In this chapter, the Sound Four will appear. You know, Orochimaru's bodyguards. You think he would have picked someone older...then again, Orochimaru wants a teenage boy to be his body. Perhaps he prefers having young people as vessels. He would have picked Kimimaro but he's sick as a dog...a dog that's lived in his own filth for five years or so.
I figured it would be appropriate for Blake to try to reason with Sasuke, considering she knows Adam Taurus pretty well.
Chapter 38: The Sound Four
Sasuke was training himself, slashing an illusion of his brother.
Hopefully he would be able to slay him for real someday. It didn't have to be today, but he was looking forward to it.
However, he was noticed by Blake.
It seemed that she wanted to talk to him about something.
She suspected that Sasuke was training himself to get revenge on his brother. She had heard that Sasuke had lost his clan due to the actions of his brother. People didn't seem to know why he would do such a thing. She heard that the group Itachi was part of wished to bring peace to the world, so she had to question his motives regarding that grisly action.
However, that seemed to be the only thing he thought about lately.
"Are you sure you should be letting your hatred consume you?" asked Blake.
"Why shouldn't I be seeking revenge on my brother? Do you know what he's done?!" exclaimed Sasuke.
"I will admit that he sounds like a terrible person based on what he did to his own clan...but I happen to know someone who let his hatred consume him. His name is Adam Taurus. Have you heard of him?" inquired the teenage girl.
Now that Sasuke thought of it...hadn't Adam Taurus assisted Orochimaru in attacking Vale?
"He was angry at the humans for mistreating Faunus, but instead of simply protesting, he figured he would engage in violence. He kept on doing so until he decided to go to war against them. And in the process, he became everything about them that he hated...though I'm not sure if he's actually aware of that." noted Blake.
He was no better than the humans who had wronged him at that point. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like he was going to learn the error of his ways. Blake for one would never engage in what he had done...though she was no stranger to Faunus discrimination herself.
"He also wants revenge on me more than he wants revenge on the humans...apparently, he thinks that I'm a traitor to the White Fang...and he has a special hatred for people who betray him..." noted Blake. In her defense, she felt like the White Fang were going too far.
Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Sasuke was paying much attention to her.
She sighed and decided to leave.
As she did so, she encountered Kakashi.
"Did you talk to Sasuke about Adam Taurus? I was going to discourage him from continuing down his current path...but it seems you beat me to the punch." noted Kakashi. Though he did think that what Itachi did was wrong, he couldn't help but worry about Sasuke. He could tell that he had hatred in his heart...hatred that could potentially corrupt him.
"He didn't listen to me, unfortunately." noted Blake. It seemed he was too focused on killing his brother.
"It's better to fail a mission than it is not to put any effort into it." remarked Kakashi. Though he had failed missions before, it wasn't through lack of trying. People respected him for his persistence. There would have been greater consequences if he hadn't put effort in his missions, after all.
At night...
As Sasuke continued his training, he realized someone was approaching him.
However, he wasn't sure who.
He looked around, and discovered that there were four teenagers nearby.
He could tell that they were servants of Orochimaru.
However, they were clearly not genin. They were way too powerful for that.
"What the-" exclaimed Sasuke.
Sakon and Ukon attacked him.
"Who are you?" asked the teenage boy. Surely there had to be a reason for them attacking him. Did his brother send them?
"Someone whose willing to give you an offer...you want revenge on your brother, do you not?" asked Sakon and Ukon. Ironically, he and his brother were actually on pretty good terms...though this did not necessarily mean that they bickered. Ukon wasn't the type of person to play with his food before eating it, but Sakon was.
"How do you know about that? You don't even know me!" exclaimed Sasuke.
"Yes, we do not know who you are...but our master does. Remember him? He mentioned that you wanted revenge against your brother so that had wronged you so deeply." asked Tayuya.
Sasuke realized she was referring to Orochimaru.
"It's a shame we're not on a killing mission..." complained Sakon.
"Kimimaro wouldn't complain...but you never liked him." pointed out Tayuya. He was never as bloodthirsty as the rest of them.
"He did almost kill me..." pointed out Kidomaru. His webs did practically nothing. It was pretty impressive how easily he could break out of the webs. Even Jirobo couldn't break out of them that easily, and they all knew how strong he was.
"Yes, I do...he gave me the cursed mark on my neck..." said Sasuke. Though it had happened some time ago, he could still remember the moment fairly well...if only due to the fact that Orochimaru was the type of person to give people nightmares.
Now that he thought of it, hadn't he tried to destroy his village?
Perhaps he should be wary of trusting him.
Then again, his brother did wipe out his clan.
And knowing him, he would probably try to kill more innocents. He had joined the Akatsuki, along with his partner Kisame who simply loved the thrill of combat.
"You're not the only one, kid." said Jirobo.
Jirobo revealed the cursed seal on his wrist.
The others revealed their cursed seal as well.
Sasuke was actually surprised to discover this.
"You also have cursed seals?" questioned Sasuke. Orochimaru seemed to have a particular fixation on him, but perhaps he had decided that Sasuke shouldn't be the only one to have one. He had noticed that neither Kabuto's underlings or the Sound Genin had possessed them, indicating that they were special, but perhaps Orochimaru had decided that they were strong enough to have them.
Perhaps it would explain why these four seemed rather...crazy.
Wait, were they actually four of them? There was something off about their leader. What was sticking out from the back of his neck?
"Level 2 Cursed Seals, to be precise." said Tayuya.
"There's a second stage?" inquired the boy. If so, he hadn't unlocked it yet.
"Yes...come with us, and we'll give you greater power..." nodded Kidomaru. Of course, he would be with Orochimaru from there. Chances are even if Orochimaru taught him everything he knew, he still wouldn't be able to beat Itachi. But it would definitely make him stronger.
Sasuke noted that increasing the power of the cursed seal would assist him in killing Itachi.
However, Kakashi had advised him not to draw power from the seal, as it could continue potentially drive him into murderous insanity.
Now that he thought of it, perhaps the Sound Four had already been drawn into murderous insanity. They did seem to enjoy killing people.
Just what had Orochimaru done to them? Had he used them as guinea pigs or something? It wouldn't be the first time that he had done so.
Still, regardless of how crazy these particular followers of his had become, siding with Orochimaru seemed like a necessary evil in getting his revenge. His clan wouldn't be able to rest in their graves if he did nothing, after all.
He decided he would do just that.
However, he was noticed by Yang.
Sasuke was surprised to see her.
"Sasuke? What are you doing?" asked Yang.
"I'm leaving." said Sasuke.
"Where are you going?" inquired the blonde.
"I'm going to see Orochimaru." explained the brunette.
Yang's eyes widened.
"Are you saying...you're betraying your homeland?!" exclaimed Sasuke's teammate.
Sasuke nodded.
Yang could not believe what she was hearing. To be fair, he wasn't betraying his homeland simply for greater power...which was something Cinder Fall would probably do.
"Don't do this!" shouted the blonde.
"It's the only way to kill my brother." stated the brunette.
"There has to be another way." said the blonde.
Unfortunately, Sasuke ignored her and walked away.
Yang didn't know what to do.
Should she try to stop him?
She got the feeling there was no reasoning with him.
However, at the very moment, the Sound Four arrived on the scene.
They were rather satisfied that Sasuke had decided that he would go to see Orochimaru.
"So, you decided to take the deal? Very well. Come with us...we'll make sure that Vale doesn't interfere with your journey." said Sakon.
"If anyone tries, we'll know what to do." spoke Tayuya.
She pulled out her flute.
The four of them left with Sasuke.
The foursome would have to be fast...Orochimaru's necrosis was only getting worse.
Could they make it?
Yang realized she had to inform Tsunade immediately.
If Orochimaru got his hands on the Sharingan, he'd be an even bigger threat than he was now. He'd be able to copy other ninja's techniques, which would allow him to use them against his foes in the future.
He had already learned many, many jutsu (though not nearly all the jutsu in existence), so it would really be in their best interests if they at least tried to stop him.
Besides, she didn't want him to steal his body.
She decided she needed to inform Tsunade.
As she did so, she burst into tears.
"Yang? Is something the matter?" asked the Fifth Hokage.
She could tell by her facial expression that she was shocked out of her mind.
"Perhaps you should take a deep breath first." acknowledged Tsunade.
Yang just did that.
She then explained the situation.
"It's Sasuke! He's betrayed Vale!" exclaimed Yang.
Tsunade sighed.
"I had a bad feeling he would." answered Tsunade. His obsession with getting revenge on his brother Itachi had been getting dangerous. He was the only one of his team not to make it to chunin, so perhaps that contributed to him wanting to be stronger.
"Is there anything you want me to do?" asked the blonde.
"You need to gather five genin...I would say you only have about thirty minutes. Unfortunately, we don't have many chunin or jonin...so we can't send them after him." said Tsunade.
Yang nodded. It was unfortunate that they couldn't send anyone better than genin on this mission, but it was better than nothing.
She just hoped this didn't turn out to be a suicide mission.
In addition, she was reluctant to bring Sasuke to justice for treason...but she couldn't let Orochimaru steal his body, either. It'd be pretty horrible to lose your own body...which could potentially result in him losing his mind as well.
So, she went to gather as many genin as she could find.
Something told her this was going to be their most dangerous mission yet...they weren't dealing with mere Beowulves this time. In fact, they were dealing something that was worse than Alpha Beowulves.
It looked as if they were going to encounter experienced killers.
Still, if they had a chance to save Sasuke, she was going to take it.
However, she wasn't going to go alone. That would most likely be a suicide mission.
She would need other people to give her a hand.
Yang found Jaune and decided that he would make for a good leader. Just in case, she would bring Ruby along as well. She made a good leader as well when Kakashi wasn't present.
"Sasuke's betrayed the city? Oh no..." said Jaune.
Jaune was able to find Kiba...though he wasn't sure where Blake and Kiba were.
Yang managed to find Ruby as well as Naruto.
Perhaps they would be fine with just five of them. It would be risky, but still.
Maybe it wasn't too late to reason with him.
Either way, they had to move quickly. Considering how many soldiers Orochimaru was able to bring with him during the invasion of Vale, Otagakure actually wasn't too far from the city.
Though they had ultimately won the war (at the cost of the Hokage himself, among others), it was still doubtful that they could take on Orochimaru by themselves. Kabuto wouldn't be impossible but he would be an extremely difficult opponent even if they did win against him...which would wear them down severely and prevent them from rescuing Sasuke.
"Are you ready? This might be our most challenging mission yet..." noted Naruto.
"If it's for Sasuke, I think it's worth it!" exclaimed Ruby.
The five of them set out to rescue Sasuke.
Meanwhile...
Cinder pulled out a scroll and asked Orochimaru.
"Is Operation Sharingan going well?" asked Cinder.
"Yes...unfortunately, I can't talk for long." answered the Sannin.
She had considered for a moment giving Orochimaru her body...but their bodies seemed totally different. She wasn't sure if he would want it.
To be fair, she was pretty powerful.
Besides, Orochimaru had a fixation on the Sharingan, and he could only perform the jutsu once every three years. Even the snake Sannin had limitations to his abilities, though he didn't exactly have a lot of them.
Still, hopefully the mission would be a success.
Orochimaru was about to become stronger...which would help her mistress's plans.
Just in case, she was coming up with a plan to invade Vale of her own. If the mission was a success, Orochimaru would still need time to recover after obtaining a new host body. How many had he cycled through the years? It was similar to the maidens, now that she thought of it...and she was one of them.
Hopefully she could succeed in the work that Orochimaru had failed to complete...if only just.
Oh no! Sasuke left with the Sound Four! Can they get him back? Probably not, but they're still going to try.
Will Sasuke accept the Sound Four's invitation? If you've watched the anime you probably know the answer. I figured Yang and Ruby will accompany Naruto on the mission though even Sakura didn't in canon. To be fair she did try to stop Sasuke from leaving but that didn't work. I've made my decision as to who they should fight.
By the way, are you wondering why I made Naruto's fox summon female? Well, Naruto had a male fox living inside him so I figured I would go with a vixen...it's possible to make a character different from another one by making them the opposite gender but believe it or not girls are not always a whole different species. Ever heard of opposite gender twins?
And yes, I compared Sasuke to Adam. You can likely guess why after reading this.