She was awoken to an animalistic screech, her eyes opening to a dark room. In that darkness, a pair of gold eyes glowed, similar to her own. They were the only thing she could see. Her hand went to a kunai that she kept under her pillow and a low chuckle echoed inside the darkness.

"I knew you were my daughter."

"Father," Ariha realized, releasing the weapon.

She pushed her aching body up, tugging the blanket around her shoulders. Another screech bounced off the walls of the hall but Orochimaru seemed undisturbed.

"What is that?" Ariha inquired, her mind cooking up all sorts of things.

Orochimaru was silent for a moment before he took a deep breath.

"You have seen all my notes," he began. "As such, you know I require a body, a host of sorts."
"Yes," Ariha replied. "I'm well versed in the process as well. So what's your point?"

"I enjoy having the privilege of knowing which body will become my next host. Unfortunately, I had to take a new one much sooner than I planned. Dear Blake wasn't ready quite yet and with Sasuke here, I have no use for her."
"And she doesn't like that?"

Orochimaru leaned forward, smirking.

"You have not been here long enough to understand this but I enjoy leaving those saps in turmoil. I play favorites. I give only to see the recipient torn to pieces."

Ariha's eyes were wide as he leaned away.

"That is the kind of man I am," he finished.

Ariha's mind went to Caleb, probably chained in some dreary cell, awaiting whatever torture she chose to bestow upon him.

"I don't care," she declared.

She met his eyes.

"Dispose of Sasuke and use me as your next host," Ariha insisted.

Orochimaru's eyes widened. He hadn't expected that. Hadn't even thought of that. It wasn't even a possibility for him to use his own child's body as his own. Orochimaru rose in one smooth motion, letting his revolution at the idea settle on his new face. Ariha laughed then, tilting her head almost playfully.

"Regardless of what kind of man you are," she said. "You're a different father."

Her hand reached out, touching his cheek.

"I'm not afraid of you," Ariha declared. "I'm afraid of never knowing you."

Karasu rested against the door, nodding his head to the music in his ears. He honestly hated the damn place but he would wait. He had no idea where Ariha was and this was his best bet at seeing her again. Which he needed to do. Slowly, he opened his eyes, gazing at Ariha. She lifted one eyebrow, arms crossing. Karasu turned the music off, yanking out his headphones as he rose.

"Keeping the prisoner on ice?" she asked.

"Waiting for you," he replied.

His fingers touched her arm and she tensed but didn't pull away. Karasu smiled.

"He didn't break you," he observed.

"Only one man has ever broken me," Ariha declared. "And I believe he uses that on his resume."
Karasu kissed her forehead.

"He does not," he assured her. "He's not exactly proud of it."

She rolled her eyes.

"You were waiting here for another reason," she guessed.

"My kingdom needs me," he admitted.

"So go," Ariha insisted.

"I'm not sure I want to," Karasu informed her.

"I'm not weak," Ariha insisted.

She rested her hands on his chest.

"Your people need you," she urged.

"And your mother needs you," he argued.

"I don't want to talk about my mother," Ariha insisted.

She backed away and Karasu feared he was losing her attention.

"Once upon a-"

"Don't."

Her tone was that harsh one she always took when he brought up something she was avoiding.

"You have always loved stories. But this one won't have a happily ever after," Ariha declared. "Something so broken, you can't just glue it back to together and expect it to still hold liquid."
"She's your mother," Karasu pressed.

"You don't understand," Ariha snapped. "You didn't have your parents! Not everything is so easy to forgive just because there is a genetic connection."

Karasu's eyes narrowed.

"You're right. What do I know about family?" he asked.

He brushed past her, storming away. Ariha listened to his footsteps dim, biting her lip. She clenched her hands into fists and walked into Caleb's cell, withdrawing the scalpel she'd pocketed from Kabuto's lab earlier. Caleb smirked as soon as he saw her, amused by her presence. Ariha spun the scalpel with impressive skill, her grip when she finished secure and confident, eyes flashing amber.

"You have hurt the girl. Let's see how you do against the wolf."

Sasuke wasn't in the mood. There was more screams echoing through the hall and he couldn't handle the boredom that came with downtime. So he was wandering. He froze in the hall though as the girl approached. She was a carbon copy of Orochimaru. That was obvious even with the blood on her face. Glancing at her, he found blood was splattered on her clothes and her fingers were stained, a scalpel clutched in one. The other was closed loosely around something else. She spared him a glance as she passed, heading into Kabuto's private lab. Sasuke hurried to the door, hearing the lock click in place and then voices rise up after that. Why were things around this place so weird and secretive? He heard their voices, mostly Kabuto's as he freaked out and then the door opened again. Cleaner than she'd been, Orochimaru's doppleganger glowered at him.

"Step aside," she instructed.

Her tone said he was nothing to her. A mere bug in her path. Sasuke decided to challenge her, prickles of fear actually crawling their way up his spine. He hated that feeling and chose to stand his ground. She grinned, a dark look he'd seen only once.

"Ariha," he whispered.

Now he could recall that smile, the one he'd caught only in a passing flash, the rest of the face shadowed by a wolf ANBU mask. What was she doing here? Why did she look just like Orochimaru? He didn't get an answer. She rested a hand on his chest, shoving him out of the way as if he was just an average scrawny 13 year old rather than a shinobi. He hit the wall, anger building enough that he'd opened his mouth just as she vanished around the corner.

He waited until later that night, unable to sleep, screams still echoing through those halls, pathetic imitations of what the true and up close thing had to be. He was unconcerned by those screams now, confident that they masked his trespassings. Kabuto had forbidden Sasuke's unchaperoned presence in his lab but curiosity had eaten at the sleepless Uchiha since his run in with Ariha. Whatever she'd had clasped in her hand going in, she hadn't had it coming out. Sasuke closed the door behind him, softly, lighting a candle rather than turning on the lights. Even the candle didn't help much, casting the room in a barely seeable but still eerie glow. But now Sasuke could see a lot better, his eyes drawn to Kabuto's specimen jars. There were all matter of things contained. Each jar contained some organ or another; hearts, livers, it was enough to make Sasuke throw up. And he was a shinobi. An Uchiha that had seen his entire family slaughtered. The specimen jars shouldn't have phased him. In fact, the longer he looked at them, the more used to them he got, his eyes adjusting to the lack of lighting as he did. At least until he reached the last jar, tucked away from the others. Sasuke's eyes widened, his throat closing. Floating in that jar, that new jar, was a pair of eyes. Which wasn't unusual. It was the eyes themselves that were unique. Forever frozen in the illusion of a Sharingan, the eyes stared deep into his soul, penetrated his mind and he felt something…snap.

A/N: This ends the Naruto version of Father. Next chapter starts the version that claws its way into Naruto Shippuden.Sorry this chapter was so short!