The Traitor
Kabuto is seven years old when he first hears of Orochimaru.
It's early morning in Konohagakure, dappled sunlight peeking through the leaves of the trees and shining on the lush grass sparkling with dew. The lighting in the small kitchen of the Yakushi household is tinted green from the reflection of the outdoors through the wide glass-paned window in the center of the room.
Sitting near the window at a rectangular, polished mahogany dining table with two chairs at opposite ends is a man with a sharp face and prematurely gray hair, a cup of tea in its saucer sitting forgotten on the table as he sits, legs crossed primly, clutching a scroll in both hands, black eyes trained intently on the hastily scrawled message on the page.
His expression betrays no emotion whatsoever; he gives no indication of being at all shocked or repulsed by the contents of the message that had been delivered to his house that morning, an urgent message for the head medic-nin of the Konoha Medical Core.
This is the sight that his foster son, a youth with long gray hair that matches the man's own - though the child's is naturally that color rather than the result of age - and a perpetually inquisitive expression hidden behind round-rimmed glasses that are far too big for him. The boy, quiet and mild-mannered as he steps into the room, is nearly the spitting image of Captain Yakushi both in look and in disposition. But he still is not his son.
Approaching the table, footsteps even, the young boy called Kabuto comes to a halt, standing before the man, and greets him. "Good morning, father." His voice is soft, but coherent enough to be clearly heard; his expression is polite, but nothing beyond that. Already, at seven, he seems more adult than child.
Captain Yakushi doesn't look up from the scroll, merely nodding and mumbling distractedly, "Good morning, Kabuto-kun."
This seems to satisfy the boy, who wordlessly goes to the cupboard to fetch his own teacup. While his back is turned, the captain's crisp, firm voice breaks the silence. "I'll be working very late tonight, Kabuto-kun. Will you be all right on your own?"
The question is more a formality than anything else; the orphan he had picked up from Kikyo Pass was almost eerily well-behaved whether he was being watched over or not. "Yes, father" is his reply as he takes his cup and sits down on the opposite end of the table, setting it down.
There is another, longer pause as Kabuto stretches his short arms out and, with some difficulty, grabs ahold of the teapot in the center of the table, pours some of the steaming liquid into his cup, and places the heavy ceramic pot down with a slight thud.
He hesitates, raising the cup to his lips, watching his foster father ignore his tea, still fully immersed in the scroll in his hands. Curiosity getting the better of him, he gets his attention. "Father?"
Across the table, Captain Yakushi snaps his head up as if resurfacing from a sort of delirium. He turns to Kabuto, his expression weary. "Yes, Kabuto-kun?"
The boy peers downwards, into his cup, and asks, "Why are you going to be working so late?"
His response is a heavy, drawn-out sigh from the senior medical ninja, who mutters more to the scroll than to his adoptive son, "As of early this morning, the hospital's just been deluged with new patients - most of them suffering fatal injuries and more still near death. It'll be a miracle if we manage to save half of them."
Curiosity peaked, Kabuto asks, "Why, what happened? Was there a battle?"
Still not looking up, the captain replies dryly, "No. Only in war would this many casualties be suffered in a battle. It was the work of one man."
"Really?" The boy stares, transfixed. "Who?"
This time, his foster father looks at Kabuto, locking him in a stare. He pauses before answering. "It was Orochimaru. Orochimaru of the Sannin. The Third's favorite pupil. He was the one responsible for the disappearances of all those people over the past few years."
The name is slightly familiar, but although Kabuto doesn't know it well, it sends a small shiver down his spine. The name "Orochimaru" seems to have its own chill to it.
"What did he do?" The question slips out before Kabuto is aware that he's asked it.
At this, the captain looks from Kabuto to the scroll, back to Kabuto, and then to the scroll again with a slight sigh. Setting the scroll down flat on the table, he slides it across the surface towards Kabuto and says, "See for yourself," as he retracts his hand, using it to hold his teacup and take his first sip of the morning.
Eager, Kabuto sets his own cup aside and picks up the scroll to read it, fumbling slightly to hold it open with his young arms.
Attn: Captain Yakushi of the Konohagakure Medical Core:
At approximately 0200 hours this morning, April 27, an estimated 450 injured persons were found in what appears to be an underground laboratory belonging to Orochimaru of Konohagakure, who fled from the scene and defected from the village in the same hour.
Many of the victims display evidence of being illegally experimented on, and the injuries are severe. As such, you are requested to return early from your five-day leave to aid the medical team in healing these persons. We apologize for the inconvenience.
- The Hokage's Office
Kabuto looks up, brow furrowed, his glasses slipping slightly down the bridge of his nose. "What kind of illegal experimentation?" He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his middle and index fingers.
The captain arches a silvery eyebrow, lowering his teacup from his lips. "You understood all that, then?"
Confused, Kabuto nods.
Captain Yakushi mumbles something under his breath that Kabuto has to strain his ears in order to hear. "Seven years old and he can read that message with no problem, while other children in his class don't know the alphabet. And yet he's failing. Unbelievable."
Clearing his throat, voice more audible, the captain says to Kabuto, expression grim, "To answer your question, Orochimaru had been kidnapping civilians and shinobi in order to test his own forbidden jutsu on them."
Intrigued, Kabuto unwittingly leans forward in his chair, hands rested on the edge of the table. "Forbidden jutsu? What do you mean?"
Surprising the boy slightly with his suddenly abhorrent tone, Captain Yakushi replies with obvious disgust, "From what I've heard, he's on some mad, self-righteous mission to 'unveil all the mysteries of nature'—to discover all the jutsu in the universe by any means necessary. To do that, he needs living test subjects to help him unlock the greatest mystery of all."
He pauses, as if for effect. "I'm speaking, of course, of immortality."
Kabuto is now visibly fascinated, his owl-like eyes widening. "How can immortality help...Orochimaru discover jutsu?"
"Simple," the captain replies dryly. "If one can live forever, then it is within reason that one who tries can eventually attain knowledge of every jutsu in the world. Isn't that correct?"
Thinking it over, Kabuto nods and says, "I guess so,"—a simple reply that doesn't accurately express how fast his mind is racing.
All the jutsu in the world! Kabuto doesn't pay much attention at the ninja academy (as reflected by his grades), but he knows one thing: no shinobi in the world had ever mastered ever single ninjutsu known to humankind. Imagine the power the shinobi who did so would wield - imagine the change he could bring about with this power, the good that could be done in the world.
For a moment, he gets the wild idea that he could be the one to have control of all the jutsu, forgetting that according to his teachers, he has little talent for the ninja arts. He imagines all the people who didn't even know his name suddenly looking up to him in respect...maybe even fear. He imagines his adopted father swelling with pride at having raised such a miraculous boy, the greatest shinobi in history. But suddenly, he sees something wrong with that image.
This Orochimaru... That message had said that he'd left the village that morning upon the discovery of his lab, which indicated that he'd clearly been hiding his experimentation to avoid arrest...or worse. Why would people - including his foster father, it seems - so quickly turn on such a once-respected genius just because of his experiments?
He frowns, as if deeply troubled. "...Father?"
"Mm?" Captain Yakushi had been reaching across the table to retrieve his summons, clearly under the impression that his adopted son was no longer interested in the matter. "What is it?"
He struggles for a minute with how to best word his confusion. "Well... The message...and the way you talk about it, Father... It makes it sound as though what this...Orochimaru did was something really terrible."
The captain narrows his eyes. "And?"
"It's just that..." Kabuto hesitates before proceeding. "It sounds to me like what he's trying to do is...good."
A sudden, heavy silence enters the room the moment the word escapes his lips, broken only by the sporadic chirping of the birds from outside. Almost instantly Kabuto knows he has said something wrong, from the way his foster father is now looking at him as one would look at a complete stranger.
Captain Yakushi's voice is quiet and solemn, his gaze now completely affixed on Kabuto. "'Good,' Kabuto? Explain yourself."
The dropping of the suffix in his name doesn't go unnoticed by the boy. Averting his eyes, Kabuto is silent for a moment, trying to find the right words, before proceeding, voice a little nervous due to his foster father's sudden change in attitude. "It's just that... Discovering all the jutsu in the world would be a really great achievement, wouldn't it? There's nothing wrong with wanting knowledge, is there?"
The captain sighs in frustration, obviously impatient. "First off, it's not knowledge he's after. He wants power. And there is something wrong with it when it involves kidnapping and torturing innocent people, Kabuto."
"But..." Kabuto protests. "He wasn't trying to hurt them, he was only performing his experiments, right? Why is that wrong?"
"Kabuto." Captain Yakushi is now decidedly annoyed, a warning tone to his voice. "It doesn't matter what his intentions were. He was fully aware that he was hurting those people, yet he carried on anyway. That is why he's been treated as a criminal. That is why it is wrong."
This ideology sounds familiar to Kabuto, but it seems like a twisted form of said ideology, and after a moment he realizes why. He remains silent for a minute, staring into his full teacup, uncertain if he wants to ask the question on the tip of his tongue.
It is only when the captain stops looking sternly at him, pushes back his chair, stands up, and has his back turned to Kabuto that the boy asks quickly, unable to restrain his curiosity, "But in war, casualties are suffered every day. People are hurt and killed, and shinobi are aware of it. They just keep doing it because it's all...for the greater good."
The captain doesn't move, his back still to his adopted son. When he doesn't say a word, Kabuto says softly, his voice the only sound echoing in the room, "Isn't...Orochimaru's mission also just that? For the greater good...?"
His question is cut off by his foster father, who says, deadpan, not moving, "It's for his own greater good. Not anyone else's."
Kabuto asks his next, almost accusing question before he can stop himself, frowning. "How do you know?"
The ensuing silence is the longest thus far, seeming to drag on for hours rather than moments, during which neither Kabuto nor the captain breathe a word or move a muscle, one waiting with burning curiosity and one standing erect with unidentifiable emotions.
And then, slowly, the man turns marginally, making Kabuto's heart skip a beat.
But the boy is sorely disappointed when Captain Yakushi only reaches down to the table, picking up his summons and rolling it back up. When he speaks, it is merely to say tonelessly, "I'm already late. I'll be back tonight, or early tomorrow morning. Help yourself to lunch and dinner, and be in bed at a reasonable hour."
Looking down, endeavoring to not let on his disappointment, Kabuto all but mumbles, "Yes, Father."
Without another word, the captain, already fully dressed for work, puts the scroll in the breast pocket of his vest and starts to walk out, leaving Kabuto sitting at the kitchen table in silence. As soon as he reaches the doorway, however, he stops with a sigh, causing Kabuto to lift his head, staring up at the weary-looking man, who doesn't meet his eyes.
After a pause, Captain Yakushi sighs yet again. "Kabuto..."
"Yes, Father?" Kabuto replies, hopeful, expecting an answer to his question.
But the captain only says four words to him before leaving, not even bothering to turn around: "Don't be like him." With that, he walks out.
The boy looks down again, murmuring, despite the captain already having left the room, the sound of his footsteps receding. "...I won't."
It is the first lie he tells his foster father. It isn't the last.