Seductive Sound

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter because it is going to be one that sets us up for a new arc. After all, the title refers to more than just the Sound Village ;). So onward we go!

Chapter Notation: I love Suigetsu, but I think it's kinda enviable that Sasuke would at best roll his eyes at the guy from time to time!

Chapter 9

Orochimaru was seething with rage. Sasuke had not only killed Kabuto, he had openly betrayed him. "You're Visual Prowess shall be mine." And now, the Uchiha would pay for his treachery. "Whether you give it to me willingly or not."

He smirks at the knowledge the Hyuga woman had actually helped him. "It was kind of my future wife to lock up your chakra for me." Most considerate really. "That certainly does make things easier!"

With that being said, Orochimaru lunges out of his body and assumes his true form. That of a giant snake made up of thousands of smaller snakes. Though his head still remained largely humanoid in appearance.

"As I said, I was willing to give you my body." Sasuke's voice didn't show any alarm at the sight of his true form. "Back when you were stronger than me and you were offering me the power I needed to kill you. Look at you now though." He, Orochimaru, would show him the true meaning of fear! "You're pathetic and Hinata is never going to be your wife!"

How dare this insolent brat speak to him in such a way?! He was Orochimaru! He was a Sannin and the man who was finally going to unlock the secrets of immortality! His empire would last forever!

"And you're mine!" Orochimaru lunges at Sasuke in blind fury.

Sasuke swings his own sword at the snakes. Slicing them in half with impressive speed. Though more and more kept coming and his sword was also what he was using to block Orochimaru's head.

He was undaunted though. "I don't like the way you do things either!" Both Orochimaru and Sasuke were now moving almost faster than the eye could see. "You slither from one hideout to the next, conducting your twisted experiments, and playing with people's lives! You make me sick!"


Obito chuckles at that from his position in the tree. "He does have a point there." Though he couldn't help, but wonder how thoroughly Sasuke had researched Orochimaru's abilities.

Did he know all the tricks the Sannin had up his sleeve? Obito doubted it, but that's what made this interesting. He truly had no idea who was stronger at the moment and he couldn't entirely discount Hinata's clones either.

"Get away from him!" There were still a handful of them left, after all. "Gentle Fist!" They wouldn't be a factor for long, but he was certain Sasuke appreciated the help, all the same.

Such a strange relationship those two had. The Hyuga Heiress had clearly been running away from Sasuke and yet, she had sent him aid. A token gesture to be sure, but even small differences could mean the difference in life and death in battles like this.

Surely, she knew that. Hinata must have known that and what did she think was going to happen after this fight was over? Did she honestly think that Sasuke was just going to let her go?

Obito highly doubted that would be the case. "Uchihas love just as deeply as they hate." One thing was for damn sure, once an Uchiha fell in love…they didn't fall out of it.

Hadn't that been the case for his own feelings for Rin? Even now, Obito still mourned her loss deeply. In a better world, she would still be a live. A world far more just than this one.

So that was exactly what he was going to do. He'd create a better world. No more innocent girls like Rin would have to die to preserve this barbaric system they had in place.


The snakes kept coming, but they wouldn't stop him! Nothing was going to stop Sasuke from achieving his goals! From getting to Hinata and Itachi!

"Go to Hell!" Again and again, he slashes furiously with his sword.

The snakes were fast and they were angry, but was faster. His blade was efficiently slicing them in half or decapitating them with ease.

Really, they only posed two challenges to him. "No, that's where you're going!" Their numbers and their teeth, Sasuke thinks to himself as he endures Orochimaru's taunts.

It didn't matter. He'd be dead soon enough. Sasuke just had to finish dealing with these snakes.

The ground was now littered with the severed heads of the beasts and their remains, but more kept coming. Sasuke had never seen so many snakes in all his life.

He was fortunate that, Hinata's Clones had taken out a few of them. "Gentle Fist!" Another clone had manages an attack before a snake bites it and the 'Hinata' disappears.

The sight of Orochimaru's hideous body attacking the woman he loved only further served to fill his heart with rage. It was rage that was the driving force behind his blade. Faster and faster he struck. Cutting through them all.

"You won't win!" Orochimaru cackles as he drives towards Sasuke.

The bastard was probably going to try to swallow him. He wouldn't allow such a thing to come to pass though! No, Sasuke Uchiha had more important things to do than to be that abomination's lunch!

Sasuke smirks. "Even without my chakra, I'm more than a match for you!" Orochimaru had grown weaker due to his illness.

He could still win this. Sasuke was winning. He had killed more than half the snakes and he was still going strong while Orochimaru was obviously in pain.

"We'll see about that!" Orochimaru snarls at him as he sends more of the reptiles flying at Sasuke.

There were so many of them. It was like something straight out of a child's nightmare. Their fangs bared and coming straight at him. Though he swings around in a perfect arc, causing his sword to take out several of them in one fell swoop.

Their heads and severed remains landed on the grass. Grass that had once been lush and green, but was now stained red.

Blood red. Sasuke was honestly surprised that Orochimaru was even human enough to still bleed, but he wouldn't question it.

"You can't escape me!" Orochimaru's voice was barely more than a hiss at the moment.

He really was a snake. The Sannin had sacrificed much of his humanity in his quest for immortality. A quest that was going to end today, if Sasuke had anything to say about it!


"Well he's certainly fast." Obito had to give his relative that much.

Fast enough that he was giving Orochimaru's body a run for its money. It was a mark of how far gone the Sannin truly was that he was fighting more like a snake than a man at this point.

"He would have the edge, if only he used his Jutsus." Obito tilts his head.

His fury must be clouding his good sense. That or maybe, Orochimaru was really just running that low on chakra. It was hard to tell.

Obito was only vaguely aware of his Ritual of Transference requirements. It was not something that had ever looked into too deeply. A ninja such as that Sannin was a power player and needed to be watched, but he was never personally going to use that ritual. So why waste time researching it?

Sasuke would survive this. "Perhaps even without my help." Obito was now certain of that much.

There was such potential in the boy. Was that why Itachi had saved him? Had he been aware of that from the beginning or was it merely brotherly love? He suspected it was more the latter than the former, but Itachi had always known far more than he let on. Who knew what his real reasoning had been?


Orochimaru watches with mild alarm as Sasuke kills more and more of his snakes. It was certainly painful and a nuisance, but clearly his student hadn't learned one very important lesson about snakes yet. The only way to kill them was by cutting off their head!

"Well done." He smirks. "You've managed to kill all of the snakes." Except for one. Him.

Sasuke raises his blade at Orochimaru. "I'll remedy that shortly." He was about to lunge at Orochimaru, when his movements suddenly slowed. "What the?!" The Sannin laughs madly at his confusion.

"It looks like it's finally taking effect." His plan was working!

The raven haired man's eyes narrow. "What's finally taking effect?" Oh this was just too perfect!

Sasuke truly didn't know. The knowledge made Orochimaru almost giddy! The time to claim his new body was at hand! Soon that magnificent visual prowess would be his! At long last, he would finally possess the Sharingan!

"When the snakes bleed, their blood evaporates into the air." He smirks at Sasuke. "It's a poison that has a temporary paralyzes its victims."

It mattered little that it was temporary, of course. Whoever was infected by it, always died long before it wore off. Orochimaru always made sure of that!

There could be no room for error where the Transference Ritual was concerned! This was especially this today! Because today, he would finally take Sasuke's body and he would be one step closer to immortality! To beginning his empire!

"And now, you're mine!" Orochimaru smirks as he lunges at Sasuke taking him into his powerful jaws and into the dimension where the transference ritual would take place!


Hinata was still running. Running and running. She didn't know how far she had gone. Probably at least two or three miles though.

She needed to get as far away from that place as she possibly could. There was only one problem. Hinata didn't have any clue where she was, but that didn't stop her.

"I need to get home!" For now, she would focus on putting as she could between herself and that wretched village.

Her feet had taken her into a forest. Which was good. There were more places she could hide here. If Sasuke emerged victorious, he would come to find her and her trail would lead him into the forest!

Unfortunately, Sasuke was a Ninja of the Hidden Leaf. He was just as familiar with forests as she was, if not more so. She'd have to be smart about this.

"Should I set some traps for him or should I just keep running?" Hinata bites her lower lip anxiously.

A forest meant food. She didn't have anything on her. No money and no provisions. She'd have to hunt or gather, if she wanted to eat before she got the Leaf.

Something that she would almost surely have to do beforehand. The Hyuga woman highly doubted that they would set up a hideout that was too close to the Leaf. Damn it!

"Byakugan." Her Byakugan had a good range.

She'd be able to see much further into the distance thanks to her bloodline. "I have to find the Leaf or at least another village." If Hinata could find another village, she could at least ask for directions.

Feeling better now that she had a plan in mind, Hinata continues running. Her eyes and ears on full alert. Just in case Sasuke or Gods and Goddesses forbid, Orochimaru managed to come after her!


Sasuke was in a strange place. A place where everything was black save for the floors. The floors which were made out of pink snakes that resembled intestines far too much for his liking.

"This is where the Ritual of Transference will take place!" Orochimaru was practically salivating with glee and it was disgusting.

Like any good ninja, his eyes scan his surroundings to assess his situation. Orochimaru and the his blasted snakes were everywhere, but that wasn't all that was inside this strange place. There were other people here.

The bodies of Orochimaru's other vessels. They were partially submerged by the snakes and so was Sasuke. The snakes covered everything, even most of Orochimaru.

The only visible portion of the Sannin was his ridiculously long tongue and his completely crazed eyes. "Your visual prowess will be mine!" Sasuke didn't move.

He had to concentrate. This place seemed to respond to Orochimaru's will more than anything. The serpent would never have the eyes of a hawk, no matter how hard it tried. It would never be able to fly and Sasuke was going to prove as much to him. Right now.

"You tried to take Itachi's eyes and when you couldn't, you came after me." The pink snakes suddenly turn black and transform into vicious beasts. "The fledgling. All because you wanted these eyes."

Orochimaru stares at him in horror and the man had very good reason to be scared out of his mind. "What is going on?!" He was about to die.

The man who sought immortality more than anything else was about to die. "These eyes mean you'll never be able to defeat me." It was ironic, he supposed.

The monsters advance on Orochimaru. "My will is simply stronger than yours." He smirks as he watches the beasts devour the other man.


Obito was considering trying to cut Sasuke out of Orochimaru's stomach, when finally, it appeared to be over. Sasuke was still surrounded by the dismembered Great White Snake, but someone had clearly won the battle for control.

"Which one though?" Had Orochimaru taken over Sasuke's body or had his relative prevailed?

It was hard to tell. Even if Orochimaru was now in control, he would look exactly like Sasuke. Obito needed some sort of sign to see which had emerged victorious.

If it had been Orochimaru that would be a pity. Sasuke could have been so useful in his plans. If it was Sasuke, well all the better.

"Now to kill Itachi." Sasuke sheathes his sword as he looks around the field. "But first, I need a team." Sasuke. It was definitely Sasuke then.

All of the Hinata Clones had been destroyed during the battle. So it was just Sasuke left standing. Interesting.

Itachi would be proud. Well proud and disgusted. After all, his baby brother now had a piece of that Sannin in side him and well, even Obito's lips curl in disgust at that thought.

"It doesn't matter." He shakes his head. "What matters is that Sasuke won." And almost as if he had sensed Obito's thoughts, Sasuke departs to form his team to take out Itachi.


Several hours later, Hinata had found a small village. "I'm a-afraid that I'm lost." Her lungs were still screaming at her for running nonstop for what she was sure was the better part of a day. "Where are we exactly and w-would you happen to know how far we are from the H-Hidden Leaf Village?"

Hinata wasn't stuttering. She was panting. Gods and Goddesses, she was so thirsty. So tired. So sweaty. The Hyuga Heiress just wanted to go home.

"You're in the Kawa Village." The aging man looks at her in concern. "And the Leaf is about two days journey southeast of here." Kawa. That meant river. There had to be a river nearby!

If she could find a river, she could bathe and maybe fish. If nothing else, she could bathe and get something to drink. There might be some animals that she could hunt as well.

Hinata's stomach rumbles and suddenly the bluenette is made very aware of the fact that she was starving! Yes, hunting or fishing sounded like a fine idea at the moment. Buying something from a shop would have been easier, but she had no money!

"Are you alright?" His green eyes were watching her with growing alarm. "Do you need to see a doctor, Miss?"

Not that Hinata could blame him. She must have looked absolutely awful. Sweaty, twigs and leaves in her hair, and likely bruised from battling the brush of the forest she had just raced through.

She shakes her head quickly though. "No. I'm good." Hinata forces herself to smile at the gray haired man. "I j-just needed a moment to catch my breathe is all."

He nods at that. "Well, if you change your mind…my house is that one over on that corner over there." That was kind of him, but she couldn't take him up on that offer.

"I'll keep that in mind." Hinata bows at him gratefully as she heads Southeast towards the Leaf!

If she had stayed the night or even for a few short hours, it could have endangered the kindly old man! Either Sasuke or Orochimaru was going to come after her and neither option would end well for this man, if he got caught in the crossfire.

First things first. She had to get home and it would be wonderful, if she could find that river beforehand!


"This is getting ridiculous." Itachi sighs as he streaks through the forest still pretending to be Sasuke. "They're relentless."

He supposed that it was touching in a way that they would go through all this trouble to 'save' his foolish little brother. Mostly though, it was just annoying. His illness was wearing on him more and more and if Itachi wasn't careful, he would get caught.

"GET BACK HERE!" Naruto was the most annoying of the bunch though.

Itachi really should have at least ensured that Sasuke had a suitable supply of earplugs before leaving the village. He had thought that his Tsukuyomi was torture, but it had nothing on Leaf Ninjas who were obsessed with saving their friends.

He throws a fireball back at Naruto to slow him down. "I'm going to kill Itachi!" The Uchiha adds as an afterthought. "I don't need your help!"

That's when Itachi decides it really was just in his best interest to Flicker. He'd Flicker and hope that the Leaf Ninjas didn't stumble on him because he needed to take more of his medication!

So that's exactly what he did. He Flickers and when Itachi reappears in another location, he notices something disturbing. Obito's chakra.

His eyes widen in fear. "Damn it!" Was he too late?! Had Obito already told Sasuke the truth and undone everything that Itachi had been working towards?!

"Relax, Itachi." He hears a cruel laugh from behind him. "Tobi is a good boy. Tobi didn't tell Sasuke the truth." Well that was a relief though Itachi was rather tempted to Amaterasu that ridiculous orange mask!


Sasuke had been looking for hours, but he finally found him. "So this is the one that Orochimaru thought was too psychotic to have running around." He tilts his head as looks at the tank.

Suigetsu looked normal enough at the moment. White hair, normal skin, no gills, or anything of that nature. Though there must have been something about him that caused Orochimaru some degree of concern. Otherwise, he wouldn't have locked up in the first place.

"A Hozuki." That bloodline would prove useful.

From what Sasuke had gathered over his years at the Sound, Suigetsu was an expert swordsmen and could turn his body into water. Not only that, he also had Water Bullets and could increase the strength of his limbs by increasing their size with water. All very useful abilities really.

He was also known as a Prodigy in the Art of murder. In other words, he was perfect for what Sasuke had in mind. Itachi's death.

"Well it's time for you to wake up." Sasuke smirks as he slams his sword down into the glass and frees the vicious ninja inside it.

Almost before Sasuke could blink, Suigetsu was behind him and completely naked. "Who are you?" With his fingers pointed towards his head like a gun.

It was actually a gun. In this position, Suigetsu could blow his brains out. Not that Sasuke was scared of that happening. Suigetsu was too curious to try to kill him at the moment.

"Sasuke and I'm also the one who killed Orochimaru." He glances at him. "And let you out of the tank."

That definitely got Suigetsu's attention. The naked man didn't lower his weapon, but he hadn't shot him either. Sasuke takes this as a good sign.

He raises an eyebrow at him. "Don't get the wrong idea." Suigetsu smirks at Sasuke. "We all wanted to kill him. You were just lucky. The idiot actually let you get close enough to do it."

That may be true, but Sasuke didn't give a damn. Suigetsu could think whatever he wanted. He just wanted the other ninja around to take care of Kisame. So he could fight Itachi one on one.

"That's fine, but you're still coming with me." Sasuke doesn't even bother to look at the other man at this point.

Suigetus was the type of person who thrived off other people's fear and adrenaline. Sasuke would provide him neither.

His eyebrow raises even higher. "And why would I do that?" The Hozuki's violet gaze narrows in suspicion at him. "What do I get out of it?"

A logical question. Sasuke knew that most ninjas weren't going to do anything for free. He had planned for this though.

"My brother is in the Akatsuki." Sasuke smirks. "His partner is Kisame. Kisame possesses the Samehada." That sword would be more than enough to earn Suigetsu's 'loyalty' for the moment.

Suigetsu pauses as he considers this. "Alright. I'll go with you." He reaches for some pants. "Only because I want that sword though." He grins menacingly at the other man, displaying his sharp teeth. "You aren't the boss of me though!"

Whatever. The youngest Uchiha didn't really care who Suigetsu thought was in charge. He knew the truth and that was good enough for him.

"Good enough." He looks at Suigetsu. "Now get dressed and let's go." They still had to add two more members to their team. "We have to get Karin and Jugo!"

Suigetsu actually whines at that. Honestly, why couldn't more ninjas conduct themselves in a less annoying way?!

"Do we really have to bring those two along?" The swordsman was carrying on like a child. "Jugo can be normal one minute and then he's crazy the next and Karin is just a banshee!"

Sasuke rolls his eyes at him. "Jugo has a powerful bloodline and his unpredictable personality is an asset in a mission like this." Karin's contribution was less…confrontational. "Karin is a Sensory Type and can heal people." The latter of which was severely needed for their current task. "If you want that sword, you're going to have to put up with them."

"Fine." Suigetsu sighs as he follows Sasuke out of the hideout. "Whatever. Let's get going. So you can kill your brother and more importantly, so I can get that sword!" He was so annoying.

Sasuke could already tell he was probably going to regret recruiting Suigetsu, but that didn't really matter. All that mattered at the moment was killing Itachi and getting Hinata back! Sasuke would do almost anything, if it meant that he could achieve his two goals…even put up with complete idiots like Suigetsu!