Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto


In the last hour, Sasuke had opened his mouth exactly... zero times.

Orochimaru despaired. If memory served him right, Sasuke's record for silence was an entire week. It had taken Kabuto all his ingenuity to trick the Uchiha into opening his mouth that time. Orochimaru could think of few more taciturn companions to spend his afterlife..afterdeath... afterwhatever with.

Still the boy was entertaining. For all his silence he was surrounded by a whirlwind of chaos. Just like lightening his actions were noiseless, but lit up the entire cosmos, rapid flares that dramatically shifted the foundations of the world. The next few days would prove interesting, no doubt.

Right now though Orochimaru wanted to get up to speed with the current events of the world. Sasuke knew little more than what Orochimaru had already gleaned from the cursed seal in Anko's neck. Finding and reactivating Yuzu was a brilliant spur of the moment decision. No doubt she had seduced the jinchuriki and extracted all the latest news. The DNA she must have managed to get hold of also had possibilities but Orochimaru knew Uzamaki's greatness was mostly due to the Kyubi. His inheritance was not one to be coveted... unlike the Uchiha's.

Sasuke stood, staring blindly into the paling sky, his hands clenching the gaudy orange jacket Yuzu bought with her. "Well" Orochimaru interrupted before the Uchiha completely withdrew into himself. "What did she hear?"

The silence stretched long and just as Orochimaru was about to give up, the Uchiha replied, his voice low and raspy "He defeated Tobi"

"He? You mean the Jinchuriki... Uzamaki Naruto right?

Sasuke did not bother replying, folding the jacket he started to turn away. Quickly Orochimaru stopped him "But, of course, it's your friend Naruto. So tell me did Yuzu enjoy him in bed?" As expected Sasuke shook him of, making his way to the tree that acted as the guard post. Before he went, however, Orochimaru caught sight of a ghost of a smirk on his face, just a tiny flicker of amusement before his feature reset themselves in their usual blank, slightly discontent expression.

Perturbed, Orochimaru turned to the girl. Something must have gone wrong. Quickly he disengaged the series of jutsus that kept her sedated. Yuzu fell to her knees, head bowed, "I'm sorry, my lord, I failed-" Closing his eyes in a futile effort to curtail his annoyance, Orochimaru strode forward and grasped the woman by her neck: "What happened?" he ground out, fingers digging in to veins.

"He" she gasped "he... wasn't interested"

Wasn't interested - how could that be? Jiraiya would never have let such a woman go. Sure she wasn't much to look at, but men like Jiraiya and Naruto cared more about the body than the face anyway. How could he have miscalculated so badly?

"He was tired" the girl protested, his fingers still clenching into her throat, staining it with blue bruises and angry red scratches.

"Useless" Orochimaru hissed "Utterly useless. What am I to do with you?"

"She'll get us supplies" Sasuke's voice cut through his rage.

Orochimaru's rage cooled. He spoke! Twice! Perhaps this would not be a silent day after all. Letting her go, he looked up mockingly saying: 'Your concern is so touching, Sasuke-kun. But poor Yuzu here has no money. She can't possibly get supplies."

"She'll manage"

Three times! Sasuke was right though - Yuzu could easily seduce the shopkeepers into giving the supplies. But Orochimaru disliked the idea. It had occurred to him that he could extract some of his essence from her cursed seal. Not enough, of course, to be able to overpower Sasuke but still it would add to his strength. The formation of a plan starting to come together, Orochimaru moved towards a girl.

A kunai cut him off before he could reach her. Dodging it, Orochimaru watched as the kunai was harmlessly embedded into a tree.

"We're being watched. You're being watched" Sasuke said, his sharigan flaring "We need to leave now. Suigetsu, Jūgo, get up."

The Uchiha was almost panicking, Orochimaru thought, as he collected his things. He didn't sense anything. Was he really so out of condition now? Or has the Uchiha evolved so much while he was absent? Licking his lips at the thought of being in a body with so much power, Orochimaru followed the running nin. He purposefully shadowed Suigetsu, amused at how scared the former Mist nin was.

Yuzu had been left behind. There was no helping it. He'd have to find her again.