Chapter 39

"You heard Orochimaru say what?" Shirokumo asks a tiny brown spider in an empty storage room.

The tiny brown spider does a little dance, scurrying left and right quickly while waving each of its legs in an intricate pattern.

"I can't believe it." Shirokumo's body goes slack in resignation. "Is there no low that Orochimaru won't stoop to? To go so far as that! To have someone seduce another simply so he gains something he wants? He's defiling something that should be sacred. Aw shit! How am I supposed to tell Al this?"

The tiny brown spider frantically waves its two front legs.

"Yeah I know he's not going to take it well!" Shirokumo sighs. "And here I thought he might actually have one positive thing here. Why does everything fall apart around him?"

The tiny brown spider bobs its body thrice.

"Yes, you did good bringing this to me." Shirokumo praises him. "Keep spying for as long as you can, every little piece can help, we just might not know how yet. Although, I have no idea how this could be helpful. At the very least it should give him another reason to want to leave as soon as possible."

A Training Field, Otogakure

"Alright." I calmly say to myself as I start to go through my warm up stretches. It's really just a time waster, the Jiongu doesn't need to be stretched out. But I'm not really here to train, I'm here so no one will bother me. I rarely train by myself ever since I came here, it's so rare that this should be the last place for anyone to look for me. I'm here to figure out a few things.

"Should I tell Sasuke? Hell, can I tell Sasuke? If I do he might ask how I know and I'd need a very well planned out cover story." I stand up out of my stretches and start running. I'll get in a few laps before I move onto the more advanced things. When I say laps, I mean shinobi laps. I'm running straight at a wall, then up it onto the ceiling, then across that and down the far wall. Rinse and repeat.

"He deserves to know about Sakura, it wasn't just me who lost her. Honestly I should tell Kakashi about her too. I know I'll tell them both but when will I tell them? I can tell Kakashi in a letter -as tactless as that is that's about the only way we can talk right now- and I can rely on him to control himself around Orochimaru and Kabuto. But Sasuke? He can be very narrow minded, he could very well decide that now is the time to kill them both. We're not ready, we won't be for a while. But does that justify me keeping it from him?"

I skid to a stop from my all out sprint next to a box full of kunai. There's at least forty in there, it's more than enough for what I want. I extend chakra strings and attach them to all of them and starts twirling them in unison around my body.

"Here's where it gets even more perilous, should/can I tell him about Danzo? 'I want you to kill Sasuke Uchiha and bring me his eyes as proof.' Sure, to just about anyone else that makes sense. What is the best proof of a dead Uchiha? Their eyes. Yet I am not just anyone, I know who Danzo is. I know that he had a hand in ordering the Massacre. I know what's on his arm and in his covered eye."

I let the spinning metal tornado slow to a stop. All of the kunai are just hovering around me, not moving the slightest. Suddenly they all explode outwards like shrapnel from a grenade. Forty wickedly sharp kunai all deeply embed themselves into the walls, ceiling and floor. It's a dangerous move, that's for damn sure. It's also one I'll never be able to use if I have a teammate with me, they'd be caught in the technique too.

"I think he wants Sasuke dead because he turned traitor but I think he wants Sasuke's eyes even more. The Sharingan have become a limited resource and Danzo would happily kill multiple people for an extra two lives. Sasuke needs to know about this looming threat and I can't spin this off as a general thing. No, I have to tell him to specifically watch out for Danzo and Root. I can't always be there to step in, I can't always be there to watch his back. Take the Chunin Exams for example, we were apart for most of it. The only times we were together was during the time between exams."

I leave all but ten kunai embedded around the room. I start to twirl the ten around me again as I extend an additional ten strings from my fingers. A moment later I have all of the elements extending from each hand and soon those join the kunai spinning around me. This right now is my best defense, a sphere of earth, fire, water, lightning, wind and metal.

"Hell while we're on the topic of things I need to tell Sasuke, I need to tell him what Orochimaru really wants with him. I'm not even sure if he knows why he's really here. I bet he thinks it's because Orochimaru wants to study the curse seal or something equally as weird, like Orochimaru genuinely wanting to train Sasuke because he sees his potential. That one's not it, hell that isn't even why I'm here. Sure Orochimaru saw my potential, but what got me here was his obsession with calling me his child and the knowledge I can provide him. But Sasuke is here as a meatsuit. The only real interest Orochimaru has in Sasuke is as his next body and I'm 99% sure Sasuke doesn't know that."

I let my defense crumble, the kunai go flying and the elemental whips fade out of existence. I quickly fly through some hand seals and five one meter thick pillars of earth raise up out of the ground around me. They're all equally spaced apart from each other, from a bird's eye view they'd look like the points of a pentagon.

I fly through more hand seals and my cheeks swell. "Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!" Fires as hot as hell itself rage towards one of the pillars and melt it into a smoldering heap of slag.

"Who the fuck am I kidding, Orochimaru isn't event he biggest problem when it comes to Sasuke. It's his innocent brother, Itachi. That's the reason Sasuke is here, to become good enough to kill his brother. Is it worth it to try and convince Sasuke otherwise? In a little over two years can I change something that Sasuke has believed for most of his life? And how would I even do that? Say I got Shirokumo to set up a spy network in Konoha and he stumbled across a file labeled The Uchiha Massacre? That's flimsy at best and for something so important he'd demand hard irrefutable evidence. I implicitly trust my spiders, but he won't."

My cheeks swell again. "Wind Release: Pressure Damage!" The very air itself surges towards a pillar and turns the earth pillar to dust in blast of hurricane strength gales.

"Plus Itachi is dying. I have no idea how to save him, I don't even know if it is possible to save him. But if I can -and convince Sasuke he's innocent- he'd be one of the strongest people I'd ever have on my side. Itachi's presence alone could swing the tides of the Fourth Shinobi War, not only would it keep him out of the grasp of the Edo Tensi, but it would give the good guys a ridiculously overpowered piece. That's something worth looking into."

My cheeks swell yet again. "Lightning Release: False Darkness!" Lightning rips across the field and punches a hole straight through the earth pillar and continues on and spears into one of the far walls before it dissipates.

"Speaking of the Edo Tensi, I need to learn how to counter that before Sasuke and I finally kill Orochimaru. If we finally kill Orochimaru. In the off chance that I fail to prevent the Fourth Shinobi War I need to be as prepared as possible for it. Knowing how to dispel the Edo Tensi alone would be a major benefit, especially if Madara comes back again. I could force him back into the afterlife and with him goes the access to the Rinnegan."

"Earth Release: Devouring Earth!" Jaws of earth harder than tempered steel bear trap burst forth and crush one of the remaining pillars. Bits of the shattered pillar fly in every direction, if I ever use this jutsu to its fullest potential against an enemy they'll just be a bloody smear on the ground.

"I'm getting ahead of myself. One thing at a time, and first comes telling Sasuke everything that he needs to know. He'll have to learn all of it eventually and I'm the best person to tell him it all. First I'll let him know about Danzo, right now that's the most pressing issue. If Danzo knew who I was in the Chunin Exams you can bet your ass he knows that 'Red' is Sasuke. I'm sure my letter -as amusing as that was- didn't sooth things over with the wannabe dictator. We'll have to be extra wary for the tournament."

"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" Water surges out of my mouth and tears the last pillar apart in its multiple currents. It isn't just the one pillar that gets swept away, all of the debris that I've made throughout today are whisked away along with it. Once the water settles, I'm standing with it coming up to my ankles.

"Oops. May have overdone that one a bit."

Three Weeks Until the Final Tournament, Alvarcus's Room

"I can't put this off any longer." I say to myself as I lay in bed staring at my ceiling. Or rather what used to be my ceiling, it's completely covered with webs.

"Can't put what off any longer?" Shirokumo asks from above me. We've been hanging out today, he even went so far as to summon himself here and find me. If I didn't know better I'd say he's lonely.

"I need to tell Sasuke some stuff. Particularly about Danzo." I distractedly say. "It's just, I have no idea how to do it."

Shirokumo freezes, all of his limbs lock up. "You're friends." He carefully says. "Just come right out and tell him. It's what I'd want one of my friends to do. It's what I should do."

"You're right. He needs to know, but the thing is if I tell him I could be found out as a spy. I'm not so sure how well he'd take that."

Shirokumo doesn't speak for a long moment. "If you don't tell him, would it keep him safer? Would keeping it from him spare him unnecessary pain and suffering?"

"No." That's not even a question. "Him not knowing is the worst thing that could happen. Danzo is a lunatic, I don't doubt he has plans in place for the wayward Uchiha."

"The worst thing that could happen?" Shirokumo quietly mutter to himself. "Al, we need to talk about-"

"It's going to have to wait." I rise up from my bed. "This can't wait any longer. Each second I waste is a second in Danzo's favor. Can't have that."

Shirokumo stills again. "Alright. But we need to talk."

"Yeah, I'll summon you when I'm free. Sound good?"

"Be quick about it." He seriously says moments before he poofs back to the Nest.

"Okay. I can do this. Let's just go to his room and tell him. Just like Shirokumo said. Easy."

Outside Sasuke's Room

"I can't do this." I whine as I'm an arms length from his door. "There's no way this will end well. I'll just come back later. Yeah, once I plan ahead more."

"No." Aw fuck that's Sasuke. He's standing behind me, guess he was out of his room. "We will handle this now, I don't want you creepily standing outside my door while muttering to yourself. It reminds me too much of fan-girls. I won't be having that, no thank you."

He barges past me and throws open his door. "Well get in here." He gestures for me to come inside. It's happening now. Fantastic.

I walk into his room and take the chair at the desk as he plops onto his bed. He pins me with a stare. "Get on with it."

How am going to do this? It's not like I can just say "Sasuke you're in danger." I blurt out and instantly cover my mouth with my hands.

He raises a perfect eyebrow at me. "I'm in danger?"

"Well yeah. Remember the letter I wrote that was to this guy from Konoha who wanted me to kill you because he thinks I'd do that because I want to go back and he wants me to work for him and his underground shinobi black ops division and it crazy because he's technically not wrong but he is cuz I don't want to really go back if you're not going too because if you stay then Orochimaru could take your body and I don't want that because you're my friend and I have no idea if you even know that Orochimaru has plans to take your body and that's not even the worst of it then there's this whole Akatsuki group and then Obito/Madara/Tobi guy and he's going to manipulate you and you're going to hate Konoha cuz Itachi is not a bad guy and it's all a cluster fuck then the Fourth Shinobi War happens and I don't know how to go about stopping it all and it's all driving me fucking INSANE!"

Sasuke is staring at me with an open mouth. "I have no idea what the fuck you just said. Slow. Down."

"OkayYeahSlowDownICanDoThatSo-"

"Alvarcus slow down more. One thing at a time."

"We're both on Danzo Shimura's hit list." I blurt out. "He wants us dead." Well, I know he wants you dead and I'm pretty sure after that letter I sent he wants me dead too.

Sasuke looks at me with a blank face. "And who is Danzo Shimura?"

"He's the leader of Root, a elite subdivision of Konoha's ANBU that operates independently from the Hokage." I quickly tell him.

He stares at me for an uncomfortably long time. "You're taking this spymaster thing very seriously aren't you?"

Oh thank Kami, God, Jashin, Sage of the Six Paths, whoever/whatever is out there. By assuming that he made this so much easier on me. I don't have to explain how I really found out. "Well you know me, I don't do anything halfway."

"Figures you'd tell Shirokumo to go to Konoha next. Probably to keep tabs on everyone back there." He mutters to himself. "So basically you're telling me that we have an elite part of ANBU that will take any and every chance they get to claim our heads?" He ask for clarification.

"Yep, that's it in a nutshell. You're taking this extremely well." I comment offhandedly.

"Please, we went missing nin. Of course there will be shinobi after our heads. Although I admit having the leader of an elite force of ANBU personally take an interest in us is not what I expected."

I stare at him in mild disbelief. "Really? You didn't expect this? The Last Uchiha leaves Konoha and you think that important people wouldn't care to notice? Dude, you were their only hope to revive the Sharingan."

"And that's why I left." He hisses out. "They saw me as cattle, something to breed. I'm not, I won't be. At least here I don't have to worry about some asinine plot that revolves around the Sharingan."

I wince.

"You're joking. Alvarcus tell me you're joking." Sasuke demands.

"Uh... no. I'm not." Might as well clear this up now. Kami it's going to suck. Just take Shirokumo's advice and tell him. Be short and to the point. "Have you ever wondered why Orochimaru actually wants to train you? Why he keeps you around?"

"To study the effects of the curse seal." Sasuke confidently informs me. Then he falters for a moment. "Right?"

"Not exactly." I hesitantly start to explain. "I'm sure that's a reason, but not the reason. In all of Orochimaru's research he's discovered how to move his soul into another's body. He has his eyes set on yours for the next one."

"But why me?" Sasuke flounders. "Hell yours is better! You have the Jiongu and that does so many amazing things!"

"Sasuke, what were we just talking about?" I bring him back to reality. "Orochimaru wants the Sharingan. To him they're a tool to help him achieve his current goal: learning all the jutsu in the world."

"That's why he won't attack my head during training." A sudden moment of realization hits Sasuke like a train. "That's why he's gentler with me than you. That's why he spends more time working on your skills than mine. Because I have an expiration date."

"Like hell you do!" I roar at him. "Do you really think we're just going to sit by and let it happen? Sasuke, he can't do the jutsu for another two and a half years! That's plenty of time for us to either train up enough to kill him or for us to run away."

Sasuke balks away from me. "You think we can kill Orochimaru? You want to?"

"I want him to burn in hell for all eternity." The pure hate dripping off my words is palpable. Hate is all I have left for that man, no that creature. "Sasuke, you don't know this, but my life goal has changed. I no longer care about becoming S-rank as much as I used to, it's been replaced. Now my goal, my ambition, my dream, is to watch him die screaming in agony."

Sasuke sits in a stunned silence for well over thirty seconds.

"Two and a half years?" He asks me.

"Two and a half years." I confirm.

He cracks a cheeky grin. "That's plenty of time. Orochimaru will be a good test to see if I'm ready to face Itachi."

Two Weeks Until the Final Tournament, One of Otogakure's Training Fields

"Alvarcus." Orochimaru kindly says as I walk onto the field. "How are you today?"

"Orochimaru-sama." I briskly reply. "I have had better days."

He raises an eyebrow at me and pockets a scroll that he was holding. Obviously he's sensing that I'm in a foul mood again. I've been very standoffish ever since Shirokumo and I found out about Sakura. "We're going to do something different today."

Fan-fucking-tastic. Last time we did something different I... yeah. I did that.

"I'm going to let you chose what you wish to work on." Orochimaru finishes.

"Say that again?" I ask in confusion.

"You may pick what we work on." He says again.

That's new. He's always already had a plan ready for each day, unfortunately most of them cause me getting a ridiculous amount of pain. Well, I'm not one to dwell on something that's going my way. "I can chose anything?"

"Within reason." Orochimaru generously allows.

"Teach me about the Edo Tensi." I instantly demand. "Teach me how to use it, how to summon the dead. Teach me how to control them. Teach me how to dispel them, whether they're under my command or someone else's." The Edo Tensi can be a major pain in the ass, especially if the Fourth Shinobi War happens like it does in cannon.

Orochimaru's eyes widen in surprise. "You want to know how to cancel the Edo Tensi? Even if you aren't the summoner?"

"Yep." I'm not going to elaborate.

"No. I will not teach you that. Or did you forget that you yourself are a unique form of that technique?" Orochimaru asks with a great amount of concern on his face. "Alvarcus, you don't want to dispel yourself, do you?"

"Oh. I never thought that might happen." I honestly reply. "Could that happen?"

"I don't know and I will not find out." Orochimaru promises. "Pick something else."

Hmm... I could finally start on seals. Nah, I don't have the motivation for that. I don't really know any other elemental jutsu I want to learn. Genjutsu... not my thing so that's out. Taijutsu is out too, last time he 'helped' with that it didn't end well. "I don't really have anything else that I really want to learn. Can I just have a day off or something?" Pfft who am I kidding? That's never going to happen.

"I will see you tomorrow." Orochimaru casually walks out of the training field leaving me standing alone.

"Did that just fucking happen or am I dreaming? I never get out of training!"

A Few Hours Later, Alvarcus's Room

I stare at my paper covered wall. I have all the information about each of the Chunin Exams finalists displayed on various pages and organized from most dangerous to least dangerous.

"Alright, let's talk about the elephant in the room." I pull down Gaara's dossier. "Or rather the sand beast in the room."

"How the hell am I supposed to beat him without using the Jiongu or my chakra strings?" I mutter to myself as I flip through the various pages. "I used earth jutsu, so everyone should know I have access to that element. His sand should be vulnerable to water, at the very least it will slow it down. It isn't unlikely for someone to wield both earth and water, but for a gennin that'll certainly turn some heads. Maybe if I use mainly water and try to play earth off as my second element? That would let me use higher level jutsu against him. Plausible."

I snag Lee's dossier off the wall. "But not being able to use earth to set up walls to block Lee's taijutsu blows will definitely hinder me. Sure I can take a beating, but that's because of the Jiongu. A normal gennin level shinobi would go down after one hit. I suppose I could summon a bunch of spiders again, then using my 'secondary element' earth I could make pillars throughout the battlefield and have them string up webs all around. Kinda like what I did in the second exam." I tap my chin in thought. "Yeah that's not going to work. Maybe if I-"

SLAM

The door to my room flies open and smacks into the wall with unnecessary force.

"Hey Alvarcus!" It's Kidomaru. What's this guy want? "Here." He throws me a case of something.

"Uh thanks?" I say as I catch the impromptu projectile.

"Go on and open it." He urges with a gleam in his eyes.

I pop open the latches and peer inside. It's a case of kunai. I reach in and pull one out. I stand corrected, it's a case of chakra conductive kunai. "Wow. Thanks Kidomaru. I never expected this."

"You're welcome!" He cheerfully says as he goes to leave.

SLAM

"Kami damn it you don't have to slam the door!" I shout after his fleeting laughter. "What a dick. And here I thought he was trying to redeem himself." I close the case and place it next to my desk.

"Anyways, back to what I was doing before." I pick Lee's dossier back up. "Trapping him in webs is out, he'll just open some of the Gates and brute force his way out. There's no way in hell I'll be able to intimidate him to surrender like I did with Kankuro way back then. I could use a lightning jutsu to lock his muscles up. Crap, then I won't be able to use water against Gaara. Using lightning against them both is out, a gennin shouldn't know strong enough lightning jutsu to actually affect Gaara's sand."

I angrily throw the dossier onto my desk and grab two handfuls of my hair. "ARG! Why is this so difficult!? If I could just use my normal stuff I'd be perfectly fine!"

Knock knock

Someone is at my door. Crap, did I shout that last bit? "Come in."

Sakon pokes his head in. "Hello Alvarcus, I was hoping for a moment of your time?"

"Sure, come on in." I wave him inwards. "Did you need something?"

"No, actually. This is for you." He reaches into his robes and withdraws a scroll. "In here is some more advanced strategies that Ukon and I use when we separate. I know that you and Sasuke like to work as a two man team, perhaps you can tailor what I've made to suit your needs."

That's two people going out of their way to give me things. Strange. "Thank you. I'm not sure how applicable it will be to our style of fighting, but I promise to read it all."

"I'll leave you to it." With a gracious nod he exits my room.

"Okay. I'm just going to ignore whatever the hell got into Sakon and Kidomaru." I turn back to Lee's dossier again.

"Okay, so best ideas for him are lightning jutsu or simply letting him use the gates and then letting him beat me to a bloody pulp. I could maybe swing that last one since I'm from Sound so the idea that Orochimaru experimented on me to enhance my physical attributes isn't that crazy. Hell he kind of did already with the Jiongu. That's enough on him for now."

I put his dossier back up on the wall and pull down the next one.

"Hinata, she could be either the easiest person to beat or one of the hardest. The biggest question is: Can she use the Gentle Fist against me? She and Neji both unwittingly told me that I don't actually have a chakra network, my chakra is free flowing. If that's true then she shouldn't be able to disrupt my chakra. I'd have to test that though, let her get in one good hit and see what happens. Hell knowing my luck it'll freeze my entire chakra supply!"

Wouldn't that be amusing? It would be a one hit KO.

"Now, regardless of whether she can use the Gentle Fist against me or not, how am I going to beat her? I'll just bombard her with jutsu of whatever elements I decide to use, that should work. Even if she already has her form of Kaiten I'll just keep blasting away. I have more chakra than her, might as well abuse it. Or I could just catch a open palm hit and sock her in the temple. That depends on the Gentle Fist working. Enough on her, I should be fine against her."

I put her dossier back with the others. I reach for Kiba's next.

"Ah, what's the point?" I chuckle to myself. "I beat him once, I can do it again. I'll just make spider clones and when he pops them the spiders will all cover him in webs. If he can't rotate he can't use his strongest attacks. That should be simple enough there. If not, I'll use the earth pillar and webs idea I came up with for Lee. That should work on Kiba."

THUD THUD

"OI! Alvarcus you in there?" Jirobo calls through my door.

"What is it with you people today?" I mutter quietly to myself. "Yes! What do you want?"

"I've got something for ya! Open up!"

"Ugh fine!" I walk over to my door and yank it open. "I'm busy so make it quick or- what's with the giant sack?"

He grins evilly. "I found a bunch of those giant purple rope belts you're so fond of. Here, they're all yours!" He tosses the huge bulging sack straight at my head.

"OOF!" I buckle under the weight. "Holy crap how many are in here?"

There's no response because Jirobo is currently running down the hall while cackling like a mad man.

"You asshole I don't even like these belts!" I shout after him. "Why the fuck is everyone giving me things today?" I shove the sack back into the hallway. Someone will come by and pick them up, there's no way in hell I'm going to be using those monstrosities!

"I'm just trying to get a plan together!" I forcefully shut my door with a satisfying thud. "I swear if someone else brings me anything..."

I whirl around and stare at my recently shut door.

Nothing happens.

"Thank Kami, it isn't the gods acting up. That was the perfect time for someone to barge right in." I walk back to my workstation.

"Okay, who is next? Let's go with Shino in the spirit of going through all the Konoha nin." I take his dossier down. "Okay, I know his bugs don't like me. Obviously that's because I'm the Spider summoner, I can use that to my benefit. Just summon a bunch of smaller spiders and have them charge at him. Nah, that's a bad idea. Fire would be amazing against his swarm, but I can't keep adding in every damn element just because I feel like it."

I really need to stop relying on being able to use all the elements, even if I can use my full power. It's very possible I'll face opponents that are capable of taking a heart or two out, and if I lose the heart there goes the affinity too.

"I suppose I could use lightning for that, maybe make a kind of bug zapper? I could change a ridiculous amount of my chakra into lightning nature and see if it'll zap things that get close to me naturally. That's not a bad idea! I'll have to try that out then come back."

Two delicate knocks echo throughout my room.

"Who the fuck is it this time?" I growl to myself. "Yes?" I force myself to respond politely.

"Can I come in?" Tayuya asks.

"Oh come on! This makes all of the Sound Four!" I whine quietly. "Yeah, get in here."

She walks in. "Whoa. You've got a crap-ton of info on everyone don't you?" She asks as she's eyeing the wall full of dossiers about the finalist.

"That is the point of a spymaster." I sassily retort. "Kinda my new thing."

"Nah, that's Mister Spider's thing, you just get to use it." She tears her eyes off the wall and looks at me. "Anyways I came here to give you something."

She reaches into her hip pouch and pulls out a suspiciously orange book and hold it out to me. I take it and read the title, "Icha Icha Slave?"

"Yeah, back in Kusa you said you liked the Icha Icha series. I took this one off a dead guy a while back, figured you'd like to have it. Plus I've never seen you read this one."

"You're right about that. Domination and submission isn't my thing, but I'll still give it a read. Thanks Tayuya."

She smiles flirtatiously, "It may not be your thing, but who says it isn't my thing?" Then she saunters out of my room with a scandalous sway in her hips and sends me a sultry wink over her shoulder.

After I pick my jaw up off the floor, I come back to my senses. "Alright. That was... weird. Definitely filing that under the 'do not touch unless strictly necessary' memory bank."

I place the book on top of the other things people gave me today and turn back to my wall of dossiers.

"How the hell am supposed to focus after that?" I vigorously shake my head in a failed attempt to get the image of her walking away out of it. "Alright, focus! You stopped with Kiba and he was the last of the Konoha nin."

I look over the rest of the names and snag the final familiar one. "Hiro, the one who was obsessed with me. From what Shirokumo and I gathered, he has both wind and earth jutsu. That's really a strange combo, I'll need to be extra wary since I've never fought someone with both of those affinities before, he might know some interesting combo attacks. Also notable, he mentioned that he hasn't had a good fight in a while. Either no one from Taki wants to fight him because of his bloodthirst -which I could totally see- or he's not challenged by his peers anymore. Either way doesn't matter, I'll need to be on my toes around him."

"Hmm... what's some counters to him? All I really saw was his taijutsu and mine is better. Then he had no issue with making the earth prison, so it would be safe to say he's more familiar with earth than wind jutsu. Perhaps not, he didn't think of boxing someone in and had to call me for help. That's a sign of someone who is still working with something new, they don't know their limitations yet."

I stare intently at his dossier.

"This is getting me nowhere. I'm going to have to improvise that fight." I put his dossier back. "Hell I'm going to have to improvise the fight with the Kiri, Kusa shinobi, and Kusa kunoichi. We've got next to zero information on them."

I start rubbing my temples. "This is ridiculous. I bet all of my carefully laid plan crumble in the first five minutes." I slam my left hand down onto my desk. "What's the damn point!?"

"So you don't go in blind." Sasuke says from my doorway. "Even a little bit of information is better than no information. Take that Hiro guy for example, if I didn't hear you talk out loud about him I'd have no idea he had both wind and earth jutsu."

"Hey Sasuke." I tiredly say to him. "What brings you around?"

"I've got something for you." He withdraws a square piece of paper.

"You too?" I say in exasperation. I swear there's a plot against me.

He looks baffled for a moment. "Of course. Anyways, I brought it from Konoha." He hands it to me. "It probably means more to you than me."

It's a photo, not just any photo. It's Team Seven's photo, all four of us are there. Sasuke is on the right looking like he's rather be literally anywhere else. I'm on the left with a goofy grin on my face and still yellow eyes. Sakura is between us and is smiling like she's done this hundreds of times. Kakashi is standing behind us and is leaning down to ruffle Sasuke's and my hair.

It's a memoir of better times, back when we were all together. Back before the Jiongu. Back before the Land of Waves. Back before everything went wrong.

"Sasuke, I can't take this."

"You can and you will." He steadily tells me. "Besides, I have another. I don't need two."

"I can't... I... but..." I take a deep breath to collect myself. "Thank you Sasuke." I tenderly run a finger over Sakura. I never thought I would see her again. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Take care of it, it's the only one you're getting." He turns to leave.

"I will. Thank you again."

"Don't get all sappy on me. I gave you your present now I'm leaving."

"Hold up. Present?"

"Well duh. It's your-"

DING "Alvarcus, come to my office please." Orochimaru's voice echoes throughout the complex.

I rise to my feet. "Better not keep him waiting. See ya around Sasuke."

Orochimaru's Office

I quietly knock on the door. "You called for me, Orochimaru-sama?"

"Yes, yes. Come in and sit down." Orochimaru distractedly says.

I walk in and take my usual seat. In a formal tone I ask, "Did you need me for something?"

"Well, no. Not exactly." He shifts uncomfortably. "I've never really done something like this before. Never had a reason to really. And for some reason you've been... off ever since you came back from Kusa. It's never been the right time, but now I'm out of it." He reaches into his robes and pulls out a scroll. It's the one he put away in the training field. "Here."

I cautiously take it from him. "And this is..."

"A scroll detailing the dragon jutsu of each element." He quickly explains. "You already have overpowering jutsu, but sometimes you need more of a shock value. Having elemental dragons flying around the battlefield will certainly accomplish that."

I look up from the scroll to see uncertainty on his face again. I've never seen Orochimaru so off before. Nothing phases this creature, he's spent countless hours literally playing with the human anatomy just to see what happens. This creature perverted his soul so badly he himself is incapable of using natural chakra. This creature would gladly slaughter hundreds of people to achieve one of his lesser goals. Yet right now he's unsure of himself. In this moment he's surprisingly... human.

"Do you like it?" He asks.

"Yeah. It's definitely going to get it's use, that's for damn sure." I pocket the scroll.

"Good!" A true smile worms its way onto his face as his uncertainty leaves him. "Happy birthday Alvarcus."

Near Konoha, Exact Location Undisclosed

Hidden deep in a forest there's a bunker that has lied empty for decades. Only a select few people know where it exactly is, even less have seen it in person. It's a dreary place, surrounded by thick foliage and various dangerous beasts. Inside the bunker is bland, there's little ambient light and zero comforts. It's little more than a large empty room.

But today it isn't empty, for the first time in years there's people there.

Only two humans are present, one is young and pale. He has a lifeless look about him, like all the joys and emotions have been violently suppressed. The other human present is a stark contrast to the first, he's old and feeble. He is covered in more bandages than seems healthy, yet he's standing before the young one with confidence that only a battle hardened leader can command.

"Agent code-name Sai." The feeble one breaks the silence. "How do the rivers run?"

"With the blood of Konoha's enemies." The kneeling youngster responds without raising his head from a respectful bow. "I am yours to command, Danzo-sama."

"You interacted with Alvarcus." The aged shinobi's words aren't a question, he knows that he's already correct. "Tell me everything you know about him."

"Alvarcus Mar, wielder of the Jiongu, Hearth Thief of-"

"I know all of that already!" The old man lets a hint of emotion display for only a moment before he calms himself back down. "Tell me who he is as a person. What are his habits? What are his mannerisms? What are his strengths? What are his weaknesses? Tell me everything you observed about him."

"Of course Danzo-sama."