Shadow of the Snake - Intermission

Natsuhi

Natsuhi had miscalculated.

She knew that Yumika hadn't been ready for classes. They had been lenient with him when it came to his speaking and listening. A little crash course wasn't going to change that. On top of that, he seemed determined to take part.

The plan had been to let him go. If, by chance, he managed to keep up, then there was no problem. If he didn't, she'd use it as a reason to double down and push him to work harder in catching up.

She hadn't thought he'd take it that badly.

She couldn't understand why he took it that badly.

She didn't know what she should do now that he was like that.

A day later, she figured she would try to sit down with him and figure things out. The language lessons were a good excuse. It had been one thing knowing he'd taken the failure badly, but it tore her up to actually see him like that.

She couldn't find anything appropriate to say, or any good time to say it.

On top of that, the lesson wasn't progressing at all, it couldn't while he was that jumpy.

So she left.

She needed to figure out a plan and talk to Issai.

"Issai."

"Natsuhi!"

She caught herself before she spoke again. She remembered that they were in a hidden village. Manipulation was a part of the shinobi skillset, and Yumika was in a vulnerable state. She would have to keep that fact under wraps.

"Natsuhi?"

"It seems…"

She needed something that would get the message across, but wasn't too obvious.

"...our charge has been doing little, as of late."

From the look on Issai's face, it seemed despite all evidence to the contrary, that he was able to pick up on what was going on.

"Hmm, he has, yes."

She could work with this.

"It's not good for the young lord to be out of action like this."

She saw the spark of a mischievous glint in the man's eyes.

"No, no it is not. Let's see what we can do about it."

He offered a bow and walked off toward the room.

The Prisoner

The hidden cloud ninja had good reason to be wary when the child showed up.

The hidden sound ninjas that held him had already employed a cunning combination of torture, deception, and reprieve. The last trick had him reveal something, a patrol route. They staged a breakout and used a transformation to imitate one of the prisoner's teammates. One who he now was certain was dead.

This place was filled with only enemy ninja and accomplices. That was the assumption that the ninja had to work under to prevent any more leaks.

This attempt was frankly pathetic. After what they'd done they were going to try for empathy? Really? It was likely that the kid didn't even realise what he'd been put up to do.

It was satisfying, putting the kid off, pushing his 'guilty conscience', even if it was all an act. Then the enemy showed up, whispering in that sickly sweet voice, and the kid looked furious. It was hard to fake that kind of fury, even when he covered it up, it was still burning under the surface.

The kid was a half-decent actor, or he was good enough to act like he was half decent.

If the kid was genuine, he was still an enemy. Feeling meant nothing without action.

If the kid was acting, he was an enemy. Keep secrets close.

Nothing changed either way.

The suspicions of the boy being a spy intensified when he returned, with those two servants. A rich kid, probably a clan kid then. Those kinds of kids could pull off this kind of act, and he had no reason to come back here, and definitely no reason to ask for my help.

He had been right about the prisoner not gaining anything from killing him, but another ninja might not have had that kind of restraint.

So, was he arrogant or gullible?

The prisoner sent him off with an even bigger request, either he'd back off or the prisoner would gain something of worth at no cost. So the prisoner got his request.

Jokes gone on long enough.

"You do know I'm taking advantage of you right?"

The prisoner had expected many reactions. Anger, disappointment, the dropping of a persona, etc… He wasn't prepared for the kid to have caught on.

The kid had let himself be taken advantage of.

There were limits to how much the prisoner would push before his own principles were broken.

So he taught the kid. Just the absolute most basic thing, most ninja figured it out on their own even. Then the kid thanked him, genuinely.

Boy's too innocent for this world…

Then the boy showed his hand. He wasn't banking on the lesson, he'd used it as an excuse to soothe his conscience. Boys with ideals like that either grew jaded and became men, or they died young.

Kin Tsuchi

Kin thought Yumika was strange.

He was pretty weak. She was faster than him, stronger than him, and lasted longer. On top of that she was the queen of target practice, while he was a peasant. They'd proven it enough times, and he agreed with her.

He was also kind of stupid. It took him so long to figure out what she meant when she said anything, and he either spent ages before he said anything back or had to stop between every word. Then there was his weapon of choice. She'd asked her father about it, and he said the bow was a really bad shinobi weapon.

Despite being that pathetic, he always seemed to be smiling, even when he wasn't.

He never denied being weak or stupid, he just laughed and accepted it.

She enjoyed competing with him, win or loss.

…

He came to class. Sucked for him, classes were boring.

He was more tolerable than the rest of the rabble, so she sat with him.

He was good at maths. Like, weirdly good.

…

Since Yumika came to class, she convinced her father to let her take part in the fights.

"...he's such a stuck up meanie."

"Did you see what he did to…?"

"...but he's so strong!"

"Who's that with him, a friend?"

"Pfft, he doesn't have friends. They're just standing close."

Kin was sure these people were crazy, they seemed to think Yumika was some sort of asshole genius.

She looked back at him, he wasn't smiling like normal.

It was irritating, so she went up to the front to get the idiots out of her sight.

"Kin Tsuchi, you're up against Yumika Nogawa, get ready."

The peanut gallery was glaring at him, and she was getting a few pitying looks.

Idiots, all of them.

He looked nervous and was glancing up at the extras.

She didn't like that.

"You know I'm better, why don't you give up now?"

That got him smiling again.

"...but then you… wouldn't get any training. Good luck, have fun."

That was much more like it.

"Begin."

She tossed three kunai and he practically tripped backwards to avoid them.

"That can't be allowed!"

He was still stupid.

He had been right though, a living moving target was great training.

He did eventually manage to get close, but he'd already tired himself, and she got him on the ground with her kunai to his neck effortlessly.

"My win."

He was still weak.

He laughed it off like usual, but she caught him nervously looking up at the extras again.

She'd have to do something about this.

"See ya."

"Bye."

She left the room, but was left wondering why he was staying behind. As a ninja in training there was obviously one course of action, sneak back in and spy on them.

She was sure now… she was going to make them bleed.

Maybe her father could get her started on senbon. Make it slow and painful.

Isae

Isae sat with a report.

Test Cancelled due to external events.

She looked it over, making sure everything was done properly.

The date and the rest of the logistical details were all filled in.

It should have been more filled in, but someone decided to go ahead and kill the supervisor before she could get her fight in.

She supposed it was fine though. After what he did, she didn't like the supervisor either.

She ignored the small cheer in the back of her head. Doctor Masumi wasn't that excitable.

She didn't know what to think about the 'someone' though. She might have pegged him wrong initially, but that didn't mean she liked him now though, especially since he still hangs out with her.

She wasn't oblivious though, that happened because she got involved.

She got up and moved to the entrance of the lab, knocking on the door three times. Just like how Doctor Masumi would.

A few moments later a calm voice answered.

"It's safe, come in."

So cool!

Isae didn't let it show though, Doctor Masumi was always in control of herself.

She entered the room, placed the report on a specific part of the doctors desk, then she went to the side, washed her hands, and put on a lab coat.

Lab coats are so cool.

Mainly because doctor Masumi wore one.

The black haired doctor finished up what she was doing, and Isae spied her picking up the report.

"External event?"

The doctor didn't look up from the report.

So cool.

"Yumika blew up the supervisor before I got called down."

The doctor nodded.

"You should still have some of the substance in your system. Let's do some controlled tests."

"Yes!"

She got to spend more time with Doctor Masumi!

…maybe Yumika blowing up the supervisor wasn't so bad.

The Prisoner

They were talking about that one kid.

He went from not even knowing how to use chakra at all to killing someone with an explosive tag in four months. Quite the learning curve.

"You reckon it's worth getting him in our camp?"

"Well, he might be worth something one day. Even if he flops, he is the daimyo's kid, that might be worth something."

"...at least enough to keep him out of anyone else's hands."

"Hmph, I didn't even know the fat bastard had kids here."

"It's a shame though, he's a walking storage scroll, so he's probably going to go straight to supply, into Ichisayo's hands."

"Tsk, well, that's fine, but we might as well offer an invite. As long as its us or Ichisayo, things don't need to get difficult."

They talked like he wasn't even there.

Maybe the prisoner would share this with the kid, or maybe not.

He'd see how he felt when it became relevant.

Medic

"...that concludes my report, lord Orochimaru."

Mitsutada had acted out of line. The damn brute, his orders were to be hard on the kids. The point was to scar them so that lord Orochimaru could sweep in and win their loyalties with a much needed gift of power. Hate was such a useful tool for such things.

Instead he proved himself beatable and undid all the work so far. He probably did it on purpose too, but he hadn't disobeyed any orders so there was no punishing him.

Officially.

His injuries hadn't actually been beyond her skills, but that's what he gets for letting himself get invested in that girl.

"Hmm, disappointing. Take over the operation."

"Business as usual sir?"

"This project is beyond salvaging, be reasonable."

He picked up a folder, which obscured his face from her vision.

"There are other ways to brew loyalty."

She bowed and made her leave.

A thought struck her as she left.

There was another enemy that the class had disliked.

Perhaps, Mitsutada's effort wouldn't be wasted, despite his best efforts.

Kin Tsuchi

Kin reached out and swept her hand through some of the bells that hang by the entryway.

"I'm home."

She greeted her father as she took off her shoes.

"Welcome back. You're early."

He sat by a low table cleaning his senbon.

She seated herself across from him, bringing out her own tools.

"The supervisor was injured, so we couldn't continue."

He gave no visible response, but the silent command to explain further was implied.

"Watch me."

"Yumika challenged him and won."

"The boy you've been training with?"

He pouts, her win again.

"Yea."

"How?"

[…]

"I see."

He inspected the bell hanging from the senbon.

"The supervisor was a fool."

He tossed it at a target, the bell rang clearly.

"What clan did he come from? I don't recall there being a Yumika amongst the next generation."

"Yumika Nogawa, nice to meet you."

"Nogawa."

The senbon in her father's hand cracked, an ominous aura filled the room.

"Nogawa?"

She nodded.

He stood up, and paced.

"His bastard father must have hired one of the traitors to tutor him… Fuma? Orochimaru hasn't approached them yet, but no, they despise that man as much as the rest of us…"

He stopped.

"You said you were close?"

"Why don't you hit me and 'fix' me as well?"

"We had a falling out."

He brought a hand to his chin.

"Who is stronger between you?"

"We both know you're stronger."

"I am, no doubt."

"Excellent."

He started packing away the supplies.

"Kin, it is time I told you why our clan has weakened. It is all because of that bastard Nogawa…"

[…]

"So, get close to him again. Forgive him or apologise if you need to."

He held up the last needle.

"Then… when you get the chance..."

He placed it neatly with the rest.

"Kill him."

Umm... what?