FicWad

Takaira sat on the edge of the cliff face, staring out blankly at the sea. So many things had gone wrong, so many things had gotten out of control. It was only supposed to be a search and destroy mission...and now look where she was. Everyone she had been affiliated with, everyone she had loved once, cared for once, was gone.

Sorentai-Sensei had been the last one.

Denkai Takaira closed her eyes and remembered the faces of everyone...Her teammates, Setona and Kurosu, their beaming smiles and caring eyes. "We'll get through this together Takaira-chan." They had told her, promising that they'd be there until the very end.

They had been right, but it wasn't the end she knew they imagined. She had been the one to end them, to snuff out their existence like it was nothing...

FLASHBACK

The dark shadows were like light streaming through the trees as she pursued him. Her hands flying through seal after seal, the chakra building and building. Finishing them wouldn't be a problem, but getting the seal to bind again...that was the real problem. Once released it was extremely difficult to gather and control the chakra enough to stream it back into the seal, especially in the excited state it would be in.

She'd have to deal with that when the time came. She could see him now, his black jacket streaming behind him as he ran, tearing through the trees, but she could see, no, feel him growing tired, and his chakra waning. He had used a good part in that powerful spurt speed he used to put between himself and the village, namely me, and I didn't doubt Kurosu was a little ways ahead of him.

He chanced a small glance behind his shoulder, but I knew he couldn't see me, it was too dark and he couldn't see that far through the bush and trees.

"You know I'm still after you, so what reason is there to look ?" I asked his back.

The edges around my vision blurred as it moved past Setona and searched for Kurosu.

Ah, there he was, his legs quivering each time he landed on a branch to jump to the next one. Actually, his whole body was shaking and he was moving as fast as he could. He was terrified. Goodie.

Suddenly my eyes widened with adrenaline and my body flooded with electricity and chakra as I completed the final stage of the activation. A wide smile found my lips as I felt my senses heighten and the chakra course through my body. So this is what it felt like...I never imagined it would be this...empowering. I felt invisible, unbeatable.

It was true, I'd have un paralleled power, access to an unlimited supply of any jutsu in my arsenal. Although I could only wield Raiton, and if either of them knew that lightning was vulnerable to wood, I might be in trouble and being as distant as I had been the last few months, I didn't know what they had learned from Sorentai. Kurosu wouldn't be much a threat, he was a pathetic weakling who only cared for his well-being, but Setona... he knew wood style, I didn't know how much he knew, but if he used it in battle he would realize my weakness immediately and then none of my jutsu would be effective.

I decided I wouldn't give him the opportunity to break out the wood jutsus. He was strong in Raiton, but with the seal activated his jutsu would be nothing but child's play compared to my own.

How easy this would be, with them out of the way, there would be no one to tell of my betrayal. They would find out eventually after someone noticed I hadn't been around for a while, but by then of course, it would be too late. And as for Setona and Kurosu, they might be able to figure it out, but they'd never be able to prove it had be me who had taken they out.

I stopped on a high branch when Setona descended into a small clearing and looked around, his hand on his weapons pouch, ready for an attack.

I watched as he scanned the dark trees. It was a waste of time, what kind of advantage did he think he could get? The idiot couldn't see me. He wasn't increasing his chances of not being found by standing in an open clearing. He was making this anything but harder.

A smile tugged at my lips as I watched him, that strong look in his eyes, but I could see the fear underlying it. I closed my eyes and extended my inner sight and pierced through the thin wall he called a barrier around his mind.

Immediately his thoughts, and memories flooded my own mind and it was overwhelming. I felt everything he felt, the anger, the sadness, the determination...the fear. Every single memory, every single thought he had ever had, all the jutsu he knew, everything he had learned I could hear as whispers and see as a movie in fast motion, one random clip after the other. The whispers were coming from everywhere filling up my head and the air around me. It was an overwhelming, jumbled mess, one thing right after the other, over lapping and incoherent at times talking and yelling and whispering over each other like a huge, riled crowd.

Paired with all the emotions he had felt at every point in his life I could barely handle it all. I put my hands over my ears, (which did nothing to nullify the onslaught of his mind on my own) and doubled over as the whispers got louder and louder until eventually they were all screaming louder then any normal person could withstand.

I felt like I would burst if it didn't stop, but I never learned how to stop it, how to control it. I began to feel panic sweep though my stomach. I was beyond my training, by my level of knowledge and if it didn't stop, I knew it would drive me into madness.

Finally...

"I'll hold her off as long as I can, hopefully it'll be long enough for Kurosu to get to the Raikage..." Ran through his mind, and therefore through my own. This thought drowned out all others, and even though I had so many emotions, so many feelings fighting a war inside my body, I heard it and felt it loud and clear.

My head shot up and I deactivated my Daisengan, ceasing his mind's horrendous assault.

So that's what he was doing...he wasn't trying to out-tactic me, he was buying Kurosu time by engaging me in battle.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, calming myself down, the screaming memories and thoughts still ringing in my ears.

I opened my eyes again, my Daisengan activated and turned away from Setona and focusing my sight on Kurosu....

"Takaira-san, we're ready."

Amatsu's voice interrupted my thoughts and I opened my eyes and looked out at the sea for a few more seconds.

"Takaira-san?" He asked moving his head to see my expression, which was blank.

"Alright." I replied, getting up and wrapping my cloak around me. I didn't look at him. He was another, an innocent soul caught up in my black web. Truth be told, I didn't want to see more people I was acquainted with die. Of course, it didn't matter, he was easily replaced, but still...

"Takaira-san, what is our heading?" Amatsu asked, an unreadable expression on his face as I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.

"East." I responded simply.

"And, our target?" He asked, his hand tightening around the bloody kunai he held in his hand. I would question him about that later.

"Oh, you know him well." I said. "Very well."

I could feel his body stiffen, and his jaw clench. "You're not saying we're going to..."

I still stared out at the sea my eyes narrowing.

"Yes. We are going to see Orochimaru."

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

Uchiha Sasuke sat there, his arms crossed over his knees, staring at the floor. It was going to be soon, he could feel it. In the way that Orochimaru looked at him, with that look of anticipation and sick excitement in his eyes..

Sasuke looked up to stare at the flickering flame of a candle that stood on his dresser, the bright red of his Sharingan appearing the color of blood in the firelight. Yes, definitely soon...

Of course, he had no intention of ever being taken by Orochimaru, and when the time came, something had to be done. The timing would certainly work out for him. The man was weak and bed ridden, so the fight wouldn't be long. But then again, this was Orochimaru, and to be frank, Orochimaru only taught him and told him what he wanted him to know, so there was a good possibility that Orochimaru had jutsu that he kept to himself.

But still...it would be easier then fighting the man in his full health....

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted by knocking at his door. He frowned and looked. What now? "Who is it?" He asked, directing a glare at the door and whoever might be behind it, although he had a pretty good idea.

Kabuto opened the door and peeked inside. Of course. Who else would it be? He thought to himself irritably.

"Sasuke, he wants to see you." Kabuto said and then removed himself from the doorway and closed the door.

Sasuke went back to staring to the floor for a moment before sighing and getting up, grabbing his katana from its place next to his bed and heading out the door to follow Kabuto to Orochimaru's chambers.

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

"A teammate?" He asked. Tsk. Of all things... He was mildly surprised, and very annoyed. Orochimaru knew he preferred to work alone. Teammates only got in his way.

"Yes," Orochimaru replied, a smirk on his face. "You don't approve Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed only the slightest. The man knew damn well that didn't approve, and yet he insisted on playing games like this. The faster he could get Orochimaru done with, the better.

"You know very well I don't prefer to work with teammates." He told his "master".

Orochimaru gave him a look. "Oh but I didn't say teammates did I? I said teammate."

That polite condescension...It made Sasuke's fingers tense. Hell, everything the man did made him tense. Not from fear, but from pure annoyance. His fingers flinched, relieving the tension. His eyes narrowed and he remained silent for a few seconds before asking: "Who is it?"

"Ah, I can assure you Sasuke-kun, that she is more than capable of keeping up with you. That's what's bothering you isn't it? I made absolute sure she's on the strong side, because I know how you despise weak ninja..." Orochimaru told him.

Sasuke's jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed even more. The bastard was playing with him. "Answer my question."

"Sasuke, I'd prefer it if you didn't talk to Orochimaru-sama like that." Kabuto said.

Sasuke didn't even look in his direction, or even displayed that he heard Kabutos's request. Sure, he was still annoyed, but curiosity about this mysterious teammate had found him. They had to be decent, at least on his standards for Orochimaru to say they could keep up with him, and furthermore, Orochimaru had said ‘she'...as far as he knew, there were no female ninja in Sound who could even remotely compare to himself.

A grin came over Orochimaru's face. "All in good time Sasuke-kun, all in good time."

Sasuke was getting very irritated, but he contained his annoyance, and turned to walk out.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, we're not quite finished. Just a couple more things." Orochimaru said, stopping him.

Sasuke turned around to face his mentor once more, not bothering to apologize. Through the corner of his eye he could see Kabuto had a disapproving look on his face, but he bit his lip.

"First of all, I should warn you Sasuke-kun, we don't have the best hold on this one. She and I are not on the same terms as most of the others. In exchange for her service to me, I am relaying information to her, also, it is information she can get elsewhere should she find this agreement no longer to her liking and so, I am cautioning you to be careful around her, I know you like to have authority, and I'm warning you not to be authoritive over her, it's likely she won't listen to you anyway."

Sasuke only nodded. He hadn't met anyone who could measure up to him, and he was still unconvinced. He wouldn't believe it until he saw it for himself.

"Is she here yet?" Orochimaru asked, and Kabuto nodded. "She's here, although, she says she has one condition before she‘ll fully agree to the proposition."

Orochimaru blinked and raised his head so he could look Kabuto full in the face. "Well, what is it?" He asked.

Kabuto spread his hands apart and shrugged. "I don't know, she didn't tell me."

Orochimaru turned his attention to his hands, which were folded his lap, thinking... This girl, she had power that was completely alien to him. He didn't know what kind of jutsu she possessed aside from the seeming-medical jutsu she displayed prior, but he did know that she was the daughter of Denkai Ronjin. Such a troublesome name Denkai had been for him. So many times he had tried to sneak a glimpse of their rumored power, but he hadn't been able to ever get close enough. These were ninja he had never encountered before.

I wasn't until Denkai Senro committed the atrocity that he did before Orochimaru found out just what the Denkai were capable of. Denkai Senro was something else, something more than a ninja, more than a prodigy, he possessed such a earth-shaking power that only dark chakra could produce. It had excited Orochimaru and angered him at the same time. The scrolls he stole from the clan's secret shrine told of a darker power, only accessible by those who were born within the clan, who had certain abilities. And the only one to ever access them was Senro. No one else had attempted since the days of the clan founder, and even he had not reached the level that Senro had discovered. They said war was hell, that it was terribly unnecessary, but Orochimaru loved it, it produced such wonderfully twisted minds to show him the true kind of power that could be gained. War was dark and filled with death, and it created just the kind of dark souls he adored so much. Without them, where would he be?

He remembered back: So much history of the clan was in that room. So many scrolls, so many volumes, he never finished them. There were parts missing, whole texts and volumes of information and jutsu they'd discovered, the things they could do with chakra were indescribable and he wanted it all.

For so long he had envied the Denkai, wanting one for himself, and no opportunity had ever presented itself...until now. Here he was, scheming and figuring a way to get his hand on a member of that clan now that he had Sasuke-kun, and there she is, standing on his door step, with those cold blue eyes. She was beautiful, but more so in a way that was hard to describe, for she wasn‘t beautiful as other women were.

Pale, flawless skin, steel in her eyes, un-wavering expression. No emotion on her perfectly sculpted face. Her features were sharp, and smooth, calm and fierce all at the same time. Her face was young but he could see the signs of years of suffering, struggle and pain.

She, who he had thought to be the same as Sasuke-kun, was nothing like his next vessel. She was much darker then he, there wasn't just hatred he felt, there was a darkness, a sort of black ominosity... but there was also a pureness about her.... He wasn't describing it very well at all.

That alabaster skin and smooth lines to her features made her look like a porcelain doll, delicate and dainty, but the minute she looked him in the eye, and walked past him, he knew she was nothing of the sort.

Watching her fight his best Jounin and beat him without practically lifting a finger. That odd chakra blade extending from her hand, straight through his neck, a clean cut, a clean kill. It had made him tremble, had given him chills. What a perfect pair the two would make, Sasuke-kun and Takaira-chan he had thought, but now, he wasn't so sure.

The two were so very much alike, but so very different. Sasuke didn't carry the kind of darkness he saw in Takaira's soul, not yet as it were.

As much as Orochimaru adored Takaira, there was a downside. She could only wield Raiton, and that would certainly prove a problem if they met a ninja like Yamato as wood weakens lightning completely. Was that the reason for the medical nin jutsu? So that she had something to fall back on if something like that should occur? He was almost certain that was so...

"Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked, ripping him from his thoughts about his newest member.

"Go and retrieve her Kabuto." He said, still not looking up. "It's time Sasuke met his new teammate."z88;