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Warning: Mention SasuNaru and maybe some slight OrochiNaru later on OO. Orochimaru-sama is somewhat OOC (he's freakishly giddy at times ;;;).
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. sobs
Mistaken Memories
"NARUTO! GET AWAY FROM HERE!" Sasuke screamed desperately at his teammate. Sakura was already knocked unconscious and he was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down, courtesy of a partial body bind. The only one still standing was Naruto, though he was sporting a few good hits from their arch-nemisis, Orochimaru.
"Oi, Sasuke, I can handle it! We did it before -- granted, with Kakashi-sensei and Pervert Sennin helping -- but I'm sure I can beat him!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder. He was breathing raggedly and blood stained his clothes and hair. He drew a pair of kunai and pointed them at his opponent.
"Maa, maa, Naruto-kun, you should listen to your friend. Run away while you still can. It's not you I'm after, no. I want Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru said, eyes laughing at the poor excuse for a shinobi, even if the one possessed the immense chakra of the nine-tails fox. He side-stepped the kunai that were hurtled in his direction and almost giggled at the sight in front of him. The baka kid was trying to escape...with both of his teammates! Foolish boy...He quickly followed his target, hiding in the shadows of the underbrush. Naruto had escalated to the tree branches, but Orochimaru felt like stalking his prey for a change and stayed concealed among the vegetation. Naruto, being in the state he was in, lost stamina and before long, he had to stop for a break.
"D-did I lose him?" Naruto asked in between gasps for air, more to himself than anyone else. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura answered and Naruto didn't seem to mind. He looked around, scanning the terrain, and found a small clearing up ahead with several large rock formations jutted from the ground -- the ideal spot to use his ultimate technique. He smiled grimly and, picking up the forms of his friends, bounded to the open area.
Orochimaru smirked. He watched in silence as the blonde tried to hide his load behind a thick bush. Thinking that he was triumphant, the boy entered the clearing in wait of his hunter.
"What are you waiting for, bakayarou?!" Naruto called out, "I'm right here and I'm not going to run away. Come and face me!" Orochimaru took this opportunity to throw a few shurinken at the cocky brat, all of which hit their target. A resounding pop filled the air and he almost rolled his eyes when a log was in place of where Naruto was once standing. How stupid could this boy be? He could sense the boy's chakra from above and sure enough, when he looked up, he saw a pair of sky blue eyes looking at him as if to say, "Oh yeah, I'm good." He scowled, however, when he sensed another presence too late and was kicked out of hiding. Those damn shadow clones were starting to piss him off.
Orochimaru picked himself up from the ground and dusted the dirt from his clothes. He was peeved, to say the least, that he'd been caught off guard, and especially by the likes of Naruto. He saw his chance and summoned one of his snake monsters to finish off the source of his irritation.
Naruto cursed. Oh shit. He was tired and almost out of chakra, and now he was up against one of Orochimaru's pets. This was just great. The snake coiled up, then struck out at him. He managed to dodge, but the second stike with its tail hit him dead on, smashing him into a nearby tree. Annoying laughter met his ears.
"The 'Number One Loud-Mouth Ninja' seems to have met his match, don't you agree, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru taunted. Naruto seethed at the comment, but secretly he was glad to be teased. This would help him gather more power.
"Teme, if you think this is over, guess again," Naruto replied with a small laugh. Orochimaru shrugged and ordered his summoned beast to attack once more. Naruto barely avoided being skewered by one of the snake's fangs and was able to keep away from its whipping tail. Orochimaru sighed and shook his head.
"This is futile, Naruto-kun," he said, obviously bored but with a hint of amusement, "You should give up. It'll save us both some trouble." Naruto glared at him. "Besides," he added, "She's hungry." He motioned to the huge reptile.
"I-I --" Naruto began, but was unable to finish.
"Kanashibari no Jutsu!"
Naruto was in a full body bind and couldn't even blink. The serpent slithered its way towards him and swallowed him in one gulp. Though the fight was short and easy, Orochimaru felt exhilarated. He hadn't felt this way since...well, since his last battle with The Third Hokage, but that was ages ago -- three years, to be exact. Maybe it was because he knew that he had just defeated the legendary fox demon, though only because it was trapped inside the inferior body of that boy. This thought led him back to his objective and he turned to find Sasuke, his future vessel.
Orochimaru was unable to walk a few feet before spinning around to see his snake's head swell and explode. What was left was a writhing body and about three dozen shadow clones covered in stomach juices. They all wiped their faces on their sleeves and he noticed, with a tiny amount of surprise, that their eyes were blood red and in slits, like those of a feline.
"Omae! I will NOT be killed in this battle! I will NEVER let you take Sasuke!" The demon's energy radiated from each of the copies, but the strongest waves were coming from the original Naruto. He bared his teeth and narrowed his eyes, making himself seem more menacing than before.
"The demon makes itself known at last," clapping cut through the tension, "I was going to attend to my business, but apparently I will have to rid myself of your presence first. As much as I'd love to draw out your death, I need to make this as fast as possible. I don't have time for this." Orochimaru's calm, quiet voice came to Naruto's ears. Since he was in 'fox mode', he could pick up exactly what the snake summoner was saying. A growl emanated from the back of his throat as the one with pale skin smiled evilly. He sent his clones in to meet Orochimaru's seemingly off- guard self, but was painfully reminded of how sharp he had to stay. Orochimaru's own clone was the one he attacked, and the real one appeared behind him with a powerful blow to the skull. Luckily, Naruto's cat-like reflexes allowed him a scant few milliseconds to react, thus softening the blow from lethal to head-jarring. "My, my, my, even with the demon fox, you're still too slow!" Orochimaru said in a sing-song voice.
"Teme!" Naruto had been smashed into the group, sliding a few feet away from his attacker, and he began to get up. Shakily at first, but once he made it to his feet, he stood firm and steady; even though his head was throbbing and he was seeing blurred edges. Orochimaru yawned.
"Good job, Naruto-kun! I didn't expect you to survive that. I guess I can't underestimate you now, can I?" the dark haired man said in a patronizing tone. Naruto scowled and charged his enemy alone; his clones were busy trying to keep Orochimaru's clones from reaching him.
"Arrogant bastard! That'll be the biggest understatement of the year!" Naruto's fist squarely connected with the smooth skin of Orochimaru's jaw and a crack was heard. Orochimaru stumbled back a step and looked at Naruto with fire in his eyes. He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and glared. He was met with an equally, if not more, intense glare from his opponent.
"Looks like I'm going to have to put in a little effort," Orochimaru drawled. Naruto screamed a war cry and launched himself for another attack. He had no chance of getting another hit in, however, because Orochimaru had already disappeared from his line of site.
"'Kuso!" Naruto cursed and flipped himself in midair in time to see Orochimaru's shurinken heading straight for him. 'Just a little more time...' Naruto twisted and five of them managed to graze him while three flew past. 'I need more energy...'
"Impressive, but not good enough, Naruto-kun!" Orochimaru's taunting voice came from above and below at the same time. Too disoriented from being upside-down in the air, Naruto could only block the attack of the clone coming from the ground. Where were his clones when he needed them?! Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that only two or three were left trying to defend against the Orochimaru-clones' onslaught.
A kunai embedded itself into his left side, missing the heart by a few inches. He grunted in pain but still kicked the hand connected to the weapon away, causing the sharp dagger to go with it. He landed on his ride side and clutched at his left.
"Understatement? I think not," Orochimaru said and licked the warm blood from the blade off. Naruto looked both appalled and furious, but his expressions were quickly shut behind a smirking face.
"You got that right!" Naruto said as he stood again. His right hand left his side and he pointed to the pale man, "You'll be begging for mercy soon enough!" Truth be told, Naruto was feeling like he would pass out any second. The hit to the head before was more damaging than he had originally thought and he was losing a decent amount of blood from his wounds. He wobbled just a bit when he took a step, but it was enough for Orochimaru to notice.
"Looks like we're not feeling well today, Naruto-kun! Let's continue this another day. Unless, of course, you want to die now," Orochimaru said, clearly not planning to give Naruto the first option but saying it anyway to get on the blond shinobi's nerves.
"Like hell you're running away!" Naruto rushed blindly into battle. His vicious attacks were side-stepped and dodged, but his strength never failed. On the contrary, he was putting more and more power into his punches and kicks, getting closer and closer to his intended target. His chakra blended with that of the Nine-tails and was almost suffocating.
Orochimaru hissed through clenched teeth when one of Naruto's wild punches hit him on his arm. He backed away and examined the injury, finding his sleeve scorched and his skin burned. He narrowed his eyes in realization that he would have to end the fight if he didn't want to risk further damage.
"Senei Jashuu!" Twin snakes extended from Orochimaru's sleeve and sank their fangs into Naruto's ankles. Soon, Naruto was sent careening into one of the huge rock pieces, which shattered against the momentum of his body. The deadly snakes kept their jaws clamped tightly around Naruto's ankles and Orochimaru began to swing Naruto like a whip. He succeeded in destroying most of the trees and rocks in the area before Naruto sliced the snakes' head off with some well aimed kunai. Naruto landed atop the last standing rock and was having a hard time trying to keep his balance.
'Damnit, it's still not enough. I need more strength. More power. More...please, I need more.' Somehow he felt as though the Nine-tails had answered his call. He could feel the evil chakra coursing through his veins and his senses heightened ten-fold. Orochimaru swore under his breath and Naruto chuckled, "Finally getting scared, are you?"
"I have to admit, the Nine-tails' chakra is incredible, but," Orochimaru suddenly disappeared then reappeared behind Naruto, "You're going to need more than that to defeat me." His eyes widened when he realized that Naruto was facing him with a calm expression.
"Fast enough for you?" Naruto made a well-placed kick and knocked Orochimaru from the giant rock. The snake summoner's Senei Jashuu coiled around Naruto's waist and he was yanked down as well. Regardless, both ninja landed gracefully, though one more graceful than the other. Naruto staggered and dropped to one knee. He held his right ankle, which had begun to swell greatly. The rest of his injuries were already healed, courtesy of the demon's chakra, but the bite marks on his ankles and his searing headache remained.
"I see the poison has started to take effect," Orochimaru observed. He went for Naruto's opening but was met with nothing but air.
"Doton Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!" A hand sprang from the ground and grabbed Orochimaru's leg, pulling him neck-deep into the Earth. Naruto was about to finish his opponent off when he heard a breath behind him. He whirled around to see Orochimaru standing alone where all his clones once were.
"Darn, and I was hoping to do a sneak attack. Well, having fun with my clone, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru said with a smile. Naruto balked.
"Your clone?!" Naruto screamed and pointed at the head in the ground.
"Hai. I was fighting your shadow clones since the beginning and used my own in order to gauge your strength. See?" Naruto heard a familiar pop and the Orochimaru he had been fighting was gone.
"Nani?! I just kicked it in the head! It should've disappeared if it's a shadow clone!" Naruto protested. He didn't like the idea that he was having so much difficulty fighting only the clone. He knew Orochimaru was strong, but not that strong. He shook with suppressed nervousness and fear, something Orochimaru had been anticipating. He wouldn't accept it. He couldn't! His eyelids were slowly closing and he swayed a bit, but then he saw it -- the burn on Orochimaru's arm. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Ahh, I get it now. You used the Kawarimi with your clone while I was underground and hid to prepare your attack! You dirty bastard!"
"Alas, Naruto-kun has seen through my ploy. And dirty? I think not. It's all battle tactics, something every good shinobi respects." Orochimaru said, chastising. Naruto swallowed his remark, but the statement stayed with him. It burned within his throbbing skull.
'Every good shinobi, ne? I'll show him. Just a bit longer...' Naruto thought as he drew more chakra from the demon inside of him. He needed a plan to stall for time, however, because Orochimaru's attacks were getting closer. A kunai grazed his cheek and he knew that he couldn't conserve all of his chakra for his final technique if he wanted to live. "Uzumaki Naruto Rendan!" Four shadow clones appeared and they, along with the original, proceeded to attack with a flurry of limbs.
Orochimaru flung several shurinken at one of the Narutos and they all hit critical spots. The clone disappeared with a pop. Four Narutos stopped and surrounded Orochimaru, each with the intent to kill. After three more attempts, only one Naruto was left.
"It's over." The blond shinobi only closed his eyes and smiled. "What? Do you honestly think you can beat me?" Orochimaru asked, skeptically.
"I can and I will," Naruto said calmly. 'He's right...it's over...' he smirked, '...for him.' Naruto had finally gathered enough power inside of him and could now use his devastating attack. He concentrated on releasing all of his chakra at once, and then screamed, "NARUTO BAKUDAN NO JUTSU!"
A blinding flash of light filled the sky, followed by an explosion of chakra from Naruto's body that burned everything in the vicinity into cinders. The light cleared and what was left was a crater with a kilometer radius. Naruto stood in the middle with smoke rising from his charred clothes. His forehead protector lay partly covered by a layer of dust. He felt drained and his head hurt like hell. His eyes fell on the form of Orochimaru, who was still standing with his arms raised in front to block the blow.
Orochimaru's arms were red and blistering, and the cloth hung in tattered, blackened pieces. Naruto could only utter a sound of disbelief before his vision wavered and he fell forward. The thump echoed in the sudden silence of the forest around them.
Orochimaru's arms fell limp at his side. He dropped to his knees and coughed up blood, which splattered to the ground. He narrowed his eyes at the lifeless body of Naruto, who was only a few meters away. Where had all that chakra come from? It didn't make any sense. If he hadn't put up a shield jutsu, he would've been dead already. 'I should've realized that the demon fox was no creature to toy with. Now I see why Itachi-kun was so keen on retrieving this boy.'
He appeared next to Naruto by using a teleportation jutsu with great difficulty. He saw the slight rise and fall of Naruto's shoulders and was about to deal the finishing blow when a thought struck him.
Why take the Sharingan when he could have the power of the demon fox? Which was greater? Why not save the trouble of capturing Sasuke-kun, who would probably already be with ANBU forces, and take Naruto-kun instead? If worst comes to worst, he could just make an exchange: Naruto-kun for Sasuke- kun. Yes, it made perfect sense to take Naruto as a hostage. It was a win- win situation. Orochimaru laid a hand on Naruto's prone form and the two of them disappeared.
Elsewhere in the forest, a pair of dark eyes peered out from under a covering of leaves. Sasuke recognized that chakra the moment he had seen the light. 'Naruto...' He was no longer paralyzed, but he couldn't leave Sakura's side. She was still unconscious and Naruto had specifically asked that he make sure she was alright. 'That baka...'
Before, when Naruto had thrown those kunai at Orochimaru, he used his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and created four clones; two of which went to hide Sasuke and Sakura and two that transformed into Sasuke and Sakura. The original Naruto then grabbed the clones of his friends and fled, luring Orochimaru away from the susceptible bodies of his real friends. Sasuke snorted. He couldn't believe Orochimaru fell for that hastily thought up plan, but Naruto always surprised him by doing the impossible.
Sasuke was worried for his rival, comrade, and lover. What had caused him to use that attack? He had only seen it done once before, from a distance, but he knew that it was highly effective and extremely dangerous to use. Naruto was out for almost half a day afterwards.
Bright green eyes opened slowly and Haruno Sakura blinked, then bolted up against her brain's protest. She had a killer headache, but otherwise, she was alright. She looked around and there was Sasuke-kun. He was sitting next to her and they were both hiding somewhere, that was for certain. But where was Naruto? What the heck happened when she passed out?
Sasuke thought about the fight that was probably going on between Naruto and Orochimaru. He felt irritated that he was unable to assist in the battle, but Naruto did request he stay with Sakura, adding that he wouldn't have been any help in the first place.
'Damn, Naruto, we made a promise. A promise! You have to be alright, Naruto!' Sasuke slammed his fist into the ground and revelled in the pain that shot up his arm. He hated feeling useless. He knew Orochimaru was always after him and that Naruto had drawn the fight away so that he could be safe, but, damnit, he was the genius ninja! He was the one who was supposed to do the protecting! Not the other way around! He punched the ground again and was about to do so a third time when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Sasuke-kun?"
"Sakura?!" he turned his head in astonishment. He hadn't even noticed that she was awake already. He was about to comment on that, but she cut him off.
"Where's Naruto? He's alright, isn't he?" Sasuke looked away.
"Naruto's just -- He just..." Sasuke couldn't continue. It was hard talking about Naruto when he didn't know if he was dead or alive. Sakura could feel the distress from Sasuke's few words and she squeezed his shoulder in reassurance.
"Naruto always comes back, ne?"
"Hai." Sasuke's voice cracked. Sakura hugged the normally stoic boy, who was less withdrawn ever since he and Naruto had gotten together a little over two years ago. Only traces of the original Sasuke were left and she was afraid of what would happen if Naruto were gone. Would Sasuke revert back to his old state? Quiet, indifferent, and always seeking vengeance? She shuddered at the thought.
"Can you move, Sakura? Are you alright?" Sasuke's voice snapped her from her reverie.
She nodded and he stood, "Good. I want you to go back to Konoha Village and get Kakashi-sensei and the others. It's in that direction," he pointed to the north, "At your usual speed, it'll take about two hours."
"Matte, what about you, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura stood and stretched out a bit. Her joints were stiff from lying on the hard ground for so long.
"I...I will be going to help Naruto." Sakura's eyes widened.
"Demo, Sasuke-kun, Naruto..." She didn't need to finish her comment.
"He's fine."
"Alright, be careful then." Sakura looked at him uneasily before taking off to find help.
Sasuke leapt from branch to branch in the direction of where the light had shone from. After a while, he found himself at the edge of a monstrous crater. 'Shimatta, Naruto...' He slid down the slope and ran towards the center. He knew that Naruto and Orochimaru were not there, but he wanted to find some clues as to what happened and where they could be fighting.
A gleam caught his eye and he rushed over. To his utter horror, he found Naruto's forehead protector lying on the ground. 'He would never leave this. Even with Zabuza so long ago. What could this mean?' Nearby, he saw a bloodstain and some evidence that someone had fallen.
"Chikuso! Naruto, where the hell are you?!" Sasuke screamed to the sky.
Orochimaru appeared on the dingy floor of his secret hide-out. Ever since his last failed attempt at destroying Konoha Village, he had been in hiding while slowly building his power. He had managed to run into Group 7 and used a genjutsu to put them in an illusion, but that damn Sakura figured it out and cancelled it. After that, he knocked the girl out and the other two came at him.
Orochimaru coughed some more blood into his hand and slumped forward, on top of Naruto. No one objected on the action because they were both out cold.
Several hours later, Orochimaru awakened. He knew he was in his place, but he was confused about why the floor was warm...and breathing. He snapped his eyes open and pushed himself back. He bit his lower lip to stop from crying out and cradled his arms with each other.
Naruto also woke up when he felt something moving. He tried to get up, but collapsed miserably when he put pressure on his ankle. "Where am I?!"
"Ahh, Naruto-kun, you're awake!" Orochimaru said with faked enthusiasm. Naruto had to strain his eyes in the darkness before he made out the shape in front of him.
"Naruto-kun? My name is Naruto? Wait, who the hell are you?!" Naruto said and pointed at Orochimaru. His head was pounding relentlessly and he was having trouble focussing.
"Oh dear, it seems like my poor partner has lost his memory. I'm Orochimaru." he said with a flourish. It was entirely unplanned, but it opened the door to a whole new set of opportunities. With Naruto as his new sidekick and Sasuke's body, they'd be an unstoppable force of destruction.
"How do I know you're not lying?! Where the hell are we anyway?!" Naruto shouted, raising his voice. That was a bad idea and he ended up clutching at his head to make it stop swimming. Orochimaru sounded very familiar indeed, but he needed to make sure.
"I escaped with you from our last battle, I know you're seventeen, turning eighteen in October, your favourite food in the whole entire world is ramen, and you want to be the strongest ninja there ever was. Would I lie to you, Naruto-kun?" He sighed, trying to sound sincere. Everything he said was true. It was just extra information he had gathered while keeping tabs on Sasuke. "After all we've been through, don't you trust me? I guess it's really up to you. I understand you must be so disoriented right now. Just take your time. It'll come back eventually."
"I --" Naruto bowed his head and closed his eyes. After a few minutes of uncertainty, he finally said, "I will trust you, Orochimaru-kun."
All Orochimaru could do was smirk.
AN: laughs I can SO see some OrochiNaru happening right now. Poor, poor Naruto and his easily manipulated self. sighs I had this typed up before, but I couldn't upload because ffnet was down. Sorry non-yaoi fans, but there will be more SasuNaru, etc. in the next chapters. Thanks for reading!
All the attack names were from the Naruto Guide. I'm not sure if the Naruto Bakudan no Jutsu is an actual move, but since The SOC Puppet said that it was in 'Bloodlines', I'm going with that.
Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! I want ItaNaru! . It's so cute! I don't know whether it's second or third best anymore (first is SasuNaru, of course! The tied one is KakaIru.).
Gomen if there are any obvious errors (me saying that he fell down, but then he's suddenly up again) and I hate it when I reuse sayings, so please tell me! (ie: 'He fell to the ground.' at the beginning of two different paragraphs.)
Right now I'm in a Hunter X Hunter craze. I'm downloading the 'Greed Island' OAV's and I've read to half of volume 15. If anyone can tell me where to find anymore scanlated manga, I'd greatly appreciate it!
Likey? No likey? Please leave a review and tell me what you think!