Naruto: I Became Orochimaru's Apprentice

Teriyaki didn't freeze up, he didn't wait for Kabuto to make the first move. He closed the distance instantly, kunai held firm in his right hand.

His stance was low, just like he was drilled into every day for months. His left hand hovered near his chest—ready to activate a Substitution Jutsu at any second.

The first clash was loud, an exchange of steel-on-steel. Sparks jump off their kunai as they lock blades. Teriyaki's grip doesn't slip this time, even though Kabuto is far stronger he can keep ahold of his kunai.

Kabuto smiles slightly. "Better. I can tell the way you hold it is far better. And you aren't scared to match me either."

Kabuto's movements are still smoother, faster. His kunai angles cut sharp, aiming to disarm and break Teriyaki's guard, but Teriyaki uses his flexibility to twist away at the last second, narrowly avoiding full openings.

"That darned flexibility, Orochimaru really changed you."

Kabuto feinted low — Teriyaki noticed it and sidestepped .Kabuto tried a wrist lock — Teriyaki slithered his arm free thanks to his unique flexibility.

When Kabuto got too close too landing a fatal blow, Teriyaki threw a desperate kunai slash. Kabuto dodged and countered with his own thrust — but Teriyaki vanished in a puff of smoke.

"That trick, really?"

He reappeared behind Kabuto, immediately launching a slash at his back. Kabuto blocked without turning around, kunai held in reverse grip behind him.

"Predictable," Kabuto murmured. "A waste of chakra."

Teriyaki skidded back, pretending to stumble. He dropped his kunai — bait. As Kabuto closed in to take him out, Teriyaki manipulated his chakra to go through his biological seal, mouth twitching into a grin. 

A Snake Clone slowly resembling Teriyaki flew out from his tongue, lunging at Kabuto from below. Orochimaru's own technique, used with clever intent.

For a moment, Kabuto's eyes narrowed. But before the clone could fully strike, Kabuto stomped down hard, his chakra pulsing through the floor. The snake clone shattered before it could even fully form or be of use.

"Good idea," Kabuto admitted. "But you telegraphed it and it was a very straightforward attack."

The final exchange was brutal and fast.

Teriyaki tried to rush in, but Kabuto caught him mid-step.Their kunais met again, but Kabuto twisted his wrist perfectly, sending Teriyaki's blade flying into the air. In the same motion, Kabuto swept Teriyaki's leg, sending him hard to the floor before he could concot a new strategy.

Teriyaki's hands swiftly began making seals, he needed to substitute again, But Kabuto's heel pinned his wrist, kunai tip resting gently against his throat.

"It's over Teriyaki, you have lost again. But that try was far better, and far more telling of your potential, I think so at least."

He looked towards Orichimaru.

For a moment, silence. Then, a slow, slithering clap from Orochimaru.

"Finally." His voice echoes off the walls."You still lost, of course—but at least you fought in a way that made it bearable to watch."

He stands, looking down at Teriyaki with twisted pride."You're ready.""From this point on, you're no longer just another test subject. You're a trusted subordinate."

Teriyaki breathed hard, staring up at the ceiling, the taste of blood in his mouth. His fingers twitch, feeling for the kunai that was no longer there.

He lost — but he had earned his freedom. Or at least, permission to go outside.

Thinking about the outside world, he slept peacefully that night.

The next day, Teriyaki lay on the hard stone floor, chest rising and falling, kunai still clutched in his fingers. Kabuto stood above him, adjusting his glasses, not even winded.

Kabuto and Orochimaru stood over him, consolidating the future.

"Better," Kabuto said flatly, turning to Orochimaru. "He's learning to think during a fight. Still too slow. But he should be ready now."

Orochimaru stepped into the room, his smile thin as a razor's edge. "True, I suppose it's no longer to his benefit keeping him in here." His gaze slithered down to Teriyaki's exhausted body. "You've earned your reward. And your leash."

Teriyaki was awake, secretly, listening to every word they said.

Teriyaki didn't flinch, though his heart skipped. He already knew what was coming. He'd realized Orichimaru would probably try to give him some type of curse mark. He knew exactly what it could do — how it could grant strength, but also how it let Orochimaru slip into the user's body, controlling them like a puppet if they ever got in his way.

But Teriyaki couldn't let Orochimaru know he knew. He still doesn't understand how he was in this body, in this world.

So, he blinked up at him, deliberately wide-eyed, face painted in confusion and cautious curiosity. "Good morning."

Orochimaru chuckled, kneeling beside him. "Don't worry, my little serpent. We were just talking about ways to help you." His fingers, cold and dry, brushed Teriyaki's neck, tracing a spot at the curve where his neck met his shoulder. "After all, today is the day you get to leave the lair."

Inside, Teriyaki's stomach churned.Outside, he smiled weakly and nodded. "I've been waiting for this day for 7 months."

Orochimaru's hand flooded with purple-black chakra, dark enough to make the air ripple. The smell of burning flesh filled the room as his fingers pressed into Teriyaki's skin, forcing his chakra into Teriyaki's coils like venom from a fang. The curse mark bloomed, three sharp tomoe spiraling outward in jagged ink.

The pain was real — but Teriyaki bit his tongue and refused to scream. That would've been too satisfying for Orochimaru.

The moment it settled, Teriyaki could feel it — not just the power, but the thread buried deep inside, a vein of Orochimaru's own chakra, woven directly into him. He understood it could grant him power but at the cost of becoming even more attatched to Orochimore.

But he kept his face neutral, pretending to poke at the mark like it was unfamiliar.

"It feels… weird," Teriyaki muttered. "What is this?"Orochimaru's grin was predatory. "Power always does, at first. I simply gave you a mark to ensure you won't get lost, and if you do I'll always find you. It will also help increase your strength, in the case that you end up needing help and I am not there."

When they left him alone, Teriyaki sat cross-legged in the silence, fingers tracing the still-warm skin. His expression darkened, his fake smile slipping away.

"You won't control me," he whispered outwards. "But this isn't too bad, it's a means to power which this young body needs."He knew the curse mark wasn't for his own good, but at least now Orochimaru would let him leave the lair.