Chapter 7: Enter Orochimaru (Formerly "Discovery")
Date Posted: 4-Jun-21
Author's Note: Now that our -ahem-, 'hero' successfully fended off the hunter-nins (saving one of course), we now move to our second arc of Yorukō's tale, something I have yet to name because my wee brain can't come up with something good at the moment apparently. I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter, I wanted to go elsewhere with it but I didn't know exactly how I was going to get there. Enough of my ramblings, time for a key chapter to commence, yes? Enjoy the read!
Reader Review Corner
Demigod567: Great chapter bro! Can't wait for Yorukō and Kazuma to finally meet!
Me: Appreciate the review, lad! It's gonna happen sooner rather than later, but it may not be under the most…friendly of circumstances to say the least! Something about a cult, I don't know…
Flashback: One year ago…
Yorukō and his father, Reiki was engaged in a spar at their family's compound. The spar consisted mostly of ninjutsu and taijutsu, the young boy struggling to keep up with his father's offense. Soon enough, Yorukō momentarily lagged, allowing Reiki to take advantage and deal a powerful kick to Yorukō, sending the boy back a couple of yards.
"Why did you lag, child?" Reiki asked with contempt, looking down at the boy as he struggled to get back up: "Keep this up and you'll be no different than your bastard half-brother."
"Don't talk about…my brother…like that," Yorukō slowly replied as he fully got back to his feet: "or did you forget…that you are the main reason…he's even considered a bastard?"
"Oh please, like I would be considered the main reason." Reiki countered as he gathered his chakra and formed hand signs: "Blame your mother for being unfaithful to me while she was out on that mission." Soon after, dozens of thin ice daggers formed behind Reiki which he sent after Yorukō. The boy dodged most of the attacks but soon tired again, causing some of the daggers to go through his right arm, blood beginning to pour from each wound.
As the boy clutched his now-bleeding arm, his father walked over to him, a look of disappointment etched over his face. "What did I ever see in you, Yorukō? I'll admit, you were showing some promise when you were thirteen to fifteen, but since you've joined the ANBU ranks, you've been complacent."
"That's a lie! I've trained more since I've joined the ANBU!" Yorukō protested. "It's never enough with you, is it dad?! You've trained me most of my life, and every time I do something good, you always look at the negative it took for me to do good! Same thing with mom – YOU emotionally scarred her, belittling her EVERY chance you get, and when she finally gets a chance to prove herself to you, what do you do?! The same damn thing! No wonder she left for that long and came back with another child; she probably found someone who DOESN'T belittle her, appreciating her value as a kunoichi, as a woman, as a friend. She eventually gave in and made a child out of LOVE – something which I've been told, by YOU no less that I am not a product of."
Yorukō turned to the exit of the compound, effectively turning his back to his father, much to his chagrin. The older man could have easily gone after his son out of rage or pride being hurt but he chose not to, opting to take what Yorukō said to heart. Once he was at the door, Yorukō tilted his head to the left, looking at his father out of his left eye.
"For what it is worth, you're exactly right about Kazuma and I. He was created out of love – a product of two people loving each other, while me, the prodigy, was all but bred for this life. It's ironic, isn't it? The one created out of love was the one exiled from the village at such a young age because he did not 'belong' – which he in fact did, more than anyone, because of you, while I was trained like a soldier most of my life for being your 'trophy son', while emotionally and occasionally physically abusing me. You robbed me years of getting to know my brother, kin I could do many things with, kin I can feel loved by and love back. For that, I will never forgive you." Yorukō walked out of the compound and headed towards the hospital to get his wounds tended to, leaving Reiki all alone.
End Flashback
Yorukō shot up in a cold sweat, his breathing erratic. The last thing he remembered was bleeding profusely from the burns Shū inflicted on him before passing out from the pain. Once he calmed down, he noticed he was in a bed in a dimly lit room, consisting of a desk and lit candles, the source of his light. Getting out of the bed, he noticed the walls had snake designs, each snake intertwining with each other. He walked over to the desk, noticing his headband neatly placed in the middle of the desk. He took note of his clothes being hung above the desk while he wore a patient's gown like a hospital's. As the clothes were not too far higher than the desk, he reached in his damaged flak jacket's pocket, pulling out a kunai knife by its handle. Taking a seat around the desk, the boy took the blade of the kunai knife, drawing a horizontal line through his village's symbol.
"I'm never going back there, not after that whole ordeal." Yorukō said to himself, unaware that someone was listening to him on the other side of the door. Soon enough, the door opened, sending the boy on high alert as he gripped the kunai he used to slash his headband.
"You're awake. Good." A voice called out to him, Yorukō unable to see properly due to the dark attributes of the room, making him unable to see who was speaking.
"Who are you?" Yorukō asked, still on high alert.
"My apologies, I believe we never properly met." The mysterious voice replied, taking a further step into the room, allowing Yorukō to see who it was. Stepping into the room completely, the owner of the voice belonged to a woman who wore a green dress with a long left sleeve and a short right one. The dress had a red turtleneck attachment to it with a white fluffy collar within. The dress mostly covered her red one-piece suit underneath, completing the look with brown gloves and sandal boots.
"My name is Guren." Guren continued: "I found you while you were fending off those hunter-nins. Tell me, why did you spare that girl in the end?"
"I asked her to do something for me, and knowing our rather complicated history, she'll do it for me."
"Fair enough." Guren said, shrugging at the answer. "I don't really want to know. Now that you're up, I need you to come with me."
Shrugging, the boy got out of the seat and followed Guren as the woman left the room. The two walked down the halls, opting not to speak to each other as Yorukō continued to follow Guren until they both arrived to a room. Guren walked in first, Yorukō following behind. Inside the room, Yorukō instantly got on edge as he noticed who were inside the room, Kabuto and a bed ridden Orochimaru. Kabuto stood at a desk, mixing some form of medicine in a tube but stopped to notice the arrival of the two shinobi. Orochimaru would be sweating profusely in his bed, frequently coughing, and hacking up blood.
"Took you two long enough to get here." Kabuto sneered, as he resumed mixing the medicine.
"Now, now, Kabuto…" Orochimaru slowly said, looking at Yorukō with interest: "This is our guest of honor…" he chuckled a bit after saying that.
Yorukō took the time to look at the bedridden Orochimaru before glancing over to Kabuto, the latter giving the boy an uncomfortable vibe around him, which caused Yorukō's skin to crawl. Looking back at Orochimaru, Yorukō took a breath before addressing the sickly sannin.
"You're Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin, aren't you?" Yorukō asked, his question catching Orochimaru by surprise.
"Yes, I am. It has been a while since someone referred to me as such though." Orochimaru replied, a glint showing in his visible eye.
"That's not really all I know, Orochimaru." Yorukō cut in, continuing: "I'm not so naïve to not know what you've done over the past year, with the invasion of the Leaf Village, with the Third Hokage taking his own life in an attempt to take yours, only able to rid you of performing jutsus."
"How much does this boy really know?!" Kabuto thought to himself, gathering chakra on his right hand, and forming a blue blade of chakra, coating it: "I don't know what Guren was thinking; I'll need to kill him here and now!" Kabuto moved behind Yorukō at alarming speed, wrapping his left arm around the boy's neck, setting everyone off in the room.
"How much do you know, boy?!" Kabuto asked, the edge of the chakra blade piercing his back: "Orochimaru-sama, allow me to kill this boy!"
"Damn it, my strength isn't fully back yet!" Yorukō thought to himself: "Shit like this I could easily out-maneuver if I wasn't so weakened at the moment!"
"Let him go, Kabuto." Orochimaru calmly spoke, waving his right hand in dismissal.
Kabuto was reluctant at first, but eventually released the boy from his grip, Yorukō dropping to one knee as he tried to catch his breath. After a couple of seconds, Yorukō stood up, standing directly beside Kabuto to watch his next movements.
"You're also right about that, had it not been for my cursed sensei destroying my arms, I could've easily killed him!" Orochimaru spoke up, his tone gradually getting angrier as he recalled those memories.
"While I'm not necessarily condoning what you do at ALL, I must be grateful to you for patching me up." Yorukō said with a slight bow.
"Think nothing of it, and I was to be honest, thank Guren. She was the one who brought you here." Orochimaru replied.
Turning to Guren, Yorukō politely said: "Thanks, Guren-san!"
Not replying to the boy, Guren closed her eyes and nodded, a sign of her appreciation. Kabuto did not look too amused with Yorukō, keeping a close eye on him from this point forward. After a few seconds of silence, Yorukō's expression turned neutral, something Orochimaru spotted immediately.
"I'm not stupid enough to assume you patched me up without expecting something in return, Orochimaru." Yorukō said, looking square at the sickly shinobi. "And you already know I want something from you."
"Oh? And what would that be?"
"I want access to your jutsu scrolls. Something like that would be beneficial on my…journey to put it lightly." Yorukō stated, catching everyone off guard. Kabuto was about to make another attempt on Yorukō's life when Orochimaru responded.
"Such a request of THAT caliber is high, Yorukō-kun." Orochimaru calmly said, closing his eyes: "I can't have you learn everything without doing something for me first…and you already know what I want."
"A body, right? My body to be exact. Hate to break it to you, mine's off-limits." Yorukō countered.
"I've had enough of this!" Kabuto cut in, angrily looking at Yorukō: "How DARE you demand something from Orochimaru-sama when YOU were the one saved from certain death?!"
"Kabuto, it's alright." Orochimaru said, much to Kabuto's shock.
"But, Lord Orochimaru-" Kabuto pleadingly asked, his eyes fixed on Yorukō.
"Enough out of you. Go calm down, and if you don't mind, check on Sasuke-kun for me." Orochimaru ordered more than asked, the medical-nin complying, leaving the room while looking at Yorukō.
"Serves that ass-kisser right!" Guren thought to herself, opting to stay quiet during that entire scene.
"While you may be right about getting a body, I did think of taking yours, Yorukō-kun," Orochimaru said, looking intently at the boy: "but I don't have much time left with the body I'm in right now. There's a certain shinobi with a strong affinity for wind, which is a part of this organization that's been spreading the 'truth' of the shinobi world as of late, and I want his body to use, at least until Sasuke-kun's body is ready."
"And you want me to get this body for you, right?" Yorukō asked.
"Exactly. Last I heard, his name is Tatsuya Yagi. He's in the Land of Lightning at the moment, which isn't too far from where we are now. Bring me his body, preferably alive, and we'll talk about you using my library."
"Land of Lightning? This couldn't be the same man I was initially tasked with finding, is it?" Yorukō thought to himself.
"That works out perfectly, I needed to see someone in the Land of Lightning in three days anyway." Yorukō told Orochimaru.
"Then I suggest you hurry up, Yorukō-kun. You've been out for the last two days." Orochimaru told the boy.
"Two days?!" Yorukō exclaimed: "I have to go, and fast!"
Yorukō quickly left Orochimaru's room, managing to find where he was placed in with ease. He quickly got out of the garb to put his battle suit on, only to notice it was heavily damaged from Shū's fire jutsu. Silently cursing Shū for that ordeal, Yorukō began to find ways to improvise until Guren's voice alerted him.
"Those clothes are completely destroyed, Yorukō. You'll only look foolish going out there with them on."
"Don't you think I KNOW that, Guren-san?!" Yorukō frantically countered, "I'm going to make them late, and I don't want that!"
"I could…lend you some clothes for this mission, if you want to that is."
This caused Yorukō to stop in his tracks to look at Guren questioningly. "No offense, Guren-san, but aren't your clothes…more effeminate for someone like me to wear?"
"Not clothes I wear, dumbass!" Guren countered, a vein appearing on her head, "There's some robes in a room you can wear for this, and I'll see what I can do with getting your clothes fixed, or at least a new set of them."
"Really? Thanks a lot, Guren-san!" Yorukō excitedly replied; "Where are they? I'll go get them!"
"I'll get them. Just continue getting yourself ready."
Soon enough, Guren returned with a grey robe for Yorukō to wear. The robe covered his entire body from the neck down, hiding the only attire he has on, black pants with matching sandals. He managed to put his sword holster on his back without much interference from the robe, much to his appreciation. Guren gestured for the boy to follow her, something he did. Within a short amount of time, the two reached the exit of the cave, Yorukō looking at the woman with respect.
"Now remember, bring the body preferably alive, got it?" Guren reminded Yorukō.
"Doesn't this make me a bounty hunter, for one of the most wanted ninjas in history?"
"With your track record, Yorukō, I don't think questioning the morality of what you need to do is allowed. Just go. How soon can you get back once you get there?" Guren asked.
"No idea," Yorukō answered: "It depends on what else I run into while I'm there."
He has NO idea what is in store for him when he gets to the Land of Lightning.
Yorukō took off in the direction of his destination, hopping from tree to tree with impressive speed. For someone who was weakened two days ago from the result of a hellacious battle with hunter ninjas, it would be considered impressive for him to move that fast.
"I'll get there in less than a day. I just hope Kori found things out for me while I was out of action." Yorukō thought to himself, unaware of the shinobi following him from behind. Still in thought, Yorukō hopped off the branch, opting to run on the ground for his destination. He was about to take off for the Land of Lightning when a blur tackled him from behind into the ground.
"What in the name of-" Yorukō angrily said, trying to wring free, but stopped when he felt a woman's chest press into his back while they were on the ground.
"I finally found you, Yorukō-kun!" Yuina happily exclaimed.
"Y-Yuina-chan?!"
And cut! Wasn't expecting that, weren't you? This was one of my weirdest but funniest chapters to write, I tried REALLY, REALLY hard to get Orochimaru's behavior down to a T, I may not have done so good with it but let me know in reviews! I might do more interactions with him, so stuff like that I'd love to know!
Stay chill! Ancient signing out!
Next Chapter: Reunion with Yuina