Upon coming to fetch her the following day, Kabuto said something that surprised her. "Today you'll learn about chakra. I'm here to take you to your new teacher."

"Teacher?" Soma repeated as he hurried her along. "Chakra? Why?" But Kabuto didn't answer her question. Down several dimly-lit passageways they went, and entered a large room with a huge stone snake's head against one wall. Soma could hear voices coming closer. One of them was Orochimaru's. Soma instantly hid behind the only thing readily available: Kabuto. Full of surprises these days, he didn't try to grab and hold her. Instead, he actually backed up, pressing her against the dirt wall of the room and shielding her more effectively.

"Instead of training me, you want me to be someone else's teacher," a new voice said, sulky. "Why do I have to do it? Give the job to Kabuto."

"You are the one most suited for this job, Sasuke," Orochimaru replied. "You have a kekkei-genkai, the same as your student." Flanked by Orochimaru, the boy who had the kekkei-genkai walked in. Soma feared him as soon as she saw him. He was dressed the same way as Orochimaru—and he had the same cold eyes. When the boy saw Kabuto, with Soma ensconced behind him, he looked disgusted.

"That girl? You want me to teach a prisoner?" He turned to Orochimaru with impudence. "What makes you think I'll waste my time with her?" With bated breath, Soma watched to see what would happen. She had never before seen anyone defy Orochimaru.

But Orochimaru didn't even raise his voice when he said, "In time, you'll understand, Sasuke. This girl is . . . important to me. I need you to teach her to control her chakra. She's never had shinobi training."

Now the boy—Sasuke—looked incredulous. "You want me to teach chakra control . . . to someone who doesn't know anything about it? That could take years!" He rolled his dark eyes, shook his head, and started to leave. Orochimaru reached out a long arm to stop him, putting it around the boy's shoulders.

"Do this for me, Sasuke," he coaxed. "I'll make it worth your while. I will teach you to wield . . . the Kusanagi Blade." Sasuke shrugged free of Orochimaru, but this time, he didn't leave.

"The Kusanagi?" Sasuke was undecided momentarily. Then he nodded his head, albeit with reluctance. "All right, fine. But you'd better start showing me how to use it today." Orochimaru left after that. Although it was much safer to come out once he'd gone, Soma still resisted Kabuto as he shepherded her over to the dark-haired boy.

"You'll be fine," the young medic reassured her. "No one's going to hurt you." He withdrew to the side of the room, leaving Soma to stare at her new sensei. Sasuke made a wry face and plopped down on the ground.

"Okay, do you even know what chakra is?" he asked. Soma shifted from foot to foot as she answered.

"It's warm," she said in a tiny voice. "It's bright. It heals. It—it can cut . . ."

"You've only told me what chakra does," said Sasuke impatiently. "Not what it is." When Soma could only look at her feet, not knowing what to say, Sasuke went on. "Chakra is the energy within," he told her. "And it can do a lot more than cut and heal." A glow—a purple one—appeared around his hand. With rigidly straight fingers, he thrust his hand at the ground. It cracked the stone, and he ended up burying most of his hand in the rock. "Once you learn to control it, chakra can do almost anything." He stood up. His hands flew through a sequence of signs. After taking a deep breath, he blew outward, and as he did, flames exploded out of his mouth. Soma let out a squeal of fear and scrambled backward. But Sasuke wasn't directing the fire at her. He let it blast out and then shut his mouth to extinguish the flames. He raised an eyebrow at her flinching form. Neither one of them said anything for a few seconds. ". . . But you obviously aren't anywhere near being able to control it," he observed. "So you'll start with the basics." He stood solidly with bent knees. Back and forth, he punched the air, pulling one hand back every time he thrust out with the other. "Do it," he ordered her. "Like me." Soma haltingly imitated his stance and formed her hands into fists. She began striking out at the air as Sasuke was doing. He stopped to eye her movements. "Just keep doing that." Seating himself again, he continued to watch her through those eerie eyes of his.

Sasuke had her go through several sets of punches and karate chops. After about half an hour, once she was thoroughly tired out, he grunted, "That's enough." He left without saying anything else. Soma was glad to see him go. The mix of conflicting feelings she felt by being around him was not pleasant. This boy dressed just like Orochimaru—even acted like him, in many ways. The only emotion his eyes revealed was a cold sense of purpose. Soma was confused by him: a boy not much older than her should be in the prisoners' quarters. Who was he, that he could wear the shinobi garb and carry a sword? What was he worth to Orochimaru and Kabuto, that he could get away with such effrontery? There was something about him that made her want to run from him.

Kabuto said that he didn't want her to overexert herself for some reason. He returned her to a cell, this time putting her back with the other prisoners. It was nice that she didn't have to be alone this time, but the others still gave her strange looks. Soma was becoming very different from the rest of them.