The 'Truth'

The other guy beside Orochimaru is…  Jiraya… even though he will become Konoha's spymaster in the future I can still somehow handle him… but I need to be EXTREMELY careful around Orochimaru… though I will still need to be on guard even against Jiraya...

Jiraya is smiling towards me and says in a cheery voice.

"Hahaha it seems like it was true… you were able to hold back the Raikage." 

I just smile at him… and point towards my missing arm and the scar in my neck and say with a melancholic tone in my voice.

"Honestly I was barely able to get out of this alive."

Then while sitting down on the ground he points at the ground besides him and says.

"Come sit down and relax, you fought one of the strongest living ninja. A Kage, a leader of a whole ninja Village."

He then grabs a cup of what it smells like watered down sake and he drinks it.

"You should be happy…it calls for a celebration… so c'mon let's eat some nice food that I brought directly from Konoha."

Then his face scrunched up in disgust.

"I know how gross the cardboard food can be on the front lines."

He takes out a storage scroll and…

*Poof*

A lot of food and drinks come out of the smoke.

I just smile politely and sit down on the ground with the table in front of me. Facing Jiraya and Orochimaru.

I look at Orochimaru who still has a cold look on his face looking towards me… Then suddenly a small smirk appears on his lips and he says...

"You can relax now. No matter what we can protect the camp. It is no longer your responsibility."

'He definitely is a perceptive snake.'

….

After half an hour of eating and talking. Jiraya is doing most of the latter. When suddenly he says.

"I need to go to the bathroom."

When he goes outside of the tent the atmosphere immediately becomes awkward… and I don't care about the awkwardness… I need an opening in Orochimaru to be able to slightly manipulate him… plus I need to be extra careful with smart and dangerous people like him… 

Suddenly Orochimaru is the first to break the ice. And with a weird smile on his face he says.

"I wonder… is it true that you were able to hold back the Raikage… or were you lying…"

'This is it'

I just smile slightly and with a strange tone in my voice and a pitying look I say to him.

"So you suspect my story… I suppose it is only to be expected. Though you have my pity. There is no such thing as 'truth' or 'lies' in this world; there never has been. There is only plain, hard facts. And yet, all beings who exist in this world take only those 'facts' that are convenient to them, and take them to be the 'truth'. They do so because they know no other way to live. However, for those powerless beings that make up the majority of this world it is those 'facts' that are inconvenient for their own self-affirmation that make up the real 'truth'."

The more I talk the more his eyes widen… he has a shocked look in his face… 

It was hard to keep myself from smirking… sometimes it is easier to trick a genius than an idiot.

'Also Checkmate Orochimaru...' 

….

Then after a couple of minutes Jiraya comes in. Orochimaru now has a calm mask on… but I can see it in his eyes, the barely hidden curiosity and contemplation…

The rest of the day passed like this. Jiraya messing around as soon as Jiraya came back from the toilet  Orochimaru excused himself and he went away. Then I had all night to try and keep an act and a lie going on, always being 100% alert and on guard to not let anything slip out . Though I am smiling on the outside. This is a very stressful situation for me… I had to describe a whole different battle against the Raikage which did not EVEN happen. I had thought of what to say but then Jiraya kept asking stupidly accurate questions…. I had to do a lot of very careful improvising.

….

-Tomorrow-

….

You know Jiraya is way more smarter than he seems. I mean even though I tried very hard to give accurate descriptions mixed with a lot of half-lies, and at the end I tried to lead the story on him to think that I am hiding something and when he mixes the clues together with the story I had cooked up he will 'discover' what I am trying to hide. The 'truth' is that I used the Raikage's teammates as a hostage and such.

I also got the confirmation that I can return to Konoha whenever I want now. After getting everything ready and even having a team to escort me. Before taking off, I go to Jiraiya's tent and when I go inside I see him writing some book or something like that. He turned towards me and when he locked eyes with me... He smiled and said in a cheery voice. 

"Do you need something Yami… or did you come here to say goodbye to the gallant Jiraya."

I just smile slightly and take out a scroll from my Jounin flak jacket and toss it towards him.

After he catches it I just smirk at him and say.

"There are four of the seven ninja swords in that scroll. I promised Tsunade -sensei that I would singlehandedly end the war against the Mist… it seems like I won't be able to do so. Use the swords as a bargain or something to help end this horrible war."

I act a little sad when saying the last part.

Jiraya then looks at me with a serious look.

"Don't worry Yami… you have comrades you can depend into…"

He then smiles again.

"If you ask them… I am sure they will give you a shoulder to lean on, and help you hold that burden."

I just nod and smile at him. I then thank him then I go towards the team that I will be travelling with. There are fourteen members, most of them are chunin. There are a couple Uchiha giving me the stink eye. But I just simply ignore them…

I think back on the words that Jiraya said.

But he doesn't understand that to trust in another person's ability is the same as to rely upon that person. Reliance is for the weak. It is of no use to me…at the end of the day... the only person I can rely on to fix my problems is… myself… and as soon as I arrive in Konoha the problem with me allegedly stealing a sharingan it is upon MY shoulders to fix that problem….