I Don't own Naruto, I borrow the characters for my own deviant purposes (cackles evilly)
Please Note- This will deviate from Canon dramatically. Mainly in three facets, Kimimaro is alive, Orochimaru has not yet taken possession of Sasuke's body, and Itachi is dead and has been for about 2 months…. Don't worry ladies and gents; Kabuto is still a nerdy bitch. Other than those factors, I will keep on with Canon as much as possible.
Without further adieu, this will be another multi-chap from me, and with the way I am, there's no telling how long this will be… so bear with me and enjoy the ride.
To Walk in Fate's Garden
Chapter 1/Introduction- A Mimosa…
The hidden village of Sound could be called many things.
To some it was just another Shinobi Nation, to others it was an enemy, and to those who knew it well, it was Hell. All of these words could accurately describe the Village of Oto, however not in the opinion of one man.
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Soft foot falls echoed through the decrepit base of Oto. Foot falls taking the owner to a room he visited on a daily basis, for the sole purpose of maintaining his life.
Once opened the door, with a slow creak, revealed a sterile laboratory with a familiar man taking up residence at the overly neat stainless desk.
The white haired man pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and removed a clipboard from the stainless metal surface of his desk before he rose to greet his daily guest.
"Greetings Kimimaro. Are you feeling well today?" the man known as Yakushi Kabuto asked, feigning concern and sympathy for his guest's well being.
Kimimaro answered without words, and took his familiar spot at the very edge of the hospital bed. Kabuto placed his hand on Kimimaro's forehead, and sent his exploratory chakra into his skull in attempt to analyze the progression of the cancerous disease, which afflicted Kimimaro.
Much to Kabuto's dismay, Kimimaro was steadily deteriorating. Orochimaru had said numerous times that if Kabuto was unable to cure Kimimaro, he was an unfit follower. Kabuto took the man's constant sickness as a test from Orochimaru, which ultimately resulted in his pride being shattered and a severe reprimand from his leader.
Kimimaro locked eyes with Kabuto before he exhaled deeply so Kabuto could hear his lungs, followed by his heart as was customary in a normal check up. Long ago had Kimimaro given up hope of being cured to a state where he could serve his master in the way he thought fitting.
Many times, he had considered just surrendering his life in favor of Purgatory, Hell or Limbo, but something that couldn't be articulated into words kept him in the shadows he swore he would never return to.
Kimimaro was initially Orochimaru's third vessel, but that changed when his health began deteriorating. He blamed himself for his own shortcomings, he blamed himself for his sickness, and he blamed himself for failing the only person who had given him purpose in life.
This is not where Kaguya Kimimaro intended his life to be at the age of twenty-three. He could have almost bet he would be dead by now, either from his own body or in battle. It didn't matter to him anymore; every day just brought the same disheartening routine.
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As Kabuto continued with his examinations, Kimimaro came to a revelation.
No matter how much his heart desired to serve Orochimaru, there were two things in his way. His own body and his masters will. Orochimaru would never accept him as he did Sasuke because his body was weak, the only reason he was still living was due to the serums and elixirs of Kabuto's creation coursing through his system.
Kimimaro felt a profound weight in his chest, this weight he realized was the feeling of resignation.
This feeling reminded him so much of how he felt during his childhood, disposable and unnecessary.
Before Kabuto could continue injecting the clear liquid into the artery of Kimimaro's neck, Kimimaro stopped him and forced the syringe to be pulled free of his body.
Kabuto looked at the man, perplexity etched into his two sided features.
Kimimaro simply met his analytical gaze with a cold stare, completely devoid of emotion before he rose to his feet and pulled his robe over his shoulders.
As Kimimaro made his way to the exit of the sterile room, he was stopped by a question from Kabuto.
"What are you doing Kimimaro? You need to finish your treatment; if you don't… you know what will happen." Kabuto warned, with a slight lace of threatening tone on the edge.
Kimimaro proceeded out the door, unaffected by the double-sided concern.
"Tell your Sama I am going to die in peace." Kimimaro said coldly as he left the room, a thoroughly confused Medic-Nin in his wake.
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He made his way through the dark hallways to the only exit. He felt no alliance toward Orochimaru; he didn't need him now that he had the Uchiha. Kimimaro couldn't be upset that Orochimaru didn't need him. That had always been their silent understanding; that Kimimaro would serve Orochimaru until he lost his usefulness.
Thus his purpose fulfilled, he was unnecessary.
As he swung open the heavy iron door of the tomb of a village they call Oto, Kimimaro was greeted with the long forgotten warmth of the sun.
After several moments of heavy squinting and blinking, his pale green eyes acclimated to the obtrusive light. He found the light and the area outside Oto to be just as beautiful as the day he met the Kazekage in battle, the time he went out of his way to obtain that Uchiha.
He shook thoughts of the other man from his head. He had no reason to be jealous, other than the ingrate known as Uchiha Sasuke didn't intend to serve his master with all of his being. The thought that Kimimaro would willingly give Orochimaru his body as a vessel just as repayment for saving him from that sorrowful existence made him slightly ill. He would, but he couldn't. Sasuke could, but he wouldn't.
He figured this was one of the many reasons life was so beautiful to those who have experienced it. Those not like him, those people who could walk though the light on a day such as this, and not have the looming cloud of death hanging dangerously low overhead.
He stepped out of the pit, ascended the stairs, equating it to the beginning of his personal stairway to the afterlife, and began to walk, with no provisions, no idea where he was going, and no thought of when his last breath would be taken.
Among everything, he left to chance at this point; Kaguya Kimimaro was at an odd peace, because for the first time since he was able to call forth memory, this was the only thing he had done for himself.
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He walked for hours, and those hours turned to days. Every step he took drug a searing pain though his body like a flaming whip. He knew his end was close. He didn't know where he was. He didn't care, and he didn't want to live. The truth was, Kimimaro hadn't wanted to live for some years now.
Night hung over the young man, the moon offering its only bit of light to the now collapsed form of Kaguya Kimimaro. The lush leaves of the green foliage swayed in the cool night breeze, creating a moving boarder for the moon. An utterly beautiful sight.
Kimimaro breathed in and out slowly and steadily, he wanted to see this night for as long as he could. He was gracious to whomever or whatever allowed him to see this sight for his last memory of living.
After a few hours, the pain grew intense. Every breath he took felt like his shoulders were ripping apart and his chest was caving. No matter how badly he hurt, he kept focusing on the steadily clouding sky.
When the severe pain breeched the point to where he had to interrupt his observation of the beautiful night, he felt a cold drop of rain on his forehead. The shock of the rain kept him from passing out from the stress.
Minutes later, the now pouring rain could not keep the looming unconsciousness at bay. With his last vision being a lone mimosa bloom dancing dangerously close to his face, he gave in to the blackness he hated with all his heart but was bound to. This was not the nature in his heart, he was not an evil man, but he wouldn't be repenting to anyone in his last moments.
The only person he needed to forgive was himself.
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The Anbu retrieval squad made their way efficiently to the border of the Village of Sound. Their primary objective: Detain Uchiha Sasuke by any means necessary.
The village of Konoha sent their Anbu in prepared for a war. The blatant treachery of the last living Uchiha couldn't go unnoticed any longer, he compromised the lives of Leaf Shinobi who posed no threat to the man, for that… the price was death and the current Kage, Tsunade was far finished with trying to bide the man time for his conscious to kick in.
She dispatched Anbu in three man squads, in random intervals and sent word to others squadrons in all the allied countries to converge on Sound and dispose of everything that is and had been in the base.
Haruno Sakura had long gotten over her feelings for the ever emotionally impotent Sasuke.
She had come to the realization that there was life to be lived beyond the memories of vengeance, and a sea of caskets; she couldn't bear that thought, to live by choice in such an admittedly wretched memory... Perhaps it made her weak, she was indifferent to it all now, she understood that he would never be able to reciprocate her love (or what she had once coined 'love) and she made peace with this, and actually welcomed the man's impending death.
The first member of her squad, Kiba, or the 'wolf', as they were referred to when given Anbu assignments, was patrolling the area fifty meters away from her, stationed in the middle, with Chouji stationed fifty meters behind her guarding the rear.
They key to the infiltration of Sound was simple, keep the flow of chakra steady and don't let it fluxuate, an easy task to undertake when the members of a squad were separated out.
Kiba came to a quick halt. The other two-squad members took note of this and stopped in their tracks as well, quietly the intercom squeaked out.
"I think there is a wounded shinobi ahead… Sakura you circle round so you can take front and check it out… Over." Kiba's voice directed, he was an incredibly good leader, almost as proficient as Shikamaru, but Kiba had a lack of planning which was both his downfall and his curse.
Doing as she was told by 'wolf', she circled around Kiba carefully, and assumed the position of front scout, immediately she felt the rush of strong yet depleting chakra, and the subtle essence of life slipping from the shinobi approximately 60 meters ahead.
"Pick it up guys; we've got to get there stat." Sakura ordered before sending her chakra pumping though her feet in efforts to reach the wounded in time, even though she had seen many die, she always felt personally responsible, and never failed to hold herself accountable.
Tsunade had once told her. "That's your nature as a medic, you'll become numb in time so you can sleep with an easy conscious" It had been eight years since her tutelage began, and not even a cell of hers was numb to knowing another's life slipped through her oddly misleading fingers.
Sometimes the most crippling handicap someone can receive is praise.
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There were other cells of Anbu on the direct route to Sound, so the slight deviation would have no repercussions. At her last calculation, she figured the first three quarters of the entire force was converging on Sound now, even if they used all the chakra they wanted to, it wouldn't give them away to the enemy for one simple reason: it was too late.
When Sakura reached a tree shielded clearing, she took note of the pale and seemingly lifeless body lying in the dewy night grass.
The deeply engrained medic within her assumed control of the situation as she rushed to the sickeningly still body, she brought her fingertips to his forehead, taking note of two small red circles above each of his eyebrows. The man didn't look familiar, and she would have remembered someone who had red markings seemingly everywhere on his face.
One thing she did take note of was the operates robe of a lavender color, tied with the traditional Obi indicative that this man was of Oto. Filing the information away in her mind for later, she touched his forehead, and sent her chakra through his system carefully.
She didn't know what exactly afflicted the man, he was still living although barely, but whatever the scourge was, it was racking his nervous system so severely it interrupted his respiratory system.
Now she knew the urgency of the man's situation. Raising her fingers to the com-piece, she advised her leader of the plan of action she would be taking.
"Wolf, I'm abandoning mission. This man is far too ill to be treated in field; he may also have information on Sound. It is my suggestion, as second in command, that we return to Konoha, and leave this to the other cells." Sakura said, her mind already made up, though she communicated with her superior per protocol.
She was able to manipulate the larger man's dead weight in such a way he was draped lifelessly over her back.
Once she had him in a controlled and stable position, she traveled at a break neck pace to Konoha. If her estimates were correct, and they usually were, this man had a little over six hours to reverse the already severe damage… Of those six hours, four would be spent traveling at even this pace.
The thought of another life slipping through her hands, was something she could not cope with, and something she didn't crave. She would deal with whatever punishments were to be had for S-Ranked mission abandonment when the time came. For now, her Medic persona was in control, until the threat to the man passed.
(A/N: So that's the first chapter, please let me know what you think… Let's thank Jayanx for her consistently great beta-ing abilities… As always, reviews are appreciated and encouraged. I know this deviates from Canon quite a bit, but I'm excited about this and I hope you like it, reviews make me update faster… hint hint... Until Next Time…)