"Not good enough, Sasuke-kun."
The slippery voice enunciated his name with such a sick caress the young Uchiha flashed glaring sharingan eyes at the snake sannin. The young prodigy's anger only served to produce a chuckle from the golden eyed older man.
"Now, now. What would Sakura-chan have to say about this attitude, hmm?"
The snake devil was deliberately goading him, he knew that. Yet, for all the self restraint and control he possessed, Sasuke couldn't help throwing another contemptuous glare his way. He had his hands on his knees while he bent over to retrieve his fallen sword, a trickle of sweat rolling down the length of his aristocratic nose. He had just been put through another aggravating session again by the unrelenting man gloating before him. It's sole purpose today had seemingly been to see how much of a temper he could tempt Sasuke into.
Sasuke hated the snake sannin, the only reason he hadn't already murdered the disturbed man was because he felt there was a little left to learn from him. Just a little longer he kept telling himself. He loathed the fact that he was relying on him for aid in his quest to become strong enough to defeat his brother and avenge his clan. He had never intended to become Orochimaru's vessel, he was just using him for his knowledge before he disposed of the deranged, snake obsessed sannin. However, the daily provoking was proving harder to ignore, and the urge to dispose of him quickly and painfully was always boiling below the surface these days.
Drowning deep in my sea of loathing
Gripping kusanagi with his right hand, he quickly propelled his lithe body to a haughty stance, the picture of cool and calm before the words tumbled from his mouth out of intense annoyance for the man standing before him.
"Shut up." the boy growled.
"Oh? Hit a nerve did I, Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru said while a taunting grin spread over his pale face. Riling up his vessel in training always pleased the snake-man. He knew the pink haired girl was a sensitive subject for Sasuke, he could keep up the aloof act around her all he wanted, the sannin knew better. Despite presenting Sakura with a cold shoulder and colder words, he knew Sasuke would never have allowed the little kuniochi to follow him if he didn't have a motive behind it, or better yet - feelings for her.
The smirk gracing his pasty, thin lips widened at the thought. Who would have guessed that buried deep down in his dark, resentful and long forgotten heart that Sasuke could hold feelings for another? For surely, that was what it must be. Orochimaru couldn't deny he had been thoroughly stunned when his vessel returned to their base accompanied, with the little flower that had been a part of his precious team seven. Sasuke had played the perfect act of nonchalance, perfect, albeit he could see through it. True, Sasuke hadn't been the one searching for the girl, she had set off alone to rejoin her dark prince, but Sasuke hadn't sent her away when she had stumbled upon him. Yes, it was clear to Orochimaru even if the Uchiha didn't understand it himself.
He cared for the girl.
He couldn't blame Sasuke for it, she was a very cute specimen. Initially he thought of her as nothing more than a pathetic, simpering, hindrance but, she proved him wrong. It appeared that Naruto and Sasuke weren't the only two keeping busy over the years. He had to hand it to Tsunade, she did know how to develop talent, and useful talent at that.
Suddenly, there was a timid knock on the door to their training room and it opened slowly seconds later. Disrupting Orochimaru's musings was the very girl at the heart of the puzzle - Sakura.
"O-Orochimaru-sama, Kabuto-san says that he has something he wants to show you." Sakura avoided looking directly at the snake sannin, over the year she had spent in the nukenin's company she still had a hard time looking directly at his strange snake-like tawny eyes.
Another silky smile skated over Orochimaru's lips. How far could he push the Uchiha's buttons today? He knew he walked a fine line with Sasuke and his patience, but it was a balancing act he felt he was in control of.
"Thank you, Sakura-chan." He trilled while taking smooth paces forward until he reached the nervous form of Sakura, who had been on course to exit the room but twisted around halfway to acknowledge the older man's words.
Feeling the weight of Sasuke's burning glare piercing into his back, he had to smother a devilish smile. The boy was far too easy to predict. Utilizing this to his advantage he snaked his pale right arm around Sakura's delicate shoulders, relishing in the anxious energy emanating from her in waves.
"My, my Sakura-chan, still so edgy with me?" he said through grinning teeth.
"N-no!" Sakura stuttered, internally berating herself. Of course she was petrified of this man! His sickly pale skin touching hers made her want to scream and rip the offending limb off. She shook her head and tried again, "No Orochimaru-sama, I just need to…"
Her lame excuse was broken off when she caught sight of the thunderous look etched on Sasuke's face. She knew he hated the snake monster, but she wasn't sure why Orochimaru was warranting such a reaction from the man she was still madly infatuated with. Even when he was throwing looks that could kill, he exuded sexiness. The way his head tilted back, his eyes frowning in disgust at the perverse snake man in front of him, all of it was so commanding. She couldn't draw her eyes away from the man that personified confidence and hatred.
Orochimaru could see Sakura's green doe eyes shift slightly to look over his shoulder, ogling her cherished Sasuke, no doubt. But, Orochimaru took the opportunity of her distraction and brought the index finger of his left hand to the side of her face, pushing it so she had to return her wide-eyed emerald gaze back at him.
"Who are you staring at, Sakura-chan?" he softly intoned, earning a shudder and fresh wave of panic from the fragile pink haired girl.
Her eyes widened slightly at Orochimaru's proximity, and the touch of his icy cold finger on her left side had her skin crawling with disgust. Despite feeling completely appalled at what he was doing, she could feel the familiar rush of heat to her cheeks at being caught openly staring at Sasuke.
As she opened her mouth to try and stammer out an answer, she found it immediately quelled in the back of her throat when she felt the devastatingly dark and foreboding chakra coming from behind Orochimaru.
"Oh?" Orochimaru frowned slightly, he hadn't bargained on Sasuke tapping into his seal so easily over the girl.
Sakura's eyes watched, entranced at the transformation taking action before her. Slowly, the curse seal on Sasuke began to seep across his skin, starting from the left base of his neck running both up and down to settle over his face and the tips of his fingers. She couldn't help but admire how the flame like curse spread across his skin, their black swirls only complimenting his ashen skin. Sasuke didn't seem to notice Sakura staring so blatantly, his red sharingan eyes only seeing the snake man before him.
Sasuke could feel the power of the cursed seal rapidly spreading over his skin, he could feel his feet moving, bringing him closer to the man he was going to kill. In that moment, watching the snake sannin gloat over Sakura, he decided he had learned all he needed from the once great shinobi. It was time to measure his strength against him, to test his full abilities and finally be free of the shackles Orochimaru had laid upon him. The curse pulsed beneath his skin, his anger fuelling the fire within him. His Clan's cursed eyes revealing their true horror to the two shinobi watching him stalk forward with avid attention.
It seems what's left of my human side
Is slowly changing in me
There is no turning back now
You've woken up the demon in me
Orochimaru had yet to move, his arm and fingers still lingering on Sakura's frame. He chuckled lightly before turning his snake-ish gold eyes back to Sakura.
"Sakura-chan look what you've made Sasuke-kun do now."
Sakura directed her startled jade eyes back to Orochimaru, a faint frown creasing her forehead, but before she could comment the sannin turned frosty eyes back to the rapidly approaching Uchiha.
"You're going to regret this, Sasuke." he hissed.
"Hn."
Sakura could feel the murderous intent rolling off the Uchiha in thunderous rolls, while the sannin's grip on her shoulder became stiffer the closer he got. Sakura winced as the pressure became more extreme and looked into the sannin's face, where she was shocked to find traces of foreboding. Then, before she could process what had happened she found herself almost face to face with the murderous glare of Sasuke. She was now propped in front of Orochimaru, acting as his sick idea of a shield.
She gasped in fear when Sasuke stopped directly in front of her, his sandal clad toes almost in touch with hers. She vaguely felt the pressure of her arms clasped tightly and uncomfortably behind her back, while the hiss by her ear caused the hairs on her neck to stand in disgust.
"Now, now, you wouldn't want dear little Sakura-chan to get hurt, would you?"
Sakura set panic stricken eyes onto Sasuke's blood red and murderous ones. He wouldn't hurt her, would he? All at once she wasn't so sure, the man she was looking at held no resemblance to the one she had grown up with. This Sasuke was the epitome of revenge. She could read it in his bloody eyes, the way he had stalked smoothly over to his prey, and the way that he seemingly stared straight through Sakura. He didn't even blink at Orochimaru's threat to her safety.
She didn't need to see the snake sannin to know there was a disgustingly sick smirk stretched over his pallid face. Knowing that she had to rely on herself to get out of this predicament, she tried her best to out muscle him, but Orochimaru held firm while chortling at her feeble attempts to shake free.
"No use, Sakura-chan," he cooed into her ear, earning another shudder of 's eyes snapped back to Sasuke as he felt a pressure in the air change. The curse seal over the Uchiha's body was rapidly changing into something more sinister. Sakura stood frozen in horror watching the change overcoming the boy standing before her. His skin was becoming an ashy grey colour, his hair standing up in wilder disarray, a black cross spreading over the bridge of his nose and tops of his cheeks, and to Sakura's utter disbelief; two inhumanly large, webbed hands that formed great wings sprouted from either side his back.
Sasuke tilted his head back once more, looking down the barrel of his nose at Orochimaru, a ghost of a conceited smirk flickering over his lips. He could feel the power of the curse coursing more wildly through his blood, while his all seeing eyes would provid him with all the answers he would need. He felt unstoppable. The incessant thirst to rip the snake standing before him was pulsing through his veins like fire. He could see his victory in his minds' eye. Slowly, he pulled kusanagi out of its sheath and pointed it over Sakura's shell shocked being, and pointed it at the serpents neck.
I can see inside you, the sickness is rising
Don't try to deny what you feel
Sakura could barely breath, she was suffocating in the malicious chakra exuding from Sasuke. The sickening change that overtook her precious Sasuke was making her head swim. What was he? This person before her didn't even resemble the boy she used to know. She could feel hatred bubbling in the pit of her stomach, this had all started and would end with one person - Orochimaru. He was the one that had cursed Sasuke this way, he had brought this sickening transformation out in the stoic boy before her. She could feel her breathing arrest entirely when he drew out kusanagi and pointed it just above her shoulder. She could feel Orochimaru's hesitation, then once again a movement too fast for her to comprehend forced her flying forwards towards Sasuke.
She had just time enough to squint her eyes shut before impacting straight into the cursed mans hard chest. Before she could rebound off the solid wall of his body and collapse to the ground she felt strong arms envelope her and the mutter of a familiar word near her ear.
"Annoying."
She vaguely noted that there was a lot of dust and debris seemingly coming from the ceiling, and wondered how she had missed the attack that had caused it. Her mind was moving so sluggishly, she wasn't sure if things were moving in rewind or forwards. Then she heard a noise distantly familiar to her in her hazy state of mind - birds. She frowned, birds couldn't be inside. Finally registering the tremendous amount of chakra emitting beside her, she realized it wasn't birds at all, though it did sound like a thousand birds when chidori was being utilized. Sakura turned blurry unfocused eyes upwards and briefly met scorching sharingan induced ones.
Before she could make her sluggish mind comprehend what was happening, she felt cool, solid concrete against her back before once again locking her eyes onto the blood red ones of her dark prince. She held his gaze for a moment before noticing as if in slow motion, the snake eyes and face of the deranged Orochimaru flying towards Sasuke's back.
From her medical knowledge she knew what happened next, a pressure point behind her neck was met by strong hands and she saw the world around her slowly fade to black.
Slowly Sakura cracked open her lush eyes, squinting hard to prevent swirling dust to enter her eyes. Frantically her mind played catch up, commanding her legs to spring to life. She was on her feet taking deep calming breaths, trying to make out a form between the fragments of what she presumed to be the ceiling of the training dome.
Gingerly she took a cautious step forward, eyes keen for any movement. However, she was found before she could even attempt to search for whom she was wishing to see.
Her breath caught in her throat when she felt the cold edge of a blade held snugly against the vulnerable skin of her throat. She frantically tried to think of a way to escape her predicament, to no avail. She knew it was over for her from the moment she failed to notice the chakra signal behind her. With a trembling voice she spoke,
"Sasuke-kun…?"
She was met with silence, which wouldn't have surprised her from the lone Uchiha survivor except this time she needed confirmation if it were truly him or not, for a moment earlier she spotted something in her peripheral vision.
The grotesque form of snake covered body, and twisted snake version of Orochimaru's face lay defeated to her left. The sight did nothing to cure her anxiety. Had Sasuke lost? Was Orochimaru using Sasuke as his vessel now, as he had always vied to? She couldn't control the sudden tremors rolling over her body. She could feel the blade pressing harder against her skin, the first drops of blood trickling down her porcelain neck.
"Sa-ku-ra." the silky voice enunciated each syllable with deliberate clarity.
Another shiver was sent rocketing through Sakura's body, though not from her fear this time.
"Sasuke-kun…" she almost sighed the name. She was certain that only the Uchiha could utter her name in such a way that was almost enough to make her legs turn to jelly. Even if Orochimaru had been controlling the prodigy's body, she was sure that he couldn't garner such a reaction from her.
She dared to twist her body around ever so carefully, trying to avoid further damage from the formidable kusanagi held so closely to her. She was successful in her manoeuvring, and she once again found herself staring into the depths of Sasuke's icy black eyes. She frowned lightly at the complete look of indifference on his face while regarding her down the tip of his nose. She wasn't sure what she had expected to see, but the quiet disregard in which he eyed her didn't bring any sense of ease to her aching chest. She was also painfully aware that kusanagi remained resolutely in place under her chin, it appeared that Sasuke had fluidly moved along while she had.
It seems that all that was good has died
And is decaying in me
Sakura was suddenly assaulted with the doubt that this truly was Sasuke standing detachedly before her. What if Orochimaru really had finally claimed his long sought after vessel? Pink brows furrowed lightly in concentration as she slowly assessed the onyx eyed man before her. He looked every part the same as the shinobi she had spent the last year with, he was even very much the same as he was when they started their genin days together. From his haughty posture, the casual grace with which he moved, his colossal chakra radiating calmly from his lean form, and the way he titled his head back ever so slightly, looking down upon those he deemed lesser than him. And of course his eyes, those eyes that had always been a chilly stab when he glared, or an unreadable book when he cast you an aloof glance. But they were different now.
His eyes were hollow - dead.
The sight of him staring at her with blank, unwavering eyes made her heart hammer inside her chest. The silence had become so thick around them she was certain that the erratic beating of her heart was echoing around the dank chamber. She could feel the cool, hard blade of kusanagi pressing harder into her delicate skin, immediately inducing a fresh wave of panic into her already shocked system. She adamantly refused to believe that Sasuke was beyond her aid. Despite his lack of trust in others, Sakura had always felt that there was an unspoken something between them. He had thanked her after all, when she had confessed her love and willingness to follow him wherever he went. Surely that had to have meant something unique between them? He had never reciprocated the same feelings to her but, he had always tolerated her at the least. He had always let her dote and fuss over him, when he was more than capable of verbally or physically making her stop. And, he had always protected her. The old and weak Sakura had been a nuisance, but a nuisance that Sasuke would protect. They didn't have the same friendship that he and Naruto had, but she knew that they had something.
It seems you're having some trouble
In dealing with these changes
Living with these changes
Feeling slightly consoled by her reasoning, she refocused her eyes back upon his handsome face. The dread that had momentarily halted inside her was instantly renewed when she noted the slight changes trickling over Sasuke's face.
His eyes were still void of any emotion, but they tightened ever so slightly, his eyebrows pulled together into a frown and his lips parted into a twisted smirk. He was the perfect picture of madness. Sakura could feel the point of his blade slowly trace down to the hollow of her throat, along with the warm rivulets of her own blood. She opened her trembling lips to plead with the possessed man in front of her, but was immediately cut off.
"There's no use begging, Sakura." he articulated, in a voice barely above a whisper. His eyes were focused on the glistening blood trickling constantly from her frail neck, as if in a trance.
She stood stunned, and more scared than she could ever remember feeling. She was more scared now than she had been when she had woken up alone on that bench, knowing that Sasuke had severed his bonds for good, more scared now than she had been when leaving behind her precious Konoha to look for the very person that had left her alone and heart broken on said bench. She was scared of losing her life of course but, the thing that petrified her the most and left her body numb and unresponsive was the fact that she had seemingly lost Sasuke - again.
The world is a scary place
Now that you've woken up the demon in me
Not exactly what I had in mind but, this is what happened. Lyrics are from Down With the Sickness by Disturbed.