"Do you really think that a Sannin wouldn't pick up on the similarities that us gennin did? Or his jonin sensei who happens to have seen every match? It's highly possible that he's a spy. So we will not confront him.
We will let him continue. Besides, it is possible that we're wrong. Midori could truly be Midori. Although I admit it would be nice to receive a sign if he truly is our friend."
...
I look over my shoulder straight at Gaara. Kankuro and Temari's eyes widen in surprise but I didn't phase Gaara for a moment. I give him a brisk nod, a confirmation and a thank you.
"Holy shit." Temari and Kankuro say in unison.
Okay, so that was probably a bad idea. Can't take it back now though.
"Hey! Are you paying attention to me at all?" Sasuke asks as he shoves my shoulder.
"Uh... yes?" I squeak out.
"Then what did I just say?"
"Uh... Wow that Midori is a really cool person!"
Sasuke sighs. "I don't even know why I bother. Come on, Orochimaru-sama expects us back at his hotel."
"We better hurry then, we both know he doesn't like to be kept waiting."
"I already said that but someone wasn't listening!"
...
Orochimaru's Hotel, Ten Minutes Later
"Good good you're both here!" Orochimaru says as Sasuke and I walk into the room and pull off our respective masks. There is no risk of being discovered here. "Come sit down! Let's chat about today, I want to hear what you both thought."
Sasuke and I plop down onto a couch. I practically melt into it, it's ridiculously comfy. "Oooh, can we bring this back with us?"
"I'll make a deal with you, if you create a storage scroll capable of holding it then we can." Orochimaru gleefully says. "Learning seals was on your list of things to learn, wasn't it?"
I turn an incredulous look on my Kage. "You expect me to learn a whole new skill set in under a day? I'm not that good."
Orochimaru gently hands me an extremely worn yellow leather bound book. "That will help. It's the first journal I ever wrote about seals, back when I was still a novice and learning them for the first time. It will walk you through how to craft a few basic seals, and it has insight from me to make them better or easier to create. Cherish it always."
I glance at the worn yellow book in a new light. "You know I never really made the connection that at one time you were a novice. I mean of course you had to be at one point, but it just never really hit me till now."
"That's an attribute of most S-rank shinobi. Everyone forgets that at one time we were unskilled." Orochimaru smirks. "Eventually people will say that about you, won't they?"
I share his smirk. "That's the plan." Black threads extend out of the bottom of my shirt and tenderly wrap around the worn book. They pull it up under my shirt and then disappear with it. There isn't even a bulge or the outline of the book showing through my shirt.
"Oh?" Orochimaru asks in interest. "I thought you didn't know seals, but it appears that you already know how to craft a storage seal. Pity, I thought I had a challenge for you."
"He doesn't." Sasuke grunts out. "Alvarcus where did you put the book?"
"Safest place I know." I pat my gut lovingly. "If you want to keep something safe, keep it close. There's no place closer than here."
"It's... inside you?" Sasuke's face pales slightly and gains a green tint to it.
"Yep. I mean it's not like the space was being used or anything."
"I think I'm going to be sick." Sasuke says as he turn greener.
"Kukukuku!" Orochimaru is eyeing me in a whole new light. "It's the perfect spot! No one would think to look within a body for sensitive information! It's something only you can do, simply magnificent! You still manage to impress me even now!"
I offer up a shrug. "Never done it before, just figured it was easier than carrying it around and risking it getting stolen. Once I learn how to make storage seals this will become obsolete."
"Still, it is good to know that you're capable of that." Orochimaru forcefully wipes the smile off his face. "Anyways, we've become distracted. Alvarcus, did you enjoy your fight against Hiro?"
"Oh shit Hiro!" I shout. "I didn't cut him down!"
"He'll be fine." Orochimaru dismisses. "I'm sure someone cut him down."
...
At the Contestant Gazebo
"MMMMMM!" A muffled scream echoes out into the empty field.
"How fortunate." A deep gravely voice breaks the quiet. "Now I don't have to track you down."
"MMM! MMMMM! MMMMMMMMM!" Hiro starts to squirm, he's hoping that his savior is here.
"You fancy yourself a Jiongu wielder?" The owner of the deep gravely voice steps into Hiro's line of sight. It's a tall imposing man wearing a concealing cloak with red clouds on it. He's still partially hidden in the shadows, his upper half is shrouded in them. "I'm going to ask you a question. Blink once for yes, twice for no. Answer this question as if your very life depends on the answer. Are you a Taki shinobi?"
Hiro blinks once at his savior.
"Let me introduce myself." The speaker steps into the light and a yellow stain forms on the webbing around Hiro's crotch. "I am Kakuzu, missing nin of Taki. Wielder of the Jiongu and the one who decides who get to use it. Unfortunately for you, I've decided that no one from Taki will ever use it again. In fact, until just under a year ago I was intent on being the only person to ever have it but even I realize that having a successor of sorts isn't a bad idea. Lately I've been acting covertly, I need someone to remind the world to fear the Jiongu. Alvarcus is doing that nicely for me and unlike you he passed my test."
Kakuzu looks over Hiro's shoulder.
"Hidan, would you like to kill this one? You're much better at causing pain than I am."
"Oh fuck yeah!" A new voice, one much younger shouts. "Let's get this party started!"
"Remember that we will have to clean up this mess. We don't want any evidence left behind of our presence." Kakuzu says as he pulls out his red leather bound book and opens it to a specific page. "Now, to go over my finances that are being stored in Iwa again. I believe someone is trying to swindle me with outrageous interest percentages. Perhaps I should pay them a visit?"
...
"Yeah you're probably right." I push the idea that Hiro is stupid enough to not use the Jiongu to free himself out of my head. "I'm sure he's fine."
"So, did you enjoy that fight? It isn't every day that one gets to battle their own skill set." Orochimaru asks again.
"Eh, it was alright." I wiggle deeper into the couch. "Sure we might both have the Jiongu but our respective skills with it are drastically different. He only made one monster and barely used it at all. I'd even wager that he's still new to it, his arms aren't like mine." I pull up a sleeve and my bandages to show them both my arm. It's littered with scars, it looks like I went through a blender. "His are unmarked."
"Fair point." Orochimaru concedes to me.
"Although, I did enjoy dragging him across the ground." I smile fondly as I reminisce about that moment. "Good times."
"Yes." Orochimaru narrows his eyes slightly. "You seem to be shifting into your self imposed female role very easily."
I shudder. "I fucking hate it! It's hands down the worst idea I've ever had!"
A small weight is lifted off Orochimaru's shoulders. "Only one more day then you can stop it."
"It isn't coming soon enough." I growl out. "Never doing that again. No thank you!"
"Sasuke, how was your fight?" Orochimaru turns to him. "Did you enjoy it?"
"No. It was unsatisfactory." Sasuke darkly says. "I thought I could find a challenge here. I was looking forward to a rematch against Gaara. He's the only one here who can hope to match my skills, everyone else is just in the way. And that bitch got him to surrender!"
"Yes, Leiko was quite resourceful." Orochimaru lost a little bit more weight from his shoulders. Now he doesn't have to worry about Sasuke fighting Gaara. "It's also very surprising-"
"-that we had the same idea." I cut in. Orochimaru glares at me. "Sorry?"
"Yes." He continues while shooting me a disapproving look for interrupting him. "Her practical skills are average, but her mind is sharp. For both of you to realize that the easiest way to beat Gaara was to poison his family and force him to surrender is unexpected."
...
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