Return of the Flash by Kamikaze132

Chapter 15

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, thankful for the dimness of the room. He lay off on the bed, staring into nothing and thinking of nothing, and cleared all the sleep from his eyes.

Sitting up, he was happy to find that he no longer felt exhausted and tired like yesterday evening. In fact, he could say with certainty. That aside from having chakra control problems, he was in top physical condition. Looking around the room, he saw his two teammates sprawled out on their beds. Like him, they hadn't bothered to change or freshen up; they had probably fallen out a little after him.

He took the opportunity to hit the shower first and moved to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, he was clean and fresh in a new pair of clothes and Sasuke and Sakura were just beginning to stir when he walked out of the bathroom.

He grinned at their half sleepy forms. "Hey guys!" he exclaimed a bit too loudly. He grinned a bit more when they just grumbled angrily. No one liked loud noises in the morning.

He chuckled, "Anyways, I'm heading off to breakfast in the canteen. The bathroom's free if you want it." He walked to the door and just when he was about to open it when he turned and smirked, "I don't know if the hot water is limited or not."

Sasuke and Sakura froze for a moment and for a moment, they just sat like that. Sasuke was the first to snap out of it and was about to rush into the bathroom when the door was knocked, causing the two genin to pause momentarily.

If Naruto had not been a sensor, he would have probably slapped an explosive tag on the door and backed away. However, he sensed two familiar chakra signatures outside. 'Kakashi-sensei and jiji. Didn't know they would come this early. Then again, this is Orochimaru we are talking about,' he mused as he opened the door.

Hiruzen and Kakashi's serious faces greeted him on the outside. Behind him, Sakura and Sasuke also tensed up for a second before relaxing. Naruto wordlessly stepped aside to let them through and closed the door behind them.

Hiruzen turned to Naruto and said in a tone that unconsciously caused Naruto to straighten his back. "Iruka said that you encountered Orochimaru in the forest."

Naruto nodded just as seriously, "Hai, Hokage-sama." He then recounted everything, beginning from the time when they first encountered him. How he was forcefully separated from his team, how he and Sasuke teamed up to take him down and failed spectacularly. "I don't know what happened after I was knocked out, but I can take a guess," he said, glancing at Sasuke, who tensed up.

Hiruzen and Kakashi both knew very well that when Naruto said that he could guess something, it was something worth witnessing. Naruto never guessed anything, he always observed and when he had gathered his facts, he connected them in such a way that it was hard to argue with him when he had presented his deduction.

Seeing jiji's and Kakashi's anticipating looks, he continued. "I woke up a day after I was knocked out. I was mostly fine, but when I emerged from our hiding spot, I observed that we had been ambushed. An unconscious Lee was in the clearing. When I observed team ten's faces, they positively did not know when Lee had come, which meant Lee had arrived before team ten came to our aid. He was knocked out when I saw him. But," he said, glancing at Sasuke, who was staring at him with a neutral face, "Something was wrong with Sasuke."

He didn't mince his facts. The whole room turned to face Sasuke, who had adopted a scowl. Naruto continued his explanation, "I felt a strange chakra emanating from him. It felt very...evil, for the lack of a word. It also caused him to become extremely ruthless while under its effects. What's more dangerous is that the feeling of that chakra was quite similar to what I felt from Orochimaru."

Both Hiruzen and Kakashi had wide eyes at what had happened. Naruto seemed not to notice their shock as he still continued speaking, "He was covered in strange black marks that were spread over the left side of his body. Judging from his euphoric and ruthless behavior, I'd say he was under the effects that are quite similar to when shinobi receive a major boost in power. However, an accidental slip caused him to get knocked out and while it was only for a fleeting moment, I saw the marks receding to underneath his left collar."