"Awakening in silence"
Kita didn't know exactly how long she had been unconscious. Time sometimes crawled slowly, especially when pain struck, and sometimes it raced past in a blur, especially during unconsciousness. Most of the time, she couldn't measure it at all. Objectively, it was only two or three days, but Kita often felt as if a lifetime had passed.
When she woke, she was in the same place—the stone chamber, soft bed, IV stand, and Sharin staring at her with wide eyes. Sharin always watched her like this, unblinking and fixed. At first, it was intimidating, but after so many times, Kita had grown used to it.
Dressing, washing up, and then going to find Orochimaru had almost become routine. This time, however, she didn't find him in the laboratory, but in the lounge. The lounge, as the name suggested, was for resting: TV, fridge, books, sofa, soft chairs, coffee table, tea set, a small liquor cabinet—everything one would expect. Orochimaru occasionally rested here, and now, dressed in a kimono, he lazily reclined in a comfortable rocking chair. The "cover" on his face wasn't a blanket but an unrolled scroll. The tea set on the table was neat and clean; the tea leaves in the pot exuded a strong fragrance.
Kita noticed Orochimaru's hands, wrapped in bandages. Injured, sealed by the Third Hokage—she had heard of this, but it was her first time seeing Orochimaru return from the failed Konoha destruction plan.
She had to say something.
"Y-your… hands… a-are… alright?"
The scroll tumbled to the floor. Orochimaru turned his head toward her, golden eyes wide in surprise—apparently shocked that she could speak.
"You really startled me."
"I-I… didn't… mean to…" Her stammer made speaking a struggle, even frustrating at times.
"After you returned, you could speak again, and you weren't here then, Orochimaru-sama," Sharin said happily, thrilled that Kita had regained her voice.
"How did you do it?"
"I… used… chakra to create… virtual… vocal cords," Kita said, sitting on the sofa, a slightly cool cup of tea before her. She tapped Sharin and then pointed at the tea. Sharin understood, cleaned the tea set, boiled water, and prepared tea leaves with practiced skill.
"Let me see," Orochimaru said, reaching out to touch Kita's neck. With chakra input, the construction of the vocal cords became clear.
"Interesting… chakra can be used this way. Do the Ōtsutsuki play with it like this?"
Kita nodded. "Sort of," she said, then looked at Orochimaru's withdrawn hand. "H-hands… are they… alright?"
"Nothing to worry about. That old man used a Shikigami Seal—underestimated him," Orochimaru replied.
Kita's unexpected expertise in sealing techniques made this possible. Their close ties with the long-extinct, sealing-proficient Uzumaki clan helped immensely.
"Th-then… killing your master… what… does… it feel like?"
"Feels good," Orochimaru said without any burden. Kita smiled, pouring him a cup of hot tea from the teapot. Sharin, unused to tea, grabbed slightly cool lime juice from the fridge and her usual snack, sitting beside them.
"This time, fifty-eight days," Orochimaru said. The interval since the last incident was fifty-eight days. The interval between the previous two was sixty-three days. Five days early—this was not a good sign.
"N-next time… I… I will… return in… f-fifty-three…"
Silence filled the lounge, broken only by Sharin quietly eating.
"Sorry," Orochimaru said.
Kita didn't understand the apology at first, but the explanation followed.
"At first, it was my mistake. I shouldn't have placed the Cursed Seal of Heaven on you. That seal linked your consciousness with Zetsu's. Without it, we could have eliminated Zetsu without harming you."
Words he should have spoken years ago, delayed too long.
"It's… alright. The… result… is the same."
Orochimaru reclined in the soft chair, picking up the fallen scroll to cover his face.
"It's really good that you can speak again," he added, meaning unclear—at least to Sharin, who understood every word but not the conversation as a whole.
"It's… annoying… with… st-stammering… I… I can… use… sign language," Kita said.
"No need. Talking helps you recover. You haven't spoken in so long, so it's normal. I don't have to watch you do sign language all the time. You can eat and talk at the same time—just fine," Orochimaru replied.
"R-really?"
"Kita, do you have many things left to do?"
She paused before speaking.
"Still… how… much longer?"
"Don't you have a sense of yourself?"
Kita smiled, poured herself another cup of tea, and drank it in one go.
"Not… much. Just… one thing left."
Helping Sharin conceal this world, and nothing more.
"I see… sorry…"
Even without healing him, gaining Creation Rebirth would have sufficed.
"It's… alright… drink… tea," Kita said, patting Orochimaru's shoulder.
…
"Sorry for disappearing for so long again."
Almost two months with no word—unforgivable for a leader. But Obito rarely undertook missions, not out of distrust, but because he was notoriously bad at them. His presence in Akatsuki was valued for combat power; for Nagato, it was a significant asset when collecting the Tailed Beasts.
Where had Obito gone? Nagato didn't care much. Initially curious, Nagato had asked, but Obito avoided details, claiming private matters. Over time, Nagato grew used to his disappearances. As long as it didn't affect missions, he could go wherever he liked. He had no partner at the time, though he had considered finding one. With only nine members, all spots were full. At first, Nagato suspected trickery, but observing over time, Obito remained the same carefree person he always was.
"No problem," Nagato said, sipping tea. In the meeting room, only he and Obito sat across from each other, the simple room furnished with chairs, a table, and snacks with tea, for conversation.
"During your absence, I tried contacting you. Where did you go?"
This had happened before. When Obito was in the Time-Space dimension, Nagato could not reach him via chakra. Obito never wandered there for leisure, only cleaning the dimension. But the timing didn't match the cleaning time.
To the Moon.
Obito thought. After a moment, he abandoned the idea of answering truthfully. Mentioning the Moon meant mentioning the Ōtsutsuki, which meant intelligence sources, which meant Kita. Better to remain silent.