Adrik sat with his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes closed. He sensed around and felt Tsunade walking away from the town, along with who he sensed was Orochimaru and Kabuto. Focusing further, he was able to see from the few ashes he left on the woman. They were in a clearing a sufficient distance away from the town and were sinking into the ground.
"Adrik, come on! She drugged Pervy Sage! We need to move!"
Adrik's eyes shot open and he nodded without bothering to look back. He and Naruto headed out of the hotel room via the window. Following close behind was Shizune helping to carry Jiraiya, who was looking like he was going through the worst hangover the world has ever seen.
X
"So, remind me of the plan. How are we gonna get Tsunade away from Orochimaru?"
Adrik responded without looking back at Jiraiya.
"They're underground. We'll need to break through in one big attack. Got anything ground breaking, Jiraiya? Shizune?"
The two older ninjas shook their heads.
"My chakra's all out of wack so I can't really help much for another..."
"Half an hour, Lord Jiraiya."
Jiraiya nodded to Shizune. Adrik nodded back in response.
"Alright. Naruto, summon the Toad Boss when I say. We need to be quick. There's two other signals in there and I can't tell if they're ninjas."
Naruto nodded.
"Right!"
X
Tsunade watched as Orochimaru put his one remaining hand on a seemingly random spot on the wall. She was surprised when an array of seals appeared before them and a large section of the wall began to move back. A second later, it shifted to the side to reveal a previously unseen room.
Inside the room was a giant chamber in the style of a laboratory. A man in a lab coat sat at a desk writing on a clipboard. In the middle of the room, on an operating table, was a girl with red hair, red eyes, and brown glasses. She sat on the table with a somewhat frightened expression that didn't seem to be aimed at anyone in particular.
"And here is the person that I am hoping will provide a solution to my problem. Her name is Karin. I found her not too long ago."
Tsunade looked at the girl, Karin, without giving away any emotion.
"While it isn't exactly a bloodline, she has a unique ability. Her blood is special in that it vastly heals and restores the chakra of any who ingest it."
Tsunade flinched slightly at the mention and Orochimaru smirked.
"Ah, yes, I feared that would get in the way. Remember, Tsunade, your little fear is but a small, insignificant little pebble on the side of the road. Push through it for your own sake. And for the sake of those you wish to see once more."
Tsunade gulped as she nodded.
"O-Of course."
Orochimaru walked over to a small tray and picked up a needle connected to a small, empty vial. Another few empty vials sat on the tray. He handed the needle to Tsunade.
"Why can't your little helper do this?"
Orochimaru chuckled.
"While I trust Kabuto very much, I am afraid he still has a ways to go to reach the level that you are on. For now, he will be helping with my newest assistant, Doctor Greighter."
The man in the lab coat looked up and gave a nod to Orochimaru before he and Kabuto got back to work. Tsunade looked away from the man, back down at the needle in her hand. She walked over to Karin with a nervous expression.
"Roll up your sleeve, please."
Karin nodded and did as asked. Tsunade looked between the needle and the girl's arm and gulped. Even so, she pressed onward.
X
"Alright, we're here. Naruto, go ahead. Shizune, back up Naruto if someone tries to attack him. Jiraiya, you get Tsunade out of there and I'll distract Orochimaru as best as I can."
The other three ninjas nodded. While Jiraiya was still yet to recover fully, he was determined to help as much as he could. Naruto bit his thumb and began going through seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A large puff of white smoke appeared and the four ninjas were suddenly much higher up than before.
"Alright, which one of ya' idiots summoned me this time?! I'd better not be fighting a damn Tailed Beast like before!"
Jiraiya smirked as he looked down at the Toad Boss, Gamabunta.
"Hey, Boss."
Gamabunta sighed to himself.
"Oh, God. The hell do ya' want, Jiraiya? And... why d'ya look like ya' got tossed around by Tsunade for a whole afternoon?"
Jiraiya huffed and crossed his arms.
"Doesn't matter. We need you to jump as high as you can and crash in on Orochimaru's little party. And be on standby afterward. We might need a lift back."
"Party, huh?"
Gamabunta looked up at the other ninjas on his head.
"I can see the brat's with ya', too. And is that Shizune? Geez, it's been too long, little girl! All grown up, I see!"
Shizune nodded with a small smile.
"It is a pleasure to see you as well, Lord Gamabunta."
Gamabunta smirked.
"At least she remembers how to show some respect unlike you two. Who's the other kid?"
Naruto pointed at Adrik.
"That's Adrik. He's the reason we know Orochimaru's right below us."
Gamabunta hummed.
"I see. Got some pretty good senses, kid. Alright, where do I need to crash?"
Adrik closed his eyes to focus.
"Teen meters forward. Seven meters right. That's the dead center of the chamber, and..."
Gamabunta nodded, being careful not to shake the ninjas off his head.
"Right. Hold on, everyone! Here we go!"
Nobody had time to react when they saw Adrik's eyes shoot wide open. Gamabunta was already falling back to the ground when Adrik began to emit black smoke from the corners of his mouth.
The ground burst open, revealing the massive underground chamber made by Orochimaru. All of the room's occupants looked up in surprise when Gamabunta came crashing down, his fall barely broken by the ceiling above. The giant toad moved from over the chamber as three of the ninjas hopped down from his head. One, however, was stuck in place staring down at one of the people in the chamber.
Adrik looked down in a mix of shock, fear and anger. The man he was staring at looked up, revealing his black eyes broken up by lightning-like blue cracks that reached from his pupils to the edges of his irises. His spikey, brown hair was held back by a thin, blue headband with no metal plate on it. A few white bangs came down under the headband to frame the right side of his face. His white lab coat sat over his grey, high collar jacket and went down to his calves. He wore navy blue cargo pants with a utility belt and black ninja sandals. For a moment, he and Adrik stared at each other, the world around them unmoving.
"Greighter..."
X
Tsunade was unable to argue when Jiraiya grabbed her by the arm and jumped back up the massive opening in the ceiling. She managed to yank her hand away when they got most of the way up the wall.
"Jiraiya, what the hell is going on?!"
Jiraiya went to grab her arm again.
"No time to talk, we need to move!"
Tsunade stepped back, avoiding Jiraiya's grasp.
"I'm not leaving."
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes.
"Damnit, Tsunade, why not?!"
Tsunade looked back down into the chamber at Karin, who was frightened at the sight of Naruto and Shizune engaging in combat against Kabuto.
"That girl down there, Orochimaru took her in! I'm not leaving an innocent behind!"
Jiraiya looked to see Karin stepping away from the fighting. Orochimaru simply looked up at the two Sannin, waiting to see what they would do. Jiraiya nodded to Tsunade and he followed after her.
Right before they could reach Karin, who was now being defended by Orochimaru with his damaged sword, everyone in the room stopped. The burning pressure that most of them had become far too familiar with returned in full force.
X
Adrik launched himself forward towards the man in the lab coat, Doctor Greighter, with his daggers aimed to slash from either side. He had preemptively unsealed his weights to move at full speed, slightly catching the man off guard. The man didn't lose composure, however, as he rapidly moved further away in the blink of an eye, a trail of bright blue lightning following after him.
The burning pressure grew more intense, making even the Sannin in the room sweat at its presence.
"Greighter!"
Adrik slashed his daggers towards the man, a wave of sharp, black ash shooting out from each one towards their target.
Greighter ducked under the first projectile and batted away the second with an arm covered in lightning. He stepped back as Adrik appeared in front of him, his eyes widened in a mix of emotions, a bright orange ring forming around his pupils and another bordering his irises. A single yellow dot appeared in the center of each of his pupils. His teeth were bared in a mad snarl as clouds of black, embery ash billowed from the corners of his mouth.
Greighter disappeared in a flash of blue lightning, reappearing next to Adrik with a kick planted firmly in his side. Adrik coughed as he was launched back, impacting with the wall and making a small crater in it.
Greighter spoke without turning back to face the other occupants of the chamber.
"Orochimaru has told me much about you. And about Adrik. For your sake, I hope whatever you have planned turns out as you hope it will."
X
With the burning pressure letting up, Naruto barely had time to dodge a punch from Kabuto. Even though he dodged, a cut formed on his left cheek.
"What the hell?"
Kabuto jumped back to avoid a volley of senbon thrown by Shizune.
"Careful, Naruto! He uses Chakra Scalpels! Get too close and-"
Shizune was cut off as she blocked a punch from Kabuto. Shortly afterward, her right arm fell limply at her side. Kabuto smirked as he finished her words.
"-and you might end up unable to save yourself. You are fools to come into our turf uninvited."
Naruto grit his teeth as he stood next to Shizune.
"Shizune, I need you to stand back."
Shizune didn't get a chance to respond when Naruto summoned over a dozen Shadow Clones without a hand seal.
"Ah, your infamous Shadow Clone Jutsu. A powerful jutsu, but also quite fragile."
Kabuto punched one of the clones, making it dispell with a glancing blow. Kabuto looked around with his ever present smirk as the rest of the clones circled him.
"Hm... Trying to end our fun right as it starts, are we?"
Kabuto vanished in a burst of speed, dispelling half of the clones in one swipe.
"You are a fool to think I wouldn't see this attack coming, Naruto."
Kabuto dispelled another clone. He was surprised when the white smoke was quickly replaced by a cloud of purple gas. He jumped back before the gas could reach him, a bead of sweat rolling down his face.
"Hah. You almost had me with that. You are quite skilled with poisons... Shizune, was it?"
Kabuto adjusted his glasses as he looked over at Shizune. The purple gas cleared, revealing the remaining five clones nowhere to be seen. Kabuto looked up and frowned.
"Wind Style: Wind Bullet Rain!"
Each of the clones spat out five bullets of pure wind. Kabuto made a few seals and put his hands to the ground.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
A wall of mud arced over him, protecting him from the downpour of Wind Bullets. His eyes widened when Naruto rushed at him from behind with another clone, a ball of dense chakra in his right hand.
"Rasengan!"
Kabuto yelled in pain as he was hit with the attack, being sent flying through the hardened stone wall he had made.
Shizune dropped down beside him as his clones in the air and the one helping him disappeared.
"What kind of jutsu was that?"
Naruto smiled up at the woman.
"It's the Fourth Hokage's original jutsu that Pervy Sage taught me! Like it?"
Shizune could only nod as Kabuto left a crater where he impacted with the wall.
X
Orochimaru and Jiraiya jumped away from each other before they could clash again. A bolt of lightning and a figure clouded by black smoke shot between them in a whirl. Out of the cloud of smoke came Adrik. He slammed back first into the wall before immediately pulling himself together and shooting after the man shrouded in lightning.
Another version of Orochimaru appeared with his sword aimed at Tsunade's neck, leaving her just out of reach of Karin.
"So, this was your plan, hm? I should have suspected something was wrong."
Each of the Sannin looked over when a loud, inhuman roar came from Adrik as he once again tried to attack Greighter.
"I suppose you haven't met the good doctor, yet. His name is Finn Greighter. And he has told me a great deal regarding the little Smoke Brat over there."
Orochimaru's mud clone turned back into a pile of mud after Tsunade slammed a fist into its face. Orochimaru frowned as the woman grabbed Karin in her arms and jumped back.
"You lot are quite the annoyance..."
Orochimaru ducked as Jiraiya reappeared behind him with a ball of dense chakra in his hand.
"Rasengan!"
As Jiraiya sailed overhead, Orochimaru stabbed upwards. Jiraiya disappeared in a puff of white smoke. Another Jiraiya burst from the smoke, slamming a fist into Orochimaru's face, sending him flying back.
X
"Why aren't you fucking dead?!"
Greighter calmly avoided another ball of heated ash.
"You already know why."
Adrik growled angrily as he stomped on the ground, sending up a wave of black spikes towards his opponent. Greighter reappeared high in the air with a flash of lightning. A bolt of blue lightning appeared at his feet as he aimed himself at Adrik. He bounced off of the lightning bolt, shooting towards his target in a burst of speed.
Adrik coughed up saliva as he was slammed into the ground by a punch to his stomach. He coughed some more as he tried to get up, only for a foot to stomp on his chest.
"You shouldn't be here. Leave."
Greighter kicked Adrik away harshly. The teen regained his balance in the air and landed in a crouch.
"I'll fucking kill you!"
Adrik rushed forward with volatile ashes forming in his right palm. He thrust his palm forward as he tried to hit Greighter. The man leaned to the side at the last moment and slammed an elbow directly into Adrik's spine, sending him to the ground.
Adrik's eyes widened as he felt control leave most of his body. He stared at Greighter as the man rolled him over onto his back.
"I hit a certain spot on your spine. Knowing the healing factor of people like us, it won't keep you down forever."
Greighter crouched down to stare Adrik in the eyes with a small frown.
"I kept my promise, Adrik. Here we are. Our new home."
Adrik grit his teeth as his arm shot upwards, ashes coating from his shoulder to his fingertips. Greighter caught his fist before it could hit him with interest.
"Using your power as a crutch in a literal sense. Good thinking on your part."
Adrik flinched as Greighter grabbed his wrist with his free hand and bent his arm in the exact opposite direction that it should bend. He stared with wide eyes as he felt small phantom pains from his arm being bent the complete wrong way.
"Go somewhere else, kid. You're not welcome here."
Greighter lifted Adrik up slightly with his foot before kicking him further away with that same leg.
X
Naruto panted as he recovered and landed in a crouch. Shizune sat on her knees next to him, now only having her left arm as her remaining functioning limb.
"That jutsu was quite a powerful one. Shame you won't get another chance to use it, though."
Naruto got to his feet on shaky legs. His left arm was a little numb while in pain, likely from something in his arm being severed by Kabuto's Chakra Scalpels.
"I don't remember askin', dipshit!"
Kabuto frowned.
"We'll see where that kind of language gets you."
Kabuto rushed forward. Shizune put her hand out but couldn't move much else. Her eyes widened as Kabuto's fist impacted with Naruto's forehead. Kabuto grinned as Naruto's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he began falling to the ground.
Shizune stared in shock as Naruto fell to the floor limply. Both she and Kabuto were surprised when Naruto vanished in a cloud of white smoke. Kabuto looked around when a dozen of Naruto's Shadow Clones shot up from the ground, each with a seal tag on their left palms. They all shouted in unison as they pointed their left hands at Kabuto.
"Tether Seal: Activate!"
A string shot out of each seal tag, wrapping around Kabuto several times. Each clone landed supporting their left wrist as they held onto the strings as best as they could. Kabuto grunted out as he was unable to move.
"Hiding your clones then letting them descend with your Tether Seals on their hands. Clever."
Kabuto smirked as the chakra on his hands flared. In a matter of moments, he spun, cutting all of the strings and freeing himself. The clones around the man dispelled.
"Rasengan!"
Kabuto held his smirk as he jumped over Naruto and his clone. He hit the clone on the back of the head, dispelling it, and punched the original in his left shoulder. His left arm fell to his side, now completely limp.
Kabuto rushed forward with a punch aimed down at Naruto. He and the teen were both surprised when Shizune tackled Naruto to the side, keeping him from further harm.
Naruto got back to his feet with surprise.
"Shizune, what are you-"
Naruto was cut off by a punch to the stomach. He coughed up blood as he felt his internals get cut by Kabuto's technique. The man smirked once again as he took a step back. Naruto fell to the ground holding his stomach while Shizune could only watch.
"And finally here you lay, groveling at my feet. What a weak excuse for a shinobi. No wonder Lord Orochimaru wants to go after Sasuke instead of you."
The jonin looked over at Shizune.
"Were I anyone else, that tackle might have actually saved him. Now, sit back and enjoy your show."
Kabuto looked back down at Naruto and kicked him in the chin, sending the teen onto his back. He rolled to the side in pain as Kabuto approached him again, his smirk growing wider.
"Tell me, Naruto Uzumaki, what do you have to say for yourself?"
Through the grumbles with blood filling the back of his throat, Kabuto couldn't discern what was said.
"Come again?"
Naruto grit his teeth as he raised his voice.
"I said, Tether Seal: Activate!"
Kabuto was surprised when a string wrapped around his throat and pulled him back. Behind him was a clone hanging onto the string in its palm with its feet planted firmly on the ground and its teeth bared in effort.
Kabuto looked back down as he heard another shout.
"Rasengan!"
Naruto, this time without the help of a clone, shot his only functioning hand forward as he got to his feet. Kabuto could only watch as the ball of dense, spinning, blue chakra was slammed into the exact same spot as the last one, beginning to shred away at his body.
The clone and its string disappeared as Kabuto was launched back at high speeds, slamming into a wall.
X
Orochimaru looked around with a grimace as his lab was completely wrecked. He looked over at Adrik, who was now unconscious at the feet of Greighter with his arm bent in a weird way. This put a smirk on his face, though he knew it wouldn't last.
"Doctor Greighter, it seems we must be leaving."
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. He rushed forward to grab Orochimaru but barely missed as the pale man sunk into the ground. He cursed as he looked around. In the blink of an eye, Orochimaru grabbed Kabuto. The one remaining opponent, Greighter, nodded before standing up and disappearing in a flash of blue lightning.
Jiraiya panted slightly as he looked around the destroyed lab. Tsunade stood in front of Karin protectively while Shizune was trying to heal a half conscious Naruto with her only functioning arm. He sighed to himself as he went to go pick up Adrik. The teen was bloody all over with lightning-like cuts marring his body.
X
Tsunade's eyes widened when Adrik was placed in front of her, his arm being set by Jiraiya before he went to go check on Shizune and Naruto.
"Do what you do best, Tsunade."
Those were his only words before he left. Tsunade stared in horror at the bloody teen below her. Behind her, Karin looked down with her hands covering her mouth.
Images flashed through Tsunade's mind of a man with long, pale blue hair in a similarly bloody state. She tried over and over to use her medical ninjutsu to no avail, the life already having left his eyes.
Tsunade looked to her left when she felt a hand on her arm. It was Karin. The girl gave her a fearful look before glancing back down at Adrik.
"R-Right... I'm... I'm a medical ninja... I can't get scared by... blood..."
Tsunade shakily put her hands forward. They let out a soft green glow as she scanned over Adrik's body. He had bruising on his ribs, arms, and legs, with lightning cuts littering his body all over.
Tsunade's eyes hardened as her hands began to glow brighter. Seconds passed and Adrik's wounds began to mend. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the blood begin to evaporate from his body, leaving behind trails of black smoke, which were still a bit confusing.
She continued her work on the teen with Karin watching over her.
X
Shizune shakily got back on her feet as Tsunade retracted her hands.
"Careful, you still need time to heal on your own."
Shizune nodded.
"Right. Sorry, Lady Tsunade."
Tsunade sighed as she rose to her feet. Jiraiya was carrying Adrik back towards Gamabunta as it seemed he would be out for a long while.
Tsunade looked back when she felt a tap on her arm.
"Thank you for saving me, Miss Tsunade."
Tsunade shook her head slightly.
"It's no problem, kid. Your name is Karin, right?"
Karin nodded.
"Got a last name?"
Karin thought for a second before nodding.
"Oh, it's Uzumaki. Karin Uzumaki."
Tsunade nodded with a small grin as her assumptions were proven correct.
"I see. Come on, Karin. We'll take you some place safe out of Orochimaru's reach."
Karin looked at Tsunade with wonder.
"R-Really?"
Tsunade nodded again, her grin growing wider.
"Yeah, kid. We're heading to the Hidden Leaf Village."