Chapter 22: The Fight Continues! Kakashi vs Orochimaru
"Good." Megumi-sensei said the minute I roused to consciousness. My brow furrowed and I opened my eyes, the whole process painful.
I was lying on a cot in the infirmary and my body felt sore. I looked around the room and discovered that I was the only patient in it. Megumi-sensei had pulled a chair up to my bedside. She stared down at me, nothing but business, before managing a nod.
"What happened?" I asked, sliding a hand to feel the back of my head.
"You passed out." Megumi-sensei said with a shrug. "Feel any better?"
My hand slid back to feel my neck, to feel over the mark. I couldn't feel it anymore and I looked at Megumi-sensei who smiled down at me.
"It took a lot, but I managed to seal it again." Megumi-sensei said.
I nodded, silence passing between us when I remembered my fight with Haru and the desire to end him altogether. Buki, or weapon. That's what I had been, a weapon to Orochimaru.
"Sensei…about the fight…"
She lifted a hand and I stopped talking. I met her gaze just as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Uchiha fought right after you." Megumi-sensei said.
My heart stilled in my chest. "H-how did he do? Is he okay?"
"He won." Megumi-sensei answered.
I nodded.
"He should be recovering just like you in the boy's wing."
I fought the part of me that wanted desperately to run to the wing right then and there. I could feel sensei watching me and I feared it. What would she say if she found out I had kissed Uchiha? What would I do if she blurted it out in front of the boys? She'd be disappointed of course, probably pin me to the wall saying that was why I had nothing on him, why I had failed so many times.
"The mark tried to surface, but he pushed it back just in time, before Hayate could call it." Megumi-sensei said.
My eyes widened. "He pushed it back?" I had never heard of anyone being able to resist the mark, especially when they had first received it. It had taken me years to finally have it under some sort of control, to push away the dark desire, to push away the power. It was hard to resist as well but there was Sasuke Uchiha rising above it all. I felt a small pang of jealousy but my desire to see him was stronger.
Megumi-sensei nodded. "Kid has great inner strength I guess."
I opened my mouth but hesitated and clamped it shut, turning away, shielding my face with my hair. "Can we…can we see him?"
It was met with silence and I could only imagine what her expression held then and knew whenever I gained the courage to face her, she'd be waiting with a curious look on her face.
"I don't see why not—" Megumi-sensei froze, her eyes going wide. She jumped out of her seat, her body tense and just as I was about to ask her what was wrong, I felt it too, a wave of intense, dark chakra flood into the room. It was powerful and familiar and I knew instantly that not only was he in the building, he was close.
Megumi-sensei started for the door and I was right behind her, pushing off my covers and jumping out of the bed. My muscles protested, but I pushed forward. Resting could wait. What mattered was this energy. Megumi-sensei and I raced out into the hallway and followed the now fading path down the many twists and turns of the hallways until we came upon an even darker one. Once we reached the end of it, I spotted Sasuke lying on the ground and before I could even survey the scene, I shot toward him.
"Sasuke!" I breathed, lifting his head off the ground and onto my lap instead.
"My Miyuki…" Orochimaru's voice snaked through me, making me shiver and slowly I turned to face him and found Kakashi standing a few feet away from Orochimaru who was standing casually near one of the pillars, a dark smile on his lips.
"You…" Megumi-sensei growled at him.
Orochimaru looked at her and his smile deepened. "Megumi."
"You have a lot of nerve appearing here after everything you've done." Megumi-sensei growled.
"Megumi, stay out of this." Kakashi said, his voice low.
I couldn't get a good look at his face, but there was an edge of nervousness in his voice. There was also still the presence of Orochimaru's chakra, so powerful and so thick, it filled the room, making it harder0 to breathe.
"I was just catching up with Kakashi." Orochimaru chuckled.
"You telling me you're here to visit?" Megumi-sensei scoffed. "I doubt that."
"He's here for Sasuke." Kakashi growled.
"No!" I said, my emotions surging.
"I was just telling Kakashi about the Sound Village." Orochimaru said, his voice light as air, carefree. It was like he was talking to old friends and not shinobi ready to strike him down.
"What about the Sound Village?" Megumi-sensei growled.
Orochimaru's dark smile deepened, making my sensei's eyes narrow even more. "I created it."
My eyes widened at his confession. Akane's suspicions had been proven.
"But to play the game like you said, I need pieces on the board. Pawns to do my bidding." Orochimaru said, turning his attention back to Kakashi.
"And Sasuke's one of your pawns?" Kakashi growled, his hands in tight fists at his sides.
"Oh no…Sasuke is much more valuable than that…that's something my dear Miyuki can tell you." His eyes met my face and my eyes widened. The look in his eye scared me, reminded me of the moment I had decided to push it all behind me and go with him. I remembered the feeling of my hand sliding into his and felt sick to my stomach suddenly. I hated him, I realized. But after all the years of following him, of defending him, of looking up to him, I had wanted to impress him. I had been willing to do anything and everything in order to please him, even if it meant losing myself in the process.
"It's because of that, because of his value, others have to sacrifice." Orochimaru said. "But it's all in the name of the greater good."
"You're so full of it!" Megumi-sensei growled and ran toward Orochimaru.
"Megumi! No!" Kakashi yelled after her.
Megumi-sensei pulled out a kunai from the pouch on her thigh and raised it high above her head, ready to strike. Orochimaru snickered and out from the collar of his military vest popped three pythons who shot toward Megumi-sensei and before she could stop herself, the snakes wrapped around her body. They lifted her off the ground and threw her back against the wall.
"Sensei!" I shouted, as her body slumped to the ground.
"Megumi!" Kakashi called and he turned to face Orochimaru as the pythons slithered back into the collar of his vest and he fixed our group with an amused smirk.
"Teach your friend, Kakashi." Orochimaru said as he started toward us. "Teach her not to meddle in things that don't concern her."
He continued walking toward us, his footsteps echoing throughout the hall and at the last moment, when he was getting too close for comfort, Kakashi gasped, aimed his right arm to the ground, and shaped his hand like a claw. His left hand reached over and gripped his forearm and I liked to imagine that he was glaring at Orochimaru.
"Stay back!" Kakashi growled before a ball of blue electricity appeared in his palm. The high concentration of electricity in his palm sounded like hundreds of birds chirping. Orochimaru's brow twitched at the sight of the jutsu and Kakashi braced himself.
"I don't care if you're one of the legendary Sanin. Take one more step toward these kids and one of us will die today." Kakashi said.
Sasuke stirred on my lap and Orochimaru caught sight of it over Kakashi's shoulder. I hugged him closer to me. I wasn't going to let anything happen to him. Megumi-sensei had told us to face our demon and I was willing to do just that.
Orochimaru chuckled, his gaze returning to Kakashi and as his chuckle grew into a full blown cackle, I wondered what was so funny. Kakashi's threat had been full of promise and I firmly believed the two were going to battle to the death and even if Kakashi didn't win, the surprise that had been in Orochimaru's eyes proved that Kakashi was someone to look out for.
"Funny is it?" Kakashi growled.
"Poor Kakashi all your noble efforts all in vain. Do you really believe that the seal will hold? Do you believe that you can keep him from what he truly desires? His heart wants only one thing. He's an avenger, remember?"
"And you think you can take advantage of that?" Kakashi growled.
Orochimaru chuckled, but this time when he looked up at us, something was different about the look in his eye. A moment later, I felt something strange wash over me and my body stiffened right before the violent images began. Kakashi's body strewn across the floor, surrounded by a pool of his own blood. Megumi-sensei's body pinned to the wall by sharp kunai, her blood dripping down the silver edges, before dripping to the bottom. Then there was my own death, the full force of his eyes high above my head as he brought back a sword before plunging it into my stomach. There was the sharp pain, my eyes watering as the pain spread and the feeling of my blood, warm against my icy skin spreading.
"No!" I screamed, my hands shooting up to cover my ears.
"He will come to me, Kakashi." Orochimaru said and I looked up, my body trembling, a cold sweat washing over me only to see him standing in front of a trembling Kakashi. He was breathing heavily and seemed to be struggling to find words.
"Unless of course, you carry out your threat to kill me." Orochimaru chuckled. "Now's your chance."
Kakashi shivered even more and I watched as the electricity in his hand fizzled out. He dropped to his knees, his trembling was so bad and Orochimaru chuckled before turning and walking back down the dark hallway.
"I didn't think so." He said as he disappeared into the darkness, leaving us behind.
Megumi-sensei pushed herself up to her knees just as Sasuke's eyes opened weakly. He looked up at me right before I closed my eyes, my body shaken and paralyzed, unable to shake the images of death, unable to stop feeling the phantom pain in my abdomen.
"Kakashi." Megumi-sensei cried out before racing to his side, taking him in her arms. "What happened? Are you alright?" She looked back at me as Sasuke sat up in front of me.
"He-he got away." Kakashi managed weakly.
I felt a hand come down on my shoulder and though it made me jump, it also made the images and pain stop. I looked up only to find Sasuke staring down at me, his hand on my shoulder.
"You alright?" He asked.
I managed a shaky breath before I nodded and that seemed to be all the confirmation he needed before his hand slid down my arm to my elbow before turning to face our panting sensei's.
"What did I miss?" he asked them.
…
"Feeling better?" I asked.
Sasuke and I hadn't spoken ever since we had made it to the infirmary. I had practically dragged him there because he was too weak to walk and we had been sitting in silence as soon as we had arrived. I had wanted to leave right away, but instead my body had dragged one of the chairs across the room and I had sat down right beside him, my hands on my lap, my eyes trained to his stark white bed sheets.
Sasuke reached up and smoothed his fingers over his newly sealed curse mark. His expression, as usual was unreadable. He pulled his hand away a moment later and looked down at his palm, his lips pressed into a firm line.
"Aren't you going to go back to watch the matches?" Sasuke asked.
"I'm not leaving until I'm sure you're alright." I said. "You still look a little pale."
He glanced at me quickly before shifting his eyes away again, his gaze trailing down to his white sheets. "I don't need you babysitting me."
"I'm not baby—"
"And I don't need you looking at me like I'm some kind of wounded animal." Sasuke said, his eyes narrowing as they turned toward my face.
"I'm not—"
"Yes, you are." Sasuke growled, his eyes dark.
I swallowed my protests and looked away, feeling hurt but knowing that he was right and that my concern went deeper than that. Orochimaru had admitted that he had created the Sound Village and something told me he was still around, still watching. He had also proven that he wasn't alone and that his pawns went beyond the Sound Village Genin. They were disposable pieces on the board and Sasuke was his king piece, the main prize at the end.
"I'm sorry…I'm just…I'm just worried." I said. "I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Yeah, well I didn't ask for you to worry about me." Sasuke said.
"I know…I just…I just can't help it…" I said, a hot blush shooting across my cheeks.
He looked at me again and I felt stupid for caring, stupid for thinking for half a second that he would be grateful. Our kiss flashed through my mind once more and I wondered if that had even meant anything to him. He had teased me after but he wasn't acting any differently. Had he even cared?
I had expected things to be different between us. I had been sure that our interactions would change, that he wouldn't push me away with his cold shoulder and hard words. But, we were back at it again, as if nothing had happened at all and even though I had secretly seen it coming, it didn't make it any better.
"I'm not scared of him." Sasuke said.
I looked at him, bewildered.
"I thought about it all after you left…about the mark…about our fight…and I realized after it all I'm not afraid of him." Sasuke said and reached up to touch the seal on his neck again. "Kakashi said this is as strong as I am. He said that it grows stronger as I grow stronger but I can't shake my resolve. He said I can't doubt myself."
I nodded. "It sounds like a powerful seal."
Sasuke looked at me, his dark eyes seeming to study my face before he looked down at my hands. "I'm an avenger. I want to avenge my clan and destroy a certain someone."
I thought back to Samui's revelation in the hot spring. Itachi Uchiha, the alleged leader of the Akatsuki and lone murderer of the Uchiha clan.
"But I think I might want other things too." Sasuke muttered.
"Like what?" I asked.
He looked up at me and I felt my body tense.
"Not sure." He said after a few moments.
I managed a small nod and just as my mouth was opening to respond, he cut me off.
"But I know that I'll do whatever it takes to achieve my true goal." Sasuke said, his expression hardening. "I'm not going to let anything stand in my way."
"Good for you." I said, forcing a smile before rising to my feet. He watched me, his eyes unreadable.
"I should head back." I continued, careful to not let my smile falter. "I'll give you some time to yourself."
I was turning toward the door when his hand shot up and pulled me down to his bed. I landed with a bounce and as I turned to him, ready to ask what his deal was, his hand snaked around the base of my neck and he pulled me toward him.
His lips pressed against mine, firm at first before becoming softer. My body was tense, my hands raised until I forced myself to relax. It felt nice, even softer and gentler than before and the more I calmed down, the more my insides twisted around as my heart slammed against my ribcage. I felt the butterflies burst in my stomach as my head began to spun.
My hands rested on his chest and one of them was snaking up to grasp at the collar of his shirt when the door began to creak open. He pulled away quickly, his hand sliding away from my neck and I turned my face, trying to cool my red face.
"I think it's time you let Uchiha rest, Miyuki." Megumi-sensei's voice called out to me, making me jump.
I was speechless, unable to formulate a response because my head was still reeling from our latest kiss. Had she seen something? Had she seen us break away? Was she looking between the two of us, wondering what my deal was? Was I being obvious?
"We were just talking about you two." Sasuke said.
Great. Kakashi was in the room too.
"What about us?" Kakashi asked.
"Just that you two seem to know each other." Sasuke continued.
I glanced over at him and saw that he was perfectly composed, perfectly relaxed as if nothing had happened between us just moments ago. Meanwhile, I was still trying to steady my breathing and racing heart. I glanced back at our sensei's, the two of them standing side by side, Megumi-sensei wearing an annoyed look on her face and Kakashi a gentle smile.
"I know a lot of Jonin." Kakashi answered finally.
"I also don't remember our relationship being any of your businesses." Megumi-sensei said, her eyes narrowing.
I thought back to the fight with Orochimaru in the hallway, how Megumi-sensei ran toward him as Kakashi called out to her, begging her to stop. I remembered the anguish burning in his voice as her body slammed against the wall and the concern knitting Megumi-sensei's brow together as she ran toward Kakashi afterwards. Her hands resting on his trembling shoulders, her lips pulled down at the edges. She cared about him, it was painfully obvious then and I wondered if White Fang even knew that. I wondered if that was what it was, if the two Jonin had a past together, or the possibility of having one. Either way, Kakashi would have had to do something incredibly stupid and selfish for Megumi-sensei to treat him the way she had on the bridge and every time after that.
"Whatever." Sasuke grumbled, turning his head away, his eyes catching and locking on mine. The hot blush returned and I averted my eyes, coughing into my shoulder.
"Let's go." Megumi-sensei called out to me. I stiffened at her words and slowly, lifted myself from the bed, keeping my head low, one of my hands shooting up to cover my mouth.
If they found it suspicious, they didn't ask but I did catch the faint smirk on Sasuke's face which didn't help my blush. The room was still spinning and I tried to keep my walk steady. I moved past Megumi-sensei and Kakashi and when I passed them, Megumi-sensei turned to walk alongside me.
We shut the door behind us as we walked back toward the arena, silent at first until I looked up at my sensei, and saw the stormy resolve in her eyes.
"Priestess Akane was right." I managed. She didn't say anything, just kept walking with her eyes forward.
"He's also here for Sasuke." I continued. "But he keeps saying that Sasuke will go to him—"
"It's not only that." Megumi-sensei said, cutting me off.
"What else could it be?" I asked.
"He's after something else. If he wanted Sasuke, he could've just taken him, especially out there in that forest. He could've killed Sakura and Naruto and he could've just snatched that boy and left and no one would've known the difference."
"But he didn't." Megumi-sensei growled, her hands balling into tight fists. "Which means he wants something else and Sasuke is merely a part of it, a side project."
"What else could he want?" I asked, my brow furrowing.
Megumi-sensei glanced down at me. "He created an entire village practically overnight. A village no knows anything about. That's hundreds or maybe thousands of people who stand behind his cause."
"What are you saying?" I asked. Megumi-sensei stopped walking and I stopped a few steps away from her, turning back to face her fully, to study the sternness in her eyes.
"A water's surface is calm before a big storm and as the rain falls, ripples form, becoming more and more violent as they ring out. But, it all begins with that one raindrop breaking against the surface." Megumi-sensei folded her arms across her chest.
"I think he wants to ignite a war." She said a moment after.
My eyes widened.
"I think he wants to start a war with the Leaf and if he can't do it now, Sasuke is the piece that will."
"But-but that's just as assumption, right? It's not really real." I stammered, unable to wrap my head around it. A war? It had been years since the world was plunged into the darkness and devastation that war brought with it. Nations were still recovering today from the Third Great Ninja War. Plunging into another one would be complete chaos and starting a war with the Leaf, the biggest of the Great nations, was not only stupid, but hopeless. But, then again, one had to wonder if the Sound was even alone. Any of the other nations could be allies with the Sound which meant when the time came, they would reveal themselves and the chaos could be even worse. My stomach dived as I imagined our own nation siding with Orochimaru.
"With him you never know." Megumi-sensei said and I realized as the words settled on my skin that she was right.
When it came to Orochimaru, you never knew until it was happening and even then you didn't want to believe something like it could be happening.
