Chapter 1
Emotionless...that was what she was. She never cared what happened to others, nor what happened to herself. Life was not lived, it was taken. Pain was the only way one knew that one was alive, although it gave no satisfaction to one's existence. That was the way that life was and always would be.
She hadn't noticed when the snake brought back his new toy. She didn't really care what that cold monster did with his time nor did she care who came to him and who he killed in his insane bid on immortality. She was here by no will of her own though she would do as she was told. This was her existence (it could not rightly be called a life). This was what she had been born to, and this was how she would die. There was no getting around it, there was no escaping. She had given up on that foolish idea from the start.
After all, who would welcome a monster?
She did not delude herself into thinking that Otogakure would ever accept her. That would be plain lunacy. She did not allow herself to think that even the snake, Orochimaru, would come to be grateful for the work that she did. He owned her; it was as simple as that. She was an object; a machine that did was she was told to do. Nothing more and a very great deal less.
She first took notice of the new toy when she was assigned by the snake to train with him. She was not given the dark youth's name or any such information on him. She was simply told to spar with him, hone the reflexes of his body and help increase his stamina. She was also informed to teach him how to apply certain healing techniques to himself during a battle. Presumably so he could heal himself from the damage she would inflict upon him from the sparring. After all, Kabuto couldn't always look after Orochimaru's toys, no matter what the snake was planning on doing with it.
She did not speak to the youth when he was left in the caves with her. She simply waited until the snake and his pet beetle had left, then sprang at him. He was slightly startled, she was small, and he hadn't been expecting her to lash out at him with such ferocity. She did not attack with anything but her own body. Her arms whipped past his head, barely skimming his hair as he belatedly realized what she was doing. Her legs struck up under where his body was landing, striking him in the chest as he came down, sending him flying into a wall. He recovered and kicked off the wall instead of slamming against it. He responded by throwing kunai in her direction, at least, what used to be her direction. She was behind him in less than a heartbeat, twisting his arms behind his back.
She was holding a log. She didn't smile; academy cadets could use the substitution technique. She dropped the log out of her way and closed her eyes. She could feel the air around her, she could hear his movements.
There was a flurry of movement, ending with the dark youth pinned to the cold ground beneath her, a hand at the base of his skull. She could hear his uneven breathing, he was angry. She could feel the pulse of the curse-mark on his shoulder; it responded to his anger, his rage. She did not flinch as it slowly spread across his body. She did not scream as he abruptly flipped their positions. She looked into swirling red eyes, but felt nothing. She swept her right arm at his outstretched left arm that held her off the ground. He dropped her and blocked, but not quick enough to stop her other arm from grabbing his neck, knocking the air out of him, but not crushing his windpipe. His body went limp, and she dropped him to the floor.
She looked down at the unconscious boy. No matter how old he looked, her instincts told her that he was nothing more than an angry boy. Even in his unconscious state he seemed angry. She did not move to tend to the few wounds that she had inflicted upon him; she didn't even move to cover him to keep him from getting cold. The markings that had spread across his body earlier receded. She sighed; he relied too much on the snake's power.
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Chapter notes: disclaimer: I do not own any of the Naruto characters or the main plot and it is not the author's intention to impose upon the copyright of Masashi Kishimoto