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"What!!" Hiruzen and Tsunade showed shocked faces as they looked at Naruto.

"Show them Sasuke." Sasuke pulled his collar down to show the now sealed Cursed Mark, to which the two gasped audibly.

"My guess is, he wants to recruit Sasuke under the guise of giving him power. This seal has been sealed for now, and as long as it's not tampered with and opened, the parasitic seal won't affect Sasuke.

Also, I don't think that's his only plan. What do you think about that Kabuto guy that's taking the exam as well." Naruto offered as he asked the two.

"Kabuto? Ah, here we go. Kabuto Yakushi. A war orphan raised by the village. He started his shinobi career early. Very proficient in medical jutsus, and has been trying to complete the chunnin exams for the past few years.

Wait a minute. That's weird. He's dropped out of every single exam right before the final part. Even when he seemed alright." Tsunade looked at the report on the Konoha participants' part of the exam and looked weirded out.

Naruto, Yakumo, and Sasuke passed on what they observed about the guy previously, as Tsunade made links about him from the orphanage he grew up in, and ROOTs program, and their collaboration with Orochimaru.

"There has been a huge influx of ninjas from Oto and Suna. It seemed weird for a newly established village, but we let it go as they were quite weak shinobi." Hiruzen stated as he adopted a thinking pose.

"The team from Oto had heavy body modifications done to them. And they were under the orders to test Sasuke and how he would be after activating the Cursed Mark. My guess is, that Orochimaru established Oto and Kabuto is loyal to him. After all, they have worked together before." Naruto added.

"Something bad is coming. And we need to be prepared. Tsunade. Deliver my message to all the clan heads and let them know to mobilize their forces silently. There is a war coming. And we intend to keep our people safe." Hiruzen ordered with firm determination, while Tsunade recalled the personality of her former teammate.

"Knowing Orochimaru, he won't let our village go in one piece." Tsunade sighed as she exited the private room, and Naruto lowered the privacy seals on the room.

"Very well Naruto, Sasuke, and Yakumo. You have done a great service to the village. Win this exam and become fine Shinobi that can help the village in the future. Enjoy your two-day break and get prepared for the next event. Dismissed." Hiruzen praised the team before they left, returning to their chambers to rest on the comfy beds.

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"Ashura, Indra. How are you guys?" From the heavy chakra loss and instability, he experienced due to the Cursed Seal, Sasuke was tired physically, but his mind was energetic.

Taking the time to explore his mind and once again meet with the residents inside his head, Sasuke woke up in his mindscape.

"Greetings, Sasuke. It is good to meet with you when I have enough sanity to hold a proper conversation." A haggard-looking Indra greeted the raven-haired boy with open arms as the three appeared in a rudimentary apartment inside Sasuke's mindscape.

"Brother, you underestimate yourself. You have had enough sanity for a while now. It's just the memories that need to be recovered completely. It still seems you are subconsciously suppressing them." Ashura added as he walked up and hugged Sasuke in greeting.

"That would happen when one doesn't want to recall all the terrible things they have done in life, or in my case, in death." Indra looked down in shame, hanging his head down, avoiding eye contact.

"You can't treat yourself like that, Indra. From what we understand, it was Zetsu that manipulated your descendants to act the way they did. It was not your fault." Sasuke stated as he watched the man that was his ancestor's eyes turn dull.

"They were manipulated because they had my darkness inside them. I was manipulated because I had that darkness inside me. How can you say it wasn't my fault? I was made to do all those terrible things because I was already a terrible person." Indra lamented and chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"Take it back, Indra!" Sasuke suddenly raised his voice, stunning the two residents that were present.

"What?" Indra asked in confusion.

"I said. Take it back. You should not blame yourself for something trivial such as having darkness inside you.

Everyone has a darkness inside them. You did. I do. Hell, even that bubbly Naruto has immense darkness inside him.

It is how we deal with that darkness that decides if we are terrible people or not.

Naruto deals with his darkness by confronting it head-on and burning it away with his burning spirit. I dealt with my darkness by reaching out and getting help. And believe me, it was immense. If I had not dealt with it properly and let it define me, I would have gone down a path that many of your descendants went down.

It was the people in my life that helped me deal with that darkness and showed me the light.

You have not only your blood brother, but so many more that are offering you help, but you go and say that you are a terrible person. That you have darkness inside you, making you a bad person.

That doesn't seem fair to me.

So, wake up. Wake up. And fight the darkness. And join your brother in the light. That is the way. Hell, you might even get some brownies." Sasuke shouted passionately, causing Indra's eyes to moisten slightly. (Join the dark side because they have cookies. Join the light side because they have brownies.)

Here he was, standing in front of his descendant in soul form, almost broken, while he tried so hard to help him.

But all he has been doing so far was letting the darkness inside control him, spitting on all the effort those around him offered. He felt guilty.

"Sasuke. Do you know what my father once said?

He said. Those that are born with the Sharingan are those that feel love the most. But as time went by, those that felt the most love, felt the worst hate.

Over the years, people began to think of those that were born with the Sharingan to be possessed by the Curse of Hatred, but you. Seeing you in front of me after all these years, I can clearly say that my father's words were true.

Those born with the Sharingan, are those that truly know what it is to love with all their hearts and souls. It is this pure emotion that has allowed us to survive for so long. Standing tall through the ages, and not letting the river of time drag us into an abyss.

If people want to manipulate us, I say, let them try. We will show them they are naïve to try to mess with the Love of an Uchiha. For we are the strongest, for our Love is pure." Indra's eyes slowly regained a hint of light, the negative aura around him slowly being reeled back in, while being replaced by a hint of a love-filled aura.

"Brother.." Ashura looked at his elder brother with tears in his eyes. It had been so long since he had seen his brother passionately speak. It almost felt like a dream.

"I have not been a good elder brother, Ashura. When I should have felt proud of your achievements, I felt jealous. When you tried to reach out to me, I returned kindness with hostility. I returned each kind intention with annoyance and malice. For that, I apologize.

I truly have failed as an elder brother." Indra looked at the younger sibling, his eyes softening with love as he asked for forgiveness, something that he wasn't really sure he should be getting.

"What nonsense, Brother. You have not failed. Just your actions of apologizing and asking for forgiveness show that you care, and that is what brothers are for. You have not failed, Elder Brother." Ashura pulled Indra in a tight hug, squeezing him tight, afraid that loosening his grasp might cause him to slip away, just after he got back some of him.

All the while, Sasuke looked at the two, not knowing what to do. He felt awkward just seeing them hug it out, but for some reason, felt that he should stay.

"Ashura." Indra suddenly called out, causing Ashura to hold him at arm's length as he looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

"I think I'm starting to remember. I'm getting a few flashes of memories and emotions. I think, I think I'm getting better!!!" Indra slowly started to morph his expression of regret into happiness, before hugging his brother once more in a bear hug, laughing out loud in delight.

"Really!! That's wonderful news. Here. My friend lent me this to help you if you ever reach this state. Use this, it will allow you to recover your memories faster." Suddenly, Ashura recalled a scroll that Hiroki had passed him, stating that if Indra ever started recalling his past lives, he should read the scroll and use it accordingly to focus and recover faster.

"What's this?" Indra asked as he looked at the small scroll in his brother's hands.

"Don't know. But from what I know, it's to help you get better even faster. Here, take it. Trust me." Ashura pushed the scroll into his hands, he began reading it seriously.

In less than a minute, he sat down, and his emotions began to stabilize.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, looking at Indra who seemed like a completely still lake.

"Something that will allow Indra to recover completely.

Sasuke. Thank you very much. If not for your words, Indra would still be stuck, not making much progress. Thank you, truly." Ashura held the boy's hand and squeezed it lightly.

"No problem. It is my duty to help out my ancestor/myself. I don't know, I guess it's because he is me, and I am him, it felt right to help out. So, don't thank me." Sasuke hurriedly rejected the appreciation causing Ashura to chuckle lightly.

"You care too much. I guess it really is genetic." Ashura smiled brightly, seeing the face of his brother overlap with the boy.

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There you go, guys. It seems Sasuke picked up some talk-no-jutsu skills from Naruto.

Also, this is something that will push the recovery of Indra forward by a few months.

So, expect Indra to come into action soon.

Also, this will be the last chapter for the week, so savor it. You will not be getting another chapter until Monday morning/afternoon/evening (depending on where you live).

See you then. Enjoy!!