Kabuto Yakushi

Emerging from a small pool, a snake slithered to the surface, its tail burnt to a stub. With every movement and rock that dragged at the sear, the snake would hiss and jerk in pain. It wasted no time by quickly prying its jaws and regurgitated a human form onto the land. Orochimaru gasped for air and pressed his arms to the floor as it pulled his last leg out of the mouth of the dead corpse. He took a moment to cough and curse to himself before lifting his gaze to the dark forest ahead.

It took less than a couple of minutes for the flames to dissipate, despite continuing to blaze on even when submerged in water. The snake was lucky to have found a underground stream and use a smaller snake body to move into it and successfully escape the ravine. Even when the flame had burnt out in the pool, Orochimaru knew better than to resume his challenge to the Akatsuki and his attempted kidnapping of Itachi. With the state his body was in, he stood no chance against the more able and younger members of the organization. Currently, he was at the old age of forty-five, while his former partner and the other members were only reaching their thirties. Even with the power he possessed, using the form of the great white snake costed large amounts of chakra.

Orochimaru's right arm gave out and he slumped in heap. Kabuto had not come to aid him, meaning that he probably also got caught in the crossfire somehow. Regardless, his loss meant little, it would not be a wild-guess that Kabuto during the fight, be it killed or of his own wounds. Simple enough, I'll just replace him.

He'd need to get new lenses. Kabuto adjusted his glasses before his body visibly tensed up as a mild pain shot up from his stomach to his chest. For a moment, he slouched to the floor and hitched his breath to wait until the pang of pain had faded away.

Kisame Hoshigaki was definitely a man to be feared. For a shinobi who specialized in using chakra-based jutsu, the infamous Samehada's ability to absorb that very energy came as a surprise. His attempts to defend the hideout from the intruders advances were destroyed immediately, as even with his wit, the sheer force and brute strength of the former Kiri-ninja had overwhelmed him completely. He could have offered no help in the fight against the Akatsuki, leaving Orochimaru to deal with things on his own. Even now, the medic-ninja knew one thing and that was that his master would not appreciate him returning in such as a state, empty-handed. If he were to ensure his survival and further service under the sannin, he needed to show up with results. The hideout was destroyed, but regardless, something new needed to be presented.

It was no wild guess that the Akatsuki would be on Orochimaru's hit-list after this had blown over. For now, Kabuto could offer one thing and one thing only, information.

"I am moved by your loyalty."

The statement came out in the distance. Kabuto jogged a few paces and crouched low. While his lenses were broken like this, he couldn't see very well, but his hearing was as sharp as ever. In the darkness of the night, the low light and cover of the shadowed forest was ideal for eavesdropping.

"Make no mistake, your act is noble, I acknowledge that."

He crept closer and slowly placed a gloved hand on the mossy earthen floor. Through the leaves of the bush, he could make out a clearing lit up by the full moon, several black-robed figures standing in a circle formation. One figure seemed to be distorted and blurry, further away from his sight than all the others.

An Akatsuki meeting? What luck! Kabuto smiled briefly and continued to observe the scene and squinted his eyes to get a better view. The broken glass made it very hard to see, with shattered pieces in some places that obscured the view of the scene.

The distorted figure stood for a moment, them slumped to a floor as if his or her's legs had been yanked down. It took a bit of thought but eventually, he was able to distinguish two figures close to each other, explaining the distorted image he got. By then, the definite elder of both doubled over and the younger child seemed to do nothing, frozen.

"You will both die."

An execution? Kabuto blinked and tried to get a better view by staggering forward a few inches. The ringleader raised a sleeved arm with a strange black rod at the very tip. With a drop of the hand, the rod came down swiftly.

Kabuto barely got a second to react as he interpreted the rod shooting in his direction all but too late. He had managed to fall to the side slightly but the sharp end dug into his hip and struck the ground behind him. He let out a sharp cry of pain and bit his lip as a sudden awareness hit him. No longer able to see through the brush, his ears picked up the faint rustling of grass along with the same voice speaking in a low tone even he couldn't decipher. Seconds after, it grew into a commanding one.

"I do not appreciate eavesdropping."

Well, he was defeated. Kabuto knew for a fact he had no chance against the Akatsuki, so letting up was the best thing he could do. He shuddered for a moment and kept wary of how much time he was using up to respond. Slowly and painfully, he lifted an arm and grasped at the black rod before securing his grip. He screwed his eyes shut and prepared himself for the agony as he yanked out the rod in a single pull. Kabuto didn't even attempt to hide his cry and allowed the sound to travel as he angrily chucked the rod away. Immediately, he applied pressure to the open wound and staggered up to meet his enemy.

Sasori sat there for a moment, then registered quickly that he and Deidara had escaped Pein's attention. Only when the strange feeling of something rubbing against his heart case did he finally pull away from Kabuto and look down at his subordinate. Deidara buried his face in the puppeteer's cloak, small hands tightening around a bundle of cloth. His eyes softened at the sight and he leaned down to speak reassuringly to the child.

"It's okay." Sasori whispered. If he spoke any louder, there was no doubt that they might reach Orochimaru's underling.

"Don't go away..." Deidara whined.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Don't die..."

"What are you talking about? I told you, I'm going to live forever." Sasori patted the boy's head gently, causing the blond to briefly take a wheezing breath and bury himself further into the elder's neck. Buckets of tears drenched his cloak, but the puppeteer had gone through enough of these episodes to have gotten a good dresser full of the uniform to last.

Pein ignored the scene and kept a trained eye on their newest guest. Another wind blew down on the clearing and rustled the trees to add to the white sound. He took a few measured steps towards the shinobi and stopped abruptly. "Konan."

The angel nodded briefly. Without another word, a flurry of white sheets materialized in the air above Kabuto and rained down onto his body. Kabuto could barely react, watching in fear as his arms were forcefully brought to his back and his entire head was encased in paper. Granted without sight, his ears were kept clear to listen in on his next orders.

"Come."

Kabuto staggered forward slowly until he was nearly a foot away from Pein's proud stature. The ginger set his sights on the boy, noting that he could not have been any older than sixteen. Another young ninja, barely a man. He'd seen many like him during his time as the Akatsuki leader. "What is your name?"

A muffled reply came. With a few protests, a sheet peeled from his mouth and allowed him some space to breath. He took a few recovering breaths before replying again. "Kabuto."

"Full name."

The younger took a moment and hesitated by pressing his lips together firmly. "Kabuto Yakushi."

"Hm. Well then Kabuto, would you like to explain why you were eavesdropping?"

The question as no surprise to the prisoner. He resisted an amused smirk at himself and slowly hesitated to answer. At the moment, the ninja was at the mercy of the famed Akatsuki organization. If anything, the odd sensation of several eyes staring at him was almost funny. Kabuto mulled over the question but wasted no more time to answer. "I work for Lord Orochimaru. I wouldn't want to return to him empty-handed now would I?"

Pein lidded his eyes and turned to Sasori expectantly for a brief moment. Sasori in turn blinked for a moment and came to attention.

Kabuto continued. "I'm caught. There's no point in hiding it."

The Akatsuki leader kept his cool gaze onto the boy and made a small look towards the redhead again as he spoke. "Do not worry. You will definitely not be returning empty-handed." Pein turned elsewhere, "Take him away."

Konan nodded and several more papers materialized out of the air. Little struggling came this time, even as Orochimaru's subordinate was wrapped in sheets to appear like a mummy floating in the air. Pein remained indifferent to the surrounding flurry and made his way over to address Sasori who immediately shifted the boy to the ground and stood to face his leader. An acknowledging look passed between the two before Pein spoke. "You know where to find him. From here on, you shall remain to keep tabs on Orochimaru and his activities. I believe Kabuto Yakushi should be able to help you with that."

"I understand." Sasori stated firmly but his expression faltered for a split second.

"Do it tomorrow, and don't forget about the first mission I assigned you." The ginger turned and addressed the rest of the members. "As for the rest of you, I want to see everyone away from here by tomorrow night. Enough has happened and I don't want to have to deal with any curious bystanders. You will kill no one tonight."

"You shouldn't."

"But he can't see without them."

"Exactly why you shouldn't return them."

"What's the big deal? It's just a pair of glasses."

Sasori made an exasperated sigh. Of course, only someone as young and naive as his subordinate would feel completely safe from harm when the enemy was tied up. Sometimes he wondered if the boy even comprehended what a fully-fledged ninja was capable of. Sometimes he wondered if Deidara's head was filled with enough hot air to lift him off the ground and let him float away, well, it wasn't entirely far-fetched.

Deidara fiddled with a pair of glasses, each with a round lens. Sasori sat at the ready inside of Hiruko and lead both of them passed the thick cover of the trees to meet with an old run-down shack just beginning to rot. It was a rumour around the village nearby that the house was haunted, but that only served to make hiding Kabuto an easier task. No regular person would dare go near it, and such a small settlement would hold little interest for passing shinobi.

"Hold them tight. I don't want him swiping them." Sasori swung Hiruko's tail towards the door and pressed it open. A morning light shone inwards and the young prisoner flinched at the sudden flash of brightness in his eyes.

Kabuto blinked in recognition to his visitors before making a more comforted sigh. "I thought...I thought other people found me. I would have been in trouble."

"You're already in pretty deep." Hiruko muttered and approached the other. Deidara came in from behind the lumbering form of the puppet and took a better look at the Akatsuki's guest, earning a surprised look in return.

Sasori allowed the two to regard each other as he rounded to Kabuto's back and got a look at what Konan used to keep him tied. Other than the usual rope, there were white sheets with seals written on them specifically to prevent an escape jutsu. His hands were cupped into a cocoon of white paper.

"Hello there, I'm Kabuto." The young shinobi made a polite nod at the young boy.

The blond narrowed his eyes skeptically and shifted his feet. He didn't like the way that sounded, too nice if anything. Not that Deidara had witnessed any direct acts of aggression made the previous night, but instinct told him the tone was too cheerful to be honest. He pushed his lower lip forward in defiance and fingered the glasses once more.

The prisoner was quick to notice his spectacles in the boy's possession, and immediately leaned against the newly installed wooden beam. Despite the appearance of this old rotted house, not everything in it was rotting.

"Oh, those are my glasses. Could you give them to me?" Kabuto made a warm smile.

Deidara lifted the glasses then paused.

"Don't." Sasori grumbled abruptly and sent the boy to the wall to stand. The silver-haired shinobi smirked and risked a sly glance over to his captor.

"So, who is this boy?" He spoke in a casual tone, but the puppeteer refused to reply, instead rather busy inside Hiruko. Within the puppet, Sasori unscrewed a jar and fished out a tiny spindly object.

Outside, the sun had begun to move higher into the sky and moved the light streaming through the roof. Kabuto flinched slightly at the bright light in his eye and moved again to a more comfortable position. Hiruko remained still for a moment but soon, an order came out. "Deidara, cut the ropes when I tell you to."

"W-what? Cut the ropes?" The boy stammered in surprise, but the Akatsuki remained firm. Hiruko moved closer to their prisoner.

"Cut them from the front. Use the sharpened knives to make it quick."

The subordinate made a nervous step forward but began to doubt his master's commands by coming to a stop just a few feet away from the appalled prisoner. Sasori expected this, since Deidara had never actually seen the process up close. Even back during the boy's first mission with Orochimaru when he was still in cahoots with the Akatsuki, when it came to the time when the puppeteer would attempt another spy, the lighting and cover of the trees would make observing properly difficult.

"Deidara. Do you think I'm wrong?"

The blond blinked again and quickly shook his head. "N-no."

"Then trust me."

He made a hesitant nod and stepped over the prisoner while withdrawing one of his sharpest kunai. In a knelt position, he held the blade right over the rope and sent a wary stare towards his master. Hiruko nodded and lifted a sleeve to the back of the shinobi's neck.

"Now."

In one single slice, the ropes snapped free. Kabuto wasted no time to exploit his newly found freedom and quickly lunged towards the younger, hand charged with a sharp concentration of chakra. Deidara tried to back off but remained within the strike distance. His eyes widened in momentary fear before Kabuto dropped his grin and his face went blank. In slump, the older fell on top of the child motionlessly. Deidara's heart continued to hammer but the realization donned on him that no consciousness remained.

He took a sharp breath and shifted from underneath the body to sit up. The boy noticed as a thin stream of blood trickled from a spot on Kabuto's neck. The small needle hole quickly healed up and the blood stopped flowing, now nothing but a tiny scar.

Deidara slowly stood up. "What happened?"

Sasori didn't answer and allowed the young terrorist to see for himself. It took a few seconds but soon enough, Kabuto's fingers twitched and grasped the floor. Some grunts of confusion emitted from him and soon enough, he recovered from being sprawled on the floor to sit. He made a quick gaze around the room and settled his eyes on the equally puzzled blond who began to pace away. Kabuto didn't have time to question things as a searing pain shot up from the back of his head and he grasped for it, clawing at his hair.

"So you're finally awake?"

Kabuto blinked and whirled around to meet Hiruko's gaze. He fumbled his words and tried to get a grasp of what happened, but nothing seemed to come to light. He didn't know why, but he felt scared of this man, and the young boy in the room was unfamiliar to him. Kabuto continued to make raspy breaths, unable to speak.

Sasori didn't question the reaction. "Your punishment is over. In time, you will resume your position under Orochimaru, but I want to give you a new order this time."

The shinobi considered answering but found himself unable to understand what the old man was talking about. He strained to remember, staring at the floor as he did so until finally something seemed to seep into his brain. Memories, but strange ones that felt familiar. In his mind, he could see a pale-faced man with long dark hair sitting before him in large room filled with several giant capsules. More images popped up depicting torch-lit winding hallways and perhaps his most vivid early memory, a meeting with this same old man. A final scene came to place where he stood before the Akatsuki leader but the vision left as soon as the papers covered his face. The rest of the memory was little more than feeling, as he could not see beyond the mask of sheets.

Kabuto stared at the ground, then lifted his gaze up to the puppeteer. "When will that be?"

"Tonight. Everyone is leaving tonight. However, I would like to make my instructions more clear meanwhile. I will trust that you don't fail to warn us this time."

Deidara watched their prisoner come to a stand and nod. "Yes, Lord Sasori."

"Ah, thank you." Kabuto received his glasses from the boy and put them on, only to raise his eyebrows at the blurry vision and cracked lenses. The entire lens was decorated in finger prints, but he decided not to mention them.

He gazed down the boy just a couple of heads shorter than himself. The blond didn't take the gesture kindly and narrowed his eye suspiciously before turning to sprint back over to Sasori's side.

Kabuto cocked his head slightly and continued to follow the puppeteer down the path. "Lord Sasori?"

The redhead grunted.

"Who's the kid?"

"Just like you, an underling of mine. He's a higher rank though so you're not exactly the same." Sasori explained briefly. Deidara glanced back at the other boy who's gaze quickly dropped to the floor beneath his feet.

"Oh."

Another few minutes passed in silence, nothing but the sounds of morning birds who have returned and some fauna popping up again in the morning. The sun began to rise up to the ten O'clock mark, though slightly late due to the changing season. Summer was coming to its end, just a few weeks away from the beginning of September and the arrival of fall.

"Hello there, I'm Kabuto."

Deidara shivered at the familiar words and turned to meet the other's eyes. They were more honest this time, not a single sign of a lie hidden within them. When he was younger, it was always easier to tell the feelings of another person, but as the blond grew and his mind was stuffed with more materialistic information, that ability began to fade. Deidara had yet to lose this ability though, since it still served some purpose to his survival.

"What's your name?" Kabuto asked kindly.

The boy frowned and mumbled. "Deidara."

Kabuto gazed at the child's headband, noting the trademark slash across the symbol that every rogue who still wore the piece had. "You're from Iwagakure. How old are you?"

Deidara held off his answer and made sure that Sasori wasn't barring the conversation. Hiruko remained contempt, and no gestures were given to suggest it. "Eleven."

"I'm fourteen. I guess we're both kids."

Deidara scoffed and turned the other cheek. It didn't feel right to be speaking so casually with someone he considered lower than himself. No, he wouldn't allow it. This was as far as their talk would go.

Kabuto caught his drift and let the conversation die. Of course, why would anyone want to speak with a failure like he was? Just because he failed to warn the organization of the coming defection of Orochimaru, of course, he had no right to introduce himself to anyone. Perhaps if he wasn't so scared to speak to Sasori, then his punishment would have been avoided.

Morning birds continued to chirp loudly, but their song had begun to stutter to a halt as mid-day arrived. It wasn't so often that he got to enjoy the sounds of the forest, only the sounds of the footfalls of those who so often spied on him.

A/N: Sorry about the late update! I've been more tired than usual lately. I wanted this chapter to be longer but it became hard to write it out from here without presenting another chapter. Hope you guys enjoy! I haven't been able to get the energy to edit this one. I'm a bit tired. Let me sleep.

Please review if you'd like! Nice to meet ya!