Disclaimer: I do not, in no way own Naruto or Yu Yu Hakusho. Now no more talking lets get on with the chapter yay!
"Talk" Character talking.
'Think' Character thinking.
"Talk" Jagan talking.
'Think' Jagan thinking.
"Talk" Tailed Beast talking.
"Think" Tailed Beast thinking.
After the Chunin hopefuls followed their second proctor outside, they traveled for a bit until every team stood outside a giant metallic fence with forty-four gates equally spread around it. Behind the gates were giant, ominous trees that shrouded the area in utter blackness.
Anko smiled at the midgets who had the guts to follow her. "Welcome to Training Ground Forty-four, otherwise known as The Forest of Death. It is here you will take your second exam!"
A decent lot of the participants loudly gulped seeing such an ominous forest, some Leaf shinobi seeing it for the first time, and surprised such a thing was in their backyard. Only two out of the entire Leaf Genin populace who were not scared were of course the two who had been training in there for several weeks. They knew most of that forest like the back of their hand.
Naruto and Sasuke could not wait to get back in their element.
"Before we begin, I have some news for you." Snapping her fingers, one of the proctors in gray uniforms appeared with a stack of papers and some pens. "Before we continue, I need all of you to sign these release forms."
"Release forms? What the hell for?" A Genin from Sunagakure asked.
"For the forest you little idiot. It you die in there these forms release us from any blame if you get get impaled on a kunai or eaten by one of the animals in there." Anko replied with a slight smirk on her face. "Now form a single line or beat it, either way I don't care."
Surprisingly it took only ten minutes for the Genin teams, after some encouragement of course to more or less sign their lives away. After that Anko presented them with the Heaven and Earth scrolls, stating that it was essential, and that they were to not be opened at any cost. Failure to show up at the tower in the middle of the forest without them was an automatic fail, to not show up in the five day period was also an automatic fail, or those who had a teammate die would not advance either.
Nothing more needed to be said, the Genin went to their stationed gates, and when a whistle was blown the gates opened signaling the start of the second exams.
"Are...are you sure you know where you guys are going?" Sakura asked her teammates a few hours later.
"Of course we do, we're awesome." Naruto replied with Jagan's eye open to lead the way and look out for any danger. Yea he was still getting a headache, but it toned down from the first time, and with each passing hour it was hurting less and less.
"If you say so dobe." Sasuke replied. Every so often he shifted his eyes to his right hip pouch where their Heaven Scroll resided.
Suddenly Naruto stopped dead in his tracks and held up his right hand to stop them.
"Naruto what is it?" Sakura asked.
"Gotta drain the lizard." The black-streaked blonde replied, causing his two teammates to drop their heads and he ran off.
"Kami he's such an idiot at times." Sakura huffed when he left.
"What would you prefer? Him acting like this? Or the killer at the camp?" Sasuke smoothly replied.
"I uh..." The pinkette had to swallow some bile that crept into her throat. Even now she couldn't stomach the images from the camp where she took her first lives. "I don't want to talk about that."
"Hm."
Barely thirty seconds later they heard a rustle in the bushes and the body of a yellow-clad shinobi flew out and impacted a tree. He let out a hitched breath before slowly sliding downwards, and Naruto came walking out whistling a merry tune. "Can you believe that guy? He tried getting the drop on me with my pants down, what an asshole."
"Did he have a scroll?" Sasuke asked.
"Na, fraid not. That was the reason I threw him."
"Unnecessary, but I guess he deserved it. Come on lets go."
No sooner than Sasuke had finished his sentence and the team was jumping through the trees again, a violent burst of wind struck the three Genin with violent force and sent them all flying away. Both Sasuke and Sakura were lucky enough to land near each other, Naruto however was was unlucky enough to get swallowed by a gigantic snake in mid-flight.
"Oh son of a bitch! I cannot believe I got eaten by a snake!" Naruto barked out in displeasure.
"Well you know what they say about snakes." Ishikawa said.
"That they are a bunch of assholes and slimy on the inside?"
"Well, yea, but guess where else snakes come from."
"Orochimaru!"
"Bingo, now one of your targets is here. What are you going to do?"
"I'm getting out of this damn snake for starters." Mentally communicating with Jagan the sentient eyeball fired the Darkness Beam, and it cut through the gigantic serpent. Naruto tumbled through the opening and landed on the forest floor covered in slime as the snake began disintegrating in the black flames.
"I. Hate. Snakes." He hissed through his masks.
"Shame on you, our master loves them." A harsh, raspy voice said.
The hair on the back of his neck rising, Naruto immediately went on alert and saw two people resting on the trees.
One wore a gray robe and tattered cloak to cover most of his body, black pants and shinobi sandals. He had a very mean-looking face and his head was mostly covered by a straw hat with a talisman that hung off the side that read "Death".
The second wore and open grey yukata with fishnet armor that went to the middle of his forearms, black gloves and pants and sandals. He wore a white rope belt around his waist, his straw hat was hung around his neck to reveal a bald head and disturbing mask that looked to be made from either bone or bark.
"I assume you mean Orochimaru. Tell me what business does the Snake Sannin have here?" Naruto demanded.
"I'm afraid you will be departing to the underworld before you find out." The tattered cloak wearing Genin unsheathed a kunai from under his cloak and darted towards the slime covered former full blonde.
Glaring at his opponent, Naruto immediately back flipped away and placed his fingers into the familiar cross seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He hollered out as five copies of him appeared in five clouds of smoke.
All six Naruto's then activated their Kurashagan and began watching his movements. His opponent growled and threw his kunai which was deflected by a clone who unsheathed Handanryoku to block it.
"It's going to take a lot more than that to defeat me!" The clone exclaimed.
"Well then maybe I got something else for you." Reaching under his cloak, Naruto's opponent procured an ordinary-looking flute. "Allow me to play you a song of death!" Immediately his fingers began moving along the holes in the flute and a haunting melody began playing.
Naruto and his closes soon felt their bodies becoming heavier, and extremely hard to move. Immediately he suspected it to be some sort of Genjutsu. He moved to bite his lip to break the technique, but stopped. If he played the fool then maybe he could get the drop on the bastard.
The disguised Grass shinobi finished playing his melody and smirked before turning towards his teammate. "See, I knew it was going to be easy."
The masked shinobi crossed his arms and said nothing.
"Hmph, you were never much of a talker." Taking out another kunai the flute-wielder sauntered up to Naruto and his clones. "That smoke trick really made me lose track of you. Lets see which is the real one." Without a word he placed his kunai at the throat of the one who had his sword out and slit it.
It disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Causing Naruto to smirk, his opponent however was unamused.
"Lucky, but I got five more tries, and I don't usually need a third time." He then made his way over to another paralyzed Naruto and placed his kunai against his throat.
Before he could move it an inch the Naruto's around him erupted into a large cloud of smoke, completely blinding him. He inhaled the smoke, coughing and wheezing in discomfort. The sound of a clicking noise alerted him, a sharp pain erupted in his forehead, and then he felt no more.
When the smoke cleared it revealed the Naruto he had his kunai poised for the kill was the real one, and one of the Shodaime Tsuchikage's bracers had its deadly blade lodged in his forehead. It was a quick and relatively easy kill for the current onlooker.
The masked Genin uncrossed his arms and nodded his head. "Thank you for ridding me of that annoyance. It seems the fabled Shiin Clan was nothing but trash." (1)
"Shiin Clan?" Slowly the body slid backwards and the blade caught onto the skin. With a look of surprise that was animated by his mask his dead opponent's face was skewered onto his weapon. When the body landed on the ground it revealed a man with a pallid complexion, he had long black hair which framed his face, and his confused black eyes were wide in alarm as the light faded from them.
"Oh Kami that is so gross!"
"Eww..."
"Clever."
"Ha!"
The figure in front of him only shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "They were a potential clan eager to join my masters village. Their leader himself willingly came along to get a place in Otogakure. But if he was easily killed by the likes of you then his clan deserves the same fate. It was a waste to kill this Genin team for him to come along with."
"You're the one who killed this Grass team? Just to sneak into the forest? For what?" Naruto demanded as he grabbed the face with his opposite hand, retracted the hidden blade and then tossing it to the forest floor.
"Those matters do not concern you. They are only for Orochimaru-sama, and Orochimaru-sama alone." The masked man calmly said without a trace of remorse for his actions.
"Dude...be careful." Ishikawa said with caution in his voice. "I don't know what this dude's damage is, but he's a strong one. I can tell it in his body language."
'Body language?'
"Come on Blondie get with the program! He's relaxed, sure, but that is nothing more than a ruse. He's ready to strike like a very pissed off viper, I bet you all my ghost money that he has a jutsu ready as we speak."
Ignoring the comment of ghost money and why the hell a ghost would need any form of currency, Naruto set his activated eyes on his opponent. "Let me guess. You're not going to allow me to leave are you?"
"Not unless you wish to serve Orochimaru-sama." The man replied.
"That is a no then." Slowly unsheathing his katana Naruto readied himself. "Before we get down to this, mind revealing your real face? It just feels super creepy fighting someone with another guy's face on his face."
The masked shinobi paused, almost in thought. "This is acceptable." First slipping his gloves off and tossing them to the forest floor, he then grabbed the sides of his face and peeled it off like a snake shedding his skin. In a very disgusting display of flesh ripping he tossed the ruined ball of what used to be a person's actual face to the side.
Naruto's opponent was revealed to have pale skin, vivid green eyes, masculine facial features, two scarlet dots on his forehead above his eyebrows with red markings under his eyes, and shoulder-length white hair, which he wore divided down the middle on his head with two separate partings on either side of his face. He also wore two red, tube-like hair ornaments; one on both sides of his head, securing two locks of his white hair.
"Holy shit..." Naruto muttered out in surprise. He remembered those markings from one of the books his clones read. "A Kaguya."
"So you heard of my clan?" He remarked with a raised eyebrow.
"Somewhat, it was said you guys had this remarkable Kekkei Genkai called the Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse), but not many of you could use it to its full potential. And you were completely wiped out years ago when you attacked Kirigakure."
"Wiped out to the last man, woman, and child. I am the last of my kind." The last Kaguya said closing his eyes before calmly stating. "All of that is inconsequential."
"Well then can you at least give me a name to go with that mug of yous? I rather not just call you 'guy', or Kaguya." Naruto said gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.
"Kimimaro, that is my name. Tell that to the Shinigami once you see him."
"Heh, you will be surprised what I can say to him."
Without another word Kimimaro's shoulder opened up to reveal the Humerus bone, without a wince or blink of an eyelash the bone slowly rose up out of his shoulder, revealing red muscle mass and blood dripping down his shoulder. Then gripping it the Kaguya ripped the bone out to reveal a short, bone-hilted bone sword. His arm went slack for a brief second before the missing bone and skin grew back. "Dance of the Camellia."
"Oh my Kami, that is so hardcore." Naruto blinked once and Kimimaro was gone from his spot and in his personal space, his bone sword thrusting out to impale him. The Kurashagan-user barely managed to deflect it with Handanryoku.
Kimimaro swiped to the left, Naruto barely managed to sidestep, a sudden swipe upwards nicked him in his right bicep, another thrust was parried but the sharp bone cut through his side cutting nothing but his vest and nicking the fishnet chain mail under it. Naruto then grabbed his arm and began to fire the Darkness Beam at his opponent to quickly end the fight, but Kimimaro harshly cracked his head against the mask.
The Kurashagan-user's head violently snapped backwards as a resounding crack echoed throughout the area. Kimimaro then brought his right foot up, kicking his opponent harshly and sent him flying. He watched as Naruto slammed through two trees before tumbling in the dirt where he belonged.
Naruto harshly coughed when the air entered his lungs. His eyes wide behind his mask. Kimimaro was fast, he could barely keep up. The man was clearly a Taijutsu master, bordering on Gai's level, maybe. He couldn't fight him up front, at least not yet, so Naruto turned tail and ran.
Kimimaro narrowed his eyes at his retreating opponent. "Trash ninja." He muttered before bounding after him.
They took to the trees, the landscape whizzing by them as they ran at rapid speeds. The Kaguya raised his left hand, thumb bent the tips of his four extending fingers peeled back. "Digital Shrapnel!" Four bone bullets shot out from his fingers, spinning through the air.
Naruto looked back and barely had time to judge the arc of the bullets with his Dojutsu and dodge them. He then watched as the bone bullets blasted through the tree to the point he could see directly through it.
"Holy shit, this is so not good." He panted out in alarm. Well made vest or not, that would have gone completely through him. Naruto continued to flee, forcing chakra into his limbs to go faster, the former full blonde ducked and darted through trees, trying to lead his opponent to a spot where he could have the advantage.
Kimimaro's eyes narrowed in slight annoyance. He didn't know what his opponent was planning, but he knew he was leading him somewhere for a more tactical advantage. This could not be allowed. Bringing his left hand into a fist and then extending his index finger and thumb to take shape of a pistol, the last Kaguya took aim and fired his bone bullet from his finger.
Before Naruto knew what hit him, a sharp pain struck his right leg in mid-air, when he landed on his destined tree branch his leg buckled and he fell to the forest floor, hitting multiple branches along the way until he landed face first onto the ground. Slowly he turned over and looked at where he was hit.
Immediately he felt the flaring pain running up his leg. Kimimaro's technique struck him square in the thigh, and created a see through hole where so much blood was leaking out of it. As his opponent landed in front of him, Naruto didn't waste any time trying to back away leaving a impressive blood streak in his wake.
"You made me chase you quite a ways, but in the end it was foolish to try and fight me." Kimimaro said in an even voice. With each step he took, Naruto continued to drag himself away until his back rested against a tree. That seemed appropriate for a Leaf shinobi to die against a tree in his opinion. He watched as the former blonde raised his sword against him, and he in response threw his bone sword, catching him in the wrist and pinning his right hand, sword and all against the trunk of the tree.
The last Kaguya then pulled another bone sword from his shoulder, and felt the missing Humerus bone grow back in a span of ten seconds. "Goodbye trash ninja."
Despite all the pain flowing through him Naruto laughed loudly. "Hey asshole, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, not trash ninja. And I Got you right where I wanted you, ya jerk. All that blood summoned them." Looking to where Kimimaro was standing in the bloody dirt, the light sounds of the trees rustling were the only warning before they came along.
Suddenly leeches, two dozen of the giant blood suckers descended where Kimimaro was standing. Their sharp teeth latched onto his flesh and slowly began draining the blood from his body. Naruto lightly smirked under his masks, one of those giant bastards could suck all the blood out of a healthy man in less than a minute. Two dozen on Kimimaro? He would be lucky to last even ten seconds.
Dozens of sharp bones erupted from Kimimaro's body, impaling the leeches with deadly accuracy. The nasty blood sucking worms let out a pained screech before expiring, the bones then retracted and the blood suckers fell to the forest floor. Kimimaro was openly glaring at Naruto now, covered in green gore and his outfit full of new holes. "Dance of the Larch." He coldly stated.
"Shit."
Naruto wasn't the only one having a difficult time. After they were separated both Sasuke and Sakura were attacked by some freaky Kusagakure shinobi with long smooth black hair and black eyes. He wore a conical straw hat with a talisman hanging on it with the words "Evil" written three times. He also wore plain grey garbs with a black polo and pants underneath, and thick purple rope belt tied in a large knot behind his back.
The Kusagakure shinobi gave the two of the a gruesome smile. "Hello there my prey. A little birdie told me that you possess a Heaven Scroll."
Sasuke glared in response.
"Kukuku, no need to have such a face. I have exactly what you want." He reached into his outfit to pull out a brown scroll. "You have what I want, and I have what you want. So..." Without any warning he tipped back his head and shoved the scroll into into his mouth, his long tongue swirled around it, his throat bulged from it sliding down his esophagus and into his stomach. "Now lets begin the battle for each others scrolls..." He then glared at then, his right fingernails touching his bare eyeball as he pulled his eyelid further down his face. "With our lives on the line!"
Immediately the both of them were blasted with a large dose of killing intent, and the two of them witnessed their own deaths, dying in a violent and brutal manner. The Kusagakure shinobi then withdrew two kunai-knives and threw them at the both of them.
Harshly gritting his teeth Sasuke barely managed to pull out his own kunai and stabbed himself in the leg. The pain overrode the fear, and he bolted towards Sakura, scooping her up into his arms and running away to find cover.
The Grass Genin did not pursue, he just smiled knowing he could catch up to them anytime. That was the thrill of the hunt after all.
For the next few minutes Sasuke ran, catching his bearings, to find anything familiar with the forest he and Naruto trained in. Finally he found an old hollowed out tree and hid in there to try and dress his wound and hide Sakura.
"Sasuke-kun are you all-" Sakura's mouth was covered by her crush's hand, normally she would have swooned at being touched if the situation wasn't so dire.
"Stay here, this is not someone to be taken lightly." Gritting his teeth the Uchiha removed his hand from her mouth and sorting through one of his hip pouches he took out a roll of gauze and began bandaging his bloody leg. "Ugh, that blood is never going to come out. I should stop wearing white."
The pinkette only looked on with dread filling her stomach. She froze again, and because of her Sasuke had to injure himself in order to save her. Already her low self-esteem was rapidly becoming even lower. "I-I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize." Sasuke gritted out as he tightened the bandage around his right leg. "Make up for it, get stronger, don't hesitate again." Slowly getting to his feet the Uchiha put some weight to his injured leg. It hurt, but beggars couldn't be choosers. "Stay here." He ordered before walking outside.
And was immediately barraged by a gigantic boa constrictor.
"Sasuke-kun!"
Sasuke barely had time to pull out his kusarigama and jab the sharp tip into the serpent's scaly stomach when it began to constrict around him. With all his strength at his disposal he tore the snake from what he thought was his stomach to his neck, spilling hot blood on him, leaving him well lubricated to slip out of its grasp.
Barely having time to take a breath he was assaulted by another boa constrictor. Sasuke's eyes widened as he pumped chakra into his legs and made his way into the air with the snake following him, its mouth wide open, sharp fangs gleaming in the light, and its eyes glaring at him like the Kusagakure shinobi gunning after him.
"Get away!" He screamed, dropping his weapon to let the chain tug on his waist, Sasuke pulled out ten shuriken that was Hiroshi Higarashi's best seller two months running and watched as the eight sided shuriken flew from his hands and impacted the scaly hide, killing the creature.
"Kukuku, impressive Sasuke-kun. But you should not relax even for a moment. Prey should always be trying their best to run away in the presence of a predator." To Sasuke's surprise and disgust, the Kusagakure Genin rose out of the snake he had just killed, breaking the skin and being covered in slime.
"What makes you think I am running?" Sasuke demanded, glaring hatefully at his opponent, his Sharingan blazing to life; the two tomoes in his right eye, and the one in his left spinning wildly. He also brought his hands to his wrists and began peeling the wrist bands off. "Who's to say I am the predator..." Four resounding cracks echoed throughout the area when he finally rid himself of the weights on his wrists and ankles. "And you are the prey!"
The Grass Genin balked at the surprising speed and to Sasuke's surprise his entire body stretched out and he began twisting himself up the nearest tree like an actual snake. Not satisfied with the route his opponent was taking Sasuke pursued him by running up the tree, he hands flashing through familiar seals. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" He roared as a massive orb of roaring flame erupted from his mouth and shot off after his opponent, leaving behind nothing but burning devastation.
The Grass Genin bolted away from the burning fire, arching in the air with glee on his face. He pulled up his right sleeve to reveal a black tattoo on his forearm revealing a serpent wrapped around it. Cutting his thumb on his canine teeth he quickly swiped it downwards on his exposed arm. "Summoning Jutsu!"
A gigantic cloud of smoke erupted, disrupting Sasuke's vision before his he saw to his shock his opponent was standing on a monster of a snake.
"That is not going to scare me! Great Leaf Flash!" The Sharingan-user charged at his opponent and unleashed a powerful lateral kick aiming at his head. He unfortunately was dodged, and was grabbed by his leg and thrown away. His hands flying into motion the Grass Genin expelled a large gust of wind from his mouth. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Sasuke yelled out when the technique struck him, sending him hurling through the forest until he managed to mold his chakra to his feet and stick to a tree. Sweat was pouring down his face from exhaustion setting in, but his opponent seemed to not running out of steam anytime soon. "You're not going to beat me you freak!" He growled out in anger. Reaching to his pouch he pulled out a Demon Wind Shuriken and five kunai already wired. Placing one in his mouth he jumped towards his opponent and his summon.
The Kusagakure shinobi's face broke out in a wide grin. He directed his snake to go forwards, eat his opponent in he must. Sasuke threw three kunai at key points along the branch they were slithering on, then landing on another branch he threw his Demon Wind Shuriken and watched as his opponent moved out of the way and it missed, but he planned on that, channeling his chakra into the wires he jumped from his position and forced his opponent to stop and direct his snake towards his position.
Sasuke then manipulated the wires to loosen and then harden as he swung circles around the Grass Genin and his snake. Each wire snared them, trapping them, binding them. The sharp wire dug into his gloves, and he could feel the skin breaking in his hands, but he ignored them until he tugged tightly and landed on a branch opposite of them. To finish his maneuver the Uchiha removed his kunai from his mouth and threw it and the remaining one he had in hand, lodging it in the snake's hide.
"Who's the prey now!?" He exclaimed with wire in his mouth, his left eye developing a second tomoe, and both spinning wildly as his hands flashed through hand seals. "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" Sasuke breathed fire along the wires, which rushed forward in straight line catching his enemy and his summon on fire.
The giant snake and its summoner lit up like a bonfire on a dry hot day. The smell of flesh and burning wood carried through the entire area. The tree branch broke and fell to the forest floor, taking its burning cargo with it.
Sasuke sighed in relief and collapsed on the branch where he stood. His heart was pounding like a war drum, his nerves frazzled, and his chakra depleted until he could get a good rest. He was exhausted, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Oh what a rush."
"Kukuku, I can certainly agree."
Immediately Sasuke's eyes popped open and he got to his feet to see the Grass Genin several feet from him. His Sharingan still active he saw that his opponent's clothing was crispy, but his face was melted to reveal on the right side of his face to show he had very pale skin, one golden eye with a slitted pupil, purple markings around it, and fang-like teeth.
"How...how did you survive? You're dead I killed you!" Sasuke shouted in denial.
"Oh Sasuke-kun, you are a hundred years too early to defeat me." The Grass Genin chuckled and placed is hand upon the Hitai-ate, ignoring as his fingers were burned by the hot metal. "But to be able to use the Sharingan so well at your age. You truly are the one with the powerful Uchiha blood flowing through your veins." He grinned savagely. "I want you."
"No thanks, I do not prefer guys." He immediately said right off the bat, dammit he had been hanging out with Naruto way too much. The dobe was beginning to rub off on him.
"Kukuku, I do not mean it that way. But I had fun testing you," He then wiped his hand away to reveal a familiar music note on the metal. "You may just surpass Itachi with those eyes of yours."
"Who the hell are you, how do you know of Itachi!?" Sasuke hotly demanded.
"My name is Orochimaru. And if you want answers then survive and pass the exam." Without warning his neck suddenly elongated, and due to Sasuke's fatigued state he didn't have a chance in hell to dodge out of the way. He felt sharp fangs sink into his neck and then the burning began. "I'm going to give you a little going away present to remember me by." He whispered into his ear.
Letting out a roar of anger Sasuke grabbed his kusarigama and swung at Orochimaru. The man only laughed and his long neck retracted back to his body several feet away. "Good, you have spirit. I honestly hope we do meet again. And the power you crave shall be yours." Without another word he disappeared into the tree and was not seen again.
Sasuke growled and collapsed to his knees. Dropping his weapon he grabbed his neck and unknown to him of the three black tomoe markings appeared on his neck, the pain caused him to scream and collapse onto that very tree branch.
Sakura found him like that a minute later after overhearing everything. Not knowing what to do she took his unconscious body back to their hiding spot. Hopefully Naruto would be able to find them.
Unfortunately for Sakura they were the farthest from his mind. Kimimaro Kaguya was making him fight for his very life. Still sitting on the ground with his back to the tree, the former full blonde; with great pain tore the bone sword from his wrist and placed them in the familiar cross shaped seal. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In a large cloud of smoke that engulfed the area, one-hundred Naruto's appeared. The original smirked at his enemy. "Beat that you jerk."
Frowning Kimimaro tore away the remains of his outfit to reveal his pale upper torso. He had a slim build like that of a dancer, and he had what looked like a tattoo that consisted of three slightly curved lines, which spread in a rip-like pattern located of the upper portion of hos chest over his manubrium. "This will not take long." Bones then grew out of his body, from his knee caps, elbows, shoulders and palms of his hands. "Dance of the Willow."
"Fuck your dances, get em boys!"
The clones let out a loud war cry, unsheathing their respective swords and began bombarding the Kaguya.
Almost immediately though Naruto felt and saw the death of his clones. He knew they were just a distraction for Kyuubi to fix him up, and to do something he hoped he wouldn't have come to doing so fast after his mission in Wave Country. First he began removing the weights on his ankles and wrists, lightening his load by a milestone. Next he closed his eyes and talked to the fox.
'Kyuubi, I'm going to need your help.'
"I know, I'll give you enough to keep your mind clear, anymore and I fear you will lose control."
'Thanks, hopefully it will be enough.'
Sheathing Handanryoku in its scabbard Naruto felt a rush of Kyuubi's red chakra flooding his system. The wound in his leg healed closed to reveal tan skin underneath, and his hand also healed to the point he could move it correctly, and finally the scars he forced himself to live with finally closed. He felt there was no need for them anymore.
As a layer of red, wispy chakra began to cover his body, the former full blonde could not help but marvel from the memories. Kimimaro's dance was perfect, it was incredibly acrobatic, he used spins, charges, and long sweeping slashes to make his strikes more effective and to evade his clones counter strikes. He felt his clones getting stabbed through the gut, their throats slit, skulls split open, and when some thought they were out of range Kimimaro extend his bones to attack them without having to adjust his own movement.
But even though he was greatly impressed it did not stop himself from smirking. "Boom."
The thirty surviving clones bombarded their opponent and detonated in a brilliant flash of light that rocked the landscape around them. Trees were felled, chunks of ground torn asunder and a crater was ground zero where Kimimaro once stood.
The Kaguya however did not perish, when the smoke cleared his skin was blackened, parts of it were torn open, but not to reveal muscle, but pure white bone underneath that looked like armor with blood dripping from the open wounds of course. "I cannot believe I have to use this on trash like you." He forced out due to half his lower jaw lacking any flesh before the tattoo on his chest turned orange-red and expanded in lines spreading all over his body in contorting and parallel lines. When it was finished it looked like he had black tattoo's lined along his naked torso, and his skin had healed up, leaving no trace that he was even harmed.
"Believe it pal." Naruto growled out before placing his hands into the Tiger hand seal. "Earth Style: Great Mud River!" The ground underneath Kimimaro turned into mud and the man was forcefully forced backwards from the surge of the wave of mud. After flaring through three hand seals Naruto continued. "Earth Style: Mud Dragon Bomb!" Forming out of the mud river a dragon-like head opened its fanged maw and began firing high velocity mud balls at his opponent.
Bones erupted from Kimimaro's hands and he began slashing at the projectiles. His eyes were narrowed in frustration now, each mud ball he managed to slice in half was replaced by another one, and the ones he missed struck him to the point it actually hurt. After getting struck in the face for what felt like the tenth time the Kaguya took a deep breath and dove under the mud.
Watching his opponent disappear, the Jinchuriki released his technique and followed after using his Hidden Mole Jutsu. The ground beneath him turning into sand he burrowed down into the earth, searching for his opponent by any means necessary.
Three minutes later both opponents blasted upwards in an exchange of flying fists. Kimimaro's bone sword diagonally cut through Naruto's vest and mesh armor, sending a shower of crimson upwards. But Naruto's claws caught him in the chest as well. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" He bellowed out, releasing chakra from his claws and blasted his opponent away.
Blood spilled from his open chest wound, but was closed in the span of ten seconds, leaving Kimimaro to glare at his opponent. It felt like his lungs were on fire, his entire body was wracked with pain, but he could not stop. Not now, not when Orochimaru-sama's ambitions were not yet achieved! "You're a pest."
"I've been called worse. Gah! Earth Style: Mud Wall!" Barely flashing through the hand seals in time and slamming his hands upon the ground, a primitive, but very thick and sturdy wall made of earth rose from the ground to stop the bullets that Kimimaro fired from his fingers. His eyes however widened behind his mask when they came through, but tumbled to the ground.
Kimimaro bit his lip in frustration before he began coughing that made his lungs rattle. When he pulled his hand away he revealed it to be completely wet with crimson blood. "No not now...not now..." He panted out. "I have no choice, I must end this now before it's too late."
"The hell are you saying?" Naruto poked his head over his mud wall to watch in horror when Kimimaro underwent another transformation.
The transformation was monstrous, he took on a dinosaur-like appearance complete with a tail. Three large bones protruded from the sides of his darkened skin and along his spine where numerous sharp spikes. His hair became ash gray, two dark black curved like markings formed under his eyes - one under each eye and two as elongated eyebrows - one above each eye. Speaking of his eyes they changed as well, the iris becoming golden yellow and his iris becoming completely black.
Kimimaro bowed his head, and his spine slowly slipped out until he grabbed it and literally tore his spine out, only for a new one to replace it a second later. The new weapon expanded to reveal black gaps in the cartilage. "Dance of the Clematis: Vine." He calmly said.
"So hardcore, but so nasty." Quickly placing his hands in the Bird seal Naruto barked out. "Earth Style: Falling Earth Spears!" The ground exploded from dozens upon dozens of spikes erupting from it.
Kimimaro barely even blinked before bursting forward, the spears hit him, but didn't penetrate his skin, or even leave a mark. Dozens more erupted in front of him and he lashed out with his whip and the spikes fell away. Then blasting through the mud wall and watching his backtracking opponent retreating, he snapped his bone whip, it extended to an alarming degree, wrapping around Naruto's chakra cloaked body, and watched as the sharp bones pierced his flesh.
Refusing to cough, even though doing so sent waves of pain through him, the last Kaguya raised his left arm and out of his body formed massive bones until they twisted and became a gigantic drill-like weapon. "Dance of the Clematis: Flower."
'Shit, I cannot move my arms. Kyuubi, I need more.'
"You will lose control if you get anymore."
'I know, but now is not the time for control, now is the time for action!'
"Don't say I didn't warn you boy."
Without another word Kimimaro closed the distance between him and the mask-wearer. He dodged to the right as the Darkness Beam flew at him, raised his arm, and stabbed to deal with the finishing blow.
A blast of the foul red chakra, and the sudden movement in the former full blonde's arms destroyed the bone whip he had surrounding him, and with wide eyes Naruto body was engulfed in a shroud of translucent red with bubbles of chakra forming all along it. Naruto's eyes flashed red underneath his mask, and a snarling noise erupted from his mouth as a single chakra tail erupted from the left area of his backside, and then another erupted on the right side.
Naruto rushed forward on his hands and feet now, and they butted heads. Kimimaro's near indestructible skull and Naruto's rock hard mask exploded under the pressure as the sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the area. Both reeled back, Kimimaro's head split open and healing seconds later, Naruto's mask severely cracked around the forehead and right eye area.
Gritting his teeth Kimimaro's entire body erupted in bone spikes, and he relentlessly began attacking his opponent without mercy. His bone drill clipped his left side, ruining his already destroyed vest even further. His clawed hand and bones popping from between his knuckles slashed and impaled his stomach. That just seemed to enrage the Jinchuriki even further.
Raising his right fist he clawed Kimimaro's face wide open, then with a demonic cry he used his left hand to cut him through his left shoulder all the way to his right hip, tearing away the bones sticking out of him, and kicked him away. Falling onto all fours he let out a primal roar that made all wildlife scatter and he swung his clawed hands, watching them extend with his chakra cloak, tearing up the earth under him and sent Kimimaro flying.
Thanks to the chakra pumping into his legs the black-streaked blonde shot off like an arrow and collided with his flying opponent. Both bodies blasted through dozens, if not hundreds of the ancient trees, scaring or slaughtering any wildlife that got into their path. Once Naruto even swore he passed both Teams Ten and Eight.
Kimimaro however was not willing to just fly like a speeding bullet, using everything he had he extended the bones one more time and fully impaled the enraged Genin. If Naruto felt anything he certainly didn't show it, instead he brought his claws back and began scratching the shit out of his enemy like Tora did to him once upon a time ago.
This continued, repeated stabbing, clawing and self healing until the two shockingly hit a wall...well it was not a wall exactly, it was more of a fence that was torn open like a hot knife through butter, forcing the two to hit the ground violently and carve a deep trench in the ground before they came to a grinding halt.
Naruto regained consciousness after what felt like a few hours, through hazy eyes and the damaged eye holes in his mask he saw Kimimaro slowly standing up under his own willpower, his entire body was normal again like his was, but he was feeling it. Naruto couldn't move, his body just couldn't, he had nothing left in him.
Slowly Kimimaro pulled one last bone sword from his shoulder and slowly moved it forwards. "I...win." He said after coughing out a mouthful of blood.
"No, you do not." Naruto felt something odd, something new, something disturbing from the Jagan Eye. He was always in control of what he did with it, but now, completely exhausted the demonic tool took charge and did something he did not expect.
Kimimaro's eyes widened, his newly created sword fell to the ground and he let out an uncharacteristic, horrifying scream as he gripped his head. By the love of Kami it felt like scorpions were stuffed into his brain and were stinging him, pumping him full of venom! He swayed from side to side, clutching his head in agony before it all stopped, a blank look coming to his eyes and he collapsed in front of Naruto.
'Jagan...what did you do?' The horrified Uzumaki demanded.
"I'll tell you what I did ningen, I plunged into the mind of that Kaguya. I sorted through his memories and overruled the Snake Sannin's brainwashing." The sentient eye replied in a smug voice.
'What. Did. You. Do!?'
"Instead of him being Orochimaru's loyal servant, he is now yours. All his memories are intact, I made sure of it. But now his loyalty lies with you."
'The fuck, I did not want this. This is wrong Jagan, I don't want a servant!'
"Hmph, fine then. If you are not willing for a servant then I will fix him once he wakes up...if he wakes up." (2)
'Huh?' Cutting the connection Naruto slowly moved his right hand to his mask and slowly peeled it away. Bright light assaulted his senses, but he saw several figures standing over him, and when his sight regained focus he recognized the gray armor and white animal masks. He also saw the black trench coat and stern face of Ibiki Morino. And he also recognized the familiar red and white robes and the figure wearing them.
His newly repaired pipe in hand, and already lit Hiruzen Sarutobi looked down on the form of the most unpredictable shinobi within the village. "You just can't stay out of trouble can you Naruto?" He asked before placing the pipe in his mouth.
"Um, I can explain?" Naruto lamely said.
Ibiki turned towards an Anbu member in a tiger mask, and smirked in reply. "I cannot wait to hear this."
Armageddon: And here is part two, I hope you all enjoy it.
Pvt. Shadowninja/DemonShifter: Oh my God...
Sgt. Shadowtrayser:...
Pvt. Killjoy: This...this can't be real.
Pvt. VFSNAKE: But it is...
Lt. RasenganFin: It really is.
Pvt. Superninja: I can't believe it.
Pvt. Fox...I knew this day would come.
Pvt. Leaf Ranger: I never lost faith.
Lt. Doom: Me either, I've just been patiently waiting is all. Liquor here...well...
Pvt. Liquor: *Somehow, after all these years the forever Private still had not died of liver failure or alcohol poisoning. If anything he seemed very much immune to it if all the bottles of booze of every type and flavor lay piled around his feet.* I waited so long I cannot get drunk anymore...you're a bastard Armageddon.
Armageddon: I know, but I got a grip on this story again, so patience my friends. Now onto more stuff!
(1) Yep, I brought Shiin from the Shiin Clan in for this to happen. Ever wonder who the other two were with Orochimaru when he stole the Grass Genin teams faces? Well...we don't know but this is how I imagine it, even if it ain't canonical. But then again what is anymore in these stories?
(2) Well Kimimaro is...well he will live, I always enjoyed his character and at least in this story he shall live. And now I have a good excuse as to why he is alive and not loyal to Orochimaru. Enjoy!
And man, what a chapter. I enjoyed the crap out of writing the fighting scenes for this story. I know Sasuke's was changed up a bit but I do not think you will mind it. And I hope you loved reading the fight between Kimimaro and Naruto as I enjoyed writing it. I mean holy shit I had maybe twenty-thousand words, a new personal best, and figured after three years you deserve a double feature. See you all soon!
5-01-16: Ah sorry folks I just went over both chapters and fixed a few things, spelling and grammar errors, adding a thing or two in as well. That's what happens when you got on a gigantic sugar rush for a week straight and stay up until three in the morning writing this stuff out. Again later!