Orochimaru's first instinct was the fight back: not again, not ever again! But suddenly, he felt the sting of a needle entering his arm, and gave a shudder of submission. Itachi felt this and backed up a bit.

"That was to get your chakra back."

Orochimaru glanced down at the puncture wound, still seeping blood a bit. Sure enough, purple chakra was leaking out: Orochimaru's dark aura. Itachi stepped back, but his hand never left the side of Orochimaru's face.

"I know you won't believe it," he said softly, caressing Orochimaru's cheek as gently as he could. "But you should."

"Then why?" Orochimaru gasped, finally finding the strength to breathe. "Why would you…hurt me like this?" he finally said. Because that was the truth: Itachi had hurt him, worse than anyone ever had. "If you loved me, why would you do that to me?"

Itachi smiled softly. "Because I wanted you that badly," he said.

"If you had asked, I would have said yes!" Orochimaru cried, throwing Itachi's hand off him. "Before…before all this…and Kabuto…and…"

Itachi's arms found their way around Orochimaru's shaking shoulders and lower back, and Itachi pulled Orochimaru to rest against his shoulder. "Is that why you won't accept me?" he asked, stroking Orochimaru like a domestic pet. "Because of Kabuto?"

Orochimaru sighed. "Well, now," he said. "If you hadn't done this before…maybe…we could have…"

Itachi sighed in return, gently kissing Orochimaru's forehead between his dark bangs. "Well…what's holding you back now?"

"I-I've already…slept with him…"

Itachi stood stock still for a moment. "You…you did what?"

"You heard me," Orochimaru growled, flinging Itachi off him. "I slept with him! Because he truly loves me! He's not just another cowering servant-he really does care!"

Orochimaru stepped back, away from Itachi, only to find the missing-nin's hand clamped firmly around his wrist. "Defying me?" Itachi snarled, yanking Orochimaru back to him. "I think not…I'll teach you to disobey me!"

"No!" Orochimaru's voice rose to a frantic scream. "Not again, please no! I don't love you, and I never will! Not if you keep doing this to me! I could never love you, not ever! Not as long as you treat me like this! Please, no!"

Itachi, however, showed no mercy, and Orochimaru's pleas fell on deaf ears. He shoved Orochimaru into the wall, crushing his wrists together above his head. Orochimaru screamed and kicked out, twisting back and forth in Itachi's grip. Itachi was struggling with Orochimaru now, finally screaming in rage and throwing Orochimaru to the floor. The sannin tried to get up, only to be kicked down again, and Itachi began hammering him over and over again.

"Well, then, if you're going to be difficult, I'll just have to force you to be submissive," he said slowly, delivering harsh kicks and punches to Orochimaru's suddenly-fragile body. Orochimaru kept trying to get away, but only succeeded in being driven into a corner. Unable to get away, he was forced to simply lay there and take the punishing blows laid on his pale skin. Orochimaru could feel the tears blossoming behind his deep, golden eyes, but did not fight them any longer; he knew it was over. There was nothing he could do. If he wasn't being used and played, he was being abused and mistreated. It didn't fit! What was Itachi's grudge against him?

The burn on his arm suddenly flared to life, pain as fresh as the brand. And as Orochimaru lost consciousness, he gave one final scream of submission:

"You may love me, but I hate you."

OOOOOOOOOO

Kabuto sat against a rock, twiddling his thumbs. He had nothing better to do, and Hidan wouldn't lave him alone.

"So, you're the one who killed Sasori, huh?" he was saying. "You must really be something…hey, if you can, can you take a look at this gash across my chest, I think it's infected…"

Kabuto audibly groaned and walked away.

He could hear screaming as he walked down the hallway, and realized with a start he was nearing Itachi's room. He picked up the pace, worried. All of a sudden, there was a deathly scream: "You may love me, but I hate you!" and the world was silent. Kabuto felt chills down his spine as he heard the scream; it sounded so much like Orochimaru…Kabuto didn't want to believe it had happened again, but he set one hand on the doorknob-

And was almost hit in the face with the door.

Itachi had flung open the door, almost hitting Kabuto in the face, and charged out, shoving the genin to the side. "Stay out of my room," he growled as he passed, but did nothing else to prevent Kabuto from entering. The door was still open as well.

Itachi was begging Kabuto to go in.

Kabuto slipped in, quiet as a shadow, and began looking around the darkened room for Orochimaru. He couldn't find him immediately, although he expected to. But the trail of blood along the floor might be a clue…Kabuto followed the blood all the way into a dark corner, where it finally pooled around a pale-skinned body covered in cuts and bruises-

"Orochimaru-sama!"

Kabuto bent down next to his wounded master, checking for a pulse and checking Orochimaru over for serious injuries. It seemed he was only unconscious, and nothing more. Kabuto gave a quick sigh of relief, holding Orochimaru's lifeless body across his arms. He ran out the window of Itachi's room, fleeing back to Otoga. Clearly the Akatsuki wasn't interested in Orochimaru as a member, and only wanted him as a prize for Itachi. Kabuto sighed. How was he going to get that burn off? It wasn't going to be easy, he knew that!

Kabuto sighed as he ran through the forest, carrying Orochimaru and running as fast as he could. He didn't have much time, that was for sure. And with every passing moment, there was a growing chance that someone would come after them. Kabuto sped up a bit; he really needed to cover ground. And if someone friendly were to chance upon him, well, that would be lovely, too…or maybe he could find a nice cave behind a waterfall…or a huge, hollow tree…

"Face it," he sighed to himself. "If anything else goes wrong, life will be going backwards."

OOOOOOOOO

Kabuto almost ran over Tayuya upon entering Otoga.

"What are you doing?" he yelped, regaining his balance just time. "You almost killed me and Orochimaru-sama!"

"Well, sorry," Tayuya muttered. "Anyway, what took you so long? We've been waiting in agony for days."

Kabuto rolled his eyes. "What happened to the dramatic crusade?"

"Fell apart after Jiroubou had barbeque."

Kabuto smiled. "I can imagine. Anyway, I need to get him to the infirmary before he wakes up, so I'll be going now…"

Tayuya fell into step beside Kabuto. "I'm coming with you," she said. Kabuto nodded.

"Fair enough."Kabuto headed down the stone hallways of Otoga, going straight to the med ward and setting Orochimaru down in a bed. "He can sleep for a while," Kabuto said, setting up an IV, "And in the meantime, he needs fluids…hey, can you get me another one of these? First cabinet on the right."

Tayuya nodded and bent down in front of the cabinet, looking around for a moment before pulling out a bag of IV fluids and handing it to Kabuto. The silver-haired medic set it down on the table next to the bed. "He knows how to change it, and hopefully he will when he wakes up. So…" He sat down next to Orochimaru's head, stroking his hair back from his face. "I hope he heals," he added quietly. "He's probably so traumatized…"

Tayuya stood across from where Kabuto was sitting, watching Orochimaru sleep, occasionally healing a bruise. "Was he…was he really beaten…that badly…?"

Kabuto gave her a small nod. "I'm not sure what else happened, but I know that he was beaten severely. When I found him, there was blood along the floor in a trail leading to a corner, so I guess Itachi chased him back. He was laying in a pool of blood, and he was so badly bruised…" Kabuto shook his head. "Cuts, bruises, lacerations, abrasions…I take it he was bound and shook that off, but really…"

Tayuya sighed. "That's horrible," she murmured. "How could anyone treat him like that?"

"Apparently, some people can," Kabuto said with a sigh. "He might have even been raped again…I need to check him over."

"Best do that while he's asleep," Tayuya said dryly. "He'll probably flip out, or the two of you will end up having sex again."

"Ha ha," Kabuto said dryly. "Anyway, he needs medical attention. I'm worried some of his internal organs might be ruptured, so I need to take a look at that…"

"Take a look at what?"

Orochimaru was sitting up-to an extent. One leg was bent up towards his body, and he had propped himself up on one elbow. The other hand he had pressed to his sinuses, rubbing his forehead as if in pain.

"Your internal organs," Kabuto said, poking Orochimaru in the stomach. Orochimaru's stomach shrank back, the muscles retracting in response to Kabuto's touch.

"Ew. I didn't know you-"

"Don't finish the sentence," Kabuto said exasperatedly. "Anyway, just lay back for a minute and tell me what hurts."

"Reassuring," Orochimaru muttered, but did as Kabuto told him to. Kabuto gently placed his hands on Orochimaru's stomach, carefully kneading at the firm muscle. Whenever he hit a bruise, he would lighten the pressure a bit, just to see if the damage was extensive. Orochimaru would flinch anyway: Itachi kicked hard. Kabuto could feel the slight shivers of pain Orochimaru tried to hold back but couldn't as he ran his hands over the pale skin of Orochimaru's stomach, feeling his muscles shaking. Suddenly, Orochimaru yelped in surprised pain and leapt away from Kabuto's touch, clutching at his stomach and keeping his eyes locked on Kabuto for any sign of movement.

"That bad, huh?" Tayuya commented, watching Orochimaru fly back, away from Kabuto's touch. "Jeez, somebody did a number on him…"

Kabuto sighed and inched closer to Orochimaru. "Breathe, Orochimaru-sama," he said soothingly, reaching out and resting one hand in Orochimaru's lower back. "Come on, you know I didn't mean to hurt you…come on, it's okay…"

Orochimaru hardly looked reassured, but he knelt relatively quietly in front of Kabuto as the medic healed the underlying damage of the wounds Itachi had inflicted upon Orochimaru. It took Kabuto quite a long time to do so, since he wasn't sure where exactly the damage was.

Orochimaru had remained strangely quite throughout the entire affair; now, he knelt silently in front of the two, occasionally shifting uncomfortably under the stares he felt. Kabuto was staring out of concern; all it took was a misplaced hand, and Orochimaru had lost it completely. Or had he…? Kabuto sighed; he hated to do this to Orochimaru, but he had to…

Kabuto's hand suddenly flashed up, palm open as if to slap Orochimaru across the face. Orochimaru yelped in surprise, jumping in the other direction and almost falling off the bed. Kabuto sighed and looked away. His worst fears had been realized.

"Orochimaru-sama, come here, I didn't mean to hit you-"

"Don't…! Please, don't…"

Kabuto was taken aback. Orochimaru never begged. This was the heartless ruler of Otoga, who had killed thousands, flattened villages, manipulated people, used them-! And he was reduced to begging not be hit. Kabuto's heart shattered in his chest, knit back together, and shattered again.

"That could be a problem," Tayuya finally said. Kabuto could only stare at her for a moment.

"Uh-duh," he said after a moment, sighing with annoyance. "Just one thing after another…and there's still that brand I need to take care of…argh, why can't life ever be easy?!"

"Because it's life," Tayuya said with a snort. "If it was easy, then it wouldn't be fun."

A/N: Well, super delay again! . My compy has a bug, and it's called parental controls. Well, I can get around those fairly easily, it's just time consuming… . Anyway, please review, it really helps me keep going!!

Just as a note, Sasori really is dead. . I just have so many fics going at once, it's hard to remember all that, in addition to school, and my life in general. So, I will go back and edit that out at some point. I apologize for the screw-up.