Author's Note: For rayemars

Kidoumaru read a lot of books. Most of them were from Orochimaru-sama's personal library, history books on the various wars, strategy texts written by the greatest generals of their era, that sort of thing. Orochimaru-sama approved, of course; Kidoumaru was the only one of the Sound Five who had shown the least interest in the large scale side of battle, in how to wage a full-fledged war against entire villages instead of small skirmishes with only a few opponents.

Even more importantly, Kidoumaru knew how to apply the knowledge he acquired. Not really much opportunity to do so in a cell of only five people (or six, though not officially), but he played strategy games frequently, chess or shouji or go. And he always won. This pleased Orochimaru-sama even more, so much that one evening when Kidoumaru was twelve, after beating Kabuto at chess for the first time, he had overheard his master telling the medic-nin that he planned for Kidoumaru to be moved from the bodyguard unit to the command tower after he reached his majority. The word 'genius' had come up more than once.

Kidoumaru had been pleased, at first, though the thought of leaving his team made him twinge a little. Still... Orochimaru-sama used the word 'genius' when referring to Kimimaro as well.

Kidoumaru hadn't used to focus purely on practical readings. Sometimes he had sneaked down to the civilian village closest to Sound Village and bought novels. Mysteries, adventure... it hadn't matter. Sometimes it felt better to read something mindless, something that didn't require him to think. It was after a few months of reading the insipid, unrealistic civilian books about love, battle, and everything else a civilian couldn't possibly understand like a shinobi could that Kidoumaru had realized something. Civilian authors only used the word 'genius' when referring to the intellect. For fighters... 'talent' at best. Never genius. And it was always implied that 'genius' would win over 'talent.'

It was then that Kidoumaru threw all his novels away. Before, he had found the pure fancy, the unrealistic plots and always happy endings to be a comfort, an escape from real life. But the idea that a genius would always win over 'talent'... that was intolerable.

No matter how much smarter Kidoumaru was than his comrades, it didn't matter when it came to fighting talent. For a shinobi, talent was always better than genius. He had scars enough to know that.