AN: New chapter and I'm so excited because it's going to be the introduction of Orochimaru. Though, I'll admit, it's a brief appearance in this one and next but after that, woo. Also, this chapter marks the beginning of one-hundred original material for Wasteland. A lot of the lore is going to be unique to this fiction and going to be adding to the mythology or improving on it. And trust me, a lot is going to be improved.

This chapter is going marks the introduction of a special language: Elderspeak. Basically, it's just Dovahzul because I'm not intelligent enough to craft my own language and it's a brilliant language to write and listen to. It's going to used intermittent throughout Wasteland. It'll be written literal and translated so no important dialogue is going to be left out since Elderspeak to going to be used primarily to explain the new lore.

Sorry for the long author's note but I've decided to include fun facts about Wasteland so you, the readers, can have a better time imagining it while reading through. So, I'm going to include one fun fact about the story with every chapter. Think of it as behind the scenes content.

Fun Fact: Wasteland originally started out as a Resident Evil 2/Naruto crossover fic! A lotta things carried over such the Zetsu's backstory taking inspiration from Sherry Birkin, Kakuzu's trench coat and sunglasses design in earlier chapters as he was slated to be Mr. X in the crossover and Kiyoshi being based on William Birkin. William Birkin himself was going to be Obito. Finally, the G-Virus was going to be the Bijuu Virus.

That's all for now, please enjoy!

you-may-call-me-V: I'm glad. As much as I like the slow-paced chapters because they're great for character development, I also enjoy writing the fast, erratic ones and there's going be quiet of few of those coming up.

ForidaAhmed: Thank you for your reviews! I love hearing people's reactions as they read through the story for the first time.

Cat Beats: Phew, because these "in-between" chapters I find the hardest to write and environment and side characters, ugh, don't get me started. I try to make it interesting regardless if certain places and people are to never be written again. I hate writing jutsu which is why I concentrate more on hand-to-hand with jutsu sprinkled in because otherwise, it'd be a clusterfuck of fire and whatelse. I think I've demonstrated this best with Kakuzu since the only "jutsu" he's used is his masks. Oh god, it's going to get worse once I have to write characters like Itachi or Kisame who just spam it. -shivers- I'll figure something out. Speaking of Kakashi, expect another appearance soon! -wink wink nudge nudge-

Warning(s): Language (Low), Violence/Blood/Gore (High), Mentions of Slavery, Genderbend (High), Original Character (s)

…

Wasteland

The Akatsuki Arc

Chapter 42

It was a week later that Zetsu was ordered to Pein's Tower for an emergency assignment.

Upon her arrival to his office, Sasori was there and to her surprise, Glut also. They were speaking each other but paused with Zetsu's appearance. Glut gifted her a compassionate smile while Sasori rolled his glass eyes.

"Zetsu, thank you for coming," Pein greeted her as she stepped to attendance between the two males. "As said, I've got an urgent mission for you. Sasori, would you kindly explain the situation to her?"

"We confirmed Ororchimaru is in the Ricelands," Sasori publicized, motioning at Glut with his tail. "Decided to do a wee bit of diggin' 'fore sendin' one of me men in an' well, why don't you explain, Glutty Boy?"

Glut nodded, disguising his dislike for the nickname behind an impartial expression. "To begin with, the Ricelands are no longer the Ricelands."

"What?" Zetsu said, eyebrows crinkled in confusion.

"Yeah. So, its daimyo sold the nation for an unknown amount of money. I'm thinking it was done under the table so there was no paper trail left. It is now the Land of Sound, or the Soundlands."

"Where the rice once was." Sasori reminisced with a chuckle.

"Wait, so who was it sold to?"

"That's what I wanted to know so I went the Ricelands, or, err—Soundlands, and snuck into their archives. What I found was a new, notarized land deed handing the Ricelands over to—well, why don't you read it?" It was then Smidgen popped up from his cloak pocket with said land deed and held it out to Glut who then handed it over to Zetsu to see for herself.

Zetsu's golden orbs scanned past the lines and lines of gibberish and mumbo-jumbo until the bottom of the parchment which made two signatures: the first being the daimyo's with the other being—

"Orochimaru." She read which was confirmed by Glut and Sasori's synchronized nodding. "Wait, why would she buy a country? And where did she get the money to pay for a country?"

"Reckon she 'ad a lotta gifts she stashed from 'er friends back in Konoha." Sasori animadverted, tapping his bandanaed chin with the spade of his tail.

"She bought a nation to build a capital. I found the blueprints for it in the archives too," Glut pointed at the manila folder Pein's desk which contained the counterfeit documents, all of which were Glut's handiwork. "'Village Hidden in the Sound' or Otogakure. The Village of Sound in the Land of Sound or the Soundlands. Meh, the name it doesn't pack the punch the other village's do. Like, the Firelands or Wastelands or, oh! My favourite: the Skylands."

"Anyway," Sasori trumpeted, interrupting Glut's babbling. "After Glut confirmed Orochimaru was in the Ricelands—Soundlands—whatever that fuck it is— an' 'er location down to the coordinates, I sent in one o' me men, Banri. Bastard's a kiss-arse but fuck me if 'e ain't efficient. So colour me surprised when I sent 'im in approximately a week ago an' I ain't 'eard 'ide er 'air from 'im since. I ain't would'a thought nothin' of it if we ain't talkin' 'bout Orochimaru an' the bastard which'll send me updates if a target so much as farts. I'm thinkin' 'e walked into shit 'e couldn't git off 'is shoe."

"That is where you come in, Zetsu," Pein said, speaking up once the other two men had said their piece. "We have confirmed Orochimaru in the Ri—Soundlands, and the fact that Sasori's mole has gone missing makes me he may've been found out. I want you to go in and investigate. Given the Mayfly, you should be impossible to pick up on. All I want is for you to confirm Orochimaru's presence in the area then get out. I do not want you engaging her in any shape or form. If you are found out: evacuate immediately. A fight with Orochimaru is a fight to the death. Do you understand, Zetsu?"

"Yes, Sir Leader." Zetsu confidently confirmed.

"Good," Pein nodded. "I want you to leave ASAP. Glut, Sasori, stellar job again on finding Orochimaru. You are all dismissed, thank you."

Glut was first to the board the elevator and waiting for Zetsu to do so also since Hiruko was too large to join them and therefore, would have to wait for it to come back up. She had just stepped on and Glut's finger was over the button when Sasori spoke up.

"Oi, woman," 'Woman' was Sasori's newest nickname for Zetsu which wasn't the worst thing he had called her. It was certainly better than 'muppet' or 'donut'. She faced him with a curious gaze. "While in woop woop, if ya see Banri, tell 'im to git 'is arse back to me. I ain't worried er nothin', it's just 'ard findin' dropkicks that'll work fer peanuts."

She confirmed his petition with a nod and with everything said and done, Glut pressed the button, causing the gates to shriek shut and the elevator to chug downwards.

…

The Ricelands a.k.a Soundlands was a beautiful, luscious nation with crystal blue water and fields of fertile soil and rice patties. So, Zetsu couldn't understand why Orochimaru picked to build her capital in the darkest, ugliest part of the nation as Ororchimaru's coordinates given to her by Glut led her into a dark thicket. The ancient trees dominated the sky, obstructing the sun and plunging the region in darkness. If Zetsu didn't have extraordinary night vision, she may need a flashlight just to navigate it. Due to this, she used her Mayfly to operate in the near pitch darkness, remaining underground while tracking chakra signatures which would indicate the proximity of her destination.

Finally, after approximately an hour of blind searching, she picked up on a hotspot of chakra, indicting one or likely more individuals gathered in one area. She headed in the direction of it and surfaced to examine her surroundings. In the distance, she saw bright light crawling up the trunks of a section of trees, definitely not natural either; manmade. She inched closer, swimming through the dirt with her Kekkei Genkai until she heard barking voices echoing through the woodlands paired with the sounds of construction. There was a vantage point in the form of a ledge nearby which she positioned herself on, keeping her flytrap up so to prevent easy identification for the chance of any curious eyes peering upwards.

What she saw below resembled more of a prison camp than a build site; people caked in dirt and tattered clothing using shovels to burrow into the soil while what she presumed to be oddly dressed guards circled behind them with whips and stun batons in hand. She witnessed one person pausing to take a breath and earning a whipping to the back of the head along with screaming to "get back to work!" The lighting were flood lights trained on the dig site and heavy machinery was driving smooth brick and infrastructure into place around the hole. Was this the beginnings of the Sound Village? And if so, where was Orochimaru? She saw no women amongst the slaves and security nor detected any villainous charka signatures she was positive she must have, but she did notice one curiously familiar man shoveling with the other slaves.

He had black, curly hair and dressed a turtleneck undershirt with bandages around his arms, trademark of Sunagakure attire, minus the flak jacket. Zetsu knew Sasori dressed his agents in Sunagakure garb to make them inconspicuous while undercover but recognizable to Sasori himself and other agents. Could this be Banri?

She crept nearer to the edge for a closer look when she heard something behind her; a low, wheezing like that of breathing. Due to her flytrap, she could not turn or look behind her to what it was. Whatever is was though, the chakra signature wasn't human. She kept calm as this not being the first time she had been comprised on a mission and waited for the whatever was behind her to make the first move.

After a minute, she heard a rustling then the slicing of air, indictive of something being thrown or a person lunging. She ducked underground, narrowly avoiding whatever the attack was as she felt the ground overhead shake with the impact. When she materialized behind her potential attacker, she discovered a massive anaconda with its curved fangs embedded in the ground where it had tried and failed bite her. It wrenched back, shaking its head and spitting out the dirt; its glowing, yellow eyes piercing the darkness as it glared at her.

"Volaan," It hissed, flickering its tongue. "Volaan!"

It bowed back making it evident of a second strike incoming, and Zetsu started phasing through the ground again. However, the snake, despite its size, was a lot faster than she could've anticipated. It lashed out, hasping onto her insectivorous plant-like husk and its teeth impaled through its tough flesh, causing fluid to leak out; it's acidic taste failing to frighten it off. It then began coiling its trunk-like body around her and her flytrap groaned as its was strained underneath the snake's colossal strength.

It only lasted a few second before the bamboo-like thickness started to crack under the pressure, translating into real pain for Zetsu. She couldn't go underground as the serpent kept her cemented in place, and she realized she was going to be pulverized if she didn't do something now. So, she made an insane split-second decision—she deactivated her Mayfly. The plastron bleached white and then liquefied into a thick ooze. The intention was meant to be a distraction so she could slip away, and it appeared to be successful. The snake recoiled, spitting out the bitter substance and for a moment, let up on its constricting. Unfortunately, it was just for a moment and before she could dive out of its grasp, it squeezed her again though this time, there was nothing between it and her.

Zetsu wheezed as the oxygen was pushed out her lungs when her chest cavity was asphyxiated and clinched her canines together in pain as hundreds of pounds of physical force was applied to her body; it was like being bearhugged by a hydraulic press. The anaconda chuckled as it flicked her cheek with its tongue.

"Dreh ni krif," It said, giving her an extra wringing. "Hi lost saan." It then wrenched its head back with his mouth agape, fangs dribbling venom as it lined up a strike. It lunged and it was then that Zetsu triggered her Mayfly again.

The flytrap teeth punched through the reptile's body with a wet splash, painting the surrounding soilage a gruesome crimson with blood and tissue and the serpent threw its head back, letting out an agonized shriek which reverberated through the murky timberland. It pried itself off the spines, liberating Zetsu in the process, and violently thrashed against the ground, making it wet and slippery with the blood spewing from the multiple punctures to its writhing body. After a solid minute, the rapid blood loss kicked in and it's jerking diminished into a weak twitching.

"Volaan! Vo…laan…" It howled with its last breath then its head slumped against the grass, eyes greying over as it laid forever still.

Zetsu fell to her hands and knees in the bloodied soil, gasping and gagging for breath. She sat down to take a minute, staring at the dead anaconda and prayed the brief skirmish hadn't notified anyone at the build site to her presence. She soon learned, however, that they were not the ones she should be worried about.

"Volaan?" A raspy voice whispered behind her.

"Volaan!" Another one said beside her.

The forest around her came alive with hushed voices and tens of eyes staring at her, glowing eerily in the darkness.

"Beyn los dilon!"

"Faal volaan kriaan Beyn!"

"Krii faal volaan!"

Suddenly, hundreds of snakes came raining down on her head from where they had been hiding in plain sight; camouflaged amongst the branches and having disguised their presence with the chakra of the trees. She snapped shut her flytrap to hamper any of them from falling inside and blindly to get away. The crawling roots underfoot were also snakes and one caught her leg, making her trip with her heavy Kekkei Genkai bringing her down with a crash.

There was horrid pain in her calf, and she thought she may've pulled it from the fall until she felt a hot, tingling sensation that crept up her leg as if it had fallen asleep. There was a second in her other leg and she clued into the presence of teeth chewing into muscle; she was being bitten. The tingling transformed into a numbing feeling that quickly spread through every inch of her and unexpectedly, her Mayfly began to shrivel and disintegrate into paste. Disoriented, she tried to push herself up to run not that the extra weight was lifted, but discovered she couldn't feel her legs, or anything below her waist, for that matter. Instead, she tried crawling but didn't get far.

A snake bit through the material of her Akatsuki cloak onto her arm, with one latching onto her other arm. She was buried in snakes; big ones, small ones, all biting wherever they could and pumping her veins with burning venom that made her writhe in pain. In seconds, every one of her muscles were paralyzed, leaving her frozen and defenseless on the ground. But she wasn't left to their mercy. Oh no.

It crashed upon her sensitivity like a tsunami smashing inland; a chakra so malicious and black that it made her downright nauseous to the point her eyes watered. The snakes cheered, quivering scales and rattling their tails in chorus. She heard the crunching of soil and opened her eyes to find a pair of impossibly high heel shoes with pale feet and purple, pedicured toes tucked inside standing in front of her. She didn't have the strength to pick her head to see who they belonged to, but she had a feeling; a horrible, terrible feeling.

A handful of what little hair Zetsu had was grabbed and her head was wrenched up to stare eye to eye with the other person; gold into gold. There was a clicking of tongue again teeth, and her hair was let go, causing her to faceplant into the grass. As she laid there, she came an understanding of one thing: she had failed this mission.

"Sir Leader!"

"Zetsu? Has something happened?" Pein immediately to her desperate, telepathic cry. "Zetsu?"

"Sir Leader…I…"

She didn't have a chance to finish what she saying as a stiletto was drilled into her skull and she blacked out.

…

Pain. That was the first thing Zetsu experienced as she came to an unknown amount of time later. Her head was being terrorized by a migraine and everything on her hurt, from her toes down to the roots of her teeth. Just breathing hurt too. As her eyelids blinked open, she found herself in a colourless, concrete room with a single lantern on the ground lighting it; its dull, yellow lighting disturbing her head further and she cast her eyes shut elsewhere.

It was frigid too which lead her to the conclusion she wasn't wearing her cloak but didn't know what could've happened to it. She determined herself on a futon as she felt the fabric on her skin and noticed others screwed to the walls with straw-stuffed pillows and stained, paper-thin sheets. A clinic? Maybe, but why? Why was she alive? Thinking grieved her headache and her eyes fell shut again as she found temporary comfort in the darkness behind her eyelids.

"You're awake?" Someone inquired in a whisper. Her eyes squinted open where she spied a figure standing to her side. She tried picking her head up but was incapable of it as her skull felt like it weighed an anvil. "Here, let me help."

She couldn't object even if she wanted to as she couldn't find her voice and the individual grabbed her arms, using them to pull her up into a sitting position which did horrors for her head. They then tucked the prickly pillow underneath her head so she could lean on the wall. After a minute, the pounding subsided and she opened her eyes, putting a face to the disembodied voice. The first thing she noticed was the black curls. She tried to speak but all that left her throat was a hoarse squeak which dissolved into a dry cough that rattled her.

"Wait, here," The person said, searching the room before producing a water container. The liquid inside having suspicious debris floating it in. "It isn't the cleanest, but it isn't going to kill you. Here."

The canister was pressed to her lips and lukewarm water slipped past and into her mouth. Despite the dirty flavour, she greedily gulped it down like a person stranded in a desert for a week. Once she had swallowed down the last drop, she cleared her throat and observed it to be much more lubricated to permit talking.

"You…" She rasped, moistening her lips with her tongue. "You're…Banri?"

The man, correctly identified as Banri, smiled. "Yes, I am. And you're with the Akatsuki?" Zetsu nodded, a motion she instantly regretted. "I knew it. I recognized your cloak when they brought you in. Did Sasori send you?"

"Sir Leader and…Sasori."

Banri nodded. "That's what I thought since I've never not reported into him. The snakes; the snakes got you too?"

"Yes." Zetsu nodded and cringed. She lifted a hand to cradle her head and felt something wrapped around it which she tugged at but immediately was stopped by Banri.

"Don't!" She flinched, blinking at him as he had his hands up at her though it wasn't in a threatening manner. "Sorry but I bandaged your head. It had a bad gash to it. Thankfully I had bandages though they were a little dirty…and sweaty. Sorry." He said, pointing at the filthy bandaging on his arms, a portion of which had been ripped off.

"It's ok, thank you." She replied, lowering her hand instead to massage her neck which replicated a creaky hinge in a door. As she did, her fingers brushed over the back of it in when she noticed an emptiness. Once she realized what wasn't there, her stomach skydived. "M-My piercing! Where is it!?" She exclaimed, franticly probing the crater in the back of her neck where her chakra rod once was.

"Piercing?" Banri asked. "If you had jewelry on you then the guards took it. Likely to sell it. They took my earrings too." He motioned at the two empty pinpricks in his earlobes.

"N-No! You don't understand! I—"

"Hey!" Both looked over to find a man standing in the doorway, dressed in large poncho with camouflage patterned scarf and headgear that left nothing but his eyes disclosed. "How the fuck did you get in here?"

"I—" Banri tried to defend himself but didn't have the opportunity as the other man was on him and struck him down with a baton, hitting him in the back and making him crumble to his hands and knees.

"Hey!" Ignoring her debilitating pain, Zetsu lunged at the guard and landed on him, knocked them both the ground.

The baton slipped from his hand, skittering across the floor. She jumped off the fallen warden and went for the weapon but before she could snatch it, the man was back up. He slammed her to the ground, causing her head to boomerang off the merciless cement and leaving her briefly delirious with pain as the injury to her head reopened and bled into the bandages. As the guard climbed over her for the nightstick, Zetsu triggered her Mayfly before he could get to it—but nothing happened. She tried again and again, but her physical Kekkei Genkai failed to spawn—not even a seedling, much to her confusion.

As a result, the guard successfully reclaimed his weapon and cocked back his arm to strike her when Banri tackled him. The two men scrambled on the ground over the baton and after a minute of wrangling, the guard came out the winner with the staff in hand. He pulled back his hand to bring it down on Banri's head but once again, was interrupted.

"What is going on here?"

Everyone's eyes instinctively migrated towards the newcomer—a tall, pale woman with silky black hair and dressed to the nines in a violet, bandage dress—that was in the doorway, rapping her bloodied stiletto against the floor, the clicking of it like a haunting melody.

It was Orochimaru.

"L-Lady Orochimaru!" The guard shuttered, pushing himself off the ground to bow to his female superior. "I caught this prisoner in the clinic before his shift ended!" He pointed accusingly at Banri.

"Is that so?" Orochimaru drawled, tapping a claw-like nail to her painted lips as she considered Banri for a second before her cat-like eyes were drawn to Zetsu. "My my, look who has finally woken up."

Zetsu picked her head up and upon seeing the woman approaching her, turning herself over and scrambled backwards from the intimidating woman until her back met wall. All while Sir Leader's cautioning echoed through her head: I do not want you engaging her in any shape or form. If you are found out: evacuate immediately. A fight with Orochimaru is a fight to the death. Orochimaru crouched over the other female until they were eye-to-eye.

"Come now, darling, don't be like that," She whined then smiled, her canine teeth peeking past her upper lip. "Aren't you an interesting, little catch? You put up quite the fight too. You were the one that killed my precious Beyn, weren't you?" Zetsu said nothing as instead, she borderline hyperventilated as the mixture of the pain and the Sannin's maleficent presence made it difficult to breathe. Orochimaru's faux smile instantly fell at her silence. No warning was given for what happened next.

She lashed out at Zetsu with the inhuman quickness of a cobra, grabbing her and picking her while retaining eye level until her feet were kicking empty air. She wrested the rusted bandage from her head and Zetsu, predicting what was coming, held up a hand to shield herself. The purple, feathered boa draped around the older woman's neck twitched, revealing itself not just as a fashion accessory, but an actual snake as the boa picked up its head where it had it tucked in a tuft of its own feathers. It lunged, biting her hand and wrestling it from her face. Orochimaru tapped one of her nails against the side of Zetsu's head where the gash was and Zetsu screamed out in pure agony as it was then tunneled into the lesion like a spade.

"When someone asks you a question, you answer them! Understood?" Orochimaru snarled at her, continuing to carve into the wound with her nail as warn blood streamed down her hand and arm. Zetsu could do nothing but yell in pain.

She desperately kicked at the woman to free herself while her hands clawed at hers but her blunt nails did little to pierce skin and instead left angry, red streaks on her ghost-este complexation. Orochimaru chuckled at her pathetic attempts but finally let her go, throwing her into the stone wall and Zetsu slid down it into a crumpled heap. Banri rushed to her side, tearing more bandages off his arm to plug up the bleeding from the new quarter-sized hole in her head.

"Consider that a lesson learned," Orochimaru publicized, flicking the blood and chunk of skin and tissue out from under her nail before turning to her watchman. "Make sure neither of them has supper tonight for their insubordinates."

"Yes, ma'am." The guard said, gifting her a salute as she walked past to leave before walking over to escort the two to their chambers for the night.

Orochimaru paused in the doorway while petting her "boa". "Oh, and darling?" Zetsu stared at the other woman through the tears hazing her eyes and Orochimaru gave her a sickly-sweet smile. "Welcome to Otogakure—your new home."

…

AN: Oh shittt! I have so been looking forward to writing this chapter and I think you can understand why now. Apologies for the shortish chapter but the next one should be longer as it going to have three days written out and no, it isn't going to get any better for Zetsu, spoilers-not-spoilers. But how? You'll just have to wait for the next chapter and read for yourself!

Translation(s): Volaan: traitor

Beyn: Scorn

…los dilon: …is dead

Faal volaan kriaan…: The traitor killed…

Krii faal volaan: Kill the traitor

Next Chapter: Otogakure.

Until Next Time.