Disclaimer: In no way shape or form do I own Naruto.(Just realized I missed probably the last few chapters.)
Sorry I'm a little late, Thanksgiving and all.
I know my last chapter was not too impressive, but I hope to make it up to you all with this one! Today you find out, will Sasuke go to Orochimaru, or will he stay in Konoha?
When I write about the Sound Four, I'm going to stick with the Sound Four, no matter how many are dead.
Chapter 13
Sasuke's Plight and Returning Home
The Sound Four, now Sound Three could only stand there, shocked as Sasuke pulled his bloody hand from the chest of Kidomaru.
"As I said, I haven't decided whether or not I'll go to Orochimaru, but you can be sure of one thing. I'm not very easy to convince. Just like he sent those three pathetic Genin to test me, I'm going to use you, Orochimaru's personal guard in order to test him. I'll give you a choice; you can come at me all at once, or one by one. It makes no difference to me."
Jirobo may not have been the smartest of the team, but sure as hell understood the raven haired boy. 'If you don't win, I'm going to kill you'
Jirobo certainly wasn't about to let some tree hugging little bitch threaten him.
"Bastard!"
The largest member of the Sound Four charged the raven haired Uchiha with all his speed. When he was only a few feet away, he jumped in the air, coming down right on top of the Uchiha.
"Pressure Palm!"
The fat boy's palm slammed into the ground with amazing force, the dust that emerged clouded the entire clearing.
Tayuya turned to Sakon with a smirk.
"If the little dip-shit couldn't even keep up with Jirobo than I'm sure Orochimaru-sama is better off without him."
Sakon said nothing, continuing to observe.
When the dust finally cleared, it revealed Jirobo in a pile of broken rocks, his hand buried even further.
"Did I get him?"
A calm voice behind him answered the man's question.
"A stupid question from a weak-minded fool."
Jirobo couldn't believe it, he turned around as quick as he could, only to succeed is receiving a foot to the face, instead of the back of the head.
Tayuya couldn't stop her eyes from widening when she saw Jirobo fall on his back and skid backwards.
'Damn, he moved fatass, that's a hard thing to do.'
"I hope this isn't all you have."
Without giving the large man a chance to recover, he flashed through several hand seals.
"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"
A large ball of fire impacted the man.
Sasuke's Sharingan eyes narrowed.
'His chakra, it seems to have skyrocketed, but it also changed. Just like…'
"The Curse Seal."
When the flames faded, Jirobo was revealed, instead of an orange mohawk, his hair was now a rather large mane of orange. His skin was a dark orange, covered by what appeared to be warts, it gave him the appearance of an ogre or troll. He appeared to have minor burns and his clothes were all but gone, leaving him in only what remained of his pants, barely enough to keep him decent.
Sasuke was genuinely shocked.
'His chakra, it increased 10 fold. Looks like this may be interesting.'
"You're dead! Crumbling Palm!"
Sasuke's Sharingan analyzed everything about the man, the fact that his chakra was condensing in his muscles, making them extremely powerful, but also very slow, the fact that his muscles were moving at full function, meaning he was traveling at his top speed, and finally, the pained twitching of his burned muscles, signifying that he was in pain.
The man's powerful palm was inches from Sasuke's chest when the Uchiha jumped, the palm passing inches below him. However, the Uchiha wasn't idle, his hand quickly reached into his pouch, drawing one of his kunai and stabbed the man in the forearm.
"Gah! Rising Knee!"
Jirobo's powerful knee was heading right for Sasuke's midsection.
The man's knee slammed right through Sasuke's stomach, instead of blood and broken bones, there was only wood.
The large man barely noticed the dozen flaming pieces of paper on the log.
Boom!
"AAAAAAHHHHHH AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Jirobo's screams of agony was nearly unbearable for all those present. They couldn't even see what was wrong with him because the smoke clouded his vision.
When the smoke finally cleared, Tayuya and Sakon were both shocked, Jirobo was lying on his back, holding what was left of his leg, the muscle and bone being visibly burnt and damaged.
"How did he…"
Tayuya began searching for their target when an arm rose up from the ground, right at Jirobo's shoulder, a kunai in the hand. The other two members of the sound four watched impassively as Jirobo's throat was slit. As the blood pooled, the arm slipped under the cover of the soil.
Slowly, right behind Tayuya and Sakon, Sasuke rose from the ground.
"So, one on one is it? Who's next?"
*With Orochimaru
"Orochimaru-sama, there has still been no word from the Sound Four and Sasuke was supposed to meet them at 2am, that was over an hour ago. Do you think he betrayed them and told Konoha?"
A smirk crossed the Snake sennin's face.
"No, I know his type, he told no one. However, I don't doubt that the Sound Four will be the Sound Three, maybe even the Sound Two before Sasuke learns what he needs to."
Kabuto looked confused.
"From Sakon's report, Sasuke agreed way to easily. He needs power, it makes very little difference to him if I have it, but if I am able to give it to others."
Kabuto was still confused.
"He knows I'm strong, he needs to find out if I can make others strong."
A light went off in Kabuto's head.
"Ahh, he is going to test the Sound Four."
A smirk made its way onto Kabuto's face.
"How do you think the boy will fare?"
Orochimaru glanced at the silver haired medic.
"As I said, I think it will be the Sound Two by the time they convince him that I can make him powerful."
Kabuto nodded.
'I wonder who will be lost. Likely Jirobo, he may have the most physical strength, but he is very slow. Hmm, Tayuya is likely to fall as well, her Genjutsu will be next to useless, Sasuke will only have to get passed those fearsome Doki of hers. However, Sakon and Kidomaru are likely to be too much for him.'
*With Sasuke outside Konoha
Both Sakon and Tayuya quickly turned when they heard Sasuke's voice behind them.
The three continued to stare each other down for a few minutes, both Sakon and Tayuya taking into account that Sasuke was only breathing slightly heavy.
"Let's see how you like this, Dickhead. Demonic Flute: Phantom Sound Chains!"
Sasuke just stared impassively as the invasive chakra of a Genjutsu tried to enter through his ears.
He was surprised when his vision began to blur slightly before his world turned a blurry red, ninja wire coming from the sky and ground keeping him in place.
'Incredible, to have even a slight effect through my Sharingan is unheard of, but to have the Genjutsu fully take hold… I thought only a Sharingan could cast a Genjutsu on a Sharingan. If I could combine her Genjutsu with my Sharingan… She needs to live.'
Sasuke pulsed his chakra slightly, breaking the unstable Genjutsu.
'My eyes weakened it greatly though. I bet if I didn't have the Sharingan, I would have been defenseless against it.'
Sasuke continued to stare at the redheaded Kunoichi, making no movement, acting as though he was never freed.
Tayuya continued to play her flute, a smirk on her face.
"Ha! So much for the great Sasuke Uch-"
The redheaded Kunoichi was unable to continue when Sasuke's fist connected with her jaw and she flew backwards.
However, she quickly recovered, landing in a crouch.
A snarl was on her face when she landed, a trail of blood leaking from her lip.
"Fuck Orochimaru, you're a dead man Uchiha!"
In a surprising burst of speed, Tayuya closed the distance and tried to land a kick to the boy's face, however Sasuke just ducked and kicked her foot out from under her. The redhead wasn't idle though, as her foot connected with the boy's stomach, sending his stumbling backwards.
Tayuya wasn't about to give up her advantage and landed a right hook to his face. Just as she was about to land another punch to his face, Sasuke's hand came up and caught Tayuya's wrist, pulling her foreword and kneeing her in the stomach.
Using their position to his advantage, Sasuke wraps his arm around her neck and squeezes, hoping for an easy win.
Tayuya is barely able to get a few raspy words out.
"Fuck…you."
Sasuke's Sharingan immediately picked up the vast increase in chakra.
'Shit, she's using the Curse Seal!'
Sasuke could see the black marks spreading across her exposed neck. (She is in a guillotine, He can't see her face or hands)
Almost suddenly, her attempts at escaping redoubled.
'Damn, she's strong!'
Sasuke was forced to bleed chakra into his muscles just to keep hold of her.
'She should be unconscious any second now!'
Slowly, a haze of purple chakra clouded his vision as he felt the woman getting stronger. The marks on her neck combined and her skin began to turn brown. He could feel what felt like horns digging into his side.
"D-damnit…"
Using her Curse Seal provided brute strength, Tayuya grabbed the boy's arm and ripped it away from her neck, Sasuke could do nothing as he was man-handled by her.
Holding onto his bicep and the back of his shirt, Tayuya spun around a few time before throwing the boy into a tree.
The large tree cracked slightly when Sasuke's back impacted it, the boy couldn't stop himself from coughing up a bit of blood as he tried to stand.
"You know Uchiha, nobody who has heard my flute has ever lived! I can see you're powerful and in few years I don't doubt that you could be stronger than me. But not yet! Summoning Jutsu!"
Sasuke blocked the pain from his mind as he jumped back, smoke engulfing the area around the demonic redhead.
When the smoke cleared, Sasuke was rather surprised.
'At least it's not a 30 story toad or something.'
Standing in front of Tayuya were three creature, all three well over 9 feet tall. The apparent leader was the largest, he was shirtless with black pants. His head held several hideous scars and had bandages around his eyes. His weapon consisted of several large thorns attached to his forearm. The next was crouched low, its long black hair concealing its face, a large metal club was in his hands. The final one was covered completely in bandages and had no arms, however, he was covered in spikes.
Sasuke took the time he was given to try and sort out how they fought. They all seemed to use physical means; it was just a matter of figuring out how they worked.
'First to test their speed.'
Sasuke flew through several hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke watched as Tayuya jumped in the air, performing a backflip as she flew through the air, she landed on a single branch and never stopped playing her flute.
The three beasts dodged the attack, each in a different direction.
'Ok, their speed is fair, time to test their defense.'
Sasuke jumped into the surrounding trees, just in time to witness a club impact the area he had been standing.
'As a side note, their physical strength is great.'
Using the cover of the trees, Sasuke was quick to find the weakness of her attack.
'She controls them with her flute. She doesn't need to see them to control them, but she can't tell them where to attack if she can't find me. Hmmm.'
The Uchiha reached his hand into his weapons pouch, counting what he had left.
'13 kunai, 5 shuriken, 7 exploding tags, 4 smoke bombs, 500 foot roll of ninja wire and one demon windmill shuriken.'
With a smirk, Sasuke grabbed the demon windmill shuriken and the four smoke bombs.
Sasuke used his half decent stealth skills to sneak up near the redhead.
Without so much as a grunt, Sasuke jumped from his location, his folded shuriken aimed to slash the Kunoichi across the back. However, when he was only a few feet from scoring the hit, the shirtless beast jumped in front of him.
The Uchiha carved four lines down the demon's face and chest, blood spraying as though an artery was sliced.
The demonic looking redhead smirked.
"It will take more than that to take out the Doki."
A particularly high paced melody flew from her flute and Sasuke saw the Doki's thorned fist flying towards his chest.
With wide eyes, Sasuke used the only defense he had, holding the folded shuriken to catch the beast's fist between his two thorns, blood sprayed as the beast powered through the defense, the force of the attack sending the Uchiha flying back, uncontrolled.
As he flew, Sasuke let the large shuriken fly, straight for the redhead in a last ditch effort to take her out, however, he never got to see what happened when he bounced roughly on the ground.
'I hope that shuriken is at least close to her.'
With a hand seal, an explosion sounded, however, it was on the other side of the field and did little more than cause a distraction, a distraction Sasuke wasn't going to waste as he took to the trees, careful of being avoided.
From his spot in the trees, Sasuke took some time to analyze his enemy, glad to see that the silver haired Shinobi was making no move to assist her. He almost seemed to take pleasure in watching her greatest abilities be proven worthless.
'Ok, these things obviously can't feel pain, so I won't be able to disable them without completely destroying them, plus, she needs to play her flute for them to respond. If I can get that away from her…'
A smirk found its way onto his face.
Reaching into his pouch, Sasuke grabbed his only four smoke bombs, with a single hand seal, a single standard clone appeared at his side and began to make his way around the field, Tayuya remaining in the center, ready to defend from any angle.
A flash of light to the side, and Tayuya's head snapped to the right, just in time to see a giant fireball hurdling towards her.
'Shit!'
Not wasting any time, the redhead jumped well out of range of the attack.
'Idiot, fire jutsu aren't very good for long range.'
Focusing on the area that the fireball came from, just waiting for the next attack, Tayuya was shocked when the entire area around her was covered in red and green smoke.
"What the fuck!?"
Instantly, all three of the Doki obeyed her flute, gathering around her, ready to take any attacks intended for her.
As she stood defensively in the smoke, an obnoxiously loud chirp filled the air. Tayuya's mind instantly went back to when the Uchiha had killed Kidomaru.
'Shit! I can't get hit by that.'
Slowly, the smoke cleared, just in time to see Sasuke chargeing, a ball of lightning in his hand, the uncontained lightning actually destroying the ground below him.
A quick tune from her flute, and all three of her Doki were attacking. She could only watch, shocked as the boy pulled off moves that shocked her, all without slowing down. He jumped over the first's metal club, ducked below the thorned fists of the second, before skillfully sliding around her last defense.
Tayuya attempted to dodge, spinning to the side and giving him a smaller target, however it turned out to be useless when he merely readjusted, the large ball of lightning ready to strike her chest.
Just as the boy's fist met her chest, he vanished. Not in shunshin or speed or anything of the sort, just gone from existence.
"What the fuck?"
Sasuke's chuckle to her right caused her head to snap in that direction, he just stood there, a smirk firmly planted on his face.
"What the fuck is so funny, Shithead!?"
"You are a very… amusing…woman."
The woman barely reacted to that, with the exception of narrowing her eyes.
The Uchiha still stood, confident.
"You know, I've always been interested in music. My mother actually played the flute."
That was when her eyes widened. In his hand, he held her flute. She even had to check her own hand to make sure it wasn't there.
"When!?"
Sasuke gave no body language to insinuate he heard her, but answered anyway.
"When you dodged, I knew that the moment my Chakra Clone had bypassed your summons, you would attempt to dodge, for nearly a full second, you paid no attention to your flute, for the first time in this entire fight."
The redhead's fist clenched as she glared at the boy.
"Don't think that I'm useless with my flute! It will take a lot more than that to beat me!"
If anything, Sasuke's smirk widened.
"I don't doubt it."
It was at that point that she noticed the kunai in his hand.
'What the fuck is he going to do with that?'
The raven haired boy reached back and severed a rope, the sounds of dozens of branches snapping into their original places sounded. However, Tayuya could do nothing since ninja wire wrapped all over her, cutting deeply into her skin.
"W-when?"
Sasuke was no longer smirking, looking at the defeated woman.
"I set the wire when you focused on the fireball, but set the branches to go off, when my clone's Chidori was making so much noise, that fact is good for something."
Knowing that she was outsmarted pissed Tayuya off, she couldn't stop glaring at the man in front of her, however, she took pleasure in the bruises she gave him, and he still had blood trickling down his lip.
Before she could say anything else, the Uchiha flashed through a few hand seals, a yellow ball of lightning in his hand.
"Can't have you interfering with my next fight. Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Jutsu!"
Tayuya was unable to do anything but watch as the ball of lightning got closer and closer.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Every muscle in her body contracted, her heart raced and her breathing was labored as she the technique died out.
"That won't be enough, Fucktard!"
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly at her endurance.
'Her willpower…'
Sasuke cleared his head, just in time to hear one of the wires snap.
"These wires won't be enough to hold me!"
The redheaded woman stared defiantly into Sasuke's eyes as two more wires snapped. However, that proved to be her undoing.
'Genjutsu: Sharingan: Forced Sleep Jutsu.'
The raven haired boy's eyes began spinning rapidly and Tayuya found herself tiring.
'Gen-genjutsu! K-Kai…Kai…w-hy ca-can't?'
Sasuke watched, impassively as the woman slumped, asleep. Her curse seal form slowly fading away.
By this point, Sasuke's breathing was considerably more labored. Sasuke idly noticed that the unresponsive Doki simply vanished in a poof of smoke.
'Damn, that one took a lot out of me. I wonder how strong this guy is.'
"Well, well. You certainly are interesting, Sasuke Uchiha."
Even as he spoke with an arrogant and confident tone, Sasuke's Sharingan easily picked up his nervousness as his eyes kept shooting to his dead and unconscious comrades. This of course put a smirk on Sasuke's face.
"You should run along now, wouldn't want to end up like your buddies, dead or captured."
The silver haired man's eyes turned cold.
"I'm not as weak as they are."
Sasuke kept up the bravado.
"I'd like to hope not. Otherwise this will be a quick fight."
'I have to make this quick, I'm getting low on chakra.'
In a surprising burst of speed, Sakon closed the gap, a kunai attempting to slit the Uchiha's throat. However, the Sharingan told Sasuke how to avoid the strike with ease. Before Sasuke could attempt a counter, the man grew a foot out of his stomach, that foot sent Sasuke tumbling.
The Sharingan was unable to process what just happened.
'No surge of chakra, no muscle tension and he grew a foot from his stomach. What the hell?'
Immediately after recovering, Sasuke went on the offensive.
*Konoha Gates
"Hey Brat!"
Tsunade walked up and grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt, holding his face close to hers.
"You better take care of that girl there!"
Slowly, the scowl on her face slowly morphed into a sad smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her voice barely audible, even near his ear spoke to him.
"Never let anything happen to her. It's a pain I wouldn't wish on anyone."
With a gentle smile on his face, Naruto returned the hug.
"I plan to protect her with my life."
As much as Haku wanted to admonish him for believing she needed to be protected, she knew he would. That was just who he was.
Off to the side, Sarutobi and Jiraiya shared a smile.
"And don't forget brat. Next time you talk to me, its Hokage-sama, got it!?"
Both Sarutobi and Jiraiya sweat-dropped.
'So much for the moment…'
"Shut up, you Old Hag! Why they wanted you as Hokage, I'll never know!"
A tic mark quickly formed on Tsunade's forehead.
"God damn Brat! Call me Old Hag again and I'm going to punt you all the way from here to Kiri!"
By now, Tsunade Senju and Naruto Uzumaki were glaring as hard as they possibly could. If a stranger walked by, they would instantly expect a fight to the death. When suddenly…
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
They both broke down and started laughing while Jiraiya, Sarutobi and Haku formed a sweat-drop.
"Take care of yourself Brat."
Naruto nodded and turned to the man who practically raised him.
"Naruto, I simply have some imparting words of wisdom that I wish someone would have told me when I was your age. It is better to be a master of one than a follower of a thousand."
Naruto wasn't too sure what Sarutobi was saying. He could clearly see the look in the old man's face that said, 'figure it out'."
'I will have plenty of time to think about it during my trip home.'
Walking foreword, Naruto grabbed the old man in a hug.
"I'm going to miss you Sarutobi-sensei."
Next, Naruto was in front of Jiraiya, a smirk on his face.
"It's been real, Perv."
With but a nod, Jiraiya clasped the boy's shoulder and leaned in.
"Don't be too surprised if we see each other soon."
Though slightly surprised, Naruto nodded at what he was implying.
"Bye Sarutoi-sensei, Bye Hag, Bye Perv!"
Haku just shook her head with a smile as she addressed the three older ninja.
"I can't thank you all enough for the help you have given us."
The three adults gave the girl a gentle smile as they took to the trees, on their way home after over two months.
*With Konoha Anbu Patrol 2
"Captain, I sense a large amount of chakra approximately 100 yards to the East."
The Anbu Captain turned to his team's sensor, she was relatively young with dirty blonde hair and wore a mask depicting a cat with black marks around the eyes.
Without a word, the patrol changed direction, heading for the disturbance.
It only took the team several minutes to clear the distance separating the two groups. They arrived at the clearing, but remained out of sight.
What they saw was rather surprising.
A fat boy in the middle of the field, laying in a pool of his own blood, his demonic appearance slightly disturbing. Next, they noticed a redhead; she appeared to be alive but unconscious and bound with ninja wire. Soon after, they took in the fact that there was a six armed man with a hole in his chest. Then they noticed Sasuke Uchiha.
The sensor immediately turned to her captain.
"What the hell is the last loyal Uchiha doing here?"
Her question went unanswered as the captain continued to analyze everything.
'All of the fallen ninja are of the Sound Village. Could they have kidnapped the last Uchiha?'
Just as his team was about to interfere, the captain held his hand up, signifying them to wait and see.
The last remaining sound ninja glared with pure rage in his eyes, both of his arms hung uselessly at his sides, one was sporting several severe burns. His body wasn't doing to much better with cuts and burns all over.
Sakon couldn't help but turn to the side, looking at his brother. An identical man lay on his back, his eyes lifeless and his body covered in severe burns, a large, bloody hole where his heart should be.
"U-Ukon, I will kill him for you! You will have your vengeance!"
Across from the man was Sasuke Uchiha, he barely stood, his Sharingan eyes dimming to their black state occasionally.
The wrappings around his legs were dyed red with his own blood.
'I-I don't know how much longer I can continue.'
With anger in his eyes, Sasuke flashed through a few clumsy hand seals.
The captain quickly turned to the sensor of the team.
"Is he building up a large amount of lightning chakra in his hand?"
After a second she nodded.
"Damn it! We have to stop him, using that much chakra at this point could kill him."
Sasuke's hand was violently shaking, between pain and exhaustion, his eyes were barely opened.
The boy's Sharingan reverted back to its idle state of coal black.
Slowly, sparks of lightning began to appear in his palm before it grew into its true form.
"Show me! Show me that Orochimaru is a better teacher!"
In an instant, Sasuke took off running as fast as he possibly could.
Sakon could only watch, his legs shaking from being so tired.
'I have to wait until the last second to move out of the way.'
The Anbu captain's eyes narrowed when he heard Sasuke's declaration.
"Prepare to move. On my mark."
The team of four Anbu members tensed, ready to move out.
Sasuke's fist, covered in lightning destroyed the ground as he ran, reducing to earth to dust.
He was no more than 10 feet away when the lightning in Sasuke's hand began to fizzle but not die.
"Chidori!"
Just before the attack was going to hit him, Sakon jumped back. Or, he would have, if his knee didn't choose that exact moment to give out.
Sasuke's fist was inches from Sakon's chest when the raven haired boy's eyes closed, falling unconscious. Sasuke's momentum carried him forward.
The Anbu team watched with bated breath as Sasuke's fist hit the Sound Ninja's chest, sending him to the ground. However, Sasuke wasn't even able to see if his attack hit, since he was already unconscious.
In a blur, the Anbu team arrived, looking around the scene.
Turning to his team, the Captain gave out the orders.
"Bear, check on the Uchiha, Cat, check each member of the sound team, tell me their status. Dog, set up a perimeter, I don't want anything within 10 yards of this clearing! Move!"
Before he even said that, his team was already moving.
*Several Miles from Kiri(Four Days Later)
Naruto and Haku were slowly walking up the path, no need to hurry after all.
Naruto had a huge smile on his face as he walked, hand in hand with his wife.
Haku too had a large smile on her face as she nudged Naruto.
"And you call Jiraiya a perv."
Naruto's smile only grew.
"Have you looked in the mirror? I don't think I've ever seen such a shit-eating grin on your beautiful face."
Haku couldn't keep the blood from rushing to her pale face as she felt Naruto's hand release hers, in order to rest on her bum, rubbing it slightly.
"I…You…We…"
Naruto couldn't stop from busting out laughing when she couldn't form a sentence.
A smirk grew across Naruto's face after he calmed down.
"If you thought the first time was good. Just wait until tonight."
An embarrassed, but undoubtedly excited smile crossed the raven haired woman's face.
Slowly, Naruto's smirk grew to levels that had Haku nervous, she knew what was coming and she knew she wouldn't be able to resist.
In an instant, the hand rubbing her butt grabbed her cheek and lifted her up, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist.
"Mmmmmmm."
Haku had no chance to stop the moan when Naruto's lips latched onto her neck and in all honesty, she didn't want to.
Haku allowed her head to tilt back, giving her lover better access to her sweet spot.
Haku was shivering in delight when something caught her eye. In an instant, the lust left her system.
Naruto immediately noticed the change and set the woman down, his hand grasping Kubikiribocho.
"P-please… H-help."
Almost immediately, they could identify him, not so much who he was, but what he was.
'Hunter nin?'
The two were instantly by his side, Haku's hands glowing green as she ran her hands over his body.
"My god…"
Naruto pulled his shirt off, balling it up under the man's head while Haku worked to stabilize him.
"What's wrong with him?"
Haku was nearly in shock.
"I don't know how he's still alive. All eight of his gates aren't just opened, they're completely destroyed."
Blood began seeping from the man's mouth as he reached into his cloak. Despite the man's apparent loyalties, both Haku and Naruto were ready to defend themselves.
"M-Mizukage-sama"
The man pulled his hand out and revealed a scroll.
At that instant, the man's eyes dulled and his hand hit the ground, the scroll rolling a few inches. Haku ran her glowing hands over each of the man's vital organs before she shook her head sadly.
Standing up, Haku rummaged through her pouch before coming up with a blue scroll. Haku placed the body scroll over the man and sealed away his body.
"We should hurry, this must be important."
Nodding to his wife, Naruto grabbed the scroll that the man hand and they both took off running.
*Konoha
Ibiki was glaring at the prisoner in front of him with confusion.
"Why?"
Tayuya's contemptuous look never changed.
"I hate that fucker. He's going to kill me soon, why make my last few hours painful just for that asshole?"
Though he wasn't sure if he believed her, he stood, walking out of the room.
When he left, he walked over to the observation room and was surprised to find the Hokage, an inquisitive look on his face.
"Tell me everything you learned from the girl."
Ibiki nodded to the man and began.
"She was surprisingly forthcoming with information; she seems to have very little loyalty to Orochimaru. The first thing we learned, was her mission, she and her team were supposed to use any means necessary to convince Sasuke Uchiha to willingly abandon the Leaf and join Sound, being trained personally by Orochimaru himself. Sasuke seemed to give this some thought in the form of seeing how strong Orochimaru could make him. He was apparently not impressed. Outside of that, we learned that Sound isn't a village in the sense of most; it is made of several bases in different regions. She was referred to as Tayuya of the North Gate. When not working for Orochimaru directly, her job was as main guard for the northern hideout. According to her, Orochimaru himself rarely ever goes to the Northern Hideout, it is mainly used for research. It is where the source of Orochimaru's curse seal resides."
Sarutobi seemed to be in deep thought.
"Did you find out why Orochimaru wanted Sasuke to go willingly? Why not force him?"
Ibiki nodded slightly.
"She was unsure, according to her, Orochimaru rarely shared his plans with them, but she overheard him speaking with Kabuto, a recently confirmed spy. It sounded as though Orochimaru had perfected his immortality jutsu, but upon using it, he would never be able to switch bodies again, on top of that, the body had to go through special preparations."
Sarutobi nodded in interest.
"I see, it was always about the Sharingan, the invasion, the attacks, all of it, him and his foolish dream."
Sarutobi couldn't stop himself from staring off into space.
'How far have you truly fallen, Orochimaru?'
*Kiri Main Gate
In a blur, Naruto and Haku arrived.
In an instant, the two Chunin guards were prepared for an attack, one holding some shuriken, ready to let them fly, and the other preparing a water bullet.
Upon noticing the identity of the 'intruders', the Chunin relaxed. Spitting his water bullet against a tree, the Chunin turned a disapproving glare to members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
"I don't give a fuck if you're supposed prodigies under Zabuza-sama! You better have a damn good reason for breaking protocol. Under no circumstances is any ninja allowed to come up to the entrance at anything faster than a jog! We almost sounded the fucking alarm!"
Naruto's hand dropped from Kubikiribocho's hilt, having grabbed it upon their reaction to entrance they made.
Naruto gave a slight bow and spoke.
"I apologize for breaking protocol but we have an urgent message for the Mizukage!"
The Chunin didn't look convinced and without a second thought, Haku grabbed the scroll from her kimono and unsealed the dead hunter nin, her voice as cold as the ice her clan was known for.
"We found him 15 miles from the village, seconds from death… We will deal with this after the scroll he had on him is in the hands of Mei-sama."
The Chunin could only stare, shocked. The hunter-nin were the best, and here was one, dead.
"I-I'm going to report this, but it won't leave as much as a mark on your record."
In that instant, Haku resealed the body and quickly they made their way to the Mizukage tower, eager to give Mei the scroll.
Not for the first time, Naruto and Haku forgo security completely and run up the side of the building, arriving at the window in Mei's office. What they see is Mei sitting in her chair doing her paperwork, however that doesn't last when she turns quickly, a kunai flying from her hand.
Haku easily tilted her head back, the kunai flying harmlessly by and was intercepted by one of the many Anbu in the area before it could hurt a civilian.
"Naruto? Haku? I wasn't expecting you until tonight."
However it only took her a second to notice their serious faces.
"Report."
Haku grabbed the scroll containing the body of the hunter-nin and unsealed the man on the floor.
"We found this man about 15 miles away from Kiri's gates."
They too noticed that her whole body stiffened, she either knew him personally, or his mission was very important.
"Cause of death?"
Haku took the stand at that.
"I'm unsure, but I would say an overdose on soldier pills. His chakra system is a mess."
Mei nodded and Naruto handed her a scroll.
"Right before he died, he gave us this to give to you."
Her eyes lit up when she saw the scroll and opened it quickly.
Mizukage-sama, if you are reading this, than I did not manage to live. However, all is not lost, as I completed my mission. We found him Mizukage-sama. Located in the Land of Rice-patties, the entrance is well hidden, the coordinates are 43.21 x 21.57. I apologize for not being more exact, but that is all I was able to commit to memory. Upon arriving, we staked the entrance out for a while, before Orochimaru struck. It was a slaughtering, our defender gave me orders to run and give this message to you.
Mei re-read the message several times and nodded, her face going cold.
'I-I wish we had more high-ranked ninja. Damn you Yagura…'
"You two have one day to relax, you and your team have another mission tomorrow."
Though not expecting it, Naruto and Haku nodded.
*Konoha Hospital
"Ugh…"
Instantly, Sasuke's arm came up and covered his eyes, attempting to block out the light.
Amidst his groaning, Sasuke was barely able to hear a whisper.
"Inform Tsunade-sama that patient 4352 is awake."
Slowly, the cobwebs cleared from his head, and he began to think.
'D-did I do it? Did I win?'
Using the button on the hospital bed, Sasuke brought himself to a sitting position, just in time for the door to open.
Sasuke immediately recognized the woman that walked in. She was Tsunade of the Sannin, and the teammate of the man he had considered betraying Konoha for.
Without a word, the woman's hands began to glow green as she ran her hands over his chest, neck and head.
"How are you feeling?"
Sasuke turned to the woman as he began analyzing his own body.
"Fine I guess…"
His voice came out hoarse from misuse.
"Sarutobi-sensei wants a report from you, we have been unable to wake up the redhead and everyone else is dead."
Sasuke's head snapped up.
"D-dead?"
Tsunade's brow furrowed slightly.
"Yeah."
The legendary medic noticed the hope in his eyes with a sigh, she was going to have to report all of this.
"Even two guys with silver hair?"
Tsunade gave a short nod.
"Yeah, they came in and it was found they both died from two separate Chidoris to the chest, confirmed by Kakashi."
A slight smile crossed the young man's face and Tsunade was slightly unnerved.
"Your report?"
Sasuke looked slightly like a deer in the headlights.
"I-I…"
Sasuke sighed.
'Even if the redhead isn't away to them anything, she will be eventually and they will get it from her. If I'm caught in a lie then I'll never get the training I need.'
"Orochimaru offered me training… I was… considering his offer."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed slightly but inside she was shocked.
'He is actually telling the truth.'
"Explain!"
Instantly, Sasuke's eyes lowered in shame, not shame at what he had done, but shame that he was actually opening up slightly.
"Tell me, have you ever lost everyone you cared for? Have you ever had to live with the fact that while they are dead and gone, their murderer lives and breathes!?"
Tsunade's eyes softened.
"Look me in the eyes and tell me one thing…"
Slowly, Sasuke's eyes met hers…
"What was your decision?"
A smirk crossed Sasuke's face, his eyes never leaving hers.
"I beat Orochimaru's four elite body guards by myself. He obviously has a different opinion of strength as Konoha does, I'm staying."
A smile crossed Tsunade's face as she nodded and removed her previously unnoticed hand from his stomach, the green glow fading.
'There isn't a man alive that can fool medical chakra with a lie and he didn't have a hint of deceit or un-clarity…'
Tsunade nodded and left the room.
That's it! Chapter 13 is complete! Tell me what you thought of the fights and if Sasuke was way too overpowered… I tried to limit it.
Just so you know, the score was 20 to 7 the winner being for him to stay.
Now, I know some people are going to bitch about Sasuke be way overpowered, but in order for my story to pan out the way it will, Sasuke needs to stay in Konoha. He wouldn't stay, if he thought he could get stronger under Orochimaru. I know I was originally making him out to be weaker I.E. when Haku beat their entire team but the plans for the story have changed and Sasuke will have a slightly larger role in the upcoming chapters. I played it out the way I did so that it didn't seem too bad. Kidomaru was taken by surprise, never even knew what hit him. With Jirobo's speed, I don't think he would be able to match Sasuke very well at all, making him a fairly easy kill. Leaving the only real issues of Tayuya, whose Genjutsu would be canceled out by the Sharingan and Sakon.
I'm considering giving Sasuke a pairing, and if you couldn't tell, I was leaning towards Tayuya but I'm open to other opinions. Let me know who you think he should be with… (It won't be a big part of the story, just something to give it more dimensions) Also no Sakura, if you can give me some ideas, I'd be willing to consider Ino, but I don't see Sakura being too impressive in my story, I.E. she doesn't need to get Sasuke back.
New Jutsu-Chakra Clone- Uchiha clan variation of the Clone Jutsu, allows user to create a semi-solid clone, creates shadow, and though it is light, it will affect the environment (Footprints, noise from steps) its greatest advantage is that it creates noise. If the user is advanced enough, the clone is capable of using any jutsu the user is, both visually and audibly but with no actual affect.