Chapter 46 - One Step at a Time
A/N: I do not own the Naruto Franchise!
I do however own Mari Kaede and any other OCs mentioned.
Warnings: Contains dark themes, such as depression, murder, experimentation, emotional, mental and physical torture, possible attempted suicide and mentions of sexual activities!
At this point, I also want to point out that the relationship between these two characters is actually toxic if you are in a similar situation please seek help, it is not healthy and it won't end the same way this story will end.
I do not condone these kinds of relationships, despite writing this story.
Hey guys, I'm back from a break I ended up taking after my first and second semesters of my master's degree got the better of me. I finally found the time and motivation to write again, and though it's a fairly small chapter, I've been practicing for the past few days just to get this one out at great quality.
Hopefully you guys like it all the same, hopefully the next one won't take as long, and as always, I'm so grateful that you guys are willing to wait this long for updates.
Well, I hope you enjoy!
The eerie silence of Otogakure's winding halls had long since stopped bothering Kabuto. He had once been used to the bustling streets of the many villages he had infiltrated as a spy, however, with his former revelation that lead to him becoming Orochimaru's right-hand man, he now found that the silence of the laboratory he chose to spend a majority of his time inside, studying away, was now his safe haven.
He stood by a long table, ignoring the sobs of a newer experiment strapped to a stone table, as he stirred different herbs and chemicals together in an attempt to produce a potent toxin that would render the victim immobile but still able to feel as the burning concoction liquified their insides. It was not an easy endeavor, but one that would be beneficial, especially when torturing enemy spies and prisoners.
"Oi, Kabuto!" Came the bold words of a woman as she burst through the lab door, her fiery mane made wilder with the motion.
"Your intrusion is as loud as your personality..." Kabuto complained with a passive-aggressive drawl, not even bothering to look back at Kaede as she stood there, leaning against the door frame. He had better things to focus on than her irritating jabs at his character.
"Aww, and here I thought y'and I were friends!" Kaede whined, her tone all but dripping with a false sense of hurt. Without really saying anything else towards that topic, she tossed a paper bag across the room and Kabuto, being the well-trained shinobi he was, caught it without even having to turn around. "There's the herbs Orochimaru-sama asked me t'get for you." She looked over at the poor man strapped to the stone table, grimacing slightly as the memories of her own torment returned. However, she was a professional, so she just shifted her focus back to the conversation at hand. "He said y'needed them for some kind of poison-"
The sounds of the man's sobs increased at those words, and Kaede had to force her mouth into a straight line.
"-Anyway, that's all I came t'give you, so I'm going t'go. Don't accidentally ingest your own work, eh?" She grinned as she turned to leave. "It'd be a real shame t'see y'go~!"
With that, she gave him a mock salute and walked out of the room, however Kabuto, who had been looking down the entire time she spoke, lifted his head, his voice echoing in the almost silent room. "Kaede."
The redhead in question paused just as she was about to step out of sight, leaning back to peek into the room with an arched brow. He was now looking at her over his shoulder, the one visible black iris just oozing suspicion as he stared at her for a moment, only to exhale through his nose and turn back to his work, waving her off.
Kaede blinked, unsure what to make of that, but just shot him a confused, cautious glance, before rolling her eyes and walking off, her heels clacking sharply against the stone as she slowly sauntered out of earshot. Once he could no longer hear her, he looked back at the open doorway once more, turning and making his way over to close it. Once he heard the soft click, he quickly returned to work, grinding the new herbs into a powder.
Lately he had noticed the veteran kunoichi's change in demeanor, how she seemed a little less aggressive and was no longer on edge for a majority of her time secluded beneath the crust of the Earth. Though it had only been a few weeks since she rudely interrupted their meeting, it seemed as though she had relaxed substantially, especially around Orochimaru, her sworn enemy, by her own admission.
Not only that, but when her aggression did get the better of her, rather than acting out in anger and only accelerating the situation, she would spent time trying to calm her breathing to ensure she did not lose control and burst into flames. Perhaps it was just her natural survival instinct, considering her outbursts endangered her just as much as they endangered others, however it felt like there was a different reason behind her actions, rather than a natural desire to survive.
Everything she had done these past few weeks had not felt like a reaction, instead it felt like a rather deliberate desire to change her own thought process. It made him nervous, knowing that the only other time she had acted so accepting was the time she had actively sought to end Orochimaru's life. Kabuto let out an irritated sigh as he closed his eyes and pushed his round frames up the bridge of his nose. Perhaps it was time he took a leaf from his leader's book and let go of her past grievances.
Otherwise he would drive himself mad, just as she had done.
Unsure of how to proceed that thought, as he still did not trust her in any shape of the word, he returned his attention to his work, carefully adding the powder to the concoction using a folded sheet of paper. The moment it was added, he started stirring it with a metal rod and was surprised to hear a sharp hiss after a few seconds. Carefully, he lifted the rod out of the toxin and stared in slight surprise as the metal had eroded away almost completely, droplets of liquid metal falling into the mixture as a result.
This only made the trapped man's cries echo louder as he knew his end was coming.
Meanwhile, Kaede barged into Orochimaru's office without knocking, a normal occurrence when she was in a good mood. Of course, this did not surprise her notorious leader as he sat on his large throne, chin propped on the knuckles of one hand, while the fingers of the other rapped against the wooden armrest it resided on. "Hm, hm..." He chuckled as she smirked and planted a hand on her hip. "Have you never heard of knocking, Firecracker?"
His smirk widened when she barked out a laugh and shot him her usual infectious grin. "Oh yeah? Y'want t'go back t'when we first met and tell yourself that?" She asked, sauntering over to a chair that was usually used by Orochimaru when he was working on deciphering his Kinjutsu scrolls. "Oh no, wait. Last I checked, y'can make yourself immortal, but y'can't travel through time!"
Orochimaru chuckled, eyes gleaming as he enjoyed their typical banter. "Then perhaps you should check again?"
Kaede's expression softened in slight surprise, before she burst out laughing, shaking her head. "Y'ain't a God, y'arrogant bastard!" She waved off his amused snickering, though her insult was not appreciated. "If there's one thing I do know, it's jutsu, and there ain't a jutsu that can control time!"
"Hm, hm, you'd be surprised at what kind of jutsu lie within those scrolls, Kaede." He stated simply, gesturing to the rolled up documents scattered across the desk. Kaede shot them a glance, then rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the man in question, blinking back slight surprise when he held out an envelope for her to take.
"The hell's this?" She asked, taking the sealed letter and looking it over. There was not a name or address written on it, so she knew it had to be hand delivered somewhere. "Let me guess, y'want me t'find the person it's for and give it to them?" She waved the letter in the air jokingly. "Got t'say Orochimaru-sama, I ain't really happy t'be doing Genin work at my level, y'know?"
Orochimaru straightened up, his smirk warping into a grin. "As you're aware, we collect our monthly supplies through a secret merchant, as to avoid being found by any nearby villages." He explained, looking down at her with those yellow eyes alight with confidence. "That envelope is our...'agreement.' No mere Genin would be tasked with delivering it."
Kaede's smirk fell and she looked down at the envelope, then her expression deadpanned and she arched a brow, not amused in the slightest. "Y'telling me this letter's a threat?"
Another chuckle. "Precisely. This is your first time delivering this, I trust you know the location, given you've collected the supplies more than once, yes?"
The Ninjutsu expert huffed and gave him a confident grin, tucking the letter into the collar of her robe. "Y'do know who you're talking to, right?" She asked, turning to leave. "I ain't gonna fail something as simple as this!"
"Oh?" He arched a brow. "Your recent insubordination lead to the failure of a crucial mission, I wouldn't put it past you to sabotage this one just to spite me."
His smirk fell when he saw Kaede's once playful expression fall as she averted her gaze, refusing to lock eyes with him, a surprising change. "Y'don't need t'keep reminding me." She stated, her eyes shining with irritation as her tone sharpened with her anger, which he could see as plain as day, even if she did not look at him.
Her skin may not have glowed or shown signs of her weakened mental state, but he had spent enough time studying her to know when her emotions got the better of her.
This reaction was not as amusing as her usual retorts, so he waved off her anger, resting his chin on his knuckles once again. "I'm surprised you would let this failure affect you so deeply." He started, smirking when she looked at him, her eyes whispering warnings of what would come from pushing her further. "A Firecracker such as yourself has more to offer than an amusing conversation, don't you think? Dwelling on your foolishness will only lead to more mistakes."
Kaede stared at him, unsure if he was taunting her, or trying to motivate her further. This man was an enigma at the best of times, and downright confusing at the worst of them. She shook her head to ease her discomfort and laughed, planting both hands on her hips with her usual bold grin hiding her shame. "Like I'd worry about y'not getting your scrolls! I only got embarrassed 'cause I got caught in that Suiton jutsu, don't flatter yourself, Snake-Eyes!"
"Hm, hm, of course you did..." He drawled out lightly, then shooed her from the room with a sweep of his hand. "Now, isn't it time you started your mission?"
Kaede relaxed and went towards the door, holding onto the handle as she glanced back at him. "I better be getting a good reward for this grunt work, otherwise I ain't going t'be too happy!"
This caused the man to chuckle darkly, slowly sliding off his throne and sauntering towards her, stopping as he took her chin between his fingers, lingering ever so close to her lips, their breaths mingling together, hot and cold in the empty space between them. "I'm sure I can come up with a means to satisfy your insatiable greed~."
The redhead hummed as she pretended to think over his words, then her grin widened and her singular fang glinted in the candlelight, along with the playful gleam in her cocoa brown eyes. "I'm sure y'will, y'ain't exactly good for much else, are you?" With that, she pulled away from his touch and opened the door, walking out as she held her hand up in farewell. "Make sure you're ready, Orochimaru-sama, I ain't going t'let y'take control this time~!"
He laughed as he closed the door, feeling his desires stirring deep within his gut at her words. It would be intriguing to see how she would turn the tables on him this time. He was not a submissive person, and knew full well her attempts would be in vain, however he would enjoy her meaningless attempts anyway.
Her energy always made their dalliances entertaining, and he looked forward to her return.
~BHBL~
Two hours passed with relative calmness as Kaede approached Tenkachi city, the travel to the small settlement had been uneventful, barely a branch had been broken in the soft winds travelling through the trees. Hell, if she was not in a rush to get this over with and get back to Otogakure, she would have brought her book and took her time so she could enjoy the leisurely travel without having to entertain herself with her own thoughts.
The moment she walked past the large gate that indicated her entry into the city, she saw people nervously avoid her and heard people whisper about her arrival, as if they were far enough out of earshot for someone not to eavesdrop onto their conversation.
"That's her..."
"Really?! What do you think she's doing here?"
"I dunno, but y'better make sure your shop's safe, she burned down the last one when she confronted the mayor!"
"You're kidding!"
Kaede glanced over at the two men gossiping about her, and they froze in fear, before heading on their way, glancing back to ensure she did not follow them. This caused the mischievous redhead to grin as she watched them escape her sights, her eyes then locking onto the mayor as the two nosy civilians rushed past him to get home. Originally, Kaede had planned to ignore everything going on in the city to achieve her mission, however something made her blood run cold and she froze on the spot.
The mayor was standing before a man, discussing something in hushed whispers, the man was tall with brown hair, but it was not his features that caught Kaede's attention, but the forehead protector he adorned. 'Crap!' She cursed mentally as she quickly formed the signs for the Shunshin no Jutsu and disappeared in a ball of flames, appearing again in a tree outside the city. 'What the hell is a shinobi from Ishigakure doing here?!'
Kaede watched the two discussing their business well out of earshot as she wracked her brain to come up with her next move. After a moment, an idea struck her and she started forming a different sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" She hissed out, watching as a cloud of smoke appeared in front of her, and another version of herself emerged from the fumes, leaping into a nearby tree and slowly hopping from one hiding place to another until the clone was situated on a branch as close to them as she could get without alerting anyone with a Jounin rank to her location.
Just what were they up to?
The clone ducked down as far as she could and started breathing in small, shallow puffs, minimizing her own volume so she could hear their conversation better. "If you could take care of them, I'd be more than happy to pay you and your village for your time!" The major blurted out, his voice shaking with fear as he tried to keep a hushed whisper as not to alert the village of his dangerous actions.
"This is an S-Rank mission, you know..." The rather curt shinobi stated, crossing his arms. "You're talking about Orochimaru and his lackeys here, they're no pushovers." He sighed and tugged on the knot of his forehead protector, a nervous gesture at the thought of those wanted criminals.
Kaede's clone forced back a scoff, insulted by his words. 'Who's he calling a lackey?!'
"Please, I'll give you everything I have if you get rid of them, they're causing us so much trouble, and I know the only reason they haven't killed us is because they need our supplies!"
"...Look, I'll see what I can do, just make sure you keep them in the dark, okay? We're already at a disadvantage, the last thing we need is them preparing for an ambush."
Kaede's clone had heard enough, without making any noise, she vanished into a flurry of smoke once again, and the real Kaede, who was still waiting outside of the town's borders, let the clone's memories sink in as her eyes narrowed. "I've got t'warn Orochimaru-sama..." She mumbled, forming the seals for the Shunshin no Jutsu once more, the letter still snugly tucked in the collar of her robe.
Right now she had bigger things to worry about than a threatening letter.
Within seconds, she appeared outside of Otogakure, not bothering to adjust to her surroundings before she made her way down the long steps and through the corridors of her 'home.' The only sounds she could hear were her own heavy heartbeat, and the harsh clacking of her wooden sandals against the stone floors. She barely broke her stride when she opened the door to Orochimaru's office, and he looked up, prepared to praise her for her quick work, when she tossed the letter onto the desk he was currently working at.
His confused expression would have made her laugh in any other circumstance as he knitted his brows together and stared at the letter for a moment, before meeting her eyes, not even bothering to ask what was going on, as she could read the question across his pale features. "I didn't get t'see our supplier." She stated, watching as the Sannin leaned back in his chair, rapping his fingers against the wooden surface of his desk.
"I can see that quite clearly, what you haven't told me is why."
Kaede closed the door to his office, crossing her arms, a telltale sign that what she would relay to him was bad enough to force out her more serious personality. "When I got to Tenkachi City, the mayor was talking with a Jounin from Ishigakure." She started, watching as shock, then anger washed over his features. "He was commissioning them t'ambush us and take us out. It wasn't safe t'continue the mission, so I came back t'report it t'you as soon as I could. Didn't think this was something you'd want t'be kept a secret."
Orochimaru thought for a moment as he felt a familiar rage flow through him, the same rage he felt when Tsunade refused his offer. How dare these fools take his merciful words and throw them back in his face. He should have had Kaede burn down their city when he had the chance! However, he was nothing, if not cautious, and right now, he did not know if Kaede's information was correct. There was no use in moving forward without confirming her facts.
"Are you certain that's what you saw, Kaede..." His tone, the venom dripping from his words was all she needed to hear to know if she told any lies, they would end in her demise, not that she needed the warning.
Without looking away, hesitating or even blinking, she met his cold, hard gaze with her own intense honesty and nodded. "I created a Kage Bunshin and had her get up close and personal to make sure. I heard it with my own two ears. The mayor even offered to give the shinobi everything if he could 'get rid of us.'"
Despite his cold-blooded nature, Orochimaru felt his blood boil and he stood up, walking towards his throne as his mind whirled with all this new information. He knew Kaede was not lying, he had heard her lies before, and in her darkest moment, he had known her real honesty.
She was telling him the pure, unfiltered truth.
"So he offered them everything, hm?" The Sannin asked as he sat down, the darkness of the room, as the candle went out, bringing attention to his deadly, yellow irises. "Then we'll destroy everything...We warned them previously about breaking our agreement, and they have ignored that warning..."
Orochimaru leaned back in his throne, a soft hiss echoing through the room as he took a deep breath. "If that's all, you're dismissed."
Kaede did not dare question his words and without giving him any of her usual remarks, snide jokes or teases, she bowed her torso, bidding him a silent farewell, before she turned to leave the room. However, just before she stepped across the threshold, she felt the stagnant air behind her shift and spun around just in time to catch a small sack that jingled with Ryo.
"The hell's this for?" She asked, after looking at the sack for a second.
"That is the payment I had put together for the merchant, after we had secured our next shipment..." He stated, unblinking in the shadows of the room. It would have freaked Kaede out had she not gotten used to his more mysterious ways. "As we have no need for that city any longer, I see no better use for it than as a reward for your loyalty."
Of course, the sharp-tongued redhead could not help but grin at those words, and she tossed the bag into the air before she caught it, slipping it into her sash before patting it to hear that pleasing jingle. "I ain't 'bout t'say no to a cash reward!" She stated, turning to leave once again, giving him a playful salute as a goodbye, just as she had done to Kabuto earlier in the day. "I'm going t'head to the training halls, Your plans don't affect me 'til y'call me in for a mission." She flashed him a look at her fang, his eyesight superior in the dark. "Good luck, Orochimaru-sama~!"
With that, she stepped out of the room and closed the door, leaving the Sannin alone in the dark. After a moment, his angry hisses turned to harsh chuckles which then dissolved into demented, merciless laughter. His eyes widened in the shadows and the veins splayed around his iris became visible with the strain.
"Those fools will pay for their choices...I will turn that city to dust along with everyone there!"
Meanwhile, Kaede walked down the corridor towards her bedroom, tossing the sack into the air and catching it repeatedly for her own amusement. Despite the tense situation, she thought back to the past few weeks where she had taken extra care to keep her anger in check, especially when his little taunts hit a little too close to home. She knew the road to letting go of her hatred would not be an easy one, and to this day she wondered if she could actually achieve what she set out to do.
However just with this gift alone, she knew she had made the right choice, as even an ally of his nature was better than no allies at all. She flashed a grin and snatched the bag out of the air one last time. "Heh, he definitely knows how t'get into my good books!" She said loudly, tucking the sack back into her sash as she neared the lab.
Speaking of which, she was in need of a good book, perhaps once they had dealt with Ishigakure and Tenkachi City, she would find the time to expand her collection further.
"Oi, Kabuto!" The bold kunoichi yelled out as she passed his open door. "Y'might want t'check on Orochimaru-sama. He's going t'need your help!"
Kabuto turned to her, opening his mouth to vocalize his confusion, when her words sunk in and his eyes widened. Without wasting a breath, he rushed out of the room and ran down the hall towards Orochimaru's office. In his mind, anything could have happened, and with how she had worded that outburst, for all he knew, she had finally succeeded in fatally harming him at long last. Though while he overreacted to the extreme, Kaede just laughed her little head off as she continued on her merry way.
Oh she loved to mess with him.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading, please fave, follow and review if you enjoyed it and want to give me any advice on improving my skills further! I'm more than happy to read them, and I do my best to reply to each and every one of them.
Of course, I cannot reply to ones that are not linked to an account, but they are appreciated and I read them all regardless.
Japanese = English
Shunshin no Jutsu = Body Flicker Technique
Suiton = Water Release
Kinjutsu = Forbidden Technique
Otogakure = Hidden Sound Village
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Shadow Clone Technique
-Sama = Lord
Shinobi = Ninja (male)
Kunoichi = Ninja (female)
