I THINK EVERYONE SHOULD GO TO MY dA ACCOUNT AND CHECK OUT MY HYPER COOL POKEMON TRAINER ORO FANART.
Or, you could, y'know, ignore my shameless self avocation. Seriously though, Pokemon HeartGold is my life (does anyone want an Eevee? I have a box full of them… xD)
Though, thanks to everyone for the reviews, favourites, alerts etc. Seeing my email notifications over these makes me far too happy for my own good.
Regardless, chapter three~! This was significantly easier to write thanks to it being highly Itachi and Orochimaru centric without the need to worry about Sasuke, Madara and biscuits. Initially this meeting wasn't going to go quite so well, but I thought I'd give Itachi something pleasant to keep himself distracted from the misery of an 19th century jail.
Also, don't worry about KisaIta, that wouldn't be rearing its ugly head anywhere near here 3 However, there'll be some friendship going on. I do like the two of them as friends, after all. Kisame, you surfer dude…
As a general note, this fic will roughly follow canon's direction (but there are some pretty big differences, notably that Itachi isn't staying by Madara's side post massacre like he did in the series etc).
…Hurrah for highly influential bastards!
When he had first heard the term 'prison lunch', Itachi had assumed it would consist of men shepherded into lines in order to wait for their dirty bowl of gruel. Therefore, he was slightly surprised to see inmates freely wandering around, the odd fist fight breaking out in various corners of the vast lunch hall. Surprisingly, trays were piled up with what looked to be fairly respectable pieces of bread, a bowl of soup each and some staple main course.
Painfully aware of the biting winter cold, Itachi folded his arms over the standard issue prison garments he had been issued in a token effort to warm himself up. To his side, Kisame let out a contended sigh and walked off to what appeared to be a tray bank, motioning for Itachi to follow him. "Best way to not get roughed up by prison is to have friends, so I'll introduce you to the guys, okay?"
Whilst not particularly enthusiastic about meeting a crew of ill intentioned, possibly insane inmates, Itachi masked it with an indifferent nod and noise of consent. He picked up a tray which was unsurprisingly dirty; presumably it hadn't been washed in a while of usage. Apparently, he did not disguise his displeasure over this so well, as Kisame laughed.
"This isn't the Uchiha mansion, I'm afraid."
"Really? I hadn't noticed." Itachi replied with a slight frown, generally unused to people of a lower stature than himself even so much as smiling too much in his presence.
After a brief saunter over to a generally disorganised queue, he found himself with a bowl of mystery soup and a plate of mystery meat. Whilst it wasn't gruel, it still wasn't particularly appetising. Clearly, he had things he would have to get used to.
Looking up from his tray, his eyes caught Kisame's distinctly blue hue and sizeable form walking off with purpose towards one of the far tables. Assuming that the people seated there were his 'friends', Itachi checked himself to make sure he was suitably unreadable, and followed his companion. Upon his approach, the people at the table stopped entirely and turned to him with hostile expressions.
"Kisame, there's a stray dog behind you. Might want to send it packing." An arrogant looking, long-haired blonde boy barked out, proceeding to shove a piece of bread into his face.
Another man, young yet alarmingly silver haired, laughed and shot Itachi a smug grin, "Piss off, Mary. We ain't got room for pretty boy brats in Akatsuki."
There was a murmur of support for this notion, and the seated men made sure to spread themselves out into an empty space so that Itachi could not sit down. After the initial disgust had died down, Kisame sighed and set down his tray, intending to address the motley crew.
"Guys, don't be that way. This is Itachi Uchiha," There was noted interest at his name, Itachi observed to his disgust, "I thought he'd fit in pretty well with us – c'mon, at least let him sit down."
"Woah, he's with you? Radical."
"The fuck? Uchiha? This guy?"
A blanket of silence fell on to the 'Akatsuki' as they all fixed Itachi with dirty glowers, and eventually a red haired man who had previously made no noise turned to Itachi. "Very well, introduce yourself. My name is Nagato, by the way."
Having been insulted by a bunch of low brow ruffians, Itachi was not impressed and so met the speaker's eyes with a disgruntled glare. Briefly, he glanced around the table at the ruffians, refusing to back down from any of their stares before he spoke slowly, addressing each one of them deliberately. "It is clear that you scum do not think highly of me. So be it, I have little interest in this little club of yours-"
"-But-" Kisame interjected in what sounded like desperation, only to be cut off by the irritated Uchiha.
"- so it is up to you to prove that you are worth my time. That is all." He finished, before turning on his heels briskly and stalking away to an unoccupied table. While he expected angry shouts to follow him, he was pleasantly surprised that the 'Akatsuki' didn't seem too interested in verbally abusing him. Instead, one Kisame trotted up behind him, apparently spewing what, interestingly, sounded like praises.
"I'm sorry about them, they've never been great with new guys. Though, that certainly was something! I don't think I've ever seen anyone stand up to the Akatsuki in full force, um, can I call you Itachi-san?"
Apparently, he had a new fan. "Hn. Do whatever you like."
"Great! Mind if I have lunch with you? I don't really want to have to deal with the atmosphere over on the base table, so…"
Whatever Kisame said next, Itachi totally blocked out as quietly his thoughts turned to his little brother. He certainly needed something to keep himself occupied, as going insane would thoroughly destroy the point of his penance. After all, he was not in jail to have fun, he recalled with a heavy wave of guilt washing over him.
With a glance at his pocket watch, elegantly encrusted with small silver snakes, Orochimaru determined that he would have to gather up every inch of his self control and courage.
Longingly, he stared into the dancing flames of the fireplace and let out a drawling sigh. "Kabuto, could you perchance rearrange the meeting?"
"I'm sorry sir. The carriage is ready for you, and the prison is expecting your arrival."
Again, the lawyer sighed. After a few seconds of deliberation, he pulled himself to his feet and held his snake themed cane tightly in his left hand. With a haughty eyebrow arch directed at his secretary, he made his way over to the clothing stand with fluid motions and pulled on his favourite furred coat with a smile. Moving up on to his tip toes, he just about managed to reach his, again, highly ornamental furry hat.
Expectantly, he turned to Kabuto with a hopeful look, who, after a moment of exasperation, obediently placed it on his head for him. "Sir, really, you won't need to be outside that long."
"Kabuto. In case you had failed to notice, it is extremely cold today. Indecently cold, I might add. You know that I do not like chill weather," and when his secretary looked like he was about to speak, Orochimaru continued with his little tirade, "and whilst indeed, I may not be outside for what is classified as a 'long time', that place is a failure in terms of heating, and whilst my carriage is indeed complete with thick, furred walls and heating contraptions, in this weather, it shall still be cold."
There was a pause. "Well, Orochimaru-sama, when you overheat, I will not be sympathetic to your plight."
"Very well. As I shall still be cold when I get back," he replied pointedly, fixing his subordinate with a sharp glare, "I fully expect the highest quality tea to be awaiting me. Adieu, Kabuto."
And with that, he swept out of the room, his cane leaving a rhythmical series of noises hanging in the air as it came down upon the wooden floor of his office.
Sighing, Kabuto turned to the telephone and prepared to make arrangements for his boss' return, getting the feeling that he would need at least two hours to make things sufficiently pleasing.
After all, he was likely to come back in a foul mood, it being the hour of his first visiting Itachi Uchiha.
It was indeed cold in his carriage, and so Orochimaru found himself huddled up to the right wall, in which a heating mechanism was discreetly hidden. In his curled up position, he projected that the journey would take a good half hour allowing him plenty of time for thought gathering and strategising.
As far as he knew, Itachi Uchiha was a morally upright, generally pleasant person if quite quiet. He also adored his younger brother from what Madara had hinted at, and he intended to make full use of this weakness of his. Exactly how much he would have to nag at the boy until he accepted this plan for his release was uncertain, however, Orochimaru assumed that he would not want to be acquitted given he had handed himself in.
He heaved a sigh. While he did not doubt that he was more than capable of keeping Itachi in the palm of his hand, it was more the Madara problem that concerned him. Exactly what he wanted was still uncertain, in fact, what he had originally hoped to gain from the massacre was unclear. Hopefully he would find out through gently coaxing Itachi – that was, if he even knew the full story at all.
Deciding it was far too cold to worry, he settled for sitting quietly, lightly playing with the ring, engraved with an eastern character meaning 'sky', around his little finger. It had certainly bought him some degree of trouble in the past, he mused.
When the carriage finally stopped, he hurtled in order to escape the cold, out of the vehicle and into the prison with as much velocity as could still be considered elegant and stalked into the main office.
A fat man was waiting for him smoking a pipe in front of a roaring fireplace, and Orochimaru, in his uncomfortably cold state, had to resist the urge to punch the man in the face and stick him headfirst in the flames. Fortunately, while his temper was legendary, he was generally better behaved around the prison than he otherwise would be.
The man, who must have been a new prison manager as Orochimaru had never seen him before, popped the pipe out from under his moustache and gave the slightly deranged looking lawyer a wary look. "Ah, Orochimaru-sama?" When he received a haughty sniff in response, he assumed he was correct and rolled himself out of his arm chair. "I'll send someone to fetch the boy. Uh, does he know that you're coming to see him?"
"I should hope not. That would rather imply he was some carnival freak with psychic abilities." Orochimaru replied through narrowed eyes at the jolly old man. He never could look at the unattractive without instantly becoming slightly nastier than usual – he blamed it on an excellent eye for beauty.
After a few moments of silence filled by the phone's rotating dial, the man barked an order into the receiver and placed it down a few moments later.
"I trust I shall be meeting him in Room One?" Orochimaru managed with some degree of civility, feeling slightly warmer and therefore more pleasant after standing in the room for a while.
"Indeed, sir. We would give you no less. Please inform the guard as to whatever refreshments you would like."
This cheered the lawyer up immensely, and soon he found himself more excited by the prospect of a steaming cup of tea than meeting his new client. Indeed, as he followed his escort down the hallway to the questioning room (if the luxurious suite could be called that) he was barely able to suppress a small smile as his briefcase holding hand tightened around the gilded handle in glee.
After managing to swallow his lunch with no degree of pleasure, Itachi had made his way back to his cell with Kisame's aid, doing his best to make absolutely no conversation. While had entered his living quarters with the full intent of lying back on his straw mattress of a bed, this plan had been cut short by the presence of a bouncy looking blonde teenager sitting on his wooden bench.
Apparently, this teenager was a guard, as he was sporting the uniform. "Itachi Uchiha-" he started, buckling under the intense glare he got from the aforementioned, "I… uh… There's a guy here to see you. Come with me!"
This instantly put Itachi on his guard. Who would want to see him? Madara was the only person that sprung to mind as he highly doubted his precious little brother would want to come anywhere near him and he didn't exactly have friends.
Not wanting to see his uncle in the slightest, he snorted obstinately. "I doubt anyone worth seeing would be here. Leave."
The guard apparently had more guts than his youth projected and stood his ground, fingering the truncheon that hung at his belt. "I'm authorised to use force, ya know."
From behind him, Itachi heard Kisame whistle sarcastically. However, not wanting to cause a scene, nor wanting to be beaten with a splintered piece of wood, Itachi paused and nodded quietly. Clearly, he had little say in the matter.
The teenager brightened visibly at not having to attack the man in front of him and leapt off the bench with a surprising spark. "Follow me, then."
"See you later, Itachi-san! Go get 'em!" Kisame's voice came after him, apparently trying to offer him some form of misguided sympathy.
"Hn."
Itachi wasn't sure how long they walked for, but eventually they stopped in front of a rather impressive looking door. The guard motioned that he should stop, to which he complied, and then knocked on the door gently. He slipped in after an appropriate space of time had elapsed to announce himself and Itachi, closing the door behind him so the Uchiha could not see who his visitor was. Not that he needed to, he had already assured himself earlier that it was his bastard uncle.
A good minute later, the guard slipped out again with a pleased looking smile on his face. Odd, most people came out of the same room as Madara looking traumatised. Much to Itachi's surprise he then asked him if he fancied refreshments.
"P-pardon?" He almost spluttered. He was fairly sure he was meant to be incarcerated, and getting offered tea and biscuits was hardly an appropriate thing for a prisoner. However, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Itachi nodded. "Earl grey, please."
"Milk or sugar?" The guard replied with a bright smile.
"…Neither." He replied, slightly dubious of the situation. Perhaps Madara had told the teenager to make him feel comfortable so that whatever his uncle had in store for him seemed doubly horrific by comparison…? That must have been it. However, he was not about to reject tea on account of him.
The boy nodded. "Please, go in. Your lawyer is waiting."
Steeling himself, Itachi took in a deep breath and prepared to meet his uncle- "Wait, what, lawyer?"
And with that, the teenager pushed open the oak door, giving Itachi his first look of the room inside. He was fairly certain that this room was anything but a typical jail room, indeed, the décor looked more suited to something like his uncle's office expanses with the dark wooden panelling, blazing fireplace and comfortable looking chairs. A large window to the side offered a glimpse of the outside cityscape, covered in a blanket of snow, from the confines of two tastefully embroidered curtains.
Itachi had been prepared never to even catch sight of such beautiful interior design again, and so was slightly overwhelmed. However, the room itself paled in comparison to exactly who had been awaiting his arrival.
Waiting for him in the centre of luxury was a man who he'd seen before, but never failed to dazzle. Orochimaru, or so he remembered his name to be, sat perched in an ornately carved chair at a comfortably sized table, delicately sipping milky tea. His effeminately long hair was swept up into an intricate bun like style complete with various gem-encrusted eastern head pieces, stray strands of hair falling down framing his sinfully attractive visage. That face offered him a slight smirk from half way into the room.
"Ah, Itachi. I do not believe we have had the pleasure of conversing in the past for any expanse of time exceeding a minute so… shall we begin with introductions?" Orochimaru spoke with extreme fluency - unsurprising for a high class lawyer, Itachi mentally reminded himself. He had no need for lawyers, not when he deserved nothing but the worst the world could offer him, and so he resolved to keep this meeting short and final, no matter how charming a companion the other seemed to be.
He let a few seconds go by before replying, and soon realised there was a steady tick coming from somewhere. This suited his purposes just fine – Itachi fully intended for this meeting to be tense and awkward. "Itachi Uchiha, I doubt I need any more introduction than that." Apparently, the lawyer desired that he say more, and so he intended to humour his wish. "Country renowned mass murderer. Nice to meet you. Again."
"Ah, yes." Orochimaru responded with a slight frown. Clearly, he recalled Itachi to be slightly different from the limited number of times they had met through his uncle. "I am uncertain as to how much you recall of me, so I suppose I shall deal with an introduction and statement of intent in one fell swoop." He paused, and looked pointedly at the chair at the opposite side of the table to him. "I strongly suggest you sit down." He managed with an amicable smile.
Itachi complied without thinking, his two day withdrawal from anything but prison seats overpowering his self imposed penal regime. Once he had made himself comfortable, he motioned that the alabaster skinned man should continue which he did after a sip of his tea.
"I am sure you remember this much, but I am somewhat of your uncle's private lawyer. My name is Orochimaru, again, I suspect you recall that much-"
"I don't remember ordering a lawyer." Itachi interjected brazenly, staring intently into the other man's golden irises. They seemed brighter than he remembered from a year ago, and the way the fireplace's light danced in them made Orochimaru seem far too ethereal to be real. Perhaps that was the case – this was all one, alarmingly detailed dream on Itachi's part. He snorted inwardly at his foolish thought.
"Quite. I am, after all, under your uncle's orders. Not yours." He managed out with a tighr smile over the rim of his tea cup. Apparently he hadn't expected Itachi to be quite so uncooperative. "Regardlesss, it is my job to see you out of this pathetic excuse for a place of confinement."
Itachi arched an eyebrow and leaned forward. "I bet it is. My uncle can't have been to happy about my going against his 'foolproof' plan. Too bad I have no intention of leaving prison, so you can skip off back to wherever you came from and make Madara some tea or something."
"I assure you, Itachi my boy, I have no intention of 'skipping off'. That simply would not be congruent with my own plans."
There was a deathly silence as the two men glared at each other, their clashing ideals almost tangible. It was probably a good thing that the blonde haired prison guard bounded back into the room, wheeling a tiered tray packed with tea and cakes. Indeed, he appeared to be totally incapable of reading the mood, as he made himself busy with serving the items with a grin on his face, humming all the while, apparently happy to be working with people other than rough inmates.
Itachi was forced to break out of the staring contest when his cup of tea was placed in front of him, and he turned to give his thanks to the enthusiastic boy. Orochimaru was not so gracious when a slice of cake appeared in front of him, and he instead continued staring at Itachi, giving a very searching look indeed. In fact, it appeared that almost all of his irritation had subsided and had been relpaced with a highly pensive mood.
Once the guard had satisfied himself with arranging their tea, he bounded out the door with a "If you need anything else, I'll be outside!" leaving the two to their prior discussion.
Orochimaru, with something apparently having sprung to mind, spoke first with the most serious face Itachi had ever seen him wear. "I wonder, Itachi, exactly how well have you thought this situation through…?"
The Uchiha narrowed his eyes, suddenly not comfortable with where this was going. He wasn't entirely sure how long he could keep up his pretence of being standoffish and impolite, it was, all, a first for him. "What needs to be thought about? I killed people. It follows that I go to jail and stay there."
"I wonder, is it such a grand idea to just leave your uncle unchecked after, I presume, plotting this sordid affair?"
It was always about Madara, apparently. "He can look after himself."
Orochimaru chuckled, briefly lost in an apparently amusing thought. "I wonder. However, that is not my concern nor should it be yours. My thoughts were in fact turning to a certain little brother."
Itachi wondered if his face paled at that; he certainly felt slightly ill. He had indeed not considered that his bastard uncle might try to get at Sasuke, and the more he thought about it, the more he realised that the only thing that had been stopping him in the past was himself. That little obstacle had just been removed.
The room fell silent until Itachi spoke again. "If he wants to use Sasuke… then why is Madara bothering with getting me out of jail?"
"Indeed, his actions certainly are curious," Orochimaru replied, distractedly fiddling with his teacup apparently delighting in the melodic noises the porcelain produced, "however, it would be my guess that he is subtly using Sasuke as a threat and before you consider it, given who we are dealing with, your brother's situation is almost certainly not a cooincidence. If you do not comply with the plans for your release, he will have full access to Sasuke whilst you selfishly sit around here. If you do agree, he shall be once again under your protection."
Itachi hated to admit it, but the man was horribly right. He could think of no other way to protect his little brother short of getting out of prison and doing it himself. However, that said, would Sasuke ever be able to put his trust in the brother who killed his parents? The situation seemed somewhat hopeless, but doing nothing would surely be the worst course of action. "Orochimaru-san…" He finally managed, feeling that he had long since lost his standoffish persona making the honourific more relevant, "I don't know how you think you're going to get me out of here, and I certainly don't deserve it. However… if it's for my brother…"
The pale skinned lawyer let out an airily contented laugh, still playing with his teacup. "Ah, well, I confess I am glad that you see reason. I was rather worrying as to whether I would have to take more drastic measures given how disagreeable you were being…" Honestly, Itachi didn't doubt that the effeminate man opposite him had enough power to make his life in prison a living misery despite his delicate looks. Lawyers often seemed to have a high degree of influence over the incarcerated; they were after all the ones who put them there in the first place.
"I assume that there is something great in all this for you to gain? You said it yourself, you were worried." Having said this, Itachi realised that he had not touched his tea. Not wanting to offend the poor guard, he quickly grabbed it and took a sip much to the lawyer's amusement. Over the rim of his teacup, he could swear he saw a dangerous flash in the other's golden eyes.
"What I want? Ahh, well, you do seem to have some form of a brain in there somewhere. I am positive that you will reach some level of understanding soon enough…" Orochimaru trailed off and reached for a pleasantly wrapped tea cake and popped it into his mouth. After a slightly questionable sounding noise of delight (Itachi suspected this was fully intentional), he appeared to snap back into a more business like frame of mind. "Now, arrangements. As I take this as an acquiescence from you, I shall do my utmost best to request a retrial from the judge. Normally, you could expect to wait for six months, however, given that I am me and your case is such a well publicised one, the maximum you would have to wait is probably," he paused to calculate, "three months."
This did not sit well with Itachi at all, and for the first time in a while he raised his voice. "Three months? Madara could do untold damage to Sasuke in that period of time!"
"The world of justice is a harsh one. However, from what I have had the," worryingly, his eyes clouded over as though recalling a moment of triumph, "fortune of witnessing, Madara does not appear too bothered over your brother. That is, in all likelihood, arrogance given he knows he has time. Anyway, now that he knows that he shall be getting you back, Sasuke will not seem like such a priority."
Itachi furrowed his brows in concern, his fears not exactly alleviated. "I'm damaged goods – initially he wanted influence over me so I could be used to direct the future dealings of the Uchiha. I doubt that now that I've confessed to a murder I would work so well as a business man. You'd have to be mad to trust me."
Orochimaru only laughed, apparently having picked up on something or other throughout the conversation. "Heavens, you certainly are not used to talking so much, are you?"
"…Hn." The Uchiha bristled, wondering exactly what he was doing that was out of place.
"To alleviate your concerns, Itachi, I think you underestimate my prowess as a lawyer. Earning your acquittal shall be the most perfect display of rhetorical ability I have ever displayed – you shall have people lining up to come and trust you: the saint, falsely accused of a horrific crime," his eyes were shining disconcertingly, and Itachi realised that clearly this man was as nasty a piece of work as his uncle, one who delighed in deception, "Oh, please do not give me that look."
"I was just wondering how many murderers, rapists and thieves are wondering around the streets because of you."
"Quite a few, I should venture. For the record, your uncle is one of them."
This came as news to Itachi – he wasn't aware that Madara had been commiting any crimes, with the exception of the massacre, beyond being a first rate bastard. Alarmed, his thoughts turned back to his brother with a great deal of unease. "Look, is there anything you could do for Sasuke? You seem to be with my uncle quite a lot, so could you keep him occupied, or—" He was cut off before he could finish.
"I venture I could even keep your brother busy at my offices – you know, he was seeking my help to get you the death penalty?" Orochimaru replied, without a doubt deriving far too much pleasure from the horrendous amount of family drama and strife.
Unsurprised, however, Itachi nodded. Whilst he wasn't too enthusiastic about having the man opposite him influencing his brother, he was, sadly, the only person he could turn to. It was probably infinitely better that way than leaving Sasuke around the house to wallow in the certain despair he was feeling, or to leave him with Madara. "Sounds good."
After a brief pause during which the lawyer appeared to make a mental note to himself, Orochimaru gave Itachi a secretive smile, eyes glittering almost as much as the various shiny acessories he had on. The Uchiha was suddenly made aware of quite how pathetic he must look before the other man in his striped prison wear, with a doubtlessly dirty face, messy hair… Not having seen his own relfection in a while, the mental image of himself got worse the more he thought about it.
"You know, Itachi," he was suddenly aware of a serious streak making its way into Orochimaru's previously light tone, "I'm grateful for your trust. It's rare I get any."
Not quite sure what to say, Itachi nodded again and opted for remaining quiet on the matter. It was strange hearing Orochimaru contract his words and speak in such a non-embellished manner, though he decided he quite liked it. It certainly made the man seem more reachable.
With a mutual feeling of finality Orochimaru stood up, his purple tail coat swishing dramatically behind him. "I am," noting the lack of contraction, Itachi sighed. Clearly the man had difficulty speaking in any way other than his ridiculously flowery manner, "not sure we have much more that can be said. As I am a highly busy man, I must be going. Howver, you can expect me to visit you soon with some news, plans and probably a few gifts. Lord knows you look like you need something to cheer you up."
Itachi almost sighed again. Clearly he looked as bad as he felt. "I appreciate it."
"So you should." And with a final smirk, Orochimaru turned on his heel and waltzed out the second door into the room, opposite where Itachi had entered, grabbing his fur coat from its stand as he went.
Itachi, unsure what to do with himself for a while, took a few more sips of tea and furtively nabbed a teacake, relishing in its creamy texture. Finally, supposing he ought to let the blonde guard know that they were finished, he opened the door he had originally come though to find the boy grinning widely as he ate what Itachi supposed were stolen cakes. Sympathising totally, he offered the boy a little smile.
"We're finished, uh…?"
The boy's grin widened upon realising that the oddly kind prisoner wasn't about to tell his superiors that he had been stealing refreshments, "Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki! I'll take you back to your cell so follow me."
"Thank you."
Upon returning to his cell and bidding farewell to Naruto, he sat on his wooden bench. Upon looking up across the corridor to the cell opposite him, he was surprised to see Kisame waving.
"I wasn't aware you were opposite." Itachi started, grateful that the distance didn't merit raising his voice.
Kisame looked vaguely surprised before realising why. "Oh, yeah, when not with me, you've pretty much been asleep the whole time you've been here. Who wanted to see you?"
Itachi paused before answering. He didn't want to say it was his lawyer, after all, he didn't want to give his jailmate the impression that he was running away from prison life. "He was… a friend, I suppose."
Again, Kisame looked vaguely confused, not entirely grasping the situation. "Huh. You suppose? Do you not like him or something…?"
Again, he was uncertain how to reply. Frankly, he didn't know himself what he thought of Orochimaru, he hardly knew him, after all. Then again, he had been perfectly amicable to Itachi throughout most of the meeting, and he was certainly a character. Smiling slightly, he raised his eyes to meet Kisame's. "Absolutely not. I think I'm quite fond of him already."
"… Man, I don't get you."
"You don't need to." Itachi replied, and despite the worries that were now constantly plaguing his mind, things were slowly beginning to look more positive.
Oro has far too much money.