„Who can tell me who this is?"
The woman gestures to a big painting, old and in a heavily ornamented silver frame and all children raise their hands, eager to answer the question to be praised. She points at a young child wearing a pink hood.
"That's Orochimaru, the traitor!" "Right, Yoshimitsu! Good!" She smiles and Yoshimitsu squeals happily. "This is indeed Orochimaru, known as the traitor of Konohagakure. His betrayal almost led to its destruction and caused a terrible war. But that's not all, right?" says the woman and shouts of agreement follow this. This time it's a young girl with dark blue hair that flows down her back to her hips who gets to show off her knowledge.
"Orochimaru is also known for the horrible and inhuman experiments he performed on other humans. His goal was to achieve immortality, but he never succeeded" she explains and as predicted she receives praise for her advanced vocabulary.
He stands a little away from the other kids and observes them quietly, a habit of his. When he woke up that morning he hadn't been in the mood to visit Konoha's museum, not in the mood to do anything that involved moving from his bed, but as always he hadn't complained and did as he was told without as much as a word of protest. So now he wasn't enjoying the trip as much as he should be and he doesn't intend to worsen his day by pestering himself with this noisy group. But he does ask one question. "If he was that evil, why is there this painting with this expensive frame?"
The woman halts for a moment and seems to contemplate this. "I think it's because that whether we like it or not, he is ever so present in our history; it's probably to remind us of how we mustn't turn out to be, and this painting was found with this frame. They never managed to remove it." She shrugs and resumes her explanations.
While the others move on to the next picture (probably of a stern and gloomy looking person who played an important role in whatever war), he remains rooted to the spot and stays behind. His eyes are cast at the picture and he inspects it carefully, hypnotized. Orochimaru is portrayed on a throne like chair, his body covered in expensive looking gowns and long, pitch black hair frames his pale face. The most outstanding feature of Orochimaru is his snake like eyes that seem to burn, so bright and piercing is the gold of them. The man shown on there seems so real, almost as if he is looking at him through a window. Only the paint that starts peeling off reminds him that this is a creation of humans, of brushes and paint.
Why does everyone laugh about Orochimaru's goals? He wonders silently for a second until he is called by the supervisor of the children.
After this, years flew by in which he actually never thought about the traitor again. All in all, ten years came and went.
He is fifteen and after school, he sits on the bus that'll take him back home. He found out just recently that he was adopted at a very young age by his parents and on some way or another, the rumor had spread through the whole student body and not few classmates see it as their duty to cheer him up. Actually, he isn't upset about it; he guesses he's had the feeling like they were not related by blood.
The bus comes to a halt and he leaves it as fast as possible. He has far more important things to do than receiving pity for something he doesn't even feel bad about. In recess today he got an urgent call from his father, saying he should head right back home once classes were over. What could possibly be so important? Most of the time he was allowed to do pretty much whatever he pleased to do...
Upon entering the house the bags next to the staircase immediately catch his eyes and only moments after, his parents appear. He simply shoots them a questioning glance and his father speaks up the excitement in his eyes clearly visible. "Kabuto, great, you came just in time! Come on, pack your things, we're leaving in ten minutes to the rice country!" And whoosh, he's gone again.
"Sorry dear, but he's really...REALLY excited. He was informed this morning that they found something immensely interesting in the ruins of Otogakure" his mother laughs and this brightens his mood. Since he was young, Kabuto had accompanied his father Kazuya to several archeological excavations and the like and he found it quite entertaining and interesting. There is something about collecting and discovering knowledge, wisdom, truths, facts that intrigued him greatly.
And so he quickly stuffs necessities and everything he thinks might prove to be useful (a note book, pencils and the like) into a bag and returns back downstairs into the hallway. Kazuya joins them soon and mere minutes later 'father' and 'son' plus luggage are crammed inside a car and drive to Oto.
His anticipation grows with every step he takes and his heart skips a beat when he discovers the deep abyss that suddenly appeared in front of him. In the sunlight, he can make out moldy stonewalls and stairs that lead into the darkness. Still in some sort of daze he takes the torch that someone presses into his hand and carefully descends down the flight of stairs that lead down in a spiral and he descends into the unknown.
"Really, this is THE discovery I tell you! We have finally, after years of futile work, uncovered the lair of the snake!" the rather chubby man that leads them shouts and his voice echoes obnoxiously in the cave-like shaft. Kitamura-san as he remembers has always had a thing to talk too loud and he winces as the archeologist repeats his last sentence as if it's the most intelligent thing he's ever said.
The deeper they get, the stronger the strange smell that hovers in the air gets and the colder it gets. He shivers slightly and stubbornly resumes his way, not weak enough to return and get something warmer just yet. It takes an eternity until they arrive at the bottom of the lair and he stares up to the small opening that once seemed gigantic to him and faces the dark corridor that awaits him, the darkness hungry and impatient; it wants to swallow him and he gladly enters it.
In the light that their torches provide, he sees the pattern consisting of curved lines that cover the walls. They stretch over their confines onto the floor and the ceiling and when Kabuto uses his imagination, it makes the impression of thousands of small snakes. Definitely a sign that this is in fact Orochimaru's lair; stories tell that he was especially fond of the reptile.
A scream pierces through the anticipating silence and everyone frantically looks around for the source of the earsplitting sound. As it turns out, it is one of Kitamura's assistants who ran ahead and whose body is now peppered with small needles. One had torn through his throat, one into his eye. Kazuya who works as a doctor reaches down to the man's neck to feel for a pulse, but he can't find one. A murmuring goes through the group and they stare at the corpse to their feet. The boy amongst them breaks the silence first. "It appears Orochimaru has secured this place with traps. Some probably don't work anymore, seeing as it's been a pretty long time since they were installed. This is proof enough though that some are still intact and work just as well as they did back then. We have to be careful. Watch your steps."
Too shocked by his apparent indifference and his simple lack of care about what just happened, the adults follow him. Kazuya regards his adopted son with a mix of fear and disbelief and shakes his head. He tells himself that this is only Kabuto's way of coping; occupying himself with something else and that he simply is the type of person that has his eyes set on his goal and doesn't let himself be distracted by anything. Doubt remains.
Now the leader, Kabuto makes sure to sidestep every suspicious abnormality and be it a minimal one in the pattern underneath his feet and warns his companions in time. He has to give the person who created them credit; he is lucky that time put some traps out of order or he would've met the same end as the assistant before by now, because some of them are really damn well concealed. He has to admit that he actually is afraid of dying today.
On their way, they open the few doors they can see and often find some kind of prison to be behind them, sometimes the rooms in which the monster performed his experiments. Some doors are locked and they don't carry the right equipment with them to get inside and so they soon reach the last room. It's open and Kitamura tries to enter, but suddenly stumbles back.
"What the?" he grumbles and heaves himself up again and heads for the room only to be pushed back another time. Kazuya rushes to his side and helps him up. "How's that possible? There is no glass or anything, so why...?" He trails off and narrows his eyes. A bead of sweat runs down his bald head and he seems to ponder something. The others keep quiet and await the conclusion of the older man.
Said man reaches for the backpack on his back and searches through it, eventually pulling out a folder. He flips through it and takes out a rather old looking document. The companions lean forward to read what is written on it. A relatively young woman laughs and mocks Kitamura "Have you finally lost your mind? You can't be serious! Dark magic? Those are just legends you fool, legends villagers made up to explain why Orochimaru was so powerful. There must be a logical explanation for this...whatever it is." She clicks her tongue and strides forward yet the invisible force throws her back and sends her falling to the ground.
Kabuto watches this with interest. He too knows the old stories about the monster and he too scoffs at the idea that those are true yet this recent development surely is strange. Why is it not possible for those people to enter this final room? One after another, they try and all fail until it's only him who is left.
His father bites his lip as the boy slowly takes a step towards the barrier. Another step. He braces himself for the push back and still wills his foot to cross the border. Nothing ever comes. His body follows and he stands inside the room. The archeologists proceed to stare in awe and surprise as the youngest member of their team steps deeper into the snake's room.
Kabuto takes his glasses off and uses his shirt to clean them from the dust that has collected on them and he realizes he's trembling as he does so. Calm down he chants inside his head and grabs the torch in his hand a little tighter. The electric light flickers alarmingly and he knows he has to hurry and come to investigate this place further later. He uses the time he has left to inspect the objects around him; animals preserved in glasses filled with a indefinable substance, countless of scrolls, a burned hand with a single ring on it on a table and at the far end sits a proud throne, worthy of the creature it belongs to.
The feeling that overtakes him at the sight is strong and he feels like the throne calls to him, luring him further and further. He obeys and discovers as he is close enough that there is a single scroll resting on the stone surface. Curiously and not thinking, he extends his hand and slowly picks it up. His heart is beating way too fast to be healthy and he swallows. There is a small snake on there, its eyes mockingly and bright despite the effects of time.
"Kabuto, hurry up! Our batteries are almost empty! If our torches don't work anymore, we won't get here out alive!" calls his father and rips the fifteen year old out of his daze and he quickly readjusts his glasses, before crossing the room and joining the others.
There is no time for talking, no time for explaining and so they rush back to the stairs and reach them just in time. The last torch dies and the have to support themselves with the wall to make sure they don't trip.
As soon as they are breathing fresh air again, Kabuto collapses and notices just how drained he is. Strange, he hasn't felt like that mere minutes ago...
Kitamura paces.
"This is not good. Not good at all..." he mumbles and twiddles his thumbs nervously. Every once in a while he glances at Kabuto and the scroll in his grasp.
Taking something with him made the Yakushi-kid no better than a tomb raider in the older man's eyes and what he took with him! They tried with a lighter, tried with a camp fire, tried to destroy it with water, tried with acid and still no damage was done to this piece of parchment. All attempts...futile.
He recalls the story in his head. This is not just a legend, but a fact from a 'reliable' (as far as historical sources can be reliable) source.
"Kabuto, do you even know what you've done there?" he questions. The boy tilts his head to the side and blinks confused. "No, not really. I can give it back of course, but I have the feelings that that wouldn't be the end of the story, no?" comes the reply and Kitamura sighs annoyed.
"You may not believe what I tell you now" he starts "but you have to understand. Orochimaru was far more powerful than most people know. He did not just torture people by experimenting with them, did not just burn villages down, he controlled their minds. He could not be killed."
"Okay, everyone knows that. And the last statement is not true; Orochimaru did die after his attempt to destroy Konoha failed" Kabuto remarks. He waves it off. "No, it's true. The woman who today is known as the great healer Tsunade later wrote that she and the legendary Jiraiya did not exactly succeed in killing him. Shortly before they arrived at his lair, Orochimaru finished his most successful experiment yet, knowing that his end was near. He sealed his soul away."
At this the teen quirks an eyebrow skeptically. "This scroll that you're holding there, it contains the most evil person's soul. Do you understand?" The last words he screams and Kabuto flinches.
Kabuto listens carefully to the man's story and he understands now why this woman called him insane. That there actually still were people who believed in those stories! However, when he mentioned Tsunade, the idea didn't sound that ridiculous anymore. "Show me. Show me the letter or whatever it is, where she wrote that" he demands and outstretches his other hand.
Kitamura reluctantly places a document into his hand and he starts to read through it. Obviously, this is not a fake. He still doubts that Orochimaru could do something like sealing his soul or casting spells.
His gaze falls to the small, innocent looking scroll in his dirtied hand.
A soul...
He could be holding the soul of Orochimaru in his hands...
The more time they spend down in the lair, the more things they discovered. On the fourth day, Kitamura triumphantly waves Kabuto over and points to another scroll and peels it open with careful movements. Inside, the formulas for different techniques – Jutsu – is written and he studies it intently. "This doesn't prove anything" he says and leaves.
A month later, he is back home and goes to school again. The past time in Oto seems surreal to him, like the memories of another person. And the only proof are the letters on his desk in his room.
It was decided that the Soul-scroll should be put under surveillance and only the people involved in the fateful tour were allowed to take that job. As the discoverer, he too had to do so and it will be his turn next week.
Today, he pays the museum in Konohagakure a visit. As last time, all those years ago, he pauses at the portrait of Orochimaru and it still has the same effect on him; as if his eyes burn into his skull. 'As if' he brushes it off and continues his tour.
His feet carry him to Kitamura's office where the archeologist is busy studying one of the countless scrolls. He volunteers to do so and when he leaves, he secretly lets one slip into the bag he has with him and takes it home.
Armed with a torch and the scroll, he leaves the house around midnight and sneaks into the woods where he is positive no one will be lingering around at this time.
BUNSHIN NO JUTSU is the first one on the list and once again he smirks because please! This is idiotic. No one can create an exact clone like that!
Or so he thinks.
When the alarm clock in his room displays the time 4 in the morning, Kabuto is faced with something that is so insane, so unbelievable that he simply stares and trembles. Sweat runs down his forehead,, yet he doesn't even seem to care.
This is not possible, this is not possible, this is not possible, this is not possible.
It's like looking into a mirror; the same grey hair that is pulled back into a ponytail, the small pair of round glasses and the same dark eyes behind the glasses. An exact copy of himself. An illusion, but if someone saw this, they wouldn't be able to tell it from the original.
Kabuto believed in science. In facts.
And this is a fact. He created this himself with the instructions of the scroll, he sees it with his own two eyes. He feels the power that is described in the text coursing through his body and as he stops the flow, the copy disappears with a low poof in a cloud of smoke.
Within the small span of four hours, his whole life was turned upside-down. Everything he believed to know was now not certain anymore, things he believed were impossible he now sees in a different light. Magic...Chakra...Jutsu...They exist...
Somewhere in this chaos, a sudden thought struck him.
If jutsu work, could it be that Orochimaru really did seal his soul in this scroll?
It all is too much for his brain, for his psyche to comprehend all at once and so it does what it deems best; an emergency shutdown. As his consciousness fades, his last thought repeats over and over in his head.
From now on, he spends every single afternoon at the museum and buries himself in scrolls and writes everything down he finds helpful for his research. The more he learns, the more knowledge he gains, the more his opinion changes.
In some documents, Orochimaru's thoughts are revealed and what he thinks is highly interesting. His view on life and death, his view in general, his ideals, his goals...they appeal to Kabuto.
Orochimaru's goals to discover all truths and to learn every single jutsu that exists and to conquer death seems so right to him. They are so similar to his own and he finally understands the reason behind these gruesome experiments. Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. As a true seeker of truth, Orochimaru was not allowed to hesitate to do everything in his might to find the truth, even if it meant death and misery for others.
With every passing minute, Kabuto's sympathy for the monster grows and Orochimaru's ideals become his own.
The day before the soul is supposed to be passed over to him and a day after the formula to summon it was recovered from the lair, he sits in class and gazes ahead without thinking about anything particular. He doesn't care about what the teacher says since he already knows what he's talking about and he accidentally overhears a conversation between his classmates.
"Wah, really?" exclaims one teenager quietly and nudges his friend. "C'mon Yoshimitsu, you're kiddin' me!" Yoshimitsu snickers. "Really. I wouldn't have thought so at first, but it's true! Such a loser right? And a freak! A total freak I tell you!" Some more laughter is shared. "This Kimimaro is scary though. We'll have to watch out that he doesn't hear us talking about him...And...he's like...the next Orochimaru..."
The next Orochimaru? The way they said it makes it seem like an insult and he has to remind himself that to other people, it truly is an insult. Tch.
He would keep an eye on that Kimimaro though. Definitely.
When he read the summon formula he frowns in discontent. It said that at least six people are required to summon the whole strength of Orochimaru. Hey...
Why is he even upset about that?
He halts and ponders this. Till now, the thought to revive the soul of Orochimaru never occurred to him, not really at least. And...Does he even want that? Does he want to revive Orochimaru?
The idea that he could actually do so is overwhelming and tempting.
This world is rotten enough...the world is spiraling downwards...the world is on hold, nothing is moving on ward.
If Orochimaru was there, he would hate it. And he would move the world in the right direction, right?
That's his goal anyway, is it not?
Inside, he makes a decision that would change the world drastically.
He would revive Orochimaru and he would move the world.
Bonjour, this is Megaphone. Kills. You. Reading this means (hopefully) that you just read my newest side-project. This will be a Two-shot, unless I get some inspiration to turn it into a more elaborate story (which is, given my current situation, unlikely). This was written because I just have a terrible, terrible writer's block. And it's terrible. Let's all hope I'll get over it soon...