Author's note – Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto while Guyver is written by Yoshiki Takaya.
I make no claim to either, I am merely playing in their sandboxes.
This chapter overlaps the previous one.
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Chapter Thirty-Eight
Plots
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Orochimaru stood on the edge of the cliff and glared at the house far below.
"Tobi is wondering what you are doing?" A voice asked and Orochimaru didn't even bother to look round as he answered.
"That… house is located exactly where the main entrance to my archive base is." He growled. "The security seals on the secondary entrance told me that it sees regular use… someone is stealing all of my hard-earned research!"
"That is the house of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki." Tobi noted and Orochimaru blinked.
"The one who owns the armour? Hmmmmm, maybe I could sneak in and…"
Orochimaru went silent as two blond figures walked out of the house and began to trim the hedge.
"Shadow clones." Orochimaru grumbled. "On the other hand, they're getting very good with wind manipulation. I never thought of using wind blades to help with gardening before…"
The renegade Sannin stood motionless in thought for several minutes before he stepped away from the cliff edge.
"I've seen what I needed to see… for now." He stated and Tobi nodded before they both vanished in an eye-twisting swirl.
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Even as Orochimaru and Tobi appeared in the room, the kunoichi had already dropped to one knee and bowed her head, her two team-mates following suit as soon as they realized what was happening. Orochimaru smirked as he looked at them.
"Kinuta Dosu, Abumi Zaku,Tsuchi Kin." Orochimaru said in greeting. "In less than an hour, you will be entering the exams. Remember your mission, I want you to observe Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Hinata. As they are on the same team, this shouldn't be an issue.
"Make certain you reach at least the end of the second stage. Do not disappoint me."
"As you command, Orochimaru-sama." Dosu replied.
Orochimaru smirked, then he and Tobi vanished in another eye-twisting swirl. For a long moment, none of the three moved, then all of them exhaled in unison.
"Damn." Kin whispered. "He gets scarier and scarier."
Zaku nodded.
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Kin jolted in her seat as the window of the exam room exploded. She had examined one of the windows earlier while they had been waiting and they had been constructed so that while people could break out relatively easily, breaking in was considerably more difficult.
Yet someone had done just that, without even getting a scratch!
The new arrival somersaulted through the falling shards of glass before hurling a banner up, embedding the corners into the ceiling even as the she landed perfectly and posed dramatically, revealing herself to be none other than Orochimaru's former student, Mitarashi Anko.
And yet, the banner behind her said…
"Hey!" Zaku shouted. "There's only one of you!"
Kin blinked. The banner had two names on it, but there was only one person…
Her thoughts stuttered to a sudden halt as an armoured gauntlet moved the banner aside, allowing the other figure to step round.
How the hell had he done that? He hadn't come in through the window as Kin would have seen him do that. The other windows were still intact, the door behind them was closed (and even if he'd come in that way, how could he have crept round them all like that?) and she hadn't heard any sounds of hinges, suggesting that a concealed trapdoor was not the answer.
"Where the fuck did he come from?" shouted the genin in the shark-styled hood and Kin breathed a mental sigh of relief with the confirmation that she wasn't the only one who had missed the figure's entrance…
No, his name was on the banner. Naruto's entrance.
Which meant that the fabled Uzumaki Armour was standing right in front of her.
"You mean you missed his entrance? You really need to work on your situational awareness, fish-boy." Anko smirked.
"Thirty-nine genin." Naruto stated and Kin shuddered at the harsh metallic overtones of his voice. "Thirteen teams."
"And we'll soon get it down to half of that or less." Anko grinned, twirling a kunai between her fingers with an unconscious ease that Kin found herself unwillingly admiring. "Listen up, brats! I am Tobesku Jonin Mitarashi Anko and looming beside me is Chunin Uzumaki Naruto! You have one hour to get to the west side of Training Ground Forty-Four!"
"The test lasts five days, but a sensible ninja would already be prepared for a full week." Naruto stated and Kin swallowed nervously. "Why are you still standing there?"
Kin jolted out of her chair and joined her team-mates in heading for the door, only to be jerked back by Dosu.
"What…?" Zaku started in protest, only to be cut off by their leader.
"Two teams just went out the window. Come on."
Kin mentally nodded in realization. With the remaining genin virtually stuck in the doorway, the window would be the quickest way to leave the room.
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"Well, Raishi, looks like your team is through and… hey, they followed mine through the window!" Asuma laughed and Orochimaru smiled benevolently at his former Sensei's son.
"I am very proud of them." He lied smoothly. "To stand up to the Konoha's greatest interrogator, even if it was but for an hour, is no small feat."
"I'm sure that all of us who have had our teams pass the first stage are proud of them." Kurenai said from her position just beside Asuma. "I know that Sakura was nervous, but she did very well."
Orochimaru nodded in apparent agreement, the his gaze drifted to where Itachi was standing.
"Is that Itachi, formerly of the Uchiha clan?" He asked, playing his role as an outsider to perfection.
"Yep, it is." Asuma grinned. "He and I are almost brothers, you know."
"Asuma…." Kurenai sighed and Orochimaru tilted his head.
"How so?"
"He leads Team Seven and Hyuuga Hinata is engaged to Naruto. Ino is also engaged to him."
Orochimaru blinked. He couldn't remember if it had been mentioned in any of the briefings he had read, but if it was true…
Perhaps he could grab one of the two and trade her for the armour.
But which one?
"I was unaware that Konoha encouraged multiple marriages… except for the well-known Clan Restoration Act." Orochimaru prompted.
"The CRA isn't involved." Asuma replied. "It's a result of one of the Uzumaki Laws, an Uzumaki shinobi may have up to three spouses from outside the clan in order to aid in strengthening the clan as a whole. That means a male Uzumaki could have up to three wives and a female one up to three husbands."
"He must love that." Orochimaru snarked and Asuma shook his head.
"Nope, he didn't, although he has got used to it since. He and Hinata were together first, Ino was brought in because Naruto had to use an Uzumaki Hiden technique to heal her and in doing so… well, let's just say that she had to become either his wife or sister after that in order to avoid a serious legal issue."
"Fascinating." Orochimaru noted, making a mental note to have his researchers cross-check everything that was known about the Uzumaki clan.
Perhaps the healing technique in question was listed somewhere or could be deduced from what was known.
Orochimaru looked back to the screen which was showing the now-clearing doorway and the trailing trio of genin who happened to be from Kuzagakure. Their leader was a very effeminate teenager and Orochimaru smirked inwardly.
He now knew how to get into the second stage in order to grab one of Naruto's fiancees.
Soon, the armour would be his.
And when it was, he would be able to use it to reclaim his stolen archive.
He had less than an hour to set things up.
Plenty of time.
Making his excuses, Orochimaru left the room.
It was time for another disguise.
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"Here you are, genin Shiore."
Orochimaru accepted the proffered scroll with a gracious smile. Leaving the open-fronted tent, he re-joined his disguised guards and Kidomaru held up a piece of paper with the kanji for sixteen on it.
"We go south." Orochimaru stated and Kidomaru nodded, his expression concealed behind his stolen clay mask. Beside him, Tayuya adjusted the way her hat sat on her head (co-incidently hiding her hair) and tried to look convincing as a male. Orochimaru led them away from therapidly-dispersing crowd to the gate where they would enter the Forest of Death, then he glanced at the other two.
"Did you find out the numbers?"
"Yes, sir." Tayuya said quietly. "The Hyuuga is entering through gate twenty-five while the Yamanaka is at gate forty."
"Hmmm." Orochimaru mused. "How interesting, they probably used every third gate starting with… probably seven. That would fit while spreading out the teams around the entire perimeter. Did Sakon, Guren and Jirobo make it in?"
"They did, sir." Kidomaru replied. "They sent a brief coded pulse to signal that they reached the outpost and are ready."
"Excellent." Orochimaru smirked with his stolen face. "Then as soon as enter, we use the tunnels to reach the monitoring station. The Hyuuga will be our primary target as she means the most to the Uzumaki. If we can grab the Nanabi jinchuuriki as well, all the better."
"Attention, victims!" Anko's voice echoed through a nearby loudspeaker. "If you want to live, you can back out now! The gates will open if five minutes, so enjoy what little remains of your wretched lives!"
"Sadistic little thing, isn't she?" Orochimaru smirked. "Shame she didn't show that side of herself back when she was my test subject, otherwise you'd be the Sound Six rather then the Sound Five."
"I don't believe that trying to recruit her now would be a good idea, my lord…" Tayuya offered diffidently and Orochimaru nodded.
"I quite agree. As long as Konoha exists, Anko will remain hostile to me because I abandoned her. But once the leaf has been burned into ashes, my old apprentice will be vulnerable and I can seize her and impose my will on her, shaping her to my desires… perhaps even turning her into a future host…" Orochimaru trailed off. "Oh well, if it happens, it will happen."
"Four minutes until death!" Anko's voice echoed. "I'd advise you to quit, but I really like to think of all the blood you'll spill in there!"
"Most of the genin will be getting nervous." Tayuya mused and Orochimaru glanced at her, causing her to freeze.
"They will be indeed." Orochimaru allowed, causing Tayuya to sag in relief. "It would seem that my darling apprentice has been studying quite diligently underneath Morino Ibiki. I'd recognize his little psychological flourishes anywhere. Maybe I should track down his younger brother and… no. Ibiki's too much of a professional for the hostage technique to work against him. Shame, though, I'd really like to have him working for me but with his loyalty to the leaf… he'll have to die. Such a shame to waste all that skill."
"Three minutes until the gates open! Remember that six teams at most will get through, so be prepared to give it all you've got!"
"…my lord?" Tayuya asked quietly and Orochimaru motioned for her to continue. "Should we try to take out some of the other teams? The ones who won't be part of the planned events, I mean? If they're not in the finals, then their Kages won't be here to watch them…"
Orochimaru closed his eyes for several seconds, then he slowly nodded.
"Well reasoned. Yes, the number of variables in the third stage should be kept to a minimum if possible. If we encounter any such teams, you can play with them."
"Thank you, my lord." Tayuya replied.
"Two minutes! If you need to go to the loo, you're too late! A proper ninja plans ahead!"
Orochimaru opened his mouth, then a new voice echoed across the loudspeakers.
"Could the genin who has lost a roll of thousand-ryo notes that were tied with a blue ribbon please be aware that we have some good news for you – We have found the ribbon."
"…what?" Kidomaru managed and Orochimaru chuckled.
"Oh, very, very clever. That joke has probably shattered the concentration of half the participants, placing them at a disadvantage since they need to re-focus once more. That is an exquisite example of subtle psychological manipulation. I'll have to remember that technique."
Tayuya and Kidomaru exchanged puzzled glances.
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"One minute to go! Last chance to back out!" Anko said into the microphone and Naruto chuckled.
"You're enjoying that too much." He sniggered and Anko grinned.
"Hell, yeah. I mean, look at the teams on the screens. Between my announcements and that joke of yours, over half are completely mentally thrown. Get ready to push the button."
Naruto strolled over to the large button prominently displayed on the wall as Anko toggled the microphone again.
"Thirty seconds! Finish saying your prayers!"
Naruto sighed as he placed his hand lightly on the button and waited for his cue.
"Twenty seconds!" Anko said as she carefully watched the second hand sweep across the face of the clock.
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"Ten seconds. Nine."
Sakura swallowed nervously as she looked at the towering trees ahead of them.
"Remain calm, we will not be in any real danger." Shino droned. "Why? Because I am already using my kikkai to scout the area for any threats so that we may avoid them."
"Laughing boy is right." Sai agreed. "Between our skills backed up with your genjutsu and iryoninjutsu, our chances of survival are very high."
Sakura's worry lessened and she faced the forest with a lighter heart.
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"Eight. Seven."
Fu glared at the backs of her two team-mates. As soon as they gave her a reason, she would ditch them and then Naruto-niisan would help by faking her death in a way that couldn't be questioned.
Fu's lips curved in a smirk at the thought of her so-called Sensei having to explain to the elders how he had lost their primary weapon.
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"Six. Five."
Hinata quickly re-checked her storage scrolls and weapons pouch were still where they should be, then glanced at her team-mates. Sasuke had his normal slight smirk while Kiba was almost panting with eagerness.
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"Four. Three."
Ino finished adjusting her hair into its tight, restraining braid. Her normal thoughts on trying to be fashionable and looking good were firmly relegated into second place behind the need to complete the mission, a process that had become almost second nature since she had almost died in Wave.
Feeling Choji and Shikamaru flanking her, Ino squared her shoulders.
She was ready for this.
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"Two. One."
Gaara growled under his breath, not caring that his siblings had backed away from him.
Perhaps now, he would get to prove his existence.
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"Zero!"
Naruto pushed the button and the gates unlocked.