The rhythmic chirp of a heart monitor was the first thing to pierce the fog of Kimimaro's consciousness. It was a nagging sound, he had been used to this sound all his life and other one did not surprise him.
He tried to shift his weight, but his limbs felt like leaden weights anchored to the earth. A sharp tug at his wrists and ankles confirmed his suspicion: leather restraints. He was pinned to a hospital bed, a captive of the very village Lord Orochimaru had sought to destabilize.
He strained, his pale skin flushing with a brief, desperate effort to summon a spike of bone from his palms, but his body refused to obey. His chakra felt like ash, and the familiar, burning agony in his lungs had subsided into a dull, throbbing ache... a sign of heavy sedation but he has grown resistant to most of sedation by continuously using them on him or perhaps a medical miracle he hadn't expected to live long enough to see.
Outside the door, the hospital was a hive of chaos. A young nurse, her apron stained with the grime of a double shift, peeked through the observation window. When she saw the Kaguya's eyes open... two glassy, green orbs staring blankly at the ceiling... she gasped. She didn't wait to check his vitals. She turned on her heel and sprinted down the hallway.
She found the Fifth Hokage in the intensive care ward. Tsunade was hunched over the bed of Choji Akimichi, her hands glowing with a steady, emerald light as she stabilized the boy following his grueling surgery. Sweat beaded on her brow and beside her, the atmosphere was thick with the scent of blood and medicinal herbs.
"Hokage-sama!" the nurse panted, clutching her side. "He... he's awake. The prisoner from the Sound."
Tsunade didn't look up immediately. She finished the delicate seal she was weaving, ensuring Choji's heart rate remained steady. Only then did she exhale, wiping her forehead with the back of her glove. "Keep a close watch on him," she commanded, her voice raspy from exhaustion. "I need to check Neji's post-op status first. If that boy so much as twitches a finger toward a seal, sedate him. I'll be there shortly."
In the silence of his room, Kimimaro stared at the white tiles of the ceiling. Every breath was a discovery as it didn't hurt to inhale as it used to. For the first time in years, the sensation of cool air hitting his lungs and they didn't hurt.
Kabuto spoke of her, he thought, his mind drifting back to the dim halls of Orochimaru's hideouts. "The Senju princess. The greatest medical ninja in history. Did she do this? Did she reach into the wreckage of my body and find a way to patch the holes even Lord Orochimaru could not?"
Guilt washed over him. If he was here, he had failed. He had been the fail-safe, the final shield to ensure Sasuke Uchiha reached the Land of Sound. He remembered the boy with the yellow hair—Naruto—and the sand-user from the Hidden Sand. They had been relentless.
"Did Lord Orochimaru receive his new vessel in time?" Kimimaro wondered. "If Sasuke arrived, my death would have had meaning. But if I am alive... then I must still have a purpose. In three years, the transition will be required again. If I can survive, if I can heal, I can be the vessel Lord Orochimaru deserves. I can his blade again."
The door groaned open. Tsunade walked in, the air in the room seemingly tightening around her presence. She stood at the foot of his bed, her arms crossed, eyeing him with a mixture of professional curiosity and deep-seated disdain.
"The last of the Shikotsumyaku," she said, her voice echoing in the small room. "You've got a hell of a constitution. Most people with your level of cellular degradation would have been dead months ago. You're the luckiest brat alive."
Kimimaro remained silent, his gaze unwavering.
"Let's skip the pleasantries," Tsunade continued, stepping closer. "Your friends did a number on my Genin. Sasuke Uchiha—where is he? Where is Orochimaru hiding him?"
Kimimaro didn't blink. He looked through her, as if she were nothing more than air.
Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "I see. The silent martyr type."
In a movement so fast it blurred, she wound back her fist. The air whistled as her punch accelerated toward Kimimaro's face. It stopped a fraction of an inch from his nose, the sheer force of the displaced air ruffling his white hair and snapping his head back against the pillow.
Kimimaro's expression didn't change. There was no flinch, no widening of the pupils. He looked at the fist with indifference who had already accepted his execution.
Tsunade lowered her hand, a grim smirk playing on her lips. "Right. Physical pain doesn't scare Orochimaru's pets. You've been hollowed out, haven't you? Nothing left but devotion to a snake."
She turned her back to him, walking toward the window. "It's a shame. Because since you won't talk, I have no reason to keep you here. And once I'm done cleaning up the mess your master made in my village, I'm going to hunt him down. He's weak right now. His arms are useless, rotting stumps. It might take a month, maybe two, but I'll find him, and I'll end him."
For the first time, the mask slipped. Kimimaro's fingers twitched against the leather straps. A low, guttural rasp tore from his throat. "Stop."
Tsunade turned her head slightly, catching the flash of panic in his eyes.
"You cannot... you will not touch him," Kimimaro hissed, his voice trembling with a cocktail of rage and desperation. "He is everything. If you seek to harm him, I will..."
"You'll what? Bleed on me?" Tsunade challenged. "You're a prisoner, Kimimaro. And you're a dying one. Why should I spend another ounce of my chakra or my village's resources on someone who would kill my shinobi the moment he's upright?"
Kimimaro's mind raced. He needed to protect his master. He needed time. He needed a body that functioned.
"I will tell you what you want," Kimimaro said, the words tasting like poison. "But there is a price. You heal me. You use your legendary skills to heal this disease, to give me back my strength."
Tsunade laughed, a cold, dry sound. "And why would I do that? To give Orochimaru his best soldier back?"
"I am not asking for my freedom," Kimimaro countered. "I am offering a pact. You heal me, and for three years—until the time comes when Lord Orochimaru has need of a new vessel—I will be your shadow. I will serve Konoha. I will take the missions your 'noble' shinobi refuse. The wetwork. The assassinations in the dark. The dirty jobs that stain the hands of a Hokage."
Tsunade stayed silent, watching him intently.
"Your village is broken," Kimimaro pushed, his voice gaining strength. "I saw the state of your medical staff. They are exhausted, spread thin by the invasion. You sent children to retrieve the Uchiha Sasuke because you had no one else to spare. You are vulnerable and you need a weapon that doesn't care about morals or Leaf traditions."
~~
you can support me @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0