Somehow, somewhere along the way, Orochimaru falls in love with his teammate. This…changes things.

No one in their right minds would ever expect it of him, and that’s why he’s the one best-suited to the job.

It’s Jiraiya who brings him the news, bare hours after the decision has been reached.

“You’re all right?” the stranger asks gently. “I'm sorry for the fright, it’s been a long time since I healed a human, and you’ve changed greatly over the years. Your chakra especially.” A human, implying that he isn't one. Izuna swallows, licks his lips, and wonders what the hell it means that he was just in a liplock with a god.

Zabuza fishes a dying Konoha nin out of the Nakano. That one action is the falling stone that kicks off an avalanche.

The best revenge is living well. And maybe also spitefully staging a minor political coup to take over Konoha as payback for getting stuck in an arranged marriage.

Just when Konan has lost hope, she meets a hero.

Called to a lost world after the Chancellor's ship is downed, Jon finds far more than the wreckage of a cruiser in the grasslands.

Upending a base full of slavers was supposed to be a straightforward mission. Agen was unprepared for abduction, cloned armies, and the dark edges of the mystery that surrounds them, stretching back a thousand years. Though, in fairness, Alpha wasn't at all prepared for Agen, either.