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[Flowers bloom, snow melts, and animals emerge from their burrows. Spring has begun.]

As far as things go in the Land of Fire, few people pay any mind to the thick woods nestled near the borders of the Land of Earth and Land of Rice. It’s no-man’s land, terrain much too rough and forested to consider settling down in. However, as Orochimaru discovers, it is teeming with life. He’s likely passed through here before during a pursuit, but this is the first time he’s slowed down to take it in. This time, there’s no rush, no shinobi at his heels, and he’s rather fond of strolling through nature.Visibility is low; it’s dawn, but the sun has not yet graced this pocket of the forest. A deep fog winds through the trees, shifting and shimmering in the soft breeze. Orochimaru breathes in deeply, enjoying the oxygen rich air. Idly, he rubs his fingers to keep the blood flowing through them. Temperatures don’t bother him much, but the chill of the woods will slow his joints if he’s not mindful of it.A bird suddenly chitters, the first to awake. It makes him smile slightly. He’ll never tell anyone, but watching the world slowly rise in the morning is one of his favorite things. This bird makes him feel a little less alone in this forest.Of course, he’s not actually alone. He’s not a fool. Some time ago, perhaps a little under an hour, he became aware of someone following him. They’ve been keeping their distance, silently weaving through treetops. He’s unsure of their purpose. After all, not many people pass through here, and it’s only one person. Orochimaru’s name and face is well known throughout the Land of Fire, so any ninja in their right mind attempting to capture him would retreat and come back with a team. This person could be attempting to follow him in hopes of discovering the location of the Sound Village, but if that’s the case, they’re being awfully casual about it.Most interestingly, they’re not very subtle about trailing him. It’s how he would expect a genin to follow him, but a genin wouldn’t dare go after him alone. So finally, he comes to a halt and gazes up in the direction of his pursuer.“Is there something you want from me?” He asks in a smooth, rich tone. He doesn’t raise his voice into a call; it’s unnecessary. He feels the follower pause for a few moments, likely wondering if he was speaking to them. “Yes, you, in the trees,” he confirms. “I know you’re there.”For a minute, everything is silent and still. Finally, the foliage above rustles as the stranger hops from tree to tree. They stop high in a nearby pine, concealed by branches. He doesn’t like not being able to see them but decides to be patient.“I mean you no harm,” they say at last. It’s a woman’s voice, low and velvety. “Should you near or cross a wolf’s territory, they will watch and follow you from a distance. I am the same.”Orochimaru raises an eyebrow and responds, “Territory? Do you mean to say you live out here?”“Yes,” she says. “The Takai Kigi Forest is a bountiful home to me.”How curious, he thinks to himself. Hermits certainly aren’t unheard of, but one this far from civilization, buried deep in the woods… Well, it’s surprising. Frankly, he wasn’t even aware that this area had a name. These woods are just generally considered difficult to traverse at best, and uninhabitable at worst. There’s no established trail and the trees stretch on for miles. Not to mention how consistently cold it is. But honestly, he finds the forest no more uninhabitable than the Land of Water. In fact, this place is arguably better due to the abundance of wildlife. “Interesting,” he hums. “And you live alone out here?”“I live without human companionship, yes.” She confirms.“A missing-nin living alone in a forest that’s widely regarded as difficult to navigate,” he says. “That’s rather odd, hm?”“I find it no more unusual than the Leaf’s most wanted S-Rank criminal casually strolling through said forest,” she counters, amusement laced in her tone.He raises his eyebrows in mild surprise. The woman then drops down to the thick, winding branch in front of him. She still has the high ground, but at least he can see her now. Her face is unfamiliar to him, and he finds himself doubting that she’s from Konoha.

“I must ask,” he says. “How do you know of me?”“How did you know I was a missing-nin?” She counters.“The way you followed me suggested you’re a ninja of some sort,” he answers. “And the fact that you live alone out here tells me you’re a fugitive.”She nods, peachy pink hair falling into her eyes. “Observant. As for how I know you, I collect and trade information for goods. One of my informants has described you before.”“I don’t suppose you would tell me about this informant?”“Client confidentiality,” she shakes her head. “Unless you can offer something of greater value than what they gave me to conceal their identity.”“Mm,” he hums. “It’s not of much importance.”The woman watches him, light blue eyes occasionally surveying her surroundings before settling back on him. He’s surprised to find that she maintains eye contact with him. Her gaze never drops in fear or discomfort, but it doesn’t feel challenging either. He’s never been easy to look at directly, unusual marigold eyes carrying a simply predatory gaze. But, oddly enough, so does she. It’s certainly not as intense, but… he squints at her, trying to dissect her nature. There’s something there that he can’t discern yet. It intrigues him, draws him in.Slowly, she rises and hops down to the ground, now fully on his level. She takes a few small steps towards him, observing his body language. This eerily pale man with long black hair is dangerous, strong, and oozing with confidence; but his posture is relaxed and passive. Though he’s alert, he doesn’t view her as a threat yet. He won’t attack.She stops a few feet in front of him, looking him over evenly. Now that she’s closer, he can see the long, crooked scar that tears from the left side of her jaw to the bridge of her nose. Her clothes are dirty and ripped in a few places. On closer inspection, the rips don’t seem to be from too much wear; they’re too deliberate. He thinks he can see dark, scarred skin underneath each tear.Orochimaru, on the other hand, seems quite put together by comparison. His hair is sleek and well groomed, only slightly rustled from the breeze. His cream colored robe sports no stains, and the only dirt on him is dust he’s kicked up from walking. The woman tilts her head curiously and looks over his face, taking in each detail. He returns the favor, the both of them memorizing each other’s appearance. “What do you use for your eye makeup?” she eventually asks, breaking the silence.His lips curl in amusement, and he brings his hand up to his face. “Nothing, I’m afraid,” he says, rubbing the purple around his eyes to prove it doesn’t come off. “These markings are part of my skin.”“Huh,” she says. “They’re very… pretty. I envy you,” she idly traces her own eyes. “I would paint my own if I didn’t sweat it off so fast.”“You surprise me, you know?” he chuckles. “I can’t imagine your informant told you anything kind about me, but you don’t seem scared.”“Other people’s impressions mean little to me,” she states. “Words become so easily twisted when they pass through too many mouths. I reserve my judgments until I’ve met a person face to face.”And if he knew body language better, he would see that she is scared. Every muscle in her body is taut and prepared to jump away at a moment's notice. This isn’t a standoff, not yet at least; it’s akin to two dispersal wolves meeting and sizing each other up, deciding whether to join forces or tear each other apart.“Tell me,” she hums. “Is it true you run the Hidden Sound Village?”“What would it mean to you if I did?” he asks.“Intrigue,” she answers. “If you do, you likely have supplies that I desire. I may not know what you desire, but I’m sure I have something of value to offer.”This piques his interest. “Well,” he says, his tongue flicking across his smooth lips. “What can you offer?”“Allow me to introduce myself,” she says, nodding once and taking a deep breath. “My name is Korin. I’ve been a missing-nin for around 6 or 7 years. I’ve made my life in the wilderness, and these woods are my home.”She tucks a tuft of hair behind her ear before continuing. “I can survive on my own means, but I’ve made a habit of trading intel and various things in exchange for supplies. People pass through this forest more often than you’d think. I keep a summary of each person I see and how often they pass through.”He stiffens ever so slightly at this, so subtle that most would miss it. She purses her lips and goes on, “Sometimes, they offer me random intel or gossip in exchange for some of my goods. They can also request to know who or what I currently have intel on, and will offer more intel or supplies in exchange for specifics about a subject.”“Do tell,” he murmurs. “What supplies do you need, and what goods do you offer?”“I’m fairly sure that an established village such as yours doesn’t require my little trinkets,” Korin chuckles softly. “I think my medical herbs and intel are perhaps the most valuable to you,” she pauses, then adds, “However, if fresh meat is in low supply, I can certainly offer that.”The village is, in fact, often low on food. Between the work of Orochimaru, Kabuto, and the subordinates, there’s rarely any time to take care of meals. There’s barely any chance to go to a store, either.“As for my own needs,” she says. “I am almost always in need of clothing and weapons. But advanced medical supplies are the most essential. Bandages, hydrogen peroxide, scalpels, clean rags, morphine, syringes… all such things.”“I can most definitely supply those,” Orochimaru says, nodding. “I think I may have a proposition for you, but first… may I hear the subjects you have intel on?”Korin slowly reaches into her back pocket, pulling out a somewhat wrinkled folded piece of paper. He’s slightly unsettled by the way her eyes never leave his face as she does this. She offers it to him, hand tentatively outstretched with the paper pinched between her thumb and forefinger. He accepts it just as slow, under the bizarre impression that she might spook if he moves too quickly.Delicately, he unfolds the paper and examines it. He’d initially prepared to scan it over, but quickly discovers that her handwriting is almost unintelligible. He briefly wonders if it’s a different language until he discerns some recognizable words. He hones in on a few subjects: ‘5th Hokage’, ‘Akatsuki’, ‘Uchiha Clan’, and ‘rumored Kumogakure jinchuuriki’.“You ought to space your kerning a bit more,” he sighs, returning the paper. “Your writing is hardly legible.”“You’re not the first to complain. And what is kerning?”“The spacing between each letter in a word,” he explains. “Your letters are so close together that they often intercept.”She shrugs. “It’s rare for someone to really need to read my writing.” In fact, she actually tends to write in a code, a personal written language she’s created. When your services rely heavily on private intel, you have to prepare for the possibility of your documents falling into the wrong hands.Orochimaru mulls over the entire situation and the possibilities that stem from it. Eventually, he says, “You interest me, young one. I have an offer. Whether or not you’re aware, this forest borders on one of my many bases. We can provide you with advanced medicine and supplies, clothing, and perhaps some weapons. In exchange, I’d want you to act as surveillance. An occasional report on everyone who passes through, and a more immediate report if you see something suspicious.”Korin processes this and asks, “Anything else?”“The fresh meat could also be of use, I suppose.”She’s silent as she turns the offer over in her mind, weighing the fairness and benefits. Finally, she nods and stretches out her hand. “I accept.”Orochimaru takes her hand firmly and they shake on the deal.“One more thing,” she says as she retracts her hand slowly. “How would you like me to deliver? Would you want me to come to your village or would you prefer to send someone to collect?”“I’ll send someone to collect, for now.” He answers.Korin nods once more, not questioning his reasoning. At the moment, they have no trust established in each other. It would be an extreme risk for her to know the location of his village right now. “We’ll need a code, then. Something I can ask to subtly confirm that they’re sent by you.”It's his turn to nod. They’re both lost in thought briefly as they consider possible phrases. Eventually, they agree on one; the one he chooses is stupid, Korin thinks, but doesn’t comment on it. She then fishes through her pockets before handing him a small trinket.He examines it. It’s an animal skull of some sort, likely a rodent. An incredibly intricate pattern is carved into it. The grooves of the carvings are painted a dark, rusting red; blood, he recognizes instantly.“Make sure your collector brings this with them. I will ask to see it every time. If they don't have it, I will not deliver. No exceptions. Ever.” She states. “If it gets lost, I’ll need you to personally come to me for a replacement.”To the average person, this would seem over the top, but Orochimaru agrees easily. In fact, he finds it respectable. She’s taking his offer very seriously and making sure she never lets the deliveries fall into the wrong hands.The sun is streaming through the trees by the time the deal is solidified. Morning birdsong fills the forest, and Korin yawns, blinking slowly. Still waking up?“Well, my dear, it was lovely running into you,” Orochimaru says at last. “I look forward to our future business partnership. Unfortunately, I have many things to attend to and must continue.”“As do I,” she nods. “I’ll gather supplies while awaiting your collector. It was a pleasure to meet you, Orochimaru.”“And you, Korin,” he dips his head before turning away and walking off.She watches him until he disappears between the pines, then stretches with a soft groan and returns to the treetops. Should she hunt now, or at dusk? Definitely at dusk, she decides. That’s when most prey are getting tired, and she’ll be well rested. She confidently hops through the trees, mulling over her encounter with Orochimaru all the way home.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Orochimaru grits his teeth in pain as he attempts to lift a finger. Damn that Hiruzen. His gangrenous flesh is continuing to deteriorate, despite Kabuto’s best efforts. At least he’s developed something to dull the pain.“Kabuto,” he calls to the silver haired med-nin, “Have you any luck with Tsunade?”“Afraid not,” replies the young man, who is currently measuring herbs for some concoction. “Seems like she knew we would come.”“Annoying,” the Sannin clicks his tongue.Kabuto grabs a jar of turmeric, only to find it empty. He sighs and drums his fingers on the table in frustration before taking stock of his herbs. He’s missing quite a few at this point, having had little time to purchase what he was running low on. He writes down the herbs he lacks; turmeric, mint, oregano, echinacea, and ginseng.“Lord Orochimaru, would I be able to visit an herbalist at a nearby village? I’ve run out of some very important herbs.” he asks.“Ah,” Orochimaru says. “Actually, there may be a better option.” Kabuto turns to look at him curiously. “If you happened to notice, the Sound Village recently began a trade deal with an outsider. Herbs happen to be among the products she offers. I’m not sure what she stocks, but it would be beneficial to visit her regardless,” he sighs. “We’re slightly overdue for our typical exchange.”Kabuto squints, chewing his lower lip. A singular merchant could become troublesome. He’s not exactly enthusiastic about visiting this trader, as he doubts she’ll have the herbs he wants, but ultimately, it’s not even his decision.“Alright,” he nods. “What’s the cost of a typical trade?”“It’s a supply trade,” Orochimaru answers. “It changes a bit every time, but I believe she requested medical supplies.”“What sort?” he asks, beginning to pack his weapon pouch.Orochimaru makes a conscious effort not to shrug as he replies, “I’m not terribly sure. Just bring anything that doesn’t require electricity. And perhaps ask her for a list of what she requires, for future reference.”Kabuto sighs quietly and nods as he packs various medicines and supplies. On his way out, per the sannin’s instructions, he stops in the common area to retrieve a rodent skull trinket. Some sort of code item? He’s not sure.Frustration begins to build in him when he reaches the forest and begins weaving through the trees. What kind of merchant has no reliable way to be reached? He isn’t comfortable with Orochimaru’s recommendation of walking through the forest until he feels someone following him. He can’t stand not knowing everything about this trader.A bitter wind gushes through the pines, sending a chill down his spine that makes him shudder. The sound of the wind caught in the branches is akin to whispering. It puts him on edge. Dull gray clouds blanket the sky, teasing the idea of rain.The hairs on the back of his neck stiffen, alerting him of a pursuer. He stops and turns to face their direction, resisting the instinct to enter a defensive position. A few moments pass in silence, stillness. He should probably call out, but he can’t be bothered. If this is the merchant, she’ll come to him. So he stands and stares, unmoving.A shape comes forwards from the branches, stepping into view and revealing itself as a woman. Slowly, she squats down on the branch, her hands coming to rest between her feet and grip the wood. It’s a frog-like position, and Kabuto holds back a snort. She stares back at him, expression relaxed and neutral. He blinks a few times, finding the prolonged eye contact uncomfortable. It’s not like she’s being intense with it, but she won’t look away. A subtle challenge.Finally, it’s too stressful and he glances away. She gives a quiet hum of amusement, which infuriates him.“Are you the trader?” he blurts out once he can’t stand the silence anymore.She smiles but doesn’t answer, instead asking, “Did you see any interesting animals on your way here?”Kabuto has, thankfully, already been briefed on the code phrase that Orochimaru chose, and responds, “Yes, a python the color of champagne,” while pulling out the skull trinket and showing it to her.Satisfied, she reaches into her pocket and tosses him a scroll, which he catches with one hand. “So, you’re Orochimaru’s collector? This is my first time seeing you; he’s come to me himself for the past few trades.”He nods. “My name is Kabuto; I am Lord Orochimaru’s assistant in most things.”“Korin. Pleased to meet you, Kabuto.” She says, turning each syllable of his name over with her tongue. He likes the way she says it, like she’s taking the time to actually get familiar with the sound of his name. It’s rare that anyone pays him much mind at all.“Lord Orochimaru implied that you might have herbs for trade?” He asks, cocking an eyebrow. No point in small talk.“Oh, yes,” she says, her eyes lighting up. “What is it that you need?”“I doubt that you’ll have many of them, if any at all,” he sighs, pulling out his list. “Tumeric, mint, oregano, echinacea, and ginseng.”The trader blinks once, head tilting. “Anything else?”Kabuto stares at her. “You have all of them?”“And many more. Are you an herbal enthusiast? You might find interest in my full stock.”“I’m a med-nin, if that’s what you mean.”She looks him over. “Yeah, that checks out.”“What’s that supposed to mean?” He furrows his eyebrows.Hopping down from the tree, she lands in front of him gracefully, as if she were weightless. Now that she’s on the ground, it’s apparent that they’re roughly the same height. She points to his glasses, saying, “If you were a front line shinobi, you’d wear contacts,” and then points to his arms, finishing with, “And you’d have at least a bit more muscle mass than you currently do. I figured you were either a med-nin or a long distance fighter.”“Observant, aren’t you.” He says dryly.She shrugs innocently. “Well, do you want to see my full stock of herbs or not?”“I guess so.”“Alright, follow me. I’ll have to show you my base.” She says, giving him almost no time to react before she turns heel and takes off into the trees. Luckily, he’s swift on his feet and matches her pace quickly.“So, what’s a missing-nin doing all alone in the forest?” He asks as they travel.“Where else do missing-nin tend to run off to?” She retorts, giggling. If Kabuto weren’t a spy, he might’ve missed the way she’d slyly side-stepped his question. “Keyword being alone. Missing-nin like to group up with at least one other person, usually.” He clarifies.“Nature supplies all the company I need.”“You really didn’t have any friends in your village that might’ve liked to come with you?”“If I did, they’d be with me, wouldn’t they?”Kabuto scowls, annoyed with the way she keeps dodging his questions. He doesn’t have time to figure out how to word his next inquiry before she drops from the treeline back to the ground, apparently having reached their destination. It’s a slight clearing in the trees, a small meadow of sorts. Bordering the clearing are a few trees with makeshift doors affixed to them, the middle one being the largest. Korin swerves off to the leftmost tree, opening the door and dipping inside. Kabuto hesitantly follows, and is startled to find how big this hollowed out trunk is; it’s easily the size of a small apartment. The walls are lined with various animal pelts, presumably to keep the room from becoming too cold. Bundles of roses and basil hang from the ceiling, in the process of drying. His attention is drawn to the wooden shelves filled with jars of various dried herbs and mixtures (one of which looks suspiciously similar to blood, he notes).“They’re not labeled,” she says sheepishly, gesturing to the jars of herbs. “I don’t have materials for that, but I know what each jar is. I’ve got, let’s see, um… rose hips, chamomile, thyme, mint, clove, oregano, ginger, turmeric, ginseng, aloe, echinacea, rosemary, lavender, yarrow, calendula, and basil.”Kabuto coughs, blinking several times. “You weren’t lying. That’s a lot.”She shrugs, then gasps, “Oh, shit!”He raises an eyebrow, watching as she whips around and picks up a jar filled with some sort of white powder. “Totally forgot to give this to her, damn it.” She mutters.“Messed up a trade deal?” He asks, amused.“Ha,” she rolls her eyes. “No, I forgot to…” She doesn’t even finish the explanation before she exits the tree. Kabuto follows curiously.He watches as she places the jar by the door of the biggest tree, then trots over to a trapdoor on the ground. Opening it, she ducks down, evidently struggling to pull something out. Finally, she resurfaces with what Kabuto can only assume is a large chunk of meat, the source of which is a mystery to him. She jumps slightly when she looks at him, almost as if she’d forgotten he was there.“Sorry, fuck, I’m super scatterbrained right now, this can wait until you leave,” she mutters as she joins his side again. “Anyway, which herbs were you interested in again?”“Turmeric, mint, oregano-“ He starts with a mildly annoyed tone, but pauses in shock as Korin brings the raw meat to her mouth, tearing off a bite of it and chewing with some difficulty. “That’s raw, you can’t-“She chuckles at this, putting her hand on his shoulder in a manner probably meant to ease any worry he might have. All it does is make him jump back. Pushing the meat to one side of her mouth, she answers, “I’m not eating it, don’t worry.”This doesn’t make her behavior any less confusing, and Kabuto’s expression displays this. She rolls her eyes slightly and motions for him to follow her, bringing him to the biggest tree. She holds her hand up to stop him a few yards from the door, then opens it and hops back to where he stands.Crouching down, she makes a series of peculiar squeaking sounds. Kabuto, no longer caring about herbs at the moment, frowns and watches the door of the tree intently. When nothing happens, she makes the whimpering call again. Something moves inside the tree, but Kabuto can’t see it, and it won’t come out. Korin motions for him to crouch down to her level. He’s not sure why he obeys.Again, she squeaks for whatever is inside the tree. And finally, four small shapes come tumbling out, squeaking as well. It takes a second for Kabuto to realize what they are. They’re puppies of some sort, each a varying shade of brown, younger than he’s ever seen. They stumble everywhere, basically rolling towards Korin. The largest one attempts to climb up her knee, licking the air excitedly.

“You might want to look away. This could be gross to you.” Korin warns. He doesn’t, instead choosing to watch as Korin gathers up the thoroughly-chewed raw meat in her mouth and spits it out onto the ground next to the pup. It wastes no time in hurriedly lapping at the pile. The other three pups wiggle excitedly, licking the air in hopes of food. Kabuto watches her repeat the process three more times, and he can’t decide if he’s disgusted or fascinated. Whichever emotion he’s feeling turns to curiosity when she starts to chew the remaining chunk of meat even though all four pups have been fed. She picks up the jar of white powder and opens it, placing it in front of her before cupping her hand over her mouth and spitting the meat into her palm. She then uses her clean hand to thoroughly sprinkle pinches of the powder onto the meat before gently clenching her first a few times to mix it in.At last, she looks to the entrance and calls, “Ikeda, come on.” There is no response. “Ikeda,” she tries again, more of a singing tone this time. “Come on girl, you gotta come eat.” No response still. “Ikeda,” she sighs, worry entering her tone. Finally, after several more unsuccessful calls, a small head pokes out of the doorway. This pup is significantly smaller and weaker than the rest. She stumbles over the doorway, splatting onto the ground, and she takes longer to get back on her feet than the others do. “Oh, hi sweetheart,” Korin coos lovingly, and Ikeda’s thin tail starts to wag excitedly. She offers the pup her palm of meat, and Ikeda hesitantly begins to lap it up. The other pups have finished by now and are beginning to investigate the mysterious Kabuto, stumbling around him cautiously. The biggest comes closer, so Kabuto outstretches a hand for it to sniff. The movement startles the group and they tumble backwards slightly, but the big one recovers quickly and hesitantly cranes forward to sniff his fingers. The sniffing grows more intent and its tail begins to wag, which apparently signals safety to the others, who suddenly begin to surround him and snuffle around his shoes and pants.“Huh, they adjusted to you quickly,” Korin notes, still hand feeding the weakest pup. “It’s gonna be a pain trying to teach them to be wary of strangers instead of curious.”“Guard dogs?” He asks.“Something like that.” She gives a small smile that conveys nothing. “That one doesn’t seem like it’ll make much of a scary impression.” He says, looking pointedly at the one by her hand.Her expression turns a bit sad, and she strokes the pup’s tiny head with two fingers. “Ikeda. She’s… sick, and she has been since I found her. It’s getting worse every day.”“Sick with what?”Korin shrugs. “I’m not sure. I haven’t the knowledge on wolf biology. But it eats away her energy, suppresses her appetite.”“Wolf?” Kabuto blinks, looking down at the pups that are now tripping over his feet. He’s never seen a wolf very closely, let alone a wolf pup. But it makes sense. These don’t quite look like dogs.“Mhm.” She doesn’t elaborate beyond that, staring half-lidded at Ikeda. She must be concerned. “I’m trying not to get too attached to her,” she says without any prompting, but Kabuto listens anyway. The more she talks, the easier he can get a grasp on her mentality. “It’s hard.”“In case she dies, hm?”She nods. “It’s not even so much of an if as much as a when . Nature is a cruel mistress, I know this well. I’ve seen her take the lives of creatures much healthier than Ikeda.”Kabuto scoffs quietly, giving a slight shake of his head. It’s similar to how an adult reacts to a child stating something absurd. Formality almost holds his tongue, but his general scorn for her thus far overrules. “It’s not exclusive to nature. To think so is rather immature. Mankind is cruel too; quite a bit crueler than nature, actually.”For the first time, he sees that he’s provoked an unpleasant reaction from her. She twists her head slowly to face him, eyes squinting with contempt. He can’t help the way his lips curl into a sneer. It’s his turn to challenge her.“Did I ever say that it was exclusive to nature? Or even imply that I believe such a thing? Don’t put words in my mouth just so you can feel like you’re justified to argue against me.” She says, staring him down. Kabuto shrugs, attempting to appear unbothered. “I was just stating my own view.”“It’s not like I don’t know of mankind’s cruelty,” She sighs, wiping her hand in the grass now that Ikeda has finished her meal. “You don’t end up living alone in the woods just ‘cause you feel like it.”“So, it seems you’ve been treated unkindly, then.” He notes.She nods, and he can almost literally see her put up walls around herself and her true emotions. Her body relaxes in one smooth movement, the veil sliding back over. It’s all subtle body language, but Kabuto can read her quite clearly. He’ll have to be creative to get past her guard in the future. She gives him a small, fake smile meant to ease the tension. “Well, I don’t want to keep you away from your master. Let’s get those herbs, hm?”This time, he actually receives the herbs he’s come to get. Rummaging through his pouch, he places various medical supplies on a poorly-made table; it’s his offer for the trade. She accepts with gratitude, and in turn places small fur pouches filled with the requested herbs in his arms. “You know,” she hums thoughtfully. “If you wanted, we could have a side trade deal of our own. One not connected to Orochimaru. That way you could come to me for herbs whenever you please.”Kabuto pauses. He’s not sure Orochimaru would like that; or maybe he would, who knows. But it’s an excuse to visit her more, to gain a better grasp on her character. So, he accepts.For he has been a spy far too long to know how to be anything else.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It’s the crack of dawn, and Kabuto is cranky. He hasn’t been able to get much sleep with Orochimaru’s near constant painful groaning and the round-the-clock care that he requires as a result. He’s returning from an attempt to collect intel about the Reaper Death Seal; unfortunately, the jutsu is so secretive that he hasn’t turned up anything. Perhaps if he had more time, but he can’t leave Orochimaru alone for too long.Coming to the edge of one of the rivers that flows through the forest bordering their hideout, he pauses and closes his eyes. The crisp morning air carries a bit of fog to it, and the horizon is just starting to turn flaxen yellow. Frogs and insects bellow their songs around the edges of the river, concealed within muddy reeds and roots.Another sound catches his attention, different from the rest. It’s an unnatural splashing. Could be an animal, but also could be a person. The risk of a person is too much for him to ignore, so he slowly creeps along the bank of the river. After he takes about five or six steps towards the noise, it abruptly stops. So does he. He stands completely still for a moment, waiting for it to start again. When it doesn’t, he takes a few steps closer, crouching down now to conceal himself. A pebble skitters across gravel nearby, and he holds his breath, going still. After a tense minute, he continues his approach as quietly as he can. The reeds obscure his vision. Gravel crunches, closer than before. Something is approaching him, and it’s being equally as stealthy. He’s becoming more certain that it’s a person, thus causing him to silently pull a kunai from his weapon pouch. Holding it in front of him with a tightly clenched fist, he draws closer, using his free hand to steady his balance as he switches between crouching and crawling. Suddenly, the reeds in front of him are rustling.The reeds part, and he stares into someone else’s eyes. Light blue, eerily wide and dead focused.They lunge for each other at the same time, adrenaline pulsing. Kabuto swings his kunai, narrowly missing as the other person hits his arm with their elbow, simultaneously bracing their other arm and knocking into his chest with the force of a charging bull. He pivots on his heel to lessen the blow; a spike of shock jolts through him when he feels his sandal slip against the mud, his balance faltering.Kabuto’s no genin, though, and his reaction time is nearly inhuman. In the same second that he feels his balance fail, he grabs the person’s arm and pulls, using the inertia of his fall to twist his body and throw them into the river before tumbling into the water face first. It’s shallow, but ice cold, and if he wasn’t already cranky before, he certainly is now. Snapping into a crouching position, he readies his fists to attack, but pauses when he realizes that he recognizes the person in the water mimicking his position.It’s Korin. She squints as she seems to recognize him at the same time. She’s bent down a little more than he has, one hand planted in the gravel below the water, the other pulled back in preparation to strike. Her position looks like a tiger preparing to pounce. Against his will, Kabuto’s lips twitch into a smirk; he’s interested in exactly how much prowess she has in battle. He can already tell she’s got an above average reaction time, being able to block his kunai and throw him off his balance. Her skill will tell him more about her background and how well she was trained.Korin, on the other hand, is much more wary to continue their fight. She has no company to help her care for her wounds, little time to rest between taking care of her pups and her own needs, and a very poor grasp on medical ninjutsu. But she has longed to spar with another person, to brush up on her skills. The fact that Kabuto is unlikely to seriously injure someone his village is in business with is also a small comfort.A few seconds pass, and then there’s a playful glimmer in Korin’s eyes as her own lips curl into a smirk in unspoken agreement to turn their fight into a spar. This is all the warning Kabuto gets before she pounces, but it’s enough, because he quickly jumps out of her path and aims to jam his elbow between her shoulder blades. Unfortunately, her reaction time seems nearly as sharp as his, and she redirects to dive sideways into his legs, knocking him over into the freezing cold water again. He hisses with displeasure as they collectively tumble through the shallows, flipping and flopping as they both try to get the upper hand over each other.Using his knees to keep her pushed back from his upper body, he quickly claps his hand together and performs a flurry of seals. Water from the river rises up, molding itself into the shape of a dragon, and rushes towards Korin; the kunoichi barely has time to shriek before it hits her, throwing her back several yards into the riverbank. She sits up, watching him run towards her, and suddenly flattens to the ground and disappears into the reeds. Kabuto comes to a screeching halt, scanning the nearby vegetation for signs of movement and noise.Meanwhile, slowly and silently, Korin creeps through the reeds with the expert precision of a seasoned hunter. She doesn’t need to see him to know exactly where he is. His panting breath gives him away. She may not know much about Kabuto’s skills in battle, but the fact that he’s Orochimaru’s assistant is a clear indicator that she ought to be wary. Korin is a woman who functions best when she has the element of surprise. She’ll need to approach this like an ambush predator.Kabuto is much less entertained by her stealth. He despises not even knowing what direction she might come from. His senses are so heightened that it’s nearly impossible to ambush him. The silver haired med-nin twitches at the slightest noise, constantly turning in circles to scan every direction. She’ll have to try another method of approach, he’s certain.That is, until a weight drops onto his shoulders and he’s suddenly pushed to the ground. He grunts in surprise and confusion, rolling to throw her off. But she clings to his back, one hand grabbing his ponytail and yanking it as they struggle. He’s not sure where she came from until he glances up at the branches that hang over this section of the river. When did she get up there? How did he not notice?A particularly rough blow to his side earns a low growl from his throat, and for a moment, he forgets they’re only sparring. On instinct, his fingers hook around a kunai and he slashes to stab her. She feels his killing intent a second too late and isn’t able to fully dodge the blade, yelping as it tears through the flesh of her thigh.Kabuto opens his mouth to call it off, but isn’t able to get any words out before she strikes him, raking claws across his chest— wait, claws? That can’t be right. Korin lets out a snarling cry that makes his hair stand on end. It’s his body’s instinctual reaction to the completely inhuman sound. When he glances at her, she’s baring her teeth, a purely animalistic look in her eyes. He notices her canine teeth look slightly thicker and longer than they should.It all fades in an instant when she notices his bewildered expression. If he wasn’t so well trained in observation, he would have missed it in the first place. She stumbles away from him, plopping onto the ground with feigned casualty and a nervous smile. They’re both silent for a minute, panting to catch their breaths. A soft dripping sound catches Kabuto’s attention. The source is blood seeping from the gash in Korin’s thigh. It’s deeper than a simple sparring wound should be; he realizes he’d been aiming to slash the artery, and is suddenly very glad that she managed to dodge as much as she did.Following his gaze, she looks down at the wound herself, teeth beginning to chatter. She keeps her head angled towards the gash, but her eyes flicker to watch Kabuto nervously, having noticed that he’s slowly coming closer.“Guess I got carried away,” He hums in admission, sitting down once her gaze starts to turn from wary to threatening. She notices his lack of apology and squints. With a sigh, he says, “Here, let me see it.”Korin makes no move to change her position, still staring at him like she might bite. Or run. He’s not sure which he’d prefer, really. He sighs again, this time in a frustrated manner, and comes closer while ignoring her warning glare. The kunoichi sharply leans away from him once he’s crossed over into her personal space, but he pays no attention to this, taking the chance to grab a bit above her knee and hold her leg still while he examines the wound.She whines with discomfort at first. Kabuto doesn’t realize how lucky he is that she’s actually letting him do this; Korin hates being visibly wounded in front of anyone. Only the strong survive in the forest. A visible weakness makes you the biggest target. She knows this personally, since she’s learned to identify subtle signs of weakness in the animals she chooses to hunt.Kabuto clicks his tongue and places both of his hands on the wound, earning a hiss from Korin, which he yet again ignores as the space beneath his palms begins to glow green. Her hissing cuts off abruptly as the pain begins to subside, and she watches with fascination as her wound begins to mend itself, the layers of skin rebuilding at an accelerated rate.“That’s Healing Palm Jutsu, isn’t it?” She asks, bewildered.Kabuto raises his eyebrows, turning slightly to meet her eyes. Typical ninja don’t know the name of this jutsu, considering it’s a specialized medical type of jutsu. Most med-nin aren’t even able to perform it. “You know what this is?”“Yeah, of course. I mean, I wanted to be a med-nin…” She begins, but trails off. Kabuto can tell she’s feigning thoughtfulness in a subtle attempt to stop herself from saying anything else and giving away information about herself. Damn it.“Why didn’t you?” He prods.“Didn’t work out.” She gives a non-answer. He sighs, focusing back on her thigh, deciding to leave the subject alone for now.As he finishes healing the wound, he becomes aware of the fact that Korin seems to be sniffing him. She’s leaning towards him now, audibly inhaling in short bursts, occasionally changing the angle of her head. He turns to give her a dry look, and she meets his gaze for a moment before leaning closer and continuing to sniff him. She’s close enough that she’s bordering on bumping foreheads with him, which disturbs him and causes him to draw back from her.“Hello?” He blurts out, nervous and confused. He’s still deciding whether he’s insulted or not.

“You smell of rotting flesh,” She murmurs, her brows furrowing with concern. “It’s harder to tell now that your clothes are soaked with river water and blood, but it was how I knew you were approaching in the first place. I could smell the rot.”Kabuto frowns as well, but with disturbed confusion. Can she seriously smell Orochimaru’s arms from his clothes? Before he can say anything, she leans closer yet again, though a bit lower this time, sniffing more intently.“And… sickness,” she confirms in a low voice.  “Rotting flesh and sickness. Not from the same person, though.”There’s no way she can smell Kimimaro on him, right? That’s just absurd. “How are you able to smell a sickness? What kind of ability is that?” He resists the urge to sniff himself, as he figures it’s probably not something he can smell.“It’s actually very common in nature. Particularly wolves.” The corners of her lips upturn slightly. “I studied them, after all. I still do. Wolves can learn to identify weak and sickened prey, either by scent or by biting. Weak prey are easier to kill. A wolf will not attack an elk that is healthy and strong unless it is desperate.”The strange kunoichi leans back, brushing hair away from her face. “It’s something I became accustomed to, over time. This sickly sweet smell. So easy to miss. But you reek of it.” She frowns. “Why do you smell so strongly of sickness and rot when you are not the source?”The med-nin’s eyes go cold, and he gives her a hard, steely glare. It’s an abrupt change in his demeanor. “I think you’ll find you’re better off not asking such questions.” He says slowly, not attempting to conceal the malice dripping from his tone.This only makes Korin want to push further. She’s never been great with social cues, even ones as obvious as this; she loves to study the human mind, and has little qualm with poking and prodding to get a reaction. The sensation of his killing intent from earlier comes back to her, though, and she decides not to gamble with her luck for now.“Tell me,” She diverts to another subject of interest. “Do you consider yourself predator or prey?”If the question surprises him, his expression doesn’t show it. “What do you think?”“I asked you.”“You never answer any questions of mine, so why should I, you?”That’s fair, she supposes, but annoying. “Prey,” she answers. Upon noticing his narrowing eyes, she quickly continues, “Not in the way you might think. You remind me of a defensive prey animal, one that isn’t to be trifled with. A bull elk defending his herd.”Kabuto much prefers to think of himself as a snake. “I am not a prey animal.” He says with thinly veiled disdain.“Oh, but I’m not meaning to insult you. I have very high respect for elk.” She shakes her head. “They are incredibly strong and very dangerous opponents. Wolves rarely even manage to capture an elk, let alone kill it.”“I do not think of wolves nor elk as particularly strong opponents.” He replies.“Not to you, maybe. But imagine for a moment that you had no abilities, no training, and no weapons. Imagine you were a basic human with only your hands to fight. Would you not be frightened by gnashing teeth with a bite force able to cleanly break bone? Would you not be frightened by pounding hooves of an animal that outweighs you ten times over, by sharp antlers that easily bore through skin?”This elaborate manner of speaking would probably annoy some, but Kabuto is quite used to it, seeing as Orochimaru often goes off on tangents of a similar kind. “I find no reason to imagine such things. I am not a basic human. Why should I think of a situation that will never even have a chance of occurring to me?”She frowns at him, though not in an angry way. Her eyebrows are knitted with slight pity, like she’s looking at a clueless child. Kabuto would prefer her to be angry.“It’s important to remember where we came from, is it not? When we start placing ourselves on pedestals, placing ourselves above nature, we risk throwing life itself out of balance. You should not be so closed minded.” She says.“I see no point in reminiscing on the past, on where I came from.” Kabuto spits. “My life only gained meaning when I met Lord Orochimaru.”“Bitter memories, hm?” She raises an eyebrow. Kabuto returns the gesture, confused. “About where you came from. Your clan.” She clarifies.His clan… how he wished he remembered anything of them. He opens his mouth to speak, but frowns, seemingly thinking twice about it. “It’s not of any importance to you.” He says instead. He’s startled to find how close she had gotten to reversing their roles.“I suppose not.” She nods with closed eyes, recognizing that she’d be a fool to push this subject any further. He’s visibly relieved, letting out a soft sigh from his nose and deflating slightly. The mention of rotting flesh reminds him of something, though. “Lord Orochimaru mentioned you have intel on various subjects?” He asks abruptly.“I do.” She blinks. “Do you know anything about the Reaper Death Seal?” He asks. It’s worth a shot.“I know that it was developed by the Uzumaki Clan. That’s it, unfortunately.” She answers forlornly. He can’t do anything with that information, but it’s more than he knew, at least.After a pause, something else comes to mind. “Do you know the locations of various people?”“Vague question, but yeah, I guess so. Gonna need a name to work with.” She squints.“Tsunade Senju.”“Oh, yeah.” She hums casually, visibly relieved that he said a name she recognized. “Gonna need something in return, though.”Thinking for a moment, he asks, “You accept other intel, correct?” When she nods, he continues with, “Have you heard of the Kaguya Clan?”“I heard of their massacre, yes.”“I have intel regarding that, if you’ll trade me Tsunade’s location.”She hums to herself, gaze drifting as she considers the balance of the deal. “Tanzaku Quarters.” She answers finally.Raising his eyebrows at her abrupt acceptance and admittance, he almost considers running with that information and telling her nothing. But that would be very bad for business, he supposes. “There was a lone survivor of the massacre, one who carries their kekkei genkai.” It doesn’t matter if she learns this, Kabuto decides. Kimimaro will die soon anyway.Korin raises her eyebrows as well. “Really? That’s fascinating.” She makes a mental note about it.Well, at least this outing wasn’t a total waste. He now has important information, something tangible to return to Orochimaru with. And a better grasp on Korin, though he hasn’t been able to make much out of it yet. He stands, stretching his shoulders and neck before adjusting his glasses with a sense of finality. In response, Korin rises to her feet as well, not wanting to be in a vulnerable position.“Well, good doing business with you. Next time, I hope it’s in a less… violent fashion.” He says, an amused smirk on his lips.“Likewise. I must say, I never fight unless it’s for survival, but,” She pauses, a soft grin taking over her features. “It was fun to spar with you.” Then, she squints and adds, “You know, until you tried to kill me.”He shrugs, still not apologizing. “My old blood sometimes gets drawn out. Occupational hazard.” Turning to leave, he murmurs, “Later.”Watching him disappear into the treeline, she sighs, then returns to the banks of the river. Her spear lays embedded in mud, but clean of the blood she’d been washing from its blade. A glint in the water catches her eye; pulling it out, she finds it's a kunai. He must have dropped it during their fight. With a mysterious sense of satisfaction and affection, she tucks it into her pocket.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Trudging through the underbrush of the forest, Kabuto snarls under his breath. The sun is setting, casting lovely rays of pink and orange through gaps in foliage, but he has no interest in appreciating it, only hissing with annoyance when the rays hit him directly in the eyes. He’s intensely overworked and extremely underappreciated, a mixture that's threatening to drive him to the brink of insanity.***
“But if she should say no, what then?” Kabuto asked, referring to Tsunade.

Orochimaru’s lips pulled into a wry smile. “Then I’d simply use force to bend her to my way of thinking.”

Kabuto squinted, pulling away from his table of jars and coming closer to the sannin. “You really think it would be that easy?” He asked warily.

“That’s what you’re for.” Orochimaru answered plainly, as if the answer was obvious. The words were abrasive to Kabuto’s ears, but he forced out a bitter smile.

***
The memory stings in his mind, more kindling to the embers of his rage that threaten to burst into flame. He can’t break; he’s put so much effort into crafting this persona, never letting his anger control him. He doesn’t have the privilege of showing his raw emotions. But god, does he want to. It’s not fair that Orochimaru gets to and he doesn’t.Orochimaru has been screaming at him, insulting him, throwing things at him. He calls him worthless, useless, and questions why he bothers to keep Kabuto around. Kabuto knows the pain drives the sannin mad, and that’s largely the reasoning behind these actions, but it’s hard to act unmoved when this has become his daily reality.He’d nearly snapped, gotten so close that he’d opened his mouth to yell an insult back. Instead, he’d forced himself to calmly state that he was going to collect their typical trade from Korin. He needed to get out, to get away from Orochimaru, before he did something that he’d be made to regret for the rest of his life.He comes to a stop in the clearing of Korin’s tree trunks. There’s no sign of her.“Of course,” he growls, kicking a rock as hard as he can. It hurtles through the air and pierces through the gnarled wood of a nearby tree, leaving a small hole. He sighs, trying to soothe himself, but all it does is catch in his throat and make him cough.She probably hasn’t gone far. He moves closer to the trunks she’s made her own, intending to look for some sign of her to track, namely footprints, but pauses when an idea comes to mind. She might not be far, but she’s not here. And he is.He thinks about it for a minute. It’s dangerous. If he gets caught, he’ll ruin any chances of future business with her. But he must not care, because he opens the leftmost tree trunk door and slips inside.It’s the same one he’s been in before, her herbal storage. He may be snooping, but he knows better than to steal, so he doesn’t touch anything. The roses and lavender hanging from the ceiling have been exchanged with fresher ones, probably only a few days old. Ultimately, he discovers, there’s not much here that he hasn’t already seen.Exiting, he chooses the furthest trunk to the right next, saving the middle one for last. This one appears to be another storage room, sporting the same crude wooden shelves he saw in the first trunk. He spots some of his own medical supplies here, along with various other things he’s brought her for their trade deals. There’s a small assortment of animal skulls, carved and painted like the trinket given to Orochimaru. Handmade wooden cups, bowls, and plates are stacked on one of the shelves. He admires the craftsmanship briefly; it must not be easy, living completely off the grid. A mortar and pestle sit on one of the nearby tables, filled with a semi-crushed mixture of dried herbs. He draws closer to it, but when the scent of the mixture hits him, he immediately steps back— he knows it to be poisonous. Curious.There’s a bowl of ground charcoal nearby, a jar of… definitely blood, a jar of honey, various animal figures carved out of wood, packets of seeds, and a basket of what appears to be nothing but pretty looking stones. What a magpie of a woman, Kabuto thinks.Finally, he returns outside and approaches the door of the middle trunk, which he figures must be where she sleeps. This is proven true when he enters and immediately focuses on a misshapen furry pile, which he eventually realizes is several different animal pelts. Crouching down, he runs his fingers over a soft blanket. It’s different from the pelts, being knitted sheep’s wool. He can only assume she made it herself.The bed itself consists of sheepskin, elk pelts, and a mattress of stitched leather stuffed with something that Kabuto deduces to be a mixture of leaves and fur. The pillow looks commercially made, most likely received from one of her trades.A waterskin hangs on the wall beside the bed. Several different animal skulls dangle from the ceiling, holding unlit candles in their eyes and mouths. He supposes it’s a bit macabre, but really, he has no room to talk. His attention shifts to several boxes nearby and he moves to examine their contents. Bones, sticks, stones, kindling, wax comb, more pelts, ink, scrolls, journals, and books. He curiously thumbs through some of the journals, only to discover they’re written in a code that he can’t decipher. The books are mostly educational, but some are entertainment.A bottle of nearby pills catches his eye, and he picks it up to examine them closer. When he recognizes them as birth control, his face flushes light red. Korin doesn’t really strike him as the type to be getting intimate with… well, anyone, but these have most certainly been taken before. Something shuffles in the corner of the room, and he startles so badly that nearly throws the pills at the wall. Cautiously turning, he lets out a sigh of relief when he realizes the source is just the wolf pups. He’d nearly forgotten about their existence, since Korin hasn’t mentioned them since they first met. Placing the pills back where he found them, he scoots over towards the pups, who stare back at him with sleepy eyes.He doesn’t remember most of their names, considering they all look the same right now. One, though, is different from the rest. Laying listlessly on her side, the small, thin, Ikeda hasn’t bothered to open her eyes. The gentle rise and fall of her chest is the only indicator that she’s still alive. She doesn’t look any better than when he last saw her— rather, she looks worse. Before he even realizes what he’s doing, Kabuto is crouched over her, his palms pressed to her tiny body. It takes a very concentrated effort to regulate his chakra for such a small creature. He doesn’t want to send too much chakra into her body and accidentally throw her into a comatose state.When he draws his hands back, he’s disappointed. Ikeda’s head perks up, looking at him now, her eyes slightly brighter. But all he’s managed is to ease her pain somewhat, clear some of the fluid from her lungs. This jutsu isn’t able to mend illness, he knows, but he had hoped.“Sorry,” he murmurs quietly, petting her small head. She licks his fingers curiously. “I can’t help you.” It hurts a little to admit a statement like this, even to a wolf pup who doesn’t understand him. Orochimaru’s words ring true in his ears; he is useless, isn’t he?The light catches on something carved into the wall, and Kabuto pauses. Closer examination reveals it to be a tally mark. Astonishment dawns on him as he realizes just how many tally marks are carved into the wall. They span all over the room. There’s over a thousand, he’s certain. Interestingly, they’re occasionally interrupted by a written number: 13, 14, 15, 16, and so on, ending at 20.Some quick logic and math allows Kabuto to deduce that the tally marks are tracking how long Korin has been here. 7 years, starting when she was 13. The revelation that she’s only 20 years old— 1 year older than him— shouldn’t be as startling as it is.Getting back to his feet, he exits the trunk with a solemn expression, taking a moment to clear his head. His snooping hasn’t really revealed anything to him aside from her age, which causes the burning frustration to resurface. Who the hell is this woman?Once he focuses, it doesn’t take him long to track her down. Her tracks lead to the river, where he finds her bathing. At least, he assumes she was; currently, she’s facing him, leaning against a rock in the water, shampoo in her hair. She must have heard him coming. It wasn’t like he was trying to be particularly stealthy.“You really need to find a reliable way to be reached.” He snaps. Her eyes narrow, and her mouth sets into a hard line.“Good to see you, too, Kabuto.” She replies dryly.“I need our typical trade.” He says, getting straight to the point.“Trinket?” She tilts her head, asking him to present the rodent skull that she gave Orochimaru. His expression darkens considerably, and she knows then that he must not have it with him. She sighs, “You know the rules.”He’s not going all the way back to get a fucking skull trinket. “You know that it’s me. Come on.”She shakes her head, bringing her hands up to continue lathering shampoo into her hair. It’s jasmine scented; ironically, it was one of the things Kabuto brought her in a previous trade. She doesn’t have a strong opinion about the scent, though she wonders if Kabuto is fond of it.When she opens her eyes again, he’s still standing there, visibly angrier. It’s worsening by the second, she thinks. “Sit down, Kabuto.” She sighs.Confusion leaks into his expression, though it’s quickly replaced with contempt. “I’ve wasted enough time trying to find you. I’m not going to sit and wait.”“Yes, you are, because you look like you’re about to explode otherwise.” She states before sinking underwater abruptly in order to wash the shampoo from her hair. When she resurfaces, she rises higher out of the water than before, exposed to her midriff.Kabuto isn’t unfamiliar with the sight. Yes, he spends most of his time around corpses, which are considerably different, but he’s also a med-nin and thus quite desensitized to nudity regardless of pulse. This is… different, though. Korin isn’t a patient, nor a corpse. He finds it hard to believe that she simply doesn’t care about modesty. He can read her body language clearly: she’s fidgeting slightly with her hair to distract herself with something tangible, averting her gaze, and breathing a bit faster than before. She’s making a conscious choice to show him.Her reasoning can’t be fathomed. She eyes him warily, scanning him for signs of a reaction. His gaze rakes over her, and though his face betrays no particular emotion aside from the slight contempt already present, he slowly sits down on a rock that borders the shore. It’s not outright rejection, at least, and that comforts her slightly.The setting sun bathes her in warm pink and orange hues, glinting off the wetness of her skin. The highlights turn matte around the scars that adorn her body. One slash appears across the plane of her right breast, abruptly stopping near where it curves, and then reappearing to continue along her ribs. Kabuto gathers the impression that a blade must have dealt it. There’s a similar slash on her left breast, just above the nipple, though this one is lateral, whilst the other one was diagonal.“You look like you met the wrong end of a sword,” he comments, breaking the silence between them.“I did, once,” she murmurs, tracing the first scar that he’d noticed. The gentle touch causes her nipples to stiffen slightly, and Kabuto forces himself not to think about it. “This one, though, is far stupider,” she points to the left scar. “Did it to myself with my own kunai when I tripped.”“Really? You don’t strike me as all that clumsy.” He snorts. Korin’s eyebrows raise; a compliment? She’s flattered.“I can be, when I’m exhausted enough.” She shrugs. And then there's another lull in the conversation. It’s not quite uncomfortable, but there is a certain tension in the air, unspoken questions and desires. Neither of them seem ready to address it yet.Kabuto is not new to the concept of desire. This isn’t the first time it’s been aimed at him. He doesn’t consider himself attractive by conventional means, but he’s got a softer sort of appeal and can be quite charming when he needs to. His experience comes in the form of past acts of espionage.It was easy. Easier than he’d thought. Some smooth words, a meaningful glance, and a certain curl to his lips had drawn in his targets each time. When they were that easy to reel in, it wasn’t hard to siphon information from them.The payoff wasn’t nearly worth the way he felt afterwards, though. A successful mission meant nothing to him when earned in this manner. He felt disgusted and used, like his body was nothing but a tool for extraction. An object.After the third time, he’d looked Orochimaru dead in the eyes. “Never make me do that again.” He’d snarled at the sannin. It was the only time he’d ever spoken to his boss with open contempt.Orochimaru had hummed with amusement and turned his attention elsewhere, like Kabuto wasn’t worth the time. To his credit, at least, he never did instruct Kabuto to gather information in that way ever again.The way he felt then is much the way he feels now. Regarded as a tool and used like one. His accomplishments are never recognized anymore. Orochimaru doesn’t give him the time of day, and none of the subordinates do either. He’s invisible in the Sound Village. Invisible like he’s always been, only catching the eyes of people who want to do him wrong.She doesn’t watch him the same way they do. Her eyes are relaxed and curious. Kabuto keeps a casual but consistent gaze trained on her. Her lips part as if to say something, but she hesitates, and they gently close again. The attention she was giving him slips around like melting ice as she tries to look elsewhere, but ends up settling back on him each time.Kabuto wonders. He wonders many things about her. Wonders what she was going to say— ask, maybe. But, like their fight from weeks ago, most of their communication goes unspoken. Such is the way of two people masterfully trained in the art of body language. He’s got more of a focus on verbal communication, considering it his specialty; he’s well spoken when he wants to be, and rather eloquent with his word choice. Korin, he’s noticed, doesn’t like using words to communicate all that much. Whether she means to or not, the majority of what she feels is portrayed through her body language, which Kabuto studies relentlessly whenever he’s around her. So he knows that her behavior right now is a cautious invitation. It seems to him that she’s unable to gauge his interest in her, which is likely the source of her caution. She’s trying not to come off too strongly, in case he’s not interested. He appreciates that, in an odd way.Sex with someone you love is a nice fantasy, but highly unrealistic for people like him— and people like her, he suspects. He doesn’t have time for love, not in the life he leads. The ninja world is generally very wary about intimacy. And rightly so. It’s one thing when you grow up alongside the person, as most ninja do, but criminals are a completely different story. They don’t trust anyone, especially each other. To take a chance on intimacy with someone can easily mean your death should they have ulterior motives. There is no room for concepts like ‘love’ in a world like that.It gets lonely, of course. Kabuto knows this well. So does Korin, if the tally marks on the wall mean anything. He could do what most criminals do— sit and wait for the right person to cross his path, let an affectionate relationship bloom over time— but he’s not nearly stupid enough to think that will happen to him. Besides, he hasn’t the patience for it anyway.He’s frustrated out of his damn mind. He’s sick of not being acknowledged. He’s angry, and he needs some sort of outlet before he loses his shit. She’s offering. And for once, it’s a choice he gets to make.Snapping out of his thoughts, he realizes he’s been sitting here brooding, expression growing increasingly dark. Korin seems unsure of what to think. She tilts her head to the side quizzically. Kabuto hums and lifts his shoulders in a brief shrug, conveying that she shouldn’t worry about it. She blinks, obviously worrying about it, but chooses to say nothing.The sun creeps lower towards the horizon, and Korin shivers, drawing closer to the edge of the river. Finally, she rises fully, stepping out of the water and taking a few steps towards the rock she hung her towels and clothes over. She doesn’t make any attempt to cover herself as she moves, so Kabuto watches, though his intrigue turns to fascinated curiosity when he notices just how many scars she actually has.Slashes, scratches, and bites cover her body. The worst of them tear across her thighs and stomach. Most ninja are scarred, yes, but it seems like Korin’s lack of medical assistance has led to her scars healing poorly. One of the claw marks on the outer side of her left thigh seems to be red and irritated. It’s not infected, thankfully, but it looks to still be undergoing the healing process.Korin watches his eyes, becoming aware of the fact that he’s focused more on her scars rather than her body, and is quick to wrap the towel around herself. Kabuto blinks, broken from his trance, turning his attention to her face. He looks up just in time to catch the way her eyes flick away from him, intentionally not meeting his gaze. Is she… self conscious? She didn’t seem to be a few moments ago, but perhaps she doesn’t like her scars being stared at. Now that he thinks about it, that was probably pretty rude of him.She towel dries her hair before getting dressed. Her undershirt, which Kabuto had initially assumed to be fishnet, is actually mesh armor. It clinks and jingles softly as she tugs it over her head. When she finishes dressing, she jerks her chin towards him, motioning for him to follow.Sunset turns to dusk as they walk. The treetops cover what little light remains in the sky, casting darkness over the forest. Out here, away from any manmade light sources, Kabuto is quickly finding that he’s blind as a fucking bat in such murky shadows. Korin doesn’t seem to be having any problem at all, and he’s mostly following her based on sound at this point. Suddenly, his foot catches beneath a tree root and he stumbles onto the ground.***
“It seems that… you don’t quite trust me, Orochimaru. At least, not yet.” Kabuto mentioned warily to the sannin, watching him carefully from the corner of his eye.

He smiled, but not in a kind way. “I trust you to act without that knowledge. I’m planning to leave Sasuke in your capable hands.”

There was a pause before Kabuto replied, “Very well.”

“Kabuto… wait,” Orochimaru called as Kabuto was turning to leave. “You know, if it’s your desire to stop me, I’m afraid your only chance is to kill Sasuke now. You can’t possibly hope to kill me.” With that, he pivoted and left the med-nin standing there with a horrified and disgusted expression.

Kabuto already knew this. After all, it wasn’t like he’d willingly joined Orochimaru’s side. When he’d watched Orochimaru revive from what should have been a fatal wound that Kabuto had inflicted, he’d realized he had no choice but to go along with what the sannin said.

The fact that Orochimaru stated it so casually… he obviously knew that Kabuto wouldn’t have the heart to go through with killing Sasuke. So confident in this knowledge that he felt the need to provoke him about it. Kabuto wanted to prove him wrong. He relished in the thought of betraying him, tearing his goals to the ground.

But he knew better than to dream like that.

***
Korin turns, watching his glasses skitter across the ground. She may not know Kabuto all that well, but they’ve been around each other enough over the past month that she can tell he shouldn’t normally have stumbled like that. Whatever’s bothering him has got him really fucked up this time. She knows he’s unhappy in his life. He’s very guarded, just as she is, but there’s a certain bitterness to his behavior that can’t be faked. She never asks about it; it’s much too personal for her to be privy to. His eyes look the same as she imagines hers did in childhood: hopeless, bitter, and trapped. She recognizes the underlying anger that’s always present in his movements too. It must be horribly restricting to work under Orochimaru like he does. Gingerly, she plucks his glasses off the ground, wiping the lens with her shirt. Kabuto is strangely relieved that she lets him get up on his own without offering help. He doesn’t want his unstable state to be acknowledged, let alone pitied. Fingers brush across the back of his hand, and he jumps before realizing that it’s her. She gently takes hold of his wrist and guides his hand to lay flat before placing his glasses in his palm. Her hands fall back to her sides, and she hesitates for a moment before taking a step back. It’s almost reluctant, the way she does it.Placing the glasses on his face doesn’t really do much to aid his vision in the dark, but he’s thankful to have them back. He’s able to see a little bit better once they reach the clearing of Korin’s home, even if only in the form of silhouettes. She crouches down in front of a shape that he knows to be a campfire.“I don’t suppose you’ve got a fire nature?” She asks, vaguely turning to him.“Afraid not.” He replies.“Pity.” She sighs, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a box of matches. She strikes one and lights the fire. Relief floods through Kabuto at being able to see clearly again. He watches the flames lick towards her face as they grow. When she leans back, a sharp gasp catches in his throat.

Her eyes glow a reflective ombre of a bright blue and green. It disappears when she looks at him, alerted by his noise. It’s exactly the same way the eyes of Orochimaru’s snakes react in low lighting. Kabuto has done his fair share of animal anatomy studies and is familiar enough with tapetum lucidum to know that it is not present in human eyes.“Why do your eyes shine like that?” He asks in an uneasy tone.“Like what?” She blinks, maintaining direct eye contact with him. It’s a little intimidating, but the threat is lessened by the soft smile on her lips. She’s giving him an easy out; any answer she says beyond this one will not be truthful.“...Nevermind,” he purses his lips, deciding to leave it be for now. He can tell that getting information out of her will be a very slow process. Trying to rush it will only cause her to raise her guard further.She hums and gets to her feet again, moving towards the middle tree, vaguely motioning for him to follow. They duck inside, and she strikes a match again to light the candles. The light reflects off of the eyes of the wolf pups across the room, unnerving Kabuto further.Korin’s body suddenly goes stiff as she sniffs the air.
He smells of rot and sickness.

It was how she knew he was approaching that one morning.
His blood runs cold, icy sweat beading around his neck and forehead. She can smell that he was in here.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

How could he be so stupid, so forgetful? Korin turns slightly and looks at him from the corner of her eye. He holds her gaze with an anxious expression.

And then she turns away, leaning over to scoop the pups into her arms. She carries them out of the room with no explanation. During her absence, he considers running; but that’s awfully cowardly of him. In the end, when she returns, he’s still standing exactly where she left him.

“I put them in a pen in one of my storage trees,” she explains, grinning to ease the tension. “I don’t like disrupting their sleep.”

Her legs fold beneath her as she sits down on her bed of animal furs, an uncharacteristically neat movement. He flinches when her fingers approach her weapon pouch, but she simply unties the straps before tossing it to the other side of the room. Relaxing slightly, he moves to sit in front of her, leaving a few feet of space between them for safety measures.

“So… do you always have your hair up?” She asks, since he’s not speaking.

Is she not going to address his obvious snooping? That’s fine by him. Great, actually. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“Even when you sleep?”

“Sometimes.”

“Really?” She raises her eyebrows. “Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

“Well, I usually don’t do it intentionally. Sometimes I’m just too exhausted to untie it.”

“Hm.” She frowns slightly, scooting closer to him. His muscles tense as she leans to the side, reaching past his head until her fingers curl around his hair tie. He’s not sure why he turns to give her better access, letting her tug it loose until his silver hair cascades out from it.

She hovers in front of him briefly, a dizzying scent of jasmine accompanying her presence as she adjusts his hair to pull some of it forward over his shoulders. Sitting back, she admires him. “You look really good with your hair down.”

Kabuto can’t help the way his face flushes, keenly aware that this is the first time she’s complimented him. He knows exactly why they’re here; why she invited him in, why he accepted. But Korin is genuine with her words of admiration. The attention feels good.

“You should let it down more often,” she murmurs, reaching out to play with a small section of his hair that hangs over his collarbone. She’s being very forward, but Kabuto can hear the nervousness entering her voice, as if she’s becoming uncertain. It occurs to him that he hasn’t been all that reciprocative of her advances; his lack of resistance is his own way of showing interest, but now that he thinks about it, she probably doesn’t know him well enough to recognize that.

“Gets in the way,” he replies, feeling stupid for not having anything more enticing to say. It’s exactly his luck that he knows how to be charming on command when it comes to missions, but now that he’s got someone who has a genuine interest in him, he’s drawing blanks. And it’s

Korin

, of all people. She’s not even usually that good with words.

He takes his glasses off, shaking his head slightly to tussle his hair and let it lay more naturally. He fusses with it for a moment, placing his glasses in his lap while he does so. Upon hearing Korin chuckle, he explains, “I’m not really used to having it down in front of someone.”

“Guess having unobstructed vision is pretty important for a med-nin.”

“You could say that.”

She tentatively reaches out and rests her fingers on his cheek, running her thumb under his eye gently. “You have dark circles under your eyes. I never noticed, because I never see you without glasses.”

Kabuto hums softly in acknowledgement, unsure how to respond. Korin’s gaze flits over his facial features, and she parts her lips as if to say something, but instead only inhales slightly and lets go of his face, leaning back.

He doesn’t know why his words are failing him so badly right now. It’s feeding into his anger again, making him frustrated with himself. Her attention is something he needs right now, and he can’t afford to lose it because of how jumbled his thoughts are.

He sets his glasses off to the side, somewhere safe. She’s close enough that he doesn’t need them. He still doesn’t speak, but his expression must betray his desperation, because she relaxes a bit.

They watch each other for a few moments before he finally manages to ask, “Is it lonely, living by yourself out here?”

The sincerity of the question gives her pause. Her gaze falls to her knees, and she bites her lip. “Terribly,” she replies quietly. Then, raising her head slightly, “Is it lonely, working in the Sound Village?”

Kabuto should’ve been expecting her to reflect his question like that, but it throws him off guard. He opens his mouth, croaks slightly, and snaps it shut, jerking his head to the side to look away. He doesn’t like being put on the spot like this.

She sighs gently. “I know it is,” she hums, taking his jaw into her hands softly to turn him back towards her. “You don’t have to say it. I’m familiar with that aggravating feeling of being surrounded by people yet still feeling entirely alone.”

He scowls, but it’s not directed at her; rather, the substance of her words. She’s right. He doesn’t like that she’s right. “You don’t know a damn thing about me,” he says in a low tone.

Korin thankfully doesn’t seem insulted. She’s aware that she’s mentioned something that hurts him and doesn’t blame him for being defensive. “Yeah, you don’t like being vulnerable, huh?” She murmurs, a certain glint in her eye as she draws closer, encroaching on his personal space. “You’re not one to roll on your back and expose your soft spots to me.” Then, with a grin, “You’re tough prey.”

He realizes that she’s intentionally provoking him. If it’s a reaction she’s seeking, he’ll give it to her.

Growling, he grabs her by the hips, holding her still while he leans right up to her face. “I told you, I’m

not

prey,” He snarls.

She stiffens at first, startled, but quickly smooths out to give him a smug look. “Ooh, scary. Little spike elk snorting and stomping on the ground, trying to intimidate m-“

And then his lips are on hers. He’s infuriated. Infatuated. Something like that. He can’t be sure.

It’s not very merciful. He’s wound up and aggressive; his teeth catch her bottom lip to bite, earning a growl from her. When their tongues meet, he’s assertive, urging her backwards in an attempt to push her over. But she stands her ground, her arms wrapping around his shoulders as she slips into his lap.

One of her hands slides up his inner thigh, stopping to untie his weapon pouch. He lets her do so, but grabs it himself once she’s finished, not trusting her to touch it before he tosses it to the side. He doesn’t need it. If this really is all an elaborate ruse, he can use chakra scalpels.

He pulls her shirt off, shivering against the cold metal of her mesh armor underneath. Her left sleeve is separate from her shirt, he’s noticed; it’s tight, black, and connects to her hand like a fingerless glove, save for the index finger, which is fully covered. The other end of it wraps around her neck like a choker.

He leaves that sleeve on. It’s kind of sexy.

She lets him lift her mesh armor over her head, but takes over before he can untie the cloth around her breasts that she uses to support them. She tugs off both of his shirts, running her hands over his smooth chest with a sigh of satisfaction.

“You’re so pretty,” she breathes. Kabuto has never heard anyone call him pretty without intending for it to be an insult, but he can tell that Korin is quite genuine.

“Thought I was supposed to say that,” he replies, his nails trailing down her sides to make her tremble.

“I wouldn’t believe you,” she murmurs, leaning down to press a kiss to his neck. It makes him shiver; he’s not used to being touched in such a vulnerable area.

This only seems to encourage her further, because she keeps trailing her lips across his neck. He exhales shakily through gritted teeth. He’s never been

more

aware of Korin’s ‘predator’ status. It’s terrifying, letting her mouth be on his throat like this, but equally thrilling.

Kabuto lasts for about 4 more seconds before he starts to squirm, scrunching up his neck. This doesn’t hinder nor bother Korin in the slightest, because whenever he manages to block one area, she just moves to another. She occasionally lets her teeth graze against his skin, but doesn't bite. Mainly, she just focuses on kissing every inch of his neck that she can access, while soaking in the noises he’s making.

“You’re awfully squirmy for something this simple,” she notes.

“You’re a ninja too. You know exactly how vital the neck is.” He retorts, a little defensive.

She hums, an amused grin pressing against his skin. “… You don’t let people touch you here, do you?”

And then he really isn’t able to evade her lips. He’s started squirming a bit harder now, growing more sensitive, but that’s only made her increase her efforts. Her tongue slips out to lick slow stripes across his skin, hovering over his pulse. He can’t get a break, and it’s starting to make him whimper.

“Mark me and I’ll kill you,” he hisses a low warning.

“Mm, Orochimaru wouldn’t be very pleased to learn his assistant was out fucking their trader?” She hums teasingly.

He thinks Orochimaru might actually kill her if he were ever to find out. The sannin could view her as a distraction from their goals. This reignites the anger in him and he lets out a low growl before shoving her onto the ground. He looms over her, silver hair falling by his face like curtains.

“Do you have

any

idea who you’re dealing with, trading with us?” Kabuto asks, his onyx eyes boring into her. His aura is threatening, but tinged with a dark sort of desire. He can’t hide the way his lips curl into a smirk when he notices her shrink slightly.

But her response doesn’t match her body language. “More than you might assume,

Yakushi

,” she purrs smugly, enjoying the shock that flashes across his features.

He’s never told her his last name. He’s certain. And he can’t imagine that Orochimaru ever would. Really, it shouldn’t be all that surprising; she collects intel about various people, just like him. It makes sense that she would do her research on him.

In an odd way, it’s almost comforting. He feels less like he’s extorting someone innocent now; she must know of the atrocities attributed to Otogakure, but still chooses to remain in business with him.

The candlelight reflects off her eyes, occasionally flickering in such a way that provokes the ethereal blue and green ombré glow. His heart jumps every time it happens, a clear reminder that the woman beneath him isn’t a typical ninja. Something animalistic. Unpredictable.

The fact that he still leans in to connect their lips again probably says a lot about him, but he’d rather not think about that. He feels her relax somewhat underneath him, pleased that she hasn’t turned him off. He tugs the back of the cloth tied around her breasts until it loosens and comes undone, sighing with a sort of satisfaction as their bare chests meet.

She whimpers as his hands trail along her body with expert precision, utilizing his extensive knowledge of human anatomy to keep her nerves alert, feeding into her arousal. He traces lightly around her scars, scratches gently at her sides, ghosting over her nipples until she whines.

The situation becomes something of a blur after that. Any coherent thoughts leave the room to give them some privacy, apparently. Kabuto is eager for an outlet to express his frustration and Korin is eager for any sort of physical contact. The mixture certainly isn’t healthy, but perhaps neither of them have any clue as to what ‘healthy’ means anymore.

As exciting as foreplay is, there isn’t much room for it when they’re both this aroused and depraved. It runs the risk of one of them finishing much too quickly— which would be mortifying, regardless of who. Kabuto makes a mental note that if they ever do this again, he should probably give her a little more attention; though it doesn’t seem to bother her much currently.

When he’s finally inside her, his touch degrades into something rough, almost cruel. His nails dig into her skin when he grabs her hips, the strength of his grip threatening to bruise. She puts up with his brutality to a certain extent, but still stands her ground when he takes it too far, quick to correct him with a low growl and a swipe of her sharp nails across his skin.

Honestly, he’s relieved to know that he hasn’t turned truly malicious and chosen to take out his frustrations on someone who won’t fight back. She’s not so desperate for him or blinded by need that she’ll let him get away with really hurting her. He needs this kind of boundary.

He tries to nuzzle near her neck, likely intending to bite, but she grabs a fistful of his hair with enough force to halt him. Every repeated attempt is stopped just as quickly, and he eventually relents to leave her neck alone. He understands, after all. The neck, while obviously very vulnerable for a shinobi, is a

critically

vital area for animals. He attributes her extreme defense near her neck to her wild nature.

Eventually, she reaches the end of her patience with correcting his roughness. When he grips her hair too tightly, too close to the scalp, she snarls and lunges forward, wrapping a hand around his throat and pushing him onto his back. She feels the way his muscles tense with shock and adrenaline, but doesn’t miss the way he twitches inside her; the fucker likes it.

He’s got a grin on his face but wary eyes. His fingers are wrapped loosely around her wrist, prepared to remove her hand from his neck if she decides to try anything. But ultimately, he lets her hold him down by the throat while she rides him. He can’t deny that he likes being bossed around sometimes, much to his own dismay.

Her eyes keep glinting with that inhuman reflection, something positively feral, so contrasting to his domestication. The expression on her face contains things he craves, but does not deserve: desire, admiration, and satisfaction. He can’t stand it.

“

I hate you,

” he hisses out, unable to prevent the words from leaving his mouth.

Her eyebrows furrow slightly, but not with insult. It’s something more resigned than that. “I know,” she replies, not even slowing down.

Neither of them last much longer after that.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Clutching a map in one hand, Korin squints as she does her best to follow its directions. Her other hand rests on the horn of a saddle, thumb and forefinger gripping reins that have been tied at the end. This tack, typically suited for horses, is equipped on a muscular bull elk.Standing 6 feet tall at the withers, Ira is an impressive beast. If his size isn’t a clear indicator of his status as a summoning animal, his coloration certainly gives it away; whereas most elk have a light reddish-brown coat that contrasts the dark brown fur on their head, neck, and legs, Ira’s body is a creamy white with black contrast points. He’s actually on the smaller end of the scale compared to other summons, but Korin doesn’t mind all that much. She prefers to conserve her stamina for situations more dire than travel. He suits her transportation needs perfectly.

The bull snuffles and shakes his head anxiously, flapping golden strips of leather that adorn the cheek pieces of his bridle. Korin is quick to lean back and dodge his antlers as he shakes. It isn’t the first time the tines of his antlers have threatened to gouge an eye out.“Ira.” She warns.She hears him wetly chew the bit, repositioning it to lay in the gap between his teeth so that he can reply. “You are guiding me deeper towards something wrong, something unnatural,” he snorts. “It reeks of death and defiance of nature.”“I know,” she sighs heavily. “But it’s important that I stay in business with them.”Ira huffs with displeasure, but says nothing more. Korin sighs again, then yawns, holding up the map briefly to block the sunlight beaming down on her. She should be asleep right now. It’s highly unnatural for her to be out during daylight, but when Kabuto gave her the directions to Otogakure, he specifically warned her not to let Orochimaru see the way her eyes glow in low lighting. She’s not entirely sure why , but considering she’s directly worked with Kabuto much more than Orochimaru, she’s following his word in good faith. Eventually, they reach a clearing in the trees. Beneath the largest tree lies Otogakure’s headquarters. Sliding off the saddle precariously, Korin grunts as she hits the ground, her hips sore from sitting for so long. She unties a bloodstained leather bag from Ira’s back, watching from the corner of her eye as he nervously paws at the ground and snorts. Frowning, she moves to his front, stroking his mane in an attempt to soothe him.“Disrupting the natural balance of life,” he huffs cryptically. “Death is only a minor consequence to them. Who are they, playing god? ”This renders Korin speechless momentarily. She can certainly sense the unnatural aura that Otagakure gives off, but not nearly to the same extent as Ira, apparently. “What?” She mutters with disbelief, trying to figure out what conclusion the bull has come to.Before he can respond, a scratchy, aggressive voice calls out, “Hey! Who the hell are you?”Korin whips around, the hair on the back of her neck going taught with alarm. Standing on the steps of the hideout is a teenage girl with long hair that’s such a dark shade of pink it’s almost red. Her arms are crossed tightly across her chest, and she stares at Korin menacingly. The older kunoichi has to make a conscious effort not to crouch into a defensive stance.“I’m a trader in business with Otogakure,” she explains carefully. “I’ve come to deliver to Orochimaru.” Blinking rapidly, she adds, “Or Kabuto. Whoever is more convenient to get the attention of.”The girl frowns, then smirks. “Is that so? Wait here. Don’t even think about moving a muscle.” She threatens before disappearing behind the doors of the hideout.Korin waits patiently. It isn’t long before the doors move again; this time, it’s Kabuto. He pushes one side open, holding it with one hand while the other motions for Korin to follow. She squints, able to make out four other silhouettes lurking behind him. Her instincts scream at her to turn back. Entering a pit of snakes is asking to get bitten.  Pushing her instincts to the side, she lugs the bloodstained bag over her shoulder and dismisses Ira. The bull elk disappears with a cloud of smoke as she crosses the threshold of Otogakure.The four silhouettes are revealed to be the girl from before and three other teenagers: a tall, imposing boy with orange hair in a sort of mohawk, a boy with tan skin, black shaggy hair in a ponytail, and six arms , and a boy with long blue-grey bangs covering one eye. Korin stares at them, greatly unsettled, but continues walking when Kabuto prompts her by clearing his throat softly. As he guides her deeper into the hideout, she’s keenly aware that the four teens are following them from a distance.“Ignore them,” he murmurs under his breath, knowing Korin’s ears are sensitive enough to hear him. “They’re just curious. It’s not often that we have visitors.”Korin doesn’t respond beyond a soft, wary hum. Kabuto can practically feel the discomfort emanating from her. He wonders if she feels claustrophobic, surrounded by stone walls instead of foliage. For some reason, having her inside the hideout feels almost… inhumane. Like she belongs outside, free in the wild.Neither of them have acknowledged their tense night of intimacy since it happened. Kabuto was quick to convince himself that it meant nothing to him; he isn't sure how Korin feels, but nothing has changed in the way she acts around him. Well, she does seem to look at him more, but she's always sort of had a habit of staring, so he's not certain that it's related to the fact that they've had sex. It seems they're both content to pretend that nothing is different.She sniffs the air and winces. The scent of rot and sickness that sometimes lingers on Kabuto’s clothes is unbearably strong here. There’s no doubt this hideout houses the source.They enter a common area kitchen and Korin sets the bag on a table. She unties it, revealing pounds of raw meat that have been thoroughly cleansed. Kabuto silently helps her transfer it to the freezer. The teens watch them from the doorway before slowly filtering off, losing interest.Once they’re finished, he begins to lead her to his personal laboratory so that he can store the herbs she’s brought. But when they pass by Orochimaru’s chambers, Korin comes to a halt, covering her face with her sleeve and coughing harshly. She stumbles and gasps for breath, slumping against the wall.“What is that?” She whimpers hoarsely. “The rot, this scent of decay… something is deeply wrong.”Kabuto sighs and taps the doors of the chamber before briefly disappearing inside. After a short conversation that she can’t discern the nature of, he pops back out and jerks his head in a silent invitation. She hesitates, then inhales shakily and enters.Orochimaru is sitting up in his bed, his bandaged arms laying limp on his lap. He wears a maroon short sleeved shirt in place of his typical cream robe. His carnivorous gaze falls on Korin, managing a sly smile. Much akin to how a bird will stand on an injured leg when watched, Orochimaru is masking the agony of his affliction. Korin’s astute perception allows her to recognize this, to focus on the minuscule changes in his expression. The muscles of his jaw and brow are pulled tight, shifting occasionally, his nose and cheeks stretched ever so slightly from the tension. “The effect of the Reaper Death Seal jutsu.” Kabuto explains simply.“So this is why you asked…” she murmurs. “I heard of the Hokage’s demise during the recent attack on Konoha. I also heard that he managed a disabling blow to his opponent before death.”The med-nin scans her expression for signs of disgust, fear, or dismay; unfortunately, whatever emotion she’s feeling is expertly concealed beneath a neutral facade. The only reason he’s able to tell it’s a facade is because he’s trained to do the same, and thus recognizes the twitch of her lips and the fluttering of her gaze.“It’s good to see you again, young Korin,” Orochimaru hums. “I apologize for sending Kabuto so frequently. The situation has been a bit… dire.”Korin bows her head in polite acknowledgment. “Nonsense, there’s no need to apologize. He’s quite amicable.”“That he is,” Orochimaru agrees with a smirk. “Anyway, tell me… what knowledge do you possess now? I feel it would be beneficial to refresh my memory of your topics.”Korin opens her mouth to reply, but pauses as she notices Orochimaru cast a piercing look at Kabuto from the corner of his eyes. The silver haired med-nin has been hovering a bit too closely, as if their interaction has him on edge. Noting the sannin’s irritated stare, he quickly corrects himself and leaves the room without hesitation.Clearing her throat, she goes on to repeat the list of topics, adding, “I also have new information regarding Tsunade Senju.”“Oh?” He raises an eyebrow, his tongue flicking across his lips. “Do tell.”Korin shudders slightly. Anaconda, boa constrictor, deadly cobra . “She’s been appointed as the Fifth Hokage. It’ll be public soon.”“How cute,” Orochimaru grumbles, simultaneously disgusted and amused. “No matter. I suppose this means I’ll soon get to add to the list of Kage I’ve slaughtered.” “I suppose.” She mimics quietly, struggling to meet his eyes.“Relax, dear,” he snickers. “Though your discomfort is delicious, I don’t expect you to have a proper response to that.”She flashes him an expression that looks like she’s baring her teeth, and it takes him a moment to realize she’s trying to smile. It doesn’t quite reach her eyes. But it’s entertaining all the same.The remainder of their conversation is stiff but overall polite, strictly business related. Orochimaru isn’t in the mood to speak for long with the amount of pain he’s in, and Korin isn’t in the mood to linger. It’s taking a lot of concentrated effort not to react to the scent of his gangrenous flesh while in front of him.After being dismissed, Korin slips out into the hallway, only to find that Kabuto is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he assumed their conversation would take longer. She grows bored of waiting after a few minutes and decides to take it upon herself to find her way back to the entrance.The hideout is a labyrinth of sandstone bricks and snake motifs. At least she feels less ashamed of her own macabre home decor. Wandering through near identical hallways soon has her feeling more and more like a rat. And rats do not belong in a nest of snakes.Voices in the distance pull her from her wildlife metaphors. Following them, she comes to the doorway of a common area, where the teens from earlier are gathered around a table.“We could do bets on arm wrestling,” the orange-haired boy is suggesting.“No way,” the girl scoffs. “Didn’t last time teach you anything when Sakon broke his arm?”“Fractured! Not broke!” says the boy with blue-grey hair, who must be Sakon. From this angle, Korin can see something she missed on her first glance of him— he has another head protruding from the back of his neck. It hangs low, as if asleep… or dead.“That’s what happens when you arm wrestle a motherfucker with six arms!” The girl gestures to the darker skinned boy.“You should talk more like a girl, Tayuya.” Orange-hair says.“Fuck off,” The girl (Tayuya, apparently) snaps.“You know, we could’ve just played cards if someone hadn’t brought them on a mission and got them scattered all across the Land of Fire.” Sakon glares pointedly at Six-arms.Hearing this, Korin tentatively makes her presence known by stepping into the room. She keeps a casual demeanor as all eyes turn to stare at her. “Sorry for overhearing,” she says with a gentle smile, “But, uh, I have a deck of cards you guys can use.”There’s a pause as the teens digest her offer. “You know how to deal Blackjack?” Six-arms asks, cocking an eyebrow.Korin nods, drawing closer. Slowly, the group shifts around the table to leave one side open for her, and she sits.“My deck is themed after birds of prey,” she admits sheepishly as she draws the cards from her pouch and begins shuffling them. “Sorry.”“Better than scattered across the country,” Sakon shrugs.“Get over it,” Six-arms groans.The older kunoichi smiles softly before deciding to introduce herself, saying, “I’m Korin, by the way. I’ve been trading with your village for a little while now.”“Sakon,” Sakon greets with a nod.“And Ukon,” the head jutting out from the back of his neck lifts up to speak, grinning at the way Korin jumps. “We’re the leaders of The Sound Four.”“Tayuya,” grunts Tayuya, “Second in command.” “Kidōmaru,” Six-arms grins, “Third, I think.”“Jirōbō,” Orange-hair finishes, “Last, but don’t let it fool you.”Korin nods. “Good to meet you all,” she says, hesitantly adding, “Are you guys genin?”This earns a chorus of snickers for some reason. “No particular rank. We haven’t been in the academy for a while,” Sakon answers. “But Lord Orochimaru says we’re essentially jōnin.”Korin’s eyebrows shoot up in a mixture of surprise and alarm. But the longer she thinks about it, the more it makes sense. They certainly don’t look particularly… normal.“What are we betting?” Kidōmaru asks the others. “Money?”“Oh, ‘money’, he says, like he isn’t in debt to all of us ten times over.” Sakon snorts.“You got a better idea, Captain Jackass?” Kidōmaru retorts. The blue-haired boy grumbles and goes quiet.“Money it is.” Jirōbō states, and the group begins rummaging around and placing their bets in the center of the table. Once everyone is properly set up and after a brief squabble about how blackjack is played, Korin begins to deal from left to right. She slides a face up card to Tayuya: 3 of Diamonds, the Sharp-Shinned Hawk.“Weird ass name for a bird,” the girl hums.Korin chuckles, “Oh, I like Sharpies. They’re called that because they don’t have feathers on their legs like most birds do.”“You some kinda animal nerd?” Sakon asks. It’s phrased rudely, but Korin can tell he doesn’t mean to be hostile.“I’ve spent the last 7 years living in the forest and studying wildlife, so yeah, I guess.” She shrugs. The teens exchange looks with each other, as if wondering why Orochimaru chose to do business with someone so placid.Jirōbō is dealt next: 10 of Hearts, the Hobby. Tayuya leans over to look at it and mutters, “That one’s even weirder.”“They’re like falcons.” says Korin, sliding a card to Kidōmaru: 3 of Clubs, the Harpy Eagle.“I actually know this one,” Jirōbō comments with a slight smile. “They’re majestic.”“I’ve longed to see one in person,” Korin hums, nodding. “It’s on my bucket list.”Sakon is dealt last, receiving Ace of Diamonds, the Gyrfalcon. He grunts, squinting at the picture.“Uh…,” says Korin. “Is Ukon playing?”“Probably not,” answers Tayuya.“Ukon,” Sakon attempts to prompt his brother, shrugging his own shoulders repeatedly. “Ukon!”Kidōmaru reaches one of his many arms over and snaps his fingers by Ukon’s hanging head. Suddenly, an additional arm bursts from Sakon’s shoulders, swatting at the fingers.“Fuck off, I’m awake,” he growls. “What?”“You wanna play blackjack, or am I solo?” Sakon asks as Ukon’s arm retreats back into his body.“I’m good. Just let me sleep,” his older brother grumbles, already starting to lower his head again.“Told you,” sneers Tayuya.Nodding and placing a face down card by her, Korin begins the second deal. 4 of Spades, the Barn Owl is slid to Tayuya.“I’ve seen these guys,” she nods. “Kinda creepy looking.”Sakon groans. “Oh my god, stop fucking commenting on every card, they’re going to finish rebuilding the Leaf by the time we’re finished at this rate!” He growls.“Quit being a whiny bitch,” she snorts, rolling her eyes.“That’s no way for a girl to talk,” Jirōbō reprimands.“Kill yourself about it.”Korin silently places 3 of Hearts, the White-tailed Eagle in front of Jirōbō, trying to hide the amusement on her face. It’s been a long, long time since she’s been around a functioning group of people, and an even longer time since she’s been around kids. Well, ‘kids’ feels like too young of a label; teenagers, she supposes.3 of Clubs, the Harrier Hawk is dealt to Kidōmaru as the group exchanges insults. Korin flips the next card to deal to Sakon, but pauses as she realizes what it is. Jack of Diamonds, the Great Gray Owl. She knows that Jacks, Kings, and Queens are all equal to 10, but that Ace has two values. It’s 11 by default, unless that brings the player over 21, in which case its value is equal to 1.Sakon has the Ace of Diamonds from her previous deal. By pure chance, the Jack of Diamonds brings him to exactly 21.“What luck,” she comments, prompting him to withdraw his attention from the ongoing argument and look down at his cards.“Oh, shit,” he laughs, reaching over to sweep the bets to his side. “All of you, get fucked!”“Wait, what?” Kidōmaru yelps, craning to check his cards. “Are you fucking kidding me? God damn it!” He wails with dismay.Shaking her head with a resigned smile, Korin collects the cards and shuffles them as the next bets are placed. Kidōmaru glances around before rummaging in his pocket and pulling out a blunt and a lighter.“Come on, dude,” Jirōbō sighs, giving a judgemental look, while Sakon and Tayuya look eager in comparison. Kidōmaru ignores him and lights the blunt, inhaling briefly before passing it to Tayuya.“Gotta be careful,” she warns before taking a hit. “Kabuto’s gonna-“ she cuts herself off with a cough, smoke pluming from her lips. “-kill us if he-“ Cough, cough, “-finds out,” she finishes, clearing her throat and passing it to Sakon. “Girls shouldn’t-“ Jirōbō starts.Tayuya cuts him off sharply, “Don’t even think about finishing that fucking sentence, asshole.”Sakon hits the blunt smoother than Tayuya, only huffing a bit, coughing with his mouth closed. An identical hand reaches out from his shoulder, plucking the blunt from his fingers as Ukon wordlessly brings it to his mouth, hitting it before returning it to his younger brother. He ponders it for a few moments, then offers it to Korin.Korin blinks, raising her eyebrows. Four sets of eyes stare at her expectantly. It’s not like she’s never smoked— quite the contrary. She’s a hermit in the woods; being a stoner comes with the territory. Not wanting to seem bland, she accepts and takes a hit. Only one. She doesn’t want to be out of her element in an unfamiliar place, especially not one like this. And she also doesn’t get much of a kick out of being high with a younger group.One puff doesn’t do anything outside of making her cough slightly and allowing a thin layer of fuzziness to enshroud her brain. She then finishes dealing the second round. Everyone has 12, except for Kidōmaru, who has 18.Being as confident as they are, the other three choose to hit until they bust. Kidōmaru is daring and chooses to hit as well, receiving Ace of Clubs, the Tawny Owl, leaving him with 19. He decides not to push his luck and stands. With the other three out, it’s down to just him and Korin. Having 13, she hits, pulling Jack of Hearts, the Honey Buzzard. 23, a bust.Kidōmaru bursts into a victorious shout, whooping and hollering so loudly that his voice echoes down the hallway. His teammates groan in unison; Jirōbō plugs his ears while Sakon and Tayuya angrily swat at Kidōmaru, their palms smacking against different sets of arms with every hit, until he finally shuts up.As the third round commences, the initial wariness the group had about Korin begins to fade, and she starts to learn more about them. They’re all 14, though Kidōmaru is technically the oldest, being born in December. Originally prisoners of Otogakure, they were forced to fight to the death in battle royales with other prisoners. When they each proved themselves as the strongest of the prisoners, having survived their respective matches, they were appointed as Orochimaru’s elite team of bodyguards. What brutality. They’re entirely desensitized to it by this point, which likely attributes to how casually they tell this story, explaining it to her with egotistic grins and snarky comments. She does her best to conceal her disgust and pity. “Well, now we’ve spilled our guts, so what’s your story?” Sakon asks, idly spinning King of Clubs, the Snowy Owl on the table with his pointer finger.Korin hesitates. She’s no more inclined to tell them anything than she is to Kabuto, but she also doesn’t want to be rude. “I’m afraid it’s nowhere near as interesting,” she sighs with an apologetic smile. “I fled my village when I was 12, maybe 13? My family was awfully constrictive and pushy, determined to make me the best kunoichi in our village, in hopes that it would bring honor to our clan.”She shakes her head, blowing hair out of her face with a huff. “I hated it. Couldn’t handle it. So I fled and took up a life in the forest by myself. It’s been a decently rewarding experience.” She finishes. It’s greatly understating things and leaves out a lot of incredibly vital details, but none of what she’s revealed is technically a lie, so she hopes it will suffice. Judging from the hums and nods she receives, it does, and she’s thankful that none of them ask about her village or clan origins.Tayuya wins the third round by standing on 20 and decides to quit the game while she’s ahead, so with that, blackjack comes to an end. Korin shuffles her deck and returns it to her pouch, smiling as she stands and the teens move to disperse.“It was nice meeting you guys,” she says politely. “See you next time, hopefully.”“Yeah, you’re not half bad,” Sakon states, his teal-colored lips stretching into a wry smile. He means this genuinely despite the extremely sarcastic vibe in his voice, which is just the way he naturally sounds at this point. Leaving the room, Ukon’s hand sprouts out from his shoulder to give a short wave goodbye, then they’re gone.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

And now she’s back to wandering the halls. The silence is almost oppressive now, compared to what had just been such a lively environment. She’s still not very sure which way she’s going and that underlying sickness, the one she hasn’t sourced, still hangs in the stale air.

The conversation from earlier rings in her ears.

Shards of bitter memories long repressed begin to pierce and tear their way to the front of her mind.

***

“Dad? Dad!” A young boy with peach-colored hair called out shrilly from the dining table, holding a scroll full of village history beneath his grubby fingers.

A man sporting the same colored hair drawn into a tight ponytail turned from the kitchen counter to face his son. “Kouya, lower your voice,” he scolded with an exhausted expression, then moved to come to his side. “What is it?”

“What’s that?” Kouya asked, jabbing a finger towards an illustration on the scroll. It displayed a bizarre creature with a human head and torso, but curved round ears peeking from its hair. Its limbs contorted and blackened towards the ends. It had sharp jagged claws in place of fingers, and thick furry paws instead of feet. An enormous fluffy tail sprouted from its tailbone, nearly the length of the creature itself. The fur was creamy white, sporting a black rosette pattern. The pattern was present on the skin as well, in the form of darker pigment.

The man’s face hardened. “The cursed ghosts of the mountain,” he sighed, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder in the manner of someone recounting an old tale. “Long ago, certain villagers were suddenly struck by this curse and became beasts halfway between man and snow leopard. They were violent monstrosities, killing innocent people, their loved ones, their families. The madness seeped into their bones, driving them to the edge of insanity, whereupon they would flee into the mountains, never to be seen again.”

He paused upon noting Kouya’s disturbed expression, his innocent eyes trembling with terror. “You needn’t worry, little one,” he soothed. “The curse was rare to begin with, and it has not even occurred at all within my lifetime. It’s only a legend.”

He did not notice the otherworldly eyes glowing in the darkness of the hallway, watching him with disdain.

Korin stepped out from the hall, bathing her small form in the harsh light of the kitchen. She was sopping wet and trembling, her clothes dripping on the lacquered wooden floor, creating a waxy puddle. Her father lifted his head in her presence, a scowl quickly forming across his features.

“What are you doing? You’re supposed to be practicing chakra control for another hour,” he asked irritably. When she failed to respond fast enough, he added, “You’re getting water all over the floor!”

She flinched slightly at his tone, though her face remained expressionless. “It’s cold,” she finally mumbled through chattering teeth. “I keep falling into the water. And I hurt myself on a rock,” she explained, pulling up her soaked pant leg to display the blood smeared across her knee.

“Pain and discomfort make up the majority of a ninja’s life, you’ll have to get used to it at some point,” he growled. “If you stop now, all your classmates will learn to stand on water before you do.”

She went quiet, biting her lip with what appeared to him as a poor attempt to hide despair. The taste of copper filling her mouth soothed what was actually thinly veiled fury. Before she could argue, however, a voice spoke up from the corner of the room.

“Just let her be done for the night, dad,” said her older brother, Makoto. The eldest sibling was stretched out across a beanbag, his head tilted towards the ceiling. “If she catches a cold, then she’ll actually fall behind.”

“Of course that’s what you would say,” their father grunted. “There’s a reason you barely managed to graduate.”

Makoto snapped into a sitting position, glaring daggers at him with his visible eye. The other was hidden beneath an eyepatch, likely missing entirely– Korin hadn’t a clue, he never let her see it. “Keep talking and I’ll show you

just

how much I learned,” he threatened in a low voice.

A frightened Kouya looked around the room, his gaze landing on Korin. But his sister provided no comfort. She stared blankly at the kitchen wall, her eyes completely lacking the energetic shine that his own dazzled with.

After a tense minute, their father sighed, his shoulders slumping. “Fine,” he muttered bitterly. “Go change into something dry. And clean up this mess when you’re done,” he gestured to the puddle underneath her feet.

***

The scent of sickness growing stronger brings her back to the present. Finally sourcing it to a particular room, she glances down the hall before steeling her nerves and creeping inside.

The room is dark, only lit by the soft glow of several computer monitors. A tangled mess of wires protrudes from them, connecting to… a boy? He lays in an elevated bed, electroid pads with wires attached dotting his chest and stomach, endotracheal tubes and IVs dripping various liquids into his body.

A sheet of paper with unintelligible scribbling covers his eyes and upper head, leaving him exposed from the nose down. Korin squints at the paper; a seal? If so, what for?

The boy stirs, giving a crackly breath. “You’re not Kabuto.” His voice is strong despite his condition, deep and monotone.

“I am not,” she confirms. “I do business with him and Orochimaru. Though I doubt I’m supposed to be in here.”

“Then why are you?” He asks, amusement leaking into his tone.

She purses her lips, hesitating before replying, “I can smell your sickness. It’s lingered on Kabuto since we met. I’ve been curious as to the source.”

“Smell it?” He tilts his head slightly.

“I learned to do so after living in the wilderness long enough, studying wolves.”

“Wolves?”

“Yes,” she laughs softly. “I studied them for years, and now I even have a litter of pups I’m raising.” She’s not entirely sure why she tells him this. Perhaps she means to comfort what is obviously a miserable experience.

“Is that so? What’s it like?” He asks, genuinely intrigued.

It’s been a while since Korin has had anyone be innocently curious about her lifestyle. She’s missed it quite a bit. “Oh, it’s… stressful, but rewarding. Sometimes. It’s a lot of work, especially in these early months of their lives. That’s when they’re at the most risk. They aren’t able to eat solid food yet, so I have to chew up pieces of raw meat and spit it out for them.”

The boy wrinkles his nose. “Sounds nauseating.”

“For you, yes, but I adapted to eating raw meat long ago. I actually have trouble processing most commercial foods now,” she hums. “But, yes, a lot of work. Round the clock care. Soon they’ll reach the point where they’ll finally start eating chunks instead of paste, thank god. And come summer, I have to start teaching them how to hunt.”

“How will you do that, being human? Don’t animals learn from their parents?” He asks.

“They do. Wolves are completely wild— even if mine are tame, they aren’t domesticated. They have no instinctual urge to listen to me or please me. Trying to translate the basics of hunting to them would be virtually impossible,” she says, nodding.

“But,” she continues. “Like I said, I’ve studied wolves for years. Their anatomy, their biology, their body language, their behavior, their hierarchy— everything about them. So it’s easy for me to use transformation jutsu to become one. Presenting myself as a wolf will make their training much easier for both of us.”

He nods, humming in acknowledgment. After a pause, he asks, “What… what are they like? Do they have names?” He seems enthralled by her situation; the poor boy has probably been bored senseless sitting alone in this room.

“Oh, yes. There’s five; Ichiro, Tadeo, and Haura are the boys, and Reika and Ikeda are the girls,” she explains. “I think Ichiro is the firstborn, judging by his size and personality. He’s a confident little guy and sometimes it gets him into trouble. He plays a little too rough with the others and always wants to be first for everything.”

“Sounds like Sakon,” the boy snorts.

“Oh, you know him?” She asks, then immediately feels stupid. Of course they know each other. Otogakure isn’t exactly huge in terms of population.

The boy nods anyway. “I used to lead his group. We were The Sound Five…” he sighs, then gives a rattling cough.

Korin listens intently to the brassy timbre of his coughing, frowning at the subtle rasp of air entering and exiting his lungs. It sounds wet, like phlegm… or, judging by the copper scent stinging the air, blood.

She’s heard this sound before. In fact, it’s something she intentionally seeks out in the animals she hunts. This croaking indicates shadowy fingers gripping the lungs, the clutch of Death squeezing tighter ever so slowly.

“Infection of the lungs,” she murmurs, her brows drawn into a concerned frown. “Late stage, isn’t it?”

“How do you know?” He asks, his lips tensing around the tube in his mouth. It must not go very deep, otherwise it would pass his vocal cords and disable the ability to speak. “Did Kabuto tell you?”

“No,” she shakes her head, trying to restrain the chagrin in her voice. “I just have fairly extensive medical knowledge about particular illnesses.” Which is part of the reason that his condition bothers her so badly. “Kabuto is a skilled med-nin, isn’t he? Supposedly prodigal?”

“Indeed,” the boy confirms, confused.

“Then… how are you in such a dire state? Lung infections can be difficult to treat, but most modern medicines are capable of curing them. Why has he allowed you to deteriorate so far?”

“It’s not nearly that simple,” he gives a resigned chuckle lacking humor, “He’s tried everything. But my unique body structure and my clan’s lack of medical history are an obstacle even he cannot overcome.”

“Unique body structure?” She asks.

He inhales slow and deep, as if both physically and mentally preparing for a rehearsed speech. “I am Kimimaro, sole survivor of the Kaguya clan and possessor of the Shikotsumyaku kekkei genkai,” he begins, intending to say more, but Korin cuts him off with a soft gasp.

“I’ve heard of you,” she exclaims with astonishment, now realizing exactly how Kabuto obtained that information he’d traded to her a few weeks ago.

“You have?”

“Yes, both of your clan’s massacre and of your survival,” she nods. “But I didn’t know your name. It’s… an honor to meet you in person.”

Kimimaro isn’t sure how to respond at first, flattered. “I wasn’t aware of my notoriety.”

“Ah well, I wouldn’t say you’re particularly well known. I just collect a lot of intel, so I know of many people and events.”

“I see.”

“Though, if you don’t mind, may I ask what your kekkei genkai actually does? The, uh, the Shiko… Shikomatu…?”

“Shikotsumyaku,” he corrects. “It affects my osteoblasts and osteoclasts, allowing me to manipulate my bone production and density at will.” He demonstrates this, raising his arm. His skin rips open, forming a hole, before a long, slender bone bursts forth. It’s sharp at the end, a living weapon.

Korin hums with awe, but her expression quickly transitions into concern when his arm abruptly flops back onto the bed, the bone receding as he begins to cough harshly.

“Activating a kekkei genkai puts a lot of strain on the user’s body,” she sighs. “You ought to be careful in your state. Just rest.”

His mouth tightens into a grimace and she can tell he’s scowling underneath the seal covering the upper half of his face. “I’m sick of resting. Sick of being useless, a burden, a liability for Lord Orochimaru.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs. The sincerity of her tone subdues his anger and gives him pause.

He breathes heavily through parted lips, making a quiet, wet crackling noise in the back of his throat. “What-“ he starts, but his voice suddenly cuts off with a squeak. Clearing his throat, he tries again in a clearer tone, “What about the other pups? You only told me of Ichiro.”

She’s thankful for the subject change. “Oh, that’s right! Well, next, there’s Haura. He’s super vocal, loves howling all the time. He also has a habit of stashing toys in places I don’t uncover for weeks.”

“I imagine that would get on your nerves after a while,” Kimimaro chuckles.

“Oh, it’s headache inducing,” she confirms. “Anyway, then there’s Reika. She’s probably the wisest out of all of them, always watching the environment. She’s also the one who breaks up squabbles between her siblings.”

She hesitates, thinking, before continuing, “There’s also Tadeo. He’s more on the cautious side, likes hiding behind me. Affectionate little guy, though. More than the others.”

“Are they not very affectionate with you?” He asks.

She shakes her head. “No, they have no instinctual reason to enjoy it. They’ll huddle with me for warmth, though.” She shrugs, then, her voice drops into something somber. “Lastly, there’s Ikeda,” she swallows. There’s a pause before she manages to gather her bearings. “She was already sick when I found her. Her breathing sounds like yours.”

“Oh,” Kimimaro murmurs. He ponders on her tone for a moment. “She’s… going to die, isn’t she?” Korin doesn’t respond. “You talk about her the same way the others talk about me.”

“Do the others say you’re going to die?” She frowns.

“Never outright. But I can hear it in their tones, the resignation, like I’m already dead. Despite Kabuto’s care, I only get worse. I am not a fool. I know my time is coming to an end.”

Korin’s throat tightens and she feels a stinging sensation in her eyes. She doesn’t let anything become of it, but the feeling is present. “I don’t understand,” she says hoarsely, “There has to be something he can do.”

Or something she can do, for Ikeda.

“If there was, wouldn’t he?”

Would he?

It’s concerning that she can’t be sure. She doesn’t know Kabuto’s motivations. He doesn’t like working for Orochimaru, she’s certain of that, but she isn’t certain of how deep his displeasure goes. Deep enough to sabotage an important asset of Orochimaru?

…No. This is just a boy. His life has barely even begun. Kabuto wouldn’t purposefully let him suffer an agonizing death just to get back at Orochimaru. He’s above that.

He has to be

.

Silence falls over the room. She focuses on individual sounds: the monitors beeping, the machines humming, Kimimaro’s raspy breathing, the sheets softly rustling, her own breathing, the IV bags crinkling… a third person breathing quieter than both of them…

Korin’s blood turns frigid, icy sweat needling the back of her neck as her stomach churns. She forces herself to be slow and smooth as she turns to look behind her. Half of a face peers back at her with heavy-lidded eyes, and it takes her a moment to register that it’s Kabuto.

The room’s only light source comes from the soft glow of the monitors, making his features blurry and difficult to discern. The result is downright uncanny, and for a moment, genuine primordial fear grips her heart, her adrenaline spiking. She doesn’t know how long he’s been there.

“Korin,” he says curtly. Kimimaro stiffens with surprise at hearing his voice.

“Think I’ve got to go now,” Korin sheepishly mumbles to Kimimaro. “Lovely meeting you.”

The boy hums quietly, “Thank you for keeping me company for a little while.”

She steps out back into the hallway with Kabuto, who stands rigidly with crossed arms in the middle of the path. “Poking your nose into places you don’t belong is a nasty habit to have,” he states, his tone low and smooth, but clearly displaying his irritation. “If not outright dangerous.”

“You would know, wouldn’t you?” She replies, arching a brow.

Kabuto frowns, caught off guard by her retort. “Pardon?”

“Rummaging through my belongings.”

Oh. Right. He’d sort of hoped that she’d forgotten about that. “I suppose this makes us even, then,” he sighs. “But in the future, don’t wander off. You could discover things you’d be better off not knowing about.”

Glancing around in an almost nervous manner, he takes a step closer, lowering his voice further. “I’m warning you because I have no control over your fate here. I’m dead serious; if you find something you shouldn’t, you won’t be leaving alive.”

Korin visibly shudders, gritting her teeth. “Right.”

With that aside, they finish up their transaction. She gives him some herbs, and he disappears into his laboratory briefly before returning with some medical supplies for her. They don’t address her encounter with Kimimaro. Refusing to address points of tension seems to be a recurring theme in their interactions.

When Korin crosses through the entrance and steps back outside, she audibly sighs in a manner like she’s able to breathe again after holding her breath for a while, deflating somewhat. Kabuto restrains a hum of amusement at the sight.

It’s relieving, in a strange way, to see that she isn’t comfortable in Otogakure.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Blood drops onto the leaves of a white flower. A gust of wind tears the petals from the flower and scatters them into the air.

The flame of a candle extinguishes.

“It can’t be,” Kabuto gasps, staring at the pile of wax that once resembled a candle. “Kimimaro… could he really have reached the end of his life so quickly?” Based on his own calculations, the boy should’ve had a lot longer left in him.

“Oh, well, no matter,” Orochimaru hums casually. He’s wrapped almost entirely in bandages now, sporting a different face peeking out from the wrappings. His latest host. “He’s of no further use to me.”

Kabuto glances at the sannin. He thinks back to how Orochimaru used to speak of Kimimaro. His dream vessel, the one he wished for in his heart. And now, he discards him so easily, with barely a second thought. Kabuto is certain he’d receive a similar response from Orochimaru if it was his own death.

Kimimaro had worshipped Orochimaru. His mind had been plunged into darkness, viewing the sannin like a deity, willing to do anything for him,

be

anything for him. Kabuto had begged,

begged

for more time to study him, more time to cure him, because he was starting to make progress. He just needed more time. Unfortunately, when Orochimaru had discovered that Kimimaro wouldn’t be allowed to use his kekkei genkai during this ‘time’, he ordered Kabuto to forgo the research entirely and instead focus on keeping the boy alive for as long as he could.

Perhaps that was why Kabuto had provoked Kimimaro into joining the delivery of Sasuke to the hideout. He’d sent the boy to an early grave. Intentionally. It was a more merciful end than letting him waste away slowly, miserable and lamenting on his uselessness. Now, Kabuto had made sure that Kimimaro would never be used again.

Oh, there’s a special blazing fire waiting for him in hell, he’s sure.

Otogakure is quiet now. There is no raucous laughter, no squabbling, no yelling, no card games. The Sound Four are dead. Kimimaro is dead. The emptiness leaves Kabuto alone with his thoughts, somewhere he never wants to be.

He thinks of Kimimaro. He thinks of Korin.

When he comes to meet her for their usual trade, he knows at once that something has happened here, too. Korin does her best to smile and act as usual, but it’s a poor imitation of her typical behavior. The red that rims her eyes and lightly flushes her nose gives it away. He doesn’t ask why she’s been crying, nor why she’s trying to act like she hasn’t, but he wonders.

He sits on the ground to greet the pups as she lets them out for feeding and a visit. When she doesn’t call for Ikeda, he instantly knows what’s happened. She hesitates for a second before closing the door behind them, kneeling to the ground and starting to chew up the meat for them. Her eyes are glassy and despondent.

Tadeo bounds up to her and stands on her thigh, begging to be fed with his tail wagging so hard that it wiggles his whole body with it. She doesn’t react right away; her gaze is unfocused and aimed towards the forest, staring at nothing. It flickers over to Kabuto briefly, and then, as if remembering that she’s supposed to be acting like nothing’s wrong, she turns to Tadeo and coos before spitting the meat into a pile for him.

In the storage tree, when she reaches for a jar of turmeric, her breath catches in her throat and stutters briefly, a shiver passing through her body. It feels rude to mention her despair when she’s trying so hard to hide it in front of him, so he doesn’t acknowledge it. She knows that he knows from the way his gaze lingers a little longer than usual. But neither of them say anything on the matter.

He can’t tell her about Kimimaro. Not now. Preferably not ever, but especially not now. She’s the only person outside of Otogakure that knows who he really is and still remains amiable with him. It’s a luxury he doesn’t deserve, but he can’t bring himself to ruin it.

On his way back, he trudges through a field of long green grass, the wind flowing through it like waves. Usually he travels by jumping from tree to tree or running, like most ninja do, but when he’s lost in thought like this, he prefers to walk.

Something indenting the grass catches his eye and he stops. Hesitantly stepping forward, he peers down to get a better look.

A newborn fawn.

It lays curled into a tight, delicate ball, tiny and quivering. Its little body is adorned with white dapples all across its back. He’s seen pictures of fawns before, but never had the privilege of seeing one in real life. He doesn’t usually take the time to look.

Kabuto wonders how something so fragile and beautiful can bear to exist in this world.

A perturbed huff catches his attention, and he looks up to find a doe standing around 10 feet away. Her ears are curved towards him, her neck high, her hooves stomping against the ground with agitation. The mother.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, quickly taking long strides onwards to give her and her baby some space. The doe doesn’t relax until he puts several hundred yards between them.
 
[X]
 
The next time he sees Korin is when he drops by unexpectedly, nearly startling her. Kabuto has never come just to visit before. She clearly isn’t sure how to react, stumbling over her words and pacing around.

“It’s not a trade deal, or anything,” he grunts, tossing her a small packet of seeds that she fumbles to catch (but manages to). “It just seemed like something you’d like.” A gift, then, but he must not feel like saying those words. He doesn’t need to. The sentiment is kind regardless.

She reads the back of the packet. “These wildflowers are all native to this area,” she notes, her voice tinged with excitement.

“Yeah, I remembered when you told me about them.” He shrugs.

Korin is silent for a moment. It’s a sentimental kind of quiet. “I have a perfect place to plant them.” She says finally, and the manner in which her voice trembles suggests that she’s letting him in on something that’s sensitive for her.

He follows her a little ways out into the forest, stopping in a slight clearing that the river cuts through. She kneels next to a thin redwood tree, pawing through the first few layers of dirt. A smooth white rock that he once gave her for a trade lies by the roots. A marker.

The atmosphere grows heavy, and he sits down beside her, watching patiently as she sprinkles the seeds into the damp soil. Her shoulders jerk occasionally, and strained noises in her throat threaten to evolve into sobs. But she blinks away the tears that start to form. He understands, though it pains him slightly that she doesn’t give herself this kindness in front of him.

She pauses and takes a deep, shuddering breath. “Like I said, I always knew it was going to happen,” she says quietly. “A matter of when, not if.”

“That doesn’t make it hurt less.” He responds, doing his best to tread lightly on this subject.

Korin nods. “I told myself…” she pauses to choke back a noise, then swallows roughly. “Told myself that even if I couldn’t cure her, as long as she still fought to get up to eat, to live, I’d take care of her. Give her the food she needed to get stronger. Play with her when she ignored her siblings.”

“I saw,” he dips his head slightly. “Even though she fought to get up, she was always eager to eat.”

She hangs her head, slowly pulling the soil back over the seeds. “And then she wasn’t,” she whispers. “That day, the life she’d been fighting for was no longer worth the amount of suffering it’d take to get there. When she…” she shudders again. “When she wouldn’t lift her head to eat the food I brought next to her, I knew it was over. The scales had been tipped. So… I brought her outside and set her on my chest so we could watch the moon together…”

She’s almost hunched over now, mostly in an attempt to hide her face, he thinks. “I laid with her for those last few hours as she gave up. At least, now, here, she gets to return to the forest and provide nutrients to the grass and trees, and these flowers.”

In the grand scheme of things, the death of a single wolf pup is hardly tragic in comparison to the horrors and traumas that Kabuto witnesses almost daily. He has long forgotten how to mourn, but the simplicity… the purity in this death makes his heart twist slightly.

“Maybe it’s better this way,” he says. “She gets to be at peace now, providing for the forest without feeling the cruelty of life.” He’d normally be more careful about saying this sort of thing to someone mourning a loss, but he thinks Korin will understand what he means.

She does. “I hope that in death she finds the peace she could not have in life. In the end, I could not love her in any way that mattered. I only,” she chokes on a restrained sob. “Only hope that it was not cruel of me to keep her alive this long. I wonder if I only prolonged her suffering.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Kabuto shakes his head, and his tone is serious, genuine, not meant to comfort. He knows quite a bit about prolonging someone’s suffering. “She wanted to fight and you gave her that option for as long as she wanted.”

His bluntness soothes her, and she nods in agreement as she pats down the dirt. “Thank you,” she says weakly. “For the seeds. And for not giving me shallow comfort. It would be easier for you to do so, being a spy.”

“Are you sure? What if I was actually just bad at comforting people?”

That earns a small smile from her. “The ever-so-skilled and talented Kabuto? Impossible.”

He grins in a bashful way, scratching behind his neck to ease a bit of tension. He’s not often on the receiving end of a genuine compliment.

Korin stands, brushing dirt off of her stockings. She looks around in a dazed manner, like her mind is preoccupied. When her gaze falls on him, there’s a brief clarity in her eyes, and she parts her lips to speak— only to snap them shut, deciding against it.

Normally he wouldn’t acknowledge it. But he can’t help being curious this time. “What?” He prompts.

“Hm?” She blinks, tilting her head.

“You were going to say something.”

She holds his gaze for a moment, then breaks it and looks elsewhere. “It’s… nothing, aha,” she laughs with no feeling. “It was stupid. Nevermind.”

She doesn’t usually get visibly embarrassed like this, nor does she refuse to elaborate upon being encouraged to speak. There’s something shameful in her expression. Not like that night at the lake that ended with intimacy; no, this is much too anxious.

Kabuto leans back on his hand, his other arm coming to rest on his propped up knee. The position is casual, open, and inviting. Knowing how sensitive Korin is to body language, he assumes this might persuade her.

Sure enough, her gaze flitters back to him in short, nervous bursts. She’s debating whether or not to tell him. He tilts his head quizzically, the corners of his lips ticked up ever so slightly. The picture of friendliness and earnesty.

It’s honestly a little off putting coming from Kabuto, who has never been overtly friendly to her. But she can at least appreciate the sentiment and intention behind it. Soothing her nerves with a slow sigh, she asks, “How much time do you have?”

“As long as I deem necessary,” he answers. It’s vague, but truthful; with Orochimaru having a new body, Kabuto’s continued presence is no longer required quite as urgently.

She tilts her head up, looking at shards of the sky through redwood branches. “The rains are becoming less frequent, floods are receding, ungulates are having their offspring— spring is ending,” she states. “Come early summer, the pups will reach 2 months of age. They have already begun to wean. In the case that they decide to disperse from me someday, as adults, it’s important that I emulate the natural routine a pack follows when raising its young.”

Kabuto squints, lacking the knowledge to guess where she’s going with this.

“At 2 months, pups tend to outgrow the den they’ve been raised in. Thus, the pack moves them out to a summer home, referred to as a rendezvous site. It’s a flat, open area intended for the pups to have space to explore, socialize, and grow until fall, which is when they’ll begin to learn to hunt.”

She rubs the back of her neck, finally returning her gaze to him and smiling nervously. “Essentially, we’ll be needing to move to a rendezvous site soon. But the problem is that I haven’t chosen one yet. And not only do I need to choose one— I also need to hollow out a few trees in the chosen area in order to make a temporary summer home for myself.”

“So, I was wondering,” she pauses to clear her throat. “If you’re not otherwise preoccupied, if you’d like to… uh… come with me and help me choose a site.”

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. It takes him a confused moment before he realizes that she’s returning his non-business related gesture, the seeds, with a friendly invitation to spend time together.

Kabuto hesitates. He doesn’t have any friends, and as initially pathetic as that sounds, it’s for good reason. For one, most people can’t know his true identity or else it puts his role as a spy in jeopardy, and for two, he’s made an intentional point

not

to let anyone close to him. Having friends is just giving himself a tangible weakness, something that can be exploited and used against him. Not to mention the fact that he just doesn’t really have

time

for non-business relationships.

Korin views this hesitation as an indicator that she’s been overbearingly forward and recoils. The walls that Kabuto has tried so hard to break down begin visibly reconstructing themselves, and he panics. He realizes this crisis of ‘friendship’ he’s having is completely unnecessary, because he’s

still being a spy

, something that he’d nearly forgotten in the moment. That’s why he agreed to their business deal in the first place, wasn’t it? To find out who Korin truly is? This isn’t any different than when he needed to pretend to befriend those Leaf genin at the chuunin exam in order to gather information on them.

“Yes,” he says, too fast to be truthful, making Korin squint. “Well, I mean… yeah,” he tries again, slower. “S-sorry… honestly, I’m not used to people wanting to spend time with me. I’m just worried I won’t be that interesting or useful.”

The sheepish grin he adds to this seems to persuade her, and she relaxes somewhat. “Alright, then,” she says with a nod. “Let’s head west. There’s more open land out there.”

And with that, they take off into the trees.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

As they hop between trees, Kabuto is once again struck by how swift and nimble Korin moves. She weaves between branches expertly, never hesitating with doubt like many lesser skilled ninja do. It makes him even more curious about her background.“You know,” he says, breaking the silence. “Despite how often we see each other, I’m realizing that I don’t really know much about you.”She chuckles at his lack of subtlety. “Well, you don’t pry much.”“Sure, but I have a feeling that you’d dodge most of my questions anyway,” he replies. After a pause, he adds, “Though I guess the same could be said for me.”“Well, let’s play a question game then,” she suggests. “We can trade off asking each other a question. Obviously, we can both deny to answer, but we have to explain why we’re denying. And nothing too vague, like not wanting to.”He ponders for a moment, then shrugs and nods. “I have a feeling we’re both going to be passing a lot.”“Probably.”“Guess I’ll start,” he hums. “What village are you from?”“Pass,” she says almost instantly. He’s not surprised in the slightest. “They’re still looking for me, so the fewer people who know where I’m from, the better. But I’ll tell you that it’s not one of the main hidden villages.”He nods. “Alright. Why live in the woods instead of seeking refuge with other missing-nin?”Her face screws up with concentration as she determines the best way to answer that. “I wasn’t much interested in a criminal lifestyle, nor did I want to be around people…” she pauses, grimacing. “I was afraid I would hurt them.”Kabuto frowns as well. “Hurt them?”“I won’t elaborate on that, sorry,” she shakes her head. “Only one other person knows, and it wasn’t my intention.”Naturally, his mind starts to race, but he forces himself to tuck this information away for later. “Who is that person?”“Ah ah,” she clicks her tongue, chiding him. “My turn now, remember?”“Right. Sorry.”“What village were you from before you joined Orochimaru?” She asks, reflecting his original question.“I don’t know,” he answers honestly. “I lost my memory when I was a child.”“Lost?” She hums. “You mean repressed?”“No,” he sighs. “I was found on the outskirts of a destroyed city with a severe head injury. I couldn’t remember anything, not even my name.”“Then how’d you end up with the name Kabuto?”“My turn,” he reminds her, grinning slightly when he hears her grumble. “Who is the person that knows the reason you were afraid you’d hurt people?”She purses her lips, then sighs, “My older brother.”“You have siblings?” He raises his eyebrows in surprise. “Oh, wait, your turn.”Neither of them are very good at this.“How’d you get your name?” She asks.None of this information can possibly be used against him, so he willingly answers, “Another kid at my orphanage put a helmet on my head so that I wouldn’t get hurt again. The woman in charge…” he trails off for a moment, his gaze darkening and clouding over. “My… my mother. She named me after it.”“I see,” Korin says gently, sensing the sensitivity of this subject.Kabuto is thankful that she doesn’t dig deeper. “So… how many siblings do you have?”“Last I was aware, an older and a younger brother.”“Only girl? Must’ve been rough.”She shrugs, clearly uninterested in divulging more information regarding her past life with her family. He’s still a bit wrapped up in his own memories, so silence stretches out between them for a little while. For once, it’s a fairly comfortable one.After some time, Kabuto pauses on a branch. He crouches down and looks at the clearing beneath him. It’s bordered by brambles and bushes, and the trees on the north and west sides have all had their lower branches chewed off by some sort of animal.“Is this a spot you’d like?” He asks, glancing up at her.Korin squints, hopping down to the forest floor and inspecting the area. “It’s not… bad,” she says, though her tone implies that it is, and she’s just trying to be nice. “But this is a little too forested. So many trees, hills, bushes, and such would provide ample cover for cougars to lie in wait.”“The place you’re at now is like this, though.” He frowns.“Yeah, it is,” she acknowledges. “When the pups are in the first two months of their lives, they’re small enough to be carried off by eagles. Generally it’s easier for me to defend them from cougars than eagles, so, lesser of two evils, y’know? The tree cover of my current home discourages eagles from hunting.”“So now that they’re getting older and bigger you want to move them somewhere more open?”“Precisely.”“And cougars won’t hunt in open areas?”“They will, if they’re desperate enough, but they’re much less likely to. They’re ambush predators, high strength but low stamina. They need the element of surprise.”“I see,” he hums. He’s barely ever seen cougars in his life. Every sighting has just been a quick glimpse during dawn or dusk, and he’s never cared to look too hard anyway.“This place isn’t a bust, though,” she notes, brushing her fingers against the chewed stubs of the lower branches. “See this? Ungulates like to eat here— elk, judging by the height. It’s a good hunting spot.” She grins.“Oh. Huh.” He grunts, lacking a better response.They take to the trees again, darting and swerving with equal amounts of grace and dexterity. Korin is fast, keeping pace with him perfectly, but his comprehensive knowledge of human anatomy concentrates on the tiny inconsistencies in her gait. She favors her left leg ever so slightly. Through prolonged observation, he determines that this likely isn’t a pain response; at least, not anymore. It seems to him that her right leg may have been deeply injured at some point in the past and caused her to rely heavily on her left. He thinks it would’ve had to have occurred a long time ago, since it’s almost invisible now, but it must have been an incredibly severe injury for the muscles on her left leg to still be noticeably stronger than her right after all this time.“So how’d you become a med-nin?” She asks, drawing him out of his thoughts.This seems to strike the same chord that asking how he got his name did, and he winces slightly. “My mother taught me,” he answers, trying not to hesitate and reveal any weakness in his voice. “I used my medical ninjutsu to help her heal wounded shinobi and earn money to keep the orphanage running.”“Oh?” Korin raised her eyebrows. “That’s noble. So your mother taught you how to be a shinobi…?”“No,” he shakes his head, realizing he didn’t fully explain the situation. “My skilled use of medical jutsu earned the attention of Konoha’s Anbu. The rest is history.”It’s close to the truth, but still a lie. He doesn’t feel inclined to explain the entire situation with the Root and Danzō. He’s told her more than enough already. And he’s not sure why he answered her previous questions truthfully to begin with. It bothers him slightly.She opens her mouth to reply, perhaps question him deeper, but he cuts her off to ask, “What about your training?” His tone is firm, slightly louder than before.Humming softly and snapping her mouth shut again, Korin ponders for a moment. He’s told her quite a lot about himself. She doesn’t like feeling indebted to people. “My… family wanted me to be a perfect kunoichi, something our village could be proud of. Our village hadn’t ever really produced any… notable ninja. Probably still hasn’t. I made chuunin at 12, and that still wasn’t impressive enough for my parents, so… after a lot of turmoil, I packed my shit and left.”“Ah,” he nods. “Let me guess, the things you did accomplish never got acknowledged?”“Exactly. Nothing I did was ever good enough, and even when it was, I didn’t get praised at all. Just questioned about why I couldn’t perform like that all the time. It was…” Her voice heightens in pitch, audibly growing exasperated and stressed from the memories she’s recounting. “Exhausting. Infuriating.”“You must have been depressed,” he says, tone laced with pity. It’s actually a bit genuine; he’s a good actor regardless of genuinity, but this particular scenario resonates with him. “Working so hard for no appreciation, never able to meet the standards set out for you by someone who doesn’t understand you. And for that someone to be your parents… I can’t imagine how sad you must have been.”“No, not sad,” she shakes her head, her tone eerily certain. “If I’d been sad, I’d have spent all my time moping around feeling sorry for myself and crying. I would have let myself die in that apartment fire instead of jumping from the fourth floor to escape. I wasn’t sad. I didn’t want their acknowledgement, nor their appreciation.”“What did you want, then?” He asks, temporarily ignoring the mention of the apartment fire situation.She doesn’t respond right away. There’s a beat of silence as they jump between trees. When she answers, her voice is ice cold, dripping with venom.“ I wanted to kill them .”He isn’t sure how to react to that. He’d been picturing Korin as a poor, neglected child, an innocent girl with eyes full of tears, desperately seeking her parent’s love and approval. Now, that picture changes to a creature of rage and hatred, anger marinating, fermenting, seething with pained fury and looking to retaliate.It doesn’t suit her nature at all; at least, not the one he perceives her to have. He’s struck with the realization that he’s once again come up with an incorrect idea of who she is. She’s not as placid as he thought.And then, something unpleasant clicks into place: she’s like him. Her exterior is unassuming and understated, but it conceals a deadly and powerful interior. They’ve felt each other’s true strength, albeit sparingly, during their spar at the river. He knows she’s fiercely strong, a truly formidable opponent, but she conceals it. She doesn’t boast about her power. Neither does he. Boasting about his power would be foolish; after all, when your opponent assumes you to be weak, it’s significantly easier to get the upper hand. Both of them are cougars lying in wait, concealed in the bushes, waiting for unsuspecting prey to take just one step too close.The element of surprise is a powerful asset.“Did you?” He asks bluntly.“No,” she shakes her head, not offended by the presumption. “Let’s just say… my choice to run away wasn’t only for my own safety.” So, she did care about them, at least a little bit.He nods, chewing on his lip for a moment. “What was that you said about an apartment fire?”It’s not his turn to ask a question anymore, but she disregards the order and answers anyway. “Not a terribly interesting story, actually. Was hanging out with a couple other kids from the academy in this old abandoned apartment building. Village was gonna demolish it soon, so we wanted to check it out.”She sighs, “I got bored and went ahead because they were taking so long exploring everything. Eventually, I got a couple stories above them. Would’ve gone higher up if it hadn’t been for what happened next. I guess they were fucking around a bit, you know how kids are when they’re learning jutsu.”There’s a pause. “Someone, dunno who anymore, fucked up a fire jutsu. And you know how old buildings are. There isn’t a more flammable material on earth than an abandoned building, as far as I’m concerned.”“Oh, shit,” Kabuto grits his teeth, inhaling slowly.“I mean, at least it’s not like they were trying to kill me. The fire just started spreading so fast that they panicked and fled. I don’t blame them. The path to get me would’ve been engulfed pretty quickly, I don’t think they could’ve reached me if they’d tried.”She shrugs casually, but her voice falters slightly. “It all happened too fast. I didn’t even really realize what had happened until the fire started spreading onto my floor. I was on the fourth story, and I knew going any higher up was just gonna be more dangerous, because the building could collapse. There wasn’t any other way out. So, I found a window…”She trails off, the memory replaying in her head. The smoke, the heat, the panic swelling in her chest. “We hadn’t learned chakra control all that well yet. I didn’t know how to jump from a high place and land safely. But I didn’t have a choice.”
The windowsill begins to crack beneath her weight and from the heat of the fire soaking into the walls. She stares at the ground, so far away. She remembers being nervous to drop five feet out of a tree once. She wants to laugh at herself, but another glance at the forty foot drop below instantly quashes any humor in the situation.

She has to jump, there’s no other option. No one else will ever make it in time. Her body won’t move. She closes her eyes, inhaling shakily and listening to the scene behind her. The roaring flames, the crackling wood, the crash of old furniture collapsing. It isn’t long before her heartbeat drowns it all out. The nausea swirls in her throat, dizzying inertia giving way, and she flings herself forward.
“I only survived because I hit the grass. If I’d landed on the concrete, I probably would’ve died shortly after. I don’t really remember the impact all that well, just an incredible searing, unbearable pain, and then waking up in the hospital.”She pauses on a branch, bringing him to a sudden halt as well. Bending over, she rolls down her right leg’s stocking before running her finger along a thick, jagged scar. “My fibula shattered, and my tibia was…” she winces.“Compound fracture.” Kabuto finishes, his face contorted in a grimace. He can tell that the bone pierced her skin by the shape of the scar. So that’s what the limp is about.“Not the only one. Happened to my radius too.” She points to her sleeved arm, then pulls her stocking back up. She shakes her head to tussle her hair and gives a soft huff, then returns to hopping between the trees.Kabuto is quick to follow. “You move well for having suffered such traumatic injuries at a young age.”“It’s a learned thing. I had a noticeably awkward gait for a long time. Only managed to get it under control in the last couple years.”He politely doesn’t mention the fact that he was able to notice it. “I bet your parents weren’t thrilled when it happened.” He says dryly instead.“Oh, they were furious. Not only did it impede my training, but the doctors told them that if it didn’t heal right, I’d never be able to be a kunoichi again,” she snorts. “Didn’t even get a ‘we’re so glad you’re alive’ or a ‘how are you feeling?’, just went straight to yelling.”“That’s awful. I can see why you left so quickly.” Kabuto hums with a frown. The concern, pity, and tenderness he’s showing her throughout the conversation is all an act. He’s mostly attempting to appeal to her emotions, building himself up as a person she can trust; but it’s just slightly too severe of a pivot in character, and he can see that it isn’t landing right when she squints at him briefly. He turns his gaze away sheepishly, then comes to a sudden halt on a tree at the edge of a clearing.“Is this more like what you’re looking for?” He asks, gesturing outwards.It’s a broad stretch of lush grass rolling in the wind. A group of several redwood trees stand tall and close together, nearly seeming out of place in the vast, open landscape. The grass is greener where it has grown thicker from the rainy season.Korin lands beside him, grasping a small branch above her and leaning forward, while her other hand moves above her forehead to block out the sun. She surveys the field for a few moments, then gives a satisfied hum.“This is pretty good,” she nods, dropping down to the grass and making her way towards the cluster of trees. He follows from a slight distance, not wanting to interrupt her investigation. Eventually, after walking around the trees multiple times and sticking kunai in and out of them, she crosses her arms and nods with finality. “Yep,” she states. “This’ll work.”“Really? Glad to hear.” Kabuto replies vaguely.“This means the easy part is over, though,” she continues, paying no attention to his response. “Unfortunately, now comes the hardest part. Gotta carve out the trees to make them livable.”She pulls a scroll from the weapon pouch on her thigh, unsealing it to reveal an array of woodworking tools. Placing them off to the side, she moves to stand before the first tree, holding her palm out in front of it. She inhales slowly and closes her eyes, furrowing her eyebrows worth concentration. Water begins to seep out of the ground and collect in front of her hand.“You might want to take a step back,” she warns.Kabuto is instantly several yards away from her.Exhaling sharply, she thrusts her palm forward with a grunt. The water blasts into the tree bark, resulting in a loud cracking sound and water spraying out in every direction. It rains down and profusely soaks everything in the nearby vicinity, including Korin, who shrieks.“Guh,” she sputters, wiping her face with her hands several times, trying to pull her dripping hair out of her eyes and mouth. “Shit!”Kabuto can’t restrain himself from making a snide comment. “I’m guessing that’s not what you were trying to do?”“Shut up,” she snaps without hostility, giving a frustrated sigh. “Damn it, it’s been too long since I’ve used ninjutsu. I’m way out of practice.”Kabuto comes up behind her, peering over her shoulder to look at the small pit that her failed jutsu left in the tree trunk. “You’re trying to blast a hole in the trunk using water jutsu, right?”She nods, “Not so much a hole… just an indent, I guess. Making it easier to carve out the center. There needs to be about 12 inches of wood left alone all the way around it in order to keep the walls thick enough.”“Got it,” Kabuto hums. In one swift movement, he pulls her back by the shoulders whilst simultaneously pushing his palm forward, a powerful spray of water blasting into the tree trunk. When the foam clears, there’s a sizable crater in place of Korin’s previous mark. “Like that?”“Y…yeah,” Korin huffs. His grip on her shoulder relaxes, though his hand remains resting there. She watches him from the corner of her eyes, wary, but says nothing on the matter and makes no attempt to move away. He’s stronger than he looks, she has to remind herself. He’s closer to the definition of a true ninja than most shinobi actually are— he works in the shadows, unremarkable, but deadly. He doesn’t want the fame, the glory, the reputation that accompany a boastful performance. And that makes him truly dangerous. She tends to view herself in a bit of a self-righteous manner, believing most people to be beneath her in one way or another, especially ninja. The way the ninja code desensitizes them to taking and losing life disgusts her. But their adherence to this code always makes them easy to outsmart, easy to rile up, easy to understand. It’s a bit more difficult with criminals, but most of them fall under various categories she has in her head. Sociopathic, brawny, cunning, simple, extravagant, loud, quiet, and so on.Kabuto disturbs her greatly. Initially, she believed him to be like the others; someone she could outwit, outrun, even overpower. But the more she learns about him, the harder it gets to categorize him, to view him as inferior. He’s downplaying himself because he’s confident in his abilities, same as she is. The revelation that they’re on equal footing frightens her.Dangerous. She’s never placed anyone in that category before, but it’s the only one that comes to mind now. He’s dangerous. She’ll need to look deeper into the stories he’s brought up today, particularly his recruitment under Konoha’s Anbu; that doesn’t sit quite right with her.The thought makes her shudder slightly, though she passes it off as a shiver from the wind. This isn’t information that will be easy to obtain. And it’s dangerously close to crossing paths with one of the two people she’s sworn to never do business with: Danzō Shimura. If she’s lucky, Danzō will have nothing to do with the information on Kabuto that she seeks.But she’s never been particularly lucky. 
[The rains cease to fall, newborn ungulates join their herds. Spring has come to an end.]

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[The days grow longer, the temperatures rise. Summer has begun.]
 The sun is high in the sky, glinting off the scalpels that Kabuto is washing in the river. He flinches as one reflects the light directly into his eyes, grunting and squeezing them shut from momentary blindness. Rivers aren’t the most sanitary of places to clean medical equipment, but of course he’s going to sterilize them the moment he returns to the hideout. He just needs to get the blood and tissue off in order to prevent moisture damage.A rustling noise catches his attention. The memory of his spar with Korin resurfaces, and he goes stock still, staring in the direction of the sound. The reeds and underbrush bordering the opposite side of the river ripple, and he inhales with soft surprise as a large wolf emerges from them.The wolf creeps to the river’s edge and lowers its head, beginning to vigorously lap up water. It doesn’t appear to have realized the med-nin is so close. Kabuto finds himself struck by just how magnificent this wolf is, and then is perplexed by that observation. This isn’t the sort of thing he normally thinks when he encounters wildlife. Honestly, it’s rare for him to even realize when animals are around.His mind drifts back to Korin. The intriguing yet terribly frustrating kunoichi has made him more conscious of nature, he realizes. He supposes this isn’t a bad thing. He’s always had a natural curiosity about the world.It is a very spectacular wolf, he thinks, almost defensively. It’s massive, nearing 4 feet tall at the shoulders. It seems to have a light gray undercoat, with a darker agouti coloration above it. Very dark gray, nearly black markings adorn the top sections of the wolf. Its monochrome coat is greatly contrasted by its blazingly bright yellow eyes.Korin could probably tell him a lot about this wolf. He did hear her tell Kimimaro that she’s been studying wolves for over 7 years. Slowly, very slowly, he removes his hands from the water and leans back, reaching into his weapon pouch to withdraw his notebook and pencil.The very moment that he moves, the wolf instantly snaps its head up in alarm, staring directly at him with those piercing yellow eyes. He continues to slowly open his notebook to a blank page. He’s avoiding making any sudden movements, which is fairly hard considering he’s trying to draw the basic idea of the wolf as fast as possible; it might flee any second now.Kabuto isn’t an artist, but he is a scientist, and scientists take field notes. Illustrations are often intrinsic to field notes, so he’s been drawing for many years now. He doesn’t consider himself to be good at drawing, just decent at capturing realism. Those who have seen excerpts of his notes have complimented him on his artistic ability, but it’s not something he feels proud about. That’s not to say he’s ashamed of it either, he just doesn’t have much of a personal passion for it and therefore cares little about anyone else’s impressions.The wolf is standing with a fairly wide, stiff-legged posture. Its ears swivel back, though remain pricked up, and he notices the way its tail raises a bit. He scribbles down notes, certain that Korin will probably be able to make something out of this body language that he isn’t fluent in. It seems most likely to him that the wolf is trying to assess whether he’s a threat or not. At least the stiff position is helpful for his illustration; it’s much easier to draw something that isn’t moving, and allows him to start going into more detail.After about two minutes, though, the wolf lets out a loud, shivering huff and abruptly turns tail. It bounds off into the forest, disappearing in mere seconds. Kabuto sighs and continues to fill in minor details that he didn’t have time to focus on, like the texture of its fur, and then snaps his notebook shut and pockets it once more. He stands up and stretches with a quiet groan. He’s not scheduled to trade with Korin again for another week, but her new summer home isn’t too far out of the way from here. Truth be told, he has a desire to stall. With Sasuke’s arrival at Otogakure, Orochimaru has focused nearly entirely on the boy. He barely notices when Kabuto leaves or returns. And Sasuke, frankly, is a headache. The worst kind of headache, one that settles behind your eyes and makes you want to pinch between them. It’s the middle of the day. He’s not really sure if Korin will even be awake. The woman has a bizarre sleeping pattern even for a ninja. He’s visited her for trade deals at all sorts of hours, and can never seem to predict whether she’ll be awake or asleep. She’s often asleep if he comes during daylight, but sometimes she’s awake. He originally thought that she was nocturnal, but he’s come during ungodly hours of the night and usually finds her asleep. Dawn and dusk seem to be the most consistent times that she’s awake, but even then, it’s not guaranteed, in his experience. She seems to spend more time asleep than awake.At the rendezvous site, a chorus of shrill, shrieking howls wail through the air, rousing a perturbed Korin from her sleep. She groggily opens one eye, groaning as she moves her arm away from her face, only to wince as sunlight blinds her. She sighs heavily, stretches, and adjusts her position in the grass before closing her eyes again.Summer is her second favorite season. Prey are abundant and weak, fish are easier to catch, and the sunlight is wonderful to nap in. The higher temperatures make her more lethargic, but it’s in a pleasant sort of way.The pups are now two months old and have finally weaned. It’s a great relief. Especially for her jaw, which has long grown tired of chewing raw meat into a paste. The partially consumed carcass of a mule deer fawn lies in the grass nearby, a food source for the pups to consume as they please. She makes a mental note to move it somewhere out of the open before Kabuto visits next week. House guests don’t usually enjoy the sight of dead animals, especially ones that aren’t intact anymore.The howls cry through the air again, and Korin raises her head. “For the love of god, hush!” She groans, pointing an accusatory finger at the pups. They’ve recently discovered their voices, and while it was endearing at first, it has evolved into a maddeningly frequent occurrence. Haura blinks his little brown eyes when she points at him, and he begins groaning and grunting excitedly. His thin tail wags hard enough to make his whole body wiggle. The grumbling starts to get louder and longer. “Don’t,” Korin threatens, pointing repeatedly at him. “Don’t do it.” He starts to get higher in pitch. “Haura.”“Mrrggrrrgggh,” the pup whines.“No,” she shakes her head.“Hrnghhh.”“Nuh uh. Don’t start.”“Gggrrrruhhh.”“Haura.”“Awwrrrwwrrr.”“Haura!”“Rrrrroooooo...”“No, no, come on!”Haura tilts his head back and emits a loud, melodic, “WAWOOO!”, which carries on into a series of long howls. The other pups raise their heads and join in, causing Korin to sigh in defeat.“They’re really loud, huh?” Kabuto’s voice drifts out from behind her.She yelps and snaps into a sitting position, whipping around to face him. “Holy shit, don’t do that!” She whines, hurriedly pushing her hair out of her face. “You scared the hell out of me.”“Sorry, you’re usually more astute,” he hums, raising an eyebrow.The trader grumbles while rubbing her face. “Anyway, why are you here?” “I can’t just come to say hello?”“You certainly can , but you usually don’t.” “I’m putting something off,” he says with a slight roll of his eyes. “And I saw a wolf earlier that I took notes on. Wanted to see if you could tell me anything about it.”This gets her to perk up a bit. “Why?” She asks, eyebrows raising with surprise.“Curious.” He answers flatly.“Well, alright,” she hums. “Let me see.”He reaches into his weapon pouch to pull out his notebook, crouching down next to her in the grass. The moment he’s close to the ground, though, the pups come galloping towards him, jumping up onto his knees and licking the air. Kabuto is quick to jerk his chin up, having met them enough times to know they’re about to try and wiggle their tongues into his mouth.It was easier to fight them off in the past, but at two months of age they’re now stronger and significantly larger. They use their lanky little bodies to their advantage, standing on his thighs and crawling up his torso, knocking his glasses onto the ground. For every one he pushes off, two more pounce on him, creating an endless cycle. Korin giggles as he falls flat onto his back. He begins sputtering loudly, a sign that the pups have achieved their goal.“Ack,” he spits, twisting and turning to evade the snuffling snouts. “Damn it, why do they-“ There’s a pause as he presses his lips tightly together to block an incoming tongue. He huffs, holding a hand near his mouth to try and shield himself. “Why are they so insistent about getting their tongues in my mouth?”“They’re just happy to see you! They’re greeting you,” Korin explains with a smile. She never does anything to dissuade the pups from doing this to Kabuto, and some part of him thinks she finds it amusing. “Wolves lick the inside of each other’s mouths as a greeting after returning from somewhere. It’s also just an affectionate gesture. They like you, and they’re glad you’re back.”“How sweet,” he says dryly, sitting up and sending the pups tumbling around him. He finds his glasses in the grass and wipes the lens with his shirt before placing them back on his face. Finally, the pups finish their welcome party and disperse once more.Kabuto sighs and successfully pulls out his notebook this time, flipping it open to the wolf study. “I saw it up near the northwestern side of the lake-” he starts, showing the page to Korin.She gasps, interrupting him. “Ume!”“Huh?” He blinks, startled by her sudden outburst.“That’s-“ she begins, jumping to her feet and all but sprinting to one of her storage trees. “Ume, that’s definitely Ume, he’s- wow, yeah, I’d recognize him anywhere- that’s a good drawing, really captured his likeness- oh, wow, he’s, like…” her words become incomprehensible as she disappears into the storage, but he can tell she’s still talking.Moments later, she emerges with a leather bound journal of her own, flipping through the pages and still blabbering, “-thought maybe he dispersed elsewhere, or convinced a female to join him and went off to claim new territory, glad to see he’s-““Korin,” Kabuto firmly interrupts. “I have not processed a single word that you’ve said.”The speed with which his words cause her mood to visibly drop makes him feel like he’s just thrown a toy for an abused dog and made it flinch from the movement. He can tell that she has a history of being quickly shut down by other people whenever she’s enthusiastic about something.“Sorry,” she dips her head sheepishly, plopping down beside him while continuing to thumb through the pages. “Just… got excited.” She wilts a little.“That’s alright,” he hums with a smile, trying to keep her spirit from plummeting further. “It’s not a bad thing, I just want to make sure I actually understand you when you’re telling me about something that excites you.”She pauses to look at him, her icy blue eyes shining with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, like she can’t believe that someone actually wants to listen to her. He’s still acting, of course. He has to. It’s what he does. But her reaction is so honest and pure that it makes guilt churn in his stomach.“The… the wolf you drew,” she starts over, slower than before. She places her open journal in his lap. “I call him Ume.”The pages of her journal that she displays are filled with ink sketches of what is clearly the same wolf that Kabuto saw. They’re a bit messy from the combination of her chicken-scratch style of sketching and the fact that she couldn’t erase anything. She did her best to correct her mistakes by drawing over the lines, though the end result is very saturated and noticeable. The ink has bled in some spots, and the paper has torn in others.Regardless of the chaotic quality, the overall intention of the sketches is still clear. She’s drawn the wolf in a variety of poses, some close up, some from afar. The poses overlap each other on the paper. He gets the impression that she was trying to capture the general concept of the poses rather than the details of the wolf himself.

“I’ve known him since he was nearly a year old. I was studying his pack. I started encountering him more after he dispersed, particularly at carcasses. I shared my food with him, and over time, we became allies of sorts,” she says, a smile twitching at the corners of her lips.She continues, “We would hunt together. He was the tracker; he’d lead me to the prey, I’d take it down, and then we would share the feast together. He taught me a lot of what I know today. I owe him for much of my own survival.” “Why don’t you hunt with him anymore?” Kabuto asks.Korin sighs in a sad but resigned manner. “I had to chase him away when I adopted the pups. Our  alliance didn’t change the fact that these pups are future rivals for him. He would have killed them if he met them.”“What?” Kabuto exclaims, his expression incredulous. “He would kill them?”She nods confidently. “Absolutely. Wolves are social but highly competitive creatures. Pups that aren’t from their pack will grow up to be competition for food and territory. They try to ensure their own survival by eliminating potential rivals early.”“That’s…” he blows out a breath, shaking his head. “Macabre.”“So are the chuunin exams. They operate under very similar ideals,” she states, narrowing her eyes at him. “Yet one is the result of nature keeping itself balanced, and the other is human arrogance.”“Strong opinions you have there, huh?” He hums.“I know the circumstances under which the Sound Four were chosen,” she says curtly. “So don’t act like you don’t know a thing or two about macabre situations.”His gaze hardens and his eyes grow cold for a moment. He’s not quite sure why Korin is suddenly bringing this up; perhaps she feels defensive about wolf behavior.“Fair enough,” he replies, attempting to diffuse the tension.Korin looks like she might say more, but her attention is drawn elsewhere as Tadeo begins to cough. “Aw, little guy,” she coos, leaning over to firmly pat his back a few times and help him clear his throat. “You got fur in the back of your throat?”Shit, the fawn carcass. She didn’t clean that up. It’s very clearly in plain sight from where they’re sitting. But Kabuto doesn’t seem to have noticed it, or at least doesn’t care. Dead things must not bother him very much. She wants to be comforted by this fact, but isn’t, because she knows the reasons behind his desensitization aren’t the same as her own. Tadeo nuzzles her, distracting her.“Oh, you’re so warm,” she chuckles, stroking his back. “You’ve been lounging in the sun, huh?”“Just like his mother,” Kabuto hums.Confusion clouds Korin’s eyes for a moment before she realizes he’s referring to her. “Oh, yeah, I guess he learns from the best.”A comfortable silence follows. Kabuto settles next to Korin as they watch the pups frolic and tumble. The back of his shirt grows warmer from the heat of the sun and he suddenly understands why Tadeo and Korin are so fond of napping in the grass. He’s not very big on naps, being much too busy for them. The closest he gets is passing out from exhaustion, which happens more often that he likes to admit. Much more often, it turns out, as he awakes in a blurry haze. The first thing he notices is that he’s unbearably hot and that his clothes feel wet. He then becomes aware that there’s weight holding down his arms and legs, and something heavy on his chest. Blinking rapidly, he tilts his head up to assess the situation, then lets out a low sigh.The pups are piled around his legs and sides, and the weight on his chest is Korin. She’s ditched a decent amount of her clothing due to the heat, wearing only the cloth she ties around her breasts and her  shorts. It’s the first time he’s seen her without her one-arm-sleeve on, and he notes the scar near the top of her wrist where her other compound fracture occurred. She seems to be the main source of the heat that smothers him, one arm splayed across his chest with her face nestled into his collarbone. It might even be cute, he supposes, if she wasn’t bringing him dangerously close to heat stroke.He stares at her for a few moments before his brain decides that he can’t take one more second of these sweltering temperatures and he sits up forcefully, catapulting Korin into his lap. She groans with annoyance and rolls off into the grass, rubbing her eyes. Kabuto tugs his shirt back and forth to air himself out, his other hand wiping the sweat dripping down his forehead. Wordlessly, Korin gets up and disappears into one of her trees, returning with a waterskin that she hands to him. He instantly gulps down over half of it before stopping to think that clean water might not come as easy to her as it does to him, at which point he screws the cap back on with an apologetic look.“Didn’t mean to fall asleep,” he grunts as he hands the waterskin back to her.“The sun has that effect on people,” she shrugs, already curling up into the grass again. Her limbs fold neatly beneath her like a cat.He squints at the sun, which has sunken significantly lower in the sky since he last saw it. “I’d better get going.”“Orochimaru won’t be pleased with your absence?” She asks, smiling coyly.“Oh, he won’t have noticed,” Kabuto says, deadpan. “But the others might.”“I see.”“Anyway,” he says, stretching and getting to his feet. “I’ll see you next week. We’re running lower on meat again, so please make sure you have some.”“Not a problem,” she nods before nuzzling into her elbows.“Are… are you going back to sleep?”“Mhmm.” Her response is muffled by her arms.“Haven’t you been asleep all day?”“Mind your business~,” she hums in a playful tone.He blinks, then lets out a dumbfounded huff and hops into the trees, disappearing in a flash.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

One week later, it’s late in the afternoon as Kabuto approaches Korin’s summer home for their trade. A delicious scent floats through the air, causing him to perk up. He knows this scent— it’s fish being grilled. Curiosity drives him to walk faster until he reaches the clearing.Sure enough, Korin is sitting by a crude grill constructed of wood and stone over a fire. She’s attempting to juggle between grilling the fish and keeping the pups away from the fire. The largest pup, Ichiro, begins drawing close to the open flame.“No, it’s hot, it’s gonna hurt you!” She growls, grabbing him by the scruff and tossing him a few feet away. He rolls to his feet and comes waddling right back, blissfully unbothered.She sighs, “Ichiro, if you touch that, it will burn all your fur off. And then you’ll have no fur forever,” she lectures the pup dramatically. “No fur. Forever. You’ll be naked. And cold. All the other wolves will make fun of you and no girls will ever want to disperse with you. Do you want that? You’ll be- STOP!” She grabs him again mere seconds before he’s about to step into the fire.A different pup spots Kabuto and begins to slink towards him. He instantly recognizes this one: Reika, the only girl. She’s a bit smaller and has a light blonde coat that makes her stand out from her brothers. She’s also the wisest pup, and thus has become Kabuto’s favorite. She comes to a halt once she’s a few feet away from him, visibly hesitating; with wisdom comes wariness. He crouches down in order to be less intimidating. They’ve met quite a few times by now and she has warmed up to him slightly, but she still doesn’t trust him. Strangely, he likes that about her. She’s intuitive.Korin sniffs the air and stiffens, glancing around until she locks eyes with Kabuto, then jumps slightly. “Oh, shit, hey. Sorry, would’ve noticed you sooner, but the fish is kinda overpowering all other scents.”“No worries,” he replies. “I didn’t really announce that I was here.”“Yeah. Reika noticed you right away, though, huh?” She smiles proudly at the pup.He nods, “She’s very observant. Still hasn’t decided if I’m a friend or not, but she’s always the first to notice— uh, Ichiro—“ he interrupts himself, pointing at the firstborn, who is preparing to stroll right into the open flames.“Oh, god damn it!” Korin groans, picking him up yet again and throwing him further away than before. The way that Ichiro’s tail wags when he gets to his feet suggests that he may be finding this fun.Haura lets out a soft ‘bwoo’ of greeting and trots over to Kabuto, pushing past Reika in order to jump up and shove his tongue in the med-nin’s mouth. Kabuto grunts and deflects the incoming attempt by knocking Haura over with a sweep of his arm. Initially, he was much more careful with his movements around the pups, afraid of hurting them, but seeing how roughly they play and are handled by Korin has encouraged him to be more forceful.This leaves Tadeo, who Kabuto spots flopped over nearby in the shade. The sleepy pup is looking at him with a gently wagging tail, but makes no move to get up and say hi.“He’s really fond of naps, huh?” says Kabuto, gesturing towards Tadeo.Korin glances over her shoulder and nods, “Mhm, I think he’s just getting lazy because I’ve been bringing carcasses back here, so he just gets up whenever he wants to eat and spends the rest of his time sleeping. Anyway,” she leans back to watch the grill, “How much time do you have?”“The usual,” he shrugs. She pats the grass next to her and prompts him to sit. He comes closer, sitting across from her in order to not get in the way while she’s cooking.“Do you like fish?” She asks.“Love it,” he nods. “Especially bream like this. That’s…” he squints, leaning towards the grill slightly. “Bluegill, right?”“Correct,” she hums, using a wooden skewer to flip the fish over. “You’ve got a good eye.”“I would hope I’m familiar with my own favorite fish,” he chuckles.“Oh, your favorite?” She smiles while glancing at him, then watches as his eyes drift to look at something beside her. Without even taking her gaze off the grill, she reaches backwards until her hand makes contact with the sneaking Ichiro. She snatches the curious pup and plops him into her lap, rearranging her legs to keep him trapped there.“Yeah,” he replies, gaining something wistful in his expression. “The orphanage didn’t have many funds. We were usually stuck with low quality food. But every once in a while, my mother…,” his expression is unchanging, but Korin hears his voice stumble ever so slightly, “She would buy bluegill when it was being sold in bulk for a low price, usually in the summer. It was always a big treat for us, though now that I’m saying it out loud, I guess that’s a bit silly.” He reddens and shrugs.“It’s not silly,” Korin assures, frowning like she’s a bit offended by that presumption. “Those kinds of occasions make up core memories. They help define who you are. It’s important to hold onto the little positive ones, ‘else you grow too bitter,” she clicks her tongue.Kabuto studies her. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”“Was like that for a while,” she nods. “Still am a lot of the time, but I try not to be.”He hums, lowering his gaze to watch her sprinkle an assortment of herbs and salt on the bluegill. “Do you have a favorite fish?” He asks to avoid leaving the conversation on a sour note.“Salmon, particularly Sockeye,” she replies nearly instantly, her face lighting up at the idea of it. “It’s firmer than most other types of salmon, way more rich and flavorful,” she then pauses, looking a bit forlorn. “Though, it’s been so long since I’ve had it… I’m not really sure if I actually remember what it tastes like anymore.”Kabuto raises an eyebrow and asks, “Why haven’t you had it?”“They’re anadromous,” she explains, pausing to check if he knows what that means. When she sees his brows furrow slightly, she continues, “They live in the sea and migrate to freshwater rivers when it’s time to spawn. We’re not very close to the ocean out here.”“Sure,” he hums, masking his confusion. They’re not that far from the ocean, probably only half a day’s travel; she must not like traveling much. “But you’re pretty close to several rivers. Do they not spawn in any of them?”“No, they do,” she nods. “But when they’re spawning, they—““Oh, wait,” he interrupts as random useless trivia learned long ago suddenly resurfaces in his head. “They’re dying during their spawning period, aren’t they? They don’t eat for weeks and start rotting away while still alive. Sort of mindless, only focused on reproducing and then killing themselves.”Korin snorts, “That’s the dream, isn’t it? Yep, you got it. By the time they reach the rivers here, their flesh is mushy and flavorless. Just all around unpleasant.” She squeezes an entire lemon over the fish. Kabuto wonders where she got it from. A trade? Foraging? Who knows.“How disappointing,” he sighs. “You used to get it from the ocean, though?” He hopes he doesn't sound overly curious; it might make her realize why he’s asking this.“When I was a kid, yeah,” she murmurs, sounding a bit like he did earlier when recounting his memory of bluegill. “My dad was a village fisherman. The Sockeye always sold well. They’re quite sought after because they have to be wild caught. But once in a while, he’d sneak a fish home and my mom would cook it for us,” she smiles slightly. “It’s one of those few happy memories I have.” Bingo . That’s information he can work with, finally. She’s unintentionally narrowed down her village of origin. He remembers before that she said it’s not one of the main ones; now he knows it must also be coastal. There are very few coastal villages to begin with, and if Sockeye salmon are migratory, there must be certain patterns to their distribution that will narrow down his search even further.The thrill is abruptly offset when he sees that small, rueful smile on her face. Korin really isn’t like most targets that he spies on. She’s not anything of particular significance to anyone, she’s not a known threat; she’s just a woman in the woods making a living out of trading intel. Granted, a lot of that intel is incredibly sensitive, but she doesn’t seem to have any personal stakes in it. She’s a neutral third party. Anything he tells her could potentially be sold to enemies of Otogakure, but he’s mindful of his words and she’s decently pleasant company regardless.For a moment, he almost forgets why he’s even spying on her, what he’s trying to gain her trust to uncover— she’s bizarre, certainly, but there’s a million other things he could be dedicating his time and resources to that are of genuine substance. Things that could greatly benefit Otogakure, things he doesn’t feel the need to lie to Orochimaru about when he’s investigating them.But then the light of the fire hits her eyes just right to trigger that uncanny shine of tapetum lucidum. “Is that so?” He replies with feigned casualness, forcing himself to maintain eye contact. Korin notices her own eyeshine in the reflection of his glasses and quickly adjusts the angle she’s sitting at. The conversation falls flat. Thankfully Korin assumes Kabuto’s unease is caused by her strange eyes rather than his own thoughts, and thus he is spared her suspicion. She quietly pulls the fish from the grill and places them on separate wooden plates.They eat their meal mostly in silence. Korin forces herself to behave like a civilized person rather than a feral beast, not used to being observed while eating. She’s normally extremely protective of her food. Ironically, Kabuto finds himself in a similar predicament. He hasn’t had bream in a long time, and it’s never been cooked quite like this. It’s different from his mother’s. This is as fresh as it gets, woodsy, peppery, and lemony. There’s a sharp sort of minty bitterness to it as well. It’s an incredibly complex flavor, not to mention delicious, and he has to pace himself while eating it.The sun is low on the horizon by the time they finish, turning the sky a vibrant ombré of orange and pink. Cicadas begin bellowing their songs, providing a peaceful ambience. Korin fixates on disassembling the bream skeletons and sorting the bones. Kabuto watches as the pups begin to stir, slowly stretching out and coming to investigate the bones, much to their adoptive mother’s annoyance.While she attempts to fight them off, his gaze drifts to Tadeo, who has awakened but makes no attempt to move. Onyx eyes lock onto amber yellow ones, and they watch each other for a while. Kabuto’s gaze slowly turns scrutinizing as a strange sense of deja vu washes over him.
He stands in a canyon, the corpses of the Fourth Kazekage and his bodyguards at his feet. Orochimaru and Kimimaro are near him; the sannin is gloating, and the white-haired boy is simply standing still– until suddenly, he gives a wet, muffled cough into his elbow. When Kabuto whips around to look at him, he’s already collapsed onto the ground, crumpled and trembling, face buried in his sleeve. Blood soaks the fabric, the edges of the stain diffusing as it spreads outwards. 
Tadeo tucks his paws under his chin, attempting to push himself up and rise. His little legs quiver with strain and it takes him a few long moments to fully stand up. Kabuto frowns as the pup hangs his head and staggers off, away from his siblings and Korin. He doesn’t get far before his throat undulates and he gags, promptly throwing up his barely-digested dinner.“Korin,” Kabuto alerts.The subtle but urgent concern in his tone makes her drop the bones instantly, and she sits up straighter to follow his gaze. “Oh, buddy,” she whines upon spotting Tadeo, moving to go sit beside him and stroke his trembling little spine. He takes one or two more steps before lurching forward and folding his legs under him in a way that seems unintentional. Her eyebrows knit together with pity.She pets him slowly and silently for a couple moments. Sometimes the pups eat too quickly and upset their stomachs. Or maybe he’s still adjusting to eating bigger chunks; perhaps he still needs his food chewed up for him. Abstract thoughts swirl around her mind– and then one suddenly forms a name, forcing itself to the front of her head.
Ikeda.
Her hand stills on his back, her eyes going wide as the blood drains from her face. Kabuto watches, growing confused and nervous. Her whole body has gone stiff. She’s not blinking. She’s not breathing .“Korin…?” He prompts cautiously.“ No, ” she whispers. A horrible, fearful noise gurgles in the back of her throat. “ No, no, no, no… ” Her vibrating eyes focus on Tadeo, everything connecting all at once, much too fast. The coughing. The lethargy. The warmth. How could she? How could she have just written it all off as Tadeo getting something caught in his throat, being lazy, being in the sun too long?Kabuto is opening his mouth to speak again, but snaps it shut when Korin slams a balled fist into the ground. An anguished scream tears from her throat, causing Kabuto to jump, and she hunches over Tadeo, her free hand flexing before clawing into her hair. Her eyes are squeezed shut, her entire expression contorted with agonizing sorrow. It takes a moment before she’s able to open her eyes, and when she looks at him, tears cloud her vision. Kabuto’s confusion has escalated into near full-blown panic at the sight of her reaction. He’s never seen her behave like this, never seen her express any emotion so strongly. His mind can’t come up with any situation that could cause her enough distress to make her act so openly upset in his presence. “Ghk…” she croaks, inhaling shakily and clearing her throat. “It’s… it’s contagious- ” she rasps out before her tears overflow and spill down her cheeks. Her head turns inwards as she tries to restrain the urge to fully break down sobbing, desperate to maintain a shred of stoicness in front of him.Really, under any other circumstances, Kabuto would’ve figured out what was going on the moment he noticed the fear in her eyes. But all his brain can focus on is the fact that she’s crying. She doesn’t ever let herself cry in front of him. He’s actually been a little bit irked about that since the moment he first noticed it, when she took him to Ikeda’s grave.Oh.Ikeda.“Maybe it’s not-“ he starts, but then shuts his mouth, because of course it is, and trying to deny it won’t help anyone. “Oh…oh, Korin… god , I’m sorry.” He sighs, rubbing his temples. “It’s still… it’s still early, isn’t it? Maybe there’s still something--“Her voice overlaps his and harshly cuts him off as she snaps, “Like what?! There’s- there’s nothing, nothing I can do! Nothing! I… I tried everything with Ikeda, I can’t…” She’s teetering on the edge of a full mental breakdown, and the display is too frightening for Kabuto to be angry with her tone. “ I can’t do anything! ”He considers trying to touch her, pat her shoulder or something to calm her down, but has to remind himself of her animalistic tendencies. With the way her muscles are bunched up right now, he’s fairly certain that she would just get startled and try to attack him. He settles on moving closer to sit in front of her, still giving her a couple feet of space.“There’s vets in the Leaf,” he suggests cautiously. “They might be able to–“She cuts him off again, “I’m a rogue , I can’t fucking get into– ”“But I can ,” he firmly interrupts, “If you let me, I can take him to a vet there.”“They—“ she hiccups, “They probably won’t be able to do anything either!”“But maybe they can!” Kabuto argues. “And even if they can’t, they’ll at least be able to find out what this sickness is, if for nothing other than the sake of the rest of the pups.”Korin huffs and rubs her red eyes, unable to come up with a good retort. With a whine of defeat, she crumples down into a ball, curling up in an almost defensive manner. She weakly scoots Tadeo towards Kabuto with her palm. “O…okay…” she whines quietly, her voice muffled by her own arms. “But… promise you’ll bring him back,” she pauses in order to inhale in short, jerking bursts. “E-even if, even if they say he’s hopeless.”He doesn’t even need all of his background in psychology studies to see the incredible amount of trust Korin is placing in him right now. These pups are her life. They’re her family. To let him take one from her home and bring it into a major village, a place she never sets foot in… she trusts him.Tadeo quivers as Kabuto scoops him up and cradles him awkwardly. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.” He assures, then turns heel and takes off into the trees.After a few minutes of branch hopping, the entire scenario he’s just put himself into finally dawns on him. It comes to him like a second thought, pausing on a branch and wondering why the hell he’s carrying a wolf pup right now. Was he just reacting on instinct? Did Korin’s distress freak him out that much? At least this will gain her trust even further.

He’s just glad he didn’t give her an empty promise. It’s not terribly easy for him to get into the Leaf, but it’s not exactly hard, either. It just requires a consistent use of transformation jutsu and a good alibi, both of which he has.His latest default choice for transformation jutsu has been Gen’yūmaru, the boy that was chosen as Orochimaru’s latest host body. It’s an appearance and voice he knows well, not to mention someone who is unlikely to be recognized in Konoha. Disguised as him, it’s easy for Kabuto to convince the village guards that he’s just an outsider seeking veterinary service for his sick pet.He’s never had reason to enter the Leaf’s vet clinic before. It’s well furnished; modern, he supposes. It’s not like he has a real frame of reference for what a vet clinic should look like. Photos of civilians with their pets and shinobi with their ninken are hung on the walls. Fliers are posted everywhere: lost pets, found pets, warnings about common animal diseases, pets for sale, discounts for flea medication, and so on.A young man with brown hair and rectangular glasses looks up as he approaches the front desk. “Hey there, how can I help you?”“Sorry, I’ve never been here before, I don’t really know how this works, but,” Kabuto grunts, displaying the trembling Tadeo to the worker. “My friend’s puppy is really sick.”It’s weird, referring to Korin as a friend when he’s made a point not to have friends. He doesn’t actually consider her a friend, of course, more like an acquaintance. Never mind the fact that he doesn’t have other acquaintances for whom he would take their pet to the vet. These are special circumstances.The worker squints quizzically and asks, “Uh… what kind of dog is it? That looks a lot like a wolf pup.”“Probably because it is.”The young man blinks spastically, looking mildly surprised. “Oh, it is?” He leans in closer to look Tadeo over. “Wow, it is.”“My friend is something of a wildlife enthusiast,” Kabuto shrugs. “She’s been raising a whole litter of wolf pups. That’s sort of why I had to come out here in her stead, she can’t leave them alone for long.” It’s good to give a little more context to make himself seem less suspicious.“Really? I respect the commitment,” the worker nods, then clears his throat. “Unfortunately, we only treat domestic and feral animals here. We don’t have the equipment and specialized knowledge required to handle wildlife.”Kabuto sighs, hanging his head. “Oh,” he says through gritted teeth. “Seriously? Is there nothing you can do? This illness already killed one of her other pups, this one will die too if we don’t do something, anything.” There’s a tinge of desperation to his voice. He doesn’t want to return to Korin with nothing.The technician’s eyes grow sorrowful, and he’s quiet for a moment. “Well… they’re not affiliated with us, but the Inuzuka clan work very closely with all sorts of canines, including wolves. I’d try talking to them to see what’s possible,” he pauses, then adds. “And I’d recommend that your friend come with you to do so. I understand she’s busy with the litter, but if the Inuzuka were to treat this pup, they’d likely need a lot of precise information that only she would know.”Kabuto thinks about it for a minute. It isn’t like Korin is a rogue ninja wanted enough to even be recognized in a village as large as Konoha; he assumes it must just be an excuse she gave him to avoid having to leave her hermit lifestyle. She cares about Tadeo. She’ll come with him if she must. “Alright, thank you,” he nods. “I’ll do that. Could you write down the location of their district?” He knows it already, but the technician doesn’t know that.“Of course,” the young man agrees, scribbling down directions on a notepad. “Tsume can be a pretty intimidating woman to talk to, so I’ll include a signed recommendation here, that way you can just hand this to her when you arrive and things will go more smoothly.”“I appreciate it,” hums Kabuto with an incline of his head. The vet tech hands him the note, which he places in his pocket before he leaves.
[X]
Korin does not take the news well.“No,” she says instantly upon hearing that Kabuto wants her to accompany him back into Konoha to meet with the Inuzuka clan.“You have to,” Kabuto insists.“It’s not happening. I can just tell you everything notable about him, and then you can tell them!”“Korin, I’m not an animal person. I could misremember something and give false information. I’m not going to put his life in my hands like that.” “I’ll write it all down for you, then.”“No,” he says sternly, irritation seeping into his tone. “What if they ask me something that isn’t covered in whatever you write down?”“I’ll be thorough.”“ No. ”She throws her hands up in the air, exasperated. “I’m sorry, what the hell do you want me to do then? Because I’m not going to risk getting captured!”“You aren’t even going to be recognized, I promise,” he shakes his head. “If you’re so worried about it, wear a cloak. The Leaf is a huge village with people constantly coming in and out, no one will even give you a second thought.”He can see her visibly rummaging around in her head for another excuse. Finally, she manages, “Won’t a cloak make me stand out more?”His irritation boils into straight up anger. “This isn’t about being captured, is it? You’re just too afraid to leave the comfort of your solitude even to care for something you love! I’m trying to do you a favor, you know, and you’re being awfully selfish.”Korin winces at first, but her eyes narrow towards the end of his outburst. “I never asked you to do anything for me!” she snaps. “You took this upon yourself.”“I’m sorry for trying to help you, then,” he growls. “Have you considered that, maybe, unlike you, I don’t want Tadeo to die?”It’s a low blow, even for him. Very low. He regrets the words the moment they leave his lips, his expression quickly becoming horrified. He knows that he has a tendency to lash out when he’s angry at people other than Orochimaru, but it’s rare for him to do it to someone that he knows doesn’t deserve it.Korin just stares at him with wide, unblinking eyes. She’s always known of his cruelty, she reminds herself. She is not exempt from it. It’s her own fault for getting too comfortable. Slowly, she lowers her gaze to the ground and breathes out, deflating.“That was completely uncalled for,” Kabuto murmurs gently, furrowing his brows. “Forgive me.”“...it’s not like you’re wrong,” she replies weakly, her hair falling over her face. Realizing how that sounds, she jerks up a bit to clarify, “I mean, not about wanting Tadeo to die, of course I don’t want him to die– but about me being selfish and afraid to leave my own solitude.”He doesn’t argue with that. “Maybe so,” he sighs, adjusting his glasses. “But that doesn’t give me the right to tear into you like that.” She simply shrugs and brings her knees up to her chin to rest on them. He crouches down in front of her, mindful not to squish Tadeo, who he still carries. “Why are you so afraid to go into Konoha?”Korin huffs, looking almost embarrassed. “I haven’t… I haven’t been inside a village since I left mine. A proper village, I mean. I don’t really count Oto, sorry.”“We’re far from a proper village, I’m not offended.”“Yeah, and even still, I get this horrible sense of panic whenever I come to Oto. I can’t imagine how much worse Konoha must be. I’ve been removed from society for so long that the concept is unbearably overwhelming.”“I see,” he hums, idly rubbing Tadeo’s head. “Listen, I know it’s scary, but I promise you don’t have to do much. I’ll do all the talking, you just have to walk beside me and answer questions about Tadeo.” Korin glances at him hesitantly.“Do it for him,” Kabuto presents Tadeo to her. “For Reika, for Haura, for Ichiro.”“Oh,” she whines, burying her face in her knees with a soft chuckle. “That’s not fair.”“Is it working?”She groans, lifting her face up to rub it with her hands. “...fine. I’ll come with you.”“That’s the spirit,” he grins, placing Tadeo by her feet. “I’ll come by and grab you early tomorrow morning, alright?”“Yeah, sure, whatever,” she sighs, picking up the weak pup and cradling him.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

When Kabuto returns the next morning, it doesn’t look like Korin has slept at all. She’s lying nearly in a fetal position, her body curled around Tadeo’s sleeping form. She raises her head slightly as Kabuto approaches, blinking in the slow manner of someone with a headache.

“Here,” Kabuto grunts, tossing a hairbrush towards her. “Brush your hair out. You’ll bring less attention if it’s not a mess.”

“Oh, I have one,” she sighs, looking the hairbrush over before throwing it back to him. “I

do

brush my hair every now and then, I just don’t like to. If I didn’t, I’d get dreadlocks.”

She stands and goes off into one of her storage trees, reappearing with a wooden comb. Sitting cross legged on the ground, she inhales deeply, dreading what comes next. Finally, she begins roughly tearing the comb through her hair, wincing the entire time, pulling hard whenever it snags, ripping and breaking hair.

“Whuh—“ Kabuto gasps, horrified. “Woah, stop, stop, stop!”

The rogue kunoichi pauses, opening one eye from her grimace to look at him curiously.

“No wonder you don’t like doing it,” he shakes his head with bewilderment as he comes over to crouch beside her. She smells of jasmine again; she must have bathed at some point in the night. “You’re doing it completely wrong.”

“How is it even possible to brush your hair wrong?”

“I don’t know, and yet, you’ve managed to,” he snorts, plucking the comb from her fingers. “Here, I’ll show you.”

He feels her muscles tighten anxiously as his fingers skim her cheek to gather her hair and sweep it behind her shoulders. Even after all the time they’ve been in each other’s presence, she’s still wild, still tense when he comes close. He can’t help but find it amusing considering they’ve been intimate before, but he supposes that was a little while ago now anyway.

He pauses briefly at that thought. He’s pushed that encounter to the back of his mind for so long that it almost surprises him as it resurfaces. Does Korin think of it too? It would be very unpleasant if

that’s

the reason she flinches when he touches her.

Best not to jump to conclusions, though. He brings the comb to the ends of her hair and begins gently working it through the tangles. “You want to start at the bottom, work through the tips and make your way up,” he instructs, doing just that. “Only work on small sections of hair at once, don’t try to do it in big chunks.”

Korin hums in acknowledgment, still tense and anticipating the stinging pain of pulled hair. But the pain never comes. Instead, she only feels Kabuto’s fingers and the comb running through her hair as he detangles it. It’s… nice. “If the comb gets caught on a tangle, you don’t want to pull— that’ll only make the knots tighter and your hair will break,” he murmurs. “Did… your mother never teach you this?”

“I brush my hair the same way my mother brushed it, so, apparently not,” she shrugs.

“Oh,” he says. “This is how my mother taught me, so I guess I thought it was a universal thing.”

There’s a brief pause before Korin carefully says, “She seems like she was a sweet woman, your mother.”

“She was,” he nods, his voice growing even softer. “She gave me her last name like I was her own, and after she realized I was nearsighted, she gave me her glasses too. Her… her name was Nonou.”

“I see,” she says with a small, wry smile. Then, quietly, “I’m sorry. You must miss her terribly.”

“I do.”

The comb halts mid-way through her hair.

There’s blood on his hands. She should still be on her mission. Why is she here? Who are you? You’re not Kabuto. Who’s there?

“I…” his voice squeaks, and he stops to wet his lips. “I would prefer to talk about something else.” His hands are trembling. He’s not sure how long they’ve been trembling.

“I understand,” says Korin with a dip of her head. “How crowded is the Leaf, anyway?”

He’s thankful she didn’t leave it to him to come up with a new subject and resumes combing through her hair. “Decently. You’ve got tourists, citizens, and plenty of shinobi. It actually makes it easier to blend in.”

“You’re really sure I won’t stand out?”

“Not unless you make yourself stand out,” he shakes his head. “And that’s a little hard to do in Konoha.” He bites his lip slightly as he works at a more difficult knot.

“Alright then,” she sighs, rubbing her eyes for a few long moments and willing herself to believe him.

After a few more minutes, he finally pulls away, satisfied. He watches as she parts the back of her hair and gathers the lower halves of it, forming them into loose, low hanging pigtails and tying them off with golden rings. It’s bizarre to see Korin with neat hair. She’s pretty, he supposes, but he’s surprised to find that he prefers the way she looks when it’s a bit more unkempt.

“You ready?” He asks as she scoops Tadeo into her arms. She struggles a bit to hold him correctly. The sick pup is doing a good impression of a 23 pound ragdoll.

“No, but I’m never going to be, so we should just go now,” she says, shaking her head.

“It’ll be fine,” he assures, and then they hop off into the trees.

[X]

They reach the village borders before Kabuto abruptly stops, motioning for Korin to halt as well.

“I have a signed note from the vet,” he explains. “Getting past the guards will be a breeze, but I’ll need to disguise myself.”

“You’re a very wanted man, yes,” Korin hums. “I haven’t forgotten.”

“And if

I

can slip in and out of the Leaf with no problem, you’ll be more than fine.”

She shrugs, watching him perform the hand signs for his transformation jutsu. The Kabuto she knows erupts into a plume of smoke, and once it clears, a slightly younger boy with short, scrappy white hair stands in his place.

“Who is this?” She asks.

“Gen’yūmaru,” he answers in a foreign voice. “An ex-member of Otogakure. You’ll be calling me by that name for as long as I remain in this form.”

Korin is no fool. She knows what ‘ex-member’ means when Otogakure is involved. Her mouth tightens slightly, but she says nothing, choosing to simply nod.

“You should probably have a different name as well, if you’re worried about being discovered,” Kabuto suggests.

She squints, thinking for a long moment. “Yamaseiko,” she eventually answers.

“That’s a mouthful,” he hums, raising his eyebrows. “It also sounds like a last name.”

“Just Seiko, then,” she says, seeming miffed, and then mumbles, “Yours is a mouthful too.”

He shrugs. “It’s what the village already knows this face as. Can’t change it now.”

She grumbles and lets him take the lead once more as they pass the borders into Konoha’s territory. Her chest begins to tighten as they draw towards the hulking village gates, her breath quickening. There’s a thin stream of people filtering in and out of the gates; she can’t remember the last time she was around more than five people at once.

Upon reaching the guards, Kabuto pulls the note from the vet out of his pocket, showcasing it to them. “We’re here to see the Inuzuka clan,” he says. “They might be able to treat my friend’s sick dog.”

The guards squint and lean to peer over at Korin, who has busied herself with looking worried about Tadeo. It’s not hard, considering that she really is very worried, but it also gives her an excuse to have to look at the guards less. Handing the note back to Kabuto, the guards motion them forward. She takes one last breath to steel herself before taking her first steps into Konoha.

It’s massive. It’s loud. It’s chaotic. There are people everywhere, their buzzing chatter filling the air and dampening her ability to listen for danger. So many scents, overwhelming, too many to even think of trying to pick one out from the others. The shrill laughter and yelling of children playing in the road cause her to wince and withdraw into herself, hunching up like she wishes she had a shell to disappear into.

Kabuto drags her along by the sleeve, walking at a brisk pace so as to decrease the amount of time she’s forced to spend in the village roads. She glances around rapidly like a frightened animal, clutching Tadeo close to her. The pup senses her anxiety and begins to squirm, looking for the danger that he assumes must be present.

“No, no,” she says in a hushed tone, attempting to console him. “It’s okay, we’re okay.”

“Just keep your eyes on the ground,” Kabuto murmurs. “It’s not much farther.”

She does as she’s told, swallowing roughly and performing breathing exercises to keep herself calm and distracted. Slowly, the village sounds begin to die out as they reach a more secluded area, which branches off into the Inuzuka compound. There are other sounds here, better sounds. Birds chirping, squirrels chittering, wind rustling through leaves.

And then, the moment they set foot into the compound, several dogs start barking angrily.

Korin jumps back, ripping out of Kabuto’s grasp and landing a few yards away in a slightly crouched stance. Her eyes are wild and panicked, her lips pulled back in a grimace as she bares her teeth. She remains stiff and frozen in place as her brain pings back and forth between fight or flight. Seeing the muscles in her legs twitch backwards, Kabuto realizes that it’s about to settle on flight and rushes forward to grab her.

“Korin, Korin, Korin,” he urges, gripping her arm. “It’s okay, it’s just their dogs, the Inuzuka work closely with dogs! They’ve just noticed we’re here, that’s all.”

“No,” she shakes her head, whimpering. “No, that’s an alarm call. They know we’re intruders!”

“Of course we’re intruders, we’re not Inuzuka!” he whispers frantically. “They just don’t know who we are yet. It’ll be okay, I promise, calm down and let me handle it.”

A door opens somewhere nearby, followed by the sound of claws scraping against the ground as a group of dogs hurtle into view, barreling towards them like heat seeking missiles. Korin squeaks and flinches while Kabuto instinctively braces himself. Suddenly, a sharp whistle pierces through the air. The dogs abruptly skid to a halt and sit down like tall, proud statues.

“Augh, come on now, these are just civilians!” A middle aged woman with spiky brown hair shouts at the dogs as she approaches the group. “All you’ve done is scare them real good.”

Korin locks eyes with the woman, staring into her slit-like pupils. Kabuto moves in front of her to partially block the woman’s view, directing her attention towards him. “I take it you’re Tsume?” He asks.

“Yeah, that’s me,” she grunts, waving her hand to dismiss the dogs. All except for one get up and trot away— a huge black and white wolf-like dog with an eyepatch and a missing ear remains seated.

Kabuto hands her the note, saying, “The vet in town recommended I take my friend’s sick wolf pup to you. Said you might be able to help him.”

Tsume reads the note, grunts, and tosses it back to him. “I see you followed his advice and made sure to bring your friend with you. Good. I would have turned you away otherwise.” She approaches Korin, who stiffens and leans back. “Tell me everything you know.”

“His name’s Tadeo,” Korin begins, keeping her eyes focused on the pup rather than Tsume. “He’s a gray wolf from between the Land of Rice and the Land of Earth. He’s from a litter of five that I found in a den abandoned by their parents. He’s roughly two months of age now.”

She pauses, biting her lip before continuing, “The runt of the litter was sick when I found them. She succumbed to her illness last month. And now he’s showing the same symptoms. He’s lethargic, coughs a lot, feverish, and has trouble keeping his food down.”

“So it’s contagious,” Tsume nods, stretching her hand out for Tadeo to sniff. “Have you had them vaccinated?”

“No, I don’t ever leave my home in the forest. This is my first time entering a village in many years.”

“I see,” she hums. She opens her mouth to say more, but stops when she hears someone approaching from behind.

A young boy with hair and eyes like hers comes up to them, carrying a small white puppy with floppy ears in his arms. “What’s going on?” He asks.

Kabuto knows him: Kiba Inuzuka. They met at the chuunin exams, though not outright face to face, considering Kabuto had been disguising himself as an Anbu agent when they were in close quarters. He also watched Kiba battle against Naruto Uzumaki during the matched rounds. He’s a decently impressive boy, Kabuto thinks, though awfully cocky; and that will likely lead to his downfall at some point.

“Civilians with a sick wolf,” Tsume answers. This piques her son’s curiosity and he squeezes next to her to get a closer look at Tadeo. “Careful, Kiba, he’s not a dog.”

“I know,” he groans, rolling his eyes. “I’m not stupid.”

“What I mean is that he’s a wild animal and you’re a stranger. A small stranger,” she squints at him.  “You don’t know how he feels about kids, and a sick animal is often a defensive animal.”

Korin looks up at Tsume finally, a slight twitch in her lips. This woman is knowledgeable. Good. “He’s never been handled by anyone other than me,” she warns. “I’m afraid I can’t promise that he’ll be cooperative for any exams.”

Tsume nods. “I figured as much. That’s alright, I’m experienced and he’s young enough that his bites will only be uncomfortable annoyances rather than serious injuries.” Turning to Kiba, she grunts, “Go get your sister.”

“What? Why?”

“So that she can help restrain him during the exam, why else?”

“But I can do that!”

“Small stranger,” she reminds him.

“Ugh,” he growls. “Fine,” then stomps off.

Tsume jerks her head to motion for Korin and Kabuto to follow her and leads them inside the clan’s clinic. The dog with the missing ear and eyepatch gets up as well, ambling behind them.

“I wonder if he’s pure wolf,” the older woman hums, glancing at Tadeo. “There’s quite a lot of hybrids and crossbreeds out in the world now, true wolves are becoming a bit of a rarer find. What do you think, Kuromaru?”

The dog sidles over to Korin and tilts his head up to sniff the pup. “Wolf,” he answers in a deep, human voice.

Korin jumps slightly at the sound. “Guh,” she grimaces, earning an amused snort from Tsume.

“Never heard a dog talk?” She asks the disgruntled rogue.

“I’ve heard of ninken that can speak, but I’ve never met one,” Korin shakes her head.

“Now you have,” Kuromaru grunts.

Entering an office in the clinic, Tsume quickly sprays the metal table in the center of the room and wipes it down. “Set him here,” she instructs.

Korin gently places Tadeo on the table. The pup is alert and wary in this unfamiliar environment, abruptly on his feet and trying to scramble away. She holds him still, cooing apologies in a soft voice.

A young woman with long brown hair in a tight ponytail and the same red fang tattoos on her cheeks as Tsume and Kiba comes rushing in. “Is it true? A wolf?”

“Yes,” Tsume says, gathering various equipment from around the room. “Hana, please restrain him.”

The young woman (Hana, assumedly) comes over to the table, politely but firmly taking over Korin’s position. Tadeo is instantly bristling and writhing, trying to angle his head to snap at Hana.

“It’s okay, baby,” Korin hushes in an attempt to console the agitated pup. She can’t help but feel like she’s betraying his trust. “It’s okay, they’re here to help.”

Her words fall on deaf ears. “Mom, please tell me you’re grabbing tranquilizers with all that other stuff,” Hana pleads while wrangling Tadeo, who is determined to bite her hands until she can see through them.

“Not an option,” Tsume replies.

“What?”

“He’s sick, weak, and only two months old. Putting him under could cause way too many complications; chances are that he wouldn’t wake up again. That’s why I need you restraining him.”

Hana protests, “But the stress of the procedures won’t be good for his health either!”

“Which is why we need to do this quickly,” Tsume glanced up at Korin and Kabuto. “Sorry, but I have to ask you both to wait outside. I’ll call you in when we finish.”

Kabuto nods and glances at Korin. The stress on her face is so visible that, for a moment, he’s certain she’s going to refuse. But, thankfully, she lowers her head and mutters, “Alright,” before slinking out of the room.

“It’ll be okay,” says Kabuto, patting her back as they return to the lobby. The gesture makes her jump. “Sorry. You really hate when I touch you, huh?”

“Quite the contrary, actually,” she sniffs as they sit on a plush leather bench. “If I hated it, you’d be covered in scratches and bruises.”

“Is that so? Why do you jump so hard, then?”

“Not used to being touched without hostile intent,” she answers. Seeing the disturbed expression this earns her, she adds, “I don’t usually let people be close enough to touch me— I prefer keeping my distance when possible. So, most people only get close to me during combat.”

He meditates on this for a bit. “If that’s the case, why do you let

me

get close?”

She shrugs, “I don’t keep my guard up quite as much around you, and you have a habit of slowly drifting closer to me over time. I suppose I have faith that you probably won’t hurt me.”

“‘Probably’?”

“Don’t act like that’s not a reasonable belief,” she squints. “Be offended if you like, but you know who you are and the reputation you have.”

He really

shouldn’t

be offended. She’s absolutely right; he’s Kabuto Yakushi, renowned spy and notorious backstabber. Yet he can’t wash away the sour, bitter feeling her words leave in his mind.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he murmurs. She looks towards him curiously, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. The words ‘because we’re friends’ push on his tongue, but he can’t get them past his teeth. “We’re business partners,” he says instead.

He instantly knows it was a mistake. That soft light of hope in her gaze hardens into a cold, burning stare. He lowers his head and she stiffly turns to look straight ahead at the wall.

Before he can think of a way to repair the situation, Kiba comes ambling into the room. He’s still cradling the white puppy; Akamaru, if Kabuto remembers correctly.

“What kind of dog is that?” Korin asks. It’s surprising, coming from her— she doesn’t like to be the first to speak. She must be desperate to escape the awkward silence.

“Huh?” Kiba grunts, looking down at the puppy. “Oh, Akamaru? He’s a Great Pyrenees mix.”

“He’s very cute,” she smiles. “Look at the size of those paws, too! He’s going to be huge, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, massive,” he grins. “I’ll probably be able to ride him in a couple years.”

“Mhm. I hear ninken are impressive like that.”

The wild haired boy glances back and forth between them. He’s still grinning, but Kabuto senses something shifty in his demeanor. “We have a lot of other dogs,” Kiba says tentatively. “Do you wanna see some of ‘em?”

“Sure, I’d love to,” Korin agrees, getting to her feet. Casting a meaningful look at Kabuto, she says, “One of us better stay behind in case they finish early. You’re not much of a dog person, anyway.”

She’s already following Kiba outside before he can even open his mouth. The sun beams down on them, causing her to grimace and bring her arm up to block it. Kiba seems unbothered by the light, but he’s tense about

something

, she’s sure.

An uncomfortable silence stretches between them as he leads her to the play yard. The fenced in area contains dogs of all sizes frolicking, playing, and sleeping.

“You guys have so many breeds,” she finally says in an attempt to restart the conversation.

Kiba completely ignores her statement, instead abruptly saying, “Do you know you’re traveling with a shinobi from Orochimaru’s village?”

A nauseating chill washes over her body and her blood drains into her stomach. “I… pardon?”

“I can smell it on him,” he explains, staring at her from the corner of his eyes. “But not you. I was hoping that you’d be surprised, that you didn’t know, but from the way you’re looking at me, I think you knew.”

It takes her a long moment to gather her bearings. “You’re right, I do know,” she answers quietly. “I’m an outsider, so I don’t fully understand the conflict between the Leaf and the Sound. I know that you’re enemies…” she bites her lip. “But I also know that he cares about Tadeo enough to take the risk and come with me anyway.”

The boy doesn’t say anything, though his mouth slackens a little bit.

“We don’t want any trouble,” she continues, anxiously twisting her hair around her fingers. “He’s only with me because I was too afraid to come alone. If he were to have any other intention besides helping Tadeo, I’d be furious.”

“I wouldn’t trust him, if I were you,” Kiba murmurs. “The Sound ninja are nothing but heartless self-serving murderers.”

That sure doesn’t sound like an opinion formed by propaganda at all, she thinks dryly. But then again, she does know many of the atrocities that Oto has committed against Konoha.

“Do you think all of them are like that?” She tilts her head.

“You’re not going to convince me your little ‘friend’ is somehow innocent,” he snarls.

“I’m not trying to,” she says, her tone growing firm. “I’m asking, very genuinely, as an outsider with very little understanding or knowledge of the Leaf village society: do you think every Sound ninja is a heartless and selfish murderer?”

His glare softens into confusion, then contemplation. “I mean, yeah, all the ones I’ve encountered so far are. Most of them are total freaks of nature, too. I killed two brothers that could merge bodies— one of them straight up merged into mine. Had to stab myself in the stomach to get him to leave.”

Korin becomes very visibly shocked, her face paling. Sakon and Ukon. There’s no way it could’ve been anyone else. “That’s… that sounds insane.”

“I’m telling the truth!” He says defensively, mistaking her horror for doubt. “They weren’t the only ones, either. We took their whole team down. There was this big dude with an orange mohawk, a girl with a flute, and a guy with six arms.”

Jirōbō. Tayuya. Kidōmaru. Korin shudders for their stolen lives, but knows she must maintain an unfazed facade. Kiba screws his mouth into a corner, looking thoughtful. “I think there was one other, too…” he hums.

“Another one?” She frowns. He’s already listed all of the Sound Four.

“Yeah, Naruto and Lee faced off against some other guy…” Kiba taps his foot. Korin has no idea who this ‘Lee’ is, though she’s heard the name ‘Naruto Uzumaki’ floating around for a little while now. “Lee said he could do weird stuff with his bones…?”

Nausea floods Korin’s throat, and she swallows back bile. No.

No

, not possible. They couldn’t have. It

couldn’t

have been him. “He… he could manipulate his bones?” She asks, keeping her voice as steady as possible.

“Yeah,” the boy nods with more confidence. “Yeah, that’s what they said. Lee said he was sick, though, and he died from his disease before the battle was even finished. What a lame way to go.” He snorts.

Kimimaro. She clenches her fists tightly, grinding her teeth until her jaw hurts. “Lame isn’t quite the word I’d use,” she states, veiled fury leaking into her tone. “I’d say it was

cruel

. Cruel that his superiors sent him out to battle in that condition, cruel that his last moments were spent fighting for someone who didn’t care about him, cruel that he was robbed of a dignified death.”

“Dunno what else you’d expect from a guy like Orochimaru, but sure, I guess cruel is also a pretty accurate description,” he shrugs.

She pauses to take a few deep breaths and smoothes herself over. This can wait until later. She can think about this later. She can be furious about this

later

. “Right, well, I

don’t

trust them. I’m trying to gather information on them to have an advantage over them. Truthfully,” she lowers her voice and leans towards him like she’s telling him something top secret. “I’m a double agent.”

Kiba’s eyes widen. He leans in closer, looking eager and alert. She continues, “Lately, I’ve been trying to uncover what I can about Orochimaru’s right hand man, Kabuto Yakushi. I’ve learned that he was associated with your village’s Anbu squad. Would you happen to have any idea about who I could talk with to learn more about this?”

He’s quiet for a moment, giving her a scrutinizing stare. But eventually, he answers, “You’re best off checking with the Aburame clan. Shino— my teammate— is an Aburame, and I think he’s mentioned something about his clan being involved in the Anbu.”

“I see,” she nods. “Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

“How does that saying go? The enemy of my enemy is my friend?” He chuckles. “Just be careful with what you say. The Aburame are bug users and skilled eavesdroppers. Next time you’re in town, come alone and I’ll have you meet Shino.”

Korin blinks, startled by his kindness. She’s always assumed the genin of the Leaf to be offstandish, confident, and mindlessly devoted to their village; that’s more or less what she assumes all shinobi are like, really. But this boy is easygoing and friendly while also clearly caring for his village. Perhaps it’s just difficult for her to imagine any good person idolizing their village.

She dips her head. “Yeah, I’ll do that. Thank you so much.”

Kiba nods, stroking Akamaru’s head before tucking him onto his shoulder and closing the gate of the play yard as they exit. “Mom and Hana are probably finishing up right now.”

When they return to the lobby, Kabuto is talking with Tsume and Hana in the center of the room. They all turn to look at Korin and Kiba as the two enter, and their grim expressions stop Korin in her tracks.

Her heart drops into her stomach. “It’s over for him, isn’t it?”

“No, not technically; but his chances aren’t good,” Tsume bites her lip before fixing Korin with a serious gaze. “You seem like an attentive, passionate caregiver, Seiko. You obviously know a lot about wolves and their care, so I’m figuring you’re a pretty realistic gal too. I’d normally attempt to sugarcoat what I’m about to tell you, but I don’t think you’d appreciate that.”

“Correct,” Korin nods. “Please spare me the false hope and tell me the truth, no matter how hard it is to hear.”

“I like to hear that,” the older woman hums. “Tell me, do you know anything about canine distemper?”

Korin purses her lips. “No,” she admits ashamedly. All the texts she’s read regarding wolves don’t go into detail about the particular illnesses they’re prone to— just that sickness is one of the leading causes of death for pups, next to starvation.

“That’s alright. It’s a highly contagious virus that attacks several of the body’s systems. Typically, it starts in the respiratory system before infecting the gastrointestinal system, and eventually progresses to the central nervous system. Unfortunately, dogs often don’t begin showing symptoms until they’re already in the later stages.”

Tsume inhales sharply, continuing, “In Tadeo’s case, the virus has just about reached his central nervous system. It’s a very dire situation with a lot of downsides, and while it’s not completely hopeless, it’s not promising, either.”

“What’s the virus doing to him?” Korin asks. She takes a few steps closer as steadily as she can with how the room is spinning around her. “What’s the treatment? How likely is it that he’ll make it?”

Hana holds up a hand to slow her down, taking over the conversation. “It’s complex. The virus is mainly attacking his immune system and making him much more vulnerable to other infections. If it were to progress further through his central nervous system, it would begin to affect his cognitive abilities and control over his movement, meaning he’d suffer muscle spasms, seizures, loss of balance, among other things.”

“As for treatment…” she pauses, her face growing even more weary. “There’s a reason distemper is one of the first vaccinations all puppies need to receive: there’s no cure.”

Korin begins to waver, taking a few wobbly steps back and rubbing her face with her hands repeatedly. Kabuto takes hold of her shoulder and carefully guides her backwards to a chair, which she promptly sags into.

Hana continues, “The only treatment for distemper is aggressive supportive care. It consists of things like boosting the immune system, keeping them hydrated through an IV, giving antibiotics for secondary infections, and using anti-seizure medications.”

“How often does that work?” Kabuto asks, mostly out of curiosity. The description of treatment reminds him of caring for Kimimaro.

He knows the results are bleak when Hana doesn’t answer right away. She glances elsewhere and chews on her lip. He suspects this is the response they’ve been skirting around for the entire conversation and the true reason behind their grim expressions.

It’s Tsume who answers, “It depends on how developed their immune system is. Adults have around a 50% chance of survival. But puppies under 3 months are particularly vulnerable,” she pauses to inhale deeply, preparing to deliver the bad news. “Approximately, there’s a 20% chance of survival.”

“Oh,” says Korin. That’s all she can think to say;

oh

.

“It’s early enough that I’m fairly confident about his chances not being lower than 20%,” Tsume goes on. “And by all means, we can attempt treatment if that’s what you want to do. He could pull through. I

have

seen puppies his age survive before. But it’s a very big risk that isn’t in your favor, and to be fully transparent, it’s not cheap, either.”

“Money isn’t a problem,” Kabuto says quickly, ignoring the intense glare he earns from Korin. He glances back at her, and when their eyes briefly meet, his gaze conveys the silent message ‘

talk later

’.

“In that case, it’s up to you,” Tsume says, looking at Korin. “We could pursue treatment despite the unfavorable chances, or, if that’s something you’d rather not do, I’m afraid the kindest next step would be to make preparations for euthanasia.”

Korin swallows thickly. “I… I need a moment to think. Can I see him?”

The older woman nods and leads her back towards the examination room. Kabuto hesitantly trails behind them, unsure if this is something Korin would rather do alone. She doesn’t seem to have an adverse reaction to his presence, so he assumes it must be okay.

Tsume approaches a small cage and lifts up the blanket covering it. Tadeo has squeezed into a corner in the back, his ears pinned and his eyes wide. He instantly begins to growl when he spots the Inuzuka woman and pulls his lips back to show off his teeth, licking them anxiously.

“Oh, Tadeo,” Korin sighs weakly, moving to the front of the cage and opening the gate. The pup crawls towards her on his belly, his growls subsiding for soft whimpers as she scoops him into her arms.

“I’ll leave you to consider your options,” Tsume hums, backing up towards the door. “Just poke your head out when you’ve decided.”

The door clicks closed and ushers a defeaning silence through the room. Kabuto has many thoughts but holds his tongue, opting not to speak unless spoken to. This is a deeply personal decision that he has no right to dictate.

“It’s the question of Ikeda again,” she whispers solemnly. “Is it cruel to keep him alive?”

“My answer is still the same,” he replies. “As long as they want to fight for life, you aren’t cruel for giving them the option:”

“I know, and he does want to fight,” Korin strokes Tadeo’s soft head. “But 20% is so low. If I put him through all this stress and pain, and he still doesn’t make it… if I make him spend his last days suffering in a strange and isolated environment instead of ending it peacefully before things get worse… I don’t know what I’ll do with myself.”

“There’s no easy option here,” he shakes his head. “Though if you want to take the risk, I’ll pay for the treatment as my side of our trade for a while. I doubt you would accept it as just charity.”

“I don’t like owing favors or feeling indebted to someone,” she nods. “And forgive me, but I don’t view you as all that charitable.”

“What, you think I can’t just be nice out of the goodness of my heart?”

Korin just stares at him.

“Yeah, alright,” he snorts, rubbing the back of his neck.

She gazes down at the pup in her arms. Yellow eyes peer up at her, slightly bleak but still shining with life. A smile tugs at her lips, and the expression causes his tail to start thumping softly.

“Oh,” she whines, drawing him into a tight embrace. “God, okay. I… I think I want to risk treating him.”

Standing up, she pokes her head out of the door and informs Tsume of her decision.

“Another thing,” Tsume says while they’re working out paperwork. “The other pups will need to be vaccinated if you want any chance of survival among them, and they’ll all need to be quarantined here until we can assure that they’ve avoided infection.”

Korin swallows roughly but nods. She understands how important this is. “I’ll bring them by later today.”

Information is exchanged, identities highly false, but money very real. Kabuto wonders how he’ll explain the expenses to Orochimaru. He’ll find something, he always does. He’s experienced in lying to his boss, but god, he hates that he’s made such a habit of it for Korin.

There’s something in the way she’s staring at him that unsettles him. She wasn’t looking at him like that earlier, not until she went away with Kiba. He can’t shake the feeling that she

knows

something now.

Something she wasn’t supposed to.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It’s eerily quiet when Kabuto and Korin finally return to the rendezvous site after bringing the rest of the litter to the Inuzuka clinic. The trader looks as if she has aged several years within the last few hours. He’d hoped her strange, cold behavior was caused by stress about Tadeo and would wear off by the time they got back, but she hasn’t looked him in the eye since they left and won’t say a word. There’s no agitation in her movements, but he suspects she might just be too exhausted to showcase her anger. Something is wrong, something not related to the pups. Something related to him. With the pups in quarantine, she’s going to be truly alone for the first time in a couple months. He hates confrontation like this, but she’s at her most vulnerable right now– he can’t waste it. “What’s the matter?”“Nothing,” she responds flatly, sitting down and leaning against her main tree. “I’m just tired. You’re free to go.”He does the opposite and instead comes closer, crouching down in front of her. “Please spare me the hassle of trying to force you to admit that something’s wrong. I know that it is, I’m not stupid. You’re mad at me, so let’s talk about it.”She huffs, “Like I said, I’m tired. Nothing’s wrong. I’m just stressed out and fighting a headache,” she rubs her temples. “Currently, it’s winning.”He squints. “I’d prefer to clear the air rather than let this fester.”“Did it ever occur to you that nothing is wrong and you’re just overthinking things and finding conclusions that aren’t there?” she hums.“Korin.”They lock eyes for a tense moment before she finally breaks under the pressure and snaps, “How long ago did they die? Were you ever going to tell me?”Kabuto blinks, startled by her sudden accusation. “What?”“The Sound Four: Tayuya, Sakon, Ukon, Jirōbō, Kidōmaru– when were they killed?” She demands. “And, and– and Kimimaro! Why, for the love of god, was he sent out to fight in his condition? Why didn’t you fucking tell me?”The raw pain in her voice briefly stuns the med-nin into silence. She looks heartbroken, betrayed. His heart drops into his stomach as he realizes how significant these kids were to her; he’s made a much bigger mistake than he initially thought. Unable to bear the weight of his own cruel choice, the first thing to leave his lips is a panicked lie: “It wasn’t my decision!”“Not your decision?” She scoffs. “Orochimaru’s right hand has no input or sway when it comes to choosing who gets sent on what mission?”Shovel in hand, he digs the hole deeper. “It’s not like he tells me everything he’s planning! I was too busy taking care of his arms. He didn’t even tell me until they were already on their way.”“The Sound Four, fine, I can understand. I don’t like it, I don’t approve of it, but I can understand it,” she inhales shakily. “What I don’t understand is sending out Kimimaro!”Of course it’s Kimimaro in particular that she’s upset about. That’s just his luck. “ We didn’t! He snuck out on his own! The mission was going poorly, and he was desperate to be useful.”“Why did you even tell him about the mission?”“What?” He stares at her, dumbfounded. “What kind of question is that ? I liked keeping him within the loop of what was going on around Otogakure so that he didn’t feel totally left behind!”At first, Korin looks like she’s about to continue arguing, but then her face falls into a deeply solemn expression. She inhales slowly, smoothing herself over before saying, “I… I’m sorry. I know there’s no reason you would’ve thought to inform me about this. It's not any of my business.”He settles down as well. “Yes, I didn’t think you cared. Perhaps I should’ve guessed, though, considering I heard about your card game with the Sound Four.”“You did?”“They found you entertaining. They often asked when you were coming again,” he nods.“Oh,” she whispers. “I wish I had.”A silence stretches on between them. Kabuto scooches to sit beside her, leaning against the tree so that their arms idly touch. “It’s so quiet without the pups,” he eventually murmurs, trying to lower her guard further. “It feels empty.”She nods, swallowing thickly and rubbing her face. “A glimpse into what it’ll be like once they grow up and disperse.”“What will you do then?”Her gaze drifts to meet him briefly, and in that moment, her eyes betray the resigned yet profound despair that she keeps so neatly tucked away. It’s gone in an instant, but he knows what he saw. “I haven’t really thought about it,” she finally answers. “I suppose I’ll just do what I’ve always done and maintain my home, or perhaps go fully nomadic.”He hums in acknowledgement, suppressing the bitter feeling her words evoke. After a minute, he says, “It’s strange. I feel like even after all this time, I still don’t really know you. I can’t help but think you’re keeping me at arm’s length intentionally. You still don’t trust me, and I know I can’t blame you for that, but… it does hurt, you know?”It’s not often that Kabuto feigns vulnerability to her. Honestly, he isn’t sure how much of it is feigned; it really does bother him that she’s still being reclusive when he’s done everything right. The more time he devotes to it, the riskier this job gets, and his patience is waning.“It’s not that I don’t trust you, I do, it’s–” she starts.He interrupts, “Don’t lie to spare my feelings. It’s insulting.” His voice comes out a bit sharper than he intends, and he grits his teeth.“I’m not,” she defends. “I’m being honest, I do trust you! I’ve never held my tongue when it comes to how I feel about you, you know that. Why would I start caring about your feelings now? This runs deeper than trust.”He shrugs, sighing, “Fine, continue.”“There’s a core principle of my life that I’ve always maintained ever since I first ran away: I do not want to be known . Making connections is useless,” she turns to face him, shaggy pink hair falling over tired eyes. “Eventually you will leave and not return. I will not be alone again if you never knew me in the first place.”“Normally, I don’t let people stay…” She starts to pluck at the grass. “But you’re nice. I like having you around. Gives me something to look forward to. Makes living out here a little less painful.”“But it’s still torture,” she rubs between her eyes. “Because I know one of us will leave and the loneliness will return fresher than before. It…” she grabs a fistful of grass, yanking it out of the ground. “It will be harder to forget I was a human, this time.”Kabuto has been mentally falling down a flight of stairs for most of her monologue, but that last sentence feels like he just landed on five hundred flash bombs waiting at the bottom. “I appreciate the explanation, and I do want to address some of the things you said, but I’m not going to be able to focus until I ask this: what the hell do you mean, ‘forget you were a human’?”“You’ve noticed,” she shakes her head. “The way my eyes shine in low lighting is what most prominently gives it away, but there’s other subtle things that your instincts find disturbing. I know you feel it. The pit of your gut nags at you that there’s something wrong with me, something you can’t recognize.”There’s no use in lying. “… I have,” he concedes.She opens her mouth to speak but only utters “I’m—“ before seemingly thinking twice and shutting it again. Her brows furrow in deep, frustrated thought. Eventually, she settles on, “I’m cursed, Kabuto. That’s all I can tell you. It’s something beyond your comprehension; beyond my own, really. There is no point in knowing me because I am doomed. It’s a waste of your time.”Annoyingly, this response raises more questions than it answers, but the med-nin brushes that aside for now. He has to know more. There’s no better time to strike; if he uses this moment of weakness to his advantage, she will wrap further around his finger.“I would rather know you and lose you than never know you at all,” he replies. His features soften as he assures, “It’s time that I’ll enjoy wasting.”He hears her swallow thickly, her eyes suddenly wet. She shudders and squeezes her eyes shut before using her sleeve to rub away the tears threatening to brim over. “Oh,” is all she says. She’s unable to hide the tremble in her voice.Mentally crossing his fingers, he leans forward to take her face into his hands, brushing away an errant tear. She allows it and relaxes into his palms. His lips press against her forehead, then her nose, before finally interlocking with hers. Bad , he thinks to himself, this is bad. Dangerous . Selfish. Cruel; that seems to be a theme for him lately, doesn’t it? He can recognize all of these descriptors as true, and though perhaps his younger self would have spiraled into a panic spurred by shame, his present self feels no regret. He numbed his heart long ago. That’s not to say he feels nothing at all about the situation— he certainly feels guilty. But that’s not the same as remorseful or ashamed. There is no shame in the way he pushes her against the tree trunk, no shame in the way he pulls open her shirt, no shame in the way he lets her take his hair down.What’s the harm in letting Korin believe that he cares? It’s a white lie with very few ways to backfire on him. He was never here to make a friend, only to spy. It’s just another job.Some little voice in the back of his head hisses, if that’s the case, you told Lord Orochimaru never to make you do something like this during a job again— so what the fuck are you doing? He freezes.Korin, a little breathless, notices the fear in his eyes and asks, “A-are you okay?”He blinks a few times, glancing away. “I… I, uh…” he stutters.She leans back, sitting up a little straighter and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, it’s alright, we don’t have to do this. Do you want to stop?” Her eyes are sweet, concerned, more comforting than he deserves. “No,” he blurts out, startling himself. He doesn’t want to stop; why doesn’t he? He should— scratch that, needs to stop— and yet doesn’t want to.Korin eyes him skeptically. “Are you sure? I promise it’s really okay… I don’t mind…”“Do you want to stop?” He asks, squinting.“No!” Her reply is so immediate and distressed that it nearly cuts off his question. The trader’s face flushes as she realizes that she’s accidentally betrayed her eagerness. Way to seem nonchalant, Korin.Kabuto chuckles in a way that makes her stomach flip and heat pool between her legs. He leans forward again, lips drawn into a delicate smirk. “So there’s no problem, then.”Her face is getting redder— damn, he’s too charming sometimes. She lacks the confidence she had during their first... interaction of this sort (she refuses to define it as a hook up, the term feels too sleazy to her) and is instead behaving in a downright timid manner. He’s so close, kissing her softly over and over. She can smell herbs, a dull hint of something metallic, a faint trace of chemicals, and the remnants of incense (sandalwood, she thinks, possibly with notes of amber). The scent clings to his clothes, his hair, his skin; she’s never realized how much comfort it brings her until now.It makes her think about her own. The jasmine that lingers from last night’s bath smells foreign to her. She prefers to mask her human scent with the fragrance of the surrounding wilderness; it makes her harder to detect for prey and predator alike. Perhaps Kabuto likes it, though.Not only is she clean and smells nice, but her hair is brushed out for once. An unpleasant thought forms: does he like her better like this?“I fear that you’re domesticating me,” she murmurs against his lips, attempting to keep her tone neutral to observe his reaction.To her relief, he pulls away slightly to frown. “I hope not. I prefer you wild and unpredictable.” It’s a half truth. He does like her wild nature; it’s refreshing and sort of fascinating. But he’s a spy, a med-nin, and a scientist– all things that rely on predictions– so he doesn’t like unpredictability at all. His reply satisfies her, though, and she eagerly reclaims his lips.He’s softer with her this time. His touch is gentle, moving with the delicate precision of a surgeon as he undresses her. It’s as if he thinks she’s made of glass, and if he isn’t careful, she’ll shatter and slice him apart. Korin, while able to understand the intention to some degree, doesn’t like it. She has been vulnerable with him now, yes, but she does not appreciate being perceived as fragile. Perhaps it is the wilderness’s principles screaming that to show weakness is to invite death , or perhaps she just has not met a gentle hand since her early childhood. Regardless, it feels foreign. “You can be rougher,” she murmurs into his ear as she slides her hands up his now-exposed torso, plucking his glasses off his face and placing them behind a root to keep them safe. “I am not going to break.”“I think I hurt you last time. I’m trying not to do that again,” Kabuto replies, shuddering as the trader slides into his lap and presses her bare body to his.“You did not,” she shakes her head, even though she knows he did; he pulled her hair too hard and her hips had finger-shaped bruises that lasted for a few days.The small, wry smile he gives tells her that he knows this too. “You can be rough with me this time, if it makes you feel better,” he says.“Was I not last time? I remember you bled.”“You scratched me a little,” the med-nin shrugs. “Nothing serious, just looked like cat scratches.” Korin tenses at that. It’s minor, but she knows it didn’t evade Kabuto’s attention, so she tries to defuse it by chuckling softly as she relaxes and kisses his neck. He wonders about it briefly— but as he feels her tongue lick slow stripes along his jugular, his thoughts melt into a pleasant, muddled haze, and he soon forgets about it entirely.In their previous tryst, Kabuto was so tense that Korin had been too nervous to actually explore his body— she didn’t know him well enough yet. It’s hard to assess someone’s reactions when they’re stressed, especially someone you’re still unfamiliar with, and she’d been concerned about how he might react if she were to accidentally push a boundary.She knows him better now. He’s an incredible spy, for starters. He’s intentionally subtle about how guarded he actually is. He wants something from her, something more than her business or companionship, but she’s not sure what. He… seems to care about her to some degree. She’s not sure how to feel about that, given his occupation. She likes to believe she’s above falling for his deception, so that means his fondness must be genuine. Despite her attempts to remain detached, she’s grown comfortable with him. She allows him to touch her, be near her, and play with the pups. She shares her food with him, trusts him to see her in a defenseless state, and looks forward to seeing him again whenever he leaves. That last thing in particular is especially dangerous; she knows she’s setting herself up to get hurt, but she can’t help it anymore.Honestly, she isn’t sure how much he trusts her , but he must to some degree if he’s having sex with her— that or he’s just certain he can overpower her if she tries to pull something. Either way, she doesn't really care. What matters is that he’s invited her to be rougher with him this time, so he must be okay with her touching him more extensively now. And she does.Perhaps if the pups were here, perhaps if Kabuto isn’t the only scent she cares about at this moment, then maybe something would alert them. Instead, neither of them notice the snake-eyed sannin concealed in the surrounding canopy of branches.Orochimaru’s lips curl into an amused smile as he turns away and silently leaves the scene. Well, isn’t this a curious turn of events? He’d been certain that his chief assistant was plotting something against him, what with all the sneaking around and disappearing for days at a time. The discovery that he’s simply been frolicking around with the trader doesn’t exactly please the sannin, but it’s much less dire than his original theory. Sasuke is his main priority, so he won’t require Kabuto’s assistance as much for a while. If this is what the med-nin wants to do behind his back, Orochimaru supposes it’s a better use of his free time than plotting betrayal. Perhaps it could even be beneficial. Free supplies, discounted trades, a distraction for Kabuto— all rather useful outcomes. Of course, this is a temporary benefit. Once Sasuke is ready, Kabuto’s undivided attention will be required once more. Any distraction from their goals must be purged. Should Korin continue to be an unnecessary attachment by that point, Orochimaru will have her dealt with. Kabuto knows better, after all.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Hundreds of miles away from Korin’s home in the forest, a village lies nestled in the gulf between the Land of Rice and the Land of Lightning. Kaiganokure, The Village Hidden in the Coast, is perhaps one of the least remarkable hidden villages in the world. They harbor very few clans, and thus their already small population consists mostly of civilians.

Like all hidden villages, Kaiganokure has an academy. It is a shoddy building suffering from many years of untrained jutsu being performed inside and around it. The groundskeepers do their best to maintain the courtyard; sadly, their efforts go largely unnoticed by the students currently occupying it. Many of them idly rip leaves off of shrubs and trample decorative grass as they wait for their families to finish the mandatory end of semester meeting with their instructors.

There is an outlier among these students: a teenage boy, wedged into a corner away from everyone else, staring at a thin sky pencil holly tree. He has grown much in the 7 years since Korin’s departure. His dusty peach hair is a scrappy mess that frames his face stylishly but greatly obscures his eyes. This is for the best; his eyes have long since lost that innocent sparkle Korin remembers him having.

Those eyes still haunt him, though, in the form of the little girl with a long pink braid that he notices running up to him. He sighs deeply and rubs the bridge of his nose, hoping that she might take the hint and leave him alone.

She doesn’t. She never does. “Kouya!” She shouts in a shrill, excited voice, beaming as she comes to a stop right in front of him.

“Rio,” he acknowledges, adding, “Keep your voice down. You’re hurting my ears.”

“Oh, sorry!” She giggles, clasping her hands together and swaying back and forth. “It’s just, you’re usually gone before Mom and Dad get here, so…”

“They still don’t let you walk home by yourself?” He asks with a smug look.

“I’m only 7.”

“Oh,” he frowns. “Right.” He looks away from her big, shining eyes and focuses on the sky pencil holly tree once more. “Don’t you have friends to hang out with? Mom and Dad probably don’t want you talking to me.”

“Why not?” She asks cluelessly.

He opens his mouth to explain, but then just sighs and shakes his head. “Nevermind. It doesn’t matter.”

“Okay!” She shrugs. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“Guess!”

He rolls his eyes. “I’m not guessing.”

“Aw. Well, um, Nobu-sensei told Mom and Dad that he thinks I’m a potdiggy!”

Kouya blinks rapidly before correcting her. “Prodigy, Rio.”

“Mhm, I said that!”

“You—- whatever, okay. Uh. Cool?” He grunts. There’s no point in telling her that Nobu said the same thing about him when he was younger and definitely regrets it.

“Yeah! He says I’ll probably be ready to join a team when I’m 10.”

“That’s nice.”

“Have you joined a team yet?”

He grimaces. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Same reason as always.”

“Are you being held back again?”

Kouya nods. “That’s what Mom and Dad are getting told right now.”

“Why?”

“Why else? I’m still too ‘stubborn and temperamental’ for teamwork.”

“Tempertal?”

“Tem-per-men-tal. You know, like, I have a bad temper?”

“You’re sick?”

“N…no, that’s temperature. Okay, look, it doesn’t matter. It just means I get angry easily.”

“Ohh.”

“Hey, how are you doing in your language arts classes?” He squints suspiciously.

“Um, I’m not in any now. Mom and Dad said I should just focus on ninjutsu.”

Kouya sucks his teeth. “That explains a lot.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

Rio opens her mouth to reply, but squeaks instead as an angry voice shouts, “Kouya!” from across the courtyard. She recovers quickly and turns to face her parents, but her eager expression quickly wilts when she sees the way they’re marching towards her and her brother.

Kouya, on the other hand, barely reacts at all. He simply groans and turns away. His father quickly remedies this by grabbing his shoulder and pulling him forward, forcing him to look at him.

“Do you—“ he starts.

“Spare me the lecture,” Kouya says flatly. “There’s nothing you can say that I haven’t already heard.” His mother gasps at his audacity.

“You dare speak to your own father like that?” His dad growls, tightening his grip.

Kouya winces at the fingers digging into his flesh. “Let go.”

“No, you’re staying right here,” his father snorts. “You’re going to stand here and tell me why you’re

so

determined to bring shame to our family.”

“You’re hurting me,” the boy states, though he still sounds monotone and unbothered.

“I don’t care! Tell me, what’s the

matter

with you?”

“You don’t care that you’re hurting me?” Kouya asks, mildly amused.

“No, because you’re

fine

, so quit being a brat. You’re not escaping this conversation. I asked you a question.”

“Oh, you were being serious? I thought that was just a rhetorical question.”

“You little…” his father grinds his teeth. “I knew I should have disciplined you harsher when you were younger.”

“Sure, because it’s not like that’s ever ended badly for you before. Makoto’s blind eye is just an unrelated accident, right?”

His father snaps his mouth shut, anger burning in his eyes. His face turns pale, then red, and finally purple.

Rio begins to shrink back in fear, but Kouya just sees a chance to strike another blow. “You wouldn’t do that, right, Dad? You’ve got

such

a great track record with your first three kids, after all. I mean, my older brother won’t speak to you, I’m a ‘disappointment who brings shame to the family’, and my older sister hasn’t been seen since she was 13.”

Something twinges behind his father’s face, and the glare he fixes Kouya with is dark and dangerous. “What happened to your sister is a tragedy.

We do not speak of it!”

Kouya scoffs, crossing his arms and mirroring his glare evenly. “Tragedy? Come

on

.”

“Are you really such a psychopath that you don’t think your sister being kidnapped and held prisoner by another village is tragic?”

Kouya groans, “No, because that’s not what happened. Face it, Dad:

she ran away!

”

His father is silent for a moment, before uttering, “You’re

disgusting

.”

The words burrow beneath Kouya’s uncaring exterior and stab deep. He clenches his fists and locks his jaw.

“I tried everything to help you, you know,” his father continues. “But you’re hopeless, determined to follow in your older brother’s footsteps and become a lazy, good-for-nothing disappointment.”

“

Don’t

talk about him like that,” Kouya growls, digging his nails into his palm so tightly that he draws blood.

“As your father, I’ll speak about him in whatever way I want,” the older man argues. “The two of you bring shame to the Kaida clan. I had hoped for a suitable heir to take my place as patriarch of our clan, but I fear we’ll be led to ruin with my worthless sons.”

Kouya’s blood begins to boil. He grinds his teeth audibly, vision blurring, red seeping out between his fingers, pupils narrowing into slits.

His father sneers. “I mean, do you know the kind of looks I get trying to explain that my son is so pathetic that he’s been held back three times? It’s—“

Rio screams as she sees Kouya raise his arm up to strike their father. He’s snarling, bristling, his nails looking more like claws; the ends of his fingers are rapidly darkening in color.

Before he can land the hit, though, a furious voice barks his name and startles him into freezing. Their older brother, Makoto, storms across the yard and grabs him by the shoulders, yanking him back.

“What the

hell

do you think you’re doing?” Makoto shouts, towering over the boy.

“I—“ Kouya starts, but is cut off as his brother slaps him across the face so hard that his teeth grind as his jaw slams to the left. He shrinks back and hangs his head, but glances up just in time to catch the desperate, remorseful look that Makoto gives him before it’s quickly replaced with feigned callousness.

“This is

not

the way I’ve been teaching you to behave. You

never

, EVER raise your hand against your father!” He berates. “Kneel and apologize, you insolent brat.”

To his father’s surprise, the boy actually obeys. Kneeling down and placing his palms on the floor in a bow, he murmurs, “I’m sorry.”

“Louder,” Makoto commands.

“I’m sorry, Father,” Kouya repeats in a clearer tone. “I should never have disrespected you like that.”

His father stares at him with an expression of mild astonishment. If

he’d

asked for an apology like this from Kouya, the boy surely wouldn’t have obeyed. He isn’t sure how to feel about the fact that Makoto has so much control over his younger brother. On one hand, this is exactly the sort of outcome he’d hoped for when he allowed Makoto to take over raising Kouya, but on the other, what is Makoto doing that he wasn’t?

“Get up,” he finally grunts, though the hostility in his tone has faded. “We’ll move on from it this time, but don’t you dare ever try that again.”

Kouya rises silently, keeping his head cast down and hands clasped together. Makoto looms behind him, gripping his shoulder tightly and saying, “I just finished meeting with Arashino-sensei,” before pausing to address his parents. “If you’ll excuse us, he and I need to have a long, long talk when we get home.”

His mother purses her lips and says, “I hope you manage to talk some sense into him.” His father only nods, still somewhat unsettled. He watches his sons walk away with an unreadable expression before turning his attention to Rio, who cowers slightly. He sighs and places a hand on her head, ruffling her hair affectionately.

Makoto and Kouya walk for a few minutes, the calls of seabirds occasionally interrupting their silence. The afternoon sun casts golden rays down on the docks, bathing the brothers in warmth. Once they’re halfway down the street, the older boy groans and relaxes his body language, though he’s clearly still frustrated. “What the

hell

were you thinking?”

Kouya relaxes too, the somber expression on his face completely dissolving as he cracks his neck. “Sorry. He just got under my skin really bad.”

“That’s no excuse,” he looks around before lowering his voice considerably and uttering, “I saw

claws

, Kouya, you nearly

transformed

! Are you out of your fucking

mind

? What if I hadn’t been there to stop you at the last second?”

The younger boy sighs, looking sheepish. “Yeah…. Yeah, I know. It was bad.”

“Bad is an understatement!” Makoto hisses, rubbing his visible eye in a tense manner. “That could have been an absolute disaster. You

need

to get your temper under control. If anyone finds out that you’re cursed, we’ll–”

“--have to flee and leave everything behind, I know,” Kouya finishes. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” his older brother sighs. He then cranes his head forward to look at the other boy’s cheek. “I’m sorry for hitting you so hard. Does it still hurt?”

Kouya snorts, “Nah, I’m alright. I know you didn’t want to do it. Smart, though, I think it really convinced Dad that you’re harsh with me.”

“Thanks for playing along so quick. I feel awful, man,” Makoto chuckles bitterly. “I don’t get how he was able to do that kind of shit to us so easily.”

“You think he would’ve reconsidered after he accidentally blinded you.”

“Right?”

Kouya interlaces his fingers behind his neck, walking with his elbows out to the side. “Uh,” he says, looking a little ashamed. “Are… are you mad that I’m getting held back again?”

“I want to be, but honestly, after what I just witnessed, no,” Makoto shakes his head. “I’m not. You still have too much trouble controlling your rage. Arashino-sensei is right to prevent you from joining a team.” He pauses, growing sentimental. “That man really cares about you, you know. He truly mourns his decision.”

“Yeah, I know,” his younger brother responds sadly. “I wish things were different, that it was easier. It’s not like I don’t

want

to change. I really hate that I’m so irritable.” He grits his teeth, muttering, “

It’s not fair

.”

“It’s not,” Makoto agrees. “I’m sorry, kid.”

They leave the main streets and begin following a small trail through the coastal forest that surrounds the village. It grows colder as they continue towards the cliffside and Makoto shivers, but Kouya appears entirely unbothered.

Once they’re decently far into the wilderness, Kouya speaks up again, his tone hesitant. “Was

she

like this, too?”

Makoto’s expression darkens.

It’s past midnight. He’s still awake, listening to the thunderstorm outside. And when he hears a softer thumping, like that of an animal sneaking around, he jumps out of bed. He follows it to his parent’s room and pushes the tatami door aside as quietly as he can. Lightning strikes in the distance.

Two eyes shine in the darkness briefly, staring at him from a shadowy figure.

She’s partially in the window, lowered into a crawl, clawed hands digging into the bed, hind paws gripping the windowsill. For the few seconds that the lightning illuminates her, he can see that she’s looming over their father with her mouth open, deadly fangs bared at his throat, preparing to clamp down. Upon seeing Makoto, she freezes.

“Korin!” he hisses with distress, trying to be as quiet as he can so as not to wake their parents.

His little sister shrinks back on twisted limbs. Her mouth slowly closes, though her upper and lower canines still jut out from her lips. The round ears nestled in her hair swivel and flatten. Her nose wrinkles as she curls her upper lip, displaying her teeth as a warning. The fur on her long tail begins to puff up.

“Don’t,” he breathes, barely audible as he tries to reason with the young girl. He’s been trying so hard to help her control this. “Korin, don’t. Please. Please, please, Korin, kid, please just calm down and think.”

She stares at him with wide, unblinking eyes. He can see her tail flick in the darkness.

“It’s okay, everything’s okay,” he whispers soothingly as he slowly steps forward, trying not to spook her. Now that he’s closer, he can make out the mud smeared across her wet fur and skin. She’s soaked from the storm; she probably climbed up the outside wall to reach this second story window. Who knows how long she’s been out there.

“Come on,” he urges, gingerly taking another step. “It’s okay, come here.”

She shrinks back further, shaking her head.

His heart sinks. “Please, Korin, it’s alright. Just come here, let’s go get you cleaned up. We don’t have to talk about it. We can forget this ever happened.”

She doesn’t move.

“Korin.”

No reaction. He steps forward. She shrinks back.

Nausea starts to swim in his throat. “It’s okay, I promise, really. Come inside, warm up, I’ll make you curry with salmon. It doesn’t matter that it’s late, I swear, I’ll make it all from scratch right now. You can stay up with me.”

She shakes her head.

“Please,” he begs. She stares at him for a long moment.

And then she turns and lunges out the window in the blink of an eye, disappearing into the storm.

In the following days, their parents come up with some sort of theory about a rival village kidnapping their prodigal daughter. Makoto doesn’t say a word.

“No, she wasn’t quite like you,” he answers Kouya finally. “She kept her rage hidden. It made her all the more dangerous. You’d never know when she was preparing to strike.”

“Oh,” the boy replies. After a pause, he adds, “It’s getting hard for me to remember what she was like. I’m sad.”

“It’s not your fault,” Makoto shakes his head. “Let me ask, how well do you think Rio knows you?”

“Like, not at all.”

“Exactly. You don’t let her know you, the same way Korin didn’t let you know her.”

“Hm.”

They finally reach the brittle old shack that they call home. Kouya rushes inside, setting his tool pouch down and opening the fridge. He pulls a few small fish out and stuffs them into his pouch, earning a look of disgust from his brother.

“Eugh, god, Kouya, come on!” Makoto hisses, shuddering. “At least put them in a plastic bag first or something!”

“Why? It’s not like they’re in there for very long.”

“Because you’re making your pouch smell like fish!”

“So?”

This response leaves Makoto stunned for a moment as he tries to figure out how to explain to Kouya that that’s a bad thing. “People don’t really like the smell of fish.”

“I don’t mind it.”

“Yeah, but others do, and if your bag smells like fish they’re gonna think you’re gross!”

“Bro, everything here smells like fish,” Kouya rolls his eyes, closing the fridge. “We’re a fishing village. I seriously don’t think anyone gives a shit about the smell.”

Makoto groans and slaps his pockets in defeat. “Fine! Whatever, it’s your bag.”

“Damn right it is,” his younger brother mumbles under his breath as he shuffles back out the door.

Makoto watches from the window as Kouya gives a shrill whistle and claps three times. Loud, rhythmic squawking fills the air in response. A cormorant the size of a hiker’s backpack swoops down through the air to perch on Kouya’s outstretched arm, beating his wings a few times to stabilize himself and cawing excitedly.

“Hey, buddy, how you doin’?” The boy coos, stroking the black and white bird’s head with two fingers. He pulls a fish from his bag and holds it above the cormorant, who instantly snaps it in his beak and gulps it down. “Yeah? You wanna go fishing?”

Kaiganokure is one of the only villages that still practices the dying art of cormorant fishing. 2 years ago, when Kouya’s temper met puberty and grew severely out of hand, Makoto had given him a cormorant egg to look after. The boy had reacted disinterested at first, questioning why they didn’t just cook it, but Makoto remembers the awestruck gasp he gave when they held a light up to the egg to see it moving around.

It had been the middle of the night when the egg began to hatch. Makoto had woken Kouya for it, and they sat in front of it for hours, watching the hatchling break free. The boy had grimaced and remarked that it looked like a wad of gum.

But, as Makoto had hoped, Kouya soon took pride in being the bird’s caregiver. He named it Sota, and it wasn’t long before Sota accompanied him everywhere he went. Wherever Kouya was, the sound of little webbed feet slapping the ground wouldn’t be far behind.

Now that Sota is a full-fledged adult, he’s given free rein of the cliffside forest. Kouya can’t fathom the idea of keeping him in a cage. He won’t force something to stay if it no longer wants to. Thankfully, the strong bond they share convinces Sota to remain in the area, so whenever Kouya wants time alone to think, he calls the cormorant to go fishing with him.

Once they reach the river that feeds into the ocean, Kouya locates his boat anchored in the reeds and unties it while Sota settles on a wooden perch built into the stern. Golden light dances on the water as they row out to the center of the river. Setting the paddle down in the boat, Kouya leans back and blows his breath out in a deep sigh. Sota tilts his head down at a strange angle to stare at him with beady black eyes.

They float on the water for a while, slowly drifting downstream. Kouya chooses not to tie a loose snare around Sota’s neck– he only does that when he intends to keep some of the fish that the cormorant catches. Sota is allowed to eat all the fish he pleases today.

Kouya stares up at the clouds rolling in, soon to block out the sun with evening fog. Something touches his hand, and he glances down to find Sota in the water, looking up at him. He strokes his head with a finger. The cormorant nuzzles him briefly before swimming off to survey the shallows once more.

“She liked salmon, right?” Kouya murmurs aloud, turning his head to face Sota, who bobs in the water idly. “I think she did.”

It worries him that he can’t remember more.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Several weeks go by agonizingly slow without the pups. Korin busies herself with hunting, fishing, tending to her new summer garden, crafting various tools and trinkets, and journaling. Kabuto does his best to visit, but his time is consumed with cleaning up after Sasuke’s outbursts as of late.Finally, the day comes where Korin must return to Konoha— alone. She has a note from Tsume, so it’s not any more difficult to get in than last time. Once past the gate, she realizes it’s not as busy today and relaxes, pulling the hood of her cloak down. It really is unlikely that she’ll be recognized. Her heart aches to see the pups, but there’s business to be taken care of first. Trying to lug around 4 wild wolf pups while attempting to gather information is a recipe for disaster. When she reaches the Inuzuka compound, she spots Kiba waiting for her, sitting on a railing while swinging his legs. There’s another boy standing on the stairs with his arms crossed. He’s got spiky brown hair and a face obscured by sunglasses and a high collared jacket. An Aburame for sure, Korin thinks. She’s only vaguely heard of the clan. They’re a highly secretive bunch, which is not very promising in terms of learning information.“Hey, Seiko,” Kiba greets, hopping down from the railing with a grunt. “This is Shino,” he points to the other boy, who dips his head. “Shino, this is Seiko.”“Nice to meet you,” Korin says quietly, anxiety overtaking her. She hates talking to new people. Especially weird 12 year olds. She’s got no idea how you’re supposed to talk to kids. Shino just hums in response.“We should probably talk somewhere more private,” says Kiba, already starting to walk off down the street to find an alleyway. Korin and Shino are quick to follow. The outsider is nervous, checking over her shoulder constantly, searching for potential eavesdroppers.“There’s no one around,” Shino says without even turning back to look at her. “My bugs would find them if there were.” Korin watches in fascination as a swarm of beetles pours out of Shino and surrounds him. She’s much too used to the horrors of decomposition to be even slightly disgusted by bugs. “Woah, what kind of beetles are those?” She asks.“Most of them are kikaichū,” Shino answers. “A species cultivated by my clan that feed off chakra. The others are kidaichū, which also feed off chakra, however if given the incorrect amount, will begin to consume the flesh of their host. Very useful in battle, should you know how to handle them.”This is probably meant to intimidate her, but her morbid curiosity overpowers it. “Can I see one?” She asks eagerly. “Um, if that’s alright, of course.”Shino pauses, swiveling to face her. She can’t really make out his expression beneath the sunglasses and high collar, but he does tilt his head a little as he regards her. At length, he replies, “Hold out your hand.”She does. A small beetle emerges from his jacket and flies over to land on her palm. “Oh, wow,” she breathes, bringing her hand up to her face to study it more closely. “They look a little bit like tiger beetles.”The boy perks up slightly. “I suppose they do, now that you mention it.”She squints at the bug. “Not iridescent, though. And their legs are a little shorter.”“Well, not all types of cicindelinae are iridescent,” Shino contends. “Cinindela repanda, the bronzed tiger beetle, for example. They inhabit shores, so I imagine the iridescence would make them stand out too much.”Korin raises her eyebrows. “Oh, damn, you know their scientific names and everything? That’s incredible!”The genin looks a bit taken aback, scratching behind his head awkwardly. He’s not very used to people being interested in his bugs or his extensive knowledge on them, unless they’re also Aburame.Kiba wrinkles his nose, dragging his teeth up his tongue. “It’s freaky is what it is.”“I don’t think so,” Korin hums, shaking her head before looking up to address Shino. “You live in a sort of symbiosis with these beetles, right?”“Essentially,” he nods, but then suddenly stiffens. “Hold on. How do you know that?”Shit. “It’s not hard to guess,” she lies with a smooth poker face. “I don’t know how much Kiba has told you about me, but I’ve lived deep in the forest for the last 7 years, surviving by myself. I spend a lot of time studying wilderness and the relationships of flora and fauna. With the way you were talking about being a ‘host’, I assume your bugs regard your body similar to the way a bee regards a flower.”“You’re not wrong,” Shino grunts, relaxing. “Though most would view them more like a parasite.”“The relationship is almost parasitic, yes, since I assume they feed off your chakra. But it seems like you have control over them in return, which makes it mutualistic symbiosis.”Kiba, thoroughly bored with the conversation, tugs Shino’s sleeve to get him moving again. The Aburame boy compromises by walking backwards, facing Korin as they continue down the street in search of an alleyway. Korin tracks him with her peripheral vision to follow him as she keeps most of her focus on the kikaichū in her hand.“So, you said bronzed tiger beetles, uh, red…panda—““Repanda.” He corrects.“Right, repanda. You said they’re brown? What are the iridescent ones then? I see them a lot in the spring. I’ve always found them sort of fascinating.”“Could be a few types. The Cicindelidae family has hundreds of species.”“Oh.”Sighing, he throws her a bone. “What do the ones you see look like? Are they bright green?”“Well, they have green on them for sure, but not overwhelmingly. They’re mostly kinda… reddish? Purplish? Reddish green?”“Where do you usually see them, environment wise?”“Near ditches and clay banks, mostly.”“Mm, sounds like common claybank tiger beetles. Cicidenla limbalis.”“Creative name.”“Not any worse than cysteodemus wislizeni, the black bladder-bodied blister beetle.”“You’re making that up,” Korin balks.“Auughhh, shut up about bugs!” Kiba growls, veering off into a secluded alleyway. “All this nerd talk is hurting my head!”“Ignore him,” Shino shakes his head. “Intelligence isn’t his strong suit.”“You shut the hell up!” the Inuzuka boy snarls.Korin grimaces, unsure of what to say. Thankfully, Shino just brushes his teammate off and turns to face her. “So, Kiba tells me you’re spying on Orochimaru’s assistant, Kabuto Yakushi, and that you want to know more about his relation to our village’s Anbu forces. Is that correct?”“Yes, it is.” She nods.“Well, I couldn’t gather much, seeing as it’s highly confidential information,” the boy says in a hushed tone, noticeably more serious. “Confidential enough that I wouldn’t be meeting with you at all if Kiba hadn’t vouched for you.”Korin casts a thankful glance at Kiba, who in return just shrugs and scratches behind his head.Shino continues, “What I managed to learn was that both Kabuto and his mother, Nonou Yakushi, were operatives for a former branch of Anbu called Root.”Korin goes completely rigid. It’s been a while since she’s thought of Root, and she struggles to keep her expression impassive.It’s Kiba who responds, “Huh? I’ve never even heard of Root.”“I’m not surprised, given the top-secret nature of Anbu and the fact that Root was disbanded 4 years ago.”“Do you know why it was terminated?” Korin asks carefully.“No clue,” the Aburame shakes his head. “And before you ask, I don’t know what its purpose was, either.”She inhales slowly. “That’s okay. I know his mother is dead, do you know what might’ve happened to her?”He shrugs. “I assume she was killed in action, like most ninja are.”An unfamiliar voice floats down from above. “I’d avoid making assumptions about things we’re unfamiliar with. In fact, I’d avoid discussing these things with any of my fellow villagers, let alone an outsider.”The three of them gasp as a man in a black cloak jumps down from the roof, landing on a nearby crate before hopping to the ground. His face is obscured by an animal mask.“You two should get running and watch your tongues, lest they get cut off,” he threatens the startled genin before turning to face Korin. “And you’ll be coming with me.”“I’m afraid that won’t be necessary,” a different voice calls from behind Korin, and she instantly whips to face the source. It’s another man in a cat-like animal mask, but his uniform is that of an Anbu operative. He has short brown hair and is a few inches taller than Korin. His scent seems strangely familiar to her, though his voice doesn’t ring a bell. She’s come to know several Anbu members from multiple villages over the years. The fact that she can’t recognize his identity by scent indicates that she hasn’t seen him in a very long time.“I’ve got this handled from here,” he tells the man in the cloak.The menacing stranger doesn’t move. “I don’t take orders from you.”Korin’s blood runs cold. Anbu work directly for the Hokage. The fact that this cloaked man ignored directions from the Anbu operative means he answers to someone he considers above the Hokage. Nausea floods her throat. She already knows who he works for: Danzō. She’s dug herself into a far deeper hole than she ever intended.The man in the cloak is a member of Root.“You would disobey the commands of someone who speaks for the Hokage?” The Anbu agent asks incredulously. “Who do you take orders from if not her? Your actions are that of a traitor!” His hand flies to his weapon pouch.Korin can’t help but admire the way he’s forcing the Root agent into a corner. The cloaked man glances at Kiba and Shino— witnesses. He can’t let anyone know that Root still operates in secret despite the former Hokage’s orders for it to be disbanded. He has no option but to concede. Reluctantly, he raises his palms up in surrender.“Of course not, my mistake,” he says with a laugh that imitates anxiety. “The village is my utmost priority. I didn’t intend to imply otherwise.”“Then this is no longer any of your business,” the Anbu agent states, losing patience with the formalities. “So get lost.”The Root member growls but turns away. He moves to traverse the rooftops and is gone within a flash. The Anbu agent then addresses Kiba and Shino. “This matter doesn’t involve you two, either. Be on your way and speak nothing of this.”“But—“ Kiba starts.“I’m not asking.”His tone is so fierce that Kiba’s complaint instantly dies in his throat. The genin dip their heads and disperse, leaving Korin alone with the Anbu operative.The man sighs heavily, reaching under his mask to rub his face before replacing it. “You always were trouble, weren’t you?”She tentatively leans forward to sniff him deeper, trying to figure out who he is. He clears her throat and reaches out to push her back, though it proves unnecessary as she flinches from the movement and immediately retreats several steps.“Still jumpy as ever, I see.” He hums.“I think I know you,” she finally replies. “But I can’t recognize you.”“I’m not surprised. We were kids when we last met. I might not have recognized you either if it hadn’t been for,” he gestures across his mask, mimicking the scar that tears through her cheek and nose, “That.”A memory bubbles to the surface of her mind. Something about following a strange boy with long brown hair who crossed her territory, curious about his intentions. The boy had been wary, though, and became frightened once he realized he was being followed. He suddenly threw a kunai at her with such incredible precision that she only avoided death by jerking to the side, causing the blade to rip across her face instead of burying into her forehead.He’d been expecting her to retaliate, so he was confused when she fell out of the tree clutching her face, gasping and crying. It was only then that he realized that she wasn’t an enemy. He wasn’t particularly good with emotions, so rather than try to comfort her, he offered advice on how to get the bleeding to stop. She remembers finding it strangely endearing.“Tenzō?” She breathes, tilting her head as if she might be able to see through his mask.“Ah, I thought that would make you remember,” he confirms.“Tenzō,” she repeats. The situation slowly dawns on her. “Holy shit, I haven’t seen you in forever. I think you were like, what, 16 when I last saw you? How old are you now?”“22,” he answers. “Still 2 years older than you. That hasn’t changed.”“Oh. Right. Duh,” she mutters, feeling a little embarrassed.“That’s not really important, though,” he shakes his head. “What’s important is what the hell you’re doing here, asking about Kabuto’s history with Root.”“To be fair, that’s not the main reason I’m here. I’m actually supposed to be picking up my puppies from the Inuzuka clinic.”“Korin.” He says firmly.She knows not to argue with that tone. “I’ve been working with the Sound, and they haven’t realized I’m a double agent trying to gather information on him.”“I know damn well you’re no double agent,” he grunts. “You’re a neutral party. You sell information for goods; don’t think I don’t remember.”“Well, then, you got me. That’s what I’m doing.”“No it isn’t.”She blinks, at a loss for words.“If that’d been what you were doing, you would’ve just said so,” he continues. “But instead you made up some lie about being a double agent. So what’re you really doing?”Her gaze slips around, unable to face him directly now. “I wish I had a better reason, but the truth is, I’m just curious. I’ve been in contact with him several times, and he’s quite mysterious, so I want to know more about him.”Tenzō groans. “He’s not good company to keep in the slightest. Do you have any idea what he’s done?”“I know some of it. You know that I’m neutral, Tenzō, I have to be.”“He directly contributed to the murder of the former Hokage and very nearly killed our current one. He’s slaughtered countless Anbu. And that’s barely scratching the surface of the atrocities he’s committed!”Korin grimaces. “I know.”“And you’re alright with this?”“Of course not!” She snaps, offended by the accusation. “Did I ever say I was? It’s only a business relationship. I need the medical supplies.”“Right, because it’s not like the information you trade with him will play a part in future bloodshed,” he spits.“Yeah, maybe it would, if information was what I trade with him!” She grits her teeth, trying to keep her temper from boiling over. “But it’s a supply trade both ways, if you must know. Raw meat and herbs, nothing else.” Except for the time she told him where Tsunade was hiding. She probably shouldn’t mention that.Tenzō huffs and rubs his temples, though his body language grows more resigned. After a long silence, he says, “You know, there’s room for you in our village. It wouldn’t be hard for me to get you in. And you wouldn’t have to live like this.”The softness in his voice feels like a blade tearing through her heart, but she bites her lip and shakes her head sadly. “I’m sorry.”“I knew you’d refuse,” he sighs. “But I thought I’d offer anyway.”“I appreciate it, really, I do.”He shrugs dismissively. “Well, anyway, you’re not going to get any more information about that situation. I’m a little surprised you got as much as you did. I’m warning you, leave it alone from here on out. You’ve attracted some very dangerous attention.”“Warning me? Why, do you know something about Kabuto’s involvement with Root?”“No,” he says much too quickly. Korin squints as she realizes he’s not even trying to seem convincingShe tilts her head with an air of curiosity, taking a step towards him. Her eyebrows raise in a silent question. Tenzō glances around to make sure they’re still completely alone before lifting his mask up to his nose. He opens his mouth and extends his tongue. Korin’s attention is immediately drawn to the black markings on it: three solid lines and two broken lines running from the back of his tongue to the tip.“What—“ she starts, but cuts herself off as she realizes what this symbol is. Cursed seals aren’t something she’s particularly well versed in, but she can recognize one when she sees it. She hasn’t a clue what this one is or what exactly it does, though piecing context clues together tells her it most likely prevents Tenzō from speaking about certain things.It’s territory she has to tread very carefully for both of their sakes, especially his. After thinking it over, she whispers, “If I guess things about the situation or… this,” she gestures to the seal. “Are you able to say yes or no?”He replaces his mask and takes a moment to adjust it before shaking his head. “What about nodding or shaking your head instead?”A pause. He nods.She hums softly, furrowing her brows. “Shit, that’s still not great… there’s only so much I can guess, and trying to word everything in a yes or no question is gonna be hard.”“You could leave it alone, like I asked you to,” Tenzō suggests dryly.“You know I can’t.”“I won’t answer your guesses, then. I’m not going to enable you.”“Indeed, you don’t have to, but I’ll only try other ways to find the information, likely much more dangerous ones. If that’s fine with you, then go ahead and refuse to answer my questions.”She doesn’t need to see his eyes under the mask to tell that he’s glaring at her fiercely. It’s not like she’s feeling all that great about it either; she doesn’t like forcing him into a tough spot like this. But she needs to avoid Danzo’s attention if at all possible.“Fine,” he hisses through gritted teeth, crossing his muscular arms and standing up straighter. “Ask your questions. But after we’re finished, I’m escorting you straight out of the village, and you had better not come back.”“Well, I have to pick up my puppies from the Inuzuka compound,” she reminds him, seeming unbothered by his demand that she leave and stay away for the foreseeable future. She doesn’t exactly have any reason to come back after this, and in fact has several good reasons to avoid Konoha.“Wait, that wasn’t an excuse you made up?” He snorts.Korin huffs at him, putting a hand on her hip. “Please, my excuses are never that shitty! Of course I actually have puppies to pick up, I don’t normally go information hunting myself unless I’m in the area.”Tenzō thinks for a moment. “Right, you normally get other people to do it for you, huh?”“Mhm,” she nods. Suddenly, her expression brightens. “Oh, this actually works out really well; you can help me carry them back home! They’re pretty big, and there’s four of them, so I was kinda dreading carrying all of them at once.”“Eh?“ he sputters, flustered. “W-wait a second! I’m not your personal attendant!”She waves her hand as if moving his protest out of the way, looking deep in thought. Her expression grows more serious as she regards him, and he stiffens as he realizes she’s about to start questioning him. He takes a moment to smooth himself over.Her first question is uttered in a quiet murmur, barely audible. “Do you know what happened to Kabuto’s mother?”He nods.“Was she killed in action?”Another nod.“Do you know who did it?”He nods again, this time accompanied by a somber sigh.It takes her a moment to figure out what to ask next. She settles on, “Would I know them?”Finding the question bitterly ironic, he snorts before nodding. “Okay, not liking that reaction…” she grimaces. “It… it wasn’t you, right?”He shakes his head.“Didn’t think it was. Shit, who do you know that I know…” she mumbles to herself.Tenzō turns his head and smooths his hands over his hair, mimicking tying a ponytail, then forms circles with his thumbs and pointer fingers and holds them up to the eyeholes of his mask, crudely imitating glasses.The extensive charades probably would’ve made Korin laugh if she hadn’t immediately recognized the person he was trying to convey. Her heart sinks to her stomach. “You don’t mean… Kabuto?”He nods, confirming her fears.“That doesn’t make sense,” she whispers, bringing her knuckles to her lips. “He loved his mother. He’s told me how much he misses her and how much she meant to him. I can’t imagine he would ever…” she glances up at Tenzō to ask, “Was it intentional?”To her relief, he shakes his head.“Oh,” she sighs. “Fuck, that’s awful. No wonder he doesn’t like talking about it.”Tenzō shrugs indifferently.“I wonder why he told me he was part of Konoha’s Anbu instead of specifying that he was part of Root. Does he have a seal like yours?”He shakes his head.“Mm. Okay. Probably just didn’t want to talk about it, then. How old was he when he left Root?”The Anbu operative takes a few moments to think. Finally, he holds out ten fingers, then four.“14?”The hand holding out four fingers transitions into a thumbs up.“Ah, okay,” she sighs, trying to put more pieces together. Eventually, she relents and shakes her head. “Yeah, that’s all I got.”Tenzō suppresses his surprise with an amused him and shrugs. “Alright then. Let’s go get your puppies and get out of here.”“Sure,” she says. As they begin walking back to the Inuzuka compound, she sheepishly adds, “So, uh, I may have neglected to tell you—“He whips to face her, cutting her off with, “What? What did you do?”“It’s nothing bad!” She holds up her hands defensively. “It’s just… well, they’re not regular dogs… they’re wolf pups.”It’s truly impressive that Tenzō can convey such a fierce glare through a mask. After a few beats of silence, he groans, “You’ve really managed to go fully feral, huh? Raising wolves in the forest? Next it’s gonna turn out that you were raised by them or something.”She laughs. “I wish.”The nerves leak into her tone slightly. Now that they’re getting closer to the actual clinic, the elephant in the room is becoming harder to ignore. She’s been suppressing this thought, refusing to acknowledge it, but the truth is: she doesn’t know if Tadeo is still alive.Tsume and Hana have had no way to contact her all this time. She starts chewing the inside of her cheek until blood washes over her tongue, picturing all the ways everything could have gone wrong. What if all the pups are sick? What if they’ve all died?She crossed the threshold into Inuzuka territory. Only one way to find out, after all. It’s time.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Korin steels herself for the worst as she pushes open the door to the Inuzuka clinic. Hana looks up from behind the front desk, eyes lighting up with surprise when she realizes it’s Korin standing in the lobby. The surprise shifts to mild concern upon spotting the outsider’s Anbu escort, but does her best to suppress it.

“Seiko,” she greets, dipping her head. “Good to see you.”

Korin nods with a nervous smile, ignoring the look Tenzō is giving her beneath his mask from hearing the fake name. “You as well. Sorry to be so blunt, but I have to know, is Tadeo…?”

Hana purses her lips. “He’s pulled through the treatment, miraculously. He’s going to live, but we need to speak to you about what his future is going to look like. Let me grab my mom.”

Korin breaths shakily as Hana excuses herself and disappears down the hall. She’s relieved that Tadeo survived, but deeply concerned about Hana’s tone. When the young Inuzuka woman returns with Tsume, they motion for Korin to follow them. Tenzō minds his business and stays behind in the lobby.

The women enter a treatment room with four crates pressed up against the back wall. Tsume approaches one and lifts the blanket draped over it, unlocking the door and letting it swing open before stepping back. A dark furry head cautiously slinks forward from the shadows, looking around the room. When his yellow eyes find Korin, Tadeo gives a high pitched whine and comes tumbling out, sprinting towards her.

“Oh, baby!” Korin gasps, dropping to her knees to embrace the wriggling pup. His tail wags so hard that his whole body moves in a zigzag pattern. With his youthful energy restored, Tadeo jumps up to lick her face, something he has not done in far too long.

Hana smiles at the scene, teary eyed. “He’s been very apprehensive of us the entire time, it’s so good to see him happy.”

The sound of Korin’s voice cooing at Tadeo causes the other three cages to start rattling and whimpering. She looks up at the Inuzuka women, tilting her head. “Are those the other pups? Can we let them out as well?”

Tsume grunts and nods, moving over to lift the individual blankets and releasing the remaining pups into the room. Korin is immediately tackled and buried beneath a furry mass of wriggling bodies, the room sounding like it’s filled with squeaky toys.

“Well, you can’t say they didn’t miss you,” Tsume chuckles, running a hand through her spiky brown hair.

Korin manages to poke her head out, gasping for air while pushing away the furious tongues trying to get into her mouth. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“So, the other three tested negative for distemper,” the older woman says, beginning to shift into a more professional tone. “And they passed their quarantine period just fine. You got incredibly lucky, not only on their side, but Tadeo’s as well. Like I said, it’s incredibly rare for a pup this young to survive distemper.”

“One of the 20%, aren’t you, boy?” Korin hums, stroking Tadeo’s head.

“Indeed he is. But unfortunately, recovered does not mean cured. Let me ask you, Seiko, what is your long term goal for these pups? Are you planning to keep them as companions or release them back to the wild?”

“Release them, certainly,” Korin replies. “I plan to let them grow up and disperse as they see fit. I would not rob them of their freedom and natural life just to supplement my own.”

“I see,” Tsume rubs her chin, furrowing her brows. “Then I’m afraid you won’t like what I’m about to tell you. Since the virus

did

reach Tadeo’s central nervous system, he is likely to display neurological effects that will last the rest of his life.”

Hana chimes in, “This isn’t much of an issue in the case of domestic canines, but the life of a wild wolf would be greatly impacted.”

Tsume nods, continuing, “Simply put, Tadeo cannot be released into the wild. His quality of life would suffer immensely.”

“How… how so?” Korin asks, swallowing thickly as she tries to remain calm.

“At best, he’s likely to experience underdeveloped teeth and involuntary muscle spasms, like twitching. At worst, he will have seizures and a lack of balance and coordination,” Tsume explains.

Korin feels the blood drain from her face. “Oh god.”

“There are, of course, things you can do to ease these symptoms and support him. But he will need your support for the rest of his life,” the older woman says. She then squints slightly at Korin, putting a hand on her hip. “This is just my own opinion, but if I were you, I would honestly consider keeping him as a ninken.”

“A ninken?” The outsider balks, glancing down at the pup currently digging at her legs in an attempt to get under them. “You’re suggesting I train him that rigourously?”

“It’ll definitely be a challenge, considering he lacks any instinct to please you or listen to you. But the exercise and training would help stimulate his cognitive function and likely improve his balance.”

Korin looks down at the pup, who stares back with shining yellow eyes and a wagging tail. “Yeah? You wanna be a ninken, bud— ACK!” She sputters as he attempts to shove his tongue in her mouth.

“All I’m saying is it’s worth a shot,” Tsume says. “I’ve got a couple books on training ninken I could give you if you want. It’s, you know, kind of our clan’s whole thing.”

“I’d like that, thank you,” Korin nods. She strokes behind Tadeo’s ears slowly before asking, “Is there anything else I should know about his condition?”

Hana is the one to reply, saying, “We’ll be giving you some seizure medication, use it if he starts getting especially bad fits. For dogs that tic frequently, we usually recommend an epsom salt bath and massage to relieve the muscles, but I imagine that might be a bit more difficult to achieve in your situation.”

“Yeah, I don’t exactly have a bathtub. I just bathe in a river.”

“A hot spring might suffice; if you can convince him to get into one, that is,” Hana suggests.

Tsume snorts, “Good luck with that.”

“Anyway, aside from those things and making sure he gets a lot of mental stimulation, there’s really not much else you can do,” the younger Inuzuka woman continues. “There’s no telling right now how severe his condition might be. He could turn out to be mostly fine with nothing but a minor symptom, like randomly winking— but it's best to be prepared for the worst.”

Korin nods. “Right. I appreciate it very much.” Her gaze drifts to the pups, and then a new problem becomes apparent.

Being 4, nearly 5 months old now, the pups have entered what is regarded as the ‘period of rapid growth’, a very self explanatory event. Wolves are nearly full grown by just 6 months of age. When she left them here, they were already quite big and awkward to handle, but now, they’re close to the size of akitas.

Carrying them is out of the question. They’re likely to follow her in the forest, but they’re not even remotely trained, so she knows better than to hope that they’ll stay by her side in a populated area.

“How have they been behaving with you? Do they seem used to human contact?” She asks Tsume and Hana.

Rather than answer, Tsume simply steps forward and extends a hand towards the pups. The reaction is immediate; the pups stiffen, flatten their ears, curl their lips up to show off their teeth, and begin growling quietly. It’s a relief to see.

Retracting her hand, the Inuzuka woman chuckles, “They’re certainly still wary of strangers.”

“So…” Korin grimaces. “How plausible is getting them on leashes so I can take them home?”

Tsume sucks her teeth. “We have slip collars, but the sensation of something tightening around their neck when they pull might cause them to panic.”

The image of 4 massive wolf puppies freaking out isn’t a pleasant one, but there’s few alternatives. The outsider shrugs and sighs, shaking her head as she replies, “Well, good thing I’m strong, then.”
 
***
 
Getting them out of the village is a hassle. The pups are curious, wanting to follow any strange scent they find (which is all of them), and proceed to get very upset every time the collars inevitably constrict around their necks. They never seem to put together that pulling is what causes the collars to tighten, so the cycle repeats endlessly. Korin drags them writhing and yowling through the streets while Tenzō follows, a tote bag full of pill bottles and books on ninken slung over his shoulder.

“You know, I know you told me they were wolves, but part of me really thought you were kidding,” the Anbu operative snorts.

Korin huffs and shakes her head, “No, they are very much real wolves,” her voice trembles with strain. “They’ve got the strength of— Ichiro

, stop it—

of real wolves too. I mean, they’re still gonna— Haura

, move,

come

on—

still gonna get even bigger.”

“Bigger?” Tenzō laughs incredulously. “They’re already huge. I would’ve thought they were adults if it weren’t for the way they behave.”

“No, yeah, if you measure them at the shoulder, full grown wolves come up to about—

augh

,” she pauses mid-sentence to groan as Tadeo and Ichiro try to go in different directions, their leashes crossing and wrapping around Korin’s waist and legs. “Oh my

god

, you guys, figure it out!”

“Come up to about…?” Tenzō prompts as Korin takes a minute to detangle the leashes.

She finally finishes and gestures to her hip, replying “About here… at least, on me;  for you, they’d reach a little above the middle of your thigh.”

The shinobi stares down at his legs, placing his hand on his thigh and trying to imagine a wolf. “That’s big,” he eventually confirms.

They continue through the village, stopping every so often when Korin has to rearrange the pups. When they reach the gates, the guards give her a strange look for having an Anbu escort, but his demeanor is casual enough that they don’t question it.

Reaching a zone out of earshot of the guards, Korin turns slightly to tell Tenzō, “You know, you don’t need to follow me the whole way home. I’m not gonna come back.”
He shrugs. “I’m treating this like a job so that I don’t draw suspicion, and it’s not an escort mission if I don’t actually escort you to your destination.”
The trader hums, squinting at him. It’s a weak excuse, and while it could be true, it’s more likely that he’s following her to learn where her latest base is. That makes her uneasy, but Tenzō has always been respectful enough about her position as a neutral party, so she relents.

Once they get deep enough into the forest, Korin crouches down and individually takes the slip-collars off of the pups. Released from the torment known as ‘wearing a leash’, Ichiro instantly begins running laps around his siblings.

“Oh god, here we go,” Korin groans.

Tadeo, seeing Ichiro’s excitement, drops into a play bow and growls deeply. Ichiro halts and stands taller, though not stiff, raising his tail up high and wagging it. His black lips part into a wolfy grin. Each time Tadeo smacks the ground with his paws, Ichiro huffs and flinches, his tail gradually wagging faster.

For a moment, both pups are still. Then, Tadeo suddenly bolts off and breaks into a sprint, pursued closely by a growling Ichiro. Tenzō goes rigid as the two wolves graze his legs while zooming by.

“Don’t lock your legs,” Korin suggests in the weary tone of someone who has experienced this many times before. “They don’t have much spatial awareness while playing and are very clumsy. If they crash into you while chasing each other, and they probably will, you want to have your knees bent so that you can regain your footing.”

“It’s alright,” he replies, watching the pups warily. “I’m a lot stronger than you think.”

“Tenzō, I know how strong you are,” she sighs, annoyed. “But it doesn’t mean—“

She’s cut off as the pups circle back and Tadeo barrels head first into the back of the Leaf shinobi’s legs, knocking his feet out from under him. Tenzō shouts in surprise as he falls flat on his ass, whacking Ichiro with his arm on the way down, which produces a startled yelp from the wolf.

The commotion alarms Haura and Reika, and they begin circling the prone shinobi while snarling. Tadeo is quick to abandon his playful demeanor in favor of going stiff and stalking up to join the aggressive display.

“Hey, hey!” Korin yells, immediately getting between Tenzō and the wolves to act as a physical barrier. She waves her arm while vocalizing angrily, forcing the pups to back up. “Get off the ground, quickly,” she instructs Tenzō.

He springs back on his feet, standing tall and clutching his weapon pouch defensively. The chorus of growls slowly tapers off as the pups give up and slink off to a more comfortable distance. Their beady yellow eyes still stare him down, though.

“What the hell was that about?” He asks, clearly irritated as he brushes dirt off of his vest.

“A combination of things. You hit Ichiro on your way down, which they interpreted as you attacking him, so they wanted to defend him,” Korin groans. “But most of what just happened was caused by instinct.”

“What instinct?” He scoffs. “The instinct to eat people?”

“No, wolves don’t eat other carnivores,” She waves a hand dismissively, missing the sarcasm in his voice. “It was because you fell. Wolves instinctively recognize that falling to the ground puts a creature in a vulnerable position that is perfect to take advantage of. If an elk trips, they know it might be their only chance to take it down and will rush in.”

“Great,” he sighs. “Anything else I should know so we don’t have a repeat of that situation?”

She shrugs, “Uh… avoid direct eye contact, don’t turn your back to them, don’t run, try not to make sudden movements. Those are the basics. Also, wolves love stealing things, so don’t let them near your weapon pouch.”

“Right, because I was going to see if they wanted to play fetch with a flash bomb.”

“Thankfully they don’t play fetch, they just like cacheing things they find. My pups particularly love kunai.”

“Is that not a problem for you?”

“Oh no, it absolutely is.”

Tenzō laughs softly as they continue to walk deeper into the forest. The pups occasionally frolic off into the underbrush, but always return to Korin’s side within a few minutes. Eventually, they pass into the clearing where the rendezvous site is located. A scent wafts through the air, one that excites the pups, but causes Korin to freeze.

Kabuto.

The scent is strong, recent— he’s still here. She can’t see him, but she can put together that he’s probably concealed in the branches above her storage. It’s likely that he heard her talking with Tenzō and went into hiding. She forces herself to relax before she attracts the Anbu agent’s suspicion. These two can

not

run into each other.

The pups rush ahead of her and begin snuffling around the ground with great purpose. Tenzō cocks an eyebrow as they approach the bundle of trees.

“An animal passed through here recently,” she quickly explains. “They’re trying to track it.”

“Oh, I see. Sharp noses,” he nods.

“Yeah,” she agrees, chuckling a little too loudly before clearing her throat. “Well, uh, this is it. My humble… abode…”

“Looks as typical as I remember,” Tenzō snorts, running his hand along the bark of the nearest tree. He watches her shuffle back and forth on her feet for a few moments. “Me being here makes you uncomfortable, doesn’t it?”

“No, no,” she says too fast. Cringing, she lets her shoulders droop before admitting, “Uh… yeah. Sorry. I’m just not used to having people around here. Puts me a little on edge.” She wills herself not to look upwards, to find Kabuto in the leaves. She can’t give his location away. It takes everything in her to keep her eyes on Tenzō.

“Well, I’ll get out of your hair then,” the Anbu operative relents, laughing softly. He turns to leave.

Korin exhales.

And then he pauses, looking over his shoulder to add, “Be wary of Kabuto. Don’t trust him. That man is nothing but a snake, and you’re going to get bitten if you keep acting the way you do.”

God damn it.

Korin visibly pales, swallowing noisily. “Y-yeah… yeah, okay, I know,” she mumbles. She’s

so

fucked.

She watches him leave, trudging across the field before disappearing into the thicket. Tadeo comes up to her, scratching at her leg in an attempt to play, but she doesn’t move. All she can do is bite the inside of her cheek until blood fills her mouth, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It isn’t long before Kabuto’s voice cuts through the silence, his tone sharp as the scalpels he uses. “

Nothing but a snake

?”

Korin slowly turns to look up at him, her demeanor not dissimilar to a dog caught digging through the trash. “Listen—“

“What did you tell him?” He interrupts, staring at her with a dangerous expression. His onyx eyes are cold as stone. Korin has seen it before, this predatory look: the beginning of his killing intent. The hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

The pups sense her terror and quickly come to stand beside her, their fur bristling and ears pricked in alarm as they attempt to source the threat. She’s frozen solid, deer in headlights,

maybe if she doesn’t move he’ll forget she’s there

.

“Korin,” he prompts, hand inching towards his weapon pouch.

“N-nothing!” She blurts out. “I told him nothing!”

Kabuto’s expression twists into one of disgust, as if he can’t believe her audacity. “Oh, come

on

.”

“I’m

serious

!” She argues, her expression changing to match his. “I didn’t tell him anything about you!”

“Really? Because what I saw just now was pretty damning evidence against you, if I’m being honest!” He snarls.

“I didn’t—“ she huffs, shaking her head to try to arrange her thoughts. “I

asked

him about

you

. I got information

from

him. I didn’t

tell

him jack shit!”

Kabuto scowls. “Then what did you ask him about?”

She looks away, biting her lip hard. Kabuto leans back slightly on his branch as he watches a thin stream of blood drip down her chin, frowning. “Your… your background with Anbu. It didn’t make sense to me. So I asked around. Got a lot more than I bargained for.”

“How so?”

“Why didn’t you just tell me that you worked for Root?” She counters. “I would’ve understood, you know.”

He squints unpleasantly. “I didn’t

want

you to know,” He says slowly, his words heavy.

“Why not? Don’t trust me?”

“No, and clearly you don’t trust me, either.”

She wants to grab him by the shoulders and shake him, screaming

Because you’re a fucking spy, dipshit! Of course I doubt the things you tell me!

(But that won’t end well, she’s certain).

He snorts softly, sneering at her. “Well, what else did you find out? Be honest with me. It’s in your best interest.”

She doesn’t like this side of him at all. Still refusing to make eye contact, she admits, “I found out about your past with Root and… what happened to your mother.”
Her eyes are squeezed shut for impact. She doesn’t have to see his face to know the way he must be looking at her. His response is venomous, “Oh, and wasn’t it so worth it? Wasn’t I hiding such a big dark secret? Are you proud—“
“Shut the fuck up!” She barks, startling him into silence. Her eyes are blazing as she finally returns his glare. “Don’t you

fucking

high road me! Like you haven’t done your research on me, like you haven’t tried to figure

my

shit out!”

He opens his mouth to respond but snaps his lips shut, pressing them into a thin line. He can’t argue that. Standing up, he grips a nearby branch to steady himself. “Well, then. I think we’re done here.”

“Why were you even here?” She questions bitterly.

“To see if Tadeo survived. Congratulations,” he says, though there’s no feeling to the sentiment.

She frowns, glancing away somberly. Yes, Tadeo is alive, but stripping him of his wild status is nothing to celebrate. She was longing to tell him, but now she has no interest in entrusting him with such information. “Thank you,” she responds flatly.

He says nothing more and simply hops down from the tree before sprinting off into the field and eventually disappearing from sight. Korin slumps down at the base of her tree, stroking Tadeo’s neck as he comes up to lick her tears.