Naruto:A New Path

Team Sarutobi Reunites

Kabuto sighed as he watched Shizune's unconscious form. Tsunade's assistant was locked in a cell, with her arms cuffed to the wall. It was a real shame that Orochimaru had discouraged any type of experiments on this woman, it did make sense since Tsunade was a medic ninja and would check on Shizune the minute she got her hands on her. It was true that precautions needed to be taken when dealing with someone of Tsunade's caliber but he didn't understand why they should delay his experiments if they were going to kill Tsunade in the end.
"A real shame…" Kabuto muttered with a smirk. Shizune was a powerful ninja, she had been able to counteract the poison he put into her when she and Tsunade were busy with Orochimaru. It was a tricky plan to pull but it was thanks to the senbon's small size that the plan succeeded. If only he could experiment on someone so close to his own power, then he would gain the strength he needed.
Kabuto chuckled. "Who knows? I might be able to make Lord Orochimaru keep her," he said before leaving the holding cell with a smirk on his face.
Tsunade panted, it had been a long time since she had ran for so long using chakra and it was straining her body. She stood in front of a cave and held a paper with the location of the base on her right hand. This was the place where Shizune was being held, this was Orochimaru's base and she would kill the bastard for threatening Shizune's life. She didn't have many things left and she would be damned if anybody took them away.
She prepared to enter but was stopped by two Sound ninja with masks covering their faces, they wore outfits similar to that of the ANBU and she guessed that Orochimaru had his own kind of ANBU squad. She didn't know how powerful they were but she knew that they were not the level of Konoha's, it was a given since he hadn't been able to deal a powerful blow to the village.
"State you're business," one of the masked ninja said in a threatening tone.
"I was told to come here by Orochimaru," Tsunade responded, "I am Tsunade."
The two got quiet for a minute until one of them stepped towards her. "Very well, I will take you to lord Orochimaru," he said as he took out a chakra suppressing seal, "You are to wear this if you wish to enter."
Tsunade snarled. "I won't put that damned thing on!" she snapped with anger on her eyes, "He should be grateful I came here."
The masked ninja growled and took out a kunai, "Listen you, this is not your petty little village. You are to follow our rule-"
"Is there a problem here?" came a voice from inside the cave. The two masked man instantly froze and kneeled down.
"N-not at all Lord Kabuto," answered one of the ninja, "She just disagreed to put on a chakra suppressing seal."
Kabuto sighed and stepped out of the cave. "You two should show more respect to Lady Tsunade. She was Lord Orochimaru's teammate after all," he said with a frown. The two man froze and stood still, knowing that the slightest movement might get them killed. Kabuto was the second in command and he would use Sound ninja for his experiments if angered, "Come with me Lady Tsunade, I assure you that you will be treated with respect."
Kabuto gave Tsunade a fake smile and motioned for her to follow. Tsunade frowned but followed after Orochimaru's assistant, he was a strange one and she found him to be very similar to Orochimaru. She would play along for now, she still needed to get Shizune out of there and meeting with Orochimaru was the only way she could.
Jiraiya and Naruto watched Tsunade enter the base from afar. They were hidden among the trees and kept their chakra levels low as not to be spotted. The two Sound ninja went back to their spots and guarded the base, unknowingly giving the two Leaf ninja a perfect angle in which to strike.
Naruto turned to his master a little uncertain, still having trouble with the idea of killing. Jiraiya turned to his student and raised three fingers, indicating when they would strike. The blond's heart beat rose in nervousness, he knew that he must kill the target or else the whole plan would become exposed and Shizune would be killed. He was a ninja and couldn't afford to let his emotions ruin the mission. The blond hardened his emotions and got ready for his first kill.
Three
Two
One
Jiraiya sprung from his hiding spot onto one of the Sound ninjas and broke his neck with a hard palm-strike to the face. The other ninja was about to alert the others but before he could a blade sliced through his throat. The last thing he saw was a pair of hardened blue eyes.
"Let's go after Tsunade but remember to keep quiet," Jiraiya said with a slight nod at Naruto's work, "Hold your invisibility jutsu until I tell you otherwise." The sage's invisibility jutsu was unique. It not only made the user invisible but it allowed others who knew the exact technique to see each other, this was done by knowing what to look for.
"Right Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto said with a nod.
The two entered the base without looking back at the two bodies. Naruto still held Asuma's blade on his right hand with transparent blood trailing down the cold metal. The blond felt remorse but oppressed it, he was in the middle of a mission and he couldn't afford to let his emotions get the best of him.
' It's just like the others,' Jiraiya thought, referring to the layout of Orochimaru's base. So far, all of the bases Jiraiya had been into had the same snake pattern on the floor. The bases consisted of many hallways that looked exactly the same, making it a maze of sorts. They arrived at a crossroads and Jiraiya knew that he would have to do something he didn't want. The best way to catch up to Tsunade and lend her a hand would be to split up with Naruto but that would be risky. Naruto was still shaken by his first kill, although he didn't show it, and he would probably end up running into all the dead ends of the base.
' But is the only way we can get there on time,' the sage thought with a frown. He stole a glance of his transparent student and saw the look of determination on his eyes. The blond was ready for whatever came at him and Jiraiya knew that he would do well.
"Naruto," Jiraiya whispered, getting the attention of said blond, "We have to split up, otherwise we won't get to Tsunade in time."
Naruto nodded in agreement. "Got it," he responded, "What about any other Sound ninja we'll encounter?"
"Same rules apply," the sage responded in a serious voice, "You are to kill them if they manage to spot you, do not attract any unnecessary attention to yourself."
"Understood," Naruto said before going down the right hallway.
Jiraiya couldn't help but chuckle at the blond. The kid was much like his father sometimes. Minato too would harden his emotions when forced to kill and would oppress his real emotions, he seemed depressed for days after his first kill until his future wife smacked some sense into him. It seemed that Naruto had inherited that unhealthy quality from his father. He glanced once more at Naruto before going down the left hall with a serious expression on his face, it would be a hard mission but he knew that they would pull through and hoped that someone would be there to cheer Naruto up when they returned to Konoha.
Tsunade followed Kabuto into a very large room with a giant statue of a snake glaring at the entranceway. There were wooden doors all throughout the walls and finally there was a kind of throne underneath the statue and that is where Orochimaru sat with a smirk plastered on his face. The legendary medic glared at the snake summoner, he had always been a twisted person and she wanted nothing more than to kill him on the spot.
"Glad to see you could make it Tsunade…" Orochimaru said with a chuckle, "But it seems you came a little early, I gave you a week to get here didn't I?"
"Something came up," Tsunade responded, thinking back at the meeting with Jiraiya and Naruto, "Where's Shizune?"
Orochimaru smirked. "Straight to the point as always Tsunade," the snake summoner nodded to Kabuto. The silver-headed ninja bowed before leaving the room through one of the many wooden doors, "Kabuto will bring back Shizune and the ninja I want you to heal."
"Alright," Tsunade said with a frown. There was something wrong, everything was too easy, simply heal someone and then leave like it never happened. This was not how Orochimaru acted, he was hiding something and Tsunade would make sure to watch herself.
Naruto walked through the halls of the base. He was getting annoyed with the place, every single hallway looked exactly the same. There was no telling if he was making progress or simply walking in circles. The blond was very impatient and began to contemplate the idea of swarming the place with clones.
The blond heard footsteps and leaned against the wall of the hall, to avoid bumping into whoever was approaching. The sound of footsteps got closer and he made out the outline of two people walking though the dimly lighted hallway.
' That's…' Naruto thought in disbelief. Kabuto, from the Chunin Exams, was walking through the hallways of Orochimaru's base as if he owned the place. A Sound ninja with white hair and an outfit similar to Orochimaru's was walking next to him with an unconscious woman on his shoulder. Kabuto and the Sound ninja turned a corner with Naruto on their trail, 'I'll get to the bottom of this.'
Jiraiya walked through yet another hall of Orochimaru's base. The sage had made a mental map of the place and hoped that it was accurate. From what he had seen in the other bases, Orochimaru always had a main room which he would use for whatever it was he did. That certain room always had more than one way in. If there were more halls that led into that room then there was a high chance that he and Naruto would make it there eventually.
The sage had been following a mental path that would lead him into that main room, he only hoped that it was correct since he knew that he didn't have much time to waste. In one hand, Tsunade was probably face to face with Orochimaru at the moment while on the other Naruto was a time bomb, the blond was impatient by nature and would end up getting into a fight for no reason.
' No time to lose,' Jiraiya thought with a frown as he made his way down the hall.
Tsunade watched as a Kabuto reentered the room followed by a Sound ninja with Shizune hanging from his shoulder. "Shizune!" Tsunade exclaimed in concern as she ran to her assistant.
Orochimaru nodded at his ninja. The Sound ninja complied and set Shizune on the floor. Tsunade was instantly by her side using her medical jutsu to see if they had done anything to her.
' There's nothing wrong with her except for the sleep serum running through her veins,' Tsunade thought with a relieved expression.
"That was my end of the bargain," Orochimaru said with a smirk, "I want you to heal Kimimaro here."
Tsunade glared at her once teammate. "What makes you think I'll do that?" she got into a fighting position and prepared to attack, "Do you take me for a fool?"
Orochimaru chuckled. "Are you that stupid Tsunade?" he smirked, "Do you really believe that you can fight me and two of my ninja while protecting an unconscious woman?"
Tsunade growled, knowing that Orochimaru was right. "Fine, I'll heal your ninja but if you try anything I'll kill you," she said with a glare.
"We don't want that, do we?" Orochimaru said with a chuckle.
Naruto stood outside a wooden door. Kabuto had gone in there a few minutes ago with the Sound ninja carrying who he assumed to be Shizune. Jiraiya had told him not to let himself known but Shizune was only a few steps away. He was sure that he stood a chance against Kabuto but knew that it would be risky fighting him while on the company of a Sound ninja. Luckily, they had left the door slightly ajar which meant that he could get in without being noticed but it would still be a great risk.
' I have to risk it. Shizune could be getting hurt and our objective was to protect here,' Naruto scolded himself before slowly making his way into the room.
He stifled a gasp when he saw three Sound ninja talking amongst themselves on a small table. The room was big and had the same layout as the halls. There were many tables around, he assumed that this was some kind of meeting room for the sound ninja, the blond looked around the room in an attempt to figure out what to do. He couldn't just kill them since he wouldn't be able to do it without making a hassle that would certainly alert Orochimaru of his presence.
Naruto decided to wait for the moment. The only other way out of the room was a closed wooden door. He wouldn't be able to get through it without alarming the ninja so why risk it. He would wait until his master made a move and only then would he make a move of his own.
Kimimaro's unconscious form laid on the floor with Tsunade looking over his body. The legendary medic had found the problem easily. He had apparently caught an old bacterial infection that would quickly reproduce and slowly eat the body from the inside. She was using her chakra to kill the bacteria while at the same time reconstructing the tissue that had been lost. The most difficult part was reconstructing the lungs since a small part of them were gone but she was a legendary medic after all. Overall, it was a dangerous illness but she was more than capable of healing it.
After a few minutes, Tsunade's hands stopped glowing green and she moved away from Kimimaro. "I'm done," she announced with a frown, "I'm leaving this place."
"Thank you for your help Tsunade," Orochimaru said with a chuckle. The snake summoner nodded at Kabuto and the latter stabbed his hand with a kunai.
"W-what?" Tsunade muttered. She froze seeing all the blood flow out of Kabuto's hand, the blood brought back painful memories from the past and she felt unable to move.
Orochimaru frowned in disgust. "How ridiculous being afraid of blood in your line of work is like a fisherman being afraid of fish. You have become truly pathetic due to your foolish emotions," he sneered, "Kill her."
"With pleasure," Kabuto answered as he took the bloodied kunai and charged at Tsunade.
The legendary medic couldn't move. There was too much blood around her that she felt lightheaded. No matter what she did, she wouldn't be able to dodge the attack. Kabuto raised the kunai and stabbed at Tsunade's heart. She watched as the blood covered kunai made its way to her heart and could do nothing to prevent it, the blood had terrified her beyond belief. She winced as the kunai slowly entered her skin but before it could completely enter, Kabuto was violently knocked across the room by an open palm.
"And you said you didn't need my help," Jiraiya said in his ever cheerful tone.
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya in disbelief. "W-what are you doing here?" she asked.
Jiraiya grinned. "You know me Tsunade," he chuckled and crossed his arms, "I'm not one to leave a lady by herself. What kind of person would I be then?" Tsunade managed to smile at her old teammate he had always been a fool, but a good kind of fool.
"Jiraiya," Orochimaru said with a frown on his face, "I should have known you would've trailed along."
"It's been a while Orochimaru," Jiraiya said with a frown.
A loud crashing noise was heard from the room Naruto was in and the blond watched as the three ninja prepared to charge into Orochimaru's chamber. He couldn't allow that, if his master had already moved then that meant that he had to make sure nobody interfered. He would have to kill the ninja before it was too late.
Naruto dropped his invisibility jutsu and held Asuma's blade on his right hand. The blond infused wind chakra into his blade and charged at the nearest ninja. The three Sound ninja turned at the sound of footsteps and saw a blond charging at them. Naruto jumped at one of the ninja, who could do nothing but watch as Naruto ran the blade through his torso before punching him away.
One of the Sound ninja threw a punch which Naruto easily ducked under only to see an upcoming kick. The blond brought his hands down to cover the kick before jumping off the ground to put some distance. He ran through hand signs and put a hand around his mouth. A powerful gust of wind came out of his mouth but the two Sound ninja jumped away before being hit.
Naruto smirked, they had fallen for it. He threw a kunai to each ninja but they dodged them easily, the throws had been clumsy and weak. The enemy ninja froze when the kunai stopped on their tracks and transformed into clones. The Sound ninja could do nothing as the two clones delivered a kick to their sides, making them groan in pain and knocked away from the impact. The enemy ninja crashed against each other before falling to the floor, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
Naruto infused wind chakra into his blade and charged at the two ninja, his plan was a success, the ninja would die by his hand. The Sound ninja could do nothing as the blond ran through them with his blade digging deep into their torso, ending their lives. The blond looked back at the corpses of the ninja and gritted his teeth. It was getting harder to control his emotions but he would do so for the well-being of the mission. The blond ran out of the room with his blade held on his hand. The battle had started but it sounded like it was far away, he had to hurry. The blond stopped on his tracks when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. The blond cursed and used his invisibility jutsu, for now he would hide in the shadows.
Orochimaru snarled, he had been a fool for not having taken the necessary precautions but Jiraiya's appearance had been all but expected. The snake summoner analyzed the situation, Kabuto was nowhere near Jiraiya's level but he could still stall Tsunade. However, he couldn't afford to have Kimimaro hurt since he would be his next vessel after all. The best thing to do at the moment would be having Kabuto take Kimimaro away before coming back and joining the fight with Jiraiya, Tsunade was paralyzed in fear so she wouldn't pose any real threat.
"Kabuto," Orochimaru called with a frown on his face. The faithful follower turned to his lord in response, "Take Kimimaro out of here, I don't want him to get hurt. As soon as you're done with that I want you to come back."
"Will be done," Kabuto said with a nod. The medic lifted Kimimaro bridal style and broke into a run for the door.
Jiraiya frowned and ran through hand signs. "Don't think I'll let you get away so easily. Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The sage brought a hand to his mouth before unleashing a fury of fire at Kabuto's retreating form.
As the attack got closer to Kabuto, thousands of snakes rose from the ground and made a strong wall in front of the Sound ninja. The fireball crashed into the wall of snakes in a powerful explosion that lit the whole room. Smoke filled the area leaving Jiraiya with no sight of either of his opponents. Suddenly, a small snake broke out of the smoke before being followed by thousands, creating a kind of giant wave.
' Damn it,' Jiraiya thought as he ran through hand signs. The snakes approached the sage but before they could get close, a giant wall of mud rose from the ground. One by one the snakes disappeared in puffs of smoke before the wall finally came down. As soon as the wall came down, the snakes were greeted by a giant fireball that scorched them on contact.
"You've gotten slower," Orochimaru said with a smirk as he moved to stand in front of Jiraiya, "It's a shame what time does to human bodies, is it not?"
"Tsunade," Jiraiya said as he glared at Orochimaru, "Take Shizune out of here and I'll catch up later."
"I-I can't," Tsunade responded, still frozen by the small pool of blood on the floor.
Jiraiya cursed, he knew of Tsunade's fear of blood but this was ridiculous. "Tsunade you have to leave, things will get dangerous here and Shizune will be put in danger!" he snapped, "Leave now."
"Die!" Orochimaru yelled as a snake came out of his mouth. The snake launched at Jiraiya before opening its mouth, revealing a long sharp sword.
The toad sage jumped away from the blade and ran through hand signs. "Earth Style: Dark Swamp!" The ground beneath Orochimaru's feet turned to mud, throwing the sword off track.
The snake summoner snarled before breaking into a smirk and turning into a pile of mud. Jiraiya gritted his teeth, if that had been a clone then where was the real Orochimaru? The sage looked around before finding him dangerously close to Tsunade with his blade on hand.
' Damn it!' Jiraiya cursed as he watched the sword descend upon Tsunade.
Kabuto ran through the hallways of the base with an unconscious Kimimaro on his arms. He knew that leaving Orochimaru to fight two of the legendary sannin was a bad move. The medic planned on leaving Kimimaro in one of the infirmaries he used before going to aid Orochimaru, it would be bad to have the snake summoner die so soon.
The Sound ninja approached a wooden door and kicked it open, he couldn't waste time. He entered the room and gasped in surprise. On the floor were two dead Sound ninjas in a pool of their own blood with large cuts on their torso, killed by a blade if he had to guess. He hadn't been expecting this, Orochimaru had told him all about Jiraiya's skills and he never mentioned him using a sword meaning that he had an accomplice.
"Wind Style: Air Bullets!" exclaimed a voice. Kabuto turned to his right and saw the approaching attack, an easy dodge he mused with a smirk on his face. The Sound ninja jumped away from the attack but his eyes widened when he felt a foot connect with his back, the power behind the kick rocked his whole body making him drop his hold on Kimimaro. Kabuto was knocked against the floor while Kimimaro fell lifelessly to the floor in a loud thud.
Kabuto quickly stood up and looked around the room. There was no sign of anyone there meaning that whoever attacked was using stealth to his advantage, a smart move indeed. He watched as a figure jumped down but stayed in the shadows.
' Got him,' Kabuto thought with a smirk as he disappeared in a small poof of smoke. He reappeared next to the figure and his eyes widened, 'N-Naruto?'
Naruto was taken aback by the sheer speed, it was certainly not Genin level, he had been wrong about the Sound ninja's strenght. Kabuto smirked as he used his chakra scalpel to strike the blond's heart. The attack made contact and life left Naruto's eyes. The Sound ninja couldn't help but smirk at the fool but his eyes widened when the blond broke into a grin before dispelling in a cloud of smoke.
"A clone?" Kabuto exclaimed in surprise.
Naruto appeared behind Kabuto with a swirling ball of chakra on his right hand. "Rasengan!" he yelled as he brought the attack to Kabuto's back.
Kabuto could do nothing as the attack dug into his back before launching him away from the blond in a show of pure power. The Sound ninja painfully crashed into the wall, feeling a few ribs break from the impact. He bounced off the wall and landed painfully on the ground, gasping in pain at the pain on his back and ribs.
Naruto watched as Kabuto moved a little before he stopped moving altogether. The blond turned his gaze to the unconscious Kimimaro and frowned, what should he do with him? He walked over to the Sound ninja and took out a kunai.
' Should I kill him?' Naruto thought as he pointed the kunai at Kimimaro's face. The ninja weapon moved towards the unconscious ninja's face, glinting slightly from the light of the room. Suddenly, a lone dripping noise echoed through the room. Naruto's head snapped up and he looked around the room, trying to find the source of the noise.
More dripping noises were heard and Naruto brought a hand to his cheek only to find it moist with tears. "W-why am I crying?" he asked himself as he turned his gaze from the unconscious ninja to the corpses around the room, "I can't hold it anymore... I-I don't want to kill anymore." Tears fell freely from Naruto's eyes, guilt from taking other lives was finally too much to bear. This pain of guilt couldn't be contained no matter how much he tried, he was turning into a murderer.
' I know it's for my village but I won't kill him,' Naruto thought, referring to Kimimaro. "I know I have to kill," he muttered to himself with his eyes darkened by his hair, "But I won't turn into a mindless murderer. I won't kill anyone who can't fight even if I'm asked to." The blond put the kunai away and turned to the door leading to Orochimaru's chamber, 'I'll show mercy whenever I can or else I'll go insane with all this guilt.' With that the blond left the room in order to go to his master's aid.
Kabuto squirmed on the ground, that damned blond had improved. He had been hurt for underestimating Naruto but that would never happen again, he was an elite ninja after all. Medical chakra surged through his body, healing all of the wounds but not completely. The attacks he had taken would take time to heal.
"That damned brat," Kabuto muttered with a smirk on his face, he would have the last laugh. Naruto wouldn't get away with hurting him like this. The damned fox would die in the end and he would make sure of that.