Hello everyone, it's been a while. As always, a huge 'Thank You' to everyone for liking and reviewing the story. I really appreciate it. I have finally reached a milestone for this story. Read the 'Author's note' at the end about it.
Two things before I start, first is that I stated earlier that the wire Sasuke uses is made of Obsidian. Thank you for correcting my mistake. I changed it to Titanium now.
Second is that I didn't have time to proof-read it so do expect some grammatical mistakes. Now onto the story
Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto.
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Sound Village
"Orochimaru-sama, are you sure about this?" Kabuto asked as he looked over the papers.
"Yes, since Jirobo and Kidomaru died, and Tayuya left I need to recreate the sound five," Orochimaru hummed as he went on, "Maybe rename the special force to something else since we are leaving Otogakure."
"Kimimaro, Jugo and me are included I see. Also there are bunch of people you want us to test to see if they are capable enough to be recruited. But shouldn't we prepare the medicine to completely heal Kimimaro for your next body transfer?" Kabuto asked, this was something Orochimaru normally wouldn't do, invest time and resource to create a team.
"You have to learn Kabuto, you have to learn from your failures. The invasion attempt failed but it taught me something important. I need to have a proper team that could back me up in times of my need. A team strong enough to hold back even a Kage level shinobi should the situation requires so. Not only those buffoons couldn't maintain a simple barrier but they also failed to stop the pursuers. Now that wouldn't do." Orochimaru explained.
Kabuto nodded in understanding, after all a huge part of their failure fell onto the incompetence of their shinobi, rather lack of strong shinobi. Suddenly a thought hit him, "And Sasuke? I thought for sure you would send someone to fetch him, to train him yourself."
"Yes, that would have been perfect, now wouldn't it? But that is near impossible for two reasons," Orochimaru put up his index finger, "He is unmarked, meaning he didn't taste the power of the cursed seals. So I have no leverage over him. Two," He put up his middle finger, "Can you tell me if I have anyone amongst my forces that can go to Konoha when it's on high alert and fetch him under the nose of Jiraiya, Tsunade and Hiruzen? Hmm~"
Kabuto sighed, his master did have good points.
"Sasuke may be my prime target but there are quite a few good alternatives there." Especially that girl, she was quite good with her 'Ice release'. Seeing Kabuto's questions stare, he waved his hands, "Never mind that; I would like you to go and ask Kimimaro to test Sakon and Ukon. Tell him to go all out. If those imbeciles can pull through that, then take them back on the team."
Kabuto nodded and left.
Orochimaru sighed when his apprentice left the room. So many parts of his plans were foiled. He couldn't kill Hiruzen, couldn't mark Sasuke and at the same time couldn't get the location of the Uzumaki temple. At least Kimimaro was back up again. But he wouldn't use him for his body transfer, not until he could decipher the antidotes given to him by that man.
He took out a scroll and started reading its content. Maybe this would help.
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Unknown Training Ground
"So let me get this straight," Naruto looked at his new teammates and then back at the person in front of them, "You want us to fight you? All of us against you?"
"Yes, but seeing that this will be overkill for a sanin to go all out against four freshly promoted Chunin, how about this?" Jiraiya looked to his side, where Tsunade, Hiruzen, Kakashi and Yamato were standing, all of whom nodded at him, "I will fight at Jonin level."
"So how does this fight end then?" Haku asked.
"A legit question," Jiraiya grinned, "For me to win, I have to make sure all of you are down. I don't have to knock you all out but if all of you are exhausted and reaching the limit that should be enough. And for you to win? All of you have to push me to go to sanin level. It necessarily doesn't mean that you have to defeat my, let's say, Jonin mode. You just have to catch me off guard in a way where I have to use my sanin level jutsu or skills to counter your offense."
"So is this something like a test? To see our teamwork?" This time it was Sasuke who inquired.
"Yes this is a test, but not to see your teamwork." Jiraiya took few steps back as he started to inspect his surroundings; they were in one of the forbidden training areas. "Seeing how you four interact with each other I can tell that you lot will not have any problems regarding teamwork. No, what I want to see is where do all of you stands; in terms of power, wit and strategy."
Then he looked back at them and continued before anyone could ask him anything more, "Those four there will be the judges."
"So basically we just have to make you go serious, is that it?" Naruto narrowed his eyes.
Jiraiya smiled and shrugged nonchalantly.
"Aren't you overestimating yourself?" Naruto frowned.
"Don't think so brat." Jiraiya replied smoothly as he ruffled Naruto's hair.
Naruto's eyes widened and everyone beside him tensed; because Jiraiya was standing good twenty feet away from them. They didn't see him move, heck they only noticed Jiraiya when he started talking right in front of Naruto. It was at that moment they knew what Jiraiya meant by 'overkill'.
With a smile Jiraiya took a step back and grinned at them, "By the way, the test starts in, five."
They all blinked.
"Four."
"Fall back now!" Haku shouted and no one needed to be told twice. She was a bit slow because she immediately tried to cover for them.
"Three."
"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu."
She knew that the mist wouldn't do much against someone of Jiraiya's caliber, so she concentrated the mist around Jiraiya to secure their initiation. And she was glad Naruto and Sasuke caught up.
Sasuke threw few shuriken. They weren't meant to hit but to box in for Naruto who went for the strike with raw power.
"Two."
"Shadow clone jutsu: Ramming formation."
Four exploding clone popped into existence as they went didn't spare a single second before charging into the mist.
"One."
Boom!
The explosion shook the ground. And the shockwave of the explosion blew away the mist. But Haku couldn't see the result as her vision was blocked by a huge palm.
Jiraiya could easily overpower them in one on fight, isolating them wouldn't be a problem either. But in that way he wouldn't be able to measure their powers. So he was going to push them into the corner to see how well they would fare. So in order to show them how serious he was he went for the most useful shinobi on their team. In this case, it was Haku as she was not only acting as their leader but also the one with most experience. But he had to retract his arm when he saw Hinata closing in dangerously from the side. He was surprised to see her Byakugan activated, since he didn't hear her shouting.
The pause was enough for Sasuke and Naruto to close in on him, but they weren't fast enough to land a strike; not that it would have been matter. Jiraiya jumped back to have a safe distance and was surprised to see their formation.
Naruto was in front, his swords were out. Hinata was behind Naruto, her Byakugan was locked on him. Haku was on their left but slightly on the back and Sasuke was at the same position but was on the right. A perfect arrow head formation.
"It has just been a week since they were informed about their new group, and they are already pulling of some high level stuff." Kakashi commented.
"I guess they weren't wasting their time," Tsunade's voice had a hint of pride that none failed to notice, "But I still don't think that will be enough."
Every one of the judges knew the truth about it. Team zero wasn't fighting an ordinary Jonin. They were fighting an elite veteran Jonin.
Jiraiya changed his target. Haku was the most useful but there was another who was almost as important as their leader. It was Hinata. As long as she was there, he couldn't catch them off guard nor could he hide easily; and close range would be really tough because of her specialized taijutsu.
Jiraiya jumped and was immediately on top of their formation. However he had to once again switch his target as Naruto was onto him, which surprised him greatly.
"It must be the swords." Jiraiya thought as he blocked Naruto's strikes and put some distance to dodge Sasuke and Haku's precise projectile attacks, "They must be giving him a boost or something."
Jiraiya knew going all out even as a Jonin would not be fair for Team Zero, so he was only going to use speed and outwit them with his experience. But it seemed like he underestimated them. Naruto somehow was able to keep up with his speed now, Hinata's Byakugan and Sasuke's fully matured Sharingan made his surprise attacks more difficult to pull off. And Haku was coordinating between all of them really well as she had a tons of experience on her belt.
Although, everything could be fixed if he went all out.
But where was the fun in that.
Naruto closed on him and started his offense but was quite surprised to see Jiraiya blocking all of them with his armguard. Jiraiya also made sure to close in on Naruto so that he wouldn't get any extra space to throw huge powered strikes. He smirked when he saw Haku and Sasuke respectively moving to his right and left but keeping their distance.
"They sure did their homework." Jiraiya wanted to applaud them, but now wasn't the time.
He suddenly moved back a bit and turned to Sasuke, who tensed up and put his guard up. Jiraiya took two steps before sharply turning around to face toward Haku. Naruto matched Jiraiya's moves but the sharp turn to Haku broke his focus on Jiraiya for just a sec as his eyes involuntarily moved to Haku.
Jiraiya whose whole body and head turned toward Haku, whose body gesture showed that he was going to dash to Haku; suddenly stretched his arm and hit Naruto hard, who was sent back flying. But he was surprised to see Hinata coming forward and filling the gap. He thought for sure that Hinata was going to catch Naruto or was going to get distracted by Naruto. But it seemed that she sidestepped Naruto and dashed toward him.
Jiraiya tried to get her by low spinning sweep kick, which she dodge. That was enough time for Sasuke to also move in. But both of them didn't notice Jiraiya picking up a handful of dirt during the sweep kick. As they both closed in, he threw the dirt at them. Surprised, they involuntarily covered their eyes with their hands.
The toad sage sent them both flying by kicking them hard simultaneously. Dodging the flying needles coming at him from Haku, he dashed at the last member.
Crackle.
Jiraiya's eyes widened and he changed his direction in mid-way,
"Twin moon storm style: Crescent moon."
That was the first time he saw the attack up close and he really had to admit it was one of those types of attacks that was meant to be dodged whether you were a genin or a sanin. He landed and dashed back to get some distance.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique."
Jiraiya could clearly see the shuriken and the titanium wires behind those fireballs. The fireballs were coming at him in an unpredictable manner but that was nothing he couldn't dodge.
"Have to do better than that."
"Ice Release: Frozen needles of death."
"Maybe I shouldn't jinx myself."
This combo was so perfectly aligned with each other that there wasn't literally any way out.
Except for one.
"Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage."
Jiraiya went underground and then went toward Haku fast. Naruto immediately jumped on top of the bulge that was closing in on Haku at high speed, fully intending to stab it with his sword.
"Don't!"
Hinata's shout made him to click his tongue and made him to make his overused handseal.
"Shadow clone jutsu."
Two dense shadow clones came underneath Naruto who stepped on them and braced for impact. And at the same second, the bulge that was beneath Naruto exploded sending him flying. His clones vanished as they took the full blunt of the damage. Naruto landed on his feet, or was going to as Jiraiya suddenly came out from the ground and kicked him hard. The toad sage followed up with another kick but grinned when he saw Naruto holding his sword straight. He twisted his leg and gave a round kick instead, saving his leg from being stabbed.
"Needle Jizō."
Jiraiya's hair grew and formed a shield around him to block the needles and shuriken throw at him by Haku and Sasuke.
"Wild Lion's Mane Technique."
The hair then grew larger and swiped at Hinata who was closing in. She was forced to step back and wasn't able to put up a proper defense as the toad sage's hair formed a fist and punched her.
Haku saw that their formation was in tatters and they were all over the place. She could clearly see that Jiraiya was completely untouched. She knew that they were no match for someone of his caliber but that didn't mean she would let him win so easily.
"Fall back and go for formation two!"
Jiraiya could have used this momentum to get a few more hits in on either Sasuke or Hinata. But his curiosity stopped him from doing so. And he blinked when he saw their next formation.
Naruto and Haku was on one side standing close to each other and Sasuke and Hinata on another side.
"This should be interesting." Kakashi mused.
"They are trying the two-two formation already?" Hiruzen was surprised.
"Guess they are taking this very seriously. So, on one side we have elemental duo and on another side we have dōjutsu duo. Even Jiraiya has to take this seriously now." Tsunade have to admit, this was getting more interesting than they initially thought it would be. They didn't give the four any warning about the test, they just called them on the morning and told them about it. It was Jiraiya's idea to see how good they were; because he thought if they surprised them with the test instead of relying on their teamwork which shouldn't be up to their expectation, they would most probably be depending on their individual trait.
Boy, was he wrong!
Yamato didn't comment but just nodded along. His focus was fully on the team. He wanted to see how they fare against Jiraiya; so later he would know what to do to make them stronger.
Jiraiya sighed. It seemed none of them really gasped the lethality of their new formation. It wasn't a simple elemental or dōjutsu duo. Naruto was the powerhouse who had no problem delivering huge wide range attacks. They are easy to dodge as long you focus on them. But that's where Haku could take advantage. She was the precision type. Losing focus for one moment could give Haku enough opportunity to hit him on the vitals.
And then there was the other duo. No one could deny the power of Byakugan and Sharingan. And together they were on another level. But Sasuke and Hinata were different. If he wasn't wrong, then Sasuke would probably go on the offense with his taijutsu techniques. He didn't bring out his staff yet but he was sure that Sasuke was going to use it. Hinata would be supporting Sasuke with both offense and defense, depending on the situation. And her new mid-range gentle fist strikes made her deadlier. This was the case where the girls were supporting the boys but it was actually the girls who were more dangerous. Taking a hit or two from Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be problem, but it was a different matter if those hits were from Haku and Hinata.
"Ice Release: Frozen needles of death."
"So they are going first." Jiraiya tried to position himself to get out the needle rain but then the ice needles shatter and turned to small water drops.
Jiraiya blinked, and then
Crackle.
"Shit!"
But it was too late.
"Storm Release: Laser Circus."
Usually the lasers would be thick and they were a bit slow. But since moisture in the air was high, the laser travelled faster. Naruto also purposely made the attack light so the lasers were thin and it boosted the speed. But it wasn't enough to catch the toad sage.
Luckily for them he couldn't completely dodge the attack. Sure he dodged all the lasers but the air itself carried electricity. It wasn't high enough to do any outer damage but it did give him a nasty shock.
"Ice Release: Frozen needles of death."
Haku recreated her jutsu and threw all the needles toward Jiraiya, who wasn't completely recovered.
"Needle Jizō."
The spikey mane protected him again from the needle barrage.
"Uzumaki style: piercing phantom arrow."
He tried to form a thick fist from his 'Wild Lion's Mane Technique ' to block the kunai but he was slow. And that fact surprised him. He was still able to dodge the kunai but it grazed him on the shoulder. He retracted his hair and immediately Sasuke and Hinata was on him. And just as he predicted, Sasuke had his staff out but broken into two.
He was thankful for wearing the armguard, otherwise this would have been a lot tougher.
Jiraiya could see now how Sasuke and Hinata were coordinating. Sasuke was on the offense but just to put pressure so Hinata could flank him from time to time to deliver lethal hits. If it was normal form of gentle fist, it wouldn't work at all. But since Hinata's one was more flexible, it was working perfectly well. And Sasuke was using his sharingan to properly give Hinata enough space so she could use her gentle fist to the fullest.
Jiraiya was surprised to feel some of his chakra points getting blocked. He was using chakra pulse to strengthen his chakra to defend against Hinata's attacks. Then he noticed that she understood his form of defense and instead of hitting on various chakra points, she was hitting few repeatedly.
"Ingenious," Jiraiya smirked, "But …"
In just few seconds, Sasuke and Hinata who were on the offense were forced to go on defense because of Jiraiya's sheer speed and strength. But before they could be overwhelmed they backed off.
"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu."
It wasn't to block Jiraiya's vision but to increase the humidity on the air again. But he wasn't falling for the same trick twice.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique."
Jiraiya's water dragon sucked out all the water in the air in an instant. He then pointed the dragon toward Sasuke and Hinata who were closer to him than the other two. But his control on the dragon was broken as hundreds of Naruto's clones were upon him.
A good and precise use of his 'Wild Lion's Mane Technique' destroyed all of the clones and also blocked all the subtle needles coming at him. But the surprise came when his water dragon was destroyed by Sasuke as he switched from staffs to his titanium wires. His wiring skills were good but the chakra consumption was very high as the exhaustion started to show on his face.
The toad sage took advantage of it.
"Water Release: Gunshot."
The water blasts that he threw at Sasuke were small. But he failed to notice on time that those blasts were passing through the destroyed water dragon. The small and fast water blasts absorbed the remaining water from the 'Water dragon' and was enlarged. Sasuke couldn't put up a decent defense on time as he was hit by multiple large water blasts.
Hinata was able to come and block the second row of water bullets but even she was pushed back by their sheer power.
Jiraiya then concentrated on Haku and Naruto who were already on him.
"Hair Needle Senbon."
This time he took the initiation. He focused his attack on the middle to separate the duo. Then he rushed to Haku but stopped at midway to throw a kick at Naruto who was coming at him. Naruto was surprised because he was good ten feet away but then his eyes zoom in onto the few small stones coming at his face. He blocked with one hand but Jiraiya's follow up with a flash bomb made him to pull back.
Haku was done with her seal as she took some steps back.
"Ice Release: Frozen needles of death."
"Hair Needle Senbon."
Ice needles versus chakra enhanced hair needles. Haku's technique should have won easily but once again experience and skills came into the play. Jiraiya's hair needles outnumbered and overpowered Haku's ice needles and headed toward her who already created one ice mirror big enough to cover her whole body. It completely blocked the needles but also blocked her vision. She tried to jump away but Jiraiya got her.
"Wild Lion's Mane Technique."
The hair was faster as it wrapped around Haku who was on midair. Jiraiya slammed Haku to the ground and threw her at Naruto who was dashing toward him. But unlike Hinata, Naruto caught Haku. Haku was instantly on feet and both of them blocked Jiraiya, who charged at them.
"Watch out!"
Hinata's warning came too late as the Jiraiya in front of them exploded.
"This should take care of them." Jiraiya made an exploding clone when Naruto and Haku lost their focus on him for just few seconds. He went underground and sent his clone to the elemental duo. He didn't wait for a perfect moment because he knew Hinata would warn them. And she did, but Jiraiya was faster. Now that Naruto and Haku were out for the count for the moment, he came out from the ground and turned to face Hinata and was surprised to see Sasuke standing as well.
And once again the toad sage started the initiation.
But this time he took out two kunai and started fighting using them. Because of that Hinata had to go defensive and Sasuke had to switch back to his staff. Even then they were forced to push back.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique."
Sasuke was amazed at the difference. He could only produce around seven fireballs whereas Jiraiya threw out around twenty fireballs and they were faster than his. And the focus point of this jutsu was Hinata.
Sasuke's eyes turned to Hinata for half a second, to see her defending properly and then turned back to Jiraiya. But that half a second was enough for Jiraiya. The toad sage moved in closer, delivered few strong kicks at Sasuke's legs, weakening his footings; and then followed up with a lot of fast but powerful punches. His exhaustion and unsteady footing caused him to take too many damage. Jiraiya ended the last Uchiha with a powerful kick on his stomach.
He turned to Hinata to see her dodging all the fireballs. Her movement was like a work of an art. But then it hit him.
"Shit."
"Flowing Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."
She wasn't using the technique for offense but rather for defense. She was making sure to not let Jiraiya come any closer. He had to admit, this new form was one of the best taijutsu forms he had seen. Unlike the regular sixty four palms, Hinata didn't have to rely on momentum. She can hit or move around however she wants. But, it relies on her chakra and energy which Jiraiya could tell was depleting fast. Of course, a huge strong wide range jutsu could destroy her form but Jiraiya wanted to defeat her in some other way. He tried to circle around but Hinata would just hop away.
Jiraiya sighed. If he could use frog kata it would have been easier. But if he used anything related to his summoning, senjutsu or Fuinjutsu; it would be his loss.
Crackle.
It was at that moment Jiraiya decided that it was his second most hated sound, the first one being a snake's hissing. Then it hit him. Hinata was only distracting him.
But when he looked at Naruto he was stunned. Lightning was coming out from his body which wasn't anything abnormal, nor was his body slightly glowing. What caught Jiraiya off guard were his eyes. It was something he had never seen before. If he had to compare those eyes to something it was as if he was looking at the 'Eye of the storm'.
He was only holding his short sword. He was in mid-air, when he landed his slammed his short sword on the ground and roared.
"Malestorm release: Fang of Raiju."
Jiraiya was once again caught off-guard when he heard the words. Less than a second later, a giant wolf head came out from where Naruto struck and headed toward him. The head was made of only lighting.
"Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals."
Lots of weak ice mirror formed in front of the wolf head which crushed the ice and absorbed the water and wind. The wolf suddenly became sinister and huge. The features on the wolf head also became detailed and visible. And it literally roared! Jiraiya wanted to dodge, but he noticed his legs weren't moving. Hinata took advantage of Jiraiya's momentary collapse of his focus and hit him few times on the leg before moving away. That shouldn't be a problem. He focused chakra on his leg and forced his chakra points to open.
"Alright."
"Wiring art: trap floor."
Wires became visible from the ground and trapped his legs. He reached out to get his kunai to cut them but then noticed how close the wolf was.
It was on instinct that Jiraiya made his next move,
"Summoning: Armored Toad Skin."
Jiraiya's 'Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind' summons only an organ: the oesophagus of a great fire-breathing toad from Mount Myōboku. This jutsu summons the skin of an ancient toad that forms a dome around him. It could withstand most of the 'S' rank jutsu. So it came as a huge shock for the toad sage to see his armored dome cracking under the pressure of the opposing jutsu. But at the end it was able to hold its ground.
When he felt that the attack was over, he dropped the dome. Naruto was panting, his knees on the ground but he had a huge grin on his face. Everyone else was barely standing but they still surrounded him.
"Match is over." Tsunade shouted from her side. It seemed that all of them were also surprised to see the outcome.
Jiraiya signed but he was smiling.
"Team Zero won."
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After a short break
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Jiraiya went over to where every member of 'Team Zero' was sitting. They gave them around ten minutes to catch their breaths and to fresh up. There were so many questions he, along with everyone else, wanted to ask them but that have to wait for later.
"It seems you won." Jiraiya started.
"Naruto," Haku spoke in a warning tone. Naruto, whose mouth was open, grumbled and looked away.
"Jiraiya-sama, if I may?" Jiraiya nodded at Haku, who sighed, "We only won because you let us win."
"Really now?" Jiraiya smirked, "What makes you say that?"
"Simple, instead of overpowering us from the start, which you could have done easily; you went for 'Build and break' strategy. You purposely let us build our formation, jutsu, teamwork, offense or defense and then you will counter to destroy it. And then you will wait for our turn again to come up with something new only for you to counter and break it again. It is a fast and vicious teaching technique but not widely known." Haku replied.
Jiraiya had to admit, he was quite surprised, "How do you know that?"
"Zabuza-sama taught me this way."
Her reply made sense. No wonder she was so advanced for her age. It seemed that her mentor wasn't playing around.
"You are right, I wanted to see how far all of you could go. It seems we …" There was a loud cough behind him making Jiraiya to wince. He cleared his throat and continued, "It seems Tsunade was correct in choosing all four of you. Now how about we have a discussion session regarding your skills and techniques?"
Naruto smiled sheepishly when Jiraiya's eyes locked on him when he said 'techniques'. Well sooner or later he had to tell them about the true power of his bloodline limit.
"But instead of here, why not we hit Tsunade's place. Kakashi and Yamato already went ahead to get the foods."
Now that was something everyone agreed on.
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Hokage Tower
Karin came out of the Hokage tower. She looked at the headband in her hands and smiled. She was finally free from Kusagakure, now she was officially a genin of Konoha.
After the invasion, instead of going back to Kusa she tried to find any higher-ups in Konoha. And she found Ibiki. Some might say she was very unlucky but not her. It was perfect for her situation. Of course he was very cautious of her because of the invasion and because of who he is; but she was fully honest with him regarding everything, she even allowed them to check her memory or to do any test on her. As her mother said, sometimes truth is the greatest weapon.
When she was cleared of everything, the higher-ups were angry. Not at her, but at Kusa. Turned out, Konoha had sent a message to all the allies and neutral villages that if they find any Uzumaki refuges they should contact Konoha. They put a nice reward for it as well. But it seemed Kusa ignored it. So some of the high ranking ninja went to Kusa and had a chat with them. It was solved quite fast. Moral of the story, don't fuck with one of the five nations if you are not one of them.
Today was the last day of her probation period. It should have been longer but seeing her healing capacity and because of her past, they shortened the sentence.
She blinked. She adjusted her glasses and focused to see if she was seeing right. Yup, she was. It was her prince, her reason to defect to Konoha.
She didn't get along with her genin team. Her teammates, even her sensei, wouldn't pay much attention to her. But it was at the exam she found out how mistreated she was. Her teammates left her in the middle of the forest when she was too exhausted to go on. She would have died at the hands of that giant bear if he wouldn't have come and saved her. Not only did he saved her but also took her to his hiding place to give her some food and water. He had an argument with his other team member but completely refused to abandon her.
After her mother's death, it was the first time someone looked at her as a human and as a girl.
He even carried her to the tower, despite his teammate's protests. She returned the favor when he was seriously injured. Under the watch of Ibiki she healed him at night, when no one was there at the hospital. It was done to keep her ability a secret. It also worked as a demonstration of her ability.
"Perfect," Karin's grin was anything but pure, "Have to bag him before anyone else gets to him."
When he was closer, Karin fell down on the ground dramatically.
"Ahh my friend, are you okay?" Lee asked as he rushed to his new friend Karin.
Karin moaned cutely, "I am sorry Lee-san but it seems I am feeling under the weather."
"That won't do. I shall take you to the hospital right away." Lee stood straight.
"Oh no~ I don't want to impose on you." Karin looked away but moved her body in a non-youthful manner.
Lee's eyes faltered for a second before composing himself. Karin didn't miss that.
"Nonsense, it would be most un-youthful to not help a friend in times of her need." The he tried to give her a piggyback but Karin stopped him.
"I am so sorry Lee-san but could you carry me like this."
"Like what?"
Then she proceeded to show him how to give a princess carry. She made sure to get the feels on his muscles as she moved his hands around. Lee, being the pure and oblivious shinobi, missed Karin's real intentions.
"Erm … are you sure?"
Karin just groaned lightly as a reply.
"Oh no, I should make haste." With that Lee rushed to the hospital carrying Karin. Now Lee may be a bit slow but his sixth sense was telling him that he just stepped onto a giant carnivore spider's trap; where he was stuck for eternity. Shaking his head, he looked forward. That was a very un-youthful thought. Maybe he should run around few laps around Konoha after he dropped Karin at the hospital.
Karin on the other hand, "Holy shit! Look at his muscles! He is only fourteen, right? He is gonna be ripped when he grows up. Hmm~ And this tights aren't helping either. Green is okay with me but maybe I should do something about his haircut. Well, no need to rush." She wiped the drool from her mouth, making sure Lee wouldn't notice, "After all, I am not going anywhere~"
Lee couldn't help but shudder, but he just couldn't figure out where this un-youthful intention was coming from. And why it was aimed at him.
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Meanwhile
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"Was that Lee-san?" Hinata asked as she saw Lee entering the Hospital. They just left that place after seeing Ranmaru. Today was the day of their departure, but unfortunately Ranmaru wouldn't be able to come see them off at the gate. But they made sure that he didn't feel left out. Naruto and Haku spent last couple of days by his side. Hinata would join them from time to time and so would Sasuke.
"Maybe?" Naruto shrugged as he readjusted his bag. They came to the hospital after leaving the home to say their final good-bye to Ranmaru. Now they were heading toward the gate.
"You okay Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, concerned.
Naruto smiled, it wasn't forced but it wasn't his real smile either, "Kinda nervous I suppose, after all we would be leaving for a year at minimum."
"But we will have each other." Hinata comforted Naruto. She smiled when she saw his face brightening up.
"Yeah, you're right!" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Maybe I am being sentimental?"
Hinata giggled and squeezed his hand. Naruto nodded back and turned toward the gate.
Not before stopping and looking at the Hokage monument, to have a good look at his father's statue.
"Watch over me dad, mom. I will be sure to make both of you proud."
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XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
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Unknown Place
Tayuya wanted to curse, at anyone or anything.
Except for him.
He called himself Shinku but she had a feeling that wasn't his real name. In exchange for some medicine Orochimaru gave her to him. And the wonky person beside him, whose only noticeable feature was his hair which was slightly similar to her. It actually stung, when she learned that she would be traded for a mere medicine, as if all of those years' worth of services meant nothing to her previous master.
"You have more value than that of a medicine."
Tayuya stopped and widened her eyes. Shinku was looking at her. She had seen her fair share of dangerous people, but she couldn't pinpoint his intention. He wasn't obsessive like Orochimaru or insane like Jugo or vicious like Kimimaro. But her instincts told her that he was far more dangerous than any of them. And her instincts were never wrong. She glanced to her side to see her tag-along-partner was also scared shitless.
It was the reason why she didn't utter a single curse till now.
"Umm, Shinku-sama, where are we going?" She asked, mustering up all the courage she could.
"We are already here." He waved his hand to gesture around him as he replied. It was as if a barrier was lifted their scenario was changed. They were in the middle of a ruin. But she knew this ruins, Orochimaru took her and came here quite a few times.
"This is …"
"Uzushiogakure still lives."
Tayuya looked at Shinku and immediately wished she hadn't. The color of his hair darkened as his whole hair was dyed in blood. His eyes were like a crimson maelstrom, drawing and captivating her. She felt as if her whole body was petrified. Then he opened his mouth,
"And she didn't forget."
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Done.
Finally chapter 40, end of Naruto Arc. The way I am writing the story, it goes something like this.
Arc 1, Chapter 1 to 40 – Naruto arc
Arc 2, Chapter 41 to ? – The missing arc (The training part, also the fillers from Naruto series and movies may be included)
Arc 3, Chapter ? to ? – Naruto shippuden arc (everything before the start of the war)
Arc 4, Chapter ? to ? – Naruto shippuden, War arc (The fourth war and the aftermath), possibly the last arc.
Now onto the next arc; I already have made the base outline of how it would go. It will not be as big as my first arc, it may have around ten chapters. If you guys want me to write any specific fillers or movies, do tell. But try to be specific about it. It's been a while since I have seen any Naruto eps.
Also I know there are some holes left in this chapter, but they will be properly explained later on.
So that's it for now.