Chapter 8
"How could you let this happen?" and the disappointment in Jiraiya's voice was like salt to his wounds.
"I had no choice," Hiruzen defended his actions, but his student was not convinced.
"You should have taken my advice, and negotiated with Fugaku openly," Jiraiya reiterated, but that was impossible.
"It would have emboldened the other clans. Many within the village already believed that the Uchiha were favored too much. This would have furthered that notion," and Jiraiya shook his head.
"And slaughtering an entire clan was the more reasonable choice," Jiraiya argued, but what else could he do, when the other option was war and obliteration.
"I had to protect Konoha," Hiruzen countered, and Jiraiya sighed, and then there was only silence in the room and Jiraiya's disappointment was obvious but he said nothing.
"How is Gojo-kun?" he asked, and he saw Jiraiya's face shift before he finally gave him an answer.
"He is dying...."
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0000
KAKASHI HATAKE
Kakashi stared at his team, and the three of them would soon be walking into the building for the first part of the Exams. Neither of the jounin sensei's had been told anything about the exam yet, but he had a pretty good idea about what the first phase would entail given the examiner.
Morino Ibiki.
The man was the Head of T&I and was much fond of mind games and Kakashi was certain that his exam would focus on that. He had done all he could to prepare them for this, and as he stared at them and the progress they had made he felt somewhat proud of how far they had come from the dysfunctional group of three they had been.
"I do hope your time with my brother was useful" he questioned Sakura, and the truth was that he did not even need to ask that question given the look in her eyes.
"Thank you for that, Kakashi sensei," she answered with a big smile.
"Hey! It's not fair that she got a special teacher!" Naruto was quick to chime in, as he frowned.
"Plus, I don't like him. He seems like a creep with that cloth on his eyes," Naruto added, and Kakashi chuckled.
"Well, I never knew that you found my training inadequate Naruto-kun," and he saw the boy tremble because of the promise of pain in Kakashi's words.
"I will make sure to remember than the next time I plan your regiment," and the boy straightened up quickly.
"No. It was nothing. I love training with you Kakashi-sensei," and with Sakura gone had been able to put Naruto and Sasuke through the ringer, and help them both make some progress.
"Still did you learn any cool jutsu from that creep Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, and the pink haired girl simply smiled.
"Well, I am afraid you will just have to wait for that Naruto-kun," and his shoulders sagged.
"Please, you have to tell me," but the girl refused to entertain his request, until it was time for them to go.
"Well then I believe it is time for you to go," he said as he glanced at the clock, and the three of them gave him a nod.
"Let's go. We are going to ace these exams," and he truly wondered if it would really be so easy for them. He watched them walk into the building, and the rest of the teams joined them as well and once they were inside Kakashi jumped onto the roof of the House two streets back, and found his brother sitting there on the roof.
"You could have come down yourself," he suggested, and he was certain that Sakura would have liked that.
"There was no need for that," and he was eyeing the Exam centre with a rather serious expression.
"How was training?" and he did not know what he had taught Sakura-kun either.
"What did you teach her?" Kakashi added, as his brother simply smirked.
"Nothing much," Gojo answered as he bit down on the skewer in his hand, and Kakashi may not be very close with his brother but he could tell when something was on his mind.
"What are you thinking, brother?" he asked, and he had failed too many people too many times, and for once in his life he wished to do right by someone close to him.
"Nothing much," Gojo lied as he jumped stood up
"Just thinking if it is time for me to rile things up a bit," and now Kakashi was frowning as Gojo walked turned his back to him, and Kakshi could never imagine his brother's pain.
He had suffered much in life as well, but he had never lost someone as dear to him as Hana had been to Gojo. Ever since that day wretched day, his brother had hung up his hitai-ate, and yet he had never stopped training.
Kakashi was amongst the few people who knew just how his brother had pushed himself in the years since, and yet he could never quite understand the reason for that.
He was retired, and he was already powerful enough. He had no reason to push himself as he had, yet Gojo trained himself harder than anyone else, except for Gai maybe.
"Rile things up?" he questioned as he eyed him, and that could mean anything which was rather worrying.
"What are you planning to do, brother?" Kakashi asked, and his brother did not even bother to look back.
"Nothing much," he answered, before adding in a whisper.
"I am just thinking of challenging a god...."
0000
GOJO HATAKE
Gojo sat in his shop once more while the First Exam wrapped up, and he did not even need to use his eyes to know exactly what was happening there. Still, despite the 'closed' sign, a rather uncanny face walked through the door while he was drying a cup behind the counter.
"I thought the sign was clear," and the guest wore the headband from Takigakure, and by all reason should be sitting in the exams, and they were indeed sitting there.
Ot at least a clone of them was.
"We are closed," Gojo finished as he put down the cup and turned to face the newcomer once more, as his eyes saw through the facade.
"Even for an old friend," and he may wear a woman's face, but Gojo knew well the shinobi hiding inside that body, and he was one of the most notorious criminals alive today.
"You and I were never friends," Gojo nearly snarled.
"Orochimaru," and immediately a smile erupted on that face, and the voice changed in an instant as he began to laugh.
"I should have nothing less from you," and he should not have, and despite facing the traitor, he remained calm, for he knew that the man had not come here to fight.
"You have some nerve showing your face here," Gojo countered, and Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.
"And yet you have not yet called in the ANBU?" and he had not.
"Who is to say I need them?" Gojo countered, as Orochimaru tensed up.
"Such confidence," he taunted, and he saw his eye turn towards the scabbard hanging on the wall.
"If the rumors I have heard about you are true, I doubt you would," and Orochimaru was as slippery as a snake. He was powerful indeed, but if a fight were to break out, Gojo was confident that he could take him on.
"Yet still you remain holed up in this prison of your own making," and then he met his gaze.
"Unable to exact your revenge on the people who killed Ha...," and a wave of chakra rushed off of him, as Orochimaru's eyes widened.
"Do not take her name," he warned, and the man backed off. He was smart to.
"Why have you come here?" Gojo inquired even though he had an idea.
"I know you dislike my methods, but I believe we share a common enemy here," and he had come here hoping to recruit him for his plan, for he knew in his heart that he was perhaps the only shinobi within the village apart from his old teammate who could destroy his plans of revenge.
"This village has wronged us both. So, now I offer you a chance to exact your revenge on the one's responsible for all the wrongs it has done to you," and if he knew of Orochimaru's guise, then the man must have realized that he knew of his plans as well.
And he was right. He had been wronged.
But not by Konoha. No. The culprits were but a few. Most of the village was innocent of the crimes of Danzo and his old teammates, and destroying Konoha would only tarnish the memory and sacrifice of his father.
"You are afraid of me," Gojo countered, and Orochimaru did not deny him even as his lips thinned at the allegation.
"Join me, and we can bring Konoha to its knees," he offered but he shook his head.
"You know that I am the only one who can derail all of your plans, and so you wish to make me join your plans," and it was not easy to love Konoha, but he did not have to love the village.
No. he just had to care for the people inside it.
And sadly, for Orochimaru, the village was home to quite a few people he cared for.
"But as disgusting as this place has become, I am no traitor," and he saw him tense at those words, for he had just denied him his words.
"So, you will stand against me and my revenge?" and his voice gained an edge now, and Gojo shook his head.
"No," and that caught him by surprise.
"Not as long as you give me something I want," and Hana Uchiha had been born with a cursed fate. The iryo-nins had given her less than ten years to live but she had managed to defeat the odds for more than half a decade beyond that.
Their time together had been too short, as he was pushed out of the village by the machinations of Danzo and his ilk. It had been some five years since she had died, and not a day went by that he did not wish that he could spend just one more day with her.
And that would be impossible usually, but a few things were truly impossible in this world.
"What?" Orochimaru asked sharply, and so he had made a promise himself to turn that impossibility into a reality, and he had been working towards that goal ever since.
"There is a jutsu that I have been trying to get my hands on for some years. A jutsu that I know for a fact you stole some years ago," and he frowned for a few seconds before his eyes widened.
"I would be happy to turn a blind eye to your plans as long as you give me that jutsu," and the man chuckled at first, before he broke into a full-fledged laugh.
"Haahaaaa," and Orochimaru was laughing, as Gojo waited for his answer.
"You remain as interesting as ever Gojo-kun," he praised, and he shrugged.
"So, do we have a deal or not, Orochimaru?" and then he raised his hand, and a blue orb formed in it, as the entire shop began to shake.
"There is no need for that," and he lowered his hand, as the man reached into his pocket and took out a scroll.
"I am rather intrigued about what you intend to do with this, Gojo Hatake," and then he threw it towards him, as he caught the scroll and, after a quick glance, put it in his pocket.
And suddenly he turned his head to the side and wet his lips, as a smirk appeared on his face.
"It seems like it is time for me to return," and then he gave him a final glance.
"It was a pleasure to see you again, Gojo-kun..."
0000
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