Naruto: The Unwoven Threads of Fate

"The Blades are dead." A woman with a paper flower in her hair bluntly says to her tall companion. "According to Zetsu he killed all but one of them."

"All but one?" The usually stone faced man asks in surprise.

"He brought her before Orochimaru for questioning." A third voice joins the duo. The owner is displeased. "So, Pain-sama, did he pass your little test? Has Alvarcus proven that he will only be beneficial to our mutual cause?"

"He doesn't bear the title of S-rank." Pain easily dismisses Madara with his words. "We cannot afford to have anyone less than the best in the Akatsuki. It would tarnish our name, our reputation."

"At this point the title is only superficial. He's already worthy of it. Besides," Madara confidently says as he starts fading from existence. "I know for a fact that he will be getting the title soon. There's only so much more that Orochimaru can teach him."

"Where does this assuredness stem from?" Konan questions the Uchiha moments before he fades.

"Murdering the Snake Sannin would earn anyone S-rank."

Two Days After Sage Mode Massacre, Oto's Training Field

"Something has been bothering me." I say to the otherwise empty training field. I'm pacing back and forth, slowly wearing a new path with each step. While on the ceiling. Hey I'm a shinobi, why the hell wouldn't I fuck around with the laws of physics every once in awhile simply because I can?

~What is it Alvarcus?~

"It's what Shirokumo said." I mutter out loud again.

~The part about not having a work around for standing still for Sage Mode? I do have to admit I was taken off guard by that too.~

"No." I stop my pacing and look up. Or is it down since I'm on the ceiling? Meh, whatever. "He mentioned the Gatekeeper and how he's surprised we haven't met yet."

~Ah, that. Maybe another Spider? He should know most of them, he is the Ancient One.~

"The Ancient One, whatever the hell that means." I cut the flow of chakra keeping me stuck to the roof and acrobatically flip down to the floor. I totally nailed the landing too. "Well, if it's important-ish to Shirokumo I should probably go introduce myself."

~Just try not to give a bad first impression.~

"Its me, when do I ever give off a bad impression?" I get a faint sense of what a facepalm would feel like from Sureddo. "Okay, okay point made."

A single bead of blood wells up in the exact center of the palm of my hand. I kneel down and lightly place my hand on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu: The Gatekeeper!" I loudly and proudly call out the Spider.

Except nothing happens. There's no cloud of smoke. There's no small or even large spider that randomly appears. Just… nothing.

"Well shit." I stand up and scratch my head. "Did I do it right? This is weird, I've never had performance issues before. Any ideas as to what went wrong?"

~Maybe the Gatekeeper isn't a Spider?~

"What else could it be? All I can summon are the Spiders and the Rashomon. Which are giant gates. Oh."

~Oh he says.~

"Summoning Jutsu: The Gatekeeper!" This time when I touch the ground I focus on the Rashomon contract instead of the Spiders.

This time something happens but it's not the expected cloud of smoke. Instead of the normal method of being summoned, the Gatekeeper has style. Out of the ground slowly rises a set ornate onyx double doors. They've been polished to shine like a mirror and they have luxurious golden trim decorating them.

Once the doors have fully risen they swing outwards. A dark impenetrable mist wafts out of them, completely obscuring whatever is inside of them. Out of the mist glides a humanoid figure at an impressive three meters tall. He's wearing a long black hooded cloak that covers his face in a darkness that even my Jiongu enhanced eyes can't penetrate. All I can see under it are two gleaming silver eyes. In his black glove wearing left hand he's holding a massive keyring with countless keys on it but upon further observation the keys are constantly morphing. They never stay as the same key for longer than three seconds. In his white glove wearing right hand he's holding a large leather bound tome with no title.

"Finally, another Summoner to speak with." A harsh raspy voice comes out from beneath the hood as it bends at what I assume is a waist - that cloak is hiding everything - and sweeps his arms out wide. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Alvarcus Mar."

"You don't have legs." I intelligently blurt out before I can think better of it. "SHIT! Er, uh, I meant it's nice to meet you too?"

Seriously though, he's literally floating. Give him a scythe instead of a keyring and bam! It's the Grim Reaper come to add you to the Book of the Dead. Though doesn't the Grim Reaper have red eyes, not silver? Whatever it's not important.

"You seem very different from the other human I've met. He was much more… reserved." The Gatekeeper straightens out of his elegant bow. "How may I be of assistance?"

"Whoa whoa whoa back up a moment." I hold both my hands up in a slow down manner. "You've only met one other human?"

"Yes, Hashirama Senju." The Gatekeeper answers my question. "He was always very respectful the few times he called on me for assistance."

"Right. I'm just going to put the fact that I'm literally talking to someone who fought next to the First Hokage aside for now." But that's really fucking cool. I'm totally going to freak the fuck out when I'm alone again.

"Fight? You are mistaken, I do not fight." The Gatekeeper says as he tilts his head in curiosity. "You know of Little Hashi?"

"PFFFT HAHAHAHAHA!" I can't help but let out an outrageous belly laugh. "Little Hashi? Oh God that's great! Hahahaha! Sorry, sorry! You caught me off guard!" I wipe a nonexistent tear out of my shaded eye and reign myself in. "Okay, okay I'm done. Hehehe! Alright now I'm done. Whew that was good! Anyways, what do you mean you don't fight?"

"It is as I am named. I am the Gatekeeper, I keep a record of each and every Rashomon." He holds up the titleless leather bound tome. "Every Rashomon's function is recorded in here. I know each and every one of them. I know precisely what they're capable of. How else did you think that Little Hashi knew which five gates to summon as his strongest defense out of the many hundreds available?"

"And the keys?" I ask out of my own curiosity. "What are they for?"

"They unlock the doors." The Gatekeeper simply responds.

"Which doors?" I ask another question.

"All the doors." He elaborates for me while proudly hefting the keyring high.

"You know, I think you and I will get along just fine Gatesy." I break out into a devious grin. "Just fine indeed."

"I believe we will, Little Ally." I bet if I could see his face Gatesy would be smirking.

"Oh I like you!"

Three Months Later

"I wonder…" I aimlessly trail off as I'm pointlessly walking around the base. "What's down this hallway?"

To everyone else this walk is pointless, they simply chalk my actions up to me being me. But I'm doing something, this casual stroll is much more sinister in nature. I like to admire my handywork. I'm making one final pass through of this base for one specific reason: to make sure it's all set to blow. Literally thousands of seals went into this plot. Countless hours crafting crate after crate. Gallons of ink. Scores of brushes.

No one else will ever truly know the extent I went to. No one else will understand how much time and effort and resources I've poured into this base. I can't let it go unappreciated. Even if it's me admiring my own work.

~Alvarcus, we've picked up a tail.~

"Really now? Interesting, I thought that wouldn't happen anymore." I mutter to Sureddo while keeping up my disguise of an aimless walk. "How many and where?"

~Three. Behind us. You know them, it's cat's friends.~

"Holy shit how the fuck did ANBU get in here?!" I whirl around and instantly go on guard. My jet black eyes rake over every single detail of the hallway I just walked down, they dart from potential hiding spots to scuffs on the ceiling to any and everything that's out of place. My ears pick up even the faintest of brushes. I feel the ruffle of the wind against my skin and the slight tremors through the floor.

I'm waiting for a single sense to alert me to the danger. All I need is one, once I know where they are they're as good as dead. I should probably leave one alive to figure out how the hell they got this far into the base.

I'm half tempted to use Sage Mode to find them. Stupid not being able to sense on my own.

~Uh… host? Wrong cat. The one with the ears not the one in a mask.~

"Oh thank God!" I rise up out of my combat stance and sag my shoulders in relief while preparing to call out to them. "Alright you idiots, what the hell do you three want?"

There's no immediate answer but after a long ten seconds they step out of their hiding spots.

One of them steps out of a doorway that is shrouded in shadows. Another rises up from the floor, he must have been hiding behind a genjutsu of some sort or knows a damn good trick. The last one drops down from the ceiling and agilely lands in a crouch.

"Hey guys." I warmly greet them. "You do know that you can just come right up and talk to me right? I'm not unapproachable. Shit did I come off as unapproachable? Maybe? I mean I did kill a lot of people since coming here so there's that. Anyways what's up?"

"He doesn't know." The first one, the one with a sky blue mohawk, says to his team. I think his name was Sora. That sounds right.

"How couldn't he?" This guy has no hair. Absolutely none. Oh and he's mimicking Orochimaru's style. Strange how many people do that here, there's no possible way that it's easy to maneuver around with a giant rope belt. What was his name again? Seiji? "They were close. There's no way he hasn't noticed."

"Still think it's his fault?" The last one, obviously someone with a fetish for sharp pointy objects considering he's got six visible blades on him, asks his team. I remember him, he's Katsuo! He's the usually quiet one. "He doesn't even know she's dead."

"Oh that's why you're all here." I get it now, all the pieces came together. "This is about Maiko."

All three of them tense at her name and stare at me. I think they're mad. Just a little. It's kind of a give away when there's killing intent aimed at you.

"Will you stop that!" I snap at them and shoot a glare of my own at them. To top it off I even cross my arms to show them that I'm annoyed. Just annoyed, not mad. Yet. "I didn't kill her. She got herself killed. It's all on her. I fucking warned her that what she knew could get her killed. And what the hell took you guys so long to come confront me about this? She died three months ago!"

"Then why do you feel like you're lying?" A fourth person steps around the corner of the hallway and walks up to join the other three. She has brilliant red hair.

"Great." I groan out and blatantly roll my eyes. Except it is lost on everyone because of my sunglasses. "Now you're here. Thanks for the warning Sureddo."

~It's not my fault, she's completely suppressed her chakra. I've never seen anyone do this before, I still can't sense if she's there or not. It's even better than those seals from the ROOT shinobi, she's doing this all on her own. I'm impressed.~

"Answer me Alvarcus." Karin stops behind the other three and boldly meets my gaze. "Why do you feel guilty?"

"You insufferable woman can't you just leave me alone for once!" I angrily jab a finger in her direction. "You want the truth? FINE! I didn't kill her but that doesn't mean I don't blame myself! She was murdered because she knew something about me that could be a hinderance in the future. Orochimaru saw fit to help remove that hindrance. That's it. He killed her to help me. She just had to be nosy and all up in my business. If she just kept her distance she'd still be alive. So there! Logically I know that it was out of my control but I still think I bear the blame."

"Then why the hell aren't you reacting at all!?" Sora shouts at me as his eyes start to water. "She was smitten with you! She thought you were amazing!"

"Because she was a god damn kunoichi!" I gravelly growl out. "She's far from the first to die for such a petty reason. She's far from the first friend I've lost. Hell I've been forced to kill friends for so much less than knowing a secret. Are you all naive enough to think that any of us are not expendable? Do you all think yourselves invincible? That you wear an armor that protects you and those you care about from death? Open your damn eyes and grow the fuck up. We are shinobi. We are the terrors that go bump in the night. We kill and then eventually we are killed. Such is the way of the shinobi."

"How can you be so cold?" Seiji levelly asks me. He's keeping himself in check but even he couldn't stop his fists from clenching together.

"It's not that he's cold." A new voice, one I'm glad to hear, answers for me. "He's not as affected because he's lost so much more already."

"Wow Sureddo you're slacking today." I gently reprimand the Jiongu. "Hey Sasuke. It's weird having someone on my side for this stuff. Thanks."

~Figured you'd like the surprise.~

Cheeky bastard.

"You're welcome." Sasuke spares me a small nod as he takes up a post to my right. "Now will you idiots leave him alone or shall I cut you down to size?"

Only Karin's resolve falters. No doubt because it's Sasuke of all people.

"Have it your way." Sasuke sighs. "That pain you feel right now, that open wound in your chest that won't seem to scab over? Focus on that. Focus on it as is courses through your system. As it makes your limbs tremble in rage and in pain and in sorrow. Focus on it as it causes your eyes to water. Let those emotions fester and grow."

Where the hell is he going with this?

"Feel the emotions. Feel them at their peak." Sasuke pauses and shoots me a fleeting glance. It's almost like an apologetic look. "You didn't even see her body. You didn't reach out to her corpse and beg for your eyes to be wrong. You don't know the beginnings of how much worse that would be." Sasuke viciously points at me. "He does."

Four sets of eyes jolt over to me. I remain stoic, not showing even a sliver of emotion.

"He's had to hold the cold corpse of our teammate." Sasuke has a waiver to his voice, it's very slight. Only I noticed it and that's because I've known the emotionless Uchiha for so long. "We had to face her mother as she accused us of getting her daughter killed. We both have the image of our parent's murder seared into our memories. We are kept up at night by all the faces of everyone we've lost. We've had to go through so much worse than you all are right now and you morons bringing this all up is no doubt making him recall those horrible memories. So let me make this very, very clear."

Sasuke, with his Sharingan blazing a furious red, takes a step forward. He's effectively placed himself between me and the others.

"Leave. Him. Alone."

The other four slowly, and without turning their backs on us, slink away. They're trying to shrink and be as non threatening as possible. They've all been effectively cowed. Yet they're unimportant to me.

I disregard the other four and focus on Sasuke. All I can see is his back as he continues to glare at the retreating group.

This is who he really is. He's someone who is misconstrued and misunderstood. He always gives off an aura of indifference like nothing at all can crack his stoic resolve. But deep within him he cares. Behind his fortress that shields his emotions from the world, behind those near impenetrable walls is a good person.

"Hey Sasuke." I gently place a hand on his shoulder and give it a slight squeeze. "Thank you."

I'm happy to call him my best friend.