He is alone now, and has been for a while, he thinks.
Well, time is hard to mesure, it could have been weeks, or days, or months, he doesn’t know.
All he knows is that he feels so much more alone now that the light in her tank went off.
The pale man comes and goes, checking on his tank every so often. He came by eighteen times since the day he was left alone.
He wonders if his tank's light will go off before the twentieth.
It does not, but a new one does appear.
One day, twenty three of the pale man visits after, they bring a new boy. They puts him in the tank on front of him, and fill it with liquid. Then, they turn on the light, and he isn’t alone anymore.
The first thing he notices about the boy is how white he is. Not like the pale man, who's skin looks akin to the paper sheet he writes on, with hair running down his shoulder in rivers of ink. No, the boy looks like a ghost, but in a beautiful way. His hair is silver, and his skin looks the same, basked in the light. As he floats in the luminescent liquid, it forms an halo, crowning his head. He’s never seen the moon, but he thinks it might looks like the boy. A distant and otherworldly being, which pour a pale light on the earth.
If he knew about yokais and kamis, maybe he would have been afraid. But no one taught him anything. No legend ever reached his ears, and all he sees is beauty.
He isn’t used to beautiful things.
The boy and he look at each other a lot. They can’t talk, or move, but that’s not important. What matters is that the boy eye looks at him with something else than what’s in the paper man, or the crossed chin’s. It makes him feel something. He doesn’t know how to call it, but it’s warm.
The boy sleeps a lot. Or maybe he is awake when he himself sleep ? It's possible. The pale man is here a lot, always poking at the boy’s tank, adding all kind of mixtures to it. Maybe that’s why the boy sleep that much. But when they are both awake, his eyes find the other grey one, and they stare at each other, in the deepest conversation they can have. He wonders why the boy only has one eye. Maybe the pale man took it ? It must have hurt, he thinks. It left a deep scar. He wonders a lot actually. He hopes one day, he will be able to talk with the boy, because he has a lot of questions.
Time passes, and one day, he wakes up and he isn’t in the tank anymore. His back is on a metallic table, one that is very cold, and he wears blue clothes that have a weird texture. Well, maybe it’s normal, what does he knows ? It’s the first time he wears clothes.
He tastes air, and he smells things for the first time, and it’s weird. Next to him is the pale man. He doesn’t like being so close to him and nearly regrets the protection brought by the glass that used to stand between them. Still, he doesn’t protest when the man runs all kind of test on him. Tests are something he knows, and it’s nearly reassuring in this situation where everything is unknown. But something bugs him.
The boy isn’t here, and he doesn’t like it. It feels like being alone in the dark again.
The pale man hisses lightly, and makes him sit up. It hurts a little, because he isn’t used to move that much. His muscles pull.
Then, paper man disappears behind a door.
He waits, for he doesn’t know what else to do. The lab is cold, and it smells strange.
Soon, the door open again, and the man is back. His eyes widden when he see that along with him is the boy.
« Wait here. », says the man before closing the door behind him, leaving the two of them alone.
The boy is just as white as he was in the tank, and that paleness is rendered more obvious by the blue clothes he wears, the same as his. He takes a few steps forward, and his eye finds his.
« Hello » , he greets.
That hello is the fulfillment of one of his wishes. He can talk to the boy ! He open his mouth to answer, and tries to greet him back.
But no words get out. Only a weird, weak sound.
He can feel his face heat up, so much that it burns. Embarrassment gains him, and he bows his head furiously.
Only to find a hand on his.
He raises his head and meet the boy’s gaze, where he finds nothing but warmth. The boy squeezes his hand, and tells him : « It’s okay if you can’t talk right now » in a comforting voice. Light then catches on his sharp teeth as he smiles, « You can just repeat after me. See, you put your tongue like this, and you make this move… ». Confused, he tries to copy what the boy is showing him. « Yes, like this ! And then you say it : hello. Your turn », he continues.
Hesitant, he tries, « He.. hello ? ». And is rewarded by yet another soft smile, much to his joy. He did it ! He talked with the boy ! And the boy is kind, so much so that he spends the few hours they wait in the lab helping him understand how to pronounce words and sentences. At the end of it, his troat is sore, but his heart is content.
And when the man with the crossed chin, who's name he learns is Danzo-sama, comes and inform them that they are his tools, the newly named Kinoe takes it well. He takes it well, because he gets to leaves the lab, the tank from where he saw all the other light falter and die, and he gets to do it alongside the boy-Hound.
At the end of the day, they are led out of the lab and into the Root headquarters by two agents, and the weight of the mask he now wears conforts him.
It conforts him, because it means he will never be alone again.
The first time they are let outside the underground base of the foundation, Kinoe can’t wrap his head around all the life there is around them. They are in one of the only training ground Roots own that isn’t underground, and everything is so green. The light hurt a little, but it’s okay, because everything is so green, and so alive, and Hound is watching him with a smile. That smile doesn’t look anything like the one Danzo-sama wears when he summons them, all cold and chilly. Hound’s is small and warm, and he only smiles for him and him alone, and Kinoe loves it.
He assesses his new environment. The sky is blue, the white things in it are called clouds and the light comes from the sun. They are in a clearing, surrounded by tree. But there is an unknown.
« What's that ? », he asks. There’s something on the floor, something colorful, and pretty, something small and that smells nice. He thinks he likes it.
« It’s a flower. A lily. This one is white, so it's a symbol of purity. », Hound says.
« How do you knows that ? »
He frowns, « I don’t know, I just do. Maybe they put it in my head ? ». Hound seems confused. But that doesn’t change the fact that he knows what flowers are, and Kinoe doesn’t.
« I wanna know things too… », he pouts. Hound looks at him and puts his hand on his head. Kinoe freezes, but the other boy only pats his head, before saying, « It’s okay, I can just teach you what I knows then. ».
Kinoe thinks he likes it when Hound pats his head. Way more than he likes flowers.
After the mission with the smoke clan, Kinoe decides that if he gets a name, a real one, then Hound needs one too. Hound smile and let him choose one to call him by. When Kino-Tenzou says it, Hound laughs. Tenzou loves it when Shiro laugh, even more than he likes it when he pats his head.
*~*
Danzo is a busy man. He runs an hidden organisation, is the Hokage right hand, and a prized member of the elder council. Yet, here he is, waiting for the results of his last investment. They come in the form of the snake who enters his office, clad in a long lab coat.
« Well ? », Danzo lifts an eyebrow at the Sannin.
« It seems the experiment is a success. », Orochimaru hisses, gracefully taking the seat across from the councilman. A snap of his fingers, and one of his agents pour the both of them tea, before retracting in the shadows. The snake Sannin takes the fine china in his hands, and with the grace that defines him, sips from it. « The subject woke up, and has taken well to the changes his body underwent. », his tone becomes wondering as he continues, « This kekei genkai really is something. I'm quite impressed ». There’s a soft cling as he sets the cup back on the table. «But there happens to be some… complications. »
« Complications ? », Danzo says, chill slipping in his voice, «I don’t pay you to have complications, Orochimaru. I expect results. »
« And I have them. », he replies unimpressed, «I was just talking about some… unexpected development. The body wasn’t the only thing that changed in the subject. His mind was affected, too. ». Ah, and there’s a glint of something in the man’s eyes. Excitation, curiosity, scientist interest. Whatever you choose to call it, it’s what allowed Danzo to gain the Sannin's collaboration on this project of his. « When it woke up, it showed aggressivity towards me. It growled, tried to bite me, claw at me. But when I put him in the presence of the other subject, the mokuton one, it became protective of it. It seems like it's instincts latched on the other boy, deciding he was his. A form of pack instincts bloomed in it’s mind, and he bonded with the other one. »
The councilman frowns. « You know my policy. My agents aren’t supposed to have emotions. Bond like this are a flaw, you of all people, should know that by now. »
Orochimaru’s body language changes at that. He seems… triumphant, as he leans over the table, locking his gaze with Danzo’s. «I know. And I still believe you can take advantage of that. The Hatake boy is now willing to do anything for the other subject. Anything. It gives you leverage against him. You own the mokuton boy, you own the wolf. Moreover, you can be sure of his loyalty with how he reacts to other than his ‘pack’s. Added to his amnesia… »
Realisation downs upon him. « He has no other attachment than the boy. Than Roots. », it could work, he thinks.
It will works.
« You deserve your payment, Sannin. », he continues, as he pulls from his robes a jar. The slitted eyes of the snake immediately latch into it, not quitting it for a second, as he puts it on the table, between their cups. The floating orb inside glows a soft red and Orochimaru swiftly pocket it, before rising from his seat in a ever graceful manner.
« I believe our business ends here, Danzo-sama. ». There’s excitement in that voice. He must be eager to experiment on that sharingan. Ideally, Danzo would have kept it for himself, but well… there are other way for him to get one. And what he gained today is worth more than a barely awoken sharingan, he thinks as his two new soldiers bow to him. He brought back to life not only one, but two legends of the forest. The mighty first hokage’s jutsu and the fierceness of the wild Hatake clan. The enemies of Konoha shall cower before them.
They will cower before him.