Naruto looked back at his teammates, Sasuke was still standing behind him looking nothing like the Sasuke he knew from his team. Sakura was watching the proceedings in fear, shaking from head to toe at being so close to an S-ranked criminal of Orochimaru's caliber.
I must be stupid to even think of taking on a Sannin on my own, Naruto thought as his hands made a hand seal, releasing the weights and resistance seals he had been wearing. He instantly felt lighter and more agile, he knew it would not be enough to defeat a Sannin but it would at least help. He turned back around and glared at the Sannin.
"I may not get along with these two very well, but they're still my teammates! The only way you're getting the teme is over my cooling corpse!" Naruto declared, shocking his teammates and amusing Orochimaru.
"How admirable," Orochimaru chuckled at the blonde's determination, amused by his desire to protect his comrades. "Ku ku ku, very well then, let us see how you do Naruto-kun."
"Sasuke, I want you and Sakura to get out of here," Naruto said as he turned to look at his shocked teammate. "I doubt I'll last more than five minutes against snake face over there, you'll have to get away and find a safe place to hide in that amount of time. I suggest you leave now."
Naruto brought his attention back to Orochimaru. He began pumping chakra through his body, strengthening limbs and speeding up his reaction time. Without preamble the blond launched himself at Orochimaru, closing the distance in several seconds as he reared his fist back to punch the Snake Sannin.
Only for a knee to smash itself into his gut. However at the last second Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by a log. "Oh, Kawarimi," Orochimaru mused with a grin.
"Fuuton: Kamikaze No Tatsumaki (Wind Release: Tornado of the Divine Winds)!" Naruto shouted out as he appeared on Orochimaru's left, thrusting out both palms towards the Snake Sannin. Two large tornadoes ripped from Naruto's palms and through the air. Orochimaru jumped out of the way as the branch he was on got torn to shreds.
"I don't think I've ever seen that jutsu before," Orochimaru mused as he looked from Naruto to the destroyed tree branch.
"You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent!" Naruto yelled from behind Orochimaru, his fist already in motion to attack.
The Snake summoning shinobi spun around and weaved through the fist, kick combo that the spiky haired blond sent his way, bending like a snake as he did so. Orochimaru lashed out with a punch that managed to connect to Naruto's chest, sending the genin staggering back.
Before Naruto could recover Orochimaru was in front of him, launching punches and kicks at Naruto who did his best to dodge and black them. However for every one attack the blond got away from, at least three more hit their mark. It was obvious to the two who were watching that Orochimaru was merely playing with Naruto, picking apart the Genin's defenses like they were nothing. He would get inside Naruto's guard and place several hits that, while stung, did not really damage Naruto. Then he would retreat and test the blonde's reaction times.
Naruto strained his eyes as Orochimaru continued moving; trying to see his attacks and counter them. The man was fast, He was even faster then what the blond had seen from Gai, and Naruto knew he was still holding back immensely, making the battle enough of a challenge to prove interesting. He knew from his conversations with Anko that Orochimaru was like a snake dealing with its prey, he loved to play with them, to toy with them and humiliate them, to lure them in and strike them. Exactly what he was doing to Naruto right now
Naruto side stepped a punch, only to find it was a feint and get kicked in the stomach. He would try to block a kick, only for Orochimaru to switch at the very last second and kick Naruto with the opposite leg. He would try to come in with an attack of his own, throwing punches, kicks, launching elbows, knees and head-butts. Orochimaru would weave between them like a snake and then hit him with his own attacks.
Naruto sent a heel kick out that was aimed for Orochimaru's leg, watching as the man slithered around the attack and came in with his own. Barely managing to shift his body to the side, the blond Jinchuuriki let the attack slide past him. He grabbed onto the limb and attempted to reel Orochimaru in so he could strike at the man's face. However despite not looking it and despite not being as physically strong as his teammate Tsunade, the Snake Sannin's strength still exceeded Naruto's.
Rather than letting the blond pull him in, Orochimaru yanked his arm and made the blond shinobi stumble. With his opponent now off balance the S-ranked criminal used a knife strike to hit Naruto in the throat, forcing his esophagus closed for a moment and choking him. Orochimaru then lashed out with a kick to the blonde's ribs, sending Naruto tumbling back.
However Naruto managed change his fall into a roll, kipping back on his feet.
Realizing he was merely being toyed with Naruto decided to attack from a distance, launching a wind blade from his hand. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow in mild surprise at the display of pure elemental manipulation, but still managed to dodge the attack.
Naruto launched several more wind blades, hoping to distract him and buy him enough time to come up with some kind of plan to get him out of this alive.
However it seemed Orochimaru did not feel like giving him any, "Sen'eijashu!" the Snake Sannin thrust out his hands and six snakes shot from the man's sleeves.
Thankfully for Naruto he had been fighting against Anko for several months and had come up with an effective strategy for dealing with this jutsu. Channeling wind chakra into the palm of his hand Naruto thrust it forward, unleashing a powerful wave of wind that the snakes smashed into and stopped cold, it was almost as if they had hit a wall. The snakes dispersed and the blond also thanked himself for his foresight in learning how to manipulate the elements in its raw form rather than just using standard jutsu, that he could do this with just the training he had proved that this was a good path to follow up on.
Going through several hand seals for something he was not yet capable of doing with just manipulation, Naruto called out one of his more powerful wind jutsu, "Fuuton: Renkuudan!"
Naruto hit himself on the stomach, causing a baseball sized bullet of air shot out of Naruto's mouth. It sailed right towards Orochimaru who merely bent his body in an angle that no human should be capable of, before resuming his original standing form.
However that small dodge had given Naruto time close the distance between them again. He launched a fist that had wind chakra surrounding it at Orochimaru, who merely redirected the fist elsewhere as it released a blast of wind. Getting closer into the blonde's guard, the Sannin shot a punch into Naruto's ribs; only for Naruto to disappear in a puff of smoke and be replaced with a log.
The real Naruto appeared behind Orochimaru, his fist linked together by his thumbs as he thrust them out. "Fuuton: Kamikaze Seiken!"
Two large fist shaped blasts of wind smashed into Orochimaru, leaving two fist shaped indents on his chest and stomach. Before Naruto could celebrate his victory Orochimaru broke down into snakes that slithered away.
"Ku ku ku. That was quite the jutsu Naruto-kun," a voice said behind him.....