Welcome to a newish story! I posted a few chapters of this before, but I've completely changed the trajectory of this. The idea just wouldn't leave my head, so here we are! It starts out dark, but I promise things get better for this cinnamon roll in the future!

Trigger warnings: torture, human experimentation

When I open my eyes, I see a large tube that's filled with a green liquid. There's a mask over my mouth, allowing me to breathe. Just like there's a mask over the other kid in the tube across from me. I float in the warm green tube, I already feel like falling asleep.

I blink my eyes hard, trying to see further outside of the tube I'm in. And when I do, I regret it. There's even more tubes filled with kids. They all look similar, they all have brown hair.

Why are we being kept in these things?

The last thing I remember is falling asleep on my caretaker's back. Secured in the sling she used to keep me with her when she worked on the farm. I see a shadow out of the corner of my eye and turn to see two figures walking outside of the tubes towards me.

I have to squint to see them, but when I do my entire body turns cold. There's something wrong about them. I don't know what it is, but all I want to do is hide behind my caretaker's leg like I used to when we met strangers on the way from the farm to our small home. I know my caretaker wasn't my family, I can't remember her name. I can't remember my name. What happened? Where am I? Who are these people?

A man with bandages that cover his forehead and eye walks slowly. He holds onto a cane tightly as he looks at the other test tubes. Beside him is a person with long black hair, pale skin, and purple markings around his eyes.

"Interesting," a slithery voice says as the two figures stand in front of my test tube. "I did not expect for this experiment to even have a chance at survival after the DNA implantation process was finished."

"This one is different from the others," the other figure says.

"Yes," the first figure hisses. "After the successful recreation of the Mokuton, I thought I would attempt to recreate the Nara's shadows." What is the Mokuton? What is the Nara clan?

"Who's DNA, Orochimaru?"

"Nara Shikaku and Nara Yoshino. It was surprisingly easy to obtain the future jonin commander's DNA, Danzo."

"And his wife?" Danzo asks.

"She receives regular check-ups as all kunoichi of Konohagakure do. I just needed one vial of blood." Blood? This doesn't sound good.

"They'll have a child of their own in the upcoming years most likely," Orochimaru says. "My snakes have already heard whispers about the next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho."

"Interesting," Danzo says as he looks at me. "You have done well. Keep me updated on this one."

"Of course," Orochimaru wears a predatory smile on his face. "This will be an interesting experiment."

The next time I open my eyes I'm not in the tube anymore. I breathe out a sigh of relief when I can move my limbs once again.

How did this happen? How did I end up here? Who are Nara Shikaku and Yoshino? Why are they important?

I vaguely feel my body shaking. My thoughts swim through my mind, nothing seems to stick.

"You are awake," a small voice hisses. My head jerks towards the noise. In the darkness I can see the outline of a small stick-like creature. It's only when it starts to slide across the floor out of the room that I realize it is a snake. "I will go get my master," it says as it turns the corner.

I start to count backwards from one hundred in my mind. My eyes burn as I try to keep my breathing even. Was this an effect of whatever liquid I was kept in?

My shaking subsides just a little.

I just have to survive long enough to get out of whatever underground bunker this is.

"Interesting," Orochimaru's voice fills the once quiet room. "You are already regulating your own emotions, that must be from your father's side." Soon the once almost pitch black room is filled with a dim light. All the walls are gray. The ceiling is gray. The bedsheets and heavy blanket over me are gray. I blink once, twice, three times.

I know that I don't really have a father, who is this man talking about? Emptiness fills my chest as I look up at him.

"Where am I?" I ask as I look at the snake man.

"You are in my lab."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Orochimaru."

"Who am I?" He tilts his head.

"Kanna." He gives no last name. Was I not supposed to be conscious when I was in the tube? I nod my head as I push myself up in the bed.

"Come, I will teach you how to eat and care for yourself outside of your training." I slip out from under the covers and immediately feel better as my bare feet touch the cold ground. "You are currently four years of age. Next year you will attend the shinobi academy in Konohagakure."

"What is the shinobi academy for?" I ask as I stand from the bed on shaky legs. I recognize the name Konohagakure, it was a hidden village about a day away from my tiny village. We never went, but I saw shinobi come through our village regularly.

Orochimaru turns and walks out of the open door and I struggle to step forward to follow him at first. My legs feel like they're made of goo.

"The academy is where you will learn the basics of the ninja arts. It is where you will be introduced to other leaf shinobi and their children, whom you will most likely fight alongside."

"I will?" I ask before I can stop myself. I would have thought he would have wanted me to stay out of the village. Unless. Does he want me as a spy?

"You will," he says as we turn a dark corner. "I expect that you will be the first of many failed experiments."

"Huh?" He side eyes me, obviously annoyed.

"You have survived," he says. "But you are too much like a child. I expected you to be more aware and less talkative."

"But, I am a child?"

"Yes, children are useless to me." Well. I don't really know what to say about that. "The DNA I implanted into you was of a genius. My employer was very interested in you."

"Your employer?"

"I am to create perfect shinobi for him. In exchange I receive funding and supplies needed for my personal research."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" I ask as I look up at the man. He smirks.

"You will either die during the experimentation process, or you will be silenced when you are placed into the ranks of my employer's organization."

Things have gone okay so far.

I haven't been back to the room with all of the tubes. It's unsettling. I'm the only child in this section of the underground base. I don't know if it is made to keep me contained, or if it's just that I'm the only one that survived.

I fear that the latter is reality. I was the only one Orochimaru was able to use the Nara DNA on. I overheard him talking to his employer, Danzo, who was trying to get more DNA samples, but was unable to. As of now, I'm their only test subject.

Most of the testing so far is medical testing. My chakra is tested at least once a week. Orochimaru taught me how to meditate on my first day in this place and I've been forced to meditate for hours every day in the hopes of building up my chakra reserves. Apparently they are small for a clan child.

Danzo was unhappy each time he heard that my chakra levels weren't growing as much as Orochimaru believed they would. The bandaged man never spoke to me and I never spoke to him. He would just stare as Orochimaru would stick countless needles into my arms.

My body tenses up each time I hear the wheels of the medical cart move against the concrete floors. There are countless ultrasounds, x-rays, medical scans done via iryo ninjutsu, and other tests that involve wires, machines, and different screens. I hate it.

I hate it just as much as I hate this building. I haven't seen the sun since I came to this place. It's always dark and cold. It's barren.

The only good thing about this place is the library.

The second thing Orochimaru started to teach me, after meditation techniques, was how to read and write. Although he only taught me Uzu, the language spoken in Uzushiogakure. It's the language used in almost all of his fuinjutsu materials.

But he never taught me how to read and write in common, the main language used in Konoha. So I started teaching myself when he would leave me alone for a few days at a time. It took almost a year, but I'm finally able to read different books in the library. It's the only thing that makes me feel human.

"Kanna," Orochimaru says, pulling me away from my current book on fuinjutsu.

"Orochimaru," I say as I shut my book and step away from the table.

"We will begin your testing today." What has the last year of medical testing been, then? The command to follow him through the dark hallways of the compound is silent.

I don't say anything as I follow him through a door I've never even seen before. We enter a dark room, it's the largest one I've been in since the one with the tubes.

The floors are a dark gray color. Cold cement just like the rest of the compound. The walls are the same dark gray color. I hear a click and instead of the lights being dim like the other rooms, bright lights flicker on. I close my eyes, the light hurts after being in such low lighting for so long.

I feel my heart rate pickup despite my attempts to calm it.

The only times bright lights were on were bad times. The bright lights were used during medical testing and when I was given shots or blood was taken. I clench my hands at my sides as I open my eyes.

Orochimaru stands across the room from me. His arms are crossed over his chest. His head tilts as he watches me.

"W-what sort of test is this going to be?"

"It will be different from the other tests you have done so far. Unpleasant."

"Like those others were pleasant?" The words fly out of my mouth before I can stop them. My tone is harsher than I've ever heard my voice. Orochimaru raises an eyebrow. This is the first time I've spoken out like that. I try to remain compliant in the hopes that maybe one day he'll think of me as human. That he'll let me go.

But from the smirk on his face, that day is not today.

"Perhaps there is hope for you after all," Orochimaru hums. "You sound more like your mother." I open my mouth to reply but Orochimaru is suddenly gone. I look around me but there's no one there.

"Hello?" I ask to the empty room. No one answers. "You can't just leave like that, you know?" Orochimaru doesn't come out of the shadows like I expect him to. I walk closer to the center of the room and immediately regret it.

As soon as I'm in the center, the walls begin to move. They start to slowly creep in closer to me. I hear the grinding sound of the walls moving against the floor. I run around the walls, looking for the door that we entered through earlier.

It's no longer there.

I start searching along the floor, hoping, praying that there's a trap door somewhere.

There's nothing but smooth concrete.

I try to look up at the ceiling. Maybe there are vents like other rooms throughout the compound.

There are none.

The walls continue to close in.

"Orochimaru!" I yell when I realize there's no escape. The walls don't stop. Orochimaru doesn't come. The walls move closer and closer until I reach my arms out on both sides and feel the cold walls against my palms.

"Why are you doing this?" I scream as I push my chakra into my arms and hands in a vain attempt to stop the walls. I push more chakra into my feet as I pull myself up to push my feet against the wall in front of me. My arms shake and buckle as the walls move closer. I feel a cool wall against my back as my legs buckle and fall back to the ground.

The walls move faster and soon I'm pinned between all four walls, they push hard against my body and I struggle to breathe.

"Please stop! Please!" I scream as tears run down my cheeks. I wiggle my body around, hoping to find any way out of this but there's nothing. All I can hear is my gasps for air in the tight space. I close my eyes as the walls move in closer once again.

And then they're gone. I gasp for air as my legs buckle and I fall to the cement floor. Hard. I curl into myself, my forehead rests against the cool floor and it's the only thing that stops me from losing it.

"Why?" I finally sob when I hear footsteps.

"It is my theory that the shadows manifest for the first time when someone is put into a stressful situation. Your performance was disappointing."

"My performance?" I yell as I push myself up onto my knees. Orochimaru doesn't even look at me as he walks by me. He doesn't answer as he opens the door.

"You will return to this room at the same time tomorrow for further testing." My chest feels tight as he clicks the door shut behind him. Despite not being able to breathe properly I run for the door and throw it open. I collapse outside of it and try to take in big gulps of air.

Orochimaru isn't in the hallway.

When I close my eyes all I can see is the walls closing in on me over and over again. Will the other walls do that too? Or is it just that room?

Why me? Why do all of this? Why did I survive?

"Stop that," a deep voice says. I open my eyes to see a large snake. It's twice my size and has purple spots that line its gray body.

"Stop what?" I ask, my voice hoarse from the screaming and crying.

"You are bleeding," the snake sighs, like it's tired of me. Like the fact that I exist is inconvenient to him. The snake turns the corner and leaves me in front of the door.

Alone. Again.

My hands shake as I turn them over. Crescent moon markings cover my palms. My nails are covered in blood. I stand shakily and start to walk through the hallways slowly. The stinging in my hands is the only thing that grounds me.

It's the only thing that reminds me that I'm still alive.

Although, I don't know if I want to be anymore.

Not if my life will be like this.

The next few months pass in a similar manner. I lose track of time and place. I can't tell the difference between my nightmares and reality anymore. There's always eyes on me now. I think Orochimaru knows that I'm starting to lose it. I haven't even been to the library at all since the first day I was brought into the training room.

"We will attempt something different today," Orochimaru says as I take my place in the center of the room once again. I'm already shaking. "Seeing as our previous attempts were unfruitful, we will try a different method."

"Why are you doing this?"

"You know why," he says as he tilts his head. "You also know that this can all end when you stop failing."

"You say that like I have a choice!" He's gone.

He always leaves as soon as I get angry. I feel myself start to shake as the walls come in again. But this time it's worse. The lights turn off. I can't see anything. I can hear the sounds. I try to take a deep breath, but it stops short. I still have about forty-five seconds before the walls close in.

Breathe in-

The walls trap me. I scream.

Suddenly there's light once again and the walls pull back to where I can at least extend my arms fully. I force myself to breathe evenly when I see one of the walls has turned from cement to glass. I don't want him to see me that upset again.

I don't want him to see my fear.

Especially now that Danzo stands beside him with his arms crossed. Something seems off about the man's arm. I don't look at it, but I feel like it's looking at me. My skin crawls at the thought. What is that man capable of?

"She's weak," Danzo says. His voice sounds muffled from the glass separating us.

"It's a shame," Orochimaru says. "A year and a half wasted."

"She will not be a useful asset," the bandaged man says. He taps his pointer finger against his arm.

"Perhaps I could try one more thing," Orochimaru says. I force myself not to scream at him. He methodically walks towards the glass and reaches for something to the side that I can't see. He lifts his hand up and I freeze when I see it. There's a tiny hole in the glass. Just small enough to fit a hose.

Water starts to fill the small space I'm in. I watch the two men as they watch me right back. I can feel the water already half way up my calves. It soaks the thin leggings I wear. My hands start to shake and I clench them tightly. I know from the stinging that this isn't one of Orochimaru's illusions anymore.

This is real.

The water gets up to my knees and I start to look around the small container I'm in. There's no trap door underneath me. There's no doors anywhere on this thing. The walls are sturdy as is the glass when I give a tentative push.

I look up above me to only see a glass ceiling. I won't know how sturdy the top is until the water moves up higher. It's already up to my shoulders now. I feel my hair start to stick to the back of my neck as I tilt my head up. I take even breaths and close my eyes.

I don't want the monsters watching to see the fear in my eyes.

I start floating up towards the top of the container. I try to find weak points in the glass, but I don't see any. I can't tell if I'm shaking from my fear or if I'm shaking from the ice cold water that surrounds me.

When I'm close to the top, I try to feed the hose back outside of the glass. It doesn't budge. My chest starts to feel tight as my face gets closer to the glass at the top of the box. My breathing becomes erratic. I can't think. I push against the glass repeatedly but it doesn't work.

I keep pushing, my chest gets even tighter. Black dots appear in front of me. And then suddenly everything is gone.

It feels like I'm floating at first. But then I feel like I'm being stabbed by hundreds of needles across my entire body. I start gasping for air like I had when I was in the box.

When I was in the box…

I sit up immediately. I look around and start coughing. Danzo and Orochimaru stand side by side once again. Both looking down at me like I'm an inconvenience to them. Just like the snake after my first go around all those months ago.

"I had hope for a moment that she would not be another failed experiment," Orochimaru sighs as he looks down at me.

"She will be useless to me and to the village," Danzo says. "What will you do with her?"

"I need to pick up some more supplies from inside of the village," Orochimaru says. "I'll drop her off at one of the civilian orphanages. With the war, no one will be suspicious about another orphan being dropped off."

"She'll have her memories," Danzo turns his head to look at Orochimaru. I want to say something, but the words don't leave my mouth. My outburst earlier was rare these days, I learned my place here very quickly.

"One of my summons will take care of that," Orochimaru says. "Her chakra reserves aren't ideal but they may become useful in future experimentation." I swallow a sob. I had felt just a flash of hope before he said that.

"Go to your room," Orochimaru says as he grabs a clipboard from a desk behind him. I struggle to stand, and when I do I stumble at first. By the time I make it out of the room and into the hallway, I'm struggling to breathe again.

I feel a rattling in my chest as I take my slow and steady steps. I can't really feel my feet from the cold of the water and now the cold of the floor beneath me. I know deep down that Orochimaru is not a good person. Anyone who would make someone hurt like he hurt me is not good.

But why, after all of this, am I still a failure? Would I always be like this? Danzo said I'm useless to the village. What am I supposed to do? Will I even know what I went through? Or will I just wake up with the scars that cover my body? The reminders of a story that I won't even remember?

"There you are," one of Orochimaru's snakes says as soon as I enter my room. It's not much of a room, there's only a bed and a dresser in the tiny space. He moved me to a smaller room not long after he moved from the walls closing in to other illusions. No matter what he did, the first illusions he used always hurt me the most. That's why he moved me in here. To remind me.

"Yeah," I manage to croak as I sit on the bed. I don't know this snake's name. She's tiny and green and she can barely wrap herself around my already tiny wrist. Orochimaru had to start using meal replacement drinks when I started showing signs of not being able to eat.

"Orochimaru-sama told me to bite you, my venom will take away your memories until a seal will be placed in your mindscape."

"My mindscape?" I ask. She nods her tiny head.

"Where you go in your head when you meditate. I hope that this will take away your pain so you may live a normal life after this."

"Thank you," I whisper. This snake was always the nicest. She would tell me stories of Konoha whenever we were alone. Whenever I couldn't sleep. It was easy to get lost in the stories, just like it was getting lost in the books that I loved so much before.

"It was an honor to meet you, Kanna-chan," the snake slithers up my arm and shoulder until she nuzzles against my cheek. "It's a shame the bookmark will lose its place."

I briefly feel her fangs pierce the skin of my shoulder not a minute later.

The world turns dark in seconds.