"Lie still."
The comment was muttered, but still audible in her delirious state. She knew that voice. Forcing her eyes open, she cast a hazy look at her companion. "Itachi."
"Are you lucid again?"
A wet cloth was pressed against her forehead.
Taryn closed her eyes again. She was so tired and her body felt as if it was on fire.
"Stay with me Taryn." Whatever Orochimaru had done to her, it was attacking her system. He could clearly see a flare in her chakra that was not natural.
He pulled down her collar and stared at the bitemark in her neck. For an hour now, it seemed to be retracting and reforming.
His hand moved over the spot causing Taryn to twist away from him.
Itachi narrowed his eyes. He had always been wary of the snake man. Fortunately he hadn't had much contact with him since joining Akatsuki, but not long ago, Orochimaru had made an attempt to steal Sharingan from him. The man hadn't succeeded and he had held a grudge against Itachi ever since.
Was this his way of payback? If the rest of Akatsuki caught wind of this...
Markings slowly fanned out from the mark and covered half of Taryn's face, and sweat was on her forehead. The fever had been raging for two days.
"Fight it, Taryn," he muttered. It was a good thing no one else was in the hide-out at the moment. Orochimaru and Sasori had left the same day Orochimaru had marked Taryn. And Kisame knew to keep his mouth shut.
Taryn's hands turned to fists. She had never felt so helpless. What had Orochimaru done to her?
She felt the infection in her chakra stream. Something wasn't right.
She gritted her teeth. She couldn't let him win. She wouldn't let this defeat her. Not before she'd had her revenge.
Slowly she focused on her chakra, forcing it to fight back whatever Orochimaru had injected her with. It was eating away at her energy.
Somewhere through the hazy fog, she heard Itachi's voice. What was he doing here? She couldn't let him see her like this. She didn't want him to think she was weak.
Slowly she forced her eyes open.
Itachi watched as the markings slowly retreated towards the bitemark where they formed small curved lines.
He frowned. He had seen that sign before in some document in the Hokage's office. The Heaven Cursemark.
Itachi sighed when Taryn's eyes fluttered open. At least the worst was over now.
"What are you staring at?" Taryn said annoyed.
"That mark in your neck," Itachi said, ignoring her tone of voice, "I have see it before."
Taryn's hand moved towards her neck. "What does it do?"
"I'm not sure," Itachi admitted, "it is interfering with your chakra, but it seems dormant now."
Taryn groaned as she worked herself up in a sitting position. "I'm gonna kill that bastard."
"You know you're not skilled enough for that," Itachi said calmly, "even I couldn't do it. Besides, he is the only one that knows how to reverse that mark he gave you."
"Yeah sure," Taryn sneered, "I'll just ask him nicely." She narrowed her eyes. She was still feeling a bit dizzy.
"Look," Itachi said, "the others will figure it out soon enough. You need to learn how to control it. He marked you for a reason. I don't think he wanted to kill you. He wouldn't have gone through this trouble."
"I know he didn't want to kill me," Taryn said. The question was, what did he want?
"Be careful, Taryn," Itachi warned, "Orochimaru is not someone you want as your enemy."
"He already is," she growled.
"Maybe so, but at the moment you're still useful to him."
"I know," Taryn said. She looked at him hesitantly, "Thanks. For having my back."
He nodded at her.
Taryn stood up and walked towards the door. She needed fresh air to clear her head and she wanted to figure out what her limits were now that she had this mark. She didn't want to encounter any surprises when on te battlefield. The sooner she knew what to expect the better.
"Careful, Taryn," Itachi said, "don't overdo it."
As always, he seemed to know exactly what she was planning.
"Don't worry about me," Taryn told him, "Thanks... again."
"One day," he said, "I might ask a favor in return."
She looked at him curiously, but his face gave nothing away. She nodded. "Alright." And she walked out the door.
I know it was short, but I hope you enjoyed it. Please check out more Taryn in the story I wrote with Amaterasu: Clash of the Brats. We are currently working on the sequel. I will keep you informed when we wil start posting :)