Naruto: Senju Resurrection

Chapter 21

Naruto began to stir. He felt an abhorrent chakra nearby. It was so disgusting that he almost felt like puking. He opens his eyes and sees Sasuke standing in the middle of the clearing. His hair shadows his face. Some other ninja was lying at his feet screaming while holding his arms. Odd he hadn't heard his screams until he saw him. Sasuke had weird markings all over his left side. He was leaking a dark purple miasma-like chakra; it felt so malevolent. Sakura and team ten were standing a bit away from Sasuke. Her hair is short now. It's a shame, really; even he could say that her hair was always beautiful. Bushy Brows was also lying unconscious near Sakura. Blood was visible from his left ear. "Stop!" Sakura screams as she runs up behind Sasuke and hugs him. "Please stop!" She whispers, barely audible. The marks and the gross chakra began receding back onto his neck. Then he falls to his knees.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura says as she helps him sit up. He was heaving. "You're strong." The only conscious attacker says as he holds up his team's scroll. "Sasuke-kun... We can't defeat you the way you are now." He says as he lays the scroll down on the ground. "This is our fee for settling this... Please let us withdraw from here." He says. He walks over to his male teammate, slung his arm over his shoulder, and carries him. "It seems selfish, but we now have something we need to confirm, too," he says. "That being said, let's make a promise. If there's another opportunity to battle in this test, we won't run or hide," he adds while picking up his last companion. The attacker then starts to walk away. "Wait!" Sakura screams. He turns around. "Who in the world is Orochimaru? What did he do to Sasuke?! Why Sasuke?!" She asks. "I don't know... We were just given orders to make the hit on Sasuke." He answers then walks away again.

Naruto tries to get up. He stands up and stumbles over to Lee. "What do you think you are doing?" A pompous voice says, catching everyone off guard. Everyone except Sakura and Sasuke looks towards Lee and sitting Naruto. "Healing his ear, what does it look I am doing?" Naruto replies without looking away from Lee's body. "So shut up this takes concentration," He adds as he starts focusing. There was something weird, though. He didn't feel the Kyuubi's chakra in his body at all. He remembers Orochimaru slamming his hand into his stomach but not what he did. He would have to talk to his Jiji about it later. Naruto seals his hands into the snake seal and tries to concentrate again. A faint green glow emanated from his hands. It was weaker than it used to be, and it flickered. But he persevered, and the chakra got more stable. He places his hands near Lee's ear and waits. It took him a few minutes longer than usual, but he felt the ear heal up. "Thank you," Lee's female teammate says quietly as she walks over to Lee.

Naruto fell almost immediately after he stood up. Ino caught him. "Hey there big guy. You really ought to rest after you were unconsius, you know." She says softly into his ear. "Ino... Ah... shit sorry didn't mean to scare you just had to... play the hero you know how it is." Naruto tries to joke, but a sudden pain interrupts him. "I know... Just lie back down," Ino guides him down into her lap. She strokes his spiky hair with her hand softly, and a small smile spreads on her face. "Geez... What am I going to do with you?" She asks herself softly enough that nobody heard. Sakura saw their little interaction and sighed. At least she had one less rival to compete with. She looks over to Sasuke, who is still shaking.

"Here, take it. We already have the Earth Scroll, and it's a thank you for healing Lee." Neji says as he throws it to Sakura. She catches it and puts it in her pouch while giving him a curt nod. "We're leaving," Neji says to his teammates. Lee had woken up and was ready to leave so was TenTen. They jumped away. Team 10 were waiting for Ino, who was still stroking Naruto's hair softly.

"Come here, Sakura, I'll fix your hair," Ino says as she gently moves Naruto to the ground. "That would be great, thank you," Sakura answers and walks over to her former friend. "Man, that's so good too," Ino heard Naruto say, and a tick mark forms on her temple. She hits him pretty hard. "Ouch!" Naruto screams as he flops around. 'Taking advantage of me like that. Unforgiveable!' Ino screams in her head. The others just laughed awkwardly. Ino began cutting Sakura's hair.

"You alright?" Naruto says to Sasuke as he walks up to him after simulating how much it hurt getting hit by Ino. Of course, it wasn't that hard. He just likes to exaggerate for theatrics. "I'm not sure," Sasuke interrupts his thought. "You wanna talk about it?" Naruto asks as he sits down next to him. "No," Sasuke simply states and walks off. Naruto sighs. "And we were just getting back to normal too,"

Ino was done with Sakura's hair, and they were ready to move out. Shikamaru, Choji and Ino took off not that long after. Team seven were alone again.

It has been four days since the test started. Team seven was sitting around a campfire and ate. "We only have a day left to find a heaven scroll," Naruto observes. "If there even is another Heaven Scroll around. Orochimaru destroyed are original Heaven Scroll, who is to say that other teams didn't do the same," Sakura adds her own observation. "I get what you are saying. The next enemy we meet is probably the last chance we have," Sasuke says while getting a sad nod from Naruto confirming his suspicions. "Well, anyway, I need to fill this with water. We will move afterwards," He says as he stands up.

Kabuto jumps down next to them pretty soon after Sasuke leaves. "Oh... if it isn't the Senju and Uchiha team." He says with a warm smile. Naruto reaches for a kunai immediately. "Did you lose your last member?" He asks in a friendly tone. "No he is fetching some water," Sakura answers in the same manner. "Naruto he is a friend!" She whisper-shout at her teammate. "No he has every right to be cautios especally in this late in the exams. But worry not I have my two scrolls." Kabuto says while pulling out one of each scroll. Naruto lowers his hands but still keeps an eye on Kabuto.

Sasuke chooses that moment to come back and sees another ninja with his team. He goes into attack mode but is stopped by Naruto's glance. "What are you doing here then?" Naruto asks. "Simple, My team has already passed. We just need to get to the tower. We choose to do so separately," Kabuto explains. "It looks like you only have one. So let's team up to get to the tower. It will give you more of a chance to beat someone on their way to the tower, and I'll get some company. What do you say?" Kabuto asks. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a look, but Sakura spoke up on their behalf before deciding. "Sure, we need all the help we can get." She says. "Great, let's get a move on," Kabuto says. Naruto signed to Sasuke that someone was watching them.

They travelled in silence. Naruto still didn't trust Kabuto. His story didn't make sense to him; a six-time failure shouldn't have this much chakra. Sakura didn't know what to speak about, and Sasuke never liked to talk to anyone. When they came within seeing distance of the tower, it was already nighttime. So they decided to move slowly through the last patch just in case of traps.

After moving a bit further, they soon realised that they hadn't moved at all. "Genjutsu," Naruto just stated. "Seems like it." Kabuto answers. They back up to form a square with their backs together. Soon an impressive number of clones began moving toward them.

The clones moved closer to the four of them. "Scroll please," They all ask in a monotone voice. "It looks like this is some form of genjutsu to, I've never seen clones like these," Naruto says. "Yeah, I saw it with my Sharingan," Sasuke says.

They fought off those that came close enough to do damage for a couple of hours. Soon those who cast the genjutsu walked down to the tired bunch. "Looks like we are done here... Lucky," He says, " his teammates just laugh along. "Heh..." Naruto says out of nowhere Team seven and Kabuto was standing behind them with smirks on their faces. The four in front of him disappear in a poof of smoke each. "Looks like Kage Bunshin is a lot more useful than I first expected," The real Naruto says. They all jump onto the backs of their would-be tormenters and knock them out. Team seven looked for their scroll and found it on one of the members. It was a heaven scroll. "Yousha second exam done!" Naruto screams out while jumping into the air. They hastily move to the tower to make it on time.