I realise at least one person was annoyed at the whole 'Naruto curse seal' thing, and I'd just like to explain this. Firstly, you probably thought the Kyuubi would get rid of the seal. Wrong, Kyuubi is currently LOCKED IN A CAGE. Not only that, he's also treating Naruto's horrible stab wound. Remember, he got impaled? Secondly, the Darkness wouldn't destroy the seal. He would probably just tinker with it, change it to suit his, and his host's, needs. So the curse seal stays. I don't see why people were getting so worked up about it, I said I wouldn't use it much. So, on with the show!
Disclaimer: I've got a missing girlfriend, a guy who's pregnant, an idiot who thinks his pet just died and our worst enemy is hanging out unsupervised in our base, right now. So I really, really, REALLY don't have time for this horseshit right now! I'm not saying it again!
Chapter 8, Snakes in the Darkness
The Forest of Death, a non-descript tree...
"C'mon, Sasuke-kun, wake up. Please?" Sakura pleaded with the Uchiha heir's unconscious form. He was running a fever, his body practically steaming. A strange three-tomoe mark pulsed on his neck, similar to the Sharingan's third form, occasionally spreading over his neck before receding. Naruto and Neru were nowhere in sight, but Sakura didn't care, she only cared about her precious Sasuke-kun. She heard a twig snap behind her, but paid it no mind. That is, until a voice followed it.
"Hey, pinky. Wake up Sasuke, we want to play."
The Sewer-Scape...
Kyuubi's fur bristled as he heard a horrible hiss emanating from the tunnel. His crimson eyes narrowed as he caught a glimpse of white scales moving in-between the shadows, growling as the hissing grew closer.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"He roared, becoming unnerved by the new presence in Naruto's mind.
"So, you're the Kyuubi noYouko...how nice to finally meet you." The thing hissed, moving closer still to the golden bars of the cage. It reached the bars, and reared back in order to come closer to the fox's eyes. A pair of yellow slitted eyes stared into the face of the Bijuu, long black hair falling around them.
"Orochimaru."
"Ah, so my reputation precedes me."
"Why, or how, are you here?"
"Through the curse seal I placed on the boy, my dear kitsune, and as for why...well, this child's ablilities would be most useful in my quest."
"You mean your obsessive search for power, the Sharingan and eternal life."
"But of course. And with the two boys I sealed earlier, at least two parts of that goal will be fulfilled."
"I'm guessing you mean the Uchiha. You can keep him, never liked him."
"i AgReE." The Darkness spoke from a corner of the room.
"Now, if you don't mind, I have to kill you. This seal is, effectively, a wound. And it's my job to heal wounds."
"hOlD oN a MinUtE, kYuUbi. jUsT...sLeeP." The immortal entity growled as he jabbed a tentacle into the Kyuubi's neck, forcing the fox into a deep slumber. "NoW, sNaKe. I hAvE a pRoPoSitIoN fOr yOu."
"Do continue."
A clearing in the forest...
'Hmm...I could just take him now...but should I? Or should I wait till it's more...romantic?' A particular girl thought as she gazed at the blonde boy laying a few feet away from her. During her observations, she found a small amount of purple steam rising from his body, and a small mark on his neck. 'Huh, what is that thing? If it's some kind of weird hickey, someone's gonna die.' Her thoughts were broken when the aforementioned blonde boy sat up, clutching his neck as more purple steam poured out.
"Where is he...WHERE IS HE?" Naruto roared in a demonic voice.
"Who?" Neru asked, not afraid in the slightest.
"Orochimaru...need to stop...him." Naruto told her while calming down.
"Well, we'll find him later. Right now we gotta find Sasuke and Sakura."
"Ugh, do we have to?" Narut asked, making Neru chuckle.
"You don't know how much I'd like to just leave them behind and have you all to myself, but if we don't bring them, we don't pass. So let's get going."
"If we have to."
Back with Sakura and Sasuke...
Sakura was at that moment being practically beaten to a pulp by the three Oto-genin, while Sasuke was still unconscious, the same purple steam rising off his body.
"Dosu, this is boring. Just finish her already," The nin with spiky black hair told his bandaged comrade.
"Be patient, Zaku. She will die eventually," Dosu replied, before advancing on the pink haired kunoichi. He got no further, however, as he was stopped by a strange green blur and a shout.
"Konoha Senpuu!"
The three sound ninja were knocked back by the force of the kick administered by the flying blur. Eventually it stopped moving, revealing a boy wearing a green spandex jumpsuit, with large eyebrows and a bowl cut. The sound ninja sweat-dropped, seeing the person they had been knocked back by.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Rock Lee, the Green Beast of the Leaf!" More sweatdrops.
"Right, why don't you just run along? Wouldn't want you to get hurt...yet."
"I am afraid I can't do that. A fellow leaf ninja is in danger, and it is my duty to aid them."
"Well then, it looks like we'll have to go through you to get to Sasuke. Fair enough." The bandaged genin said to the newcomer, before rushing forwards, his metal gauntlet ready to pummel Lee.
"Nice try. Konoha Senpuu!" Lee shouted, spinning into a blur once again. He was thrown off course, however, when Dosu's gauntlet emitted a high pitched sound, making Lee lose his balance and fall to the ground.
"Like my little gadget? You see, this little device practically gives me control over you through your ears. Your taijutsu is no match for our specialised ninjutsu."
"How well does it work against Kekkei Genkai?" A voice asked from seemingly nowhere.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, if someone were to use a Kekkei Genkai that allowed them to attack from somewhere you couldn't see, would it work?"
"Well no, but..."
"That's all I needed to know." The voice said, before black Demon Arms swarmed the clearing, aiming for the Oto-nin. They tried to dodge, but found there to be too many. They were impaled, tentacles filling almost every inch of their bodies. Naruto appeared from the shadows and harvested their hearts before turning to Lee. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, for I am a truly splendid ninja!" Lee replied, holding his thumb up with strange sparkly teeth. Naruto sweat-dropped, then turned to look at Sasuke. The steam had thickened, creating a cloud obscuring his body. Naruto sensed a malevolent chakra building inside the cloud, and readied his Demon Arms. A blue blur flew towards him which he knocked off course with a tentacle. The blur settled, revealing Sasuke, black flame-like marks covering the left side of his body and purple chakra swirling his form.
"Fight me, dobe!"
"As much as I want to, I'm afraid I can't. Now's not the time."
"I said, FIGHT ME!" Sasuke roared, rushing towards him. Naruto grabbed the fist Sasuke threw at him and pushed it to the side, punching him in the stomach. The crazed avenger flew backwards into a tree.
"We fought before, Sasuke. You lost then, you'll lose now if you continue."
"But things have changed, dobe. I've gotten much stronger." Sasuke growled, jumping forwards again. Naruto grabbed his neck and lifted him into the air.
"So have I." Naruto said, holding up one of his Darkness Guns. He fired a shockwave into Sasuke's chest, flinging him through several trees. He tried t get back up, but Naruto just appeared at his side, gun pointed at his head. "Stay down, teme. Don't make me kill you."
Sasuke calmed down, the black marks receding into the three tomoe mark on his neck. "Fine, let's just get to the tower. That is, if we have the necessary scrolls."
"Yep, I got them while you were unconscious, so you didn't have to worry." Neru said, appearing from the trees.
"Then let's go. We need to get out of here, now." Naruto said, staring out into the forest. "Lee, will you be alright getting back to your team?"
"He won't need to." Came another new voice. The voice of Neji Hyuuga, standing in the tree with his teammate, Tenten.
"So be it. Go."
Forest of Death, Central Tower...
"So, what now?" Naruto asked.
"Maybe we should open the scrolls now?" Neru answered.
"You can do it, I don't want anything to do with them." Sasuke said.
"Pussy, give 'em here." Naruto told him, grabbing the scrolls and opening them. "Hmmm...A... person?" Naruto muttered, looking at the kanji written on the scrolls. His eyes widened and he threw the scrolls on the floor in front of him. "Get back!"
Everyone jumped back as a large cloud of smoke burst from the scrolls. The smoke slowly dissipated, revealing Kakashi.
"Hi, how's it going?"
"Kakashi-sensei, did we pass?"
"Indeed you did, congratulations. Now, if you please, follow me to the arena." Kakashi said with an eye-smile as he strolled through a set of double doors. The genin followed him into a large room with two balconies and a large statue of a hitsuji hand seal. The other teams were standing in the middle of the room before the Hokage, Ibiki, Anko and several other Jounin. Squad Seven joined the group of ninja and waited for the Hokage to speak.
"Congratulations for passing the second part of these Chunin Selection Exams. Let's see...there are six teams left, which means eighteen genin in total. Gekko-san, if you would."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," A man wearing normal Jounin attire and a bandana as his hitai-ate said, stepping forward. "My name is Hayate Gekko, and I'm the proctor for the third exam. We're going to have to hold a round of preliminaries matches before the third test, because the first two may have been too easy." The genin started shouting, annoyed that they went through all that and had to fight more. "If anyone feels they cannot fight any longer, please speak up. Those people will have to leave the exam and will thereby fail."
'Looks like I can't give up this time, eh Orochimaru-sama? What with those three dead...I guess it can't be helped.' One silver haired genin thought to himself.
"No-one's quitting then. Good, that means we have even numbers. So, shall we begin the matches?" Hayate asked the Hokage, who nodded. "Reveal the board!"
A large computer screen appeared from behind one of the panels in the wall, spinning through the names of the genin. Finally it landed on two.
"Okay, the first match will be..."
And cut! You'll have to wait till next chapter to see the preliminary matches. As I said before, I realise some of you disliked the idea of Naruto having the curse seal, but I will find a way to work around it. Sort of giving myself a challenge. There's no point in trying to berate it, as you have no idea what I'm going to do with it. So just wait and see, and if you REALLY find something wrong, feel free to tell me. But please, no random swearing or insults, leave an intelligent and decent review. Thank you, and until next time, adios!