Second Chances

I forced my legs to move forward, pushing them as fast as I possibly could. Each step caused spears of pain to ricochet throughout my body, but I bit back my screams of anguish, focusing solely on my mission.

I had to find him, had to stop him, even if it costed me my life. And considering the condition I was in, it was very likely that I would be paying that price.

I pushed that thought aside and kept running, dodging explosions and stray kunai. My lungs were burning in my chest, and each breath I dragged in felt like fire consuming my body.

Yes, it was very likely that I would not survive this. But that didn't matter. Nothing really mattered, at that point, except finding who I was looking for – and fast.

Kabuto had to be stopped.

Several Years Before...

"Do you need some help?"

The girl glanced up, grimacing in pain from the large gash along the side of her forearm. She cradled it gently to her chest, pressing her fingers against the wound to staunch the bleeding.

Kabuto smiled down at her, crouching so that he was more level with where she sat. She eyed him hesitantly. Though she had seen him around the village occasionally, he was still a stranger, and she wasn't a very trusting person.

But with the blood quickly pooling between her fingers as she grasped her wound, she supposed it wouldn't hurt to accept his offer – at this rate, it was very likely that she might bleed out; there was so much blood.

Slowly, while keeping a fixed eye on the male in front of her, she held out her arm and nodded.

"Yes," she said quietly. "Thank you."

Kabuto offered her another smile before taking her hand gently in his, stretching her injured arm out so that he could see the length of the cut. It extended from the outside of her elbow down to just above her wrist, and was deep enough to have torn through several layers of muscle. He kept his face neutral as he began to gather chakra in his palm.

"How did you do this, if you don't mind me asking?" He spoke as he worked, trying to keep the girl's mind from focusing too much on the pain. She had started to look a bit pale, and he feared she might faint.

Her ice blue eyes found his, but they looked a bit distant, fuzzy; as though she were struggling to fully see him.

"I fell," was all she said, before her eyes drifted back to the wound. The blood had stopped significantly, much to her relief. Kabuto pinched the torn flesh together so that it would close more cleanly, and once he had finished healing her, he took a roll of bandages from his pocket and began wrapping it.

"That should do it!" He smiled at her again and stood, helping her to her feet. She swayed a bit, and Kabuto steadied her. Once she seemed stable enough to stand on her own, he asked, "What's your name?"

The girl blinked up at him with those large, blue eyes of hers. She removed her hand from his and stepped back.

"Thanks for fixing my arm," she said, before turning on her heel and darting away through the trees.

Kabuto stared after her, curious as to who she was and why she was so timid. She couldn't have been more than a few years younger than himself; he guessed around the age of 15. And judging by her attire, he also assumed that she was a kunoichi from Konoha.

A smirk came to his face.

He didn't know who the girl was, but he sure as hell was going to find out.

x

Weeks had passed before he saw her again.

She looked much healthier than the last time, now that she wasn't bleeding profusely from a deep wound. The bandages had been removed, and in their place rested a long, red scar extending the length of her outer forearm.

He was correct in assuming that she was a ninja from the Leaf, as her hitai-ate was tied securely over her left thigh, emblazoned with the standard Leaf symbol of Konoha. She was with two other shinobi that he didn't recognize, but the three were headed through the village gates, returning from their latest mission.

Kabuto watched as she exchanged words with her teammates. When she turned away and began walking alone into the village, he jumped from his perch in the tree and followed behind her, deciding how to best approach the girl.

He had been following her for nearly fifteen minutes when she suddenly disappeared from his sight. He stopped in his tracks, narrowing his eyes at the spot where she had just been and tried to sense her chakra.

But all traces of the girl had vanished.

Now, more curious than ever, he wondered about this elusive kunoichi – what was her story? Who was she? As he turned around to head back the way he came, he was suddenly kicked in the chest and thrown roughly against a nearby tree.

"You're following me."

It was the girl, whose name he had still yet to learn. She was standing in front of him with narrowed eyes, poised to attack him at the slightest move.

Kabuto fixed his glasses and smirked at the girl. "You noticed."

She scoffed. "Of course I noticed," she said with a sneer. "I'm not an amateur. Now, what is it that you want?"

He chuckled, not in the least concerned with the kunai she had fisted in her hand, aimed towards his throat. "Perhaps I am just curious about you."

"Why?" Her eyes narrowed further.

"Because you are a mystery," he said simply. "And I enjoy mysteries."

He was pleased when he noticed her hand, holding the kunai, lowered just slightly. Kabuto decided to test his luck.

"Besides," he continued, "is this really any way to treat the person who so kindly helped you when you were injured?" At this, she looked away – but not quickly enough for him to miss the expression of guilt that had passed over her face. She lowered the kunai completely.

"I apologize," she said softly. "But you cannot blame me for reacting the way I did to being followed by a stranger."

"Then perhaps I'll introduce myself?" He suggested, taking a chance by stepping closer to the girl. "My name is Kabuto." She didn't move away as he stepped closer, but he noticed her body tense.

"Naomi," she said after a moment. "Why do you want to know so badly?"

Kabuto grinned sheepishly. "As I have said, you've made me curious. May I walk you home?"

Naomi bristled at the thought, her lips tugging into a frown as she stepped away.

"No thank you," she said tersely, turning away from him. "I am more than capable of walking myself."

And with that, she disappeared, for the third time since he had met her.

x

Kabuto was obsessed.

He didn't know why the girl with the icy eyes and charcoal hair had so intrigued him, but she had hardly fled his mind since meeting her.

Additionally, he counted his luck that Orochimaru hadn't caught wind of his fascination with the girl, for she would truly be in peril if this were to be brought to his master's attention.

But since their last meeting, Kabuto had found ways to cross paths with her as often as possible, each time trying to find out some piece of information that would help paint a picture of who she really was, and why she was so secretive.

So far, all he had gathered was that Naomi was sixteen and lived alone – he knew not where her parents were, or what had happened to them, but after seeing her frequently visit the memorial stone, he could assume with some accuracy that they were dead.

Naomi had grown quite used to Kabuto's presence, and as time passed on she began to warm up to him, if only slightly, after deciding that his intentions were not to harm her.

She had even agreed to let the silver-haired male walk her home one night, and as they stood beside her front door, he had asked about her parents, to which she had surprisingly answered him.

Apparently, they had been ambushed by enemy shinobi on their return from an A-rank mission. Naomi had been only four at the time, and only vaguely remembered them. Afterward, she had been raised by her great aunt – her only remaining family, until she, too, succumbed to an illness and passed away when Naomi was thirteen.

Yet her hesitancy to trust others developed a year later, she explained, after two of her closest friends and allies nearly got her killed due to their own selfishness.

"They sold me out," she spoke poignantly, a wry grin on her lips. "They owed money to the leader of this gang. Big guy. Dangerous. I had no idea they were even caught up in something like that, you know? They were highly regarded shinobi."

Kabuto knew exactly who she was talking about. It was quite the scandal a couple years ago. Two of the village's jounin had been caught attempting to sell a young girl to the leader of the Nakagawa Gang – a group of men highly known for their drug and sex trafficking. A plume of anger flared within Kabuto upon hearing that Naomi had been the young girl in that incident. Her own allies had sold her in order to pay off their incriminating debts.

"I was rescued, obviously," she continued, noticing Kabuto's clenched fists. "Unharmed. Luckily the guards at the gate had been tipped off before they could take me out of the village."

"It should never have happened to begin with," Kabuto stated firmly, his voice trembling with rage. He didn't know what had come over himself.

"I agree," Naomi assured him. "But what's done is done."

They fell into a tense silence.

"Is that why you're so guarded?" Kabuto asked, breaking the quiet that had befallen them. "So hesitant to let me in?"

Naomi considered this.

"I suppose it is," she agreed, nodding her head slowly. "Though it was mostly because you tried so hard. It was weird." And just like that the tension was gone, the night filled with their laughter. It felt nice getting to know her, hearing her speak, and as she talked that night Kabuto found himself listening intently to her every word, his eyes never leaving her face.

The dawn was breaking by the time they said goodbye, but before Kabuto turned to leave he reached out to embrace her.

And she had let him.

x

As months passed by, the relationship that Kabuto had begun to build with Naomi had blossomed. She had grown significantly more comfortable around him, much to his delight.

He soon realized that Naomi was a powerful and cunning kunoichi, with the potential to surpass some of the village's strongest jounin. Yet, once she had revealed to him the parts of her character that she had concealed to the rest of the world, he quickly discovered just how kind and gentle she truly was.

It had both surprised and terrified him just how much he had started to care for her. And one evening, as they sat on her front porch watching the colors of the sky blend into the darkness of night, he had confessed these feelings to her – to which she admitted that she, too, had fallen as equally for him.

And it was on this night, under the soft glow of a star-filled sky, Kabuto had followed his instincts and leaned forward, capturing her lips in a soft and tender kiss – and he was relieved, because she had kissed him back.

After that night, the two of them had become nearly inseparable.

But the time had come for him to report back to Orochimaru, and he was frightened that this relationship would be discovered and destroyed. Kabuto had been so consumed with his sudden infatuation with the blue-eyed beauty, that he had completely disregarded the grave danger he had put her in by merely associating with her.

If Orochimaru were to find out about her, she would surely be killed or tortured – and based on her strength and ability, Kabuto was almost certain that she would fall under the latter category, forced into a life of cruel testing at the hands of his master.

So, with a heavy heart, Kabuto confronted Naomi and promptly ended their relationship, despite causing her more pain in the process – it was a futile attempt to protect her from something far beyond his reach.

Naomi

I stumbled across fallen shinobi, bloody and mangled corpses that had been strewn across the battlefield, my legs growing weaker by the second. My ability to trace Kabuto's chakra was quickly fading, but I had to persevere – I had come way too far to succumb to my injuries now, not when my village needed me most.

Stopping near a pile of rubble that had accumulated from the ripping and tearing of the earth, I allowed myself a small break to regather my strength. It was only when I felt a sudden appearance of chakra from behind me that I tensed, clutching my weapon tightly in my hands and preparing myself to fight.

When the figure revealed themselves, my eyes widened.

In that moment, I knew that with the condition that I was in, I didn't stand a chance against them.

Itachi glanced at his brother, nodding his head imperceptibly as Kabuto sneered at the two of them. The elder Uchiha then returned his eyes to the severely mutated form of the silver-haired male. His eyes were stony as he spoke.

"You care not that innocent lives are being destroyed by your actions, Kabuto, but I wonder what you would think if you discovered that the one you love has been killed as a result?"

Kabuto froze upon hearing these words, but quickly composed himself. He smirked at Itachi, his lips pulling tight over his teeth in a wicked grin.

"You seem to be mistaken," Kabuto said, chuckling lowly. "There is no one that I love, aside from myself."

But Itachi merely nodded, expecting him to say exactly that. Behind him, Sasuke appeared with a bundle in his hands – Kabuto hadn't even noticed his absence, as quickly as he had left and returned.

The younger Uchiha walked forward, placing the bundle in his arms on the ground. When he unwrapped the cloak, Kabuto felt his veins turn to ice.

Lying on the floor in front of him, bloodied and bruised, was Naomi. His Naomi.

He had the sudden urge to fall to his knees, but he kept himself composed. He refused to show his weakness, despite the hammering of his heart.

"I can see in your eyes that you are affected by this," Itachi drawled in that low, gentle voice of his. "You can see that her chest still rises and falls, but not for long." At this, Kabuto's eyes snapped from the corpse of his beloved to Itachi, who had knelt beside her on the cave's floor. "I had thought that you might have wanted to save her, but perhaps I thought wrong. If you care so little about the consequences of what you have done," he pulled out a kunai, grasping the cool metal firmly between his fingers, "then allow me to put her from her misery."

And with one quick stroke, he plunged the kunai into Naomi's chest, ignoring the upsurge of blood that spurted from the wound.

"NO!"

Her body spasmed as thick, crimson blood fell from her pale lips. And when her body fell limp, Kabuto dropped to his knees, watching as the dark liquid pooled around the body of the girl he had fallen in love with, so many years before.

Naomi

My heart clenched at the sight of him.

When Itachi had found me on the battlefield and asked me to help him in stopping Kabuto, I hadn't imagined that this was what he had in mind.

I watched on numbly as Kabuto was caught in an endless loop of torture, watching me die before his eyes over and over again. Part of me was stunned that my death would even affect him this way. When he had left me all those years ago, I had figured it was because he no longer loved me the way that I had loved him. I felt broken, betrayed beyond explanation.

And when I had found out that he was working for Orochimaru, I felt sickened – sickened, that I had loved someone who could follow a person so cruel, so terrifying, yet show me such tenderness that I had broken down my barriers for them. And here he stood, reliving each of those memories, only to end with my death at the consequences of his actions.

I had been sitting here for what felt like hours. Itachi and Sasuke had long left me, going back out to fulfill their duties to the village. At this point, I would have been of no use to anyone, far too weakened by the fighting I had already endured.

But I was alive, unbeknownst to Kabuto. And when he finally fell to his knees with a sob, I dragged myself forward to comfort him – because, despite everything he had done, to me and to my village, the emotions that I had felt for him all those years ago resurfaced.

I realized that I had never truly stopped loving him, no matter how hard I had tried.

And when he felt my chakra, saw my face, and noticed my arms around him, he clutched me to his chest with such force that the breath was knocked from my lungs.

But I returned his embrace with equal ferocity, clinging to him as though he were the lifeline keeping me connected to this earth. As though, if I were to lessen my hold even slightly, he would slip from my grasp forever.

At some point during our embrace, his lips found mine, and he kissed me with such an intensity that I believed he, too, feared I might slip away from him.

And from that moment on, everything had changed. We had both been given second chances at life, and neither of us were eager to waste them.

We were reunited once more, and together, we would use our second chances to rebuild all that had been destroyed – starting with the love that we had shared years before.