The Cycle of Hatred: A Naruto Insert

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"Tell me, Naruto…" Orochimaru hummed. "What makes us so similar?"

I frowned. Similar? He couldn't be serious. This was a monster who'd kidnapped children for his experiments. How could he think we were alike in any way?

But before I could respond, he moved. Fast. Too fast.

The air crackled as Orochimaru's hand shot forward, stretching impossibly. Instinct took over, and I barely dodged, his fingertips grazing my cheek as I twisted out of the way. The impact shattered the tree behind me, splintering it with a loud crack.

I spun, launching a barrage of shuriken in retaliation, but he slipped between them with inhuman grace, each blade missing by mere inches. He was already in front of me again, coiling and uncoiling with unnatural speed. Pain exploded across my torso, but I bit down and forced myself to keep moving.

Orochimaru followed up with a roundhouse kick that I ducked under, lashing out with an enhanced punch to the ribs. He twisted, narrowly avoiding it, and I had to jump back to avoid his next attack—the flicker of chakra-infused kunai aimed right at my throat before it retracted.

He was toying with me. I pushed off the ground, summoning chakra to my feet as I lunged to land a solid hit on his shoulder.

He barely reacted, sliding back a few feet with a thin smile. "So, you do have some fight in you," he murmured, eyes gleaming with dark satisfaction.

"Why don't you answer your question? You said we were similar—what the hell do you mean?"

His grin widened, but he weaved through a series of hand seals with lightning speed before raising his arms. I dodged only because I had a feeling I knew what was coming next.

Writhing snakes burst out of his sleeves, impossibly long and just as fast, with their jaws unhinging as they lunged at me. I jumped to the side, avoiding three, but the fourth caught my leg. The pain was sharp and immediate, but I didn't hesitate—given time, I'd heal.

I formed the Rasengan in my palm and slammed it down into the snakes and rolled away, blood seeping through the fabric of my cargo pants. The creatures exploded in mangled, fleshy bits seconds before vanishing in a puff of smoke. Getting bit by his poisoned snakes was a bad idea considering I was still fighting off the earlier poison from the Sound Three, but I'd live.

The bigger problem was why Orochimaru had chosen to visit me.

"Those snakes," I said, allowing the horror within to show on my face, "You're Orochimaru of the Sannin."

He chuckled. "How astute of you, Naruto Uzumaki. Now, prove to me that you are worthy of an answer, and I may offer you the opportunity of a lifetime."

"I don't need anything from you," I spat out, pushing through the pain. "Why are you even here? What do you want from me?"

"Oh, don't play coy now. That old dotard would have never let you learn the Rasengan without revealing your father's identity to you."

Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with a sickly light, watching my reaction with the utmost amusement. My heart began to pound but I couldn't let myself fall into his twisted game. A thought came to me, then, cutting through the fog he was trying to wrap around me.

A way to take back control of the conversation.

"Is that why you're doing all this?" I asked with a chest tight with unease. "Because you're still bitter you didn't become the Fourth Hokage?"

Orochimaru's smile faltered for just a second, and then, without warning, he threw his head back and laughed. It wasn't just a chuckle or a sinister snicker—it was a thick, unhinged cackle that rang through the forest.

The sound burrowed under my skin, all while he laughed so hard that his body trembled, hands clasped together in front of him as if to hold him upright. It stretched longer than it should have, filling the space between us. My grip on my kunai tightened, but I stayed rooted in place, watching him laugh like a maniac.

Finally, he calmed, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye with a long, pale finger.

"Oh, Naruto," Orochimaru said between fading chuckles, "That… that is truly rich. Bitter? About something as meaningless as becoming the Fourth Hokage?" He stepped closer, his movements slow and deliberate, with mockery tilting his grin. "Let me tell you something about that precious little title: the Hokage seat is a glorified prison. A place for the village's chosen fool to sit and pretend they have power—as my teacher so wondrously demonstrates."

His eyes narrowed, and I could feel the malice beneath his words like a poison slowly seeping into the air.

"I was passed over for a position that holds no real value," he said, his voice suddenly dropping. "A title given to someone with no true understanding of what lies beyond the limits of that pathetic village."

"Then why bring it up?" I shot back with a smirk, forcing the words past the unease in my chest. "If it doesn't matter, why get me to question you? You're still hung up on it, aren't you?"

A dark light flickered in his eyes. His smile remained, but there was a tightness to it now. "You still don't understand, do you?" Orochimaru said softly, like I was a child who couldn't grasp something basic. "This has never been about becoming Hokage. This is about surpassing that title—surpassing the very limitations of human existence."

I clenched my fists, my pulse quickening as his words slithered into my ears.

Orochimaru's eyes glimmered with that same sickly light as he leaned in slightly. "Do you know why I'm here, Naruto? It's because I see that hunger, the same drive, in you. You may be the spitting image of Minato Namikaze… but you are like me."

My heart pounded harder to the point that my focus slipped. "I-I'm nothing like you."

"Really?" Orochimaru's smile widened at the stutter, his voice almost taunting. "You've already proven otherwise. You fight with ferocity, a willingness to kill—and beyond that—revelry in survival. In being on top when it's all said and done! The Rasengan… the way you drew poor Zaku in by mocking the death of his comrades—oh yes, I saw all of it."

My breath hitched, and I felt the blood drain from my face at the insinuation. They wanted to kill me, I was just the one who walked out of our exchange alive. "I didn't—"

"You didn't take pleasure in it?" Orochimaru finished for me, his voice lilting with amusement. "Is that what you tell yourself? That you killed because it was the only option? Confess… you enjoyed it, didn't you? The thrill of walking out unbroken. The power coursing through your veins as you grow stronger through it all—just like I do."

I shook my head, stepping back, my stomach twisting. "No… I'm not like that."

Orochimaru clicked his tongue, wagging his finger. "Oh, but you are. Maybe you're still in denial, but I can see it, Naruto, even if you choose to blind yourself. We are not so different, you and I."

"You're a criminal who betrayed everyone who ever cared for you. You kidnapped people, children, experimented on them without a care in the world—in what way are we the same?"

"You and I," he continued, his voice dropping to a low, intimate tone, "are bound by the same fate; rejected, misunderstood, and feared. The wings of our ambition clipped before we can even take flight. But I broke free and can help you do the same."

I swallowed the knee-jerk urge to scoff… but a very small part of me realised that Orochimaru was telling the truth, so instead, something entirely different slipped from my mouth. "...Help me how?"

He paused, watching me with those predatory eyes, and then his lips curled into a twisted grin. "I could give you what you've always wanted. You could see your mother again—and despite our once rivalry—your father as well."

My breath caught in my throat, and for a moment, I froze. My parents. The thought of them, of seeing them again—it clawed at me, a desperate, painful longing that I couldn't brush aside quite fast enough—and he saw it.

He stepped closer again, barely whispering now, and his words were sweet poison seeping into my mind. "All you have to do… is join me. Join me, Naruto, and you can have everything you've ever wanted—your parents and the company of people who will not curse you for the accident of your birth."

My mouth went dry. "...Even if I agreed, that's impossible. They're gone."

"Oh, I assure you, it's quite possible. You know of my work and what I'm capable of." He raised a hand, and the air seemed to grow colder. "It was why I was outcast from the village—they feared me, as they fear you. So, join me, Naruto, and I will bring your parents back to you."

I felt my chest tighten, the offer wrapping around my mind like a vice. True reincarnation was the purview of the Rinnegan, but given time… Orochimaru might be able to artificially replicate it. Or perhaps acquire one himself. He was adept at surviving things he wasn't supposed to. My father was sitting in the Shinigami's stomach right now, but he could certainly bring back my mother.

I clenched my fists, trying to push the thought away, but it lingered.

"And all I have to do is join you?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Orochimaru's smile softened. "It would be a small price to pay, wouldn't it? To have your family back? To be with them again and fill the hole created by their absence. I know your ties to this village are but a few."

I stared at him, my mind racing. For a moment, I actually considered what it would be like to have her alive and well until I saw his eyes. Cold. Calculating. Amused.

I took a deep breath, shaking my head. "No."

The air between us felt suffocating, the weight of his offer pressing down on me, tightening around my chest. The thought of seeing them, of finally knowing them, was like a current dragging me under. But I saw Orochimaru's eyes and realised this wasn't about me. It was about him, and accepting his offer would mean turning my back on everyone who'd become a part of my life.

Turning my back on Ayame and Teuchi; Hayato, Nori, and Ko; Asuma, Choji, and Hinata. It would make me exactly like Orochimaru in the worst of ways; he who abandoned Anko Mitarashi for his selfish pursuits. I clenched my fists, forcing myself to breathe and rise above the manipulation—to think.

"No," I repeated, my voice barely a whisper at first. "No, I appreciate the offer, but I refuse. Not when the catch is becoming a monster like you."

Instead of his smile fading, it widened. "Oh? And what kind of monster am I that the village doesn't think the same of you?"

His words were a punch to the gut. My breath caught in my throat as memories of my childhood flashed before me—those cold, judging stares, the whispered hatred, the loneliness—but I shoved them back down where they came from. He didn't deserve the satisfaction… even if he was right in a way.

"That's not the same, and you know it," I said, but my voice wavered for just a second. He cocked an eyebrow at the sound. "I can see what you're doing, and I won't fall for it. Whatever scheme you've got, whatever you're selling, I'm not buying any of it."

"Pity," he murmured, his voice soft, almost regretful. "I had hoped you would see reason. But perhaps the fault lies with me as well. You are, after all, still young. A small frog who's barely put a toe outside of the pond."

And then, without warning, his face twisted into something monstrous, his features contorting. The air crackled with malice and, in that instant, the game was over, the offer gone. Orochimaru moved, faster than I could react, his hand blurring, but I was ready.

I leapt back just in time, forced to continuously flip back to avoid his infinitely extending arm. My feet met a tree and I blasted off from it, splintering the massive trunk before Orochimaru destroyed it wholesale. He moved faster than anyone I'd ever fought before. One second, he was on the ground, and the next, he was in the air, his snake-like body twisting through the branches with inhuman agility.

Again, I dodged just barely in time, throwing myself to the side as his foot crashed into the tree, dislodging me in the process. I hit the ground hard, rolling to absorb the impact before springing to my feet. Pain shot through my leg, the bite from earlier still throbbing, but I couldn't afford to stop now.

He landed gracefully in front of me. Chakra swirled in my gut as I exhaled, sending a powerful gust of wind tearing through the forest. Trees snapped like twigs, the force of the wind ripping them out of the ground as it roared toward Orochimaru.

"I expected more from you, Naruto," he said, his voice mocking, standing as if my jutsu was simply a light breeze. "Is this the best you can do?"

His hand shot out, but I managed to block it. The force of the impact sent a shockwave up my arm, almost knocking me off balance, but I held firm, gritting my teeth as I pushed back.

"Impressive reflexes," Orochimaru mused, his eyes gleaming with dark amusement. "But for how long can you keep this up?"

He struck faster this time, fingers aimed at my throat. I batted his arm away, darting in with a kunai, though he simply avoided it by twisting out of the way again, so I threw it instead. While he was busy deflecting it, I formed another Rasengan in my hand, the swirling ball of chakra neon against the dim forest.

Orochimaru's eyes flicked to it, his grin widening.

"Ah, the Rasengan. A beautiful jutsu. Let's see if you can use it as effectively as you did against Zaku, shall we?"

I charged at him, Rasengan in hand, aiming for his chest. He didn't move—he just watched, that smug grin still plastered on his face as I closed the distance. His torso peeled and I passed right through the space where his chest should've been and stumbled, nearly losing my balance as the Rasengan drilled into the ground.

"What the—!" Before I could even register what had happened, the Rasengan blew me into the air and Orochimaru's hand raced to catch me. He clenched tight around my throat, reeling me in and slamming the air out of me with a punch to the gut.

My vision blurred under his tightened grip. I channelled chakra into my legs and kicked back, slamming my heel into him. The impact made him stumble back if only a step, but it was enough for me to twist free, stumbling forward as I gasped for air. I spun to face him, but he was already moving again. Before I knew it, he swept at my legs, knocking me off balance.

"Is this all you have?" Orochimaru's voice taunted me. "You can't even keep up, Naruto—and to think I thought you ready to face the truth about yourself."

I forced myself to my feet, my chest heaving as I glared at him. My mind raced, trying to come up with a plan, something that could give me the upper hand. For someone as strong as him, fighting me was a game—infuriating, but true. That meant he was underestimating me, now more than ever; if Orochimaru thought he had me beaten, I could use that.

"Yeah? You think you know everything about me, huh? Just because you've been watching for long enough? And hey, you might be right." Orochimaru's eyes glinted, but he didn't respond. I pressed on. "Being the one to walk out alive sure is exhilarating," I continued, my voice growing stronger, fueled by feigned anger that I wasn't quite sure was feigned anymore. "There's nothing you won't do to survive."

"To do anything otherwise is weakness, Naruto," he replied, still amused.

I chuckled. "Well, I'm still standing, aren't I?"

His grip tightened around my arm, but this time, I wasn't just reacting. The Rasengan had been my ace in the hole against the Sound 3, but it wasn't enough against someone like him.

I needed more—and for more, I needed more time, something I'd earned enough of thanks to the small conversation. Twisting free with all my might, I created enough distance to risk forming the Rasengan. The swirling sphere of blue chakra spun rapidly in my hand, its familiar hum charing the air.

"Is that all you hoped to achieve?" he asked, frowning. "You really think you can defeat me with the same attack?"

Instead of answering, I smirked at him, and his amused expression changed when he noticed the shift in my chakra. His eyes narrowed with sudden interest. I saw his knees lock out as he straightened, focusing everything on the task at hand, his scientific interest winning out over his sadism.

The Rasengan pulsed in my palm, the rotation fast and controlled. Wind chakra surged through my body, wild and unpredictable, but I guided it into the Rasengan, almost forcefully. The spinning ball of energy resisted at first, the chaotic wind fighting against containment, but I gritted my teeth and kept pushing, directing the momentum as opposed to controlling it.

The humming ball turned pale, soft blue light shifting to a near-white as the sound of rushing winds filled the clearing. Barely visible, sharp drafts spun around the edges of the ball; I grinned at the violent storm contained in the palm of my hand.

Orochimaru's eyes flicked to the jutsu, and for the first time, he looked genuinely surprised. "Interesting…" 

I could take advantage of that surprise.

The Wind-Release: Rasengan roared in my hand, barely held together by my containment. It was unstable, dangerous and far from complete—but powerful. More powerful than anything I'd ever wielded before.

I charged at him, the wind screaming in my ears as I pushed off the ground with everything I had. Orochimaru's body tensed, his smirk gone, replaced by an uncharacteristic seriousness. He moved to twist out of the way, but I kept my arm by my side until the last moment, pivoting to slam it into his chest.

The jutsu tore into him, the violent wind chakra grinding, cutting, and shredding through his body. I felt brief resistance as the Rasengan met flesh—but I also felt the raw power of the wind chakra tearing into him. His mouth twisted into a grimace as the jutsu dug deeper, pushing him back.

And like it did against Zaku, it exploded—and the shockwave sent both of us flying backwards. Trees snapped like twigs, debris flying in all directions as the ground shook beneath us. I hit the ground hard, the breath knocked out of me, and my right hand burned.

I rolled to my feet, panting, and my vision blurred from the impact.

Orochimaru, on the other hand, lay slumped against a ruined tree, having crashed through three others before he stopped. The front of his robes were in tatters, revealing the pale, mangled skin beneath it.

"I-Impressive," he rasped. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but he didn't seem to care for it. "You've exceeded my expectations. To think you could use wind chakra with such precision and maintain the Rasengan's destructiveness—even your father couldn't manage that."

His body juddered while the wounds on his chest slowly knit themselves back together. I felt a surge of frustration at the sight, but this was never a fight I could win.

"That was exhilarating. With talent like that, I can see why you so readily refused my offer."

I didn't respond, my breathing still heavy in my chest—I wasn't going to show any of that weakness, though.

Orochimaru took a step forward. "You've grown strong. Stronger than I expected. And yet… you're still holding back, aren't you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The Nine-Tails. I know it's within you, that unbounded strength. You're afraid of it, which is why you have yet to use its power. I could help you tame it and use its power to realise your ambitions."

"I already said no," I took strength in those words, using them to erect a wall between me and him, "and as much as you want to harp on about it, I'm not like you either."

He let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head. "So you keep saying, but you've already begun to see the truth in my words. Surviving, living, and being the one to live to fight another day. Those are the true joys of this world—and deep down, Naruto, we are more alike than you're willing to admit."

Orochimaru's body began to twist unnaturally, his limbs elongating, skin shifting like it was too loose for his bones. For a moment, I thought he was preparing to shed his skin like a snake would, becoming more alien by the second.

"But alas, I can see my offers have fallen on deaf ears," he said with a dramatic sigh, "and I have more pressing matters to attend to. It seems our time together is over, for now."

I didn't lower my guard, nor did I look away from him. The pain in my limbs and the burn in my right hand reminded me I wasn't at full strength either, and even if I was, it wouldn't have made a difference.

I met his eyes, slit and gleaming with some unspoken promise. "Continue to grow and experience the world as it is, Naruto. And when the day comes that you are ready to see the world as it could be, instead of how it merely is, we will meet again."

With that, he melted away, vanishing into the darkened forest like a bad dream, leaving only the lingering scent of decay.

"Well…" I found myself saying with the odd sort of detachment that succeeded in being jumpscared. "...at least Choji and Hinata weren't here for this."

The forest responded with a cold, creeping silence.