To be honest this was the absolute last thing Nao expected to hear from his cousins mouth. In fact, everything Kabuto just said sounded like fantasy nonsense. Orochimaru is his father, Orochimaru knows where Oba- NoNo is, Orochimaru will train Kabuto personally so he can be the S ranked nuke ninjas doctor!
Any other day Nao would have thought this was Kabuto lying, with a hint of dramatic flair because he was obnoxiously late but the tear streaked face and blood on his precious white lab coat was proof otherwise. Kabuto would never allow blood, whether his or someone else's on the precious clothe. It was something the elder Yakushi took much pride in. So, this wasn't a lie to make up for him being late, this was actually real. Orochimaru no Hebi was his nii-san's dad.
And it seemed that they were fucked if they didn't agree with the psycho's terms.
If Nao really thought about it, it wasn't an exactly a bad deal. The only major problem is that dealing with mentally unhinged people you can never really predict their next course of action, so in one instant they can be on as good of terms with the Snake as possible and in the next he wants them to cut off a nipple for some perceived slight.
You would just never really know with a guy like that.
"Nao! Say something! Don't just stare into space. I-I need your opinion. You have to talk to me!"
Kabuto was a crying mess and Nao immediately felt guilty for neglecting his cousin for the moment. He couldn't imagine being in that same situation. In a dark alley with a S ranked nuke nin. Kabuto probably tasted death as it was so near.
"Nii-San I'm sorry but what you have just said is… mind blowing."
"I know Nao. But you can't just shut down on me. Right now we need to be here for each other more than ever. Do you understand?"
Nao nodded in understanding, Kabuto still shivering from adrenaline and fear tried clear his mind by taking a deep breath. Nao let him try and pull his self together before opening his blabber.
"Okay. So… Orochimaru offered us training…"
"You specifically Nii-San I just happen to around…" Nao interjected. Kabuto clicked his tongue. He detested being interrupted, especially at a time like this. Fortunately, Nao got the picture and piped down.
"He offered me training but I made it clear that I have to take care of you, so he brooks no arguments in training you as well, clear?" Nao nodded sheepishly.
Kabuto straightened his coat and ran a hand through his hair by habit.
"Good. Now training from a S ranked shinobi is once in a life time whether they are a nuke nin or not. It's just dealing with the snake is like playing with fire while wearing kerosene pants. You are extremely likely to get burned to crunchy crisp but there is a small chance you won't. It's just that he didn't really give us a choice." Nao wanted to say 'No he didn't give YOU a choice! You didn't have to say my name Baka!' But his cousin would probably really kick his ass with what just happened and all, so he zipped it tight.
"Plus… he says my mother… he says Auntie NoNo is still alive and Konoha had a hand in her disappearance." Kabuto slumped considerably after saying those words. Like it was burden keeping them in for too long.
Nao shook his head and tsked. "We already figured that Konoha got rid of your mother for one reason or another Nii. But for him to claim she is still alive and she not once contacted us is a huge stretch, neh?"
Kabuto rubbed his hands down his face, from forehead to chin and sighed. "Yes, but we can't just ignore what he said."
Nao stood up and paced furiously. "Maybe he is saying these things for incentive Kabuto! Maybe he is tricking you, just so he can have spy and doctor! He is the SNAKE Sennin."
Kabuto relied "These things?"
Nao snapped "Yes! He is claiming to be your long-lost daddy and to have info on your long thought deceased mother! That doesn't sound slimy to you?"
"What the fuck Nao!? Of course, it does! But why would he come to me out of all the promising ninja medics? Hell! His ex- teammate is Tsunade Senju! It's pretty much common knowledge she's drunken gambling sleaze ball now. Her nickname is "The Great/Mighty Sucker"! I'm sure he can booze his way into a few medical procedures from her."
Nao begrudgingly nodded his head in acknowledgment of his elder cousin's points. It just seemed wrong. I mean he was training to be a ninja, and Kabuto and Orochimaru already were ninja but the situation was foul. Treacherous. He had no issues betraying Konoha but dealing with a man like Orochimaru in turn put a bitter taste on his tongue.
The younger Yakushi eventually slid into a seated position, criss cross applesauce.
Kabuto followed his lead but his shoulders were more slumped in defeat.
Silence encapsulated the room for a while before either Yakushi boy spoke.
"Our life is one big circus."
Kabuto grimaced and hissed, and Nao realized that Kabuto sounded more so like a snake than he ever noticed before.
"Neh little cousin. Cluster fuck is a better term for our so-called lives."
"Kabuto-Nii you told me cussing is unbecoming of a young man."
"Well, yeah, I fucking lied."
It was Nao turns to grimace.
"Nii-San promise to never become cold and mean. Please don't let Orochimaru change you or us for better or worse, don't be different. I like who we are."
Kabuto wanted to cry so bad. To put his younger cousin through this was a blow to the heart. He never saw Nao's Jinchuriki status as a burden, ever. Not like the Yakushi name was praised to the Kami's before his unwanted status was thrust on him as a babe. But his mother knew what type of man his father was. Everyone knew something was off with the Sadaime Hokage's prized pupil. His actions before and after going missing ninja was just physical evidence of his deviance and collapsed humanity. He honestly felt like he should have even been born. If he wasn't born then this wouldn't be happening.
Kabuto decided that if his mother was in fact alive, he would curse her the fuck out. A smart women like had to know that something was fishy with her mission, she had to know Orochimaru was crazy shit stain upon humanity. It was just no way his brilliant mother could be so naïve!
"God Nao! Don't be so sappy. We're men!"
His cousins serious and pensive expression turned sour as he was sure about to rant.
"What!? I am one the manliest of men to have ever existed! Just look at these muscles!"
Kabuto snickered as the young boy walked around flexing skin. Nao growled as he shouted "You're just jealous! Look at these guns! Yeah , drool loser! And the gun show has only begun!"
Kabuto bellowed out in amusement and confusion " Nao ! What the heck is a Gun?"
"I just made it up scrub! Now bask in my mannish GLORY!"
( 4 HOURS LATER…)
Kabuto watched his little cousin sleep soundly. He was glad that he could after hearing everything he heard today. After the initial talk and 'gun show' he fed the brat, made sure he bathed and studied some before sending him off to bed. After he was absolutely positive that Nao was sleep he got into the shower and cried his bloody heart out.
No matter how much he liked to think of himself as emotionally controlled and even cold… this was just like taking a sledge hammer to a lightly fortified wall. A lone house standing in the way of a category 5 hurricane and he was useless. Defenseless. Fucking hopeless. And it hurt. It hurt so bad.
He hand-washed his coat and the blood came out fairly well, but you could still almost smell that metallic scent of agony and terror. He checked his pants to make sure he didn't piss on his self and didn't notice. Being face to face with Konoha's very own Boogey man was… unmatched in sheer intensity. He thought meeting the Hokage gave him jitters. At least he knew the Sadaime wont out right murder the absolute shit out of him. If he does it won't be public knowledge, he'd send him off on a mission he won't be coming back from, much like he did his mother.
Kabuto clenched his teeth. He really fucking hated Konoha. The village was literally the source of all of his problems. Sealed a demon in his cousin's guts? Konoha's very own 4th Hokage. Send his mother on a suicide mission? Konoha's very own 3rd Hokage. Raised the insanely powerful maniac claiming to be his daddy-o. The people of Konoha and the 3rd. Impregnating his aunt and then dying? The 4th Hokage.
And he so naively believed that he would escape with his cousin. Roaming the land, young, wild but most importantly free from the Hidden Leaf's chains of oppression.
What a fucking joke.
'I need to stop thinking about this or my heads gonna explode.' Kabuto made his way to his room. Not before stopping to look at himself in the mirror in the hallway.
"I do look like the Snake." He quipped bitterly.
He walked into his room and slammed his door. Feeling betrayed by his body as more hot tears escaped his tired eyes.
(Back in Nao's room...)
Nao felt depressed as he listened intently to his cousin's movements around the house. He pretended to be sleep when Kabuto came to check on him because he didn't want his already stressed family member to hyperventilate. There was just no way in hell he could sleep after today's events. This stuff was life changing, or more like life destroying. Everything seemed much simpler just yesterday and to think…
Nao sighed deeply as he sat up and then hopped silently off his bed.
He paced his self evenly as to not put stress on any weak or old creaky floor boards.
He easily made himself comfy in his pillow covered window seat and looked up at the stars and moon and smiled warmly at the sight. To be a moon and star is to be untouched and unchangeable by human efforts. They just were. And they would stay like that because no one could reach them. Stars were unbound and free. He always felt sadness when he saw shooting stars because he knew that as they fell from the heavens and hit earth; they would be tainted by humanity and bent to someone's will. A star to be felled by gravity is like a giant to felled by an ant. Or someone great to locked in place by villages and patriotism. To be oppressed by some perceived great ideology only to find out it was all a lie. Maybe in a different life Nao could've been a philosopher or an academic.
Nao crawled into a ball and cried silently.
"This suck's…"