Within These Empty Walls

Summary: Orochimaru places a jutsu on Sasuke's curse mark, causing him to act strangely. He wants to hide it from his team, but how long can he keep that up before they realize something is terribly wrong?

Rated: T

Epilogue:

Sasuke was frozen on his feet. His blood ran cold through his veins. Of all the people he could've met walking through the forest, it had to be him. The older man laughed seeing him stiffen up, taking a step closer towards the Uchiha boy.

"Nice to see you again, Sasuke-kun." The voice was a low hiss with a teasing hint to it.

"Orochimaru." Sasuke growled. Even though he was afraid, he concealed it well with anger. "What the heck do you want?"

The Sanin chuckled darkly. "Just checking up on my vessel is all." He laughed.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, not fully understanding what he meant. He bit his lip, drawing a little bit of blood.

"Why are you so frightened, Sasuke-kun?" The snake laughed as he took a few more steps closer to the boy.

Sasuke gasped and got into his fighting stance. "Stay back!" He yelled, as he created hand signs. A chidori roared to life in the palm of his hand. "I'm not afraid of you! I'll kill you!" He growled, trying to make himself sound as threatening as possible.

Orochimaru laughed like it was the funniest joke he had ever heard. "Really, Sasuke-kun? You're not afraid of me?" He drew out his sword. In an instant, he had disappeared, reappearing behind the Uchiha, the sword against the boy's neck, causing blood to run down the side. He had an arm wrapped around underneath it so he couldn't move it at all.

"Make one move and you're dead." He hissed. He pressed the knife slightly into his skin more, making him grunt in pain.

Sasuke growled and grit his teeth. Orochimaru had him in a position where he couldn't move at all to get away. He sighed in defeat and let the chidori fade away. "What do you want?" He asked, still trying to sound as if he wasn't afraid of dying.

Orochimaru laughed as he loosened the grip as he retracted the sword from his skin, but still had him in the choke hold.

"Hold still, Sasuke-kun." He whispered. Another Orochimaru appeared out of the bushes. He smiled at Sasuke's shocked expression. "You're being held back by a shadow clone." He explained with a chuckle. He walked up to Sasuke and looked him in the eyes.

"I can just tell from the look in your eyes that you're frightened. You can't hide it from me." The clone released his hold on Sasuke's neck, but quickly held him still by pulling his arms back. Orochimaru snickered and lifted the Uchiha's head up with his fingers.

"Leave me alone." Sasuke growled, glaring at the snake Sanin. He laughed and leaned down next to the boy, his lips hovering over the curse mark.

"Hold still, Sasuke-kun." He whispered. He slowly sank his fangs into the curse mark, making Sasuke visibly flinch. He began to struggle, kicking desperately at Orochimaru, but the clone used its tongue, wrapping around his legs to hold them still. Sasuke began to sweat as he was forced to be still.

Orochimaru laughed as he released his bite on Sasuke's neck. "Perfect, the mark knows that it's me interacting with it. Now, I can do what I want to do." He smiled. He created multiple hand signs, too fast for Sasuke to see. He couldn't suppress his trembling, as he didn't know what would happen to him. Orochimaru grinned, before stopping on tora, the sign of the tiger.

"Have fun." He laughed, biting back down on the curse mark once again.

A searing pain shot throughout Sasuke's body, making him scream in agony. Both Orochimaru and his clone let go of him, and he fell to his knees, gripping the side of his neck. His nails dug into it, making even more blood pour from the open wound.

Orochimaru recalled his clone. He laughed evilly before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke continued to cry out in agony. He thought he had heard someone calling out his name, but before he could do anything, he fell onto his side, and blackness immediately consumed him.

Chapter 1: Uncertainty

When Sasuke awoke sometime later in the day, he groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on his left side, under the faded blue covers of his bed. His fingers subconsciously rested on his curse mark, but he realized that there were bandages wrapped around his neck multiple times. He sighed and closed his eyes again, not really sure what had happened.

"Sasuke? You awake?" He heard someone whisper his name quietly. He opened his eyes a few seconds later and looked up to see his sensei leaning against the wall, a make out paradise book flipped open to the middle. He was looking down at him with a serious look on his face.

"You're lucky I found you when I did." He whispered. "You had lost a lot of blood…" Sasuke sat up, but was met with a coughing fit.

"Be careful Sasuke, you just woke up." He said, closing the book and walking to his side.

"I'm fine." He said after his coughing died down. He tried to remember what had happened before.

"What happened out there?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke sighed, as the memories came back to him. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"Orochimaru…" He whispered. Kakashi's expression didn't change.

"I should've known it had something to do with him. After all, it was your curse mark that had been affected."

Sasuke nodded, before continuing. "Orochimaru had found me in the forest. He… he trapped me… and he did some weird jutsu on my curse mark. His hands maneuvered too fast for me to read what they were. Before I knew it, he… he bit down on the mark again. I don't remember anything after that." He looked down at his hands, and he realized they had been trembling.

Kakashi sighed. "I should've known." He repeated, shaking his head. He sat down on the bed and reached behind Sasuke's neck. He undid the bandages, removing them.

"The blood's beginning to seep through. I should change these. I also want to take a look at the wound to see if there's something recognizable." He went into the bathroom to grab more bandages. He came back a minute later with them, along with some spray. He sat back down on the bed.

"Turn your head away. This spray might sting a little, but it'll help stop the bleeding and clean it out." He informed Sasuke, who nodded and turned his head so his curse mark was clearly exposed. Kakashi shook the bottle, and sprayed it all over the mark. Sasuke winced a little, but stayed still and allowed the medicine to do its thing.

"There." Kakashi stopped spraying it, and set it down on the nightstand next to him. "Wait a couple of minutes and I'll rewrap it." He put the spray away, and got out a dark blue cloth, which he used to wipe the blood that was sliding down his neck. Sasuke nodded and moved his head back to its normal position. He looked down at his hands again, glad they had stopped shaking.

After a couple of minutes, Kakashi rewrapped the bandages around his neck. When he finished, he placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, making him look up.

"Do you feel any different? Tell me everything you feel that isn't normal." He told him, his tone serious.

Sasuke thought for a minute, deciding if he should tell Kakashi about the feeling in his stomach that felt strange. It wasn't a pain, tingle, or warmth. It was just an indescribable feeling.

"I don't feel anything at all." He told his platinum haired sensei. The last thing he wanted was to be getting multiple x-rays and various tests done on him to see what was wrong.

Kakashi nodded, believing Sasuke. "That's good. Will you let me know if anything happens?"

Sasuke just nodded back.

He patted his head. "Thanks. I'm going to go home now, alright? We've got no more missions for awhile now, so you can just take it easy." He told him, before patting his head and leaving.

Sasuke sighed as he watched him leave. He lied back down on his bed, gazing up at the ceiling. What happened back there? He wondered, becoming lost in thought as the painful memories carved through his mind. He placed a hand on his curse mark, digging his nails in a little, but not too much where it would hurt it. What did he do to me?

Sasuke ended up dozing off thinking about what Orochimaru had done to him, and what might happen to him in the future.

It was later into the day when Sasuke woke up to a strange pain on his neck, making him growl in annoyance. He sat up and rubbed his temples, unsure of what to do. He stood up, deciding to get a drink of water. As he walked down the hallway, the pain increased. He slid against the wall, falling to his knees and grunting. He ripped off the bandages, and found the marking were beginning to spread. They had covered his entire shoulder and spread across his chest.

"Dang it." He growled. He tried to stand again, but it suddenly pulsed, making him collapse to the ground. He cursed under his breath, as he began crawling over to the living room, which was the closest place he could lay down that wasn't on the floor.

He pulled himself onto the couch, resting his head against the arm, which was thankfully low enough to be used as a pillow. He unintentionally let out a moan of pain, gripping the curse mark again lightly.

It hurts… He thought. But… why? He moaned again as it pulsated, sending waves of pain through his entire body. He had wished he told Kakashi at this point. Perhaps he wouldn't have been suffering like he was now. He wanted to call for his sensei, but he knew it would be useless. He gasped and jumped as the pain increased, and the markings spread farther down his body. He curled into a ball and buried his head in his knees, trying to keep himself from screaming.

He stayed like that for an hour and a half, his consciousness fading in and out the entire time. The curse had spread across his whole entire body, before finally receding back into his neck. The unbearable agony slowly began to ebb away. He groaned and lifted his head up slowly, as he was met with a sharp pain in his head.

He lied his head back down again, not wanting to move anymore. His mouth was dry and his lips were chapped from lack of water, but he decide he'd rather stay thirsty than to feel more pain.

He wasn't sure how long he had lied there, unmoving, just staring off into space. All he knew was by the time he dared to lift his head to peek outside the window, he realized it was very late. Probably a little later than midnight. He sighed in relief and flopped his head back down on the armrest. He closed his eyes, thankful he could sleep for a long time.

Maybe by tomorrow… this whole thing will go away… He thought just before he drifted off into what he thought would be a pleasant, dreamless sleep.

Chapter 1 is done.

Let me know in a review what you thought about the story. Sorry for the first chapter being short. Not sure how fast this story will be updated, but it shouldn't take a month per chapter. I can almost guarantee that.

Thanks for reading. Please review.

~SasukeUchihasGuardian