And...I'm back! A little late, though. Sorry about the fiasco earlier. I uploaded the chapter, only to find it was missing a part, took it down, and here I re-uploaded it! Yay!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Someone asked why Naruto does not have the [Observe] power, and my answer to that is don't worry, because Naruto will obtain that skill at a later date.

Forest of Death, Konohagakure

Pass the First Chunin Exams!

Objectives:

Pass the test. [Complete]

Cheat once without being detected. [Complete]

Pass the tenth question. [Complete]

Rewards:

+100 EXP

Naruto grimaced when reading the rewards. "These suck...can't they give me some better stuff?"

"You got something to say back there, blondie?" The purple-haired lady called out. Naruto twitched at being called 'blondie', but didn't rise to the challenge as he shook his head. Anko grinned, walking back to the front of the crowd.

"Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, the Second Exam is designed to cut down your numbers by half. Currently, there are 20 remaining squads, so only a maximum of 10 will pass the second exam." The crowd began to murmur before she continued, "each team will be handed a scroll. The scroll will be either an Earth or Heaven scroll; neither are meant to be opened. In order to pass the test, you will need one scroll of both type and make it to the center of the forest of death. Each team will have separate starting gates, and no one will know what kind of scroll another team has, so this bit's up to chance. Any questions?"

"Yes…" a genin in the back raised his hand, "how much time will we have to complete the task?"

"You will have three days," Anko smiled sadistically at the thought, "any more questions? No? Alright...all teams please proceed to their starting points."

"Here's your scroll," a chunin proctor handed Naruto a package before moving on. "Keep it safe."

Naruto nodded before brandishing it at his teammates, "we have an earth scroll. When do we set off?"

"Right now," Sasuke nodded at Anko, who whistled.

"Alright! Second Exam, begin!"

Team 7 immediately leapt onto a nearby tree as they began their journey towards the middle. "So, what's our plan?"

"I think I saw another team with an Earth scroll nearby, but that's useless," Sasuke replied, "I think we should head inwards quickly and then wait for other teams to show up."

"Good idea," Naruto nodded appreciatively. "Sakura, you?"

"I think Sasuke-kun's idea is ingenious!" The pinkette jumped at the chance to show her love, "we should follow it!"

Naruto sighed, what did I ever do to be left with teammates like this? Meanwhile, he brought up [Basic Skills] section as they continued along.

[Searching] - 1/1000

[Tracking] 1/1000

[Hiding] 1/1000

[Night Vision] - 1/1000

[Sprint] - 1/1000

[Cooking] - 1/1000

[Fishing] - 1/1000

[Seduction]-1/1000

[Cheating]-60/1000

If I remember correctly, the skill [Cheating] wasn't there the last time I checked, Naruto thought, so that means the system actively adds new skills to my list every time I use a new skill. That means I can increase my skill list and my aptitude for each. That only leaves the question of what skills I should focus on… Naruto looked up, closing the window, and caught Sasuke staring at him. The Uchiha quickly tore his gaze away from him as soon as he saw the blonde looking, leaving the blonde wondering. Is he gay or something? I hope not, because that would make things really awkward…or maybe he saw me staring at the window?

Now that I think about it, emo-boy does look familiar-

"Aaahh!" Sakura shrieked as a hail of kunai and shuriken rained down on them, missing them only by a hair's breadth, prompting Team 7 to take defensive positions as they surveyed their surroundings.

"Keep it down, banshee," Naruto hissed at Sakura, "anymore shrieking and you'll tell them exactly where we are."

"I wasn't shrieking," Sakura defended herself, "I was just surprised."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto waved her retort away, "whatever helps you sleep at night-there!" He launched several shuriken to his left, where they all hit a target. He allowed himself a smirk before the 'enemy' burst into smoke, revealing a wooden log.

"Suiton: Teppodama (Water Release: Gunshot)!" A barrage of water bullets shot towards them, which the trio barely dodged by flipping onto a higher branch. The projectiles narrowly missed them, splattering far away on a nearby tree.

"Using the element of surprise to your advantage, eh?" Sasuke smirked, "not bad. But nothing can hide from the Sharingan! Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!" He rapidly formed several hand signs, before releasing a massive ball of fire from his mouth at a seemingly random direction.

The fireball erupted forward, burning away a section of leaves that a figure leapt out from. Naruto sighed at Sasuke's show-off antics, choosing to ignore it this time.

"I didn't think we had the last Uchiha on our hands here," the figure revealed himself, turning out to be a man clad in a grey bodysuit, goggles, and mask. His headband revealed several curvy lines, the symbol of his village. "Hey! Kagari, Muben, you two might as well come out now!" Two other ninja leapt out of the brush to land next to their comrade, both dressed in similar garb.

"Glad you see that you can't hide," Sasuke said cockily, "now, I recommend you three hand your scrolls over. That way, you won't get hurt."

"You seem to have misunderstood…" The first genin smirked, "we're going to test your so called 'Sharingan'." The three immediately leapt into action, Kagari and Muben leaping forward to engage in battle.

Naruto grinned, immediately letting [Kyuubi Chakra] circulate through his body, giving him a more feral appearance. He dodged a roundhouse kick easily, charging his own chakra into his fist and ramming it into Kagari's stomach, sending him staggering back.

"Take this!" Naruto leapt into the air with a spinning motion as he followed up on his advantage to perform a spin kick-

only to be stopped when a water ball slammed into his chest, propelling him off course and into a tree. He looked up to see the apparent enemy leader smirking with his hands formed together in a seal.

Ranged attacks combined with taijutsu? This isn't looking good, Naruto thought as he narrowly dodged a punch. He attempted to retaliate with a fist, but was once again forced on the defensive as a water bullet narrowly missed him. Looking over, he found Sasuke in a similar predicament as all Sakura did was get in the way. "Sakura! Go for the guy in the back!"

The pinkette nodded, leaping forward as she threw a kunai at the ranged fighter. The leader merely deflected the kunai with a water bullet, and shot the next water bullet at the pinkette. Sakura shrieked as the bullet slammed into her, sending her careening over the branch.

Naruto cursed as he was forced to dodge another barrage of bullets as Kagari took the chance to pursue him, launching himself at the blonde with a combo of attacks. The blonde barely fended these off before retaliating with a hook-only to be interrupted by another water bullet.

The blonde roared in anger, his feral instincts getting the better of him for a moment as he ran up a tree trunk to narrowly dodge a spray of water bullets. Taking advantage of the momentum, he used the trunk as a springing board and rammed into Kagari shoulder-first, but a huge bullet slammed into his stomach, knocking the breath out of him and sprawling onto a tree branch.

Kagari merely brushed the dust off of him and gave what appeared to be a grin, albeit Naruto couldn't really tell with the mask and all, and charged again. Naruto groaned; his health was now only at around 65%, meaning he had already wasted 35% in this battle. Kagari, meanwhile, seemed to be at something like 75%, as he had avoided most of the devastating attacks through means of his support.

We can't keep this up forever, Naruto blocked another attack narrowly, and any will burn up all the [Kyuubi Chakra]. We have to separate them…

Naruto let Kagari slam his feet into his chest, sending him flying backwards into a tree trunk. The blonde groaned in pain, purposely rolling off the branch and landing down on a lower one. The ranged one shouldn't be able to hit us from here…

Kagari leaped down to pursue his advantage, drawing out a kunai as he landed next to the apparently downed blonde. "Heh! You weren't so good after all," The genin smirked, twirling the kunai. "Now, hand the scroll over before you get hurt."

"You wish," Naruto retorted, standing up confidently, "now, your little friend can't help you."

Kagari's eyes widened as he realized his blunder, and turned tail to flee when Naruto slammed a kick into his body. Kagari grunted in pain as his body was shifted sideways, ramming him into a tree trunk. He could only take hits at this point, and his consciousness left him as he collapsed onto the branch. "Now, for the other two."

When he returned, he found Sasuke had found a use for Sakura, who was standing a distance away but countering the water bullets with shuriken. Sasuke cleaned up his opponent easily without the support. The leader saw the situation and decided to make a run for it as he leaped downwards.

"Not so fast!" Naruto barked, following him down but with [Kyuubi Chakra] speeding him up. The leader unleashed a barrage of bullets to cover his retreat which Naruto dodged, and the blonde took the chance to catch up and land a devastating punch on his opponent. The opponent mentioned collapsed instantly, the pain overtaking him. Naruto withdrew his [Kyuubi Chakra] circulation as he began to pant from the physical exertion. Damn...I used way too much in that fight. My body's beginning to feel the effects.

Naruto grimaced as a minor wave of pain hit him, choosing to ignore it as he pulled a scroll off the limp body.

"It's a Heaven Scroll," Naruto said, inspecting the item.

Item Acquired:

[Scroll of Heaven]

One of two types of items required to pass the Second Exam. It is unknown as to what is inside.

Naruto closed the window discretely, but not before Sasuke gave him a strange glance. "Anyway, we can just make our way to the center, now, right?"

"There'll still be teams after us," Sasuke replied quickly, "so we'll be on the run."

Naruto shrugged. "Whatever, but we need a place to rest. There are still three days, after all."

The trio set off.

The trio decided to settle down a small clearing with plenty of bushes as undergrowth so as to make a quick getaway. There would be plenty of hiding places should the need arose, Naruto had said, and they could set up traps.

Sasuke and Sakura had both agreed, but the latter had very hurriedly made an excuse and left Naruto to do the trap-setting. Sasuke looked like he would rather join in, though, than be left to the schemes of their pink-haired teammate.

Naruto grinned at the thought of it as he strung another line of ninja wire around two tree trunks and pressurized it to set off a trap.

"There. Those should be enough." The blonde let out a sigh before leaping down to check on his teammates.

His two comrades turned out to be just as he imagined; the female attached to the arm of the male. "Hey, is this what it looks like?"

"Go away, Naruto! Can't you see you're interrupting?" Sakura glared at the grinning blonde, who merely twirled a kunai between his fingers.

"You're not interrupting anything," Sasuke amended hurriedly, "she's just joking. Can you help me out?"

Sakura laughed, "now, Sasuke-kun, we don't want Naruto to think we're breaking up, do we?"

"Actually, that's exactly what I want him to think," Sasuke shot back, looking a little panicked.

"Well...looks like I am interrupting something. I'll be off!" At this point, Sasuke turned green as he struggled to wrench his arm out of Sakura's grasp.

"Ne, Sasuke! Where are you going?" Sakura asked with a dreamy look on her face. "We should continue where we left off!"

"No, Naruto! Please don't go!" Sasuke pleaded as the blonde walked off, "PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME TO THIS!"

"Why?" Naruto turned his head, smirking, "it looks to me like you're enjoying it-" He dropped off abruptly, drawing a kunai from his sheath.

"Who's there! Come out!" Naruto shouted, twirling the blade. Behind him, Sasuke and Sakura were broken out of their reverie as they got up slowly. "Come out! Or I'll detonate all the traps I've set around here!"

"Kukukuku...no need for that, blondie," a voice echoed around them, "even if you did, I doubt you could damage me…"

"Hey! Who are you and how did you get past my traps!" Naruto barked, looking around wildly. "Show yourself!"

"Here we are," saying that, a trio of three genin leapt down from a tree, revealing themselves. Naruto took the chance to examine them; each of them wore a dress-like shirt that reached their knees, and a straw hat partially obscured their faces. One of them had long hair that reached his shoulders, and another wore a mask. They all seemed to be male, and their forehead protectors and all had three lines that somewhat resembled grass.

Naruto backed up so he stood with his team, and whispered slowly: "Alright, on a count of three, scatter and run. I'm going to detonate the traps…"

"Now, don't be leaving us out of the conversation, now," the one with long hair hissed, approaching them. "After all, we revealed ourselves, didn't we?"

"One…" Naruto counted quietly, so that the foreign genin couldn't hear. "Twoy…"

"I think they have a plan, Shiore," one of the genin supplied, "and why are we talking? We should just take them out already."

Shiore licked his lips, advancing towards the Konoha trio. "But that wouldn't be fun now, would it?"

"Three!" Naruto snapped, running over to a nearby tree while Sasuke and Sakura scattered. "Run!" He slapped his hand over the seal he had hidden there and channelled his chakra through it. The paper sizzled and with a tremendous crack, kunai and shuriken began to rain down at the three unfortunate Kusagakure genin instantly as the teen began to run. Explosions racked the forest as the tags went off, and Naruto allowed himself to stop.

Sasuke and Sakura were by his side almost instantly. "Are they dead?"

"I don't think so," Naruto replied quickly, "I made sure the traps were non-fatal, but they should be at the least pretty badly wounded."

"Tch," Sasuke grunted, "you're too soft. And you call yourself a ninja?"

"Now now, Sasuke-kun, that wasn't very nice…"

"Shut u-WHAT THE HELL?!" All three of them shouted in surprise, and furiously backpedalling away from the unhurt Shiore. "H-how are you not hurt?!"

"You didn't think that was all it took to take me out, did you?" Shiore chuckled, licking his lips in a creepy manner again. "I feel hurt by your estimation of my abilities. Well, I guess it was somewhat accurate, as my team's gone..."

"Ugh...run!" Naruto called out, and the three took off the same direction, only to have Shiore appear in front of them almost instantly. "Crap...what do we do?"

"Stand and fight, of course," Sasuke suggested, "I'm not a coward like you, always running away."

"Shut up," Naruto growled, "he's just one person! It'll be easy." Shiore chuckled again as he pulled off his straw hat and threw it to the side.

"Well, then, come at me," the Kusagakure genin taunted cockily, "we'll see if your estimation is right this time." Immediately, the three genin jumped into action, launching themselves at their opponent. Shiore disappeared again, and the three suddenly felt crushing blows hit their backs, causing them to collapse, panting.

"Shit," Sasuke cursed, pulling himself to his feet.

"Hyah!" Naruto let out a battle cry as he felt [Kyuubi Chakra] flood his system. "Take this!" He leapt into the air and attempted to slam his foot into Shiore's face, only to be blocked easily and swept aside. He could only watch on as Sasuke and Sakura were also both defeated with ease.

"Kukuku...this is so boring," Shiore mock-sighed, "and here I was getting so excited...is this all you have, Sasuke-kun?"

"Shut up!" The Uchiha growled, getting up. "How do you even know my name?!"

"Trade secret," Shiore said, "why don't you beat it out of me?!"

"Good idea," Sasuke began to form handseals, "Take this! Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!"

Shiore grinned as the fireball soared towards him and exploded with a mighty bang, sending tendrils of smoke into the air.

"Now...that's how it should be," the smoke cleared, revealing Shiore had escaped to a higher up branch. "Try harder!" Suddenly, out of the smoke emerged Sasuke, fist cocked back in preparation. Shiore grinned, spinning around and blocking before countering the Uchiha's weight and throwing him off to the side. Naruto took this chance to kick off a tree and bring his leg down on the Kusagakure genin, who caught the foot and used it as a handhold to slam the blonde into a tree trunk.

"Don't take your eyes off your opponent!" Sasuke shouted, charging down from the side of the trunk as Sakura also launched a barrage of shuriken at their opponent that was narrowly dodged. Naruto also leapt up, dashing forward at his opponent as the three converged on him from all sides.

Shiore merely smirked, and with blinding speed, launched a furious combo of physical attacks that sent all three reeling. "Your teamwork is certainly impressive, but is that all you have to show? If so, then I'm very disappointed…and you, blondie. You seem to have gotten weaker."

"Shut up!" Naruto shouted, throwing a punch. Sasuke followed up with a kick aimed at his abdomen, but both were thrown back.

"Well, looks like I got all excited for nothing," Shiore sighed, rubbing his temples disappointedly. "Time to finish this off."

"You sure about that?" A voice echoed across as a kunai barely missed Shiore and landed next to his head. "Try this! Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)!" A fire began to shoot out towards the lone ninja, as if following a string.

"Heh...as if you could defeat me-what?" Something tightened around his body, trapping him and constricting his movement

For the first time, Shiore noticed the ninja wire attached to the kunai and wrapped around his body.

But there was nothing he could do about it as the fire consumed him.

"...huff...did we get him?" Naruto panted, allowing himself to fall into a sitting position.

"I think so," Sasuke replied, observing the smoke that was rising from the body. "This leaves a bad taste in my mouth, killing him like that…"

"Well, it was our only choice," Naruto supplied, "and it was a risky gamble…" It had been, really. When Sasuke had fired off his fireball, Naruto had taken advantage of the distraction to withdraw his supply of [Kyuubi Chakra], create a clone, transform it into Sasuke, and attack. If their opponent had just landed a solid hit on the clone, then their plan would have gone to naught; but Naruto had been counting on Shiore being too occupied with an assessment of their abilities to fight back.

"It worked, though, so I guess you should get some credit for that," Sakura cut in in a rare moment of appreciation. She looked conflicted, as if something was bothering her.

"Kukukuku...well that was a nasty trick, wasn't it? Looks like I underestimated you three…" A voice rang out as the smoke cleared, and the trio looked at each other, shocked. Holy crap! How can he still be alive after that?!

The smoke cleared, revealing Shiore. His clothes were charred and torn, but otherwise whole; he also seemed to have escaped most of the blast, as his body seemed to only have suffered minor burns. But his face-his face-his face...

had been burnt off.

Oh my god… Naruto resisted the urge to retch as he felt his stomach begin to churn. A quick glance told him both his teammates were in similar predicaments, as they were either clutching their faces or their stomachs.

"Oh? Am I that repulsive?" Shiore asked innocently. "Here, let me help." He took what remained of his face and ripped it off, melting it with his chakra as it dissipated into wisps of smoke.

Sakura took this chance to throw the contents of her stomach out, and so did Naruto as they simply couldn't take it anymore.

Sasuke tried to summon up a smirk, but all he got was something reminiscent of a grin and the expression of someone constipated. "True ninja do not throw up."

At this point, with the remnants of his face gone, a new face began to reveal itself. Eyes slowly came into view, and pale lips framed the orifice that had been invisible. A nose slowly protruded from the skin, and Shiore-no, the creature-licked its lips. Now, it seemed considerably more snake-like.

Sasuke decided to throw up at this point.

"Wh-what the hell are you?" Naruto pointed a shaking finger at the appearing-offended creature.

The thing sighed, "Now, that's not very nice, now is it, Naruto-kun? Looks like I have to teach you some manners."

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!"

A line of intricate words spreaded out from where his hand had made contact with the tree trunk, and there was a huge explosion of smoke. It cleared up quickly to reveal a huge snake with purple scales wrapped around its summoner protectively. "Want to try this on for a change, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto could only look in shock at the huge monster before pushing his fear down, "No problem-"

"Oh...my...god…" Naruto turned his head to see Sakura shaking in fear, a finger pointed at the snake. "How is...h-he...here?"

"How is who here?" Naruto asked, confused. "If you haven't been paying attention, he's been here the whole time."

"N-no...he's O-Orochimaru!" Sakura almost screamed the last part out.

The snake summoner chuckled, "Well, looks like I'm still pretty well known around these parts, eh?"

"Who's Orochimaru?" Naruto questioned, looking around for an answer. "Someone?"

"H-he's Orochimaru of the Sannin." Sakura stuttered, "O-Orochimaru's one of the three legendary Sannin and is one of the strongest ninja Konoha has produced. He betrayed Konoha after performing illegal experiments and formed his own village: Otogakure. It would be suicide for n-n-ninja of our level to go up against him."

Notification!

Quest Received:

Fight with Orochimaru!

Boss Battle

Objectives:

Last 5 minutes.

Last 10 minutes.

Last 15 minutes.

Last 20 minutes.

Get away alive/Defeat Orochimaru.

Rewards:

?

What the hell? These objectives are screwed up! Naruto thought secretly, making sure to keep up his poker face. This guy's that good?

Naruto shrugged, discretely closing a window as he resolved to at least put up a good fight against this guy. "Whatever. He deserves a good beating."

"Kukukukuku," Orochimaru cackled, "that's the spirit! Come, show me how pathetic you are!"

Naruto growled in response, letting [Kyuubi Chakra] once again flood his body. His eyes morphed into a red color and the pupils lengthed out, becoming more fox-like. Normal attacks won't work on him...I'll have to use the technique I newly created!

He grimaced at the mere thought of it, knowing the toll it would take on his body. Slowly, his skin began to take on a reddish hue, and his muscles all swelled slightly.

"Well, this is interesting!" Orochimaru snarled. "Come at me!"

"My pleasure," Naruto immediately launched himself at the snake summoner at a much faster speed, taking his opponent by surprise. The purple snake rose to protect its master, only to be smacked away by a single blow that sent careening off the edge of the strained branch. The blonde followed up as he smashed his foot into Orochimaru's chin, sending him rocketing backwards with all the force of a kunai. Naruto didn't let up as he continued his relentless assault, smacking the unfortunate ninja around at high speeds.

Finally, the blonde came to a stop, panting hard as his breathing had taken on a more labored tone. Orochimaru, however, merely picked himself off the ground with a crazy grin. "Well, that was fun! I hope you have more of where that came from!"

"Shut up," Naruto shouted, again leaping into battle. He cocked back a fist and was letting it fly when it was caught. He attempted to escape the grip by kicking upwards, but this was also caught by Orochimaru, who promptly pressed a finger into a leg vein. Naruto screamed in pain, collapsing onto the tree trunk while Orochimaru merely smirked.

"I've figured out how your little trick worked," the snake sannin explained cockily, "it's quite simple. You use your chakra to pump your blood through your body faster, thus increasing your speed and strength. Quite like the effects of the Third Gate, actually, but initiated in a much cruder fashion; it's a wonder your body hasn't fallen apart yet. Any normal person would be dead by now, but I guess that's the work of your tailed beast. Anyway, that was a nice little trick, but it's useless now." He stooped down and looked the hurt blonde in the eye. "I guess it's over now, eh?"

"You talk a lot for a Sannin," Naruto growled as he nursed his hurt leg.

"Why you…" Orochimaru kicked the blonde, who promptly keeled over. "I'll be sure make your death painful."

Dammit...I didn't expect to be found out so quickly! Naruto panicked inwardly. A timer had popped up when he had accepted the quest, and it currently read 01:04. I've barely lasted a minute! This means I'll have...go...further!

"Looks like you're worthless when you run out of tricks," Orochimaru snarled as he picked up the blonde; but this time, his face was contorted in concentration. "Eh? What're you trying to do now?"

"...I...told you...shut UP!" Naruto roared, as putrid red chakra began leak out of his body. Orochimaru let go of the blonde in surprise as he backpedalled furiously, his hand burned by the acid-like substance. The jinchuuriki collapsed onto the branch as the red chakra began to envelope his body like a sort of armor, forming even a single tail and two ear-like appendages on his head.

The transformation complete, Naruto let out a beastly as he assumed a position similar to that of a fox, with its legs tucked in and ready to pounce. "Surprised? I bet you are."

Orochimaru tried to keep up his cocky facade as he summoned up a smirk, "This is just getting more interesting by the minute."

"I certainly hope so!" Naruto screamed out as he broke into a gallop at tremendous speed. His tail snaked out, slamming into the unfortunate snake sannin and sending him spiralling backward.

Orochimaru's summon saw his master in trouble and struck, its mouth open wide as it attempted to bite down on its target. Naruto merely rammed into it full speed, toppling it over and pulling down several branches in the process.

The snake, seeing that it had bitten off more than it could chew, attempted to shake the jinchuuriki off as it writhed. It only partly succeeded, sending the jinchuuriki sliding off his slimy scales but leaving several claw marks in the process.

This time, the snake chose to be more intelligent. Instead of going after the fox-like thing again, it chose to go after his teammates, who were currently trembling in both fear and awe. The snake darted in, preparing to land a devastating bite on the two-

and then a single red tail of chakra drove itself through the snake's head, splattering blood and flesh everywhere as Sasuke and Sakura were only narrowly saved. "What the hell are you two chickens doing? Stop trembling like cowards and help?" Naruto screamed at them in his new voice, shocking the two out of their trance just Orochimaru came back. The blonde withdrew his tail out of the now-dead snake, whipping it out to block a flurry of shuriken.

"Katon: Endan (Fire Release: Flame Bullet)!" Orochimaru screamed, firing off a huge mass of flames at the jinchuuriki. Naruto leapt out of the way, using his tail as a spring to propel himself further. He landed sideways on a tree and kicked off, smashing his claws into the snake sannin's chest and colliding onto the ground.

Orochimaru, unfazed by the impact, kicked his opponent off with tremendous force and leaping to his feet in one fluid motion. Naruto merely roared again and held his arms out. His claws began to extend rapidly, shooting towards the snake summoner with the speed of shuriken. Orochimaru, shocked by this new development, could only hold his arms up in a makeshift shield as they slammed into him full on, plunging him through several trees. Clouds of dust were kicked up by the displacement as the fighting stopped, at least momentarily.

When the dust clouds began to clear, it revealed Orochimaru, but with his arms broken and twisted by his sides. Naruto had just began to growl in victory, hazarding a glance at the timer (06:10) when his arms cracked back into place, and the visible wounds began to clear up. "Kukukuku, you didn't think you had won, did you, Naruto? Nothing short of an instantly fatal blow can kill me, after all."

Naruto growled, preparing to pounce again when Orochimaru appeared in front of him with blinding speed, slamming a kick that even sent Naruto reeling.

This time, it was the unfortunate jinchuuriki on the defensive as snakes shot out of the sannin's sleeves and latched onto the blonde's shoulder, the fangs digging through the chakra shroud and injecting their venom into his body. Even as they did this, the chakra shroud began to eat through their bodies, and after a couple seconds, the snakes fell to the ground, dead.

Even though the snakes only had had a few seconds, their work was done as Naruto began to convulse wildly. Orochimaru stepped back with a smug grin. "You were beginning to become a threat. So, I had to eliminate you; better luck next ti-"

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened in surprise as he leaped backwards to dodge the fireball that consumed the ground where he previously stood. He looked up, finding Sasuke with his hands still intertwined in a handseal. "Finally decided to get up and fight, Sasuke-kun?"

"Shut up," the Uchiha heir shouted, unleashing a barrage of shuriken and kunai. "Naruto can't fight alone, you know? Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye)!"

Orochimaru licked his lips as he dodged the projectiles. "Oh, so you have activated it? This is getting ever more interesting."

Sasuke merely ignored him, mimicking the handseals Orochimaru had gone through. "Katon: Endan (Fire Release: Flame Bullet)!" The snake sannin jumped up a tree in order to dodge the searing flames.

"So you copied me? This is this way it should be!" He began to cackle loudly, "That's what I was looking for! Come, show me your power Sasuke!"

"Did you forget about me?" A deep voice rang out as Orochimaru parried away another barrage of shuriken. His eyes landed on Naruto, who was still twitching on the ground.

"You're worthless in your current condition, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru shouted as he continued to only dodge Sasuke's assaults, much to the Uchiha's fury. "You're lucky you're not dead right now!"

He's right...but I have some other tricks up my sleeve, Naruto thought as he began to channel more chakra through his body in order to push out the venom. Two Tailed form!

Orochimaru watched on in surprise as another tail formed from the red mass of chakra. "The two-tailed form? Both of you are certainly full of surprises."

Naruto didn't reply as he dashed forward again, his tails acting as grappling hooks as they anchored on the tree Orochimaru was standing on. Utilizing elastic force, he used his tails as a slingshot and fired off like a rocket, ramming straight into the snake sannin. The two crashed through several trees from the sheer force, felling them instantly with several tremendous bangs.

Orochimaru spun in mid air as they headed towards the next tree, tearing himself free from the jinchuuriki's grip and kicking off so they both headed in different directions. Naruto, however, used his tails to grasp two trees and stop his momentum before extending his claws again.

"Doton: Doryuheki (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall)!" Orochimaru roared, plunging his hand onto the ground to make a huge wall come out. The pulsing red claws slammed into the wall, and the impact alone was enough to send the wall crumbling into pieces. Naruto wasn't far behind his claws; within seconds he had arrived, dealing a crushing blow with his claws that Orochimaru barely blocked. The Otogakure ninja was sent skidding backwards from the sheer force as Sasuke could only watch on in awe.

"Biju Kokyu Tsume (Tailed Beast Continuous Claws)!" Naruto screamed as his claws elongated and began to drive themselves at Orochimaru with blinding speed. The unfortunate jonin could only take hits blindly as the claws began to draw blood. When Naruto finally stopped, Orochimaru stood there, blood running down his body, along with severe burns caused by the red chakra.

"Dammit...it's too much to heal?!" Orochimaru roared furiously. "I'll take you down this instant! Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Isshishi (Sword of Kusanagi: One Stab Death)!"

Something silvery and shiny shot out of the snake sannin's mouth, and before Naruto could react, plunged straight through his stomach.

Sakura screamed.

It was painful.

It was all so painful.

What...the hell...was happening?

All he could remember...was...something coming out of Orochimaru's mouth...what had it been?

Oh, yes. It had been...a sword?

Was that it? Was he dead?

He could remember someone screaming...and then what? What had happened after that?

Well, if he was dead? Was he in the afterlife now? In heaven? Or maybe hell?

Because if it was the afterlife, he certainly hadn't expected it to look like one big sewer.

Naruto tried to sit up. No pain. Maybe he really was in the afterlife then. He took another look at his surroundings; it was all really just like a sewer, with water running down a long corridor.

Hey, there was a room down there. Maybe that was heaven.?

Whatever. Worth a try.

Naruto got to his feet, walking slowly to the end of the sewers. After all, if he was dead, there was no big rush, right?

The room didn't seem much different from the corridor; it was filled with ankle-deep water just like before, but it was bigger. Much bigger.

And, it was separated by roof-to-floor iron bars.

What were these? Naruto stepped over to put his hand on one. It seemed to be sturdy, and constructed like a cage. Was the afterlife supposed to look like this? A great big cage in a sewer?

"So the might savior-of-the-world has finally decided to grace me with his presence." A deep, impossibly loud voice sounded, rumbling through the cage and pulling Naruto out of his trance.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, strangely detached.

"Typical humans. They use my power, and don't even know my name. How pathetic!" The voice roared, and this time the darkness behind the cage receded to reveal a huge fox head, his crimson eyes concentrated on the blonde.

"Oh, so it's you. Kyuubi." Naruto said emotionlessly. "Are we dead?"

The fox began to laugh. A deep, powerful laugh that would've chilled Naruto to the bone normally. But this time, he had no reaction. "You wish we were. No, but we are very close to it. And if we were dead, that would benefit no one."

"Then what do you want?"

"What do I want? I want to kill you. I want to raze your village to the fucking ground. I want to murder all the bloody Uchiha. I want a lot of things. But right now, I want to live."

"So LIVE."

In the outside world, Orochimaru was standing over a keeled-over Sasuke, a brand new black mark spiralling into existence on the Uchiha's neck.

"AAAGGH!" Sasuke screamed in pain as the seal seared itself onto his skin. He clutched it as he attempted to block out the pain, all to no avail. Sakura was on the ground, and appeared to be in shock over the injuries and death of her teammates.

"Well, I've done what I came for, so I'll be on my way now," Orochimaru grinned, and glanced at the fallen body of the Uzumaki. "Good thing I took him out; he might have become a threat later."

Just as he turned to leave, his sword retrieved, red chakra once again began bubbling from Naruto's body to reform the pulsating chakra shroud. Sakura shrieked in surprise at the sight as Naruto's wounds began to close and heal, the numerous scratches also slowly disappearing from sight.

However, this time the chakra was darker and thicker in composition, no longer bearing the translucent quality the chakra had earlier. The two tails became three and the three tails became four as the chakra formed a fox shaped armor around the blonde, even a chakra jaw forming over his mouth.

Naruto got to his feet slowly and scanned over his body for wounds; this time, though, his movements were slow and animal-like, with none of the quick and intelligent qualities he had previously. He roared, prompting the retreating snake sannin to look around as the sound shook the forest.

"So you're back up? Looks like you're the resilient type," Orochimaru snarled, "But you just healed up to a bigger beating. You should have rolled over and play dead."

Naruto's only reply was another frightening roar before breaking into a furious run. Orochimaru tried to counter as he threw the Sword of Kusanagi again, but this time the jinchuuriki knocked it away with ease with the swipe of a tail and leaped, slamming his claws into the unfortunate sannin and launching him into the ground. The mere impact smashed the ground into pieces, and the jinchuuriki followed up by repeatedly smashing his fists into Orochimaru's chest.

"Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!" He screamed, unleashing a powerful gust of wind that blew Naruto away. The sannin got to his feet, panting, as blood began to drip down his chest. Naruto only got back to his hands and feet with ease and began to charge down again, roaring again in the process. "Shirohebi no Chikara (Power of the White Snake)!" This time, snakes slid over his body, and where they had been damaged flesh it was now as good as new. Now again he began to form handseals while leaping backwards so as to delay Naruto's arrival. "Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique)!" And without a sound, slid into the earth.

Naruto, at seeing his prey disappear without a trace, began to repeatedly slam his claws into the earth with anger. Shockwaves began to pulsate from the ground, and the already damaged battleground expanded further.

"Looks like you've lost all consciousness..." Orochimaru mocked, reappearing a little while away. "So you've exchanged your power for your intelligence. Weak."

The jinchuuriki immediately pounced, unleashing a powerful kick that sent him soaring into the air and slamming into the snake sannin's location. However, the elusive ninja had already disappeared into ground again only to reappear a little bit away again. Naruto leapt for him, only to be dodged again. He roared with fury as he failed yet again, and this time instead of instantly pouncing when Orochimaru reappeared, plunged his claws into the ground, his jaws wide open.

Red and blue chakra suddenly popped into existence and began to converge on a single point as Naruto kept his jaws wide open. The balls began to condense into a single misshaped purple mass before forming itself into a sphere. At this point, the ground beneath his feet began to crack before finally plunging down, the sheer mass and density of the ball pushing his weight down. And then-he ate the ball, the remaining mini chakra balls disappearing into the air too. Orochimaru watched on in awe as the pressure began to build, the massive chakra ball now being compressed into a tiny single ball. Then the jinchuuriki cracked his mouth open, and the ball fired off with frightening speed and power, the ground exploding, cracking, and being vaporized instantly.

Orochimaru furiously began to form seals as he desperately tried to block the attack. "Kuchiyose: Sanju Rashomon (Summoning: Triple Rashomon)!" Two gates pulled themselves out of the ground and placed themselves between Orochimaru and the jinchuuriki, the third an inch out of the ground before the attack hit.

The resulting explosion could be heard in all of Konoha.

Hokage's Office, Hokage Building, Konohagakure

"Did any of you feel that?" The Sandaime Hokage asked, piping on his pipe with a calm air even though he was quite obviously not. "Someone please tell me I imagined that…"

"I believe you didn't, Hokage-sama," one of his ANBU bodyguards replied, "I believe there indeed was a spike in Kyuubi chakra just then, and the sound of an explosion."

"What could have happened? Has Naruto lost control of the Kyuubi?" Sarutobi asked, spinning his chair a little to face his bodyguards.

"I doubt it, Hokage-sama," another one replied, "otherwise we wouldn't just be feeling a single spike. Not to mention the lack of a huge, red, nine-tailed fox towering over the village."

"Well, he might be in the process of losing control, so shut your mouth, Bull," the former ANBU replied, "Should we engage in any precautionary measures or such, Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi took another puff of his pipe. "No."

"We'll just have to trust in Naruto."

Kakashi's Apartment, Konohagakure

Kakashi snapped up from his book, looking out the window with a little panic in his eyes.

"Naruto…"

Forest of Death, Konohagakure

The previously tree-covered battleground was now barren and cold, with a huge crater now dominating the ground. The very dirt had been vaporized by the attack, and now no sounds passed through this patch of ground.

A hand appeared, pulling itself free from the dirt. Soon, a body followed it and revealed itself.

It was Orochimaru.

However, he had not survived in one piece; his body had been burnt and scorched to black color, and his head was bleeding horribly.

"Ugh...I didn't want...to use...this…" He gasped, before forming a look of concentration. Slowly, his skin slid off like water as his mouth opened almost impossibly large and a completely new body slid out of the orifice to come to a crawling position. He stood up, panting from the effort as he tried to steady himself. "That was almost too much damage…"

The snake sannin closed his eyes in concentration as he tried to sense his current condition by spreading chakra through his body. Whatever he got, it didn't please him. I'm not in a good condition right now...my body's on the verge of decay. Curse this useless body...the smartest move would be to escape as of now. I'll come back and kill the boy later.

Orochimaru grimaced as he was forced to undertake in this cowardly move, and immediately took off.

"Until next time, Naruto Uzumaki."

From the other side of the crater, Naruto pulled himself free from the crater he had made with a growl, his four tails waving in the air. He scanned over the surroundings for his prey, only to come up empty.

With a mighty roar, he took off as he searched around for his opponent. The ground was getting plowed up by his speed, not to mention the huge dust cloud forming. It was no wonder that this dust might get into a nearby bystander's eyes.

So when the dust collecting made contact with a certain pinkette's eyes, she let out a small shriek.

The running jinchuuriki came to a stop as he spun around to locate the source of the sound. Finding it too bothersome at this point, with a single swipe he felled a tree, revealing a girl kneeling next to an unconscious black haired boy.

"Naruto?" Sakura said in relief, looking on at the genin. "Thank Kami you're OK, I was so worried when I saw that explosion, and Sasuke's been hurt pretty bad…" She continued on about how she was so glad Naruto was OK, where was Orochimaru, etc, etc. But Naruto heard none of that. All he heard was a constant, non-stop pounding in his ears as he finally had within arm's reach two prey, all ready for killing. They would serve as worthy replacements for his lost prey.

The fox incarnate moved closer and ever closer to the pair, his tails now flicking wildly with excitement and his claws elongating in preparation. "Naruto? Are you OK? Naruto?"

Sakura was now getting worried, seeing Naruto covered in pulsating red chakra walking towards her. Not to mention his poise; it looked like he was ready to pounce. The pinkette put her hands around Sasuke's shoulders, channelling some chakra to her legs. "Naruto?"

With frightening speed, the jinchuuriki pounced, throwing forward his arms to plunge his claws into the two. But Sakura was prepared, not to mention anticipating an attack of some sort, leaping backwards into a tree with Sasuke in her arms. "Naruto? Why are you attacking us?!"

The blonde made no sign that he had heard, that he recognized the pinkette's voice. He merely leapt again, forcing his pink-haired teammate backwards continuously, as his surroundings were destroyed even further by his spinning tails. Naruto's attacks were getting faster and more powerful, his rage growing at not being able to catch such insignificant flies. Sakura was having more and more trouble dodging his attacks, even though they were not planned out or intelligent in any fashion. It was only a matter of time until the two were caught-or killed, based on the way Naruto was chasing them-, and Sakura knew that.

At this point, she could only hope for a miracle.

"That's right...take all the chakra you want."

A huge, rumbling voice passed through the cage to reach a certain blonde. This blonde showed no sign of acknowledgement or anything whatsoever, instead continuing to look blindly ahead. His once energetic blue eyes now were void of emotion, save for one:

"Kill...kill...kill…"

The Kyuubi laughed once again as more and more red chakra poured out of the cage to encase Naruto.

Kill...kill...kill…

Kill...kill…

"Was this really all you could do?"

Identical blue eyes looked on disapprovingly as Naruto looked up, startled, to find the speaker. He was definitely surprised.

It was...Naruto.

But it was the old Naruto. The gamer Naruto. Who he used to be. The Naruto with headphones slung on his neck, keyboard at his side, his favorite Fall Out Boy t-shirt on and feet crossed under him in a state of relaxation. "I'm disappointed...we come all the way to this world, and you're reduced to this mess...Who was the one that had wanted to prove himself?"

As the husk that used to be Naruto struggled to process these words, something other than "kill" finally surfaced in his mind.

"M-me?" Something reminiscent of the old gamer popped out, broke through the Kyuubi cloak for a second.

Naruto snorted, adjusting the keyboard hanging at his side. "Look at you. Monosyllabic replies. Come on, now. Outsmarted by a simple fox?"

"You're not like me. Here, you have friends. You can make friends. Don't make the same mistakes we did. And finally…"

The fox-controlled Naruto grimaced as the Kyuubi chakra covering him suddenly began to shift, screaming and pulling at his body.

"Remember what we came to do."

Suddenly, something was fighting against the cloak, repelling it, tearing it-

"We came to save this goddamned world."

The vile chakra exploded off of him in a flurry of red, spraying off across into the ankle-deep water as Naruto took the reins of his body again. The feralistic qualities that had been dominant slowly receded, save for the six symmetric whisker marks.

"W-what is this?!" Kyuubi roared in surprise, and somewhat in fear. "H-how?! How have you broken free?"
Naruto didn't reply, choosing to walk past his old-self to stand in front of the Kyuubi's open eye.

"I understand."

"W-what?" Kyuubi roared in surprise at Naruto's unusual words.

The blonde smiled wistfully, nostalgically. "I know what it's like to be shunned, to be forgotten. To be feared. Even to be hated. I know what it's like for you." The Kyuubi was rendered speechless in an uncharacteristic display of silence.

"I know why you resort to maintaining that image. I did too, acting like I didn't care, like I didn't want to be accepted."

"But that's not going to help," Naruto stroked the bars of the cage, "You have to drop the act. Then, maybe people will accept you."

"I DON'T NEED ACCEPTANCE!" The Kyuubi roared, slamming its paws against the cage. "I DON'T NEED HUMANS! I WILL RAZE THIS PLACE TO THE GROUND!"

Naruto ignored him with a sad smile. "Still, that's not an excuse. So, now, personally, I'm going to put a stop to it." He lifted the hem of his shirt slightly to reveal an intricate seal, and placed his fingers on before beginning to twist. Kyuubi chakra floated into the air and was pulled back into the cage as if attracted by a magnet, along with the cage. "I will never use your power again. Not until you figure it out. But don't worry, I'll help you."

The Kyuubi's furious and somewhat sorrowful voice was drowned out by the seal as the bars slowly pulled themselves closer together. Naruto looked back at his old self, who was looking on approvingly as both their bodies slowly dispersed into the air.

Naruto thought he saw the ghost of a smile etched upon his face.

Sakura had been screaming. She had seen her life flash before her eyes; she had considered all her regrets, all her achievements, all her most precious moments. She had regretted treating Naruto as she did; she had been the weak one, the one lagging behind, the one who was constantly a burden for them.

Maybe she deserved this.

A tear trickled down her cheek as Naruto raised his claw. "I'm sorry, Naruto."

And then, suddenly, for some strange reason, the fox-like creature began to convulse wildly, the red chakra suddenly disappearing to reveal Naruto. His blue eyes were wide open in shock, his skin raw red, and he suddenly began clutching his chest in pain.

And then, he collapsed.

Finally! You do not know how glad I am I finished that. I am going to be sick of fight scenes for a while.

On another note, I really apologize if that last part was sloppy. I wasn't in the best condition writing those last few parts.

Anyway, thanks for reading and leave a review!

FlamingBlaze, out.