Chapter 18: When Opinions Hold No Weight
PLEASE READ: I hope I finish this in time for the 25th, but washing dishes all day is a tiring job lol so I will try my best.
HP/KH/IU
While Hadrian waited patiently for Orochimaru to answer him on the outside…he was already sending death a mental message to try and discover why he'd marked Orochimaru as his own.
He didn't receive much of an answer…other than the fact that Death knew that Orochimaru would become immortal in a way that didn't splinter his soul as Tom Riddle did, and even the fates had accepted it as an essential point in their lines of fate due to later events that Death didn't feel like informing Hadrian of in this point in time.
The only problem that Hadrian had with the entire idea was that Orochimaru needed to use human bodies in order to sustain his immortality, so when Death's voice faded away, Hadrian conveniently remembered that he could use a ritual to create a golem for the man when the time came.
A whisper of excitement hit him as he realized that he wouldn't have to be the only immortal anymore, but he quickly squashed it before it could take root…or to be more accurate, he shelved it away for now since he didn't even know if he would be able to get along with the man or not.
He turned his attention back to Orochimaru and noticed that the man was still quite pensive, which assured him more than if the man were to suddenly declare that he would forever be loyal to Konoha from now on.
No one dared to utter a word as they waited until Orochimaru finally lifted his head and looked Hadrian in the eye, "I choose to follow you…if you can assure me that myself and those who choose to follow me won't be detained and interrogated the minute we step into Konoha."
Hadrian only thought about it for more than a moment before he nodded and held out his hand to Orochimaru, "Deal."
This caused more than one of Konoha's residents to snap their heads toward him in shock…if they weren't already looking at him, that is.
Asuma was the first to recover as he took a step forward, "Hadrian…my father may accept a lot of things…but the Elders won't allow him to accept something like this…"
At the mention of the Elders Hadrian closed his eyes since he knew they would bleed black in his anger.
He slowly stood up without opening them, "Those Elders you speak of…I know of them, but I haven't really met them. Are they, in any way, similar to the Elders from the Hyūga clan?"
Asuma was speechless for a moment at seeing such a strange reaction, but he answered anyway, "…In a way, they are worse. Since the Hokage is the head of Konoha, they often see it as their duty to keep that person in check. While my father would accept Orochimaru and some of his underlings into the village with some stipulations…the elders, especially Danzo., won't allow it."
Hadrian swallowed a growl as he felt a hand on his shoulder and sensed Itachi standing behind him.
He took a deep breath and opened his eyes to look at Asuma before speaking in a deadly calm voice that seemed to startle a few of those around him, "Let me deal with them when we get there."
He then turned to Orochimaru, "No matter what, my word is my word. If they try anything they may find that I am not as simple as I may seem."
More than one person felt a shudder run through them at the no-nonsense tone they had never heard Hadrian use before, and Kakashi and Itachi couldn't help but glance at each other in surprise before glancing back at Hadrian in interest.
Both of them knew that Hadrian was quite a bit stronger than he seemed, but neither would deny the sense of danger that they felt from him when he spoke about the Elders and more than one person made a silent promise to be there when the fireworks went off once they returned to Konoha with Orochimaru and his minions…seeing as it was apparently going to happen whether they wanted it to or not.
HP/KH/IU
The last thing Sasuke remembered before he woke up with a worried blonde hovering over him was a strong attack hurtling straight toward Naruto and the thought that the blonde wouldn't survive the attack since he was being distracted by another enemy.
After that, he only remembers excruciating pain and darkness before a warm feeling spread through his body and he found he only wanted to sleep, instinct telling him to let his body heal.
Here and there, he could feel that there were dangerous energy signatures popping up around them…ones that could be dangerous for Naruto to face, but then a sense of calm hit him as a vaguely familiar presence arrived and somehow he knew that everything would be alright.
It was about a day after that, according to Naruto, that he finally woke up from the potion-induced sleep to find Naruto hovering over him and Itachi standing in the background.
He honestly didn't know who to react to first, but it seemed that neither of them was about to give him a chance to react as he was first hugged by Naruto, who blushed cutely and stepped away the moment he realized what he was doing before Itachi flicked him on the forehead and hugged him close.
For a moment, he was in shock, as it was the first hug he'd gotten from his brother in a long time, but then he remembered that his brother had practically been at death's door the last time he saw him, and he couldn't help but clutch him tighter.
Itachi's unique scent brought with him a sense of peace, and he slowly noticed that they were in a cave of some sort…but that the entire team, as well as a few others who'd been back at the village, was there.
He frowned when he noticed that even Hadrian was there since he would be in the biggest danger given their current mission…then someone came into the cave behind Hadrian and Sasuke merely froze for a moment before he jumped up to try and defend Hadrian from Orochimaru.
A small voice in the back of his mind wondered why no one else had sensed Orochimaru's presence, but he wasn't going to allow Hadrian to get hurt.