Chapter 15: Secret

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HP/KH/IU

Hadrian felt an itch under his skin as they made their way toward Asuma's group and he knew it had nothing to do with them, but rather that something was going to happen to one of them.

He felt more than heard Death sigh as the being's mind connected with his own, making it feel as if he was falling into an abyss for a moment before it stopped.

The first time it happened, Hadrian had been sure he'd been captured by some of the remaining Death Eaters and that they were about to torture him, but then he realized that he was sensing the depth of the never-ending darkness that made up the Aspect of Death.

He turned his attention inward, pausing for a moment with a frown on his face, unaware that the shinobi around him had all noted the movement and that they were all watching him intently.

As their minds fully connected, Hadrian got the sense that Death had just returned after helping more souls cross over as he was still in his 'classic death' visage that most people seemed to envision the entity as, "Death, is something wrong?"

The entity was silent for a moment before it spoke, "Your involvement in this world have changed the sequence of events that originally would have happened in this world and, as such, I have come to warn you."

Hadrian had to admit that he didn't like the sound of that at all, but given that Death had come to warn him, there was a good chance that this was the first major event in the timeline that his presence might change, so he listened intently, "One of the individuals before you will have their time cut drastically short after a run in with one of my more…eccentric…worshippers."

Hadrian grimaced at that while trying very hard not to roll his eyes. It wasn't the first time he'd heard about some of Death's more fanatical worshippers. It seemed the entity tended to attract those like bees to honey.

The entity completely ignored Hadrian's inner dialogue without missing a beat as it continued to speak, "While this is something you would undoubtedly try and stop even though it would influence the strength of the individuals connected to it, I want you to refrain from doing so."

Hadrian froze and narrowed his eyes, unaware of the people watching him as an icy aura started surrounding him.

Naturally, Death wasn't phased at all and he merely waited for a moment before Hadrian felt a small weight in his pocket that wasn't there before, "Knowing you as well as I do, don't you think I would offer an alternative whenever possible?"

Hadrian grimaced before a sheepish expression crossed his face.

It was true that Death knew his personality well, and as such, the entity always found a compromise between what is supposed to happen and what Hadrian is trying to change.

It didn't tease or scold him about it though, since the entity knew that, above all else, Hadrian was a protector, and this type of reaction would only cease the day that Hadrian learned to trust the entity without question.

Hadrian felt the entity's presence fade away as he turned his attention back to the present, greatly resisting the urge to find out what Death had placed in his pocket, only to suddenly find himself under five pairs of curious eyes; one of which also seemed to have a worried glint in them.

He paled slightly, mind grappling to find an excuse, but Asuma merely motioned for them to follow him to a more secluded spot before he took out a mission scroll from his pack and opened it, having scanned the area many times while they were waiting for Hadrian and Itachi.

Hadrian's strange behaviour was immediately forgotten as Asuma cleared his throat, his voice becoming deadly serious, "One of the teams that were meant to cover Kakashi, Guy, and Kurenai's teams had been wiped out, but one survivor managed to send a message before he died."

Hadrian took a deep breath, he knew the others were mostly safe, but 'not dead yet' didn't mean they were completely out of danger and that meant the risk of it was still very much there.

Unfortunately, even though Hadrian knew how happy Naruto had been about the bracelet and what it signified, he doubted that he would actually use it.

Luckily Hadrian had added in a few other spells as well so it would be easy to track him down.

He glanced between the group, "I have a way to track their location so it may be a lot quicker if I took the lead, but I am going to need you to keep it a secret from the others."

He could see that Asuma was about to protest, but he shook his head, "The Hokage knows about it and he agrees that this is something that shouldn't be leaked. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have sent your team with us if you couldn't be trusted, which is why I am wiling to use it."

As he spoke, he glanced toward Itachi as he was sure that he didn't know about this particular ability of his either, despite seemingly spying on their team from time to time.

There was a moment of silence before the group agreed, but Itachi was still silent for a moment before he finally nodded his agreement and Hadrian let go of the breath he'd been holding.

None of them seemed to hesitate in their answer after they'd thought it through and Hadrian felt a moment of uncertainty before he led them deeper into the woods and subtly cast a privacy ward around them.

He then walked a bit ahead before turning back to them, "Just keep in mind that this is connected to my bloodline limit, so it cannot fully be replicated by a jutsu."

The group nodded, wondering why there was a need for so much secrecy as Hadrian downed a potion, but then he doubled over as if in pain and Itachi took one step forward, but by the time he'd placed his foot down, he'd frozen once more.

The group looked at the wolf that now stood where Hadrian had been a few moments ago and they couldn't help but freeze at the sight of a familiar wolf that they had seen accompanying Team 7 on missions.

Itachi seemed to recover first though, so he hesitantly stepped forward with a slight laugh, "I was wondering why the Hokage would send a civilian on a mission, even more-so, one that seemed to be the target of the ones we are about to go up against. Turns out they wouldn't even know that the one they are searching for is right under their noses."

Hadrian gave a jip as Shikamaru stepped forward, an intent look on his face and one that those that knew him, knew all too well, and before Hadrian knew it, he was the one standing there stunned as the kid spoke, "It isn't just a henge from what I've noticed, and you seem to be able to stay in the form indefinitely, which is the reason no one suspected anything else other than Kakashi having found a new nin-hound. It seems your bloodline limit carries many secrets."

Hadrian almost felt his body grow cold as the last part was uttered more to himself than to Hadrian, but instinct told him that he could trust the group.

That didn't mean he was about to share all of his secrets now though, so he simply changed back and looked at the boy, no, young man, in wonder, causing Asuma to laugh sheepishly.

The man made no excuse for his student though, as none was needed and Hadrian could see that he was very proud of him.

It did, however, make him wonder if anything could shock the boy, but he shelved that thought for now as he changed back.

The sooner they tracked down Naruto and the rest of the group, the sooner he can show the people why it was a bad reason to touch those that were his.

HP/KH/IU

Despite what Kakashi and the rest of his team (those that were conscious) hoped, it soon became apparent that Jiraiya hadn't brought any reinforcements and he was instantly outnumbered as Orochimaru's cronies watched from the sidelines…with more being revealed as the sun soon made its appearance on the horizon.

Unfortunately for said cronies, Naruto had bonded quite a bit with the man during the few missions they'd had together over the years so he got quite angry when he saw this.

Kakashi could see that he was holding back for now though, probably because he knew the moment they revealed themselves, Orochimaru would stop at nothing to get Sasuke, and even more so because he was currently unconscious and wouldn't pick up a fight.

Luckily the cronies only seemed to be watching for now and Orochimaru and Jiraiya seemed to mostly be on an even footing…at least until the damn snake started using underhanded tactics to catch Jiraiya off-guard.

The man managed to hold his own until one of the cronies seemed to become impatient and Jiraiya saw the danger too late as he was almost impaled by a huge arm-blade.

He barely managed to dodge the attack but by the time he turned back to face Orochimaru's attack, it was too late to fully dodge so it was obvious that he tried to turn in a way that would ensure that the attack hit a less vital area.

Kakashi bit back a curse when he noticed how badly shredded Jiraiya side was and a moment later it also became clear that Orochimaru's attack had somehow incorporated poison as well.

He glanced at Naruto, "Stay here and stay hidden! I'll see if I can get him out of there and lure them away!"

With that, he moved to the mouth of the cave and he was just about to leave when he saw the most heart-stopping sight.

Hadrian was standing in front of Manda and the snake's head was slowly coming down toward him.

HP/KH/IU

Hadrian could immediately sense where Kakashi and the rest were hiding in a cave as they approached, but his senses were screaming and it all originated from the area where he could see a familiar toad and a gigantic snake face-off against each other.

He quickly motioned to where Kakashi and his team were and Asuma and his own team wasted no time in heading toward them.

Itachi stayed by his side, but Hadrian motioned for him to take a step back as he made his way to the giant snake, causing the two summons to freeze because of the unexpected situation, and because they couldn't sense any chakra coming from the man.

Itachi stepped back reluctantly before his gaze fell on Orochimaru that seemed to be frozen in place.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was Hadrian's doing.

Meanwhile, Hadrian came to stand in front of the snake, making it rear up in anger at being approached so casually, that is, until Hadrian began speaking in a hissing language that shocked the summon to the point that it watched him with wide eyes before it hesitantly hissed back, "~Why is a strong and proud being like you following the orders of someone as rotten and twisted as him?~"

"~…You speak! How?!~"

Hadrian shrugged, "~A gift from one I conquered.~"

Manda narrowed its eyes in suspicion and leaned in closer before its eyes widened and it bowed down in front of him as much as it was able to, "~Forgive me, the venom of a Royal one flows through your veins, marking you as close kin to its own. I shall withdraw from this battle. I bear thee and thine no ill will~"

Hadrian watched with a calm expression as the snake vanished before he looked toward Orochimaru, while noting that Asuma's team was already tending to Jiraiya's injuries with a few potions he'd given them during the trip.

None of the man's cronies seemed to know what to do with the new threat so they watched and waited as Hadrian did something that seemed to release the man.

A hiss of fury echoed through the air and Orochimaru immediately rushed toward him, intent on rending his head from his body despite the interesting ability he had shown.

Hadrian's lips twitched as he realized that the man probably thought he could pry his secrets from his dead body.

He didn't move as the man closed in on him and he was quite happy when no one interfered even though he could sense how much they wanted to protect him.

Seeing the snake-like visage and abilities the man had, an idea occurred to him and he couldn't help but smile as he hissed one commanding word, "~SIT!~"

A moment later, everyone and everything seemed to freeze as the dust cleared and they saw Orochimaru sitting on his knees as he tried to figure out why the hell his body had obeyed the command.

End Notes:

Don't get me wrong, I rather like the fanfic version of Orochimaru, but this image entered my mind and I couldn't help but end the chapter there.