Disclaimer: Naruto is mine for nevermore... :(

Chapter 13

Kakashi paced, raking a hand through his hair, finding no other way to express his apprehension.

"Kakashi-san. Sit down." Yamato Tenzou watched his former-captain, now-subordinate with something akin to distress. From what he understood, not only was the Uchiha boy a student of his, but also the boyfriend of one of his friends. That coupling had immediately sent the silver-haired man's stress levels through the roof.

And he completely ignored the suggestion—because it wasn't an order—of his superior. Yamato sighed and tried another approach.

"You don't even know if he's been caught by Orochimaru."

Kakashi glanced up. "Wandering around the streets of Konoha isn't a much better theory."

Yamato had to agree. While Konoha was, for the most part, a good, respectable city, it had its share of unfriendly inhabitants. Like Orochimaru, he thought and sighed.

"Just relax. We should get a search warrant in just a bit longer."

Kakashi stopped. Frowned. "Just a bit longer might be just a bit too late."

Sasuke was only vaguely aware that he'd been brought back to his room, a light blanket wrapped around his form.

The mild sedative numbed him and shock still shook him, literally, faint trembles flitting through his body at random intervals, and it made his head hurt to think about Kimimaro and... his eyes...

They weren't like before, right now. They were back to their old, familiar soulless black that seemed so infinitely better now. He couldn't see things before they happened and he didn't know how to make it like that again—but he wouldn't use them. No, he couldn't use them. Not—not what killed his Kimimaro.

Sasuke tilted his head and wondered if he could somehow break the window and jump out of it. If he was lucky, he would die. It would be difficult, though; he wasn't very high up, but maybe if he landed right. Might break his neck...

He'd been such a fool. To dream of freedom. To think he could live with Naruto and be happy. But it had been such a nice dream. It was one he would remember for a long time; hold on to, no matter how foolish and child-like. He was already forgetting things. Like what Naruto's hair felt like between his fingers, or his smell. And little things, like how his voice would break if he shouted too loudly.

If Sasuke was honest with himself, he would admit that he couldn't let go of that—of that small moment of paradise. He clung desperately to those memories that hadn't slipped away just yet. Naruto's eyes crinkling when he smiled—no, not a cruel smile, a warm smile—or that low laugh when it seemed like he was half-trying to hide his amusement. Sasuke could remember things like that. But maybe he was holding onto those memories too tightly, because he felt like whenever he turned his mind to them, they'd just slip away. Disappear.

If Sasuke was honest with himself, he'd admit that he knew that he wouldn't ever live so freely again.

"Kimimaro?"

The teenager opened an eye, smiling tiredly at the young boy nervously fidgeting in the doorway and looking quite uncertain. He waved the boy over, shifting to sit up a little in his bed. Sasuke hurried over with childish eagerness to his frail friend, but in a controlled manner. As if he was afraid Kimimaro would shatter if he wasn't careful.

"Good morning Sasuke." The elder greeted, as if this was a normal thing. It wasn't; not at all. Sasuke couldn't meet his eyes, instead toying with a loose thread in the blanket. "What's wrong?" Kimimaro inquired, watching the boy carefully. The small child bit his lip.

"When are you going to get better?" His voice was small and timid, as if he feared the answer—and with a start, Kimimaro realized he had every reason to fear it.

"Soon." He promised hollowly.

Sasuke looked up at him sharply, voice taking an upset tone, "But you've missed a whole week of school!"

"Shh." Kimimaro reached over and stroked Sasuke's hair, lamenting the cold, ironic fact that he could not hide the truth from the child. He swallowed, throat tightening, fingers trembling imperceptibly. He couldn't hide the truth from himself either. "Orochimaru-sama is working out a solution. It's okay."

"I hate him." Said Sasuke with childish disdain that was overshadowed with sorrow and truthfulness.

"He's only doing what he's supposed to." Kimimaro murmured softly. His words changed nothing.

White bandages peeked out from under the long sleeves of Sasuke's shirt and Kimimaro's stomach churned. He shifted his gaze to the boy's face.

"Go to school. We'll talk later."

Sasuke hesitated and nodded, leaving the room with a quiet 'bye' and nothing more.

Kimimaro directed his gaze to his lap as the door clicked closed and shut his stinging eyes.

Sudden coughs shook his frame, thick, bloody phlegm splattering onto the hand over his mouth. The coughs subsided and tears collected with the blood at the corners of his mouth.

He was dying.

Kabuto frowned deeply as he watched Orochimaru look through his papers, his expression one that could only be described as happy, which, in his not-so-humble opinion, was never an entirely positive thing.

"Orochimaru-sama," He began respectfully, "if I may, I'd like to give Sasuke-kun a quick physical check-up to make sure he is entirely healthy..."

"He's fine, Kabuto." Orochimaru said dismissively, hardly sparing his aide a glance. "The experiment was a total success. He may require some time to adjust to his new eyes and learn to control them, but he is entirely healthy."

Kabuto frowned, but gave a curt nod and backed out of the room.

It was moments later that he stood in front of Sasuke's door, frown still present and deeper than before.

He knocked politely on the door, calling out a gentle, "Sasuke-kun?" and when he received no reply, he unlocked the door and stepped inside. Orochimaru always made a point of giving Sasuke no possibility of escape now, but he seemed to enjoy taunting the boy with the view from the window.

Sasuke was tangled in his sheets, sleeping fitfully. The medic watched for a moment, observing how the raven's eyes flitted nervously behind his eyelids, how his foot would twitch at intervals, and the overall discomfort of the scene. It was all taking its toll on Sasuke's already-fragile psyche.

And Kabuto walked forward jerkily, as if he'd never intended to stay still in the first place, and planted a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, giving him a firm but gentle shake.

The reaction was instantaneous. Sasuke's eyes sprung open, blazing a fierce red, and he instinctually jumped away. Or rather, stumbled, as the sheets refused to give way, and with a small cry the teenager landed, colliding painfully with the floor. He stared up at Kabuto, red eyes flicking back and forth as if searching and Kabuto stared back at the child.

Finally, gradually, Sasuke's eyes shifted back to their endless black.

Sasuke was very unlike Kimimaro, for having loved him so. The green-eyed teenager had been docile and polite and obedient. Kimimaro had never hated Orochimaru; he had accepted quickly that the man had a job to do, and so he never begrudged Orochimaru the suffering he had to endure. Kimimaro had been broken, long ago resigned to his fate, but willing to help another refuse it.

Sasuke, Kabuto had always found, was angry, depressed, confused, but determined. He'd never figured out what drove the raven-haired boy so, but it didn't matter overly much. And peering into those black eyes, he saw a bit of Kimimaro there... a bit of... resigned hopelessness that had never been there before, or if it had been, Kabuto had never noticed. Sasuke was broken, and it seemed ironic, funny even, that it had been so easy, so simple to do. Just to take him away from his one source of hope. But broken things could be fixed. Even Kimimaro, before his death, had displayed a fierce amount of strength.

Kabuto callously grabbed Sasuke's wrist, ignoring the uncertain flinch that accompanied the action, and pulled the boy to his feet.

"You look horrible." Sasuke blinked at Kabuto's bluntness and forced himself to calm down. "Take a shower and pull yourself together."

Kakashi sat next to Naruto in the hospital. They were both silent, unsure of what to say and minds on a dark mansion elsewhere.

"They've left the station by now." Kakashi said with a sigh, staring up at the clock on the wall. The blond was silent next to him, fidgeting quietly. Kakashi understood, because the stress was killing him too. "They didn't want me to go." He admitted. "Said I was too emotionally involved in the case. They were afraid I would screw up. But Tenzou is a great captain. Used to work under me before I became a teacher. He's smart and I'm sure he'll handle the situation very carefully."

"Do you think that Sasuke will be okay?" Naruto asked demurely.

Kakashi hesitated as he remembered the files, the bold words 'deceased', 'suspect', and 'missing' flashing through his mind. He swallowed and hoped he wasn't taking too long to reply.

"Yeah." Kakashi gently ruffled his hair. "They have to take him to this hospital due to procedures. We'll find out almost right away."

Naruto gave a weak smile and nodded. "Okay."

"I see." Orochimaru's jaw tightened, a deep frown crossing his features. "We'll leave right now. Thank you, Kakuzu." With an angry hiss, he placed the phone in its cradle, and growled lowly.

After a few moments of rummaging and clever rearranging of files, Orochimaru moved swiftly out of his office and hurried up the flight of stairs and without knocking unlocked Sasuke's door and walked in.

The boy had been sitting on the edge of his bed, a small black book resting on his knees as he read it. Sasuke's anxiety instantly showed through, although it was well-contained. The hand holding the book tightened, his shoulders stiffened, and his eyes narrowed.

Orochimaru covered the distance between them in a few long strides, grasping the boy's chin firmly to capture his complete attention. If he paid close attention, Orochimaru could almost feel the teenager tremble.

"We're leaving," Was all he said and with hardly having to coax, Sasuke followed after him, book sliding from his grasp and crumpling to the ground.

Back downstairs, Orochimaru was quickly and quietly issuing orders to Kabuto as Sasuke waited in the kitchen, occasionally catching a phrase or two as he idly surveyed the area.

"We've been found out..."

Kabuto had been making lunch. Some things had been left out on the counter, and Sasuke used his fingers to comb damp hair out of his eyes.

"...contact Sasori..."

Without really thinking about why, Sasuke haltingly reached out and picked up the paring knife Kabuto had left out on the counter, dropping it in his pocket.

"...can't let all of this go to waste."

Half a second later, Orochimaru turned to him again, having finished speaking to Kabuto, and practically pushed Sasuke out the door, taking his elbow and quickly (but confidently, purposefully) began to stride toward the edge of the forest with the boy in tow.

Paranoia kicked in and Sasuke dug his heels into the ground, a strong feeling of foreboding warning against going into the unknown territory of the forest. Orochimaru glanced back in annoyance, but rather than turning to manipulative and mocking words he tugged sharply on the boy's arm, making the boy gasp softly at the sharp but brief pain and stumble after the older man.

Biting his lip, he glanced back at the mansion and the gate as he was steadily led away, every instinct screaming at him that he couldn't just let this happen. Something was very, very wrong, and every step toward the forest made things worse.

He walked past a tree, and then another, and he couldn't take it anymore.

In a desperate gesture, he wrenched his arm out of Orochimaru's grasp and instinctively turned to run, not fool enough to think he could fight and win against the man.

But it hardly mattered when fingers twisted into the collar of his shirt and jerked him back. Wincing, Sasuke turned quickly and lashed out with a fist, only for it to be caught and twisted at just the right angle to make it hurt.

Feeling old, violent hatred creep up on him, Sasuke glared at Orochimaru's sneering countenance, barely processing the man's words through his rage.

"You always had to make things difficult, didn't you? I could have made you powerful..."

With startling speed and force, Sasuke was released and before he could even command his body to move again, he found himself pressed against the rough bark of a tree, long white fingers around his throat, barely allowing air into his lungs. Inwardly flinching, Sasuke looked up at the cold, cruel gold eyes.

"I took care of you... I took you off the streets..."

Orochimaru's lip curled slowly.

"And this is how you repay me?"

Dark amusement filtered onto the tall man's face and he slowly cut off Sasuke's air supply.

"You really don't remember, do you?"

Sasuke struggled against the man, trying to push away his hand, trying to breath. Orochimaru didn't even seem to notice.

"I always thought that you didn't want to admit it, but maybe you really did make yourself forget everything."

Sasuke gasped weakly against the pressure on his throat, starved for oxygen, and struggled more insistently, trying not to listen.

"It was your brother's idea, not mine." Sasuke flinched and some deep urgency made him want to make Orochimaru shut up. "He practically sold you to me. He wanted to know if I could duplicate the Sharingan without harmful side-effects. He killed your parents in front of you, and then he gave you to me. You were crying. Just like you are right now."

His voice dropped to a soft note, thick with amusement. Sasuke's vision went from blurred to clear and back again as his eyes flickered between red and black.

"Does any of this ring a bell, Sasuke?"

Sasuke choked against Orochimaru's grip, trying and failing to breathe, fumbling for the knife he had taken, fingers skimming along the blade before wrapping around the handle and lashing out sloppily. He realized too late that the blade was facing the wrong way, but Orochimaru jumped back anyway and Sasuke was overcome with vertigo for a moment as he regained his breath.

When he looked up, Orochimaru's gold eyes are narrowed and he knew the man was furious but confident. He held the knife tighter and stepped back. Orochimaru only sneered.

"Do you really think you can kill me, Sasuke?"

His words were soft and condescending and Sasuke knew he had to try something else.

In one smooth movement, he shifted the knife from in front of him to pressing the blade against his neck. Orochimaru's lip curled but Sasuke took satisfaction at the flash of worry in the man's eyes.

"Slitting your own throat takes a great deal of conviction. You have to cut through bone and muscle. Can you do that?"

Sasuke's moment of hesitation was all Orochimaru needed and in movements too fast for Sasuke to keep up with, he knocked the knife away from the boy's throat, leaving behind only a tiny red cut. In the small struggle that ensued, Sasuke somehow managed to free his wrist from Orochimaru's grip and stabbed blindly with the knife.

The blade pierced through the base of Orochimaru's neck and slowly, almost by accident, ripped upward. The man's eyes widened and he pushed away, hands grasping uselessly at his throat even as he choked on his own blood and Sasuke's thoughts stilled as he watched.

He felt sick. A part of him felt a bit of thrill at having finally done something, having finally stopped being so weak and childish... Taking his life into his own hands. Hadn't he always wanted revenge?

But why did it have to be this way?

His head throbbed painfully as he felt anger drain away as if it had never been there; like he could never be angry again.

Everything that had happened in such a short amount of time. Minutes.

He shut his eyes as he felt them change unsteadily between normal and wrong; as he struggled with the things Orochimaru had told him. (Lies, lies... Let it all be lies!)

He felt very, very tired.

Sasuke's back hit a tree and he open his eyes, finding himself staring back at the mansion and detachedly watching the men and women swarm in and around it—like ugly, overgrown black ants.

He heard gunshots. Were they hurting Kabuto? Panicked shouts registered. Oh, He realized. Traps.

He could smell blood to his left, he could feel the warm liquid on his hand and cheeks rapidly cooling in disgusting symbolism.

The forest was very quiet.

Sasuke allowed himself to slide down the tree numbly and his eyelids fell closed as he saw two of those 'ants' run toward him, shouting something that he felt too tired to try and understand.

End Chapter 13

Bye-bye, Orochi-kun! We love you! Send a postcard!

This chapter was such a monster. D8 Not cool. But it's not like I could just... skip it...

I'm also kicking myself for thinking up a totally better version of chapter 12, with the same result. And it's too late. Damn. Murphy's law.