It's not a revenge based Naruto and it includes Team 7. Let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I'm sure there are some errors in this. If you see any please let me know as I lack betas.
Please enjoy!
Another Side, Another Story:
Spoiler: show
It shouldn't be like this
It was all Jiraiya could think as he lay there, gazing into the cold eyes of his most recent student. There was a glimmer of madness that seemed present but not, as though it were out of phase with reality.
Reality. Yeah, this is reality.
How had things gone so wrong? No. He knew the answer to that, a more intelligent question would be "When?" Had he spent all this time teaching and training and- Had all of his efforts been cast aside before they had even begun? Was his godson so well and truly out of his grasp before he even reached him? Had all that time simply been spent preparing this monster?
And why? Why oh why did he feel like it was more than they deserved? Prophecy was such a bitter notion. Yeah, he had experience with it but self fulfilling prophecies always left a bad taste. To think that the villagers had been right about Naruto, yet they had been wrong too. So very very wrong. This was not the Kyuubi. No, this was something much worse. This was control.
It would have been easy, frightfully easy, to simply assume it was the Kyuubi who was doing this. But that was wrong. He knew Minato and he knew that seal. The kyuubi never had any chance of escape.
This is him. This is your son Minato. This is the grandkid you never had Sensei. This is your nephew Tsunade-hime. This is your would-be weapon Danzo. This is your monster Konoha. This is our future. This...this is my godson.
This is Karma.
And even there, broken and battered at his former student's feet, Jiraiya smiled. The kind of bitter, broken smile of a man who glimpses the inner workings of the universe and finds no place for himself. And, as he closed his eyes, he couldn't help but think.
And I still never got a date with Tsunade-hime.
-----
Where did things go so wrong?
It was this thought that haunted Orochimaru as he and his recent student fought. Somehow, between his defection to Oto and now, Sauske had become less controlled. More and more he was wising up, the situation becoming clearer and clearer. Somehow, he had realized that Orochimaru could no longer help him. Somehow, through some means that he, Orochimaru of the Sannin, could not fathom, Sauske was gaining control over himself.
It hadn't been too long ago that he had noticed the degradation of the curse seal marking the boy. Even then it had been too late to do anything. He knew Sauske had to be aware of this, even if it wasn't his own doing he had to be aware that the seal was influencing him less and less.
He hated not being in control.
How did it come to this?
"You're not even using you're curse seal. Have you lost that driving interest you had in your brother's demise? Do you so truly wish to die?" Oh how he had sunk so low, that even now he was practically asking for information. Even still, better humility than death. He was not above such notions, he alone knew best his mortality.
"It is unnecessary. You're usefulness has reached it's end and I alone shall eliminate Itachi. My death shall be neither here nor by your hands." Even as he spoke a faint glimmer of madness sparkled in those dangerously spinning eyes. Those eyes, so like the color of the life blood of his minions he had so casually spilled countless times before. This couldn't possibly be Karma. He wasn't a believer.
"Come now Saus- Ghrk!" Even as his eyes widened he could feel the world growing dim. Glancing down through the darkness racing into his vision he could see the glimmer of his sword sticking out of his neck. Coated in blood, so like those magnificent eyes he had longed to possess.
"Hn."
No! Not yet! I- I'm not rea-.
-----
What the hell is going on?!
One moment she had been filling out some paperwork, minding Konoha's business and sipping some tea Sakura had brought in. The next she could barely hold a pencil.
Poison.
It was like a sledgehammer and, even with the adrenalin pumping through her body, she realized that this wasn't something she could handle. She had to call for someone, anyone. Someone must have poisoned the tea-bags.
"he- help..." even she could barely hear it. Her nervous system was already going, she could feel it spreading to the respiratory and cardio systems even as she spoke. She wouldn't mak- Yes! Sakura had just entered. If there was anyone who could help her, it would be her apprentice.
Bu- but I can't even speak now.
"huuu...hulll" And it was true. She could barely bring herself to breath, let alone speak.
"Do you need help, Sensei?"
Yes! Help me!
Even though Sakura clearly couldn't read her mind, the realization dawning on her face was unmistakable.
"You can't call for help, can you?"
No! Does it look like I can you twit?! Stop standing around and hel-
"I'm afraid I can't do that Sensei. Though I must say, I'm pleasantly surprised. I hadn't counted on it working so quickly. The cellular degeneration you experience from that seal of your's must have been greater than I anticipated."
She wasn't sure if the cold settling in the pit of her stomach was from the poison or not. Something was very very wrong here, and it wasn't just her increasingly difficult struggle to hold tight her mortal coil.
"Then again, it's still a rather experimental poison. And I'm afraid it was something I just couldn't have documented. You know how these things go of course." The cheery attitude that seemed to fit her appearance like a glove almost covered the madness glinting in her eyes, as though it were barely there.
She did. She just never expected it from her apprentice. That was Orochimaru's shtick. Still, even she could appreciate the irony. And, to be frank, she was tired of living anyways. So many people lost and she had done so little to help the world. She was a far cry from her childhood aspirations. Maybe now she could finally join Dan and Nawaki.
Maybe now, I can finally be free.
"Oh don't be like that Sensei! It won't be ending like that. You still have a debt to pay off." Even now her brain was fogging up, her vision being swallowed by darkness. One last thought came to her, but she didn't think it was her own.
It's Karma.
It was all Jiraiya could think as he lay there, gazing into the cold eyes of his most recent student. There was a glimmer of madness that seemed present but not, as though it were out of phase with reality.
Reality. Yeah, this is reality.
How had things gone so wrong? No. He knew the answer to that, a more intelligent question would be "When?" Had he spent all this time teaching and training and- Had all of his efforts been cast aside before they had even begun? Was his godson so well and truly out of his grasp before he even reached him? Had all that time simply been spent preparing this monster?
And why? Why oh why did he feel like it was more than they deserved? Prophecy was such a bitter notion. Yeah, he had experience with it but self fulfilling prophecies always left a bad taste. To think that the villagers had been right about Naruto, yet they had been wrong too. So very very wrong. This was not the Kyuubi. No, this was something much worse. This was control.
It would have been easy, frightfully easy, to simply assume it was the Kyuubi who was doing this. But that was wrong. He knew Minato and he knew that seal. The kyuubi never had any chance of escape.
This is him. This is your son Minato. This is the grandkid you never had Sensei. This is your nephew Tsunade-hime. This is your would-be weapon Danzo. This is your monster Konoha. This is our future. This...this is my godson.
This is Karma.
And even there, broken and battered at his former student's feet, Jiraiya smiled. The kind of bitter, broken smile of a man who glimpses the inner workings of the universe and finds no place for himself. And, as he closed his eyes, he couldn't help but think.
And I still never got a date with Tsunade-hime.
-----
Where did things go so wrong?
It was this thought that haunted Orochimaru as he and his recent student fought. Somehow, between his defection to Oto and now, Sauske had become less controlled. More and more he was wising up, the situation becoming clearer and clearer. Somehow, he had realized that Orochimaru could no longer help him. Somehow, through some means that he, Orochimaru of the Sannin, could not fathom, Sauske was gaining control over himself.
It hadn't been too long ago that he had noticed the degradation of the curse seal marking the boy. Even then it had been too late to do anything. He knew Sauske had to be aware of this, even if it wasn't his own doing he had to be aware that the seal was influencing him less and less.
He hated not being in control.
How did it come to this?
"You're not even using you're curse seal. Have you lost that driving interest you had in your brother's demise? Do you so truly wish to die?" Oh how he had sunk so low, that even now he was practically asking for information. Even still, better humility than death. He was not above such notions, he alone knew best his mortality.
"It is unnecessary. You're usefulness has reached it's end and I alone shall eliminate Itachi. My death shall be neither here nor by your hands." Even as he spoke a faint glimmer of madness sparkled in those dangerously spinning eyes. Those eyes, so like the color of the life blood of his minions he had so casually spilled countless times before. This couldn't possibly be Karma. He wasn't a believer.
"Come now Saus- Ghrk!" Even as his eyes widened he could feel the world growing dim. Glancing down through the darkness racing into his vision he could see the glimmer of his sword sticking out of his neck. Coated in blood, so like those magnificent eyes he had longed to possess.
"Hn."
No! Not yet! I- I'm not rea-.
-----
What the hell is going on?!
One moment she had been filling out some paperwork, minding Konoha's business and sipping some tea Sakura had brought in. The next she could barely hold a pencil.
Poison.
It was like a sledgehammer and, even with the adrenalin pumping through her body, she realized that this wasn't something she could handle. She had to call for someone, anyone. Someone must have poisoned the tea-bags.
"he- help..." even she could barely hear it. Her nervous system was already going, she could feel it spreading to the respiratory and cardio systems even as she spoke. She wouldn't mak- Yes! Sakura had just entered. If there was anyone who could help her, it would be her apprentice.
Bu- but I can't even speak now.
"huuu...hulll" And it was true. She could barely bring herself to breath, let alone speak.
"Do you need help, Sensei?"
Yes! Help me!
Even though Sakura clearly couldn't read her mind, the realization dawning on her face was unmistakable.
"You can't call for help, can you?"
No! Does it look like I can you twit?! Stop standing around and hel-
"I'm afraid I can't do that Sensei. Though I must say, I'm pleasantly surprised. I hadn't counted on it working so quickly. The cellular degeneration you experience from that seal of your's must have been greater than I anticipated."
She wasn't sure if the cold settling in the pit of her stomach was from the poison or not. Something was very very wrong here, and it wasn't just her increasingly difficult struggle to hold tight her mortal coil.
"Then again, it's still a rather experimental poison. And I'm afraid it was something I just couldn't have documented. You know how these things go of course." The cheery attitude that seemed to fit her appearance like a glove almost covered the madness glinting in her eyes, as though it were barely there.
She did. She just never expected it from her apprentice. That was Orochimaru's shtick. Still, even she could appreciate the irony. And, to be frank, she was tired of living anyways. So many people lost and she had done so little to help the world. She was a far cry from her childhood aspirations. Maybe now she could finally join Dan and Nawaki.
Maybe now, I can finally be free.
"Oh don't be like that Sensei! It won't be ending like that. You still have a debt to pay off." Even now her brain was fogging up, her vision being swallowed by darkness. One last thought came to her, but she didn't think it was her own.
It's Karma.
