A New Way of Ninja, (Naruto)

13: Crossroads

[Opener: "Free"--Switchfoot]

"I don't care what you think," Sasuke said, after he'd had time to turn over Shine's statement enough times to even know what she meant. 

"Can you look me in the eye and tell me you trust Orochimaru to do as he said?" Shine challenged him.

Sasuke did not meet her eyes, notably.

"It doesn't matter. I'll get powerful because of him," he said. "Then I'll do what I want."

"That doesn't make any sense," Shoto said. "He's not a trustworthy man."

Shine tilted her head. "I see how it is," she said carefully.

"What did you get about him?" Dabi was only too eager to hear Shine tear Sasuke to shreds.

But she didn't seem that intent on roasting him.

"I've seen this before," she said, looking up at Dabi. "One of my older students worked for someone she knew she couldn't trust. Got her power. She thought in the end she'd be able to overpower her somehow, if she just beat her to the punch. I warned her that it would never work. You cannot beat the masters of evil abilities by using the same tactics they use--they're always going to know more than you. It's arrogant to think that you could get close...but that's what they count on."

She glanced at Sasuke again. "Any experienced villain, even if they are a villain, would know that you are naive. It's never just a matter of strength alone that makes these people dangerous. Orochimaru has evaded capture thus far. I can only assume he's a cunning sort of scoundrel. I've seen time and again people do what you're doing. It never once worked. If there are cases it does work, the end result is worse than the alternative. If you grew stronger than Orochimaru, which is unlikely if he is the one monitoring you, that is not the kind of strength that would help you."

"I don't agree," Sasuke said coldly. "I don't care what kind of strength it is, as long as I can kill my brother before I die."

Shoto winced.

"Deja-vu-ish," Dabi said.

"If your goal is to kill your brother," Shine said, "I can't help you achieve it. I don't do revenge. But I can assure you that Orochimaru does not care about it."

"Unless he wants this guy dead too," Dabi offered. "Could be that. Maybe he thinks one of these Uchihas can beat another."

"But...uh...the other one killed an entire clan..." Momo said slowly, not even liking to speak of it. "How powerful must he be already...? And he's only going to get more so if he keeps training."

"Hey, experience isn't everything," Dabi argued. "I got pretty close to killing my old man."

"You had a nomu," Shoto said. "That does not count."

"You don't know what kind of toys this snake guy has. No one said this twerp here had to fight his brother alone," Dabi argued further. "I'm sure they could work something out. Maybe snake guy is afraid of Bigger Uchiha."

He was actually pretty on the money, though none of them knew that. 

"In which case, I don't know which of them is worse," Shine said. "The pervert who attempted to destroy a village, or the psycho who did destroy his clan... They sound about equally bad." She shook her head in disgust. "Certainly can't back either of them."

"I don't know why you would overlook such a massive sign of his corruption," Shoto addressed Sasuke. "Even for revenge, is it worth it?"

"None of you understand," Sasuke said.