Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid

by DarkHeroOrion

A true force of nature arises from the lowly roots of Konoha. This child, a scion of noble birthright, is ironically shunned by his deep-seated burden. Follow along as our coming-of-age hero grows through the test of adversity and new challenges.

13. Temptation of Soul and Sound Pressure

A/N: I'm back at it again, ladies and gentlemen. I think that it's all uphill for the moment.

News from Reviews (VERY IMPORTANT—Please Read): I have just reached over the 300-review mark. Adding onto that, last chapter had a record-breaking 58 reviews, which may be subject to change, and I appreciate the fact that some would still be reading up to this point. I think that I have lost some at the very beginning of the story. I also feel that I may have lost several readers on account of comparing this fic to…canon, which is taboo in my vocabulary.

You have to throw away your preconceived notions of how Team Seven is in canon, folks. If I were to be forced to stick with the regular chain of events, then this story would not exist. Any story on this site breaks canon in some form or fashion. If we were not allowed to do so, then this entire website would not be made in the first place.

With that said, I will play no favorites, and I will do no character bashing…

Well, I may do some 'slight' bashing to villains, but they'll still remain ridiculously strong, nonetheless.

I just decided to level the playing field along the lines of the power gradient. I gave Naruto a power boost, so I gave the other two some amplifications as well to balance out the squad. This was a counter-measure to prevent Naruto from looking like a deity-like figure (a sort of a checks and balances system, if you can see "underneath the underneath"). He only knows ninjutsu theory, and he applies it when necessary for his exotic arsenal of jutsu. Sure, he may have all kinds of chakra to use at his disposal, but the more jutsu that he learns; the longer it will take for him to master all of them, especially when he adds in new factors to the techniques that he already knows. So, in essence, he is not that powerful (thoughts courtesy of Iseriad).

Next, look at pre-time-skip Sakura. She was close to useless in canon, save for being an excellent chakra reader and having nigh-flawless chakra control—a perfect candidate for a genjutsu-type kunoichi, in my honest opinion. I also thought that it would be interesting for Sakura to put that cliché internal construct to good use and surprise some people with her hidden strength. This will pave the way for her to be a long-ranged fighter to a certain degree.

Others will get boosts, too, to keep things impartial, like Rock Lee, who generally gets overlooked in most fan fiction.

As I regress to the matter at hand, try to suck it up and not be nitpicky with details. They will give some villains a run for their money as a team-based effort—not individually, even though they lack proper combat experience. That's the key difference between the greenhorn and the elite: experience. Please keep that in mind, ladies and gentlemen.

With regards to Orochimaru wanting Sasuke in particular, that was hardly the case. Originally, he wanted to possess Uchiha Itachi and Kaguya Kimimaro before focusing on Sasuke. However, certain circumstances made those choices null and void. Orochimaru aims for possessing a strong, able body worthy of merit. The Sharingan just gives him an edge to learn ninjutsu faster.

Paladeus mentioned to me something very enlightening. It was with regards to how Kishimoto's manga is turning out and how fan fiction authors construct their stories.

"We make our own choices for the plot and such and say 'screw you' to whoever dislikes it. He's (Kishimoto's) doing the same, really."

What the aforementioned rant boils down to is this: Folks, enjoy the story for what it is. That's all I'm asking of you. I'm not pleading in the slightest, but if you don't like what you're reading, then please kindly move to the side and not review; either that or just look at it with an open mind and/or indifference.

To those that I have sent review replies: If I sounded a bit brash and brusque, I apologize, but some of the comments kind of struck a nerve when you mentioned "canon." Please take no offense.

When you give suggestions for the plotline, I probably will not read them, but if you want some fluff within the chapters, now those I can do. Send those via private messaging and I'll simmer on it. I already have an idea about where to go in this story. If you feel at all discouraged regarding how my outcomes will turn out, then by all means, either write your own tale or read someone else's story. That's all I'm saying on the matter. Case closed, and you will hear no more of this issue on power from me (I declare…the things authors do and they still have dissenters if they branch away to other sources…fickle public).

Point of Clarification: I'll clear up something for those who think that "Sannin" means "legendary ninja" (this is especially reiteration to you, Haus719). It does not, and I will prove it through irrefutable kanji and logic. Sannin (三忍) literally means "three ninja." Sennin (仙人) can be interpreted as "hermit," "fairy" or "wizard." Each translation fits well with Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru, respectively, in regards to their abilities and mannerisms (an interesting correlation, if I say so myself). Densetsu (伝説) means "legend," "folklore" or "tradition." Team Sarutobi was given the title of Sannin as a collective group (from whom, I will not discuss, since that would be a manga spoiler), so I will mention them from hereafter as either "one of the Sannin," a Densetsu no Nin (伝説の忍)—meaning "Ninja of Folklore/Legend or Legendary Ninja"—or as a "Sennin" of their particular field of summoning. It would be irrational and a wee bit silly to mention one of them as just a "Sannin." No one person can be "three ninja" at once. Think about it.

I tend to leave off the pluralizing of Japanese words. For instance, I just say genin, chuunin, jounin, Hokage, jutsu, sensei, etc. That could either refer to one or to more than one of each, depending on the context in which it is used. I tend to shy away from that because the Japanese typically do NOT add an "s" onto Romaji. That is a common mistranslation, and it lacks a companion in its mora.

To those that are having a hard time reading how I phrase things, please know this: I deliberately do not end sentences with a prepositional phrase while I'm narrating (things like of, about, from, etc.). That is how English sentence structure is supposed to be. The same applies in regards to contractions. I do not use them unless I put them in dialogue or use them while in the Author's Note. It just sounds wrong to me from a personal standpoint.

I decided to enable the anonymous reviews again, but this time, I'll only pay heed to those who give constructive criticism. To the anonymous reviewers, be sure to leave a valid e-mail address if you want to know when I update. Anything that is idiotic by my standards will be deleted on the spot.

Please heed my sapient wisdom.

With that lot/long-winded rant out of the way, let us continue…

Saishuukai… (Last time…) on Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid…

"What did that creep do to Forehead Girl!?" Ino shouted. "What the hell did he do the entire team!? He just knocked them out cold with a cheap shot!" 'Although…' she mentally added. 'I never knew that Forehead knew any jutsu, much less a dark art…' In fact, she was more so astonished by her rival's technique than Naruto's wooden sucker-punch. Either way, Forehead's squad had changed after their first C-turned-A-rank mission. She was impressed, but she would never admit it outright that Forehead was getting stronger.

"You know that there aren't any cheap shots in the world of shinobi," the portly boy reasoned. He was impressed by the other team's enthusiasm and final shots before they had fallen.

"Either way, it's going to be troublesome," Shikamaru drawled with his hands in his pockets. "We have to watch over them until they get back up again. They're our comrades…our friends, and we can't abandon them now. And even though they're supposedly the enemy in this exam, they're out of it for the moment."

Both Ino and Chouji nodded, emerged from their hiding spots and told the ANBU that they would watch over the incapacitated team.

"Very well," the tiger-masked ANBU began. "I'll leave it in your hands." He turned to see an unconscious Naruto, shaking in extreme tension. 'I'll ask Hokage-sama about Naruto-kun when I file my report,' Tenzou thought before he and his purple-haired partner vanished into thin air.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Team Dosu, 11:59 pm)

"We are approaching our target," Dosu spoke up as they were moving several hundred meters to carry out their order. "Be on your guard."

Chapter Thirteen: Temptation of Soul and Sound Pressure

(Forest of Death, Day Three, 12:01 am)

"How do we get them to quit shaking?" Ino worriedly asked while holding a convulsing Sakura in her lap. Even though Billboard Brow was her number-one rival and competitor for Sasuke-kun, she was her friend and she did not want to lose her. The young mind-walker rubbed Sakura's perspiring temples with a cloth that she had previously packed.

Chouji was in the midst of setting up traps along the exceedingly large tree with a large opening at its base to provide cover from possible precipitation. The portly shinobi was looking up at the cloudy night sky.

"I have no idea, Ino," he answered. He turned around to face her. "We don't know what Orochimaru did to them. The only evidence that we have are those tattoos on the back of their necks. There's nothing else we can do but hope for the best and that they'll pull through." The hefty chip-eater sensed that it was going to storm heavily in the next few hours. His gaze stopped on a ball of ocher fuzz on a nearby branch.

'That must be Naruto's fox,' he thought as he expanded his arms to grab the little critter. He laid it down beside him. 'We wouldn't want to forget him…He sure does look tasty…' He shook off that thought. Naruto would murder him if he initiated to follow through on that. He was so hungry, but his willpower maintained its hold…until he fumbled through his pack to pull out some more chips.

"I don't know, guys," Shikamaru said while watching over the twitching figures of Sasuke and Naruto inside the base of the tree. "It could be some type of amplification seal…not a tattoo, and that's just going off gut instinct and theory alone." 'Either way…' he mentally added while he noticed a purple haze coming from the three down-and-out shinobi. 'This doesn't look good. How troublesome…'

XXXXXXXXXX

(Naruto's Mindscape, 12:02 am)

The blond-haired shinobi fluttered his clouded eyes open to see a large snake with a sinister aura emanating from it. The serpent had a shaggier hairstyle similar to the Hebi-teme and it was…just staring at him inside the dampened corridors like he was its prey.

"Good," the pallid snake hissed. "I s-s-see that you're awake…"

"What the hell are you?" Naruto asked.

"I…am your conscience…" It smoothly replied as it slithered closer to the downed boy.

Naruto was not fooled at all with that lie. "What is it that you want?"

"It is not I that wants a thing, but I can tell that you desire…s-s-something else…"

Naruto stared at the albino python with incredulity. The narrow gaze and sour look enhanced that curiosity. "And what might that be?"

"I have looked into your memories-s-s, and I can s-s-see that you desire acknowledgment and recognition," the serpent smoothly stated. "You yearn to be loved by all of your village kinsmen. Unfortunately, that will not be s-s-so."

The pointy-eared genin clenched his fists and closed his eyes. He was, and still is, shunned and resented by most.

"Do you…want that acknowledgment that you so crave, hmm? Then I suggest that you leave this dump known as Konoha and join me…"

Temptation often leads to ruin.

Naruto thought back on the positives of his current life. Even though most of the villagers treated him like the local untouchable, there had been a select few that have opened up to him. In fact, he could now count his important people with two hands.

'Jiisan…'

Saru-jijii treated him like a typical grandson; lifting up his spirits whenever he felt down and treated him to ramen every so often…that was, whenever the old man was not enclosed in his office, filling out unnecessary paperwork. Naruto could understand that he could never be there all the time for him, so he forgave his surrogate gramps due to the circumstances by the council.

'Iruka-sensei…'

His wise, "elder brother" figure, Umino Iruka, was at first indifferent to the blond wonder. Over time, as well as over mishaps and pranks, his old teacher treated him as close to an equal than most of his previous sensei. Iruka-sensei pushed him to succeed whenever he started to slack off. It was a watershed moment in their friendship when he saved his former instructor from that traitorous bastard, Mizuki. Iruka-sensei was the second person that acknowledged him as Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure, not the Kyuubi locked away behind his navel.

A little while after that incident, Squad Number Seven was created.

How, by a test of will, had they made it to this point?

In retrospect, Naruto thought that the team itself was doomed to initial failure, unless each unit of the team changed his or her ways of thinking. The sum of the whole was as great as its parts.

'Kakashi-sensei…'

Naruto would admit to himself that, although he was a lackadaisical instructor who read verbal smut, the guy sure knew his shinobi tactics. He could stand to augment his teaching methods a bit…and not be late all the time. Either way, his sensei had not treated him as if he were a malevolent infestation. That earned the Elite Jounin a place in his heart.

'Sakura…'

It was an odd attraction at first, to say the least…Or was it the need to feel wanted that had him latch onto her, striving to gain some sort of attention?

Either way, when he tried to make an obnoxious advance on her, she was quick to beat him senselessly, much like the way he did long ago to the people that teased her for the size of her brow-line. That was, if she were not swooning for the number-one rookie…

In any case, Naruto was amazed at how his "little sister" progressed; from an Uchiha groupie with hardly any skill to a kick-ass kunoichi in a brief amount of time. Maybe it had to do with the lost scrolls that he had found by sheer luck…

Aside from her…eccentricities, she was now dependable, and in the case that he needed instruction with genjutsu, she would be there to gladly help him out in a moment's notice. It was a long-awaited respite that she toned down a bit. She now knew what it meant to be a ninja through dedication and hard work.

Since she felt proud of her newfound abilities, she finally acknowledged the talents of others, instead of squawking like a parrot about how great Sasuke-teme was…

'Sasuke…'

He was the impenetrable ice in the heat of the Land of Fire.

Sasuke-teme thought that he knew a lot of things, but when Naruto's shadow clones sparred with him in ninjutsu without the aid of his doujutsu, he was…inconceivably outclassed in any which way possible before they dispelled and sent back the experience to Naruto. Sasuke's fire-element techniques were fed by Naruto's wind-element attacks, but were then drenched by one of his alternates—water. Sasuke tried to channel lightning against him (when he learned how to), but he just blew it away with his dominant elemental affinity—wind. Their chakra natures came back full circle in synchronizing harmony. It was just a fluke that they managed to come up with the Burning Hell hijutsu during the second bell test, but when he and Sasuke pondered on it afterward, it made sense.

Although Naruto had the fixed advantage of ninja elements at his disposal, that did not mean that he could easily defeat the last, loyal Uchiha. If one were at an affinity disadvantage, then he or she would have to rely on skill and improvisation to defeat an opponent. It was no wonder why Sasuke was deemed a prodigy…a genius…words that have been banes in Naruto's vocabulary. In the eyes of the blond, he was clever, to say the least. That much he would give credit to the dark-haired shinobi.

Naruto had then recollected on how he beat the smug look from the Uchiha's face when he gained the upper hand against him in a practice spar. Sasuke called it lucky; Naruto called it ingenious insight, along with a string of odd fortune. The blond decided to show a bit of modesty by lending a hand to assist Sasuke back on his feet (and not rub it in his face), as well as helping him with some of the harder jutsu that he could not master.

From shooting ideas back and forth, they found solid, theoretical evidence to help Sasuke override that hump in his individual training methods. The Hirairyuu Rendan, an outdoor follow-up to using the Dancing Leaf Shadow with powered-down lightning, and the Jouka no Jutsu had proven that the fruits of their labor and hard work paid off. Those were Sasuke's trump cards for the moment, aside from lesser forms of Katon and Raiton ninjutsu. Even though the typical, brooding Sasuke would not admit it, he had indirectly expressed his gratitude…with a genuine, heartfelt smile after their training was finished. It was something unprecedented in the time that he had met the dark-haired avenger.

'Haku-chan…'

She was his first friend outside of Konoha's walls, even though they had met as enemies on the battlefield. She could sympathize with his situation, and that felt all the more comforting. He could tell that the bond with the young lady was a strong one indeed. She was steadfast, good-natured, and slightly compliant; conversely, in the case of the villagers, she was a real hard-ass and staunch defender for his equality among the masses.

They both knew struggles and strife, and their childhoods were neither fairy tales nor picnics in the park.

They were despised for things far beyond their control; however, it was ironic that the two shared a similar kekkei genkai. Haku wielded ice as if it was second nature to her, like breathing, but Naruto had to put forth more effort into freezing water. He pondered if he had to use snow as a medium for performing his techniques. He also wondered if a bloodline limit evolves when it would be passed down from generation to generation. Would a new kekkei genkai come from certain kinds of heredity? Or would it be due to a genetic mutation that makes wielding the bloodline trait all the more easier?

Nonetheless, he was fortunate to find a confidant that he could rely on if he was feeling blue or down in the mouth. She was also a close friend who could walk a mile in his shoes and feel the pain of loneliness as well. His secrets were safe with her, and vice versa.

And speaking of girls with kekkei genkai…

'Hinata-chan…'

He smiled.

'Dear, sweet, innocent Hinata-chan…'

To the blond boy, she was as weird as they came…but in a good way. She was soft-spoken, gentle, and she was a kindred, warmhearted spirit in a clan of cold gazes and a frigid air of superiority. Naruto had a feeling that her life, albeit in high society, had a dark side to it as well, since he could perceive it through her sunny, opalescent orbs. Unlike the hardened Hyuuga, those eyes held warmth but with a twinge of hopelessness and self-doubt, almost as if most of the problems were packed onto her delicate shoulders…

He shook his head. He did not know from whence that thought had come. Damn teenage hormones! Damn Kyuubi! He tossed aside those meandering feelings.

He had a seal to expunge.

"You're wrong on one thing, Hebi-teme," Naruto spoke after a while. "I do have people that are dear to me, and I will give my dying breath to see that they're safe. They've acknowledged me; they have accepted me for who I am. Sorry, but the head games won't work this time around, pal!"

The snakelike effigy became riled up with confirmed hissing. It was but so close. It snapped open its jaws, exposing its sharp fangs. Naruto's eyes bugged out and jumped back. The area where the snake had stricken began to melt.

'Note to self…Avoid being bitten at any cost…' he thought. He paused when he heard the familiar, booming bellow.

"Naruto, follow my voice!" Kyuubi roared. "And don't try to be the proud hero this time. If you face it alone, you will die!"

'You don't have to tell me twice…' Naruto dashed through the labyrinth of tunnels, all the while being pursued by the snake and its vile aura. The dark haze seemed to flood the tunnels that Naruto was passing, and he could already feel weak in the knees and limbs.

Naruto clutched his chest. It appeared that the fox-spirit was indeed correct; it was bad for him. He had to hurry to his tenant so they could figure out how to remove the seal…and fast.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Sakura's Mindscape, 12:07 am)

The pink-haired girl's mind was a foggy purple color with no definite directions of up, down, left or right. It was only a murky space, occupied by two larger figures and a short, pink-haired girl.

"Dammit Pinky, why did you have to be so fucking careless!?" her Inner Will shouted at her outward counterpart while she was choking the evil serpent with her bare hands. Its snake-like eyes were bugging out to the maximum surface area of its cranium. Before her mental construct came into play, the snake was snidely remarking on how Sakura lacked power and felt inadequate to her other teammates.

"Hey, the snake bastard marked me because of Naruto!" the pinkette retorted while giving the serpent some weak strikes to the gut. "If it weren't for him testing out his wood-using abilities, then none of this would've happened!" During the Academy, she had read a bit on Orochimaru, but the only data shown to the public was that he was an S-class criminal with an alias of the "Kyodaija"—the "Great Snake." She had no idea that he had an inclination for seeing, learning and acquiring new jutsu…by any means necessary.

"I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind when we're done with beating back this curse mark…Shannaro!" Her stranglehold on the snakelike fiend became a powerful vice-grip as it began to shrink a bit.

"No!" Sakura shouted, which earned a strange look from her chalky Inner Persona. "We're going to show him!" She gave Inner-Sakura an evil grin while giving a swift thrust-kick to the beast's underbelly, grunting.

Her Inner-Self admired Pinky's enthusiasm, as well as that sinister smirk. She was starting to like the pinkette.

Then, a thought occurred to her. She wondered how to kill the horrible reptile in her clutches. It was just so coincidental that her outer-self was ready for the next level. "Think you can imagine something up for me…? I need something sharp to chop off this bastard's head. This is your mind, by the way, so anything goes."

Sakura gave her Inner Will a small grin. "I never knew about that." She put a finger to her chin and contemplated. "Now how do I do it…?"

"All you have to do is focus," she replied. Inner-Sakura twitched and looked at the serpentine influence. "And I told you to shut the hell up!"

XXXXXXXXXX

(Sasuke's Mindscape, 12:10 am)

The dark-haired Uchiha heard crying in the distance and ran to the source to find a version of himself…only five years younger, standing in a desolate street of familiar nothingness. His face was etched in anger in the empty avenue of the Uchiha compound.

"I wasn't strong enough!" he shouted to no one in particular. "I couldn't save my parents because I lacked power! Why did it have to be this way!?" He collapsed on the ground and bawled. The tears ran nonstop.

The present-day Sasuke momentarily reflected upon that day with the memory of his dead parents, Mikoto and Fugaku, flashing before his eyes. That feeling of rage was creeping up on him when he recounted that horrible night. The presence he exuded forced his younger self to look up with slightly bloodshot eyes.

"What… (sniff) are you… (sniff) doing here?" asked the miniature Sasuke who was rubbing his eyes from profusely tearing.

Sasuke calmed himself down while looking at his former self with solemn-looking eyes. He knew that he could not save everyone that night. He could not outdo Itachi in the slightest. How could a seven-year-old Academy student take on his elder brother that had experience in the ANBU Black Ops? "I don't know, but I know that we're in my mind—"

"Foolish brother…Your weakness sickens me. That is why I spared you," an eerie, deadpanned tone filtered out of nowhere. Soon after, a dark image evanescently appeared with a horrible essence emanating from it. The two versions of Sasuke could only look on as the aura materialized into a familiar face. Both of their faces were etched in horror and could only mutter one word to the figure in his ANBU uniform…

"…Itachi…"

"That's it. Run away…Run away and cling onto your pathetic life," the Itachi construct stated, sans emotion.

"Would you care to receive my power, Sasuke-kun? You know that you can't beat him by your lonesome…kukuku…"

The two dark-haired avengers hastily turned around to locate the voice, which had been from a serpent in the snake fiend's likeness. The energy pouring forth from both figures was raw and overbearing.

"Your clan was decimated. Everyone was killed…' The snake paused for a moment to gaze straight into Sasuke's eyes. The serpentine eyes bore through to his soul like a rusty drill. 'You watched them die. If only you had strength to best him…"

'This isn't looking good…' Sasuke surmised to himself as he tried to shake off the pressure.

He was jammed among competing forces: retribution, vengeance through hatred, perseverance through natural talent, and thirst for more power. The situation itself would seem easy from his old philosophy, for he would take that unnatural "gift" and use it to defeat his brother. However, he had skepticism toward the effects of the seal. Would he lose himself if he were to take the present from the snake bastard or would that power put his comrades in jeopardy? Would he become a flight risk if the seal influenced him in some way? Could he somehow take part of the power without the warped suggestions?

Would Naruto and Sakura accept this accursed source of energy? He doubted that Naruto would give in due to his bullheadedness. It was synthetic power. The dobe stressed the issue of relying on pure power and personal strength. Naruto told him to work hard for skill. Power was earned through ardor and commitment, not copied, granted or handed around on a silver platter.

He was not too sure about how Sakura would take it. She stayed reserved about her training, which was rather odd. Normally, he would have been the enigmatic one. Sakura would be there, stroking his ego and asking to hang out with him had the dobe not found those scrolls on Gatou's barge. It was a pleasant quiet, to say the least, but he would not want to hurt Sakura's feelings—again—by admitting out loud that her former bantering was annoying. Maybe he was getting a little soft when it came to the fairer sex…

He shook off that notion. He would have to keep that thought under control and incognito. He could not get involved with any girl until Itachi was safely out of the way. Sasuke could not put past the thought that if he had a loved one, then Itachi would target her just to elicit more rage and fury from Sasuke. He would fall further into the darkness into which Itachi shoved him.

Much to his dismay, many questions and thoughts flooded his mind even more as he clenched his fists. 'I need to get out of this…But how? What would Naruto do?'

He would think up of a quick-witted solution in a pinch. That was what he would do.

"I'm…scared," his younger form said with shaky knees.

"Don't worry. We'll figure this out…one step at a time." Sasuke activated his doujutsu and sprung into action, along with his younger counterpart. There was only one way to find out…

That was to take the situation head-on, just like the dobe would, with roaring fists.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Forest of Death, location unknown, 12:23 am)

"Whatever you do…Don't cancel the exam," Orochimaru hissed as he stood in front of a shaking Anko. "Three of my own are under your care." The Snake Wizard walked and faded out of view, but his voice reverberated around the second examiner. "If you as much take away my joy, then it will be the end of the Leaf Village…"

Anko had found her traitorous mentor and engaged him in combat. Once again, he managed to give the Tokubetsu Jounin the slip, leaving her a bit shaken from the focused ki and thwarted double-suicide tactic on a replacement. The vile snake arrogantly told her that he had originally come to seek out the chuunin hopefuls that were…fit for his needs from Konoha. He had especially taken a liking to the last Uchiha, and his other teammates proved to be a bonus, since they had grand potential in the eyes of the Hebi-Sennin. He marked them with the same seal that was on Anko's nape.

Shaking herself from the confrontation, the snake-mistress was thoroughly impressed that a team of genin managed to land a mark on her former sensei, much less crippling the bastard with only one arm and clouded eyesight. Now that took guts, and that earned her respect, since she almost captured him in his weakened state.

It was either sheer determination on their part or Orochimaru had gone a little too soft, knowing full and well that they could have been wiped out by some of his more potent techniques in his vastly expanding repertoire. She assumed that he did not want to hurt the "precious cargo." Nevertheless, he greatly underestimated the unknown elements that were Sasuke's teammates.

The lady snake-charmer was hardly awed by the younger crowd who thought that they were the best. Anko stood corrected by the bizarre turn of events.

'Team Seven…' she thought as she let out a breath that was unconsciously held. 'I didn't know that you squirts went toe-to-toe with that bastard, maimed him…and lived…hopefully…' She rubbed the tender spot where her sealed Ten no Juin was placed. It was a one in ten chance that they could pull through. Even though she was not religious, she silently prayed to Kami-sama for the first time, hoping that all three could beat back and stay above the influence, before she headed for the tower to file her report.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Hokage Mansion, 12:24 am)

"Hokage-sama," his chuunin bodyguard said. "Two ANBU are here to see you."

Sarutobi had that creeping headache in his skull as he rose from his bed. He could foresee that it was concerning his former pupil. If he were to take a phrase from one of his genin, then he would say that it was going to be "troublesome." He silently nodded, signaling his assistant to let Tenzou and Yuugao into his home away from home.

"Hokage-sama," the tiger-masked ANBU began, with his partner beside him. "It appears that Orochimaru managed to slither his way into Konoha by killing a competing team from the Hidden Grass Village and…stealing the face from the kunoichi on said team."

The Professor was right on the money with his intuition. The wayward genius that was his student tiptoed into Konoha unannounced, causing a silent stir. The migraine was about to erupt in full force. "Continue." He motioned for them to be seated on the couch. "Could you bring us some tea?" His helper moved into the kitchen to prepare the drinks as Sarutobi's eyes panned back to Tenzou.

"Getting to the prime matter at hand, my partner and I caught wind of the news by use of my wood clones and we dashed off to find him. However, certain things became…complicated…"

The Sandaime Hokage had an inkling of an insight that it pertained to Team Seven. Uchiha Sasuke would probably be a pawn in his hasty quest for immortality and learning every jutsu known in the shinobi world on account of his special kekkei genkai. "Go on."

"My partner and I felt the strong surge of the Kyuubi's chakra," Yuugao spoke up, which earned a slightly wide-eyed look from Sarutobi. "We dashed to where the presence was strongest." She sighed. "It turned out that Orochimaru was specifically targeting Team Seven and it was beyond belief that they, a squad of genin, held their own against an S-rank criminal until we arrived." She looked over to her partner to continue.

Tenzou nodded in accordance. "I managed to catch Orochimaru before he was about to hit Naruto-kun in his stomach with the Five Elements Seal. We detained the criminal, but once again, things took on a bizarre twist…" He scratched behind his head, and the sheepish look was well hidden behind his mask. "It turns out that Naruto-kun has the same Mokuton ability like me, and he socked Orochimaru unintentionally on the side of his face."

The Third Great Fire Shadow now felt the pounding headache. That boy was a hardhead, and he was going to personally rebuke his surrogate grandson for even attempting to use his strictly forbidden ability if he were to pull through. On the plus side, he had a personal tutor for him when the time would come…that was, if the Sandaime did not horribly disable the boy before getting to that point in time.

Sarutobi then had a growing preoccupation with the possibility of eyewitnesses. He hoped that none of the council caught sight of that. "Were there any witnesses, aside from Team Seven and yourselves?" The helper came back with a tray of delectable jasmine tea to sooth his nerves. He nodded a "thank you" to his assistant while he bowed.

"Team Ten was present when it occurred, Hokage-sama," Yuugao said as she daintily picked up her cup of brew. She removed her mask and tilted it away from her face. "And that was all who were in attendance. It was due to Uzumaki Naruto-kun's…display that had Orochimaru slip by us and had his snakes clamp down on the necks of the entire team. From the bite marks, a triple-tomoe pattern appeared. It may be some kind of seal, but we didn't have the chance to examine them, for we had to come here immediately.

"Before he fled, Naruto sliced off his arm, Sasuke electrocuted the nerve endings so it wouldn't grow back, and Sakura temporarily clogged his eyesight with some kind of…youjutsu, if I remember correctly." She paused for a moment to sip her tea and let the news sink in. The Professor had an eyebrow raised in disbelief. "My comrade can vouch for me, Hokage-sama."

"It is indeed true, Hokage-sama," Tenzou said as he removed his mask to consume the tasty beverage. He sipped a bit and thanked the Hokage's helper with a nod. "Currently, Team Ten is watching over the indisposed team." The wood-user yawned and covered his mouth. It was a long evening. "I wished that we could step in, but that would result in the team's disqualification."

Sarutobi wished that he could step in as well, but that would, as his tiger-masked ANBU agent mentioned, bar Squad Seven in earnest from progressing onward. He held his chin with his available hand and hoped that the three could overcome what Orochimaru had done to them. Something was a bit…unsettling for the Professor that put his mind into chaotic unrest.

'Just what else are you planning…Orochimaru?' Why would his former student mark all three with the Cursed Seal of Heaven? It probably had to do with the bountiful array of talent laid out before him that made him squeal with pleasure.

A maturing Sharingan wielder…

A sprouting Mokuton and Hyouton wielder with a powerful spirit sealed in his gut…

A civilian with antiquated secret arts from kin abroad…

In the eyes of the Snake Wizard, that was a treasure trove of jutsu waiting to be analyzed, dissected and mastered.

He drank a bit of his tea and reflected on his past actions. If he could wind back the hands of time, then his corrupted student would have never been this way and Naruto could have received formal training. He thought to himself that he was a fool for doting on his favorite pupil that went errant and eschewing the scion of his predecessors and late successor that craved for attention and learning knew things. From Sarutobi's forced negligence, Hashirama-sensei must have been rolling in his grave while Minato-kun was churning violently in the stomach of the Shinigami.

He would have to try to rescind some of the added power from the council, because during the time of the Kyuubi incident, they took that window of opportunity while the Hokage slot was temporarily vacant after Minato had passed on to seize as much power as feasibly possible. Sarutobi hated underhanded politics…and he mentally vowed to try anything in his jurisdiction to rectify the matter.

In any case, Sarutobi would have to issue Team Ten a mandate to prevent them from mentioning Naruto's Mokuton ability to anyone else. From the various reports, Yamanaka Ino had a loud mouth for gossip, but not on par with "the Mouth that Roared" in vibrant fervor and gusto, which was Uzumaki Naruto, but his surrogate grandson knew when to be silent, especially with the Kyuubi sealed in his belly. Ino, from what he had heard, held no such reservations.

But it was a moot point; he would have to lay down his law to protect Naruto from the politically power-hungry councilmen and councilwomen. They would be quick to kiss up to Naruto for the neglect and pamper him like some spoiled brat, all the while planning to wed him off to dozens of women of capable birthing age….

He shuddered slightly, which went unnoticed by those around him. To think that the boy would be forced into a politics-induced harem…

Now that was just wrong, in and of itself. He would protect Naruto that way, just like he did with Haku, so when the time would come to initiate the "Last Clan Heir" addendum in the rulebook, Naruto would be able to choose on his own those that he would feel comfortable with being life-long partners.

His thoughts were halted when Tenzou spoke up to announce his other agenda. "If I may, Hokage-sama, I wish to speak to you regarding the future regimen for Naruto-kun and his Mokuton training." What unfortunate timing!

Indeed, it was going to be a long night for the Professor. It appeared that rest was for the weary, and he was getting old. He had to make it quick and concise, instead of sticking to the guns that were his long-winded lectures.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Hokage Tower Lounge, same time)

"You've got to be kidding me," remarked a dark-haired, crimson-eyed jounin known as Yuuhi Kurenai, Konoha's resident genjutsu mistress. She was wearing a red undershirt with a dress that was oddly reminiscent of mummy wrappings, but that would all change soon. "There's no way that Naruto has one." 'Lucky bastard…Damn…' she inwardly cursed while pinching the bridge of her nose.

Kakashi displayed his patented "eye-smile" while reading through his pornographic novel for the third time. He was sitting on the couch opposite of his two fellow jounin. "On the contrary, Kurenai, the terms of this bet are now in my favor. All of my students have a type of kekkei genkai, and to add on, one with clan techniques. It really was impeccable timing that Gai challenged me, saying that I couldn't luck out and have three kids with special abilities. I apologize that you two had to fall in the undertow of the small wager as well." He paused to catch their looks. They held their disbelief all too well.

The masked Copy-Ninja continued. "You were all in attendance when I made public that Sakura had a bloodline limit when I registered my squad for the Chuunin exams, correct?" With a dual nod from Asuma and Kurenai, he pressed on. "Well, Naruto discovered his own genetic ability as well while training. That means, by default, I don't have to wear the green leotard…I mean, jubilant raiment, when we greet our students."

The bearded Asuma could only nod again, thunderstruck by the groundbreaking update regarding the bet. Why did he have to be the sucker this time around and bet against Kakashi's bizarre string of luck? He knew that he should have kept his mouth shut, but his manly pride, albeit a lazy one, spoke out for him.

All he could mutter was "Damn" and scratch the back of his head while looking down on the floor. He really needed a nicotine fix for the moment…as well as for future moments in the tight-fitting outfit, but no amount of cigarettes would ever heal the irreparable damage to his social life and mental health. Luckily, someone was going down with him in the record books alongside the duo of fashion disasters, Gai and Lee.

"Then what is his kekkei genkai?" Kurenai asked with a schooled expression. On the inside, however, she was livid. How could a no-name civilian have the bloodline limit of a clan, much less clan jutsu of which she never heard? And how was it that the loudmouth possessed a particular ability as well, aside from his current…affliction? The tardy pervert, Kakashi-san, had all the strange fortune.

The green-clad jounin immediately stood up behind the couch where Kakashi was seated. He was occupying himself by doing a round of five hundred push-ups to pass the time. He was not paying much attention, since he was focused on keeping up with his youthful physique, but he did catch Kurenai's question…or at least the tail end of it. Maito Gai was never one for being an attentive listener.

"My youthful rival, pray tell us. What is Naruto-kun's special ability?" Gai really wanted to know, since he was the initiator of the little betting pool for starters. It could just as well be more hype from his "eternal rival" about his spirited team that was eager for challenges. The spandex-wearing taijutsu master was skeptical regarding the issue, and he could tell that Kakashi would try any which way to weasel his way out of the viridian, one-piece garment.

"For your information, it's not what is,but what are his kekkei genkai, and you're going to have to ask Naruto," Kakashi lazily drawled while flipping another page in Make-Out Tactics. "I hold confidentiality with my students, and one ability in question doesn't want to be revealed…especially in front of the council. Hokage-sama forbade him from even using it.

"He is, on the other hand, able to use another bloodline trait known as Hyouton, or the ability to create a kind of "ice-element," just like our newly instated Tokubetsu Jounin, Haku-san. That much I can tell.

"From brief observation, her bloodline is more developed than Naruto's, since he just acquired it through chakra heredity. Haku-san's kekkei genkai must have developed through the generations in Kirigakure, which allows her to master water and freeze it by sheer willpower, whereas Naruto's blend just recently happened on account of either an intermingling of chakra natures or a genetic mutation. I am not certain about it, but it does seem plausible." He looked up at the three jounin staring at him. "That's all you're getting from me. That bloodline limit qualifies, so I'm off the hook."

The quizzical looks from Asuma, Gai and Kurenai were priceless. The boy had two kekkei genkai as well as the high chakra capacity from being the Nine-Tailed Fox's vessel? They wanted to find out post-haste by bombarding queries to Kakashi's blond-haired charge. The Copy Ninja could read their expressions, so he gently dissuaded them.

"Don't get your hopes up. He might not tell you about the other ability," Kakashi remarked from their puzzled faces. "Anyway, go ahead and get dressed into your…" He chucked lightly while turning another page. "…Proper attire…while I take a little rest." He turned to prop up his feet on the couch. He marked his page with his thumb, closed the book, held it to his chest and drifted off to sleep.

Kurenai had a somewhat indignant expression etched onto her face while Asuma's took on a sour, hangdog look.

Gai, for some reason or another, had his smile wiped clean off his face. His eternal rival one-upped him again.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Team Dosu, 1:30 am)

"So what's the plan?" Zaku confidently asked to his one-eyed teammate while crouching behind the bushes.

"We wait," Dosu replied as he was looking on at their target's team. He was surprised that another team had come to aid them. It would be all the more interesting in their surprise attack. "We'll strike at daybreak." He grabbed a squirrel from nearby and held it in place for the upcoming assault.

"Sounds good to me," Kin remarked as she was picking underneath her fingernails with a senbon needle…until she pricked herself. She shook it and placed the digit into her mouth to stop the blood with her saliva. She vowed to not do that again.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Naruto's Mindscape, 1:45 am)

Naruto was feeling very sore all over his body as he ran to meet up with his flesh-bound prisoner while trying to bat off the damnable snake with his clones. Unfortunately, they were failing horribly to ward off the one-track mind of a serpentine influence.

"Dammit Naruto, have you not the slightest idea of what you have done!?" the beast roared. He really did not like the situation at the current moment. To say that he was in fervid ire was a grave understatement. "This is the detriment for having an unknown augmentation seal added onto a containment seal! The odd number on that seal just placed onto your neck is conflicting with the even numbers of the seal on your gut. Why do you not think with your head for once, you careless whelp!?"

"Stop goading me already!" the pointy-eared genin shot back while clutching his chest in agony and holding the prison bars. "This is like…a scorching poison to my system…" He wheezed a bit.

Kyuubi held a claw to his muzzle to ponder on what his host had just said. "Poison, huh? Well, that leaves us with two options, then."

"And…what are they?" Naruto's eye twitched when the last of his clones dissipated. He was on the verge of sweating bullets, knowing that the evil beast was on its way to the main chamber.

"It works out like this. I could flush your system with my youki. Unfortunately, too much raw power could potentially kill you (and that means me, as well) or have adverse side effects…"

"…Well what about the second choice?" The blond jinchuuriki was getting a bit impatient, knowing that he had a snake on his ass…almost literally.

"I could overpower the mark on your neck, but you may literally lose your head at the nape that way too."

The blond demon vessel did not want this conversation to draw out longer. His scowl verified that fact.

"Great…even more bad news," Naruto remarked as his eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "I'll do it my way then! Kage Bunshin no—"

"Don't be hasty, gaki! Using your chakra won't help either, and that could speed up the rapid deterioration of your inner coils."

"Well, what do you think we should do!? I have a snake that's going to eat me whole or melt my consciousness!"

"In that case, let us test your luck with both. Brace yourself, Naruto. After I finish, I will bestow upon you the details on how to slay this…thing the snake bastard placed on you." 'Let's hope this kid's rare fortune holds out…' A blood-red essence radiated from the beast behind the bars and cascaded over the blue-eyed kid.

Immediately, a rush of youki flooded Naruto's system as the poor blond jinchuuriki wailed in pain. The burning sensation was much greater than the last time the fox gave him power. Naruto's body within his mental world began to shake while he stated to cough up blood. The red plasma intermingled with the fluid of the fox's prison cell as he was struggling to breathe. He wheezed and cried blood from his tear ducts, thinking that the head bijuu was insane.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Forest of Death, same time)

"What's going on with Naruto?" Shikamaru asked under his breath. He noticed…red, visible chakra escaping from the unconscious boy's belly and traveled up his body and encased the sizzling, dark manifestation on his neck. His eyes went wide when the unexpected occurred…

XXXXXXXXXX

(Naruto's Mindscape, 2:00 am)

"Don't you want this power, Naruto-kun!?" the snake bastard's falsified doppelganger yelled as it slithered to Naruto, who was in front of his tenant's cage.

"This is a one-shot deal, gaki. Do not screw it up this time!"

The raw power felt a bit numbing to the blond wonder as he stood erect again. He was still in pain, but it was now a dull ache when compared to the Hebi-teme's seal. The beast's youki combined with his subconscious being and a flaring wind poured forth from the blue-eyed wonder. The snake paused in mere horror as it saw the boy rush at an incredible, dead-on pace.

It could feel its power weakening, but it did not know how this mere child overcame its influence.

As Naruto was gliding to the serpent at a breakneck velocity, his right arm held a wild inferno of magenta and purple. The ethereal flame encased his arm and fist as he shot forward, and that was the last thing that the snake-bastard wannabe had ever seen.

Naruto reared back and fired straight into the face of the creepy serpent…

Time stood still and silence echoed throughout the mindscape…until…

"Youkai no Enkou!"

XXXXXXXXXX

(Forest of Death, 2:05 am)

The shougi player was blown back to his teammates from the sudden energy spike out of Naruto's body. Ino and Chouji looked at the wild firestorm pouring forth from the downed blond next to a sizzling Sasuke. Naruto's body was contorting into uncomfortable positions until the mark on his neck was slowly burning away, peeling off in layers.

Team Ten could only hide their faces from the hurtling waves of chakra with their hands and arms while Team Dosu was silently astounded by such a high level of chakra from that unconscious blond kid.

"What's going on!? Ugh!" Ino shouted over the noise of the streaming essence. It did not feel like the killer intent from what they had felt while Naruto was battling. The aura felt…warm and soothing, like a blanket of heat.

"I don't know," Chouji answered. He peered between his hefty arms. "But I know one thing's for sure. That mark on Naruto's neck is fading away."

'This guy…he's so full of troublesome surprises…' Shikamaru thought while the force was dying down and retreating into the blond's stomach. When the force was calm enough for him to look at his blond-haired friend, he noticed that something was a bit…off, like his ears had changed…

XXXXXXXXXX

(Naruto's Mindscape, 2:13 am)

The blond's energy was spent as he was lying prostrate, panting in the murky liquids of the sewer-like dungeon. The last burst of his Phantom Flame-enhanced punch took a staggering number on his body. However, he did it. The effect of the Great Snake was incinerated to a searing crisp before it petered out into dark smog.

"At least you didn't miss," Kyuubi replied before he continued with a grim tone. "But unfortunately, I have some bad news…"

"And…what would…that be…?" asked Naruto between pants. He was too tired to complain about the updated bulletin from his ethereal occupant. He was just glad to have removed the bastard's curse mark. He would worry later about the repercussions.

"Remember what I had mentioned regarding those 'adverse side-effects?'" The bijuu lord scratched a claw against his muzzle, which was displaying a lopsided grin.

"…Yeah…" Naruto struggled to say. He was wondering if the fox had a dual personality: serious one minute and oddly happy in the next. Or was it that he took glee in seeing how the jinchuuriki suffered?

"To put it simply, by forcing my chakra into your coils through the seal, they have expanded to accommodate the new flood of energy. What that entails is that your chakra control has just been blasted to hell, on account of having even more chakra circulating into your system. The Youkai no Enkou will be stronger than normal, and your chakra capacity is now greater, but you will have to redo some of the chakra-control exercises again. If you try to mold chakra while performing a jutsu now, it may backfire on you…or get unknown results."

Naruto could only mutter one word before he passed out in his subconscious realm…

"…Damn…" His face descended into the shallow water surrounding the demon lord's cage. The disturbed water rippled a bit before it resonated.

'There was another thing that needed to be mentioned, but what is a demon to do?' He thought as he looked at his charge. 'I was going to tell him that his ears grew out a bit more, but I'll let the little gaki find out on his own…Hin-hin-hin…' Kyuubi chortled to himself as he lightly shook his head.

For a ten-thousand-year-old spirit, he had seen many things in his vast lifetime; however, never had he seen a neon blond-haired brat with ears that were shaped like his own on a smaller scale that matched the kid's skin pigment. Before the new modification, the boy had looked like one of those…elves that he had come across in another realm several millennia ago when he was on his way to gaining his sixth tail of power. They were eerily creepy, and they used a chakra rip-off called…magic…

The bijuu king shook his head from his misadventures with space-time fluxes. He vowed to forget that particular world, for it was a bit too…quiet and peaceful for him. That and he had to not tinker with the continuum on account of what happened way before that incident occurred…

Oh, was the overarching deity royally pissed at him…for two reasons…with the main one being that he caused a calamity by devouring part of the colony of those pointy-eared freaks. It gave him indigestion for about a hundred years, but it was well worth the mouth-watering taste.

He shuddered at the second reason that had the big, bad Kyuubi run away from the ascendant powers' reprimands…

He was having a little fun in experimentation…

However, his "messing around" had lead to breaking the rules…

Regardless, it took a lot of things to unnerve the regal head of youkai, and that dominion shattered his point of tolerance, just like he did to the gaki's chakra control.

Kyuubi did what he needed to do what he had not done in a long time: rest. Overpowering the effects of the snake bastard's mark had taken much out of him as well. He decided to give the kit a few hours to recharge. At least it would be quiet for quite a while.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Forest of Death, 2:35 am)

"Look, Sakura's mark is fading too," Ino pointed out. The mark on the pinkette started to sizzle into black smoke before it faded into the air. Her corporeal trembling came to a stop. Soon afterward, another dark kanji-band burned onto her left wrist. A hollowed-out inyou mark appeared inside the ring around the band of characters.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Sakura's Mindscape, same time)

"Whoa…What are these? They don't look like typical ninja weaponry," Sakura stated as she held the weapons that tore apart the snake freak. She was glancing at the rounded, teardrop-like bladed weapons that were clutched into her hands. Each one looked like a complementary piece to the yin and yang symbol when she put them together.

"Those are chakrams, Pinky," remarked her Inner-Sakura while cleaning up the slimy mess of the snake "corpse." "Typically, they're throwing weapons, just like your boomerangs, but when you throw them, they neither arc back nor are deflected by wind, unless you have them ricochet during their trajectory. I'll instruct you how to throw them some time later. For now, I'll give you the small details.

"You could use them when fighting up close, just like Ino-pig's sensei, Asuma-san and his trench knives (but I wouldn't recommend that), or as a conduit for your chakra. They can be summoned the same way as you summoned those shuriken, which is another seal band on your left wrist. Consider it a memento from the Shadow Universe for progressing in your right as a kunoichi."

"Wow…Thank you…I don't know what to say…"

"However…" Her inner counterpart grabbed Sakura's attention from her newly created chakrams to her. "This is just one stepping stone, and those chakrams mark your standings as an apprentice to learning more youjutsu. Don't get lax and think that you're the shit, because you're not! Keep that in mind!" Inner Sakura flashed through a few handseals, opening a dark hole underneath the corpse of the Hebi-teme. The bad influence was sucked into the endless abyss. "Abayo Hebi-teme…Shannaro!"

"So what do we do now, Inner Me?" the pinkette asked.

Her Inner Will realized something. "Oh, you can wake up now. You may be a bit weak, so I'll loan you a bit of my energy to make you at least functional before your ordinary reserves kick back up again."

XXXXXXXXXX

(Forest of Death, 2:37 am)

The mind-walking kunoichi noticed that Billboard Brow began to stir from her troubling ordeal. Sakura fluttered open her eyes to look at three puzzled faces.

"Hey," she weakly said before giving them a sheepish smile. She struggled to elevate herself with her elbows.

"Okay, Forehead, spill it!" Ino shouted. "Explain what's on your arm! Are those tattoos? Your parents would kill you, you know that!?"

"Relax, Ino. It's just a seal band. My parents already know about them," Sakura meekly said, waving in a shooing fashion. She took out some bandages from her pouch and began to wrap over the exposed seal bands on her arm. It was a fresh, tender spot, so she had to cover the new band of kanji with the utmost of care.

The platinum-blonde mind-walker looked at her as if she grew a second head. Forehead mentioned her…by name…without adding on "pig." No jab from Sakura? Surely the world was ending in the mind of Yamanaka Ino. Lightning strikes, colossal tremors and a humble, pink-haired fan girl all in one day? It was just too much to comprehend.

"Sakura, are you sure that you're not running a fever?" Ino asked in an exasperated, deadpanned tone.

Sakura looked up at a perplexed Ino. "I'm sure. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing." She paused to meekly rub her left arm with her right hand. "Sakura, what was that jutsu that you used a while ago?"

Playing dumb, the pink-haired kunoichi cocked her head to the side, blinked and asked, "What jutsu?"

Ino's eyebrow twitched. "You know damn well what I'm talking about! Now spill it and don't play dumb with me! I want some details…from both you and that idiot Whiskers! I know that you want to get strong so you can have my Sasuke-kun, so I should know what you're hiding up that shoddy dress of yours!"

'I hope it won't be a catfight. That would be such a bore,' Shikamaru thought as he was looking on. 'Troublesome females…'

Sakura was about to open her mouth, but a raindrop pelted her nose and a peal of thunder boomed from above. Before the rain became a torrential downpour, Squad Ten huddled inside the hollowed-out tree and Sakura picked up Dosha-chan to place beside his master. It was fortunate that both squads made it inside the tree base before the floodgates of the sky opened.

"Listen Ino, I don't have to explain what I did," Sakura softly stated as she finished covering her arms. "And if you want to ask about Naruto, then ask him by yourself. That is, when he comes to…along with Sasuke-kun…" Her voice tapered off. She was worried.

She glanced from Naruto to Sasuke-kun, who was oozing a dark violet hue, and then back to Naruto. She continued to address Ino as she fumbled through her supplies. "I wanted to get stronger, because I've always been behind these two, and not improving upon my skills. I never took the role of kunoichi seriously. I was a hopeless case, lost in the fantasies of love and romance, waiting for a knight in shining armor to sweep me off my feet.

"It was not until our mission to Nami no Kuni that made me realize the fact that ninja life isn't all fun and games. On the ferry back home, I didn't know that I had clan members abroad, much less having jutsu in their name. I vowed to train hard for the sake of my team, as well as to change myself for the better and make a name in my own regard. I owe these guys my life, especially the blond knucklehead who found the scrolls in the first place." She pointed her thumb to Naruto, who was resting peacefully. For some odd reason, he emanated a type of strange warmth, but it felt comfortable.

She chuckled inwardly. 'It looks like we have our own natural heating system. Naruto, you're still an unpredictable ninja…'

'But seriously, I'm gonna strangle that kid when he wakes up…Shannaro!' Inner Sakura was itching with anticipation. Sakura could have sworn that she heard cracking knuckles echoing in her mindscape.

Ino sat quietly, absorbing her former friend's rationale. Forehead showed care and compassion for both of her squad mates, instead of typically showering one with her favoritism. When push came to shove, she was quick to bash whoever said something idiotic…Well…clobbering Whiskers had always been a favorite pastime. It was a surprisingly welcomed change, to say the least.

It also made her reevaluate some of the choices that she had made. She declared to herself to check out the family scroll that she had stashed away before she left. Sure, it was illegal to take it out of the Yamanaka household, but she would have to quickly look over it to find any offensive jutsu that could counter some of Sakura's mysterious moves if she were to go against her in a fight. It could work in theory but potentially backfire against her in a test run.

In Ino's retrospect, it would have been humiliating to get thrown for a loop and trounced by a personal contender that had little to no talent. Now, Ino had to think otherwise. She could not make heads or tails on Sakura's growth, and that made her wary of the pinkette. Either way, she vowed to never lose to her…in skills or in love.

Chouji munched away at his chips, stealing glances to make sure Naruto's fox was safe and sound. He was a bit amazed with Sakura's speech and her changing attitude. Who knew she had it in her? Maybe he should adopt that kind of courage, instead of playing the gentle coward most of the time.

Shikamaru was leaning back, dozing off, taking in the pink-haired girl's discourse. He thought that if only Ino could follow suit with Sakura, then the world would be in perfect order.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Forest of Death, 5:45 am)

Hearing the constant pitter-patter of rainwater onto bark, Naruto groggily yawned as he stretched out his arms. His moment of relief was short-lived when a soft hand grabbed his wrist. His eyes opened in a fast reaction. His cerulean orbs panned around the group to land on a set of green, pupil-less ones. It was Ino.

"Alright, Whiskers, I want some particulars!" Ino shouted at point-blank range. "How is it that you, the 'dead-last,' can use Mokuton!? What about those ice-like blades!? And what was that strange, red glow that came from you a while ago!?"

Naruto retrieved his arm from his fellow blonde. His deep-blue eyes narrowed into a stony glare, which made the ringmaster of gossip shy away and halt her tirade. Those slit pupils made him look like an animal waiting to pounce.

"That's none of your damn business, and keep it down," he calmly stated. "What I have in my arsenal of jutsu is none of your concern. It was just a fluke, and nothing more. And what you have seen here occurred by chance. I'm not sure if I could ever do it again for that matter." He closed his eyes and nodded sagely. When he bobbed his skull, he felt a larger than average pressure on the sides of his head. He could not pinpoint it exactly, but he felt as though his ears had changed.

Shikamaru's eyes were half-lidded. That was the lousiest form of logic from the blond wonder that was his friend. He knew for a discerning fact that Naruto could, in fact, use the Shodai Hokage's life-giving powers.

Why deny it? Maybe it was due to the fact that Hokage-sama banned Naruto from using it, but he used it anyway when they faced off against the elite Orochimaru. There were too many troublesome variables to consider. Either way, he kept his mouth shut on the issue.

Chouji paid no mind. He was still munching his way through yet another bag of chips. Just how many of those snacks did he carry with him? The world may never know…

"That reminds me…" Sakura began with a gentle smile. Immediately afterward, she decked her conscious teammate across the face with a hard, right hook. The sickening blow could be felt all around from Ino to even the unaware Chouji. They noticed that Sakura's facial tone transformed from serenity to unbridled fury, and that made them flinch and perspire bullets of sweat from their foreheads. It felt exaggeratingly worse than what Naruto had exuded.

"You are one…dumb…baka!" Sakura cried out with fists balled up.

Sakura stood up and walked out, into the rain, over to the heap that was Naruto, with gritting teeth. She picked up the fox-eared boy by the collar of his jumper with both of her hands and pressed his face onto hers. "Naruto, what the hell were you thinking?" she whispered between her teeth, out of Team Ten's earshot. "Why did you reveal your wood-using abilities? I thought that you were forbidden to use them."

"I…"

"And don't tell me that you pulled a 'monkey see, monkey do' moment with that ANBU in the tiger mask either," she said, not giving Naruto a word in edgewise.

"Let me…"

"I don't have all day, Naruto." Sakura scowled and narrowed her emerald eyes. The piercing gaze itself could have easily cut through jade.

"Let me at least start, Sakura," Naruto managed to say. "It was an accident." He chuckled nervously while holding up his right hand as if he were about to take an oath. "Shinobi's honor."

The ki receded a tad when she released him from the nose-to-nose contact. "You're off the hook…for now." 'Those ears look a lot more vulpine than before…they almost look like Dosha-chan's…' she thought to herself as she examined Naruto's new change.

'Well, that went over well…' Naruto thought.

"What if Hokage-sama catches wind of this, huh?" Sakura asked with hands on her hips. Her facial expression was unreadable.

"…Kuso…" Naruto cursed under his breath with his head down. 'I'm going to be in deep…trouble…'

XXXXXXXXXX

(Forest of Death, 5:50 am)

"Time to begin the operation," Dosu commented and patted away the booby-trapped squirrel, directing it to the two teams. He was chuckling due to the force that small girl placed into that punch. Maybe things would get interesting after all…

XXXXXXXXXX

"It feels like this rain won't let up any time soon," Naruto declared as he massaged his chin and checked on his furry, sleeping companion. As he was drying off his hair, his foxy ears twitched and heard a faint rustling in the bushes. He, along with those that were awake, turned to the direction that he was facing. A furry creature with a bushy tail and a rodent-like face appeared. The quintet of Konoha shinobi sighed a breath of relief, knowing that it was not a major threat.

'...Just a squirrel,' were the thoughts of Sakura, Naruto and Team Ten. The woodland rodent raced to the makeshift campsite but paused when Chouji's kunai was hurled in its tracks. The poor critter was scared out of its wits when it dashed off to parts unknown.

'That was a close one…' Chouji thought. 'I think I should tell them about the traps before we head out.'

"Okay, we need to get going, guys. I'm sure that they can manage for now," Ino told the other two on her squad. Shikamaru nodded in silence, but he felt as if they were being watched this entire time. The blonde kunoichi picked up the mental distress coming from her teammate. Ino then turned to Sakura and whispered into her ears, "We got your backs if you need us. We'll be off to the side if there's any trouble, okay? And remember this: I won't lose to you."

The pinkette smiled at her once-time friend. Hopefully, they could still hold onto that bond…before the fissure, one Uchiha Sasuke, had split it completely. "We got it. Don't worry Ino." She placed a hand onto Ino's shoulder. "We'll get through this. Trust me." The unspoken feeling was this: I'll see you at the end…no ifs, ands or buts about it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ino slipped Sakura a slip of paper regarding Chouji's set of traps before they left. She was amazed by the creativity. If she did not know any better, she would have expected Naruto to set up something of this caliber. She guessed that Naruto's antics rubbed off on his friends while in the Academy. One trap was to be used as a feint while the other one was an even bigger surprise.

"Did they see the exploding tag on that squirrel?" Zaku asked while still crouching. He really needed to stretch, because a person could only squat but for so long.

"I don't think so," Dosu answered tonelessly. "We'll find out when we get up close…" He tapped the porous, metal contraption on his right arm.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Forest of Death, parts unknown, 5:55 am)

Lee broke away from Tenten and Neji to find more teams with scrolls. He wondered if Sakura was alright and would pull through with her teammates. As he passed through a tree filled with foliage, twenty leaves were pulled off and fluttered in mid-air. It was time for another self-imposed training routine by the second Green Beast of Konoha.

"Yoshi…If I grab these twenty leaves, then it will be certain that Sakura-san will be okay," he declared in his own self-challenge. "If I fail to grab the last one, then I will do everything in my power to protect her. If I fail that, then I will do one thousand squats due to unrequited feelings!" 'I hope that she does not make fun of my eyebrows…like last time…' Lee inwardly thought with a pouting lip. Sakura called him "unique" when he attempted to make a pass at her the first time that they were training. She was not so quick to apologize, and that stung the ego of the "Beautiful Green Beast." Eventually, she finally reconciled and said that he was an "okay" guy. That comment made his heart soar to the skies above.

He performed a springboard from the branch and began to grab like a madman. He was about to grab the last leaf when an upturned squirrel on its back caught his eye. It appeared as if it were struggling with something on its hide.

Lee flipped down on his haunches and caught sight of the explosive note latched onto the backside of the helpless rodent. It was activated, and it was sizzling out to the last few seconds. He quickly snatched it off and crumpled it, defusing it altogether.

'Whew…that was close…' he pondered. 'Now who would be so cruel to do something like this?'

The second-leading taijutsu expert of Konoha sensed that trouble was brewing within the storm overhead…

XXXXXXXXXX

(Forest of Death, 6:00 am)

"So, it looks like a change of guard, I see…"

The creepy voice alerted Sakura and Naruto to stand in a defensive position, kunai at the ready.

It was the team leader with one eye visible that had spoken. "But it's no longer necessary. Wake up Sasuke-kun. We want to fight him."

The other dark-haired shinobi was crouched on top of a low branch while the kunoichi stood to the leader's left.

"Those guys," Naruto muttered under his breath. "They're from the newly formed Otogakure. They're the ones from the exam that jumped that guy, Kabuto…" Naruto's eyes widened as he missed a particular detail before their bout with the Hebi-teme…

The outline of a tuft of grass engraved on Orochimaru's hitai-ate was a cleverly disguised illusion. When the pale-faced freak ripped off his ersatz face, the genjutsu dropped, and the tuft of grass reverted to a musical note.

Sakura had a flash of realization cross her mind as well. She was thinking along the lines of the same thing. "What are you talking about!?" she asked with an elevated voice. "I know that snake-freak, Orochimaru, is pulling the strings from the shadows! What is his purpose!?"

Dosu, Zaku and Kin's eyes widened after the pink-haired girl mentioned their leader. What was he doing within the Forest of Death? Did they find out that they were sent to inspect their downed teammate while they were out of action?

"Why did he mark us?" Naruto coolly asked. "That's what I want to find out." Team Dosu twitched again when Naruto rolled his left shoulder. The spot where the seal had been placed felt awfully sensitive. "Surely you must know."

The Sound team was even more astounded that their leader did not tell them about marking all three, but with what? He was originally going to pay a visit to the last Uchiha. Why the sudden change of plans?

'They must have…intrigued Orochimaru-sama in some form or fashion. Now what is he planning?' Dosu thought as his head tilted gawkily. "Hmm…I wonder what that man is thinking half the time."

Naruto and Sakura were taken aback. Even his squad of genin had been in the dark about his cryptic plans. Naruto, in a way, knew from his tenant that he wanted the Sharingan, but he also could have wanted Sakura's body, as well as his own, so he could take their jutsu for his own selfish ambition.

Sakura was in the gray area of know-how. She only knew that Orochimaru was the leading strategist behind the scenes. So that would mean, to an extent, that the three Oto-nin standing before them would be pawns on the shougi board.

"But hearing that, we can't let you go," Zaku spoke up with a haughty air in his voice. He sneered. "I'll kill the girl, maim the fox-eared squirt, and go after this Sasuke guy, myself."

'Fox-eared…?' Naruto thought as he rubbed the side of his face. He grazed past his ears and rubbed on them. His eyes expressed his sudden shock. 'That bastard fox…If I had the chance to, I'd throttle him for screwing with my body!'

'I told you about the side effects when I flushed your system and burned off the seal. Deal with it, you ungrateful gaki,' Kyuubi retorted as he stirred from his slumber. 'I should be the one to devour you for even putting yourself in that kind of predicament. Hn…prideful humans and your warped sense of logic. That is why you got vulpine ears.' He let loose a pent-up, raging bellow before he calmed down again. He would never understand the hubris of Homo sapiens.

"Hold on, Zaku," Dosu said. He walked over a few feet. "Whoever set this trap wasn't very good." The one-eyed shinobi in wrappings picked up a patch of artificial turf. "This was a recently overturned stone. There's different coloration in dirt, as well as texture, and the grass doesn't grow here." He looked up to meet the eyes of Sakura and Naruto. "A booby trap is pointless unless it goes unnoticed."

Zaku scoffed and slapped his knee. "How lame! And to think…That kunai was used to just stop the squirrel from setting off the trap."

'Orochimaru-sama instructed us to get to Sasuke-kun,' Dosu thought. 'It would have been easier if they were still down. I guess we have no other choice…' "Kill them," he said after debating with himself.

Kin and Zaku jumped along with their team leader.

While in midair, Sakura smirked and sliced an invisible wire held down by another kunai. The trap revealed a heavy, hollow log tied tightly with rope, almost like a pendulum. It was barreling down toward the ninja in the air.

"A giant log trap above? Oh no!" Dosu retorted as if he were intimidated. He held his Melody Arm to part of the log and made a single handseal, initiating his Kyoumeisen. The rush of sound waves broke apart the log into splinters and wayward bark.

Naruto took note of the influx of wind needed to force open the log. He would think about making a jutsu like that for much later.

"This is the end for you weaklings. You should've worked harder," Dosu remarked. As they were coming down, Naruto was flashing through handseals for a Great Breakthrough when he heard a shout from out of nowhere…

"KONOHA SENPUU!"

A green blur emerged from the trees and lashed out three times, sending back the pouncing team.

"Then you guys…should work even harder…" Lee's shiny-bowl haircut blew into the wind. His face was fixed in determination as he struck a dramatic pose with the squirrel on his shoulder.

"Who are you?" Dosu asked as he shook off the pain.

"I am the Beautiful Green Beast of the Hidden Leaf…My name is Rock Lee!"

"Lee-san, why are you here?" Sakura asked with an astounded look on her face. She would have never expected her part-time tutor to show up.

"It was thanks to this little one here," Lee calmly said as he let down the furry rodent. "Now go." He patted the squirrel on its backside. It scampered off into parts unknown yet again.

"All right, Bushy-Brows!" Naruto shouted. "Now we can take them on!" He cracked his knuckles while grinning. "I've been waiting to scrap as a tag team!"

'A forewarning about your chakra control, Naruto,' Kyuubi commented, going into sensei-subordinate mode. 'You're free to use water and wind-based jutsu. Earth and ice require a lot more control, much of which you don't have for the moment. The same goes for your "precluded" wood-element.'

'Damn,' Naruto mentally swore.

'You know good and well that you were barred from using Mokuton in the first place, gaki, so I don't want to hear your futile griping,' the bijuu lord deadpanned.

'Well, can you alter the seal again?' he pleaded.

'No can do, young one. That was a one-time effort. I wished that I could…but I cannot.' Kyuubi held a paw to his muzzle to assume his bored, thinking pose. Naruto swore that his tenant went through more mood changes than Sakura on a good day.

He turned to said pink-haired teammate. "Well Sakura, it seems that I've got only two realms of ninjutsu to work with. Are you up for a challenge?"

Sakura was confused. "Huh? What? How did that happen?"

"The seal…I managed to overpower it…but at a price." Naruto did not need to expound upon the rest of the explanation. Sakura got the hint.

Case in point: It screwed with his chakra control…Big time!

'His control is almost back to Square One, which was fresh out of the Academy,' Sakura grimly thought.

"Well, I'm a bit too weak to move right now, so other than some taijutsu, I'm only able to use Kawarimi and a few of my lesser illusions," she quietly said to her teammate. "Lee-san, other than Team Ten on standby, is the only fresh one out of us that are still standing."

'Okay,' Naruto thought to himself before he got ready to brawl. 'Sasuke-teme and Dosha-chan are out of commission, so that leaves Lee and Chouji in taijutsu, Ino with her mind-entering skills, Shikamaru with his shadow-slinging, Sakura with genjutsu and me with Kage Bunshin, as well as Fuuton and Suiton jutsu…And I don't know what else these guys—and girl—are packing, other than sound-based ninjutsu. We have them outnumbered, but I'm not certain if they outclass us.'

'They're like cockroaches,' Dosu thought to himself. "Oh well…" He pulled out his Earth scroll and tossed it behind. The vital parchment landed in Zaku's open palm where he subsequently placed it in his hip pouch. "Zaku, you can have Sasuke-kun. Kin and I will take them on."

Dosu looked around at his…potential prey and deduced on the known and unknown. 'The thick-browed kid has some impressive taijutsu. The girl and the fox-eared kid are enigmas. We know nothing about their talents.' He smiled underneath his bandages. 'This ought to be fun…'

Dosu dashed to the group of three. As he was rapidly approaching, Sakura launched a kunai from her holster, but Dosu jumped into the air, letting the kunai ingrain itself into the ground near Zaku.

Zaku could have sworn that he heard fizzling and looked down to see an explosive note wrapped around its small hilt. His eyes widened greatly and jumped to a higher branch before the tag detonated with Sakura's handseal.

Lee, in the meantime, punched into the earth and pulled out a giant root to intercept Dosu's blow. The upturned root gave way from the impact while Sakura and Naruto shielded their eyes from potential splinters. They were expecting Lee to pull off…or out…something like that. Kin was a bit stunned, but Zaku just snorted in disinterest, like it was no big deal.

"There is a trick to your jutsu, right?" Lee queried. "I am not going to just simply dodge it, since I have seen them before when you were showing off." He paused to think on the variables as well. 'It is a good thing that Naruto-kun and Sakura-san are okay. I can hold back on my power for now and try something new.'

"Yeah, what he said," a voice came from behind Dosu. He turned around to catch a ninja sandal in his hand. He glanced down to where the blond kid was standing.

'He made a shadow clone…but when did that happen?' he thought as he heaved Naruto's clone against the tree where Zaku was perched. The clone made impact and dispelled in smoke as Dosu descended to the earth.

'Good thing I made that clone while they were swept away by Lee's initial strike…' Naruto thought. 'I wondered how that Oto creep would follow up…'

He had then noticed Lee unwrap his bandages. Naruto's eyes bugged out. "Lee-san! You can't be using that now, are you!? Are you insane!?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," Sakura retorted under her breath while rolling her eyes. 'You used Mokuton in front of a guy who craves for jutsu!' Then it clicked in her head. The snake-faced creep wanted her body. For what, she did not know, but she shuddered at that thought.

"No, it is not," Lee replied. "It is something that does not place much strain on the muscles while assuming the Strong Fist. For this jutsu, I would like to thank you, Naruto-kun…"

Naruto had a curious look on his face when Lee disappeared and sent Dosu into the air again with a quick foot strike to his chin.

'Well, I see nothing original yet…a Konoha Shoufuu right before the Kage Buyou…' Naruto dissected. Something caught his attention, as well as Sakura's gaze. It was a bit different in the follow-up. Lee appeared…beside the Oto-nin, instead of underneath. "What the hell…?"

Lee grinned as if he was a kid in the candy store when he looked Dosu in the face. "Meet one of my new jutsu, Shinkirou Buyou. I must admit that you should feel honored for me to test out this other jutsu on you." Lee wrapped around, underneath the airborne shinobi, while his wrist wrappings became undone. As Lee's wrist dressings unfurled and began to wrap around Dosu, they started to resemble a blossoming white lotus. The bandages constricted the Sound ninja's arms and legs and clamped them together. From Sakura and Naruto's points-of-view, Lee looked like a flying bird with his arms spread, while the Oto-nin was close to being tethered down to his back. Kin and Zaku had a hint of worry on their faces.

Dosu was mildly panicking. His body was bound and he could do nothing about it.

"Behold!" Lee shouted. "Byakuren Kyoufuu!"

Lee began to spin faster and faster, while Dosu began to get a bit dizzy from the centrifugal force. The two were plummeting toward the ground when Lee loosened the bandages as he kicked off Dosu and hopped on a nearby tree branch. From the release, Dosu was falling down at a phenomenal rate.

'This is bad…I need to cushion the fall!' Zaku yelled inwardly while flashing through a few handseals.

Naruto noticed it and flashed through his own. "I don't think so, you Sound bastard!" Naruto landed on the Tatsu seal, but it felt…different than what a normal Great Breakthrough should feel like. Instead, the wind from the jutsu blew erratically and wildly, blowing everyone away and sent Naruto skyrocketing upward in a spiraling fashion. He screamed at the top of his lungs as he flew eastward, along with Zaku. Lee and Dosu were scattered close by while Sakura and Kin were blown northward.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Team Ten, 7:38 am)

Ino shook her head. "That Naruto," she muttered. She then inwardly groaned. 'I didn't get enough beauty sleep thanks to them…'

"It's obvious that the jutsu failed," Chouji mentioned while holding out some chips for Shikamaru to eat. He respectfully declined the offer with a firm hand. 'And boy, Naruto got air…'

"It not only failed, but it completely backfired on him," the lazy genius remarked as he was looking at the skyward shinobi. "It's almost as if he lost his excellent chakra control from earlier before." He sighed. "It looks like about that time, isn't it Ino?" 'Back to lookout duty…And I hardly got a wink of sleep with all this ruckus going on…I swear, this entire night has been too ridiculously troublesome…' Shikamaru thought with sagging eyes.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Sakura, 7:40 am)

Sakura latched onto a branch and pulled herself up, only to be grabbed by her pink locks. It was the Oto kunoichi that was blown along the same flight.

Kin looked at Sakura with disgust. "Your hair has more luster and gloss in it. Hn…Trying to be a sexy ninja, huh?" She turned her nose up at the pink-haired girl. "If you have time to fix your hair, then train, you swine!"

Sakura chuckled. Her chuckle then became a full-blown, hardy cackle.

Kin narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny, you piece of trash?" 'This bitch is going hysterical!'

"I'm sorry," Sakura said while wiping away a tear. "But a lady can look pretty and still train, too. You don't know how far I've come before I decided to take this exam." She pulled out a kunai from her pouch and held it firmly in the palm of her hand.

"A kunai?" Kin snorted. "That won't work on me, you pink-haired twit."

The evil grin from Sakura did not go unnoticed. "Who said it was for you?"

"What…?" Kin was shocked when the pink-haired girl sliced straight through her hair and wheeled around with a sweep kick to knock the Oto kunoichi off balance. Kin righted herself as she regained balance.

"Now it's time to get serious!" Sakura shouted with gusto as she leapt back to an opposing branch. 'I wished that you were here to see me in action, boys…Naruto, Lee-san, stay safe.'

Kin assessed her opponent by analysis. 'I should stay on my guard with this one. Her looks fooled me, and hardly anything gets past me.'

XXXXXXXXXX

(Naruto, same time)

Naruto finally descended to land in the upper canopy where a confused-looking Zaku was perched.

"You know," Naruto said as he pulled himself onto a thick limb. "If it weren't for that goofy look on your face, then I wouldn't have taken you as a threat and use my…failed attempt at a jutsu." He mumbled that last part.

"Hn," Zaku snorted. "You shouldn't take me lightly, you Leaf cockroach!" Zaku raised his right hand and aimed at the blond while his left hand made a half-handseal. "Air pressure, one hundred percent, sound pressure, zero percent blast…Zankuuha!"

From the open hole in his hand, a coherent blast of wind shot out to where Naruto was gathering his bearings. The force of the jutsu pressed into Naruto's gut, leaving the jinchuuriki a bit winded as he soared back. It must have been his fortieth tree that he smashed into during the selection examinations.

"With these holes integrated into my arms, I can freely control sonic sound waves and air pressure. I have the power to even destroy a rock."

"You don't have to brag about your abilities, you blowhard!" Naruto shouted as he righted himself on another branch, panting to take in breaths. He clutched the point of impact with his left hand. 'But damn…that was painful…'

"If I used both hands, then you would've lost your gut in that last jutsu," Zaku retorted. "Face it kid, you're in the big leagues now. There's no way that you can beat me."

"Don't get so cocky, Oto-teme!" Naruto roared. "Never anticipate victory while I'm around…Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

With the cross-shaped handseal, four Naruto duplicates popped into existence. The smoke gave the blond wonder a chance to plan out his next move against the arrogant Sound-nin. The guy was focusing on wind, so why should he not as well?

Within the smoke, he attempted to focus on molding his chakra by holding the Hitsuji handseal, but to Naruto, it felt like trying to hold back a tidal wave with one's own bare hands. He tilted his hand forward and hoped that he would not miss.

The chakra fluctuation was not lost on Zaku. He was wondering what that blond shrimp was trying to accomplish. His smirk faded when he saw a wall of blue essence emerging rapidly from the smoke. It looked like a copycat version of his Decapitating Air Wave but with pure chakra.

He effortlessly dodged the attack by jumping up to a higher branch. However, he had three copies of the fox-eared kid following after him.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Sasuke's mindscape, same time)

Sasuke and his former self were a little worse for wear, but no matter how many times the subliminal messaging echoed in his mind, he would not give into the dark force. He was amazed at how his willpower had withstood this entire time, even though his mental self was cut up and breathing hard by attempting to beat it back. Even though his mind was holding strong, he felt more and more bloodthirsty with every punch and kick dealt to the seal's embodiment…

Little did he know that the snake had been transferring a bit of its energy into the dark-haired avenger while they had gone toe-to-tail. Sasuke remained somewhat unaffected for now, but it would all come full circle and he would eventually fall prey to Orochimaru's influence. That was what the serpentine image concluded.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Lee, same time)

With faster-than-average reflexes, Lee grabbed onto a branch not too far away from the unofficial campsite of Teams Seven and Ten. Dosu was lucky enough to be indented into a nearby tree instead of the ground from that thick-browed weirdo's jutsu. He would have to analyze and keep a close watch on that kid.

"You've had your fun, but now it's my turn," Dosu remarked with a grin hidden beneath the mummified wrappings. He pulled up his oversized sleeve and dashed up to the tree where Lee was hanging.

Lee took note of it and swung up to another branch when the tree limb was demolished. He caught some of the reverberations of the blow and that left him feeling a little woozy, almost like an inebriated feeling. Had Lee stood at close range, he would have felt the full effect of the punch.

"I take it that you've noticed. There is a little trick, just like you mentioned," Dosu remarked. "You can't just dodge against my attacks." He chuckled more to himself. "It's sound. Even if you dodge my fist, sound will attack you.

"When you hear sound that means your ear is catching the vibrations in the air. If you were any closer, it would have damaged your inner ear membrane, which is the part responsible for your balance and equilibrium. Your pathetic taijutsu won't work against me."

Lee had to take extra special care with handling a ninja capable of ninjutsu. Lee could barely mold chakra, but he was capable enough to transfer part of his low reserves into his limbs to amplify the power behind them. Being unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu put the green-clad "splendid ninja" at a major disadvantage.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Team Gai, minus Lee, same time)

"Lee sure is late. He should be here by now," Tenten deduced to her white-eyed teammate. "Do you think that he could be in a fight with an enemy?" 'Or worse…?' she grimly thought to herself.

"No way…" Neji coolly remarked. "Well, that is unlikely." He turned a bit in the direction where he heard something. "Let's go find Lee."

"…Right," Tenten said after a bit of hesitation. Both of them jumped and ran at blinding speeds on par with their green-clad teammate.

XXXXXXXXXX

The royal rumble of the forest lasted for quite a while. Things were coming to a head for Naruto, Sakura and Lee…

XXXXXXXXXX

(Naruto, 10:00 am)

It was hard for Naruto to focus on which of the elements he wanted to select. It was like having them placed on a roulette wheel; it was random from the spin that was a handseal. He would have to work extremely hard to alternate between his chakra natures as if it were second nature with little to no conscious thought.

He was panting hard from dodging Zaku's air-based assaults when he was flashing through some handseals to block the next oncoming wave hurtling toward him.

Naruto landed on the Inu seal.

"Suiton: Suijinheki!" he shouted. He reared back to take in the water chakra filling his mouth. He hoped that it would form a wall to refract the sound wave. Water gushed forth, but it did not form a solid wall in front of the blond wonder. Instead, the water pouring forth from Naruto's mouth came out as a swirling current that bypassed the air wave and slammed into Zaku's gut. The force behind that strange jutsu had driven him back to the campsite where Naruto followed suit.

As he was approaching the flying Oto-nin, he thought to himself that he should put a name to the failed jutsu. In the eyes of Uzumaki Naruto, a failed jutsu that came about as a success was declared an inventive original.

He also pondered if he could have used his Water Absorption to procure a comparable effect to the Water Encampment Wall.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Sakura, same time)

Even though the pink-haired kunoichi learned a bit of taijutsu from the Green Beast Duo, Sakura stood little to no chance in close-combat situations, particularly with the Sound kunoichi in front of her. She did not want to exhaust almost all of her chakra by bringing out her Inner Will.

Frankly, she lacked the chakra quantity because she was not at one hundred percent going into the fight. She added that to the fact that opening one-quarter of the Eight Inner Gates would put tremendous strain on her already worn-out muscles.

She tried to the best of her natural ability (along with chakra-fortified blows) to match up to the Sound kunoichi, but the girl was a bit faster with her follow-throughs, leaving Sakura on the defensive most of the time.

Kin tried to set up for one of her illusions, but the pink-haired twit deflected her senbon with some of her kunai. She was a pest, for lack of a better term.

"I have to admit that you're not so worthless after all," Kin commented as she took an unfamiliar stance in the trees.

Sakura said nothing, but she did bite down on her left thumb to let the blood flow. She used the kunai in the same hand to slice through the wrapping on her right wrist. She smeared the blood onto the seal-band twice. With a pop and a poof of smoke, two of her crimson, four-sided boomerangs appeared from out of nowhere.

Kin narrowed her eyes. "What kind of weapons are those?" she asked.

"They're the throwing kind," Sakura answered with her head down. 'I just hope this works…' she thought as she looked up and flung them one at a time.

Kin easily dodged the projectiles. The edges on those strange weapons were blunt, so how could she be serious enough to just conk her on the head without killing her? And what was with that grin etched on that twit's face?

She noticed that the pinkette had her hands in a strange handseal. It looked like the Tora handseal, but the forefingers were wrapped around her middle fingers.

'What the…?' Kin could not get out that thought when she felt miniature claws slash into her back. She visibly winced from the pain. When she grabbed at her back, she felt two small tufts of "fur." Kin turned around on the branch and Sakura grinned by seeing a pair of crimson-hued tigress constructs latched onto her.

"You're wondering how, right?" Sakura asked. "I intended for my boomerangs to soar past you. I placed a bit of my chakra into those to transform them into…something different. They whirled around by my command and silently latched onto you. This is one of the high-level youjutsu from Kusagakure that requires close to faultless chakra control. You should be lucky enough that you were the first to witness my Youjutsu Magen: Oniyuri no Doki."

Kin growled. "You little twit, you're going to pay for that!" She jumped to tackle Sakura back to the temporary base, with the illusionary "tigers" still affixed to her back.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Lee, same time)

Lee was feeling the effects of the Vibrating Sound Drill. The dizziness from the jutsu left him nauseous and off-balance. Dosu simply kicked the green-clad taijutsu freak to the tree where Team Ten was watching over a now awakened (and frightened) Doshaburi and a still-downed Sasuke.

Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino looked on at Lee, who was flying through the foliage back to where they were positioned. He was in terrible shape as he plummeted to the ground, where Chouji made the dive to catch him.

Ino looked around and heard multitudes of snapping branches. "Incoming!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

XXXXXXXXXX

From the myriad of trees, three bodies impacted the earth while a fourth and fifth hopped down from their run through the forest to catch up with their respective adversaries.

Kin and Sakura were tussling with one another by rolling on the ground and pulling on each other's hair. They were close to out of chakra, so their brawl devolved into a hair-pulling catfight.

Zaku was clutching his chest. The force behind that drilling torrent was phenomenal. He knew that the fox-eared twerp had a lot of chakra on account of that red flare from earlier in the morning, but he did not take into account into how much he possessed.

Dosu looked a bit haggard and Naruto looked a bit winded from pursuing his soaring opponent. Aside from his chakra control issue, Naruto was otherwise fine, save for a cut here and there, along with a little bit of dirt and grime. The cuts were slightly hissing on account of the regenerative abilities from Kyuubi-sama.

"All of these Leaf cockroaches just keep on appearing," Dosu said. "You're starting to bug me."

"Don't you get it?" Zaku asked between breaths as he staggered to his feet. "We're only here for this Sasuke guy, and nothing is going to stop us. I don't see why all of you are going out of your way just to protect one person…"

"Hn…It looks like you pieces of trash are getting dealt with by these low-life, second-rate ninja…"

Everyone turned to look at the new arrivals perched on a high branch. It was none other than Lee's two teammates, Tenten, with a concerned look on her tanned face, and Hyuuga Neji, with a cold, withering glare at the scene before him.

"You made a grave mistake by picking the wrong one to mess with," Neji remarked with a frown and pointed at an unconscious Lee. "That knocked-out weirdo is from our team, and…" The veins around his eyes bulged to unreal proportions as the chakra channeled into his eyes, activating his intimidating Byakugan. "You're going to pay for that!"

From Neji's doujutsu activation, it slightly frightened those who have not witnessed the stare from the White Evil Eye.

'What's this?' Dosu remarked to himself. He was alarmed. 'It's like his eyes see through everything…'

"It appears that you are far outnumbered for the moment…" Neji paused when he noticed a dark aura around the vicinity. What was that kind of chakra? "…In fact, I don't have to worry about stepping in."

Dosu sneered. "Quit acting smug and face me here and now."

Neji still held that confident smirk as he released the chakra from his eyes and closed them.

"I believe that would be unnecessary," the Hyuuga prodigy responded with a fixed grin that screamed arrogance. "Besides, I wouldn't want to get my hands dirty."

All parties that were in attendance felt a tremendous spike of energy and turned toward the source…

"Sasuke-kun, you're awake…" Sakura's voice tapered off as she released a stunned Kin from her clutches. With her focus lost, her boomerangs reverted back to normal. Something was amiss with her dark-haired crush….

Shikamaru's eyes went unnaturally wide when he looked at what he had seen…

Chouji dropped his bag of chips to take in the sight of the arising shinobi…

Ino was stunned to the core as well. 'Is that…Sasuke-kun…?'

Naruto did not know what to think….

Time stood still in the brink of the silence, save for the dark, whirling tendrils of rampant energy. The dark-haired avenger spoke to break the stillness as he opened his eyes…

"Naruto…Sakura…Who did that to you?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Well, there is another end to another chapter. I decided to make you wait in anticipation from the high of the fight in the Forest of Death. And once again, another cliffhanger! Do not expect an update of this caliber for quite some time.

I altered Sasuke's mindscape a bit, if you could tell already, as well as trying to make the mindscape conflicts much more interesting. I decided to do this change for your enjoyment.

To those people who are kind of fuzzy on how Naruto's ears look like, picture the character Jak from the PlayStation2 games of Jak and Daxter. The only difference is that Naruto's ears are half that size.

I adjusted the ANBU masks, if you can tell (or pay close attention to details), making them somewhat correlative to the Chinese zodiac. Think of them as dwarf caricatures on the porcelain. There will be other animal masks though, so need not worry.

THIS IS A SPOILER WARNING FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT READ THE MANGA. The Shodai Hokage's name was revealed from Chapter 398 as Senju Hashirama, and will remain that way throughout the fic when he is referenced.

Yes, I made Kyuubi an adventurer that got into a lot of trouble prior to the events in this fic. Not happy about it? Tough cookies! Tricksters are devious troublemakers.

The second reason that Kyuubi mentioned will remain undisclosed at this current time and will be touched upon later.

Sakura, Lee and Naruto have been beaten and battered throughout their individual bouts. When all comes to a head at the gathering, an unexpected event happens. What lies in store? Stay tuned to find out…

Jikai… (Next Time…) on Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid…

Awakening on the Horizon…

Sasuke: "This power…It feels…"

DHO: Are you at a loss for words, Sasuke?

Sasuke: "It feels…indescribable…"

Anyway, let me know what you think. Try to use appropriate grammar and spelling…please. It's kind of hard to decipher some of your thoughts. Send any and all suggestions by private messaging. That includes "should do this later" statements. I will NOT pay attention to "have this and have that" comments. I have a general feeling about where to go in my story.

I know that you want to get it all out in one flare, but this leaves things in better order for me.

Specialty Guide:

Chakram: a throwing weapon that was used by the ancient Indians; it is a flat metal disc with a sharp outer edge from 5 to 12 inches (13−30 cm) in diameter. The word chakram derives from Sanskrit meaning "round, circle or wheel." Earliest references come from the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. It was used by Indian armies, mostly by Sikhs (who have it on at least one flag). It is due to its aerodynamic shape that it is not easily deflected by wind. (Wikipedia)

Now you have a general idea from where chakra is derived.

Romaji/Jutsu Guide:

Kyodaija: Great Snake (can be pluralized to be "Great Snakes" as well)

Tokubetsu Jounin: Special High Ninja

Shinigami: Death God or God of Death

Youkai no Enkou: Phantom Flame (refer to Chapter Seven for more information)

Inyou: cosmic dual forces; yin and yang

Abayo: good-bye; farewell

Nami no Kuni: lit. Wave Country; in English TV, Land of Waves

Kyoumeisen (Vibrating Sound Drill): C-rank offensive close-range ninjutsu; this jutsu can be used as a blanket term for the majority of the jutsu of Kinuta Dosu. The sound drill involves Dosu's Melody Arm, a porous metal device located on his arm, used to amplify the sound waves from arm movements to attack his opponent. By generating enough sound, Dosu can use his chakra to redirect the waves in midair to his intended target (Narutopedia).

Konoha Senpuu (Leaf Whirlwind): D-rank offensive close-range taijutsu; jutsu is a set-up attack for a stronger jutsu, which consists of a simple, but very fast, duck followed by a powerful upward kick, which sends the opponent flying (Narutopedia)

Konoha Shoufuu (Leaf Rising Wind): unknown rank close-range taijutsu maneuver; using quickness and agility, the user will do a swift upwards kick at their opponent or at a weapon that the opponent is holding (description from Narutopedia; name from Naruto HQ)

Shinkirou Buyou (Mirage of the Dancing Leaf or Dancing Leaf Mirage): C-rank offensive close-range taijutsu; this body-to-body technique allows the user to position him or herself beside the prone target in the air after a performing the Konoha Shoufuu (Leaf Rising Wind); this jutsu is an alternative version of Kage Buyou (Dancing Leaf Shadow) (created)

Byakuren Kyoufuu (White Lotus Strong Wind, alternatively known as Strong Wind of Purity): Low B-rank offensive close-range taijutsu; this jutsu requires the opening of the Kaimon (Initial Gate); having prepared the jutsu by unwrapping the bandages on his arms, the user kicks his opponent into the air (Leaf Rising Wind), and then performs the Shinkirou Buyou (Dancing Leaf Mirage) to move beside the target in question; as a variant of the Omote Renge (Front Lotus), the user wraps up the opponent's limbs when he or she moves underneath the opponent to have his or her back to the target; from the inertia and force of the user moving underneath the opponent, said user spins rapidly while falling to the ground; instead of the typical piledriver of the Front Lotus, the user loosens up the bandages at the right moment for the opponent to fall downward at close to terminal velocity; the user then can kick down the opponent to increase the damage of the impact; this jutsu takes a minor strain on the muscles when in comparison to the Front Lotus (created)

Zankuuha (Decapitating Air Wave): D-rank close-range offensive/defensive ninjutsu; using the air tubes implanted in his arms, Zaku can control air pressure, creating supersonic blasts of air powerful enough to destroy stone (Narutopedia)

Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall): C-rank defensive ninjutsu; user blows water out of his mouth to block an oncoming attack (Narutopedia)

Youjutsu Magen: Oniyuri no Doki (Dark Art Demonic Illusion: Wrath of Tiger Lilies): This dark art-based demonic illusion is a B-rank offensive/supplementary Haruno-clan hijutsu/genjutsu blend, where the user transforms several crimson-hued boomerang-like objects into little "tigers" to aid the user in battle; they can be used to serve as a distraction to set up for numerous assaults; this dark art was developed in Kusagakure and the user must have close to faultless chakra control in order for this technique to be used and maintained (created)—It's a pun, I know.