Like a Ninja

P.S.: I originally wanted this chapter to focus on Orochimaru, but it went off track... and depressed me too... so there's only one update...

The evening class was with the counselor, and I had to get there early to grab a seat... a seat in the back... so this came early...

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"Rumble, rumble..."

The violent tremors and thunderous noise spread in every direction. The examinees scattered throughout the area raised their heads, all looking uncertain and alarmed.

"What was that?" The three dark-skinned Kumogakure ninjas looked at one another. It felt as though the earth itself had trembled just now.

"That was way too exaggerated. Was that a battle?"

"Judging by the sound... it should be around four kilometers away, in the seven o'clock direction..." The Sound Ninja Trio was still searching for Sasuke, carrying out the task Orochimaru had assigned them... kill him.

They could never have imagined that the terrifying Orochimaru they knew was currently trapped in a desperate situation, surrounded by numerous powerful Konoha ninjas who were no weaker than him.

Byakugan!

Veins bulged around Neji's eyes as Chakra surged into them. He pushed his vision to its limit in the single direction the rumbling had come from! His black-and-white inverted vision rushed forward. Closer, closer...

"That is..." Neji saw the black curtain wall of the Four Red Yang Formation, as well as Sasuke and Hinata standing outside it. Neither of them moved as they stared at the interior beyond the black wall.

But Neji could not see through the curtain wall. He could only make out vague human figures moving back and forth inside the barrier. A battle had probably broken out.

"What is it, Neji?" "What did you see?" Tenten and Rock Lee hurriedly asked.

Neji withdrew his gaze, deactivated his Byakugan, and closed his eyes. "It's a barrier, an extremely powerful one. Sasuke and Hinata are standing outside it... It's too far away. I can't see what's happening inside."

"Hinata?" "Sasuke?" Tenten and Rock Lee looked at each other.

They had not seen Naruto Uzumaki, the top rookie... Was he inside the barrier...? Neji silently wondered. Opening his eyes, he said calmly, "Let's go. We need to get near the tower as quickly as possible, obtain the scrolls, and prepare for the next exam."

Inside the tower were Gaara and the other two, who had already passed the second exam.

After finishing the food Konoha had provided, Temari and Kankuro sat quietly where they were to rest. They had passed too quickly, and more than four days remained in the exam, so they still had to stay here for the full four days...

Neither of them noticed the faint noise that had come from outside earlier.

Gaara stood against the wall with his arms folded and his eyes closed, his fingers tapping irritably against his arm again and again.

That guy... I'll definitely kill him...

Killing intent churned in Gaara's heart.

Hey! Brat! Shukaku's voice suddenly rang out.

His fingers stopped. Gaara raised his head coldly, looking at the giant monster inside his body without expression. What is it?

Didn't you sense it? That hateful Chakra from that fox earlier? Shukaku snorted. Compared to that damned fox's Jinchuriki, why did his own Jinchuriki seem to be a whole level worse?

Gaara opened his eyes and silently walked toward the exit.

"Where are you going, Gaara?" Temari and Kankuro immediately tensed up. Ever since encountering that blond Konoha brat in the Forest of Death, Gaara's mental state had remained unstable.

If he went berserk now, then their plan with the Sound Ninja would be ruined.

Gaara was the most important fighting force in that plan.

"If you keep babbling, I'll kill you." Without turning his head, Gaara walked out the door and looked toward the forest. Sure enough... there was an aura of his own kind fluctuating there. Was it that guy?

Mother, don't worry... I'll let you taste that person's blood...

"This is..." Karin stared in shock at Kushina, who had Naruto bound up, then looked questioningly at Naruto's Shadow Clone beside her.

"Mom..." Naruto's Shadow Clone stared in utter shock at the appearance of the original. Then, rage gradually drove his brows into a tight frown. He gritted his teeth. "That bastard Orochimaru..."

Is that his mother...? Right, he said his name was Naruto Uzumaki... Was his mother from the Uzumaki Clan too...?

For some reason, that thought gave Karin a faint sense of reassurance.

"I didn't know where else to go... so I transferred here... You don't mind, do you... Mom..." The original Naruto lowered his head and forced a smile.

Kushina lowered her eyes. "..." The chains erupting from her back wrapped around Naruto, restraining his power—especially the Nine-Tails' Chakra within him. She could clearly sense that the restraining force was continuously growing stronger.

She smiled faintly and said softly, "Naruto... you've grown up..."

The original Naruto stood with his back to his mother and said nothing. The clone beside Karin endured his grief and forced out a smile. "Mom, it's rare for us to meet... Can't we talk about the things a mother and son should talk about?"

Smack! All the chains behind Kushina detached from her body and heavily wrapped themselves around the original Naruto layer after layer. A powerful urge to fight surged uncontrollably through Kushina's body. Her hands rapidly formed seals, and she pressed a powerful supplementary Sealing Jutsu onto Naruto's chains.

The chains tightened even further.

The original Naruto lowered his head even more.

Karin was completely unable to understand what was happening. Weren't they mother and son? Why did it look like they were fighting? Had they argued?

"Naruto, you learned the Shadow Clone, learned the Rasengan, and even learned your father's Flying Thunder God Technique..." Tears continuously welled in Kushina's eyes, yet a ball of Chakra formed uncontrollably in her hand!

"Mom is so happy! But..."

Rasengan! Kushina attacked Naruto's Shadow Clone.

Naruto rolled awkwardly to the side, barely dodging it. His hand gripped the ground tightly as he pleaded, "Mom, I... I ate breakfast properly every day... Though I sometimes stayed up late, it was for training, so I couldn't help it... I tried to bathe every day too, but training was so exhausting that I really didn't want to move...

"I also got along well with everyone... The textbook material was really hard to understand, but I truly worked hard! I was always first in school... I accomplished what you couldn't, Mom... I listened to my teachers too, but Iruka-sensei could be really long-winded sometimes..."

Kushina struck out with her palm!

Naruto was sent flying, rolling a long distance across the ground.

"What are you two doing?! Aren't you mother and son? What exactly is going on here?!" Karin simply could not understand the situation. But the mother and son before her had no intention of paying attention to her... and that drove her crazy.

The clone Naruto pushed himself up from the ground. "Pervy Sage might like peeping... but he's a master I respect! And his novels taught me so, so much... Also, I met Dad and you, Mom, inside my body..."

He wiped the corner of his mouth, forcibly suppressing his emotions as he pulled out a smile uglier than crying. "I'm so happy! Even after Dad and Mom died, you were still watching over me! I really feel so blessed... I listened, okay? My dream is to become Hokage. I'll become an even cooler ninja than Dad! I worked hard every day... I, I..."

"Stop talking!! You..." Kushina's palm hung in midair. Veins bulged on her forehead, and her arm trembled violently as she desperately tried to control her attack...

"You..."

Tears streamed down her face. She had long since been sobbing too hard to speak properly.

"Get up and stand like a ninja, Naruto Uzumaki!! You're your father's son, the Fourth Hokage's son, aren't you?! Didn't you say you wanted to become Hokage?! Then fight like a Hokage!!!"

Kushina screamed herself hoarse.

The original Naruto's shoulders finally began trembling uncontrollably. He raised the head he had kept lowered all this time. His face was already streaked with tears! His expression was that of a helpless child!

"How... how could I attack you, Mom?!" he shouted with his eyes closed!

The attack command Orochimaru had given when using the Impure World Reincarnation forcibly drove Kushina's body. Kushina's fist struck Naruto on the ground once more. She grabbed the clone Naruto and lifted him up, staring tightly into her son's azure-blue eyes, eyes just like her husband's—so beautiful, so prideful...

She growled softly, "But I'm already dead! Don't you understand?! Your mother... is already a dead person!!"

The original Naruto's face had practically twisted out of shape.

Naruto! Your emotions are extremely unstable! Calm down! Were all your efforts these past years for nothing?! Is your will really this weak?! Where is the strength you showed in the face of death?! Do you want to lose to someone like Orochimaru?!

The Nine-Tails inside him sensed Naruto's mental state. Only then did it realize... the Naruto before it and the Naruto it had acknowledged through the Chakra of the "Future Naruto," through the Chakra of its "other self," were ultimately two different people.

He was only a child.

Though he had tried hard to be strong, and had nearly managed it, he still had a vulnerable side.

The reason he acted like a child before his parents and that other self... was because he truly was still just a child, wasn't he?

"So, Naruto..." Kushina held the clone Naruto by the collar. Another Rasengan formed in her other hand as she tearfully begged, "Please... don't... let Mom hurt you anymore... okay?"

"AAAAAAAAAH!!"

The original Naruto finally could not hold it in any longer and threw back his head in a wild roar. Golden Chakra surged around him like a raging storm, instantly blasting away layer after layer of Chakra chains and seals.