Ignored, Kabuto watched them, face serious. He could see Sasuke's initial hesitance gradually die away as the boy's hand tightened its grip on the slightly smaller one. Two very beautiful children, the bespectacled teen was in concealed awe at the sight of the reunited pair. He understood by the crease on the younger boy's forehead that he was still mystified by an undeniable attraction, and Kabuto thought a sense of connection was only natural and he had expected he would be a witness to such a scene.
He wordlessly observed as the girl sat up and immediately reached out to embrace her 'parent' while trembling from the cold and maybe something more, he suspects. An outsider like him would never understand, though. Something was happening that only the two were experiencing. He could sense something as the two looked at each other and reached out to touch each other.
From her body language Kabuto read what seemed to be delighted affection, which the receiver appeared to be ignorant of as he lifted her away from the pod. The blush on Sasuke's pale cheeks later told Kabuto otherwise. How cute, he thought. There was definitely something in the air between them, and it slightly irked him that he would probably never attain an exact answer to what it is.
Her expression never changed even once, Kabuto noted, and recalled how the fact was true for all the clones he'd seen, and while they were capable they only did so after learning through mimicking other people.
Affection, fear, all emotions were acted upon instinct. This girl greatly responded to Sasuke because he was her source and being drawn was inevitable. She would never truly experience feelings, just as she would never have a will among other complex attributes that a human being possesses because of one missing factor.
"She is everything you are." Kabuto purposely broke the silence even though he found it was a great shame to interfere with what could be their only time together. He grabbed a thin blanket from a narrow closet mostly hidden in the shadows and handed it to Sasuke so he could wrap it around her. The girl leaned into the unguarded body at once, disliking even the briefest loss of contact and clutched the back of Sasuke's kimono shirt tightly with both hands. "Except that she lacks a soul. She is empty of a human being's essence and for that reason her life would be a short one. A soul cannot be artificially created and although we have figured out that a soul transfer is very possible the matter of compatibility is crucial."
Pausing to allow Sasuke to process his words, he decided to make tea, choosing a random tin box from the array on the table and scooped the leaves into the teapot. His nose recognized the aroma of sencha that rose as hot water was poured in. Behind him the pair was both silent and still. He knew Sasuke was listening intently, waiting for the rest of his words.
"As much as we would like to keep your clone alive we haven't found a suitable soul for her. Forcing one in would not only break the artificial body that rejects it, the soul would also expire. From the time Orochimaru-sama began this experiment there has never been a soul successfully housed in the past sixty-three clones, created from a selection of other cell samples, of course, so we won't foolishly attempt to do the same to this one." To conclude his account, he said." She could live without a soul anytime between three months to a few years. So far the longest is six years."
Minutes dragged on after the tea Kabuto offered was refused by the boy, who purposely ignored him, and the girl, who only responded to Sasuke.
"You don't really care though whether she dies soon, because she is something you can reproduce," stated Sasuke, understanding the things Kabuto never said outright but affirmed with his silence.
Somehow, the boy sensed the smirk the Snake master's apprentice was shrouding behind the shadows and a violent anger bubbled inside him and trickled out from the pores of his skin. He felt the curse seal's eagerness to conquer him and he willed it to cease because two months under Orochimaru's tutelage wasn't enough for him to learn control. Despite many hours of strict training he is still unable to restrain the dark power when it's fully active.
Sasuke knew he would very likely kill her unintentionally under the seal's influence and he didn't want that even though he didn't know her. He was angry at Orochimaru, at Kabuto, for creating her, for keeping her locked deep underground.
She had been waiting for something. Not knowing what it is, not knowing that she had been longing for it. A brief, complete darkness rushed through his mind's eye. The feeling of absolute restraint gripped his body. The urge to move was strong but as if he was made of stone, his body would not budge. The screams couldn't escape his closed mouth. And there was that pain; a non-physical pain that wanted to rip him apart from the inside. That was her life in that glass container.
And then he's back to the present, with the girl looking at him, he at her, and they were still within each other's arms as if they belonged there. They were so close together that no space existed between them. He moved his hands from her shoulders to embrace her properly, like how he vaguely remembers he was embraced when he was young.
All he wants at this moment is to protect her.
I have to try something, he said to himself over and over in his head. He felt a bead of sweat slide down his cheek from his temple despite the cold. "If I become the perfect host, once my body becomes useless Orochimaru would just use another clone. It would no longer be necessary for him to look for another qualified body for his soul."
Kabuto answered nothing and silence filled the room for some minutes that felt much longer. Sighing, he put away the cup of untouched tea he poured for himself and finally broke through the quiet. What a waste, the silver-haired teen thought.
"I know what you're thinking, Sasuke-kun." The boy turned slightly away, hiding more of his face with his long bangs while knowing it was a futile move because Kabuto has already read his next move using all sorts of method. His eyes turned red as his heart started racing. His right hand slid towards the black holster strapped to his thigh. Willing himself to calm down, he breathed in deeply. As if sensing his distress with that action, the head on his shoulder raised itself to look at him and he looked down on those large black eyes.
"You won't make it out alive on your own even if you get past me." Those words echoed in his head even before Kabuto had voiced it out. He was only a child with no allies. He had no home to serve as shelter for them to even pretend they could be safe for a while. The young Uchiha felt his fingers twitching, unsure whether or not he should reach for a weapon.
There was no plan forming in his head that could work against his opponent because Kabuto was more experienced and admittedly more skilled and intelligent. The only means for victory would be to use the dark power resting between his neck and shoulder but the risks were great.
This girl with his face, her wordless affection and longing… he's not allowing himself to lose her by not trying.
He felt his resolve returning.
More than the agony that burned through her veins a different pain swamped her inside as she witnessed the final rise and fall of his chest and his eyes turning dead. A cry that sounded very far away was torn out of her throat. From her chest something was spilling out of her; an invisible and intangible mass that she is feeling for the first time.
The three years they spent together was the bright portion of both their lives and its loss left a melancholic tint that would probably coat her world from now on. He loved her as much as she loved him and she always knew that their feelings would live on until the world comes to an end. He gave her much more than she could have hoped for back when she was confined in the dim chamber, unconscious yet aware of something missing. On that fateful night her yearning had been particularly fierce. It had miraculously brought him to her. It called him over.
Sasuke gave her a promise that he would never leave her, but not with words. His eyes said it when he looked at her, his arms screamed it whenever he embraced her. She wished strongly to never disappear. How could she have known that in exchange, Sasuke would wither?
Looking at him now, so still, turning cold, she could find no comfort. She now blooms with life, while Sasuke has become a fallen flower. Weeping, she closes her eyes to pretend it is all a dream.
Sencha is the most common green tea in Japan according to Wikipedia.
Thank you for everyone who read and especially to those who left reviews! I didn't expect this to fare so well. Also glad to find the presence of some readers of my earlier FEM Sasuke fics. Thank you very much!
It was challenging for me to write this and my theories are probably full of flaws but I do hope you enjoyed reading.
If you care to read my profile, I posted something regarding why I can't update.