Disclaimer: Naruto owns me.

Chapter 9: Snakes! Snakes Everywhere!:

A minute after team 7 entered the Forest of Death, a veritable army of orange invaded the training ground. Shadow clones flooded the forest in the hundreds. They ran across the ground. They jumped among the trees. They went solo and in teams.

Before the scrolls had been divided, team 7 had eventually agreed that searching for other teams would be the best course of action. It was better to be the ambushee than the ambushed, after all.

Naruto simply liked to blow everything out of proportion.

Why seek out only one team when they could go after everyone? Then they could pick and choose at their leisure.

Sasuke shook his head, almost in awe. "I just can't understand how you can make that many! The chakra required for one is heavy enough as it is."

Sakura was speechless, staring after the army of Narutos as they disappeared into the canopy.

The blond scratched the back of his head embarrassingly. "The Kage Bunshin is extremely useful. Each clone isn't very strong though. I only gave them enough chakra for one technique." It was quite a demanding jutsu though. Technically it was two jutsu, but one was required to do the other.

Sasuke snorted. God only knew where Naruto had gotten such reserves. Clenching his fist, Sasuke swore to train even harder. He would not let Naruto surpass him.

They began tree jumping, heading farther into the forest. Whichever team they went after was most likely going to be closer if they were closer to the center.

After a few minutes of travel, Naruto's head snapped to the side. "I found some of the teams. A team of older genin from Konoha. One from Grass, Rain and Sand. I am bound to find more after a while. Should we wait or choose one of those?" Sasuke frowned, trying to recall the team composition. "Who's the closest?" He eventually asked.

Naruto was silent for awhile, eyes flickering towards the trees as they continued to jump. "Hmm… The Rain team, I think. I can't really tell the distance between my clones and me, but they are moving our way."

Sasuke considered. "There's really no point in waiting for you to find more. We only need one scroll. If they have the right one, then great. If not, we go for another team."

Naruto nodded, clenching his fake heavens scroll tightly. Sakura had another fake, while Sasuke had the real one. With his eyes, he had the best defense out of all of them.

"Good, show us the way, Naruto. And don't forget the stealth lessons sensei showed us." Sasuke said.

Ten minutes later, they met up with another Naruto who was patiently waiting for them high above the Rain team. Their targets were all wearing masks and some sort of pale swimsuits.

The clone grinned and saluted. "Yo, boss. I have kept an eye on them as you said. I don't think they noticed me. They have been looking for someone, but I can't really hear what they're saying from this distance." The voice was barely above a whisper, but Team 7 all heard it.

Naruto nodded. "Thanks, good job." The clone popped in a small burst of smoke and Naruto blinked. "Huh, it feels weird to thank myself."

Sasuke merely rolled his eyes before focusing on the team beneath them. His Sharingan activated and the Uchiha sucked in a breath. "Don't attack. They're clones. Apparently they did notice you."

Naruto frowned and sighed. "Well, I guess I should work more on my stealth then."

Sasuke hummed. "Probably a good idea. You can be stealthy, but your chakra is leaking everywhere. That means they probably have a sensor on their team." He noted, scanning his friends frame with his sharingan.

Sakura looked a little scared but still determined. "So you think they know where we are? Why haven't they attacked us yet?"

Sasuke was silent for a moment as he considered the question. "They know we're here, but I don't think they know we know they know."

Naruto blinked and cocked his head to the side. "Man… that was complicated."

Rolling his eyes again, Sasuke smacked his friend on the shoulder. "Come on. I'm pretty sure they're underground. We have a better chance at turning this around if we turn their trap back on them. If we wait any longer, it'll seem suspicious. Stay behind us Sakura, you're the support."

With that, the Uzumaki and Uchiha fell down the ten meter drop. Sakura blinked before she hesitantly followed.

Sasuke drew in a deep breath as he molded his chakra, quickly flashed through a set of hand signs. Then he stopped, keeping the technique unreleased, contained with a one-handed ram seal. Instead of using the jutsu, he drew a kunai, pretending to be surprised when he fell harmlessly through the haze clone. His sharingan spun as he watched the small core of chakra move underground. The Uchiha heir jumped just in time to avoid the arm trying to stab him. In return, he burned it with the stored up fireball. It was relatively small compared to his usual ones. No point in wasting chakra, after all.

The rain genin screamed in pain as he ducked under the earth again to smother the flames.

Not wasting a single moment, Sasuke moved to the next target. There were three shinobi waiting to ambush them, and only he and Naruto were fighting.

An unsuspecting rain genin had to avert his attack on Naruto's back in order to avoid the incoming shuriken.

Just as he landed, the rain-nin's face contorted into a mask of frustration. Although, it wasn't all that easy to see, with a gas mask already covering everything but the eyes.

"How? How did you know where we were?" He demanded. Tossing a few kunai at Sasuke.

The Uchiha calmly stepped between them, contemptuously plucking one out of the air as it sailed passed. The Uchiha studied the weapon for a moment. It was an interesting kunai. It had one blade on both sides instead of the ring commonly used in Konoha. Sasuke went through possible advantages for and against using such a weapon.

The rain-nin made 'tsk' sound as he was forced back by Sasuke tossing the knife back at him. The space between them were quickly filled with dozens of haze clones. They were an improvement to the more common illusionary clones, but not by much. More importantly. They made no difference whatsoever against him.

Sasuke smirked as he casually strode through the dozens of clones attacking him, only dodging the real weapons with minimal effort. As he approached, his opponents eyes grew wider and wider. Fear and apprehension dominating his features.

"There is nothing to hide before these eyes, fool." Sasuke said, sprinting forward before engaging his enemy in a brutal clash of taijutsu. It didn't last very long. Apparently, taijutsu wasn't the rain-nin's forte.

Turning back to the rest of the fight, he was just in time to see half a dozen Naruto's clobber their opponent. He had matched clones with clones and found the real one through simple trial and error.

Sasuke shook his head at the thought before scanning the forest floor with his dojutsu. The last rain genin still standing had a burnt arm. Even if he tried to escape, he couldn't have gotten far.

Indeed, Sasuke could see the source of chakra moving beneath the ground, slowly crawling away from the small clearing. It wasn't Byakugan levels of clarity, but the genin weren't that deep and he was using ninjutsu to move.

Sasuke studied the flow of chakra intently. It was a hard without first seeing the hand signs, but it should be doable. Once he had determined how the technique worked, Sasuke did his best to imitate the flow of chakra. Going through a few signs commonly associated with earth and alteration. He plunged his hands into the soil, feeling the earth reluctantly give before him.

He grabbed a hold of something solid, and hoping it was not a tree root, did his best to pull it out. A shout of panic was the first that met him once the rain-nin came free. The second was a kunai to his face.

Sasuke could see every detail on the blade as it sipped towards him. The scratch in the iron, the mud still clinging to the knife. He could see exactly how it was going to pierce his left cheek and score a painful - although not fatal - injury.

Sasuke shifted his weight slightly and caught the blade with his teeth. Then he twisted his body and used his elbow to say hello to the back of the rain-nins head.

Naruto huffed. "That's not fair. You get two while I only get this one?" He pouted.

Sasuke rolled his eyes before dragging the knocked out genin back towards the others, spitting a few times to get rid of the dirt in his mouth.

After a few seconds of searching, they found the scroll. Luckily, it was an earth scroll, saving them the trouble of finding another team.

Eventually, Sakura rejoined them, looking extremely relieved. "So, we go to the tower then?"

Naruto hummed, trying to glimpse the sun beyond the canopy. "It's getting late. The chance of ambush is higher at night. Still, if we go faster, fewer people will be in our way." Sasuke seemed to consider the two options. Weighing the pro's and con's carefully.

Before anyone could decide on anything, gale force winds tore through to the forest before them. Three pairs of eyes widened.

Sasuke threw himself towards Sakura, barely managing to drag her with him out of the blast zone. Looking back, the Uchiha could barely believe his eyes.

The forest had been totally cleared for hundreds of feet behind them. The trees were uprooted and the earth was tossed aside. A line of destruction stretched across the landscape bearing witness to power the likes of which Sasuke hadn't seen since he was seven years old.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun." A hoarse voice purred.

The last Uchiha turned almost robotically. Standing amongst the trees still intact, was a grass-nin.

Then the killing intent hit.

Naruto shook himself out of a daze. That wind jutsu had come out of nowhere. If that was the work of a genin, he was an alien. Ignoring the fact that one quarter of his soul was quite literally from another world, and that comparison might've actually worked.

The blond froze as he felt another presence right behind him. Turning slowly, Naruto saw the largest snake he had ever seen. It was quite literally longer than the Hokage tower was tall.

The serpent lunged forward. Naruto tried to dodge, he really did, but he was still dazed from the wind jutsu, and that snake was unreasonably fast. Thankfully, the snake thought it was a good idea to swallow him alive.

God, this was disgusting.

"Eh, Kurama… A little help here?" Naruto asked, a little embarrassed he even had to ask.

A heavy sigh came from inside his mind. The blond could easily picture the giant demon rolling his eyes. "Sure. Just use my almighty power to avoid being digested by a snake. I feel truly honored to have such a powerful host." The fox remarked sarcastically.

Naruto blinked, and then smirked. Had Kurama just cracked a joke? It almost made it worth being swallowed in the first place.

A second later, red chakra surged from within him. Growing in strength until it formed an almost solid cloak of chakra. The flesh surrounding him hissed and steamed as the corrosive energy burned away at the tissue.

Reaching out a clawed hand, Naruto literally tore his way out of the reptile, gore and entrails went flying through the air. The snake proceeded to disappear in a puff of smoke.

Very dirty, covered in blood and internal organs, Naruto froze. Summon animal. A-rank wind jutsu. Summoner of snakes.

Red slitted eyes widened in horror as he looked towards where he thought his teammates were.

Orochimaru!

The name echoed through his mind as Naruto tore through the trees. Earth and wooden splinters burst up behind him.

Together with Tsunade and Raya, he was one of the legendary Sannin. He was one of Konoha's greatest legends, and one of its worst nightmares.

Naruto had heard more than one story about the snake summoner from Raya. Some serious, others with a more humorous feel. Unfortunately, Naruto couldn't find much humor in their current situation.

He had no idea why Orochi-freaking-maru was here at the Chunin Exams, or why he was attacking them. But if he was, he and his team needed to get to the tower as fast as humanly possible.

He felt the killing intent long before he saw anyone. It hang thick in the air. Clung to the walls of his mind like oil. Screaming at him to run – to hide – before he died a gruesome and terrible death.

If there had been any doubt before, it was gone now. Orochimaru was here. In Konoha. Attacking his team.

He was scared. Only a fool wouldn't be. The killing intent was only heightened by the knowledge of what they were up against.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto jumped to the next branch. The world blurred around him.

Sasuke shook as he stared into the deadly eyes of the predator before him. He had to run! They had to get away! This was a battle far beyond any of them!

Slitted eyes stared into his soul. Cruel amusement flashing through them. In his mind, they were replaced with another pair of eyes. For a moment, he saw red pinwheels staring back at him with dissipation.

"Rasengan!" A red blur slammed into the monster before him.

The grass-nin flew through a tree branch, continuing into a larger tree before cracking the giant trunk of the one behind it. Both trees buckled and collapsed, taking parts of the canopy with it.

Sasuke stared, still frozen, at their rescuer.

"What are you doing?! Run!" Naruto shouted. Red chakra bubbling around him, morphing his features to that resembling a demon.

"Kukukuku, Rasengan? Isn't that a surprise. Jiraiya's pet fox came to join us. How nice of you, Naruto-kun." The speaker was completely unharmed.

Of course he was. The grass-nin stood a couple of trees away, observing their team with what could only be described as mild interest.

Naruto snarled and turned towards the source. Then he burst forward. The branch he was standing on broke under the pressure, wooden splinters trailing behind the blond as he flew.

Sasuke's eyes could barely keep up. Naruto didn't just look like a demon. He fought like one.

The cloak of chakra that was steadily building around the blond formed into claws as he swung at their enemy. His teeth were bared. Fangs and engraved whiskers making him look more feral than any Inuzuka ever managed.

Yet, no matter what he did. The grass-nin dodged everything effortlessly. He slid across branches, twisting in ways that should be impossible. There wasn't an ounce of hesitation in the motions, no movements wasted.

The energy around Naruto grew. Soon, the red chakra began to encompass the blond's entire body, a single tail flowing out behind him.

The snake summoner quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, how surprising. Being able to call upon the demon fox's chakra with such a level of control. It's almost impressive. Alas, I have no interest in you." Then he moved, flowing around Naruto's movements with deceptive ease.

Sasuke flew towards them before he even realized what he was doing. The mind-numbing killing intent barely even registered. All he knew was that he had to help his friend.

Just as the grass-nin reached for Naruto, a wall of fire flew from Sasuke's mouth, forcing the two combatants to separate. The Uchiha landed beside his teammate, kunai drawn and sharingan spinning. This close, he could feel Naruto's chakra like fire. It was hot and corrosive. It burned against his skin as they stood there, yet he paid it no mind. It wasn't important right now.

"Sasuke! What are you doing!? I told you to run!" Naruto sounded almost desperate. There was a hoarse quality to his voice, like he had been using it for too long.

Sasuke snarled. "Run? As if I could leave you here idiot! If you're fighting, I'm fighting."

Naruto looked supremely frustrated, but then he sighed, a small smile playing at his lips. "Well, we'll just have to show him what we got then."

Sasuke smirked back. "That we will."

The grass-nin had been content to watch them during the short conversation. An intent glint in his eyes. "You know, Sasuke-kun. Fighting together will be no different than fighting alone. It makes no difference for a predator if the prey numbers in the hundreds." The killing intent doubled, and Sasuke had to fight with himself not freeze up again.

Then another aura mixed with the overpowering presence of the grass-nin. It was angry and raw. It burned the air and made everything tinted red. It wasn't as focused as their opponent's, but somehow, it was even more potent.

"Orochimaru." Naruto bared his teeth. Elongated fangs on full display. It took a moment for Sasuke to realize the feeling was coming from Naruto. The blond's voice was strangely double tinted, a darker presence making itself known from their normally cheerful teammate.

"Kukukuku. You know my name? I'm flattered." Orochimaru laughed. The voice still sending chills down Sasuke's spine. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't remember it at the moment, his brain was too preoccupied not to panic.

"What are you doing here, traitor!?" Naruto spat, the words angry and barely controlled.

Orochimaru licked his lips, hungry gaze settling on Sasuke. "Well, let's just say, I'm scouting for new talent."

Naruto took a step forward, red tail swishing angrily behind him. "You're after Sasuke?" The blond asked, his voice somehow becoming even angrier.

The snake summoner only smiled. "He isn't like most shinobi. All he cares about is power. Isn't that right, Sasuke-kun?"

"S-Shut up!" The voice came from behind them. From a source none of them had speared more than passing thought. Suddenly Sakura was there, standing beside Sasuke, at the other side of the burning Naruto. She was crying, but still staring defiantly towards their opponent. "Sasuke has been through a lot! He doesn't need you trying to bring him down!"

Both Naruto and Sasuke stared at her. Two pairs of red eyes blinking in shock.

"Kukukuku. Bring him down? No, little girl. I will carry him higher than his wildest dreams. I will give him power. Power enough to kill his brother."

Sasuke froze. What?

"Prove yourself to me, and I will grant you power enough to kill Itachi. What do you say, Sasuke-kun?" The devil offered, yellow eyes boring into his very soul.

Before he could answer, Naruto roared in defiance and shot towards their enemy. Hundreds of clones bursting into existence around him. The trees creaked ominously from the aftershock. No more time to think. Sasuke jumped after them, not willing to freeze up again.

Sasuke merged seamlessly into the hordes of Narutos, using them as both distractions and cover. Wind and fire combined for some truly brilliant combinations. Ninja wire and shuriken flew everywhere. Every Naruto clone was encompassed with a burning cloak of red chakra. They tore through trees and jutsu with abandon. Often completely ignoring the fact that there was huge ball of compressed fire between them and their enemy.

Deep blue orbs of energy formed in their palms. The intensity was almost too bright to look at with the chakra seeing eyes of the Uchiha. Anything the orbs touched were blasted to bits. Sending tree after tree collapsing to the ground far below them.

When the hell did Naruto get so strong? Unfortunately, Sasuke had no time to contemplate that question as he did his best to keep up with his teammate.

The Uchiha jumped and flipped. He threw dozens of weapons in the span of a few seconds. Some bouncing off each other midair to hit a moving target. Lightning and fire burst towards their foe, cutting of escape routes and homing in on their target. Against any ordinary genin, it would have been almost impossible to dodge. Yet their opponent made it look easy.

Clone after clone was popped, but more burst into existence immediately afterwards. They were an unending horde. A swarm flooding their enemy with attack after attack, never letting up for a second. Everyone moved in harmony with each other. Like dancers moving to unheard music. It was a group consisting of coordinated chaos and destruction, both beautiful and terrifying to look at.

In the midst of all the red and orange was Sasuke, boosting wind techniques with fire and using their attacks as conduits of his own. Sasuke and Naruto were fighting together as if they had been doing it their entire life.

Still… no matter what they did. Orochimaru simply slithered through their attacks. Rocks, dirt and wood were thrown to the side, victims of a fight no genin should be able to produce.

"Ah, it has been fun. You are truly skilled, Sasuke-kun. Now, let's see how you fight alone." Then he jabbed one of the Narutos in the stomach faster than anyone could react. Five glowing fingers extended in a claw. Naruto froze and didn't pop.

Sasuke's insides turned to ice. How could he pick out the real one out of all these clones? Even I had no idea who it was.

"Fuuinjutsu, Five Elements Seal." Orochimaru intoned. Just as the blond blacked out, the battlefield filled with white smoke. All the clones had been popped at once, having been unable to maintain their existence without their creator.

Sasuke screaming out his rage. It was an animalistic sound. Angry and raw.

Naruto fell, unconscious or… Sasuke's brain refused to complete the thought.

The Last Uchiha attacked again with renewed vigor. The fear was long since gone, having been replaced with a far more useful emotion; anger. Yet no matter how angry he got, Sasuke was careful about becoming reckless.

The Uchiha planned everything he did two steps ahead, being ready for his next course of action right as he finished his current one. Yet Orochimaru seemed to be planning ten steps ahead of him.

Sasuke fought. Sharingan spinning like mad. Fire, steel and lightning flew through the air at predictable and unpredictable patterns. He spun illusions, threw jutsu, and jumped at his opponent with vicious taijutsu. Kunai, shuriken and exploding notes followed. Sasuke used up everything in arsenal in a last futile attempt to harm their enemy.

He threw a punch that was just as easily dodged as everything else. Then he coughed up blood as a particularly vicious kick connected with his stomach. Sasuke struggled to regain his footing, falling back to one knee as he stared hatefully up at the grass-nin. Orochimaru only smirked, licking his lips with a ridiculously long tongue.

"Oh, I like that look in your eyes. Yes, you will do well. You will do very well indeed. If you survive my gift, remember that I will be waiting for you. This village is making you rot. Wasting your skills on useless trivia. Holding you back. I would help you get strong enough to kill Itachi." Sasuke snarled.

He tried another genjutsu, but the grass-nin shook it off with the same deceptive ease he had countered everything they had thrown at him.

Then Orochimaru's neck extend to an impossible length. Sasuke tried to move, but his body was frozen. Looking down, he could see several small snakes pumping him full of venom.

Uchiha Sasuke screamed. Pain beyond anything he had ever felt filled his body. Orochimaru's neck retracted as he smirked down at him. "Sleep well, Sasuke-kun."

Then everything went dark.

Hyuuga Hinata was worried.

She wasn't completely sure why she was worried. It was just a feeling deep in her gut that wouldn't leave her. Her team had already obtained their scroll. With their particular skill set, it hadn't been all that difficult.

It was just that, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't get Naruto out of her head. That in itself wasn't all that unusual, except they were in the middle of the Chunin Exams, and her team counted on her.

Suddenly, Kiba stopped, his head twisting around so fast Hinata was afraid he might get a whiplash. "Come out, Naruto. Akamaru and I can smell you."

Shino tensed beside her, but Hinata relaxed. The relief she was feeling quickly transformed into shame. She should have been the first to spot him.

The blond subject of her affections jumped down from the canopy. Smiling at them as if nothing was wrong. Hinata felt her cheeks heat up.

Did team 7 target them? If they had, Hinata wasn't sure she would be able to fight. Maybe she could deal with Sakura, and maybe distract Sasuke. But she doubted she could ever make herself fight Naruto.

"Relax, Kiba, I'm not after your scroll." Naruto said. He wore one of those smiles that made Hinata's stomach do flips.

Kiba's expression narrowed, his eyes searching through the canopy for movement. "Then why are you here? Where's the rest of your team?" The Inuzuka questioned.

His gaze flickered to Hinata, and despite her distracted state of mind, she got the message. With a simple hand sign, the Hyuuga heir activated her special eyes. "Byakugan." She murmured softly.

Beside her, she saw Shino beginning to spread more of his Kikaichu through the forest. Searching for any sources of chakra that signified more than a simple woodland creature.

Naruto put his hands up into the air, smile still in place. "Honest. We're not after your scroll. We're going after a group of Rain-nin some distance away. It's just that boss wanted to check out the competition, and you are one of the teams participating."

"B-boss?" Hinata stammered. Naruto would never call Sasuke boss. They might have been friends at the academy, but their friendship was more like a rivalry than a subservient one.

"Eh… I'm not actually the real Naruto. Only a shadow clone." Naruto clarified. He seemed almost embarrassed.

Hinata did a double take. A clone? The Hyuuga focused on the blond. He looked… completely like normal. Was that really a clone? And Kiba had smelled him as well? What kind of clone managed to imitate the user's smell to such a degree that even an Inuzuka was fooled? And how could the Byakugan not see a difference?

"Yeah." Naruto said, holding up his hands as he jumped down to join them. "So, how are you holding up? Have your scroll yet?" He continued, acting as if it was just a normal day at the academy and they were just hanging out.

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "You're a clone? Prove it."

Naruto sighed but complied. He put his hands in a cross sign causing another clone to pop up, who promptly stabbed its creator. Hinata hitched forward on pure reflex, but the first clone disappeared in a burst of smoke long before she reached them. The new clone smiled at her. "No need to be so distressed, Hinata-chan. Shadow Clones dispel after one hit."

Hinata blushed scarlet. She felt like sinking into the tree beneath her feet.

Shino pushed his glasses up, light reflecting off the black surface. "It is logical to assume he is telling the truth. We are hardly the best target for an ambush. As Team 7 no doubt knows this, it would be illogical to attack us."

Naruto nodded along, brilliant smile in place. "What he said. Plus, we didn't want to attack our friends."

Hinata felt herself relax at those words, a warm feeling settling in her chest. Even if he probably meant Kiba, perhaps she could convince herself he saw her as a friend.

Kiba and Shino didn't completely let up their guard, but they seemed friendlier than earlier.

"Heh, well. Since you asked. Yeah, we do have our scroll. This exam is a piece of cake!" Kiba boisted.

Naruto smiled cheekily back at his friend. No doubt wanting to continue the banter. Then he froze. The blond's eyes widened and a hint of true fear shone through them.

Hinata felt her breath hitch as she reactivated her Byakugan, scanning for threats. Beside her, both Shino and Kiba crouched down into a combat stance, searching out whatever could have caused their classmate to react that way. "Oy, Naruto. What are you-" Kiba began.

Naruto only shook his head, gaze fixated on a point far beyond here.

"Not here. With Boss. My team. There's someone…" The blond began. The fear she had seen there earlier was even more prevalent now. But what stood out the most was the pure frustration. Naruto had always been so easy to read. Especially for a Hyuuga. Now was no different.

"Damn!" He cursed. Slamming fist against their trunk so hard it caused splinters to fly from the tree.

"What?! What is it?! I can't smell anything!" Kiba demanded. The Inuzuka staring intently in the same direction Naruto was looking. Akamaru whined beside his master, nose twitching every which way.

"I said with my team. Someone is attacking us. It's… it's bad." Naruto said. Hands curling into fists.

Hinata stared in awe and a little fear as Naruto's features slowly began to change. His previously innocent whisker marks etched themselves into his face, giving him a more feral appearance. The nails on his fingers sharpened to claws, and Hinata saw him consciously loosen his grip as to not pierce himself. Most startling of all was his wonderful blue eyes had been replaced with red demonic looking ones, dark slits instead of pupils.

"N-Naruto… what the hell?" Kiba asked. He stared at Naruto for a moment before shaking his head. Beside him, Akamaru jumped up to his partner, snaking his way down Kiba's jacket where he began to whine mutely.

Hinata felt like her body had frozen to ice. Someone was attacking Naruto? And what was going on with the blond? Through all the year she had observed him, she had never seen anything like this.

"Damn it. It's even worse. Knowing there is no point for me to go back to help them. Boss is there. One clone is never going to make a difference. But at this rate…"

"L-lead us there. W-we can help." Hinata managed. Inside her, a feeling she didn't fully recognize was building. She didn't know who was attacking Naruto, but she didn't care much. Based on the clone's reaction, it was pretty bad. Exam or not, she wanted to do everything in her power to help.

Naruto shook his head. His animalistic features morphing back into his normal ones. "I appreciate the offer. Really. I do. It's just that, against him... All we can do is hope he isn't there to kill us. And had he been, then we would have been dead long ago… Probably."

Hinata was about to respond, but then Kiba grabbed the blond's jacket. "Oy. If you truly are in that bad a pinch. Lead us there. We are not pushovers, you know."

Naruto still shook his head. Staring unflinchingly into the Inuzuka's eyes. "I will not lead you to your deaths. Even if I have to die myself. I can't lead my friends to something like that."

Kiba narrowed his eyes. If there was one thing that defined Kiba. It was loyalty. Something Hinata deeply admired about him. He might be rash and rough around the edges. But when things really counted, he would never let you down. "Like hell. Take us there, or I'll just track the way you came. Two teams have a better chance than one, right?"

Naruto's eyes widened again, something even Hinata couldn't identify dancing through the cerulean blue. "I-I" He stammered. That might have been the first time she had ever heard Naruto stammer.

The blond swallowed, then nodded.

"Fine. But don't engage him unless absolutely necessary. I don't think he intends to kill us."

Kiba narrowed his eyes, but eventually nodded. He released the blond.

Weird how just a few minutes ago, they was afraid Team 7 attacking them. "Right. What do you say Shino?"

Shino adjusted his glasses, his expression as stoic as ever. "If the threat is indeed as large as you say it is, Uzumaki-san, then two teams will logically have more of a chance than two. And even if this is a competition, we are still shinobi of Konoha." Kiba nodded resolutely, Hinata following shortly afterwards.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Jeez guys. Thanks. But really. Don't fight this guy unless he attacks you. I don't think he is here because of the exam."

Then he turned around and began three-jumping. Team 8 quickly followed.

"Not part of the exam? Who is he then? Why is he attacking you?" Kiba asked. He now wore his 'serious' face. An expression Hinata had only seen a couple of times before. Because of how loud Kiba and Naruto tended to be, it was easy to forget they were real shinobi. They could both get very serious if the situation called for it.

Naruto sighed, but answered the question easily enough. "His name is-" Then he disappeared. The shadow clone bursting into smoke before he could finish its sentence.

Naruto frowned as he once again found himself in a familiar sewer. The tunnels were quickly becoming well-known territory. He forced himself to ignore a hammering headache. It was nowhere near as bad as it had been back in wave, but hundreds of clones popped simultaneously was not kind towards his mind.

The blond sat up groaning. His head was pounding and his heart was beating a frantic rhythm. He knew from the start that they didn't really stand a chance. Still, the result of the battle had been… disappointing.

After a few seconds of deliberation, he began walking. There was really only one place of interest in his current a situation.

It didn't take long to find his way to Kurama's prison. The same flimsy paper held the giant gates together as always, but now there were giant lines of strong white fabric stretching across the gate. Writing in kanji and other markings lined the material, flowing in an almost hypnotic fashion.

Kurama was fully awake, focusing intently on the fabric before him. Red eyes narrowed in concentration.

As Naruto entered the room, the tailed beast focused on his host. "Finally. I was wondering if I'd ever reach you." Kurama's voice was strangely muffled, as if he was standing on the other side of a wall.

Naruto cocked his head to the side. Studying the giant seal in front of him. Because it was a seal.

A seal on top of a seal.

He couldn't remember many details about sealing except the basics, despite the fact that he had been a seal master in quite a few lives. Neither Hashirama nor Ashura was particularly skilled in the art though.

Even so, everything he knew about sealing was screaming at him that this was Bad. With a capital B. A seal on top of another seal was just suicidal. The blond seriously wondered why it hadn't collapsed yet. Sure, they were two completely different sealing styles. But they were both engraved on his stomach. Both were compressed. Both were highly complex techniques reshaping the very fabric of the universe. But they looked stable. They didn't even seem to be interacting with each other.

First things first. "What the hell is this? Did the snake freak actually seal me?" Naruto complained, waving his arms childishly.

Kurama huffed, still sounding weird through the Five Elements barrier. "As loath as I am to admit it, it probably was the easiest option for him. Knocking you unconscious would be almost impossible unless I let him. And killing you while my chakra flowed through you wouldn't be much easier. Although had he truly wanted you dead, you probably would have been by now."

Naruto sobered at that, continuing to study the seal in front of him. Why? He wasn't sure. He didn't actually have a clue how to go about undoing it. Nor could he make head or tails of what it even did in the first place. Restricting his access to Kurama was obvious, but other than that? He had no idea.

"So… What now?" Naruto asked hesitantly. In the back of his head, he could vaguely sense his chakra system rebooting itself, rerouting the flow of chakra around the new obstruction.

"We break down the seal, of course." Kurama said, as if it was obvious.

"How?" Naruto asked incredulously.

The nine tails rolled his eyes. His tails beginning to wave behind him in irritation. "Do you think it's a coincidence that the Tailed Beasts are sealed into humans and not objects? Not even our father's special sealing items can hold our power for long. One does not simply seal a bijuu. The same is true for jinchuriki."

Naruto's eyes widened. That was… surprisingly simple. "So we just bust through it?" He asked.

Then he saw the problem. Kurama might be able to break through the five elements seal, but the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style was developed specifically by the greatest seal masters in history to hold the greatest of the bijuu in check.

For a moment, Naruto hesitated. Then he shook himself, feeling slightly ashamed that he even hesitated to be begin with. A steely glint in his cerulean eyes. "Well then. I might not be able to remove the Five Elements Seal. But the other one has a built in backdoor."

It took a moment for Kurama to register what Naruto was suggesting. His eyes widened as the blond floated towards the gate, flying through his mindscape as if the rules of physics didn't apply to him. And in here… they kind of didn't.

"Wait a second… you're going to…" The Bijuu didn't get farther than that, as Naruto's hand flinched back from the volatile barrier before him. The blond cursed. His slightly singed hand was quickly healing, despite his connection to Kurama being almost nonexistent. The fox doubted the blond even noticed. Too occupied growling at the unwelcome piece of fuuinjutsu in his mind. "Oh, come on! It stops me from reaching you as well?! That's just unfair."

Kurama blinked at his eccentric host, then sighed. "You don't actually need to remove your original seal for us to burst through this one. While the Fourth Hokage's seal does indeed severely limit the amount of chakra I can send to you, it is sufficient for this."

Naruto tilted his head in slight confusion. If Kurama could already break the seal on his own, he would have already done it. "So, you need my help?"

The Kyuubi sneered. "No. You need my help, ningen."

Naruto shrugged. As far as he was concerned, it was essentially the same thing.

Naruto winced as he placed a hand on the malevolent seal in front of him. It was extremely uncomfortable, like having an electrical current continuously running through your body.

Gritting his teeth. Naruto forced his unwilling chakra to build up around him. It was much harder than usual. Only part of what he wanted was actually channeled. Was the seal restricting him that much? He still had more chakra than most jounin, but compared to his usual reserves, this was like trying to breathe through a straw.

On the other side of the seal, red miasma began to leak out. It crawled along the bars of the gate before sliding through, stopping at the fabric of the new obstacle. Naruto frowned in concentration as he tried to drag the chakra towards him through sheer force of will. His own blue chakra responded. Slamming against the Five Elements Seal like a raging river. The seal held. Then Kurama's chakra began to do the same.

Naruto forced more and more chakra through his body, letting it spill out around him. The blue energy contrasted greatly by the corrosive red of Kurama's.

It was slow going, but eventually Naruto and Kurama managed a tentative connection, a small trickle of energy forcing its way through a hole in the barrier. Surprisingly, the seal tried to repair itself, but the duo would have none of it. They flooded the connection with chakra, slowly unravelling the seal in the process.

Naruto frowned as he felt his chakra flow change. It didn't hurt exactly, but it was an unfamiliar feeling. Like someone removing a plug in his mind. His chakra began flowing freer and freer, helping the already accelerating breakdown of Orochimaru's seal.

After a few more seconds, the Five Elements Seal was no more.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, feeling out his chakra for any sign of irregularities. He was a little exhausted, but that was all. He still had access to exponentially more chakra than before. Not to mention Kurama wasn't doubly sealed now.

"So… What now?" Naruto asked, staring up the giant fox before him.

Kurama smirked. His tails twitched. "Now, you wake up."

Naruto woke up.

Author's note:

I LIVE!

…

A year since last update. Wow. Time sure moves fast. I'm now long since finished my military service and working on the family farm, doing only courses.

As for the story… This is it, I'm afraid. I won't be continuing. It simply takes too much time for me to write this and the other one, while having a (sort of) full time job and studying at the same time.

It is annoying, but it means the fic will be laid on ice. I will be continuing Bleached Whirlpool, and try my best to finish it, no matter how long it takes.

I have cleaned up the previous chapters. (somewhat) And that will probably be the last time I edit this piece. (As long as no one finds more mistakes. I did promise to fix them after all.) I am… astonished by how much my writing has changed. There were SO. MANY. MISTAKES. Holy shit, will this always be the case in the future? I hope not. I would like to be able to read my own book without cringing.

I might get back to ToUN someday, but that would mean a full rewrite. It would have more complete characterization and a more logical evolution of events. It would also be listed as its own story, and this one will be left alone as a tribute to the first real story I ever wrote. Or began to write, I guess...

First though, I have to finish Bleached Whirlpool, and then I can't justify writing fanfiction in favor of my own book. So I'll write at least one. Or at least start one before I get back to this. That will probably take years…

I am not fully abandoning the story, as I have spent countless hours mulling over it, and I want to write it. I really, really do. I have the story in my head, literally thousands of years of it, and an entire world carefully built over 2 years. I kind of want to write it all. The only problem is time. So maybe I'll get around to it, assuming I don't change my mind in the next few years. Then I'll come back with a whole lot more experience. :)

So thanks for reading. I really appreciate it. Hope you'll come back in a few years. Actually, I hope you'll read Bleached Whirlpool in the meantime, even if it is a crossover. (You'll probably need to have read/seen at least the first few arcs of Bleach to understand it.)

I'm sorry about this, but time is a cruel mistress.

Thank you.