As soon as Oruchimaru had bitten this Uchiha prodigy, he knew. He could taste the sheer wrongness of it all in his blood.
He placed the curse seal on his neck anyway. It was too lovely a stretch of skin not to mark. And besides, this Uchiha had such a burning desire for revenge. Watching him destroy his own life for the sake of power he wouldn't be granted would be interesting, to say the least. Having mastered every jutsu, Oruchimaru was certainly more than a little bored.
So when Sasuke came to seek him out, he turned the child away with a sadistic smirk. He was right- it was enjoyable to watch the shell-shocked boy, fresh from his battle with his closest friend, flare to life as his eyes finally showed some emotion with his pupils dilating in shock. "No! Teach me anyway! I don't care if I'm going to die!"
Oruchimaru felt joyous. He knew Sasuke had absolutely nothing to return to now. The blood of his best friend, that blonde, was still on his hands. "Ah, but Sasuke," he hissed, leaning until his lips nearly touched the frozen boy's ear, "how would that benefit me?" Sasuke flinched. "Besides," he continued in satisfaction, "watching humans destroy themselves is just so amusing." He pulled back, smiling, and watched the other's black eyes as Sasuke realized what this meant for him.
Those eyes widened, emphasized by the blood and tears still streaking his face. He lunged foreword swiftly and grabbed Oruchimaru. Blue chakra began to spark from his hands. "NO! I have to kill my bro-"
Kabuto stood behind him, blue chakra fading from his hands as the Uchiha crumpled to the ground. Oruchimaru grinned. This was good.
Not bothering to conceal his glee, he let out a hoarse, shrill laugh, clapping his hands together once.
So what if his preferred body was incompetent? There were plenty of others to choose from. Sasuke had given him a cause to feel especially happy- watching people destroy themselves was fun, but watching such a strong, proud individual do so was very nearly priceless.
--
"Achoo!" Sasuke watched in amusement as Naruto nearly fell off the cot. "Achoo!" Sasuke's eyebrows dropped. Okay, maybe not so funny.
"Oy, dobe, you okay?" he asked, feigning indifference.
It really wasn't so funny in a hospital.
"Of c-c-ourACHOO!" replied Naruto, eyes tearing. He sniffed. Sasuke watched him carefully. "Man, these hospital rooms really suck, you know that? I didn't think living in one would be that big a deal, but this is so boring! And it's way too clean! It's not natural!"
Sasuke sighed. He should have known it would be something like that. "Hn."
Naruto looked at him curiously. "Hey Sasuke, don't you ever get bored in here? I mean you've bee staying here for like… ages!" Sasuke closed his eyes.
"Of course I got bored, idiot. Hospitals aren't meant to be fun."
Naruto stared at him with wide eyes. "So… what did you do?" he asked. Sasuke frowned.
What had he done?
He thought back. Sleep, he realized. He slept a lot. That and get tested, which was never boring, certainly. Just painful and humiliating. After those, he would always go back to sleep. They were tiring.
"…sleep," he finally replied flatly.
"Well, I'm not tired. So talk to me, jerk!"
Sasuke glared at him tiredly. What if he never slept again because of his friend? Then how could he face any tests? "I'm going to sleep," he said shortly, turning his back to the blonde. His eyes became heavy almost immediately.
"Well you're no fun," he heard Naruto mutter as his dreams swallowed him.
--
Well lookit! I updated! Wow, sorry about the wait. And the length, once again. And actually, I'm sorry about this chapter in general. I needed to fit in that flashback, but I couldn't figure out what to write to finish up the chapter, so that last bit is mostly filler. But the next chapter should be better
Love ya for reading, love ya more if there's a review left over
…please? Feedback is excellent.
-Ume