Naruto:Death's Second Chance

by Le loup de Kaiser

Ever since the attack of the Kyubi, Naruto was shunned as ‘Konoha’s Demon’ when he was born with the Kyubi sealed in him. His life was miserable beyond grief. NaruHina, Naruto/Bleach Crossover.

21. Becoming the Bull

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Ever since the attack of the Kyuubi, Naruto was shunned as 'Konoha's Demon' when he was born with the Kyuubi sealed in him. His life was miserable beyond grief. Time passed by and he has slowly proven himself as its jailer instead of its incarnate. But despite this, love never truly touched the young jinchuuriki's heart until death came over him.

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A/N: I do not own Naruto, Bleach or any other canonical characters. If I did, I wouldn't be here in FF now would I?

A/N: This will be exciting I guarantee it. I wasn't sure whether I should keep the prelims canon or deviant to my own discretion. But there will be a major Sasuke bashing and Fluffy moment for Naruto and Hinata.

Talking
'thinking/flashback'
Kyuubi Talking/Jutsu
'Kyuubi Thinking'

Chapter 21

Becoming the Bull

And so, the next day brought out the next page of the tale…

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It just hit noon as the great ball of fire in the sky sprinkled its rays over the remaining genin participants. They were just outside a rusted and wicked-looking fence near a large and eerie forest which was behind a steel cage that spelled out the demise of anyone who would enter the spooky-looking woodland.

The genins swallowed hard as they gazed upon the towering overgrown trees that comprised the forest within the barricade. Naruto took a deep breath of air amidst the nervous expressions held by his teammates as nostalgia filled his heart and mind as he looked at the forest that was once his home.

While the crowd was still petrified save for a select few, Anko then explained to them where in Konoha they where. "This place is where the Second Exam will take place. The forty-fourth training area…also known as the Forest of Death."

Naruto inwardly laughed as did his tenant when they saw the place.

Gaki, this will be the most exciting time of the test. Especially, since the hunting traps are still present in this place. Much blood will be spilled today and tonight. The fiery tenant of the young blonde said.

Naruto then mentally replied, 'Glad that I still had those traps around. This will be a blast!'

But before the young blonde could delve further in nostalgia, he felt the presence of someone he didn't want to feel for a long time. He frowned when he turned around and saw a square box with two eyeholes cut out from it approach him.

The rest of the genins were puzzled by the absurd looking "rock" that approached the frowning blonde who then turned around and shouted at the box, "Hey, Konohamaru! What are you doing here?"

The box then replied, "I should have expected that from the man that I look up to. Good job detecting me."

With a flash of light and a sound of gunpowder exploding, Konohamaru and his two friends coughed their way out into the open to introduce themselves once again in their ridiculous sentai poses.

Naruto then lazily asked them, "What do you three want? I'm about to take the second exam in the chuunin selection. I don't have time to play with you."

Konohamaru then replied, "We didn't come here to play!"

"Yeah! We came here to get a story." Moegi added.

Naruto then scratched his head and replied, "So you guys are going to report on the Chuunin Exams."

The three nodded in delight until Anko shouted at them, "Hey, What are you doing over there?!"

Naruto then turned to the fired up lady and replied, "Konohamaru wants to do an exclusive for his school newspaper or something."

Anko was surprised by the turn of events. She then scratched her head and grinned. "Oh, yes, I forgot that Hokage-sama mentioned something like that." She then cleared her throat and shouted to the gathered crowd. "All right, were going to have a ten minute break now. If you are asked any questions, just concede and cooperate quietly."

Before the Konohamaru Corps could ask any questions from Naruto, he had disappeared into the crowd like a blade of grass among the grassy plain of greenhorn shinobi. Among the shinobi, Hinata took that as a cue and followed Naruto to a semi-secluded area as the crowd dispersed and began to be questioned by the Konohamaru Corps.

The young blonde then sat down upon the grassy plain. Hinata sat down beside him as well and smiled as he wrapped his arms around her, allowing her to rest her head upon his shoulder. She enjoyed staying in his loving arms where he held fast around her waist. Though it seemed so casual for him, he was actually nervous of what he was doing as a blush pointed out his feelings on his face.

The Hyuuga heiress caressed her head upon his neck and asked him, "Why are you so nervous Kitsune?"

Naruto then sheepishly replied, "Ano…Hina-hime…I've never been this close to you before."

Hinata saw that he was lying through his teeth. She then flipped a lock of hair away from the back of his ears, and then, kissed that sweet spot that tickled her blonde lover.

"Yamero Hinata-chan! That tickles." The young blonde giggled as she smiled at him and replied, "Not until you tell me the truth."

She kept scratching that spot, causing him to lie down upon her lap in happiness like the way Kohaku would on his lap every now and then. He couldn't resist at this point and surrendered to her will.

"I was nervous because I was thinking about the Chuunin Exams." The young blonde replied as he lay in her lap while she listened earnestly.

The young blonde then sighed and said, "Actually, about a lot of things. I'm a bit worried about the Chuunin Exams because I don't know what could happen. I'm also worried that I'm not myself lately and I'm worried about you."

Hinata was a bit surprised that he had quite a bit on his mind. 'He's right about being out-of-character. I've never seen Naruto like this before.'

Hinata then ran her hands through his blonde locks as he continued. "The Chuunin Exams already are dangerous, but I feel that I'm losing control and I don't know what to do. And…I'm also afraid of seeing you get hurt."

"But Naruto-kun," Hinata said, "Are you sure that those are all you worry about?"

She knew that there was more to it than what he was giving her. Naruto sat up and faced her as his face darkened. She felt disheartened seeing him so down. Never was he, the hyperactive blonde who has always been perpetually confident, so sad and defeated like a fallen warrior as he was now.

The young blonde then said to her, "I…I…I don't know anymore what to do or where to go from here. Everything suddenly became hazy to me after all the things that I've been pulling. I feel like I'm losing myself in all this and there's no one to catch me."

Hinata then muttered, "Naruto…"

The young blonde didn't hear her words and continued to speak. "Everything is out of control and I feel like I'm making a lot of mistakes. I really don't understand if I'm on the right path. What do I do Hina-hime?"

She saw the earnest fear in his eyes as well as the dying flame within its azure color. She took his hands and placed it close to her chest and shut her eyes. He was still a bit stunned as she sighed but he gave way for her to guide him as a shepherd would for her sheep.

"Listen to your heart and mine." She said to him as she smiled. "You can feel your answers in your heart more than you could in your head. Sometimes we just need to have absolute faith in ourselves and others just like you used to before." She then smiled even brighter as she gazed her lavender eyes at his azure ones. "That's what I admire about you the most. Truly believing in people and yourself even if you don't know what to do or how to do it despite any obstacles."

"Hina-hime…" the young blonde muttered. He then understood what she meant. He then made a weak smile and nodded before his smile widened into a genuine one as he took her two hands in his and replied, "Arigato Hina-hime. You're more brave and strong than I expected. I wish I was more like you."

"More like me?" the Hyuuga heiress asked in surprise. She shook her head and continued, "I'm the one who wants to be more like you. I'm even weaker than my sister and helpless most of the time, even though I try hard not to be." She looks away, not willing to meet his eyes in her embarrassment.

The young blonde brought her head around to meet his eyes and replied, "Though you say that, you're a lot stronger than me. You believe and try your best even though it seems you can't. That's true strength and faith. And to top it all off, never being proud or shouting it out like an idiot, like me. If that isn't amazing then I don't know what is, and it's because you're such an amazing person that made me fall in love with you in the first place."

He then placed his hands upon her cheeks and caressed them tenderly and lovingly before placing his lips upon hers. She quickly gave in and wrapped her arms around his waist as she allowed his tongue entry for deeper passion to ensue. They then, slowly but surely, released their kiss since time wouldn't allow them to continue much longer, much to their own dismay.

She then chuckled and said, "It's ironic. You want to be more like me and I want to be more like you."

The young blonde then gave her a charming smile that made her weak in the knees. He then replied to her, "That's why we have to depend on each other like the sun and the moon and the Konoha Fire Lily and the flames that give it life."

Hinata nodded before blushed and smiling once again, showing that everything was all right. She then said, "We'd better go before they start looking for us." They both stood up and walked their separate ways in search of their teams.

As Naruto wandered through the crowd, he glanced at the edges of his vision looking for the hell butterfly that'd been tailing him the entire time. He looked around once more to make sure that no one was paying attention. Seeing that everyone was still leisurely using their break to replenish their strength, the young blonde then yawned and muttered, "Apparently, we'll be heading inside the Forest of Death. It's nice to be home for once. Especially since all my hunting traps and safe points are all over the place. Can't get lost in there since it's so dangerous."

Back at the Namikaze household, Urahara switched the screen to a bird's eye view of the Forest of Death.

"Switch the screen to Soul Society settings." Ishida said the to the wild haired man.

"What good will those do? We can already see if there are any sudden changes in reiatsu." Renji said.

Ichigo then spoke up. "I think it's a precaution because there might be some changes that could affect Naruto's mission and we might not see it properly."

Yoruichi was puzzled and said, "Can that even be done with this makeshift computer? And how is this thing able to run 24/7? You guys haven't shut it off since last week."

Rukia then answered her. "It's all because of that lightning rod that Sado installed on top of the roof. Naruto placed a new type of seal on it that channels and gathers the chakra particles in the air and converts it into reiatsu to power up the house-"

"Everyone, look!" Inoue said to them as they looked at the screen with the new settings in place.

Several places in the Forest of Death were glowing different colors, yet had a reiatsu thread that connected all the spots to a large tree near the tower at the center. They were surprised by what they saw.

"I see." Sado said as he looked at the monitor. "Naruto already placed traps all over the place so that he could get through with ease."

The rest of the team nodded as they switched their view to Naruto's team while Anko hollered out that their break was over. The genins gathered around the gate once more as they faced the ominous entrance.

The teams were a bit shaken by the air that surrounded the area. It was eerie to the bone as they gazed upon the huge and vast foliage that was caged in by the metal fence. A small sign was placed on it, forewarning any trespassers who would wish entry upon this murky place that death would be found here.

Sakura was frightened as she looked upon what could very much be the setting of her own death. "This sure is a creepy place."

Anko smiled when she saw their scared faces. "You will be able to experience why this place is called the Forest of Death."

Naruto then brought out his black book and began reading it and lazily said, "There's no point in trying to scare us like that."

Anko smiled again and replied, "Really?"

She then made a foxy grin and a kunai dropped from her right sleeve into her hand. She then threw the kunai past Naruto who didn't flinch from the thrown weapon that sliced the skin of his cheek as blood began to drip from the open wound.

Anko then reappeared behind Naruto and said, "Boys like you die the fastest."

Naruto inwardly rolled his eyes and thought, 'Spare me the lecture on death. I am death for crying out loud!'

Anko then held him by the other cheek and came closer to Naruto's wounded side and said with a foxy grin, "After spilling out that red blood I love all over the place."

She then began cleaning the blood from his face with her finger until she felt a sharp killing intent from behind her. She threw down her left hand and another kunai appeared in that hand. She faced the person behind her who had her thrown kunai in the person's elongated tongue as the person lifted the straw hat covering his eyes for Anko to see as her foxy grin never left her face.

"Here's your kunai." The mysterious man said.

Anko was keen to notice that this person wasn't normal. "Arigato, but don't stand behind me like that. That is unless you want to die young."

She then took the kunai back as the mysterious man that Naruto knew to be Orochimaru, retracted his tongue back in his mouth.

The young blonde then tucked away his book when he noticed that his nails had grown by reflex during the sudden entry of Orochimaru. He retracted the claws and then sighed in relief and thought, 'Gosh…If Zaraki were here, he'd be happier than Yachiru on a sugar rush with Anko around. But enough about that, I can kill Orochimaru now and save the trouble of having Sasuke betray us and the entire invasion plot go to waste.'

The young blonde then began to play scenes in his head of what could happen if he killed Orochimaru right there: he could see the image form in his mind as he saw himself tearing apart Orochimaru with his bare hands as the fox cloak engulfed him. Everyone was then terrified and he was hunted down. Another scene played out in his mind with him bringing out his zanpakuto and having an all out battle with the snake sannin while several ANBU members came to sort out the mess as Kabuto held up Naruto's friends as hostages. Consequently the invasion starts earlier than expected. Many more scenes racked his thoughts and each one had a drawback with grave repercussions. Eventually, he decided on sticking with the original plan since it was the safest and would suffer the least casualties.

"Well, I get itchy when I see blood." Orochimaru told Anko as a devilish smile crept up his face. "Also, my precious hair was cut, so I got a little excited. Gomenasai."

Hinata gripped her hands tightly when she saw the whole ordeal and wasn't able to do a thing to help.

'Why couldn't I move to help him?' the lavender-eyed girl thought as she worriedly gazed upon Naruto. 'I was too afraid to move. It was just like that time before in Wave when Kakashi-sensei saved me.'

As the mysterious man walked away, Hinata approached Naruto and wiped the blood from his cheek as his wound healed.

"Arigato Hinata-chan. It's just a scratch though, so don't worry." Naruto said to her as Anko giggled. Ino was also giggling, making a devious plot in her mind to get the two together.

"It looks like there are a lot of hot headed people here today." Anko said with coy smile. "This will be interesting."

She then went back to her position in front of the cage and then faced the crowd to begin her explanation of the second phase of the exam.

"Before we begin the second exam, I'm going to pass this out to everyone." Anko said as she brought out a huge wad of papers from her trench coat.

The crowd was confused as to why they needed those forms. However, Ichigo and Co. knew why they were given those forms, as they were able to put two and two together.

Anko then continued her explanation. "These are consent forms. Those taking this exam must sign these."

"Why?" Naruto asked to keep his reputation of being a complete idiot in place.

"From here, people will die. Therefore, we will need people's consent before we continue. Otherwise, I'll be held responsible." Anko replied causing the crowd to shiver in tension.

Naruto smirked as and idea popped into his head. 'It's been a while since I've fought real targets to the death. But that consent form gave me an idea. What if you could sign your own death or the death of others when you write their names on paper?'

You've been watching too many 'Death Note' reruns gaki. His foxy tenant replied.

'At least I'm thinking of something.' The young blonde said to his tenant. Realizing what it just implied, he continued, 'Sheesh. Since when did you get the idea that I watch that show?'

Since Rukia brought the entire anime series, the live action movies and the manga with her as well as her own Death Note notebook when she got here. I can still remember the episode when Light and "L" were handcuffed together to make sure that Light wasn't Kira. And I never knew such a story existed before, so it's either a fabric of my imagination or an outside source.

Back in the Namikaze household, Rukia sneezed as she read Chapter 109 of Death Note, occasionally glancing at the screen when the rest of the group made enough motion.

Anko then spoke once more. "Now, I will begin the explanation of the Second Exam. To be concise, you will go through an extreme survival match."

Naruto took the forms and began handing it out to the other teams.

Anko then opened a scroll and showed its contents to everyone. "I'll explain the training area's geographical features. The forty fourth training area is a circular region surrounded by forty-four locked gate entrances. There is a river that runs through forest and a tower in the middle. The tower is approximately ten kilometers away from each of the gates. Inside this limited space, you have to go through a certain survival program. The program consists of…" she then took out two more scrolls and said, "A competition where anything goes over these scrolls…The scroll of Heaven and the scroll of Earth."

Naruto then took out his black book and begun writing new lines of text as Anko explained the test.

"Twenty-six teams in total passed the First Exam." Anko said, catching their attention. "Half of those teams will get the Scroll of Heaven. The other half will get the scroll of the Earth. Each team will get one of these scrolls. You'll simply have to fight over these."

"And what's needed to pass?" Sasuke asked of the sadistic woman.

Anko then replied, "Bring the Scroll of Heaven and Earth to the tower with your teammates."

Sakura was able to see the plot in this exam and said, "In other words, thirteen teams, or half the people here that gets their scroll stolen will fail."

"But it needs to be done within the time limit." Anko said making the tension rise a couple of degrees. "This exam has a time limit of 120 hours or exactly five days."

"Five days?!" Ino blurted out in distress.

"What about food?!" Chouji blurted next.

Naruto smirked and said, "This is a survival and stealth mission put together. All equipment, food, clothing, and weapons are to be procured on sight while avoiding enemy shinobi. We're completely naked in that sense. Now this is my kind of mission."

The young blonde then chuckled darkly making his own teammates and the other rookie nine except Hinata, shudder in fear while Naruto's tenant had his head throbbing as he remembered where Naruto got those cheap lines.

Gaki, you've been playing too much of Inoue's video games. Especially that one with the bandanna-wearing character who eats snakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner while avoiding soldiers in the forest. Naruto's fiery tenant said to him.

Before Anko could explain anything more, a young black-haired bishounen clad in a sleeveless, black version of the first examiner's uniform. This one had pants of the same color, combat boots that secured the ends of the pants inside, a leather utility belt with several pouches, and a few kunai and senbon holsters around it. Metal greaves were strapped around his fingerless, black gloves, He wore a large Zanbato, almost the length of his height and a black hitai-ate with the Konoha emblem on his forehead and he leaped out of the forest, landing next to the sadistic woman as he fixed a black choker on his neck and his long hair covered his face while his nearly hidden brown eyes gazed at the crowd.

Many, if not all the women present to see the lad, were melting at their knees, their eyes becoming hearts. In fact, his sheer beauty made a couple of men blush except for those who already knew him.

"Anko-san, I've inspected the forest as you've asked." The young bishounen said to the sadistic woman. "Aside from the several man eating plants and bugs, there are no problems at all."

The woman blushed a little when she saw him. "Good work Haku. You're doing well for a rookie chuunin." She then began to unbutton his shirt slowly as she said, "If you were only a few years older, I would've seduced you a long time ago."

Haku was a bit flustered and backed away and quickly buttoned up his shirt again. Naruto then sweatdropped and thought, 'Yeah…real nice way of showing restraint.'

Haku then waved at Naruto and his team as well as team eight making Ino jealous that her rival and best friend knew him, while making others wary of their influence.

"Well then, I'll be headed back at my post in the tower." Haku said as he shunsined out of sight.

Anko then coughed to get their attention once again and continued her explanation. "As I was saying, people will get hurt in the process of fighting over a scroll. And those who cannot bear this program's strictness will emerge, as well."

Shikamaru then raised his hand and asked, "Excuse me, but can we quit in between?"

Anko then replied to the question. "As a rule, you're not allowed to give up during the exam. You will spend the five days in the forest."

"Just as I thought." Shikamaru said as he sighed in regret. "How troublesome."

Ino was irritated and grabbed Shikamaru by the collar and hollered at him, "Oi! You better put your brain to good use and get us there as fast as we can so that I can spend at least the next three to four days with that drop-dead handsome chuunin."

Anko paid no head to the two genin's rants and continued. "While we're on the topic, here are the conditions that will fail you. First, a team that cannot bring both scrolls to the tower with all three teammates will fail. Second, the team that loses a teammate or produces an unrecoverable teammate will fail. Also, just as a note, you are not allowed to look inside the scrolls until you reach the tower."

"What happens if you open the scrolls?" Sasuke asked out of curiosity.

"Either a muscular okama or Gai-sensei will pop out naked and dance for you." Naruto said with sarcasm in his voice.

A lot of genins and a few of the chuunins present, except Neji's team, began chuckling and felt grossed-out by the idea. When Anko got over her own laughter, she then said, "That would be a nice prank, but what's inside the scroll is a surprise. You'll see when you look at it." When seriousness finally filled the air, Anko spoke again. "If you become a chuunin, you will be handling top secret documents. It's to determine your reliability. That's it for the explanation." She then pointed to a nearby hut that was stationed by three chuunin proctors. "We will exchange three consent forms for one scroll at that hut. And after picking your gate entrance, everyone will begin at the same time. And one last piece of advice." She sighed when she forced herself to say this. "Don't die."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he inwardly said, 'I already did. In fact, I am death incarnate. Can't I tell them that? The entire death threat thing is starting to bug me.'

Go ahead and sign your second deathwish.

Naruto sighed as the crowd once again dispersed. He quickly wrote on his form and went to a secluded place and checked his GPS to see if his traps are still active.

'They're still active. That's good to know.' The young blonde thought. He then yipped to his pet Kohaku that was perched in his hood to awaken. The young fox then leaped off and sat in front of the young blonde.

"So what's up?" the young fox asked of Naruto.

Naruto then gave him a three-pronged kunai and replied, "Bring this into the hollow tree near the tower of the forest. Go inside and stick it into the wall next to a bed there. There's a seal on that wall so it's not hard to miss. Make sure that the kunai sticks to the seal. Then head back to my position and tell me okay?"

The fox made an odd salute and then shunsined out of sight in a flash of fire. Naruto's tenant chuckled and said, So you've managed to teach him how to speak and do a few jutsus during your training. What's next? Summoning him?

"I need all the help I can get so he has to do his share." Naruto replied.

But as he got up, he felt a familiar presence behind him. He smiled and then turned around to see Hinata there all this time.

"Well, I hope we make it through Hina-hime." Naruto said with a smile.

"I'm sure we will Naruto-kun. I believe in you." Hinata said as she returned the smile and gave him a peck on the cheek for good luck. "I'll see you there in the tower."

Naruto smiled and said, "Heeeh? You're pretty confident Hinata-chan. Or are you just bluffing?"

Hinata then placed her hands behind her back and walked passed him while saying, "Maybe."

Naruto blushed as he saw her retreating form. 'Thank Kami-sama that she's getting more confident. Just a little more and she'll definitely break out of her shell. I'm glad that I have girlfriend like her.'

Soon everyone gave their forms to the booth and had their scrolls. Team seven got their Heaven Scroll and made their way to the gate.

"So what's our next plan?" Sakura asked her comrades.

"We take things slow and steady." Naruto said to her while facing the forest. Only the chuunin guarding that gate saw his eyes flare into a cyan color. "Everyone will hurry to their deaths so we best take the route closest to the river since it's far too dangerous going straight through the middle."

Sasuke nodded and said, "That's a good plan if we were actually close to the river, but we're too far from it so we need to head straight anyway."

Seeing as there's no other option and considering time was of the essence, Naruto agreed with Sasuke.

And just like clockwork, the guards opened the gates and all of the participants rushed in. When Team Seven got into the forest, Naruto motioned for them to stop and fall back to the ground.

When they landed, Sakura then asked Naruto. "What's wrong now?"

Naruto then sniffed the air and pulled out a kunai pre-wrapped with wire and threw it at a branch. It hit with a thud sound as a yellow liquid dripped to the floor from that location. The young blonde then yanked his weapon back and a human sized spider fell down at their feet startling Sakura.

"Slow and steady. I see the point now." Sasuke said as the young blonde began to dissect the bug.

"Sakura, Sasuke," the young blonde said to them. "Help me dissect this thing."

Sakura then hollered at him in revulsion, "No way am I touching that thing!"

"What's the purpose with dissecting it?" Sasuke asked him.

Naruto then surgically cut open the abdomen and extracted the ovaries and began carefully pulling out the gland that produces webs. While he got to his duty, he then answered Sasuke. "We're going to need to survive for five days. This type of spider actually answers all our needs. The ovaries can be used to start a smokeless fire. The web fluid has a certain smell that attracts the deer that live here. And it's also a good sleeping powder when dried up so we can use it on enemy shinobi. The venom is not harmful to humans, but when mixed with sap can make leaves and rocks even stronger than metal so we won't run out of weapons."

Sasuke smirked as he began helping out. "What about water?"

Naruto then replied, "There's a bamboo section of this forest just a few yards from here since this type of spider only lives in the wet parts of the bamboo forest where it lays its eggs in."

Naruto then gave a combat knife to Sakura and commanded her. "Take the knife and head off northwest to the bamboo forest there. Climb up and cut off the top of the branches and bring it back here. There's water in the shoots so be careful not to spill it. And make sure you cut diagonally so that it's easier."

Sakura then took off as Naruto collected the items he needed from the spider. He also made a makeshift container from a nearby branch for each item. Sasuke's curiosity was aroused by Naruto's survival skills.

He then asked of the young blonde, "So how can I be sure you're not making this stuff up?"

Sakura then came in with a joyful expression as she said, "There's water in the shoots and it tastes sweet! I can't believe it."

Naruto then said to Sasuke with his own smirk, "There's your answer."

Naruto then cut the bamboo in a way that he could keep them like a canteen. When he finished, he then drained the dissected spider of its blood on a large stone nearby and the blood melted the rock with it's acidic content. The rapid dissolving substance that easily melted the stone shocked his comrades. Naruto then poured some of the venom on the dissolved, putty-looking parts of the rock and began shaping it into a sword. He then cut a portion of the tree and sap overflowed, allowing the young blonde to scoop it up and mix it with the molding until he eventually got the desired shape of a katana. He then ripped out the bark of the cut tree and wrapped it around the hilt to make the grip stronger and easier.

"Yosh. Now I have a weapon." Naruto said as he tested its sharpness on the tree. The poor tree was cleaved in half with ease like a hot knife on butter.

Sasuke and Sakura were even more shocked and impressed than before.

"Naruto…" Sakura said, "How do you know all these stuff? It's like you've been here before."

The young blonde then scratched his head and replied, "I love hunting and this place was my favorite spot to hang around during the academy days."

Sakura and Sasuke were jaw-dropped in utter astonishment.

Sakura then blurted out, "YOU HUNG OUT HERE IN THE FOREST OF DEATH?!"

"Yup! I know this place like the back of my hand!" Naruto said with a foxy grin plastered on his face. "This was my second home!" 'Seriously, it was. I wonder if Kohaku got to the treehouse already.'

Sasuke shook his head and said, "No wonder you were so calm when we saw this place." 'But what kind of guy hangs out in the Forest of Death at six years old? He's either too stupid to know fear or he's hiding something, like always.'

"I can't believe you actually spent your free time here in this scary place." Sakura said as they trekked onward while she strapped the canteens of water to her waist.

Naruto didn't respond for a bit as they walked slowly and carefully through the forest, following Naruto's lead.

"We have to be careful since I haven't taken down the traps I set up in this forest." Naruto said as they snuck their way through the foliage. "The traps were especially made for animals but a few shinobi might get caught in them so stick close to me."

Sasuke then smirked. "If that's the case, then we should get close to those areas. There's bound to be one or two teams there with an Earth Scroll."

Sakura then said, "Sasuke-kun is right. You do have a map of this place right?"

Naruto then crouched low and snuck behind a tree, making his comrades do the same. He glanced through his right and left as well as above and pressed his foot on the floor to make sure that there was nothing underneath him. Seeing that all was well, he then dropped his guard and sat down as he pulled out a scroll that showed the map of the entire forest while his teammates gathered around to check the map.

The young blonde then explained to them the map. "These red colored areas are the places that the man eating animals live in. they normally stay put in one area but from time to time would travel around to look for food. These areas are also the places where their prey live so I set up my traps there. The yellow colored areas are the places that have herbs and plants that can be eaten."

Sasuke looked at the map and said, "It looks like there's a place not too far from here. We can wait up there for a shinobi team to enter."

Naruto nodded before returning the map into his jacket. He then formed a handseal and walked up the tree and into the nearby branch with his team following suit.

"You don't need to form handseals anymore to climb trees." Sakura said to the young blonde as they leaped from branch to branch towards their destination.

But little did they know that the handseal was actually a one handed seal for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. The clone moved in another direction until it found Kohaku and landed by the young kitsune.

"Everything is all set Aniki!" the young fox said to the young blonde.

"Good. Head on home Kohaku. I'll take care of the rest." Naruto told the young fox.

When the fox had left, the clone then went to a nearby tree and placed his hand upon its trunk.

He then said, "Kaikin Fuuin…Kai!"

An intricate seal, that was a mix of western and eastern design, appeared on the trunk around his hand. And in several other locations in the forest, began to have the same seal upon the trunks of trees as the main seal in the young blonde's former home began to reshape itself. When the clone could feel the reiatsu actively flow through the tree, he then made several handseals and placed his hand upon the seal and said, "Kinkudo number five, Kanseirei!"

Back in the Namikaze compound, the team of Ichigo saw several, white blinking dots on the screen of the TV as they viewed the overview of the Forest of Death.

"Looks like he activated the traps." Urahara said as he zoomed the camera on the several locations.

Team Ten was traveling on the ground while keeping a close eye upon their surroundings in vigilance of the impending dangers that would soon follow. Yet only one member of team ten didn't care much for the term "vigilance" as he sat down and opened a bag of chips to stuff his face.

"What are you doing Chouji?" Ino asked her plump teammate.

Chouji then replied, "Timeout. I'm tired. Actually, hungry."

"It's only been five minutes since it started." Shikamaru complained as he approached the boy.

Chouji then replied while munching down his food. "It can't be helped, since I'm hungry."

Ino then placed her hands on her hips and said with irritation, "If you have the space to bring snacks, bring an extra kunai or two!"

Shikamaru suddenly felt a presence fast approaching. "Ino, hide!" he said sharply and pulled Chouji into the bushes where the blonde girl hid as well.

And just in time, a team of shinobi from takigakure arrived at the spot. Shikamaru kept a keen eye on them as his team lay prone behind the bushes. But as the lazy genius looked hard, he realized that some of Chouji's chips were left in that spot.

'Oh, crap. They'll spot us.' Shikamaru thought.

But before the team of enemy shinobi could locate the trio, a black seal suddenly appeared beneath them. The huge spike in chakra filling the air caught their attention. However, their senses were much too slow as the earth beneath them decided to bite back and wrap around their bodies in a vine-like structure before digging underneath their skin. The unfortunate shinobi screamed for help but were unable to find any as the roots of stone and earth dug deep enough in their bodies to grab a hold of their bones. When the "vines" found the support to wrap around, they then pulled hard on the bones causing them to break apart internally, leaving the wailing shinobi paralyzed and bleeding to death as the stone vines receded back into the earth and the seal disappeared without a trace.

Shikamaru and his team were horrified by what they saw. They weren't prepared for the realities like this one as the red water began to paint the ground where the cadavers lay as the light from their eyes began to die out.

"That could've been us!" Ino blurted out as she shuddered in fear.

Shikamaru then left the bush to warily inspect the dying shinobi who could barely breathe from the internal hemorrhaging as blood slowly filled their lungs.

Chouji then pulled Shikamaru's collar to him and said, "Shi-Shikamaru…it's not a good idea…be-believe me…"

Ino then came out as well and said, "Chouji's r-right…what if you get caught too?"

Shikamaru had already left their clutches and inspected the dying shinobi as he foraged for their scrolls and items.

Shikamaru then replied to his wary teammates, "It's safe. Meaning that trap that came out of that seal was a one-time use type. Whoever created that trap is excellent in terms of seals and jutsu, but the question is…why weren't we affected?"

"Maybe there was a time limit before the trap activated." Ino responded as they checked the surrounding areas for other potential traps.

"Hmm…you could be right." Shikamaru said, buying the guess for now. 'But that seal looked like the wording in that book Naruto was reading. It wouldn't pass my mind if he made the trap. But if this is the true purpose of those words, then that means Naruto is much more deadlier than I thought.'

But Shikamaru's crew wasn't the only ones to witness the trap as the same traps took down many more shinobi teams, albeit in different locations around the area. The sky was filled with the symphony of screams and wails of agony as silence ended each orchestra indicating their deaths. To those nearby, only their cries were heard and their cadavers, seen in a pool of blood. To the crew of Ichigo, they saw the horrible traps that led to the shinobi team's demise.

Rukia then spoke to the crew still watching, "Is it just me or is Naruto not holding back?"

They responded by shaking their heads as Kohaku entered the house and shouted, "I'm back! So who's winning?"

Ishida had veins throbbing on his head as he faced the young fox and responded, "It's not a game when there's people dying! Didn't Naruto teach you how precious life is?!"

The fox then lied to him. "Ya. He said that lives aren't precious until you make them precious. But those guys in TV are just screaming 'kill me' with their sloppy movements."

Ishida kept arguing with the young fox as the teams fought on in the forest. One team was making progress in the forest.

Team eight then gazed at the handiwork of their traps as they saw the wounded and bleeding shinobi from amegakure lying prone on the ground with Konoha Leeches sucking their blood.

Kiba smirked and said, "The leeches in Konoha are able to detect perspiration and body temperature, and they jump onto the targets in groups. If they suck your blood for about five minutes, you'll die. We used their habitat to set up a trap for an enemy's escape route."

One of the nins tried to stand up but caught his hands on the trip wire around them causing them to be hauled up in a net trap as they dangled on the branches.

"One down." Kiba said.

Hinata then climbed up the tree that the enemy was slung in and carefully took the scroll from the enemy team. She then threw an explosive kunai into the net and scurried back down as the explosion overhead caused shattered and torn ligaments to rain down in several locations as blood rained on the floor.

Kiba and Shino were shocked by what Hinata had done though the latter of the two didn't show it.

Shino then asked Hinata, "Why did you do that?"

Hinata then responded, "The Konoha Leeches aren't normal leeches so you still feel the pain when they suck your blood. It is better that they would die a quick death than a slow one where they suffer."

Both boys saw the honesty in her eyes and the sheer determination fueling it.

Kiba then understood where Hinata was coming from with this and said, "You want to impress Naruto don't you?"

Hinata blushed at that making it painfully obvious of her second objective with the task she has performed. Shino then leaped back into the trees causing the team to follow as they leaped from tree to tree. While they were traveling, Shino's mind finally put the pieces together and understood why she was pushing so hard all this time.

"Hinata…" Shino asked her, snapping her into attention. "Naruto only respects the strong and notices things when it is right in front of him."

Hinata sighed knowing full well what Shino was implying.

"Oi, Shino!" Kiba said to his stoic teammate. "Naruto maybe an idiot but he aint a badass."

"It's alright Kiba." Hinata said to the wild boy who turned to look at her in surprise. "Shino is right. Naruto-kun maybe foolish, but he's the person I want to be with the most and I need to do whatever it takes to reach out to him." 'That's right…He loves me, but what use is our relationship if we end up choking each other because of my weakness? I need to become stronger to be with him and to prove to everyone and myself that I am strong.'

Back at Team Seven, Naruto sneezed as they took a whiff of their surroundings.

'Someone's talking about me…' the young blonde thought as he looked around while he strapped the makeshift sword on his back. 'I wonder if it's Hinata-chan…'

Team Seven had arrived at the location in Naruto's map where one of his traps lay. They looked carefully to make sure that no one was watching them while evading the spot where Naruto's trap lay.

"I'm nervous about this." Sakura said, as Sasuke looked around for anything else that was unusual.

But just like clockwork, Naruto felt the urge to do his other duty.

"I need to pee." The young blonde said as he marched to a nearby bush while widening his senses to seek out the hiding rain nins in the vicinity.

Sakura quickly struck his head as a vein throbbed on her head and her eyes widened into saucers.

"What are you trying to do in front of a lady?!" Sakura screamed at him before pointing elsewhere and saying, "Go behind the grass!"

Naruto rubbed his head as he walked towards the grass while saying, "Sheesh. It's not like you've never seen a penis before. Especially Sasuke's."

Sakura attempted to pound the blonde into submission as Sasuke held her back to make sure she didn't rampage through the forest in anger.

The young blonde then made a small smile as he located the chakra signature of the rain nin creeping up behind him as he relieved himself. When the young blonde finished, he then replied, "You know, I wouldn't be doing this if I knew there was some perverted okama wanting to rape me."

The nin suddenly felt a kunai pressed to his throat by a clone of the young blonde. The clone then grabbed his neck in a chokehold while keeping the kunai pressed causing the rain nin to lean back on the clone preventing him from moving or counterattacking.

Naruto then pulled up his pants and faced the nin with crimson slit eyes and a feral look of his youkai empowered state. The rain nin felt the stranglehold of fear gripping his soul as Naruto sent his killer intent to the nin and slowly increased its acuteness with every second.

"Where are your comrades? Tell me and I'll spare what's left of you." Naruto asked with a low, but sharp voice.

Before the nin could respond, the clone then stabbed the nin's right shoulder and dug deep until he managed to pop the bone off its socket. The nin failed to scream as the chokehold of fear from Naruto's killing intent and spiritual pressure tore his voice from his lungs. Naruto then lowered his killing intent and asked the same question again. The nin was too frightened not to comply and did so with fear in his voice. Naruto then nodded after. The clone knocked the nin out and the two dragged him outside the bushes.

Sasuke and Sakura were surprised that Naruto had an enemy nin with him but expected no less from the hardened killer.

The young blonde didn't need to explain and with Sasuke and Sakura's aid, set up the trap using the nin as bait.

The nin was strung up to a tree from his dangling, lifeless arm with bloodied wounds all over him. His teammates saw his condition and feared the worst. But when they saw he was still alive, they cautiously went over to the nin and cut him down. Kunai and shuriken suddenly flew at them indicating that it was a trap indeed. They leaped and evaded the traps with little difficulty until they spotted a broken trail heading north.

"Looks like they were in a hurry and didn't want to be followed." One of the rain nins spoke. But when they inspected their friend, he had reverted in a puff of smoke into that of the young blonde with an explosive tag on him. It was too late to run and they were blown to bits as their belongings flew to the trees before landing back on the floor.

"Yosha! The trap was successful." Naruto said as his team emerged from the bushes and foraged the belongings. Lucky for them, the Earth scroll was also in their bag.

"Looks like we passed." Sakura said as she took the scroll. Naruto then swiped both scrolls from her and took an empty scroll from his jacket and begun writing on it.

"Since when did you know how to seal items?" Sasuke asked with curiosity while keeping a keen eye on Naruto's actions.

It hit the young blonde like a ton of bricks. He was sweating in fear that he'd make a mistake like this. No shinobi of genin status was capable of sealing at this level. Even Tenten took a lot of time to learn sealing and this was a level that a genin wasn't capable of mastering quickly. Ichigo's crew who were watching from the eyes of the hell butterfly had no idea what was the problem but had an idea that there was trouble afoot.

Naruto then got another sharp idea and said to Sasuke with a foxy grin, "Just now! I've never tried it before so if something explodes then we'll have to look for new scrolls."

Sakura then knocked him hard on the head as Sasuke swiped the scrolls from his clutches and Sakura shouted, "Bakero! You're experimenting now in this time and place?!"

"Man I'm glad that you're Sasuke's girlfriend and not mine." Naruto said as he rubbed his bump making Sakura blush at what she heard. "Otherwise, I'd have a cherry demon straddle me like a pony while wearing a dominatrix outfit and not in the good sense."

Sakura was about to pound the young blonde once again but opted to swallow her anger in for a bit longer. Naruto then tucked away his empty scroll as he felt the presence of a very familiar fiend in the eerie forest.

The young blonde then quickly dug his hands into the ground and ducked, narrowly escaping the invisible cutting edge from the incoming wind that suddenly changed into a torrent. Sakura and Sasuke tried to do the same as Naruto but were caught of guard by the gust of wind.

When the smoke cleared from the dust caught up in the wind, three opponents stood in the center with straw hats.

The middle one of the three then said to his teammates, "You two go have fun somewhere else. I will go in alone from here."

Amidst the torn up ground, Sasuke was hiding in a bush with kunai drawn while Sakura was behind him and Naruto nowhere in sight.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura blurted out as she tried to approach him until he went into a defensive stance.

"Sakura, tell me something that only you and I know." Sasuke commanded her.

Sakura nodded and replied. "You and I ended up in awkward sex positions during our mission to Wave and you tend to talk in your sleep."

Sasuke blushed and said, "I still can't believe that I talk in my sleep." He then lowered his kunai as Naruto entered the scene.

"Hey everyone. Are you okay?" the young blonde said as he approached them.

Sakura then raised her hand out to him and said, "Naruto, wait a minute. We need to make sure it's you."

The young blonde stopped as Sakura asked her question. "What does my name mean?"

The young blonde then replied, "Cherry Blossom."

Sasuke then threw the kunai at the young blonde. Naruto deftly evaded the kunai and fell on his behind and screamed, "What was that for?! I'm right, right?"

Sakura then took out her kunai as they got into a defensive stance. "Wrong. Naruto never says that. He translates my name by syllable so that it translates as 'The Sand's Long Time Demon.'"

Sasuke then commanded the fake blonde, "Show your real self faker."

The fake blonde then chuckled darkly. "Kukukuku. I see." He then transformed back into the nin that returned the kunai of Anko back to her with his tongue. The man then said in a sinister voice, "I guess your bonds are much deeper than I thought. There's no substitute for that."

Sasuke then smirked and said, "You're a lot more dangerous than you show to pull something like that. But we won't fall for your tricks easily."

The fake grass nin then took off his straw hat and said, "Looks like I can have more fun than I expected."

Sakura kept ever vigilant as she pondered where the young blonde could be.

Naruto however grit his teeth throughout the whole attack and was pushed back into the treeline. Though he survived, his makeshift weapons and the resources he procured from the spider earlier were blown away. He then relieved his hands from the dirt and began inspecting his surroundings with crimson eyes ablaze as his birthmarks deepened. His hair became more feral and his fangs and claws grew. He knew that he had to move quickly in order to prevent Sasuke and Sakura from becoming the snake sannin's next meal. But unfortunately, it seems he is the one needed saving as a giant snake appears in front of him to turn him into its next meal.

Naruto stood poised and ready as he got on all fours. He didn't flinch nor blink as the snake hissed at him with its head coiled to strike. And in an instant, the snake lunged at the young blonde. Naruto waited carefully for the timing and leaped upward and forward as the snake lunged downward. He was in midair to a front flip and placed his right hand on the snake's head and quickly created a Rasengan while his palm was still clutching the snake's headThe sphere of chakra bored both outwardly and inwardly causing the slithering creature's head to explode in different directions as some of its blood and skin stained the young blonde's clothing, leaving nothing more than a crater on the ground.

The moment the young blonde landed back on solid ground, he took out his GPS and called out to his team.

"I need a little help here." The young blonde said. "Where are they?"

Yoruichi answered on the phone, "They're heading into the trees, your left going north. If you hurry up, you can stop them."

Naruto shunpo'd to the location until he saw the stunned Sakura and Sasuke. The young blonde hadn't been discovered yet so he masked his chakra and placed a reiatsu cloak on him to further conceal his presence as he observed for the right time his teammates would need help.

Sasuke was shaken up by the killer intent that Orochimaru sent down their spines. Sakura was worse in that she had begun crying tears in hysteria from the killer intent that Orochimaru sent her.

'This isn't good.' the raven-haired boy thought as he gazed at his mentally stranded partner. 'We need to run!'

Orochimaru was deadpanned at their frightened expression. "You can't move already?" the snake sannin callously asked.

Naruto knew that now would be a good time to enter the scene. He didn't have time to ponder on a plan. He shunpo'd a few feet away to the tree branch just above Orochimaru. He then converted his reiatsu cloak into his zanpakuto as it materialized into his right hand. But at the same time, Sasuke began to stand up with a kunai in hand. He was shaking but definitely tried to keep himself stable.

Orochimaru began walking towards them with two kunais in hand, prepared to throw them. "Relax, I will end it in a flash." The snake sannin said. "You won't have time to suffer."

Sasuke was still shaken up and Sakura was still too shaky to move as Orochimaru stopped a few feet away from the two genins. The snake sannin raised his arm to throw the kunai at the two when his instincts kicked in and leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding what could have been the blade to sever his arm from a downward slash.

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened when they saw the young blonde suddenly enter with a sword in hand.

The young blonde quickly shifted his weight to leap and glide towards Orochimaru to make a horizontal attack. Orochimaru threw a few kunai at the blonde, causing Naruto to deflect the kunai with his initial strike as he prepared the second horizontal blow. When Orochimaru was within range of Naruto's attack, the snake sannin, inhumanly bent his stomach back, avoiding the attack altogether and threw his fist at the young blonde. Naruto tilted his head to the side to avoid the fist but was caught off guard by Orochimaru's tongue that grabbed Naruto's arms and threw him to the tree with great force. Though Naruto, with his quick reflexes, landed on his feet on the tree, the trunk broke and he fell through.

Orochimaru then returned his gaze back to where the supposed other two genins were only to find that they had disappeared.

"I see. It seems we will have more fun this way." Orochimaru said as he leaped into the treeline to search for them.

And somewhere in that tree line, Sasuke had managed to rescue Sakura and himself from the danger as they sat on one of the larger limbs of the tree.

The raven-haired boy's breathing began to slow down as he removed his own kunai from his right leg.

Sakura then took out a small handkerchief from her pouch and began cleaning the wound on his leg, her own fear broken when Orochimaru was otherwise preoccupied.

"Arigato Sakura." Sasuke said, as he kept alert to whatever circumstance they might fall into.

Sakura was worried as well and said to Sasuke, "Good thing Naruto came in time to save us. I hope he's alright."

Sasuke nodded as he tried to get up. "For our sakes and his, he should." The raven-haired boy begun to stumble but Sakura helped him up and said, "We have to find Naruto and get out of here. We already have the scrolls so we should just run for it."

Sasuke then placed his hand on Sakura's mouth as he stuck to the wall before pulling her next to him as well. Fear could be seen in his eyes as they both kept silent.

Sakura begun to panic as well when she saw his expression. 'Sasuke-kun looks confused. I've never seen him like this before.' Sakura thought until a shadow begun to cover them from their left side. She looked and saw the giant snake.

She was more frightened than before and pulled Sasuke's arm away to warn him,

"Sasuke-kun, a snake!" she warned him.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and saw the snake coming but was too close for comfort to escape as the serpent unhinged its jaws to clamp down on them. But before it could carry on its task, Naruto landed on top of it with his sword striking the snake's head and pinning it to the tree branch. He struck the brain dead center, instantly killing the snake.

The young blonde made a feral smile and said, "Yo! I made it back."

Sasuke was startled, but felt relieved that Naruto was the one who saved their sorry behinds. That warmth however was not to last long as the young blonde's face turned into seriousness and gave a cold stare at the cracking skin of the snake's remains behind him while he pulled out his sword.

"Sasuke, take Sakura out of here." Naruto softly commanded his companion.

Sasuke was still too rattled to think let alone move as fear paralyzed him when he saw the same mysterious man pop out of the snake.

"Prey need to strain their minds all the time and run around…" Orochimaru said with a sinister voice as he faced them with a murderous look in his eye. "In the presence of a predator."

Orochimaru then leaped out of the snake and swiveled his body like a snake down the upper part of the trunk and headed for Sasuke. The raven-haired boy then leaped to another tree along with Sakura and threw several shuriken at the snake sannin causing Orochimaru to shift directions. Naruto then charged into that direction and kicked Orochimaru in the face. Orochimaru then stumbled back, but not before grabbing Naruto's leg and throwing him into a nearby tree where another snake was summoned and had it's jaws unhinged and ready to swallow the young blonde.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted.

Naruto then made a Kawarimi and landed in another branch as the snake ate the log with an explosive tag upon it and it's head exploded in that instant.

Orochimaru then leaped into the same branch across Sasuke. The raven-haired boy gazed his crimson eyes at the sannin in agitation knowing that this battle wouldn't end so easily.

Orochimaru shifted his gaze from one crimson-eyed boy to the other. The odds weren't in his favor from Naruto's point of view. Naruto began to assess the situation in hopes that he would be able to end the battle quickly and silently since there was little chance of him defeating Orochimaru without drawing attention to himself.

Orochimaru assessed his odds as well and realized that he was outnumbered greatly but the odds were still in his favor.

"Naruto…" the snake sannin hissed. "You must have come here to show off by helping them, but don't get involved."

Sasuke then looked at Naruto and said, "Run. He's way above our level!"

Orochimaru then said to the young blonde, "Looks like you defeated my big snakes, Naruto-kun."

Naruto gazed hard at the snake sannin as he collected himself and his thoughts. He then began to mentally talk to Kyuubi about the situation.

'Hey…what options do I have in defeating him?' the young blonde mentally told his captive.

Kyuubi the responded, Option One…Use your chakra to your advantage. But questions will come later. Option Two…Use my chakra to your advantage. Same consequence. Option Three…We do things the shinigami way. But still end up wreaking havoc.

Naruto then smirked and mentally replied, 'There's still Option Four…Improvise like Shikamaru.'

His tenant smirked indicating that he was all in favor of the young blonde's tactics.

Naruto then strapped the katana on his back, and gave a hard glare to Sasuke and said, "Sasuke! Whatever you do, don't hand over the scroll!"

Sasuke and Sakura looked at him as if he was insane while the young blonde placed his hands inside the sleeves of his shirt and touched the first of the three summoning seals on his right wrist and the second summoning seal of the three on his left. It wasn't seen, but Naruto had a kunai in his left hand and a shuriken in his right.

'I gotta thank Otou-san again for teaching me how to create seals like these.' The young blonde thought as he picked his targets carefully. When everything was set in place, he leaped onto the branch That Sasuke and Orochimaru stood on. Orochimaru was still coiled and ready but Naruto had an idea on what to do at this point.

"Wait." Sasuke said as he deactivated his Sharingan.

Naruto knew what Sasuke was planning at this point. It was obvious in his eyes.

Sasuke pulled out the Heaven scroll from his pouch and said to the snake sannin, "I'll give you the scroll. Please take this and leave us in peace."

Naruto then faced the young Uchiha and sharpened his gaze at him. The poor boy was even more terrified when he saw Naruto's face. Naruto's features were almost indistinguishable from afar, but now that he was close, Sasuke could see his crimson slit eyes, deepened birthmarks and fangs that peeked out of his mouth.

"Hey, Sasuke! What are you doing?!" Naruto shouted to the raven-haired boy. "What are you trying to do by giving the enemy our scroll?" His voice this time was sharper and struck Sasuke deep.

"You shut up!" Sasuke said to his comrade.

Naruto then faced Orochimaru who then said to them, "I see, you're smart. The only hope the prey has from the predator…is to hand over something else to eat to save itself."

Naruto smirked as he gave a coy smile to the snake sannin and replied, "Predator my ass…you're not the type of predator to eat sacrifices." Naruto then shouted at the snake sannin. "You're the type to take no prisoners. I can tell by the look in your eyes that it doesn't matter if we give you our scroll!"

Orochimaru chuckled darkly until it became a laugh making Sakura shudder in fear from understanding while Sasuke thought back on Naruto's words. He was saved again by the young blonde's bravado.

Naruto then faced Sasuke and punched him causing the young Uchiha to fall back and nimbly land on another branch.

Sasuke then shouted to the young blonde, "What do you think you're doing?!"

Naruto then coldly said to him, "The baka and coward that I see now is not the Sasuke I know." 'Good. He's out of range of the attack angle.'

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened at what unfolded.

Orochimaru licked his lips and lifted his left sleeve to reveal his summoning contract with the snakes on that arm. Orochimaru then nicked his thumb and ran his blood on the seal.

Naruto then ran at the snake sannin, armed with his kunai and shuriken. Orochimaru then made a few handseals and said, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

Suddenly, a huge snake appeared beneath the snake sannin. The snake rose up and attempted to swat the young blonde down upon the branch. Naruto quickly ran under the branch and right back on top of the snake to face Orochimaru. He threw the kunai at the snake sannin but the enemy just leaped to another branch to avoid the attack. The snake underneath Naruto began to rise up and attack the young blonde. Naruto held on the snake with his chakra and ran up to it before it could coil itself to attack and thrust his hand into the snake's eye causing it to become disoriented and fall to the ground. Naruto then leaped off the snake and charged Orochimaru. He threw his fists and feet at the snake sannin who evaded and blocked the attacks before lunging a kunai at Naruto's exposed back. Naruto quickly shifted his weight and sidestepped, moving inside Orochimaru's defenses smoothly and gave the sannin an elbow to the heart. His hit manages to land and he grabs the sannin's kunai-wielding arm and rushes to a tree causing the kunai to become stuck on a branch.

He then attempts to use his shuriken in his right hand, throwing it at Orochimaru's head. The snake sannin bends back and narrowly avoids the shuriken that flew and stuck to another branch. Orochimaru then lifted his foot and kicks the blonde upward. Naruto saw the attack coming and raised his arms to his face just in time to catch the kick as the impact sent him upward. While still in midair, he created a Kage Bunshin and the clone threw him to the side: the center of the attack range that Naruto had planned, before his clone puffed out of existence. Orochimaru then leaped out from his position and attacked the young blonde in midair from behind.

Sakura then screamed, "Naruto, behind you!"

Naruto smirked, forming a few handseals in a blur to the eyes. He then said, "Katon, Enjou Sankaku no Jutsu!"

Orochimaru was caught right in Naruto's trap. The three kunais stuck to the tree began to glow after Naruto made the jutsu, until an orange triangle of fire formed in between the three knives. Orochimaru and everything that was caught in between felt the burning sensation from the attack until the fire rose upward and caved downward creating a triangular prism of flames.

Sasuke and Sakura took cover from the searing heat, but realized that Naruto was still in there.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted once again.

"What?" The young blonde said from behind her with a foxy grin plastered on his face.

Sakura and Sasuke looked at the young blonde in astonishment.

Sakura then stuttered, "B-but Ho-How?"

Naruto then replied, "That was a clone. It's easy to hide in this forest so I used a clone for that one. But it still took a lot of chakra to do and I'm pretty much worn out even if I did go berserk back there."

Sakura was amazed and perplexed. 'That's Naruto when he goes berserk? But why is he so strong? I've never seen a jutsu like that before. It was well planned even if he did go berserk.'

"Those eyes…I am sure of it now." Orochimaru muttered to himself. Naruto wasn't deaf to those words since his senses are sharper than the average shinobi.

The young blonde then pushed Sakura out of the way as a flame blown from Orichimaru came flying to the young blonde. Naruto then quickly dodged the attack and attacked Orochimaru again. The snake sannin summoned once again another giant snake as he stood on top of it. The snake lunged fast causing Naruto to be pushed out of the way. Its target wasn't Naruto, but Sasuke.

"You're next Sasuke." Orochimaru said to the wide-eyed raven-haired boy.

But before the snake could attack, once again, Naruto pinned the snake to the branch while he faced Sasuke with his crimson slit eyes.

"Hey, are you hurt scaredy-cat?" Naruto said as gave him a feral grin.

Both his other teammates were too shocked to say anything else. Naruto faced the snake while keeping the pressure of killing intent focused on the snake sannin.

The young blonde then said to his teammate, "I know what I'm doing isn't the smart thing since he's a lot stronger than us." 'By your standards at least. If we weren't in this position, I could've killed him much more quickly.' "But it's the right thing. Bravery isn't the absence of fear Sasuke. But knowing that there are more important things than fear. I have something to protect. That's why I'm fighting this hard. What do you have Sasuke?"

This rang in Sasuke's ears over and over again as flashbacks of his parents and his team and his brother came into mind. After the Uchiha massacre, Fugaku was temporarily stripped of his rank for allowing his son to commit such crimes and the Uchiha Clan fell out of favor with the council. Thought he wasn't completely responsible, he still played a part in it and was punished, while his wife was unable to bear any more children due to wounds she received from Itachi.

Sasuke felt ashamed and felt the pain of loss of his entire clan. His parents were spared, but the unbearable pain of loss was still there.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said, snapping Sasuke back into reality. "I'll protect you guys. I promise. Nothing has to happen like this. So I'll make sure that it doesn't happen. We have a future to protect. Not the past."

The young blonde then lifted his right hand from his grip and claws emerged from it, confirming Orochimaru's suspicions. The young blonde then dug that hand into the snake's flesh and began pouring yokai into the snake's body.

He then let go of his clutch and removed his bloody hand leaving the snake to thrash wildly in the vicinity from agony of the youkai that burned its body inside out.

Orochimaru then leaped into a nearby tree and speedily rushed to attack the young blonde with the elasticity of his body. Naruto saw this coming and brought out his sword and deflected the initial strke of Orochimaru's kunai. Orochimaru then grabbed Naruto's sword wielding arm and melted into mud and quickly cooled into solid rock. Naruto tried to pull himself free until Orochimaru appeared in front of him and with his five fingers from his right hand, glowing with an eerie purple flame.

"Kuso! Let me go Hebi-teme!" Naruto shouted at the snake sannin.

The Snake sannin didn't falter and sent his tongue to bind the young blonde's other hand while lifting the shirt of Naruto with his free hand to reveal the seal and said, "Gogyu Fuuin!"

He thrust his hand into the young blonde. Naruto screamed from the pain of the seal.

Sakura couldn't take it anymore and shouted to Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun! Please help Naruto!"

Sasuke then took out a kunai and stabbed his other leg and made the wound deeper and larger to make sure that he was awake. He rushed to the scene as Orochimaru dropped Naruto. Sasuke made haste and caught the young blonde in time.

"Thank goodness." Sakura said as Sasuke landed on one of the nearby branches while carrying the young blonde.

Naruto then suddenly smiled as if he wasn't even hurt. Sasuke was shocked and confused until Naruto transformed into a rock that crumbled and ebbed away.

"What?!" Orochimaru blurted out.

Insincts suddenly kicked in once again as he took out a kunai and blocked Naruto's diagonal slash from the rear: top-left going downward-right. The young blonde then moved forward as he let his steel scratch the side of the kunai. Orochimaru leaped to Naruto's right to avoid the parry to side slash maneuver that Naruto was aiming for. But instead, the young blonde gave the sannin an elbow to the face and a jab with the butt of the hilt to the neck. While the snake sannin was still staggering, he then reached his left hand inside his right sleeve and tapped the third summoning seal on his right arm. But what he pulled out was what Orochimaru never expected. The young blonde pulled out a three-pronged kunai with a seal written on the hilt. The young blonde then threw the kunai to the left shoulder, just above the armpit of the snake sannin and made a one handed seal.

'Impossible! How does the Kyuubi brat know this technique?!' Orochimaru thought as he flees from the scene. When he was far enough he pulled out the kunai with his other hand. But it was too late as he heard Naruto shout, "Hado number four, Byakurai!"

The lightning traveled through the warp portal and struck the kunai in Orochimaru's hand. The lightning bolt was powerful enough that it burned and exploded the snake sannin's hand and melted the fake skin he was wearing.

Naruto made a wild smile as he saw the pale and sickly skin of the snake sannin and his purple eyeliner and glowing yellow eyes. Orochimaru was cringing in pain as blood dropped to the floor from his stub of an arm while his headband lost its genjutsu and the insignia changed to that of sound.

Orochimaru then faced them and peeled the remaining burnt skin off as he knelt to the floor while coughing out blood from internal damage to the lungs, stomach, liver and a small portion of his heart.

Naruto huffed as he took a casual stance once again knowing it was over for now.

"You did it Naruto!" Sakura said as she approached him and Sasuke leaped back down beside him.

"It's far from over though." The young blonde said as he saw Orochimaru gaze at him with hate in his eyes.

Sakura and Sasuke were even more frightened than before when they saw his expression of malice.

Sasuke then blurted out, "Who are you?!"

Orochimaru then responded, "My name is Orochimaru. If you wish to see me again, get though this Exam as if your life depended on it like your friend here." The snake sannin then held what was left of his arm and grit his teeth since he still could feel the numbness of the lightning coursing his veins. "Naruto, you're a lot stronger than I expected. But you still have to face my subordinates, the three sound shinobi."

Sakura then shouted at him, "What nonsense are you chattering about? We never want to see your face anymore!"

The sannin then made a handseal and a clone of Orochimaru slithered behind them and attempted to plant his fangs on Sasuke's neck.

Naruto knew better and had a clone behind that one and his clone grabbed the nin's neck and sliced it with his katana.

Orochimaru grit his teeth when he saw what happened. 'Kuso! The Kyuubi brat is more than a nuisance. But I'll take care of you soon enough. You've become very interesting, Naruto-kun.'

Orochimaru then leaped into the shadows and fell through the darkness. And just like that, Orochimaru disappeared as sunset indicated the first day had finished.

Naruto sighed in relief when he could no longer feel Orochimaru's presence. But as tension dropped, so did Sasuke to his knees.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said as she ran to the raven-haired boy with her heart ahead of her.

Naruto turned around and looked at the wounds in his legs and knew that he wouldn't be able to move for the rest of the night.

Sakura then helped Sasuke up and said to him, "Get a hold of yourself Sasuke-kun…come on!"

Sasuke stood up with his feet wobbling and bleeding from the deep wounds.

'The wound was deeper than I thought.' Sasuke thought as he tried to break away from Sakura's arms and begun to walk until he collapsed again. Naruto caught him this time and the young blonde told him, "Take it easy Sasuke. You did good though and saved Sakura."

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura muttered as she helped him as well.

Sasuke felt the bittersweet moment pierce his heart. Once again, Naruto proved to be more than a match for the enemy they faced. This made Sasuke even angrier at himself since he made so many mistakes that could've cost his team or worse if Naruto hadn't arrived.

The young blonde saw Sakura on the verge of tears and understood why she was sad and down. He then gave her his medical kit and said to her, "Sakura-chan, please treat Sasuke's wounds. This is something only you can do."

Sakura reluctantly nodded and began to clean up Sasuke's wounds. She first cleaned the blood and took out a cotton ball and dipped it in antiseptic and gently dabbing it on the open wounds. Sasuke flinched for a moment but calmed down when the pain became bearable. She then took out another jar from the kit and slowly poured the styptic on the deeper wound while Sasuke bandaged the smaller one on his right leg. When Sasuke could feel no pain anymore in the wounds, Sakura then pulled out the suture kit from the medical kit and stitched up his wound. She then cleaned up the residue blood and bandaged the wound tightly to keep the pressure for the blood to flow properly.

Naruto then placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder and smiled as she looked at him. "Great work Sakura. Let's head to safer ground." Naruto told her.

She nodded and took Sasuke on her back while Naruto made four clones to guard her front and sides while he guarded the rear and the last clone strayed farther from them to act as the rearguard while they traveled in search of cover and safer ground.

Naruto was estimating how far they were from the tree house as they begun traveling on foot in the darkness.

Naruto's senses became sharper as he lessened on how much he was holding back. 'Now that Orochimaru's injured, he won't be able to take Sasuke down. But Sasuke is still vulnerable since he wounded himself.' the young blonde thought as he saw the familiar tree that was their hiding place before the sound trio came and wreaked havoc upon them.

Naruto dispersed his clones and then walked underneath the roots and waved at Sakura to follow. She then placed Sasuke down upon the floor and he leaned upon the wall while catching his breath.

Naruto then walked out of the tree and begun foraging for food and taking note of the surroundings since they would be there for a while.

Sakura however was at a loss at what to do. All throughout the battle, she stood on the sidelines. Even in Wave, she wasn't able to do anything. All she could do was stand and watch.

She then sighed as she assed their situation. 'At least I was able to patch Sasuke's wounds. It wasn't so bad so he'll be able to move in no time. But Naruto won't be able to keep up after that battle. It must've drained him of most of his chakra by now so he needs to rest as well.'

Sasuke saw the serious expression in Sakura's eyes and her hands begun to grip her dress even more tightly.

"Sakura…" Sasuke muttered to get her attention.

'I have to protect them!' Sakura thought as determination settled in.

"Sakura…" Sasuke said much louder than before, snapping her to attention as she faced him.

"What is it Sasuke-kun?" Sakura replied.

Sasuke blushed a bit and looked away to peer into the darkness that only the moonlight could disperse. He then huffed out his frustration and replied, "Arigato."

The pink haired girl then made a small smile knowing that she made at least, a little progress in helping him. Sasuke was tired and stressed but more so, burning with anger and envy.

'All I did was stand there. I could barely move. But how did he get so strong?' Sasuke thought as his hatred for himself begun rising.

He tried to stand again but Sakura pushed him back down and frowned. "Don't move again Sasuke-kun." She told him off. "You'll reopen your wounds if you do that."

Sasuke then shrugged and gently took off her hands and replied, "It's nothing. I can move just as much as Naruto can."

Sakura then grabbed a hold of him again and shouted, "Will you listen to me for once! Even Naruto has his limits. For your sake, rest!"

Sasuke resisted but every time he did, Sakura pushed him down to prevent him from doing anything unnecessary since she knew how stubborn he could get. He tried hard until he accidentally flung her arms out and she lost balance and fell right on top of him. She blushed from being in another awkward position with him. But Sasuke however was too frustrated to notice.

"Why are you doing this?" Sasuke questioned her with a bit of hatred in his voice.

She couldn't answer since she was at a loss for words or rather, could not give out her words to him since it would be personal and it could ruin their relationship.

"Oi! Get a room you two." Naruto answered to them while he crawled under the roots to meet them.

Sakura quickly got up and moved away while her blush remained. Sasuke then sharpened his gaze at the young blonde when he noticed that his sword was missing.

"Naruto," Sasuke said to the young blonde. "What happened to your sword? And what were those jutsus you used back there?"

Naruto then scratched his head and smiled as he replied, "It broke." Both Sasuke and Sakura's eyebrows rose when he said that. "I lost most of my stuff when that snake guy blew us away with his wind jutsu. So I looked everywhere and found that other sword among the dead bodies of a team nearby."

Sasuke didn't like the idea of things being too coincidental but he bought it for now since what he said could be the truth.

"And the jutsus?" Sasuke asked him as his gaze sharpened even further.

Naruto then replied, "Those were some jutsus I invented during my spare time."

Sasuke wouldn't buy it this time.

"I don't believe that." Sasuke, and to his surprise, Sakura also replied exactly the same words.

Sakura then placed her hands on her hips and said, "It's too weird as it is. You take down a giant snake with your bare hands and you expect me to believe that you invented that jutsu? I bet you made Kakashi-sensei teach you those jutsus on purpose."

Naruto sweatdropped seeing that he couldn't get out of this one without raising any more suspicion about his identity.

Naruto then sighed and said, "I give, you win. I did trick Kakashi-sensei into teaching me a few jutsus, but it takes up a lot of my chakra when I do them. So if you don't mind, I need to take a nap." The young blonde then lay down on the cold floor as he faced the other way.

Sakura then protested by replying, "How can you stay calm like this and joke around as if it's nothing?"

Naruto then turned to face her and replied, "How can't you? In times like these, we need to stay calm as much as possible. If you lose your head now, then you'll really lose it in battle."

He then quietly slumbered as Sasuke smirked and said to his pink haired friend, "Make's sense coming from him. But I'll keep watch."

Sakura then faced him and said, "No, I'll do it. It's the least I can do."

Sasuke nodded and lay down to rest. Sakura then began making traps around the perimeter and stood guard over her two teammates. She stood watch over them after the traps were set. She was tired, but she endured as dawn rose in the sky.

Her eyes showed fatigue and her breathing became slower and slower. While Sasuke and Naruto slept peacefully, she kept awake as long as she could. As her eyelids felt heavier than the rocks around her, she fought in her mind for dominance.

'Don't sleep! I have to protect them…' Sakura thought hard. But eventually, she drifts off into slumber.

Her world began to crack until the pieces of background shattered into glass leaving an empty background. She pinched her cheek to wake up but found out that she couldn't properly awaken.

"Kuso, I'm in deep shit." The pink haired girl said to herself as she stood up and began to take in her surroundings. She noticed to the far right was an old style sliding door in a circular shape. Seeing that there was no other choice or way out of the dreamworld she was stuck in, she went to the door. But the moment she opened it, a blinding white light broke the darkness.

"Gaahhh!" she momentarily screamed before her vision returned. When she could see once more, she noticed that she had stepped beyond the door. What she saw on the other side was not what she expected.

All around her were old style Japanese castle walls, square, marble pavements, and black or orange tiled roofs and several ancient Feudal castles.

"I'm having the weirdest dream of my life." The pink haired girl said as she marched forward.

She wasn't used to the environment, as the air was slightly heavier than back in the real world. Most likely, due to stress in her subconscious. But one thing was for sure, she was nowhere near to waking up. She wandered through the labyrinth like alleys until she came upon a dojo complex that had the kanji for eleven within a black rhombus.

Her shinobi instincts kicked in and she hid behind one of the walls and saw several men dressed in black hakamas with swords strapped at their side wandering the grounds while some began to return to their posts in the complex.

'They must be the guards.' She thought as she sneaked through a broken portion of the wall that looked like it was being reconstructed, and hid behind one of the mini gardens near the side. 'Why on earth am I dreaming about a place in ancient history when I could at least dream about me protecting Sasuke-kun?'

Suddenly, one man came running in from the main entrance shouting, "The Fukutaicho is coming!"

All the other men begun to line up by the gate and bowed in respect as a little girl with pink hair and a permanent blush on her face entered the complex. She wore the same outfit as them except for what looks like a large shogi piece with the kanji for eleven strapped to her left sleeve. The little girl skipped her way inside as the men bowed in respect.

Sakura suddenly felt awkward and sweatdropped at the sight before her eyes from where she hid.

The little girl then moved towards the broken section of the wall and pouted. "Ehhh?! The wall's not finished? I promised Ken-chan that it's fixed before the sun goes down or no candy." The little girl said as she grabbed a large piece of the broken section with her two fingers.

Sakura was bug-eyed and jaw-dropped that she almost gave away her position when she saw the girl's inhuman strength. But when she saw the pale and sweating expressions of the other men that were still standing attention, she realized that this was no ordinary girl and she was fit for her position.

"Dream or not, I've got to get out of here." Sakura said to herself as she turned on her heel to run. But as she did, she bumped into a fairly large man with spiked, black hair and an eye patch over his right eye while having a large scar over his left. She fell on her behind and was able to get a clear view of the man. He was wearing a sleeveless version of the black hakama and a white, tattered haori over it. He also carried a sword on his right hand that had seen a lot of action from the wear and tear upon it. He was definitely a dangerous character and had a bark to equal his bite.

Sakura felt a wave of killing intent suffocate her. She was helpless as the man smiled and said, "Looks like we have a thief."

Suddenly, the men and the little girl gathered around and began to glare at Sakura. She was shaken up and dumbfounded at being discovered. The men around her began to call the man with the white haori taicho indicating he was of high rank.

Sakura swallowed hard as she thought, 'Damn it! I've been caught.'

"Taicho! What should we do with her?" one of the wild man's subordinates asked.

The wild man then emotionlessly replied, "We kill her quickly. The old man's a prick when it comes to followin' the damn' rules. So clean up the mess like it never happened."

The wild man then raised his sword to strike down Sakura. She was frightened beyond belief. She never felt this much fear except for the time when Orochimaru attempted to take away their lives. Her hands began to shiver as she saw the blade began to fall down.

Her heart stopped in her throat as she thought, 'No! This can't be happening! Save me…Sasuke-kun…Naruto…Kakashi-sensei…anyone….'

And as the blade came close to her skin, she shrieked. It was audible enough that she managed to wake up from her stupor. She was still wide-eyed and sweating from the stress of that nightmare. She looked right, left, behind her, above, beneath, and in front of her to make sure she was in the real world.

'It was a dream.' The pink haired girl thought as she looked upward to see the sky. Dawn gazed its eyes upon the dark forest.

But silence did not follow it. The sound of rustling bushes snapped Sakura to attention as she took out a kunai and faced the bush behind her. Her hands where shivering even more than before as she took hold of the kunai in both hands to quell her distraught. But her eyes softened when she saw a squirrel had popped out instead. She frowned when she saw the squirrel moving in her direction.

"Geez, don't scare me like that." She said to it.

But her mind suddenly remembered something was threatening her and she threw the kunai just in front of the squirrel. It panicked and fled.

"That was close." She once again said to herself in relief.

Sakura then went back under the roots of the tree and saw Sasuke was still sleeping peacefully. She made a small smile when she saw him for once, happy. But Naruto on the other hand was restless and tossing and turning.

Sakura then moved closer to Naruto and noticed the sweat pouring from his face. 'He's having a nightmare.'

Naruto was dreaming of the time of the battlefield during the war against Aizen. His division was providing backup and support for the eleventh division that was roaming the battlefield that once was, Karakura Town. Ever since Aizen managed create the Key to the Realm of Kami, he began mobilizing but needed to materialize the large object into the real world for him to get closer to Kami's realm. With that, he incidentally reveals the existence of hollows to the Karakura Town.

Karakura Town – 1500 hrs.

Karakura Town was pacing the only way it could…the normal way. The busy streets were bustling with people walking to and fro while traffic was abundant. Many things happened all at once but weren't too significant to drastically change the atmosphere. During this time of day, a man in a grey business suit with slightly wild, but combed back, short, strawberry red hair, was inspecting a crime scene where a shooting had occurred just outside a family restaurant.

Several police cars and the surrounding area had become a small war zone with the skirmish that occurred between a small terrorist group and the SWAT team. Several SWAT team members were injured, but the terrorists were dealt with.

A police officer that had just come back from inspecting the inside of the family restaurant saluted to the man and said, "Minoru-san, everything's been inspected as ordered. Everything that the terrorists had stolen from the robbery last Sunday was found underneath the toilet."

The detective then lit up a cigarette and pondered upon the case. 'Time flies by when you work like a slave. I need a vacation. Nothing happens around this part of town.'

Karakura Town – 1520 hrs.

An explosion was heard in the alley behind the restaurant. Several police officers ran inside to check what out what went wrong.

The detective then dropped his cigarette and pulled out his customized Beretta from his gun holster in his jacket and released the safety as he marched inside while he kept his aim with both hands.

He made a small smile knowing that he still had work to do, but that smile turned to horror when he heard gunshots and several sounds of screaming enter his ears. He then ducked and leaned as close as he could on the wall next to the kitchen door, the screams coming from the next room. He then slowly pushed the door open while aiming with his gun in his right hand until an officer leaped out of the door with a missing left arm. The officer tripped and begun backing away with a ghastly look on his face.

The detective then knelt down to the officer and asked, "What happened?"

The scared officer then muttered, "Bakemono….bakemono…."

The detective couldn't understand what was wrong and asked again. "What do you mean monster? Answer me! What happened in there?!"

The officer then began to get hysterical and lost his voice as he looked at the shadowy figure that crept up behind them. The detective could see the deranged look in the officer's eyes and turned his head to see a lizard-like monster with a type of mask made of bone on its head and a hole in its chest. It was about nine feet tall and hunched over so as to fit in the room. Blood was all over its hands, tail, feet, and mouth indicating what happened back in that room.

The lizard monster then lunged at the detective who leaped and rolled to the side next to the broken tables and chairs and saw the lizard-monster devour the poor man. Minoru then screamed, "Kuso! Die you fucking bastard!"

Minoru emptied his magazine on the lizard. The bullets hit the monster, but only bounced off its skin, leaving bruises. The monster, now agitated gave chase to the detective who ran outside in time to see similar monsters and some that were worse-looking rampaging the streets as they devoured the people caught in their path. They destroyed cars, buildings and everything else they saw fit for their savage, carnal desires.

Detective Minoru didn't have much time to assess the situation and ran to his car and drove off to the police headquarters. All around him, the same chaotic scene was everywhere. Blood painting places here and there, the same monsters with a distinct round hole on them wailing and wreaking havoc and mass panic as people ran for their lives. Some officers in the vicinity tried to fend them off only to face the same fate.

Detective Minoru could only pray that whatever was happening, was nothing more than a nightmare.

Karakura Town – 1539 hrs.

Everything was worse on Naruto's end in Hueco Mundo. He was in a showdown against Kaname Tosen while his division fought hard against the newly-powered Arrancar division due to years of experience in experimentation.

Naruto was panting hard as Shuhei collapsed to the ground next to him. Naruto was already in his bankai form with the kanji for "one" glowing bright red underneath his fox cloak.

Tousen then said to the young blonde, "What do you have to gain by stopping me here? Your world is being devoured as we speak and the ultimate justice will prevail."

Naruto then chuckled lightly and replied, "Absolutely nothing. But I got a score to settle with a leader who abandons his soldiers and nakama for power. Scum like you shouldn't exist."

Tosen then said, "Fine words but you're fighting on the wrong side. For the sake of peace and a better world, I will stop you right here."

Tosen then placed his left hand on the side of the ring on his sword and the ring spun wildly as a purple wave of reiatsu glowed from it. The ring began to grow in size until it was the size of his chest.

"Bankai." The blind traitor calmly stated as the ring split into nine rings that surrounded them in a large area before a black energy developed inside the rings and engulfed the two and the unconscious Shuhei inside.

Tosen then said to the young blonde, "Suzumushi Final Style, Enma Koorogi."

Naruto was thrust into a world devoid of senses. He knew that he was in trouble but it didn't matter to him. The blind traitor then made several cuts on his body but all the attacks were instantly healed by Naruto's accelerated regenerative powers.

"How do you like this world Naruto?" Tosen said to him as he continued his attacks. "This Enma Koorogi robs everyone within of spirit force sense, sight, hearing, and even smell and creates a pitch-black hell. The only one who can escape from this hell is he who holds this main part of Suzumushi."

Tosen then made another slicing attack, causing Naruto to fall on his face when he attempted to catch Tosen in the general direction he was being assaulted from.

"It's useless." Tosen coldly stated. "No matter how expert the enemy, once they suddenly lose the light, it is over…"

Naruto got up and made a devilish grin before he said, "Nibi…"

The second kanji on his right arm began to glow, allowing newfound strength to fill his soul and a second tail to grow.

Tosen was wary of this newfound power but still found it beneath him. He then raised his zanpakuto to attack once more and said, "Futile. What use is power if you're blind of your surroundings."

Tosen then swung his sword but it was caught midway, surprising him.

"What?! How? This can't be possible!" He shouted as he backed away to allow some distance between him and Naruto.

The young blonde then gazed his crimson slit eyes at the blind traitor and begun walking towards him confidently.

"It must've been a fluke." Tosen said as he recomposed himself. He then ran behind Naruto to fire a kido spell but the young blonde suddenly grabbed him with his tails and threw him forward allowing the young blonde to catch him midway and slam him hard on the ground. Tosen groaned from the attack.

Tosen then asked, "How did you…"

"These tattoos aren't for show." Naruto responded. "Bankai allows the shinigami to expand a shinigami's powers or reach the next level. My bankai is powerful. But it costs as much as it gives so a limiter is constantly on my bankai in the form of these tattoos. They seal my powers and keep me at a level I can control unless I willingly decide to release them. The second release changes my reiatsu consumption from internal to external. And by that change alone, I was able to absorb the reiatsu output from your bankai and become one with the environment."

Tosen then grit his teeth as Naruto kept a good grip on Tosen's neck. The reiatsu of his fox cloak burned the blind traitors neck and made Tosen squirm in pain.

"Bakemono…" Tosen managed to gasp out. "What kind of person embraces the darkness foolishly?"

Naruto then replied, "I'm a shinobi. I was trained to live and fight in the shadows and darkness. What makes you think that I was the face-front blockhead like most of the shinigamis in Soul Society?"

Tosen then chuckled in between his gasps for air. "You're a strange one. I've never met a shinigami like you before. You willingly jump into the darkness and mold it as your weapon against creatures of the same affinity."

"Ahhck!" Tosen screamed as the youkai burned his neck even further. "Not only that, you allow yourself to be consumed by it, all to defeat your enemy. Constantly gambling your life, but still blind of the cost to win."

Naruto then replied, "I've paid a good price to win this battle. So it's worth the risk."

As the young blonde raised his other hand to rip out Tosen's heart, the dark skinned man then gasped out, "You may have this victory, but at what cost? You fell for my trap and now your world is in shambles."

The dark world suddenly faded and Naruto saw Shuhei finally getting up. The young blonde was about to do his deed when a tug on his heart urged him otherwise. He then let go of Tosen and approached Shuhei and said to him, "Let's go help the others. I have a bad feeling about this."

Naruto and his fukutaicho then returned back to Karakura Town where they saw the devastation that made Naruto wide-eyed in fear.

Karakura Town – 1543 hrs.

Naruto and Shuhei walked through and saw the devastation. They were right on top of the roof of the police headquarters in Karakura Town so they had a clear view of the massacre below.

The police weren't fairing well and were being consumed like a lion preying upon a gazelle. Naruto was concerned about that, but what he dreaded more was that the people were actually conscious of what was killing them as Gillians and Adjuchas blasted buildings into oblivion and crippling many people underneath the ruins. This allowed the hollows to easily drag them into their mouths and infect their souls, creating more hollows. His division was fighting long and hard, but destruction littered the field in their wake from the war being waged. It was a real-time urban battlefield with bystanders caught in the crossfire. The shinigamis were outnumbered five to one. Though each shinigami was powerful, they weren't powerful enough to face all different classes of hollows all at once.

"This is really bad." Shuhei said as he observed the battle. "Were going to win but we'll have too many losses at the end."

Naruto clenched his fists in anger as his crimson eyes showed the rage building up inside. He then faced Shuhei and barked, "We're not having a pyrrhic victory today! Our priority is to keep the bystanders and the wounded safe so that we can move up and support the eleventh division who's battling the brunt of the army. Get my men to safety NOW!"

Shuhei then saluted and smiled as he barked back, "Hai, Taicho!"

Shuhei began to run towards the men as fast as he could and soon, the orders where given out. The shinigamis were evacuating along with victims and the wounded. Naruto then took this opportunity and leaped at a feral speed, that even shunpo couldn't keep up with.

He quickly tore the head of one Gillian and threw it at an Adjucha near a lamppost. The Adjucha rebounded from the attack on his own two feet only to have it planted into the ground from the cement that held his feet because of Naruto's jutsu. Seeing that he got his opponent locked to the ground, the young blonde rushed inside the Adjucha's defense and ripped out its head as blood sprayed in a small fountain before the Adjucha's body and head disintegrated into energy.

He then used his two tails and grabbed a hold of two hollows and threw them into a telephone post that toppled upon impact, live wires sparking on the ground. Naruto then leaped up into the air and aimed his two hands down on the ground below and released water from his hands to rain upon them, allowing the electricity to burn them to the ground with electrical charges.

Naruto then made his trademark jutsu as the hollows concentrated cero and bala blasts at him and his clones. Naruto and his clones then absorbed the attacks and reflected the attacks back at the hollows. The hollows wailed as they were blasted by their own attacks. The surviving hollows were getting up, but Naruto took no chances as he quickly shunpo'd into the center of the fray and began forming handseals as he incanted words with each set of seals. "Dominator. Mask of flesh and blood. All living things endangered. The path is open but cold. Level the earth and plague the sky. Let willpower become your strength. Kinkudo number twenty, Kyuuzou Sokatsui!"

Naruto's fox cloak momentarily became blue and an explosion of blue energy flowed out of him and incinerated everything around him in a ten-mile radius. When the explosion ceased, he had burned to ashes everything around him. His fox cloak then returned into its shikai form as he gazed upon the battlefield. He was amazed with the output of power he just made but at the same time was horrified to see the burnt to crisp bodies of the bystanders who couldn't make it out in time.

"What have I done?!" Naruto screamed as he fell to his knees in guilt and shame of what had just transpired.

Naruto's division began to return to the spot where they saw the bright flash of blue light only to find a broken spirit that was their captain. Shuhei then softened his gaze at Naruto and called out to him. "Naruto…"

He still would not listen.

"Naruto…" the voice called out again but was distinctly feminine and no older than thirteen.

'I defeated the hollows at the cost of the peoples' lives.' Naruto thought in complete despair.

"Naruto…" The voice called out once more but was softer and sweeter as well as warmer to the ears. At this point, Naruto was able to make out who's voice it was that called out to him.

'That voice, it sounds like…Hinata-chan.'

"Naruto-kun, hold on!" Hinata said as she shook him and held him close to her.

She had just wandered into this side of the forest in search of water for her team several yards away until she stumbled upon the sleeping, but thrashing form of Naruto. That he was shaking and moving uncontrollably brought tears to her eyes. She didn't know what to do but did her best to wake him up.

Naruto was able to wake up from his walk back into his past due to Hinata's voice that repeatedly called for him. His eyes shot open as his crimson slit eyes gazed upon his surroundings before calming down back into the azure ones that contain so much fire and wisdom. He stood up and saw a teary-eyed Hinata sitting in front of him.

"Hina-hime? What are you doing here? What am I doing here?" he asked as he looked around and noticed the anchor seal for Hiraishin on the branch above him and understood what happened. 'I must have subconsciously used Hiraishin to escape my past which caused me to move in the present.'

Hinata then begun to wipe her tears but still was sad nonetheless to see him thrashing like that. "I'm glad that you woke up Kitsune. Seeing you like that was a nightmare for me."

She was still sniffing her tears and Naruto felt compelled to wrap his arms around her. He then made a weak smile and embraced her with all his might and said, "Arigato Hina-hime. You saved me." 'Once again, my princess came to my rescue. She helped me and stood by me.'

Hinata then leaned her head on his shoulder and with sadness still in her voice said, "But all I could do was call you out and shake you but you wouldn't wake up." 'Once again, I mustered my courage but it wasn't enough. All I could do for him were the small things.'

She intertwined her hands inside his jacket and embraced him back. He then softly whispered in her ears words that made her heart flutter with joy. "I'm glad you did. It shows how much you care for me and that means a lot to me. You're the most precious person in my world and I don't care what I have to do to stay with you." 'That's right. No cost is too great to see the smile on her face and hear her voice and her laughter. I'd pay any price just to spend at least a day with her. Because she's really worth all the troubles in the world.'

Hinata then pulled away and looked at him with her lavender eyes, staring deep into his azure ones that reflected her image like a mirror, except with blue flames within. She felt the fire emanate from him and knew that he was serious.

"Really, Kitsune?" Hinata asked him.

He then softly held her cheeks and replied with love in his eyes, "Hai. With all my heart from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet."

Hinata smiled as he wiped the water from her eyes and pecked her on the cheek before letting go and smiling like an idiot.

The lavender-eyed girl blushed but smiled as well and thought, 'Thank Kami-sama. I know he's loyal, but hearing it personally makes me never want to ever let go again. I just wish we were older so that we can…No…I should prove myself to him first.'

"Naruto-kun," Hinata asked with determination emanating from her. "What were you dreaming about?"

Naruto then looked back down making Hinata a bit disheartened but she stood firm nonetheless.

Naruto then took a deep breath and said, "I was dreaming about the time when I fought in the war against Aizen. It was horrible."

Hinata then replied, "I can only imagine. From what you told me before, it was a time of change for you since you were facing odds that threatened not only your life, but the lives of others as well."

Naruto then sighed and said, "Ya. The thing about war is, no matter what cost you pay or what you do, casualties will always arise and things always get ugly. In the end, you weigh the cost between what you did and what you fought for in comparison with what happened. Many lives were lost on both sides and I was responsible. That's why I changed so much because of what happened back there. During the war, I made a decision to become sharper and stronger so that no one has to die needlessly or carelessly because I wasn't able to pick up the pace. In the end, I don't want to fail and lose lives because of my bad decisions. Everything counts and a lot of people were counting on me."

Hinata then replied, "You had so much to bear. You must have failed many times before you succeeded in accomplishing that."

Naruto then replied, "Ya. Too many that it caused many deaths because of my stupidity. But I knew that if I could grab the bull by the horns, then I could take it down. All I needed to do was become the bull and everything would be alright."

But as Naruto came to heads with his past, Sakura came to heads with the fact that Naruto had replaced himself with a log in his sleep and she was left alone with Sasuke along with the sound trio by the bushes.

Naruto fought hard and long until he became the bull that the enemy feared. However, do Sakura and Sasuke have the same capability in becoming the bull?

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Yahoo! It's done! After several weeks of writing and re-writing due to a broken pc and I lost the file when I was reformatting it, I finally finished it. I've been reading a lot of other fanfics lately and catching up with the anime and manga. But of all the fics I've read, the most heart warming one for me would be Evangelion: Re-Take. Any Eva fan should read it at least once if you're up to it that is. I've been watching some new anime as well and squeezing out ideas for the next plot in this fic and I came up with a few in my twisted mind. Oh yeah! That reminds me, Avatar is returning this April. I've always wanted to do a crossover of Avatar but that'll be later on after this fic is done. Anyway, I hope you guys love this chapter as much as I did burning my head in making it. And if you're wondering about Sakura's dream, it'll be explained later on. Ja ne!

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Kaikin Fuuin(Prohibition Seal)- A special seal made by Naruto using the language of the ancient tongue. Its uses are multiple but mostly to cut down time upon incantations or handseals so it can be activated on a whim.

Kinkudo number five, Kanseirei(Pitfall of the soul)- A mix of binding art and destructive art along with the element of earth. It grabs the opponent with roots of earth that bind them in place and break their bones causing them to collapse internally. It's only draw back is its allotted time before it activates when on long distances from the caster.

Katon, Enjou Sankaku no Jutsu(Fire Release, Destruction by Fire Triangle Technique)- a powerful jutsu that requires coordination to pull off effectively. The caster uses three 'groundwires' to form the triangle and all those caught in the middle would be destroyed by a flame within the boundary of the triangle as the flame shoots both upward and downward.

Kinkudo number twenty, Kyuuzou Sokatsui(Blue Fire, Crash Down Explosion)- Abandoning accuracy for power, it burns up whatever crosses it's field of explosion. It's power is intense, if not dangerous.