Live and Let Live
Setting: Otogakure (Sound Village)
Time: After the "Rescue Sasuke" arc, sometime during the timeskip (or the fillers if you track the anime)
Spoilers: Spoilers for the "Rescue Sasuke" arc, possibly more later
Rated for: Violence, very mild language (possibly), and mature themes (not sexual, just mature)
A/N: This is a Naruto fanfic featuring Sasuke Uchiha and Kabuto Yakushi. There are no pairings in this piece, unless you read them in there yourself (possible.) Please read and review, because this is one of my first fics, and I'd like to know whether it's worth continuing! 3 Specifically, I'd love feedback on how I did with the first-person point-of-view and how well I stayed in-character. Since I'm a big fan of both Sasuke and Kabuto, I want to make sure I didn't unintentionally gloss over their weaknesses or put something in there that isn't canon. So yes - feedback much appreciated. 3
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, Otogakure, Sasuke Uchiha, Kabuto Yakushi, Orochimaru, or other series-related characters, objects, or places.
Also posted on deviantArt under username "crazyhighlander".
Chapter One
Sasuke's Point of View
"Geez, Sasuke-chan, were you trying to get yourself killed?" His hands hovered above my back, chakra humming slightly as he healed the gash that rent my flesh. "I know Orochimaru-sama thinks you have potential, but I just don't see it." He tsked disapprovingly. I stiffened under his hands, a nerve having been struck in more than one way.
"Shut up. You don't know anything…" I winced inwardly, remembering the training session that had resulted in this little trip to the doctor's office. Orochimaru was strong…far stronger than Kakashi had been. But he was also far more arrogant and cruel than Kakashi, and had no qualms about beating me into a senseless pulp when my trademark attitude reared its head – as long as he had his ever-faithful, ever-smug little medic to patch me up afterward, of course. These beatings were not everyday occurrences…but they came often enough to make me dread my visits with the silver-headed irritant that was Kabuto Yakushi.
"One would think that you'd have learned to keep that loose tongue of yours in check by now." Kabuto, I should mention, was not very skilled at taking hints – or, more likely, he was very skilled at ignoring them. The medic continued, "and yet you keep crawling right back here, wasting my valuable time and chakra. Disappointing behavior for someone praised as the last genius of the 'great' Uchihas."
The sound of the metal table scraping across the floor resounded loudly in the small room as I whipped around. My fist missed his nose by centimeters.
"Now, now, Sasuke-chan." He stood there, just out of reach, that infuriating little smirk twisting his lips. I hissed between clenched teeth, getting nothing but a bit of friendly advice in response. "Be careful not to overexert yourself. That wound's not quite healed yet."
A wave of pain caused my body to tremble, and I leaned against the table for support, but my glare did not waver. "I already told you to shut up, you four-eyed freak. Don't you dare talk to me about my clan like that, or I'll rip you apart and feed you to Manda." The threat wasn't entirely empty. Maybe I couldn't take him down in my present condition, but he had to drop his guard eventually…
If Kabuto was intimidated, he did an excellent job of hiding it. Instead of cowering, he laughed in my face – a sadistically playful laugh that actually should have made me a little nervous. "Hahaha… Is that so? Well, I suppose you could try." The fluorescent light of the examination room glinted off of his glasses, hiding his eyes; but I didn't need to see his eyes to read the arrogant, self-confident amusement written all over his face. He obviously didn't think I could beat him. If possible, my glare intensified. What I wouldn't give for an opportunity to beat that stupid smirk off his face.
Training with Orochimaru was not very enjoyable. I knew it would be for my eventual benefit, but it was a painful, slow process that resulted in whole days spent passed out on my bed. Orochimaru himself was part of the problem… The snake was temperamental and moody; it was impossible to predict him. "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" were Kabuto's "comforting" words whenever he happened to hear me complain. Oh, how I wanted to kill him when he said that… Pent-up frustration from this rigorous training routine had been coiled dangerously within me for the past few days, kept in check by the slim thread that was my patience.
Kabuto's arrogant smile sliced that thread with the ease of one of his precious scalpels.
I leapt towards the medic, snarling in anger, and sending the metal table crashing across the floor in the process. My movements were feuled by anger, but sluggish, a result of my physical weariness and the fact that I was practically out of chakra. He easily dodged my punch, and offhandedly caught hold of my foot when I followed up with a kick. Retaining an unconcerned expression throughout it all, he released a razor-sharp flow of chakra from his hand, guiding it into my ankle.
I gasped at the ripples of pain pulsing up my leg, collapsing on the floor when he relaxed his grip on my foot. That sadistic little… I cursed him mentally and tried to stand, but found myself unable to do so, weakened as I was. The half-healed wound on my back had reopened, and Kabuto had definitely done some major damage to my leg, because I couldn't feel my toes, at the moment - which worried me more than the initial excruciating pain had. My chakra, too, was at an all-time low… I couldn't even begin to use Sharingan. I was hovering near the brink of unconsciousness, I knew, and it wouldn't take much to push me over.
Kabuto knew it, too. He crouched beside me - his smirk impervious to my glares and curses, his hand glowing dangerously as his chakra spiked around it, his eyes half-hidden by the exam-room's stark light reflecting on his glasses. "Tsk tsk, Sasuke-sama, you should know better than to try to assassinate someone in your current state…especially when that someone is the only medical ninja in the Village. Now…" He chuckled and shoved his glasses up with one hand. "I believe you were offering to do something…? Feeding me to Manda, wasn't it?" His other hand inched towards my shoulder, and I flinched away involuntarily, immediately hating myself for the instinctive reaction – all the more when I saw his smirk widen with pleasure. He started to speak, but the words stopped mid-formation. The medic's eyes widened and shook with horror, beads of sweat suddenly sprouting on his face. He seemed to be paralyzed; constrastingly, his breath was growing fast and desperate.
This reaction… Only one technique could have… That means it was…
Kabuto's Point of View
"O-Oro -" I paused to gulp, still shaken by the images that had paralyzed me – graphic images of my body torn to ribbons and mauled by some unseen attacker, left bloody and broken and lifeless in the dirt – a vivid vision of my own death. A genjutsu technique invented and mastered by none other than… "Orochimaru-sama."
I turned laboriously, blood dripping from the small, clean incision I'd made on my arm to release the effects of the genjutsu. I was careful to keep my eyes as blank as possible behind my thick glasses while I faced the Sannin, as I was unsure how he would react to the situation.
He stood at the doorway, his face bearing a look halfway between irritation and amusement – no, not quite halfway… Irritation definitely held the majority, and gained a firmer hold when Orochimaru spotted Sasuke's body on the ground next to me, the blood from his back wound making him look worse off than he really was. Also, it seemed the young Uchiha's mind had finally succumbed to the pain his body was experiencing, finding relief in passing out. I flinched visibly when my master turned his serpentine gaze on me – the look wasn't exactly accusing…but it was close enough to make me extremely anxious.
"Kabuto… I expect you to have a good explanation for this mess." Something in the way he hissed out my name like it was a morsel he was considering swallowing whole urged me to answer promptly and cleverly. I swallowed again, and stood hesitantly, using the time to compose my response.
Luckily, I had a lot of experience with improvisation.
"You see, Orochimaru-sama, I was in the process of tending to Sasuke's wounds, when he started attacking me…" (I decided to leave out the bit about my taunting.) "…with no apparent provocation." I allowed myself a nervous smile, attempting a shrug and adjusting my glasses at the same time. "You know how he is; the slightest, off-handed comment can set him on a rampage." I paused for a moment, hoping to see some spark of sympathy or understanding in my master's eyes. No such luck. Well, it had been worth a shot. "In any case, while we were sparring, the wounds from his training – which I didn't have time to fully heal – were reopened. He's perfectly fine, just…in a little pain, that's all."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, and he chuckled dangerously. He spoke quietly, more to himself than anyone. "Oh yes… No provocation whatsoever, I'm so sure…" I flinched inwardly. It's hard to lie to someone who already knows the truth about you; I had learned that early on in my dishonest life. "Hmm…" The powerful shinobi's gaze dropped to the body of the black-haired boy, and he remained silent for a moment, as though considering what course of action to take. I, meanwhile, was one increasingly nervous medical ninja. Personally, I think the wait was part of my punishment.
Eventually, he spoke, releasing some of the anxiety that was making me tense. "Very well. Get him patched up, and clean up this mess." He eyed the knocked-over exam table, the scalpels and vials and instruments scattered across the room, and the blood stains on the floor with distaste. Actually, now that he had mentioned it, I was reminded of how long it was going to take to get things back to normal in here… As if I needed one more reason to dislike the Uchiha child.
I smiled. "Of course, Orochimaru-sama."
He started to turn away, and then paused, as though having second thoughts. "And Kabuto…" I met his gaze attentively. "…Play nice."
The barely-veiled threat in his tone left me no option but to agree swiftly. I didn't have to imagine too hard to conjure up images of what would happen to me if I disobeyed this order, especially considering that the genjutsu's effects were still fresh in my mind.
"Of course, sir." I smiled again.
Orochimaru left the room, and I relaxed a little, but jumped when he returned barely a second later.
"Oh, Kabuto… One last thing." His gaze narrowed dangerously from where he stood just outside the doorway; I could feel my practiced smile shrinking by the second. "You and Sasuke are to attend to me in my office after he's healed up - immediately after he's healed up." The legendary ninja smiled, shrinking my smile even to almost nonexistence. "There's a good boy."
The snake-Sannin disappeared into the shadowed hall, leaving me alone with an unconscious Sasuke and my own anxieties.
This…could end badly.