As promised, the poll is now over. Hinata wins with 38% of the votes. Neji and Lee tied in second place with 22% each. One of them may interfere in the fight though.

This chapter's wikia includes the last chapter as well.

Thanks for the support and enjoy!

Chapter 015 - A Battle of Snakes, Part 2

"Did you find them, Sai?" Yamato asked, some moments after the ink dogs dissolved into a message in Sai's scroll.

"No. They must be a bit farther." Sai answered, before performing a hand seal that caused the message to revert back into the dog pack.

"And you, Shino?" Yamato tried once again, as Shino's insects returned and surrounded their host.

"Not yet, Yamato-taicho." Shino calmly replied.

"Kiba, Akamaru, what about you?"

"There's a smell that is making it hard to follow Anko-san's scent. Something burnt." Kiba said with a frown on his face. Akamaru barked and all of them went to see what he found. Burnt body parts of humans and snakes were laying on the ground in front of them.

"I guess that Anko was not the only one following Kabuto..." Yamato pondered as he picked up a broken half of a Root's tanto.

"Byakugan" The veins around Neji's eyes swell once again and he looked around the forest.

"Can you see them, Neji-kun?" Lee impatiently asked, but the Hyuga genius just shook his head.

"What do you think, Tenten?" Guy asked in his serious tone, while his female student checked the corpses they had just found.

"These cuts were done with a small weapon but powered up with the user's chakra. Perhaps this was done by Kabuto's dissection blades, Guy-sensei." Tenten answered after a short while.

"Yamato-san, can you hear me?" Guy talked through his communication system, since that was the only way they had to communicate with Team Yamato. They were already too far away, but he still hoped that Yamato could hear him. "Yamato?"

"Yes Guy, I'm hearing now."

"Good. It seems like they are heading north. We must not be that far away from our youthful friend Anko-san." Guy stopped to stare to the dead bodies in front of him and continued. "Be careful, Tenzo. It looks like Danzo's men are following them. Over."

"We just found the bodies of two who had the unfortunate luck of meeting her. Thanks for the information, Guy-kun. Over."

"What about now? Can you see them now, Neji-kun?" Lee asked yet again.

"Finally in range..." Neji announced with a smirk.

"You really think this plan will work, Kakashi-sensei?" Shikamaru asked. He wasn't sure about it even though Kakashi said it was a great stratagem.

"Why? You're doubting your own plan's chances?" Kakashi asked back.

"Well, indeed I am." Shikamaru grinned.

"I didn't lie to you. The plan really is great. The problem is that maybe it won't be enough." Kakashi gave him his eye smile. "Personally, I think the plan is even better than the one you devised to fight against Hidan and Kakuzu. The problem is that we don't know who we'll meet. Can be Madara or that other guy Zetsu...I don't believe we'll meet Sasuke, not after that summit."

"And we don't know a thing about that Zetsu guy or Madara's full strength..." Shikamaru concluded. "Kakashi-sensei, if things go wrong, I want to fight along with you and Nawirama-san."

"Sorry Shikamaru, but you heard your father's orders." Kakashi immediately shook his head.

"Geez Kakashi-sensei, you know I'm capable of fighting. I've defeated Hidan by myself." Shikamaru noticed he was talking too loud and stopped for awhile, so Ino and Choji wouldn't hear their conversation. "I want to protect my friends. I want to protect Konoha and its future. Akatsuki puts them at risk, so I'll have to step up and fight."

"Won't that be too troublesome?" Kakashi asked and Shikamaru answered by shaking his head. "Very well. I'll put you in the same situation as Naruto. You can fight but only as a last resort."

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei." Shikamaru gratefully said, a smirk appearing on his face.

"He was so lazy, even more than his father...but since Asuma's death he understood what is really important. He really has grown into a fine shinobi." Kakashi thought, a smirk of his own appearing behind the mask. "Good job, Asuma. A really good job..."

"Hey Sakura, may I ask you something?"

"Of course, Nawirama-sensei." Sakura nodded and came closer to her team leader.

"You don't have to call me that. I didn't teach you anything." Nawirama shook his head.

"Oh sorry, Nawirama-taicho." Sakura corrected herself.

"Forget the taicho thing too." Nawirama sighed and almost rolled his eyes. "I wanted to ask you what's happening here. I was told that Hinata was a shy girl who didn't talk much, but I didn't expect Naruto to be so...well, quiet. Did something happen?"

"Well, not really. The thing is that Naruto is starting to understand some very important things about his feelings."

"What? Are you saying that Naruto has..."

"No, that's not it." Sakura quickly interrupted before Naruto noticed.

"So...No coming out of the closet, right?" Nawirama whispered and Sakura nodded.

"I think you know by now that Naruto is an orphan. Since he always lived alone, there was no one there for guide him." Nawirama stared down and sighed once again. He was feeling bad by hearing that, because it was something that he couldn't forgive himself about. "Of course, there was Iruka-sensei and then us, Kakashi-sensei and Pervy S...er, Jiraiya-sama, but it isn't the same as having someone that is always with him. So, without a continuous guidance, he failed to learn some things and because of that he isn't really sure about some feelings that he's currently experiencing."

"Hm, I see...I already knew about many formal things about all the Konoha shinobi, like rankings, fighting styles, the kind of missions their best at, but I lack the knowledge about their personal things. I was speaking with Kakashi-senpai after we came out of the Hokage's office and I asked him about my partners. I was told some...interesting things about you and..."

"Interesting?" Sakura's eyebrow twitched and Nawirama slightly sweatdropped.

"Scary is actually the best word..." Nawirama thought, before shaking his head quite clumsly. "Yeah, interesting. Nothing to worry about. He didn't, uh, say bad things about you. No, no way..."

"Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura imagined herself punching her sensei, a swell vein appearing on her forehead.

"And I was told about Hinata's feelings for Naruto." Nawirama's words broke the medic-nin's dangerous thoughts. "She seems to be a very nice girl, doesn't she?"

"I would say the nicest girl in Konoha." Sakura confirmed. "I really hope they get together..."

"Well, if Naruto is starting to understand his feelings, then it shouldn't take long." Nawirama said with a very Naruto-like grin that surprised Sakura at first, before she let out a smirk of her own.

"Water Style: Violent Water Wave" Water gushed out from Genma's mouth like a water gun, aiming towards Kabuto who was already waving a scroll. A corpse appeared in a puff of smoke, being used by Kabuto as a shield to block the Water Style jutsu.

"Water Style: Serpent Stream" Kabuto capitalized on the water spat by Genma to create three water snakes that flew towards his opponent. The male Tokubetsu Jounin spat another water wave that clashed with the far left snake. Anko and Iruka went through half a dozen hand seals, a different set each.

"Earth Style: Great Mud River" As soon as Iruka completed his set, the ground around the three Konoha-nins transformed into a river of mud. Anko, who was still hurting, then completed her jutsu.

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb" A dragon-like head emerged in front of Genma to fire concentrated mud at the two remaining snakes. The mud absorbed the water that composed the snakes before falling to the ground, due to them being heavier now. Then, the dragon created by Anko submerged into Iruka's river. "Crap, I must have missed a seal."

"That hand will be a pain in the ass..." Genma remarked, as he saw that Anko's left hand was still covered in blood. "It will be hard to make hand seals. Are you sure..."

"Like a stupid cut would stop me! Backing out from a fight? Hell no!" Anko aggressively countered, causing Genma to sigh.

"Not only her..." Kabuto interrupted the conversation. "All of you should back out. I know everything about the three of you...Genma Shiranui, a Jounin specialized in long-range assassination techniques, who was many times invited to be a part of the ANBU but refused each time. His techniques involve long-range weapons and he also has a high degree in ninjutsu. Chakra natures are water and fire."

"Not bad..." Genma whistled in appreciation by hearing Kabuto's knowledge about him. "I never told anyone about those invitations. Good job, traitor."

"Anko Mitarashi, former student of Orochimaru-sama, is a Jounin whose specialty is tracking, even though she doesn't have any physical advantage like the Inuzukas and Hyugas. Her fighting style revolves around snake summoning techniques and taijutsu. Chakra natures are earth and fire." Kabuto shifted his finger from Anko to Iruka. "Iruka Umino, a Chunin who uses barrier techniques. Has some good taijutsu skills and can devise some crafty traps. Chakra natures are earth and water."

"Knowledge isn't everything." Iruka offered some advice, while he took a scroll from one of his flak jacket's pockets. "You learn more from experiencing things. Besides, the information you have may be wrong."

"I spent a long time in Konoha. I'm pretty sure of the information I acquired." Kabuto arrogantly countered.

"Well, I warned you." Iruka said as he retrieved a folded Fuma Shuriken from his scroll. Seeing Iruka's weapon, Genma and Anko traded a look before both of them retrieved a scroll as well. Genma summoned a kusarigama, while Anko brought out a chokuto. "Kabuto Yakushi...prior to assimilating Orochimaru's remains, he was reported to be as strong as Kakashi Hatake. Highly capable medical-nin, who uses those skills in battle, along with necromantic techniques. Known chakra natures are earth and fire."

"See what he means?" Anko spoke, while she wrapped some bandages around her injured hand. Her chokuto was stabbed into the ground. "You've shown a water nature during our battle and the ability to summon snakes. That wasn't in the reports. As time goes, people get stronger, so the intel isn't always accurate."

"You haven't been in Konoha for awhile, boy. You're overestimating the intel you have." Genma pointed out before launching the kama in his hand. Kabuto avoided it and rushed towards his opponents, but Iruka launched the now unfolded Fuma Shuriken. The missing-nin jumped so he was positioned in a better angle and grabbed the weapon by the hole in the center. Kabuto landed and revealed why he grabbed Iruka's weapon. As soon as he reached the ground, Genma pulled the chain of his weapon, so that the blade would attack Kabuto from his blind spot, but he anticipated the move and slightly turned, using the Fuma Shuriken to block the kama.

While Kabuto remained in that position, Anko rushed to attempt a downward slash with her sword. The researcher pushed the shuriken in his hand, forcing the blade of the kusarigama to block the chokuto's slicing attack. Anko smirked and turned into a puff of smoke, just before the weight of the kusarigama passed by Kabuto and the chain wrapped him together with its blade and the shuriken. Immobilized, Kabuto could do nothing to avoid the new shuriken launched by Iruka but, at the last second, an ANBU corpse erupted from the ground and pushed Kabuto out of the way.

"Son of a...when did he do that?" Genma shouted, as he saw the staggering corpse helping his summoner in getting rid of the chains. Then, a hand erupted from the ground and grabbed Genma's right leg. A second later, three pairs of hands were trying to pull him underground, while two other pairs did the same to Iruka. "How many does he have under his control?"

Flashback

Kabuto was sent into the air by Anko's backflip kick and she followed him with a jump, hitting half a dozen rising kicks into his chest and a spinning backfist that Kabuto blocked with his arm. Since the blow didn't have the full impact, Kabuto was able to land in a proper way to avoid damage, his right hand pressed into the ground, so he could stand up immediately afterwards.

End of Flashback

"At that time, I was able to insert the scroll into the ground. I almost forgot I could still use it." Kabuto thought as he stood. "Earth Style Resurrection Jutsu: Hands of the Forgotten...the scroll summons a large number of corpses underground. Then, with the earth chakra released by the scroll summoning, the soil reacts to the vibrations caused by my opponent's steps and keeps on moving, so that the corpses are always below them. To finish, I activate my Dead Soul Jutsu, so they can erupt and bring my enemies down with them. A jutsu hard to prepare but worth the effort..."

"Hidden Shadow Snakes" Anko shouted and released snakes from her sleeves in a enough number to take care of all the arms that surrounded Genma and Iruka. The corpses didn't quit however, as they crawled out of the ground and limped towards the three Konoha-nin, their arms covered in snakes. "You guys made me lose the chance to strike Kabuto, so you take care of them!"

"Gee, thanks..." Genma mumbled but Anko didn't listen, as she was already rushing towards the army of corpses. An acrobatic jump was enough to pass by them and she continued in Kabuto's direction, her sword in hand.

"That's one of Kusanagi's replicas, like the one Sasuke-kun uses...the differences reside in the handle and in the lack of abilities. However, the blade has a near identical shape and it's way sharper than regular blades." Kabuto recognized the Grass Cutter resembling chokuto, while he avoided the first combination of slashing attacks. Anko attempted a spinning leg sweep, but Kabuto jumped over and drew a kunai while in midair. Even so, he wasn't fast enough to use it to block Anko's spinning axe kick. The blow connected and the snake mistress followed by bringing down her sword on her groggy adversary.

"Shit!" Anko cursed as soon as the deceased ANBU's katana blocked the fake Kusanagi. Kabuto, having shifted the position of the kunai in his hands, thrusted it in the direction of Anko's exposed stomach. The Tokubetsu Jounin used her left leg to push Kabuto's thrusting arm away and, at the same time, released her left hand from the black handle of the chokuto, stretching it in Kabuto's direction. "Hidden Shadow Snakes"

"Chakra Scalpel" Kabuto intoned at the same time, surrounding his kunai with a chakra blade strong enough to cut through the snakes. The dead ANBU, using his katana, pushed the chokuto out of Anko's hands, something that caused her to grin. The remaining snakes came out of the short sleeves of Anko's mesh suit, distracting Kabuto long enough for her to press her hand into the top of the corpse's head.

"Fire Style: Hand of Flames" Anko playfully stated, the flames that came from her hand enveloping the corpse's body, reducing it to ashes.

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Jutsu" A dragon emerged from the mud river Iruka had created earlier, this one being made of both mud and stone. The Chunin directed the dragon towards the army of dead souls, the creature capturing all of them in its mouth before dragging them across the ground below. Sure that they were finished, Iruka ordered his creation to aim its next attack towards Kabuto.

"This will have to work..." Kabuto thought, his body not moving one step. Instead, a purple flame appeared in the tip of each of the fingers of his left hand, before he launched them towards the charging dragon. "Five Pronged Seal"

"Darn it..." Iruka mumbled, as the dragon crumbled into the ground, only one meter away from Kabuto.

"I've improved the seal to the point I can launch it. Still, it has to be at a really short distance, since I can't change its trajectory. Plus, I was only able to form the seal because the dragon was slow to reach me." Kabuto frowned at his left hand. "I never thought it would take so long to form one so weak as this one was. I almost didn't make it...However, I was able to disrupt the chakra that covered the dragon and Iruka lost control over it."

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bomb" Genma spat out a long, hot stream of flames towards Kabuto, who only had time to use the Body Flicker Jutsu to gain some meters. As he stopped, Iruka immediately erupted from underground, on Kabuto's right side, and tried to hit a rising uppercut but the spy dodged. Anko soon joined and Kabuto was pushed back with an array of punches and kicks delivered by both. The man who had served Orochimaru dodged or blocked the blows, until he was hit by a kick from Anko to the gut and a punch to the face from Iruka, both performed at the same time. As the medic got back on his knees, Anko and Iruka drew a kunai each.

"Heaven's Blessing Combination" Both shouted before throwing their kunais into the sky. Kabuto instinctively looked up and was blinded by the sunlight. This prevented Kabuto from seeing Genma, who had jumped in front of the sun so he couldn't be seen.

"Senbon Shadow Clone Jutsu" Genma spat the senbon in his mouth towards Kabuto and the senbon multiplied to many dozens, before many of them stabbed the scientist's left arm. "He guessed what was about to happen! If he hadn't moved, his face and chest would be covered in senbons..."

"Curses! Orochimaru's regeneration skills aren't working at 100% yet! I have to heal my arm, or I won't be able to use jutsus..." Kabuto's right hand started to glow green and he pressed it slightly on his arm. One second after, he was sent flying by another of Iruka's punches.

"Fire Style: Hand of Flames" As soon as he landed on the ground, Anko performed the hand seals and shoot another flame stream from her right hand. Kabuto got up quickly however and performed a set of seals as well.

"Water Style: Hand of Waves" A water stream came from Kabuto's right hand and clashed with Anko's jutsu.

"How could he heal so fast?" Iruka shouted.

"Idiot! I sent a pulse of chakra that had the same effect as a normal two minutes-long healing." Kabuto grinned for a second, before frowning again. Neither of the jutsus had the advantage. Then, Genma appeared behind him with a pair of senbons on his hand but Kabuto blocked them with a dissection blade while struggling to mantain his Water Style jutsu working. "They work too damn well together! I guess I don't have a choice..." Kabuto thought. He jumped out of the way and Genma did the same to avoid the incoming stream of flames. Kabuto performed a new set of seals and slammed both hands on the ground, taking advantage of the tattoo on his left arm being already drenched in blood. "Summoning Jutsu"

"Oh fuck!" The same thought crossed the minds of Iruka and Genma. A gigantic, purple snake towered in front of them.

"It's just like Orochimaru's Manda!" Anko thought while she held her left hand in pain. The light effects of the painkiller pill she had ingested were vanishing. The snake had black rings running down its body, fangs disposed in a way similar to a constrictor's and green eyes. The most notable difference between this snake and Manda, besides the fact this one was a bit smaller, was that it had two horn-like prostrusions on its head, instead of Manda's four.

"Why did you call me here, Kabuto? I think you remember our deal!" The snake furiously hissed to the man on the top of its head.

"Unfortunately Muda, if you want to avenge Manda, you'll have to help me here." Kabuto carefully adressed the snake.

"You better find him quickly before I lose my patience!" Muda slithered towards the Konoha shinobi and slammed its body to the ground, trying to crush them. Kabuto then jumped from its head and hit a kick on Genma who was still in midair after jumping to avoid the huge snake. The assassination expert crashed through a tree and lost consciousness.

"Genma!" Iruka shouted before realizing that Muda was already targeting Anko. The Chunin rushed and pushed her out of the way, getting hit hard in the torso by Muda's tail.

"NO! IRUKA!" The horrified Anko screamed, as she saw Iruka's motionless body crashing to the ground in a very ankward position. She fell on her knees by his side and angrily pulled his vest, screaming his name but to no avail. Then, she lost all the color in her face. He wasn't breathing. Before she could do anything, she realized that Muda was coming to strike again. Her ankle had been twisted the moment Iruka pushed her away from the giant snake. Unable to stand, her body a wreck without the effect of the painkillers, her mind broken by seeing Iruka like that, Anko couldn't do anything else but to close her eyes and cross her arms in front of her body, in a useless attempt to shield herself and her friend.

"Why are you here?" Konan questioned from above. She was standing on the tongue that served as overlook from the tallest tower of Amegakure. On the top of a smaller building in the other side of the street, stood a man wearing a black cloak and an orange mask.

"I'm just visiting an old friend, Konan." Madara answered and opened his arms in a motion that seemed like he wanted to hug her.

"You know very well that's not true. What do you want from me?" The new leader of Amegakure continued to question her former superior.

"I just want to talk with you, Konan. I'm here to tell you that I'm willing to accept you once again as a member of Akatsuki."

"And what if I say no?"

"And why would you do that? What was the reason for you to leave us Konan-chan?" Madara asked in his Tobi voice.

"Don't go Tobi on me, Madara!" Konan agressively shouted, angered by having Madara mocking her. "I only stayed for that long because of Nagato. Now there's no reason for me to continue there."

"So you won't reconsider?" Madara's voice turned back to normal.

"No Madara, I won't." Konan promptly answered.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I really didn't want to kill you."

Next Chapter: -

This chapter went a different way I had immagined, so I don't know how I'll write the next one. Therefore, I can't advance the title of the next chapter.

Wikia

1. Characters:

1.1 Kizu - Search in Narutopedia for Iwagakure Bodyguard. He's a bodyguard of Onoki in one of the meetings with the Kages.

1.2 Jadoku - The giant blue snake summoned by Anko in the Land of Sea Anime-only Arc.

1.3 Muda (OC) - A giant purple snake that highly resembles Manda and wants to avenge the latter's death.

2. Jutsu:

2.1 Space-Time Jutsu: Summoning Regression - This jutsu forces someone or something recently summoned to return to its original place. In other words, it forces the summon to be cancelled.

2.2 Water Style: Hand of Waves - Search in Narutopedia for Water Release: Water Wave Palm. It used to be called Water Release: Hand of Waves before being renamed and I like it better. The jutsu consists in emitting a continuous jet of water from one's palm to strike the opponent.

2.3 Fire Style: Hand of Flames - The same procedure as above but with fire.

2.4 Water Style: Serpent Stream - Search in Narutopedia for Water Release: Snake's Mouth. The name issue is the same as 2.2; It's basically a snake version of the Water Dragon Jutsu.

2.5 Earth Style Resurrection Jutsu: Hands of the Forgotten - The user inserts a scroll into the ground. When activated, a bunch of corpses will be summoned underground and a defined amount of earth chakra will be released from the formulas of the scroll. The chakra envelops the corpses and reacts to the vibrations caused by the steps of the enemy. The chakra forces the soil to change and move the corpses below them. The user will then activated the Dead Soul Jutsu, causing the corpses to erupt from the ground and pull the enemy below with them.

2.6 Earth Style: Earth Dragon Jutsu - Search in Narutopedia for Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon. The name issue is the same as 2.2 and 2.4; A dragon similar to the one from Water Dragon Jutsu, but composed of whatever the soil is made.

2.7 Heaven's Blessing Combination - A collaboration jutsu, commonly used by Hizashi Hyuga and his genin partners and that was passed by him to his students. One or two people will launch something to the air (normally kunais), causing the enemy to look up instinctively so they know what they're facing. By looking up, the enemy will be blinded by sunlight. Another member of the team that uses this jutsu, will jump into the air and capitalize on the sunlight to remain hidden and use a long-range attack.

-nawirama13