Loyalty (Sasuke Uchiha)

Adrenaline pulsed through my body as I rushed back to Father's hideout. Perhaps it was the effect of the solution I had injected into my skin to numb out the pain, but the more I swung and jumped through the branches, the more energized I felt.

It was hard to part from Naruto like that, knowing I wouldn't see him for a while, if the circumstances turned either in Father's favor or mine.

But I made him a promise.

-

I threw open Orochimaru's door, only to see him hunched over.

He lifted his head up, sweat covering his face as his body trembled slightly. His was wheezing as he let out a loud series of coughs. Geez. He really has gotten worse.

I stepped into the room, slamming his door shut.

"Welcome, my dear daughter." He greeted, wiping away the blood with his hand.

"I won't let you take Sasuke."

He smirked.

"Oh?"

"You failed in your mission to retrieve the Three Tails. As you will fail to reincarnate in Sasuke."

"Do not underestimate me, darling, just because I am in this state."

"Do not underestimate my strength, Orochimaru. I can escape whatever the hell you throw at me." I snapped.

"There is one thing which you cannot escape." He spoke as he licked his lips.

"Rot in hell." I growled.

"We'll have to see who-"

He suddenly broke out into a violent coughing fit, as I took that as my cue to leave, making sure to slam his door shut.

And then I sped through the halls to where I sensed Sasuke's presence coming from, walking into the room, only to see his chidori everywhere, taking the targets down as they crumbled to the ground. And then chidori died down after a few moments.

I watched from the doorway as he drew out his sword, an animation of his brother appearing before him. And then he sliced the animation in half as the image of Itachi dissolved.

Sasuke sheathed his sword, turning to me as he approached me slowly.

I made sure I was blocking the doorway.

"I can't let you do this, Sasuke." I said as he stopped before me, looking down at me with empty eyes.

"Miyako." He spoke my name casually.

"I won't let Orochimaru take you. He'll only betray you in the-"

I froze as his hand reached up to my face, placing it over my cheek.

It was surprisingly warm for such a cold hearted person. But what shocked me most is the way he caressed my cheek with his thumb. The look in his eyes was filled with nothing but pure emotion as he looked at me like I was the most important thing in his life... it made me extremely uncomfortable.

He was gentle, his touch warm, eyes holding a glint of uneasiness.

Why is he touching me?

"I know."

My eyes widened.

He dropped his hand at that moment, snaking around my shocked form.

He looked over his shoulder at me.

"Come with me."

-

We were outside Orochimaru's door, but Sasuke made no move to open it. I could hear Father coughing violently inside, the sound bringing ease to my ears.

Instead of opening the door, Sasuke put out his hand, shooting a sharp and focused blade of chidori from his hand as it cut through the door. The sound of it piercing through flesh could be heard.

It was silent for a few moments before Orochimaru finally spoke.

"Who is it?"

Sasuke then pulled out his snake sword, cutting the door down in pieces before resting his blade on his shoulder.

Sasuke's chidori had pierced through Orochimaru's skin, but he had blocked it with his forearms, preventing it from piercing his heart.

Damn, Sasuke. Your change in chakra nature, your skills, your aim.. it has gotten better than I expected it to be.

"You came... just as I thought you would... Miyako.. You too, my child."

I narrowed my eyes at him from behind Sasuke.

"I have nothing more to learn from you. Even here before you, I think I can become heartless."

Orochimaru let out a pained gasp as Sasuke approached him. Father moved his crossed hands to the side as Sasuke's chidori pierced through his wrists and into the wall behind him.

I could feel Father's curse mark off of Sasuke.

"Orochimaru. You are weaker than me. There's no longer any reason for me to give you my body."

Sasuke's words caused a smile to cross through my face as I approached Sasuke, standing beside him as I watched Father's crippled form.

"You have some guts.. you're still an Uchiha fledgling!" Orochimaru snapped.

"Hmph. If I hadn't been a fledgling, you would've had no chance at me, right? You were eyeing me, trying to appraise this "fledgling" in the forest during the Chunin Exams. So you put dibs on me. You thought you had me bound to you with this...

I want revenge. I was ready to give my body if it meant I could attain my goal of revenge. You just wanted a Sharingan, right? But.. Itachi didn't work out.. That's why you came after me, a fledgling. You knew Miyako would find a way to break her bond with you one day, and you needed an advantage over her abilities that no one, not even you, can defeat. And the Sharingan is just what you needed to have total control over her, to use her for your means. Isn't that right? You who they call the Genius Sannin."

Orochimaru took me in and formed a bond between himself and me in which I could not kill him, and then realizing how massive my power was, then did he need the power of the Sharingan to take complete control over me. Its like.. Its like I'm a tailed beast.

Exactly. Now you realize it child.

I was trembling in anger, my head bowed down as my hands were clenched into fists.

"But you turned out to be what they call on the streets, "just an ordinary prodigy." You couldn't even live up to the Uchiha name, much less surpass it. Even the best prodigy is only ordinary against the Uchiha name. What you did... manipulating Miyako into a weapon only to want total control over her... disgustingly trying to approach the powers of the Uchiha by drowning yourself in drugs and trying to overcome your body... It seems so shameless and comical to me, who possesses that name. And what's more, I don't like the way you do things. What is your goal? Why have you been continuing with your experiments even when you have Miyako at your side? You went from hideout to hideout, conducting your experiments, toying with life after life, saying you were trying to unravel the order of this world. You continued to toy with others for your own stupid and selfish reasons, even performing experiments on your own daughter, then wiping out her memory of it and placing a permanent pain drug inside of her to thwart the effects of the experiments. You make me sick!"

Sasuke charged at Orochimaru, pinning his wrists to the wall. Sasuke pointed his sword toward the bastard's wide mouth, but instead a blurry form shot our from his mouth and towards.. Me.

I forced myself to move my feet, realizing that I was still frozen in shock.

I landed on the floor, as I witnessed Father shifting into his true form.

His true form that I had never seen through all the years I spent with him.

"A snake with white scales... so that is your true form.. You conducted experiment after experiment so that you could move from body to body.. And that's how you ended up?"

"Now, Sasuke... I will be taking your body. But first.."

Orochimaru's eyes suddenly snapped to mine.

I narrowed my eyes at him as he shut his eyes for a brief moment.

But when he opened his eyes..