'Truly it is a shame that he turned his back on me, on Konoha. I could have made him great. Instead he cannot be allowed to roam free. He knows too much. He has to be put down. I gave him a chance to join me despite his transgressions and he refused me. He's given me no choice. I'll have to get a spy in Oto. He'll feed me information about Alvarcus and when he ventures out next I'll have a team waiting. Yes, that's the best choice. If the spy gets caught, well it's not like he can't be replaced given enough time. The payout far exceeds the risk.'
"I am sorry child but there is nothing I can do for you." Danzo says to Ino. "Yours will be much harder to remove, I'd say the only person that could successfully remove it even if they were in possession of all three keys would be the creator himself. I doubt even Jiraiya would attempt to tackle this one, if it had a more severe set of rules and punishment then perhaps he'd try something crazy. As it is now it will not inhibit you at all, provided that you don't discuss anything to do with Alvarcus."
"So that's it then?" Ino looks solemnly at her arm. "I'm stuck with this forever? It doesn't even fade when I'm not using chakra."
"Unless Alvarcus releases you himself." Danzo confirms. "He's layered multiple triggers into the seal, it's so complex and intricate that I dare not even expand it for fear of tripping one and causing it to go off. Though, and I don't know how much this will console you, it should fade on his death. There is always that option."
'I may not have to use my own shinobi to kill him.' Danzo plots to himself. 'Perhaps they will use this as fuel and kill him for me.'
"I don't think that option has a high chance of success." Shikaku intervenes before anyone can do something rash. Like agreeing with Danzo for instance. He wants all of these kids to be distanced from the man as much as possible. The only reason he hinted at bringing him here was because he had no other options to try and help his son and everyone else. "They've faced off against him before and lost. Badly lost."
"I suppose it is up to the individual." Danzo says in forced indifference. "Will they attempt to kill the traitor or will they flee from him like cowards?"
"You go too far!" Lee vigorously shouts at the feeble old man. "Alvarcus is -"
Lee doesn't get the chance to finish his sentence. He's fallen to his knees while gripping his left hand. His jaw is firmly set and he's intently staring off into the distance as his eyes water. He's holding himself in check, doing everything he can to not cry out in agony.
But his iron will wasn't strong enough, a low whine of pain manages to escape out of him.
"Lee!" Neji and Tenten both rush to his side.
"I'm okay." He assures them once the pain has stopped. "It's alright, it was bound to happen eventually. At least this way I know what to expect."
"Out of my way." Tsunade shoves both of Lee's teammates to the side. "Hand. Now."
Lee extends his now viciously red hand towards the world's best medic nin. Tsunade takes only five seconds to figure out the damages.
"It targets your nerve clusters, sending them sharp and irregular jolts of chakra. There will be no lasting damage unless you keep setting it off." Then she turns her eyes to Ino. "Though I have no idea what yours does specifically. I have no intention of finding out. Ino as the Hokage I hereby order you to never speak of Alvarcus again in any form whatsoever unless I personally tell you otherwise and that seal is gone. Both of those conditions must be fulfilled."
"Of course Hokage-sama." Ino's head wilts in defeat.
"Now I suggest you all attempt to go about your lives as normal as possible. We don't want anyone else to know that practically all of Konoha's Clan Heirs have an unsavory seal on them."
"How am I supposed to hide this?" Ino holds her arm up again, displaying the intricate black marks to the world. "Mine doesn't fade."
"Wear gloves." Tsunade bluntly tells her. "Now as annoying as it is I have other things to do. If you need to talk to someone go talk to your parents or sensei, they're more than qualified to handle that. Now out with you all! Scram!"
Everyone makes their way to the door.
"Danzo." Tsunade calls out. "The Clan Heads and I want this to stay quiet. Don't do anything… rash."
"Of course Tsunade." Danzo sinisterly smiles at the Hokage. "I would never want to hurt Konoha by depriving her of Clan Heirs."
"And her exceptional genin." Tsunade adds on as her eyes narrow.
"It goes without saying." Danzo regally nods to her. "I will take my leave."
'But I will make no assurances for Alvarcus.'
Secret ROOT Facility
"Oh my." Danzo says upon entering his office. When he left it his desk was spotless. Now there's a single sheet of paper sitting on it. "You really are quite the crafty one."
Danzo hobbles over to his desk and looks down at the thankfully face up letter.
Stay away from them or I expose you to the world.
"I wonder what you would do if I exposed you to the world?" Danzo ponders aloud.
"He'd probably make that drawing a reality." Shirokumo blandly says from above the door. He was sitting there the whole time. "A very painful reality might I add."
Danzo whips out a kunai and instantly a coating of wind forms on it. Then it sails out of his and towards Shirokumo. The wind enhanced blade bounces off of Shirokumo's exoskeleton without leaving behind a scratch.
"Is that any way to treat a messenger?" Shirokumo dryly retorts. "And to think I had so much fun last time I saw your wrinkled mug."
"You are more than you seem." Danzo analyzes Shirokumo in a new light.
"I could say the same thing about you." Shirokumo teases Danzo. "You will leave them alone or face destruction. Do not piss off my Summoner more or he may march over here and kill you. Even if you're behind Konoha's sturdy walls."
"He has nothing to worry about." Danzo sits down at his desk, it's obvious that the spider isn't here to fight. "I have no plans for any of his friends. They're already an asset to Konoha, they don't need my help."
"Good. Glad we came to an understanding." Shirokumo raises his front two legs together.
"I was wondering." Danzo calls out before he vanishes. "Has he given any thought to my offer?"
"You mean that picture wasn't enough of a 'go fuck yourself' message for ya? I'm sure if you asked for it he'd commission another piece. It could be his very own line of artwork."
"After my rage subsided I realized what a magnificent move it was." Danzo is attempting to play the Spider, to sway the messenger to his side first. Then he'll work on getting Alvarcus before him and exacting revenge. "To make someone like me descend into a rage fueled tantrum? He has such potential."
"You know you're not even the third person to say he has potential." Shirokumo blandly says. "Pretty sure you're like the tenth. I've never bothered counting. By the way there's another message on the back and the paper isn't trapped with a curse seal."
POOF
"How interesting. There's more." Danzo pulls out another kunai and flips the page over.
"Five? Why does it say five?" Danzo says aloud in confusion. Then the number shifts into a four.
That's all the motivation Danzo needs. He sprints out of the office, leaving his cane behind, and slams the door closed.
"Brace for impact!" He shouts to the two guards outside his door.
All three of them throw themselves to the ground.
A soft pop echoes through the closed door.
"A dud." Danzo stands up as his two shinobi dust themselves off. "How sad, to have crafted such a masterpiece for the Yamanaka yet blunder an explosive seal? I expected more from you."
Danzo opens the door to his office.
Everything is covered in rainbow glitter. The desk, the walls, the floor, the ceiling. Everything.
"I want his head on my desk." Danzo growls out in anger as his fists bundle in rage. "On my new desk. I want that one burnt."
One Month Later
"Alvarcus." Sasuke awkwardly says as he enters my lab. "You doing okay buddy?"
"I'm done." I happily say as I lean back in my chair and stretch my arms to the sky. "It took one month of total devotion but I finished it."
I hold up a slim dull metal cylinder to the light. It is notched to provide extra grip on itself and is long enough to comfortably hold in both hands. One end is capped while the other has what looks like a metal cork on it to seal the hollow device.
"Finally." I sigh out as I set it down. "It can hold a practically limitless amount of chakra inside of it. It's perfect."
"Oh good so you're done with your project?" Sasuke chipperly asks.
"Done with half of it." I stand up and twist my back to work out non-existent kinks in it. "Or maybe a third? I have to make a blade next then figure out how to make them work together. So yeah. That's okay though. I thought this would take way longer to do, the hilt was surprisingly easy to work with."
"You call a month long devotion where you wouldn't sleep or eat for five days straight easy?" Sasuke says in exasperation.
"Hey I slept!" I feebly make an excuse. "I slept in here a lot."
"Yeah when you passed out from exhaustion." Sasuke blandly points out. "Alvarcus that's not healthy."
"It was training?" I attempt to make yet another excuse. "To see how long I can go without sleep?"
"You're a terrible liar." Sasuke sighs. "Okay so you're done now right?"
"Yeah. For a while." I nod yes.
"Good. Now go sleep." Sasuke demands. "You need to rest."
"Fine." I agree as my exhaustion finally catches up with me now that I'm not ignoring everything else but the hilt. "But I want the record to show that I decided to sleep."
"Whatever."
Three Days Later
"So… he's been sleeping for three days straight?" Sakon awkwardly asks Sasuke as they and the rest of the Sound Three are standing outside Alvarcus' room.
"Yeah." Sasuke sighs in resignation. "Idiot always pushes himself too far. Usually the Jiongu can compensate for it but every once in awhile it can't."
"Kid has issues." Kidomaru eloquently sums up the situation. "Uh… you wanna go get him Sasuke? He's liable to attack literally anyone but you. I swear you two are gay for eachother."
"Haha very funny." Sasuke glares at Kidomaru. "I'll have you know that I am perfectly straight and should anyone ever imply otherwise again they will meet a very untimely death."
The door that the four people are standing outside of creaks open and a head with a tangled mess of black hair and even blacker eyes pokes out of it.
"Not gay. Hate you all. Shut up and go away. I'm sleeping." I growl out at the people who woke me up. "Now or Sureddo gets to play."
"Oh good you're up." Jirobo ignores the not so subtle threat. "Orochimaru-sama wants to see you and the Sound Three. In an hour or so."
"Fine." I force out through clenched teeth. "I'll be there in an hour. Now fuck off."
The head retreats back into the room and slams the door shut.
"He's not a morning person." Kidomaru attempts to break the awkward tension that has filled the hallway.
"It's three in the afternoon." Sasuke bluntly says as he turns away from the Sound Three. "He's not a waking up person."
One Hour Later, Orochimaru's Office
"Alvarcus!" Orochimaru happily says as I enter the office. I'm the last one to get here. "It has been awhile, how are you?"
"Swell." I glare at the Sound Three. "Except for the fact that a bunch of assholes decided that talking loudly outside of my door was a good idea."
"And how goes your project?" Orochimaru eagerly asks. "You've been completely immersed into it."
"The hilt is done." I allow a glimmer of pride to form on my face. "One step closer to the finish line."
"Magnificent!" Orochimaru's face twists into an affectionate smile and he clasps his hands together in joy. "You'll have to show me before you leave. I don't want to wait until you come back."
"Wait what? I'm leaving somewhere?" Is he giving me a mission?
"Yes you are and the Sound Three are going with you." Orochimaru's eyes flash towards the silent shinobi. They haven't been addressed yet so they are not speaking. They've been trained well.
"This sounds important." I narrow my eyes slightly as I ponder what the mission could be. "You're sending me with all three of your personal bodyguards? That's a lot of firepower, doubly so since you know just how destructive I can be. Did someone piss you off recently?"
"No no, quite the contrary." Orochimaru's smile dampens slightly as we talk business. Yet it doesn't go away. "This isn't a mission of warfare but rather a mission of the diplomatic nature."
"Okay so this is a huge mistake then." I interject before he can continue. "You really want me of all people to engage in diplomatic negotiations? That's a terrible idea! I have no training for it, I don't really know what I can ask for and what I can offer up as compensation. Not to mention that I'm prone to resorting to force rather quickly. I'd make a terrible diplomat."
"I cannot send anyone else." Orochimaru temples his fingers as he begins to lecture me. "Like it or not your name now carries a great amount of weight. You're Alvarcus Mar, wielder of a long forgotten kinjutsu, you earned your notorious title by ripping out other's still beating hearts and taking them for yourself, at age thirteen you've stood against multiple S-rank shinobi and lived, you've single handedly destroyed an entire outpost with one jutsu, and most importantly you're my child. You see, there is no one else to send. It would be an insult to use anyone but you."
"Alright fine!" I've lost this argument. Hell I lost it before I even knew I was fighting. Stupid shinobi and their manipulative background. "I'll go on the stupid diplomatic mission. So am I supposed to get us more land or something? Secure an alliance with another nation? Perhaps you want me to slaughter the delegation that I'm supposed to meet with? I vote the last one. Unless something ridiculous is happening, like me meeting with a Kage."
"Well they're not quite a Kage but they are more than capable of holding their own against one for a while before succumbing to defeat." Orochimaru drops a hint.
"Hm. Right. So not killing them."
"With the correct amount of preparation I believe you could." Orochimaru thinks I can kill someone who can stand against Kages? He thinks I'm that good? Damn, maybe I am a lot deadlier than I think. "This particular type of shinobi have a few glaring weaknesses, ones that you're surprisingly suited to exploit."
"Oh goodie. So I am killing them?" I hope not, I don't really want to find out if I can. I'd prefer to have a few more trump cards before doing something like that.
"No, that is not the point of this meeting." Orochimaru ups his intense yellow stare at me. "Someone wants to meet you."
"What?" I'm staring at him in disbelief. "Who in their right mind would want to meet me?"
"Someone who has a bone to pick with Konoha. Someone who would like to see her crushed under his boot. Someone with a long list of reasons to hate our mutual birthplace. Someone I wouldn't mind having on our side, despite his temper."
"Holy shit." I can't believe it. This is insanity "You want me to meet with the Raikage?"
"Good heavens no! I would not send my child to a slaughterhouse!" Orochimaru thankfully denies that idea. "He can't make time to meet with a lowly shinobi of Otogakure. He's sending someone in his stead, someone who he trusts and believes will be able to overpower you should things go south."
"If he's sending his brother I'm not fucking going. I refuse to listen to his shitty raps."
"I'll consider it a good thing that he's sending Yugito Nii instead." Orochimaru drops a bomb on me. "You will be meeting her and a group of most likely disposable Kumo shinobi. The point of this meeting is to see you and get a judge of who you are as a person. They have caught wind of my… condition and have slotted you as the next in line to take over Oto. They want to see what to expect should I pass. Naive children, to think that I would so easily surrender to death. We shall humor them with this meeting and attempt to make inroads to form an alliance against Konoha at best. At worst there will be another enemy at my throat, nothing I'm not used to."
"Okay. So just a couple of questions." I take a deep breath. "Just one really. Why in the blazes of hell would they think I would be the one to take over Oto?"
"Simple, you are my child. I've raised you to be the strongest, the smartest, the best. Next to myself of course. You have earned yourself a sense of respect and fear throughout my ranks, something that only I have accomplished before. When you speak people listen. When you send out orders people fall in line. You have become so much more than what I hoped for you, you've grown further than I expected in the year that I've taken you in. It is only natural for observers to assume that the mantle of leadership would fall to you."
"O...kay." That is a tough pill to swallow. "Right. So say I accept all of that - which right now I'm still processing - you want me to go meet with a jinchuuriki and just… I don't know... hang out with her?"
"That is not how I would phrase it but yes. In its simplest form that is what you will be doing. Try not to do something stupid please."
"I promise nothing." I quip back to him as Orochimaru sighs in resignation. "So uh when am I leaving? Not right now I hope. Totally not ready."
"No, you will be leaving in three days." Orochimaru abates my worries. "There is something I want you to sign first."
"Dammit." I groan out. "Can't you make one of the idiots over there who haven't said a single word fill out the paperwork instead? I hate paperwork. Hell I think everyone hates paperwork."
"You're not wrong. Paperwork is the worst, but I feel that you'll enjoy signing this." Orochimaru points to a huge scroll that's in the corner of the room. "After all, an earth wall or wind wall will only go so far."
"Now that will make things interesting." A devious grin dances upon my face. "Interesting indeed."
One Hour Later, Alvarcus' Room
"Summoning Jutsu!" I slam my hand to the ground and a cloud of smoke appears.
"Sup Al? Haven't seen you in weeks. How ya been?" Shirokumo asks as he looks around the room. His eyes settle on his webbing on the ceiling. He scuttles up the wall to his webs. "Just as I left it."
"Finished the hilt, was unceremoniously told that everyone thinks I'm Orochimaru's replacement should he actually die, and got told to go play nice with Yugito Nii from Kumo of all people. So I'm just peachy."
"Why is nothing ever simple with you?" The trusty spider sighs in defeat. "How can I help?"
"Find out why the Raikage is intent on me meeting with someone in his ranks and make sure it's not a trap. Oh and see if the Akatsuki is somehow involved in this, I wouldn't put it past them to try and use me as a way to get to Orochimaru or even to attempt to recruit me again. Basically find out what I'm getting myself into. I leave in three days, can you handle that?"
"Easy." Shirokumo waves of my tall list of demands with ease. "You don't realize how damn good I made our network. I can have most of that in a single day, maybe less. The spiders of this world are eager to please you."
"Good." I plop down into my newest piece of furniture, the armchair. "I think it's time that Spider gets in contact with the jinchuuriki."
"You didn't plan on doing that for a while." Shirokumo points out.
"Meeting Yugito now has moved my plans forward. Besides, when else will I be able to sit down with one of the two jinchuuriki from Kumo and talk?"
"You have the strangest life ever."
"I know right?"