The Namikaze Legend by Aerotyl

The Namikaze Legend, Chapter 40

"Sasuke-kun, how wonderful of you to join us..."

"Hn. I thought I would be taught by one of the great sannin, not his apprentice..." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

Kabuto slightly frowned before he turned back to his experiment on the dissecting table.

"We ran into slight complications. But, I assure you, you will be taught by Orochimaru..."

"...How..."

Kabuto turned back around after placing the scalpel on the metal table.

"There are many things you don't know Sasuke. However, I'd rather not indulge you in the matters of science. It's rather complicated."

Sasuke only glared as he turned heel and left.

"I'm not going to wait too long..." he gave one last look to Kabuto with his sharingan flaring before leaving back to his room.

Kabuto sat there frozen, the spine of his back tingling. He snapped out of it and he chuckled.

"Oh, but you will...you will, Sasuke-kun."

Kabuto's chuckles were abruptly cut short when a smooth tenor voice rang through the room.

"Don't be so sure of yourself."

Kabuto slowly turned around and a hooded figure stood behind his table.

"Ah, you're here. What do you want..." Kabuto spat as he narrowed his eyes.

"Such venom, Kabuto. I only dropped by to see your new tenant. Everything seems to be going as planned..."

"As planned?"

"I'd rather not indulge you in the matters of foresight-"

Kabuto's palms felt sweaty and he felt his foot twitch a little in as if he was ready to bolt. This man had killed Orochimaru in seconds. If there was a chance, any chance at all, to get away, it would probably be found in some obscure place in a black hole...in other words, inexistent.

"-but that doesn't matter. I am here to warn you that Tobi will be making an appearance in a week. You'll need Orochimaru ready by then...Don't be rash, Kabuto-kun...let's not screw up everything we worked so hard to achieve..."

Kabuto only leaned back into his chair in hopes of cooling his nerves.

"Understood...Sakurai-sama"

The man vanished in a cloud of smoke and Kabuto clenched his fists. The man was an enigma that was hard to break. He changed his voice, his appearance, even his chakra signature at every meeting. Any means of tracking this man has been absolute failures and the man would only smile, a row of perfect white teeth with his left canine crooked. That was the only thing that didn't change, his smile. It was unnerving. The man was excellent at psychological warfare and he had not used a single major jutsu that could identify him from any clan whatsoever. And that was it. That was all the information Kabuto had collected on this hooded mastermind. Four years under Orochimaru, four years of being in contact with Sakurai, and of those four years, Kabuto came up empty handed. Not even a last name.

Sakurai began to walk slowly through the frozen forest, each footstep never indenting the fresh white snow. His pale white hair blended with the snow and his sky blue eyes darted around the trees. His rather pale skin made it look as if the man was bedridden for weeks. He didn't bother with the henge when meeting up with an Uchiha, considering they saw right through it. It would be a waste of chakra. But he changed his chakra signature for the kicks and continued on with his travels. He finally made it to his destination as he looked up the flight of stone stairs. The small temple was covered in red silk flags as they fluttered in the harsh bitter wind. He heard the snow crunching behind him and looked to see a girl with cropped green hair approach him.