The smell of antiseptic spread throughout the room, the window was wide open illuminating the entire room and allowing people the see the street below.
Satoru slowly opened his eyes, he looked at himself and said he was wearing the hospital gown, an IV drip attached to his hand.
'Did we pass? Well...I don't see myself back in the forest, so it's affecting to assume that we passed.' Satoru looked around to see no one in the room beside him. He assumed that people visited him when he was out cold.
'Did those guys pass too? I hope not...that guy should have died by now, they wouldn't be able to complete the exam without all three members. Sucks for them!' Satoru faintly smiled as he stared at the ceiling.
Suddenly, Satoru felt a hand choke him lightly. He panicked but couldn't do anything but watch. The person choking Satoru revealed themselves to be...
---
Tatsuo threw another bone on his plate and released a mighty burp. Meanwhile Chosuke spared the bone no mercy and chewed it like it was nothing.
Tatsuo patted his stomach and stretched before standing up. "I'm full, you done? The doctors said the visitation hour will begin in 15 minutes."
Tatsuo walked to the washroom to wash his hands and mouth before returning to wait for Chosuke, who ate a few more plates of food.
"Now..." *burp* "Now, I'm done!" Chosuke said as he wiped himself off and both walked towards the room.
"Hey...how did you do it? The world record. You completed the exam within 12 hours." Chosuke asked looking at Tatsuo who placed his finger on his lips, indicating it was a secret.
"I would tell you, but...its a secret!" Tatsuo opened the door to Satoru's room, he was
---
"H-Hinoka? What are you doing? L-let go of my neck! Now!" Satoru was helpless as he was being choked by her. His body began to shake in an futile attempt to escape.
"You're feeling pain arent you?How does it feel...Are you enjoying it? YOU SICK FUCK!!!" Hinoka stopped choking him but didn't remove her hand from his hand.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!? I saved your friend's life and this is how you repay me? LEAVE before I call the security!" Satoru barked before he started violently started coughing
"I know what you did...to Soma. You said he'll be crippled, but do you know what actually happened to him?" Hinoka said the grip on his neck tightened again.
"I-I'm not a professional medic! A-and y-you were the one to ask me anyway!" Satoru said in a panicked tone
"I did all I could...if that wasn't enough and your friend suffered because of it, then I'm deeply sorry!"
Hinoka didn't expect Satoru to act this way, he was apologizing for something he had no control in. She stepped back, releasing her grip on his neck.
'Did he actually not mean to harm Soma? Even though I sensed his emotions back then and I didn't sense anything from him. It was completely void...devoid of emotions.
I expected some fear that the person he was treating was dying despite the efforts, guilt that after promising to save Soma he failed to save him. But, I sensed nothing back then.
Am I not good at this jutsu enough to use it people yet?'
"WHO ARE YOU?" Hinoka was suddenly interrupted by two shinobis who stood near the entrance of the room.
One was Chosuke, she recognized him easily, but the other boy had his fist on fire. He walked closer and stood between Satoru and her.
"Identify yourself! Or I'm calling the guards." Tatsuo said before looking at Satoru to check if he was fine.
"Your friend said he would heal my teammate, but now he is suffering in a dark room because of what he did. I want to know about the situation from his point of view before deciding if I should mourn...or avenge!"
"Satoru...is this true? What she said about you?" Tatsuo asked looking at Satoru who began speaking.
Hinoka activated her mind's eye of the kagura, preparing to use it as a lie detector.
"I'm in this hospital because I used more than a hundred shadow clones, constantly operating on that guy! The doctors said I accumulated brain damage from trying to heal him." Satoru turned to look at Hinoka
"Tell me Hinoka, why would anyone do what I did just to throw it all away! Tell me, does that even make sense?" Satoru said, the more he spoke the more angry he got. And she sensed it.
"You heard the man. You got what you wanted so, you should leave RIGHT NOW!" Tatsuo's word left no room for bargaining, she glanced at Satoru, the anger in her eyes subsided. She left shortly after.
Hinoka walked out of the room with a mind filled with thoughts. In the distance she saw a team of shinobi who wore the headband dissimilar to her own.
'The anger in his voice was real...was he telling the truth? Did I falsely accuse him? Well, at least now I know what to do with those kumogakure ninjas.'
The closer she walked the clearer the scene became to her, she looked at the shinobi in front of them, who coincidentally happen to be from kumo.
She clenched her fist till it bled, she gritted her teeth 'just wait for the tournament, I'll break you all the way you broke him!'
---
"Yo, what was up with her? Did she hurt you or something?" Tatsuo said checking Satoru neck which became red from the choking.
"Don't bother, she's just mourning her friend. I failed to save him." Satoru said with a blank face before turning to pick up a water bottle from the table next to him.
"By the way, how did you complete the exam so quickly? And you even gave us some extra badges."
"Don't bother, Satoru. This guy won't tell, it's a secret apparently." Chosuke said while eyeing the lunchbox near Satoru's bed.
"I'll tell you when the entire gang comes together, gotta flex on all of them!" Tatsuo said smugly, his words prompted Satoru to ask about it
"Who all have passed? Sakumo surely passed right? Nawaki and Dai probably passed too, right?" Satoru asked as he took the lunchbox and gave half of the food to Chosuke.
"Yeah! They passed, but Sakumo and Tsume had a big fight recently. They refuse to stay in the same room together. I'll tell when everything is resolved and you are back and running." Tatsuo said before leaving.
The doctor told both of them to leave as Satoru needed rest. He looked at Chosuke and snatched the lunchbox from him.
"They are meant for the patient, not you!" Chosuke sadly walked away while Tatsuo laughed.
---
A few hours passed
A medical ninja sat near Satoru, his hand was on Satoru's forehead. A faint green light was coming out of the medic's hand as he used a jutsu to heal.
"Hey, what does this jutsu of yours do actually? I don't want anyone to spy into my memories!" Satoru said to the medic who coincidentally wore the crest of the yamanaka clan on his back.
"Unless your problem is directly related to your memory, they will not be touched. Don't worry about those things." The man said before continuing
"Isn't my problem related to memories, I was told I overloaded my brain into shock." Satoru said, the jutsu being used on him starkly felt good, almost like taking a nap.
"Your usage of shadow clones dumped weeks worth of information into your brain, which brought you in this situation. The pills you ate and IV connected to you is helping in flushing out the accumulated toxins in your brain. The jutsu I'm using is supposed to help you reach a state of sleep while being awake" the medic said,
his tone was so monotone it felt like healing people like Satoru is his everyday routine. The man sighed before standing up and then removed the IV from Satoru's hand, seeing that it was empty.
"You're are free to go. Don't use shadow clones for a few weeks and make sure to get more than 8 hours of sleep everyday. Have someone check you every week or so." The man said before standing up to leave.
Satoru slowly came out of his bed and walked around, his muscles felt slightly stiff, his head ached like in slow pulses. Satoru held his head as he left the room.
'Maybe I should train till this exam ends, after this is the tournament style exam. Before that, I should check up on Sakumo. I wonder what happened him and Tsume?' Satoeu thought as he suddenly he bumped into someone.
"For someone who passed this exam you sure have an horrible reaction time."
"I'm sorry! I...I have brain damage. Yea...that's the best explanation." Satoru apologized, the last part was mostly a whisper to himself, but she heard it clearly.
"You used shadow clones in ways it shouldn't be used for. Now you're paying the price. You're lucky that you didn't die or become a vegetable!" Orochimaru said in a mocking tone.
Orochimaru inherited the curiousity for knowledge from her sensei, knowledge as a whole was very valuable for Orochimaru. The fact that someone used knowledge in such a reckless manner went against everything she stood for.
"The doctor said it's not that serious, were they lying? Or are you?" Satoru responded
*Pfft* "maybe i lied or maybe i didn't! Enough about that, what happened to you? Your chakra reserves...they feel different compared to when you asked the question at the start of the exam. Did you do something interesting while healing that vegetable?" Orochimaru said,
Orochimaru activated a jutsu which allowed accurate measurement and assessment of someone's chakra reserves up to a level of accuracy which only the Yamanakas and the Hyugas could match.
"The quantity has increased, as well as the quality of your chakra. Speak. NOW!" Orochimaru had a smiled which creeper Satoru out. Her eyes held a glint of curiousity.
"I had a Uzumaki refill my chakra reserves every time I depleted them. She overloaded my body with chakra each time. It was intoxicating, to some level." Satoru replied. His pupils dilated like an addict just from thinking about the feeling.
"And you used up the entire chakra reserves of an uzumaki? It is hard for an Uzumaki to run out chakra." Satoru nodded, "I see, I have some theories and if they come out to be true and it will revolutionize the shinobi world...only konoha if possible."
"What theories?" Satoru asked, to which Orochimaru just smiled and gestured him to follow. They walked throught the hallways and went down the stairs several times. They were nearing the basement of the tower.
"Okay then, keep your secrets. At least tell me where are we going?" Satoru asked, he watched Orochimaru weave handsigns, then suddenly light emitted from her hands and a wall suddenly opened up revealing a room.
"You're going help me test out those theories, aren't you Satoru-kun? Orochimaru turned towards Satoru and said with a mischievous look. Her hand clasped his face as she took him into a hug.
Satoru kind off felt uncomfortable as well as reluctant to help Orochimaru. He wanted to voice out his concerns and leave to see his friends. Suddenly Yin chakra came out of her hands and went straight to his brain.
For some unknown reasons Satoru no longer felt reluctant to help, his desire to meet his friends slowly reduced and the intoxicating feeling of power was dangled in front of him like a carrot on a stick.
"If you help in proving these theories...you'll become the hero if the village! Don't you think that's cool? It could fast track your career to a jonin very quickly with the merits you'll get from this!" Orochimaru said, her alluring words caught Satoru in a trance he couldn't get out of.
"Okay, I'll help." Satoeu said plainly. Orochimaru stopped the hug and took him inside the room.