Captors
Chapter II: Captors
Bright serpentine eyes blinked, groggy from whatever had knocked him out. Looking at his surroundings, realization hit him that he is no longer alone. His surroundings were dimly lit, he could also hear the faint hum of machinery in the background. The harsh sterile air hinted at the nature of the place. Unlike the first time he woke up from this place wherein he could move freely, Orochimaru’s hands were now bound, but something felt different— off. He wasn't sure what had changed, but there was an undeniable shift.
As his vision cleared, the Snake Sannin became aware of the faint rustling sound in the corner of the room, just beyond his immediate line of sight. His heart began to race, a mix of uncertainty and curiosity taking hold. He tried to push himself into a sitting position, only to wince from the pain coursing through his body, but his eyes remained locked on the shadowy figure in the corner.
At first, he thought it might be another trick of the light, but then a movement caught his attention again—more distinct this time. It was not one of his captors, no. This figure had a different energy. A subtle presence, almost like they were blending into the shadows. But the realization soon hit him like a wave. He was no longer alone.
Every instinct in him told him to keep still, to assess the situation carefully. His mind raced with questions, but all he could do was wait, his body unwilling to move further as the mystery figure inched closer.
“Eh? For someone so scary, you are quite adorable.” The man spoke at last. He was tempted to squish his master’s soft cheeks if not for the fact that this is Orochimaru whom he is speaking to. Who knows what the madman would do to him once he returned back to his normal self.
“Stop bothering him, Suigetsu! If you did anything to him—” Another person entered the room, her red hair somehow reminds Orochimaru of Mito Uzumaki, his childhood friend’s grandmother.
“...” Orochimaru somewhat find the pair interesting especially after the red-haired woman hit the man named Suigetsu multiple times without remorse. He also finds it intriguing that the said man was capable of turning his body into water just to avoid the woman’s attacks.
“Oi! Calm down, Karin! I have not done anything to him— I swear that I will not—” He no longer tried to dodge the fiery woman’s wrath and attacks for he knows that she was exhausted from making sure that Orochimaru will not die under her care. After all, the Snake Sannin was Karin’s guardian. Hence, she felt indebted to him for saving her during the attack in Kusa.
“Hmpf! You are lucky that you are not yet dead especially after failing in protecting one of our hideouts. Anyway, Kabuto wants to speak to you about something important.” Although she was pissed off at Suigetsu, she has no other choice but to stop from maiming him further. Right now, her priority is Orochimaru’s well-being.
“Ugh! I hate it when Kabuto gets to order us around.” Suigetsu had always despised Kabuto for overworking him and the others just to get what their wants. Sometimes he was tempted to ditch Otogakure but then again, he knows that the moment Orochimaru returned back to normal that things will be awful for him. If there was something he learned all these years while serving the Snake Sannin is that the man is a vengeful bastard.
On the other hand, Konoha’s finest medic ninjas were still trying their best to save Jiraiya from his impending demise. The damaged that was caused by the three-way deadlock to the involved parties were no joke. Up until now, Tsunade remains unconscious despite that she was the one who obtained least damages in her body and psyche. Unlike her, the Toad Sage was barely alive, and half of his body was even burnt. Luckily, they were able to heal it although there’s no doubt that the injury would leave a scar once it is fully healed. What made matters worse for the pair was that their body shrink into that of a child’s form which made them more vulnerable. Right now, no one knows what had caused this, but everyone was convinced that Orochimaru was the one behind it.
“You should rest, Shizune. You did your best and now all we could hope is for them to wake up. We’ll make sure that they are well guarded” Kakashi was aware of how important it is for Konoha to tighten its security surrounding the village, but they cannot overlook the fact that the two remaining Sannin must be protected at all costs too. Who knows when will the enemies or even Orochimaru would come and strike back. Although, they were hoping that they would not see the latter any time soon. Even if Orochimaru is a nuke-nin, he is still a Sannin, a powerful individual who managed to kill the 4th Kazekage and seriously injured the 3rd Hokage while he managed to escaped Tsunade and Jiraiya, who were both incapacitated after their fight against their teammate.
“He’s insane. Orochimaru, I mean. Tsunade-sama still cares for him despite of what he did to Konoha and those poor children— She was devasted when Jiraiya-sama informed us that Orochimaru was listed as nukenin. She even blamed herself for not able to stop that sadistic bastard—Master once told me that something might have happened to Orochimaru while they were away which completely changed him into the man he is today. She was convinced that someone powerful was involved which is why she had decided for us to return immediately to the village.” Shizune muttered. She was aware of how Tsunade mourned for losing not just her family and Dan, she also cried the moment realization hit her that Orochimaru will never go back to Konoha and the possibility of the Sannin facing each other on the battlefield in the future which will force Jiraiya and her to kill their wayward friend.
“That must also be the reason why Jiraiya-sama returned to the village too. He seemed adamant that someone did something to Orochimaru which is why the Snake Sannin betrayed Konoha without second thought.” Kakashi will never understand to why the Sannin were still cling to the hope that Orochimaru would change his mind and will return to Konoha when it was clear as a day that the Snake Sannin was as horrible as his entire clan was, bunch of duplicitous bastards that’s what the Yashagoro clan was.