Sasuke Pov.
I jumped over the rooftops of Konoha. Thanks Kami I knew where Kakashi lived, so I wouldn't need to search forever. On the way to the Hatake, I wondered what that mark on Shizuka's wrist was. For the time being, I put the question aside and concentrated on the current events. I ended up at the door to Kakashi's apartment. I pounded on the door. There was nothing to hear. I tried again.
»Alright, alright! I'm coming,« I heard the voice of my Sensei from inside. The door opened and Kakashi stood in front of me, looking somewhat puzzled.
»Sasuke ... ,« he began, but I did not give him time to speak and pulled him with me.
»You must come immediately,« I said, pulling him on the roof behind me.
»Can't it wait so I can put on my shoes?« he asked, still confused.
»No,« I answered.
Kakashi freed himself from my grip and ran independently next to me.
»Where are we going to?« asked he.
»To Shizuka. Something's wrong with her. She seems to be in pain, and she has a strange mark on her wrist that seems to be spreading on her arm,« I replied, adding tempo again.
My sensei nodded and caught up to me.
When we arrived at her home, she lay crumpled where I left her and breathed heavily. She seemed to be fighting against something. Kakashi didn't hesitate and leaned down to her. I stopped at a distance and saw him whispering to her. She just nodded or shook her head. He then looked at her wrist. He picked her up and took her indoors.
»Wait here,« he said to me when I wanted to follow them. I nodded and sat in the already damp grass.
Shizuka's Pov.
»Can you sit upright?« Kakashi asked.
I sat up. It was difficult for me to keep my balance, but for a while it would work. Meanwhile, not only my wrist but also my head throbbed. As if someone was working on my skull with a rubber mallet.
»Please make your right arm freewhile I prepare everything.«
First, I slowly and laboriously removed the gauntlet, before getting rid of my top. My body was completely exhausted.
»That should be enough,« the Jonin said, looking at me.
He had painted some characters around me. Now he began to paint my body with his blood. So I didn't have to completely expose myself before him, he led the paint under my shirt.
»Listen carefully,« he said, squatting in front of me. »I'll seal the mark now and then take you to the hospital, and I'll have to inform the Hokage,« he said.
I shook my head and looked at him pleadingly.
»Let's start with the sealing first,« he said, forming hand seals before putting his hands on the mark.
The signs of blood snaked across my skin and merged into a seal, around the mark, together. I felt him picking me up and making his way to the hospital before I lost consciousness.
When I woke up, I first noticed the odor of disinfectant. I wanted to straighten up, but was immediately pressed back into the sheets.
»You should not move too much yet. The fight against the curse mark has cost you a lot of strength,« Kakashi said, sitting back in the chair beside the bed.
»How long did I sleep?« I asked, 'cause I felt like I slept forever.
»Two days.«
After a brief silence, he turned to me again. »Are you telling me what happened?«
»We were on a mission to free our teammate and I ran into Orochimaru, who gave me this thing,« I said shortly.
»And the unofficial version?« he asked.
I had already thought that he would not believe me. I sighed and thought for a moment how to phrase it.
"I've known Orochimaru for a while. I've met him several times over the four years, but I've always been able to escape through a ruse. When we tried to rescue Raya, he ambushed me and took me to his hideout into some kind of lab, trying to negotiate with me. My blood, against the key to Raya's cell, "I started.
»What did you do then?« he asked, looking thoughtful.
»I surprised him with a Genjutsu, took the key and searched the cell of my comrade. This cost me time, because this hideout was the purest maze. He has used the time to free himself from my Jutsu, attack me and bit me,« I ended.
» How did you save yourself from the fight?« he asked further.
»Will that be an interrogation?« I asked back.
»I just want to understand that,« he justified himself and looked at me invitingly.
»I know a special Genjutsu that paralyzes the attacker,« I explained.
»How did you get him to look in your eyes again? Orochimaru is not stupid,« the silver-haired men asked.
»I told him that I have the Mangekyou Sharingan and would use it against him. He was surprised at first, then curious, so I pretended to use it and pulled him into the Jutsu,« I lied.
»Do you possess the Mangekyou?« he asked.
»I thought I should rest and you interrogate me here,« I said, ignoring the question.
»Answer the question.« His tone sounded more like an order than a nice call.
»Why do you wanna know that?« I asked.
»Pure curiosity.«
»You think I'm stupid,« I said.
»Not at all. You're a pretty smart girl, I was convinced of that after our little fight,« he replied.
»Why are you doing this ... nice conversation?« I asked and became so suspicious.
He seemed to realize that. »In no one's job. I just thought your story was weird. An eight-year-old girl is said to have spent four years on her own in the Land of Fire, teaching so much herself?«
I wondered if I could trust Kakashi and tell him a part of the truth. Itachi thought a lot of Copy Ninja. Besides, he would push me further and further into the corner anyway.
»I'll keep everything you tell me to myself. I can understand your mistrust,« he said.
»I can tell you a part, but not everything. That can't be public, otherwise I'm in danger.«
He nodded.
»I do possess the Mangekyou Sharingan since the day my brother died and I had the Sharingan under control even before Shisui's death. Itachi trained me and showed me how to handle the Mangekyou, but I don't use it. No one else is allowed to know that I have it. I learned most of my Genjutsu from Itachi too, meaning I was prepared for anything before the massacre staged by Itachi,« I said.
»You were there when Itachi killed your brother?« he asked in surprise.
Fury crept up in me.
