What if…

Orochimaru didn't kill Ayako before he went missing-nin and she encounters him on a mission later? (Suggestion by KooraX)

Yay for omake! Turns out I'm not so good at doing 'quick' omakes, so lol enjoy the following 6 000 words. Also tysm to my amazing reviewers (the new and the old!)

I learnt that Yamato would be approximately 23 in Naruto part one and Kimimaro 15, therefore assuming Kimimaro is about 8 when Orochimaru captures him Tenzo would be about 16 (and so Ayako would be 15/16) Anko is about four years older than them, so she'd be about 19/20.

Also big thanks to my beta miilktea!

Just a quick reminder this is not canon to my story! It is a non-compulsory fun extra chapter of a 'what-if' scenario, so reading is optional (:

"Whaaaaa?" I all but screamed, whipping around to face Tenzo. Not that it would have made much of a difference, considering how dim the lighting was. "The Hokage wants us to go scout the Kaguya clan? You mean the crazy ones? The ones that he suspects are planning an attack on Kiri?"

Tenzo winced behind his ANBU cat mask, looking apologetic.

"That's right." The mask muffled his voice to a degree where it was unrecognisable, such was the way the masks worked to help keep the anonymity of the ANBU.

"Why should we care? It's Kiri's problem," Anko scoffed from behind me, setting her mask onto her face. It was the mask of a fox, which I felt was oddly fitting for her character.

"I'm just relaying orders," Tenzo muttered. Then, louder he said; "He wants us to acquire the Shikotsumyaku."

My mouth dropped open.

"He wants us to kidnap a bloodline during the chaos? An insanely murderous bloodline to bring back to our peaceful village?"

"I… suppose…" Tenzo muttered, glancing at the bland concrete roof as if for guidance.

Shaking my head, my lips pulled into a pout. None-the-less I slid my bird mask on and checked my supplies of kunai and shuriken.

The ANBU headquarters weren't exactly kept in the best of states, and as I closed my locker which held the rest of my ninja belongings I couldn't help but cast a subtle glance at Tenzo.

Had it been even worse in Root?

I banished the thought and instead grinned wide, even though the others couldn't see it behind the mask.

"Let's go, then!" I pumped my fist in the air and launched towards the exit. "Kitsune, Neko! Onwards!" I ignored the resigned huffs of my two squad mates as they followed, albeit less enthusiastically.

We had miles to cover, after all, and only two days to get to the destination.

.

.

.

The trip to the selection of caves where the Kaguya clan lived was uneventful. Despite passing over Kiri's border, as elite ANBU we had no difficulty in hiding our presences from border patrols. We travelled for fourteen hours and rotated between lookout and sleeping for the last ten.

It would have taken normal jounin at least four days to the location we arrived in only two.

Tenzo landed a fair distance from the drop where a cliff overlooked the Kaguya caves. I cast out my senses but was pleased to find no one nearby as Anko and I dropped down beside him.

"The planned attack occurs tomorrow," her murmured as we formed a small cluster.

It was strangely quiet; even from our position relatively close to the clan, there is little more than sound than the wind through the trees.

"So how are we going to do this?" Anko asks, and I can almost hear the sadistic glee in her voice. "I say we join the chaos and just grab one and run."

The hit and run tactic, a very basic strategy but still a perfectly valid suggestion, considering the circumstances. It wouldn't be too hard to grab one of the clan members without anyone noticing during the chaos.

Tenzo rakes a hand through his hair.

"I don't want to take any risks. Let's be subtle about it."

"Henge?" I put my suggestion forward with possibly more enthusiasm than necessary. Anko and I are polar opposites when it comes to our styles; Anko loves the thrill of the fight, thrives in the heat of battle and loves throwing herself into everything with all she's got.

Although I also love to put my all into everything, needless bloodshed is hardly something I enjoy about this profession. Not that I've ever had a choice in the matter; I always wanted to be a researcher (even after he left) but as an orphan the village had a different plan for me.

I was lucky to have survived this long. A lot of my fellow orphans died in their early teens being forced into missions they couldn't handle, unlike the luckier kids that got the special opportunity to attend the academy and have a jounin sensei and proper training simply by virtue of having a family or clan to back them.

I didn't really begrudge the village for it; it was just the way it was. I was thrown into the genin corps when I was seven but I survived. And I was happy now, because the moment the ANBU took me under their wing when I turned fourteen I was reunited with Tenzo (who I never even dreamed could still be alive) and found another familiar face amongst the masses, Anko.

We were a squad now.

I could almost sense Anko's pout at my 'friendlier' suggestion. Using henges would allow us to slip into the fight with far less chance of being noticed, and we would theoretically be able to grab a Kaguya without too much interference.

"Alright Tori, agreed. Let's observe the Kaguyas and pick a henge target," Tenzo decides. "Let's meet back in an hour. They're going to be planning to move out soon, so we don't have much time."

We nod in agreeance and the three of us vanish.

.

.

.

The chaos begins at three am. The Kaguyas barely seem to have planned their attack, other than to run towards Kiri together with roars of bloodlust. If they were preparing to take the village by surprise considering it was three am, they should at least have kept their voices down.

Anko, Tenzo and I exchange glances. This would be easier than expected. We decided to wait out the majority of the fighting, though I winced every time I saw the Kaguya and Kiri-nin cut each other down.

In the end, it turned out we wouldn't have to henge or join the foray at all. There was a little boy with white hair that was making an escape.

And no one took notice.

Instantly, he became our target. There wasn't even a need to communicate when such a blatant opportunity reared its head.

Silently we followed as he rushed through the trees, leaving the chaos in his wake. The Kiri-nin he did cross paths with he was strong enough to take out alone despite his relative size.

Wow, I couldn't help but watch the kid with quiet awe. He's so strong!

Even though he was so young, it was clear his abilities were great. It made me happy. Maybe we could bring this kid back and give him a good life in Konoha! Ninja with bloodlines were always well taken care of by the village, and since he was so young the village would probably decide to raise him as their own!

Finally, the kid ended up stopping in at the edge of the very cliff we had arrived at last night, looking out over the destruction of his clan.

He must be sad to lose his family, I thought, feeling a twinge in my chest for the poor kid.

But alas, it was time for the three of us to strike. In the shadows of the trees our squad split into a triangular formation around the boy. He hadn't sensed us, and in truth it was only a precautionary measure. The kid, while extremely strong for his age, was nowhere near our levels. Only one of us would need to go in for the knockout.

A flash of hand signals containing a conversation and the one to commit the act was chosen.

Anko flashed forward. Out of the three of us, I was the fastest but I was also valuable due to my background in medical jutsu. If something went wrong and the attacker was injured, better it be one of the other two.

Plus, Anko was the heavy hitter on our team, so she was our best pick.

But she was a mere hairsbreadth from her stiffened fingers jabbing into the boy's nerve to knock him out when it all went wrong.

She felt the presence behind her, we all felt it as the foreign ninja appeared, but she wasn't fast enough to evade the hand that slapped her away before she could grab the Kaguya boy.

"Motherfucker!" Anko roared as she was sent sailing into a tree, causing the oblivious boy to jump with fright and spin around, only to find himself facing a figure in a white kimono. Neither Tenzo, myself nor Anko could see their face from our positions however, or even decipher if it was a man or a woman. We could just see that they had long black hair, and that they were wearing a beautiful, silky white kimono.

I didn't bother to rush to Anko's side; I knew she would be fine from a hit like that, for now anyway.

However, the person that had just attacked Anko had managed to get into the clearing before any of them could react. Whoever it was, they were more than likely higher than even ANBU level; and what's more, they had slapped Anko out of the air like she was nothing more than a fly.

I swallowed, fighting back a nervous giggle. This mission had just taken a sudden turn; not that I was surprised. ANBU mission always held a high risk of turnaround in the worst ways.

The Kaguya boy seemed frozen in place as the man spoke, although his words clearly weren't directed at the boy.

"It seems like Konoha had the same idea," the man – and it was most certainly a man by the low, velvety tone of their voice.

Anko dropped between Tenzo and I, looking relatively unharmed despite smashing down several trees with her body. Not that I could check her expression behind the mask.

But more than that, the voice was strangely familiar. My hair stood on end.

And then, he turned around.

There was no dramatic, collective gasp; we were too well trained for that. But not enough to fight off the sudden grip of welling emotion that paused us all in our tracks.

Orochimaru stood before us, his smile relaxed and amused. Even faced with three ANBU, he didn't appear worried in the least.

There was a flee on sight order that the general masses of Konoha were obliged to follow.

But not us. Not ANBU. Our orders were to capture, dead or alive.

We couldn't turn back from this.

Sensei…

How long had it been, since that fateful night? How many years? And following that, the whispers on the streets poisoning my memories, casting them in a sinister light.

He'd been my everything.

And then he'd just disappeared.

But it had been planned. Every week between healing my heart he was out experimenting on so many others, ripping lives apart while I had been entirely oblivious.

Funny how hindsight changed everything. And now, looking into golden eyes and a pale face that hadn't aged a day, I felt fear.

And yet, in truth I didn't hold it against him. He'd done terrible things, but so had I. When I'd first heard of what he'd done, I'd been horrified.

And then I grew up in a village that demanded I murder for money and for some reason his actions didn't seem so bad after all. Wicked, yes, but not anymore than it was for the village to ask me to assassinate men, women and children for lesser reasons than knowledge.

But I wanted so badly to talk to him, to ask why. Why hadn't he just abided by the village?

Why did he leave me?

I sniffled silently behind the safety of my mask.

I don't want to fight. I don't want to do this.

I knew Anko would be feeling the same. As much as she hated the man for what he had done to her, she'd never quite shaken off the happy memories; she'd told me so in confidence.

Tenzo on the other hand, he didn't have any happy memories at all. When I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, I could tell he was stiffer than usual.

Poor Tenzo. He must be terrified.

I shuffled further behind my tree, blood roaring in my ears.

Is this really happening?

"So what now, hm? Shall we fight over this treasure?" Orochimaru all but crooned in our general direction, his chakra beginning to flare, intimidating. The Kaguya boy behind him fell onto his backside and looked about frantically, trying to find who, exactly, the mysterious man in front of him was talking about.

"If you won't come out, I suppose I shall come find you."

No time to respond, to react in any way, because suddenly he was there.

I was the first one he attacked, but I was fast enough to roll out of the way of the foot that almost smashed my head in. I lunged at him with lightning-enhanced speed, body firing neurons at an unprecedented rate, allowing me to react and move at inhuman speed.

My fist shot out, clocking him in the throat and sending a pulse of lightning chakra through him. Normally, this would be an instant-kill tactic, frying the brain of the enemy.

But sensei wasn't like normal people. And that was made very clear as an entirely new Orochimaru somehow pulled his way out of the throat of the dead body that dropped to the ground.

Stunned, I flipped away in time to dodge a massive stream of fire blown in my direction. Anko brushed off the kunai that were hidden in the flames and intended for me before letting loose several of her own, but Orochimaru blocked them all too easily. Tenzo rushed forward, distracting Orochimaru enough to allow Anko and I to create some distance and take stock.

"Oh my. To think I would meet the famed 'Lightning Bird' in the flesh. I'm honoured."

My face paled at the nickname I had become renown for. It was so stupid, but the fact he recognised me by it made my heart soar in a weird way.

Tenzo engaged him in a bout of intense taijutsu, but it was clear Orochimaru was just toying with him, the man's ghostly face lit up with a rictus grin. Tenzo's wood clone became apparent when Orochimaru did it a palm thrust to his face that he wasn't quick enough to avoid, shattering what would have been his nose had it been the real Tenzo.

Orochimaru's eyes widened, and his lips curled into a smile that I didn't like one bit. Tenzo dropped down beside us as we regrouped, and I didn't need to see his face to know what expression he was wearing.

"The Mokuton…" Orochimaru all but purred as he whirled around to face the three of us. But his eyes were fixed on Tenzo. "My adorable little experiment survived after all."

"We have no business with you, nuke-nin Orochimaru," Anko said, confident with the knowledge her mask afforded her total anonymity.

"We're just here for the Kaguya kid," I added, hoping my voice wasn't shaking. Beneath my cloak, I could feel my fingers trembling with an emotion I couldn't quite place.

I never could get a grasp on controlling my body completely, despite vigorous training.

"Ah, but therein lies the problem," Orochimaru mused, tapping his chin as if contemplating. "For as am I. But it looks like I'll be getting more out of this endeavour than I anticipated."

Tenzo shifted ever so slightly under his gaze.

"Our orders are to capture you. If you continue to interfere, we will be forced to follow through," Tenzo said, ignoring his mocking words.

None of us wanted this. I knew none of us did. In fact, our chances of survival were quite low. But really, we didn't have a choice.

Orochimaru's grin widened.

"Then come at me, little mice."

We had no choice.

I moved first, firing off lightning fast shuriken that he deflected with a calculated sweep of his arm; the kind of manoeuvre that only extremely skilled ninja ever attempt. None-the-less it worked, for he had neither the time to draw a weapon to deflect with, nor the speed to dodge.

"My goodness, such control of the lightning element. I must say, the Lightning Bird certainly does impress."

My throat dried even as my heart did a little dance at his words of praise. The fact that he managed to deflect those shuriken at all was beyond impressive. My move-set relied heavily on my speed and control over the lightning element, which I used to enhance my speed further and inflict quick, deadly jolts of chakra to the brain of my targets.

I was a one-hit assassin. And I had almost never failed my first hit, and certainly never twice. He had not only survived my first attack, but my second as well.

This was bad. Really bad.

I didn't have much to fall back on in terms of combat, which is where Anko came in as the heavy hitter. Tenzo was also highly trained in battle, but his skill set was more geared towards tactics and infiltration, which highly complimented my own style.

We were quite infamous in the ANBU world for being an infallible assassination duo.

'Fall back,' Tenzo signed in standard ANBU, and then he and Anko rushed forward.

I wanted to help, but I knew Tenzo was right. Better that I stay back for now, should one of them get injured I could help.

The battle was not in their favour. My body shook sporadically with adrenalin and tension as I watched my friends fight their tormentor. I wanted them to succeed.

Come on… Please, you guys can do it…

But even two on one, they weren't gaining the upper hand. Orochimaru was simply too skilled. He had a technique up his sleeve to counter almost every attack they threw at him.

And then, Anko used one of the techniques she had been trying to do without. But when an opening presented itself and it was the best move she could make, she finally caved.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" she yelled, sleeves streaming from her sleeves and capturing Orochimaru in a crushing, unrelenting grip of scaly bodies. "Die, bastard!"

But rather than the sound of cracking bones, the body simply melted into a puddle of mud. My eyes widened.

"Kitsune, beh-"

The words didn't entirely escape my lips, but Anko seemed to get the message. She twisted.

Only that was his plan.

She spun around, allowing Orochimaru's sword to slice through her mask as she did so.

Her face was ashen as the two porcelain halves fell at her feet, and she stood face to face with her ex-sensei. For a moment, the betrayal in her eyes was bare for us all to witness.

And his eyes glinted. He was smug.

This was it. We were way out of our league. We had to retreat, orders be damned. There was no way we were winning this anyway.

A flicker of a signal, and suddenly the three of us were tearing away.

His killing intent suddenly flared, choking in its intensity. A genin might have died at such terrifying intent.

My vision went hazy but Tenzo stumbled beside me, a wheeze leaving him. I was at his side, shoving him forward even as something lodged itself deep into my shoulder.

I fell. Anko was there.

I'm on my feet a split second later despite the fact my shoulder is bleeding out, terror forcing me to run, run, run!

Panicked breaths and pounding footsteps. No time for stealth. No time for anything.

A glance towards the sky. A speck is dropping towards us.

"Tori!"

A snap kick and I'm tumbling back.

"Sto-!" Anko hits the dirt, but a flash of lightning and I'm by her side.

Wood rockets from the ground, Orochimaru slams into the trees.

We're running again.

Tunnel vision.

Breathe, breathe, breathe!

Branches sting our faces as we fling ourselves through the trees.

A tree splinters.

"Down!"

We're all hitting the dirt as the trees above us are sliced in half by invisible winds.

Charred leaves and broken branches. Tenzo's eyes widen.

Too late.

The blow sends him hurtling into the ground, a crater forming upon impact.

Unconscious.

"FUCK IT!" Anko's going at him again.

No, no, no, stop it!

A flash of steel and scales. She's fast, but not fast enough.

He has her by the throat, inspecting her. He's pleased by what he sees, for whatever reason.

Anko's eyes are blown wide with fear and anger, and she snaps her teeth at her tormentor. His smile only widens.

"STOP IT!" I scream, noticing Anko writhing with pain in his grip, whether it was emotional or physical I wasn't certain. I rushed at him again, at my once-doctor.

Lightning dances across my fingers.

I'm scared. Orochimaru was going to be the Hokage, once. Yet I rush in anyway, because Anko…

He tosses her aside and she is unconscious before she hits the ground. Now it's just me. I can't escape. All I can do is fight.

My reserves of chakra are dwindling, but even without using my lightning I am fast.

My limbs are almost a blur as I engage him, forcing him back, back, back.

I land a blow to his jaw and finally he disengages, gracefully landing on a tree branch and looking down at me. He doesn't appear tired in the least, whereas despite the fact I forced him back in that little bout, my breaths come in desperate gasps of both panic and breathlessness.

He stands up to his full height and looks down at me, eyes curious. My body quivers, as it always does, with the strength of my nerves.

"So many wonderful revelations… and what might you have in store for me, hm? Who could the famed Lightning Bird be?"

"Just… just go away!" my voice almost breaks, but I am proud that it doesn't.

Orochimaru chuckles as he observes me, my body twitching intermittently with anticipation.

"My goodness, look at you shaking like that… Is that a side effect of your lightning, hm? Or are you just that terrified?"

My face feels warm under my mask. My body's errant movements are so blatant he thinks I've electrocuted myself. Or worse; that my terror is making my body do weird things. Well, it's maybe a little but true, but it wouldn't be so if I could just control my reactions like normal people.

So embarrassing…

"No!" I can't help but defend myself. "It's not that at all! I- I'm… I'm just… excited…"

And maybe I am, just a little. Despite how my initial instinct is to run, I am excited. I've missed him so much since he left. I know he's a horrible person who probably intends to kill me, yet I can't stop the feeling of joy overwhelm me as I look into those eyes like suns that were once so familiar.

Nevertheless, I cringe at my choice of wording, but I don't have time to be embarrassed. He laughs and his arm raises, allowing his kimono sleeve to droop.

My eyes widen.

An endless stream of snakes suddenly pour from his sleeve, racing towards me. I dodge and weave through the hundreds of snakes, but I can't evade them all. It's not long before one finally gets me.

I feel fangs sink into my ankle, and I yelp. In a surge of panic I fling myself upwards into the trees, as was no doubt his intention. I can feel poison enter my blood and I quickly concentrate my medical chakra in the area to negate the effects.

But that action takes my attention away for a split second.

And then I'm gasping because that one moment of inattention lead to me having a fist planted in my solar plexus.

I double over, and I feel his fingers grip my ANBU grey flak jacket. He throws me backwards into the trunk of the tree we're standing on.

I crumble, bent over my knees and clutching my stomach.

I can't help it. A little keening sound escapes my lips as my lungs slowly open and allow me to breathe. There are tears welling in my eyes.

Why are you so mean… You used to be so nice to me…

Well, maybe nice was overdoing it. But he had never hurt me, the opposite in fact. He had been my special person.

I can feel his shadow fall over me, and slowly I raise my eyes.

I know I can't defeat him. My shoulder still bleeds from where he threw a kunai into it, and my chakra is low.

I stay where I am and try to make myself smaller, even as my body begins writhing in happiness or fear at seeing him so close, I am unsure.

I can't even talk with the staggering amount of emotion welling within me, my throat stubbornly closing and barely even allowing me to breathe.

His fingers hook into my ANBU flak jacket yet again and then he lifts me and slams me against the tree trunk, holding me against it.

I've always been small, even for my age, so as he holds me eye-level my toes can't even touch the ground.

My body squirms even as my hands catch his wrist, but before I can shock him with electricity his own spare hand lashes out, catching both my wrists in a tight grip.

"L-lemme go!" I yelp as he forces my hands against the trunk above my head. And I don't know how it happens so fast, but all I register is that there is a kunai pierced through both my palms, and I feel thick, warm blood run down my palms and arms.

He let me hang by my impaled hands.

For some reason, I didn't expect it. Didn't expect him to truly hurt me. Maybe because last time I saw him, he gave me a lingering hug.

Even though I didn't know it was goodbye.

"Wh- AAAAAHH!" The wail escapes my lips because why, why did he hurt me I- I-

And then I feel my mask pulled from face, but I couldn't even see his reaction through my tears and the way my face was scrunched up in agony. Agony from the pain and a strange concoction of emotions that was making my chest ache.

All I knew was that he fell still.

It was entirely possible he didn't remember me. I had only been a patient to him, after all; one of many between even bigger, more important projects and experiments he'd been running. He had been so important that when he did leave and all his experiments were found out, there was a massive uproar that lasted weeks as people mourned for the loss of what was once one of their best shinobi, and raged for the atrocities he had committed.

But then I felt his fingers grip my jaw and I managed to force my eyes open, enough to see him through blurry tears.

"S-sen… sei…" I managed between sobs.

And then I felt the kunai torn from my hands and I fell right into him.

He caught me, held my trembling body against his own.

He's going to kill me now, I thought hysterically, and the thought made my knees give out. My own doctor was going to kill me. The irony didn't escape me.

But I didn't fall, for he took my weight, and I felt his hand grasp my chin, forcing me to face him.

"Ayako-chan…" there was intrigue in his voice, and something else that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

I felt a flare of unexpected joy in my chest. He remembered me! Maybe I did mean something to him. Despite everything, my face lit up and suddenly I couldn't feel the pain at all.

I was giddy. Even though I knew I should be scared, should be running away. Well, I was scared, but my bout of happiness trumped that feeling tenfold.

Still, it allowed me a moment to remember my position and I subtly started healing my injuries.

I shivered from blood loss even as my body shook against him from my happiness at his acknowledgement.

I wanted to tell him I missed him all these years. But… but maybe he never felt like me as I did him. Words like that would only make me look stupid and clingy.

Plus, I was a ninja of Konoha, and they wouldn't abide such a thing. Not that I would have been able to talk anyway, with the way my body was spazzing out of control.

And then he grinned at me in a way I remembered so vividly; fangs and amusement, and suddenly it was like I was back in his hospital room twelve years ago.

He places me down against the tree as I lose control, feeling so overjoyed at the familiarity. Even though I know I shouldn't be. I lose control of my chakra, too, unable to control it in such a state.

This had never happened in battle before. At least, not to this extent. How was I meant to fight now? My hands were only half healed, and I couldn't keep healing them in this state.

But I can't seem to care, because I am too busy looking at those eyes that are the sun incarnate themselves.

(The sun which I dared dream I could reach)

"You've grown so much," he coos, thumbs wiping the tears from my cheeks. He's kneeling before me, and he takes my trembling hands in his own and continues healing them as I watch him in awe.

"Hehe," my giggles come unbidden; what am I meant to do? This is an enemy I can't defeat, but shouldn't I at least be trying? But then, he is healing me. Attacking him now would be a waste.

"The Lightning Bird," he muses, and it really is just like I'm back in a time when he was my doctor, the soothing feeling of his chakra entering my hands. "How far you've come."

A shudder of bliss races through my body, but he holds firm to my hands, eyes glowing with mirth.

"I- I missed y-you," the words slip out before I can stop myself through teeth chattering with excitement.

He chuckles, eyes glowing with satisfaction.

"The elite ANBU shouldn't be saying such things to the enemy, don't you agree my adorable little patient?"

Another round of nervous giggles bursts forth, because he's right. I didn't even mean to say that.

"I m-m-meant t-to say I don't m-miss you at all!" I hastily tried to correct myself. "I don't even r-remember you, really!"

Finally I'm regaining control of my body, tempering my heart. My body still tremors, but no longer is my body all but flailing wildly.

Still, I'm panting with exertion from my body's wayward movements, and I'm already weak from blood loss and my chakra reserves are almost dried up.

The smile he gives me is one I'm not familiar with; it's almost reminiscent, softer than his usual sharp-edged grins.

"I should have dropped you as a patient," Orochimaru murmurs, seemingly more to himself than anyone. The words contrast sharply to the soft way in which they are spoken.

It's like whiplash. Suddenly my emotions spiral, joy becoming shame in a split second.

My eyes widen and my heart stutters painfully. What was he saying? That he wished he hadn't known me? Was I that much of an annoyance to him?

I'm an ANBU, yet the rest of my body stills save my lip which trembles ominously.

I won't cry. I won't cry. I won't-

"Perhaps I ought to kill you now."

The threat is very real, his eyes are calculating; he truly is weighing the benefits of ending me. I am frozen, even as he brings a hand to my temple undoubtedly in preparation to spike chakra into my brain and kill me on the spot.

I can only watch, my lips parted with fear and my breath caught as I wait for him to make his decision.

I never forgot the joy his presence brought me when I was younger. Once he'd left, the world was so dim. Muted, somehow, for I had no one to love. My best friend and my beloved doctor were gone.

And I searched, frantically, for someone else to love, but no one wanted me. I was an orphan, after all. And so I went through the motions, obediently followed the path the village laid out for me and all the orphans, in the hopes that one day the village would be proud of me and someone would finally decide to love me. Or I would die along the way.

But I didn't. I'd been reunited with Tenzo, and the world lit up after that. We were placed on a team with Anko, and I found that I could love her too.

But it wasn't the same. I'd given Orochimaru all my love when I was just a little kid, and when he left I only got half of it back.

I was so stupid, I thought, the tears welling in my eyes. I knew he didn't love me back, but I didn't care. And then he left.

"S-s-sorry," I mewled, my bloody hands covering my eyes. "I d-didn't mean to take up your t-time."

Because that was what I'd done, wasn't it? I'd wasted his precious time with my heart that didn't work, time that he could have spent doing his evil experiments. He'd even paid for me at the kaiseki restaurant, wasting his money on me.

Maybe that's why he wanted me dead, after all.

But instead of falling into blackness, Orochimaru's hand retracted. But I didn't want to look, to see what expression he was wearing. Was he looking at me with disgust?

"I cannot," he muses in a tone laced with satire. "Not when you say such things and look like that."

I'm uncertain what he's talking about, but I yelp when suddenly he's grasping either side of my head. My hands instinctively grab his wrists, and I dredge up what small amount of my chakra is left in preparation.

Fear and uncertainty race through me. What is he doing?

"Wretched child," he croons, and I stiffen. "If I cannot kill you, then I will take you with me."

I hope you all appreciated the sicc skills I bestowed upon Ayako. Also my personal favourite quote from this chapter is "Come at me, little mice" cos it's such a teenage boy-ish thing to say.