A/N: Okay, here is where the real meat of the story begins. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman.


Chapter 1: The Fox and the Witch

The sun had not yet reached its zenith when Sasuke found himself stopping to rest by a mountain stream. Bone-weary, he settled in front of a small boulder and shut his eyes, resisting the desire to grimace in disgust. Disgust at his own inability to fight off the curse that sapped his strength and left him no better than an old man who sits before the fire and mumbles to himself. Even though his exhaustion required that he make regular stops, Sasuke hated to rest. When he was at rest, with nothing to distract his mind, the pain of his seal came back in full force.

As he leaned against the boulder, he forced his mind to go over the path he was following into the mountains. A path that might or might not lead him to the lair of a powerful witch who, were she so inclined, could possibly help him. As he contemplated this new level of difficulty, Sasuke became aware of a presence making its way towards him. It was a slight rustle of leaves, no more sound then a wasp makes when it walks across a wall.

Sasuke gave no sign that he had heard, but lay quite still. At last he felt the puff of air displaced by a warm body, and in a blur of motion, Sasuke leapt up, pulling out his dagger in the same movement. Whipping his blade forward, he had to reign in his shock when he found it pointed not at a man, but a small red fox.

The fox, taking no notice of the wicked blade less than a hairsbreadth from its nose, sat back on its haunches and spoke.

"Oh, good. You're not dead after all. I thought I was going to have to have the old hag drag you out before you started to smell. Anyway, this is private property, so scat." With this eloquent speech, the fox turned with a flick of its tail and made to leave.

"Wait!" Sasuke said, quickly recovering his wits from the shock of being confronted with a talking fox. The animal glanced back inquiringly. "I am seeking the home of the witch Tsunade-hime," Sasuke said rather hesitantly.

"Oh, her," the fox replied in an annoyed tone. "Well you've come to the right place. Lair of the great and terrible Tsunade etc, etc. Follow me then." Sasuke wearily sheathed his sword and limped after the animal.

It seemed to Sasuke that he followed the waving brush of the fox for a very long way, which of course gave him plenty of time to second guess his somewhat rash decision to follow an unknown talking animal into the mountains. Foxes were notorious as tricksters, as bad an tanuki (1) in their own way. The possibility that the animal intended to get him hopelessly lost, at which point it would disappear with a laugh, was a high one. Sasuke was about to demand exactly where they were when the fox suddenly announced their arrival at "the old hag's shack" as he put it.

Indeed, Sasuke thought, the creature was not far off in calling the tiny cottage a shack. The roof buckled and sagged atop four frail-looking walls, and the garden resembled a jungle untouched by explorers. With not a bit of consternation, Sasuke followed the fox, which pointedly ignored the misspelled "Kep Out" sign attached to the door, and began to scratch upon the rotting wood. There was no response. The fox sighed.

"She fell asleep again. Bang on the door will you? Not too hard now mind you, or the house will fall down." The animal snickered at its own joke and Sasuke found himself unable to keep from giving it an exasperated look from behind the face covering.

Leaning forward, Sasuke gave three firm raps, which thudded dully on the decayed wood.

"What do you want?" snapped a voice from within.

"It's me old hag, and you've got company." The fox shouted back.

"Naruto?' said the voice, "What kind of company? If it's Jiraiya again tell him to go away!"

"It's not Ero-Sennin," said the fox in an annoyed tone; Sasuke gave him a strange look. "Just some kid wrapped up like a package and carrying a sword. Probably an assassin."

"You idiot!" the voice barked "No assassin would come to the front door! He must be a customer."

"Supplicant," the fox corrected.

"Customer! Supplicant! Call him whatever you want, just let him in so I can help him and send him on his merry way!" During the course of this speech, the owner of the voice had stomped to the front door and wrenched it open.

Sasuke had expected an old woman, bent under years of wisdom and face wrinkled from the fumes of endless potions. Instead he was confronted by a lovely lady who appeared to be in her twenties. Her pale blond hair hung in two short tails down her back and she was dressed in clothes that were simple yet attractive, which showed off her rather ample bosom. Yet as he stood there, staring at her from under his many coverings, he realized that something was wrong.

The woman smiled sweetly at him, exposing perfect rows of pearly teeth and he comprehended that he was looking at something that was not real. Sasuke could not have explained how he knew, or what it was that he saw. The woman most certainly looked no different, yet he could tell instantly that beautiful face and perfect smile were mere artifices. Bewildered, Sasuke gave his head a little shake and instead greeted the woman politely.

"How sweet," she said looking him over critically. "Come in, come in. I'm certain that you must be tired."

"Thank you," Sasuke replied, still unable to shake the curious sensation of clear-headedness that he felt.

Tsunade gestured him towards a floor cushion and jerked her head at the fox in the direction of the hearth. The animal gave her a superior look and meandered over with the aloof grace of a cat.

"Brat," she mumbled under her breath. Tsunade busied herself with making tea while the fox, Naruto, Sasuke remembered, curled up into a fuzzy ball, tail draped across his forepaws. Sasuke used this moment of quiet, broken only by the clinking of dishes, to examine his surroundings.

The house he was in was hardly a palace, but from the inside it appeared much cleaner and less ready to fall apart at a moments notice. The single room was dominated a large hearth, around which were placed several cushions well flattened from use. The lump of a bedroll could be seen in one corner, and a small cupboard from which Tsunade retrieved cups for tea. There was little else of interest in the small cottage.

Sasuke was interrupted from his scrutiny of the house by the cup of tea that was thrust into his hands. Grasping it automatically, he looked up at Tsunade, who had already seated herself on another cushion and was now looking at him expectantly. Sasuke realized, with some discomfort, that as the guest he was expected to drink first. Of course he had intended to show her the marks of his curse at some point, and he was fairly sure that some which surrounded his left eye were visible, but he balked at exposing his face to someone who might throw him out without waiting for an explanation. Sasuke realized however that he certainly could not back out now and, with only some hesitation, he pulled back the cloth that covered his face.

Tsunade said nothing as he gingerly exposed his skin, but he caught a slight intake of breath and widening of eyes that suggested he was right to be wary. From the corner of his eye he saw Naruto give him a surreptitious glance, trying to get a better look while feigning lack of interest. Sasuke noted with some curiosity that the fox's eyes were the most brilliant shade of blue he had ever seen, but of course then a talking fox couldn't exactly be normal. Putting the animal out of his mind for a moment, he raised his eyes and faced Tsunade almost defiantly.

The witch seemed to have found her voice, and leaned forward almost fearfully her hand reaching toward, but not quite touching his cheek.

"I haven't seen marks like these for many, many years. You poor child, whatever did you do to get on the bad side of Orochimaru?"

"I'm not sure," replied Sasuke cautiously "My mo- I was told a snake bit me when I was small," he said quickly.

"Hmm…" Tsunade seemed to consider this for a moment. "Well, you might say that snakes are Orochimaru's specialty, and these marks are definitely from one of his curses. However I haven't seen him in over a century, and to target you for no apparent reason…" She scrutinized Sasuke for a moment. "Your clan name, what is it?"

"I don't see what it matters," Sasuke replied coldly "my ties with them have been severed."

"Impertinent fool," snapped Tsunade "your name could explain why he would be so interested in you, and why he would go through the trouble of cursing you instead of killing you."

"Uchiha," Sasuke said finally in a curt tone.

Tsunade looked thoughtful. "The name is not familiar, but my mind has been known to fail me from time to time," She grew silent. "Perhaps," she said slowly "I should tell you the story of Orochimaru. If he has cursed you for the reason that I think he has, it is best for you to know all you can about him,"

The Tale of Orochimaru

As Told by Tsunade (and interrupted sporadically by Naruto)

Hundreds of years ago, when gods still walked upon the earth, there lived a powerful snake god known as Orochi (2). He was very wealthy and wise, due to his dragon-like tendency to hoard riches and his ability to speak many languages. He fancied himself a collector, and god and demons came from all corners of the land to tell him their stories, which he inscribed onto scrolls and catalogued into his huge library. However he was still not happy, for he was very lonely, having neither wife nor family. So he took a journey, disguising himself as a mortal and traveling across the land.

One day, while walking beside a river, he came upon a young woman washing clothes in the water. As you can well guess, Orochi fell violently in love with her and immediately began to court her. She agreed to marry him; yet her father was rather reluctant to relinquish his daughter to a snake god who might very well devour her. In the end however he was persuaded, and Orochi took his new bride back to his home; a strong iron tower in the realm of the gods. In due time, she gave birth to a child, who inherited both his father's power and his name. Orochimaru.

Several years after the birth, Orochi was killed by a more powerful god whom he had offended. His wife was left to bring up their son in the tower, which some time before, Orochi had taken the precaution of placing under a powerful spell. He struck a deal with the King of All Nights Dreaming (3) to conceal the tower in his realm, which was outside the spheres of either gods or men.

Orochimaru soon grew up, and it became apparent that he was even more power-hungry than his father. He immersed himself in spells and magic, scouring his father's library in search of enchantments given to him by demons. But what obsessed him most was the search for immortality. You see Orochimaru was only half-god, and as such had a far shortened lifespan. Of course he would live for thousands of years, but that suddenly seemed like a short time to a sorcerer who sought to gain infinite knowledge and power. He resented that, after taking such pains to learn magic, it would be taken from him by a thing as trivial as death. After the death of his mother, he began to work ever more desperately, seeking the secret of immortality.

"And I think," said Tsunade "he may have found what he was looking for,"

"What do you mean by that?" said Sasuke.

"Snakes, as you know, represent rebirth and renewal," "Of course," said Sasuke "Because they shed their old skin and replace it with a new one,"

"Correct," replied Tsunade "Now just imagine if Orochimaru found a way, instead of his skin, to shed his whole body, and replace that with a new one,"

Sasuke felt his stomach turn. "Then he intends to…"

"Take over your body," Tsunade nodded "Orochimaru is probably unable to create human bodies with magic, at least ones that would be strong enough to contain his soul. That's why he put that seal on you, to mark you as his and force you to seek him out,"

"But this seal is killing me," said Sasuke angrily "If he wanted me alive…"

"You're not listening," said Tsunade impatiently "Yes, the seal is killing you, and Orochimaru is the only one who can remove it. He is testing your strength, making you go to him. He has probably marked a number of mortals in case some of them die, or turn out to be too stupid to find him."

She smiled grimly "He has manipulated you into doing exactly what he wants,"

"Then those are my options?" demanded Sasuke "Death or giving myself to that monster?"

Tsunade wagged a finger in his face, "Of course not," she said "you forgot option number three, where you go to the monster, kill him, and return a hero,"

Sasuke eyed her warily "You're joking," he said flatly.

"No indeed," said Tsunade, "I've known Orochimaru for a very long time. I used to work for his mother, you know. I know how he thinks, and he wouldn't take the body of just anyone. He would choose a mortal who has the potential to become as powerful as he is. That is unless he's still in the planning stages, meaning you're just a test subject. In that case you're out of luck," Sasuke opened his mouth angrily, and closed it realizing her eyes were twinkling. "Don't worry so much," she said affectionately, "I can sense power too, and as soon as you get up tomorrow morning I'll show you how to use that magic flowing in your veins,"


(1) Tanuki are a type of animal that appear in many comedic tales, such as where one of the crafty animals deceives a monk by disguising itself as a kettle.

(2) Orochi is an actual mythological name for a Japanese snake god, other than that I invented the story.

(3) I took bits of this from The Dream Hunters, a wonderful book that is the retelling of an Asian tale by Neil Gaiman, but if you've read it please don't complain that I veer wildly from the plot.

A/N: Ironically I wrote this, including the whole spiel about snakes and immortality, quite some before the part about Orochimaru's past in the manga was published (I think it's about chapter 345) and I got a bit of a shock when it came out. Anyway, please read and review.