Dosu opened his eyes to find himself lying in bed in a dim-lit room; he had no idea what had just happened to him. One moment he was about to clash with Garaa who had revealed himself to be some kind of monster and the next thing he knew he was in this bed. 'What just happened to me?' Dosu thought to himself. 'Was that all some kind of a dream? It had to be. That thing was like a monster from kid's worst nightmare. There is no way it could've been real.' Dosu tried to get up but he was struck with pain throughout the right side of his body. He felt as if he had just been hit by a truck. 'This pain that I feel…if this is real than does that mean…all of that actually happened?'
"Good, you're finally awake. I was wondering when you were going to come around."
Dosu, startled by the voice he just heard, looked around to see who it was. Dosu saw that it was a barren room aside from the bed and in the corner was a man sitting in a chair next to a table with a single candle lit. He had short, nicely combed brown hair and sported a goatee on his face. He wore a black collared button shirt with long black pants underneath a plum jacket with long sleeves. He wore a black glove on his left hand. Beside him on the table was a bottle of sake, which he poured into a glass and drank as Dosu just stared at him.
"Who are you?" Dosu asked. "Why have you brought me here?"
"I am the man who just saved you life," he replied. "If it wasn't for me that Sand jinchurriki would've turned you into a stain."
"Jinchurriki? What in the world is that?" asked Dosu.
"A mere mortal with a creature of enormous power, power beyond imagining, locked away within his body" the man answered. "This creature is known as a Tailed Beast, and it is capable of unleashing unspeakable evil upon anything in its path. Surly you must have heard of such a monster before, haven't you Dosu?" Dosu had heard of these Tailed Beasts before. He heard rumors of the great destruction that they have caused in the past. As Dosu pondered over this, he began to sweat; he could not believe he just tried to take one of them head on.
As Dosu's vision became clearer, he recognized who the man was. "You're that jonin from the Shadow Village. You were watching the preliminaries earlier. Not to seem ungrateful but why did you save me?"
"I thought it would be a shame to let such a valuable piece of talent go to waste" the man answered as he drank his sake. "While I watched fight, I sensed a great degree of potential in you. Orochimaru is such a fool to allow something like this rot." Chills crawled up Dosu's spine at the very mention of his master's name.
"How do you know about Orochimaru?" Dosu asked as he started to panic on the inside. "What else do you know?"
"I know a lot of things about you, Dosu Kinuta" he replied. "I know that Orochimaru came to you when you had nothing and offered you a new life, one with power and greatness. I know he reduced you to a guinea pig to test the power of the curse mark he bestowed upon Sasuke Uchiha. I know he betrayed you, after you pledged your life to helping him achieve his own dreams he left you to die in the gutter."
Dosu began to perspire even more than before; he had no idea who was in the same room with him. Dosu's mind was racing, 'Can this man read minds? Is he one of Orochimaru's associates? Has he been spying on me and the Sound Village?'
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Dosu asked as his anxiety began to eat away at him from the inside out.
"I am known by many names," he replied as he poured another glass of sake. "But you can call me Ragnorak. And I simply want you to join me and my little Shadow Village."
Dosu pulled his legs out from under the covers and hung them over the side of his bed as he turned to completely face the man who called himself 'Ragnorak'. "You want me to betray Orochimaru and join you? Why would I do that?"
"Are you seriously going to continue following Orochimaru around like a lonely pup?" asked Ragnorak with a smirk on his face. "He betrayed you once, he is bound to do it again. I know you understand that you have outlived you usefulness to Orochimaru and that you are as good as dead to him. And you know what they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. If you become my disciple, I can deliver the greatness that Orochimaru promised you. I can grant you wealth and power beyond anything you could imagine. All I ask in return is your allegiance to the Village Hidden in the Shadows."
Dosu was trying to process everything that had just happened. 'This Ragnorak, whoever he is, saved my life when Orochimaru would've more than likely allowed me to die. When I saw that evil chakra surging from Sasuke's body and when that Garaa became that monster, my life flashed before my eyes both times. Now this man is offering me a brand new start. I know that there is nothing left for me if I continue following Orochimaru; he is bound to sacrifice me sooner or later. Still, how do I know I can trust this man?'
"What are you planning?" Dosu asked.
"I see no reason to lie to you, Dosu," replied Ragnorak. "I fear Orochimaru may become a threat to my own operations. It would be in my best interest obtain as much information about him as I can so that I can strike before he has a chance to bite me. You may merely be a genin, but I know you possess a fair amount of knowledge about the Sound Village, including Orochimaru's jutsu, the location of his hideouts, and the strength of his other subordinates."
"You actually think you can kill Orochimaru?" asked Dosu with disbelief mixed into his tone. "You have no idea the powers he is capable of. Besides, even if you are strong enough to kill him, what will happen to me after it's over? Orochimaru promised me the same things when he found me as an orphan. Why should I believe what you're saying right now? There is no promise you can make that I can entirely trust."
Ragnorak placed his glass on the table. "I assure you" he began, "I have much more respect for human life than Orochimaru does. People don't outlive their usefulness completely until they are dead. The fact that you are still alive right now means that there is still value inside of you. If you serve me, I will not let a single bit of that go to waste. After all, a flower cannot fully blossom unless it receives the necessary water and sunlight to allow it to grow. If you follow me, I will nurture your flower so that it can show all of its beauty in the world. Not only yours but your comrades' as well. I will welcome Zaku and Kin into the Hidden Shadow Village so that they will not have to suffer any twisted fate Orochimaru has in store for them. All three of you will live like kings if you follow me; I will make you shine greater than the brightest star. To demonstrate what I am capable of, I will train you personally for the next month to ensure that you have the opportunity to fight Sasuke that you so desire."
As Ragnorak spoke to him, Dosu found the very sound of his voice appealing like a beautiful song. There was something about it that touched his heart, something in explainable. It made the thought of joining Ragnorak all the more tempting. Dosu realized that he had been given a second chance and his mind was set on taking it. Dosu forced himself out of the bed, pushing through the pain running through his body. He walked towards Ragnorak and fell to his knees before him.
"I pledge myself and my abilities to you and your teachings, Lord Ragnorak," he said as he made his choice.
"Excellent. I believe you and your comrades will make excellent additions to the Hidden Shadow Village" said Ragnorak as he became filled with joy as he gazed upon his newest disciple.
"However," Dosu began. "I am not sure if Zaku and Kin will go along with this "switching sides" thing so easily. Both of them still bear strong loyalties to Orochimaru even if they are unable to understand his betrayal."
"I would not concern yourself with those two, my friend," replied Ragnorak. "I am a man of powerful means of persuasion. I can easily make them see the reality of the situation they are in and come over to my side."
"You aren't going to threaten them with force are you?" asked Dosu with a hint of concern.
"No no no, of course not. You do not need to concern yourself," assured Ragnorak. "I don't need to utilize such barbaric methods in order to get people to see my point of view. During the whole time we were here, have I at all used force as a means to persuade you to come around?"
"I apologize, I did not mean to question you" stated Dosu.
"There is nothing to apologize for, child," Ragnorak replied as he approached Dosu and lifted him up to his feet and guided him back to the bed. "You still have not completely recovered from your little incident. You need your rest." Dosu tucked himself into the bed as Ragnarok turned around to leave. "I will go now and retrieve your comrades. Our combined strength will be rewarded. The three of you will bathe in power and wealth and the Leaf, the Sand, the Sound, and all are enemies will fall before us."
With those words, Dosu was fast asleep. Ragnorak chuckled as he left to enlist Zaku and Kin to join his cause.
