Disclaimer: If i owned Naruto, i wouldn't be writing this, I'd be telling Kishimoto to hurry his ass up and finish the fillers!
Thank you for the single review, dashdashypenspace! I'm hoping for more reviews on this one, good or bad, bring it on. I'd just like to know what you honestly think.
Chapter 2: Into the Realm of the Snake
Crouching, Itachi carefully shuffles forward, into the unknown darkness of one of Konoha's many underground piping systems. Molding chakra to his feet, he walks upside down, hanging from the roof of the huge pipe to cause as little noise as possible, avoiding that noisy splish-splash when walking on water, as any sound made in this tunnel would be amplified so many times, even the faintest of footfalls would be audible. In this darkness, it was also necessary for him to keep his sharingan activated, for a false step could prove fatal. After all, if this place was what he thought it was, there would be no warm welcomes for him, should he get caught.
As quietly as possible, Itachi utilised all his skill from all the years of Academy training, combined with the stealth required for his ANBU missions in order to remain undetected. It was starting to become a huge drain on his chakra, having to use it in his feet, his eyes and to mask his presence, all at the same time, and after walking, no, creeping for at least half an hour, he began to wonder if he'd missed a turning or if the man ahead of him, that snake freak, was just leading him on a wild goose chase.
Lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice the groove embedded in the roof and only having his sharingan activated saved him from possibly alerting Orochimaru of his presence. Mentally, he chided himself for being so careless, and resolved to be more careful from then on. It seems that snake freak really did plan for all eventualities, laying traps even for someone who was walking on the ceilings. However, the simple presence of the trap reassured the black haired prodigy that he was indeed, still on the right track. After all, why would any normal pipe have traps in them? Although Konoha was a ninja country, their enemies were not likely to attack through the piping systems. After all, they would have to get through two of his best ANBU members to even get into the piping system-members that HE had stationed to patrol the piping systems' entrances and exits.
Finally, the man he was trailing took a right turn into one of the more obscure branches of the piping system. The ANBU captain hung back, knowing from experience that turns and bends were ideal places for traps to be sprung, or to ambush anyone who might be following you. As a matter of precaution, he used a kunai to reflect whatever little light there was in the pipings, forming a quick, temporary mirror for him to look around the corner. Surprisingly, he saw that the end of the tunnel was lit up. Cautiously, he jumped across the breadth of the pipe, landing on the underside of the pipe opposite his prior position to get a better view.
He saw Orochimaru facing a passageway with a dead end. What now? Had he been discovered? Slowly, he crouched back into the shadows of the pipe, further concealing himself. Orochimaru, on the other hand, showed no signs of having noticed him. He proceeded to touch something on the surface of the passageway, revealing the door of a room perpendicular to the end of the tunnel.
Watching Orochimaru walk into the room, Itachi considered his options. He could rush in ahead of his target, and lock the door, but that would be a rash thing to do. He could try slipping in together right behind Orochimaru, but that was risky as well, for he did not know the full measure of the snake Sannin's abilities and his movements could be caught. He thought of genjutsu, but a ninja like Orochimaru would know that he had been under a genjutsu, even if he would still be fooled by it, the after effects of any genjutsu he used would most definitely identify him, the culprit, as a sharingan user.
Sighing inwardly, he knew the only option he had left was to wait out that freak. Sooner or later, he would have to leave the room, and then, Itachi would sneak in. He was glad he'd refused his brother when he asked for help with shuriken practice that morning. It could get rather complicated if he'd failed to turn up, what with his mother coddling Sasuke, and his father, always expecting him to be perfect.
--A few hours pass--
Argh, snake freak, come on out already! Don't you have to go oppose Hokage-sama at some council meeting today?!
Itachi was getting impatient. Even ANBU missions seldom took this long, or were this nerve wrecking. Usually, it was, get in, complete mission, then get out. Even when he'd had to watch suspects, they wouldn't normally take this long to act out of turn, allowing him to complete his mission.
As if hearing his thoughts, the door opened and Orochimaru stepped out, with a delirious expression on his face. His laughter rang through the entire piping system, and his voice sounded unnatural. It wasn't the leering voice he always used when speaking to Itachi, nor the mocking tone he put on when he spoke to the Yondaime-it was more..evil.
None of this bothered Itachi though. He'd always known that snake bastard was a freak, and it had just been proven to him. Besides, he had seen many freaks on those crazy ANBU missions both the Sandaime and Yondaime liked to send him on. But this was a chance not to be missed. He had to find out what sorts of "experiments" that crazy little man carried out in such seclusion, and what could have made him so delirious?
Itachi waited a minute after he had left, deciding that even were Orochimaru to come back, he would be inside within half a minute, and if he had to find a place to hide, he would. Quickly but silently, he made his way to the panel he had seen Orochimaru touch before the door opened. As a precaution, he performed a henge and turned himself into Orochimaru, in case the locking device had any sort of visual recognition features.
It turned out to be an unnecessary precaution. The door revealed itself once he had touched the panel, and slid open easily enough when he gently pushed it aside. Remembering to look out for traps, he stepped inside and looked around. There were bottles of substances cluttering the room, with many books occupying the shelves he had set up there, and scrolls lying open, littering the floor. He randomly picked a book from the shelf, carefully making sure not to damage it or leave any prints.
He flipped the pages. There were pictures of handseals he had never seen, information about lands far away, clans he'd never heard of, and jutsu he'd never seen or heard of. Putting it back, he picked up a scroll. Kinjutsu, he read on..bloodline limits..and then..more kinjutsu. "That freak is treading a very thin line here. He seems to be studying kinjutsu, of all things!". He replaced the book, and decided to check on Orochimaru's more recent works.
Walking to the table that had the most clutter, he assumed that was Orochimaru's working table, and studied the scrolls on the table, touching them as little as possible. What he saw was disturbing to say the least. There were diagrams of people being extracted, then reinstated into other people, drawings of sealing circles, and, upon closer inspection, drawings of an eye that looked something like a sharingan, but one that he'd never seen before.
Feeling disturbed, Itachi opened the drawers of the desks, as slowly and as quietly as he could. In the first drawer, there were nothing but Orochimaru's hand scribbled notes, taken from his academy days. It seems he had always been a good artist, drawing the handseals all academy students learn to perfection. Second drawer, he found notes on the human anatomy. Somehow, Orochimaru had persuaded Tsunade-hime, his teammate, to teach him something of what she knew about medical ninjutsu, despite the fact that she despised him and was jealous that he was getting most of the Sandaime's attention from the time that they had been genin. His pushed that drawer shut, as his hand reached for the third drawer.
He stopped for a moment, and he was filled by a sense of foreboding, as if the drawer itself was emanating an aura of some horrible curse. Steeling himself, Itachi pulled open the drawer, no longer bothering to be subtle or quiet. What he saw in there made him sick to the stomach.
He, Uchiha Itachi, who had seen at least a hundred deaths, in more than a hundred different, gory ways, almost threw up at what he had found. Suddenly, he realised what Orochimaru was after. This was the reason why that bastard had been so ecstatic that it verged on the brink of insanity, and this was the reason he had to get home..now!
A/N: Can you guess what he saw? Honestly, I am going somewhere with this. It's a kinda story I wrote based on a theory that I have regarding the Mangekyou, Itachi, and the Uchiha massacre. Also, once again, I'm not 100 sure whether Itachi left Konoha first, or Orochimaru left first. So, if there are discrepancies on the timeline and you have info on it, please lemme know. As usual, thank you for reading, please leave me a review! )