Bound to You (Naruto)

Chapter Twenty Six

Tsuki woke with a start as she felt something cold and wet against her cheek and the feeling of soft warm fur beneath her. Her colorless eyes fluttered open adjusting quickly to the darkness of her current surroundings. She found herself in a deep cavern laying atop a large white wolf that was currently pressing its cold wet nose to her cheek. Upon seeing the starlight girl had returned to consciousness the wolf licked her cheek causing her to giggle and reach up to scratch behind his ear.

"Where are we?" Tsuki asked the wolf curiously as she shakily got to her feet feeling somewhat dizzy. It felt like she was in a haze, everything seemed fuzzy. Had she used too much of her chakra?

The wolf stayed at her side and nuzzled her hand roughly so that it flopped onto his back. Tsuki smiled as she realized the wolf wanted her to use him for balance. Her fingers entwined in his soft fur as she walked beside him unsteadily. Her eyes darted through the darkness scanning her surroundings. She didn't recognize this place. It must have been a quick makeshift shelter.

"Do you know where Orochimaru-sama is?" She asked the wolf and smiled as it picked up its pace appearing to know the way. Tsuki looked thoughtfully down at her furry companion, "If you're here, does that mean you're going to make your stay with us permanent?"

The wolf wagged its tail and turned its head to lick her causing her to giggle once more.

"I guess you'll be needing a name..." Tsuki thought aloud. "How about Hoshi?"

The wolf shook its head in distaste.

"Fubuki?"

Another shake

"Kōri"

The wolf let out a happy yip and licked her once more.

"Kōri, it is." Tsuki smiled as she followed Kōri through the dark cavern.

They didn't make it too far through the dark cavern before the hair on Kōri's back stood on end and a low feral growl escaped him. Tsuki followed his gaze in the darkness and spotted Sasuke in the darkness appearing to be looking for something though was having a difficult time in the current lighting. Before she could reassure the huge white wolf, it took off with a loud snarl.

"Wait!" Tsuki yelped as Kōri lunged for Sasuke. Her heart fell as she saw that Sasuke had unsheathed his blade, "SASUKE! DON'T HURT HIM!" She cried. A strong wall of wind appeared before the teen and hurled him away as Tsuki darted forward and ran to the wolf.

"What the hell?!" Sasuke snapped as he managed to land deftly a few meters away.

Kōri stood protectively in front of Tsuki growling at the surly teen as the fairy like girl dropped to her knees and threw her thin arms around the giant white wolf.

"You were going to hurt Kōri!" Tsuki snapped.

"I was defending myself from a wild beast." Sasuke shot back.

"He's not a beast! He's adorable!" Tsuki huffed.

Sasuke looked to the pale girl, straining to see her in the dark. He could see her glowing titanium irises in the darkness and frowned. Though he'd been with them for a few years, he still couldn't figure the strange girl out. Sighing, he took a step forward but paused as the giant white wolf let out a ferocious snarl of warning.

"It's okay Kōri, Sasuke might be rude and have violent tendencies but he won't hurt me." Tsuki smiled as she hugged the wolf.

"Don't be so sure about that." Sasuke growled as he folded his arms in front of his chest only to jump as a strong hand clamped onto his shoulder.

"Welcome Back Sasuke." Orochimaru's voice came out in a hiss.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder and nearly let out a gasp as he noticed Orochimaru's lethal snake like eyes were glowing in the darkness. They retained their original color but they glowed vibrantly like Tsuki's did.

"You learned a new jutsu?" Sasuke asked curiously, he'd never seen the sannin use this technique.

"What are you talking about?" Orochimaru asked his tone sharp, clearly annoyed with the surly teen's behavior.

"Why are your eyes glowing?" Sasuke asked.

Orochimaru looked over to where the starlight girl was kneeling clinging to the white wolf that had tagged along with them for support. Though he knew the cavern was dark he could see everything clear as day. There was a gentle glow emitting from the fairy like girl, she glowed like moonlight, how had he not seen it before? She looked like a radiant moon goddess. He turned back to Sasuke and caught the reflection of his glowing eyes in Sasuke's gaze.

He reached for the wraps around his palms that kept his crescent moon symbol hidden and unwound them. His heart skipped a beat as he noticed the color that had once been a faint grey was now a pure glowing white like the moonglow around Tsuki.

"Orochimaru-sama?" Tsuki's soft angelic voice drew him from his thoughts as she appeared at his side. Her hand lightly reached up, caressing his cheek, "Are you alright?"

He felt a gentle healing aura wash over him beginning from where she'd made contact with him. The Sannin reached up and caught her slender wrist in his hand before pulling her into his arms just as Kabuto finally caught up to the surly teen looking somewhat out of breath.

"Sasuke, don't run off without m-." He adjusted his glasses and noticed the close proximity of the odd couple. "Ah!" Kabuto rushed forward and grabbed Sasuke by the shoulders before steering him off in a random direction, "We should go this way."

"What the hell for?" Sasuke growled in annoyance.

Kabuto elbowed the teen in the ribs, "I thought you were supposed to be smart, Sasuke." He hissed under his breath as he dragged the teen off in a random direction pretending to explore the labyrinth of caverns.

Tsuki's heart began to race as she met Orochimaru's glowing gaze. Mesmerized she stared up at him in awe as Kabuto and Sasuke disappeared in the darkness. Her pulse raced as Orochimaru leaned forward. A soft girlish sigh of contentment escaped Tsuki as he captured her lips in a sweet kiss. She wound her arms around his neck as her eyes fluttered closed, falling into his kiss.

A girlish giggle escaped her as Orochimaru broke the kiss and swept her off her feet. The great white wolf stood at attention protecting the couple from intruders. Tsuki looked down to the crescent moon brand on her palm and gasped as she realized it was a vibrant glowing white. When had it changed?

"Orochimaru-sama, the mark-."

"I know." He said softly as he adjusted his grip on the girl, cradling her against him. A soft chuckle escaped him as he noticed an endearing blush claiming the pale girl's cheeks.

"This means Orochimaru-sama has a lot more time to study all the jutsu he wants." Tsuki beamed. "Right?"

Orochimaru looked down at the selfless girl in awe. "Right..." The stronger the bond between Towa couples, the harder it was to kill them, it was rare for their marks to be white. Due to their bloodline ability they didn't die from things like old age or sickness, theoretically they were immortal. "And what would Tsuki like to do?" He asked her curiously as he carried her back to the cavern, she'd awoken in.

"Stay by your side." Her smile was radiant and made his heart flutter in his chest.

Video- "Deep End" By Ruelle

A/N: Sorry I know it's short but I wanted to get to this part about the change in the crescent moon brand :) and wanted another Kabuto Wingman moment hahaha...and wanted to give our wolf friend a name ^-^