uchihacollector:
“Orochimaru-sama?” The taijutsu trainer asks after lunch. “No, he just left this morning. He usually switches base every two weeks. He stayed here for your health for a month, but some Suna ninja caught his trail. I think it will be a good six weeks or so, before he returns. Maybe longer.”
It turned out Orochimaru stayed on the move for a good two-and-a-half months. An entire season passed before he finally returned. When he did, he was wearing the poofiest green coat and there was snow in his hair. “I am so cold,” he said to a jounin, “be a dear and heat up my quarters, have someone bring me a hot meal, and have another person bring me the paperwork.”
Day in, and day out, Itachi repeated the same schedule.
It only took him two days to completely give up touching himself during his showers, as release was impossible to attain. (He felt it was a waste of time, nonetheless.)
The promotion to Jounin was attained only two weeks later, with that being Itachi’s new goal. With it came a new jacket, and new, more difficult missions. His time with Orochimaru became a thing of the past, no longer something he thought about day by day. He’d return when he felt fit to, and when it was safe.
Itachi has just finished his reading when another Jounin knocks at his quarters. Master has returned, and the task of bringing him a meal and his papers has been handed over to him. Very well.
Tying his hair up into a high ponytail, he sets through the tunnels to do just that. He does not knock, instead opening the door with his right shoulder.