The important thing to remember about Otogakure is that nobody really taught being loyal to Otogakure as a village. I wasn't sure if it was egomania or a precaution against the local equivalent of Danzo, but either way the dogma of loyalty in the village was of a more personal nature than what was conventional. The clans were loyal to the clans, true, but the clan leaders were personally loyal to Orochimaru-sama due to what he promised to those clans. As for those of us without families… he also fostered personal loyalty.

The recruitment in the aftermath of disaster, I'd found from talking to my fellow orphans, was his default recruiting tactic. Granted, none of them had suffered so dramatic a disaster as I had, but he always came in the aftermath of a personal tragedy, such as being on the losing end of a brawl, or dealing with the consequences of a failed attempt at theft. While some of us, myself among them, would've preferred Orochimaru-sama had made himself present soon enough to prevent our tragedies, we all agreed that his reaching out to us was better than not.

He reached out to us in other ways, too, making himself an irregular yet consistent presence in our lives. Generally this was when we were allowed out of the Oto Shinobi Academy in order to get some sun, since it let him be seen being beneficent toward children by the families living in the town the complex was hidden under. It likely saved him the trouble of having to navigate the tunnels, too. Not that it'd be beyond him, but… well, it'd be annoying.

In most cases, it was a report on the progress of training, couched with the visage of kindness. He'd give a gentle caress or pat on the shoulder, then a question about how classes are going. From my own experience, Orochimaru-sama was using some sort of reverse version of killing intent in conjunction with the caress. He'd praise milestones, and give advice on how to go about difficult matters more effectively.

It was a little impressive and scary at the same time, how capable he was at manipulating people.

The biggest component, though, were the gifts. Little possessions that cost him next to nothing, but the recipient would get frequent use out of, meaning he would be frequently thought of fondly. In many cases, including my own, the first gift had been those sandal-shoe things that all shinobi seem to wear. In all fairness, they were surprisingly comfortable.

He was usually on the mark with the gifts, too. He'd taken notice that I would use the free time we had on either physical conditioning or listening to the music of Kusemaru and his cousins. When asked, I'd parroted what Unmei-sensei had told me of how to expand chakra reserves. The next day, I'd been provided with a series of books to read.

Most of them were instructional, but a few were obscure books that pushed a variety of philosophies. Some were very much in line with what I expected, but others pushed philosophies contrary to what I'd expect from Orochimaru-sama. The most blatant violator was a certain book written by Jiraiya, of all people. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't pornographic.

The latest gift, though… aside from the lenses being oval instead of circle, they looked as much like the goggles Shino wore in Shippuden as I could remember them. I frowned before I looked up at Orochimaru-sama. Thankfully, he didn't seem bothered by my confusion. "Kabuto-kun mentioned that you were putting increased effort into your sensor training. I thought this might help you."

"Oh?" I put the goggles on, and found that the insides of the lenses were no less opaque than the outsides. Which meant… I could go around blind without drawing attention to it, and therefore refine my sensory abilities continuously. "Oh. Thank you, Orochimaru-sama."

"Kabuto-kun has been pleased with your initial progress in the medical classes, and he wished that your sensor class be dropped in favor of it as well." I looked up at Orochimaru-sama in surprise. The medical studies had been focused mostly on performing autopsies and practicing with the diagnostic jutsu. Had I actually impressed someone between keeping my lunch down and learning the rudiments of hand seals?

I couldn't read his expression, though, so I lifted the goggles up to my forehead so I could see again. He smiled down at me, then put the goggles back down over my eyes and set his hand on my head. As he did, I felt the tension leave my body as his Not Killing Yet Intent washed over me. "If you make regular use of these goggles, I'll accommodate his request. If you do well, Sabeki-kun, you might even earn an early graduation from the Academy."

Um. "Early graduation? What would happen to my partner?"

"Not all orphans are recruited into the Academy at the same age. Even if I track down the last of the scattered clans in this country, clan partners for the orphans are a rarity." I heard an amused chuckle, and felt his silhouette shift to look out toward where the other students were playing behind us. Well, contact only sparring and playing musical instruments. Kusemaru, I knew, was guarding my books. "That is one of the reasons why I'm looking for opportunities to give talented minds like yours the chance to graduate early. While it's no secret that I always have an open door for rare abilities, there's nothing I cherish more than an intelligent subordinate."

This time, I wasn't sure if it was Orochimaru-sama using his Intent to reassure me, or genuine relief. How many of his minions with rare abilities had died in his service? How many researchers and scholars had he put in charge of his operations? The man hadn't hesitated to put his Cursed Seal on Kimimaro with his remarkably rare kekkei genkai, but Kabuto had been spared that danger for no other reason than talents that came from his own intellect.

And now, I was being spared the danger too.

I had come to the attention of Orochimaru-sama, and he saw me as a talent worth cultivating and keeping safe. If I was lucky, I might even be put into a position to change things for the better. I could prevent the implicit atrocities of Shippuden, with the Mass Edo Tensei, the rain of Tailed Beast Bombs, and the traumas that may come from the Infinite Tsukiyomi.

I had a chance.

No. I could win.

I bowed, low and formal. "I'll strive to surpass your wildest expectations, Orochimaru-sama."

That earned a warm chuckle from him, likely due to my reference to the day Otogakure was approved to begin. He ruffled my hair before he gently nudged me in the direction of my friends. Taking the dismissal for what it was, I made my way over to them. Since I wasn't a good enough sensor to distinguish ground from air when there wasn't any grass underfoot, I had to use a sliding step to keep balance, but I managed a decent pace as I approach the Kiaino crowd.

To call it the Kiaino crowd was something of an exaggeration, though. Of the five people in the group, including myself, only three of us were in the Kiaino clan, and only two of them were by birth. Apparently, Kusemaru had been adopted as an infant. Honden was a Kiaino by blood, though, being the son of the jackass who used Killing Intent on me to make me vomit on my first day. The other two were a pair of kunoichi partners, Kiaino Horobi and Takao.

Horobi had been a shy girl at first, and less than stellar in her classes. As a result, she'd been bullied by some of the more aggressive kunoichi. That changed when Takao wound up being collateral damage in a particularly nasty prank involving a stinkbomb. She had learned to deal with bullying by pushing back a long time ago, thanks to teasing brought on by black and white striped hair. Hitting a girl with a skunk tail braid using a stink bomb…

Hatori Nezumiko hadn't let her hair grow longer than shoulder length since Takao's rampage.

After that, though, Horobi made a point of spending plenty of time with her new best friend, and introducing her to the family that was in our year. Taking that as permission, Kusemaru had dragged me along as well. Honden had adamantly refused to bring his training partner, claiming he wanted to spare his family from the indignity of his company. I didn't have any classes scheduled with Honden and his partner, so I couldn't tell whether his partner was actually that bad or if Honden was just taking after his father in the 'clan shinobi are always better than non-clan shinobi' mindset.

There was another Kiaino in our year, but I hadn't met her because she was attached to her partner at the hip, and the latter was a sadistic bitch.

Welcome to Oto.

"Hello, Sabeki-san." Kusemaru's voice came from where I could feel his chakra, sitting on a spot of grass with his cousins. Judging by his tone of voice, he was smiling, so I smiled back. "I see you got a new birthday present from Orochimaru-sama."

"Birthday?" That… explained why it was a yearly thing, but it was somewhat distressing. If Orochimaru-sama had enough information about my native village to learn my birthday, he'd also have enough to know I was full of shit if I used knowledge of my past life with an explanation of village memories. Still, I hadn't done anything like that yet, so it was something to avoid rather than something to panic over. "I hadn't realized they were birthday presents."

Honden, who was easier to recognize by voice than by chakra, scoffed. "Dumbass. How do you not know when your birthday is?"

"Everyone who knew when I was born was killed before I was older enough to read a calendar." I frowned and stuffed my hands into the pockets of my jacket, a hoodie in the same gray snakeskin pattern of the lower rank uniforms. They were the sort of jacket I liked to wear in my past life, so having one now was a comfort. It was an inadequate comfort next to the fresh reminder that I was an orphan, though. "Dumbass."

Takao's chakra signature was laying on the grass next to Horobi, and I felt a shift of motion by her head. "Horobi, you mind if I beat the stupid out of your cousin?"

Horobi paused in what I guessed was tuning her zither. The various Otogakure clans all had specialties, and for the Kiaino it was using sound as a medium to inflict jutsu on people. Not just genjutsu, either, which was why Horobi could use something as big as a zither for combat: it launched wind jutsu. It was why they practiced with their instruments in their free time: A combination of notes may as well be a series of hand seals. After a few seconds of Horobi contemplating and Honden's chakra shimmering with tension, she shook her head. "Maybe later. During sparring?"

"That works." Takao's head shifted toward me. At least, I thought it did. I looked toward her, just in case. "So, Sabeki-kun. You rereading your books again?"

"Going to people watch… kind of. Orochimaru-sama wants me to practice sensing outside of class." Four heads bobbed in nods. If Orochimaru-sama wanted something to happen, nobody questioned it, especially not when he was a civilian's throw away. I took up my usual spot to sit and read, favoring a more meditative position than usual. "Unless one of you guys had a better idea for how I could-"

Takao shut up from where she'd been laying on the grass, manic glee in her voice. "We could spar!"

I flinched, and judging by how their chakra rippled the same could be said for Kusemaru and Horobi. Takao fought dirty when she spared. Honden, for his part, just shook his head. "Spar with you? On his birthday? That'd be cruel."

"Mean, Honden-san." Takao slouched and made a brief motorboat noise with her lips. I, in turn, made a mental note to count that as Honden's birthday present to me. "I'm perfectly capable of playing nice. Besides, free time means contact only."

"Maybe when I'm not working on my sensing, Takao-chan." Still… working with Takao got me thinking. She was one of the kekkei genkai kids, and one of the perks of hers was that she was functionally immune to poison. I moved to take a seat next to her, my curiosity having gotten the better of me. "What do you do for chakra control training, though?"

Heads shifted my way, but it was Kusemaru that spoke up. "Don't we all have the same chakra control training?"

"Drinking poison and cleansing our system?" I gestured toward Takao, and… people in the group were looking around. Takao had started to sit upright, too. "Kind of a waste on Takao-chan here, ne?"

Honden chuckled. "Think it'd be useful for her, actually."

"Not for chakra control, though." Kusemaru's head shifted again, toward where Takao and I were. While normally his tone was friendly, now it was more… contemplative. It'd probably come off as guarded, to anyone who wasn't familiar with him. "Now I'm curious too, Takao-chan."

"Yeah, well I'm curious as to why I'm missing out on a class that's just for drinking poison!" Takao's arms crossed over her chest, and I could just imagine her facial expression. Eight, after all, wasn't too old for pouting. "That sounds awesome!"

"First, all poisons are either tasteless or taste terrible, at least for the ones we train with." I held up one finger, followed by a second finger. The gesturing didn't get her head to shift my way, but since she hadn't been looking at Horobi before it was plausible that I was in her peripheral vision. "Second, your kekkei genkai would just absorb the poison into your body before it could do anything."

Takao snorted through her nose, but then stood up and started walking toward a nearby… apartment? Office building? Whatever it was, I wasn't sensing anyone inside. "It'd be a hell of a lot better for me than this!"

Then she started walking up the wall.

"Well!" I grinned broadly and clapped my hands together, which drew all their attention to me. I still couldn't see with the goggles on, but I glanced over the Kiaino kids anyhow. "I know what Takao-chan's getting me for my birthday this year!"

"What?!" Takao fell off the wall, but I could tell from sensing and hearing that she'd landed correctly. The reaction got a laugh out of Honden, along with light chuckling from the rest of us. She quickly kipped up and turned to face us. "What am I getting you?"

"I want you to show me how to walk on walls."

"Good idea." Honden nodded approvingly. His head shifted, and I was pretty sure he was looking toward Takao now. "I want to learn how to walk on walls too!"

"Go suck a dick!" Classes being based on merit rather than age, we sometimes got to learn concepts and phrases that weren't appropriate for eight year olds. Aside from murder and espionage, anyhow. "It's not your birthday!"

Kusemaru had already turned to face her. "Does that mean you're going to show Sabeki-san how to walk on walls, Takao-chan?"

Takao's chakra shifted in place in a manner I could only guess was fidgeting. After a few seconds of my looking at her expectantly, she relented and waved me over. "Get over here, and hurry up! I'll be surprised if you get it right before the period's done, but maybe we'll be lucky and you'll blow up a wall."

I didn't blow up a wall. I may have ripped a chunk off, but the only explosion was that of laughter from Honden. As a result, I spent the rest of the period watching Takao chase him while Kusemaru and Horobi played chase music. Nice kids, both of them, but on some level every Oto-nin was a troll.

Knowing that I was expected to graduate early, I did what I could to supplement my training in my free time. Mostly, it was just some light physical exercise in the morning and evening, but I did that without chakra enhancement. According to the medical classes, chakra reserves were based in part on raw physical fitness… and that chakra enhancement slowed muscle development. Considering that the only buff shinobi I could remember were Killer B and a couple Raikage, I could believe it. So, with some exercise in the mornings and evenings, I began working on expanding my chakra reserves.

I'd have to work on cardio, too, once I was good enough at sensing to run unenhanced with the blinders on.

The actual class content… the wall walking lessons continued beyond my birthday, but I still had to deal with poison immunity training. The extra physical exercise I was doing both helped give me the chakra I needed, and made it all the more important that I cleared the poison out entirely. Jumping jacks did not mix well with chemically induced vertigo.

Another bad combination was anything that disrupted my ability to think with anything remotely related to Yakushi Kabuto. He was the platonic ideal of the trolling Oto-nin, although whether that was due to his Root training making him as socially dysfunctional as Sai or his just being a dick, I couldn't be certain. What I could be certain of was that after I got doubled up on medical training, he took my lessons a lot more seriously.

My jutsu lessons had expanded from the diagnostic jutsu to the actual mystic palm, which was a remarkably complicated technique. One had to be able to assess where the injury was, which was where the diagnostic jutsu came in. Then, one had to channel healing chakra into the healthy tissue around the wound that would be the foundation for the growth of replacement material. So, if it was a fractured bone, one had to not only channel the healing chakra into the bone, but also keep it contained as it passed through the muscle tissue. Finally, one had to maintain both jutsu at the same time, so that one knew when to stop using mystic palm. As it turned out, side effects may include benign tumors in inconvenient locations.

I was practicing with fish for the time being, but using mystic palm safely on humans would require expansive medical knowledge. So, when students came to Kabuto with injuries, I was there to use diagnostic jutsu on the patient while he provided the healing. This, combined with my sensory abilities watching his use of mystic palm, provided me with a steady stream of examples of how to use the jutsu correctly. When there weren't any patients, he lectured me over an autopsy table.

The bodies could be sorted into two categories. The first category was of those who'd died fighting, with injuries to show for it. They were mostly enemy combatants, but occasionally I would see someone who could've been related to a classmate. The second category, though, had a lower minimum age threshold, and they all seemed to have died of chakra exhaustion… and a fanged bite on their neck. It wasn't terribly surprising that those were the bodies used for exploratory surgery, since they didn't have any lethal wounds mucking up the organs too much. There was only one thing that had really changed there, and I'd be a bad student and a worse shinobi if I didn't ask.

"Kabuto-san?"

"No, no, we're doing lessons now." Kabuto wagged the bloody scalpel in his hand at me in a chastising manner. Why someone with his hand slicing jutsu needed a scalpel, I could only guess. "I'm Kabuto-sempai."

"…Kabuto-sempai?" It annoyed me, which was likely the point, but I knew I wouldn't get a straight answer without addressing him as such. He smiled and nodded at the properly applied honorific, so I proceeded to ask my question. "Why don't we practice eye harvests anymore?"

"We practiced eye harvests because there were opportunities to harvest eyes that Orochimaru-sama might consider useful." Kabuto turned his attention back to cleaning the tools as he spoke. We'd just finished an autopsy on what I suspected was an intruder who'd been found dead. There were multiple bites, and the damage indicated spider venom. "The clan with the eyes that Orochimaru-sama was interested in recently fell to a massive attack."

Ah. No point in spreading the knowledge around to more medics than there were Uchiha. My surprise must have shown, because Kabuto glanced at me with an expectant look. "One would think there would be some survivors. There should be civilians in the village if the attack was outside it, or shinobi on missions if it was inside."

"It was inside… and none of them were on missions. The Uchiha, the clan with the eyes? They were mostly used for village defense." I vaguely recalled their being part of some police force, and nodded along with what was said. It explained why it wasn't completely suspicious to the people in the village, then. "Nothing to worry about for you, in any event. Got the report written out, kouhai?"

To the joy of all, I refrained from inflicted violence on Kabuto.

"Yeah." I held the folder up for emphasis. The cover had been laminated, or something similar to that, in order to keep bodily fluids from soaking through and damaging the reports within. "Want me to turn it in?"

Kabuto shook his head. "I have my own notes to add, actually. Go ahead and put your goggles back on and head to… heh. Your next class is your new sparring group, isn't it?"

I didn't dignify that with an immediate response as I grabbed my goggles. Medic training and written work were two areas where eyesight couldn't be substituted out with my other senses. Since neither of those was involved in sparring… my performance there had slid. Not as bad as it had been before I'd discovered chakra enhancement, but apparently the backsliding was enough to knock Kusemaru and I out of the sparring class we'd been in to a new group that Honden was transferring to as well.

I knew the blind fighting thing was a temporary setback. Once I figured out how to anticipate attacks based on chakra rather than sight, and worked reacting to whatever signaled an attack into my reflexes, I'd be back at the top of the group. I'd actually had martial arts training in my previous life, and I'd retained enough that I didn't develop any bad habits in this one.

It was a failure, though, and that bothered me. Worse, Kabuto knew it bothered me, and gave me no end of grief for it when the opportunity presented itself. Luckily, finding out that Honden was transferring in as well had given me a way to worm out of satisfying him.

"With Kiaino Honden, yes." I smirked at him, taking a moment to drink in the look of confusion on his face before I put my goggles on. I was tempted to leave them off long enough to see a scowl, but decided against it. "I'll finally get to meet his illusive partner."

"Would you like to know his name?" Even if I hadn't felt his posture shift, I could hear him perking up from voice alone. Yep, no Sai-cological issues here, Kabuto was pure dick. Only possible explanation at his sheer glee at the prospect of ruining the surprise. "I'm pretty sure he's come my way for medical attention at least once."

"Nope! Don't ruin the surprise!" I immediately made my way out of the medical lab, making a show of putting my fingers in my ears. I still had to walk, because blind, but I made as good a pace as I could safely manage. "Nope, nope, nope!"

I still managed to hear a confused noise behind me as I left, but it wasn't anything that so much as resembled a name, so I ignored it. Instead, I focused on navigating the hall with nothing to guide me but my chakra sense. That basically amounted to finding the border between the natural energy in the air and the natural energy in the ground surrounding the passage, and using that to gauge roughly where the floor was.

My feet hadn't left the ground at any point that I've been wearing these goggles.

Since I hadn't needed to drop off any paperwork at the filing office for the complex, I made my way straight to where Kusemaru's science class. Shinobi science classes were actually a mix of math and science, partly because technology in this world was schizophrenic. Balancing the need for more advanced technology and keeping chakra users as the true military power of the world was a delicate dance, apparently.

By the time I arrived, the class was already getting out. Kusemaru's chakra signature was easy enough to single out from the crowd, and the students pouring out of the room made guessing where the floor and walls were substantially easier. As a result, I was able to maintain the appearance of nonchalance as I came up to the doorway to meet with him.

"Ready to solve a mystery?" Kusemaru didn't immediately react, at least not that I could see, but after a second he gave me a thumbs up. He was very precise in how he formed the gesture, too. It made it easier for me to make out, and it was good practice for him for making handsigns. Which, thankfully, sparring wouldn't require. I nodded my head in the direction of the hall we'd be taking. "Let's go, then."

When we arrived at the class, I felt numerous unfamiliar chakra patterns, and I was tempted to remove the goggles. I'd like to say that the most interesting thing in the room was the hunchback with Honden, but Kusemaru was closer to me, and something in the room made him flinch. I leaned toward him, speaking out of the side of my mouth. "Problem?"

"My cousin that you haven't met is here. And if she's here, then her partner will be in our sparring class."

"That would be… the girl who likes pain, ne?" More than a little creepy, especially at our age, but it wasn't terribly surprising. Aside from the clan kids, all the students were literally handpicked by Orochimaru-sama. "She can't be much worse than Takao."

"So nice of you to say so." I turned toward the source of the voice, one in a pair of unfamiliar chakra signatures. Both were on the colder side, but there were flickers of warmth in the one who hadn't spoken. The posture of the colder signature – the colder girl shifted, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "This another one of your cousins?"

"Yeah. Not by blood, though. Adopted." The slightly warmer girl waved idly toward Kusemaru. Her focus, though, I could feel was on me. "Is this asshole your orphan, Kusemaru?"

Kusemaru chuckled nervously and rubbed at the back of his head. "Yeah. To be fair to Sabeki-san, though, he didn't know you two were who I was talking about."

The colder girl scoffed. "What is he, blind?"

I nodded, and tapped at the frame of one of my lenses. "While wearing these, yeah. Sensor training. I'll probably take them off so I can put names to faces before the class is done, but I'm supposed to keep them on as often as I can."

"Sounds like a pain in the ass. Who came up with that?" The cousin, that time.

"Orochimaru-sama."

Chins shifted as the girls looked to Kusemaru for confirmation, who provided it with a nod. After the pair exchanged glances, his cousin spoke up again. "You on the track for early graduation?"

Ah… maybe this class was less of a demotion and more of being thrown into the deep end of the swimming pool. I nodded, since I hadn't kept it a secret from those of her clan I'd already met. "You too?"

"You, me, and Nezumiko." She gestured idly in the direction of another familiar chakra signature. The Kiaino and the Hatori got along… poorly. The Kiaino were shamelessly ambitious, while the Hatori were content and confident in their superiority. Put kids of both clans together in the same room… well. Attitudes of becoming better tended to clash with attitudes of innate superiority. Judging by her tone toward Nezumiko, she wasn't an exception to the rivalry. "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there's one of us in every pair here."

There was a flicker of chakra, and an adult was suddenly in the room. My head snapped their way, because the trail of chakra that lead back to where they came in from ended at a point within my range where there distinctly had not been chakra of that magnitude. I'd have to add figuring out a way to beat chakra suppression to the list of refinements I'd need to come up with before I graduated from the Academy.

"Listen carefully, brats. You are to address me as Guren-sensei." That name was… vaguely familiar. Was she the villain of some minor arc? "About half of you are under consideration for early graduation. You'll be in the rotation. Those of you who are partners to someone who's under consideration will be part of the combat pool that those in the rotation will fight. Individuals in the rotation will start with two opponents at once, a number that will increase once they prove that they can consistently win against whatever number of opponents they're currently assigned. In order to relieve strain on the pool, occasionally the rotation student who's up will spar with me. Sabeki! This is an order. No using those goggles in my class. You'll need every advantage you can get."

Well, far be it from me to refuse that order. As I started to remove the goggles, Guren-sensei started shouting names. "The combat pool will consist of Kiaino Kusemaru, Kiaino Honden, Tsuchi Kin, Hatori Kigiri, Kinuta Dosu, and Dosuji Tsu. The rotation will consist of Sabeki, Sakon, Ukon, Kiaino Tayuya, Jirobo, Hatori Tetsubo, and Hatori Nezumiko. The first match will put Sabeki against Kusemaru and… Kin, since she's nearby. Any questions?"

Yeah, I had a question. Why couldn't I go a straight week without fearing for my life?