"Why is ramen so delicious?"-thinking

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- jutsu

YOU LITTLE BRAT/you little brat- demon speech/Inner Sakura

No More

Chapter Nine: Demon Within

Gaara sat on the roof of the tower in the center of the Forest of Death. His eyes were closed and his breathing even. He relished moments like these...moments when the Ichibi no Shukaku would leave him be. Moments like these when he could forget about his daily struggle to prove his existence. Moments like these when he could forget about that painful night that changed his life forever.

Then he felt it.

That familiar surge of unbridled power and unmatched rage...but it wasn't coming from within.

It came from the forest.

A dark smile crossed his lips.

"The ultimate validation of my existence."

Undisclosed Location

The robed figure slammed into a nearby rock. He groaned in pain and spat out blood. He looked up into the face of the ninja who had taken him down so easily.

"So, are you prepared to talk yet?"

He spat at his tormentor's face.

Jiraiya of the Sannin easily avoided the wad of spittle.

"Hey, don't be like that, I just wanted to talk remember. You got all aggressive with me."

He turned a sad face towards the waterfall behind him.

"You even scared all the pretty ladies away."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed and he disappeared only to reappear in front of the robed ninja who was trying to run away. The robed ninja was sent flying with a flick of Jiraiya's hand into the same rock he had slammed into moments before.

"Now, you were saying something about Orochimaru…"

The anonymous figure spat out blood and muttered something incoherent.

"Oh do hurry up. The sun is still up, that means that there are still some spas and bath houses to visit…"

A perverted chuckle escaped his lips.

Mizu no Kuni

"Bartender, hit me."

Tsunade slammed down her sake dish and grabbed the next one. Shizune stood nearby, holding Tonton with a worried look on her face.

"Tsunade-sama, we have to leave soon. The debt collectors will be here any second."

Tsunade downed another shot of sake.

"Nonsense Shizune, there is always time for a sake break. Bartender...get me two more bottles."

Shizune almost fainted at that request.

"Tsunade-sama! We must leave immediately or there might be another incident like the time in Kumo..."

"Oi, blondie in the green jacket."

Tsunade turned to see a group of scarred thugs holding all sorts of weapons. She took another drink of sake.

"You owe our bosses a lot of money. Either pay up or we will have to mess up you and your little friend."

Tsunade took another shot of sake, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Is that so?"

Shizune sighed; this was going to be another one of those days.

Konoha – Hokage's Office

Sarutobi sighed as he tried to defeat a Hokage's most evil enemy; paperwork. It seemed like it would never end. Sometimes, he wished it was him who had summoned the Death God. Using Shadow Clones was a good idea, but nowadays it seemed all the clans had ganged up to make his life miserable, knowing that he couldn't leave such matters in the hands of a clone. Suddenly, a toad appeared on his desk, holding a scroll in its webbed hands. The Hokage quickly took the scroll and read it, his expression darkening as he read it. He rolled the scroll up and put it in his desk.

"Tell Jiraiya to return as quickly as possible."

The toad disappeared in puff of smoke and Sarutobi looked out the window and lit his pipe.

"Orochimaru...what are you up to?"

A shiver traveled down his spine, deepening his unease. The last time he had felt that shiver was when Naruto was in Wave...

"Naruto-kun...are you in danger again?"

The Forest of Death

Orochimaru's roundhouse kick hit nothing but air. He quickly ducked under a swipe that intended to eviscerate and lashed out with a mule kick. It connected and sent Naruto flying into a tree trunk. He turned to see Naruto collide with the tree trunk but Naruto had barely touched the tree trunk before he disappeared once more. Orochimaru followed the trail of orange chakra he left in his wake and narrowly avoided another eviscerating swipe. Naruto allowed the swipe to dig into the branch and threw himself at Orochimaru, feet first. The snake-nin ducked once more only to have to avoid an underhand swipe that cut off a few strands of his hair. Orochimaru disappeared and reappeared on another tree branch, flipping through handseals.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu! (1)"

Naruto glared at the fire projectiles Orochimaru shot at him and roared at them. A wave of Kyuubi's malicious chakra shot out of his mouth and snuffed out the fireballs, but Orochimaru had already engaged another jutsu.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu! (2)"

Naruto snarled at Orochimaru and the huge brown snake he had summoned. He immediately charged at them, running with both his hands and legs.

Anko silently gulped as she watched the battle. The might of two of Konoha's most hated figures locked in battle against each other was terrifying to behold. Orochimaru's slithering grace and proficiency against the raw and unstoppable malice that was the power of the Kyuubi...it frightened her to her very marrow.

"Anko-san."

Anko whirled around to see an ANBU in a cat mask standing behind her.

"You need to leave here, we are about to break up the fight soon."

"But what about the Uzumaki, you can't just..."

"Tenzo said he'll take care of it."

Anko frowned; she didn't want to leave just yet.

Kakashi sighed and put down his book. He couldn't concentrate; his mind was too occupied with thoughts of Orochimaru and his team.

"Naruto...the son of the man Orochimaru hates with a passion...Sasuke...inheritor of a kekkai genkai that will make all of Orochimaru's dreams come true...this has disaster written all over it."

If Orochimaru confronted his team, he had no doubt that his team would not walk away unscathed. The traitorous Sannin, annoying as it was, always had a way of making things go his way. If they didn't...he made them go his way and if you got in his way...

Kakashi shivered as he remembered his first mission with Orochimaru.

Flashback

Kakashi parried another slash from the Iwa-nin and buried his ninjato in the man's abdomen. The Iwa ninja gurgled and died quietly. Kakashi covered his Sharingan eye with his headband, panting quietly. A spike of chakra was his only signal before the floor gave way beneath him. A desperate Kawarimi (3) saved his life but put him in position for the Iwa ninja to attack him.

Kakashi struggled under the taijutsu assault, barely managing to dodge and parry the man's kicks and punches. Suddenly, the Iwa ninja froze up and fell to the ground, revealing the Snake Sannin standing behind him, his hand still outstretched from his strike.

"Be careful, Kakashi-kun. You never know what a rock hides underneath it."

Kakashi breathed in relief.

"Orochimaru-sama...aren't you in charge of the team..."

Orochimaru cocked his head and cursed. He quickly grabbed Kakashi and jumped away from the barrage of rocks that plummeted at them from above. Kakashi immediately began flipping through handseals but he stopped when he heard Orochimaru scream. What he saw made his blood run cold.

A lucky (or soon-to- be-unlucky) ninja had sneaked up on Orochimaru and cut off his right arm. In his rage and pain, Orochimaru had punched right through the ninja's ribcage and with a loud squelch pulled out his heart. As he glared at the other Iwa-nins who had just appeared, snakes flew out of the stump of his arm and into the severed arm. The snakes pulled the arm back to the stump and reattached it. Orochimaru swung his right arm around as a sinister smile crossed his face.

He pressed against his ribcage and opened his mouth as the hilt of a sword came through. Orochimaru grabbed it and pulled out the Kusanagi no Tsurugi (4).

"All right, who dies next?"

The slaughter that occurred cemented Orochimaru's S-ranked status in the bingo book...and was Kakashi's most vivid memory of Orochimaru's skill.

Kakashi sighed and looked out a nearby window.

"Naruto...Sasuke...be careful."

Rage.

Blood.

Kill.

That was all Naruto could think off.

Rage at the enemy who had threatened his life.

How satisfying spilling his blood would be.

The different ways he would kill that annoying little pest.

An evil filled laugh echoed through his mind but Naruto ignored it and concentrated on killing the snake.

He jumped at the snake, twisting his body into a whirlwind of sharp claws, similar to Kiba's Tsuuga (5). The Kyuubi's chakra enabled him to rip through the snake like a drill through paper. The snake disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Delicious."

Then Naruto paused. He was no longer in the Forest of Death; he was in a huge room with poor lighting. A huge cage was in front of him, a piece of paper with the kanji for "Seal" written on it was all that held the cage doors shut. Behind the cage doors was the nine-tailed scourge that threatened Konoha so many years ago. It was wreathed in the same red chakra that Naruto was using and a stream of that red chakra was connecting Naruto to the fox.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

He shook his head, clearing the rage that had befuddled his mind...but the Kyuubi was having none of it.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? TAKE MY POWER AND DESTROY HIM!"

"Get out of my head!"

"DON'T BE AN IDIOT! USE MY POWER TO FINISH HIM OFF!"

But Naruto ignored him and began pulling on his own chakra, using it to push away Kyuubi's chakra. To his surprise, it was working.

"NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Naruto continued pushing Kyuubi's chakra further and further into the seal, the rage subsiding as he did so.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

Gasping Naruto found himself in the Forest of Death and fell to his knees, muttering under his breath.

"Damn fox."

Sasuke fumed silently as he watched Orochimaru and Naruto battle from the cluster of leaves he was hiding in. It was supposed to be him out there not the class dobe.

"So, Sasuke-kun, do you really want power?"

Sasuke whipped out a kunai and swung it in an arc behind him but his arm was grabbed by a pale hand and wrenched behind him. His kunai was now at his throat.

"Do you want power to kill your brother?"

Sasuke gasped but refused to answer. Then he was forced to watch the ongoing battle between Naruto and Orochimaru.

"Do you want power to beat your idiot teammate?"

Sasuke's eyes fell on Naruto at that moment. Naruto had just pierced through the snake and had paused suddenly.

"Naruto, where does this power come from? How can an idiot like you gain such power? Power that can help me achieve my ambitions."

"I can give you that power. I alone can help you achieve your ambitions."

Then fangs sunk into Sasuke's neck and pain exploded from the nape of his neck and began spreading all over his body. His scream echoed throughout the clearing catching the attention of the ANBU but when they reached him, he was alone and the Cursed Seal of Heaven had formed on his shoulder.

As light forced its way through her slightly opened eyelids, Sakura became more aware of her surroundings. She could see Naruto on his knees gulping in air. As she staggered to her feet, Sasuke's screams caught her ears.

"SASUKE-KUN!"

Orochimaru smiled when he heard Sasuke's scream, his Shadow Clone was successful. And the Uzumaki had subdued the Kyuubi.

"Good for you brat, your will is much stronger than some hosts I know. We will meet again...I am sure of it."

Acting quickly, Orochimaru hit Naruto with the Five Elements Seal and disappeared whilst the ANBU were occupied with Sasuke.

Anko snarled as she watched Orochimaru run away.

"How dare he waltz in and just do as he pleases? I'll show him!"

She took off after her former sensei, rage blazing in her eyes.

Kabuto snickered as he watched his master swoop in and out with the ease indicative of his prowess. The battles that had taken place had been most illuminating.

"Naruto-kun...I also desire the opportunity to fight you. You are so interesting."

"D-d-do you feel that?" asked Ino.

"Yes, I do...mendokuse."

"What...do you think it...is?" Chouji asked between nervous munches.

Shikamaru stood still for a moment.

"Whatever it is, we need to stay far away from it."

Eagerly the rest of Team 10 agreed.

Sakura sniffled as she lugged Sasuke and Naruto towards a hollow in a tree. The ANBU hadn't been much help...scratch that, they hadn't been any help at all. They weren't allowed to interfere with the Chuunin examinees; they were just here for Orochimaru.

"Then why?" Sakura tearfully screamed. "Why has he gotten away?"

There was an uncomfortable pause before the cat-masked ANBU swore.

"Shit! Anko!"

They disappeared as quickly as they appeared...leaving Sakura to protect her two teammates.

"At least we still have our...oh no."

Quickly she rummaged through Sasuke's pouch and almost burst into tears again.

The Heaven Scroll was gone!

Sakura was disconsolate as she moved Naruto to Sasuke's side. Then, she noticed the marks on the back of Naruto's hand.

Flashback

"I figured they would keep spares just in case there were more teams than usual. "

"Naruto..."

The dead-last had come to the rescue once again.

Pain coursed through Anko's body as she glared at her former mentor and sensei. The serpentine smile was so smug in existence that she wished with every fiber of her being that she could erase it...even at the cost of her life.

"A word to the Hokage. Tell the old monkey that if he cancels the exam, I will burn this place to the ground."

His laughter echoed through out the forest long after he was gone.

The three genin from Oto snickered as they spied on Sakura keeping watch over her teammates. She was trying her best to stay awake and failing...pathetically.

"Why don't we take care of this right now?" asked Kin.

"Patience, that will spoil the thrill of cutting down Konoha's Last Uchiha. We will defeat him at his very best." replied Dosu with a dark chuckle.

"At dawn, the Uchiha will die...and that blond rat too." said Zaku as he tightened the bandages on his arms. "And Orochimaru will acknowledge us and our power."

Next time on No More

"Who are these weaklings? What do they think they are doing? Oh...they want to kill me. Hn, idiots. With this power flowing through my veins, I am invincible. They might have some skill if they managed to hurt that bowl-haired clown, but I am Uchiha! But what is this new power I feel? Could this be...

The Curse of The Snake

No...this is my salvation...my destiny.

A/N: Sorry about the delay, but I'm up and running. R&R

(1) Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu: Fire Release: Mythical Phoenix Fire Technique: This is another technique native to Konoha and known by the Uchihas. It allows the user to fire several fireballs instead of a single stream. The fireballs are less powerful but much more versatile.

(2) Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Summoning Technique

(3) Kawarimi no Jutsu: Replacement Technique

(4)Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Grass Cutting Sword

(5)Tsuuga: Piercing Fang