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Post by Orochimaru on Jul 3, 2007 14:11:52 GMT -5
Withdrawing to a random room on the side, one of those no one but him and whoever intended to find him for a private chat ever entered or payed any attention to, Orochimaru placed his palms on the desk, keeping his back turned on the door as it closed itself with a hollow thud. Below his eyes, sprawled out on the wooden surface, were various instruments and papers he had scribbled on, all consequences of his newest ideas of an experiment. Mostly all of the unused rooms had been cluttered with such materials... he hadn't been displaying the most orderly side of his character. Truth be told, he hadn't had a reason to care. But now...
He waited for Kabuto to follow, his mind quickly scheming the most rapid possible strategy to move and label everything, in order to clear up some space and facilitate moving around for his followers without the risk of them touching and damging anything. He would move these on his own... and he had just the right idea of where to place them. After all, there was a reason why this place looked more like an ensemble of cellars than anything else.
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Post by Yakushi Kabuto on Jul 3, 2007 14:30:56 GMT -5
Suffering from a small moment of hesitation whose reasons not even he could determine, Kabuto paused in front of the door, reluctant to open it yet. It had just closed, even while he paced towards it, and somehow it seemed like it should stay that way for a few more moments. This was always the case when he went to speak with Orochimaru, almost as if he feared the man would consume a part of him. And in a way, the Sannin did, every time those sharp eyes were set upon Kabuto, with their cold lack of any emotion of the heart. They induced the distinct sensation... of feeling like an instrument.
Which he was, by choice. Or perhaps by a twist of fate.
Not taking any more than that one necessary second he spent with himself each time, Kabuto reached out his hand and touched the handle with hesitating fingers that soon clutched and formed a resolute grip. Pressing and then pushing gently, he walked into the shadowy room and found the somewhat obscured form of Orochimaru treating him with its back as it loomed over a desk.
"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto called softly, with the omnipresent tinge of respect, mindful not to bother or disturb the man from anything he may have been doing.
He lowered his head slightly and fixed his gaze to the floor, as the lenses shielded his eyes from dim candlelight, reflecting it to other corners of the small chamber. He hadn't come with a purpose of his own, but because he had been summoned, and therefore he waited to receive the details of this call. Or perhaps to be toyed with on a whim? Either way, it would be... too little, too close to nothing, yet enough to cling to. It was all that, as he had come to know, Orochimaru ever offered.
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Post by Orochimaru on Jul 3, 2007 14:47:05 GMT -5
At the same time Kabuto's eyes started to leave his back, Orochimaru began to turn in order to face his subordinate. As he did so, he couldn't help but chuckle lightly; it was true that his arrival had been rather rushed and he had thrown indefinite fragments of info at Kabuto, but to cause this much unrest? It was as amusing as these matters ever got, in a way, while otherwise it was serious.
"Kabuto," he replied, allowing his voice to gain a tiny devious facet he had somehow managed to develop and reserve especially for talking to this young man. It always seemed to... affect him somehow.
Then, once the tension had been built, he mercilessly changed the game's torturous, slow pace to an unexpected directness, as his eyes narrowed. "There's someone I'd like you to... accomodate." He threw a casual smirk Kabuto's way. "I just brought her... but she promises much."
((Side Note? Supposedly helpful info... I think in a previous post I typed that Orochimaru actually asked Kabuto about Tsukiko, so... erm... I think Kabuto would be able to guess what he's talking about. o.O))
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Post by Yakushi Kabuto on Jul 3, 2007 15:04:51 GMT -5
(Yeah, I checked the other threads out, don't worry.)
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Kabuto's eyes never left a small stain on the floor's old stone surface, whose solid mass he could feel below his feet, always there, always the same, unlike the constantly shifting people. Unlike the intangible entity that was Orochimaru, who often rendered him unable to guess, even despite the constant attempts he made as he tried to find truth. There were times when it seemed he was trusted and, somehow, associated with the value a human being was said to have. And there were times when he felt like a mere tool, no different from other tools.
"Kane, Tsukiko," he voiced out calmly, knowing this guess, at least, had been accurate.
He had been asked to turn in whatever info he had on that girl just earlier and he had complied, knowing Orochimaru would use everything to test her. He had known he intended to bring her here if she met the criteria, he just hadn't concerned himself with what, at the time, had seemed like a distant possibility. And now, there was someone new. It could only be that one.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked for more indications, his voice blank and attitude docile.
In a way, he was glad that he was getting to interact with her among the first, before Otogakure and its leader would have the chance to change her. This way, he could see for himself and perhaps find out what Orochimaru-sama had found so interesting. How that knowledge would be useful to him, he had no idea, but he would have it, for whatever it was worth.
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Post by Orochimaru on Jul 3, 2007 15:34:42 GMT -5
Orochimaru didn't hurry his reply a single moment, taking his time to pace what little distance separated him from Kabuto and stop in front of his most efficient and reliable pawn of sorts. He wondered if he had detected a slight trace of personal interest in him, but with Kabuto not even he could know. Besides his abilities and the blind loyalty he supposedly had (which Orochimaru still found plenty of room to question), this puzzle with an apparent lack of a solution was what truly made Kabuto as valuable as he was.
Orochimaru kept this one close to him because he was curious, among other things, to see what the young medical nin was actually doing with himself. During the years, there was only one conclusion he had truly managed to reach - Kabuto wouldn't betray him, even when given ample opportunity to do so.
"Show her around..." he finally spoke, letting each word roll out of his mouth in a shower of subterfuge, with perhaps only the smallest bit of a tease in it. "Then bring her here... to the last piece..."
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Post by Yakushi Kabuto on Jul 3, 2007 15:57:14 GMT -5
As Orochimaru approached him, Kabuto could only remain immobile and wonder what game of insight they were playing this time. In a way, he enjoyed being tested all the time, with even the smallest issue, but in other ways, he would have liked to feel... truly trusted, for even a small moment. Theoretically at least, there had even been moments like that, but with Orochimaru-sama, everything was questionable. Invariably, however, the shadows that danced around the candles, never able to fully overcome their light, somehow seemed fit for these situations.
As the words -- his orders -- sank in, Kabuto bowed slightly in a half-rushed move.
"Hai, Orochimaru-sama," he agreed without a second thought, glancing at the pale Sannin for only the briefest of moments and knowingly meeting his eyes, before his gaze was averted again.
As an extension of that same sequence of merged moves, he turned towards the door, but did not truly move to exit yet. He had not received the last word, as he well knew, and with it the actual permission to leave. Nothing would happen if he did go, he knew that much, but still he stayed, obediently and choicelessly, like the tool he was currently turned into.
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Post by Orochimaru on Jul 3, 2007 16:17:24 GMT -5
"What are you waiting for, Kabuto?" Orochimaru asked the question casually, almost managing to sound like his curiosity was genuine instead of a facade for yet another tease. He knew how well Kabuto would be aware of his true intent here, but the purpose of the game was, firstly, just that... to play it. Thus, a lack of purpose, actually, other than personal enjoyment.
He stared at his subordinate's white mane, at the back of his head. That move... this angle... they were both meant to shield Kabuto from Orochimaru, apparently. Because he was the dominant half of this report, and both parties involved were well aware of that.
There was a single glint of real, actual curiosity, surrounding one small question: why? Orochimaru believed that lack of a meaning often found in his followers, the weakness that made them vulnerable and which he exploited, was the thing that allowed them to test and surpass their limits. To actually tolerate what he did to them and see it as somewhat of a good thing, compared to the nothing they'd had before.
"Go," he finally added, putting an end to the tension.
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Post by Yakushi Kabuto on Jul 3, 2007 16:50:56 GMT -5
At the question, Kabuto gave a small start, his muscles freezing him in place. It was more of a mental state than anything physical to betray his hesitation, but it existed nonetheless. It was the same sensation he had had back then, a long while ago, when he had been told to retrieve Sasuke from that hospital room. And an unnecessary thing had been added -- that the only way to stop Orochimaru would be to kill Sasuke.
But there were no such mentions here, now.
The imperceptibly accelerated rate of Kabuto's heartbeat returned to normal and he exhaled his withheld breath in silence, without the slightest trace of strain. Still, he was sure Orochimaru had seen his true reaction, the one his statue-like state concealed behind, the one that actually had a bit of emotion in it.
With a small nod of acknowledgment, he reached for the door, trying to seem like he wasn't rushing at all, when in fact he didn't know whether he ached to leave the room or wished to stay through more of this. Finally, not looking like he had faltered at all, he opened the door barely enough to fit through the gap and slipped out in a shuffle of cloth brushing against wood.
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Post by Orochimaru on Jul 4, 2007 9:46:58 GMT -5
Once he was alone again, Orochimaru shook his head slightly in amusement, smiling obliviously to himself. Kabuto was almost always a welcome distraction to him, much more than any other resident of Otogakure. The only people capable of making him feel more intrigued than that were those who posed a challenge to him, those he knew could actually defeat or even kill him if he didn't tread carefully.
And there were very few of those. It was another of those things that backfired. It was, naturally, satisfying to know you were so powerful that few could even dream of taking you on, but at the same time there was the negative side of too few challenges arising to sate his conflict-loving self.
But he shouldn't be concerning himself with these repetitive thoughts right now. He had many things to label and find proper places for and too little time to waste. He returned to the desk and began to gather his instruments, dividing them by category and wrapping them in plastic for the time being. Finally, things were stirring again... and that was how he liked them.
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