Each (girl) delights in the work that suits (her) best.
Sakura would never have guessed she'd be able to get any rest in a place like this, with people like that lurking about. But the hideout was dark and cool, and she had underestimated just how poorly she'd slept out there in the forests. The men had left her be, and attached to her surprisingly normal-looking bedroom was a just-as-normal-looking bathroom. She rinsed the earthen grime from her skin and ran wet fingers through her filthy hair, and then—skeeved out that perhaps she was being watched—hurriedly dressed in the last of her clean clothes.
The moment her head hit the pillow that was now hers, she was asleep.
When she woke, there was that brief feeling within her that she was in her bed back home, and that her mother would be calling for her to come get breakfast any second. But there was no sunlight streaming in from her windows (in fact, there were no windows at all), and no muffled murmurs of civilian foot traffic passing by outside. Her heart sank as homesickness settled, and she pulled the soft blanket up over her face and thought about her parents. It hadn't been a full week since her departure, so they probably wouldn't yet be worried.
But they would be soon, and she ached to know it.
It was quite some time before anyone arrived at her door. The knock was polite, but she had a feeling that if another came, it would be sucked dry of that kindness. She kicked off the covers and wiped at her eyes, patting her face to hype herself up. This was her life now, what she'd chosen to keep Sasuke-kun safe; what she'd chosen to be strong enough to ensure no child had to again go through what he did, what Naruto did, what the entire retrieval squad did, ever again.
When she opened the door, Kabuto stood a respectful distance away and gave a short dip of his head. "You've overslept. Come."
He led her across the open entrance hall, where flecks of sunlight from outside filtered through small, cloudy windows. They walked into a small, traditional-style room that she would say was cozy, the woven tatami floor soft beneath her feet, a few pretty scrolls adorning the walls. On the back wall, though, was a circular window covered with fine paper and decorative wooden slats through which golden light seeped, giving the room an ethereal mood. Orochimaru sat at a low tea table, and Sakura noticed right away that his shaggy hair had grown nearly a full inch overnight, and was a full shade darker than yesterday, too.
"I hope you slept well," he said, and the unfamiliarity of his voice made Sakura shiver. He gestured to the cushion across the table from him. "Please, sit. Every morning, I'll expect you to join us for tea."
He what? Why did that make her want to burst into laughter? She schooled her expression blank and took her seat where instructed. Kabuto—she hadn't even known when he'd slipped out—reentered the room with a wide tray upon which sat three teacups and a large teapot. He knelt and poured the steaming liquid into each cup, then passed one to his master, the next to Sakura, and kept the last for himself.
"Sakura-kun," Orochimaru began, looking at her kindly, "I've been so curious I could hardly sleep. Tell me, do you truly not know how to conceal your chakra signature?"
Into her steaming teacup, she answered meekly. "No, I didn't know I was doing something like that. I was trying to dispel my scent and footprints with a genjutsu I read about. I brought the book with me and everything but it doesn't say anything about a chakra signature. Just the jutsu itself, that's...it..." She felt an awful lot like she was beginning to ramble, and took a sip of the tea. It was a bitter blend with an earthy undertone, and her face shriveled in disgust. Neither man seemed to notice, or perhaps care.
Four-eyes spoke up then. "We could sense the genjutsu, yes. That's why we'd come outside, because there was seemingly no person attached to it."
Thought you said it was sloppy. "I'm sorry."
"No need," Orochimaru said, waving his hand slowly. "You're a genin, are you? You know the world is soon to be at war, yet you walked here—brave girl, though I'm sure you were frightened."
There was something about the way he said that word that shot Sakura through with ice. She did not know the world was soon to be at war, in fact, and now she just felt a greater weight of her own colossal stupidity upon her shoulders.
"It's natural to be afraid," he prattled on, and she could hear the earnest in his voice. "But this is why you're here, to look into the face of fear and be able to fight back—or know the best time for retreat. Our first step will be figuring out how you can best get a handle on your chakra control. With the power of your subconscious you suppressed it fully, so imagine the possibilities when you've become a master."
Well, she could not pretend she didn't like the sound of that.
Sakura's timing had been so perfect that it seemed a little too much like fate for her to be here.
Orochimaru had recently, well, transferred himself into a new body. She did not inquire into the details of what that meant, but she knew it was a grim process. It would take time for him to adjust to its newness, and whatever Lord Third had done to his hands was not fully dispelled by the transfer. He was capable of performing certain jutsu, but nothing that required the use of hand seals.
Because of this, she guessed, he trained her up with a demeanor that she could only describe as gentle. In the mornings, she was expected to rise with the sun—though Kabuto was the only one who was strict about this—and meet the pair in the main hall for stretching and meditation. A calm mind, Orochimaru insisted, was the foundation of success.
Four-eyes himself would leave early to brew tea, and the two of them seemed to prefer that bitter taste that reminded her of eating dirt. Everything, though, served in the underground tunnel system held a strange taste to it, down to the simplest rice-and-pickle dish, and she quickly learned there was no use in hoping for something better.
After morning tea, the three of them would take to the forest for sparring practice. Well, mostly it consisted of Orochimaru doing tai chi-like exercises while she and Kabuto sparred. She was loath to admit it, but he was a good teacher, and his attitude was like if Kakashi and Sasuke fused together and made for a shockingly easy time in getting under his skin. Often she found herself plagued by homesickness, but when throwing punches and getting herself thrown to the ground when she'd charge in recklessly, she took comfort in teasing him and being teased back.
"Surprised you landed that one," she'd say, wiping mud from her mouth. "Your glasses look pretty smudged."
"That forehead of yours is a big enough target," he'd shoot back with a smirk.
Homesick indeed, but it was different—in a good way—to receive training specialized to her needs and her talents. For a very long time she'd stood and watched the backs of Naruto and Sasuke, while the three of them received training that was really only meant for the boys, while she often felt like she was simply there, on the outskirts. Now, though, with sharp eyes on her to pick out her strengths and weaknesses, her progress was exponential.
"You're slow," Orochimaru would say with a click of his tongue as she fell to the ground. "Your control is too good to be so sluggish. Heavens, what were they teaching you in Konoha?"
"Nothing," was her response to that. She got to her feet and squared off with Kabuto once more as their master continued his instruction.
"Imagine it's raining, Sakura-kun," he said as Four-eyes threw a punch. She dodged much too late, and it connected with her shoulder. "If we lived the mundane life of a villager, we'd grab an umbrella or perhaps a raincoat. Think of how these items shield us from the water, and try translating this to the way of a shinobi."
He often spoke in riddles and metaphors, and it was frustrating when he did it while she was getting her ass handed to her in training. But his words always reached her eventually, clicking in her mind with a satisfying understanding. This, too, was no exception, and an idea formed in her mind like the sun breaking over the horizon.
It was difficult to try something new in the midst of battle, but as she tried to sidestep and duck under Kabuto's punches and kicks, she brought a thick layer of chakra up through her skin. It wrapped around her entire body just as Orochimaru had said, like a raincoat, and when next Four-eyes came in to sweep her legs out from under her, she felt the presence of his foot long before it made contact with her ankle. She leapt back, and his low kick hit nothing but the open air where once she'd stood.
"That's it, my girl!" Orochimaru all but cheered from the sidelines. In her heart Sakura felt something strangely like pride, and she blushed to realize it. "Without something like the sharingan, we must be crafty. It's not always about speed itself, but manipulating every tool at your disposal to your advantage. Again, the both of you."
After sparring, it was back into the hideout where her new master would sit with her to determine her affinities for elemental jutsu and various types of genjutsu. Like Kaka-sensei, Orochimaru was well versed in many techniques, and once explained his overarching goal of becoming the master of every jutsu that existed. It was a crazy dream, she thought, but though his methods were twisted, he never gave Sakura the impression that he would hurt her, specifically. Rather, he was careful with her, always asking before placing his hand atop her head to read her chakra, and taking the time to explain things fully, never in childish terms or censored for concern of her comfort.
He bestowed on her the knowledge of using genjutsu when unable to weave signs. Through certain scientific processes and chemistry, one's chakra could be infused into pills to trigger when ingested, or into things like explosive tags that triggered when the smoke of the blast was inhaled. She spent many afternoons tucked away in his laboratories, reading and experimenting and learning at his side.
He'd begun to grow out his hair, and as he adjusted to his new host body, the bandages were removed over time. She suspected that, not unlike what she'd heard about Lady Fifth, Orochimaru used some passive chakra technique to alter his appearance. With each passing day he looked more and more the man she remembered from his attack on Konoha, his hair darkening to that stony black and his eyes sharpening as he regained his strength.
The better he felt, the more hands-on his training became. Often he would join in spars now, and one day just three short months after her arrival, he presented her with a straight sword of fine quality, even to Sakura's untrained eyes. After their daily few hours in the lab, he began instructing her on how best to use the blade and even how to channel chakra through it, enhancing its range, accuracy, and sharpness. She kept it with her always, sleeping and eating and reading with it tucked beneath her pillow or arm or snug in its sheath.
After a simple dinner with the two men, she spent the evening hours alone with Kabuto, who was tasked with teaching her all he knew of medical jutsu. Healing, he would explain, could gain one valuable allies and be used to keep oneself alive even through the most hopeless circumstances. He admitted that it came naturally to Sakura due to her excellent chakra control, and she soon surpassed his lofty expectations of her. About this she felt quite smug, until he'd warned her not to get too cocky.
"You won't be worth your salt until you can heal as well as I can, and even I'm a far cry from Lady Tsunade."
"The Hokage?" This had piqued her interest indeed, as she'd heard so little of Leaf—any outside life, really—since her arrival nearly three months ago.
"The very same. Not only is she the best medic nin in the world, she's one of the strongest shinobi alive thanks to her chakra control. Have you ever seen her?"
Sakura shook her head.
"In the center of her forehead"—he pointed to his own—"there's a diamond-shaped patch of incredibly condensed chakra. It's a manifestation of all of the power she has in reserve, and she uses it to heal as much as she uses it to battle. But be warned that she's largely sacrificed her speed and versatility for such great strength. You'll have to choose which to prioritize."
"Does that mean...?"
When he smiled, it almost looked genuine. "My chakra control is nowhere near good enough, but you show promise. We can start with the basics, at least, even though I don't know all the details."
It was the first time Four-eyes had so openly complimented Sakura, and though she warmed to hear it, something in his tone had triggered her first bout of homesickness in days. It was a good distraction, she knew, to fall into this new routine and be busy every minute of every day with training and studying. Sure that she missed her parents, and Kaka-sensei's excuses for being late all the time, but there was an even deeper ache in her when she thought of days spent practicing or grabbing dinner with Naruto and Sasuke-kun. She even missed getting that ominous feeling and glancing over her shoulder to see Ino staring daggers at her, and the way they'd toss quips back and forth.
Every few weeks, they would pack up their few belongings and walk deep into the tunnels, the bowels of which were lit by torches flickering orange light and long shadows along snakeskin-like corridors. When they reemerged, it was at a different hideout each time, where they would lay down their things and stay for a few days. Orochimaru had certain "business" to conduct that varied by location, and as it happened, the compound nearest to Konoha—where first she'd met them—was the only one in which they stayed in private.
The other bases were often bustling with activity, with missing nin from other Hidden Villages practicing techniques outside or scribbling on notepads in front of computer screens inside. Most surprising to Sakura were the children that ran through the main halls and outside areas, laughing and playing and fighting, sometimes violently. The majority were younger than her, but a few kids her age or older were scattered around. Her visits to these bases were the only occasion her strict routine was broken, and with the ample amounts of free time, she attempted to approach her peers in the hopes of making friends. Many of them greeted her with disdain, outright sneering or turning to ignore her, while others seemed to avoid her altogether out of fear.
There was one girl, though, sitting off alone beneath a tree to whom Sakura felt drawn. She thought of herself, cast aside and lonely and bullied, and how Ino had waltzed right up to her and turned her world upside down. Channeling all she could of her old friend, she did just that, plopping down next to the other girl as if they'd known each other their whole lives.
"I like your hair," Sakura said, and she meant it. The girl's hair was wild atop her head and red as a tomato, and she snapped to attention to be addressed so directly. She wore glasses—much more stylish than Kabuto's—that gave her a cute, studious look.
"Oh! Me? Really?" Her eyes were wide and her face flushed, nearly matching the shade of her hair as she searched Sakura's face. "Thanks! Um, is yours natural too? It's...it's cute!"
"Yeah," she answered with a small smile. "Thanks. I'm Sakura, by the way."
The girl smiled warmly in return. "We all know who you are. My name's Karin."
Sakura pursed her lips curiously. "Is that why no one wants to hang out with me?"
"No one really wants to hang out with me either, but you know how it goes, being one of Orochimaru's favorites."
"Favorites?" she repeated, thinking. "I'm his apprentice, I guess. Actually, I didn't know there were other kids around until today."
"Makes sense why we've never seen you before, then. If you're always at his estate, I mean."
Well, Sakura didn't think the hole-in-the-ground tunnel system she called home could ever pass as an estate. When Karin shifted, Sakura caught sight of a scar in the shape of a bite mark on her collarbone, near her loose shirt's swooping V-neck. She flushed, averting her eyes to understand what that must be. She had never met someone who'd kissed anyone else, let alone made out with them hard enough to leave a mark like that! She had to divert her attention to something else.
"So why does the old man like you so much?" she asked, hoping her embarrassment wasn't too obvious.
"Can I hit you?"
"Can you what—" was all Sakura had time to say before Karin's closed fist collided with her ribcage, knocking her over over onto the dirt path.
What the hell! her inner self roared. Does this kid have a personality disorder or something?! No wonder she was sitting alone!
But then Karin took Sakura by both hands and hoisted her up, returning her to her spot next to her on the treeroot. She held out her arm, knobby and pale, and with a grin on her face said, "Now bite me!"
Sakura, clutching at her side, stared. What is wrong with this girl?
"No, I'm serious! You asked why Orochimaru likes me so much, so I'm trying to show you!" She shoved her arm towards Sakura, who sighed and brought it to her mouth with her free hand. Closer to her skin, she could see it was actually peppered here or there with those bite marks. Still unsure, she opened her mouth and took a small section of Karin's forearm into it.
"Like this?" she asked, her voice muffled by the fact that there was, well, a goddamn arm in it.
Karin's laugh was loud. "No, stupid! I mean like"—here she opened her own mouth wide and chomped down hard—"really bite it! You won't hurt me!"
Her attitude was infectious, and Sakura found herself smiling despite these absolutely absurd circumstances. She bit down cautiously at first, and felt a strange sensation tingling in her mouth that compelled her to bite harder. When she did, she was surprised to feel the pain in her ribs ease until it vanished completely.
Karin withdrew her arm, that same wide grin still brightening her face. "Pretty cool, isn't it? I get to be the world's laziest medic." When she laughed, Sakura did, too. "I also have some sensory abilities, but..." She frowned.
"What is it?"
"Well, it's like—sometimes it's good that people don't wanna hang out with me, because their chakra can get overwhelming. But I didn't feel you coming at all. Did Orochimaru do something to yours? Or are you, like, a taijutsu user?"
"No, nothing like that," she said with a shake of her head. "We've been practicing concealing my signature and stuff. It's no big deal, really."
"No big deal?!" Karin's eyes were wide. "No, no, no, you don't get it. I can feel everything. But it's like you don't even exist, even though you're sitting here next to me! If you didn't just bite me, I might think I've finally lost my mind."
Surely it wasn't that impressive. Sakura shrugged.
"Um," Karin went on, the blush rising again to her cheeks. "Can you show me some? It—it's weird not knowing what someone's chakra feels like."
Wordlessly Sakura took in a breath through her nose, and released just a bit of her reserves in a small blanket around her. She was getting better and better at getting that raincoat-like layer just right, not so heavy that it would exhaust her and not so thin that it would be useless.
Beside her, Karin's breath hitched. She did not know what she expected, but the redhead blushing harshly beneath her black glasses with her lips parted wasn't exactly among her primary guesses. "What is it?"
"Y—your chakra," she said, covering her mouth with her hand and glancing away. "It's just...really nice. Um..." Their eyes met for just another split second, and Karin looked like a new person for how shy she'd suddenly become. "Are you trying to do that yin seal thing? I can feel, like, rivers of energy being pulled right up to your forehead."
She nodded. "Kabuto told me about it. I actually didn't think it was working, 'cause he wasn't too sure how it's done."
"Oh, it's working." Karin leaned forward, taking Sakura's hands in her own. "You're so cool! Can we hang out every time you guys visit?"
Sakura promised, and that was how she met her very first friend in this very new, very strange era of her life. The two were inseparable, though Karin speculated that their master only let her move into the main compound because Kabuto was interested in studying her healing abilities in depth. Her permanent presence, though, meant that Sakura's homesickness dwindled from a constant hum to an exceedingly rare blip in her mind. Often the girls would stay up late, giggling about boys from their past or playing with each other's hair. It was sorely needed, a kinship like this, and Karin had such a unique personality that she didn't remind her of anyone back home.
Some of the only times they were apart was when Karin was needed for experiments and study. There existed areas of the hideouts that Sakura was forbidden from entering, but when she once caught a glimpse inside, her new friend warned her that whatever her imagination conjured to fill in the gaps was likely less horrific than what was actually there.
"If you end up in there," Karin explained grimly one night, "that means Orochimaru has nothing left to teach you, but everything to learn from you. And not in a fun way."
"Okay." Sakura swallowed. "Noted."