After reading this story again, I have decided to re-write it... because basically, my grammar sucked!

Hopefully this time around, I will do much better... Wish me luck :P

KitsuneNEH out!

CHAPTER 1: FOLLOWING THE SNAKE HALLWAYS

The sound of footsteps echoed around her as she made her way through the empty corridor. All the hallways looked the same but she knew the way around them like the back of her hand. That's just what happens when you spend your entire life surrounded by tunnels, locked away from the outside world. The only time she'd ever been outside was when her father transported her from one 'home' to another.

Her eyes tiredly scanned the intricate patterns that were printed into the terracotta walls. She sensed a familiar chakra emanating from around the next corner and as she realised who it was, she decided that it would be better to ignore it.

Unfortunately said person didn't share her views.

"Kimi-chan?" Kabuto's head pricked up playfully as she tried to walk past him as fast as she could.

"What do you want, Kabuto-kun?" she snarled rudely.

"You. Obviously." He smirked, lowering his voice to huskier tone.

This side of Kabuto was a regular occurrence to Kimi; he was constantly wandering the snake tunnels, waiting for an opportunity to pester and harass the girl. It was his most peculiar way to pass time whilst in the isolated lair.

"Well, I'm not interested." she said, bluntly as she picked up her pace. Kabuto just grunted and pushed his long legs so that he was walking next to her once again.

"But, Kimi-chan" He stepped closer to her, ignoring her blazing irritation, "I'm not asking."

He shoved her into the nearest wall with a muffled thud. "Oww!" she groaned, rubbing the back of her head whilst pointedly glaring at the boy, "That hurt, Dickhead!"

Kabuto continued to ignore her clear objected, leaning closer so his breath lightly grazed her lips. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head and closed the distance between them.

SMACK!

"NANI?!" He groaned angrily, a handprint glowing on his left cheek.

"GET LOST!" Kimi spat, anger flaring within her fiery green eyes.

Kabuto didn't care; he leaned in again, his intentions unchanging, however this time his eyes were open and he was ready to dodge any unwanted contact. Kimi was growing more and more annoyed with his cocky attitude and she refused to waste the time that she could be using to train with the teenage ninja who stood front of her.

With a sadistic smirk, Kimi gracefully raised her knee to make a quick but forceful contact with Kabuto's gut. The boy groaned in defeat and looked up at her with an agonized stare. Kimi just brushed it off and continued to walk down the long, dark hallway.

After walking for many more minutes, Kimi cautiously paid attention to the rhythmic sound of approaching footsteps. Kabuto had returned.

"What?" She asked, using a monotone that she had grown accustomed to.

"I thought you might want some light." He smiled politely, gesturing to the brightly glowing candle in his hand.

"Nope." She grunted and continued to walk, all the while avoiding eye contact with the silver haired ninja.

"How about company?" he chided warmly, a smile tugging warmly at his lips.

"No, don't want that either." His smile faded quickly, revealing to Kimi a sight of which she had grown to fear. Kabuto's face sported a gut-wrenching pout and his eyes were large and damp, almost as if tears were threatening to spill over and fill the room.

Kimi groaned loudly before a short but angelic laugh escaped her lips. "Damn it, Kabuto. I fucking hate it when you do that." But her tone didn't hold the anger that her words required. Pinching the bridge of her nose to ease her irritation, "You know I can't stand it when you pull that face."

"Ahh, so she does show emotion…" he speculated placing a mock thumb and forefinger to his chin. A short glower was sent his way and he quickly backed down, not wanting another knee to the gut anytime soon. The pair walked in silence for the remainder of the corridor's length, where they arrived at the training grounds. Kimi took a quick glance in the silver haired ninja's direction, 'Not so bad when he's not being a total jerk.'

The training room was damp and gloomy. Closing the door behind her, Kimi entered and felt an overwhelming sense of comfort. This had been her most frequented arena throughout her entire childhood. The large room had been the closest thing to home that Kimi had ever experienced. Here, she could do anything she wanted.

A cooling breeze swept through the door causing Kimi to whip around and see Kabuto as he attempted to slip into the room unnoticed. A task destined to fail from the start. "What?" He whined, noticing the agitated glare that the girl sent him.

"You're in my way." She growled, gesturing impatiently towards a large trough of oil that was set up neatly behind the silver haired ninja. He quickly jumped to the side in time to hear the words, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu," escape the girl's mouth followed by a large ball of fire. The bowl of golden liquid burst into flames which quickly spread around the border of the whole room.

Kabuto stood back and allowed an awestruck whistle to escape his lips as he watched the flames dance, creating large shadows around the two ninja.

Kabuto had already left the training hall and the dampening fires signalled to Kimi that it was time to stop training. She sighed loudly, dragging herself towards the large door. Kimi could feel her legs shaking as she attempted to push the stone open but ignored the routine pain. As after every good training session, her body felt drained and sore.

When Kimi's body collapsed she was only barely aware of the chakra that was leaking from her body. Her pale legs curled up and she tucked her knees tightly to her chest she curled into a ball on the cold ground and slept.

The sound of approaching footsteps caused Kimi to stir. She rolled over once before being startled awake by the realisation that somebody was present. Kabuto stood only two feet away from the girl on the floor; he smiled and continued to tap his feet on the tile next to Kimi's head.

"What?" she hissed, the promise of sleep barely still grasping her consciousness.

"Orochimaru-sama has requested to see you." He replied, solemn.

"I see." Kimi grunted, jumping to her feet. 'What does he want with me this time?'

Hearing Kabuto closing the stone doors behind her, Kimi allows a brief glance into the previously lit arena. Darkness. Kimi embraced the darkness; it was all that she knew. Their silence remained through the journey through the snake hallways, footsteps preventing the silence from driving insanity amongst the lair's occupants.

After walking for just two minutes, Kimi and Kabuto reached the doors to one of the most dreaded rooms within the underground maze: Orochimaru's lab.

"Orochimaru-sama, you requested my presence." Kimi stated as if the man she was talking to was not even a distant relative. Under the circumstances, he was not her father.

"Yess, I believe it did..." he hissed, allowing his eyes to roam her form appraisingly. "Kimi." He continued, "I'm on the brink of a new Jutsu, a Jutsu that demonstrates tremendous power." A greedy smile spread across his face, awakening a disgustful fear within Kimi. "I have almost perfected it. All I need to do is to test it one last time."

"Orochimaru-sama, that is where I am needed?" Kimi mused cautiously, desperately praying for the man to unexpectedly disagree, praying for him to say something unusually kind on comforting.

"Oh, but of course, because no other test subjects possess the raw power that you and I do, Kimi." All three ninjas present nodded, it had been expected. Kimi was of course, just another one of Orochimaru's test subjects. She had always known that the only thing holding her high in Orochimaru's opinion was her biological connection to him and the further uses of such a trait.

"Well, Kimi. Join me over here." He smiled widely once again, sending more chills down the girl's spine. Orochimaru's smile just continued to grow wider and he pointed proudly to a large table-like slap that he had prepared prior to summoning her. Upon seeing the concrete that occupied one side of the room, Kimi's stomach turned, her mind running through various possible scenarios. The girl, however, silently and obediently sat one side of the slab, preparing herself both emotionally and physically for the pain that she was sure would come.

Orochimaru approached Kimi, his only daughter. He raised his hands and in one swift movement, he removed the white cloth that had hung loosely around her shoulders. She barely twitched when the cool air made contact with her skin. 'My, oh my, I keep finding use after use for this girl's unmatched strength.' He smirked. Kimi's back was now only shielded by the thin black fabric that she had wrapped tightly around her bust. She lifted her hands without needed to be prompted and untied the offending cloth, letting it fall gently to her waist.

Orochimaru's eyes shone with pride at the sight of his subject's back. It was well built; strong muscles on the girl's shoulders that had been acquired from a lifetime of intensive training were hidden neatly by her thin frame, making her appear fragile and harmless. He knew otherwise, as did all other occupants of any lairs he had owned. Just about all his other test subjects had fought Kimi at one point or another – whether for training or personal benefit – and as the girl had grown, she had overcome all opponents.

The girl's physical peak was however, not the most attractive benefit she had given him. In fact, the thing he had grown most proud of were the inky images that vandalised her paper-white skin. Kimi's back had, throughout the years, grown a large collection of intricate markings grouping in threes, each group possessing a unique design. Each design contrasted beautifully with its surrounding markings to create a delicate artwork in the small of her back.

Kabuto frowned, watching his master take a stance over Kimi's back. The boy closed his eyes, trying desperately to remove the disgusting thought of Kimi's pain from his mind.

"Kabuto, I need your assistance!" Orochimaru hissed, glaring at the boy sharply.

"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto sighed, 'I'm sorry for this, Kimi.' He walked reluctantly to a desk in the corner of the room and collected a bunch of scrolls that the older man had explained to him earlier that day. Shaking his head, Kabuto offered the scrolls to Orochimaru, all the while, glaring angrily at the scarred back of the girl in front of him. He had to fight to hold back the bile that had threatened to rise in his throat more than once that day.

"That one." Orochimaru grunted, nodding to a small and slightly ripped scroll that Kabuto fumbled to open.

"Orochimaru-sama," he frowned, reading the scripture, "are you sure that her body can hold that Jutsu?"

"No." The man chuckled, shivers running up Kabuto's back. "That's why I need to test it on her first, before I use it on myself." He muttered as if it was the most normal thing to do.

Kabuto's mouth dropped and he could do nothing but watch as the sadistic snake hacked violently at Kimi's exposed back. Orochimaru's laughter grew louder and more demonic with every incision he made, blood running down the girl's back and staining his lab coat. The man's pale hands made short work of Kimi's back and he speedily began placing marked scrolls into her open wounds and repeating the chant:

"Hebi no Yoroi. Hebi no Tate. Hebi no Yoroi. Hebi no Tate…"

Kimi's silent screams were displayed clearly across her pale face. Tear tracks running from her face and down her front. Even after the last scroll had been inserted and her back had been healed back together by a highly disgusted medic, as much as she tried Kimi just couldn't completely disguise her agony.

Kabuto watched obediently as the girl's skin began to dissolve, morphing into what looked like a shed snake skin. White scales forming all over her bare back and even across her face. Her skin had turned an unbelievable white, a shade of white that she hadn't even obtained from hiding away from the sun her whole life.

Kimi could feel the snake skin creeping over her back and shoulders, she couldn't help but to whimper when the scales began digging in and routing deeper. She peered pleadingly over her shoulder to see her father leaning over her, droplets of sweat forming on his brow, the sealing was complete. Orochimaru looked up, his eyes cold as he stared into the broken down ones of his daughter.

"Good job, Kimi." He grunted approvingly before swiftly exiting the Kabuto reluctantly followed, allowing one last glance at the neglected girl who was bent over, silent tears falling to the cold concrete beneath her.

The silence returned and Kimi let out a loud sigh. Her back hurt! It fucking hurt! It felt almost as if someone had rigged a gigantic, gaping hole in it. Standing up, a wince escaped her parched lips and she turned to a full length mirror that stood next to the door.

"Ouch." She grunted, twisting her body to an angle that allowed her to survey her back. "Shit!" someone had ripped a hole in her back. Another short wince escaped her lips as she continued to examine the damage and she raised a pale finger to trace the fresh skin that now covered her face. 'What the hell?!'

"Whooo! That one's a beauty." A loud voice echoed through the room, "Not many people can say they have one of those now, do they?"

"Shut the fuck up, Suigetsu!" Kimi snapped, silencing the voice and standing. "I don't need you to tell me that. I know it already." Swaying slightly, she wandered to a large water tank that appeared to have nothing in it, "I'll see you later, Sui." Kimi then turned and left the room by the same doors that her father had used.

Kimi's bedroom was dark and empty. The only light present being a small oil-lantern that sat on a small desk, piled high with scrolls containing various Jutsus. All in all, the room looked lonely and abandoned, "Just how I like it." Kimi muttered, sitting on her small bed.

"Senei jushuu." She muttered, snaked flying from her sleeve and wrapping themselves tightly around the door handle. Content with her security, Kimi layed down and let another sigh escape her lips. Even now, the snake skin felt itchy and tight, as if it wasn't her own. Well, it wasn't. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't ignore the strange feeling that left her skin tingling all over.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"What?" Kimi groaned, awaking from her slumber. "Who is it? What do you want?!"

"It's me." Kabuto called cautiously, "Can I come in?"

Growling, Kimi stood and called the snakes back off of the door, allowing it to swing open loosely. "What do you want? I was sleeping." She growled, eyes still half lidded.

"I came to check on you." He explained with a hurt expression.

"Why? Did Orochimaru-sama send you to check on his little test subject?" She growled, fire flaring up again in her green eyes.

"No." he muttered softly, "I came by myself… because I care about you." Letting a grunt out, Kimi sat up, ignoring the protest of her muscles and motioned for Kabuto to join her on the bed. "Orochimaru-sama told me that the snake skin look won't last forever." He sighed, wrapping an arm around her aching body.

"Just great." She grunted, sarcastically.

"We are, however, unsure of any other effects. He wants you to wait for a week or two before you start training again." Kabuto smiled softly, rubbing small circles on her arm with his thumb. "For now, you just need to relax."

qwerty

The two just sat and enjoyed each other's company, telling old stories of past embarrassments and of Kabuto's experiences on the surface. After a few hours, Kimi had pretty much forgotten her previously depressed state.

"Ka~bu~to~" a hiss caught the attention of both teens. "Ka~bu~to~" A small snake wailed from the doorway, its eyes trained on the silver-haired ninja.

"Damn. I have to go and speak with Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto groaned apologetically, giving a tight hug to the girl before standing.

"I understand. I guess I'll see you later, Kabuto." She smiled weakly, laying down once more.

"Yeah, sure." He grunted, running from the room.

"Great." Kimi muttered, drifting from consciousness. "Great…"