Kyuseishu felt a tough shudder roll down throughout his body. Getting busted by Orochimaru inside his own lab was worse than a nightmare turning into reality. His eyebrows twitched as he analysed all the possible scenarios that might happen. The best scenario that he could think of was more intimidating than the most bitter visualizations he had saw ever, in an eye blink he was standing there sweating profusely without even being able to refrain himself from shuddering. He wished if a hole could open somehow under his feet and swallow him up instead of facing this tremendous fear that made every bit of his faith and courage he earned fade away like a whim.
"..."
Orochimaru shook his head as the most malicious human expression surfaced upon his long face. His eyes were devouring Kyuseishu although his physical actions were still not revealing any of his dark intentions, until he licked his bottom lip with the tip of his tongue sluggishly and sharpened the flammable stare on his eyes.
"Nice attempt..."
He murmured with deep voice as he put a step forth closing the distance between him and Kyuseishu more. The echoing sound of his footstep made Kyuseishu feel an enormous dose of adrenaline rush in his veins which hypnotized his senses slightly and made him feel like if his body was floating in a hollow vacuum where nothinf exists except him and Orochimaru.
"Kuku... Are you scared? I just arrived to check something out but I didn't imagine that I will find a filthy rat messing in my lab... I wonder where did the courage that made you sneak into my lab fade now? Is that chopped arm made your courage crumble, I presume? Losing that arm was the dear price for making an attempt like yours to steal what's not mine..."
He whispered slowly but Kyuseishu couldn't distinguish if he was being serious or ironic. Orochimaru chuckled faintly and placed another step forward. The distance between them shrunk to less than five feet.
"However, I am amused that a brat like you has enough bravery to infiltrate my own territory. I believe you aren't an ordinary kid, are you?"
He taunted and took a third step forward fixing Kyuseishu with his mischievous eyes.
Kyuseishu blinked anxiously watching the threat approaching him more and more from behind. He was still struggling to find a way to get himself out from this dilemma but the bell of danger suddenly rang inside his brain as Orochimaru took another step closer crossing the red line of physical safety.
"!"
Kyuseishu's legs trembled like they weren't brave anymore to lift his weight. He froze like a statue not being able to even decide to step forth or back or in any other direction. All the scenarios he had visualised led him to realise that any attempt to flee was impossible. Orochimaru was the one who killed several potential shinobis and even death itself couldn't tangle him. Kyuseishu was aware of that and thus made him wish death before facing it by Orochimaru's hands. Seconds passed like hours. Kyuseishu's heart was pounding hard within his chest. He felt Orochimaru's feet land right behind him which raised his tension dramatically and made him hold his breathe waiting for the other to drill his fangs into his skin and devour him like an Anaconda.
"I thought you will amuse me more but in the end you're just an easy prey..."
Orochimaru scoffed eventually and held out his pale hand towards Kyuseishu's head slowly. His fingertips nearly caressed Kyuseishu's hair but his eyelashes suddenly twitched up watching Kyuseishu's body turn into water before melting away into the wooden floor of the chamber.
"!?"
His fingers passed through a mere water body as he tried to grab a hold of Kyuseishu. It was less than three seconds before Kyuseishu's liquefied body merged completely into the floor beneath Orochimaru's feet who was left astonished for a moment for the surprise but he scoffed and stared down at the floor sarcastically as a faint smile floated upon his pale lips.
"I see... The Hydrification Jutsu of the Hozuki clan... This kid is really no ordinary shinobi but let's see how long can he run and hide from me, hue..."
Back to where Kyuseishu left Katsumi- It was dark even though it was still evening.
Katsumi rolled around on her bed closing her eyes. Since the night she left Sungakure almost one week ago she hadn't put a bite of food in her mouth, too much for her fragile body to handle. But she wouldn't care about her stomach in such circumstances. Her worries and mixed emotions were killing her slowly. It's been more than an hour since he left her alone in this isolated chamber within the lair of snake. Katsumi opened her eyes slowly as she rolled to her back and stared with restless gaze towards the ceiling, She seemed calm from the outside but she was burning from inside.
In a moment she thought she was just another unfortunate girl her fate led her to the hideout of the monster and the killer of her grandfather. She rested her arms on the bed and clenched onto the sheets with her tiny fingers trying to relax and gather herself together... Is he alive... What if Orochimaru busts him... Why the hell do I even need to worry... What's the purpose behind what we're trying to do... She thought to herself. A sudden feeling kicked up in her brain made her snap from her position and sit up on the bed hugging her knees to her chest.
She shook her head and crawled slowly to the edge of the bed before landing her bare feet quietly on the cold floor. With firm eyes she looked towards the closed door as she brought up her left hand slowly and rubbed her arm with her fingertips.
"... What the heck is he doing? He said he will be right back and it's already one hour and half since he left me here... Is it possible that Orochimaru captured him... No, no, no..."
She whispered lowly to herself as she bit on her bottom lip nervously. her eyes were still fixed on the door while her arched eyebrows were minimally twitching. She waited to hear Kyuseishu's foot steps approaching but she heard nothing but the sound of silence. Her heart was now pounding hard against her chest. She bit her bottom lip once more.
"... I know he's not easy to get trapped... But it seems he's still hiding some secrets for me..."
She let a muddled sigh escape her pale lips as she looked downwards at her knees with irritation.
"!?"
Her hazel eyes widened suddenly but only for one second as she rose her eyebrows slightly and stared blankly at the floor beneath her feet. She felt a familiar shudder run down her spine as a dark mysterious spot started to expand slowly on the wooden floor in front of her bare feet.
"..."
A human arm started to emerge slowly from the newly formed dark spot and stretched outwards nearly touching Katsumi's knee.
"!"
Katsumi tensed up lightly but she didn't move a fibre as she watched the rest of the arm emerge from the solid floor and shortly followed by the rest body parts belonged to a familiar figure.
"Kyuseishu..."
Katsumi mumbled dimly almost allowing a smile to crawl up her lips. She planted her hands on her hips and regarded him with beatific stare releasing a heavy sigh from her tightened chest.
"... I'm glad you're finally back..."
Kyuseishu was looking down to the floor with lifeless stare as he knelt up on one knee in front of her. A sweat drop rolled down his chin and dripped to the floor between his feet as he panted lightly without even raising up his head to look at her.
"..."
Katsumi blinked slowly at his silence and tilted her head a bit to the side looking back towards the door with concerned look. She leaned back a little resting her palms again onto the bed sheets behind her and allowed another sigh to slip through her lips. His return made her feel a bit more relaxed.
"I was scared. I thought something bad happened to you... Don't leave me like this again , idiot."
She whispered. Kyuseishu grabbed her fragile wrist suddenly as he stood up in front of her and looked at her gravely.
"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"
"What happened!?"
Tayuya whispered. Her voice filled with nervousness as she looked forward with narrowed eyes towards Orochimaru who was standing few meters before her facing her with his back. Tayuya bit on her bottom lip gently as she watched him dive with his feet slowly into the wooden floor. He was wearing his standard shinobi outfit consisted of an ankle-length black pants and a sleeved grey kimono shirt bore a mysterious markings on the rims and strapped with distinct streaks on the edges of the low collar. His both legs were wrapped with white thick bandages from the ankles until his calves and his purple snake-like belt was tied around his waist as usual.
As he sank into the floor to his middle he chuckled faintly as his golden eyes gleamed with mysterious light.
"I can't afforded to let him escape.. Nobody before him dared to sneak into one my secret labs so I will give him an unforgettable lesson in manners."
He whispered with hollow voice. Tayuya held her breathe for a couple of seconds and glanced at him with deadpan expression.
"..."
She bit on her lower lip again but with more intensity this time. She squeezed her brain trying to find an excuse for Kyuseishu to make Orochimaru back off in his decision but she ultimately couldn't come to a reasonable excuse. The small lacy panties she wore made her body look more narrow than when she was wearing her full clothes. She never thought that Orochimaru would ever find her body impressive anyway. On the floor there was her red bra dumped next to her feet. She would bring her hand up and stroke her small breasts if that is going to distract him in anyway but he wasn't even looking at her. He faced her with his back like he always does, leaving her behind his tracks.
She squinted her eyebrows and took a step forward with her left bare foot in his direction as she shook her head fixing her brooding stare on him.
"Kyuseishu... Is... He is just a sassy kid.. He wasn't really realising what he was doing... Please let it go this time..."
She said finally remembering to inhale the air. She thought that whatever she says won't be convincing enough to make him shift his attention from that poor boy and his companion but she decided to try anyway, least for the sake of her promise to him.
"...He is my guest.. What he did is my own fault so please, punish me instead of him..."
Her lips were twitching constantly as she murmured with pleading voice. Orochimaru replied with a half smirk to himself. He wasn't giving a heed to her words and she realised that her arguments were valueless, just like her own self.
" Heh... Don't worry... I'm just going to treat him as a precious guest and tear his flesh off his bones then hang his body up to the ceiling in the same lab he sneaked into to make him an exemplary for anyone who dares to infiltrate my territory next time."
He said and chuckled faintly as he melted away into the floor leaving Tayuya in astonishment. She brought one hand in front of her chest and grunted silently. Her eyes glinting with wrath. She felt like a useless piece of crap standing alone in the dark. Her left hand curled into a fist unconsciously.
"... I can't afford to let him hurt them... I'll have to stop him no matter what... Even if I need to risk my own life..."
She murmured to herself and leaned to pick her bra from the floor. Imaging what Orochimaru could do was enough to make her regret accepting Kyuseishu and Katsumi as her guests.
...
Katsumi narrowed her eyes against Kyuseishu as she nervously stood off the bed. She pulled her hand from his grip and looked at him anxiously after what she just heard him saying.
"Is that so!? I'm afraid it's impossible for us to get out from this hideout... Why did you do that anyways?"
Kyuseishu gritted his teeth with nervousness as he looked at her cluelessly. He didn't know the answer himself. The only thing he could think about was how to get out from this maze as quick as possible before Orochimaru busts them. Deep in his inner self he believed that confronting Orochimaru will be inescapable.
"I don't know... I'm not scared about myself, I am afraid that Orochimaru won't hesitate to hurt you too even though you are innocent."
He said and Katsumi's eyes darted towards the door as she murmured with strangled voice.
"Let's just run!"
And they were about to run but the ceiling of the room began to crack suddenly as a violent shake occured beneath their feet causing the floor to quake and prompting some stones to drop on them from above. In the same second, the rocks of the walls were crumbling down on both of them. Kyuseishu rolled his eyes around in every direction trying to maintain his calmness before he and Katsumi get buried alive under the tonnes of rock. His hand moved robotically and grabbed a hold of Katsumi's right arm from her wrist as he started to run toward the closed door.
"LET'S GET OUT FROM THIS ROOM FIRST!"
Katsumi's eyes twitched as she felt herself forced to run with him but she pulled her arm from his grip again and looked around herself confusedly. Her brain couldn't realise the real menace yet because of the shock until a huge part from the ceiling crumbled down towards her directly.
"!"
She gasped but a loud blast suddenly obliterated the sound of her gasp and blew off the entire room like if it was made from paper. The massive tonnes of hard rock collapsed on Kyuseishu and Katsumi burying them underneath.
A huge cloud of dust and smoke floated above the rubbles of the room in mere seconds. The blast that blew the walls off wasn't an ordinary one because the whole west side of the hideout was smashed down to the ground as the dust began to vanish slightly and the massive rocks collapsed everywhere. It was a tragic incident...
A few seconds or minutes passed with Languor. Kyuseishu knelt on one knee ontop of a massive collapsed rock. He coughed rapidly to clear his throat and lungs from the dust. He thought that the worst already happened after Orochimaru's attempt to nuke them surprisingly using one of his hidden powers. But as the thick cloud of smoke started to vanish slowly, a silhouette of a familiar figure was unveiled he could swear it was Katsumi. He felt thankful that she also managed to make it out from the massive rubbles. Their battle with the Hunter in the desert, even though they got their asses owned, was certainly a good lesson for them to learn the art of surviving. Katsumi was kneeling with her both knees ontop of a giant rock about fifteen feet away from him. Kyuseishu himself didn't remember how he managed to extract his body from under these rocks. He finally resorted to the analogy that his body had acted on it's own again to rescue itself just like what happened with Orochimaru in his lab and when the Sand Hunter buried him alive under the heavy masses of sand.
"..."
He placed his hand on his chest to make sure that his heart was still pounding and lifted his eyes off the floor in the direction of the dark haired female who was crumbling down on her fours. She was coughing hard as well and her thick hair fell behind her back like a raging waterfall. Kyuseishu's pale face was filled with minor scratches and bruises, and dust patches. He regarded her with meaningful stare and released a long exhale as he proceeded to stand up.
"Katsumi! Are you okay!?"
She shifted her head slightly in his direction and nodded reassuringly as she began to undust her clothes with her hands slowly.
"... What in the world had happened?"
She asked and coughed once more as she placed one foot on the floor trying to get up. Her ripped skirt swung up with the motion revealing her slightly reddened thigh. Her skin was pale like it had been carved from pure marble even with the bruises and cuts that filled it. With shivery hand she grabbed her metallic forehead protector and rested it back over her sweaty forehead before darting her eyes around cautiously to figure in which point from the field she was exactly. She groaned faintly from the stingy pain she has been feeling on the heel of her right foot but she glanced back towards Kyuseishu waiting for any signal to come from him to tell her what they should do next, either to leave or remain. If it was up to her she would've been running away already from this place but the only one who could decide was Kyuseishu and she had to obey him even if they were taking a huge a risk. From within the smoke that was still covering the area, an enormous silhouette of a mysterious creature began slowly to emerge above Kyuseishu where Katsumi glanced at with astonishment and horror with her hazel eyes which suddenly twitched up as the giant creature started to crawl towards Kyuseishu from behind engulfed with the steam of smoke.
"Watch out Six O'clock!"
Katsumi shouted nervously feeling that her legs were betraying her to stand up. Her appealing voice made Kyuseishu startle almost immediately. He shifted his head back to look behind him quickly watching a massive brownish serpent slithering with it's bottom half closer from him. It's upper half was aroused about thirty feets high in the sky.
"!"
Kyuseishu blinked few times in a row as he observed the Serpent closely but he couldn't move an inch from his spot. His body started to tremble all over unwillingly. It was the first time for him to face a snake with this size head-on. The Serpent's head was as big as a a truck's head and it's jaw was large enough to swallow up ten persons from Kyuseishu's size. He looked back towards Katsumi nervously as he quickly tried to figure out a some way to get them out of here. It was never his plan to confront this monster. Katsumi was panting lightly as she finally managed to stand up on her shaky feet. She also couldn't believe how the situation got this grave within mere seconds, knowing already that it will be an inevitable catastrophe if Orochimaru himself appears in the scene.
"...!?"
Her eyebrows suddenly twitched up as she fixed her eyes on the top of the Serpent's head where a tall person with malicious figure was standing and eying Kyuseishu with aggressive expression. It was a male figure and a half grin was floating on the corner of his lips, and his long black hair was swaying behind him in the cool wind breeze.
"Is that Orochimaru?! He looks younger than I excepted..."
She whispered to herself dimly as she continued to stare at Orochimaru noting every single detail about his features in her mind. She felt the fear grasping her heart with icy hand although she had never experienced real fear before, even when she confronted Sakura.
"This is bad... He seems furious. I wish I got killed by Sakura or that Hunter before standing in front of this monster..."
Kyuseishu jumped off the ground suddenly and landed in a crouch few feet in front of Katsumi and facing the massive serpent head-on. He thought to tell Katsumi to run away and leave him alone to deal with Orochimaru but he was already aware that she is stubborn to obey. He panted as he glared towards Orochimaru fiercely trying to gather some courage from the dark corners of his heart to face the monster without holding back, At least to distract him and make an opening for Katsumi to flee.
"... That's Orochimaru himself, Katsumi keep your guards up and try to not to show him that you are scared. It might be one attack from him and we are finished."
Kyuseishu murmured under his breathe and Orochimaru smirked sarcastically as he folded his arms across his chest.
"I see nothing more than two brats and I thought I caused all this chaos for something bigger... One from the Sand village and the other one is a brat from the Leaf. Nice pair..."
He chuckled and shook his head squinting his arched eyebrows slightly. Kyuseishu narrowed his eyes and glanced at Katsumi who positioned herself in a fighting stance. He felt that his anxiety already reached the limit. Orochimaru's voice reached him like the blunt edge of a blade.
"... The rumours saying that I don't fight anymore might be true. Fighting and destruction don't interest me anymore because they only disrupt the progress of my universal project in becoming the immoral God of this world. However I guess today is not a lucky day for both of you because my old passion to blood has been awakened and I am so pumped up to test the potential of nowadays' Ninjas, specially that brat who managed to slip away from my grip..."
Orochimaru said and his Serpent poked out it's slippery tongue and swayed it right and left in the air like it was smelling the scent of it's preys. Orochimaru went on with his threatening speech.
"You both have to be glad that you managed to awake my dead passion to blood. But remember that a serpent will bite you when you stomp on it!"
Kyuseishu and Katsumi tensed up at the same time as Orochimaru regarded them with his terrifying glare almost paralysing their nerves. The massive Serpent lunged towards them at the same seconds with it's head arising a big cloud of dust. It's large mouth was opened wide revealing on the razor-sharp spear-like fangs inside it's jaws designed to rip the flesh and crush the bones. Kyuseishu's eyes popped out with terror as he established a quick eye contact with the Serpent. In that second he felt that the flow of time stopped around him and his reflexes became extremely slow to the point that his brain almost stopped sending it's nervous signals to his muscles which would permit them to move. A huge shape of Orochimaru's face flashed before him in an instant giving him a severe shock and trapping his senses and reflexes completely under a fear spell which froze his body in one place making him a mere motionless target.
"Guu!"
Katsumi was about to glide sideways to dodge the incoming assault but she startled as she glanced at Kyuseishu gravely figuring out that it has to be the fear that pinned him in one place because he looked directly in the eyes of the Serpent. Katsumi knew it's the end for both of them because as she was about to propel herself to the side, she suddenly realised that her own body couldn't obey her to move out from the Serpent's way or in any other direction. Her eyeballs popped out from anxiety. She wanted to tug Kyuseishu from his collar and drag him away with her before it was too late but her body betrayed her and she found herself trembling while drowning in her cold sweat in the same spot like a trapped insect.
"!"
"OROCHIMARU SAMA!"
Katsumi's heart had almost stopped beating before she could hear the furious shout that came out from the blue. The lunging Serpent halted suddenly in front of Katsumi and Kyuseishu like if the shout created an invisible wall between the predator and the preys. Orochimaru looked with blinking expression in the direction that the shout came from and an upset look overshadowed his face.
"Tayuya!?"
He whispered slowly and arched one eyebrow. Soon he was eying the red headed woman carelessly as a mischievous grin started to float upon his pale lips.
"Tayuya... You got to be in my room right now, dear. I am going to deal with those two rats quickly then I'll get back to you... Anyway, what are you doing here?! I don't think the show will be that interesting for you to watch huehuehue."