Chapter 20

Naruto flew at the Grass kunoichi. The woman smirked and slammed her hand on the ground, causing smoke to rise and hide her. Naruto knew what was coming since seeing Anko do it a dozen times. He wasn’t disappointed as a huge snake lunged at him. He placed his fingers in a cross.

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!” he shouted. A clone appeared below him. Using it as a spring board, he dodged the snake as it swallowed his clone. The kunoichi looked impressed.

‘A genin performing a forbidden jutsu and to use it in such a way, you have trained him well Anko-chan.’ She thought. Naruto landed on the side of the tree, using his chakra to stick to the branch. He knew he didn’t have time so he went through hand sign to do a jutsu. The woman saw him and went to stop him. The snake charged at a fast pace but Naruto was done and called out his jutsu.

“Doton: Yomi Numa!!” he shouted. The snake suddenly stopped as it began to sink. The woman turned and was amazed when she saw a large bog. The surrounding area began to sink into the black water. The snake struggled to get loose but it made it sink faster. The Grass-nin turned to find Naruto gone. The sound of shurikens alerted her to an attack. She jumped to avoid the incoming attack but she met with Naruto in the air. She caught his punch and blocked his kick. She gave him a smirk but he had one of his own.

“Katon: Kasumi Engo no Jutsu!!” was the shouted she heard. She smelt the gas and heard the sound of something burning. He eyes went wide but it was too late as the loud explosion rocked the area. Naruto looked at his handiwork and smiled.

“Kamikaze Bunshins, that’s what I’ll call them.” He said.

“A very good name.” a voice said from behind. Naruto turned just to meet a kick. He flew into a tree. He groaned but dodged the kunoichi’s follow up attack. He reached into his coat and pulled out a kunai with a seal on it. The woman looked on in shock.

‘Anko doesn’t know that technique and the scroll to learn that technique was said to have been destroyed.’ Naruto threw the kunai and place his hands in the ‘tora (tiger)’ seal.

“Ignite!!” he called out. The kunai turned into a flaming fireball. Naruto took a breath and did the Kasumi Engo again. The flaming kunai turned into a giant fireball. It engulfed the kunoichi and hit the ground with a crash. Naruto looked for his opponent. “Did I get her?”

“Not even close,” Naruto turned to face her but was not given the chance to counterattack as she stabbed him. “Next time, do not use such an obvious tactic.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He said as he poof out of existence. She was so surprised that she didn’t feel the snake that wrapped her neck. Naruto pulled with all his might and she was ripped from the tree. She flew toward him as he reared his fist back. He connected with her but his fist went right through her. He had to shield his eyes as the mud covered him. He landed and faced the woman. She was chuckling at the boy.

“This is so entertaining, yet it is getting boring. I do acknowledge that you are much better than I thought.” She said

“Yeah… well I’m not done yet. You haven’t seen what I can do.” Naruto boasted and whipped out a kunai. She gave him a sinister smile.

“By all means, show me.”

Sasuke watched as Naruto charged at the Grass kunoichi again. Several emotions went through him as he watched. First was amazement. The jutsus that Naruto had utilizing were enough to keep the woman on her toes. He knew about that Kasumi Engo no Jutsu but the Yomi Numa was a new one as was his flaming kunais. Even that jutsu with the snakes was impressive. The next one was jealously. How was Naruto so strong? Was it that woman he called his sister? When he briefly saw her, he didn’t think anything about her. From what Naruto had said about her, she was a bit mental. Now, he was beginning to wonder if that was just an act. Fear was another emotion that he felt because despite Naruto’s jutsu and tactics this woman was still better than him. He watched as Naruto tried to hit him only to be backhanded. This kunoichi was definitely not genin level.

The sudden movement of his teammate broke him out of his thoughts. She made a move to help when he stopped her. She looked at him in worry.

“Sasuke we have to help him.” She said

“I know that but what can we do? She almost killed us and she’s making Naruto look like an academy student.” He explained

“So we are going to just let him get killed?”

“What do you want me to do Sakura? We can’t beat this woman.” Sakura looked at the Uchiha in shock. It quickly turned to anger.

“I never figured you for a coward.” She said and forced herself out of his grip. She ran to help Naruto as Sasuke yelled at her to stop.

Naruto groaned as he struggled to stand. He held his kunai out in front of him. So far, things were not looking good. This girl was way too good. Everything he tried had failed. He didn’t have any jutsu that he could use that would flatten this bitch but he would not give up. He heard her chuckle and glared at her.

“Such a scary face.” She said with mirth

“Bite me.” He growled

“Such a foul mouth too, I’ve heard from my master that Anko-chan had a foul mouth too.” She said

“Listen, you freak, don’t mention my oneesan again or I’ll rip you limb from limb.” Snarled Naruto. The woman was not sure but she could have sworn that his eyes had turned red for a moment. She shrugged it off and looked at Naruto.

“Rude little boy, I’ll have to… punish you!!” she said and charged at him. Suddenly the area was surrounded by sakura petals. The woman stopped her charge and watched at the petals circled her. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain on her arm, then another one on her shoulder, then another her leg. The sharp pain hit her all over and it annoyed her greatly. She unleashed a burst of chakra that dispelled the petals. Once gone, she locked eyes with what or rather who cast that illusion. Sakura looked at her in fear as she glared at her. The woman turned and charged at Sakura but was stuck from the side by Naruto. The woman skid to a halt and looked at the two. Sakura looked at Naruto and felt her heart jump a bit. She watched as his birth marks get more defined and his fangs poking out. She was also seeing that his eyes were flashing from red to blue. The small killer intent was unnerving.

“Are you all right?” Sakura asked meekly

“No I’m not. This bitch is starting to piss me off.” He then noticed that Sakura had come alone. His eyes narrowed. “Where is Sasuke?” Sakura flinched but turned her head away from her teammate. A dark chuckle came from there opponent.

“It is not surprising that he is not here. He knows that he is highly outclassed and is hiding in fear.” She said

“Sasuke isn’t a coward. He’s just protecting our scroll.” Naruto growled

“So naďve, look at your teammate Naruto-kun. She holds all the answers her pretty little face.” Sakura looked ashamed and could not face Naruto. Naruto became even angrier. “I am disappointed though. The truth is that I wanted to see the last Uchiha in action. He was hailed as a prodigy by everyone in the village. Some even say he could surpass Uchiha Itachi. His ancestors must be weeping at his cowardice.” She finished. Suddenly she had to dodge as something attacked. She landed on another branch and watched the dust clear. When it cleared, she saw the eyes of the blond. They were no longer blue but red with a black slit down the middle. Seeing him like this, she realized who she was facing.

‘So it’s the Kyuubi container I’ve been fighting. That chakra is troublesome and may be a problem in the future.’ Her thoughts disappeared when Naruto attacked again.

Anko flew through the trees at a quick pace. She was searching for her old master when she felt the chakra spike. It was no ordinary chakra and it wasn’t he master’s chakra either. It was the demon’s chakra. She knew who that chakra belonged to.

‘Just hang on Naruto. I’m on my way.’ She said

Gaara walked behind his siblings in silence. He had just finished off those foolish Rain ninjas who had demanded their scroll. Luckily they had the scroll they need to pass and were now on their way to the tower. He stopped as he felt something familiar. He turned in the direction in where he felt the familiar presence. It felt like his but much stronger and much blood thirsty. Who was emitting such chakra ran through his mind. Suddenly he clutched his head in pain. It was as if his head was splitting. He quickly mumbled something to himself as if to dull what ever pain he was having. Temari and Kankuro noticed this and backed up in fear.

‘Is it coming out? What could have caused this?’ Kankuro thought. However, Gaara stood and returned to his stoic look. He walked pass the two and continued on. His thoughts were on what had happened. The voice in his head had screamed out to him, ordering him to kill whoever had such a chakra. Gaara managed to calm the voice down and promised to serve her the blood of the chakra. He walked on with the hope that person would make it to the tower.

Sakura watched in awe and in fear as Naruto fought the Grass kunoichi. The blond attacked like an animal, swiping and clawing at his opponent. His attacks were actually leaving claw marks across the tree trunk. There were times that he even leveled some trees with one punch. She watched as the kunoichi dodged and weaved away from Naruto’s sloppy attacks. She then blew out a plume of fire that engulfed Naruto. Sakura watched as Naruto hit the bog. The kunoichi turned her attention to Sasuke. She summoned a snake and charged at him. Sakura ran to help but someone beat her to it. Naruto stood in the path of the large snake with two kunai stuck in the snake. She watched as he said some words to Sasuke but was quickly lifted up by the kunoichi by her tongue. She lifted his shirt and rammed her hand into her stomach. Naruto screamed but it died out and he went limp. The kunoichi flung him back into the bog. Sakura jumped in to save him.

Sasuke watched as Naruto hit the water and at the same time Sakura jump in to save him. He couldn’t believe what Naruto said to him as he held back the snake. He called a scared little child. Told him that he was always coddled and pampered. Said he was soft and didn’t deserve to be a ninja. Question him about his ambition and told him that he would never complete it if he didn’t stop being such a pansy. The last thing he told him was that you couldn’t do anything if you aren’t willing to die for it. Those words made him think about that man, the one who took everything away from him. He opened his eyes and glared at the kunoichi with his Sharingan.

It would be hours later before the Grass kunoichi left team seven. She was happy about what she had seen and had completed her objective. The last Uchiha was marked and it would be only a matter of time before he came to her. He thought of placing the mark on Naruto as well. If anything, he would be rid of the boy. He had shown much skill for a genin. He was also very devious and quite resourceful. Yet he was blindly devoted to Anko who in turn was devoted to Konoha. It would make no sense to recruit him but it was such a waste. She sunk into the tree when someone appeared before her. She chuckled which was surprisingly more masculine. She reached back and ripped the rest of her face off. Some of it was burnt off by the Uchiha’s fire technique. The kunoichi turn out of be a male and a pale one at that. His golden eyes seem to dance with mischief and his mouth turned into an amused smirk. He looked at the person before him.

“Hello again, my little Anko-chan.” He said. Anko growled at the person before her.

“Hello, Orochimaru.”

Authors’ Notes: This took me a while. I had trouble with this chapter seeing that I didn’t feel like adding the fight between Sasuke and Orochimaru. Couldn’t come up with something different so I decided to not add it and use what happened in the anime/manga. Well enjoy.