Chapter Nineteen – The Forest Of Snakes
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Sasuke stood above the unconscious form of his adversary, smirking as he deactivated his Sharingan. His enemy had put up quite a fight, and he had acquired several new jutsus from it, as well as gaining some new taijitsu moves.
But more importantly, he held an Earth scroll in his hands, one which would allow them to head straight for the tower since they had started with a Heaven scroll.
"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?"
Sasuke nodded, turning towards Sakura. His eyes widened as he saw her enemy almost embedded into a tree. She followed his gaze and blushed.
"He said I was a useless waste of space and that he was going to… well, it wasn't nice."
"Ugly knocked him out with one punch." Sai said as he walked towards them, wiping his tanto with a piece of cloth torn from the corpse of his former adversary. "My opponant didn't have the scroll."
Sasuke held up his prize with a smirk. "I got it. If we hurry, we may just set a new record."
"kukukukukuku, indeed you did get it." An unexpected voice chuckled and all three genin turned to see a Kunoichi from Grass appear. Sai's eyes widened.
"I am sensing far too much chakra for a normal genin." He said quietly but urgently. "Her chakra level is very high, probably Kage level, and the way she moves… I believe that retreat is the best option here."
The mysterious Kunoichi smirked.
"I saw your fight, you have wonderful eyes, Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke drew his sword in a single, well-practiced movement as Sakura scurried behind him. Activating his Sharingan again and passin ghis scroll back to Sakura, he fixed his gaze on the intruder. "Who are you and what do you want."
"A sword? How nice." The intruder smirked, then she opened her mouth. Sasuke froze in disgust as a snake emerged from between her lips, then it regurgitated a long sword which the kunoichi took hold of. The snake retreated back down the woman's throat and the Kunoichi pointed her sword at Sasuke, her free hand making seals faster that even Sasuke with his Sharingan could follow.
"Great wind release!"
A blast of wind lifted Sai into the air, sending him above the trees and Sakura bit down on her scream. The kunoichi glanced at her, then back at Sasuke.
"Now that the only dangerous one of your team is gone, I think it is time to test your kenjitsu skills."
Sasuke adjusted his stance, then found himself defending against a huge number of strikes and slashes. Even with his Sharingan letting him follow the moves and adding them to his inventory, it was all he could do to avoid getting hurt. In a clashing of blades, the kunoichi retreated, her face cut by his desperate counter, but not bleeding. Sasuke stared at it in horror.
"What are you?"
The kunoichi reached up and peeled her face off, revealing another one underneath, a man's pale face with yellow, slitted eyes. "I am one of the Sannin, Orochimaru. And you, Sasuke, are the reason I am here. The last of the Uchiha with the Sharingan eyes… how could I pass up such a prize."
Ignoring Sakura whimpering behind him, Sasuke adjusted the grip on his blade.
"Orochimaru." He said thoughtfully. "I've heard of you. The Sannin traitor, the one who searched only for power and betrayed his team for it."
"I am so happy that I am still famous." Orochimaru smirked, idly spinning his sword. "You are no match for me, you know."
Sasuke shrugged. "Every minute I delay you is a minute that Sai has to fetch help. He's too… annoying to die that easily."
As if to underscore his words, a distant explosion sounded and Orochimaru looked thoughtful.
"He just destroyed my summons."
Sasuke smirked. "He's had practice. Anko-sensei trained us using summoned snakes. We are well aware of their strengths, and their weaknesses."
"Ah, Anko-chan." Orochimaru smiled. "My little student. How is she?"
"You can ask her when she oversees your interrogation!"
Sasuke's eyes widened as he recognised Naruto's voice and Orochimaru hurled himself sideways to avoid the impact. When the dust settled, it was to show Naruto standing in a crater, Kitsune's Claw balanced across his shoulders.
"Hey, teme. Thought you could use some help. Kaze's clone is carrying Inky to the tower to wait for you, he confirmed you have both scrolls."
Sasuke nodded as Sakura eep'd behind him.
"Sakura, get on." Naruto commanded. "He'll take you to Sai, Sai suffered a broken leg and will need help. The teme and I will follow shortly, once we chop this freak up."
"Kukukukuku, and who are you to make such threats?" Orochimaru taunted.
"Who am I?" Naruto repeated. "I am the friend of the Great Tigers, head of the Kagetora clan, wielder of the great sword Kitsune's Claw. I am the one who posesses the as-yet un-named Kekkai Genkai of power and who was trained by no less than four of the greatest Jonin of the village. I am the genin student of Mitarashi Anko and the beloved of a kunoichi who gave up her position of luxury and privilege because she wished to be with me. I am Kagetora Naruto and I am one of the two who will prove to you that Konoha's Will of Fire cannot be defeated!"
During the speech, Sasuke had moved forwards to take his place by Naruto's side.
"Sasuke, you will need your Sharingan for this fight." Naruto said calmly. "You already know most of the kenjitsu moves I have, so I am not worried about that, but my jutsu are chakra-intensive, and your reserves are not that large compared to mine. Copy if you wish, but make sure Kakashi knows which jutsu you are going to use before you try any of them out. This one at least will send you into a coma if you try it yourself. Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
The woods around them were suddenly filled with shadow clones and Orochimaru looked round with an approving smile.
"Truly excellent, I have never seen someone create so many clones at once, and Shadow clones at that. You may have more potential than that of the Uchiha boy."
"But you will never find out." Naruto said, placing his free hand on Sasuke's shoulder to restrain him. "First group, attack!"
With a roar, ten clones charged forwards and Orochimaru blurred into action, slashing and skewering the clones out of existence. Within seconds, they were all gone.
"Did you get any of that?" Naruto asked and Sasuke nodded, suddenly realising why Naruto had held him back. Naruto grinned. "Good, you can show me and Zabuza-sensei later. Second group, now! All other groups, deploy in order!"
Twenty clones charged forwards and Orochimaru once again started his dance of death.
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Sakura tumbled off Kaze's back as quickly as she could and half-ran to Sai's side. Kneeling down beside him, she opened up her medical-pouch and pulled out a small scroll. Opening it up, she channeled some chakra into it, causing a bonesetting kit to appear in a puff of smoke.
"Hold still." She said, concentrating as she ran a medical diagnosis jutsu across Sai's obviously broken leg. "Okay, I can't heal it, but I can set it and splint it. I'm afraid this may hurt. Bite on this."
Sai took the kunai and placed the handle in his mouth as Sakura ripped apart the lower leg of his shorts and placed her hands above his fractured bone.
"Ready?"
Sai nodded, then closed his eyes. An instant later, he released a muffled shout as the white-hot agony of a broken bone being reset lanced up his leg. The throbbing pain slowly faded and he opened his eyes and looked down to see Sakura placing the splints and wrapping bandages around his thigh. As she finished, he removed the kunai from his mouth.
"What happened to Sasuke?"
"Naruto's with him." Sakura said, looking out at the multi-kilometer forest. "They're facing Orochimaru."
"The Sannin traitor." Sai noted. "Given his current skill level, I do not believe that Sasuke will emerge victorious against him."
"Don't say that!" Sakura protested hotly, then she took a deep breath. "Don't say that. Sasuke by himself might not be able to win against Orochimaru, but he's with Naruto. Naruto managed to fight Zabuza to a standstill, and Zabuza's been training him, whats-her-name and Sasuke-kun, since. If anyone has a chance, it's him."
Sai looked at her curiously.
"I thought you were scared of him."
"I am." Sakura admitted, wrapping her arms around herself as she leaned back against the side of the tower. "I am terrified of him. I won't do a single thing that would risk annoying him, and I know that my mother now feels the same way. But he's gone out of his way to let me know that he doesn't hold me responsible for my mothers actions, that he knows I've told her to stop opposing him and that I'm going out of my way to avoid becoming a threat to him. He's forgiven me for the times I stupidly tried to side against him, and he's promised that as long as I remain loyal to Konoha, I'll be under his protection.
"So, yes, I am scared of him, but it's because I know what he is capable of, not because I'm stupid enough to get him angry at me personally."
Sai stared at her, head tilted slightly as he pondered her words.
"How strong do you think he is?"
Sakura shrugged. "I don't know. Anko-sensei said he's probably at Special Jonin by now and it's only political considerations holding him back. Once he blasts through the Chunin exams, he'll be another step towards becoming Hokage."
"Do you think he will become Hokage?"
Sakura lowered her head. "One time, I'd have said no. Now that I've seen him in action and talked to those who actually know him, I think not only will he become Hokage, but he may just become the greatest Hokage ever."
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The last of the clones vanished, pierced through the heart by Orochimaru's blade and Naruto looked at Sasuke.
"How much did you get?"
"Almost three quarters." Sasuke said. "Thanks for making sure the clones didn't block my line of sight."
Naruto nodded and hefted his sword. "Orochimaru's skilled, but my clones came close to overpowering him on several occasions. I'm stronger than him, but he's fast. I know you want to go it alone…"
"Not this time." Sasuke interrupted, moving into a low stance. "You strike, I'll cover."
Naruto nodded, then suddenly hurtled forwards, his sword sweeping down like a metallic thunderbolt. Orochimaru leapt back as the impact cratered the ground and then thrust forwards, only for his blade to be blocked by Sasuke. His eyes widened as Naruto thrust his sword forwards, punching it through his chest.
"Kukukukuku, excellent."
Sasuke's eyes widened as Orochimaru turned into mud and fell to the ground.
"A mud clone!"
"Did you get it?"
"No! I don't know when he switched!" Sasuke retorted, spinning round to search the forest. Behind him, Naruto snatched the dagger off his belt and hurled it into the tree canopy.
"Did you get him?"
"Wasn't aiming for him." Naruto said. "Preparing for something else, something inspired by the man who wasn't my father."
Sasuke blinked.
"I'm interested now." Orochimaru said as he stepped into view. "So tell me, who is this man who wasn't your father? You look like a young Minato, so if it wasn't him… Kakashi maybe? I didn't know you had been adopted… Well, you can tell me all about it later."
"Keep your eyes on." Naruto warned. "I think he's about to take things up a notch."
Orochimaru smirked, then darted forwards, his sword flickering in a twisting thrust that Naruto barely managed to block. Sasuke lunged forwards to counterstrike, only for Orochimaru to leap sideways, unleashing a barrage of snakes from his sleeve. With a yelp, Sasuke flung himself backwards, unleashing a fireball that caused the snakes to vanish in puffs of smoke.
"What the hell…?"
The harsh ring of metal on metal caught his attention and he looked up to see Orochimaru kicking a now-disarmed Naruto away from him before leaping forwards, bringing his sword down in a powerful slash. Sasuke lunged forwards, knowing that he wouldn't be able to block the strike, but unwilling to let the only genin he truly respected die…
CLANG!
Orochimaru's eyes weren't the only ones that widened in disbelief as his sword was blocked by the Kitsune's Claw.
"How?"
"Summoning seal." Naruto smirked as Sasuke slashed at Orochimaru, forcing him to retreat slightly. "Allows me to call my sword to me whenever I want."
"Very clever." Orochimaru smirked as Naruto regained his footing. "I underestimated you. Your strength is incredible, your speed excellent and your skill is quite advanced. You are no match for me, but you are… troublesome. Normally I would kill you where you stand, but if you let me do what I came to do, I will not only let you live, I will let you become my apprentice. Think about what you can learn."
Naruto smirked as he grabbed Sasuke and swung him onto his back. "Think about what you can learn from me. Watch and learn Orochimaru. Demon Technique, Reverse Dagger Summoning!"
Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock as a red chakra briefly surrounded the two boys and then it vanished, taking the duo with it.
"NoooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
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Sakura stared at the sight. She had almost wet herself in shock when the dagger that she recognised as Naruto's had buried itself up to the hilt in the tower wall barely ten paces away from them. She had known just how far she was from where Sasuke was and the strength of the throw required was inhuman.
However, the dagger had done nothing for a while and she had almost forgotten about it as she tended to Sai's cuts and scrapes under the watchful eye of Kaze.
And then the dagger had suddenly glowed.
Sakura had spun round just in time to see a flash of red light which faded to reveal Naruto with Sasuke clinging to his back. For almost a minute, no-one moved, then Naruto spoke.
"You can get down now, teme. We're at the tower."
Sasuke glowered at Naruto as he dropped to the ground and re-sheathed his sword while Naruto reclaimed his dagger.
"Thanks. I… I owe you. Whatever jutsu scroll you want from the Uchiha library is yours. Make that five, you helped me learn a great deal of that new sword style."
Sakura stared wide-eyed at the two boys. She couldn't believe that Sasuke had just said that. Naruto grinned.
"How about you forgive me for the Thousand Years technique."
Ssuke snorted. "I forgave you that during my second Genin test, dobe. Kakashi-sensei tried to do it to me and I managed to dodge it since I recognised what was going to happen. Nope, five jutsu scrolls once we finish this stage. On my honor as an Uchiha. But I will be practicing working that new style into my own. You may be better than me, but that doesn't mean I won't try to put up a fight."
"Thanks. Now, we need to part ways. You enter the tower while I wait for my clones to return with the scroll I need."
Sasuke stared at him.
"What? You really think even I could have found and seized two scrolls that fast? My clones reported success just before I summoned us here."
Sasuke paused, then nodded, giving the impression of a formal bow. Walking over to Sakura and Sai, he looked down at them.
"Can we get him into the tower?"
Sakura nodded and Sasuke crouched down, pulling Sai's arm across his shoulder. Standing up, he supported Sai as they moved towards the tower entrance. At the doorway, he paused and looked at Naruto.
"I still think you're a dobe," he said, "but you just might make it to Hokage. And when you do, I'll support you when you reclaim your heritage, as long as you support me when I kill my brother for murdering my clan."
"I thought you wanted to do that alone?" Naruto asked in honest curiosity and Sasuke laughed harshly.
"I thought so too, until I realised how much stronger than me Orochimaru was, and Itachi's stronger than him. I need to get a lot stronger to stand a chance against my brother. I knew that before, but I never really accepted it until now. Once this is over, will you tell me what training you got? I may not be able to do it myself, but it'll give me an idea of what I need to learn."
Naruto nodded and Sasuke walked into the tower, Sakura trailing him in confusion.
