Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other series/movie I might use for inspiration.
CHAPTER 10
Who Betrayed Who?
"So...your mission was a success huh...Naruto-kun?" trailed off Orochimaru, asking the seemingly obvious in a rhetorical manner.
Standing before him at attention were the cavalry that he had sent out on a very difficult and important mission, Guren, Naruto, Yakumo, Jirobo, and Jugo. But they did not return alone, for with them was the proof of their mission's success, a group of powerful and talented shinobi in their own right, Zabuza, Raiga, Kimimaro, Gozu, Meizu, Ranmaru, Suigetsu, and last but not least, Haku.
"Hai, the mission was a complete success, Zabuza and his team are now one of us; they have agreed to serve and protect Otogakure no Sato." replied the blonde haired Jinchuuriki with a calm but respectful tone.
"Kukukuku! That is very good Naruto-kun, you and your teammates have done well for Oto...I am very pleased!" replied Orochimaru with a creepy combination of elation and amusement, exhibiting a chilly aura that was all the more emphasized by the darkness with which he and his snake shaped thrown seat shrouded in.
'So this is the Legendary Snake Sannin? His very presence alone is almost unbearable, it is amazing that Ranmaru and the others are able to retain their consciousness under this kind of pressure. This...man's aura is almost as oppressive as the Mizukage just before he enters the initial jinchuuriki state. It would be hard just to survive a battle against him, winning is far out of my reach at the moment' Thought Zabuza with a thoughtful expression etched on his facial features.
'Perhaps Mei was right in her judgement, I was a tad bit hasty ...I was...I am not yet at the level of a Kage, the difference between me and the Mizukage was as big as the ocean itself, and the difference between me and this man is just as telling...I will have to train harder from here on out, the bar is clearly much higher then I thought it was. Even if I can never become the Mizukage, that does not mean that I can't become the leader of this village...one day!' Thought Zabuza with a determined expression.
"Yes well...we had a strong team with a good plan, and we had the element of surprise on our side for the most part. Nevertheless, this is a very big step towards the achievement of our goals, the future seems bright, even if I have to say so myself." replied Naruto charismatically.
"Kukukuku! You have a neck for saying the right words to brighten my mood Naruto-kun - it is an interesting skill that you have, nevertheless...I do hope that your identity was not compromised in the course of your mission, that would have...disatrous consequences..." trailed off Orochimaru with an unmistakeable threatening undertone.
"You need not worry about such a thing, no one from Wave Country will say a thing about me and Otogakure...at least, not until the right moment presents itself." replied Naruto, causing the snake sannin to narrow his eyes at the blonde with a curious expression.
"And what is that supposed to mean exactly?" asked Orochimaru.
"I am not going to go into any long winded explanations right now, but I have written a detailed report about that particular aspect of the mission and given it to our team leader. He will explain everything to you at your own descretion." replied Naruto, never losing the emotionless demeanor that he always maintained when dealing with serious shinobi business.
The details in the report were in actuality not difficult at all to understand, it was pretty straight forward shinobi business. The team spent just over two weeks in Wave Country post their battle with the former mist team, time that was spent weeding out shinobi and civillian spies alike from the country. How this was done was pretty simple enough, Naruto and Yakumo practically put the whole area under lock down and serveillance without the Wave Residents even knowing about it.
Thousands of shadow clones kept watch over the citizens 24/7 under the cover of one of Yakumo's greatest genjutsus for almost two weeks. The clones were very diligent in their work, following, watching, recording, and analyzing everyone's movements with intense scrutiny. the system was effective and consequently, 65 people were captured and interogated of which 63 were found guilty and executed. the other two had their memories of the events wiped out by Yakumo with her mind techniques and were then returned home to continue with their lives.
While all this was happening, the original and the others were able to keep themselves occupied with helping Tazuna complete the bridge, using all of their various special abilities to speed up the process. Jugo and Naruto were able to convince Tazuna into agreeing to a trade alliance with Otogakure that would be mutuallly benefitial, not that Tazuna needed much persuasion anyway, benefits of Naruto's hero status in Wave proving to be more than useful during negotiations.
The second stage of the plan had required that Naruto stood on a podium at the centre of the city on the day of he and his teammates' departure under the pretense that he would be making a final speech to his admirers. The real plan however was to gather all of the people into one place that just so happened to be within the range of Yakumo's mind jutsu, a jutsu that was triggered by specific phrases within Naruto's speech. The final trigger was found in Naruto's last sentence spoken before he transported himself and his crew away with the teleportation barrier, leaving behind a nation that would not have any memories of their savior and his allies, Yakumo's jutsu set to ware off only after four and half years, a time that Tazuna would remember the treaty alliance he had agreed with what will be at that point in time a widely known and powerful Otogakure.
"Hmmmm...very well, I will read this report tonight, but now that I think about it, I do not recall myself assigning a team leader for this mission..."trailed off Orochimaru; leaving the question hanging in the air,
This had been done on purpose of course, not to create conflict and disorder, but in order to see how his followers saw themselves in the hierarchial structure of the village given their individual mental and physical abilities, and their different positions and functions in the overall scheme of things.
"I was the leader of this mission, and thereby accept full responsibillity and accountability for any shortcomings and subsequent punishment that you might find and administer respectfully...Orochimaru sama!" responded Jugo with a respectful bow, having stepped forward to take his place next to his brother, causing Orochimaru's serpent like eyes to widen slightly in surprise.
'I was sure that either Naruto-kun would somehow convince everyone to follow him or that Guren would use force to gain control over the mission. Jugo taking control was unexpected, although...maybe it shouldn't have been as much of a surprise, given how well he has managed to lead the sound four." Thought the snake Sannin, not quite sure whether he felt confused or relieved - relieved because Naruto had technically passed his test, a test to determine how much of a threat the charismatic blonde could become to his leadership and authority over his subordinates. It isn't like the sannin could help his insecurity, the boy was powerful and constantly getting stronger, he also could not be controlled with a cursed seal, was strong minded, charismatic and well known and liked within the Otogaure shinobi ranks. He was able to befriend everyone he met and they all seemed to want to follow him to the very pits of hell if it came down to it. Orochimaru was weary of this situation, he was afraid that if it one day came down to it, that the boy could possibly overthrow him, that everyone would betray him and take the boy's side, it wasn't like he had given them much of a reason to be loyal to him, at least, not in comparison to what the boy had given them...love, hope and compassion.
'But then again, according to Kabuto, Naruto-kun is not the type to break a promise without a just cause. Furthermore, he and I have the same dream, the assassination of the Sarutobi Sensei, the complete destruction of Konohagakure no Sato, and the induction of Oto into the big five...maybe I should give him the benefit of the doubt, he does not seem as power hungry as I once thought, at the very least, he possesses not the type of power hunger I thought he had. He won't betray me as long as his loved ones are not harmed by my hand, I can use that to my advantage if I play my cards right, I'm sure of it! Kukukuku! Naruto-kun...you will make a great weapon for me...no!...actually, you are a great weapon...kukuku!' laughed Orochimaru mentally, an evil smirk forming on his outward facial features.
"Very well, Karin!" called out Orochimaru into the darkness
"Hai Orochimaru-sama!" exclaimed Karin, stumbling forward out of the darkness from behind the serpent sannin's throne hastily.
"I want you to escort your new comrades to their living quarters that we have prepared for them and then proceed to give them a tour of their new home. Make sure they are comfortable and well informed and educated about our ways in Oto. When you have done that, you may do as you please until I call on you again!" ordered Orochimaru authoratively.
"H-Hai!" exclaimed Karin hastily, not wasting time, she quickly aproached her new comrades, asking them to follow her as she walked passed the group, heading straight for the door.
'If it was not for my strong sense of smell, I would not have even known that she had been in the same room as us, I couldn't even sense her chakra at all!' Thought Naruto.
"Well she does have that ability to completely extinguish her chakra signature, and she wasn't exhibiting any negative emotions for me to detect. But even so, to think that the most basic and primitive of our sensor abilities would help us detect her presence is very ironic, albeit amusing as well." said Kurami.
"Hehehe! You've got quite a point there Kaa-chan, I guess we should appreciate even the small things in this life huh..." replied the blue eyed blonde.
"True! And don't you ever forget that lesson sochi-kun; the day you do will mark the beginning of your downfall!" replied Kurami with a motherly tone.
"Don't worry Kaa-chan, I will not forget...I promise!" was the blonde's mental response:
"I know you won't...because I won't allow you to...hey didn't you have something to ask of that redhead girl?" asked Kurami with a thoughtful expression.
"Damn I almost forgot; thanks Kaa-chan!" exclaimed Naruto through the mental communication link.
"You're welcome sochi-kun." replied Kurami simply.
"Karin-chan!" callled out Naruto just before the girl touched the door knob; causing her to freeze in her motions almost instantly, a small shiver running through her body at the sound of her Naruto-kun's soft and gentle voice. She hadn't spoken or even made eye contact with him since he returned, to be honest, she was kind of avoiding him at the moment. She isn't one to shy away from public display of affection, especially with her Naruto-kun, but ever since the talk they had before he left for his mission, she really and desperately wanted to show him that she was not just a love crazy and dillusional fan girl. she wanted to show him that she could be a powerful, respectable, competent, and serious kunoichi, worthy of a place by his side, worthy of birthing his children for the new Uzumaki clan, and most importantly, worthy of his love.
"I need to ask a favor of you...if you do not mind?" asked Naruto.
"Um...y-yes? How my I help you Naruto ku...Uzumaki-san?" asked Karin, trying her best not to show any emotion but failing miserably, her arkwardness not hard for even a blind man to see.
'Uzumak san...? When did I become Uzumaki-san to her? This is strange...She's acting strange' thought the blonde.
"Indeed she is, she has never been so formal with you, not even on the first day that we met her! But it miight not be as bad as it seems...I do not sense any negative emotions from her, unlike with Yakumo.'"Said Kurami.
'Yakumo chan...she has every reason to hate me now, I don't blame her!' Thought Naruto with a sad frown.
"When one exposes themselves to a great love, they risk leaving themselves open to a great hate. I know it was not entirely your own fault but you and that crystal girl really did a number on her heart with what the two of you did in Wave Country. I should punish you for what you did...but what you're feeling right now is punishment enough!"
'Does that mean that you...'
"Yes! I'm going to help you mend your relationships with the precious ladies in your life, since they mean that much to you!"
"Kaa-chan I...I don't know what to s-say..." sputtered the blonde haired enigma arkwardly.
"You don't need to say anything, it is my duty as your mother to make sure that you're safe and happy, but a thank you would be appreciated...it would also be the polite and respectful thing to do." replied Kurami nonchalantly.
"What is it that you need Uzumaki-san?" asked Karin with a strong voice, having recovered her composure from the depths of her mind and body and subsequently but unknowingly breaking the blonde Uzumaki's communication link with his mother.
"Ahem! Yes um...the boy on Raiga's back...Ranmaru..."
"What about him?" asked Karin with a curious expression, cutting the blonde off mid-sentence.
"Ranmaru had an unfortunate accident in his earlier years in life, an accident that rendered the lower half of his body permanently incapacitated..."
"And you want me to fix him up so that he can become a valuable shinobi for Otogakure no Sato, right?" asked Karin, finishing off what she thought the blonde was going to say.
"Exactly! You have my full confidence in your medical proficiency, I believe that you will be able to help him." praised Naruto, a shark like smile that Karin couldn't resist morphing into his facial features.
"Hn! Flattery will get you nowhere Naruto-kun!" Exclaimed Karin indignantly before turning around to face the doorway, trying to hide the deep shade of red that was quickly spreading across her face.
"But thank you, it means a lot to me that you can trust me with something so important. And since he wasn't born like this, I can have him walking within a month, that's a promise!" replied Karin passionately before she made her way out of the door, Zabuza and his crew following right behind her.
"No...thank you!" mumbled Naruto to himself, his voice snuffed out by Raiga and Ranmaru's questions and words of praise and gratitude respectively as they made their way down the corridor behind Karin.
"Kukuku! You never leave anything un-attended do you Naruto-kun!" asked Orochimaru rhetorically.
"I guess it can be said that I like to keep a hands on approach, Kaa-chan says that I'm a perfectionist." replied Naruto calmly.
"But nevermind that, why don't you tell us why you returned two months early from your mission with the Akatsuki, and why you have only returned with one hand?" asked Naruto with a serious tone, causing everyone's eyes, Orochimaru's included to widen in surprise.
"Y-you cursed child! how did you...?"
"How did I know? Did you not know that foxes can see quite well even in the dark, besides, you know that I can make out the shapes in my mind of anyone whose chakra that I can sense, and your shape is missing a hand. Furthermore, your chakra has been weakened, so...what happened?" asked Naruto again, causing Orochimaru to narrow his eyes in distain.
He was now starting to have second thoughts about the Samehada DNA that he had implanted on the boy! At the time, he had only been concerned with the success of the experiment not to mention the chance of obtaining a powerful weapon for himself. The boy had been young, still was young, Orochimaru thought that it would be easy to manipulate and control him like he had done with Guren, so he hadn't been too worried about the boy's power.
But he had not long after the experiment found out about the boy's relationship with the Kyubi, a mother/son relationship that was obviously fake if you asked him, it was clear, at least to Orochimaru that the Kyubi was the one manipulating the blonde, and it's claws were so deep into the boy that he could do nothing to remove them. The only thing he could do now was to try and get his hands on an Uchiha body before the blonde became too strong for him to supress, before the boy betrays him. Orochimaru had thought that he could supress the boy's growth without him realising, after all, Naruto would never realise that he was being held back as long as he was learning at least twice as much as what Konoha was teaching him, which was very close to zero.
But that plan also went down the drain, Kyubi was teaching the boy a lot of the Uzumaki Clan techniques of its previous hosts and it was training his mind too, Naruto did not think like an 8 year old, he thought, spoke, fought, and acted like a veteran shinobi. Killing the boy now would probably cause a civil war...scratch that, killing the boy now would turn the whole village against him, with the exception of maybe Guren and Kabuto, although, with the Kyubi by his side, the Uzumaki Clan techniques and the Samehada's powers, Orochimaru was not willing to take the risk of trying to kill the boy, lest he be the one to die instead.
'There is a lot more to the Samehada than what Kisame displayed in the Akatsuki, was it a lack of proficiency with the sword on his part...or was he just hiding a lot of his power from the rest of us...I wonder? In any case, I have at least until we have destroyed Konoha to get myself an Uchiha body, if Naruto-kun plans to betray me, than it will not be until we have completed that goal at least' Thought the Snake Sannin.
"You will mind your own business! If you know what's good for you that is!" replied Orochimaru maliciously.
"Anything involving the Akatsuki is my business! And the leader of our village being weakened is my business in my capacity as the Head Of Village Security, a position that you yourself appointed me to!" responded the blonde with equal intensity, causing Orochimaru to twitch irritably.
"Aargh! Fine, we will speak of this later tonight, you may join Jugo when he delivers the mission report, we will speak then! Now leave! All of you, you are all dismisssed!" spat Orochimaru rudely, causing everyone to start scrambling towards the door. Anyone who knew about the Snake Sannin's volatile and pertulant personality wanted to get as far away from him as possible when he showed that side of himself.
"Guren...! You may remain behind, Orochimaru-sama wishes to have a...word with you in private!" said Kabuto with a creepy undertone, his voice and footsteps echoeing all around the throne room as he walked out of the darkness behind the throne and into the light in front of it.
Guren stopped on her tracks and turned around to face the snake sannin and his right hand man as the rest of the crew left the throne room.
"Kaa-chan!" called out naruto mentally as he walked down the corridor. The others, Yakumo, Jugo, and Jirobo were chattering amongst themselves, discussing the events of the mission and trying to guess what Orochimaru wanted to talk about with Guren. But Naruto was ignoring everyone else, because he already knew what Orochimaru wanted to do with Guren, and he had no intention of allowing it to happen.
"What's the matter Naruto-kun?"
"Remember what Guren said in Wave, about her being Orochimaru-sama's next vessel...?" asked the blonde rhetorically, causing Kurami's eyes to widen in realisation.
"Yes...yes I do remember sochi-kun...what are you planning to do?" asked Kurami.
'I'm going to stop it, I won't allow one of my precious people to die while I sit back and do nothing, I won't allow her to take her body!' exclaimed Naruto passionately.
"Alright! I would have given you the worst hiding if you had been that much of a coward anyway! Don't worry sochi-kun, I support your decision and I will help you! Now hurry up and tell me how we are going to do this!" replied Kurami.
"Okay here goes...right now I'm monitoring their chakra signatures, I will act as soon as Orochimaru-sama approaches her. As you already know, I have already marked her with a hiraishin sealing formula, I will transport myself to her location in order to get her out of the way and then launch a counter attack..."
THRONE ROOM...
"Kabuto!" greeted Guren, not bothering to hide the hostility in her voice. Oh how she hated that four eyed slimy bastard, she didn't understand why Orochimaru valued him enough to make him his right hand man, she personally thought that she would do a far better job and of course was far more deserving of the position. She was more loyal and more powerful than he was, so why was he Orochimaru-sama's right hand man, she just didn't understand.
Up until recently, she had always consoled herself with the fact that Orochimaru-sama valued her enough to make her his next vessel. The fact that he thought that her body was better than even his own had pulled her out of her misery and filled her with an unimaginable happiness. At the time, she had thought this to be an even greater honour and priviledge than to simply be his right hand man, she would actually be a part of Orochimaru's mind and body, she could have served him and been with him for eternity, unlike Kabuto teme!
But now...she wasn't so sure she wanted to give up all of her own hopes and dreams for Orochimaru-sama's ambitions. She still loved him and thought of him as a father, but...was this what she really wanted to do? What about her own happiness, Orochimaru once told her that she was like a daughter to him, but if she was his daughter, shouldn't he have considered her own happiness and her own dreams in his decision?
For a long time now, ever since Naruto-kun joined the village, she had been unhappy. She hadn't understood why the very sight of Naruto-kun made her angry, anxious, and unhappy up until recently. Now she knew, Naruto-kun valued life and lived it to the fullest, and that had made her subconsciously question her desire to disappear into Orochimaru-sama's mind. Naruto-kun loved his friends, made them feel loved, and went to great lengths to ensure their safety, comfort, and happiness, and that had made her wonder why she didn't have someone like that for her. Naruto-kun had his own dreams, goals, and ambitions, and that had made her wonder why she did not have her own and instead, lived solely to fulfill someone elses.
All in all, Naruto-kun had made her question her whole existence when she didn't have the answers, that is why she had taken out her frustrations on him all this time, that is why she had thought that she hated him, because he had made her unsure of herself and left her in limbo.
So she had attacked and insulted him every chance that she could, she felt that he deserved it for what he had done to her, because of what he had taken from her. That was the initial reason behind it anyway, but later developed into something else. Naruto didn't react with neither verbal or physical retliation, he actually gave her attention and acted like it was a game that they played together. He would laugh and run away from her while trying to avoid her attacks, he would even set up harmless pranks on her, heck he even thanked her for taking her time to 'play' with him when they were done.
Guren, without realising it started to look forward to these 'games', she even made sure on many occassions that they would 'accidentally' run into each other, knowing that she would get to spend some 'quality time' with him. Soon, Naruto started having a physical effect on her, Kunoichi bodies developed faster than ordinary civiliian females, so naturally, at age twelve, Guren's body was reacting differently to physical contact with a boy like Naruto, she at times felt like electricity was coursing through her body when she made contact with him, of course she couldn't and wouldn't show this embarrassment to him, but it did inspire her to decrease her ninjutsu attacks on him and increase her taijutsu attacks, just so that she could feel his body against hers.
It was because of these raging hormones that she and Naruto-kun had been at the receiving end of terrible beating from Yakumo, she had trapped them in a genjutsu where she was super fast and super strong and went on to beat the crap out of them, knowing that whatever happened in her genjutsu would be transfered to the real world, in other words, whatever damage they sustained in the genjutsu would be manifested in their real bodies.
Guren blamed herself and tried to convince Yakumo that it wasn't Naruto-kun's fault, that she had forced herself on him...even though she had to secretly admit that he hadn't done anything close to what he could have to stop her. It was just a twisted situation, she'd been avoiding the talk that Naruto promised her like it was the plaque, Naruto, naturally hadn't given up and seeked her out, it just so happened that she had just gotten out of the water when he found her butt naked after a refreshing swim.
Her pervert detector had alarmed her to his presence and the next thing she knew, she was on top of him and strangling him, a strangling that turned into a wrestling match and ended up with a a shouting match, the two pre-teens confessing their feelings for one another, with Naruto-kun finally acknowledging her as one of his most precious people.
Feelings and hormones raging, Guren had taken charge of the situation and found herself forcing the blonde to eat out of her wet and swolen womanhood. Lost in his own ecstacy, the blonde haired Uzumaki did not notice Guren removing his clothing until he was already naked, the 12 year old initiating the Blonde's first sexual experience by reciprocating the oral pleasure she was receiving, taking in the blonde's five and a half inches into her throat in the six nine position.
They had pleasured each other until they both orgasmed at the same time, but that had not been enough to satiate Gurens lust, she wanted her Naruto-kun inside of her and she would have him inside of her if it was the last thing she did in her life, it was the only thing that mattered at the time, to become one with her Naruto-kun.
He'd refused her, stating that what they had done was bad enough as it was, and that he had promised Yakumo-chan that they would share their first time together.
Jealousy and rage had consumed her to the brink of madness, she'd surprise attacked him, impaling him into the ground with her crystal spears, she knew he could handle the pain so she wasn't too worried.
She'd just placed the tip of his erection against her vulva, preparing to impale herself when Yakumo had found them, and the rest was all history, Yakumo made sure that they wouldn't be even thinking about sex any time soon.
"You know why you are here, isn't that so, Guren-chan?" asked Kabuto with a mad gleem in his eyes, pushing up on his glasses with his middle and index finger.
"That's Guren-sama to you, scum!" esclaimed Guren, gritting her teeth in anger at the blatant disrespect from Kabuto.
"Aaaah...well in any case, as you already know, Orochimaru-sama's current body has become surplus to requirements, he will need a new body, one that will not only be strong enough to contain his chakra...but one that can't be as easily damaged as the current one..." trailed off Kabuto, leaving Guren to put two and two together in her own mind.
'Oh no! This can't be happening I-I still have so much I want to do...I-its too early!' Thought Guren frantically.
"B-but! But I thought you said you wouldn't need me for another three years, y-you promised! Orochimaru-sama!" exclaimed Guren in a panic, body shaking violently and eyes wide and darting around the room looking for a quick escape.
"Hai...indeed I did make that promise, but the promise was made under the assumption that this body would be useful to me until that time has passed, but as you can see, the circumstances have changed! Guren, I would prefer it if you allowed the ritual to occur willingly, I don't want to have to use force...but I will if that is what it comes down to!" said Orochimaru with a sad but determined expression.
"Orochimaru-sama...I...I can't!" exclaimed Guren, making a swift turn and running straight for the door.
'Naruto-kun...I...I want to live...I want to live my life with you! I-I'm coming Naruto-kun, wait for me!' Thought Guren.
"You won't get away from me...you're mine!" exclaimed Orochimaru. A giant serpent like figure flew out of his mouth at great speeds as soon as his words registered, leaving behind a a human shell on the throne.
The figure was a giant serpent that took up most of the room, the snake like figure composed of hundreds of smaller snakes with small humanoid hands sticking out closer to the head. The head of the snake looked like a mix between a snake and a human's face with long black hair, upon closer inspection, the snake can be recognised as the one and only leader of Otogakure no Sato, Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin.
Orochimaru, in his serpent form was too fast for Guren, headbutting her on her spine, Guren subsequently crashing head first against the steel door.
"Aaaargh!" cried out Guren, but she was not the self proclaimed strongest kunoichi in Oto for nothing, she'd already covered her body with her crystal armour beforehand and therefore didn't feel any pain at all, the loud cry more from surprise more than anything else. Guren quickly turned around, fully prepaired to defend herself against her master, with the intent to kill if neccessary.
"Aaaaaaah! What the hell are you...Monster!" cried out Guren in astonishment and mostly fear, pressing her back against the steel door violently, almost as if she was trying to faze through the door. She hadn't expected to see something like this when she decided to face her foe in battle, but this...was this thing Orochimaru's true form, is this what she had wanted to become a part of all this time!
Her hesitation however was all that Orochimaru needed to make his move, springing himself at the 12 year old with his maw wide open at an incredible speed that she couldn't hope to cope with from such a close range, at least, not with her mind as paralyzed as it was from shock and fear. The sannin unlocked his jaw bones and extended his mouth wide enough to swallow her whole. Guren couldn't even move a single muscle or nerve in her body, she couldn't even mold chakra for her crystal release ninjutsu, having been paralyzed by Orochimaru's temporary paralyse technique, a jutsu that the sannin should have been greatful for, because otherwise she would have been preparing to crystalize his insides with her kekkei genkei.
'I guess this is it...snifff...I'm sorry...Naruto-kun!' Thought Guren with a river of tears running down her soft cheeks.
SNAP!
Was the sound as Orochimaru's jaw snapped shut around the spot where the twelve year old prodigy had been. But something was wrong, the ritual should have begun as soon as he'd swallowed her, he shouldn't even be here right now, he should be inside his mental dimension where he could fully subdue Guren's mind before taking over her body. So why was he still conscious and not in that mental dimension, and why didn't he even feel like he had swallowed a whole human being, he felt the same as he did before for some reason.
"You can open your eyes now, I won't let anything bad happen to you...Guren-chan!" said Naruto softly, a gentle smile displayed on his facial features. He was standing on the wall on Orochimaru's far right hand side with Guren's form wrapped inside his embrace bridal style.
'That voice! I-It couldn't be...could it?' Thought Guren in surprise and happiness, her eyes snapping wide open the instant she heard that unmistakeable voice, making direct eye contact with the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen.
"Naruto-kun! I-Is it really you...y-you came back for me?" asked Guren, unable to believe the fairytale like event that she was experiencing, surely the real world was too cruel to allow something like this to happen, wasn't it?
"Hai...it's really me. And, of course I came back for you, you're a very precious person to me, someone that I love...someone that that I'd be willing to die for." said Naruto affectionately.
"Naruto-kun I...I...I love you...! Sniff...I love you so much! Thank you...thank you so much...Naruto-kun!" cried Guren with tears of happiness, traping the blonde haired Uzumaki in a crushing embrace.
"How did you get inside here...and more importantly, what is the meaning of this Naruto!" exclaimed Orochimaru angrily. Naruto turned around to face the snake sannin, jumped down to the floor, placed Guren on her feet and made eye contact with the giant snake, an angry but curious expression plastered on his facial features.
"So this is your true form, not entirely unexpected I must admit, but still shocking nontheless." said Naruto simply, carefully studying his possible opponent with intense scrutiny.
"W-what are we going to do now Naruto-kun?" asked Guren nervously.
"Just keep your eye on Kabuto-sama, if he tries to help Orochimaru-sama, kill him!" replied Naruto simply.
"Oh my, how cruel of you...Naruto-kun, here I was, thinking that I was also one of your most precious people,...how deceitful of you!" said Kabuto with mock hurt, not forgetting the trade mark habit of pushing his glasses into place. Naruto however chose to ignore him, not willing to keep the snake sannin out of his sight for even a split second.
"Shut up you lowly back stabbing scum! Don't you dare insult Naruto-kun...or else!" exclaimed Guren maliciously.
"Oh...I do not intent to fight you, see...I'm not much of a fighter, just your friendly neighbourhood healer! Let us just stay out of it alright, and let Orochimaru-sama and Naruto-kun sort out their differences. I won't interfere as long as you don't interfere either." responded Kabuto with a smirk and tone that made it hard to believe a single word that came out of his mouth.
"Fine!" said Guren, jumping in front of Kabuto, positioning herself in a battle stance not to close and not to far from her opponent.
"So...you've finally decided to make your move...Naruto-kun, Kukuku...I didn't expect you to betray me this soon though, I was sure that you would wait until we had destroyed Konoha and assassinated Sarutobi-sensei! It would have been the logical thing to do, I guess you're not as smart as I thought, your impatience will be your downfall, Kukuku!" laughed Orochimaru maniacly. Naruto on the other hand just stared at Orochimaru as if he head grown a second, finding the snake sannin's analogy to be completely ridiculous.
"It is a pity that you have to die, you would have made a great weapon for me, but it matters not, I'll just have to kill you and seal the Kyubi into Yukimaru! You will pay for this betrayal" exclaimed Orochimaru venomously.
"Bastard! You told me that he was dead! What is the meaning of this?" shouted Guren in anger and surprise.
"Hehehe! Why do you pretend to care about him, when you are the one that killed his mother and left him all alone?" asked Kabuto with a cruel smirk, taking comfort in the hurt showing in Guren's eyes.
"What are you all talking about, Guren, who's this Yukimaru person?" asked Naruto with a confused expression.
",,,," Guren couldn't bring herself to respond to the blonde's question, afraid that he would hate her if he found out what she did to the poor innocent boy, to the woman that took her in, fed her, treated her injuries, and even welcomed her to her family. She was afraid that he wouldn't feel the same way about her if he found out how much of a bad person she was.
"Kukuku! Yukimaru is a weapon we had kept in store should our current weapon prove to be defective. He is a boy with powerful chakra and life-force much like that of the Senju and Uzumaki-clan, but more importantly, is his ability to subdue and control bijuu. He will be very useful to me now that you have betrayed ussss!" replied Orochimaru with mad glee.
"Hmmmm...I see, but why do you keep accusing me of betraying you, when it is you that has betrayed me?" asked Naruto.
"Silence! You will not talk yourself out of this!" exclaimed Orochimaru, launching nearly a hundred snakes from his body towards the blonde at blinding speeds. The blonde however was to fast in his reaction, throwing a tri-pronged kunai directly towards the barrage of snakes before clasping his hands together in concentration.
"Sealing Art: Teleportation Barrier!" shouted Naruto. The barrage of snakes was transported away to a different location with the hiraishin no jutsu as soon as they got within a metre of the kunai, the kunai left alone to continue on its path towards Orochimaru's head.
'Masaka! I-it can't be! That was...' Orochimaru was cut of mid-thought by the approaching kunai, moving his head to the side in order to avoint a head stab. But, this was exactly what Naruto had been counting on, transporting himself to the moving kunai that was now on Orochimaru's blind side.
"This is the Flying Thunder God level 2...and it's over!" said Naruto, his voice projecting from the space behind Orochimaru's head, whose eyes were wide eyed in complete and utter shock, not having expected to face the Fourth Hokage's jutsu in his lifetime, or any other lifetime for that matter.
Naruto, having cought the tri-pronged kunai in his right hand, quickly channelled his chakra into the kunai, using sound vibrations to extend his reach and increase the penetration exponentially.
"Sound Style: Ultra Vibrating Blade!" whispered Naruto, the invisible extention of the vibrating blade cutting through the snake sannin's neck like a hot knife through butter, effectively decapitating the gigantic serpent, its body twirling violently before crashing into the ground, Naruto landing on his feet right next to the snake's body.
"It's over...now, I'm going to seal away this body for further examination and study." mumbled Naruto to himself, taking out a sealing scroll from the kunai pouch on his right leg.
'Naruto-kun...y-you did it!' thought Guren happily, a small smile forming on her facila features.
"N-no way! This can't be...O-Orochimaru-sama c-can't be dead! I-It's impossible!" Exclaimed Kabuto with wide eyes, falling down onto his knees in despair.
Naruto froze in place just as he was about to unravel the scroll to perform the sealing, and not because he wanted to or by reflex either, but because he couldn't move no matter how much he wanted to.
"What's going on! Why can't I move my body...Kaa-chan!" asked Naruto frantically.
"It seems you have ingested some kind of fast acting paralysis poison into your body, look carefully, try to identify where it is coming from, I'll take care of the poison in the mean time!" replied Kurami with a motherly and comforting tone, trying to make sure that Naruto knew that everything would be fine as long as he had her.
'Alright!' said Naruto, looking at the first place his mind went to in order to identify the source of the poison, the corpse in front of him.
"Kukukuku! Kukukuku!" laughed Orochimaru gleefully, snakes shooting out of the 'snake corpse' from where the neck was severed and into the wound below Orochimaru's head, connecting the two body parts back together as the snakes pulled the head back to the rest of the body.
"You're still alive huh...I should have known you wouldn't die that easily." said Naruto calmly.
"Kukuku! You can't fool me Naruto-kun, I know that you can't move a single muscle in your body, you see, this the body of the white snake, the blood inside this body evaporates immediately upon contact with the atmosphere, releasing a strong paralyzing poison into the atmosphere that only I am immune to...Kukukuku!" laughed Orochimaru maniacly.
"One thing I want to know before I kill you though, how did you learn to do that?" spat Orochimaru, his gleeful demeanor changing into one of anger and contempt.
"Learn to do what?" asked Naruto casually.
"The Hiraishin no Jutsu you worthless traitor!" exclaimed Orochimaru indignantly.
"Aaaah you mean that...I don't know, I guess it was a fluke." replied Naruto nonchalantly, a shark like smirk forming on his face, the sight of an indignant looking snake quite an amusing sight to him.
"Krrrrrk...fine, it doesn't matter anyway, since you're going to die anyway, but why did you betray me, was this girl really worth your life?" asked Orochimaru, unable to contain his curiousity any longer.
"I never had the intention of betraying you nor did I betray you, you...are the one that betrayed me." replied Naruto, eyes narrowed in anger, shocking everyone within the vicinity, even Guren.
"I...betrayed you? What nonsense is this! How is it that I am the one who betrayed you?" asked Orochimaru incredulously.
"We had an agreement, that none of my precious people would be hurt by your hand or by your orders as long as I served you and Otogakure no Sato loyally, yet here you are, trying to do the very thing that you promised you wouldn't do, shattering the binding agreement that we made to each other! Tell me...Orochimaru-sama, exactly who is the traitor here, between the two of us?" asked Naruto rhetorically, causing Orochimaru's eyes to widen for the figurative millionth time on this particular day.
"B-but you and Guren hate each other's guts! She was never one of your precious loved ones!" exclaimed Orochimaru incredulously.
"You're wrong, Guren and I care deeply for each other...we just have a different way of showing it." replied the blonde.
'H-he's not lying...but this is impossible, does that mean that he really didn't betray me...that I b-betrayed him instead!' thought Orochimaru, unable to bring himself to believe this kind of twisted irony, a deep frown settled on his snake like features.
"So this was just a big misunderstanding after all, for what it is worth, I apologise. But...I need that body, there is no one else available!" said Orochimaru apologetically, slithering across the ground towards a terrified Guren.
"N-no! G-get away from me! N-Naruto-kun!" cried out the crystal release user.
"So, you're going to continue to persue her body...you're going to betray me?" asked Naruto, a silent rage festering into his heart.
"It is unfortunate, but it has to be done...don't worry, you will not have to live with the pain of your loss for too long, I will release you from your misery as soon as I complete the ritual...Gwah!" screamed Orochimaru in pain, his body shredded into four huge chunks in the blink of an eye, a giant, red chakra claw tearing into his body at an incredible speed and accuracy.
"I didn't want to have to do this, but you have left me with no choice! I'm going to have to kill you!" said Naruto in a deep and demonic voice. Orochimaru quickly used the gathering of the snakes technique to put his body back together, facing the foe that was supposed to be under his paralysis jutsu. What he saw suprised him greatly, this was actually the first time he had seen the boy utilize the Kyubi's power, and while he would never show it or admit it, he found the boy more than intimidating in this form. The boy didn't even look very human now, he really looked like a demon with those red animalistic eyes, clawed hands, darker and longer whisker marks and the three tailed cloak surounding his body.
"Kukuku! So the Kyubi's power can render poison a useless factor against you, how interesting! But I'm afraid you're way in ahead of yourself Naruto-kun, you cannot kill me, I'm imortal! I will never die! Kukuku!" laughed Orochimaru.
"Hehe, we'll see about that!" replied Naruto with a sinister smirk, a fourth tail growing on his back as his skin started peeling off.
"Naruto-kun, remember what we practised in training. Use your your shark skin scales to protect your body from the side effects of using my chakra! Do it now, quickly!" Ordered Kurami.
"Okay!" replied Naruto. Following his mother's instructions, the blonde grew scales all over his body before allowing Kurami's chakra to cover his whole body, transforming into a miniature Kyubi that was made out of a dense layer of red chakra that made him look like he was made out of burning coal.
"Did you know, that bijuu chakra is highly corrossive to the human body, especially to that of a non-jinchuuriki who doesn't have a jinchuuriki seal to purify the corrosive chakra." said Naruto, causing Kabuto's eyes to widen in realisation.
'That chakra! I have never felt anything so evil, strong, and malicious in my enire existence. I don't think even Orochimaru-sama could survive if Naruto-kun manages to filter that chakra into his system, his whole body would completely decompose! Furthermore, Orochimaru-sama's immortality extends only as far as his chakra reserves, if he runs out of chakra, then he will surely die! I have to stop this before it gets out of hand!' thought Kabuto wearily.
"Wait! Orochimaru-sama...Naruto-kun...ahem...what if I told you that there was another way to settle this without killing each other?" asked Kabuto deplomatically.
"What are you talking about Kabuto? The only way that could happen would be if you gave me your body instead, you know what...that wouldn't be such a bad idea, I've always been fascinated by that yin healing wound destruction technique of yours. Who knows what other secrets I might discover in that body of yours." suggested Orochimaru slyly, causing Kabuto to shiver involuntarily, caughing slightly in an effort to regain his composure.
"Ahem! Well, I had someone even better in mind! You see, I kept a back up in store as plan B, in case something happened to Guren-chan during a mission, or...in case she turned traitor!" said Kabuto, spitting out the word 'traitor' with venom.
"And who is this person, Kabuto?" hissed Orochimaru.
"Misumi's older sister, Tsurugi Masaski!" said Kabuto, a confident smirk plastered into his face.
"Not that I do not appreciate your efforts, but why did you choose her, Kabuto-kun?" asked Orochimaru curiously.
"Well, for one, we have both hers and Misumi's blessing to conduct the ritual on her, but more importantly, her kekkei genkei will probably complement your fighting style even more than Guren's powers would have. You have occassionally expressed your displeasure with regards to kenjutsu and taijutsu, noting on many occassions how those particular skills were lacking in comprison to your ninjutsu. With Masaki's body, you can take the hebi taijutsu and kenjutsu style to a new level, just imagine, the ability to dislocate and reposition your joints to execute and dodge impossible moves, the ability to stretch your limbs to ridiculous lengths in order to launch surprsie attacks with your sword and fists. Even further, you can also improve on your hebi ninjutsu withenough creativity and practise with her kekkei genkei! Orochimaru-sama, this is a great opportunity, we should not waste it." urged Kabuto charismatically, providing a more than convincing argument for his plan.
"Hmmmm...where is this girl that you speak of?" demanded Orochimaru.
"She is on her way as we speak, she should be here in aproximately two hours!" replied Kabuto hastily, hoping beyond hope that Orochimaru-sama would abandon his persuit of Guren's body in favor of Masaki, persuing Guren's body was too dangerous of an endavor at the moment.
"Fine! She will have to suffice for now!" submitted Orochimaru. This Masaki girl didn't sound like a bad idea at all, in fact, the way Kabuto vouched for her, it almost sounded like she was the better option, like she was created just for him.
"It is alright Naruto-kun, you can have Guren back, there is no longer a need for you to fight us, we are on the same side." said Kabuto in a polite and placating manner. Naruto, seeing Orochimaru retreating to his throne, also deactivated his jinchuuriki and shark skin state, reforming into his normal, human state.
"Fair enough, but we have a lot to discuss still. I want a renegotiation of our deal, and I want compensation for this betrayal!" demanded Naruto.
"Fine, you can have whatever you want, as long as it is within reason!" hissed Orochimaru impatiently, honestly, he wanted nothing more than for the blonde to get the hell out of his line of sight, this was just too much Naruto for one day.
"As compensation for your betrayal, you will give Yukimaru back to me and Guren and you will register the two of us as his legal guardians...!"
CHAPTER END
Phew! That took real long, writers block and laziness getting the better of me!
Anyway that was the chapter, hope yaw enjoyed it.
For those of you who do not know, Misumi is one of Kabuto's teammates from the chuunin exams, the one who can stretch his limbs and constrict people. He was the one that fought Kankuro.
Masaki is the girl that Orochimaru was initially using as his body when he fought the sandaime, I do not know her real name nor do I know her heritage, but I decided to make her Misumi's sister in this fic.
The title of the next chapter will be: MEETING WITH THE KAZEKAGE
Thank you for reading and please review.