Ch.8

Deaths Shinobi

Orochimaru dreamt, of blood, of no reason, of children, a blood gummed knife with marks…tally marks…

He winced in his sleep tossing and turning, a wet cloth on his forehead slipping away as he lashed out at an invisible foe.

Run…running…kill them all…kill to survive… a voice whispered inside of his mind "if you want to survive...if you want to learn…kill the rest of your friends…"

Tsunade had checked in when she with Jiraiya and Sarutobi had brought the unconscious Orochimaru in to the hospital…she was the only on who had stayed, strangely enough she had felt responsible for having absentmindedly making him protective of what was his…she hadn't known it would be such a big deal to him…it was her fault. She sighed and then gathering the small purple flowers she had bought for him she started walking down the hall where she was directed only to hear a long painful howl coming from the last room…Orochimaru's room…her eyes widened and she dropped the flowers and broke into a sprint, skidding to a halt and barging into the room where Orochimaru was staring at his bandaged up hands and looking like a scared child…" Orochimaru…? Are you ok? "She slowly crept forward and noticed something…something she hadn't seen before when she had come in…

Drops…on his hands…drops…she looked up and then her mouth opened slightly "Orochimaru…your…crying..."

Hearing her voice break his dream more he shook and looked up at her, wiping his eyes furiously, purple eye shadow staining his cheeks and his bandages making him look just…sad.

"I was not "he hissed…" I had something in my eye…" he looked around and attempted to wipe the rest of the stuff off his face "Tsunade…where am I?"

Then his eyes going wide he violently stood up with no regard of his injuries grabbed the front of her coat in desperation his eyes dark and shadowed "Mando! Where is he?" Tsunade a little shocked rested her hands on his and smiled disarming his venomous look and immediately flipping him skillfully back into his bed much to his surprise at how she could lift him that easily "you sent him back…and then dropped "she crossed her arms and pulled the small stool normally used for the doctors over and sat messily in it "your really had to go and show off didn't you idiot?" Orochimaru made a noise…she took it for laughter "well quit that, you know I'm the one who has to heal most of these so don't push your luck or your on your own Mr.!" and with that she stood and opened the door again "ill get you something to eat…Meanwhile" she gave him a good glare back to match his own pouty one as he sat in bed "stay there.."

The door shut and he was alone again…"

"Stay huh...don't order me around" he looked at his hands now purple and sighed brushing back his messy black hair which was lank now due to his loss of so much chakra " that same dream again…" he frowned his hands clenching reminding him that he was still there with sweet pain. " Well" he murmured " at least Tsunade has enough…" he didn't want to say heart…no one had cared for him his entire life…he frowned " enough responsibility to take care of me…and yes" he narrowed his eyes and then facing the window which was heavily curtained a dark violet…his favorite color he mused " she was wrong though…" he raised his right hand and looked through the burnt fingers as if he could see his dream, only a little while further…and then he clenched his fist " I am on my own already…Tsunade."

"Orochimaru…be happy damnit! I nearly cut my fingers off peeling this damn thing for-…you?" she opened the door to find an empty well made bed with a flower on the pillow…apparently he had picked it up from the hallway.

She stood there for a minute and then her face got red and she punched the wall not wanting to waste the apples, making a large crater in the wall and accomplishing a mess anyways,

"He never listens that little snake…grrrr" she kicked at some invisible person, maybe her team mates foe as well and stomped out of the hospital looking for him whilst shoving badly sliced apple pieces into her mouth at an alarming rate while trying to talk at the same time which ultimately turned out to be rather amusing to people who happened to glimpse her.

" Why that no good MUNCH little CRUNCH INGRATE!" she stopped at the ramen shop and asked the old lady who worked there whether she had seen a rather worse for wear Oro scoot by here any time in the past twenty…she shook her head and Tsunade cursed.

Jiraiya who had just gotten back from peeping on the girls bath from the tree's and caught a glimpse of the angry Tsunade stomping around town and pitied the poor man who had incurred her wrath…he sighed " another one for the hospital bed…" he silently hoped she wasn't looking for him…but had noticed a lot of commotion around the place but hadn't paid much attention ( obviously ) " I wonder what's up?" and so went off to follow her, keeping to the tree tops.

Orochimaru jumped from the hospital window and landed on the pavement below which actually wasn't that high of a jump and broke into a labored run, tearing off bandages as he went still quite angry that Tsunade had seen him cry…him. He shook his head and ran not caring if anyone saw him or not just as long as he got to where he was going, then as he reached a shaded place behind a building he nearly fell over as he tried to avoid a man in his path, he skidded to a halt and looked up warily at the person who had stopped before him and then his eyes widened as they met pure white ones…Hyuuga…

The man smiled and then offered his hand, "Are you ok? You really shouldn't be out of-"the man didn't have time to finish for Orochimaru in his mad haste used genjitsu on the man and knocked him unconscious…

He looked around now getting back to the reality of what he had done and slung the man over his shoulder and continued to his home where he locked the door and stuffed the Hyuuga in a corner and then sitting upon his bed he stared at the unconscious form of the man before him and felt no shred of guilt for doing that to him…he was already forming ideas of what to say or what do to him…to do to him.

Orochimaru had been staring at the man for at least ten minutes before his hunger for knowledge finally caught up with him and he rose from the floor his eyes shadowed as he tried to reason in his mind what was right.

"Answers you have wanted for a long time are there before you…Take Them!" his heart hissed at him causing a new wave of hunger to wash over him…the hunger for knowledge had always been great for him… "No" his mind whispered lightly to him "think of the consequences…that poor man didn't do anything but bump in to you…what would your team think of you?"

He wrestled with his emotions and then shook his head and looked at the man who was groggily trying to come back to consciousness. As the man looked up he saw the boy he had bumped in to reach for him and frown whispering to him lightly "they won't ever know…" then darkness.

Even though he worked on the mans eyes for long hours that night in the basement of his house where no one would find him he was frustrated and later disposed of the body within his furnace…he had had the misfortune of his subject being from the branch family so that when they died their secrets would not ever be revealed…a pity, he had so wanted to know what those ivory eyes of theirs did…he would find out eventually but now he had the rest of the night to find a good explanation to what had happened to poor Mr. Hyuuga if they ever found out. Lucky for him…he was good at keeping secrets.

Tsunade had finally given up and gone home after she couldn't find her team mate however she DID find one particularly annoying stalker of whom she beat black and blue and sent him home to his father.

"Hmnf! Stupid pervert…to think that he was spying on ME this time.." she glared daggers down at the apartments where she knew he was tossing in pain…" gooooood" she purred and then laid back in her bed "though I wonder…where Orochimaru could have gone in his condition "she sighed again noticing she had been at it a lot more since Orochimaru had been around…." Eh…that guy gives me a headache "she grunted and turned out the light "ill find him tomorrow."

The next morning the sun hid itself behind a cover of grey in shame…everyone knew something was up… people and animals weren't acting right and to make matters worse a member of the Hyuuga clan hadn't returned home that night and had disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Sarutobi had awoken early that morning and was off with search parties for the ill fated Hyuuga, there were so many things that could have happened to him…

And then of course, he sighed "my idiot apprentice…he left the hospital to early…I guess he doesn't like them, ill have a chat with him later" he promised himself and then went on another search party near the Uchiha clan.

Jiraiya hadn't cared to even get out of bed early this morning while Tsunade felt so uneasy about the new happenings that she actually donned her scouting outfit that she wore on missions which of all her clothing was the least um…revealing, that suited her today…she would have to talk to Orochimaru later because she wanted to help with the search, for as the report came to her she realized that it was the same Hyuuga who's daughter she had cured of a broken leg before.

She joined a search party bound for the outskirts of Konoha and prayed for the man.

Sarutobi had finished the search with no luck, he hadn't been found after so many hours…was he taken outside of Konoha? He didn't know …he sighed and sat down feeling as if his age was catching up to him when he needed it less " mmm, I saw Tsunade go off and Jiraiya got up to investigate the Hyuuga clan but…he looked down at his clenched hands " Orochimaru…YOU didn't show up."

He stood up and then excusing himself from the search party went on his way to where he had situated Orochimaru's house on the hill overlooking the main square where the ramen shop stood along with his tower…he knew that the boy was probably exhausted from what had happened to him not a day ago but he wanted to make sure he was ok in these dire times…and also, to quell the uneasy feeling he had in himself…he had to go see the boy.

As he walked up the path that led to Orochimaru's house he heard a crash which indeed hastened his pace a little and knocked on the door at which time the crashing immediately stopped followed by a long sigh and the clicking of the lock and the creak of the door opening which opened to show a very messy room and an even messier Orochimaru who stood looking like death himself, dark rings under his eyes marked no sleep, rolls of bloody bandages heaped upon the floor behind him…and something that worried him most…blood covering his hands to nearly his elbows…

"Orochimaru…" he started rather awkwardly which was rewarded by a tired smile "excuse the mess Sensei…I was just removing my bandages and they hurt a lot…I'm not a lover of pain you see?" Sarutobi blinked at the boy, that had been a question, not a statement…how curious.

Sarutobi grunted "oh…well I can help you with that, anyway can I have a word with you for a moment?" he was immediately startled when the boy shot him a strange look of which he didn't understand the meaning, Orochimaru turned

" indeed…" he whispered " come in…you can help me…but first I need to wipe…my…blood off my hands " he smiled over his shoulder " its creeping me out a bit if you know what I mean…"

He went into what served as his kitchen and washed up, the blood running in deep red rivulets down the drain.

Sarutobi grimaced. "I hope you are feeling well?" he looked at the bandages around the room and then back at Orochimaru, it was true that those bandages came from him for he had had it hard with mando and in the process had to be hooked up to various equipment and jitsu's to heal enough to move…but the blood on his hands…it was all dried…leading him to a gruesome thought…it wasn't his own blood.

Then as the boy came back in with a small tray of tea and a towel to dry off his hands he sat down in a chair and motioned Sarutobi to do the same "Yes…I wasn't feeling so great this morning for the pain kept me awake…and I KNOW "he rolled his eyes catching Sarutobi's frown "that I should have stayed in the hospital but I don't like the air there…" then taking a sip of his tea he set it down again. "I'm feeling much better now though..." his eyes gleamed "much better.., oh and ive heard the news…someone from the Hyuuga clan they say? Are search parties still in progress? I can join one and help you search "he said in utter honesty. Sarutobi studied the young man and banished his thoughts of before…never...even Orochimaru who hated so many, couldn't have done it.

Weeks after that three more people went missing, all from different clans…there was no link to whom ever was doing it, no clue to how the person was taking them and no clue to what the person was doing with them.

It was chaos everywhere and really no one cared to go outside anymore, Jiraiya and Tsunade were rarely seen in their own households because they were so busy while Orochimaru had suddenly gotten very sick, some said poisoning for the person had now locked on him as a prime target…others such as Sarutobi disagreed…as much as he hated to admit it he was starting not to trust Orochimaru a little…the boy could have done it…but for what purpose? Gathering people he didn't even know and having them vanish without a trace…obviously killed…he denied the thoughts for occasionally Orochimaru would protest about being sick at all and go and help in the searches for the missing people which all turned up empty in the end.

He had just come back to the village after being assisted off the field for bursting into a fit of coughing, totally fake of course courtesy of the nice ventriloquism skills he had acquired over the years. Orochimaru walked the streets of Konoha and looked boredly over the meager goods that venders sold on the streets and then something caught his eye which he had not noticed before…on the corner of a rickety old jewelry stand a pair of blue seed earrings shone in the dim sunlight… " these " he thought as he picked them up and studied them in contrast to his pale skin…" would look good on me " he looked up at the old woman who was nearly asleep in her chair and smiling at him " you want those son?" she crooned at him causing him to shudder uncomfortably " yes…how much?" he questioned lightly, the old woman shrugged her thin shoulders and waved her hand at him " take them…all they seem to do is bring bad luck to this store, and anyway they'll look better on you n' me."

He watched the old woman fall asleep before him and then he looked down at the earrings in his right hand and smiled thinly "you have my thanks…mother "

He chuckled a little at his own joke and then finding the right places in his ears he jabbed the points in to his flesh and capped the earring backs behind them, little red droplets now falling from them…" beautiful "he sighed and then yawning he walked home feeling that he was slightly hungry after all that he had done yet far…

He smiled

He was closer to his dream of knowing all the jitsu in the world…closer to immortality…he could taste it…feel it crawl inside his strange skin…slither there

Just as long as no one found out he would be fine…who would suspect that him…a Sannin…would have become deaths Shinobi.

Wow that was slightly strange to write .

This chapter was slightly shorter than the rest but it covered a lot of time Oo

But hey, Orochimaru's just all fun that way! Psycho people are fun to write about…do you find that funny? XD I think I'm having a little too much fun with this… Oh o I want to thank you all for reading my story, and remember reviews even bad ones and most definitely good ones inspire me to write more!

Thank you and enjoy! Badger ye later!