Kumogakure laid deep in the tallest mountain range of the Land of Lightning. The structure of the buildings were built on the tips of the mountains and traveled all the way down to the bases. Easily making Kumogakure the largest great village out of the five. And at the top of the tallest mountain was the Raikage's office. The whole building was dedicated to shinobi of Kumo.

"Hm." The Raikage, who was a rather larger man and dawned a white cloak and black pants, slowly stroked his white-haired goatee as he read this letter from the Tsuchikage. He was suspicious about this boy being the son of the Fourth Hokage, the legendary Minato Namikaze. The large dark-skinned man looked back at the bingo book.

"This boy certainly does look like Minato, but I still have my doubts. I sent my best scouts to Konoha after the Kyūbi incident to make sure the man was dead. And there was no evidence of the Yellow Flash ever having a son."

The messenger shinobi, who was dressed in a standard Kumo shinobi outfit: an exceedingly long grey top with matching bottoms and a white, one-strapped flak jacket: nodded in understanding. "Perhaps Konoha kept the boy hidden because of his jinchūriki status. Lord Bee wasn't found out as the jinchūriki for the Eight Tails until the Third Great War."

"Jinchūriki's are only useful during times of war. If there is no war, then they serve as deterrents. They should be kept a secret until they're needed."

"Even Lord Bee, sir? Your brother? What about Lady Yugito?"

The Raikage was quiet for a moment before responding. "Do not confuse Killer Bee's and Yugito's positions in the village with their duties. We may treat them with respect, but they are only used for war. Don't forget that."

The messenger shinobi nodded in understanding. "Would you like to send a message back to the Tsuchikage, my lord?"

The Raikage ran his large hand through his slicked back white hair. He was not sure if this information, true or not, made this whole thing more complicated or enticing. Ay held an extremely deep respect for Minato, his power, only one of few people who could match him in battle, and what the man believed in. But, at the same time, Ay loathed Minato Namikaze for what he did to Kumogakure shinobi during the Third Great Shinobi War. So many lives were lost because of one man.

"No need to send anything back. That old fence sitter sent a set of coordinates. I know what he's asking me to do."

The Raikage moved some papers around on his desk to make room for the map of all his active missions. He moved his finger around until found the closest active mission to the coordinates. "The closest shinobi I have deployed is Darui and Cee's small platoon." Ay handed back the message from the Tsuchikage. "Send a mission update to Darui with these coordinates. They are too meet up with the Iwa shinobi and conduct recon on Konohagakure. They must gather all intel on one Naruto Uzumaki…or if the opportunity is presented engage and kill him. We don't need Minato's legacy running around and interrupting our plans for Konoha."

"Consider it done, Lord Raikage."

-Konoha Hospital, main entrance-

The Konoha Hospital was always a relatively calm place, it was a rather dull place at some points in the day. Yes, there were those random bursts of adrenaline from the emergency room but overall, the hospital was a quiet place for people to heal and nurses to do their work.

"Someone help please! She needs help!"

Bursting through the main entrance of the hospital was a spikey blonde-haired boy with three whisker marks on his cheeks and carrying a pink haired girl that looked lifeless, and they were both covered in blood. The two nurses, one male one female, jumped up from behind their large desk and rushed over to the boy.

"Oh my god!" The female nurse yelled when she noticed how much blood there really was and where the wound was.

"What in the world happened?!" The male nurse questioned.

Naruto's thoughts were a jumbled mess as he tried to put them into words. "I-I-I-I don't know! I just found her like this! Please, do something! She's lost a lot of blood!" Naruto noticed that the two nurses hesitated momentarily by looking at each other with slight concern. "What's the matter? Do something!"

"Are you sure you don't know what happened?" The male nurse asked again.

Naruto's shock over the situation quickly faded and turned into anger. He could not believe this was happening right now. "Seriously?! You're going to question what happened just because it's me?! My teammate is dying in my arms and you're just staring at me! Do your fucking job and help her! PLEASE!"

The two nurses looked at each other and nodded. "I'll lead him to the emergency room, you call ahead and let them know we're coming." The female nurse took off down the hallway while the male nurse ran back to the desk.

"Follow her to the emergency room! They're better equipped for this!"

Naruto nodded and took off after the female nurse, leaving a trail of Sakura's dripping behind him. The male nurse picked up the phone for the PA system.

"Incoming to the ER. Young female, roughly twelve to thirteen years old, with stab wound to lower abdomen, blood loss is critical. Lady Shizune report to the ER. I repeat, Lady Shizune report to the ER stat!"

Time seemed to slow for Naruto as he ran down the halls of the hospital to the emergency room. It felt like he was running as fast as he possibly could. There was a small amount comfort that Shizune was called over the PA system to handle this, but his worry still reigned supreme in his mind. He wasn't sure what happened or who did this to her, but that could be figured out later. Sakura's safety was all that mattered right now.

"N-Naruto…"

"Don't talk Sakura. Save your strength." Naruto responded as he ran. He wasn't even aware she was conscious.

"S…Save S-Sasuke…"

Naruto didn't stop moving. "What do you mean? What happened to Sasuke?"

"Kid…napped…Orochimaru…"

A set of double doors opened and revealed a small horde nurses that were waiting for their patient.

"Put the patient on the stretcher!" The female nurse ordered.

Naruto was quick to do what he was told and laid Sakura down on the stretcher as gently as he could, trying not cause her anymore pain than she was already in. She looked so pale, so ghostly. She even felt cold to the touch.

"Alright now back off so we can do our work!" A nurse yelled as she and other nurses began to wheel Sakura away into another room. Leaving Naruto to stand there and process everything.

'Sasuke was kidnapped? By Orochimaru? What the hell is going on?!'

"Naruto! Are you alright?!"

At the call of his name, Naruto turned to see Shizune running up towards him. She already looked prepped for dealing with Sakura's injuries.

"Y-Yeah. I'm okay."

"That's good. Now please tell me what happened." Shizune said as she put her short hair in somewhat of a ponytail.

"I'm not really sure. We were having a team meeting and I was the first one to leave. I heard a scream and came rushing back. I found Sakura and brought her here as quick as I could. Sasuke or Kakashi sensei weren't there. I wasn't gone for that long…"

"We can't worry about that now, Naruto." Shizune could clearly see he was worried about his teammates. "Once your team is accounted for and healed up then we can worry about what happened. Okay?" Naruto nodded but did not say anything. "Now, I'm going to help Sakura."

"Wait, Shizune?"

The woman turned back before leaving. "Hm? What is it?"

"Where's Granny Tsunade?"

Shizune was quick to answer. "She's on the third floor. She had an emergency surgery on Chōji Akimichi. His condition worsened…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence because Naruto already took off running for the staircase.

-Third Floor, waiting room-

Ino wasn't sure if she had ever been this worried in her life, she had never dealt with this sort of thing before. She had come to visit Chōji, and to sneak him in some potato chips at his request, when his condition suddenly dropped and her and Chōza, his father, was rushed out of the room and into the waiting area.

"I hope Chōji is gonna be okay…" Ino said in a worried tone. "I can't believe he actually beat that guy. I've heard a couple of jōnin say those four that were running around yesterday were jōnin level."

"Chōji was forced to use the Secret Triple Threat." Chōza informed. "It must have been one hell of a fight for him to use the pills."

Ino looked at the elder man curiously. "The Secret Triple Threat? Chōji never mentioned having some like that up his sleeve. What is it?"

"It's an Akimichi clan secret medicine. It's three different colored pills that forcefully turn our body's fat reserves into chakra, giving the person massive boosts in chakra. It's very dangerous to use all three consecutively. The pills basically poison the body. If one eats any of the pills, especially the red chili pepper pill, all the body's fat reserves are gone and the user's chakra is drained to zero. And then death isn't too far behind them…"

Ino gasped and covered her mouth in shock. "I can't believe Chōji would go so far…"

"This meant everything to Chōji." Chōza stated. "I know my son. Taking that bastard down meant a great deal to him. I'm enormously proud of what he did."

"You don't seem too worried about him and his condition?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"You don't know the Fifth Hokage's power and what she is capable of. If it wasn't for Lady Tsunade then Chōji would've been dead last night. With her here then my son has a fighting chance. The Fifth utterly saved us all."

'The Fifth Hokage…' Ino thought in amazement. 'So, this is what a Sannin can do…'

As if she was waiting for her queue to exit, Tsunade walked out of the operating room, redoing her normally two ponytails into one. She breathed a massive sigh of relief as she walked up to the two waiting to hear the results.

"Chōji Akimichi is going to be alright!" Tsunade said with happiness in her voice, causing Ino to jump to her feet in joy.

"Chōji's gonna be okay, Lady Tsunade?!"

The legendary Sannin nodded happily. "He's unconscious right now but he should wake up soon. You can go see him when he does."

Chōza stood up and respectively bowed to the Fifth Hokage. "The Akimichi clan is forever in your debt Lady Tsunade. Thank you for saving my son."

Tsunade waved it off and motion Chōza to stand up straight. "I appreciate your praise, but you should be thanking your friends in the Nara clan. It was their medical encyclopedia and extensive research is what gave me the tools to save Chōji."

"Of course, Lady Hokage. You have single handedly saved Konoha during this crisis. Thank you."

"Chōza, there's no need to thank me. As your Hokage, it's my duty to help and protect this village in anyway I can. Now, go home and get some rest. Chōji should wake up by morning."

"Baa-chan!"

Bursting through the door that led to the stairs was Naruto, he looked panicked. He charged past Ino and Chōza and ran straight up to the Hokage.

"Hey! Watch where you're going Naruto!" Ino shouted but the boy paid no mind to the girl.

Tsunade has never seen Naruto so panicked before, it was as if he had seen a ghost. "Sakura's been stabbed and Sasuke's been kidnapped!"

"What?! That announcement over the PA system was for Sakura?!" Tsunade gasped.

"Sakura's hurt?!" Ino asked in horror for her friend, running up to Naruto. "And what do you mean Sasuke's been kidnapped?!"

"Ino, I'm not talking to you!" Naruto snapped as she approached.

"Calm down, Naruto! There's no need to yell at Ino. Now, tell me what's going on." Tsunade ordered.

Naruto took a moment to collect himself before responding. "We were having a team meeting, and something happened after I left because I heard a scream. I came back and found Sakura hurt and Sasuke missing. She said that Orochimaru had kidnapped him."

"Orochimaru?!" Ino gasped.

Tsunade looked at Naruto sternly. "How long ago did this happen, Naruto? Time is of the essence now."

"I'm not really sure. Within the last half hour."

"Then they haven't gone very far." Chōza chimed in. "If we get the quick response force team out fast enough then they'll be able to catch them before they get too far away."

"It'll take a bit of time to get them assembled and ready to go." Tsunade stated. "I haven't had the time to designate a proper QRF team."

"Then send me!" Naruto shouted. "I wanna make this bastard pay for what he did!"

"You can't go alone, Naruto!" Ino snapped back. "You may be a chūnin but there's no way you'll be handle take down the guy who beat Sasuke!"

"I'm the most readily available shinobi that can handle this!" Naruto turned and yelled at Ino. "You wanna doubt me? Fine! But I wasn't made a chūnin because I got lucky! I worked my ass off to get where I am! I'm going to save Sasuke and take out the bastard that hurt Sakura!"

Tsunade could see how much this meant to her godson, and rightfully so. She would feel the same way if she was in his place. "Naruto does have a point, Ino." She had to let him go, despite the danger. "Alright Naruto go rescue Sasuke and bring him back to the village. A QRF team will be put together and dispatched to follow you. Your mission is a go."

"Say less, Baa-chan!" Naruto was already well on his way out of the hospital by the time Tsunade had finished her words.

The female Sannin couldn't help but sigh. But he needed to get a move on if he wanted any chance of catching up to the kidnapper. Now, she needed to do her part and create a good QRF team to follow him and provide back up.

"Are you sure it's safe to send Naruto out on his own?"

The blonde Hokage looked at the Akimichi clan leader curiously. "What do you mean, Chōza? He's earned the rank of chūnin and is eligible to take missions alone."

"But is it safe for him?" Chōza questioned again. "You know what I'm talking about, Lady Tsunade."

Now Tsunade understood what the man was getting at. "I'll say it once more, Chōza." The Hokage's tone was filled with authority. "Naruto earned the rank of chūnin and has proven himself an exceptionally reliable shinobi to Konoha, regardless of your opinion of him. I am not going to have this conversation with you again."

Chōza seemed unsatisfied with that answer but kept his words to himself. "I'll take my leave now, Lady Hokage. Let's go, Ino." He bowed respectively and turned to leave with Ino, who was confused about what they were talking about, following short behind.

Tsunade shook her head in disappointment. 'This village can't let things go…'

-With Naruto-

The young blonde boy with three whisker birthmarks on his cheeks rushed back to the training grounds to investigate the area for any clues that would hint in what direction Sasuke was taken. Naruto noticed there was an open scroll on the ground near a large blood splatter. He picked up the scroll and examined it.

"This must've been used by the guy who kidnapped Sasuke." He inspected markings on the scroll. "This was a storage scroll…and they're not normal etchings. This is definitely Orochimaru's doing."

Naruto was running out of time. He needed to find which way they went and fast! Only one course of action came to his mind. He made a cross with his fingers.

"Tajū Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Roughly a hundred shadows clones of Naruto were created in plumes of white smoke and immediately jumped in all different directions to try and find the man who captured Sasuke. He knew this strategy might take a little while, so he decided to use this time wisely and make sure all his gear was in order.

'They have to be headed towards Otogakure in the Land of Sound. That's the headband that flute girl was wearing. But this is Orochimaru. It's almost impossible to know where that snake bastard is hiding.'

Suddenly, a harmonic tune rang softly through Naruto's ears, causing him to stop all movement. He shook his head, trying to ignore the tune. It rang again but this time, Naruto couldn't help but respond.

"I can't do that, okay?" Naruto said out loud. "It's too dangerous right now."

The harmonic sound echoed again in response.

"I know you gave me the power to beat Gaara, but it was also you that put me in the hospital for a week because you made my cancer come back. Baa-chan said it's too dangerous to use you. I need to figure something out, so I don't want to end up in the hospital every time I call upon you. So, please, be patient with me."

There was no response from the sound that only he was worthy to hear.

It was maybe another twenty minutes before Naruto felt a slight headache and a rush of memories flooded his mind from his shadow clone. The clone had found a clue that told him which way the kidnapper went. A traveling merchant saw a white-haired man wearing a purple belt and he was carrying a large cylinder container fly past him not that long ago, maybe roughly thirty minutes prior. And it was just as Naruto thought, they were headed towards the Land of Sound in the north. Other clones also received the memories and began heading that way as well.

'The merchant didn't say anything about Sasuke. He must be in that container.'

The real Naruto wasted no more time and jumped into the woods.

-Hokage Office-

"What did you say?!" Kakashi damn near screamed at the top of his lungs. "Naruto is going after Sasuke and Sakura is in the hospital?!"

Tsunade nodded sternly. "It seems after your team meeting, Sasuke and Sakura were ambushed by either Orochimaru, himself, or one of his henchmen. Either way, Sakura is recovering from a stab wound to lower abdomen and Sasuke was kidnapped. Naruto was practically begging to be the one to go after him."

Kakashi leaned forward on the Hokage's desk as he felt a tsunami of emotions flow through him. He was worried for his students and their current situations. He was scared for her injury and what kind of implications they would have on her. But most of all, Kakashi was angry. He was angry at himself for leaving so quick and not being there to save his students. He was angry at Orochimaru for constantly being a problem for Konoha.

"Do you know which way Naruto went?" The jōnin asked as he looked up and locked eyes with his Hokage.

Tsunade shook her head. "No. He needed to get on the move fast so that he had chance to catch up to the captor. But that's why I called you here. He needs backup."

Kakashi stood to his full height and turned to leave. "Already ahead of you, Lady Tsunade. I'll leave at once."

"Wait Kakashi." Tsunade said, causing the man to turn back. "Put together a QRF team and go. We aren't sure what you'll, or Naruto, be walking into with this. Get as many comrades you can together in the next thirty minutes and get on Naruto's trail."

Kakashi nodded but didn't say anything. He turned and left the Hokage's office with hast. Thirty minutes to find as many shinobi as he could? The Copy-Cat Ninja already had three others picked out and more to follow.

"I know where Gai is. I just hope I'm not walking in on Asuma and Kurenai…I don't want that to happen again…"

-With Kimimaro, hours later-

Blood splattered on the tree Kimimaro was leaning on as he hacked up spats of blood. His condition was worsening more rapidly than he or Kabuto predicted. The amount of medication that Kabuto pumped into his system should have sustained him for, at least, another day, giving him more than enough time to get back to Orochimaru.

'It must've been from creating the barrier for the ritual.' Kimimaro thought as he wiped the blood from his mouth. 'I used too much chakra creating it and now I'm paying the price for it. I've slowed down considerably. I should be farther than I am.'

Kimimaro had to keep moving. He had already wasted a lot of time by stopping, not to mention the amount of time lost due to his condition. He hoisted the casket onto his shoulder and continued with his mission.

What seemed like mere seconds after Kimimaro jumped away, Naruto landed on the same branch. He was breathing heavy and dripping in sweat. He had been running nonstop all night to catch up to Sasuke's kidnapper. He noticed the blood and wet it still was. It was fresh. Was this person injured from him to bleed? Or was it something else? It did not matter to Naruto.

"I'm hot on your tail…"

Naruto lowered himself and launched high into the night sky, granting himself a massive range of view to see where his target went. And that's when he saw Kimimaro landing in a large, open field with a large cylinder container of some kind. His eyes filled with fury as he divebombed for the Orochimaru henchman. He reared his fist back as he came in close.

"…And you're not getting away!"

Kimimaro turned around just in time to be smacked in the face by a powerful punch. He was launched back and slid to a stop across the field, the casket fell to the ground and rolled out of the way. Kimimaro regained his footing and examined his opponent.

Standing across from him was a spiky-haired blonde boy with three whisker-like birthmarks on both of his cheeks. The thing that Kimimaro immediately noticed about the boy were his eyes. There were scarlet red and the pupils were slit like a fox, while his whisker marks were dark and untamed. He could easily tell that the boy was from Konoha, the green flak jacket and headband were clear indicators.

"You have some strange chakra. Is that how you were able to track me?" Kimimaro questioned.

Naruto stood to his full height, he glanced at the casket. "Are you the one that kidnapped Sasuke and hurt Sakura?"

"Yes, I am." The answer was simple yet infuriating.

"What the hell does Orochimaru want with Sasuke?!"

Kimimaro remained silent, as if he was contemplating his next words carefully. "In order to acquire all the jutsu in the world and the knowledge he seeks, Lord Orochimaru needs time. He already completed the jutsu that has granted him immortality."

Naruto was growing more and more impatient. "What does that have to do with Sasuke?!"

"This jutsu doesn't grant immortality for the body, only Lord Orochimaru's mind and soul can be immortal. He must transfer the two into a new body before his current one succumbs…"

"That's…That's what Orochimaru wants Sasuke for?! To be the next body he transfers into?!"

Kimimaro moved into a battle position. "Yes. Exactly."

"I won't let that happen! I won't let Orochimaru have take him!" Naruto made the sign for his signature technique. "Tajū Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Fueled by his rage, Naruto surrounded Kimimaro with hundreds of clones.

"Ah…" Kimimaro looked around to see that he, indeed, was surrounded. "Interesting." He noticed something about this boy. 'So much anger in him, his attacks will be wild. It'll be much easier to counter.' "It seems you want to dance."

The vast amount of Naruto's rushed in an attempt to overwhelm Kimimaro. But Kimimaro was quicker than Naruto anticipated. He ducked and dodged his through the first wave of clones, kicking those into smoke who had a chance to hit him.

"Behold! The Dance of the Willows!"

The second wave is where he really went on the offensive. A white, dagger-like object began to protrude out of the center of his both his palms. Kimimaro's move began to be more swift and precise as he hacked and slashed through clone after clone. Even with the large numbers advantage, the fight was still even.

But it seemed Naruto found an opening. A small number of clones had Kimimaro cornered and jumped in to pummel him. But as soon as the clones closed in, they were stabbed by multiple of the same objects. And they were coming out of Kimimaro's back and legs!

The real Naruto looked on in confusion. 'Those are…bones?!'

Kimimaro glared at the real Naruto as the clones burst into white smoke, the bones retracting into his body. "This is my kekkei genkai, my clan's secret technique." He unzipped his grey shirt and let it fall off his shoulders. Then the skin on Kimimaro's shoulder opened and bone came up. He grabbed ahold of the bone pulled out, and it was long as a sword! The hole in his shoulder closed just as fast as it opened.

Naruto was trying figure out his opponent's technique. "You can turn your bones into weapons?!" He quickly drew two shurikens and fired them at Kimimaro. The man blocked them with ease. "The bone didn't break?"

"These are no ordinary bones. These bones are compressed to maximum density, making them harder than tempered steel. My kekkei genkai allows me to manipulate my skeletal structure and calcium count of my bones. I can create almost anything with my bones because of it." Kimimaro glanced over at the casket and noticed it was beginning to steam. 'Already? The ritual shouldn't be anywhere close to being done.'

The remaining clones drew a kunai and readied themselves to battle. Kimimaro twirled his bone sword and took a defensive position.

"Behold! The Dance of Camellia!"

The clones charged again but there was not much difference this time. Kimimaro danced around the clones' attacks and stabbed and slashed his way through most of them, leaving only a few left standing with the real Naruto.

The real Naruto watched in frustration as his clones were destroyed effortlessly. 'I need to calm down. I'm getting nowhere attacking blindly like that.' He took in a deep breath and slowly released it. 'This guy has unbelievable taijutsu, he's on par with Lee. A numbers advantage isn't going to work here.' The blonde glanced over at the casket Sasuke was trapped in. 'And whatever is happening in there can't be good. I need to end this fast!'

Naruto had four clones left, the perfect amount he needed. Three of the clones moved to stand while the real Naruto and one clone stayed behind them for protection. The middle clone went through a series of hand seals while the other two charged towards Kimimaro.

"Katon: Karyūdan!" (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bullets)

Flames flew at Kimimaro like the jutsu's namesake, burning the night air as they traveled. But the Orochimaru solider was too nimble on his feet and dodged all the bullets of fire. As soon as he dodged the last one, the two clones came in close to strike. Using his bone sword and thrusting his palm forward with a sharp bone coming though, Kimimaro stabbed both clones.

To Kimimaro's surprise, he only stabbed one of them. The other clone had dodged at the last second to grab ahold of his arm. While the one clone exploded in smoke, the other clone used his strength to throw Kimimaro towards the real Naruto.

Flying through the air, Kimimaro saw what was coming. 'What is that jutsu?!'

In the palm of Naruto's hand of a spiraling sphere of blue chakra!

"Rasengan!"

Naruto slammed his spinning blue orb straight into Kimimaro's chest, sending him back in a spinning vortex that exploded in the middle of the field. Once the dust and rubble settled there was no trace of Kimimaro.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad that he was able to defeat this opponent so quick. If the fight was going to drag on then he wasn't sure how he was going to fair. Kimimaro easily matched Rock Lee in taijutsu. He may have won his fight against Lee in the Chūnin Exams, but it was anything but easy. And who knew what other tricks Kimimaro had up his sleeve.

But Naruto didn't have to worry anymore, the fight was over and done with. He made his way over to the steaming casket and tried to figure out what exactly was happening.

"So, it's seal barrier over the top to keep Sasuke trapped inside. I wonder if-"

Suddenly, the casket began to crack and the paper seals on the sides began to tear. Then it exploded violently and sent Naruto flying back. He tumbled and rolled to a stop before seeing what had happened.

And there stood Sasuke. But nothing like Naruto had seen. Sasuke's skin was grey and his had grown considerably longer and turned a shade of bluish grey, even his fingernails were longer and pointed.

Naruto was shocked but stayed cautious. He wasn't sure what happened. "Sasuke?" There was no response.

Sasuke moved his hands around in front of his face, before letting out a diabolical laugh that echoed throughout the open field. His features slowly turned back to normal, everything receded to something near his right shoulder. The Curse Mark.

Naruto approached slowly. "You okay, man?" He placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

With speed and strength Naruto had never seen from him, Sasuke fiercely griped Naruto's throat and lifted him up off the ground. Sasuke's grip was tight enough for Naruto to struggle to break free. A swift, yet powerful kick, launched Naruto back.

Before he could even stop and catch his breath, Sasuke was there and slammed him into the ground, creating a small crater.

Naruto groaned as he made out Sasuke standing over him through his blurry vision. "S-Sasuke…!"

"I'm going to Orochimaru. Follow me and you will die."

The Uchiha prodigy turned away and jumped into the trees.

Naruto groaned even harder as he forced himself to his feet. "Wait…Sasuke!" He crawled out of the small crater and saw that Kimimaro was still alive and standing his way.

"You can't stop him. He's Lord Orochimaru's now."

Naruto growled in frustration. "Damn you…!"