Title: Inhuman

Author: Fenikkusu Ai

Rating: T

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Kabuto, Orochimaru, Sasuke, Ibiki, OC

Words: 1,790

Genre: Suspense/Hurt/Comfort

Summary: What had Misaki done to be locked away? The man with the glasses wouldn't tell her, the sullen youth doesn't want to get involved, and the man with the sweep of dark hair sent chills down her spine. Amnesia. Kabuto x OC x Orochimaru.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Madara lounged easily in a chair. Then again, everything he did was full of finesse. Kabuto couldn't help but notice. He would have to have been blind. But now, his eyesight had never been better.

"So...what is special about this Misaki?"

Kabuto hadn't expected the question. In truth, his mind blanked for a moment.

Her?" he scoffed. "Why ask? She's nothing. There's nothing special about her."

Kabuto waited for him to speak, but the masked man remained quiet. He...actually wanted to hear more about his views. Interesting.

"She's a pawn of anyone who is more powerful than her. A sacrifice. She has no strength or chakras of her own. She's not even worth mentioning."

Kabuto grew hot under his hood. Just talking about her strained his mind.

"Yet, she's still alive," Madara smoothly countered. "The Leaf cares about her. Perhaps she is a diamond in the rough that just needs to be sanded and polished to her former glory."

If Misaki ever had any glory. Kabuto had his doubts.

"I am so tired of hearing about this subject," Kabuto groused.

Then again, Madara's velvety voice could make anyone believed what he said. Gradually, Kabuto grew hot for another reason.

"It's just strategic, you know. She is where all the pieces touch. Should we ever grab hold of her, everything that she has would become ours."

Kabuto digested this silently. Perhaps this Madara could see Orochimaru's original strategy. Still, Kabuto had his own strategy, his own life, and Morino Misaki didn't factor into it. She couldn't even remember her own surname when she had been brought in to the cells. Just Mori as opposed to Morino.

"So, any sparks?"

Madara's voice was casual, and Kabuto knew that he was staring right at him.

"As if. I require no romance." Kabuto's temper flickered before it vanished once again.

Madara chuckled. "I'm sure."

Kabuto had never felt the stir of romance although he had once felt a sense of love and loyalty towards his adoptive mother, Yakushi Nono. Nono had also been a spy like Kabuto himself. As for Misaki, well, she wasn't a very good one.

He wondered if the masked man had ever been loved. Had he been born this inhuman? Somehow, Kabuto found that attractive.

"By the way, How do you know so much about the wench?"

Madara thought about his words a moment. "Let's just say, The cat's out of the bag just about and everyone knows who has been spying for the Sound."

Kabuto liked this already. Why was he not surprised?

"Oh? Is she behind bars?"

Kabuto sincerely hoped that she was for her safety as well as others.

"She was walking free the last time I saw her," Madara admitted.

Damned lenient Leaf. They had too much heart for their own good.

Kabuto wasn't privy to Misaki thoughts, but wherever she was, she should pray that their paths never crossed again.

After all, Orochimaru wouldn't be there to protect her.

The cat mewed in her arms, but at least, it didn't object to being held. It was the second cat Misaki had found. This one was pure white and the other had been a gray tabby cat. She had reunited it with its owner, an elderly man. He had been beyond thankful.

It seemed that the people of Konoha lost a lot of animals regularly, especially if the ninjas that owned them were unexpectedly killed on a mission. The pets were innocent. They didn't know about the evils of the world.

Still, when it came to animals, Misaki preferred cats to dogs. They were fluffy, purred in one's arms, and were more accepting. Dogs were...aggressive. Territorial.

Once in a while, Misaki saw the others race past in their traveling cloaks. Naruto and Sakura were among them. Team members in name only indeed. They didn't call out to her nor notice her. Then again, Misaki wasn't an official ninja, so she wasn't important. Expendable.

The reason was because of Sasuke: Uchiha Sasuke was on the move. Sometimes, Misaki blamed him for her downfall. The Kabuto from "that night" had possessed the Sharingan though no one believed her. His eyes had burned like embers, and Misaki had lost herself inside them until the ANBU Black Ops had arrived. If Sasuke was the last remaining Uchiha, who else could it have been? Itachi?

Like Kabuto, Sasuke had never appeared to care for her presence. Perhaps Sasuke even knew that she was a spy for Orochimaru and wanted to eliminate her as well. It remained a possibility that he had even followed her to Konoha to do it although she would even have to admit herself that killing her would have been even easier.

As for death, it was a constant visitor. Jiraya had been recently killed. Naruto had been close to tears when he had delivered the news. Later, Naruto disappeared with Kakashi to drown in a bowl of ramen. Misaki had had no words to offer.

Jiraya had seemed like a nice man to Misaki. He was more loving than lewd, and he had been Naruto's sensei. His father figure.

Misaki was aware that she too could be killed any day. She was no longer a spy, and Orochimaru could no longer protect her.

In any event, the Leaf was Misaki's home now despite the disquiet in her heart. It occurred to her to visit her uncle, but she was well aware that he probably wouldn't agree to see her.

Ibiki was on Misaki's mind a lot lately to the point of nightmares. She dreamed that he strapped her into a bald wooden chair and cutting her face groove after groove until she had deep scars like him. Though she was certain that he wouldn't. Not out of sheer vengeance. Still, Misaki couldn't help but feel fearful. Her subconscious had tried to warn her before.

Occasionally, Misaki would walk in front of T & I just out of sight of the ANBU operatives and interrogators milling around outside. She didn't want to be recognized or taken in for questioning again.

She always walked away from the site feeling ashamed. She knew that she had blown it with her one and only surviving family member. Though she was close to Anko, Naruto, and Sakura, it wasn't the same as a blood tie.

Misaki couldn't help but feel that this had all been for nothing. Maybe it had made more sense to stay in the Sound even though with Orochimaru's death she didn't know where she would have eventually ended up. What had happened to the prisoners? Had they been killed? Or...released? Knowing Kabuto, it could have been the former. Human life could be quite disposable.

At times, she wondered how long she could stay here before she would begin to form thoughts of running away. She could always return to the Kusagakure, yet, her restored memories confirmed that they were a rather solitary family. No one probably noticed her or that her parents were gone. What would she return to? An empty cottage surrounded by a lonely grassy plain?

"Hey, you're that new girl. Misaki, right?" The speaker approached her.

Misaki recognized the pale youth who approached her as Sai. It had been some time before she had seen him. Before...the incident.

She knew that he was in the ANBU, specifically ROOT. No one knew what ROOT did behind the scenes. Could it be more terrible than what had happened to her in the cells?

"You probably don't remember, but I found you. Sakura and I."

So far, Sai hadn't mention her discretions, and his dark eyes were kind and soft. She appreciated whenever someone didn't teat her like a criminal. Still, Misaki eventually wanted to be seen as a whole person rather than a homeless stray, but she supposed that she was asking for too much.

Suddenly, a question bloomed on her tongue. If she asked her question now, it would stop haunting her mind.

Misaki bit her lips. "Do you ever see Ibiki?"

"I work under Lord Danzo, so I don't see much of Ibiki-sama. I'm sorry," Sai apologized.

Misaki swore that the earth fell away from here at the mention of that name. She well remembered Danzo and the fact that he didn't like her. Still, she couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him and his bandaged face. Danzo was old and could barely walk. He had obviously known some of life's disappointments. He was still human.

"Well, if you see him..."

"Tell him that I'm sorry..."

The words wouldn't come out, and Sai was staring at her. When had she become so skittish?

Misaki straightened up. "Just tell him that I want to see him."

"It's almost time," Pein intoned.

He looked away then; a huge shape in the teeming shadows. A flash of lightning illuminated the row of piercings that marched down down the bridge of his nose.

Konan listened to the whispering of rain on the cold stone buildings below.

Sometimes, when she looked at Pein, Konan still thought that was her Yahiko was still alive. The heart never did understand reality. Yet, Yahiko was dead and what stood in front of her now was a corpse that neither ate nor breathed. It only had an illusion of life. It was Nagato who controlled Pein's actions and words from the interior of a hollow tree.

Though, it wasn't proper for her to linger in the past. Konan knew that she needed to concentrate on the future.

Nagato was the only Shinobi that was fit to carry the world's pain; she could see why the Rinnegan had chosen him. He had always been such a sensitive person.

Still, Konan felt a tinge of blue regret that he had killed their former sensei. But, no matter. Nagato-Pein-did what had to be done.

Konan had always been aware that she could design her life like paper though not all designs were of her choosing. The masked figure named Madara came to mind. She wondered if that made her weak.

But, no. She couldn't think about that now. Her path to paradise was set. She had found a precious unification of strength in the purpose of the Akatsuki. It was her home. As Pein was destined to be the only light in a war-stricken world, it was her destiny to be his messenger. She would be the rain to his sunlight. Together, they would create a rainbow.

There was no better purpose to serve. No other role for her. Without the Akatsuki, she would just be a piece of paper cast adrift in the ocean.