Author's Note:
Hello loyal fans. I know that it has been a long time since I have updated this story and I am sorry about that. I have been struggling with this story. When I originally created this story, Naruto Shippuden was still in its early stages, but now that we all can agree that the plot became WAY to complicated towards the end (especially with all the fillers and arcs) I became lost. So, to save this story instead of my original plan to delete it and move on to another one, I will tweak some more elements of the story to make it more of my own verse how the actual manga/anime goes.
Some of you are probably wondering why am I telling you all of this? Well first let me explain: with how much time has passed since I last updated this story I didn't want you guys to think that I had given up on it. To be honest, I thought about it. I have so many other stories that I wanted to finally start on but can't until I get this collection completed. However, I started this story years ago and because of how I felt about this collection and how you guys feel about this too, I couldn't let either of us down. I need to see this through to the end. This story's collection has been like my baby that I have raised and shared with the world. I can't destroy it now. So, the story will continue and I promise that it will have an ending I believe everyone can hopefully get behind.
The second reason that I am explaining all of this to you guys is so that there is no confusion when as this story continues and it strays further away from the original manga/ anime. With that being said, if any of you have any questions, please feel free to message me and I will be able to explain everything to you with no problem. So, if there are no further questions or concerns or ramblings from a stressed-out writer, allow me to continue to entertain you with my words.
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Chapter 8: Part 1 Completed
Normal P.O.V.
(3 Months Later)
Three months had passed since Sasuke had last seen Naruto. Thoughts of his blond fox have been clogging his mind and judgement. There are a lot of days where he just wishes to give up and return to Naruto. But, he must fight with himself to remember why he was on this journey in the first place: Itachi.
Yes, Itachi Uchiha has been the bane of Sasuke's existence. Ever since that faithful night a young, seven-year old Sasuke Uchiha witnessed the decimation of his clan by his older sibling. The same night that his innocence was destroyed forever and he learned the true meaning of hatred for another human being. Yes, the night everything had been stolen from him and that drove him onto the pathway he currently travels down has been the only thing keeping him going these past three plus years. And now, with his training completed, the only thing that stands in his way is the overgrown snake man and his apprentice who threatens to take his body for himself: like that's going to happen.
With that thought clear on his mind, Sasuke currently sits in the middle of his room with his hands resting in his lap. His eyes are closed, his breathing is steady, and his mind is focused. Everything is falling into place. Soon, Sasuke Uchiha will be one step closer to eliminating another obstacle in his path of revenge.
"Sasuke-kun! We're here~!" a red-haired, fox woman yells before having her mouth covered.
"Be quiet you annoying hippo. Can't you see he's busy?" a white-haired shark man with purple eyes whispers in anger.
Shaking free from the shark man's grasp, the red-haired fox gives off a slight growl. "Of course I see that. I just wanted to make sure that he wasn't sleeping. We do have an important mission to complete ya know,"
"An important mission I am sure that Sasuke has not forgotten and does not need reminding of with the loudness of your voice," a tall orange-haired bear informs in a low, deep voice.
"Thank you, Jūgo. It's nice to know that at least one of you possesses some kind of appreciation for meditation," Sasuke sighs before standing up and dusting himself off. When he is finished, he turns towards the trio with a stern look on his face. "You're late,"
"Yeah, sorry 'bout that, little Miss Sleep In decided she wanted to get some extra beauty rest before our meeting; not like it did anything though,"
"Tsk. You're just jealous that you'll never have someone to connect with like Sasuke-kun and me," she smirks as she latches onto an annoyed black Uchiha cat.
"Let him go," Jūgo, the giant, orange-haired bear, reaches over and removes the fox from Sasuke's arm.
"Thank you," Sasuke nods to Jūgo. "Now that I have your full attention, there is something important we must discuss. Orochimaru is becoming sicker by the day. Soon he'll be at the perfect point of being vulnerable enough for me to defeat him,"
"I don't understand something, Sasuke. You're stronger than all of us. You could defeat him now if you wanted to, so why wait?" Suigetsu asks.
"It will be less of a hassle this way. I would rather not waste any unnecessary strength on this vile snake when I could be using it to defeat my brother,"
"You might want to reconsider your strategy," Jūgo suggests, making Sasuke raise an eyebrow in curiosity.
Karin reached behind her and pulls out a black collar with chains hanging off the side of it. Sasuke reaches out and picks it up. He gives it a few sniffs before pulling away in disgust.
"What the hell is this thing?" he asks.
"It's something new that Kabuto is working on. I stole it from his lab," Suigetsu explains with his arms crossed.
"What is it for?'
"We suspect that it might be another one of Orochimaru and Kabuto's controlling inventions," Jūgo answers.
"It has me worried. The last time Orochimaru and Kabuto tried to invent something like this was before you got here, Sasuke-kun,"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, before you agreed to serve Orochimaru, he was looking for a new vessel until he could get his hands on you. He chose a woman from the Rain. Of course, she didn't wanna do it willingly. She had been captured years prior to when he took her body. So, you can only imagine what he had to do to restrain her," Suigetsu informs with his hands in his pockets.
"So, it looks like they plan on maybe taking my body sooner than I anticipated,"
"Looks like it," the shark shrugs.
"What are you going to do Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke turns his gaze down to the collar before handing it Jūgo. He moves to grab his sword and slide it into his side before heading towards the door. "What are you doing, Sasuke-kun?"
"Change of plans. I'm taking his life today,"
"Sasuke! You can't just- I mean- What about us?" Suigetsu stammers the trio follows behind him.
"Like I said before, I can't waste unnecessary energy on this. I need the three of you to get rid of Kabuto. I'm going after Orochimaru," Sasuke growls low in his voice.
"Awesome! I've always wanted to rip that wolf to bits," Suigetsu cheers.
The trio scatters from behind him. Slowing his hurried steps, Sasuke comes to a stop in front of Orochimaru's door. He takes a few deep breaths to calm himself. Inside, he can hear Orochimaru talking to himself from the other side of the door.
"Damn this body. It's giving out on me sooner than I had hoped. It's causing me so much pain," The snake man hisses while coughing; blood spilling down the sides of his mouth. "But, it'll all be worth it in the end. That Uchiha brat is primed and ready anyway. It really does not matter when I take his body. All that matters is that it will be worth it to have such a young, vibrant body for me to use to accomplish my goals and destroy the Hidden Leaf!"
Feeling his blood boil at the snake's words, Sasuke raises his fingers to the center of his face, allowing some of his chakra to form at the tip of his claws before aiming it at the door and releasing it.
"What the~?!" Orochimaru gasps when he sees a beam of blue chakra aiming towards him. To defend against the attack, he brings his arms up and uses them to block the beam from going any further. "Who dares attack me?!"
Using his right hand and his sword, Sasuke slices through the door standing between him and his opponent. When the shattered pieces of the door fall away, Orochimaru curses when he sees who is on the other side.
"Of course it's you. I have been waiting on the day where you would come for me, especially with me in my weakened state,"
"Sorry, but it seems that I cannot allow you to have my body after all; not like you were going to get it from me without a fight anyway. Is that why you were having Kabuto make that collar for me? To control me?"
"Hn. So, you found out my little plan so soon? It matters not. You may be strong, but you will not be able to defeat both me and Kabuto,"
"I wouldn't worry about him, snake. I have some friends keeping him occupied while I take care of you. Wanted to make sure that we weren't interrupted,"
"Why you!"
"Orochimaru, there is nothing left for you to teach me. I have become ten times stronger than you. I have ambitions that you cannot and will not take from me. Your meaningless existence ends today, by my hand," Sasuke announces with a determined look in his Sharingan red and black eyes as his Cursed Mark began to spread across the left side of his body.
"Tsk. To think that I say something special in you; hence the reason I chose you. But to be attacked and now threatened by a Uchiha nursling?! The insolence!"
Orochimaru screams as he breaks the bond that was holding him there. Sasuke was slightly fazed but shook it off and lounged towards the snake. Knowing that his body was in no condition to fight, Orochimaru opens his mouth and a black flash shoots out. Sasuke moves slightly to his left to dodge. Turning around, Sasuke's eyes widen when he sees a giant, white snake forming in the room.
"So, this is your true form? A giant, white snake is all that you have been reduced to from those decades of you experimenting on yourself? Pathetic,"
"Call me what you want, you insolent little Uchiha brat! But I will have your body! I will come out of this battle the victor! And I will destroy the Hidden Leaf! Now obey me! Give me your body!"
Sasuke jumps into the air to dodge Orochimaru's lung attack. The white "scales" on the snake's body start to come alive and turn into smaller white snakes. Sasuke uses his sword to cur through each of them. By time Sasuke lands back on the floor, Orochimaru shakes off the effects of his giant head going through the wall. He turns his head back to see Sasuke standing with a sword made of chakra in his right hand and his Cursed Mark Stage 2 activated.
"You think that's gonna enough to defeat me?!"
Orochimaru sends out several snakes to attack Sasuke. The black cat uses his chakra sword to attack the snakes, but shows slight panic when they become too much for him. Ushering more chakra into his blade, Sasuke could slice through the middle of the snake cocoon he was in incased in. After freeing himself, Sasuke flies towards Orochimaru. He uses the sword to slice through the giant snake until it was scattered into several large pieces. Orochimaru let out a loud, painful shrill before collapsing onto the floor.
Thinking he had won, Sasuke lowers himself onto the ground and dismisses both his chakra sword and his Cursed Mark form. "That's it? How disappointing," Disappointed in his emptied victory, Sasuke turns to walk away only to fall to his knees in confusion. "What the hell is going on?" Sasuke yells out, trying to move his unresponsive body.
"Foolish little kitten," Orochimaru chuckles, slowly lifting his head to stare at the helpless Sasuke. "You think that is all it takes to defeat me?! Even in my weakened state, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve to defeat you. You are now suffering from the numbing effects of the bodily fluids of the Giant Snake. You will start to feel your body going numb. Don't try and fight it," Sasuke's eyes widen in fear as the snake's giant head inches closer to him. "You want to know one of the main reasons I chose you to be my next vessel? You're power. See, you are not like your brother. You are better. Your brother does not possess the anger, the hatred, the killer instinct that I knew I could bring out in you. It is true that I tried going after your brother first and, even though he managed to defeat me in the past, I know a little secret that you don't. Your "prefect" brother has a fatal flaw. A flaw that would only make it be worthless for me to take his body. But you, Sasuke Uchiha, you are not flawed. You are flawless. You are the perfect specimen for me to continue my research while honing all your abilities and powers for my own. Whatever plan you thought you had will not work here. I will have you, Sasuke Uchiha!"
Sasuke, terrified out of his mind tries his hardest to steel his never and control his breathing as the Orochimaru's mouth overtakes him.
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"What the hell is that awful stench?"
Sasuke slowly opens one eye before opening the other one and looking around. A stomach churning sound of something squishing together surrounding him along with the horrifying smell of stomach acid. He looks around, even with his enhanced, adjusted vision, Sasuke could not clearly see everything. One thing he could tell though was that wherever he is, reminds him of someone's stomach.
"Where am I?" Sasuke asks the void.
"Why, you are inside of me. This is where the Body Transferring Ritual will be taking place,"
His body, still from the numbing gas, all Sasuke could do is watch as Orochimaru's intestines curl themselves around him. To his left, the face of the woman from the Chunin Exams and a boy with pale green hair to his right appeared.
"His previous host? Damn, this is not good. I need to get out of here and fast,"
"Not too much longer, Sasuke-kun. It will all be over soon,"
"Yes, it will be. This may be your world, but I am in control here,"
"What~!" Orochimaru gasps as he notices that the intestines by Sasuke start to turn black. The color moves from surrounding Sasuke and spreads throughout Orochimaru's world and even onto him. "You can't be doing this?! HOW are you doing this?!"
"Like I said, you will never have me!"
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Having won the battle and with Orochimaru completely absorbed into the young Uchiha, Sasuke wakes up back in the snake's room with the giant snake's body lying lifeless on the ground. He looks around, soaking in his victory, Sasuke turns to walk out of the room to meet up with his new teammates.
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"Are you done yet?" Sasuke says as he walks into the room where Suigetsu, Karin, and Jūgo are standing around a bloodied, and almost deceased Kabuto.
"What you are?" Suigetsu smacks his lips.
"What?" Kabuto asks before looking at Sasuke standing proudly in the entranceway. "Did you- did you- kill Lord Orochimaru?! You bastard!"
"Shut up!" Suigetsu yells as he kicks Kabuto in his broken ribs.
Jūgo reaches down and holds Kabuto by the back of his shirt. Sasuke walks over to him and squats down in front of him with his sword in his grip.
"Your lord is dead. Now, enjoy the afterlife alone," Sasuke says before stabbing Kabuto in his heart. Jūgo lets Kabuto's lifeless body slump to the ground before both Sasuke and he stand up. "Let's get out of here,"
"Where are we going to go, Sasuke-kun?"
"Yeah, in case you haven't noticed, this is the only home most of us have known," Suigetsu points out.
"You guys are going to join me on my quest to find and kill my brother, Itachi. From now on, we are Team Taka. We will gather intel on both the Akatsuki and Itachi. We will let nothing stand in our way until both are destroyed,"
"Yes, Sasuke-kun! I will gladly follow you anywhere,"
"Well, it is not like I had anything better to do. I just better be able to continue my collection of the Seven Mist Swordsman's' swords,"
"You have my loyalty, Sasuke,"
Sasuke, the proclaimed leader of the newly formed Taka, nods at his team members before leading them out of the hideout. They make it to the outside where the setting sun is shining bright with reddish glow and a light breeze blew through their cloths and hair. Sasuke stares into the sunset, thoughts of blood and a simile for what transpired moments before ran through the black cat's head. Now nothing was stopping him from what he dreamt of doing since that night Itachi Uchiha slaughter their entire clan.
"Um, Sasuke? Not to cut your reveling in your victory short, but where are we going to now?"
"To the nearest town. Someone in that town has to have information on either my brother or the Akatsuki,"
And with that, Taka began their new mission with nothing but the open road ahead of them.
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To Be Continued…