"Kabuto?"
"Mm?"
"Why did you come after me…?"
Kabuto exhaled slowly. It was like trying to explain death to a six-year-old; difficult, touchy, and it was like walking on eggshells. One word could destroy everything, but you still had to get the message across. "I care about you," he murmured. "I know it sounds corny, but I love you, and I can't watch you do this to yourself. I feel every ounce of your pain, and I just can't let you do this."
Orochimaru knew someone was coming; a snake wound insistently around his legs, dry, forked tongue flickering out and brushing against his leg. Orochimaru reached down, not lifting his face from Kabuto's shoulder, picked up the snake, and set it down away from his legs. The snake hissed in anger and began pestering Kabuto, winding around his legs and threatening to pull him off balance.
"Oh, you try to hurt me, but you only lick Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto said, annoyed. "What is it?"
"Someone's coming," Orochimaru supplied. Kabuto sighed.
"Of course. Anyway, what do you want to do?"
"Disappear forever."
Kabuto smiled and gently seated Orochimaru behind him, against the up-curve of the roof. He pulled out a spare roll of bandages and began wrapping the fresh wounds, using healing chakra for the ones that had turned into ugly purple bruises and scars across Orochimaru's pale white skin.
"Orochimaru-sama…" Kabuto began. This was one of the most delicate situations he'd ever been in with Orochimaru, and he had to choose his words carefully. If not, he wouldn't be able to get what he wanted from Orochimaru. "I need to know where the rest of these marks came from. Has someone been abusing you? Has someone been hurting you? Or are you doing this yourself?"
Orochimaru shook his head and looked away, uncomfortable. Kabuto slid one hand under Orochimaru's chin and gently turned his head back to him.
"Come on, don't make me go through this again," he murmured, placing a soft kiss on Orochimaru's cheek. "I don't want to hurt you…"
"What happened?!"
Kabuto sighed. "It seems Oto-kun doesn't lie…anyway, nothing you need to know about."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Talk, little vermin," he snapped, digging his foot into Kabuto's side. "I know something happened after you tore up here and ignored me the whole way…"
"Sasuke, you never even crossed my path," Kabuto grunted, shoving away Sasuke's offending foot. "Now, if you don't mind, your foot is between my ribs."
Sasuke sighed and gave Kabuto a swift kick before stepping back a bit and repeating, "So, what did you to him?"
"Me?!" Kabuto was more than offended at this; especially since it was a well-known fact that he and Orochimaru were close. "How dare you, you little-?!"
"Kabuto, language."
Kabuto stopped at Orochimaru's quiet words. Sasuke breezed past him, crouched down next to Orochimaru, and forced the sannin to look at him. There was a swift and powerful snap as Orochimaru closed his jaws, lashing out at Sasuke. Kabuto slid his hand behind Orochimaru's teeth and forced his jaws apart, the other hand effectively restraining Orochimaru. Kabuto sighed; he could see the venom dripping from Orochimaru's fangs, and reached back behind him for the roll of bandages he had put down. He tore off a piece and dried the venom, then released Orochimaru's jaws. Orochimaru looked fairly annoyed, and Kabuto could see why.
"I couldn't let you swallow that," he said easily, swinging his leg over Orochimaru's hips, where he had been sitting. "Even you aren't completely immune to it, although you do have an incredible tolerance for it…if you swallow that much that I couldn't get, the only thing you should do is throw up."
Orochimaru sighed. "Well, then, let's get this over with."
"No," Kabuto said firmly. "If you force yourself it won't help anything. It'll just confuse your body, since the poison might still be in your body. I wanted a sample of your venom as well, so maybe this wasn't a bad thing…"
Kabuto turned to Sasuke, who was lying a few feet away from where Kabuto had knocked him out of the way. "Did he get you?"
Sasuke shook his head, then nodded and held out his wrist. There was a small scratch across the skin, oozing blood and already beginning to fester. Kabuto sighed and slit the wound open again, letting the blood drain out until the blood ran clear.
"That's a nice bit of venom," Kabuto commented, closing the wound. "He barely got any in, and already it looked like an hour's work…"
Sasuke gave Orochimaru a death glare. "And what if he got the full bite in?"
Kabuto shrugged. "Even with the anti-venom, and a very large dose, you might not make it."
Sasuke's eyes widened. "That's nasty. How do I know if he's biting dry or not?"
"You don't."
"So if he bites…?"
"Get the hell out of his way. But the good news is, he rarely bites. I don't know why he tried to bite you…"
"I bit him 'cuz I felt like it," Orochimaru mumbled.
"Translation: he felt threatened, so he lashed out."
"Translation: get the hell off this roof and go home!"
Sasuke sighed. "I want to know what happened to him!!" he whined. "He's getting all these cuts, and I know I didn't put them there!"
Kabuto sighed. Lying was easy enough for him; it was lying to the Sharingan that bothered him. Could Sasuke see through it because of his red eyes? The very ones that Orochimaru treasured so much could also mean so much trouble…but Kabuto was going to try anyway. He'd lied to Orochimaru before and gotten away with it…"I push him far harder than you do when we train. I don't think he's come back with a scratch after a spar with you, and that's why he insists on training with me as well. And, fortunately for both of us, I just push him harder than you do."
"Or you bit him during your hot sex," Sasuke snapped. "What's really been going on? I know you two are lovers, but these don't look like lovers' marks on each other…and you don't have any wounds at all. I know can control your ability to heal, and I think if Orochimaru was wounded, he'd want you to share his fate-"
Kabuto's hands curled into fists at his sides. "Sasuke, I am currently restraining one monster of an urge to knock you senseless and right off this roof, so watch what you say. Because the next thing you know, I will let loose this poisonous snake, and I will be able to sleep just fine at night when I walk away from you and absolutely refuse to even try to save you. I can gauge out your eyes before they are poisoned and give them to Orochimaru-sama; that does not bother me at all."
Sasuke's mouth had opened and closed several times during Kabuto's outburst, and now he seemed to darken several thousand shades of red before sputtering, "Why you…insolent, disgusting, dirty, fucking, little…child!"
Kabuto grinned and stepped aside, revealing a barrier jutsu, and a very angry Orochimaru. "I thought I could handle this, but apparently not. I will let him go."
Sasuke seemed to think twice; he could see Orochimaru's deadly fangs growing longer, prepared to bite and kill. "Three…" Sasuke stepped back, but still did not turn around. "Two…" Sasuke was having second thoughts, staring into those wild golden eyes. "One." The barrier dropped, and Orochimaru was suddenly charging at Sasuke with a vengeance to kill. Sasuke paled considerably from his beet-red of only seconds ago, turned tail, and ran.
"Sit!!"
Kabuto forced Orochimaru down to the ground with his entire weight fingers digging into the pressure points on the back of Orochimaru's neck, producing a startled yelp. Kabuto could see Sasuke visibly falter and turn halfway.
"Keep running or I let him go!"
Sasuke's pace picked up, and when he was gone from sight, Orochimaru seemed to relax a bit. Kabuto released the painful pressure points and pulled Orochimaru to his feet.
"Bad boy," he scolded teasingly. "You're supposed to stop when I say sit!"
Orochimaru slipped into Kabuto's arms, seemingly exhausted. Kabuto smiled, and looked up. The footsteps he heard had better not be Sasuke's…
An older man bolted up the steps, seemingly very concerned. Orochimaru slowly pulled away from Kabuto, but let his hands linger in Kabuto's. "It's only Kenshin."
The old man stopped by Orochimaru. "What happened?! Sasuke came tearing down the stairs like a devil-"
"Fleeing a holy man," Orochimaru finished. Kabuto noticed a small smile playing across Orochimaru's lips and felt one touch his own. "Yes, let's just Sasuke-kun is now very well-acquainted with my lovely venom…"
Kenshin's black eyes widened. "You bit him?!"
"Close," Kabuto said. "And he got a scratch from it, so I had to bleed him."
"Lovely," Kenshin muttered. "Well, Orochimaru was always like that. I knew him in diapers: he always did have a problem with putting things into his mouth."
Kabuto smiled. "That makes you around seventy, doesn't it?"
"Aye, sharp little mind, that it does. And this little fiend over here-" he placed his hand on Orochimaru's black hair. "What kind of mischief has he caused now?"
Kabuto's grin spread even further. The only reason Kenshin was allowed to talk that way to Orochimaru was that he spoke the truth when he said he knew Orochimaru in diapers. He had quite a few stories in his arsenal, many of which Orochimaru found less than flattering. But Orochimaru still threatened to give the old man a good knock on the head now and then, but it didn't mean he was above sentiment for Kabuto's adopted grandfather. Kenshin was the kind of person everyone liked: outgoing, positive, and understanding. He was Kabuto's teacher when he first came to Otoga, and Kabuto loved him almost as much as he loved Orochimaru.
Orochimaru shrugged off Kenshin's hand and settled against Kabuto's shoulder again. Kabuto sighed and slid his arms around the sannin's shoulders and legs, easily picking him up. Orochimaru squirmed a bit in protest, but Kabuto stilled his movement and began carrying him away, motioning for Kenshin to follow. The old medic began walking after Kabuto, a slight limp evident from his old age and a foot problem from long ago.
"Old bones feeling a bit achy, huh?"
Kenshin nodded. "Yes, I think it's going to rain…"
"It's been looking overcast for a while, and Orochimaru-sama's tired too…"
"He was always like that…he seemed to tire out a bit more when it was going to be a really bad storm. Oh, I hope this one isn't as bad as the last one: Orochimaru was so wiped out he slept all day!"
Kabuto smiled. Kenshin was a master storyteller, but occasionally his stories were a bit exaggerated…
"Anyway, it better not rain on Tuesday," Kenshin was saying. "I'm going on a trip, and I hope I'm not achy."
"Where are you going?"
Kenshin shrugged. "My idea of a vacation: the beach."
Kabuto smiled. "How far?"
"Actually, it's only a few miles from here," Kenshin replied, pushing a door open for Kabuto. "So I'm heading down to the Land of Waves."
Kabuto nodded. "I always did like that place; it was quiet, a bit secluded, and nothing really happened…"
Kenshin smiled. "Every time this little bundle of testosterone tells me to retire I whack him on the head. I keep hoping it'll knock some sense in." Kenshin winked at Kabuto, and the teen grinned, stuffing down laughter for Orochimaru's sake.
"Go ahead and laugh," Orochimaru mumbled. "I don't care anymore."
Kabuto grinned. "No, I'll probably drop you. And I know you won't like that."
Orochimaru groaned. "Do I ever win?"
Kenshin pushed open Orochimaru's bedroom door and Kabuto headed straight for the bed. "I'm going to let him sleep," he called back to Kenshin. "You can go ahead and do whatever you need to do." Kenshin nodded.
"Thanks, Kabuto. Take care of our little bundle of testosterone!"
Kabuto grinned and laid Orochimaru down on the bed. "I will!" he called back. He sharply turned to Orochimaru the second the door was closed. "Where are all those wounds from?" he whispered, leaning over and gently kissing Orochimaru. Orochimaru shook his head.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Someone's been abusing you. And you're cowing down to them, because you're afraid they'll betray you."
Orochimaru shook his head. "No, that's not it at all-"
"Don't lie to me."
Kabuto's voice shook with anger, impatience, and even concern as he scolded Orochimaru. "I know you, Orochimaru-sama. Or at least, I know your body. So, let's see if you're lying…"
Before Orochimaru could stop him, Kabuto thrust his hands around to the back of Orochimaru's neck, gently pressing down on the hollow between veins. "Now, tell me that again," he purred. "Tell me that again, right to my face, and I'll tell you if you're lying or not."
"W-What are you doing?"
"Your temperature rises slightly when you lie. No one else I know has this-but you do. I've noticed this during medical procedures with you-you tend to lie about certain things, like how many hours a day you spend training, or how much sleep you get, or even where scars came from. And I've been close to you, sometimes even taking a temperature reading-with my chakra. With any typical medical instrument, nothing would show up as a change-but the chakra reading is precise enough to see the change. And there, Orochimaru-sama, is your trigger. Everyone has one, even me, but I'm so good at hiding it that I can even lie to the Sharingan without batting an eye. You can as well, but you don't need to as often, so it took me a while to figure you out. I can give you decent credit for this one: it took me forever. So, tell me that one more time, and we'll see if you're lying or not."
Orochimaru felt the chakra against his neck-
-and panicked.
He felt his entire body start to sweat, and his breathing picked up considerably. Kabuto felt Orochimaru's pulse racing underneath his hands, and suddenly realized what was happening.
"Someone's threatening your life."
Orochimaru felt a whimper slide from his throat, and mentally cursed himself for his weakness. But it still couldn't change the fact that Kabuto had figured out what was going on, and also that he was…
He was actually afraid of Kabuto now.
A dry sob escaped his throat, and Kabuto pulled back, aware of Orochimaru's fear. He felt the trembling between his legs, in Orochimaru's chest, over which he was holding himself. He backed off, and Orochimaru almost immediately skittered away, backing up into a corner and sliding down onto his haunches. And as he did, Kabuto noticed the twinges of pain coming from Orochimaru. Realization hit him like a brick, and he gasped and released the chakra in his hands.
"You've been raped…"
A/N: Well, I updated this out of the kindness of my heart. Despite the fact that there was no review…I'm really going to start cracking down on people who have my story on alert or favorite or something and haven't reviewed. I usually wouldn't get so worked up about it, but it's really starting to piss me off. So! Review, or I won't update. Simple as that. I'm only asking for one review per chapter. Not hard people, especially with everyone who reads this! I check hits!!!