3. Of a sound mind.

...Let's try our best.

Sasuke didn't know how it had happened, only that it had.

His eyes trailed Kabuto's movements as the medic wrapped gauze around his arm, the soft sound of the sticky material parting from itself being the only noise in the room. Different from usual, Kabuto didn't smirk upon seeing Sasuke hurt. There weren't any taunts or scoldings either. But they would come, Sasuke thought. And they would be brutal.

Never before had Sasuke lost control like this. It wasn't a matter of who was stronger, after all, but a matter of how he went about proving his superiority. Strategy and efficiency stood at the center of these additional sparring sessions, not the fight for survival. Every spar, Sasuke had ended the same way. He had not meant to do any differently today. He hadn't meant for it, and that was what pushed him toward a silence that wasn't silent at all. It was a feeling that urged him toward action when there was nothing he could do.

As per usual when treating Sasuke, Kabuto glanced at Sasuke's wrist. He had wrapped the bandage all the way down, from the elbow to the faint scars on the inside of Sasuke's arm. Sasuke sometimes wondered why Kabuto's gaze tended to linger there as much as it did. It surely wasn't out of sympathy.

All Kabuto did could be traced back to Orochimaru in one way or other, thus Sasuke assumed that this would be the case now as well. Sasuke had come up with a theory, and it went like this: Orochimaru would take over Sasuke's body one day. Kabuto was likely imagining Orochimaru wearing these same scars, concealed by a henge, or makeup, or whatever else he thought convenient.

Kabuto must blame himself for letting Sasuke damage himself upon seeing the scars. Sasuke had turned himself into damaged goods, and yet he was the best option they had for extending Orochimaru's lifespan. It must make Kabuto angry, and the thought of it improved Sasuke's mood the slightest bit.

At last, Kabuto fixated the bandage by tugging the end of it in on the side. He leaned back. The longer the silence lasted, the worse the words breaking it would be. Sasuke knew Kabuto like Kabuto knew him. They hated each other. It was a limbo neither knew how to escape from. Fantasizing was the best they could do, and both seemed to do it often when crossing paths with one another.

Kabuto pushed up his glasses.

"I healed most of it," he said. "But I consider it best to allow the remaining injuries to heal naturally. They will serve as a reminder to you, so that what happened today will not happen again."

Sasuke was too tired to bicker and thus nodded. He read into what Kabuto said, knew that no lasting effects would result from the natural healing; same spiel as last time.

Kabuto's frown deepened. "Orochimaru-sama reminds you that this will not affect your departure tomorrow. You are to take this mission and complete it within the day. Are we clear?"

"Yes," Sasuke said. He stood to take his leave, assuming that all had been said. He felt Kabuto's eyes follow him as he turned toward the door.

"And Sasuke-kun-"

Sasuke's right hand—not his left—stilled on the doorknob.

"Be careful."

…

Had this been something other than training, Sasuke would have set out as soon as the news reached him. But, given the escape was staged, the prisoner had been allowed a 12-hour head-start.

Sasuke didn't know the details, neither about the escape nor about why Orochimaru considered this chase useful to Sasuke's development. But Sasuke wouldn't question it now. Instead, he reflected upon what he knew.

Prisoner 326 had been stationed in cell complex B, section A. It meant he was one of the successful, yet uninteresting experiments. It meant he was strong. And, of course, Sasuke had received no information about the specifics of his combat abilities.

Apparently, the man had resided within Otogakure for several years and had been experimented on until about six months ago. Sasuke was baffled that the prisoner had not questioned the decision of allowing him to roam free all of a sudden. Or maybe he had questioned it but had not known how else to proceed but to go along with it. Maybe he was hopeful, or petrified. Maybe, he suspected that someone was coming after him, like a bloodhound chasing prey for the amusement of man.

Sasuke felt bad for the guy. Sympathy was a feeling Sasuke had learned to ignore upon coming to Otogakure almost two years ago.

He jumped from tree to tree, hardly paying attention to the branches. He trusted his body and instincts to do the work for him, like they had done many times before. Around his neck, a snake had wound the midsection of its long dark body which extended farther down on the inside of Sasuke's sleeve. The bandages there gave the summon extra support, and the creature had additionally slid between and around his fingers to find a comfortable yet secure resting place. Its scaled head gently pressed against Sasuke's thumb, sometimes tickling the skin there as it tracked the escapee's scent with its tongue.

This human bloodhound, after all, lacked the required ability to pick up on his victim's scent. Sasuke was in need of assistance to fulfill the task assigned to him, and the trusty summon proved to be the perfect pick for the job.

While the snake did most of the work, guiding him with subtle movements, Sasuke's mind lingered on what had happened yesterday evening. He had thought about it at night too but had fallen asleep quickly. Sasuke didn't understand how sleep had found him at all that night. He was disgusted at himself for not reacting more strongly to what he had done. He had not thought himself to be the kind of person who could push his guilt aside with no effort at all. After all, he had killed a man for the first time in his life.

Sasuke had been prepared to kill many times. Back in the forest of death, he had faced ninja with killing intent, and he had not regretted it. Sakura had yelped upon realizing, but they had both known the necessity of self-defense. They or them. Sasuke had been most eager to ensure his team would survive another day in that wretched forest.

Sasuke had been twelve years old then. He was 14 now. He felt as though something had changed since his Genin days, and he couldn't determine whether the change was welcome or not. He wanted to be angry at himself for killing a man needlessly, but he recognized that it would be a waste of time to give in to sentimentality. To apply logic here-Did it make him a bad person? But, hadn't he been prepared to become exactly this? Or was it Itachi's words that had driven him toward being such a person? Was it Sasuke's decision at all? Did it matter?

There was no excuse for what Sasuke had done. He had misjudged his opponent's capabilities while overestimating his own, and thus Sasuke's katana had hit the man in the chest rather than in the shoulder. Sasuke didn't know the man's name, but he had been one of the better-trained subjects as well as a surviving experiment chosen to be one of two sparring partners Sasuke was meant to challenge that evening.

What Orochimaru had done to the man had allowed him to move at an astonishing speed. He had dashed around Sasuke so fast that Sasuke had needed to rely on his sharingan entirely to see him at all.

To think that the man had perfect control over the most minuscule of movements at such velocity, it had been foolish, downright. Sasuke had expected him to see the attack coming, to react to it. But in fact, it was likely that the man had been unable to see much at all. There always was a reason why Orochimaru decided to discontinue an experiment. How he had ended up, impaled on Sasuke's blade, face distorted in an almost comical grimace, was proof that Orochimaru had been correct in not developing the project further.

Sasuke hadn't meant to kill, and yet there was no denying that he had. Maybe that was why he felt the way he did. Or, maybe, Sasuke lacked the ability to react more appropriately. Even if blood stained him now, he was still the same person. Some would say he would look odd without it. After all, did he not intend to spill more blood in the future?

At last, the snake stirred in Sasuke's sleeve. It moved its body in S-shaped movements, slithered further down his arm to raise its head and observe its surroundings. Its tongue flickered excitedly, and its eyes focused on the path ahead.

Around here, yes? Sasuke jumped down.

Not wasting any time, the snake descended toward the ground as well, using Sasuke's body to bridge the distance. It vanished into the bushes. Sasuke followed.

However, he was soon forced to stop in his pursuit when the snake turned its head from one side to the other, performing a half-circle indicative of its confusion. It had lost the trail, but this shouldn't be possible. If it had managed to follow the scent of the prisoner for this long, there should be no reason to not recognize it this close to the source.

The snake seemed to share Sasuke's puzzlement, for its movements became hectic. It rose its head only to duck low again. To Sasuke, it seemed almost like a dance. Sasuke allowed the snake to vanish in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke looked up. He would need to find the man through different means. Maybe his abilities had to do with this. Maybe he had gotten rid of his inherent scent somehow. But why would the trail vanish here? What could omit a strong enough smell to trick a snake trained for this very purpose?

If all went well, Sasuke would soon find out. He allowed his eyes to turn red, the black tomoe circling as his vision became clearer. Sasuke turned his head to the right, to the left-

And already, he'd found his target; or, rather, the fist that was now inches away from Sasuke's face.

Immediately, Sasuke jumped to the side, chakra pushing him far enough to reach tree branches once more. He held onto one of them as a loud crash shattered earth and broke through unsuspecting tree trunks. Sasuke could feel the ground shake, and a gust of wind threw small debris and dirt.

From the dirt, the experiment rose.

A man he was; big, broad shoulders, muscular. Sasuke recognized the clothes he was wearing as the uniform the prisoners tended to wear. What prompted Sasuke to furrow his brows, however, was his skin. Under the sharingan's gaze, it omitted strong waves of chakra wherever it was exposed to air, as if it were steam. But the skin itself, it bore craters, deep canyons of flesh all over the man's body. The face wasn't spared from this peculiar pattern, and neither was the back of his bald, egg-shaped head.

"I have come to retrieve you," Sasuke said. His voice rose loudly enough to reach the experiment clearly while carrying a sense of authority. "Orochimaru has changed his mind about letting you go."

But the man knew. He had attacked as soon as his position had been compromised. It was likely that he knew who Sasuke was and that he had been able to understand what his appearing here indicated.

After coming this far, almost crossing the border to the abandoned Uzu no Kuni, it was unlikely that the escapee wished to return to his life as a prisoner. However, Sasuke had no choice but to follow orders. He needed Orochimaru to trust him for a while longer, until Sasuke had become strong enough to face his brother in battle, on as equal a footing as at all possible.

If Sasuke had to choose between freeing a stranger and attaining his goal, there was no real choice, was there?

The experiment said nothing. He stood, eyes focused on Sasuke. And then, without notice, he vanished right under Sasuke's nose. That was, his physical body did. Gone were the piercing eyes and weirdly disfigured skin. But Sasuke saw that he had not moved. He saw because the waves of chakra omitting from his target gave it away. It appeared, to Sasuke, that the man was masking himself within them, erecting a shield to hide behind at his convenience.

This must work well on most opponents, but Sasuke had the gift of sight. Another may have the gift of smell. But, wait. The summon had been unable to locate the man from most likely the moment he had used this technique. So had Orochimaru found a way around detection by smell?

What matter now was that Sasuke seemed exempt from the trickery. He could see chakra, and his target was exuding a whole lot of it.

Once again, Sasuke let himself fall to the ground, and he landed elegantly on both feet. As he did so, his eyes did not stray from the figure.

"I can still see you," he claimed. At that, the nebula of chakra stirred. The color shifted from yellow to orange. It moved backward, first slow, then faster. Sasuke did not haste when following, but every step was carefully placed, executed just so that it would bring him closer to the experiment. There was no denying his sight, the power of his family running through his veins. And the experiment understood that. He turned fully visible again.

Sasuke now noticed that he was crying.

"I don't want to go back." The man's voice was higher than suspected, but it fit his body surprisingly well. His shoulders drew up, and his fists clenched. One of them was bruised from when he had demolished a tree or two.

"I can't go back! I- I have a family!"

Sasuke stood silently, waiting if there was anything else the man felt the need to say to him. Again, pity welled up inside him, a burning sensation that bubbled up from a spring deeply rooted in Sasuke's heart. It was a spring that would never run dry, but Sasuke was willing to let it fill his every crevice. He could not give in.

The man continued to plead.

"My daughter! I left her all those years ago, fool that I was. She was so small, so helpless. I needed the money to raise her. I couldn't find a job! Coming to Otogakure was the biggest mistake of my life. I must return to her, my sweet daughter. You must help me, please!"

It was a plea that could reach only those who were softened to the point of stupidity. Sasuke continued to stare, tilted his head up.

"You think you can lie to an Uchiha?"

For lies they were. The man may have a daughter, Sasuke didn't know, but what he had just been told did not come from a place of truth. His age may paint Sasuke inexperienced, but what Sasuke was not was an idiot. He would not have anyone believe that he was.

Sasuke approached, and the man did nothing. He had been overpowered in both battle strength and wits. Now, surrender was all that was left.

He let himself fall against the tree in his back, eyes shut. As Sasuke reached for his wrist and closed a chakra-suppressing cuff around it, he asked for the man's daughter's name.

…

Sasuke had accomplished his mission with hours to spare. He had not needed to fight, and neither had he needed to strategize. To him, the exercise had been pointless, but Orochimaru must see some sense in it for he smiled widely upon hearing Sasuke's report. The smile widened further when Sasuke explained he had been able to see the escapee despite his technique.

Once Sasuke had finished, Orochimaru had clasped his shoulder, thanked him for his work, and left the room to do whatever else Orochimaru tended to do. Sasuke, on the other hand, had decided to visit the infirmary, where the once-escaped-now-retrieved prisoner was being treated for the wound on his hand.

But by the time Sasuke reached the infirmary, the man had already left. However, Sasuke caught a glimpse of a woman sleeping in one of the hospital beds. A bandage was wrapped around her head, and Sasuke knew that beneath the blankets, several more bandages must be hidden.

She had been the second sparring partner, the one who had punished Sasuke for killing her brother by accident.

Sasuke thought that she would never forgive him, and Sasuke didn't want her to. She had been strong enough to challenge and injure him, and while Sasuke had been in shock and not at all prepared for her sudden reaction at the time, it was a feat worth noting. One day, she may manage to avenge the relative Sasuke had stolen from her.

The door slid closed behind Sasuke. He vowed to not kill again unless there was no other way of surviving. And maybe, when Itachi was dead, he would be willing to fight the woman once more.

A/N:

There are many issues with this chapter. I know that I could fix them, and I know that I could write a fourth chapter like I set out to do initially. But it's not worth it. I started this project because I loved the idea of it, but now the enthusiasm is gone, and I see no reason to go on when I get very little in return.

A big thank you to my friend Lady, who gave valuable feedback, and to dear Kabuto-mun, who has let me know her thoughts as well and urged me to keep going. I posted this last chapter for you both. I hope you enjoyed it in spite of everything.

Feedback is still appreciated, but I will no longer ask for it.
See ya around!