Chapter One

Advent


Her breath quickens as she was being dragged by the elder's force. It was a harsh and cold night when the attack was suddenly brought about in their compound. And sadly, no one expected it.

"Onii-san, what about—"

"—now's not the time to question about that, Kira." Takumi said in between breaths.

The younger one lowered her head in dismay. "But, onii-san, what about haha-ue and chichi-ue?"

He stopped in his tracks and faced his younger sister. "Don't worry about them, Kira." His gray eyes looked straight at her similar gray ones. It was then that the artisan noticed the tears in her eyes, tempted to fall.

"Look," he sighed as he knelt down to her level. "We haven't got much time. And don't worry about mom and dad. They'll be fine. I promise. Okay?"

She gave him a nod as a reply. He stood up and pulled her with him as they continued running into the woods. Takumi soon led her towards a big tree. There was a big crack on its bark, which when pulled back, revealed a hollow room.

"Stay here."

"No, onii-san!" Kira held onto his wrist, not wanting him to leave. "You can't go back there! You might die, onii-san!"

A soft smile danced its way onto Takumi's face. "I promised kaa-san and tou-san to keep you safe. That doesn't mean I can't go back and help the others."

"B-b-but—"

"—we'll see each other again. I promise."

Before she could even say anything in retort, the male artisan knocked her out cold.

(-)

It was a matter of hours before she awoke. Sunlight penetrating easily through the small holes of the wooden barricade indicated that it was already morning; midday to be exact. Kira shuffled to her feet and pressed her hands on the unattached bark. Applying pressure, the barricade fell before her.

She expected to see some of the other clan members looking for her, alive and well. But instead, she got devastation.


Her gray eyes bolt open after that shocking nightmare. Kira composed her breathing as she turned to her right side, facing the wall. Still on her bed, she mentally scolded herself to calm down. Her gray eyes bolt open after that shocking nightmare. Kira composed her breathing as she turned to her right side, facing the wall. Still on her bed, she mentally scolded herself to calm down.

'That again,' she grunted to herself. 'I thought I got over that already. I swear, damn it, I'll go mad if I get that nightmare again.'

She nudged her head upwards and looked at her clock. It read 12:14 in the afternoon.

Kira smirked inwardly. 'Since I'm not doing anything today, a few more minutes wouldn't hurt.'

But her grimace disappeared when she felt a surge of energy just outside her door. To make things worse, this presence was all too familiar to ignore.

"Kira," the new voice said upon entering her room. "You missed training again. I'm afraid this small manner is becoming a habit; and a bad one, at that."

With her back against the intruder still, she replied, "So what? It's not like I have anything important to do, Orochimaru."

The snake grinned at her back, eyeing where her clan mark through her tank top. "You have a point. But I prefer for you to be at top shape, like your friends outside."

Kira cocked a brow at the wall. Friends? Who was he kidding?

"What the hell are you talking about, Orochimaru? I don't have any friends."

"Are you sure about that," the elder one quickly retaliated.

A conceited 'hn' escaped Kira's lips as her mind had a thought of its own. 'Kidoumaru and Jirobou aren't that bad, I guess. Those other two are the ones who get on my nerves. And Kabuto and Kimimaro are okay, I suppose.'

She quickly dismissed that upon coming to a conclusion. "Anyway, what are you still doing here? Don't you have stuff to do? People to kill and shit like that?"

Orochimaru returned his own 'hn'. "I just came up here to check on you."

She still felt his eyes boring on her clan mark, outlining it with his eyes.

"Get up and train, Kira-chan. I like my soldiers at their best." He closed her door and left.

'About time that bastard left,' she thought to herself, lying on her back. She saw her clock, reading 12:26. 'Damn, he can make a long speech.'

Reluctantly, the female Fujiwara sat up her bed. Grabbing a small elastic band on the bed table, she started to fix her hair into a ponytail. It was a matter of minutes when she exited her quarters, wearing her usual attire.

Kira made her way to the kitchen of Orochimaru's lair. It was relatively large, just enough for countable people. And that did not include all the prisoners they held in the dungeon. The raven haired girl got herself an apple from the fruit bowl in the middle of the table. She often wondered to her self why there was even a table in this place. Who even has the time of day to eat at a table when everyone's busy training or plotting some diabolic shit?

As she took her first bite, one of the Sound Five entered the room. Sadly for Kira, it was the red-hair flutist.

"Well, well," Tayuya began. "The little slowpoke woke up late again, I see." Kira continued to eat her apple as Tayuya threw more of her venom-filled comments.

"What, cat got your tongue?" That paused Kira from continuing with her apple.

"Tayuya, I know we've started on the wrong foot," Kira said. She momentarily thought back 4 years ago when she was still 8; the flutist being 11 at that time and was still undergoing intense training after getting Orochimaru's seal. It was now a hazy memory, but both females still recalling when Kira called Tayuya and weakling and a dumbass given that most of her dialogues contained cusses and swearing.

Of course, Tayuya never forgave her; Kira never even thought of apologizing. And ever since, those two would frequently set off like a detonated bomb.

Kira sighed aloud as she continued, "But I want you to know that I believe you have the capacity to stop being such a bitch. Okay?" She threw the red-head a sly grin before continuing with her 'breakfast'.

"You little wench! You never learn, do you? When are you gonna stopping bitching with me, you—"

"—what the hell is with the noise here?!" Both girls turned their heads and saw Sakon just outside the kitchen.

"Tayuya, you know that Orochimaru-sama hates it when you bitch at someone so loudly inside the place. And Kira," he faced the younger one with much hatred. "When are you going to stop with your childish acts? You missed training again! When are you going to learn?!"

"When you quit the leader act and fuck off someone else's business," said the Fujiwara haughtily. By that time, she had finished her piece of fruit and threw it behind her shoulder, landing it on the floor. "I think I didn't shoot that in the trash. Could any of you get that for me? Thanks."

With that, she left Sakon and Tayuya. Though they were out of earshot, she could tell that they were bad-mouthing her. It's expected from the newcomer anyway.


Kira was not originally from the Sound country. It was pretty easy to tell. Everyone that was affiliated with Orochimaru either knew how to manipulate sound waves or could transform into their so-called 'stage 2 selves'. The Fujiwara knew not how to manipulate sound but one thing piqued Orochimaru's interest and made him take the girl under his wing.

You see, the snake had knowledge of the clan Kira was part of. She has yet to know how he knew. The Fujiwara clan was not that well-known by people out of the Earth Country. Despite the numerous deeds they've done to help Iwa-gakure, the Fujiwara clan chose to stay in the background. It seems that this clan was very humble and modest. Thus, it became a puzzle to her how he knew about her clan's background.

Other than that, he chose to adopt her because of her advance bloodline. He needn't give her a seal since, upon seeing her tattoo; he immediately knew she could turn into something like the Sound Five.

'If I wasn't such an idiot back then, I never would have agreed to let him take me in. Damn!'

Kira wandered around the third floor corridor. The third floor was almost empty. It just had a lot of vacant rooms. She often thought why Orochimaru needed spare room when there are only a few people in his lair and the rest are in the dungeon.

'He hasn't even told me. Damn!'

When Orochimaru found her, Kira had just finished stealing a bit of odango. Her clothes were dirty and slightly torn. But seeing as she was only 8 years old, she couldn't care less about appearances. Kira was ready to say no to him adopting her, but one thing made her do otherwise.

'You snake, who did it?'

Orochimaru told her that he knew who massacred her clan that faithful night.


Loitering the third floor corridor soon made Kira bored. So her feet led her to the second floor corridor. This time, she had a specific room to enter. On her left was a door, just as she entered the second floor, was a door with the label 'lab' on it.

To others, it may seem like your everyday-normal lab filled with those dismantled body parts. But to Sound-nin and others living inside Orochimaru's abode, this was also Kabuto's room.

A few knocks came before Kira heard a faint 'come in' from the interior. She entered his room. There wasn't much in it. And it was relatively dark, only lit by the low-quality computer screens.

"Need anything," Kabuto asked as he packed his things in a backpack.

Kira hoisted a brow before questioning him back. "Going somewhere?"

The 19-year old tilted up his glasses with a chuckle. "I have a mission. Orochimaru-sama told me to leave as soon as possible."

"Oh." She walked over to one side of the room, "how is he?"

This caused Kabuto to pause from his manner and face her solemnly. "He's doing fine, I suppose. But he's mostly supported by the machines now. It'll only be a matter of time before—"

"—don't say that, Kabuto," Kira snapped at him, putting her hand over that of the sleeping patient. "You should know Kimimaro better than I do! You know he won't go do without a fight. This should be easy pickings for him. Besides, I don't think he'll just let this be the end of him."

This earned her one of Kabuto's senpai-smiles as he agreed with her. The Kaguya survivor wouldn't give up just like that. Speaking of which…

Kira felt a small pressure on her right hand. "Oh, good afternoon. I didn't realize you were awake."

"Who would be able to sleep with so much noise?"

A small smile crept on her pale face. Kimimaro was now a depressing sight. Wires and machines were connected to some of his body parents, helping him to live. His dialogue sounded all too stressed and somewhat pained.

"Kabuto," she said softly, her eyes unwavering from Kimimaro's disposition. "When's he getting up?"

The platinum haired boy took off his glasses for a while and rested his forhead on his palm. "Saa. He's weakening, Kira. We can't deny that fact that his time is almost up."

She started trembling; Kimimaro felt how tense she was. They were friends. Best friends. You could say that Kimimaro was the closest thing she had to a brother. Of course, there was Kabuto. But for the moment, she looked up to him as a senpai. That and nothing more.

The Fujiwara sighed aloud. She was beginning to give up on this. But the small pressure on her hand made her think otherwise.

"Kira…not you, too," there was a rather inaudible chuckle before the dancer continued. "Someday…I'll be back in the field."

Kira tried to laugh quietly, but a pained smile took over instead. Lucky for her, Kimimaro's eyes were covered by a piece of cloth with some seals on it. "I'll save you some action then—"

"—I actually have a favor to ask you."

Uncertainty rang as she spoke, "what?"

"It's more of a deal, really." By now, the white-haired Kaguya had difficulty speaking.

"I'm listening,"

"I'll keep pushing myself to go with Kabuto's deranged medical methods." The other boy in the room scoffed at this comment as the dancer continued, "If you try to be nicer to Orochimaru-sama."

"What the—"

"—I knew she'd object to that," Kabuto stated matter-of-factly, earning a glare from the female.

"Why should I even be nice to that snake," she said in her all-conceited conduct. "Just calling him sama makes my skin crawl."

"Orochimaru-sama…He…gave me a reason to live…" The girl decided to quiet down but her mouth squeaked a small 'why'.

"He made us stronger," Kabuto answered for him. Kira slowly let go of Kimimaro's hand and faced the older teen. "The second stage, the seal…he made us stronger, better."

"…just…give him the respect he rightfully deserves,"

Kira furrowed her brows, listening to Kimimaro's tired voice all the while. "Fine. But I'm doing this for you, not for him! Man, he's lucky that you're still here." Kabuto kept his silent laughter to himself.

"Promise me that you'll be back on your feet soon." Kimimaro's lips slowly crept to form a little smile.

She jerked her head back in shock after feeling another person just outside Kabuto's door. It was proven when all three of them heard a small knock.

"Dozo," Kabuto said. The door opened and revealed a six-armed Oto-nin. "What is it, Kidoumaru?"

The spider had a cocky expression on, "Sorry if I interrupted something. But Orochimaru-sama wants to talk to Kira. And he wants you to leave, Kabuto."

The said teen shot a glare back at him and resumed packing his things. "Remember your deal with Kimimaro, Kira."

She looked back at him, left brow twitching. "You just had to remind me, huh?""So, uh, how is he?"

Kidoumaru managed to snap Kira from her thoughts. "Uh, who? Kimimaro?" The spider nodded.

"He's fine. Kabuto said that he's getting weaker. But he promised that he'll be back on his feet soon."

"And you believed him?"

Kira stared hard on the floor. "This is Kimimaro we're talking about, not my…" Her companion watched as she shook her head twice. "I'm sure Kimimaro will keep his promise. Anyway, why did he call me?"

Kidoumaru shrugged as they descended some stairs. "I don't know. He just walked into the training room when Tayuya and Sakon were arguing. And you know how those two are."

"Yeah, especially Sakon," Kira scoffed. "Ever since the assassination of the Third Kazakage and Kimimaro got sick, Sakon took over as the leader. Hmph. As if it's doing any good." The spider laughed on the sidelines.

In a few minutes, the pair had finally arrived outside Orochimaru's room.

"Please don't tell I have to go in there alone," Kira said. Her tone was more of a demand than a plea.

The spider shook his head, "Orochimaru-sama asked only for you. And—"

"—fine!" She tried to pep her herself up by reminding her of her deal with Kimimaro. 'He'd better keep his end of the deal.'


"I'm shocked that you actually I agree to see me, Kira-chan," came Orochimaru's sly voice.

Kira's left eye started twitching as she spoke, "You wanted to see me…Orochimaru-sama?" It was quite obvious in her speech that sama wasn't a word she could easily say; more or less directed to someone like the snake Sannin.

Her quivering disposition made the pale-faced man smirk, "I have to remember to think Kimimaro later."


Author's Note Well, here I am. Writing. Back on my butt. :P Please R & R. I'd like to know what people think of this story. Thankies. :)