Authoress: Well, my well-loved reviewers, you can be proud of yourselves. I've decided to continue this into a collection of one-shots involving Orochimaru and Kabuto. You have inspired me. I don't know how many there will be, maybe only these two. But enjoy. I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in this fic.
Oh…and before you even start reading. This is non-yaoi. Regardless of the 'confession' towards the end. It's not meant to be romantic…merely the love of master to servant. It's not unheard of and I know that there must be some element of it between Kabuto and Orochimaru. I tried to keep them in character, I really did. But the whole point of this story is that Orochimaru is acting weird. sigh I'm not sure I'm happy with how this turned out, being that Orochimaru ended up so OOC. It wasn't intentional.
It was peaceful in the morning. Kabuto sat on the porch, staring out into the yard. It was a gorgeous piece of land, really. Not many people would have pegged Orochimaru for the type to appreciate beauty. Then again, he probably didn't care one way or the other; the majesty of the yard had little to do with human interference.
The grass was thick, soft, and at the moment, slick with shimmering golden dew. There were several trees in the yard, each no more than ten feet high. It was late spring, and they were in full blossom. Their sweet-scented white flowers shuddered in the gentle breeze that cooled the unusually warm air.
A soft mewl caught the ninja's attention. He turned to his left, looking at the dish of scraps he always left near the corner of the porch. A thin stray cat stood there, picking hesitantly at the food. Kabuto smiled. This creature was a friend of his, in fact, the reason he put that bowl of food out.
The cat was actually rather large, though fairly scrawny. She was mostly grey, with white on her muzzle, ears, paws, and tail. He hadn't named her, and she didn't seem to mind. On many occasions, the two of them would sit together, watching the sun either rise or set, Kabuto stroking her absently. He even talked to this cat, and she would listen intently, occasionally interjecting an irritated meow when he stopped petting her. After a time, she'd usually get bored and go to chase insects in the yard. And he would watch her contently.
This is exactly what she did now. The cat fairly leapt into the grass and began to roll around, mewling and sighing rather cutely the entire time. She nipped and swatted at grasshoppers, and rubbed her face in the grass.
Suddenly, she yowled in fear and surprise, springing up from the lawn. Her fur stood on end and she bared her sharp little teeth. Kabuto immediately saw why. His friend had inadvertently rolled over onto a massive snake.
His master's pet snake, Ikari. 1
Ikari was a python, about eight feet long, and weighing almost ninety pounds. She was pure black, which was unusual for a snake of her species.
And right now, the python was putting her massive strength to rather sinister use by wrapping her long body around his cat.
Kabuto tensed. He didn't want Ikari to kill his friend, but if he stopped her, he would be denying Orochimaru's pet her dinner. And that would not have very pleasing results.
"Please, Ikari, stop," Kabuto moaned under his breath. He hoped that his feline companion would think to defend herself and claw at the serpent. Then the cat might be able to get away…and it wouldn't be Kabuto's fault. But she did nothing of the sort; only cried helplessly. The white-haired boy chewed his lip nervously.
And then, he heard purring.
He squinted to make sure that his ears had not deceived him. His cat was now purring, and nuzzling Ikari's head enthusiastically. And in her own snaky way, Ikari was returning the affection. What Kabuto had seen to be an attack, meant to kill the cat, was now a gentle hug. The Otonin breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, what did you expect?"
Kabuto whirled around. Orochimaru stood behind him, leaning against the wall of the house. He was smiling pensively out at the animals playing in the yard. His servant tried to position himself into a bow, but Orochimaru dismissed the action with a wave.
"What do you mean, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked after a short pause. His master chuckled, and in one swift motion, sat down next to him.
"You mean you don't know the story?"
"No, sir. I'm afraid I don't."
"Ah, then I have failed as a teacher. For a child such as you, learning from a man such as I, should know the story of the cat and the snake by heart," Orochimaru sighed half-jokingly.
He suddenly tapped the ground with his foot, a signal to his pet. 2 Ikari obviously understood, for she slithered over to the two of them with surprising speed. Orochimaru lifted her up easily and slung her around his shoulders. Ikari turned toward Kabuto, her tongue flickering in and out, eyes cold and unblinking. He swallowed hard, trying not to look frightened.
It was odd that someone who could have lived with Orochimaru for so long could possibly have any uneasiness about snakes. In fact, it seemed almost ridiculous. Well, Kabuto was not exactly afraid of snakes, per se. He was simply intelligent enough to recognize how dangerous they could be.
Yes. That was what he kept telling himself about Orochimaru, too.
"She wouldn't hurt your cat, Kabuto. And," he added with a sly smile, "she wouldn't harm you, either."
"Ah…yes…of course, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied anxiously. He was mortified that the other man had seen his fear so easily. Orochimaru must have considered it some sort of insult that Kabuto was frightened of such an animal.
"Kabuto, are you…afraid of Ikari?" His voice was eerily tender, almost a croon. The younger man shifted uncomfortably.
"N-no, sir. No. I merely…I merely acknowledge her power and strength." Kabuto could only pray that this response satisfied his master.
It seemed to, as Orochimaru laughed quietly. He pulled the snake away from his servant, and kissed her head softly.
"Yes, you aren't stupid, Kabuto. I should have known your reasons…" he paused, "But enough of that. Who is your little friend over there?"
"Well, she…I guess she doesn't have a name. She's a stray. And I put food out for her. I don't think she's around every day…but I check for her. When she is here…I sit and pet her…" he trailed off, feeling that he was sounding increasingly childish.
"You know, if you feed a stray cat, it will never leave you alone," Orochimaru chided. Kabuto said nothing, but hung his head, embarrassed.
"I'm only teasing you, Kabuto. My, you've been rather nervous lately. Is something wrong?"
Orochimaru was being unusually kind. And this, oddly enough, bothered Kabuto to no end. In fact, one might say that it was driving him insane.
"I've only been acting so weird because you've been acting weird, Orochimaru-sama! You aren't at all like yourself, lately. And I don't know what's going on!" Kabuto yelled suddenly. Orochimaru looked vaguely surprised at his outburst.
"…And how, exactly, have I been acting 'weird?'" Orochimaru's voice was somewhat colder than it had been. Kabuto was silent, and he regretted even speaking.
"I'm waiting for an answer, Kabuto."
"I…I…you've just been acting so…benevolent. And I-"
"So for in turn for my kindness, I receive distrust?" his master snapped. Kabuto chanced a fleeting look at Orochimaru. He was furious. His hands were clenched into tight fists, and his fangs were bared.
Kabuto sighed internally. He'd angered Orochimaru. That didn't happen particularly often, and with good reason. When he was young, he had gotten mouthy with his master.
Orochimaru didn't have particularly good self-control when he was mad.
And Kabuto had the scars to prove it.
On top of that, he tended to hold grudges for quite a while. So it was best to patch things up soon, before they got out of hand.
"Orochimaru-sama, sir…please listen to me for a minute. I…I only asked because…well…think of it this way. If the Konoha shinobi just decided to start emphasizing upper body training, you'd want to know why. It may just be that they have discovered weakness in that area. Or they might have some new weapon or fighting style that requires more strength in the arms and shoulders. The point is, you'd want to know the reason for the change in behavior, so that you can be prepared in battle with them." He said all of this quietly, not making eye contact.
There was a long, and rather painful pause. Then his master responded.
"That was a horrible metaphor," Orochimaru snorted, but he was giggling as he said it. Kabuto was relieved. He'd gotten him to laugh. That was a huge step in the right direction.
"And it wasn't very accurate, I suppose. But, sir, the basic idea was-"
"-the natural and irrepressible desire to know 'why?'" Orochimaru finished. The other nodded, meekly looking up at his master. The older man's anger had faded rather quickly, and he seemed preoccupied.
"I have…been acting 'weird' as of late, because…I have been thinking. About loyalty." Kabuto was silent, patiently waiting for Orochimaru's next words.
"And how such devotion has to go both ways, or it cannot exist at all. Sandaime was never loyal to me, he never fully trusted me. Look what happened. I ended up betraying him. Perhaps if my master had given me a chance, I'd still be in Konoha." What Orochimaru was saying made perfect sense to Kabuto. And it was obvious that this had been worrying him for a while now.
"So…to prevent…what happened with Sandaime…I have been…trying to show my loyalty to you, Kabuto," he offered softly, paused for a time, and then continued, "Faithfulness has many different aspects. It includes not only an unwillingness to betray or abandon the person you are loyal to…but…" Orochimaru trailed off, smiling and biting his lip.
"What is it, sir?" Kabuto asked, not letting his impatience show in his voice.
"I can scarcely believe that these words are coming out of my mouth. What I am about to say is quite uncharacteristic of me. And if repeated to anyone, will result in the painful death of a certain half-blind minion," he added ominously.
And what bothered Kabuto more than anything was that he was completely serious.
"Loyalty involves love. And I wanted to show you…that I love you, Kabuto," Orochimaru stated surprisingly easily. The words in and of themselves were such a contradiction to his earlier threats; it was no wonder Kabuto was confused.
Kabuto openly stared at his master. One word echoed over and over in his mind.
What?
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow.
"You know what I mean, Kabuto." And the boy did. Yet, this didn't really soften the utter shock of hearing Orochimaru say what he just had.
"I know, sir. I know. And…and, Orochimaru-sama, I love you, too," Kabuto said quietly, shell-shocked, but sincere. Orochimaru smiled.
The two sat in silence, watching the sun rise into the sky. It would be a warm day, sunny and bright. They were master and servant, but so much more at the same time. They were renegades, perhaps, and that would never change. They had been brought together unwillingly, but coexisted peacefully.
Orochimaru and Kabuto were a team.
And they were also friends.
Authoress: Well…I didn't even get to the story of the cat and the snake.
Okay, okay, I'm sorry if this was overly WAFF-y (Warm And Fuzzy Feelings). I tried to keep them in character. But they wouldn't listen. This entire fanfic just sort of did its own thing. My original intentions were shot after Oro said he was teasing Kabuto.
I have this really bad habit of not keeping people in character and making fanfics overly WAFF-y. And both of these bad habits reared their ugly heads in this chapter. I did what I could to stop them. But it just didn't work out.
Maybe it's not as bad as I'm thinking. Well, this is it, and think what you may.
1 Ikari is Japanese for "wrath" in case you care where that came from.
2 Snakes are completely deaf. So it would be pointless for Orochimaru to call the snake over to him. They feel vibrations through the ground as their hearing, which is why he stomped his foot.
