Orochimaru stood before the two boys. The duck-butt haired brat was glaring at him with those damned Uchiha eyes as he stood in front of the wide-eyed blond brat that looked like his gods-be-damned father! Orochimaru trembled with rage. "I'm going to take your body!" he snarled.

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Civilians and shinobi alike cried out in fear as pure hate raged across the village. Almost as one they turned towards the source and saw orange chakra boiling into the sky above the Uchiha training grounds. Everyone watched as dozens of ANBU came out of nowhere and began racing across the rooftops towards the trouble.

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Hound looked down at the little boy and Konoha's most infamous shinobi, both of whom were lying unconscious on the ground. He looked at the ANBU surrounding him. "Hawk, you and Weasel take both boys to the hospital. Leopard, go alert Ibiki and Inoichi. Bear, you and I will take Orochimaru to ANBU Medical. Tiger tell Mikoto-sama and the Hokage what we know and what we have done so far. Everyone else I want you searching for enemy shinobi."

Unspoken was the And kill them.

"Go!"

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Hiruzen watched as Inoichi spoke softly yet firmly to the young boy sitting in his mother's lap. "Sasuke, please tell me what happened."

Sasuke sniffled and wiped his nose with his hand. Mikoto rolled her eyes but did nothing. "Me an' Naruto were practicing our katas when that man just came out of the ground. He looked sick and stuff an' he said 'I'm gonna take your body!' I was standing in front of Naruto but I heard him say 'Are you sure?' then he said 'Okay' and he went around me." Sasuke looked up at Mikoto. "I tried to stop him, Mother, honest!"

Mikoto kissed his forehead and murmured reassurances and urged Sasuke to finish.

Sasuke turned back to Inoichi. "Naruto went around me and touched that man. Then everything turned orange and I heard that man scream really, really loud."

"What happened after that?"

"Naruto and that man fell to the ground and ANBU came."

Inoichi patted Sasuke's knee gently. "Thank you, Sasuke. You've been a big help."

Sasuke gave him a shy smile then hid his face against his mother's shoulder. The "You're welcome." was more than a bit muffled but Inoichi heard it. He smiled a bit sadly at Mikoto. "You know what I'm going to have to do."

Mikoto nodded as she gently rocked Sasuke back and forth.

Inoichi took a deep breath and dove into Naruto's mind. He wasn't surprised when he found himself in front of the kyuubi's cage once again. One eye opened lazily and gazed at him, "You again, eh."

"Me, again." Inoichi kept his tone amiable. "Thank you for keeping Naruto safe. His mother would be devastated if something happened to him."

The kyuubi snorted "If anyone is going to kill the boy, it's going to be me. Not some upstart snake caller." His tail twitched and beneath it was an oversized chew toy similar to the ones the Inuzuka gave to their puppies. Inoichi tried to hide a smile but the kyuubi saw it and glared. "The brat thinks I'm a dog that needs to be entertained. I can't get rid of the damned thing." It grumbled.

Inoichi gave a slight bow to the creature. "Shall I ask Naruto to get rid of it?" He had seen the teeth marks on the toy.

The kyuubi glared harder. "Don't bother. The brat will just think of something else to put in here to bother me with."

"Then I won't bother. I'll leave you to your rest." Inoichi worked his way out of that section of Naruto's mind and examined his most recent memories. They were as Sasuke had described. It was the kyuubi that Naruto had listened to and obeyed. He stayed a bit longer in Naruto's mind and put up what safeguards he could to prevent the kyuubi from using Naruto too much.

When he came back to reality, he told Mikoto and the Hokage what had happened and what he'd learned in Naruto's mind. "At the moment, the kyuubi is perhaps…choosing…not to use Naruto for destructive purposes. Perhaps it's because Naruto is too young. I don't know but I do think that we're going to need someone to look at the Seal and perhaps alter it or add onto it."

Hiruzen sighed. "We need Jiraiya sooner than later then." He stood up and took his leave of Mikoto, gesturing for Inoichi to follow. "Let's go see about Orochimaru."

Ibiki was waiting for them outside the room. Before Hiruzen could speak, Ibiki began talking. "I had Orochimaru-sama transferred here. He has extensive damage to his nervous system as well as his chakra coils." He gave a grim smile to their shock. "Orochimaru-sama was another of Danzo's victims. He, too, had a seal placed upon him but unlike the others, he found it and did his best to try and remove it. When he couldn't do that, he managed to alter it slightly."

"How do you know this?" demanded the Hokage.

"When the medics first examined him, they found a storage scroll and gave it to me. I opened it and found a letter giving a quick explanation and then a file with all of his notes. Which are extensive. And, for the most part, they are helping the medics." Ibiki sighed and rubbed his face. "Let's go to him." The three men took the stairs to the next floor as Ibiki continued talking. "According to the notes the seal was placed over ten years ago but when Orochimaru-sama left the village, Danzo didn't bother to maintain it like he did to his shinobi slaves. Orochimaru-sama did manage to alter it slightly, as I said, but it affected his chakra coils, nervous system and his sanity. He switched bodies to try and maintain those three. But according to the notes, the substitute bodies wear out quickly."

"So that explains why he was in his own body." Murmured Inoichi.

Ibiki nodded. "Yes. And it looks like when the kyuubi attacked him, more of the seal was destroyed or burnt away."

"So some of it is still there?" asked Hiruzen.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Ibiki paused at a door. "But the kyuubi did do, helped tremendously."

"But there's still more to be done." Said Hiruzen.

"Yes, but the medics tell me that they can keep him stable until the necessary help arrives."

"You know what needs to be done, Ibiki. Do it. Quickly, please."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Ibiki bowed and left at a run.

Hiruzen took a deep breath and opened the door.

Medics were swarming a bed, some calling out numbers and descriptions while others stood over a still figure, their hands glowing green. When Hiruzen was noticed, all activity stopped. The medics bowed and moved out of the way.

Hiruzen stepped over to the bed. He tried to keep from gasping in shock at Orochimaru's condition. The man had been a fanatic about cleanliness but it was obvious that it had been some time since Orochimaru had bathed or washed his hair.

Orochimaru's eyes flickered open. The normally bright gold eyes were dull and weary. "Sensei," he rasped, "I'm…I'm sorry…" A tear ran out of the corner of one eye.

Hiruzen turned to the others in the room and nodded towards the door. Inoichi caught on and quickly shooed everyone out. Hiruzen sat on the side of the bed and carefully pulled his student into his arms. "It's alright, my boy. Ibiki explained. And you can explain more when you're feeling better."

Orochimaru buried his face into Hiruzen's shoulder just like Sasuke had done to his mother. "Thank you, sensei."

Hiruzen didn't say anything nor did he treat Orochimaru like a child but he held him closer as he felt the tears soaking his robe.

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Jiraiya groaned in pain as he rolled over onto his back. Who knew prostitutes could be so mean. He winced as someone toed him none too gently in the ribs.

"Get up, you old pervert."

Jiraiya's eyes flew open. There, silhouetted against the sun…"Tsunade?"

"It's me, pervert, get up. We have to go."

Jiraiya groaned and sat up. He shielded his eyes and looked up at his teammate. "Go? Go where?"

The look on her face rivaled the sun. "Home. Orochimaru needs us."