Naruto: The Unwoven Threads of Fate

Chapter 134: Chapter 75 (3)



It's going to have two parts, one on her and one on me. "I summoned you to relax Ino, not pester me."

I turn my attention back to the intricate seal on Ino. I can't believe she was so reckless, letting that enemy shinobi get close enough to touch her. Maybe I should have a talk with Shikamaru and Choji? I'm pretty sure their team dynamic has her in the backline, so obviously they were slacking. What's this? No, there's simply no way.

"Is this a five elements seal?" I mutter to myself as I lightly trace the beautiful lines with my finger again. Ino shivers under my touch and attempts to squirm away from me and my new project. Instead of tracing the seal even more, both my hands dart to her hips and firmly stop her from squirming. "Stay."

"Sorry." She mumbles out as her cheeks turn pink. A soft chuckle of amusement comes from the me playing with her hair as he grins down at her. "I couldn't help myself."

"It doesn't seem like it's the five elements seal." I don't reply to her, instead I talk aloud to myself. My hands release her hips and they go back to exploring the seal. "The array has five sub seals that work together but it's not to seal away chakra. At least not in the same manner as the - I said stay."

I growl out the final three words as I pin Ino back into her place. She started squirming again as I tried to figure out this damn seal. I tear my eyes away from the seal with a heated glare and lock eyes with Ino. She's breathing heavy and her eyes are slightly unfocused.

"Do you want this seal off?" I ask Ino from above her.

"Be nice, she can't help it." I say as I scratch her scalp. "Besides, it's honestly a compliment."

"It's not a compliment." I pin myself in a glare. "It's distracting. You know how delicate seals are."

"Sorry." Ino mumbles out again, her eyes still slightly unfocused. "It's just so… nevermind. I'll stay still."

"Good." I lean over and grab my brush and ink before turning it on my own hand. "Stillness is very important, I'm going to be placing another seal on you that will break the first. A master could do it with a touch, unfortunately I have to do it with ink. Actually I think only Jiraiya can do it with a touch, I need a better base than just pure chakra forming. That guy is a fucking legend. Fair warning, this is going to be cold."

I place my newly adorned hand just a few centimeters above Ino's stomach. It's rapidly rising and falling, like she just finished a sprint. Her eyes are closed and she's biting her bottom lip. The rest of her body is completely rigid as she focuses all of her attention on staying still.

"We're almost done." I say to her as I channel chakra through my fingers into the seal I placed on them.

"Oh thank god." Ino mutters. "I'm not sure how much more of this I could take. With two of you focusing on me - you said it would be cold!"

Ino's whole body rolls as I dig my fingers into her stomach. Her hips buck up first, before her back arches almost like she's trying to get even more contact with my fingers.

"Is it not cold?" I ask in confusion as I study the seals. They're mixing and vanishing, a job well done.

"No!" Ino shouts - or was that a moan? I'm too focused on the seal - while her body rolls one more time. Her hands lunge up and grab my wrist in a feeble attempt to remove the fingers from her stomach. I simply push down firmer to keep contact, the seals aren't quite gone yet. "It feels like hot wax!"

"Suffer through it for a few more moments." I tell her as the last traces of the seal are washing away.

"She's not suffering through anything." I cheekily tell myself. I've stopped playing with her hair and am instead massaging her scalp in a way I know she really likes.

"You!" Ino pants out as she squirms under our ministrations. "Monsters!"

"All done." I calmly say as I pull my hand away from her stomach. "Consider yourself seal free."

"We're not done yet!" In an impressive feat of flexibility, strength, and a moment of surprise, Ino flips us both over so she's on top. She's straddling me this time and has a wild look in her eyes. "It's time for you to finish what you started."

"What are you - oh." I look up at Ino, who is panting above me and barely restraining herself from crashing our lips together. My eyes dart away from her for a moment, locking with my clone who is shooting me a thumbs up. "Just a moment, let me dismiss him."

"No." She purrs out as she looks up at him as well. "You both need to finish what you started."

"Is one of me not enough? You have to have two?" I smirk up at her and let my hands begin to wander.

"You naughty girl." The other me chuckles one final time before making his way towards us.

"You know you like it."

Alvarcus' Mindscape

"You really suck at this." I choke out between tears. "You haven't figured it out yet have you?"

Inoichi doesn't respond. He turns his back to me and I can hear the sound of teeth being ground together. His whole body is tense and he's barely restraining himself from lashing out at me, either verbally or physically. Though I don't think he could physically lash out at me here.

"Did you know that I'm making these fantasies up as we go?" I laugh even harder as Inoichi's hand reflexively twitches towards his hip pouch. I've really gotten to him, I wonder if I can do it even more?

"Oh wait! Let me guess!" I giddily call out to his back. "Does this special mindwalk have a time limit? No that can't be it. I bet it's a viewing limit!"

Inoichi gnashes his teeth together so hard there's an audible snap of something breaking. Bingo!

"You only have one left don't you?" I ask my interrogator. "Only five memories and you've wasted four of them on watching me and your daughter get busy! Oh I bet that burns something fierce!"

"It is true I can only view five memories." Inoichi growls out. "But that is only a daily limit due to the stress that this jutsu exerts on the minds. Anything more could cause damages to everyone involved."

"And we wouldn't want Konoha to lose it's best mindwalker or her most valuable prisoner, now would we?" I straighten up and walk around Inoichi. If he won't face me, then I'll just make him face me. "So, you've only got one left. What's it going to be? Another feeble attempt to figure out how to remove the seal? Or will it be another one of my fantasies about her? Better choose wisely!"

"What is your most vulnerable moment?"

The Memory

With tears in her eyes, I hear her say "We always loved you."

The blade falls.

Her head thuds to the ground.

The world stops.

Alvarcus' Mindscape

It's frigid silence that greets the both of us as we pull out of the shortest memory yet. I school my face into a mask of nothingness, similar to the void of my mind, and walk away from Inoichi.

"I didn't… It wasn't my intention…" Inoichi stumbles over what he wants to say.

"Four to one. Congratulations, you've done something very few people have ever done. You've gotten under my skin." I turn to look over my shoulder at Inoichi. "How did it feel? The sheer despair as I had to watch the blade fall towards my Mother? As I tried to do anything and everything to simply move faster and save her? How did it feel, the sudden emotional separation as the blade struck true? Was it jarring, knowing that for a fleeting instant I was empty? What kind of a person just shuts down his emotions when confronted with the death of someone treasured to them? Or even better, how did the murderous rage feel? I bet in some sick sense of twisted logic, you're happy I felt that murderous rage. After all, it would validate your opinion of me. Alvarcus Mar, the bad guy."

With a lurch my vision goes dark and I feel a warm sweaty palm on my head. Inoichi has pulled us back out to the real world. It doesn't phase me much, I easily pick up on the conversation right where I left off.

"It took a long time to come to terms with that." I tilt my head up towards where I think his face is. "I have many people to thank for helping me through it. Ironically, your daughter is one of them. Do you want to know why I think that's my most vulnerable moment?"

Inoichi doesn't respond, he removes his hand and steps away from me.

"That's the first time I ever hated someone." I softly whisper to him. "I thought I hated Orochimaru back when he gave me the Jiongu and played with my team. But even then, I wanted to stop Orochimaru. That Suna shinobi? I wanted him dead. In that moment, I evolved from a killer to a murderer. I wanted him to suffer grievously for what he did."

"He did." Inoichi speaks, equally softly as I am. "Very much, so I am told."

"Oh yes. Very, very much." I darkly smile out to the man. "Remember this, Inoichi. I may act like a docile kitten some of the time. I may act like I don't have a care in the world. But it's an act. I am a shinobi of the highest calibre, subjected to years of tutelage under Orochimaru. Tell me, have you ever scene a fierce animal that you were sure wouldn't bite? Because I haven't."

Inoichi turns and makes his way to the door. It softly opens, but before he can close it behind him I call out with a final remark.

"Same time tomorrow? You know animals like me enjoy being fed on a schedule."

Hokage's Office

"For the last time, I can't turn him over to you!" Tsunade huffs out. She's only said this twenty times, you'd think the brat would understand her by now. "He's a Konoha missing nin. I don't care what Suna thinks he's done for them. We're not releasing him into your custody."

"He is one of the reasons I still breathe." Gaara, in his sandy voice, pleads with the Hokage once more. "He is one of the reasons my brother still breathes. He is the reason my sister did not become another one of Sasori's countless puppets. He has done much to earn our forgiveness."

"He's done more to earn our scorn!" Tsunade growls out and lightly slams her fist into her desk. The desk cracks under her light touch, if she was trying it would be dust. "You're asking me to free one of the most notorious missing nin Konoha has ever produced? The only ones who are more well known are Itachi, Orochimaru and maybe Sasuke."

"I am asking you to free a good man." Gaara calmly counters. He's completely unphased by the desk being broken. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"He's a murderer." Tsunade snaps back at him and rips the bottom drawer out of her desk. She places the entire thing on top and pulls out a bottle and a glass.

"Aren't we all?" Gaara counters once more. "I have killed more of my own people than anyone else alive today. Then I met some wonderful Konoha shinobi who changed my entire outlook on life, so much that the people once terrified of me made me their Kage. They forgave me. It's a debt that I will never be able to pay."

"Not everyone is as noble as you, Kazekage." Tsunade snorts out as she discards the glass and pops the bottle open. "Alvarcus Mar is staying where he is, and that's final. He's lucky to be alive still."

"Would you have him killed?" Gaara asks. "I thought you liked him."

"Liked. Past tense." Tsunade takes a massive gulp from the bottle before continuing. "He was rapidly becoming one of the best assets Konoha had. Then he changed. The only reason he's still alive is because he knows too much about Orochimaru and Sasuke to be killed. He has too much vital information. Not to mention I have it on good authority that he knows more about the Akatsuki than anyone."

"And who is the one extracting this information?" Gaara's interest becomes piqued once more. He never would have guessed that Alvarcus would know more about the Akatsuki, he assumed that Alvarcus simply came to help save him. "You understand why I'm invested in this."

"Our best." Tsunade downs another massive gulp from the bottle. "We'll keep you informed."

There's a soft knock on the door moments before it opens. Shizune pokes her head in, taking in the broken desk, the open bottle and the strangely civil Kages.

"Your four o'clock appointment is here." Shizune informs Tsunade. "Should we reschedule?"

"No need." Tsunade pointedly looks at Gaara. "The Kazekage was just saying his goodbyes."

"Of course." Gaara smoothly stands and makes for the door. "Same time tomorrow?"

"I'd rather you quit pestering me. I have more important things to do." Tsunade sighs. She knows it's a hopeless cause, but she really wants him to leave her alone. She's tired of talking about Alvarcus.

"I shall see you tomorrow." The Kazekage gives Shizune a nod before leaving.


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