For my beloved wifey junetwentyfifth's birthday

Fortunate

Lovely in her simple white dress, she watched him. The cherry blossom petals underneath her were slowly dying, crumbling around the edges. But Hinata sat in them anyway, beaming at him. They weren't so perfect anymore, and neither was she. But Kabuto had always had a warped perception of what was perfect. Regardless, he'd never thought of her as perfect, no matter how many times he had let those words slip from his lips. Nearly everything he said was a lie, anyway. Ah well, sweetheart, lies are better than the truth oftentimes.

No human was perfect, including her. Especially her. Kabuto saw the cracks and the flaws in people. It was his job to pick people apart and use them for his master's devices. When he looked at people, he saw the bleeding holes he could exploit, the violent whispers he could stroke. The pain he could twist, the flesh he could torture into a full confession.

He began to pack his medical kit, eying the stolen veils of blood with a soft satisfaction. Mission completed. Clean up, and scram.

"Who is this person?" she asked ever so sweetly, that gentle smile playing around her lips. "Are they like Naruto-kun? Do they make you want to be the best person you can be?" Those vacant eyes stared at him, and he knew they could only see the outside, the very shell. He knew Hinata only saw the good in people, and he knew that even though her eyes could see deep inside a person's body, they were nearly blind. They could not see the evil that was in every heart. How sad for her. She was so very small, and so very vulnerable. She'd need to be able to see trickery and falsehood to be able to survive.

Usually the good in people was the outside, and usually when people looked at themselves, they could only see the outside too. The good was always outside, because that was how one survived. You had to be society's perception of what was right and proper in this quiet little village. Kabuto had that sticky outer layer too. He had to make it thicker than normal too, because his insides were darker and more twisted than the rest of the population.

"How about this?" he asked, smiling back, eyebrows crinkling into a bemused expression. "I would do anything to make them happy. That's a good thing, don't you think?" His hands moved faster, but still, he was a bit of a perfectionist sometimes. Everything had its place.

"It's a great thing!" she bubbled, quickly generating an automated response. "I would d-do the same for Naruto-kun." And at that she drifted a bit, a lazy smile wandering over her features. Her fingers clasped over her breast, fingers squirming as they situated.

No, you wouldn't. No you wouldn't, you stupid girl with your silly little crush. Kabuto could hear the screams, the clank of chains, the moans, and the sighs. Feel flesh slipping, warm and bloody, from his fingers. See the broken bodies crumbling at his feet. Remember faces of the people he had betrayed. Watch them fade into mere memory. "Would you now?"

She was the newest creature in his net, but eventually she'd be added his growing string of memories. He was supposed to have been be healing her injuries from her exam fight, but he took his sweet time. She was a deep sleeper, and it was easy to take her blood while she slept. Her precious, bloodline limit blood, that was. Don't worry, dear, I might heal your body in time.

And your heart will recover much faster than you think.

"Yes! Do…d-do you think that…someday…he would do the same for me?" Hinata stood up in unison with him, quivering fingers twisting in front of her. Stepping nervously toward him, she reached out and touched his arm. Her were fingers slick with cold sweat.

The silence was tense and electric in its desperation. Kabuto did not like the feel of another person's flesh against his skin. "Oh, but you don't understand. Love doesn't always work that way."

If you could call his twisted devotion love, but Kabuto didn't use names for emotions unless he had to voice them. No, he really didn't. He knew what they were, and he knew what somebody was feeling when they whispered their secrets to him in the night. Giving emotions names restrained them, put them underneath a category. Often with simple people, it also gave them a label. Was what they were feeling good, or evil? Kabuto didn't like those labels, because they made emotions harder to understand…and exploit.

"What do you mean?" she whispered, stepping back. "Don't you need two people for love?"

Kabuto smiled at her, almost sadly. More cherry blossoms were falling now, as the wind picked up its pace. Looking away from her, he examined the gnarled old tree. It was being stripped of all its artificial beauty. "Sometimes you have to kill a thousand people for them to just approve of you."

"Naruto-kun would never ask me to do anything like that!" she gasped, the fear and confusion evident in her voice. "Naruto-kun i-is a wonderful person…" Fists balling up into fists, she backed up further, shaking her head. Her teeth dug into her lip with an almost masochistic fierceness.

Chuckling dryly, Kabuto eased his glasses up his nose. "How lucky for you." He eyed her, watched her scan him with obvious distress. "Others of us, like me, are not so fortunate."

She shook her head, mouth opening and closing without a sound. So, she could finally sense there was something off about her bumbling doctor. Sometimes he couldn't help himself when he cast somebody aside. The looks on their faces were priceless.

"I have to go. I have some tasks I must complete before the match begins." He examined her carefully, every shake, every spasm. Despite himself, he felt a wisp of pity. He frowned, displeased.

"A word of advice, Hinata-san. Be careful in the stands tonight."