Kisame was in a particularly bad mood today.
Orochimaru found this out when he approached Kisame to take his Akatsuki cloak and whatever else he may have for Orochimaru to deal with, and apparently it wasn't happening fast enough. After a thorough beating and firm kicking around, Orochimaru was flat on the floor with Samehada and Kisame's cloak over his quivering body.
"Where's Itachi?" Kisame snarled, pacing past the fallen snake and marching straight to the fridge. Orochimaru slowly stood up and answered:
"He left on that mission he was assigned a few hours ago," he murmured, putting Kisame's cloak in the closet. "He said he would be back in a week and I was to stay with you unless otherwise summoned."
A smirk came across Kisame's face as the fridge door closed. "Is that so?" he muttered. Already he was popping the cap off a bottle of beer, and Orochimaru knew what was coming next. Kisame was usually nasty when he got drunk, and got drunk when he was in a bad mood to begin with. The best thing to do was usually to simply avoid the shark-man, but, seeing as it was a little late now, he would just have to put up with it and hope Kisame passed out in time to save his life. If he was lucky, someone would intervene and get him out of there-but Orochimaru hadn't been very lucky lately…
"Get over here."
Orochimaru swallowed hard and crossed the kitchen to where Kisame was leaning against the counter, taking long swigs of the beer he held in his hand. The other was braced on the counter behind him, legs crossed at one ankle and half-extended. "What the hell have you been doin'…" Kisame straightened to run one hand down the side of Orochimaru's face. "You're almost free of bruises…what, Itachi didn't bother to hit you last time ya screwed up?"
"I…Itachi-san has not hit me as of late because he has not seen reason to." Orochimaru chose his words carefully. If he wanted to get out of this alive, he would need to use every ounce of his skill at telling people the truth, but wording so it sounded like what they wanted to hear. "If you want to know why I am uninjured, you will have to ask Itachi-san."
Kisame gave a grunt of "whatever" and returned to his beer momentarily. "Well, I'm going to take it you're still a virgin." It was more statement than question, but Orochimaru nodded in affirmation anyway. "Pein's been lookin' to change that." Orochimaru could tell Kisame was absorbing the alcohol at a rapid rate: he needed to get out of there soon if he wanted his body in one piece.
"Kisame-san, I really think I should-"
"That's Kisame-sama to you, brat."
Orochimaru took the backhand that accompanied Kisame's words without a sound, falling to his knees with little more than a flinch. Kisame kicked him hard in the ribs, and this time Orochimaru did complain. His let out a harsh grunt of pain as he was kicked back into the wall, then tried to stand to avoid the follow-up he knew was coming. Kisame, however, beat him to it, striking viciously with fists and kicks, coldly striking Orochimaru down, blow by blow. Orochimaru had been driven into a corner by now: all the way on the other side of the apartment. He had made it to his feet once and taken off, only to be picked up and thrown back across the whole room. He landedon the ground in a roll to take the impact of the fall, then tried again to stand and run. Kisame had simply stridden over to him, crossing the room in only six steps, and aimed a well-placed punch at Orochimaru's face. It sent him flying, and the snake slammed into the wall again. Blood flowed from a split lip, and also from multiple lacerations all over his body. Cuts and bruises from where he had hit something in being thrown around speckled Orochimaru's pale skin, showing up as harsh contrasts to the stark white. Orochimaru instinctively drew his arms up to his body, trying to protect himself, but his efforts were thwarted. Kisame seized one slender wrist, hauled Orochimaru to his knees in front of him, and kicked him in the torso. Orochimaru doubled over in pain, coughing blood, screams of agony soon accompanying the sickening thud of flesh hitting flesh. Orochimaru's stomach turned at the next punch to the gut, and he felt the incessant urge to vomit up everything he had eaten in the past day or so. Orochimaru's stomach contents soon ended up on the floor with a terrible amount of retching, and Kisame's upper lip twitched in disgust.
"You're cleaning that up," he growled, "But first, you're dead for even getting that all over!"
"And who's fault is that!" Orochimaru screamed, trying his best to put some distance between him and Kisame. Despite his efforts, however, Kisame's grip did not relent, and he was yanked right back to Kisame's feet. "How is it my fault that you're beating the shit out of me so bad that I throw up? It's always my fault! Well, I have news for you, I can't take the blame for all your petty, insignificant problems. You're acting like a two year old!"
"Shut up! Did I say you could speak?"
Orochimaru knew it was coming. Oh, he knew how bad it was going to be. He knew he had gotten himself in deep with this one. But hey, he was already dead. What was a little more mud? "See if I care!" he spat, still pulling away from Kisame. "I'm not your fuck toy! I can't always take the brunt of your emotions! I have problems of my own, far greater than yours! Don't even try to tell me you have the right to treat me this way-!"
"SHUT UP!"
Orochimaru found himself losing consciousness at the next blow, and this fell on the back of his neck. His last thought was something resembling, "I am so fuckin' dead," but he decided to take advantage of the opportunity and escape the bitter pain.
OOOOOOOOO
When Orochimaru woke up, the first thing he felt was cold.
Metal cuffs encircled his wrists and ankles, which were bloody and chaffed from his subconscious struggles. Or maybe conscious and he simply couldn't remember…Orochimaru shook himself and sat up, testing his limits. The chains clinked ominously, and Orochimaru found that they had been placed around his wrists, ankles, and neck. A collar? To insult him so! Still, Orochimaru knew he couldn't do anything to change it, not now anyway. It was too late in the game for anything to change, except Orochimaru's situation in a definitely negative way. The snake found the blood and bruises covered virtually his entire body, and that they were concentrated around the chains-and, humiliatingly, his hips. Orochimaru was beginning to wonder what exactly had gone on while he was unconscious, but then realized he had no pain in that area, so he was safe for the moment.
For the moment.
But even so, he knew that moment would last long, as he was naked anyway. Well, shit, wasn't that lovely? Someone had beat him, stripped him, beat him some more, and then chained him down and left him in this pathetic excuse for a room. Honestly, Orochimaru could see mold growing on the clammy, wet walls. Between the bricks, the mortar was rotting, and it looked as if it was rotting from old, dried blood. Orochimaru shivered, both in cold and fear. It was like a scene right out of a horror movie…now all he needed was the bars across the window-whoops, no window! The door was made of a heavy wood with a metal handle and metal reinforcements, and a metal handle that only opened from the outside. Orochimaru could feel the cold air creeping in anyway, though, and subconsciously curled up into a ball, trying to keep himself warm. It was then that he noticed a dingy, cobweb-covered light above him, turned off and simply hanging from its respectful place in the ceiling. Orochimaru dryly questioned how long it had been there, and then realized it was more of a question of how long it was going to stay there, because clearly it had been there for centuries. Light suddenly filtered in through a small window at the top of the door, just large enough to allow both human eyes to glance through. There were still vertical bars across it, though, and Orochimaru wondered why. He couldn't even fit his hands through there, let alone anything else! The light grew stronger, and Orochimaru realized that someone was turning on lights in the hallway. Was someone coming for him? His heart picked up, struggling with the situation. His animal instinct told him to run, and run fast. But his rational mind was reminding him of the chains he was on-a rather short leash, for that matter. Orochimaru's grip on his legs tightened, and his tried to lean forward and hide his last shred of dignity.
And then he heard the footsteps.
Soft at first, but they echoed slightly in the stone of the prisons. But in the confines of Orochimaru's own mind, they echoed like gunshots in the silence, haunting his sanity and threatening to tear it apart and devour it like a hungry tiger dines on fresh meat. Orochimaru inched backwards, unknowingly panicking and trying to make himself as small as possible. "Fight or flight" now meant nothing to him: it was "don't get noticed, or you get shot." Orochimaru could hear the footsteps getting louder and louder, even in his distorted perception of reality, and his body was going crazy. His heart was ready to explode, his lungs were pumping oxygen through his body at a frightful rate, his entire body was shivering, his nervous system was feeling pain already-
The door opened, and Orochimaru's heart almost stopped from relief.
Itachi stood in the doorway, looking surprised.
"Orochimaru," he said softly, watching the sannin slowly calm himself down. His heart began to calm, and his breathing slowed a bit. The shaking stopped, and Orochimaru slowly uncurled a bit. He still tried to hide his more intimate moments, despite the identity of his visitor-or his savior. Itachi crouched down in front of Orochimaru, slowly running a hand over the pale man's face. "What happened to you?" he questioned, slowly caressing his abused cheek. Orochimaru shivered again at the touch, shaking his head and scooting back, away from Itachi's traitorous hand. Itachi pursued him though, looking deep in thought and absent as he hooked two fingers in Orochimaru's harsh metal collar. Orochimaru still tried to shrink away, even as Itachi pulled him closer, ignoring the gentle words that escaped Itachi's normally tightly-sealed lips.
"Come on, don't be like that," Itachi coaxed. "Pein tells me he locked you in here days ago. With the way you were beaten, I'm not surprised you were out completely for that long. He said that Kisame was about to kill you, so he decided you were better as a hostage and put Kisame in detox. Amazing, the things that man does when he's drunk." Itachi rolled his eyes, then reached into his cloak and pulled out a small key. "I persuaded him to hand it over." Itachi offered Orochimaru a tiny smile, which the sannin refused to return, and set about unlocking the chains around his now-quite-skinny body. Orochimaru remained silent the entire time, shaking his head yes or no when asked a question and hardly making a sound. In fact, the only sound he ever emitted was a pained yelp when Itachi allowed a chain to fall on his fractured wrist. Itachi healed it immediately, pursing his lips in suppressed anger as he realized what had really been done to Orochimaru in his absence. Orochimaru could catch occasional mutterings of, "I'm going to kill him," and, "That shark is going to be my dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow-and that's if I mutilate enough of him that he isn't edible anymore." Orochimaru would simply shrink away in horror, ignoring Itachi's whispered comforts and simply wanting to be alone at the moment-or huddled in the arms of his lover, so far away back in Oto. Orochimaru was truly homesick at this point-he wanted out, and he wanted out now!
Itachi froze.
Orochimaru glanced up at him, though quickly redirected his gaze. He wanted nothing to be accused of, and one never knew how ridiculous his crazed captors could get. Itachi's eyes travelled over Orochimaru's entire body, then he stood up and retraced his optical steps. Finally he said,
"I want to do a rape kit on you."
Orochimaru's eyes widened. "Y-You really think…?"
Itachi sighed. "Stand."
Orochimaru slowly did as he was told, pressing his back to the wall as he did so. What did Itachi want? The Uchiha backed several steps, then glanced at Orochimaru's pale hands, hovering over his "man parts." Itachi beckoned Orochimaru over to himself, waiting while the sannin hesitantly took a few steps forward, stopping a good four feet away from Itachi and blushing furiously. Itachi was highly amused to find that Orochimaru didn't blush pink-he blushed peach. And right now, his skin was so flushed it almost looked normal. Itachi's eyes raked Orochimaru's beaten, tortured body one last time, and finally he asked,
"Any pain in your…um, well, frankly, does your ass hurt?"
Orochimaru shook his head slowly, surprised by how blunt Itachi had been. Sasuke's older brother slowly pulled off his cloak, stepping forward to a shaking Orochimaru and wrapping the cloak around him, pulling it closed in the front and stepping back again, allowing Orochimaru a bit of space. The snake-man closed the cloak over himself in a daze, making sure it was secure before gazing up at Itachi with a pleading look in his eyes. Itachi found himself falling for Orochimaru all over and suddenly strode forward, crossing the three feet between them in a single step and throwing his arms around Orochimaru. Orochimaru started and tried to back away, only to find a hand in his shoulders and another in his lower back. Orochimaru simply gave up at that point: there was nothing left in the world, and it was crashing down around his ears. Why? Why him? Why was it always him? Always and every time, he was the one to suffer. Orochimaru released a choked sob and let his hands slowly creep up Itachi's shoulder until they encircled his neck and Orochimaru was suffering in silent tears. And that was when it hit Itachi like a brick.
Orochimaru would never be happy again.
He was good and broken now, and would probably accept Itachi's bridle with no questions, comments, or complaints. But was it truly Itachi's hold that would subdue Orochimaru? No. No, it would always be the threat of Kisame looming in the shadows, asking for far more than Orochimaru could ever give: self, sanity, beauty, love, innocence…but by now, all that was gone. Such fragile life hanging in such tender balance, upset so easily and then beaten down anyway. Itachi felt like he had been kicked in the stomach: was it shock, or those things people called emotions? What he had hidden away years ago? Itachi had no idea, but now, with Orochimaru withering in his arms, he learned an important lesson:
Innocence, once lost, can never be regained.
A/N: Tad bit short, but I wanted to finish it for you guys. I was sick and had the flu, but once I was over it, I got to work on this for ya. :) Enjoy, and continue reviewing! Your motivation is awesome!
