Orochimaru had finally quieted down enough that Kabuto could leave him asleep in his bed. Kabuto slipped out of the room, making sure to lock each one he passed through and set a few booby traps along the way. Just in case anyone tried to get in…
"Mizu!"
Kabuto almost tripped over the cat when she began winding around his legs, and he sighed and he realized she wasn't going anywhere. "Come on, Mizu," he prompted. "I need to talk to Kikyou."
So? What makes you think I'm moving?Kabuto sighed. "Come on, baby, I can't leave Orochimaru-sama for long-"
Why are you so attached to that venomous creep? He hasn't done anything but use you in your entire life…
Kabuto slowly shook his head. "No, Mizu," he murmured. "That's not true…at all…Orochimaru-sama is so much more than you see. He's just…hard to understand. And I'm the only one who's been around him long enough to figure him out and grow to love him. And he would have gotten rid of me a long time ago, but he realized that he loved me, as well. We'd been together, side-by-side, for years, and we didn't even know it, but we had grown on each other. And I was really the only one who understood Orochimaru-sama, and he knows that. He also knows that he needs me, for more than keeping him alive every time he steps outside."
He has a habit of getting into trouble, I can tell.
"More like trouble finds him," Kabuto grunted, leaning over and picking up Mizu. The cat yowled in protest, but Kabuto shrugged and began carrying her to Kikyou's room.
"You wouldn't move."
OOOOOOOOO
Kikyou opened the door immediately for Kabuto.
"Hey. How is he?"
"He's okay," Kabuto said. He sounded tired, and Kikyou couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Kabuto handed her a squirming Mizu, and stepped into her room.
"Anyway, I need to talk to you."
"What about?" Kikyou asked, sitting down in an armchair and setting Mizu on her lap. "Sit down," she said, gesturing to the couch across from her. Kabuto nodded and sat down, sighing and leaning back.
"The Akatsuki."
Kikyou shrugged. "What about? I don't know much-"
"Not anymore."
Kikyou gasped and stood up, spilling Mizu onto the floor. "How do you know about that?!"
Kabuto shook his head. "The way you didn't kill Itachi, even though you probably could have-I knew you had an…interesting past, so I did a little research in Orochimaru-sama's mind. He knew you from long ago, but the second he left Akatsuki you ran in. You replaced Orochimaru-sama for a time, but you got kicked out because the Leader thought you were a Jinchuuriki, but he made a mistake. You're weren't the Jinchuuriki; your cat is a Bijuu, and you were the former vessel. You released the demon because she swore she could gain you back your lover-Orochimaru-sama. You were trying to get into Akatsuki for him. And then he left and they said they had an opening, so you rushed in, only to find that Orochimaru-sama was the one who left. You were devastated, but you had to do your job. So you just went along, and then the cat came along and you got kicked out, and you've been wandering around since."
Kikyou's jaw dropped. "H-How…did you find out all this…?!"
Kabuto shrugged. "I used to work for Sasori. And I was in the company of Orochimaru-sama for quite a time. So, using what I knew about Akatsuki, you, your behavior, Mizu and her behavior, and Orochimaru-sama's mind, I put six and six together."
"Six and six?" Kikyou asked, puzzled by this. "Don't you mean 'two and two'?"
"Nope. There was a lot more to find than two and two."
Kikyou shook her head and collapsed back in the chair, covering her face with her hands. "Kabuto, I-I never really…"
"Don't lie to me. You always loved Orochimaru-sama, and still do."
"Wh-what…" Kikyou sighed again. "How much does he know?"
Kabuto shook his head. "He doesn't know much, but I suspect he knows more than he is telling us."
"Sounds like a job for Mizu," Kikyou said.
"Or Kidomaru," Kabuto said dryly. "Spiders are smaller than cats."
Kikyou shrugged. "Do whatever you have to do."
Mizu crawled up to Kabuto, holding a dead spider in her mouth. Kabuto sighed.
"Kidomaru will not be pleased."
Oh, this was his?Kabuto exhaled and put his face n his hands. "I officially hate my life."
Mizu purred and swallowed the spider. Well, Kido-whatever can kiss his spidey-pet goodbye.
Kabuto stood up. "Orochimaru-sama will have woken up by now and is probably panicking. I'll be back."
Kikyou nodded and waited until Kabuto's footsteps had faded to turn to Mizu and say, "It is done. Pack up; we're leaving."
OOOOOOOOOO
Itachi sighed. Where was she? Kikyou had never taken this long before…ever. He only hoped she had been able to fool Kabuto into thinking she was through with Akatsuki. Kikyou was good with that, but so was Kabuto…
"There you are!"
Itachi whipped around. Kikyou stood before him, dressed in a red kimono, Mizu on her shoulder and her katanas crossed on her back. Her armor was probably underneath the kimono; Kikyou had disguised herself likewise many times before.
"Well?"
"It is done."
As Itachi leaned down to kiss her, only one thought was in her mind: Orochimaru, Kabuto…forgive me…
Itachi was her love now, but it didn't mean she had completely given up on Orochimaru. She still wanted to protect him, and so she hadn't killed Orochimaru like she had been told to. She had instead wounded him and told him to keep it quiet and stay on his guard. She had told him kind of what was going on and left him alone with that. Kabuto apparently hadn't figured it out either, but she had done her job, and then some. She deserved a bit of a break.
She leaned into Itachi's kiss, knowing full well she hadn't betrayed anyone by doing so.
But Orochimaru's face, full of hurt and regret, still filled her thoughts.
OOOOOOOOOOO
Kabuto lay with Orochimaru, trying to coax him to go back to sleep. He had woken up when Kabuto had come back in, and Kabuto had wordlessly lay down next to him, pulled him into his arms, and kissed him. Orochimaru was shivering again, leaving Kabuto to wonder what he was thinking. Nightmares again?
The green flecks in Orochimaru's eyes spoke of negative emotions, but soft ones; withdrawn, depressed, or even sad. Orochimaru's submissive nature was beginning to concern Kabuto; if Orochimaru had gotten over the trauma and something else was going on, Kabuto needed to know about it. And if he hadn't gotten over the trauma…well, that could potentially be even worse.
"Are you okay?"
Kabuto knew he wouldn't get what he was looking for; but a hint, maybe.
"Come on, I know something's wrong. You've been increasingly quiet lately, and you always do what you're told. You never offer protest anymore, and you always seem twice as tired at the end of the day. I've been woken up by you screaming in your sleep multiple times, and you always wake up crying-"
"Stop."
Orochimaru sounded so broken Kabuto didn't even know what to think at this point. He felt numb; like there was nothing even there…
"Orochimaru-sama," he tried. Orochimaru just shook his head, leaving Kabuto even more confused than ever.
Orochimaru swung his feet over the side of the bed, grabbed a robe, and stood up, wrapping it loosely around himself.
"I'll be on the roof."
"Give me the knife."
"What knife?"
Kabuto sighed. "Don't go cut yourself."
"Too late."
Kabuto fought the urge to slap him senseless.
"Just give me the frickin' knife already!"
Orochimaru slid into the wall behind him, waving the knife in Kabuto's face. Kabuto sighed. Fine; two could play this game. He took off at a run for the stairs, hoping to catch Orochimaru before the blood started flowing. And then he was going to give him such a hit…
Kabuto saw the trail of blood and sighed. "Orochimaru-sama, I thought you knew I was better than that…" He released the genjutsu and darted up the rest of the stairs, heading for the roof.
Orochimaru sat on the peak, against the curve at the end, a knife resting next to him.
The blade was clean.
Kabuto sighed, walked over to Orochimaru, picked up the knife, and turned it in his hand.
"What did you clean this on?"
Orochimaru held out his arm, showing Kabuto the clean, un-marred skin. Kabuto sighed and slid the knife into his kunai pouch, sat down next to Orochimaru, and examined the pale white skin.
"Cut the genjutsu."
"That was a poor choice of words."
Orochimaru released the genjutsu, and Kabuto groaned when he saw the wounds. "You little-!" He sighed and looked over the rest of Orochimaru's body, keeping his firm grip on Orochimaru's one wrist. The sheer fabric of the kimono Orochimaru had thrown on did nothing to hide the wounds, bandages, and blood, leaving Kabuto to wonder how the hell he got all the wounds. But…only two or three of the were fresh…
"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said slowly. "Where did the rest of these wounds come from?"
Orochimaru drew his knees into his chest, turned his head away, and refused to answer.
"I know I didn't put those there!" Kabuto erupted, suddenly fed up. "Have you seriously been cutting like this for a long time?!"
Orochimaru shook his head. "I-It's not that…"
"Than what is it?!!" Kabuto roared. Orochimaru's eyes lowered, and he suddenly couldn't bring himself to meet Kabuto's gaze. "Why are you doing this?!"
Orochimaru remained silent.
"Answer me!!"Kabuto seized both of Orochimaru's wrists, noticing the flinches of pain as he did so, and yanked Orochimaru up to his face. "Answer me."
Orochimaru looked away. He hated lying to Kabuto, but he couldn't bring himself to tell the truth, either. Kabuto held both of his wrists in one hand, snatched up his hair with the other, and forced him to look into those angry black eyes.
The slap across the face Orochimaru got hurt more than any wound he had ever received, because it was from Kabuto. Kabuto, his companion. Kabuto, his friend. Kabuto, medic. Kabuto, his loyal servant. Kabuto, his lover! Orochimaru forced away the tears that rose to his eyes and leaned over, hoping Kabuto would catch him, if only to show him he still loved him…
Kabuto wrapped his arms around Orochimaru's body, pulling his breath in with short gasps to hold back the sobs that were threatening to overcome him. Orochimaru felt tears overflow and spill out, but at this rate he didn't care.
"Kabuto…"
Kabuto only hushed him, stroking his hair and kissing him, telling him to be quiet, nothing was ever going to happen to him while Kabuto was around…Orochimaru wrapped his arms around Kabuto's neck, knowing he was safe, and let the tears fall.
A/N: Fluff by the truckload…again. But this time, it comes with OOC-ness!! Oh, well…it's cute right? Review, please!