And Darkness Prevails
Chapter Twelve – The Sound of Hell
"Hello, Sasuke," Orochimaru attempted to purr the words, but instead, the words came out like a snake slithering from his mouth; Sasuke had already made up his mind about Orochimaru – he was crazy, and he was power-hungry.
But he was immensely strong, and had the power to make Sasuke even stronger than he was. He would put up with Orochimaru for as long as he needed, and then kill him. Not just kill him; he would have to eradicate his existence from the planet in order to escape the man's cruel tendrils.
"You're Orochimaru?" Sasuke's voice was devoid of interest or enthusiasm. Orochimaru slightly inclined his head, as if he were some sort of extravagant monarch. Sasuke crossed his arms. "I'm hungry," he finally blurted out. And it was true… his veins were burning for blood, and his stomach was churning into his chest for nourishment. His head was pounding, and his vision was beginning to swim.
"I expected as much. Tayuya… her blood is of decent quality, but it is by no means the best," Orochimaru motioned towards the darkness behind his seat. A man walked forward, dressed in a white robe and a purple bow. He had sunken-in skin and light hair, and everything about the man looked sickly. "Kimimaru is of an extinct bloodline," Orochimaru smirked at him, "Well, aside from Kimimaru himself, of course. He will be your teacher and your… provider. For now, at least," Orochimaru seemed to share another smirk with Kimimaru, as if the two of them knew something that Sasuke didn't.
Or the man was dying, and Orochimaru was holding it above Kimimaru's head.
"Fine," Sasuke said shortly, before turning to Kimimaru. "I'm hungry now," he said with the same impatient tone of a toddler. On one level, Sasuke was shocked at how demanding he was being… after all, he'd never been that needy with anything except…
Well, except for Naruto's attention. He didn't necessarily aim to catch it, but when he got any attention from Naruto, Sasuke always felt more… normal. To everyone else, he was either a target of contempt (mostly due to jealousy) or a target of absolute adoration. To Naruto, he was just… a friend.
And Sasuke didn't realize until after Naruto had left just how much he cared for the annoying idiot, but now that Sasuke knew how he felt… sometimes, he wished that he'd been a little nicer.
And yet, it was because Naruto was no longer in Konoha that Sasuke had made this move so quickly. He didn't care how his leaving affected anyone else; and anyways, Naruto had left first. It was only fair.
Kimimaru walked up to Sasuke with a quiet grace that made Sasuke think of ghouls gliding across a floor. With the same scary grace, he held out an arm in Sasuke's direction. He pushed the sleeve of his robe up around his elbow carefully, doing his best to make sure that it wouldn't slip.
And then, with a flick of his wrist, a bone grew out of the base of his palm, long and sharp, as if it were a sword. "It grows back quickly," he said, not bothered by the pain, even though it had to be immense… unless he was genetically numb to the pain. "So you may want to drink quickly," he advised, pulling the bone out of his arm and tossing it aside, as if discarding a piece of trash.
Sasuke complied, holding the wound open as he drank. Blood flowed from the deep hole much more quickly than it had from even Tayuya, who'd sliced her wrist from her palm to her elbow – probably because Kimimaru's wound was so much deeper. He didn't even move to complain when Sasuke drank enough to make a normal person seriously anemic; he just stood there and waited for Sasuke to be satiated.
When Sasuke did finally pull away from Kimimaru's wrist, wiping at the blood that trailed down the corners of his mouth, Kimimaru's wound healed in the short time it took for Sasuke to clean his face.
"Kabuto," Orochimaru purred, "Escort Sasuke to his room, and then give Kimimaru a few transfusions."
"If it is all the same," Kabuto said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "I'd prefer taking Kimimaru to the hospital wing first. Or to have someone else escort Sasuke. Kimimaru is already in poor health."
Orochimaru shook his head slowly. "You are the only one I can trust with Sasuke, and Sasuke comes before all else. I have already unlocked the secrets to Kimimaru…"
Sasuke noticed the slight clenching of Kabuto's hands. What did that have to do with him, anyways? "If it is all the same," Kimimaru interrupted, "I do not want to be a bother to Orochimaru," his eyes shifted languidly to Sasuke, and then back to Kabuto, "I do not need special attention; I just wish to be of service to Orochimaru."
"Pity that he can't be turned, isn't it? He'd be such a good right-hand man, if only his blood wouldn't reject my cure…" Sasuke could sense the underlying tone of threat aimed at Kabuto.
"Let's go, Sasuke, Kimimaru," Kabuto's tone betrayed no emotion, as if he was simply ignoring Orochimaru's comments. But it was plain to see for any true ninja that Kabuto was angered by his boss's jabs.
Sasuke followed him, not bothering to comment on the exchange, or anything else for that matter. It was best to keep out of it.
"Where is he?" Iruka asked Ayame as she got ready to head out on a ramen delivery. He was beside himself with worry… Kakashi hadn't spoken to him at all since Sasuke left, and he'd heard rumors that Kakashi was doing poorly on missions. He'd also heard a much worse rumor – Kakashi had become a drunk.
"He hasn't come by to see us for a while now," she said, a look of pity on her face. She knew just as much as the other villagers did, maybe even more than she would ever let on. "But… try the Jonin-only club. It'll be hard… maybe impossible… to get in, but maybe you can get someone to drag him out."
"The Jonin-only club?" Iruka was kind of annoyed; that would be where Kakashi would hide to keep Iruka from finding him. "I'll get in, or get him out, one way or another," he let out a small sigh, "Thanks, Ayame. Take care."
Before she could get out a, "You, too," or a, "Come by and see us more," he had already sprinted off in the direction of the club. Ayame gripped the hem of her apron tightly before releasing it. She had work to do, after all; there was no time to worry about Iruka and Kakashi. She could just pray things worked out for them.
"Here's your room," Kabuto said, unlocking a heavy oak door with a mangled copper key. "If you need anything, just yell, and Jirobo will come to give you anything you require."
Sasuke looked into the room. It was actually quite comfortable-looking, with a large, soft bed, some couches, a lot of open space in the center of the room, and swords hanging on the wall. "Training starts tomorrow, early in the morning. Kimimaru will be instructing you with your sword-training."
"Wait," Sasuke instructed, his voice already taking on a demanding tone. He knew where he stood in Orochimaru's eyes; at least for now, he was a 'pet project.' Even though Kabuto was somewhat of a second-in-command, Sasuke was still at a higher level than him by merit of rarity.
He stopped at the doorway, adjusting his glasses in annoyance. He said nothing, waiting for Sasuke to continue.
"Do I eat regular food?"
Kabuto let out an audible sigh, glanced at Kimimaru as if to make sure that he was still standing, and then spoke, "You'll need regular food at first… Your body can't survive on just blood until the transformation is complete. In the next eight hours or so, you'll probably feel like you're starving. That's why we have Jirobo on standby for you… or maybe if you get really bored. Just," Kabuto adjusted his glasses again, "Try to sleep, or read, or something of that nature."
Before Sasuke could speak, Kabuto was already rushing out the door and down the hallway.
That night, Kimimaru died of a severe anemic disorder, which had also forced his current medical condition to worsen. And the only one who seemed to care on any level was Kabuto, who was only annoyed because he'd lost a patient. He hadn't actually cared for Kimimaru, as too many people had died at the Sound for Kabuto to care any longer.
Iruka arrived at the club just a half hour before closing time. Iruka was insanely curious about the Jonin-only club, mostly because it had been the Fourth Hokage's idea, proposed a year or two before his death, and though it had been accepted by the general populace, it had been built just recently.
He moved to the door to ask if Kakashi was inside, when a rough hand grabbed him on the shoulder. "Jonin and above only," the voice said, not to be rude, but it was said as if they were just expecting that he honestly didn't know.
The only bouncer that a Jonin club needed was the people inside, and while Iruka didn't know the man by sight, he could tell from how the man carried himself that he was at a higher level than Chunin. "I… I just need to speak to someone. Do you know Kakashi Hatake? Could you…?"
"Wait! I'll take on this challenge!" a loud voice boomed from behind Iruka. Iruka spun around, only to come face-to-face with a lot of green. And then he looked higher, and saw the Green Beast of Konoha, Gai Mighto. "My rival doesn't stand a chance! Move aside!" he yelled into the crowd, shoving himself forward.
Iruka only had to wait a few minutes before Gai had brought Kakashi to the outside of the club. Kakashi looked downright sick – he was unable to move on his own, and was leaning on Gai for support. He was obviously trying to hold back vomit, he stank, and his clothes were dishelved in a 'I've been in the same outfit for a week now' kind of way.
It had been months since Sasuke left, and Kakashi was on 'vacation' now. Kakashi didn't let his personal feelings damage his work or missions, but when it came to his free time…? Kakashi had completely wrecked himself. He and Iruka hadn't been together since Iruka held him after they discovered Sasuke had left.
Iruka barely felt like the two of them were dating.
But Kakashi had been there for him when Naruto left, so Iruka would be there for Kakashi – even if Kakashi was taking Sasuke leaving on top of Sakura's strange new training and antisocial behavior on top of Naruto's candidacy.
Had it really been so long since then…? Hadn't it been only six months? Iruka had healed, and was looking forward to seeing a much older Naruto in the village four and a half years from now. He believed that Naruto could survive, with all of his being. He had to.
"'ruka," Kakashi greeted with a burping, gurgling sound. "Whutcha doin' her?"
"I'm here to get your ass out of the bar," Iruka said in a deadpan voice, moving to take him from Gai.
"Cunt muk 'e oh."
"I can so," Iruka said, deciding to treat Kakashi as if he were a naughty Elementary student and not his once-and-current lover.
"Kakashi! You are in a state that is depressing for me, as your rival, to witness! I shall not allow you to pass this threshold!" Gai said suddenly shifting Kakashi from his arms to Iruka and standing in front of the door, blocking it as if Kakashi could summon the strength to move past him.
In response, Kakashi threw up.
Life in the Sound moved on, as if Kimimaru dying hadn't happened at all. The next day, Sakon and Ukon taught Sasuke how to use swords, and alternated back and forth between feeding him. And every hour, Kabuto would walk by and make sure that Sakon and Ukon were fine, ready to give them blood transfusions whenever they needed to counter Sasuke's voracious appetite.
That system worked well, for a while. But soon, Sasuke had accidentally taken too much blood from Ukon, and when Ukon moved back to become a part of Sakon's body, Ukon would slowly drain life-force from Sakon in order to keep himself alive. Soon, they were mutually leeching diminishing life force from each other… and there was nothing Kabuto could do to help them.
Eventually, they became withered husks. But Orochimaru had pretty much already counted them as dead – and instructed Sasuke to continue feeding from them, until every last drop was gone.
Jirobo lasted for a very long time, being of enormous girth. But even with blood transfusions and being put off missions to be Sasuke's blood source, he still died a few months into Sasuke's feeding off of him.
And Tayuya… didn't last long at all. She was tough, but she was smaller than the others, and only lasted through four feedings. She lasted longer than Orochimaru's last resort, Kidomaru, but still. Sasuke felt like he was a meat grinder and that Orochimaru was constantly pushing people through him like they were raw meat.
This made sense, because that seemed to be what Orochimaru thought of people in general, unless they had a jutsu he wanted. That, and Orochimaru had said to eat however his body wanted to, and ignore the fact that people were dying.
Sasuke spent his days training and his nights pacing around the parts of the compound he was allowed in. This pretty much restricted him to the baths and the living quarters, because after a certain time of night Orochimaru didn't want him training. But Sasuke was restless, and usually couldn't sleep. He considered so many things as he paced…
Mostly whether or not he could kill Orochimaru once he'd gotten the full effects of the vampirism. He didn't want to kill him before he was finished being turned in this strange, drawn-out manner, but he also didn't want to try killing Orochimaru when he was actually too weak to do it.
The night he'd had the last member of the Sound Four, Kidomaru, Sasuke was pacing the hallways aimlessly, wandering, lost in thought. He'd done the same thing night after night, but tonight… something was off.
He heard quick, rapid breathing in the other room. It was a noise he couldn't identify, and he needed to know what it was. It sounded like someone was pained… Sasuke travelled down the dark corridors, the sounds of deep breathing getting heavier and heavier.
And then he saw something he really didn't need to see.
He saw the completely unclothed backside of Orochimaru viciously thrusting a barely-clothed Kabuto against the wall.
Sasuke and Kabuto locked eyes before Sasuke dashed down the hallway back towards his room. He had always had his… suspicions, but he'd never thought he'd see something like that in person. He shoved the thought to the side of his mind and fell asleep, forcing the memory beneath the depths of his consciousness.
It wasn't a necessary thing to remember.
"What's going on, Kakashi?" Iruka demanded as soon as his eyes opened the next day. Kakashi only let out a groan as a response and turned back around, his face buried into Iruka's couch. "I know you've been feeling like shit since Sasuke left, but it happens. You know this! Why are you jumping off of the deep end now?"
Kakashi groaned into the couch.
Iruka moved over to him, rolling him hard on his side. Kakashi winced, but as bad as it was, Iruka ignored the pain of his hangover.
Kakashi was a ninja. He'd been in worse, and Iruka wasn't ready to baby him now. Not after a night of holding his head when he threw up, a night of bathing him when Kakashi was out of it, a night of gently laying Kakashi down on the couch and staying up all night to make sure Kakashi didn't ninja off somewhere.
Because even drunk, a Jonin could just pull it together randomly and escape a Chunin, easily.
"Kakashi," Iruka demanded, nearly screaming, "Tell me now, or so help me god, I'm leaving you."
Iruka was shocked that the words had come from his mouth. He'd never threatened to leave Kakashi, not once, not ever. Kakashi had never threatened him with it, either – it was like they were both happily resigned to being together forever, or at least until one of them died in the line of action.
Which would probably be Kakashi.
Kakashi took the threat seriously, peeking out from the crevices of his fingers. "I'mma thro'up on you."
"We both know you're done with that, you've just got a headache. Now man up and tell me what's going on."
In a few seconds, Kakashi suddenly seemed sober, his ninja abilities suddenly seeming to kick in. "I just feel like… teaching was supposed to be my way of fixing ever'thing I fucked up… Naruto is…" Kakashi didn't dare say the words 'probably dead,' "Sasuke is gone, and Sakura is on some fucked up vampire-hunting kick that'll get'er killed…"
Oh.
That was the piece of information that Iruka didn't know.
Sakura was his last student, and was always constantly studying something – Iruka had had no clue that that something was hunting vampires, a career move that would probably end her life faster than anything else. Hunting vampires was something some ninjas did, something that the vampires of Suna didn't really care about, but the older ones… they'd kill any rogue vampire hunters. Torture and kill. Feed from, torture, and kill. Whichever they wanted.
Iruka sat down beside Kakashi, slowly petting his hair. "She's a smart girl – someone will talk sense into her. You're still her teacher – just talk her out of it."
Kakashi turned his head into Iruka's lap, blocking the light again. "Dunno if I can…" he mumbled weakly.
Iruka didn't say anything about the heated wetness that was suddenly against his leg, the heated wetness of tears. Ninjas don't cry.
Especially not a Jonin.
Sasuke stood in the centre of the room, working on his breathing exercises. It was stupid, but it was what the scroll had said to do to strengthen his fire jutsu. He was going to have someone else come in and help with his lightening, but for now, It was all fire.
The door opened and swung shut with a metallic clatter. Ah, it was going to have to be whoever was the replacement for Tayuya. Who was his next teacher-combined-food source…?
He turned to see Kabuto. He turned back around, memories of the night before suddenly flooding to the surface. Damn it all, why did he have to walk in on Orochimaru and Kabuto…? It was awkward, having seen something like that.
And even more so because Kabuto knew.
"I'm your new teacher," Kabuto said, voice even and clinical. "I'll be teaching you basic blood jutsu."
"… are you also my…?" Sasuke asked, confused.
"Feeding source? Of course, why would I be any different than the others?" The question should have been sarcastic, but it came out as puzzled.
"But… you're closer to Orochimaru than the others. Is he really willing to lose you…?"
Kabuto glared him down, appraising to find out if Sasuke meant closer to Orochimaru as a lover, or closer to him as a second-hand-man. Kabuto couldn't decide, but either way didn't change the result. "No, Orochimaru doesn't favor me in the slightest. Besides, I can heal myself – the others couldn't."
"So you're going to last longer than the others?"
"Hopefully years longer," Kabuto said, rolling his eyes. "Tell me when you're hungry and we'll stop for lunch. Until then, stop the stupid breathing exercises and start channeling chakra for some real work."
Hours passed of Kabuto trying to teach Sasuke how to infuse his blood with chakra to use for jutsus, and by the time Sasuke was hungry, he was getting fed up with it on the whole.
"What am I doing wrong?" Sasuke whined after a while. He was already feeling burnt out, having spent his entire morning trying to convert his chakra into blood or his blood into chakra, or whatever the hell it was that Kabuto was trying to get him to do.
"Everything," Kabuto said with a sigh. "But it's understandable – blood jutsu is the one form of jutsu that everyone can learn, but it's also the hardest to grasp. Just try to pull the chakra inwards instead of pushing it outwards, if that makes any sense."
"It doesn't," Sasuke glared. "And I'm hungry."
Kabuto rolled his eyes, but he pulled the collar of his shirt over for Sasuke to bite. Sasuke stared at him in confusion for a moment – he had been biting wrists and hands since he'd come to the Sound, and Kabuto was suddenly offering up his neck?
"Just bite it," Kabuto said, sighing again. "If you mess with the nerves in my wrist, I can't do any of my medical jutsu, and besides, I can heal myself anyways."
Sasuke leaned against Kabuto, feeling incredibly awkward. The shirt Orochimaru had given him was designed to be open, so his bare chest was pressing against Kabuto's. The only way to pull Kabuto's neck closer to his mouth was to grasp both shoulders to bite down, which was promoting even more physical closeness.
All he could think about as he bit down was that Orochimaru had been feeling up the same guy just last night, that Orochimaru had probably licked and/or kissed the same neck he was biting now.
And all he could hope for in that moment, all he could desperately pray for, was that Kabuto had showered since then.
A/N: I hate writing Sasuke's parts. xD I forget how hard it is for me to keep Sasuke in character because he bores the hell out of me. Kanky, Shino, Naruto, Gaara, Shikamaru, Temari... all of them are interesting, fun to write, and therefore, easy for me to keep in character! Sasuke is boring as hell in comparison. Kabuto is almost fun. Almost.