Title: Chameleon
Words: 340
Character(s): Sasuke, mentions of Orochimaru and Itachi
Pairing(s): None
Summary: Chameleons take on the colors of their environments. Sasuke, it seems, does too.
A/n: Just a random little creepy drabble thing written while trying to avoid doing my insane amounts of homework. Thoughts, anyone?
The marks are staying longer and longer. They don't fade when he deactivates the seal, reverting from the Cursed Seal state. No. Now they remain for long periods of time, hideous designs twisting across his body like the skin of a snake, retreating only reluctantly.
It doesn't matter to him at first, and he continues to use the power given to him by his new master, regardless of the consequences. He simply dismisses this new development, and time passes.
So it comes as a bit of a shock to him when he gets the next glimpse of his reflection.
When Sasuke looks in mirror for the first time in months, he is shocked to see the marks still on his face. Marks he knows are from a battle that took place three weeks earlier.
Ever since then, he has avoided mirrors, preferring not to look at the patterns on his skin, trying to ignore the symbols of a power not his own.
Still, he can't help but see his face, and the strange new patterns that adorn it every once in a while. He catches fleeting glances in ponds, in the glass of the few windows that are scattered throughout Otogakure, and each time, he averts his eyes quickly, disgusted at what he sees.
One day, the marks simply don't fade. They are there, sinister, indelible designs that nothing can remove. Now, instead of extending further across his body, they grow bigger, claiming more of his flesh every time the seal is activated.
Eventually, he stops noticing the skin of a snake over his own. He no longer sees the inky blotches that signal Orochimaru's control over his fate. He doesn't care anymore, even though the day that his entire body will be black is fast approaching.
Power is power, in any form. If these marks give him the power to defeat Itachi, then so be it. He will take what he can get, if it means he is closer to revenge.
Besides, black has always been his favorite color.