Kabuto slid the this paper door open and walked into the spacious room without a sound, trying not to disturb the two occupants as they both concentrated on the younger of the couple, he pushed his glasses a little higher up his nose and stood in the corner closest to the door, watching them silently. He looked Mika up and down as she concentrated with her deep hazel eyes tightly shut, he hadn't seen her before her transformation other than the few moments when she had accepted Orochimaru's kiss but there was no doubt that she definitely looked quite different: her long plum coloured hair had become quite a bit darker with what looked like black strands dotted here and there but he couldn't be sure, her costume had of course changed from a rich golden red colour to black which made her newly chalky white skin stand out more vividly. The tear streaks which ran elegantly down her pale cheeks seemed to leak from the contours of her eyes which looked as though someone had gone wild with a pot of eyeliner. He was reminded strongly of a red haired boy he had met when he had been sent to spy on Naruto during the chuunin exam, the small red haired kid had been from the sand village and had had the same sort of talent as Mika except that he only controlled a gourd full of sand.

'Feel it.' said Orochimaru clenching his hands into frustrated fists as the girl continued to grit her teeth, clearly just as aggravated as her new sensei… possibly even more. 'Feel the elements around you… the earth beneath your feet, the air in your lungs, the electricity in the air… you don't have to summon them… that just takes more time and energy and you have to save all the energy you can… it's all around you-'

'I know!' she growled through her gritted teeth, her eyes still firmly shut as she clearly fought a strong urge to hit the pale man in front of him. 'You keep telling me.'

'I keep telling you because you keep ignoring me.' retorted Orochimaru as he took up pacing around her, watching her every move as her hands clenched and unclenched. 'You're ignoring all the sensations around you, girl!' the young girl let out a frustrated sob and let herself relax pathetically, clearly unwilling to believe that she was all he told her she was. Orochimaru sighed exasperatedly. 'What is it Kabuto?' he snapped looking over at the young man leaning against the wall in the corner.

'I have news.' he answered indifferently, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose again. 'I believe you may find this interesting.'

'Not here.' interrupted the man with the snake-like features putting his hand up to silence his follower before turning back to speak to the brown eyed girl who scowled up at him defiantly. 'You are doing very well.' he cooed as he slipped his practised hand around her apprentice waist and pulled her small body against his. 'Just keep practising.' he whispered as their faces inched closer so that they could both feel each others light breath.

'I hate you.' she whispered so quietly that she thought he might not hear her, but the look on her young face told a different story. Her eyelids were heavy as she almost invited him to press his lips against her, her mouth slightly open and her breath coming in short irregular gasps. He smiled down at her, clearly ignoring her last dialogue and his tongue delicately snaking out of his mouth and passing gently over her ear, carefully licking around the earlobe before passing briefly over her lips.

'Keep practising.' he told her quietly as he gazed at her lustful face, her closed eyes and her heavy head gently lolling slightly backwards while he held it up. 'You will be unstoppable.' he released her and watched her sway a for a moment before walking over to Kabuto who had waited patiently in his corner, watching in mild interest the short scene and now turned to follow Orochimaru out of the large room.

She watched with an expression of mild disgust as the two men disappeared down the corridor, she took a deep breath and scratched her nose in the now silent room. She didn't want to practise. She wanted to rebel so much, but when he was anywhere near her she couldn't help but try and impress him which infuriated her no end. She wanted to show him that she didn't need him, that she could do just as well without him although she knew perfectly well that she probably couldn't… but she didn't want him to know that as well.

She looked uninterestedly over at the doorway the two men had just disappeared out of and was surprised to find a young man watching her silently, bored curiosity etched into his features. He had long white hair which was pulled loosely into two bits at the front, his eyes were rimmed with what looked like the same thing as Mika except that it was red instead of black, and he had two little red spots just above his eyebrows. He gazed at the younger girl for a moment in silence as she watched him, a small inquisitive frown on her forehead before he looked away and continued on his slow, unhurried journey down the corridor. Mika made her way silently to the door and looked through it after the boy, watching him as he meandered unhurriedly along the dimly lit corridor before disappearing around the corner at the end.

Mika made her way back into her room, still frowning to herself in confusion as she resumed her previous position in the centre of the space. She could hear voices but she couldn't tell where they were coming from and they seemed quite far away. All of a sudden she was nervous, uncertain of her surroundings; this whole time she thought that she was alone in this mansion with Orochimaru and Kabu-what's his name, but this changed everything. Someone else was here… Mika had stupidly led herself to believe that she was one of a kind, that Orochimaru chose her over everyone else, but obviously not… was he the only one? Were there other people that Orochimaru had hand-picked? Other people who were talented in a way which noone else was?

'You don't look like you are practising, my Dear.' came Orochimaru's smooth voice from the doorway against which he was leaning uninterestedly. She was surprised at his entrance, she hadn't even noticed him coming in, she gazed at him disconcertedly. 'You look troubled.'

'I'm not special.' she said quietly, the prospect of being just another talented shinobi sinking in with agonising reality. 'You said I was special.'

'You are special.' he answered composedly watching her as she took a deep breath, trying to keep calm as she felt her temper beginning to bubble menacingly. 'Whatever made you think otherwise?' She scowled at him incredulously. Was he still trying to pretend that she was the only on here?

'There's a boy…' she started quietly, her chest heaving as she tried to keep her temper under control. '…another boy here… I'm not the only one here.' Orochimaru watched her toil with indifference etched in his pale features. 'You said I was unique… you said-'

'What makes you think he is special?' he asked quietly, still smiling at her indifferently. 'How can you be sure this… boy wasn't just a cleaning servant?'

'I could feel it. He was like me.' she said firmly, her temper suddenly seemed to have calmed down a bit. 'He was different… he was powerful.'

'Would that be Kimimaro?' asked Kabuto who had appeared shortly before but Mika had chosen to ignore. Orochimaru glanced over his shoulder uninterestedly and gave a tiny nod.

'Kimimaro?' repeated the jealous girl, because she knew that she was jealous… jealous of someone else being as special as her in Orochimaru's eyes. 'Is that his name?' she didn't know why this made any difference but for some reason it did. 'Who is he? Where does he come from? Why is he so special?'

'Would you like to meet him?' enquired the pale snake-like man smiling over at her questioningly. 'I could arrange for you to meet all my talented followers.' Mika's heart sank: there were more of them… more people to share Orochimaru's affection with. She hated them all already.

'Maybe, when Mika is a little more… practised' Kabuto started, taking due care and attention to find the right words. 'you could arrange a small demonstration.' Mika hated Kabu-what's-his-name too at that moment and tried desperately to let him see that, but Orochimaru seemed to like that idea because his face lighted up with enthusiasm and anticipation.

'I believe that is a splendid idea Kabuto.' he said excitedly, gazing happily at Mika's resentful expression as she scowled at both men. 'Do you consent?' he asked, finally giving Mika a moment to stop this dumb idea.

Unfortunately he stepped forwards, pressing the girls body against his and lowering his face so that he could smell her sweet scent and feel her soft breath coming in irregular gasps. She desperately wanted to say that she didn't want to fight anyone else… she wanted to tell him that it was a dumb idea… but her eyelids were getting heavy again as the familiar sensation of lust took over her young impressionable body and mind. She tried to screw up her face and say something but the only words which seemed to be able to escape the cavern of her slightly open mouth were:

'Oh Orochimaru…'

'I'll take that as a yes.' came his debonair voice as she felt him hold her up, carrying most of her weight as her knees buckled repeatedly and her arms lost all feeling. 'I must go now and arrange it all, and you my Dear must continue your training.' she opened her deep hazel eyes to gaze up at him smiling down at her, triumph on his pale face. 'Kimimaro is not one to be reckoned with, however I believe that with enough training we could have an interesting match on our hands.' He began to release her, forcing her to take her weight again as he pulled away progressively all the while making sure not to break the strange hypnotic aura around both of them.

As he strode out of the room again, swiftly followed by Kabuto, his mind was stuck on that strange aura which seemed to surround him when he and Mika were close. He knew that it affected her more than him, and he'd been taking advantage of that, but it seemed to be getting stronger and affecting him more than it had previously. What if she found out about it and was able to reverse it? What if she found a way of hypnotising him without him knowing it, the way he was doing to her? She could overthrow him with agonising ease… get him killed… he knew she resented him for lulling her into a false sense of security… for tricking her. He had after all separated her from Sasuke whom she adored, but he couldn't have passed up this once in a lifetime chance of having such a powerful ninja on his side, doing his bidding… possibly even adoring him as much as she adored Sasuke. But she was powerful, he was very aware that even if she wasn't. She was dangerous. And she disliked him greatly.

And that unsettled him.