Naruto : Venom

The Hokage's Office, Later that Day

"-and then he took them outside to play capture the flag!" Iruka shouts. I'm surprised he hasn't passed out from lack of air, I'm pretty sure he told Tsunade everything in one breath. "Then he bought them all ice cream!"

"Still don't see what's wrong with that." I mumble. "Those kids had a great time!"

"They were practically demanding that he come back tomorrow!" Iruka throws his hands up in anger. "How am I supposed to control them now?"

"Alvarcus." Tsunade growls out. "I thought you learned your lesson yesterday to not do stuff like this."

"This is nothing like yesterday and you know it. There was no ANBU at all." I defend myself.

Tsunade shakes her head in disbelief. "What am I going to do with you?"

I shrug. "Use me for actual missions and not these ridiculous spur of the moment ones? This is the second one in a row! First the bet with the client and now this?"

She rubs her forehead in a vain attempt to relieve some stress. "Fine. Come back here tomorrow. Bring your teammate too, I'll have something for you both then."

"About damn time." I grumble and leave. "Honestly you shouldn't have given me any leave days. It's not like you let me take them to begin with."

...

That Night, Alvarcus's House, Around 3am

Knock knock knock. "Alvarcus. Get up, we need to talk." That's Sasuke's voice. He's yelling through my door.

I groggily lift my head up from my pillows and glance at my clock. "Did someone die?"

"No? Why would you ask that?" Sasuke is confused.

"Is your brother back in town and you have some ridiculous plan to chase after him again? Because if you do there's no way I am going against Kisame. He called me Muffins. Honestly I'm not sure I didn't hallucinated that, I did get beheaded moments before."

"What? No! Why would Itachi even be here?"

"Then fuck off, I'm sleeping. It can wait till tomorrow." I plop my head back down on my pillow.

"Alvarcus Mar! Either open this door or I will!" He's not kidding, there's not a hint of playfulness in his tone.

"Yeah, yeah, don't break the door down I just moved here. Hold on a moment, I'm not wearing pants." I rummage around in my dresser and pull on an generic pair of black shinobi pants and a blue t-shirt. With a big yawn I open the front door and gesture him inside without looking. "Whadda want? Get in here, I'm not talking outside when there is a perfectly good couch five meters away. And make it snappy, I want to go back to sleep. I don't get enough of it already."

"We want you to come with us." That voice is not Sasuke's.

All of my drowsiness is gone in an instant. I whirl around and take a battle ready stance, I'm prepared to either attack or defend. The Jiongu is ready to leap into action and the drop of a hat.

Sasuke is standing with four others outside my house. Why is he not alone?

The first unknown person steps forwards. "Come with us to Sound, come with us to Orochimaru." He has pale skin and long gray hair that covers the right half of his face. He is wearing a dark brown tunic with a Yin-Yang symbol on the lower front and black shorts. There is another head growing out of the back of his neck. Sakon and Ukon, the current leaders of the Sound Four.

The second unknown person speaks. "Orochimaru will give you power. He will make you strong." This person has dark brown skin, black hair pulled up in a ponytail and a tunic to match Sakon's with the Sound Four Yin-Yang symbol. He also has Sound's headband around his forehead and six arms. Kidomaru, the intelligent and creepy member of the Sound Four.

The third unknown speaks. "You wish to become S-rank. Orochimaru will make you better than S-rank." This man is huge, he towers over everyone else present. He has three tufts of orange hair and a unique shade of eye color to match. His tunic matches his team's with the symbol of the Sound Four. Jirobo, the muscle of the Sound Four.

The only female of the group speaks last. "He is the best and only hope to achieve your dream." She has shockingly pink hair and a black hat with bandages around the sides. Her attire is similar to the rest, but tailored to her feminine body. Tayuya, the genjutsu specialist of the Sound Four.

Silence falls. The Sound Four are waiting for my response.

"Uh..." I break the quiet after it became clear no one else would, "are you all really wearing giant purple rope belts? Because they look really stupid."

The Sound Four collectively twitch in annoyance.

I walk into my house and wave for them to follow me. "Get in here, it's cold outside. We can talk like civilized people in where it is warm. Also, I have a really comfortable couch."

Sasuke sighs and walks inside. "Just come in, he is always weird like this. I swear he rarely takes anything seriously." He plops down on the couch. "Wow, this is a nice couch."

The Sound Four look at each other, collectively shrug and come in. They don't sit down, rather they stand across from Sasuke and I who are on the couch.

Sakon opens his mouth to speak but I cut him off. "Convince me. Why should I go with you?"

"For power. Orochimaru will personally train you, he will mold you into your greatest potential." Sakon replies.

"Please, that isn't a good enough reason. I can get that here." The Sound Four bristle at my easy dismissal of Orochimaru. "Oh calm down it isn't an insult to your boss. Konoha trained Orochimaru, I would be getting the same training as him and look at how strong he is. Plus I'm on good terms with the other two Sannin, I could just ask them for help."

"Knowledge. Orochimaru knows things that no one else does." This time it is Kidomaru that attempts to sway me.

I nod in agreement. "I'm sure he does, but I care little for it. The things he knows and the things I want to know do not align. I doubt anyone has the answers to my questions, I have to answer them myself."

"To achieve your dream. He will make your dream come true, he offers to train you himself. He made sure that we explicitly knew he would." It is Jirobo's turn to try and convince me.

"I am sure he would. Orochimaru is a great shinobi, there is no denying that. My dream isn't something that he can do for me, I must earn it myself. I want every village to know my name, whisper it among their legends. I can't do that if I am stuck in his shadow." They're doing a terrible job trying to convince me. I don't even have to lie to them, everything I've said is true.

Tayuya sighs, and blandly speaks. "Do it because it'll be fun."

I raise an eyebrow at her unique reasoning. "Because it will be fun." She nods. "Care to elaborate?"

Tayuya starts to explain, "Sound is based off of strength. You earn your placement by beating the opposition. Us four were sent to get you two because we beat everyone who wanted to go. We are the strongest, we do as we please. That is how the whole village works, those stronger than you can order you around. You can order those weaker than you around. Strength is everything to us, if you have it you rise in power. If you don't, you're lost in the masses. And Orochimaru personally wants to train you, he wants to make you S-rank. You'll be rising through the ranks like crazy, you'd be an instant player on the board."

I think over how that must work. It has to be total anarchy. It does sound kind of fun, I'll give her that.

"That's the best reason yet, but I'm still not convinced. I know what Orochimaru wants from me in return, and it isn't worth it." I sigh. "Any other arguments? Otherwise I'm going to have to ask you to leave." And somehow get to the Hokage tower and tell Tsunade what just happened. I really doubt they will just leave me here unrestrained. Maybe I'll finally get to test if the Jiongu can remove chakra suppression seals for me. Kami I need to start testing this stuff before I have to use it.

"Come to Sound because I am going." My friend's voice says.

I look at Sasuke with disbelief. He's going to Sound, to Orochimaru. Like hell I'm going to let that happen.

"Come with me Alvarcus. Orochimaru will train us both, we will become legends. Think of how strong he can make us, killing Itachi will be child's play! You want to be S-rank? He'll make you so good you'll be SS-rank like the Fourth Hokage. You'll have a flee on sight order from all the villages. No one will doubt your strength, your power."

"Sasuke, if I go to Sound there is a very good chance Orochimaru will kill me." Sasuke blanches and the Sound Four look intrigued. "He wants something from me, something he thinks I have. I don't have what he expects, I have something else."

"Alvarcus, he already knows about the Jiongu. He gave it to you." Sasuke reasons.

"I'm not talking about the Jiongu. It is something else, he wants me for information I might have." I calmly explain to Sasuke.

He goes deathly pale. "You mean... in the Forest of Death he wasn't lying? You really know about the past? You were pulled from the Underworld?" Sasuke leans in close and quietly says the one thing I've always tried to ignore. "Alvarcus, you've died before?"

"I... well." This is not how I expected this conversation to go. It's supposed to be him on the hot seat, not me. "Have you ever wondered where my fear of heights comes from?"

"Don't avoid this. Answer me, I have to know." Sasuke demands. "Please, I have to know."

"I'm not avoiding it. My fear of heights comes from my... death. I think." I shakily inhale. "Most of my memories are blurry, especially the last moments. All I have is a sense of falling forever then pure terror. Then... splat."

"That is why he wants you so badly." Sasuke stands up and starts pacing. "He knows you have knowledge of the past."

"I do. Most of it has faded, been lost to time." I admit.

I'm dangerously close to breaking my vow to the Third Hokage. He expressly forbid me from talking about my past memories, but not that I have memories. I'm playing a dangerous game telling Sasuke about this with the Sound Four present. I can probably kill most of them if I need to. Especially if they have orders to not kill me, that would make things much easier.

"It isn't what Orochimaru thinks it is. He thinks I have forgotten jutsu, maybe know about an ancient civilization or two. I don't. Nothing I remember is remotely close to anything in this world. The languages aren't event the same, the one from before doesn't exist here."

"He won't kill you." Sakon cuts into our conversation. "Orochimaru wants knowledge, he wants to know things that no one else does. You claim to know a language that no one else does. That alone would guarantee your safety."

"See?" Sasuke turns to face me again. He's taking that news surprisingly well, I thought for sure he'd freak out and ask if our friendship has all been a lie. "There is no reason not to go. Why would you stay here?"

"Sound shinobi, outside. Now." I demand. "Sasuke and I need to have words, in private."

Surprisingly the Sound Four listen and walk outside of my house. Most of them.

"Oi. I said out. When you came inside you had two heads, now you have one. Go get it then out with you!"

Ukon materializes himself from my wall and walks back to Sakon with a displeased expression on his face.

"I'll know if you come back, I'm a sensor." Once I am sure they are all gone I turn back to Sasuke.

"Why would I stay?" I stand and get in Sasuke's face. "Kakashi. Tsunade. Shizune. Kiba. Hinata. Shino. Shikamaru. Ino. Choji. Neji. Tenten. Lee. Asuma. Kurenai. Yamato. Konohamaru. Naruto." Sasuke winces with every name I say. I can see his resolve weakening. "Sasuke, Sakura is buried here. My parents are buried here. You're asking me to leave all of them behind? For power? For strength?"

"No. I'm not asking you to leave them, I'm asking you to come with me." Sasuke gets a desperate look in his eyes. "I don't know if I can do this alone. I need you. They all have each other, you're all I have. You're more a brother to me than Itachi ever was."

Don't guilt trip me. Not like that. Itachi loves you, he always has and he always will. "Sasuke-"

"What has Konoha ever done for us?" He gets up from the couch and get's right in my face. "They gave us the world's laziest sensei-"

"Kakashi is a good sensei and you know it."

"No he's not!" There's real anger in his eyes right now. "Alvarcus he chose me over you! How do you not see that? He could have taken us both on that training trip! He could have put us both through that training and you would have been faster and maybe you could have saved-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence."

His eyes narrow. "That's another thing, they shouldn't have even died. Where were the ANBU at? Where were the jonin at? Why didn't they protect the civilians? Alvarcus, Konoha killed your parents!"

I'm at a loss for words. He can't possibly think that's true, can he? I was there, I watched it all. I even have a trophy from their murderer. Konoha had no hand in it, of that I'm certain.

"And while we're on the topic of Konoha killing people, let's not forget about our teammate!" Sasuke starts shoving me backwards. "Sakura is dead. Why did she die? I know why, it was because Konoha didn't care about a talentless civilian gennin who didn't even make it to the finals."

He shoves me back again.

"Don't you see how biased this place is? I've been given everything I've ever asked for just because I have fancy eyes. If Sakura had half the training and resources I did she would still be alive! Hell even you didn't get as much training until you got the Jiongu, until something made you special. Until you became useful."

He shoves me once more.

"Alvarcus the only thing you were taught before you got the Jiongu was how to make a chakra string. Don't you see how ridiculous that is? Chakra strings! That's all! No offense, you've done some amazing things with them, but I knew elemental jutsu when I was still in the Academy! But once you got the Jiongu everyone decided it was a good idea to teach you jutsu! You've had what, 3 different people teach you jutsu? Four if you count Kakashi! It wasn't because they like you, it wasn't because they saw the Will of Fire in you, it was because they saw that you were useful."

"So what?" I meekly reply. I hate to admit this, but he does have a good point there. Konoha favors the talented and strong and is willing to let mediocre shinobi fade into obscurity. "So what if all that's true, we still have friends here. You want me to leave them all? You want me to abandon them?"

He shoves me back and I hit the wall. "Alvarcus, we don't have friends!"

No. I refuse. I have friends. All of the Rookie Nine for starters, then there's-

"When was the last time someone besides me invited you to go over to their house to hang out? Or sparing? Or to get food?"

"I... uh..." When was the last time? "Naruto did. When we took those missions with him. We got ramen together."

"When Naruto and us went on those missions." His eyes narrow again. "Alvarcus that was months ago."

He's... not wrong. No one really talks to me unless I go to them. No one invites me to do things. I'm always the one to start something, to reach out to someone. No one reaches back.

"Alvarcus come with me." He takes a step back to give me space. "Konoha doesn't deserve you."

"And Orochimaru does?" I sharply reply.

"Dude, he's asked you to go to him like three times! He may not deserve you but he will value you."

"How's that any different from here?"

"Konoha values your skills, he values you. You impressed him so much with something as simple as chakra strings that he decided to give you a legendary kinjutsu! He even asked you to join him before he gave you the Jiongu!"

"I.. uh... never looked at it like that." I've only ever seen the agony he cause me.

"Come with me." He extends out a hand. "Alvarcus I need you. You're my only friend. The only person I can truly rely on. And we both know it's the same way for you."

He's right, everyone I listed earlier has someone else they can turn to, someone to lean on. Everyone but Sasuke and I. Sasuke and I always turn to each other. For protection, for help, for strength, for guidance. If he leaves, he and I will both be alone.

I don't want to be alone.

Could I go to Orochimaru? Yes, I could easily. He'd accept me with open arms. Every point the Sound Four tried to use earlier would happen. Sure they might not have convinced me to go, but that doesn't mean that it won't happen if I do go.

Do I want to? No, I'd leave behind so much. I'd have to see Orochimaru all the time. I'd have to deal with the person who caused me so much suffering and agony. I'd also basically be abandoning all of my future knowledge by being out of Konoha, that's one of the best things I have going for me.

But Sasuke is going. He's going to one of Konoha's sworn enemies, Orochimaru. Who will make sure Orochimaru doesn't experiment on him? Who will protect him, be there when his world shatters to pieces? Who will be there for him when he faces Itachi? Who will save him from Obito? No one, unless I go with him.

"What's your answer Alvarcus? Are you coming or are you staying?"

...

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