With Naruto…
Naruto had his mouth slightly agape at his rather quirky friend's entrance, when a snap from Tenzo brought him back.
"Time to prepare for the second round. You ready?" Tenzo asked out loud. Naruto gave a tilt of his head to look his captain in the eye.
"Yes, Taicho. I'm ready."
Presently, inside the Forest of Death, with Naruto and team Ro…
When Naruto spotted Orochimaru in disguise as the sannin licked his lips, somehow foolish enough to believe nobody noticed his disguise even when the man stuck a foot long tounge out.
'That or overconfident. We did do a fantastic job of playing the ignorant village,' Naruto mused to himself, idly keeping his hand gripped on a chakra metal kunai, mentally asking the traitor to give him an excuse to fling a Kurama influenced kunai at his slimy head.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru was content to just peer at his old student in a predative way even as Anko managed the miracle of pretending he wasn't there. It had taken much…. therapy from the Third Hokage to ensure Anko's cooperation. Seeing the signal from Tenzo to send fifty clones into the forest for minor additional recon as Anko was starting her spiel, Naruto settled down for an entertaining few minutes, his black cloak and forest contrasting sharply with his mask.
Down in the clearing…
"Alight worthless Maggots!" Anko greeted cheerfully once every genin team had sufficiently gawked at what was the most dangerous place in the Land of Fire and hand in their liability forms. "I hope you're ready to die painfully for my enjoyment!" Multiple genin bristled at her flippant attitude about their lives only to find a kunai in their backpacks curtesy of a hidden Naruto, chains like vipers (not that the genin could see). No genin would show his friend disrespect.
'Heh, you're getting pretty good with those chains, Naruto.' Kurama praised in a bored tone.
'Aww, thanks Kurama, that means' Naruto started to give gratitude for the praise only to be cut off by Kurama.
'It's such an accomplishment to hit unmoving large targets at non vital spots!' The fox finished his 'complement' with a sarcastic smirk, causing the blonde ANBU to mentally roll his eyes at his own foolishness at thinking Kurama could be sincere. He felt a creeping chill run up his spine and turned slightly to face Tenzo.
'Do that again Mouse and I'll tell Dragon you want a training retreat with him.' Tenzo threatened through animated sign language.
'…Of course, Taicho', Naruto signed back with shaky hands that gave away his fear. Hikaru and Yugao shared silent snickers. Down below Anko continued her proctoring speech.
"Right here you brats get to spend two days in my personal playground; the Forest of Death! Inside you'll find roaming wasp spiders, leaches, and ANBU squads to pick your dead husks from the forest floor! But don't worry, you don't have to spend two whole days in there." She assured the now trembling genin. Seeing their unspoken question, the snake summoner continued. "All you maggots have to do is play a little game of cat and mouse."
"C-cat and mouse?" Ino asked uncertainly, already dreading the forest. She knew her team wasn't ready for this but didn't want to look bad by dropping out. Anko got a predatory gleam in her eyes.
"Why yes dearie. See, half the squads here will receive a scroll" here she held up a giant scroll with the kanji for 'mouse' written in large letters and signaling for the assembled teams to split evenly, which happened quickly.
Naruto could feel his eye twitch when Anko sent a wink in his general direction due to the name.
"The other half of the squads will not receive a scroll, but a map of the area. The 'mice' get a twenty minute head start towards the teams that make it with a scroll advance." Anko finished. Kiba took the opportunity to speak his ire.
"That's bull! What about us pursuit teams! We have no chance in hell!" Another kunai in his backpack curtsey of Anko shut him up.
"Tsk tsk, on the contrary my dear Inuzuka, the mice teams have one key disadvantage." Her eyes held a fake (not that the genin…or chunin… could tell) manic gleam.
"…" Everyone waited expectantly.
"This!" As she said that, each mouse team had a teammate shot with snake venom. Instantly the genin felt their chakra drain. "That venom hails from the Land of Bears and is known to seal a person's chakra away for six days on average. And for those with a medic… well there is no antidote since I messed with it." Anko finished sheepishly, not bothering to mention the…side effects that twenty percent of victims experienced from her improved version. What they didn't know couldn't be used to sue her.
"Alright maggots! Mouse teams line up and remember: you have to reach the towers with EVERYONE alive, so I recommend killing the weak competition!" And thus each team prepared to play their roles, nervously discussing their various strategies as Anko cackled at her own callous advice.
Mouse team preparations!
With Team 10…
Shikamaru absently rubbed his arm where he was injected and gave his teammates a hard look.
"This will be troublesome but if we run fast enough we can make it before anyone will bother us." The lazy genius sighed when he noticed Ino being unusually sullen. "What's with you, Ino? You're more troublesome than if you were a loud mouth woman." That got her to grow a tick mark.
"Shut up you lazy baka!" And thus Ino momentarily got out of her funk to slap her teammate in the back of the head.
"Tsk, you're not very youthful, are you?" Shikamaru blurted out.
Silence reigned amongst the teens. Chouji even dropped his potato chip bag in shock and Ino held a hand to her mouth.
"…L-let's just get ready" Shikamaru finally broke the silence with a shaky command.
With Team Oto…
"So we run fast with Kin our backs and this horribly heavy scroll before Gaara gets in, right?" Dosu gulped and his…friends, quickly agreed.
"And our mission?" Zaku asked about their believed orders to help Gaara and kill the Uchiha.
"Screw that, I don't want to die; we'll just kill him during the month." With firm nods the team started a final bag check, completely unaware their master had been listening the whole time.
With the undercover ROOT team…
The three emotionally challenged 'genin'- including Danzo Shimura's pet Uchiha that was hidden with a face mask and contacts to make him look like a different Root agent who switched with him- were calmly double checking their bags. Thankfully their female companion was the one bitten and she was a taijutsu specialist anyways. The team was careful not to look at their targets or Orochimaru; it wouldn't do to cast suspicion on themselves so close to their master's goals.
"Be ready for anything" Takashi Uchiha, the favorite of Danzo Shimura ordered. The two others just nodded mentally prepared themselves.
With The Sand Trio…
"I will kill for you mother, all those foolish to pursue us" Gaara cooed to himself. Temari gulped a bit but stopped herself from commenting. As long as they made it to that blasted tower within the two day time limit, it didn't matter what her psycho of a brother did. Their mission didn't start until the third round, where Gaara would shower the great village of Konoha in its own blood.
With the Iwa team…
"Remember, get to the tower at all costs. We must make it to the third round and make Iwa shine amongst the Konoha scum." The team leader, Hideo, grew up without a father or mother after the fourth Hokage wiped them out with his infamous jutsu, the last massacre before the war ended. He'd been cut out from his mother's dead womb by a dying medic nin who cradled the babe until the reinforcements arrived, dying with a smile on her face for doing one last act of kindness. The boy grew up amongst hundreds of orphans just like them, most of whom became shinobi as that was the most viable option for clan less orphans with no funds. All his life Hideo swore he would do everything to make Konoha suffer. Getting to the third round and killing their genin in front of thousands sounded beautiful to his ears.
Unfortunately, his other teammates, Mari and Akiko, didn't share his zeal. Mari had actually helped a foreign shinobi in the last round, and the only reason Hideo didn't sneer at her was because it let them pass. He pointedly ignored the voice whispering in his head to let the past go.
Thirty seconds before the gates opened….
All five of the 'mice' squads looked pensive, even the one 'psycho' Suna genin squad who were there more for their mission than as actual chunin candidates. The seconds clicked down.
At thirty seconds Chouji slipped the oversized scroll on, grunting at the weight.
At twenty five seconds Ino glanced at the impending forest with fiery eyes and false bravado.
At the fifteen second mark Hideo sent a hateful glance to the competition. Mari, the member with locked chakra, nervously checked that their other member Akiko had the scroll secured across the back; team Iwa was in it for the win.
Ten seconds sparked heart beats skipping.
Five seconds found every young shinobi and kunoichi with a weapon grasped expertly.
Four seconds.
Three seconds.
Two seconds.
One second.
*BRIIINGG*
Anko sounded the signal alarm and each gate was thrown open by chunin. Squads bolted through the gates and towards the center, where the outline of a tower could be seen from the clearing. They had thirty minutes to make time, set traps, and pray they could slow pursuers down enough to reach the finish line without confrontations.
With Ro…
Naruto's shoulders tensed involuntarily at the alarm but forced them to relax; Hawk's team along with other ANBU squads were in the forest, clones and radios also on the move for any funny business. As it was tradition for Konoha to have ANBU presence in the forest during the second stage, they could get away with it without alerting Orochimaru. It did help that Dragon confirmed the last Uchiha was a target for marking, through whatever sources the enigmatic ANBU commander had. Ro wouldn't head out until the 'cats' were sent into the dark forest.
"Think they'll run into the wasp spiders?" Angel whispered, pointedly pretending she didn't feel Tenzo's cuff on her ear.
'No, as long as they don't go the long way around; we did clean out hundred of them that time.' Naruto cautiously replied in sign. The blonde was not at all confident in his words but gave the small cat a nice head pat anyways.
'It'd be nice if they did though; we could blow through the insects with my beautiful art!' Deidara cut in animatedly, idly remolding his clay spiders. Hikaru scoffed.
'If they found them though we would be the ones to drag their bloody remains out; Trust me it's not worth it. The last time Ro had chunin exam duty we spent three nights cleaning out enough leaches and wasp spiders to cart out the genin.' The Hyuga had less than fond memories of being covered in buckets of blood on the quest to recover four foolish genin squads that had apparently thought to cut through the nesting region on the last day rather than admit defeat. It hadn't ended well for them.
With the pursuit squads…
All too soon it was the twenty minute mark and the air was thick enough to slice through with Yugao's Katana. Each trio began strategizing for what would- hopefully- be a short escapade into the 'training ground'.
With Team Seven…
Kakashi's official and Hikaru's unofficial team were huddled over the provided map.
"Sakura- san, Duckbutt- san, we should stick to these areas as the leeches are too dangerous to wander towards." Sai pointed to various routes on the map with a pencil. Sasuke ignored the juvenile 'nick name' while studying it closely, Sharingan active.
"Hey Sai, I was wondering; how do you know so much about this place?" Sakura asked, and Sai paused. Memories of long hikes, survival exercises, and clandestine meetings flashed through his head but were expertly hidden by the pale boy. He gave a plain, slightly better than fake smile.
"Oh, I just read a great deal. We should avoid the Iwa, Oto, and Asuma- san's team, as well as that vicious looking Suna team." Sai advised.
"Hn, why? I understand about the Iwa and Oto teams, but what about the other two? The Ino- Shika- Cho team falls apart as one member is down and that one Suna squad looks weak. The only other team is that young Konoha one and picking on children wasn't what I wanted in the exams" Sasuke argued. Sakura nodded but listened to Sai's surprisingly adamant rebuttal.
"Asuma- san's squad is known by the other ones as weak. We'd be fighting several competitors. The Suna squad will be a target due to them being children of the Kazekage. That younger genin team will be an easy target though since they blend in. They will be left alone as no one pays attention to them, giving us the freedom to take their scroll." Here Sai stopped to breathe and Sasuke used the opportunity to take charge.
"Fine… We'll follow them. Sakura, you will throw up genjutsu and take the scroll before jumping away; I'll knock them out. Sai, you send out ink animals to track them."
"Already on their person, Duckbutt- san." Sai volunteered with a pleasant smile. Sasuke huffed but continued.
"We strike and run directly to the tower; with focus we'll reach it before night fall." Three sets of eyes locked and fist bumped, comradery amongst them strong.
'I won't let them get hurt, no matter what' Sai mentally promised his friends, not realizing that the 'younger genin team' were all ROOT ANBU.
Multiple parties had listened in to the conversation, and the reactions were varied.
Naruto and Hikaru both smiled with thumbs up at team seven's willingness to work together. Orochimaru, however…
With Orochimaru's 'team'…
The legendary snake summoner licked his lips at his future vessel. Oh how difficult it had been to keep him and his two clones from being obvious about their identities while his old apprentice spoke, but it worked; no one suspected his infiltration. All he had to do was waltz into the forest, mark Sasuke- kun while meeting with Danzo's little spy, kill his idiotic subordinates who believed they had the right to abandon their suicide mission, and threaten Konoha into keeping the exams going.
'Kukukuku, I must hurry though; my job as the 'Kazekage' is very time consuming. Orochimaru, you sly devil, you must control your urges, after all.' Orochimaru mused to himself. Deciding he would first get a scroll for Sasuke- kun (he did want the boy to pass into the third round, after all) the sannin would then track down his precious future eyes.
Orochimaru then felt the familiar flicker of the Kyubi Jinchuuriki's chakra that just begged to be experimented on. The sannin knew taking him before the fated third round and invasion would automatically cause the village to go on lockdown, thus cancelling the exams. Standard procedure village procedure- the same one most of the great five followed- dictated that a kidnapped Jinchuuriki was a unanimous act of war. Orochimaru would relish starting said war. Just not until he was ready to absolutely crush his former home.
Too bad for Naruto that Orochimaru had no qualms about playing with his soon to be pet.
With Team Kumo…
Yuzu Yotsuki and Saki gave Taro a side eye as he suggested they follow another pursuit team and steak the scroll they steal as they'd be worn out. However, Saki agrees, as it would let Yuzu get to the safety of the tower before it got crazy.
She did have it in her best interests to make sure the former Raikage's great niece didn't kick the bucket from the two Hyuga. It wouldn't be a difficult stretch for them to take out their anger on the only vulnerable relative to the man that caused their clansman's death. Saki wouldn't allow it, however, and thus ignored the other girl's protests, instead messing with her chocolate hair absently.
Team Eight and Team Nine…
Neji glared hatefully at his younger cousin, not at all pleased with the decision from Hiashi- sama that they would stick together for the survival portion of the exam.
"Of course the main branch would get special treatment. A weakling like you is fated to let others slave away for your own victory. Right, Hinata- sama?" Neji mocked Hinata. Lee started shouting about how unyouthfully Neji was acting, but it was Shino who put the branch house heir in his place.
"Excuse me, Hyuga- san, but do not mock my teammate again or I will not hesitate to call the giant leaches on you." Shino whispered into the older boy's ear, and Neji couldn't help but feel apprehensive. The Hyuga decided to shut up…for now.
"Yeah, you better shut up, you prick! Or else Akamaru and I will rip you apart!" Kiba boasted with Akamaru giving a yip in agreement.
"Quiet rookie, we're the best Konoha squad here." Tenten bit out but then turned to her white eyed friend. "I agree though, you should be nicer while we're in the forest."
"Pfft, very well then. We attack the Iwa scum and the lazy Nara team; they're traveling parallel to each other currently." Tenten rolled up her team's map.
"Alright, what's the battle plan guys?" She asked. Neji closed his eyes briefly before staring at them all, the mind of a tactician formulating a strategy.
"…Here is the plan. Aburame, Inuzuka, you will travel in the back for tracking and long range strikes. Tenten, you join them….Lee…"
After the bells sound the alarm…
Naruto winced as one of his clones popped right after the alarm from the first wave of squads, specifically the Oto squad.
'Sound attacks? Interesting' Naruto thought when the genin had called out the name of his attack loudly, aiming at what he thought was a monster but was just a clone messing with them, as per orders. Even animals as vicious as the ones in the Forest of Death rarely attacked unprovoked, so Naruto was there to rile the genin- and animals- up. Two days in the forest would be boring otherwise, after all.
'Follow parallel to Uchiha team', Tenzo ordered and the entirety of Ro shot off, carefully masking their chakra.
Naruto used this time to talk to Kurama about their little snake problem.
Brat, my roots absorbed the snake's vile negative emotions and intent when he glanced our way. I wouldn't be surprised if he attacked us.
The boy ignored the obvious attempt at a plant joke and gave his thoughts.
'True, but we both know he was planning on it anyways. Nothing's changed.' Naruto assured. But Kurama wasn't done.
If that flesh bag attacks us I WILL send enough chakra to obliterate him… after he's done with the Uchiha of course. Kurama added the last part with a bit of glee. Naruto sweat dropped, avoiding a low hanging branch.
'Our mission is to PROTECT Sasuke, not kill him.'
Tsk, you take the fun out of it. But what happens when they see your chains of the tiny kitten? They'll know your identity.
Naruto avoided that sore subject; it wasn't just orders that kept him from blurting it out to his former classmates, but his own uncertainty. Despite not being very healthy, he enjoyed the anonymity of being in uniform. No one from the village questioned him or sent him those 'looks'. The couple of times a civilian had spotted the blonde in off duty clothes, without even his head band, caused him to shunshin away instantly before the civilian could recognize and thus hate him once more. ANBU was his identity now, and even showing his chunin side to the rookies was difficult to stomach. Sakura, Sai and Sasuke especially, as he had led them on missions, tortured….er, trained them, and watched them grow as people. They weren't friends, but they weren't enemies.
And to hide the fact he'd always been a higher rank than them was something he planned on keeping for potentially years, if possible. Sai knew- obviously- but the other two didn't need to know.
But if it came down to either Naruto letting Sasuke get bitten or hurt or stopping the snake using chains and a rasangan, there was no contest. He was a Konoha shinobi, and he would protect his comrades. No matter what.
Ten minutes later…
Kin and Zaku looked behind them while running, feeling bile rise up at their pursuer. Giving each other the look, they nodded their heads. Their master was coming and he was pissed. They wouldn't survive, but they would still try.
Dosu sweated when the chakra he'd felt since childhood kept getting closer. It didn't take a chakra sensor to feel Orochimaru's killing intent when it was so focused.
"Kukuku" seemed to echo all around the trio snakes shot out from the bark, fangs barred. The beasts ensnared Dosu first, as the boy had tried to summon chakra for a jutsu; the snake was just too fast.
Next was Zaku, who vaulted Kin off his back, the kunoichi just feeling the touch of death that was the snake's skin. With no chakra and weak taijutsu compared to Zaku and Dosu, much less their master, Kin knew she was going to die. She collapsed to her knees on a massive tree branch, eyes wide with fear when Orochimaru emerged from a nearby trunk.
"Why hello there my pets" Orochimaru greeted silkily. The most notorious traitor to Konoha had the snakes by his side, and the man petted Dosu's head band. "Now, like any shinobi village, Oto is not kind to traitors."
"W-w- we're not traitors, Orochimaru- sama!" Zaku pleaded. The sannin's eyes, which once exuded false warmth, turned steely. With practiced ease he ripped Zaku's head off from the boy's shoulders.
"Now… anyone else wish to lie to me?" Both genin shook their heads vigorously at their master's tone. "Good. I'll be taking this." Scroll firmly secured on his back the sannin turned away and left, Dosu dropped without ceremony from the viper's grip.
Instantly the killing intent dissipated, and Kin relaxed.
"W- we didn't die." She breathed. Dosu was recovering his breathing, but both started laughing hysterically thinking they somehow, for reason unknown, cheated death.
That's when a kunai made the world go dark.
In the forest, with ANBU team Ro…
It had been two hours since the pursuit squads were unleashed, and Sasuke's team was hopelessly lost. The poor genin were not natural trackers, and while Sai's mice were excellent in normal circumstances, their targets were adept at using traps. Naruto watched in amusement as Sakura disabled yet another trip wire explosive trap that the odd little genin group had set out.
Team seventeen, consisting of a ten year old, a nine year old, and a ten year old who had lost her squad last year. Nothing special about them, as their files indicated well adjusted- if slightly socially inept- shinobi who graduated early and were simply on the exams to buffer the Konoha numbers. No body expected them to make it past the first round as their sensei assured the Hokage they were more suited for a field promotion and village guard duty.
But here they were. And playing with team seven, Naruto noticed. Hikaru activated his Byakugan momentarily after the next wave of traps led the genin through a thick bog.
'They… they know where they're going but intentionally leading their pursuers deeper into the forest.' Hikaru informed the team, much to all of Ro's puzzlement.
'Are you sure baka?' Deidara asked even as he unsealed more prepared clay birds.
Normal genin- not even those trained by the ANBU these past months- would ever be in a position to know the landscape. Hell, even the squads with the maps were easily duped and led around in circles. Hikaru gasped when his Byakugan caught them using ANBU signs. 'Taicho, they're signing! They just confirmed that they're leading team seven towards the secluded eastern section of wasp spiders for'
Hikaru was cut off as the ANBU scattered just in time to avoid being smashed by a summon's body.
Naruto used several Kawarimi as kunai were thrown, aimed at rather permanent spots, to land to a safe branch ten meters to the right. Angel was already transformed, and her thick jaws were embedded into the eye of the summons.
With a start Naruto realized it was a snake eye.
'Shoot! How did Hikaru not sense him coming?!' Naruto panicked in his head. The boy attempted to
His fist automatically blocked Orochimaru's who started beating on the boy.
"Ku ku ku, you're quite Mousey aren't you? I have to bend over to fight you." Naruto held his tounge, much to Orochimaru's chagrin.
Don't let him get to you kit, focus; your squad is fighting nearby against another snake summon headed for the Uchiha's team. Kurama cautioned.
"Not even going to say anything?" The sannin taunted. Chains from Naruto erupted and flew at the sannin. The man didn't try to block and let his arm be caught, chuckling darkly. "What beautiful chains. Now, show me what you can do NINE TAILS!"
The pair sprang from their branches, Naruto using a shunshin to appear behind the traitor, Rasangan already formed. It connected with Orochimaru's back and the man appeared to blast away, only to twist mid air and grin. Naruto was yanked towards his foe using his own chains before being punched into a tree with a sickening crunch.
"Is that all? Is that all the MIGHTIEST of the BIJU can do Naru- chan?" Orochimaru insulted. Naruto summoned a hundred clones who charged forward with abandon. Their only purpose was to momentarily distract the snake man who chose up upchuck a sword and slash the horde away, manic smile in place the whole time. Naruto grabbed out his sealing tags, intent on having clones seal him and the basterd inside until his team could come back. From what a shadow clone sent in memories they were quickly dispatching a giant summon snake, though Deidara was dealing with wasp spiders that decided to poke from their nests. Naruto knew the genin were traitors somehow, piecing together their carefully laid trap for Orochimaru to get to Sasuke and them, and promised to drag them to Ibiki himself when this was over. Naruto looked over towards Angel and couldn't be more proud.
With Angel, moments before…
When the summoning snake had decided to crash into her team's on the go meeting, Angel was out for blood.
"Every time." She growled as once again she was launched away from her partner. The hell cat was beginning to wonder if it was fate or all controlling being that prevent the duo from fighting side by side more often than not. A tree was uprooted and the feline took the opportunity to spring board up, growing to her maximum size. The snake gave her a hungry look, as the thing was over half the size of a boss summons. With hot fury she shot fire into the widening mouth of the snake that expected her to fall in. The jaws clamped down in pain and Angel landed by an eye. Without hesitation she clamped powerful jaws down on the beast, and a loud hiss filled the area. For over a minute the two were in a deadlock.
"Grrrrr. Take… that… you basterd!" She growled triumphantly when she finally ripped the eye out. The snake thrashed and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Angel to look towards Naruto.
What she saw made her blood chill.
Back with Naruto…
Orochimaru chose that moment of distraction to drop kick from the canopy, and Naruto felt a sick crunch as he was catapulted from his branch towards the floor below.
Eyes fluttered closed. 'I just want. I just want to sleep' Naruto foggily thought as he drifted in and out of consciousness. On and on the ANBU fell, Orochimaru following right above, intent on giving the Jinchuuriki a beat down.
"I'll have fun breaking you, you little shit! I'll make you scream like a FAILURE! LIKE THE FAILURE YOU ARE!" Not even Orochimaru knew why he was being so cruel; he couldn't take the boy yet, but then again the brat was the child of his most hated rival.
Meanwhile, Naruto saw his life flash before his eyes, his blood floating in front of his face.
'Hehe, I want to be Hokage, to protect EVERYONE!' A blonde eight year old screamed at school.
'You? Hokage? Yeah right, you're a failure as even a shinobi. I bet you won't graduate.' Kiba Inuzuka howled.
'I'm sorry, Naruto, but you failed.' Iruka's pitying looks making the already shaking twelve year old break inside.
'YOU ARE THE NINE TAILED FOX!' Mizuki spat in the clearing. Naruto recoiled. Everything made sense to him, he truly was a stupid demon.
'Naruto, you pass!' Iruka smiled brightly as Naruto hugged him, the boy finally feeling like something was going right.
"You're a Jinchuuriki- a person who holds a tailed beast. That makes you an asset to Konoha" Dragon spoke calmly.
"Hey, chibi- kohai! Let's get going!"
"Naruto, you're a fine shinobi." Sarutobi said with pride when Naruto completed his first A- rank.
"Hey Naruto, let's spar, I'll teach some more…cough… kenjutsu moves while Yugao is away." Hayate offered.
"Tsk, you're alright for a fishcake."
"You're like a brother to me" Kakashi admitted while the pair had a break from the madness that was training.
"I never say this, but you're like the little brother I never had, Mouse" Dragon whispered during a quiet meeting.
"Naruto." Tenzo and Yugao said.
"Baka, come back soon" Yakumo blushed.
"Chibi- kohai/ Fuinjutsu- fish cake!" Hikaru and Deidara cheered.
"Never give up Naruto. As your super pervert I demand it!"
'Wake up." The voices blurred together.
"Wake up"
Wake
Wake up.
WAKE UP! Kurama roared.
Suddenly, his body flared with Kurama's usual chakra cloak. Naruto snapped his eyes open and Orochimaru gasped when red silted eyes met his in defiance. Purplish chains, influenced by the tailed beast within, flew in all directions, a large amount aiming right at the sannin. Three hit and tore through the basterd' s arms.
What ensued was a mighty struggle as they fell. Naruto twirled so that he was above, chains still stuck in Orochimaru's arms. Angel chose that moment to vault off a tree and bite the sannin's head, only to be swatted away by the sword Orochimaru kept in his mouth.
Grabbing Angel so she didn't fall, Naruto dangled in mid air by his chains, heaving with rage as Kurama coursed through his body, threating to unleash the first tail if Orochimaru still decided to fight.
However, the sannin smirked, and before his body reached the forest floor it melted away into mud.
'Shit! If that was a clone then.' An overwhelming sense of killing intent from the general direction of where Sasuke would be made the Jinchuuriki use his pure shunshin speed to head there immediately, dread filling his foggy mind.
With Team seven, earlier…
Sasuke knew their target was leading them somewhere, as Sai had pointed out after the weird boy realized they were headed towards something called the 'Wasp Spider' nests. Sasuke didn't know what those were exactly but the grim look on Sai's face told him they should head away immediately.
Except that they couldn't. Because a giant snake was blocking their path, and the team they were chasing surrounded them. Sakura, who was just beside him, was now unconscious against a tree. The snake barreling through the forest flew her backwards, and Sasuke winced at the large amount of blood their only medic was losing.
"Stand behind me" Sai urgently ordered and his super beast scroll summoned five lions. The youngest of the ambushers tilted his head.
"Rice Curry" the boy said. Sai stiffened, much to the confusion of Sasuke.
"Sai" he asked curiously.
"No" Sai stated firmly, directed at the ambusher who spoke. All three stiffened then relaxed.
"I… see. So master was right, you did turn. No matter, you'll die here." The youngest spoke with an unnatural calm. The air stilled.
"What the hell?!" Sasuke shouted when the three Konoha shinobi attacked Sai simultaneously, the girl kicking the Uchiha out of the way.
Sai jumped onto an ink bird to head away from Sasuke, wishing he could stay with his friends longer. They chased him far away, far enough that Sai couldn't even sense the summon's chakra. This way, he could protect them.
'Forgive me, but I won't be making chunin with you.' Sai thought as his fellow ROOT agents- 'No, I'm a traitor to them'- as the ROOT scum followed him like moths. A battle began, and Sai planned to make it- and his death- glorious.
"Super beast scroll: explosion" Sai intoned after having several of his ink birds fly too close to the mid air ROOT shinobi. They exploded, the explosion seal encoded in them saved him as the foes were forced off his tail for a moment. He let a small smile form when the blast killed one of them- the girl- and blew the arm off of the other boy.
Silently thanking Naruto for teaching him how to incorporate an explosion seal into his animals, Sai followed the ROOT shinobi, jumping off the bird and locking his tanto with the youngest- and only intact one- of the three in mid air.
"Why did you betray Danzo- sama?!" Slash, and Sai had a deep cut down his torso, jumping back to a trunk before hitting the younger boy with a slice to the gut.
"I found my Will of Fire." Sai said simply, and the two locked once more, though it was clear Sai had the upper hand when his opponent coughed up some blood.
Thinking he might actually survive the fight Sai locked gazes with the boy.
Then widened his eyes as they met a set of fully matured Sharingan.
Takashi Uchiha allowed a vicious smirk to appear amongst his bloody mouth as the traitor looked into his eyes. The young boy had taken out his contacts for battle just so he could shock his opponents. It wasn't something Danzo would approve of, but the traitor was going to die anyways, and he wanted some pleasure out of the experience.
Sai cursed inside as the young Uchiha made his eyes spin, and Sai began to lose himself. He knew he was trapped as he felt the hypnotism take root.
'Huh, at least I got two of them, Duckbutt- san, Sakura- san.'
"Kai." Foreign chakra flooded his own, a familiar one that was warm. The pale boy found himself on a branch, staring into the masked face of his second sensei, Hikaru.
"H- Hikaru- sensei?" Sai asked, bewildered. The ANBU seemed to grin and nod.
"In the flesh chibi; now you stay put while I deal with our little friend here. I heard everything."
"W-wait! He has" Sai tried only to be silenced by Hikaru's chuckle.
"I know, and he'll be finding out why those eyes will never beat the great Hikaru."
Takashi knew he was beat. With absolute loyalty the dog of Danzo prepared the suicide jutsu, building up his chakra.
Unfortunately for him, Hikaru effortlessly blocked all his chakra points, knocking him out and ripping the suicide pill from his mouth after some searching. The 'fight' was less than ten seconds and Sai was in awe of how ruthlessly the man who often played the fool handled the situation. Hikaru noticed his slack jawed expression and grinned.
"Ne, cat got your tounge?"
Same time, with Sasuke…
Sasuke was in a bad place. He was rooted to his spot in front of what appeared to be a Kusa 'genin', protecting one of his only friends, Sakura.
"Ku ku ku, Sasuke- kun, why don't you show me your power?" The Kusa genin chuckled silkily and beckoned. Sasuke stood his ground though.
'Sai's gone who knows where and this woman shows up with a scroll; why is she attacking us? No, don't think, just protect Sakura.' Sasuke thought to himself. He gripped his kunai as killing intent blasted the area, making his heart skip a beat.
"Th- this p- p- p- power. I've never been so scared, I need to l- leave. No! Don't move!" Sasuke growled to himself. He wouldn't be worse than scum, he'd protect his comrade, to the end.
A killing intent filled with more malice entered the clearing and pounced on Sasuke's attacker though. An ANBU agent, around his height started barraging the Kusa genin with purple chains and a jutsu he recognized all too well.
"N- Naruto?" Sasuke asked. The slight stiffening of the shoulders told him all he needed to, the giant cat that landed in front of him as a shield giving more proof. His elusive former classmate, the desk chunin, was in ANBU.
Well that shook his day some.
With Naruto…
When Sasuke said his name, Naruto cursed his stupidity but kept fighting. He knew from what Dragon said (and who knows how Dragon found out) that Orochimaru would attempt to mark the last Uchiha. That couldn't happen. And so Naruto was using his sword to block Orochimaru's, the tounge acting as an arm.
Naruto put some distance, NOW!
Not one to question, the blonde used a triad of shunshins to land several meters away, just in time to dodge a newly summoned snake erupting from the ground.
"Shit, this couldn't get any worse" Naruto cursed. The universe laughed at him as Orochimaru fired off a fire dragon aimed right at the stationed boy. Orochimaru cackled.
"aww, so sweet, trying to protect Sasuke- kun from my gift? Well I guess we'll have to stop that, won't we? Striking shadow hands!" Twelve snakes from each arm shot out at Naruto. The ANBU slashed at them with his claws before they could reach him, smirking behind his mask as Angel's jaws connected with the sannin's arm, eliciting a shriek. Fire burned away at the man's body as Angel's fire coated teeth drew blood.
"Tsk, I never thought a feline could wound me" Orochimaru spat as he opened his mouth. A fully restored Orochimaru stepped out and everyone else gagged in revulsion.
"Y- you're a monster" Sasuke said.
"No, I'm perfection! And soon you'll see why Sasuke- kun!" The crazed Sannin laughed and in an instant was inches from Naruto's mask covered face, hand cocked back.
Naruto felt himself flown backwards, Kurama's cloak receding as the blow cut off his concentration momentarily. The Sannin launched his neck at a wide eyed Sasuke, fangs barred. Angel bit the neck but even crushed the appendage kept stretching.
Naruto knew he had to stop it. An idea formed, one so crazy it would fail, and thus he did something incredibly stupid: he used a kawarimi with the still knocked out Sakura.
Now right behind Sasuke as Orochimaru's jaws aimed for the neck, Naruto's ANBU issued arm guards took the fangs, the seal enforced armor keeping the poison off his skin. Naruto smirked at the absolutely enraged Orochimaru and gave him the finger.
"See ya, you bastard." He said and activated a prisoner scroll. Orochimaru couldn't move from a paralyzing seal Naruto had stuck right where the fangs went in.
And so, in a puff of smoke, Orochimaru of the Sannin was captured. Naruto looked with half lidded eyes at Sasuke, smiled at Angel who had just made the remaining snake disappear, and collapsed on his stomach. The ANBU mask that had taken a beating in the last hour finally cracked from the face plant and slid off.
"Naruto" Sasuke breathed.
"Yeah, I know. Save it" The blonde winced at his ribs and broken arm being slowly healed, as Kurama's chakra couldn't rush the process. Not when he had pumped two tails worth throughout the fight to keep Naruto's body going.
Damn it, don't go to sleep yet, you're in the Forest of Death! The fox shouted to deaf ears. Naruto grinned slightly and fought the sleep.
Suddenly, four chakra signatures he knew by heart surrounded him.
"Mouse, you're alive" Tenzo spoke, not bothering with hand signs. Naruto snapped awake as he was pulled into a sitting position. Hikaru started healing him while Yugao and Angel brought Sakura back. The girl was beginning to wake up but Yugao pinched her neck, knowing it was for the best.
"Wha? How?" Naruto questioned dumbly. His team mates looked like they went through war. Blood, snake venom, and dirt covered them, and Yugao's mask was completely red. Deidara was listless, obviously recovering from Wasp Spider poison and clutching his arm.
"Orochimaru." Tenzo answered. "He planned on separating us, and two mud clones along with Manda's second in command was there. Add that with the swarm of Wasp Spiders that Fox fought by himself…We're lucky Fox only has a broken arm and poison…" Tenzo trailed off and Naruto nodded. He began recounting the battle, leaving out Kurama, and his squad sputtered at the end.
"You mean you" Yugao began
"Took on Orochimaru- the actual one" Tenzo continued.
"And sealed him, un?" Deidara finished. Naruto nodded in trepidation. The scroll sat nearby against a tree.
"…I didn't seal his chakra first so I don't know how long it will last." Tenzo rubbed his eyes at the mistake- even if it was unavoidable- and sighed.
"Hm, you're free to go Chibi- kohai. Now let's take these prisoners back." Hikaru said. Only then did Naruto notice Sai and the genin they were following. Sai sat next to Sakura and kept sending Hikaru thankful looks.
Figuring he'd find out later, Naruto began walking towards the scroll, figuring they had an hour to get the sannin to the Jiraiya for better sealing lest the traitor get free. However, just as he reached it, the scroll burned to a crisp and a noted floated down.
My dear pet,
Sorry to disappoint, but I must not be captured. I will have Sasuke, so don't even try to stop me. Oh, and tell Sarutobi- sensei that if he cancels the exam I'll destroy it before nightfall.
Ta- ta,
Orochimaru the Awesome.
Naruto read the note over and let out a primal roar at his failure.
Three hours later, Forest of Death Tower…
Hiruzen Sarutobi listened to the tale of Orochimaru's encounter with more surprise than he thought possible since they knew it would happen. He felt pride well up in his old bones when his surrogate grandson managed to capture the traitor, then gave a reassuring look at the news Orochimaru had used a body switch at the last second before the sealing. By the end, he didn't know what to feel.
"I am proud of all of your successes, but now is not the time for rest. You safely shadowed Sasuke and his team here, but there are still dangers in the exams. Rest up for one hour before heading out- there is still a day and a half left of this cursed stage. The only mercy was changing it from five days to two days; God knows I couldn't take that level of stress with these exams." Hiruzen muttered. Ro bowed once before shunshining silently, Naruto still angry at himself.
As soon as the ANBU left, Hiruzen turned to his shadow.
"Dragon, what of the other competitors?" Hiruzen asked. Dragon chuckled.
"Well Hiruzen, I think you'll be quite amused."
"Oh?"
"Let's just say Anko's little drug gave the Nara a new outlook on life."
"… I don't even want to know. Now, let's discuss this 'Uchiha' that young Hikaru brought in as a lovely present."
"Takashi Uchiha… I used to change his diapers" Dragon commented wistfully.
With Shikamaru' s team, earlier…
"Now remember team, we must run quickly to show our flames of YOUTH!" Shikamaru yelled as he used more energy to glide across the forest than he used in his entire life combined.
Ino looked at her friend in horror, as did Chouji, but they didn't say anything out of fear of what happened last time they tried. They knew they were being pursued by two teams, and Ino decided to be the reasonable one when they found themselves surrounded by teams eight and nine.
"H- here. Just take it" The girl offered. Tenten looked offended but Lee reached for it. However Shikamaru ruined it.
"INO! Quit being so unYOUTHFUL!"
And thus, Shikamaru and Lee locked eyes. A battle would happen, and the flames of youth ignited.
Finally, with Danzo, that night...
Danzo Shimura looked at the 'dead' ROOT agent, glad the boy was merely dying when that soft Hyuga left him. The failure of an agent reported as medics began bandaging the stump of an arm.
"And then he left me for dead, Danzo- sama; the Hyuga said 'I will not kill you myself but watch your light fade from your eyes. I must of blacked out and my heart rate slowed due to blood loss. I woke up here, Danzo- sama."
Danzo pondered everything he was told. The seal prevented any traitorous speech- he hoped, at least- so all that mattered was recovering Takashi.
'I'll get him during the invasion. Now it's time to have a little 'chat' with Orochimaru. From what my spies are saying, the fool is wanting the weapon for himself. That simply won't do. Konoha's Jinchuuriki is mine, even if he doesn't know it yet.'
Turning impassively to his now useless agent who wasn't worth a prosthetic, the Darkness of Shinobi sliced the boy's throat.
"Your blood watered the great tree; a fitting death" Danzo sneered and walked out of the medical bay; he had a coup to plan.