Whenever Sasuke was to learn another forbidden technique, Orochimaru always woke him before dawn.

Sasuke had been bery annoyed by walking through the swamps at night, and to make things worse, Orohcimaru had set illusionary traps around the village, incase anyone tired to infiltrate, and these mirages only annoyed Sasuke even more so than he already was.

In the beginning, Sasuke had complained to Orochimaru, protesting on waking up this early, and having to train out in these 'damned swamps' but Orochimaru had only laughed, ignoring his requests to schedule the training sessions during the day, when the sun was out, and he could see clealy, especially when Orochimaru performed had seals so fast, he couldn't see them without the sharingan.

But after two and a half years, Sasuke had gotted his point through by making annoyed noises while they were walking through the night.

When they were far enough out into the swamps and dark. Orochimaru cleared away enough weeds to make a small fire. "I wwill not repeat this, so please pay attention Sasuke-kun" orochimaru said, taking a kunai, and apiece of ofuda out.

The sannin bit his thumb, and wrote out characters on the ofuda slowly enough for Sasuke to memorize them, and the tied the paper to the kunai, tucking it into the rope he wore around his waist.

Orochimaru waited for Sasuke to shift his eyes to the Sharingan, before performing the handseals. He looked expectantly at the Uchiha, and Sasuke nodded, indicating he had seen all the seals correctly. "This is called the Impure Ressurection Summoning Jutsu." Orochimaru said, slamming his hands on the ground.

Seconds later, a coffin rose up out of the ground, a few meters from where Sasuke was standing. 'what use could I have for this?' Sasuke asked himself.

Exactly twenty five minutes and sixteen seconds later, Sasuke defeated his father, and stood breathing heavily in the middle of the chared marshland.

"Very well done Sasuke-kun, but, a bit longer than a fight should last.."

Refelctively, Sasuke lunged for Orochimaru, aiming a kick at his knee. The man smiled, and stepped to the side, evading Sasuke's attack, and grabbing him by his burnt left arm, twisting it behind him, and forcing him to the ground, putting his knee on Sasuke's back, pinning his to the ground.

In the five seconds that the boy lost to wincing, Orochimaru let his go. Sasuke stumbled to his feet, katana already drawn, and in a defensive possition.

"There's no need for that Sasuke-kun, you've lost this fight. Now, come, whem we return to the village, have Kabuto take a look at those burns."

"Yes Orochimaru-sama." Sasuke bit off with as much spite as he could, before following the man back to the village.

~*~

He felt her chakra when she used it to jump onto the roof behind him. Like in In most other villages, people generally walked up to one another, because if they used stealth, everyone would automatically assume the worst.

Sasuke suspected the only reason Tayuya used chakra, was because she was waiting for Sasuke to react, so that she would have an excuse for a fight.

Tayuya walked across the roof, and sat a meter away from, taking out her flute. "Go away." Sasuke said coldly. "Fuck you" Tayuya replied, and began to go up and down her basic scale practices.

(Tayuya had been the only survivor among the other sound four. And if Kabuto hadn't been sent with the search party, she probably wouldnt have made it back alive .)

"You aren't supposed to be talking to me" Sasuke said, glaring at her. "I didn't get ordered not to, besides, you'd like it better if you were alone."

"Ch. if everyone got ostracized for every little insult they said, the whole fucking village wouldn't talk." Tayuya sneered, and began going up and down several chromatic scales.

"He's annoyed at you you know" Tayuya muttered. "It isn't my fault he wanted me to teach him the chidori, and it moves too fast for anyone without the sharingan to see."

"Hn." Tayuya muttered. Sasuke recalled the fight prior to when Orochimaru had requested Sasuke teach him the one thousand birds.

There had been something intensly...satisfying about doging the attack, and slamming a foot into the man's chest hard enough to crack the bone. Sasuke remembered the look Orochimaru had gived him as the blood trickled down his chin.

It hadn't been anger, Sasuke would have preferred anger, it hadn't even been irritation, or that slight condecension, just pure...

He didn't know what to make of the look, or even how to interpret it. But, he knew, before he even agreed to teach the man the technique, that he would pay for it modest ways. But Orochimaru had had a excursion that week, and had too many minor issues with the village to deal, so he couldn't teach Sasuke anything new until he got back.

Sasuke returned to the present. The scales Tayuya had been playing were giving him a headache. "Can't you go somewhere else and do that?" he asked coldly. "Fuck you" Tayuya said once again.

Sasuke ignored her, and glared at the sun until his eyes watered. She left after it had set.