Hello everyone I'm back once again to bring you all another chapter of my story; just letting you all know I just finished my shorter story Loyalty and Lies so if you haven't read it yet check it out and see if you like it. Now with that out of the way let's begin.
Set in Stone: Chapter 11
Naruto, Sarada, Hinata and Yakumo were staring down Orochimaru; Orochimaru for his part was feeling a little off put by the 4 genin. Orochimaru was confident in his skills, he was a sanin for a reason; however these 4 knew things about him only a select few people ever had the privilege of knowing, he knew better than to underestimate someone so he stayed on his toes.
Sarada decided to kick off the battle by launching a fireball at Orochimaru; Orochimaru dodged the attack only to be charged by Naruto. Naruto creating 4 clones rushed Orochimaru from all sides; Orochimaru blocked and countered all punches and kicks from Naruto and his clones, he then produced a kunai and stabbed Naruto. Naruto however smiled and Orochimaru sensing something wrong threw Naruto who exploded damaging a nearby tree.
"Damn" Naruto said coming out of the ground a few feet away "I thought I for sure had you with that exploding clone; oh well I guess I'll have to try again" Naruto said.
'A genjutsu and an exploding clone' Orochimaru thought 'Kabuto's reports told me he was at the below average genin; how can someone progress so much in just 6 months.' Orochimaru was brought out of his thoughts when he dodged a strike from Hinata; Hinata began using her own variation of the gentle fist trying to strike Orochimaru. Orochimaru dodged another strike from Hinata as her open palm attack hit a tree; the tree then began to crack and fragment as the pulse of chakra that was exerted from Hinata all but destroyed the tree.
'That was not a normal gentle fist strike' Orochimaru thought 'if I got hit by that strike it could've damaged me very badly; that type of strength I have only seen in Tsunade. Could this Hyuga brat have been taught by Tsunade?' Orochimaru then brought out his Kusanagi blade and charged Hinata; he ppinted the sword forward and stabbed Hinata through the chest making the young Hyuga girl cough up blood.
Orochimaru smiled as he saw the horror on the girls face; but his smile soon vanished as the Hyuga girl turned to blood and spilled onto the ground. The world then began to shift around and he was soon in a dimension of mirrors "welcome to my world lord Orochimaru" the disembodied voice of Yakumo said coming from everywhere and nowhere. "I do hope you enjoy your stay" she said; Orochimaru's feet began to sink into the ground as blades of grass began to pierce his flesh.
'What is this, what is this' Orochimaru thought as he fought through the pain he was in 'genjutsu' Orochimaru realized 'kai' Orochimaru thought and expelled a large wave of chakra destroying the genjutsu placed on him. He was then faced with Sarada who was a mere few feet away with a Chidori in her hand aimed right at the snake substituted himself at the last minute with a log; Sarada punched through the log burning a hole through it blackening the wood.
"I'm sorry Sarada" Yakumo said appearing out of thin air "I couldn't hold him that long in my genjutsu" she said a little disappointed. Sarada put her hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"It's ok remember this is just practice so just try better next time ok" Sarada said cheering the Yakumo up.
"Practice" Orochimaru yelled "you are fighting me a sanin, a S-class criminal as practice! Are you insane" he shouted to which Naruto, Sarada, Hinata and Yakumo looked at him completely calm and collected.
"Well yeah why else do you think we decided to fight you" Naruto said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"We need to test our skills against someone of a higher caliber" Sarada said cleaning her classes with a soft cloth "I mean how else are we going to kill Pein, Konan, Kakuzu, Hidan and 'Madara'" she said making Orochimaru freeze. "I mean from what we know you were the weakest among the Akatsuki except for that Zetsu guy; so if we can fight you on pretty even terms then we should have a good frame of reference on the others" Sarada said while putting her glasses back on.
"Ok enough small talk" Naruto shouted creating 10 more clones "back to the ass kicking" he yelled as he and his clones charged Orochimaru once again; Orochimaru began taking out the clones making sure none of them were the exploding clones. When he was down to just Naruto he threw a punch which Naruto dodged; Naruto then threw a punch which Orochimaru was planning to catch.
Naruto just a few inches away opened his hand showing his palm and creating a fully formed rasengan in a instant; Orochimaru's hand was effectively destroyed by the attack, Orochimaru kicked Naruto in the face sending him flying into a tree. Orochimaru retreated back a few yards holding his stump of a arm; he then focused his chakra and forced a new hand to regenerate popping out of his stump.
"Good kami" Yakumo said holding her hands up to her mouth "that was disgusting; what are you a lizard" she said grossed out by the technique Orochimaru just used.
"No he's a snake Yakumo" Naruto said getting up and spitting a glob of blood on the ground "damn I think you knock a couple teeth loose; you kick pretty hard snake face" Naruto said with a shit eating grin on his face.
Sarada and Hinata decided to engage Orochimaru in hand to hand combat; Orochimaru blocked the axe kick from Sarada and felt his whole body shake as he was pressed ankle deep into the ground by Sarada's super strength.
"Do all you girls have Tsunade's super strength" Orochimaru shouted annoyed as he grabbed Sarada's leg throwing the girl who in a feat of acrobatics landed a few yards away. Hinata began striking at Orochimaru hitting him a few times shutting down a couple chakra points. Orochimaru getting tired of these charades kicked Hinata away and quickly went through hand signs; he then summoned the snake boss manda and stood a top of his head.
"Orochimaru what do I owe the pleasssure" Manda spoke.
"Manda eat these annoying runts and get them out of my way" Orochimaru shouted and Manda looked around confused.
"Orochimaru there isss no one here but usss" Manda said which made Orochimaru go wide eyed.
"Don't tell me" Orochimaru said 'kai' Orochimaru then sent out a pulse of chakra disrupting the genjutsu; he saw that Naruto and his team along with Sasuke's team was missing. "I was under a genjutsu? How was this able to happ-" Orochimaru began until he had a realization; the first time he was under the genjutsu was because of that brown haired girl.
'Yakumo? Yakumo Kurama; the unstable heiress of the Kurama clan? How is she out here she was locked up from what Kabuto's report said' Orochimaru thought; this was not making any sense. How were these brats able to find out secret information about him, how were they able to help tame a unstable girl with a genjutsu bloodline.
Orochimaru sent Manda back to the summon realm and looked around 'I must retreat for now; I must find out more about those brats and find out what else they might know' Orochimaru thought as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
With Naruto and his squad in a different part of the forest
Naruto was sitting on the ground with his mouth open as Hinata was using her gloved hand to check Naruto's mouth while Yakumo was standing over head holding a flashlight into Naruto's open mouth.
"Ok Naruto hold very still" Hinata said; the next moment Hinata ripped out the damaged molar from the back of Naruto's mouth making Naruto shout in pain while making Yakumo shutter at the medical procedure. "Ok all done" Hinata said giving Naruto a canteen of water to rinse his mouth out "here put this numbing gel on your exposed gum; it will numb the pain and fight infection" she said as Naruto nodded taking the tube.
"Tanks inada" Naruto spoke unable to talk correctly due to his injured mouth 'damn snake bastard; kicking me in the mouth and breaking one of my teeth. If we didn't need him to for the invasion, I would've killed him there and then' Naruto grumbled inside his mind. Just then Sarada came back with Sasuke's teams scroll in her hand.
"Ok I hid Sasuke and his team and took their scroll; it's the exact one we need. So, let's make it to the tower and report on our progress so far" Sarada said.
Naruto holding his injured mouth could only nod as talking hurt his mouth; Yakumo came over to Naruto and lightly kissed the injured side of his mouth careful enough to make sure it didn't aggravate him. "That was to help with the pain" Yakumo said with a smile "did it help Naruto" she said.
Naruto smiled with the uninjured side of his face and nodded; "come on Naruto" Yakumo said helping him up "lets get going" she said as Naruto and his team began to run to the tower in the middle of the forest.
3 hours later at the tower
Naruto was sitting inside his room in the tower as he was still recovering from his broken jaw; while the fox was fixing it and making a new tooth for him it still hurt like a motherfucker. Sarada went to talk to Hiruzen, Jiraya, Tsunade and Anko about their encounter with Orochimaru and what happened to Sasuke and his team. Hinata and Yakumo decided to take a shower to get the dirt and grime off themselves; they were joined by Temari who was with her 2 brothers at the tower as well as they were the first one's to enter a hour and a half into the exam.
Naruto finishing his shower long before after getting checked up by the medical staff was just laying in his bed relaxing until he heard a knock at the door. When he got up and opened it he saw Sarada standing there "Sarada hey come in; did the debrief go ok" Naruto asked ushering the girl inside.
"Yeah it went fine I'm just tired" Sarada said as she plopped down onto Naruto's bed "today was exhausting; I just want to relax for a little while" she said. Naruto then plopped down next to her and wrapped his arms around he and kissed her forehead.
"Hope you don't mind if I relax with you" Naruto said; Sarada then kissed his lips and removed her glasses putting them on the night stand next to the bed and put her head onto Naruto's chest.
"I wouldn't have it any other way" Sarada said as she closed her eyes and fell asleep in her boyfriends arms; Naruto stayed awake looking at Sarada while she slept and stroked her hair lovingly.
'How am I so lucky to have a girl like you in my life' Naruto thought as he held Sarada tighter as her soft breathing made Naruto join her in sleep.
3 hours later
Ichigo, Moro, Tsubaki, Karin and Kin entered the tower after trekking through the forest of death; "fuck I'm tired" Moro said while stretching "I wonder if Naruto and Hinata made it here yet" she wondered out loud. She didn't have to wait long as Hinata and Yakumo walked up with smiles on their faces and greeted them.
"Hello Moro; I'm glad to see you made it" Hinata said as she and Moro hugged as Hinata was worried about her.
"Yeah we had to take a detour" Moro said she then faced Karin and Kin "these 2 are Kin and Karin; Karin lost her squad and Kin well… she decided to join us" Moro said pointing at the 2.
"Nice to meet you I'm Karin Uzumaki" Karin greeted which made Hinata and Yakumo look at her wide eyed as she had the same last name as Naruto.
"I'm Kin" Kin said directly.
"Where's Naruto and Sarada" Ichigo asked to which Hinata and Yakumosnapped out of their daze.
"They are in the cafeteria they-" Yakumo began before Tsubaki started walking following the sign that said cafeteria.
"Food finally; I'm so hungry I can eat a horse" she said walking to the cafeteria; everyone else sweat dropped and followed her as there wasn't anything else to do.
In the cafeteria
Sarada and Naruto were eating with Temari who was telling them about Suna "- so these cows produce milk? I never tried cow milk; we only have goats, I guess the desert environment isn't suitable for them" Temari said which made Naruto look at her in surprise.
"Yeah they are these huge animals and they make a 'mooing' sound; I saw one once at a petting zoo that old man hokage took me to once" Naruto said which made Temari nod in interest of these 'cows'.
Sarada who was listening to the conversation was in a state of disbelief 'really? A child of a kage who is probably very smart has never seen or heard of a cow' she said with a sweat drop'. Just then Ichigo and his team along with Hinata, Yakumo and 2 girls she's never seen before walked in "Ichigo; girls what's up" Sarada greeted.
"Nothing much just got done with the exam" Ichigo explained as he sat down "we also made some new friends; this is Karin Uzumaki and Kin Tsuchi" he said pointing to the 2 girls. Sarada looked at the red-haired girl in disbelief as Naruto looked at her in surprise.
"Hey my last name is Uzumaki too" Naruto said in a chipper voice "are you a descendant of the Uzumaki clan too" he asked as Karin immediately sat next to him with a smile and stars in her eyes.
"Yes, I am; I'm 75 percent Uzumaki" she said excitedly "what about you" she asked.
"My mom was 100 percent while my dad was not; so I'm only half, that's why I don't have red hair like you" Naruto explained " I don't know much about the clan other than in what few books we had; do you know anything cool" Naruto asked and Karin nodded while pulling out a scoll and unsealing a fat book.
"I got a large collection of Uzumaki history; it all started-" Karin began explaining with Naruto listening like a little kid being told a bed tome story. Sarada was still looking at Karin in shock; she never expected to see her again.
*Flash back
Sarada was returning from a mission near the Konoha/Suna border when she spotted a small house in the woods; she decided to check it out. Upon reaching the house she was then caught with a Chakra chain that sprouted from the ground.
"Who are you and what are you doing here" a Red-headed woman demanded as she turned Sarada to face her.
"I'm sorry I was just looking for the owner; I'm Sarada a ninja from Suna" she said pulling out a Suna headband she used to identify herself with the resistance.
"Lies" Karin said tightening the chain "I can sense your deceit and I can sense your chakra; your related to Sasuke aren't you" she said which made Sarada scared.
"Y-yes; Sasuke Uchiha is my father how did you know" Sarada asked as Karin let her go.
"I use to know your father" Karin said as Sarada looked at her "I was part of Taka, I helped him find his brother and I even saved his life using my special ability. That was before he turned into a genocidal prick and murdered that blonde boy" Karin said as Sarada looked at her in interest. "When he took power I told him I want nothing to do with him; he let me go as a courtesy for my past service to him" Karin said before she got a dark look "if I knew what type of monster he was going to turn out to be I would've killed him" she said.
Sarada stood up and had her head held down "I ran away from him, I joined the resistance to help stop him; I know what kind of monster he is" Sarada said and Karin sensing she was telling the truth turned around and picked up her basket.
"Well you got a long journey ahead girly" Karin said "Sasuke can't be beaten so easily; the only one that was able to get close was Naruto before your bastard of a father and bitch of a mother murdered him" she said walking away. Sarada looking at the woman walking away spoke up.
"W-wait what's your name" she asked; Karin stopped and turned around "Karin Uzumaki; the last Uzumaki. Now leave me; I moved out here to live in solitude and you are making that difficult" she said as she walked away without saying another word.
Sarada wanted to talk to her more but couldn't bring herself to do it; she then continued her long journey back to Suna, keeping the interesting interaction to herself as there was no need to cause the poor woman more grief than she already had.
As Sarada moved out of Karin's sensor range she let out a sigh 'how can a bastard like Sasuke have a child like that. God how I hate him; I can't believe I ever loved that prick' Karin thought as she entered her house and locked the door once more shutting out the rest of the world.
*Flashback end
Sarada looked at a excited Karin talking to a eager Naruto as they were quickly bonding over their shared clan ties; Sarada looked back at her food and cracked a small smile 'looks like you will never live in solitude ever again Karin' Sarada thought as she took another bite of her food.
4 Days later
Over the next four days teams continued to trickle in; Ino and her team came in on day 3 and upon arrival Ino basically kidnapped Ichigo and started a 2 day long make out session which Ichigo didn't protest. After that team Guy consisting of Neji Hyuga, Tenten Higarashi and Rock lee entered; Neji tried to approach Hinata but was blocked by Tsubaki and Moro who said that she had nothing to say to him.
A rain team consisting of 3 guys wearing bodysuits and breathing devised entered on the fourth day and lastly was team Kakashi. Sasuke, Kiba and Sakura looked like they went through hell; no surprise because since they did get their asses kicked by Orochimaru and had their scrolls stolen by Naruto and his team.
When the time ran out all examinees entered a arena flanked by 2 over head railings; standing in front of a statue was the Hokage and the sensei's of the various teams who passed. The Hokage began a long and boring speech which made both Naruto and Tsubaki start to nod off but were kept awake by a bonk to the head from Sarada. At the end of the speech Hayate came out and announced that since 19 genin passed there was going to be a preliminary round in order to shorten the roster much to some protest.
"Ok then" Hayate began as a giant screen came out "when you see your name up on the screen you stay in the arena; the rest of you go up top and wait" Hayate instructed. The screen then went through a random selection of names until it beeped and the 2 names were on the board.
"Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno; the rest of you go to the railing and wait for your turn" Hayate ordered. Ichigo went up to Ino and kissed her cheek.
"Good luck darling" Ichigo said as Ino handed him her sword and brought out her wooden practice sword because she didn't want to accidentally kill Sakura.
"I don't need luck; I got you and your training on my side" Ino said as Ichigo smiled and walked away; Ino then faced a smug looking Sakura "you ready to lose billboard brow" Ino taunted.
"You're the one going down piggy" Sakura snapped back. As both girls got into their fighting stances Hayate looked at the both of them and raised up his hand.
"Round 1: Ino Yamanaka vs Sakura Haruno" he shouted as everyone looked at the impending match "Hajime!"
Ok another chapter done; I'm taking some creative liberties with the preliminaries so don't bust my balls. Also, I never intended Naruto and gang to beat Orochimaru. Because even though he is stronger than in canon he is not op; he just knows how to counter some of Orochimaru's moves due to Sarada knowing a lot about him. Ok with that out of the way please like comment and review and also I'm going to be releasing a new short series so keep that in mind and until next time bye.