13 - Repair
Orochimaru was an experienced and powerful shinobi, a genius who was still outwardly loyal to Konoha, so Akemi understood why the Hokage had chosen the man to accompany him. However, the Sannin was also a creep who had an unhealthy interest in him and no qualms about kidnapping and experimenting on people, which meant Akemi was screwed.
"Nervous?" his mother asked teasingly, smiling at him from where she stood bundled in a beige overcoat by the Village gates. "I was nervous on my first C-rank mission too," her plum skirt rippled in the chilly wind as she bent down to pat his head, "But the Village wouldn't have given you this assignment if they didn't think you were capable of completing it, so stop doubting yourself, dear."
Her voice was kind yet firm, and normally Akemi would have taken comfort in her sincere faith in him. However, the woman's advice was given under the belief he was going to assist a medic-nin in gathering herbs from a remote mountain on the Land of Fire's border, not that he was going on an A-rank mission which would involve being surrounded by hostile foreign-nin while his companion was—
"Sorry I'm late."
Akemi turned to the strangely jovial sound of Orochimaru's voice and found a man with faded blue Hyuga eyes instead of the typical white ones—a rare genetic mutation found in some clan members apparently. His face also lacked its purple markings and his long black hair was hanging in a high ponytail over his flak jacket and backpack instead of being out. Though the most startling change was his complexion, that while still pale, was closer to a natural skin tone instead of the chalk white it normally was.
The seven-year old wouldn't have recognized Orochimaru—or Hyuga Hikari as he would be called on this mission—if not for his voice, which was only a tad higher and more upbeat than usual.
Even his mother, a former jonin, seemed fooled by Orochimaru's disguise as she nodded politely at him. "It's no problem, Hyuga-san, I needed time to say goodbye to my son anyway."
She beamed at Akemi. "Do the clan proud and show the Village how amazing you are."
The seven-year old's eyes stung, as this could be the last time he ever saw his mother—no, don't think like that.
Akemi held in his tears and said, "I will, Kaa-san." He turned to the sleepy-eyed toddler holding his mother's hand and crouched, making Sasuke look up. "I'll bring you back a gift, Sasukito, something real special."
Sasuke's face brightened. "Toy?"
Akemi smiled. "Something even better." His expression turned serious and he wagged his finger. "But only if you're good and do what Mom says."
Sasuke bobbed his head excitedly. "Come home soon, Kemi!"
Akemi's lips hitched up, the boy again fighting tears as he placed a quick kiss on the toddler's forehead. "I'll try."
He stood and turned to the Uchiha standing grim and silent a couple yards away. Akemi's face went blank. "Goodbye, Tou-san."
The man stared at him impassively for a moment, but then he said, "Do your best, Akemi." His gaze shifted onto Orochimaru and his eyes narrowed slightly.
Akemi, unsurprised by the man's apathy, nodded as he walked up to Orochimaru's side. "I'm ready to go, Hyuga-san."
Orochimaru smiled, revealing perfectly normal teeth. "Then let's head out."
A rumble resounded through the air as the towering village doors opened. Akemi took a deep breath and released it while the rumbling died down.
Orochimaru, the barest smirk on his face, walked ahead once the doors stopped, and Akemi hesitated just half a second before following, nothing but steel in his eyes.
Time to fix his mistake.
...
The village doors shut on Akemi's shrinking figure and Mikoto's expression went blank, though a thread of nervousness strummed inside her. Yet she ignored the feeling because Akemi was a genin now and that Hikari was a jonin, and despite something about the man rubbing her the wrong way, she was confident the duo could handle any trouble they might run into.
Mikoto turned to her husband who was frowning at the gates, perhaps feeling the same nervousness she felt over Akemi leaving, and smiled. "Fugaku." The man turned to her. "Do you see now why I want Akemi to be Biwako-sama's apprentice?"
Fugaku blinked, clearly not seeing, and Mikoto laughed slightly. "Just look at him." She gazed at the closed doors. "He's already been entrusted with his first C-rank mission."
The man's brow furrowed. "What's your point?" He folded his arms. "We were both given C-rank missions almost immediately after becoming genin."
"Yes." Mikoto bent down and picked up Sasuke who had been falling asleep where he stood, the toddler promptly passing out against her coat collar. She then walked to her husband, leaning in close. "But things have been tense between the clan and the Village lately."
Fugaku's eyes widened while Mikoto's face went blank. "I know you've been talking to the Hokage about removing the unwarranted surveillance on our district," slight anger tinted her words, "But even if he does, that won't wipe away all the resentment that's built up in the clan."
"Mikoto..." Fugaku whispered.
The woman's lips drew to a line and she looked grim. "If worse comes to worst, we will need Uchiha we can trust...and Uchiha who the Village trusts."
Fugaku's face hardened, recalling what some of his clansmen would mutter under their breath during clan meetings.
"If the clan had more power, we could change things..."
"Not even the Hokage can match the might of our clan, so what if we..."
Mikoto's raven eyes bored into his while Sasuke slumbered obliviously under her chin. "Akemi has the Village's trust, and that's something even Itachi doesn't have yet." She reached down and took his hand, running her thumb across his knuckle. "I know you don't understand why Akemi is so different, and neither do I really." Her eyes sharpened. "However, we might have to rely on him one day."
Fugaku nodded, surprise lighting his gaze. "I...see. Konoha Hospital is an important place and Biwako-sama matters to the Hokage...so it's good for Akemi to stay near them."
He looked to the Village gates, to where Akemi left and might never return.
His eyes narrowed at the floor, the man suddenly realizing he might never see the boy again.
"Do your best."
His last words to Akemi echoed in his mind like a whisper riding along the wind. He'd spoken more stiffly than intended, but Akemi had simply nodded like he didn't expect anything more from him before walking out the gate to what might be his death.
"I don't really care what happens to you, or me..."
Fugaku turned from the gates as his wife tugged him forward.
"Uchiha Akemi might disappear one day, and that's that, but I'm going to make sure my brothers have a home where they can be happy and safe before that happens."
For the first time, Fugaku considered if Akemi had been telling the truth, that he'd agreed to a dangerous mission merely so his brothers could live somewhere safe.
The gates got farther behind him while the man also wondered if Akemi understood his parting words or if he would die never knowing what he really meant.
"Do your best."
"Do your best to survive."
.
Akemi glanced back, and seeing a small dot down the dirt road that was Konoha in the distance, he unzipped the side pocket on his gray backpack. The seven-year old pulled out a pair of goggles with orange lenses and a white rim. He smiled, situating the goggles across his face under his headband and blinking as the world was dyed a light orange while he adjusted the goggle's white ear protectors so they didn't squish his lobes.
"What an interesting choice of gear."
Akemi looked up at Orochi—Hikari who was gazing at him. He frowned at the man's blue Hyuga eyes, a tad disturbed because he knew they were real. Orochimaru had used his face-stealing jutsu—it wasn't actually called that but Akemi couldn't remember the name—and literally stole the face off a Hyuga corpse the clan had retrieved from a recent battle against Kumo. Since the jutsu was a physical technique, it couldn't be detected with chakra, and Orochimaru being able to utilize such a superb disguise was probably one of the reasons the Hokage had him accompany him.
The Uchiha turned away as he answered, "I'm probably going to use a lot of wind jutsu on this trip and I don't want dust getting in my eye." He smiled, running his fingers over the goggle's frame. "Or well, that's what an old friend of mine used to say."
Sadness crept into his heart while he chuckled. "He was an Uchiha who wore ridiculous orange goggles, and when people asked him what he wore them for, he'd say, 'One day these eyes are going to have the Sharingan," he crossed his arms and titled up his chin haughtily like Obito used to, "So I have to protect them!'" His smile fell, arms and head dropping. "But really, I think he just wore them to hide when he was crying since he was so emotional."
Orochimaru looked strangely serious as he hummed. "Dead, I presume."
Akemi closed his eyes. "He fought in the Third War, he was only thirteen..."
His eyes opened, lips a line because he was well-aware Obito was alive and would be encountering Itachi this year. However, that was a problem to be dealt with later.
"The younger shinobi tend to go first," Orochimaru said, and Akemi looked up in surprise at his melancholic tone. "Long before we get a chance to see where the wind will take them."
Akemi's face wrinkled, confused, but then he remembered Orochimaru had fought in two Shinobi Wars and seen with his own eyes what happened to kids on a battlefield. He was pretty sure such experiences had contributed to his low regard for human life, which was why he was shocked the man seemed upset over young shinobi dying. Did the Sannin actually care?
"You should wear rubber arm guards." Akemi blinked at Orochimaru's sudden switch in topic. "Kumo-nin typically have a lightning affinity and rubber arm guards are lightweight so they shouldn't effect your agility much."
"Oh," Akemi nodded slowly, "That's actually a good idea, but I didn't bring any."
"You can probably buy a pair from the hotel we're going to. Their gift shop sells a lot of shinobi gear since it's close to Kumo."
Akemi's cocked a brow. "Alright...and you're being so nice to me, why?"
Orochimaru smiled, the expression looking downright unnatural on his Hyuga features. "I don't want you to end up like other young shinobi," his smile broadened, "At least not before I see what direction you turn the windmill."
The Uchiha was taken aback. "Is...that supposed to make sense?"
Orochimaru shrugged, face turning neutral. "I merely mean Konoha will be boring without you."
Akemi scowled. "So I'm like a TV show to you?" He huffed, muttering. "Why not just watch Yuki in Love like a normal person if you're so bored?" He doubted the man had even heard of the rom-com show he and his mother watched every Sunday.
"I did, but after Jiro ran away to become a samurai without giving Yuki a proper on-screen goodbye, the show lost my interest."
Akemi froze, mouth hitting the floor. "You watch Yuki in Love!?"
"I used to watch it," Orochimaru shook his head, frowning, "But the tension between Jiro and Yuki was the most interesting part of the series, and once he left the show hasn't been the same."
Akemi gaped, mind spinning as he pictured Orochimaru sitting on a couch in front of a TV and throwing his hands up in disappointment when Yuki found Jiro's farewell letter on her doorstep.
He bit his lips, face twisting like he ate sour candy. "Okaaay, this conversation is officially weird and I'm going to pretend it didn't happen."
With that, Akemi forced his short legs to hurry until he was yards ahead of Orochimaru and far from that awkward conversation.
.
They made camp that night, Akemi setting up his sleeping bag a dozen feet away from Orochimaru and planting wire traps in the ground between them. He also insisted on taking the first watch with the intention of never waking up Orochimaru for the second watch because sleeping beside a kidnapping serpiente-hombre was out of the question.
Surprisingly, the man offered no protest, though he must have noticed Akemi's wariness, and his plan might have worked if his child body didn't give in to exhaustion halfway through the night.
He awoke at dawn, blinking and staring blankly at the violet-pink sky. Frost dusted the grass near his sleeping bag and crunched as he sat up, the boy shivering though he was wearing his black coat.
"You can sleep for another hour," Orochimaru said without looking away from the campfire he was stirring with a stick from his place on a log. "We don't have to leave till then."
Akemi frowned, realizing he'd been vulnerable and unconscious around Orochimaru, yet the man hadn't kidnapped him. Quickly he focused inwardly, checking over his chakra, but the energy flowed naturally throughout his body. Just to be sure, he made the shadow clone sign and half his chakra leapt out, his clone appearing beside him in a puff of smoke.
Well, his chakra didn't seem altered. He shot a suspicious glance at Orochimaru, but the man was still staring at the fire. Hmm, maybe the Sannin was waiting for a better opportunity? If that was the case, he couldn't do anything to stop him now, so he got up and regarded his clone.
"Let's spar."
His clone nodded and Akemi walked over to a nearby field, rolling his shoulders and stretching his legs to get ready. His athletic bandages were a bit loose around his ankles, so he bent down to tighten them when Orochimaru asked, "Would you like to spar against me?"
Akemi stood up and turned to the man who was now right behind him. "Is this some backwards attempt to kill me?" He scoffed, folding his arms. "You know, I'm not S-rank like you."
"You certainly have the potential to reach that level," Orochimaru practically purred, and Akemi glowered.
"Let me guess," Akemi's face hardened, "If I let you teach me."
Before the man could reply, Akemi's shadow clone yelled. "¡Vete!" He made shooing motions at Orochimaru. "No confío en ti, hombre-serpiente," he hissed.
The Sannin blinked, appearing genuinely lost, and Akemi groaned, slumping over. "That's Santiago, he's my shadow clone who refuses to speak Katonese." He straightened up and glowered at his copy. "He can't understand you, Santiago."
His clone glared. "¡Hablas Español! No te entiendo," he growled.
"Of course you can understand me, estúpido!" Akemi threw out his hands. "You're my clone so you have the same knowledge as me!"
Santiago humphed, sticking his nose in the air, and Akemi ran a hand down his face before regarding a rather confused Orochimaru. "Is it normal for shadow clones to develop a personality of their own?"
The Sannin cocked his head. "It's not common, but I've heard people who are stubborn tend to create stubborn clones who are more likely to defy them."
Akemi frowned thoughtfully. "I guess I kinda have a stubborn streak."
"Do you have any other questions?"
The boy looked to Orochimaru who smirked. "Since you don't want to spar, I can at least answer any ninjutsu questions you have."
Again suspicion thrummed in Akemi's heart. What was Orochimaru playing at? It seemed he didn't want to kill or dissect him—at least right now—but he was also clearly still very interested in Akemi. So what did he want?
The Uchiha considered ignoring Orochimaru. However, he couldn't discern what harm could come from a simple question and there was something he'd been wondering about...
Akemi hesitated, yet eventually said, "Well, I do have a question about killing intent..." Orochimaru's brow rose curiously, and though something told Akemi to shut up now, he continued. "I've used it before, but I've never actually had the intent to kill the person I was directing it to, so I'm wondering what exactly is killing intent if it's not actual killing intent?"
Orochimaru smirked, sounding amused. "Good question." He crossed his arms. "Killing intent is basically the flaring of one's chakra. Imagine your chakra is a fire, then unleashing killing intent is like fanning that fire until its flames billow around you. The person you direct it to can feel its heat, but since it's chakra that hasn't been molded by hand signs, it cannot physically harm anyone."
Akemi's brow furrowed. "But it can cause a physical reaction—or like a psychological reaction that leads to a physical reaction, such as making a shinobi breakdown in tears or fall unconscious."
Orochimaru nodded. "That is true, but like you said, it's technically a psychological reaction. Because chakra is physical and mental energy working together, so if you mentally imagine a gruesome death for your opponent and unleash your chakra at them—"
"Then you send that image into their head?" Akemi asked and Orochimaru's eyes brightened.
"More like they can feel the image," the Sannin said, his very normal tongue shifting like it wanted to stick out yet was too short to. "And the image becomes more impactful the stronger you are since chakra is linked to physical prowess. Also, having a vivid imagination helps."
Akemi rubbed his chin. "So emotions don't play a role?"
Orochimaru shrugged. "Not directly, though most who unleash killing intent are genuinely angry or seek their opponent's death, hence its name."
"I think I get it now." Akemi smiled, wondering if he could utilize killing intent as a weapon of sorts or at least use it to stall his opponents.
"Thanks." Akemi turned back to Santiago who was scowling at the ground and muttering to himself in Spanish. "That's all I wanted to ask."
Orochimaru grinned. "Anytime, Akemi-kun." His tone was kind, but the boy thought there was something strangely giddy about his voice while he and Santiago walked off to spar.
.
Akemi stretched his arms out in the shop aisle, examining the way the rubber arm guards remained fixed in place as he flexed his hands. He swung them up and down, raised them over his head, and then threw himself back into a handstand. The rubber tightened a little against his muscles as he performed a push-up, but it didn't restrict his elbows from bending, so he jumped back to his feet.
"Do they feel alright?" Orochimaru asked flatly, the man emulating a typical Hyuga from beside a rack of colorful t-shirts.
"Yup." Akemi beamed at the shopkeeper behind him. "I'll take them."
The man nodded, going to the register to ring up the arm guards, but as Akemi was reaching for his wallet, Orochimaru placed his cash on the wooden counter. "My treat," Orochimaru sent him a small grin, which was disturbing because the Sannin never looked that normal.
Still, Akemi smiled back because they were almost at Kumogakure and Kumo-nin might already be tailing them. "Thanks, Hyuga-san."
He walked out the shop after Orochimaru and into the hallway, his nose tickling at the strong scent of spices drifting from the dining hall. There was something highly familiar about the smell, which brought back memories of dark-lit restaurants with neon lights he used to eat at in his first life. However, he couldn't figure out why the smell brought up such memories.
"You should spar with the arm guards to make sure they aren't too heavy," Orochimaru said idly as he stopped in front of their room and put the key in the door, unlocking it. "While you do that, I'm going to check the perimeter."
Akemi was taken aback by Orochimaru's serious tone as his pale eyes slid from one end of the hallway to the next. Sometimes he forgot Orochimaru wasn't merely a mad scientist, but an actual shinobi.
Akemi shook off his shock and entered the room, closing the door behind him. He threw out his senses around the dark area, but detected no foreign chakra signatures nearby.
Feeling moderately safe, he smiled at his rubber arm guards and ran his fingers over the sleek black material. He thumped his fist on it and noticed the rubber felt as solid as metal. Was there a harder material under the rubber exterior?
The Uchiha raised his hand to make the shadow clone sign, but stopped. He would be in Kumo in less than eleven hours...
His heart clenched, a tremor wracking his body. What if he died tomorrow? What would his mother say when she found out? And Itachi? Would his death change the future?
Yes, it could, perhaps even greatly. He'd been in this world for years making connections with many people, so undoubtedly his death would cause a ripple effect that might negatively impact the future.
Akemi's eyes fell to the floor while he grasped his biceps and hugged himself hard. He didn't want to die, not when there were so many things he needed to change, not when dying would hurt his brothers and friends... And what would happen if he died in this world? Would he go to the Pure Land like the anime implied ninja went to after death or...or would he go somewhere else? Would he go—
"Home," Akemi whispered, looking up at the window as the yellow curtains billowed in the breeze and snowflakes danced against the night sky. It was a beautiful night, fitting since it might be the last night he would ever see...
Akemi's thoughts halted, eyes narrowing at the billowing curtains. Why was the window open when it was freezing outside?
A breeze brushed against his back and Akemi whipped around to see a whirlwind of fists. Soft taps struck him from his head to toes and Akemi gasped, ice surging through his veins. His arms dropped bonelessly, a choked sound leaving his lips as his chakra was forced out of his limbs and into his core.
Akemi fell to his knees, shivering violently when someone asked, "Akemi?"
His vision went gray before he could respond.
Minutes later, the Uchiha's eyes fluttered open to take in a white world. Snow was moving under Akemi like a stream—was he floating?
It took a second to feel the shoulder digging into his stomach, and he swiftly flung himself up as he recalled being attacked. Yet a firm arm held him in place and his legs and hands wouldn't budge, ninja wire tied around his wrists and ankles. Someone was carrying him, he had been kidnapped.
"My apologies."
Akemi inhaled sharply, head jerking aside to find Hiashi glancing back at him, his Konoha headband glimmering in the moonlight and green flak jacket dusted with snowflakes. "I only meant to block your chakra pathways, and thought I had properly accounted for your lesser stamina, but my Gentle Fist knocked you unconscious."
The boy stretched out his senses and found Hiashi's familiar cool chakra signature, his heart calming since it wasn't a stranger using a henge.
The Hyuga turned ahead, feet crunching on the ice covering the ground as he walked, and Akemi asked, "Mind telling me why you're kidnapping me?" His tone was calm, hiding his racing thoughts.
Hiashi glared at him. "Because you are a fool," he said harshly.
Akemi's eyes widened while Hiashi's cold mask gave way to anger. "I don't know what the Hokage was thinking sending you on this suicide mission, but my clan doesn't require a child to die needlessly for us."
The boy gaped. "You don't agree with the plan?" His voice rose. "Then why didn't you tell the Hokage?"
"The Hokage ignored my protests." His face hardened. "I thought your father would agree with me, but he took the Hokage's side." His eyes narrowed. "Then I thought you would know better and turn back after the first day, but clearly you intend to go through with this, so I am saving your life."
Akemi frowned as the man continued walking. "Hiashi-san," he said softly. "This is the only way to prevent war." The man stopped, snowflakes catching in his long dark hair. "And I'm honored you care about me, but I'm willing to take this risk—"
"I appreciate your sentiment towards my clan," Hiashi shook his head, eyes closing, "But this foolishness ends here."
Before Akemi could speak, Hiashi sprung into the air and Akemi's stomach clenched as he became weightless until the man touched down on a snow-covered branch.
"Hiashi," Akemi said urgently, realizing the man was seriously about to carry him all the way back to Konoha. He couldn't return, it would ruin everything.
"Kumo will resume the war—"
"Not if I give them my head."
Akemi's eyes widened and Hiashi gazed steadily at him. "Kumo wants vengeance for the death of their Head Ninja and a dōjutsu, so I will take the blame for the Head Ninja's death and give Kumo my life in exchange for peace."
Akemi shook his head, recalling his dreams of Hizashi offering to die in Hiashi's place after the Hyuga Incident. "No, your clan elders will never allow that." Desperately he added, "They'll probably ask Hizashi to go in your place, to protect the Byakugan."
"They already tried that and I turned down their offer. As the clan head, my word is final."
The Uchiha gasped because that wasn't what had happened in the original timeline. Hizashi was supposed to have convinced Hiashi not to die, but to allow him to be killed in Hiashi's place. Though maybe...maybe because Hiashi was bedridden, he hadn't been a part of the discussion and didn't know his brother was planning to offer himself as a scapegoat to appease Kumo.
Dread stabbed through his chest because Hiashi dying now would drastically alter the future.
"H-Hiashi," Akemi swallowed his nerves, voice trembling. "Think about what Kumo will learn if they have your eyes—"
"I'm planning to have them removed before they send my corpse to Kumo."
Akemi's teeth clenched, eyes squeezing shut. "What about your wife? How does she feel about you leaving her to raise your daughter alone?" It suddenly hit him that Hinata's sister Hanabi would never be born if Hiashi died now, and wouldn't that change the events of The Last: Naruto the Movie?
The boy's breathing quickened as Hiashi said, "My wife understands."
Akemi mentally cursed. Hiashi wasn't listening to him, and he couldn't access his chakra to stop him. No, there had to be a way. There must be a way!
Warmth fluttered behind his eyes, and for a second Akemi thought his chakra had miraculously been freed until he remembered chakra wasn't the only thing inside him.
Natural energy! Akemi could feel it bobbing like waves against a wall behind his eyes, and eagerly he reached for its power.
The energy didn't react, but continued drifting behind his eyeballs. No, no, come on, por favor!
Akemi concentrated, though his fear was mounting because the energy was his last hope and he couldn't use it!
The boy opened his eyes, tears welling in them. Hiashi was going to die, and it would be Akemi's fault again—why couldn't he do anything right!?
The natural energy shot into his eyes like arrows and Akemi cried out in shock and pain.
"Akemi?" Hiashi looked back as chakra followed the natural energy through the hole in the blocked chakra pathway it had made, swirling together in his eyes.
Hizashi's mouth dropped. "No, a Sharinga—"
Chakra blasted out from Akemi's golden Sharingan and into Hiashi's eyes. The Hyuga's blue chakra sparked up and down like sound waves as he warped it with a genjutsu.
"You are going to get down, untie me, let me go, and you will not sacrifice yourself to Kumo," Akemi hissed while his eyes twitched from pain, and the chakra around Hiashi's mind spiked even higher.
Hiashi's face fell slack, yet Akemi continued throwing chakra mixed with natural energy out of his Sharingan until the man said, "I will...let you go."
The Hyuga jumped out of the tree and set Akemi on the ground, who teetered on his bound feet until Hiashi untied the wire around his ankles and hands. The boy waited to be completely free before pulling the natural energy from his eyes and deactivating his Sharingan, blinking away the stinging pain from using it.
"So," Akemi stared warily at the Hyuga, backing up a couple steps. "You aren't still thinking about sacrificing yourself anymore, are you?"
Hiashi's expression was blank, but then his mouth twitched and gradually awareness returned to his eyes. He groaned, grasping his head, and Akemi tensed, reaching for his kunai when the man looked up. "I...will not sacrifice myself to Kumo."
The man blinked like he was confused, yet his hand dropped and his expression turned neutral. "I don't know why, but I think your idea might be better after all."
Akemi's brow wrinkled. Did...did Hiashi not remember being put under a genjutsu? Was his golden Sharingan that powerful?
The Uchiha cautiously took another step back, sandals crunching in the snow. "Okay, well, I should get back to the hotel before Orochimaru notices I'm gone."
Hiashi's eyes narrowed and slid left. "He already knows."
Akemi went rigid. He looked left and found Orochimaru leaning against a bare willowy tree, his foot resting against the bark.
Very slowly Akemi raised his hand as if to brush his bang from his eyes and screamed internally at feeling his goggles on his face. Hopefully they had done their job and masked the golden shine to his eyes, though Orochimaru might have still glimpsed his Sharingan.
Akemi swallowed, mouth suddenly dry, and looked at Hiashi. His face softened. "Thank you for trying to help, but I'll be alright, Hiashi-san."
The Hyuga nodded, expression perturbed like he wasn't sure why he was agreeing, but before Akemi could panic, he turned around. "May your mission be successful." He started walking away.
Akemi watched him until he took to the trees and swiftly faded among the starry sky. His heart ached, hating that he had to manipulate Hiashi when the man had only wanted to help. Yet it wasn't Hiashi's burden to bear, not this time.
"You used a genjutsu on him," Orochimaru said from a foot away, and Akemi jumped, swinging around.
Though despite his racing heart, Akemi scowled and said, "Yeah, t-thanks for helping me escape." He hoped the man mistook his stutter as a result of the cold.
"I would have intervened if necessary." Orochimaru shrugged, a smirk curving his lips.
Akemi swallowed again and whispered. "Before you ask, I don't have the Sharingan." He bit his tongue to stop himself from rambling, watching Orochimaru's face carefully for any sign of suspicion.
"Really?" Orochimaru asked, sounding more amused than anything.
Akemi's heart stuttered, but Orochimaru hadn't confirmed he had actually seen his Sharingan, so the boy pushed on. "You're probably not going to believe this," he scratched the back of his neck nervously, "But I actually used my voice to pull Hiashi-san into a genjutsu."
Orochimaru cocked his head. "Is that so?"He smiled, grin smaller than usual since he was still pretending to be a Hyuga. "That's a pretty advanced technique for a genin."
Akemi smirked, his lips twitching slightly with his nerves. "A genin killing Kumo's Head Ninja is pretty advanced, but I did that too." He crossed his arms and puffed out his chest in faux confidence. "I'm capable of a lot more than you think."
Orochimaru laughed lowly in the back of his throat, his smile widening a fraction. "Of that, I have no doubt."
The Uchiha silently sighed in relief as the man turned from him and began trekking ahead. Undoubtedly he would have grilled Akemi more if he had seen his Sharingan.
Still, Akemi was on edge for the rest of the night, though he passed out the second his head touched the pillow since he'd exhausted himself using his natural energy. However, Orochimaru didn't bring up Hiashi or the genjutsu he had used on him the following morning. The Sannin merely reverted to his persona of a blank-faced yet friendly Hyuga who waved goodbye to the hotel manager and patted Akemi's head. Orochimaru then prattled on for hours about plants native to the Land of Lightning and Akemi was impressed by his dedication to his role as they neared Kumogakure's gates.
Akemi stopped mid-step though, and Orochimaru quieted as Akemi's eyes widened.
"Five chakra signatures, nearing our location fast from about a kilometer ahead." Awe filled the boy's voice. "I've never felt chakra like this..."
Summertime rain and a scent likening burning earth wafted over Akemi's senses, no doubt from the Kumo-nin approaching.
"Only five?" Orochimaru muttered, sounding almost insulted that Kumo hadn't sent an army. "They must be ANBU."
Akemi couldn't respond as a blur of color appeared right in front of him and he yelped, jumping back as three other blurs appeared and solidified into Kumo-nin surrounding Orochimaru. They were wearing porcelain masks resembling birds of prey and gray long-sleeve shirts with white one-strapped flak jackets over them. Three of the ANBU were men, two blonds and one red-haired. The sole kunoichi had short red hair and was shorter than the men, yet much taller than Akemi.
"I assume you're the Kumogakure welcoming committee," Orochimaru said blandly, raising a single brow. "Though it seems one of you is missing."
Akemi barely heard him, his eyes stuck on the ANBU woman with the vulture mask. In the spaces her white arm guards didn't cover, rich brown skin peeked through and something fragile shook in Akemi's core as he realized one of the male ANBU also had tan skin. It had been so long since he'd seen such diversity, the majority of Konoha being on the lighter side, and a pang of longing rang throughout his body at the sight.
He stared down at his own lightly tanned skin beneath his black arm guards, and for a second, imagined the caramelo color they used to be.
The memory cut out as a fist struck his face and Akemi's teeth rattled while he went flying back into tree. He instinctively threw back his hands, ignoring his burning cheek, and caught himself on the snowy tree trunk, using chakra to crouch vertically on the bark.
"Akemi-kun!"
The boy looked up to see a kunai soaring towards his eyes and he flipped up and landed on the branches above.
"Who—" He stopped, hearing a familiar hiss, and threw himself off the tree as it exploded—a paper bomb was on the kunai.
Akemi raised his arm guards while he landed near Orochimaru and skidded across the icy floor, heat and smoldering wood splinters shooting past him.
Chakra flickered behind Akemi and he whirled around to face a porcelain dragon mask and piercing brown eyes. The ANBU kunoichi bared down her katana on his arm guards, her cyan blue hair whipping out like streams of water trying to break free from her ponytail as the wind roared.
Akemi gritted his teeth, noticing her chakra presence was almost nonexistent—no wonder he hadn't sensed her punch coming—while his arms shook from pushing back her sword. "Why...are you attacking me?" he gasped.
The woman's only answer was to suddenly pull back her katana, Akemi stumbling from the loss of pressure while she stepped aside.
He face-planted into a bush and the kunoichi went to cut his back, but Akemi shot chakra into his fists and threw them in front of her sword. Yet quick as lightning, her blade went up and stabbed at another angle, slicing into his weapons pouches.
Shuriken and kunai clattered onto the snowy ground while Akemi yanked himself off the bush and swung back his fist at her chin.
She tipped her head away, but his hand brushed over her mask and a small piece chipped off it as she dropped back into a handstand. Akemi didn't move while she righted herself and pulled his chakra away from his fists to conserve it as the dragon-masked woman raised her sword.
He frowned, seeing her sandy tan fingers over her katana's black hilt and lean muscled figure. She seemed oddly familiar, but he shook off his thoughts when her image suddenly shimmered and she vanished with a shunshin.
Akemi lowered his fists and smirked, closing his eyes even as Orochimaru called him worriedly. He concentrated on his chakra, flexing his hands, and waiting...waiting...wait...
The chakra string on his index finger went taunt and Akemi swiftly sent all his chakra strings to its location, his eyes snapping open to see the wide-eyed kunoichi hanging suspended beside him with her sword posed over his head.
"Puppet Technique!?" she whispered harshly, voice youthful—around her late teens, maybe early twenties probably.
Akemi beamed. "Being the son of Mikoto of the Blood Dance has its perks." His eyes narrowed and he threw a string around her katana's hilt, yanking it from her grasp and tossing it far to the side. "Now explain what—urk!"
Her heeled sandal dug into his gut, the ANBU breaking out of his strings with the aid of chakra, and Akemi automatically dropped the technique as he fell on his back in a slide. The kunoichi touched down on the floor in a crouch, whipped out a kunai and lunged for him, but Akemi kicked up while sending chakra to his foot.
His sandal struck her kunai and the blade shattered.
The kunoichi cried out as shrapnel sliced across her palm and Akemi hissed when a shard cut across his chin. Yet he ignored the stinging pain and lurched up to toss his arms around the woman, throwing them both to the side.
She slammed onto her back and Akemi sat on her, holding his fist over her neck.
The woman raised a kunai, but stilled at seeing the blue chakra flaming around his fist. She would die if he punched her neck, and she knew it, so released her kunai and let it fall into the snow.
"You can stop now."
Akemi didn't look away from the kunoichi as one of the ANBU men approached him. "You passed the test."
The woman's eyes narrowed and Akemi got off of her, though he remained tense. "Test?" he asked while the kunoichi sat up and stood in a fluid motion.
He glanced at Orochimaru who appeared concerned, though his chakra was rising and falling like he was either agitated or excited—probably the latter knowing him.
"We had to make sure you had the skills to survive the reenactment," the kunoichi tossed back as she walked over to her fallen sword.
Akemi's gaze sharpened, knowing they were talking about the reenactment of the Hyuga Incident he was going to participate in. "And it couldn't have waited for me to reach Kumogakure?" he asked mildly.
"The Raikage would prefer to have this matter settled as quickly as possible," the dark-skinned man said behind him.
Akemi nodded, lightly touching the bleeding cut on his chin. "I understand." He turned and went to pick up his kunai and shuriken, stuffing them and his torn weapon pouches in his backpack.
The cyan-haired kunoichi returned with her katana strapped to her back while Akemi took out a bandage from his backpack's side pocket and placed it over his cut chin. He held out another bandage to the dragon-masked woman and her eyes narrowed, but she eventually accepted the bandage and set it over her bleeding palm.
Akemi smiled and looked back at the other four ANBU. "Let's not keep the Raikage waiting."
The Kumo-nin nodded and launched themselves up into the trees, hurrying ahead. Akemi shared a look with Orochimaru and the man smiled a little too wide at him before they both leapt into the trees and followed the ANBU to the village's gates.
.
Akemi was mildly surprised the Raikage didn't greet them at the village entrance, but it wasn't like Akemi was of interest unless he turned out to have the Sharingan, and Hyuga Hikari didn't matter either since his blue-eyes mutation rendered him unable to use the Byakugan. However, the Uchiha forgot all about the man as he took in the shinobi village.
They were on top of a mountain that had its summit shaved off while stores and homes had been built on its flattened surface. The structures resembled the ones in Konoha, colorful and wooden. Though some buildings were a part of a mountain, being either carved into its side or the mountain having been hollowed out while its insides were refitted into buildings. Some places likened upside down temples and...and their architecture didn't quite look Japanese.
Akemi stopped and pulled out his camera from his bag, raising the lens to his goggles and snapping pictures of the thin street between two mountain peaks they were crossing. Tree branches with beautiful red flowers—hibiscuses?—jutted out of each mountain side with tall black heat lamps near each one to help them survive the cold.
The Uchiha inhaled deeply, a little uncomfortable with the slight pressure on his chest from being so high in the atmosphere. However, he sensed eyes on him and turned to a couple of children with their parents who stared curiously at him—probably because of his Konoha headband. He smiled and waved, eyeing their cocoa brown skin and straight black hair... Huh...their features didn't look Japanese but...Indian?
Akemi reeled back, remembering the spicy scent of the hotel food and suddenly realizing it reminded him of an Indian restaurant he used to go to by his college campus, and wasn't India near the Himalayan mountains like Kumogakure was in the mountains? So were the people of Kumogakure basically a fusion of Indian and Japanese?
"Akemi-kun," Orochiamru looked back from yards ahead, Hyuga face stern.
"Sorry!" The Uchiha shook off the realization and caught up to the group of Kumo ANBU waiting next to a tall and narrow staircase on a mountainside.
"I will be leaving now to conduct my investigation into the Head Ninja's whereabouts during the Third Shinobi War," Orochimaru said as Akemi put away his camera. "If I cross-reference his location with deceased Uchiha on different battlefields, I should find a match."
Akemi sensed four of the ANBU's chakra spike at the insinuation their Head Ninja was a Kekkei Genkai thief, which was reasonable since he wasn't. Though Akemi cocked his head at the cyan-haired kunoichi whose chakra didn't move. Of course her chakra signature was so faint maybe he just couldn't pick up on her agitation.
"I will leave a shadow clone to watch over you during the reenactment." Orochimaru swiftly wove the clone sign and his copy appeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Follow me." The dragon-masked kunoichi waved Akemi towards the staircase while the other four ANBU led Orochimaru away.
Akemi's jaw clenched as they went up the steps, the boy feeling like he was marching to his death. He fiddled nervously with his goggles' strap, yet stopped upon noticing Orochimaru's clone side-eyeing him. Okay, calm down, alright, it's all bueno. He just had to survive the reenactment without being maimed, killed, or revealing his Sharingan and natural energy... As well as survive whatever terror the Kumo-nin had cooked up to push him into either revealing his Sharingan or developing the Sharingan...and Orochimaru would be watching him closely, no doubt... Well, hopefully his mother wouldn't cry too much over his death.
"You're a medic-nin's apprentice, correct?"
Akemi looked up at the kunoichi, her long electric blue hair swaying as she looked over her shoulder. "You can treat your wounds and grab whatever supplies you need for the reenactment before we begin."
In a blur of movement she pulled out something brown from her jacket pocket and Akemi flinched back, arm rising protectively, but then saw it was merely a couple of weapon pouches she was holding out.
He blinked before smiling and accepting the pouches. "Thanks, umm..." He trailed off expectantly.
The kunoichi faced ahead and Akemi frowned, but then she quietly replied, "You can call me Dragon."
Akemi brightened. "How'd you get a cool codename like that?"
The woman didn't look at him, though a smirk rang through her voice as she said, "You'll find out soon enough."
Akemi smiled despite hearing the threat lacing her tease. "Don't tell me you're a part of the reenactment?"
"I as well as Motoi will be battling you."
Akemi balked at her bluntness while she continued. "Raikage-sama has deemed Motoi and I together as having equal strength to the former Head Ninja, so you should be able to take us on considering you allegedly managed to steal a Hyuga child from the Head Ninja and elude him for approximately four minutes."
The Uchiha's lips pursed and he ducked his head to hide his reaction. Shikaku had slightly tweaked the events of that night in the report the Hokage sent to Kumo by saying Akemi went alone to confront the Head Ninja and took Hinata from him with his own power. Not only did that keep Shisui safe from becoming a scapegoat, but it undoubtedly raised Kumo's suspicion he had a Sharingan and ensured they would let Akemi come to Kumogakure.
The air became thinner as they climbed to higher altitudes and Akemi was mildly out of breath by the time they reached the mountain summit, the wind even more bitting than before. He squinted at the dozens of shorter brown mountains with flat wooden paths encircling their tops scattered around them, the clouds fogging over the farther ones.
"Meet us there once you're ready." Dragon pointed at a nearby mountain on the left, then regarded Orochimaru. "I'll show you where you can watch the reenactment."
Dragon leapt off the mountain and landed on the next mountain's side, quickly running up it.
Orochimaru glanced at Akemi and grinned. "Put on a good show, Akemi-kun." He chuckled and jumped after Dragon.
Akemi scowled. "I'm not a TV show, stupid snake." His anger quickly burned out, eyes falling and the boy slumping. "Okay... You can do this, Aurelio," he said in English, and the small bit of home comforted him even as fear settled upon his shoulders.
...
The Uchiha touched down on the mountain peak, wincing slightly as he rose due to the bruise on his stomach since he didn't get to ice it for long. Dragon was leaning against the metal guardrail next to a young man with tan skin and a green strip of face paint on his nose—wait. Wasn't that Killer B's childhood friend?
"Let's get this over with," the man—Motoi—said in a flat tone, crossing his arms. "Your objective is to steal your backpack from me and then evade us for four minutes and thirty seconds." He waved out to the mountains ahead. "You can use whatever means you have to elude us, up to deadly force, and run wherever you want without passing the stadium."
Akemi glanced at the horizon, but there was too much fog for him to make out any stadium.
"Your bag?" Motoi motioned to himself, and Akemi shrugged off his backpack, handing it to him.
"You can hide and surprise attack us if you want," Dragon said, standing from the railing.
"That is what I did to your Head Ninja," Akemi mused, "But I'd rather get this over with fast." He smirked at the kunoichi. "You won't be holding back this time, will you, Dragon?"
The ANBU didn't answer as she pulled out her sword and got into position beside Motoi who tucked his backpack under his arm.
Akemi smirked wider to cover his fear. "I'm ready."
Motoi angled his feet into a fighting position. "Let the reenactment begin...now!"
Akemi threw a smoke bomb at his feet, but almost immediately rushed out of the dark smoke towards Motoi. Dragon leapt between them and sliced her katana across his chest. Her eyes widened as the blade cut through Akemi's shirt, blood spraying from the wound.
Yet he burst into a puff of smoke and Dragon inhaled sharply. "Shadow clone?"
Shock splayed across Motoi's face, but then a dozen Akemis sprung up from where the smoke bomb had cleared and soared towards him. Dragon jumped, spinning and cutting through three. Yet only one popped while the other two Akemis shimmered away.
"Shadow clones and regular clones," she told Motoi who flicked out four kunai at the Uchiha.
Two Akemis were struck and disappeared alongside their four clones while the Kumo-nin roundhouse kicked a clone who fell near him.
However, two Akemis landed in front of the man and quickly wove signs. "Ultimate Kawaii Jutsu!"
"Kawaii?" Motoi questioned as the duo transformed in a cloud of smoke. He blinked at the resulting toddlers who resembled Akemi except with spiky hair, pale skin, and cat ear headbands.
Their raven eyes glistened while they pleaded. "Can I have my bag back, pretty please?"
Motoi raised a brow. "What type of useless jutsu—"
"Look out!"
Dragon rushed towards him and Motoi gasped when his arms were yanked up by invisible strings, the backpack falling from his grasp. One of the toddlers caught it and transformed into Akemi before running off the mountainside.
The kunoichi sliced the chakra strings and Motoi's arms dropped, but the toddler rapidly formed hand signs and blew flames at his face. Motoi threw himself into a roll, dodging under the fire, and the toddler choked as Dragon ran her katana through his back, popping him.
"That was actually kinda remarkable," Motoi said, getting up and hopping onto the rail to watch Akemi leap from mountain to mountain half a kilometer away.
Dragon came beside him. "You already know where the real boy is hiding?"
The man smirked and pointed his thumb at himself. "They don't call me the greatest hunter-nin for nothing."
Dragon huffed. "Does anybody actually call you that?"
Motoi's expression soured and he folded his arms. "Just get in position, Mizūmi, and wait for my signal."
The kunoichi mockingly saluted him and leapt backwards over the rail, summersaulting to the next mountain while Motoi rolled his eyes. "Show off," he grumbled and leapt after her.
...
Akemi heaved in a deep breath, his teeth chattering from the cold, yet he couldn't stop inhaling. The atmosphere was so thin, no matter how deeply he breathed it felt like someone was sitting on his chest.
Still, the Uchiha continued swinging from mountain to mountain with his chakra strings, having found it allowed him to travel faster than running. It consumed more chakra, but he wasn't too worried about that since his shadow clone should distract the Kumo-nin for awhile. Even better, a large stone coliseum-shaped building was coming up in the horizon and he sensed Orochimaru's clone there. As crazy as it was to admit, being near Orochimaru would reassure greatly.
Akemi tensed, his shadow clone's chakra returning to him along with the memory of staring fearfully at the sky, and he dropped his chakra strings to land on a mountain ledge. Huh? What had destroyed his shadow clone? It happened so fast even his clone didn't seem to know—
A shiver ran down Akemi's spine and he didn't think before leaping over to the next mountain right as a bolt of lightning struck the floor where he'd been—they'd found him!
Akemi threw his chakra strings out and swung rapidly to the next mountain, flinching at the crash resounding behind him and the burst of warmth against his back. Lightning bolts were chasing him, and even with chakra strings he couldn't outrun electricity.
That was why Akemi didn't bother looking up when his senses screamed a surge of chakra was forming above him. He merely released his strings and allowed himself to fall while weaving signs.
The lightning bolt shot at him right as he blew out a sharp air current and raised his rubber arm guards. White-blue light pierced his eyes and he snapped them close while heat rushed over his skin, almost scaldingly hot.
Akemi opened his eyes once the heat faded and saw nothing except white. Oh, crap, was he dead!?
He crashed into something hard and cried out as he rolled, hissing when his head struck a metal railing that rang from the impact. Yeah, nope, death probably didn't hurt this much.
Akemi blinked rapidly, clearing his sight after having been blinded by the lightning bolt he'd barely managed to cut through with his wind. Yet he yelped at seeing tiny flames on his scorched pants and rapidly patted the fire away while sitting up. Apparently he hadn't avoided all of the lightning.
"Akemi-kun!"
The boy looked up and started at the long benches he was surrounded by, enormous stone walls circling them—he fell in the stadium?
Orochimaru dropped from a higher level and touched down in front of him, offering his hand. "Are you alright?"
"I'm..." Akemi trailed off, the ground shaking. "Earthquake?"
He took Orochimaru's hand and stood as the man's eyes widened. "That's not an earthquake."
Akemi followed his gaze to the right and gawked at a tall gray cloud rolling towards the stadium in the distance, which he soon realized was a boulder almost the size of the stadium.
The Uchiha choked as Dragon spoke behind him. "If you reveal your Sharingan, we'll save you."
Akemi turned to her, wide-eyed. "I don't have the Sharingan."
"And we don't require assistance to leave."Orochimaru grasped his shoulder, about to use shunshin when Dragon flipped over Akemi and rained her katana on the Sannin's arm.
Orochimaru's hand snapped back to avoid the blade and Akemi stumbled to the side as the man slid out a kunai to brace it against Dragon's sword.
Akemi gazed over them to the boulder and saw it was less than a mile from the stadium, rolling down a stone bridge that definitely hadn't been there a minute ago—they must have made it with earth jutsu.
The boy shook off his pondering and tossed chakra strings up at the stadium ceiling, but Motoi landed nearby and stared evenly at him with white lightning sparking around his hands.
"Show us your Sharingan and we'll stop the bould—"
"I don't have the Sharingan," Akemi hissed, fear sharpening his words because the boulder would arrive in seconds. "And won't you be killed too if you don't stop that boulder?"
"Yes," Dragon said, her katana scraping against Orochimaru's kunai. "That is a possibility we've already accepted," she said far too calmly.
The ground shook harder, rattling Akemi's bones while the rumbling deafened him and snow slid off the stadium roof to drift down around them.
"I don't have the Sharingan!" Akemi shouted over the noise, and Motoi seemed to hear him, yet his expression remained firm and he shook his head. They were serious, weren't they? They'd actually die unless he revealed his Sharingan.
Akemi considered it, then jerked away from the thought because death would be preferable to what Kumogakure and Orochimaru might do to him if he revealed his golden Sharingan.
So the Uchiha jumped down to the lower seats, and ignoring Motoi's staring, climbed onto the guardrail and looped a chakra string over the metal bar before leaping to the stadium ground. If anyone called his name, Akemi couldn't hear them as he got up from his crouch and paled at seeing the boulder a hundred times larger than him racing towards the stadium like a bullet.
He had maybe twelve seconds to do something, so Akemi accepted death was imminent no matter what he did and guided all his chakra into his fist. Motoi wasn't a primary character in Naruto and he didn't think Dragon was a character at all, but he didn't want to risk changing the future by letting them die now.
Akemi also didn't want to die, but terror had numbed him and there wasn't really any other option. Motoi would strike him with lightning faster than he could move if he tried to flee and Orochimaru was either too busy fighting Dragon or was willing to let Akemi risk his life on the chance of seeing him reveal his Sharingan.
Akemi sucked in a shuddering breath, formed hand signs, and blew wind down from his hands. He was launched high into the air, arching towards the boulder that was a second away from hitting the stadium. Golden wisps breezed around Akemi as he faced death below him, unaware of the gold saturating his irises and flaring around his hand while he fell with his fist aimed at the boulder.
I love you so much, Nii-san, Sasuke, mi familia.
Gray craggy rock encompassed Akemi's vision as his fist hit the boulder and the world went silent while golden light brighter than the sun exploded around him.
.
"I will love you always."
Akemi gradually woke up to a muted hum and a half-remembered vision. A mattress bounced under him as he twitched before rolling sluggishly onto his side. Pain seized his right arm and he flinched, swiftly returning to his back.
He groaned, eyes cracking open while someone asked, "Awake already?"
The Uchiha stared at the yellow ceiling, wondering how it was talking, but soon registered whose voice he'd heard and turned to Orochimaru who was standing over him with a silky smile.
"You broke your right arm, dislocated your shoulder, gave yourself a concussion, and sprained your ankle."
Akemi blinked, uncomprehending for a moment. Yet he quickly recalled the giant boulder and his attempt to stop it. Oh, well, at least he didn't lose any limbs.
Orochimaru chuckled lowly and Akemi realized he'd spoken out loud as he sat up. He almost fell back, but Orochimaru laid his hand on his back and helped him settle against the headboard. His right arm was stiff and Akemi saw it was in a metal splint from his wrist to elbow and tucked into a green sling. Woah, he'd never broken a bone before...
"You also exhausted nearly all of your chakra, but a medic-nin managed to fill enough of your reserves for you to survive. Though we thought you'd be out for a week, not two days."
Akemi tried to talk, yet his tongue got stuck on the roof of his dry mouth. Orochimaru noticed and handed him a plastic cup with ice. He awkwardly brought it to his mouth, feeling strangely off balance probably due to being given painkillers when he suddenly realized his goggles were missing. Had Orochimaru removed them or did they get knocked off when he punched that rock?
"It was truly remarkable watching you obliterate over half of that boulder, to think you're capable of so much already."
Akemi regarded Orochimaru tiredly over his drink. "I honestly thought I was going to die. Who knows how I survived it?" He shrugged, hoping the man hadn't seen that golden light he was pretty sure came from his natural energy.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you, Akemi-kun." Orochimaru smiled, eyes too knowing, yet his face fell and he sighed. "Though it will have to wait until we're on the road to Konoha."
Akemi perked up. "We're...we're going back to Konoha? You found proof that the Head Ninja stole a Sharingan? A-and the Raikage believes I killed the Head Ninja?"
"Well, you certainly impressed him, I'm sure." Orochimaru turned to the window and Akemi saw they were in hotel within a cliffside overlooking Kumogakure's shopping district. "But regardless, our work is done here."
Akemi beamed and went to speak when a boom reverberated from afar. Screams cut through the closed window and Akemi's heart stopped as he saw smoke and scarlet flames rising around a tall steel mill on another mountain, a jagged hole in the side of the brick building.
The boy slowly looked to Orochimaru who was smirking and whispered. "What...what the hell did you do?"
Orochimaru raised a brow, pale eyes bright with excitement. "Completed my mission as Danzo told me to." Akemi gasped. "Ensuring Kumogakure cannot resume warfare with Konoha by any means necessary."
Another blast went off much closer to their hotel room and red and orange flames flashed onto the window.
Many chapters in the future, you will realize Mizūmi/Dragon isn't actually an OC and you'll hit yourself for missing all the signs towards her identity 😅
Special thanks to the only 2 people who left an upbuilding review on this story here in over three months, your kindness and thoughtfulness are the only reason I updated on this site so muchísimos gracias!
Next time: Akemi is confronted with a choice that pushes him to the limit of his morality and perhaps over his morality line...
Stay healthy, everyone!