Fate Wheel | Naruto

𝟒𝟎| Orochimaru

"Man is the cruelest animal."
— Friedrich Nietzsche

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DAWNS POV

Snake. Control. Danger. Disguise. Immortality. Greed. Evil. Darkness. Orochimaru.

My heart pumped with adrenaline as I stared at the Grass Genin, images flashing in my head like a fast forwarding slideshow of pictures until it finally stopped on one. A symbol of some sorts, a mark with three tomoe that eerily reminded me of Sasuke's Sharingan. Straight away, I knew that the foreshadowing I felt was somehow connected to Sasuke, as well as Kabuto. Only this time, all that I felt from the enemy before us was wailing alarms flashing red, warning me to retreat. That the woman in front of us was beyond the facade she appeared to be.

Once the dust evanesced, realisation suddenly settled in. Naruto was nowhere to be seen. What if he was hurt? What if he was in trouble? What if I couldn't save him in time? What if I failed someone again? Every single bone in my body yearned for me to track him down and make sure that no harm has entered his path, but there was no way I would be able to abandon Sakura and Sasuke. Especially when the coldness in the air tied me down to the ground and the howls of the wind whispered into my ear, telling me to keep a close eye on Sasuke because this unusual encounter was more than it seemed.

You're doing it again. You're underestimating your teammates.

I wasn't underestimating them when I knew that something terribly wrong was occurring. If I don't rely on my instincts then what else do I rely on? My instinct was, and always will be, the only thing keeping me alive and guiding me. Without it, I would be lost. It wasn't the matter of not having faith in their abilities, but I knew if anything happened to them under my watch there was no way I'd be able to forgive myself. Even if it meant that I got hurt in the long run.

"Jiro. Please find Naruto." I tugged on his fur urgently.

Jiro stared down at me, incredulity brimming in his red eye. "Are you stupid? Why would I leave you alone for someone else? I told you, I only care about you, kid. No one else."

"Happiness runs both ways, right?" I whispered. "And so does trust. You want me to move on and I want the same for you as well. I'm not the only one stuck in the past and you know that very well."

Jiro released a small growl of frustration. "I can't leave you."

"Please." I begged quietly. "I need to know he's safe, but I can't leave my teammates right now. Knowing that you went to check up on him puts me at ease. Please, Jiro."

He closed his eyes, exhaling deeply out of his nose before nodding. "Fine. If you hurt yourself, I will kill you. Remember that." Jiro huffed, turning his body as he leaped through the trees, his large figure disappearing out of sight.

"I suppose you'd like my Earth scroll." The Grass Genin smirked.

Before we knew it, she pressed her scroll against her lips, her long tongue wrapping around it as she swallowed it whole. My eyes widened in shock and disgust. Her movements was nothing dissimilar to that of a snake. Her round, glazed eyes with slits on the pupil, her abnormally long tongue, the way she hissed the words she spoke. It all screamed serpent.

"Now let's see who'll be stealing scrolls from whom?" Her fingers traced her face and latched on her eye, prominently enlarging the shape as she stared at us. The more I stared back, the more the speckles of purple and red seemed avid and noticeable.