"Sasuke, Shika. RUN!" Naruto shouted as he sensed the Kusa-nin approaching them quickly. "The Kusa-nin's coming for us. We need to go faster!"
Sasuke and Shikamaru increased their pace as fast as possible. Clearly on their tail was a smiling Kusa-nin on a giant snake. Naruto was running ahead of his team when suddenly, a giant white snake came from his side and slammed into him. He was carried away by the snake and was separated from his team. Shikamaru and Sasuke turned to see the Kusa-nin only a few metres away from them.
They both knew from Naruto's description that this shinobi was probably stronger than all three of them combined. They're only option was to run as their chances of surviving a direct encounter with her was as good as an ice cube in hell. They also had no idea what happened to Naruto. Sasuke gripped two kunai in his hands while Shikamaru took out a few shuriken.
The Kusa-nin smiled and licked her lips with her tongue, a very long tongue. Shikamaru and Sasuke froze as the Kusa-nin released her killing intent and flexed her chakra. It was stronger and darker than anything they had ever faced. Even Zabuza's killing intent was levels lower.
"This will be fun," the Kusa-nin said with an evil smile.
Naruto was being dragged through the forest by the snake. He was currently holding the snake's mouth open as it slither through the forest floor. 'Shit, I was too focused on the Kusa-nin that I didn't sense the snake. Damn it, I have to help Shika and Sasuke.' Naruto took a moment to look at his surroundings and saw that he was about to be slammed into a giant tree.
Seeing only one option, Naruto sighed and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath before letting go of the snake's mouth. The snake stopped slithering away as it noticed Naruto finally let it eat him. A few moments later, the snake was sliced into several pieces. Pieces of meat and blood were scattered all over the forest before Naruto stepped out of the snake's corpse. The snake disappeared in a smoke. He was covered in blood and a bunch of other gross liquids. 'Eww…that was one of the worst moments of my life. What the hell is even this stuff?" He thought as he cleaned his sword on the grass and wiped his clothes as best as possible. 'I'm gonna need a shower real badly.'
He quickly made his way towards Sasuke and Shikamaru. He was dragged by the snake quite far away. 'That snake disappeared in a smoke which means it was a summon. In the world, there's only two snake users,' Naruto was hopping through the trees when he realised just who he was facing. 'Shit. Orochimaru. I need to help them quickly!'
Naruto was brought out of his thoughts as he sensed two chakra signatures approaching him. He stopped at a branch as a man and a woman dropped near him. They were wearing similar outfits to the Kusa-nin who he now knew as Orochimaru. "What do you guys want?" He asked.
"We're here on our master's orders. You will not pass us!" Said one of them as they wasted no time in engaging Naruto. Naruto unsealed and unsheathed Arashi as he blocked a kunai strike. He locked blades with the man as he saw the woman flank around to try get a clean shot on Naruto. Naruto pushed with all his strength causing the man to get pushed slowly back before he let his strength slip causing the man to stumble forward.
Naruto rolled forward, the man was now in his teammate's sights instead of Naruto and was hit by a lightning jutsu. Naruto turned to see the shocked face of the woman as she hit her teammate with her jutsu at near point blank range. Naruto made the dragon hand seal, " Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough) ." A large ball of wind was shot straight towards his opponent. She quickly used a Kawarimi to dodge.
She threw a few kunai and shuriken at Naruto before engaging him with a sword of her own. Naruto smiled at the opportunity of a kenjutsu battle. The sound of metal hitting against each other sounded across the forest as their blades met. After 10 minutes, Naruto suffered a few minor cuts while his opponent had a large gash on her left shoulder with a few minor cuts around her body.
Seeing as how she was badly injured, she channelled lightning chakra into her sword as an orb of electricity formed one the edge of her blade. The orb of electricity shot out towards Naruto. Naruto could feel his body slowing down as static electricity was messing with his nerves. He made the tiger hand seal and gathered chakra in his mouth before shooting a large mass of water, ' Suiton: Sujinheki (Water Style: Water Wall) ' he thought. The wall of water rose and blocked Naruto from his opponent's jutsu.
He used a Kawarimi and substituted with a twig behind his opponent and rushed in with a light step . She was too stunned when Naruto appeared beside her and knocked her out with the blunt side of his blade.
He gathered his two knocked out opponents and took out a scroll. He then sealed them in a prisoner seal where they will be given to T and I. Looking at the sun, he saw that some time had passed by and in his opinion, too much time. 'I have to get back.'
He released his resistance seals and channelled chakra to his feet. He rushed as fast as he could back to his teammates.
"Argh!!" Sasuke shouted as he was bit on the shoulder by Orochimaru. Shikamaru and him had just done a combo attack. Orochimaru was caught in Shikamaru's shadow when Sasuke sent a fire dragon his way. The jutsu hit him dead on and the team 7 members were confident in their victory. However, it was as if his skin melted off, Orochimaru appeared looking no worse for wear.
Shikamaru was knocked out moments later and Sasuke was left alone. Although he fully awakened his sharingan, he was still leagues away from an S-rank missing-nin. 'To think that he was able to use the sharingan this well at his age. Truly amazing!' "I truly enjoyed our little fight, Sasuke-kun. I look forward to seeing you use my little gift…" was the last thing Sasuke heard before he saw black.
Naruto finally reached their location but his face paled when he saw their situation. 'No…I was too late…' Seeing a smiling Orochimaru standing over Sasuke and Shikamaru's unconscious bodies, caused the rage within Naruto to fully bloom. 'Kurama, I'm sorry but I need your chakra. I know I'm not fully ready but I won't survive against Orochimaru without it.'
'I won't give you too much. Make it quick.'
Naruto jumped down from his position as a shroud of red chakra surrounded him. "Ku ku ku. Naruto-kun, so nice of you to finally join us," Orochimaru said as he gave Naruto an evil smile. Naruto was currently not in the mood to talk as he pounced on Orochimaru. He disappeared in a blur that caught Orochimaru off guard as he was punched in the face. 'What strength and speed!' Orochimaru regained his bearings before he slammed into a tree. He backflipped onto a tree before channelling chakra to his feet and pushed off towards Naruto.
Naruto didn't pass up on his advantage as he rushed towards Orochimaru. They engaged in a bout of taijutsu. Orochimaru's strikes were all aimed at his vital points, leaving no area for mistakes. Naruto had to be precise in his attacks so as to not give him an opportunity to strike a vital point. Orochimaru's Hebi Style was a style that flowed easily and was smoother than his current style. Naruto was still learning and developing his style so it was not as smooth and clean.
Seeing that the fight was going nowhere, Naruto decided to use jutsus. He backflipped away and threw a bunch of shuriken. " Ninpou: Shuriken Kage Bunshin (Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu) " the five shuriken that he threw multiplied into 25 and were headed towards the snake sannin. Orochimaru smiled as he saw the jutsu his sensei had used many times before. He used a mud Kawarimi to dodge the shuriken before closing in.
He appeared behind Naruto and kicked him in the spine. Naruto was sent flying by the strength of the kick. However, he managed to right himself midair and landed smoothly. He turned to see Orochimaru going through hand seals before he shot a stream fire from his mouth towards Naruto. Naruto could easily sense the great amount of chakra used in the jutsu. He created another clone and they both made the tiger hand seal, " Suiton: Sujinheki (Water Style: Water Wall) !" A large wall of water rose in front of the two Naruto and blocked the fire jutsu.
Steam covered the area as Orochimaru witnessed Naruto defend against his jutsu. 'He has really grown well. To be that fast and strong at such a young age. To also use jutsu with only one hand seal, he truly is your child Minato. Ku ku ku, too bad he's the jinchuriki or I could've given him my mark too.' Orochimaru opened his mouth inhumanly wide and a snake came out of his throat. The snake opened its mouth and a sword appeared. Orochimaru rushed into the steam as soon as the jutsu finished.
His sword hit its intended target as on the edge of the blade, laid a wide eyed Naruto. Naruto was stabbed through his chest. Orochimaru smirked as he thought of the grief that his sensei would feel when he finds out about Naruto's death. However, he was brought back to reality as the Naruto in front of him dispelled into smoke.
As the steam cleared, he looked around to find that team 7 had disappeared. 'Sneaky fox. It's okay, I've already got my intended target.' He thought as an evil smile came across his face. 'I look forward to seeing you, Sasuke-kun…'
Naruto was running with Shikamaru on his back while Sasuke was being carried by his clone. He was sprinting as fast and as far as he could. Naruto had transferred Kurama's chakra to a clone before he ran away with his teammates' bodies. He could feel that their chakra was low and that they were only unconscious.
He looked up to see that it was a few hours past noon. After running for several more minutes, and seeing that Orochimaru wasn't tailing him, he decided to take a break. He found a hollow tree where he placed his teammates on the ground. He created twenty clones who spreaded out and acted as traps and sentries while others gathered food and firewood.
Naruto sat down beside his teammates and couldn't help but blame himself. 'Fuck! If only I was faster. If only I didn't get separated! Maybe we could've held him off or at least fled together, consciously! Shit, I promised to protect them but…but…'
"Naruto…" Kurama called, getting him in the mindscape.
"Yes, what do you want?!" Naruto asked with a raised voice. Kurama growled at the tone. Realising his mistake, "sorry. I didn't mean to. I'm just really pissed off."
"At who? Yourself? For not being able to read the fucking future or something?! You could never have predicted that Snake bastard would suddenly attack in the middle of an exam in Konoha. Stop blaming and bitching about yourself!"
Naruto was quite taken aback by Kurama's words but he eventually understood what he meant. He sat down in his mindscape beside Kurama and sighed. "I just can't help myself…"
"That's the thing I don't understand about you humans. You think you can control everything and that everything should go your way. Well, it doesn't. You just have to adapt and stop picking on every small thing that happens."
"Yeah…Thanks Kurama…for everything," he said as he patted Kurama's paw before exiting the mindscape.
'Tsk, the brat's got me sappy nowadays. Damnit, I'm supposed to be the great Kyubi no Kitsune, not some therapist.' He thought before napping.
As soon as Naruto exited the mindscape, he began checking on Sasuke. While travelling, he realised that he had some sort of seal on his shoulder. However when he checked Shikamaru, there was no such thing. As he began inspecting it, he noticed that it was similar to the storage seal that shinobi used to store items. Although, this seal was heavily modified. Naruto also sensed a foreign chakra that originated from the seal flowing through Sasuke.
'Orochimaru must've been coming for Sasuke. Since Shikamaru didn't have a similar seal, Sasuke must've been his one and only target. Kinda paedophilic for a fifty year old man to target a thirteen year old boy and give him some sort of hickey. Putting that aside though, this seal is truly something else. This must've taken a long time to develop and perfect.' Naruto was brought out of his thoughts as he heard Shikamaru stirring awake.
He rushed to his side and helped him sit upright. "Shika, are you okay?" He asked.
Shikamaru groaned as his eyes adjusted to the light of his surroundings. "Yeah…Just a troublesome headache. How long has it been since I passed out?"
"I don't know. Maybe around a few hours. It's nearly night time now. I was about to prepare a fire." He responded. "Just rest for a while more, I'll prepare some food and get us warm."
Shikamaru laid down on his travel futon as Naruto prepared a fire. He took the firewood his clone had gathered and made a campfire. He used a few waterproof matches he had in his pouch. He then took some rabbit that his clones luckily managed to find while scavenging around and placed it above the fire. He also cooked a few edible mushrooms that Yugao made sure he recognised.
15 minutes later, he and Shikamaru were sitting around the fire. "What happened between you guys and Orochimaru?" Naruto asked.
"I'll shorten it cause it's too troublesome to go into detail. Basically, after you left, we engaged the Kusa-nin who we didn't know was Orochimaru. We tried every combo move we had, from using earth and fire jutsu to using my shadows, everything. But we were in a totally different league from him. He destroyed us. However, he seemed more inclined to fight Sasuke rather than me. At one point, he shrugged off my shadow before rushing me and knocking me out. That's all I remember." Shikamaru explained before taking a bite of his food.
"The same thing happened to me. I arrived and saw that you guys were down. So I used some of Kyubi's chakra and fought him. Even though I had a power boost, he was still much more experienced and well versed in shinobi arts. So I distracted him and ran away with you two," Naruto said.
"And the thing about Sasuke was true. Orochimaru put some sort of seal on him and I could feel it leaking some chakra into Sasuke and I would try to stop it but I don't know if there will be any backlash. So I'm not risking it." He continued as his face turned into a frown before returning back to normal.
There was a silence between the two before Shikamaru spoke. "I know what you're thinking, Naruto," he said, gaining Naruto's attention. "I saw that frown just now. You think we could've avoided getting Sasuke marked if all three of us fought together. Or if you had been quicker. Or anything else. Well, stop. It's no use thinking of such troublesome thoughts. Orochimaru was way stronger than us, he wouldn't stop for anything other than his goal. Just be happy that none of us are dead."
Naruto sighed. He looked up staring into the darkness of the hollow tree they were in. He knew Shikamaru was right. Kurama had also said the same thing, he couldn't blame himself.
"Pineapple head's right. Since you didn't listen to me just now, listen to him. Stop thinking what ifs and accept that it happened."
Naruto turned to Shikamaru and gave him an eye smile. "Thanks Shika. We should get some sleep. Who knows what will happen tomorrow," he said as he set up his travel futon.
Next Day
Sasuke had yet to awaken; however, Naruto heard him let out growls of pain sometimes during his sleep and that got him slightly worried. Shikamaru's chakra had also recovered from their fight and he only had a few cuts and bruises that needed attending to.
"It's been quite a quiet day so far, hasn't it?" Naruto said. However, his words were instantly made false when he gained the memories of a sentry.
Seeing his teammate stare off into the distance, an indication that he gained the memories of a clone, Shikamaru instantly knew something was wrong. "You just had to jinx it, didn't you? So what is this troublesome problem?" He asked.
"A team of Oto genin is heading straight here. They look ready to fight," Naruto said. "We have to protect Sasuke, he's very vulnerable right now." Shikamaru nodded and readied himself.
A few moments later, the team of genin landed near them. "It looks like one of you has woken up. Call out Sasuke, we want to fight him," called the genin who wore a beige shirt and had spiky black hair, Zaku.
'Why do you want Sasuke? Furthermore, how did they know I was unconscious?' Shikamaru thought. 'They must be with Orochimaru,' he realised. Looking to his left, he saw that Naruto had just come to a similar conclusion.
"You can't have him. If you want to, you have to get through us!" Naruto shouted back . Shikamaru started to mould his chakra and pulled a kunai. "What does Orochimaru want with him? I know he's the cause of that seal on his neck."
"Pfft, like we'll tell you," replied the genin whose head was bandaged leaving only his right eye visible, Dosu. They got into their stances and readied themselves for the inevitable fight. Neither side moved as they waited for any sudden changes or openings. Suddenly, Dosu heard the familiar sound of kunai travelling through the air. Both of his opponents had not moved an inch, however, from the corner of his eye, he saw a kunai striking the ground near them. He then heard a sizzling sound and immediately his team scattered.
Naruto's clones were still active and as soon as the Oto team scattered, he rushed forward. Naruto rushed towards Zaku and Dosu who landed the furthest away from him and Shikamaru. Meanwhile, Shikamaru engaged the last remaining member of the team, Kin who landed and immediately rushed towards Sasuke.
Naruto and three of his clones tag teamed their opponents. The real Naruto and a clone attacked Dosu. Dosu was caught off guard when he was immediately attacked as soon as he touched the ground but quickly regained his composure.
At first, Naruto and his clone took turns attacking. Naruto would engage in a bout of taijutsu before disengaging and his clone would take over. Dosu was able to keep up with the constant stream of attacks but he quickly realised that in a battle of attrition, he would lose. When one of the Naruto's tried to punch him in the face, he blocked it and held his hand in place before using his jutsu. The device of his right arm buzzed to life before he grabbed Naruto's head. Naruto screamed in pain as his ears started bleeding before he burst into smoke.
Gaining the memory of his clone, Naruto realised just what Dosu's jutsu did. Using the gadget on his right arm, he could manipulate sound and attacked his eardrums causing nausea and immense pain. "Quite an interesting jutsu you have there," Naruto commented. Dosu smirked at the comment.
"Let me show how much more interesting it can get!" He shouted as he sped towards Naruto.
Sasuke watched as his brother stood over his parents' dead bodies. The moonlight reflected on his blade which was dripping in their blood. He could not believe, no, he didn't want to believe that his kind and caring brother had killed his parents that easily. He looked up to see a pair of red eyes gazing into his own. Suddenly, the world around him disappeared.
"So do you see now. I did it to test my abilities. One day when you have eyes similar to mine, come! Come find me and challenge me!" Itachi said as he left. However, Sasuke relented and chased after him. He took out his kunai and threw it at him. Itachi easily dodged it.
He slashed his kunai only to be blocked. After a few tries, he was sent to the ground and yet again, he could see the margin of strength between them. Itachi spared Sasuke one last glance before leaving. 'No…' Sasuke thought.
"Do you want power? Do you see the distance between you and him?" A voice spoke.
"What? Who are you?" Sasuke asked, frantically looking around.
"Come to me. I can give you all the power you want! Here, I'll let you have a bit of a taste." The voice said.
Sasuke woke up and felt a rush of power. He could feel the chakra flowing within him. He felt strong, he felt powerful, invincible even. He turned to see his team engaging with the Oto genin. He felt the flames of battle fan within him and blitzed out of his resting area to one of the genin who dispelled Naruto's clones with a jutsu.
Naruto was busy dodging Dosu's air pressure jutsu when he received the memories of his clones fighting Zaku. He had used a wide ranged jutsu and took out both of his clones. Suddenly, he sensed a large burst of chakra coming from where Sasuke was. The chakra felt familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. The chakra signature then appeared by Zaku and Naruto saw who it was.
Sasuke was standing where Zaku was once standing. Sasuke had black flames covering half of his body and Naruto could sense the dark chakra behind it. Shikamaru, who had knocked Kin out, stood frozen as he stared at Sasuke. Even Dosu stood frozen staring at Sasuke. 'Looks like the curse mark was accepted by his body.'
Zaku stood from the crater he created. Sasuke had kicked him in the ribs and was sent flying into the trunk of the tree they were fighting on. "Looks like you were slacking, Naruto." Sasuke commented.
"Ha, says the one who was asleep just two seconds ago," he replied. "I was about to be done anyways." He continued as four clones appeared around Dosu and held kunai to multiple lethal points on his body. He had been trying to herd Dosu towards his trap for the past few minutes. He could've killed him but he wanted him alive for some questions. So he had to push him towards the henged clones.
"I'll leave him for you," Naruto said as he gestured towards Zaku who was charging towards Sasuke. Sasuke was on him immediately and engaged him with taijutsu. At one point, Zaku tried to use his jutsu on Sasuke but Sasuke appeared behind him and grabbed his arms. He pressed his feet on his back and pulled his arms back, gaining a scream of pain from Zaku.
Meanwhile, Naruto and Shikamaru interrogated the trapped Dosu. "What is Orochimaru's link to Otogakure?" Questioned Shikamaru.
Dosu spat at his feet, "like hell I'll tell you. I'd rather die!"
Naruto nodded his head and one of the clones holding Dosu slashed his kunai, making a small wound on his shoulder. Then, another clone slashed on his arm. The clones continued making small slashes, making sure to not hit any vital points. After ten slashes, Shikamaru questioned him again. "What did Orochimaru do to Sasuke? Make your choice carefully or you'll receive more cuts."
Dosu smirked and only spat at Shikamaru. Then, everyone turned when they heard Zaku scream in pain. They turned to see Sasuke nearly breaking him in two. "How about we ask your friend there?" Naruto suggested as he left the bleeding Dosu.
"Sasuke, stop. We need him alive." Naruto said.
"Why? They work for Orochimaru, they should die! Hahaha, they all should!" Sasuke exclaimed, getting surprised looks from his teammates.
"Sasuke, do you realise what you're saying right now? Your bloodlust is going insane, killing is a part of the job but you don't go around killing everyone you deem bad," Naruto said.
"Why should I not?! I feel powerful, more than I've ever felt!" He responded before laughing sinisterly which made Naruto and Shikamaru uncomfortable.
"Yeah and where did this power come from? That troublesome bastard of a snake. The power's not yours, Sasuke. Do you, an Uchiha, really want to use a traitor's power?" Shikamaru reasoned.
Through his words, it seemed as if Sasuke's rational mind came back and the black marks receded. He stumbled to the ground in which Naruto caught him. He was heavily breathing but otherwise fine. Shikamaru went to Zaku who was on the ground to interrogate him. "What is Orochimaru's link to Otogakure?"
"Like hell we'll tell you." He said with a smirk. He then looked away and nodded. Shikamaru followed his eyesight to see a beaten up Kin nod back. He looked back to Zaku and heard a crack before he saw him frothing at the mouth before going limp. He looked towards Dosu to see he was also gone. "Shit, no!" He cursed. They had all taken a suicide pill and now all their information was gone. "I should've checked…"
"Hey, Shika, it's okay. We should head to the tower and report this to the Hokage," Naruto said with a weakened Sasuke around his shoulder.
The trip to the tower in the middle of the forests went without any complications. Sasuke had recovered and could run on his own again. Shikamaru was still a little down from not being able to get some information from the Oto-nin but other than that he was okay. When they reached the tower, it was around midnight and they were met by a riddle of some sort when they entered. Shikamaru quickly solved the riddle, "we have to open both scrolls at the same time."
Naruto took out the scrolls and gave one to Sasuke. They opened both scrolls to see a seal written on them. "It's a summoning seal, throw the scrolls on the ground!" Sasuke followed as Naruto said and Iruka appeared in a puff of smoke.
At first Iruka smiled when he saw his ex-students, then it changed to worry when he saw the state they were in. Shikamaru's clothes were torn and he was bruised from his fights, especially from Orochimaru. Sasuke was in shambles from dealing with the curse mark and fighting Orochimaru. Naruto looked the best out of the three but he wasn't far off. His clothes were reddened with blood and torn. He was also very tired from all the fighting and it could be clearly seen on his face. "Oh Kami, what happened to you guys?" Iruka asked.
"Iruka-sensei, it's nice to see you. Is it possible to see Hokage-Jiji? I've got news to tell him," Naruto asked.
Iruka shook his head, "there's still three days before the exam ends. The genin aren't allowed to interact with anyone outside other than other contestants or the proctors."
Naruto motioned for Iruka to get closer before he whispered, "I'm pretty sure news about Orochimaru infiltrating the exam and targeting us is quite important."
Iruka's worry morphed into sheer horror when he heard Orochimaru. "Orochimaru?!" He exclaimed. He turned to Sasuke and Shikamaru who were both nodding agreement. "Very well, I'll inform the Hokage. It'll be up to him whether or not he wants to visit you. However, for now you guys should head up and rest. Congratulations on passing the second phase," he said before ruffling Naruto's hair and disappearing in a shunshin.
"Well, that was certainly quite an eventful exam." Naruto quipped as they headed to their room. Sasuke snorted. "No shit," he said, gaining laughs from his teammates. They reached their shared room, took a bed each and immediately they were out like a light.
