More than an hour later, at the former site of Orochimaru's base.
Tap.
Link halted and looked at the now completely collapsed base. He dispersed his shadows to search the area.
[Orochimaru was here? Or did someone else come to destroy the base?]
Just as he was thinking, one of his shadows alerted him that someone was stealthily approaching.
Snap! The sound of a branch breaking rang out. Three shadows that had tried to subdue the intruder were instantly ensnared by long white hair. A moment later, those shadows flattened into two dimensions, flowed onto the ground, and, upon receiving new orders, returned to the darkness.
"Lord Jiraiya." Link stood atop a tree, looking down at one of the Legendary Sannin who had just landed. "What brings you here?"
His tone was still reasonably courteous and polite. After all, Jiraiya was a candidate for the next Hokage [though the odds were high he wouldn't accept].
[As expected, that's a really strange technique. The Nara Clan's secret arts can't possibly do this.]
Jiraiya mulled it over, then said, "You're here about Orochimaru too, aren't you?" Despite the question, his tone sounded more like a statement.
He was someone who regularly gathered information and had caught wind of how Link was traveling with the son of a Daimyo.
Arriving here after the mission clearly wasn't the direct route back to the village, so it had to be for Orochimaru's base, which had recently drawn a lot of attention in the Land of Rivers.
"To be precise, I was the first outsider to arrive at this base," Link corrected. "I got here and captured Orochimaru's subordinate, Kabuto Yakushi, but I ran into members of the Akatsuki and ended up losing him."
"I see." Jiraiya said, "I discovered some time ago that Orochimaru had already left that organization."
"By the way, do you know why they've come to the Land of Rivers?"
[Akatsuki... All of its members are S-rank rogue ninjas with serious charges on their heads.] Jiraiya sensed trouble.
"They destroyed the capital of the Land of Rivers," Link answered. "They also seemed to be targeting me and the jinchūriki, but fled after being defeated."
"That's quite something." Jiraiya's expression shifted slightly. He had already heard how this kid drove off Orochimaru, yet hearing he had also driven away members of the Akatsuki still surprised him. "But I've been keeping tabs on them for a while. They haven't made any major moves until now, only some espionage-type operations."
"Destroying a nation's capital, though—that's pretty bold."
He grew serious. Rogue ninjas like Orochimaru suddenly taking large-scale action was a bad sign. First they appeared in the Konohagakure to attack a Special Jōnin, and then they destroyed a national capital.
But it conflicted with some of his intel. According to his sources, the Akatsuki wouldn't begin capturing tailed beasts for another three or four years…
Something must have changed for them to suddenly become so active.
[Has the storyline deviated?]
Link wondered. Logically, his own appearance shouldn't have had too large an impact on the Akatsuki—most of his actions so far affected Konoha and Orochimaru.
Wait a minute. Would the Akatsuki allow a powerful Konohagakure to stand unchallenged?
Even if that organization's objectives had multiple layers, in practice they would gather information on jinchūriki before Shippūden began, waiting for the right moment to capture the tailed beasts.
But Konoha had recently defeated the Sunagakure almost without a scratch, capturing top Sunagakure officials and a jinchūriki. Whether it was to the other Great Nations or to the Akatsuki, it was an intolerable outcome if they were after the tailed beasts.
Seeing Konoha's surging influence, there was likely growing turmoil internationally. If handled poorly, it might spark war—
A Fourth Great Ninja War not orchestrated by the Akatsuki.
"This place is completely ruined. Orochimaru's not coming back," Jiraiya said, unaware of what thoughts were spinning in the boy's head. "If the Akatsuki's got its eye on you, you should leave the Land of Rivers as soon as possible. I'll gather follow-up intel."
"All right." Link nodded and departed. Jiraiya might have already been here for who knew how long. If any clues remained, he would've dug them up by now.
Never underestimate Jiraiya's determination to pursue Orochimaru.
…
That night, at the hotel.
A faint swish of sand slipped in through the crack under the door.
Click. The door opened.
The light from the hallway cut through the darkness, revealing a short figure standing in the doorway who simply slid inside without taking a step.
Clack.
A shadow switched on the light. Link, sitting on the bed and yawning, said, "Gaara, it's the middle of the night—shouldn't you be asleep? What are you doing here?"
"Also, knock before coming in next time. Don't just open someone's door with ninjutsu whenever you feel like it…"
He felt exhausted teaching this kid.
From a very young age, Gaara had been treated as a weapon and was constantly targeted for assassination. If not for the leaking power of Shukaku combined with his mother's love, he probably would've died long ago—those assassinations had been the real deal, complete with explosive tags and other such tools.
He'd had almost no one to teach or guide him, so it was unsurprising he lacked basic knowledge of positive emotions.
After all, even people like Kankurō [his own relative] and Baki [his superior] treated Gaara as a monster or a weapon.
In the original manga, once Naruto "brought him back," Gaara swung the other way, becoming willing to give everything for the very village that had once tried to kill him.
He had basically adopted Naruto's ideals.
[Maybe I should find someone to teach him about positive emotions. Since the tailed beast's been sealed again anyway.]
As Link spoke, that idea popped into his mind.
"I understand." Gaara stood in the room, expressionless. "I can't sleep."
"You didn't just sleep all day after we checked in, did you?" Once he said it, Link realized that was probably the case. "If you can't sleep, find something else to do. Don't come bothering me while I'm trying to sleep."
Gaara stood there for a moment, then suddenly turned and left.
The shadow behind him shut off the light and closed the door.
[What am I feeling right now?] Gaara was puzzled by these strange emotions.
A tangle of incomprehensible feelings welled up inside him. What was stranger was that none of them felt painful, nor did his head hurt.
He couldn't understand, but it intrigued him—and it was…fun.
After he closed the door, Gaara lingered in the corridor. His usually emotionless eyes were lit with a flicker of life. He quietly approached Kankurō's door, and was about to open it with sand, but then recalled what Link had just said and reached out to knock instead.
Knock, knock, knock.
Kankurō, looking a bit groggy, opened the door. Seeing Gaara, he immediately perked up. "Are we setting out now?"
He assumed they were leaving in the middle of the night to head back to the Konoha.
Gaara shook his head. "I just went to see Link-sensei."
Huh?
Kankurō was momentarily confused. "Am I still dreaming…?"
~~~
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