Sasori had walked into Otokagure without expecting much.

He imagined Orochimaru's place as a dingy, run-down old place, ridden with bugs, rodents, and other pests. He, Deidara, Hidan, and Kakuza were all walking towards the entrance to Otoga, and he wasn't happy about it. He wasn't looking forward to seeing his former partner-Orochimaru would probably be an arrogant jerk about how he had his own village, he had thousands of ninja and just people in general loyal to him, at his disposal, blah, blah, blah…

A girl in her teen years met him at the gate, two males at her side.

"Well, well, what have we here?" he purred. He wasn't in Hiruko, as he wanted to show off as much as possible, and his voice was slightly higher and smoother. The girl grinned.

"Taken."

"Damn…"

The girl smiled. "This way, please."

"So, I heard I'll be signing this with Sasuke instead of Orochimaru…" Sasori began. "Why?"

Tayuya swallowed; oh, how could she say this…? "Well…some…um, recent events…have forced Orochimaru to relinquish his power…it was an attack on him by Sasuke under unfair circumstances, and Sasuke really only got lucky."

One of Sasori's eyebrows came up. "What exactly happened?"

Kidomaru sighed. "Sasuke attacked Orochimaru, Orochimaru's current body was failing him for some reason, Sasuke killed Orochimaru, then brought him back but only as his personal slave."

Sasori's eyes widened. How…?

Tayuya opened the door to Sasuke's room and motioned the Akatsuki in. Kakuza took in the room appreciatively. "Nice place you got here-"

"Don't even think about it."

Sasuke was seen approaching the Akatsuki, Orochimaru and Kimimaro trailing behind him. Sasori could only stare.

"Orochimaru?" he gasped. The sannin lowered his head in shame, hair dipping forward towards his face.

"My God…what has he done to you?" the puppet master continued, stepping towards Orochimaru. The snake master only stepped back, a soft whisper slipping forth from his lips.

"I-I'm so sorry…"

Sasori carefully lifted Orochimaru's face, staring into his golden eyes. The ambition, the malice, the distrust, even hatred, that had shown before, were no longer there; now, only fear was expressed in the molten lava of Orochimaru's soul.

"What happened?" Sasori murmured, brushing aside Orochimaru's hair.

"Please…do not concern yourself with me," Orochimaru whispered. His voice was so quiet, so subdued…Sasori wondered if this was Orochimaru at all. "I have fought the battle, however unjust, and lost repeatedly. I may deserve it; I may not. Either way, I cannot change the past, nor the present, and not even the future. So, please…just get this over with, and do not treat me as you normally would. Instead, ignore me, and treat me as you would treat any other slave…like you treated Kabuto."

Sasori glared. "You're still hard about that, aren't you?"

Orochimaru shook his head and stepped back, ducking his head again. "Forgive me," he said quickly, but still in the quiet, submissive voice it seemed Sasuke had beaten into him. "I did not mean it like that…I simply meant that you used him and cast him aside, and that he never meant as much to you as he did to me."

Sasori sighed. "Well, if it's any consolation, I feel for you, I really do."

Orochimaru turned at Sasuke's call and gave Sasori an apologetic look as he walked back to the Uchiha's side. Sasuke gave him a hard glare, but said nothing and motioned Orochimaru to follow him. He led Orochimaru and the Akatsuki to a long table, laid out with a long scroll, and gestured to the Akatsuki to sit. Orochimaru stood behind Sasuke's chair a bit to the right, and the rest of the Sounds lined up against the wall. They began whispering, arranging who would be responsible for each Akatsuki member.

"Orochimaru…" Kakuza said slowly. "You once were in Akatsuki, weren't you? Ah, yes, I remember you…so proud, so arrogant, so full of life…and look at you now. Geez, what changed?"

Orochimaru lowered his head, biting his lip until it bled and a trickle of blood ran down his chin. Sasuke completely ignored him and picked up the scroll.

"Well, then, shall we begin?"

"Is he not talking for a reason?"

Sasuke sighed. "He doesn't matter. Focus, people!"

Hidan sighed. If Orochimaru wasn't talking, it had to be bad.

"Uh, I gotta go to the bathroom," he said lamely, standing up. "Could Orochimaru show me where it is?"

One of Sasuke's dark eyebrows rose, but he said nothing, simply nodding for Orochimaru to go. The sannin turned at once, red kimono swishing across the floor as he walked silently out of the room, Hidan trailing him.

The second they were out of the room and the door had closed, Hidan took Orochimaru's upper arms in a firm grip and pushed his back into the wall.

"Talk," he snarled, bending over so he was only an inch or so from Orochimaru's panicked face. "What has been going on here? This hasn't been of your free will, I know, so talk! Explain to me what it is that has been happening between you and Sasuke. Don't tell me…don't tell me he raped you?"

"Every night."

Orochimaru gasped at the new voice. Kabuto stood in the opposite doorway, staring at Orochimaru and Hidan.

"Hidan-dono, please, release him. He's been severely traumatized and mistreated; he doesn't need this."

Hidan sighed, but released Orochimaru. The sannin fell directly to his knees, bowing until he forehead touched the floor. The ends of his gorgeous black hair were almost flat against the ground, and he shook with fear; fear of punishment for something he never did.

Kabuto walked over to him and gently slid his arms around Orochimaru's shoulders, pulling his former master up and into his lap. "Shhhhhh…calm down, it's okay. You didn't do anything, it's not your fault-"

Kabuto carefully pulled up the sleeves of Orochimaru's kimono and scowled when he saw bruises on Orochimaru's pale arms. He glared at Hidan, who simply smirked and walked back into the other room. Kabuto picked Orochimaru up off the ground and healed the bruises on his arms, taking care to avoid touching them too much.

"Alright, go on," he said softly, giving Orochimaru a gentle push. "And Orochimaru-sama-!"

Orochimaru stopped, his hand on the doorknob, and turned to face Kabuto. Kabuto's heart nearly tore in two; Orochimaru's eyes were hollow…empty.

"I was never here."

Orochimaru nodded and slid the door back. When he turned to close it again, Kabuto was gone.

OOOOOOOOO

"Where have you been?!"

Orochimaru gasped when he heard Sasuke's harsh voice directly behind him. "You were supposed to come back with Hidan, you worthless beast!" he continued, smacking Orochimaru so hard the sannin fell to the ground, spitting blood from a split lip.

"You're cleaning that up later," Sasuke snarled when he saw the blood hit the floor, and gave Orochimaru a stern kick to the ribs. Orochimaru recoiled with a mewl of pain, struggling to stay on his knees. If he fell over, it would only allow Sasuke more access to his already-too-vulnerable body. At least now, with his arms wrapped around his aching middle, it provided him a small measure of protection…

"Get over here," Sasuke continued, sitting back down at the table. Orochimaru slowly stood up and limped back to his position at Sasuke's side, falling to his knees out of fatigue once he was there. Sasori looked at him sympathetically, but he couldn't do anything at that point.

Sasuke sighed. "Troublesome little beast," he muttered. "Intelligence of a dumb rock. Get up, you can't even stand?"

Sasori glanced at Orochimaru, then back at Sasuke. "When was the last time he had water? Or food, for that matter? He's skinny…"

Sasuke shrugged. "I offered him water earlier, but he didn't take it."

"No, you didn't-"

"Shut up!"

Sasuke gave Orochimaru another firm and well-placed kick, sending him crashing to the ground again. Orochimaru clutched at his side, gasping for breath, tears streaking down his face. He still tried to remain silent, though: he knew what Sasuke would do to him if he thought he was being annoying, and it wasn't pretty.

Sasori couldn't take it anymore; he stood up and marched directly to Orochimaru's side, picking him up and helping him stand until he could half-walk to the kitchen. There, he set Orochimaru down on the floor, poured him a glass of water, and helped him drink. Orochimaru drank greedily; Sasori wondered if he had had anything for days. Sasori gave him bit more and waited while Orochimaru finished it.

"I don't want to give you too much," he said. "If you vomit, it won't do you any good."

Orochimaru nodded. He was feeling a little better now, but still not great. He hadn't eaten in a while…almost a day. Sasori dug around for a while before handing him an apple.

"Sorry it's not much," he said. "But you need something quick and easy right now."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me, just eat."

Orochimaru ate quickly; it was habit now. Sasori stayed with him the whole time, making sure Orochimaru got a bit more water afterwards.

"Okay, ready to face Sasuke again?"

Orochimaru nodded and stood up, Sasori standing with him. The puppet master handed the snake master one last glass of water, and Orochimaru downed it without a problem. Sasori and Orochimaru finally walked out, Orochimaru shadowing Sasori.

Sasuke grabbed Orochimaru's delicate wrist the second he came out of the kitchen.

Orochimaru immediately pulled back in fear, thus tightening Sasuke's grip. Sasuke glared hard at Orochimaru, Sharingan blossoming on his eyes. Sasori watched warily, unsure if he should step in or not.

"Little bitch!"

Orochimaru yelped as a strong fist came smashing down across his face, then again as Sasuke's foot connected with his side. A choked sob escaped his throat as Sasuke dropped him to the floor and kicked him again, sending him slamming into-

Kabuto.

The silver-haired genin had jumped in at the last second and stopped the effects of Sasuke's attack, catching Orochimaru and holding the sannin against his chest.

"Sasuke, I hate to say it, but Kimimaro, Jiroubou, Kidomaru, Sakon, Ukon, and Tayuya and I have been plotting this for a while. We're taking you down, and hopefully we can get enough sympathy from Akatsuki to fight you and win. We were planning to just take off, but then we realized Akatsuki was coming and figured they still loved you."

Sasori gave Kabuto a you're joking, right? look. Kabuto sighed.

"Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little. But still…Orochimaru-sama, up for trying for Sasuke's body?"

Orochimaru shrugged.

"Oh, but first-"

Kabuto reached around to the back of Orochimaru's head and pulled the chopsticks out of his hair, letting it fall forward into his face.

"It's better down."

Orochimaru smiled. Kabuto…thank you so much. You don't realize it but…you do something to me. Whenever I'm around you, I feel…whole again, like I've suddenly regained something I've been missing. I never realized how much I missed you until you came back…I knew there was something missing and it was you, but I didn't realize that my entire heart was missing. It just goes to show…how cold-hearted I've really become. You ca tell, just by looking into my eyes…exactly how I feel. It is my greatest asset, but my greatest flaw. Kabuto, please, forgive me for what I am about to do. I'm foolish.

Orochimaru reached around behind Kabuto, grabbed a kunai, and rushed Sasuke head-on.

A/N: Cliffy!! Review please; I've been generous about the updates since tx-girl was so great about the rest of them, but your reviews in the bank are gone. So either review, or lose the next chapter!