Snap Back To Reality 27
Orochimaru Part 2/2
Orochimaru fucking hated Danzo. Hated him with such a passion, and yet found himself unable to truly kill the man. It was frustrating on many levels. He needed the Foundation, he needed ROOT. They were tools to him, as much as he was to them. Without Danzo, Orochimaru would not get the funding or easy access for the experiments he freely conducted. It required a little bending over backwards, but the price was easily worth the humiliation. This was going too far, however.
"You sealed her," he spat, voice taking a deeper baritone than normal.
"She is a prodigy unlike most prodigies. A child with a mind of an adult and a will to achieve. She is Konoha's future asset, not yours," Danzo said dismissively.
"I had screened her as a candidate to be my assistant," Orochimaru said, narrowing his eyes.
"Then you should have laid claim earlier," Danzo replied, infuriatingly dismissively, "I will need you to pose as her mentor while she gets trained by my agents."
The nerve of this man. To not only take away what was his, but to make him pretend like he actually owned her. Orochimaru vowed to one day gut this cockroach alive. For now he managed to keep the frown off his face, deciding to play it cool as he smirked.
"Consider my debt paid after this Danzo-san," he said quickly standing to leave.
Orochimaru was disappointed. He had high hopes for Hina. He had met a boy named Kabuto who he also saw potential in. Now suddenly he was refused them both. Hina had been claimed by ROOT and Kabuto had been sent to Iwa as a spy. He would get this slimy task done as soon as possible and resume his research.
It was easy enough to track down the girl. He watched as she backed away from her sensei, pulling her collar back up and hiding the bruises. Orochimaru was pissed. She was his, and no one hurt his things without getting fucked. The idea of Danzo meddling in his affairs was enough to make his blood boil. He took in a deep breath, calming himself down before masking his sudden appearance, his fury turned into a dark grin. He put a hand on the girl's head before grinning.
"It seems I may have been too harsh when I trained Hina-chan last night," he said, giving them a rather unnerving smile.
Hina froze under his grip and turned around with wide frightened eyes. Ah yes, the early signs of childhood abuse. She was too obvious with her sudden fear of being hit. If it were him, he would have employed much more effective methods to quell the girl's fighting spirit. Beating children up to a pulp seemed a rather antiquated way to induce submission and fear.
"Hina, come here."
Orochimaru gripped the girl's shoulder harder in warning. She was meant to be his, and yet she was instinctually obeying this sub-par Inuzuka? Then she got herself caught and branded by Danzo of all people. Orochimaru wasn't sure who he was angry at, Hina, Danzo, the Inuzuka or because everyone was acting so outside of his predictions. He just knew that he was angry. Orochimaru levelled the glaring man with a smile. He had issued an unspoken challenge in that moment.
"No need to get so mad Inuzuka-san. It was just some extra training. I'm sure a little prodigy like her could use some extra help."
"Those wounds don't look like extra help, it looks like healed broken bones," the Inuzuka replied, his eyes narrowing further.
"I-It's ok! I asked Orochimaru-sama for help, and he said I could get stronger this way!" Hina butted in quickly, and I turned to her with a pleased smile.
"Don't talk right now Hina. I'll have a word with you later."
Watching the girl back down, looking like an admonished child made Orochimaru's hackles raise. It was him she should be afraid of. Then almost as if she suddenly flipped a switch her posture straightened, and her head shot up in determination. One moment she would act like a child and the next like an adult. It was a both amusing and baffling sight.
"No," she said rather adamantly. "I will not stand for mediocrity. You've done a lot for me Sensei, but Orochimaru-sama can do more. It's not about your pride, it's about power."
What a thrilling show. Watching the Inuzuka man avert his eyes in clear emotional pain was a rather amusing sight. Orochimaru looked at the reflected distress in Hina's eyes and knew she was only putting on an act. Those words of renouncing her sensei to come to him was just an act. He wanted to hear those words properly.
"Do whatever you want."
Then the Inuzuka man left, his dog whining as it turned to look back once more. It too left the girl. Orochimaru gripped her shoulder harder and leant down to her ear.
"That was quite a little show you put on there, but I don't believe you. Follow me and act natural."
The fear in her eyes were intoxicating, but she giggled like she had been told a rather funny joke. The passer-by's seemed to decide it was ok, that Orochimaru had just told a kid a joke, and they walked on by none the wiser. Orochimaru felt the anger bubble louder in his chest, but he tightened it and kept a lid on it until they reached the mountain near his bridge.
"You've caused me quite the bit of trouble. A little girl like you, as smart as you are, is of no use to me, so why is it that I have to cover for you?"
His voice became dark by the end and Orochimaru grabbed the girl by her neck and hoisted her up. She began clawing futilely at his arms without an ounce of strength worth mentioning. Orochimaru released his killing intent and looked her dead in the eye. What a waste. She could have been of use but looking at her now all frightened and pathetic made him reconsider his earlier assumptions. Danzo would break her then she would be neither fun nor effective as an assistant.
"It's a misfortune you possess no bloodline worth mentioning, or you could have been of use."
With that he let her drop to the ground in a heap, coughing and gasping for air. Orochimaru turned to leave when she screamed at him.
"Revolting!" she spat at the ground in front of him, gritting her teeth. "You and Danzo both!"
Orochimaru's irritated expression grew even more unnerving when it turned into a smile. He watched her shiver before walking slowly up to her, spinning a kunai in his finger. How dare she put him and Danzo together in the same sentence? The rage he felt then had boiled over.
"I was wrong about you being smart. Clearly you don't value your life. Well then, shall we begin our first lesson?"
Orochimaru grabbed a clump of the girl's green hair and hoisted her up. He used his free hand to perform a Genjutsu he was meaning to try out. Almost instantly Hina's green eyes widened in pain and then she gritted her teeth together as her body spasmed. Orochimaru watched as the tiny child in his arm let out a gasp and then a moan before she couldn't hold the pain in any longer and began to scream and claw at him. No doubt she felt like she was burning alive. This was true fear, the kind of fear unlike the sub-par beatings she received under the Foundations care. She would see what it felt like to be truly powerless, and if she broke from it, he knew she would truly be worthless. After all the ones who overcame their weaknesses were the ones who won, and only the strong deserved to inherit this world.
"That's just a taste of a genjutsu I created myself," Orochimaru chuckled, his fingers running mockingly sweetly through her hair. "It's such a pity a little prodigy like you couldn't dispel it. Why don't we try again?"
She made to move away but he began again.
Orochimaru had declined the next batch of Genin Sarutobi had presented him with. Now that he didn't care for Hina joining him, a broken husk as she was definitely going to be, he needed someone better. It was a shame, the girl was going to do well, but a child alone in the situation she was in, no matter how mature, was still a child. She would break, and Orochimaru had no use for broken things. She had no blood limit, no clan jutsu worth mentioning. Her redeeming qualities had been her keen mind and her work ethic, and Danzo, the fool he was, had decided to waste it by breaking her. Hina would have done better under his care than she ever would an emotionless husk of a person in ROOT. But it had been weeks since he had heard from her and he was beginning to lose his interest once again in finding a student.
Unfortunately, as most things that happened with concerning the girl, he was once again pulled back into her presence unexpectedly. Danzo had come to him this time and it gave him an unparalleled satisfaction to hear the man confess to having made a mistake in recruiting her.
"She's far too spirited and independent, but I have already put my cursed seal on her tongue, so she is as much an asset as she is a liability. I heard you were looking into her as a potential student."
"What are you proposing?" Orochimaru asked, crossing his legs.
"I put Hina in your care. I will monitor her of course, but I expect that her talents would be best nurtured under you."
"Ah, finally seeing things straight Shimura-san," Orochimaru practically purred.
The old war monger narrowed his eyes and Orochimaru just smiled further in response. The satisfaction of one upping this arrogant bastard fulfilled him in more ways than one. Orochimaru grinned and decided to take his victory while the man was still giving it.
"Of course, this doesn't change the fact that I have no time to train a student. I'll lend her my library and my research, and she will learn what I see fit, but you can have her for combat training."
Danzo frowned and Orochimaru felt over the moon. He was glad this man could be of use finally. Orochimaru had neither the will nor the time to bother physically training a brat. Hina was determined to grow on her own merit anyway, and Orochimaru now wholly believed the girl could. She had surprised him, come out of a torture session by his hands without breaking. She was incredibly remarkable for a six-year-old, and definitely independent enough to not get in the way of his more important priorities. In short, Hina was the absolute perfect Genin student Orochimaru could wish for.
"Well if that will be all—"
"One more thing," Danzo said catching his attention.
Orochimaru turned to the councilman and crossed his arms impatiently. This meeting had dragged on longer than usual. What else needed to be said?
"During her outburst, the ROOT agent in the room with her reported something strange. They noted that she moved as quickly as a Jounin, maybe faster than the average Jounin."
That made him pause in step. He knew the girl was prodigious, but for a six-year-old to move as fast, if not faster than a Jounin was unheard of. Hina sure did like surprising him. As if to surprise him further, Danzo continued.
"It wasn't an accident. There was a deliberate pause on her part before he focused in on my agent and spiked her chakra. They say her eyes were glowing, and her skin had turned a reddish hue."
"She opened the third gate?" Orochimaru asked in surprise. That was unheard of. It took Taijutsu masters to accomplish that feat, and even then, it was with decades of practice. For a child to skip straight to the third gate… just how much potential did this child have?
"She didn't open the gates. In fact her tenketsu in those parts are still shut, and there are none of the side affects showing from having opened them. The method in which she managed this is unknown."
I expect you to find out, was left unspoken but very heavily insinuated. Orochimaru couldn't help the smile that tugged at his face. He was wrong about her. She wasn't just the best candidate out of all the useless trash Genin he had to wade through, but she had managed to exceed expectations. He wanted nothing more than to study this girl, to open up her body and see what made her tick, and yet he couldn't imagine cutting into her. Hina didn't have a kekkai genkai, and she certainly didn't have a unique physiological make-up. Orochimaru had checked her medical records. Asides from the abundance of Yin energy in her early childhood, she was as normal as any other civilian. It seemed she had something more than the perfect body. His new student had something else, and he wanted to know what exactly it was.
Hina was sleeping on his lab couch, and for the life of him Orochimaru couldn't picture the girl the same way in this state. She looked like an entirely different creature in her sleep, all small and vulnerable, and soft. She was certainly not that when she was awake. He left her for a bit before coming back to see her up and aware.
"You're a difficult girl," Orochimaru said, taking pleasure in frightening her with his sudden presence. It never stopped being amusing. "You're so difficult in fact, that even Danzo thinks you're too much of a wild card to tame."
Orochimaru was pleased to see the same satisfaction he felt in her eyes. Her lips pulled up in a vindictive grin before she turned contemplative and looked him in the eye.
"Why work with him?" she asked, the disgust coming through.
He could safely say they both hated Danzo the same amount. If he had it his way, Danzo would be dead, but Orochimaru was a pragmatic person and he knew when to play his cards. For now Danzo had what he needed, but soon he would have a base elsewhere and then the cards would change.
"Why, well he helps me further my own goals. Why not use him to further yours? Become stronger with their training and when the time is right strike. Why did you fight it?" he asked back.
She looked unsure for a second before finally answering with final verdict. "I don't like to be used, not when someone threatens the people that I care about."
"There's more to it than that," he pressed.
Her amiable expression turned into a rather ferocious snarl. On her little barely pre-teen face, it was actually rather adorable.
"He pisses me off."
Orochimaru laughed at that. "And you were calling Suki out on her hatred of Kumo."
"Why are you talking to me? What is it that I have that you want?" she asked, looking like she was trying desperately to not be scared. Orochimaru enjoyed that look. She knew not to piss him off. That little genjutsu torture session from before was him being nice. She shot up like a prey should before a predator and it made Orochimaru inch closer as he smirked. He knelt down in front of her and held up her chin, so she was looking directly into his eyes. Yes, she was different. She didn't flinch or look away despite being oh so terrified. This was a girl who broke her own physical limits in one bound, the girl who he would study.
"You don't know it, but you managed a feat many have during a pivotal moment in battle. You overcame your own limits in one bound."
She blinked in confusion before some level of recognition took her expression.
"If everyone can do it, why does that make me doing it, any more special than them?"
Orochimaru's expression became even more hungrier if that was anything to go by. His thin lips curved upwards into a smile; his sharp intelligent yellow eyes narrowed onto the child with an intensity that had not been there before.
"Because you weren't pushed to your limits when you managed this. Your chakra wasn't exhausted. The ROOT agent I talked to told me your eyes focused and your chakra spiked in a controlled manner. For a moment you spiked from a medium Genin chakra reserve to a low Jounin level. Now tell me Hina-chan; how exactly did you manage this?"
After a rather standard, yet not thorough enough, explanation on Hina's part, Orochimaru was mildly satiated. He could only imagine what kind of chakra levels a Sannin like him could achieve if he mastered this Total Concentration Breathing of Hina's. When the girl asked him to be her sensei, well Orochimaru was rather pleased, although he wouldn't admit it out loud. He would have forced her to be his student one way or another now that he was allowed to use her.
Then he gave her, her first test. There was no use taking her through one of his more depraved human experiments as her first test. The point wasn't to see how much she could stomach, just if she could stomach it at all. A child at her age would grow to become accustomed to such things over periods of exposure.
Hina, as she was now, was not perfect. She did not strive to beat impossible odds; she just worked her hardest to be strong enough to protect her simple desires. For all her talent, she wasted it on a lack of a worthy dream. Orochimaru remembered being like that. Soon she would change, and this propensity for her to attach herself emotionally to the people she cared about would ensure she wouldn't betray him. Danzo could take care of her family and Sensei, be the villain in her eyes, as long as he was there to pick up the pieces after.
He wasn't surprised to see her stay through the whole procedure, but he was surprised that she kept a level head through it all, and even calmly and succinctly talked in a professional voice, like she was used to instructing patients through painful experiments. The experiment went further than any he had managed before. She was definitely worth keeping around as an assistant. The experiment failed and he knew she puked, but he didn't care because she did it after the procedure… and well, he didn't have to clean it up.
The weeks that went by with Hina as his assistant were productive. With the girl around, he could shirk of more menial tasks that he sometimes forgot to do, like cleaning out the experiments body parts after a procedure, sharpening his knives, feeding his captives, and organising his notes. Hina was a diligent worker and for some reason never complained. Orochimaru had expected whinging and whining, but beyond the disgusted expressions she wore when doing her less than savoury jobs, she did not utter a word of grievance.
He had been rather calm all things considered, until her Inuzuka sensei bounded up to him and demanded he hand him a schedule and cut down her working hours with him so she could rest properly. Orochimaru almost wished he was in a position to dispose of the irritating mutt himself, but Hina was stupidly protective of him, and so he would have to leave it to Danzo to give the kill order. That didn't stop him from taking the girl up back before putting her in another Genjutsu. She would learn not to speak of him and their training, and if it meant he had to make her cry out in pain, then so be it.
Beyond that one mishap, and Hina trying desperately to not flinch every time Orochimaru purposefully put a hand on her head, their relationship had been quite good if he could say so. He was still very much interested in her technique. The experiments regarding the total concentration breathing were slow going. Orochimaru wondered if he'd have to simulate any external factors to get Hina to spike her chakra again. He would have to if it failed again today. As it went, her results weren't good enough right now. He checked her readings and sighed. It spiked again. Maybe this time there would be some progress.
"Your heart rate spiked. Do it again," Orochimaru commented.
She inhaled again and there was another minor spike. Orochimaru was beginning to wonder if the girl was wasting his time on purpose. He was rather impatient when he came to his experiments. When he demanded results, he meant it.
"That was pathetic. Do you want another punishment, or are you going to do better?" Orochimaru asked impatiently.
Hina was terrified of his genjutsu punishments. Orochimaru was glad she had some sense in her to fear him. His punishments were made to inflict as much pain mentally as they were physically, and yet she was oddly resistant to it. She flinched at his touches now, but beyond that she maintained such a level head, that Orochimaru almost wanted to see how far he could push the pain before it became too much. He decided against it. He saw the fire in her eyes, the determination and grit to improve, and he thought it would be quite a shame if he snubbed it out before she lost her use.
"I'll do better," she bit out narrowing her eyes at the ground.
"Again!"
Ah there it was, that expression of absolute resolve. It looked rather out of place on someone as young as six, but Hina wasn't just an ordinary child. He watched as her eyes focused, her expression cleared, and her body stilled before she took in a deep breath. He could almost envision her chest expanding from the sheer amount of oxygen she was taking in. There it was, that total concentration breathing of hers… or at least a low-level version. Her readings spiked and Orochimaru grinned. Finally, data that could be useful.
"It's happening. Keep it in play for as long as you can," Orochimaru demanded.
He knew it was dangerous, but he didn't want to wait any longer. He knew she would stop before she killed herself, and whatever damage she would do, he could heal. He may not be Tsunade, but he had adequate knowledge of the healing arts.
He watched as her chest seized and her heart rate spiked to dangerous levels, but she didn't stop, not even when her clear expression turned pained and she doubled over in pain. She kept breathing again and again.
"No, no that wasn't it," Orochimaru mumbled in worry, as he leant over and pushed the half-naked child onto her back.
He performed a diagnostic jutsu over the wheezing child. What was she thinking? Had she been so focused on breathing, on circulating her chakra to her absolute limits, that she had forgotten to stop even during the pain? Truly remarkable. Orochimaru wondered if it was worth getting into a state of that much focus, that one would forget their own limits. Clearly, he had been wrong in thinking she could control it.
"Your heart rate is too fast. You might go into cardiac arrest. We'll take a break for now."
Her hands shot up and held onto his, and Orochimaru turned to look at the girl who was gritting her teeth in pain. Her green eyes looked defiant, and it made him want to punish her some more.
"No," she said resolutely.
"No?"
She had guts. He thought he had made it clear who had the upper hand in their relationship when he left her gasping on the ground, sweat pouring down her body as she screamed herself hoarse. A child should not have been standing up to him after the torture they had been through. Just how resilient was she?
"No, I can continue. My heart rate is up right now, it's the perfect time to get it down."
Orochimaru sighed. Well, if she did get a heart attack, he knew several methods of revival, but she'd wake up with broken ribs and it wouldn't be so fun for her. If she failed, he considered the pain would be lesson enough to listen to him. If she passed… well it was a win/win situation either way.
"Try not to die. I will want a report after this."
Orochimaru backed off and she shakily went back to her sitting position. He watched as she closed her eyes and controlled her shaky breathing. That's when it happened, almost like her readings had flipped a switch. Her rate spiked, but her vitals were all dropping back to normal. Her skin turned a deeper shade of red and Orochimaru could see the start of a layer of light green chakra rippling across her skin. Then her heart rate slowly began dropping to normal levels, and her skin receded to its light peachy colour, but the chakra remained, swirling about her like a second skin.
Total concentration breathing
This was it. This was a complete total concentration breathing. It only happened for a few seconds, before she flinched slightly, and the chakra dissipated almost as quickly. Orochimaru was stumped. No one should have that much control. It was like she could mould her chakra wherever she wanted, with an intense control that he was sure even Tsunade didn't possess. It was impossible. The human mind was not capable of being that in-tune with its own body. Orochimaru wondered if maybe he was wrong, maybe if Hina did in fact possess a unique physiology.
"Interesting, it's like you're simulating the effects of opening a gate without even touching it. How is it possible to be this in tune with your chakra? A kekkai genkai maybe?" Orochimaru muttered, wide eyed.
Hina coughed and wiped the blood from her chin, but the grin on her face said everything about how she felt. Yes, that was the attitude that had drawn him to her when they first met. She had reflected his eyes from hers, the same eyes that was hungry for more.
"N-not a kekkai genkai," she managed to say through a shaky breath. "A new technique."
Orochimaru never thought he would ever smile at any Genin student he would take on, well not genuinely at least. This child had managed to pull his lips up in a true grin, and his chest tightened with an emotion he only felt when he had accomplished a truly challenging task. Yes, this was excitement. Suzuki Hina had managed to make the Orochimaru smile, and when she smiled back at him, Orochimaru for a split second, did not see an expendable piece, but rather a partner. He pulled this unusual feeling back down before looking at the child. She had done exceptionally well, so it was only right that he for once rewarded her.
"We will continue this again tomorrow. For now follow me if you can stand," he said, voice still as patronising as ever.
"I can stand," she said stubbornly.
Orochimaru didn't wait for the girl to put her shirt back on. If she could stand, and have the energy to be stubborn, then she had the energy to get changed and follow him. He walked down the corridor and past the cages full of moaning bodies and opened the door to his private library. He never let anyone in here before, and he had only been meaning to allow her into his estate library before.
"This is my personal library. Do enjoy yourself."
The child was rather expressive, which was about the only thing about her that was childish in any way. Her green eyes were practically sparkling in awe as her head whipped around at the sight in front of her in a frenzy. Orochimaru didn't understand the girl sometimes. For someone so intent on training her Taijutsu, she had entirely neglected the more prodigious aspect of her talents, and yet when it came to it, she was more excited about research than she was about training. He had no doubt that if he gave Hina the tools, and the resources, she would make a scientist worth keeping in his care. If she was this smart at 6, he wondered what she'd be like as an adult.
"Amazing," she said breathlessly.
Orochimaru couldn't help but chuckle at her awestruck expression.
"If you're going to take something out, make sure to take it by me first. It goes to say you are not allowed to show it to anyone else," he informed mildly.
"Orochimaru-sama," she said, bringing his attention back to her. A hard look entered her eyes, and her lips pulled into a thin, serious line. "I will not fail."
There was something about her conviction, that reminded him of his own. He found himself unable to pull back his lips as they tugged upwards. Before she had been amusing, her fear and terror being one great source of entertainment for the man, but her conviction was interesting too. It pulled up another more ambiguous emotion from inside of the Sannin, and he wondered if it was because they were in fact kindred spirits. He wondered if he was going soft. No, that wasn't the case. She was simply one of the few humans he had met that wasn't entirely worthless, and so it was natural to not feel as disgusted by her presence as he did with most others.
He only gave her a nod of approval before taking his leave. As much as he enjoyed his time spent with his smart little kohai, he had important matters to take care of. For now he'd leave her to her self-study.
A/N
Oh my gosh, it's finally done. Orochimaru is a pain in the ass to write. I had to do so much research on him and his character, and I'm not even sure if I got it down right. Hina is passionate about power as much as Orochimaru is, just in a different way. She of course, is more reserved than him when it comes to how far she's willing to go to achieve said power, but Hina's definitely going to be changing in the future. Hina's an incredibly impressionable character and very malleable with her beliefs. She takes in her experiences and actualises them internally, so it'll be interesting to see her growing and changing. And trust me on this, she changes.
So for future review responses, I'm only going to be commenting back to the people who ask questions or writer a longer review I can respond to, mostly because I feel like I'm bogging my chapters down with the growing number of people reviewing. Either way, I'd like to say I love all of your reviews! It helps me keep writing! I'm currently up to chapter 43 of this story!
Review Responses
Dacube24- Yup definitely. Hina is going to have to come to some solid conclusions on where she draws her lines!
Hi Exclamation Point- The fact that you love Gaku that much warms my cold, cold heart! Honestly, I genuinely love his character too, and I don't know why I made him so loveable. Yup Orochimaru is kind of reviewing the whole story so far, and I think his perspective is a good basis for his future character actions. Well hopefully for the readers to make sense of it because I write down all these things in my notes, but it's hard to convey it to the audience when everything is from Hina's perspective and her perspective is pretty warped.
topsyturvy-dream- Orochimaru is definitely interesting to write too! Thanks so much, he was pretty hard to get down, so I'm glad. He does find a lot of things amusing about her XD Yes Hina is a greenfish to him! Although the nickname he gives her later on is more snake related XD
ita123- There is another perspective I've done as well. It's Taichi's!
nx2U- Don't worry, Hina will never lose her ability to make connections!
IntimidatingSwan- Ahhh, I'm so honoured! Here's an update for you!
firemaster101- Thank you for all your reviews! I'm glad you like it so far, and I hope the ROOT arc doesn't turn you off cause it does go for a while!
MonsteraGecko- Thanks, he was pretty hard to get down after writing from Hina's perspective for so long!
RileyBlue00- Thanks! I'm glad it showed a different side to Hina that she doesn't realise about herself! I hope you liked this chapter too! It shows some of the more sadistic aspects of Orochimaru
Rakaan- I don't think it's contrived because Hina clearly states she knows she's being followed by a ROOT agent right after the 'psyche eval'. If she went straight to her sensei and tried to talk she would have been stopped before she could even get close, not to mention punished for it. She thought she could throw suspicion of her by being obedient for a while, but she didn't realise that Danzo wouldn't risk taking his time.
Dianille- Hahahah main character hair XD