A thank you to Zetsubel for the first review on my story! :D And by the way, yes I have had those dreams before…xP
Anyway, I'm sorry to those of you who have read the last chapter. That chapter is NOT "The Man Behind the Plan", it's supposed to be "Not the Norm". THIS chapter is "The Man Behind the Plan". I just wanted to clear things up a bit :D
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!
So before we begin, I want to give a heads up about the beginning part of this chapter. An unidentified man's voice is speaking for the first section of the chapter. I say unidentified because he will be revealed…at the end of the chapter.
I will probably do 1st person narration throughout the story at the beginning of chapters, sort of like what I did with chapter 1. I'll let you guys know who is speaking before the chapter begins.
So without further ado, or b-do, or c-do…:]
Let's begin!
Chapter 4: The Man Behind The Plan
The Hidden Valley Village, Hikunakure…
It wasn't so special back then…It didn't hold any special power. It didn't have extraordinary ninja. It had never participated in any of the ninja wars.
Hikuna has never declared war on any other village, but no village has declared war on it either. Quite a peaceful place to be then, it would only be logical to think that.
But why? Could it be that…they are hiding something? Hmm…no. That's not likely. In fact, they don't have anything to hide. After all, they are not a very large village. Perhaps larger than the Hidden Star Village, but Hikuna doesn't have something valuable like the powerful star of the Hidden Star Village.
That is…not until now.
Hikunakure was a rather normal village. They had clans like all the others, with the Watanabe clan leading the village. They had ninja to guard their village, but rather…weak ninja I must say. The ninja were only there to protect the village from everyday thieves and beasts.
But now…now everything has changed!
They have become stronger…much stronger. Because of these five children…And in my case, this is an opportunity I cannot miss.
I could care less about the village…In fact, I think I'll just destroy it. The valley ninja will only get in my way…because what I want…the only thing I want from that village…is the Bikuyu.
Kagami dashed past the wheat fields with the wind blowing on her face. She looked up at the sky.
Ahh, what a beautiful d-
Something wasn't right. Something didn't feel right.
She slowed down to a jog then completely stopped, standing in the middle of the dirt road. She continued to look up with a puzzled look on her face.
Is it the sky? The sun? Maybe the clouds?…that…aren't…there…?
She put up her hand to shield her eyes. It was something about the sun…
I'll have to ask Papa Saiyon about this later…maybe he'll know something about it.
Kagami resumed dashing towards her training area, where she would meet Yokotoro.
Chiyo sat by her brother's bed in the hospital. She gently petted his hair.
"Taoru…please…please be alright…"
Taoru faced the ceiling, eyes half closed.
"The snake bite wasn't that severe, was it? You're not going to…to…"
He turned his head to face his sister. His eyes were watery.
Chiyo's lower lip started quavering. Her eyes became watery as well. She grabbed his hand and tucked her head into his side.
She started to cry.
Taoru flinched. He never saw his sister cry before.
She was always so tough, so proud, so independent. To see her cry like this was unbearable.
The door slammed open. Lord Saiyon came thundering in, dragging in Daisuke with him.
"Daddy?" Chiyo gulped down her tears and quickly wiped her face.
Taoru blinked. "Father…"
Lord Saiyon nodded his head, silently greeting his children. He glared at Daisuke then pointed at Taoru.
"Daisuke, I didn't put you in medical training for fun. Tell me what Taoru needs to be cured!"
Daisuke flinched as his father shoved him towards the bed. He stepped towards Taoru's bedside.
Daisuke patted Chiyo's head, then started to work on Taoru.
A green glow emitted from his hands as he put them on Taoru's body.
"Hey bro…I'm…I'm sorry…"
"…It wasn't your fault."
Worry crawled all over Daisuke's face. Chiyo tried to keep her tears inside.
Lord Saiyon observed his children. He saw into them.
Chiyo has never cried before. Taoru has never let his guard down, yet he was bitten by a mere snake. And Daisuke…he may seem good for nothing...but he knows all about medicine...yet...
Daisuke turned to face his father.
"Father, there's…there's no cure…I can't find any way to reverse this…"
Lord Saiyon frowned. Deep lines like none other were carved into his forehead.
Just as I had thought...he doesn't know how to heal him either...
"Demon horse!"
A horse made of dark violet flames and red eyes raced towards the advancing snake. The horse jumped through the air and successfully landed on the snake, holding it down with its front hooves.
The snake wildly writhed about, then suddenly dropped dead.
The demon horse picked up the dead snake with its mouth, devoured it whole, then vanished.
Roji's blank face turned into a frown.
Snakes?…Daisuke wouldn't be stupid enough to do this…Why are there snakes in the village? I wonder…does Kagami know about this?
"YOKOTORO-SENSEI!"
Yokotoro looked up.
Oh no…
"Wheeeee! OOF!"
Kagami landed on top of her sensei's back.
"Thank you, Kagami…for shoving my face into the ground."
"Oh, no no. Don't thank me, sensei! It was the ground that came up to you. It wanted to give you a kiss!"
Yokotoro growled.
"OH! By the way, I got ramen for lunch!"
She held up a brown bag with the shape of a bowl inside it.
Yokotoro grunted.
Kagami crawled off of her sensei, then rolled onto the ground. She lay next to him, but facing the sky.
The sun…again…what was with it?
A bush rustled.
Kagami quickly got up, then stared straight at the bush.
"Sensei…What was that?"
Yokotoro got up and rubbed his neck.
"What was wh-"
Yokotoro looked at the bush and widened his eyes. He saw two yellow eyes, smiling at him.
He gritted his teeth.
Now? Of all times?
"Kagami…Come back in fifteen minutes. I just realized I have to take care of some…business…"
Kagami raised an eyebrow. The word "business" erased her thoughts on the rustling bush.
"Take care of…business?…What kind of-"
The light bulb turned on. She grinned.
"Right! Gotcha, sensei."
Kagami dashed off.
Yokotoro groaned and sighed.
A voice came from the bush.
"Now look what you've done. That Bikuyu was the hardest to find."
Yokotoro grunted. He turned his attention to the yellow eyes in the bush.
"Why are you so worried? She has the ramen with her."
The voice laughed.
"You have a point. Although, finding her…and seeing her in person, I find that more interesting. And more satisfying as well. Especially since she is a hard one to track. It's rare these days to find someone who is hard for me to find. Anyway…I need to have a little chat with you."
Kagami rushed into her father's office.
"PAPA SAIYON!"
She wanted to ask about the sun, but the office was empty.
"Huh?…Where'd everyone go?"
She walked over to his desk and found an envelope half opened. It read "IMPORTANT" on it.
"Hmm…"
Kagami always looked into her father's mail, whether if it was important or not. "IMPORTANT" always made her day more interesting though.
"Well, if he's not here, and I don't know where else he'd be...I guess I have nothing else better to do."
She set down her packed ramen on the desk, then opened up the rest of the envelope and took out a letter. Before she read it, she looked at the clock. She only had a few minutes to read, so she set a timer for three minutes. She didn't want to be late for her training.
"To Saiyon
From Sarutobi
Greetings, old friend. I couldn't help but label this letter as important! I wanted you to read this letter as soon as you saw it. It has been awhile since we've last spoken! How have you been doing? How have your children been doing? I hope you're all doing well."
Kagami blinked. Sarutobi? Who was that? Was this letter really important? She continued to read.
"Do you remember the boy I spoke to you about the last time? The one with the fox spirit? He has become such a handful lately."
Kagami blinked once again.
There's…others like us? Someone with a fox spirit? So we're not the only ones…cool!
She read on.
The letter continued talking about old times, back in the days, blah blah blah. She imagined an old man's voice inside her head, blabbing on and on.
"Today, I told my grandson about circles around the sun. Have I ever told you about the circles? They're an omen. An omen of snakes."
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Time up.
Kagami vigorously shook her head. The words from the letter were shaken out.
"Well, interesting letter, old man, but I better get going. I'll read you later."
She dashed off, the air from her sudden movement swooshing the letter off the desk and onto the ground. She forgot her ramen as well.
The packed ramen poofed and a snake appeared. It hissed at the door which Kagami exited through, then slithered down to the ground where the letter was. The snake studied the letter for a bit, and it looked as if the snake didn't like what it saw, so it gobbled it up.
Unfortunately, the letter was important, unlike what "Sarutobi" intended it to be.
Because in the belly of the snake, lay three vital words of the letter…
"Beware of Orochimaru."
And now you know…the man behind the plan is…OROCHIMARU!
He's not even a MAN, he's like…an OLD man, right? Since he switches bodies and whatnot…therefore he's actually 50 years old, but appears young, which I find a bit disturbing….
Anyhow, I hope that chapter wasn't too long. I tried reducing it as much as I could without missing any important parts.
Next chapter…"Ugly Reflection Jutsu Gone Wrong"