I do not own Naruto. I do, however, own Chiyuki, any original characters, and this story's plot.

(An AU in which Chiyuki finishes what her father couldn't. Or; she would've made a fine villain.)

tw: psychological and physical torture.

god sent me as karma

.

Torture and Interrogation is a dark, dreary place even to the toughest of ninja - not because there are people screaming in pain and agony all the time, but because it's the exact opposite.

Chiyuki leisurely walks the dimly lit halls of one of the lowest floors, not a sound to be heard except for the low, rhythmic click of her heels on the floor. She takes her time in heading towards the room at the very end of the corridor, as if she were on a stroll in the park on a sunny day, and not on her way to see one of the most dangerous shinobi to ever exist.

Following her lead at a suitable distance are Yamanaka Inoichi, head of T&I, and Morino Ibiki, his second in command. Neither men dare to get too close to the woman or even breathe loudly, because her silence and blank expression intimidate them more than they'd like to admit. She hasn't said a word since they entered the building, being too relaxed for them to believe this will be a pretty sight.

Konoha has flourished more than ever under the rule of the young Godaime Hokage, yes, but she did not get where she is by playing nice.

Waiting for them in front of the door is Uchiha Obito, who bows slightly in greeting. His somber expression reminds the newcomers of his clan head, lips turned downwards and a grim furrow to his eyebrows, a sight that'd be a source of light-hearted jokes in any other situation. The man undoes the numerous seals swiftly, opening the heavy metal door and letting the ash-blonde woman step in first.

In contrast to the low lighting of the hallway, the room they enter is brightly lit, almost overly so. There is a wall with a one-way glass separating the room in two areas just like an interrogation room, but the place is empty otherwise. The Uchiha closes the door behind them and stands next to his Hokage, not paying any mind to Ibiki and Inoichi who make no move to walk forward. Side by side, the childhood friends watch the sight on the other side of the wall.

Hatake Kakashi stands in one corner, hands on the pockets of his pants, looking perfectly bored and relaxed. The scene, whoever, makes one think of a jaguar - watchful and oddly relaxed as it prepares to tense suddenly and pounce on its prey. In the other corner is Uzumaki Kushina, fiery red hair unmistakable in the bright light of the room. She holds the famed Uzumaki chains firmly on her hands, a scowl on her face. Both of them are responsible for keeping the kneeling shinobi glued to his place, preventing him from moving even the slightest bit.

One might say it's a bit overkill to have both a seal master and an Uzumaki hold a man in place, but Chiyuki knows very well what he's capable of, and she'll do everything in her power to restrict his movements as much as possible.

Obito wordlessly opens the second door, and the two people already inside nod respectfully at their leader. She steps inside and nods back at them, then slowly tilts her head down at the dark-haired man in front of her.

Orochimaru meets her gaze with a sneer, managing to give her a mocking look even from his lower point of view. The seal on his mouth, courtesy of Kakashi, prevents him from saying anything at her arrival. She can only imagine what kind of things he'd like to say, giving their history.

The Godaime Hokage blinks slowly at the Snake Sage, letting the silence drag on. As the highest ranking person in the room - and the entire village -, social norms dictate that she be the one to say something first, but the quiet is a very powerful intimidation tactic, even against someone of Orochimaru's caliber.

Like a slowly acting poison, the silence starts to get to you bit by bit, the shrill ringing of nothingness yelling in your ear making you increasingly more tense and fidgety. Your mood is quick to sour, then, and you're prone to start talking just to hear something, even if it's the sound of your voice.

Of course, being a widely feared S-ranked ninja, the man kneeling on the cold, hard floor also knows intimidation (and torture) tactics like the back of his hand, but he also hasn't eaten or drank anything in days, and hasn't heard a single sound in weeks. For a while, he's known nothing but sensory deprivation and, forever staring at the same white wall in a too-bright room, a victim of a body that isn't nearly capable of healing from his festering wounds, and his own thoughts. For someone of his caliber, these things might be the same as child's play, but the woman's goal wasn't to break him at once.

No; she slowly but surely chips away at his defenses, letting the days drag on with no news or 'visitors', with only the minimal amount of water to survive. When Itachi's team came back from their mission a week late, dragging a barely-alive Orochimaru with them, Chiyuki had Rin heal the man enough so that he wouldn't bleed out or die from an infection, but no more than that. The snake summoner does heal at a faster rate due to his constant 'change' of bodies, but Itachi is a fearsome, vicious shinobi, and if he wanted to, he could've as well dragged Orochimaru's cold, dead body into his Hokage's office like an odd present instead.

"Otogakure, huh." Finally, after a long, dragged out silence, the butterfly summoner speaks, the honeyed tone of her voice sounding condescending and mocking. "Did you want to be a Kage so much that you went and founded a village? That's quite daring."

The Snake Sannin doesn't show an outward reaction, as she expected he wouldn't, but the agitated flow of blood inside his vessels tells her she hit a sore spot - and she plans on rubbing even more salt in the wound.

"That's the only way you could rule a ninja village, isn't it? You could never have become Hokage, after all." The Iron Demon speaks in a patronizing tone, furrowing her eyebrows in an ironic, false expression of pity. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Kakashi glare at the kneeling man, which means he must've been trying to struggle against the seals on his body.

She twists the metaphorical blade deeper into the wound.

"With you being the way you are, of course you weren't chosen." She pauses and tilts her head, wearing a mask of faked sympathy and mockery. "You thought you had a choice because you were my father's student? Oh, no."

Kushina tightens her hold on her chains, and for Orochimaru to still have enough strength to fight against the numerous restraints on his body just shows how he should not be underestimated.

Like all humans, however, he is prone to breaking.

"You were his favorite student, and yet one of his biggest mistakes."

Chiyuki gazes down at his yellow eyes full of rage and actual hurt, and knows she struck a nerve. With how complicated Hiruzen and Orochimaru's relationship was, she knows that at some point they had some kind of twisted, mutual respect for one another - her father, too sentimental to be able to deal with his deranged student, and the leader of Oto, who acknowledged the Sandaime's strength and wisdom, but abused the remains of love the older man had for him.

"Even though my father favored you, this is all you'll ever amount to."

Things happen in a blur inside a fraction of a second.

Kakashi reacts violently to Orochimaru's sudden surge of chakra and fury, and suddenly kicks the man's back, effectively throwing him to the ground with a deep growl. The silver haired man's foot keeps the prisoner's head connected to the ground, and blood slowly starts to seep out from the new wound. Kushina tightens the chains to the maximum level possible with a thundering look, squeezing the Snake Sannin's rib cage painfully and making him choke on his limited air supply. Obito is suddenly in front of her, mangekyo sharingan locked on the writhing man and spinning menacingly, ready to kill him at a moment's notice.

Orochimaru is unable to raise his head or even growl at her, but his chakra runs wildly in his body, even restrained. His blood cells shriek in outrage and pain, the iron in his blood cells wailing loudly in her mind in anguish and misery.

"You have always been a fraud."

With one last cold look to the fallen shinobi, she turns around and leaves the room, the Uchiha right behind her not a full second later. He closes the door behind them, instantly cutting off Orochimaru's tormented, muffled groans, and they both meet Inoichi and Ibiki, who had been waiting next to the door that leads to the hallway.

The Godaime Hokage glances at them, a perfectly blank expression on her face. "Deal with the rest."

The two men bow their heads, silent, and the woman makes her way to the metal door. The Snake Sannin would talk, eventually, because they need him to decipher his notes if they want any success in treating the poor victims of his horrible experiments, and she's made sure there's no point in him withholding information.

Chiyuki's broken him. In a different way than when he'd broken her, and Gai, and Genma, in a different way than when he'd broken her father, in a different way than when he'd broken Yamato, and Karin, and Suigetsu, and Jugo, and Kimimaro, and all the others that unfortunately did not make it.

But she did it, all the same.

The click of her heels is once again the only sound to be heard in the dimly-lit hallways of T&I, Obito's presence constant but silent like a ghost right behind her. Soon enough Orochimaru is but a thought pushed to the back of her mind, the feeling of a job well done pleasant but short-lived.

Konoha does not run itself.