Chapter Eleven: Kabuto

Naruto, Ino, and Hinata were walking back home after a long, long day. The sun was setting now, and Naruto was feeling weird. It had only been a day, but he felt like they were friends. But what had happened was bugging him.

He looked to Ino. "So what do you think is going on here, Ino?"

Ino sighed. "I don't know. But we shouldn't talk about it, Naruto. Remember what Iruka-sensei said?"

"Well yes, but… ah, alright," said Naruto. He wanted to talk about it. The whole thing was just so wrong.

They came to Ino's house, and she slipped her bag off her shoulder. "Well, this is where I break off. Can you guys make it back home on your own?"

"Yeah," said Naruto.

"Don't worry about me," said Hinata.

"See you tomorrow," said Ino.

Then they broke off. It had been a good day in some ways, and a bad one in others. Naruto hardly saw the way home as he got back to his apartment. But when he got there, he found that there was yellow and black tape covering it.

"What's going on here?" asked Naruto. Then he saw the notice:

'By order of the committee of public safety, this apartment is condemned as a safety hazard.'

"Oh, come on!" said Naruto. "You gotta be kidding me!" He turned and stalked back down the steps. Looking up, he saw that clouds were gathering in the sky. It looked like rain and he was out an apartment. "Well, this is just great! Mizuki-sensei is in trouble. That creep Kabuto is skulking around. And now my apartment blocked!"

"Mizuki?" said a familiar voice.

Naruto looked up and saw Kin and Zaku making their way up to him. Naruto ran up to them. "Oh Kin, Zaku, you're here. Where's Dosu?"

Zaku sighed. "We had some D ranked missions that ran late. Dosu had to deliver some reports to the Hokage. I'm guessing you didn't do much better."

"Yeah, you could say that," said Naruto. "First some creep put a letter on Mizuki-sensei's desk and then when we went to find out who he was, he was getting blamed."

"Note?" asked Kin, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, see, um, see my friend Hinata saw this guy, Kabuto, sneaking around during lunch," said Naruto. "He put a note on the desk, and it had all this weird code. Anyway, we went to find out who he was, and now Mizuki is getting in trouble."

"Did this note have anything special about it?" asked Kin.

"Special?" asked Naruto.

"You know, like, a seal or something?" asked Kin.

Naruto thought about it. "Well, there was this weird snake symbol in the sign of infinity. I guess that was some kind of code. Turned out this Kabuto guy was part of the hospital or something. I dunno." And then he remembered what Iruka-sensei had told him. "Ah, damn, I wasn't supposed to tell you guys that.

"Listen, I need you not to tell anyone."

"Don't worry. We won't," said Kin. "So what happened to your apartment?"

"Oh it got condemned," said Naruto. "It wasn't dirty at all. Can I crash with you guys?"

"Sure," said Kin, before looking to Zaku. "Zaku-"

"I'll go get some snacks," said Zaku.

"I don't need snacks," said Naruto. "And it looks like rain."

"Yeah, well I do," said Zaku, before rushing off.

"Alright, see you later, I guess," said Naruto.

It was another day at the office to Kabuto. To an outside observer, he was calm, friendly, and professional. All of which were true about him as he wrote the details of the most recent procedure.

Inwardly he felt frustration. He had at least one more year to go before he had any hope of getting out of here. He'd been hoping his target would try to graduate early. Certainly, he would manage it.

No such luck. For whatever reason, the Uchiha boy had chosen to take the full years.

Which meant Kabuto would have to go to the Chunin Exams this year. Again. And pretend to be a harmless nice guy who happened to run into other students, again. And then, by some run of bad luck, get disqualified. Again.

The first time had been difficult. The second time less so, but he'd felt professional pride. Now he was just sick of it.

One more year as a genin.

One more year with people mocking him behind his back.

The door opened, and one of his coworkers rushed in. "Kabuto, we've got someone seriously injured. One of the farmers from the outer part of the village. We need you in room 431 now!"

Kabuto sighed and stood up. "I see. I'm on my way there now."

The man in question had somehow managed to get dragged under his own plow. There was a gaping wound in his stomach. He had several broken limbs, and his left eye was a mess. Kabuto set to work, even as an IV was set to the man.

Any ordinary medical ninja would have called it a lost cause.

Kabuto called it business as usual. He worked, mending bones, sealing cuts. In a few minutes, he'd saved the man's life. In a few more, he would save the man's vision.

And then he heard the music.

It was a very specific tune, made with a wind instrument. It was being played off tune in a very specific way. It was a Sound Village signal. One that meant 'you are in danger.'

Had he been compromised?

For that matter, who in the entire village knew that theme? Not Mizuki. Or any of Kabuto's contacts for that matter. He was the only one privy to that kind of secret. Kabuto doubted the Leaf Village even knew the tune.

Ah, of course.

Dosu, Kin, and Zaku. High-level genin who had been captured. They would know it. And they were in close proximity to that imbecile Naruto. It was possible that they had learned of Kabuto's presence. They had befriended Naruto, so perhaps he had accidentally blabbed something important.

This was all speculation.

Whatever had been revealed, Kabuto ought to get some distance from his usual haunts. That would buy him time to think things over. He looked down at the man he was working on. His vision had been restored, and he would live. Kabuto could probably just walk away, and no one would know he hadn't been treated.

He spent a minute finishing the job. There was such a thing as professional pride, after all.

Kabuto made his way out into the waiting room, grabbing the bag he kept on hand with emergency supplies on his way. He might have to leave the village in a hurry. But for now, he tied up loose ends and approached the secretary. "Suwa, that man you brought in is fully healed. I need you to get someone to cover for me, though."

"What?" said Suwa. "What happened?"

"Something important just came up," said Kabuto.

"Alright," said Suwa, "I'll get someone else to cover your shift."

Kabuto smiled. "Thanks."

Then he walked out. He picked as his destination a park near the outer wall. As he walked there, he mulled things over. His last action was delivering a note to Mizuki, which meant Mizuki was likely the one who botched things.

Kabuto wished he hadn't had to rely on the man. Anyone who did such an unprofessional job of disposing of a liability deserved what he got. Even so, Iruka had been incorruptible, and Mizuki was the only one who might have been a blind spot.

Kabuto sat down on a bench and drew out some feed to toss to ducks. As he did, he scanned through his memories of Mizuki's office. What had been there of note?

There had been a lunch bag.

A student may have returned to get it and found the note. But there was nothing on the note to directly implicate Kabuto. Though it might implicate Mizuki. Still, Kabuto had arranged an alibi for that. So why would he be in danger?

And how would Kin, Dosu, or Zaku have known he would be in danger?

They were in close proximity to Naruto. And Naruto was in close proximity to the scene. So if he had found out about it, he could have blabbed it to them. He was certainly careless enough. But Kabuto refused to believe he could ever be careless enough to get spotted by Naruto Uzumaki.

Then he remembered something.

The ducks were feeding on the pellets hungrily.

Naruto had been eating lunch outside one of the windows with Hinata Hyuga and Ino Yamanaka. Hinata has a Byakugan, and now that he thought of it, Ino's bag was the same as the one inside the office. Which meant Ino might have asked Hinata to scan for her bag rather than get it herself.

Efficient, if lazy.

If Kabuto had been hit with bad luck, Hinata could have been looking in at the very moment he put his note down. Which meant she probably mentioned it to Ino. Ino then went in there to get her bag and decided to read a note off her teacher's desk. From there, she probably dithered about whether to show anyone it. That was the best explanation for why Kabuto was not now in prison. She probably talked to Naruto and Hinata about it, and Naruto blabbed it to Kin.

Well, that was a reasonable model for what happened.

Now, what do to about it?

He had run out of pellets. Just as he was running out of time. Kabuto leaned back in the bench and looked up at the clouds above. It looked like rain. If he made a run for it, he could probably get away. The rain would wash away his scent and obscure his tracks.

Of course, then his mission would be a failure. Lord Orochimaru wouldn't have been pleased. So perhaps he could pass it off as a partial success if he staged a raid on the academy and got all the files. Sasuke would graduate next year anyway. It was doubtful his grades would change much in that time.

Even so, Kabuto liked the idea of turning this situation to his advantage. Was there some way to spin this?

Mizuki would probably spill his guts. In fact, he was probably doing it right now. While Kabuto's precautions would buy him time, there was too much against him in this case. He needed to shift the evidence a bit. And he only needed one more piece.

Raising his hands, he focused on creating a shadow clone. The clone appeared before him in a poof, his likeness in every possible way. It surged away without a word to do what it had been created to do.

One hit and that clone was done. Which meant Kabuto would probably be done too. He leaned forward and clasped his hands together. "If this doesn't work, I'm in trouble."

Then he waited.

Soon enough, the ANBU black ops arrived. They surrounded him, clad in animal masks. Kabuto looked up in surprise as they closed in.

"Kabuto Yakushi." said one.

"Yes?" said Kabuto, putting on his surprised face.

"We're going to have to ask you to come with us." said the ANBU.

Faceless fools. Kabuto wouldn't be so easily outmaneuvered. If they'd been here five minutes ago he'd have been done. "Of course. I'm at your service. After all, I have nothing to hide."

One of these days Kabuto was going to wipe out the ANBU. For all their claims of superiority, they had long since become vestigial. And useless things had no reason to exist. It was a matter of professional pride.

Soon enough, he was led to the Hokage's office. He found the old man puffing his pipe and sitting where he was. Kabuto tried to look worried and fearful. "Hokage, what's going on here?"

"Kabuto, you have performed your medical duties with enthusiasm, despite your low rank." said the Hokage. "In light of your dedication to the craft of healing, I will give you the opportunity to defend yourself."

So he wasn't going to be summarily executed. Convenient for Kabuto, and expected. This would never have worked in the Sound Village. "Against what charges, Hokage?"

"We recently learned of a leak in the academy." said the Hokage. "One of the teachers, Mizuki, has been found to be selling information on Sasuke Uchiha to someone. No doubt you are aware of how seriously we take the records of our ninja graduates?"

"Of course, Hokage," said Mizuki. "But I don't see how this relates to me?"

"We have a witness. They claim that you were seen putting the implicating note onto his desk during lunch hour." said the Hokage. "Mizuki also has identified you as his contact. He claims that you had him selling information on all his students.

"In particular, Sasuke Uchiha."

So things were worse than hoped. Even if Kabuto got out of this clean, part of Lord Orochimaru's plans was revealed. "He's lying! Hokage, I'm a medic. What possible reason could I have to betray the Leaf Village!"

"I leave such judgments to you, but anyone can be turned in the right situation." said the Hokage sadly. "At the moment, the evidence is still being gathered. I thought I might give you the chance to speak in your defense."

"Hokage, I never even entered Mizuki's office," said Kabuto. "I'm not even sure I was there. I spent lunch hour healing a child who'd been hit by a practice kunai during target practice. Ask the medics who were there.

"They'll vouch for me.

"Whoever did this, they must have been under a henge."

"That much is possible." said the Hokage. "Whatever the case, you will be confined to a cell until the evidence is gathered."

"Very well, then," said Kabuto. "I have nothing to hide, and I'm certain the evidence will show that soon enough."

His shadow clone finished its mission. Then it committed suicide without a trace. The memories came to him at once. And as Kabuto was thrust into his cell, he smiled.

Kin met Zaku on the doorstep of the building. He was sopping wet from the downpour.

"Did you do it?" she asked.

"Yeah, I managed to get out a signal at the hospital," said Zaku. "Hopefully he'll hear it."

"If this Kabuto guy is working for Lord Orochimaru, maybe he can help us," said Kin.

"Maybe. But Dosu's already got a plan," said Zaku.

"Do you know what that is?" asked Kin.

"No idea," said Zaku. Then he raised a plastic bag. "I did get the snacks, though."

Kin sighed in relief. "Fine. Naruto and I were playing poker just now. You want to join us?"

"Sure, why not," said Zaku.

Kin hoped they'd made a difference. And hoped they wouldn't get caught.

Author's Note:

And here we have the first time I've written Kabuto's perspective. Please tell me if you think I got him well.