Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Uchiha Obito felt uncertain. His opponent stood across from him, looking all the world like she was unconcerned about his presence. The same person who just stated some of the best kept secrets in the world casually and with a smile. He had to appreciate it, few had that kind of...panache. It was a show, a play, entertainment, and most of all, a distraction. The issue was questioning what it was meant to distract him from.

"You truly mean to not attack me?" He questioned as he stared her down, hoping for a careless moment for her to make eye contact.

Orochimaru gave a shrug of the shoulder and held up a kunai with a seal wrapped around the hilt. "I can throw this at you if would make you feel better?"

Casual, joking, and a touch of flirting, but his eye couldn't be fooled. His opponent was on guard, and kept her eyes locked below his head or looking at some other object that always kept him in her periphery. There was also her outfit to consider. Orochimaru, even before the transformation into a woman, was loathed to wear the standard ninja uniform and wore it only to war. This was likely the first time anyone had seen Orochimaru in a uniform since the gender change.

Though who could blame her really, if you got it you should flaunt-

No. Focus. His opponent was not someone who could be underestimated. Should he retreat? It was a risk to stay, but Orochimaru was always the type to let information slip when he felt confident.

"What is your real goal? Do you intend to aim your blade at Akatsuki? You will not survive being our primary target."

"I'm just here to make friends! It's not about Akatsuki specifically." Was the response with a tittering laugh.

"Friends? Ha. We both know that Orochimaru doesn't have friends."

The laughter abruptly cut off and an inscrutable expression crossed his opponents face.

"I am not Orochimaru."

"Yes, yes, I've heard you make the claim that you're Orochitama now, but-"

"Want to hear a secret?" Orochimaru abruptly cut him off and didn't wait for a response, "I am Orochimaru, but I'm also not Orochimaru. You see, I had invented a technique to achieve immortality because I was a little bitch that couldn't face the reality of death. This technique allowed me to take over another body whenever my last gets a little worn down. Doing a trade-up if you will."

This...this was not where he expected things to go.

"Well, after I tried to force myself onto Itachi for his body and was sent running off I had to hurry up and try and shove my soul into a Uzu woman of the Setsushi clan in a rushed job."

Setsushi clan? Obito wracked brain for the name, it was distantly familiar and felt important. He read it somewhere, in one of the scrolls of the Second Hokage, they had been called something.

"The Death Clan?" Obito recalled.

"Oh you know of them!" The woman sighed wistfully, "The clan that shared it's secrets with Uzu and the Senju, resulting in the creation of a truly legendary technique that allowed one to summon an aspect of the god of death. Really, it was a dumb idea to put your soul on the line against someone who has an innate connection to that which reaps souls."

Where was this going? Why was she-

"As my soul began to shrivel from my attack I called out to the Death God, and he sent another soul for reinforcement. Thus I helped to protect myself from the attack mounted by me until all those parts blended together in a confusing mass of memory and personality that is Orochitama."

Obito tried to parse the confusing string of thoughts just presented to him. She was claiming to be some amalgamation of three people? It was a ridiculous concept fit for a children's book; or even something that was merely derivative of a children's book!

And yet the next best theory was that Itachi gained a libido and this felt more plausible.

"Why are you telling me all this? What's the point?" Obito asked.

"Well we have to do something to pass the time while Kiri falls." The gestalt of souls in a MILF suit responded sweetly. "Besides I can't really hurt you. I mean I throw a weapon at you like this-" she casually threw the kunai with a seal at him, which he let phase through his body without issue, "-and you'll just do that. Repeat until tired. This seemed like a better way to pass the time."

"Why tell me now? You've clearly hidden that information for months as you acted in mystery. I know for a fact you went to great pains to cloud the perception that you might not be Orochimaru. What changed?" Obito asked.

"I don't need Orochimaru's reputation anymore. I stood in front of an enemy Hidden Village and dared them to attack me. I fought Jiraiya of the Sannin in his Sage Mode on equal footing. I helped to orchestrate the downfall of Mizukage after publicly declaring that I would take down a Kage. I tamed the Demon of the Mist. I don't need Orochimaru's legend anymore because I have my own now."

Reputation? Was that what all this was about? Making sure she had a name outside of the Snake Sannin? If it was true, there was a very important question that needed to be answered.

"What do you need this reputation to do?" He asked suspiciously. When one was the leader of a small village, a fearsome reputation could defend it, but it could also draw ire towards you. If you were a small village, you needed reputation not for yourself, but your whole village. What was the goal?

"Another secret for you." Orochitama stated as she put her hands together in a seal. Obito tensed, but didn't move. He was already out of phase with the world, so nothing could hit him right now.

At least, that's what he thought.

"We've had this conversation while you were phased, meaning that soundwaves still effect you." The woman's smile grew vicious as she pulsed her chakra. "Ototon: Great Sound Field."

The seal wrapped around the kunai that went through him earlier exploded into a screaming wave of vibration at the same time that two other points on the roof did the same, all converging at his location. Despite being out of phase he felt it smash into him, robbing him of his breath and driving him to his knees while his stomach roiled with nausea.

"Don't be ashamed Haruno-san. You did well for someone that's been a genin less than a year." A familiar voice piped up.

"Haku!" Naruto and Sakura said at the same time. They were just really in sync like that.

"Sorry, I know this a meeting for your team, I just wanted to come over and congratulate Naruto-kun on his victory." The boy said. It was STILL weird that Haku was boy. He was WAY too pretty.

"Wasn't Zaku your ally?" Sasuke spoke up, glaring at Haku for some weird reason. Haku was totally a friend now!

"Yes, and he did well, but that does not detract from Naruto also doing well. He has improved greatly since our confrontation in Wave." Haku clearly had a grasp of truth.

"Thanks!" He said, then almost complimented his win against Sakura too, but...well she was right THERE.

"Where is Hatake-san? Zabuza-sama requested I give him my regards."

"He had...a mission." Sasuke suddenly spoke up.

Haku stiffened. "I...see. Do you know what sort of mission he was- no, sorry, it's not my place to ask. You'll have to excuse me."

Haku just suddenly turned to walk away. Something about that was fishy, it was like him finding out that Kakashi was on a mission made him worried. Why would Haku get worried over that?

"Do you know something about Kakashi-sensei's mission?" Naruto asked, causing Haku to halt in place but not turn to look back.

"No but...be careful Naruto-kun. There are big things happening today." Haku stated before running off.

"What was that about? What's happening today?"

"I...might have a way of finding out." Sasuke stated, drawing attention to him. "Kakashi gave me a scroll to open later for...if he didn't come back, or if he did and was not himself."

Sakura gasped and Naruto frowned. That sounded complicated and like there was a lot of subtext to things, exactly the kind of stuff that Kakashi-sensei liked to say they should look underneath the underneath, but Naruto was beginning to think that only applied sometimes. Sometimes people just made things too complicated in their own head. Like Orochi Lady! People acted like she was this complex looping...thing but she was really simple!

"Should we...read it?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

"Kakashi said to open it later." Sasuke said, also uncertain.

"That's dumb. Just open it now." Naruto pointed out his wisdom.

"You still have more matches Naruto!" Sasuke snapped back. "What's in here could throw you off your game or distract you or-"

"Who cares about that?" Naruto interrupted. "If it says something that means Kakashi-sensei needs help we go help him. Simple."

"But...the exams-" Sakura began.

"I can become Chunin some other time. We only have one Kakashi-sensei."

The two stared at him in shock for some reason. Weird.

xxxxxx

I stared across the roof at Obito's hunched form. The sound technique being used clearly effected him, but it wasn't effecting him as much as it should. This was the same technique that was used on stone support that collapsed multiple labs and killed several Oto personnel but it mostly just seemed to having a similar effect on Obito as Dosu's gauntlets, which would make sense if his phase just made his inner ear able to receive sound. Still, there was something a tad suspicious about this. It felt too easy.

That might just be my inner nerd talking that felt things needed to follow some form of satisfying narrative and Orochimaru's memories showed quite clearly that was often not the case. Still, no reason to risk things. I had two more tricks up my sleeve after all.

I unsealed a glass beaker overlaid was a particular seal and tossed at Obito's crouch form. The glass shattered when it met the overlapping field of sound and immediately ignited into green smokeless flames that would cling to anything it touched and burned like a discount bin Amaterasu. The bloom of the flame covered Obito's form and-

A blade stabbed into my stomach and Obito's mask filled my vision, my hand weakly grasped the appendage and tugged at it as if trying to get him to remove the knife.

"Sorry! The effect was not as strong as you imagined!" Obito sounded almost giddy.

He was faking. He pretended to be effected so I would let down my guard and it worked. I now had a knife in my liver.

Fuck.

"I don't suppose we can go back to talking?" I choked out.