I do not own Naruto. Napalm sticks to little kids, doodah, doodah...
Chapter XI: Orochimaru & Co: Part I: Infiltration
Naruto swore as he grabbed the bags his shadow clones had packed that morning. How could Tsunade be idiotic enough to let an angry medical-nin, an overenthusiastic Taijutsu specialist, and a lazy tactician go on such a dangerous mission?
After checking through all of his supplies, he swung by the ninja supply store to pick up some more solder pills, bandages, regular shuriken and kunai, and a small bag of signaling pills, which would emit a flash of prepared chakra that would alert any ninja in a two mile-radius. It was a risky device, but in the case of Naruto being there, it didn't seem like that big of a deal.
After dumping money on the counter, he Haraishined to the gates. His father had really been thoughtful when he was the Hokage, carving all of these symbols into the walls and doorways of the village. He just couldn't use them when running from fangirls, since someone had spilled the secret of his technique and they were now camping at most of the spots.
He waited there for half an hour for the others to get there. Eventually, he got impatient and made seven more shadow clones, instructing them to give the late offenders a 'Thousand Years of Death', and then to tell them to hurry their asses up and get to the fucking gates already.
Fifteen minutes later, Ino showed up, rubbing her ass and openly scowling at Naruto. She just had to get the perverted clone, who deliberately aimed low with its 'Thousand Years of Death'.
Naruto quickly explained the situation to the rest of them, then in quick succession, summoned Gamakichi and Gamatatsu right outside the village gates. He instructed the others to grip onto the toads back with chakra, and to not lock any joints or straighten their backs unless they wanted to be shaken to death like a rat.
However, convincing the two toads to go at the speed that he needed took some doing. In the end, he managed to make a shadow clone go get some snacks from a nearby shop, slipping in a solder pill as it did so, and promised Gamakichi a hefty reward of sake whenever he got around to buying such things.
Now convinced, the two toads, having spent much time training, focused nearly all of their chakra into their legs, hopping as fast as physically possible. They not only went fast, but high as well. Each time they landed, someone on both toads swore loudly. Only Naruto remained silent, used to far worse conditions during his training.
Two hours later, they had gotten to within ten miles of Oto's sensor range. Sending off a sleepy Gamatatsu and a grumpy Gamakichi, he told the others to set up camp and have a good night's sleep, and not to wake up since he had guard duty for the entire night.
No one else really complained, since waking up in the middle of the night to watch for an attack that usually never came was never fun. Everyone swallowed down some dinner that Naruto and his clones had brought, ramen, of course, set up tents and sleeping bags, and bid Naruto a good night.
Naruto did not sleep. How could he? Three of his friends were in danger from Tsunade's unwillingness to listen to him about Orochimaru-teme's enhanced powers. No jonin or even an ANBU Squad would even stand a chance against some of his lower henchmen. Even the Konoha eleven without him would have an extremely difficult time taking down Kabuto.
He jumped up and sat in a tree, making six shadow clones to sleep for him and to keep watch, since the experience, while it wouldn't bring him physical benefits, would bring him the mental effects of resting a full night. The real Naruto just sat in a branch, looking at the waxing crescent moon, thinking about his last fight with Orochimaru, when he had been with Jiriaya, right after they had left Konoha for his training.
Flashback:
Jiriaya stood there, looking at the hideout that he was pretty sure Orochimaru was holed up in. And Naruto knew that if Orochimaru was there, then so was Sauske. He would keep his word to Sakura, no matter what. He would leave Orochimaru to Jiriaya, however. Being with the pervert had not turned him into one, but he did manage to get the beginnings of a sense of caution.
"Listen to me, kid." Jiriaya had said, "You want to keep that promise to that pink-haired friend of yours, so listen to what I say. If Sauske is in there, chances are he'll be guarded by that four-eyed freak, Kabuto. You're no match for him, so call me for help. Once you get Sauske, take him and run. I can handle Orochimaru, since I'm not being drugged by dear old Tsunade this time. Once you get back to the village, request some backup to help me clean up Orochimaru. There won't be much left after I finish with him."
Naruto had nodded and stretched out his muscles, eager to begin. Jiriaya chuckled and sank the entrance to the hideout with the aid of his Dark Swamp. They had both charged in at the same time, kunai held at the ready, and that's when things started going wrong.
Orochimaru had been there, Sauske as well. What they hadn't counted on was the bastard gaining so much power in such a short period of time. Apparently, he had managed to secure the tail of one of the bijuu and absorb it. While it was no match for Naruto's three-tailed form, his chakra control was much finer then Naruto could ever hope to compete with.
Within the first fifteen seconds of battle, Orochimaru had easily bypassed Jiriaya's defense and stab him in the chest with his legendary sword, Kusanagi. Naruto had managed to distract Orochimaru by launching simultaneous attacks with hundreds of shadow clones, and in the confusion that followed, drag the injured Sannin out of there. However, two months later, Jiriaya had disappeared, leaving him thousands of scrolls to read and to finish his series.
End Flashback
Naruto sighed, pulling back from the past. That was over seven years ago. If he managed to take Sauske's body, then even he would be hard-pressed to stop him. The Sharingan would detect any movement he did, while any speed or defense he had could also be manifested on Orochimaru as well, thanks to him getting an Uzumaki for his experiments some years ago.
So, he said to the Kyuubi, I have to assume that Orochimaru has taken over Sauske's body and has Uzumaki bloodlines. This is not going to be an easy fight.
Of course not, you baka. Since when do you have easy fights?
Naruto grimaced, still remembering the injuries from his fight with Pain, the Akatsuki leader. Never, though this one might be easier then most. At best, Orochimaru has absorbed one of the 8-Tailed's arms. That's about the same as one of your tails, right?
The fox sniffed distained at this comparison. If you have to use such basic terminology, then yes, I think it is about equal, although my tails-
Yeah, yeah, you don't have to keep on reminding me. Each of those tails grants you three times the amount of power of the previous bijuu. I know that you are three times as strong as the 8-tails, but at least Killerbee and his guest get along!
Are you saying that we don't get along?
Not a chance in hell. You won't call me by my name, and you read those books by the pervy sage. What kind of demon king are you, anyway?
A very lonely one. Kyuubi said dryly.
That- That's not the point. What I'm saying is that Killerbee can transform into his 8-tailed form without losing control, whereas if I transform even into my six-tailed form, you take over. I need precise chakra control for the techniques that I need to do, and you just want to use that mouth cannon or whatever you call it to destroy everything in sight.
You disapprove of the Fox Menacing Ball? But I like it! It's a nifty little trick.
… That's a trick?
Yep.
Naruto sighed outwardly. Well, whatever you call it, don't use it unless you have to. I really don't like throwing my own blood at people, especially since my blood is used in so many seals. Try to stick to other attacks, like, I don't know, that thing that you do with your voice?
The fox grunted but didn't reply, just throwing him from the caged area. Naruto opened his eyes and was greeted by two white ones, staring into his own, concern clearly etched there.
"Gahh!" he shouted, and fell off the branch.
Hitting the ground with a loud thud, he realized that the clones he had put on guard duty were playing a game of 'I Spy', with the third clone leading. Hinata landed next to Naruto, who was rubbing his head with a sheepish expression.
"Oh, Naruto-kun? Are you ok? I mean, I just saw you up there, and I wondered if something was… wrong…" She turned red at the foxy grin that he gave her.
"Don't worry 'bout it. Just thinking about some past events and how to forward from here. Why are you up?"
"Ummm…" She tried to think of an excuse besides wanting to see him again. Naruto, however, still rubbing the back of his head, lost interest in her and focused instead on the clones.
"Hey, you idiots! Get back on guard duty!"
"He calls us the idiots…" One muttered into the ear of another who was just saying, "I see a blue rack…" he got no further, as Naruto personally destroyed the clone with a Bullet Rasengan, scowling heavily.
"Now that we've solved that little problem, it's time for the next order of business. Hinata, let me see your cursed seal."
"W-W-What?" Hinata stuttered. She was pretty sure she hadn't told anyone about her cursed seal, much less her beloved Naruto-kun. Inner Hinata crumbled at this, fearing that it would drop her in the eyes of Naruto.
"You heard me. I need to see your cursed seal so that it won't bother you tomorrow. Orochimaru may know how to activate the seal, and we don't want your brain turning to jelly, now do we?"
Hinata blushed and undid the Genjutsu hiding the shameful mark. Naruto bent in closer to examine it, and Hinata blushed a deeper shade of red.
"Hmm… new model, I guess. That's going to be tricky, but I think still doable. Now, Hinata, lie down in my lap. Quickly, we don't have much time before Neji figures out what I'm about to do."
"W-W-What?" She stammered again. Lie down in Naruto's lap? That meant-. Inner Hinata cheered. Oh yeah! Go on, do it!
"You heard me. Of course, I would prefer to have you on an examining table, but this is the next best thing. It's best and least painful to be close to the unsealer and on a flat surface, and for such a delicate seal, I have to be careful. If I trigger the failsafe and move too slowly, it could mean your death. Now hurry up!"
She obliged, blushing even deeper as she lay down across his legs. Naruto began focusing chakra into both of his hands; having a shadow clone prepare another unsealing technique that it would transfer to Naruto the moment the first seal was undone.
"Now," he explained. "This might sting. The seal that you have is a new model, so it's going to take just a little more time. The moment that I undo the first seal, a failsafe is going to kick in, and activate the seal. If you pass out, don't worry about it. I'll wake you up afterwards, and you can begin your new life."
She nodded, comfortable in her spot. "W-What about Neji-Niisan?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Never really thought about him. I guess he'll just have to die if Orochimaru uses the seal. Just kidding, just kidding!" He said quickly at the look in Hinata's eyes. "I'll give him a seal suppressor tomorrow. It's going to be short-term, so your father won't get mad at me."
"W-Wouldn't he be mad at you for unsealing me?"
He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, never really thought about that. But I guess it doesn't matter. Neji's always acted like he's got a telephone pole stuck up his ass. If he asks nicely later, I might remove it, but not now. I barely have the energy to do one unsealing tonight."
Hinata looked at him with concern. "But, why didn't you sleep tonight?" She said, without stuttering, for once.
Naruto shrugged. "Couldn't fall asleep anyway. Besides, you see those idiots over there?" he gestured with his chin at the sleeping clones. "They're sleeping for me so that I won't be foggy tomorrow. As for the energy, there's always coffee and solder pills. Anyway, get ready, I'm about to start the unsealing."
Hinata nodded and Inner Hinata gritted her teeth. This was not going to be fun.
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Naruto cracked his fingers in preparation of the technique he was about to use. The core of the seal hadn't changed one bit, a Reverse Swastika. But the protecting seals had been reinforced from the double bar to the inverted 'T' seal. Anyone without considerable talent or chakra reserves could never hope to crack the first level.
He focused his chakra into his fingers, made the appropriate seals, and whispered, "Inverted T Seal Release" and traced the first of the seals on Hinata's exposed forehead with his fingers. It looked like the green ink of the seal was being erased by his fingers, which was pretty much what was happening.
As soon as he removed his hand, finished with removing the first seal, Hinata cried out in pain. Luckily, he had temporarily soundproofed the tents, so no one would come charging to the rescue.
Naruto quickly linked fingers with his clone, transferring the other technique to his hands. After making sure that the clone was not perverted, he ordered it to hold down the bucking Hinata, who was still screaming in pain.
Moving quickly, he did three seals and transferred the technique to his palm. "Reverse Swastika Seal Release!" he shouted, slamming his palm into her forehead. She immediately stopped bucking and lay limp in his arms. Slowly, he watched as the last of the cursed seal lifted from her forehead, floating off into the night.
Feeling rather fatigued all of a sudden, he whistled and a Chakra clone popped in from the night, looking like it had been interrupted in the middle of taking a piss. It certainly didn't look happy and its pants were wet, that was for certain.
"What?" It muttered. "I was taking a wizz…"
Naruto pointed to the other clones. "You got guard duty. I'm gonna hit the sack. Night."
"Hey, hey, wait, why do I have guard duty?"
Naruto looked back from the sleeping bag he was unfolding. "Because you wouldn't go and do Elemental Training like the others. So you get to be my personal servant. And emergency chakra supply, but I'd rather not do that. Anyway, anything goes wrong, punch one of those idiots there. Whatever you do, don't touch me unless you want a very nasty shock. Night."
With that, he carried Hinata over to the sleeping bag, zipped her up in it, grabbed a spare, which Lee had given him before he left for his trip, and crawled head-first into it, his favorite way to sleep. Within five seconds of his head hitting the pillowed bottom, he was asleep.
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Six hours later, Naruto woke to the sound of crackling electricity and a muffled yell. Assuming that someone had touched his sleeping bag, he rolled to his feet and threw off the bag like a jacket. However, nobody was near him.
Hinata was clutching onto the bag for dear life, hiding her head inside like a little rabbit. She was apparently very reluctant to get out of the bag, and Neji was trying to force her out with very poor results. Every time he touched the bag, it would buzz and give off a very nasty shock that would send him flying. Everyone else was just getting ready, or eating the breakfast that comprised of the standard solder pills, watered down and shaped into rice balls.
Naruto grinned and tapped Neji on the shoulder. "Hey, you ok?"
Neji nodded. "Hinata-sama does not wish to get up from the sleeping bag. I have tried to remove her, but… you have seen the results."
Naruto laughed. "Didn't you ever learn not to touch a live wire? There's Lighting Elemental Chakra in there. Touching that over and over again will give you a shock that's like getting my 'Thousand Years of Death', except from three dozen shadow clones at once."
He rubbed his ass. "So that's why… I wondered what it reminded me of…" Neji muttered in an undertone. "Wait, but isn't Wind your Elemental Affinity?"
Naruto nodded as he crouched over the curled shape that was Hinata in his sleeping bag. "Yeah, that is my Primary Affinity. But I've got secondary affinities in all the other elements as well; I just don't like using them as much. Except fire. Now that's one wicked combo."
He unzipped the bag, looking down at Hinata. Sometime during the night, she had changed into a set of pajamas that accented her eyes and hair at the same time, if it was possible. However, Naruto never got the chance to memorize that outfit, since she squeaked at the sudden light and pulled the top back down over herself, zipping it up from the inside.
Naruto straightened up, giving her fifteen seconds. Then he would open up the bag. Apparently, he had given her too much time. Six seconds later, Hinata emerged from the bag, fully dressed and blushing like a madman
He got back up, dumped everything into a scroll, put the said scroll in an inner pocket, waited for the rest of them to get packed up, and swallowed two Flavored Solder Pills.
After Choji had finally burned the last of his chip bags, Naruto raised one hand. "Now, I need to warn you guys. Between the border of Oto and the hideout is a five minute journey. If we trigger that alarm, dozens of Jonin are gonna come running, and quite possibly Orochimaru-teme as well. You have to step exactly where I do, and not so much as an inch out of place. I know where the traps are and how to bypass them, something that event he Byakugan can't even focus on, and no, it's not a bloodline limit, and it's that I've been here before. Anyway, when we do get inside, I want you guys to avoid Orochimaru at all costs. If you see him or that bastard, Kabuto, I need you to either flare your chakra or drop two of these."
At this, he handed a small handful of signaling pills to each of the people present. "Drop all of them, since this place has chakra-absorbent walls. After you do that, do not engage by yourself. Fall back and wait for reinforcements. None of you by yourselves would stand a chance against Kabuto, since he's been messing around with his genetic code for years. Once either I or two other people get there, then you can start engaging him. If you see Sauske, drop the pills and run. He's stronger then Orochimaru, if he grew at his old rate. If you can't locate Sauske after fifteen minutes, fall back to Konoha. I'm betting his body will belong to Orochimaru, so this is the most likely course of action. If you see Orochimaru and Sauske, however, I want you to flare your own chakra. If at all possible, get a vial of blood from him. If not, kill him. Tsunade thinks that he's too big of a threat and needs to be eliminated. Not that I agree with her or anything, but there you have it."
Ino scratched the back of her head. "What have you done with Naruto?"
Naruto looked puzzled. "Wha' do you mean, what have I done with myself?"
"You don't sound like Naruto at all."
He chuckled. "That's because I'm worried and I'm on assignment. It gives me a headache, but, training has really taught my ass a lesson. And some of my previous employers… anyway, let's go."
Everyone else nodded and they started leaping through the trees. These weren't like the ones surrounding Konoha. They were grey, looked lifeless, and had long since lost their leaves to some unknown wind or blast of sound. Regardless, they were trees, and they had much experience with them.
An hour later, Naruto raised one hand and they landed on the road, slightly behind him. After staring at the lifeless trees for a few minutes, he simply walked forward, not a bother in the world. "Come on," he said, "it looks like they turned the system off. I guess they're expecting us."
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Naruto cautiously reached for the trapdoor, nearly invisible in the rocks that had been used to repair the entrance. It was the same door that Jiriaya had sunk with his dark swamp all those years ago. They had managed to drag it out, somehow, and now it was just sitting there.
When it didn't budge, he retracted his finger, created a small bolt of Earth Chakra, and stuck it into the lock. Naruto jiggled his fingers for a second, and the trapdoor fell inwards.
They were in.
At the first division in the hallway, Naruto instructed everyone else to head off down the right hallway, while he took the left fork. As he passed each door, he stopped, listening for any sound or chakra. Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Sauske, if he was there, would give off both.
No such luck.
As he went further and further down the hall, it became harder and harder to sense the others as they split up even further, scattering their chakra even more. He stopped focusing on them and tried to locate the chakra signatures of Shikamaru, Lee, and Sakura.
He got lucky.
After feeling an extremely weak chakra signature that was instantly recognizable as Lee's, Naruto kicked the door off, sword drawn for any sign of trouble. There was nothing. Apparently, Lee hadn't been that big of a concern to Orochimaru, so he was only tied up and gagged. After releasing him and having Lee swear at Kabuto's lack of youth for a few minutes, they left the room, Naruto carefully propping the door as if it was still closed.
Two more doors down, they had found Shikamaru, bound, gagged, and unconscious, but with two guards this time. Naruto quickly dispatched them with a two Bullet Rasengan before they could raise the alarm.
Naruto made sure that Shikamaru was unharmed, bandaged the cut on his leg, and slung him over his back, declining Lee's offer to do so. Naruto could fight somewhat safely with a Passenger, while Lee would need all of his speed.
Oto was unique in a way, he supposed. Out of all the Ninja villages, big and small, they were the smallest. Yet, they rivaled Konoha in power. Nobody, not even the Kage Council knew of the source of their power.
Naruto did.
Orochimaru had been messing around with human genetics and bloodlines for years. Kabuto, being a medical ninja, could easily assist him in this venture. Every single Shinobi and Kunoichi had some sort of biological enhancement, be it speed, strength, a minor bloodline, and so on and so forth. That made each of their forces step up in level. For instance, Genin often had the power of chunin, Chunin had the power of Jonin, and the elite Jonin could often hold their own with Kage.
However, Orochimaru had reserved the most powerful augmentations for himself. Along with his stolen 'arm' from the 8-tailed beast, Kabuto had completely bioengineered his body, redesigning it from the ground up. He now matched any of the Akatsuki members in sheer power, but often had stamina problems.
Naruto knew that, in his current state and energy levels, he wouldn't be able to put a dent in Orochimaru. Sauske, on the other hand, if he still had his body, would be just as powerful, but without bioaugmentations. That would be a tough fight, even for his second-tiered form.
If Orochimaru had taken over Sauske's body with bioaugmentations added later on, then he would have to step it up to the third tier. Naruto now fully regretted sealing away the greater majority of his power, and having those seals only come undone after certain conditions were met.
However, unleashing the third tier underground was akin to flooding gasoline inside a mine, then setting off the whole shebang in a scuba set. If done incorrectly, it would make the entire base collapse.
Not smart.
He frowned as Shikamaru came to, groaning about how he didn't want to get up and how troublesome it was.
Naruto quickly motioned for Lee to stop his headlong charge in the quest to find Sakura. After propping Shikamaru up against the wall, he crouched next to him, looking for any signs of mental damage.
"Yo, Shika. How's the head?"
Shikamaru rubbed the back of his skull gingerly, wincing at the lump. "Yeah, it's not that bad. Damn Oto… detected us the moment that we got inside ten miles. How did they do it?"
Naruto extended his hand and pulled Shikamaru to his feet. "Chakra Detection Network. Your chakra frequencies stick out like a sore thumb. They could sense you from miles away. Now, let's get back to finding Sak-"
He didn't finish his sentence as he felt the detonation of several Signaling pills. "The others!" Naruto shouted, while Lee and Shikamaru simply looked confused. "Get behind me; we're taking the quick way."
Shikamaru frowned. "The quick-"
Naruto formed a Rasengan in his hand and started channeling a steady flow of chakra into it. He looked up and forced the spiral ball of chakra into the wall, drilling a hole right through it.
Keeping the ball intact, he rushed into the room beyond and did the same to the wall. Within fifteen seconds, they arrived at the place of a recent battle, where Ino, Hinata, and Choji were fending off several Oto Jonin, but were barely holding on.
Naruto threw the Rasengan into the air and kicked the dense ball of chakra at one of the Jonin, who ducked. One of the other jonin charged in, Kunai outstretched.
With one flick of his blade, Naruto cut the Kunai and the man's arm in half. He howled in pain and jumped back, cradling his nearly severed limb. A medical ninja quickly tended to the wound that he had received.
Naruto didn't notice any of this, however. He was being engaged by two more of the jonin, who were making a Raiton and a Suiton jutsu, respectively. They jumped off to either side of him, the Suiton user firing off the technique first, soaking him to the bone. Immediately after the technique had gotten him wet, the other Jonin launched the Raiton Jutsu, and it gave him one helluva shock.
Or so they thought.
The Naruto that had been caught in the two techniques poofed into a cloud of smoke as the real Naruto came charging, a Katon Rasengan spiraling in each hand. With two well placed thrusts, the ninja dropped, holes cleanly burned through their hearts.
Before the bodies even hit the floor, Naruto had shifted his attention to the Medical-nin, who had brought back the first attacking ninja. If he or she wasn't quickly taken care of, then they would be in for a long fight. Long fights led to mistakes, and this wasn't a mission they could afford mistakes on.
Naruto formed a Futon Rasengan in his hand, not daring to make the Rasenshuriken because of the blast radius. He also made several dozen shadow clones to reinforce the thirty or so that he had already made, but were dwindling in numbers extremely quickly.
The Medical-nin noticed and charged his own technique, a chakra scalpel at the ready. With one finger, he challenged Naruto to a fight, to which he so easily obliged.
They both started circling each other, eyes locked on each other's movements, waiting for the slightest opportunity to attack. The moment that Naruto couldn't stand the suspense any more, he charged into the circle, threw three shuriken with his right hand, then gripped his sword tightly.
The other ninja dodged the thrown shuriken with ease and parried Naruto's blade with his chakra-charged hand. That was the only disadvantage to a Chakra blade as to a Traditional one. Anything that flowed in active, raw chakra would have an impenetrable defense to blade, rendering it useless.
Naruto cursed and threw the Rasengan at the Ninja, who casually jumped backwards and out of the way. He recognized the casual fighting stance, and shouted, "Kabuto, you bastard! Take that mask off so that I can see your face!"
The other ninja stopped and put a hand to the mask that he had stolen from an ANBU. As it came off, it was indeed Kabuto behind the mask, albeit older and looking more weathered then before.
"Well, well… if it isn't Naruto-kun, here to save the day. Still playing the part of the hero? Can't you act your age?"
"Can't you quit playing with those dolls of yours and trying to get that sick excuse of a bastard that you call a master to like you? He might go for Sausgay, if no one else."
This had the desired effect on Kabuto. With a howl of rage, much like when he had charged Naruto when they were getting Tsunade, he rushed forward, chakra blade extended. And just like before, Naruto stood his ground and formed a Rasengan, ready to counter the deadly medical tool.
Kabuto had not stopped to think how much Naruto had changed over the years, a feat not seen in him for many years. Normally, he was Orochimaru's logic and word of reason, but even he had his limits, especially when it was about his sexuality.
The few people who knew about Naruto and fighting knew that the last thing that you ever wanted to do was charge him directly. It wasn't that his Taijutsu was great; it was that you were likely about to fall right into one of his traps, or get hit by the Rasengan, neither of which appealed to the common man.
Of course, Kabuto had the bad luck to fall into both.
The moment that he had closed to within five feet of Naruto, the ground underneath his next movement shifted. Kabuto didn't notice, as one does not generally notice a small clump of dirt moving at breakneck speeds. Should he have noticed, it would have saved him the pain and extreme embarrassment of being hit by one of Naruto's 'Thousand Years of Death" and then getting Rasenganed in the chest again.
Total déjà vu.
Of course, this time around, Kabuto didn't have the pleasure of cutting Naruto's chakra lines. This meant as soon as he walked over to the older shinobi, Kabuto was finished. Literally. Naruto had shown him no mercy as he dug a Katon Rasengan into his neck, severing the spine easily.
By this time, most of the other Jonin had fallen without Kabuto to heal them. Only one guy was left standing, a positive seven foot monster that dwarfed even Naruto. Despite the fact that half of his chakra points were sealed, he was still up and taking swings ay anyone who got too close and occasionally launching a half-hearted low-level jutsu.
Naruto was impressed, if only begrudgingly for an enemy, that the guy just wouldn't give up, despite the odds. Whoever this guy was, he was tough. Very few ninja could have Chakra points sealed and still fight, albeit more awkwardly.
He decided to give the poor guy a break, or rather, a much a break as he could on a mission. Instead of killing the bloke, he simply sped behind him and tapped a nerve at the base of his skull, then had a shadow clone pinch a nerve cluster under one armpit, rendering him unable to move for several days.
After making sure that there were no serious injuries, and spitting on Kabuto's corpse, they left the room, Naruto sending out his chakra in waves in an attempt to ping someone else. It worked.
Before long, the rest of the group had regathered in a chamber adjacent to the one they had been fighting in. The search party greeted Lee and Shikamaru with some enthusiasm, with Lee overwhelming them all with his rants about youth.
After explaining the rest of the plan, Naruto swallowed a Solder Pill and flared his chakra as much as he could; trying to sense if there was any feedback. A powerful chakra source, such as a ninja, would reflect a certain amount, and with the proper training, another ninja could use it as a radar system, of sorts.
He found two signatures that returned a signal. One was powerful, easily more powerful then he was right now. Orochimaru, no doubt. The other was weak and fading fast. That had to be Sakura. Judging from the rate that her chakra was decreasing, she would die in less then ten minutes. They had to move fast.
Naruto popped another solder pill and formed another Rasengan, not unlike the one that he had used to get to this hallway in the first place. He stepped back into the carnage, placed his hand to the ground, and pushed.
The floor around him shattered and he fell through, landing on a platform some twenty feet below. The others quickly followed, knowing something was wrong when they had taken a look at Naruto's face.
After the platform had dropped for a couple of minutes, Naruto was getting impatient. Every second counted if they wanted to save Sakura, and he was stuck on some elevator ride! He was about to take the Rasengan and shove it through the metal decking when Lee touched his shoulder, shaking his head.
"It would us no good. Suppose the ground is too far away. If we were not killed, at the very least, we would be injured by the impact. Even my flames of youth cannot heal a broken ankle at the speed that we need."
Naruto nodded but scowled. Lee turned out to be right. The ride was soon over, the platform jerking to a halt. He quickly looked around for the exit, but nothing presented itself. With another annoyed snort, he threw the Rasengan at one of the walls, forcing it to collapse inward and reveal a huge chamber beyond.
Inside were thousands upon thousands of candles, each flickering to the wind and screams coming from Sakura. Also standing over her, a totally relaxed expression on his pale face was Orochimaru.
Orochimaru slowly turned around and spotted the group of Shinobi, all glaring at him. He opened his arms wide and said in a hiss, "Welcome… I hope you like this place, since you will all die here!"
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Author's Note.
Heyo!
Yeah, Yeah, i know its only been, what, three, four days since i last published?
It's going to go alot faster now, since im out of the "Filler Arc" zone. However, this speed will only last to the end of the fight with orochimaru.
However, it will speed up again during spring break, which, for those of you who dont know, is the first week of april.
Now, any questions or concerns can be PMed to me, along with other pairing requests. The main one is Naruhina, and im not changing that.
Anyway, thats it for now.
Until next time, please, Please, Please, Please Please, PLEASE, review Review Review, Review, Review, REVIEW!
Xingster