Kabuto woke up unable to move.
Testing his limits, he found that his hands had been tied painfully tightly behind his back and someone had bothered to silence him and blind him. Kabuto heaved a mental sigh; now he was going to get it.
Footsteps sounded and stopped very close to Kabuto's face.
"See you've woke up."
Kabuto jolted at the sound of Itachi's voice.
What do you want with me? Why are you doing this?!
"Little brat," Itachi muttered, and Kabuto felt the tip of a foot prodding his side. "And make sure you don't try anything. I will have to use my Mangekyou on you."
…Shit…
Kabuto tested his limits again, but still got no luck. Itachi noticed him struggling, and he felt a sharp kick to his side. Fighting a yelp, Kabuto quieted and lay still again.
"You're probably wondering where you are, why you're here, what I want you for-and it's only natural. Well, I'll tell you, simply so you don't bother me later. I need a way to manipulate Orochimaru, and he's only so intimidated of me. I can only threaten him so much. So, I need to use you to use him. I need Orochimaru…simply for my own filthy purposes."
Oh, don't you dare-if you place one finger on him it will be the end of your life on this earth!
Itachi laughed and kicked Kabuto again. "Upset? Good."
Orochimaru-sama…OOOOOOOOO
Orochimaru stood pacing.
Where was that boy? And where was Kakashi? It was as if both of them had simply disappeared off the face of the earth…and Kabuto never disappeared. He came when Orochimaru called him-period. Unless he couldn't come…
"Orochimaru!!"
Orochimaru sighed and walked out of his throne room, parting the snake-carved double doors with a flick of his wrist.
"Kimimaro?" he asked, puzzled.
"It's Kabuto, Orochimaru-sama!" Kimimaro gasped. "I last saw him with Itachi, and now he's gone. I um, kind of followed them, and I saw Itachi knock Kabuto out, and then…I ran away."
Orochimaru felt his jaw falling, but he didn't make any attempt to hide his shock. His entire body then went numb; a shock wave traveled down his spine, over his hips, and down until he couldn't feel himself falling. He caught himself at the last moment, scrambling forward to compensate for lost balance. Kimimaro's hands fastened over his hips, holding him up and pulling him close. Orochimaru didn't bother to shove him away; he knew he would lose himself again if he did. Kimimaro just stood there for another minute, knowing he couldn't leave now. He was too far into this mess…he never should have gotten involved-
"Orochimaru-sama, what are you going to do?"
Orochimaru shook his head. "I have no idea. I suppose whatever Itachi wants…"
Kimimaro sighed. "I guess one of us should go and talk to him…"
Kimimaro eased himself away from Orochimaru, and the sannin found his feet again. A wry smile found its way to Kimimaro's lips.
"Should I smack the feeling back into you?"
Orochimaru sighed. He was still numb, so nothing really registered. "I don't care…"
Kimimaro smiled again and stepped back. "I'm going to find Itachi. Please, don't stress yourself. I'll take care of it."
"No…no," Orochimaru said slowly. "No, I'll deal with it."
Kimimaro felt a pang of concern rise in his throat. "Are you sure? Can you-?"
"Of course," Orochimaru growled. His hands curled into fists, knuckles cracking furiously. "Because now I'm really mad!"
OOOOOOOOO
Wait for it…wait for it…wait for it…"Uchiha Itachi!!!!!!!!!!!"
There it is.
Itachi smirked as Orochimaru came stomping down the hallway to Akatsuki headquarters. That didn't take long. Body Flicker, probably.
"Where is Kabuto?! Don't you make me-"
Itachi's smirk only grew. "You're such a moron. You have no clue, do you?"
Orochimaru could feel his face flushing angrily. "I thought I told you-"
Itachi shrugged. "I lied."
Orochimaru's shoulders came up, hands balling into fists at his sides. "I have…had it with you, asshole!!!"
He charged Itachi with reckless abandon, Kusanji welling up in his esophagus. It sprung forth into Orochimaru's hands with a vengeance, and Orochimaru took it willingly. He held it before him, running like a mad bull. Itachi ducked as quickly as Orochimaru had summoned it. Orochimaru felt an ankle flying towards his, and created a clone. Itachi stopped cold, focusing his Sharingan.
"Bingo."
Orochimaru and his clone split, each waving a threatening Kusanji. Itachi saw what Orochimaru was aiming for and smiled.
"You should just give up," he sneered. "You've already entered into my reading, and your jutsu as well. I know exactly what you're about to do."
Think, Orochimaru! the sannin raged. Come on, there's got to be a way…!
Kusanji…Taijutsu…
Taijutsu! That's it! He can't see taijutsu!
Orochimaru leaped forward, two clones at once. Itachi smirked.
"Dance of the Crescent Moon? That jutsu was buried with that Hayate kid from Konoha!"
Orochimaru cloned himself again, making three Kusanji, and three of himself. Damn, this better work-!
Itachi prepared himself for a three-pronged attack-
But only got one.
Orochimaru's clones abruptly disappeared, leaving only the original. Orochimaru held Kusanji at he ready, perfectly aligned with Itachi's chest. The missing-nin jumped back barely ahead of Orochimaru, leaving the sannin to smash into the floor, Kusanji taking most of the impact. Orochimaru rolled towards Itachi, slashing at his torso. Itachi kicked out, catching Orochimaru in the forearm. Orochimaru grunted as a massive bruise rose to the surface, but he kept up his attack, never letting Itachi regroup. By now a crowd had gathered to watch the Kage-level battle.
Orochimaru pushed himself to his feet, purple aura beginning to emerge. Itachi's Sharingan spun wildly, focusing on one target only: Orochimaru.
"Back down," Itachi growled, "and I might go easy on you."
Orochimaru smiled. "So you say. But I may as well fight and avoid the damage than just take it like a defenseless animal."
Itachi shrugged. "Your loss. Tsukiyomi!"
Orochimaru immediately looked at Itachi's feet. It was a difficult way to fight, but he had been through enough practices with Sasuke to know how to do it relatively well by now. He focused on Itachi's feet, watching the muscles twitch. He realized Itachi was playing with him, trying to make him spazz.
Okay…plan B.
Orochimaru raised his hand, forming the sign of the tiger. Three clones of Orochimaru appeared, Kusanji in hand.
I almost got him last time…I hope I can do it again.
Orochimaru fixed his gaze on Itachi's feet and separated his clones, moving to circle Itachi.
"Oh, this move again?" Itachi said. Orochimaru could almost hear the smile in his voice. "Please, Orochimaru, entertain me!"
Orochimaru grit his teeth and dove into Itachi again. The missing-nin scanned the clones with his Sharingan, looking over the illusions and setting aside the real body.
"Dead."
Itachi rushed towards Orochimaru's real body, kunai ready to impale him. Orochimaru sighed and ducked, swinging Kusanji up at the same time. Itachi felt a sting and looked down.
Kusanji had drawn a line of blood down his arm.
Itachi was stunned. He hadn't been wounded in…how long? It must have been years…it wasn't that he didn't do anything; quite the contrary, in fact. He just couldn't be touched by enemies. And here was Orochimaru, who usually had his face pounded in whenever Itachi went up against him, and he had landed a blow.
How could he…?
What made him so strong all of a sudden…?
Itachi grit his teeth, controlling his anger, and looked up at Orochimaru.
"You bastard! I'll crush you for that!"
Orochimaru smiled. So close…
Itachi rushed him, knowing Orochimaru was still focused on his feet. The Mangekyou glared, burning bloody red, staring straight at Orochimaru.
"Genjutsu!" Itachi's hands flashed in the signs of a jutsu. "Tree Bind Death!"
A tree sprang up behind Orochimaru, wrapping its thick branched around his body and pinning his arms to his sides. Orochimaru knew it was Genjutsu; what he didn't know was how to break it.
"You can't," Itachi said, walking slowly towards him. "You're too weak. Tsukiyomi."
Orochimaru fought against Itachi's hold, but the tree tightened around his body, threatening to crush him. It's only genjutsu, come on, break it already!
Orochimaru looked around frantically for any escape route, only trying to avoid Itachi's eyes at this point. He looked up to see if where he had dropped Kusanji-
-and looked right into Itachi's eyes.
The world faded to black.
OOOOOOOOO
Orochimaru was slow to wake, dreading what he knew Itachi would do to him. And sure enough, his arms were spread out and chained to a cross, his feet chained as well. Itachi stood in front of him, katana in hand.
"For the next seventy-two hours, you won't even be able to see straight from pain," he said, raising the katana. Orochimaru shuddered, knowing he was about to be tortured out of his mind.
"I will teach you to submit to me like you have never been forced to submit to anyone before. And you will obey me."
"Says you," Orochimaru muttered. "I never told you I would let you push me over like a weak little animal. You know as well as I do that I will fight you."
"Stop causing yourself more pain," Itachi snapped, and stabbed Orochimaru between his ribs. Orochimaru groaned with the pain; seventy-two hours? Could he make it? There was only one way to find out…
He blacked out again.
OOOOOOOOO
Kabuto knew he was in trouble. He still hadn't gotten out of his restraints, and he knew Orochimaru was close. And in pain. He also knew Itachi was the source of it, and he had to get to Orochimaru fast.
If he could ever get himself free.
Kabuto sighed and focused his chakra to his hands, trying to use it to cut the rope. He was surprised he hadn't thought of this before; chakra scalpel cut everything. An if Kabuto was lucky, that little pill he had swallowed when he saw Itachi's hand headed towards his face was still good…
As it was, he was lucky. The pill was still in his stomach, though almost dissolved. Kabuto brought forth his chakra scalpel and severed the ropes, making an effort to make the cuts clean. If he sawed at them too much, it might look like he was struggling. If he made the cuts clean enough, he might be able to cover his tracks.
But there was no time now. Orochimaru-sama was in trouble-and in Kabuto's book, that was an emergency not to be taken lightly.
A/N: The next chapter might be M, I'm not sure what I want to do yet…so if you want it to stay T, tell me. I can leave it as is, or I can make it hardcore. Whatever. But if you don't tell me, rating goes up and you have yaoi on your hands. So…REVIEW!!!!