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Chapter Thirteen [EDITED]

She nodded back to him and gave a little bow then waited for Tsunade to continue.

"Yamato was," she paused as if looking for the right word, "given a release that previous only my grandfather could use. Do you know what that is, Yoru?"

"I'm afraid I do not, Hokage-sama."

"It is called the Wood Release, which was used in confining the Nine Tails Fox before. Since you are still resting from the Kazekage mission, I requested that Yamato take your place."

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama?" she questioned.

Tsunade's face hardened, "You heard me Yoru. And I didn't say you wouldn't be busy." She looked to Yamato, "You are free to go now, thank you."

Yoru turned to him as he left, "If you hurt Naruto, there will be consequences."

He nodded to her and she turned back to the Hokage.

"Now, onto business. Shizune, the scroll please." A scroll was laid on top of Tsunade's desk, depicting a seal. "This is a seal created by Orochimaru called the Cursed Seal of Heaven. On this scroll is all of the information we have on this seal. Starting tomorrow I'd like you to work with Mitarashi Anko and Nara Shikaku to undo the seal. I'll leave you the scroll tonight to look over the information."

"Alright, Hokage-sama. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Yoru was left silently stewing for the rest of the night. She had come home to Naruto and Sasuke training in the backyard while Kakashi was on her couch reading a book. She told him about what happened and he reassured her that they would be okay and that he knew Yamato's skills. She was frustrated that she could not go on the mission, but also happy to be able to help the village. Eventually, Kakashi went home and the boys came in from their short training session.

They were both displeased in their own ways of Yoru not coming with them. Sasuke kept a look of irritation for most of the night while Naruto was voicing his opinion out loud. The next morning, she got up early to prepare bentos for everyone, just like she used to. She even made one for Yamato before sending Naruto and Sasuke off. Then she set out the boxes for Shikaku and Anko and headed out. They were set to meet at the Hokage tower and go from there.

She had met Anko briefly a couple years ago due to Kurenai, but she had not really changed much. She assumed that Shikaku would look similar to Shikamaru, and man was she right. Shikamaru was the spitting image of his father, minus the goatee and the scars. Anko had the same purple hair and brown eyes and upon further inspection, a familiar seal. Yoru shook it off, probably guessing that Tsunade put her here because of the seal. She nodded to Shikaku and Anko.

"Nara-san, Anko-san. I didn't know if either of you had eaten yet, so I made bento boxes."

"I'll gladly take your bento boxes, Yoru-chan," Anko purred. "Kurenai brags about your cooking often."

"I appreciate the sentiment Uzumaki-san."

"Oh please, just call me Yoru. We will be working together after all."

"Alright. I would like to offer my office as our work space considering mine is probably the largest."

"Aye aye, commander," Anko mock saluted.

It was a quick walk from the Hokage's tower to Shikaku's office and they had easily laid out all of their work. Yoru set out the scroll the Hokage had given her while Shikaku got out scrap paper and pencils for all of them. Yoru started going over the information from the scroll, which included how it was transmitted, the survival rate, and that it could develop into something labeled as stages. She asked Anko to confirm the information and then proceeded to ask about the stages.

Anko revealed that the stages were transformations that made you more in sync with your chakra, causing your attacks to be more powerful and use less chakra. She also told them that the seal had something to do with senjutsu, or natural chakra. Shikaku piped in with his knowledge of natural chakra and Sage Mode. Yoru also brought up that physical contact would most likely have to be made to remove the seal, or they might even have to inject something.

She guessed that Orochimaru probably performed the seal and then injected natural chakra into the bloodstream to create the seal. She went further to explain that the seal could probably be removed via a release seal and then the chakra would most likely naturally filter itself out. She tested the release of the Four Symbols Seal and the Evil Releasing Method, but to no avail. After trying those techniques, Anko explained that the seal was sort of dormant until she called on its power.

"I have an idea. But I'll need your help Nara-san. More specifically, your chakra."

"Alright, what do you need me to do?"

"I'm going to perform the Evil Sealing Method on Anko-san's seal, and then after I want you to perform the Four Symbols Seal in order to create the Eight Trigrams Seal. I'll show you how to do it."

After a few tries, Shukaku managed to pick it up. This is where Yoru stated she was impressed, it had taken Sasuke a while to perfect it, and he had the Sharingan. Yoru prepared her seal and then had Anko lay in the middle of the circles. She told Anko that it would be quick, but it would hurt. It took a large chunk of chakra from Yoru, but she managed to power through it. Shukaku then performed the Eight Trigrams Seal and asked for the next step. Yoru asked Anko to try to activate her seal and then asked Shukaku to release his seal on the count of three. She told Anko that if this did not remove the seal, to deactivate it immediately.

Anko attempted to activate her seal, the power of the other two working, and Yoru started the countdown. They released their seals and a bang went off in the room as smoke billowed near their feet. Shukaku thought that the blast had just knocked Yoru down, but upon further inspection, she had passed out. He guessed that it was from the chakra loss due to the seal since she had just woken up yesterday. He sent a call to the Hokage's office for assistance and went to inspect Anko's seal.

Needless to say, he was just as surprised as she was. The seal was gone and in its place, a burn. Shizune responded to the call immediately and arrived shortly after. She inspected the burn on Anko's shoulder, pointing out that it kind of looked like the Uzumaki clan symbol. She ruled it as a normal burn though and quickly healed it before scooping up Yoru. She thanked them for their cooperation and left them to the rest of their day.

Things had gone haywire during their meeting with Kabuto. Orochimaru had sprung up and started attacking the team. He had explained to Yamato why he had his Wood Release before he licked his lips and looked to Sasuke.

"It's nice to see your Sharingan developing so nicely, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke had looked to Naruto and they nodded. Sasuke drew his sword and moved closer to Orochimaru.

"It is a shame that Madara took Itachi's Sharingan to give it to you. I had been under the impression that he was wrapped around my finger, I should have expected more from your brother though."

Upon hearing this statement, Sasuke looked up to him, Sharingan blazing, "Don't you dare speak of my brother like you know him."

Sasuke leaped forward in a rage, lashing out at Orochimaru while he was laughing. Naruto ran forward to assist him until Sasuke growled at him to stay out of it. Naruto was surprised, he had not known that Sasuke had forgiven Itachi. Sakura was standing back on the bridge, ready to assist anyone if necessary, while Kakashi and Yamato were attacking Kabuto.

Sasuke and Orochimaru were clashing blades and the only reason Sasuke could keep up was because of his Sharingan. Orochimaru had managed to knock him back and was making more handsigns. Before Sasuke could react, Orochimaru's neck had reached him and sunk into his own. Orochimaru had pulled away, chuckling once more.

Seconds before passing out, Orochimaru whispered, "I know you want to destroy Konoha, take revenge for your brother, call on my power."

Naruto entered a rage upon seeing Sasuke passed out. He was immediately pulled into his three-tails state and engaged in combat with Orochimaru. That only caused more irritation on Naruto's part and he stepped into the four-tails state. They fought to a draw and eventually, Orochimaru and Kabuto retreated. Unable to distinguish friends from foes, Naruto attacked Sakura before Yamato could use his technique to revert him back to human form. Sakura healed everyone's wounds and Naruto gathered up Sasuke to make their way back to Konoha. Everyone was worried for Sasuke.