Chapter 15

I wake up to the strangest sound.

"Sasuke, please, this isn't you. Please stop!" Why is Sakura begging Sasuke to stop? What's going on?

I crack open my eyes, and wince. The light hurts. Everything is so bright. Instantly the pain goes away and everything comes into focus. I'm in a hollowed out tree.

I'll figure it out why later, me team needs me. Something is wrong, Sakura wouldn't sound this stressed unless she is facing true danger.

I burst out of the tree to see Sasuke holding one of the Sound nin by his arms and his leg on his back. The sound nin are attacking my team. I need to help. I need to save them, I need to protect them.

~You need to kill them.~

I need to kill them to protect my team!

~Yes, use me! Let me free!~

I lash out with my chakra strings at all three Sound nin. I will protect my team!

I hear a scream. Sakura. Sakura is screaming. Why?

"Alvarcus! Stop! You're going to kill them!" She shouts at me.

I'm going to kill who? I look at the Sound nin. What I see is the things of nightmares. My precious chakra strings, usually invisible, are black. And they aren't doing what I told them to. They coil around each Sound nin, and then do the unthinkable.

They dig into their flesh. Screams of pain and fear fill the air. The sound nin are being ripped to pieces.

"No!" I yell. "Stop! Stop! No! NO! I said STOP! I can't stop, it's not me! It's not me!" The threads dig into all three sound nin's chests. Blood flies everywhere covering the clearing, staining the once green forest red.

The threads rip out their hearts. All three of them. Slowly, the threads start to retract inside me.

"Someone stop it! Someone help me! What do I do! HELP ME!"

No one comes to my aid. The threads take the Sound gennin's hearts to my back. They each rip into my skin, creating long gashes. I scream. I'm not the only one who does. The threads shove the hearts into me, and then shiver in ecstasy. I feel it throughout my whole body.

I fall to my knees in defeat.

~Wonderful.~

"Alvarcus? Are you okay now?" Sakura tentatively asks.

I bury my face in my hands and start crying. Loud wailing sobs, I hold nothing back.

"There is something wrong with his body. He doesn't have a chakra system, chakra is flowing freely thorough him." A voice I don't know says. "I can see organs, but there is something wrong with them. I don't know how to describe it. It's like all of his major organs are made of threads. And the three new hearts are still there. Their purpose is unknown, but the threads are doing something with them."

"I'm a monster." I blurt out. "I'm a monster. He made me into a monster."

"No you are not." Sakura tries to comfort me from a distance. Her words are a hollow comfort, she's to scared to get close.

"How can you be so sure?" I look up at her, only to see her take a step away from me.

"Oh my Kami your eyes. What happened to your eyes?" I shove my face back into my hands.

Sasuke barges over, he's the only one willing to come within five meters of me.

"Alvarcus."

I don't respond.

Softer he says, "Alvarcus, let me see. That bastard did something to me too. When I woke up I wasn't myself."

I slowly tilt my head upwards, firmly keeping my eyes closed.

"Alvarcus. Open your eyes."

I do. Sasuke is right there, only an arms distance away. I watch him carefully. He doesn't react.

"Nothing a pair of sunglasses won't fix." He stands up, and offers me his hand. "Get up. We only have half a day to get to the tower now."

I was out for four days?

"The scrolls?" I ask.

"I have them. Both of them. I gave team Gai the extra heaven scroll as payment for an escort to the tower." Sakura tells us. Smart girl.

"Okay. Who is team Gai? Them?" I turn to the three semi unknown people here.

"We are. I am Neji Hyuuga. This is Rock Lee and Tenten."

"Alright. It's best if no one gets too close to me for now. I don't know what that was, but I couldn't control it." I tell everyone.

"Good idea. Let's get moving." Neji says and we head out to the tower.

At the Tower

"Open both scrolls." I tell the arguing teams. "That is what we are supposed to do."

Sakura huffs, with a mumbled "I knew I was right." She opens both scrolls. Iruka pops out.

"Congratulations on passing the second phase of the Chunin Exams! You two teams cut it pretty close."

"We had a rough time of it." I say while staring at the floor. I don't want him to see my eyes.

"So I heard. We are gathering the contestants in the lobby area now, so lets get there. After a preliminary round you all can get medical attention." Iruka noticed how beat up we look.

We follow Iruka to the lobby. All of the gennin are standing around on the floor, all of the jonin are up on balconies. Timidly, I approach Shino.

"Hey Shino?" He turns to me. "This might seem a bit weird, but do you have any spare sunglasses I can borrow?"

"Why do you need them?"

They would find out eventually. These are my friends, I can trust them. Mustering my courage, I look Shino in the eye. I hear Team 8 gasp. I know that it has to be terrifying. I haven't even seen my own eyes yet, I can only imagine.

"Here." Shino reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out a pair of sunglasses.

"Thanks. I owe you one." Shino nods.

As I walk back to my team I hear Hinata whisper, "His whole body is that way now."

I wince. By the end of the day everyone will know that something is wrong with me.

Anko drops down onto the lobby floor, and starts talking about something. I tune her out, it's unimportant. Eventually, the Hokage takes over talking. I barely notice, I'm off in my own world wondering what the hell is wrong with me. I have the Jiongu now. That one thought keeps going through my head. I have the Jiongu now.

"Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akado please stay on the floor. If everyone else will go to the balconies?" A man asks. My brain vaguely supplies Gekko Hayate as his name. Mechanically I make my way to Kakashi with Sakura.

"You've had a trying week." Kakashi says.

"You have no fucking idea how right that is."

Kakashi pins me with a glare. "Alright, you deserve that one. That's all you get."

I nod in acceptance. It isn't everyday Kakashi let's me get away with cursing.

"Kakashi-sensei?" I meekly ask.

"Hm?"

"I know this is a long shot. Can you help me?" Please have something. Anything, I'll take even the slimmest of chances to fix this.

"Kid, I can't even help Sasuke and all he as is one cursed seal. I have no idea how to even start helping you." I didn't expect much, but this is literally nothing. "I don't even know what Orochimaru did to you."

That makes me feel even worse. How little is known about the Jiongu? There can't be much, the only user is Kakuzu and he is super old by shinobi standards.

"Winner! Sasuke Uchiha!"

"That's my cue. I need to get that cursed seal contained. I'll be back in time for your match."

I lose myself in thought again. What if it is irreversible? My organs are gone. Only Tsunade would even attempt to help me. That is a good idea, I should go see Tsunade. Maybe she'll know a technique to help me.

"Winner! Shino Aburame!" I missed Shino's fight? I watch the medics cart off red Naruto minion. So if the minion is here that means Naruto passed too. Good for him.

I have the Jiongu. Orochimaru gave me the Jiongu. That thought keeps circling around in my head. Can I control it like Kakuzu? Orochimaru said that this one is different from his, but he implied the unaltered version came from him.

"Winner! Kankuro of the Desert!" Huh? I missed another match.

"Next up, Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka!"

"Wish me luck Alvarcus!" Sakura says with a fire in her eyes.

"Good luck Sakura. I believe in you." Sakura heads down to the combat area. I snap myself out of my funk. I need to support Sakura. The Jiongu isn't going anywhere.

"Yo. What did I miss?" Kakashi asks.

"I don't know. I wasn't watching, my mind was elsewhere. Sakura is going to fight now."

"You're really out of it, aren't you?"

"Do you remember the agony you felt when you lost your eye?" Kakashi tenses. That is a sore subject. I don't care. "Imagine that, but everything. Slowly. Over the course of many hours."

"When you say everything..."

"All but my heart and skin." He flinches. Good. Understand my pain. "Even my brain."

At that all of the jonin in hearing range look at me in shock.

"You heard me." I don't elaborate. I am slightly bothered they are listening in on our conversation, but they would probably find out anyways.

"If you need someone to talk to I will listen." Kakashi offers. "I can't say I know what you are going through, but I am here for you."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei."

"Double KO, no winner!" Huh, that actually happened. I'm surprised. "Next match: Temari of the Desert vs Tenten!"

"That's a bad match up for Tenten." I comment. Kakashi nods. We watch Tenten get beat in silence.

"Winner! Temari of the Desert! Next match, Shikamaru Nara vs Daki Oboro!" That's Naruto's other minion, the green one.

"Great this match will take forever." It did, Shikamaru won. He caught his opponent in his shadows and forced him to surrender. "Winner: Shikamaru Nara!"

"Next Match: Kiba Inuzuka vs Alvarcus Mar!" Wait what? This is supposed to be Naruto's fight. Fuck it, I can't bring myself to care.

"Be back soon Kakashi-sensei." I call over my shoulder.

"Alvarcus." Kakashi says to me. "Don't kill him."

"I'm still me, sensei. Whatever he did to me didn't change who I am, just what I am." I make my way to the combat area.

Kiba greets me with a feral grin, "You're going down buddy! Akamaru and I are going to kick some ass!"

In a monotone voice, I say "I recommend you surrender. I can't pull my punches right now. I could seriously end up hurting you." I pause. "Maybe even kill you." Can't say I didn't warn him.

"Pfft! You won't even be able to touch me!" He smacks his chest arrogantly.

"The last people I fought I ripped their hearts out on accident." Kiba stops his warm up stretches. "I can't guarantee your safety."

"Dude, we're shinobi." Kiba is undeterred. "Danger is the job description. Quit beating around the bush and let's fight already!"

"Contestants ready?" Hayate asks us.

"Hell yeah!" "Bark!" Kiba and Akamaru are revving to go.

Hell no I am not ready. "Yes."

"Begin!"

"Akamaru! Man beast clone!" Poof, there are two Kibas now. "I know I can't hold back on you! Dodge this! Fang over Fang!" A tornado of claws and teeth zoom towards me.

Please be chakra strings. Black threads -dammit- rip out of my back and plant themselves on a wall and pull me to safety.

"Again!" Another pass, I move myself out of the way again. "One more time! We almost got him!" Kiba and Akamaru zip straight at me.

"Will you surrender?" I ask. I'm not moving this time.

"Never! You'll have to actually fight me!"

"Fine, but it's not my fault if you die." The twisting tornadoes are almost upon me.

~Can we kill him?~

"Not this one." I let my threads rip themselves out of my chest. My skin splits from left hip to my right shoulder. My shirt is ruined. I will the threads to catch the tornadoes that are Kiba and Akamaru, black threads clamp down on both of my opponents stopping them instantly. They don't have the drilling power to get through the Jiongu.

I doubt I could recreate the same feat if I used only chakra strings. The Jiongu is much more durable.

"Surrender." I order.

Kiba starts wiggling to try and get free. I squeeze tighter.

"Surrender or I break something." That just makes him struggle harder.

"Last chance, you made me go this far. Surrender or I break something on Akamaru." I hear gasps from the crowd, and something infinitely more terrifying.

"Kukukuku." Orochimaru is here. He knows I survived.

Kiba stills and turns a glare on me. "That's low. That's real low."

"You're the one who isn't surrendering when he is clearly beat. The match is over. You have five seconds to surrender or I start squeezing. Five. Four. Three."

"Proctor I give!"

"Winner: Alvarcus Mar!"

Medics rush onto the combat area, they practically charge at me. "Come, lay down. You've lost a huge amount of blood. Your wounds aren't even bleeding, that's how little you have. I have no idea how you are alive let alone standing."

"Were you not informed?" He's only a chunin. Do they not know? Who does know? Even some of the jonin looked shocked at me earlier.

"Informed about what? You can tell me all about it once you lay down."

"I don't require medical attention. See to Kiba and Akamaru please." I wasn't kidding when I said I could seriously hurt them. I've only wielded the Jiongu once before, and I ended up stealing still beating hearts.

"Now listen here, I watched you rip your skin up to use those weird black thingies! You need medical attention now! Get on the stretcher!"

I rip my shredded shirt off.

"I don't require medical attention. The wounds have closed themselves." I'm not even lying, the Jiongu stitched me shut. I now have a massive scar on my chest that is being held closed by black stitches. On further examination there are some very unique stitched closed scars on my arms. I wonder what my back looks like? I had three hearts shoved into me after all. It can't be pretty. One week ago I could count my number of scars on one hand. Now my body is covered in them.

"So it would seem. I'm going to run a diagnostic jutsu anyways."

Stubborn medic. "Fine, when the results terrify you don't freak out."

The medic places his green glowing hands on my chest. "Impossible. That can't be right."

"What are the results?"

"Your organs are gone. Everything is gone, but you have 4 hearts. I must have done the jutsu wrong."

"Nope, that's right." The medic stares at me in disbelief. "I told you the results would terrify you. Now let me go." I take advantage of his shock to get past him. I snag a spar shirt out of my mission bad and I head back towards Kakashi.

"Medic troubles?" He asks.

"Yeah. Apparently I have too many hearts and not enough of everything else."

"Hmm... Interesting. You missed a fight by the way. Neji vs Hinata. Neji won, it was a tough match to watch." I wince. If it was anything like cannon, it was a brutal fight.

"Next match! Rock Lee vs Gaara of the Desert!" That fight happened exactly like cannon, Lee put up one hell of a fight. In the end Gaara managed to catch him and crush his legs. It was brutal.

Gaara looks up at me and asks me a question while Lee is being carried off by the medics.

"Are you afraid of me now?" A simple question.

"Gaara, go back to your family. I've put up with enough shit from you Sand Siblings. If you keep acting like this, we are not getting ice cream later."

Gaara does as told, which is mildly amusing. Temari and Kankuro have gobsmacked looks on their faces. I can't blame them, I am surprised he didn't try to kill me for that comment. Maybe he really wants that ice cream?

"Next match! Naruto Uzumaki VS Choji Akimichi! Begin." What happens next is a game of kickball played by Naruto shadow clones with Choji as the ball. Naruto won.

"Would all of the winners please report to the combat area. We will be drawing numbers to determine the order of the final tournament." Hayate wheezes out. All the victorious gennin make their way down to the floor. "Please, come take a number out of this box.

"Me first, me first!" Naruto rushes towards Hayate, reaches in the box, and pulls out "Number 1! Ha! Take that everyone else! I'm number 1!"

"Oh shut up Naruto. Getting number 1 just means you go first, not that you are the best." I say while walking past him to the box. I reach in. "Number 6." I go back to the group of gennin.

Shino walks up to it, "Number 9."

Neji goes next, "Number 2." That means he is fighting Naruto, just like in cannon.

Gaara approaches the box, "Number 4."

Temari takes her turn, "Number 7."

Kankuro follows after, "Number 5."

Shikamaru goes last, "Number 8."

"That leaves Sasuke Uchiha with number 3." Hayate announces.

That makes the match ups this:

Naruto vs Neji

Sasuke vs Gaara

Kankuro vs Alvarcus

Temari vs Shikamaru

Shino gets a by.

Kankuro. I will be fighting Kankuro. That promises to be an interesting match up. His puppetry vs my chakra strings. Or Jiongu now, I need to figure out if I even can use chakra strings anymore.

"I've had enough of these Sand Siblings! Proctor! I want to switch opponents!"

"No."

"Fine, asshole."

With the matches revealed, I decide it is time to go home. This is going to be horrifically bad. While distracted by my imminent fight with my parents, I fail to notice a Grass jonin approach me.

"You survived." My world shatters. That is Orochimaru's voice. He is right behind me. "To live through two experiments! How marvelous! Tell me, how did it feel?"

I turn to face him. "If you want to know so badly, I can stick some of the threads in you and you can find out for yourself."

"Testy, testy! You know, I still owe you a debt." He's right, I only used one pause during our fight in the forest. I don't see why that matters.

"I can teach you to control it." Orochimaru offers.

I consider his offer. That is tempting, he has a good point. Who else could teach me about the Jiongu? Kakuzu? Fat chance of that happening. Even if I did find him, he would kill me out of annoyance.

"You don't have to answer now. I am a patient man. Take this as a gesture of good faith, and a taste of what I could teach you." He holds out a scroll to me. "It is a jutsu scroll that has some basic information on the Jiongu and all of Kakuzu's most used techniques. He's the one I got the Jiongu from originally."

"No strings attached? No debt fulfillment? No favors owed?"

"None. A token of good will. A glimpse into the future perhaps?"

I accept the scroll from him. Orochimaru smiles victoriously.

"You'll come to me. Deep down you already know I am the best chance you have to achieve your dream. I can make you S-rank. You said it yourself, I am a great shinobi. I rank among the best. I will personally train you, all you have to do is accept my generous offer." He walks away. Over his shoulder he calls out to me, "We will meet again child. I will have you join me."

Can today get any worse?

With I huge sigh, I start walking home. I better get this over with. I only make it one block.

Suddenly I am surrounded by four masked ANBU.

"Alvarcus Mar. You are to come with us. The Hokage wishes to speak with you."

Great, now this is happening. "Right now?" One of the ANBU members nods. "What are we waiting for. Let's go." I'm whisked away in their shunshin. Kami that is an unpleasant feeling.

The Hokage's Office

"Alvarcus! I'm glad to see you haven't picked up your sensei's tardiness. If I summoned him I would have to wait at least three hours." The Hokage greets me with a warm grandfatherly smile.

"Hokage-sama, permission to speak freely?"

"Of course. Whatever you have to say I will listen." He graciously allows.

"Just get to the damn point. I don't want to play this game where we dance around each other for half an hour and then we finally get serious. I've had the worst weak in the history of bad weeks and I just want to go home and relax." Oh wait, I can't do that because my parents aren't talking to me anymore. Fantastic.

The Hokage chuckles. "Ah to be young again. No time for pleasantries, yet you have all the time in the world."

"Cut the crap. You want to know about Orochimaru and what he did in the forest." The Hokage nods. "I'm assuming you didn't get Sasuke in here because Jiraya is looking at his seal?" The Hokage drops the grandfatherly act and dons his real face.

This is the man that runs this village. This is the shinobi who has lived through wars. This is the Hokage. He is a force like no other, he is the most dangerous being I have ever seen.

"Very smart of you. How did you know he was in the village?" The Hokage demands.

"Naruto is here. I was there when Jiraya took him away from the Academy. No one saw him again until the Chunin Exams started. My guess was that Jiraya wanted to watch his new student compete, but since things went wrong during the exam and Sasuke has a new seal branded onto his skin you got Jiraya to stick around to look at it. If Jiraya jumped town already you would have called Sasuke in here, not me. He was conscious for longer anyways."

"Very good. You have a sharp mind. Tell me then, why didn't I call in Sakura?" The Hokage puffs on his pipe.

"She isn't a kunoichi yet. She hasn't made the jump, she is still too civilian. But she's close, very close. If the Chunin Exams and confronting Orochimaru didn't make her take the leap, then I have no idea what will. She can't handle talks like this, she'd crack out of pressure or leave something important out on accident. She might even omit information to protect Sasuke or me, believing she is doing the right thing." As an afterthought I add, "Or she is still unconscious from her fight."

"Just like Orochimaru. You both think in the same ways, like no other." The Hokage is comparing me to Orochimaru? "You even look like he did in his youth. Fair skin, black hair, and yellow eyes." I remove my sunglasses. I have to give the man some credit, he didn't even pause. "Forgive my oversight, I am sure that you still need time to adjust." I put them back on. "Now, tell me everything that you can about Orochimaru."

I do. I tell him from the point when the female Orochimaru approached me up to the point where he gave me the jutsu scroll. He never interrupts once. I leave nothing out. I even tell him that I was used in a failed Edo Tensi, but I don't mention Orochimaru wanting me for my knowledge of the past, or the fact that I'm not from this world. He just listens, unyielding, unreadable. I finish my story. The Hokage sits in silence for awhile.

"May I see the scroll that he gave you?"

I reach into my hip pouch and withdraw the scroll. I hand it over. The Hokage quickly scans it over the next few minutes, I wait patiently. If I don't get the scroll back it's not the end of the world. I don't really need to learn the jutsu Kakuzu uses or the basic information on the Jiongu.

"Take care of this scroll. It is not without thought that Orochimaru would give this to you." He hands the scroll back over to me.

I honestly didn't expect to get it back.

"The information on the Jiongu alone will aide you greatly." Ah, it must be common knowledge then. Or at least easily accessible. The Hokage wouldn't trust me with sensitive information.

"May I ask you a question, Alvarcus?" That is just the Hokage trying to be polite. He can order me to respond regardless of whether I want to or not.

"Go ahead."

"In your story, you said that Orochimaru is a great shinobi." I nod. I did. "You even said you compare yourself to him, as if you use him as a measuring stick. As if you look up to him. Do you?"

"I hate that man with my whole being. I want him to die violently for what he did to my team." I growl out.

The Hokage smiles. "You care that he put the curse seal on Sasuke more than that he gave you the Jiongu?"

I consider that question for a moment. I know what Sasuke could become. I know the horrors of the cursed seal. The Jiongu is tame compared to that. Well, at least Kakuzu's Jiongu was, I am not so sure about my Orochimaru variant.

"Yes. I do." The Hokage's smile gets wider. "I fear for Sasuke. Orochimaru wanted him for something specific. He came here for him, I was just a happy accident. If I was anyone else he probably would have killed me. He most likely spared me because his experiment went successfully. He can learn from me. I still have a use in his eyes."

The Hokage nods in agreement. "One last thing. The knowledge you have of the past."

I freeze. Shit, it makes sense he knows how the Edo Tensi works. He figured out this isn't my first life from my story.

"I'm making it an SS-class secret. Tell no one of it. Not your teammates, not Kakashi, not the next Hokage. Not even me. Never speak of it."

That... is not what I expected. I thought for sure I would be slammed into T&I to spill all of my secrets.

"The past is in the past. It is best left buried. You can go now." The Hokage waves at the door.

Both Orochimaru and the Hokage have implied that I know the past, lived it. Could this be my world, just far into the future?

I hesitate by the door. "Hokage-sama? Will you permit me a question?"

The Hokage looks up from his paperwork. "Yes. Go ahead and ask. I can't promise I can answer, but I will at least hear it."

"Is... is there any hope of me getting rid of the Jiongu? You're The Professor, the God of Shinobi. If anyone has even the faintest idea of a technique that might work it would be you. Please be honest. I need to know if I have to live like this for the rest of my life."

After careful consideration, the Hokage replies. "No. I know of no techniques that could reverse the effects. The only ones that even come to mind require human sacrifices, usually the users."

I thought so. "I will never sacrifice others for my gain. So there really is no hope. Thank you for your time, Hokage-sama." I go to leave the office. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a true smile on his face for the first time.

When I have one foot out the door he calls out to me. "Alvarcus, just because I don't know the solution does not mean there is no solution. Do not give up hope so easily, I can tell the Will of Fire burns brightly in you." He truly means every word. Why does he trust me so much? I wouldn't trust me at all. I exit the Hokage Tower.

It's time to face my parents.

Alvarcus's House

I stand outside the front door. Should I knock? I don't even feel welcome in my own house anymore. How pathetic.

I knock. Tou-san opens the door.

"Hello Alvarcus." He coldly greets me.

"Hello tou-san. Is kaa-san home? I need to tell you both some stuff."

"She's in the living room." We go inside nad sit down awkwardly in silence.

"I... uh... I don't know where to start. I've had something bad happen to me. Something terrible. Done by someone even worse."

My parents fall still. "Its true then. Orochimaru came back. He talked to you, didn't he?" Tou-san whispers.

I cringe. "He did more than talk. He gave me a 'gift.' He used me in an experiment."

"NO! Not you too!" Kaa-san shouts.

"Kaa-san, you know Orochimaru?" I know Orochimaru did something to me while I was a fetus, but do my parents know that? Did they allow Orochimaru to do it?

Namika pales, all of the color leaves her face. "Y-yes. Fujita and I are originally from the Land of Rice. It's been renamed the Land of Sound. He wouldn't let anyone leave. We had to submit to one of his tests to get out of the country. So I did. All he did was run his hands over my stomach, and said 'Another failure. How disappointing.' I wouldn't know what he did until you were born. I didn't know I was with child! I didn't know he would imprint himself onto you! I am so sorry! Please, forgive us. We didn't know!"

"Is that why you didn't want me to become a shinobi? Because you thought I was Orochimaru reborn?" I have to know.

"No! Of course not!" I can see the lies in her eyes.

"You're lying. I can tell. You really think I'm like Orochimaru?" I stand up. "You think I am like him?" I remove my shirt, displaying all of my new scars. "You think I would do this to another person!" I rip my sunglasses off my head, revealing my new eyes. I catch sight of myself in a mirror for the first time.

My eyes are solid black masses of threads. Always moving, always shifting. The familiar yellow is gone, replaced by this soulless black. My chest is ruined. Scars litter across it, the most visible is the one from shoulder to hip, seconded by the spot where Orochimaru put his fist through my gut. My arms look like they have been through a blender. I turn around and show them my back. I hear sobs start to come from both of my parents. In the mirror I see three deformed pulsing lumps. The hearts. There are long gashes over the lumps, a reminder of where they entered my body. Littered over my back are various exit points the Jiongu used during my brief fights with it. What used to be clear pale skin is now a horribly scarred mess. I can give Ibiki a run for his money in a game of who has the worst scar.

"He did this to me. Orochimaru did this to me. And you thought I was like him? I'm disgusted with you both." I pick up my shirt and sunglasses and stomp my way to the front door. "I'm moving out. You'll never have to see me again. Goodbye."

"Alvarcus wait!" Kaa-san calls out to me.

I don't. I sunshin away. I can't be with them. I can't. Not anymore. Not now that I know they thought I was a mini Orochimaru.

Where can I go? I reach into my hip pouch and withdraw Kakashi's envelope. He did say I can use it whenever I need to. I open the envelope and take out a key and his address.

It takes me fifteen minutes to get to his apartment. I knock on the door.

"Kakashi-sensei? Are you inside?"

There is no response.

"Guess not."

I open up the door. I half expect traps to trigger and attempt to spear me full of kunai. Nothing happens.

"That was disappointing." I say to no one.

I explore the apartment, it's small. A two bedroom with a tiny kitchenette and a living room.

"Cozy."

I stay out of the bedrooms. That is none of my business. I start stripping out of my mission gear, I put on civilian clothes and lay down on the couch. With one last thought, I surrender to sleep. Fuck this week.

I wake up to the smell of dog and a weight on my chest. I open my eyes and see a pug wearing a blue vest and a Konoha headband happily snoozing away on top of me. Cute.

"Excuse me friend, but I need to use the bathroom. Could you let me up?"

Grumbling to himself, the pug says, "Fine. But you better come back. You make the best personal heater." He gets off of me.

"Thanks." I walk to the bathroom. I do my business and then I go back to the couch. "So. Talking dog. That is a new one. Either I'm tripping on some crazy drugs, or you're a summon."

"Ha-ha! I'm Pakkun, Kakashi's summon. No one has reacted to me like that before! Usually it's 'AH! A talking dog!' or 'Wow, you have soft paws.' I do have soft paws. Want to feel them?" Pakkun holds out a paw for me.

"Maybe later. I believe I was being someone's personal heater?" I lay back down on the couch. Pakkun climbs back onto my chest. "So, shouldn't you tell Kakashi that I'm awake or something? I doubt he summoned you here without a purpose."

"You were crying in your sleep. He didn't know what to do, he doesn't have puppies of his own, so he called me. I just plopped down on you and you stopped crying. Sometimes all you need is a good snuggle." He's absolutely adorable.

"Ah. I would appreciate it if you kept that between us. I have nightmares a lot, ever since my first mission outside of Konoha. They have a direct relationship with how good my days go. If I have a bad day, I get a bad nightmare. And yesterday, I had the mother of all bad days."

"I'll only tell Kakashi. That's the best you're going to get." Pakkun says while circling around on me, trying to get comfortable. Finally he lays down. "I swear kid, you put off more heat than anyone else I've ever met. It's the best."

I wonder if that could be a by-product of the Jiongu? There is a lot I don't know about it.

"Go back to sleep. I'll wake you if Kakashi comes in."

"Thanks Pakkun."

I drift off to sleep.