"Mika, your father wants to talk to you." Yoroi Akadō said to Mika through her bedroom door, knowing better than to open it without her express permission. Mika was the only child of Orochimaru and as such, she was treated carefully. She refused to be treated gently, and could fight with the best of her father's nin. But Orochimaru had made it crystal clear to everyone in Otogakure that she was to be left alone.
Mika heard the man through her bedroom door and groaned to herself, wondering what her father would be wanting from her. She got up from her bed and slipped her sandals onto her feet, attaching her kunai holster to her left leg and her pouch of shuriken and then slid her long staff across her back. Like her father and mother, Mika was adept at using snakes as a weapon, and the staff turned into a giant, venomous snake similar to her father's. She tied her Otogakure forehead protector to her head and then walked out of her room, seeing Yoroi waiting for her.
"I don't need a chaperone, Yoroi." She told him, her voice frosty as she briskly walked in front of him. She walked directly towards the room she knew her father would be in; the lab in the basement. Once downstairs, she also saw Kabuto Yakushi standing there with her father, both keenly looking at a girl in one of the cells that the 'guinea pigs,' as they called them, were kept.
"Ah, Mika." Her father said to her, his voice slow as he turned to face his daughter. "I see you came immediately as well as prepared for attack. Very good."
Mika's eyes narrowed when she set gaze on her father's body. Something seemed to have changed. "Are you—never mind."
Her father studied her facial expressions for a few moments before he continued, smiling. "Is there something you need to ask me, Mika?"
She made a small, guttural noise of objection before meeting her father's gaze, not intimidated like so many people she knew. To everyone else, Orochimaru was a man to be feared; an S-class criminal, top name in the black books. But to her, he was only her father; someone who, despite how much power he possessed and the fear he instilled in everyone around him, had never scared her.
"That's what shinobi do," She replied. "What do you need?"
"Straight to the point, I see." Her father commented, before stepping back from the cell. "I am sending you and Kabuto on a mission, since you did so well on the last one you did together."
Mika narrowed her eyes; of all the ninja her father had in the Village Hidden in Sound, she hated Kabuto the most. Not because of his wit, or her father's preference for him; that didn't bother her. No, Mika disliked him for a very basic reason—she hated him simply because he kissed her father's ass, and she knew it. He bent over backwards for Orochimaru, expecting nothing in return and getting nothing in return. And though Mika herself expected nothing from her father, she sure as hell wasn't a kiss ass.
"Fine," She told him. "What is the objective?"
Her father chuckled, and then looked between the two of them. "Kabuto will fill you in. You're leaving as soon as you have—"
"I'm ready to go." She growled. There was nothing Mika needed with the exception of her staff and the basic weapons she always carried with her. The rest of 'necessities' such as food could be killed on the way, or bought in whichever village they were going to.
Orochimaru nodded at his daughter, and then looked to Kabuto. "I have full faith in your abilities, Kabuto. Do not let me down."
Kabuto nodded, and started walking out of the house. Mika followed without a word, walking past her father until she was even with Kabuto. They made their way through the village quickly since it was so small, and moved rapidly through the forest until Mika estimated that they were about three miles out of Sound, when Kabuto came to a sudden halt.
"Why are we stopping?" She asked him, her voice frigid. Kabuto's black eyes met hers, and she didn't waver. He knew that she didn't like him, and he found it amusing, which only infuriated Mika further.
"I haven't explained the mission." He told her. She nodded, and then he continued. "We're going to Suna to steal a scroll for your father."
"What? Why wouldn't he—never mind, it's not important." She stopped herself. She had long since stopped wondering why her father did half the things he did. Sending only two shinobi on a mission such as stealing a scroll—something no other village would consider—was only one of the things that made up his personality. Though, Mika had to smile; it was such stupid logic that it was almost smart. It would be fairly easy to get to the scroll, and despite the fact that Mika didn't like Kabuto, she knew she could trust him with her life. "What's in the scroll?" She asked him.
"Ninjutsu that your father wants to learn." He told her. She nodded, and then they began moving again.
-x-
They stopped in a small clearing in the woods just before nightfall for the night, knowing that they wouldn't make it to Suna before dark. There was a small, blue creek running nearby, and a canopy leaves in the tall trees blocking their view of the sky and sunlight, which filtered through the branches in small rays of golden sunlight that highlighted random points in the clearing. While Kabuto was gathering fish in the creek, Mika found dry firewood in the area surrounding the clearing, not frightened of the forest. After thirty minutes, she'd found enough wood to stoke a fire for at least four hours, and brought it back to the clearing. Kabuto already had the fish ready to start cooking, and she dropped half of the sticks into the pit that he'd created for their fire. Kabuto used a fire ninjutsu to get a blaze going, and then sat back on the ground, watching the fish cook.
Mika sat on the opposite side of the fire, watching Kabuto through the flames. Reflection from the fire danced in the lenses of his glasses, blocking his eyes from her gaze so that she was unable to see them. His mouth was set into a small smile, not directed at anything in particular, his hands crossed on his lap casually.
"Why do you dislike me?" He asked her suddenly, his voice loud in stark contrast to the quiet that had enveloped the forest as night had fallen. Mika looked up, willing herself not to be startled by his words. A frown set itself upon her face, and she glowered at him through the fire.
"You know my reasons." She said simply.
"You'd be surprised to find out that I do not, in fact, know why." He told her. "It's almost ironic how, since I'm so excellent at gathering intelligence for your father, I can't seem to find out why you dislike me so much."
"If you're too stupid to figure it out, then it's not worth my breath to explain it to you." She shrugged. It was his own fault if he couldn't figure it out; everyone but him seemed to realize her reasons.
"I have my suspicions," He told her. "How true they are, I'm not sure."
With that, they settled back into the silence they'd been in before, neither one saying a word as they watched each other through the flames. They each ate their fish in silence, and when they were finished sat at the fire for several more minutes before Mika stood up and walked over to a tree, spreading out a small bedroll that she always carried with her.
"I'm going to sleep." She told him. "We'll have to start moving early in the morning if we're going to make it to Suna by nightfall."
Kabuto only nodded to her, sparing her the uselessness of saying "goodnight" or any such thing, but instead fixing his gaze on her as she closed her eyes and fell into an immediate sleep. He smiled to himself as he watched her chest rise and fall slowly, for once her body relaxed and seemingly comfortable rather than frigid and hard. He pushed his glasses up his nose slightly when they began to slide, and then noticed her body shiver slightly, goosebumps rising up on the pale flesh of her body in the cool night breeze. He stood up and walked over to her bedroll, untying the sash from around his waist and draping it over her sleeping form, causing her to sit up instantly.
"What are you doing?" She demanded, the words coming out as an angry hiss. He held up his hands in retreat, and backed away as he walked back over to the fire.
"You were cold. If you get sick, the mission will become that much more dangerous. I'm not taking that risk. It's suicidal enough that it's only the two of us." He explained to her, though he knew those weren't his real reasons.
It's because you're starting to care about her, Kabuto. You're starting to care what happens to her; how she's doing. You've cared about her all along. The mental voice inside his head told him, causing Kabuto to shake his head. It was impossible for anyone except for her parents to show any kind of feelings except for respect and fear to Mika Mitarashi.
"My father wouldn't send us on a suicide mission." She snapped back. "Or, at least, he wouldn't send me on one."
Kabuto noticed that her words became bitter near the end of her sentence; almost as if she resented her father for treating her so carefully. Mika was correct; her father would never allow for her to take part in a mission he thought would be too dangerous for her, no matter how many times he denied that he protected her.
"Most people would be grateful that their parents care enough not to send them on dangerous missions." He commented to her, earning a glare from the bedroll she was lying on.
"I'm not most people." She snapped. "I'm not some delicate flower blossom that's going to break if I go into combat. You can tell him that, since you're so close to him."
Kabuto chuckled. "So that's what this is about, is it? You're jealous?"
Mika bit back a sarcastic reply, knowing that nothing she said would matter to Kabuto. He was the type of man who, once his opinion was set didn't change. Besides, she thought to herself, it didn't really matter what he thought of her or her feelings about him.
But is he on to something? Do I hate him because deep down I want the kind of relationship with father that he has? Is it really because he kisses father's ass that I despise him so much? Mika asked herself mentally. She shook her head. That couldn't be it; she was perfectly content not having a relationship with her father that wasn't precisely what it was; that of employer and daughter, if only a little more tangled than that.
"Understand this, Kabuto. I'm not jealous of you, or of the relationship you have with my father. Personally, I think it's a little bit sick. But either way, we have a mission that we have to accomplish tomorrow, and the only way that's going to happen is if we both get sleep."
Kabuto sighed. "You're right, we do have a mission tomorrow. We do need sleep. Unfortunately, I don't believe you. Oh, you're an excellent liar, Mika. But you can't fool the best. And I am the best."
"The best at manipulation, maybe." She retorted. "And perhaps the best at kissing ass. But you're not as good at fighting as I am, and you never will be."
"Oh, very good plan." He smiled at her. "Trying to distract me with a fight, trying to diffuse the situation. It's an excellent course of action, but only if your opponent doesn't see it."
"Shut up," Mika growled, laying back down on the bedroll. "And don't come back over here."
Kabuto didn't reply to her as Mika closed her eyes again, but instead doused the fire with water he'd brought back from the creek, knowing that without its warmth Mika would become even more chilled, and that he'd have an excuse to get close to her.
Within thirty minutes after Kabuto had doused the fire, he heard shuffling coming from Mika's bedroll, and turned over on his back to face her. She was now facing him, her red eyes open and glaring at him.
"Get your ass over here." She growled angrily, huddled under his sash. He smirked.
"If I remember correctly, twenty minutes ago you were saying precisely the opposite of what you just told me to do."
"You put the fire out. The least you can do is keep me warm." She snapped.
Kabuto chuckled but did as she demanded, picking up his bedroll and carrying it to the tree which she lay underneath. He laid it on the ground next to hers, and laid on its surface, turning his body so that he was looking at her. Narrowing her eyes, she scooted closer to him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her shoulders as she put her hands against his chest, keeping them only a few small inches away from touching.
"This is as close as we get," She told him, her eyes meeting his. "Don't breathe on me, don't touch me anywhere but where you already are, and don't talk to me."
With that, Mika closed her eyes for the third time that night, and Kabuto felt his own eyelids drooping shut as well. It had been a long day, and he estimated that it was already about ten, which meant they had seven hours to sleep, give or take a half hour or so. The last thing Kabuto felt as he closed his eyes was Mika's head falling onto his chest, her soft black hair tickling his arms.
-x-
When Mika woke up the next morning, she felt warmer than she remembered feeling when she had fallen asleep the night before. She sat up to find that she'd been laying on top of Kabuto's chest, one arm snaked behind his back and her other resting on his forearm. His own arm, which had been moved when she sat up, had been holding her to him, the other behind his back as he lay on the ground motionless, his eyes staring up at the treetops.
"If we're counting this on the record, you're the one who laid on top of me." He told her, not meeting her gaze. Mika didn't respond; she knew full well that she had indeed lain on top of Kabuto, moreso for her own selfish reasons rather than for matters of comfort on the hard forest floor.
She stood up and straightened her clothes, not bothering to tidy her hair at all, and looked down at him. "Well are you just going to lay there all day, or are we going to get going?"
Kabuto smirked up at her and stood up, looking down at her. It had always been a thorn in Mika's side that because she was female, she was generally shorter than her male counterparts, a fact that was usually not in her favor when it came to fights whose outcome would be determined by strength rather than wit.
"I'd like to add that, for the record, I don't think you hate me as much as you pretend to, Mika."
She scoffed and readjusted her pack, checking to make sure that everything was still in it before she leaned over to reattach the kunai holster to her leg. When she stood up again, she found Kabuto doing the same thing she had just done, and couldn't help but admire him, her hate freezing for just one moment.
His grey hair had gotten an inch longer since the Chunin exams, and was unkempt like it always had been. His glasses slid down his nose slightly and Mika watched as Kabuto adjusted them with one finger, his eyes barely meeting hers as she did so before he went back to preparing to leave. The tendons in his arm flexed as he stretched them slightly, stiff from being in the same position all night, and she couldn't help but feel a sharp intake of breath. She'd never thought of Kabuto as physically strong rather than mentally so, though last night had proven her wrong. His chest had been rock hard, lean from just as many hours dedicated to ninjutsu training as he spent in his lab.
"I know I'm good-looking, but you needn't stare at me like that over it." He smirked at her, standing tall again.
And just like that, the frown was back on Mika's face, and she felt just as much disdain for him as she thought she had previously. Who was he to call her out for checking him out? It was none of his business…Except that Mika couldn't bring herself to believe that.
Oh, come on Mika. Give it a rest; you know you want him to check you out, too. You know that you have feelings for him; that they've somehow developed underneath your hard exterior. Own up to it, for God's sake. A small voice in the back of Mika's mind told her.
"I'm surprised you noticed when you yourself were so busy checking me out I thought you were going to fall over or something."
Kabuto smirked and then closed the space between them. "There is no mission in Suna, Mika."
Mika's eyes widened. "What are you talking about? I heard my father say it him—"
"Did you really fall for the substitution jutsu that easily, Mika?" Kabuto mused, his hand reaching up to her face. "I would have thought you'd have noticed it right away."
"What are you talking about? What substitution jutsu?" She demanded. He smirked.
"Think back to yesterday when we left."
Mika thought back, and then glared at Kabuto. Just like everyone else, he'd manipulated her. She'd thought something had been off about her father, but she had declined to say anything. She'd noticed that his eyes had not been quite as slanted as she'd thought they should be, and that he was perhaps just a tad too thin to be her father. But a lack of sleep the night before and agitation at the thought of having to go on a mission with Kabuto had distracted her, and she'd assumed that it was merely a trick of her eyes.
"You…You tricked me!" She yelled at him, reaching up and slapping him, her emotions getting out of hand. "Why?"
Kabuto smirked at her. "A few different reasons." He told her. "The first and primary reason being that I wanted to be able to tell you in privacy that I think we're a perfect match. And I'm not talking teammates. We're so different that we're perfect for one another. I think if we gave whatever we have between us half a chance, we could make something of it and maybe we could both learn something from it."
Mika did not reply; she had nothing to say because in truth, she found that she agreed with Kabuto. She too felt the chemistry between them; it was so tangible that she could almost touch it.
"Any other reasons?" She asked.
"Of course, there was also the fact that I was curious to see if I could deceive you into believing that we were going on a mission. For some time now, Mika, you have been the one person that I have been unable to trick. I wanted to prove to myself that I could." He told her.
"If that's true, then why should I believe you about these 'feelings' you say you have? What's stopping you from lying to me about that?"
He smirked again, and reached a hand up to her face. "You've known me for a long time, Mika. And the one thing you know about me better than anyone else is that the one thing I cannot lie about is my feelings. It's the one thing I've never accomplished."
Mika frowned at him, and turned away, unable to meet his gaze any longer. She didn't want to believe him; she didn't want to feel the things she was feeling. She was used to being alone, and used to hate. Love, or any other form of that branch of emotions, was something she was unused to; something she'd never felt or really experienced.
Something she was afraid of.
Kabuto turned her around to face him again, and tilted her head up to meet his gaze. "Mika, look at me. Do you see any lies in my eyes right now?"
Unable to cast her eyes away from Kabuto, she searched them instead, trying to find the lies she so desperately wanted to see. Instead, she saw nothing except true feelings; feelings that were better left off unsaid for both of their sakes. But she knew Kabuto wouldn't leave it at that. He wasn't the type of guy to do that.
"No." She finally replied, her voice shaky. He smiled faintly at her.
"Then what have you got to lose by giving it a chance?" He asked her. "If it doesn't work out, we can go back to the way we were before; you hating me, me watching you from a distance. But if it works…Maybe it's for the best of both of us. Maybe it can make us both into better shinobi."
Mika found that she could not reply; she didn't know how to put into words how she was feeling. Instead, she only mutely nodded. Kabuto smiled down at her, and leaned down to her face, pressing a soft kiss against her lips.
"All we've got is this chance," He told her quietly, his hair blowing in the slight breeze. "We need to give it everything we've got."
Mika only nodded again, before coughing and stepping away from him. "We need to get back to Oto," She told him. "I'll…We can spend more time talking there, okay?"
He nodded, and then they began making their way back to Otogakure, the words left unspoken between them though hanging heavily in the air.