A/N Hello again. I was home early enough to post this. Must keep the flow going. No warnings really, but there's tension building between the Uchihas.

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Raylin woke to soft rapping at her door. "Raylin, wake up. I have some breakfast for you." It was Kabuto. She let him in, and he placed a tray of food on the table next to the books. "Orochimaru says that Sasuke is asking about you again today. He won't concentrate. He wants me to ask if you'll get ready soon so you can talk to him."

"I will in good time. I need to finish these books first."

"There's no time for that now. We're losing precious moments in Sasuke's essential training. Every moment lost can't be regained."

"I've been deceived. How do I know that you won't take this information away from me if I leave it?"

"I was instructed to keep it from you when you came here, and I have been instructed to give it to you now that you need to know these things. This knowledge will only make you stronger. Orochimaru wants you to move up and get stronger at your own pace now, not at his pace for you. He has actually held you back a bit. But if you accelerate your growth, Sasuke will notice and will challenge himself, because right now, you are leagues beyond him." She looked at him. Was he just saying what she wanted to hear? How could she trust him? She didn't have much choice. She did want to see Sasuke. If she was indeed leagues ahead of Sasuke, Kabuto had better watch out. She was a medical ninja taught by him and Orochimaru, she would destroy him if he deceived her.

"Leave me then. I need to get cleaned up."

"Don't forget to eat. You need your strength."

After she ate, she felt a bit more energized. She cleaned herself up and decided to make herself as beautiful as possible. If she was going to spend any time with Sasuke, she wanted him to look at her as a woman, not just as a newly found Uchiha. Her efforts to make herself irresistible were evident when Kabuto came to get her. She let him in and he did a double take, "Wow. You look incredible. I'm sure Sasuke will approve."

She glared at him. He took a step back, the hair on his neck standing up in response to the ferocity of her look. She walked past him bristling with anger that he physically felt. He let her lead the way. She growled at him, "Where is he?"

"Meeting room."

"Good." She went right to the room where Kabuto jumped in front of her just in time to open the door for her. Sasuke was inside pacing, but he stopped when he heard the door open. He turned to see Kabuto's head peek inside, to which he let out a low growl. Kabuto opened the door wider revealing Raylin. Sasuke's look softened a bit when he saw her. She brightened a bit as he looked at her. Both turned to look at Kabuto.

Sasuke said, "Leave us."

"Not for very long."

"Just go!" Sasuke practically shouted at him. The sound of his voice, so commanding made Raylin's skin prickle. Kabuto slunk back out the door and closed it behind him. "Raylin, I've been asking about you. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine Sasuke. I should be asking you that. I didn't hold much back the other day."

"How is your back?"

"You know I haven't thought about it much."

"I kicked you pretty hard."

"I know, I felt it."

"Here, let me see."

"That's not necessary, really,"

"Come on, stand up. Let me see."

"Sasuke, I'm the medical ninja. I'm fine really."

"Just humor me."

"Alright." Raylin stood up and turned around. She started to lift up the back of her shirt a little, and then she felt Sasuke's hand push her shirt up higher.

"My God, I did that to you?"

"Did what?"

"Your whole right side is pretty black and blue."

"But I don't feel anything. No pain."

"Even here?" Sasuke put his hand against the bruise and pushed slightly. The warmth of his hand sent tingles up her back, but the pressure that followed smarted a bit.

"Ouch, ok, yeah, I feel it now." He slowly withdrew the pressure on his hand, letting it fall away from her skin.

"I'm really sorry," he said.

"You were only doing what you were told, so was I."

"Let's sit and talk while we can. There's a lot you need to know."

Raylin told him what she had read, and he began to fill in the gaps for her.

Meanwhile, Kabuto went back to Orochimaru. "She's with him now."

"Good. He needs her for a while. She's a link to his past. An innocent link. She is not someone he can hate, but instead, she is someone he can cling to, someone he can protect. This is very good indeed. We can use her to get what we want out of him."

"She seems to want to be with him too. What if she won't cooperate with us?"

"She'll cooperate. She wants him. It's physical. I told her he'd be her first. I'm most certain that he still will be. And we will nurture that. We want that to happen. We want them as close as two people can be.

"Because then when they are forcibly separated,"

"Each one will do whatever it takes,"

"Whatever it takes, to ensure the other's safety."

"Including sacrifice themselves if necessary."

"Exactly." Orochimaru smiled at Kabuto. His plan was moving along so well he almost couldn't believe it. "Give them another half an hour. Don't want them to have too much time together too soon. If they figure out what we're doing, it would be very bad for us." Kabuto nodded.

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A/N Up next, the Uchihas get closer and come up with an idea. See you soon!