Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter 11: "Look at You"
The fallen red prince figure turned back to give the unconscious girl a cold, unforgiving stare. There was no way she was getting away now. Just no way. And now that he's seen what she is capable of, the chances that someone as simplistic as a fourteen-year-old would surprise him again were undoubtedly low.
The hospital electrical light over his head flashed dimly, a sick buzzing sound lagged behind. It acted somewhat of a symbolic meaning, like a lightbulb comically going off over somebody's head as they hatch an idea.
Sasori remembered that in order to keep a safe, clean profile, he would need to hide any evidence of his earlier work, or Orochimaru would surely find out about him one way or another. Then again, with all the misfortune that had gone on today, he might've pinned him already. But in just a few minutes, he should have some nice time all to himself to be able to think about what to do about that. Work wasn't over yet.
Glancing down at the dried carcasses of what were once probably great shinobi of Oto, he set the clip board gently, hesitantly down on the small, empty table next to Tayuya's bed. His concentration momentarily off of her, he took one customized scrolls in each hand and undid them without a manner of effort. The runes and characters of sealing scrolls were laid out across the parchment with the perfectly circular holes in the center of the rings where the objects about to go in would fill. He set them parallel to each other on the hard tiled floor. Even the most advanced ninja could still set a tremendous use for such a genin's trick. A substitution could safe a person's life from any technique; a simple genin's tool could do just the same for any undercover mission. So he supposed that no one, not even a genin, should be underestimated just for their ranking. Meeting this agitating young girl was somewhat of a testament to that reminder.
He walked over to the first puppet body that he chose and scooped it up in both arms, letting the wooden arms and legs click as they dangled loosely. The head of the corpse hung back in the puppet master's arms. The look of the man's face was horrific, with its eyes rolled way back into its head and the jaw unhinged into an open, silent scream – the true face of the corpse, the man's real expression, had surfaced.
Now that he gave it some small thought, it probably would have been easier on everyone if he had decided to kill them before working on their conversion into part of his collection. The surgical procedures; the alterations could be…quite painful. But listening to a human being scream – a man, a woman, a child, an infant – he would never bat an eye. He had abandoned and forgotten any meaning of the word pain, and in forgetting, he became the organization's top resort in torture and interrogation.
The weapon of mass destruction, to end the need of human force – ordinary shinobi. That was him.
Both of these jounin…had died screaming. He could still envision the blood in his mind, so vivid, so fresh, so…
He cracked a smile in thought.
…red. What an exciting color.
Taking his new and now outmoded puppet gently down over the elongated scroll, he let it click dead to the seal before going back after the tiny chips of wood that were left behind when he dropped them. Setting the shards in place with the body, now twisted together in a horrendous way, he stood back up to move onto the next one.
Eventually, both shattered vessels were in their place, and he aligned himself facing the vertical gap between the two perfectly symmetrical scrolls. He clasped his hands together, and issued the command, "Inshou," in a silent whisper.
In two abrupt puffs of smoke, both man-sized objects were translated into the remnants of their assigned scrolls without a hint flaw. The centers of the rings in the scrolls slowly filled into lone runes of black. Sealing jutsu: success.
There was one less thing to look suspicious about. No dead wooden humanoids here.
Reaching down and wrapping a hand around each hilt, the parchment instantly retracted into the neatly folded scrolls that they were before he initiated the sealing. Then, he picked them both up, the weight of the puppets inside now as light as feathers, and put them both into the sleeves of his robe.
Now that there was no threat of being totally exposed, he went ahead and set his gaze upon a lone chair standing in the corner of the hospital room. The place was dim, save for the only electrical light buzzing every second or so over Tayuya's bed.
It was silent in the room, giving Sasori plenty of time to evaluate what he should do next. Then, and only then, he slowly turned his head to capture the girl that he had come all the way up just to visit with his entrancing stare, watching her from just that small distance away. That's all that she was – a small distance away. She was so close within grasp. He just felt like reaching out and taking her for himself, then he could leave this dingy prison. Capturing her in this state would be oh so very easy, and he could do so without drawing that much attention to himself. If he did so happen to draw attention to himself: fight. It's not like he sucks at it. Even without his eternally loyal toys, he had a hell of enough tricks to get him through the morning.
He began moving towards the chair, watching her over his shoulder equally silently, and he put his hand on the top part to begin gently lifting and carrying it over to the very foot of her bed with one arm. He set it down in such a way that it faced her directly, trying his best not to make the slightest sound. He succeeded.
Using the shadows as cover, he faded out as the weak light above him faded, and when it came back on somewhat, he was found to have instantly, soundlessly maneuvered from the front of her bed to the side, right next to her, his silhouetted outline to the hazy light above. Time to get a good look at the objective's face – something that wasn't exactly an option to do when she was lobbing ogres at him before.
The first thing that he noticed, with disapproval, was the long strand of red hair that she kept dangling limp over her forehead, practically dividing her face in two from the tip of the nose, up. He had remembered that trait off of her even when he fought her, and he had to admit, it was rather bothersome. If she really looked like an ugly bitch, at least let herself have the guts on letting the world know.
The red shroud which now looked almost black in the darkness stretched a long arm to reach for her face. His fingers adjusted themselves to look like they were about to pluck something. They soon reached her face, which slept peacefully, and very carefully, very slowly, he wrapped the pads of his fingertips around the girl's stubborn strand of hair hanging down over her face where he had first seen it.
Trying, yet not really looking like it, he treated her red, silky hair delicately as he brushed it off to the side of her face to even out her look. Goodness, what would her mother say? Tsk, tsk.
The hair brushed ever slightly against the smooth surface of her cheek on the way, making her entire face seem to go into sort of a wince. His eyes narrowed in attempt to read her expression. Did it tickle her? Whatever, he couldn't care less so long as the slender piece of hair was off to the side with the rest of it, where it belonged.
He sighed, acknowledging that his action to reveal all of the girl's face without causing a big dilemma a success. He was just a really hopeless perfectionist.
'There. That's better, at least…' He decided to lean in for the closest possible look, getting on his knees and resting both of his arms on the edge of her bed, his chin on top of them. His face was just a few inches away from hers. While she would most likely deem it an uncomfortable shortage of personal space for herself, she remained casual and unaware, continuing to drift in the dream world. Without that hair barring the complete window to her looks, admittedly, she looked sort of…different. He had realized almost instantly when he pushed that annoying strand of hair to the side that she didn't really look like an ugly bitch at all. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Not that he had judged often for this kind of thing.
With her eyes closed in her sleep, not constantly glaring on the venturous person who'd look straight at them, she actually looked…sweet and innocent. Her skin was light and completely flawless, save for a small scratch or two from their last fight. It was apparent that he hadn't left her totally uninjured.
He shrugged indifferently. Oh well.
Her breathing was soft and quiet, inhaling and then exhaling with not as much exhaustion as it seemed relaxation. He wondered with childish curiosity about what she might be dreaming.
"Hmph," he scoffed in a whisper. "I still can't believe that something as powerful as a Bijuu had to have been with you all this time. And you…you're just a kid…aren't you? What a poor, sad thing… So young too…" He looked down at her dormant expression in such a demeanor that nobody knew what he had felt about her in her occupation, her position. "You've really had it rough, haven't you? But I'm afraid that the fun little adventure you're having doesn't stop just yet."
He saw as he spoke that she wasn't wearing her boyish cap anymore, but to his dismay, it was substituted by a bundle of medical bandages wrapped around her head to help treat a concussion of some sort. Outside of her condition, she would look so much more lady-like if she would just mind her self-surroundings, including what she decided to wear. But he realized that he didn't come this close to give her fashion criticism, so he pulled something up from beneath himself onto the bed next to his arms and Tayuya's side concealed within white sheets.
It was a blue notebook; a bit plain, with nothing on the front or backhand covers except for the color itself. The pages inside had many places already filled, in neat handwriting, with all of Sasori's research, including his astute observations, self-memos, blueprints and schematics for the most dedicated engineer, alchemical recipes for his most lethal poisons, and his vast, educated discoveries. It was his life's worth of collecting information, compiled into a single mass plethora of notes for keeping.
Unknown even to the person in the world closest to him, his own partner, he had always possessed everything in the palm of his hand – including the secrets passed down in Suna by legendary puppet masters, very much like himself, about how to convert oneself into a body fit for immortality, limitless in aging, sickness, fatigue, and hunger – or what he had come to call that particular secret, the Sensui no Seinen. That was the name he had given it. It was the secret to stay alive in the world forever. And to never be forgotten.
And now, it was time to make an update to that journal.
With tiny hints of wistfulness, he readied a thin black pen in his left hand. He had always agreed with the notion that being left-handed meant that you possessed special artistic traits. Briefly dabbing the point of his utensil with the tip of his tongue, he threw it down onto his parchment and began throwing down the end products of his day.
He had two journals. He would work on the other, later.
Taking Kabuto's medical clipboard off of the table, he flipped the thoughtful little gift on to the bed next to his prized daily records. Then he began copying the information of the clipboard onto his personal accounts:
Subject: T a y u y a o f t h e N o r t h G a t e
Interest: J i n c h u u r i k i
Bijuu: ??? ( U n k n o w n )
Village of Affiliation: O t o g a k u r e
Gender: F e m a l e
Age: 1 4
Birthdate: F e b r u a r y 1 5
He paid no attention to the fact that her birthday was the day after Valentine's Day.
Blood Type: A
Appearance:
"Right…let's examine…" He told himself, shuffling himself closer to Tayuya. He would otherwise be much, much less comfortable doing this than she would be watching him, he didn't care who it was, but nonetheless, science called for things like this. He wanted a foolproof journal, and by Kami, he'd get one. First, the obvious traits.
"Subject is a young petite girl, slightly diminutive. Hair color red; eye color unknown. Always scowling in facial expression… Personality is questionably uncongenial and hostile; swearing should probably be noted as part of her everyday speech patterns and preference… (This'll be fun…) Clothing of choice seems to be tan-colored Sound elite garments including a long drape with the Yin and Yang insignia, wrapped leg bands, very darkly colored wristbands, and a thug's cap."
Now it was time to examine her body for unusual traits. He was actually told by one of the others (he can't remember who) that if there's a demon vessel, traits of that demon were given off as sort of a body alteration. Time to see if that's the case.
It was too dark to examine her eyes, so he automatically moved on to her teeth. Gently, he raised her mouth open by one side to get a look at her canines. He let out a small 'oohh' at the interesting sight of perfectly white, flawless sets of fangs resting just under her lips. He silently let go and made a brief addition to the journal, speaking out loud as he looked them over. "Subject's canine teeth appear to have elongated and tapered slightly, giving off the impression of fangs. Whether the monster's chakra has caused the calcium concentration going to her bones to increase or not is still unknown. Will resume discussion later…"
If the calcium concentration is indeed more significant, then that would mean that her endurance has increased by a sufficient proportion. He'll test the theory later. Painfully. For her.
Moving on, he didn't see any difference in her hair's coloration, unlike while she was transformed; her hair seemed to resume its normal color, although it was equally long as it had been when she underwent mutation. Nothing a small hair trim couldn't fix.
Reaching slowly under the sheet to avoid disturbing her, he felt around for her wrists, which was exceedingly difficult since he couldn't 'feel' anything, but nevertheless, he knew when he would grip around something slender to fit the bill.
With inadvertence in a BIG way, he ended up bumping her lightly on the way down near one of her more…private places. The girl let out a small groan, and Sasori's movements stiffened to a complete halt. Gritting his teeth in embarrassment, he mumbled "Ah, um…sorry…" before hesitantly continuing down, trying his best to go about as if nothing had happened. 'I feel like such a creeper… I hate it. I hate it.' Well, with some small loss of dignity needless to say, he had found what he was looking for, and he brought her arm up over the sheet to examine her hand. He searched along her fingers and noticed the unusually sharp fingernails on the tips. Dangerous things to have with her kind of personality, she could try to literally claw people's eyes out.
Letting her hand shuffle quietly under the warm sheets, he turned his way back to his notes and added, "Muscles have gone back to normal size, veins seem in place and intact, no damage done… Fingernails seem to resemble long claws, more than half expected since the unique Tailed Beast's Chakra alters physical characteristics just as normal chakra emanates from the mixture of energy present in every cell of the body as well as the spiritual energy that comes from exercise and experience."
Sasori wrote one last sentence extra bold with his pen to the paper.
-More info on this topic later-
The other details on the clipboard were minor ones like weight and height. Who really gives a shit about that? Normal humans grow over time, so in just a few months, that information should become completely outdated and irrelevant anyways. What he has will have to suffice, for now at least. But it held a very important spot in his journal. The information of the Tailed Beast that he himself would claim. Possibly the only one. It was just all in the matter of avoiding the snake.
Clamping his book shut and slipping it back into his pocket, he stood up, realizing now that he had the rest of the late night/early morning to get to do whatever. But what to do now? He would hate to think that waiting was an only option, so it would be best to think up the plan to go along with from here.
The negative, angry parts of his thoughts turned towards Kabuto, his loyal spy. He realized that he had brainwashed him with his lovely Sennō Sōsa no Jutsu to keep tabs on his former partner, but the asswipe didn't have to go and completely blow everything by startling him away from Tayuya! That little smokescreen play of his might just be his last, depending on his real superior's mood. And right now, considering how fine and dandy everything has been going lately, Sasori was in a pretty foul mood.
'Everything from the very last night I had fought this 'Tayuya of the North Gate' character, my spy was willing to jump in and save her, having no memory of his true master, and having the belief that he was actually working for Orochimaru… …Yakushi, you idiot…'
He buried his face with his hand, dazzled in complete frustration. It was a flaw in the investigation technique. Kabuto had actually done something useful for the person that Akatsuki didn't want in the way. Fuck.
It seems that he would have to make some…exaggerations to the mission briefing that Deidara asks for when he beeps in, which he should in a moment or two. In order to brief a satisfying report, Sasori would have to recall the details from the point that he had fought, or practically 'played', with the demon girl to the point he was up to now. There were the strong points in his report, namely that he had successfully infiltrated the village…hopefully…and then the weak points – being practically washed away from the goal by a ghost that turned out to be a prick underneath a white sheet. And if Deidara finds that the reason for the first failure was a flaw – a FLAW involving both his own senior's technique and subordinate, then what would Sasori be setting himself up for? The laughing stock of S – Rank proportion?? He would never be able to show his face again! And considering that he usually never did anyways, that was going to be taken to some extremities!!
This was his last chance. He had to make everything right.
There was an outstanding chance of course that Orochimaru was already on to him. He was a traitor, but he wasn't a fool. The only thing he had ever done to indicate the like was leaving the organization without saying good-bye. Now it seems that Sasori had found himself in a tight spot, no matter how much he wanted to corner the snake in a tight spot of his own.
Sasori wasn't a fool either. He knew the risks. He knew Orochimaru. The Sannin must know about his being here. Only playing 'nice guy' and the imposing puppeteer would bet his four expensive limbs that Kabuto was using the same gimmick. And he knew how Orochimaru liked to run his business. Letting someone, no matter how high of status, strut right into your village late at night wasn't the right key, and he knew that. In the morning, either of the two might come in and ask for papers indicating that Sasori was who he said he was. He was well prepared to handle that deal. And if anything else, the best plan was to sit back and wait in the same way that his old partner was supposedly doing. He didn't like it in the least, but he wasn't prepared to pick a real fight with bright-eyes just yet. First he needed to incrementally finish all of his own experiments, and with a certain amount of time, and some amount of luck, he would become as strong as the top prodigy that Konoha once had is. Crimson-eyed Itachi. He could do research here as well; Sasori always did hold a liking to knocking out…more than two birds with one stone.
Silently, the bloody red figure swept across the dank floor in a mysterious glide, and ended up in the seat confronting Tayuya's bed.
He waited for several normal heartbeats, leering at her, his white eyes protruding vaguely from the dark, and then he spoke. "You…just look at you, all snug in that bed, devoid of any manner of self-caution – of worrying. …Yet you still have no idea what's waiting for you on the other side, just a small distance across a little tiny hospital room." He paused for a bit to stare steadily around at his bleak surroundings, rocking the plain-looking seat ever slightly. "You may not realize it…but you're a lucky kid. You could think to yourself all you want that this is a really lousy place to be taken into and treated for a hospital, but most of the jinchuuriki that I get spoken to about don't even get decent meals, decent places to sleep. They worry about things that you never even think about, and ironically, I find you in the arms of one of the coldest, cruelest shinobi in the world, high in the rankings of his infamous military, and well respected in this rathole that you yourself had called a village. Still a living though." He shrugged his shoulders.
Tayuya's face cringed a little bit, her peaceful demeanor uplifted slightly, but she didn't wake. The hooded young man in front of her clasped his hands together with one another in front of his mouth and leaned in forward, his eyes wide in his dangerously serious expression.
"I'll let you in on a little secret about your 'Villages', Sound girl. You can't trust any of them. Ever. In fact, if there's a choice to make between every life in the Village that you grew up in or your own, you choose your own life, and you don't ever look back on that choice. …Do you understand why I say that?" He let the question silently sink in for a few moments, sitting cross-legged in his chair with his arms folded. "They shun you. They give up on you at the last minute they say they need you – which they do say to make you feel all nice and special. When you try to do something to help your beloved village, how does the Village help you?" His voice was getting sharper, almost growing more demanding for her to suddenly wake up, look him dead in the eye, and deliver her best answer. "They kill you. …Rather…they make you wish that you were dead… But I found a way out. Pity that it was too late for you to have done the same. So here you are, safe in your quant little hospital, existing in the same world that you had always been, believing that you're safe; safe from me… With that in mind, it's amazing that I don't come and strangle you out of righteous fury for thinking such stupid things…but then again, I threw that emotion away a long time ago." He turned his head away from her in a somewhat mournful way. "…All I can do now is…to get angry enough to where it's just annoying."
He was no prince, but what he was telling her was something that even his fictional character would definitely be caught saying, so there was no danger as long as he didn't go out of line, and to top it all off – it was the truth. Even though she couldn't hear, he felt better just talking out loud about it – even if it was someone he barely knew. Regularly, he would never ever open up to the closest friend he knew, but even if it was a complete stranger, it was alright, so long as they weren't aware, that is to say, dumb, unconscious, or dead. He wished he were more socially strong-suited, but not the case.
He would leave himself – alone with his thoughts in the darkness for awhile, but before that, he sent off one last message to the slumbering young girl.
"Come back and see me real soon. I'll be waiting for you when you wake up. It's not a habit I make, so please don't make a habit in return."
With all that he could do or think about already done or thought about, he continued sitting in the dark with his target, forced ironically, yet again to do the most loathsome thing on the whole damn planet.
Nothing.
Tayuya was tossing and turning feverishly in her now sweat-soaked bed sheets. She was mumbling something illegible, but shot up with her eyes open, finishing off with a short, startled yell. She looked around her surroundings with wild eyes. She was in the middle of one black room. She pushed her sheets off of herself without even thinking about it and got up on her bare feet.
She was still in her hospital gown, white, stainless, but she still had no idea how the hell she got into it. That having been said, how in the hell did she fall asleep? When? Or even where?
She went ahead and following the casual morning procedure to fix her long, red, partially messy hair, but for some reason, she didn't feel tired. She wasn't a morning person, so that was…odd. That's when she noticed the bandages wrapped around the top of her head, where she usually wore her cap. She felt the firm but silky surface of the medical gauze, and spotted some of the same wrappings layering the top of her chest too.
It didn't take her long to realize. That bastard assailant that crossed her the other day had to have been the one who gave her reason to wear this. Now she looked like a fucking cripple! That'll be the first thing she does when she found her way out of this pit and into good health again is to settle the score with that ugly prick…once she finds him again. She swore that much – she'd have time to think up the agonizing death he deserved later.
But for now, priorities. Where was she, and how would she find a way out?
She squinted to break the thick dark all around her. There was nothing – just bleak, bleak. There was no furniture, no windows, no door, no walls, no floor, not a damn thing.
A gentle breeze swept through the kunoichi's hair, whistling quietly, relaxingly. She put her hands to her bangs to keep them in place, and then she heard a voice, reaching out for her.
"Look at you," The voice said, bathed in shyness and innocence. It was some other young girl's voice, but it seemed to sound a lot like hers, minus the tough manner. Tayuya's face sprang to life, and she turned every corner that could possibly exist to look for an owner. "You're growing up quickly…and you look so pretty." The voice giggled delicately, and Tayuya stared on.
"Who's there? Show yourself, you shitty coward!" She shot out, acting on her natural comportment.
There was silence stilled in the air. "…Oh my," The voice giggled playfully again, "but you have such a dirty mouth. Is that how the pale man has been raising you? Oh, I see…"
Tayuya was about to burst out again, but something hidden gently cut her off. "Hush now. It isn't very nice to be flaunting a moment as great as this, for you see; this is the beginning of a brand new day."
"A…a new day? Huh?" Who ever got so happy-go-cheery over a new day? Waaaaaaay too optimistic for her personal tastes. She just wanted to possibly find the person whose voice that belonged to, and most definitely find a way out of this dreary shithole. But suddenly, whoever was watching her from wherever, Tayuya got the sudden feeling that she was smiling at her.
"I'm just glad that I got to be a part of it. No matter how tiny it is, I'm really happy. Really. But now you have an important matter to deal with, on the outside world."
"Outside of what world, creepy random bitch?" She tried impatiently.
"Shhhh, I have to go now, but it was nice chatting with you…I suppose…" The hidden girl seemed a little unsure of her own statement, but apparently quickly shrugged over it and spoke happily, softly, politely again, "He is waiting for you, Tayuya, and so is the beginning of a new day, a new adventure, a new destiny…"
A tiny orb of pure white light filled the space of the shadowy black void, and it quickly grew in size. Tayuya cringed at the brightness agitating her eyes, and she shut one of them in reaction. The light began consuming the endless room in its rays, becoming bigger and bigger and brighter and brighter, quickly embracing her whole body in no time at all.
"Wh-what's happening?? Answer me, whoever you are!!"
"Eee hee hee…do play nice with him when you meet up. …It's about time for revenge…my dear sweet sister."
The light winked out of sight. So did Tayuya.
"Hah!" She shouted while shooting up from her hospital bed in a blaze. She gasped uncontrollably, feeling an unbearable cold sweat tumble over her. It felt like she had crawled out a furnace in Hell, partially deep-fried. She looked around for a minute and the first thing she saw was the medical machinery, beeping annoyingly on the side of her room. She looked up to see the once-malfunctioning light shine proudly over her head, giving herself a clear view of the whole hospital room. There were drapes lining up alongside the torn wall, mixed unhealthily with white, gray, and black. She took note of a lone, empty, white chair sitting in front of her bed, facing her. There was nobody else in here but her.
She set her eyes to the metal door leading to outside of what apparently was a hospital. The number 212 was scratched into a metal slate nailed to the wall next to it.
She took several breaths to make her heavy breathing go down, and grasped the back of her neck for her Cursed Seal. It stung like a bitch. Wincing weakly before taking her hand away from it, she looked down at her lap, still wrapped in the clean sheets of the facility.
Her thoughts turned towards that voice that she had just heard. Apparently it was a dream, but a freaky-ass dream, no less. It seemed pretty real, though. And that girl's voice seemed pretty real.
She stared quietly down in thought, not concentrating visually over anything in particular. 'It's about time for revenge…my dear sweet sister.'
"Revenge… I don't have…a sister…" She reminded herself. "Ah, I have such a headache…" She added on in a pained mumble, massaged her temples with closed eyes. "I hope that this is Oto's hospital…" For the sake of not burning to death, she tried her hand at removing some of the medical wrappings around herself, but immediately regretted doing so. "AH!! Ouch! Son of a bitch, that stings!" She seethed out angrily through her teeth.
Turning her scowl towards the doorway again, she shouted, "Okay, if anyone's out there, get your asses in here! There's a patient about to fuckin' die of dehydration!!" She waited for several heartbeats for the door to burst asunder and a medical nin or two to come rushing in, fearing for their bones, but no one came through.
Not taking too kindly to being ignored, she growled silently and began to take off the sheet so that she could attempt to go find assistance herself. Honestly, a beeper or two to buzz in on wouldn't kill too badly. A little courtesy with the village's funds and maybe she'd be happier.
'He is waiting for you, Tayuya…'
"…Who is 'he'? …At least give me a name, for God's sake…"
Instantly, the door swung open and slammed shut, faster than she could snap her head around to see who it was.
Her face sprung alive in shock at a taller red cloak standing completely still, blocking the doorway. She started her observation from the feet slowly up the well kept apparel of red and gold kept on the inside of the cape, until she reached the unhooded face of a young man who only looked a few years older than herself, staring directly back at her through two deep-dark pupils, which never blinked. Instead, they drilled mercilessly into hers, and Tayuya briefly felt a small tingle coarse through her stomach. …Could be butterflies.
His hair was raven black, free in every possible way, and unkept. He smirked silently over at her in seeing that she was awake, and for two extremely long minutes, those two just continued staring each other down.
Tayuya's glare deepened when she started to get uncomfortable, but it only made the stranger's smile deepen with it.
"You're awake," the boy said in a sort of tone barely breaking the tension between them. He took another step forward, and then stopped again. "About time."
Tayuya felt a bit rattled, but she stood her ground and regarded him with the same look that she gave everybody. "You know, I really don't think a little bit of hospitality is too much to ask for, considering that this is supposed to be a hospital. And for your sake, you'd better be a staff member that I've just never seen before."
He clicked his head to the side, and then shook it. "Ah, nope. I'm a visitor." He confessed, leaning slightly forward. "…And you won't see many more of them with an attitude like that." He scolded innocently.
Tayuya didn't bat an eye to the advice. She didn't need any other visitors besides Orochimaru, her teammates, or even Kabuto if she was caught on a good day. But even so, she didn't require them, just the medics that kept up with her if she needed something essential, like say, water.
"Who says I wanna be visited? And visited by some random stranger I don't even know? Pass. Now you've got about ten seconds to crawl your way back into the hole you poked out of, and get a nurse over here while you're at it."
Sasori wasn't about to get shoed out of here by some spoiled, ungrateful brat, but she did have a point.
"Usually when someone gives off the ten second warning, there's a threat neatly placed after it."
"…Or I'll lop your seam off, sprinkle it with extra-spicy soy sauce, and serve it to every hungry dog on the street while making you watch."
He gave her an awkward smile, rubbing the back of his head. "Ah, there it was. I feel like we're becoming friends already."
"Cut the chatter. Get out now, because that wasn't only a threat, it's a possibility – and I'm in such a bad mood right now, that that possibility is about to become a reality."
Her mysterious visitor didn't even flinch. "That's okay. I didn't feel like making small talk with you anyways, so let's get right to the point. My name is –"
Tayuya cut him off by jumping up from the bed, and taking a kunai out from behind the table right next to her. She brandished it in her hand, grasping the handle firmly and confidently.
She smiled sadistically at him while she charged the door. "Warned ya, dipshit! There's a border, and you just crossed over!"
Sasori's eyes widened. "Where did you get that??"
"Ack!" The slender knife clang to the tiled floor, and the young girl fell to her knees gripping her sides in aching pain. While she kept there, a shadow moved in over the tiny ninja tool and silently picked up by the looped end with two fingers. He loomed over her weakened form, dabbing the tip of the blade with an unimpressed look.
"Looks like you're too wounded to fight, after all. That's too bad. Charging aimlessly at me in your hospital gown holding such a pig-sticker of a blade, I couldn't help but wonder how that brilliant little charade would work out for you."
Tayuya was silent. Grasping the ground with one hand, she didn't move very much, besides her obvious panting.
Sasori walked closer until he was right in front of her. Then he crouched until he was about eye-level. "Now are you going to let me finish my introduction, or am I going to have to –"
Tayuya spun to life in the blink of an eye and threw a fierce kick to his shin, and then a follow up against his torso. Well, it didn't necessarily manage to hurt Sasori, but it definitely made him rumble in his wooden suit a little.
The hotheaded girl did an acrobatic over him, using his back as a supporting leg, and she flipped over behind him, picking up the knife that he dropped out of surprise.
"First move is always a fake," she announced to her adversary. The crimson stranger in front of her had his back hung down, wide open for a finishing move. She pulled her arm back with the blade on it, and prepared to rip his spinal cord. "You idiot!!" She threw it forward, and it whistled through the air to the red silks, but suddenly stopped.
She grunted in shock at the hand that had effortlessly caught her wrist before she could make the finisher, and she saw that even though it was indeed the stranger, he still wasn't even facing her. His upper half was still bent over and hanging down, but his arm almost seemed to act on its own accord, and somehow, he stopped her.
"How?!" She stammered, but still attempted to wedge the metal stake into him.
"It's as you said, the first move is a fake, and making it look like you actually succeeded in faltering my move was my first move." Effortlessly he squeezed down on her partially bandaged, already injured wrist, and the kunai knife fell to the floor once again. "Back to square one, Sound girl." His expression deadpanned on serious. "Will there be anything else?"
Her pupils shrunk in realization. Sound girl. She had heard that name from somebody before; somebody she hated. But why does it seem like such a long time ago?! She couldn't forget it! No! Fuck! She couldn't remember! Who called her by that name? Someone that she argued with? Someone that she fought? Who??
She was spacing out in front of Sasori, who still had his grip on her wrist, not letting his gaze settle for a minute.
"That name…" Her pupils were quivering with inner struggle. "I've heard someone call me that name before…"
"Indeed? And how, may I ask, would that information be relevant to you in this particular situation? You're being attacked right now, Tayuya of the North Gate, you should do something."
"No, no…" Her eyes were suddenly filled with enlightenment. "I've only been called that name by one other person…but now…" She clutched her head with her usable hand in pain. "…I can't remember who! But I know that it was somebody important… Somebody that needs killing… And for all I know…" Suddenly, she forgot all about the pain in her wrist, and she jumped forward with every charge of her instinct, slamming against her opponent with all of her might. "That person could be you!!"
"Ooph!"
The bit of strength that she had left took Sasori by surprise, and with that miscalculation, he was knocked off of his feet and tumbled onto the bed, Tayuya inadvertently following behind him into it.
The room became silent after the coupled sound of simultaneous grunts, and the metal door slowly creaked open. The first person who stepped in was quickly revealed to be Yakushi Kabuto, followed by his superior and everyone else's, Orochimaru.
The Snake Sannin and medical nin both casually walked into the room, and froze completely still, wide-eyed in expression at the incredibly misleading position they had caught both kids in.
On the bed, the two lay entangled with each other, flat out on the mattress, the sheets and pillow sprawled everywhere. Feathers were drifting in the air.
Tayuya was in a daze. Having a crash collision in such a beaten body after just waking up in a cold sweat was not her idea of taking it nice and easy.
She was lying on top of a very knackered Sasori, who, if he still had the function, would probably be blushing right now. But he didn't, and such a feeling was meaningless to him, so he went ahead and pushed her off of his chest before sitting up. He made an indifferent glance to the exchanged glances coming off of the two ninja in front of him, and just went on saying, "I don't like it," he spoke mournfully, getting up off of the bed, leaving Tayuya to recuperate on her own. "But in a world where timing is in my favor and misunderstandings don't ever occur, I just don't seem to belong."
Kabuto instantly flashed him another amused look. "Well I knew that you would start up a relationship with someone sooner or later, but this…? And with Tayuya?"
"Yes, what can I say." Okudo replied, using the most robotic voice he ever had. "'It-all-happened-so-fast.' By the way, you missed out on the best part. If you had come just a minute sooner, you would have seen a mentally insane kunoichi spring up from out of her coma, rush me with a lethal weapon, and try to take my spine for a trophy. But hey, I guess in a world where timing is in everyone's favor, no one seems to belong, right?"
The medical ninja adjusted his glasses, reflecting some of the light in the lenses. "Hm-hm. I see. Well, I did warn you about that. She's not exactly 'lady-material'…"
While Tayuya got up to scowl at the two scientists now casually speaking to each other, the Snake Sannin watched the conversation from under his bandaged mask with more enjoyment than he remembered in a long time. It was not uncommon for misunderstandings like this to happen, but for some reason, he found extra pleasure watching this happen to a mysterious, independent fallen prince.
"You!! You fucking chikan!! You touched me, didn't you?!" She screamed furiously at the red figure closest to her.
He snapped his head at her in outrage to her accusing statements. This wasn't happening to him. Nuh-uh. Not to him. "Easy. I did no such thing to you, would never want to or even think about, and then besides, you attacked me. Show me the logic in covering your own action up with an absurd accusation like that."
"Tayuya, shut your mouth." Kabuto commanded with a low tone, facing her from the side without any intent to back down. She begrudgingly did as she was told, regarding them both with a frozen glare.
Seeing that the angry redhead was put back in line, he looked back at the crimson prince. "Guess it's my fault, then. Still, are we going to have any more problems, Okudo-kun?"
He looked at him lazily. "No, no…of course not." 'Orphan.' "Still, all I was trying to do was introduce myself to her. After all, isn't that what a gentleman does?"
"Hm…he appears to be telling the truth, Kabuto." Orochimaru stated, bringing the temperature down ten degrees with his voice. "I can tell when someone's lying just by examining their pose."
Kabuto raised his eyebrows. "I have no idea how that kunai got in there. Maybe it was one of the staff members playing another joke…"
"A joke? Really now, Kabuto. Leaving weapons with potentially dangerous individuals isn't that a little…"
"Funny? I guess so. After all, it happened on your first day. Now are we done here, or would you like to give your affections to Tayuya one last time?" He cooed teasingly.
The redheaded girl instantly turned and cringed with disgust at both of them. Sasori calmly read her expression and turned back to his spy to bitterly joke, "Give me a few trips through the iron maiden down the hall to think about it." Then he walked near the doorway, preparing to leave, but he cut himself short, remembering something. "Ah. Kabuto. I almost forgot, you and Orochimaru-sssssssssama…" he struggled with all his might to make the name come out. Everyone raised an eyebrow. "You two wanted to see official documentations, didn't you?"
Both of them smiled back, one of which was unreadable, but the flash in his slit, golden eye spelled enough. "Bingo," Kabuto proclaimed, giving him a small wink. "Pretty sharp there. You were that close to stepping out of the room without clearance. Now what would we have done about that, I wonder?"
'Okudo' knew all too well. Maybe the two had really forgotten who it was they were dealing with.
Kabuto held out his hand. "Give 'em here." In a quick flash, Okudo pulled out a bundle of files out from his robes and dropped them in his underling's hand.
"Let me know if there's anything missing. I need to go make my new home now."
The ninja looked up at him from scanning over the papers curiously. "You can be assigned to a dorm. You know that, right?"
Sasori turned his gaze from Kabuto to Tayuya, looking right back at him. She narrowed her eyes; he narrowed his. "Thanks, but I'll pass. I prefer sleeping alone. Much quieter. Speaking of which, Orochimaru," the Snake Sannin looked over at him. "I couldn't help but notice an old house near the wilderness on the way in. Can I purchase a small bit of the land to make my home?"
"Interesting," he hissed, "being such a noble prince, I would think that you would be asking for a bit more than that."
"Well, I'm a bit spoiled, but you didn't honestly make that your first impression, did you?" He joked.
"…Hmmmm…very well… But you shouldn't take me for a realtor as your first impression either. I see that you're new to the procedure of finding your own home."
Everyone heard Tayuya scoff at the notion.
Okudo's eyes shot over to meet with hers. Their eyes locked again, and Sasori couldn't help but smirk at how much this little girl seemed to be testing his patience. "You're right," he said, without taking his unfazed eyes off. "…I'll figure it out."
With that, he silently turned and made his way towards the door. "It was really nice meeting everybody. That's enough meeting for today, though." He arched his arm out into a stiff wave without looking back, "Until later, Orochimaru-sama… Kabuto…" He continued shrinking into the distance. Halfway through the doorframe, he stopped to peer over his shoulder at the girl he had tracked down only a manner of hours ago. He knew how much she liked this name. "…Sound girl. I'll be seeing you again. …Get well soon."
She sneered at his obviously false empathy.
With that, he vanished; out of the lit room, and into the dark hallway dancing with shapeless silhouettes.
Kabuto crossed his arms neatly and adjusted his spectacles one last time. The most brilliant, entertaining idea that he had hatched in possibly months had come to him on swift wings. There was no better way to have people meet each other's points of view than what came to mind right now. He would enjoy seeing how it would turn out in a couple of weeks, gently cruising down one direction, or crashing down the other.
"Just who was that bastard?" Tayuya spoke up, feeling a bit left out from the conversation.
"Oh him?" Kabuto slowly turned to meet up with her, which she didn't appreciate, to say the least. "I'm so glad you asked, Taya-chan! That boy you saw just a moment ago was Juuman' Okudo. I would tell you more about him, but I get the feeling that you'll have plenty of time to ask him yourself."
Her face got pale real quick. "No. Kabuto. No. Don't…get near the urge to even think about it!"
"Oh-ho-ho!" He cackled with tension, "I did! And I'm taking it a step further!" He smiled back at Orochimaru, who, in his silverish robe, returned that smile with a hidden one of his own. Turning back to the girl shivering in the cold, Kabuto swept his arm straight out to the side and announced,
"Meet your new teammate!! From here on, you two are gonna be partners."