This is my first official fanfiction so let me know if you like it not. I may or maynot update often but I'll do what I can! Disclaimer: I do not own any naruto character but Calea and Sisnei belong to me. Enjoy!

"What a beautiful setting here."

Those were the lasting words of Lord Orochimaru as his snakelike eyes scanned over a village enveloped in bright flames. Just another place filled with new test subjects for his experiments, and with the sizable shinobi claimed by either him or the burning buildings.

His steps crunched about its burning remains. Various screams escaped the huts he passed and he sent his loyal subjects in to claim even more people to his already massive collection.

It was a village secluded in a rainforest. Simply that, just with the added rumors of medical and illusion techniques secretly kept in it. How marvelous a find this would be, just as it had been when he found Kimimaru and Juego, but with more solid research that the lord could bend or twist to his needs. There never was a shortage of knowledge in this ninja world they lived in and he made it his ultimate goal to capture it all.

So when he came here on a whim for the secrets, his intentions wavered from subjects to the scrolls he sought to possess. The lord had gathered some of his loyal servants to gather formidable natives to take part in his experiments and as each home was set to fire his test subjects grew sizably. Some fought back with their normal non-ninja skills but were easily taken out, and the others ran into the forest, possibly never to be seen again.

Something irked at the back of his mind as his steps sounded on his path throughout the village, the adults either fought or ran, yet where were any, if not, all the children or even teenagers. In his entire village raid he had yet to encounter even one youngling, which was quite peculiar since it was expected of families to evacuate or such once a village came under attack. Any cries from the fire had been silenced but there were no child screams among them . . . strange.

"Kabuto, did you find any younglings?" Orochimaru's voice seemed nothing but curious as he eyed the silver haired boy beside him. His assistant in experiments and most of his plans stared up through circle glasses to the man.

"None, Lord Orochimaru, not even a mention from any of the captures." Orochimaru looked up in contemplation before looking into the boy's face and waving his hand away.

"Interesting, go interrogate one of the weaker ones for something regarding the children."

"Yes Lord Orochimaru." The boy jumped off to the entrance of the village where the captives were held, his actions instinctual. Orochimaru glanced at the ground where the boy once stood, turning to trace the boys path before he continued his stroll about the village.

Nothing greeted him, save for the few burnt corpses and clouds of billowing smoke. It was horridly boring in sights to see… that was until a small tower came into view. Built of wood as similar to the other forts, it stood at the edge of the town facing a cliff. No smoke came from this structure, untouched as he had commanded so.

Perfect.

Having pushed aside the lack of children, he entered the tower in quick strides, excitement emanating off him as he went. Inside were stairs that, as he found out, led to a small observatory. It was a lookout to the land beyond the cliff and also contained the scroll.

As it was a rainforest, a mass of black clouds had swept over the village, spilling water drops. The presence of something so normal was odd and calming. Any traces of the fire slowly died away to black scorch marks and collapsed remains. But of course the storm didn't faze the lord in the least; instead his lips twitched into a smirk as his finger browsed the selection before him. So many scrolls just stacked onto a shelf, each paper different in age and color containing the secrets he had been searching for. And it had been so easy!

Orochimaru's long pale fingers clasped around a scroll tender with age, taking careful movements when unraveling it to reveal the writing on different medical secrets as the thunder raged.

These were definitely the secrets he was looking for. Not pausing, he conjured a storage seal over a pile of scrolls desired, teleporting them into some other place until they could be dug back up.

The pungent scent of cold water and plants mixed with the death of charcoal had stirred into the forest. The lord entered the cold rainfall, his black hair limply hanging past his shoulders, taking carefree steps to the cliff his thoughts wandering to the various experiments he could achieve with his new found information.

"Lord Orochimaru."

He turned to glance at his assistant, his mind jumping ahead to the lack of children.

"What have you found?" He asked and Kabuto looked over the cliff alongside the lord before answering.

"The kids were killed by a raging virus, but one let it slip that a few were hidden away here."

'Straight to the point' Orochimaru mused as his eyes traced the ground in front of him.

"And where might these little ones be?" Normally he would take what he needed and leave but there was still the thrill of uncovering that which is meant to be left alone.

"Under the tower," Such a perfect place to keep children …

"Hmmm, then we should pay them a visit." Kabuto merely nodded.

Together they walked through the rain into the tower treading on the wooden floors with renewed interest. The tower had only a small space with a spiral stairway to the observatory. Kabuto stared at a woven rug for a few moments before discarding it and lifting the latch that happened to be hidden beneath.

Calea

I was in darkness when the screams began, not that they frightened me or anything but it was a bit unsettling. Beside me was our teen watcher who had passed out from the fatigue of combatting the virus. I'm sure I would have passed out too, but the screams seemed to echo off everything and into my ears.

There were once many kids that ran wild here. We were normal demonic things, but something went wrong. A new plant had found its way to our forest. Or maybe it had been there all along? Whatever the case, some of the kids touched it, thinking it was safe, and I guess that's when things got out of control.

It was madness as a virus overtook our home. But it only took the young, the children, us. We got out of hand and went rabid. The few that were subdued were restrained…that is, until they died. And the rest, the village leader had locked away in a tower basement.

Not a great place to stay or live but we managed, just the ten of us, for a couple months. We got our breaks, meals and sometimes playtime outside. No sparkles and rainbows though, and puppy eyes never seemed to work, but in the end here we are. Or, at least here I am.

I think someone attacked the village since screams didn't happen often or at all usually. The teen watcher had us stay quiet through the whole thing but he collapsed and the others left me after it went silent.

I decided to stay for some odd reason and they left me . . . closed the latch, replaced the rug and ran off with no promise to return. Even my older sister up and left, her life seemingly more valuable than mine, but she always like that.

So here I am, skinny, bored and tired. A pair of feet tapped to the top of the tower, back down and out and now they've returned with a new pair of feet. How do I feel about this? Peachy . . .

. . . the two people above just removed the rug . . . up goes the wooded hatch . . . here I find myself staring into the eyes of a pale guy who seems almost snakelike and his partner who has the most unsettling gaze right now…

We stare for a few moments before the younger one with silver hair speaks; "only one . . . where are the others?"

I tilt my head and shrug. "They left me." Why not tell them the truth; I don't see how a lie would make things any better.

The snake guy extends me a hand that I observe: white skin, smooth, nonthreatening - or at least not to me. Not much hesitation but I've got nothing better on my mind. So, I take the pale hand and let him pull me out of the hole in the ground.

It's raining.

The snake guy asks if I care about this village. How does one reply to that? I answer with the childish "I guess so." The one who introduced himself as Kabuto stares at me still, I stare back but his look is so weird, not gonna look at him. Nope. Maybe just a peek . . . Never mind.

The snake guy calls himself Orochimaru but claims he's a lord. Cool, I got saved by a lord, or is it captured since the village is . . . gone?

"Lord Orochimaru, what happened to the village?" I was six or so, and I rarely saw my parents but when the village is reduced to nothing questions need to be answered.

"I burned it." Never-mind that question . . .

"Oh . . . where are we going?"

"My current hideout…"

Kabuto is still staring at me . . .

My dark blue eyes trace the beams and collapsed piles for no particular reason. It's just interesting to look at. I wonder if my parents are still here, I had a sister, however she left with the others.

Sisnei is what we called her and I don't think she cared for me, I wish she did. We looked alike, the combined version of our parents; dulled brown eyes, cream skin, orange hair that fell to our shoulders in waves. Her personality was always out there and overly selfish and here I am, walking away with some random lord. Maybe we were both selfish.

Orochimaru hands me over to Kabuto and I stare into his eyes, he stares back. In a swift motion he swings me onto his back and I give a small gasp at the unexpected move. The guy with the creepy stare is the one who gives me a piggy back ride; amazing. With my hands wrapped around his neck and his arms supporting my legs I lay me head onto his shoulder and watch the trees pass by. We both say nothing as he follows the snake lord who gives us a spare glance every once in a while until I drift to sleep.

"Calea? Wake up dear, it's time for breakfast . . ." Dreamland mixes with my distant memories and I see my sister happily dance about the room, her arms gracefully swinging and her body twirling. My mother watches from the door until she too decides to join, together they laugh and dance, both giddy with morning energy. As I smile and wave. Ignoring me, their spinning seems to get faster and their laughter softer. Faster and faster, softer and softer, dead silence and a spinning top rolling to a finish.

My eyes flutter open as Kabuto drops me onto a bed in one of the spare bedrooms. From his stance I can't determine that the base was far away from the village and . . . was I heavy? Weary yet alert and I can't help but give a little chuckle thinking of his current face as I curl up in the bed watching him. He turns unceremoniously to me and quirks a brow that disappears behind his round glasses. Another giggle followed by a smile and his confusion continues.

"Thanks for the piggy-back ride!"

Kabuto nods, only a faint smile playing on his lips, barely visible, but there all the same.

Orochimaru-several days later

For reasons I cannot comprehend the scrolls I retrieved at not as simple secrets as they first appeared. The texts, in which the secrets are contained, are in a different sort of code pertaining to the village I burned. Would the girl understand the code? I wonder.

The lord raised himself from a desk where the opened scrolls, relieved of any curses, lay sprawled about on its surface. His latest body had kept him young enough to be considered the sannin he had been, his night black hair sleek and silkily fallen past his shoulders, his skin the deep white to pronounce his features.

Kabuto enters his study carrying the reports on his latest experiments progress; development of the wood element had failed thus far.

"Kabuto, bring in some tea and the girl."

The boy who looked no more than ten stared before bowing to his higher up. No questions asked on which girl he wanted.

The eerie chuckle bounced around the walls, raspy but smooth, only Orochimaru could pull that off.

Kabuto

I've been asked to get the girl and I know which one he speaks of; the one from the rainforest village; the only remaining child throughout the whole endeavor of the burning. She's got a sort of, how would one put it, interesting aura about her. A fascinating pull in her features, though she's nothing special, her voice and face are calm similar to that of the ocean or rivers.

. . . I wonder where she is . . .

Kabuto's feet tap down a long winding corridor. Despite it being colder than normal, he's used to the sort by now, having lived here for quite a while. The walls are all orange stone with torches lit along them, flickering gentle at the smallest air movement.

The kitchen is just ahead behind a dark wood door that he slides open with ease, yet he halts as his eyes peer inside.

Calea ~~~~~~~

I'm bored. My mind had mapped my new home . . . I recall the grand tour that one of the "lords" servants gave. He had pointed all the important places out such as the kitchen, library, training room and directed me to never venture into the west wing of base-something about experiments. I don't think my life would continue if I ventured into that wing, my curiosity was never that high, just a bundle of survival instincts . . . but I think they've broken for the time being.

So I spent the day exploring the places that nice servant showed me, mainly the library and kitchen. The kitchen lady is nice like the servant but wants me to leave her alone. I can understand that.

I had meant to travel to the library though I must have taken a wrong turn since I ended up at the front entrance. Multiple scary statues and something that resemble a giant anaconda- does that mean the lord thinks he's a snake? A lord of snakes… perhaps with a snake body and those pretty silk hair strands.

Doors bar my path to the outer world. With my dainty fingers I push against the cool surface of them. Stone is heavy… Not to be beaten by a door I lean my entire body into its frame, heaving and panting, my shoes struggle to find purchase. My weight is not enough to do much of anything. Its… maddening!

Growling from the back of my throat I screech and push as hard as I possibly can.

Miraculously enough, the mean door groans with a sandpaper voice. Its hinges jerk an inch… then another… and another… until I glimpse a crack from the darkness outside.

But my glance is short as it jerks back with a resounding pound. I pout as I have now gotten nowhere, and drop my forehead against its rough surface. A sigh breathes through my lips and I turn to walk away. Except I seem to have gotten stuck…

My red hair snagged on the door . . . I could feel my eyes widening to the size of moons as I tried to pull my hair from the closed door.

Tug. Tug. Tug.

I am defeated by the door.

After having spent around an hour or so trying to pull it free I resort to my wild card. As a desert cowboy might pull a gun I pulled a sharp weapon, hearing the whistle of a showdown.

"Trusty stolen kunai thing, don't fail me now." I whisper.

With the kunai in hand, I grasped the tangled part and sliced it from the not so tangled. My long red waves fall to the orange stone floor and I heave a sigh of relief.

A moment of celebration; I didn't accidentally kill myself, yay!

For a moment, I properly survey the area and as it would seem the front entrance scared me a bit after the whole snagging incident, so I made sure to steer clear of it. I backtracked to the kitchen where the nice lady gave me a weird look. Not a look like the one Kabuto gave me, but one that went with what she said, "Miss, what happened to your hair?"

"I got stuck and had to cut it." I say as my eyes trace the tiles on the floor. She stares at me, unmoving, her grey eyes scanning my self-given haircut. I tilt my head to the side, the uneven red waves now only past my chin. The lady gave a sigh and beckoned me to a wooden chair and table. Taking her hint I sat and watched as she retrieved a pair of silver scissors.

Oh here comes Kabuto, but he's got a confused face. What's he confused about? I wonder . . .

Kabuto~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walk into the kitchen after a moment of hesitation. There sat the girl, fresher than a few days ago, calmly getting her red hair chopped off. What happened?

"What happened?" The girl's face scrunched up, so adorable for a kid, and she stuck her tongue out at me.

"I got it stuck and had to get unstuck." That answer told me absolutely nothing.

My brows furrowed and I stared at the slivers of red falling to the orange floor. Her hair length was now only to just below her chin. Sapphire eyes meet mine and her soft round face changes into one of happiness. I raise one of the furrowed brows.

Why is she happy? Her home was destroyed and her family possibly lost to her forever. But, then again, she is only a child and had been kept confined to a basement of some tower, secluded from society for being a survivor. Slightly lost in my thoughts I hear a childish voice calling my name.

"Huh?" Not the best choice of words. . .

"Kabuto . . . why is the floor orange?"

Why is the floor orange?

"Because the stone is sand stone, hence the orange color."

She stares at me with an expression of interest, as I told her that pigs could fly. Does she understand what I'm talking about?

"Hey, Kabuto?"

"Yeah?" Another question perhaps?

"When can we see the lord guy?" Yes another question, one that reminds me of my orders of the moment.

"Lord Orochimaru? We'll see him as soon as you're finished and the servant brews the tea."

The lady cutting the girls hair, who was steadily listening to our conversation, stops and gets red in the face, almost like the Calea's hair.

"Oh right. Well, I think this is even and you can go on your way," states the servant moving away from Calea and briskly to put a kettle over a burner.

The girl hops off the chair and does a twirl, her shorter red hair swishing as she moves. Her gleeful smile and eyes bore into mine and before I can stop, I smile back.

Calea

We left the kitchen with tea in hand. I would occasionally perform a spin and Kabuto would give me a hinted smile. I like him better when he smiles. Not a scary weird one like before but this newer happier one he has. I was given a navy blue robe thing that ties in the back, it's a little big for me considering my small stature, but I don't mind.

Another spin, a fit of giggles at my new hair style; it's so light and pretty, I love it! More smiles and giggles, spinning and dancing and I earn another content look from Kabuto. This is the most fun I've had in months, much better than the basement.

"We're here, so behave." I give him my most innocent look and he sighs.

The door slides open quietly and we proceed to enter the Orochimaru's study. In one of his wooden chairs he sits, propped on his elbows and staring intently at the unraveled scrolls before him. My smile slides off my face as I move to his side. Amused, the lord turns to me and gestures to the parchment.

"Can you translate this?" Raspy as always, he spoke to me using soft words. My smile flashes once more and I lean to examine the codes and languages. For some time I stood looking it over until Kabuto brushed against my shoulder, and I flinch.

The translation wasn't as bad as I thought but being as young as I was, the words written confused me, medical stuff I hardly understood. A chair was pulled up beside the lord for me and I sat, continuing my translating as the lord sipped his tea.

About hours of relaying to the person who spared me a life of ground living, my renditions were given and I felt little regrets. He had recorded what I had said with great care on other blank scrolls, filling them up one after another.

From what I understood, the scrolls had diagrams and information for the rarest of plants to the rain forest and the most deadly. Descriptions upon descriptions of these plants, what they were said to do what they could be used for and the detailed identification. Boring and useful, that's what they are, as I have seen most of them…

"Let's take a break." The steady flow of silence and words is halted and I couldn't agree more with it. Feeling tense from sitting too long I stood to stretch, happily reaching for the ceiling. I am now a tree, a bird flying to the moon. A chuckle from the lord and I jump into a star.

Kabuto intrudes my stretching with questions about the progress, and in an impulsive move, I slip gracefully from their sight. Maybe a trip to the west wing isn't too bad . . .