The Bright Lightning Group of which Karyu had been a member; he had said they had taken requests from ninja villages. For the villages, this was a connection with darkness. When they had dirty work, they needed someone in the know.
Alone, Sasuke headed toward the base set up in a cave, away from the eyes of people. The village of Takeno had seemed relieved somehow after the fire. The members of Dark Thunder had tormented them, and now they were all dead. And it was the village headman who had achieved this. Perhaps everyone was a little glad Iou had succeeded in getting his revenge.
Just as Kakashi had sent a letter to Sasuke, he had also apparently sent one to Yugakure. He must have asked for support for Takeno, since Yugakure ninja had appeared to help with the rebuilding. Meanwhile, Chino and Nowaki said they were finally free; they returned to their travels, and Sasuke was here.
“Well, here’s some trouble.” A man suddenly stood blocking Sasuke’s way to the base. His face was familiar. “Sasuke, right? How about we call me ‘Yamato?’” This man had gone into Orochimaru’s base before with Naruto and the others. He had been assigned to be their team leader. And now he was here, which meant …
“So I guess Orochimaru is here, then.”
Orochimaru had many bases, but Sasuke wasn’t wrong.
“Damn it.” Yamato sighed. “So tell me what you want, then.”
“I need to talk to Orochimaru.”
“Well, I sort of guessed that.”
Sasuke stayed silent. Yamato crossed his arms, and did the same. He was likely committed to waiting it out. They wouldn’t get anywhere like this.
“It’s possible Orochimaru had information connected with the ringleader in the attack on Konoha,” Sasuke explained, briefly.
Yamato looked disappointed. He uncrossed his arms and scratched his head. “Did you contact the Sixth about this?”
“I plan to report to him if this pans out.”
“Hmm. Well, it’d actually be easier for us to coordinate if you sent incremental progress reports as you went, but …” Yamato stared at Sasuke. “But you are working for the sake of Konoha, right?”
Sasuke held his breath for a moment at Yamato’s question. He was working for the sake of Konoha; that was true. He was doing it so naturally it was almost mysterious, even to him. He might not have been in the village, but he was still connected with Konoha. Sasuke knew this feeling.
“Yeah,” he replied.
“That’s that, then,” Yamato said, and stepped aside.
“You sure?”
“I’ll report to the Sixth. We’re ‘comrades,’ after all. Kakashi taught you the importance of trust and teamwork, too, didn’t he?”
Team Kakashi. Team 7. The way they looked back then came back to life in Sasuke’s mind. He felt like he was starting from scratch, going around and collecting again all the important things he’d cast aside.
“Thanks,” he said, and stepped into Orochimaru’s base.
Walls made to resemble snakeskin; snake images decorating every surface. They probably also fulfilled the role of surveillance cameras. Orochimaru was probably watching him. Sasuke proceeded in silence before arriving at the deepest part of the base.
“It’s been a while, Sasuke.” Orochimaru appeared, a smile spreading across his lips. He was one of the legendary Sannin, alongside Jiraiya and Tsunade, and the depth of his knowledge of ninjutsu, along with his insatiable curiosity, were greater than those of any other ninja. This tenacity touched the abyss of darkness like a snake; there was a part of Orochimaru that surpassed the realm of the human.
“Do you know the Bright Lightning Group?” Sasuke asked, getting straight to the issue at hand without any preamble.
“Goodness,” Orochimaru murmured.
“Do you?”
“Yes, well, I have heard of them. But the last I heard, they had been ‘exterminated’ by Kirigakure.” Orochimaru chuckled. So, he apparently knew that Kirigakure had set up a trap for Bright Lightning in order to build its own connections with the officials.
“There’s a possibility that the leader of Bright Lightning is attacking ninja villages.”
“Ooh, the leader of Bright Lightning, hmm …”
Sasuke’s face grew stern at these meaningful words. “Tell me everything you know.”
“Heh heh. You never change, hm? I wonder if that’s the best attitude when you’re asking someone for something?” Orochimaru cocked his head to one side.
“Hurry up, already,” Sasuke urged him, and Orochimaru’s laughter grew even deeper.
“Fine,” Orochimaru said. “This seems like it’s turning into something interesting, hm? I’m quite certain that the leader of Bright Lightning is the owner of a kekkei genkai. He was originally in Oyashiro En’s bodyguard squad.”
“Oyashiro En?” Sasuke was unfamiliar with the name.
“A man who doesn’t belong anywhere. He is a ninja, but he’s also an arms dealer. As long as you have the money, he’ll sell you weapons, so he’s known as the Death Merchant. He’s quite skilled. He managed to build a vast fortune in a single generation.”
“And the leader of Bright Lightning was guarding this guy?”
“He was, but he also supplied weapons to battlegrounds, together with Oyashiro. These bodyguards were the elite; they also appeared on the very frontlines of a battle. Something similar to the Anbu.”
In which case, hearing what this Oyashiro had to say would bring him closer to the leader of Bright Lightning.
“Where is Oyashiro?”
“No idea. He has even more bases than I do. It might be quite a trick to find him.”
Sasuke glared at Orochimaru. “There’s no reason you’d go out of your way to tell me a story like this without anything to back it up.”
“I wonder if you trust me?” Orochimaru chuckled again. “That’s right. I don’t know where he is, but I can lure him out. But that … well, it’s a bit of a hassle. Did you still want to?”
“Why do you think I came all the way here?”
Orochimaru laughed again, and murmured, “I feel a draft.”
Orochimaru informed him that the preparations would take a little time, so Sasuke was on standby in the base.
“Sasukeee!”
“What? You showing up here, this mean you’re planning something bad?”
“It’s been a while, huh?”
The members of Taka he had previously fought alongside came racing over to him.
“Karin noticed you pretty early on, and she’s been on edge ever since.”
“Wha—! I was just worried about trouble starting! Don’t just go blabbing every little thing! Come on!”
Suigetsu and Karin, bickering as always.
Jugo watched this little back and forth, and then asked, “Have you been traveling this whole time?”
“Yeah.”
Karin stopped yelling and gaped at him. “You haven’t been back to Konoha?” she asked, seeming worried.
“So you were worried about Sasuke,” Suigetsu interjected.
“Seriously—shut up, you!”
The commotion was about to start all over again, when Orochimaru appeared. “You all are being too loud. Sasuke, everything’s ready. Shall we go?”
“Lord Orochimaru, are you going out?” Karin asked.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. “Just to the ocean with Sasuke for a minute.”
Karin and the others were momentarily at a loss for words.
“Wh-whaaat?! Sasuke, to the ocean?!” Karin shrieked.
“Keep an eye on things while I’m out,” Orochimaru commanded, and Karin’s shoulders dropped.
“I can’t really imagine Lord Orochimaru at the beach.” Suigetsu was stiff.
“Wait, this is news to me.” Sasuke furrowed his brow as he followed Orochimaru.
“More precisely, to an island floating in the ocean. There’s an amusement spot for the rich there.”
“… And Oyashiro is there?”
“If we leave a little bait, hm?” A meaningful smile spread across Orochimaru’s face.
“I can’t believe Sasuke would move on someone else’s behalf,” Suigetsu murmured, with somehow deep emotion, after Sasuke and Orochimaru had left.
“He was originally a Konoha ninja,” Jugo said. “It’s not exactly for a stranger.”
“But, like,” Suigetsu insisted. “He hasn’t gone back to Konoha, right? Maybe it’s hard for him to be there?”
“I dunno,” Jugo said, and glared at Suigetsu. “The big wars might be over, but there’s still plenty of baddies out there. With those eyes, Sasuke’ll have people coming after him.”
Sasuke had the sharingan in his right eye, as a survivor of the Uchiha clan, and even the rinnegan in his left. His eyes were more appealing than anything else for someone hungry for power. Just like Orochimaru had once wanted Sasuke’s body.
“If he was in the village, ninja might show up to attack it, looking for him. So by showing everyone that Uchiha Sasuke is not in Konoha, but rather wandering around the world, the chance of the village being hurt drops,” Karin noted.
“And if he in serious contact with the village, some people might show up trying to get information from people connected with Sasuke,” Jugo added.
“Isn’t everyone connected with Sasuke, like, super strong?” Suigetsu asked, cocking his head to one side. “It wouldn’t be easy to get information from them or anything.”
“Not necessarily. If he was in the village, he’d be seeing little kids and things. There are some people who’d push those kids for info,” Jugo said. There were still some ninja in this world who would take whatever unjust means necessary in order to achieve their objective. You never knew what they would use.
“And Sasuke killed Uchiha Itachi out of his worry about Itachi being a subject of Lord Orochimaru’s research. Some people hate him for that,” Karin said. “Isn’t it like he’s making sure that he leaves as little information as possible with the village?”
“You think Sasuke’s thinking about all that?” Suigetsu seemed half-doubtful of the idea.
“I don’t know for sure, but if that’s the case, then Sasuke’ll always be traveling?” Suigetsu asked.
“He might end up doing that,” Jugo replied.
Hearing this, Karin dropped her eyes. In the back of her mind, an image came back to life: a woman, her eyes on Sasuke approaching the darkness, but unable to stop caring about him even still, tears spilling down her face.
Karin went back to her room and took a photo out of her desk. It had been taken back when they were still working as Taka, after Karin had begged and pestered everyone to do it. She had actually wanted a photo of just the two of them, but Suigetsu and Jugo were also in it. She stared at this picture.
“Whatcha looking at?” Suigetsu came up from behind her to sneak a peek.
“Quit it, you! Have you ever heard of a little thing called manners?!”
“Oof!”
Karin threw a backhand at his face, which turned into a liquid, and water scattered everywhere. Karin pushed her glasses up and hurriedly shouted, “It’s not like I was actually sitting here wondering if that kid had a picture of him or anything?!”
“Kid? What kid? Sasuke?”
“Sasuke? Oh, uh—Shut up!!” This time, she kicked at him as hard as she could. “Get out, you idiot!” Kicking and punching, Karin chased Suigetsu out of the room. Once his aura had receded, she looked at the photo once more.
“If I see you again, I can just ask, I guess. It’s an easy thing to copy a photo and all.” Although she had no idea if she’d see the woman with the cherry-pink hair again.
Karin put the photo back in her desk.