-
Disclaimer: "Naruto", and all canon characters and characteristics remain the property and rights of Kishimoto Masashi. All I own is the writing itself, and any original features and / or attributes portrayed within said writing, including the original characters.
A/N: This story is based on an alternate look at the canon arc / timeline, taking place during the odd week or so when Jiraiya and Naruto are searching to name a Godaime for Konoha. Xi Jiang is the name of a major commercial waterway located in southern China. And I fully acknowledge the fact that the library is a Mary Sue (you know that podium is so totally just trying to cop a feel).
I--I
Sounds of the bustling city's traffic-clogged streets and busied on-goers were silenced as the large door gracing the library's entrance clicked softly shut. Being the latest visitant of the building, the woman who had just entered glanced around, swallowing hard at the sight of the intimidating architectural feat now surrounding her.
Leaving someone as potentially irresponsible as Tsunade alone in a casino was usually quite out of character for someone as over-cautious as Shizune, but seeing as how visiting this library was a once-in-a-lifetime experience (and seeing as how her mentor had refused to come anyway), the apprentice decided she could trust the Sannin enough to fend for herself for a few short moments. Besides, Tsunade had been surprisingly lucky at her gambling day so far; hopefully, the blessed winning streak would last another fifteen minutes while Shizune went to take out this book.
The eager brunette strolled over to the chest-high wooden podium set conveniently near the library entrance, skimming through the thick directory manual laying open and thinly-chained to the countertop.
'Medicine: row 57, sections 3 - 76.'
Of course, Shizune wasn't looking to take out just any book. She was searching for a living, readable copy of An Autopsy of Medicine, a highly controversial piece of medical literature written by an amateur Chinese doctor over four centuries ago. Because of the blatantly contestable subject matter it held (not to mention the unspeakable manners in which the research was obtained), most of the prints were either concealed from public view or purposefully destroyed. The single copy carried within this Grand Library was the closest translated publication in over a three-thousand mile radius; the second nearest, stashed away in some long-forgotten basement of a national museum.
Shizune couldn't help but smile inwardly as each step brought her closer and closer to her goal.
Besides the fact that the book was extremely rare, it was also supposed to be a very good read.
Regardless of how light her tread, the medic-nin's footsteps echoed sharply throughout the building's mammoth corridors during their short journey to row fifty-seven. The site itself was littered with ample sets of chief librarians, elevated ladders carried upon wheeled support bases, and tremendous bookshelves towering over at least a story high. Left and right, groups of hushed students and scholars alike gathered at the numerous study desks, buried behind thick volumes of literature and pile upon pile of research notes. The nostalgic sight reminded Shizune of her own days as a struggling pupil, back when she was a simple medical student in training, studying and laboring harder than her peers in an effort to earn the coveted position of the Legendary Tsunade's personal understudy. Contrary to popular belief, the admiration Shizune had for the Sannin and the strong desire for her own skills to be recognized by her eyes started long before they ever met in person.
But those life-driven endeavors were in the past.
The piglet Shizune held in her arms gave a squeal of detection as they reached the aisle they had been searching for. Animals like Tonton were usually prohibited from the library altogether, but no one would kick up a fuss over a clean, fully-licensed nin-pig who kept quiet and stayed out of everyone's way.
Shizune knelt down and released the pet from her hold, allowing the shoat to scamper down the empty corridor as it pleased. The musky scent of stale air and old books filled the woman's senses whilst she followed Tonton's lead and made her way down the abandoned Medical aisle; taking into account the thin layer of dust which blanketed the area, it looked as if no one had set foot in this row for weeks, if not months.
Tonton scurried on the wooden floor around Shizune's ankles, taking in the smell of unused ledgers on the bottom shelf and giving a tiny sneeze in return.
"You shouldn't sniff around down there, Tonton...", Shizune cautioned, fanning away the air in front of her face. "Heaven knows what's in this dust."
Tracing over the aligned covers with her index finger, she kneeled down to inspect the contents of the second to lowest shelf, searching through the serial-numbered seals stickered to the side of each book.
And there it was.
Shizune quickly reached for the small tome and gave a light tug...but something seemed to be holding it in place, contrasting her efforts by pulling it from the other side.
Bewildered, she squinted between the bookshelves, only to see a pair of dark, bespectacled eyes glaring back at her.
"Ah. I see you are an avid reader of Xi Jiang as well."
Not even wondering how he could have recognized the book from the other side, the startled Shizune almost leapt to her feet in shock at the young man's unexpected presence, but surprisingly managed to keep her composure steady long enough to answer him.
"N--not exactly.", she said, clearing her throat. "Considering it was the only book he managed to publish before he died."
"True, but historical detectives have recently unearthed a few of his earliest manuscripts, dating back decades before this edition was released...an 'unabridged' version, if you will."
"Well.", she smiled uneasily, at a loss for anything relevant to say. "You...sure seem to know a lot about this guy."
"I've heard things."
After giving a vague 'hmm' of acknowledgment, Shizune gingerly drew the book over to her side of the shelf. She'd taken part of the afternoon off just to get a hold of this volume; incidental encounter with a cultured stranger or not, there was no way she was going to surrender to courtesy and hand the book over to some punk whose voice sounded a lot younger than his manner of speech implied.
"I hope you don't mind if I have this?", she asked, the mandatory air of pseudo-kindness lining her voice as she made her gentle page-turning audible. "I wanted to get a first-hand read before I left town tomorrow."
"Not at all, not at all. I could always come back next time."
Shizune raised her eyebrows. 'He sure took that better than I expected...'
"Yakushi Kabuto.", he introduced, sticking his hand through the empty space on the bookshelf. "I'd bow, but that would probably result in injury for the both of us."
"Shizune.", she said shortly, taking his hand into her own and shaking it with the slightest aura of unintentional indifference.
The Leaf-nin immediately noticed a fingerless glove covering his hand, which, oddly enough, felt as if it were metal-plated on the back.
Just as quickly as the realization came, Kabuto retracted his hand from hers.
"I've been studying Xi Jiang for a while now...", he said. "For a research paper I'm writing. But every time I try to finish my analysis, I find out every copy of his book I can get my hands on ends up to be a fake...ah well, I guess my thesis can wait another day."
"Thesis?", she offered. "You're a medical student, then?"
He stood on his toes and slid out a particularly thick book from high up on the third shelf.
"You could say that."
Shizune glided by and glanced discreetly through the opening to observe the young man, finding herself the strangest bit relieved to realize he didn't seem to wear a hitai-ate on any part of his body. He simply appeared to be a twenty-something year old around as tall as she was, who wore large, round glasses, and tried to control his untamed light grey hair by tying it in a low ponytail. His pensive onyx eyes were currently speed-reading from behind his lenses, scanning silently through the medical encyclopedia held open in his hands.
"Like what you see?"
Shizune froze. "E--excuse me?"
"Xi Jiang's book; I heard you flipping through it.", he said, the reflective light shielding his eyes as he adjusted his glasses. "Was it what you were expecting?"
She sighed.
"I don't know...", she replied, reading through a few arbitrary lines. "I thought that a scientific research journal would be more descriptive about procedures; the time frames, the instruments needed, the recorded differences between repeated experiments, things like that. From this point, it just looks like the diaries of a madman."
"And I assume you're checking it out for bit of light reading?"
"Future projects. I'm hoping I can find some information in here that can help me along the way."
The young man raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "You...do realize that the author was eventually executed by the state for the experiments he performed based on this book?"
"Maybe so.", she smiled. "But in science, it's the crazy ones that tend to make the most sense."
"Perhaps such a philosophy isn't restricted to science alone."
"I'd...never thought of it like that before."
The next few minutes were spent in a curious silence; Kabuto continued pulling out random volumes from the shelves, while Shizune continued strolling past at said opportune times, pretending to read from her own book but in reality just trying to catch another glimpse of him through the newly opened spaces.
What seemed to be an aloof and neglectant Kabuto was actually in the process of listening attentively to the woman's every move.
From the sound of her dress's cloth rustling smoothly with every sharp shift of her stride, to the way her clacking heels made her stiff posture seem natural, and even from the indiscriminate pauses she took between her shortened sentences, Kabuto could tell that this woman was a strong one; not exempt from the occasional emotional outburst, and yet still not one to be easily influenced or intimidated.
No, an immediate advancement would give away his intentions too easily. He'd have to take a more indirect approach with her.
Too bad all these books were in the way.
"I've seen you around town the past few days."
Shizune lowered her book and turned towards his general direction, nonplussed by the comment.
"It's a very dull city.", he added slowly, sounding as if he were smiling at this point. "So when someone such as yourself walks through the entrance gate, I suppose I can't help it if I take notice."
Raising the journal to cover the bottom half of her face, she pretended to begin reading the text at a furious speed, unable to stop herself from blushing.
Thank God all these books were in the way.
"Ex--excuse me, Shizune-san.", Kabuto started, seeming unsettled. "But would you consider...no, never mind."
She blinked. "Consider what?"
"No, forget it. It would be impolite to ask."
"Go on, it's alright.", she encouraged.
"Well...", he laughed shakily. "I don't mean to sound forward, seeing as we've just met, but...dare I ask a small favor from you?"
"Depends.", she said, trying to sound as nonchalant as humanly possible.
"Would you...mind reading a passage from the journal aloud? There's an article in it I need to memorize by tomorrow."
Shizune's veiled optimism faded; her hopes of him asking her for something a little more interesting vanishing in a flash.
"I--I'm not waiting for you to memorize something.", she finally said, a little harsher than she intended.
"You won't have to, I promise. I have a photographic memory; one shot is all it will take."
Shizune turned incredulous for a moment, taking his request into careful consideration. She figured that she would be the one taking access to the literature away from the poor kid; the least she could do was give him the information he needed before his deadline.
"Which page?", she sighed defeatedly.
"It shouldn't be that hard to miss. There's supposed to be some kind of bold, blue text, somewhere in the middle?"
"...I'm not seeing it."
"Are you sure? It's a two-page long handwritten intermission; it shouldn't be that hard to find."
"I'm telling you, Kabuto-kun, it's not here."
"Are you looking hard enough?"
"Of course I'm looking hard enough!", she said, looking even closer. "The only colored text in here isn't even blue!"
"I thought so.", he muttered, clicking his tongue. "Authors of counterfeits aren't able to reproduce the correct shade of ink, so they always have the blue text printed in red. Apparently, we've come all this way for a fake."
Gasping, Shizune gaped speechlessly at the sight of the radiant, crimson letters glistening almost mockingly back up at her. If he'd never been able to get his hands on the real book before, there was no way Kabuto could have been lying about this, especially if he'd gone through as many forges as he.
"What?!?", she shrieked, flipping frantically through the book for further signs of falsification. "But that's impossible! Stories said that it took the library researchers years to get a legal hold of this copy, and the certificate of authenticity is supposed to be filed in the east wing along with all the others! There's no way this book could be a fake!"
"You raise a good point; it would be reasonably difficult to slip an imitation past the specialists...here, let me have a look at it. Maybe the intermission pages were replaced for some reason."
She slipped the book through a thin crack between the shelves, eyeing Kabuto anxiously as he accepted it and began examining the papers for the passage he was searching for.
Watching the student hold his chin and glance diligently through the pages with genuine concern, Shizune couldn't help but review her situation once again, realizing that this guy was just so darned...articulate for someone who looked so young. Civilians his age normally didn't bother themselves with such confident and advanced educational endeavors as these. Well-read? A medical student? Solo research in a world-famous library? An intriguing young man, to say the very least.
"How old are you, anyway?", she asked.
"...Shizune-san, I am about as comfortable hearing that question as you would be answering it."
"Oh, o--of course.", she stammered, turning away. "Sorry."
"That's fine.", he laughed quietly. "A little curiosity never hurt anyone but a fictional feline. Speaking of animals...who's the little piglet with you?"
"...how did you know what kind of animal she was?"
"I heard the sound of hoofs against the ground. I figured she was either quite a large pig or quite a small horse. But seeing as how the library has a strict policy against equine..."
Without warning, the scurrying swine gave a loud snort, offended by the claim.
"Her name is Tonton.", Shizune answered, kneeling down once again and gathering the little piglet in her arms. "She likes keeping me company."
He nodded. "I see, the loyal and faithful pet. I realize you must sympathize with how lonely it gets when you travel on your own. I've been thinking about getting an animal companion myself, actually."
"I'm not traveling alone.", she quickly warned, ignoring the last remark and attempting to fend off whatever inappropriate thoughts might have been floating around in that head of his.
"No?"
"No, I'm here with my mentor. We...I just had to set time aside to visit this library."
"Interesting...is that that charming blonde woman you're always tagging behind?"
"I--I do not 'tag behind' her!", she defended. "It's not my fault Tsunade-sama keeps running off everywhere without warning; I'd like to see you try and keep up with that all day!"
The statement earned another laugh from his end.
"Seeing as how adamant you are, I probably couldn't. Stamina isn't one of my most positive attributes, you see."
Out of sight, Shizune pouted in frustration. 'Tag behind'. Now, really.
"So...", Kabuto began. "Did you three come all the way down here for a library? This town isn't really the first place that comes to mind when I think of taking a vacation."
"I heard there were a few ancient structures at the edge of the city; I was planning to take her sightseeing here.", she replied. "It isn't a vacation, exactly; we just travel around a lot. No destination to speak of."
"Sounds liberating. A journey of discovery, perhaps?"
'Yeah, a discovery of sake and pachinko parlors...'
"We all go on journeys at some point in our life.", he said. "I just hope it doesn't take long for you three to find whatever it is you're searching--"
She heard him fall silent.
"Eh?", Shizune murmured, tip-toeing to try and find him between the shelves. "Is something wrong, Kabuto-kun?"
"...I have to go."
"Wh--what?", she asked suddenly. "Already?"
"Forgive me, Shizune-san, but there isn't much time."
"Isn't much time until--"
Before she could finish her inquiry, she heard hurried footsteps dashing down the opposite aisle.
"H--hey, hold on!", she called out while running after him, Tonton snorting as she bobbed around in the woman's unintentionally tightened grasp.
She prayed that she wasn't too late. She couldn't let him leave without a proper goodbye, an invitation to talk somewhere later (maybe even with Tsunade), or even the name of his place of study! Shizune didn't come across men like him every day, especially in her line of work.
But by the time she turned the corner, he was already gone.
-
Kabuto released the hand seal.
The area where he resurfaced was dark, save for a flickering candle set on a corner table and a faint beam of sun spilling in through a crack between lifeless walls of stone.
"I sensed the fluctuation in your Chakra signature.", the young man said, his voice echoing around the large room. "Is something wrong?"
The dim candlelight outlined the sharp features of a man sitting up on the bed in front of him. His aching, bandaged arms hung limply by his sides; the skin below his shoulders blackened and made useless by a deathly curse. His thin, snake-like face was damp with sweat; his mouth hung open as he reclaimed his breath from the heavy, painful coughs he was forced to endure for the time being.
"Don't play coy with me, Kabuto.", he growled. "You were taking longer than we agreed upon."
The book the boy had left for supposedly held information about illegitimate-yet-applicable limb replacement procedures, including ones which had to be performed while the doner was alive and unanesthesized to preserve the proper Chakra flow.
Kabuto bowed deeply. "I apologize, Orochimaru-sama; I...hit a snag on the way back. Nothing I couldn't handle, of course."
The Sannin doubled over and gave another bloody, hacking choke. He finally lifted his head, his unkempt dark hair sticking to the sides of his sweat-slicked face as he glared ahead hatefully.
"What about the lead?", he breathed, raspy voice full of impatience. "Did you find out what we needed to know?"
Kabuto glanced into the wavering to the information he managed to gather, this 'Shizune' must have been a very talented medic-nin, seeing as her teacher was one of the legendary Konoha Sannin they had been searching for. She was going to convince her mentor to sight-see around the town's renowned castle monuments tomorrow before they departed the city. She was a middle-aged woman a few years older than he; average height, slender build, a unique, humble attitude differing from those usually bearing the title of a Leaf-nin...
And she was a reader of Xi Jiang.
Pushing up his glasses whilst he made his way further into his master's domain, Kabuto chuckled quietly to himself.
That was more than enough to go off on.
-
'Well, there goes my chance...'
Shizune stood at the end of the library's Medical aisle, an expression of confusion and disappointment stuck on her face. It was more than a shame that Kabuto had left so suddenly; he was such an interesting person to talk to...
The piglet in her arms oinked sadly, waking her from her brief reverie.
"Oh, well.", she sighed. "Come on, Tonton. Let's go before Tsunade-sama's winning streak hits a--"
Shizune blinked in surprise when she realized that, save for the nin-pig, her hands were flat-out empty.
...goddamn it.
That guy just walked out with her book.
-