AN: Not going to take up too much space here this time as I'm sure you're raring to see how this all goes down. Hopefully I can surprise you!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this newest chapter! (Two chapters in about a week! What the hell?)
Chapter 10: Just Stay The Course…
"He's taking too long." Sasuke grumbled from his position leant against a tree, arms crossed as his face was set in its usual frown.
"Well, you're the one who objected to potentially seeing him pinch one out." I pointed out.
He gave a grimace at that. "Must you be so crass, Isōrō?"
"Must I? No. But we both know it's part of my charm." I replied with a smirk.
"Charm?"
"Haku seems to like it."
"The less said about him, the better." Sasuke snarked.
My no doubt clever reply was interrupted by a familiar call from the treeline beyond the clearing we stood in. "I'm finished!" Naru shouted, appearing from behind a trunk with his usual megawatt grin.
"About time, Dobe." Sasuke grumbled.
Naruto showed the Uchiha a rather rude gesture. "Get bent, Teme!"
"Alright, stop flirting, you two." I spoke up, stepping between them before they devolved into an argument, ignoring their shouts of outrage. It was much too early in the day to have to listen to them take shots at each other. That would inevitably lead to them doing it all day.
"Wait, aren't you forgetting something?" Sasuke pointed out.
My eyes widened at his observation "Oh yeah, sorry." Turning towards Naru, I gave him an apologetic smile.
"Ahem… Take me down to the paradise city, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty~!" I sang.
It was a strategy we'd come up with over our time as a team to check that we'd not been infiltrated. Anko-sama made a point of occasionally replacing herself with one of our members, transforming herself and laying in weight until she could take the remaining two members down. We'd quickly adapted to using our own codes, making sure to change them for each session.
So when Naruto gave me a blank look, I felt my hair stand on end.
This wasn't Naruto.
"Dammit Dobe, did you really forget the code?" Sasuke spoke up, levelling a glare at the fake. If it wasn't for the way he'd changed the placement of his feet, I might have thought he'd missed what was happening. No, he was playing along.
Deciding to follow his lead, I let out a sigh, strolling towards the enemy casually. "It's for your protection, Naru. What if someone was pretending to be you?"
I had to give whoever they were, they'd studied their role well, bringing their hand up to rub the back of their head like my blonde teammate often would. "Sorry Rozu, I'll remember next time, believe it!"
Letting out an amused chuckle, I placed my hand on his shoulder. "It's alright blondie." I assured with a grin. "After all…"
With a flex of my hand, chakra strings wrapped around the imposter's neck. "You're not Naru." Snapping my arm back, the chakra strings went taut before relaxing as the strings sliced through the bastard's neck. The transformation dispelled instantly, smoke filling the space as I jumped backwards to stand beside Sasuke, pulling a pair of kunai into my hands.
The smoke quickly dispersed, revealing a grass ninja with a large straw hat, an eerie grin spread across their face. "Such a risky action to take." They observed with a snicker, the fact I'd cleaved through their neck seemingly doing nothing to hinder their speech. "Anko-chan has taught you well."
Before either of us could reply, the grass ninja appeared to melt, their skin and clothes slowly turning dirt brown. A mud clone. Realisation filled me then, a sinking dread pooling in my stomach. How had I forgotten!?
Before I could warn Sasuke of the danger, a wave of hurricane-force winds crashed through the forest, dragging us both off of our feet.
"Shiiiiiit!" I bellowed, closing into a ball as I braced for what impact would surely come. I didn't have to wait long.
My ears were ringing, vision swimming and blurry as I pulled myself into a sitting position, stomach lurching slightly from the motion. "Yeah, that's probably a concussion. What a sick ducking mess…" I grumbled, wincing at the pain in my head. "Great, now I'm using spoonerisms too!"
It was then everything came back to the fore, my jaw clenching as I dragged myself to my feet, pushing chakra into my eyes to try and focus. "Sasuke! Naru!" I shouted, pushing down the pain I felt for my effort. "Fuck it." Cursing, I plunged my hands into my pockets, using a tree trunk for balance as I searched for a solution.
Pulling out a dark, round pill, I took a breath before forcing it into my mouth. Forcing past the bitter, medicinal flavour that hit my tongue, I chewed through the pill and swallowed. For a brief second, I was worried it was a dud.
Then I felt a huge rush of energy, my vision clearing and the aches fading quickly, settling into a dull feeling in the background. ANBU-Grade Soldier Pills weren't a joke, that was for sure. Thanking any higher being that could potentially hear me, I sprang up into the trees. Naruto should be fine but Sasuke would definitely need my help.
"Wake up!" I screamed, delivering the hardest punch I could to Sasuke's arm as I landed next to him, bringing him out of the trance he'd been placed in.
"I-Isōrō." He stuttered, wide eyed as he looked towards me. "You're okay."
"Relatively, we've got bigger things to focus on right now." I snap back, my gaze sweeping up to the branch above where our opponent stood. "Orochimaru, I presume."
The Legendary Traitor that was the Snake Sannin suppressed an amused laugh, pale hand in front of his mouth as he gazed at me with his yellow eyes. "I see you are well studied, Rozu-kun. A trait often lacking in your peers." He praised, seemingly relishing the recognition I'd shown him.
"It pays to be informed." I replied. Any time I was able to stall would be a benefit, allowing Naruto a chance to join us before Orochimaru got tired of grandstanding. "Especially after our first C-Rank."
"Isōrō…" Sasuke murmured, tension clear in his voice as he tried to signal that we should leave. I quickly shot my hand out to his, taking a tight hold of it and using my thumb to draw patterns on his skin. 'Stall Opponent' was the message, Sasuke tentatively signalling his agreement. There was little doubt in my mind that Orochimaru wouldn't allow our escape for long, especially for our third teammate to arrive.
If the powerful traitor noticed my actions, he didn't comment on them, simply letting out a cackle. "Oh yes, your mission to Wave, yes? My, my, what an accomplishment for one's so young. Why, it almost reminds me of myself during my youth."
"What, thirty years ago?" Wait, was that out lou-
"Exactly." I let out a shocked squeak as the man was suddenly standing on the forest floor, much closer to the pair of us than he had been. The force of chakra coming off of the man was like a slap to the chest, wind being forced out of my lungs as he stared us down like a predator stalking its prey, which he essentially was. "Though my efforts were much more centred around toppling nations rather than saving them. Children today really are spoiled."
"So you've been spying on us." I surmised, ignoring his 'kids these days' musings with every fibre of my being.
"Or you have someone on the inside of the village." Sasuke added.
Orochimaru's eyes seemed to glow as his face split into a wide grin, clapping excitedly at our observations. "Very good, I dare say I can see why your entrance here is more a formality than anything else. Hardly the run-of-the-mill, clueless Genin, are you? Oh, I do hope young Naruto-kun survives his trial, I would love to see what he contributes. Bar comic relief."
I won't deny that I was also thinking of that joke too, but how dare he talk about Naru like that!
Shaking his head, the pale faced man spread open his arms. "But while your minds are sharp, how about we test your other skills too, hm?"
And just like that, we were fighting for our lives.
Orochimaru was toying with us.
That was becoming increasingly clear as Sasuke and myself went through every dual person tactic we could think of to fend off the powerful shinobi. Every blow was parried. Every weapon thrown, caught and returned. Even Sasuke's signature fireball jutsu did little more than singe the edges of the man's clothes.
Weirdly, it almost felt like battling Kakashi during training, the elder shinobi allowing us close enough to simulate a hit without actually connecting. He'd still not actually outright attacked beyond the initial advance, only moving to keep within our space, sampling our fighting style and teamwork.
"Kakashi has taught you well. The third's style still lives on, it seems." He mused, dodging a pincer attack with a backflip, sounding more like he was discussing the weather than mid-battle.
Sasuke threw some shuriken as I threw an additional kunai towards the man's neck, hoping to at least graze the cocky monster. To my surprise, it did just that, leaving a distinct line of blood along the man's pale skin. Any celebration I might have had was cut short as he delivered a powerful kick to my mid section, sending me rolling painfully through the underbrush. Sasuke soon joined my side, clutching his arm in pain.
"Alas, you are still only young. Far from your prime just yet." The Snake Sannin said with a sigh, sitting casually on a branch above. "I suppose I expected too much fro-"
He paused, his eyes widening as he brought his hand up to the cut on his neck. A smirk settled on my face as I glanced towards my teammate, who had a satisfied look in his dark eyes. It was a gambit, to play off the elder man's confidence but it seemed like we'd at least surprised him.
"Wh… What?" Orochimaru asked, speech beginning to slur as he struggled to climb to his feet, eyes widening.
"You forgot about our other sensei." Sasuke gloated.
"Rule 19 of the Anko-sama guidebook, even the most skilled shinobi forgets about poison in the heat of a fight." I recited with a grin. "As always, she was right."
Orochimaru's eyes creased into a glare as his body began to stiffen, muscles seizing up as his face coloured into an interesting shade of purple. "You should have taken us more seriously, now you're going to die here, you pale ass prick."
"Why what colourful language the youth of today use."
Suddenly, we were both being hoisted into the air by our necks, a still very alive and able Orochimaru holding us aloft. "You should really respect your elders, Rōzu-kun, Sasuke-kun. You never know just how we may react." The sudden increase of pressure from his hold had us both silently screaming, feebly kicking our legs as we tried to wrench ourselves free from his grip.
"Now, I think I've had my fill for now. You'll be happy to know I am most impressed with your showing, each of you." He praised, as if he wasn't close to choking the life out of us both. "But now it is time I turn to my original goal."
With that, he threw Sasuke away, bringing me close to his chest and turning me towards my teammate. A second hand joined his grip, this time laying on the top of my head. Perfect to snap my neck if the man so desired, emphasised by the subtle squeeze he gave when I tried to break free once more. I was now his hostage.
"Sasuke, if you don't want to see your dear, beloved teammate's head separated from his body…"
"Grave misunderstanding of our relationship." I snarked, if only because it was the only thing I could do. Why do I have to be the fucking Daphne here!?
Orochimaru ignored me. "You will show me your Sharingan." As if to emphasise his point, he gave a not so subtle twist of his grip, causing pain to surge through my body at the pressure of my spine and neck. I was only just able to catch contact with my teammate's eyes, clearly conveying for him to stall for a bit longer.
"My Sharingan hasn't manifested yet." Sasuke lied naturally.
"Oh Sasuke, I do so dislike lying…" More pressure had me screaming again. "Reveal it to me, now. One."
Sasuke looked conflicted, eyes darting as seemed to weigh his options.
"Two." The Sannin's grip tightened, trickles of blood seeping out from where his nails dug into my neck and scalp, running over my face and into my eyes, "Thre-"
"Okay!" Sasuke finally shouted, interrupting the count at the last second. Luckily, the powerful shinobi was a man of his word, as he let up on the twisting motion. Through the blood soaking my vision, I was barely able to see Sasuke take a breath, eyes closed. When they opened, it was that familiar sight of the shrunken pupil and the teardrop swirling around it.
"Magnificent." Orochimaru breathed, before delivering a swift chop to the back of my neck, sending me into darkness.
"Rōzu, we need you now!" The voice brought me out of the void, my eyes snapping open to see a familiar set of twirling red, filled with a mixture of panic and resolve. Sounds of destruction rang out in the distance, like something was tearing the forest apart.
"Sasuke, what-"
"We don't have time. Naruto's… He's holding off Orochimaru for now but we need to get out of here." Sasuke informed me, glancing out towards the source of the noise.
Propping myself up, I was able to see a blur of crimson meeting a blur of white over and over, ripping apart anything that got in their way. Naruto, he'd tapped into the Nine Tails Chakra, probably after seeing me downed. From what I could see, it looked like he'd progressed onto three Tails as he collided over and over with the Snake Sannin.
"We can't just leave him." I finally state, batting his green glowing hands away from me as I stumble to my feet.
"We don't stand a chance, Rōzu. Even Naruto can't beat him with that monster's chakra. What hope do we have?" Sasuke argued, roughly grabbing my shoulder, causing me to swing around and glare at him.
"He's got him on an even keel now, we don't have to fight outright… just stack the deck for Naru."
"I hate this plan."
"Well it's the best I've got that doesn't involve leaving Naru in the shit. So unless you've got the Hokage stashed up your ass, we're going with my shipdit plan."
"I really hate you sometimes.
"I know."
We arrived just in the nick of time, Orochimaru having finally caught hold of Naruto, who ferally tried to rip the man's neck open to little effect. On his free hand, his fingers glowed an unnatural green as he prepared to add a seal on top of Naruto's own. As much as I knew it was supposed to happen and that my friend would be okay, I couldn't help myself from trying to stop it.
Extending a chakra string out, I pulled a kunai out of my pouch and launched it at the Sannin's neck. It was so very close before he caught it with his free hand, turning his gaze towards me. "Did you really think that would work, Rōzu-kun?" He asked mockingly.
"No." I grunted, a small smirk forming on my face. "But this might. Lightning Style: Live Wire!" The chakra strings still connected to the kunai lit up in white as a crackling burst of electricity shot through them, arcing between the strings as it went. They soon found their home in the body of the Sannin, who let out a loud wail as his body jerked and thrashed, sending his Naruto flying as his grip loosened along with a spasm.
Pushing more and more chakra into the jutsu, I felt the feedback running down my arm, causing my own body to twitch. That was okay, I only had to hold it a little longer before…
Sasuke appeared behind Orochimaru, hand already poised at his mouth as he sent a fireball into the man's back, knocking him off of the branch he stood on.
"Fuck yeah." I growled with a smirk, breaking the connection and turning to follow after Naru, Sasuke doing the same.
It wasn't to be, however, as our opponent was quickly in front of us again.
Gone was Orochimaru's smug grin, replaced by a snarl as he gave us a baleful glare. "Enough, this farce has gone on long enough." Then his neck began to extend, sprouting forth from the man's shoulders like a snake as his head travelled towards Sasuke.
This was it, the start of Sasuke's fall to the dark side, for lack of a better term. With this one incident, the rest of the story would be set. I knew I should let this happen.
It was only when the flashbang went off did I realise I was moving, a white hot light piercing the eyes of everyone in the area, blinding my vision. The next thing I knew, I was barging into my teammates with my shoulder as I felt something sink into my lower back.
At first, it felt no different than a standard injection. Then the pain came. Searing, pulsing, all encompassing pain that I'd never known close to began to radiate out from where Orochimaru's fangs had sunk into my back. By the time I was able to register what had happened, I was already screaming.
For what was most likely only a moment, yet what felt like an eternity, I was trapped in an endless cycle or pain. So much so that I was afraid I wouldn't have the luxury of passing out. Thankfully, my body seemed to reach its limit at some point after my screams had died into croaks, darkness closing in quick.
The last thing I heard as my body finally gave out was a deep voice shouting in a rage filled voice.
"Sand Coffin!"
AN: And that's where we'll leave it!
So, here we have a pretty big deviation from Canon, huh? In case it wasn't clear, Rōzu took the Cursed Seal for Sasuke, pretty much on instinct alone. And he acts like he doesn't love the emo duckling, what a liar haha!
I hope the turn of events seemed believable, with Orochimaru getting a little too angry at having as much trouble as he did to get just a little sloppy, enough for Rōzu to nudge things at least. As powerful and intelligent as Orochimaru is, I believe he's the type to underestimate people and I doubt he's all that civil when he's wrong. Man's got to have an ego to do half of the things he does in Canon as he does. So yeah, he payed the price for his hubris.
Probably didn't help that a certain redhead has shown up to lend a hand… Or kill everyone. One of those two things haha!
The next chapter will be a deviation of style from normal for this fic, with a few scenes from the point of view of other characters than Rōzu. No Spoilers as to who exactly said characters will be, but I'm sure you could make a decent guess. They will also be in 3rd person rather than the usual 1st, just to help differentiate them further and allow me to explore some things I can't with Rōzu! So please look forward to that!
Any comments/kudos/reviews are greatly appreciated!
MurderousLord!
[ Chapter Song: Stay the Course - Natewantstobattle ]