So, to be honest, this was a difficult chapter to write. Fighting scenes aren't typically my strong suit, but I tried my best and I hope you enjoyed!
For the past year I'd spent my time admiring Orochimaru, and all of the knowledge and skills he held within him. Never had I thought that I might be at the receiving end of his blows, or unable to tell him to slow down because I was having difficulty keeping up, which was a conversation we had quite often. It was in that moment that I truly grasped the fact that Orochimaru was a sannin, a legendary warrior, and one that I had absolutely no hope of beating. I knew all of this, but my only thought at that instant was that this man, this monster before me had murdered my parents, and because of that he had to suffer. After my first failed assault, I realized quickly that taijutsu wasn't going to work, a notion I would've grasped a lot sooner had I not been boiling with anger. It would be ninjutsu then.
It was the first technique he had taught me, and it was the first jutsu to come to my mind, and with that I began to summon my twin tornadoes. I closed my eyes and focused all my chakra into the technique, and somewhere deep inside of me I felt like a valve opened, some deeper part within me, and from it I could feel this steam of chakra coming out, I tapped into it, pouring this new found energy into my technique.
When I summoned the jutsu, it was a lot larger than I recalled. I mean, significantly larger, like these were almost full scale tornadoes, I was surprised at the scale of the jutsu, but it strained me to control it. I was hoping it would catch him off guard, but I was shocked when I watched it tear him to pieces. It was only when he had the kunai to my throat that I realized it had been a trick.
"Mitsuki, you need to calm down," there was a slight strain to Orochimaru's voice, one I'd never heard before, it wasn't anger, and to be honest I thought it might be... fear. Had my technique actually been difficult to dodge, even for him? Maybe I really could make him suffer. Slowly, I felt that same valve open wider, and with it, I felt stronger. Somehow I'd managed to elbow him and escape his grasp, shocking both him and myself. I'd used taijutsu to escape, and it had actually worked? I didn't know what it was, but it was as if the wider the valve opened the stronger I caught, and clearly this new found strength was causing an much wanted reaction in Orochimaru. He was actually scared. I swung at him again, and he blocked, but I saw his eyes widen in what I assumed was surprise. "Mitsuki, calm down," that same look of fear was back in his eyes, but this time I couldn't understand why. He wasn't having any difficultly blocking my attacks, he wasn't even breaking a sweat, so why did he look so afraid? I felt the valve inside of me continue to widen, and with it I could feel my chakra expand, and I could feel myself get faster, stronger. I swung again and maybe it was the change in rhythm or speed but the blow hit home and Orochimaru hit the ground rolling. I couldn't help but feel smug as he stood, wiping at his bleeding lip. Maybe I couldn't kill him, but I would definitely make him suffer.
That fear was back in his eyes, and this time it was potent. For some reason Orochimaru was no longer afraid, he seemed almost... terrified? But no, that couldn't be right. Was it this new found power? I mean, I may have landed a hit here and there, but for the most part it didn't seem as though he was having any trouble holding his own, so what was it?
"Mitsuki. Please stop." There was something in his tone, an urgency that gave me pause, and it was then that it clicked. He wasn't afraid of me, he was afraid for me. I frowned trying to shake off the notion, but it was then that I realized why his tone had sounded so desperate. I focused on my chakra, and for some reason the green chakra, the chameleon chakra was taking control.
I could feel it slowly expanding as the valve continued to open wider and wider, and for some odd reason, it hurt. In my anger I'd probably ignored the pain, but now that I realized it, there was no way to not acknowledge it. It was like this other chakra was devouring me, trying to take over, and it hurt most, right where my heart was. I fell to my knees and began grasping at my chest, trying to figure out just what was going on. It was like there were embers in my veins, but slowly they were burning up, turning into fires, and the furnace fueling all of it was where my heart should be. I felt my body burning up, and my vision was getting blurry.
"Mitsuki, look at me." My eyes shifted to Orochimaru who was crouched over me, and it took me a moment for my eyes to focus. I knew I probably should've been seething as he laid me down on the ground, but I didn't have the energy, my mind was focused only on trying to stop the pain.
"What's... what's happening? Make it stop... it hurts."
"I know Mitsuki, but hold on, I can fix this," I nodded slowly, glad all of a sudden that he was here, and than I felt another burst of flame and cried out. What was going on? I had been fine before, why now?
"Am I... going to die?" It was the only logical question I could think to ask, never in my life having been in such pain before.
"Don't ask such a stupid question Mitsuki. Do you think I'd let that happen?" Orochimaru moved my hands away from my body, turning them so the palms were facing the ground. "Try and move the chakra into the ground and out of your body," maybe I should've resisted or tried to argue, but there was that panic in his voice, and when I looked to up disagree, there was that look back in his eyes. He wasn't staring at me as if I was an experiment anymore, but as if I was his student, and there was a desperation in his eyes that I'd never seen before. Orochimaru really wanted to save me, and because of that fact alone, I felt certain that I'd survive this.
I'd listened to his orders so many times before that it just made sense to do as he said. Slowly I focused on my hands, and began directing the flow of my chakra into the ground. I closed my eyes in pain as I felt resistance. The chakra didn't want to be controlled, it didn't want to go into the ground, and I could feel my veins getting hotter. I let out a small whimper, knowing that if I tried to make any other sounds I'd start screaming, and for some reason, I didn't want Orochimaru to see me that weak. "Look at me." There was a hard edge to his tone, one that said you would listen and you would obey, a manner I was familiar with. I opened my eyes and stared at his, which were again, oddly warm and comforting. "It might hurt at first, but Mitsuki, I need you to do this for me." He began stroking my hair softly, while whispering the same thing, and again, I felt the same need to please him.
This time when the chakra resisted, I kept pushing, and slowly I could feel it leave my body and enter the ground. I felt the temperature in my veins cool down a little, but the valve was still open, and more green chakra was pouring into me a lot faster than I could get rid of it. Still I kept my attention steady, that was until I heard the sound of ripping fabric. My eyes widened as I realized Orochimaru had just ripped my shirt open and I lost concentration for a second. What was he doing? I felt the temperature in my veins rise again, and I writhed in pain.
"Mitsuki, I need you to concentrate. It's almost over, okay? Just hold on a little bit longer," his voice was soothing and I redirected the chakra back into the ground just as he instructed. I was barely able to pay attention to what he was doing, but I remember seeing red on his hand, and feeling his hands on my chest, a welcome coldness, and then all of a sudden I felt the valve inside me close, and slowly, I released the remaining green chakra into the ground. I couldn't help but sigh in relief as I felt my veins cool down, and my skin heat up, and slowly I felt Orochimaru's hand gently stroking my hair.
"What... what happened?" He sighed, sounding as exhausted as I felt.
"It was always your chakra control that protected you from the chameleon chakra. You lost that control tonight, and my guess is that the animal chakra tried to devour you." He continued to stroke my hair softly, before helping me sit up.
For some reason everything inside me ached. This was what had killed the other experiments, the dormant chakra inside of them going rampant, and somehow, I had managed to survive it, no that's not correct. It was Orochimaru who managed to stop it. Orochimaru. The fogginess in my mind slowly began to lift, and that's when I felt the traces of anger that were still present. Yes, he may have saved my life, but he was also the one who had put the animal chakra inside of me, and then there was the memory of my parents. I locked eyes with Orochimaru, I may have been too weak to move but I was still well enough to give him a piece of my mind. It caught me off guard though, when I saw a single lone tear escape his eyes, I was wondering if I had imagined it when he pulled me into him, and wrapped his arms around me, tightly embracing me.
I had known Orochimaru for a good deal of time, and never in that span had he cried, or hugged anyone, or done anything like his actions now. The closet I'd gotten to anything was maybe a pat on the head and an impressed smile, but his actions now weren't anything like his normal behavior.
"I was so worried Mitsuki, don't you ever scare me like that again." I didn't know how to react to his current mood, so awestricken was I by his demeanor, so I just let him hold me, stroking my back softly and whispering to me how afraid he had been. I was too exhausted to even try to escape.
So imagine how surprised the black ops team was when they finally tracked Orochimaru down, tightly holding a girl whose shirt happened to be ripped open, revealing her slightly lacy undergarment?
Well, what did you think? Again, fighting scenes aren't my strongest suit, and I was wondering if I described the chakra incident alright. Was there anything I could've done to improve it? Also, was the mentioning the lacy undergarment at the end too much, or was it a funny picture? Review and let me know!
