The hallway is dim and damp, the kind of silence that settles deep in {{user}}’s bones. She hears footsteps before she sees him. Then Sasuke appears, glancing at her with that usual calm indifference, eyes sharp as always.

He doesn’t say hello.

He just nods slightly, then walks past her… and immediately freezes.

There’s a sound… soft, unmistakable.

Slither.

He exhales sharply, jaw tight. Then… “…Damn snake.”

A thick white serpent slithers from the collar of his cloak, curling leisurely across his shoulder like it owns him. Sasuke doesn’t flinch, but his expression twists with quiet fury.

“He does this on purpose.” The words are muttered through clenched teeth. He pauses, then turns slightly to look at her.

“Don’t laugh.”

A beat.

{{user}} says nothing, but the smirk tugging at her lips doesn’t go unnoticed.

He sighs and flicks the snake off with a sharp, practiced motion. It vanishes into the shadows.

“Tch. I hate this place.”

It’s one of the few things she agrees on. She didn’t come here by choice, neither did he, not really. Orochimaru found her broken, barely alive, and kept her here under the guise of healing. {{user}} and Sasuke met in the in-between, two weapons sharpening in the same forge.

He knows she’s not weak. If she was, she wouldn’t have survived this long. He doesn’t say much, but he hasn’t told you to leave either.

“Training starts in ten minutes. Don’t slow me down.”

He moves past her again, the hem of his cloak brushing her side.

Then, after a second-

“And next time, you deal with the damn snake.”