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I didn't think rewriting and continuing this story would get any kind of positive engagement. Thanks for giving this story another chance. I appreciate all of you. I really do :)
As promised, here is the Fourth Chapter.
Before you read, a few warnings; just like I said in the first chapter, this story will have some implied and overt twincest, and the same applies to this chapter. So be prepared.
This is the chapter that gets the story's plot rolling. We (sort of) get introduced to a major character(?). You'll find out why I say it like that when you read ;)
Enjoy…
CHAPTER 4
What happens when two stars collide?
First a vacuum briefly sucked everything in, as the Snake Sage clashed against the Red Demon. A quarter of a second where the forest inhaled a sharp breath in anticipation and there was utter stillness in the air.
Then-
Boom!
-Itachi shielded his eyes with his right forearm and an ethereal ribcage spiraled outward around him, covering the unconscious children Orochimaru had sent after them.
Naruto's jutsu, the shell-like dome that was only meant to disintegrate if or when Naruto was killed, shattered like stained glass. The shards of the unbreakable jutsu shredded trees and foliage, battering against the Uchiha's incomplete Susanno. Inside the ribcage, Itachi bent his knees and positioned himself into the violent gale, digging his chakra deep into the ground to fix himself in place while the Sound Four were thrown off the ground and were now firmly stuck to the back of Itachi's sharingan construct.
The light was blinding.
The great exhale was deafening.
Itachi didn't dare look directly at the contact point between Naruto and Orochimaru, since that might as well have been like looking directly at the sun with his Mangekyo activated, which it was.
Naruto pushed away with gnashed teeth, switching his feet and diving back in as Orochimaru too bellowed toward him. The Mantis Susanno arms covering his own arms clinked against the fangs of Orochimaru's arm-snakes, grating like jagged nails on a chalkboard. The Namikaze genius pulled his arm away and swung his other hooked claw in a nimble blur of speed, severing the heads of the Sannin's snakes and following up with a deft spin on his left heel with a hard hook kick with his right foot.
Thud!
Crazed, Orochimaru blocked the attack with his forearms.
He blasted chakra to his arms and pushed back, surprising the seventeen-year-old speedster.
Regaining composure, Naruto stepped back into the fight with a hard swipe of his right claw, dodged by the man with a quick lean away and forcing the older shinobi to follow through with a roll as Naruto made to trip him. The headless snakes that were his arms sizzled with heat, still hot from their decapitation, though the Sannin forced his arms to return to him as he rolled again, avoiding a lethal slash that scorched the ground red.
Naruto's body vibrated, shedding red-black chakra as he quickened his pace.
He leaped to Orochimaru, a brazen attack if he had been any slower.
The Namikaze's feet snapped down three revolving bicycle kicks, stepping down on the Sage's face with both feet and smashing Orochimaru's head squarely into the ground.
Thoooom!
The sage's head broke like an egg against the hard ground.
Hastily, he cut off the downed man's legs, only to realize the Sannin had once again replaced himself with a reptilian clone. Dead with an open skull.
Naruto's Mangekyo flicked up, noticing the utter decimation of the forest, totally levelled of plant and animal life in a clean two-mile radius. He saw his target as he just about slithered into the forest at the western edge of the radius, retreating in the form of a white humanoid snake.
"Itachi." Naruto grit, his evolved sharingan eye weeping a trickling stream of blood from his right eye. He dispelled his Susanno arms and looked to his rival, who was now ragged on his knees, eyes also bleeding.
The Uchiha shouted, waving him off with both hands. "Go!"
Getting confirmation that his friend was fine and that he could take care of the Sound Four, Naruto closed his right eye and opened his left. Two pairs of wings fizzled from his upper and lower back, somehow not tearing his shinobi uniform. Both wings were thin and semi-transparent with a thin film of red chakra, red chakra veins spider-webbed each of the four wings.
Naruto held back from completely transforming, restraining his Mangekyo and his Summoning ability to his wings.
He faced where his target had escaped to, his senses tracking the man as he dipped straight under the trees in a frenzy of self-preservation. Orochimaru had now entered Earth country, but border politics was the last thing on the Hokage's son's mind.
Naruto's wings trembled noisily.
Bzzzzzzz-
Pomf
One moment, Orochimaru was meandering trees and roots, panting at the demon chasing him, and then the next he was tackled from behind, spun around and body slammed into the ground.
The shockwaves spread far and wide.
Sasuke heaved, stumbling back half a step after delivering the wrestling move to his teammate.
Mikoto laid spread-eagle on the ground, surrounded by a dozen of her chakra golden chains and a cobweb of broken earth caused by the sheer impact. She was panting, eyes closed and teeth gnashed at the pain of her back.
"Give up, idiot." the Uchiha boy spat, his two tomoe sharingan swirling dizzily in his sockets, absolutely positive that the person he had body slammed was the Red Demon's baby sister and not a Shadow clone. When the girl didn't respond, and amid the utter silence of the arena, Sasuke yelled. "I said, give up!"
Rin frowned.
"Dad." she muttered to her father, but the Hokage shook his head.
"Hold on…" his stare was fixed on his daughter, laid out on the ground and staring straight up at the ceiling of the arena. Her expression was a mix of shock and tiredness, displayed clearer when her chakra chains dispelled.
"Mikoto, I don't want to hurt you anymore." Sasuke swore, stalking to his unresponsive teammate, standing away from her with his two long kunai clenched his hands. He looked to the proctor. "Call it."
Grim, Hayate pursed his lips and readied to call the winner, until-
"Get up, Mikoto!"
Shocked silence.
Flushed harder than she had ever flushed, Hinata leaned forward on the railing and screamed loud enough for her Byakugan to flicker on and off.
"Get up, Mikoto!"
The surprised stares of her teammates and friends didn't dissuade the shy heiress. Over in the Kage's booth, Rin's brow was raised all the way into her hairline, amazed by the normally quiet girl's outburst. Minato shared her sentiment, and so did the entirety of Hinata's clan, gaping and wide eyed at the princess's scream.
"You can do it!"
Her voice echoed.
"Get up!"
Mikoto's face twitched.
Sasuke bared his teeth.
The youngest Namikaze breathed out and rolled onto her front, keeping her hands under her and pushing, getting up to one knee. In spite of himself, her teammate watched, amazed and infuriated.
The arena was still silent, watching the Hokage's daughter rise to her feet, chin low, shoulders hunched and eyes narrowed to the ground. Her red hair frizzed, breathing raggedly, opening and closing her fists while they hung at her sides. She looked
She looked like a cornered beast.
"Yes!" Hinata cheered, arms raised as if she herself had won the match.
Sakura added her voice, again to the shock of other observers. "You've got this, Mikoto!"
Kakashi chuckled and closed Kurenai's open mouth, much to Asuma's amusement.
Kiba joined in. "Get 'im, Mikoto!" Akamaru howled in support.
Mikoto Uchiha, amused and bemused, called to her son. "Finish this, Sasuke!"
Her son glanced at her, then to his father.
Fugaku nodded once.
The arena divided itself between supporting Mikoto Namikaze and Sasuke Uchiha, roaring to life once more at the conclusion to this year's Chunin Exam.
Mikoto felt her hip for her claymore, grasping at nothing and recalling that she had been disarmed not too long ago. She unclipped the heavy sheath and allowed it to fall carelessly to the ground. She sighed, rolling her neck back and flicking a short look to the Kage's booth, catching her big sister's strong look and the hardness of her jaw.
"You should have stayed down." Sasuke muttered, discarding his kunai and clapping his hands together before his chest.
"I'm Uzumaki, Sasuke." Mikoto half-smiled, shoulders lifted a little to shrug. "I don't know how to stay down."
Here, Minato smiled.
Mikoto formed a seal with her hands. "Shadow clone jutsu."
Poof-poof
Sasuke started flipping through a short set of hand seals.
Two clones appeared on each side from a thin burst of white smoke. She held out her right hand, supported at the elbow with her left, and the clones immediately began swiping their hands over the palm, depositing chakra while the real Mikoto swirled the dropped chakra in her hand.
Realizing what his daughter was doing, Minato turned to his other daughter, only to see the absolute astonishment on her face as well.
" Rasengan." the two mouthed, looking back at the fight.
The two Genin barreled to each other, their jutsu complete.
"Rasengan!"
"Chidori!"
Chakra billowed on contact.
Naruto's wings evaporated with a grunt, devolving his sharingan and ultimately deactivating it. He stood over Orochimaru, immobilized with a broken back, looking down at the paralyzed Sannin with both eyes open. Capillaries surrounded his irises and blood leaked from the corners of his eyes.
He controlled his breathing, smoothing down the front of his Jounin vest.
-Only for his hand to find a blade hilted in his gut.
The Grass Cutter long sword.
Orochimaru began laughing, physically unable to move from the neck down. "Who's the genius now, brat?" Naruto coughed, thin blood dribbling off sides of his mouth and falling down to a knee. " Kukukuku~"
The Namikaze grabbed the handle of the sword and tugged it out, having to prop his left hand on the ground after when he was about to fall on his face. He tossed away the poison coated weapon with a choked breath, feeling his lungs fill with blood and his throat constrict. He coughed blood again and his vision blurred.
" Kukukuku…if you have to die for me to go back to Konoha…I'll gladly go back." Regardless of his paralysis of his limbs and the hollow numbness from the several points along his back that his spine had shifted apart, like a broken snake, the Sage could only feel the purest form of joy and accomplishment at the feat he had performed; fatally wounding the Red Demon was a legend even Death itself wouldn't believe.
Rather, Naruto hummed, wearing a dangerous smile and staunching the stab wound with his palm. "I wonder- guh," the wound oozed freely, flooding his organs and muscles with a deadly cocktail of poisons. He stood up with a huff, burning purple stare turned down to the smug Sannin; the smugness began to lift when the Red Demon began a constant vibration of his internals, guarding them from the scathing touch of Orochimaru's brand of poison. He willed his blood to gather up all trace of the poison, pulling away the tentacled creature unleashed on his insides and squeezing liquid death into a tiny pebble, moving it outside of his stomach. "I wonder…if Death is strong enough to drag my soul to hell."
Sasuke stood over Mikoto, plain faced at the mangled state of his teammates right arm.
He looked within himself for something, an emotion, a feeling.
Regret.
Remorse.
…Worry…
He didn't feel any of that.
He felt nothing…and he felt pride.
He proved his point to Naruto.
The Uchiha bent down to his teammate, a secretive smirk playing on his lips as the Kyuubi holder remained oblivious to his achievement, unconscious to the world. Sasuke's next words echoed in the delirium of her slumbering mind.
"I beat you, Mikoto." he whispered, speaking so low and so privately no one could read his muffled lips. "I told you to stay down."
The proctor called the match in his favor.
"Winner, Sasuke Uchiha!"
A chorus of applause raised the roof of the arena.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
One hour later
Mikoto masterfully tuned out the dull droning of her family's personal physician, her cerulean eyes looked firmly at the clock in her hospital room, counting the seconds in her head.
Tick…tock…tick…tock…tick…tock…tock…-
"Miss Mikoto." the weathered doctor grumbled, leaning his elbows on his knees and frowning from behind his bridged fingers. The girl blinked, briefly startled at the reminder that she wasn't alone in the room, though she didn't turn to look at the frustrated doctor. "The bones of your arm have been set and natural healing is underway, thankfully for you the aching in your back should subside with time." he added the last part with whispered grunt. "As long as you take your pain medication, keep your arm stable and refrain from strenuous activity, you'll be fine."
The girl pursed her lips and hummed, sitting oddly still on the hospital bed. " Mhm."
The girl had been changed out of her ninja attire to a simple white shirt and black shorts with a pair of blue shinobi sandals; her clothes and weapons had been taken away to be cleaned, leaving her kunai and shuriken pouch strew at the foot of the bed. Her shoulder length red hair was still unruly, but not from the fight since the nurses had helped her wash her hair. Combing it, on the other hand, was too much of a pain for the girl, not with those flimsy combs the nurses used.
She had a cast on her right arm and fingers, secured close to her gut with a neat sling.
For a moment, the old doctor stared at the silent girl, unsure of where to go from there.
He turned to his left and looked to Itachi, wedged in a corner of the room with his hands tucked into his pockets and so far nonspeaking since his appearance fifteen minutes ago. He looked even more tired than he usually did, with heavy shadows under his eyes and a ghostly pale complexion marring his thin face.
"I'll be taking my leave now."
" Mhm." Mikoto mumbled, unthinking as she casually swung her dangling feet. The doctor nodded to the seventeen-year-old Jounin before exiting the room, leaving the near catatonic girl to the Uchiha to deal with.
Tick…tock…tick…tock…tick…tock…tick…
With practiced steps, Itachi made his way to his friend's youngest sister and took a seat on the bed, using a moment to get comfortable on the hard mattress. He set his hands on his knees and sat upright, rigid and clearly still uncomfortable.
The girl didn't respond, stormy blue eyes fixed on the clock, counting the seconds.
Flicking a short side eye to the girl, Itachi cleared his throat.
"I heard you fought spectacularly against my brother." This time, he didn't get a mindless grunt from her. "It's all my mother's talking about." Not exactly in her goddaughter's favor, but Itachi didn't feel like mentioning that. "I regret not being there."
"... Mhm."
The prodigy exhaled, tired of the girl's coldness, even though he was often this cold to others. "Listen, Mikoto…it's not your brother's fault for not being at the finals. We were sent on mission to catch that crazy ninja that attack you, Sasuke and Sakura in the forest. Orochimaru. I guess the mission's declassified now that he's in custody; there was going to be an invasion during the end of the exams, and intel Naruto and Rin found out put a stop to the invasion." The usually quiet teen stopped his rambling, screwing his lips to the side when he realized he was making excuses for his friend; the closeness of the three Namikaze siblings was strange to outsiders. Finally, he said. "What I'm saying is that Naruto was busy."
Mikoto stopped counting the seconds, bringing her eyes down to look at her idol.
"I don't mind that big brother was busy." High ranked ninjas in Konoha are busy by profession; their skills were in constant demand and expectations were always high. At least Rin had been present to watch her get her ass handed to her. "Doesn't stop me from being disappointed I lost."
It might as well be a clan thing.
Namikaze didn't lose.
Namikaze didn't fail.
Namikaze didn't disappoint.
Mikoto had been born into a family of superhuman winners. A genius from a young age, the Kyuubi holder succeeded in everything she put her mind into; academics, training, and missions.
Itachi gave a breathy chuckle; yes, he knew about the Namikaze pride.
It was carbon copy of the Uchiha pride.
"Dad's not here…big sis isn't here…just you."
"Well, excuse me for caring." the Uchiha scoffed with false offence.
The girl rolled her eyes, looking back at the clock. " Mhm."
"Mikoto…how can you be better if you don't fail?"
" Mhm. I've heard a million and a half seminars like that back in the Academy." Something in her stomach stirred at the constant reminders from Iruka and some ten thousand guest speakers that came to the class to talk to them about 'The Ninja Experience', she mentally air quoted with another roll of her blue eyes. "'It's not about how you fall but why you get back up', 'failure is all in the mind', 'you're only human', 'believe in yourself and you can achieve anything.'" She said the last part with faux bravado, mimicking the guest speaker, who was apparently a retiring Akimichi ninja that was branching into becoming a life coach. "You don't get it, Itachi, I don't lose." She pointed the thumb of her good hand at herself, berating. "I don't care if it sounds selfish, but I. Don't. Lose."
Itachi sighed, a small, wistful smile playing on his lips as he looked at his rivals baby sister. "I've been fighting since the day you were born, Mikoto. Losing is part of life." She was reminded again that her idol had been a clan prodigy since before he was five years old, protecting a newborn baby Sasuke from the ravages of the Nine Tailed Fox. Being seventeen now, Itachi was still a prominent shinobi in his clan. "And about that thing about not know how it feels to lose," he started, rounding back on that statement. "I've known your brother since before we could walk."
An image of the two came to mind.
One infant, an energetic redhead with fiery purple eyes, and the other, a dull child with coal black hair and an even darker stare. Naruto's twin sister, Rin, spent most of their childhood and present-day feuds being a mediator. For the moment the two children locked eyes, an intense rivalry was ignited.
Itachi counted it down for Naruto's sister.
"Naruto learned how to talk before me, learned how to walk before me, learned his clan fighting stance before I could learn mine, activated his sharingan before mine, and lets not mention that even though I've beaten his sister in a fair spar, I still haven't been able to beat him in one-on-one combat. Seventeen years, and I still can't win against that guy." He almost sounded like he was venting. Mikoto was taken aback by the rush of information, amazed that in spite of his sizzling irritation, Itachi's annoyance didn't last long; it simply melted off his body. "That doesn't stop him from being my closest friend."
Although he was hesitant to call his rival his best friend, Itachi could at least acknowledge that.
"I learn from all of my losses, Mikoto."
"... Mhm." though this time, the girl accompanied the grunt with a fractional nod, reflective of what she had been told.
Going to leave, Itachi opened the door just as Hinata contemplated entering.
Leaning to the side on her bed to see around Itachi, Mikoto's glazed eyes brightened at the sight of the heiress, easing herself around the brooding Uchiha and turtling her chin into her puffy hoodie. "Oh, hey. Hinata."
"H-H-Hi."
Not thinking too much on it, Itachi left the girls alone.
Standing awkwardly at the door, Hinata scuffed her left heel on the ground, poking her fingers together and blushing a strong shade of red. Mikoto would have been worried about the redness of her former classmate's face if she wasn't so used to seeing if, and also if she also didn't feel so gawky in that room. She hopped off the bed and self-consciously smoothed down her shorts as she landed, rubbing at a spot on the left side of her pants where there she didn't find a pocket.
The ticking of the clock now felt like a timer, where each click increased the stuffiness of the room, wearing on both girls until Mikoto tried at a nervous smile.
"Thanks for… uhm…y'know," she awkwardly patted her left side with her good hand. "Cheering me on. During the exams. It…It really means a lot to me, Hinata." Her face faltered, turning her eyes down. "A-And I'm sorry for losing. I did my best. I really did."
Unexpectedly, the purple haired girl was quick to console her, taking two remarkable steps to Mikoto and reaching out with a hand until she caught herself, fingers curled back in restraint. "I-It's fine. I'm-I'm just glad y-you did your best."
Mikoto's head jumped up. "But-"
"Th-The match was amazing." Hinata interrupted, a shy smile tickling the corners of her small lips. The redhead looked doubtful, unconsciously smoothing the sides of her pants. She shuffled past her former classmate, getting redder by the second till she reached the hospital bed, placing her hands on the bed sheets and wiggling her fingers in the cold starched fabric, an anxious substitute for her poking her fingers together. Impossibly, her stutter got worse and her voice got quieter with each uttered word. "I-I'm sorry f-f-f-for my yelling…b-back at th-the e-exams."
Mikoto spat out a laugh, forgetting her mood.
Hinata smiled at Mikoto's recovered delight, even as it was at her own expense.
"Oh my god, Hinata!" the youngest Namikaze cried, slumping back on her bed and cackling. "You were screaming so loud- ahahahahaha. I thought- haha-I thought you bet money on our fight!"
This got a small giggle from the quiet Hyuuga. "M-Money?"
"Yeah, like, a lot of money." The redhead's laughing reduced a little, wincing when she made to widen her arms on how much money she though Hinata bet on the final match. " Hahaha-I was so scared you wanted me to pay you back."
Hinata flipped to Mikoto, covering her mouth and eyes wide with shock. Her voice squeaked. "Really?"
" Mhm." Mikoto bobbed her head, sitting up on the bed. "I don't think I'd ever be able to get the money that made you scream so much. I mean…you're a princess, right? So probably a lot."
Affronted at Mikoto's frankness, Hinata put her foot down. "I-I didn't b-bet any money. I-I don't bet!"
"Good to know." The redhead scoffed, falling back on the bed, feeling a numbness from her broken fingers underneath the cast. "You're always so quiet and you keep staring at me, so I kinda just assumed you were into some shady stuff, y'know."
"Sh-Shady stuff?" At this point, Hinata felt like a parrot, repeating whatever the Namikaze girl said. Curiosity overcame personal dignity, prodding the Hyuuga to ask. "L-Like what?"
Eyes focused on the cream-colored ceiling, Mikoto said. "Well, gambling, for starters. One time I saw you coming out from an alley, so maybe dog fighting. Or chicken fighting. Or drug dealing…maybe…"
Hinata was astounded Mikoto thought so…so… bravely of her.
Gambling? Dog fighting? Drug dealing?
Her?
Hinata let herself laugh, free and breathy.
Mikoto smiled at the sound.
"Am I right though?"
"No." the Hyuuga heiress corrected despite her laugh. "I was just-. I-I'm just…just…"
Turning on her left side and catching the other girl's pale eyes, Mikoto helpfully supplied. "…Weird?"
Amazed again that she didn't take offence, Hinata smiled bashfully and shrugged.
Mikoto gazed at the girl, brow furrowed with honest fascination and eyes swimming oddly. She screwed her lips to the side, wondering if or how she was going to word her next words. Hinata looked back at her with her eyebrows raised, retreating a little into herself.
"W-What?"
"I'd…" Mikoto began, stopping to purse her lips. She opened her mouth soon after and began again. "Can we…hangout more…? Like, we can go weapons shopping. We could train. Spar, maybe. I-I can show you some of the manga I've been collecting. You can show me stuff you like too. Whatever you're into, I'm curious. Maybe you'll tell me what you were doing in that alley. We never spoke in the Academy, y'know. I…don't know why we never talked; you seem nice."
Hinata's stomach bubbled with anticipation and her face lifted. "I-If that's wh-what you want."
Mikoto shook her head. "Is it something you want?"
The last thing she wanted was to force this friendship.
She didn't have enough people in the village she could call her friend. Her brother, sister and father didn't count. She was arguably popular back in the Academy, but the people that flocked to her then and now were admirers. They gushed and they gaped and they gawked, yet they didn't bring anything meaningful to a conversation. Exactly the type of people Rin, her big sister, advised her to not to befriend.
She waited for Hinata to reply, expectant and somewhat nervous.
The heiress gave the girl a hopeful smile, beaming red and nodding jerkily.
"I'd like that, Mikoto."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
In another room, Naruto jogged on a treadmill, stripped of his clothes except for a pair his ninja pants and made to wear an oxygen mask over his face as he maintained a steady pace on the running machine while the wires strapped to his chest, abdomen and lower neck sent information to a computer, tracking his heart rate, blood pressure and brain activity.
The stab wound had been patched up and the internal bleeding had been controlled, bearing the striking white patch at the entry and exit points.
A lab attendant stood on the right side of the treadmill, reading from a clipboard and another spoke lowly to the Hokage.
Rin was on the other side of the treadmill, arms crossed and pacing.
Konoha's notoriously named Physical Chamber was a recent innovation brought in during the transition of leadership from the Third Hokage to the Fourth, built in collaboration with Hidden Sand to test their shinobi on the present stage of their health. It was mainly used to find out if a ninja that had been out of commission for a long time was still primed to handle the rigors of a real-life mission.
On cue, the doctor with the clipboard held up four fingers for Naruto, and the red-haired speedster nodded, prompting the doctor to tap a few buttons for the treadmill to incline. The Namikaze showed an active effort to maintain his jog on the simulated mountain. He didn't call on his true speed, at the request of the doctors; it had been some years since he actually ran at any speed slower than a hundred miles per hour, and even now he was just pushing into forty miles per hour, leaning from a jog into a full sprint and visibly holding back from going further.
The reality was that running slower than he was used to was more tiring than going at his actual speeds.
Still, he wasn't even getting in a good sweat.
He didn't see the point in this.
He said he was fine.
Just for show, he began shadow boxing as he sprinted up the treadmill. He sent forward two straight jabs, guarded his chin and threw a right hook, guarded again and leaned into a left uppercut, opening and closing his fists, driving down a right elbow and brought his guard back to his chin. Much to the lab attendant's irritation, he turned around on the treadmill and kept up the sprint, running backwards and giving his sister a wide shrug.
His twin didn't look amused.
"That's enough." Minato barked. "Shut it down."
"Yes, Lord Hokage." the attendant with the clipboard bowed, tapping a button on the treadmill and watching as the redhead sprinting on it slowed down. He began getting the wires off Naruto, mumbling. "Show off."
Naruto scoffed.
He jerked at a small poke at the exit wound on his lower back.
"Easy, Rin. It's still sore."
" Exactly." the girl snapped, rounding on her brother. "You were stabbed with this continent's most poisonous sword, made more so toxic because of that fucking snake." She touched the wound entry at the front, spreading her hand over it and having to tilt her head up somewhat to say discreetly. "Take this seriously, Naruto. I mean it."
"Your sister's right." Minato stepped in, dismissing the doctor and attendant from the room. The two bowed respectfully and exited, giving the Namikaze family privacy. Rin passed her brother a dark purple shirt and he put it on, running a hand through his unruly red hair and shrugging at his father's words. The Hokage wondered if his son had always been this cocky, or was he just noticing it now. "The poison is still in your body, Naruto. And you can't pass it out through your organs because that will kill you." Naruto's lips became a thin line, looking back to his sister and seeing her face harden. "Are you listening to me, Naruto? You can still die if Orochimaru's poison gets into your organs."
Even now, Naruto maintained a rhythmic vibration around the poison to contain it.
"Then what'll happen to me? Hm? Your sisters? How do you think you dying would make them feel?"
Minato was speaking as a single father worried about losing someone else he dearly loved, not as the Hokage afraid to lose a vital asset to the village.
He looked at Rin again and he stilled at what he saw in her expressive purple eyes.
Turmoil and heartbreak.
The exact same thing that would happen to him if something like this happened to her, not to talk of her dying.
He didn't know what he would do with himself if she died.
A message passed back and forth between the twins, the older one imploring the younger twin to take the situation seriously.
Naruto sighed and rubbed his face, admitting. "Alright…I'm sorry."
"Good." Rin nodded, a brief chirp in her tone. She turned to their father and asked. "What do we do now? We can't just leave that poison in him; what if he falls asleep and forgets to keep vibrating?"
Naruto knew the answer before his father could voice it, and the older Namikaze spoke her name out loud just as Naruto interjected.
"Tsunade."
"No!" the redhead speedster put his foot down. "Absolutely not."
"Whatever issue you have with her is no longer relevant, given the situation." Minato said flatly. Rin pursed her lips at the Hokage's verdict, not much of a fan either.
Naruto tried again. "What about Granny Chiyo? Cranky old Granny Chiyo. Anyone but that drunk."
"That's final."
The younger twin palmed his face, turning around and groaning not so quietly into his hands.
"I'll go get her." Rin stated, elbowing her brother with a growing smile. "It's been years since we last saw Shizune, huh? She might still be crushing on you~"
"Kami, stop it, Rin." Naruto breathed and his sister laughed; if Rin was going, then he was also inevitably also going to go. Finally, he turned back to them, saying. "Can I have some time to get my mind ready? That old drunk won't be happy to see me."
"I bet." Rin mumbled, looking away and whistling when her younger twin snapped his burning purple eyes at her.
"You don't have to worry about that." Minato waved away his concerns, choosing not to comment on what had transpired between Tsunade and her godson before she left the village. He doubted the Slug Sannin was so quick to forget, and apparently Naruto hadn't forgotten either. The Hokage walked to the door. "I'll be sending Mikoto."
Minato counted to two and shut the door when realization dawned on the twins.
The two looked at each other, alarmed.
"Mikoto!"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"I'm sorry; Miss Namikaze left some minutes ago with Miss Hinata Hyuuga." A nurse diligently apologized, bowing once and relieved to see that neither Naruto nor Rin were angry at the news, rather the twins shared curious looks. "If you'll excuse me."
The nurse scurried off, leaving the two to speak.
"Hinata Hyuuga?" Rin wondered, looking up and then suddenly snapping her fingers. "Mikoto's stalker. The one I told you did all of that ridiculous screaming." It took a second for her brother to register a name to a face, raising a skeptical eye until Rin reminded him. "She's harmless."
"Still…" Naruto mumbled, tapping his chin, fully aware of how wary he was being against unarguably the world's gentlest human being.
His sister hooked their elbows and pulled him out of the hospital. "C'mon, let's go find them." Naruto followed after her lead, not really thinking about the looks they were getting; if not for their familial resemblance, they would have looked like a couple. The automatic doors of the hospital entrance breezed open, releasing the twins into the crisp summer day. The two strode out, looking left and right.
Naruto felt the hairs at the back of his neck rise, relaxing when he recognized the chakra signature approaching them from inside the hospital, exiting briskly.
"Rin. Naruto." Shibi Aburame called, prompting Rin to turn them around to face the Aburame clan head. The man's brow had a few tiny beads of perspiration, wiped off by a clean white handkerchief. Other than that tell, no one would have thought the man was frantic; his overcoat was neat and unruffled, his sandals were clean and properly strapped on, his hair was its normal angle of spiky, and his circular sunglasses were position firmly over his compound black eyes. Rin wanted to ask the problem, but the man spoke first. "I'm glad to see you are well."
"News travels fast." Rin commented. Her left arm stayed hooked to Naruto's right, placing her other hand on her hip and speaking in a simmering tone, frustrated but thankfully not angry. "I thought the health report of all Konoha shinobi were classified as private, clan or clanless."
"Except to the Hokage and the Council, in special cases." Shibi finished quoting the Village's Founding Charter. "Since Naruto is A rank on his own, and you two are S rank as a team, his health has become a Council matter." Naruto bristled, his purple eyes sizzling to turn red. "It sounds impersonal and invasive, but that's how things are. Believe it or not, you and your sister are a strong deterrent for Hidden Rock waging open warfare with this village. The Raikage has a lot of respect for Rin, and by proxy, you too Naruto. Kumo's positive-facing neutrality is profitable from an economic and political point of view."
Not many people could boast to being the rival of the Lightning Kage, but Rin's Flash Step bloodline forced Ay to forget about his rivalry with Minato on the two occasions they had clashed. Another story for another time.
The twins at least appreciated Shibi's forwardness.
It was sometimes a breath of fresh air to hear the reality of things.
The Red Demon and the Angel of Konoha were assets on their own.
The Ghost Flash were heavy deterrents.
"Doesn't make it any better." Naruto sighed, rolling his head on his neck. He put on his best face and eased his temper back. "What can I do for you, Lord Shibi?"
"I have found a prime candidate for my clan's Praying Mantis nest." the twin's found their eyebrows up and their eyes doubtful. The clan head reached into the darkness of his coat and took out a file, attached to the front with a paperclip was a colored passport of a crying child. "Not the best or most convincing picture." The emotionally neutral insect holder admitted, showing some small measure of weariness in his shrug. "But it's the best we were able to get." Naruto collected the file and opened it with both hands, moving it between himself and his sister. "His name is Aku. Four years old. Orphan. We begin implanting the nest next week."
"Says here his parents died from prolonged Kyuubi chakra radiation." Naruto voiced and Rin's brow creased. That form of radiation was internationally known to be a fate worse than death, reading on she realized why the village authorities and the Aburame clan council didn't mercy kill Aku's parents to put them out of their misery.
"Says here, they didn't show signs of radiation until Aku was one." Rin mumbled, her frown falling deeper and deeper, reading the report. "They were quarantined for some days after the Kyuubi attack, released, then quarantined again three years ago when Aku was born as soon as they started deteriorating. The mother went first, and the father followed. A deep scrub of the clan compound and there is no discovered trace of radiation."
"Our scientists think that the Healer Beetles the parents hosted miraculously subdued the radiation. These healing properties were passed to Aku, making his chakra and his body resilient to Kyuubi's radiation."
"Amazing…" Naruto whispered, baffled the more he read. "How has the nest reacted to his blood and chakra?"
"Favorably." Was the man's short answer.
Snapping the file shut and handing it back to the man, Naruto said. "That's all good and fine, Lord Shibi, but why are you telling me this?"
"Seems you forgot my request from last month. Busy as you are, I can't blame you." the man said, tucking the file back into his coat. "I would appreciate it very much if you trained Aku. Personally."
Recalling he request, Naruto repeated his follow up question. "What can I possibly teach him that your clan isn't well-equipped to show him?"
"It is well-known in my clan the calamitous depths of your Praying Mantis summons, Naruto. Although a small reflection, the Mantis Queen you lent our clan has displayed potential to replicate your summons, albeit to a far lesser degree."
Gold Leaf Praying Mantis, Naruto's summons, were an apocalyptic specie of mantis.
Chaotic.
Frenzied.
Bloodthirsty.
Highly matriarchal.
When unleashed, they brought about the end of lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems.
One thing people understandably forgot about Gold Leaf Praying Mantis was that when they found a worthwhile summoner, they were deathly loyal and infinitely obedient.
They provided Naruto secrets and their allegiance, and Naruto provided them two things.
His chakra and his blood.
It was, for lack of better words, a fair trade.
The Mantis Queen and her nest in the Aburame clan showed signs of this scrutiny, though the loyalty was yet to be seen since no previous person to have signed that contract lived to tell the tale. It was possible that the Mantis Nest were calm enough to be frequently used, more so than the broiling mass twisting inside Naruto's summoning contract.
"As we speak, my clan's best Seal Masters are writing a summoning realm that can and should hold the Queen Mantis' nest. The Queen herself would reside in the boy's heart." A gruesome truth was that being seated in the heart, the Queen would have easy access to both blood and chakra, laying her eggs and nurturing her soldiers from that ticking throne, all the while refraining from taking too much from the host. "Since the Gold Leaf are an extension of yourself, and the Queen is an extension of the Gold Leaf, then Aku would soon be an extension of yourself. Independent and free-thinking, yes, but an extension nonetheless. You said so yourself."
Naruto mulled this in his mind.
"Who better to teach the child restraint?"
Naruto hummed.
"We're willing to pay-"
The redhead scoffed. "Don't do that, Lord Shibi." He looked to his twin and the two held a wordless conversation with their eyes. Purple meeting blue, flickering back and forth messages. "In exchange for teaching the kid, I want you to owe me a favor."
"What favor?" the clan head prodded, standing more upright that the Red Demon was agreeing to his proposition.
Rin answered. "To be determined. Something might come up and we'll need your support."
"Nothing compromising to your clan or its privacy, Lord Shibi. We swear." Naruto vowed on their behalf, hinting that both he and Rin were going to teach Aku restraint.
Even though she didn't have a summoning contract of her own, Rin played a big part in reminding her brother of his humanity.
The proposal of having two A ranks teaching a clan mate of his was too good to be resist.
The twins caught the muted smile on the man's expression. "Deal."
Naruto and Shibi shook on it.
"Drop by when you can to see the boy." The Aburame clan head said as he released Naruto's hand. "It'll be good if he familiarizes himself with your faces. Both of you."
"Definitely" the two spoke together, too used to occasionally speaking simultaneously to catch the seamless synchronism. It was vaguely haunting when they kept doing so, saying. "Expect us tomorrow. Tomorrow evening…if nothing comes up."
"…Of course." He nodded to the twins. "Rin. Naruto."
He went off to their right, no doubt back to the clan compound to check up on the person he hoped would bring widespread recognition- and appreciation-for the Aburame clan.
The twins stood for a moment, deciding where to look for their sister.
They decided to check home first.
Naruto and Rin vibrated, the former wafting a thin mist of red from his form and the other expelling muted yellow lights from her skin. Elbow in elbow, they made to step forward and vanish in a blur of their specialty speeds when-
"Sir!"
'Sir?'
Rin groaned and Naruto chuckled, poking her side.
The two turned to their left and saw Sasuke running up to them, his parents staying put where they were some yards away. His white pants and blue shirt were dirty from the fight, and his right knuckles were taped, a sign that Mikoto's Rasengan didn't leave him unaffected. His parents watched on as their son skidded to a stop before the twins, doing his best not to pant and standing with a rigid back.
Naruto gave the boy a friendly smile, driving an elbow into his sister's side when she sent the boy a sneering smile.
"Sasuke." He said, looking over the boy with his sharingan to see that any injury was being managed, deactivating his doujutsu. "Congrats on winning the Chunin Exams. You made me proud, kid."
To show the sincerity of his words, and that there weren't any hard feelings for the boy beating up his baby sister, Naruto held out his left fist to the boy.
No one knows exactly when using the left hand to shake or fist bump became so…revered. Reserved for family and anyone deemed highly respectable, whether in the ninja or civilian world. Anything done with the right hand was considered formality; business partners shaking hands, teammates exchanging fist bumps after a good training session, and begrudging enemies agreeing to lay down their arms for the sake of peace.
Greeting with the left hand was different.
It signified a higher form of respect. Less so adoration and more than appreciation.
It was an honored gesture.
Getting offered a fist bump by one's hero was a life altering moment.
Sasuke's expression showed it all; his eyes bugged wide enough for his sharingan to flicker on and off, his shoulders slumped with weakness, his arms dangled absentmindedly, his knees bent with what looked like the weight of the world, and his entire focus was on that one offered appendage.
Then the boy inhaled, and that weight evaporated off his back.
He took that fist bump with pride, meeting Naruto's fist with his left with a shaking tap.
Something resembling a smile came onto Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha's faces, the wife's more visible than her husband, feeling the man slide his arm over her shoulders and pull her close, sharing that moment with their son.
Although it had taken them a while to understand why their youngest son adored the male Namikaze twin, they only had to accept it when they saw how the boy trained. Not even Itachi received the same recognition, much to the older boy's chagrin. Beating Mikoto Namikaze for the very first time meant a lot more to Sasuke than anyone could ever know.
"Thank you, sir." Sasuke nodded, making himself look taller than he actually was. "That- ehem…that means a lot, sir."
'Sir?' the twin parroted again in their heads. 'When did that start?'
"You'll be heading for the Tower soon to collect your Chunin vest, right?" Rin questioned, adjusting her stance to not seem so threatening, but that didn't help much with how hard she was glaring at the boy. Naruto had to dig his elbow into her side, coughing a glare at her and receiving a defiant raspberry in return.
"Yes, sir. Lord Hokage asked me to come to his office tomorrow."
"That's great, kid. I'll be there to cheer for you. Promise." The boy's pale face lit up and Naruto laughed, tousling his hair. "Well-"
" Ah, sir-"
"Enough with the 'sir', kid." It felt more than weird to be referred like that by his best friend's younger brother. "You want help with something?"
"Yes…Naruto…sir." Sasuke stood upright, pulling his shoulders back and tipping his chin up. He spoke confidently, like he practiced with his mirror. "I would like to be your student."
The twin's brows raced up.
Naruto then quickly gained composure and glared his sister into silence when she was about to laugh, basking in the hilarity of being proposed that question two times in the same day and also that Sasuke thought her brother would agree-
"Get your eyes to three tomoe, and we'll talk."
She couldn't help but blurt. "What? Naruto, you can't be serious."
"Really?" Sasuke squawked. "That's it?"
Naruto smirked. "No promises. Maybe a few pointers here and there, nothing formal."
Elevating from two tomoe to three was no easy or quick feet; it required obsessive dedication to improve and an unmatched drive to succeed. Besides, he was apparently now going to teach a four-year-old Aburame child how not to go insane with power. He had his hands full.
Naruto suggested, motioning to his sister. "Rin is just as strong as me. And her schedules wide open."
"Hell no! He almost killed Mikoto. Goddam destroyed her arm." She gestured incredulously at the now grim Uchiha boy, mentally retreating into himself. The glow on his parent's expressions dulled. "What's there to think about?"
"It was a fight, Rin. A regulated fight." Naruto had to remind her. "I nearly killed you in our own Chunin exam fight. Did you hate me?"
The teen stuttered, lost for words for a good five seconds. "That's-That's not the same thing, Naruto."
"Sasuke won fair and square. That's the end of that." He said, putting an end to her complaining. Facing the boy, he sent him a quick smirk. "Remember what I said." He waved to Sasuke's parents, who momentarily were distracted, staring expressionless daggers at Rin, till they lifted they nodded. "Are we still having dinner at your place, Uncle Fugaku, Auntie Miko?"
The Uchiha clan head didn't reply.
Mikoto tried at a smile, the result looking lopsided and jagged.
"Why not? We can play charades after dinner."
"Come, Sasuke." Fugaku ordered, eyes fixed on Rin, even as the girl gulped and pointedly kept her eyes down. "Home. Now."
Sasuke wilted, paling at the man's tone. "Yes, father."
The two watched the Uchihas' walk off, Sasuke's parents taking point at the boy warily slinking behind them.
Naruto leaned to Rin, speaking from the corner of his mouth. "If Auntie Miko poisons us, it's your fault."
"Screw you, Lord Red Demon." Rin swore, finding her defiance after being glared at by her Uchiha uncle. She said dramatically. "While your teaching that kid, why don't you visit Suna again for 'Lord Red Demon Day: Season Two.' I bet that cult fan club of yours is waiting for you."
"Cult is a strong word." Naruto winced; part of the month intermission after the first round of the Chunin exam was travelling to Suna incognito. The twins confirmed that there was an underground society of women in Suna that had encountered Naruto's stamina on some form of surface. It wasn't only made up of Suna indigenes but people that had caught wind of the whisperings and were interested in the Second Coming. It was a mystery how such a large and established society of people could remain hidden so completely; they had a treasury, a secret handshake, ID cards written with invisible ink, and, worse of all, their own scripture describing the First Coming. It was graphic, all seven days, and all three rounds Naruto went around each lady that presented herself. The art was honestly impressive. The Suna-worshiped Lord Red Demon cringed. "And when will you let that go? I already apologized!"
"Not enough, asshole." Despite her anger, she didn't unhook Naruto's elbow from hers. "I want you to go back to Suna and disband that fucking cult."
Pun not intended.
"If that's what it'll take to get you to forget about this, fine."
Eying her brother, Rin scowled. "Damn horn dog. Do you honestly think I won't go with you? None of those skanks are laying a fingernail on you, idiot."
"Fine!" Naruto exclaimed, reducing his voice when they started getting looks. He pulled her to walk away from the hospital. "No problem, ok?"
"And we're having dinner tomorrow. And a movie. And you're giving me a foot massage-"
"Alright. Fine. Whatever you want."
"What if someone got pregnant? Huh?" Rin continued ranting and Naruto groaned, deeper and longer, running a hand down his face. He nervously shrugged to an old couple passing by them. "What if the condom broke and you didn't notice and now someone's pregnant-" Catching herself when she remembered that 'Lord Red Demon Day' was now nine months ago, she became paler than pale. "What if you're already a father? Hm, Naruto? Then what are you going to do, Naruto? You're too young to be a dad, Naruto. You don't have the money to be paying child support, Naruto. You can't be asking dad to help you pay child support, Naruto. Kami knows I'm not giving you fucking shit for child support."
"Kami, Rin, I didn't get on your case this much when you banged that samurai guy."
"Because you killed him." She hissed, baring her fangs and spitting venom. Naruto grimaced, recalling. "Had him kill himself and hung him by his fucking balls. Literally!"
The image of a disemboweled man with a noose around his balls came to mind, creaking silently on pre-prepared gallows. His throat was slit open and his face was eternally twisted in grievous pain.
The cover-up prevented an international situation.
"You learnt carpentry just to hang that poor jackass!"
Naruto hiked his shoulders defensively. "I mean…you can do better-"
"Don't you dare." Rin steamed, stomping hard and dragging her brother. "Don't you fucking dare."
Naruto mumbled something incomprehensible and Rin dared him to say it out loud.
"That's what I thought."
Tired of being chewed out, Naruto picked up his sister and threw her over his shoulder, vanishing in a burst of red smoke.
When anyone next saw them, Naruto wore an infuriatingly plain expression and Rin could hardly walk.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
They found Mikoto in the Academy's playground.
She was seated on the lonesome swing, still in the white shirt, black shorts clothes she wore in the hospital and with her casted right arm secured in a sling. At the foot of the tree and sitting with her back against the tree trunk, Hinata had her legs pulled to her chest and her chin resting on her knees.
The Hyuuga's byakugan eyes were on Mikoto's, and the Namikaze's blue gaze looked into space, speaking to the quietly listening girl as she slightly swung back and forth.
"It's like having a second mind." She said and Hinata nodded quietly, brow knitted. "Like a cheat code in my brain…. Like a Sixth Sense. Or better yet, a seventh."
Hinata shifted, putting her feet down and asking. "S-Seventh?"
"It's hard to explain." Mikoto strained a laugh, stopping her swung to scratch the back of her head.
The princess smiled, a small, honest expression. "You d-don't have to t-talk about it if you don't want to. W-We can talk about s-something else."
Mikoto contemplated, shaking her head after. " Nah." she brought her eyes down to her new friend's, nervously looking down to the ground and pouting. "I feel like…I can… y'know…finally talk to someone about this." She laughed a little, resuming her swing and looking elsewhere. "Even if you're probably not going through the same thing."
Naruto and Rin pursed their lips.
They didn't expect their sister to tell them everything going on in her life, and they tried not to crowd her all the time. Adding to the strangeness of that day, they hadn't ever seen Mikoto acting this…somber.
They also didn't know she had any friends.
It felt like this was a conversation they shouldn't be listening to, yet they did.
"I call it Kurama." Mikoto continued, stopping her swing and her face twisted with confusion. "Or maybe it said I should call it Kurama…I'm not sure." She then added. "Thing is…I didn't ask for its name…I just knew it, so I called it that. Kurama." She giggled, knowing what all of this must sound like. "I swear, I'm not crazy."
"I-I know you're not." Hinata said, not missing a beat. Her eyes were wide with sincerity and openness, and Mikoto flushed. The Hyuuga blushed too, saying. "I-I might also have something like that…I-I-In my head." She guardedly pulled her knees up to her chest, her red face whitening steadily and her expression falling to something vaguely resembling tiredness. "I-I-I…" she stammered, but Mikoto waited. Ever patient. Ever smiling. Nodding for her new friend to go on. "I-I…I-It tells me…to h-hu-hurt people. K-Kill people. Burn e-everything." She looked to the Namikaze girl, eyes glazed with unwept tears and pleading. "I-I don't w-want to hurt a-a-anyone, M-Mikoto."
Hinata didn't know what to expect from revealing her biggest secret.
Disgust, maybe.
Fear, definitely.
"…What's it telling you now?" Mikoto asked.
Hinata closed her eyes, her smile mournful. "Th-That you're u-u-using me. S-Somehow. Th-That we're not a-a-actually f-friends." The redhaired girl frowned. "Th-That you n-need to d-die."
Mikoto didn't move for some time, face grim and thinking.
Until Naruto and Rin saw her stand from the swing and approach Hinata. Their sister eased herself down next to the noiselessly weeping girl, whose eyes were still closed.
The twins recalled the night Hinata was kidnapped by the Kumo delegation.
Seeing her Uncle Hizashi slaughter her kidnappers to the last person did terrible things for Hinata's mental state of wellbeing; she became quieter, more withdrawn, more observant, more guarded.
The twins didn't need to confirm from Hinata's Academy Entrance Psych Evaluation to know that the little Hyuuga girl was a very troubled child. Looking at how haunted Hinata was about her diabolic thoughts, Naruto and Rin wondered why she wasn't getting some sort of treatment.
Hell, Naruto had watched his mother getting murdered by the very monster inside his baby sister and seeing his father physically breakdown as a result, had activated his sharingan, warping his perception of mortality and destroyed his sympathy for other living creatures. His utter devotion to his family was matched only by his sisters and his father.
Hinata was a troubled girl, yes, but the shadow whispering in her ear so far hadn't been able to push her into the abyss.
Seeing how she looked at Mikoto, Naruto understood why she didn't succumb.
After a long silence, Mikoto bumped her shoulder against her new friend's.
"You're stuck with me, Hinata. I'm not going anywhere."
Naruto and Rin stood back, proud of their baby sisters careful words.
They left the two girls alone, deciding to properly apologize to Mikoto later.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Department
Detention Center for the Criminally Insane
Somewhere in the Forest of Death
Minato almost pitied Orochimaru.
Almost.
"I would have thought you'd have me tortured, blondie." Orochimaru mocked, strapped to a table slanted upright, able to level a laughing sneer at the Hokage as he strolled into his cell. He chortled when the prison doors were closed behind the oldest Namikaze. "So, you are human after all."
The prison room was a hole in the wall hewn from a dark grey bedrock.
Ten feet deep, five feet wide and ten feet high, it was an isolated and claustrophobic coffin lit by a distant fluorescent light, flickering with age and disregard. The particular wing Minato had ordered Orochimaru to be sent to was one so deep underground and isolated from the living, waking world, it might as well be a suffocating space in solitary hell.
The hundreds of other cells left, right and around Orochimaru was hollow and empty.
The Snake Sannin could just barely make out Minato's outline, hovering at the door and traced by the sliver of light creeping in from afar. His clear blue eyes were as bright as the morning sun.
Almost like it glowed in the dark.
Coupled with his shadowy form and the two blue eyes shining at him, Orochimaru wouldn't be mistaken if Minato Namikaze was the Shinigami itself.
And that wasn't very far from the truth.
"Or are you here to kill me yourself."
Minato hummed, his arms at his sides. His vision made out the straitjacket the Sannin had been tied in and that he had been shaved bald, losing his eyebrows and fangs also for good measure. The restraint seals crippling the sage would have been cruel on any other person.
Aside from the straitjacket and the table Orochimaru was attached to, there wasn't much use in physically keeping him restrained.
Naruto's last attack had severely shifted three bones along his spine, which cut a vital nerve at the base of Orochimaru's neck and above his pelvis. Minato had been so merciful as to order for the former rogue shinobi to be washed and clothed, but not so much as to have him get painkillers.
But apparently, that wasn't needed.
Orochimaru didn't feel any pain.
He didn't feel anything.
To think this was Konoha's most feared missing ninja.
The man that had stolen children, created abominations, threatened the Hokage's family, and selfishly raised a network of villages for the purpose of destroying his home village.
"There's no point wasting Konoha's resources by torturing a madman."
Orochimaru cooed. "You flatter me, boy."
"For your crimes against humanity, against common decency, and against your home…I condemn you to spend the rest of your miserable days here. No snakes. No sage chakra. Alone in the dark. Till you wither and die."
"Is that so much as a punishment or a chance to recuperate."
"Delude yourself however you want." Minato shrugged, crossing his arms and glaring. "Those four children you sent to fight for you-Tayuya called themselves the Sound Four-are undergoing rehabilitation and agreed, on their own freewill, to lead us to the Hidden Sound village's they know."
It had taken some effort on his own part but Minato had been able to do the mind altering fuinjutsu Orochimaru had used on them, and Inoichi and his most trusted clan mates helped the Sound Four discern lies from reality.
Chemical hypnosis made up a large part of any loyalty to the Snake Sannin.
There was remarkably no foul play involved.
"I'll admit you didn't make it easy for us." Minato nodded to himself. "We'll finally be able to save all those children you took from this country."
Orochimaru scoffed. "How 'Konoha' of you, boy. Holier-than-thou like your predecessors, when in fact you all have done far worse."
"I didn't come here to debate who's worse or who's better. I came to say that I'm personally dismantling your machine, Orochimaru. As we speak, my ninjas are on their way to Grass country." To Orochimaru's credit, his twisted sneer didn't change. "I will find your allies…your enablers…and I will wipe them out."
"Believe me when I say this; dig too deep and the horde of monsters you find will eat you alive."
"Luckily for us, we have monsters of our own." Minato said. He wasn't talking about himself; he was talking about the S rank team, Ghost Flash. He was talking about the A rank ninjas under his command, Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, Might Gai, Yugao Uzuki, Anko Mitarashi, and others. He dared the monsters Orochimaru spoke to brazenly about to do their worst.
And in time, they will.
"…You will never see the light of day, Orochimaru."
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Minato."
Minato spoke over his shoulder. "We're done here."
The cell door snapped open and the ninja beside it bowed to the Hokage, while the man left. The door shut with a slam, a giggling Orochimaru imprisoned inside, and all of the Yondaime's guards exited the ghostly silent underground floor.
The solitary light was switched off and Orochimaru was by himself.
Alone.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Wave country
Haku knelt at a gravesite, feeling his thumb over the neat words etched on the slanted rock.
Zabuza Momochi
Father
Mentor
Savior of Wave country
Jammed into the earth behind the headstone was the fabled Kubikiribochou, Zabuza's larger than life Executioner's Blade.
None of Zabuza's former comrades in the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist had come to claim the head cleaver, and Haku was glad for that.
He could never have the strength to wield the blade.
He and Team Kakashi hadn't been able to recover Zabuza's body from the sea. They searched for a full week and all they found was the Kiri missing ninjas forehead protector, which Haku no wore over his brow. The slash on the hitaite showed prominently.
It was a small comfort.
The people of Wave also unanimously agreed to name the new bridge connecting Fire country and Wave, the Zabuza Momochi Memorial Bridge, honoring the penitent man that gave the end of his life to protecting Wave. The massive structure soon became a vital nerve for Wave-Konoha relations, boosting the island's withering economy and improving lives.
"To think the Demon of the Hidden Mist would die in such a way. Truly tragic."
Haku didn't visibly show any surprise at his appearance, rising to his feet and subtly preparing to form icicles.
The Mizukage thrummed, his greenish eyes dull and childishly young face turned down to Zabuza's grave. "No need for wariness, child. I come in peace."
Besides, if Yagura wanted Haku dead, he would have done that already.
It was easy to mistake the man's petite stature for weakness, being just as tall as a thirteen-year-old Haku and looking just as young. It didn't relax Haku, not one bit. The emotionless holder of the Three Tailed Turtle gnashed his teeth.
"I said, stand. Down ." The deep tremor of his voice darkened, and Haku forced himself to relax, bowing out of breath at the killer intent weighing on him. Yagura pulled his chakra back into himself and said. "Good."
"What…do you want, Lord Yagura?"
Careful not to say something out of line, after all this same man had sparked several bloodline genocides in his village and had been the sole reason the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist fled from Kiri.
Haku's clan was erased because of this Mizukage.
Yagura earned his moniker through decades of cruelty.
Monster among Monsters.
Yagura held out his hands and swept them down his body, showing that he was unarmed. He then jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, directing Haku's eyes to his hook staff, hanging from a tree branch.
"I want us to talk."
Authors note
O.o
What do you think about this chapter?
What do you think about the story so far?
Some announcements before you head into the next chapter (coming soon); due to some stupidity on my part, I can't access my Twitter, Instagram and Discord accounts any longer. Something to do with my password. It's hard to explain XD
That said, my Reddit (Snoozy_Foy) is still active and I will be posting and interacting there for the most part, until I decide what to do with Discord/Twitter. If I recover my Discord/Twitter accounts or I start new ones, I'll make sure you let you guys know.
Finally, a reader recently suggested two things; that if I don't want to post smutty parts of any of my stories on this site, I should try creating an account on Authors of Our Own exclusively for smut-sections, link the smut of the stories on over to AO3. I liked the idea, because I've gotten more than a few requests for Child of Hate and Red Dawn porn, primarily. But the problem is that I find it difficult to write smut; I'm just not creative enough. I've written them before, but I…I can't XD. The next thing he suggested was that I ghostwrite the smut.
Anyone interested in ghostwriting porn, lemme know!
Lastly on completing other forgotten stories of mine like Ink Heart, let me finish with Red Demon first, then I'll think about that.
Any who…
Review, would you so kindly. Please and please, stay safe, wherever you are in the world.
I'll see you when I see you :)
Foy.
