A Deep Cry 50
Two men standing behind the glass were talking while watching the newcomer train with his pairs in determination. The white-haired one with the glasses named "Kabuto" asked,
"So you have your eyes set on the Uchiha boy now, Orochimaru-sama?"
"There is something sweet about him. He keeps pulling my attention." Orochimaru said.
"He's Itachi's little brother. You can't go near him recklessly. It's too risky..."
"If Itachi could even reach Sasuke then he wouldn't allow him to join this dojo. He'd notice that the dojo if full of my ghouls now, don't you think?"
"I always forgot that Itachi is a ghoul too... It's because he doesn't let it show much. He's so attached to his humanity."
"But he'll turn into a real monster for his brother's sake I'm sure." Orochimaru smirked then added,
"Itachi can't escape the ghouls hunters obviously. If he could then he'd be here by now, protecting his little brother from us. But he's not, which means, he can't do shit."
Kabuto lowered his eyebrows and asked, "What's in your mind, Orochimaru-sama? What do you plan to do with Sasuke-kun?"
"Don't worry, Kabuto. I'm not going to turn the boy into a ghoul yet. You can relax."
"I… I'm not worried… I'm just curious." He mumbled.
"I still need him to stay human. I might go as far as protecting him too. Ku ku." he smirked, "But that doesn't mean that I won't put him through hell."
"…..."
"I'll wait for Naruto to show up. He needs to play his role in this as well."
"… Naruto… he's not with him currently. I wonder why? Shouldn't he be doing Itachi's job?"
"I'm sure my little ghoul is already missing his beloved friend." He sneered, "He'll show up soon."
"So Sasuke-kun is left unprotected…? I don't get it… Are they underestimating us?"
"Naruto is still naïve. He left Sasuke unprotected just to keep his stupid little secret. He's easy to read. If it was he other way around, I'm sure this kid before my eyes will never leave his beloved friend's side even if it means exposing him to the ugly truth. Just look at his eyes… this kid doesn't play around."
"… I'm going to have to agree…" Kabuto murmured.
Orochimaru got off, stood near the tempered glass, fixed his sharp eyes on Sasuke - who was training behind the glass walls- and mumbled,
"Tonight. The long awaited play that I prepared for these two starts tonight." He added, "I hope Naruto makes it in time."
Kabuto lowered his eyebrows and quivered a little. He didn't say a thing. He went back to mixing chemicals silently while Orochimaru smirks to himself with clear excitement on his eyes.
At that time, Sasuke was training even though his shoulder was still feeling a little sore. He was so eager about mastering the art of fighting with the sword, which is why he kept going through all kinds of visual battles to learn more moves and to make some progress. He even challenged his pairs again even though he knew how little they cared about the rules, for he thought that he'd only get the best experiences if he risked his own life.
Sasuke kept advancing steadily until the doomed duel between Orochimaru and him happened. That duel took place late at night when the dojo was about to close doors.
A loud scream suddenly rang from distance when no one was supposed to be there. Sasuke - who was about to leave the large, dark room they use for training - turned back after hearing that loud disturbing scream to check what was going on. Before he moved from his place to check the next room, which the screaming was coming from, an old man covered in blood, crawling on the floor, appeared by the room entrance and reached out to Sasuke when he noticed him while mumbling with blood coming out of his mouth,
"Run, human! Run before they turn you too!"
In his shock, Sasuke's lips mumbled, "What? What happened to you?"
"GO! Lea—
After yelling that, the old man collapsed from all the blood loss right before Sasuke's eyes. Before the shocked boy moves a muscle after watching the man falls and dies, a shadowy figure appeared by the entrance. Sasuke's shocked eyes stared at the man that was walking slowly towards him feeling both fear and worry. Amidst the confusion, the Uchiha kid wondered,
"What is this feelings? What is this smell? What's going on?"
To add to his shock, his widely opened eyes could finally see clearly the evil face that had two sharp eyes fixed at his.
"You!?" he mumbled in surprise.
"Are you ready to fight me, Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru, who was covered in blood as well, said.
"What's going on? What's the meaning of this?" Sasuke asked.
"Fight me!" he said while throwing the other sword he had near Sasuke so he'd pick it up.
Staring at the sword that was covered in blood, he mumbled, "What's happening?"
Orochimaru suddenly dashed at the little Uchiha without giving an answer. Sasuke flinched, picked the sword fast and prepared to block that attack. The real training he went through allowed him to block Orochimaru's attack successfully.
"Are you the one who killed that man? Why?" he asked after blocking the attack.
Ignoring Sasuke's question, Orochimaru smirked, "What's your purpose, Sasuke-kun? Why are you putting so much effort into this?"
Sasuke didn't answer that. He kept his concentration on the fight while trying to guess what was going on instead.
Orochimaru smirked and added, "Those eyes of yours. You've gone though difficult times in your life. I can easily tell."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes and said nothing while Orochimaru kept talking, "What was it? Where you abandoned as a child?"
"…."
"Were you mistreated by your parents?"
"…..."
"Or did you lose someone dear to you?"
The confused boy glared at Orochimaru with sharp eyes and attacked to shut him up for he didn't like what he was saying. The two blades met, engaging the two men in a close clash. Sasuke struggled to stand against Orochimaru's unrealistic force that was pushing against his blade, almost sending it flying off of his hands. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't push Orochimaru's heavy sword away, henceforth, he disengaged by jumping back to recalculate his moves, for he knew that to win against this man, he'll need to follow a better strategy.
"His powers…! He's not the same… What changed? Was he holding back all of this time?"
On the other side, Orochimaru - and his growing interest - didn't give Sasuke the chance to think or rest. He surprised him with a fast teleport move, appeared behind him in an instant, wrapped his arm around Sasuke's neck from behind, brought his lips near Sasuke's ears and whispered,
"Or were you sexually harassed?"
Feeling the warm breaths near his ear, Sasuke flinched and reacted by trying to direct a hit at Orochimaru's stomach with the tip of his sword. Being more skilled and more experienced in real combats, Orochimaru let go and jumped back to avoid that while laughing, "Too shy."
Sasuke – who got more frustrated - fixed his stance and glared at Orochimaru face with sharp eyes, filled with rage and disgust. His fixed eyes were giving Orochimaru glares of real anger that was mixed with strong determination. That's when Orochimaru knew that this boy wasn't playing around.
"Very well. I will teach you all there is to learn about being a real warrior. Try to keep up, Sasuke-kun."
Not wasting a second, Orochimaru attacked repeatedly while lecturing after he drew his sword and held it high arrogantly; "Draw your sword before you engage." He said then moved slowly closer, "Engage slowly to maintain control and focus on key positions - your feet, your sword, and your opponent's sword."
A fast, direct strike came at Sasuke who grabbed his sword with both hands firmly and deflected the sharp blade away from him.
"Guard yourself at all times. If you don't protect yourself, you'll lose." Orochimaru mumbled then fell back and added, "Make sure you keep your sword out in front of your body. This is how you put your opponent on point."
Another fast slash surprised Sasuke who had to jump back instantly to dodge, for it was too late to try and block it. Watching the boy's moves, Orochimaru smirked and commented while fixing his stance, "The farther out your sword is extended, the farther away your opponent will stay and the less chance you have of getting sliced."
Sasuke inhaled deeply then blew softly,
"I have to find an opening. I can't stay on the defense. I'll never beat him that way…"
He repositioned himself and changed his stance. Orochimaru smirked when he noticed that Sasuke got more serious and said,
"Now we're talking!" He dashed and added, "Measure twice, cut once. If your blow misses, you'll open yourself up to attack."
Sasuke dashed in response instead of backing off and engaged in a close combat with Orochimaru's blade again. Their swords clashed even harder than before and made a louder noise that teased Orochimaru, making him jerk his sword violently, ending up cracking Sasuke's thin blade. Upon realizing that it was too dangerous to keep it up, Sasuke disengaged immediately after hearing the crack sound.
"This isn't working… He's too strong…"
Sasuke took a different stance now that his sword got cracked. He maintained his distance and gazed at Orochimaru, waiting for a chance to attack.
"Keep distance. If you are out of range of an instant stroke you can take time to plan and maneuver." Orochimaru said then dashed at Sasuke again to put more pressure on him. As Orochimaru expected, Sasuke prepared to counterattack instead of falling back. When Orochimaru stroke, Sasuke bended and stroke back, finally almost landing a hit on Orochimaru who instantly jumped back to avoid it in the last second.
"Well done. You're advancing really fast. I'm impressed."
Sasuke inhaled deeply then surprised Orochimaru by a fast dash followed with fast, repeated attacks. Sasuke's plan was to overwhelm Orochimaru with his continues attacks so he'd show an opening that he (Sasuke) can take and win this battle. This eager approach made Orochimaru laugh in excitement for it made him feel real danger, something he hasn't felt for a while,
"That's right! Be confident. If you act scared, your opponent will take advantage of your lack of confidence and will attempt to frighten you into making a false move." He smirked and added in his growing excitement, "But if you are aggressive and confident, your opponent may be intimidated by you instead."
Orochimaru stork back aggressively forcing Sasuke to dodge and try to deflect those sharp strikes. Being not as experienced in close combats, Sasuke got hit in none vital spot while trying to attack back.
"You must learn proper deflecting forms or you will be hit. You can not possibly dodge all attacks." Orochimaru commented.
Sasuke groaned and skipped back while grabbing his side - where he got hit- to give himself a chance to rest. He broke into sweat, started huffing but still kept his eyes fixed on his opponents.
"It hurts… but it's not that deep… I can still manage…"
He blew again softly, clenched his teeth then dashed fast at Orochimaru who added, "Retaliate. When your opponent attacks, he leaves some of his body exposed. Parry his blow, and then strike back."
When Sasuke's attack didn't hit, Orochimaru raised his sword and said, "Keep your eyes on your sword and that of your opponent at all times. However, focusing just on the opponent's sword is not advisable, since you can be misled."
Orochimaru kept coming at Sasuke but not in a straight line. He moved from right to left and vice versa making a zigzag line. Sasuke followed Orochimaru's fast movements with his eyes while reacting accordingly to avoid the sharp aims.
When Orochimaru finally seized Sasuke between him and the wall, he aimed his attack at Sasuke's chest. In a desperate try to block the point blank attack, Sasuke brought both his sword and his right arm in front of his head and chest to take the hit that landed on his blade and injured his lower right arm.
He shut one eye and slightly leaned backwards while still keeping his cracked blade engaged with Orochimaru's heavy blade.
"He's not trying to kill me… Or is he taking his sweet time with me? This man…? What's his problem?
What's so repellent about him? He could've easily killed me with that attack yet…?"
Orochimaru jumped back and stared at Sasuke, who grabbed his lower arm where he got hit while huffing deeply. The exhausted boy grabbed his sword with his left hand, held it high proudly, and pointed it at Orochimaru, showing him his unwavering will.
It was that will which made Orochimaru uses his ghoul's powers in his next attack that threw Sasuke outbalance, causing him to fall on the ground on his back. Orochimaru stepped closer to the human and teased with his sword pointed at Sasuke's neck, "Never cross your feet, as this will throw you off balance."
Sasuke clenched his teeth, slipped from under Orochimaru's sword instantly, jumped up, grabbed his sword with both hands and dashed after screaming his loughs out in rage,
"Gurrraaaahhhh!"
A fast, random battle took place where both directed, blocked and deflected the endless attacks they both directed eagerly at each other. Orochimaru, after losing his patience, started luring the Uchiha kid into his trap. At that point, the fight turned into a stage for Orochimaru. It was where his long awaited play started.
The murderous eyes Orochimaru had never looked away from Sasuke, who didn't fail to notice them. Not knowing what was waiting for him, the young Uchiha tightened his grip around his sword and fought back while remembering the lines he read before,
"If you're using both hands to grasp a sword, keep your strong hand right under the sword guard and the other hand right above the pommel."
"Watch your opponent carefully. Notice where he is looking - this may be the area where he's preparing to strike."
"When your opponent is about to attack, his fists and shoulders may tense for a second."
When Orochimaru aimed his next attack at Sasuke's shoulder, Sasuke glared, shifted his shoulder just a second away from the hit and insanely stroke Orochimaru's shoulder instead with the tip of his cracked sword. His hit was too forced, too deep, too sharp that it made Orochimaru stepped back, "You're amazing, Sasuke. You managed to land a hit on me. Congrats. What you just did was the last tip for today's lesson."
"Never fall for the same trick again." Sasuke smirked.
Orochimaru smirked and folded his arms, "What's your purpose? Why are you doing this? To protect yourself? No, I don't think so. Those eyes have a strong resolve. I want to know it."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes and said nothing. Orochimaru jerked his neck and smirked, "It was fun as it lasted, Sasuke-kun. This is where the real battle starts."
A crazy monster dashed at full speed at Sasuke who tightened his grip around his sword and desperately tried to protect himself by stroking, deflecting, and blocking Orochimaru's endless attacks. Keeping his distance, maintained his balance, balanced between his defense and offence, the Uchiha kid managed to last for longer than Orochimaru expected, which made his interest grow even higher.
"Impressive! Really impressive! Keep coming at me! Let me feel that I'm alive! Attack me as if I was your real enemy! Think of the one that made you the way you are when attacking me! That's the only way for you to beat me." He said while attacking madly.
"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted angrily.
"That's right! Glare at me! Shout at me! Hate me! Loathe me!"
Sasuke kept attacking angrily, repeatedly, desperately, but his attacks were either deflected or blocked. No matter how many times he tried, he'd end up failing to land a hit and as a result receiving a hit. Amidst the struggle, Orochimaru licked his lips, glared at Sasuke and said, "It starts here. Your new life that is."
"What?"
He dashed toward Sasuke who fixed his stance and prepared to engage. Their swords met and the two blades creaked under the heavy force. The fact that Sasuke was able to withstand against Orochimaru's hit made the latter put more more pressure on Sasuke, who felt the other blade getting heavier by the second. He used his other hand to support his blade so it won't break, his injured arms couldn't stand the heavy force that was pushing him backwards. He clenched his teeth hard, screamed loudly while focusing his strength on his defensive move and pushed as hard as he could, "I won't go down that easy!" he said.
Orochimaru laughed in excitement, "Amazing! You're still holding up!" He licked his lips and added, "But that's not enough! Show me real anger! Show me rage! Show me hate! Go MAD!"
Sasuke bit his lips and frowned his eyebrows while struggling to beat the crazy monster.
"Who am I angry at? I don't know… I don't even know what they look like!
But I know that Sai was with them! I must find Sai and learn everything about it!
Dammit! I was kept in the dark! I don't even know a thing! They couldn't include me! I fucking hate this!"
His glares changed, his heartbeats increased, his breaths lost their balance and he started huffing in fury. Orochimaru couldn't miss it. He knew it would look beautiful to his eyes. He couldn't hide his smile.
He mumbled crazily, "Fight me! Fight me! Fucking Fight me!"
Sasuke gasped in anger, clenched his teeth, screamed and put all his rage in pushing that sword away from him, ending up not only pushing that sword away but also breaking it in half. The broken blade flew away in the air and fill far from its master. Sasuke –who just broke his opponent sword- didn't stop at that. He instantly aimed his next hit at Orochimaru's other shoulder and was able to pierce it with his cracked blade as deep. When Orochimaru felt pain he opened his sharp eyes widely and laughed heretically, "This pain! This pain is real!"
Sasuke frowned his eyebrows, for he suddenly felt uneasy. As he was about to pull his blade back, Orochimaru grabbed it preventing him from pulling the sword away and falling back. Even though his hand was grabbing the blade sharply yet he didn't seem to be feeling any pain.
"What the hell…?" Sasuke gasped.
"MORE! I WANT MORE! MORE PAIN FROM YOU! LET ME FEEL MORE PAIN!"
Sasuke panicked when he felt the menacing air that surrounded him. He futility tried to pull the sword again but couldn't even with using both hands.
"Stop this madness!" Sasuke shouted.
When Orochimaru tightened his grip even more around the blade, Sasuke let go of it and immediately stepped back. Orochimaru who was standing still with a thrilled expression on his face raised his sword, licked the blade and said, "I know it. I knew you had it in you."
Sasuke blinked when Orochimaru rushed at him suddenly before he could even fix his stance. Sasuke who had nothing to deflect the direct attack got his arm injured defending himself, which allowed the next attack to damage his upper left arm with the merciless blade that pierced throw it, making him cry of pain. That's when Sasuke knew that he just lost any chance to fight back for his arms were both damaged. The fast, sudden strikes never stopped, they came from every direction at point blank and landed on that young Uchiha body mercilessly, making it weaker and weaker. His cheek got cut, his hand got gashed, his right arm got injured and his shoulder almost got stabbed. He tried to escape those crazy attacks but he just couldn't for his body wasn't as strong or as fast. Those continuous attacks Orochimaru was directing at him totally seized his movements and put him on the defensive without leaving him a chance to dodge or deflect them.
"I can't even…! At this rate…!"
Sasuke who was only getting hurt thought of a last resort to escape death. He noticed the broken blade that flew away a moment ago and tried to lure Orochimaru closer to it by shifting his body movements in that direction. When he finally reached the blade location, he waited for a chance to pick it up. The desperate Uchiha sacrificed his left hand by grabbing Orochimaru's sharp blade with his bare hand, causing it to almost get cut off, then immediately picking the broken blade from the ground before Orochimaru realizes why he risked getting his hand cut that way. In his only chance to escape death, he stabbed the blade into Orochimaru's dominant arm while screaming desperately, praying for a little luck to make that last attack work, for he knew that if it didn't work, then he won't be able to escape Orochimaru counter attack no matter what he does.
A sharp throbbing pain traveled through Orochimaru right arm, the one that was holding the sword, making him release his sword unwillingly. That was the answered praying of the young Uchiha, a little hint of hope t win this unfair battle passed fast but not too fast for him to miss it. The moment Orochimaru let go, Sasuke grabbed the blade and immediately pointed it at Orochimaru's neck without a hint of hesitation,
"Your loss..." Sasuke huffed.
To his shock, the almighty monster got defeated by the new comer, a human, a kid and of all people, an Uchiha. His eyes opened widely and his lips parted to form a smirk. In that moment, he lost his mind and let a hysterical laugh ring loudly in the dark room.
"KU KU KU HA HA HA WAHAHAHAHAAAAAA"
He raised his head and glared at the ceiling and screamed, "MARVELOUS! JUST MARVELOUS!"
Sasuke flinched and before he stabs Orochimaru or steps back away from him, the latter suddenly threw white snakes at him. While struggling with his shock, Sasuke tried to hit those snakes with his hands away from him but they were more than he could handle that one of them was able to sneak on him and bit his left wrist. Before he could pull it off and throw it away, Orochimaru appeared an inch away from his face, grabbed his arms and dug his teeth deeply into his left shoulder in an instant.
Sasuke -whose body was numbing slowly- gasped in his shock and let a soft cry of pain escape his lips, "Uhhh…."
He tried to push Orochimaru away from him but he couldn't, for his body was growing weaker and weaker gradually. His feet couldn't hold him up and he almost fell if it weren't for Orochimaru who was holding him, hugging close to his chest while still biting his shoulder violently. As he felt his consciousness fading away, he dropped his head and arms and half-closed his eyes. The dizziness he felt made him think that this was the end of his story, for he thought that he was dying in Orochimaru's arm.
"I must have you, Uchiha Sasuke!" he murmured in the boy's ear.
"I've never told him my last name… I made sure my last name stays hidden… how…? Why?
Am I dying…? I can't… I can't move…"
His consciousness gradually faded... his eyes slowly closed... All lights went off… all sound went down… it suddenly was so dark and quiet… he could hear nothing but his own faded whispers that were calling the only one he wished so much to see before he breathes his last, his one and only…
"...Naruto… farewell... Naruto..."
To Be Continued
