Yeah, I know I have other stories that I really need to update. But this wouldn't leave me alone. So, don't hurt me. >>

I was thinking about the Sound village, and how it would be to have Orochimaru as a Kage. That'd suck, huh? So, I wrote this down. Mind you, it was insanely late at night. Again, no blunt objects, please. Enjoy.


These papers were found on the body of a Sound nin that was killed after an unsuccessful ambush on shinobi of the Leaf.

I'm writing this, because no one else will. Who wants to write down the boring story of a middle-rate shinobi, even if they are from the rather infamous Sound Village? So I write this, though a part of my brain tell me that if no one wants to write it, who will want to read it? And to top it all off, if it is found out, I'll probably be offed for treason.

I don't write this to complain of being a nin from the Sound. There are plenty of advantages to it. There is always a small thrill when you see the look on the face of your opponent when you tell them where you hail from, a look that says "Crap! I'm screwed." right before your teammate that had been previously hiding in the bushes sneaks upon them and confirms their suspicions that they are indeed screwed.

Though it would be folly to say that all's well in paradise. The very act that made the Sound so infamous killed over half our forces. I myself have lost my father, a sibling, an aunt, and a handful of cousins.

But that's nothing. I count myself lucky that my clan even exists now. You think that Uchiha punk is such a hot shot for being the last of his clan? I personally know five newly minted orphans, who are now the last of their clans. And even they count themselves lucky, for there are three clans that have been completely wiped out.

There is only one word for what it was like after the unsuccessful attempt at destroying the Leaf- chaos. Pure chaos. Everyone was in hysterics, and the cemetery was overloaded. We had to make two new ones to carry everyone, and a bunch just ended up being cremated.

In this time, we needed a leader. A strong leader to carry us though the darkest period of our tiny village's existence. We needed a Kage.

We got Orochimaru.

He stayed around for a bit, then went running off. Of course, he had excellent excuses. Had to treat that nasty burn that the Hokage had given him, you know. Go rummage around the cities and find some long lost sannin broad.

Of course, there's the whole issues of getting burnt anyway. He's supposed to be legendary, but some old geezer that keeled over after fighting managed disable his arms? What's up with that? What kind of Kage manages to lose all his jutsus to some old-timer that was as wrinkly as crumpled paper? Not that he ever told us he lost his jutsus. But we're the Sound. We have brains.

Apparently, he doesn't think so. Does he think we're going to be docile about our kage getting his ass whooped by Granddaddy, then running away to find some other old granny? But he's still powerful, and Kabuto could whoop any of us back into diapers. So we obey.

Back to his little quest. So, not only does he completely fail, but the old hag ends up as the new Hokage. The hell's wrong with this bloke? Can't he do anything right?

I remember one day, I went to the one ramen spot in town (Yes, only one ramen stand. One screwed up town, huh?), and I see this emo-looking chick. Of course, we get plenty of those around here. If there's one thing the Sound can do, it's angst.

But she looked mildly familiar. Not that that's usually a rarity either, considering you could fit the population of the sound in Orochimaru's living room. I think. I haven't been there myself, but people tell me it's big. Anyway, I was sure she had been in one of the 'special' positions (a.k.a. Orochimaru's pets.)

"Hey, who's she?" I asked one of my teammates. She's one of them gossipy broads, who know anything.

My teammate glanced over at her, gave that girly look that said what she thought of the other, and turned back to me, her face as though she'd sniffed something icky.

"She's a failed pawn, that's all. Someone who had a change for greatness, and failed. A nobody."

Power is what the Sound respect. That's why we came to Orochimaru, the promise of power. That's why we secretly grumble now, in the darkest alleys in the quietest of whispers. We see those without power as failures. That's how we were created and raised.

How Orochimaru made us. Ironic, now that he has fallen. His own cunning, his own manipulations have planted the first seed of mutiny.

I look at the girl, and she sees me, and gives me one of those girly looks that makes you glad looks don't kill, or you'd be pushing up daisies. I look away, and I feel that seed within me.

I saw myself in that girl's eyes. For what am I, my family, my friends, this entire village. What are we besides pawns for him? We are raised, we live, and we die, all for his desires.

But he has unknowingly planted a seed. And he unknowingly grows it. Someday it will grow into a giant tree, and he will have to contend with it.

All I can do is let it grow, and hope I'm alive when it's reaped.


For everyone's information, the "Failed Pawn" is Rin. Sucks to be her, huh?