A/N: Thank you everyone who favorited, reviewed and is now following this story. Be sure to read The. Teal. Rose's "Illusions of Serenity" and Lehrain's "Vigil of Sorrows." Hope you enjoy the next chapter and review.

Emulation of Apathy

Chapter II

"The Chosen One?"

…

It was a very dark room, and it felt even colder in here than it had outside. Against one wall, there was a row of monitors, which, upon further speculation, all seemed to overlook different areas of this hideout. There were two focused on the entrance, and most of the others' attention seemed fixed on what looked like prison cells. Where he was sitting, he guessed it was some sort of bed. Hospital bed, perhaps. There were wires that connected to the bed, but most of them had been severed.

Just the thought of what might have been lying here before him made him cringe.

"Oh, too tight?"

Sasuke's onyx gaze fixed immediately on the man beside him, and he realized Kabuto was referring to the bandage he was currently applying.

"It's fine," Sasuke deadpanned, returning to facing forward.

"Oh, that's a relief," Kabuto's pleasant smile returned, and Sasuke began to wonder if this was some default expression he reverted to innately. "Be sure to let me know, though. Orochimaru-sama wants you in prime health as quickly as possible. Have to start your training, you know."

"Training…," Sasuke mused, his stare growing distant.

Yes, his training. His sole purpose for being here. The sooner he started, the sooner he would finally be able to surpass his older brother, and the sooner he could watch the life leave his eyes. He would become stronger. Stronger so that no one would be able to stop him. With a slight nod of his head, he decided that by the end of his training, he would surpass even Orochimaru.

"Good," he said simply.

"Unfortunately, I think it's going to have to be put off a couple of weeks," Kabuto informed him, and Sasuke's eyes shot to him with a glare. "Oh, don't worry," the man quickly reassured him. "With my healing technique, you should patch up very quickly. But you aren't the only one who's healing. You see, Orochimaru-sama was also injured, and we'll be moving locations soon, so it will put further strain on both of your injuries. At the new location, though, you should be able to start."

Pausing in the bandaging to push his glasses back up the brim of his nose, Kabuto told him, "I'll be sure to choose one with a good training area."

At this, Sasuke furrowed his brow. "How many hideouts are there?"

"Oh, quite a few," the older ninja nodded his head. "Don't worry, Sasuke-kun. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to see them all."

As Kabuto commenced wrapping the bandages around his torso, the young Uchiha considered his words silently. So, they were to be moving frequently. It was the only conclusion that could be drawn from their exchange. It made sense. They would have to avoid anyone's notice, making sure to never settle in one place for too long. In all, it was a smart move. It must be how no one was able to track the Sannin after he first left Konoha.

Still, it was kind of an off-putting prospect. He had never particularly enjoyed constant change, and it seemed as though it would be unavoidable now. Well, he had made his decision. This was only one of the many consequences he was sure would follow, but he was determined. Besides, there was no turning back, now.

"If you're a fan of the beach," Kabuto was currently saying, and Sasuke glanced over at him in bewilderment, "we have a lovely hideout in the Hidden Village of the Mist. It's its own island. We won't be heading there first, of course. It doesn't have a particularly good training area, but I'm sure we can make arrangements for one to be installed."

Sasuke offered the man no response, not quite sure why he insisted on holding conversation. Or why he decided to bring up such an odd point of discussion.

"Personally, I've always preferred forests, myself," Kabuto continued. "But, there's something to be said for the beach. Do you like the beach, Sasuke-kun?"

"I don't like a lot of things," Sasuke replied in mild annoyance.

"Ah," the man nodded in understanding. "Well, I suppose that's just as well. I'll have a training area installed regardless, as I'm sure it will benefit us to head that way from time to time."

Kabuto was an awfully chatty fellow when he was being himself. Sasuke marveled at this realization, wondering how he had not noticed sooner. Perhaps it was because, in the past, he had viewed him as an older student who could aid him through the exams, and any amount of talkativeness had been on immediately relevant information.

Now, it was on…well, who the hell knew? Pleasantries, perhaps?

"There, that should do it," Kabuto nodded his head proudly, making one final adjustment and then taking a step back. "How does that feel?"

"Fine," Sasuke's tone was dry, and he rose to his feet without waiting for instruction. Putting his arms inside the sleeves of the robe he had been given, he then fastened it securely and focused his gaze on Kabuto. "Take me to Orochimaru."

"Of course," Kabuto assured him with a smile and a patronizing wave of his hand. "Just give me a moment."

The young Uchiha resolved to wait, but he slowly grew more irritated the longer he watched Kabuto. It seemed as if the man was determined to try his patience. He tidied up the room and returned all his utensils, medicinal artifacts and leftover bandages to their appropriate compartments, before crossing the room and checking all the monitors several times. He proceeded to insert a few commands on the keyboard, and then walked back and began to fix all the wires that were hanging over the bed.

By the time he walked back to Sasuke with his same pleasant smile, the boy was scowling up at him.

"Follow me, Sasuke-kun," Kabuto instructed, seemingly completely unaffected by his mood as he led the way out of the cold room and down a long, dark hallway than felt even colder.

The entire building was a concrete structure, built in such a way that there were no curves. Every wall was perfectly straight. It brought to mind the image of an underground laboratory. However, as his black eyes wandered to the cement ceiling, and he took note of the water that dripped from the many leaks overhead, Sasuke decided it also reminded him of a sewer. Except for the smell, of course. In fact, now that he thought of it, this place had a surprisingly sterile scent and feel in the air. As if it was too clean.

As if it was trying to cover up some horrendous stench.

'Makes sense,' he thought to himself. 'After all, who knows what they've been experimenting on down here?'

When they came to a flight of stairs and began to descend further, Sasuke decided that he was going to commit everything to memory. That way, he would not have to rely on Kabuto's assistance in the future. Or anyone's assistance, for that matter. He would find his own way around these hideouts. As he decided this, he made a mental note to remember to ask the older Genin for maps of all the locations. After all, the man seemed borderline obsessive-compulsive, and he doubted someone like that would overlook a detail as pivotal as designing a map.

They took several turns, and, as they progressed, the walls began to change. Glancing on either side, Sasuke realized they were cells, cells that protruded deep into the walls and held throngs of people, who were all huddled together. It was a disgusting sight, and the sterile scent was beginning to fade, to be replaced by that odor it had no doubt been attempting to cover up.

He lowered his gaze to the ground, his brow furrowed in concentration and his mouth set in a scowl. It was not the first time wondering exactly what sort of people he had gotten himself involved with, but he forced this thought to the back of his mind. Rather, he began to revisit memories of his brother, memories of that fateful night, memories of his first encounter with him in almost 5 years. And it was enough to quickly extinguish any notions of hesitation.

In fact, the mere thought of Uchiha Itachi seemed to instinctively activate his own Sharingan.

Sasuke was scowling at the ground, his eyes set in a glare, when he saw the feet of a figure standing in front of him. He came to a slow halt, and he realized that, without even noticing, he had begun to walk ahead of Kabuto.

It was then that he heard the familiar, deep rasp of Orochimaru's voice. "You came."

He hesitated only a moment, before lifting his eyes to focus his glare on the figure before him.

Every time he saw this man, he beheld a different appearance. First, it was that strange looking man in the second trial of the Chuunin exams. Then, he had simply been in the form of a giant snake. After this, the skin on his face had shed to reveal snakelike eyes, a sickly white face, and sharp, purple lines protruding from the insides of his eyes. This time, the man before him was bandaged from head to toe, the usual long, black hair replaced by short white hair that spiked up in various directions. The only aspect even remotely recognizable was the one eye that had been left unbandaged, and it stared down at him with the same intensity it always seemed to adopt.

Turning his back to him, the Sannin instructed, "Now then, let's go."

Sasuke did not move at first, merely staring after him with a blank expression as the Sharingan deactivated. He was unsure what he was referring to, where they were supposed to be going, but he did not verbalize his questions. Rather, he proceeded to merely furrow his brow a fraction and fall into step behind him, and Kabuto did the same.

Orochimaru was now gazing at him from over his shoulder, his yellow-green eyes fixated in such a way he looked almost possessed, the single slit in place of a pupil growing ever thinner.

As they progressed, however, he faced forward once more, and Sasuke relaxed his stance. It was very unnerving, the way that man stared at him, but he would have to put up with it. This was a necessary step in achieving the strength he needed to defeat that cold-blooded killer, and that was worth everything.

"Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru spoke again, in that same raspy voice. "You're the chosen one."

The young Uchiha's eyes narrowed into a glare once more. It was not the first time Orochimaru had hinted at this line of thought, and frankly, Sasuke had no idea what the hell the man was on about. But it really did not matter, that was not his point in coming here.

"I don't care," he told him, and he felt himself growing even more impatient with this whole predicament. "Hurry up and give me power."

The man turned his head to gaze at him from over his shoulder once more, but his expression was impossible to read.

On Sasuke's left, Kabuto leaned forward and cupped a hand to his mouth so his whisper would be more effective. "Even though his appearance is different," Kabuto whispered in his ear, "the person in front of you is Orochimaru-sama."

Though his countenance remained unchanged, Sasuke internally rolled his eyes. As if he did not know that. Honestly, how stupid did Kabuto think he was?

However, the man continued, "If you don't want to die, you better be careful of what you say."

At this, Sasuke rounded his glare on Kabuto, and the man immediately jerked his hand away from him, as if he had actually experienced physical shock, and he took a quick step back. He stared down at him with wide eyes and mouth slightly agape, his expression conveying one of both surprise and terror.

'How jumpy is he?' Sasuke wondered, returning his black eyes to face forward, where he noticed Orochimaru was staring back at him with that same, intense gaze. 'And how is it that I make him jump, when he doesn't seem the least bit affected by that unnerving stare?'

Nevertheless, he kept a blank façade, save the usual scowl, and he followed the Master of Snakes down the long, dark hallway, past the many cells, until they reached a flight of stairs that ascended back to the upper level. As they reached the top and turned a corner, Sasuke began to question the point of even meeting in that lower hallway if they were going to end up back upstairs as it was.

Deciding it was probably best not to try to understand their logic, he let his eyes wander over Orochimaru's appearance, taking in his current state, and he wondered what exactly he had done since last he had seen him to put himself into such a damaged state. Surely this was not all from his fight with the Third. Or even from his fight with Jiraiya and Tsunade, for that matter. He should have had adequate time to heal from both events. What, then, was the cause for these bandages which now covered his entire body? Did these two really find themselves in trouble that often?

When they took a right turn, Kabuto rushed forward and said, "Orochimaru-sama, we're not leaving today. Don't you remember? We discussed this."

"Did we?" Orochimaru turned and focused his snake eyes on the young man.

"Hm," Kabuto paused to rub his hand against his chin, as if pondering the matter. "Perhaps I neglected to mention it."

"Kabuto," Orochimaru tsked him. "This is very unlike you."

"Well," the younger ninja shrugged his shoulders, "either way, I thought it would be wise to leave in two days, so that both you and Sasuke-kun can have time to heal before the move, and so I can finish up the research reports. Also, we still need to arrange for a jailer to keep this place in check while we're away. The ninja from Konoha killed all of the members we normally station here."

"Astute as always, Kabuto," the Sannin nodded his head in approval, and it was obvious that there was a smile in his voice.

Sasuke kept the same scowl, but he marveled at these two. How was that even remotely intelligent? It seemed more like common sense, than anything else. And had Orochimaru actually been planning to just leave immediately? No explanation, just walk out the front door? And how could Kabuto forget whether or not he had conveyed his plans to stay a few extra days? And why did Orochimaru just accept this recommendation without question?

Needless to say, he found himself in a state of bewilderment, and he barely noticed when his feet began to move to follow the two older ninja back the way they had come.

"I just had an excellent idea a few minutes ago," Kabuto informed his superior as he fell in step beside him.

"Oh?"

"Yes," Kabuto nodded. "What if we were to install a better training area in our Mist hideout?"

Orochimaru faced forward, and his one visible eye tilted in such a way that revealed his smile had returned. "You continue to impress me, Kabuto."

Sasuke blinked twice. He had just come up with that idea a few minutes ago? Meaning, in the process of their conversation? What was so excellent about that, anyway? Frankly, it would have been more impressive if the two men had thought ahead to have adequate training facilities built in every hideout initially.

"Sasuke-kun," Kabuto glanced over his shoulder to offer the boy a smile. "Are you hungry?"

He offered no response, however. He simply kept his glare fixed on the man in glasses.

Kabuto's smile faded and he looked a little frightened again, but when he looked up at Orochimaru, he seemed reassured by something. "Very well, we'll have our meal, and then I'll show you to your room."

"What did you prepare tonight?" Orochimaru asked, and Sasuke furrowed his brow.

'Kabuto is the cook, too?' he thought.

"I thought you should take it easy on your new body, so I made your favorite soup," Kabuto replied pleasantly.

New body? What the hell was he on about?

"Ahhh," Orochimaru nodded his head as he pressed his eye shut. "I can already taste it."

Kabuto smiled in turn, before facing forward and leading the way down the many turns the hallway decided to take. Finally, he came to a stop outside a particular steel door, and he pulled a key from his pocket. After it clicked, Kabuto pushed the door open and then stepped aside so the other two could enter.

Sasuke let his dark eyes wander as he took in his surroundings. The room was rather bare. Every room in this damp building seemed bare, now that he thought of it. There was a narrow table, around which had been set 8 chairs, and a pair of candle sticks burnt dimly atop the wooden edifice. There was a small door at the opposite end of the room, which no doubt led into the kitchen, but aside from that, there was nothing else to see.

"Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru addressed him, but Sasuke made no motion he had even heard him. "You will sit on my left. Kabuto always gets the right side, you see."

"I'll just sit here," Sasuke walked past the two and took a seat at the foot of the table, not entirely inclined to sit beside either of them. When neither objected to his decision, he wondered if it had been an order, as Orochimaru had made it sound, or merely a suggestion. It was hard to tell anything for certain with this man.

"Kabuto, is the soup ready?" Orochimaru asked, and, by the tone of his voice, he seemed quite unaffected by the fact that Sasuke had disregarded his command.

"Of course, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied, and he crossed the distance of the small room and pulled the opposite door open, just as Orochimaru closed the door that led into the hall.

Sasuke could hear the man moving behind him, and he involuntarily stiffened at the prospect, but when Orochimaru was merely walked around the table to take his seat at the head, the boy relaxed in his stance. Folding his hands in front of him on the table, the young Uchiha leaned back in his chair and let his eyes wander around the small dining room once more. It really was very bare.

"When your condition is better, we will begin training," he heard Orochimaru's rasp pull him back, and he simply averted his black eyes a fraction to rest on the man seated across the table. "Before such time, however, I will need to know the extent of your training. Tell me, what has Kakashi taught you?"

"The basics, and then some of his own talents," Sasuke returned dryly. "When my tournament with the sand ninja was interrupted at the Chuunin exams, the referee told me that my skill level was adequate for that of a Chuunin, and I have only become stronger since then. I have a fully developed Sharingan, but I have yet to master it. I can use Chidori, but the number of times it is at my disposal is severely limited, and it still takes a fair amount of time to charge. I have-"

"Here's your soup!" Kabuto cut off the young Uchiha as he walked briskly out of the kitchen and set the first bowl on the table in front of Orochimaru. "Don't forget to blow on it, Orochimaru-sama," he told him as he rubbed his back soothingly.

"This looks delicious, Kabuto," Orochimaru informed him with a nod of approval. "Excellent work, as always."

Sasuke glared at the pair of them. If he was not going to call Kabuto out on interrupting him, what was the point of even asking his skill level?

"Needless to say," Sasuke asserted in annoyance, fixing his glower on Kabuto once more, "I still have much room for improvement, and I expect you to train me as quickly as possible."

Orochimaru released a throaty chuckle, lifting his hand and lowering the bandage from his mouth as he scooped up a spoonful of soup. "Patience, Sasuke-kun," he chided him. "When your injuries are healed, we will begin. If you overexert yourself, the training will prove fruitless."

"Orochimaru-sama is quite right," Kabuto nodded his head in agreement as he set the next bowl on the table in front of Sasuke. "I will give you more medicine tonight, which should significantly increase the healing rate."

After swallowing the bite in his mouth, Orochimaru let his snake-like tongue protrude from his mouth as he licked up the remaining broth from his spoon. Unable to resist the urge to wrinkle his nose in disgust, Sasuke suddenly felt any appetite immediately vanish.

"This soup is top notch, Kabuto," Orochimaru complimented him.

A subtle drip of water fell every few seconds from the ceiling in the far corner. To his left, there was a nightstand, atop which burnt a single candle, and to his right, a door which led into a simple bathroom. The bedroom was as vacant as the dining room had been, and just as cold as the medical room, and he had only one layer of blanket, which proved useless in blotting out the cold.

Pulling it closer around him nonetheless, Sasuke began to reflect on the events of this evening. He was still trying to piece together exactly what he thought of his new companions. All he had concluded, thus far, was that he held next to no respect for Kabuto, who, quite frankly, was a terrible cook, and an even worse strategist.

As for Orochimaru…the man was powerful, there was no denying that, but only now did he realize just how insane the man was.

In fact, they were both insane.

Turning over in his bed, Sasuke rested his face in his pillow and released a groan. What was he to make of them? And how was he to deal with them? Clearly, giving in to their every whim would be a very unwise move. In fact, he might even end up more bandaged than Orochimaru had been if he followed them without question. But blatantly disobeying might cause him even more trouble. After all, crazy though they were, they were both quite powerful ninja—significantly more powerful than him.

Furrowing his brow in concentration, however, he lifted his head from his pillow as realization struck him. How he had dealt with them all day had proven very effective. In fact, he could probably be even shorter with them, if he wanted to be. He did not have to listen to them, he did not have to wait for orders—and, even when given orders, he did not have to obey. He might even be able to be the one giving Kabuto orders. And, since he held no respect for Kabuto except as a medical ninja, he found himself feeling strangely superior.

He might even be able to make strongly weighted suggestions to Orochimaru, just as Kabuto had done. Which, considering his insanity, he might just go along with.

Rolling over and staring up at the stone ceiling, Sasuke consoled himself with the thought that he really had no reason to fret in their company. True, he could be understandably disturbed by the snake Sannin, but that did not mean he had to be afraid that Orochimaru would be handing him orders on a day-to-day basis, or would punish him for not falling prey to his every whim.

With a smirk, Sasuke allowed a particularly amusing train of thought to run through his mind.

"After all," he whispered to the surrounding darkness, "how can he punish the chosen one?"

Whatever the hell that meant…