I wake up to the strangest sound.
"Sasuke, please, this isn't you. Please stop!" Why is Sakura begging Sasuke to stop? What's going on?
I crack open my eyes, and wince. The light hurts. Everything is so bright. Instantly the pain goes away and everything comes into focus. I'm in a hollowed out tree.
I'll figure it out why later, me team needs me. Something is wrong, Sakura wouldn't sound this stressed unless she is facing true danger.
I burst out of the tree to see Sasuke holding one of the Sound nin by his arms and his leg on his back. The sound nin are attacking my team. I need to help. I need to save them, I need to protect them.
~You need to kill them.~
I need to kill them to protect my team!
~Yes, use me! Let me free!~
I lash out with my chakra strings at all three Sound nin. I will protect my team!
I hear a scream. Sakura. Sakura is screaming. Why?
"Alvarcus! Stop! You're going to kill them!" She shouts at me.
I'm going to kill who? I look at the Sound nin. What I see is the things of nightmares. My precious chakra strings, usually invisible, are black. And they aren't doing what I told them to. They coil around each Sound nin, and then do the unthinkable.
They dig into their flesh. Screams of pain and fear fill the air. The sound nin are being ripped to pieces.
"No!" I yell. "Stop! Stop! No! NO! I said STOP! I can't stop, it's not me! It's not me!" The threads dig into all three sound nin's chests. Blood flies everywhere covering the clearing, staining the once green forest red.
The threads rip out their hearts. All three of them. Slowly, the threads start to retract inside me.
"Someone stop it! Someone help me! What do I do! HELP ME!"
No one comes to my aid. The threads take the Sound gennin's hearts to my back. They each rip into my skin, creating long gashes. I scream. I'm not the only one who does. The threads shove the hearts into me, and then shiver in ecstasy. I feel it throughout my whole body.
I fall to my knees in defeat.
~Wonderful.~
"Alvarcus? Are you okay now?" Sakura tentatively asks.
I bury my face in my hands and start crying. Loud wailing sobs, I hold nothing back.
"There is something wrong with his body. He doesn't have a chakra system, chakra is flowing freely thorough him." A voice I don't know says. "I can see organs, but there is something wrong with them. I don't know how to describe it. It's like all of his major organs are made of threads. And the three new hearts are still there. Their purpose is unknown, but the threads are doing something with them."
"I'm a monster." I blurt out. "I'm a monster. He made me into a monster."
"No you are not." Sakura tries to comfort me from a distance. Her words are a hollow comfort, she's to scared to get close.
"How can you be so sure?" I look up at her, only to see her take a step away from me.
"Oh my Kami your eyes. What happened to your eyes?" I shove my face back into my hands.
Sasuke barges over, he's the only one willing to come within five meters of me.
"Alvarcus."
I don't respond.
Softer he says, "Alvarcus, let me see. That bastard did something to me too. When I woke up I wasn't myself."
I slowly tilt my head upwards, firmly keeping my eyes closed.
"Alvarcus. Open your eyes."
I do. Sasuke is right there, only an arms distance away. I watch him carefully. He doesn't react.
"Nothing a pair of sunglasses won't fix." He stands up, and offers me his hand. "Get up. We only have half a day to get to the tower now."
I was out for four days?
"The scrolls?" I ask.
"I have them. Both of them. I gave team Gai the extra heaven scroll as payment for an escort to the tower." Sakura tells us. Smart girl.
"Okay. Who is team Gai? Them?" I turn to the three semi unknown people here.
"We are. I am Neji Hyuuga. This is Rock Lee and Tenten."
"Alright. It's best if no one gets too close to me for now. I don't know what that was, but I couldn't control it." I tell everyone.
"Good idea. Let's get moving." Neji says and we head out to the tower.
At the Tower
"Open both scrolls." I tell the arguing teams. "That is what we are supposed to do."
Sakura huffs, with a mumbled "I knew I was right." She opens both scrolls. Iruka pops out.
"Congratulations on passing the second phase of the Chunin Exams! You two teams cut it pretty close."
"We had a rough time of it." I say while staring at the floor. I don't want him to see my eyes.
"So I heard. We are gathering the contestants in the lobby area now, so lets get there. After a preliminary round you all can get medical attention." Iruka noticed how beat up we look.
We follow Iruka to the lobby. All of the gennin are standing around on the floor, all of the jonin are up on balconies. Timidly, I approach Shino.
"Hey Shino?" He turns to me. "This might seem a bit weird, but do you have any spare sunglasses I can borrow?"
"Why do you need them?"
They would find out eventually. These are my friends, I can trust them. Mustering my courage, I look Shino in the eye. I hear Team 8 gasp. I know that it has to be terrifying. I haven't even seen my own eyes yet, I can only imagine.
"Here." Shino reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out a pair of sunglasses.
"Thanks. I owe you one." Shino nods.
As I walk back to my team I hear Hinata whisper, "His whole body is that way now."
I wince. By the end of the day everyone will know that something is wrong with me.
Anko drops down onto the lobby floor, and starts talking about something. I tune her out, it's unimportant. Eventually, the Hokage takes over talking. I barely notice, I'm off in my own world wondering what the hell is wrong with me. I have the Jiongu now. That one thought keeps going through my head. I have the Jiongu now.
"Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akado please stay on the floor. If everyone else will go to the balconies?" A man asks. My brain vaguely supplies Gekko Hayate as his name. Mechanically I make my way to Kakashi with Sakura.
"You've had a trying week." Kakashi says.
"You have no fucking idea how right that is."
Kakashi pins me with a glare. "Alright, you deserve that one. That's all you get."
I nod in acceptance. It isn't everyday Kakashi let's me get away with cursing.
"Kakashi-sensei?" I meekly ask.
"Hm?"
"I know this is a long shot. Can you help me?" Please have something. Anything, I'll take even the slimmest of chances to fix this.
"Kid, I can't even help Sasuke and all he as is one cursed seal. I have no idea how to even start helping you." I didn't expect much, but this is literally nothing. "I don't even know what Orochimaru did to you."
That makes me feel even worse. How little is known about the Jiongu? There can't be much, the only user is Kakuzu and he is super old by shinobi standards.
"Winner! Sasuke Uchiha!"
"That's my cue. I need to get that cursed seal contained. I'll be back in time for your match."
I lose myself in thought again. What if it is irreversible? My organs are gone. Only Tsunade would even attempt to help me. That is a good idea, I should go see Tsunade. Maybe she'll know a technique to help me.
"Winner! Shino Aburame!" I missed Shino's fight? I watch the medics cart off red Naruto minion. So if the minion is here that means Naruto passed too. Good for him.
I have the Jiongu. Orochimaru gave me the Jiongu. That thought keeps circling around in my head. Can I control it like Kakuzu? Orochimaru said that this one is different from his, but he implied the unaltered version came from him.
"Winner! Kankuro of the Desert!" Huh? I missed another match.
"Next up, Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka!"
"Wish me luck Alvarcus!" Sakura says with a fire in her eyes.
"Good luck Sakura. I believe in you." Sakura heads down to the combat area. I snap myself out of my funk. I need to support Sakura. The Jiongu isn't going anywhere.
"Yo. What did I miss?" Kakashi asks.
"I don't know. I wasn't watching, my mind was elsewhere. Sakura is going to fight now."
"You're really out of it, aren't you?"
"Do you remember the agony you felt when you lost your eye?" Kakashi tenses. That is a sore subject. I don't care. "Imagine that, but everything. Slowly. Over the course of many hours."
"When you say everything..."
"All but my heart and skin." He flinches. Good. Understand my pain. "Even my brain."
At that all of the jonin in hearing range look at me in shock.
"You heard me." I don't elaborate. I am slightly bothered they are listening in on our conversation, but they would probably find out anyways.
"If you need someone to talk to I will listen." Kakashi offers. "I can't say I know what you are going through, but I am here for you."
"Thank you Kakashi-sensei."
"Double KO, no winner!" Huh, that actually happened. I'm surprised. "Next match: Temari of the Desert vs Tenten!"
"That's a bad match up for Tenten." I comment. Kakashi nods. We watch Tenten get beat in silence.
"Winner! Temari of the Desert! Next match, Shikamaru Nara vs Daki Oboro!" That's Naruto's other minion, the green one.
"Great this match will take forever." It did, Shikamaru won. He caught his opponent in his shadows and forced him to surrender. "Winner: Shikamaru Nara!"
"Next Match: Kiba Inuzuka vs Alvarcus Mar!" Wait what? This is supposed to be Naruto's fight. Fuck it, I can't bring myself to care.
"Be back soon Kakashi-sensei." I call over my shoulder.
"Alvarcus." Kakashi says to me. "Don't kill him."
"I'm still me, sensei. Whatever he did to me didn't change who I am, just what I am." I make my way to the combat area.
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