"Actually you haven't passed yet, and the way Sasuke looks I wouldn't count on you going any further anyway."
Sakura looked around wildly. "Kakashi-sensei!?" she called happily. "Sasuke needs help!"
"I can see that," Kakashi said as he dropped from the trees. "What happened here?"
"We were attacked. Hey, why are you here?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi gestured behind Naruto. Naruto turned and reviewed the battlefield upon which he and the strange snake ninja had clashed.
Trees that stood taller than the Hokage's tower were uprooted. Clods of dirt larger than Kakashi were splattered among those trees that were still standing. Branches thicker than Naruto's body were everywhere, when they weren't simply splintered into oblivion. The ground itself looked like it had taken a critical hit or two, and the corpse of a giant snake covered a few football fields in blood.
Sakura twitched. "He went a little overboard," she tried.
Naruto grinned big and bright enough to be seen from space. "I sure did, dattebayo!"
"That's not something to be proud of!" Sakura yelled.
"Did you really have to do all this to defeat some genin?" Kakashi asked. Of course, a genin that could summon snakes like that was nothing to sneer at. He didn't know of anyone who had signed the snake contract. It had disappeared with Orochimaru.
"It wasn't a genin team," Sakura protested. "He looked like a Grass-nin kunoichi but he spoke like a man and anyone who could do that wasn't genin!"
Kakashi shuddered. It couldn't be… "What kind of jutsu did he use?"
"Mud clones, snake summons, I think he was wearing that woman's skin like a suit, and he could put out a killing intent genjutsu that…that…"
"It was intense," Naruto agreed, suddenly serious. "He also put some kind of seal on me."
Kakashi felt like he had been punched. He grabbed Naruto with both hands, his eye wide. "WHERE!? Show me!" That was definitely Orochimaru himself!
"I got rid of it already!" Naruto yelled, frightened by the intensity the normally passive Kakashi was putting out.
"You what!?" Kakashi gaped.
"Yeah. Some kind of voice in my head saying he liked me. Then the ninja called me the kyuubi so I smacked him with a new jutsu I call Wings of the Dragon Fox."
Kakashi felt his hands go limp. Naruto's tone was light, innocent, even proud. He had no idea what he was really doing. It was time to call in Jiraya. Actually, it was probably past time. This was a mess!
Somehow, it also felt like it was Konoha's Number One Hyperactive Knuckleheaded Ninja being himself…again.
Kakashi shook himself out of his disturbing realization and turned to look at Sasuke. "So Sasuke…"
"Snake guy bit him," Naruto said.
Kakashi scowled. Naruto was a jinchuriki dragon slayer with a kekkei genkai and the chakra of an Uzumaki. Orochimaru had known at best two of those facts, which could explain why the seal had been too weak to have a hold on the boy. Probably. Maybe. Where the hell was Jiraya!? Oh right, they hadn't called him yet. Anyway, Sasuke was hardly ordinary, but Orochimaru would have learned of him easily, as the Last Uchiha was a minor celebrity. He walked over and confirmed that yes, he had a curse mark on the back of his shoulder. He sighed heavily. That was Bad. There were no words for how Bad it was.
It was also wrapped up in politics. If Konohagakure revealed everything that had just happened, every village would learn of it in short order. Konoha's reputation would be shattered if a missing-nin could enter and leave at will after attacking and killing genin, especially guests from other villages. No, they couldn't let that go public.
Kakashi nodded slowly. "And you have both scrolls?" he asked.
Naruto and Sakura produced one of each scroll.
That made things easier. "Okay. The tower that is the finish line is a mile from here, almost due south. Turn west when you reach the river. You can't miss it. You can get Sasuke help there." He sighed. "And you never saw me here, got it? You took Sasuke and ran off before anyone arrived, like the excellent shinobi you are. Understand?"
Naruto and Sakura traded a look and nodded. "Yeah, Kakashi-sensei. We got it."
"And we'll get Sasuke there safe and finish the exams, dattebayo!"
Kakashi smiled and nodded. He waited a moment. "Then why are you still here!?"
He watched the ninja scramble to collect Sasuke and run away. Kakashi sighed. He hadn't lied or anything, but they would probably encounter at least one team. He could only hope the two of them were strong enough.
Half a tree finally gave up and crashed to the ground with enough force that it sent a mound of mud at Kakashi far too big to dodge. "Maybe I should hope that whoever they meet survives Naruto, instead," he muttered as he watched his oncoming lack of cleanliness.
"I can't believe they fell for the flying leech trap," Kiba howled.
"It did seem overly easy, it did," Shino agreed.
"Yeah well who cares as long as we have the scrolls we need?" Kiba laughed.
"If you don't care why did you bringing it up?"
"Well someone has to try and keep a conversation going," he grumbled. "It's not like you two can do it yourself, right Hinata?"
"Eh?" Hinata asked in surprise. She gave an enthusiastic "Uhn!"
"Need I say more?" Kiba grumbled.
"Yap!"
"Really?" Kiba asked his partner. He sniffed the air. "Hey, you're right. That's the dobe alright."
"Naruto-kun?" Hinata yelped.
The orange blue and blonde blur that zipped past them confirmed that. Followed by a red and pink blur, carrying a blue and black blur on its back.
Team Eight stopped their tree-jumping on a branch. Team Seven stopped a moment later and spun, Sakura guarding a clearly unconscious Sasuke while Naruto took an avance guard position. They all looked like they had been through hell.
Kiba grinned. "Maybe we should do all of us a favor and thin out the competition a bit, before they get hurt even more," he pondered.
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(Posted Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:42)
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