Chapter 60 (1/5)

The Next Morning

"Summoning Jutsu!" I lightly tap the floor of the room I'm alone in.

We've made camp in an 'abandoned' town. It's not really abandoned, it just looks like that from an observative view. In reality this is where the group of men that came to attack the train were stationed, this is their camp.

I've wandered around for two reasons. One: to familiarize myself with the layout. Two: I wanted to find a private spot to talk to Shirokumo.

I need to apologize to him.

There's a small puff of smoke that materializes where I touched the floor. That's it, there's no warm greeting of Sup Al. Just the puff of smoke and a very irate white spider glaring at me.

This is going to suck. That doesn't matter, it needs to happen.

"Shirokumo I am sorry." I immediately apologize to him with the first words out of my mouth. "I'm sorry for lashing out at you and taking my anger out on you when all you were trying to do was look out for me. I'm sorry that I've been such an asshole."

"I've been under such an insane amount of stress and pressure. I've just shoved all of that into a metaphorical glass container and it finally shattered. I know that you only were looking out for me, that what you said wasn't intended to piss me off. So I am sorry. Truly, I am."

"You're damn right you should be sorry!" Shirokumo shouts at me. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to put up with you? My life used to be easy! Easy! Ever since you came into the picture it's been a shitstorm!"

"Well I won't argue that." I weakly admit, I know how messed up my life here has been firsthand. Then I let a cheeky smile form on my face. "But it's been a hell of a lot of fun, hasn't it?"

"You're right you dick." Shirokumo lets out a happy chuckle and climbs up me to rest on my head. I have no idea why he likes it up there so much. "So what happened?

I wince. "Long story incredibly short: The Konoha nin tried to make me realize the error of my ways by ganging up on me to have a surprise intervention. I… kinda didn't take it well."

"No shit." Shirokumo snorts. "What did you do? Please say you didn't threaten to kill anyone."

"Oh. Uh. So funny you should mention that…"

"Al. Please say you didn't." Shirokumo begs me but he already knows the answer.

"Maybe a little?" I squeak out. "Only… everyone but Koyuki."

"Al come on! You can't solve everything like that!" Shirokumo thwaps me on the head with two of his legs. "Obviously you've all patched things up. Right?"

"Yeah. We're mostly cool. I still have some redeeming stuff to do for a couple of the members but they're no longer going to come after my head. Hopefully. Anyways they shouldn't, I've been pulled out of my funk and am willingly helping them now."

"Huh." That entire concept stumps Shirokumo. "Who pulled you out of your funk? And why the hell are you calling it a funk? There's got to be a better word for it."

"There probably is a better word for it but funk makes it sound less like I was a murderous blood starved monster that got off on torturing people that caused me minor inconveniences. So yeah, I'm sticking with funk."

"Good point." Shirokumo agrees with me wholeheartedly. "So who was it? Sure as hell wasn't me. That Ino girl?"

"Why does everyone assume it was her?" Why is that a thing? Seriously this is becoming a trend. What the hell people?

"Uh… she's the only one of your friends to know most of the big picture? She's the only one of them that's experienced a sliver of your suffering? She's the only one who doesn't constantly judge you on your actions, she just wants to make sure you're okay? She's the one who knows you the best. That's what it all boils down to. Well here at least, I'm sure Sasuke knows you better than she does but he doesn't know that you're doing all of that extra stuff on the side. You know, the whole Akatsuki stuff."

"Oh yeah, speaking of the Akatsuki I want you to do something for me."

"Oi. Later." Shirokumo pokes the top of my head. "We're talking about who got you out of your funk. So who was it?"

"Sureddo." I easily supply but Shirokumo doesn't understand. "The one being that knows me the best out of everyone, including Sasuke. The Jiongu."

"Really?" Shirokumo says in disbelief. "The bloodthirsty heart stealing thread monster convinced you to stop being a bloodthirsty heart stealing thread monster? Don't you hear how absurd that sounds?"

"Oh yeah, threw me for a loop too." I assure him. "But there's something you got wrong there, hell even the Konoha nin assumed this too."

"Go on." Shirokumo urges.

"I've decided to start to care again. About people. About things. Just caring in general. Basically I'll stop instantly resorting to extreme methods right off the bat, the days of me horribly burning someone because they won't get out of my way are over. That's what's changed about me, my threshold for using violence has increased. I'm still going to be violent when I battle. I'm still going to mock and tease my opponents so viciously they'll think I'm insane or drive themselves to insanity instead. Everyone thinks that I'm back to being the chipper innocent - okay innocent ish - Alvarcus they once knew, the me before I left for Orochimaru. But I can never truly go back to being that person, even if I don't want to admit it Orochimaru has stained me a different color."

"What are you saying?" Shirokumo asks. "You're not making the most sense. You're not going to be violent but you are? Give me the simple version."

"Ino sees me as a hero. Orochimaru has been trying to make me a villain. I am neither." I calmly explain. "In the scale of good and evil, light and dark, I've found my spot. I am not the shining beacon of the world, I am no hero. Nor am I the strong pillar of darkness, I am no villain. I am in the middle, gray if you want to stick with the light and dark metaphor. I'm something that's defined as an anti-hero, someone who does good in this world but they do good by using questionable means. I'm going to use every tool at my disposal, every weapon no matter how questionably immoral, to achieve my goal. And that goal is stopping a war or at the very least minimizing the casualties on the population as a whole."

"You're going to need some crazy tools to stop a freaking war." Shirokumo bluntly points out the obvious. "Or did you forget that the group trying to start the war is full of S-rank threats?"

"Believe me, we haven't seen the beginnings to their real strength yet." I grimly assure my summon. "They've got shinobi that can level entire villages with a single jutsu."

"Holy shit." Shirokumo blurts out in shock. "That's… that's not S-rank. That's above S-rank."

"Well the moves necessary to level a village do have very high costs, one of them straight up kills the user to cause an explosion spanning 10 kilometers and the other drastically shortens the user's lifespan if used on that scale. It's not like they can churn those things out whenever they want to."

"Still. You don't have anything near that."

"True, even their normal combat is at a higher level than mine but that gap is closing quickly. But I don't need to close the gap, I don't need to stand evenly with them. I need to stand above them."

"And how the hell do you plan to do that?" Shirokumo blandly asks me.

"Well… Honestly I've got no fucking clue." I admit with a half shrug. "I've got a few ideas but nothing concrete since they all require me to go down different paths."

"What do you have so far? Maybe I can help somehow. Find an ancient tome or something?" He offers.

"Well, I see four main ways. First: I just throw everything I have into bettering myself. I'll drastically lower learning new skills and perfect the ones I already have. It lines up well because I have a Sannin willing to help me improve and spar against."

"Yeah that could work, but will that make you good enough? The Jiongu makes you deadly but not anywhere on the same scale as some of those people. Especially since by now they all know you have it, you can't use it as a surprise against them. That was something that could have won you the fights but now it's off the table."

"That's why I won't go down that route." I concede to his points, I've already thought of them myself. "Second: Fuinjutsu. Some of the deadliest people to ever walk this world were Seal Masters. If I fully dedicate myself to studying that particular art then I could stand a chance, I even have some crazy ideas to implement."

"But that takes time." Shirokumo points out another flaw. "You don't have that much time, you're going to end up cutting it close with your sword the way it is. Fuinjutsu takes years, decades to master."

"Again, probably not going to go down that route. I could become a deadly force with above average general skills and above average fuinjutsu, hell I could probably become S-rank myself that way. But I won't be able to stand up to the Akatsuki if I'm only above average. I need amazing. That takes us to the third option: The Rinnegan."

"Yeah there's just one tiny problem with that." Shirokumo snorts out. "You'd need it to fight the Akatsuki but the only person alive that has it is in the Akatsuki. That one is out."

"True, but those eyes play a key part in the coming war. If I get the chance to make them mine, they're mine. Plus come on! They're fucking cool!"

"Well I can't deny that one. They certainly are… cool. What's the fourth reason?"

"Fourth is the one that I'm most afraid to try." I shamelessly admit. "Going down this route could - and according to statistics would - kill me. I can't help if I'm dead. Plus I have no idea if Sureddo and it would get along or cause major problems. Not to mention I don't even know if I can go down this route even if I want to."

"Quit beating around the bush and tell me what it is." Shirokumo demands.

"I could become a Sage." My easily spoken words cause Shirokumo to freeze on my head, his entire body locked up. "You okay up there?"

"You… know about Sages?" He tentatively asks.

"Oh yeah." I confirm. "They take in Nature Chakra to enhance both themselves and their jutsu. Everything about them becomes better. They're faster, they're stronger, they're more intune with their senses. Hell they even get some special abilities too!"

The Toads granted Naruto a specialized Sage taijutsu combat style where he can manipulate the nature chakra around him to strike at his opponents even if he misses. The Snakes grant the user command over inanimate objects, I vividly remember Kabuto making a cave do crazy things. The real question is, do the Spiders have their own version of Sage Mode?

"Then why haven't you said anything about Sages to me before?" Shirokumo asks me.

"Well… it's not my place to ask. To be offered to learn how to become a Sage is a great honor, it is not something that one can just demand. It's not up to me to decide if I want to become one, it's up to whoever the Great Spider Sage is, or his or her equivalent. I have to be deemed worthy and you've seen all of my actions recently. They're hardly Sage material. Plus I have no idea if there even is a Spider that can teach me it, it's very possible that there isn't one. So I've never brought it up."

"If we do have someone that can teach you to become a Sage, would you do it?" Shirokumo asks.

"I'd be risking turning into a statute forever. It is a huge risk, but if I survive it then I'll become that much more of a threat. It's either I die or I become ridiculously stronger. But in the end I simply may not have the choice. It is not something that I particularly want to do but it may be something I have to do. Right now becoming a Sage is the most likely and best option for me to stand against the Akatsuki. So to answer your question, yes. If offered to become a Sage I would attempt it, not because I want to but because I need to."

"Hm." Shirokumo assesses me. "You don't want to do it but you will. Not technically for yourself, but for others. The reason you would become a Sage is to save the world, not just for power."

"Wow that didn't sound cheesy at all." I snort in amusement. "Yes Shirokumo, I'd do it to save the world. Jeez do you have any idea how lame that sounds?"

"Interesting." Shirokumo distractedly says, he's lost in his own thoughts for a moment. Then he refocuses on me with a jovial aura. "Well I best be off now! Things to do and people to meet! Plus it's freaking cold here even if we're inside."

"Alright alright go back where it's warm." I laugh at his antics. "I get it, you're cold. See ya next time."

"Bye Al." Shirokumo poofs away leaving me alone in the empty room.

"Whew." I wipe nonexistent sweat off my brow. "That went much better than I thought it would."

The Nest

"Oh wow it's so much warmer here." Shirokumo happily says the second he lands on his legs. All eight of them.

"So how is our Summoner?" Arachne greets him warmly. "I haven't seen him in a while."

"He's close." Shirokumo says to the much larger spider. "He's very, very close."

"Close to what?" Arachne blinks all eight of her eyes.

"Passing the Trials. He only has one left."

"Do you think he will pass them?" Arachne eagerly asks. "Having a Sage is so much fun, plus we can lord it over all the other Summon creatures. Ha ha we've got a Sage and you don't!"

"The Toads have a Sage." Shirokumo bluntly points out.

"Pfft he's half a Sage at best. Never finished the training." Arachne easily dismisses Jiraiya. "We will make sure he's a true Sage, a perfect Sage."

"If he passes."

"Yes, if he passes." Arachne agrees. "There's only one left though. He could pass quicker than we expected."

"He's already blown through them. It takes other's decades to pass one yet he only has one left."

"True." Arachne clasps her front two legs together. "It's all so exciting!"

"Yeah. Exciting. Let's go with that."

Back in the Land of Snow

RIght now most of the shinobi are gathered in this one room. Anko is continuing to teach - or torment not really sure which one it is - Ino something. She's slowly making Ino stretch backwards farther and farther. It's actually very impressive, Ino's flexibility is outstanding. She can almost bend all the way down backwards to touch her toes. The only reason why I say it might be tormenting and not teaching is because Ino is blushing the entire time.

That might be because Anko forced her back into just the purple coat for now since we're inside. And… well… a coat that doesn't close and bending over backwards don't mix well.

Kakashi, on the other hand, is being his usual self. He's lounging in a chair and doing exactly what I expected. He's reading his books. Although he's swapped out the green one I just gave him for a bright yellow one, no idea why. Maybe he wanted a change? Meh it's not important.

Naruto is the only one missing, he's on Koyuki watch right now. On top of that he's got around ten-ish shadow clones acting as scouts around the abandoned town we've made camp in just incase Doto and his idiotic hat defiling shinobi decide to come back.

That leaves Shikamaru and me. We're sitting next to each other, doing our own things. He's practically asleep and I'm idly staring off into space while pondering how to start talking to him.

Well, here goes nothing.

"So…" I semi awkwardly attempt to open up conversation with Shikamaru. "How's things?"

"You want the truth?" He asks without bothering to look at me.

"Yes?" Honestly I probably don't. He's going to say something bad, I can feel it.

"Shitty. This entire mission has been one giant problem after the next." He finally looks at me with an accusatory glare.

"Okay, totally my fault. I admit it." I called it, I knew he'd say something like that. "But I'm here to help now. Willingly this time."

"Doesn't make up for all the shit you've done recently." Shikamaru sighs. "But it is a start."

Yes! It's a start, that means I'm doing something right for once! WOOT WOOT!

"So Shikamaru, since you're the team leader and all, is there any specific role you want me to take? I know before I was pretty adamant about only protecting Koyuki but I can do more if you want me to."

"Keeping everyone alive is your greatest priority." Shikamaru instantly decides, I bet he already thought about it. "As much as it pains me to admit, you're probably the next strongest here after Kakashi. He's running offense so you'll be running defense with Anko. Naruto, me and Ino are all bouncing between the two as needed."

"Cool. Simple enough. But I'm still going after Doto if he shows up, I do need that armor."

"Whatever, by the time he decides to fight we'll have taken down most of his lackeys so we can divert more manpower to defense."

"EVERYONE COME QUICK!" Naruto shouts at the top of his lungs as he bursts into the room. "There's - there's - oh just get outside! I don't know what the hell it is!"

The relaxed mood of everyone is instantly replaced with one of alertness. We've all drawn the same conclusion based off of Naruto's actions, something is wrong. Really wrong.