[♔ 17.] [action/video; tell me that you'll open your eyes]
[ The package arrived in the early hours of morning, a small box labeled FRAGILE that he chose to open over his croissants. The contents were not what he expected, to say the least; two pairs of Sharingan eyes, the fascinating quality of them causing Sousuke to become lost in his musings, bent over the clear tubes holding the organs intact. The note that slipped onto his lap was written in a familiar hand and made if not his heart, then his spirit sink in disappointment.
I found it.
So, Orochimaru had known he was going. He had found a way out, even, and the old snake hadn't sought to do anything but send Sousuke a consolation prize - but, he rationalised, the other scientist wouldn't have done so to goad his peer. Had he known he may have been embarking on a one-way trip, certainly he would have put his provisions in order. Which left Sousuke with four core sources of the Uchiha's power. The ability and freedom, Orochimaru would have known, to learn their secrets and overcome their illusory negation. Because of Madara's arrival? Had Orochimaru wanted to put the eyes into safe hands, knowing the danger they would cause if falling into the 'wrong' hands? They needed protection and study, that was taken as given.
Wherever Orochimaru was, Sousuke sent him some good will. Laughing quietly, he slumped in his chair and raked his hair back, placing the tubes in order and carefully resealing the box as he sent his reiatsu out over the island in a customary sweep; yes, definitely absent. You found it and left immediately. His NV lay nearby, quiet as death on its back. In a corner of the room, kittens mewed as they began exploring the cold fireplace, rolling over each other and nosing the furniture. Sending them a brief glance, he finished his tea and took the eyes, shunpoing to Nueva Las Noches. It opened before him like a sentient being of fealty, his attention elsewhere as he made his way to the laboratory in the lowest level, below Szayel, even. Securing the Sharingan where none ought to be able to find them, he was a little more reassured when he returned to the surface. ]
[ The NV finally turns on to show Sousuke, in normal clothes, atop the fortress with the northern forests and sea at his back. On the roof, his hair whips in the wind and his words are low owing to the closeness of the video feed. ]
Orochimaru is gone. [ That he chooses to relay this much information is not out of grief (although he will miss the snake's company) and certainly not out of duty (what does he owe to anyone here?). Not bothering to look at the NV, he watches the wilderness on the horizon. How far did you get? ] He isn't dead. The exit to this place was his, at last.
[ After a moment, keen brown eyes slant attentively at the viewer over a mild, self-confident smile; several new reiatsu signatures, even masked, have caught his intense interest. ]
How long will you continue to hide from me, Urahara Kisuke?