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cywscrossFandom: Naruto
Summary: “Sometimes, blood ties aren’t strong enough to keep people together.”
Another year goes by. Sensei finally gives Orochimaru leave to take Anko with him on an A-rank mission, and they don’t waste any time packing up and heading out, Naruto seeing them off with a wave and a wish of good luck.
Nothing significant happens; the five assassinations are carried out easily enough. However...
“They say there are no survivors. Uchiha Itachi went completely batshit.”
Orochimaru stops mid-stride halfway through a town that they stayed the night in on their way home. Beside him, Anko’s eyes are as wide as dinner plates.
“You sure? There are rumours that he left one alive, his younger brother.”
“Moment of sentimentality?”
“He slaughtered his entire clan. What sentimentality?”
“Then maybe the younger one is a prodigy too.”
“Anko,” Orochimaru murmurs, already turning back in the direction of Konoha. “Come. Quickly.”
Anko doesn't argue as they take off at break-neck speed. There’s horror lining her features, and Orochimaru’s own expression is set into a grim mask as his mind races through theories of what may have happened while they were gone.
They make it back to Konoha in record time, a Konoha that’s now down one of its most prominent clans.
“Go home,” Orochimaru orders after they've swept past the dour-looking gate guards. “Find Naruto; make sure he’s safe.”
Anko nods curtly before veering off down the street. Orochimaru doesn't watch her go; instead, he heads straight for the Hokage Tower.
This is what Orochimaru is told:
Uchiha Itachi snapped from the stress of the shinobi life, and to test his own strength, he killed nearly his entire clan in the middle of the night within the Uchiha compound before anyone could arrive to stop him. He left one survivor, Uchiha Sasuke, who was also the only witness, and the boy was told that he was simply too weak to bother killing, and that he should seek revenge if he truly wanted to surpass his older brother. The boy will need to be watched.
But this is what Orochimaru knows:
First, the Uchiha Clan ran the Konoha Military Police Force, and there is not a single day that passes – in rain or shine, day or night, and on every single holiday – that they do not regularly patrol the streets. Thus, there is absolutely zero percent chance that every single Uchiha coincidentally decided to rearrange their rotations and take the night shift off on the very same night that Uchiha Itachi carried out his massacre.
Second, the Uchiha Clan – while about as widely trusted as Orochimaru is – consists of exceptionally talented shinobi who constantly take on a large number of missions for the village, so there is also a zero percent chance of every single Uchiha just happening to be grounded from outside missions on that fateful night.
Third, what are the chances that there wasn't a single ANBU patrol near the Uchiha compound to hear the screams and smell the blood in the time it took for Uchiha Itachi to kill the majority of his family? Zero percent again; ANBU patrols are always distributed throughout the entire village, more in high-risk areas, which is exactly what the location of the Uchiha compound is.
Fourth, Orochimaru knows insanity, intimately. He, like the rest of the village, was at least peripherally aware of the Uchiha Clan’s esteemed child prodigy’s rapid growth and successful career in the ANBU, so he’s noticed that Uchiha Itachi was stressed by his various responsibilities, and was different from his fellow clan members in that he seemed to care about the village itself more than the Uchihas’ standing amongst the other clans, but he was not insane. At least not the sort of insane everyone is implying now. The boy was stronger than that.
Fifth, Uchiha Itachi is a powerful shinobi. Considering his age, he will only become terrifyingly more so in the future. Still, one thirteen-year-old boy felling an entire clan of Sharingan users all by himself? Orochimaru does not believe this to be a possibility. The boy had help.
Sixth, there were whispers of a coup d’état in the works coming from the Uchiha Clan. Certainly, there was resentment amongst them, mutinous ill-will over what they – rightfully – perceived to be ostracism from the rest of the village, and negotiations in the past have always ended with all parties unsatisfied.
And last but not least, there is only one man in all of Konohagakure no Sato capable of making convincing enough excuses to force Uchiha Fugaku to leave the patrols that night to non-Uchiha members, only one man capable of passing over all the Uchihas when assigning missions so that they were all home on the night of the massacre, only one man capable of redirecting ANBU patrols to other parts of Konoha with no one the wiser that the streets near the Uchiha compound were empty that night, and only one man capable of commanding a shinobi to commit genocide.
Sarutobi-sensei, Orochimaru mocks bitterly from within the privacy of his own mind as the Hokage finishes telling him the official account of the Uchiha Clan Massacre, his wrinkled features grave and bleak. Exactly how dim-witted do you think your former star pupil has become?
As he nods and keeps his face void of all emotions, and then takes his leave once he is summarily dismissed, Orochimaru wonders if this is why the old man finally allowed him to take Anko with him out of the village. If Orochimaru was in the village that night, even with the fair distance between the Uchiha compound and his house, he would've sensed a disturbance, and he most certainly would've gotten there in time to at least catch Itachi before he escaped.
And the boy may be a genius, but so is Orochimaru, and while Itachi will more than likely surpass him in the future, right now, the Snake Sannin would win hands down in a fight against the Uchihas’ (former) thirteen-year-old pride and joy, and the Hokage would know that. So what better way to make sure he isn’t around to interfere than to grant him something he’s been asking for since he took Anko back as an apprentice?
And there are other factors that Orochimaru isn’t quite clear on, but those are the main facts, and it paints an ugly picture.
Orochimaru doesn't know what Sensei is playing at. Perhaps the Uchiha Clan finally reached the end of their tether and would've tried to overthrow the village without this gruesome spring cleaning. Whatever it is, he also knows that this is a near crippling blow to the village. The missions will still come pouring in even though a quarter of the shinobi corps has just depleted overnight. The economy will be unstable for a time, other villages may attempt to use this opportunity to strike at Konoha even years down the road, and the other clans will be uneasy even without Sensei telling them about his decision to simply wipe out an entire clan for the crime of potential treason.
Orochimaru sighs. He didn't think the old man actually had it in him. The Uchiha shinobi, fine, but the civilian women and children as well? And to think, to this day, Sensei still hasn't forgiven him for his plans to abduct and experiment on chil-
...This is not so different, is it? Perhaps Orochimaru’s near-crime was worse because his test subjects would've suffered, but the needless slaughter of innocents is still the same. Sensei no longer has a moral high ground to stand on.
Unless.
Unless there was someone else spearheading the massacre, someone else who managed to persuade Sensei that it had to be done.
Orochimaru has no trouble imagining Shimura Danzou ordering the deaths of innocents when the Root leader has the proper incentive.
Still, has Sarutobi-sensei lost that unbending spine of steel in his old age if he’s yielding to Danzou over something like this? Orochimaru doesn't particularly care about the Uchiha Clan as a whole, but they’re Konoha, they're allies, and he himself has saved more than one on missions and in war.
It’s a waste, that’s all, and he’s never liked wasting anything that can still be useful.
“Maru-ji!” “Sensei!”
Orochimaru flips down from the last branch of one of the trees surrounding his house, landing just as Anko and Naruto rush up to meet him. He threads a hand through golden hair in a silent greeting before letting it drop back to his side.
“I do hope you weren’t out and about on the night of the massacre?” Orochimaru starts without preamble.
Naruto quickly shakes his head. “No way, I was here sleeping, I didn't even know anything had happened until I was on my way to school, and everyone was talking about it. Things have been crazy for the past two weeks. Ninja have been running everywhere, that Sasuke I told you about hasn't been to school at all, and his big brother is like Enemy Number One these days.” The blond frowns up at him anxiously. “You don’t think he’ll come back, do you? To kill more people instead of just his family?” He looks faintly sick at the very notion of anyone being able to hurt family.
Orochimaru shakes his head as he ushers his two charges towards the house. “No, I believe he’s long gone. There are patrols out looking for him right now so he’ll go to ground for a while before he surfaces again.”
“Why did he do it though?” Naruto persists, grasping onto Orochimaru’s flak jacket as they pile into the sitting room. “They were his family! They say Itachi went crazy but- but still! How could he kill his own family?”
Orochimaru shrugs out of his Jounin vest before taking a seat on the couch, dislodging Naruto’s hand in the process, only for the boy to curl up against his side. He stiffens a little in discomfort but doesn't push the child away. Naruto tends to do this from time to time so Orochimaru’s gotten more or less used to it. To their right, Anko plops into the only armchair, brown eyes sombre.
“Sometimes, blood ties aren’t strong enough to keep people together,” Orochimaru explains somewhat wearily.
“I know that,” Naruto huffs. “We’re not related by blood but we’re a family. I’d never, ever hurt either of you, much less kill you.”
At any other time, Anko would toss out something along the lines of, “You couldn't if you tried.” Now, her features soften, and she reaches out to ruffle Naruto’s hair.
“And sometimes,” Orochimaru sighs. “Being family isn’t strong enough to keep people together either. Different opinions, clashing ideals, bad situations, ...not enough love,” He grimaces distastefully at the very word. “Or too much of it.”
He can tell that the boy doesn't completely understand right now, but he will. He probably understands more than most children his age.
“Whatever Itachi’s reasons were, they're not something for you to worry about right now,” Orochimaru continues, nudging a reluctant Naruto upright. “Up you get. I need a shower, and then I’ll cook us dinner.”
Later, once Naruto has gone to bed, Orochimaru breaks out the sake while Anko lounges on the sofa this time, taking up the length of it.
“So what’s really going on?” Anko prods, accepting the cup that Orochimaru extends towards her. “What’d the Hokage say?”
“The same thing everyone else is saying,” Orochimaru leans back against the armchair, absently activating the privacy seals for the sitting room.
Anko levels a knowing look at him. “But you think something else is up.”
Orochimaru doesn't respond for a long minute, polishing off his first cup of sake and pouring himself another before looking at his student again.
“This goes no further,” He warns. Anko nods once, and she’s not Orochimaru’s apprentice for nothing; she can keep a secret better than most shinobi. Technically, she doesn't have the clearance for hearing even just the suspicions of a Sannin about such a delicate matter, but there’s no one Orochimaru trusts more, and in the improbable but still possible event that he dies while digging into the motives behind the massacre, someone has to be left with a clue.
Concisely, he quickly details the conjectures he’s made, about Uchiha Itachi, about Sarutobi-sensei, even about Shimura Danzou.
“That’s crazy,” Anko mutters when he finishes. “If worst really came to worst, then I’d understand assassinating the shinobi as a last resort, but the civilians too? And the children? Is Danzou insane? What if word about this gets out to the other clans? They’d start thinking that even one treasonous idea will get them all executed! It’d throw this entire village into an uproar! And how could Hokage-sama let this happen?”
“They’re speculations only,” Orochimaru reminds her.
“Your speculations are always right,” Anko shoots back, tossing back her fourth cup of sake. “The Hokage could've asked you for advice.”
Orochimaru very nearly laughs. It must show on his face because Anko glowers at him.
“I highly doubt he’s even told Jiraiya of this plan, or Tsunade for that matter,” Orochimaru soothes. “He certainly wouldn't tell me.”
“He should certainly have trusted you more than Danzou!” Anko exclaims. “For fuck’s sake, you were his favourite student!”
“Emphasis on the past tense,” Orochimaru replies sardonically. “He believes he was too soft on me, letting me do whatever I wanted. He learned his lesson the hard way, and he won’t make that same mistake again.”
Anko scoffs loudly, almost sloshing her drink on herself when she waves that hand in the air. “Sorry to break it to you, Sensei, but that’s not called being soft on you. That’s called willful neglect. He turned a blind eye because he didn't want to deal with the consequences of his best student going a bit nuts in the head.” She tilts her head in consideration. “You know, the cover story for Itachi is almost exactly like what actually happened to you. You kinda snapped from the shinobi life too, except you didn't kill your family, you wanted immortality.”
Anko is perhaps the only person in existence who will ever be able to talk so candidly about his past to him without retribution.
“It’s hardly the same,” Orochimaru refutes. “For one, the boy is thirteen. I was thirty-six.”
“It was a gradual process. You didn't take a nosedive down the rabbit hole when the clock struck twelve on your thirty-sixth birthday, and there’s no universal law that says only kids can snap.”
“For another,” Orochimaru carries on without acknowledging the point. “I didn’t have a family to kill, or I probably would've used them in my experiments instead.”
“That’s bullshit,” Anko declares bluntly, thrusting her cup at him to stress her statement. “I know you, Sensei. You considered your team family once, and you never laid a hand on them, or the people they directly cared about, not even at your worst.”
“I wouldn't have been able to,” Orochimaru counters. “They're Sannin, just like me.”
“Tsunade-sama froze at the sight of blood,” Anko says dubiously. “And abducting Shizune-san would've been like taking candy from a baby. Kushina-san, maybe a little harder, but you could've gotten the drop on her, Kyuubi or no Kyuubi. And the whole Jinchuuriki thing would've been even more incentive for you.”
“The fallout would've been too troublesome to even think about if I was ever caught. Besides,” His eyes narrow in challenge. “I would've gone after you if the Yondaime hadn't stopped me.”
“Yeah, well, you met me after your mind was already way past fractured,” Anko opposes flippantly. “And you still managed to be genuinely kind to me in the times that you were more put-together.”
“Which were far and few in-between.”
Anko just rolls her eyes. “You're not listening, Sensei. Your problem was never that you didn't care enough. Your problem was that you cared too much.”
She hesitates for a second but hurries on before Orochimaru can interrupt and tell her how ludicrous that belief is. “You didn't like a lot of people, you still don’t, but those you did, and those you do, you care about them a hell of a lot. I... I don’t know what happened after Nawaki-san died-” Orochimaru imperceptibly tenses at the mention. “-but Shizune-san once told me in passing that you cried for her uncle right alongside Tsunade-sama. I can’t imagine you crying, but if you did for Katou-san, then you must've cried for Nawaki-san as well. And losing them, and your parents, and maybe some other people – that’s why you wanted immortality, right? Because you loved them, and you lost them, and you hated the grief that came with each death.”
She set her sake cup down on the coffee table with a decisive clink. “I know you, Sensei, and I can piece things together perfectly fine. And just for the record, I’d like to punch the Hokage in the crotch if he purposely suggested to Itachi that he should use your past as a freakin’ cover story. That’s a dick move. It’s like he’s reminding you that if you ever do anything like Itachi, he’d really order you to be hunted down, not just- pretend-hunted-down.”
Orochimaru stares into his sake long after Anko falls silent.
“...You make a lot of excuses for my actions, Anko,” is what he says when he finally speaks.
“They're not excuses if what I say is true,” Anko snipes back. “And I'm not saying that what you were planning to do can be excused. It was wrong, and I would've helped stop you myself if I had known, not that I would've been able to do much. I'm just saying that I know some of what brought you to that point, and that isn’t completely your fault. Ex-sensei or not, Hokage or not, the Sandaime should've noticed and stepped in way before you got to that point in the first place. He knew you were doing experiments, didn’t he? And he suspected which direction you were heading in with them. But he didn't do anything to stop you. And Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama should've noticed too, and done something instead of letting you get all distant and wrapped up in your own head.” She quirks a sudden smile. “Besides, I'm on your side. It’s my job to be biased and unfair to everyone holding your past against you.”
Orochimaru doesn't look at her, gaze sliding over to the view outside the window where the moon shines high in the night sky.
Sometimes, his student still surprises him. Anko can be reckless and juvenile at times, and at first glance, she doesn't seem particularly clever or cunning. But Orochimaru would never have taken special interest in her if she was just average. She may not possess a lot of tact but her tenacity helps her argue circles around other people until they relent.
Nevertheless, he doesn't really blame his team or his sensei or even Danzou (and even his apprentice doesn't know much about the sly offers and promises that man whispered in Orochimaru’s ear), not the way Anko blames them, and not because she doesn't make some fair points, but because he simply doesn't have the inclination to actively blame anyone anymore. He can’t help feeling the occasional chokehold of resentment, but constantly blaming other people for his lot in life takes energy, energy he’s long since used up, and in the end...
“The choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility,” Orochimaru murmurs under his breath.
“What was that?” Anko squints at him.
Orochimaru allows a small smile, finishes his third cup of sake, and then reaches out to tug lightly on Anko’s ponytail. The Tokubetsu Jounin grumbles a bit, something about being too old for that, and really, Sensei, can’t you just say thanks the normal way, but it lacks any real heat.
“I don’t like being kept in the dark so I’ll be doing some investigating of my own into this incident,” Orochimaru continues lightly as if they never went off on a tangent. Certain things can be understood between them without a verbal resolution.
“Want me to keep an ear to the ground as well?” Anko asks, accepting his highly-likely-to-be-illegal proposal without batting an eye. “Just in case any of the Jounin I work with know something and yap about it to each other.”
“It’s unlikely that any of them would know anything,” Orochimaru muses. “Sensei would want to keep this as quiet as possible, and there are at least three people who are already party to the truth.”
“And you know what they say,” Anko says with a mirthless smirk. “Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead. I’ll keep my trap shut and pretend I don’t know anything then?”
“That would be best,” Orochimaru agrees. “The Hokage’s off-limits, and I can’t touch Danzou at this point in time, which leaves Itachi-kun.” A smirk curls a one corner of his mouth. “Perhaps I’ll bump into him on one of my missions.”
Anko snickered before tossing back to rest of her sake. “His days are numbered then. Let’s hope the information he has is enough to keep him alive when you find him.”
There’s a reason Anko is as comfortable as she is with being his apprentice – their personalities complement each other so very well.
no subject
Date: 2016-07-30 03:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-31 10:08 pm (UTC)Of course Orochimaru was sent out of the village, and of course he's too smart to buy into this bullshit theory. At least he and Anko actually are working to uncover what happened for the village rather than sliding it 6 feet under the ground. God the Sandaime is just TOO OLD to be Hokage anymore, not if he's going to let things like this happen.
Anyway, loved the chapter as usual! I hope we see Sasuke more in the future. He can join the found family because god knows he'll need it.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-05 07:14 pm (UTC)story update
Date: 2019-08-05 07:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-09-29 10:41 pm (UTC)