Shizuka's Pov.

Jūgo had beaten the person who made him see red really badly.

I took a closer look at the experiment and was equally surprised and shocked when I saw the eyes of said guy. Apart from the fact that the irides were an unusually red color, the marks that were in the irides were also strange.

I decided to keep this to myself for now and do further research before telling Sasuke about it. I then closed his eyes before turning to Jūgo and taking him back to his cell.

We said goodbye and made our way back to the current hiding place. I would have loved to stay longer, but sealing Akito's curse mark was a top priority.

The next reunion with Itachi was tonight. We actually wanted to work on a new jutsu, but that had to wait. If Itachi can't seal it, I had to think of someone else. The only other person I could think of was Kakashi. But then we would have Naruto and thus Konoha breathing down our neck.

»What are you thinking about?« asked Sasuke, who was walking next to me.

»Nothing special,« I replied, looking at Akito, who was a bit behind us.

In the evening we reached the hideout. Kabuto was already waiting for us in front of the entrance, which surprised me very much.

»Shizuka, Orochimaru-sama wants you to come immediately,« he said when we stopped in front of him.

»Prepare everything, I will follow,« I said to the Uchiha, hoping that he understood that he should prepare Akito for the meeting.

He nodded and disappeared around the next corner with Akito in tow. I followed Kabuto into the lab, where Orochimaru has been quite a lot lately.

»Were you able to sort everything out in the northern hideout, Shizuka-chan?« questioned the Sannin in greeting.

I nodded.

»The culprit is death, by the way. After doing some examinations of his body, I noticed that something was off with the eyes,« I said, expecting a reaction from him.

»A failed experiment, nothing more,« the pale man replied monotonously.

What else did I expect?

»Why am I here?« I wanted to know.

»I still have some thorough research to do. In return, you will get some of the information you wanted,« he explained, pointing to a file lying next to the examining table.

»What kind of examination do you want to do exactly?« I asked, giving him a suspicious glare.

»Just a few physical checks. Also, some tests on your chakra network, which is why you are going to be given sleep medication,« he answered.

»I will definitely not put myself asleep in Kabuto's hands! Who knows what he's going to do to me; I'd rather die of pain. Besides, I don't know what my physical condition and my chakra network have to do with your experiments,« I grumble.

I didn't like that.

»I work with your genes, so I want to know how the chakra network of the Uchiha works. I could ask Sasuke-kun to do it too, but as far as I remember, you wanted to keep him out of this,« he said and grinned wickedly at me.

»I will also monitor Kabuto's every step, so you don't have to worry, Shizuka-chan,« he added.

»Oooh, that calms me down a lot. I trust you as much as I trust your lackey,« I mumbled.

I knew Sasuke would jump in for me and take my place, but I really wanted to keep him out of it. It was enough that he had to serve for the blood samples.

»So how do you decide? Are you going to do it or should I ask Sasuke-kun?« he asked.

»Let's just get this shit over with and after that we'll have a conversation about how to go on with the boy. I will not allow you to manipulate him further for your purposes,« I replied and sat down on the examination table.

»Akito-kun's research has already been completed. He just needs to be properly trained. So there's one less reason to get upset about,« Orochimaru smirked sardonically.

I gave him a disapproving look, even if I was relieved that Akito was now spared from further experiments.

Still, the question remained, what exactly had he done to him? But I would take care of that when I was done with the examinations here.

The Yakushi stood next to me with a syringe and grinned maliciously.

»If I see you've done something to me that I don't like, you can start digging your grave,« I growled.

With that sentence, he put the syringe to my skin and pierced it to force a clear liquid into my vein. It didn't take long before I felt the tiredness rise in me. I lay back and fell asleep shortly afterwards with a uncomfortable feeling.

Sasuke's Pov.

Where was Shizuka? She wanted to join us before we left. I wondered what Orochimaru wanted from her again.

»Do you think Shizu-nee-chan is still coming?« Akito asked.

»We cannot wait any longer and will leave without her. Remember what I said: you won't tell Orochimaru and Kabuto a word about this. Shizuka and I would only get both of their attention,« I cautioned the young Kurama.

He nodded.

»Then come now. Shizuka knows where we're meeting and if she makes it in time, she will join us,« I gave the command to leave.

Even if I had a bad feeling about leaving her alone with the Sannin and Kabuto. She had made it clear to me that the sealing of the cursed mark is of high importance.

We ran to the island that had become our usual meeting place. The two Akatsukis were already there.

»Where is Shizuka and what is the boy doing here?« my brother asked in surprise, frowning.

»Shizuka still has to clear something up with Orochimaru. The boy is Akito, we already told you about him. Orochimaru put the curse mark on him and we wanted to ask you if you would be able to seal it,« I explained the short form.

Itachi instructed the Kurama to come to him. The boy looked at me, seeming a little intimidated by the man.

»Go ahead. He's my brother,« I reassured Akito and indicated that he could go to the Uchiha.

»I thought you and Shizu-nee-chan were the only ones left in your Clan,« Akito said to me.

»We'll tell you what this is about another time. Now go, I don't want to leave Shizuka alone with Orochimaru any longer than necessary,« I replied.

Akito nodded and went to Itachi, who took a close look at him.

»That should not be a problem. You know yourself how it works and that you will probably have to carry it back afterwards,« the Uchiha reminded me of the painful and physically demanding sealing of my mark after he had looked at Akito's back.

I nodded.

Itachi prepared everything while I gave Akito instructions for the next steps.

»Ready?« my brother asked the Kurama, who nodded a little hesitantly.

Itachi put his hand on the curse mark and began sealing it.