Chapter 42: Five Night's at Orochimaru's
Orochimaru is not a good person. Obviously I've been aware of this from pretty much our first meeting. I mean have you seen him? He looks like that last person you'd trust.
A literal snake.
This snake had high expectations and expected results in a timely fashion.
Orochimaru had a brutal but effective training method. He believed pushing someone both physically and mentally would bring out their potential. Didn't matter if he broke them in the process.
He could always put them back together after all.
…
Hobbling through the dark forest I held my broken sword tightly as I struggled to find the strength to keep going.
Orochimaru took me to the forest of death for a training simulation. What kind of situation? Why one where I'm being hunted for days by Orochimaru himself of course.
It was day five and I would be surprised if I saw day six.
Climbing one of the massive trees I pulled myself onto one of its branches before slumping against it. Reaching in my pack I pulled out my canteen which was nearly empty. Drinking the rest I set it down by my pack.
I don't know how long I'll have until he fin-
I tensed up as I felt a sudden build up of chakra in the distance.
Immediately I rolled off the tree.
A moment later a torrent of water ripped the massive tree in two.
Clinging to the tree I did my best to slow my fall but I still hit the ground hard.
Off in the distance I could feel Orochimaru's presence. It was overwhelming. The pressure from his unrestrained chakra was suffocating even at this distance.
Get up.
Get up goddammit!
Pushing myself to my knees I felt another build up of chakra. It wasn't nearly as much as the one used before but that made it all the more concerning. Because that meant this one was targeted at me.
I need to move.
As I put pressure on my legs, pain shot through me as I collapsed to my knees.I felt my body beginning to give as I struggled to remain conscious.
Turing to face Orochimaru i used the last of my chakra to put a barrier up.
I knew it was useless but it was better than nothing.
The jutsu slammed into my barrier sending cracks all along its surface. The barrier was pushed back against me as the edges of it gave away quickly followed by the rest.
Then everything went black.
…
Opening my eyes I was in my room except I don't remember my having a tree growing through the wall along with a bunch of other vegetation.
I'm in my mindscape.
Should I be concerned that the one place in my mind that was normal has been breached?
Pushing aside those concerns I leave my room entering the rest of my mind.
First time I've been here without a Yamanaka.
As I looked around my attention was drawn to the parts of my mind responsible for the degradation of the rest.
I remember Inoichi told me I had to fix them but I don't think it's possible to fix my mind.
I've put a lot of thought into it and I think I know why these parts are inaccessible to me.
Because they aren't mine.
I think… believe they are what's left of Akinori's mind.
His memories.
His emotions.
Pieces of him torn apart by my mind and separated.
I wonder what would happen if I put him back together?
Would he become the one in control?
Or would I just become more… Akinori.
Closing my eyes I focused on pushing back the overgrowth like Kumo taught me. While we never figured out how to fix my mind she did teach me to pretty much quarantine them from the rest of my mind. It wasn't a true fix, but it would work for now.
It is quite fascinating how things work in my mind. All this chaos represents something. I got some architecture from my old life which is obviously mine. Then you have parts that are an amalgamation of the two of us. And of course the parts I can't access, which are likely Akinori's.
Returning to my room I tried to restore it to normal and found I couldn't.
That's probably not good.
…
With a gasp I awoke. My body tensed up as I sat up with some difficulty. I was in Orochimaru's lab wrapped quite extensively in bandages. Looking around the lab I sat up seeing no sign of Orochimaru. Carefully I tested if I could stand, I could thankfully, still I took things slowly.
It was stupid of me to leave the lab in my current condition but I was starving. My cloak that I lost on the third day of training was hung up nearby so I could cover most of my bandaged self along with my other sword that I lost on day one. The one that broke was the one I bought.
Pushing open the doors I stepped outside. It was night.
Now what to eat?
I received some looks as I wandered around looking for something good to eat.
"Hey! Little snake!" Someone yelled behind me.
Turning around I was a red haired lady. What was her name again? Started with a k I believe.
"Hello person who's name I think starts with k," I said as she walked up to me.
"What happened to you?" She said looking at the bandages I was covered in.
"I fell down some stairs," I say, turning to continue on my way.
This got a laugh out of her.
"OK what are you doing out when you should be resting from your fall down some stairs?"
"I'm hungry, know any good places?"
"Have you had Ichiraku ramen before?"
"No I don't believe I ha-."
It was then I was suddenly picked up and was being kidnapped. I didn't like being picked up like a child but walking was starting to get tiring so I'll let it slide. Arriving at our destination she sat me down on a chair before taking a seat of her own.
"Two miso pork ramen," my kidnapper said to the man running the ramen shop.
"So what was your name again?"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone