Here's the first chapter with double digits!
I don't own Naruto, and if I did, I would be a rich mofo.
Chapter 10: An Unwanted Situation (Part 1)
I thought I was stuck in hell the moment I closed my eyes. I don't know how the nightmare started, I don't know why I had the nightmare in the first place, and I had absolutely no clue the meaning nor message of the nightmare. I might've if I wasn't fearing for my life in dreamland.
I normally don't get nightmares or even bad dreams simply because I just don't. So the fact that I just had one was really puzzling. Things happened for a reason, and I strongly believed that there was a reason why I had that nightmare. It was trying to tell me something, but I don't know what. Nevertheless, my endless slumber finally came to an end.
I groggily lifted my heavy eyelids as my vision slowly but surely adjusted to my new surroundings. Though I was still extremely tired and groggy, my body felt warm and toasty as if I was wrapped around a big fluffy towel that came right out of the dryer. Ironically, I also felt like I was wrapped by this warm sensation around me. It made me feel both safe and secure; I wanted to stay like this for as long as possible. However, the moment I attempted to adjust my position, comfort instantly turned into confusion and fear. It was then I realized that I wasn't wrapped around in a fluffy towel nor even a blanket. The only thing I could distinguish was warm, toned skin that my arms were exposed to; it hit me that there was a pair of strong arms that enveloped my body. What I also noted was that the warm comforting heat that was ventilating on me came from body heat of another who also happened to be the same other that held me tightly against their chest. Speaking of which, I could hear the hollow, pumping muscle thumping within his chest at a slow, but calming rate.
It came to my attention that this stranger wasn't the only one who enjoyed his embrace on me because I too had my arms wrapped firmly around a torso that was obviously male based on its built and structure. That made me extra anxious because I had no clue what happened during my sleep so I was both curious and worried as to what happened that resulted in me sleeping and cuddling with a male in the same bed. I was scared for the worst though I looked like I woke up the next day from a hangover.
I used my strength to remove one of my arms from under the male's arm and placed it on his chest, attempting to push myself off of him. Unfortunately, it did nothing but earned a tired grunt from the man as he moved a bit in his sleep. I prayed that he hadn't woke up because it would lead to more awkwardness, and it was too early in the morning to deal with that stuff. Then again, it was hard to tell if whether or not it was morning since Orochimaru never considered having windows at all. As my mind slightly side-tracked on that thought, I sensed from the palm of my hand on his chest that the said male's breathing proceeded in a slow pace, indicating that he went back to sleep.
I sighed in relief and laid there for a slight moment. But due to my fatigue, I didn't know the truth until I heard a low voice just above my eyes.
"I see that you're awake…" The man slurred tiredly as he sounded that he was almost half asleep.
The voice was all too familiar to my ears; I knew exactly who I slept with on the exact same bed, who had his arms around me securely, and who held me against his body firmly like a kid with his teddy bear.
"Kabuto…" I breathed out the name of the man whose chest my hand was glued on.
Said person grunted in response, confirming that he was who I claimed he was, which made me both lost and blank minded. What in the hell happened in my sleep that led me to this situation?
"And I see you and I are laying in the same bed…" I countered softly, staring hardly at his manly chest which was clothed by a fitted top.
Kabuto modified his position to make himself more comfortable in which I too moved always due to his grip on me. After settling in the mattress, he huffed out the stress from the physical discomfort as his body relaxed, assuming that he was going back to sleep. However, I could sense that he still remained conscious which led me to speak the first thing that popped in my mind.
"Why in the bloody hell are you in my room, sleeping on my bed?" I questioned in a seething tone, demanding an answer from him.
Though tired, he let out a chuckle, finding both my question and tone amusing to him.
"I should be saying the same exact thing, considering you're actually in my room sleeping on my bed." He briefly implied out of pure amusement.
His answer raised my eyebrow, and he sensed this as he continued on his explanation.
"You're actually not in your room, you're in my room." He clarified in a tired sigh.
My lips parted in disbelief; why was I in four eyes' room to begin with? And mostly importantly, why was I willingly cuddling with him?
"Why the hell am I here in the first place, you pervert?" I growled lowly, blankly staring at his chest.
I was taken aback when Kabuto shifted his position swiftly. He used his grip on me to slide my body upward to the point where we were looking at each other, face to face. The look he gave me: under the tiredness on the surface of his pupils, I saw a glint of admiration and compassion he hid so much. It was those things that he held for me and I knew this because he was being genuine about his emotions, and even though he was a high-ranked spy who hid their emotions like they were never there, I could easily tell through his fake persona.
"Don't point the finger on me for laying my hands on you. It was you who started the cuddling in the first place." He mentioned blankly as his arms remained around me.
I simply blinked at his answer, hiding the fact that I was shocked by his defense and not knowing if I believed him or not.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" I inquired in annoyance.
Kabuto sighed at my rebellion in which fanned my skin and caused my bangs to gain a bit of altitude. It sent shivers down my spine with adrenaline and anxiety.
"I told you before." He reminded as he gave me a hard look. "I have no intention in using your body for my personal pleasure, nor do I ever consider it. I respect you and your limits and I won't dare to touch you without consent."
I repeated the words he said in my mind, trying to read between the lines to see if he meant anything that opposed his explanation.
"Then why do you have your arms around me?" I then questioned more out of curiosity than out of demand as I lowered my gaze.
"It was simply a response to your actions." He answered simply which made me gasp in confusion and shock.
Kabuto interpreted this cue as permission to continue on his explanation, in which he did.
"You were having night terrors and the second you held onto me, you seemed to have calmed down regardless of your nightmare. As much as you want to deny, I knew you needed comfort in which I gave that comfort to you by holding you close to remind you that you were safe." He justified as his eyelid covered the look in his eyes.
A warm, soothing sensation blossomed within my chest by hearing his words. As I didn't want to show nor admit to him that hearing that made me feel somewhat special, I could help but blush lightly and show a glint of appreciation in my eyes.
"Well, I don't know what to say to that exactly…" I muttered gently, I was unsure what words I to use as a response.
Seeing this made Kabuto chuckle entertainingly.
"I'm surprised that you of all people are at a loss of words." He smirked then leaned closer towards me until his forehead rested on my own. "Don't worry about it, I don't expect you to say anything."
With his lips only an inch away from mine made the butterflies in my stomach go crazy, as if they were escaping from flames. However those flames I mentioned was actually the burning feeling in my stomach growing by the minute. Sometimes I hated being a girl who had hyper hormones.
Luckily for me, Kabuto finally released me from his tight but comforting grip and hoisted himself into a sitting position on the edge of his bed. Without saying a single word, he walked over to another door across the room, presumably his closet and walked right into it the second he opened the door as I remained laying on his bed like a sick puppy. The only thing I recalled thinking about was how big his closet was if he could easily walked into it like it was another room.
It had been a while, but the grey haired ninja finally walked out of the huge closet just as silent when he was walking towards it. I instantly noticed that he was no longer in his sleepwear and instead was clothing for the day, and what I meant by that was he wore the same outfit he had on every single damn since the say I met him or even long before that maybe.
"Exactly what happened last night?" I suddenly blurted out the question that bothered me since realizing that I was sleeping with Kabuto in his room.
He turned his attention towards me when he heard my question and he rotation his body until he completely faced me.
"I figured you'd be curious about that so allow me to sum up what happened for you." He offered simply with a small grin.
I was silent on his offer, however I gave him a look that said to please proceed which he gratefully did.
"To be simply put, I was about to go to bed myself when I heard your slurring speech, soft cries of plea, and so on. At first I was curious since it was coming from where your room is located so I decided to investigate. When I arrived at your room, you were crying, talking, begging, slurring in your sleep which I didn't think too much of since I originally thought that you were simply having a nightmare and I tried to wake you up since it was that bad since you were literally shedding tears. But after a couple of attempts, I knew it was more serious than a simple nightmare; you were having night terrors in which you can't wake up from due to your nightmare being very lucid and seem reality."
I remained silent as I listened to every single one of his words.
"As you already know, waking you up from night terrors are dangerous for both you and I since there was a good chance your Uchiha self-defence mechanism would kick in by the sight of an 'intruder' and strike at me which would possibly lead to death. Plus, you would end up having a huge panic attack once you wake up. However, I couldn't just leave you in your room alone because there was also a chance of you sleepwalking, which is also dangerous because God knows what a sleepwalker would do without realization. So my best bet was to bring you here in my room to watch over you and make sure you don't cause trouble for anyone, including yourself. Besides, you looked like you were going through hell in that head of yours and keeping you warm and comfortable helped, didn't it?" He ended his summary of last night with a smirk on his face, waiting for me to say something about the last part.
To be honest, I don't see any reason to lie that he was wrong because I was too tired and fed up not letting four eyes getting the satisfaction.
"If what you're saying is true, then I guess you're right." I shrugged nonchalantly, looking aside.
That reply was enough for the grey haired medic-nin to grin in victory. "Of course, I'm right. No need to thank me."
I scoffed at his cockiness. "Don't pretend you're a hero, four eyes. I never thanked you."
But just between us, I was thankful for what he did regardless his need to rest up as well.
"So, what were you dreaming about anyway?" I heard him ask me out of the blue.
I winced at his question as I blinked up at him.
"Why so curious?" I questioned solidly, crossing my arms.
Kabuto shrugged. "I'm just curious. Barely anything fazes you, and the fact that you were sobbing in your sleep, it must be something big." He hypothesized.
I avoided having eye contact with him because Kabuto always seemed to know me better every single time we were around each other and it got to the point where I felt he was examining me and reading me like a book, a good book.
"Is it about your brother, Itachi?" He guessed in a serious tone although he sounded more like he was sure of his assumption.
I gasped appallingly, stunned that his first guess was literally on the spot. But I refused to say anything because it was bad enough that he had to cradle me like a little kid and sleep with him like a child who slept with his parents because he/she didn't want to sleep alone with a monster or whatever. I folded my arms once again in a defensive matter, being the stubborn person I was. To my dismay, it only made Kabuto smirk at my rebellion.
"Don't pretend that I'm not right." He chuckled in amusement, placing his hands on his hips. "It is about Itachi, isn't it?"
I gritted my teeth as he mocked me.
"Even if you're right, why of all things would you guess that heartless bastard?" I hissed angrily, furrowing my eyebrows.
"Like I just said, barely anything fazes you except for that. The fact that you brother did what he did that changed you forever." He answered calmly, placing a blank look on his face. "Also, I bet you were reliving that night where he killed every member of your clan except you and Sasuke. Except, in your nightmare, he continued every single person you loved and cared about until it was only you. The fact that you couldn't save anyone made you feel guilty, made you feel worthless, made you feel so much you felt nothing but horror and fear. That was why you were begging for mercy, right? For your life and for others which you unfortunately couldn't save."
I unfolded my arms after hearing his prediction of what my dream was about, which he basically hit it right on the nail. I couldn't even correct him or say that he was wrong because he was right and he knew he was right; there was no point in saying he wasn't. I lowered my gaze as my eyes had a new sudden interest on my hands in which they stared immensely at them. After a moment of sulking to myself, I felt the mattress move downward a bit due to more weight being put onto the mattress. A hand magically appeared and gently held my chin which forced me to lift my gaze to look ahead. The first thing I laid eyes on was a pair of dark eyes looking softly back at me. It was after a couple of blinks when I realized it was Kabuto who held my chin and who sat in front of me. I gazed deeply at his eyes where I saw glimpse of empathy and sympathy; his soft look was one of the things that drawn me towards him.
"Don't let your past affect you because whatever happens, happens, and everything happens for a reason. Don't dwell on your past and especially don't dwell on Itachi because he's not worth your time. Just forget about him and move on." He told me solidly but in a compassionate tone.
I could feel my eyes becoming glossy by hearing his heartfelt words. He may sound serious and even irritated, but understanding where he was coming from, he was just looking out for me. I don't know he was or why he should, but it felt good either way.
Said person got up from the bed once again and grabbed what seemed to be a navy blue cloak which he gracefully put on that was twice his size, but that was the point: to make himself not noticeable. The cloak also had an oversized hood that almost covered his entire head with the exception of his face. He glanced over at me as I had a curious look on my face because for some reason he was getting ready to head out which I wasn't aware of. He probably sensed it because he placed a playful smile on his face.
"I'm heading out now. I have some errands to do for Lord Orochimaru, so I'll be back later." He proclaimed beamingly, sounding happy about it for some reason.
I never understood why of all people, the damn bookworm bowed down to that snake.
"Feel free to stay as long as you please, but touch any of my valuables, you will pay for it, okay?" He offered kindly as he gave a low-key threat to me.
I narrowed my eyes at him and I earned a laugh from him then he walked out of the room. Just when he was about to close the door, he stopped to give me a long soft look. I don't know what message he was trying to send but it was too late to ask because he left a moment later, leaving me alone in his room. I didn't know how long I remained sitting on the bed, having my thoughts roam freely in my mind but I got bored so I decided to get out of here. Before I left Kabuto's room, I took a quick look at my appearance to heck if I looked decent enough to not change into day clothes. Satisfied, I walked out of the room and towards my own room which took a while since I had never been in Kabuto's room before, I wasn't sure the directions to take to get from point A to point B.
After twenty minutes of wandering around, I was finally able to locate my bedroom which seemed to be at the other side of the lair from where four eyes usually slept. The minute I walked in, I went straight to my bathroom to brush my teeth and comb my hair. I walked out of the bathroom and decided that I should go to the inside training ground and practice my skills. I had mentioned a while ago that there was nothing for me to train since I basically mastered everything I was required to know from Orochimaru, Kabuto, and even Sasuke. However, when I had nothing to do, I usually go to the inner training ground and practice my taijutsu and stuff like that. I walked out of the room and headed towards the training ground.
I arrived at the inner training ground and the first thing I wanted to do was work on my flexibility and my acro skills. These two components were my favourite hobbies since I was a child; it helped me got through hardships with my family and my father, etc. It was because of this, my taijutsu was very unique, once said by Kakashi-sensei. Thinking about my sensei really made me miss him and Squad 7 as a whole. The good times we had: Naruto and Sasuke butting heads, Sakura with her intense crush on Sasuke, Kakashi reading his pornographic novels, and all the times we ate ramen at Ichiraku. Those were really the good days and the only times I felt like I belonged.
I shook those feelings away as I stood on my hands in a handstand position. I easily walked towards the other end of the room and gracefully flipped forward to land on my feet. I straightened myself and started running across the room, gaining momentum and speed. I then lifted my arms up and brought myself forward, performing a forward aerial which was one of my favourite acrobatic moves. I continued doing a number of more until I stopped in the middle of the room, panting slowly. I then lowered myself into the straddle splits to regain my energy and mentality. I was discouraged by the fact that even doing something I loved wasn't taking my mind off of a certain male. I don't know why because Kabuto wasn't that special to me. I would admit that I no longer hated him, even disliked him for that matter. I actually grew respect for him for his medical interests and his true personality. Even though he had lied and held no remorse for it, I couldn't shake off the feeling that he had no choice but to lie about everything, and that I felt for him.
But what does that mean? Was he just a friend or something deeper?
I huffed out the frustration built within me and placed both of my hands in front of me as I applied my weight on them. It wasn't until a second later when I used my upper body strength to lift myself off of the splits and into another handstand once again. My legs were still separated wide apart, doing the splits in the air. I then brought my legs together in the air into a perfectly straight handstand and I probably stayed like that for a couple of minutes having thought to myself.
It was probably about five minutes later when I heard the entrance door open then closed. I didn't bother checking who it was because it was definitely someone I hadn't crossed paths with and that everyone who I associated with wasn't present in the lair. I kept my eyes glued to the ground and waited for the stranger to speak and state his/her purpose in being here.
"Miss Uchiha, I wish to speak to you." The stranger's voice spoke dull but confidently.
Right off the bat, I knew it was a male by his voice. I also knew right away that he was one of Orochimaru's henchmen which brought an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I never liked Orochimaru's henchmen because they were all the same; weak-minded wimps who had no life but others. Those who were followers and not leaders pissed me off the greatest. Sure it was hypercritical for me to say but I at least try to escape from the snake's orders which failed. On my defense, it was both be a good girl and do what I was told or get executed by the snake and by the words of Kabuto, I actually value my life. My eyes avoided looking at the male because my mind was finally relieved of any stress and whatever he had to say to me would just bring it back.
"What is it?" I questioned in a grunt, clearly expressing that I was no in the mood to be bothered.
He completely ignored my irritated answer I threw at him and continued what he was sent to do.
"Lord Orochimaru wishes your presence." He purposed the invitation from said snake, waiting for my response.
Obviously, I wanted to say no but that was pointless because that definition was never known to Orochimaru even if it hit him in the head. Besides, I was in no mood in fighting anyone right now. Even if I were to decline regardless, I could guarantee this ninja would attempt placing a genjutsu on my or attack me just to force me to go to him. As much as kicking his ass would be quite relaxing, it wouldn't work at my advantage because all of Orochimaru's lairs had built in chakra reserves in the walls that maintained its strength, endurance, and structure from force, energy and such. When Sasuke and I arrived, Orochimaru gave us the heads-up about it and told us that the walls absorbed thirty to fifty percent of our chakra to refill the chakra supply. This ability was also used to locate where each specific person was by using the chakra absorbed from us and made sure that we wouldn't do anything suspicious. If I attempted to attack this person, I would already be low in chakra since these damn walls were absorbing my chakra. Plus, Orochimaru would end up being angered by my actions and if he were to discipline me, I wouldn't be able to defend myself.
Despite all this, it didn't shake off the curiosity of what the snake wanted from me this time because it could be anything when it came to Orochimaru.
"You're assigned to an errand." He answered straight-forwardly.
It wasn't until his last response when I finally glanced at the male who didn't look unique at all to say the least. Like all of the snake's slaves, his face was dull and stoic just as much as both of my older brothers. Difference was that Itachi was simply a heartless person who should just screw himself and Sasuke… well, he was like that his whole life so there wasn't anything to it really.
"What kind of errand is it?" I asked him as I positioned myself with my hands to face him. "And why me of all people?"
"I'm not exactly informed by that detail, however Orochimaru is need of someone who is available and you are the only one who can complete it." He briefly answered, his body completely still with only his lips being the one part that was moving.
I scoffed at his answer and pounced off of the ground from my hands, landing gracefully in a crouching position. "Please. If an errand is the only thing he wants from me, it doesn't make a difference if he asks someone else to do it." I pointed out as I stood on my feet.
"But Lord Orochimaru only wishes you. And he'll continue until you accept." He prompted in a begging tone.
I knew he was persistent because all of them were, and saying no would be pointless. Besides, I guess it wouldn't be too bad to do this "errand" since it seemed to be easy enough and I don't really have anything else to do. I let out a defeated sigh and marched towards the door as I slid past the male messenger.
"Tell him I'll meet him in a moment; I have to get dressed." I told him blankly and left it at that when I left the room, leaving him behind.
'What the hell does that snake what this time?' I thought to myself both in curiosity and frustration, praying that whatever he wanted from me, it was something morally reasonable.
I gave out a small sneeze within the dust I became oddly fond of. I hated being in dusty places because it got in my eyes, irritated my nose and witnessing it as a whole was simply miserable. Why did I accept to do this errand again? Probably because Orochimaru left some significant details until the very last minute. And because of this, I was stuck under the floors of the underground lair inside a cluttered, dark, vast storage room. It looked more like a messy, moist basement to me and that thought made me gag a bit.
"The errand is actually quite simple: locate and obtain two foreign Leaf scrolls inside the lair's storage room underground. I stole them from the Leaf's Sealed Hall for my experiment back when I was jonin there. Since then, I kept it securely in the storage room in case it's needed. Would you be the one to do the honors?" Orochimaru's exact words repeated within my head, resulting a scoff from my mouth.
Damn that snake, of course I had to do the honors. It was either that or death and I couldn't afford to die. Firstly, I had barely heard about the Sealed Hall but I knew it was so dangerous that the village had to put up numerous of seals. Secondly, the reason behind getting the scrolls was still unknown but I didn't care at the same time. I just wanted to find these scrolls and get the hell out of there.
I groaned loudly in frustration; I couldn't seem to find neither of the scrolls and I was getting super impatient. I was ready to scream and bring the whole placed down. Now that I thought about it, a mission wasn't as bad as I thought.
As I rummaged through the clutter and objects in front of me, scouring every single angle, I immediately felt a presence of another behind me and they were slowly moving towards where I stood. However I didn't reacted right away; I waited for the right moment to strike. The second the stranger's hand was hovering behind my shoulder, I turned on my heel swiftly and attacked the intruder behind me. Because it was so dark and there was only a mere light stick lighting up the darkness, I wasn't able to pinpoint the identity of the person. I was currently on top of the figure with me sitting on their back and with one of their arms pulled behind them, preventing any movement. I glared coldly at the back of his head; the situation before and now didn't help with my current mood.
Mostly because the person I was sitting on was someone I wasn't happy to see.
"Dammit, Kabuto. Can you be any more unbearable?" I groaned irritably, showing him how exasperated I was and how much he made it worse.
Kabuto merely chuckled at my annoyance. "I don't know. Can you be any tenser?" He countered jokingly with a smirk despite my weight on his chest.
I could already tell a nerve popped out of my forehead. "It's your own damn fault creeping up behind me like that!" I snapped exasperatedly, pulling his arm back even further.
Kabuto merely grunted in pain and discomfort, then he let out a cocky laugh.
"I'd thought you had already known it was me from the start, turns out I was wrong." He hummed in fake dismay, testing my patience.
I tsked at his smugness. "You jerk, you know that I'm only average at sensory ninjutsu, especially when I'm down twenty percent of chakra!" I snapped, placing my available hand on my hip.
I heard him sigh as he admitted in defeat. "Yeah, you're right."
I blinked at his comment; for once, he admitted that he was wrong in front of my face, just like that.
"The hell? No comeback, no witty comment? Just simply saying that I was right?" I questioned in confusion.
Kabuto did his best to side-glance and look up at me with a smug look.
"If I said something, it will anger you to the point where I'd risk my arms getting snapped into two." He responded simply.
I took offense of his explanation as I spat, "Hey, I'm not that hotheaded!"
He giggled sarcastically at my words. "I didn't say that, you're just implying that I am. What I mean is that you won't hold back in breaking my arm if I said the wrong thing. Besides, you were correct so there's point in amending."
The look on my face changed into a calmer, collected look after he clarified what he said. I guess I had to read more between the lines rather than reacting to what I first-handily hear.
"Can you get off of me now? It's getting harder and harder to breathe." I heard him asked kindly, hearing slight heaves from him.
I nonchalantly stood onto my feet and moved aside for him to get on his own feet. I watched him as he dusted his clothes from being on the dirty floor, which I couldn't blame him; it was dirty in here and needed to be cleaned.
"What are you even doing here, anyway?" I interrogated hardly, narrowing my eyes at him.
Kabuto looked up from his clothing and gave me a simply, dull look.
"Just thought I could give you some company." He hummed cockily, shrugging his shoulders.
I rolled my eyes at his self-boosting comment. "Better than being here all alone." I commented dismissively as I went back to searching for the two scrolls.
"So for the first time, you don't mind my presence? My, how much you've changed, Katsumi…" He analyzed as he sounded impressed; he sounded like a father taking in the fact that his little girl was growing up.
"Do you always state the obvious?" I gritted in irritation as I focused scanning through the piles of crap in front of me.
Kabuto completely ignored my comment and moved his mind onto a different topic.
"Are you looking for something?" He asked humorously, as if he told a funny joke.
However, I wasn't laughing.
I snapped my head to the side, throwing him a deadly glare. "No, I happen to have an interest looking aimlessly at this pile of crap for no reason!" I hissed sarcastically, ready to murder the boy if he got on my last nerve.
"Oh, don't be like that." He pouted playfully at me, cocking her head to the side. "We were getting along better lately…"
"Will you just shut up for once, four eyes!? Stop distracting me!" I snapped perturbingly.
The look on Kabuto's face shifted from smug and cockiness, to offense and displease.
"What's the matter with you, anyway?" He inquired irritably.
I huffed out my frustration loudly and spun towards him, throwing him a fed-up stare.
"Because of you and Sasuke being unavailable at the time, I'm stuck assigned to this stupid errand to find the damn sealing scrolls in a dirty, stuffy, cluttered, disgusting, moldy dump of a storage for God's knows what and I can't find them anywhere, my patience is wearing thin by the second and you standing there, talking like as if I give a damn about what you're saying. All I want is to find the scrolls of hell and get the hell out of here where there's fresher air and I can do my own thing." I ranted aimlessly, taking my frustrations out on the male that I held in since arriving here.
I realized that the grey haired male was awfully quiet; not making a comment at all. I adjusted my focus and turned my attention to something he held out with his hand. Said object made me gasp in surprise; it was one of the sealing scrolls that I was looking for, and now it was there right in front of me.
How in the hell did he found it that quickly and easily? And when?
"That's—."
"Yep, one of the two sealing scrolls from the Sealed Hall." He confirmed smugly, throwing a grin in the mix.
"When the hell did you find it? And so fast too?" I questioned in awe as my eyes were glued to the scroll, one of the tickets to get out of the dump.
"When you were sitting on me. I noticed this stuffed under there when I was at ground level." He answered as his index finger pointed downward in which my eyes followed.
I could instantly see a pile of whatever and a small tunnel-like whole made with the stuff and floor, hinting that the scroll was sitting there the whole time.
"Well, at least I'm one more scroll away from getting out of here." I shrugged nonchalantly, turning around and continued searching for the second scroll.
I heard Kabuto sigh in disappointment as if I was oblivious to something which I wasn't sure of what exactly nor that I really cared. But his next words stopped my track a bit.
"Why won't you just use your Sharingan to locate it? It'll make it a lot easier and save up a lot of time." He suggested in bore.
I glanced over my shoulder at him, giving him a dull but questioning look.
"How can I? The Sharingan can only detect chakra, not the object itself." I pointed out.
"That's why you should use your Sharingan." He repeated himself, this time in an encouraging tone.
I gasped at his words and rotated myself until I was completely facing him once again as I waited patiently for him to continue.
Kabuto rolled my eyes at me. "The sealed scrolls Orochimaru requested from you? They have forbidden sealing jutsu sealed within them with a chakra-covered seal to keep it in tact from reacting to chakra from another source. Which is why they're considered dangerous and heavily sealed within the Sealed hall in the first place." He clarified simply, giving me some insight on these scrolls.
Immediately I caught on to his proposal earlier.
"And since there's chakra on the scroll, my Sharingan should be able to locate it somewhere here, right?" I hypothesised.
Kabuto smirk stretched wider. "Took you long enough to connect the dots." He mused.
I narrowed my eyes at his smugness. "Go jump off a cliff, already." I hissed in annoyance as I turned away from him.
As Kabuto watched from the background, I activated my bloodline's jutsu, the Sharingan, and started scanned my surroundings. After a minute of finding nothing, I immediately thought this was pointless and a waste of chakra in my part. Then, I found a chakra within the deep pile of large items. I focused my chakra to my eyes to clear out what was in front of me in which I gaped in victory; it was the second scroll sitting on the floor behind a tall pile.
"I guess you found it, didn't you?" I heard Kabuto from behind, feeling him smirking behind me which I couldn't care less of.
"Yeah, it's behind that pile over there." I replied as I pointed towards a pile in front of me.
"And how will you be able to retrieve it?" He questioned in amusement.
I shot him a sharp look. "Simple. I'll climb up this pile and grab it myself." I answered broadly.
A grey eyebrow was raised by my plan. "That won't be easy considering the height of it." He critiqued.
I shrugged as I suggested, "Then hold onto my legs so I won't fall in."
Kabuto looked as if he was slapped in the face so suddenly and blanked out like his mind couldn't register what had happened and how should he react to it. I didn't see a reason why he acted so weird all of a sudden.
"Kabuto?" I called him, snapping him out of his trance. "Can you not look like a ghost?"
Kabuto shook his head then he bowed his head apologetically. I sighed and then I turned my attention towards the tall pile which I used a bit of my chakra to jump on top of it. I carefully rotated and reached my hand downward to Kabuto in which he got the message and took my hand, gripping it tightly. Using my strength and with the help of his chakra control, I was able to pull Kabuto up on top of the pile. He nodded thanks for my help in which I simply dismissed.
"I'll go head and try to get that scroll while you hold onto me so I won't fall in and get stuck in there." I purposed the plan, immediately taking charge.
Kabuto nodded, accepted my request and I went ahead to slowly slide into the tight spacing between the wall and the pile of God knows what. As I carefully went into the hole to reach for the scroll, Kabuto did what he was told and held me from falling in and getting stuck by grasping both my ankles tightly. With this assurance, I continued to stretch the best I could to grab the scroll which felt like it was so close yet so far away from my hand. This increased my frustration and slid down even more to the point where the male who was preventing me from falling in scooted closer towards the small but deep spacing. After what it seemed like years, the scroll was grasped tightly in my hand which I let out a sigh in relief.
"I got the scroll. You can pull me up now." I told him as I waited for a response.
Though he didn't respond, Kabuto did however started yanking me ankles, slowly helping me out of the tight hole. He then went so far to wrap his arms around my waist and pull me even further until I was sitting upright on my knees. I breathed out loudly from refusing to breathe while in the hole; I didn't know what kind of smell the junk carried and I didn't want to be the first one to find out. I studied the second sealing scroll carefully which had the label "forbidden" written on the outside just like the first scroll that Kabuto found. Now that I located both scrolls, my errand was officially over.
Once that thought flew out of my mind, it was then I realized that Kabuto still had his arms around me; I knew he had to pull me out of that space, and I was no longer in it. So why was his arms still around me?
I placed my hand on his forearm and gripped it firmly.
"Sometime this year will be much appreciated." I sarcastically claimed, sounding a bit annoyed and impatient.
Kabuto let out a cocky chuckle. "Just making sure you don't fall back in that predicament, princess." He defended with a sly smirk.
I rolled my eyes as he granted my wish and let me go from his hold. I dismissed the look Kabuto gave me and hopped off of the tall pile as he did the same. I picked up the other scroll Kabuto located earlier and placed both sealing scrolls securely in my pouch. At the same time I was doing so, I walked towards the wall that was closest to the door above me. There was once a ladder there, but due to its poor condition it broke apart just before I stepped foot in the room. So instead, I focused my chakra to the bottoms of my feet and easily walked up the wall, towards the door. Once I was close enough, I held the knob solidly and attempted to force the door open with my strong grip. To my obvious unfortunate, the door wouldn't budge. I tried to open it again harder this time, but the damn door still wouldn't open.
"The door is stuck." I huffed out exasperatedly as I continued attempting to open the door, which I failed every time.
"What do you mean?" Kabuto questioned; he sounded as if he didn't understand what I just said.
The nerd's oblivion forced my patience to decrease until there was none and I showed this by throwing him a cold glare from above.
"What do you mean 'what do I mean?' The door's stuck and I can't open it! How else am I supposed to say it for you to understand?" I snapped irritably as I narrowed my eyes down at him.
"Let me try." He offered presumptuously with his smirk.
With a shrug, I hopped off of the wall as I dismissed the chakra on my feet and I gracefully landed on the ground. Kabuto then went ahead and did the same strategy that I tried and walked up the wall towards the door. I studied him as he used his strength to open the door which didn't help at all. Seeing my difficulty, he carefully made his way down and threw me a grin.
"Seems to me that you weren't kidding." He confirmed.
I furrowed my eyebrows at his calmness that shouldn't be there because we were stuck in the depths of dump and darkness and we couldn't get out.
"Of course, I wasn't kidding, nerd." I grumbled at him, containing my anger.
Dismissing my urge to rip him into pieces, Kabuto shook his head at me and glanced up at the door as he spoke.
"By the looks of it, the hinges are rusted pretty badly to the point where they aren't able to rotate. And the button that opens the door is jammed, which makes it even harder to move the door even just a little bit. And there's possibly other stuff that might contribute to it but I'm not sure yet." He briefly explained the situation to me as his eyes were glued to the door.
Hearing all of this raised an eyebrow on my part.
"How do you know all that, anyway?" I questioned hardly, wanting an answer out of him.
Kabuto sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he gave me a nervous look, which raised my suspicion even more. "Well you see, I was assigned to fix the problem for some time now by Lord Orochimaru and I never really got around doing it." He confessed shyly.
I wasn't too sure if he felt embarrassed about forgetting to fix the door, or he was just being sarcastic just to piss me off. It didn't matter to begin with since I was pissed off anyway.
"You four-eyed idiot! Because of you, we may never get out of here!" I spat angrily at him, which didn't really faze him that much.
"Not necessarily." He corrected with a smirk. "Well, at least until someone from the outside opens the door and lets us out."
Hearing this didn't make me feel any better. If anything it made me feel worse; there was no telling how long it would take until someone freed us from the storage room of hell.
"Do you have any idea how long that will take until that happens? It'll be much easier if we just break our way through the door by force." I hissed in frustration, folding my arms.
Kabuto sighed at my anger. "That won't help the situation at all. The door is built with a strong and durable material that rarely anything can make a scratch on it, so we can't use our jutsu to break it open since it's pointless and we'd be just wasting chakra." He justified briefly and glanced up at the door.
"Plus, even if we were able to somehow destroy it, I doubt Orochimaru would be pleased." He added lowly, earning a scoff from the likes of me.
"Like I give any sort of damn about that." I commented venomously, irritated by the fact that I was stuck in this dark stink whole with the likes of Kabuto.
Out of everyone I had known and everyone in this world I could've been stuck in a dark, claustrophobic place with was Kabuto Yakushi, the one and only bookworm that had been a thorn on my side the second I laid eyes on him.
This was going to be a long day, indeed.
And that wraps up Chapter 10 and also, the first chapter of this situation. Can't wait to post the next chapter because it's going to be good. Or at least, I think it's going to be good.