Wrath of a Woman Scorned

By: EDelta88

Rated M for language, violence, adult situations and concepts, lemons, and graphic imagery

[Insert disclaimer here]

Note: For best results, read this chapter late at night by yourself in a quiet room. Preferably with the lights off.

Chapter 13: Territorial

Gate 6, Training Ground 44…

Anko gave a contented sigh, washing down the last of her second Deluxe Dango Sampler with a swig of Haruhi's special sake. "Ah, that almost makes up for not being able to use my banner. If only I had some of Haruhi's red bean soup as a chaser," she hummed, flicking the skewer at a nearby wall to complete the Konoha leaf she'd been tracing on a wall nearby.

Thwiptunk!

"And… done!" Anko chuckled before glancing at the forest. "Hmm, I wonder how the kiddies are doing? It hasn't been that long, but Red's probably killed off at least one team by now… I wonder what game she's playing this time?" Maybe she'd display their bodies like she had with those slavers a few months back? No, that would be so… pedestrian. Would they just disappear? That's what she'd done with Gatou and his ilk. But no, Red had style and the Chunnin Exams was too big a stage for that kind of subtlety. "Whatever it is, it'll be one for the books," she mused with a shake of her head. She really was thankful that she was just the proctor and had no part in the administrative circus that was sure to follow this absolute clusterfuck.

Because what senile moron thought it was a good idea to unleash her like this?

Admittedly, the Sandaime could be a vicious little bastard when he wanted to be, but this reeked of the elders and some of more militant clan heads.

"Although," she mused as a thought occurred to her. "This is the first Konoha exam in almost ten years where a Kumo team has bothered to show up. Maybe Hiashi wanted to send a message?" While the Hyuuga were obsessed with their image as a cultured, civilized clan of perfectly civilized ninja, they had a subtle cruel streak that few truly appreciated. Their Caged Bird seal and internal politics were evidence enough of that.

"Um, Anko-sama?" a timid voice called.

Anko sighed, abandoning her musings as one of her assistants rushed over to her. "Hm? What is it?" she asked, cracking one eye at the pesky chunnin. Didn't he realize she was trying to enjoy her food coma? So rude.

"Ma'am, uh, we found something you should see."

Anko sighed again, annoyed. "What sort of something?" Her afternoon had been going so well!

"The sort that could be a problem for the exams, ma'am," he replied nervously.

Anko groaned. "What sort of problem?"

"Corpses, Anko-sama. Three of them."

"Three?" she wondered, finally interested. Three? Like… three to a team. "Outside the forest?" That would make the most sense, they wouldn't have bothered her if they were inside the grounds. Which meant somebody was being very, very naughty. 'What dead man walking thought it would be a good idea to fool with my exam?' Anko wondered, a vicious gleam dancing in her eyes.

"Yes, ma'am. There's something… strange about them."

"Strange?" she replied, quirking a brow. "You mean besides being dead?"

"It's better if you see it, ma'am."

"Lead on," Anko ordered. With a little luck, this wouldn't be a complete waste of time.

Training Ground 44…

"She went this way!" a young man with a Kumo hitai-ate cried, diving through the trees after his elusive prey.

"Don't you think you're being a little ridiculous, Toru?" the boy's teammate asked as he did his best to keep up. "I mean, really? Just because she's a red-head from Konoha like that kid your dad was sent to kidnap so that she could be brainwashed and bred like an animal, you're going to fly off the handle like a rookie? Seriously?" he continued, his distaste obvious.

"Shut your fucking face, Shota!" Toru cried, practically frothing at the mouth. "My father was-"

"Yes, yes," their last teammate drawled as she caught up with them. "Your father and his goon squad from the Sandaime's bloodline expansion project were sent to after Uzumaki what's-her-face and didn't take the genius apprentice of the Toad Sage seriously when he showed up to rescue her. Oh, woe is you, daddy died in the line of duty, you are so unique."

"Fuck you, Kaoru. I don't need-"

"Are you…"

The three gennin froze, suddenly remembering that they weren't alone as a melodious voice echoed strongly through the trees.

"Are you…" It sounded as if it was now coming from every direction all at once.

"What the hell?" Shota wondered, palming a couple of kunai. "Where the hell is that coming from?

"No fucking idea, but I'll bet that carrot shit is—guh!" Toru started only to be violently cut off as something blurred past him, knocking him bodily across the small clearing.

"Coming to the tree…" the voice sang, gaining an amused lilt.

"Oh, when I get ahold of that little bitch, I'm going to…" Toru snarled as he rolled into a crouch to climb to his feet.

"I know this song," Kaoru muttered. She'd heard it before and, though she could not place it, the ghost of a memory it inspired was far from pleasant.

"Where the dead man called out, for his love to flee…"

Shota saw something glinting in the air above Toru as the other boy stood up. "Toru! Look out!"

Ziiip!

Toru's eyes went wide in surprise as a loop of ninja wire cinched tightly around his neck with a metallic scrape.

"Oh no," Kaoru muttered just as the song came to her and she realized what was happening. "Oh gods, cut the wire!" she cried, rushing forward. "Toru! Get it off, quick! Before she—"

"Strange things did happen here. No stranger would it be…"

"Guh!" Toru cried as the wire gave a brutal tug, pulling him off his feet. "Shit, shit, shit!" he rasped, panic in his eyes as he desperately grasped at the thin metal as it began to dig into his skin.

"Cut the wire, you idiot!" Kaoru cried pointing frantically at the slack wire glinting in the grass as she and Shota rushed forward to try and help.

Understanding flashed in Toru's eyes just an instant before the line went ominously taught.

"If we met, at midnight…"

"Gurrk!" was the only sound Toru could make as the wire dragged him steadily toward the edge of the clearing.

"Shota, help me!" Kaoru cried as she and Shota hurled kunai and shuriken as fast as they could draw them at the wire only for answering shuriken to fly out of the underbrush and deflected them.

Toru was almost to the edge of the clearing when the wire gave another vicious jerk and he was suddenly swept up into the branches where he swung and jerked like some macabre wind chime.

"In the hanging tree."

"Oh gods…" Shota whispered as he stared up at his teammate thrashing in the tree, only the faintest gurgles passing his lips as streams of blood leaked between his grasping fingers as he pressed futilely at the gaping wound in his neck.

Drip…

"Are you…"

Dripdripdrip…

"Are you…"

Dripdripdripdripdrip…

"Coming to the tree…"

The two remaining gennin ran.

Meanwhile…

Anko stared as the scene in front of her, stunned.

There were three of them. They had been stashed out in a small stand of trees off the usual paths. It wasn't a good hiding place. It wasn't far off the beaten paths of the village. Any ninja worth their knives would know that someone could stumble on this place at any time. And if by some miracle someone hadn't? The bodies would start to stink in a day or two. It was the kind of hiding place that only a rookie would use and would seem too obvious to most infiltrators.

Or, the kind that an old school assault-type would use. Just off the beaten path. Hidden in plain sight where no one would think to look until their objective was complete.

The kind of hiding place he loved to use. Incidental casualties had never been an issue he had concerned himself with.

Never mind that the bodies were missing their gods damned faces. It was like he wanted someone to know he was here.

"Well, shit," Anko whispered, staring at the bodies in a mix of recognition, horror, and excitement. 'But why is he here?'

"What could have done this Anko-sama?"

"Not what, who," Anko corrected. "You," she said pointing to the leader of the little group.

"Ma'am?"

"Pack up the bodies and take them to the nearest ANBU outpost you are authorized to access. Tell them they are going to need to mobilize a few heavy combat squads and await orders from the Hokage," she ordered. "You," she pointed to the second, "Alert the exam medical teams that they might have critical casualties incoming and should call for backup from the hospital."

"And me, Anko-sama?"

"Inform the Hokage about this," she ordered, turning toward the forest.

"But… what about you?"

"I'm going hunting," the snake summoner replied with an absolutely feral expression.

Training Ground 44…

"Hurry up you two!" Akako cried, weaving through the trees as fast as she could as she and her teammates dodged all manner of kunai and shuriken flying out of the shadows.

"Is she ever going to run out of those damn things!" Kuroimaru hissed, losing his last shuriken to knock a kunai away from Aoi.

"Thanks!" Aoi called as he swung under the next branch to dodge a brace of kunai.

"Shut up and keep dodg—umph!" Akako cried as she was knocked out of the trees and into the clearing below by a passing blur.

"Akak-gurk!" Aoi cried as he was plucked out of the air by his neck and thrown to the ground near his leader.

Kuroimaru had enough time to see the outline of their attacker haloed in the light sneaking through the canopy before she was upon him. "Oh shi—guh!" he gasped as the breath was knocked from his body by a vicious straight kick.

"Aw, poor little ninja, all out of tools," their attacker cooed, her hair shining like a river of blood in the muted light of the forest.

"Fine, this is what you want, right?" Akako panted, holding up their scroll. She had no illusions about fighting this girl, not after the way she had casually taken them apart. "The scroll? That's what you're after, right? Here, take it! Just leave us alone!"

"Oooh, yes, Heaven scrolls! Those are important!" she giggled, taking the scroll and eyeing it with glee for a moment that seemed to stretch on for hours… then, in a flash, it went up in flames.

"Ah! What the hell!" Kuroimaru yelped.

"Why did you—what?" Akako stammered as Aoi stared dumbly at the ashes.

"Booooring~" Aki whined, casually blowing the ashes from her palm. "Scrolls? Bah, I could have gotten that anywhere. No, I want something much more… lasting? Yes, lasting is a good word for it."

"Are you crazy!?" Kuroimaru cried. What was wrong with this girl? She'd hounded them like deer until they'd wasted their weapons and chakra staying alive and now she didn't even want their scroll? What the hell!

"Crazy?" Aki wondered, tapping her chin theatrically. "Hm, nope! Just bored. I already have three of those."

'Three?' Akako wondered, a fathomless pit opening up in the bottom of her belly. They'd only been in these woods for a couple of hours. To have already tracked down at least three teams in so little time…

What kinds of monsters were they making in Konoha?

"I could just kill you," Aki mused, then shook her head, seemingly deciding against it. "No no, that won't do. No weapons, no chakra, no fun! Besides… I'm feeling merciful."

"Why?" Kuroimaru demanded, realizing his mistake the moment the words passed his lips as their attacker was suddenly nose to nose with him, her features drawn into a vicious snarl.

"Because I feel like it," the red-haired devil hissed. For a moment, the world seemed to grind to a halt. Death hung in the air as malice rang in every word and her eyes seemed to shine like coals in the gloom. Then, as if nothing had happened, she once more affected her previously playful demeanor. "Anyway, as I was saying, I'm feeling merciful. So, instead of killing you, I'm going to have you to deliver a message for me!"

"You c-couldn't just send a letter?" Aoi mumbled, failing to keep the quaver from his voice.

"Paper doesn't have the same impact as traumatized child soldiers, darling," Aki crooned, the cruel ghost of a smile playing on her lip. "No, there really is no replacement for a good messenger. But you see, we have a problem," Aki mused, tapping her chin in the guise of thought. "A bit of a snag."

"Snag?" Akako worried. "What snag?"

"Just the one. One little eensy, weensy, teeny, tiny snag," Aki purred. "Tell me, how many ninja does it take to deliver a message?"

"… one?" Aoi mumbled despairingly as he shared a nervous look with his teammates.

Aki applauded, a bright, mocking smile creasing her features. "Excellent! You got it in… one," she cooed as nervous energy filled the air. "That's the rub really, I only need one of you to deliver my message," Aki mused affecting a pensive attitude. "But it simply wouldn't be fair to just pick."

Dread, pure and cloying gripped the three gennin.

"So, we're having… tryouts."

The three gennin looked at each other in dawning horror as three kunai suddenly buried themselves in the ground, one landing just inches away from each of them.

Akako was the first to find her voice. "There's no way we're going to-"

"One of you lives… or all of you die," Aki drawled, her teeth seeming to gleam an unnatural white in the semidarkness of the forest. "So, chop chop, kiddies, I don't have all day."

Meanwhile...

Sakura hated this forest. She hated the trees. She hated the moss. She hated the critters skittering around. Come to think of it, there probably wasn't a thing in this accursed thing in the place that she didn't hate on some level. Most of all, though? Most of all, she hated how all of—of everything was trying to kill her!

Old traps? Check.

Giant tigers? Check.

Vampiric slugs? Check.

Poisonous grass? Check

Strangling vines? Check.

Explosive flower pods? Check.

Carnivorous moss? Check.

No, seriously, carnivorous fucking moss!

"Carnivorous Moss!?" Sakura raged as Sasuke dabbed a neutralizing powder on her shoulder. "Where the fucking fuck did carnivorous moss come from and who the hell thought it was a good idea to bring it here? Because there was no way that jumping, acid-secreting, swarming, semi-sapient moss was a natural thing! The leap in evolution is far too complicated!"

"I say we find the person responsible and kill them… slowly," Inner Sakura mused as she scribbled on her sketchpad titled: Terrible and Inhumane Things to Do. "It's only fair, after all. Turnabout and all that. I am currently partial to gelding them with a spoon."

'I'll ask Aki for pointers,' Sakura thought venomously. 'Right after I bully a medic into teaching me how to keep them alive.'

"I like the way we think!" Inner Sakura cackled.

"Probably someone intending to use it to manufacture poison," Sasuke sighed, smearing a healing balm over the chemical burn before binding it. "A distilled or altered version of this stuff would do a lot of damage."

"That's a really shitty, inefficient way to kill somebody," Sakura hissed. Depending on the mixture it could take days for someone to die from anything safe enough to carry. And if it was stronger, the body would be too damaged to examine. It was stupid!

"But it would send a powerful message," Sasuke argued, playing devil's advocate. "Which is probably why it's here."

Sakura snorted. "Hey, assholes, we're so crazy that we run our kids on jolly romps through a forest distilled from your worst nightmares. Don't fuck with us," she spat, her teeth drawing back into an ugly caricature of a smile.

Sasuke quirked a brow at her.

"Shut up," Sakura growled as they both got to their feet.

"I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking too loudly, it's annoying."

Sasuke snorted as they began moving through the canopy. "You know, a couple of months ago, being this close to me would have reduced you to a swooning mess."

"A couple months ago I had nothing better to do," Sakura retorted as she leaped after him.

Sasuke glanced back at her. "Homework?"

Sakura snorted. "That busywork was a joke. I finished most of it before we even got out of class."

Sasuke blinked thinking back. "Weren't you listening?"

"Yes?"

Sasuke blinked owlishly as another thought occurred to him. "Weren't you taking notes, too?"

"Yes."

"Is this going somewhere?" Inner Sakura wondered sarcastically.

"So, you were listening, taking notes, and doing the homework while obsessing over boys?"

"What's your point?"

"It sounds exhausting," Sasuke quipped, shooting her a cheeky grin to cover how impressed he was. He'd had his hands full listening and taking notes. Whenever he had stopped to think about… other things, he'd always had to copy notes and reread sections of the material to catch up. The kind of multi-tasking that Sakura was apparently capable of seemed almost superhuman to him and he came from a clan known for memorizing things at a glance.

Sakura shrugged. "I may not be one of you super special magic-genetics clan brats, but I have my own talents."

Sasuke smirked. "I'm sure you—" then he froze as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

"What is it?" Sakura whispered, palming a kunai as Sasuke's eyes flashed red and darted every which way.

"Chakra—shit, get to cover!" he barked a moment before a gale-force wind hit them like a rampaging bull.

Somewhere near the Tower…

"Can you believe these guys, Shigure?" one of the boys asked his leader. "What kind of ninja challenges their enemies head-on?"

'They do realize that they were the ones who challenged us… right?' Temari wondered with a frown. She had literally just told them that the should clear out when Gaara and Kankuro caught up with her.

"The stupid kind, Midare," his squad teammate laughed.

"No one asked you, Baiu," Midare sniped. Really, how that idiot had survived this long he would never know.

'Well, what can you expect from a village stupid enough to live in a place with so few natural resources?' Shigure thought cockily. "Oh well, you should have been more careful who you—"

"You're a waste of my time," Gaara drawled, turning to leave.

The entire clearing went silent, the three Rain ninja staring open-mouthed at the small boy as he walked away from them, casually showing his back to them like they were no more dangerous than newborn kittens.

Gaara sighed, a feeling of disappointment gnawing at the center of his chest. He needed to kill something, but the older boy was pathetic—boring—and his minions weren't even worth mentioning. Killing him would be like trying to sate his thirst on morning dew after days in the desert. No challenge at all. He had…

"Know your place… Ichibi," she whispered, her hot breath tickling the shell of his ear as she slowly, methodically carved a line across his throat as if his sand was nothing. As if he was nothing.

He had someone else he wanted to kill. A challenge. She would prove his—

"What? Don't turn your back on me you worthless little shit!" Shigure cried, furious. How dare this punk dismiss him!

Gaara stopped in his tracks, turning ever so slightly to stare at the upstart Rain ninja. 'Worthless…?' The thought drifted, caustic and challenging in Gaara's mind as phantom fingers ghosted over the angry pink skin where his quarry had managed to touch him, to demean his existence.

'That punk's dead,' Kankuro thought.

'Well, I tried to warn him,' Temari sighed. Were all boys this stupid? How were there any left?

"That look in your eyes… irritates me," Gaara rasped, madness creeping into his gaze.

'Not even going to check to see if they have the right scroll?' Kankuro wondered with a put-upon sigh. "Gaara, they might not have the—"

"I don't care."

Kankuro sighed. Well, no one could say he didn't try. "Just… Let's make this quick, yeah?"

Gaara didn't answer, he simply reached out a hand, sand rushing past them to—

"Now, what do we have here?" a lilting voice drawled from the shadows above them.

Everyone in the clearing froze.

"You wouldn't be thinking of poaching in my forest. Now would you… Ichibi?"

'Oh shit,' Temari thought, breaking into a cold sweat as she caught sight of Konoha's resident monster, perched in the branches above them like a cat eyeing a particularly amusing group of vermin. 'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!'

"They were in my way…" Gaara replied, forgetting about the Rain ninja as he turned to face her.

"You are a very one-dimensional problem solver, aren't you," Aki quipped, a Cheshire grin spreading across her lips as she knelt on her branch.

A depraved hunger crept into Gaara's eyes as the cork shot from his gourd, followed by a deluge of sand as he watched his prey's… no, his opponent's delighted eyes flash a hot, bloody red.

Temari and Kankuro backed away slowly, trying not to draw attention to themselves as the Shigure and his two minions glanced apprehensively between the two demon vessels and the retreating children of the Kazekage as they slowly came to the realization that something was very, very wrong.

Aki shifted ever so slightly, claws biting into the wood beneath her fingertips, tensing and relaxing as she leaned forward like a cat getting ready to pounce…only to pause, cocking her head as her eyes flicked back toward the heart of the forest.

Gaara's eyes narrowed as his opponent's gaze drifted toward the trees, staring at something only she could see. This would not do. "What are you—"

"Seems our game will have to be delayed," Aki murmured, an ugly look crossing her face. Then as she turned on her heel, ready to leap away, her eyes fell on the Rain team. "Don't ruin your appetite, Ichibi," she purred, leaving only the rustle of leaves in her wake as she vanished into the shadows.

Gaara snarled, foul chakra filling the air as madness danced in his eyes.

"Run!" Shigure barked, throwing out a flash bomb in hopes of stalling whatever monster they had unwittingly provoked.

Temari flinched, trying to ignore the scene playing out as Shigure and his teammates were not fast enough to escape Gaara's… displeasure.

Hokage's Office…

"Hokage-sama!" a flustered chunnin cried as he burst into his leader's office.

"Hmm?" Hiruzen replied as he calmly continued with his paperwork.

"The bodies of one of the teams sent by Kusagakure was found dead. Their faces have been removed!" the messenger quickly explained.

The elderly Hokage paused in his work. "Removed?" he asked, pressing for further information.

"Yes, sir. As if… they were peeled away, sir. The skin was just gone without any tool marks. Anko-senpai recognized the technique and said—"

"Ah," Sarutobi sighed tiredly. Jiraiya had told him that Orochimaru had been on the move, a fact corroborated by a number of other sources, but he hadn't expected his former student to be so brazen as to walk into the middle of Konoha during the spirits blighted Chunnin Exams. "I imagine that Anko-chan rushed into the forest, hm?"

"Yes, sir," the chunnin answered.

"Tora," the Hokage called.

An ANBU wearing a stylized tiger mask dropped from the ceiling, landing in a respectful kneel.

"Send an extraction squad to Training Ground 44, medical retrieval specialization. They are not to engage Orochimaru. Tell them to simply extract Anko-chan and be ready to remove participants from the forest if things get out of hand, prioritize our teams if any are left," the aged Hokage ordered as he calmly resumed his task. "And send a message to Nezumi's team. His objective may be compromised."

"Hai," Tora replied before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

"Orochimaru… what could he be here for, sir?" the messenger asked as stunned as he was afraid.

"Oh, I have a very good idea as to my foolish student's motives," the Hokage replied, never pausing in his paperwork, his steady calm unnerving his subordinate. "However, I'm sure that he will find his objective jealously guarded. How fortunate that so few of our gennin are in the running this year."

The forest might need some serious work to put it to rights, though. If he knew Orochimaru, and he did, then he would not go quietly when he was rebuffed. At least they had Tenzo to aid with replanting and so many clans talented with wildlife otherwise it would have taken decades for the forest to recover. Now he just needed to decide who to stick with landscaping duty. Did he have any jounin on his shit list with the earth jutsu to fix damage on that scale? He had to have a few…

Training Ground 44…

"Guh!" Sakura cried as she was struck.

"I'll admit," Orochimaru commented, as he dropped her. "I did not expect much of a showing from you, girl. Perhaps I should give little Kakashi some credit. You're no Tsunade, of course, but he clearly has more skill as a teacher than I gave him credit for—"

"Get away from her!" Sasuke cried, spitting a stream of fire, forcing the sennin to jump back a few feet.

Orochimaru grinned. "Certainly," he said a moment before he rushed forward.

"Augh!" Sakura cried as she was kicked with enough force to hurl her through several thick branches and into open space.

"Shit," Sasuke hissed, throwing a Kunai to pin his unconscious teammate to the trunk of a nearby tree.

"Careful Sasuke-kun, distractions can be deadly."

Sasuke's eyes went wide, not even thinking as he created a half seal and vanished into Kawarimi.

The log he had switched with exploded as it was struck by a mud bullet.

"Half-seals?" Orochimaru wondered approvingly. "At your age? That's quite a feat."

Sasuke ducked, tumbling off his perch but using chakra to cling to the branch and fling himself away. 'Too close! Tooclosetooclose!' he thought as he frantically started doing handseals.

"None of that," Orochimaru said, apparently bored with their game as he drove a leg into Sasuke's gut, launching him into a nearby tree.

Falling to his hands and knees, Sasuke puked up what little he had been able to eat during their short time in the forest.

Orochimaru smirked. "All too easy," he muttered, forming a single sign before his neck began to stretch to impossible length, his head rushing toward the wide-eyed Uchiha. At the last moment, he stretched his mouth impossibly wide, fangs filled with the curse mark serum extending from his mouth…

Then, suddenly, there was someone between him and his quarry!

Out of spite, the former member of the Sannin sank his fangs into the interloper, injecting the cursed seal cocktail before quickly retreating; no sense in remaining vulnerable while an unknown was present. In all likelihood, they would die an excruciating death. Should they survive and carry his mark… well, he would take great pleasure in flaying their mind until they were little more than a puppet. Perhaps he would make them his janitor.

"Tch, that stings," the newcomer sneered.

An ugly scowl crossed Orochimaru's face as he reoriented himself. 'Sting? Sting! His seal was-'Then the air was suddenly foul with chakra so cold and poisonous that it made him flinch. The Snake Summoner's eyes went wide as the phantom tang of copper and the distant smell of burning flesh flooded his senses. 'I know that chakra!' he thought as the took a second, closer look at the newcomer. It had been years since he had felt it, but that malicious, burning cold was not something anyone could easily forget.

"Bothersome, I liked this shirt," Aki mused, annoyance clear on her features as she eyed the shredded sleeve and the torn skin beneath.

"You…" Orochimaru whispered, irritation clear as he carefully watched the foul chakra obliterate his seal and felt the faintest hint of… something else moving underneath the beast's chakra as her skin stitched itself back together.

"Me," Aki confirmed, observing the disgraced sage with cold, calculating eyes.

"You defend them?" he demanded, equal parts frustrated and confused. This was wrong. All his intelligence implied that the jinchuuriki loathed Konoha, her teammates included. There were rumors that she had regularly terrorized the pink one and nearly killed Sasuke-kun before they had been on the same team for an entire day! Why would she intercede on their behalf?

"They may be dead weight, but they are my dead weight," Aki explained with a careless shrug. "Besides, I need them to pass this section of the exam. Your… attentions, do not have a very good survival rate if memory serves."

Orochimaru relaxed ever so slightly. That did make more sense. "Perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement then," he reasoned, he really didn't need to be fighting someone like her right now.

"Certainly," Aki replied, her voice saccharine sweet and her smile two teeth too wide. "You toddle off back to whatever hole you have been hiding in to play your little games and never return."

Orochimaru frowned. "Generally, one offers the other party something they desire in exchange."

Aki's head cocked to the side, her smile growing ever so slightly wider. "Exchange? We aren't bargaining, old man. You just haven't annoyed me enough to make it worth the effort to hunt you down… yet."

Orochimaru opened his mouth to snap something cold and cutting when the hairs at the base of his skull stood on end. The next instant, he had performed Kawarimi and not a moment too soon as he heard the log in question splinter under the force of the blow he had just dodged.

"Aw… you dodged," Aki's clone pouted as it dissipated.

Orochimaru scowled. Apparently, while she may not be ready to make the effort to find him, she wasn't above taking the opportunity if it was set in front of her.

The original shrugged unconcernedly. "Oh well. More fun to do it myself," she admitted before turning to Sasuke, eyes still on Orochimaru. "Take Sakura, head for the tower."

Sasuke's hesitated, his eyes flickered to Orochimaru for an instant, then uncertainly back to Aki. Leaving her to fight Zabuza had been one thing but…

"Now," Aki ordered, her tone suddenly stern and brooking no argument, her eyes never leaving Orochimaru.

Sasuke frowned, but with a jerky nod, he leaped to Sakura, throwing her into a fireman's carry before disappearing into the forest.

Orochimaru scowled, briefly considering sending a clone or two after the Uchiha boy before deciding it wouldn't be worth the effort. Between the jinchuuriki and whatever reinforcements Sarutobi-sensei was sure to send, he wouldn't have the time to catch up, administer the seal and still make a relatively quiet exit.

"Hmm, fight the girl and try again or run like the coward I am?" Aki mused, mockingly voicing Orchimaru's thoughts. "Decisions, decisions, so many choices. Whatever will he do?"

Orochimaru sneered.

Aki grinned, her hair rising off her shoulders as wisps of angry red chakra began to leak off her body.

Then Orochimaru leaped away. "Senei Ta Jashu!" he cried, spiting a tidal wave of serpents into the space between them as he furiously performed hand seals at blinding speeds.

Aki's grin never faltered as she formed a single Tora seal and spat out a stream of sickly orange fire that seemed to melt and rot the snakes more than burn them as she swept it through their ranks.

Orochimaru's brow twitched. He had hoped that his snakes would slow her down at least a little. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu," he intoned, summoning one of his faster summons in the empty space beneath him. "Don't let her get close," he ordered.

The serpent's eyes flicked to Aki as she finished off the last of the lesser serpents and rushed toward their position. "Yes," it answered and slithered away at an angle to circle the battlefield.

Knowing that he had very little time before his opponent tired of this chase, Orochimaru focused inward and opened his mouth impossibly wide.

Aki's eyes narrowed a moment before she flung her hand out.

Orochimaru's eyes went wide, sensing the buildup of chakra just in time to perform a hasty Kawarimi, just barely dodging the viciously spiked, glowing chakra chain that burst from the girl's palm to impale his substitute.

Aki hissed, eyes searching the trees as she twisted her wrist, tangling the chain around Orochimaru's serpent. The poor summon let out a shriek of pain as the chain sizzled angrily, digging into its scales before Aki drew it back with impossible strength, shredding the oversized snake.

Orochimaru took a fortifying breath as he finished pulling his signature weapon from his belly.

Whmm!

Without even thinking, Orochimaru ducked, rolling off the branch as a blur of glowing red energy bisected the space where he had been hiding, cleaving the tree like it was naught but foam and vapor.

Whmm!

Orochimaru's eyes went wide at the humming sound cutting through the air behind him. On instinct, he twisted in the air and brought his sword down on a second chain that was closing in on him. The chain sparked furiously as Kusanagi sliced through it with a sound like crashing glass, creating just enough space to slip past without injury.

"I don't like that sword," Aki growled, now perched in the canopy above, a humming chakra chain hanging from each hand.

"I fail to see how that is my problem," Orochimaru muttered. Though he could relate because gods but he hated those chains. He had enjoyed several weeks of blissful ignorance believing that the Tensa Higi had likely died with Kushina before discovering that Sarutobi-sensei had her spawn squirreled away.

Aki's eyes narrowed dangerously a second before she dove at him, her body twisting in the air as she brought the chains to bare in a whirling storm of destruction.

Orochimaru made three quick seals. "Futon: Daitoppa!" he hissed, releasing a massing gale in Aki's direction and knocking her into the air. He needed to disengage. This was not a fight he wanted to deal with just yet.

In response, Aki whipped out one of her chains, snagging a nearby tree and swinging herself back around at her traitorous opponent.

"Why are you even here?" Orochimaru growled in frustration, cutting through one of the chains and dodging out of the way of a kick that shattered the bark and tore away a sizable chunk of the tree beneath.

"For a scientist, you have a worrying inattention to detail," Aki quipped, lashing out at him.

"There must be something beyond the exam itself," Orochimaru reasoned, raising his blade to slice through her chain again, only to dodge out of the way as his opponent flicked her chain to avoid his blade. "You've been active for years. Official or not, you are beyond this. Beyond them. Why waste your time on children?"

Curiously quirking a brow as she struck again. "Why do you care?" she asked, spinning like a figure skater to turn her chains into a storm of light that she sent crashing repeatedly down on the traitorous member of the Sannin.

"I'm curious," he insisted as he leaped out of range. Blast it, she wasn't giving him time to do any hand seals! Cursed Uzumaki and their thrice blighted talent for special manipulation techniques. "What is keeping you here?"

"I go where I please," Aki retorted testily as she launched herself toward him.

"Yes, yes, as I said, I am well aware of your escapades, but why here?" he demanded, frustration clear in his voice as he tried to maneuver close to her so that he could swipe at her with Kusanagi. Why couldn't she just answer him? "Why Konoha! With your power, you could do whatever you wanted. You could take over an entire country, be worshiped as a god, loved! Why stay here surrounded by arrogant, self-important vermin?"

Aki leaped back, the chakra chains dissipating as she brought both hands together in front of her.

Orochimaru threw himself back, gaining just enough space to perform Kawarimi before the ploom of befouled chakra fire overtook him. "Why do you insist on protecting them!" he cried as she circled him, whether from frustration or surprise, even he wasn't sure. "What does this pathetic village have to offer you that could compare to that?!"

Aki came to an abrupt halt. "Protect… them?" she repeated, staring at Orochimaru in a stunned sort of wonder. "Offer me?!" she laughed, suddenly throwing her head back and clapping a hand over her face, leaving only a single eye exposed and squinting in clear amusement at him.

The not-answer burned Orochimaru as she continued to laugh at him. This child was so like him. Exceptional, intelligent, gifted, and hateful but she was so different. Why was she so different? Why did she stand in his way? Why!?

"Silly sennin," Aki chuckled as she stared him straight in the eyes. "It's not so complicated really… but, all the same, none of this concerns you."

Orochimaru snarled. "It does when you stand in the way of my rightful vengeance!" Why wouldn't she just answer him?!

Aki's body language shifted, her previous mirth evaporating like snow in a desert. "Your vengeance?" murmured, her chilling voice carrying easily through the unnatural calm that had overtaken the forest. "You surrendered any right to this place when you ran away. Konoha is mine."

Something shifted around them, but Orochimaru found himself unable to look away.

"Every man. Every woman. Every child…" she continued, her eyes glittering unnaturally as she spoke.

"Careful Sasuke-kun, distractions can be deadly."

His own words from earlier floated back to him, making Orochimaru frown. Why was that… 'Genjutsu?!' he realized suddenly giving his chakra a practiced twist… With a start, the burning curiosity that had been building evaporated. The next instant, his eyes blew wide open as he checked his surroundings and found the forest around them littered with tiny floating balls of yin and yang chakra.

Aki simply grinned. "Every stone. Every board. Every insignificant mote of dust…" She sounded amused. In fact, she almost seemed pleased that he had broken her little illusion.

In the same instant, the field of chakra orbs collapsed toward their waiting master.

'Oh bother…' Orochimaru thought, a thousand plans rushing through his head. The Densetsu no Sannin may not have faced off against one of their enemy's jinchuuriki, but Sarutobi-sensei had been thorough in their education. The scale was all wrong, but as the specks of chakra rushed toward her, collecting in her palm, there was no mistake, he knew what that was.

"They are mine. Mine to do with as I please. They live and die at my whim. They exist for no other reason than it pleases me that they exist."

Orochimaru was flying through hand seals as she spoke.

"They have nothing to offer me…" Aki hissed, her bared teeth shining unnaturally in the semi-dark of the forest as she held up the marble of hyper condensed chakra. "Because I own them."

The world turned white as the forest in front of Aki vanished.

Omake: Nope!

By: EDelta88

SniffSniff

"What is it Kiba?" Shino asked.

"Not sure. Hey, Hinata?"

"Where?" the Hyuuga girl drawled.

"Like, a kilometer that way?" Kiba said, pointing in the general direction of the tower.

Hinata sighed, veins popping around her eyes. "There's a lot of interference but there are at least two humans, probably more," she observed, seeing the mass of chakra clumped together.

"Six," Shino clarified as he pulled his ear away from the ground.

A feral grin crossed Kiba's features.

"Alright! Let's check it out!"

"The plan was to avoid confrontation once we got the scroll we needed," Shino reminded him.

"Yeah, but if we take more scrolls there will be less competition," Kiba explained. He was all for a fair and square brawl, but he was a ninja. It never hurt to stack the deck a little.

"No," Hinata told him, leveling a coldly unimpressed look at her teammate.

"What? Why the hell not?"

"Because Aki is headed straight for them and it would be rude to interrupt her fun," Hinata replied dully.

"So, who's ready for the scenic route!" Kiba cried, enthusiastically leaping in a direction that would take them in a long arc around the people they had detected and, more importantly, keep them as far out of Aki's area of interest as humanly possible. Kiba might not be the sharpest shuriken in the pouch, but he'd known since he was nine that Aki was a special brand of dangerous. She had been clean and tidy that day when she had come into class. To anyone else, he was sure that she smelled like soap and shampoo. But to him? To an Inuzuka? The acrid tang of blood and charred flesh clung to her for weeks.

Edited: 4/12/20

A/N

You know, when I started writing this, singing was never supposed to be such a common theme with Aki. I think I literally had one scene planned for Shippuden and that was it. Now it's like they contracted Hitchcock to do a Disney movie. For reference, I got Hanging Tree that Aki was singing from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Also… I don't know when this happened, but apparently Inner Sakura has gotten completely out of control. I blame my tendency to have long inner dialogues between Naruto and Kyuubi in other fics and ficlets I've played with.

For those of you wondering about that last trick that Aki pulled on Orochimaru before the Mini-Bijudama. It was essentially the equivalent of Shikumi no Jutsu (Death Viewing Technique)… but focusing on "curiosity" instead of "fear/killing intent." You may have noticed that he seemed a little TOO curious about her motives. Essentially, she took advantage of his inquisitive nature and his need for answers during their banter to project "Curious Intent" (for lack of a better term; feel free to suggest names) and then hit him with the Shikumi no Jutsu but substituting curiosity for a terror-inducing intent to do harm. Obviously, not a powerful technique because curiosity isn't paralyzing or particularly debilitating except under very special circumstances, but very dangerous if used correctly. This is actually an example of how genjutsu SHOULD be used instead of the grand cinematic crap we see in the anime. Something subtle that can be used quickly to gain a momentary advantage can decide a fight just as easily as a stupidly overpowered, flashy assassination jutsu. I will probably fiddle with an Omake at some point where Orochimaru considers what exactly Aki did at length but that's something for another day.

Tensa Higi? So, the chakra chains explanation! These aren't your mama's chakra chains. These are what I call Tensa Higi, or "Chains of Heaven, Hidden Art" if I have my translation correct. They are fairly mercurial in their effects based on how Aki is using them. If she channels more destructive energies, they behave almost like lightsabers but I'm sure some of you noticed that they could just as easily not damage things when she needed a little more utility. If you need a visual on how they behave and how she fights with them, the closest I can think of would be the Blades of Chaos from the God of War series.