Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. This is just for fun, no profit will be made from this (and I don't want to either). This is purely for my and the entertainment of Naruto fans.

Dedication: To my beautiful, amazing, intelligent, girlfriend Phillipa (Shadow Spirit Dragon-wolf) for being there for me through not only my writing (both fanfiction and my original story) but real life in general. You have been my inspiration and my support through everything.

Warnings: Violence, explicit sexual conduct (no rape!) homosexual relationship, relationship with a large age gap, struggles with belonging, self-hatred, obsession, self-harm, self-experimentation, human experimentation, mental disorders, a dark view of the "afterlife", (bonding of) pain and isolation, self-worthlessness, and male pregnancy.

Pairings: NaruOro, canon pairings (except, obviously, NaruHina).

Summary: Sometimes, the deepest scars are the ones no one can see, but in a world moving into the light even the oldest inner wounds can be seen

Enjoy! :)

Chapter Thirty-eight: Piercing

Karin

Sharp teeth pierce my lip followed by a wet tongue lapping up the blood. I'm pinned to the floor of my-our-apartment. Bottles of sake, cards, and books long forgotten.

I yank his hair, jerking his head to the side as I sit up and sink my teeth into his neck.

Small squirts of water ease their way out through the wounds.

He gasps. "What a wild woman you are. Then again, you are an Uzumaki."

"You should be honoured I even like this with you, Suigetsu."

"Hm. Yes," he says, pushing me down and kissing the unwounded side of my neck then sitting up. "And you wouldn't have known that if you hadn't of lost the bet. See where it gets you?"

"Am I supposed to mind that I found someone in the midst of a disagreement?"

"Of course not. I just find it amusing is all. Especially since you were after Sasuke."

"Naruto was after Sakura. It's no different."

"Perhaps. But it makes me wonder…" he trails off.

"Do I want to know?"

"It's about this whole situation."

I sit up and Suigetsu gets off of me. "What about it?"

"Don't you find it strange that Lord Orochimaru and Naruto are together?"

"They're in love. How is that weird?"

"Yeah, but how? I just don't get it. What happened?"

"Clearly you need to pay more attention. Naruto already told us what happened."

"Yeah but it still doesn't add up."

"Are you upset about their union?"

"No!" He exclaims, lifting his hands in surrender. "No. I just… None of this makes sense to me. It's happening so fast."

"I have to agree there. I honestly didn't think Lord Orochimaru could be capable of such emotions for a long time."

"Naruto sure has him wrapped around his finger, huh?"

"It's more than that, Suigetsu. Lord Orochimaru is vulnerable right now."

"Yes, and ultra moody," he frowns. "Did you know he threw Kusanagi at me because I told him he was fat?"

I punch him in the head. "He's pregnant you idiot!"

His head returns to normal, my lover holding that stupid grin I've grown to love (and hate. Mostly). "Still fat."

"Well gaining weight is to be expected. Are you going to make fun of me when I become pregnant?"

"You want to be pregnant?"

"One day. I mean seeing all of these babies…"

"Well if we're going to get it on, can you be nice?"

"As long as you're not an idiot."

"Meaning…?"

"Saying and doing stupid shit, of course."

"...right."

I look at him for a bit. "are you okay?"

"Of course."

"Liar. I can feel your chakra in case you forgot."

"Right. I suppose this situation has made me feel like I won't be useful anymore."

"Why?"

He shrugs. "I mean what are we going do? Lord Orochimaru is clearly done with us and-"

"He is not! He needs us, Suigetsu!"

"What can we do? Watch his brat? I don't belong here. And I was training the swordsmen, but now… I don't know I don't really want to return. I mean…"

"Wasn't it your dream to be the next leader?"

"Yes, but I feel as if I've lost my passion for it."

"How so?"

"... I'd rather… be with you…"

I blush. "Suigetsu…"

"But I always seem like such a loser in your eyes. I hate that I can't express myself and I come off as a jerk. I really do want Lord Orochimaru happy. I want to help him, but…"

I place a hand on his face. "You're such an idiot, but that's why I love you. You've always been there, making my life hell-"

"I-"

"-but I've enjoyed it. We grew close because of that. And because of this. You're not useless to me or to Lord Orochimaru. In fact, you're the one who spotted the egg."

"Yeah that was weird. How exactly did no one else notice?"

"We were all infusing chakra. Kabuto, Naruto, and Jugo were using Sage chakra on top of that. Lord Orochimaru's soul snakes are sage chakra. So it makes sense they'd react and protect the egg."

"But since I was just viewing the screen, I could see what was going on?"

I nod. "You really are too hard on yourself."

"I just want to be useful."

"I have an idea."

"And what's that?"

"Let's make Oto a real village."

Shizune

Kabuto and I sit at a table in the medical library. Two piles of books stacked beside of us. We flip the page of the book we're reading.

"Have you found anything?" He asks.

I shake my head. "Nothing that could really help. I found something on a detached umbilical cord, but that didn't help all that much."

"I'd still tell Sakura. It could be useful."

"I did."

We sit in silence for a while, taking notes on what we deem important enough to give to Sakura.

Wait a second…

"Why don't you just use Sage Mode?"

Kabuto looks up from his book, pushing his glasses up with a finger. "And do what?"

"Tell those snakes to move. You could use your sage powers to coax them into moving so we could get nutrients to the baby."

"That isn't possible."

I frown. "Why not?"

"Those snakes are different than normal sage snakes. They have Lord Orochimaru's chakra and his DNA. They're a part of him. Using my sage powers could cause chaos within his body. Also, those snakes need to stay there. They're feeding the egg with chakra."

"But if we can't get nutrients to the baby then…"

"That's what we're trying to figure out. If there was a way to have those snakes consume what Lord Orochimaru ate…"

"But they're not attached to the egg."

"This is true. I never thought I'd be doing this. It seems like only yesterday Tsumari died."

"She was that orphan with that heart disorder, right?"

"Yes. Her parents had it too."

"What kind of disorder?"

"Well," he replies, flipping a page. "It was more like a disease. Her heart pumped too much blood. Urushi and I couldn't find a cure, but a way to slow down the blood flow. "

"So then how did she die?"

"The seal on her heart broke. Her lungs filled with blood… and… "

"I'm sorry. I know you were really close with her."

"I suppose she's not suffering anymore."

"Well Orochimaru would think she is."

That has got to be the strangest thing I've ever heard. I hope Naruto can figure something out about that soon.

Kabuto takes a sip of his water. "Lord Orochimaru has never liked death. He finds it to be a weakness."

I frown. My eyes catch something important and I jot it down. "A weakness? Seems to me he finds it the worse thing in the world and he is some saviour."

As if he could? Naruto has already saved all of us. There's nothing to save. Death is just a part of life. Whoever told him if wasn't was an idiot. But why would he believe them?

"Lord Orochimaru could be a saviour. Perhaps not in the sense Naruto and Sasuke are, but… he saved me. "

"How so?"

"He gave me a purpose. He gave me a reason to keep fighting after I killed Mother. He made me stronger. He helped me find myself. I aspired to be just like him, to walk in his shoes. I thought he was perfect. Unbeatable. But then he died and… I didn't know how to cope. So, I decided to become Lord Orochimaru. I could find myself by being him. I could be important and powerful like he is. But being under izunami taught me being anyone but myself and denying that person will get me nowhere to finding myself. I've accepted who I am. I'm back in a place I love. I'm doing what I feel is right."

"Do you think you'll ever get your memories back?"

Kabuto shakes his head. "No, but that's okay. I'm Kabuto Yakushi of Konoha. That's who I'll always be no matter what. "

I can't help but wonder what his real name is. Where he's from… I suppose these are questions that will never be answered.

"Do you miss working with Orochimaru?"

"I do, but like being here since this is where I grew up."

"That makes sense. Are you happy?"

He shrugs. *as well as I can "

"Yeah, me too."

Silence feels the air once again. It's a nice one. I never thought I'd be at a table with Kabuto trying to find a way to get nutrients to a baby Orochimaru is carrying who Naruto fathered.

Uncle, you were right, life really is a ghost.

Preview

Orochimaru

Kegawa babbles, hugging his kitten toy before handing it to me.

"Aww, sweetheart, you don't need to do that. It's yours."

He babbles, pointing to himself, the toy, then my stomach.

"No, I don't have a kitty inside if me."

Next update date:

I hope y'all enjoyed! Until next time :).