Never Again: A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 21: The Sound

Orochimaru looked at the ceiling of his cell. He had been captured by a brat. That alone had damaged his pride as one of the Three Legendary Sannin, a title bestowed upon him by someone even Hiruzen in his prime would have difficulty beating, Hanzo of the Salamander.

He remembered their fight, if he could even call it that. Hanzo had decimated the Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade with little to no effort and then spared them. Orochimaru chuckled at the thought, or rather, that he was having such a thought. Hanzo was dead, killed by the leader of the Akatsuki, a Rinnegan wielder that named himself 'Pain'. 

He sat up, the stone bed he was lying on did no favors for his body, but all of his experiments and tests have not been for nothing. The ache in his back quickly faded away, his cells replacing the hurt ones in an instant. He looked out of his jail cell and a thin and twisted smile cross his face, his yellow-green eyes glowing with amusement. 

"I was wondering when you would come around, Kabuto." Orochimaru spoke as he saw his second-in-command standing in front of his cell. "I wonder, how did you survive getting your head removed?" Kabuto unlocked the cell and brought the door open. 

"It was just a clone, Orochimaru-sama. When I found out that Jiraiya and Naruto had convinced Tsunade to take you on, I knew that you wouldn't back down, so I made a mud clone with so much chakra that it knocked me out, simulating my death." Orochimaru's grin grew larger. 

"This is why I like you, Kabuto. You're so resourceful, even if you failed to kill the Kyuubi brat, you still pull through and remind me as to why I like you." Kabuto quickly undid the chakra sealers that had been placed around Orochimaru's body. 

"Shall we go?" He asked, pushing his glasses further onto his face. "The Anbu I killed are to report back every five minutes, we won't have time to just wait around without alerting everyone." Orochimaru looked to his left and saw several dead Anbu soldiers lying on the ground, blood pooling on the floor around their corpses. 

"I believe that would be best," His twisted grin grew a little bit more as his eyes glowed. "But first I'd like to place an investment on our resident Uchiha, wouldn't you agree?" 

Naruto sat at Ichiraku Ramen, lazily eating his ramen. It tasted the same, but in the end, it just wasn't. It was the thought that counted in the end, but he just couldn't get into it. He preferred the ramen back in his timeline before Ayame and Teuchi died. 

Before everyone did. . .

The chopsticks in his hands snapped unconsciously, breaking him out of his thought as he quickly brought the bowl up to his lips and drank the broth, the warm liquid sliding down the throat and warming his entire body up. He placed the bowl down and gave Ayame a large grin, the majority of it being fake, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. 

"Thank's Ayame!" He put the required amount of money on the counter. "I'll see you both later!" With that, he stalked off, his hands in his pockets.

Collecting the money, Ayame sent a worried look in Naruto's direction before turning to her father. "Does Naruto seem different to you?" Teuchi adopted a thoughtful expression before answering.

"Now that you say something, yeah he does. He doesn't seem as bright as he used to, the village used to be so lively." He said with a frown. "I wonder what's wrong." 

"Maybe we should give him a free bowl of ramen when he comes back?" Ayame suggested. "That always brightens his mood." They had given the blond plenty of free bowls of ramen before he became a Genin. They knew his status as a Jinchuuriki, but neither civilian particularly cared. 

He was a kind boy at heart and knew between right and wrong. Back then, when he couldn't afford ramen, they would give him free bowls and in return, he would tell them wild stories about his days in the academy or his time he spent with the Third Hokage. To Teuchi, it was an equivalent exchange. 

Besides, who wants a little boy to go hungry? "Yeah," Teuchi said with a small smile. "We'll give him two free bowls when he comes back." 

Naruto stood in front of the Memorial Stone, his hands in his pockets as he looked at the names carved into the stone. Kakashi Hatake was one of them, the pang in his heartbeat in his chest and his breathing quickened. Sasuke Uchiha should be carved onto the stone as well. 

His hands went to his pocket and pulled out a tiny knife. He walked up to the Memorial Stone and held the knife right above a blank part of the stone, his hand hesitating. What was the point? He brought his hand back and released a heavy sigh. There was no point. This world didn't know Sasuke Uchiha. 

"Naruto Uzumaki," A deep and dark voice whispered behind him. "I've been wanting to meet you for a long time." Naruto spun around and his breath hitched as he saw a man dressed in black robes with red clouds scattered across them. He wore a white mask that swirled into one eye, revealing a Sharingan. 

"Who are you?" Naruto shouted, taking out kunai and taking a defensive stance. "You're not Obito Uchiha! You can't be Kakashi-sensei! Are you the real Madara? If so then why wear a mask?" The masked intruder didn't say anything for a moment. 

"You are aware of many things. Obito Uchiha is a Jounin of this village and I watched Kakashi Hatake die myself. Why would I be either of those two people?" He took a step forward before disappearing, not even moving a blade of grass as he held a kunai to Naruto's neck. 

"Kisame told me of what you said, who are you to accuse me of not being Madara? Perhaps I am, perhaps I'm not. Names are of worldly things and I have already ascended." Naruto grit his teeth, unable to do anything.

This man was fast, faster than he was at the moment even with the help from Kurama. One wrong move and the blade on his neck could be pushed forward, ending his life. "What do you want?" 

"I just wanted to confirm something." The masked man said. "It seems my hypothesis was correct about you, Naruto Uzumaki. We will meet again one day, either when you're being sealed away or on the battlefield, the end result does not matter to me." With that, he disappeared. 

Naruto released a breath he hadn't known he was holding. Who was this man? What did he want? Obviously, he was the true leader of the Akatsuki, that much was clear. But was he stronger than Obito was in his timeline? Was he weaker? 

He didn't get a chance to look, but he knew the man possessed the Rinnegan. But if Pain still had both Rinnegan then why? Why did this man have a Rinnegan as well? Naruto cursed. This only created more questions and gave zero answers. 

He walked away from the Memorial.

He had to get stronger to prepare for whoever that man was. 

Sayuri finished doing her dishes, putting them on the rack to dry as she heard a knock on her door. She looked at the time on the clock that was placed on the wall. It was getting late. Who could be knocking on her door? 

Drying her hands, she threw the towel onto the counter, putting it back into her mind to get it later as she slid the door open. Her eyes widened.

"Hello Sayuri-chan," Orochimaru said in a sickly-sweet voice. "May I come in? We have a lot to talk about." 

And done. How was it? Good? Bad? Tell meeee!

Anyways yes, back to this story! I know you all waited a long time but please be patient with me lol, I wanted to get Just Smile done as fast as I could! But yes!

Who is the masked man? Madara? Shisui? Is it Obito again in disguise? You'll never knoooowwwwww! 

And what's going on with Sayuri? What will Orochimaru do? Find out next time on total, drama, NEVER AGAIN! 

Lol but ye

Til next time my lil demons!