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."
...
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