One of the many things that Sasuke hated was being stared at. He supposed it come from years of having to deal with just such a thing from his fangirls. The way they looked at him like a piece of meat was enough to make any sane man wary of staring. So it was not hard to understand the discomfort he felt under her gaze. She was tall, her skin made Orochimaru's look tan. Her body was clearly made to tempt the saints, impossibly proportioned, and shown off with the black silk yukata more draped on her than worn. In on pale hand she held a traditional long pipe, a soft red smoke rising from it gently. Her long black hair was piled on top of her head in a series of complicated knots that vaguely resembled something he had seen a geisha wear before. Her eyes reminded him of the Hyuuga's except for one thing: they were black, damn near the same shade as his own. They held no pupil, no iris, just never ending darkness. And this darkness was trained on him.
She seemed content to merely watch him like she had all the time in the world, which she did. Time was meaningless for her. She had existed since humans had begun to desire things, and would exist for as long as they continued to do so. She had many titles given her: temptress, demon, goddess. The names mattered little to her or him. He was here for one reason. She had the power to give anyone anything wanted. Anything. Her powers were not limited to such things as women and wealth. No, she could bring people from the dead, grant people their innermost desires. He had learned about her from Orochimaru's library. He had sought and found her, but been unwilling to pay her price for immortality. He had no clue what she had asked of him that would make the world's most amoral man refuse to do something to get what he wanted.
"While I may have the privilege of continuing this forever, you, my dear Uchiha, do not," her voice was like the hissing of silk as it brushed against itself. He shivered at the lack of emotion in it. She made Gaara sound like the most expressive person on the planet. Her voice was creepy.
"You know why I am here," Sasuke told her, doing what he could to keep the frustration out of his voice. He wanted her to grant him his request, and he knew that his temper was his enemy in this.
"Yes, but I need to hear it from your lips," she placed the pipe to her lips, inhaling the oddly colored smoke. Sasuke blinked once, drawing in a breath.
"I want the complete restoration of my clan. I want Itachi to die," he hissed the words out, low and angry. She seemed unaffected by his tone.
"You wish for me to change the very nature of your and your brother's fate, Uchiha," her voice was just barely audible. The idea that those events were his fate angered him. He was not born just to loose his family, and Itachi had not been created to end the clan. The idea was absurd. Fate was what you made of it. Nothing more, nothing less.
"You can not do it then?" he asked, moving to rise from his knees where he had been kneeling on the cushion in front of her. She snorted, amused.
"I said nothing of the sort. I can do it. That is not the question. The question is can you pay the price?" Her gaze became more intense. He looked her dead in the eye, ignoring the eeriness of her eyes and the way they made him feel foolish.
"Name it," he said no longer in the mood for talking. He had never been much of a talker, and this conversation was wearing him out.
"Naruto," at the name he made a choking noise and raised an eyebrow. "To change so much of one's fate, I need something equally as powerful, equally as important. I can do anything, but it must be for a fair exchange. It is the nature of my power." Sasuke frowned wondering why so much of his life came down to that blonde loudmouth. "I will not hurt him, as your brother's group so clearly wishes to do. I will just trade his existence for that of your clan's. When I bring them back, I will simply make it so your brother never existed. You, however, must bring him to me, Uchiha. You have a month." She went back to staring at the ceiling and smoking, the dismissal complete. Sasuke rose, mind already intent on how to get the dobe to come to him.
