043 – A Favour Between Friends

KONOHA

We blinked as we looked around at the forest around us. The area was overgrown due to a glaring lack of human traffic and as noisy as forests tended to be when they had been left alone long enough. Beneath our feet was a technique formula a few decades old; the rock bearing the seal had long been covered by a springy layer of moss at least two inches thick, yet the seal itself showed no noticeable degradation whatsoever.

We rose and immediately oriented ourself north before stealthily blitzing towards the perimeter of what we assumed to be a training ground. In one bound we scaled the ten-meter tall steel fence that surrounded Training Ground Forty-Four before navigating towards Kabuto's domicile. A potent henge disguised us as one of the ANBU operatives we were more familiar with; ANBU number five. Our hair shortened slightly in length and lightened in colour until it assumed the appearance of Yūgao's distinct purple hair. Our eyes lightened from their onyx black to a warmer brown and our light pink lips darkened into a deeper shade of red as if smeared with lipstick. Our good hand formed a tiger seal as we moulded chakra over our disguise until it hardened into a solid replica of the female ANBU's porcelain mask; cat-like with three red stripes — one vertical stripe on the forehead and two horizontal stripes, one on each cheek. Our kimono was gone; in its place, we donned the standard ANBU uniform, with its black and grey flak jacket and metal arm guards.

A discarded tree branch we found in a drain before sticking it to our back with chakra. The piece of driftwood was coated to resemble the Kunoichi's katana down to the number of weaves on the weapon's pommel and the grey scuff mark on the side of the sheath.

Disguise completed, we traversed the rooftops of a crowded neighbourhood before dropping down onto the balcony of one of the apartments.

"Kabuto," we called to the presence inside waiting in ambush. "I am coming in."

"Yūgao-san?" the spy's shadow clone asked in genuine surprise. "What brings you here?"

We let our Sharingan surface.

"....Sasuke?" the clone asked.

"Snake's testicles," we replied, speaking the code words as we tossed the clone a scroll. "I need you to pass that along to Orochimaru. It is tagged with a space-time ninjutsu that would allow me to teleport to his side once he receives it. Can you get it to him in time?"

"...Yes," the clone replied. It paused for a moment before performing the seals of a summoning jutsu. There was a puff of white smoke and when the obfuscation cleared we saw a small snake curled up on the floor between us.

"Give this to Orochimaru for me, would you? Also, inform him to expect Sasuke's arrival."

There was a hiss and another puff of smoke as the serpent departed.

"Has he gotten it?"

Kabuto shrugged. "He should have."

We nodded before using Flying Thunder God to return to the Land of Waves. We barely glanced at the yet unnamed blood clone who was assisting Jinrui in tagging all the vessels in the port with the modified technique formula before spiriting it away.

The next moment we appeared in a damp, shadowy forest. The building to our periphery immediately caught our attention. It was built below a tree and had two markings on it reminiscent of a snake as well as what appears to be a snake's skull on the topmost part.

"Where is this?" we asked, our gaze swivelling to meet the sannin's.

"Otogakure's current headquarters," Orochimaru replied, his voice sultry and left brow quirked in surprise. "...You've been busy."

Our gaze panned across the features of the four shinobi standing behind him before immediately dismissing them as any serious threat. Our lips curled into a smile as our attention refocused on Orochimaru. 

"I have a gift for you," we said.

"Oh," the sannin replied, his golden eyes flashing in intrigue. "You don't say. Come in then."

***

Tayuya was not sure what was going on.

The air pulsed with a sense of foreboding. Pale light cast eerie shadows on the walls. Orochimaru's gaze glinted with an unsettling mix of fascination and detachment as he leaned over a stainless steel table. A living, breathing cadaver lay on its surface, tubes and wires snaking from its body to various machines. With gloved hands, the snake-sannin carefully adjusted the position of a delicate-looking apparatus in the cadaver's open guts. He glanced at a complex diagram scrawled on a nearby parchment, then back to the subject.

"Brilliant work, Sasuke-kun," he whispered much to Tayuya's surprise, his voice, smooth and chilling, cutting through the tension of the room like a knife through silk. 

"Brilliant work."

Behind him, the Uchiha boy sat on a stool and watched, his expression bland; seemingly unmoved by the compliment. By his side stood a masked, dark-haired Kunoichi. Her facade was watertight, making it impossible for Tayuya to deduce her origin or ethnicity. The fact that she was dressed in a plain grey kimono of a similar make to the Uchiha's did not help much in that regard.

Tayuya's attention returned to the Uchiha. She had heard much about him but unsurprisingly gave the matter little thought. It had once been easier to just assume the boy was trash much like the rest of the "prodigies" she had grown tired of hearing about. Now? Not so much. Not when she stood directly in his presence.

Some tiny part of her still wanted to challenge the boy to a fight; to put him in his place and punch the smug entitlement out of his guts. The more sane parts of her suppressed those impulses entirely. She had seen the way the sannin looked at the boy.

Like a delicious bowl of poisoned udon. Appealing, yes, but not exactly good for your health.

Anyone who could cause the madman to reign in his worst impulses is not someone she was willing to cross.

Tayuya's attention soon returned to Orochiamru's experiment. The sannin's fingers danced over the controls of an apparatus with a blend of medical precision and morbid excitement. Absentmindedly, he reached out for a boxy console covered with buttons and switches on an adjacent table. The cadaver twitched involuntarily as the machine whirred to life. A low hum filled the air and tubes began pulsing with a dim glow.

"All vital signs seem stable despite the primary nervous system's completely inert state. Is it permanent or does the effect wear off?" Orochimaru asked, his voice tinted with wonder.

"It's not permanent," came the Uchiha's reply from behind. "The jutsu's preserving effect wears off naturally after thirty-six hours. Aside from the lack of a soul, the body can be considered alive by almost any other metric. I examined the Living Corpse Reincarnation jutsu you attempted to use on me that time during the chunin exams and modified it a bit. The version I possess syncs perfectly with the Modified Blood Clone Jutsu. I am sure you would appreciate the ease of use and the lack of rejection a combination like this offers. With this, I have fulfilled my half of our bargain. I need you to commit your half."

Wait. What?

The sannin fell into silent contemplation. "...Thank you," he said.

...WHAT?!

Tayuya's googled eyes panned from the sannin to the Uchiha in shock, then fear.

He made the mad bastard thank him?

Tayuya's gaze met that of the rest of sound four observing from the edge of the room. Subtlely all four of them edged away from the Uchiha.

"Don't thank me," the Uchiha said. "I presume, from how much you've recovered after our last altercation you have a jutsu that grants you enhanced regeneration? I want it; it would take far too long to regenerate my missing arm using regular cellular mitosis, and despite the quality of this prosthetic I cannot gauge with enough certainty how well it would fare against a foe like Tobirama."

"Regular human cells are quite limited in that regard," Orochimaru replied with an understanding nod. "The major drawback of regeneration techniques is that the body's cells are very limited to how many times they can divide themselves in one's lifetime, and by accelerating that division to recreate lost limbs and organs, one is basically shortening their lifespan. I assume prolonged usage is why you look so much older now. To circumvent that problem, I modified my body using Hashirama's cells, removing the limiters that are preventing infinite mitosis. Although that led to the small problem of cancerous tumours and unchecked plant growth due to wood release, I have found a way around it."

"How long would the modifications take?"

"Enough to regrow limbs overnight? About six months."

"Too long. Could be useful in case I lose another appendage in the future, but is useless for my most pressing concerns. Either way, I need a sample of these Hashirama cells and your notes detailing the process of implanting them in the body. The prosthetic arm would have to suffice for now."