Mind The Labels

Tayuya groaned as her lord and master, Orochimaru of the Sannin, went over his ‘fool proof’ plan to attack Konoha for the fifth time.

It was fairly interesting the first time she had heard it. She found herself amazed at how he had taken every tiny detail into account, but that quickly wore off the third time.

Perhaps her master was having a moment of vanity, so enraptured by his own supposed genius that he was in a state of disbelief? Maybe he thought they were all mindless idiots barely capable of independent thought?

Either way, she was tired of hearing his plan. Hearing him talk was starting to piss her off. She was grateful to her master for taking her in and making her strong, but sometimes she felt he could be a bit of an asshat. (The word sometimes being used rather loosely)

Then there was the fact that she had to sit inside of his dark and dank lab, located at the very bottom of their base, cleverly hidden behind a large waterfall somewhere in the rice country.

Even though it was standard in an evil lair, she absolutely hated his lab. It felt more like a morgue. Candle light instead of light bulbs, Cadavers on top of operating tables, beakers and test tubes every which a way, some marked with specific names, other blank and unassuming, filled with various colored, mysterious liquids. There were a few that managed to catch her attention; conveniently, labeled ‘Expand’ or ‘Growth’ but the generic-ness of their names initially turned her attention away as she moved from one beaker to the next in search of something better. Finally, her brown eyes settled upon a larger beaker, much bigger than the others, filled with a brown liquid. Given its size, she assumed it was something of relative use (Orochimaru was not known to make something in bulk unless it was useful). However, what really made it stand out from its counterparts was not is size but rather its name.

‘WOMEN-DO NOT LET DRINK UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES-SUPER HOREMONES’

A scarlet brow arched in curiosity, she made a mental note to further examine the beaker. Maybe, just maybe, it had some strange side effect like giving her super powers and not ones like Sakon/Ukon or Kidomaru. Jirobo did not count because; to her at least, he was just a fat bastard. Still, there had to be something worth investigating, she reasoned.

It did have the word ‘Super’ in front of it after all. Anything with the word ‘super’ in front of it was bound to be worthwhile.

She let out a sharp hiss when a pointed elbow lodged itself into her side. Holding her unbruised midsection in pain, she glared at the assailant, Sakon who made a casual thumb gesture towards a delightfully upset looking Orochimaru.

“Glad to have your attention Tayuya-chan. Now, as I was saying, the first part of the mission will take place immediately. As such, you will move about Konoha in a civilian disguise and observe the Shinobi’s training habits. You are to wait for my direct command and remember. Do not do anything that may give away your identity.”

Confident that he successfully conveyed his point, he left the room in a plume of smoke via Shunshin, leaving the Sound Four to move at their leisure.

It was now; Tayuya would find the time to act. With the remainder of her teammates leaving the lab on foot, grumbling about stupid plans, Tayuya would remain behind.

Moving aptly across the room, she closely examined the beaker, trying to rationalize her interest in such a thing. It was drawing her in, but her curiosity felt unfounded. Why would Orochimaru place a gender specific warning label on the beaker?

Cautiously, she lifted the large beaker up to eye level and examined its contents closely, trying to find some answer for her inquiry.

So far, she found nothing, at least not from outward observation.

However, Tayuya was not the kind of person to take something at face value. Even if something looked harmless, there was a chance it really wasn’t. As much as she loved caution, she also loved to take risks of any shape and size. Taking a life or death gamble and coming out on top was a show of one’s superiority after all. It made her feel alive by coming out on top and proving her superiority over an opponent. In this case, her opponent happened to be a glass beaker filled with a mysterious liquid.

She would not be

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