Chapter 26: Grudges and Sufferings
"Listen Lady, I need to go back and meet up with my team, we're participating in the exam ya know!" Naruto replied intent on leaving.
"Wait…" Anko tried to call out but Naruto had already left.
The ANBU members turned towards Anko
"Orochimaru, is an S-Class criminal, there is no possibility of a genin even being able to take on a man of his level, after all he is one of the legendary sanin." One of the men inferred.
"I am not able to accept it either, but this is where the battle took place….."
"Hear me out…."
"I want you all to investigate the battle site and then go on to report to Hokage-sama as soon as possible." Anko said as she went in another direction.
..
Soon it was late evening and it had been almost an hour since Anko went on a search.
She soon caught sight of a figure standing by a tree.
"That's him…."
Anko rushed forward and landed on the same branch of the tree Orochimaru was standing on.
"Anko…" Orochimaru recognised.
"You're level S-Class"
"An extremely dangerous person on the most wanted list."
"That's why I'll kill you here, even if it costs my life."
"That's my duty as you former subordinate, who learned it all from you…..Isn't that right, Orochimaru?!"
Anko said with resolve as she readied three needles in each of her hand.
..
…
"Stop it this instant, Anko!" Orochimaru said with authority.
"Why? So that you can go ahead and assassinate the third?"
"I don't have enough subordinates for that yet…."
"Then Why have you come now?" Anko asked feeling her curse mark kick in as her face contorted with pain.
"It's our reunion after so long and you're awfully cold," Orochimaru said as he walked towards her.
"I've heard of some excellent ninjas in this village, so I though I'd put dibs on it."
"But who knew a progeny of the fourth would stand in my way…."
"It's kind of an unexpected twist you would come across in a story though….." Orochimaru sulked.
"But fighting with the kid, He is a pure genius, too sad the kid was not an Uchiha…."
"That boy is the son of the Fourth Hokage? You fought with him?" Anko thought back to Naruto's words and still found it hard to believe.
"Yes, and not only that, the brat is in full control of the nine tails. He also is capable of using all the fourth's techniques; the flying thunder god, the rasengan….." Orochimaru praised Naruto.
Meanwhile…. Anko still suffered from her pain.
Orochimaru bent down as he looked into Anko's eyes.
"Are you feeling jealous that I am replacing you?"
"…" Anko.
"Are you still holding a grudge that I used you and threw you away?"
"The kid I am looking for has much more potential than anyone I have ever encountered….."
"For one thing, he inherited the Uchiha ability"
"He has beautiful features and is a vessel who can become my heir" Orochimaru felt a sense of Euphoria as he talked about Sasuke.
…
Orochimaru turned away from Anko intent on leaving
"I may have failed today, but the kid will eventually be mine..."
"Be sure not to cancel this test."
"Three people from my village are also under your care."
"Make me enjoy it."
"But, if something happens to deprive me of my fun."
"You can consider it THE END OF THE LEAF" Orochimaru said as he left the scene.
…
…
Naruto went hunting in the nearby grassland after leaving his clones to take care of Sasuke and Sakura. He killed a boar and also caught a few fish on the way back
("Perhaps I could use the Flying Raijin technique to teleport to my house, then transform into a random guy and eat at Ichiraku after which I can come back here that way it would not be considered leaving the test and I can still get good food…..") Naruto thought as he walked back to where the duo were.
….
Soon Sasuke and Sakura woke up to find Naruto was roasting the boar and the fish he caught while he sat near the bon fire.
Naruto turned towards them at this moment
"Good Evening you guys..."
At this moment Sasuke remembered back to when he and Sakura faced the snake woman alone.
Sasuke ran up to Naruto
"What happened? How did you find us? What happened to the snake woman?"
"Yeah Naruto, what happened to her? Did you rescue us?" Sakura also asked.
Naruto smiled as he handed over the fish which was on a piece of branch to both Sasuke and Sakura, gesturing them to sit down.
"You see…."
…
…
…
The scene changes to Shikamaru who slept on the ground staring at the stars in the sky.
Shikamaru kept wondering ("What happened today? Who was the guy with Naruto?")
("Why does he want Sasuke's body?")
("How did Naruto fight with him, the sound from before was no mere coincidence…..")
("That battle must have been definitely hard, judging by the destruction of that battle site, one could easily conclude it as a fight between jounins.")
Shikamaru kept thinking but he couldn't come up with anything.
…
….
…
"So you are saying that the ANBU guys rescued us?" Sakura asked with concern.
"Yeah, it turned out to be the he was a wanted ninja or something..." Naruto continued as he ate his fish.
Sasuke also ate the fish while he kept staring at Naruto.
("Something does not add up, Naruto getting up earlier than us is also okay, but what happened back then?")
Sasuke thought back to the scene when he tried to wake up after he was already knocked out once, only to fall unconscious again.
("I am pretty sure I saw Naruto at that time....")
Sasuke got really angry as he stood up.
…
"Naruto, why don't you tell us the truth."
"Sasuke, what happened" Sakura asked.
"I'm asking you Naruto, I saw you knocked me out."
"What is the truth?" Sasuke asked once again.
This time Naruto knew he had messed up.
"Sasuke…" Naruto murmured.
("What do I tell him, now...")