Tsukiyo sighed and attempted to concentrate on the book she was reading- or was trying to read. This is ridiculous! She told herself. I've been on the same page for the last forty minutes and I've read the same sentence over twenty-three times! Her gaze drifted from the page and came to rest on the raven-haired boy who lay, unconscious, in the metal cage that stood, ten feet from the sofa on which she now reclined. He should be awake by now. She thought. He's been out for over three hours. I wonder how strong that weakening agent that Orochimaru gave him was. It must have been pretty potent to have such a long affect.
As she watched him, the boy suddenly began to stir. He moaned and tossed in the cage. A nightmare? Tsukiyo wondered.
She rose and taking the key from her pocket, she unlocked the cage door and went over to the slave's side. His moans increased in volume and beads of perspiration rolled down his face. She knelt next to him and, placing the tips of her forefingers to the Uchiha's temples. Closing her eyes, she concentrated hard. "Vision Perception no Jutsu." She whispered.
Suddenly, Sasuke's nightmare appeared before her close eyes, as though it had been etched on the insides of her eyelids. His dream was incredibly vivid and Tsukiyo felt as if she was actually there.
Looking up, she saw a much younger Sasuke standing in a room opposite Itachi. Bodies of his family members lay, strewn across the floor. Fresh blood covered everything and the stench of it was overpowering.
Young Sasuke stood, trembling violently as he gazed open mouthed at his dead family members. The expression on his face reflected disbelief, horror, shock and fear and his eyes held a haunted look.
Itachi stood silently, carefully watching his brother's reaction to the scene that lay around him.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Sasuke raised terror filled eyes to his brother's granite-like face. "Why Itachi?" He asked in a hollow voice. He gazed at his brother as if begging him to tell him that it was all a trick. "Why?"
Itachi sighed and glanced at his sword, dripping with the fresh blood of his clan. "To see what I was capable of." He replied in an emotionless voice.
Sasuke stared at him disbelievingly. Tsukiyo could almost feel his pain. "How could you? They are your family! Oto-san, Okaa-san, our uncles and aunts and cousins... they were a part of you and you destroyed them!"
"Stop complaining. I left you alive didn't I?" Itachi spoke in a cold voice.
Sasuke glared at him. "What? Do you want me to thank you for that?"
Itachi smirked. "No. I wouldn't expect you to. But doesn't really matter, since I don't care about you."
"Oh?" Sasuke challenged. "Then why didn't you kill me?"
"Because, you're so weak it would have been shameful." Itachi replied.
Sasuke gapped at him. "You don't think this" He gestured to the bodies around them, "is shameful?! You've massacred your clan! You are a murderer!"
Itachi shrugged and gazed at him with unfeeling eyes. "Then kill me."
Sasuke's eyes grew wider that Tsukiyo thought was possible. "W-What-t?"
Itachi tossed the blood-coated sword in Sasuke's direction. It landed at Sasuke's feet with a loud clatter. "Kill me." Itachi repeated, his voice impassive. "If you hate me so much for killing them, then grow and train to become strong so that you can avenge the clan. Of course…" He smirked again. "You're so worthless that I doubt you'll ever be strong enough, even to scratch me, let alone kill me."
Sasuke's horrified gaze flicked back and fourth between the bloody sword, lying at his feet, and his brother's freezing eyes.
Itachi spoke up once more. "You weren't strong enough to save them. So kill me by the same sword I used to kill them, that they may be avenged."
Sasuke reached down hesitantly and picked up the sword. A look of determination filled his onyx eyes and the world around him seemed to melt away.
Now, he was older, about the age of twelve. He and a blond boy were trapped inside a cage of ice mirrors with a masked boy. Senbone flew at them from all angles. Sasuke suddenly realized that the masked boy was attacking the blond and threw himself in front of his friend, shielding him from the attack of senbone with his body. Sasuke fell limply against the blond boy. They spoke in low tones, but Tsukiyo's sensitive, cat ears were still able to pick up some of it. "I swore that I wouldn't die until I had killed him, My brother." Sasuke was saying. "I thought the oath would keep me alive. I guess I was wrong…"
The scene within the ice mirrors now melted away and a face that Tsukiyo knew appeared before her. Orochimaru?!
"Ssssassssuke hassss the heart of an avenger." The snake man hissed. "Eventually, he will sssseek me out in hissss quest for power."
Orochimaru's face vanished and Tsukiyo found herself inside a large arena. In its' center Sasuke was in the midst of a battle with a young man.
"You're feeding on my Chakura!" Sasuke gasped suddenly.
"Heh. You finally figured it out eh?" his opponent jeered.
Sasuke received several hard blows. Suddenly, he glanced up and his eyes widened as he caught sight of a boy in a green jumpsuit with extremely thick eyebrows.
That's it! Tsukiyo was surprised to find that she could suddenly hear Sasuke's thoughts as well as his words.
"It's time to finish this." Sasuke's opponent exclaimed.
He charged at Sasuke who suddenly executed a maneuver that Tsukiyo had never seen before, appearing underneath his opponent. Suddenly, he halted as scrolling black marks began to spread over his body from the back of his neck. "That's Orochimaru's curse mark!" Tsukiyo exclaimed under her breath.
Sasuke's thoughts echoed in her mind. The curse mark… it's spreading! A look of resolved determination appeared in his eyes. I'm not just going to sit back and let it consume me!!!! Tsukiyo watched as, by sheer willpower, Sasuke suppressed the curse mark forcing it back.
Again the scene changed. Now Sasuke was in a forest battling a strange creature with fiery red hair. Half of it was a boy with pale skin and a slate blue eye. The other half was a sand colored monster with purple veins running through his skin- if it could be called skin, and a black eye with an unusual gold iris.
"You disappoint me Uchiha." The creature rasped. "I guess your hatred is not as strong as you thought, for if it was, you would be stronger than this…"
The creatures face blurred and in its place Itachi's face appeared. He was older now, wearing a black robe with red clouds on it. The Akatsuki! Tsukiyo realized. Sasuke rushed at him, his palm glowing with the blue energy of the Chidori. Itachi effortlessly evaded Sasuke's attack and, grabbing hold of Sasuke's forearm, delivered a punch to the boy's gut and then flung him hard into the wall.
"You haven't changed at all." Itachi jeered. "You're still the weak useless brat that I left behind six years ago!"
The scene changed once again, this time Sasuke was chained to the wall and Tsukiyo saw herself standing over him.
"So… you are a member of the Uchiha clan? That must make you Itachi san's little brother." She was saying.
Sasuke started at the mention of his older brother's name. His eyes flicked up to her face briefly before lowering to glare at the ground once more."
Tsukiyo watched as the past her smirked. "He was right about one thing. You're not the brightest kid around."
Sasuke growled. "What do you know?! And where did you ever meet Itachi? Cat freak!"
The past Tsukiyo chuckled. "Hn. Honestly Uchiha, is that anyway to speak to your mistress?" She taunted.
"You are NOT my mistress…!" Sasuke spat.
"Really? Your present state asserts the opposite." Sasuke clenched his fists. "And as to your brother, well he and I have met numerous times. According to him you are uncharacteristically weak and not worthy to be called an Uchiha." She smirked. "And by the looks of you I'd say he's right on!"
One last time, the scene melted away and Tsukiyo saw that they were in Orochimaru's torture chamber. Kabuto cut through the straps that held Sasuke down and Sasuke rolled limply onto the floor.
Orochimaru's voice was heard. "I placccced a ssssspecial sssseal on hissss head. It issss a complicated procedure but, the long and short of it issss, He will no longer have any control over hissss chakura. All of hissss fighting abilitiessss will have dissssappeared, with the exception of hissss Sharingan. Asssside from that, I'm ssssure Sssssassssuke can tell you that the pain alssso sssspread to the resssst of hissss body. I combined the sssseal with a sssstrength-ssssapping agent to weaken him. Even without the usssse of hissss chakura, it would be too dangeroussss for him to remain at hissss regular sssstrength level. Thissss way, he hassss no posssssible way of fighting you or anyone elsssse."
Sasuke touched his forehead and gasped as he felt the imprint of the seal in his flesh.
He will no longer have any control over his chakura… chakura…chakura… Hisabilities will have disappeared… disappeared… disappeared… He has no possible way of fighting… fighting… fighting… fighting…
Orochimaru's words repeated themselves over and over.
No! Sasuke's desperate thoughts were as clear as if they had been shouted directly at her. If I lose my strength, then I can't defeat Itachi! He can't take away my chakura control… He just can't! Please no… Please… you can't…noooo…
The dream faded out and Tsukiyo opened her eyes. She gazed at the boy in front of her in wonder.
As an anthro, Tsukiyo had gone through quite a few hardships herself and, therefore, had hardened herself to any sensitive feelings. However, having just witnessed the Uchiha's past with such acute clarity and vivid accuracy, Tsukiyo could not help feeling a slight prick of remorse for her cruelty to him. He'd been through so much pain already and the future he now faced, only promised more sorrow. Now he'd even lost the thing he had dedicated his entire life to gaining, his ability to fight.
Tsukiyo shook her head. What are you thinking? Her inner self scolded. You can't get caught up worrying about some slave boy. You have a mission yourself. You have to stay focused. Forget about that boy and concentrate on learning all you can from Orochimaru. Your entire race is counting on you!
Tsukiyo nodded. It's true. I can't afford to get sidetracked now. If I take the time to help him then I won't be able to focus on my real mission. And if I fail this mission, all will be lost! I won't feel sorry for a boy who wound up in this position because he made stupid choices!
But even as she made this resolve, she felt a twinge of guilt. Shaking her head she pushed it away. "No." She seethed. "I swore that I would never care about or pity a human. It is the Human race that has threatened the Anthro race to the brink of extinction! Humans make foolish errors and then they whine and complain when they have to reap the consequences! They deserve all that they get!"
(A/n: Yes, Tsukiyo has an inner self, but it is different than Sakura's in that Tsukiyo is an anthro and anthro's have split personalities, one being human, the other being animal- in Tsukiyo's case, a cat. Tsukiyo's normal personality is her human side and it possesses the common human emotions; on the other hand, her inner self consists of her animalistic side, which relies on survivalist instinct. Hence, while Tsukiyo's human side feels bad for Sasuke, her feline side is not dictated by such emotions and is only concerned with making certain that she is able to survive. And apparently, Tsukiyo's ability to survive depends wholly on whether or not she is able to succeed in completing her mission.)
Sasuke came awake to find that he was back inside the cage. Could it have all been a dream? He wondered reaching up to touch his forehead. But no, the seal's imprint was painfully evident.
Sasuke sighed. He felt so tired. Yikes! How much of that weakening agent did Orochimaru use?!
"So you're finally awake hmm?" a voice above him asked. Sasuke glanced up through the bars of the cage to see Tsukiyo standing over him. "It's about time. You were out for over three hours!" She spoke in an irritated voice.
Sasuke bit his tongue in an effort to hold back the scathing words that threatened to burst from his mouth. Nonetheless, the enraged look in his eyes spoke volumes.
The two of them remained as still as statues, each glaring daggers at the other.
"I'm going to go train with Orochimaru now." She told him. "Kabuto will be here in a little while and you are to assist him with whatever he needs. Do exactly as he tells you or there will be consequences. Understood?"
Sasuke dropped his eyes in defeat. "Hai."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Hai…?"
He glared up at her. "Hai… Mistress."
She nodded. "Good boy Uchiha. You're a fast learner."
Sasuke watched, through eyes burning with hatred as she exited the room. He gave a defeated sigh and lay back down...
Hi everyone!
What did you guys think of the third chapter? Once again, if you have any ideas for the title, please let me know.
Reviews are greatly appreciated. "Constructive critisism only please.)
Untill next time,
~MidnightAnimeAngel