Naruto: I Became Orochimaru's Apprentice

Another week passed, Teriyaki felt like digging his eyes out.

'Every day, training, blood sample, training. Why did I become part of this world if my life is so meaningless. I mean, the entire ninja world is moving, I'm just stuck down here. A prisoner to the snake villain. I've been in this lair for so long, I'm still not sure if the world outside even is the Naruto I know."

He left his room, the stone slab bed looking cruel as ever, and immideatly spoke to Orochimaru upon noticing he had returned.

"Master why do you never visit?"

"Shh, just take this needle and be quiet." The plump feeling of his skin going sore after the jab was taken had become normal. Only God knew what Orochimaru was doing with those samples.

"Master, when can I leave the lair?"

"That is the 20th time you asked that question, Teriyaki."

"So can I leave?"

Orochimaru sighed, children were so draining. To top it off, there were just so many other matters he had to deal with first.

"In 6 months, I will give you your leave but only if you do my training. It has two steps, your reflexes and body and your chakra and jutsu mastery."

"Deal, Master."

Teriyaki bowed, hiding an thrilled grin as he looked at the floor in glee.

'Finally, we're getting somewhere. I'm not going to spend my entire life down here after all.'

Orichimaru gave him a list of tasks, and he gave Kabuto a similar list.

"I need him to complete every task here in under 6 months, only then will he be ready for the outside world. Once people visit this place they leave under my control, and that is how it's always been." Orochimaru said.

Kabuto nodded eagerly, giving me a caring look. "See, put in the effort and rewards will come your way."

The first bit of training was called reaction training.

Teriyaki was taken into a new room in the lair, one he had never even seen before.

It was called the trap room.

Inside, numerous hidden spikes seemed to be waiting, and other objects such as a shuriken dispenser and a kunai on a coil. Kabuto explained the rules quickly.

"You need to last a minute in here, if you get hit the game is over. Even though you are too young to learn proficient Taijutsu, like Orochimaru's snake taijutsu style, Orichimaru believes your chakra pathways, combat instinct and muscles can still be improved. This will help with your combat instinct, when you can last an entire minute in this room he believes you will be adept for now."

The room was pleasantly spacious, as I stepped inside I noticed Kabuto adopting a worried look on his face.

At once he pulled a lever, catching me by surprise.

Spikes flew in from all angles, a few loose shurikens came through, one of which chipped my right leg. I felt blood splurt and a flesh wound form, my body screamed out in pain, not just that. I screamed. Until now, I had not been injured so badly, the scream was a natural reaction one which made Kabuto instantly run in to save me, as he also pulled the lever to stop the trap room's mechanisms.

"Insant defeat... It's fine we can try again if you wish. I will heal you, my old guardian Nono Yakashi taught me long ago, perhaps you will also be adept at healing jutsus eventually."

I felt the pain soften and the wound close, but my mind was still shattered.

"Do you want to go again?"

I nodded hesitantly, I had just been caught off guard. That was it. Surely...

The next 10 tries all went the same, instant pain. I decided to try again tomorrow, Kabuto then led me to the next part of Orochimaru's requirements.

I was led to a dark room, with only a small table and chair left inside. 

Kabuto said I would have to learn 3 jutsus to a strong level of mastery. 

Snake Clone Technique - Clones made from Onigiri's shed scales mixed with Teriyaki's chakra. These clones are fleshy and disturbingly organic.

Learn a jutsu used for offense.

Basic chakra flow exercises, but always twisted into something more biological — like forcing chakra through my saliva, sweat, or even into Onigiri directly.

"The Snake clone technique should be the first you learn, seeing you can already make a decent clone and Orochimaru will be around to help. Next, the offensive jutsu will really test you and finally the basic excercises will require you to extend your knowledge on chakra, by funneling it through other means."

No matter what Teriyaki did, he could not get even close to beginning to grasp any of the techniques. They seemed far out of his league. He asked Kabuto if it was because he lacked chakra, but Kabuto said the following.

"Well, you were designed to have ample chakra."

"What do you mean designed?"

"Oh sorry, I mean you were born with ample chakra. So it must just be your way of grasping the concepts, but that should come naturally."

Eventually Orichimaru returned later that month, upon noticing Teriyaki had made almost no progress in both the reflex and the Jutsu tests, he took matters into his own hands.

Teriyaki felt much more stressed on that day, he couldn't tell if it was to do with his recent failures or just Orochimaru's presence pressing down on him like an unseen weight. The man stood before him, pale skin almost blending into the sterile white walls, his golden slit-pupiled eyes reflecting the dim light like liquid gold.

"Teriyaki," Orochimaru's voice was soft, almost pleasant, but it carried that chilling undertone that made it impossible to relax. "It's time I teach you personally, the snake clone technique. As Kabuto tells me your progress has stagnated significantly."

Teriyaki stood straight, hands clasped behind his back like Kabuto had taught him, but inside his stomach churned. The last time Orochimaru had been here he had high expectations, and now he was becoming more and more of a failure.

Orochimaru raised his hand — not to form a hand sign, but to open his mouth wider than any human should be able to. His jaw unhinged with a soft crack, and from the depths of his throat, a snake began to emerge.

Teriyaki froze.

The snake slithered out smoothly, scales wet with some thick mucus-like substance. But as Teriyaki stared closer, his breath caught. The snake's head… had Orochimaru's face. He remembered this scene from the manga. It grinned, showing sharp teeth, before the entire snake dissolved into dozens of smaller snakes, all shedding the Orochimaru skin and dispersing into the air like smoke.

"That is the Snake Clone Technique," Orochimaru said, wiping his mouth casually, like he had only taken a sip of water. "It is not a simple clone made of chakra. No. This is a piece of me — a colony of living snakes shaped into my body. Each one obeys without thought, because they are me."

Teriyaki swallowed hard. "But… how do I…"

"How do you create life from your own body?" Orochimaru's smile stretched wide. "That is what I will teach you now. It is a complex technique, but once you master it, you will become like no other."

"Let me teach you the first step, the birth of the clone."