I do not own Naruto. Neither does Spriggs.
Chapter XII: Orochimaru & Co: Part II: Confrontation, Tier II, Part I
Naruto scowled at Orochimaru, raised his hands, and made several hundred shadow clones, which in turn, scowled at him and started drawing out shuriken and kunai from pouches. The real Naruto, foregoing his usual sense of needing to remain hidden, generated a Katon Rasengan and held it up.
Orochimaru just laughed and coughed out his sword, Kusanagi. "So, Naruto-kun… You are here for Sasuke-kun, aren't you? Or rather, his blood…"
He stiffened, Rasengan and Killer Intent flaring. "How, how did you…"
"How did I know, you ask… kukuku… there is little that I do know not know these days… tell me, how is your guest doing?"
Naruto didn't respond at once, deciding to charge instead, his shadow clones forming up behind him en masse. "WHY DON'T YOU ASK HIM YOURSELF!" He shouted, throwing the spiraling ball of fire and drawing his sword in one smooth motion.
Orochimaru didn't even bother dodging the attack, merely catching the fireball and throwing it to the side and then deflecting Naruto's slash with a lazy one-armed parry.
"Is this all you can do… frankly, I'm disappointed… The great Naruto Uzumaki seems to have met his match…" He said as he grabbed Naruto by the neck and slammed him into the opposing wall.
Naruto hit with the force of a bomb. Stone splinters were ejected at supersonic speeds, dissipating some clones in their wake. They proved to be no match for Orochimaru, who destroyed them dozens at a time in a lazy fashion.
Orochimaru turned back to look at the Sakura's inert form, only to see two clones carrying her away. "Go on, take her. She's already dead. Her chakra however, was delicious…"
Lee looked like he had been to hell and back as he bent over Sakura's fallen form, tears starting to well up in his eyes. In a sudden motion, he stood up and crossed his arms. Everyone besides Orochimaru recognized the start of the eight gates opening. With Sakura in this state, they wouldn't put it past him to open all eight of the gates just to get revenge on her attacker.
However, before Lee could move a muscle, a dark green blur emerged from the settling dust cloud, a silvery-yellow orb in each hand. Orochimaru turned in time to get a face full of Naruto's snarling mask, shouting, "Raiton Rasengan!"
An explosion rocked the room, shockwaves flowing out in waves, nearly knocking everyone else over.
They could only watch as the dust cloud slowly settled, revealing Naruto and Orochimaru, both of their blades drawn, trying to overpower the other. Naruto was gritting his teeth and was struggling to finish the cut downward, while Orochimaru was still looking relaxed.
With a lazy flick of his wrist, he knocked Naruto off and followed up with a swift kick to the stomach, sending him flying into the ceiling. With this slight distraction, Lee forced open the seventh gate and charged at Orochimaru, screaming his pain and anger for the world to hear.
Lee was moving far too fast for Orochimaru to counter, but he could follow with his eyes. After finding no way in through the front, he practically teleported to the back and tried there. This time, he got through.
He yelled a savage shout of triumph, kicking Orochimaru into the air, therefore starting the Reverse Lotus, which in turn would spawn the Morning Lotus. The series of kicks propelled them both nearly to the ceiling, where Lee started the perfected version of his Morning Lotus. Instead of forcing them down with the Morning Peacock, he would hit them in midair and end the Lotus as usual. However, this was extremely risky, as if the target moved, and then Lee would have wasted all that energy.
Lee did get lucky this time, though. The Morning Peacock got through the defense and it hit. After fifteen seconds of furiously pummeling Orochimaru, Lee sent him groundward, wrapping one of his bandages wrapped around his waist. With one final yell, Orochimaru hit the ground with a sickening crunch and Lee hopped back to where Sakura lay and where Ino tried to revive her with little success.
"S-Sakura. Is she ok?"
Ino shook her head, still pumping masses of chakra into Sakura's body, desperately trying to restore the natural balance. Those words only seemed to infuriate Lee even more.
"Then I will not stop until he is defeated! Otherwise, I will not sleep for a month! Gate of Opening, Release!"
Lee only had time to open the first gate before the green blur was back, along with twenty of his clones, all colors of Rasengan in their hands. They all charged toward the crater where Orochimaru had landed. When they got within range, all of the Narutos threw their Rasengan at the central target, creating a multicolored light show that dazzled everyone, including Lee.
The real Naruto landed, breathing heavily. He knew that Orochimaru wasn't dead, only lying there waiting for one of them to go and check. The moment that they did, he would spring up and kill the others just to hurt Naruto. He would not allow that.
Naruto slid his fingers into the shadow clone seal, making six more clones. All seven Narutos raised their hands and began concentrating on their palms, and in the span of five seconds, seven Rasenshuriken were screeching into everyone's eardrums.
As one, the seven Narutos dove toward the crater, arms held back to hurl the Rasenshuriken at the crater. Which they did so, with much yelling of curses and jutsu names.
At once, a spiraling vortex of energy appeared, drilling Orochimaru even deeper into the ground. The others could only watch as the arms approached them, carving grooves in the walls and ceiling. Just before it got to them, however, Naruto reappeared in their midst, made a quick series of seals, and shouted, "Phoenix Fire no Jutsu!""
The arm of the Rasenshuriken was deflected onto a different path, leaving a gouging hole where it hit. Naruto's brow was covered in sweat and he was swearing at the amount of energy that he had put into the attack.
Finally, slowly, the spiraling ball of power dissipated, and Naruto let down the shield, breathing heavily. The price of several hundred Shadow Clones, fifty Elemental Rasengan, seven Rasenshuriken, and a defensive Phoenix Flame was extremely tiring to Naruto in his current state. There wasn't much more he could do. He had literally maxed out his current form. If Orochimaru wasn't defeated by now, he would have to step it up a level, to the second tier of power.
Naruto took the brief reprieve to pop in a solder pill, quickly chewing and swallowing for it to maximize the effects. He had just started to get his energy back when a sudden rumbling made them all look at the huge crater in the ground.
Suddenly, a pulse of brown light shot straight up, obliterating the rubble and tearing a hole right through the ceiling. Sunlight entered, dazzling everyone after the dark and gloomy hallways of the underground base.
It was in this beam that Orochimaru rose, arms to either side, his face in a leer. "Really, Naruto-kun. Was that the best you can do? I'm very disappointed, after hearing the rumors."
Naruto ground his back teeth and shot up, following the beam of light to its source. On the way, he formed yet another Rasenshuriken, this one smaller, but spinning faster then the first had been.
"OROCHIMARU-TEME!" he shouted, "GET YOUR SNAKEY ASS BACK HERE!"
There came the sound of a laugh from Orochimaru, the firing of a Rasenshuriken, and then Naruto came back down in a blur, landing smack-dab in the middle of the crater that he had created. It seemed as though nothing they did could touch him. Not the Morning Lotus, not the Rasenshuriken. Even injured as he was, Shikamaru knew that they were in a very bad position.
Naruto however, knew that fighting like this was futile. In the end, the only possible result would be their deaths. It was time for him to step it up a level, to the Second Tier of Power.
Kyuubi. I'm gonna need some power.
Kid, what makes you so sure that I'm gonna give it to you?
Naruto pointed up, where Orochimaru was hovering, laughing down at him. Because if you don't, that bastard is gonna kill all of us. I can't match him in my current power levels. I need more energy.
Fine… but you owe me. Tailed or Tailless?
Naruto considered. Let's go with tailless for now. I can actually control it. Max it out, so that's three.
As soon as he finished, red chakra started leaking out from random points, surrounding him in a cloak of energy. Naruto flexed his hands, cracked his knuckles, and grinned up at Orochimaru.
"You wanna talk with my guest? Well, I'm using his rent right now. If you can pay the money, then you can talk to him!"
Orochimaru just laughed and raised two fingers in a challenge. "Come then, Naruto-kun. Let me see just how much you have progressed with some help…"
Naruto growled some part of him still affected by Kyuubi's chakra. Without a second thought, he kicked off into the air again, this time forming a pure red Rasengan the size of a large watermelon. He threw this at Orochimaru, who countered with his own jutsu, a shockwave of sound that deflected it off into the sky.
The sizzling clatter of metal on chakra was heard for miles around. Orochimaru and Naruto had locked blades again, and this time, Orochimaru wasn't winning the fight so easily. Both of them strained to push past the other, to have one good slice at their enemy's body. Neither of them would get that chance.
Orochimaru's Kusanagi and Naruto's chakra blade, both unbreakable blades in their own right, flexed and threw them in opposite directions, Orochimaru further upward, Naruto back into the ground.
Naruto was getting sick of being pounded into the ground time and again. Why did Orochimaru always get the lofty spot and fly upwards while he had to kiss the ground ever single time? It wasn't fair!
He growled and formed another two more Rasengan in his hands, taking care to reinforce it further with elemental chakra this time as to make it even stronger. Let's see him get rid of this one.
With that, he kicked energy to his legs and spiraled skyward, the two balls of chakra in his hands blurring to look like a red ring around the middle of Naruto's green-clad body against the sky blue background.
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Orochimaru was intrigued. Well, first of all because of the fight that Naruto was putting up, all to find Sasuke. Nobody else that he knew would struggle so hard just to recover a friend. The second thing was Naruto himself.
When Orochimaru had absorbed the Eight-tailed beast's eighth arm of chakra, he had enough power to match the eight tails in single combat. However, Naruto was only using the lower three tails of the Kyuubi, which meant that he could only match the three-tailed beast at best.
Yet, even with that limitation, Naruto was holding his own against Orochimaru. He knew for a fact that his chakra control was better, and so could more effectively use the power of the bijuu tail. How was Naruto matching him?
Orochimaru's thoughts were put to an abrupt halt as he sensed Naruto spiraling toward him with two Rasengan in tow. Demonically and elementally charged Rasengan, as a matter of fact. It was time for him to get serious.
He summoned a small bolt of demonic chakra in his hand, allowing it to take the form of a snake, as with all of his raw chakra jutsus. After making sure that their paths would cross in midair, Orochimaru stopped his upward assent with a burst of chakra and began to fall, heading right for the climbing Naruto.
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Naruto and Orochimaru clashed with a huge explosion, the shockwave causing intact parts of the underground base to collapse. As for the central chamber, the remnants of the Konoha Eleven had long since gotten out after a falling slab of concrete had nearly crushed Tenten.
Everyone now stood and watched Naruto and Orochimaru duke it out over them, of which neither of the competitors seemed to need to touch down and kick back off into the air to stay there.
The speed of the combat, however, was something frightening to behold.
Only Neji, Hinata, Shikamaru, Lee, and Ino could even begin to follow the high-speed combat with their eyes, and that was only barely. Naruto and Orochimaru seemed to flow back and forth between offense and defense in fractions of a second, barely avoiding the next attack or just missing. It was unparalleled speed to what they had seen before.
With a sudden clash of Chakra on Metal, the two blades went flashing away. Naruto formed a Rasengan in one hand, while aiming a punch for Orochimaru's chest all the while. Orochimaru charged his hand in a Chakra Scalpel and deflected the punch, sending his own a fraction of a second later.
The demonic Chakra Scalpel and the Rasengan collided in a flash of energy that sent both combatants spiraling groundward, their flights uncontrollable by brief expulsions of chakra. Both of them hit the ground full force and were forced underground several feet.
Hinata, Lee, and Choji all rushed forward, intending to come to Naruto's aid. They managed to dig him out of the rubble and give him a quick healing before the spot where Orochimaru was exploded, revealing him completely unharmed.
Naruto, seeing that Orochimaru was still able to leer at him, lost control.
Alright, Kyuubi. Let's get the next tail going.
The fox grimaced but unwillingly obliged. Naruto would still suffer the full effects of that much Demonic Chakra concentrated in his system at once. He would lose his skin and suffer extreme pain, but would receive a ten-fold boost of power in return. It was an extremely unpleasant process for anyone, even someone who had taken Naruto's training regime.
Hinata was the first to notice that something was wrong with Naruto. Her Byakugan noticed a surge in the amount of chakra flowing through his system. The amount would have simply destroyed anyone else's chakra network and ripped their coils apart, killing them. However, Naruto simply brushed off Hinata's hand on his arm, nodded to Lee and Choji, and stood up.
"Well, Orochimaru-teme," he said, his voice tinged with just enough killer intent to get the point across. "Congratulations! You've really pushed me far… I never thought I would have to use four tails against you…"
Orochimaru just looked unnerved. "How can you hold me off with only three tails? I possess the eighth tail of the Eight-Tailed Bull! How can your lower three tails hold up that much power?"
Naruto just laughed, and with it, an undercurrent of fear ran in everyone's blood, except Orochimaru. "You don't get it, do you, Orochimaru? When you stole that tail from Killerbee, you only stole one of them. Think about it. I'm using the first, second, third, and fourth tail right now. It's basic math. What is one plus two plus three plus four?"
Orochimaru's eyes widened. "You lie! That's-"
"Impossible? Nope, it's perfectly possible. While you would be perfectly at ease to overpower a non-sealed bijuu, when two Jinchuriki fight, especially those who can control their guests, you have to add up the number of the tails. You have eight, I have ten. It's over for you, Orochimaru!"
Naruto began to form another Rasengan, this time drawing energy from the sheath around him. When it reached the size of a regular Rasengan, he started adding elemental charka, one type at a time. When it reached the size of a beach ball, he started twirling it on one finger and making a sheath of demonic chakra to cover the elemental chakra. It now resembled a blood-red Rasenshuriken.
"This is the end! DIE, OROCHIMARU-TEME!"
Naruto charged, Rasenshuriken held out behind him like a shot-put in a throwing position. When he was fifteen feet away, he crushed one foot into the ground, stopping his forward motion and hurled the Rasengan at Orochimaru, then jumped back.
Orochimaru was panicking. Quickly, must counterattack! He thought.
He had just managed to form his own elite energy-based attack, the Striking Snake's Head and held it up to the incoming Rasengan before the attack sheared off his arm. Even as is, the raw energy of the Rasengan completely destroyed his attack and badly cut up his arm, rendering it useless. It felt rather like the time where the Third Hokage had sealed away his arms, except this was a more of a throbbing pain.
Naruto had landed neatly next to the others, Ino still desperately trying to revive Sakura.
"Here, let me." Naruto said and placed his Kyuubi-coated chakra over Sakura's mouth. "Release…" he breathed, and the chakra started flowing in. It only took ten seconds. Naruto slumped slightly and said, "There, she'll be fine. Tell her though, it'll feel like a horse kicked her later. She's gonna be sore for weeks."
He had just managed to stand back up and replenish his stores from Kyuubi before Orochimaru could stand back up. Naruto knew that, despite the power he had put into the last attack, Orochimaru would stand right back up. Each of the Bijuu would grant their containers extraordinary defensive measures, though in differing ways. Shukaku gave Gaara a shield of sand, Yugito Nii, the two tails Jinchuriki, was granted extreme agility that allowed her to dodge attacks, Killerbee was gifted with an extremely hard skin, like the hide of the bull, and Naruto had his healing factor.
Out of all the four, his was the least effective and the most effective at the same time. While it had saved his life on many occasions, it wasn't an automatic response, like Gaara's sand, helpful in battle like it did with Yugito, or constantly in effect like Killerbee's. It all depended on the injury and how lazy Kyuubi was feeling at the moment.
It was lucky for Naruto then, that the fox was on full alert, relatively speaking. Kyuubi hadn't been fully awake for nearly two decades, since the night he had been sealed away. Besides, waking up in his current state would do him no good, since the Fourth Hokage's seal would suppress the greater amount of his chakra, leaving little to Naruto. He had managed to find a balance in the amount of power he could channel, and along with the weakening of the seal, give some, but not all of his power to Naruto.
Orochimaru gingerly stood up and rubbed his destroyed arm. "Well done, Naruto-kun. You managed to destroy my arm… however; I am not finished with you yet. If you wanted Sasuke-kun's blood… THEN YOU ARE TOO LATE!"
Naruto closed his eyes. He had been afraid of this. "So… you finally stole his body, didn't you?"
For once, the Snake Sannin didn't look amused. Instead, he was livid. "I? I stole his body? I never got that chance… Akatsuki came and took him away from me. I was biding my time, waiting for you to come so he could kill you and in doing so, gain the Mangekyo Sharingan, which then I planned to take for myself. I waited, but you never came to take the bait. I waited too long."
"Well, at least now I know where to go. You, on the other hand…" Naruto cracked his knuckles, the popping making everyone wince. "I've got a bone to pick with ya. Dragging Sasuke into this in the first place, placing that five-pronged seal on me, and injuring Ero-Sennin and Baa-chan, and now Sakura. I think a little payback is due, and this time with interest."
Before Orochimaru could speak, Naruto pumped chakra into his legs and rushed toward him, each and every step punching a small crater into the ground. In those fractions of a second, Naruto drew his sword and made a slashing movement, cutting off Orochimaru's good arm.
As he howled in agony, Naruto deactivated the blade and charged up another Rasengan in his hand, this time transforming it into a Rasenshuriken with blades coated with Demonic Chakra- a deadly combination, even for a Bijuu. The demonic chakra would push right past any defenses, no Medical Ninjutsu or even demonic healing would restore health, and the Rasenshuriken would proceed to tear apart internal organs with ease.
Before Naruto could throw the Rasenshuriken, however, Orochimaru's head snaked back and bit the surprised Naruto on the shoulder, injecting some sort of venom.
"What did you do to me, Orochimaru-teme?"
"Kukuku… You'll soon find out, Naruto-kun. I was planning to use that on Sasuke to breed a whole new line of Sharingan users, but I think torturing you with it will put it to a much better use. I hope you enjoy the next week of your life, as it will be the best of your miserable existence!"
Naruto was panicking now. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME, OROCHIMARU-TEME! OUT WITH IT!"
"It is something that most people would kill for… I just gave you an injection of Pheromones… it will attract girls around your age… I wish you luck…"
"DAMN YOU, OROCHIMARU-TEME! I'VE ALREADY GOT A FANGIRL INFESTATION PROBLEM, AND YOU EXPECT ME TO DEAL WITH THIS? GIVE ME THE ANTIDOTE!"
"Kukuku… There is no antidote. The Pheromones will become active in one week… I suggest you make the most of it, since you'll soon be swamped by fangirls… and they'll be much more vicious then they are right now… they'll kill you for me, as I seem to be unable to do this myself…"
"I KILL YOU!" Naruto screamed, all rational thought gone.
Naruto threw the Rasenshuriken at Orochimaru and followed it up with a Fox Menacing Ball for good measure. He was finished; there was no doubt about that.
He landed outside the blast zone, watching his handiwork consume Orochimaru. Despite being outmatched, he had found Naruto's weak spot after all. If what he said was true, and there was no reason for him to lie, then Naruto's life was about to become a lot more miserable. Add that to the prospect of telling his friends about Kyuubi, and there wasn't really all that much to look forward to.
Naruto swallowed his anger, easing out of his second tier as he did so. Miraculously, his skin was intact, something that hadn't happened before.
It seems as though running from those fangirls has done you some good. Very impressive, kid. You are now strong enough to endure four of my tails without major damage. Not to mention the fact that you used my little trick. What I am worried about is how you are going to get rid of the fangirls now. You had to literally beat them away with a stick before, and now they're going to be nearly impossible to stop. Add that to the fact that your body is still damaged for staying in your four-tailed form for so long, you may not have much time to prepare for what is ahead.
I know that. You don't have to tell me again. I think I'm going to pass out now. Wake me up in a few days.
The fox snorted and curled up behind its cage. Sure, whatever kid.
On the outside, Naruto had managed to seal away the last of the red chakra, reverting to his original form before he folded forward, knees smashing into the ground before Lee caught him.
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Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Where am I? When am I? What am I?
All of those things were floating around inside Naruto's head as he wavered between the border of comatose and unconsciousness, where he could communicate with Kyuubi in a limited fashion.
Welcome back, kid. It's about time that you woke up. I would have thought you might be just a smidge tougher after all this training…
Naruto yawned in his mind. So, what did I miss?
Oh, nothing really. Just the fact that you've been out for six days, and it's nearing the one week mark since that snake gave you the pheromones. If you don't wake your skinny ass up soon, the girls are going to be all over you.
He didn't even bother making a smart comeback, instead, just breaking off the connection and forcing all of his willpower into waking up. However, after five minutes had ticked off his internal clock and not being any the closer to waking up, he sighed and sat back down outside Kyuubi's cage.
What the hell am I going to do now? If I don't wake up soon, I may not have a body to go back to, what with the fangirls. Not only that, but the others saw my second tier of power while I was fighting Orochimaru-teme. They're going to want to know just how strong I can become. I am NOT looking forward to that conversation. Any suggestions, Kyuubi?
Well, if this was my body-
But it's not. Get used to it.
The fox growled. As I was saying, if this was my body-
And like I said, it isn't your body.
Kyuubi actually snarled at Naruto. Kid! Do you want my advice or not?
Sorry. Go on.
The fox snorted in its cage, moist air brushing over Naruto. If this were me, then I would isolate myself for the time being, or until the pheromone wears off or an antidote is found. About my occupation… just tell them the truth. Anything else would just be harder to explain, and I'm not so sure that your tiny mind could handle it.
But what about the rest of my powers? I can't reveal that yet. If word of it got to Akatsuki early, then I'll lose my ace in the hole. You know how powerful they are. They make Orochimaru-teme look like a pigeon at a firing range, helpless and too slow.
You don't have to remind me, gaki. Everyone except Pain is equipped with a full Bijuu of their own. And unlike us, their choice actually helps their natural powers, where ours conflict. Remember the last fight with Kisame? Thanks to the three-tails, he's got more power then ever. Your Rasenshuriken just bounced off his sword like a kunai on sheet metal. I can't help you beat them, so we need that power.
Naruto rubbed his 'shoulder', where Kisame had sliced a huge gash twenty months previously. While Kyuubi had been kind enough to heal the injury, it sure as hell didn't stop the pain from nearly overwhelming him. Not to mention the fact that regrowing that much tissue itched like hell.
Fine, but I have to get back there first. Any ideas?
Well, it would help if I got off your shirttails, for one thing. Now, get out, explain the situation, and get the hell back inside your house.
Before Naruto could respond, Kyuubi had kicked him out of the mindscape again. He closed his eyes, focusing his chakra on reawakening again. This was not going to be pretty.
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Shikamaru was sitting outside Naruto's hospital room as one of the guards. Apparently, the news of Naruto's return had spread around to the general population. This did not sit well with them, along with some ninja who had lost comrades to the Demon Spirit nearly twenty years ago.
So now there was a lynch mob outside the hospital, several Shinobi parading with them, and a twenty-four hour guard. Not only that, Tsunade had made sure that Naruto was never alone in his room, making sure that one of the Konoha Eleven was always in there, or some other trusted ninja that was close to Naruto. They changed every two hours, and one of them would also stand guard outside the door for two hours before coming inside the room. The cycle would repeat, so Naruto was always close to someone he could trust with his life.
Naruto's body, however, was a different matter. Lee had struggled with hefting Naruto back to Konoha, despite the fact that he had dumped off his own weights. Nobody else could even heft Naruto, much less carry him. Finally, Hinata had come forward and, after much blushing and mumbling, extracted the chakra from the weights, careful to transfer it to Sakura, who was still recovering from having her energy drained.
After that happened, Lee was able to run around with Naruto slung over his back, and they had made top speed back to the village, sending a messenger bird ahead to alert Tsunade about the extent of their injuries. They had managed to get within sight of the gates when Tsunade charged out as fast as Lee without his weights, grabbed Naruto, and charged back to the hospital.
She had been so fast, she had left an afterimage.
After Sakura had recovered somewhat and was able to move around, she helped her mentor and Ino give Naruto a through bodily examination. What they found was not good.
Using Kyuubi's chakra for that long had left his chakra circulation network intact. But that was barely, and it was falling apart. The most dangerous part, however, was in his internal organs.
Usually, humans didn't suffer from Chakra Poisoning. Their chakra coils would fill themselves to capacity and would stop directly afterwards, releasing only enough chakra to sustain bodily functions. However, when a person, especially a Shinobi, would use any type of jutsu, the coils would pour chakra into the network, infusing their whole bodies with energy.
The body has a fail-safe built in. The body's ability to absorb excess chakra is finite, since they only have so much essence within them. Therefore, the amount of chakra the organs can absorb are determined by the size of the chakra coils, which often grow quite explosively in the case of a young Ninja. That is also why medical ninja need such fine-tuned chakra control, since they are adding extra chakra to a system. One slip-up, and the patient, instead of being healed or cured, could have a case of Chakra Poisoning and still have the original affliction.
Not a bright concept.
Usually, that wasn't a problem. The Human Body is an amazing well fine-tuned machine, and it can withstand some additional chakra, either from outside sources or other materials, such as solder pills. That is why eating too many solder pills in a short time is extremely dangerous, as you could easily overload your system with chakra.
However, Naruto's coils had always been extremely large for a human. That put him at risk for Chakra Poisoning more, since his body could only absorb so much. Usually, he would burn off chakra so quickly that it wouldn't be a problem.
But Kyuubi was another story.
Whenever Naruto entered his fox mode, or as he called it, his Second Tier of Power, Kyuubi would flood his body with Demonic Chakra, bypassing the safety mechanisms that Nature had put in place. His organs would be able to withstand the damage for a few minutes before starting to break down. That is why using the second tier is dangerous, and that is its main drawback. Naruto can only stay in his second tier safely for five minutes at most. He had drawn power for nearly fifteen.
However, Demonic Chakra is stronger then any energy that humans can muster, so the only way to chase it out was with highly concentrated bursts. However, these bursts came at a heavy price.
Each burst had to be extremely well fine-tuned so as to not liquefy Naruto's organs. That required the chakra to be moved to a certain frequency to match his. After that, the bursts had to be extremely dense to push out the foreign chakra. Even Tsunade, with all of her experience, could only make a square inch every five minutes. It was, simply put, exhausting.
But they had done it. Sixteen hours in, they had pushed out the last of the Demonic Chakra. But major damage had been done by then. Tsunade, even now, had to come in and heal Naruto every six hours to stop the wounds from reopening.
Orochimaru had been stopped and Sasuke's fate had been learned, but it came at a heavy price.
Naruto had been under for close to a week now. According to Choji, Orochimaru had, in his last seconds, injected Naruto with a Pheromone that would attract every girl his age in Konoha. He already had an infestation problem, and Tsunade wasn't sure that Orochimaru had been telling the truth. What if it attracted all the girls in the area, not just the ones his age? That would mean the end for Naruto. Not even he could fight off that many people. Even the Lynch mob would be dwarfed in comparison to the stampede of girls that would no doubt come.
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Shikamaru had just left the room, four hours later to go home and catch a nap when Ino suddenly shouted.
"Naruto! Naruto! He's awake! COME IN EVERYONE! HE'S AWAKE!"
"Not so loud, Ino… my ears still hurt…"
There came the sound of Ino punching Naruto on the head, Naruto complaining, and Ino telling him off for calling her loud. Nevertheless, her shout had attracted Tsunade to the room.
Tsunade was nowhere near as gentle as Ino had been. She quickly used her diagnosis jutsu to make sure that none of his organs had ruptured again, like they had the last time he had shifted in his bed.
Apparently, Ino's shout could be heard all throughout the village. The lynch mob grew ever more restless and multiple ninja could be seen approaching the hospital at a rapid pace. Streaks of brown, pink, blue, and black hair could be seen flying toward the hospital, knocking over anything in their way.
In the span of three minutes, the Konoha Eleven and their respective sensei, save Kakashi, of course, had gathered in Naruto's hospital room. Naruto, in that short span of time, had fought off Tsunade and ripped out the IVs, shouting that he hated needles.
It took Tsunade, Gai, Anko, Lee, Neji, Shikamaru, and Choji just to stop Naruto from running away and taking shelter underneath the bed to get away from the needles and the horde of fangirls that had gathered right outside his door. The pheromones hadn't even kicked in yet, and he was drawing a crowd this big?
"GAKI! YOU WILL STAY HERE, OR I WILL TIE YOU DOWN!" Tsunade managed to make herself heard over the tumult in and around the room.
Naruto stopped struggling at this. He did not want to be tied up here when Orochimaru's 'Gift' kicked into action. There would be no escape then.
"Now," Tsunade breathed. "You will kindly tell us why you decided to use that chakra against Orochimaru, and specifically why you used it for so long."
Naruto winced. "I think, baa-chan, we need to start from the beginning and work our way up. They don't know yet, do they?"
Tsunade's outlook dropped from furious to somber. "No, they don't. I wanted you to be the one that told them."
He sighed. "Great, baa-chan. Thanks. Well, where to start…"
Ino couldn't hold back her questions. "Where to start what, Naruto?"
Naruto sighed and stared at the ceiling, looking rather like Shikamaru at that moment. Kurenai half expected him to say that the whole situation was so troublesome.
"Well, I need to explain some history first." He shifted on the bed, positioning his hands ready to make the seal that would get him out of here.
"Do you all know what happened on my birthday, nearly twenty years ago?"
Kiba nodded. "Yeah, wasn't that the day that the Kyuubi attacked the village?"
"That's right. And also on that day, the Fourth Hokage went out to meet the Kyuubi in single combat."
"We all know this! Iruka-sensei drilled this into our heads in the Academy! Get on with it!"
"I'm going as fast as I can. Now, do you remember what happened when the Fourth Hokage and Kyuubi dueled?"
This time, Shino spoke up, which was rare. "Yes, the Fourth Hokage killed the fox, in exchange for his life. The village was safe, and he died a hero. Why are you repeating these facts?"
Naruto grinned, but his smile was full of pain. "You see, that version of history isn't completely true. While the Fourth Hokage did defeat the Kyuubi, he did not kill it. You see, it is physically for a Human to kill a Demon, no matter how minor of a demon it is. Our chakra is simply no match for theirs, except on very rare occasions. Baa-chan's jutsu is probably one of a handful that can even hope to counter demon chakra."
"B-B-But, if the Fourth did not kill the Kyuubi, then what happened?" Hinata stuttered.
Naruto looked surprised. "I'm amazed, Hinata. After I showed you that scroll too. Well, I'll give you an example. Does everyone here remember Gaara?"
Everyone besides the older jonin shuddered. Oh yeah, they remembered Gaara. They knew that he was unstable, and that Naruto had fought and defeated him with the help of Gamabunta, the chief toad.
"Well," Naruto continued, "Gaara had one of the nine bijuu sealed within him, the one tailed demon, Shukaku. The fourth Kazekage had wanted to use the one-tails to his own power, and so sealed it within Gaara. However, the seal he used was very poorly done and lacked power. That's why Gaara could never sleep properly. If he fell asleep, then the demon would take over. What I'm getting at is, demons can't be killed, only sealed away."
"So, what did the Fourth Hokage use to seal away the Kyuubi?" Choji ventured, his bag of chip forgotten.
"Ah, now you're asking interesting questions. As you may know, Shukaku was once sealed away inside a teapot. Yes, you heard me right, a teapot. However, Kyuubi was a much stronger demon, so there was no sealing it inside an inanimate object. It had to be sealed inside a living thing, and that thing had to be able to control its power to a certain extent. So the Fourth made the obvious choice, and sealed it inside a human baby."
"But… who would give up their child to live a life? I mean, they would be hated by the…" Sakura faded away halfway though the sentence.
"Yeah, Sakura. You guessed it. I'm sure Shikamaru and Shino here have both known for a long time, but I'm going to give it to the rest of you."
"Who would give up their kid?" Ino asked, still not getting it.
Naruto snorted. "The Fourth knew that no parents would give up their newborns to a lifetime of misery and pain. So, he did the only thing that he could. Instead of asking other parents to give up their children, he gave up his own newborn son."
Now everyone else's mouth dropped open. They finally got it. They finally knew why Naruto was hated by the villagers, why he had grown up with no parents, why Jiriaya had taken such an interest in him, and why Akatsuki was so interested in him.
Naruto noticed comprehension in everyone's eyes and decided to confirm their suspicions.
"Yes. You guessed it. I am the heir and the last in the line to two clans, the Uzumaki, my mother's clan, and the Namikaze, my father's clan. My father was the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and I am the Jinchuriki to the Nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Bijuu that attacked this village nearly twenty years ago."
It was as if Naruto had pumped all the air out of the room, dipped it in liquid nitrogen, and dropped a fifty-megaton bomb on all of them. The room was cold, silent, and in the stroke of a heartbeat, Naruto shattered the silence.
"That's why I've got this power. You could call it a gift, a blessing, or you could call it a curse. This is why the villagers all hate me. This is why I resemble the Fourth Hokage. This is why, up until a few years ago, I had no friends, since parents wouldn't want their kids around me. This is why Akatsuki is after me. And this is why you won't want to remain friends with me. I'll be in Konoha for another three months at the most, and if you can't change my mind, I'm heading back to my hideout."
Naruto glanced around. The faces of shock and unhidden fear tainted each of his friends' faces. He sighed. "It's no different then I thought. I'll be at my house, everyone."
Tsunade, who just looked sad, suddenly stiffened. "Naruto, you're in no state to go anywhere. Stay here in the hospital and let everyone expla-"
"NO, Baa-chan." Naruto actually snarled, still looking down at the sheets. "There's no need for an explanation. I can see the fear and the hate on all of your faces. It just hurts to see them on my friends' faces and knew that I put them there. I'm outta here."
Tsunade tried to tie him down again, but before she had moved more then a few inches, Naruto raised his hands above the sheets, showing them the seal that he had been making.
Her eyes widened. "No, Naruto, don't do that! Your body can't handle it yet-"
Naruto ignored her, focusing all of his chakra in his weakened body into the seal and focusing on his house. "Haraishin no Jutsu!" he chanted in a monotone, and disappeared in a yellow flash, just like his father was famous for doing.
The sheets ruffled for a second, then fell limp and crumpled to the bed. Now, instead of a person, there was nothing.
Tsunade was first shocked and surprised, which then turned to anger as she wheeled about to face the Konoha Eleven, who all had looks of shock, and she was furious to see, disgust on their faces.
"YOU IDIOTS! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING? WHY DIDN'T YOU TRY TO COMFORT HIM? HE'S BEEN HOLDING THIS SECRET BACK HIS WHOLE LIFE, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REACT? THIS IS HIS WORST NIGHTMARE, YOU GUYS REACTING LIKE THIS! AT THE VERY LEAST YOU COULD HAVE PUT ON AN IMPASSIVE FACE! NOW WE COULD LOSE NARUTO AGAIN! THAT JUTSU HE JUST USED PUT AN ENOURMOUS STRAIN ON HIS BODY, SO HE MAY BLEED OUT! IF HE DOESN'T DIE FROM BLOOD LOSS, THEN HE'LL GO AWAY AGAIN!"
Tsunade was completely red in the face. The older jonin couldn't blame her. Naruto, her adopted grandson of sorts, just had his worst nightmare played out in front of him, while he was injured and weak. There was only so much that a hardened warrior, such as Naruto could take. After they reached that point, they simply give up or lose all of their humanity.
Ino shrugged. She was one of the ones who were disgusted with Naruto. "So what? Let's just go apologize to him. Though we probably shouldn't. If he goes all foxy on us, who knows what might happen?"
She was just about to prance out of the room when she felt herself unable to move an inch. Ino knew that Shikamaru was holding her down with his shadow possession.
"Ino, you're not thinking clearly. Let's put it this way. In a prison, what should you be scared of, the prisoners, or the prison itself? Think of the Kyuubi as the prisoners and Naruto as the prison. He gave up his happiness so that we could live in peace. It's more troublesome on his part then anything we ever have to do."
Ino sobered at once. "I know… but I'm scared of the Kyuubi… I just don't want to go near him in case he loses control…"
"Think about it. When has Naruto ever lost control?"
"I know of at least one time." Sakura stated quietly.
Everyone turned around to look at her. "When?" Shino asked quietly.
She cleared her throat. "It was on our first C-ranked mission. The same mission that Sasuke first activated his Sharingan. When Naruto thought that Sasuke had been killed, he lost control to the Kyuubi and turned into a… wild beast. That's the only time, though, and I've never seen him lose control otherwise."
Ino was thoughtful of Sakura's words. "Fine, maybe he's not a monster. But how are we supposed to get in and apologize? His house is sealed up tighter then the scroll of forbidden jutsus. There's no way in without him reinforcing the house somehow. We may not get a chance to apologize before he goes away again."
"He has to come out for food sometime. We'll just wait until he comes out, then we'll apologize." Shikamaru said with some confidence.
Of course, they had no idea just how wrong those words would prove to be.
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Author's Note
Heyo! I know, its been a week, right?
Sorry about this late update. I had to cut the last bit short, since it would have dragged on FOREVER if i didnt.
On a brighter note, this is the longest chapter yet, over 8.6K words. Booyah, ive punched a hole in the 75K barrier! YEAH!
Anyway, ive already got the next chapter's name planned out and ready to do. are you ready for it?
Chapter XIII: Naruto's Pain
Anyway, until next time.
In the meantime, please, Please, Please, Please Please, PLEASE, review Review Review, Review, Review, REVIEW!
With the Best of Regards
Xingster
P.S. Fable is a really good game. you should try it sometime.