Note: This is a mini-chapter that would serve as a prologue if this plotline was part of a separate story, like it probably should be. Unfortunately, due my laziness and the fact that the only way I'll ever get anything done is to combine the two stories into one, this chapter is just sort of… sitting there awkwardly. Enjoy the post-chapter one demi-prologue.
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Kabuto leaped between the trees stealthily. He was fairly certain all of the leaf ninjas who had come to retrieve the retrieval team were gone, but one could really never be to certain.
He had been out there for what felt like hours, but was probably only twenty minutes, searching. One by one, following several trails of blood, he had found the Sound Five. Well, their remains, anyway.
"Sir, I've found them,"
The radio clacked and buzzed with Orochimaru's reply "Well?"
"They're dead sir."
"All of them?"
"Not quite; Jiroubou is still alive, barely, and Kidoumaru will die within a few minutes."
A brief pause. "Heal them."
"Excuse me, sir?"
"Heal them. And bring the bodies of the others back, as well. There's something I've been wanting to try out for a while…"
And the small radio buzzed off, the echo of Orochimaru's laughter still ringing in Kabuto's ears.
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The 'something', it turned out, was a new resurrection technique, interestingly enough; one in which the previous one could be permeated through use of the original bodies of those being revived, and through a constant outside source of chakra to keep bloodflow and heartbeat moving- namely in the form of a new curse seal, developed especially for the situation.
The technique, however useful, was still obviously imperfect. Firstly, if the formerly departed were to run out of chakra, they're circulatory systems would cease to function and they would, once again, die. This translates to 'no more battles to the death', which translates into 'no more being a ninja', making their presence all but useless except for experimentation.
But moreover was the fact that the technique could not repair damage of any level of permanence; meaning that Kimimaro was still horribly diseased (although death had, conveniently enough, turned it from something so debilitating he was reduced to an invalid into a semi-debilitating nuisance consisting primarily of anemia due to constantly coughing and throwing up blood.) And Tayuya, after being crushed under a tree, was paralyzed from the waist down despite best medical efforts to remedy her.
Sakon and Ukon were effected a tad differently; they were forced into a state of permanent separation- since chakra was responsible for the circulation of blood, it was practically being done manually. That meant that were the twins to try joining into one body, the chakra keeping them alive would be mixed in an uncontrollable manner and the two would die.
Other than those obvious problems, however, they seemed quite alive and well, save for a severely reduced ability to heal naturally. All in all, the process needed to be refined before practical use, though. For now all the Sound Five were good for was training new recruits and taking up space.
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That would be the end of the demi-prologue. We probably won't be getting back to the Sound Five until chapter four, unfortunately. That paired with the fact that I have no idea what I'm doing earns everyone an apology. This is sort of the first time I've ever attempted a novella, and it probably won't even be long enough to earn the title of one. Shit. I'm really in over my head, huh?
