"Megane"
Notes: This was written as a Christmas present for Aishuu, who I was a Secret Santa for. These are two completely unconnected stories about Kabuto. This one takes place shortly after Sasuke (the rat bastard!) arrives at Orochimaru's secret hideout (NO GIRLS ALLOWED!1). Happy holidays, Aishuu!
Disclaimer: Mister Kishimoto is the owner/creator of Naruto, not myself. Other folks own the rights to the publication of the manga and anime, not myself.
"Again," Orochimaru barked from his seat to one side of the practice field, eyes narrowed in a measuring gaze. "And try not to hit him in the face this time."
Kabuto smiled, nodded and tossed off a relaxed, "Yes, sir."
Sasuke panted as he leaned against a wooden training dummy. He wondered, not for the first time, whether this whole thing was a mistake. It was the sixth week after his arrival at Hidden Sound and he'd spent the vast majority of his time getting beat up by Kabuto under the guise of 'training.' Well, at least he was learning to take a fall.
Kabuto came at him before he'd regained his breath, but he dove out of the way as best he could, tucking into a controlled roll before springing back to his feet and darting toward the older man's right flank.
He's left-handed and glasses impede peripheral vision so I should have a better chance if I work from that angle and maybe I won't end up with a faceful of dirt . . .
He ducked under a kunai slash and kicked high enough to knock Kabuto's glasses off. Then, as Sasuke prepared a final strike to the visually-impaired medic, Kabuto kneed him in the side of the head.
Sasuke woke up about twenty minutes later, propped against the training dummy again, a splitting headache blurring his vision. Orochimaru had vanished and Kabuto was holding an ice pack against the boy's temple.
"Guess I hit you a bit hard, there," Kabuto said with a smile that was almost a smirk.
"Asshole," Sasuke muttered.
"Mm," said Kabuto.
They sat in silence for a few more minutes while Sasuke recovered and the ice melted a bit.
"It was a good idea to try the right side," Kabuto finally said.
"Didn't work," mumbled Sasuke.
"Because you underestimated me," Kabuto explained in the dry, instructional tone that Sasuke had quickly learned to despise. It generally preceded a serious ass-kicking, and always followed one. "You haven't been paying enough attention to our matches."
Sasuke sulked.
"First," Kabuto began, "You overestimated my dependency on vision. Second, you thought my peripheral vision was weak and impaired. Third, you thought knocking off my glasses would put me at a disadvantage."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What, your glasses aren't that strong?"
Kabuto pulled his glasses off and carefully slid them onto Sasuke's face.
Sasuke blinked.
"They're just clear glass," Kabuto told him. "No prescription at all."
"You just decided to wear glasses?" Sasuke asked, astonished.
"Well, no, but I fixed my eyes years ago and stopped needing them," Kabuto said, returning his glasses to their proper position. "Body modification's a simple matter to someone with the right sort of training."
Sasuke frowned. "And you're not going to tell me why you still wear the glasses, are you?"
"Figure it out yourself, genius," Kabuto said before he rose to his feet and left the practice field.
Sasuke closed his eyes and readjusted his ice pack. He thought about the way he'd underestimated his opponent so many times, how Naruto had underestimated the man, had been fooled into complacent friendship.
How the lenses magnified the size of Kabuto's eyes, making him look younger, boyish and innocent.
How the glass protected his eyes from simple attacks.
How Kabuto had looked just before walking off, the late-afternoon sun glinting off his glasses was nearly blinding and made it impossible to read the man's facial expressions, impossible to read his next move.
Kabuto had negated Sasuke's Sharingan advantage with two pieces of glass.
Well, shit, thought Sasuke. He stood up, dusted himself off and followed Kabuto.