The next installment is up and ready to go, quick and longer than usual, so enjoy!


"That was quite a bit of trouble you got us in back there," he was standing on the hokage monument, facing the village, his back to me and his tone light. It was if everything was as it used to be. As if we never left the village, as if things hadn't changed. There was the usual fondness in his voice, and no indication of anger.

I was a little surprised at his presence, and a little unnerved. I had wanted to see him again, but now that I was staring at him, for what I was sure was the last time, I wasn't quite sure just what it was I wanted. Did I want closure? Did I want to say good bye, and thank him for training me? Or did I want answers? How could he turn me into some freak experiment? Why did he kill all of those innocent villagers? My feelings towards him were a mixture of dislike and fondness, coated in confusion. He had trained me. He had taken an interest in me, and my abilities like no one before, and I had learned a great deal from him. He taught me so much, and we shared so many moments. There was a strong bond between the two of us, one of sensei and student but it was tinged with lies. He had manipulated me, experimented on me, and then lied about everything, and then to add to that, he had betrayed the village. So, again my feelings were too... dispersed.

"I um... yeah, sorry about that." It was all I could think to say, not quite sure how to lead into my thoughts. I was waiting for him to yell at me, or snap at me. Throughout all of the events that had occurred, Orochimaru had once to bring up the fact that it was my mistake that allowed us to be captured. I knew he must be upset about it... or at least, I thought he'd be.

"You needn't apologize. Actually, in an odd way everything worked out for the better. We've now got an alliance with Earth, and you're the main reason behind it." I nodded slowly taking in the compliment. I mean, in a backwards sort of way it did work out, but the fact of the matter was I jeopardized the mission, and I couldn't for the life of me understand his reaction.

"Did you enjoy the show?" He finally turned around to face me, and his face matched his tone. He stood watching me perfectly at ease. I mean, he wasn't aware of the fact I knew what he'd done, but me ruining a mission isn't the kind of thing you can just brush off, not to mention that fact that I knew he lied to the hokage about what really happened.

"Show?" He nodded slowly.

"My little fight with the target? You've done well mastering your technique Mitsuki, but you have a ways to go before you perfect it." Slowly it clicked in.

"In the woods, you knew I was there?" He nodded slowly.

"I had planned on it." I frowned then, not following. This completely through my speech out the window. It was suppose to go along the lines of "I know you're a traitor," not "I know you know I know you're a traitor."

"Then... you knew that I would follow?" He nodded, still at ease. "You know what I heard?" He nodded again. This... was nothing like I expected it to be.

"Usually my plans go the way that I want them to, but I never even dreamed of being found out by the Tsuchikage. It wasn't how I imagined it to play out." Me and Itachi couldn't figure it out, but clearly Orochimaru did have a reason for taking me with him.

"So how was it suppose to play out?" I felt an odd twist in my stomach, again I was unwittingly being manipulated.

"You were to hear the truth and then we were to... discuss it." I frowned at that.

"You... you set that man up! You murdered innocent villagers! You killed konoha shinobi in cold blood! What... what is there to discuss?" I could feel myself getting angry, but it was only matched by the disgust I felt. This was my sensei. This was the man I looked up to and admired, or had at least. He'd trained me, and slowly, it was coming to my attention that it was all a lie.

"Surely... surely you don't believe that, Mitsuki?" There was a sudden sadness to his eyes that caught me off guard.

"I heard it for myself," my words came out hesitated, but his reaction had caught me off guard. Was he denying it?

"I killed villagers Mitsuki, and I killed shinobi, but I didn't do it in cold blood. Do you really think I didn't have a reason? Do you really think I'm some sort of cold blooded killer?" He was toying with me, he had to be. The world felt heavy and slowly I sank to my knees. The confession was there, but the admittance of guilt wasn't. I could hear him slowly walk closer to me, but I didn't move. I felt numb. Yes I wanted a confession, but for some reason I felt so betrayed, so sick. It wasn't until now that it suddenly hit me. This was really goodbye. I'd become sort of... dependent on Orochimaru. He'd saved my lives on more occasions than I could, and no matter what he'd always pulled through for me. Other shinobi had squadrons, where they had two other people to go on missions with, and a sensei to supervise. I never had that. All I had was him, and now I was going to lose him. There was a part of me that understood that what he had done, and resented him for it, but there was another part of me, that just didn't want it to be true.

"Why... why did you do it?" He kneeled beside me, his face inches from mine, but I refused to meet his eyes. I should've been angry at him or something, but I just... I wasn't sure how I should feel. I think it was mostly disappointment.

"I had to Mitsuki," I felt his hand on my cheek, and he tilted my head up until our eyes locked. I waited for him to expand, because I didn't know what to say. "Konoha... is not what it used to be. Its become weak, and its become too humane. There are so many things that we don't know. So much knowledge wasted, and so many questions left unanswered. I didn't kill those people in cold blood Mitsuki, I killed those people because of science." I winced at that, remembering that the bodies had been dissected. I didn't react or respond to his words. Just because he felt he could validate it, didn't change the fact that he was a killer.

"I trusted you..." the words came out in a rushed breath, so quick I was surprised he caught it, and pathetically enough, they were accompanied by a familiar wetness. I don't know why, or when I started crying but I had. He was my sensei... I mean, everything I had learned, had believed in, had been because of him.

"You did Mitsuki, and you were never wrong to. I may have betrayed the village, but I never betrayed you," his words were oddly soothing, and I wanted to believe for a second that he was innocent. That nothing was going to happen and that we could return to things the way that they were. "We were suppose to have this conversation in Earth, at least, that was the plan." My gazed had drifted away, but slowly I returned my eyes back to him.

"What difference would it have made?" His hand was still pressed onto my cheek, and his thumb began moving in slow, circular motions. For some odd reason it comforted me, it was almost like I imagined the situation was different. I knew I needed to despise him, or to hate him, but it was difficult to do.

"I didn't randomly choose you to be my student Mitsuki. I knew long before our first meeting. There was a place in Earth I wanted to show you... to explain some things." I gave a bitter laugh that clearly caught him off guard.

"I already know. I know about the animal chakra, and how you nearly tried to kill me with that drink." I spat the words out, and I felt his thumb pause its gentle stroking, before starting it up again.

"You never cease to surprise me, but know I never tried to kill you." I could feel my stomach knot.

"Just like you didn't kill the others?"

"I didn't kill them Mitsuki. They were too weak, but you... you were always my favorite," I guess it was a flattering thing to say, but it hardly made me feel better.

"So you wanted me to go with you to earth so that you could tell me I was some freak experiment, and that you were responsible for the killings? And then what? Did you really think I'd handle it okay?" I pulled away from him, slowly crawling backwards in the opposite direction. He didn't move from where he was kneeling, but the numbness had faded, and I could feel the anger taking over. I had trusted him. I had put more trust in this man than almost anyone else I knew, and not only had he lied to me, but he had been manipulating me from the start. Of course I was angry! "Would you just kill me too? Is that what you were planning?" I was angry, I was definitely angry, but for some reason the tears wouldn't stop. What sort of shinobi was I, crying at a time like this? Apparently my words had struck a nerve because he was in front of me before I could even blink, and grasped my face with both of his hands.

"I would never kill you Mitsuki. Nor would I ever hurt you. Don't you see, you're better than anything I ever dreamed of!" It wasn't a teacher talking to his student, it was a scientist talking to his experiment. His thumbs kept moving in circles and I froze. Orochimaru had lost his calm, I'm not sure how I knew, but something had changed, and he seemed unstable. He felt like a snake coiled and ready to strike, and so I didn't move. I held perfectly still in his grasp, not quite sure what was about to happen, but it didn't matter. He may have been looking straight at me, but he was seeing someone else, something else. "So many failures before you Mitsuki, that I had lost hope. I didn't kill the others with the drink Mitsuki, the animal chakra tore them up from inside. I thought for sure it was a waste, but you decided to enroll in the academy, and I kept waiting for you to die like the rest of them, but for some reason you managed to survive. Maybe it was the animal I chose, or maybe something about the way you were sealed, or maybe because you decided to become a shinobi and they didn't, but for some reason you were the only one to make it through. When I spotted you sneaking into the library, so stealthy for someone of your age, I watched you, and your use of techniques and I could see that even without the drink, the nature of the animal was slowly coming out. It wasn't battling you, trying to destroy you from the inside like the others, but it was working with it. It was a part of you, but it was subdued. It was weaken, and I couldn't let you be another failure. You had such potential, and I realized that perhaps it wasn't all a waste. So I trained you, and you drank, and the change was complete and you had survived, and then nothing. I waited for some great transformation but it never happened, until you told me that you had turned invisible, and I realized that not only were you a success, but you exceeded my expectations. I was so happy, and so proud. Do you know what kind of chakra you have within you?" He paused, reflecting on the words before whispering them lightly, as if it was some sort of secret between us. "Chameleon." There was a dazed look on his face as he spoke the words, and I was a mixture of terror and disgust as I heard them. I wanted to ask why he had conducted the experiments in the first place, or why he had chosen me of all people, but he still had that crazed gleam in his eyes and I was too afraid to speak.

"They were catching onto me. I realized once I witnessed how fond of you Kakashi was, always around, and always snooping. They were clearly trying to find out the truth through you, and I realized that our time was slipping, and I had to explain things to you before it ran out. So, I planned to take you to Earth, where I could confess everything, and then we could leave." The way that he said it sent a shiver down my back, my first noticable movement and slowly, his eyes focused back onto me. "We could leave the village Mitsuki." I stared at him, wide eyed. Surely he wasn't serious?

"That's... that's crazy!" He laughed at that.

"Is it?"

"Rouge ninja barely survive, we'd be hunted and killed in days!" Not like I'd join him in the first place.

"Now Mitsuki, have more faith in me. I'd never let anything harm you." That odd possessive look was in his eyes, and I realized that this whole thing was a bad idea. The comfort that came with Orochimoru was gone. I was no longer safe around him anymore. I had to get out of here, I pushed his hands away from me and stood, running and putting a bit of distance between us before turning back around and facing him. He'd released me from his grip, and he stood watching me patiently. I didn't overestimate my skill, if he had wanted me pinned I wouldn't have gotten away, but for some reason he had released me.

"I'm not leaving the village!" He didn't get angry like I expected, but that calm look took him over, and there was a shift in him, as though he knew something I didn't. For whatever reason he was confident that I would go with him.

"Why Mitsuki? The only thing keeping you here is gone now. I saw to that personally." I frowned his words confusing me, and then I felt a coldness seep through my bones as I realized what he was referring to.

xxx

"Mitsuki?"

"Yes Orochimaru?" I'd gotten use to saying his name without any honorary suffixes.

"Have you ever thought of leaving the village?" At this my eyes widened. Where had this come from?

"You mean... like going rouge?"

"Not necessarily. If you could give up this shinobi lifestyle, and leave Konoha, just to see the world, would you?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"I doubt it. I mean, I chose this lifestyle. I didn't have to become a shinobi I chose it, and Konoha has been like my home. Besides, I'd be giving up so much." I smiled proud of my answer. I glanced up at Orochimaru, but his eyes said he didn't quite approve of my response.

"What exactly would you be giving up? Is there anything in Konoha that really holds you there?" I thought about a familiar face, one framed with soft black hair, and I couldn't wait to get back home. I'd gotten so use to seeing him all the time and after that kiss... Why did this mission have to be now? "Mitsuki? Is there anything keeping you in Konoha?" It's not like I was going to say Itachi Uchiha, but I settled for all the other things I loved about the village.

"There's this ramen place that I love eating at, and the park that I always go-" Orochimaru cut me off.

"But, that sort of stuff you can live without." I wasn't sure what exactly Orochimaru was getting at, and like always he seemed to pick up on it. "Are there people in the village you wouldn't abandoned? People you couldn't bear to leave behind?" I thought about that. I nodded to Orochimaru, instantly thinking of Itachi. But there was no way I was going to admit that. So, I said the most obvious thing.

"My parents." For some odd reason this seemed to catch Orochimaru by surprise.

"You couldn't bear to leave your parents behind? I mean, they seem like nice people, but I had no idea you were so close with him." I shrugged.

"Well, there my parents. I mean, weren't you close with your parents?" I instantly regretted asking as soon as the words were out my mouth. Orochimaru had seemed to be opening up, and I'd gone and ruined it by asking such a personal question.

"My parents died when I was very young." And thankfully he left it at that. "But, it only makes sense that your parents would keep you from leaving." I nodded, still curious as to where his line of questioning had come from. He stopped walking, and took a look around the clearing we were in. "I think that's enough Mitsuki. The sun is starting to set, so lets call it a night." I nodded.

Tomorrow we should arrive at Earth Country.

xxx

He couldn't be... he didn't... I hadn't returned home since being back in Konoha. I couldn't know for sure if he was telling the truth, but the look in his eyes told me that he was. My... my parents? Surely he wasn't... surely he hadn't...

"You... you killed them?" He nodded.

"I had to Mitsuki. They were holding you back, keeping you weak. You have such potential, to become so strong. Let me show it to you. Come with me." The comfort I had found in him was gone, and the tears were gone, as was the disgust, the betrayal. The only thing left in me was anger, pure and untainted, directed solely at him.

"They were my parents!" Suddenly, the laws of loyalty disintegrated. He was my sensei no longer, merely a crazed killer. "You monster! You're... you're going to pay for this!" Then I charged.


So... what were your thoughts? Did it happen like you expected? Did the relationship between them make sense? Were her emotions realistic? Review and let me know what you think! The more you review, the faster I'll have the next one out!