Disclaimer: I don't own the unparalleled Naruto.

A/N: Originally completed on 3/2/11. Sequel to "Manipulations, Machinations, and Mutilations." Again, we look at the dark world of the forever prisoners. Did I do good? How does the sequel compare to the first story? Reviews are b-e-g-g-e-d for! ;)

Rated T for abuse/cruelty, blood, and mature themes.

Reprieve?

"Next." Kabuto waved his hand to summon forward a new patient. A boy who still had baby fat rimming his figure stepped dutifully up to the medic ninja, and the line of naked prisoners moved forward. One boy leaned towards another next to him and muttered,

"Let's take him." His face was dark with purpose.

"But . . ." His comrade didn't seem so sure.

"We've got nothing to lose."

"Except our next meal," the tentative boy said in a small voice.

"It's worth it," the ringleader declared. He looked his friend in the eye. "Isn't it?" The other boy frowned, pressed his lips together, and nodded.

"Who's with us?" the boy went on. An older man shook his head at the sight of them.

"You should know better than this," he warned them. "Kabuto won't go down that easily."

"But it's worth it," the boy repeated in a low voice. A girl with disheveled hair sidled up to them and nodded once. "You, too, Soma? All right." He slashed at the air toward where Kabuto knelt. "Let's go!"

They ran forward side by side. Behind his glasses, Kabuto's eyes widened. He thrust the chubby boy out of harm's way and leaped back. The fist of the boy who led the charge made contact with the stone floor where Kabuto had been. The prisoner cried out, half in pain, half in frustration. Kabuto held his hands ready to attack, but his movements were wary rather than aggressive. "That's enough," he called firmly. "I told you that anyone who acts up will forfeit his next meal." His eyes were already on the tallest boy's bleeding knuckles, calculating the damage. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Liar!" the boy snarled. He and the other boy came at Kabuto from both sides. Kabuto merely ducked out of their way, and the ringleader's punch mistakenly connected with his friend's forehead. He drew back in dismay as the other boy went down. Using the pause in the fight to his advantage, Kabuto took a moment to press two fingers against the fallen boy's closed eyes. Then he shot back again to avoid a kick from the tall boy.

"Huh—hey!" The younger boy had rolled over and was getting to his knees. His face held a wild, panicked look. "Help! I can't see!" Frantically, he pawed the ground as though he might find his lost vision there.

Soma was able to come within range of the doctor. She swung clumsily, and Kabuto deflected her hand with the iron backing on his glove. But Soma's mediocre attack had an advantage for her fellow prisoners that no one had expected: she drove Kabuto close to the middle-aged man who had advised against their attack in the first place. Now, he contradicted his previous admonishment as he grabbed onto Kabuto and, with a practiced grip, incapacitated the medic ninja.

"Hold him!" urged the leader of the charge. He grinned with anticipation, picked up a rock off the ground, and rushed at his tormentor with a yell. Kabuto, gritting his teeth, attempted to twist free; but the man's grip held. He kept Kabuto's arms pinned behind him—without his hands, a medical shinobi was helpless.

But Kabuto had one of his tricks in store. He kicked out while the boy was still several steps away. His sandal flew off and hit the prisoner in the stomach. While the boy stumbled, winded, Kabuto pressed his now-bare foot against his captor's shinbone. The man let out a bellow of pain and lost his balance. Having provided his needed opening, Kabuto went into action, disabling his attackers one by one. He tripped the man next to him, pressed his head into the ground, and left him unconscious using medical jutsu. Dodging a storm of blows by the boy who'd masterminded the attack, Kabuto managed to poke him in the temple. The boy's eyes went blank; he allowed himself to be propped against a wall by the doctor without complaint.

Lastly Kabuto turned to Soma. She could see from his steely expression that he meant business. "Get back in line," he ordered her. The moans of the blinded boy lying near her bade her to attack. But Kabuto had a stance that she couldn't mimic. Against a ninja, a girl who had never been combatively trained could do nothing. She lowered her eyes and shuffled to the end of the line.

Kabuto completed his analysis of each of the rest of the prisoners before returning to the ones whom he had taken out of commission. The blind boy, who had been lying on the floor whimpering in despair, Kabuto helped to his feet. Again he put his fingers to the boy's eyelids. When he pulled his hand away, the boy's eyes flew open, wide and focused.

"O-oh!" he gasped out. His gaze traveled the length of the underground room as he tested out his restored vision. Kabuto went on examining him as though nothing had happened. When he was finished, he pushed the boy in the direction of the tunnel that led back to the prisoners' cave.

"You will be excluded from the prisoners' next meal," he informed the boy, who nodded as he crept away. Kabuto proceeded to wake up the man slumped on the ground. He pushed glowing fingers against the prisoner's head. The man's eyes opened reluctantly, and he sighed when he saw the doctor's face above him.

"You took me by surprise," he admitted. "I didn't know you could route the chakra scalpel through your feet, too."

"Since when do you join the younger generation in rebellion?" Kabuto wanted to know. He helped the man sit up and began going quickly through his examination. He looked into the prisoner's eyes, ears, and mouth; listened to his heartbeat and breathing rate; and massaged an old bruise with warm chakra. They carried on an odd conversation while Kabuto worked. Although the man was much older, Kabuto was in control of him; and they both knew that well. A comment by the older prisoner about Kabuto's unusually adept chakra control for his young age, was answered by Kabuto with an inquiry about where the man had learned his shinobi skills. They continued talking back and forth, Kabuto continually interrupting to tilt the man's head back, or move his arm through its entire range of motion. When he was finished, he dismissed the man, moved over to the one who'd instigated the attack in the first place, and stroked his head. "Wake up," he murmured. And awaken the boy did. As soon as he regained his senses, he surged forward at the doctor, almost as though no time had passed and he was merely continuing where he had left off. Kabuto hopped out of the way, looking quietly vexed. "We're not going to go through this again, are we?" In reply, the boy stumbled to his feet and shot a series of quick jabs, none of which connected with his enemy. "Calm down," admonished Kabuto. When the young prisoner wouldn't do so, Kabuto caught his fist and poked four fingers against the boy's wrist, elbow, and shoulder in quick succession. The arm fell to the boy's side. Kabuto repeated the attack, leaving the other arm useless. From there, it was an easy matter for him to perform the same movements on the boy's legs—ankle, knee, and hip—and render him helpless. Kabuto ran through the exam procedure, the prisoner unable to put up any resistance. All the boy could do was to snap at Kabuto's hand when the medic pried his mouth open to peer at the teeth within.

Having finished with the boy, Kabuto carried his limp body over to the exit tunnel, laid him down, and pressed his fingers against the arm and leg joints once more. "The numbness will go away after a while," he explained. Then he came back into the room where Soma stood alone. "Your turn now," he said to her. He began checking her over like usual. Soma opened her mouth, breathed rhythmically, and moved various parts of her body whenever Kabuto told her to. They went quickly through the physical examination, but for some reason the doctor slowed way down while he was scanning her chakra network. Frowning in concentration, he ran his fingers over her skin along the major chakra channels. He stopped often to consult his medical information, and continued scanning and re-scanning until Soma was thoroughly tired of it. She grew tense, though, when Kabuto lit his hand with blue chakra. He ran a warm finger down the inside of her forearm with a quick stroke—once, twice, thrice. His eyes widened a little. "Interesting," he said to himself. Soma didn't know what the results of his research meant, but she could tell that Kabuto had discovered something.

And he liked his findings. So much so that he summoned Orochimaru . . .