Changed a scene towards the end of Otogakure interlude, it has a different ending now.
########
Village Hidden in the Sound
It was known that as Orochimaru's sickness progressed, the time would come for him to possess a new body. Usually, it'd be the body of the strongest of his followers, experiments, or prisoners, all of them being those he had firmly in his grasp. And as expected he'd possess the body and move on until that body too withered away.
So when it came time for Orochimaru to take the body of one who wasn't so willing, one who had quite the will of his own, it was expected that it'd result in a clash. Between the desire to gain the eyes that the snake had sought after for so long to fulfill his ambition against the Uchiha's desire for revenge for a betrayed and slaughtered family.
It was a clash whose outcome held a great deal of suspense for the village. After all, it was Orochimaru who was the reason it had formed in the first place and what held it together. It was also his power, or rather waning of it, following the events of the Konoha Crush that was causing the village to fall into a decline. The loss of a good portion of their military during the attack on Konoha and the loss of the Sannin's arms broke the image of invulnerability and power that had drawn, or forced, shinobi under Oto's banner and had caused some to doubt or even lose faith in the Sannin. Which led to more shinobi defecting as time passed by. Yet the core of Oto remained, those who had been of the Land of Rice before its destruction at the hands of Sasori of the Red Sand and his one hundred puppets, either out of loyalty, appreciation or simply a desire to keep their home strong and under some form of stability. Of course there was a bit of fanaticism as well, but that was almost always the case when came to Hidden Villages.
And there were the issues regarding the increasing eradication of their bases within or near the Lands of Fire and Wind. Despite not declaring war, Konoha and Suna were intent on hurting Oto however they could. Not to say that other villages haven't also acted out against any Sound bases they found in their lands, Kumo and Iwa did so whenever an experiment was successful enough to be used for themselves. Kiri usually left them alone as long as they weren't poaching those with Kekkei Genkai from them or didn't cause any trouble for the local area, being much too busy to deal with them during and following their Civil War.
As mentioned, the Village Hidden in the Sound was on the decline through various conflicts, within and without. Whether it would continue to fall into it or rise from it was heavily dependent on Orochimaru and his ability following this battle.
And what much of Otogakure had expected, some with dread and some with hope, was that Orochimaru would wield the eyes that would bring his ambition to fruition. To raise him back into his former glory and potentially beyond.
Of course, there was the possibility that the Uchiha may avoid losing his body and may even end up killing the snake, though it wouldn't last for long. Sasuke Uchiha wasn't the only one with the Curse Seal on him. Still, one should always expect the unexpected after all.
But no one could have possibly expected for every Curse Mark to suddenly and spontaneously combust into flames. Black flames.
Which of course had the village on high alert for an attack from Itachi Uchiha along with Kisame Hoshigaki and potentially the entire Akatsuki as well. Yet after a while, the only harm found to be done at all was the pain caused by the Amaterasu burning away the Curse Mark from the skin of its users and the portion of Orochimaru's chakra within them. And that had led to the idea that Itachi Uchiha must've somehow found a way to kill Orochimaru, permanently, once and for all.
At least potentially. Which was why, in an isolated room with a scroll marked with a sealing script of some sort along with a piece of scaly flesh stood Dosu Kinuta, Guren, and a bound and unconscious adult Genin. It was all here at this moment, to confirm if the Sannin had truly died.
—-
"Are you certain that you have made the correct preparations? I'd do it myself but I've never been good enough with Fuinjutsu and Jutsushiki for it to matter much." Guren said.
"Well, while I possess no true gift with the art, I do hold a passing competency. After all, I've made certain that every detail matched exactly how Orochimaru had set this ritual up the last time I had seen him perform it." Dosu replied.
'Hard not to remember when it was done in front of you to your comrades, myself being spared only because of my disappearance in the finals of the Chunin Exam would've brought suspicion upon Sound before the invasion. Also a reminder of what happens when you've lost your use. Not that either mattered much now.' He thought, reflecting on distant yet relevant memories.
"And tell me how exactly would all this work. All I know is that this jutsu allows you to resurrect the dead with the cost being the body of a living person and a piece of who you're resurrecting." She asked, not entirely aware of the Edo Tensei jutsu.
"You're right on a basic level but there's more to it. This jutsu brings the soul and the spiritual chakra of the deceased back into the living and needs an alive person to supply a body and the physical chakra, as the dead need a new supply of it. And a piece of the person you intend to resurrect. But other than those two and the knowledge of how to perform the jutsu itself, the Edo Tensei is fairly simple once you know how to use it." Dosu explained, recalling what he remembered from reading off of Orochimaru's notes on the Edo Tensei. "Of course, there are limitations to this. As I mentioned, the resurrected will only have the physical chakra of the sacrificed. This is why when Orochimaru summoned the First and Second Hokages they weren't at their full potential, as individuals with high enough chakra are rare and either difficult or costly to sacrifice. But since we don't need Orochimaru at full power, this Genin will do fine for us. That and these restriction seals."
"Assuming that he isn't still alive of course." Guren said, pointed out.
"Yes, but as much of a cockroach Orochimaru has shown himself to be over the years, not even he could cling on to life against the all-consuming flames of Amaterasu, especially since they've apparently proven effective enough to reach his chakra even in greatly distant areas. Still, it wouldn't hurt to make sure of it? And if it worked, we'd have him under our complete control, to do with as we pleased."
"I suppose it wouldn't. Regardless, this situation still doesn't bode well for the village with either result when both mean the same thing. Orochimaru would have fallen from grace and some are getting bold or losing confidence."
"No, it doesn't. But the village under Orochimaru wasn't built to handle such an eventuality. Yet, under different management…"
"You still plan to stick around? To keep running this place?" Guren asked with a raised brow.
"Of course. This place was my home, and though it was a distant memory I still remember how it was before, before Orochimaru came to power, and even before Sasori ruined it all. It was a vaguely decent life. Call me simple or naive if you'd like, foolish even, but I truly want to rebuild the Land of Rice, as I once naively thought Orochimaru had intended." Dosu said, a bit of determination laced in his words.
"I'm not one to judge on what one wishes to do with themself, but it's respectable that you found something precious to work towards. I can relate, though I don't envy you in handling all of that." Guren said with a chuckle towards his unofficial role in the village.
"I could tell, considering that I had to do most of the running of the village since all forms of governance beyond being a figurehead or ordering minions around were beyond you, the official second in command."
"The second in command is still allowed to delegate, are they not, unofficial second in command? Besides, I was brought up to be a shinobi, a damn good one at that. So in terms of strength, I'm more than qualified to be Otokage, in terms of almost everything else, not so much. Especially not the fucking politics, Orochimaru left a shitshow fir us to clean up with that…" Guren freely acknowledged. "But enough of this, we're just stalling."
"Yes, you're right. I just can't help but feel some trepidation at resurrecting the dead. And out of anybody the least deserving of it." Dosu admitted.
With that said, Dosu began the jutsu with the clasp of his hands. The seal markings on the ground glowed around the unconscious Genin, and as it did what appeared to be pieces of white paper began to rise from the circle of ink and latch onto the man's skin. Even while knocked out the genin screamed out in pain until he was entirely covered by the white flakes.
It was in this brief moment that held both Dosu and Guren in anticipation, the moment of truth.
A few moments later, the white flakes began to fall off, leaving the Genin still alive though quite significantly drained and aged by at least a decade.
Regardless of the lack of Orochimaru before them, Guren didn't hesitate in moving towards the comatose Genin and placing the control seal upon him. It's only when the seal attached to the kunai did nothing did she realize what this meant.
"Dosu!-"
"I know, I know! But you have to see what I'm looking at, because I can hardly believe what I'm seeing, especially what I'm hearing."
Guren, despite knowing she was more powerful than him, knew that his senses were on par with her own, though likely surpassed her in hearing. So it was with great effort that she honed her sight and hearing until she was able to find what Dosu was witnessing.
It was… ash of some kind, no, dust, from the blackest of black, most certainly from Amaterasu. It briefly flowed in the wind before it faded away into nothingness, literally disappearing before their eyes.
[spoiler=Screams of the Remnant Souls]
(Screams of the Remnant Souls)
[sub](Infinity War dust sound effect)/sub]
/spoiler]
Yet what was even more bizarre was what she was hearing. It was faint to the ears yet if able to pick it up was rather vocal to the soul as if it were a chorus trying one last time to be heard before being snuffed out forever. Yet it was one voice that stood out the most among them, of the voices being lifted away to some place, this one wasn't.
"...I was to receive everything!..." The final remnant of Orochimaru cried out in soul-crushing agony and sorrow before it faded away into nothing.
Guren felt a small degree of conflict within her, from a part of her old self, at seeing the man she once devoted herself to fade away. Yet a greater part of her felt a numb sense of relief. She was finally free from her service, and now she could fully devote herself to Yukimaru and properly make amends to the boy and his mother.
All Dosu felt was satisfaction. Though he may not have done the deed himself and gained revenge for himself and his former teammates, he was content with being able to witness the Sannin's final moments and savor the despair he felt from him.
'For the man who sought to have it all, only for that desire to result in him fading away into nothing, forever. How deliciously ironic. And far more fitting than any death I could've given him.' Dosu thought.
It was in stunned silence as they processed what had just occurred.
"Lady Guren!" Until a Sound ANBU yelled as he burst through the door.
"Seeing as I said that under no circumstances was anybody to enter this room besides an emergency, this better be damn important." Guren demanded, now snapped out of her processing.
"We've received reports that a pair of Akatsuki have been attacking our hideouts and are rapidly advancing towards Oto!" The ANBU urgently reported.
"Akatsuki!? Now? Of all the times!" Dosu briefly raged, any previous good mood put down at the news, before collecting himself. "Oh forget it. Do we at least know who these Akatsuki are and what they want?"
"Yes, they're Kakuzu of the Earth Grudge Fear and the Apostle Hidan. Kakuzu said that he wanted Orochimaru's body, or failing that, he wanted Sasuke Uchiha."
"Neither of which we have or know the location of. And just about how much time do we have until they arrive?" Dosu asked.
"Our analysts predicted based on where the initial report came from and when, and the possible speed we predict those two could move based on Lord Orochimaru's notes on them, to be… from a few days to a few hours."
"Get. out." Dosu ordered scathingly, not at all happy with what he heard. Despite Dosu taking an advisory role, the ANBU still obeyed as they knew that he spoke with Guren's authority. Also didn't want to deal with his displeasure in other ways as well.
"Lady Guren, Dosu sir! I have news!" Another ANBU said as he rushed into the room.
"I swear to Kami and every other deity on this continent, besides Jashin since its responsible for some of this, if Konoha and Suna decided that now was a good time to invade!-"
"No sir! Sasuke Uchiha alongside Suigetsu Hozuki and Karin Uzumaki are here in the village!"
"Oh." Dosu blinked, very much relieved that he wasn't dealing with two clusterfucks. "Well then, you'll have to forgive me. Recent events have been rather stressful." Dosu apologized, a bit sheepish for his outburst. "At least that solves one of our issues, now we'll just need to speak with him and we may just be able to solve the rest-"
"But I'm assuming that there's more judging that you look as unsettled as the other guy, isn't there?" Guren said, interrupting Dosu's optimistic hopes.
The ANBU nodded before adding on, "He walked in while holding Orochimaru's severed head while saying, and I quote, 'What's up bitches, Sasuke Uchiha here, and I killed Orochimaru. If any of you have a problem with it then come on down and I'll kick all of your asses.', end quote. And a few dozen shinobi didn't take too well to that."
To that Dosu just began to rub his temples while muttering 'kai' under his breath.
"I really do not envy you Dosu." Guren said, pitying her co-worker. She then turned to the ANBU and asked. "And you're sure that this is Sasuke Uchiha you're talking about here, because honestly this sounds totally unlike him, and more like something that Suigetsu would get up to."
"I really do not envy you Dosu." Guren said, pitying her co-worker. She then turned to the ANBU and asked. "And you're sure that this is Sasuke Uchiha you're talking about here, because honestly this sounds totally unlike him, and more like something that Suigetsu would get up to."
"No, you're right. It's more up Suigetsu's alley than mine."
Dosu glared at Guren with his singular visible eye then turned it back to the ANBU before closing it and letting out a breath.
"Oh, good. He isn't killing anyone then. Which means that he's likely not here as an enemy, just showing off like the arrogant bastard that he is." Dosu said as matter of factly, though it was clear for all to hear the scathing underneath.
"You aren't wrong, though I do feel the need to point out that I was born well after wedlock."
"So," Sasuke Uchiha started with a clap after dispelling his Henge, with the smoke produced from the Henge revealing Karin Uzumaki and Suigetsu Hozuki once it faded away. "Since I killed the Otokage, does that make me the new Otokage or am I just a double missing nin now? This kind of situation wasn't listed in the Oto shinobi handbook so I'm not too sure on what the procedure is."
Dosu narrowed his uncovered eye at Sasuke while Guren just raised a brow, though her eyes were filled with suspicion. After a few moments of silence it was Dosu that answered him. "Officially, an attempt would either get you executed, experimented on, or, unofficially, if you were impressive enough, promoted. Though most of the latter two don't last long. But as per usual, you prove to be an exemption." Dosu answered plainly.
"And a successful attempt?" Sasuke asked with a bit of mirth.
"A complicated situation, as we both know Orochimaru well enough to know that he'd never account for such a possibility." Dosu said, a bit confused but willing to go along with the Uchiha's questioning.
"Then it seems like it'll be up to us to account for it now, won't it?" Sasuke said.
Akatsuki Meeting
"You're late." A silhouette of a man with rippled eyes pointed out with a stern tone..
"We were just finishing capturing the Four-Tails Jinchuriki when you contacted us. And then we had to tie him up to make sure he couldn't escape. It took us longer than expected but here we are." Another silhouette, of a taller man with white eyes, explained as he just appeared along with a shorter silhouette.
"Now that we're all here I can begin." Pain continued, now starting the long distance transmitted meeting. "I have some urgent information that I need to relay to you. Orochimaru has been killed."
"Hah! It's been 10 years since he left the Akatsuki. At least we've been spared the task of killing him ourselves. And who cares if he's dead? I'm sure that we all wanted him gone anyway, seeing as you didn't even penalize Itachi as you've done with Kakuzu for doing similar before. Honestly I wanted him gone as much as I wanted to see the Zombie duo eliminated."
"We're right here you fucking asshole!" A silhouette with pink eye and a covered one cursed out in offense.
"Do not come to me should you find yourself short of a limb." Another with green eyes said, also taking offense.
"Hidan and Kakuzu are our comrades, don't say such things." Pain chastised.
"It didn't stop Kakuzu from killing most of his, but I'm so sorry for what I said." Kisame mockingly apologized, before he asked, "That said, who nearly did them in?"
"It was the Hidden Leaf." White Zetsu said, in a light voice.
"Kakashi, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and Asuma Sarutobi's team." Black Zetsu followed up, in a much more heavy tone in stark contrast.
"Well now, it seems that your greedy nature was almost the end of you, wasn't it Kakuzu?" Kisame mocked.
"It'd be more accurate to say that it was your failure to capture the Nine-Tails all those years ago. Had you not failed we wouldn't have lost Sasori due in part to his interference against Deidara and nearly ourselves as well." Kakuzu rebuked.
"Well, do forgive us if Itachi and I weren't eager to face Jiraiya of the Sannin with Might Guy as his backup."
"You do not need to repeat what we have already reported years ago, Kisame." Itachi said to his partner. "But seeing as Kakuzu may need a reminder…"
"Yeah yeah," Hidan butt in before Kakuzu could reply, "An old geezer and some guy in spandex was too much for you two back then, but that little shit Jinchuriki grew up to be an absolute pain in that ass that we have to deal with now. Kakashi and those leaf shits were a huge pain but manageable, but that kid, ugh."
"Oh yes, they're extremely strong that team. Especially that Naruto Uzumaki. No wonder Deidara got pummeled by them." Tobi added in.
"Tobi! Keep running your mouth and you'll push me to my limit, hm!" Deidara threatened, not pleased with Tobi's comment.
"Hehe, your limit? Just calm down, Deidara. You just mean that you'll get explosive, right? As we all know, you have such a short fuse. I'd even go as far to say it's rather limited!" Tobi now 'nervously' said, seeking to appease Deidara's anger.
Only for that to fail. "How dare you Tobi! Hmm!" In fact, only worsening it.
"That's enough Deidara, you're only proving that Tobi of all people has a point." Pain scolded sternly.
"Haha, you got in trouble with our 'leader'!"
"But Tobi, you do talk too much. Show some respect and shut your mouth." Pain said, turning to scold Tobi as well.
"Oh, alright. Sorry!"
"And we're supposed to capture the remaining Jinchuriki with them?" Kisame drawled out.
Pain only sighed, not happy with Kisame as well. But not arguing against his words either.
"Well, to think that a single Jinchuriki is giving us so much trouble after how easily the others were dealt with."
"The Nine-Tails is the most powerful of the Biju after all, not to mention that the Jinchuriki was under the tutelage of Jiraiya for a few years, so it stands to reason that this Naruto would be so strong."
"Killing Orochimaru would take someone with very special skills, so who did it?" Kisame asked
"Through our spies in the Hidden Sound, we have received word of his death. Though the rumors vary in detail, they are two commonly shared details. The killer being an Uchiha and inextinguishable black fire being the means of execution." Pain stated, ending off by staring intently at Itachi. His staring was soon joined by the rest of the group, their features all obscured yet their eyes perfectly clear and directed.
"For as much as I'd like to claim the pleasure, I had no hand in his death. So it seems that Sasuke has finally awakened the same eyes as myself." Itachi said.
"I thought as much. There were also rumors spread by escaped prisoners who were freed by Sasuke and his companions." Pain said.
"That's too bad. I wanted to be the one who took Orochimaru down, hm." Deidara commented.
"Sasuke's good, but I'd expect nothing less from Itachi's kid brother. Doing the same thing he did even if he was a little older but better as he actually got him, no offensive Itachi." Kisame praised.
"None taken." Itachi said.
"He's in the process of putting together a team of his own. At the moment we are only aware of two members." Pain added on.
"What do you mean?" Kisame asked.
"You should remember who this is. One of the Hozuki brothers from the Hidden Mist." Pain said.
"Suigetsu? That's a name I haven't heard in a while." Kisame said with a hint of surprise.
"And Karin Uzumaki. Not much is known about her besides what the Uzumaki are known for, a strong life force, skill in Fuinjutsu, and the use of Adamantine Chains." Pain informed. "Sasuke will likely find more to join him, these two are the only ones that we know of since the hideout with the freed prisoners was his last known location."
"So you need to be on your guard, Itachi and Kisame. Odds are that he's targeting the two of you." He warned them before looking at the group as a whole. "That applies to the rest of you as well, as he may come after any of you for information on Itachi, and may potentially prove to be a threat to the Akatsuki as a whole, should he discover our plan, with his Mangekyou Sharingan and his current ability."
"Tch, his ability is hardly anything to talk about. Orochimaru was sick after all and couldn't even use his arms properly. I'll be sure to get this kid. I wanted to kill the snake after all." Deidara said.
"You'd best temper yourself, Deidara, lest you find yourself meeting Sasori's fate at the hands of a Sannin's apprentice. Like you already nearly did at the hands of Jiraiya's. It'd be a shame if it were Orochimaru's that fulfilled it." Itachi cautioned.
"You know, if you're trying to be a big brother now, your timing is pretty awful. At least I left my sibling with a display of my art to remember me by before ditching my home rather than some trashy genjutsu, hmm." Deidara mocked.
"Hn." Was Itachi's only reply as he barely looked at him.
"Don't you fucking 'hn' me damn it!" Deidara yelled, ticked off at being dismissed so easily, before letting out a sigh. "Regardless, It's a shame that Naruto's a Jinchuriki, he would've been a great apprentice. Plus he pissed Sasori off a lot with turning his puppets into true art with those exploding clones of his, hm." Deidara said, praising and lamenting the boy's skill. Kisame looked at Itachi with an eyebrow raised and unseen to all but his partner, a mouth holding in a chuckle as Deidara said this. "As for that Sakura bitch, I'll get her for what did to my man Sasori." Deidara swore intently while clenching his fists.
"Kisame, how about this Suigetsu? What kind of guy is he like, hm?" He asked after collecting himself, putting his focus back towards Sasuke and his team.
"It's been 10 years since I last saw him, he was a cute kid back then. Though I have heard that he's been called the reincarnation of Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist."
"Well they sure seem like an interesting lot don't they, hm?"
"Look, don't get involved, it's only going to stir up trouble alright!" Tobi overdramatically warned Deidara, before leaning rather close into his personal space. "I mean look at what happened to Kakuzu and Hidan when they tried it!" Tobi loudly whispered into Deidara's ear before being shoved off.
"I can hear you Tobi! Don't come to me for missing limbs either." Kakuzu said, having heard Tobi clearly and not appreciating what was said.
"You aren't going to like what'll happen if you try shit with me Tobi!" Hidan warned, just as appreciative as Kakuzu.
"Enough. Itachi, Kisame, hurry up and get the Four-Tails. We'll seal him at the same time as the Three-Tails." Pain ordered, which also served to signal the end to the meeting.
"Understood." Itachi said. Following that he left, his hologram fading away. Kisame soon joined after him. The two then went off into the rain to deliver the unconscious bodies of Han and Roshi, the containers of the Five-Tails and Four-Tails, for the extraction of the Tailed Beasts within them.
The only sounds that accompanied them were the raindrops. That, and Kisame's chuckles.
The Hoshigaki found the topic of Nine-Tails Jinchuriki funny as it was Itachi who first showed the Uzumaki that Exploding Shadow Clones existed in the first place. Drowned out by the raindrops but still hearable were Itachi's own brief chuckles, which only pushed Kisame into full blown laughter.
"You're here. Alright, we'll begin the sealing with the Three-Tails." Pain said once Kisame and Itachi arrived with their assigned Biju. "Everyone, assemble. Now let's begin."
"Man, sealing a Biju is such a pain. And there's even more after this round too. Just thinking about it makes me tired." Tobi complained, feeling winded after helping to seal away two Tailed Beasts in succession.
"Now then, where to, hm?" Deidara pondered out loud.
"What do you mean, Deidara? I really hope it isn't what I think it is." Tobi fretted.
"Well now, I'm surprised that you can think at all. But yes, it is what you think it is."
"Frankly I don't think we should go after either one, we've already achieved our objective. We shouldn't even be messing with Sasuke Uchiha, who isn't even a Biju and thus not our concern, or the Kyuubi Jinchuriki with only the two of us."
"Are you kidding me? I owe them all some payback. The Nine-Tails needs to be properly shown the light of an explosion, Kakashi for taking my right arm, and Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno especially must be punished, hm. Sasuke for killing Orochimaru when I wanted to deliver the final blow and Sakura Haruno for the death of Sasori and the disrespect she's shown to his ultimate art."
"Weren't you just praising Naruto Uzumaki for blowing up his puppets!? So why exactly is her breaking them so bad? Heck, I'm surprised you're even acknowledging this Sakura lady when she didn't even fight you."
"Because while true art is an explosion, crafts such as Sasori's puppets and Konan's paper still deserve the respect that passionate art is due." Deidara explained, nodded over to Konan who raised an eyebrow but nodded back. "Which is why her smashing his ultimate puppet to bits like some tasteless brute and giving the remains to that poser with makeup is so infuriating to me, hm! As for me knowing her name, it's so that I can turn any grave with that name on it into true art, as payback to what she did to Sasori's last pieces of art."
"Ugh, great, once this guy decides, he just won't listen to reason." Tobi grumbled.
"Did you just say something?" Deidara asked, with a threat veiled beneath.
"Uh, no!"
"Hmph, good, then we're leaving." With that, Deidara's and then Tobi's holograms disappeared, signaling their disconnection from the communication.
"That Deidara has gotten so worked up. And all that fuss over going after your little brother or our target the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Are you ok with that, Itachi?" Kisame asked, jovial as usual on the outside but a little concerned as well on the inside.
Itachi's only answer was silence and his usual blank stare. Only a few knew that there was more behind that answer than mere cold indifference. Only a few six knew what it could be. And only a fewer two genuinely cared for it.
"All this talk about the Uchiha brat and Orochimaru has given me an idea." Kakuzu said after he and Hidan disconnected.
"You can't be serious. We just went bounty hunting and look at where that almost got us! Besides, by the time we even find the body, assuming that the Uchiha kid didn't take it himself or just burn the damn thing, it's gonna be well known that it wasn't your kill." Hidan complained.
"I'm not going to pass up one of the highest bounties ever known since the Fourth Hokage when it's practically ripe for the taking. Besides, Otogakure should provide a few decent replacement hearts with the amount of freaks it holds."
"Fiiinnneeee. But you're looking for the damn thing on your own! As for me, when we get there I'll get back to sacrificing, to thank Jashin-sama for not getting buried." Hidan compromised, a bit grumpy but soothed over the thought of getting to kill more people.
"Is that what you're calling me now? I'd appreciate taking your share in payment much more than those useless sacrifices."
"Go eat a dick, thinking you could even compare to Jashin-sama! And you got me into that mess in the first place you asshole!"
"Your ritual was what got you defeated by that Nara brat and a Shadow Clone, even with the eye I wasted on you."
"Bah, the Jashingan was a gift from him that would've been wasted on that one asshole from ancient history or by the other asshole from the same history I'm talking to who wanted to sell both."
"I still can't believe that you're sticking with that ridiculous name." Kakuzu said, a little dumbfounded at Hidan's naming sense.
"It fits considering how the other eyes are named! Especially with how it fits me as a follower of Jashin! Besides, how else could you explain it working just fine after I just shoved it into my eye, you heathen? Or how about the fact that it's imprinted into me, and you know that those leaf fuckers stabbed my eye out." Hidan said smugly once he thought he had one over Kakuzu.
"I'd give you more rational theories provided that I actually cared enough to, but I don't. Now stop your jabbering and let's get going." Kakuzu bluntly said as he was done with this conversation and made a move towards the Land of Rice, another bounty on his mind guiding him along.
And as they made their way, a crow with a note in its beak landed itself upon Kakuzu's shoulder.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Hoo boy it's been a while, but I'm back! And sorry that this isn't chapter 6 but I really wanted to put out this interlude, for two reasons. 1. This had more words put into it/was closer to being finished than chapter 6 and I wanted to get something out to you all rather than leave you on a months long hiatus as I did early on. 2. I wanted to test out Oto and Akatsuki, of course they aren't perfect by any means so I'm more than happy to hear any criticism you may have on them, Oto especially since I'm new to writing on such a large scale/politically at all. Still, since the story is in an AU Naruto world, I wanted to flesh things out a bit. I'll be fleshing Dosu and Guren out a bit more next chapter too. Also not much of a reason but I also wanted to set up a few things for chapter 6, a bit obvious I think but idk, and see what you think. And do forgive me if this seems a bit rough, I rushed a bit in getting this out, so I'll be sure to fix up any mistakes or issues found as time goes by.
(Btw, couldn't find any fan art of an older Dosu so for now just assume that he stuck with his look in Part 1 but grew a few inches.)
[spoiler=A bit of a spoiler tho ignorable]
Considering changing Tobi's origin a bit, maybe or maybe not idk. That's all I'll say on that.
/spoiler]
And I'm sure that some of you really wanted to see Konoha/Naruto's point of view, trust me I really want to too and really considered including it here but this is long enough as is for not being a main chapter, so it may or may not be in the next interlude I'll write. Or maybe I'll just leave them a mystery until Sasuke reunites with them. I honestly don't know, there's a bit of pressure there and I don't want to disappoint. Either way I'll try my best when it comes up. Though it will be coming soon, either Interlude or main chapter.
Idk when chapter 6 will come out but I've got some time since I'm done testing (for now lol), so it's back to my regularly scheduled sporadic (though hopefully more in the future) updates lol.
Anyway, thanks to you guys for waiting and I thank you for reading. Please leave me any thoughts or criticism you may have and I'd be happy to hear/discuss with you about it.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I also made a cut bit into an omake since it was a bit too ridiculous to use, but I liked it enough to leave it in (beneath)
Omake/alt scene
"Hey Itachi." Kisame started while letting out a few chuckles that he had been holding in during the meeting.
"Yes, Kisame?" Itachi asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Weren't you the one who showed the brat that Exploding Shadow Clones existed in the first place, all those years ago?" Kisame asked with a grin.
"What of it?" Itachi asked back. His face and tone remained the same stoic expression but Kisame could tell that there was a slight smile in those words.
"I can't tell what would be funnier, Deidara finding out that you technically use his 'art' or the fact that you're the reason that Uzumaki kid is so explosive."
"Itachi, is this true?" Pain asked. Kisame's eyes widened as did Itachi, though slightly, at the sound of their leader's voice.
"You two are still connected, so we can still hear you, by the way." Konan helpfully explained.
"I did. Again, what of it?" Itachi said, hoping to draw attention away from the fact that he forgot to properly shut off the hologram on his end. Or rather that the feature was restricted since Pain was sick of people leaving in the middle of his speeches on pain and peace. 'Damn it Pain, I could be gorging on Pocky right now. Damn rules against eating during Akatsuki meetings.' Eating food also made his speeches harder to hear, which was the point, so that got banned too.
"What!" Kakuzu exclaimed, now even less pleased with the Uchiha's handling of the Nine-Tails.
"You asshole!" Hidan yelled, vulgarly sharing in Kakuzu's displeasure.
"WHAT!?" Deidara exploded, literally Tobi would later claim despite being unaffected by their closeness to the bomber. Out of everyone present Deidara was the most furious, and that would be an understatement.
"Hn." Which was Itachi's response along with a stoic wave in Konan and Pain's direction before quickly flipping Tobi off and disconnecting. Though ditching his Akatsuki ring on a crow and heading towards the nearest Pocky shop.
Konan waved stoically back as Tobi started balling their eyes out at Itachi's rudeness, both Deidara and Hidan started ranting about Itachi, and Kakuzu started arguing at Pain that Itachi should get his pay docked and penalized for this since he technically got Sasori killed (however distant and indirect it was). White Zetsu was thoroughly enjoying the mess that the situation had become while Black Zetsu looked thoroughly done with everything.
Pain glowered at Kisame as Itachi wasn't there to receive it and there was no point in glaring at a crow. That, and Kisame was in part to blame for this.
"You both will know pain." Pain promised through grinded teeth.
"Not as painful as having to manage these misfits, I'm sure. Good-bye!~" Kisame said as laughter swiftly overcame him. He waved Konan off and 'disconnected' the same way his partner had. Konan with a small smile waved the Hoshigaki back, and while Pain's face remained the same, miles away an anorexic man in a tower looked betrayed as his childhood friend waved off the current sources of his migraines.
"Oh boy, I do not envy you, 'Leader'-sama." Tobi, the other constant source of his migraines, said to Pain as everyone was too absorbed with themselves to notice their change in attitude.
Pain merely took it in stride as he continued to grind his teeth while Konan looked at him in concern.
At the same tower miles away, as five extra people who bore similar piercings, hair, and hair to Pain were synchronized in grinding their teeth, the anorexic man still had to heavily resist the urge to grind his own as he grinded half of his teeth off already and these ones he couldn't just replace with the Gate of Hell.