Chapter 37
Katiya (two months later, approximate time: who cares?)
News of Otogakure's inception as a "new" shinobi village had spread fast. Katiya had no idea what loops of bureaucracy were required for that feat, but it was official. She climbed down the steps of one of the tunnels. Somehow, it also involved her meeting with Lord Orochimaru. Whatever he called her in for, it was apparently too nuanced than what could be handed out via a scroll and too sensitive to be discussed out in the open. And apparently she was now trustworthy enough for covert orders.
She entered the closed and sealed room, falling into a kneel. "My lord?"
It would have been impolite to raise her eyes to meet her lord's before kneeling, or while kneeling, as it symbolized some sort of challenge but even without looking, the relaxed posture of his body in her periphery told her the man was smiling.
"Katsu," Lord Orochimaru began, prompting the person in question to rise. "As you know, Otogakure's announcement as a new hidden village is not without reason. Even at this moment, our forces are readying themselves to strike."
The person he was speaking to bowed her head.
"With the completion of your last experiment, it seems your skills can best be used elsewhere…" Lord Orochimaru said, carefully avoiding the word "failure" for some reason.
"My lord?"
"I want you to lead a team of Otogakure genin to participate in the upcoming Chunin Exams with the mission to kill Sasuke Uchiha."
"Kill"? Katiya mentally repeated. Why kill Sasuke. You've been after the Sharingan for years and you've been trying to pursue an Uchiha as a vessel… oh. Lord Orochimaru smiled wider as understanding grew obvious in "Katsu's" posture. Our mission is not meant to succeed.
Lord Orochimaru continued, "The current plan is for Sunagakure and my snake summons to provide the distraction, aiding Oto's progress by picking off clansmen and the weaker shinobi while I myself engage the Hokage with the members of the Sound Five. I'd prefer Sasuke out of the way."
Occupied but not dead, the back of Katiya's mind thought to itself though the lord hadn't phrased it that way.
"What about the Kazekage?" she asked.
"Killed before the invasion even begins and how I will be slipping under the dear old Hokage's guard," Orochimaru responded.
So that's how it'll be. This whole arrangement—it would be perfect—I can—
"Why me. Why not some other jonin?"
"Otogakure has no official jonin, being a newly minted village. The exam hosts will understand. And anyone particularly skilled will need to be by my side when the invasion comes. Kabuto himself will be playing the role of a spy throughout this whole ordeal and won't be of much use to me in your position either, the very same reason why this entire arrangement is occurring behind his back and features shinobi he wouldn't recognize..." Lord Orochimaru paused as he licked his lips in that serpentine manner of his. He gave her a look that warned her against telling anyone over the matter because of the aforementioned logic. He continued, "And of course, you do have that certain skill in both managing unstable Jinchuriki and training shinobi in a time crunch."
Katiya swallowed the unspoken warning, turning her mind to something else. After this is over, I can leave. Slip away, just like… if I want to.
"Do you… expect him to be an issue?" Katiya asked quietly, eyes averted.
Orochimaru smiled. "Not particularly. The curse mark I intend on passing onto my target should suffice thanks to your hard work."
Mine?
Lord Orochimaru responded to her unspoken question, seemingly using his uncanny ability to sense it. "The research from the jutsu formula you used on the members of the Fuma clan was able to refine my Curse Mark of Heaven formula one additional step. The Fuma originally being side branch members of the Uchiha that never developed the Sharingan and since split apart to the Land of Rice Paddies following the release of the Nine-Tails, this new Curse Mark Jutsu of mine was made all the more viable. Testing it on the remaining Fuma clan members, I've managed to refine it further to be even more powerful, all thanks to you."
Katiya bowed her head. I see. An odd memory floated back up to her mind but she said nothing verbally. Arashi?
"Don't worry, Arashi Fuma is still alive."
Her heart rate jumped, but she still said nothing in response.
"Come, I will lead you to your new team. Unless of course, you don't want to be a part of the invasion force that kills the Lord Kazekage…"
Katiya stiffened from the tone and phrasing of the question. Lord Orochimaru had long since discovered what she had wanted in joining Otogakure. She still didn't know if she wanted to go back to Gaara. If Gaara wanted her—she doubted it. But by being able to kill the Kazekage, just play a role in his death, she would have her victory.
"Lead the way, my lord."
Kankuro (approximate time: 7:00 AM)
"Gaara, as the most powerful of my children despite your youth, you will be leading the team into the incoming Chunin Exams in all matters not pertaining to mission or member safety or security," Lord Rasa intoned.
WHAT?!? Kankuro thought, in shock. He swung his eyes around to the rest of his team.
It was not Temari, the eldest and most experienced of them like he had expected—and it was clearly, a decision made without having consulted with their sensei. Kankuro and Temari turned their heads to the Jinchuriki in question. Him, not saying anything in acknowledgement and instead just glowering as usual. There were at least a billion reasons why Gaara of all people shouldn't be mission leader—mental instability being one of them. Temari had a look of angered shock, staring almost unseeingly into her father's eyes.
"But what about—!"
Kankuro's father cut him off with a look. "Gaara, you are dismissed. Expect a scroll later today containing the mission details. Kill the messenger and expect the freedom you have to go on this mission to change. Temari, Kankuro, Baki, remain here."
Gaara turned to leave. After he left, there was a unified outcry from the students and their sensei.
"Father—!" "Lord Kazekage—!"
The Kazekage held a hand up for silence at the unison protests. "The joint raid on Konohagakure calls for a distraction and Sunagakure itself to have at least one team that makes it to the public finale of the exams." He held a mission briefing scroll out for Baki-sensei, who took it. "Unfortunately, the other sensei have neither the time nor the resources to have less than an inkling's chance of success."
Lord Rasa paused in his words. "Know that him being made leader is not without reason. During the invasion itself, I have sent Gaara the instructions to release his… inner demon once sent my signal."
What?
"What does that have to do with him being made leader? Why is he even going to be leader? It should be Temari!"
"—Kankuro!" Temari bristled.
Their father's lip curled distastefully. "Well, Temari, do you think you have what it takes to control your youngest brother compared to it?"
Kankuro saw her pale a few shades. Temari—?
"No, Father," she replied stiffly.
The Kazekage nodded his head, agreeing with that answer.
"I don't expect either of you two to be able to control him. But in the event this plan of Otogakure fails, I expect your team to be in charge of recovering him."
"Recovering?" Kankuro mentally repeated. "Recovering" was not something one did for living beings. But… something. Kankuro closed his mouth.
"The release of the One-Tail will likely kill your youngest brother if he allows that demon full control. But we cannot allow even his body to fall into Otogakure's hands. In the protection of your Jinchuriki brother's body, you will have full command. Failure of that mission, I will not tolerate. Understood?"
"Understood," his children then replied dutifully, albeit nervously.
Katiya (approximate time: time.)
Katiya knew instantly why Kabuto wouldn't have known or known about the shinobi she was meant to train. They were all former patients of hers before transferring divisions. Being among the low ranking newer members, they themselves likely didn't even know of Kabuto's existence and his crucial role in Otogakure's management. Likely why they were chosen, if Orochimaru wanted as genuine a response as possible from Kabuto. As she entered the room, parts of their medical histories floated to mind.
Zaku Abumi, in a tan tunic with the kanji for "death" printed on it thrice over a black long-sleeve and splotched trousers: physical rehabilitation after "enhancement" surgery and two separate occasions of perforated eardrums.
Kin Tsuchi, in a nondescript green-grey genin version of a flak vest, black fabric arm guards, and splotched everything else Oto had: several cases of self-inflicted genjutsu-induced vertigo over the course of three months.
Dosu Kinuta, in a spiky straw cape that covered up a hunchback and grey oversized gi that dragged to the floor: comminuted fractures, right arm; mandibular fracture and avulsion; dislocated cervical vertebrae; resonating echo speaker surgery, also right arm.
The door to the room closed behind her, Lord Orochimaru remaining outside. Besides the personalized touches on their outfits, the genin wore Oto standard shinobi attire. None of them were stupid enough to forgo any of it.
"You all know who I am. You might not remember me as your medic, but you should remember me as the shinobi that beat the crap out of you a few days ago. If you don't know each other, introduce yourselves now. I only have a month to train you up to speed for your next mission but I can assure you, your next mission is important. You'll only get one shot at this."
Dosu and Zaku exchanged glances before looking at their one female shinobi—kunoichi—team mate. "I'm Zaku and that's Dosu," Zaku introduced for them both.
"Kin. Kin Tsuchi," the girl replied.
Katiya waved the air to get their attention back after a second of silence. "Alright. Next order of business. We've fought, I know what your fight styles are. I don't know how you get along as a team. If your performances in the fight rooms are any indication, none of you know how to fight coherently together. And unfortunately, your target is a genius that needs strategy to take down."
Zaku and Dosu exchanged glances, likely thinking about trying to contest that. The two knew each other from somewhere and the additional file passed to her on her way in by Orochimaru indicated they joined Oto at the same time, though they weren't from the same region—Dosu originally from the Land of Rain region—Zaku from Takigakure. Kin, the least experienced of them, simply kept her attention on her new sensei.
"I'm going to give you a modified version of a test apparently given to most Konoha genin," Katiya said. Now that got all three of her genin wrinkling their noses. Konohagakure had a reputation of being soft on their genin even in Otogakure—especially in Otogakure. "Modified," Katiya repeated.
Katiya pulled out the bell Lord Orochimaru gave her. The one month she had to train the team, nearly two including transit time, was pushing it. He hadn't exactly suggested what modifications to make, but he did tell her about his own "Bell Test" as they walked and supplied her the sole bell she now had. She might as well make it a training experience as well.
"Your upcoming mission is to kill Sasuke Uchiha, destabilizing Konoha as the other squads target the other noble clans. It is a covert mission, meant to take place over the course of the Chunin Exams, which our target will be participating in. You will do your best to ensure the nature of your true mission does not escape the awareness of us in this room."
Katiya jangled the bell in her hand. "You get one week for this test. This bell is one life. Your objective is to take it. You may use whatever force necessary, but the victor is the one who last holds this bell by the end of the week. That person, assuming it's not me, will be assigned the position of squadron leader in my absence during the Chunin Exams themselves. The catch: you may not leave this room for the duration of this test. And for every hour that passes, I will deposit a gaseous chakra-blocking poison into the air. Any questions before we begin?"
Zaku. "Won't the poison kill us?"
"I will stop depositing poison if I see all three of you lose consciousness. By the end of this exercise, you'd have either acquired a tolerance to the poison and an ability to still function without proper sleep, water, or food for a week… or succeeded in essentially killing your target."
Kin and Zaku took in sharp intakes of air at that. The average shinobi tended to only train for three days lacking all three vital resources unless circumstances were extreme. One week was double that amount of time.
"The only food and water available in this room are in my staff, in my pouches on my person, or that which is in your person. I make no guarantees for what will happen to your bodies if you lose consciousness." Katiya paused to let the genin exchange glances to form some sort of plan, likely trying to figure out some way to not lose consciousness through the entire test. Or kill each other for resources—you never knew in Oto. Kin pulled her neck guard over her mouth and nose. Zaku did the same, seeing her do that, eying her warily. Dosu, who had his mouth and a large portion of his face already covered in bandages, did nothing and kept his eyes on Katiya as she made a show of attaching the bell to the upper buckle of her flak vest.
"Begin," she said.
Temari (approximate time: 8:00 AM)
Temari left the office frowning. "All matters not pertaining to mission safety or security," she mentally repeated. It was an odd caveat she didn't really pay attention to in the meeting—too busy just trying to get her mind around the situation back in the office. And the fact that she wouldn't be in a command position like she would have been under Baki-sensei's more direct leadership. But she doubted it'd mean anything out in the field where Gaara would be—in the certain circumstances she would have been able to assume command.
"Well, Father seems to be in a good mood today," Kankuro grumbled, walking out of his father's office.
"What do you mean?" Temari asked, startling out of her thoughts.
"We haven't exactly had a family meeting with him in years…"
Temari made a face. "I guess having this plan of his to get Suna out of an economic depression must be doing something."
"Heh. Maybe when this is all over, we can actually have dinner together again," her brother joked.
"Kankuro, I was born before you were, I don't think Father ever had dinner with us."
Kankuro shrugged. "Worth a shot."
She returned to her thoughts, heading out and thinking her brother would leave to the Puppeteer Corp building. Pertaining to mission security or safety or not, she didn't think she'd intervene Gaara's… anythings… unless she or Kankuro themselves were hurt. If she wasn't cowering in fear like her father expected of her. It was a possibility she saw of herself in her mind that she didn't want to admit she saw. Her brother gave her an odd look. He hadn't left her side.
"You're not seriously taking Father's words—ehh—" The last word—"personally"—of Kankuro's statement died on his lips when met with his sister's glare. He gulped it down. "So what's the plan, then?"
"Plan? What plan, Kankuro?" Temari asked exasperatedly. "Father's already planned everything."
Her father's remarks were directed to the two of them—there were no other persons his blanket statement could have applied to.
Kankuro gave his sister a look, confused. "Gaara. What do you plan to do about him?" The look in his eye seemed to be pleading, as if trying to remind her she always had a plan. Temari clenched and unclenched her fists.
"Not this time. Just try to stay alive and complete the mission, Kankuro. I'm just going to… try and stay out of his way," Temari finished lamely.
I don't want to end up like one of the people who didn't.
Kabuto (one week later, approximate time: 11:45 AM)
Katsu swirled a cup of tea where she sat across from Kabuto in the mess hall. It was rare to find her eating in public to keep with her habit of obscuring her face in some manner and she indeed finished eating thirty minutes beforehand but was clearly waiting for something as she kept checking the time, her eyes flitting noticeably without her goggles to cover them.
"Ryuteki… she's Lord Orochimaru's vessel now, isn't she," she asked. Kabuto tried to ignore the fact she was very obviously swirling the little tea she had, not drinking it, and was clearly stalling for time for something.
"Who Ryuteki was lives on in Lord Orochimaru, but not quite as Lord Orochimaru… Lord Orochimaru has long since been fascinated with human anatomy in general. This is simply his first time experiencing anatomy… of a different structure firsthand. Who he is hasn't changed," Kabuto responded carefully.
A new skin for the old snake.
It could have been one of her labs brewing, but Katsu was not the sort of person who would have left her lab station unattended—before, at least. Now, Kabuto was less sure. He watched as she flicked her eyes contemplatively back to the clock on the wall, giving a sole hum in acknowledgement.
"I was just wondering—I thought I saw a few mannerisms of hers the last time Lord Orochimaru and I spoke."
Kabuto made a note of the apparent interaction and its happenings. "It's possible. The stories about the shared chakra are true. Though, by now, I think Lord Orochimaru is fairly settled into that new body of his."
Katsu didn't immediately reply to that. "Memories too?"
"Yes," Kabuto replied. The body being the same, it also meant they had to spend time scrubbing it of the Tongue Eradication Curse Mark she had as a member of Danzo's Root ANBU. The information she had was now officially theirs and could be accessed by their lord.
"So the whole… face thing—it's still Lord Orochimaru's face. With the vessel analogy… did he pour himself into a new vessel and repaint it? Or did he pour himself into a new vessel and broke it from the inside-out until it resembled his old body?"
Kabuto sighed and glanced about the mess hall. It was one reserved for the upper-level shinobi and thankfully empty within civilian earshot. The only people around were other medics to whom the transformation was not exactly news to. He didn't have to really explain anything but he somehow found himself wanting to, to see where this was going, if anyplace.
"A mixture of both. Lord Orochimaru can use the Face Stealer Jutsu to transfer his old face to his new body as a temporary fixture while he modifies the body itself to his needs, which is a much longer process. The Face Stealer Jutsu can pull some chakra up from the original body as well, which is helpful since the body modifications themselves can take a lot of it."
"I see," Katsu replied. "Though, I think my question is more along the lines of 'do I need to expect Lord Orochimaru to seek out monthly medical care from a kunoichi medic', in that case."
Kabuto blinked. The outline of Katsu's eyebrow beneath her balaclava lifted with a fair bit of mirth.
"I—don't think so, no. I think he would have used a Contraceptive Sealing Jutsu," Kabuto frowned, rubbing his forehead above his eyebrow. He didn't think his lord would have appreciated the goings of the rather public discussion of his now female anatomy. Needless to say, the conversation did not steer the direction he expected it to. But before he could steer the conversation back to ask about what she was waiting for, he found that she had left.
Author's Note
Contraceptive Sealing Jutsu = not canon.
Temari (approximate time: 4:30 PM)
"Going into our alliance with Otogakure, I think it's best we begin working on jutsu to counter their sound ones," Temari's sensei told her. "And recognizing all possible forms of wind-style jutsu," he added.
Temari stood straighter.
"Sound requires the air to travel through, the same as any sound jutsu or Wind Scythe. What'd you have to do is use your wind-style jutsu to redirect their sound waves or otherwise keep any sound-wielding attacker occupied such that they cannot use their jutsu."
Temari sucked in a cautious breath. "Baki-sensei, are we expecting any issues? With the Oto-nin?"
Baki gave her a look of firm, blunt truthfulness. "We don't know what to expect working with one of Konoha's exiled Sannin."
Katiya (approximate time: 1 and a few hours?)
The shadow clone she sent out finally popped itself.
It took it enough time—she only had it hop to the mess hall to eat and digest to pull itself up to full chakra. Apparently it ended up taking a nap as well. Half of her chakra went to the clone with that move but she had to wait for it to rest and digest in order to be able to pull the shadow clone back with additional chakra processed from the digested meal. The meal itself, something that would have terminated in the spirit realm before it got to her. Irritatingly. All the chakra given to the clone in its formation, if unused, went back to her automatically. But in order for the move to be effective, the chakra gained from the clone eating had to exceed the chakra lost in the execution of the jutsu itself. And be enough to offset the loss of chakra from her ongoing fast, dehydration and fatigue—her own chakra being used to keep herself moving when a standard civilian would have collapsed three days ago. This particular "Bell Test" ended up turning into a test of both hers and of her students.
Katiya knew she passed. Seven days, no food, water, or sleep for her main body. Bonus information gathering on the side. Her clone's logic to sleep and poke a bit of fun while digesting the food for more chakra increased the chakra yield. Even if the clone overslept a few hours, decreasing the chakra yield from the food. Apparently she was more tired than hungry. And she had only said the students couldn't leave—she had said nothing about herself nor any clones.
But the kids weren't that talented or clever—though Dosu was the clear strategist of the three. The genin ended up losing consciousness at least four times and had to spend a good hour untying themselves and retrieving their weapons and from varying places each time. Cloth, layered and potentially soaked or no, could not block all the gaseous poison without a correct seal. Dosu and Zaku—who had their weapons in their arms faring the best—though Zaku's were also his weakness due to their more direct connection to his chakra network and blood stream. Kin however carried food pills, it turned out, so retrieving the gear turned into group activities. Katiya even heard bits of planning whenever they went to regather their missing supplies. The last time the team lost consciousness, they had been faking, though still failing despite the effort and truly becoming unconscious later.
The genin had a few more hours to "kill" her or she'd have to find some other means of determining the squad leader. She sighed from her spot up in the rafters of the room while they formulated another strategy down below. If she kept to a true twenty-four hour "day", they had already failed a good six hours ago.
She tossed another smoke pellet into the room and waited. None of them figured out how to bypass the effects of the poison completely and what had been Zaku's attempt to siphon it out using his wind-style enhancement only weakened him further. It was disappointing.
…
It took them quite some time later, and they had succeeded… in cornering her.
…
Two minutes past midnight and what was supposed to be the official termination of the test, they finally managed to "kill" her.
Zaku was yet again nearly unconscious, Kin was starting to waver but managed to keep steady enough to still throw senbon, and Dosu managed to get the bell into his hand. Katiya pulled the senbon out of her neck with her water, ending her temporary paralysis. In the end, Dosu had used his arm to resonate the bell on her chest at the same frequency—essentially turning it into a bomb to bypass her water-sound barrier in a match of taijutsu while Kin stayed up on the rafters above the poison cloud until she had a good aerial shot past the neck guard of Katiya's vest.
A fair aim Kin had, but durability and basically anything else, she did not.
"Congratulations… you lot all died at least ten times—more—but succeeded in killing me once. Dosu, you're officially squadron leader in my absence."
Dosu inclined his head slightly.
"Kin, you're dismissed. Take Zaku with you. Dosu, stay here."
Zaku let out a grumble along the lines of "I can walk" while sounding half-delirious and rolling himself over on the floor. Kin let out a scoff as she wobbled him up after falling to the ground level (emphasis on the "falling"). Katiya waited for them to leave. The poison, at the dose the kids had, would wear off within the hour given clear air despite the continuous exposure. It wasn't the type of poison that built up in the body. Her lack of experience with those still kept her weary with them. The door swung closed.
"Awfully quiet, Dosu. Don't you have anything to say about your victory?" Katiya asked rhetorically, her voice pitched at a flat tone so as not to be a taunt.
Despite his fatigue from the poison's effects, Dosu gave her a steely irritated look. He was physically tired, not mentally dead. Yet he said nothing. His silence was not by choice, it seemed.
"I don't know how you and Zaku have been managing to communicate, but constantly relying on him to speak for you will slow your team down and ruin your efficacy as a leader." Zaku being a loudmouth, it in fact cost them several near-victories. Katiya bent down to his height. "May I?" she asked, bringing her hands close to his jawline—but not touching it yet.
Dosu met her eyes, narrowing them to look past the tinted lenses of her goggles, looking for something. Finding it, or lack of whatever malice he was trying to find, he closed his eyes and bowed his head once.
It was something that could have been done the first time—but ironically could not when she was still a standard Oto medic-nin. She let her hands glow with chakra until the damage was repaired to the highest extent she could heal. She had a headache from fatigue and whatever other strain she inflicted on herself, but did a fair job in her opinion—no better than any other medic in Oto would have been willing to provide for an expendable, anyways.
Katiya pulled her hands away. "Better?"
Dosu worked his jaw, rubbing it. The swelling had visibly decreased.
"Careful. It's not a complete healing—but it's the best I can do now."
"Better," he replied, moving his jaw over the syllables. His voice was decidedly scratchy but had the typical smarminess she had come to expect from the more intelligent Oto-nin.
Good.
Katiya gave him a shortened verbal run-down of the mission and a copy of Lord Orochimaru's eerily detailed map of Konohagakure before moving to leave. Her entire team was expendable for Lord Orochimaru's purposes. Including her, she figured. But being expendable was different from having to be expended. There were ways to fail a mission without dying and a few seconds spared meant a few more seconds spent on turning the seemingly inevitable into the optional. Orochimaru would have only wanted his expendables trained if there was something more to them—there had to be a reason why Lord Orochimaru was having her train expendables.