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Mend Me	By : AccioLucius Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 4140 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naurto or any of its characters. I do not make a profit from writing this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter 27

The next morning started off gloomy as rain settled in after the distant thunder that was heard the night before. Saya didn’t wake with Orochimaru basking in the morning sun beside her as she had the previous morning. Instead, the overcast made the bedroom dark and somber. Saya had been sitting up in her side of the bed for a while, just observing the man.

Orochimaru looked tired, even as he slept. Events of the previous day still lingered heavily in the air, especially with the faint wounds still marring the man’s face. Saya let him lay there. She was tired too, but she gave the man a lot to think about as he drifted back off to sleep.

“What kind of life would we have with you?” she had asked him.

It was how she started their conversation. It was blunt and honest, as was the rest of their late-night talk. Or at least, honesty was what she was looking for from Orochimaru. While Saya didn’t completely go along with Akira’s plans, she stumbled through their conversation in a way that suited her. A way to get Orochimaru’s attention and make him think he had won, but without leading to a conclusion that would involve him being ambushed.

As with their conversation while Saya was taking her bath, Orochimaru was surprisingly open with her. At first, he just stared at her, caught off guard by the question.

“I’m not a shinobi,” Saya continued when an answer didn’t come. “Tetsuya wants to be of course, and you’re right, there isn’t anyone better suited to teach him. He probably wouldn’t have it any other way.” Saya paused with a light laugh, more so to herself. She kept her eyes on Orochimaru’s wrist that was still in her hands.

“But where does that leave me? What purpose will I have?”

“I take it this means something drastic has changed,” he finally responded. “Or you’re much less upset than you claim to be.”

“I’m still upset with you,” Saya shot back as she finally lifted her eyes to his. “I’m upset with both of you,” she mumbled. “This has gotten so out of hand, but since you keep coming back, I need answers from you.”

Orochimaru’s gaze then turned intense. His slitted pupils danced back and forth across her face, almost as if he were searching for an answer himself. He sighed before he finally answered.

“It would be quite beneficial to have another medically trained individual we can count on.”

“I’m just an average nurse. I can’t heal like you people can, like Kabuto.”

One side of Orochimaru’s mouth curled into a smile. “We can train you if you would like. It would be under Kabuto, of course, as I am occupied with Sasuke. I also need you to continue Tetsuya’s education until I am ready for him.”

“Kabuto-sensei,” Saya drawled. “That does not sound promising.”

“You could learn a lot from him, Saya,” Orochimaru continued. “I know you two have a sour history, but he is highly skilled in medical ninjutsu. He may have to warm to the idea of training you, but once he finally realizes that you are an ally and not his enemy, things will change. You will certainly have a purpose if you decide to join us.”

“And Tetsuya? You mentioned before that you have followers that would practically worship him. That being your son would give him a position of power.”

“And it does.” Orochimaru paused as he took a deep breath. “Despite your personal view of the title and duties of ‘sannin’, my name is carried as legendary among shinobi. Tetsuya is the only known child to come from us three. That makes him very special, especially if my genes extend to more than just his physical appearance.”

Saya almost raised an eyebrow at him. During their heated exchange that morning, Akira had expressed concern over how Orochimaru would raise Tetsuya.

“I want him to be his own person,” Saya said with a hint of sternness in her voice. “If he can grow to be as powerful as everyone tells me you are, then that’s wonderful. But I want him to be known for his own abilities, not for his father’s.”

“Of course,” Orochimaru reassured her as he closed his eyes. “Once he begins his physical training, his fighting style will emerge. We will build upon the strengths that present themselves. Only as he grows closer to adulthood will he be able to experiment with different techniques and fighting styles.”

Saya gave the man a small grin. “I also need him to be happy. I believe he will be, but we need to talk about our living arrangement. We can’t stay underground all the time. I know you’re comfortable with it, but he and I both need to be able to wake up to sunlight on occasion. So if we can compromise, if I get to keep my home where we can still visit and vacation to, I would be very happy.”

Orochimaru chuckled. “All these questions. Have you changed your mind again, Saya?”

Don’t get angry, Saya told herself. She had to stay on point. “I’m about to completely uproot my and my son’s life,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “I do want to be your ally from here on out, so please don’t play games. Just this once.”

When Saya reopened her eyes, she found Orochimaru staring straight through her. She wasn’t completely lying, so she hoped the man saw her plead as sincere.

“Very well,” he finally told her in a soft voice. “We will work on making that arrangement, Saya. Is there anything else you wish to know about?”

His demeanor was a welcome change. As her heart hammered in her chest, Saya wanted to believe that if she were to commit herself to the man, the change would be permanent. Her eyes lowered to her hands as her stomach started to twist into a knot. She had half-hoped that the answers he gave her would be easy to ignore. They weren’t.

“Us,” she finally said. Saya went quiet for a moment. She didn’t really know how to follow through with this topic, as she wanted an actual truth in this matter. She also thought back to a time when she was afraid of letting this man know the true extent of her feelings. It was starting to become easier, but she still felt the need to be cautious.

Orochimaru sighed before he let her continue. “We have danced around this several times,” he told her with a soft voice. “It has been made painfully clear that we have different views concerning the nature of human relationships. Our situation has no doubt been a struggle for us both, but one thing I believe that we can agree on is that we’ve begun to find comfort in each other.”

Saya’s eyes started to sting as she kept them lowered. “Who are you?” she asked with a laugh. Could this really be the same Orochimaru? She knew he was starting to open up more to her as well, but his soft voice was almost hard to believe.

Their conversation began to dwindle at that point. Saya did indeed inject the lie that she and Akira were parting ways with each other. It was her way of wrapping up the late-night conversation while still leaving room for her to plan her next steps.

“We’ll talk more in the morning,” she eventually told Orochimaru as she returned to her side of the bed. “I guess this gives us both a lot to sleep on.”

Now that it was morning, all Saya knew to do was watch the man as he slept. She had so much inner turmoil. Part of her wanted to sneak downstairs and recap with Akira. The other part of her wanted to lie back down beside the man. Her anger from the drama of the previous day had finally left, but it seemed as though that made her susceptible to the man’s charm.

Saya even found herself grinning down at the sleeping man. It wasn’t necessarily a warm or loving grin, but one from a place of acceptance. She still wasn’t sure how to completely follow through with her makeshift plan, but something told her she wasn’t going to be rid of Orochimaru anytime soon. Akira was right, him coming back and lying in her bed proved that.

Saya was also starting to accept the part of herself that didn’t want to be rid of this man, either. Despite what had happened the day before and despite the tidbits Kabuto had given to her about some of his wicked ways, Saya knew there was a different side to him. There had to be.

She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding as she carefully left the bed, making sure not to wake Orochimaru. He was never happy with her when she left him, and even though Saya was starting to find it amusing, she could also tell the man needed to rest.

And he did, because as Saya came to her feet are carefully walked to the doorway, Orochimaru didn’t even flinch.

The house was so eerily quiet as Saya made her way downstairs, but her breath caught in her throat when she found that she was alone downstairs. Akira was not only gone from the sofa he camped on during the night, but as Saya rushed from room to room whispering his name, she found that he was gone completely.

Saya then hurriedly made her way to the front door and out into the rain as she rushed next door to Akira’s. She didn’t knock on the door, but instead let herself inside with the spare key she had hidden in the garden.

If she thought her own home gloomy, it was nothing compared to Akira’s. It wasn’t just a feeling of gloom, but one of abandonment. It was dead silent and almost totally dark inside. And Saya would soon find out why, as she scanned the empty living room until her eyes found a folded piece of paper setting on a small side table.

Saya knew in her gut something was wrong, which is why she knew that piece of paper was for her. As she picked it up and unfolded it, her pulse quickened. There were no words, not even her name, but Saya knew exactly what the note meant. All that the letter contained was a simple drawing of a leaf.

Now shaking, Saya tore herself away from the small living room and up the stairs. She opened every door, checked every room, but Akira was nowhere to be seen. There was no way he could have already left. He was too injured to just take off on a journey to the Hidden Leaf Village, even if he had found companions to accompany him.

Of course, even if he had, he had distinctly went against Saya’s wishes.

Anger now starting to replace her panic, a thought occurred to Saya. Either someone had healed Akira, or someone had disposed of him.

Slipping the piece of paper inside one of her pockets, Saya again hurried herself as she left to return to her own home. The rain was pouring down on top of her, which is why she paused at her front door once she had returned and closed it shut. She stood there for a moment as her head pressed against the cold surface. Her soaking wet hair clung to her face as she bit her lip, trying to still her eyes that were starting to sting.

“Something wrong?”

A shiver ran through Saya’s body at the question, making her chest tight and prickly. She blinked away her tears before she turned around to find Kabuto smirking at her from the kitchen.

He sat at the table with his hands laced together. Orochimaru stood dressed beside him with his arms folded and a hard look to his face.

Saya looked back and forth between the two men, not entirely sure what to say or think. She swallowed hard as she stared to approach them.

“Akira’s gone,” she finally said. She looked to Orochimaru as she reached the table and stood opposite him.

“Yes, I was just informing Lord Orochimaru of that very fact.”

Saya paid Kabuto little mind as she kept her eye’s locked with Orochimaru’s. They almost pleaded with his. “Tell me you didn’t…”

Orochimaru simply stared back at her, intensifying his gaze. It was becoming more and common that the two of them communicated more with their eyes rather than their words. The man didn’t answer her. He did however take a deep breath and turn his attention to Kabuto.

“Sadly, no,” the med ninja answered for this lord. “He is very much alive and well.”

“Where has he gone, Saya?” Orochimaru asked as he finally broke his silence. “He came to Kabuto during the night, just as we were having our little discussion, asking to be healed of his injuries.”

“I don’t know,” she instantly croaked, ignoring the note in her pocket and hoping neither of them had snuck into Akira’s home and secretly discovered it first.

Kabuto just chuckled. “He wouldn’t have come to me unless he was up to something.”

“Well, did you heal him?” Saya asked impatiently.

“Regrettably so,” Orochimaru answered for him. He cut his eyes down at his right-hand man. “I would have preferred the consequences of his actions linger so that he may actually learn his lesson.”

“With respect,” Kabuto started as he also cut his eyes to his master, “he said he was leaving, for good. I thought it best to speed up the process and get him out of our hair. Isn’t that what you’ve been wanting, Lord Orochimaru?”

If this were any other time, Saya would find the growing tension between the two men amusing, but her concern eclipsed all other feeling she had at that moment. Her eyes once again darted back and forth between the two of them.

Something wasn’t right. There was no way Kabuto would heal Akira so that he could run off, not knowing where he was going or what he was up to.

“Where is he, Saya?” Orochimaru asked her again.

“I don’t know,” she answered again, a stern tone creeping into her voice. “If you thought he was up to something, Kabuto, then why didn’t you have him followed instead of waiting to press me about it?”

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at her then.

“I knew he wanted to leave,” Saya continued, “but I didn’t think he would just up and disappear in the middle of the night. He didn’t even say goodbye..”

Saya crossed her arms as Orochimaru stared her down. Her eyes were starting to well up at the thought of never seeing Akira again. She really didn’t know he would leave in the middle of the night, and she didn’t trust Kabuto to simply do a favor for Akira.

“Is he really gone?” she asked the both of them.

Kabuto smirked up at her. “I guess he finally had some sense knocked into him.”

“I don’t know why you’re so smug, Kabuto,” Saya scoffed at him. “You do realize this means I’m here to stay now, don’t you?”

“An unfortunate calculation on my part,” the young man assured her. “After yesterday’s outburst I was certain you were done with Lord Orochimaru. I thought perhaps you would also disappear, just like you did those years ago.”

Saya dug her fingernails into her arms. “I was,” she glared at him, “but you have your lord to thank for being the one to slither back to me.”

She almost laughed as Kabuto finally dropped the smirk from his face.

“That’s enough,” Orochimaru addressed Kabuto as med ninja rose from his seat in frustration. “Perhaps it’s best you leave us now, Kabuto.”

Saya watched as he complied, exiting through her sliding door and into the rain with a grimace on his face. She kept her arms folded as her attention turned back to Orochimaru. Her eyes softened under his.

“I don’t trust a thing he says,” Saya told him.

“I believe the feeling is mutual,” the man responded as he finally sat down at the table himself. He gestured for Saya to do the same. “But he knows all too well the punishment for disobeying me again. That and he knows if I could get away with killing Akira, I would have done so by now.”

The slightest trace of malice crossed the man’s eyes at the statement. Saya knew he spoke the truth, that she was the only reason Akira had not been killed by his own hand.

“Even so,” Saya began as she took her seat, “wouldn’t that be the best way to drive a wedge between us? Kill Akira himself and make it look as though you did it? He knows the damage that would do.”

“A bold move,” Orochimaru chuckled, “but highly unlikely. As you expressed last night, Saya, Akira seems to have finally come to a realization. The abrupt departure is what has me curious.”

Saya wasn’t certain how to respond. Part of her really wondered if Kabuto had killed Akira. The other part of her wondered if he had high-tailed it to the Leaf Village. Either way, he was gone, and Saya didn’t know if she would ever see him again.

“You coming to me with all of those questions last night,” Orochimaru continued, “I knew something had changed, something that pushed you.”

Just as Saya had gotten comfortable in her seat, she left it to step further into the kitchen. It was easy to lie to the man in the middle of the night in the dark, but not now with his eyes drilling into hers. She didn’t respond as she filled her tea kettle with water and set it on the stove to heat.

“I won’t lie, I am somewhat disappointed,” Orochimaru chimed as the silence continued. “I would have hoped the decision would have been yours to make on your own, not as the result of a circumstance.”

“We’ve talked about this before,” Saya muttered as she turned around and crossed her arms. “In a different place and time.”

Her face dropped at the statement. She had her own admissions she wasn’t proud of, but they were true. It made this charade all too easy to go along with, and part of that scared her.

“Besides, Akira being gone doesn’t mean a choice was made for me. I could very well still turn you down and be on my own, especially with what happened yesterday.”

Orochimaru chuckled. “I will agree it wasn’t necessary. It certainly wasn’t behavior I would normally waste my time and energy on. But Akira finally realized he couldn’t reason with you any further, so he wanted you to see just how terrible I am.”

There was sarcasm in his voice as he looked up at her from the table with a smirk.

“He knew I would either kill him outright or come close to it. Either way, infuriating you and directing that energy at me was the very reason he initiated in the first place. He knew there was no positive outcome for him.”

“I know,” Saya pressed as she reached into the cupboard for two mugs. “I know it was absolutely stupid on his part.” She paused as she started to prepare the mugs for tea.

“That was the only thing left he knew to do,” Saya continued as she turned back to face him. “But just because it was stupid and just because he did it to try to make a point, it didn’t mean you had to beat the hell out of him.”

“Of course it did,” Orochimaru all but hissed at her. “He’s not the only one with a point to prove, and he seems to finally understand that. You also seem to forget, Saya, that as shinobi, when communications fail, it often leads to more extreme physical altercations. It’s in our nature.”

“Fine,” Saya sighed as she held up her hands. “But that does mean I was right. It was all just to prove a point. It didn’t actually amount to anything.”

“He left, didn’t he?” Orochimaru asked with sneer.

Saya turned her back to him once again. He did, but not for the reason you think, she thought as she bit her lip. She caught her kettle just as it started steaming and poured the water into the two mugs.

“You are too persistent,” she told him slowly as she set the hot kettle back down. Saya then gasped as she turned around to find the man standing behind her.

“I have to be,” Orochimaru softly told her as he stepped closer to her. “You have your own realizations you need to come to terms with.”

Saya simply raised her eyebrow at the man. She knew he would provide an answer for her, so she didn’t even speak. Orochimaru pressed himself lightly against her and moved his lips toward her ear.

“It doesn’t matter if Akira is gone for good or simply gone for now. Either way, this gives you the opportunity to do what you finally, deep down, want to do. On paper it may not be the right thing to do or the smartest move to make, but you want to.”

“Stop,” Saya told him as she tried to step away. Her tone was both sad and disgusted, more so at herself as she felt a prickling sensation crawl up her spine.

“You’re so afraid of hurting him over someone like me,” Orochimaru continued, “but you forget he used to obey me and do my biding, without question. He is not the saint you perceive him to be.”

The man then put his hands down on the counter, either side of her waist. “But I keep forgetting, you’re in love with him,” he told her softly as his lips reached for hers.

Saya gingerly placed her hands over his forearms as Orochimaru quickly deepened his soft kiss. Their tongues slowly found each other, and as Saya’s curse mark began to radiate its soothing heat, she found herself letting her hands travel up the man’s arms.

But just as Saya started, Orochimaru slowly broke away from her, staring deep into her eyes. “Right?” he asked her, watching as Saya caught her breath.

He finally tore his gaze away from her as he grabbed one the of cups of hot tea and turned to retreat out the same door Kabuto had moments before.

Angrily, Saya grabbed the remaining cup and followed him.

The rain was coming down steadily, but a small overhang on Saya’s patio gave them both a dry place to stand in the chilly air. Orochimaru calmly sipped at his tea, looking out over the field behind the house as Saya glared at him.

“Is that another point you’re trying to make?” she asked him a hoarse voice.

Orochimaru didn’t answer, only cut his eyes as he cupped his hands around the warm cup.

“Damn you,” Saya finally growled at him with wet eyes. “You’re just not going to be happy until you hear it, are you? You don’t even know what love is, so how can you judge mine?”

The man chuckled at her then. “Saya, I have been upfront and honest about things I never would dreamed of telling you five years ago. We both have pride and defenses that rival each other like I have never seen before.”

He paused to take a sip of tea as Saya stared him down.

“Last night you noted on my sense of pride, that I hide behind it to keep my emotions at bay. If there is truth to that, then there is truth in you hiding behind your own sense of pride, keeping up the image of this so-called love to keep your defenses up. If I, of all people, can drop mine to share a moment of humility with you, why can you not do the same?”

Saya’s eyes softened under the man’s gentle tone. Her eyes were still wet and on the verge of spilling over as her stomach began to twist into a tight, nauseating knot. She opened her mouth to speak, pausing as she struggled with how to begin.

“You were so cruel to me back then,” she almost cried. “I had to put defenses up. I had to leave when I had the chance.”

She paused again as she watched Orochimaru’s reaction to her words. His eyes weren’t hard as they looked back at hers, but she watched as he took a deep breath and clenched his jaw. Saya took one of her own as her eyes began to dance back and forth between her tea and back to his gaze.

Her voice almost choked on itself as she finally continued. “You have no idea how attractive you are to me. Ever since I helped you into that bath and you got mad because I was staring at you, like it annoyed you. But then you started using it as an advantage. You still do.”

Saya then turned her eyes away to look across the field. “You were awful to me, so I had to tell myself over and over that attraction wasn’t real and didn’t mean anything. Even while I was pregnant it got easier to do, but then Tetsuya was born. I’ve had to look at your damn face every day since then. I was never angry or upset about it, but it made it so much harder for me to forget about you.”

“And now, you’re not cruel to me. Not as cruel, anyway. You’re actually charming, but you tell me you’re not a kind person. You don’t feel love, but you tuck your tail between your legs and come back after I screamed at you in front of everyone. Our night out, and even after, was everything I ever wanted out of you. Orochimaru, I just…I don’t know what to believe.”

Saya finally turned her gaze back to the man, her eyes almost pleading with his. A moment of silence passed between them as they just stared at one another. Saya’s heart was hammering against her chest, still not sure if she could trust this man or not.

“It seems we both have our own issues to work through,” he finally responded in a quiet voice. “But that still doesn’t answer my question.”

Saya simply closed her eyes and sipped at her tea. She knew what he wanted, for her to admit she wasn’t really in love with Akira. Of course she loved him, but her being so attracted to another man did send another message.

Orochimaru took note of her silence. “I suppose it isn’t necessary. Your actions speak for themself.”

“So do yours,” Saya shot back as her eyes cut into his. She turned so that they were face to face with each other. “If I’m lying to myself, so are you.”

She then laughed at herself as her eyes danced across the man’s face. “Maybe we do belong with each other, we’re both screwed up enough for it.”

Orochimaru didn’t smirk at her, nor did he narrow his eyes at her. He just gazed down at her with a calm expression knowing that, if there was any truth the two of them could share, it was that simple fact. His stare was finally broken as he looked back inside the house where Tetsuya could be heard calling for his mother.

Saya didn’t know what to make from his lack of response, but she sensed her words hung just as heavy on his mind as they were her own. She sighed to herself as she carefully reached for the man’s hand.

“Come on,” she finally whispered to him as she led him back inside.
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