Chapter 6

(A/N - When releasing the next chapter, I will be condensing the prologue into one whole chapter instead of three separate ones and slightly re-editing the first few chapters. Just a heads up.)

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I'm still alive, huh?" he muttered to himself again. Yuro held up a piece of paper, a note left by the person who saved him, and read it once more.

[You owe me one. Rest for the next couple of days before doing anything strenuous. - Kabuto]

'Like hell I owe you anything,' Yuro thought before methodically ripping the paper into pieces to avoid agitating his wound. 'If it wasn't for you two psychos, I wouldn't have these problems to begin with.'

Looking around while lying on a bedroll, he noticed this place wasn't the one he had been staying at. It was probably some kind of hideout near Konoha. His wound was healed, but it was still very sore. The blood loss and plain old exhaustion were still there so he lay there for a while longer and thought.

For once, he had a dreamless night, though it wasn't worth being near death to achieve that. Not like he would remember what the dream was about anyway. It was just waking up with full fight or flight mode active that made it difficult to fall back asleep, especially when not knowing why.

Medicine to help him sleep no doubt existed, he knew, but asking Kabuto or Orochimaru for something like that always seemed like a bad idea.

'Who knew what kind of stuff they would mix in it.'

He knew that it was a superficial reason, they had likely already done stuff like that without him realizing it and for reasons he couldn't think of. But food was something he needed. Sleep was also needed, but he had made it this far with little of it already.

For far, he refused to ask for things that weren't needed to live. The more time that passed, the more he realized that he needed more things to continue living.

Power. Strength. It was right in front of him. He had been given a taste of it multiple times through the years, enticing him to ask for more. He tried so hard not to give in to what was constantly in front of him.

He tried to not need them and give in to biting the carrot that constantly dangled before him. Now, though, he felt as if he had to. The future was continuously creeping up, and he didn't know where he fit in and if he could survive.

He was weak. Getting stronger on his own was impossible. He was no genius who could wing it and everything would work out without issues. He would need someone to instruct him. And with the only teacher nearby being Orochimaru or Kabuto, he always felt reluctant.

'Do I even have a choice?' was the thought that continuously circulated in his mind, along with others.

These past years, he had been trying to push against the tide. Now, it seemed like the tide was only growing stronger while he barely survived over and over again. At what point would he get pulled under and his life end?

How much of his knowledge of the future could he rely on before it became outdated? Would things deviate to the point where everything he thought he knew would be useless? It was a scary thought to have.

And the thought of dying was scary too. Unexpectedly getting injured hurt way more than intentional ones in his eyes. But he just didn't want to get involved with the shinobi world at all. He just wanted to be a civilian.

'Do I even have a choice?' There it was again.

He hated Orochimaru and Kabuto to no end for using him as someone disposable. In the end, was he just being petty and childish to not give in? How long would it be until they got rid of him for that reason?

And after what felt like ages of constantly thinking over and over again, struggling to make any life-changing decisions, he finally made a choice.

'If I am to die, then I want to be the one to do it.'

It might not have been the best motivation, but it was better than nothing. Being strong would mean many things for the future. Being strong would mean no one could touch him, use him, or hurt him.

So, for the first time, Yuro actively sought out Orochimaru for something. He was in one of the man's hidden bases, so finding him wasn't too difficult. Thankfully, he was at least present.

"Orochimaru…sama?"

The man turned to find little Yuro-kun hesitantly walking in.

"Yes, Yuro-kun?"

He began to sweat. Everything in his mind and body was telling him to turn around and forget about this. He knew that if he asked what he was about to say, Orochimaru would say yes.

For years he had known this, but it felt like letting the man win. But wasn't the saying that losing a battle didn't necessarily mean the war was lost? This was exactly that, and he needed to lose this battle to win the war.

And with clenched fists and a forcefully blank expression, he finally said it.

"Can you make me stronger?"

There, he said it, and seeing Orochimaru's slight grin grow bigger, he knew he had just bitten into the carrot that had been dangling in front of him for years. But it was a necessary defeat, though it didn't make him feel any better about it.

—

Yuro had returned to his room to continue his recovery.

"Ku ku ku," a horrible laughter escaped Orochimaru's lips. "A success. I knew it was the right call to bring little Yuro-kun here. And the little bit of information I slipped to Danzo was the right call. Don't you think so too, Kabuto?"

Walking into the room from a different door, Kabuto entered.

"Many things about this plan were risky. But I still don't see the point in it. There is no difference between being willing to do things versus not if the result is the same."

Orochimaru shook his head. "While you are not wrong, you aren't fully right. Yes, I want a tool, but what I want most is a pawn. Just look at the Sound Five. I've got them hooked."

That's what I wanted to do with Yuro-kun as well, but the same tactics didn't work. No matter what I did, Yuro-kun always looked at me with not just fear, but disgust and hatred. It didn't matter what kind of promises of power I presented, he never showed greed nor the desire to grow stronger to kill me. Nothing."

Kabuto pushed his glasses up. "I think I understand now. You brought him here to push him into a corner. To make him desperate to survive. And with the leash already on, the only hand to feed out of is yours."

"Whatever hope he was clinging onto for years is dwindling. I just expedited the process in my favor."

"What if this plan didn't work?"

Orochimaru shrugged. "Then he would have died. You would retrieve his eyes, and we would continue. That is why I had you following him these past few days in the first place."

"That is what I had imagined, though, what of his eyes anyway?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "The power they hold is great, but I'd like to keep it hidden until needed, especially to ensure he doesn't get any grand ideas. For this next month, I want you to teach him to be a medical-nin. With his body being as weak as it is, and with the success of artificially increasing his chakra reserves, I want him to control it better. Besides, the Sound Five lack someone who can properly heal their injuries, especially Kimmimaro."

"I see. There definitely would be times I wouldn't be around." Kabuto smirked before departing. "It seems that the Sound Five is to be renamed to the Sound Six soon."