Tainted Desire
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto . This is a product of pure amusement values, with no profits made.
Before anyone starts to scream, this is all SirenM's fault. How? See, if she didn't write 'Flowers for Iruka-Sensei', Evil Kasumi (Lizmun) wouldn't have read it, and went all gushy at the mentions of Orochimaru/Iruka votes in the review, and if she didn't went all gushy, she wouldn't have infected me with her gushy-ness on YIM, and if she hadn't infected me to the degree of getting uber frustrated with the lack of said pairing from SirenM, or her, well, this wouldn't have existed, would it?
I rest my case.
Dedicated to Evil Kasumi (Lizmun), of course. Without her, this piece of writing would not have existed, where ever you are, Lizzie, I hope you would like this, and hurry up with your own version of it, dammit!
"Do you trust me?"
"Always."
Iruka detected a faint scent in the air, nose itching slightly, he slowed down, trying to trace the source of the fragrant.
"I want you to go to the Sound Village with the entourage." Sadaime told him gravely. "You have good instincts, Iruka, and a good heart. This is an A-Class mission, while the Sound have appeared friendly, they are an unknown entity, with the Chuunin exam mere weeks away, we must be careful, and look beneath the surface."
The scent came to him again, stronger this time, it reminded him of wet moss, and the crisp smell of pine needles after a day of rain, holding back a sneeze, he glanced around the courtyard in confusion, the weather has been mostly warm and dry lately, plus there were only a few cherry trees scattered in the area, so where…
"Iruka-sensei! Is something wrong?" One of his companions, a Jounin by the name of Sarutobi Asuma, called to him over the piece of cigarette dangling in his mouth, and Iruka realized that he had came to a complete stop in the middle of the courtyard, with the rest of the entourage, as well as their guide, a Jounin of the Sound, staring at him with curiosity.
His cheeks staining red at the combined attention of his companions, Iruka quickly jogged up to the group, mumbling out an apology, "Sorry, I was… ah… caught up with something." The back of his neck prickled, and Iruka glanced back involuntarily once more.
"Ahem." The Sound-nin cleared his throat loudly, and pointedly at Iruka, "If you'll please follow me to your quarters. Exploration can come later, at the discretion of the Sound Village."
"I thought I…" Iruka murmured softly, heat creeping to his face once more. I thought I smelt something funny. It sounded silly even to his ears, "Never mind." He offered the irritated shinobi a small bow, brushing off his companions' inquisitive gazes with a friendly smile, "I apologize for the delay."
"Hmph." The Sound shinobi nodded woodenly, stepping into the building, the entourage quick to follow, "This way please."
Silence reside once more in the courtyard, however briefly as a shadow detached itself from one of the blooming cherry trees, form and color shifting from flat darkness into three-dimensional being.
Pale hand reached up, idly tucking loose strands of raven behind one ear, exposing a large, curving earring, and flickered a few stray cherry petals from his shoulder. Slit golden eyes, serpentine in their inhuman glory and chilling-ness, narrowed dangerous at the door where the scarred shinobi have disappeared in.
"Interesting." Orochimaru murmured darkly, "Very interesting."
The day had gone by quickly; The Hidden Leaf delegates were given a brief tour of the Hidden Sound, followed by a meeting with the so-called 'council of the Sound', debating over the admittance of the Sound Genin to the upcoming Chuunin exam. Only a single team was approved due to time constrictions, but that was expected. With the single team admitted into the Chuunin exam, a good portion of the Hidden Sound will have a valid reason to enter the Hidden Leaf as audiences to the exam. In other words, everything is going accordingly, just as he had predicted.
The arrival of a familiar presence alerted Orochimaru from his musings, sitting by the windowsill, an arm resting atop of drawn knee, the moon spilling its silver light over his face and body, paling his already ashen complexion.
"You're late." A soft, serpentine hiss, casual and non-threatening. Causing the new arrival to freeze in place, shoulders tensing in fear and anticipation for the reprisal that was yet to come.
"Forgive me, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto began formally, "My departure from the village had taken me longer than I initially anticipated."
Silence answered him. Stretching into what had seemed like infinity before Orochimaru spoke once more, "The data?"
Kabuto breathed out a small sigh of relief, handing the slim deck of cards to Orochimaru, "As you wished, Orochimaru-sama. This is everything I have gathered on the envoy."
A small inclination was his reply, Orochimaru flipped pass the data cards, noting each shinobi's strengths and weaknesses with half an eye, smiling in dark humor. It was unnecessary to reduce Kabuto to the menial task of meaningless data gathering, but the boy needed to be reminded of his place. Pale, slim fingers shuffling the deck with ease and fluidity, and came to a sudden halt as one face, and name caught his eyes:
Umino Iruka.
It took him a mere moment of hesitation, before Orochimaru stood up from the chair, the cards forgotten aside as he strolled forcefully to the exit.
"Orochimaru-sama!" Kabuto called at his back, stopping the Sennin in his tracks, "This close to the Chuunin exam, it would be most unwise to alert the Leaf Village of your presence." Kabuto added politely, "This is rash, unlike of you, Orochimaru-sama."
"Rash?" Silky voice rasping out the word in a soft whisper, golden eyes narrowing into slits, Orochimaru glared back at Kabuto, almost daring the spy to continue, smirking slightly when he received no more challenge. "Don't forget your place, Kabuto-kun."
A swish of clothes, and Orochimaru was gone from the room.
"I'm getting married." He had declared quietly to the table, receiving a loud squawk from Tsunade as Jiraiya choked on his sake. Orochimaru's shoulders stiffened for a fraction of a second, golden eyes widening with surprise, before settling back into his usual impassive mask. His hands tightening into fists under the table, Orochimaru glanced into his face, seeking contact with blue eyes that had pinned themselves to a slight imperfection on the tabletop.
"Who!? When!? Why!?" Tsunade shrieked, leaning over the table, knocking over her bottle of sake, she had screamed practically right next to the man's ears, and Orochimaru resisted the urge to wince. Jiraiya was still coughing next to him, so he mechanically began to thump the white-haired man's back, focusing a part of himself to the task, even when blue eyes still dodged his searching gaze.
"A Chuunin girl, Tsuchan, I told you about her---" His reply was cut off by another loud shriek from Tsunade, and this time Orochimaru did wince, along with him and the recovering Jiraiya.
"What!" Tsunade grabbed the man by the front of his shirt, dragging him off of the chair as she continues to scream into his face, "She's 17! And you've only met with her a few times! Are you insane?!"
He scowled back before turning his face away, pointedly refusing to answer until Tsunade released him, straightening the front of his shirt, he replied, still not looking up, "I asked. She said yes. Wedding's tomorrow."
Tsunade opened her mouth, thought better, and closed it, a vein beginning to tick under her right brow. "I take it back. You're BOTH insane." She muttered quietly, slumping back in her seat.
"Why?" Orochimaru's voice was as calm and collected as ever. "It's rash. Unlike you, Umino."
Blue eyes locked into serpentine gold, and he felt his mask of impassivity begin to crumple.
"Because I want to." A touch of humor entering his voice, making his next comment almost a tease, "Although, I suppose you would never do anything rash, would you, Ochi'?"
Orochimaru smiled mirthlessly, stopping in front of the door leading to the Chuunin's room. His fingers spread in front of him, a surge of Chakra, and the lock broke soundlessly. Pushing into the darken room, tilting his head sideways, listening to the dull 'shunk' the three kunai, originally aimed at his face, had made as they impact against the closed door.
Catching the next set of sharp projectiles in his hands, Orochimaru smirked at the boy, no, young man, who had a determined look on his face, clenching a kunai in his hand. Not bad, not bad at all.
Pale moonlight peeking pass the window slits, illuminating the room in tiny slots of silver, its occupants temporarily locked in a silent stare down, one assessing, and the other contemplating.
The Chuunin crouched at the end of the bed, kunai clenched protectively by his side, shirtless and wearing a loose pair of sweat pants, his hair mussed from sleep, and curling slightly around a boyishly handsome face, average, if not for the single scar across the bridge of his nose. A thin film of sweat covering bronze skin, kissed into an illusion of paleness by the filtered moonlight, his body taunt, ready to spring into action at the slightest provocation.
Orochimaru, on the other hand, stood casually, his arms crossed in front of his chest, examining the younger man: Talented, but nowhere near enough to be a serious threat.
"Orochimaru." He was snapped out of his musings by the Chuunin's statement, the younger man, Umino Iruka, continued, eyeing him nervously, "You're Orochimaru, S-Class Nukenin from the Leaf. I read about you…"
A low chuckle from Orochimaru was Iruka's only reply, followed by another when the Chuunin shifted in alarm. "Fool."
Confused brown blinked into calculating golden. And Iruka's world was suddenly plunged into slow moving gray.
Orochimaru tsked, his gesture almost gentle as he pried the kunai from loose fingers, "They named me Sennin for a reason, child, and never look at a Genjutsu master in the eye."
Slim fingers snaking around the Chuunin's wrist, and he slammed the younger man against the wall, hard. Pale hands a sharp contrast against bronze skin, roughly tilting the Chuunin's chin up, Orochimaru glanced down, "Shame you took after your mother." He smirked, satisfaction coursing through him as brown eyes widening in surprise, "Your father had the most remarkable shade of blue."
Iruka opened his mouth, doe brown eyes, still fearful and surprised, misting with confusion.
"Although, I suppose you would never do anything rash, would you, Ochi'?"
It took nary a moment before Orochimaru bent down, crushing his mouth against Iruka's in a searing kiss.
The tanned body buckled against him, and a small whimper escaped the younger man's mouth, protesting against the violent treatment before a sharp pain in his mouth forced him to pull back.
Orochimaru licked his lips slowly, feeling the tender spot on his tongue, "You bit me."
Chocolate brown eyes glared back, angry and confused and embarrassed, "You kissed me!"
He laughed, low and throaty, leaning forward until their forehead touched, raven strands entwining together. "Feisty."
Iruka flushed.
He released the younger man's wrists, and his fingers dug into bare shoulders with enough force to bruise before the Leaf shinobi could fully enjoy his momentary freedom, and shoveled the younger man, almost a boy in his eyes, on to the bed roughly.
Brown eyes widening in shocked realization, Iruka sat up, only to be pushed down into the soft mattress once more, a pale hand on his chest, pinning him between the sheets, "No!"
"Yes, Umino." Serpentine gold peeked from behind the raven-dark mane, tickling against the younger man's face, and gold became his world.
"Iruka-sensei!" A loud bang, and Iruka looked up groggily to the frowning face of Asuma. "Iruka-sensei, wake up."
"Mmm?" Brown eyes stared back in confusion.
Asuma sighed, spitting out the cigarette butt to the ground before tugging at the Chuunin's arm, "I knocked at the door since forever, Iruka-sensei. It's midday already, and we're suppose to be heading back in an hour, this is no time to be sleeping!"
"What?!" Iruka yelped, suddenly awake as he tumbled off of the bed, almost tripping over the sheets before he pushed the other shinobi towards the door, "Give me a minute."
"Just hurry, Iruka-sensei." The Jounin said before he headed out.
Iruka shook his head, still feeling groggily and sore, brushing away the memory of the last dredge of his fading dream. Hazy image of a chilled tongue licking pass his ear, the flesh slick against his sensitive skin, his own eyes, blurred with surrealism, looking up to familiar serpentine golden, and roving hands that explored every inch of his bare body, a heavy weight upon him where he had laid, vulnerable and helpless. He immediately ducked down, chocolate brown eyes fixating on to the ground, he can feel his cheeks becoming inflamed with the recent train of thought. It was, after all, a very enticing dream.
But it was just a dream, wasn't it?
His nose tickled with the scent of pine trees and wet moss, and Iruka was pulled back from his dazing thoughts, something clicked in his mind.
The smell. It reminded him of the forest surrounding the Hidden Leaf Village after a day of rain.
Smiling, he quickly began to dress. The village. Naruto would be waiting for him there, and the eleven-year-old would clamor and yell at him for disappearing, then demand ramen as an apology.
Stuffing the last article of clothing into the pack, Iruka slung it over his shoulder, he couldn't wait to get back.
Golden eyes watched him as he left, Iruka never noticed.
AN – No, there's no link to anything fruit related. Orochimaru's current in his second taken body, which just happened to be female, and I'm not quite sure how well the Henge no Jutsu works… so there.
