Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
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unbearable anguish
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It took him almost two years to do it, but it wasn't hard to tell when Sasuke finally put all the pieces together. Kabuto had been locking up and henging his scrolls for a week before the teenager didn't show to a meeting with Orochimaru; he came into his rooms to find Sasuke in one of the chairs, two cups of tea sitting on the desk he'd dragged over.

Kabuto raised an eyebrow, but after ascertaining that Sasuke didn't have any weapons in immediate reach, he sat down in the chair across from the teenager. He didn't pick up the tea.

"Why hasn't he done it already?" Sasuke said expressionlessly.

Kabuto leaned back slightly, keeping a careful eye on Sasuke's small movements. "There's a time limit he has to wait between switching bodies," he replied, equally neutral, "to prevent the jutsu from turning self-destructive and to ensure the carry-over of all his skills."

"How long," Sasuke asked, without putting enough emotion into his voice to even lift the end of the question.

"Three years," Kabuto told him.

"When did he change to this one."

"Mm . . . a day or two before you arrived here; it was lucky you took so long. Don't you remember, he still had the bandages?"

Sasuke reached out and picked up the mug closest to him, cupping his hands around the side and base.

The cups were some of Orochimaru's, Kabuto noted, allowing himself to relax again as Sasuke settled back in his chair once more. There was nothing particularly special about them--they weren't one of the sets whose color scheme was designed to disguise poisons.

Sasuke waited for the steam to dissipate, rather than blowing it away. Kabuto supposed one of his parents had taught him manners while they'd still been around; regardless of his usual attitudes, the little things remained.

". . . It," Sasuke said, quietly now. ". . . does it hurt?"

"Yes," Kabuto replied, " horribly."

Then, because he respected the fact that Sasuke was able to keep the cup still in his hands, he added: "From what I saw, it doesn't last more than half a minute."

Sasuke swallowed, and covered it by taking a sip of tea.
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The teenager didn't say much following that, and he left several minutes later. Kabuto analyzed the tea afterward, and found that Sasuke had poured diluted acid into his cup. He made a note to start triple locking his supply cabinets.

Some of the tea got on his fingers as he dumped it out and washed the cup's inside, stinging them.