Orochimama

Chapter 19

Minoru Tatewaki felt that the word passionate was the best word to describe him, so when he heard of the new music night that Sound had started he leapt at the chance. Passion was, after all, the most important part of music. Then he attended.

Music night at Hidden Sound is, for lack of a better word, an experience. Many of the people played with mastery and an astounding level of skill, others played their hearts out with only some idea they knew what they were doing, and some people just randomly played notes and were just happy to be included. The problem was, no one was taking charge and all of that just came out as a barrage of noise.

Certainly not the sort of thing that could actually woo a woman.

Not that he needed any help getting a woman to fawn over him. He was, after all, quite the catch, even if his old village couldn't see that for themselves. Honestly, just because he asked the girl out to lunch and dinner certainly shouldn't have been cause to kick him out of the village. People have both lunch and dinner every single day after all.

That said, no one here could hear his beautiful display of musical skill over the loud cadence of other noises, nor would they even entertain his masterful idea of a having a solo during the music. Some nonsense about how a triangle doesn't deserve a solo, the dullards.

Tatewaki found himself once again considering leaving Hidden Sound. The place didn't appreciate him, nor his brilliance, they ordered him around like he was a common grunt and worst of all most of the women just couldn't take a compliment. One even stabbed him after he paid respects to her her dedication of care on her glutes! Honestly, a smack on the ass is the height of compliment.

Tatewaki was set to leave this farce of a music room, pack up his things, and leave Hidden Sound behind, consequences be damned. He couldn't stand this lack of appreciation anymore.

Then a goddess walked into the room.

"Ara ara! Everyone is putting so much passion into their music! You just need a director and you'll make everyone stop in awe."

Then everything went quiet, Tatewaki stared as well. Such was her beauty that the entire room didn't dare move or even breath! Some were even shaking from how much her beautiful presence effected them! Pale skin, long black hair, a figure shaped by the gods themselves, and a smile that spoke of good natured mischief! Truly, there had never been a more delightful creature on the face of the planet.

"Orochitama-sama, we weren't aware you had returned." One of the others spoke.

Wait, what?

He'd heard a bit about their bosses' new name, and he'd some fairly ridiculous gossip that he just discarded as the prattling of the peons faced with uncertainty. However he now realized they were all wrong. This glorious creature could in no way be Orochimaru. A goddess had decided that the man should be usurped, for only the very hands of heaven could sculpt such magnificence.

"Orochitama-hime!" He spoke up as he prostrated himself before her. "With your help I can-"

"No need for all that." She cut in, voice chiding. "I can't stay for long, still much to do after the mission, but I just had to come see how things were coming along. I have high hopes for you all, after all!"

The tension went up in the room for obvious reasons, no one would want to disappoint such an amazing creature.

"I think you all will do much better if you could just find a director amongst you. You all have much potential, and I'd hate for you to squander it by fighting with each other." The woman gave a flirtatious wink at him! Well she was looking at the room at large, but clearly, she meant it for him, no one else here was worthy of such a thing after all. "I have to go, but I hope you will be a bit more organized next time I drop by!"

Then she left, and Tatewaki's world seemed far more dim, though the view as she existed did leave a balm on the soul. He wished, with all his heart, to make this goddess of a woman happy. So no sooner had she left the room that he shot to his feet and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I offer to be director!" It couldn't be too different from his former job. Managing the field supplies for an entire hidden village couldn't possibly be less difficult than just getting a group of people play on the same beat after all.

------

I heave a sigh as I leave the music room. Half the people in there started quaking in their boots as soon as I arrived. As much as I would love to be a part of music night, my men were still too frightened of me, or like the one weirdo and worshiped the very ground I walked on. That was not the first time one of my minions seemed to have a religious realization upon my arrival. The hime thing was new though.

Still, as much as I was tempted to slap on a henge and try to participate, now wasn't the time. Sakon and Jirobo were probably waiting for me in my office and I needed to review the supplies list, some of them were probably perishable and needed to handled as soon as possible.

"But I wanted to sing." I muttered to myself as I walked towards my office.

As I expected, the two last members of Sound Four were waiting for me in my office, their forms looming over a man in clothes made of burlap and had a face wrinkled by hours in the sun. He also was very clearly not happy to be here.

"Orochitama-sama." Jirobo and Sakon said, giving a bow, after a moment of hesitation the old man gave a bow as well.

He was adaptable! Good.

"Saito-san, I'm very sorry we had to meet this way. I know I pulled you away from your work, but I figured you wouldn't mind since Gato Shipping Company doesn't exist anymore." I said as I walked in and travelled to the other side of my desk.

"It was, uh, huh?" Saito said in confusion.

"Gato Shipping Company is gone. Gato is dead and I have taken roughly 95 percent of the companies assets." I said, attempting to clear up the confusion.

"Oh." The man said before going pale. "Oh."

A civilian that lost their job often found themselves starving shortly after. The world was not kind and most places barely payed enough to keep a family fed.

"Now, it is my understanding that you are the most senior foreman at the Lightning docks?" I asked.

Saito made a few choking sounds as he seemed to waiver on what answer would keep him alive.

"Well, um, yes. I guess I am." He finally decided on the truth. Which boded well for him.

"Excellent! Then I am very much in need of your help Saito-san. You see, many of Gato's higher ups are not exactly people that I want to do business with. Too used to Gato and his way of operating. Most of them don't know how to run the business beyond yelling at underlings anyways, so, I find myself with all of the assets of major shipping conglomerate and no experienced sailors and warehouse workers to run things. I can't do it myself, far too busy with ninja stuff, you understand, so I wanted to take the opportunity to raise up someone who actually knows how the business works."

The man's eyes widen as he connects the dots.

"Lightning has the largest of Gato's docks, and you are the one that everyone turned to when things went wrong. So, Saito-san, would you like to be rich?" I asked as I leaned back in my chair.

"Oh." The old man said again, pausing to consider his response, not immediately accepting. "If I refuse, are you going to kill me?"

"Of course not!" I said with a shake of my head, "I'll just send you on your way, but I don't think I'll need to do that."

"If I did do this," he began slowly, "would I be heavily involved in ninja business?"

"A wise question. But you won't be involved in any more ninja business than you were before, plenty of ninja were already using Gato to ship their stuff, now you'll just have more direct knowledge."

Saito looked to have sucked on a lemon, but schooled himself after a moment.

"So, I'd be in charge?" He guessed.

"Not of the whole company. The company will be owned by myself, a representative from Mist, and the people of Wave Country. You will be consulted about contracts, but you will not have final say on what contracts are taken, however you will be the one to decide how all products reach their destination and you will receive a salary and a percentage of the profits."

Saito's eyebrows went up. It was rare to be offered both a salary and a percentage, usually based on what sort of job they want you to accomplish.

"If I have moral problems with anything. Will you kill me?" He asked, leaning forward.

"If you have moral problems with the work, I want you to contact me directly. If we can't come to an agreement about your moral quandary, you will be let go with your life intact. However, should you share company secrets afterwards, yes, someone will probably show up to kill you." I stated, the man clearly wanted to know what line was the last line with us.

Saito started bouncing one leg, rubbing his chin with one hand. I took the time to start looking through inventory we'd captured. Most of it was typical shipping that you ran across. Lots of raw materials and very few items actually assembled.

"Can I take a bit to think about it?"

"No. Sorry." I answered with a shrug. "If you don't accept, I have to ask someone else. I have the business assets right now, many of which need to reach their destination. I need the job filled and if you don't accept, it will have to go to someone else. I need an answer by the end of this meeting."

Saito slumped and bit his lip. It was understandable. The average person usually found that getting involved with ninjas got you dead. Which was a fair assessment honestly. However everything I offered was more than the man could ever dream of. I didn't want to rush him, but it was also true I couldn't wait either. I had other people in the base too, people that were set to be Saito's employees. One of them would be in charge if he refused.

"Alright. I'll take the job, but I control the people who work under me." He said.

"Excellent. I've grabbed a few other Gato employees. Speak with them. Hire any that you want to keep, fire any that you feel aren't worth your time. Try to get some semblance of order with their help. If you want to hire anyone else, that's fine too. Oh, and I captured most of Gato's ships, do let me know if any of the Captains should be relieved of their position." I said as I stood up and extended a hand, Saito took the hand with all of the same amount of caution he would have for a viper. "Welcome to the Pink Canoe! Now go make sure we have all the best seamen."

Saito stared at me in disbelief, Sakon looked as if I had just declared my intent to murder puppies, and Jirobo, well Jirobo just looked bored.

"Sakon-kun, please go make sure he's set up. Keigo should be working with the other civilians and setting up the logistics." I ordered. With only a few moments of inaction, Sakon started moving.

"Yes, Orochitama-sama." He said before turning to Saito and motioning to the door with his head.

"Oh, and Sakon-kun. You and Ukon did wonderful. Thank you for your hard work!" I chirped.

The leader of the Sound Four halted for a moment before he continued walking. I heard him mutter something but I couldn't quite catch what. Sakon still was having trouble accepting the new me, though he'd apparently come to start using Orochitama in his time away, so that was good!

I take a few moments to begin to scratch out a list of names on a piece of paper, struggling for only a moment to remember the names of the various Daimyo that I wanted to contact.

"I heard Kidomaru was hurt." Jirobo stated suddenly. The mountain of a man seeming to shrink into himself as he spoke. "Is it...bad?"

A proud smile began to tug at my lips, it was nice to see my ninja actually care about each other. "Kidomaru-kun lost an arm and has some severe abdominal burns. He should be fine and I have some doctors seeing if we can get the arm reattached. It wasn't due to a cut, so we're not sure it can be."

"I see. Then he's going to be out of the Sound Four?" He asked morosely.

I blinked. "Jirobo-kun. He has five more arms, and he'll recover. I'd be a fool to not keep such a splendid and loyal shinobi close."

Jirobo gave a fragile smile that made my heart melt. "Oh. That's good."

"Here." I say, holding out a piece of paper. "Take that to Keigo too. Tell him to have the Pink Canoe set up a meeting with these people and get back to me with the meeting times. Then why don't you go down to the infirmary and visit with Kidomaru-kun. I'm sure he'd appreciate that."

Jirobo's face brightened up and he gave a quick bow. "I will. Thank you, Orochitama-sama."

I gave a wave of my hand as the large man practically skipped out of the room. I'd find him adorable if I didn't know his favorite pastime was draining people of their chakra till they died.

"Now," I glanced down to the massive piles of papers on my desk. "To deal with you motherfuckers."

-----

"So. That's how it happened." Yakushi Nono said as she leaned back against the wall. The two of them had been sitting on the ground for the last while and Kabuto wasn't sure if he should curse Orochitama or thank her for the opportunity. He buried his heart under layers of dissociation specifically to avoid things like this.

"You actually believe me?" Kabuto asked, intrigued.

"Not totally." Nono said, "But you know enough details that I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. What you described does sound like something Danzo would do. I just-" Nono paused and let her head thunk against the wall behind her, "I just thought he wouldn't throw me away like that. I thought I was at least useful enough he'd keep me around. I guess he found another medic to make sure his arm doesn't overrun him."

"So...I probably am actually Yakushi Kabuto." Kabuto said, looking at this hands. Years of being different people, being different agents, with different organizations, it had grown so hard to know who he was that he had started to think that Nono was just part of a story he had told to himself too much.

"I'm sorry." Nono said, coming over to grasp his hand. "I should never have let them take you away. I knew the kind of man Danzo was."

"It was my choice." Kabuto responded, though a voice whispered in his head that convincing him he chose himself would be a great way to manipulate loyalty. He quashed the feeling. He could obsess over the thought later, now wasn't the time.

"So, what now? Am I meant to just stay in this room?" Nono asked, "Do I go back to being dead?"

"Orochitama-sama can release you back to the Pure World if you wish. You could try to run, but she could dismiss you or summon you back before you get anywhere." Kabuto replied, trying to be honest, if only here, with her. "Or, you could stay here. With me."

"Kabuto-kun." Nono said, her voice full of emotion. Regret, hope, sadness, and even just a little love. "I can't betray Konoha. Danzo might be in the wrong, but I'm still loyal. I'm can't do something that will hurt them."

That stung, just a bit, but it was something he understood. It was good that was her only objection.

"Orochitama doesn't have ill intentions towards Konoha. In fact, right now she has a standard policy to not aggravate any of the major powers. Her major enemy is Akatsuki, a group of S-Class ninja that intend to steal all the Bijuu."

"Oh. That's-" Nono hesitated, "That's big stuff. If it's to stop something like that I could participate, as long as no actions are taken against Konoha, and you think that this...Orochitama has what it takes to stand against Akatsuki."

Kabuto felt a smile begin on his face, though as soon as he noticed the feeling it disappeared.

"I'm sure. Something changed recently. The gender change, all the recent changes to operation, and every mission she's flagged as being important, all of it has spoken of a brilliant mind with layers of forethought and execution that it's astounding. In fact, most of her plans have it where even if the objective fails she still succeeds. Her plans have flexibility."

"You really respect her." Nono stated lightly.

"Yes." Kabuto said, and was very surprised it was true. The woman was manipulative and clever, and yet somehow managed to be honest and caring in that manipulation, or at least gives the appearance of caring. Either way, it was done so masterfully he found he didn't care that much about it's truth.

He still didn't think that she cared on the emotional level she pretended to use with everyone, but it was unquestionable that she valued her people as assets not to be easily discarded. That was better than most ninja got.

"I'm willing to talk with her." Nono stated, "But I don't know that I can help much. I was a medic first and an infiltration specialist second. I don't have much skill in a direct fight."

Kabuto stood up and dusted his hands off on his pants. "She'll have another use for you that you'll like, I'm sure. She rarely does anything for just one reason, and I imagine your summoning is to fulfill many objectives."

This clearly did not bring Nono comfort as she grimaced.

"Come. We'll talk to her together." Kabuto offered his hand, Nono took it with only the barest hesitation. The woman's hand was that of a dead person and thus had no blood circulation and no body heat. Yet Kabuto felt his hand was warm.

The trip to Orochitama's office was disappointingly short.

Kabuto knocked on the door, a moment later he received a shout of permission to enter. There was much more paperwork on the desk than the last time he entered. There was also an open bottle of some sort of liquor on the desk. Orochitama stood in front of some sort of board made of a cork material that dozens of papers were pinned to. Orochitama herself had apparently removed her top and was now dressed in only a white undershirt that left little to the imagination.

"Ara ara, if it isn't my two favorite Yakushi!" She shouted excitedly before flouncing over and holding out a sheet of paper. "We have it! It was in the supplies. It's given me IDEAS Kabuto!"

Kabuto glanced at Nono, who was beginning to look unsettled, before looking down at the paper. It was a supply list from the things captured from Gato. It had list of items. Benches, food stands, small ovens, and- "A circus tent?"

Kabuto wracked his mind to figure out what good that does to assist in any of Orochitama's plans that he was aware of. He couldn't think of anything.

"So...what are you wanting me to do with a circus tent?" He asked, bewildered.

"You? Nothing." Orochitama said with a wave of her hand. "No, it means you are going to send a message back to Danzo that says I plan on attacking Konoha with Sand during the chunnin exams in order to assassinate some of their leadership."

Kabuto's eyes widened as he looked over to Nono. Though his mind did catch up. If she wanted him to tell Danzo that, she probably had no plans to actually follow through with that.

"This is a bluff?" He asked. "A distraction?"

"Yes." Orochitama nodded before turning around back to the board on the wall. "It's make them not think to much about the marriage. The adoption. The large movement of troops. Plus some other people going really quiet."

Marriage? Adoption?

"This...plan." Nono spoke up. "It's what has you so excited?"

"Oh no." Orochitama said with a shake of her head. "That's because I found out Sand has Agave, and thus-" She lifted the bottle on her desk and happily pronounced, "tequila!"

Nono shot him a look.

"It usually works out, I swear." He promised.