Finally get to see Sasuke! It's time to focus on the villians for the moment. The Blue-Haired Akatsuki member's identity is revealed, and Kisame trembles before her!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its affiliates, I only own this plot and my own original characters.

Chapter 7: Orochimaru's Plot

Sasuke Uchia sat deep in thought in his quarters. He was keeping track of the days that have gone by since his defection from Konoha. "It's almost been three years. It's gone by far too fast." He knew that the time for Orochimaru to transfer bodies with him was nearing.

At first, Sasuke could have cared less if Orochimaru used his body. All he wanted was for Itachi to die from his hands, whether Orochimaru controlled him or not. However, as the years flew by, Sasuke realized the power he had achieved. No longer did he want Orochimaru to manipulate him. In fact, he was not even sure if Orochimaru would go after Itachi after the transfer.

"I am an avenger. I exist only to kill Itachi." That has been Sasuke's goal ever since Itachi wiped out the Uchia clan. Sasuke was more dedicated than ever to accomplish it, especially with Orochimaru's powers.

He remembered Itachi's words after he killed the entire clan. "You are not even worth killing. Foolish little brother. If you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me, and survive in an unsightly way. Run and cling to life."

Sasuke immediately raised his head upon remembering this. "Wrong! I have found power in my own way. I will kill you in my own way!"

Sasuke knew Orochimaru could not take him captive. He had secretly been working out a plan for when the time came. He knew he was Orochimaru was stronger than he was, but he was confident in giving him a good fight.

"Do you really expect Sasuke to go quietly?" asked Kabuto. Over the past year, Kabuto had grown increasingly suspicious of Sasuke's activity. In fact, he nearly killed Sasuke in his sleep not so long ago.

Orochimaru smiled at Kabuto. "I never did. Sasuke is not a fool Kabuto. But unfortunately for him, neither am I." Orochimaru's smile grew deeper as he compiled his thoughts. He had been planning this over the past year, his plan to deceive and betray Sasuke.

Kabuto was clearly not as confident as Orochimaru. "But Orochimaru-sama, Sasuke has grown too strong for us. He is out of my league, and he might even be able to challenge you!"

"Say that one more time and I won't hesitate to kill you," Orochimaru replied. Kabuto began to tremble, and decided it would be best if he kept his mouth shut. Although he has been Orochimaru's right-hand man for years, he still feared Orochimaru. Kabuto was crafty, but he somehow managed to gain Orochimaru's trust, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Orochimaru drifted his gaze to Kabuto. "I do agree that he may be able to challenge me. Although I think it will be better if he never has the chance too, don't you agree Kabuto?"

From Orochimaru's facial expression, Kabuto clearly knew that he had a plan that he was confident about. "You're planning something, am I right?" asked Kabuto.

Orochimaru snickered to himself, and then nodded at Kabuto. "This plan will succeed, and soon I'll have the body of Sasuke ready to be transferred too."

"Our new member specializes in medical ninjutsu. Give her the proper respect she deserves," the dark figure in the back said.

The Akatsuki group was having a meeting discussing the state of the group following the death of Hidan. Their leader wanted to make sure everyone knew their goals.

"We have no need for medics in this group," said Kisame. "They will only be a burden for this group. Whoever heard of a group of S-Ranked criminals having a medic! In theory that really makes us eight members, since the medic doesn't have enough power to actually contribute."

"Says the one with the most chakra here, yeah," responded Deidara.

"At least I can keep my arms. A bijou cannot be captured by medical ninjutsu alone," said Kisame. He was determined to make his stand against the new member.

"Say one more word and I'll kill you," said a blue-haired figure in the back. Her hologram lifted its gaze to Kisame's hologram. "I found this girl in a near-death state after the battle with the Kyuubi sixteen years ago. She underwent personal training with me, so I know damn well she is a fit for this group, more so than that joke Hidan."

Although his hologram did not show it, Kisame's body began to tremble. Kisame did possess the most chakra out of the group, but she scared him for some reason. In an actual fight between the two, Kisame did not think he could win. In fact, he knew he could not win.

After it was certain the argument between those two passed, Kazuku decided to speak up. "So what does that mean for me? My partner is dead."

"You will not get another partner. The first reason is that I do not trust you with a mortal partner. Secondly, you already captured your tailed beast. The teams were created to make this process more efficient. You now act alone."

Kazuku relished this opportunity. Now he did not have a partner to order him around. He could go around and collect as many bounties as he liked without anyone complaining to him.

"Okay listen up," the figure in the back said. "At this moment, we have six of the tailed beasts. That means we need three more to complete our goal. However, now we are only concentrating on two for the moment. Because Itachi and Kisame failed to capture the Kyuubi when they had the chance, we are going to put that one aside for the time being. Does anyone know if the other two have hosts or if they are alone?"

The blue haired member quickly spoke up. "The five-tails is a jinchuriki. I know exactly where he is. I can have him here by tomorrow."

Kisame apparently had enough of her mouth. "This is the five-tailed beast! If the host knows how to control it, there's no way you can defeat it alone!"

"Don't underestimate Asira, Kisame," the figure in the back said. "She will take the new member, and will have the beast here tomorrow. Meanwhile, we need groups to split into the different countries and try to find the remaining beast. However, avoid Fire Country. They are on heightened alert now for us, and that would be too dangerous. Once we scour the other countries, we'll head into Fire Country, is that understood?" There was a moment of silence, indicating everyone understood. "Dismissed."

"Damn that leader! Who does he think he is by throwing that cheap shot at us!" shouted Kisame.

Itachi awakened from the meeting. He immediately sighed when Kisame's loud voice greeted him. "He does have a point though. Naruto got away from us. Now he is surrounded by Konoha, so the two of us alone won't be able to grab him."

Kisame glared at Itachi. "Well let's show them who's the strongest in the group! Let's head off."

"Not yet," replied Itachi. He clearly had his mind elsewhere. He remembered an extremely familiar voice that came to him in his sleep. "Come to Grass Country. There you will prove your worth." Itachi constantly thought as to whom that voice belonged too. It was evil and sinister, more so than Asira's voice. "Kisame, you go on ahead. There's something I have to take care off."

"What?" retorted Kisame. "We need to go together and find this damn beast!"

"You go ahead, I'll catch up. Or do I need to persuade you to let me go," Itachi responded.

Kisame quickly noticed Itachi's eyes changing. Kisame knew he was no match for Itachi's Sharingan. "Dammit," he thought to himself. "The leader is going to have my head if he finds this out." Kisame sighed and returned his gaze to Itachi. "Fine, but if you don't catch up within two days, I'll come looking for you."

"I will only need a day Kisame," answered Itachi. With that, the group of two split up to head in different directions. Kisame was trying to find a beast, while Itachi's destination was unknown.

Sasuke found Orochimaru in his quarters. "I wonder why he summoned me," Sasuke thought to himself. He was keeping track of the days as they passed, and he still had couple of days until Orochimaru's body transfer could take place. "You wanted to speak to me?" Sasuke asked his master.

Orochimaru turned around to notice Sasuke standing in the doorway. "Yes I did," he answered. "Sasuke, you have been a great apprentice to me. You have excelled in both strength and intelligence. I believe now is the time to teach you a summoning technique."

"Summoning technique?" Something did not seem right about Orochimaru's statement.

"I want to teach you how to summon the giant snake Manda. What do you think about that?" Orochimaru asked. He was hoping Sasuke would be excited about this opportunity and forget how straightforward he was being with the request.

"Something is definitely not right. Why would he want me to summon Manda? That snake has a mind of its own, and it could turn on Orochimaru if it liked me better. Something is wrong. But I'll play along with it." Sasuke's eyes met Orochimaru. "You know that I will do anything that gives me power, Master."

Orochimaru snickered to himself, knowing that Sasuke was playing right into his hands. "I knew you'd say that. It is late right now. Tomorrow at midday, meet me in Grass Country. That will be enough space to summon the creature. You should rest tonight; you are going to have a very long day tomorrow."

Sasuke left Orochimaru's presence, completely unaware of what Orochimaru had planned for him. "You are going to have a very long day indeed tomorrow. Let's see how strong you really are, Sasuke-kun."

Notes:
- Manda is a snake the Orochimaru can summon. Everytime he is summoned, he requires one-hundred sacrifices. Geez what an ornary snake! He will make an appearance later though!

Who is the new Akatsuki member! Well you know it's a girl, and she hasn't made an appearance in the anime, but she is in the manga! I'll leave you all to chew on that.