-J-
9: In Which Our Disability
Akatsuki's Time: May 17
May's Time: Younger days of a Certain Medic
Sun poured down onto the forest with love, casting warm graces of radiance over the trees, bringing a fresh green glow to the earth that had recently been rained on. There was a light breeze that blew throughout the trees, waving their dripping leaves at the boy who walked through the forest. His eyes remaining ever watchful of the grass below him, every lush blade cupping tiny pearls of water off their edges. The soaked forest and depressing weather seemed to weep for the loss of lives that had been struck down during the past weeks; only a year ago, the young child would have rarely seen such dastardly sights as numerous bodies lying about war zones, but now it was a recurring feat.
Death was more common than life these days.
At first glance, the boy seemed to be watching his feet-almost as if he expected to trip-but every few feet he'd stop, look left and right at the ground, and continue on.
It was an odd way for such a child to act, but for young Kabuto Yakushi, this was a perfectly normal procedure.
To the average human eye, the ground that the young medic walked, was just that, ground that was only grass, weeds, and dirt. Kabuto was not an average human, he saw with the eyes of a medic, enabling him to instead distinguish normal grass and weeds from the variety of herbs that held special purposes.
In this particular area, there was much scurvy grass and dandelions, each had already been fully stocked back at the orphanage and didn't need to be collected on this trip; instead, the young medic was searching for Burdock and Yarrow.
Burdock could be made into a tea that helped with numerous ailments such as aiding digestion and could even purify blood while a tea made from Yarrow could treat the most common cold.
Herbs were just the peak of what Kabuto had learned so far; adults had observed and applauded his talents, even though Kabuto's knowledge on healing was an on-going process. Compared to his teacher, there were many things he still wasn't good at, even so the young medic knew, with time, he'd become a great healer.
Two black eyes narrowed along with a smile as he found a thick clump of Burdock growing beside a large oak tree. With careful movements, Kabuto kneeled down and began to dig around the plant, slowly but surely he dug around the root, shifting the mud to one side so that it wasn't a bother. Whipping out a small knife, the top half of the plant was cut free of the bottom. At last, a nice long root was placed into the woven basket that the young medic had had hooked on his left arm.
Shaking the flecks of wet mud off, Kabuto wrinkled his nose at the state of his hands, begrudgingly rubbing them off on the wet grass in hope to clean them somewhat.
-THUMP-
Instantly jumping up-the grip on the knife firm yet shaky-Kabuto looked around, swallowing his fear; finding no one behind him, the young medic edged closer to the oak tree and peered around it, the free hand sliding up the trunk to keep his body steady and cease noise.
When Kabuto first looked behind the tree, he only saw the forest and foliage, but when his eyesight lowered to that of his usual view of the grass below, the medic instantly found something out of the ordinary: nearly hidden by the lush grass was a hand, it stretched up from a wrist to an elbow where Kabuto's vision was obscured by another tree that conveniently hid the rest of the body-if there was one-from view.
Though unnerved, the young medic grasped his basket and carefully made his way over. Kabuto was no fool, he knew just how many ninja had been battling recently, no matter how weak a ninja was, he was to be ever on the alert. Caution became Kabuto's second nature as he grew closer, knowing full well that his life could be ended in an instant if this were an enemy.
Blinking, Kabuto Yakushi stared at the hand that nearly touched the edge of his shoe, water streams outlined the curve of the wrist and the fingers had knotted up the grass in their firm grip. Following up the arm the young medic eyes met up with the jackets sleeve that had been haphazardly shoved up to the elbow, the fabric was caked in dry mud that had managed to flake off to show that it had once been expensive leather.
Kabuto took a breath when he skipped up the arm to the entire torso-it wasn't just a hand after all-connected to it. He'd truthfully been expecting a ninja when the young medic had come over here, but now, he saw that the girl lying before him surely couldn't be a ninja. She was sprawled out as if having fallen from a great height-Kabuto looked up into the treetops to be sure she hadn't been camping up there, but there was no sign of life but for the birds. She'd face planted into the earth, grass poking around her head like twigs; the hair that was plastered to the girls head was bright platinum, nearly appearing white in the cloudy afternoon, and was harshly cut to outline her skull but it still retained a thickness to the small amount of hair.
Everything froze when black eyes noticed the wounded shoulder: it was a deep cut that started from the end of the collarbone to the back of the shoulder, it kept up a constant on pumping blood onto the grass, managing to turn everything red in its wake. There were bits of flesh that could be seen around the shredded cloth, still connected to the bone that was somewhat visible. Whatever weapon had administered this wound had certainly done its job well, it made the medic mentally cringe and wrinkle his nose at the stench of flayed skin and blood.
Taking a deep breath Kabuto placed his knife in the basket, then put that on the ground and lowered himself to a sitting position in front of the bodies head. The medic inside the child was antsy to heal the being in front of him, to stop that blood and sew up the skin to hide that bone once more; but Kabuto knew that the first thing to be done was to wake the girl up, she had to be cleaned first, it would be unwise to heal her now with all that mud surrounding the gauge that could already be infected.
"Hey?" Kabuto poked the shoulder that didn't need medical attention, one hand rose to push his glasses up his nose and continue to lightly shake the person's shoulder in a way that didn't shift the wounded one. "Miss?"
Kabuto almost missed the first sign of life that happened a minute later, it was the twitch of the outstretched hand's index that proceeded to curl each finger into a fist, gripping the grass in a tense hold.
The young medic couldn't help but smile as the blonde's head rose up and he saw her face for the first time, blue eyes meeting black. There was something in those marble-like eyes that made Kabuto's smile turn soft as he stared down at the girl who blinked in a way that said she was still half asleep.
With each blink the blonde began to look more and more awake, at last, her two gleaming blue eyes stared at him with detection just as she seemed to realize her shoulder, groaning in pain the blonde brought her hand up to cup the wounded shoulder with a wince. There was a tiny bead of sweat on the forehead of the heavier girl as her eyes flicked up to meet his; they stared-one up, one down-both assessing the other-one with curiosity, one with fear and hesitation in her orbs. When the suffering blonde came to the conclusion that this young medic wasn't about to hurt her, she visibly sagged with a sigh of relief that was covered with a small tired smile that was directed up at Kabuto Yakushi.
"Hi."
"They don't remember," It was a black mess of darkness as my brain lay dormant and I sat there in the room that twitched every few seconds with an invisible whiplash. It was a small room with nothing on its walls but planks of wood that were tightly wedged together to cease any light from entering, even with the firmness, there must have been cracks somewhere because the ground was an inch under murky water.
"They're continuously trying to kill you. You are just a liability to them now…. You know too much." The wood underneath me and the water arched its back in a loving way, causing ripples in the stagnant liquid that chilled my limbs into remaining still in their current position; even without these bizarre scenarios, I knew that this was a dream.
"What's the point of being in this world? You should jus-"
"Hey." The walls vibrated with the voice and my head peeked up over my kneecaps that had been drawn up to my chin.
"Who's there?" The dark thoughts that concerned the Akatsuki reeled angrily back as I answered the call. Unbending my legs from their fetal position, I stared around the single room that's air current was as dead as a skeleton in the ground. Standing up, I rubbed my calves that had just been submerged the in the frigid water, trying to get rid of the pins and needles under the skin.
A person didn't need to be smart to know that this room was all just a dream, a figment of my imagination made to keep my mental self-safe while my body lay somewhere in the real world. At first, I couldn't help but think that the person talking to me from the waking world was Itachi or Kisame….But the voice sounded younger and not as deep, a child. This begged the question, where in the world were the two Akatsuki members? Were they ok? Were they still searching to kill me at this very second?
"Miss?" My attention was called to the sound of a loud crack that emanated from one of the wooden walls, I turned to look over my shoulder as a plank of wood halfway up the wall splintered in half, bringing a burst of light that's beam connected with the middle of my nose. The light brought a valuable burst of heat that turned the freezing water around my feet to a nice temperature and the chill of my soul was extinguished, a smile happened up onto my face at the sudden change. Whoever's voice that was, they surely were persistent, and for some reason, it made me happy.
I couldn't help but be curious now, who-besides the Akatsuki-could make me this happy just by a voice? Maybe it was just coincidence that I'd heard whoever this was, maybe my mind was on the verge of waking, that would make more sense.
Whoever this was, it wasn't Itachi and Kisame, for a second I couldn't help but be saddened by the loss, but was still grateful since they'd nearly been on the verge of eliminating me.
Invigorating heat spread over both me and the room like a hand; my shoulder burning as the particular warmth latched onto the shoulder, shaking it lightly as the murky water evaporated leaving no residue behind.
All heat flew away from my being, leaving it cold and wet as both eyes fluttered open, finding themselves staring at the wet vivid green grass that poked and tickled my nose playfully.
As the bright light lengthened and the warmth of the room grew so did my fear but I there was little I could do so without a second thought, my eyes closed. The warmth spread over me like a hand, cupping my shoulder lightly, and the murky water evaporated leaving me damp.
I was damp and cold as my eyes fluttered open and found myself staring at the vivid green grass that poked and tickled my nose.
Movement and feel came back into my limbs with prejudice; a single index finger twitched to prove that things still moved properly and I knew as all five senses reawakened that this was the real world and not another dream.
The ability to detect came back into my numb fingers with prejudice and for a second I wasn't sure if this was the waking world or not, but the hand on my shoulder proved that this certainly wasn't a dream anymore.
Blades of grass were pulled into a tense hold as my fingers curled into the grass, knotting them together as the numbness passed from the fingertips and palm leaving it tingly.
When I brought my head up I instantly wanted to lower it again as a sense of nausea flew over my senses, enveloping my throat in a way that hinted at possibly throwing up the empty contents of my stomach.
The place surrounding me was horribly fuzzy, but there certainly was something in front of me, at first, it was just a blurry shape of light colors which meant that it certainly wasn't a tree or bush; but as I continued to blink my eyes a shape slowly formed from those colors, swirling into arms, legs, a torso and a head with two black eyes staring back into mine with a tiny smile on his small lips.
It was just a child in my eyes until I recognized the round glasses, the dark brooding eyes, and the white hair; it was Kabuto! That couldn't be a good thing, was he after me too, if he wa-
Painful pulses of anguish rippled from my shoulder that smugly reminded me that it was still wounded; with a loud groan and biting of my lip I curled into myself and grasped the area surrounding the wound that was still bleeding, I felt the heat of the blood before the wetness met and enveloped my fingers.
How in the world did Naruto characters get wounds and make it look like nothing!? It damn well hurts like hell!
To make matters worse Kabuto was here, who knew what he was up to.
Glancing up at the other warily, I realized that my first analysis of Kabuto was all wrong.
This Kabuto was different from the one I'd seen during the chunin exams of Naruto's younger life; this Kabuto's face was tiny, nearly enveloped by the large round glasses that were shoved up his nose; he was just a child with short white hair that curled around his head and ended at the end of his ears. One of the most interesting things about the young boy were his eyes, they were big and black, holding a certain spark to them that hinted he'd seen things recently that no child should at such a young age, those eyes held the look of a child being mixed with an adult.
The look of fear slowly left my eyes, this was not the same Kabuto as the one Naruto met, he was un-marked by evil and Orochimaru. I couldn't help but sag at the feeling of safety, I truly was safe right now, there was no need to be fearful.
A smile of happiness filtered over my face, I must have time traveled again, this time into the past to be seeing such a young pure Kabuto, and this was a good thing, this meant that Itachi and Kisame weren't looking for me in this time.
"Hi." Kabuto blinked, not seeming to expect my simple greeting, but it was all I could think to say at the moment.
"Hi…." black eyes flicked to the wounded shoulder. "You're hurt, Miss."
"Nah it's just a scratch." I sarcastically said with a smile, Kabuto's eyes narrowed and he rolled his large eyes from behind the glasses. "Yeah I know, I shouldn't be joking.. about this…." Trying to sit up was more painful than I'd expected it would, the wounded shoulder all but rolled uselessly as if it still were unable to fully function properly.
A tiny hand caught my good shoulder as I nearly keeled over, looking up I found Kabuto next to me, leaning my heavy body against his to aide my movements. This child… he certainly was much different than the one I'd known in the show, he was so kind and helpful.
When, I at last, stood tall, Kabuto only came up to the beginning of my stomach and was forced to look up at me, I had tried to leave off any of my weight on the boy while trying to stand, but he still looked a little tired from assisting me.
"Sorry about that, didn't realize I was that heavy." Scratching the back of my head I looked around at the forest, there was no sign of civilization anywhere. "Um… why are you out here all alone?"
Kabuto bent down and picked up a basket that I hadn't noticed before, inside was a few stacks of roots that still had mud clinging to their bodies.
"I was gathering herbs for healing; there have been so many wounded recently." At this comment, my shoulder gave off a dull ache and I stared at the herbs almost longingly before turning my gaze to the sky.
"Well, you get those home then, kid. I'm sure those patients are gonna need them." Kabuto smiled up at me then frowned when he directed his gaze back at the laceration I had.
"Nope, Miss." Blinking I looked down at the child who had grasped my hand with a tiny smile. "You need my help right now."
…. Was this kid actually suggesting what I think he was?
"Let me heal you. I'm a medic, Miss." He really wanted to help me? There was something warm in my chest as I stared down on him, no one in the past few days had wanted to help me…. Darn, I think I'm tearing up over here.
Sniffing I inhaled and blinked away any thankful tears that had tried to show their soppy faces.
All the intense pain in my arm seemed to melt away as an intense amount of happiness warmed my chest as I ducked down and hugged the boy to me with the use of my good arm, the wounded one facing away in hopes not to jostle it.
"Thank you!" Kabuto seemed almost shocked as I wrapped the arm around his back, nearly picking him up as I placed my chin on his shoulder; realizing that it was just a hug of gratitude he hugged back with the touch of a feather.
I held him like that for a second, closing my eyes and relishing at the friendly touch of another human being, so much had happened in the past few days that this simple hug was the exact thing I needed to help me feel safe and comforted. I couldn't help but relish in that hug, nearly breaking down right there.
"Thank you, Kabuto, you have no idea just how much I needed this." The thankfulness wasn't just for the healing, it was the smile and the security all wrapped up into one all because of this little boy; and in this second May was happy then her last two days put together.
Kabuto Yakushi had potential, there was considerable promise in those healing abilities that he merely used for the wounded of the on-going war. These promises would never grow and nurture without a helping hand-a guide if you will-and this was the occupation that Orochimaru had decided to take onto himself; this was the reason why he'd started keeping a close eye on the young medic, keeping his distance and waiting for the best opportunity to bring this child into his care.
Orochimaru knew that Danzo was already planning on coming to the orphanage that Kabuto had taken to calling home; even though that mission had nothing to do with the snake, he knew that that would only assist in bringing the child even closer to him, that was a given.
Kabuto would be one of his followers, whenever Orochimaru set a goal it happened whether it be in twenty minutes to three years down the road; this child would be his.
However, this conspiracy to acquire Kabuto became a bit shaky as a new participant entered the game. At first, Orochimaru hadn't spared a single amount of worry about the female that Kabuto had found lying in the middle of the forest where he'd been picking herbs for future assistance. First appearances conveyed that this woman was simply another female until he scrutinized her appearance and decided to try and decipher the chakra that was radiating from the girls figure.
Orochimaru noted that, compared to other girls he'd met, she wasn't incredibly attractive; if a person gave her a quick and simple once over, they didn't take ample notice. But the snake allowed himself to look over the figure, still not finding anything intriguing….that is until he reached the girl's face.
It was a rounded face that held inches of fat around the edges, it made a thick outline that gave her likeness a childlike quality. The face wasn't nothing to talk about until the snake noted the blonde hair and reached the blue eyes that blinked down on Kabuto.
They were eyes that held fire, determination, happiness, sadness, and age all in one, two orbs molded together will these five emotions rolled into the pupils to make up the eyes that narrowed to smile down at the young medic. Even though her appearance was that of a girl in the beginning stages of adulthood, her eyes held a look that only came from seeing too much in life, Orochimaru carried eyes like these.
It was in this second that Orochimaru realized that he couldn't let this girl get too close to Kabuto, if he noticed the young medic beginning to like the young girl, he'd have to get rid of her. Kabuto Yakushi would be his student, and his alone; this woman would not take away his future pupil, never.
Author: Another chapter done! Things are starting to get a bit interesting; I also love the interaction between Kabuto and May.
If you have time, leave a review, they do help in assisting me in writing the future chapters!
See ya all later, love ya!
-Jinx of the desert
