UUUHHHGGG! This one took me so long! I didn't mean for it to take so long, but it was a tough chapter to write. A lot of nitty-gritty stuff. I actually had to split this chapter in half, or it would have been (And taken me), twice as long. Oh well, I think it's turned out pretty well. Thank you to everyone for you're reviews, please keep doing it! I got a particularly long one from a guest, I love those! Thank you person, you're review really got me buckled down and writing. And I apologise for the confusing paragraph at the end of chapter 4. A musing I was playing with found it way into the published story by accident... oops. And to answer the question frim another guest (You know which question it was *wink wink*): Yes, soon.

Kirika had waited at the entrance of the base for the past two weeks. She sat in the dim candlelight, hugging her knees. When the door swung open she jumped to her feet. Her face brightened with excitement. She almost broke into a run towards him, but stumbled into a walk and halted when she saw the agitation written on his face.

Orochimaru walked past Kirika without regarding her.

Kirika sucked in a breath and opened her mouth, then closed it again without saying anything. His hateful expression shunned all questions. Instead she trailed behind him at a distance. She followed Orochimaru to his room, but he shut the door before she could enter. Kirika sat beside it.

She rested her chin on her knees and played with her pocket watch, leaving it closed. The music might upset him. She heard water running and assumed Orochimaru must be showering in the adjacent washroom.

Kirika did not remember falling asleep, but when she woke up she was in Orochimaru's bed. He sat at a desk, his back facing her, scribbling notes in a book.

Orochimaru's eyes stayed glued to his work, but his words were too loud to be mutters. "Damn this body... I was so close."

Kirika rolled onto her side and watched him.

He chuckled. "No matter. The pros far outweigh the cons. Perhaps someday I'll find a vessel capable of enduring the sage technique, but there are far more valuable justu. And far more important uses of Juugo." He looked back at her. "Kirika, my daughter, perhaps I'll leave it to you."

Kirika cocked her head.

"Before you use the living corpse reincarnation jutsu, that is." Orochimaru turned back to his work. "That cave..."

Kirika closed the book. Her fingertips stayed pressed into the back-cover with such force that; were they not already the colour of fresh snow they would have turned white. Her thumb of that hand was wedged on a certain page, the other was a fist in her lap. Kirika felt a flutter in her stomach that came with the forcibly shallow breathing, and the slightest lightness in the head. Her head lolled just slightly when she shut her eyes and sighed.

When her eyelids cracked open, she flipped to the thumb-marked page as one would tear a bandage off; quick and violent. And there came another sharp intake of breath. She sunk over the table on her elbows, palm running over her face until her fingers buried themselves in her hairline and scratched her scalp. She allowed her eyes to land on the ink illustrations of the page.

"All this build up and you had it written out all along... though I'm not one to take dreams as superstition. Father." Her sigh became an open-mouthed smile. Kirika leant back in her chair and laughed. It was satisfying to know her mad dreams weren't all for naught.

The place of her dreams had a name. The Ryuchi Cave. Orochimaru had illustrated the image of her dreams. The old, moss-eaten wall with archways leading into darkness. Corroded yet sturdy. I need to go there.

Kirika flipped the page. The book was overflowing with information. Natural chakra; the sage technique. All of the information Juugo's DNA had let Orochimaru too. Juugo should have stayed, the fool. Sasuke gave him a cage. I could have given him a cure.

In truth, her dream had been eating at her. To know that such a place existed left with a prideful and grave sense of duty. And for all his thoroughness, Orochimaru's notes left many question unanswered. Perhaps she would consult Yueda and Aoda. Of Kirika's summons, scholarly Yueda, while not particularly difficult or disobedient, was silent by nature and prone to withholding information she was not specifically asked about. Aoda was simpler but more of a free talker.

Kirika closed her book when the doorknob turned. Kabuto entered the room.

She grinned "Ah, Kabuto, good timing. I've decided to leave the Northern Hideout. We'll be heading to the Land of Sound. Kindly prepare samples of Juugo's blood and sinew. I trust we still have them in abundance. I'll also be taking a few lab reports."

"The Land of Sound? Why leave when your materials are here?"

I need materials in a base there. It's dangerous to stay in one place. I want to make sure the clans are in line. Instead, she said the more philosophical reason, to veer the conversation towards a personal territory that she knew was best left alone. She felt like rambling for a bit. "I pine to return."

"...I see."

Kirika sighed and stood. "Say..." She looked at Kabuto with unreadable eyes. "Do you have any concept of home?"

Kabuto smiled and shrugged. "No more than you do."

"Hmm." Kirika nodded

"Though we did both spend time in Konoha."

"A home among enemies is hardly a home."

"Well... we..." Kabuto thought for a moment and weighed his words. "We both had our mothers, I suppose."

"...Yes." Kirika smiled, just as much about her mother as at the back-handed amusement she felt, knowing the conversation was becoming too intimate, she knew it would. It was the melancholy that had been hanging over her that gave her the urge to lead the conversation into reminiscent territory. "She made it home."

"Yes."

"I've spent more time in the Land of Sound than anywhere else. It's not home, but perhaps haven. I pine for haven."

"You're in an awfully philosophical mood."

"I have a few things on my mind." Kirika glanced at the book in her hand. "Since I'm being philosophical, I'm quite unlucky, aren't I?"

"What do you mean?"

Kirika smiled. "Haku, my mother, Kimimaro, my father, Kimimaro, Juugo, Sasuke... there are many more names I've forgotten. Everyone around me seems to leave me. Either by death or betrayal."

Kabuto frowned.

"And now my current situation, it's poetic in a way. Sasuke, the boy I looked after, the boy I sought and trained and protected kills my father and professes his love for me." Kirika noted the twitch in Kabuto's fingers. "I want to kill him. I want him to suffer... but the thought of it sickens me. How's that for a conundrum?" Kirika gazed at Kabuto. "So tell me, are you going to leave me too, Kabuto?"

Kabuto looked away. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. There's something I need to do... alone."

Kirika laughed and ran a hand through her hair. "Ah, irony."

"But I'll be back. I swear."

Kirika's eyes were full of amusement. "Of course you will."

Sasuke glared at the tiny garden snake.

Kirika chuckled and held out her arm, to which the snake quickly curled around.

Orochimaru regarded the snake and looked back to Sasuke. "Try again."

Sasuke made the hand signs, bit his thumb and smeared blood down then new snake summoner's tattoo on his forearm. He pressed his hand to the ground. A coral snake appeared.

"At least this one's venomous." Kirika mocked

Sasuke glared.

"Perhaps if you actually see what your summoning." Orochimaru put a hand on Kirika's shoulder. "Kirika, your summons are docile enough."

"Right away." Kirika made the hand sighs and smeared blood on her forearm. Two giant snakes appeared. One male, dark matte-purple with a flat, rounded head and the other female, a pale blue-grey and larger, whose head was long and ovular. "Sasuke," Kirika motioned to the dark purple snake. "This is Aoda."

"Nice to meet you." Aoda said.

"They talk?"

"Of course they talk. And This is Yueda."

"A pleasure." Yueda nodded.

"They talk."

Kirika ignored him.

"How can we be of assistance?" Aoda asked

"We're training a newbie." Kirika put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke, summon Aoda from there to here." Orochimaru instructed.

Sasuke made the signs once again.

The variables and tests were countless. In these past several weeks she'd lost fourty test subjects. All she needed to do was wait. The cells metamorphisized on their own. Juugo's blood cells spasmed under her microscope. They were releasing natural energy. Juugo's cells naturally absorbed it like radiation. And when they had no more room to store it it was released in a sudden, brief exothermic reaction. In his body the reaction manifested in a transformation. In his brain it was a sudden shutdown of the thought processes to violent, primal instinct.

But she no longer needed to waste her time finding a cure for Juugo's rampages. She had no room for traitors.

"Lady Kirika."

"Don't bother me. I'll-" A smile was on her lips when she saw who it was. "Oh. You're back."

"You say that as if you weren't expecting me to return." Kabuto stepped into the lab. He still wore his travel cloak.

"Hm. So? Where did you go?"

"I suppose you could say grave robbing. For lack of a better term."

Kirika erected herself from her position at the magnifying glass and turned to him. Eyes critical, piercing and accusing. "Whose grave?"

"Forgive me lady Kirika." Kabuto's hands fumbled beneath his cloak. "I had to get this for y-Ah!"

A snake shot from the sleeve of Kirika's lab coat. It closed it's jaws around Kabuto's throat and slammed him against the wall.

"You defiled my father's grave."

Kabuto winced under the force crushing his neck. His eyes squeezed shut and he struggled to pull his hands out. In the heat of the moment, Kirika noted Kabuto's left arm was loosely bandaged. Her eyes widened and the snake retreated back into her sleeve. "That's..."

Kabuto rubbed his throat and coughed out. "Forgive me..." He cleared his throat. "A symbol of rebirth and renewal doesn't belong down there with him. It should be with you."

Kirika accepted the glass case and gazed at the white snake skin inside.

"Fortunately the skin itself survived the cave in. The original case was shattered... I also managed to recover this." Kabuto offered her a ring. Orochimaru's Akatsuki ring.

Kirika gripped it in her hand. She let what she was holding sink in. She wondered if she had been foolish to bury Orochimaru's memorabilia with him. It had certainly been foolish for Kabuto to retrieve it, regardless of his intentions, which were admittedly too presumptuous. Kirika wondered if this was her own negligence the last time they spoke coming to full circle. Her face became a blank slate; hard and revealing as stone. "You were foolish to go after this."

"I know. But..." Doubt flickered in his eyes, but to his credit Kabuto didn't avert his eyes. "Lady Kirika... do you... remember when you asked me if I would ever leave you?"

Kirika said nothing

"I've been thinking a lot lately. About who I am... About who you are... My identity... Our discussion before I left... I've even been thinking about that former teammate of yours, Naruto Uzumaki.
"You know that I never knew my parents or homeland. The enemy took me into their custody when I was very little. I was used as a spy since I was young, moving around from country to country, village to village."

"I know."

"For a long time the idea of home was alien to me. Until I became Lord Orochimaru's disciple." Kabuto watched Kirika's face. "I do have a concept of home. But for a while I though it was gone again. The pain of not knowing who I am, of not having an identity, surely you must understand it. In the Leaf Village you were shunned. You were alone behind enemy lines. Surely you must have questioned your identity at some point... And... I'm certain you felt it after Lord Orochimaru's death, too."

Kirika watched him curiously. Kabuto was searching her, but her face was blank and her eyes unrevealing.

"...But you know who you are. You're strong. Even in the face of grief you didn't hesitate to build yourself up and secure your place in the world. You continue to move forward. You've always been that way. But I'm not so resilient," Kabuto pulled back his cloak and held out his left arm. "Instead of reaching beyond Lord Orochimaru, I did the only thing I could do. I kept stubbornly clinging to his power... Do you understand? My path is clear to me now. I'm going to stand by your side always. And I can't bare to know that you could think I would ever leave you. So I decided to find a way to bind myself to you forever." Kabuto ripped the bandages off.

Her eyes widened in surprise momentarily. Kirika beckoned with two fingers and took the arm. It was white and scaled. When she touched it she felt the familiar presents of Orochimaru's chakra.

"I'm going to use what I absorbed of Lord Orochimaru to become a better, stronger Kabuto Yakushi. And I'm going to move forward with you."

"You grafted a piece of his corpse onto your skin." It was spoken like a question.

"A blood transfusion."

"Why?"

"Lord Orochimaru is a symbol of renewal. Like that snake skin." Kabuto put his hands over Kirika's on the case. "And like you." He looked at his arm. "He will live inside me as a reminder of what I must overcome. And who I must serve... But you," Kabuto looked into Kirika's eyes. The pands of his right fingers dug into the hand under his on the case. "You're different. You're something surpassing even him. A new, greater version of Lord Orochimaru." Kaburo raised his left hand. He hesitated and watched her. When Kirika made no sign of resistance or disapproval he cupped her cheek. "You could be him reborn. I realised that. After seeing you on your own. It made me remember who I am. It's all because of you. Lady Kirika, I will never leave you."

Kirika stayed still. She saw no trace of insincerity in his eyes. Only desperate devotion. He looked at her with an ever present awe. "Good."

Kabuto's face brightened, the way a starving mans face brightens when he's given food.

She deamed a certain amount of lenience necessary; a touch of gentleness for the infatuation. If Kabuto wanted to obsess about Kirika, it was fine with her. The hand felt as if it were her father's. She pulled away from it, and her eyes turned harsh. Kabuto recoiled. "I'll let your presumption slide this time, because of your devotion." Kirika set the case on the counter. "But if you like you're new hand don't think to touch me so freely again."

Something not unhappy flashed in Kabuto's eyes. Excitement. Perhaps even glee. And he spoke through a barely contained smile. "Yes, my lady." He straightened his face and bowed slightly. "Forgive me."

Kirika had to smile. "Come. We have work to do. I have several experiments I want to conduct with Juugo's bodily fluids. I want every piece of information I can get on natural energy."

Kabuto adjusting his glasses. He smiled back at her. "Right away, my lady."

One of these days, I'll have to kill Kabuto.

"M-my Lady, are you sure you don't want me to come with you!?"

Kirika waved "Hold down the fort."

"You're just leaving? How long? Where are you going?"

"The Ryuchi Cave."

"Do you know where it is?"

Kirika bore into him with dangerous eyes. Kabuto was becoming much too clingy. "When I return, you will remember not to question me again."

Kabuto swallowed. He stopped walking.

Kirika let out a little chuckle. "I know where it is."

The forest did not race around her. She wandered through it and it passed only step by step. The only sounds were the leaves under her feet. Mist hung heavy in the air. It clung to her skin and dampened her hair but Kirika preferred the humidity and she found it pleasant. She gazed up. The trees, while appearing thin at first glance, stretched from great trunks so high that the mist concealed their tops. The forest was lush and painted rich green and deep brown. It smelt of earth; a fresh scent. A scent not from her dream, yet so nostalgic. This was a good place, Kirika decided. And old. The mist warmed the forest like a blanket and the moss and trees buried everything.

Kirika came to the cave in the stone wall. The wall was covered with moss and corroded from time, but still sturdy. There were a few arched doorways and glassless arched windows in the wall.

Kirika kept walking. The cave of her dreams has been the flawless image to the one in reality. It failed to unnerve her. She knew what to do. There was no whisper to come forward. There was no white snake to urge her in. She was glad. I'm coming. She thought. I'm coming on my own decision. She strode into the mouth of the cave; into the absolute darkness.

Kirika saw a light ahead. A crack in the ceiling. After braving the darkness for what felt like hours she had hoped for the tunnel's end. Light spilled in from above. The thought occurred that she could climb out now. Brushing the thought aside, she kept walking and wondered how anything, let alone light, could penetrate the tunnel. It was carved into a mountain.

Kirika had no way to keep track of time but it felt like eternity. She kept walking. And walking.

And walking.

And walking...

AND WALKING.

How long does this cave stretch... Her legs ached, her throat was parched and her stomach knotted. She had two bottles of water and nutrition supplement pills with her. She ate and drank sparingly. One sip ever hour. Pills had to be taken once every day. She doubted it had been a day, then the next moment she felt certain it had been several.

And the water soon slipped her mind... Her eyes burned from straining to see in the dark. There was no light to which they could adjust.

She soon lost track of time.

She remembered her watch. Kirika fingered it in her pocket. She thought of opening it. The song might help.

She squeezed the watch, and it helped, but she hated the idea of adding any noise to her footsteps. Though she couldn't say why. Her lips parted, and for a moment she thought to sing. Then she thought to hum. Then she thought the words.
'Your time has come
Sweet crocus of autumn
When all is done
Only you shall remained...'

She sang the song in her head a few times, but in the cave the dark seemed to swallow everything. Even thoughts.

Eventually her hand slipped out of her pocket and the comforting feel of the watch was forgotten.

Panic began to creep in.

The air was so stale. Kirika kept an even breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

It burned her throat.

She though to reach out and touch the wall... but suddenly became afraid that she wouldn't find it.

It was pitch back, she could very well have taken a wrong turn. There were no crossroads in her dreams, it was always straight but how could she know in such darkness? She had been walking for so long.

It donned on her that she might collapse. If she fainted; if she succumbed to claustrophobia or becme disoriented... if she panicked she would never make it out.

What if it's a labyrinth!?

She could set herself alight... but then she became afraid of what might be around her... or what might find her... She forced herself to keep going.

I am being watched.

The slightest move out of turn... if she stopped. If she sped up. If she even tried to turn around. Kirika was suffocating. In her dreams she kept a steady pace, but when she finally saw a speck of light she ran.

She ran. And ran. And ran. The light was so much further then she thought possible, for every hundred strides it grew by a speck. Her breath finally became iritic. She sprinted. Why wasn't she using her blinding speed? She just ran. She could scarcely believe it when the dim light enveloped her. She dashed out and fell on her hands and knees, breathing deeply.

Kirika scrambled. Away from the dark. Away from the eyes and the things chasing her. When she made it to one knee she tumbled back down. She tried to calm herself before she lurched and heaved onto the stone floor. She fell to her side, pushing herself so she would not fall in her own vomit. The stone was cold on her cheek. Kirika breathed and found she was crying...

"It seems you have made it through..."

Kirika blacked out...

Kirika's head shot up in a coughing fit. Immediately she fell back down.

"Well, well. Orochimaru's brat. Finally awake. Guh... I'll never understand how humans manage to keep their young around so long without eating them."

"Come now, Manda. Show a little sensitivity. It's not her fault her species is so backwards. Look, the poor thing is still terrified."

"Water..." She whispered. A moment later a gentle flood of water poured down on her face. She flailed at first but quickly began swallowing. She coughed when the water stopped.

"So that's how humans drink! How strange! You don't use your tongues at all!"

Aoda? Her voice didn't work.

"You made it! Just as the Naga said!" His head hovered above her, "Are you well, Lady Kirika? The Mouth of the Ryuchi Cave is a difficult path... most humans succumb to madness. Not even all of the summoners survive."

"'Lady'? Pheh! Aoda, never let humans think they have authority over you."

"She's a summoner."

"Doesn't mean a thing."

Kirika continued to breath. She shivered from the water and the cold stone floor. Kirika closed her eyes and felt the rhythm of her breathing even... she soon slipped back into unconsciousness.

When Kirika woke up the second time she still felt weak, but she also felt her wits returning to her. Madness... "Was it... a genjustu?" She was exactly where she passed out. Her vomit next to her had hardened... she must have slept for a while.

"A deterrent for unwanted wanderers. Unlike your pathetic race, we snakes don't dote on the weak. Those unfit to survive ought to be culled." Manda was looking down on her.

Kirika sighed and clenched her fist."Has it slipped your mind, Manda, that my mostly pathetic race is the race of summoners. Last I checked, in your world the highest prestige belongs to the species with the strongest summoners." Her voice was hoarse and she had to force her words out. It was frustration. Rarely was she reduced to such a weakened state. But she'd hide it for all her pride demanded of her.

Manda hissed.

Aoda did the closest thing to smiling a snake could do. "Still sharp tongued, I see! I'm glad the Cave hasn't damaged your mind."

Kirika realised she was still to weak to sit up. She dug her angry fingers into the stone beneath her. "...How long was I in there?"

"Eh..." Aoda thought. "Some days... a week?"

A week... "And how long was I asleep?"

"Two days. Then you woke up. Then you slept for another day. I thought you would dehydrate!"

Kirika reached into her bag. She tossed the full pill bottles aside. What roused her anger was the water bottles. One was half empty. Kirika drank deeply and wiped her mouth. Damn it! She had water! She allowed herself to be caught in an obvious trap! She allowed herself to dehydrate!

"Wah! Scary!" Aoda moved back.

Kirika sighed and wiper her face with her hand. "Aoda, please bring me food."

"Hunt your own pray. We don't nurture our weak. We eat them." Manda spat.

Kirika's eyes widened with hate. Killing intent. "You will bring me food or I will eat you." Kirika shot up, propped by her arms despite her bodies protest. She had to fight not to wince. "I'm not so weak that I couldn't still cook you alive!"

Manda recoiled momentarily before locking her gaze.

Aoda broke the tension by dropping a live frog before Kirika. She blinked. It was bigger than a cat and croaking in dazed disorientation. Aoda beamed and Kirika couldn't help but smile.

She grabbed the frog in her hands. She was tempted to tear into it raw, but her pride had been damaged enough. Her hands blazed with weak purple flames, all that she could muster and it made her wince. The frog made a shrill dying noise. When the flames died it was black and charred. Kirika tore into it with her teeth. She ripped and gulped down as big of chunks of muscle and burnt flesh as she could without choking.

"What's she doing?" Aoda whispered.

"Chewing." Manda's voice was irritated.

"Why doesn't she swallow it?"

"Humans grind it up first."

"She has so many fangs!"

"When they're in humans they're called 'teeth'. That's what they grind food with."

"She's using so much venom!"

"Humans don't have venom, you idiot!"

"...You're kidding me?"

Kirika's embarrassment suddenly vanished. She sighed a laughing breath. She could already feel her strength returning. She'd needed the food badly. "Aoda! Manda!" They looked at her. "I'm not here for your biology lesson."

The snakes exchanged glances.

Manda shook his head. "Pheh! I know that. I'm the boss snake of the Ryuchi Cave! The Naga tells me his dreams."

Kirika sat up slowly. "The White Snake Sage?"

Manda narrowed in on Kirika. "How do you know about him."

"My father. He was here."

Manda turned away. He slithered to one of the tunnels exiting the great room. "He's this way. You may have made it into the Cave, but a human outsider has no chance finding its heart." Manda looked back at Kirika. "Get up. If you can't stand you're not strong enough to be here."

Kirika stood.