Ghost Wolf: WE'RE NOT DEAD!!!
Quote the Speechless: "We aren't?" Checks vitals. "Holy shit, we're not!"
Ghost Wolf: "I was mentioning that for the readers benefit. Now what to do about the next chapter?"
Quote the Speechless: "Well, it has already been sent to the editor, and shouldn't take as long. I say 'shouldn't' but there are no promises. But she's the best editor I've got."
Ghost Wolf: "Well then, I say that we shut up and let the readers get on with this chapter before a riot breaks out."
Quote the Speechless: "Heh, a riot caused by me. Usually I need a spoon to cause riots."
Ghost Wolf: Smacks. "Do the legal stuff please..."
Quote the Speechless: "With pleasure," rubbing my head. "BOW BEFORE YOUR LORD!" Laughs manically.
Ghost Wolf: Beast him with a spoon.
Legal: Unfortunately I do not own Naruto.
Chapter Eleven - New Challenges
Naruto couldn't find another clearing, but he did find a Waterfall, which fed into a pond littered with large rocks sticking out above the surface of the water. He jumped out onto the largest, a boulder in the middle of the pond.
"Try something new," Kyuubi spoke up. "Extend your aura as you would for your chakra." When Naruto asked why, the demon responded, "Testing a theory. So just shut up and do it." Naruto sighed and tried the technique. It was hard at first, he had never tried to manipulate his aura before, but Kyuubi made him continue, instructing him all the way.
Naruto worked on it for two hours before finally he started to expand his aura. It came to him when he did an Earth-Style stomp. He felt a strange secondary flow, in addition to the chakra as he stomped down. A shockwave raced down his leg and into the stone, not breaking it, but passing through it. When it reached the water level, waves formed and moved out from the boulder.
"I thought so," Kyuubi's smug voice came.
"What happened?" Naruto asked, looking down at his footprint in the boulder.
"Well, I have been thinking about it since the practice match with that woman. Demons are grounded in the forces of Nature. Until a demon is one hundred years and picks an elemental path to follow, they train for them all and can control each to a degree. As the Greatest of all Demons, I have mastered all of these forces. Now, because I have given you some of my essence and acknowledged you as my heir, some of that control has been passed to you." Kyuubi took a deep breath after that long explanation. "With the small amount of my essence that I have given you, it has taken a long time for the ability to rise, but now that you have it, it will not go away. We will spend the rest of the day for you to get a feel for the basics of each of them."
Kyuubi spent the rest of the day lecturing Naruto about how to direct his chakra and aura, even describing emotions and thoughts that would make it easier to work with each of the elements. By sundown, Naruto was able to accomplish minor feats with each of the elements.
With Earth he could make small tremors, though he was told that some day he would be able to make or break mountains. With Fire he could make small bursts of intense heat from his hands but not actual fire. Kyuubi told him that eventually he would be able to make fires that could melt any metal and burn brighter than the sun. With Water he could make waves, though one day he would be able to make Tsunami and whirl pools. With Air he was able to make a small breeze, though in time he would be able to make gales and maybe even fly. With Lightning he made sparks along his fingers, but some day he would be able to control the lightning of the greatest storms.
"Forget training this ability for now. You have no time to waste on this skill. When you are ready and have time, we will go to my Siblings. They will teach you the different aspects. But for now, go home. Tomorrow is a big day for you, human."
Trying to control the new powers exhausted Naruto. He barely made it back to his apartment and into his bed before falling asleep. Naruto had never had to worry about chakra depletion before, so he didn't recognize the symptoms. Fortunately, the Kyuubi could restore his chakra over night as well as heal his burns and the strain put on his body from the new training. So it was as he woke up to find that his alarm had been blaring for a half hour and he was late.
"OH CRAP!" Naruto yelled as he jumped out of bed and grabbed the bag that had his armor in it. He ran through the kitchen only to grab an apple and run out again. He didn't even go out by the front door. Instead, he pushed open a window and vaulted through it. Swinging off a flag pole, he landed on the building next door and started running towards the Exam building.
Naruto ran inside and up to the second floor. There were a few people standing around, talking about something but he didn't pay attention. He continued through an atrium when the sound of a fight caught his attention. He looked over and couldn't believe what he saw. Sasuke was fighting another boy dressed all in green. What surprised him most was the fact that Sasuke was getting the crap kicked out of him. Instead of jumping in to stop the fight, Naruto went over to where Sakura was watching and stood next to her.
"What did I miss?" he yawned. He had eaten the apple on the way over and was wishing he had grabbed more. As he asked his question, Sasuke was kicked hard up into the air. The other guy jumped up after him and looked like he was going to attack again when he was stopped by a turtle. Sakura, heedless of Naruto's arrival, ran to catch the falling Sasuke.
Naruto watched the strange scene before him. Sasuke hadn't been badly injured so he recovered quickly to see what Naruto saw. Sakura was astounded as the boy's teacher arrived and punched him. The Teacher announced himself as Gai, and Kakashi's rival. They were all surprised when he simply disappeared only to discover behind them, demonstrating higher speed than anything Kakashi had shown so far. He then disappeared, wishing his student, Lee, good luck.
"I apologize," Lee said to Sasuke as he rewrapped the bandages around his hands, revealing heavily callused knuckles, peppered with cuts and bruises. "I fought you to test my abilities. There are many strong people in this exam, another of whom is on my team. I am sorry our fight was interrupted, but the exam will start soon and I must go," and he disappeared as well, presumably to join his teammates.
"Well," Naruto said, folding his hands behind his head. "The exam hasn't even started and already we're finding tough opponents." He turned to see Sasuke smiling a bit, getting the idea of what Naruto was getting at. Sakura smiled a bit as well, though a little nervously.
"This exam sure is looking fun," Sasuke looked at his teammates. "Shall we go?"
"Hell, Yeah," Naruto yelled as Sakura nodded. Together they went up to the exam door and pushed their way inside.
What they saw shocked them. The room was full of ninja, not just from Leaf, but from many other ninja nations and hidden villages as well. Naruto didn't have much time to look around before a long haired blond snaked her way towards Sasuke and Naruto had to jump out of the way. Unfortunately, Sasuke didn't have the warning Naruto did.
"Sasuke!" Ino practically screamed as she jumped on the black haired boy. The exclamation was immediately followed by Sakura yelling at her. They got into a little fight about which one of them Sasuke Belonged to. Naruto stayed out of it and scanned the room. Sure enough, there was the red-haired Gaara watching him from a corner of the room with his other teammates.
Ino's Teammate, Shikamaru, walked up, radiating apathy. Choji was next, the overweight boy munching happily on chips. Together with Ino, they made up the Genin of Team Ten. Shikamaru was mumbling something about how troublesome Ino was while Choji didn't seem to care so long as he had something to eat. They were the most oddball team Naruto had ever seen.
"Yo," Kiba's shout came as he noticed the two teams together. "There you are," he said as he walked up with Shino and Hinata. "I Hope you've all been training. We have and it won't be fun if the rest of you are knocked out too early," he boasted, sure of himself to the point of overconfidence.
"We're all ready for this," Shikamaru put in. "If we weren't then our teachers wouldn't have let us sign up."
"Hey," a new voice made them all turn around. "You are way too loud." The speaker was a ninja in his twenties. His forehead protector said he was from Leaf. "Screaming like school girls, you must be the rookies." His tone gave the impression that this was not his first time. "I'm Kabuto, and you're not helping by being so loud. Take a look at the team over there." He pointed behind them. The group he pointed at was three men with long blond hair. "That team is from Hidden Rain, they're known for their short tempers, so settle down before you start a fight."
"How many times have you taken the test?" Sakura asked. She was now more nervous than before.
"Six times over the past four years, this is my seventh time," Kabuto said as he reached into a pouch. "Look, you're new, so I'll give you some info." He pulled a stack of cards out of the pouch. "This is all the info that I've managed to collect, ask me something and I'll answer as best I can."
"How many teams from what countries?" Shikamaru asked. Kabuto's response was to whip out a card and press it against the floor channeling some chakra into it to activate the information. A small map appeared on the surface with a graph.
"There are Twenty-Nine Teams from Leaf, Ten from Sand, Seven from Rain, Two from Grass, Two from Waterfall, and One team from Sound." Kabuto easily rattled them off after a glance at the card. "That's Fifty One teams."
"Do you have those cards on specific people?" Sasuk asked, getting an idea.
"Who did you have in mind?" Kabuto shuffled the deck.
"Rock Lee," Sasuke said immediately. Kabuto whipped out the card.
"Rock Lee, first time taking the exam, with four times the number of necessary missions to get in." Kabuto didn't sound impressed until he got to the next part. "He's been training primarily in taijutsu, so he's probably a very good fighter. His teammates are Hyuga Neji and Ten Ten. Anyone else?"
"One more," Naruto surprised everyone when he spoke up. "His name is Gaara of the Desert." The others gave Naruto a curious look as Kabuto pulled out the card.
"Gaara of the Desert," Kabuto said. "From Hidden Sand, his skills are unknown. This is his first time taking the test. Whoa, says here that he's had a B Rank Mission, that's high up for a Genin." He slipped the card back into the deck. "Just remember, everyone here is the top genin from their villages. It means that all those villages, Rain, Waterfall, Grass, Sand, they all have sent the best they can offer. Well, Sound is a new village, so there isn't much to it. Don't expect so much from them."
The envoy from Sound didn't take too happily to being downgraded by Kabuto. They responded by weaving in and out of the crowd, preparing to attack. However, they severely underestimated the Genin around the man. The first launched himself up into the air to throw Kunai, but he was stopped by Sasuke, who had seen the attack coming. The next tried to attack Kabuto with a straightforward punch, but his hand was stopped and twisted behind his back by Naruto before he could complete the swing. The girl from Sound was halted by a growling Akamaru backed up by Kiba.
The three from Sound were pushed together and looked like they might attack again when there was a large puff of smoke and a large group of Leaf Ninja appeared in the middle.
"Quiet Down, All of you!" The apparent leader shouted at the Sound Nin. The man was tall, with a black bandana around his head, scars covering his face. "I am Morino Ibiki, and I will be conducting the first test." Many of the genin had apparently heard of the Head of the Interrogation Squad, and were not pleased to have him there. But they weren't going to argue with him. "Everyone take a number and sit in the appropriate seat. Then we'll hand out the Test."
"A PAPER TEST," Naruto was outraged and afraid. He did terribly on tests, so this was the worst possible way to start for him.
When they were all seated, Ibiki gave the directions for the rest of the test. No questions would be allowed. The test was ten questions long. Each person had a score of ten points. Each wrong answer resulted in subtraction of a point. Any time a person was caught cheating, two points would be subtracted. To move on to the Second Test all members of a team must pass. The rest of the Nin that had come with him would be watching to make sure that no one cheated.
When Naruto started the test, he looked over the questions and his depression deepened. There was no way he would be able to pass the questions on his own. They were out of his league by far.
"Kyuubi," Naruto thought. "Can you help me with these?" The great demon stirred from his nap and looked out through Naruto's eyes.
"Shuriken? Cryptograph?" Kyuubi snorted. "I've never used any, figure it out on your own."
"But I don't know how," Naruto was feeling really bad now.
"Then cheat," Kyuubi said, settling down again.
"But if I get caught, I'll lose points," Naruto paused after thinking that.
"Then don't get caught Kid, I'm going back to my nap."
Naruto realized then that the real test was to cheat and not get caught. He closed his eyes and calmed his breath. Next he stopped holding back his senses, letting his natural sense flow out all around him. He realized that other people had already started cheating. He kept his eyes closed, first listening to the mutters and movements of the other Genin. Because his eyes were closed, he missed the looks that were being given him by Hinata who was sitting next to him.
Hinata had figured out that they were expected to cheat, but she couldn't figure out what Naruto was doing. At first he had looked really worried, like he didn't know what to do. She knew that he was no good on tests. But then he had stopped and gotten a far away look in his eyes, before a slight smile appeared on his face and he closed those beautiful blue eyes. Hinata blushed at the thought of those eyes looking at her, she blushed more at the next unbidden thought of those eyes undressing her in his mind. She shook herself and forced her mind to focus back on the test.
She activated her Byakugan (White Eyes) that allowed her to see almost perfectly in every direction around her and through things if she desired. She noticed that Naruto had opened his eyes and had to focus not to start blushing again. This time, the look in his eyes was sharp and focused, far more focused than she had ever seen before.
Naruto was using his eyes to look around him, taking in every detail that he could. The scribbling of someone a few rows ahead and to his right seemed to know what he was doing. Naruto focused his eyes and ears on him and heard the Genin's low mumbling as he moved his pencil. Naruto had to guess a lot, but he was able to glean a fair bit from the person, enough to figure out the answers to most of the questions.
Hinata figured out what Naruto was doing and looked at the answers on both the papers. She was amazed that Naruto could cheat off of someone more than twenty feet away. His answers weren't all correct, but they were close to what the man had written down.
Naruto worked his way through what questions he could answer before getting down to the last one. It made no sense. All it said was that ten minutes before the end of the test the question would be asked. Why did it matter when the question was asked? Finally, it was time for the last question.
"Alright," Ibiki said, getting the attention of all the Genin. "Time's almost up, I'll tell you the last question in just a moment. But first, a new rule: you may choose not to answer the question, but if you don't, all your points will be taken away and you will fail with the rest of your team. If you choose to risk it and answer the question incorrectly, then you will be banned from ever taking the Chuunin exam ever again." There was an outburst at this announcement, but he ignored them. "If you don't want to risk everything, then you better give up and try next time."
Several people raised their hands and walked out in disgrace with the rest of their teams. Sakura was feeling torn. She knew about Naruto's dreams, she wouldn't risk him failing now and never rising higher. Sakura started to raise her hand but Naruto beat her to it. His hand stood in the air surprising everyone that knew him until he started to speak.
"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME," Naruto's hand came crashing down onto the table, almost breaking it in half with the Earth-based Strike. "I WILL NOT RUN AWAY! Even if I am a genin forever, I will still become the best, and that means that I will NEVER back down or run away." He crossed his arms and glared at the Jounin. Deep inside him, Kyuubi couldn't help but laugh a little. "Ask the damn question."
Naruto's short but energetic speech brought a smile to just about everyone's face. Some wondered just how strong the boy was, they all felt the hit on the table, but it didn't really matter. They agreed with him and they were all going to take the test.
Ibiki saw that nothing was going to change and there would be no more people resigning from the test. He nodded and clapped his hands, bringing the attention back to himself.
"So, you're all sure about this?" he asked. There were nods all around. "Fine then, I guess I don't have any other option… I am going to have to pass you all." He grinned at the confused looks on all their faces. "The point of this test was for you all to use your skills to Gather Information. Most of you should have been unable to answer these questions, so there were a few chuunin put in with you that knew the correct answers. The last question tested if you were willing to take the tough missions. The hardest missions you will take will have the least amount of information on what you will be facing. None of you had any idea what the question was going to be and yet you chose to take it anyway. That was the true test, and you all passed."
Just then, there was a flurry of movement. A figure wrapped in black cloth crashed through the window. Spinning through the air, two Kunai were launched out attached to two corners of the cloth. Suddenly the cloth unwrapped and turned into a banner hanging from two Kunai stuck in the ceiling, reading "Examiner for the Second Test of the Chuunin Exam: Mitarashi Anko." In Front of the cloth stood a short woman dressed in a double layer shirt made of cloth and wire, a skirt, and a long white jacket.
"Don't celebrate yet!" she yelled at the students. "I am Mitarashi Anko, and we're all going on a field trip! FOLLOW ME!" No one moved. No one said anything. They all looked in disbelief at the loud woman. She looked around the room, an embarrassed blush lighting her face before she turned to the First Examiner. "Seventy-eight? Ibiki, you let 26 teams pass?" She scowled at him. "You went too easy on them."
The first Examiner shrugged and smiled at her. "There are a lot of exceptional students this year." Anko snorted at Ibiki's comment.
"Too bad," she smiled a little. "I'm going to cut them at least in half." Some of the quicker members realized that at this rate, less than a quarter of the original teams were expected to make it past the second test. And who knew what lay after that?
"Alright, everyone," Anko said. Her tone was much better this time. "We're going on a fieldtrip." Considering her personality, and the tone she spoke in, the 'fieldtrip' was not going to be pleasant.
When they arrived, they found themselves at a twenty-foot tall chain link fence, surrounding the creepiest forest any of them had ever seen. The trees were Massive, covered in snake-like vines. Moss and ivy covered the growth that could be seen. It looked like it had come out of a strange movie scene. Sounds could be heard from the other side of the fence as well. Some of them were normal forest sounds, birds chirping, wind through trees, insects buzzing. Other sounds were not nearly so bucolic, an animal scream echoed out of the forest before Anko started to speak.
"Welcome to Practice Area 44," She said. Her back was to the gate as she faced the students. "Also known as the Forest of Death," she said cheerfully. "This part of the exam will last exactly Five Days." There were many complaints about this. "Too bad, my exam, I say what goes. Besides, there is plenty of food in the forest if you know how to find it." She took a moment to whip out some papers and start handing them around. "If you sign these, you are accepting the possibility of death and you're still willing to take the test, so listen carefully before you sign it." She looked around to make sure everyone was paying attention and saw that Naruto was already snapping on his armor.
"This will be your Survival test. Half of the teams will be given the Earth Scroll," she held up a black scroll with the symbol for Earth inscribed on it. "And the other half will have the Heaven Scroll," a white scroll this time with the Symbol for Heaven. "To pass this test, you must come to the tower at the center of Area 44 with both scrolls." So this was what she meant by cutting the number of teams in half. "But that's not all. You will fail if you don't get to the tower in time, lose or have a teammate killed, or if you look inside either scroll before you get to the tower.
"Now if you think you are willing to face not only each other, but also the Forest of Death for the next Five Days then sign the wavers. Everyone on a team must sign for that team to participate. Line up and turn them in. Once you have, you will receive your scroll. You have half an hour to decide. And just remember, Killing is allowed for this part of the exam." With that, she walked over to the booth where two chuunin were waiting to take the papers and hand out the scrolls behind a curtain.
Naruto was snapping on his left leg guard when the papers came around to him. He took it and immediately signed.
"After that show I put on at the end of the first exam, you can't expect me to back down now," he said, apparently misinterpreting the looks his teammates were giving him about the armor.
"Where did you get Armor like that?" Sasuke asked. He had already signed his paper as well. Sakura followed soon after, she was sure that nothing could happen with Sasuke and Naruto on her team.
"Been working on it with some friends for the past couple days," Naruto finished buckling his chest plates and stood up doing some minor stretches. "Why? You want some?" Sasuke snorted in response. There was some armor in the Uchiha estate, but it was still a little large for him. He would see about getting it refitted to his size now. No way Naruto's shoddy armor could hold up to the fine work and shining steel of the Uchiha Armor.
Sasuke took their forms and got in line for the scrolls. A few minutes later, he came back to them, the scroll already hidden in his pouch. A chuunin led them away to the gate they would enter the area from. They were taken to Gate 12. The chuunin opened all but the last lock and counted down until the start of the exam before unlocking it and letting them in. He quickly locked it all up again as soon as they were beyond the trees.
"We should stay together," Sasuke said. "We stand a better chance against any teams that way then we would if we split up." They raced through the trees, staying up in the branches and going for speed and silence. "We should set up a trap for another team to get their scroll." He stopped on a high branch on one side of a clearing. "This is a good spot, but we still need a trap."
"I've got that," Naruto said as he jumped down from the tree and activated a jutsu. Two more Naruto popped into existence around him. Each of the clones performed another jutsu and transformed themselves into likenesses of his teammates. The real Naruto also did a transformation, but to make his appearance disheveled. All three of them were sitting, looking like they were recovering from an attack, and were apparently defenseless. While he was doing this, Sakura and Sasuke took positions on either side of the clearing, staying as well hidden as they could manage while keeping Naruto and each other in sight.
A few minutes later, Naruto, the real one, announced that he was going to the bathroom and walked behind a tree. A moment after Naruto walked behind the tree, he walked back around the other side, but his appearance had shifted slightly. He started to address the clones, but they attacked him, knowing it wasn't the real Naruto. The real Sakura and Sasuke attacked as well.
The illusion dropped as the Sasuke clone punched the Naruto imposter into a tree, revealing him to be a Rain Ninja. The clones dropped their illusions and continued the attack when Sasuke and Sakura dropped and cornered the nin against a tree. The real Naruto appeared behind the Rain ninja and attacked, delivering a forceful strike to the base of the neck that knocked him out before he could do anything else. A subsequent search of the attacker showed that he was not the one carrying the scroll.
Naruto frowned as he tied up the unconscious nin.
"This isn't working. It'll take too long," he said, finishing the last knot. "We need a new plan."
"How about this," Sakura put in. She had been thinking of a strategy since she saw Naruto make the clones. "Make another clone. Send the three of them ahead of us. They will encounter other nin, maybe set off traps, while we follow. That way we'll still have the upper hand if they are attacked." Naruto nodded along with Sasuke, it was a sound plan. He formed the clone and they set off, the real team keeping a few hundred feet back from the clones.
Suddenly, Naruto halted and signaled the other two to stop as well.
"The clones were killed," he said, keeping a wary eye out. "I don't think it was a trap, but it was fast. I got a glimpse of the attacker through the Sasuke clone. It looked like a Grass Nin."
"How right you are," a voice came from above them. They looked up and the Grass nin that Naruto had seen was standing on a branch above them. Before they had time to react, a massive gust of wind blasted through where they were standing. Sakura grabbed onto Sasuke so they wouldn't be separated, but Naruto wasn't so lucky. He was blown out of the trees and some distance away before he could get a grip on a branch to halt his flight.
A rustling sound alerted Naruto to an attacker and he just managed to jump out of the way of a massive snake's lunge. It was larger than anything Naruto had ever seen before. It was easily six feet around and a hundred feet long. He had only a moment to realize this before it was striking out again.
"I. Hate. Snakes!" Kyuubi roared from inside Naruto and poured out energy to the boy. The snake lunged at Naruto, mouth gaping wide. It bared its fangs, poison glistening. But it was not fast enough for Naruto infused with the power of the great Demon.
Naruto reached out and grabbed the fangs. One foot kicked down to the lower jaw while the other stuck to the tree with chakra. With incredible strength, Naruto pulled and twisted. A sickening wet breaking noise issued as the fangs broke off in Naruto's hands and the neck of the large snake snapped. A moment later, the summoned snake disappeared in a buff of oily smoke, leaving Naruto standing in a tree, holding the fangs that still dripped with poison.
"Keep them," Kyuubi said, anger still in his voice. "Go back to your friends. They are most likely under attack." Naruto agreed and rushed off, still holding the bloody fangs in his hands. As he ran, he allowed his demon senses to activate. His hair turned red, his eyes changed to that of a fox, but he did not transform, that was still his trump card.
When he arrived, he saw they were indeed under attack. The Grass nin from before was rushing towards his teammate. Wrapping around a branch like a snake, he made Kyuubi's anger flare again. He threw the fangs, hoping to hit the man as he attacked. The fangs pierced into the branch just in front of him.
"Sorry I'm late," he dropped down to a lower branch, still glaring at the attacker. The man radiated an evil aura that made Naruto feel ill. He also smelled strongly of snakes. "I had a snake problem," he stood, his arms crossed as he glared at the man.
"Naruto," Sasuke yelled, "this guy is on a whole other level." He took out the scroll that they had. "We don't stand a chance against him." He turned to the man, still wrapped around the branch. "If we give you the scroll, please take it and let us go."
"The HELL do you think you are doing, Sasuke?" Naruto yelled. He was outraged that his teammate was even thinking of giving up the scroll. The attacker just laughed.
"I see," the laugh made Naruto's hair stand up. "To get rid of a predator, Prey must give lead the predator to a different meal." Sasuke took this as an agreement to his request and threw the scroll. But it never made it to the snake man. A streak intercepted it and Naruto landed in front of Sasuke.
"Naruto what are you-" Sasuke didn't have a chance to finish before Naruto's fist connected with his cheek.
"I don't care what you think," Naruto's head was down so they couldn't see the look in his eyes as he talked. "You're afraid, and you're wrong." He stood up and put the scroll into his bag. "This freak isn't just going to let us go, I doubt he even cares about the scrolls." The man started to laugh as he stood up on the branch and lifted his left sleeve to reveal a tattoo.
"You're certainly correct," he raised his right hand and bit his thumb. "I was going to kill you all," he ran his bloody thumb down his arm over the tattoo. Chakra and smoke started to swirl around the man.
"SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled as he jumped at the man. The anger from the Kyuubi was finally flooding his system along with the chakra.
Smoke filled the area for a moment before clearing and revealing a massive snake, many times larger than the one Naruto took down. Its tail lashed out and swatted Naruto out of the air before he could get to the man. It continued to hit Naruto around. He only had a moment for one attack he had to make it count. Naruto roared as he powered up, kicking off the tail before it could hit him again and launching himself at the head of the snake.
"EAT SHIT," Naruto flew down. A brutal Earth Style blow landed on the snake's head. His strength was multiplied many times by the anger of the Kyuubi towards snakes and the infusion of demon chakra into his own. The snake's head crashed down through everything in its way, but Naruto was left defenseless against the man's attack.
A stream of gale force wind issued from his mouth and caught Naruto in mid air. Naruto slammed against a tree, his breath knocked out of him and stunned for a moment. The attacker took that moment to turn the snake, which had been injured but not killed, towards Sasuke.
"What Will You Do Sasuke?" the man questioned. His eyes were full of glee at battle. But the snake never got to Sasuke. It was stopped a few feet away. The moment had been all Naruto needed to recover and put himself between them.
"Well?" Naruto gasped. Blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth as he looked at his teammate. His eyes were red and fox-like. The marks on his cheeks were notably darker and larger. "Are you just going to stand there, you coward?" The contempt in Naruto's tone struck Sasuke deeply.
"You're a fool boy," a long, fleshy, and above all slimy tongue snaked down and wrapped around Naruto's arms, completely immobilizing him as it lifted him up into the air. Sasuke and Sakura were still frozen in horror and disbelief and could do nothing but watch. Though he fought against it, the tongue resisted his attempts to get free. "I know about you," the man whispered from around his tongue. Naruto immediately stopped struggling. It was all the man needed.
In an instant, the man had undone the binding on the left side of Naruto's torso armor and pulled it open. He pulled up Naruto's shirt with the tip of the tongue, exposing the black seal that was visible. He formed hand seals in quick succession until the fingertips of his right hand started to glow with chakra.
"Five Part Seal," the hand struck Naruto's belly. He immediately felt his connection to Kyuubi get cut off. His source for the majority of his demon chakra was immediately cut off and with it went the rest of his strength. As he was thrown away from the man, he struggled for one last desperate act before he passed out.
"Fox Roar," He whispered before taking a ragged breath. He put his hands to his mouth and let out a long roaring howl, desperately calling for help from any who recognized the call.
The call had another unintended effect. Sakura was brought out of her shock by the chill sent down her spine by the eerie call. She saw Naruto go limp in mid air and acted quickly. She threw a kunai that caught the fabric by his side where the armor was still open. It pinned him to a tree where he hung limply. Sasuke was startled into action. He jumped into action against the attacker, his Sharingan eyes burning with intensity.
Sakura was running to Naruto to get him to safety when a flash caught her attention. Sasuke had used some string attached to blades to trap the man and a fire attack raced down them, catching the man in the face. But the man stood and took the attack at full force. When the fire cleared, only one of his eyes was visible, and it looked like the skin on his face was burning and pealing. What lay underneath, though, was pale skin that seemed undamaged by the attack.
"Very well done, Sasuke," the man said. His hand came up and blocked the eye from view for a moment. When the eye was uncovered, both Sakura and Sasuke found their bodies frozen. The man tilted his head to the side, as if listening to something. "It seems that I don't have much more time," he made an odd seal. "Remember this, Sasuke, I am Orochimaru. I will give you power." His neck snaked out and he grew fangs. Quickly, he bit Sasuke in the neck, leaving behind an odd three tiered mark. "Come find me, and I'll show you how to kill your brother."
Sasuke was about to respond when he screamed in pain, clutching at the mark on his neck, which was burning him painfully. Sakura turned to Sasuke and found he was unfrozen. She tried to ask the man what he had done but he was already gone. She rushed to Sasuke's side and tried to comfort him. She had no other idea of what to do in this situation. A few minutes later, Sasuke finally passed out from the pain.
Sakura was effectively left alone. Both Naruto and Sasuke were out cold. Naruto pinned to a tree by one of her kunai and Sasuke limp in her arms. It was then that she felt the presence. She turned slowly and saw something that scared and awed her. Figures were appearing out of the growing shadows. They were not human, but Foxes. They moved with little sound, all three of them.
The largest fox was leading, a red male with silver hairs starting to sprout along his back. Four tails waved through the air as he jumped from branch to branch towards them. He was the size of a small horse. The two behind him were also male, one a deep red with two tails, the other a bright red orange with one tail. They were only a little smaller than the leader.
Sakura was terrified. She didn't know what to do against three Kitsuni. She started to cry as she held Sasuke closer to her. She buried her face in his hair and waited for the end to come, for she was sure that was what awaited her now. She never expected what happened next.
"Who called for us?" an aged voice asked. Sakura hesitated before slowly looking up. Her young green eyes met with red demon eyes. It was impossible for her to read the expression on the kitsuni's face. She could hardly believe it when he spoke again. "Who called us?" He spoke in little more than a whisper, but there was authority there.
Ghost Wolf: "More Kitsune for those out there that loves them." Looks over at Speechless. "Don't worry folks, I didn't hurt his hands."
Quote the Speechless: "Yes and there will be more, including the cute small ones." Clears throat. "On another note, I've turned 21!"
Ghost Wolf: "Yay...I don't think they care. The want more story and soon."
Quote the Speechless: "Yea, probably not but it doesn't matter, I felt like announcing it anyway."
Ghost Wolf: "Well then...Happy Birthday to you now get back to typing."
Quote the Speechless: "MWHAAAA!" Paper starts flying around everywhere.
Ghost Wolf: "MORE SPOON BEATINGS FOR SPEECHLESS!!! I'm watching to make sure he gets back to work everyone."
Quote the Speechless: "It writes or it gets the spoon again." Huddles in a corner over the computer.