Chapter 22: Mask Off
"Ōtakemaru?" Rasa hazily asked through a raspy voice. "What are you doing in my quarters at this hour?" he beckoned with a squint through his half-lidded eyes, looking out of his bedroom window at the waning moon.
"I was just checking on you, Lord Rasa," he replied, bowing in subservience before his leader. "You went to bed right after dinner, and you look so ill," he explained, acknowledging the sickly pale complexion of the Kazekage's skin, and the bags underneath his restless, dreary eyes. "Is this perhaps your arm taking a turn for the worst?"
Rasa scoffed indignantly. "No… No, this is something else," Rasa stated with certainty. "Shukaku taking my arm never fully healed, that's true, but it did stabilize," he recounted. "This must be… something else entirely."
"Do you believe that you will recover?" Ōtakemaru wondered as he approached Rasa's bedside.
Rasa closed his eyes and tilted his head back into the recesses of his pillow. His mouth fell into a thin line as he contemplated on his answer. "Yes," he managed to reply. "But I am so weak as I am," he lamented with a dreadful expression. "What could have done this to me?"
"Truthfully, I have no idea, Lord Kazekage," Ōtakemaru replied the only way he could.
Rasa sighed. "It does not matter," he resolved. "I will summon Chiyo tomorrow, and have her examine me to figure out what is wrong. But I am from tough stock, I will recover regardless."
"Then why do you appear so upset?"
"The Chūnin Exams are coming up soon. I wished to venture to Konoha to bring Gaara back myself. I wanted to see what he was capable of with Shukaku's power after the Slug Sannin's training, but I fear that I may not get my strength back in time," he explained in disappointed tones.
Ōtakemaru's eyes went wide for a split second. A smile crept beneath his mask, he tried to contain it behind his oni mask, but a faint giggle managed to slip out of his mouth.
"Ōtakemaru?" Rasa asked, his eyebrow quirked up, totally confused as to why such a thing would elicit a giggle.
Another giggle followed, and then a slightly louder one kicked off an avalanche of subsequent giggles that piled up into a crazed laughing fit that had Ōtakemaru nearly doubling over. "So you even managed to get Tsunade to crawl back to that wretched village, Sarutobi-sensei?" He removed his ANBU mask, revealing his wide grin, and using his other hand to wipe tears from his eyes.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Rasa beckoned with authority, a stressed expression revealing the unflattering wrinkles in his face which his sickly sweat flowed down.
Ōtakemaru's bulging eyes locked onto Rasa. "My apologies, Lord Rasa, I suppose I shouldn't expect you to understand when I look like this," he said cryptically, as he lifted his hand up to his face. His fingers tore into his flesh where he managed to peel his skin off. Holding his skin in his hand, he looked at Rasa directly, allowing him to get a good look into his wicked yellow eyes.
Rasa instantly perched up onto his only arm with a look of shock plastering his face. "Orochimaru?!" he blurted out.
"I must commend you, Rasa. I fully intended for my poison to kill you by now, but you are quite a formidable one. Tough stock, indeed," Orochimaru said with a malicious tone. "However, I do believe that you've exhausted your usefulness."
Rasa grit his teeth and outstretched his hand to the opposite end of his bed. Orochimaru's eyes followed the direction of his hand, witnessing Rasa lift his gourd from the floor and attempt to levitate it toward him. However, the gourd began to shake chaotically, spilling his infamous golden sand all over the floor before a pained grunt left Rasa. The gourd fell to the ground, leaking out more of its golden contents onto the ground.
Orochimaru began to giggle again as he watched Rasa helplessly collapse onto his back in the comfort of his bed, panting for air, too weak and feeble to fight. "Bastard…" he mumbled out between labored breaths.
"My poison is quite adept at destroying one's chakra control." Orochimaru reached behind him, retrieving the tantō on his backside. "It was intriguing to watch you try though," he said as he finished examining the blade.
"Please…" Rasa mumbled out. "Please don't hurt my children," he begged.
Orochimaru's smile grew wider. "Oh, Lord Kazekage," he malignantly moaned, as he then buried the tip of his tantō into Rasa's abdomen, causing Rasa to lurch upward and groan in pain. His lone hand met with the handle of the tantō, attempting to fight against Orochimaru. "I can make no such promise," he finished, driving the sharp edge of the blade up Rasa's abdomen to the tune of his own laughing, tearing through the mattress of Rasa's bed and exiting through his shoulder, nearly splitting his upper half apart.
He pulled the blade away, using his freakishly long tongue to lick the blood off. As he sheathed the weapon, he examined his handiwork. Rasa's poisoned blood spilled out into the fabrics of the mattress. He died with his teeth gritted and his eyes open wide. "It's a pity. I would've liked to take your body for myself, but the poison and arm are troublesome, and I didn't want to have to reveal myself," Orochimaru explained to the corpse, as if it was still listening.
Orochimaru lifted his blanket from his lower half to get a good look at his remains, poking around them thoroughly for several moments before putting his hand up in a sign. "Transformation Jutsu!" in a faint puff of smoke, Orochimaru adopted Rasa's visage and physique. He waltzed over to Rasa's bedroom mirror, looking himself up and down, spreading the lids of his eyeballs to make sure his irises were the correct color and running his fingers through his red hair to measure its fullness. "This will do fine," Orochimaru said with a devilish grin.
At the side of the mirror, Orochimaru spotted the Kazekage cap and gown neatly hung up on the side of the wall. He slowly approached it, and retrieved the cap from the hook, running his fingers along the fabric and examining the infamous "Wind" design etched into it.
"I never envisioned that this would be the hat I got to put on," Orochimaru said to himself. He put the hat on his head, neatly lining it up. "A perfect fit," he noted with a toothy smile. "It took longer than anticipated but I finally am one of them," Orochimaru said as he admired himself in the mirror. "A Kage."
He swiftly covered himself with the cloak and then approached the bedroom door. Opening it, he called out, "Kabuto."
At the mention of his name, another Sand ANBU appeared out of nowhere at his feet. "It is done?" Kabuto asked through his disguise.
"That is right. It was easy," he said with a smile.
"Now what, Lord Orochimaru?"
"Please, call me 'Lord Kazekage' from now on, child," Orochimaru interjected.
"My apologies, Lord Kazekage," Kabuto corrected himself.
"The One-Tail Jinchūriki is in Konoha already. I will be dispatching someone to retrieve him soon," Orochimaru explained. "Until then, clean up the mess I left in there while I go and prepare this village for my plans," Orochimaru explained as he casually waltzed past Kabuto, not even entertaining his formal response. "We have a hidden village to destroy."
Gaara examined the cards in his hand closely – a jack of hearts and a ten of spades. He looked at the cards on the floor between him and Naruto. The first four cards had already been revealed – an ace of spades, a nine of diamonds, a king of diamonds, and a nine of clubs. He had nothing but that pair of nines.
His seafoam eyes scanned over Naruto, whose gaze was intensely skeptical as he tried to absorb all the possibilities on the board before him.
"It's your call," Gaara reminded him with a smirk.
"I know that, heh," Naruto laughed with a determined smirk on his face as he laid his cards face down on the floor. "I'll bet… three cups of instant ramen, and ten ryō," he said as he pushed it all into the pot. "Call or fold," Naruto said with a smug look on his face.
"Ten ryō and three cups of ramen… do you have three aces?" Gaara joked.
"Call it and find out," Naruto teased with a grin.
Gaara hmphed. Naruto was always so tough to read, even Tsunade-sensei, a seasoned gambler, was prone to being duped by him, so he had no earthly idea as to if Naruto was bluffing or not.
The fact of the matter was that Gaara only had a pair of nines. Not a great hand to call Naruto's bet with. However, there was still one final card to reveal after the bet. If it could just manage to be a queen, Gaara would have an ace-high straight which was a tough hand to beat, especially if Naruto was bluffing.
"Eh, it isn't true gambling if you aren't making poor decisions," Gaara reasoned with a shoulder shrug before pushing all of his goods into the pot. "I'm all-in," he said with a faint smirk. If he couldn't discern what Naruto was up to, he could always pull an equally unpredictable move, right?
Naruto's eyes widened, and his jaw went slack. "What the–! You don't have the other two nines, do you?" he beckoned, leaning over Gaara to try and sneak a peek of his hand.
Gaara reeled his cards back, clutching them closely to his chest with a big smirk, and playfully shoved Naruto away with his other hand. "Call it and find out," he mocked Naruto with a mischievous glare.
Naruto sat back down, reviewed his cards with his tongue poking out of his mouth, sunken into deep thought. "Fine," he said. "I'll call it." He then quickly and messily shoved all of his goods into the pot right next to Gaara's. "Let's see that hand you're betting with."
"Pair of nines," Gaara said as he laid his cards down face up.
"What?! You went all-in with nothing?!" Naruto blurted out in shock.
"I'm betting on that last card being a queen," Gaara explained with a grin on his face.
Naruto smirked at him. "No offense, but that's a stupid move," he joked as he laid his cards down to the tune of delinquent giggles, revealing a nine of spades and a queen of clubs.
"You literally asked me if I had the other nines," Gaara reminded him with bewilderment on his face, realizing that Naruto wasn't bluffing.
Naruto's head fell back as he gripped his stomach with laughter. "Yeah, it's called deception," he joked. "I can't believe you went all-in with nothing!" he laughed again, his face visibly turning red from a lack of air.
"Just flip the last card already," Gaara said with slight annoyance on his tongue.
"Sorry," Naruto said as he huffed air down, quickly collecting himself again. "Right well, let's see a queen," he exclaimed as he turned the card over – a king of hearts. "Full house beats two pair," Naruto said with a smirk as he leaned down and clawed his winnings over to him. "Better luck next time," he joked.
Gaara crossed his arms in disappointment. "Maybe you could just spare me some of yours," he jabbed with a light smirk.
"Not a chance," Naruto grinned as he sorted out the pot. He reached out his hand to Gaara, with an oddly endearing smile on his face. "Good game," he said with a sense of sincerity.
Gaara quirked his eyebrow in confusion for a split second, caught off guard by Naruto's sudden shift in mood. He matched Naruto's energy and smiled back. "It was fun." They shared a hearty handshake, a proper display of good sportsmanship.
As their hands parted, Naruto's face softened and a sigh escaped him, causing another drastic change in the tone of the conversation. "So, when will they be here?" Naruto finally asked with a somber air about him.
Gaara's face softened too, instantly gathering what Naruto was talking about. "They should be arriving anytime now," he answered.
"You think your dad will come?" Naruto fiddled around with a piece of candy that he dug out of his winnings as he asked the question.
"I don't know," Gaara replied honestly. "My brother and sister will be coming for certain."
"It'll be cool to finally meet them. You haven't told me much about them," Naruto noted.
"Yeah, I'm excited to see them again."
A silence fell over them, and Gaara felt this looming sense of melancholy envelop the room.
"Ya know, it's gonna be really weird without you," Naruto said. Gaara's eyes widened for a second. His head snapped up to his friend, and he saw the pained expression that Naruto was trying to repress with all his might. "I'm gonna miss you," he admitted, unable to share eye contact with Gaara. "But.. I'm glad we're friends," he said, looking at Gaara with the saddest little smile imaginable.
For the first time since he got to the Leaf, Gaara felt something within him crack ever so slightly: his heart. It was true that he had always intended to go back to the Sand, to his siblings, but being here in the Leaf with Naruto and Tsunade-sensei had become like a second home to him. It all felt… bittersweet.
"I'm glad we're friends too," Gaara agreed with a similar quaint smile. "But, you know that I'm not even gonna be gone that long right? I'm coming back for the Chūnin Exams," he reminded the blond.
"Yeah, I know," he replied. "But it isn't going to be the same 'cause we aren't even working together, and after that you're going back to the Sand for good."
"That isn't necessarily true. I can always come back for a mission or something, and I'd like for you to come visit the Sand one day," Gaara explained. "And besides, when we're both Kages we'll probably be able to see each other whenever we want."
"Heh, yeah, that's true," Naruto said with a smile. "But who knows how long it'll be before any of that stuff happens," he groaned. "Just promise we'll try and keep in touch somehow."
Gaara offered a soft smirk to his friend. "I promise."
"Gaara, they're here!" Tsunade called from downstairs.
He and Naruto both looked at each other, before jumping up to their feet and racing down the stairs, through the massive living room of the house, and to the front door.
"Ah, here he is," Tsunade said, turning around at the sound of their stomping.
As she stepped aside, Gaara caught a glimpse of Temari and Kankurō waiting eagerly outside. Their eyes met his, and their faces lit up. Temari instantly rushed into the house, right past Tsunade, not even asking if it was okay to enter and then wrapping her arms around Gaara in a tight embrace before he could even begin to register what was happening.
Neither he nor Temari managed to say a word, he simply resolved himself to his fate and hugged her back.
After a long, endearing moment, Kankurō decided to step through the door as well.
Temari let go of him, getting a good look at Gaara before adopting a bright smile. "You're finally coming back," she said.
Kankurō approached him from the side and laid his hand on his shoulder. "We missed you, little brother," he said with a soft smile.
"It's great to see you guys again," Gaara beamed. "Did Father not come with you guys?"
"No," Kankurō replied with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"But, he's excited to see you again," Temari interjected, with an optimistic shine in her eyes.
Gaara's eyebrow quirked with surprise. "He said that?"
"No, but you can just tell in the way he's been acting recently," she explained.
Gaara nodded in understanding, even though he wasn't sure if he really understood at all. "Oh!" His face lit up with realization. "You two obviously know Tsunade of the Sannin," he said, to which Tsunade politely waved at the Sand Siblings with a smile causing his siblings to audibly awe in amazement. "But this is Naruto," he gestured his hands at the boy. "He's my friend."
"Kankurō," his brother said as he outstretched his hand to Naruto, who took it within his own and they shared a handshake. "He didn't beat up on you too badly, right?" he joked.
"Sometimes," Naruto admitted. "But I always got him back," he said with a wry smirk as their handshake came to an end.
"'Always'?" Tsunade called him into question with a snide air about her.
"Don't do this in front of Gaara's family, Granny," he instantly snapped at her to avoid getting embarrassed further.
"I'm Temari," his sister introduced herself casually. "I'm grateful that you kept Gaara company all this time."
Naruto shot her a bright smile. "It was nothing. He kept me company too."
"You'll get to see him again when we come back for the Chūnin Exams," Gaara explained to his siblings.
"Oh? How old are you? You look like a rookie," Temari observed.
"He's the same age as me," Gaara clarified.
"Are you sure you're ready?" Kankurō asked.
Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Gaara cut in first. "He's strong. He's like me."
Kankurō and Temari both looked at each other to confirm if they took Gaara's words to mean the same thing, and then they passed over Naruto with a stern, analytical eye. He seemed to shrink in on himself under their scrutiny.
"You have the Demon Fox?" Temari asked bluntly.
"Yeah." Naruto had no problem admitting it.
Temari and Kankurō shared another look, seemingly coming to an understanding with this new information, before sparing Gaara and Naruto another passing glance.
"Now it makes sense why you two seem to be such good friends," Kankurō said.
Gaara and Naruto both looked each other in the eye. From the moment they found out about what they harbored within them, Gaara knew that they shared a special kind of connection, even if neither of them ever acknowledged it. Naruto tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders, as if he was saying Kankurō probably had a point.
"We should really be going, you three," a voice in the doorway said. Everyone's attention was focused on the new figure in the door. It was Baki. "Your father wants you back as soon as possible," he reminded them.
"Right, well, you shouldn't keep your father waiting. I'm sure you have a lot you want to discuss too," Tsunade chimed.
"Yeah, let's get a move on. We'll be coming back to Konoha soon, anyway," Temari said.
"Go on, say goodbye and we can leave," Baki told him.
Gaara looked at Naruto, and they shared a quaint smile with a hint of sadness in their eyes. "Don't make everyone wait forever," Naruto joked, but it was with an endearing tone.
"Until next time," Gaara replied with a smirk. Naruto merely nodded in agreement. "You too, Tsunade-sensei," he added.
"You better make me look good during the Chūnin Exams, kid," she teased at which Kankurō and Naruto snickered. "Now quit dragging your feet and get out of here."
Gaara turned to the exit, and his siblings began to funnel out of the room, as he approached the door, he grabbed the handle. "Goodbye," he concluded before closing the door behind him without looking back.
Outside in the sunlight, Gaara spotted the four Sand ANBU standing alongside Baki who had managed to stay out of view the whole time. "Young Lord," one of them said, as they each addressed him with a formal bow.
"Alright, let's get going," Baki announced.
With one last glance at the Senju Estate, a place that was essentially his second home, Gaara began his journey back to his original home with a bittersweet feeling in his heart.
"You are all gathered here today to begin the process of selection for this year's Chūnin Exam," Hiruzen said, pipe ablaze and hanging from his lip. "As you all know, before we can even begin to consider your genin for the exams, they must have completed a minimum of eight missions, or been an enlisted genin for a full year. Beyond that, employ your own judgement as to whether they are ready to ascend to the next level," he reminded the room full of jōnin. "With that being said, we will begin with those who have taken it upon themselves to train those fresh out of the academy: Masters Asuma, Kakashi, and Kurenai. Do any of you recommend any of your teams for this year's Chūnin Exams? You may begin, Kakashi," the aged Kage nodded at him.
Kakashi stepped to the front of the room, putting himself between his fellow jōnin and the wizened Hokage. "Team Seven, led by Kakashi Hatake, consists of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Hinata Hyūga. I vow upon the honor of my clan, the Hatake, that all three of them are ready for the Chūnin Exams," he said simply and concisely. When he finished, he fell back into line to make way for the next jōnin.
"Kurenai?" Hiruzen asked and she stepped forward.
"Team Eight, led by Kurenai Yuhi, consists of Shino Aburame, Sakura Haruno, and Kiba Inuzuka. I vow upon the honor of my clan, the Yuhi, that all three of them are ready for the Chūnin Exams."
"And Asuma?"
Asuma stepped up to the plate with the distinct lack of a lit cigarette in his mouth, assumedly out of respect, but his hands were still stuffed casually into his pockets which gave him a lazy, unserious appeal. "Team Ten, led by Asuma Sarutobi, consists of Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Chōji Akimichi. I vow upon the honor of my clan, the Sarutobi, that all three of them are ready for the Chūnin Exams."
"How interesting," Hiruzen mused with a puff of his pipe. "I haven't seen all the rookie teams be recommended in a very long time," he said. "Very well. Come up here and retrieve your applications, one for each genin, and make sure that they fill them out."
As the talks came to a close and jōnin were finished recommending genin, Kakashi left with his three separate Chūnin Exams applications in hand to the one place he knew his genin would be.
"Yo," he announced his arrival from the center of the training grounds.
At once, all of his students, who were engaged in an intense three-way spar, halted and approached Kakashi.
"What is it, Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata asked through huffs and puffs.
"I have recommended all of you for the Chūnin Exams," Kakashi revealed.
"Heheh, alright!" Naruto celebrated with a toothy grin. Both Sasuke and Hinata adopted smirks of their own.
"Each one of you has to fill out an application," he said as he held them out, allowing his genin to take one a piece for themselves. Naruto instantly began examining it with excitement brimming from his person. "You need to turn in the applications at the front desk of the academy by the end of this week," Kakashi explained.
"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Don't mess this up. That's all," he said with finality before disappearing in a blur before his genin could even register his concluding remark.
He finally had the whole day to himself. What would he do? Perhaps he would allow himself to wander a bit from the path of life.
Orochimaru lounged around in Rasa's room. While normally he would prefer to spend his time examining bodies, performing experiments, or learning a new jutsu, unfortunately, he still needed to bide his time and maintain his cover.
It wasn't all bad though. The One-Tail was finally back from the Leaf and he had just ordered his ANBU to retrieve it. Still, waiting proved to be such an arduous chore.
As the moments passed, it became clear to him that he had no idea how Rasa treated this brat. That could be troublesome to maintaining this facade, but he quickly shrugged it off. Most children were particularly susceptible to manipulation, after all.
Knuckles rapped against his door three times. "Lord Kazekage, we have brought Lord Gaara," a voice sounded from beyond the door.
Orochimaru stood up and walked to the door. Opening it, he was able to get a good look at the child. His initial takeaway was that he was quite small and feeble. He couldn't have been much older than a genin. This was particularly upsetting – Orochimaru had to physically fight back a disappointed frown – because it meant that Gaara likely wasn't very versed in the powers of his Tailed Beast.
"Leave us," Orochimaru ordered and the ANBU disappeared far from view. "Come," Orochimaru said to the child, and they both retreated into the recesses of Rasa's room, the door shut behind them. Orochimaru assumed a seat, while Gaara stood in the center of the room. He eyed the child up and down, who seemed to shudder underneath the gaze of his supposed father. "So, to what extent can you use the Beast's power?" Orochimaru asked.
Gaara seemed to stiffen up at the question. "I am now able to use its unique ability to manipulate sand. I still haven't got the hang of Shukaku's chakra, or how to begin transforming into it," he explained, causing Orochimaru to visibly roll his eyes. "But, the good news is that while I was in the Leaf, they reworked my seal and improved it, so now the Beast no longer talks to me, or stops me from sleeping, and I no longer lose control," he revealed with an optimistic air about him.
"Right," Orochimaru said offhandedly. "Tell me more about this new seal. How is it different from your previous one?" he said with intrigue.
"Oh, well, uh…" Gaara struggled to begin, visibly confused by his father's dismissive attitude. "My old seal was too weak to fully contain Shukaku's power and that's what led to him being able to break out so much when I slept. They had my seal strengthened and tightened, so now I can sleep and the Beast can't get control of me."
"Right…" Orochimaru nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Let me get a look at this new seal of yours," he ordered.
Gaara lifted his shirt, revealing his navel. With the use of his chakra, a black sealing matrix manifested around his navel for Orochimaru to examine.
"Yes, this is quite the impressive seal. It has respectable craftsmanship," Orochimaru admired as he ran his index finger along the black lines that formed the matrix of the seal. "However, I must admit that your progress with the One-Tail has been… disappointing," he said.
Gaara visibly recoiled at that remark. "I-I apologize, father."
"No, there is no need to apologize," Orochimaru said. "I know just the solution." Orochimaru held his singular hand out, and all of his fingertips burned with the blue embers of his chakra. He reeled his hand back and then slammed it into Gaara's navel. The boy instantly hunched over, heaving the air out of his lungs from the force of the unexpected blow. He began to gasp for air, until Orochimaru began to twist his wrist counter-clockwise, causing the matrix of the seal to begin shrinking in on itself.
"W-What are you doing?!" Gaara groaned in agony, as he gripped onto Orochimaru's wrist with both hands.
"Loosening the seal," he replied casually. "I need you to be able to use the Beast's power. Unfortunately, you cannot yet do it on your own."
"You're insane!" Gaara wailed out, trying to pry Orochimaru's hand from him.
"That should be enough," Orochimaru said, calculating his own handiwork. He pulled his hand back, and Gaara instantly fell onto his knees, hunched over gripping his stomach in anguish.
"Oh no," Gaara said between breaths. "I can hear it in my head again!" His body began to convulse chaotically, and his eyes bulged with panic.
"Good," Orochimaru remarked, finally allowing a malicious edge to slip into his tone.
"It… it's laughing so loudly!" Gaara cried. "Make it stop! Please make it stop!" he begged, cupping his hands over his ears and clamping his eyes shut.
"Listen to me, child," Orochimaru called, and Gaara managed to squint his eyes open and look. "The Chūnin Exams are very important to us," he stated. "I cannot tolerate anything less than perfection. So you better use everything in your power, especially the One-Tail, to win the tournament. I do not care who you have to fight or kill to get there," he explained sternly.
"W-What are you going to do to me if I don't win?" Gaara dared to ask with fear in his eyes.
"Oh, my child," Orochimaru giggled for the first time in the whole interaction. "It's not what I'll do to you. It's what I'll do to them," he clarified, pointing to a portrait of Gaara's siblings.
Gaara's face paled in horror. "You wouldn't," he denied what his father was saying with desperation seeping into every syllable.
"Oh, quite the contrary," Orochimaru doubled down. "I'll kill both of them right in front of you."
"No. No, no, no. You don't have to do that," Gaara said, trying to deescalate the situation. "You have my word. I'll win the Chūnin Exams…" he paused for a moment, a frown threatening to creep onto his face. "No matter what."
"Good, child. Now leave me be," he pointed to the door. Gaara managed to pick himself up off the ground, and slowly inched to the exit with his head hung in defeat. As he reached for the doorknob he was halted again. "Oh, and one last thing," Orochimaru said. "Not a word of this to anyone," he instructed the boy. "Now go."
At that, Gaara exited the room, closing the door gently behind him
"So easily manipulated," Orochimaru remarked to himself as he broke out into a fit of giggles. "He will do nicely in helping me bring about the destruction of the Leaf with that Beast stirring inside him."
END
Author's Note
Hey guys. Here's chapter 22. A bit shorter but you'll notice it's a whole lot of buildup for the Chūnin Exams, which should actually be getting started in chapter 23.
But yea, hope you guys like this one. Finally decided to give you guys another glimpse of Naruto and Gaara's friendship. Orochimaru is big stepping and such. Hope you are all interested in what's to come.
Review Replies
Lampre8 – I appreciate the review. I tried pretty hard to make Kimimaro come off as super tough and really out of any of the genins' league, but still making the fight interesting. Glad you think I succeeded.
TheOrangeSpark – Yea I felt Kimimaro dying here was necessary. It motivates Orochimaru to find a new vessel and that's how he sets his eyes on Sasuke. I also never liked how Kishi made Kimimaro sick and so we never got to see his full strength and then he just kinda dropped dead. Either way, glad you liked the fight and Kimimaro's death.
That's all for review replies. I appreciate everyone else who decided to write anything.
Anyway, I'll try to get chapter 23 out by March. Until then, enjoy this one.
Review, follow, and favorite at your leisure.
Godspeed,
Salt
