Hey all, here's another chapter!

Oh yeah, the poll I put up just ended and the result was…

Harry-is-Pain/Nagato by a landslide!

NOTE: That will most likely be the last Harry is idea that I'll be doing for a while, maybe I'll post a few little one shots but that's it…I just want to try writing new things (writing about the same characters get boring after a while, ya know…). Besides, I want to have a bit of variety in what I write…

Also, this chapter will not have that much from Kimimaro or Luna in it as I am introducing a second antagonist, dedicating this chapter to him since some people have mailed me about there not being enough bad guys in my fics.

Chapter 7

*Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!*

"Ready to begin everyone?" The lead doctor asked his surrounding subordinates, who nodded as one as they looked over their young white haired patient, currently unconscious thanks to the sedatives they put in his breakfast.

"Wands at the ready…and we shall commence the procedure. No cocking it up…" With that, a few of the doctors withdrew their wands from their pockets and holsters, each coming to point at the strange mark on their patients chest that currently seemed to be radiating a dark energy.

The wands slowly began to move across the boy's chest, careful not to touch the corrupted mark, each gently forming strange and intricate patterns that seemed to illuminate within the darkness of the room.

"So…what's this guy's story then?" One of the doctors began conversationally, as if not caring that he was currently performing a delicate operation.

"Some kind of life leeching thing…I don't know, those jackasses up in management wouldn't give me all the details." Another spoke out in a displeased voice. "Secretive fuckers…"

"Watch your language Jeremy!" A female doctor chided the now named Jeremy, who flinched slightly.

"Whatever Gloria, you do this stuff everyday! We, who came from lowly desk work jobs simply because the place was lacking capable staff, have no idea what we're doing!" Gloria simply settled for glaring at him.

"Look, could you just keep your mouths shut and let the rest of us concentrate?" The lead doctor spoke out irritably. "I'll buy you all bagels if you just do your jobs right today…"

*Whooosh…* *Whooosh…*

With those final movements, archaic patterns began to appear across their patient's body in a much more defined manner, each line meeting up to connect with the mark of corruption and causing it to ooze out more of its energy. Their patient's face had a look of discomfort, sweat slightly dripping down his body.

"…Now we just have to wait…" The lead doctor spoke after a moment of silence. "Any of you up for coffee?"

"Yeah…I'm tired from my damn shift, lets go." Gloria moaned as she rubbed her head, feeling a headache forming while following her co-worker and superior.

"I'll go back with you guys in a minute." One of the other doctors called out, drawing confused looks from his colleagues.

This doctor looked rather unassuming, just like what one would expect a passer by to look like when you passed him in the street, with common brown shaggy hair and brown eyes with slight aging visible on his unassuming features. He turned his gaze to his co-workers.

"After all, we don't know what the backlash of this experiment is going to be so its best to have at least one set of eyes upon it." The others, seeing his logic while silently thanking him for being the one to do it, left the room.

"Now then…" The doctor turned his gaze to the mark on the patient's chest. "I wonder what makes you tick…" He slowly approached the patient.

!

"Arrrggghhhh!" A strangled cry of pain escaped the patient's lips as more and more of the black substance escaped from the mark, covering the area. The doctor made no move to assist in the patient's struggle with this supernatural force and merely chose to observe, studying the ooze from all possible angles.

"Jeez, you're loud." He complained to the screaming patient. "Would you just shut up?" As if divine intervention had been listening to the doctor's request/order, the patient did indeed stop his noise making and fell limply on his back.

"Ah…"A gasp of relief escaped the patient's lips as the doctor stared at the concentration of ooze that had moved from the boy's chest to the floor.

"How curious…" He moved forward, armed with his wand as he stood in front of the disgusting amorphous blob of goo that had escaped the patient's chest. "I wonder what you are…my Lord would certainly be interested in acquiring whatever this is." With that, he stepped even closer…

!

"MMPPHH!" The doctor had little time to scream as his face was literally covered by the ooze that had suddenly leapt at him. "Mmmph! Mmmm!" He knocked over various medical supplies and tables in his struggle to fight this formless entity.

"Kukukukuku!" The thing laughed at him! How was this possible? Was he going to die here? When he had so much left to accomplish in the world? Were his dreams that lofty that Merlin himself had commissioned the act of divine punishment? That he would-

"UURRRKKK!" His inner thoughts were interrupted brutally as the disgusting ooze slowly entered through every hole in his head. "AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!" With that shriek, the doctor's form fell limp yet surprisingly stayed on his feet. The ooze all but inside of him now…

"Maxwell? Maxwell, are you alright?" His colleagues called through the door. "We heard a scream…" 'Maxwell' tilted his head towards the door.

"Oh, do not be alarmed friends…I was merely startled slightly, you know how things are when you work in a hospital." His voice now had a strange serpentine quality to it that the others failed to hear. "I'm alright now, perhaps a little medication would be best, eh?"

"Well, if you're sure your okay…" The voice of Gloria followed the first voice. "Come…come see us if something's bothering you okay?" She sounded quite worried.

"Do not worry, my dear…I'm quite fine…yes, very fine indeed…" Maxwell commented idly, listening intently as the footsteps of his colleagues faded into the distance.

"Kukukuku…" A sinister hissing chuckle escaped from Maxwell's lips as his brown bangs covered his eyes. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Freedom! At long last!"

In place of his boring plain brown eyes was a pair of rather odd looking orbs. Twin eyes, each a dark gold in colour with a slit in each one in place of a usual pupil, gleamed maniacally in the darkness of the room. Also, strangely enough, serpent-like purple markings could be seen framing said serpent-like eyes…

*Hiss!*

The sound of a soft hissing broke him out of his little insane moment of ecstasy as he looked around for the cause of the noise, finding it in the form of a small white snake sitting by the window. 'Maxwell' merely smirked at it before looking around the room…his gaze landed on the patient.

A feeling of intense rage suddenly filled every fibre of his being as he gazed upon that fallen form. Since he was only a fragment and therefore only held a few of his former memories, it was difficult to place a name to this boy who was causing him a great deal of frustration.

"Why do I have the sudden urge to kill you, I wonder…" He commented idly as he reached over to another desk for a medical scalpel. "Oh well." With that, he raised the miniature surgical knife high in the air…

*CRASH!*

The sudden noise shocked him out of his current actions as he turned to face what he presumed was an intruder…finding him to be an old man.

Flashes of different memories assaulted him at once, showing him pictures of another old man in white and red robes while smoking from a pipe. The negative feelings of anger as well as slight fear filled his heart as he remembered this man, but also a minor grudging positive feeling of respect built up along side them. This old man in front of him gave off vibes similar to the man in his little memory flash…he didn't like it.

"Who are you and what are you doing to Mr. Kaguya?" The man's voice exuded authority as well as, strangely enough, a grandfatherly tone.

"What am I doing? I am merely performing my daily activities as a medical expert, sir." The serpentine quality did not go unnoticed by the old man in front of him, who narrowed his blue twinkling eyes.

"That voice…have you possessed someone yet again, Tom?" He asked, wand held out in front of him. 'Maxwell' blinked.

"And just who is this 'Tom' that you speak of? Also why are you pointing that sharpened stick at me? Is it a weapon of sorts? Kukukuku! Amusing old fool…" He suddenly leapt high into the air, causing the old man to blink in astonishment before steeling his expression into that of mild anger.

"Answer me! If you are not who I think you are then please identify yourself!" He commanded while 'Maxwell' chuckled in sick amusement. "I'll give you till the count of three! One…two…three!"

"STUPEFY!"

"Sen'eijashu! (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)" Both of them cried out in tandem, and the old man was shocked when a series of large snakes shot out of his opponents lab coat sleeve and collided with his spell…

*Boom!*

The clash slightly rocketed the room a little, though not by much. 'Maxwell' was staring at the old man in some kind of sick awe.

"How fascinating…what was that light you shot from that stick, a new kind of jutsu perhaps? You've just made yourself a bit more interesting to me, old man." With that, he held out both of his hands.

"Sen'eijashu!" He cried out the strange sounding word again and this time, snakes appeared from both arms, hissing and snarling as they made their way across to the old man…

"DIEEEEEE!" 'Maxwell cried as he watched the snakes get ever so closer towards their mark.

*SPLINCH!*

'Maxwell' was surprised then; that many of his snakes had seemingly been killed in an instance, courtesy of what appeared to be sharp looking bone columns erupting from the floor, like strangely shaped swords. Seeing that the old man was just as confused as he was, 'Maxwell' turned his attention to the only other occupant in the room…

Only to be met with wide green emerald eyes that seemed very familiar yet so far away to him. The boy's pure white hair that was styled with a zigzag parting in the middle was oh so familiar…why couldn't he remember him? Vague pictures, mostly blurry, seemed to show a much younger version of this boy looking up at him in admiration, loyalty…

Respect.

"Y-you! Orochi…" The words died on the boy's lips as his face appeared to be conflicted with different emotions, ranging from elation to fear to rage. 'Maxwell' smirked.

"Kukukuku! Do I seem familiar to you, dear boy?" He asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Sadly, I don't seem to know who you are." The boy appeared to be slightly hurt at that remark but covered it up well with a mask of indifference, something that seemed to amuse 'Maxwell' greatly.

"While this has been fun, I think it's time I made my exit." He suddenly announced to his shocked two-man audience. "Farewell…" With that, he ran over to the nearby window and jumped through it, glass smashing effortlessly as his body faded into the darkness of the night…

"Are you alright, Kimimaro?" The old man asked the young boy in worry, as he just continued to stare at the spot where the strange man was just a moment ago. "Kimimaro?" He asked again, tapping the boy's shoulder.

"I…" The boy's words died on his lips as he felt his eyelids getting heavier with exhaustion due to the large usage of chakra, finally collapsing to the floor.

"It's going to be alright, Mr. Kaguya." The old man's voice rang in his ears as he felt himself being levitated over to a nearby bed. "I'll call the doctor…" With that, the old man left the room as Kimimaro sank into the realm of unconsciousness as his body hit the soft mattress with a slight thump.

Some time later…

"Patient is stabilising…" The voice of a man echoed in Kimimaro's head as he could feel himself being dragged back into the world of the living.

"Mr. Dumbledore…are…okay?" This voice, a woman's if the pitch was of any indication, sounded slightly muffled to his ears.

"Nothing to serious my dear…" The jovial voice of the old man, Dumbledore, entered his ears as he slowly began to sit up…

"Easy now…" The warning tone from the doctor helping him up passed through his hearing range. "Don't want to strain yourself now…"

"Dumbledore-san…" He muttered, causing Dumbledore to look at him as well as the other doctors, who were wondering what the suffix he had put at the end of Dumbledore's name meant.

"Ah yes, I suppose we should have a word, hmm?" He said, not so subtly requesting for privacy away from the doctors. Once he was certain that there was nobody else in the building, Dumbledore turned to Kimimaro.

"It seems as though you have been through quite the ordeal, young Kimimaro." He said jovially and Kimimaro merely blinked at him.

'How can he act like that? He was almost faced with death and a few moments later he just laughs it off?' He thought to himself. 'I do not understand this man.'

"Though I am curious." Dumbledore admitted to himself. "It appears to me as if you knew that strange fellow." Kimimaro twitched but Dumbledore continued on.

"How exactly did you become acquainted with such an…unsavoury individual?" Kimimaro seemed to be fighting with himself for a brief moment but eventually came up with an answer.

"That man is Orochimaru." He admitted while Dumbledore's eyes widened a little, recognising the name from his previous and somewhat guarded conversations with the boy in front of him. "At least, I think he is…though why he doesn't remember me is confusing I must admit…"

"He is the one who gave you that cursed mark?" Dumbledore asked him while Kimimaro nodded stiffly. "The one you formerly referred to as your master?" Again, Kimimaro nodded stiffly, not liking this pace of conversation.

Sensing Kimimaro's increasingly sullen mood, Dumbledore decided that a change of conversation material was in order. So, without further ado, he proceeded to talk again.

"Ahem! Well erm…deviating from this obviously uncomfortable topic, perhaps you would like to hear about the operation?" He mentioned idly, watching as Kimimaro's eyes widened when he tried to claw his clothing off of him to get a look at the results…

'It's gone…'Kimimaro wondered to himself, feeling no particular emotion of any kind surfacing.

Indeed, his curse seal had been removed from his chest as if it were never there. There wasn't even a scar! It seemed as though these wizarding medics were quite skilled in their line of work. Orochimaru's seal skills were said to be second only to the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha so it must have taken quite a while to get it out of his system completely.

"…Kimimaro?" Said teen inwardly cursed as he realised that he had been trapped within his thoughts the whole time that Dumbledore was trying to talk to him. "Must be fatigued from the operation…I'll send word to the others not to disturb you. Have a nice sleep."

A very silent 'thank you' escaped Kimimaro's lips as the old man left the room.

A short while later, in an undisclosed location…

"Kukukuku! What an interesting place this 'wizarding world' is!" The serpentine voice of the former snake sannin of Konohagakure, Orochimaru, hissed out in amusement from within a small forest hideout, currently in control of a body that did not belong to him.

Well, he calls it a hideout but really…it was just a run down old shack in the middle of dense woodlands. Still, it would do for the time being…anyway!

Yes, the wizarding world. Where could he honestly start? Everything about this bizarre land seemed like pure fantasy to someone like him. The strange creatures, the unusual enigmatic people, and finally…

"Magic…kukuku!" He laughed a snake-like laugh as he pushed some of his now silky smooth long black hair out of his serpentine eyes, having regained his original appearance soon after locating this spot.

Magic of all things, was real! At first, he had dismissed it as a ludicrous thought, merely thinking that 'magic' was another name for jutsu in this land. He never would have guessed that the stories he had seen as a child about wizards and witches were actually real…

"And that old man…what power he has!" Orochimaru hissed to himself as he looked out of the broken window of his shack. "I want it…"

Indeed, that attack the old man had used against him, the 'Stupefy' if he heard correctly, was able to render his snake hand technique almost completely ineffective. If he could grasp that power, then his arsenal of knowledge would increase exponentially!

"Kukuku…hmm?" He paused in his sinister laughter as a rather strange sensation began to erupt through his body. "What is this…is this pain?" Indeed, the sensation that had slowly built up was beginning to feel like a dull throbbing pain, the kind of which he had experienced after exhausting his chakra supply a few times in his youth.

"Where is it coming from?" Luckily for him, he had built up somewhat of a tolerance to pain, able to shrug off seemingly mortal wounds without a care in the world so right now, and this sensation was little more than an annoying irritation.

"Moraine, you imbecile! I am calling you! Respond or face the consequences!" A serpent sounding voice not unlike his own entered his ears from seemingly out of nowhere, causing him to smirk a little at the similarities. "Hmm? You…you are not Maxwell Moraine. Who are you?"

Choosing not to dignify the voice with a response, Orochimaru began to look over his temporary body, trying to find the source of the voice that had shown its presence only when he began to feel pain…

"There you are…" He whispered sadistically as he pulled up the sleeve on his lab coat, marvelling at the pattern that was seemingly engraved on his left arm…a symbol of a skull with a snake coiling around it, with the snake moving around and hissing slightly at him.

It idly reminded him a little of his own product, the curse seal, if he said so himself. In fact, he could actually feel the 'magic' of his 'host', Maxwell Moraine, being drained through the symbol as well as darker thoughts being sent into his mind. Luckily for him, his now puny chakra reserves were remained untouched by this leech and therefore, his ability to perform jutsu would not be hindered…

Oh yes, his reserves. Since he was now little more than a fragment of the original Orochimaru, who had poured pieces of his soul into the individual curse seals, he only had approximately a tenth of the originals overall power. Right now, the best he could most likely manage was the snake hand technique and his body take-over manoeuvre. A far cry difference of what he used to be able to accomplish when he was on the top of his game.

It was quite frankly, pathetic. He must have been completely out of his element in this obviously foreign nation, with chakra reserves rivalling that of a mere genin/low chuunin, and the overall jutsu capacity to go with it.

"I suppose that I will have to rely on this foreign power, this magic, for the time being while I rebuild my reserves, which means…" He suddenly turned a menacing glare towards the mark on his arm. "That you…will have to go." With that, Orochimaru got up and made his way over to what would be the 'kitchen' of this middle of nowhere dump.

"No…that's not good enough, not too sharp…ah, here we go!" He said in triumph as he produced a rather large butcher knife from the cutlery drawer. Sending a feral leer at the leech on his arm, he slowly positioned the knife just below his elbow…

"Wait, you fool! What do you think you are doing?" The snake voice hissed from the mark, causing Orochimaru to cringe at it. "I will not stand for this treachery do you hear me? Lord Voldemort will not stand for this-"

*SPLINCH!*

"AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!" The voice cried out in pain as Orochimaru sliced straight through his lower arm with such speed that it took a while for his body to realise that it was now missing a limb…

*WHOOOSH!*

A torrent of liquid red soon began to erupt from the stump of Orochimaru's arm, with bits of bone mixed with other substances oozing out of his system.

"Did you enjoy that?" Orochimaru chuckled sinisterly to his lower arm, which now lay limply on the floor as the mark continued to pulse wildly, cursing at its loss of magic. "What's the matter, has the baby lost his bottle?"

"Y-you swine! Mongrel! How dare you do this to me?" The voice snarled, sounding much weaker than before. "You are going to die for this, you hear me? I will hunt you down for the rest of your-"

*Hiss!*

The voice's protests died out as a growing hissing noise made itself apparent in the room, hinting at the presence of a reptilian creature in the room.

"I have no further use of that thing…dispose of it for me would you, my dear?" Orochimaru hissed towards the shadows…

"Of course, Lord Orochimaru…but you should know this. Lord Manda is not happy with you." A serpentine voice hissed back. "He demands payment that is overdue." Orochimaru sniffed.

"Tch…Why am I not surprised? Very well, he'll get his payment…" He sneered and the snake nodded before moving to do as her contract holder ordered.

*GULP!*

With that, the lower left limb of Maxwell Moraine, now Orochimaru, fell prey to the stomach acids of the serpent summon, with the voice cursing all the while.

*SQUISH!* *SQUISH!* *SQUISH!*

The rather repulsive sound seemed to echo around the room as a strange ooze-like substance began to erupt out of the stump of Orochimaru's arm, forming what appeared to be a new shape…

"Ahhh! Much better…" Orochimaru groaned with relief as he examined his new appendage…a replaced, purely clean arm that matched his corpse-like complexion. No mark was in sight…perfect.

"Now that that annoyance has been taken care of…it's time I turned my attention to the future." He remarked before placing his hand inside his pocket and pulling out…a wand.

Looking at it with a critical eye, Orochimaru merely waved it…

*Boom!*

And was surprised when the table he was previously sitting at caught fire. Looking down at the wand, he glared at it for a brief moment.

'This tool…is not right for one such as I…I'll need to procure a more suitable replacement.'

With that in mind, the snake sannin Orochimaru began to plot and plan within his shack, with fiendish laughter resonating in the surrounding area.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Meanwhile…

"Bastard!" Another serpentine voice similar to a certain snake sannin cried out in fury as he smashed his hand on his throne in rage.

Lord Voldemort did not take too kindly to losing one of his followers as well as a boon in his strength. No, his very magic had been carefully weaned and attuned into each individual that he had personally 'marked' with his brand so that he could secretly leech their power, adding to his own. Even losing just one of the 'links', no matter how insignificant its holder was, caused him such unbearable agony that he would liken it to that of the Cruciatus curse.

"My lord!" The startled shriek broke through his ears as he gritted his teeth in pain, cursing the woman's timing in arriving at his side. He glared at her with his blood red eyes.

Whereas in some point of time, she would have been a rather beautiful woman, only a shell stood in her place. Her black hair was long, wild and untamed, as if she hadn't made any attempt to wash or brush it. Her face, which was once young and full of life, had been reduced to a gaunt, almost vampire-like visage that could hardly be called attractive in any sense of the word. Voldemort inwardly grimaced at her appearance.

"My lord, are you alright?" Her voice grated in his ears, causing him to grit his teeth harder. "Do you need assistance?"

"Alright? ALRIGHT? Do I look 'alright' to you, Bellatrix?" He snarled. "One of the marks has been wiped out!" The now named Bellatrix's eyes widened in surprise and shock.

"FIND ME MORAINE! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DO, JUST FIND HIM AND BRING HIM HERE!" He yelled as a particularly nasty spark of pain racketed through his body, causing the woman to jump back at the sudden noise. "Do not harm him though, dear Bella…I want him alive."

"Of course, my lord." She said with a sadistic undertone in her voice as she left the presence of Voldemort.

"You cannot hide forever, impersonator of Moraine…I'll deal with you soon enough." He spoke out, not expecting anybody to answer him as his face became concealed by the shadows of his dark abode.

Elsewhere…

Tightening his latest acquisition, a pitch-black hooded cloak, Orochimaru carefully moved through the crowds of rather dubious looking people to reach his destination.

"Toe nail clippings, five sickles for a pack of ten!" An old hag yelled at him over the heads of the crowds while Orochimaru sneered at her, silently mocking her while wondering what use toe nail clippings would have in any form of transaction/activity. Shaking his head, he continued to move through, pushing past the odd drunk and scatter-brained old women along the way.

His 'host' had quite an extensive range of knowledge in this particular part of the wizarding world, called 'Knockturn Alley'. Apparently, the shops here dealt with goods that were deemed 'unsightly' and 'hot property' in society.

"Get your voodoo heads over here, for only five knuts each!" A shady store vendor screamed out at passing by pedestrians.

'Honestly.' Orochimaru thought to himself in mild disgust. 'This is what people blacklist as 'dealers of dark artefacts'?'

Perhaps these accusers should take a look at some of his earlier work, then try to make the obviously pathetic comparison of his magnificent designs to these…pieces of garbage that these dealers were peddling to the moronic public.

Still, he was not here to debate on the goods that these pathetic excuses for human beings were trying to sell. No, he was here to acquire something more…specific in nature.

The place he was heading to was a store called 'Old Sal's discount wands'. Apparently this wand store, while not nowhere as near as popular as the Ollivanders store in Diagon Alley, was the store in which his 'host' had purchased his first wand as a child…and that was most likely going to be his best place in finding a match for himself now that his take over of Maxwell Moraine had rendered the wand useless.

*Ring!*

Orochimaru twitched at the sound of the harmless chime of the doorbell, most likely letting the occupier of the store know of his presence. Still, he decided not to let this bother him too much…he had business to conduct anyway.

"Hold on, buddy, I'm coming! Keep your knickers on…" Orochimaru growled in annoyance at the sound of the voice, watching unblinkingly as a wiry old man came down the stairs, coughing while smoking a cigarette.

"What do ya want?" He barked and Orochimaru pushed the urge to kill this ingrate deeper into recesses of his mind.

"I require a wand. Now." He said, getting straight to the point while the old man, who he presumed was 'Old Sal' went to the back, mumbling to himself about 'bossy assholes' and the like.

After a moment of hearing nothing but shuffling and cursing from the old man, Orochimaru chose to silently wait by the door in the case that the man had some kind of trap laid out for him. From what he had seen of the inhabitants of this alley, he wouldn't trust anyone with even a hair from his head.

"Alright…here. That's ten discount wands, I ain't risking you blowing up my store just because a few of them blow up on ya." Old Sal snapped. "That'll be 40 galleons."

Orochimaru had only barely heard the man since he was examining one of the wands critically but he caught the sentence that mentioned the price. Sighing tiredly, he turned to the old man, who seemed to be waiting for him to produce the gold currency…

"Yes, yes, your payment." Orochimaru hissed. "I have your payment…right here!" With that, he struck.

A rather large boa constrictor made its way out of his cloak, coming to rest right in front of the now pale Old Sal, who backed away from the monstrous serpent.

*Hiss!*

"I'll leave you two to get better acquainted then, shall I? Good day, sir." With that, he left the store, smiling as he heard screams of pain and hisses of excitement in the distance.

"Today is a good day…" He said idly, causing many of the dirty and darker individuals of Knockturn Alley to look at him strangely. Chuckling sinisterly, Orochimaru attempted to evacuate the area, intent on finding out if one of these 'wands' was the one for him.

"…And just where do you think you're going, Moraine?" A woman's voice cooed from behind him, causing him to stop in his steps and turn to confront whoever was trying to provoke him.

The woman looked pretty much like the epitome of a vampire, with scraggly and matted long black hair and gaunt facial features. Her ensemble was a rather noble looking gothic-styled dress. Behind her were two thug-like brutes each wearing matching disguises: Skull-like masks, long black robes, and strangely pointed hats. Orochimaru blinked at them, not knowing what else to do when being approached by such…bizarre looking individuals. He noted that a few of the Knockturn Alley pedestrians had shied away into the recesses of the shadows, keen on watching any potential conflict.

"Our lord is not pleased with you, Moraine, not pleased at all." Her voice sounded as though she was talking to a child. "Sadly, I have been instructed to only bring you back…cant even give him a bruise." She muttered the last part under her breath but Orochimaru caught it, causing his eyes to narrow slightly. So…they wanted to kidnap him? Well, he would show them that he was nobody to trifle with.

"Oh? And why, in your depraved filthy mind, do you think I would be willing to accompany you…Bellatrix Lestrange?" He said, fishing out the name from his host's memories. "I am afraid that I have much more…pressing matters to attend to, perhaps we can have this chat another time?"

Orochimaru was greatly amused when the woman sent an angry glare at him, sending swift nudges to the brutes behind her, who stepped forward brandishing their wands. She then smiled at him.

"I don't recall Maxwell Moraine ever being so defiant…he was always so submissive." She cooed, while Orochimaru cringed. "You…are not Moraine. Who are you?"

"Kukukukuku!" His serpentine laughter echoed through the streets, causing onlookers to cringe at the sound. "No…I am not Maxwell Moraine, my dear…" He slowly reached for his hood, watching in barely concealed amusement as the brutes tensed up.

"My name is of no importance to someone like you." He hissed with a smile, taking off his hood and exposing his face to the trio of Death Eaters. "Come…let us take up arms." Needless to say, the brutes were all too eager to respond.

"Reducto!" Both of them cried at once and Orochimaru watched with rapt attention as two beams of blue light raced towards him. With the grace of a war hardened shinobi, Orochimaru was able to easily dodge the attacks while unpacking one of the wands from its case…

"Another intriguing piece of magic!" Orochimaru practically gushed as he heard the mild explosion from the dodges spells collide into the brick wall behind him. "I think I'll give it a try myself…Reducto!"

He watched with satisfaction as a familiar glow of blue light erupted from the tip of the wand rather violently, forcing the Death Eaters to jump out of the way.

"So my host has experience using this spell…" Orochimaru muttered, silently thanking Maxwell Moraine for his contribution in his 'revival' as it were. "I wonder what else he knew…" With that, he watched the trio of Death Eaters for anything that could be used against them…only to blink in mild surprise at the sight before him.

"Idiots! Fools! I give you one simple job and you completely bumble it up!" Bellatrix yelled as she stomped on the fallen men, who had yet to get up after dodging Orochimaru's violent spell. "CRUCIO!" She screamed and pain filled cries began to erupt from the downed duo. Orochimaru watched in intrigue.

"AHAHAHAHA! SCREAM FOR ME YOU FAILURES!" Okay, maybe he wasn't paying so much attention to the woman but to the downed men, who seemed to be convulsing in some kind of pain.

'Could it be some kind of Genjutsu that causes actual pain? How akin to the Tsukuyomi technique of the Sharingan it is!' He thought to himself in excitement. A chance to replicate a technique that he had coveted for so long…he had to have it! So, it was with zero hesitation that he pointed his wand at the still screaming Bellatrix and…

"Crucio!" He practically hissed, watching as the woman shivered a little before laughing wildly, causing Orochimaru to blink.

"Fool! You have to want to hurt the person in order to use that curse!" She yelled, still in some kind of insane ramble as she focused her attention more on the downed and screaming brutes…a fatal mistake on her part.

"So…I need a desire to inflict pain on you, hmm? Very well then…" Orochimaru then gained a sadistic gleam in his eyes. "Crucio!"

Bellatrix only had one second to comprehend the viciousness in the man's voice before a pain like no other began to spread inside her whole body, eliciting a shriek of agony mixed with a strange pleasure…oh she had never hurt this much from a Cruciatus curse, it caused the hairs on the back of her neck to shiver.

"Kukukuku!" His snake-like laughter rang merrily in her ears as she looked at him from her position on the ground. "I must thank you and your friends, Bellatrix Lestrange. Without you, I wouldn't have acquired such a small but very deadly arsenal of spells…magic is truly a fascinating thing!" He laughed.

"Now, what should I do with you? I have no need for those two." He gestured to the now unconscious brutes, who had been knocked out due to the pain. "Perhaps I'll…kill them?" He asked in deranged glee and Bellatrix was forced to watch as a small army of snakes slithered out of the man's cloak and over towards the two men…

She bit back a grimace as she watched the serpents tear into the flesh of her comrades, instead choosing to glare up at the man who had dared resist capture. He chuckled sinisterly again.

"You are a very interesting person, Bellatrix Lestrange." He remarked, with his serpent-like eyes never leaving hers. "While I must depart today, I do look forward to future meetings…perhaps I'll even give you a 'gift'." The way he said gift made Bellatrix cringe, knowing that whatever it was he was offering wouldn't be good for her or her lord.

"Until then…" He said before seemingly vanishing in front of her very eyes.

Bellatrix Lestrange shakily got to her feet before letting out a screech of fury, kicking the corpses of the rotting Death Eater brutes before looking around wildly.

"What are you looking at, filth?" She hollered at the shadowy patrons of Knockturn Alley, who backed away in fright of the obviously insane woman.

Bellatrix quickly made her leave of the area, sensing that Aurors were about to arrive to investigate the commotion.

She did not want to be dragged down back to Azkaban again. And besides, those slimy thugs that her lord hired would be easy to pin any blame on.

Still, this encounter with the snake-like man had to be reported to her lord as quickly as possible.

She would not fail her lord again like she did all those years ago.

Never.

End of Chapter!

Okay, I went in a slightly different yet pretty much expected direction for this story.

So…Orochimaru, eh? I wouldn't imagine you would all be surprised by his re-emergence. I mean, he is a sneaky bastard so he probably had a failsafe to fall back on in the case that he became incapacitated in any way. I mean damn...He'll probably take over Kabuto at some point in canon (all that exposure to Oro's genes and stuff surely cannot be good for him).

Right now, Oro isn't as strong as his former self but with his instincts as a shinobi practically drilled into him, it wouldn't take too much out of him to make work of some hired goons. He will get stronger eventually so no worries about him being a pushover antagonist.

About his memories…well, since he is only a fragment of his former self, he won't be able to remember everything straight away. The reason that he cannot remember Kimimaro properly will be revealed in later chapters since I will go into greater details about it.

One more thing: He will NOT be siding with Kimimaro at all. This will eventually be revealed later as Orochimaru regains more and more of his past memories and comes to see Kimimaro as his enemy simply because he will feel that Kimimaro betrayed him.

I know it may seem confusing but I am going to elaborate on it…I wont let it become a bastard plot bunny! D:

Time to wrap this up then. The next chapter will deal with Kimimaro training (I'm actually going to make it a bit more detailed than what I have been doing in the first few chapters) as well as Orochimaru confronting Voldemort's forces.

Many thanks for reading,

Endo