No, whoever it belongs to, the signature is quickly gaining on us. I'll stay here and stall them for as long as I can, while you and Hinata get to the Tower, and bring reinforcements." Naruto ordered, and Hinata looked at Naruto almost in awe. Despite his carefree appearance at times, she could tell that Naruto had a quick mind to him, and he so easily slid into the leadership role that she was taken aback momentarily.
"Hn, I hardly think that a Genin, or even three, warrant a Jounin's help. If we can't outrun them, then we'll fight them off. I'm an Uchiha after all, and I'm not going to lose to any Genin, regardless of how strong they are." Sasuke said, his hand drifting to the pouch on his hip.
"NO! I've never felt a chakra signature this large before, except around the Hokage. Not Kakashi, or Zabuza, filled me with this much unease. I don't think even if we were Chunnin, or Jounin we could stop this guy, but maybe if you can get some ANBU or the Hokage…" Naruto left the statement hanging.
"Yet you're going to stop this guy, you just said even if all three of us were Jounin, we couldn't win, but you think a single Genin is going to make a difference?" Sasuke said; the look Naruto shot at him made him shut up immediately, a rare fact.
"I never said I was going to stop him, just slow him down. He won't know which of us has the scroll, so if we split up, and each takes a scroll, then he won't know which one to chase. For that reason, you tow take the two scrolls and run, run like you've never run before, run like the hounds of hell were upon you because they may be if you don't escape. This is my good-bye." Naruto said, smiling gently, and for a moment, Sasuke saw his brother in that smile, and he had to look away.
"Naruto…" Hinata whispered next to him, and her first words since the accident didn't seem to shake Naruto's strength of will.
"I'm sorry, Hinata." Naruto said, before a soft thump followed as Hinata fell forwards, a clone of Naruto catching the girl. "I won't let you get hurt again for a demon. Take Hinata with you Sasuke and go, my clone doesn't have any chakra more than needed to maintain his existence, so he can't fight, but he'll carry Hinata so you won't be slowed down."
Sasuke didn't say anything as he leapt away, the Shadow Clone nodding to Naruto as it followed, Hinata's limp body clutched to his body bridal style. That was the last Naruto saw of the pair as he turned back to face the oncoming threat, his hand slowly joining together as he formed a single seal, his eyes shutting as he calmed his roiling chakra.
He couldn't afford to fight reckless in this fight, and fighting a higher-level opponent without fear was most certainly reckless. He sent out a mental tendril to his inmate, the tendril floating idlely in front of the demon fox.
"I had hoped that I wouldn't need to use this technique ever, although I knew it would be needed eventually, but all the same." Naruto whispered under his breath, the animals and sounds of the night fading away as he opened his eyes to find himself in front of his mental cage.
"Hello, fox. I suppose you're aware of what's going to happen here, and what I've come to say." The blonde said, his face free from all emotion, his soul seeming almost… at ease with his choice.
"Yes, and I must say, I'm surprised you caved in so quickly. But I also have to ask, do you think you can handle it, you haven't had much success with weathering the hatred." Kyuubi asked tauntingly, and was sorely disappointed when Naruto chuckled darkly.
"Insanity, I will welcome it to protect my precious people. For you see, Kyuubi, what good is my sanity if all I'm seen as is a demon?" Naruto said, and the fox mirrored his dark chuckle as a single tail snaked out from the cage, slowly wrapping around Naruto.
Meanwhile, outside a meditating Naruto could be seen perched on a branch.
"Kekekeke, look what I've found tonight. A little fox in the forest. You need to be more careful, little fox, or something may… make a meal out of you." A voice said, and before Naruto could react, a massive snake shot out of the shadows, its jaws wide open as the blonde was swallowed wholly.
The snake stuck its forked tongue out, tasting the air as it gave a reverberating hiss to the forest as the animals around it went silent in fear. Its master smiled from its head as it leapt off, heading for his target that was escaping.
As soon as he left the clearing, the snake gave a low rumble as it began to writhe around, and if it had had the ability it probably would've cried out in pain, no, agony. Within seconds, the massive snake was reduced to a charred husk as Naruto slowly walked out from the snake, his eyes shut as a fiery red chakra cloak was surrounding him that was slowly changing colors to a more vibrant blue.
"Hmm, that probably would've been the end of me if was the untrained Dobe that everyone assumes I am. However, I'm not that untrained Dobe, no, I'm the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko and I have a bit of a fiery temper." Naruto said as he fully exited the hole burned into the snake as three tails were visible behind him, swishing around chaotically, a white ball of fire on the tips of each one, about the size of Naruto's head.
As the chakra cloak fully changed colors, Naruto gave a smile that revealed his long fangs, which had become serrated somehow in the process as he muttered two words that would later become a battle cry that inspired hope in his allies, and absolute fear in his enemies.
"Nitrous Mode." He said it so calmly, and simply that you think it was a weak move, but in reality, it was that Naruto's fire had reached his core, burning away all emotion inside of him. Fear, apprehension, mercy, pity, desire, bloodlust, even rage was burned away to reveal Naruto at his true self, a nihilistic shinobi.
Naruto turned slowly in the direction that his target had went, and took a slow step forwards before vanishing without any sign that anyone had ever been there except for the scorched earth he left behind after each footfall.
(2 Days, 23 Hours Remain)
Orochimaru smiled in a very snakelike way as he spotted his target, one Sasuke Uchiha as he leapt through the trees, trying desperately to escape the pursuing Sannin. The Uchiha probably couldn't even sense that he was about to be attacked as the snake seemed to grow out of a tree directly in front of him, his tongue licking at the air.
Naruto's clone stopped beside him before leaping to the side to avoid the fight, something Orochimaru was glad to do for the moment; after all, he had his target in sight.
Despite his best efforts, including melting the Grass-nin's face off, Sasuke couldn't leave a lasting impression of the Sannin. Finally, the snake seemed to grow bored with the fight, his neck suddenly elongating as his fangs sunk easily into Sasuke's neck, the Sannin pushing some of his chakra into the wound as a small black mark was left behind on the last Uchiha's neck.
Sasuke groaned, quickly grabbing his neck as he crumpled down, unable to stop the Sannin as he turned to Naruto's clone and Hinata, who was twitching in his arms.
"Well, well, it seems I fortunate today, I can get not only an Uchiha, but a Hyuuga too. I can think of all the fun we're going to have together." Orochimaru said as his neck elongated once again to leave his mark on Hinata, only for a claw to suddenly burst from the tree, heading straight for Orochimaru's head if he continued on his projected path. So, it was with great disappointment that he pulled his head back to his body as a glowing blue boy got between him and his other target.
"Keke, I thought you would stay down little fox, but it seems you have some tricks up your sleeve too. Oh well, it is of little consequence, I will beat you quickly and finish up here." Orochimaru hissed out, and Naruto could sense the tiny nagging in the back of his skull to beat the smug grin of his face, but the raging wildfire inside quickly extinguished the emotion.
The snake made his move quickly, moving passed Naruto, only for Orochimaru's eyes to widen as Naruto seemed to walk after him, yet the blonde was outpacing him. As he looked around, Orochimaru caught sight of a single leaf falling, ever so slowly. It was at this moment that Orochimaru realized who foolish it was to leave the boy behind.
The Sannin's eyes were trained for high-speed combat, but much like how Sasuke's eyes could follow Rock Lee's attacks, his body just couldn't react in time with his current levels of power.
Naruto appeared in front of Orochimaru within seconds, his clawed hand slowly swiping across Orochimaru's face as the snake Sannin managed to stop himself just in time to avoid having the claws cleave his face into ribbons. Yet, the snake could feel his skin beginning to blister simply due to the proximity to the overwhelming heat Naruto was putting out.
That didn't mean he was ready when Naruto's other hand came straight at him, the claw grabbing his face as he was slammed into the tree, before being pulled out and choke-slammed into the ground below, Naruto's arm extending into a pure chakra limb. Throughout the whole three seconds, Naruto's face stayed the same emotionless mask it was in the first place.
Naruto pressed his attack, his fist coming together to form a point as leapt down, thrusting to straight into Orochimaru's chest cavity, only for the Sannin to change into mud, and Naruto's attack to continue on, his arm sinking into the earth up to his shoulder due his own speed. The blonde left his arm embedded in the earth as he looked around for his target before his sensors went off, and he grabbed onto something beneath the earth, pulling up a massive root just below the surface.
However, his own fiery disposition caused the wood, despite being covered in moist dirt, to burst into flames, the fire licking hungrily at the tree attached to the root. The same tree Orochimaru had tried to hide inside as the snake came out, Naruto rocketing at him as he barely managed to contort his body impossibly to dodge, his sword appearing in his hand in preparation to slice into Naruto, only for the foxfire Naruto's tail to shoot out and sink into another tree and pull Naruto to the tree like a grappling hook.
Normally Naruto would've grinned at the frustrated look Orochimaru had, but this Naruto was all business. However, his dominant personality seemed to bleed through a little as he taunted the snake.
"In your current state, you can't beat me. However, in order to at least match me, your chakra levels will alert the village to your presence, and bring the Hokage straight to you. Although, if you really think about it, my own chakra levels are doing the same thing, if not making them mobilize quicker since mine is the Kyuubi's chakra as opposed to your chakra. Regardless, if you don't turn up the heat, then I'm going to leave you smoldering." Naruto said; his claws working into the tree he was attached to as he grabbed two chunks of woods, pulling them out and crushing them into splinters.
Then, he leapt through the air, slinging the splinters at Orochimaru, who easily dodged the raining wood, although as one came a little too close and left a shallow cut, he felt like a hot iron had been pressed to him. All the proof he needed was that the wherever the splinters made contact with the ground, small flame flickered into existence and the wood was vaporized.
"Keke, so the little fox thinks just because he's king of the jungle, that he can beat the snake. Fine, the little fox can have this fight. The snake will go back to his hole, and bide his time, and when the little fox doesn't expect it, the snake will strike and strangle the little fox to death!" Orochimaru said, anger seeping into his voice at Naruto's expressionless face. It reminded the snake Sannin to much of Itachi. With his piece said, Orochimaru vanished into a tree, his chakra disappearing along with him.
Naruto blinked twice, looking at where the snake had left before his body pitched forwards, the fire vanishing without a wisp of smoke, and leaving Naruto's body covered in third-degree burns as he fell to the branch below.
(24 Hours Remain)
Hinata Hyuuga frowned as she pressed a wet cloth to Naruto's head, a great fever seizing his body. Beside him, Sasuke lay, an equally powerful fever was burning throughout his body, his cells rebelling against the Cursed Seal on his neck. Hinata cursed under her breath, a true testament to how bad things were to her right now, at her own weakness. Maybe if she was stronger, she could've helped protect her teammates, and maybe Naruto wouldn't have had to knock her out.
But that was neither here nor there, as Hinata left to gather water from a nearby stream, her two male teammates concealed inside a hollowed out tree trunk. It had been around two days by her estimates since she had woken up to find Naruto and Sasuke unconscious with burning fevers. When she had seen Naruto there, covered head to toe in those horrible burns, she almost fainted again. But she knew that Naruto was depending on her, and so kept her wits about her, hiding the two boys as she took on the role of caring for them.
"Naruto-kun, am I weak? Why else would you knock me out, unless you thought I would just get in the way?" Hinata mumbled to herself as she filled the collapsible bucket with water from the river, carrying it back, struggling slightly with the heavy bucket.
She could hear voices as she got closer, but shrugged them off as a passing team. However, when she rounded a tree root, and saw the three Oto-nin arguing in front of the tree where her team was hiding, she dropped her bucket, the water splashing on her feet as she ran towards the tree.
Managing to sneak around the edge of the clearing, Hinata slunk into the trunk, checking on her two patients. Sasuke was the same as before, while Naruto was moaning in his sleep, his hands clenching and unclenching in his sleep. Whatever dream he was having, it was quickly turning into a nightmare.
Deciding that she would have to hold off the three Oto-nin by herself, Hinata grabbed her supply pouch, knowing that it was stocked with kunai and shurikan. She doubted her ability to win, or even make a difference against three opponents of unknown skill, but Hinata had a job to do, and that job was defend her special Naruto-kun.
"Oh look, it's the pathetic loser!" One declared, point at Hinata, who winced slightly at the insult. She noted that the one pointing had a hole in the palm of his hand. "I think we should have a little fun with her before we finish off the Uchiha." He continued, but his only response was a fast-flying shurikan courtesy of Hinata's exceptional aim.
In the momentary pause, she activated her Byakyugan, the veins around her eyes bulging as she activated her clan's Dojutsu.
"Grrr, you little freak. What's up with those ugly eyes?" The only female among them said, and Hinata turned away, hiding her eyes. Bad memories of her being bullied in primary school because of her pale eyes arose. "Oh, is the little freak baby going to cry?" The girl said, her hands drifting down to her own pouch, several Senbon appearing in-between her fingers as she held them aloft.
"Sh-shut up you…" Hinata shouted back, trying to come up with a good insult to hurl at the girl, however, insulting wasn't ion the girl's nature, and so she couldn't think of anything particularly creative. "Shut u-up you Sound sl-slut!" Hinata yelled, and despite the simplicity of it, the name seemed to enrage her enemy, who hurled the Senbon, which Hinata managed to block with her Jyuuken palms.
Not going to let the girl launch a second wave of Senbon, Hinata charged the girl, engaging her in a Taijutsu battle, a foolish notion when fighting a Hyuuga. But, the girl managed to avoid Hinata's strikes for several second before using her Senbon which she launched point-blank at Hinata. The bluenette's eyes widened as she bent backwards at the waist quickly, dodging the Senbon attack, but allowing the girl to get behind her as she grabbed at Hinata's hair.
However, Hinata kept her hair cut short in hope to differentiate herself from all the other girls, so that Naruto notice her, and what hair she had wasn't long enough to get a good grip on as Hinata moved away, getting into the 8 Trigrams stance while her opponent growled in anger.
"Stop fooling around Kin, and finish her off. We have more important things to deal with than playing with a little girl." The third one said; who had his face covered by several bandages. He seemed to be the leader of their team, and Kin growled out a curse at him.
"Shut it Dosu, I'm trying to finish her off. How about you get over here and help me, you useless mummy!" Kin snarled back, and Dosu looked at her boredly, before swinging his arm out at Hinata.
The bluenette almost didn't move, but her Byakyugan allowed her to see the chakra-infused sound waves heading for her as she dove to the side, the attack passing by harmlessly. However, as she spun to face her attacker, Kin managed to get near her, punching Hinata in the face, sending her to the ground. Kin approached the Hyuuga, placing several Senbon against her neck to keep her in place.
"Haha, can't run away now, freak!" Kin hissed at her, although before anyone knew what was happening, the as-of-yet unnamed boy lifted his arms, sending chakra infused airwaves to the female pair. An explosion of dirt was sent into the air, concealing both girls while the boy smirked.
"Zaku, you idiot, I had her, and you let her get away! When we're done killing these weaklings, I'm going to shove these Senbon straight up your-" Kin shouted, only for a sharp cry of "8 Trigrams: 32 Palms!" to silence her as she was truck by the attack, sending her hurtling out of the cloud of dust and dirt into a crumpled heap on the ground.
"I may be weak, and useless, and a freak, and stutter all the t-time, but I'm not going to let you hurt Naruto-kun! Because you see, he's someone precious to me!" Hinata shouted, the cloud dissipating as she glared at the Oto-nin with a determined look in her eyes, made all the more intimidating due to her Byakyugan.
"Ha, would you listen to her?" Zaku taunted, raising his arms in anticipation for a second attack. "I think I'm getting more pathetic with all that mindless drivel she's saying." He finished as he fired off a second shot, which Hinata rolled to the side to avoid, only for Dosu to catch her off-guard despite her Byakyugan, his arm already in motion.
Hinata threw up her arms to defend, knowing that it would do little to stop the sound-based attack as it struck her, sending disarray throughout her body as she felt her lunch rising. However, the trio wasn't done as Kin picked herself up, throwing several Senbon into Hinata's legs, bringing her to her knees. Then, Zaku came forward, his kick catching her under her chin as she fell backwards, laying on her back as Zaku stood over her, his palms facing each other as he fired an attack from both sides, the air compressing.
"I've wanted to test this attack out for some time. Guess it's my lucky day, freak!" He cried as Hinata could see the chakra building in the space between his palms. He tensed up his arms to throw the attack at the defenseless girl, only for a blue sandaled foot to strike him cleanly in the face, sending him hurtling back from the unexpected attack.
Hinata looked up slowly to see Naruto breathing heavily, his jacket completely shed although his skin was back to a normal shade. "I believe she said, 'to go away.'" Naruto hissed, and despite his damaged appearance, he still managed to put enough K.I. into the order to cause the Oto-nin to take a step back.
"As-as if we'd listen to a failure like you!" Zaku shouted, trying to rally his teammates, who didn't seem to go for the idea. Maybe a demonstration would be needed. "Fine, you wimps, all beat them myself then." He said as he raised his arms to attack, firing off a double Decapitating Air Wave at Hinata and Naruto.
A black flash suddenly appeared in front of them, backhanding the attack away like an errant fly. Naruto would've been relieved except A) it was Sasuke, and B) the left side of his face and body seemed to be covered in black markings that looked suspiciously like flames.
"Hn, figures you two losers couldn't beat three weaklings without my help." Sasuke said arrogantly, and Naruto growled at the Uchiha, only for him to ignore the blonde and charge Zaku, hitting him with a snap-kick and catching his arms before the boy could fly away. Still the opposing forces put a strain on Zaku's arms.
"Oi oi, let me go so I can kill you, you dumb Uchiha prick!" Zaku shouted, ever the peacemaker. Sasuke didn't look ready to do anything Zaku told him to do anyways as the raven-haired boy flipped over Zaku, planting his foot squarely on the back of Zaku's head, shoving it into the dirt as he used the leverage to pull harder on Zaku's arms.
"Hey, wait a min-" "POP" Zaku's arms fell limply to the ground as Sasuke released them, his job done as he made to attack Kin next, only for Naruto to get between them. "I said wait, you deaf teme!" Naruto snarled at Sasuke, grabbing the Uchiha when he tried to get passed him to keep attacking.
"I may not like you pieces of crap, but unless you want worse than your friend got, I suggest you get lost." Naruto shouted behind him as Kin and Dosu seemed to be shaken out of their shock as Naruto somehow managed to grab Zaku's leg and throw him at his teammates.
"Grrr, I'll make you pay, Uchiha!" Zaku threatened, but was ignored as Dosu pulled out their scroll, dropping it as payment as they beat a hasty retreat.
"Move, Uzumaki, or I'll beat you down to." Sasuke said although his stance seemed to egg Naruto on as the blonde tensed up his body to react in time. "Fine, be that way." Sasuke charged the blonde, throwing a jab that was blocked by Naruto who weaved to the side, his knee rising to knock Sasuke's air out, only to be blocked in turn by Sasuke's knee.
The blonde used the knee though as leverage to leap back from Sasuke, shooting several tiny flames at the ground in front of Sasuke to stop him chasing as Naruto dropped into a defensive stance, prepared as Sasuke came at him, using a snap-kick to get Naruto to catch his foot as the Uchiha rotated his ankle, using his free foot to send a second kick directly at Naruto's face.
The blonde couldn't get his arms up in time to block and was sent tumbling back from the powerful blow. As the blonde rose, Sasuke kept with him, sending multiple blows into Naruto's blind spots. It was only Naruto's instincts that kept him from getting pummeled by Sasuke, who smirked as he pushed Naruto to the ground.
"Where is all your strength now, Naruto!?" Sasuke yelled; his arms outstretched as if challenging anyone to come at him. Naruto stood slowly, wiping a rivulet of blood that came from his busted lip.
"You seem to have grown stronger thanks to that hickey Orochi-pedo gave you, but you seem to forget Teme." Naruto said; a familiar smirk on his face as Sasuke was caught off-guard by a Shadow Clone grabbing him, throwing the Uchiha with a classic judo throw across the clearing. Sasuke righted himself in midair, his hands flying through hand seals as he used the signature Uchiha jutsu.
"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke thought yelled as he blew out a fireball larger than any before, the excess chakra provided by the seal giving extra fuel to the jutsu. However, Naruto had been using fire for years, and wouldn't be caught off guard by such a simple Fire Jutsu.
"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" Naruto copied Sasuke, his own fireball rivaling Sasuke's as the twin fireballs collided, causing a massive explosion to take place. But neither opponent let it slow them down as they came at each other again, this time with kunai that sent sparks into the air as they tried to overpower the other.
While this happened, Hinata was looking between her two fighting teammates. She felt her eyes heating up, and not from the fiery attacks being exchanged. "Stop." She said; her voice lost in the clashing metal. "Stop." A little louder, but still drowned out by the taunts being thrown like shurikan.
"STOP! STOP! STOP IT, PLEASE!" Hinata shouted, her raised voice catching both males by surprise as they stopped in front of one another.
"Hinata-chan?" Naruto said under his breath, confused by her distraught appearance. Beside him, Sasuke had frozen, clutching his head tightly as he tried to will the seal back under his command. Naruto seemed to take the opening with a short prayer as he hit Sasuke across the jaw, sending the boy to the ground and blissful unconsciousness.
"Welp, now that that's taken care of." Naruto said cheerful, hauling Sasuke up and tossing him over his shoulder like a sack of bricks. Hinata seemed to gulp fearfully until she saw Naruto's smiling face, her fear draining away.
"So, I miss anything good?" Naruto asked; his signature grin on his face. As if he wasn't carrying the unconscious body of his teammate over his shoulder.
Hinata tried to resist, but couldn't help it. Hinata Hyuuga giggled.
(16 Hours Remain)
"So, then I dropped in to save the day, and Sasuke went all 'revengey'?" Naruto said, Hinata nodding at the condensed explanation.
"Yeah, although you could probably tell more about what happened while I was out cold when you two got hurt so badly?" Hinata questioned, and Naruto started to answer, only to notice something.
"Sakura, as much as your skills amaze me, I'm not in the mood right now." Naruto growled as the landscape around them seemed to shimmer before changing to a smirking pinkette, her two teammates flanking her.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to hand over your Heaven Scroll, Naruto." Sakura ordered, although she wasn't expecting Naruto to shrug his shoulders, something that brought her attention to the passed-out Sasuke.
"What happened to Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, and Naruto noticed that Kiba seemed to wince behind the girl, although she didn't notice.
"Oh, you know, Sasuke couldn't handle all the girl throwing themselves at him, it was very traumatizing you see. That said, I'm not in the mood to fight right now, and Hinata doesn't have it in her to hurt her classmates simply because, so here." Naruto said, using his free arm to grab the spare heaven scroll, and toss it to Sakura who caught it.
"Just like that, you're handing over you Heaven Scroll. You do realize you need this to pass, right Dobe?" Kiba said, and Akamaru yipped from his jacket.
Naruto seemed to smirk, using his free hand to unzip his orange jacket, numerous Earth and Heaven Scrolls falling to the ground. "Me and Sasuke had to take break for a few days, and Hinata-chan here managed to gather quite the collection from people who tried to mess with us. Speaking of which, you seen Shikamaru, or anyone else that you like to have some help?" Naruto said; Sakura, and Kiba's eye still plate-sized from the pile of scrolls. Shino's eyebrow was raised a quarter of an inch, which was as flabbergasted as the stone-faced Aburame ever seemed to get.
"N-NO no, no, no one that uhmm." Sakura stuttered before glancing between the blushing Hyuuga and the pile. "So Hinata huh. Guess she can be pretty protective of you Naruto." Sakura pointed out, and Naruto smiled looking at Hinata to refute the comment, but the girl was turning red enough to pass for a lobster.
"Hmm, does Hinata have a fever? Oh Kami, I hope I didn't infect her!" Naruto thought frantically, and when he came out of his mental ramblings, Sakura's team had already vanished, heading for the tower just ahead.
(12 Hours Remain)
"So Hinata, you want the honor since you got us through this part of the Exams. I doubt we could've done it without you." Naruto said, the girl glancing nervously at the floor before giving a small nod, reaching into her ripped jacket and pulling out two scrolls, one Heaven and one Earth. Tossing them out, a plume of smoke came from where the scrolls crossed.
"Well well guys, I got worried there for a bit, but I'm proud to say, congratulations, you've passed the second part of the Chunnin Exams."
A/N: Well, that was a chapter and a half. Several in fact. But I'm proud to say that next chapter we can begin to really have some fun. I actually came up with the idea for this story based off of an image and short quote which we will get to see next period. In other news, I'm going to go back and add to the beginning of every chapter, one of my favorite quotes in this story. It won't be in the chapter I list it with, or maybe it will be, you'll just have to find them. Think of it as a game, I give you a quote, and you have to imagine what the situation is that brought the quote, okay? Also, don't expect this to frequently, I just wanting to get this entire part done already, and I wrote an exceptionally long chapter for my other current Story, 'Fox and the Hound' so its just fair.