"This is a dangerous world. Most would consider safety plenty sweet. I can provideyou with knowledge of this world. The language. Training, if you can learn our techniques at all."

"I'm used to danger, and my power gives me the luxury of some amount of safety. I want to explore. I want to see the world for myself."

"Most village leaders are not as kind as me, and will not react well to someone with your powers. I have seen the inside of the Hidden Leaf's Torture and Interrogation department. They could get around even a power like yours."

Out loud, so she won't understand: "Why are you still arguing with her? This is cutting into my training." She also sounds a lot like his old Uzumaki teammate. He doubts this argument is going anywhere.

To Sasuke: "You'll have plenty of time later. And I prefer not having to hunt down my allies every time I need something from them."

Then, adding in writing: "Once you've settled in and learned the language and local climate, I can put you on one of the out of village teams quite easily."

If they let her outside, or at least show her the way out...

"Okay. You've got yourself a deal. I'll tell you about my world, I'll study up on yours and then you let me go out with one of your teams. Anything beyond that we can negotiate when we get there."

"I will need a show of trust on your part before letting you roam about, you understand. We do have state secrets here."

"You want access to the Other Side."

"It's useful. Being able to simply read, without that cutting into my time spent ruling, or on other matters - not to mention if techniques can be experimented with there."

"Having other people in that world isn't good for me. It feels -- it's violating, nearly. And the longer time you spend there... you'll need a way to protect your mind. Otherwise it might break."

"Fascinating. How does the breakage occur? Is it merely isolation, or a fundamental aspect of the space?"

She raises an eyebrow.

"The Other Side is a world between worlds. Between time and space. I think it was once home to something else. Echoes of that being still permeate it. My mind was broken when I triggered, so I'm right at home there."

"What do you know of the other being? How would contact with it damage the mind?"

(Sasuke is looking increasingly frustrated and bored.)

-- she looks over at the boy.

"It's a being beyond human comprehension. I'm interrupting. If you just point me towards the kitchen and a bed, you can find me later...?"

There's a feeling in the air, odd and heavy - and then Orochimaru smiles. "Please do excuse my manners, I got quite caught up. You will find one of the doors on the outer hallway unlocked; there is a small suite through there. It lacks a full stove, but does have some appliances."

"And hopefully your world has some similarities to mine, appliance wise. But otherwise, I'll just send a bit of time figuring it out Elsewhere. And if you could give me some reading materiel, I can get a start on learning your language."

"I'll have to have some brought, you understand."

She shrugs.

"Sure. You didn't expect to have an extradimentional stranger dropped in your lap this morning, you're unprepared." She pauses and --

-- takes off her mask.

"Something I can do, trust wise. My name is Juliet. But you can still call me Akhlys if you want."

Clearly a significant gesture in her culture, but the mask isn't equivalent to ANBU, otherwise she never would have removed it. Implies some fascinating things about the role of powers in their society. "Do you have a preference?"

"Not really. Juliet is the name my father gave me, Ahklys is the name I chose. I have no preference for either."

"I'll use Ahklys, then."

"Should I leave you to it, or would you like me to be escorted? I could show your friend through the Other Side, if he wants it."

"I doubt he cares, but, then again, neither do I. And if you can get through the locks, I hardly deserve to be able to keep my secrets." Also escorting someone who can essentially teleport is the sort of laughable waste of time he prefers to avoid.

He waits a beat, then holds out a hand demonstratively.