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Pupil of the Serpent	By : Mario Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 2253 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters contained herein. I make no money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
A/N: More editing. Blah, this story needs so much work . . . This chapter is entirely rewritten, including the title. Not a word of the old chapter remains. I must say, I like this version much better, even if it did take me way too long to finish.

To my reviewers:
@Small Fox: I'm glad the story isn't coming off as too predictable. As for my fight scenes . . . well, I can only apologize for putting you through the agony of reading them. Just bear with me a bit longer; the pain's almost over. I'm sure by now you know how profusely grateful I am for your consistent support, so I'll just say "thanks" and let you get on with the story.
@Lynn: I know, right? It's because they were totally getting it on in all the deleted scenes of Naruto that didn't make it past the censors! As for perversion . . . well, that's in the eye of the beholder. You're still the greatest; please keep reading!
@The Perverted Mind: Sure; your request is no problem. Don't worry about advertising for me; this story is on the first page of the Het section often enough that everyone who has an interest in this type of story has probably seen it already, but thank you very much for the kind offer. May your stories get all the traffic they deserve, although I'm ashamed to admit I haven't read them yet. I promise that I will as soon as I get the chance! Thank you for taking the time to review!
@weaselchan: Sorry! By the way, there's another cliffhanger coming up, so you might want to brace yourself . . . As always, I bow down to your awesomeness. Thank you for reviewing!
@Wolf Goddess: I want to write more! Alas, life is cruel. I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the story in spite of its flavor, but I must admit that I'm surprised—for someone who doesn't typically enjoy dark stories, you write them awfully well. Thank you so for much for your review.
@wolfboy1988: I will definitely keep the story going; we just may have to wait a long time before it ever gets finished. Thanks for the review!

“Oh? So you've figured us out already." The man didn't seem surprised. "That's just what I'd expect from two of the legendary Sannin trio."
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "Answer my question. Why would Kirigakure break the treaty between our villages? What do you hope to gain by turning on Konoha? Is it territory? Revenge?" His voice was filled with mixed disgust and weariness. "Or is this simply yet another demonstration of the madness that has earned your village the name of 'Bloody Mist'?"
The Mist-nin shrugged. "Who knows? It doesn't matter."
Tsunade stared at him, aghast. "It doesn't matter? You'd kill good ninja—civilians, even—without knowing the reason why?"
"That is what it means to be shinobi. I'd expect a better understanding from the woman feared as the world's strongest kunoichi—the woman who is said to have single-handedly saved the lives of a hundred Leaf ninja on the same day that she meted out death to an equal number of her enemies. In Kiri, parents frighten their children into obedience with stories of Konoha's Slug Princess, who heals her victims' wounds even as she inflicts them so that she may extract the maximum amount of pain." He raised an eyebrow as he looked over at the corpse of the shinobi she had drowned, the man's head still submerged in the swampy mud. "I must say, you have quite lived up to your reputation for ruthlessness."
"You bastard . . ." She clenched a fist, chakra wreathing her hand like blue flames.
Jiraiya held out an arm in front of her. "Don't let him provoke you," he warned quietly. To their opponent, he said: "I won't deny that both our villages have committed atrocities against each other. Is that why you feel justified in attacking Konoha?"
For the first time, the man's emotionless expression faded. His lips curled upwards in a twisted, nearly-deranged smile, and he began to laugh softly. "Justified? I need no justification." He stopped laughing abruptly. "I have heard that ninja from Konohagakure have many different kekkei genkai. In Kirigakure, we have only a few. Those who use, or even possess, kekkei genkai are hated for their power. And among those despised by the village, my clan is the most feared. We have been hunted for generations, almost to the point of extinction. Now, however, the village seeks our power. Kirigakure intends to use us against its enemies."
Even as he listened, Jiraiya took a moment to assess his remaining chakra. He only had enough for a few more attacks. As exhausted as they were, he wasn't certain that he and Tsunade would be able to defeat the Mist shinobi, especially now that they would no longer hesitate to use their own abilities. Even worse, he had no idea of how to penetrate the ice shield that their adversary had created with his kekkei genkai. The hardened, sharpened hair needles launched by his Hari Jigoku jutsu were fired with enough velocity to pierce two feet of reinforced steel. They hadn't even cracked the frozen shell, however. He knew better than to try a fire technique—given the apparent density of the ice, he could breathe fire at it for hours before it melted. Tsunade would only break her hand against it. What, then, could they do to get out of this mess?
I could use Minato's jutsu, he thought to himself. He's certainly shown it to me enough times.
As dire as the situation was, he had to fight back a smile as he recalled the stunned look that had appeared on his blond student's face when he'd replicated the boy's prized new jutsu without breaking a sweat. Unbeknownst to his favorite pupil, he'd practiced the technique furiously for an entire week—it wouldn't do to let his former disciple find out that he'd surpassed his teacher a couple of years ago.
Minato said that he plans to increase the power by changing the chakra nature. If only I could mix in fire-natured chakra . . . then I could be sure of breaking through that ice shield of his.
But the technique wasn't complete yet, and Jiraiya secretly doubted that it ever would be. Minato had made the classic mistake of youth and overreached even his prodigious ability; it was amazing that he'd succeeded even as well as he had on such an ambitious project. Still, even without any manipulation of chakra nature, the jutsu was fast and incredibly powerful; against an enemy who wasn't expecting such a straightforward attack, it might just do the trick.
If it didn't, though . . . He'd be completely out of chakra, and they would die for sure. Even if it did work, his plan would leave a weakened Tsunade standing alone against the dozen or so surviving Mist-nin. Despite the fact that she had a knack for making terrible decisions when gambling, he doubted that even Tsunade would care to take those odds. They needed to buy some more time for Orochimaru to arrive. He signaled to Tsunade, warning her to prepare herself.
"If you're just being used, then why fight? You've already said that your mission can't be completed now. Let's walk away from this without any more needless violence."
The man's smile no longer had even a passing acquaintance with sanity. "I don't care about the village," he whispered. "I don't even want revenge for what's been done to my clan. I just want to destroy. For the first time, I'm free to unleash my hatred on the rotten, irredeemable ninja world. You will be the first victims of that hate!"
Forming seals, the Mist-nin sucked in a deep breath, then expelled a rolling cloud of thick white vapor directly at the two Sannin, who leapt back just in time. As the fog settled on the ground where they had been standing, it turned to solid ice, freezing the swamp that Jiraiya had summoned, as well as the body of the drowned ninja. With deliberate menace, he began moving towards them, walking easily over the thick layer of ice that covered the swamp.
"If this is the kind of ninja they're producing in Kirigakure, Konoha is about to have a big problem on its hands," Tsunade remarked, her voice betraying the faintest hints of desperation. "Our shinobi aren't used to fighting madmen. As much as I loathe the old bastard, Danzou was right when he told Sensei not to trust their goodwill in making an alliance. You don't hold out your hand to a viper unless you want it to bite you."
Given their current circumstances, Jiraiya thought that was a rather unfortunate metaphor.
"I don't suppose you have a plan to get us out of this situation?"
They continued to back away as she spoke, but the Kiri ninja were already moving to cut them off. Now that they knew of the Mist's plan to betray Konoha, they could not be allowed to escape alive and report back to the Leaf. Before long, they were completely surrounded.
"Orochimaru's the one who comes up with the plans. We'll just have to trust in him and hold them off for as long as we can."
"Trust Orochimaru? You do realize that most of his plans involve you dying in some horrible way, right?"
Despite the fact that they were most likely going to die soon, Jiraiya was profoundly gratified to hear the joking tone in her voice. He grinned as they stood together, back to back, each with a kunai in their hand.
"Come on, now, give him a little credit. His plans have gotten us out of worse situations than this one."
Tsunade gave a surprisingly girlish laugh. "I don't think we've been in a worse situation, Jiraiya."
How long has it been since I've heard her laugh like that? Not since Nawaki died. Hell, not since this war started.
"How about the time with Hanzo?" Jiraiya suggested, almost absently deflecting a shuriken that flew at his teammate's head from the left.
Tsunade thought for a moment. "Okay," she admitted. "That was pretty bad. I thought that guy was going to kill us for sure. But I'd like to point out that Orochimaru's plan was what got us into that situation, not out of it. Remember his expression when he realized we weren't going to be able to win? He looked like he might have wet his pants."
Out of loyalty to his friend, Jiraiya tried to stifle his chuckle, but didn't quite succeed. "Well, we may have been pretty good back then, but we were just kids, really. None of us were ready to die; I was scared, too."
"Not like Orochimaru, though. I don't think he could believe that he was actually going to be killed."
The white-haired Sannin sobered a bit. "The thought of dying has always frightened Orochimaru," he agreed. "I think that maybe he's seen too many pointless deaths. He wants his life to have meant something."
The somber words, along with the ninja closing in on them from all sides, brought the reality of their situation crashing down on them.
"I didn't see Dan before I left," Tsunade murmured. "I was afraid that he'd find out what I was planning to do to Orochimaru and try to stop me—he always seems to know what I'm thinking. I should have told him that I love him."
"He knows," Jiraiya assured her.
"I know that, idiot! I still should have told him. You've never been in love, so you wouldn't understand."
"You might be surprised," he replied, his voice vaguely wistful.
"Yeah, right," Tsunade gave a little laugh. "Who're you in love with, huh?"
"I'm not into dying confessions." He closed his eyes for a brief moment. Please hurry, Orochimaru.

Anko cursed softly as she leapt from branch to branch, attempting to move as quickly and quietly as possible. Even after the genjutsu's effects had been dispelled, she still found it difficult to move, as if there were a slight delay between the commands issued by her brain and the responses of her limbs. She'd spent several minutes laboring under the illusory suggestion that she was deeply asleep before she'd been able to realign her chakra and regain complete consciousness. Genjutsu had been the subject of the last segment of her training in the Forest of Death. She'd found that while she was almost hopeless at utilizing genjutsu to incapacitate opponents, she was also able to throw off its effects with relative ease. Orochimaru had speculated that her talent at resisting illusions derived from her natural inclination to focus on one thing to the exclusion of everything else—since she always concentrated so intently on what she was currently doing, it was difficult for an illusion to take hold. Or, as her teacher had put it, "At least your obstinacy serves one useful purpose."
Anko wasn't exactly sure what "obstinacy" was, but she was glad she had it at this particular moment. Even while caught in the depths of the genjutsu, Anko held fast to one thought: Orochimaru-sensei was not getting away from her. Some genjutsu specialists went about the process of dispelling illusions with the delicate care of a brain surgeon, adroitly removing the influence of the foreign chakra so that the illusion become unstable and collapsed upon itself. In comparison, Anko was a wrecking ball. Utilizing raw determination as opposed to any sort of finesse, she'd simply wrenched herself free of the genjutsu's influence, quite literally catapulting herself into wakefulness. Unfortunately, the jutsu her teacher had used had been a powerful one, and her forceful dispelling of the technique had left her with some annoying side-effects.
"Orochimaru-sensei is too fast," she complained aloud, struggling to keep her balance as she jumped to the next tree limb.
Luckily, her teacher was leaving her a clear trail. She could feel his aura, so much sharper than it was when he sparred with her, growing larger as if it were tangible. A shiver ran down her spine as she detected the faint echoes of the killing intent he'd directed at her in the cave. She followed that eager, sinister aura like a beacon, letting it guide her to him.

Jiraiya gave a soft grunt as a flying ice shard grazed his side, tearing a shallow cut. Two more of the enemy shinobi were down, but they were starting to cleverly coordinate their attacks. He recognized that he and Tsunade had reached the limits of their strength. It was now or never; if they waited any longer, they would be overwhelmed.
"I'm going to take out the one with the kekkei genkai," he said, speaking softly so that he wouldn't be overheard. "Get away if you can. Find Orochimaru and tell him what happened."
He ignored Tsunade's protests against leaving him, since there wasn't enough time to argue with her. He could only hope that she'd see the sense in his instructions and at least make an attempt at escape. If nothing else, she would be compelled to do so by her loyalty to Konoha—the village had to be warned.
Dropping his kunai, he opened his hand, focusing on gathering his chakra in his palm. His concentration was shattered a moment later, however, when a sudden wave of menace intruded upon his thoughts. Tsunade gave a sharp intake of breath, her back stiffening against his. But the killing aura wasn't directed at them. Like some ominous specter, the dreadful premonition of death lingered just out of reach of their physical senses. Even so, Jiraiya had to suppress a shiver, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
The true targets of the malicious bloodlust became apparent a moment later. Fully half of the Mist-nin sank to the ground, shivering violently. Those that remained standing had a glazed look in their eyes as they fought to move their unresponsive bodies. For a few heartbeats, there was complete silence. Then one of the ninja seemed to slump, falling over silently. Two of his companions moved over to him, their eyes wary. Too late, they noticed the explosive tag attached to the kunai that had sprouted from the base of the man's skull. Their cries of alarm were cut short when the trap went off, sending up a cloud of smoke.
Within the smog, the dark shapes of kunai flew unerringly into the silhouetted throats of two more ninja. They fell to the ground simultaneously, making no more noise than a soft thump. Chaos broke loose as the Kiri ninja, now completely panicked, chased shadows in the smoke, attacking without coordination. Some of the shadowy figures were shadow clones that only added to the obscuring cloud when they were dispelled, while others turned into mud and melted away when they were felled. A few of the desperately-thrown kunai and shuriken even found their marks in fellow Mist-nin.
A blur of white followed those who attempted to flee, catching them and spilling their blood into the air. With each kill, the aura of bloodlust that saturated the air grew thicker and heavier. Jiraiya heard Tsunade gag behind him and felt a pang of sympathy. To a medic, this kind of butchery had to be intolerable. He had seen violent death before, many times. He had seen those who reveled in killing for the pleasure it gave them. He had thought that nothing he saw on a battlefield would ever disturb him again. He had been wrong.
He's always had a sadistic streak, but this . . . when did it become like this? Orochimaru, my old friend, what is this darkness I sense within you?
"Sen'eijashu." Orochimaru extended a hand towards one of the two remaining ninja. Snakes, venom dripping from their exposed fangs, exploded from the sleeve of his robe. They coiled about their hapless victim, biting him repeatedly until he fell to the ground and lay motionless.
Slowly, the pale shinobi lowered his arm, slumping over. He was panting, but not with exhaustion. Rather, he seemed to be in the grip of some intense ecstasy, his golden eyes bright with an unholy joy. His mouth was slightly open, exposing fang-like canines in a grin that was not entirely sane. A bead of blood slid down his cheek, leaving a crimson trail that vividly contrasted with his white skin. Slowly, he extended his tongue, seeking out the fluid and lapping it up.
From atop a nearby branch, Anko watched, her amber eyes wide. She was entranced by the sight of her sensei, jet black hair wild around his pale face, his breathing coming in erratic pants. The golden eyes with their purple markings seemed to Anko to be more alive than they had ever been before.
Sensei is beautiful when he's like this, she realized, her mind filled with awe. She had never really given much thought to his appearance before; after all, she loved him for who he was and how he'd become a part of her life. Oh, she'd vaguely realized that he was handsome, but never had she seen him in such a light as she did now, seeming to transcend the aesthetic boundary between humanity and divinity.
At the same time, the darkness that surrounded him was more hungry, more threatening than it had ever been before. She could see it clearly in the cold gleam of his eyes, the haughty set of his jaw. Anko shivered, unable to take her eyes off of him. She knew instinctively that this was not the Orochimaru-sensei who tolerated her energetic behavior and silly pranks. This was not the Orochimaru-sensei who would take her to her favorite dango stand after a hard day of training and absently pat her head when she threw her arms around him in a grateful hug. No, this was the cold stranger. This was the man who had stopped her heart with a single look. He would hurt her. He would claim her soul, use her as a plaything, and discard her when she was broken. And yet, she knew somewhere inside that her sensei was only ever truly alive when he allowed the darkness within him to act without restraint. The jarring dichotomy was enough to set her head to spinning.
As Orochimaru's breathing slowed, the frenzied killing aura seemed to recede, dissipating into the air. Finally, he gave a sigh, his expression returning to its normal impassive state. He swayed slightly as he straightened, as if he were still drunk with his bloody indulgence. He took a step forward towards the lone remaining Mist-nin, the one who possessed the kekkei genkai.
"I've saved you for last," Orochimaru whispered, looking at the Mist-nin with a strange hunger in his gaze. "You should be grateful; you've experienced a few more precious seconds of life. Now . . . show me your kekkei genkai."

A/N: I completely rewrote this chapter in order to give Orochimaru's character a bit more definition for the direction I want to go in this story. I think it turned out okay, but leave a review and tell me what you think!
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Pupil of the Serpent