"M-m-m-monster!" The woman screamed, her eyes full of fear.
I sighed. "Ma'am. Please sit still." I sat on her leg to keep her down, and she tried using the other one to kick me off. It didn't have nearly enough force to hurt me, but it was annoying all the same. "This will go a lot faster if you just cooperate."
"Get off me! Please! I have a family!" I just nodded at her, letting the green on my hands melt into the friction burn on her shoulder.
The civilian woman had fallen from somewhere after she was pushed away from a blast, landing roughly on her right shoulder. I was currently attempting to heal her, but she really wasn't making it easy for me.
Then again, maybe it's to her advantage. Compound fractures in her clavicle, acromion, and humerus bones should have been pretty painful. If anything, all this frenzy had kept her adrenaline up enough to not feel the pain. Hmm. Maybe that's another potential use for Emblematic Pride. Could be worth a shot, in a pinch maybe.
The Mystical Palm Technique did not like all this moving around, though. Especially for breaks in this many places. It was like trying to play cat and mouse, except you had to perform surgery on the mouse.
"Ma'am please—"
"Noooo! Noooo!" She screamed, fairly dramatically I might add. Alright screw it.
"Bestial Illusion: Doddering Haze."
She stopped resisting, staring off into space instead. Much better. I got to work undisturbed, and a few minutes afterwards stood up and snapped her out of the genjutsu.
"I mended all the breaks in the bones, and some of the more egregious tears in the muscle. Even took care of the friction burn, but honestly I still recommend you use your right side as little as possible for the next week. If aches still persist after two weeks, I suggest you consult a physician, or whatever equivalent you have here in Hot Springs. All in all, I'd say you're free to go ma'am." She looked at me as if she was still under illusion. I waved in front of her face. "Did you hear me? I said you're free to go."
She blinked a few times. Then, completely wordlessly, scurried away, her eyes on me the entire time. Weirdo.
"Are you sure you should be standing up and using jutsu like that, Arata? You got hurt pretty badly." Tetsuo asked from behind me. He was wiping off some of the blood on his hands with a cloth.
I smiled at him. "I trust your work. And besides, I've only done a few, much more than you did."
The battle had ended about half an hour ago, ending in sound defeat for the yakuza. Really, as soon as Orochimaru showed up it was over for them. We had kept a few people still alive for questioning later (Orochimaru had them swallowed by snakes. Not a pleasant sight), but for now we had to deal with the aftermath. We had to go around healing everyone that needed healing. It was a little off putting having Orochimaru willingly helping us, but his expertise was greatly appreciated. Especially for our first time using these jutsu on a mission.
Team Eleven had all suffered some type of injury. The worst case being Anko, who had a nasty break in her leg, and another few slashes in her side. Luckily, nothing that we couldn't take care of. She won't be fighting for the next two weeks at least, but it's better than nothing. Hayama was mostly fine thanks to his armor, but he did have a sprained ankle that was fixed easily. Aimi didn't have any injuries. Or, well, it's more accurate to say that she healed them herself.
Turns out the Shikotsumyaku is not actually the ability to control the bones and use them in combat, (everyone from the Kaguya clan could do that) but rather to heal from the damage it leaves in its wake, granting her an unnaturally strong resistance to flesh wounds. It wasn't Wolverine-like, able to come back from bullets to the brain or anything, and if she ran out of chakra it was pretty much game over, but it was still really impressive.
"It doesn't feel right." Tetsuo said. His gaze was on the woman I just healed. We could still see her on the horizon, a little blob, still looking backwards at us.
"What doesn't?"
"All these people. I healed them, but they were still terrified of me." He held his hands together and squeezed. "Some of them ran away before I could even start to help them. And then chasing them felt… wrong."
Well, that's not really surprising. We did just blow up a street and a half in combat out of nowhere. I would be scared too, if that were me. But that's not what Tetsuo needs to hear.
"You did the right thing. That should be enough." I put a hand on his shoulder. "Really, the fact that that's an option to us should be cause for celebration." To be honest, I fully expected Orochimaru to take us all back to the Hashiji estate after we finished healing each other, instead of helping us deal with injured civilians. Still, we're heading into war, and there will be a lot of cases where people get caught in the crossfire that we wouldn't be able to do anything about. Nothing at all…
"It doesn't feel like it's enough." I enveloped my arm around to hug him instead, and he leaned into me. "I don't like this feeling. Everywhere we go, the only thing we do is cause destruction."
I couldn't say anything to that.
We stayed like that for a while, watching the people in the vicinity take detours around the damaged areas.
"Hey guys! Aimi and Orochimaru-sensei are back." Ayame projected from the other side of the street.
Aimi looked dead on her feet, a bunch of scrolls and papers in her arms. Her regeneration did her no favors for her stamina. Orochimaru had a similar load of books in his, looking none the worse for wear. "We have collected all the pertinent physical intelligence from the base that we could find. I have sealed off the entrance, for perusal later, but for now, I think it best to return to the Hashiji estate and leave the rest for tomorrow." He glared at me specifically, and I tried not to jump out of my skin. "I will expect a full report on what exactly happened tomorrow morning as well. Are all of you, bar Anko, fit for perambulation?" I don't actually know what that means.
"Walking." Tetsuo clarified for us. We all oohed and murmured our assent.
Orochimaru pulled out a scroll and sealed his and Aimi's stacks into it. Next, he picked Anko up from where she was laying next to Hayama and put her on his back. "Come on then. We must be leaving now." Anko sort of squirmed on his back, trying to get more comfortable and lacing her hands together over his neck.
….I realized everyone was walking ahead of me and jogged to keep up.
Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin, was somehow the only responsible adult we have in this whole country. Orochimaru, the guy with possibly the longest list of moral boundaries crossed in the series, was taking care of us.
What is my life?!
"Arata are you okay?" Aimi asked. Her eyes were barely open.
"No. No I am not."
"Mmm." She hummed, probably not processing that.
It's fine. I wasn't either.
Orochimaru P.O.V.
"And is there anything else he cared to divulge?" The question directed more so to Arata than the yakuza boss whose intelligence he was debriefing.
His eyes, briefly, swiveled to Yaketsuku. "No, sensei. Nothing else. Somehow he instantly knew to expect that Mai had been followed back to the base, just from my physical description, suggesting he's very familiar with Yugakure's upper ranks." Arata finished.
"Good. And how is Anko's condition?" I asked him.
Arata shrugged, his gaze flickering to Tsunade this time, who was trying very strongly to impress upon us she was not part of this meeting at all. "She's mostly fine. Right back to being loud. Can't walk without assistance, but that's to be expected."
"I see. And, in your professional opinion," My gaze rested firmly on Tsunade's, who's own was looking out a window. "Do you think she is viable to complete ninjutsu training in this state? Nothing physically strenuous, of course."
"Well, if I wasn't the professional, she'd be right as rain by now." Arata didn't hide his glare from Tsunade as she checked under her nails for dirt. "But yeah, that should be doable. Her chakra isn't back to full, but through the day she'll get there eventually."
"Thank you Arata. You're dismissed." I'll be making a note to have another briefing with him in private for the near future. His distrust of Yaketsuku was not subtle. He had not even reported on the hostages I stored through my snakes. If it weren't based on some modicum of possibility that he could be a variable, I'd have to report him for such behavior. I, naturally, also did not tell Yaketsuku we did as such.
"That was certainly enlightening." Yaketsuku said as soon as Arata was out of earshot, despite the privacy seal. "I think, in the wake of this new information, I'll have to change my plans around as well. The Yugakure nin are doubtlessly implicated now, meaning the entire lot is now untrustworthy."
Mmm. "Do you suggest we eliminate them? Keep them from worsening our position?"
Yaketsuku shook his head. "No. That would cause more problems than it would solve. The public's perspective would label us oppressors, and then we would either have to force them to work with us, or watch them rebel."
Yes, of course. Not a serious avenue to be explored. We would need the civilian population on our side if we were to set up a base here. Ninja are many things, but builders they are not. But, the question, Yaketsuku, wasn't for your answer, but for your response.
If Tsunade's suspicions, (which she somehow passed down to her team) are well founded, lightly probing him like this shouldn't be a harm if he does turn out to have unsolicited hands in pies.
"Either way, this will set back quite a few plans I have with not only the local carpenters, but other contracts I'm in the middle of setting up. This is not going to be pretty." He said, not a mote of change in his expression. He left the room with a nod to the both of us.
I did not envy his position. Considering I have to deal with the fallout of Yugakure's underhanded dealings, I do not cherish mine either.
But, why not one more cart before the horse? Sensei can wait. "Tsunade. How has your search come along?"
She finally divulged her attention back to the land of the living. I could interact with her now. "I found a guy. He's dead now. I need you to see what you can salvage from the body."
"You fought someone?" I asked. That would mark a significant improvement on her condition.
She cursed under her breath, then sighed, rubbing at her hands. "I washed my hands in the river thirty six times." Her breathing started to shallow. "The day of, and then the next. I can't get rid of the sensation, Orochimaru. It's driving me insane!" She was well above shouting upon conclusion, and I was silently thankful for the privacy seals.
Her teeth grit together so harshly the clash was audible, her nails threatening to dig into her skin. I hesitated, but then slowly reached out for her hands. Cannot believe I'm having to do this. "Tsunade, look at me." She didn't. I shook her. "Look at me." She did. "You are clean. Do you understand? You are clean. You are in control. You are making progress, and you are finding out the truth. That is all that matters at this moment. Now, control your breathing. Focus. Focus on what matters now."
Slowly, ever so languidly slow, she calmed. I let go of her arms. "I—thank you, Orochimaru. I'm good now. I think."
I averted my gaze. "Yes, well. Do not attempt to go into a state like that again. We are very clearly in hostile territory now. The likelihood that you will see combat again is high." If an incident were to occur where she would stand still as the enemy cut her down, having no courage to lift the restrictions on the seal on her forehead, she would fall like any other kunoichi.
"Yes, yes alright." She waved at me, back into her standoff-ish persona, pushing a scroll into my hands. "Here's the guy. Be quick about it please. I don't have all day."
A smirk breathed easily on my lips. "And here I was under the impression that you had no other responsibilities." I opened the door and deactivated the privacy seal. "I'm going to be taking the morning hours to teach my genin." A pointed statement. She knows what I'm doing. It would do her good for her to do the same. "We will see about an autopsy later."
"...Whatever." She grumbled.
And so I went around the relatively tiny estate looking for my students. What I found was actually quite curious. Each member of my team was with another member of Tsunade's, all individually coupled together.
I had realized, over the course of our joint training sessions, that they had familiarized themselves with each other fairly well by now, but there were new developments on display now. Perhaps, sharing one or two near-death experiences did serve to strengthen the bonds, but the way they manifested shed some new light into their characters. To be honest, I've had relatively little in terms of down time throughout this mission, having spent most of my time at the Ninja Station, so I contented myself with watching and gathering observational data for a little bit.
The first pair I found were Hayama and Tetsuo together, playing a game of hanafuda. They both had decks with different designs on them, and they were apparently alternating which ones to play together. They were mostly silent as they did so.
The second pair I found were Aimi and Arata, sitting next to each other on the bed, comparing texts between them. From what I garnered, they were working on jutsu creation. They spoke in hushed tones, conversation generally on the subject matter, until one of them let a joke slip past, and the other played off of them. Then they would get back to the subject, only for one of them to make another jest, like an infinite loop.
The third pair I found were Ayame and Anko, who contented themselves with trading stories. With great volume. I could hear them from the building over. They spoke quickly, barely leaving room for each other to breathe as they zipped past conversational topics. Curiously, they did not once mention the mission. Anko was sitting up in her bed, and although she made many motions to try, she did not once stand.
There was one party member missing, however. "Hey. What's in that notebook?" The dog, who's name I believe is Shiromaru, asked as I sat down for a tea break. Narrowed red eyes met my curious gaze evenly. He was the only one who had noticed my clandestine data gathering so far. I was impressed. Very few people could find me if I truly took the effort to hide.
"You've said it yourself. It is a book. That contains notes."
The dog rolled its eyes. Mmm. I was not aware that canines could safely perform such an action. Then again, my sample size regarding Inuzuka ninken has always been frustratingly low. Like most clans, they like to keep their scientific endeavors in-house. To my great jubilation, of course.
"Yeah, okay then. What are you taking notes on?" It has been told to me on a few occasions now that Inuzuka ninken resemble their partners in many ways. They see and hear and feel the same things their human counterparts do. Clearly, that was a lie. This one feels none of the badly hidden trepidation Arata does in my presence.
"You." One of his ears jumped. "You're a very interesting specimen. Is the red colouration in your irises a mutation or an intentional evolution? Or perhaps a part of a technique?"
"Nice deflection." It was not a deflection. "I'm assuming it's a mutation. No, it's not intended for anything. That I'm aware of anyway. What's in the notebook?" I took a sip of my tea.
Mmm. Would exposing the data in its current form corrupt the integrity of it? No. He doesn't seem the kind of individual to share it. This one would more likely help me instead. I showed him the notes I had been taking.
"You're keeping a profile on us? All of us?"
"That is one way to describe it, yes. I find that often, the best way to understand a person is to write down what you have observed from them. It is easier to interact with someone when you can understand them from a more analytical standpoint than normal human interaction permits."
He blinked. And blinked again. "You must have been bullied a lot, huh." Not… the usual reaction I get when I inform people of this habit.
"Yes, I have. When I first started the Academy, I lost more than one notebook just like this to a meanspirited child. I was an orphan, so I had no money to replace them. Suffice to say, by the end of the year, they were giving me their notebooks instead." Those are bittersweet memories. Not many of those children made it past the last war. I took another sip of my tea.
"Wow. Mr. Bigshot decided to fight back then?"
I smiled. "That's certainly a word for it."
He shivered. "Remind me to never get on your bad side."
"Mm. Wonderful. You could start, perhaps, by gathering my team for me outside in the garden." I stood up, cleaning up the supplies I had used for my tea, watching Shiromaru make his way out of the small kitchen, getting up to do just that.
"Wait. Does that mean I'm on your bad side?"
Just like he promised, he had gathered my team on the outstretches of the garden, away from the flowers or any other type of sensitive flora that would obstruct my teaching. I had pulled up a stool from the garage and waited for them there. Surprisingly, or perhaps should I say unsurprisingly, Team Twelve had tagged along for the ride.
"Good morning, children. Unfortunately today's instruction will only be useful to my team." It would likely further complicate their relationship with Tsunade if I decided to give this to them as well.
They all collectively shrugged and huddled up into a group in the back, not before Ayame delivered a hopping Anko closer to my feet. Seems they're going to stay then.
"What I am sharing with you today is this." I bit through a bit of skin from my thumb, letting the blood flow. "It is a type of space-time ninjutsu. One of the most frequently used, but also least understood types. Watch the hand signs closely." I performed them slowly, for them to memorise.
Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu." With the slam of my palm on the ground, black sealing engravings skittered through soil, eventually exploding in chakra smoke.
A large white snake unravelled itself, at least six meters in length. "Orochimaru." It hissed. "It has been more than a decade since you have summoned me." Amber eyes peered at me curiously. "I assume there is a valid reason for the break in routine?"
"Orihime. It has been quite a bit, yes. If you'll look to your right, you'll know exactly why I summoned you here."
"Sooo coooool!" Anko wondered at the creature, with good reason. Orihime's white scales not only glistened, they also reflected sunlight. They are meant to be shown off, in contrast to many other types of snakes.
Orihime faced the three children sat in a line, staring at her. Hayama was openly gaping. "You've finally acquired students of your own then?"
"Yes." That was about the furthest I wanted to divulge into that topic. "Do you think they are ready?"
Orihime carefully guided her now glowing eyes over them, assessing. "They are still young, and won't be able to summon much, certainly not anyone with sentience."
"But enough to protect themselves?" Orihime stopped in realization.
"Ah, yes of course. Presuming they can control them, they should be able to summon at least one creature powerful enough to protect them. Much more than that, I'm afraid not."
"That is all they need for now." She nodded.
"I assume you will want the summoning contract then?" She didn't wait for an answer, expelling the Summoning Contract from her stomach. In the back, Team Twelve visibly winced at the process. My team, used to such displays, did not react at all.
Laying the contract down for them to see, I unrolled the contents. There were various different names listed before mine, but none of them I recognized. I had researched them, but none were of enough note to be listed anywhere besides a registry. Further in, I would probably find more interesting people, but records from before the Warring Clans Era are sparse at best. I would find no one I recognized.
"You sign your full name here, in blood." I pointed at the empty spaces. "Then, you leave your fingerprints as the mark of your summoning."
I spent some time showing them how to open up a wound on their thumb that would only bleed, but not injure. I ended up healing several terrible attempts. Only Aimi had any experience with scrolls like these, so covering bases like this was important.
"I think I got some in my eye." Hayama murmured, blood indeed in his eye.
"—rashi…Anko. Plop! So what now?" Anko asked. Her hand was a mess of red. Thankfully, none of it spilled onto the contract.
"I will be taking the scroll back. I wish you luck in producing adequate summoners out of them." Orihime said.
"Thank you." I said. "Tell her that she might be expecting new students soon as well."
"Already?" She couldn't hide the surprise from her tone.
"We think in days, she thinks in years. Soon means soon for her, of course."
"Yes, naturally." She swallowed the scroll back up. "I will make sure to pass on the message, Orochimaru." And then she promptly unsummoned herself.
"Does this mean we get to use snakes now?! Teach us Sensei, teach us!" Anko's volume increased back to normal levels as soon as Orihime left. "Oooh I'm gonna summon a big one! Like a boa! And then have them strangle people!" She hobbled over to me on one leg and proceeded to hug me. "Thank you Orochimaru sensei! I'll treat them real nice!"
Aimi walked over and hugged me as well. "And what is this for?" I asked.
"Your emotional support hug for the day." She said, nuzzling into my elbow.
"As you can see, I am already being hugged." She responded by gripping tighter.
"I'm joining too." Hayama, likely feeling left out, joined the group. "Thank you for the snakes sensei."
"Yeah. Thanks." Aimi added. I could just feel the gratitude just rolling off of her.
"Arata, can I have a hug?" Tetsuo asked.
"Sure." Arata said.
"Ooo! Ooo! Me too! Can I have one?" Ayame oooed.
"Sure." Arata said.
"Can I have a hug too?' Shiromaru asked.
"Uh, no." Arata said.
About twenty minutes later, they had thoroughly exhausted their chakra reserves. I explained to them the general theory when it came to summoning, but the Kuchiyose no Jutsu was a largely intuitive technique, meaning using it effectively came down to practice, and solely practice.
Only Anko had really managed to summon anything that wasn't a cracked egg or a dead infant. She had summoned a small blind snake. She almost fainted at the sight. ("Aaah! Is that a worm?!" "No. Upon closer inspection, you can clearly see the head an—" "Kyaaa! Get it away from meeee!")
Aimi, not used to being outperformed by her agemates, sent her an envious glare for the rest of the training session.
Hayama on the other hand, still couldn't properly get the bloodletting right, so he didn't even get to summoning.
As is obvious from that description, training was a disaster. But I expected it to be. It was only the precursor to the primary reason I made them sign the contract this early.
"As you've seen so far, animal summons are currently outside of your realm of possibility, so what I will do instead, is grant you mine."
I took out my sealing equipment and unrolled the sleeve on my right arm, a seal in the shape of a snake on my shoulder. Discharging some chakra from said point caused the seal to move and open, launching a snake from it at battle-adjusted speeds. Sensing no near threat, it instead coiled around my arm and surveyed the area.
"This is one of my genetically altered specimens, optimized for battle with other shinobi. It's main attributes include improved eyesight, larger fangs, and more potent poison. It is also considerably larger and faster than the species it was based on, as are almost all of my personal snakes." There is naturally more detail to be shared, but inundating them with such information isn't necessary towards utilizing their strengths. A second serpent came out of the seal, much calmer this time. "These are Shingeki snakes. They specialize in ambush and close quarters combat. Their venom can kill a man in just under thirty minutes utilizing a neurotoxin that induces paralyzation, making your target easier to kill."
Anko was staring at them with stars in her eyes, making grabbing motions. She was clearly eager. Hayama already had a notebook out, taking notes on what I'd said and making observations. Aimi… she was staring at the seal.
That's not going to be a problem, is it?
"The second snake," A different specimen came from my arm. It had a greener tint, and it's eyes were much smaller. It's body was also much larger than the others, covering me almost entirely. "Is a Tate snake. It is based off of a cobra design, it's hood elongated and reinforced to absorb damage. Nothing short of an A-rank assassination jutsu would be able to jeapordize the structural integrity of the snake's body."
"Umm.. Sensei…" Hayama said. "How are you going to give us these snakes? We can't summon them on our own."
"Mmm. You are correct in that line of questioning. The seal on my forearm here is not directly tied to the summoning realm from which the regular snakes come from. These are from a lab facility I have constructed outside Konoha, where I perform more… volatile experiments that would cause problems to Konoha's security if performed there. I have housed a veritable menagerie of snakes at the Facility, constantly breeding and growing, maturing to become weapons for my use." It was much more expensive keeping my own supply of snakes, but it also meant that I could do regular modifications on them without worrying about supply.
"Woah…" Anko marveled. In the background, Arata shivered.
The snakes retreated back into the seal, returning it to its previous state. "Since the seal summons them from the Facility instead, it costs much less chakra to perform. But, since they are ultimately based on the Kuchiyose technique, I had you learn to perform that first before engraving the seal onto you."
"You're gonna be tattooing us, sensei?" Anko asked. Aimi's eyes swiveled from the seal to Anko.
"No." Well, essentially. The seal is technically permanent. "I am going to be engraving the seal on your skin, so the only activation hurdle is sending chakra into it and focusing on which species you require."
"Cooool. Ooo! Me first! Please, sensei?" Anko hurriedly raised her hand, as if she were in class.
"Sure."
And so, I placed the seal on both Hayama and Anko with little problem. They both immediately hurried to activate it, forgetting to control the measure of how the snakes would come out of their forearms. They both fell over in shock when Tate and Shingeki snakes leapt out of their shoulders, ready for battle.
I moved to place the seal on Aimi as well when I noticed her entire body seemed to be shaking. Her eyes were unfocused, and her breathing turned shallow. Is this a panic attack? Should I wait for her to regain her bearings first?
"Aimi, whenever you are ready, I will be placing the seal on your right forearm, opposite your dominant hand."
There was no response. The other children present cottoned onto her growing panic. Now, how to de-escalate this…
Arata. P.O.V.
"N-No. No. I'm not— No. No." Aimi murmured. Her chakra was rumbling, building up erratically.
"Is she okay?" Ayame asked, worried.
"Hah. Definitely not." Tetsuo said, voice low. "I can't imagine what that must be like, living under them." His eyes were dark.
"Huh? Oh…" Ayame caught on, biting the inside of her cheeks.
Aimi's chakra started expanding outwards, touching the outer layer of her skin.
"No. No. Get— No. N—"
'Her tenketsu!' Shiro realized, taking steps back.
"Get away from her! Now!" I shouted. I Shunshined over to Anko, grabbing her before a chakra explosion decimated the area around Aimi.
The impact from the chakra against the ground threw rock and soil and sand into the air, obscuring our view. A terrifying ripping sound of chakra tearing against solid stone marked Aimi's exit from the scene, the Body Flicker leaving excess energy behind.
I dropped Anko a safe space away and met eyes with Orochimaru. For the first time since I had known him, he wore a surprised expression.
"I'm going after her!" He nodded, mutely. I was already gone.
Chasing after her scent was thankfully fairly easy. In the troubled state of mind she was, she clearly wasn't thinking about scent blocking. Although, she was covering a whole lot of ground. She went in through the inner city, then through the central plaza, past the Ninja Station, then almost seemingly on her way back to the Estate, only to take a hard right out. It looked like she didn't really know where to go.
But, that's just it. She doesn't know where to go. Nowhere is safe here. And her only safe space she had just turned on her.
I turned on my Four Legs, hoping against all hope it wasn't seen as hostile and tried to keep pace. Aimi, for all her talents, couldn't match the top speeds the Four Legs could hit. She was also too frazzled to try to form a strategy to lose the tail. All that to say, I caught up with her pretty quickly.
I stopped in front of the alleyway she tried to pass through and she almost bumped straight into me, but stopped just before it.
I purposefully loosened my stance, Four Legs long gone and tried to be as un-intimidating as possible. To that end, I leaned against the wall to her side, no longer blocking her way out when I knew she wasn't going to run anymore.
I waited for a full minute before speaking. "Aimi—"
"Arata!" She suddenly shouted, tear filled eyes glaring at me. She was still shaking. "You—you shouldn't go after me like that."
Well. I'm not a psychologist, so I have no idea what to do when PTSD strikes like that, but. "I just knew I had to do something." I rested a foot against the wall. "Can't just leave you alone, now can I?"
"Of—Of course you couldn't." She tried to laugh. It came out more like a sob.
Another minute passed.
Mmm. What if I— I mean she is still a child. It would—mmmm. Isn't it kind of—mmmmm. You know what? I'll just do it.
I extended my hand out to her. She took it, with a lightning quick grab. Both hands, squeezing the life out of mine. She breathed out, roughly. "Arata." Her fingernails dug in. "Answer truthfully. Can I trust you?"
I kept her gaze. Fear, anger, anxiety, loneliness and more swam through them, though they kept resolute. None of it had swayed her resolve. For what, exactly, I couldn't tell, but I knew I had to give a conclusive answer, random ninja nonsense be damned.
"Yes. Yes, you can. No matter what happens." I offered her my other hand. She took it with urgency. "I'll always be your ally. And, if you'll have me, your friend."
Truthfully, I didn't know her that well. And, although we got along, children change their opinions and viewpoints like clockwork, leaving you with some serious whiplash. But, I knew that in this moment my answer would matter, and so I gave it to her.
"Ok—okay." It was as if a tree branch snapped. All the tension left her body, her head and shoulder drooping down. She kept her constricting grip on my hands as tears came out freely. "Okay."
I couldn't tell you how long we stayed there, only that by the time we got back the sun was shining on us from above like a beacon. She still had one of my hands in hers, but the death grip had relaxed, thankfully.
I'm gonna need Tetsuo to take a look at my fingers later. Being cut off from circulation that long can't have been healthy.
At the entrance, I turned to face her, stopping our gait. "You don't have to take the seal, you know. He said it was protection, but I'm sure you can protect yourself fairly well by now. And you've got the contract, so eventually you'll be summoning your own snakes."
"Right.." She didn't really give me an answer, just continued walking. "Right..."
Suddenly, Ayame appeared in front of us, stopping the momentum from her Body Flicker. "Guys! Bad news! All the evidence we took from that yakuza base is gone!"
"What." Aimi released my hand and activated the Byakugan.
"Yeah! It's all been burned down!"
"Did Shiro get a scent profile?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yeah I think so. He's chasing after it right now."
"Good. Then there's no time to waste. Let's go."
A/N. So, to offset last chapter's plot focus, we got almost an entire chapter on just character. I really outdid myself with this one. Hit all the FF tropes here. I mean, fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, found family, PTSD, unnecessarily long power logic explanations, main character through different P.O.V., and probably more I didn't catch. Which, wasn't my intention when starting this chapter, but It's kinda funny it still turned out this way lol.
Also, Orochimaru's characterization may seem a little weird to you, possibly almost OOC, but don't worry. That's intentional. You'll see.