It was snowing that night. If one wasn't aware of the panic in the village. The shinobi darting from roof to roof, the bodies on the ground. It would seem like a peaceful night.
That's what Hiruzen was thinking when he found Orochimaru. He was deep in his lab like he always was.
There weren't normally corpses piled by the entrance. One of which being Hiruzen's son.
Orochimaru was standing over a table, slick black hair wet with blood.
"Do you see the mistake you made?" Orochimaru asked. "You made that upstart Minato the fourth Hokage? All it took was me and a few others to turn this village upside down!"
The anbu filed in behind Hiruzen.
"What are you saying?" Hiruzen asked.
"Don't play dumb!" Orochmaru whirled on Hiruzen. His eyes were wide with rage.
Hiruzen's expression softened.
"What have you done?" His voice cracked as he spoke.
"I did this for you," Orochimaru matched Hiruzen's tone.
Hiruzen's eyes fell on the table behind Orochimaru. There was a body on the table. Its skin seemed to be melting off its bones.
"Third Hokage, sir."
A familiar voice came from behind Hiruzen.
Minato was standing in the doorway.
"Please step out of the way. I'm going to kill him."
"Kill me?" Orochimaru laughed. "That title went straight to your head, brat!"
Minato drew one of his specialized kunai.
"Minato please," Hiruzen started.
"Isn't that Lord Hokage to you?" Orochimaru mocked.
"Stop this insolence!" Hiruzen snapped. He grabbed Orochimaru's wrist. "How many?" Hiruzen's voice quivered.
"What?"
"How many lives have you taken?"
Orochimaru ripped his wrist free of Hiruzen's grasp. He didn't answer.
The body on the table sat up all at once. Its bones creaked and snapped with the sudden movement.
"She's alive," Orochimaru said, turning to face the thing. "She survived."
The body's head slumped to one side.
A kunai flew past Hiruzen, hitting Orochimaru in the back.
At that moment, Minato appeared, knocking Orochimaru to the ground. He raised his hand, creating a sphere of blue energy in his palm.
"No!" Hiruzen yelled.
"Rasengan!" Minato thrust his ball of energy down at Orochimaru. The lab was swallowed by smoke and chaos.
Orochimaru was sent flying through the wall of the lab. He landed in the snow outside.
"I've marked him," Minato said. He vanished.
"Follow the Hokage!" One of the anbu called. The anbu darted from the lab all at once.
Hiruzen turned to the hole in the wall, uncertain. He slowly stepped through the collapsed wall, spotting Orochimaru down the snowy street.
Orochimaru was crawling desperately through the snow. The anbu stalked after him like a flock of buzzards.
Minato appeared, standing over Orochimaru.
"Don't bother," Minato said. "I'll finish this quickly."
"No," Hiruzen started. Something caught his eye.
One of the anbu was standing by Hiruzen.
"You'll never see the truth," The mysterious anbu spoke with a familiar voice.
"Orochimaru?" Hiruzen spun on the anbu.
"I won't stay here and be disrespected."
"You snake!" Hiruzen struck the anbu across the face. The mask cracked and shattered as Orochimaru fell to the snow.
Hiruzen stared down at the boy lying before him.
His eyes were wide with fear. His mouth hung open, unable to find words.
Hiruzen closed his eyes and turned away from Orochimaru. When he opened his eyes. Orochimaru was gone.
"He's a fake!" Minato yelled nearby. "Find the real one!" The anbu and Minato scattered, searching the village for Orochimaru.
Hiruzen collapsed to his knees.
Orochimaru was never found.
It was a few days later when Jiraiya decided to leave the village. He and Hiruzen spoke at the village entrance.
"Where is he?" Jiraiya asked.
"I don't know," Hiruzen said.
"It's on you," Jiraiya said. "At first, I felt guilty. I think Tsunade did too." He turned away from Hiruzen. "But what happened is on you."
Hiruzen didn't speak. He wrung his hands together.
"This village is cursed," Jiraiya added, then he vanished into a puff of smoke.
Years passed like days for Hiruzen. He survived on the small lights in his life—the birth of his grandson, Konohamaru, Minato's grand reign as the fourth Hokage.
It all happened in one year.
Minato and his wife died in a single night. Leaving a lone child, the jinchuriki.
Hiruzen was reinstated as the third Hokage.
Then, his grandson went missing.
The village fell into panic.
Asuma whipped the village into a wild search for the boy.
They found him after three days.
Konohamaru's body was found just outside of the village. His deformed body was covered in curse marks. He resembled the bodies found in Orochimaru's lab.
That was when Hiruzen decided. He would kill Orochimaru.
He instated his advisors to temporarily fill his position and set to leave the village.
Asuma was waiting for him at the village entrance.
"You know where he is?" Asuma asked.
Hiruzen didn't answer.
Asuma lowered his head, balling his fists.
"You've let him live for this long, and because of it, my nephew… Your grandson. He was killed."
Hiruzen's heart wavered. He felt something he couldn't quite describe. It was a feeling embedded in his bones.
Sorrow.
Hiruzen was unable to meet Asuma's gaze. He couldn't find any words to give him. His own son. He thought of the similar feeling he had, years ago when Jiraiya confronted him in this very spot.
"Kill him," Asuma said. That was all he said.
But Hiruzen heard something different.
If you don't kill him. Don't come back.
X
Hiruzen stood in front of Asuma. A grin on his face. Several anbu landed behind him, one by one.
"Is there anything you want to say?" Hiruzen asked. He tilted his head to the side, his smile somehow growing.
"I asked you a question," Asuma said.
"And I asked you one," Hiruzen tapped his chin. "Let's just ignore yours for now."
"Lord Hokage!" Inoichi piped in. "What the hell is going on?"
"I guess we're all asking questions," Hiruzen mused.
Asuma performed fast hand signs.
"Fire style!" he breathed a cloud of dust into the air. The dust washed over Hiruzen and the anbu.
"Scatter!" Hiruzen ordered.
The ash ignited.
The rooftop erupted into flames.
Hiruzen screamed, collapsing to the ground and writhing in agony.
"Asuma!" A jonin shouted. "What are you doing?"
Asuma didn't respond. He watched as the flames slowly died out.
The anbu were scattered to several nearby rooftops.
Hiruzen's burned body was still on the ground. His head twitched, the skin shifting on his face. He raised his head off the ground. His face seemed to slide off his head, falling to the ground like a puddle.
Under that face was another face.
Asuma tensed.
"Inoichi!" Choza yelled. "Do it!"
Inoichi made a circle with his hands, aiming at the body.
The body jerked, somersaulting into the air. A snake shot from the body, sinking its fangs into one of the jonin. The body landed on the jonin, knocking him down.
The burned body slowly stood up, charred pieces of flesh falling.
"It feels so good to be free again," The burned body of Hiruzen said. "I haven't felt fresh air on my skin in years."
"What are you!" Asuma shouted.
"I can hear you just fine!" The body yelled back. It reached down, grabbing the jonin and hurling him at Asuma.
Asuma caught the jonin. He caught a glimpse of the body moving.
A heavy force hit the jonin's body, blowing him and Asuma off the roof.
The body looked from jonin to jonin, grinning. Its skin was charred and fused with melted clothes. The face was a mess of charred black skin and a single eye.
The body raised a hand to its face and peeled the skin away. Black hair fell free. A slit eye opened wide.
Orochimaru ripped the skin mask off his head with a gasp.
"I'm free!" He yelled.
Choza lunged, his fist expanding to the size of his body.
Two anbu appeared, blocking Choza.
A third kicked Choza in the head, knocking him through the roof.
"Mind transfer justu!" Inoichi aimed his hands at Orochimaru. His body fell limp.
"Guard Inoichi!" Iruka shouted.
Orochimaru tensed and stopped moving.
A jonin jumped into the air over Orochimaru, performing hand signs.
"Earth style, brick cannon!" The jonin created and launched a massive stone projectile at Orochimaru.
The projectile slammed into Orochimaru's body, collapsing the roof underneath everyone.
Iruka picked up Inoichi's body and leaped from the falling roof.
The fighting continued, several jonin being overwhelmed by anbu.
Two enormous snakes appeared, tearing through the walls of the academy building. Orochimaru was standing on the head of one.
Orochimaru raised his hands into the air.
"I am the Hokage!" He yelled. "This is my village!"
Asuma and Choza charged up the snake at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru blocked Asuma's strike. His arm extended into a snake, wrapping around Asuma and slamming him into Choza. The two of them fell together.
"Bring up the hostages!" Orochimaru shouted. "Now!"
The ground started rumbling.
Iruka watched from the street, several people running and panicking around him.
Two massive snakes rampaged through the village, tearing through buildings.
A few shinobi tried trapping one of them between earth walls.
Inoichi got up, holding his head.
The barrier around the village vanished for a moment, then it reappeared. Now the four walls bent at an angle, meeting at a single point high above the village. At that point was a massive square.
Iruka could vaguely make out a forest inside the square.
"What is that?" Iruka asked.
"The Chunin exams will continue!" Orochimaru declared, pointing at the square high above the village. "The forest of death has been transported to a place where no one can interfere, contained within my barrier!"
He clapped his hands together, grinning madly.
"Where is he!" Asuma struck Orochimaru in the chin, slashing his chin with his blade.
Orochimaru caught Asuma's wrist and punched him in the chest.
"Hiruzen is dead," Orochimaru said matter of factly. "He came to kill me. I killed him."
Asuma's face went empty for a moment as if he couldn't process what Orochimaru had said.
"It's been me," Orochimaru said. "I've been here this entire time."
Orochimaru hurled Asuma to the ground with a laugh.
"Now, I'm purging this pathetic village, I'll make it strong! We will—"
Raikage appeared, punching Orochimaru in the face. Orochimaru was sent flying across the village, crashing into a building.
Raikage landed on the snake, knocking it to the ground.
Rasa approached from further down the street.
"Who is that?" Rasa asked.
"Hell if I know," Raikage said.
"What are you doing?" Asuma sputtered from the ground.
"That man killed your Hokage, didn't he?' Raikage said.
Asuma struggled to get up.
"I kind of liked your Hokage," Raikage continued as if Asuma had answered. "That's all."
X
High above the village, the forest of death had been transported into a four-cornered barrier. At the four corners of the barrier were four anbu, inside individual barriers.
Deep in the forest, Team 7 wandered aimlessly.
Naruto looked around.
"Does something feel weird to you guys?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke shrugged.
"Sakura," Sasuke held up the earth scroll. "Will you hold onto this?"
Sakura hesitated.
"Are you sure?"
"If you don't want to, I'll just keep it."
Sakura took the scroll.
"Somethings definitely going on," Sasuke said.
"The ground was shaking and everything," Naruto commented.
"Hey, you!" Someone yelled.
It was Karui charging for them between some trees. Behind her were Dosu and Ino.
"I'm gonna kill you guys!" Karui shouted.
"Bring it!" Naruto shouted.
