Chapter 11—Punishment

It was a few days before Orochimaru went looking for Kabuto. He had waited that long only to indulge Tsunade, but by this point, in his own opinion, he was fully recovered. Tsunade, of course, still insisted that he take it easy for a while longer. She continued to check his progress each night, but the pain had faded and Orochimaru had grown weary of his unfinished business with Kabuto weighing on his mind.

Finding Kabuto was surprisingly easy. Orochimaru had not seen him at all in the past few days and had considered briefly that he might have fled. At the very least, he expected that Kabuto would be avoiding him, if not hiding outright. But there he was, coincidentally walking down the same hallway.

When Kabuto noticed Orochimaru, he averted his eyes and acknowledged him quietly. "Lord Orochimaru," he said. Orochimaru stopped but Kabuto continued on his way, keeping his eyes determinedly fixed on the floor.

Anger flashed through Orochimaru. His hand shot out, catching the back of Kabuto's shirt collar and dragging him back a few steps over to Orochimaru's side. Kabuto turned his head carefully to look at him. Fear was evident in his wide eyes, but he managed to appear calm in every other aspect. This time Orochimaru had to look away. I still need him, he reminded himself. I shouldn't kill him. I must not kill him. He started down the hallway again, pulling Kabuto with him though the medical ninja offered no resistance. Orochimaru took him down a dead-end hallway and shoved him into the middle of the empty room behind the last door. With the click of the latch they were both thrown into darkness.

Kabuto froze where he stood, not even breathing, to the point where he couldn't be sure if his immobilization was due to his own fear or to Orochimaru's paralysis technique. He knew exactly the situation he was in; trapped in the dark with a vicious, merciless, enraged, intelligent serpent. His death would be agonizing.

Orochimaru moved toward a torch on the wall and used a fire-style jutsu to light it. Allowing himself to indulge in his anger for just a moment, the attempt was slightly overzealous, but despite the needlessly scorched wall, the torch caught and burned steadily, giving the room a dim orange glow. Kabuto straightened up immediately, hoping to appear calm once again, but Orochimaru still would not look at him. He continued to watch the fire as he spoke.

"I want you to tell me what you did to Tsunade."

Kabuto's breath caught again. He tried to come up with the right answer, the answer that would not get him killed, but he couldn't gather his thoughts.

"You will answer and you will tell me everything," Orochimaru hissed.

"Y-Yes, Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto stammered. "I brought her back to the hideout, but I… neglected to heal her right away," he started, hoping to put as positive a spin on his actions as he could.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Kabuto?" Orochimaru said calmly.

Kabuto felt his blood run cold. Does he know about what I did in the woods…? Or about what I almost did…? Could he possibly know?

Orochimaru answered for him, assuming his silence only meant that he did not understand. "You left her. Alone and injured," he said.

Relief flooded him. No. Lord Orochimaru does not know everything. When he spoke again his voice was stronger. "Lord Orochimaru, I had to see to you first. Please understand–"

"I don't need excuses, Kabuto. Tell me what you did." He was having trouble controlling his anger again and Kabuto could hear it in his voice. He swallowed nervously and continued.

"I left her behind, then neglected to heal her when I brought her back." He hesitated again, unsure of how much Kotone might have told Orochimaru by now, but decided quickly that being caught in omission again could prove fatal. "And when I was… arguing… with Kotone," he said slowly. "Tsunade tried to stop me. I cut the tendons in her wrist in self-defense and knocked her out with a harmless drug. That's why Kotone would not let me near her.

"I should not have lied to you, Lord Orochimaru. I'm sorry."

Orochimaru was silent for a long time. His voice was quiet and carefully controlled when he finally spoke. "Do you understand why I am angry, Kabuto?"

Kabuto took a step back. "Lord Orochimaru, you know I am loyal to you. Please don't take my actions as a betrayal–"

Orochimaru laughed. Kabuto braced himself, but when he finally turned to him, Orochimaru's face was calm and he wore a slight smile.

"Kabuto," Orochimaru said, and Kabuto wondered if one of them was finally losing his mind. He'd spoken endearingly. "I see." Orochimaru stepped closer. "You really don't understand. I'll be sure to explain myself more clearly this time."

[X]

Tsunade was sitting up in bed, flipping absently though the pages of an old medical text when she heard it. The sound was faint; distant but unmistakable once she'd noticed it and made the effort to listen. Someone was screaming. She closed the book carefully and slid off of the bed. Out in the hallway, the sound was clearer. She looked around, the tortured cries putting her on edge, and headed slowly in their direction.

The screams got louder and more disturbing the closer she came until she found herself in the dead-end hallway. She realized then that the screams were now words. She inched down the hall but stopped only halfway to the door, arrested by what she heard.

First an indecipherable murmur, then, "I do! I understand! Please, Lord Orochima–"

The cry was cut off into a short silence. Then coughing. Another murmur. A strangled answer, "Yes…"

A few moments later, the door at the end of the hallway opened and Orochimaru stepped out of the room. Tsunade just stood where she was, watching him as he closed the door behind him and walked up to her, covered in blood. When he stopped in front of her, she asked with measured control, "How bad are his injuries?"

"He can take care of himself," Orochimaru answered.

"What if he doesn't?" Tsunade said. "What if he decides he'd rather die than have to go through whatever you did to him in there ever again?" She wanted to draw closer to him. She wanted the comfort of his arms around her but she stayed back, deterred by the blood. "You know I'll take care of you, Orochimaru," she said softly. "But you still need him."

Orochimaru raised his eyebrow at her. It was certainly not something he expected to hear from Tsunade.

"Even if you wanted me to take over for him, there's so much I have to learn first," she clarified. "If he dies before then–"

"Tsunade," Orochimaru said. "I know what I'm doing. He won't die."

"I heard you say you were going to kill one of them," Tsunade pointed out.

"Only if I have to."

She glanced past Orochimaru at the door, behind which she knew Kabuto must be suffering.

"Trust me, Tsunade."

Orochimaru walked away and Tsunade waited for him to round the corner before going to the room at the end of the hall. She just stared at the door at first, trying to decide if she really wanted to open it. Then her hand stretched out and turned the knob.

Kabuto was lying on the floor in the middle of the room. Blood was streaked unnaturally across the smooth stone all around him as though he had been thrashing, and his glasses were lying a few feet away from him. She had no desire to move closer, but in the poor, flickering light from the torch, she could not see well enough to stay back. Once beside him, she saw that his eyes were closed, his breathing labored. He did not even seem to be aware that she had entered the room. He barely even reacted when she began to examine him.

A few minutes later, Tsunade stood and stepped away from Kabuto without having healed a single injury. The most serious damage she had found was his broken arms. The rest was just superficial cuts and bruises; nothing life threatening. She scoffed at herself for being worried and left without sparing Kabuto another glance.