Me, My Voice, and a Brat

"Always forgive your enimes- nothing annoys them so much."- Oscar Wilde

Orochimaru stretched out his new body. It was surprisingly flexible in comparison to his previous housing. He cracked his neck; shoulders moving back suggestively as he admired toned form. "My, aren't you the vain one..." whispered a voice in the back of his head.

This body is actually stronger than my previous, I commend you. Silence, I did what you asked. The contract has been fulfilled. Orochimaru thought to the disembodied voice lurking in the depths of his consciousness. Sasuke would be arriving soon for his summoning lesson, and the snake sannin didn't want Gen'yumaru to be distracting him. While it was normal for something of the body's previous occupant to leave behind a signature, like strong personality traits, any sense of self vanished after he performed the one request he offered.

Orochimaru paused, the white paint he favored inches from his stolen face. Did he not release those still alive? Was the contract not complete? The only explanation was that he had somehow, impossibly, failed to fulfill the bargain. "Don't be so surprised. No one is infallible. Besides, it's your jutsu that is the problem. Not the contract."

"Impossible." Orochimaru hissed, dropping his brush with the action. He couldn't believe he was talking to a voice in his head. Rumors suggested his failing mentality, and he didn't want to add to them.

"You think everything's all one plus one equals two. Well it isn't that simple. Not all plans work, things happen and your thing was me."

Why are you still here? The most you should be is a faint determination, a will to complete a task only adding to my own strength. Not, this.

Orochimaru could sense if not see the smug grin on his phantoms face. "My will. It's something you underestimated. I've come to the conclusion while flitting around back here, that there isn't much to do. There is a calling to leave which I assume your past victims followed, but I don't. It is not a pleasant thought to leave my body in the hands of a snake."

So there's nothing you can do… Orochimaru once again took up his paintbrush, white cream smearing evenly across his brow. He ignored the protests of the voice, and the comments of acne and other inane things. A smaller brush was used to apply the violet eye shadow, a tradition of his family he had yet to grow out of. Be silent.

"I'll leave you, for now…Orochi-kun."

A shot of adrenalin coursed though his current body as Orochimaru snapped the brush handle. That name, and the mocking tone, put both fear and anger in him. No one was supposed to know about, that. No one. Especially not disembodied voices.

"Orochimaru?" Asked a familiar bored tone.

The old man mentally berated himself. Sasuke had entered while he was absorbed in things best left forgotten. Shot, burned and six-feet-under. Yellow snake-like eyes passed by the splintered make-up handle on their way to focus on the power-hungry teen.

Sasuke had a wonderful body brimming with potential. Dark feathery hair spiked up in the back, and the loose robe reviled a smooth chest. His eyes held a slight ring of red around the pitch iris, testament to his Sharingan. The Uchiha had been training like a mad-man since his brother went postal on the clan, and the fruits of that labor were appealing. For a twelve year old who had yet to go through puberty his progress was amazing. Soon Sasuke-kun, you and your Sharingan will be mine.

In a single motion Orochimaru twirled the broken wood around his thumb and launched it toward the youngest Uchiha. Sasuke, not expecting a sudden attack, barely dodged the missile. As it was he still acquired a cut and a lodged splinter.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, which suddenly shone red. "Ku, ku, ku, Sasuke-kun. A proper ninja should always expect an attack." Not that I was. "When you walk into a room what is the first thing a true shinobi does?" The gold eyed man quizzed his new apprentice. It had been surprisingly simple to override the garbage taught at the academy.

Sasuke dug a small sliver of wood from his cheek as he answered in monotone. It was obvious to Orochimaru that the boy was trying to conceal his anger. "Note all possible exits and block them. Prey cannot escape."

"And if your prey has a weapon in hand?"

"Disarm, disable, decapitate," His eyes returned to their blank normality as he calmed in the assurance of his answer. A scowl contorted his natural good looks much to Orochimaru's distaste. Once he had the body it wouldn't make that expression. It was a waste. "But that was not a weapon."

"Don't you know, Sasuke-kun? In the hands of a proper shinobi everything is a weapon." Orochimaru commented to save face. He rose from the chair, eyes filling with glee. Sasuke tensed in preparation for a battle, his hand reaching for the recently adopted blade at his back. A pointed fat tongue peeked out of Orochimaru's mouth. "I have a little news for you. About Konoha."

"Why would I want to know about those weaklings?"

"Just that, they have apparently died. From the reports your old teammate went insane and killed over half the village."

"Old teammate…Naruto?" Sasuke whispered in shock. The loud-mouth that always proclaimed he would be Hokage, destroy his home? It made no sense. The sannin chuckled as he shot forward, no where near his full power but enough to give the younger ninja a run for his money. Sasuke unsheathed the katana just in time to block the sword coming for his neck.

"Sasuke-kun. Keep your mind focused on the moment. Don't think about others, they only hold you back." The sword tipped tongue retracted.

The Uchiha grunted and his eyes turned cold, all emotion quickly buried. He jumped to the side, kicking at the man's face. Orochimaru easily blocked. Still, I can't really blame him. After hearing about it from Kabuto, I nearly killed the messenger.

END.