So I finally got off my butt and started the third chapter.
Joy!
Once again, thanks to all who read or reviewed.
And I still don't own Naruto.
Pretty sure that's all I wanted to say. SJOAP!
Hasn't Everyone Wanted to Catch Snow on His Tongue?
Chapter two: A Dying Animal
It was dark, like a cavern, and just as secluded. All was silent, save for the occasional sound of kunai thumping softly into the bark-flesh of a training dummy outside the shaded windows.
Rich and darkly colored cloth hung in artistically placed designs, giving the entire room a sinisterly decadent feel. A few candles burned, barely adding any illumination to the room, but they were only lit for show anyway. Desk and bookshelves alike were brimming with knowledge, whether it in the form of scrolls or books. Only one desk held anything that might be considered pointless.
Jars upon jars were lined up on it, each jar holding liquids, and something else. With the light of the candles reflecting back from the glass containers, it was hard to tell what was inside. The only thing that broke the monotone of glasses was a shriveled, blackened hand, standing straight up into the air. On the pinky was a ring.
A memento of time spent in Akatsuki.
With a low grumble, the owner of the room rolled over in his bed, tearing the thick blankets that obscured his golden view off of his face. Glaring up at the dark ceiling, the man had to face the facts that had once been pushed back as a form of denial.
Orochimaru was bored.
Usually, boredom was easily countered, as there always seemed to be problems in Otogakure, but today, he just didn't feel like dealing with them. In fact, he just wanted to do something frivolous and entertaining.
Childish? No, never. Always very responsible.
Frowning at nothing in particular, the snake-like man tossed the covers off of his body, wincing as a splinter of pain struck through his arms from the action. (1) It seemed like a bright red spider web, starting at the parts of his arms and hands that moved and then quickly crisscrossing across the whole length of the appendages.
Hating his sensei all over again, he clenched his teeth and gracefully pulled himself into a sitting position. Now that comforts and temptations of his bed and staying in it for the rest of the day had been dispelled, there was still the question of what to do.
It was a tedious question, and surprisingly difficult to answer. What was there to do anyway? Well, obviously there was nothing he wanted in Otogakure. If there was, this sudden problem would be non-existent.
As stated earlier, there was usually something to do in the village of sound nins, but all of those somethings held no attraction for him that day. Hell, not even the seductive lure of Kabuto's body dispelled the disinterest that hade seized him.
Sighing, he rubbed his temples with his index and thumb fingers, trying to discourage a headache that seemed intent on coming no matter what he did. Almost growling with sudden annoyance, he stood from his bed, revealing his body to the eyes of whatever might've lurked in his shadows.
Quickly and quietly changing into an outfit indistinguishable from any of the many others that filled his closet, the snake-like man found himself once again torn between a few options. This time, it was about Kabuto and the other sound nin that resided in his village.
Should he tell them he was going, or simply leave? It wasn't as though they really needed to know; after all, he was the superior here, not them. But still, he didn't want them to needlessly worry and therefore waste time perhaps looking for him.
And he certainly didn't need anyone to think that he had run away and left a good position open for who ever was brave enough to take it.
It was these minor concerns that led him to his right-hand's quarters, opening the door quietly without so much as a knock to let the other know that he was going to be intruding upon the other's privacy. Orochimaru never claimed to be considerate.
The silver haired man looked up from his book as soon as the door to his room opened. Unlike his superior's, Kabuto had his room well lit, the lights on and the curtains drawn back to allow sunlight to wash into the room. The light glinted off his glasses.
Sometimes, Orochimaru had the strange idea that the light on the boy's glasses reflected his mood. That somehow, the inanimate object caught his feelings and somehow become reflectors for any light that might be nearby at the moment. He sniggered, earning a strange look from the boy.
He was almost surprised the glasses didn't somehow change.
"Orochimaru-sama…?" the other dared to venture, wondering what had put his lover into such a strange mood.
"I'm bored, Kabuto-kun." The answer was almost a purr, and it sent a shiver shimmering down the silver hair nin's back. Boredom usually led to sex. And the sex was always good.
Knowing this oft-proven fact, Kabuto stood from his desk, a small smirk on his face. "Oh, and just what shall we do to alleviate this… problem?"
The snake-like man smirked right back, happy that his little medic nin felt that he knew his superior enough to assume what he wanted all the time. "We? Heh… there's nothing that you can help me with today," he said, lacing his voice with just enough venom to sting, "I, on the other hand, am going out."
Kabuto didn't respond to the cold shoulder Orochimaru shoved his way. "Going where…? Will you take someone with you?" His gaze drifted to two heavily bandaged arms.
"I hardly think I need anyone to assist me," he growled out, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Even with this… handicap, I'm quite capable of fending for myself." The golden gaze hardened even more. "I don't need you."
The phrase held quite a bit more than just assuring his subordinate that he would be all right. It was a threat, and the other knew it. Orochimaru had to make sure that Kabuto knew his place around here. They might share the same bed occasionally, but it was just sex.
No attachments.
"Of course, Orochimaru-sama." The silver haired nin had become quite cold since that last remark. It brought a smirk to his teacher's lips.
"Inform the others." A simple command, and he was out of the room, not even paying attention to the bow Kabuto gave him or mumbled reply. He knew that although the boy became cocky sometimes, he was still a very reliable servant.
Not bothering to even pack some supplies for his trek, Orochimaru slipped unnoticed out of his own village. It wasn't a test for his shinobi, as he might've done in the past, so he knew they'd had no chance of seeing him.
Now moving swiftly through the forests that surround his village, the snake charmer was reminded of his home village. What a hellish place that had been. Everyone in Konoha was up on a high pedestal, too concerned with morals to dig down deep and find actual answers to questions.
And as soon as someone attempted to get to the root of the problem; to fall off their pedestal and get dirty, they chastised him and exiled him. So what if a few morals were broken? There are more important things in life.
No one in the village of the leaf had understood that simple fact. Not even his sensei had seen the need for improvement; had been able to grasp the fact that for true genius to shine through, some sacrifices were necessary.
After all, there had only been about a hundred bodies in his basement… they were far too sensitive about things like death.
So wrapped up in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice that someone was following him. Well, more like two someones. Glaring and glancing back over his shoulder, he sped up a bit, getting farther ahead of his pursuers before he dropped down from the branches of the trees.
Landing on the ground below, he turned around, making sure it looked as if he could still use his arms perfectly. Still glaring, he stood his ground, his facial expression not changing even as he recognized to the two who dropped down after him.
Well, he hadn't actually recognized the two; not yet. But he recognized who they represented. Black coats… red clouds… and those damn hats. Akatasuki had found him at last.
"We've been looking for you, Orochimaru," said one of the men, fixing the snake man with a Sharingan-filled gaze.
Itachi. Perfect.
"Why, Itachi-kun, good to see you again," he answered smoothly, his voice dripping with fake kindness.
"Leader-sama isn't happy with you." That was the other one. Immediately, the snake knew who the Uchiha's partner was. Kisame. Fish face. Ugh.
"I expect not, after all, I left without even a goodbye." He smirked. "Did I hurt Leader-sama's feeling by leaving his bed so abruptly?"
"At least pretend to be worried; for our ego's sake," Itachi answered, his face as neutral as ever.
"Ah, Itachi-kun… Pretty as always, I see… Still, I think you'd look better with a seal on your neck."
"Cute. Too bad that will never happen."
"You're so sure?" Orochimaru sauntered over to the younger man, lifting a bandaged hand to ghost over his past lover's fine features.
"If you couldn't put one on me when I was younger, what makes you think you could now?" His question, though taunting, was devoid of any real emotion. His glare deepening, he ran his fingers along the Uchiha's slender neck.
"Would it kill you to put some emotion into your words?" He dug his fingernails into soft white flesh, earning himself nothing more than a half-assed glare.
"Perhaps. I'm not here to waste time, though, snake charmer." The dark haired teen jerked his neck, dislodging the fingers. "We're here to offer you two options."
"Oh? Options? What a joy."
"Shut up," Kisame growled, his sharp teeth glinting in the light. Just like Kabuto's glasses. Orochimaru snickered.
"As brash and unrefined as ever. I suppose Leader paired you two up to try and make our amphibious friend a bit more civilized."
"Why you-"
"As I said," Itachi began, cutting off the beginnings off a fight, "Leader-sama has decided to give you two options. Either you rejoin Akastsuki, or…"
"We kill you," the shark man answered, grinning at the though of beating the rebellious trouble maker into the ground.
"And such wonderful options they are. Sadly, I'll have to decline both." Orochimaru glared pointedly at Itachi. "There's a reason I left in the first place."
"What's happened to your arms?" Pointedly ignoring the pointed staring. Typical, but still earned him an even more heated glare.
"You can't fight, can you?" A fish, adding a bit more heat to the fire.
"Don't try to run." A weasel, advising a snake.
"You two are easy enough to beat. Why don't you just run off, back to your leader? I'm sure he's eager to see you both again."
"Hmph." With that, Itachi withdrew a kunai, darting forward quickly, aiming for the snake's shoulder muscles. As expected, the sound nin leapt backwards, successfully slipping out of range.
It obviously wasn't going to be that easy, and Kisame behind him, bringing his scale-sword across, cutting horizontally through the air. Orochimaru crouched down, rolling to one side as the greatsword suddenly changed directions and headed straight down.
Ignoring the dirt that got thrown up as the sword crashed into the unsuspecting ground, the snake got on his feet, only to have a hand shoot up from the earth and pull them right back out from underneath him.
Grunting as he hit the ground, Orochimaru immediately kicked the hand away, watching it dissolve with a poof. But soon enough, the sword he'd grown to know so well already was swinging down towards him yet again, and this time he couldn't roll fast enough.
The sword caught part of his arm, shaving away at the tender, blackened flesh and sending sparks of agony flying through him. Crying out, Orochimaru jerked his body away from the fish man, but pain blinded his sight. Before he could see again, he felt the sharp blade of a kunai ram itself into his chest.
Even as the original shock of the knife's impact faded, shuriken and kunai cut into him, making him fall to one knee. Before they could cause anymore damage, he pulled the weapons out, flinging them at his enemies.
Unsurprisingly, none of them hit, but it did give him time to recover a bit. Looking at his opponents and trying to ignore the pain in his body, the snake charmer belatedly realized that he was in absolutely no condition to fight on his own.
He couldn't even think clearly enough to draw the sword that lay coiled inside his body. Lost in thought, he didn't even notice the flash that signified Itachi moving until a fish slammed into his stomach, knocking the top part of his body forwards.
Not even giving the other time to glare, the Uchiha drew his arm back, replacing it not even seconds later with his knee. Grunting and gritting his teeth, Orochimaru allowed his eyes to close and he felt the Sharingan user's elbow crash into his back, more than likely breaking a few ribs.
Managing to regain his sense a bit, Orochimaru stretched his neck out clamping his teeth down on the dark haired boy's wrist, sinking his fangs into the flesh and closing down until he felt bone snap.
The Uchiha immediately jumped back, delivering a kick to the snake charmer that sent him flying into a tree. His neck back to its normal length, Orochimaru glared back at his still impassive adversary. Before he could begin to form any seals to aid his escape, shuriken and kunai bit into his arms.
Crying out again in pain, he forced his arms up and his hands to work, forming the seals as quickly as possible. A flash came up before his eyes, signifying that his transportation (2) jutsu had worked.
When the white faded from his sight, he found himself staring up into the leaves of another forest. For a moment, he panicked, thinking that he might not have moved far enough away, but he soon realized that this was a different forest.
Birds were flying in the canopy of this forest. They were of every color and every size, each one seemed to have its own independent melody and sound. They were very beautiful in their variety.
His forests had no birds like this.
Assured, Orochimaru let his eyes drift closed for a moment, giving into his sudden exhaustion. Opening them again, he found to his horror that it was taking them a while to focus.
A little ways off, he could hear someone running. Quick, light steps that were heading his way. Trying to will himself to move, he found out belatedly that his muscles were a bit too set on this whole 'giving in' thing to listen to him very well.
The footsteps drew closer, and they were slowing down. They finally stopped, right next to him, and someone crouched down. He saw dark hair and pale skin, but then his eyes finally gave up and closed.
Just as he was verge of passing out, he heard one soft, feminine voice quickly tease him.
"Seems I've stumbled upon a dying animal," the mysterious figure teased, a musical quality dancing in the tone.
Bastard.
Then he heard and felt nothing.
1.Really downplaying the amount of damage done to his arms. .o Let's just say he's getting better…?
2. Who's to say he can't teleport many miles in a flash? He knows tons of techniques anyway. Don't yap at me if this is incorrect.
Sorry about the bad Itachi-writing-ness. This is my first time trying to write him. ; I hope it isn't too awful.
Also, that was my first-ever fight scene! It was bad.
Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS OR WHATEVER YOU CELEBRATE!
r e v i e w