Invictus
Orochimaru didn't give up on Itachi Uchiha after leaving the Akatsuki. Instead, he wove an elaborate trap, years in the making. Itachi only had room in his life for two goals: keep Sasuke alive, and protect the peace of the Hidden Leaf Village. The three years following Sasuke's defection from Konoha tested his resolve in ways he never anticipated. Itachi x OC. As near to canon-compliant as I had the energy to make it.
Disclaimers: Masashi Kishimoto did a great job creating the Naruto Universe, and I am just playing in it. I have no professional writing experience and never plan to. Inspiration for this work was also drawn from the poem "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley.
Prologue: Arbor Day - An Overrated Holiday
Tsubaki was prepared to die for her younger sister. And when her eight-year-old sister began to enthusiastically share what happened at their class Arbor Day celebration, Tsubaki paled as she realized she might have to do just that.
"We all planted trees, and they were so pretty! I was so excited, then suddenly MY tree grew to be the BIGGEST out of everybody's! Can you believe it? It grew all at once! Tanaka-sensei said trees aren't supposed to do that, but mine did! I'm gonna save the environment!" Sayuri's elation would have been contagious if the implications of her statement didn't cause a feeling of dread to snake down Tsubaki's spine.
Leave it to Arbor Day to ruin her life.
"Did Tanaka-sensei have anything else to say?" Tsubaki asked. She braced herself for the answer.
Sayuri's face transformed into a pout at her sister's apparent lack of enthusiasm. "He said I must be special! Of course, I already knew that. You tell me all the time. But then he said I was like a ninja! Isn't that cool?"
Tsubaki stifled a sigh. Her sister had no concept of the dangers of being involved with ninja. The shinobi world was full of cruelty, deceit, and horribly broken individuals. And it left far too many orphans, she reflected bitterly. After the death of their parents in the Third Great Shinobi War, Tsubaki took the time to learn the bare minimum of self-defense tactics before, at the age of six, she abandoned the Hidden Grass Village with her baby sister. They'd spent the past seven years successfully hidden in the unassuming civilian village of Barreiro.
It had been easier for two Senju sisters to blend in, she supposed, than it would be for an Uchiha with their distinct dark hair and infamous eyes. She and her sister both had fairly unremarkable features with their brown eyes, brown hair, and light olive complexions. Unfortunately, the Wood Release ability had the potential to draw trouble like moths to a flame, and Tsubaki doubted their luck would hold much longer.
Something seemed to distract Sayuri from her sister's lack of response, as she continued, "Nikko-kun said it was cool." A faint blush colored her cheeks.
Kami, and now there was a boy involved. How unfair. This was not going to be easy. "Sayuri, it sounds like you had a wonderful day, and I'm so glad to hear that you are getting along well with your friends. It makes it really hard for me to tell you, but I have some bad news I have to share."
They needed to get out of Barreiro, if it wasn't already too late, but Tsubaki didn't want her sister to feel like it was her fault. After all, they hadn't chosen to be Senju, and her sister definitely hadn't chosen to inconveniently develop Wood Release in a public setting.
She took a few moments to organize her thoughts, then did her best to offer a semi-truthful justification for a sudden move that would likely turn her younger sister's world on its head. "When I was at work today, I heard about a person who did a very bad thing in another village. He hurt a lot of people. After he did that, he left the village. You were too young to remember, but long ago, this person's family fought with our parents and grandparents. Nobody knows what he is going to do next, or where he is going, but his village is close enough to ours that I think we will be safest if we try to move farther away."
Working as a waitress had its perks, and it offered a distinct advantage for intel gathering. Hearing the news of the Uchiha massacre in the morning had been shocking. In reality, Tsubaki had no reason to believe that the young Itachi Uchiha knew or cared about her existence, much less her sister's, but he provided a passable excuse for a sudden relocation. She refused to mentally thank him for it. She couldn't stomach the horror of an individual killing his own family.
Sayuri's eyes grew wide. "You want us to leave Barreiro?"
"It may not be safe here for a while. Maybe after we learn more about the situation, we might be able to come back someday, but for now, we need to take precautionary measures." Her sister's crestfallen expression could've moved a hardened criminal to tears.
"Can..." Sayuri began. "Can I tell Nikko-kun?"
That would complicate things. They needed to leave while drawing as little attention as possible. "I'll leave a message for him and his family." The lie slid off her tongue easily, although it tasted sour.
"Hn," Sayuri acknowledged, then was quiet for a few moments. She tentatively asked, "Do you think that bad guy will find us?"
"I will do everything in my power to protect you. No matter what." These words, at least, were an absolute truth.
Sayuri wrapped her arms around her older sister. "Thanks, nee-chan." Tsubaki hugged her back. Her sister was her world.
They didn't have many belongings in their small apartment, but packing everything took longer than Tsubaki would have preferred. They were limited by what they could carry since she had nowhere near the skill necessary to use a summoning scroll for storage, and Sayuri was having difficulty deciding what possessions she could bear to leave behind.
Tsubaki packed carefully, including food and water for the journey, a few sets of clothes, a handful of kunai, her savings over the past few years, and a few of her most precious books. She knew she couldn't bring all of them, but she refused to abandon the most important ones.
Books served as her escape. She could disappear into a story and temporarily forget about ninja, clans, bloodlines, and the challenges of raising her younger sister alone.
Books also offered her vital information. To compensate for her lack of formal schooling, she spent much of her time combing through history books. And, when her sister was asleep, she read about the various techniques and abilities of those in the ninja world. She considered it part of her responsibility as her sister's guardian.
The History of Shinobi held valuable information, but it was bulky, heavy, and she had most of it memorized. Invictus was her favorite romantic tragedy, but she couldn't justify bringing it along. She already knew the ending, anyway. Ultimately, she settled on three books:
1. A Beginner's Guide to Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu – By: Asahi Kishimoto
2. Tales of a Gutsy Ninja – By: Jiraiya the Gallant
3. On Uchiha and Senju – By: Tobirama Senju
The last book was cleverly disguised, at least in Tsubaki's opinion. She had torn the cover off a copy of Icha Icha Paradise and pasted it over the book's original cover. It was far better for people to assume she had poor taste than it would be for them to wonder too much about her interest in the Senju Clan. She subsequently instructed her sister to leave the book alone until she was old enough to understand.
Naturally, Sayuri became curious and had once tried to sneak a peek at the book. She quickly lost interest after realizing that it was "boring and all about politics." As Tsubaki had hoped, not only was her sister completely uninterested in the Senju Clan, but she also would likely never bother with the lesser works of Jiraiya the Gallant.
Despite the obscenity of his Icha Icha series, the epic story portrayed in Tales of a Gutsy Ninja redeemed the perverted fool in Tsubaki's estimation. There was something magnetic about the drive to never up and the glaring hope that came with it. She would need that sort of motivation in the months to come.
By the time Tsubaki finished pouring over her books, Sayuri was able to sort through her belongings and decide what she would bring. "Well, since we'll be coming back, I guess I shouldn't worry too much, right?"
Tsubaki did not have half of her sister's confidence. "I hope so," she said.
She quickly mapped out the route she would need to take with her sister to reach the village she believed held the most promise for two sisters to disappear.
Iguazu Village seemed too good to be true. Located a day's journey outside of the Hidden Waterfall Village, the moderately sized town was situated above a valley carved by innumerable waterfalls all fed by the Onama River.
The water supply served as a valuable resource, and the falls provided energy and a refreshing retreat that had led to a surge in immigration to the area over the past years. The town was featured in nearly every travel magazine, and occasionally made headlines on slow news days. Their arrival should be nothing out of the ordinary for a town used to welcoming newcomers.
The journey to Iguazu passed uneventfully. The sisters found comfortable inns along the way, and Tsubaki was thankful they avoided any encounters with bandits or rogue ninja. Even without those physical threats, she found herself anxious to face the unknown, and the uncertainty of their future weighed on her more heavily than the pack she carried. She did her best to mask her concern from her little sister.
The landscape began to change as they approached their final destination. The terrain became lush with dark green vegetation, and they noticed an increase in small streams and gentle waterfalls. Sayuri's wide-eyed wonder lifted Tsubaki's spirits.
"Hey, nee-chan! Do you see those birds? I've never seen so many colors!" Sayuri squealed, startling the birds in question and motivating them to take flight.
"Mhmm," Tsubaki acknowledged with a soft smile.
When the main waterfalls of the village came into view, even Tsubaki had to fight to keep her mouth from falling open in amazement. The mist from the enormous falls caught the light and produced the most brilliant rainbows she had ever seen. It really looked like the paradise she had seen advertised in brochures and newspapers.
"Are we really gonna live here?" Sayuri asked in unmasked awe.
At her sister's affirmative reply, Sayuri began to skip toward the town gate with renewed energy. "Well let's go! I can't wait to meet everyone! You're the best sister ever!"
Tsubaki really wished that were true, as she followed her sister, picking up her pace. While she was fairly certain she didn't deserve the title of "Best Sister," she planned to care for Sayuri to the best of her abilities.
And, with the sun shining down, the rainbows over the falls, and the smell of fresh green life all around her, Tsubaki felt the first nudge of hope that perhaps this next chapter of their life would be a good one.
"Orochimaru-sama, I have received reports of something that might interest you," Kimimaro said, inclining his head in respect.
As Kimimaro gave his report, Orochimaru's eyes brightened with an interest and malevolence that pierced through the dimly lit laboratory.
He had spent the year since leaving the Akatsuki mostly underground, conducting forbidden research and keeping tabs on the other Hidden Villages through his network of spies. The information in Kimimaro's report changed the playing field, however, and for the first time since his humiliation at the hands of Itachi Uchiha, he felt a surge of twisted hope.
"Thank you, Kimimaro-kun. You are dismissed," he said. He immediately began preparations for a mission to Iguazu Village. If all went according to plan, he would soon have possession of a research subject with the Wood Release technique. The prospect filled him with immeasurable pleasure.
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading! This chapter was short because it's just a prologue designed to introduce two OC's. Future chapters will be longer.
I'm lazier than Shikamaru, so I try to draw from stuff I know to make my writing easier. For example, Iguazu Village is unashamedly inspired by Iguazu Falls. I appreciate ideas and feedback and will take them into account, but at the same time editing and reworking my plot is a real drag. I will try to fix any spelling and grammar mistakes because knowing they managed to sneak through my editing will keep me awake at night.
Until next time.