Naruto was starting to get a little impatient with Koharu. Sure he'd only done two classes so far, but for his payment he'd received little beyond assurances that she'd teach him a few things once he'd proven himself a bit more to the village. Well, that and a fairly generous monetary payment, but Naruto cared little about the financial side of things.
Still, he didn't mind teaching the classes, and the upcoming Chunin Exams offered him an opportunity to collect on the payment he felt he was owed. From what Naruto had heard, he was sure there would be all sorts of jutsu thrown around during the exam. So if he observed secretly, he'd have any number of opportunities to pick things up.
Naruto was letting his mind wander, imagining all the new techniques he might soon see when he something familiar pulled at the edge of his senses. Stretching them out to investigate further, he found he was almost drawn to the target he searching for, quickly recognizing it as the Ichibi. Naruto had never really sought out the Ichibi in recent times, as it had been the one Biju whose location was almost common knowledge. Suna was supposed to have him safely sealed.
For his part, Naruto was interested to find out what the Ichibi was doing in Konoha. So the first thing he needed to do was lose the ninja watching outside the building. Lucky for him, he'd recently solved that little problem. Moving over to a corner in the back of the room he knelt down and set his hand on a large tile, adjusting his chakra so his hand would stick to it. Pulling it back, the tile easily came away, revealing the tunnel he'd just finished.
Dropping down and replacing the tile above him, Naruto walked confidently, despite the total darkness, completing the short trek and reaching the other end. A quick scan with his senses showed no one was in the area he would come up. So pressing up on the ceiling of the tunnel, he opened the entrance into the small dead end alleyway he'd created it in.
Covering his exit, he walked out of the alley toward the Ichibi, without anyone the wiser. It didn't take Naruto long to locate the Ichibi's vessel. The red-haired boy was one of a group of three young Suna ninja walking casually through Konoha. Most likely they were here for the Chunin Exams. Naruto thought he'd been doing a pretty good job of hiding himself in the tree from which he was observing the group, so he was surprised when the young boy turned around to look directly at him.
Nor did he stop at simply looking. Sand began to flow from the large gourd on the boy's back and advanced toward Naruto. As slow as the attack was to him, he was still forced to dodge out of the way to avoid being surrounded by the sand, which revealed his presence to the boy's two companions.
"What are you doing, Gaara?" the lone female of the group asked in surprise.
"I'm going to kill that man," the boy answered, far too calmly for what he was saying.
"Why?" the older boy, asked. "Who is he? What has he done to you?"
"I have no idea who he is," Gaara answered. "I've never met him before in my life. I just feel I have to kill him."
Naruto was beginning to see how it was Gaara had sensed him. It seemed the Ichibi wasn't sealed as tightly as he could be. He'd been sensed through the Ichibi via their connection, the same way Naruto had found Gaara.
"If you don't even know who he is than there's no harm in letting him go, is there?" asked the boy, whose makeup covered face Naruto found very odd. "We don't want to make a scene."
Meanwhile Naruto was once again blocking off his connection to the Biju as firmly as he could. Not needing to locate Gaara anymore he didn't like the idea of the boy being able to sense him. This also appeared to serve to calm him down.
"Very well," Gaara finally answered, sounding as if he was reluctant to agree. "I won't kill him today."
The girl then ran up to where Naruto was standing, seeking to run damage control for Gaara's actions. "I don't know what got into my brother, but there wasn't any harm done," she told him soothingly. "So there's no need to report this, is there? We were really looking forward to Chunin Exams and don't want to get ourselves disqualified."
"Actually, I'd prefer not to make a big deal out of this myself," Naruto assured her. "So if you'll keep quiet about this, I will as well."
"Thank you," she told him gratefully, before eying the damaged tree nervously and looking around to see if anyone else had witnessed the scene. Fortunately for Naruto as well as her, the street was otherwise deserted "We'll just be going then."
The three of them departed shortly thereafter, but Naruto couldn't get Gaara out of his mind. Just watching their interactions it was clear the two older genin where terrified of Gaara. If the Ichibi truly had gone mad, and it was sealed in him as poorly as Naruto suspected it was, then it probably had much to do with that.
All of that meant Naruto was as least partially responsible for the situation. The Ichibi would never have gone mad if Naruto hadn't refused to perform his role in the ritual to return the Biju to their realm.
It really was a sobering thought. He may have ruined the life of this boy and who knows how many others out of his own stubbornness. For that matter, how many had died sealing all the Biju that had been captured? Naruto had witnessed their power first hand and couldn't imagine it had been an easy process.
It really made him question for the first time if staying in this realm was actually the right thing to do? Even so he couldn't bring himself to seriously consider sacrificing himself at this point. Naruto was almost certainly the world's expert in meditation and all matters spiritual, but that didn't change the fact that humans weren't meant to live for hundreds of years while everyone else around them grew old and died.
Naruto was convinced the only thing that kept him sane was the thought of seeing of Hanabi again. He wasn't about to throw away his centuries old goal because his actions had some unfortunate unintended consequences.
Not to mention that he'd all but convinced himself doing so would be condemning his soul to an eternity of suffering. If their realm was so hard on the Biju, as powerful as they were, that they needed rest after only a few decades, why should Naruto believe the Biju's realm would be any easier on humans? Nor did he trust the Biju to answer him truthfully in that regard.
No, he wasn't giving up, but that didn't mean he couldn't do something else to improve Gaara's situation. Naruto followed the three genin, pleased that Gaara appeared to no longer be able to sense him since he blocked off his connection to the Biju.
They soon checked into a hotel, and the other two were quick enough to leave Gaara alone in his own room. The window was already open, so he waited until Gaara's back was turned and slipped in. Racing toward the boy, he was surprised to see sand already moving to block his assault, even though Gaara gave no sign of having sensed him.
Still, it was too slow, and Naruto had already reached him before the sand could block his path, grabbing the back of the boy's head. He then fed chakra into it in just the right way that he knew would cause him to pass out. The slumping body confirmed he'd succeeded. He might not remember the last few minutes, but there shouldn't be any harm other than that.
Naruto couldn't stand there congratulating himself for long, though. He sensed the Ichibi's chakra stirring almost the moment Gaara had lost consciousness. It seems the boy's will had helped hold the Biju back. The seal must be worse than he'd thought.
Not wasting any time, Naruto located the seal, and examined it. The construct was almost disgustingly simple. Completely inadequate for what it needed to do. Pulling out a small container of ink from his pocket, Naruto opened it and dipped his finger inside.
He quickly drew a pattern of seals around the outside the outside of the existing one, infusing the ink with his chakra as he did so. Once completed, the ink glowed briefly before fading out to become invisible. Immediately, the Ichibi's chakra faded from his senses as the Biju was being restrained much more tightly than he was before.
Setting the unconscious boy down on the bed, he slipped back out the window, cheerfully returning to the secret entrance to his current residence. That would certainly count as his good deed for the day.
Naruko and her team were hurrying to the location they needed to report to for the start of the Chunin Exams. She was annoyed that they had little time to spare before the deadline. "Seriously, haven't you ever heard of an alarm clock?" she complained to Kiba.
"Normally I don't need one," Kiba replied defensively. "I'm an early riser. I was just so excited I had trouble getting to sleep last night, so I kind of slept in."
"We still have time to make it," Hinata interjected diplomatically. "So there's really no harm."
"That's what I've been telling her," Kiba agreed.
Naruko supposed there wasn't much point to continuing the argument, especially as they were just arriving. As they made their way up to the second floor she noticed two familiar faces using a henge to make themselves appear younger.
"How's your knee doing, Kotetsu?" she called out with a smirk, as she turned her back on the pair and continued up to the third floor. She heard an annoyed growl behind her from the man accompanied by a chuckle from his companion.
They proceeded to register for the exam without any incident, even having a couple of minutes to spare. Soon the three of them found themselves entering a large room already filled with the other examinees.
"Naruko, Hinata, over here," Ino called out to them, beckoning them to where the other two rookie genin teams were gathered together.
Approaching the six of them, Naruko noticed that Ino's appearance was a bit disheveled, which was odd considering how much care Ino generally spent on her looks. "What happened to you?" she asked.
"A case of mistaken identity," Sakura answered before Ino could reply. "An older genin wanted to pick a fight with you but got the wrong blonde. Ino let her ego get in the way of common sense and accepted the challenge rather than correcting her. As you can see, it didn't work out to well."
"It's not like I was going all out," Ino insisted. "I didn't want to reveal any of my ninjutsu to a potential enemy in the exam. Things will be different if we have a rematch during the exam."
"She worked you over pretty good," Sakura countered. "I don't think it will make much of a difference. And you better watch yourself, Naruko. I know you're good, but if you're not careful you'll suffer the same fate as Ino."
For her part, Naruko was wracking her brain trying to figure out just who this mysterious genin was and what she had against her. She didn't have to wonder for long as the girl in question made her presence known.
"Stop making it sound like I'm out for her blood or something," a genin who had her brown hair done up in a pair of buns told Sakura, before turning to address Naruko. "My name is Tenten by the way, and you're actually Naruko this time, right?"
"That's right," Naruko answered. "Now if you don't mind, I'm curious as to why you wanted to challenge me."
"It's nothing special," Tenten replied. "I was just pleased to hear that there were several promising kunoichi in this year's batch of genin. A lot of girls don't take the whole ninja thing seriously and force the rest of us to deal with all the stereotypes. I just wanted to meet you and maybe see for myself how good you were."
"Yeah, you should have seen how worked up Tenten was getting when she heard some villagers going on about you," a new voice interjected. It belonged to a genin dresses in a hideous green outfit, and sporting a no more fashionable bowl cut. "She couldn't wait to challenge you. I've never seen her filled with such youthful energy."
"Lee, what are you doing here?" Tenten asked him, sounding scandalized by his revelation.
"I came to see Sakura-chan," Lee answered, looking longingly at the girl in question and seeming oblivious to the look of disgust that appeared on the target of his affection.
"Cut it out," Tenten ordered angrily. "And don't go around spreading things like that."
"Why?" Lee asked in confusion. "Wanting to prove yourself against a rival is nothing to be ashamed of. It should be commended if anything."
"Alright," Tenten declared. "I admit I was just a little bit jealous of all the attention you were getting when I finished second in my class, the same as you. But I really don't blame you for that. I just want to prove that you're not the only young kunoichi worth keeping an eye on."
Naruko really should have stuck to her original plan to not stand out in the academy. She really hoped more people didn't come out of the woodworks looking to challenge her. Even as it was, she felt her reputation was becoming more trouble than it was worth. Well, she'd made her choice so she wasn't about to fade into obscurity now.
"Well, you're welcome to try if we meet up during the exam," Naruko told her. "But don't expect me to hold back for your sake. It might not go as well as you hope."
"I think that's a risk I'm willing to take," Tenten fired back, although she seemed to be enjoying the banter rather than taking offense to it.
"You'd be doing Naruko a favor if you made her defeat as humiliating as possible," Sasuke broke his silence to tell Tenten. "As you can see, she has a highly inflated view of her skills, and would benefit from being taken down a few pegs."
"Oh, and the same can't be said about you," Kiba snapped at Sasuke, startling Naruko with how quickly he came to her defense. "I recall you getting the highest grade only by a hair. I wouldn't bet on you to beat Naruko in a fight alone, but as a team, you don't stand a chance against us."
"You shouldn't say that when you have no idea how much I've improved," Sasuke told him smugly. "At this point, I'm quite confident I could take your entire team by myself. Not that it would make much difference whether you joined the fight or not."
Kiba very well may have started a fight then and there if the proctor for the first exam hadn't chosen that moment to address the crowd. It turned out the first exam would be a written test. Sakura would love that, but it was hardly the challenge she would have expected the heavily scarred Morino Ibiki to give. It was going to be a team score, so Kiba was a bit of a concern, but between Hinata and herself, Naruko was fairly certain they'd be fine.
Her confidence quickly took a blow when the tests were passed out and she actually looked over the questions. The difficulty was far beyond anything she'd been expecting. Reading over all nine of the questions, there were only about three of them she was reasonably confident she could answer with maybe two more she might be able to work out of she was lucky.
Even among those five she had any hope of answering, there was only one that was based off what she'd learned in her time as Naruko. The other four she hoped to work through only because of her centuries of experience prior to that.
They couldn't possibly expect any normal Genin to answer these. Sakura maybe, but her friend could hardly be considered normal in that regard. Actually, that was it. She could already see signs of several people around her cheating, and based on the lenient rules regarding such an act, that appeared to be the point of the exam.
In that case, they might be in a pretty good situation. Hinata's byakugan was perfect for this exercise. Assuming Kiba didn't get them thrown out, they should do quite well on the first exam. She just hoped the next exam would be more interesting.
Naruto watched the assembled crowd of genin from his hiding spot just inside the Forest of Death. The second exam looked to be more like what he was hoping for. There should be plenty of opportunities to see what tricks these genin had up their sleeves. Although he was more than a little uncomfortable that there were so many kids taking part in this exam. They were really going to have children fight it out with deadly techniques and little in the way of supervision?
Not to mention that it was Anko who was running this exam. From his encounters with the woman, he wasn't sure she would interfere even if she saw two examinees killing each other. Still, they were all here of their own will. He wasn't in Konoha to change the way their society functioned. So shoving the thoughts aside, Naruto slipped deeper into the forest and waited for the exam to start.
"Kiba, try to use a little more stealth," Naruko berated her teammate, who was making quite a racket as he hurried through the forest without a care.
"Why?" Kiba asked, as he came to a stop next to her on large branch she was standing on. "We need to run into another team anyway if we're going to get an earth scroll."
"Because I would prefer our 'running into another team' doesn't involve getting ambushed by them," Naruko replied.
"Don't worry, none of our competition looked all that dangerous," Kiba insisted dismissively. "We'll blow through this as easily as the first exam."
"Considering you could have literally slept through the entire first exam and still passed, you'll have to forgive me if I don't find our performance all that impressive," she fired back.
That said, the first exam had eliminated well over half the participants. Mostly lost out to the final question. She had been pleased to see that none of her fellow rookie genin had caved in the face of such an obvious psychological ploy.
"I think we should be more careful too," Hinata chimed in. "They might be stronger than they look."
"Exactly," Naruko agreed, silently amused that Hinata had no idea that Naruko herself was probably the prime example of just that. "Besides, there's no reason teams from the same village can't work together. We might be outnumbered in a fight."
"Fine," Kiba finally agreed. "I'll try to keep it quiet as long as we get out of this part of the forest quickly. It reeks of snakes."
"Whatever you say," Naruko agreed in order to appease him, even passing off the opportunity to tease him about being scared of a few snakes just to get him to shut up. She started off in a random direction only to be stopped almost immediately by Kiba.
"Not that way," he insisted pointing off in a direction very close to where she'd just been headed. "The smell is coming from over there."
Looking at where he was pointing her eyes locked onto another pair that had been watching them from between the trees. As if provoked by being spotted, the largest snake she'd ever seen came dashing out of the forest at high speed right toward them. The three of them scattered, avoiding the forty foot long reptile, as it slammed into branch they'd just been standing on, easily ripping it from the tree.
Naruko ricocheted off a nearby tree heading straight back for the snake as she pulled out a kunai and slammed it down into the large eye. She was startled when the resistance of the creatures flesh gave way as the whole thing vanished in a puff of smoke.
"A summon," Naruko realized aloud. "Which means the summoner is around somewhere."
"Yes, and I admit I wasn't expecting you to take care of my little pet so easily," a voice called out as a Kusa ninja stepped out from behind a tree. He looked to be a couple years older than her teammates and she was having trouble deciding if the straw hat he wore added to or detracted from the overall creepiness of his appearance.
"Keep an eye out for his teammates," Naruko ordered, and was pleased to see Hinata activating her Byakugan.
"Watch out, he's ..." Hinata started to cry out, but was interrupted by the Kusa-nin who moved far faster than Naruko would have thought possible for a genin and planted a fist in her gut. The blow sent her flying back a dozen feet only to be stopped when she crashed into a large tree, falling limply to the forest floor.
"Now, now," their opponent chided the fallen girl, "I can't have you giving away all my secrets so soon."
"Hinata!" Kiba cried out, running to check on the fallen girl with Akamaru following right behind him.
As much as Naruko was worried about her teammate as well, she knew Kiba's actions were a mistake. They had to take care of the threat in front of them before they could help Hinata. Indeed, only Naruko's quick actions deflected a wave a shuriken that were already flying at Kiba's exposed back. The Kusa-nin followed up by charging right up to Naruko's face. She barely got her guard up in time, but rather than attacking, the other genin simply stood there, barely a foot away from her.
"I find it hard to believe, that mister holier-than-thou Minato actually cheated on his dear wife," the ninja muttered so quietly it almost seemed as if he was talking to himself. "Which makes me wonder if someone has been continuing my experiments."
Naruko's eyes widened in shock. His words, combined with the snake summons, made it clear just who this person was. "Orochimaru," she said softly, causing the man to smile.
"So, you know at least a little of your circumstances," he told her.
This was bad. As strong as their opponent had already shown himself to be, if this was really Orochimaru he'd just been toying with them. They didn't stand a chance against him even if they worked together, and Hinata was already injured.
Jumping back from the man defensively, she quickly let out a large pulse of chakra. If she knew Naruto, and she knew him better than anyone, he wouldn't be able to resist sticking his nose into this test. She only hoped he was close enough to sense that, and that he realized she needed his help. Until then, she could at least try to keep her team safe.
"Kiba, take Hinata and get her to safety," she ordered. "Get help if you can. That man isn't really a genin and he's too strong for us to handle."
"If he's that dangerous, then you should take her to safety," Kiba countered. "I hate to admit it, but you're faster than I am. You'll be more likely to get away. I'll stay here and buy you time."
"There's no time for this," Naruko shouted at him. "He's here after me and isn't likely to let me escape. He probably barely even cares what you do. Now take Hinata and get going. If anything happens to her because you stood here arguing with me it will be on your head."
"Fine," Kiba agreed, more easily than she'd expected, "but as soon as I get Hinata to safety, I'm coming back for you."
Naruko didn't try to convince him otherwise. One way or the other, it was unlikely he would return in time to make a difference. Naruko attacked Orochimaru to try to distract the man while Kiba made his escape, but he dodged around her and shot a snake out of the sleeve of his outfit. It almost seemed like a magic trick as the snake just kept coming out of the sleeve when it already was far longer than it should have been for one of that size.
It was fast too, having almost reached Kiba almost before Naruko fully realized what was going on. Thankfully, before it could hit, Akamaru slammed into the side of the snake. The reptile just bent around the dog, and continued its current course, but it was slowed enough in the process that Kiba was able to jump to avoid it before disappearing into the forest. As she'd hoped, Orochimaru showed little interest in chasing them, turning his attention back to her.
As much as she wanted to keep her cover, this wasn't an opponent Naruko could hold back against. So for the first time in years, Naruko summoned all the chakra she could manage. To her great disappointment this was significantly less than she'd been hoping for. Or at least the spiritual side of her chakra was. She'd known that, in theory that would become an issue at some point. It all came back to her not having a soul.
Religious implications aside, the main function a soul served was the generation of spiritual energy. She considered it one her greatest accomplishments that she'd been able to create a chakra construct that actually mimicked a soul, even generating spiritual energy. Even so, it wasn't nearly as efficient as the real thing.
Still, in theory she should have been able to generate almost twice what she actually had before reaching her limit. She didn't have time to try to figure out what was wrong, but the fact remained that this made a fight she already had a slim chance of winning far more difficult.
Hoping to take him by surprise and end this quickly, Naruko took out a kunai and leaped at Orochimaru, slicing viciously at the disguised man. She was now much more capable of dealing with his speed, and while she wasn't having any luck landing any of her attacks, he was clearly on the defensive. As close as some of them were coming, it looked as if it was only a matter of time before one of them got through and gave him a nasty wound.
Of course none of that made sense. There's no way she should be doing this well against a ninja of Orochimaru's caliber. Is it possible she'd jumped to her conclusion too fast and this might not be Orochimaru at all? It could be someone who worked for him, for example. There was also the chance he was still toying with her, a possibility that annoyed her even if it was in her best interest to buy time.
Also, it was bothering her that she didn't know what Hinata had seen that she was trying to warn them of. Whoever the man was, he had seemed determined not to let her tell them. Halting her attack, she jumped back and focused her senses, trying to use her training to discover what Hinata's eyes had revealed. Focusing first on the ninja in front of her, she felt something wrong about him. Digging deeper, it because clear just what it was. He was simply a clone.
"Backing off now?" the clone taunted. "But you were doing so well."
Trying not to give away what she'd discovered, Naruko spread her senses to the surrounding area, attempting to locate the person who'd created the clones. It was so well hidden she'd almost missed it, but she faintly sense something by a tree she passed over.
Charging toward the clone again, she dodged aside at the last minute, letting fly several kunai at what looked to simply be the trunk of a tree. However, right before it hit, the air shimmered and a figure jumped down to the ground. This unnaturally pale face was far more familiar, matching the pictures she'd seen of Orochimaru.
"I'm impressed you were able to find me," Orochimaru told her, "but this does spoil my fun a bit. Hardly the dramatic entrance I'd hoped for."
Speaking of his fun, Naruko whirled around and charged the clone, quickly reaching it and stabbing a kunai through its chest. The body quickly lost its cohesion and turned to mud, falling down to the ground. Sadly, she couldn't put down this victory to her skill at taking it by surprise. The clone had made no effort at all to stop her attack, its work apparently being over now that the real Orochimaru had been revealed.
"Now you're simply being petty," Orochimaru said playfully as Naruko turned to once again face him. "I think some discipline is in order for rudeness like that."
It was at that moment that Naruko noticed her feet were sinking into the ground. The mud from the clone had somehow spread and transformed the ground around her. She was now up to her knees in the stuff, but didn't seem to be sinking any further. Orochimaru must have done something while her back was to him. She should be able to get out of this easily enough, but she didn't have time as Orochimaru had just activated a jutsu and sent a huge stream of fire her way, the attack sporting a diameter of more than twice her height.
Naruko didn't think she could get out of the way in time with the mud slowing her, but she had another way to save herself. If she adjusted her chakra to have a fire nature, she could interact with the oncoming attack. She could subtly pull at the fire and shift it until it split and flowed around her.
Starting to do just that, she panicked when her mind came up blank with how exactly to what she'd just planned. It was too late to do anything else, and she doubted she could fully defend herself against the attack without taking damage.
However, just when she was preparing for the worst, her mind, perhaps impelled by her adrenaline, seized the answer she'd been looking for. Without a moment to spare, she quickly ran through the technique and breathed a sigh of relief as the fire parted around her, leaving her completely unsinged. Even before the attack fully passed, she was working to free herself, and almost as soon as the fire had cleared from around her, she jumped free from the mud and landed once more on solid ground.
"I don't understand why you're trying to kill me," Naruko told Orochimaru, hoping to stall him. "You were right that the Yondaime isn't really my father. I would think you would want a few answers from me more than you would a corpse."
"Believe me, if I were trying to kill you, you'd be dead," Orochimaru responded, seeming content to hear her out for now. "As for my motivations, simply put, if an attack like that could kill you, then I wouldn't have any interest in you at all."
"Well, I survived, unscathed, so how about we have a little chat," Naruko proposed. "I have some questions for you regarding your experiments as well."
"I suppose an exchange of information could be beneficial," he agreed. "So if Minato isn't your father, then just how did you come to be?"
At that moment, Naruko saw a sight that proved a great relief. Some distance behind Orochimaru, Naruto was leaning out from behind a tree and waving at her. He was keeping his presence hidden so that Orochimaru wouldn't know he was there, and Naruko did her best not to react in a manner that would give him away.
"No, you first," Naruko insisted, feeling much more confident now. "What experiments exactly do you think I might be a continuation of and how deeply did they involve Minato?"
"You're quite bold to make demands of me," he replied with an amused smile. "Still, I'm in a good mood, so I'll humor you. It's a bit of a long story that goes back to my childhood. Even as brilliant as I was, I was still a child, and as such not immune to such childish traits as being captivated by stories. However, while most children idolized such figures as the Hokages, there were other, much older stories that I enjoyed most."
Naruko was beginning to see where this was going, but was still missing a key or two that would tie everything together. To start with, she hadn't thought her father was famous enough that any stories of him would have survived.
"I loved to hear tell of the Red Demon," Orochimaru continued. "According to the tales, he traveled throughout the land hunting down all who angered him. As the stories go, he used flames that would burn through anything, and was completely unstoppable, destroying whole armies sent to oppose him."
Naruko grimaced at the embellishments made of her old vendetta against Akatsuki. She did wonder for a moment how anyone knew of her flames, when there had been no survivors the one time she'd used them. Although she supposed with the burned flesh, charred bones, and melted armor, it wouldn't have been hard to piece together what had happened should anyone who knew of Akatsuki's plans gone to the cave to see why there had been no word.
"I spent a great deal of time researching the stories," Orochimaru informed her, "hunting down any details I could find. Finally, I came upon a person who swore that his family had once known the Red Demon himself and even knew where he had lived. Following his directions, I came to the ruins of a house with a single weatherworn gravestone. For a genius such as myself, it was a simple matter to dig up the remains and use them to create a clone."
That was it; she finally had the answer to the biggest mystery since she'd arrived. The reason the Yondaime looked just like her father had. This man in front of her had defiled her father's grave, cloning the man in hopes of getting his son. The very thought made her blood boil.
"Of course it was a foolish venture," he admitted. "Given how skilled the man turned out, I may very well have cloned the Red Demon, but if so, it's only proof that man's environment has as much to do with his nature as his genetics. He's strong, but no one would ever consider him a demon. Now, I believe you owe me an answer. Who was responsible for your existence?"
"You'll have to speak to my brother for details on that," she told him unhelpfully.
"I plan to do just that," he assured her, clearly annoyed by her answer. "But you're here now and I expect more information from you than that."
"Don't worry," she replied with a smirk. "He's right here too."
Orochimaru didn't even have a moment to process her words before Naruto, who had been in motion even as she'd been speaking, slammed a fist into the side of the head. The force sent the man tumbling for a moment, but he quickly turned it into a controlled flip and righted himself, skidding to a stop a short distance away. Naruko was looking forward to seeing how Orochimaru fared against the original Naruto, free from the handicap of Naruko's artificial body and soul. The man was going to be in a world of hurt.
Naruto was angry. Not quite at the level where he'd have to worry he might be showing Orochimaru the flames he was so fond of hearing stories of as a child, but certainly angrier than he'd been in quite some time. Maybe it was just all the time he spent in temples, but Naruto considered defiling a man's grave one of the worst things you could do. Using their remains to create a clone of the person just took the depravity to the next level.
He really wished he'd brought his sword with him, as he'd have love to slice a few pieces off of the man, but he had hardly expected to need it. He'd just have to make do with his fists. Actually, that gave him the perfect opportunity to test something he'd been working on.
"Not bad at all," Orochimaru told him appreciatively, from where he stood. "I didn't even sense you coming. So tell me, what exactly are you and how are you related to Minato?"
"Sorry, but I'm not here to talk," Naruto answered, instead advancing forward and resuming his assault.
Orochimaru wasn't as fast as Minato had been. So combined with his own efforts to get back in shape, he had the clear speed advantage in this fight. Still, Orochimaru was slippery and while taking a few blows, avoided any serious damage. He still didn't even look to be taking this completely seriously, almost as if he was just feeling Naruto out to see what he was capable of.
Well, if that was true, Naruto would make him regret it. He directed his senses on Orochimaru, using focus and precision he was sure was beyond that of even elite ninja. What he was attempting to do was much more difficult in the middle of combat that when sitting in quiet meditation, but he soon succeeded, locating his target. Dashing forward, he slipped through Orochimaru's guard and rapidly pressed his finger against several points on the man's arm, forcing small amounts chakra into his body as he did. Sensing that he'd succeeded, he jumped back to admire his handiwork.
Yes, with centuries of training he was finally able to use the fighting style he'd learned as a child in the manner it was intended. He may not be able to see the tenketsu, but that wasn't necessary when he could now locate them by other means.
"Juken?" Orochimaru asked, examining the arm that was now devoid of chakra. "And yet you don't appear to have the byakugan. I'm not sure how you did it, but you interest me more and more."
With only one arm capable of using chakra, Orochimaru should be limited in what jutsu he could use. Still, Naruto was a bit concerned with what tricks he might have up his sleeve. Sparing a glance for Naruko, he moved to position himself between her and Orochimaru, thankful she had the sense to stay out of this so far. He'd feel better if she left completely, but Naruto knew he wouldn't in her shoes, which meant she almost certainly wouldn't, herself.
Naruto was about to go back to work dismantling Orochimaru until he wasn't a threat at all, but was interrupted when a woman jumped out into the clearing. Seeing who it was, Naruto groaned to himself. He had been hoping he wouldn't run into her.
When Anko reached the clearing the Inuzuka kid had directed her to, she felt a thrill go through her when she realized she'd been right and it was Orochimaru. She was grateful she'd been bored enough to go for a stroll through the Forest of Death to see how the kids were faring. Also that the brat had mentioned the snake summon after he'd somehow tracked her down. With all his begging for help and fussing over the Hyuga girl who was just regaining consciousness, she probably would have ignored the whiny genin otherwise.
Now, here she was, face to face with the person she despised more than any other. A nearby groan caught her attention, causing her to turn and see none other than Naruto standing there, with his sister standing a short distance behind him.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded of him, having been so focused on Orochimaru she hadn't even noticed until then.
"We'll have to continue this another time," Orochimaru announced, before she could get an answer. "Preferably someplace where we won't be so rudely interrupted."
So saying, he turned to flee, leaping up into the trees.
"You're not going anywhere," Anko vowed, jumping up after him. However, before she'd landed, Orochimaru turned around and fired a daitoppa at her, the large blast of wind catching her by surprise and sending her flying backwards to hit the ground hard. She cursed herself for her carelessness, having been too focused on her pursuit to prepare for such an obvious ploy.
Anko attempted to resume her pursuit, but she'd already lost sight of the man. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew that at this point she wouldn't find him unless he wanted to be found. So instead she turned her attention back to the other two people standing in the immediate area.
"Why didn't you chase after him?" she asked Naruto, still angry that Orochimaru had gotten away.
"I was just trying to protect my sister," he answered. "I'm no match for a ninja like him. If he wants to leave, I'll count my blessings."
Like Anko was about to buy a lie as weak as that. Orochimaru didn't run unless his self-preservation instinct kicked in, and he was too proud to consider his own student a threat. That meant that something about the other two had him worried, and blond man was the much more likely candidate than his kid sister. Besides, that pale face of Orochimaru's did little to hide bruises. Orochimaru had been in worse shape than either of these two looked to be.
Still, she already knew it was a lie, so there wasn't much point in calling him out on it. Let him think he had her fooled her. So now she just had to decide what to do with this man strong enough to worry Orochimaru and obviously not on good terms with him. It certainly made Naruto much more intriguing than when he'd simply been a chef who learned few neat tricks with his chakra growing up in a temple.
"Speaking of your sister," Anko announced, "I should disqualify her whole team. It's strictly forbidden to have people from outside the exam aid you."
"Even if he was only fighting someone else who was butting into the exam?" Naruko asked.
"He was just an unplanned course hazard," Anko replied with false sweetness. "You don't think Chunin never run into S-class ninja when they don't expect it? Anyway, I said Ishould disqualify you, but I'm willing to overlook this little indiscretion. I'll even keep quiet on the whole matter rather than telling the Hokage all about Naruto meeting with one of Konoha's most wanted criminals. Of course, he's going to owe me a very big favor for this."
"Why do I have the feeling that dealing with the Hokage would be less painful than owing you a favor?" Naruto asked morosely.
"Don't be that way," Anko told him, enjoying his reaction. "Who knows, you might even enjoy the favor."
Anko doubted very much he would, but she didn't need to tell him that. Now, as hopeless as she knew it to be, Anko wasn't quite ready to give up looking for Orochimaru. So bidding the pair farewell, she raced off deeper into the forest.
Kankuro stood next to his sister as the both of them trailed a good distance behind Gaara. Looking back at the three fallen Oto-nin they'd just taken a heaven scroll from to complete their set, he couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable.
"They're all still alive," he pointed out to Temari, making sure to keep his voice low enough that Gaara wouldn't overhear.
"They are our allies," she replied. "Even if they were being arrogant and obnoxious, that doesn't warrant killing them."
"I know that, and you know that," Kankuro told her, "but Gaara never leaves anyone he fights alive. Not of his own volition anyway. I tell you, he's been acting strange ever since we got to Konoha. First he attacks that guy for no reason, and now he just decides to let those three live without us having to convince him or anything."
"He has been acting strange," Temari agreed, "and I'm beginning to wonder if that guy he attacked has something to do with it. It did all start with him. Maybe he's a jinchuriki too."
"See, you noticed it too," Kankuro said, glad she wasn't debating this. "We should tell Baki-sensei. If Gaara isn't in his right mind it could interfere with the plan."
"Even with Gaara's newfound capacity for mercy, do you want to trust it will last if Gaara finds out we're stirring up trouble for him?" Temari asked, causing Kankuro to blanch.
"No, I guess not," Kankuro admitted.
"Good," she replied. "Then we'll just keep quiet and watch him closely. Besides, if he's regained a little of a sanity, I consider that a good thing."
Kankuro thought that the notion of Gaara becoming saner rather than just a different kind of insane was overly optimistic, but his sister's advice was sound, and he'd follow it for now.
Kabuto was surprised to see Orochimaru appear in front of him in the middle of the second exam without so much as a disguise. On top of that, it looked as if he'd recently been in a fight that wasn't as one-sided as Kabuto would have expected from anyone who would be in the Forest of Death.
"Kabuto, I want you to drop out of the exam," he ordered. "I have a new task that needs your attention."
"If you believe that best, I'll do so," Kabuto replied, "However, I should warn you that our team dropping out in the middle of the exam for no reason will look odd. Combined with my abrupt withdrawal from previous exams, it may draw suspicion my way."
In a flash, Orochimaru was by Yoroi's side, grabbing his arm below the wrist and bending it until Kabuto heard the bones in his arm snap. To Yoroi's credit, he merely grunted in response to the pain.
"There," Orochimaru announced cheerfully. "Quitting because one of you has a broken arm shouldn't look suspicious at all. Now, here's what I need you to do."
Kabuto listened closely as Orochimaru explained his plan, interest growing with each detail that was revealed. This certainly came as a surprise, but Kabuto could see now why he was changing the plan at so late a stage. Yes, he was looking forward to seeing what fruit this bore.
Author's Notes:
A much longer break than I intended this time, but don't take it as a sign I'm losing interest in this story. I actually have a fairly good excuse for the delay to the story, in my humble opinion. Massive hemoptysis from diffuse alveolar hemorrhaging with no cause that the doctors can determine, for those who know or care to look up those terms.
Long story short, I spent eight days in ICU plus some additional hospital stay, and recovery time at home after that. Needless to say, this story was a low priority for quite some time, and even when I got back to it, it took some time to gather my thoughts again, since I keep it all my head rather than writing notes or outlines.
That said, I'll get back to more important topics than whining about my health. You may have noticed I only lightly covered a couple of scenes I could have gone into more detail on. I originally did write out the whole first exam and the fight between Ino and Tenten. In the end, I removed them and summarized instead.
This wasn't simply to appease the people who want me to focus more on Naruto and less than Naruko. It was just that no matter how I looked at it, they were just too dull to be covered in such detail. I could have worked on the making them more interesting, but it didn't seem worth delaying the chapter for content that really isn't that important to the story in the first place.
Anyway, with the holiday season coming up, and other distractions (aka video game releases) it's highly unlikely I'll get right back to a chapter a week. That said, you shouldn't need to wait two months for the next chapter either.