A week goes by with the same routine. Wake up, get escorted to training with Orochimaru, get utterly bested at anything and everything he has me do for hours on end and then chill with the rest of the Sound Four and Sasuke once Orochimaru is done training him. I fell into a pleasant pattern.
I've improved on a lot of things over this past week, mostly thanks to Orochimaru. Say what you will about his methods but they are very effective.
He's taking the Jiongu into account, he doesn't have to hold back as much as he would with Sasuke. He constantly gives me wounds that would kill others, if he put anyone else through my training regime they would die. I have no doubt of that. He knows that he can be extremely rough with me, I can bounce back and it accelerates my training. Why use the safe method when the insane method of teaching is so much more effective?
In return for the extreme brutality I face everyday my skills have skyrocketed. I'm faster, I'm stronger, I feel better. My skills aren't the only thing that has risen, my desire to constantly sleep has too. I never have to worry about being physically tired, but being put through hours of what could be considered torture is mentally exhausting. It is a miracle I haven't lost my sanity yet.
That is where Sasuke finds me today, sleeping in the lounge after a very rigorous training session.
"Alvarcus. Get up." Sasuke's voice pulls me from my slumber.
"Don't wanna." I roll over so my back is to him. Maybe he'll go away.
"Orochimaru wants to talk to us." A shiver runs down my spine, Sasuke is planning something terrible. "You have five seconds to get up or I go get Tayuya's bucket."
With a huge yawn I force myself up off the couch. "Why is it always water? Can't you find another way to threaten me to get up?"
Sasuke starts to push me out of the lounge. "I can try stabbing you with a kunai next time. I'm sure that would work very well."
"It would be less of a mess." I comment offhandedly. "The water goes everywhere. Plus I only bleed if I want to."
Sasuke urges me to go faster by repeatedly shoving me forwards down the hallway. "You are so weird! Who reacts to a threat like that?"
We walk the rest of the way in silence. We stop outside what must be Orochimaru's office and Sasuke knocks on the door.
"Come in." Orochimaru orders.
We enter. It is a very spartan office, there are no comforts in this room besides the chair that Orochimaru is sitting in. File cabinets line the walls, there is a map of the Land of Sound displayed on the wall directly behind my new Kage. Orochimaru has a very large desk in front of him with papers strewn about it. I doubt that the papers are important, he knew we were coming. He would hide anything truly sensitive since he doesn't fully trust me yet.
Sasuke boldly walks right up to the desk. I lazily lean against the wall right next to the door. "You wanted to see us?" I ask Orochimaru. We must make an interesting sight. Sasuke appears very eager while I seem disgruntled. "Red-eyes over there woke me up for this, please have something important to say."
Orochimaru chuckles at my disheveled appearance and my irritated attitude. No one else would dare to sass him as much as I do, I've seen him lash out at others for much less than an irritated comment. "Fear not, I have a mission of sorts for you both to take."
That is new. He's never even implied we'd go on missions until now. I'm surprised he's willing to risk his precious next body on one, either no one else can do it or he's very confident in our ability to survive. I bet we are overqualified for this mission, ridiculously overqualified.
Orochimaru dramatically leans forward. Sasuke mimics him and I roll my eyes. This whole situation is ridiculous. "I am going to send you both to the next Chunin Exams in Kusagakure."
I take it back, this isn't ridiculous. This is absolute insanity. "You want Sasuke and me to take the Chunin Exams? Konoha is going to send a crap ton of gennin to this exam, people who know us will be there. They'll recognize us on sight. Even if we masquerade as someone else from Sound they'll still try to grill us for information about their missing 'friends.'" I make air quotes around the last word, they are still my friends but I need to sell the idea that I don't care about them to Orochimaru. "You must have a plan. You wouldn't suggest this otherwise."
Orochimaru pulls out two masks. One is a solid crimson, the other a solid dark green. "You two will wear these masks the entire time." He tosses Sasuke the crimson and me the green. "This is more than just the Chunin Exams, I'm testing you as well."
"Infiltration, you're testing us on infiltration." Sasuke ventures a guess. "You want to see how we handle ourselves under duress of dealing with people we know while we need to keep our identities hidden."
"Not only that." I add on to Sasuke's logical guess. "To keep our identities hidden we'll have to limit our skills. I won't be able to use my chakra strings or Jiongu and Sasuke won't be able to use his Sharingan. We'll have to rely on skills they haven't seen before or skills that everyone would know. The basics." I look Orochimaru straight in the eyes. "You want us to pass the chunin exam using only basic skills while keeping our identities hidden. Why? What's your angle?"
Orochimaru beams in pride at Sasuke and my deduction of his plan. We aren't only physically gifted in the shinobi arts but we are both mentally sharp as well. "Does it really matter?"
"Not really." I shrug. "I'm curious is all. I want to know what your play is, I may be able to further it if you tell me."
"You think I have an ulterior motive for sending you both to the Chunin Exams?" Orochimaru asks me in excitement. He really enjoys when we talk like this, more specifically when we have a battle of logic instead of blows. He likes to pick at my thoughts and occasionally bounces ideas off of me. It isn't uncommon for us to have one of these conversations during my training while he's beating me into the ground. "Tell me, what is my angle? What would you do in my position?"
I take a moment to gather my thoughts. "Sasuke and I are both overqualified for the exams, we all know that. Even using basic skills and the things we've learned since coming here we will still be strong combatants, so this isn't necessarily a test of our skills. I am also skeptical you'd place us so close to Konoha shinobi to test our infiltration skills." I consider a few options.
"Either you want to make a point that the gennin who steamrolled over the competition using only the basics could be anyone in Sound and you want to use us to boost our popularity among the watching potential clients. If we don't reveal who we are we could be anyone that you say we are. You could hypothetically send anyone in a crimson or green mask to the client saying that it is the shinobi from the exams." I take a breath, the only other option I can think of is scary and potentially life threatening.
"The other thing you might have planned is to unmask both of us at the end of the exams. Showing that two of Konoha's promising gennin from the last exams went to you, essentially saying that Sound is better than Konoha. Why else would we have come to you?"
Orochimaru goes deep in thought. "Both of those ideas never occurred to me." He tilts his head in consideration. "Your second idea, although clever, would only harm me in the long run. Konoha currently doesn't know exactly where you both are. I can't afford to advertise your locations like that. Your first idea does show promise, I might implement it if you both make a lasting impression on the spectators."
"Then what is your goal?" Sasuke presses Orochimaru to reveal his plan.
Orochimaru merrily leans back into his chair and smiles deviously at us. "I've been bored lately and I think it will be entertaining to watch."
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