I have decided to change my spelling from Sanin to Sannin. It's correct, and it wasn't before. Expect a lot of things like that as the story changes. I am trying to improve, after all.

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Sakura, Hinata and Sasuke stood outside of the room where Naruto was sleeping. They had made it through the forest with relative ease due to their numbers and despite their weakened state.

They had made it to the tower on in the morning of the second day, and immediately had Iruka contact the Hokage when they arrived.

They gave him their story, and what they witnessed. The Hokage was extremely concerned, and used an emergency seal to contact Jiraiya and call him back. He had told Hinata and Naruto's teammates that they would keep Naruto under observation in the urgent care room of the tower, and that help would be arriving in a day or two.

Sakura was staring at the door from across the hall, mentally going over what she had witnessed.

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They ran to the source of the scream the moment they had the needles removed, but nobody expected the sight they were presented with.

Naruto stood at the base of a giant arm that appeared to be lacking skin. There was a woman in the grip of the massive hand, and they arrived just in time to see her body give away and burst into a shower of blood and bone.

Naruto had a strange mark on his arm, and more marks appeared surrounding it once the massive arm had absorbed back into him. He collapsed shortly after.

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Sakura continued to stare at the door, her mind a jumble of emotions.

Sasuke had said that woman had been about to take a bite out of him, and that Naruto had saved him. That was the only reason Sakura was sitting here now.

She hadn't believed him, when he said he was the Kyuubi. It looked like another ploy to alter his image to her, and so she had dismissed all of his changes as fiction.

Now though...

That amount of chakra was insane, there was not only enough to make it visible, but enough to make it solid.

Sakura remembered everything she was taught about chakra, and that amount was impossible for a human to have, let alone channel. The only answer was the most obvious one.

Naruto wasn't human.

Sakura thought about what her mom had told her growing up. 'That boy is a monster. A murderer. A demon.'

That day in Nami, she had heard Naruto say that he hadn't wanted to attack Konoha, but that could be a lie. Foxes were known for their guile. A demon who took that form must have taken it for a reason.

She was a smart girl, so she would make her own judgement. But she wouldn't be surprised if Naruto wound up being the demon her mom said he was.

Hinata was pacing outside the door, worry visible on her face. She didn't need to be an expert on Bijuu to know that there was something wrong with what had happened. And that woman...

Even though she had been going to attack Sasuke, she was killed far too brutally. Did Naruto not have as much control as he thought? Or did he do it on purpose? That seal wasn't lethal, at least she didn't think so. What had that woman done to warrant such a horrible death?

Sasuke could tell where Hinata's thoughts had lead, and stood from where he was sitting to go talk to her.

"Hinata," he said, "Naruto has the strength of a tailed beast, and that seal still knocked him out. If that thing had been put on me, it could have killed me. He saved my life."

Hinata sighed, "I know. It's just... did she really need to d-die?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to respond when the building filled with an absolutely malicious chakra.

Insane laughing could be heard from inside Naruto's room, and it didn't sound human at all.

A green blur exploded through the wall, and closer inspection revealed the Chunin who had been guarding Naruto.

Naruto himself flew through the hole he made, landing on all fours in the hallway. He looked around the hall, sniffing the air. His eyes took on a more maroon color, rather than their typical violet.

His head snapped to Hinata, and he stood up in front of her. He took a deep breath through his nose, and his eyes turned to Sasuke.

"I knew I should have killed you." he said with an insane grin. His voice had multiple layers to it, almost as if there were multiple people speaking.

Sasuke's eyes widened, "What?"

"You heard me Sasuke-kun." Naruto chuckled, before wiping his eyes, "Oh look, I'm crying. Seems like part of me wants you to live. That's just too bad isn't it?" he said mockingly.

"Naruto-kun what are you doing?!" Hinata shouted, "What's wrong?"

Naruto's eyes turned to her, then back to Sasuke, "You just couldn't wait to betray me, could you Sasuke-kun? The moment I declare my Chosen, and your scent is all over her. What does that say Sasuke-kun? Come on, TELL ME!"

Three tails exploded from the base of his spine, and black markings spread up the length of his arm and covered the right side of his face.

The tails had streaks of yellow chakra running through them, and they waved around wildly.

Sasuke jumped back, pulling out a kunai. He didn't know what was happening, but he wasn't about to go down without a fight.

"It says a lot." Naruto continued with tears running down his face even as he smirked, "It tells me your true loyalties. How you would stab me in the back the moment I began to trust you. Well, I'll just get rid of the threat you're becoming. But before I do, I'm going to take those," his voice turned more smooth, "Magnificent eyes! Just imagine it, dear Sasuke! The ability to copy Ninjutsu combined with unlimited chakra! I'll be able to learn all the techniques in the world AND be able to use them! I'll destroy EVERYTHING! All of humanity will wither and die, and I will remain. All I need is YOU!"

Just as he was about to rush forward, a mane of white spiky hair appeared in front of him and a seal tag was stuck to his forehead.

Naruto's eyes rolled up into his head and the markings on his arm disappeared along with the chakra cloak as he collapsed.

Jiraiya caught him before he hit the ground. He looked sadly at Naruto's face before turning to the Genin in the room, "Don't worry, He didn't mean any of that. It's that seal my old teammate gave him."

Jiraiya left the hall with Naruto, and the Genin looked fairly well shaken. All except one.

Sakura gazed after Naruto with a cold stare, Looks like you were right after all, mother.

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Naruto's unconscious form was laid on the stone floor of an otherwise empty room.

Jiraiya bit a finger and immediately set to work drawing a large sealing array on the floor, holding the small wound open to keep a constant flow. The seal he was drawing centered around Naruto's arm, focusing on the mark given to him by Orochimaru.

"Stop."

Jiraiya jumped slightly at Naruto's voice, "How the hell are you awake? You should be out like a light."

Naruto nodded with a pained expression, "It's difficult. Your seal is certainly effective. My blood feels like it's boiling."

"I can take it off if you think you can control yourself." Jiraiya offered.

"Don't." Naruto said, "I can control myself, but this tag is doing better than I could have hoped. The chakra from Orochimaru's seal is being eradicated by my own. Your tag is causing enough chaos in my chakra network that the mark doesn't have a direct flow. Give it five minutes and it'll be contained to my arm."

"I still need to seal it." Jiraiya said, resuming his drawing.

"Yes, but not like you are now. You're trying to draw a seal for a human body. Just draw a strong stasis seal." Naruto said.

"A stasis seal wouldn't work. That mark is fused with your arm's chakra network. It's not coming off." Jiraiya argued.

"Then remove the arm." Naruto said calmly, "I refuse to be host to a parasite like that. I can regenerate the arm today, and I would rather you take the seal to study it further."

Jiraiya's eyes widened, "Regenerate an arm, do you know what you're saying? It is physically not possible for a Jinchuuriki to have that level of chakra control in order to do Iryojutsu on that level. Tsunade, the best medic in the world, would be hard pressed to do that."

Naruto raised a brow, "Did the Hokage not tell you anything?"

Jiraiya stared at him, "Um, I kinda ran here the moment I heard you got a seal from Orochimaru. I didn't even talk to the old man."

Naruto sighed, "Just do as I say and I'll fill you in after we're done. I promise you I can regenerate the arm."

Jiraiya was hesitant, but eventually just decided to comply. He opened and placed a blank scroll under the limb before reopening the wound on his index finger and drawing a different seal directly on Naruto's arm, adding one bold line across his upper arm. He finished the seal and looked at Naruto.

"You sure? It's really going to hurt." Jiraiya said.

"I'll be fine." Naruto said.

Jiraiya nodded and made two handseals before placing his palm in the middle of the seal on Naruto's arm. The formula lit up, covering the limb completely before there was a flash and a yelp of pain from Naruto. He expected pain, but apparently losing a limb from a human body hurt more than in a chakra body.

When the light dissipated, the arm was missing below the line that Jiraiya drew. The sage quickly moved the scroll out of the way to keep the blood off of it, then he grabbed a roll of bandages to tie the arm with.

Just when he was about to give them to Naruto however, the orange-haired boy gripped the stump tightly. A sizzling sound could be heard as steam emanated from where his hand held the wound. Naruto's growled in pain, and when he removed his hand the arm was no longer bleeding, having been cauterized.

Jiraiya just stared dumbly before shaking his head and putting the bandages away, "So what's the story I should have heard from Sarutobi?"

Naruto sighed again, how many times was he going to have to tell this story?

.

Hinata was trying to think about who that man was. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place him.

Sasuke had similar thoughts, "Sakura, do you know who that was?" He figured that she would know, as she was the most book-smart Genin in their group.

"That was Jiraiya-sama, of the Legendary Sannin." Sakura answered, strangely subdued.

"Sannin?!" Hinata exclaimed, eyes wide. Sasuke looked to her questioningly.

Hinata blushed and looked down, "Ano, if the p-person from the forest was Jiraiya-sama's teammate, then what if it was Orochimaru? It can't be Tsunade, it doesn't fit her at all. But if you think about how the woman looked, she did look like Orochimaru a little bit."

"But that's the problem." Sasuke said, "She. She was a woman. Female. Not a guy. Orochimaru is a guy."

Hinata 's brow furrowed in thought. That was true. Besides, she didn't think someone like Orochimaru would be killed off that easily. Naruto was stronger now, true, but Orochimaru was a Sannin and was able to escape the Sandaime.

Her thoughts were cut short as the door opened to reveal Naruto and Jiraiya, who had thoughtful and absent expression on his face.

But what caught their interest was Naruto's lack of a right arm.

Hinata got up out of her chair and rushed over to him, gently grabbing his arm, "Are you alright, Naruto-kun!? What happened?" she glared at Jiraiya slightly, "Did you do this to him?"

"Yes he did." Naruto said, and Hinata turned red in anger for once. Jiraiya prepared to start yelling at Naruto when he spoke again, "Because I made him. I wanted that seal to be removed from my body, and regenerating the arm will be no trouble. It's already grown an inch after I cauterized it."

Hinata calmed down but still looked at him with a worried and confused expression.

Naruto looked at everyone in the room, "I... severely apologize for my actions and words earlier. Orochimaru's chakra mixed in with my own, and because it contained Nature Energy and a bit of Orochimaru's consciousness, his mind fused with ours temporarily. For a moment, I was no longer Kurama and Naruto, but I was Kurama and Orochimaru. Naruto could barely cry as those two stronger forces pushed him aside. It's a problem I didn't know could happen. I'm going to need to fix that in the future."

Sakura scoffed, "That's a very convenient, and convoluted excuse."

Naruto looked at her with his brows furrowed, "Hm? You think I lie?"

"That's exactly what I think, Kyuubi." she spat.

Naruto frowned, before turning away and walking to the far side of the room, where he sat down cross-legged.

Sakura kept glaring, "Nothing to say, huh demon?"

"Nothing to change your belief. I know the emotions you feel and the look in your eyes. Lies for the weak. Beacons for the deluded. Your kind are those who tormented Naruto from his birth, and fractured his mind. Fusing with a Tailed Beast was arguably the best thing that happened to him, and it is due to you and yours. I take no stock in your words. When greater powers than yours collide, you will be food. Nothing more." Naruto said, his voice much more reminiscent of Kurama than Naruto. Despite his words, you could see that he was affected.

Sakura made to retort, but in her anger she hadn't noticed Hinata approach.

A loud slap rang through the room, and Sakura blinked while cupping her cheek, "Hinata."

"You have no right to judge Naruto, you aren't even worthy of judging Kurama." Hinata said with her Byakugan active, "You've had your whole life carefully constructed by your parents, you only even became a ninja with Sasuke as your goal. You didn't even have a real reason."

Sakura grit her teeth, "You're one to talk, don't you remember that I graduated higher than you?"

"You read more than I did, because I was actually training. We have the same level of chakra control, even though I have much more than you." Hinata retorted. She wasn't sure why she was getting so angry, but she was, and she didn't want to calm down.

Sakura tensed up, prepared for violence, when a crushing feeling of malice filled the room.

Naruto sat where he was, with one eye opened wide to stare at Sakura. The girl froze as she saw herself being killed.

Naruto continued to stare, "You seem to be lacking reason. Hinata is far more important to me at the moment than you, so it would only be reasonable to assume that a threat against her wouldn't be tolerated. Yet you did just that." Naruto stared at the terrified girl for a moment longer before the pressure disappeared completely, "Leave."

Sakura hesitated, her stubbornness rearing it's head.

"LEAVE!" Naruto's voice boomed, and the pressure returned tenfold, cracking the wall behind him and the floor he sat on.

Sakura jumped and walked quickly out of the room, pale and nauseous.

The pressure disappeared again, and Naruto closed his eyes again. The room was silent for several minutes, because nobody could think of something to say.

After a while, the air in the room seemed tense and charged. Hinata and Sasuke assumed it was due to what had just happened, but Jiraiya recognized it for what it was.

"Naruto! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jiraiya shouted in panic.

"Entering Senkeitai. You call it Sage Mode." Naruto responded calmly.

"I'm ordering you to stop." Jiraiya said sternly, "You can't control Nature Energy."

"Oh please," Naruto scoffed, "What do you think a Bijuu is? We ourselves are simple consciousnesses, inhabiting a body of chakra. We can't be killed, as we reform over time. Did you think that the chakra bodies just vanished after we die? We build our bodies from Nature Energy. It is central to our very existence. You are the one who can't control Sage Mode. I remember from Kurama's time in Kushina." As he was saying this, black marks began forming around his eyes and peaking down the sides of his nose. His whisker marks turned into black bars that went across his face and fully down his neck.

"It's much easier to heal in Senkeitai. That's why I'm doing this." Naruto said. Moments later, the arm started growing back visibly. First the bones formed, after half a minute completing a skeletal arm. The muscles formed much faster, the fibers running down the length of the arm. Veins crisscrossed the completed muscles and soon the skin covered the arm completely. Hinata and Sasuke noted that it was exactly the same as the giant arm in the forest. Naruto flexed his fingers and wrist, sending many loud cracks resonating through the room.

Jiraiya winced at the unpleasant sound, "Naruto. We need to talk, in private."

"Say what you will, but I'm not going anywhere. Many different threats have shown themselves in the last few days. I will not be leaving Sasuke and Hinata alone."

Sasuke frowned, "You don't think we can protect ourselves? Me and Hinata both killed one of those Oto Genin on our own. Kankuro got the last one."

Naruto looked at him, "While I am pleased that team was killed, you do not have the strength to fight off Orochimaru. And I doubt you could catch him unaware without me here."

"So it was Orochimaru." Hinata said, "But didn't you kill him?"

Jiraiya gave a dry chuckle, "Orochimaru doesn't simply die. He always has a backup plan for even the most trivial tasks. When we were in the same team, Orochimaru would have three different contingencies for D-Rank missions. He wouldn't come to Konoha without at least twenty. Plus, he was working on an Immortality technique when he left. My guess is he's finished it."

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Back in the forest, a small white snake carefully moved through the brush. It's vibrant yellow eyes scanning the forest for any possible threats.

'I hate this form. Reduced from the strongest in the world to a worm fearing the weight of a boot.' Orochimaru thought to himself. Still, it was better than being fully dead. The mangled carcass of his former body was a testament to how close his death had approached him.

'I suppose the fear of death is what sparks evolution. I obviously need to be stronger. I shouldn't have been felled by that... thing. No matter how powerful it was. This is unacceptable.'

The serpent closed his eyes and stretched out his senses, feeling for the link to his own chakra elsewhere in the world. he found one in the direction of the tower, noting with mixed feelings the fact that it was no longer attached to a body. Judging by the lack of actual chakra where his soul fragment was, they had either managed to seal the mark or had sealed the limb itself.

Refocusing, he searched for another source. His last resort. The other Genin he brought had no curse seals, and were dead besides.

He mentally sighed with disappointment. Kabuto had proven exceptionally useful, but he supposed his ambition was growing unchecked anyway.

It wasn't all bad. The White Snake's apprentice possessed remarkable durability and healing. And he would have access to all of the projects and experiments that Kabuto had been conducting without his knowledge. Of course he knew Kabuto was hiding things. He had encouraged him to do so.

He felt for the rather unique seal that Kabuto wore. A seal the medic himself was unaware of.

The snake squashed the small bit of remorse that reared its head.

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Alright, here is the next chapter. I was going to make it longer but you already waited too long. I am very aware of how spastic I am regarding updates.

Let me know what you think, I need my motivation lit.