Naruto: I Became Orochimaru's Apprentice

Stood on a branch, Teriyaki didn't flee. He drew his own kunai, something he'd spent the last years training with after his humiliating defeat to Kabuto. His grip was steady, his stance low. The sword user lunged — and the clash began. He jumped down and met the sword user in mid air.

Clang! Clang!

The sword was heavier, more powerful, but Teriyaki was faster. His smaller frame allowed him to slip under wide swings, landing shallow cuts along the shinobi's arms and sides. But Teriyaki knew the truth — he was still no match in raw blade skill.

As they met on the ground, they struck at each other relentlessly. He was clearly under-experienced and this body was too weak physically.

Which is why he didn't rely on the kunai alone.

As the sword user swung high, Teriyaki pretended to strike causing the sword user to backstep.The man's hold faltered just for a second — but that second was enough.

"Water Gun Technique!"A compressed bullet of water fired point-blank into the man's chest, knocking him back into a tree with a choking gasp.

"Koyishi! This brat, he needs to be taught."

The spear wielder came next, but Teriyaki didn't wait — this wasn't a fight to win with brute strength. He slammed his palm into the ground."Rising Water Slicer!"A sharp vertical surge erupted, slicing the spear in half, shocking the wielder. Before he could recover, Teriyaki was already inside his guard, kunai to his throat.

"Yield," Teriyaki said coldly.The man's hands trembled — but then a smirk crept across his face."Behind you."

"Too slow."

Teriyaki spun just in time to see the third shinobi, the earth user, leaping from the tree line — blade coated in earth chakra aimed for his back.Teriyaki's fingers blurred through a sequence of seals."Snake Clone Jutsu!"A perfect copy of Teriyaki leapt backward, taking the blow — shattering into a coil of snakes that bit into the attacker's arms.

But the earth user wasn't some amateur.He bit his thumb, blood smearing his hand as he slammed it into the ground."Earth Style: Stone Skin Jutsu!"The snake fangs snapped uselessly against hardened rock-flesh. Teriyaki's clone was dispelled.

Teriyaki's mind raced — Even though none of them were jonin they were giving him a run for his money. 

He remembered Kabuto's movements — the way Kabuto controlled spacing using feints and blade angles. Teriyaki mimicked it now, weaving between trees, forcing the two remaining enemies to split their attention. The mist thickened — his natural environment as it made casting water jutsu easier.

"Wild water wave."

When the spear user came at him again, Teriyaki didn't dodge.He stepped into the attack, curving his body unnaturally to avoid the thrust, then shot out a high pressure water spray that tore the man's clothing and skin apart.

The man collapsed, screaming in pain before his body gave in.

Only the earth user remained."You're good, kid — but you're running low, aren't you? All those jutsus, and you held back on none of them."

Teriyaki's breath was shallow. His chakra was draining faster than it should have been. He didn't want to have to resort to the curse mark.

But he had one more trick.

"Stealth Jutsu."

He summoned 3 snake clones, and sent them out.

The earth user stood cautiously, slowly taking out his clones with rock blasts.Teriyaki's body melded into the mist itself, nearly invisible. He moved like a shadow, appearing behind the earth user before the man could finish forming his next seal.

Kunai to the throat.The fight was over.

Teriyaki stood over the unconscious bodies, heart pounding. . He hadn't needed the curse mark.But his hands shook slightly.

He was strong — but not strong enough. 

When he returned to the lair that night, Orochimaru was waiting.

"I understand," Orochimaru said, voice slithering with approval. "You still feel weak. Perhaps you need to learn an A rank jutsu soon."

Teriyaki bowed his head slightly, concealing his frustration."Your victory matters," Orochimaru continued. "But the fact chuunin level ninjas gave you such a hard time is worrying."

Teriyaki didn't reply. His fingers flexed slightly at his side — a faint trace of water still clinging to his skin, water and the blood of those he had killed.

It had been 3 months since then, Teriyaki had really tried to learn an A rank technique. Orichimaru had told him to learn 1. Water Severing Wave (Suiton: Suidanha)

However the technique was unbelieavbly hard and since Orichimaru wasn't the best teacher, he was on his own.

The idea was to produce a thin line of high pressure water that could cut through steel and be used as almost a laser. However whenever Teriyaki tried to use it he found his line too weak, too slow or too chakra draining.

He stared at the broken tree before him, he attempted to use the water severing wave technique.

Tiger → Rat → Horse → Snake → Dragon → Hands clap

What came out of his mouth was just a lot of water, it was too hard to confine into a small jet that evoked the power he needed.

"Maybe next month I'll have made some progress on this jutsu."

When he had watched the show or read the manga, he had assumed Naruto was just a little slow, that's why learning rasengan took him so long. But here he was, months into trying to learn an A rank jutsu, only to be stuck on the first step.

Strangely, he wasn't sure how he would do in the chuunin exams, given the fact he couldn't use Kinjutsu and his water jutsus were limited to three.

Water gun technique.

Wild water wave.

Rising water slicer.

Other than those, he could only rely on:

Body flicker technique (Imperfect)

Stealth technique

Substituion jutsu

Body modification technique.

Luckily, doing missions for Orochimaru and occasionally working with the sound four in the past 2 years had made him far better in combat situations and far more skilled with a kunai.

All he knew was the chuunin exams were approaching, he would finally get to meet the main cast.