Chapter 14 A Second Introduction

(One year later)

Ekima put down the shamisen. I looked up from my own instrument. She had a look on her face that told me she was pondering something. So they didn't get in our way, I had removed my yukata and she her trench coat. She wore brown caprees and a white t-shirt that folded left over right, similar to a jinbei, and tied closed with a thin purple ribbon. I sat in my black sweats and tank top.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I'm just curious as to why you would want to learn all this?" She said, looking up at me.

I had never really thought about it. I leaned back to think.

"Well, think about it, if I ever had to work under a disguise, as kunoichi often do, I'd be able to pull it off better if I had these types of skills."

"I never thought about it that way!" Ekima said smiling.

"Yeah, it's really good you know all this stuff! For both of us."

Ekima's smile widened. Her face had gotten thinner and the sun of the outside had given it color. She had become more cheerful and expressed herself more often. But she still remained shy and sulked away around Orochimaru.

"Let's wrap it up for the day." She said and placed the shamisen delicately back in it's case. I did the same. I stood slowly and began to pull my yukata back on.

"Where are you going?" Ekima asked.

"Oh, I'm just gonna walk around for a bit. Maybe grab something to eat." I said casually.

"Okay but be careful," She said. "Remember what Mizuko-chan said, curiosity can be dangerous."

"Yeah, yeah." I called back as I walked out the door.

This hideout was underneath a abandoned temple, and like most of them it had never ending, identical hallways. This was my first time in this structure so I was eager to know it's make up. I walked down the hallways, taking a turn whenever I felt like it, humming a lullaby. I occasionally peeked in an open door, I wasn't stupid enough to open the closed ones. I must have been wandering for over an hour when I realized I was lost and didn't know my way back. I tried to go back the way I came but that got me even more lost. I soon found a room with the door cracked open. Voices were coming from the inside. I hesitated, then decided to ask for directions. I pushed open the door slowly. The room was lit with warm colored lights. A single low table was placed in the middle. Two guys that looked about seventeen were seated drinking sake and talking. One had short black hair and wore simple blue kinagashi. The other was a blonde whose hair spiked up at the ends. Like his companion he wore a kinagashi but his was red and was decorated with triangle designs. The black haired on noticed me and pointed for his blonde friend. The blonde one smiled.

"Uh…excuse me," I began. "I'm sorry to interupt but I was hoping you could help me find my way back to my room."

"Sure, we'll help." The blonde one said and began to wave his hand. "But come and hang with us for a bit."

From the way he talked and the flush of his face I realized he was drunk and his friend probably was too. I realized this wasn't a good idea.

"No thank you, I'll just find my way back myself." I turned to go but a hand grabbed my wrist. I turned to see the blonde behind me, a bit taken aback that he could move so fast in such a state.

"No," He said, his breath reeking. "I said you're gonna hang with us."

His friend appeared behind him. "Eh? She's not half bad looking, Jouji."

I pulled against his grip. "Let go of me!"

Jouji only tightened his grip.

"I'm warning you!" I threatened. "Let go of me!"

This made them laugh. These two were probably really nice guys, but drunk men were all the same. I reached into my pocket with my spare hand and curled my fingers around a thin kunai.

"What're you gonna do?" The black one taunted.

"I'd love to find out." Teased Jouji.

They laughed again but suddenly there was the sound of metal whistling through the air and Jouji cried out. He backed away griping at the wrist of the hand that had held on me. Blood leaked out from between his fingers.

"You shouldn't be drinking at your age." Said a familiar voice from behind me.

I turned and stared up into two dark grey eyes. " Sasuke-sama!?"

Sasuke gave me a quick glance before returning his attention back to Jouji.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you little punk!" The blonde spat.

"I did you a favor." Sasuke replied plainly.

"You son of a-" Jouji began as he began to charge forward but Sasuke pointed his sword tip at his throat.

"Take a one more step and you wont get off with just a slit wrist." Sasuke's voice was dead serious.

Jouji glared at the Uchiha for a while then nodded to his friend and they both retreated back into the room. Sasuke re-sheathed his sword and turned.

"Why the hell did you do that?" I called, running after him. "I can take care of myself!"

"Didn't look that way."

I pulled the kunai from my pocket and waved it in his face. He didn't react like I had hoped.

"I don't need to be defended by you! Besides, they were drunk. You can't threaten a drunk person, you don't know what they're actually like." I said, stubbornly.

"You're lost, right?" Sasuke asked.

"Don't change the subject!"

"You're lost, right?" He repeated as he turned to me.

I hesitated. "…yes."

"I'll take you back then." He said and turned away again.

What was with the sudden consideration? What the hell had happened over the past year. I looked away contumaciously. I had already decided I didn't like Uchiha Sasuke, and I didn't want to believe he had some redemption. I peeked back over at him, though. He had gotten a little taller, his hair a bit longer. He now wore black sweats with a pale blue fabric hanging from his mid stomach down to his knees, probably just for looks. He wore black arm-warmers that covered the back of his hands. His shirt was white with long sleeves, the Uchiha crest on the collar; he let it hang open, revealing his chest. This was all tied together by the purple, rope-like belt that the Otonin wore but his was tied towards the front.

"What?" He asked suddenly.

I looked up, confused.

"You're staring at me…"

"J-just examining your new clothes." I said stiffly. "Don't get the wrong idea!"

"We got off on the wrong foot, didn't we." He said, staring ahead.

"You think? You did give the greatest greeting."

"What about those things you said during our fight?" He said. "That wasn't the nicest thing, you know."

I felt my face flush. "Yeah, well…"

It was all I could come up with. I could only draw blanks.

"What?" He said. "Don't have one of your clever come backs?"

I gave him a half-heated glare.

"Orochimaru's talked about you and your foul-mouth." He said casually. "It's not a desirable quality in a women."

"Teme." I hissed under my breath.

Sasuke ceased walking. I stopped, curious about his reaction.

"What is it?"

"What did you just call me?" He didn't sound angry, but I couldn't recognize the emotion in his voice.

"Teme?" I asked.

"I see."

I had expected and different reaction but he just continued walking. His eyes hidden by the black curtain of his bangs.

I followed Sasuke but where I ended up was not the comfort of my room, but in the presence of Orochimaru. I shot him a dirty look.

Dirty little traitor.

"Oh? You found her?" Orochimaru said, sounding as amused as always.

"She had stumbled upon two of your underlings, both in a drunk stupor." Sasuke explained. "I gave one a warning."

Orochimaru chuckled.

"Why am I here?!" I demanded. "You already carried out your stupid tests yesterday, Orochimaru."

I hardly insulted Orochimaru anymore. I had become much more accustom to his company and it did bug me as much as it used to. But I still threw out an insult every now and then. As I stared at the snake I realized he had returned to his normal appearance. I had nearly forgotten about the other body.

"I didn't bring you here for experiments." Orochimaru stated plainly. "Sasuke has been under my training for nearly over a year now. I think it's been long enough."

I looked from Orochimaru to Sasuke, then back to Orochimaru.

"What are you talking about?"

"You recall the match you had with Sasuke-kun, correct?"

"…yes."

"And he suffered a rather humiliating defeat."

"…yes."

I could tell by the way I was being regarded I was missing the point.

"What are you getting at?" I asked.

"Do you think you could beat him now?"

Oh, I get it. I looked over at Sasuke. Orochimaru wants us to have a rematch to see how his "training" has benefited his pupil.

"I can't say." I responded honestly. "I don't know what kind of training you put him through."

Sasuke looked back at me without turning his head. Orochimaru stood up, his long black hair swaying with the movement.

"Let's find out then, shall we?"

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The dojo here was larger than the first hideout but the pattern and wall painting remained pretty much the same. I could tell Orochimaru had acquired this one later that the other for the wall were still mostly unscathed and the paint barley faded. There weren't any weapons on the walls but there was a second door towards the back corner that lead to who knows where. I turned back to Orochimaru and Sasuke. Orochimaru wore his usual smirk and Sasuke stared back at me with a blank face. I didn't have any weapons on me, save for that kunai. I eyed the Shinobigatana at Sasuke's belt; no guard, no grip, a very simple sword design.

Sasuke slowly began to walk in my direction, I gave Orochimaru a quick glance. As I turned my attention back to my opponent, I blink and Sasuke was gone. A gasp slipped through my lips when I sensed a presence appear behind me. I pivoted just in time to avoid an blow. Sasuke barley gave me enough time to recover myself when he charged attacking in a series of movement that ranged from strikes to flips.

In just one year…one year, how could his speed improved so much? I was much faster them him in our first bout.

I blocked what would've been a fist in the face but he used his other hand to get me in the stomach.

Dammit, I cursed. How could I make the mistake of leaving myself open like that?

Sasuke spun and elbowed me in the chest. The taste of blood bubbled up in the back of my throat before I slammed into the wall. What the hell was going on? I was barley holding back. How could he?

I snapped out of it when I heard the sound of metal. I rolled out of the way as Sasuke's blade sunk into the wall like a knife into butter. I ran, trying to get distance between us but Sasuke was there next to me in an instant. Before I could react I received a nice, clean cut in the side of the stomach. I cried out and stumbled backwards, drawing the kunai from my pocket just in time to block another blow from the blade. As we stood there, trying to overpower the other, Sasuke regarded me calmly. He wasn't injured, he hadn't broken a sweat but that wasn't what bugged me.

I thrust my kunai forward, knocking Sasuke's blade back. He stumbled a bit, an opening! I struck out with my weapon but…the blade, the sword in Sasuke's hands was gone, it had just…disappeared. Then, before my brain registered I was in pain, I saw blood flash in front of my eyes. I looked down at my hand. The kunai was gone and a cut that started in my wrist and reached into my wrist had appeared. It clicked and the pain shot up through my whole body. I drew in my breath sharply. I wanted to put pressure on the new wound but my other had was tending my slit stomach. I fell to the ground, pressing my wrist to my chest. When I looked up, a metallic sharp point was at my throat and Sasuke was staring down at me, with the same look he had worn the entire battle.

Orochimaru's laughter reminded me that he was present and I felt my face flush and quickly stared at the ground. Sasuke sheathed his sword and turned away.

"Excellent." Orochimaru said. "Looks like this is all paying off."

"You're training isn't worth anything until Itachi is dead." Sasuke said and Orochimaru's smile widened.

The fact that Sasuke was unscathed or non-fatigued wasn't what bothered me the most about our battle. What bugged me and just downright ashamed me was that he hadn't even used his sharingan. Even I had used mine for a bit.

Another thing was his sudden growth. I don't care how much training you have had, you can't improve that much in a single year. It was unnatural. But it still didn't explain my loss. I should be stronger that him. Then I realized the problem. Sure, Sasuke had gotten stronger but that wasn't the only thing. I looked down at my hands. I had gotten weaker.

"I'll call Kabuto in to attend you." Orochimaru said as he left the dojo.

Sasuke followed behind him. The Uchiha glanced back over his shoulder at me. There was no pride in those eyes, no gloating, nothing. There was absolutely nothing in those dark grey eyes. The door slid shut, but those eyes didn't move.

Author Notes: See this is what I meant. Sure it feels like they just battled but in their would it's already been a year. I enjoyed this chapter. I'm still getting Sasuke's personality down so it may be off for a bit.