A Dead Snake And A Contract
In a shack far from the heart of Konohagakure on a small mountainous hill, Sasuke resided. He decided to take a temporary break from the huge array of events that had occured over the last year to train himself in mastering the Sakkaku Sharingan. The cabin was made completely of old wood from the trees that used to be in it's place and was a safe haven from most of the "idiotic" people in the world. It had been twenty-two days since the two meteors decimated the Leaf Village, twenty-two days since he was beaten more than half way to death by the artificial Sound ninja.
Sasuke sat at the single chair in the cabin next to a table that had old food spread about it, endulging in the meat of a cow that he swiped from unlucky farmers that attempted to make refuge at his shack while he was away. He got up and walked to the only window, a strange premonition crept up in his mind. That's Naruto... Is he finally back? Heh. Good. I can't wait to see what he makes of this world now.
His eyes skimmed the burned land surrounding the village, black bangs falling into them were pushed aside. "You're there aren't you? With Orochimaru too... Good. I was beginning to grow bored of this...well for me, peace." An unlucky bug was crushed under his foot as he moved over to the bed he had covered with raggedy clothing. "I am exploding with chakra; ready for my first kill."
Sasuke pulled on black pants that he killed an Anbu for many months back, then put on a lightly grayed shirt with loose long sleeves, finally shoving on two black arm-guards with shuriken tucked in them and sandals. His hair was still a quarter of the way down his back and bangs almost over his eyes, vanity was never too important to him.
"The Akatsuki...is dead. Konohagakure...gone." An older man's voice startled the newly equipped Uchiha. "Orochimaru is soon to follow. Hmhmhm... What's next I wonder?"
"Who– where the hell are you?" He turned in circles to find the source of the strange words.
"Hmhmhmhm... My name is not in the least bit important, but the name you can call me would be... I always liked the name: Yemma. Where am I? Right behind you." The older man stepped out of a dark purple light in the air, one meter behind Sasuke. Cloaked in a black robe and hood, allowing only the gray hairs of a beard to be seen, he spoke. "You seem to be a successful mercenary from your work with Jastin, as well as your neutrality in this world; I would like your assistance in a small favor. It is an easy assassination."
"Where the hell did you come from?" Sasuke laughed while talking, immediately transitioning to a serious face. "Who?"
Yemma crossed his arms. "The name is a known one. I can offer a replacement for the Curse Mark on your neck as a reward, only a taste of it's power beforehand; when you finish I shall give you all of it."
"Yeah? But you still didn't answer me... Wait, what do you mean a 'replacement'? I still have the mark on my neck."
"As you may already know, the Curse Mark is connected directly with Orochimaru. So if that man were to die...it would dissolve and cease to exist."
"So... What you're saying is that..."
"Orochimaru will die."
With each step, the destroyed buildings made a clack noise against Kabuto's sandals. He rushed through what used to be Konohagakure as fast as he could. Two-thirds of a month had passed since Orochimaru left; it seemed as if he knew that Naruto would intervene in the battle against Sasuke, leaving control of the Sound ninja to his right hand man, Kabuto. Heading Otogakure was not much of a task since it was not much of a village to start with, the only problem was the lost feeling Kabuto was stuck with. Each day he would return to Konohagakure's ruins in waiting for their return.
Kabuto knew something was wrong. As soon as he saw the barely moving body, it was already almost a corpse. "Lord Orochimaru." He stated. "Are you going to get up?"
"Heheheh, of course... Is that what you want me to say? HAHAHAHAH! This is...fun." The snake king snickered. "Truly fun. At least has been. No I cannot move my body. Not an inch, even my mouth is struggling. I can feel my cells...murdering each other; I am going to die. This time. This time I cannot come back." His words smacked the floor as he lie face-down, completely immobile.
"What do you mean? You are the great Lord Orochimaru! Dying from poison? That's crazy... I am a medical ninja." Kabuto slowly pulled the man over so he faced upward. "This must be curable, my medical prowess is on level with the former Hokage Tsunade and the former Akatsuki Eisei-hei. The best out there." The words coming out of his mouth were all the truth, but all they were doing were comforting him. There was no saving Orochimaru.
"It seems my time has run out. My immortality jutsu will never be realized, at least not by me. Kabuto, I have a request."
Kabuto examined his torso. "Y-Yeah." He replied while trying to think of a way to stop the homicidal cells within him. This is insane. What the hell kind of poison was that? What kind of connections do the Knight Order have? I... Why can't I do anything?" His arms gave up and he stood up on both legs. "What is your last request?"
"Last? Don't be daft. When my body dies, take it back to the main base. Lobotomize it and infuse it into your own body, similar to what you did three years ago. Everything else will...f...all...in...to..." Orochimaru's words stopped, little by little. "...place." The heart could no longer manage to hold him together and he died in that moment.
"M'lord..." Kabuto threw his out to the left and snapped his fingers. Two Sound ninja dropped from nowhere. He turned around with a serious look. "Pick him up. Be careful or I'll personally kill you. Let's move."
Sasuke yelped in pain as the Curse Mark shimmered a distorted orange color. "God...dammit!" It steadily started to shrink by the second. "Fuuuuck!" He grabbed it with a tight squeeze, trying to block out the surge of pain. "W-What's... What is happening!?"
"Orochimaru is dead. The connection between the Curse and that 'man' is deep. Once his organs fail along with his body and he is removed from this world, each Curse Mark is removed as well. They vanish with him. The pain should rival the pain that he felt during those precious final moments." Yemma informed while waiting to finish their conversation about his request.
Sasuke struggled in pain for the next five minutes before the Curse Mark was no more. Not a single mark remained. No scar. Nothing, as if it never existed in the first place. The shocking pain was let off for the most part, yet it still stung constantly. "S-So who is it? The one you want me put an end to?"
"Travel north of the ruins of Konohagakure to the newly built city of Teito. It is still partly under construction, meaning the security is erratic. Take advantage of that. If you start too much of a commotion it will gather a large amount of soldiers. The probability of you surviving will quickly dwindle if the troops continue to grow."
The Saikyō No Ken clicked into the brown sheath in Sasuke's hand. "I can handle all of them with my Sharingan. It'll be easy."
Yemma let out a small laugh. "The reason to lay low is not because of the guards; the reason to lay low is because of the guard's weapons. You think you understand this world...there is still much to learn."
Jumping right to the point, Sasuke shouted. "Would you just tell me who the hell I am supposed to kill!?"
Yemma stuck out his hand, somehow cutting a hole in the mid air. The opening widened to a human size, glowing a dark purple. "Tsunade. Finish off the Hokage." The words startled Sasuke and lingered in his head even after the man left by stepping inside the light.