The sharpest sword will not pierce it;
the hottest flame will not singe it;
water will not make it moist;
wind will not cause it to wither.
-Bhagavad Gita, 2.23
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"We sought something to help our own ambitions become a reality, after Otogakure fell and the Land of Sound was lost and our place there was no longer safe. We left under cover of darkness and Henge, and wandered the world. I made one transfer in that time, to an escaped Oto jounin that we found in a country far removed from any shinobi nation that would be on your maps. We traveled the world over, searching the esoterica of foreign lands for something that would meld our powers.
"In a way, we found what we were looking for, now that I think about it, but it came in a different form than we expected and it wasn't until an inopportune time that we realized just what we had discovered. In my travels with Sasuke, I found that many things came in different packages, and between the two of us we began to realize that things were no longer what they had once been."
Ibiki sat, his fear quelled for the moment. He saw Orochimaru fight the drug's compulsion briefly before succumbing again, and listened.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Fire Country: One Year Prior to Capture and Trial
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Two cloaked figures made their way through the courtyard of the inn to the entrance. The shorter of the two walked up to the night manager. "Are there rooms available?"
Used to such mysterious figures—after all, this was shinobi country—the manager checked the roster and nodded. "Second floor, third room on yer right. Here's the key. Dinner ends in half an hour, if ya want any grub I suggest you get down there."
The figure nodded, took the key, and both mysterious guests disappeared down the hallway, following the smell of food.
The hotel manager sighed. "Ninjas," he muttered. Always skulking around, they were, and scaring off honest business. His youngest wanted to go to the hidden village nearby and learn to be a shinobi, but the manager was working on quashing that foolhardy urge. Those in the villages were born to the life, and it was best not to meddle in the affairs of people he did not, could not, and had no desire to understand. 'sides, they always had that creepy feeling around them, no matter how nice they were. Like there was some aura around them that touched and caressed you, looked into your head, and sent every thought back to the shinobi. Those two that had just gone by seemed especially creepy. He'd make a note for the maids to leave 'em alone in the morning.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
As it had been in every inn they'd stayed at, the two sat by themselves. They ate in silence, although the voracity with which they devoured the bland food said volumes of itself; the tall one had a pallor barely visible under the cowl of his cloak, and the shorter one had hair that stuck out in back and pushed his hood back. Those who had caught a glimpse of his face saw that he was an extraordinarily beautiful young man, if a little thin, and that he was obviously a shinobi of some breeding. The both of them exuded power, and they were left alone.
For the most part, anyway.
A man named Tatsu and his gang were also in the dining hall that night. He liked to think of himself as a Big Man, one who could control anything in his path, and shinobi were just more challenging than others. These didn't look too threatening, either; they were thin and weak-looking, and to top it off, they were covered. He hated people who hid their true selves.
He stood and made his way over to where they were finishing up, soaking the last bits of broth up with some fresh bread. Tatsu was a huge man, all muscle, and even though he wasn't shinobi he was still an expert fighter. Putting his dinner-plate-sized hands down on the table, he leaned until he saw the other end tilt a little. "I don't like yer kind," he said without any prologue to it. "Yer a bunch'a lowlife bastards, ya take from the normal people an' all you do is murder innocents."
Both the shinobi paused and set their bread down. The shorter one's head turned a little under his hood to look at Tatsu, and an inexplicable sense of fear came over him. Even though this slip of a ninja wasn't moving at all, he still had this effect on the big man—and the taller one hadn't said anything. He sat there, one pale hand resting lightly on the edge of the table. It was fuckin' annoying.
"Listen, kid," Tatsu said. He knew his face showed the fear he felt. "I don't know what kind of voodoo you're pulling on me, but I'm not gonna ask ya nicely ta stop. I don' hold stock with your people at all. Not at all, an' yer beginnin' to get on my nerves. So just put your charms away an' get the hell out of here."
"We can't do that," the tall one said suddenly. "We've already paid for our room, you see."
Tatsu realized that both these people were male, and smirked wickedly. He knew of a way to get under their skin, oh yes he did. "Damn fags," he sneered. "Fucking like goddamned animals. You, kid, you must take it up the ass—don'tcha? His d—"
Tatsu got no further on his insults because in one motion the kid had stood and somehow seemed on eye-level with the other man, even though Tatsu had a good two feet on him. "I'll thank you not to talk about my partner like that," the kid said. His voice was low and silky, but felt like a velvet-covered sheath for a sharp and deadly sword. "He deserves much more respect."
Something glinted under the other's hood, something that Tatsu knew he should look away from but couldn't. It was something beautiful and terrible all at once, and it was red. Tatsu got an impression of a black wheel against a red background, spinning and spinning endlessly. It drew him in, captivated him—and as he watched, hypnotized, he began to hear things, voices in his head, telling him what to do.
Leave us alone leave this place leave this town and never ever ever come back
"C'mon, boys," Tatsu said, moving away from the cloaked shinobi and toward the door. Confused, his lackeys followed him, and the whole gang left. Slowly, the room came back to life. Neither of the two had realized it had gone silent through their whole encounter.
The shorter man turned to the taller, still sitting. "Perhaps it is time we retire to our rooms."
The taller stood. "I think it is, indeed."
Silently they both left. When they did, a great weight was lifted off the room, and it returned to normality.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Silently the two shinobi made their way up to the second floor. The taller waited while the shorter opened the room, and once the door was closed the taller man threw back his hood and glared at his companion. "That was a pretty stunt in there."
The other pulled his cloak off and hung it up behind the door. In the time between when they'd been forced to leave the lair and now, Sasuke had grown into a man. He was eighteen now, tall and handsome; his hair was thick and glossy with health even though his life had been lived on the road for the last year. "It got him off our backs, didn't it?"
"It was too risky. We are already being hunted; they know they didn't kill us a year ago, and now that we're heading in to the snake's pit, we must take extra precautions. If a story gets out about a Sharingan user in Fire Country, every hunter-nin from every village within range will come after us. Konoha's ANBU will be on us faster than flies on carrion meat."
Sasuke shrugged. "He spoke disrespectfully. I cannot allow that."
"Are you not used to it after all this time?"
"We owe each other a lot, Orochimaru." Sasuke turned his back. "I'm going to take a bath." The bathroom door shut behind him with a click. The sannin heard the water start up and shook his head.
Typical boy, he thought wearily, and stripped off his cloak, shirt and shoes and lay down on the bed. There was only one bed, but the two were used to curling up together in hotel rooms, since getting a one-room, one-bed accommodation was easier and cheaper than separate beds. They did not have sex; such a thing was farthest from their minds in favor of keeping a step ahead of their pursuit and staying alive.
(He felt the Uchiha slide in beside him, fresh and clean from his bath. Out of habit, the younger nin cuddled in close, and out of habit Orochimaru wrapped his arms around his protégé. In places like these there was no need to stand a watch; they had entered the town without being seen, and had thrown off the hunters on their trail for some days. They had a rare chance to relax.
Opening his eyes, Orochimaru met Sasuke's dark gaze, muddied with sleepiness and something else. In that moment he had looked so inviting that the sannin had moved forward, pressing a kiss to his companion's lips, not looking for more than simple acknowledgement for he was tired, and when he felt the boy shift and respond by clumsily pushing back against his mouth, he pulled away.
"Good night, Sasuke," he had said. The other had settled himself again, head pushed under Orochimaru's chin.
"'night," he had mumbled sleepily.)
Moments like those were permissible only because of their mutual need. The need to be close and to be recognized; the desire to affirm that their ambitions would be seen fulfilled. Although, Orochimaru thought wryly, one already had. Pulling back the sleeve of his black shirt, he examined the seal on his right forearm. It wasn't anything like the one he had placed on Sasuke, the cursed Heaven that was in reality, Hell. This one he knew to be called the tri-marga seal, the Seal of the Triple Path. It was an ancient power, and it granted them an ability that they were still trying to understand. The scroll they had gotten the jutsu, and thus by way of experimentation and risk-taking the seal, had mentioned there was a sister scroll given to a group of brigands some years ago. Since their first activation of this seal, they had searched for the second, to learn more of the tri-marga's secrets and to boost its potential.
But it came with its downfalls; now that there were two seals linking them, Orochimaru and Sasuke were even more closely tied to each other. Where before along the Heaven seal they had gotten inklings of emotions and were able to sense each other's whereabouts, the combination of the Heaven seal and the Triple Path made them nearly telepathic, if not empathic. Orochimaru had caught himself projecting a bad mood onto Sasuke more than once already, and he had caught all the emotions of a youth entering manhood, including how he seemed to lust after everything that had what he wanted and was living. That last one had led to some very awkward situations.
It had its benefits of course, and not limited to what it actually granted. The ability to sense thoughts or emotions led to their skills as a fighting team surpassing their ability to fight solo. It had rankled them both that they were now in each other's heads, but in confrontations after gaining the seal they had both been thankful.
Sasuke came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel with another in his hand. "Musing about the Triple Path again?" he asked idly. Orochimaru knew the boy had caught onto his thoughts, as usual. Sasuke seemed the more sensitive of the two of them.
"Chewing the cud, as it were. I'm still looking for more clues."
"You're wasting your time. We milked all the information we could out of that scroll."
"….."
"…..?"
"…I am not being unreasonable."
"You are, and you know it." Sasuke pulled on a pair of sleeping pants and slid under the covers. Orochimaru followed suit, and again they curled together. "'night, snaker."
"Good night, Sasuke."
It was some time before either one went to sleep.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The village looked exactly as it had when he left six years ago; the same shops, the same people, different children. Under the protection of his hood, Sasuke gaped around.
It's as if the invasion of Konoha never happened, he thought.
There was a ripple of displeasure in the corner of his head that Sasuke imagined Orochimaru's thoughts and feelings spoke from. Slowly, as though from a great distance, he heard No need to remind me of it.
Sasuke sent a feeling of apology, and then there was a little sprinkling of acceptance in the back of his mind. Smiling, Sasuke rubbed absently at the tri-marga seal. Sometimes this had its benefits.
The glances people threw their way grew more and more suspicious the closer they got to the Hokage Tower. The pair passed the gates of the Hyuuga compound, thrown open for the day, and Sasuke wondered vaguely if he could glance in and see Neji and Hinata. They had been good to him. Orochimaru caught his wandering thoughts and sent a quizzical feeling along the seal.
The sannin was wholly focused on their goal; they knew the second scroll was in Konoha, and that it would very likely be in the vault of so-called 'forbidden' scrolls under the Hokage tower. Without the access tag of a jounin or ANBU, or the Hokage's personal tag, they wouldn't be allowed in. Orochimaru had left his jounin tag behind when he'd left Konoha, thinking he'd gained all the knowledge he'd needed. Now he cursed his shortsightedness; that could have gotten them all the information they could have wanted without this, but now they were forced to go beg for asylum and favor with the one person who probably wouldn't give it to them.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"That was one thing this Council was never clear on, Godaime Tsunade," one of the other Kages said. "Why you broke village and shinobi law to let two missing-nins return to the active roster and ordered their names taken out of the Bingo Books."
Tsunade's face was closed. "It's not often that two of the most wanted missing-nins willingly turn themselves in to me," she said dryly. "Although I don't encourage them to do so; not only would ANBU be out of a job, but I would have far too much paperwork." There was scattered laughter throughout the room.
"Nevertheless, they were top-ranked among not just ANBU but also the Mist Hunter-nins, the Rock Headhunters, and countless other nin-hunting organizations."
"I'm sure if we let the good councilman continue with his reading of the testimonies we have from Orochimaru and from Uchiha Sasuke, more of the story will become clear."
"Then proceed."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
She was appropriately wrathful, Sasuke decided. Orochimaru caught his fear and sent a flicker of amusement back; this reminded him of the old Tsunade he'd been teammates with. How Orochimaru had been able to put up with this day after day was really beyond Sasuke; he was terrified of her, and they hadn't been in the room five minutes.
"—think you can just walk back into Konoha like nothing ever happened here when you're both guilty of heinous crimes against us? And what about Naruto and Sakura, Sasuke, what the hell do you think you're doing here with this snake anyway—"
Orochimaru had dealt with it, Sasuke decided, by simply tuning her tirades out entirely. This was not far from the truth. Standing beside Sasuke, the sannin had begun his own mental wandering almost before the rant had begun.
"—how dare you two presume that I will do such a thing as to let you into the vaults that contain not only the scrolls but the entire history of Konoha, and your traitorous eyes aren't worthy to look upon it—"
How much longer was she going to go on? Sasuke thought, standing perfectly still. He was sure the guards were listening through the doors, there had to people sticking to the walls outside—if he'd had a mind to he could feel them out, but thought it'd be unwise if Tsunade found him poking about with chakra trails.
"—and if you two expect any sympathy from me you can both shove it up your asses and walk right back out the way you came. Now hurry up and tell me what you want."
Orochimaru smiled just as though he'd been listening all along. "We ask asylum of Konoha, Tsunade. We ask that our ranks be given back to us—Sasuke will be allowed to take the next chuunin exam, and I ask that my rank as jounin be restored to me—and we ask for access to the vaults under this tower. There is a scroll we seek."
This seemed to set off another rant, but it was much shorter than the other one and culminated in Tsunade settling back in her seat and asking, "Why? And what does Konoha have to gain?"
"A power not yet unleashed on this side of the world," Orochimaru said with a smirk. "Let's show her, Sasuke. Seeing is believing."
Rolling up their sleeves (Orochimaru's right, Sasuke's left), they let her see the tri-marga gleaming against their pale skin. It was a seal much like the Caged-Bird but smaller and surrounded by strange symbols, curving and recurving over their skin. Simultaneously, they activated its first level.
Their chakra became visible; Orochimaru's was a dark purple-black, Sasuke's blue, and when they merged they became a burning ultraviolet. Their emotion-sense and thought-sense became greater than before.
Karma Level activated, they thought, and projected that onto Tsunade. She jumped, staring at them wide-eyed. Action seal released.
Speechless, Tsunade watched as Sasuke ran the hand seals for the chidori and it blossomed into view, sparking blue and white around his hand. With a little extra boost from Orochimaru's chakra, it flared and not only did its girth widen, but it became Habataku Chidori—normally unable to be released unless Sasuke had already activated his cursed seal.
After she had seen, Sasuke canceled the chidori and they deactivated the seal. Their chakras untangled and flowed back into their respective owners and vanished from sight. Awed, the Hokage gaped before choking out "What—what was that?"
"The scroll called it the tri-marga seal—in the parlance of the realm we found it in, the
'Triple Path.' It is three levels and three seal releases; Karma level, the Action seal; Bhakti level, the Devotion seal; and Jnana level, the Knowledge seal. Karma level lets us merge our chakra; in addition, even when the levels are not activated and the seals in place, we are able to communicate mentally."
"Do you mean telepathy?" Tsunade asked, incredulous. Orochimaru glanced at Sasuke, who nodded.
"In a way. We communicate more often by feelings—emotions, impulses, instincts, especially in the heat of battle. I'm more sensitive to it, I guess, so I can communicate by thought as well. Orochimaru prefers to stay with the former side of it."
"Amazing…" Tsunade said. "How far have you activated?"
"Only to the Bhakti level; the scroll cut off just before the Jnana level, and we are hesitant to use it before we know its consequences as well as its benefits. The second scroll also contains the finer details of the tri-marga's use, although some of it we're fairly sure we figured out on our own."
"What makes you so sure that the scroll is here?"
"Given our luck, where else would it be?"
She nodded. "What do you intend to use this for? To kill Itachi?"
Sasuke and Orochimaru looked at each other. Sasuke reached into the folds of the cloak he still wore and pulled out a sealed oilskin bag. "Well, Tsunade-sama," he said with a smirk curling across his lips. "We couldn't use it for that."
Watching him walk forward, Tsunade eyed the bag warily. "Why is that?"
Sasuke opened the bag, reached in, and pulled out Itachi's severed, staring head. "We've already done it."