Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Summary: Orochimaru walks the path towards his own demise, pulling everything around him along. This path only has one ending, but along the way, unfamiliar emotions arise and Orochimaru, Kabuto and Sasuke discover more than they had hoped for. This is my story of the three of them, as the Pupil takes over the Serpent. No pairings.
I did not know who I had to choose in the character category. It evolves around all three, the focus changes along the story.

Feedback is highly appreciated!

Immortal Beloved

Deception

"One has to pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while one is still alive."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

The chamber was dark. The wooden plating covering the floor and walls flickered in the candle light, coming from the room next door. It all held something from an old cabin in the forest, absorbing the warmth around. One would not have imagined that it was the feared sannin Orochimaru who found himself in the midst of that room, on the bed. He did not sleep on a futon. The sheets were white, only intensifying his equally white complexion.

What one would certainly not have imagined was that he had just vomited up the bowl of soup that he had attempted to eat.

The events before his transfer to Genyuumaru had been agony. The trauma, inflicted by Sarutobi's Sealing technique had been immensely painful. It had struck him a thousand times harder than he'd imagined, and he had filled night and day thrashing around in his bed, barely lucid enough to recognize his own medic. The searing pain had only given more power to his animosity. The venomous snake that he was had taken over more than once, and he had lost valuable people at that time.
This time, he knew things would be different. The drained feeling, the lack of energy, the fatigue, and now the inability to digest a stupid bowl of noodle soup… it was no trauma that would blacken his days this time, he knew it was disease coming his way. It frustrated Orochimaru. If there was one thing that he'd despised all his life, it was disease. Even being a man of science, practice in the medical field had never attracted him in any way. The thought of walking amongst the sick, the weak, the dying, it had always disturbed him. Disease was something threatening, something dense, something that restricted him.

When Kimimaro had spent his last few days of life, he had not been around. Kimimaro had always been his epitome of perfection. He could not bear the thought of seeing the sick man he had become over the years, perishing because of something that ate its way through his beautiful body. Through his beautiful body.

He recalled the time when he was a child. One day, he'd shown up ill at training. He remembered that his teacher and teammates had said nothing about how horrible he'd looked, out of respect for his pride. Tsunade had given him a worried look though. When he'd fainted due to a high fever in the midst of training, he had doubted if he'd ever felt more humiliated. None had talked about it afterwards.

Kabuto's concern on letting Sasuke come before him had been obvious. To him it was more than logical, but he also understood that this was something others could not grasp. He was not planning to explain either. His pride was dear to him. For years, Sasuke had been difficult to deal with. The Uchiha had stepped on his ego more than enough. The contrast with Kimimaro's devotion for Orochimaru was immense. The sannin knew that Sasuke despised him. But they had made an agreement; Sasuke would be under the training of Orochimaru in exchange for his young body as a vessel. Orochimaru might have been a treacherous man but deals like that he made in all honesty.

Ok, he really didn't have any ambition to help Sasuke in killing Itachi, but that was a mere side note.

Soon it would be time for Sasuke to come before his master. Orochimaru wanted to see him bow down and offer his own being to him. He wanted to hear Sasuke say it. 'I am now willing to give myself to you,' 'I am yours to take over.' Ah, how he would love to hear that. The young Uchiha would not go down into oblivion before having given his respect to his master. Orochimaru would make sure. And he knew no punishment could force the boy into that. So he simply let it to the boy's pride. Orochimaru was sure Sasuke had some feeling of honor inside, and it would force him to undergo the consequences of the agreement. It was perfect. There was no way for Sasuke to avoid his fate, to run, to hide. Or he would choose to be a liar, a traitor, a weakling, for all his life.

Orochimaru chuckled. Finally, your body will be mine!

Eternal life…

In his lab room, Kabuto was mixing powders. Orochimaru had been taking extra medication for quite a while now. He always did, to stop adverse effects of his Immortality jutsu, but had to use more when the three years were coming to an end. Now, Kabuto had decided it was time for a higher dosage, having learnt about his master's current fatigued condition.

He inwardly cursed. Why did Orochimaru have to be so careless about things like this? Being an intelligent man, one would expect him to carefully follow medical instructions. Kabuto found his master a difficult patient. He'd easily laugh 'minor complications' away as if it were nothing. Kabuto had learned from experience that it often 'was' something and that Orochimaru would have to pay the price for not listening to him. The medic sighed.

He took up the dish, placed the folded paper on it that contained the powders and went to his master's room.

He knocked.

"Orochimaru-sama?"

"Come in, Kabuto," he heard from behind the door. Orochimaru was in his private chamber.

Kabuto entered, and indeed, Orochimaru sat in his chair, reading a book. He didn't look up when his medic entered.

"It's time for your medicine. I have increased the dosage."

Kabuto put down the dish on the table. He didn't even notice the different small containers anymore, glowing a fierce green, with various organic things in it. They contained snakes, toads, tissue, the works. He did glance at the hand though. It would still creep him out. He wondered if Orochimaru still looked at it too. In the end, it had been his hand. The Akatsuki ring was still on the little finger.

"Does it still bother you, Kabuto?" Orochimaru grinned.

"It doesn't bother me. I find it interesting."

"It is an old thing, Kabuto. A nuisance, sometimes. It is difficult to move every time I switch hideouts. It has become so dry over the years that it almost falls apart when I touch it."

"Perhaps you should put it in a container too," Kabuto suggested, not looking up from the table. He had put the powder in a cup and was now mixing it with tea.

"No. It is special. It was a parting gift from dear Itachi. I wouldn't want to generalize it with the rest of my collection." Orochimaru put down his book. "Which is why you should be careful mixing your concoctions over there too. I wouldn't want you to ruin it, since I'd have to take yours to replace it."

Kabuto smiled. "I'm always careful, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru scoffed. Kabuto knew he meant everything he said. Orochimaru was the kind of person who would indeed take his medic's hand and replace it, even if it had nowhere near the same value, and he would expect Kabuto to be perfectly normal about it. Dealing with Orochimaru-sama was far from usual, but Kabuto had made it into an art. He was the closest person to the sannin. And 'close' wasn't even the word Kabuto would use to describe their relationship. Orochimaru didn't do 'close'.

Kabuto walked over to his master and gave him the cup. "How are you feeling?"

Orochimaru threw an angry glance at his subordinate. "Do not fuss, Kabuto-kun. I will let you know when I need your constant concern."

The sannin took a sip from the cup and continued his reading.

The next day, Sasuke was up early. It was impossible to guess what time it was, since the hideout was underground and did not let any light in from the outside, but he suspected that the sun was still rising. Like each day, he showered after coming out of his bed, and got dressed.

Before going to the kitchen to eat, he chose to go outside. Sasuke most often went out through the exit at the waterfall. He enjoyed being there, since not many Sound ninja's ever came around the place. As he had suspected, the sun had not fully risen yet, but he felt the coming of a good day. He savored the fresh air. The enormous amount of water stormed down with an immense noise.

Sasuke had thought about attacking Orochimaru here before. He doubted if his Chidori could take the sannin's life, but this location would give him the benefit of the doubt. The amount of water that was present would act as a conductor and would surely turn his jutsu into a deadly weapon.

After he had heard about Orochimaru's fight with the Kyuubi though, he had given up this idea. Kabuto had extensively told him everything, and Sasuke had to admit that it seemed as Orochimaru simply would not die. Surviving a pure chakra explosion? He had thought of him as vermin. A real pain to exterminate. On top of that, Orochimaru might have seemed like one to display his power and jutsu, but truth was that he never showed his true and final colors.
Speaking of vermin, Kabuto was worse, always lingering around his master. Even more than him, Kabuto had an eye for hidden intentions. Orochimaru was an intelligent man, he could see through people easily, but was sometimes blinded with ambition. Thinking so highly of himself, he would underestimate others. But sometimes Kabuto would look Sasuke in the eye and the young shinobi would doubt if maybe the medic knew what he was up to. No matter what plan he would finally come up with, it could only work if he got rid of Kabuto first.

What had to happen first was to closely observe. Orochimaru's hideouts were well known for their traps and curses. He had to get close to Orochimaru's private rooms in order to know any possible threats. Sasuke decided that beginning from today, his plans to destroy Orochimaru would be set in action.

Sasuke returned inside, to the kitchen, his face wearing a self confident smirk.

Itachi. Almost there.

"Sasuke, you're up early."

Kabuto. Sasuke seriously doubted if the man ever slept. He was always around somewhere. Were it in the kitchen, outside, in the lab, he appeared to be everywhere.

"I intend to train today."

Kabuto smiled. "Orochimaru will be happy to hear that."

"I want him to train me today," Sasuke demanded.

"I will ask him when he is up," Kabuto said calmly while preparing food.

Sasuke decided to settle with that. He might want to look around in Orochimaru's chambers for information but storming in to wake him up was not a good idea, unless he wanted to die young. From experience, he had learned that Orochimaru was not a morning person. Normally, the sannin slept till eight or nine, which he would still find early. It was convenient though. Everything would already be up and working at Otogakure and Kabuto would have enough time to make breakfast.

Kabuto sensed that Sasuke was watching him, or better said, the food, closely.

"What is it, Sasuke?" he asked.

"What are you making?"

Kabuto chuckled. No matter how awfully arrogant the Uchiha could act and how much they disliked each other, this wasn't the first time that Sasuke would ask Kabuto for food. The Sound ninja was indeed good at a wide range of things, going from medicine to cooking.

"Rice and eggs."

"You always make rice and eggs," Sasuke scoffed.

"Orochimaru-sama likes this for breakfast."

"He always eats eggs. I'm sick of having them."

Kabuto wanted to say something about snakes and their eating habits, but didn't. He decided it would not add any respect to Sasuke's feelings concerning Orochimaru if he talked about his master like an animal. Sasuke would not understand.

"Feel free to make something for yourself, Sasuke-kun. But you have to eat something. Orochimaru-sama would not approve if you would go training without having had breakfast."

"I know. Alright, give me some, then," Sasuke mumbled, holding out a clean bowl.

"Good."

Sasuke ate in silence for a while. "Why?" he suddenly said calmly.

Kabuto turned around and gave the young man a questioning glare.

"Why does he always eat the same?"

Kabuto smiled. "Why are you interested so suddenly?"

"I was thinking about what I used to eat when I was younger."

"In Konoha?" Kabuto said playfully. Do you miss Konoha?

In return, he received an icy glare, and for a moment he was sure that he had seen the Sharingan.

"Yes, in Konoha. There is a famous place to eat ramen."

Kabuto sighed. "Orochimaru-sama is a very complex human being."

If he's a human being at all, Sasuke thought.

"His physiology is not like ours. It requires different things," Kabuto continued. Sasuke could see the spark in Kabuto's eyes. How passionately he spoke of his master. "He is very special, Sasuke. I have never seen any being like him."

"I remember people doubting if he were human," Sasuke said, just a bit mocking.

Kabuto was surprised to hear the Uchiha say so many things. Usually, he was rather quiet and reserved.

"Oh, he is human. His appearance is quite unique indeed, but he's definitely human. He had human parents."

For some reason, the thought of Orochimaru having had parents one day was odd. It was one of those things that just didn't cross the mind when one dealt with the sannin. Putting personal opinions about the man aside, everyone, even the strongest enemies, had somehow felt a spark of the divine when interacting with him. It wasn't fitting for him to have ever been born. It would have been more fitting for him to just exist, an entity that had somehow been present throughout all time.

Sasuke tried to imagine the parents. They had been Konoha inhabitants like he once was. He wondered if they had been good people, despite having given birth to a monster. Before Sasuke could wonder more, Kabuto continued, speaking with great interest. Sasuke heard the flaring awe in his voice.

"The parents died when he was young. Not much is known about them unfortunately."

He never really told me about them, besides the fact that he grew up being an orphan. It's an untouchable subject, Kabuto thought.

Sasuke wondered if young Orochimaru had felt the same as he did, when he had lost his family. He wondered how they died. For all he knew, the snake had killed them himself.

Kabuto took the pan from the stove and let the rest of the contents cool off in a bowl.

"It's a pity that so little is known about this. His genetic structure is slightly different. It would have been interesting to study this ascent."

There were so many secrets in Otogakure. In Konoha, Sasuke had always felt sure about the people he dealt with. People there knew things about each other. Here, things were different. As an inhabitant of the Sound, one could never know what to expect from the person before you. So many secrets, so many memories cast away never to be retrieved again.

"He grew up with the other Sannin," Sasuke stated.

"Yes, indeed. Jiraiya and Tsunade."

A team of three people. Just like Sasuke had been in one day, long ago, when he had been young and foolish. He had grown up with his teammates as well. He'd had a real sensei. A rather odd one perhaps – Sasuke imagined Kakashi – but a good one.

"Things change, Sasuke," Kabuto suddenly remarked, as if he had seen right through Sasuke remembering his childhood.

"Where are you from anyway?"

Kabuto smiled. The mystery involving himself was perhaps even greater than any other.

"I've been here and there. Before living with Orochimaru-sama I was with Akatsuki. With Sasori, to be specific."

Sasuke glared at the medic. Akatsuki. Itachi.

"You have seen Itachi."

Kabuto chuckled. "Only a few times, really."

Sasuke wanted to know more. He wanted to know everything. If only he wouldn't look so foolish if he'd start bombing the medical ninja with questions.

"He never said anything. Sasori never spoke of him either. Akatsuki tend to dislike each other, apparently."

Kabuto's smile widened. "Orochimaru-sama used to be Itachi's partner in Akatsuki."

What?

Sasuke did not speak. He didn't flinch. But his heart doubled over for a second out of sheer surprise. Damn Orochimaru, being so secretive about everything. Not that Sasuke had ever asked, but with revenge on Itachi being Sasuke's only goal, it shouldn't have been so hard for Orochimaru to figure out that the Uchiha could use any information possible. Damn snake, always deceiving people.

"But it didn't work out well," Kabuto continued.

Sasuke had been delighted to hear that Orochimaru was going to train him today.

The two of them walked through the dense woods surrounding the hideout. Sasuke wondered where they were heading but did not ask. He liked to keep his interactions with Orochimaru to a minimum. Questions were for fools.

It was easier to let his guard down a bit when he was with Kabuto. The medic was easy to get to talk, especially when it involved his master. But in front of Orochimaru, Sasuke wanted to keep his cold reputation as high as possible.

"You are still eager to train, Sasuke-kun," the snake sannin said hoarsely, not turning towards the Uchiha.

"It is the way to reach my goal." When being with Orochimaru, Sasuke would speak almost tonelessly, cold and arrogant.

Orochimaru smirked. "Itachi."

After a few minutes of silence they arrived at the open space where Sasuke had trained before. The place was wide and open, perfect for big jutsu. Only the sand would be annoying when dry, flying up now and then.

"Sasuke-kun, let me see the results of your training thus far."

The Uchiha stood face to face with the sannin. A soft breeze swept up a small wave of dust.

"You're my opponent?"

Orochimaru smirked. "By no means."

All over sudden, Sasuke was surrounded with Sound warmongers. There were so many. Their angry roars were loud. The young shinobi didn't flinch, but he had to admit that the sudden sight had caused a small chill down his spine.

"How impressive," Orochimaru chuckled, "A thousand foes stand before you and you don't even bat an eyelid."

Sasuke glared emotionlessly at the roaring crowd.

"Begin."

Not a second later, metal collided and blood began to flow.

"Sasuke-kun… You are truly…" Orochimaru mumbled to himself, admiring his next vessel. He had not imagined for Sasuke to become so powerful in a relatively short time. He felt pride. This was his work, his training, his creation. This belonged to him.

Soon… You will bow before me.

"Is that it?"

Sasuke sat down on a fallen ninja. His face wore the ever present uninterested look.

"You didn't kill all of them… How naïve."

"There are others I'd rather kill." Itachi. You.

Sasuke was part of the Sound now. However, he had never inherited their bloodlust. Futile killing, slaying innocent people, it was not like him. He would not lower himself to that pathetic level.

"Unless you become heartless, you will not be able to defeat Itachi."

The Uchiha felt a spark of anger flaring up. How dare he. How dare he!

"When I stand before him, I will be heartless, whether I want to or not."

Orochimaru felt excitement. The wheels of his brain were spinning at top speed.

Not even a tiny spurt of blood. When I look at this boy, I look back to the time when I was called a genius and think how ridiculous that was.

Soon, so very soon… he will be mine.

Sasuke decided to leave. Without looking at his superior, he walked away. Orochimaru had no right to tell him about Itachi. Training, that's all he had to do. But there was no way that Sasuke would ever allow anyone to patronize him about how he should feel towards his brother. He had hatred. Hatred enough to burn all the world. It sufficed.

When he entered the hideout again, it had to be fate that had him running into Kabuto again. The footsteps betrayed their owner.

"Sasuke, you're back early."

Sasuke scoffed and walked past the medic. He'd had enough of Sound inhabitants for today. Enough of their stupid ideals. No, he corrected himself, of Orochimaru's ideals. The rest of them were mere followers anyway. They didn't even have ideals of their own. Foolish.

Still in the open field, Orochimaru stared at the mass of bodies sprawled on the earthy soil. What a nuisance. He'd get a team of medics to heal the survivors; they could perhaps be useful for future experiments.

Suddenly, the smirk on his face turned into a scowl when a searing pain shot through his chest. His hands automatically went up to his heart region in a desperate attempt to ease the pain.

Ah... This pain...

He had to get out of here.

With great effort, he appealed to his chakra reserves and was able to draw out enough for a quick transportation jutsu. A mere second later, he reappeared in his private chamber with a poof. Drained of energy, hands still on his chest, he dropped himself in his chair. He sat a bit hunched over, panting.

He'd suffered from these pains before his last transfer as well. It was nothing threatening, but still annoying and very hurtful. He remembered that the first time he'd felt such a stab in the chest coming up, he'd been convinced that he was having a heart attack. Kabuto had figured that it was caused by the Seal of the Sandaime Hokage, but apparently it was a side effect of the host body rejecting him.

After a few minutes the pain eased. Orochimaru leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.

Immortality. It demands suffering. But this is nothing compared to the power I am gaining.

Soon, you will be mine...