"And so…? What happened after that?"

"It was like chains coming off…I just shoved him aside and came out using the hydra jutsu."

Pein sat down across from Orochimaru, who was kneeling on the floor in front of him. Orochimaru, though, refused to bow further to Pein. He had already acknowledged the other's superiority, and to quite an extent. A simple bow would have acknowledged that, and yet here Orochimaru was, kneeling on the floor in front of Pein. The multi-pierced man has a pensive look on his face, and he said nothing for a long time. Finally, he extended a foot and poked Orochimaru in the ribs.

"You're skinny."

Orochimaru bit back a harsh reply, swallowing the truth that Pein hadn't allowed him much food in the past week that he'd been with Akatsuki. Even when he was with Itachi, Pein had ordered the Uchiha to keep him thin and desperate for food. Itachi, though, often slipped Orochimaru what he didn't want to eat: pieces of meat, apple skins, the like. He wasn't supposed to, and hid it very well, but Orochimaru still followed at his heels like a starving dog.

"But not skinny enough."

Pein's words caused Orochimaru's heart to plummet. Pein was going to force Itachi to cut Orochimaru's food again…and then Itachi would be giving him one meal a day. Orochimaru had already lost weight: why did Pein want him so skinny?!

"Itachi, cut his food again. He's still getting too much."

"Leader-sama, he's lost a lot of weight already," Itachi said, choosing his words carefully. "May I inquire as to why you want him so thin?"

"If he's thin, he's hungry. And if he's hungry, he'll obey, because he doesn't want his food cut again. I want him submissive and under control at all times."

"Leader-sama, with all due respect, he has been nothing but for as long as I've had him. I think a reward-and-punishment system would work better, no? Increasing his food a bit when he behaves himself for an extensive period of time, and taking some away when he acts up. It would encourage him a bit more, don't you think? After all, if he gets desperate, he might be driven to extreme measures, and if he is only be punished, he won't be encouraged to do something right. All we will be doing is taking a neutral stand and bringing him back to that square one whenever he acts up. If we actively encourage him to behave, we might get better results."

Pein seemed to turn this over in his mind a bit. It was true that if Orochimaru got desperate, he would get dangerous. And he would probably only offer what he was asked, nothing more, nothing less, if he wasn't encouraged to do otherwise. Pein finally sighed and stood up. "Go with that," he said. "Itachi, you make a very convincing argument. We'll test this little theory over the course of a month. If it seems to have an effect, I will allow it to continue. If not, we do it my way. Sound fair?"

It was a lot more than Itachi had hoped for. "Of course, Leader-sama," he replied. "Now, if I may take him…?"

"Go. Dismissed, both of you."

Itachi gave a small bow to Pein and beckoned Orochimaru after him as he moved towards the door. Orochimaru hastily stood up, bowed to Pein, and followed Itachi out of the room. Once the door was closed and they were safely out of hearing distance, Orochimaru whispered,

"Thank you."

Itachi was pleasantly surprised; Orochimaru never spoke until spoken to, and even then he would avoid making a sound. Now, the sannin was speaking for himself! "For what?" Itachi asked. "Getting you a reasonable amount of food? It's nothing. You just need to know how to handle Pein and how to sweet talk him."

Orochimaru gave a hum of affirmation, still tagging along at Itachi's heels. They reached Itachi's room, and Orochimaru waited for Itachi to go first before stepping into the apartment, turning around, and locking the door. Itachi went into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and came back out with a plastic container.

"Come here."

Orochimaru obeyed, curiosity in his eyes. Itachi pushed the container into Orochimaru's hands, saying, "Since you're allowed to have it now. As long as you don't give me a reason to take it away, you'll get two full meals a day. Since Pein wants you skinny, I probably can't give you more than that. But still, a bit of food between those meals may not hurt, right?" Itachi smiled and handed Orochimaru a pair of chopsticks and a knife, then went into the sitting area just beyond the kitchen. "You can stay in there and eat, if you want. Or you could come in here. As long as you clean up after yourself, and by that I mean don't leave the dishes lying around, I don't care where you eat."

"I'll stay in here," Orochimaru said quietly. "Thank you." He sank to the floor against one of the cabinets, opening the container and finding himself staring at a large chunk of steak, which he recognized as Itachi's dinner leftovers. Orochimaru shrugged. Good enough for him! Orochimaru finished the meat rather quickly. He hadn't realized how hungry he was. He washed his hands, put everything in the sink, washed his face, and then went into the sitting area where Itachi was. The Uchiha was leaning back on the couch, feet kicked up and a book propped on his stomach. Orochimaru fished a paperback out from under the very edge of the couch and settled at Itachi's feet on the floor, opening the book to a scrap of paper stuck between the pages to mark his place. Orochimaru could read for hours, slave or not-it had always allowed him to escape the everyday, and to rise to new heights and explore new worlds. As cheesy as it sounded, Orochimaru enjoyed the escape, especially now.

The doo opened.

Orochimaru glanced up, saw Kisame, shuddered, and looked back down. Kisame wasn't exactly pampering him as far as treatment went. Orochimaru slipped the paper between the pages of his book again, softly closing it and sliding it under the couch when Kisame wasn't looking. He waited for the usual order to come before standing up and walking over to Kisame.

"Get over here, you piece of crap."

Well, new name. Either way, Orochimaru knew it was him who was being yelled at and rose to his feet, bare soles of his feet making no noise against the carpeting of the sitting area or on the tiled floor or the kitchen and hallway entry. Orochimaru was met by a sneer and Kisame turning away to set Samehada down against the wall, but still, he waited. He knew it was coming…

There it was.

Kisame's hand flashed out and hit the side of Orochimaru's face dead on, but this slap was especially hard. Orochimaru gave a cry of pain as Kisame struck old bruises and formed new ones, falling to the ground and reeling from the blow. A swift kick to the ribs persuaded him to his feet, and Orochimaru soon found himself being shoved over by Kisame stuffing his Akatsuki cloak into his arms. "Take care of that," he growled, and stomped off to the sitting area. He collapsed in a chair, sighing and putting his feet up on the ottoman in front of him. Itachi hardly glanced up as Orochimaru came back in and knelt at his feet again: he knew what was coming.

"Rough day?"

Kisame nodded. "Yeah, Hidan decided he wanted to switch matches with Kakuza, which meant I got to fight Kakuza. So much fun."

Itachi shut the book and sat up, swinging his feet over the side of the couch and trying not to hit Orochimaru in the head. The snake scooted over to lean against Itachi's lower legs, eliciting a sneer from Kisame.

"You let him do that?" he snarled. "If that were me, he'd be in so deep. First of all for even getting that close to me, second of all for touching me, and third of all for making like I give a shit about him."

Orochimaru unknowingly crowded closer to Itachi.

"Stupid little animal, that's what he is. Itachi, you need to discipline him. You're constantly spoiling him, treating him like one of us. It doesn't happen."

"Oh, see if I care," Itachi snapped. One hand came to rest on Orochimaru's raven hair, gently stroking it and calming him down a bit. "I've never really cared to begin with, but it's when you say things like that, Kisame, that I get angry and care even less, simply because it's the opinion of a bonehead like you."

Kisame gave a snort of laughter. "You feed him twice a day, even though Pein tells you otherwise. He slip him the best cuts of the meat-yes, I can see that-you give him the fresh fruit, you never hit him for anything-he could get away with murder if he's in your line of sight! And I'll tell you why-because everyone else is afraid to stand up to you!"

Itachi sighed. "He gets the fat of the meat, and even you don't eat that. He gets the skins of the apples I don't eat, and he is only disciplined if he does something wrong. I've hit him yet-but only when he deserved it."

"You still feed him twice a day," Kisame grumbled. "And you're not supposed to do that."

"Actually, I just met with Pein," Itachi said easily. "He agreed with me that a reward-and-punishment system would work better for us all. We're encouraging him to behave himself, instead of just beating him back to square one every time he does something wrong."

Kisame snorted again and stood up. "His reward is his life," he bit back, "And his virginity. You seen half the people here checkin' him out? Me included. I want him in bed."

Itachi glared at Kisame and stood up, stepping in front of Orochimaru. "If you so much as lay a hand on him inappropriately, I'll make sure that you feel so much pain you won't be able to feel at all for a week before the pain finally kicks in!"

Orochimaru was trembling now. He had noticed the stares and whispers, but never thought that people would be discussing his virginity! His chastity was something that Orochimaru had taken very seriously ever since he knew what it was, and had decided to only give himself to a lover he would spend the rest of his life with. He wasn't going to foolishly throw himself at people, or hand out his entire self on a silver platter. Someone would have to be truly special to Orochimaru to earn the level of trust that he would allow them to take his virginity. And Kisame certainly wasn't one of those!

Kisame's lips peeled off his teeth in a nasty grin. "Well, then, I'll just pass the message along." He walked back to the door, jammed his feet into his shoes, and walked out, slamming the door again. Itachi sighed and sat down again, almost trapping Orochimaru under his legs had the sannin not slithered out of the way, darting in and around Itachi's legs like a viper.

"I won't let them touch you," Itachi reassured, leaning over and putting his arms around Orochimaru's prominent ribs. "I make no promises about the beatings, but I'll try to hold them off for you." Itachi lifted Orochimaru onto the couch and set him down next to him, ignoring Orochimaru's protests and shocked expression. "Sound fair?"

Orochimaru could only nod wordlessly as Itachi pulled him over next to his body and put an arm around his shoulders, holding Orochimaru close and gently kissing his soft black hair. "Good. I just want you to know that I will treat you with respect, even as a prisoner. I don't ever want you to feel uncomfortable or unsafe around me. Can you live with that?"

Orochimaru wasn't sure what Itachi was doing. What game was he playing? Did he genuinely care about Orochimaru? Or was he like all the others, and simply wanted Orochimaru for his body? Was he just trying to win him over so he could take him, and then discard him like trash? Orochimaru couldn't understand any of this, but he decided to at least give Itachi a chance. If the Uchiha even started kissing him more than Orochimaru would like, he would distance himself a bit until Itachi backed off. With this plan firmly in mind, Orochimaru finally nodded, and Itachi smiled. He gently turned Orochimaru's face to his and placed a soft, breathy kiss on Orochimaru's lips.

"I just hope you can trust me."

OOOOOOOOO

The days passed quickly for Orochimaru. He tended to Itachi, doing whatever the Uchiha asked of him, and then settling down with the latest book to read. He and Itachi had come to a new understanding with each other, and Orochimaru respected Itachi a lot more. Mostly because Itachi treated Orochimaru with respect, but also because he had stepped in when Orochimaru got stuck in a situation there seemed to be no way out of-like when Kisame had gotten half the Akatsuki to gang up on Orochimaru when he was alone.

Itachi had asked Orochimaru to get a scroll for him in the library. On his way over, Orochimaru had come across Kisame. In any other situation, he would have simply kept walking. However, this time was different. Kisame's hand had flashed out, catching Orochimaru's arm and throwing him into the wall. Orochimaru let out a startled gasp of surprise and tried to slide away off to the side, only to be met by more Akatsuki. Kisame loomed in front of him, Hidan to the right, Zetsu to the left, and Hidan and Sasori behind Kisame. Orochimaru wasn't sure what was going on, but had tried to politely excuse himself and slip away between two of the Akatsuki. He had gotten almost all the way through when a hand fastened on one of his arms in a steely grip.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Orochimaru was shoved back into the wall by Hidan, and he found himself suddenly on his rear on the ground, staring up into Kisame's angry face. "So, you got plans for tonight?" Kakuza asked, crouching down behind Orochimaru. "Just wondering…you know, seen you around and all-"

"I-I'm sorry, I can't-"

"What? Scared? Poor little slave, where's Itachi? Not protecting you now? Aw, I suppose he's just given up on you." Zetsu's black half was grinning like a Chesire cat, and he brought his foot down dangerously close to Orochimaru's hand, forcing the sannin to shift his weight off his hands and onto his hips to turn away and save the fine bones in his hand. Unfortunately, this drove him right into Kakuza's arms.

"Such a pretty face," the missing-nin purred, one hand drifting down Orochimaru's back. The sannin was suddenly pulled to his feet and turned so his back was against the wall, then shoved back until he was brutally ground into the wall. Orochimaru gave a startled yelp of surprise, which was stifled by a rough kiss from light blue lips. Kisame had taken Orochimaru's upper arms in a firm grip, holding him to the wall as he stole a precious kiss from Orochimaru. Orochimaru, frightened, began to shove at Kisame's shoulders, trying to force the shark-man off. But, instead of moving away, Kisame kissed Orochimaru harder, resulting in a strangled cry of desperation and bitter writhing in pain. Kisame's lips were beginning to bruise Orochimaru's, and blood was flowing from various bites. Kisame abruptly shoved his tongue between Orochimaru's parted lips, biting down harshly when Orochimaru nipped at his own tongue, trying to drive him out. Kisame pushed Orochimaru down the wall until his knees buckled, forcing him to rely on Kisame to stay upright. Orochimaru struggled to get his legs back underneath him, only to be shoved down again. He found that this kept him from kicking, and Kisame already had his arms. He was helpless as Kisame's tongue hit the back of his throat, choking him into submission. Hot tears of rage and fear flowed down Orochimaru's face as he continued to try to fight Kisame, yanking his head away and twisting back and forth. Kisame was suddenly aided by a dozen other hands, pulling Orochimaru back into a hot body coursing with electricity. Orochimaru's muffled cries continued as harsh teeth delivered a bite to his shoulder, and he continued o fight, despite the punishments he was receiving: smacks, punches, kicks, even harsher bites, as he fought Kisame and the others harder and harder.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Kisame's lips suddenly stopped pressing against Orochimaru's, and slowly removed themselves from his bloody, torn mouth. Orochimaru's mouth hung half-open, drawing in heaving breaths, the movement of his chest exaggerated by his arms, which had been wrenched back behind his back and held in place by Hidan. Ah, so it was him and Zetsu who had been biting him. And then Sasori was kicking his legs out from underneath him, and Kakuza must have been the one punching and slapping him…Orochimaru let out a tiny whimper of distress, eyes pleading with this newcomer to help him.

It was Pein.

"Taking him first?" Pein murmured, walking past Kisame to Orochimaru. "I'm ashamed! Kisame, I told you to leave him for me!"

"He's been kissed before," Kisame snarled. "I wasn't going any further, anyway. I was only going to do so after you got here."

Pein smirked. "Well, in that case…you may have him. I'll take him tonight."

Orochimaru's heartbeat suddenly picked up again as Kisame approached. "No," he gasped, yanking against Hidan's hold. "No, don't-!"

Orochimaru was cut off as Kakuza delivered a brutal slap to his face, ringing out down the entire hallway. Orochimaru's legs gave out with a cry of agony, and he was left hanging from Hidan's arms. Sasori kicked Orochimaru hard in the thighs. "Stand up!" he shouted, and Zetsu punched him hard in the ribs. Orochimaru let out a choked sob, threw back his head, and screamed.

"Itachi-sama!!!!"

The Uchiha came running, just as Kisame had screamed, "How dare you!" and pulled Orochimaru into another kiss. Orochimaru's tears flowed freely again, and, despite the abuse, continued fighting against Kisame's hold.

The kiss was abruptly ended.

Kisame found himself halfway through the opposite wall, and then in black, white and red. Kisame glanced around, gulped, and then started screaming. Back in the real world, Itachi was even angrier, and dropped Kisame's cloak to turn to the rest of the Akatsuki and say,

"Let the bodies hit the floor."

Several puffs of smoke ensued.

Orochimaru fell to the floor, trembling and wiping blood from his face. He glanced up at Itachi, terrified, and then looked down again, trying to at least get the spit off his mouth from Kisame's messy intrusion. Itachi knelt down across from Orochimaru, the Mangekyou disappearing from his eyes, and put one hand under Orochimaru's chin. Slowly and carefully, he lifted the sannin's face to his, and placed a soft, chaste kiss on his bruised lips. The kiss broke almost as soon as it began, and Orochimaru shivered at the contact. Itachi swept Orochimaru off the floor into his arms, stood up, and walked away, leaving the rest of the Akatsuki behind. He took Orochimaru straight to his room, where he cleaned him up and used a bit of irou ninjutsu he had copied from Konan to heal the bites and bruises all over Orochimaru's body. Orochimaru stayed with Itachi almost twenty-four-seven for the next few days, but soon recovered and returned to normal.

But he was still terrified of Kisame.

Every time he saw the missing-nin, he would shy away in fear, seeking out Itachi for the comfort and safety. Kisame would just snicker and insult him, then just keep on walking. Orochimaru just made sure he was sitting at Itachi's feet whenever Kisame was around, just to establish who he really wanted to be with. That Orochimaru would willingly submit himself to Itachi was a feat in and of itself, but the real killer was how Itachi had managed to gain Orochimaru's trust in such a short period of time. No one knew why Orochimaru trusted Itachi so extensively, but he did. And most left it at that.

But not Itachi. Ever since he had gotten his hands on Orochimaru again, he had began looking at him in a new light. No, not even new: just an old light with a new color shade in front of it. Yes, there was the lust for power, the search for immortality, the headstrong part of his personality, the maniacal kind, the insane part…and then there was something else…something Orochimaru hid very well, and that Itachi hardly ever knew existed. And that was the part of Orochimaru that contained emotions like fear and love. The emotions he himself had hid away, had done away with, long before he had even met Orochimaru, and possibly before he had ever heard of him. But now, they were surfacing again in Orochimaru. The attack on him a few days ago proved that. Orochimaru feared Kisame, yes, and he also wanted to be around Itachi more and more, but there was something else…Itachi couldn't quite put his finger on it…finally, the Uchiha shook his head and dismissed the thoughts. He could ponder this later, after he sorted himself out.

Unlike Orochimaru, Itachi was growing on the sannin in quite a different way. Itachi was beginning to view Orochimaru as more of a love interest, as a partner, than anything else. He knew Orochimaru couldn't possibly return these feelings yet, but he could at least try to sort himself out first. Orochimaru was beautiful, yes, anyone could see that. But Itachi saw beyond that. He saw the soft emotions hidden firmly away under a guise of tough exterior and power. He saw the infinite pain tucked beneath a stoic shell that pushed people away for fear of being hurt again-betrayed, left, hurt, and then hurt again. Itachi knew Orochimaru wanted none of this ever again-and that was why he continued to push people away from him. He didn't want the pain of losing something he had worked so hard to gain, and he didn't want to have anything to lose when going into a battle that he might not come out of. Orochimaru truly had nothing, and as he lay here, next to Itachi, they could both see that. Orochimaru had another nightmare and had woken drenched in sweat and screaming. Itachi had helped him to the bathroom, wiped off his face and got him a drink of water, then the two of them went back to the bedroom and Orochimaru lay down again. But neither could sleep, out of fear for the other. Finally, Itachi just up and walked over to Orochimaru, climbed into the bed behind him, and wrapped his arms around the startled man's torso.

"I won't leave you. Now calm down, and go to sleep."

Itachi had vowed right then and there to protect Orochimaru, to gain his trust, and to take him for his own. Orochimaru was his, and that was not to be disputed. Once he could be freed, Itachi wanted Orochimaru to run right back to him. Maybe it was Itachi who needed the relationship more than Orochimaru-sure as hell he wanted it more. But Orochimaru needed to be tamed slowly and carefully-a horse realizing that a person has come into their field with a halter and a lead rope will certainly shy away. But if one can distract the animal with a treat or a reward, the animal will come running. And then one can quietly slip the bridle onto the horse's head, and the horse will trust you by then and allow you to lead it wherever you will. And so it must be with Orochimaru. The snake could not be allowed to see the bridle in Itachi's hand behind his back; he may only see the reward in his forward hand. And by the time he is finished with that, Itachi would have tamed him. And thus, Itachi decided to go about taming Orochimaru, for himself and himself alone.

A/N: Just bear in mind that I only update with reviews. The more reviews, the faster the update. So, if you like it, don't keep it to yourself!