Orochimama

Chapter 43

The Village of Hidden Mist felt on edge even in the wee hours of the morning. I had snuck into the village previously and knew it wasn't because of an expected attack, that's just how the village felt. The thick air hung heavy with suspicion and fear for years. You never knew when you'd have said the wrong thing or made the wrong friend and it was going to bite you in the ass and it reflected in the village. Houses stood as bare scraps or veritable fortresses, there was but one bridge into town over the wet marshes and swamps that stood around the city; swamps and marshes that were full of things just waiting to kill the unsuspecting person unlucky enough to spend time there.

We moved under the cover of fog. Hidden Mist had perpetual fog, so no one batted an eye at the presence of the thicker than normal mist. Mei, Zabuza, and my Sound Four moved with me through the village. With Mei guiding us, it was a cake walk to approach the Mizukage's tower. Once we were there, getting in undetected would be trickier, though it was a more simple thing with just the three of us; the Sound Four would be outside concealing themselves and waiting to put up the barriers.

We just had to wait for the signal.

"Last chance to not commit treason." I commented lightly as I fidgeted with my sleeve. I had avoided wearing long sleeves ever since I became Orochitama, outside the Ring Master outfit. I looked over to see Mei was already staring at me with a puzzled expression before registering my question.

The fact that I was wearing the standard Konoha uniform was making her uneasy. The flack jacket and thick green shirt felt simultaneously familiar and alien on me; the look and weight was natural, but the fit was foreign. The choice to wear the outfit was for utilitarian reasons only. I was to fight Obito, a man who could teleport and lean outside of reality so that pointy weapons could go unacknowledged, a tricky combination that made me feel that wearing a flack jacket with some thin metal plates inside them would be prudent. Though for a spice of originality I did wear kung fu pants, as I couldn't bring myself to wear the complete standard uniform.

"If we succeed, it won't be treason." Mei finally answered.

"I've already committed treason once. What's once more?" Zabuza added uncaringly.

"Oh? I committed treason twice as well." I had betrayed Konoha and then betrayed Akatsuki.

"Yeah? Any side effects?" Zabuza joked.

"Oh, right after the second time I turned into a woman." I noted.

"...no." Zabuza commented with intensity.

An explosion sounded off to the east where the only bridge into the village stood. Well, at that point it was where it formerly stood.

Mei and I leapt to the tower, on the upper floors where a window had been left open for us as the non-essential personnel began to file out of the building. The Sound Four were waiting for them to leave, but would raise the barrier before more combat personnel rushed to the tower to reinforce it, anyone still inside the barrier would likely become collateral damage. Revolution would not come bloodlessly. After we were in, Zabuza followed after a few heart beats later giving me a dark look.

"I'm just saying, the two could be related." I joked as a ninja dressed as one of Mist's Hunter-nin. There was a wave of my sword and the man died swiftly and painlessly. I caught the body and lowered it softly to the ground, as I gave a muttered apology. This wasn't a situation where we would be taking prisoners.

"This way." Mei hissed and we followed after her, leaving Mei's acidic white mist in our wake to spread through the building behind us.

"If I find you trying to swap my gender after this, I will find some way to make you pay." Zabuza stated firmly and in a way that made it clear that he didn't truly think I would do such a thing, but he just wanted to make sure to cover his bases.

"Could you make me pay by going on a shopping trip? I'd love to find you something to really accentuate those arm muscles." I added, though my eyes fell to the body of the Hunter-Nin that already dissolving into a wet mess.

His death would likely be the most painless of the day.

"Viva la revolution." I muttered to myself. This would save the most lives, but tell to that to whoever that man's family was.

I had to make sure this was worth it. I had to make sure to could kill Zetsu or Obito today, a tall prospect for people that could just disappear and reappear miles away. Though if I couldn't kill them, then I had other plans to get them thinking.

I just needed to not die.

xxxx

Uchiha Sasuke was conflicted. The day of the finals for the Chunin Exams was here and he had failed. He had been taken out by an underhanded tactic in the semi-finals; he begrudgingly admitted to it being a particularly impressive underhanded tactic that befits a ninja, but it still stung his pride. Part of him was wondering why he wasn't more angry about the results, about why he wasn't stewing at home on his failure and instead standing here to show support towards the two idiots he had on his team. Then, he caught sight of Hyuga Neji entering the arena and he remembered why.

The Hyuga genius had beaten Hinata near to death. He had savaged his own flesh and blood, someone who called him brother, as he smiled with superiority and looked on Hinata in disdain while she still called him brother, despite the injuries. It had made Sasuke's blood boil and he could scarcely contain himself from jumping down and beating the boy with his own hands. Kakashi had been so busy stopping him, that he didn't manage to stop Naruto before he got half way to the would-be kin-slayer.

If it couldn't be Sasuke beating the bastard's face in, then Sasuke was at least comforted that it was his idiot that would. His teammates were both idiots, but they were a team and they reflected on one another. Naruto managing it would be the next best thing to Sasuke being able to do it as far as he figured. Feeling the future missing-nin's bones break under his knuckles would have been the best case scenario, but being able to watch his fellow orphan do it was a close second.

"Sasuke." A familiar voice called, pulling him from his contemplations. His teacher slouched a little ways off from him in the aisle. He gave a nod of acknowledgment but rather than continue to approach, his teacher waved him over. "Come on. We need to talk."

The jounin sounded serious, well rather, he didn't sound like he was joking or bored which was constituted serious for the Copy-Ninja. So, Sasuke quickly stood and followed the man to a quiet corner in the stadium. The two of them came to a stop and Kakashi leaned against the wall and regarded Sasuke silently. Sasuke put on a bored expression and regarded the jounin right back, not breaking the silence. For a solid minute the two stood in silence but Sasuke refused to be the first to speak. An action that in the past had made his sensei heave a sigh before speaking in the past, but this time his sensei gave a nod, reached into his pocket and handed a scroll over to Sasuke.

Sasuke took the scroll and wordlessly raised an eyebrow.

"If I don't come back and ask for that scroll back within twenty-four hours I need you to take that scroll to Yamanaka Inoichi. Even if I come back and act the same, you need to make sure you give that to him." Kakashi finally spoke with seriousness that had only been present in life or death situations.

"Why?" Sasuke demanded. That wasn't the sort of command he could just let go. If Kakashi was still around, why would he need to do anything? There had to be a reason the man couldn't do it himself.

"Because I'm leaving now to fight a traitor that has access to a high-level mind-altering genjutsu that can implant commands powerful enough to control a person, and he's had access to the Hokage." Kakashi answered quietly.

Sasuke's eyes widened. That was insane; the sort of thing you heard children and crazy people talk about, not the sort of thing anyone ever thought was real. If it was real and this came to light Hiruzen would be removed from the Hokage position, at the least.

If it was true.

"You have evidence?" Sasuke asked.

"I have proof. It's all in the scroll." Kakashi said, his voice steady with an emotion in it that Sasuke couldn't place.

Sasuke glanced down at the small scroll in his hands. One that could control the fate of Konoha, and it was being entrusted to him, not another jounin, not one of his teammates, him.

"Two reasons. For one, Naruto and Sakura wouldn't be able to comprehend it's importance, not really." Kakashi started as he ran a hand through his hair. "The second is that this affects you personally. Succeed or fail, you should know. The target has a noted hatred of Uchiha."

Of Uchiha, not Sasuke personally, but of Uchiha in general. A distinction that mattered being the only Uchiha in the village. It meant this was someone who was holding onto feelings even back from before That Night. Any misgivings people in the village had towards his clan had seemed wiped clean by the rivers of blood That Man had left in their home. For someone to still be holding on to that? That's an old grudge from someone that was likely old themselves.

Someone with a mild altering technique that hated his clan and was likely in the village on That Night.

"Kakashi...did he cause it?" Sasuke asked as his mind reeled. Though even as he asked it, he couldn't bring himself to think that it might be true. Ita- That Man was too good, too talented to be taken in by technique like that and he specialized in genjutsu. There was no way.

Kakashi considered him for a moment before speaking carefully. "According to the documents, he didn't have access to the mind-altering technique until after the massacre."

Sasuke nodded, though he wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved. Both?

"I'm trusting you with this Sasuke, but you can't follow after me. This isn't like mine and Zabuza's fight. It's going to be more like Orochitama's fight." Kakashi stated.

Sasuke's eyes widened once again. His teacher was going out to fight an S-Rank threat, and Sasuke found he couldn't lie to himself that he was anywhere in the league yet. He could still feel the heat on his face and the vibrations that rocked the air from that fight. It was less a fight and more two natural disasters trying to outdo each other.

"How are you supposed to do something about that?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"I'm not going alone." Kakashi answered with a shrug. "But if I don't come back, tell Naruto and Sakura why."

Sasuke gave a nod. He could fulfill that much. Behind him the crowd roared as the speaker began to announce contestants.

"I gotta go. This chakra is needed elsewhere." Kakashi said. The comment connected and Sasuke realized what he meant.

His teacher wasn't really here, he had sent a clone to inform him of what was going on. Likely a water clone considering it was able to hold a conversation. A shadow clone could have worked too, but only Naruto was dumb enough to throw that kind of chakra around for a mere message.

"Don't die." Sasuke ordered.

"Cheer for me." Kakashi replied cheekily before collapsing into a puddle on the floor.

Sasuke stood in the secluded space for a moment longer before heading back out towards the arena. There was a lot there going on, but Sasuke still fully intended to see Naruto beat the smug look off Neji's face. Thinking about everything that was just said could wait until that was over.

xxxxx

Kakashi did his best to act casual as he approached the meeting point. Stealth, not speed, was their ally right now and with Danzo having Hyuga in his employ being unnoticed had more to do with how you acted than being behind any sort of cover. It wasn't long until he found his location, he was roughly a minute late and Anko stood with an annoyed expression on her face, while next to her Tadaomi was stiff at attention but without his mask. Next to them was-

Kakashi almost choked at the sight.

"Finally. Get talking, we don't have long to put this into action kid, so I hope you all came up with a hell of a plan." Tsunade gripped.

"Tsunade-sama, you-" Kakashi began.

"Yeah. She's here. She's read in. She hasn't been in the same room as Danzo in decades. We know she's clean. You're late to the party Hatake." Anko cut in.

Kakashi schooled his features and gave a nod. His estimation of their odds just rose dramatically, even if the Sannin didn't fight and just helped to heal the wounded it made their chances of survival raise expeditiously.

"I was given Nono's notes from her procedure on Danzo. Smart girl. Our best shot at taking him down fast is a head shot or taking him by surprise and ripping his whole damn arm off." Tsunade said as she gestured to a stack of papers that had rough sketches and notations with medical terms Kakashi was only vaguely familiar with.

"Good. That means-" Tadaomi started.

"Hold on. That's assuming the notes are right." Tsunade stated.

"Is there doubts on the validity of the notes?" The son of Hiruzen asked.

"Kinda. You dig through the notes and you'll see handwriting that isn't Nono's. Someone was giving her the basic direction of what to do and she was making notes of how to do it. The original notes she was studying were Orochimaru's."

"Shit." Kakashi groaned as he slapped a hand to his face.

"Yeah. I'd believe that Nono believed everything here, but I can't promise Orochimaru didn't leave some misleading information in, so don't be too surprised if thing go wrong with our assumptions." Tsunade stated firmly.

The three of them nodded to the Sannin. They didn't have much time for anything else. The son of Sarutobi, the former student of Orochimaru, the Copy Ninja, and the Legendary Sucker herself all missing or all being seen together would raise eyebrows. The longer they took to discuss things the less likely it would be that they could get a drop on Danzo.

"Plan?" Kakashi asked.

"I approach Danzo with Kakashi and Anko. Claim I have important information about Orochitama attacking. Tsunade-sama hides near by. When we get close, go for the kill. If that fails, Tsunade attempts to take out Danzo. While she keeps him busy, the three of us will take his two guards. Dispatch them quickly then move on to taking out Danzo. Only make an attempt on the arm if you are certain you can go for it. Avoid eye contact." Tadaomi stated concisely.

There was a round of nods again.

"When do we start?" Anko asked.

"Now."

xxxxxxx

Uchiha Obito looked down on Mist and wondered if he was letting his personal feelings cloud his judgement. Mist was a miserable little pisshole and he was well aware that his actions helped to keep it that way. Then again, it's not like he made it that way in the first place either. It was always a bed of treachery and backstabbing even among their fellow Mist ninja. If they had all stopped fighting each other they might have been the most powerful of the hidden villages. In all the Shinobi Wars battle rarely saw the shores of Water Country where Mist resided. They were a series of islands and getting there was a pain in the ass even before you took into account that Mist ninja tended be much better at sinking ships that other villages were at protecting ships.

Still, it was Mist Ninja that had been responsible for Rin's death. Them and Kakashi.

But no. Peace was what he was going for. When he succeeded, it will all have been okay. Everyone will have their own perfect world and for everyone it would be as if no one had lost their loved ones. Even for him, Rin would never have died. Even if it was an illusion, reality was but another illusion. Perception made reality, so what was so wrong with giving everyone a good reality?

If there were less Mist ninja that made it having their own illusions, they'd at least still be alive in someone else's.

Soon.

"Yagura." Obito said coolly as the shell of a Kage sat silently beside him. "You really are an awful Kage."

Yagura didn't respond. He couldn't.

"You don't even put up a fight anymore." Obito continued.

Yagura still didn't respond. He was under Obito's control, but he could at least make the attempt!

"If you're not careful someone is going to-"

Obito cut himself off as the wall beside him bulged and a grotesque body began to grow out of the wall with a torso reminisant of a Venus Flytrap.

"Orochimaru is here!" The creature announced as the flytrap opened to expose a man that was half pure white and half a deep black that went beyond being a human skin tone.

Here? How did he know that Akatsuki was in Mist? Was this just chance?

Or had Orochimaru gotten more out of that exchange with Itachi than Obito had initially believed?

Obito glanced at his puppet. He wasn't ready to extract a tailed beast yet. He could evacuate the jinchuriki but...

"We will stay and watch." He informed Zetsu.

"Not often you get to see a Kage fight." The white side of the Zetsu said.

"Cruelty. You want to watch your toy get destroyed." The black Zetsu noted with something close to pride.

Cruel? He didn't want to be cruel. He just-

Yes. He wanted to see the Mizukage die, to have Mist pay one final price for Rin.

"Zetsu, leave. We can't risk you being killed." Obito ordered, though a part of him noted that Zetsu was already sinking into the wall.

"And you?" Zetsu asked.

"Well, Orochimaru is due his severance package." Or wasn't it her now? It'd be rather rude to keep referring to the woman by the dead name. He wasn't-

He was going to kill the man for betraying Akatsuki. If things started looking bad, he could just leave. No one knew his abilities anyways, so the chances of the Snake Sannin even being able to hurt him were slim. The encounter didn't truly matter.

He just needed to survive.

xxxxx

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