NARUTO POV:
'Liebe' Naruto called out inside his head while channeling his black chakra through the tattoo he had been given by the devil king 'Are you there Liebe?'
'Naruto?' he heard the devil's voice inside his head 'What's up? Didn't expect you to contact me so soon'
"not to be rude but I need your help NOW, I'm fighting Orochimaru of the Sannin and I'm seriously screwed if I don't do something drastic"
'ke ke, all you had to do was ask. Now you won't be able to summon me, but I can give you some of my power. I'm establishing a connection through the tattoo, but I doubt your body will be able to handle it without going crazy.'
'I figured' Naruto replied to his friend ' I have a special sword which I can use as an anchor.'
And Naruto did indeed have a 'special sword he can use as an anchor'.
It wasn't one of the twin swords him, Sakura and Sasuke had worked on, since testing had shown that while they could be used to momentarily store his black chakra, they couldn't maintain it.
What he had in mind was something else.
One of the most famous swords in the world, used by a line of great shinobi to fight for what they believed in.
He put chakra through a storage seal taking out Kubikiribocho, the sword and legacy Zabuza had entrusted to the blonde when he had left the land of Waves.
He felt the much more potent form of Liebe's anti-chakra flood his circuits as he stood up and held the massive sword with both hands.
It was much harder than controlling his own, like using a tap to channel the sea.
He roughly shaped the chakra, making sure it stuck to the sword and the area around it.
When he opened his eyes, he looked over himself.
This would do.
SAKURA POV:
Honestly, Sakura had no clue what Naruto was trying, nor if it would actually help.
All she knew is that he had a plan and that was enough.
Her spear left her hand once again as she threw it at him and did the hand signs for her technique.
"Suiton: Mizu no tanzō-jutsu [Water style: Water Forge Technique]"
A huge stream of water roared from her hands, rushing towards the Sannin with enough force to destroy buildings.
"Too simple" he tsked as he made a few hand signs and put up an earth wall.
He looked up at hearing a mechanical sound, only to see 5 Sakuras going to and from trees, using the grapples on her hands to move quickly before one of the Sannin's snakes got her.
"I don't see the point of this little game" he said as he made a few more hand signs before slicing out with his hands, unleashing a huge torrent of wind slices everywhere.
4 of the Sakuras burst into pieces of stone while one burst into water.
He felt his legs grabbed by a pair of hands before being dragged underground by yet another Sakura clone, which then proceeded to explode, peppering his half-buried body with earthen shrapnel.
It just took a flex of his chakra to escape the little trap, but he looked annoyed now.
"I played around out of curiosity, but it seems this is the extent of both of your abilities" he said " I'll be going now"
"OH NO YOU WONT!" rang out Sakura's voice.
He looked around to see 16 or so earthen spears rushing at him.
It was easy enough to dodge, but it still left him thinking that this girl had gone insane if she thought attacks like those would be able to get him.
He was genuinely shocked though, when he felt his whole body tighten and raised high into the air in a cocoon of reinforced ninja wire.
He looked around, bewildered by his predicament as he saw an intricate web of ninja wire attached to kunai, and each kunai set with an explosion tag.
Sakura's strength had never just been her jutsu or ability with the spear. It was her brain, and it had been that attribute of hers that had allowed her to thrive under one of the most eccentric yet brilliant inventors known to the world.
The explosion that followed after her plan came to fruition was big enough to be felt throughout the forest.
Sakura landed on her one good leg with her breathing heavy and her chakra almost completely spent despite having taken that chakra pill.
"Ku ku ku, that could have easily killed me, had I been a normal person" came the now familiar voice of Orochimaru, who was climbing out of a snake.
She didn't even feel despair or irritation by the fact that the Sannin had escaped her trap, she had more or less expected that. The point hadn't been to kill him though, just to buy enough time for Naruto to do his thing.
Judging by the sudden influx of his familiar black chakra nearby, she had done fine.
"I have seriously underestimated you both, first the Jinchuriki 'kills' me, and now you girl. State your names."
Sakura wasn't stupid. She knew better than to tell her name to an enemy. Plus, stranger danger and all that. But,
"Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki." She managed to get out through her deep breaths.
Sakura had felt Naruto's black chakra in use more times than she could count In their spars, and it had always felt more refined, more controlled than this raw blast of black chakra coming from the blonde right now.
Naruto wasn't done yet, so nor was she.
She used the grapple set for her spear, and it soared through the air into her palm.
Her left leg, which was covered in cuts from the second it had been in Orochimaru's little slicing attack was already covered in the telltale sign of medical jutsu being used.
The sannin's eyes lit up in recognition.
"And you can use medical ninjutsu too?" he said, looking interested "I must say, you might be the most interesting civilian born ninja I have seen in a long time, how about joining me along with Sasuke-kun?"
"sorry but I'm not into snake pedophiles" Sakura said as she pointed her spear tip at the Sannin "And this isn't a chat, it's a fight."
He looked disappointed, but nodded "True enough, fine then."
He opened his mouth wide, and grabbed the sword that came out.
"It's nothing personal, but I cannot allow Konoha to keep such untapped potential."
Even if Sakura was a Genin, she had deluded herself into thinking she was strong.
She wasn't wrong. She could easily beat genin teams, and definitely some Chunins as well.
Orochimaru, especially with Kusanagi in his hand, was not at either of these levels.
And so, Sakura laid on the ground, her hand already going numb from the blunt force trauma, her broken leg bent at a weird angle and her consciousness fading in and out
.
Sakura felt no fear. She was in a whole load of pain and definitely angry enough to consider using her hurt hand to punch the snake in the face, but scared? Not really.
Why?
Because between Orochimaru and her, stood Naruto Uzumaki, a huge black sword held in his hands, and a black wing sprouting from his back.