{Land of Fire: Training ground 44: Forest of Death Entrance}

"What do you make of this," Asked Kotetsu to Anko.

The woman didn't say a word.

She gritted her teeth, feeling fear and uncertainty hit her in a way it hadn't since she was young. This was the work of her old master; she just knew it.

She gripped her neck, her breath hitched. The genin she's staring at. Their faces have been stolen, melted off by Orochimaru's body snatch jutsu. They never stood a chance.

She took a breath and turned to Izumo. "I want you to contact the examiners who took care of the fire. Find out where they went and pull them back." She turned to Kotetsu to address him next. "Kotetsu, I want you to get in touch with the Anbu captain and Ibiki immediately. This is a nation-level threat we may be dealing with.

The two chunin saluted and dashed off.

She stared back down at the corpses and glared. 'What the fuck are you doing back here. Orochimaru?! Why now?!'

Line break.

{Land of Fire: Training ground 44: Forest of Death}

Sasuke leaned against a tree with Sakura, trying to find an escape route but to no avail. No matter what they tried, she'd find them and toy with them some more.

He held his chest, trying to get his heart under control.

He felt Sakura tug on his shirt and knew what it meant.

They both rushed out of the way as a large snake bit into the large piece of the branch they were just standing on, and Sasuke, desperate to keep her away, threw the last of his paper bomb-strapped kunai at the kusa-nin, only for the snake to curl up and deflect it.

The snake hissed at him and lunged forward, causing Sakura to yelp as she dodged in the opposite direction of Sasuke.

The snake opened its mouth, and the kusa-nin slithered out, giggling and cackling at their fear and desperation. "Yes! This is more like it. You poor little genin have no idea what you're facing. The fact that you even run is humorous to me!"

Sakura, though affected by this lady, wasn't as affected as Sasuke now. She knew something was wrong. Sasuke is in complete flight mode, his eyes wide in a terror she'd never seen before.

This was because, unlike her, being toyed like this wasn't new. This was just like Itachi. He was helpless against the older boy the night of the massacre, just as he was helpless against this creature.

His heart pumped faster at the thought of losing something to this monster, and he looked at Sakura incredulously when he saw her rummaging for any of Naruto's leftover fuinjutsu contraptions.

"Sakura! What are you doing?! We don't stand a chance!"

Sakura turned and stared at her friend in disbelief. "We can't simply run away! We've tried!

"Well, do you have any better ideas? Cause if so, I'd love to hear it!

"Well, we still have to try! Naruto is-"

"Dead! Our teammate is dead!"

Sakura gave him a look that said it all. 'This isn't Sasuke. He's so.-'

she ended those thoughts when the snake sped towards her, and she dove from her branch, swinging for her life as the snake kept chasing her, weaving across the trees like a playground.

'What should I do? We can't keep this up. It'll tire us out before we can think of a proper plan to defeat her, ' Sakura thought in panic.

Sasuke watched helplessly as his other teammate ran, but he couldn't afford to take his eyes off the ninja standing in front of him—not for a second. 'One false step, and I'm toast!'

"Are you scared, boy? Are you so frightened by the monster you're about to face you can't make a move? The woman stopped in front of him and smirked at his paralyzed form. "How weak, so weak. In fact, I can't help but pity you. I thought you'd put up some kind of a fight, yet it seems, unlike your brother, you are but a little mouse willing to gnaw off his own tail if it meant escaping his fate."

Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger, and his hands curled into fists, though the sweat forming on his body only told of his terror. "Don't talk like you know of him! Like you know of me!"

The woman smirked, and then Sasuke saw it. A foot blurring towards his chest faster than he had time to react, and he was sent into the tree behind him.

The woman's form blurred and suddenly appeared in front of him. With a flurry of quick jabs, he was knocked around like a ragdoll, only able to put his arms up to protect himself. With one hook, he was sent spinning to a low-hanging branch beneath them, wheezing in pain.

The woman sighed at the futility of it. "You're so much weaker than I thought."

Meanwhile, Sakura was coming up with a solution to deal with her opponent and was already on her way to victory.

She created an invisible web of wires as it raced for her, not knowing that it was sealing its fate.

She was exhausted but desperate as she left the trail of wire, swinging around with it until she had created the right trigger point.

She landed on her knees for a moment, almost throwing up due to chakra exhaustion, but she kept herself up with the willpower to survive. 'I need to keep moving!'

The snake came down on her, but Sakura pushed more chakra to her legs to keep going, dashing off her branch and towards the trigger point.

The snake followed her through the same route as before but had no idea it was springing a trap. Its long body unleashed wire and string onto it.

But to Sakura's horror, in spite of the wires wrapping around the snake, its weight prevented the branches from properly snapping to squeeze the wire, instead breaking due to the snake's strength.

"Fuck!" the girl yelled in anger and desperation. She hit her back against the tree trunk and jumped last second to avoid its jaws, landing on its head.

She ran down its body, inspecting where the wires were, and to her relief, though it wasn't cut the way it was supposed to be, it was completely covered in wire.

She whipped out the last seal Naruto gave her. It was an Ignitor. Unlike the last few, she knew what this one was meant for.

She waited for the snake to attack and saw its tail whipping in her direction.

Her eyes widened, and she crossed her arms to defend herself, the attack hitting her so hard that her wrist fractured, and she screamed in pain.

She was sent through branches and shrubbery of all kinds until she was dangling by the foot over the snake, the creature almost smirking up at her.

Sakura glared weakly. 'wipe that stupid grin off your face, you disgusting animal; I win.'

She flipped over weakly as the snake rushed to finish her off, but the wires glowed with immense heat when the seal was activated. The branches it was pulling against caused the snake to accidentally get tied tighter and tighter until the heat-assisted wires sliced it into pieces.

Sakura let out a breath and wanted to rest for even just a moment. But her teammate was in danger. She couldn't stay here.

She struggled to her feet and traversed her way over to her teammate, knowing he was still fighting the Kusa-nin.

When she arrived, she was greeted by the sight of the kusa-nin walking out of a broken tree, laughing as she stared at something she was holding in her hand. It was Sasuke, the boy having given up.

Her eyes widened in shock at first, but then rage filled her.

The kusa-nin opened her mouth, and a snake slithered out to bite the boy. However, a shuriken cut off the snake's head, and the woman kicked in the side of the head, sending her skidding back.

The woman wasn't affected at all and only chuckled at the girl. She had to admit, she was impressed. This weakling, who she quickly wrote off, showed the traits of a true shinobi despite her weakness.

Sakura turned to Sasuke, helping him up, and she saw that he was a bit roughed up but fine.

She let out a breath, and before Sasuke could say anything, she slapped him.

"What are you doing?!" she screamed at him between tired breaths. "This isn't like you! Are you really that useless in the face of real danger?! We don't stand a chance as it is! You can't just give in!"

Sasuke glared up at her but stopped when he saw tears of fear in her eyes. Yet there was this fire burning, a will to keep going despite it. "Please... Don't leave me to face this alone. Don't let us die in vain."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He stood to his feet and could really get a good look at her. She was roughed up badly. Her wrist had a darkening bruise from a fracture, she was covered in cuts from head to toe, she looked so weak yet... Her will was so strong. She wanted to save them so badly. She didn't want to die here; she was coerced into taking these exams to begin with, so it's not fair for him to leave this for her to face alone.

Sasuke's eyes flared into the Sharingan once more, and he took her by the shoulders, surprising her. "Thank you, Sakura," he said as he embraced her.

The pink-haired girl was frozen by his sudden show of affection, but it didn't last long. He set her aside and took a ready stance.

"Bring it!" the boy yelled.

The kusa-nin chuckled at this. "Really? How corny. The affections of some girl is what it took for you to fight? Pathetic," The woman said sarcastically. She sighed and cracked her knuckles. "you'll both die in vain."

Sasuke said nothing and sped at the Kusa-nin with a speed that caught her off guard for a moment. The boy sent a flurry of spin kicks that she was forced to deflect and block, whipping out a kunai mid-attack.

He spun and sent a flurry of slashes that were met with her own kunai. Their arms blurred as they attacked each other; their attacks were so quick that it looked like the wind was attacking her.

Sasuke suddenly jumped back to avoid a slash, his shirt tearing. He sidestepped a thrust, jumping off the branch.

She was on his tail instantly, and he sent a seal-less fireball jutsu her way. The Kusa genin, powering through it, slammed her fist into his stomach.

The boy coughed and was sent hurdling to a smaller tree, catching himself on time to prevent the follow-up drop kick from the kusa-nin.

He rolled out of the way of her kicks and punches, flipped over a sweep of her leg, and jumped over her. With two hands planted on the ground, he slammed his two feet into her chest, sending her back and giving him enough time to race into the trees.

She laughed and followed. "You can't run from me, Uchiha! Face your fears and forfeit your life already! it's only a matter of time!" She called out to him with a sick smile.

Sasuke ignored her and decided to take notes from Sakura, throwing a flurry of shuriken around the tree they were racing against, the projectiles almost hitting the woman and wrapping around the tree.

He stopped and caught the roundhouse kick, catching and deflecting her fists while sending his own attacks. The two were fighting against the tree while defying gravity.

He saw his opening. He ducked under a palm strike and kicked off her and into the air, catching his still-swerving shuriken to yank the string as fast as he could. He managed to catch her leg before she could fall completely.

He cursed when she cut the wire mid-fall, preventing her capture, but he wasn't done yet.

She tristed, deflected, and weaved in the air as he sent shuriken and kunai at her, giving her the impression that he was growing desperate. And though he was indeed desperate, he wasn't aimless in his strategy.

His Sharingan was spinning, straining as he kept track of his shuriken, and he decided to bait her, rushing in for more combat.

She smirked and took the bait, deciding to end this nonsense. She moved faster than he thought she would, her hands a sudden blur, and a surprise grunt left him as she struck his face, shoulder, chest, and solar plexus. He was sent skidding back to a lower tree branch, coughing violently as his breathing came to him in spurts.

His head spun in the throbbing pain, but he stood again and wiped away the blood dripping from his chin.

She laughed and lunged, but he rolled away and went through hand signs.

"Ninja art: Windmill triple attack!" the boy yelled, yanking his wires and applying chakra to them. The chakra honed in around the tree she was now up against and wrapped around her as she stared in awe.

'Fascinating! You Uchiha are full of surprises,' thought the kusa-nin as she was completely tangled.

"I'm not done yet! Fire style: Dragon flame jutsu!" the boy yelled, pumping as much chakra into his attack to get the best results.

Sakura stared on in disbelief and pride for Sasuke. The boy roared while spraying as much flame from his mouth as possible, a messy and chaotic spiral of flame engulfing the kusa-nin, screams of pain coming from the inferno.

When the screams stopped, he let out a breath and fell to one knee, huffing and puffing.

"Sasuke! Are you okay!" Came a cry, and Sasuke turned to see his friend rushing to his side to check on his wounds.

Seeing no sign of the enemy, he took a moment to let himself be taken care of. "I've never been better, Sakura; I'm just really tired. I just need a minute or two. I-"

His breath hitched when he heard it.

"Not bad, Uchiha."

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened in horror as the woman walked out of the smoke and cinders. Her face almost melted, and she smiled sadistically. "It seems I was right to put my faith in you. But the day is far from over. What will you do now?"

Sasuke growled. "I don't know who you are or what you want, but I will only tell you once, so listen closely."

The woman smirked, a cocky expression on her face that showed how sure of herself she was.

Sasuke glared, "Fuck off." And with that, he rushed at the woman, and she laughed and spread her arms open, welcoming his approach.

'Yes. Come to me, Uchiha, come and join me. Soon, those eyes will be mine.'

Line break.

{Naruto POV}

Meanwhile, Naruto and Gama were fighting for their lives. They were jumping through trees and leaves as they maneuvered around the fangs of numerous giant snakes. There were only five left, and the three-headed Snale was below them.

Naruto launched off of Gama's back and onto a vine, swinging to the tree he was going for and flipped off. "Gama, cover me!"

Gama nodded and clapped his hands together. "Water style: Accelerating Water canon!'

Gama unleashed a blast of concentrated water so that the snake coming at Naruto with its jaws opened had its head erased. The jutsu traveled towards the three-headed snake, who countered with a jutsu of a similar caliber, sending a concentrated blast of powerful water.

The two jutsu collided as Naruto charged his Rasengan into his intending target, smashing it into the head of another lesser snake and sending it to the ground floor.

Gama caught the boy, Naruto's momentum too strong for him to control on his own, and they took a breather momentarily.

"Just three more, and we can get to your team."

Naruto nodded, out of breath. "Yeah. Thanks for your help, Gama-sensei."

Gama smirked, "Don't get cocky yet, kid. There's still more to be done.

Gama spun his clever as the second-to-last lesser snake charged, and Naruto turned around to see another one trying to flank them.

'A pincer attack. Pathetic,' thought Gama.

Naruto sped through hand seals right as Gama smashed his opponent hard enough for their branch to collapse. Naruto finished his jutsu mid-air before the last snake could bring its jaws to bear down on them.

"wind style: Pressure canon! Yelled the boy, and an explosion of wind that was destructive enough to send both him and Gama flying away, the jutsu firing awkwardly.

"Dammit, boy! Careful! Are you trying to get us both killed?" yelled Gama.

"You broke the branch we were standing on! How was I-' Naruto stopped talking when he noticed the three-headed hydra snake now zipping across the jungle field and found its tail whipping towards him.

The boy was glad to have landed on time when it came because he was sure it would have destroyed him.

The boy barely managed to dash out of the way and went to make hand signs, but he stopped. 'I've been using too much ninjutsu as of late. Let's see if this works instead.

Naruto rushed toward the snake as fast as he could, and Gama, seeing this, decided to try to assist in any way possible, "What are you up to, Uzumaki?!"

Naruto smirked. "Get me close and see!" yelled Naruto.

The snake's middle head blurred towards the boy, almost too fast for him to react. Before it could come down on him, Gama appeared before it and held its jaws away, being pushed back by its superior strength.

'Toads are so fucking cool,' thought the bond as he jumped over the head and ran down it's body.

He slammed a red spiraling seal, the glyph complex with a mix of numerical and alphabetical symbols, and the seal flashed bright red for a moment before going dull.

Naruto's eyes widen. "It reacted!"

"Uzumaki!" yelled Gama, and the boy saw it, a comet of flame rushing towards him from the third head.

Naruto clasped his hands and covered himself in a barrier, but given its nature, the barrier shattered and only muffled the blast. The boy was sent hurtling towards the nearby tree and smashed deep into it causing a splintering crater.

Gama grits his teeth at his predicament. "Naruto! You alright, boy?" he called out. The toad's eyes widened as the other head of the snake flanked him to swallow, and he braced himself for impact.

"Uzumaki style: Crimson bind!" wheezed Naruto, and to Gama's surprise, red spectral blades emerged from the snake from all directions, weighing it down so much that the ground underneath it began to give out, causing the snake to be suspended.

The head that tried to take him in was crushed under the weight of a spectral blade suddenly protruding from its skull and stopped dead in its tracks, glaring daggers at him.

Even the head Gama was holding against was crushed, and The toad's eyes widened as he stumbled back.

"Holy smokes! That was incredible!" Gama yelled but gasped when he saw the condition Naruto was in.

He was burnt up and badly bruised, the wood piercing parts of him from the force of the attack.

"Uzumaki! Dammit, hang on, you brat! I'll get you help!"

The toad carefully removed Naruto, and the boy gasped in pain. In the background, the snake continued to struggle in vain to escape its bindings.

"That seal. I named it after a seal my mother liked to use. It should help me deal with anything my chains can't handle on their own. Being a half-breed sucks sometimes." Naruto said quietly before he gasped in pain. The toad saw the large piece of wood stuck where his liver would be.

"Boy, you mustn't-"

He was cut off and in shock when he saw Naruto yank it out of him, and he yelled out. "Boy! Don't you dare go and do anything stupid!"

The boy ignored him. he sat up as best as he could, but it hurt like a bitch, the toad having to stop him from going anywhere. "Will you stop moving?! You are in no-..."

Gama stepped away then and there. Steam was coming from Naruto, and his wounds were closing, save for the largest one. Naruto's eyes were red, his hair stood up a bit, and his whisker marks were more pronounced.

"I'm okay, Gama. My team is in danger, and we need to save them. Uzumaki style: Crimson bind: Banish."

The blades on the snake in the background twisted, and the snake disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Gama shook his head. "I swear to kami, Jiraiya. This kid is amazing, yet so reckless!' he thought to himself.

Naruto looked down to his side and saw that the wound hadn't been rid of yet, but the rest of his minor wounds were gone.

"We need to move now, Gama! I fear Sasuke and Sakura may be in grave danger if we're not fast enough!"

Gama nodded. "Okay! Hop on!"

The boy obeyed, and Gama sped through the forest at his top speed, not letting the trees deter him as he raced to his team's battleground.

Line break.

{Sasuke/Sakura POV}

"I must say that I am quite impressed," said the 'Kusa'-nin, gazing at them intently, "To have fought so well…"

Orochimaru was absolutely pleased. Kabuto's information had been accurate, as always. After he had removed the blonde from the equation and made it appear that the boy had died, the two had fought their hardest against him. Initially, they were terrified, but Sasuke had gained the courage to fight after witnessing his teammate's will to live. The two members of team seven had fought tooth and nail.

The two were now exhausted on a random tree branch. Orochimaru had them both cornered. His summoned snake and jutsu repertoire had been more than a match for two genin. However, they had obviously been diligent in their training.

Yes, he was completely satisfied with Sasuke's performance.

The snake appeared to lunge toward the two, one of which incapacitated Sakura and the other biting Sasuke in the neck, imprinting him with the curse mark.

"You are mine!" he hissed excitedly as the boy screamed and writhed in pain.

Once the markings appeared on the boy's neck, he ceased his struggle and went limp, leading Sakura to struggle with the snake strangling her even more.

"No! Sasuke! Let go of me, you monster!" she cried in terror.

Orochimaru laughed at this and released his hold on her before melting into the ground." this is my gift to you, little Uchiha. Use it well; he spoke before he vanished.

Sakura, who was wrapped up in the snake's grasp, looked terrified as it prepared to eat her, and with Sasuke writhing in pain, she could only assume this was the end for her.

She was unable to move from fear, and the snake laughed as it opened its mouth. "Die, little girl! It became a snack for the snake, which stopped as it was beheaded by a speeding toad, Naruto attached to its back.

"Arrogant animal!" said Gama as he slid to a stop.

Naruto carefully got off, his wound slowing him down by a lot, and he jogged over to a stunned Sakura.

"N-Naruto?"

"Sakura," he said in relief, hugging the girl close and peeling the snake's body away. "Thank kami, you're still alive!"

The snake fell away as Gama puffed out of existence, the toad having run out of time.

The two hugged one another, so happy to see their teammate still alive and kicking, but their celebration was interrupted by a yell from Sasuke, and they both turned to see him still writhing in pain, his face contorted into a silent scream.

They ran to his aid and began inspecting the mark, trying to figure out how to remove it.

"How can we help him?! His pain looks so agonizing! Please help him, Naruto!" cried the pink-haired girl.

Naruto didn't know what to do. 'What even is this? It isn't simple fuinjutsu. Marks Mark doesn't use numerals or alphabetical language. We use it for fuinjutsu. It's like a giant symbol utilizing the properties of power, like a battery. But it is stealing from Sasuke's vitality to function. This... is so strange.'

Naruto's hand glowed, and four symbols appeared on his tips before he carefully planted them on the curse mark.

It took a moment for him to get an idea of how screwed Sasuke was. "This thing is latching onto every aspect of Sasuke! It's burrowing into his chakra stream and fucking up his inner network!"

Sakura looked panicked. "W-what does that mean?!"

Naruto glared at the curse mark. "it means if this thing fails to integrate with him, then it will freeze up and leave his network so unstable that he won't be able to properly filter his chakra. His chakra will leak from him until he dies of chakra malnourishment."

Sakura began to freak out then, and she held the boy closer, hoping it would somehow save him. "Please help him. Naruto... Don't let him die."

"I won't relax."

Naruto wasn't sure he could save him, but he had a way of manipulating the curse mark. 'The curse mark is terraforming his chakra network extremely fast and unstable. I can't get rid of it, and stopping it will leave his network disfigured to the point of certain death. Slowing it down to ease his suffering could work, but it could also make it more painful. I've never dealt with something like this before, so I have to make it work with my best judgment.'

Naruto brought out a tiny scroll and an Ink/pen to write with and drew up what looked to be a modified form of a basic sealing formula. He bit his thumb to draw blood, wrote a series of complex seals around it, and then carefully removed it.

Sakura's eyes widened at seeing ink floating in mid-air, stuck in its drawn form. 'W-what the?'

Naruto got closer and hovered it over Sasuke. He carefully placed it over Mark's mark, and Sasuke stopped writhing and struggling against him instantly.

"What did you do?" asked Sakura.

"I wasn't sure whether I could manipulate the seal, so I figured the best way to help was to subtly modify Sasuke's chakra network. Our networks all have a defensive measure to protect our bodies from foreign chakras. The curse mark was likely ripping him apart because it was fighting against his network's defenses—it seemed to be too effective at it. I made his network cooperative with the mark to prevent the two from battling within his body. It now thinks it is native to his system. Now we see what happens."

Sakura's eyes widened. "We're just going to let that thing run rampant?!"

Naruto nodded. "At the moment, this is the only solution. He needs a doctor and someone with actual sealing know-how to do this properly. He needs my godfather, Jiraiya. For now, this was my best shot."

Sakura's eyes widened at the mention of Jiraiya. "Hang on. So that toad... you're..."

Naruto nodded. "That toad's name was Gama, and he's Jiraiya's summon."

"What the fuck," she whispered.

He carefully tried to lift Sasuke and winced at his own wound.

Sakura quickly joined in helping him lift Sasuke. "Are you alright?" she asked him, concerned about his own condition.

"I'll live. I should be fine as soon as I get some rest. There's more you need to know. The one you were fighting isn't supposed to be here."

'no shit Sherlock,' she thought sarcastically.

Line break.

The hiding spot they picked wasn't far from where their encounter with the snake Sannin occurred.

It was under a tree, the roots of which had grown so deeply that they created a shelter, so they hid inside and set up camp.

"The traitor of the leaf," Sakura whispered to herself, trying to understand what had just happened.

Sasuke was in bad condition. The seal Naruto put on him had worked to some extent, but it was only a stopgap, and the effects of the seal were getting stronger by the minute. Sasuke's neck was blackening at a much faster pace than when he was writhing in pain, and his breathing had become much more labored. His condition was rapidly getting worse, and Sakura was really worried for her friend.

She took a look at Naruto as he inspected the seal and saw his wound through his torn shirt. "Naruto. We need to get your wound dressed. You can't just wait around like this. That's an open wound."

Naruto stopped and looked down at it. "Ah. That's right."

She sighed at his lack of care. She rummaged through her bag and got her first aid out.

"Let me see it."

He lifted his shirt, and she saw how it seemed to have morphed into a strange shape as if it were healing. Yet blood was still pooling. She wasn't sure if she was just seeing things, but she couldn't risk it. "Your wound... What happened?" she asked quietly as she wiped away the blood and inspected his injury, making sure it wasn't something too bad.

He didn't react to anything she did to it, which spoke of his pain tolerance. "I was thrown against a dead tree, and a giant piece of wood pierced my side. I took it out myself, so it may have done more damage. It hurts, but I can still move just fine.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock at that. 'A giant piece of wood went through him?!'

"Take off your shirt. I need to bandage this," she told him, and he obeyed, taking his shirt off and letting her see his wounds.

He lifted his arms as she wrapped his waist to be careful and not constrict his breathing, packing the wound and cleaning it thoroughly.

When she was done, she packed the first aid away and sighed. "I'm glad you're alright, Naruto," she said, and he turned to her and saw her hugging herself, shaking from fear and terror. "We were so close to death back there... If it wasn't for you... I... I wouldn't have lived. I don't know what I'd do if you were gone... Thank you," she said as tears leaked from her eyes.

Naruto gave her a hug as she broke down, the stress of her experience crashing down on her in the form of tears. "You're okay now, Sakura. I'm here. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You said you weren't ready for this, yet we pushed you to be."

Sakura sniffled and nodded. "I don't want to be useless... I can't keep on letting my teammates save my life over and over again... I'm trying to keep up, I really am."

His embrace on her tightened, and it was then that he had an idea of how injured and tired she was.

A worried look crossed his features, and he shook his head. "I don't know much about first aid, but you need some. Rest up and get yourself healed. I'll keep watch for anything coming at us.

He looked at Sasuke's sleeping form, saying, "We all need to recover for now."

Sakura nodded and dried her eyes. He watched as she cleaned her face with a napkin and sighed. "Okay, I'll take it easy for now, but I won't have you working alone."

He smirked at that. "Just sit down already. You've done too much not to rest, so please."

She huffed and nodded, drying the last of her tears.

He left to stand outside as she put her wrist in a sling, tried to recover, and washed up a bit.

Line break.

{Anko POV}

Three hours later.

Anko ran through the forest at high speeds, following her instincts to find her old master's way. Every now and then, she felt his presence through her curse mark, and every time she did, it got stronger, indicating his close proximity.

'I can feel him. He's really here after all these years.' She thought to herself.

She'd been traversing this damn forest for hours, playing hot and cold with her curse mark, until after three hours in this forest, she tracked him down.

She landed on a large, twisted tree and saw him. His face was mostly the stolen face of his latest victim, but his right face revealed his true form, his yellow snake eye-opening upon sensing her presence.

"Well, well. Anko. It's been a while."

"This is no time to reminisce. You're an S-class criminal, the top of the wanted list. You need to be taken down, and it's only fitting that I will be the one to do it." she growled.

Orochimaru sighed. "How arrogant. You become a special Jonin, and suddenly think you're a match for me. I'll have you know that I haven't taught you an inkling of what I've truly got to offer. Don't be foolish, girl."

She narrowed her eyes. "We'll see about that!"

Senbon appeared in her hand, and she moved to throw them, but Orochimaru's tongue was already zipping towards her.

She cursed and backflipped out of the way, dashing and dodging out of its grasp.

She slid up the tree when the hardened tongue hit where she'd just been a moment ago. To her shock, it came at her faster than before and gripped the hand holding her senbon with enough force to make her drop them.

She was yanked back down to the branch with a crash and cried out in pain, Orochimaru's laugh ringing throughout the area.

She gasped at her situation, struggling to move with the grip of the tongue tightening its hold around her. "Damn you! Ninja art: Striking shadow snake!" She yelled, and three green snakes zipped toward Orochimaru.

The snakes rammed into his form, and she smirked. She yanked him out of the tree he'd melted into and pulled him into the trunk behind her.

He hit the trunk hard, and she performed a sping kick into his chest before pinning his hand against the trunk and gripping the other. "Got you now! Any last words?!"

Orochimaru gave a pained look, and she smirked. "Guess not. You and I are going to die here."

She used his hand to perform the signs for her forbidden jutsu, and Orochimaru's eyes widened. "That hand sign!"

Her smirk grew, a painful yet mocking smirk at that. "That's right. Ninja art: Twin snakes sacrifice-"

"Anko," said Orochimaru from behind her.

The woman's eyes widened in horror, and she slowly turned around, shaken to find Orochimaru behind her with an amused expression.

He ripped the rest of the disguise off and laughed. "Really, child? How insulting. You really thought that was all it would take to beat me? I should be angry, but who could fault you? You are the same little pet as before, adorable and naive. Look behind you.

She didn't have to. The feeling of mud against her hands told her she was holding down a mud clone.

She glared and got into a ready position, throwing the kunai she had used to pin his clone, but he flicked away with his finger and brought up a hand sign.

Her eyes widened as she felt her curse mark activate, the seal keeping it at bay breaking apart, and she collapsed, gripping at her neck, screaming in agony as Orochimaru watched in amusement, the woman's pain making him grin with a twisted expression on his face.

He looked at the state she was in and licked his lips. "What were you expecting when coming to me? Hmm? You didn't come here to conquer me. You came to confront your trauma!"

Her body suddenly stiffened up when black markings traveled around her body, and the seal completely opened. "STOP!" she screamed in horror.

He laughed and bent down to her level, seeing the tears flow from her face. "I know you resent me for abandoning you, and I'll admit, I missed you too. All the fun we had when you were a little bright-eyed genin. All the... exploring we did together."

She shivered as she felt his chakra invade her system again, her hair turning white and her eyes turning yellow. "PLEASE! STOP!" She screamed.

His smirk only grew. "you've grown into quite the woman, Anko. I wonder if your skin tastes as good as I remember. Suppose your lips feel as warm. If you still feel as warm inside."

Anko could feel his hand snake up her thigh as she cried, her body rejecting his invasion.

She felt a hand stroke her face as he pulled her in close to whisper. "You want it to, don't you? You miss me."

Her fangs came in, and suddenly, he was knocked back by a powerful burst of chakra, the curse seal reaching its second stage. "FUCK YOU!" She roared, and a massive white snake raced towards his flying form.

He laughed and clasped his hands together, his arms becoming a large brown snake wrapping around hers, tangling their limbs together. 'Yes. Finally, all she needed was a little push, ' he thought with glee.

"I'm not the same little girl you groomed long ago, you freak!" she yelled, and he was yanked towards her, white wings in the form of distorted hands coming from her back, tearing away her jacket and a part of her chain-mesh. This allowed her to dash into his approaching form.

He caught her fist easily, their forms spinning in the air, and given his superior experience, he was able to flip them over and kick-off of her to send her to the ground level. "The contrary, darling! You haven't changed!"

She landed on her hands and knees and launched back up, a roar of hate and anger escaping her lips as she launched towards him again, her snake-like hand forming into a fist and striking him with an attack that he barely blocked.

Anko didn't let up in the slightest, sending him to a branch; she quickly landed before him and started relentlessly attacking him with a flurry of attacks that were met by his own. The sannin expertly outpaced her until she slipped up. A wild swing threw her off balance enough for him to kick her foot out of place and manipulate his body into snake form.

He wrapped around her form, gripping her two arms, and leaping back to the ground level once more, spinning her around and tossing her like a rag doll.

She smashed into a tree and broke right through it, falling to the floor as the wood cracked around her. The tree she rammed into tilted over to fall in the background as Orochimaru landed before her.

"It's useless. I've long since mastered the abilities of your curse mark, and I know all of your abilities. After all, That mark of yours is structured around my truest form!"

She roared at him and flew at him, but he put up the hand sign right on time, her flying form collapsing before him as she screamed in pain and anger. "I'll kill you!" she screamed.

Her mouth opened, and to his dismay, she spat a poison mist in his face.

He leaped back and scoffed, still holding the sign. Its purpose was to drain the chakra from the seal. He needed the white snake's chakra back, and he had a new use for it.

She writhed more and more, feeling her network begin to rupture, and tears of pain leaked from her eyes.

"P-please." she whimpered as she was on the cusp of unconsciousness and death.

He let her go with a frown, and she collapsed, gasping for air.

He walked up to her shaking form and checked the seal. To his amazement and disappointment, the seal refused to detach like he wanted. 'My first curse mark was the greatest success yet. When I need it most, it refuses to detach. This brat doesn't realize she has the greatest of the curse marks in her possession. Wielding it like a .'

The man scoffed and decided the two-birds-and-one-stone plan wasn't what this was going to be anymore. His primary objective came first now.

He rolled her over and planted his hand on her seal. "I may as well go all the way."

"W-what?" She whispered, and then his chakra invaded her system again. Only this time, he planted a piece of his influence in it once again.

Her screams rang out into the forests and wouldn't stop for some time.

Line break.

One day later.

Sakura's eyes snapped open when she heard six pairs of feet landing near the clearing. She made sure to seal the opening of the tree with her earth wall jutsu, but the Sound and Rain trios had already seen the unconscious form of Sasuke and the sleeping Naruto.

"We've come for Uchiha Sasuke!" yelled Dosu threateningly, "Bring him out for us to face him, and you won't be harmed, little girl."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Not happening! get lost!"

'This stupid bitch. She knows she's surrounded, and we just gave her a chance at survival, yet she resists?' thought Zaku, annoyed.

Shigure, the leader of the rain village team, shook his head, and his teammates Baiu and Midare did the same. "This is overkill. Should we just watch? I mean... where's their supposed ally?"

Dosu shrugged. "Not sure. They could be close by, though, so just watch our backs. You don't have to get your hands dirty.

"None of you do," said an annoyed Zaku. "Let me knock this wall down, I'll drag that slut out myself."

"There's no need to be hasty. Let me negotiate first," Dosu said in a placating manner. If she still refuses, you have permission to do whatever you want with her.

He gave a perverted grin, and Kin grimaced. "Seriously? He already had his way with two other girls in this damn forest. I'm not in the mood to listen to another screaming banshee."

Dosu ignored the two and walked closer to the wall. "Listen here. If you give us the boy, we'll leave you and the other unconscious boy alone. Deal? Wake up, Sasuke, and you'll be left-"

"Dosu, look out!" yelled Zaku.

Dosu saw it, the log racing straight for him.

He raised his hand and activated his sound pulse jutsu just as it hit him, splintering the log apart but still sending him on his back.

"Urgh! Forget it! Zaku! Do as you will!"

Zaku smirked. "Finally."

The boy walked up to the wall and planted his hand on it. "Last chance, little girl! I'm about to tear it down!"

Saura prepared to spring her second trap, butt a hand landed on her shoulder. "Take it down."

She turned to Naruto. "I'm not doing it! I have a trap to ensnare them. We can take them together! You're hurt!"

Naruto shook his head. "I'm in better condition than you. Save the traps for if anyone gets too close. Take it down, and trust me," he said, smirk in his voice.

She frowned and nodded.

Zaku growled. "Times up. Ninja art: Decapitating Air-"

He cut himself off when the wall came down, throwing him off, and Naruto stood in front of him.

He raised a brow at first and then smirked. "Decapitating Airwaves!" yelled Zaku, but just as the wind began to travel from his two hands, Naruto had already gripped both of his wrists and pointed them in separate directions.

The airwaves slammed into the trees above, and Zaku stared in shock at how fast Naruto moved. He tried to overpower him, but the boy's grip on his wrists tightened, and he winced in pain. "Let go, you-"

He was headbutted in that moment, kneed in the stomach, and a right hook sent him sprawling to Dosu's feet, Zaku dazed and in shock.

"T-The fuck did..." Zaku paused, blood dripping from his mouth and nose, and a growl resounded from him.

"Close it, Sakura," Naruto said.

"But Naruto-

"Do it!"

She sighed and placed the wall back.

"You alright, Zaku?" asked Dosu as he sized up Naruto.

"NO! I'm Not fucking Alright! I just got caught off guard by this punk! I'm gonna tear him apart!"

Kin sighed. "At this point, we'll never get Sasuke. Ley's not play around; just jump him already."

Dosu nodded. "We gave them a chance to cooperate, but they failed. Let's do it."

Naruto crossed his arms, and a hidden hand sign was performed to create a red barrier that fazed in and out of the tree, protecting Sakura and Sasuke.

"Six on one, eh? I'll prove to Sasuke that letting loose was a better option than just pretending. In this case, though, it looks like I'll be fighting for my life. What's new?"

"On me!" yelled Dosu, and the three dashed at the blonde, jumping in the air and unleashing their attacks all at once. Naruto smirked up at them.

'Bring it on.'

Line break.

End chapter.

{Authors note}

I Have other chapters already written, so I'm ahead by two and a half. I just need to proofread, but sometimes, I don't have the time. That's why you'll get some chapters back to back like this.