"No Way Back To Humanity"
by: silverblue
Prologue
"What is it? What aren't you telling me?" I stared at him long and hard and
ever the mysterious being, my friend Orochimaru kept his silence, except for the
eerie smirk on his purple lips.
I heard the clang of metal swords in the distance. Disorder. Chaos.Orochimaru is relishing in it...as a mad creature would."It's in motion," he hinted, a chuckle escaping his animated lips that
brought chills to my bones, "It cannot be reversed. He'll fall and then you'll
be mine. Only mine. I made sure of it. I played a hand in it. I made it
possible. I made it so that our destiny would entwine again. Like it never been
split in the beginning by his unwanted presence."I looked at him. At the ludicrousness of his words. I didn't understand. I
couldn't understand. Orochimaru was taking me to a place that we'd both never be able to return to with
a clean conscious, at least.
At the time, Jiraiya never realized he was like Orochimaru's accomplice in that
unknowing crime, at which his friend hinted at. Daring him to defile him but because he
was wary of the unknown, he had shrank from Orochimaru, like a wilted flower in the
damnest of heat, out too long without any sustaining water.
Orochimaru took me away, drunken in his easy victory over me. His lips drawn back
into a sinister smile that turned meditative by my lack of response, except for
the curiousness of what he meant. His hand gripped my own as I submitted to him,
following him like I had no mind of my own.
It was a mistake. I knew it was. I knew, that what he said, I would suffer a
great lost in the near future that even I didn't realize would be a lost, until
it was took away from me.
It was then, that his eyes begun to open to the darkness that was not just in
his quiet friend but predate in him as well and Jiraiya wept bitterly that he
was no different from Orochimaru, as he held his great loss, before releasing
the cooling body and going for help.
There was still time, he thought, vainly.
"Someone call the medical unit!" his voice rang out, loud and urgent in the
cubed district, as he ran outside searching for anyone nearby.
He start horribly when a cold hand laid on his shoulder, and thinking it was
Orochimaru, as he'd expect such a sick fascination of watching stealthily as
everything unfolded, Jiraiya swung, holding nothing back, "You bastard!"
Afterwards, he stood shaking, breathing heavily, angry tears welled in his eyes, his
chest heaving up and down, distressfully, as he succumbed to sorrow and hatred
for his former friend.The assaulted person grabbed him from behind and spun him around, holding his
hands from doing what he previously did. Jiraiya's eyes widened to considerable
size as someone different from his earlier expectation, materialized before him."Jiraiya, I think I deserve an explanation, after that," spoke Namikaze Minato,
rubbing his sore cheek from were his former sensei smacked him. It stung
terribly and he knew without a doubt, it would leave a nasty bruise, until the
swelling went down.Relief flooded in Jiraiya and he broke out in a shaky grin, "Minato,...you're
alive,...I thought,.." stopped and sobbed the great frog sannin, as he pulled
his former student in for a heartfelt hug, burying his face in the blond locks,
whispering the rest of his fear in the younger man's neck, so he wouldn't hear
how upset he had been, "-you were dead. Gone forever, from my life."The blond-haired jounin pushed at his former sensei's chest to disentangle himself from
him and stared at Jiraiya, like he was crazy, "Hai, and healthier than
I've ever been. Or so, that's what the doc say's. Now, may you please tell me
why I wouldn't be?" he
asked, curious what would bring the strong sannin to tears.Jiraiya grinned like an idiot and just held Minato, wanting to feel the
warmth radiating off his body instead of the dreaded near-corpse coldness, to reassure
in his discovery."Okay," broke in the confused blond-headed jounin, "You can't be drunk, I
smell no alcohol on your breath. Drugs, maybe..." he pondered out loud, as he
squinted up to see if Jiraiya's eyes were diluted.Smirking at the reasons Minato was given off of his inapt state, Jiraiya's eye's
shrank to pinholes in a recognized horror, from the mention of drugs. More so
hallucinogenic drugs, before pushing his former student away from him."No,. . .Than that means,..." he began without further explanation, the line of his
mouth firming to a grim frown. Ignoring the puzzlement of his former student,
Jiraiya broke out into a sprint and raced back towards the Hatake Residence. The door was open and he cringed to think Orochimaru was delighting in his
torment, while hiding in the outer shadows or worse, inside.He searched through the large home for it's owner and received a shock to his
inner core.Strewn on the dojo floor like a stringless doll, laid Hatake Sakumo, blood
pooling around his stilled form and a sword stuck in his stomach horizontally,
spilling his innards and organs out. He was dressed decently in his jounin uniform, making it seem nothing was out
of it's ordinary, except for the fact, Jiraiya has known for quite sometime,
Sakumo was bedridden and too weak to even dress himself; let alone leave his
bedroom, without assistance.So regardless of the made up appearances, Jiraiya knew this wasn't a decided suicide...
but premeditated murder.As Jiraiya tried to move closer to Sakumo, that's when he saw the man's son, Kakashi.Standing still and defeated.Too much to take at once, Jiraiya felt woozy and collapsed, substituting his
emotional instability, for the boys, from whom there should be a reaction from
besides this unwarranted resolution, and croaked out, "Oh, god,.." in a harsh
whisper.He fell hard onto his knees and hands, bowing his head and hearing ringing in
his ears and the victorious laughter of Orochimaru, his golden eyes shining in
smugness in his mind. Clenching his fist in helplessness and bitter anguishment, Jiraiya tried to
reach for the lonely boy but was too much of a coward to do so. Knowing the boys
father's death was on his hands as well, as he had done nothing to prevent it
from happening."Jiraiya, what has you so-" Minato stormed into the dojo, after allowing
himself in Kakashi's residence and stopped mid-query, when he saw the horrid
scene lay out before his haunted eyes.Hatake Sakumo has committed seppuku.
To be continued,...