Chapter Eighteen: Scientific Development

Yuina regretted spending all her money on a tanto. Not that she didn't want one, but because it was expensive and required her to use almost all her earnings from several days of taking several D-Rank missions to afford it. The worst part was that it wasn't even her metal of choice and the forging was pretty mid, so if she stuck to the weapon she would be spending more money on a new one in a few years time. There are plenty of weapons that could withstand lifetimes. Hers was not one of them.

However, that wasn't why she regretted purchasing it. She regretted it because it meant she had no money for anything else. She couldn't yet afford new clothing that would be appropriate for missions or laboratory work. Her open toe sandals that everyone loved weren't going to meet safety standards, nor was her t-shirt. She couldn't afford materials to make a decent pair of safety goggles. She had no clue what she was going to do about gloves or whether she needed to by new chemicals. Orochimaru said to meet him in the lab. He said nothing about being provided anything.

She didn't care that other people didn't seem to hold high regard for safety measures. Corrosives hurt and she still remembered the one person who exploded a sink and wrecked the pipes in one of the university's labs because people were washing and flushing fluids that should have been properly disposed.

Though, now that she was back in the lab she needed to find another hobby. Don't get her wrong. She loved the lab, but the transition to doing it for work would mean that her enjoyment of it wouldn't quite be the same. She had knitting but not much else. Reading was fun but when most of the materials was nonfiction it meant it could sometimes feel like work. Televisions were more so just a screen to play tapes. There was no larger network and most of the titles didn't excite her. Traveling was currently out of her reach and wasn't quite sure of the implications of doing it later now that she was part of Konoha's forces. Likewise, while Konoha had forested areas there wasn't anywhere to hike except up the mountain the heads of the Hokages were chiseled on. It was a nice view, but traveling the same few paths could get boring.

"What are you working on?" she finally caved in and asked. She didn't mind the silence but it seemed like a waste of time when she had been looking forward to today all week.

"And if that's a secret?"

Then she probably wouldn't have been allowed in here. It's like he was purposely pushing her buttons. She didn't want to play mind games. "Then what can I do?"

Orochimaru waved over to the cleared table. "The space is yours to do whatever you want."

"And I can use anything?"

"For now."

Orochimaru watches as Yuina circled the table. The height reached her shoulders. She wiped a finger across the table and rubbed her fingers together with a frown. She took a self-guided tour of the place and familiarized herself with where things were. Momentarily stopping on occasion to stare at some of his experiments. Eventually she moved on to setting her space with equipment, taking the stool stashed in the corner so she was at a more appropriate height.

She was methodological and moved with practice ease.

Honestly, he had planned to use this week for observation. The village loved their prodigies, but wondered whether her graduation was in part because of rising tensions with Iwa. Showing off the new generation had always been a tactic to try to instill dominance.

However, her fighting was adequate for a genin. She was self-disciplined and could get stuff done even without guidance. Didn't complain about the missions given to her – which he did watch this week from a distance. He wanted to keep an eye on her chakra control and usage as it seemed atypical. Now she showed proficiency working with volatile chemicals. He had been curious as to what exactly she would do, but as he watched he realized he didn't think he would have known how to do what she's currently working on when he was her age.

He had been skeptical when reading the file Sensei had given him, but everything checked out.

It made him curious. He wanted to pick her brain apart. What did she see? How did the world exist through her eyes? What was so clear that she simply understood?

"What are you working on?" He had a few ideas based on what she's brought over but he wanted her to describe what she planned on doing.

"Information isn't free. We can trade information if you want. What you're working on for what I'm working on."

"Maybe another time." That time would be sooner than later. He watched as her lips tighten before relaxing and shrugging her shoulders.

He wondered if her behaviour was a result of any rumours she may have heard about him. That or maybe she really was the perfect little tool. Do as ordered. Don't complain. No matter how unreasonable it may be. She just needed a bit more work on her masking.

"Though it's bold of you to go straight to poisons."

"Poison?" She frowned as she looked back at the ingredients. "Well I could," she muttered to herself under her breath, though he could hear every word. Had that not been the plan? He looked over the ingredients once more and still settled on poison. "Even if I was, I thought we just agreed we aren't trading information."

Ah, childhood. Thinking you could hide a lot more than you could.

He was proven wrong when she later consumed the product. If she was trying to build up immunity she was going about it the wrong way, yet she faced no consequences. Unless it had a long activation in which case Sakumo would be the one to deal with the repercussions later. She also grinded the remainder and sealed it in a small test tube.

Maybe his teaching task wouldn't be as boring as he first assumed.