So to answer a few questions.

It was asked why was he naked in the last chapter? Honestly, its just cause I think him to be the type of guy that would be perfectly comfortable in his birthday suit, he's too cool for pajama's :).

Someone also asked why she didn't try to run away again? The answer is partly because Itachi obviously wasn't out to take advantage of her like she had originally been led to believe given her position as a gift, the other part you will have to wait to find out :).

Enjoy

It was only a few days later when he caught up with her in the kitchens. She had a sweet bun in each hand and one in her mouth. The sight of her when he grabbed her by the wrist and she turned to face him was humorous. Her expression still held wariness but now it was mostly surprise and question there instead of fear, he appreciated the change.

"Come" was all he said.

Confused, she shook her head slowly. She handed him one of the buns which he took and then she took his wrist and tugged in insistence that he follow her instead. He obliged after only a moments hesitation.

She led him outside to a place she could shimmy up the castle wall without being seen. That she could do see so encumbered with her sweet prize was truly a marvelous exercise in dexterity. He observed her for a moment admiring her nimble limbs before allowing his wings to burst forth by magic and his eyes to bleed red. Launching himself into the air, her grabbed her around the waist and hauled her the remaining distance to the steep roof. She shot him an indignant look when he again allowed her to regain her feet, and he was reminded of her dislike of being manhandled.

She slipped off, hardly seeming to notice the steep grade of the roof as she shimmied onto a position close to the peak. He realised then what it was she wanted to do here.

The sun was beginning to set, casting beautiful hues as it approached the mountainous horizon. She watched in rapt attention, nibbling on her sweets, enjoying the abject beauty that was creation. And he was reminded in that moment that life seemed so complicated in his mind, a never-ending maze of plot twists and puzzles to be solved. But there could be joy found in the simple things too, in the beautiful, the sweet, small pleasures in life that should not be taken for granted.

It was almost an hour that they sat there, till the sun and its colours had truly left the sky, and the true dusk of the mountains had settled around them. Then she turned and smiled at him, gesturing to the bun he still held in his hand, he should eat it. He complied and she smiled at him again.

She turned to go, but he once again snagged her wrist. Looking back, question in her eyes.

"May I see that?" He asked gently bringing his other hand up to brush her chin. In an instant wariness returned to her gaze, and he felt the need to explain himself. "I merely wish to observe it, a perhaps one day remove it if I am able." She gave him a long hard look as if assessing the truthfulness of such a claim. He did not allow his gaze to waver from hers, he did not sense magic being used but it was possible she had a truth sensing ability, or ki-sense of which he was unfamiliar with, he would allow her to use that to reassure herself.

Finally, she nodded, slowly, hesitance and apprehension clear in the tense lines of her body, though suddenly her very expressive face was wiped clean of all emotion. She allowed him to tilt her chin upward, a vulnerable position, the gesture of trust was not lost on him. Her body stiffened when his magic entered her system, and he got the impression that she was struggling valiantly with herself to keep from bringing her own magic to the fore and ejecting him violently. He felt the trembling of her magic against his, hidden and elusive against the almost solid force of his own power.

He felt the lines of the hunter magic, almost a living thing inside her. It wrapped with sharp cord of arcane spell around her vocal cords and voice box, binding it closed and completely denying her any ability to run magic through that part of her body. He found it odd to find himself relieved that she was not hurt or damaged in any way, merely bound.

The magic was complex, Shisui would have had no hope of untangling this, not to ignore the fact that he had exactly no patience to deal with anything long and tedious. When he had gleaned all the information he could by observation alone he withdrew, and she shuddered as she released the tight hold of herself she held.

She took a moment to gain control of herself before looking him in the eye again.

'there is nothing you can do' Without the aid of tone it was hard to tell if she meant that as a question or as a statement. He paused to consider her, a hard resolve pressed into her features as he had observed on her when she had first come. The certainty that she could and would fight, the resolve that spoke of past experience.

"It will take time, but no spell is invincible" He replied. She shook her head.

'No, you can do nothing about it without him'

"And who is he?" it would appear that she knew more than he had originally thought about this curse, perhaps she was unaware of the importance the information she actually held. Origins were important.

'Orochimaru'.His eyebrows rose in unconcealed surprise. Or perhaps he was wrong and she had a very good grasp of the value of such information. He gave her a searching look, and he was given the impression that she knew a lot more about their connection to the Sannin than she let on.

"Could you lead me back to him?" Itachi asked carefully, a grasp of her situation finally coming to him. He felt somewhat foolish for not at least making possible assumptions to this end earlier.

She nodded slowly, a little bit hesitant to admit it.

The Snake Sannin had been an enemy to the Uchiha clan, specifically Itachi and Sasuke since he had kidnapped Sasuke as child and attempted to use one of his soul sucking techniques on him. However, he had significantly underestimated the power of Sasuke's demon blood and the snake Sannin fell short of his goals. The foul thing had once been human, though he had given up that and his standing as a hunter long ago when he began to dabble in the forbidden arts. He drained the magic and vitality from his victims, using it to lengthen his life and increase his grasp over the arcane arts.

He was a leech plain and simple, one that had escaped the Uchiha's collective grasp for over forty years. The information they had managed to glean on him in more recent years had been sparse at best, non-existent at worst. But here was a little siren that had the potential to play the vermin right into their hands, if they played their cards right. And Itachi had absolutely no intention of allowing the snake to make an escape again.

...

"Are you certain?" Shisui's hair was mussed, from his bed. Itachi nodded in confirmation.

"It is not unlike the work he imparted upon Sasuke, though significantly more extensive. He has gotten stronger if he is able to inflict a spell like that without harm to the recipient."

"How can he do that, any blood magic he uses would be toxic?" Shisui asked, confused.

"Its not blood magic"

"Wha-…then how did you know it was the snake?"

"She told me"

"Wha-….."

"We ride out at dawn" Itachi cut him off, turning to go before Shisui's objections could reach an uncomfortable volume. He still had to inform Sasuke of their departure. There was no way that his little brother would miss out on the opportunity to bring Orochimaru down.

its short I know.

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