YoungSasuke: Hehe… No it won't be quite like the movie itself. I mean, most of it was… inspired? Can't quite bring myself to say ripped off. I added in and modified a lot of it. But I guess you may still be able to see some similarities here and there.
AjinAvenger: …Wow. O.O I never knew that. NOW you tell me. My gosh, the number of pranks I can pull with such knowledge… :sigh: Perhaps I should go do some.. research on this idea you proposed…
Archangel Rhapsody: In a good way, I hope. ;
Rhivan Sin: All hail Big Brother. I await your next correction, if ever you decide to bother to again.
Frontier of Darkness: Neko! You are back! So am I! I missed you and your fics. Still waiting for Quest of the Green Beast. I'm sure you had fun sifting through all those update-dammit-update reviews I left you. Glad you're adoring the fic.
The Prophecy Fulfilled
Chapter 4: Shortcut
The hooded one calmly picked up the knife and suddenly twirled around, plunging the knife into the young girl's body.
"NOOOO!" The mother wailed, "You son of a bitch! You killed her!" She fell to the floor, shaking viciously.
Sasuke, with his face still hidden by his hood, stared back at the one named Orochimaru, "I liked your speech. Allow me to join your team."
---
All eyes were on the hooded one, the silence demanding an explanation.
"The girl was annoying." Sasuke said coolly, his voice absent of any emotion. His hand was dripping with blood, and he flicked his fingers casually to get rid of the excess liquid.
Orochimaru looked down at his dead guard, and back at Sasuke.
The Uchiha shrugged, "He was annoying too."
Lord Orochimaru smiled his snake-like smile, "I like your style. Very eye-catching." He gestured to the body of the dead girl lying behind Sasuke, her crying mother close by.
Sasuke didn't move. Not even to cast a glance at the scene behind him.
"You want to join my team, eh?" Orochimaru leered.
Sasuke nodded curtly.
Orochimaru walked off through the colossal gates, the girls trailing behind him and his guards nearby. Sasuke was obviously supposed to follow – which he did. All the while, the Uchiha gave occasional inconspicuous glances at Hinata, who didn't seem to have any recognition of him whatsoever. Perhaps her mind had been wiped clean. Or maybe it was because of the Curean seal. Sasuke had a hunch it was the latter. Possibly both.
-
The woman clutched the dead body of her child close to her chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
"That son of a bitch…" She bawled hoarsely… "That ruthless, son of a bitch…"
The crowd around her seemed to have squeezed in closer, watching the scene in interest and pity, while totally enclosing her and letting no one outside the group see her wail. She cast her teary eyes down once more at her bloodied child, who was now…
A log?
The woman stared at it and was about to scream when a man in the crowd clamped a gentle hand over her mouth and hushed her. The woman looked back at him with wide eyes, her face contorted in a mixture of horror and confusion. The man just smiled and stepped aside, his own cloak uncovering the young girl who had been dead just a few seconds earlier – and she was very much alive. "She appeared out of no where." He whispered softly so no guard could hear, and smiled, "I think that son of a bitch just saved her life."
The woman started crying again, pulling her daughter into a tight hug, repeating over and over, "Oh, bless that young man. Bless him…"
The man pulled the young girl back under his long cloak so no guard would notice, as he and the rest of the small crowd smiled discreetly while they were yelled at by the guards.
"Looks like we have a ninja on our side…" He said softly in consolation to the rest, and especially himself. (1)
-
This had been Orochimaru's intentions from the very start – to have every country with a ninja force within his hands. And he was there, at least almost there. Too few relatively significant villages have been left untouched, and they were such a diminutive opposition compared to what Orochimaru currently had in his merciless clutches, that they were practically his already. With every ninja alliance in his control, truly he would be unstoppable. A man to dread. A man to fear. But even with all this nagging at the back of the prodigy's brilliant mind…
Uchiha Sasuke suddenly felt very annoyed. His hand was hurting like hell, after having to spare some of his own blood in order for the guards not to find it suspicious if the crowd he was in earlier on left the vicinity and there was not a trace of blood. The girl's missing body could be justified by the mother carrying it away, but without a drop of red, Sasuke was sure the guards would start to suspect something. So he wouldn't put it pass himself if his throbbing hand was annoying the hell out of him. But what irritated him further, for some unknown reason, was something a lot less imperative considering his situation.
Sasuke couldn't help but growl mentally at the typicality of the palace.
Really, the interior design was so damn predictable. Dark, stony walls with dull torches shedding little light in the immensely spacious hall, ceilings so high you couldn't even see it, mighty chandeliers hanging from elongated chains that promised death and chaos if it ever fell, and those numerous banal guards standing deathly still at their respective posts in a neat alignment along the path the small congregation, including himself, were walking.
It was all just so… typical.
Aggravatingly typical.
Sasuke was tempted to grind his ankle down on one of the guard's feet, or kick him in the… sensitive area, or perhaps deliver a major wedgie, just to send him howling – all for the sake of a change and forsaking conventionalism of a sort.
The temptation was awfully great and he was about to give in to his itching hand when the group he was following stopped abruptly.
Lucky guards.
The girls in front of him made their way in perfect formation behind Orochimaru, who had sat down at his throne. A few men who seemed of high rank stood by his side. Orochimaru spoke.
"And by what name does the hooded one go by?"
From under his hood, Sasuke sarcastically glanced around, just to make sure he was the only hooded one standing before the throne.
Wait, he was the only one standing before the throne.
Ah well.
"I have no name."
"Oh, a mysterious one, aren't you?" Orochimaru smirked.
First The Hooded One. Now The Mysterious One. What next?
"Perhaps I should give you a name then?"
How about The Hooded Mystery? It definitely sounded better than The Mysterious Hoody…
"You don't really care, do you?"
Ah, Uncaring Hooded Mystery… First name, The.
"I only care when I have to."
Orochimaru smiled, "I like that… I like that a lot. It means I can be sure there will be little opposition from you. Some generals have done that before… after a sudden change of heart. They start to… care a lot."
Sasuke decided it was in his best interest not to blurt out "For the sake of my second name 'Uncaring', I do not care." It was already at the tip of his tongue and he had to swallow it whole.
"Doesn't the Curean seal prevent that?" He decided to ask instead. Because this, he cared. A little.
"Most of the time, yes. But there has been some… malfunctions, I guess you can say. Very rare, but it has happened. And need I remind you, their punishment was most beautifully brutal."
Sasuke mulled over the chances of ever hearing the word 'beautiful' and 'brutal' shoved into the same sentence, when Orochimaru butted into his thoughts.
"You've only killed one of my men. One of my weaker men, at that. It doesn't suffice to show if you're strong enough to join the upper ranks – which I know you've most obviously got your mind set upon. Else you wouldn't be here in the palace."
He did? Sasuke hadn't thought of that – getting into the higher ranks, that is. He had faked the girl's murder only to spare her, then said he wanted to join Orochimaru's team in order to avoid getting in trouble for killing the guard. All in all, he hadn't thought of a plan to get into the palace yet. Hadn't planned that far ahead. Had told himself to tackle whatever comes at him when it comes. And now, Orochimaru was assuming he wanted to join the upper ranks, and was quite possibly giving him a chance to get in too. Thank goodness he could seem obvious about something he hadn't planned on looking obvious about. The all-knowing lord Orochimaru's accurate assumptions were most gratefully appreciated.
"What must I do?"
Orochimaru's eyes seemed to light up in anticipated entertainment. (No, not that kind…) "A Battle League."
Sasuke allowed an eyebrow to raise in question.
"This is the traditional way most of my generals have become who they are now. It's simple, really. Just kill, kill, and kill. Have lots of fun while you're at it too."
It was pretty simple. But fun? Sasuke didn't consider himself a sadist. He looked at the men standing beside the lord. They were like every other Curean. Glazed eyes, seal on forehead, but staring down at him in fierce scrutiny. They must have all killed hundreds then. Consciously slaughtered hundreds of people, be it their own allies, to be where they were standing now.
Then someone's loud, obnoxious voice butted into his thoughts.
"Did you just say 'Kill and have fun?'" A familiar blonde boy strolled casually up to the Curean ruler from behind Sasuke.
'Naruto?' Sasuke thought, wondering just why the boy was here.
"Naruto?" Orochimaru voiced out for him, sounded just as surprised as Sasuke felt. Maybe a little annoyed as well.
"Hey YOU! You cheater! What are YOU doing here?" Naruto pointed at Sasuke, not masking his own surprise at the Uchiha's presence.
"I was just about to ask YOU the same question." Orochimaru spat, looking at Naruto, then both the boys, "You two know each other?"
"Yea." Naruto sniffed, "He owes me money."
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
Orochimaru stared at them for a while, then glared at Naruto, "You still have the gall to confront me, after you failed your mission. You said that you could get the last Uchiha, but WHERE is he? NO WHERE IN SIGHT. So if you're here to ask for more equipment, the answer is NO."
Naruto just gaped back at Orochimaru with his mouth open, stared at Sasuke, then stared back at Orochimaru.
"I… was actually here to ask if I could postpone the Curean sealing for me and my team mates…"
"Ah, that issue… Well, NO."
"WHY?"
"Because you and your team mates are the only bounty hunters without a seal. It's about time you got one. Prove your loyalty."
"But I AM loyal!" Naruto whined. "You can trust me!"
"Yes… Trust you to never succeed!"
Naruto's eyes fell a few shades darker. "Without the seal, we can infiltrate countries that are not yet in your command-"
"Enough." Orochimaru said, "You and your team are to go to Kabuto this instance to get the seal."
Sasuke watched as Naruto walked down the long hall and out the large doors, abnormally silent. He was slightly surprised that the blonde hadn't either intentionally or accidentally blurted out his identity, but gratefully so. However, Naruto's solemn departure left the room in a darker atmosphere than before. Sasuke turned back to face the snake lord. (A/N: Don't ask me where the hell I'm pulling these different names for Oro-chan out from.)
"Anyway," Orochimaru continued, "What do you think?"
"…About the name thing?"
"No… About my proposition."
"Oh. The kill and have fun thing."
Orochimaru nodded.
"Is there a shortcut?"
"Excuse me?" Orochimaru asked, slightly startled. A few of his generals gasped in astonishment.
"A shortcut."
Orochimaru looked dubiously at him.
"A faster way to do it."
"I know what a shortcut is. What are you getting at, though?" Orochimaru seemed more curious than disapproving.
"Instead of wasting a hundred men on me, let me fight someone of higher rank. One fight, and if I win, I'm in."
Orochimaru smirked, "How interesting. A break from tradition. Very well." His generals, however, were less ready and maybe a little nervous to agree to such a sudden change in custom, and they launched into an ardent discussion about the atrocity of such a suggestion.
Orochimaru snapped in mild irritation, "Silence."
And there was.
The Curean lord looked back down at Sasuke, "So, who would you like to engage in battle with?"
Sasuke looked at the four generals standing there, doing their best to disguise their anxiety.
"I get to choose?"
"Well, I had a certain individual in mind…"
"My lord." An rather familiar voice interrupted.
Orochimaru looked around, and smiled even more sinisterly, if that was even possible, "Ah, General Neji. You have returned, just on time too. How was the invasion?"
The general who entered had eyes of the purest white, and skin almost as pale as Sasuke's own, but with long, black hair that reached down to his waist tied up loosely at the end. He didn't answer Orochimaru, but was staring down at the Sasuke intensely. Sasuke couldn't see any sign of recognition in Neji's face. The seal must have done its job, completely wiping out selected memory threads in Neji's mind, brainwashed him for Orochimaru's quest for domination. Sasuke stared back at Neji with equal intensity.
"It… went according to plan. Who's the guy in the black hood?" Neji asked, his face displaying mild displeasure.
"His name?" Orochimaru looked back down at Sasuke, "That's what it is. Blackhood."
Blackhood? Sounded like a rookie from one of those US war films…
"He wants to become a general." Orochimaru continued.
"Oh? How so?" Neji asked, genuinely interested.
"I have decided that it'd be by fighting… you." Orochimaru said, pleased with his choice, causing Neji's eyes to widen for a brief second, "You are strong, General. If he beats you, he'd beat any of those fools." The lord pointed at the other four generals, who were nonetheless to happy about that comment.
"I am honored, my lord." Neji nodded.
The other generals seemed to sneer in disapproval of Neji's willingness to fight Sasuke, hence approving the 'shortcut'. But their mutters went unheard by Orochimaru as he stood up from his throne and clapped, "A battle then! How about right here and now?" He gestured to the large area Sasuke stood in the middle of, "I crave the scent of blood." The lord licked his lips, and Sasuke had to repress a shudder.
"As you wish, my lord." Neji consented almost amiably.
The general walked down the few steps before the throne, and was on the same level as Sasuke was. He kept right on staring at Sasuke, who merely watched his every move.
Neji took off his cape, revealing a well-built physique and a long sword at his side. He hadn't changed too much since Sasuke last saw him. Longer hair, taller, and he was significantly more muscular than before, but Neji had always been brawnier compared to the Uchiha.
Sasuke slid his own hood and cape off, wiping away as much blood as possible from his still bleeding hand, and revealing his own figure. Compared to Neji, he was very slightly shorter, considerably slimmer, and was wirily muscled rather than buff and burly. He whipped out the two shiny metal sickles that hung at his sides and took a stance, aware of Orochimaru's eyes on him. Neji himself unsheathed his sword.
With the faintest of nods, Neji made the first move.
Sasuke only managed to block the incoming swipe of Neji's sword in time with one of his sickles, and he countered with the other. Neji seemed to vanish but Sasuke himself was able to see the other moving towards his right. He brought his sickle up just in time before the sword could slice his face in half, and he brought the sickle in his left hand flying at Neji's arm – which retracted just in time. Sasuke did his best to ignore the pain in his hand, which still bore a large ugly gash right across the palm. Neji attacked again, noticing the injury and taking full advantage of it, swiping at Sasuke's left side as many times as possible.
"Battling me with an already injured hand… a fatal choice, Blackhood." Neji said as he attacked. Orochimaru smiled wider.
"Fatal for you, that is." Sasuke replied as he countered Neji's moves.
Sasuke had already received a number of cuts from Neji's weapon and blood seeped into his clothes on his various limbs, but nothing too major yet. He almost dropped his left sickle a couple of times too, and the whole thing was starting to annoy him. He tightened his grip on his blade but just at that moment, felt a sudden movement and Neji was out of his sight. He whirled around to check, but Neji appeared behind him once more, the taller boy's head just above his shoulder and an inch next to his own face, and a long arm wrapped around him to hold a blade at his neck. The sword's edge moved in quickly towards him and he had to push back into Neji's chest in order to avoid it, ducking down and rolling out of the way. His hand throbbed and he mentally winced, then regretted getting distracted as he realized Neji had launched himself at him once again.
The violent flurry of movements from both boys could hardly be seen by the audience, though the sound of metal against metal echoed throughout the hall. But Orochimaru could every move, every block. The boys spun around, jumped up and down, swipe, block, miss, clash. He could see it all. It was beautiful. A beautiful fight. Smooth sinuous movements as the two boys moved about one other, like two pieces of ribbon in the air wrapping around each other yet not quite touching.
There was a sudden unexpected jerk as the two boys stopped, a sword at Sasuke's neck, but a sickle in Neji's chest.
Orochimaru clapped his hands, "Beautiful. Just beautiful. Well done, Blackhood."
Sasuke took a few gulps of much needed air, and gently eased the sickle out in one fluid motion. Neji fell on one knee, breathing hard, a patch of red slowly growing on the left side of his chest, though his face showed no pain.
Orochimaru grinned, "Well done indeed…"
(1) This guy is just a random. No one significant.
A/N: Yes. Well done. Congratulations to self for returning to ffnet after 4 long months. Hmm… this chapter turned out to be rather long, eh?
-sylver rain