Bab 27: More variables
"Don't suppose we can postpone this for like ten, fifteen, minutes max?" I say.
In response my snake sensei shot forward trying to end my test before I could do anything.
Fire release built up within me, boiling to an almost volatile level before being released. One by one more snakes began to show up. Cutting off the fire, I jumped backwards as a large purple snake emerged from the ground right beneath where I just was.
They're not going to toy with me like they usually do. This is a test from Orochimaru, if I make a mistake that's it, no small bites as punishment, they will end the fight.
Pulling up my mask preemptively I once again needed to jump as lots of little snakes were covering the floor. Landing in a tree four copies of my tormentor are waiting, the bastard who refuses to tell me his name just because I forgot it the first time he told me.
This is only going to work once.
If I don't succeed this test will end in failure.
My senses wash over each of them in but a moment.
That one.
Chakra surged through my system unrestrained as I put everything into this one attack. Slamming into one of the copies I don't pass though it as this one isn't an illusion, this is the original.
Seems he really didn't expect me to be able to tell which one of him was the real one. I can understand why a week ago I wouldn't have been able to, but my chakra sense just keeps growing. Despite Kakashi's best attempts I can sense him no problem, genius Kakashi can't keep up with my senses rate of improvement.
I was always going to be able to pick out the original from the clones.
It was simply a matter of when.
Crashing into him I stab him right below his head. In a puff of smoke he disappears. Banished back to wherever it is these snakes come from.
All around the other snakes stop, from the numerous small ones, to my snake sensei little line up of other snakes he contracted just to toy with me. They all stood motionless, none of them expecting not only to lose but for it to end so quickly, whatever plans they had were now useless.
"Excellently done Sozo, you continue to impress," Orochimaru said, approaching me.
"Ha! I won," I say my boundless energy still in effect refusing to let me calm down.
"Yes you won, with time to spare."
"I had a time limit?"
"Yes. Originally in order to pass my little test all you had to do was survive, it seems I underestimated you Sozo."
"How long was the time limit?"
"Half an hour."
"Yeesh you expected me to survive for that long?"
"No, I expected you to fail."
"Wow sensei you expected me, the mighty student of the Snake Sannin, to fail? Surely you jest," I say
Orochimaru just smiled, "I have a surprise for you Sozo."
"Oh and what would that be?"
"Follow and I'll show you."
Orochimaru led me to the Academy of all places.
"What are we doing here?"
Orochimaru didn't respond.
Entering a classroom Orochimaru finally responded, "Sozo meet your new comrades.
"Guess who fucker."
No, it can't be.
"Mitarashi Anko and Taki Nozomi," Orochimaru finished.
…
"So I'm still expected to show up for therapy even though I was cleared," I ask, not even bothering to hide my annoyance.
"That is correct Sozo-san." Yamanaka Kumo said.
Letting out a deep sigh I slump back onto the couch, "Lovely…"
"I believe we last left off. We were just getting into your time near the frontlines.
"I suppose…" I respond as enthusiastically as I can, which is not in the slightest.
"In the mission report it said you returned to command unconscious with no obvious signs of trauma, when brought to the field hospital you were examined with the only problem being exhaustion. A report from the Shinobi in charge of the forward base claimed you didn't sleep once.You were still able to accomplish your mission despite your lack of sleep, while this was concerning your status as the Snake Sannin student protected you. Lord Orochimaru himself went out of his way to make sure this wasn't held against you."
"..."
"I tried to find the supposed reason behind your insomnia, but while Lord Orochimaru said it wasn't your fault he did not give a reason. Typically without a reason this would still be held against you, but Orochimaru's word alone is enough… apparently," Kumo said, her voice shifting to an annoyed tone towards the end.
Huh… Well damn, Orochimaru is a gift that keeps on giving.
"In any other case you would have received some kind of punishment, along with a loss of trust in your capabilities as a sensor. But that's besides the point what I'm concerned with would be the impact your first mission had on you, what was going on in your head during that whole week with no sleep?"
"Um I don't know.. concern?" I say, unsure myself. It was kinda a blur despite how on edge I was the entire time.
"Concern for who? Yourself or those whose safety you were responsible for, unlike most Shinobi, Sensors don't have the comfort of having someone capable of sensing far more than them keeping an ever vigilant eye on everything, as they are the ones who typically play that role. I've spoken to lots of Shinobi over the years and just knowing a sensor is present takes a lot of stress off of them, makes them feel more secure, they don't have to constantly be paranoid because someone like you is present."
"Uhh.. both.. but mostly the first one."
"Do you mind telling me why?"
"I realized what was happening pretty early on, it wasn't the first time nor was it the last," kumo looked like she really wanted to ask me something but held herself back, "but unlike previous times it didn't last a few hours but nearly eight days."
"Can you tell me the reason," Kumo asked, the familiar look of curiosity in her eyes.
"No. If Orochimaru did not state the reason then neither shall I," I say with a tone telling Kumo I wasn't going to budge on the topic.
"I see," Kumo said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"The relief I felt prior to my passing out was immense, but even once I got back I was still kinda in a slump."
"A slump?"
"Yeah I usually just accept the negatives as something I can't do anything about and just focus on the positive, but once I got back I was tired, not in a physical way but a mental one. I wanted to sleep but no matter how much I did the feeling was ever present, I couldn't process my less than positive emotions and file them away like I usually can. Every thought demanded my attention, the village. The war, Sakumo, Kakashi, Orochimaru, and… my father.
"Your father, what do you mean by that," Kumo said, grabbing a file on her desk.
"I started thinking about my father, even though my memories of him are hazy at best. I remember how he would visit whenever he could, which wasn't often. How happy he was when my condition would improve, and how it destroyed him when I would just end up back in the hospital…"
"You've shown remarkable resili-"
"But that is not even the worst part, those are just the general summaries. I can't recall his face, I can't remember what his voice sounded like, I don't even know that man and yet I care about him a lot! Why do I care so much for someone who I don't know," I say interrupting Kumo.
I'm not his son.
"Then one day someone else showed up to tell me my Father was never gonna visit me again. The worst part is I can remember that day with absolute clarity."
A memory that isn't mine. Emotions, not mine, tears not mine, and yet they hurt just to even think about.
I had a family.
A mother.
A father.
Siblings
Friends.
Dreams.
Desires.
A life I would never get back.
I was able to deal with those, I've always tried to be a practical person. There was no getting my life back, I died. It still took time, but I moved on, letting a past I could do nothing about dominate my mind was just going to do more harm to myself if I let it fester. I was in a completely new world. I needed to focus on adapting and so I did. But these memories and emotions from a five year old kid are too much for me apparently.
"Sozo!"
Kumo's voice broke me out of the spiral I was in.
"Oh.. um.. sorry,"
"No need to apologize, you did nothing wrong. Here, this may help you," Kumo said, offering me a file.
Grabbing the file, I opened it. Inside was a file on Akinori's father, Sozo Miyabi, a career chunin of no remarkable caliber.
So that's what he looks like.
He looks like me.
I look like him.
I begin to laugh, unable to control myself.
…
"Are you certain this is a good idea?"
"Leaving your mind the way it is will continue to cause damage leaving you more susceptible to certain personality disorders." Inoichi explained.
"But did you say just entering my mind was difficult? How are you going to do this?"
"With this," Inoichi plopped a helmet of some kind on my head that was connected to another helmet on his head, "and some help," Inoichi said, gesturing to the others Yamanaka in the room."
The Yamanaka are terrifying. Imagine this if you were a captured Shinobi.
"Ready?"
"Let's do this."
"That's the spirit.
All around me the Yamanaka held their hands close to my head while I sat across from Inoichi whose eyes were closed.
Unsure what to do myself, I mirrored Inoichi and closed my eyes.
"Sozo."
Inoichi's voice reverberated all around me as I opened my eyes.
"Sozo." This time his voice was much clearer.
Turning around I saw Inoichi was right behind me.
"Welcome to your mind," Inoichi said.
"This is my mind? It looks just like my room," I say, placing my hand on the wall.
"Well I guess yours places you in a copy of your room," Inoichi said.
Hmm..?
"Try opening a door."
"Alright," sliding open the door to my room I was thrown into the rest of my mindscape.
While my room was comforting and identical to the real thing, the rest was a mess of buildings, trees, and all sorts of vegetation. Some of the buildings were from my past life.
Looking at a decrepit grey skyscraper in the distance Inoichi spoke up, "odd architecture is quite common. I wouldn't think about it too much"
"Ok," the perfect excuse.
"But I'll admit yours is definitely one of the strangest I've seen."
Or not.
"So what's the part you need to fix," I ask.
"Oh I won't be fixing anything."
"Then why are we even doing this?"
"So you know how it feels to be in your own mind, it helps with learning how to enter your mind without the assistance of a Yamanaka. If I fix the damage it will just revert back to its damage self over time, You need to be the one to do it for it to matter.
"Oh.. that makes sense I guess."
"It's not easy, and will likely take years before you can truly fix the damage but it'll be worth it in the end, plus being able to enter one's own mind is quite useful."
The next moment I was back in the Yamanaka compound in the room sitting across from Inoichi. One of the Yamanaka's took off the helmet.
"Once you know what you're doing you'll be free to train this on your own time with check ups every now and then," Inoichi explained.
"Alright. How often will I be instructed?"
"You can go over that with Kumo, she'll also be handling this."
That's convenient.
—-------------------------------------
Taki Nozomi is a background character who was nameless, so I gave him this name. He's apparently a student of Orochimaru, him along with another nameless Genin and Anko made up team Orochimaru. I didn't even know this guy existed until I was doing research for potential teammates to fill the gap. I still need to do some research into his few appearances in Naruto and see if they offer any insight on his personality, I doubt they will but you never know.
Also Anko's age makes no sense, she's said to be younger than Kakashi but that simply doesn't work out in the timeline of events. So she is older than him now.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone