Chapter 41

Katiya (the next day, approximate time: hospital.)

"I think it would be best if I brought my students home to recover. I'd really rather not make them suffer here and it's a bit of an odd dynamic since Kin's able to be discharged now. I'd rather not make two trips, if that is at all possible. I am sure you can understand."

"Well, I'm sorry, Zaku Abumi is in serious condition—there's no way—"

"Zaku Abumi is my student. As a ward of Otogakure, that also makes me an official representative of his guardianship. Per your law, as a foreign shinobi, I have the authority to request early discharge on his behalf from a Konohagakure hospital."

"Well—if you do that—he's not—!"

"I know the risks. Do you need me to speak to your supervisor?"

The random… nurse… secretary… person gave her a shake of the head, alarmed and then procured the papers to sign-off on.

Had Zaku or she been civilian, it would have likely raised more red flags than it did. But they weren't. So it didn't. Lord Orochimaru wanted her students to report to him in whatever condition they were in. She would comply. It did not really matter to either of them, she or the lord, that one of the genin would not be physically able to survive a journey to Otogakure. And though Katiya was not quite aware of it at the time, nor was it her lord's intention to send them back to Otogakure anyways.

Kabuto* (approximate time: 7:00 AM)

"My silence is proof of my trust. I trusted you to know how to act without that knowledge," Lord Orochimaru told him when he brought up the presence of what were apparently Katsu's students to the Chunin Exams. "For that very reason I'd like to leave Sasuke in your capable hands… Abduct him," his lord instructed him.

Kabuto made a shadow clone while he positioned himself strategically in case he would be thwarted. When he was done, a part of him—his shadow clone—loomed over Sasuke's hospital bed. "Abduct." From there, he could see Sasuke's curse mark had indeed been sealed like his lord told him it was. Sasuke—the Uchiha—would have been too weak to put up any sort of a struggle for what he was planning on doing.

A small incision to the connection value on the boy's oxygen mask would have been enough to end it—killing him as though it would have been an equipment failure—the curse mark acting on the heart as a chakra processing organ despite its function to pump blood—Sasuke at present would not get enough oxygen without the mask. But abduction on behalf of his master was not necessarily his most advantageous course of action.

"If it is your desire to stop me, I'm afraid your only chance is to kill Sasuke now… You can't possibly hope to kill me. Even if you did have the courage, it's worthless. You're no stronger than Kakashi."

From where he was hidden, Kabuto frowned. Kakashi, the same person who apparently sealed the curse mark of Sasuke's. Nothing would be lost if the Uchiha were to perish. The child had already been corrupted—before the curse mark was placed, likely, for it to have clung and held on so well—for his lord to have had such an interest, Kabuto rationalized. Kakashi, the same person who had the now dead ANBU positioned around his target. It was possible his lord underestimated him.

But the scalpel that would have done the deed found its way flying, and by the sound of it, cleanly landing into an open gloved hand. Kakashi. Kabuto perished his last thoughts. The silver haired former ANBU agent had intervened himself and Kabuto was forced to flee.

Katiya (approximate time: dont care)

She turned in her two students to Lord Orochimaru. They were to have "special roles" during the invasion. That notion got an eyebrow raise out of Katiya, though her two students took it in stride as they followed him. Zaku had been permanently disabled from his battle during the preliminaries. She didn't bother to verbally question it.

They had about half a month until the Chunin Exam finale—until the Kazekage would die. Everything else was just preparation work.

The Kazekage would die.

"Do you think you will be okay here? Dosu?" she asked, returning back to the hotel rooms she shared with him as a "sensei". Dosu narrowed his eyes. She was about to leave him—she could not remain in Konohagakure if she intended to witness the Kazekage's death.

"Yeah," Dosu replied at last, seeing her off to the door. The fragile trust they had degraded somehow over the last exam part. Still, Dosu had to know—if everyone on the team was expendable—it was possible it included the sensei. Though Dosu had not thought to agree at that moment.

"Try not to get into trouble before the exams conclude."

Kabuto (approximate time: 4:00 PM)

He made his way into the northern Land of Rivers, en route to the border of the Land of Wind. The other forces from Otogakure were likely further along, traveling with his lord—so he hung back, waiting for Katsu who would have left the last and had to begin traveling the slowest.

"You waited for me," Katsu noted, catching up to him and running alongside. She had ditched the wheelchair. "Why."

"Aren't I allowed to enjoy someone else's company?"

Katsu narrowed her eyes.

"My attempt on Sasuke's life failed," he clarified when he realized his companion was not going to verbally reply.

Katsu jerked her head towards him at that. "That was actually Lord Orochimaru's plan?" she asked, her voice quiet but strong.

"'Actually'?" he repeated. "Why would Lord Orochimaru want Sasuke dead—he's his most desired vessel."

"That was why my team's 'assassination mission' was meant to fail… Why do you want him dead?"

Kabuto allowed his back to stiffened with apprehension. It wasn't a reason meant to be said out loud explicitly, after all. And there were a few revelations of his own to be had as well—whether or not there was another plan occuring behind both of their backs. "So I'd… have a chance to kill Orochimaru and take his place. Taking him down would have also meant all of Oto would have had to fall in line with me," he explained briefly.

Katsu shifted her head. "Okay. That is… understandable," she blinked, less than impressed. "What does it have to do with why you wanted to speak to me?"

He was silent for a moment. "Why did he want you at the exams?"

"Likely something having to do with the Jinchuriki… and making me more loyal to Oto," she told him tonelessly.

Kabuto creased his own brow in thought. He had thought the purpose of his lord's manipulations was only to the point of making Katsu more kill-ready—to deal with the Jinchuriki. But to make her more loyal to Oto? It meant his lord's plans for her went beyond those simply for the Chunin Exams like he originally thought.

"Was that apparently a decision made behind your back?" Katsu asked.

"It—" Kabuto narrowed his eyes. The phrasing implied she thought he had more information than he was letting on. But in reality he didn't. "—was, yes."

"Odd for you to want the Uchiha truly dead in that case."

Kabuto shook his head. "He knew I'd fail. All I did was burn my bridge with Konohaga—" Kabuto broke off. The both of them exchanged glances and paused on the branches they had been tree-hopping from.

Apparently their lord had plans for the both of them in Oto and it required both of their loyalties more strongly secured, though he wasn't sure Katsu realized yet. He, on the other hand, had just burnt his bridge with Konoha by attempting to kill Sasuke. Any hope he had to defect to Konoha was dashed—and Katsu and Dosu themselves would be lucky if they were even allowed back in for the Chunin Exams at that point.

Kabuto frowned. Katsu observed him silently before resuming their journey. The rest of their journey transpired in silence at the revelation.

Orochimaru's order to abduct the Uchiha had been a hasty request. Very hasty. But it served its purpose in throwing the timetable Kabuto now buried deep into his mind. By eating up the time he could have taken to establish better contact with Konohagakure—now—now he had no choice but to remain at Oto. Katsu, whatever she had seen over the course of the Exams likely had an experience of a similar nature. But while it made sense why Orochimaru would have wanted him more loyal to Oto as he ran everything in his lord's stead, it still did not answer the question for Katsu...

Kankuro (three and a half weeks later, approximate time: 2:00 PM)

"This is just bull," Temari said exasperatedly.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing," Temari replied. She was doing one-handed push-ups in front of a paper folded to stand vertically, apparently attempting to blow it over with some sort of wind-style jutsu. "I can't get this jutsu to work."

Kankuro pulled his chakra strings back to himself before reattaching them to something further away from himself. "Sure you'll get it eventually."

Temari let out a sigh through her nose. Somehow, that managed to blow the paper down when her jutsu couldn't. "Just wish we could train outside."

Kankuro gave his chakra threads a yank and the five teacups he had positioned around the room went flying into his hand. He caught each one with yet more chakra threads before they fell to the ground. While it would have benefitted his sister to train outside, it would not have benefitted himself—as it increased Konoha's exposure to his Suna-native jutsu.

"You can… ? I can stay here with Gaara—it's alright."

Temari grimaced. "No, I'll stay. Renting a training ground from Konoha's going to be a mess anyways and I don't need spies on my training," she said while glaring at the back of their youngest teammate and talking seemingly unrelatedly about Konoha. She pulled herself into a seated position, possibly for curl-ups.

Kankuro also turned to glare before changing the subject. "You're working on a Gale Palm Jutsu, right? Maybe I can help… ?"

"How—it's a wind-style."

Kankuro shrugged and put a teacup down on the floor Temari was seated in front of. He then curled his fingers into a vertical whipping motion, some of the thickest chakra threads he ever created (for demonstration purposes) following the action. Where the threads curled, there was a surface that was created that pushed the teacup away. Unlike a raw chakra cloud, Temari could actually see the movement of the strings if she concentrated. It wasn't all that hard to then picture that action on a greater scale with more pressure for a blade—or a wind-style push—whatever his sister wanted.

"Kinda works like that, doesn't it? Maybe just do something like that? Use your fingers to guide."

Temari looked at her hand and undulated it like a wave, thinking. "Yeah, now I just gotta make that come out of my palm. I think if you did a Gale Palm with your fingers, they'd blow off. The thing's supposed to be like a no-weapon Wind Scythe… usually it's a chakra burst when you start it, not a wave..." She turned to the window, probably trying to picture wind currents. There was movement in the window reflection of the room behind her.

"Where do you think you're going?" Temari interrogated, whipping around.

"Bathroom," Gaara replied.

The siblings glanced at each other. It was not exactly frequent for their youngest teammate to use the bathroom with how little he ate and drank but still…

"I'm not following him in there," Kankuro said with another glance to his sister.

Temari side-eyed him with a look that one can interpret as "no duh".

Gaara* (approximate time: 2:00 PM)

He knew where he wasn't wanted, one can suppose.

Gaara left the hotel building and went to the Konohagakure hospital. Over his bed—his former opponent's. He had a headache, remembering his match. Apparently the boy—Rock Lee as that sensei called him—Lee—was precious despite being as weak as he was—losing and failing his purpose. Gaara let out a yell from the demands of Shukaku's and his splitting headache, slowly wrapping his sand around his target.

Katiya* (approximate time: after kazekage die time.)

It was stunning how well an ambush worked. And it was surprising—for Lord Orochimaru to have allowed her to do the deed as it would have—should have—been Kimimaro, his highest ranking fighter—or him himself.

But, having dragged an ailing Kimimaro back to Otogakure now, it was likely a fair decision—for her to have done it—

—she did it—

—and now—

"I don't suppose you knew of Kimimaro's… whatever this is?" she had asked Kabuto before she left.

And Kabuto did not reply.

"I can take him back to Oto," he had said before then.

"You're needed during the invasion—I'll do it—I should be back the night before our finale. Besides, you're needed for clean-up," she had told him after Kimimaro collapsed. She had forgotten then Kabuto might have had a separate agenda in wanting to escort Kimimaro back.

—All well.

The closest Oto base had only a skeleton crew, but luckily had a functioning infirmary. Once handing Kimimaro off to them, things were able to resume as planned.

'I'll kill him out of love, not hatred,' she mentally mocked herself, replaying her memories of the Kazekage's death. After all that now transpired, she knew there was no such thing. But it was deserved, she told herself. The Kazekage likewise could not have ordered her own execution with fair intentions—Gaara didn't need her protection—it was just well-deserved revenge.

Kabuto (approximate time: 2:30 PM)

He had asked his lord about Katsu after she had left. And he was surprised, for he had received a straight answer.

Gaara* (approximate time: 2:30 PM)

He had been stopped by two genin from Konoha—stopped from making the kill. The blonde boy who caught Shukaku's attention—who we know to be one Naruto Uzumaki—and a mesh-armored Nara with their clan's hair-tied updo. They stood, talking while Shukaku was still demanding blood and the one named Rock Lee slept, not dead. While the Nara's Shadow Possession Jutsu was ineffective on his sand, his attempts to throw the jutsu's hold on his body sapped the attention he would have used to consciously move his sand tendrils.

"He can act like a demon if he wants to, I've got the real thing inside of me," the blonde boy countered his Nara companion, who apparently wanted to save the Lee boy without a FiGhT that would have sated Shukaku.

A deMoN. Gaara ignored the Nara clansman and fixated on the statement of the blonde's. "A demon, huh? My demon is as real as yours is…" the words flowed easily out from his mouth, the explanation of his birth. It explained Shukaku's reaction, for the blonde boy that had yelled, the one before him to have his own… DeMoNS. He sensed it when the blonde boy passed—after his battle with the currently bedridden one.

Naruto Uzumaki was a jiNChuRiki aS WeLL.

If Gaara shifted his attention back to his sand, he could have crushed the Uzumaki and the Nara to death.

"Some kind of demonic jutsu. But to use it on a baby? Before it's even born? Man, that's creepy. Gee, what a swell guy your dad must have been. He must have loved you a lot," the unintimidating Nara one replied sarcastically.

"You speak of love?" It was an insult, that other boy's statement. "Don't measure me by your standards. Love. Family… We're nothing more than strangers related by blood. The only emotional ties I have to my family are the ones I'd like to wrap around their necks. They're only ties of hate… Given life by the death of my mother, I was brought into being and nurtured as the salvation of the village. I was the Kazekage's child. My father taught me the innermost secrets of the shinobi. He pampered and protected me... For a time I thought that was love… And that was when everything started."

The Nara spoke. "When what started."

"… In the years since I became seven years old, my father tried to destroy me more times than I could count." Gaara started to smile. It was a humorless, mad-seeming thing.

"Those who get too strong are apt to become feared." Likewise, he had become a threat to the same village his father wanted him to save and so they made to kill him. "You see, I had failed at the one purpose for which I was given life," Gaara replied, as if reciting. "What then was left for me in this existence, why go on living? For a long time, I couldn't find an answer to that. But in order to live, you need a purpose. To exist for no reason is the same as being dead..."

"What is this guy talking about?" the Nara asked rhetorically to the blonde Jinchuriki, visibly not understanding. The other one—Naruto—whom Gaara was actually addressing, however, understood. He knew it must have been the same. They were both Jinchuriki, after all.

Gaara felt Shukaku stir within him.

"In time, the answer came to me... To put it simply, my reason for living is in the killing of others. For years, I lived in fear of the ones sent to murder me," Gaara recalled, "But now I am at peace… I killed many would-be assassins… and it was while I was doing it that the truth was made true to me… I live solely for myself. I love only myself. As it was the death of my mother that first gave me life, now it is the death of others that now sustains me… It makes me almost happy to be alive. And there's no end to it, as long as there are still people to kill in this great, wide, crowded world... I will never disappear."

The stunned look in the eye of the blonde Jinchuriki—the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails—appeared to amuse Shukaku.

Kankuro* (approximate time: 4:00 PM)

There was a banging on their hotel door. "Open up—now!" Baki-sensei's voice called.

"What's up? What's all the ruckus?" Kankuro asked, opening the door.

"Baka—didn't I tell you not to let him out of your sight for a second?!?"

Temari and Kankuro exchanged wild glances, running to the bathroom, then the sleeping quarters. The rooms opened up empty.

Gaara* (approximate time: 4:00 PM)

The sensei one—the one that—Gaara sucked in ragged breaths as memories washed over him. That sensei of Rock Lee's—Yashamaru had tried to kill him—it would all be the same in the end—that one too. It must—it was the only way Gaara could understand. They would all kill or be killed in the end. He had been stopped by that one—when the blonde Jinchuriki and the other one couldn't stop him—that sensei of Rock Lee's. Something churned in Gaara's gut.

...

"I sense a trace of bloodlust in the air. All right. Come on out," a voice called.

Gaara exhaled and complied, having been discovered and not caring to hide or run.

"So it's you."

"Tell me… What is it that is your true purpose… Why is it that you seek power?" Gaara asked, ignoring the silver haired mask-wearing sensei that spoke. SaSUke UchiHA was the one he was interested in.

"Like it's any business of yours," the Uchiha replied. "Beat it. You're interrupting my training."

"… I see it. You have the eyes. Eyes that seek power and will do anything to get it. Even kill... Eyes full of hate… like mine… we are the same, you and I. But never forget. You are my prey..." Gaara told him before moving to leave like Uchiha wanted.

"… Hold on. Why me. Why are you so fixated on me?" the Uchiha asked.

"I see in your eyes you know what loneliness is..." Gaara answered, "True loneliness. You understand that it is the most painful form of suffering in this world. Like I said, we have the same eyes… eyes with a hunger for power, full of hate… the same as me. Eyes that seek revenge against those who put you through the hell called loneliness. Eyes that burn to see them all dead. It's all in your eyes."

"Ohh… kay. Hang on a minute here… So you're the one called 'Gaara'. Seems you can read a lot in someone's eyes. Be careful," the Uchiha's sensei said relaxedly, "You may not be able to read him as well as you think." The sensei's tone sobered. "If there's something you wanted to say before the final rounds, just go ahead and spit it out."

"When we finally fight, it won't be to advance to the next stage, but solely for survival—one seeking to destroy the other... Only the last one standing will feel the full value of his existence."

The silver haired sensei said something Gaara ignored.

"Uchiha, it's in the depths of your soul… it's what you want too, isn't it. You want to confirm the value of your existence, don't you. To know if you're truly as powerful as you think you are… Whose is stronger," Gaara said listlessly, referring to the goal of existence he knew he shared with this uCHiHa, "yours or the one facing you with murder in his eyes," he said.

Kankuro* (approximate time: 4:05 PM)

"Shouldn't we be going after him?" Kankuro asked his sensei, who settled by the windowsill rather than leaving to search for Gaara.

Baki-sensei looked out the window. "No," he replied. "We don't want to alert Konoha that anything's wrong. We can stand to wait a few hours. I'll send word to Otogakure to be on the lookout, but very likely, Gaara will return."

"What makes you so sure?"

"... The finale's going to be bloody."

Katiya (approximate time: before the big invasion thing.)

She had Otogakure send her daily reports of Kimimaro's status. They arrived as she was making her way back to Konoha. Not that she was exactly in a rush to get back there and play cripple.

She unlocked her hotel door. The lights were off despite it being a rather dark evening and Dosu being more of a night person. And the rooms were quiet. Not turning the lights on, she sent out a Sensing Mist Jutsu while moving toward the other rooms. Her jutsu yielded nothing she'd describe as out of the ordinary. Except for one missing Dosu.

Katiya went to his room.

Entering it, she turned her head slowly, taking in the rest of what was his area. Everything had been packed—he must have left already. Intentionally, on his own accord. She walked to the window and looked out.

I should have expected this.

She let out a breath. She did. And she couldn't blame Dosu—deserting would have been a very logical decision given the circumstances. She walked back to her room and closed the door with a click. It was a shame she had given up on the idea of deserting Oto for herself. Repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result was an illogical item in and of itself.*

I hope Oto doesn't stop him.

Author's Note

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results." -"Albert Einstein" (It's not really an Albert Einstein quote… Google if you don't believe me.)

Kabuto (approximate time: 11:45 PM)

"I saw you were back," Kabuto said by way of greeting, entering the Oto-designated hotel rooms as he had earlier in the day.

"I'd ask how you got in, but at this point I doubt you'll tell me. What do you want?" Katsu asked without looking up from her reading.

Kabuto smirked knowingly. "Just wanted to check in with you—I just got back from one with our allies in Suna."

"And how are they?"

"It seems their Jinchuriki paid a visit to the resident Uchiha."

Katsu didn't reply to that and there was a lack of movement under her balaclava to suggest a change in expression. "Did you actually need something or did you really come all this way just to tell me that?" she asked instead.

Kabuto filed the lack of expressed emotional response down someplace in his mind. His own expression was likewise deadpan when he dug into his scroll pouch for what he was actually there to deliver.

"For communication during the invasion," he told her, handing her what one of us might consider a rudimentary form of a two-way radio. "Courtesy of our contacts in Kumogakure."

That got an eyebrow raise out of Katsu but she didn't deign to explain what caused it. Kabuto tentatively nursed the idea that she actually knew what contacts he was referring to.

"Anything else?"

"There's a bit of a learning curve to them," he cautioned.

"I'll manage," she said, setting the radio down. "Anything else?"

Kabuto hesitated. "Do you have anything to report about our fellow Oto-nin?" It was a question about both Kimimaro and Dosu.

Katsu tossed her reading out onto the table in front of her in his direction, gesturing towards it with a hand, nonverbally answering the question about Kimimaro first.

Kabuto cleared his throat, picking it up to peruse. "Anything of note?"

"Besides the fact I'm stumped by it, no. It looks like it has to do with his kekkei genkai."

"But… ?"

"But I don't know what's causing it, how to fix it, or how the hell a kekkei genkai that rests on conscious control of bone formation and destruction is leading to bone fragments in his vital organs. And because I wasn't there, I have no idea if it's lab error or a legitimate result."

Kabuto nodded his head in understanding. Katsu still hadn't made any verbal note of Dosu's absence with him but he supposed that could have interpreted that as an advantage to himself.

"Oh, and Dosu isn't here and I doubt he's coming back," she intoned as if it were a side note.

Kabuto increased the tension in his mouth for what could be interpreted as a rather ambiguous expression. He knew why Dosu wasn't going back, but what did Katsu assume?

"Well… now that Dosu's… gone… what's your plan with Suna?"

"What plan. I don't have any except the invasion one."

"... I see."

The tone Katsu used meant she would not be yielding any more conversation or information and it was ambiguous enough that he couldn't tell if her plans were indeed only Orochimaru's own—or if she trusted him so little as to outright lie. It was a shame he didn't know which to hope for at that point either. He left after making a copy of Kimimaro's most relevant medical charts.

Author's Note

Canonically, Gaara had received assassination attempts since he was six. Here, it's seven. I miscalculated when I started writing my fiction. *shushes…