Sparks Epilogue

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." —Seneca

The sequel Blaze is up

Otogakure was mostly underground and Sasuke wasn't impressed. The place was musty, rusty, and looked like it had been a series of hidden corridors for servants of an old castle or a mansion. Everything was decaying and dilapidated. The only thing he was happy to know was that it was bug free, as Orochimaru gleefully told him when they met. He had to keep fighting his urge to look south where he knew Tami was, and Naruto. He had made his choice. He wouldn't turn back around now. Couldn't turn back, from the looks from both Kabuto and Orochimaru - he didn't have a choice even if he wanted to leave.

However, he soon found out he wasn't the only person Orochimaru wanted to aquire.

"Where is she?" Orochimaru asked when they walked into the building. He was waiting for them. He had a deep frown set on his face.

"We ran into complications." Kabuto admitted.

Sasuke stayed quiet, hoping to hear what he wanted. Sure enough - Orochimaru said it.

"What complications? Did she come?"

"She fought me. I was going to capture her but the others came and interfered." Kabuto explained, a frown marring his face. They must have been talking about Tami.

So that was why Kabuto was threatening to kill her? But why would he kill her if-...

Kabuto said he didn't need her alive. Why wouldn't they need her alive?

Orochimaru huffed. "She knows we have her Uncle?"

The last Uchiha forced himself to not react. They had her Uncle?! He hadn't thought it was possible. She had told him she was from a faraway place, that wasn't easily gotten to. That her family was there and she never had forgotten about them. She explained she chose to stay for her own reasons although Sasuke suspected that there were a few that stood out among the rest. But it meant that if she knew, she'd come.

"Yes. She knows. She's probably in the hospital recuperating by now."

"She'll come." Orochimaru said, his gaze flicked to Sasuke with a devilish grin. "We have two people she cares for."

Sasuke fought the chill that went down his spine. He had to get her Uncle out of there. But he'd have to find him. Before he could, however, he was ushered in further into the compound.

"I don't think Hatake will allow it." Kabuto commented.

That was right. Kakashi would stop it - maybe? Would he? Sasuke knew his sensei was often hands off on things. Would he just let Tami leave and run away to rescue her Uncle and try to retrieve him? Sasuke couldn't say.

"Perhaps. But time is on our side." Orochimaru said, staring at Sasuke with a sly grin.

By pure instinct, Sasuke knew what he meant. Even if Tami didn't come, in three years Orochimaru would be able to take his body. What would Orochimaru do once he was in control of his body?

"We got some of what we wanted done in Konoha. Anything else can wait. For now."

The three carried on and soon enough Sasuke was placed in a room. It was simple, and clean. It wasn't as nice as his room in Konoha, but he wasn't there for comfort. He was there to get stronger.

And, now, he had to find Tami's Uncle. Unfortunately, Orochimaru had started his training immediately. For the first week, he faced off against any and every Oto ninja the Sannin had at his disposal.

It took that week for him to find the man. They would deliver food to this Uncle once a day. Often it was either Kabuto or Orochimaru.

When Sasuke had the chance he raced to the room he suspected her Uncle was in. The mystery man in question was there, in a cell. It too was rusted like everything else. There was a chair sitting before the cell; probably for when Orochimaru came to talk to Tami's Uncle. Sasuke knew that some days the Sannin would stay to chat. He never knew what about, or even why. Sasuke studied the cell door, he knew he could easily break it.

The man was sitting heavily on the bench that served as a bed. His arms were braced on his knees and his head was bowed. He had blond hair like Tami, but there were flecks of white-grey around the edges of his hair. Sasuke went up to the door, and evaluated the hinges. He bet he could get the door off with the chidori. He bet he could. He began to charge up his chakra just like Kakashi taught him.

"Step back - I'm getting you out." He ordered.

"What are you gonna do after?" The man asked. The words he spoke were rough, but legible.

Sasuke froze and turned to look at the man. He had cold grey eyes, and wrinkles on his face.

"Kid, you're not a fish. Speak up like a man." He said quickly.

"You need to leave." Sasuke said. The man leaned back in his cell with a grin on his face.

"That so? What you gonna do after this?"

Sasuke scowled at him.

"What do you care?" He countered.

The man scoffed, amusement danced in his eyes.

"You got me. I don't. However, you're not thinking." He stated.

"I'll be fine. Orochimaru needs me." Sasuke stated.

The man grunted, and studied him. "Kid, he needs you breathing and able bodied. But not much else."

Sasuke stopped there, wondering what the point was he was trying to get at.

"That man likes experimenting. He might just change his mind on you. You're not unexpendable." The man stated. "The name's Oliver. I'm figuring you're Sasuke."

"You need to get out of here. If you don't, Tami will come. She can't be here. She's not safe here." Sasuke said.

Oliver grunted, and then nodded over to the chair.

The Uchiha stared at it for a moment before the man sighed.

"Kid, I'm not my niece. I ain't gonna hold your hand. Sit down." He ordered.

Sasuke sat in the chair, glaring at the man.

"How do you know my niece?" He asked.

"She's my friend."

"... So you're one of her strays."

"I'm not a stray." Sasuke protested.

The man chuckled.

"Alright. You're not a stray. So. What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I need to get stronger." Sasuke said, "I need to protect the people I care about."

Oliver nodded knowing, his arms crossing over his chest. He was a little on the chubbier side, kind of built like Jiraiya. However he didn't have that carefree air around him. Oliver was more focused, more deliberate when using his energy.

"So you chose a terrorist?" He said drily.

Sasuke glared at him heatedly. What right did he have to criticize?

"How 'bout this, kid. I'll write a letter to my niece. You send it, and she won't come. Alright?" Oliver said.

"But don't you want to leave?" Sasuke asked in shock.

"Yeah. But if I leave because of you, who knows what that psycho will do to you. Gotta think things through, kid. You're no longer safe at home. People take advantage of you in the real world."

"And why do you care?" The Uchiha asked coldly.

"Only idiots make the same mistake more than once, kid. I don't like bein' stupid." Oliver stated dully.

It took Sasuke a few days to get paper for Oliver. It took only minutes for the man to write his note. Once Sasuke had it in his possession, be guarded it jealously.

Anything to make sure Tami stayed safe. Anything. Sasuke couldn't afford to lose more people. He didn't want to be like Kakashi; sad and depressed. He definitely didn't want to be like Orochimaru. But, as he thought about who he wanted to be - he didn't mind the idea of being more insightful, just like Oliver seemed to be.

Sasuke had training to do. Not only for the body and his ninjutsu; but also for the mind.

As Sasuke started visiting the older man between experiments and sparring (mostly at night), he could tell Oliver knew what he was doing. The man didn't say a word about it. His only wish was for a cigar, while telling Sasuke to "say his wants like a man". Sasuke didn't quite know what he meant by that, but he just puffed out his chest a little bit and said things plainly. Oliver seemed to like that (he didn't know why).

In the days and weeks following, Sasuke would challenge the other man to different games, mostly makeshift ones without real pieces or boards. Sasuke didn't know how he did it but often Oliver came out on top.

"Slow down, kid. We got all the time in the world." He said one day.

It did little to calm his nerves. He didn't ask even if the question was burning in the back of his mind. He didn't have Naruto to ask for him, and it wasn't that important. Not really.

It was almost a month before Sasuke was able to send out the letter. But he did and a weight that had been pressing down on him went with it.

AN: Here we are - the sequel Blaze should now be up if not up in a minute or two. I hope you enjoy the next parts to come. It will be all third person, as Tami's no longer the only main character. We have like, at least 3 now. I'm sorry if that's a little jarring. It might be a little different.

The story takes place a month after Tami's loss to Kabuto because - depressed Tami is hard to write. She's definitely a theater girl with her dramatics. ;) I hope you enjoy her, and Maya - as our lovely little Maya decides a few things.

So - See you over in Blaze :3

Ps. IF you really are wondering what happened in Kakashi's head in some scenes durring Sparks, I did get curious myself and write them out. They're in the Outtakes, chapter three ;) It's something goofy I wanted to work on.