B/N: Yo! Alice here! Zoe is sick with studying (which I should also be doing, but never mind ^_^) so I'm here to introduce you to our new director (who I don't really approve of, but you know, Zoe's never really listened to me properly) who's pretty...let's say, eccentric. Anyhow, let us welcome the wonderful and interesting Orochimaru-sama!
Chapter 23 - Madness
"He plays with them until they are dead." My attention snapped at the word "dead". I didn't want to die, not even if it was one of the S-rank sannin who wanted my head. Immediately, I remembered Captain's instruction, we should regroup; with Kakashi's skill and Bear's wood release, we might actually stand a chance against Orochimaru, or at least it would give us enough time to disengage and run away.
It was all so quiet, like a prelude to the ruin, the calm before the storm. Against the heavy killing intent in the air, which was a mix between mine and his, Falcon slowly, in an almost non-existent speed, moved his hand closer to the pouch, to where the signal flare was.
His eyes were on Orochimaru, who in turn completely ignored him and kept his eyes on me. He stared fearlessly into my crimson sharingans as if my genjutsu ability was a mere mockery. Despite my supposed advantage with my eyes, I couldn't help but feel an urge to turn my eyes away. It was a survival instinct, like a rabbit in the face of a wolf, but still, I kept them open and focused, unwilling to show any weakness.
"Fufufu, sharingans, look at those beautiful eyes. Uchiha Maiko, the second prodigy of the Uchiha clan. A rare entity even within the dojutsu clans. Of course, not that the Uchiha clan exists anymore, the talented Itachi-kun made sure of that." I tightened my grip on the swords, and before I could even control it, sparks of lightning sizzled on the blades.
"Rabbit, keep your emotions in check," Falcon warned beside me. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Slowly, I calmed my flaming chakra. I was getting sloppy, maybe it was because of the tense atmosphere that heightened my emotions, or the particularly annoying missing-nin standing before me. I couldn't help the anger and rage that rose within me when he mentioned Itachi and the Uchiha massacre.
What did he know? Everyone looks at that tragedy with the same pitiful expression, as if they know everything, how the pain erupted when the deaths unfolded. But it's not that simple, it's so complicated that I felt so hopeless when I was in front of the cliff called 'mystery'.
"I've heard a lot about you, from your brother. Itachi-kun is amazing, and I wondered how well you would fair against me." I knew there was psychological warfare embedded in his sneaky voice, taunting me, provoking me. Yet, I couldn't stop myself, this was the first piece of information I had about Itachi ever since the massacre.
"Where did you meet my brother, tell me," I muttered, in a small voice, trying to keep it calm, trying to keep my voice from faltering. I need to keep him talking, the longer I stall, the greater our chance of survival will be. Good thing that we have a common topic of interest to talk about.
"So demanding. First of all, you have to prove yourself worthy. Itachi-kun faced me before, and now it's your turn." That was the last thing I heard before he disappeared into the ground again. Falcon released the signal flare without a second thought, just as a sea of brown slithering snakes surrounded us. They came out of nowhere like they had just manifested into existence. I didn't even need the presence of Orochimaru to tell me that they were deadly.
Immediately, I gathered a deadly amount of concentrated lightning chakra along the blades of my swords. I swore my brain calmed down a bit after hearing the familiar sound of birds chirping. "Chidori Electrifying Web!" I yelled as I slammed the swords into the ground. The streams of icy blue lightning travelled outwards into the surrounding. After I infused the principle of Chidori into the electrifying web, the speed was doubled, and the damage also tripled. However, it was always a pain to control them, making sure so that no Chidori would hit Falcon. The icy lights spread out in the blink of an eye, engulfing every snake in a fifty-metre radius like a deadly spider web.
The tingling sensation of electricity in the air and the smell of something charred stimulated my senses. I was acutely aware of my surroundings that behind the smoke, another wave of snakes circled us. Orochimaru was driven out of the ground by the ninjutsu but he was standing just a little over fifty meters away, smiling and watching with a sick mockery of curiosity all over his face.
"We need to get away. There's no end to those snakes," Falcon yelled beside me as we stood back to back being. The only thing we could do was to keep shooting out ninjutsus, in the hopes of reducing their numbers, if even a little bit. The actual snakes were not much as a threat when in comparison of the vast numbers. Taijutsu would be very ineffective against the large numbers, so we resorted to shooting out ninjutsu in order to buy some time to figure out a way to get out of this mess while still keeping ourselves alive.
I blew a stream of fire towards the enemies, spreading it in a wide circle, incinerating the slithering flesh. I had no idea if this was my imagination or not, but those snakes seemed to regenerate from the ashes, forming from the speckles of black and grey in the air.
"I'm trying, they are blocking the paths. If we are slowed for even one second when we move, they will overwhelm us." I squeezed out the words in between my breaths. Suddenly I felt something piercing through the air, aiming straight for my head. With the help of my sharingans, I was able to push my swords in front of me just in time.
There was a loud, harsh clink of metal against metal, my twin swords crisscrossed in front of my neck, holding back the tip of a glistening blade stretching all the way across fifty meters. Orochimaru was holding the hilt casually, still smiling, still studying.
There was a slithering sound in front of me, and I looked down just in time to see his abnormally long sword swirling into a snake. The white snake gave me a hiss before sliding effortlessly around my swords. Eyes wide in shock, I was trying to decide if this was a genjutsu or not. However, my sharingans didn't pick up anything, and with the sharp fangs baring down on my neck, I was not going to take a chance.
I replaced myself with one of the logs in the area. The moment I landed, I made the hand seal for Fūton: Windmill Scythe. A circle of pale white wind blades formed around me, and when I finished the last hand seal, they spun furiously around me and pushed outwards, shredding the snakes into pieces. When I was able to breathe again, I had a three-metre radius clearing around me, the hordes of snakes slithering and hissing at me, but they weren't making any advancements.
"Amazing! It is true that your talents rival your brother. Able to do five nature releases, plenty of A-rank jutsus in your arsenal. You activated your mangekyou sharingan even earlier than Itachi-kun, though I've yet to see that. Don't worry, I will have plenty of time to explore once you have become my new vessel." Orochimaru uttered quietly, but just loud enough for me to hear. I didn't know if Falcon heard it or not. If he did, he gave no sign for it. I almost laughed in exasperation, if I weren't surrounded by deadly snakes. So much greed, so much ambition, they were all aiming for my eyes, my kekkei genkai. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised, considering there were only three (and a half?) pairs left. Vessel? My mind raced to figure out what he meant. It sounded just like a puppet, threaded marionettes, trapped within my own body, unable to control anything.
I hated puppets.
"Now that I think about it, you are probably a better match for me than Itachi-kun. As delicious as his body would be, yours should be much better." He licked his lips slowly, voice filled with a greedy playfulness.
At that moment, I really wanted to kill him. Not out of a sense of duty, not out of survival, but rather out of the pure wrath I was feeling right now. I understood fully how emotions could destroy a person or did I? I never actually tried. But I guess I would find out soon, because, in hindsight, everything I did after that point was stupid.
"What did you do to Itachi!" I yelled at him, sounding more frantic than I had ever been before. I felt a surge of chakra directed into my eyes, then I blinked. When I opened my eyes again, it was mangekyou sharingan.
Orochimaru must have felt my glare, because the moment I focused my right eye on him, a Rashōmon Gate stood in front of him. Black flames seared the gate, yet there was no smell of anything burning, nor were there sparks, but the fearsome demon gate crumbled and disappeared in Amaterasu.
When I put out the black flames, Orochimaru had disappeared. Immediately, I realised he must have blended with the ground. Without a second thought, I recklessly infused concentrated lightning chakra into my ninjatō and stabbed the ground.
"Always keep your eyes on the enemy, Uchiha-kun, always assume that they are at least one if not several steps ahead of you." My head whipped around just in time to see the disgusting image of his head extending off of his shoulder, connected by a long, elastic 'neck'. There was a glint of amusement in his slitted golden eyes as he opened his mouth, showing off his protruding fangs that were an inch above my neck.
I didn't hesitate when I activated my Kannon Bosatsu in my left eye. Suddenly, the world in front of me stopped, and Orochimaru's fangs hovered over my neck. His eyes were frozen at the transition, a look that ranged between amusement and shock.
Immediately, I felt the rapid drain of my chakra and the increasing pain in my left eye to hold the sannin in place. Even if I only placed the jutsu around him, the chakra in his body system was so enormous that it threatened to break free of the time prison I created. I pushed away the dizziness and swiftly slashed my tantō in a small circle. The moment my sword connected with his neck just as the time prison broken off. But it was too late, my sword had already sliced opened his neck and I could clearly feel the smooth flesh being sliced open. My blade passed through his neck and the head - its mouth still open with fangs sticking out - flopped down to the ground.
For a few seconds, all I did was watch the head roll in a slow motion. Everything was so quiet, the snakes stopped hissing and Falcon, who was clearly standing a few meters behind me, was so silent that I couldn't even hear his breathing. I felt a sense of relief in my chest, he couldn't be still alive, could he? There is no way…
The serenity only lasted for a moment as I watched in horror. Orochimaru's head turned and gave me a creepy smile before the broken neck sprouted dozens of snakes and connected with the snakes sprouting from his fallen body.
I was very aware of the fact that I should get away, but I just stood there, watching the terrifying regeneration ability taking place. Orochimaru, he is not human.
There it was again, his golden eyes glinted with mockery. Without a care for my chakra level, I focused my right eye on him again just as his head flew back to his body. I widened my eyes and let the black flame sprout from his chest. His smile disappeared for a second before he body flickered away at such a high speed even my eyes couldn't follow.
When he appeared again in the middle of a horde of snakes fifteen meters away, his right arm was burning into dust. I suddenly felt a desperate pride when he narrowed his eyes and slashed off his arm without hesitation. The ball of flame fell to the ground and started to incinerate the mass of snakes by his foot.
I almost gasped when I felt the sharp pain in my right eye, it was reminding me that I was approaching my limit. Reluctantly, I closed my eyes, feeling the thick metallic liquid running down my cheek.
"Interesting. A time-space ninjutsu that can stop the flow of time, and an invincible flame." Orochimaru mumbled calmly, despite him missing a limb from the shoulder joint. "It's almost very befitting, your brother took my left arm a while ago, and just now you took my right. But it doesn't matter, once I have your body, I will be reborn anew with a perfect body."
Does he even know how creepy and disgusting he sounds? I didn't have time to contemplate that since the snakes started to attack again. I had no idea how Falcon was faring, but I imagine he was busy enough dealing with the snakes. Just because Orochimaru wasn't focused on him, didn't mean his ninjutsu was any less to deal with. I still had no idea how he kept the snakes coming in waves, but I suppose it had something to do with his inhumane regeneration abilities.
"Where is Itachi? Where is he!" I growled at him as I slashed apart dozens of snakes using my swords. My body turned and twirled, putting all the kenjutsu skills I had ever learned into use.
"Compare to your brother, you should worry more about yourself. Just imagine his face when I have taken your body, what will he look like? Shocked? Horrified?" He laughed. Yes, he had the audacity to laugh.
"Shut up! He doesn't care about me anymore!" I yelled out, dodging a metallic blade shooting out from one of the snake's mouth, before cutting it in half myself.
"But you, you care for him." I almost stumbled as Orochimaru let the words hang around me, a dozen snakes managing to sneak up past my defence. Simultaneously, blades projected out of their mouths. I could hear Falcon yelling my name, telling me to move. At the last moment, I jumped up just in time to avoid being skewered by a dozen swords.
"So you do care for him. How intriguing. Would this be considered fraternising with the enemy? Itachi-kun is a traitor and a murderer after all." The damn snake sneered, taunting my mental sanity. I would have never imagined the name of one person being able to turn my brain into mush, but alas, his name did, and Orochimaru knew it.
I was not thinking straight, I doubt I had ever thought straight from the moment I met Orochimaru. I was so reckless, so bold without any care for consequences. Because I am so angry, I didn't even know I had the capacity for this much rage and they are urging me to kill him, just kill him and tear his worthless body to pieces.
Yes, my brother, Uchiha Itachi, is branded as a traitor, and he is a murderer of his own kin. But you were not there, and you don't have the answer. So. You. Don't. Get. To. JUDGE.
I locked my eyes on him, and despite the feeling of exhaustion and the stinging pain, I captured him with my left eye. It was only a brief moment, but Orochimaru stopped. I landed on the dozens of blades coming out of the snakes' mouths and propelled myself forward. I heard the familiar chirping sound again as I pointed my ninjatō at his heart.
Just as Kannon Bosatsu broke the Chidori blade made a beautiful icy blue beam and thrust itself into my target's chest cavity. The Chidori blade extended the ninjatō's range by a meter. Despite my eyesight being coated with blood red, I could clearly see his chest being pierced through and through. I learned the human anatomy by heart, and for any normal human, the hole in the position I just pierced would kill them instantly.
But Orochimaru wasn't a normal human, if he could reconnect his neck, he could definitely rearrange the position of his heart, or did he even have a heart? I didn't forget that crucial information. No, I was just too mad and too desperate to try anything.
Orochimaru grinned at me, there he went again, taunting me, mocking me. I hated that so much. A thick brown snake shot out of his left sleeve and I retracted my blade and fell back hazily. However, I was not fast enough, and as I withdrew, the snake sneaked up on me and wrapped itself around my left leg. I almost immediately turned my blade and sliced it open, but not before it bit me on the ankle.
It wasn't so much as the searing pain, but rather the feeling of heaviness in my leg that made me panic. Paralysis poison, I cursed as I fell disgracefully by Falcon's side, who was just vigilant enough not to impale me on an earth spike.
"What the hell are you thinking? Charging in like an idiot!" Falcon hissed at me in a low tone of disapproval, however, I could hear more worry in his voice than anger. Awkwardly, I struggled to stand up, leaning on my non-paralyzed leg for support. The poison was already spreading quickly through my lower leg and I was having a hard time resisting dropping to my knees.
"Resilient and fast, I love it. How about you join me, I will even be generous enough to help you achieve your revenge." The damned snake said with a humourless smile, and I just regarded him coldly. Does he really think I'm that stupid? So weak for such obvious manipulation?
"I'll reward you one fact, for almost killing me twice. Itachi-kun is currently affiliated with an international mercenary criminal organisation called Akatsuki, and every member they have is an S-rank missing-nin. Now do you still think you can kill him without my help?" I swore my heartbeat stopped for a second, and my left eye wasn't the one doing it. Is that real? Is that true? Most likely yes, why would I think otherwise. There aren't a lot of jobs available for missing-nin are there? I thought, with a bitter taste in my mouth, So now he is not only on Konoha's to-kill list, but every other country's?
I opened my mouth, trying to think of something to say, just so maybe he could keep talking and temporarily forget about killing us. However, no sound came out, because Falcon beat me first, except, he wasn't talking to him, he was talking to me.
"Stop listening to him. Control your emotions, Rabbit. Remember your identity. Remember your mission." He placed a hand on my shoulder and forcibly calmed me down. I didn't even realise my body was shaking until something stable and firm clutched onto my shoulder.
"Why can't unimportant insects just shut up. This discussion doesn't include you." The effeminate voice said coldly. There it was again, the sound of something shrieking through the air. I brought up my swords awkwardly and blocked Orochimaru's retractable sword aiming straight for Falcon's neck.
I heard Falcon let out a loud curse as another snake sneaked up behind him and launched a sword between its teeth. The blade barely scraped his arm, but from his sour face, I could only imagine the blade contained the same poison as a snake bite.
"Leave him out of it." I pushed the words out of my mouth as the at-least-fifty-meters-long sword slithered back to Orochimaru in snake form. Despite the rustling of the leaves and the hissing of the snakes, I could clearly hear the slow and constant 'drip, drip, drip' when blood rolled down from my cheek onto the forest ground. It was so melodious I thought I could drift into oblivion if not for the immense danger around us.
"It's all up to you now, Uchiha-hime. Maybe you need a bit more incentive. Let's see, how about…" I shouldn't listen to him, I really shouldn't. He is manipulative, and what I am doing is only giving him more advantages than he already has. "... Sasuke, the little brother you left back in Konoha, with no power or clan to protect him?" Oh, he is dead.
I slammed my hands onto the ground and screamed. The ground seemed to shake and howl with me as I pushed all of my rage, all of my fury, and all of my energy into my eyes. I was vaguely aware of the giant silver skeleton that arose from my body. The silver ribcage guarded me in a five-metre radius, evaporating every slithering and disgusting snake in the vicinity.
The silver sheen wrapped around me like silk under the moonlight. I felt so safe, yet everything hurt so much.
"Don't you dare lay a hand on Sasuke! If you so much as touch a hair on his head, I will hunt you down until the last bits of your filthy soul is annihilated!" I growled at him, hearing my voice echo through the skeleton giant. Really, I already had so little that was anchoring me to my life, I don't mind setting another goal.
I pushed down the waves of burning sensation in my body that made me feel like every vessel, every muscle was being ripped apart and reformed just so that it could be ripped apart again. I stared at Orochimaru with so much rage his eyes widened, whether from the fear or the shock or if he was simply amused, I had no idea.
The skeleton moved abruptly, swinging its giant bony arm towards the Snake Sannin. I saw the fist slam into his body so fast that he almost broke in two if his rubbery body didn't have its modifications. He crashed into some trees nearby, sending the dust, leaves and wooden splinters flying in the air.
When the smoke cleared, I could clearly see Orochimaru glaring at me with a venomous gaze. His battered body was almost snapped in half, with only a wilted and saggy connection in between. He was already melting his body into the ground, but I wasn't finished. Like hell I would let him run away.
The other giant arm aimed right for his mangled body, grabbing the sannin out of the ground and slammed it into another dozen trees. My vision was blurred by a crimson redness, and I wasn't even sure if it was because of the blood dripping out my eyes or just pure anger, maybe even both. The ground trembled, but I paid it no attention; another large crater formed in the forest floor, I paid it no attention; the pain in my body was so excruciating and agonising, it felt like all my chakra, all my life, and all my future were being drained out of it. The funniest thing was, I didn't even have a single clue as to what the silver skeletal warrior was.
I was sure what I was doing was filled with barbaric cruelty, but I didn't care; at that moment, it was all justified to me. For the sixth time, I locked his body in the large, bony fist, and slammed him to the ground, relishing the feeling of the body in the grip being smashed into mush. Why is there no blood? Every organ, every piece of bone in his body should have been broken. Why wouldn't he just die!
I was keenly aware that I was very close to tipping over that cliff into insanity, but it felt like I was just a spectator, watching as the story unfolds, not lifting a finger to stop it. I paused a bit to regain my breath. My entire leg was numb now, and I slumped to support myself on the ground. However it seemed to have no effect on the movement of the skeleton; as long as I willed it, it would move, under the condition that I could take the pain it caused me.
The moment I paused, the mushy flesh in my grip suddenly dissolved. Yes, it dissolved into a horde of snakes, rushing out of the silver chakra-formed hand. It disappeared so fast in the forest before I could even blink.
I screamed and yelled, feeling frustrated at Orochimaru's escape. I hopped like an idiot, crawling, doing whatever I could to venture into the forest. I need to catch him, or else I will lose my only source of information about Itachi; I need to kill him, or else he will harm Sasuke when I am not by his side.
"Stop! Rabbit, your chakra level is close to depletion, and the paralysis poison is spreading. Captain and the rest of our team will be here soon, and we need to retreat and regroup while you still have the strength to do so." Whose voice was that again? I can't think… I turned around in confusion, seeing the man clutching onto his arm, standing in the clearing around twenty meters away, surrounded by the craters I made by bashing the snake sannin's body violently into the ground.
Right, he is Falcon. He is my teammate. My team… they should be here soon. My comrades… my captain…
"But he…" He threatened to kill Sasuke, he threatened to hurt my brothers. "And I…" I want to kill him, is that really that hard to wish for?
It was all very soon, and it all happened within the time I tried to clear away the dizziness in my disoriented mind. There was one snake. Just one. It slithered behind Falcon at a speed faster than any of us could comprehend. Falcon was staring at me with an almost pleading gaze, so he didn't see the glistening sword shooting out of that one, tiny, thin snake's mouth.
But I did. I saw the glistening sharp blade, aiming for his heart.
One decision to make. One life to save… I hate decisions.
Just like that, I let the silver warrior faded around me and I refocused my left eye on the snake and the blade. This was my last chance, my last Kannon Bosatsu for a very long time. And I am going to use it to save my teammate.
I felt my last surge of chakra rushing to my left eye, sucking up all that's left of me. With one widening of my eye, the blade from the snake's jaw froze at the last moment before it could penetrate Falcon's chest. Damn it, it better be worth it, he better never ever mention that incident with sake a year ago.
Run, run away! Get the hell out of here so I can close my eyes! I wanted to yell at him so badly, but the voice wouldn't come out. My body was falling apart, and I had no idea how I was still standing since I had no control over my muscles whatsoever. The only thing I was conscious of right now was to keep my eyes open. I couldn't falter or close them, or the jutsu would disappear if I lost focus. So I kept them open, despite the blood dripping out of my eyes and the burning pain.
He was staring at me with wide eyes, then he yelled something, but I couldn't hear him, it's was all just so blurry and fuzzy. I vaguely saw him running, good, I thought, he is out of the range and maybe I can let go now.
Why was he running towards me? He was yelling again, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. My left eyesight was slowly disappearing, I could just imagine the scene where the last flower petal disappearing around my pupil.
'Splash' I heard something. It was the sound of a spray of liquid splashing onto the ground. I smelled… blood, but there was so much blood today that it might just be an aftertaste. But it smells so strong. I felt something cold in my chest, and it seemed like it was freezing my body, turning my already excruciating and tired body into an ice statue. I couldn't move at all as the sensation of liquid running down my body, soaking my clothes. The smell of blood was so pungent, I didn't know why it was so strong. Then, it all made sense when I dropped my head down out of exhaustion.
A metallic blade was sticking out of my chest, making the bright red blood gushing down my torso.
I heard it, the sound of a thousand birds chirping. I saw it, the column of wooden pillars racing up across the corner of my right eye. Somehow, even if I was currently being impaled by a sword, I felt a sense of relief. Is this the feeling of hope and trust? Too bad I won't be here to here to enjoy it.
Ah, so I saved one person. That's good enough for atonement right? Although it probably wouldn't get me out of hell. One against thousands… that's such a tippy scale. So I guess it's my one way trip to hell then. Somehow, the second time… it isn't as scary anymore…
Sometimes, I just need a break from life. And, maybe, just maybe, I will regain some strength to kill Orochimaru when I wake up again.
Later. Maybe later.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
He was late. Again.
He was always late. Whether it was intentional or not, he could never seem to make it on time when it really counted. Such irony, considering the ability of his mangekyou sharingan was Kamui, a time-space jutsu that can teleport what he saw, but never himself.
So when he saw the signal flare flashing into the sky a few kilometres away, he felt a sense of dread washing over him. Please don't let it be Orochimaru, he was chanting silently as he flashed Zebra a signal to pursue the flare.
Of course, something just had to explode, there just had to be a bunch of unplanned explosions. He could have sworn that when they left the cave, there were flashes of snakes at the corner of his eyes. Yes, snakes at Orochimaru's hideout, that was never a good sign. He didn't even have the time to think about the symbolism and irony that this whole situation so absurdly presented before a shit load of dirt and trees exploded into pieces.
The medic-nin beside him cursed as they dodged the incoming rocks and pieces of wood. The annoying sound of explosions and the flying dirt were making the direction of the flare hard to tell, but Kakashi had a summoning contract with dogs, so he could smell his teammates a mile away. Right now, he was certain that Falcon and Rabbit were the ones that sent the signal flare. He knew immediately that the mission had gone wrong, but he still prayed that he was wrong. There had been a few tricky situations in missions ever since Rabbit joined two years ago, but it had never gone so badly that one of his team members died (hospital trip was another story), and he would like to keep it that way, no matter how absurd that sounded.
He raced through the jungle, heading towards where the flare was shot. When they joined up with Otter and Bear on the way, it was obvious that something was very wrong, because they could all see the giant silver skeleton rising above the trees, smashing the forest floor, sending so much dust and rock into the air that the earlier explosions would have paled in comparison.
Is that… Kakashi had to squint his sharingan to clearly see the body-shaped mass in the skeleton's swift-moving fist. But in the end, he was sure that the unknown body mass was Orochimaru. He could never forget the horror he received from the treacherous sannin.
For a second, he wasn't sure what to think of the situation. Orochimaru was here, and that meant the worst he had feared really did come true. However, the situation at hand seemed like someone or something was really making Orochimaru's life hellish, judging by the horrible shape his body was in, albeit the fact that Orochimaru's body wasn't normal in the first place.
So the best thing he could do was to lead his team and race to the battlefield as fast as possible, preferably before the silver skeleton killed his teammates, but after it killed Orochimaru.
He was late.
The first thing he saw were the snakes, the tiny brown snakes that seemed to sneak up on everybody. Then, he saw red.
A girl was impaled by a sword that was attached to one of the snakes' mouth. The blade went through her chest from the back to the front, as blood gushed out of her torso. It wasn't long before he and Bear used wood release and Chidori to clear the area of the snakes with deadly blades. It might have been a bit of overkill, but if only saving a comrade was as simple as killing the enemy.
It wasn't until Zebra and Otter pulled the girl's lifeless body out of the blade that he really saw how much damage she had taken. The first thing that popped into his eyes were the two streaks of red dripping down her cheeks all the way from her eyes to her neck. Then it was the pale, unhealthy colour of her skin, showing just how much she had exhausted of her own chakra supplies. Finally, his eyes moved to the gaping wound in her chest.
Zebra was trying to stop the bleeding and heal the wound as Otter gently placed the girl on the ground, providing the medic-nin with a flat surface to work with. Kakashi was no medic, so he didn't know the extent of her wound. But anyone with an eye could tell that this amount of blood lost - a pool of red formed under her body - could not have been anything less than a fatal injury.
Bear made a makeshift wooden dome that engulfed all of them and disguised it with trees; Falcon was sitting on the ground, panting heavily; Otter and Kakashi watched Zebra work on restoring the youngest member of the team attentively. There was a heavier and stronger sense of dread that silenced all of them, and Kakashi knew that as the captain, he had to do something about this.
"Falcon, what is the extent of your injury." He asked as calm and collected as he could, which was not a hard task, considering the many missions he had led. When he asked his subordinates about their injuries, he expected honest answers. He knew that all of his team members knew how stupid it was for them to act like a hero, but then die of severe blood loss.
"Mostly superficial. My left arm is paralysed by a poison from the snakes, but other than that, there are no heavy injuries." Falcon answered him, and Kakashi trusted his answers, considering he had been his teammate for more than eight years. There was an uncomfortable silence as they both moved their eyes towards the centre of the dome, where their last fallen comrade laid.
As if reading their minds, which Kakashi doubt was very subtle at the moment, Zebra said without lifting his eyes away from his patient, "The blade barely missed her heart, but several of her large blood vessels are seriously damaged, as well as a pierced lung. I am going to perform an emergency surgery to repair the damages. But considering her body condition right now with her chakra level depleted, her heart is most likely going to give out in the middle of the surgery."
With the tiny reassurance from Zebra's word, Kakashi could actually calm down and see that the wound was way too far to the left and up for it to punctured the heart. In fact, if Kakashi wanted to feel better, he could tell himself that it was a hit to the shoulder. It's a small chance, but damn it, just take it.
Immediately, Bear created a wooden surgery table, and somehow, they were able to move her onto the table without worsening her condition. They gave Zebra silence and space as he worked intensely on the patient. Kakashi was suddenly glad that Zebra had packed extra supplies for performing difficult field surgeries, which was something they had prepared in case something were to happen on their escort mission. This was not the way he expected those tools would be used. The only person allowed near Zebra was Otter, who was the closest thing they had now to an assistant surgeon. The others followed Kakashi to the side, where they started the terrifying task of figuring out what the hell happened.
"Debrief us what happened, Falcon." He ordered. There was a pause in their conversation as Falcon had to take a breath before starting the explanation.
"When we finished cleaning up the area, we were ambushed by… Orochimaru. It almost seemed like he was waiting for us, or more specifically, if I interpret the situation correctly, he was waiting for Rabbit." Falcon started slowly, furrowing his brows hard as if trying to make sense of the situation. Kakashi mentally froze at the revelation, how the hell did the traitor sannin knew of their mission, and how the hell did the intelligence department not pick up on the signs of a lingering enemy. He looked at Falcon expectedly, waiting for him to elaborate on his claims.
"If I remember correctly, Orochimaru claimed that he wanted her body." Wait, what? Kakashi was quite conscious of the fact that his mind was probably racing a hundred miles an hour in a completely wrong and inappropriate direction. Judging by his poor little kouhai's stunned expression, he could only guess that Tenzō had somehow arrived at the same wrong and inappropriate conclusion.
Seeing their transparent thoughts, Falcon only shot them an annoying look before continuing, "Not the way you are thinking, I am pretty sure Orochimaru meant as a vessel, as in containers. I think he wanted to take over Rabbit's body, so he could have access to her skills and her sharingans." Okay, that makes much more sense, not that the prospect of Orochimaru seeking a vessel body is any better.
"Orochimaru proceeded to taunt her with the Uchiha Massacre and Uchiha Itachi. You know, sensitive topics. So like an idiot, she engaged him in battle." Falcon explained with a sour tone. Kakashi had the urge to smack the girl on the head, but considering the fact that she is currently on the verge of life and death, he thought he'd let it pass. To be fair, he didn't think anyone could keep their cool if they were in Maiko's situation. Despite the coolness and aloofness the Uchihas displayed all the time, the fact that they have the sharingan proved that they loved and hated harder than anyone.
"Care to explain where the hell was Orochimaru when we arrived? Or what the hell was that giant skeleton?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow. Falcon stayed silent for a moment, his face scrunched up in concentration, as if he couldn't remember what happened.
"I'm not completely sure what happened, but from my perspective, it looked like Rabbit was winning, right up until the last moment." Falcon pushed the words out of his mouth with so much uncertainty that Kakashi thought he was joking at first. Then he saw the seriousness in his eyes, "You're serious." He whispered with disbelief.
"Yes, I saw her using a black flame thingie that burned everything to dust, including the Rashōmon Gate. Then she used some jutsu to stop the freaking time, there were two instances where I thought I saw Orochimaru just freeze in place until she either decapitated him or put a twenty-centimetres hole in his chest. I don't know how he is not dead yet because he just regenerated from a cut-off neck." Falcon said frantically, yep, he was definitely panicking.
Kakashi had to mentally equate the 'black flame thingie' with Amaterasu and 'some jutsu to stop the freaking time' with Kannon Bosatsu. He just realised that moment that he never told any of his teammates about Maiko's eye abilities, and considering Maiko's social aloofness, she probably didn't tell any of them anyway. To be honest, he would probably prefer to keep it that way, he would rather that none of them would ever have to use their mangekyou sharingan, considering the strain it puts on the eyes.
"Then, when Orochimaru taunted her with her little brother, I think she just snapped." Oh, that's never a good sign. "She created, summoned, generated, or whatever, that giant silver skeleton. I swear that she just made the skeleton grab Orochimaru by the head and randomly smashed him around. You should have seen it, she bashed him around so hard that I am pretty sure that he was reduced to a pot of mush. Can anyone please tell me how the hell did she do that, because next time, I would like a warning to get out of the way." They were looking at him expectantly as if Kakashi had the answer to everything Uchiha related. Okay, maybe in this specific case, he did know something.
Kakashi sighed, "It's her sharingan, after it… evolved, it gives the user special abilities. The black flame and the time-space jutsu were two of them, but as for the silver skeleton, I have no idea what the hell that was. You are gonna have to ask her yourself when she wakes up." He used the word 'when', even if he knew that a better word would be 'if' because there was no guarantee that she would ever wake up. However, no one cared to point out the technicality, so he just let the words hang in the air.
"I tried to stop her from pursuing when Orochimaru literally dissolved into snakes. Maybe it was because of the chakra exhaustion, but the skeletal thingie disappeared just before I saw the sword. I don't get it, why didn't she just stop the time if she has that ability?" Ah, here it was again, chakra exhaustion. She seems to get those a lot lately, straining herself on missions. I wouldn't say that she is passionate about missions, but she is certainly busying herself with them. It was almost like she was trying to adopt the mission as her life, adopting her mask of "Rabbit" as her true identity.
Hell, he couldn't blame her, the real life was filled with emotional baggage and maybe a few years ago, he would have even agreed with her; being Hound was so much easier than being Hatake Kakashi. However, after more than a decade in Anbu, he had known for a fact that despite the seemingly anonymous system in the black ops, at the end of the day, he was still Hatake Kakashi, and she would still be Uchiha Maiko. True anonymity was a joke, especially for someone as high profile as the surviving Uchiha prodigy.
He shouldn't be surprised, after observing her for two years - out of Hokage-sama's order, not his own volition - he could clearly tell that she was cracking. Bits by bits and piece by piece. Kakashi was no medic, and he doubted that any medic could fix this. More than once, Kakashi thought that maybe he should just throw in the towel and push her over the edge, just so that she would shatter once and be done with it.
But now, there she was. Battered, cracked, shattered. Immediately, Kakashi regretted ever having thought that pushing her over the edge was a good idea (and having Orochimaru being the one to do it was definitely not in his training regime). Why? Simply because that Kakashi was scared of the unpredictable outcome.
This was not the only time that Kakashi felt uneasy around Uchiha Maiko. Sometimes, he was scared of her; other times, he was scared for her.
So I guess that a psych evaluation is in order after we get back, and she is definitely getting a lecture for disobeying the superior's order when she wakes up. Again, he used the word "when" instead of "if", and he was too tired and stubborn to correct that.
"How many times did she use Kannon Bosatsu?" Kakashi asked, and when he caught Falcon's confused look, he had to remind himself that they didn't know what it was, "I mean, how many times did she use 'that thing that stops the time'?"
"Ehh, two times, I think…" Falcon scratched his neck to try to recall the events. It was getting quiet at the centre of the dome, but they weren't trying to concentrate on that.
"Three times." To everyone's surprise, it was Tenzō who spoke up. "When we arrived, I saw a snake with a sword in its mouth a few meters behind you. It was frozen in place, just like how you described. I didn't think too much about it at that moment, so I just swatted it away with wood pillars."
So that's what happened. Kakashi turned to the centre of the dome, he could barely make out the blood trails on the girl's cheek. What the hell was she thinking? Using up all three times in one go. Survival, a small voice whispered at the back of his head. She wouldn't be here if she didn't use all she had, instead, she would be strolling around as Orochimaru's host body. Actually, none of them would be here if she hadn't damaged Orochimaru to the point that he felt the need to dissolve his body and escape. They would all be dead.
When he returned his eyes to the teammate beside him, and he almost smacked himself after seeing the undeniable look of survivor's guilt on his face. Okay, make that two therapy sessions when we get back. He didn't know how to deal with emotional breakdowns or survivor's guilt for that matter. Yes, he had probably gone through most of those emotional traumas, but he absolutely knew nothing about how to deal with them. One aspect of being a captain which he sucked at.
"Captain." It was Zebra's chilling voice that broke through his thoughts. Suddenly, the dome was quiet, so quiet that Kakashi could clearly count the sound of everyone's heart beating. One, two, three, four, five… there is one missing.
He could swear, that somewhere, Fate was watching him with a mocking laugh. The fact that he had a sharingan was the biggest irony of his life because he kept on watching Uchihas fall one by one into the abyss.
Zebra sounded once more, with panic and a lot of fear in his shaking voice, "I can't feel her heartbeat anymore. I hope...the electricity... we need to start the resuscitation. I might… we can still save her."
This, this is all so maddening. And she? She is the most maddening Uchiha of them all.
A/N: So not a Merry Christmas for anyone in this chapter... Confession time, I was going to kill Falcon, but I feel bad for him as a collateral damage. Anyway, this shall not be the last fight between Orochimaru and Maiko, this time, they all have flaws, with Orochimaru underestimating his opponent and Maiko's lack of information is a huge disadvantage (I mean, how do you kill someone immortal, and sealing is definitely not in her skill set. The last time I checked, Orochimaru is still alive in canon... for some reason). Also, how does one practice their mangekyou sharingan without going blind? Anyways, the next time they fight, all of these flaws will be improved. Like Maiko said, she needs a new goal, and snake hunting sounds as good as any.
B/N: I like cats. But I'm severely allergic to them. Dammit. Meh, Zoe can be my cat for now, keke. Don't piss off an emotionally unstable girl. You're just asking for death. (Your lesson of the week.)
This is what happens when you let your beta take over the note for a day because it's near Christmas...