Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, would I really feel the need to write fanfiction? Think about it, guys.

The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife.

Kelly smiled reflexively and tried to keep her breathing normal. Of course, she knew that her heartrate had sped up- her chest was almost visibly thumping. She had expected a nice, normal, bland person to teach her. Not double-crossing Kabuto, who Kelly hated with a passion. And also, now, was slightly afraid of, since if Kabuto had found out about Kelly's soul-body transfer, that would make her a prime study subject.

"Nice to meet you, Kabuto-san," Kelly managed to say smoothly. "Please take good care of me," bowing as she said the traditional phrase. She felt a little bit like she was going to pass out.

"You ok, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked. Kelly twitched inwardly at the -chan. She had a sneaking feeling he was doing it on purpose to antagonize her, though why was anyone's guess.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Kelly said, an ironic smile having found it's way to her face. "I'm sorry, Kabuto-san, I just was reminded of... something when I saw you, which is just kind of weird." She laughed nervously.

"Oh?" Kabuto said, in his smooth, caring voice. "What did I remind you of?"

Kelly laughed again. "It's kind of weird, when I was a kid... I was out hiking, and I almost stepped on this little white snake. I was startled and I kinda squeaked, and I swear it looked at me like it was amused or something." Kelly shivered involuntarily. "Red eyes, too. Of course, I looked it up when I got home, and there aren't any poisonous snakes around Konoha, so I felt pretty silly. Oh- before I forget, I have something I'm supposed to talk with you about later today, Kakashi-sensei, so don't make me show up at your place again."

Kakashi laughed, with what Kelly could swear was a twinge of nervousness, and left the room.

"Alright, Sakura-san," Kabuto smiled. "Let's see what you know."

Kabuto started by drilling Kelly on what she knew. Anatomy Kelly had down flat, thanks to the Anatomy & Physiology class she'd taken online last semester. Kelly knew what every bone and muscle in the body was called, and a good deal of what they actually did. Still, Kelly felt as nervous as if she had forgotten all of it. Also, she was trying to calm down, will herself to believe that Kabuto was just as innocent and friendly as he was pretending to be.

After ascertaining what Kelly knew about human anatomy, Kabuto tested what she knew about chakra control and medical jutsu, which was very little. Kelly knew a few things about medicines, and some of the theory behind how medicul jutsu works. So, Kabuto brought out a book for her to read, and showed her the basic medical technique, Mystical Palm Technique. Kelly then proceeded to botch the technique over and over, and finally when she got, Kabuto mercilessly made her hold it as long as she could, over and over again.

After an hour of raising and holding her chakra, Kelly stopped. "Hey, Kabuto-san, is it supposed to hurt when I raise chakra?"

Kabuto looked at her, eyebrow raised. "That usually means the person is dangerously out of chakra. I'm surprised, Sakura-san; I'd thought you had more stamina than that."

"I don't know why you'd think that, Kabuto-san, my stamina is absolute worst in my group," Kelly laughed, confused.

Kabuto smiled. "Oh, really? Is that why you want to be a medic-nin?"

She nodded.

His smile took on a slightly more scary demeanor. "Well, Sakura-san, I think you've got a teeny little misconception there." Kabuto was leaning in, uncomfortably close to Kelly's personal space. "The fact is, Sakura-san, that it's more important for the medic to have good stamina than the other team-mates. After all, without chakra, you can't heal anyone, can you?

Kelly realized, halfway through Kabuto's explanation, that his voice had taken on an almost... silky tone. She was fully aware that he could sense her heartbeat, yet she couldn't stop it from speeding up from the feeling of danger, and the unwelcome realization that she hadn't been laid in months and that, despite being a sadistic, traitorous bastard, he was still somewhat good-looking. He's not coming on to you, Kelly reminded herself, He's just being an ass. He has no idea, probably- hopefully!- that you're a horny nineteen-year-old.

"Oh," Kelly said, realizing too late her voice was a bit more ragged than she'd have liked, "I guess not."

Kabuto leaned in even further, until his face was only a foot away from Kelly's. "And what are you going to do for your team-mates then?"

"I-" Kelly blinked, unable to think, "I guess I should be more prepared ahead of time."

"And how," Kabuto whispered, mouth inches from Kelly's ear, "do you plan to do that?"

Kelly closed her eyes in embarrassment as a full-body shiver ran through her. "Nn..." As she struggled to remember how to speak, Kelly felt a slight breeze as Kabuto pulled away from her. She opened her eyes again and straightened her spine stubbornly. Kabuto stood where he had before the... confusing... exchange, and other than a hint of a smirk on his face, there was no way of telling he'd been fucking with Kelly's head. Kelly felt a smaller shudder run through her. "How do you recommend I train, Kabuto-san?" Kelly asked, gaining some control of her voice back. "I've been following an exercise plan, but..." But it landed me in the hospital because I'm a fucking idiot, Kelly finished in her head.

"I think I know a way we can kill two birds with one stone," Kabuto said, writing something on his clipboard, as he'd been doing since they started. "I've already cleared some extra sessions with Kakashi-san. We'll be working on chakra control- which you're terrible at- as well as stamina. Make sure you eat a proper meal, Sakura-san; little kunoichi that diet don't last very long in the ninja world."

Kelly left the hospital in a daze, and almost ran into Kakashi, who was waiting just outside the doors.

"Oh. Hi, Kakashi-sensei," Kelly said dully.

Kakashi put down his book and started walking next to Kelly. "How'd it go?"

Kelly looked up at him. "Oh. Um, I don't know. I used to think my knowledge of anatomy, and even more so my chakra control, was impressive for someone my age. Or," Kelly lowered her voice slightly, "More accurately, someone in my situation. I mean, hell..." Kelly had more of a rant planned somewhere, but she was just too tired to finish. "Well, I guess he doesn't coddle me," Kelly finished lamely.

Kakashi laughed. "Oh, are you saying I do?"

Kelly started to shake her head, and stopped. "Actually, Kakashi-sensei, I think you do coddle us more than a bit. I think we have more potential than you've acknowledged."

"Oh, that hurts my feelings, Kelly," Kakashi said softly. "And here I went all the way out of my way to find you a teacher."

Kelly stopped walking. "Oh, that's right, the thing I needed to talk to you about." Kelly looked at Kakashi. "I was going to ask if my...situation... was going to be told to Kabuto-san. I didn't think it would, but I thought it might be a good idea to ask, just in case. But..." Kelly felt herself bite her lip nervously. "Well, either Kabuto-san is a very twisted person, or he must have guessed. I might be imagining it, though. But I have the feeling he looked at my medical file, at the very least, and I think..." Kelly's voice trailed off. "Well, maybe I'm just not used to reading ninjas," she concluded.

"Oh? Why do you think that is?" Kakashi asked.

Kelly was about to reply, but realized that her stomach was killing her, and remembering Kabuto's warning, realized she probably ought to eat. "Ug. First things first, I need to eat something before I pass out."

"Ah. Well, can you cook?"