A/N: This is a oneshot for Elisa-of-the-Flames story The Price of Living. I've been reading her story for some time now, and I've become a major fan of the OrochimaruxAkane pairing. It bothered me that there wasn't enough of them together...at least not enough 'mature' scenes haha. So I decided to write one for myself and all the other AkaneXOrochimaru fans. I attempted to copy Elisa's style and keep her oc in character...so I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations. Elisa even edited it for me making it ten times better then it was before. So I must thank her for both allowing me to borrow her oc and edit this short one shot. Thanks Elisa!...but you need to update more! Enjoy the story!
She could not believe it.
The long-haired girl stared at the metal objects lying peacefully next to her on the medical table. The ring full of keys teased her while her eyes measured the amount of time it would take to reach out for them.
Could it really be that easy? Her hand slowly outstretched for the precious item, before abruptly stopping in mid air.
(You are falling for a trap. Don't walk into it as easily as a mouse would.)
Her finger twitched in the air. The stupid keys patronized her. She licked her lips, as if tasting her salty decision. Then, in one quick motion, she reached out and clasped her hand around the keys. She knew it was most likely a trap, but her mind taunted her, reminding her of the days she had spent waiting for this moment. The days Hana had spent in the darken prison. She had to risk it because she was too fearful of the unknown amount of time she would have to wait to gain another opportunity like this. Shesilently thank the emergency that pulled Kabuto away and left the 'doctor's office.'
Akane held the keys firmly in her sweaty hand. She needed to hide them, she knew, but the kimono she was required to wear did not grace her with pockets. Every sickeningly loud beat of her heart sounded like a second to go by to her and, without another moment to spare, she bolted out of the room. Her pace was fast as she traveled down the hallway. The girl cascaded down the dimly-lit hall, knowing that she would soon be entering a maze of corridors. She grew fearful as she approached a corner, knowing that a person could be on the other side. If they noticed the keys (and they would notice) she would be in quite a dilemma.
As she considered her current situation, she stopped for a second to put the key down the triangle opening of her cleavage. She felt the cold metal trace down her skin as it slid past her breast to her hips, settling above the obi that wrapped tight around her to keep the kimono together. The 'soothsayer' controlled the shiver and moved like nothing had happened. With each step she took she felt the keys move against her. The motion was taunting, as it reminded her how close she was to escape.
Step.
…
She heard the noise down the hall. Her own pace paused in misstep.
(You're letting the mirage of escape blind your reason and logic.)
And she still was nowhere near away from this place! She had to calm her mind. Taking a few deep breaths, she continued down the hallway. It was not an unusual occurrence to occasionally meet some other inhabitant of the many bases of Otokagure. Whoever the Sound-nin was, he would hopefully walk by her without a glance.
Step.
…
Step.
…
The person was getting closer as the echo of his step became louder. It matched the increase in her heart rate. The dim light didn't give her a visual of the perpetrator, so she turned her eyes to the ground giving the anonymous person no reason to question her.
Step.
…
Step.
…
Nothing.
The newcomer had stopped moving. "Awww Akane-chan," the words fell from his mouth the same way her hope fell from her muscles. "I had assumed that Kabuto testing would take more of your time," the tone in his voice made it seem like he forced the testing to go on for the hours it could last. And she had put the blame on Kabuto.
Akane finally looked up at the Snake-Sannin with utter distaste, but kept her face otherwise expressionless. "Kabuto-san was taken away to deal with a training incident. I took his running out of the room as a motion to cancel," she said calmly, hoping he would nod and continue on his way.
He did nod, but to her dislike he stayed standing next to her, his hands placed behind his back. A slow thin smile crawled onto his face resembling humor. "No matter. It appears you have free time then," he mocked. He knew very well she had free time. She had an abundance of it sitting in her room.
(However, you do have a time limit now.)
She inwardly flinched. Fate had a humorous way of playing out. She opted for nodding silently.
"Then you may accompany me," he said like it was a gift. With that said, he began walking. The eighteen-year-old didn't move for a moment as she studied the now empty space in front of her.
No.
She had been so close. Her mind debated whether to make a run for it.
"Coming Akane-chan?" he asked in a false sweet voice.
It felt like he already knew she was so close from escaping his grip so he tightened his fingers preventing it. She could wait. She had been waiting this long. If she ran it would be over.
"Yes, Orochimaru-san," she said in her own sweet voice. She turned and walked to his side.
The sly smirk that curved along his mouth and his dark yellowish eyes that bore into her made her skin crawl. Once she was at his side he began walking as well. He said nothing to her as they walked. As they traveled hallway after hallway in quiet she was beginning to conclude that the snake truly did only wish to torture her. The cool metal kept mockingly rubbing along her skin. She had to close her eyes to calm her tense nerves.
Suddenly, she felt a hand press around her waist, touching the keys within the thin fabric. "This way Akane-chan," his voice drawled out.
Her eyes shot opened as she turned down another hallway. His hand left her side, and she glanced up at him. Did he notice…?
(You stupid girl.)
His eyes were still set ahead of him and he held a blank expression along his pale face. It appeared as if nothing had changed. She wanted to hope that was the case…
She visualized two caged doors shutting on her. Closing her in. It would be over.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when Orochimaru finally stopped. He faced an old wooden door that matched all the other doors. She had never been this deep in the base, so she truly had no idea what to expect. His long fingers grasped around the doorknob. A click. He opened it and walked in calmly.
She followed, feeling the slow dread encompassing her.
…
It was bright! Her eyes quickly absorbed what the room was. There were three long tables: one on the side of each wall and another that traveled down the center of the room. On top of the tables were at least fifty different types of plants. Some were colorful, full of large flowers, while others were mixtures of greens and different size leaves. Her eyes followed upwards to notice a small square in the ceiling. How was it supplying the bright light for the room? She took a closer look and noticed a mirror that reflected the mirror to another, which granted the large amount of light to the room.
Forgetting about her deceitfully apathetic demeanor, Akane felt a real smile cross her lips. She knew she had missed the sun, but feeling it along her skin proved how much she longed for it.
However, the magic of the moment ended when she heard a deep harsh chuckle coming from her side. She looked at him, smile instantly falling away. His arms were crossed across his chest with a sly upward smirk.
"The quite impressive artwork I found in your room proved my assumptions to be correct," he taunted.
She controlled her body's natural response to glare. Instead she smiled, "A snake that slithers under rocks could never appreciate the light it is hiding from."
A quick frown formed, but only for a moment before he stepped forward. She held her ground as he stood barely a foot away from her. The girl felt her confidence dwindling away as she remembered the boy she had been unable to save. She felt a small amount of fright crawling along her skin as she watched his hand reach towards her.
…
In the next moment a hand was patting her head softly. "What an interesting metaphor. But, my dear, who do you think takes care or these plants," he stated stepping passed her.
She mentally calmed down from her overreaction. She then followed him with her eyes. His long deadly straight black hair fell down his back as his long thin finger gracefully touched a flower. She had a hard time imagining him holding a watering can whistling a sweet tune as he watered the plants. Actually, the image in her mind was making her want to chuckle.
(Don't attract more attention to yourself than you already have.)
Akane decided to be pleasant for the moment. "They are quite beautiful," she truthfully admitted.
The dark-haired man continued to play with a small leaf within his hand. It almost appeared like he hadn't heard her. His hand then left the leaf and traced upwards to a large dark purple flower. It resembled a mixture between a rose and a lily, but definitely not a flower she had ever seen.
"Strange how beautiful things are the best at hiding their thorns," he finally spoke. He pressed one of the purple petals. Then he pulled his hand away and turned to face her. The Sannin put his palm in the air showing a small trail blood falling down the white skin of his index finger. She was surprised. She had never heard of a flower actually having thorns along their pedals. She couldn't even see the thorns from this distance.
Orochimaru put his hand down and wiped it along his pants' leg. "Take off your clothes, Akane-chan," he said like addressing the weather.
…
(How easily everything can crumble…)
She blinked.
She misheard him.
She had to have misheard him.
"I apologize, but I'm not sure I heard you correctly," the girl said honestly. He looked at her with his snake-like eyes and she felt like she was frozen within his gaze. His mouth curled into a despicable smirk.
"Take off your clothes, dear," he said again, his eyes not leaving hers.
She stared at him. Her heart was beating so loudly she could hear it in her ears. He knew. He knew, and now he was attempting to make her suffer for it. Her mind reeled for an escape, but she couldn't find one. She only had one choice…
…
"If you prefer, I can do it for you," he stated with a hoarse chuckle.
His laughter caused a dark shiver to travel down her spine. She wanted to speak, but she was too afraid of how weak she would sound. She slowly brought her hand up to her obi. She hadn't noticed that she was shaking, but once she grabbed the edge of the obi she saw it tremble with her.
…
Akane closed her eyes and quickly pulled. The knot of the obi slowly came loose and fell off of her kimono. Her hand held the long belt in the air.
Jingle.
She looked down at the keys that had fallen onto the floor. They ridiculed her and her current predicament. She hoped since the keys were now out in the open he would leave her, but he stayed in his place. She was appalled to realize that his eyes didn't even glance at the keys.
"I'm waiting," was his only response.
He was purposely going to make her do this as punishment. She felt helpless. A few agonizing moment of hesitation and she dropped the obi. Akane slowly brought her hand to the edge of the first layer of the garment.
…
The girl tried to keep her face emotionless. She did not want him to see how she really she felt. She would not let him enjoy this. Slowly, she pulled off the first layer. It gradually slid off her body and piled at her feet.
She brought her hand back to the last layer of it. She would have nothing but her underwear on. She glanced at his eyes that were leering on her like a snake about to pounce on its prey. The thudding sound of her heart still hadn't dwindled. She took a deep breath and pulled the fabric off, slowly exposing her bare skin. Her bare breasts were exposed to the bright light, and for the first time she wished for the dimly lit rooms. Akane tried to keep her chin up proving she could handle it, but her head kept falling down. Her gaze glued to the floor.
Please, let this end… please.
She inwardly begged and pleaded that he would allow her to stay partly cloth. But, as if reading her thoughts, "I do not believe you're finished yet," he rejected in a mocking tone.
This despicable sick man.
…
She touched the edge of her underwear with her fingers just as she felt a slight wetness touch the edge of her eyes.
She would not cry.
She pulled down her underwear and let it fall at her feet.
…
She stood in the bright light completely naked in front of this creature. Her arms were twitching upwards to cover herself, but she stubbornly held them at her sides.
His yellow eyes slithered along her body. She felt them pause at certain parts of her bareness causing her to shift. She saw his tongue jut out of his mouth in a snake-like fashion as he licked his lips.
The small action made her feel more violated than she had ever felt before.
…
He stood like that staring at her for what felt like hours, even though her logical side told her it was only a few seconds. Then, without a warning, he walked towards her closing the distance. Akane observed in abhorrence as he stopped when he was less than a foot away.
Her hand fisted at her side as she controlled any urge to just hit him. But, she stayed mute and merely watched as he bent down to the floor.
Jingle.
The damned mocking noise!
"You are quite lucky," he drawled out, letting his words hang in the air, "I could only imagine what Kabuto would have done about you stealing his keys…"
He called this lucky! Just as the anger started to rise up her throat, she felt something cold touch the bare skin of her leg, making it recede back into her gut. She immediately flinched and looked down to see Orochimaru pressing the keys lightly on her.
The keys deliberately slowly traveled up her leg. She tightly closed her eyes as they crossed her….
She gulped.
Why?
She felt them travel up her stomach and through the valley of her breast.
Jingle.
It was in the moment she felt herself close to making an outburst when the keys were finally put away. Relieved, she opened her eyes to note him putting them in his pocket. His hand then grabbed her neck. She gasped in surprise, but the action wasn't choking. Instead, his thumb began rubbing a circle along her skin. Once again, she was surprised at how humanly warm his touch was.
It made her sick.
"It's quite sad to watch my bird try to fly away from me," he said in a humorous voice as he studied her face.
He was enjoying all of it.
The 'soothsayer' tasted her lips like tasting words. "A caged bird dies young of unhappiness," she braved saying.
She saw his smirk widen. She then felt a hand on her lower back pull her forward. She was pressed against his body! She tried to stay calm, but every breath she took she felt her breasts rub against him.
Akane dug her nails into her palm trying to distract from this horrible exchange.
"The free bird shouldn't have gotten caught by the hunter then," he said hoarsely into her ear. "Now dear, if you attempt to escape again I promise you, you will have to do a lot more than sing stories of the future to prove you hold any usefulness to me…" he cooed.
Her breath caught in her throat at understanding the true threat.
This is only a taste of what I can do to you…
Orochimaru pulled back slightly and forced her face to face him. She saw the wild grin on his face that seemed almost playful. "But please, by all means, try to escape again," he added sweetly.
Before Akane could comprehend what was happening, he leaned down and touched his lips to her gasping ones. Her fingers dug into the fabric of her kimono. She wanted to force him away, but knew that any action would only make it last longer. Strangely though, his lips weren't aggressive or chapped like a snake. They were soft and careful…like he was handling a bird. A few breathless moments and he pulled away, letting go of her.
He walked towards the door, as nonchalant as ever. "I don't plan on mentioning this to Kabuto," he said back to her as if saying this whole incident was between them, "Please clothe yourself, Akane-chan. I don't like others seeing my bird without feathers." She heard him chuckle, and then the door shut.
Jingle.
The keys rang behind the door and emptiness filled her chilled, bare body.
If you liked this oneshot and still have not read TPoL I suggest you find it in my faves ^^
Oh and the title means: Hell calthe onto Hell/ One Mistep leads to another. It's latin in honor of all of Elisa's latin titles.