The Art of Being Used

DISCLAIMER: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended and no funds have been acquired for this work. This is an adult themed story and may contain some of the following: violence, swearing, and strong sexual, and/or adult situations.

SUMMARY: Kabuto Yakushi was comfortable with being used. It helped further his goals and ambitions. However, what's a spy to do when he finds himself longing to be more than a tool to his current master Orochimaru: a master he knows he must betray?

Chapter Twenty-Four: Mission Retrospection

It was intriguing, watching Sasuke ghost through his former home. The silence in the Uchiha Compound was deafening, each footfall an explosion of sound. Sasuke's face was blank but his eyes held such a wide range of roiling emotions Kabuto found himself fascinated.

"Everyone was already slain by the time I got home. I had just come from the academy. We had shuriken practice that day and I was top of my class, the best. Kaa-san and Itachi had both been practicing with me that whole month. I wanted to make them both proud, to show them their time and efforts had not been in vain, that it was time well spent, especially Itachi…" Sasuke's voice trailed off forlornly. "Instead…"

They walked in silence for a long time. Kabuto was astonished at the utter lack of security and desolation in the Uchiha district. Konoha was definitely not grieving over the deceased Sharingan wielders.

"Instead," Kabuto prompted after a while in a soft voice. A communicative Sasuke was a rare occurrence and Kabuto was loath to break the fragile mood.

"Instead, I found my nii-san standing over our kaa-sa, bloodied katana in hand. It's so empty," Sasuke whispered. "It was quiet before, when I lived here by myself, but now it seems so…"

"Desolate," Kabuto murmured. It did indeed. Eerie and quiescent. "What do you know about your clan's history?"

Sasuke's eyes hardened with suspicion. 'What do you know about yours? Quid pro quo. Isn't that what you said?"

Kabuto nodded amicably. "True. The Yakushi are my adopted family. My biological family is more, shall we say, secluded?"

There was only so much he could say, however, he was quite ingenious and very practical. If a journal worked for Orochimaru-sama, it wold certainly work for Sasuke. Kabuto handed Sasuke a small dark leather diary. "It's keyed to your chakra, so only you can read it. Due to certain circumstances, it's highly lethal for you to speak to me about my biological family."

Sasuke's eyebrows went up.

"You do understand, I trust," Kabuto queried.

Sasuke sneered. "I'm not an idiot. I get it,"he interrupted testily. He abruptly jerked the journal out of Kabuto's hand.

Really, it was quite amusing how it easy it was to rile Sasuke. Kabuto's mouth quirked at the corners. "Do you remember the woman that resembled me?"

Now it was Sasuke's turn to smile in bemusement. "You mean that day, months back, when you went out and got shit-faced and plastered yourself all over Orochimaru?"

Kabuto scowled. "It's Orochimaru-sama, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke actually chuckled, his smile turning evil. "You sure about that? Because I distinctly remember you calling him 'rochimaru or was that Oro?"

Kabuto's left eye started ticking. "Irregardless, do you recall the woman you were sent to track down?"

Sasuke's smile stretched across his face. It felt good to get under the medic's skin. "Silver hair, kinda looks like you, seemed to have a nice set of tits...wait, didn't you spent the night with her? Did she have a nice set Kabuto? Probably different from what you're used to. Orochimaru is as flat as a board. You have fun together? You know, 'rochimaru was very displeased with you after that." Sasuke was openly laughing now. "Orochimaru doesn't strike me as the type to share. Did you get spanked for being an unfaithful hussy Kabuto?"

Kabuto's right eye began to tic. "I did not engage in any sort of questionable behavior!"

Outright glee colored Sasuke's voice. "Is that it? 'rochimaru spanked you?"

"You seem fixated on being spanked Sasuke. Is that something you and Itachi did often?" Kabuto shot back, trying to cool his reddened cheeks. He had, in fact, been punished for that fiasco and while being caned was not the same as being spanked, the two were close enough for Sasuke to score a hit.

Sasuke's laughter strangled in his throat. "Shut up! I do not get off thinking of Itachi spanking me!"

"Why, Sasuke, I didn't say anything about masturbation. Is there something you would like to confess?"

Sasuke' mouth opened and closed comically. To his intense mortification he turned a vivid shade of red.

Kabuto smirked in triumph. "Would you like to continue trading barbs or can we get down to business?"

Sasuke scowled, his flush deepening at being bested. He stalked off muttering under his breath and angrily flipped the diary open. It was a few minutes before his angry strides slowed, allowing Kabuto to match his pace evenly.

The two missing nins were silent the rest of the day, hiding out in the Uchiha Compound. Kabuto itched to go explore and peruse the many secrets he just knew were hidden beneath the surface. Alas, Sasuke was not quite ready yet. Kabuto studied Sasuke as the young man silently read the journal Kabuto had provided.

At dusk, Kabuto climbed up the tree Sasuke was perched on and toed the indolently sprawled teen. "Now would be a good time to infiltrate the Hokage tower. The guards shifts are due to change and before that happens I want to check on something."

Sasuke eyed the medic nin and shrugged his shoulders. He stretched, working out the kinks before jumping off the branch he had claimed earlier in the day. "Check on what? You know excessive sneaking around is only going to get us caught. I, for one, do not want to spend the rest of my life in Ibiki's hands."

Kabuto snorted. "I'd take torture at Morino-san's hands over being put into Naruto-kun's care and having to listen to his self-righteous speeches and claims of Hokage-hood for the rest of my life."

Sasuke shuddered. Naruto could be a tad self-righteous at times and if he had to listen to one more 'my way of the ninja' speech."I concur, which is why we should not be skulking around. Where are we going anyway?"

Kabuto motioned for the teen to be silent, disguised himself as a civilian, and willed his chakra down to avoid detection. It was dangerous, forcing his chakra levels down so low, but necessary to avoid detection. Orochimaru-sama could walk through the front gate, his chakra at full capacity, wearing his own face and still avoid detection. Kabuto had no idea how he did it, but it was feat he would dearly love to learn. Sasuke followed suit, donning his own disguise and throttling his chakra back.

Crouched low to the ground Kabuto made his way out of the Uchiha district, into the open streets of Konoha. He straightened and meandered through the crowds, his breath catching every time he caught sight of shinobi. He turned down an alleyway and onto an aged narrow path, grass growing wildly over the crumbled stones lining the path. He led them over tall grasses into a tiny cul-de-sac, where a mansion rose above the neglected yard.

Sasuke followed Kabuto to the back of the ornate house, noticing the many carved serpents decorating the torii, down precision cut stone steps, to a wild green glen with a single sakura tree in the middle. Surrounding the tree in concentric circles were various monuments and headstones.

Sasuke's complete astonishment was plain. It irked Kabuto."What? Did you honestly think he just appeared out of thin air? With no past, no parents, that he was nothing more than the villainous legend used to frighten children into going to bed? Brush your teeth and go to bed or the Sannin Orochimaru-sama will get you?" Kabuto's voice was full of scorn. "Really, Sasuke-kun. I am disappointed in you."

"Stop calling me kun" Sasuke ordered. "It's just …hard…picturing Orochimaru with a family or as a child. It's hard picturing any of the Sannin as children. Hell, its hard picturing Itachi that way and I am his family."

Kabuto's mocking sneer creased into a thoughtful frown. "Yes, they are all rather larger than life. Still, they each started out the same way, started out just as we did."

Sasuke glanced at the two graves of Orochimaru's parents again. Next to the elaborate headstone, bearing the names of both Orochimaru's deceased parents, the molted skin a white snake rested. "What I'd like to know is how he manages to sneak in." Sasuke's gaze shifted to the right, to a third mound where the grass had only recently started to grow back. Unlike the carved headstone for Orochimaru's parents, this headstone was rather modest, with only a single named carved. "With a body, no less."

Kabuto followed Sasuke's gaze, his eyes sad. Kneeling, Kabuto placed a single chrysanthemum reverently on the grave, his fingers tracing the name carved into the black stone. Tseng. "I wish he had let me know; he shouldn't have been here alone." Kabuto sighed.

Sasuke watched Kabuto's actions covertly. His perceptions and definitions of good and evil were rapidly changing. It was unsettling thinking of his sensei, the genius of the Sannin, with something akin to sympathy. Comparing Orochimaru and Itachi, he couldn't help wondering if Itachi had been lead down his twisted path the same as Orochimaru had. Couldn't help sympathizing for Itachi, understanding how alone he must have felt. He did not want to feel sympathy or pity for either Itachi or Orochimaru.

Sasuke stared at the once opulent mansion. It was in truth, more palace than mansion. His own home, nothing to scoff at, was nothing compared to this. Not even the Main House of the Hyuuga's came close to this. Had Orochimaru's family really been that rich and influential? Sasuke couldn't recall hearing anything about this out of the way palatial home and cluster of surrounding houses. For that matter, he didn't even know Orochimaru's last name, the name his clan went by, or their symbol. Sasuke's fingers delicately traced the small fan stitched on the back of his shirt, just below the neckline. There was so much he didn't know. Agitation built a knot in his stomach. He didn't want to be here, standing over the ghosts of the Sannin's past. He had his own ghosts to deal with. He didn't want to change his view of Orochimaru or Itachi. Orochimaru was evil and deserved everything that happened to him. His family had probably been no less evil and Itachi was still a murdering traitor who deserved to die at his hands. Sasuke shook his head, trying to chase his thoughts away.

He leaned over and whispered harshly in the medic's ear. "If we don't move now, we'll miss the changing of the guards and have to wait until tomorrow night to try. I do not want to stay here any longer!" Sasuke grabbed Kabuto's arm and yanked the surprised nin to his feet. "Let's go!"

Kabuto allowed the agitated teen to pull him along, back towards the main house, its glory dimmed and neglected but still there underneath the rampant foliage and broken stonework. Back down the forgotten street into the unnamed alleyway that once boasted numerous shops and stalls. Sasuke was breathing heavily. Kabuto watched the teen. Soon, very soon Sasuke would be ready and while the slight shift in Sasuke's view of the world would make him more malleable, Kabuto seriously doubted he could ever turn Sasuke to his way of thinking. Still, it would be...pleasant...to have a quasi-friend again and a powerful one at that.

Using the shadows, the two nin flitted across rooftops, slid under fences, hid in bushes,and scaled the fortress of looming trees surrounding the Hokage tower.

A light sigh brought Kabuto's attention away from the nin guarding rooftop access to the tower. He raised an eyebrow."Nostalgic?"

Sasuke flushed and shrugged irritably. "No, what are we supposed to be stealing?"

Kabuto grinned. "A forbidden scroll. It's actually the one Naruto-kun used to learn his shadow clone technique."

That certainly got Sasuke's attention. A small smile tugged at the teen's own mouth. "What are we waiting for?" Silently, Sasuke was ecstatic. Naruto had shown him up a number of times with his damn shadow clones. 'Anything that dobe can do, I can do better', he mused.

Kabuto slid a senbon out his pouch and dipped one end into a vial, methodically coating the tip. Timing his movements, the senbon flew from his hands, the poisoned tip embedded precisely into the nin's spine. The fast acting neurotoxins dropped the ninja in less than a second. "Get him under cover," Kabuto hissed and the two rouge nin tensed and sprang, leaping from the tree to the rooftop.

Sasuke dragged the dead nin out of sight, frisking him and removing anything that could pose a danger to him and his partner if someone came upon the body.

Kabuto noticed and laughed softly. "Not a bad idea, but unnecessary Sasuke-kun." Kabuto formed hand seals and the body jerked as a large seal spread out around it and in a small flash of green light was sealed into a scroll in Kabuto's hands.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Kabuto shrugged. "Why waste a perfectly good body? The are numerous..."

"Never mind," Sasuke hissed, a slight shudder going through him. Kabuto was so creepy. "Do you think anyone saw the flash of light?"

Kabuto cocked his head,listening. After a moment, his eyes carefully scrutinizing their surrounding he shook his head. "It appears not."

"How are we supposed to get in? There are wards on the door and windows."

Kabuto smiled. "Hai, but we are not going to use the doors or windows. Quickly, before a new guard comes."

Kabuto reached out and grabbed Sasuke by the arms and pulled the teen close. Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously before widening as the two nin melted into the rooftop below them, sliding through the layers of wood, tile, and plaster until they landed with a soft thud into the pitch black Hokage tower.

Sasuke shuddered. He hated doing that and it irked him that he still could not use the technique. Orochimaru or Kabuto had to hold onto him and bring him with them whenever they used it.

Kabuto noticed his discomfiture. "If I had told you, you would have argued about it. Why do you have such a hard time with it?"

"It's unnatural," Sasuke muttered.

Kabuto laughed softly. "The forbidden scroll is housed in an armoire in the Tsunade-hime's office. Retrieve it and meet me back here."

Sasuke's eyes flashed. "Why? Where are you going?"

"Consider it a test of your skills, Sasuke-kun. I am going to head into the ninja archives. I presume you want more information on your clan?

Sasuke nodded hesitantly. They both tensed as soft footsteps paused outside the door. Their breaths exhaled almost simultaneously as the footsteps resumed their tread away from the door.

"The archives are, ironically, more secure than the Hokage's office. You don't have the necessary skills. As it is, you might find yourself in above your head with Tsunade-sama's office. Be sure to use the scroll I gave you and cloak yourself in her chakra. But not too much, you don't want to draw the guard's attention with a sudden outpouring of her chakra. Just enough to get by the traps."

Sasuke hesitantly pulled a tightly rolled scroll out of the weapons pouch on his leg. "How did you even get her chakra?"

"Lesson time later, Sasuke. Move!"

A sneer crossed the teen's face but he obediently slid to the door, concentrating on finding the life forces and chakra signatures inside the building. Slowly, he reached up, unlatched the door, and slid out into the semi-dark hall. Balanced on the balls of his feet, he stepped carefully, sometimes crawling on all fours, as he made his way to the Hokage's office.

Kabuto watched him carefully before he was satisfied with the teen's progress. Orochimaru-sama would be pleased.

Kabuto placed his hands on the floor beneath him and melted into it, dropping down another floor. He had his own particular mission to accomplish. He wanted to know why Orochimaru-sama's clan symbol resembled the Sharingan tomoe. Tseng notes were illuminating regarding Orochimaru's childhood but being a civilian doctor he had not had access to military records regarding Orochimaru or his family.

Sasuke scowled at his burned hands. He gingerly picked the heavy scroll up. He placed it into a container and nestled it across his back. Time to meet up that nefarious medic and get his hands healed. He mentally berated himself for his failure to pull the mission off perfectly and for missing such an obvious trap. Stupid Hokage and her stupid sake.

Sliding across the floor, he covered himself in a cloak of unfamiliar but strong chakra. Strong and warm just like his mother's. Shaking his head, trying maintain focus, Sasuke cautiously opened the door and peered out, trying to stretch his senses as far as they would go. Not sensing anyone, his closed his eyes and then opened them, revealing the Sharingan. He was using too much chakra, calling attention to himself, but he needed to find Kabuto and if he ran into anyone, he would the advantage. Letting out a shaky breath, he slid the door shut behind him and followed the negligible trail of Kabuto's trail of chakra. It was a good thing he knew Kabuto so well, was so familiar with the med nin's chakra, because otherwise he would be lost. Chakra sensing and tracking was not one his better skills, even with the Sharingan.

Kabuto approached the archives warily. A simple door led into the room where all the files were stored. However, Kabuto was fairly certain there was nothing simple about the door or the intricate traps it was sure to have embedded into the very grain of the wood. Glancing covertly around, Kabuto opened his favorite scroll. Placing his hands down, the seals on the scroll activated, a pale blue light flashing as a body appeared. The dead guard from earlier would make a convenient spy. The guard took a shaky step forward, eyes vacant and blank. Kabuto tssked. Very poor quality but it wasn't as if he head time to work on the corpse. Concentrating, he poured chakra into the scroll beneath his hands; the body's stance firmed, shoulders going back as Kabuto took complete control. Its steps were sure and unhesitating as it turned the handle and passed through the doorway. The former Leaf nin stood in a circular room, lined wall to wall and floor to ceiling with bookshelves, cabinets, and storage drawers. Kabuto nearly salivated at the thought of all the information contained within room and actually had to suppress a shiver. Shaking off the brief euphoria, Kabuto forced the body to the right, sidling closer to the closet shelves. These files were in plain manila folders, open foe anyone who had access to this room to read. Not the file he was looking for. Where would they be? Concentrating, Kabuto sought out the minute chakra manipulations and pressures indicating seals and traps. The file he wanted would be buried underneath the heaviest security measures in this room, but not necessarily the most obvious ones. It took some time and careful consideration but Kabuto finally located the right cabinet. He urged the body forward, the hand reaching out to just brush the surface. No discharges, no sparks, so far so good. Now, time to get down to business.

Forty odd minutes later, Kabuto was mentally cursing under his breath. It would seem that all of the files he sought: his, Orochimaru's, Sasuke's, and Itachi's were highly classified, even among the archives. Not even Tsunade-sama's chakra would coerce the seals into opening. He needed someone else's chakra, but whose, and what hand seals would open the files? Judging from the deeply layered checks and security measures, he probably needed a drop of blood as well, which no doubt triggered some kind of notification that these particular files were being accessed. Highly classified indeed. What could be so secret that even the Hokage needed permission to read them? There was no higher position than Hokage in Konohagakure. The Fire Daimyo? In theory, the Village Hidden in the Leaves was the military arm of the daimyo and he could make requests, but the daimyo and the Hokage were more or less on equal footing and all military decisions were the Hokage's purvey.

Kabuto thought furiously. Who could...? The council? No, not the entire council. Too many people, too many chances of secrets being leaked and these secrets Konoha obviously wanted under lock and seal. Intrigued, Kabuto tried accessing another file. Uzamaki, Naruto. His file was classified as well, but Tsunade-sama's chakra would easily open that file. Well, it was not as if Naruto being the host to the nine-tails was that big of a secret, except to Naruto-kun perhaps. Nor was his parentage in question for anyone with eyes to see. He was the very image of the Fourth Hokage. Still, Kabuto was bothered. Obvious or not, the name of the current host of a tailed demon and everything to do with his file, should have been locked up tighter than his own file. His own file being so secure was quite perplexing. Again, why? Did Konoha know something he did not? Who could bypass even the Hokage's orders? Once voted into office, the Hokage had unlimited power...the Council Elders. Sarutobi's old teammates. Only those on the Elder Council could order such a lock down. That organization that Danzou had formed years back. Root? Kabuto closed his eyes trying to focus. Sarutobi had disbanded Root, but if they were still operating covertly under the Elder Council's orders it was possible they could responsible for securing the classified files he sought.

Circles within circles. Kabuto stared at the resiting parchment, knowing he would get no farther with the sealed scroll. The medic carefully placed the scroll back. The Leaf nin jerked unsteadly on its fet. Kabuto gritted his teeth, his perplexing uncertainty causing him to be careless. The body jerked again, stumbling outside the archive room. Kabuto poured chakra into the scroll underneath his hands and re-sealed the dead Leaf nin. Normally, he had much more precise control and Coolidge manipulate his bodies from a distance without the scroll, but he hadn't wanted to take any risks with infiltrating this room.

Exhaling, knowing someone was bound to notice the missing Leaf guard soon, prickles ran up Kabuto's spine. Something was wrong. He had no idea what and he had been very careful with the body and not touched anything himself and yet he was certain he had set off some silent alarm. He nearly jumped when soft hands tapped his shoulders.

"Sasuke!"

The teen's eyes were glinting with mirth. Kabuto glared at the teen and held up a hand, forestalling any commentary. "We need to get out of here, now! I was careful, but, something is not right"

Sasuke nodded wordlessly and the two backtracked, their footsteps soft, almost non-existent, tension twining their muscles tight. Something was not right in a very disturbing way. Kabuto held back a shiver as the temperature dropped abruptly, his breath frosting the air. It had already been dark but the shadows seemed to deepen, twisting on themselves.

Sasuke sought Kabuto's gaze and jerked his head to the nearest windows, his eyes frightened. Kabuto was inclined to agree with the silent plea and together the two jumped through the window, crashing out of the third floor of the tower and landing hard onto the earth, shattered glass tinkling all around them just as shadowed wraith hand, nails dripping black tar, swiped at the air where the two of them had been.

Kabuto swallowed and held back a scream of blind terror, the cold from the room that had seeped into his marrow receded slightly. Sasuke was trembling, trying to stand but violent tremors impaired him. Kabuto breathed deeply of the warm air, non-terror inducing air, and sprang to his feet, hauling Sasuke up with him. They needed to go. Gripping the still shaking teen, he sprinted, hearing alarms sound and the calls of guards clamoring on the scene. Faster,they needed to go faster. Kabuto released an inner gate, chakra flooding his system and ran faster, nearly throwing Sasuke and himself into the surrounding forest of trees, nin-trackers hot on their trail. His heart beating wildly, Kabuto slammed his hands to the ground, dragging Sasuke with him and the two of them melted into the ground, the snarling muzzle of a nin dog snapping where their heads used to be.

Kabuto felt the earth compress on him, trying to drown him. He let another inner gate release and used the surge to force the two of the m out of the ground. Sasuke screamed as soon as his head broke through he soil and clawed his way out, his limbs still shaking horrendously.

"Shit!"

Kabuto agreed heartily. He still had vestigial shiver himself.

Sasuke looked green and Kabuto didn't imagine he was faring any better.

"What was that?"

Kabuto swallowed, trying to force moisture back into his mouth. "Not human, not of this world."

Sasuke crawled forward on his belly, still shivering. "Not of this world? You mean like a summons?"

Kabuto shook his head, drawing in huge gulps of warm air trying to dispel the unnatural cold from his limbs. "No, summons are part of our world. They reside here just as much as we do, although usually in remote area that aren't easily accessible. When we summon them, we summon them from another part of our world, not from a different plane. What ever that thing was, it was summoned from another plane of existence altogether. Demons. Konoha is using demons to guard their classified files."

Sasuke eyes furrowed. "Demons, you mean the bijuu?"

Kabuto stood on shaky legs. "No, the bijuu are natural to this world. They have massive amounts of chakra and demonic strength but they aren't actually demons. I'm talking about demons from another world Sasuke. It's illegal to use demon summons, forbidden by all the shinobi villages. Tayuya use to summon minor low level demons that she could control with her flute. But, nothing like that. That was an upper level demon. Sentient with a mind and will of its own. You can't control them with a summons. They're just as liable to kill as do what you ask. This is bad, I need to tell Orochimaru-sama."

Sasuke staggered to his feet, spitting out the taste of bile in his mouth. "Orochimaru knows how to summon demons?"

Kabuto nodded. "Hai. I've seen him summon minor ones but even he wouldn't mess around with a demon of the caliber we saw in the tower. I can't imagine Tsunade-sama would condone such a thing. In fact, I know she wouldn't. Something is going on."

Kabuto turned to Sasuke, his voice low and intense. "We have to go back. Not right now, but soon. If we can't get to the files, we need to search every single inch of the Uchiha Compound and any other stronghold they may have had elsewhere. Orochimaru-sama's home as well, although I doubt he left anything of value or incriminating behind."

"Whats the matter, don't trust your lover?"

Kabuto shot Sasuke a look. "I trust him with my life Sasuke-kun, just not necessarily with giving me all the information I need. Everyone has secrets Sasuke, you included. Do we really need to search the whole compound, or do you now where to look?"

Sasuke scowled. Quid pro quo; he had agreed to this partnership. "I know where to look,but I left my chakra all over that tower." Sasuke grimaced. "We'll have to wait to go back. The first place they'll search is the Uchiha district."

Kabuto stared hard at Sasuke. "Alright."

Sasuke pulled the journal Kabuto had given him from his knapsack. "How much can you talk about this," he asked gesturing to the book.

Kabuto's eyes flicked down at the bound leather. "Not much, not without certain medications. The best place to start would be in the village I visited when I was drunk. Someone might remember something, seen something, or remember seeing her. It could give us a clue."

Sasuke nodded. His expression was troubled. "Kabuto, did you see it's eyes?"

Kabuto shook his head. "I am afraid not Sasuke."

"I did. It had my eyes – the Sharingan eyes."

Kabuto's face went slack. "Are you sure?"

Blood red eyes surround by three whirling tomoe captured Kabuto's gaze. "Yes."