A/N: I know, I know: it's very late. But, I finally got the review I wanted-thank you very much. And so, the next chapter shall commence!!

Orochimaru was shivering as Kabuto approached again; the trauma was piling on, and this person who was after his obedience was taking swift advantage of that. Kabuto seemed stunned to see him like this; was this why Orochimaru had been acting so strangely for a while?

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto murmured, crouching down in front of the sannin. "You need to tell me what's happening."

Orochimaru looked away, unable to bring his golden eyes to Kabuto's black ones. "No I don't," he said bitterly, and Kabuto sighed. He should have expected Orochimaru to be like this; pain made people lash out. Taking it slower meant relief from the pain came slower, but it might be the only way Orochimaru was willing to either tell Kabuto what was going on or show him.

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said softly. He reached out, putting his arms around the snake ninja and pulling him into his chest. All the protest Orochimaru offered was a weak mewl of uncertainty.

"Come on," Kabuto continued, placing a soft kiss on Orochimaru's lips. "Don't shut me out; let me help you. You don't have to do it all alone anymore; I'm here for you. Talk to me."

Orochimaru seemed more than reluctant to do so.

"At least tell me who's doing this to you," Kabuto sighed. He began running his fingers through Orochimaru's silky black hair in a calming motion. If Orochimaru panicked again, Kabuto wasn't sure what the outcome would be. A snake moved either lightning fast or dramatically slow; and at the moment, Orochimaru could do either.

Kabuto sighed. "Come on," he repeated, running his hand down Orochimaru's jaw. "It's not hard; just a name. That's all I'm asking for. I need to know at least who's doing this to you."

Orochimaru exhaled. He hoped he wouldn't be found out…if he was, he would surely be killed…

"Itachi…has been coming back…"

Kabuto felt his jaw drop. "How has he been getting past me; past all the Otoga ANBU I have guarding you?!"Orochimaru shook his head. "Kikyou told me; before she left…she's with him, Kabuto…she's been with Itachi since I left Akatsuki. You…you figured it out, she told me…so she was leaving."

Kabuto put his face in his hands. "All right. Since she's gone now, I should be able to keep Itachi out…but Orochimaru-sama, why didn't you tell me?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "H-He told me…if I ever told anyone…he would kill me…"

Kabuto exhaled all the breath he could, breathing out all his anger to avoid taking it out on Orochimaru. "All right. Here's what we do: I'm going to have to stay very, very close to you for a while; at least until we know Itachi isn't coming back. And then I can kind of back off a bit. Or, we can simply change bases, and leave this one. Or we go with option three: someone else Henges into you, and then they fight off Itachi."

Orochimaru nodded. "Let's just go. If he finds us, we can either take his body or set Sasuke loose on him."

Kabuto grinned. "Yeah, like Sasuke would even make a dent." He stood up, bent over again, and took both of Orochimaru's hands in his own. "Up." Orochimaru let Kabuto pull him up, although he made no effort to pick himself up. Kabuto sighed as he hauled Orochimaru to his feet, then stepped back, letting the sannin find his balance on his own.

"Well, should we start packing?"

OOOOOOOOO

Itachi thought Orochimaru was dead.

But Orochimaru didn't know, so he would probably change locations or something like that…more likely Kabuto's idea. Orochimaru probably wasn't even thinking straight lately. She had heard Itachi's idea of "fun" with Orochimaru, and she deeply regretted not stepping in and stopping him the fourth time…but Orochimaru was safe, at least for the time being, and Itachi wasn't going to make a move for a while-

"The ring!!"Kikyou and Itachi both stopped abruptly; Kikyou because Itachi had, Itachi because he had just remembered something.

"The ring Orochimaru took from Akatsuki?" Kikyou questioned. "I got it." Her face spread into a ghoulish grin, and she produced a (completely fake) Akatsuki ring. She had made a copy with the clay and metal Kabuto had provided her with. A special chemical solution she had snuck out of his lab with the clay and metal could replicate the "glowing" chakra properties of the original ring, and a bit of tainted glass and some paint took care of the "Sora" symbol on the surface of the ring. Hopefully Itachi would fall for it…

Itachi took it from her, examining it closely, turning it back and forth. Finally, he let out a sigh of relief and tucked the ring into his shuriken holster. "God, that was scary…"

Kikyou smiled. Deep down, the insane murderer was just a teenager…

"What would you do without me, right?" she teased, giving him a very swift kiss: another tease. Itachi smiled and returned the favor, then pulled her after him as they bolted through the woods, heading for the Akatsuki headquarters.

OOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru was stubborn.

Kabuto had told him time and again that he could supervise the rapid pick-up-and-leave-in-a-moment's-notice move, but Orochimaru obstinately refused to leave until every single chemical had been wrapped and stuck in a box-and then there were the rest of the ninja-every single one of them had to pick up and leave immediately. Kabuto had been running around all morning, alternating between telling Orochimaru to go do something productive and yelling at people who were trying to move his bottled experiments. Orochimaru seemed constantly worried, but Kabuto seemed worried about…well, everything.

"Kabuto, shouldn't you be doing something other than yelling at me?" Orochimaru snapped as Kabuto came back to him the fifth time to tell him to "go do something productive or I'll physically pick you up and move you myself!"

Kabuto sighed. "Six seconds. By the time I get back from telling Jiroubou to stop eating and start helping, you had better be packing your things or else I'll-"

Orochimaru halted Kabuto's lecture entirely, pressing his lips to Kabuto's and effectively silencing the genin. After a moment of shock, Kabuto seemed to melt in Orochimaru's arms and gladly returned the kiss.

At last, Orochimaru pulled back to properly breath.

"Thank you," Kabuto whispered. Orochimaru smiled, snaking his hand s around Kabuto's lower back and pulling the silver-haired ninja even closer to him.

"You are more than welcome. Trust me, I can't let you get started."

Kabuto rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around Orochimaru's neck. They were alone the room at the time, one of Kabuto's labs, but someone was sure to round the corner any second now-

"Orochimaru-sama, not here-"

Orochimaru nodded and released Kabuto, and both stepped back a bit. "Later," Kabuto promised. "I-I guess I should meet you in your room…?"

Orochimaru shrugged. "Whenever you feel like it."

Kabuto nodded. "I'll be up in a few minutes…"

Orochimaru turned and slipped away, merging with the cold stone walls of Kabuto's basement lab.

Kabuto continued packing up in a haze after Orochimaru left, thoughts of his master floating around in his mind. Orochimaru had been regaining strength and will every day; if anything, he was even more stubborn than Kabuto ever remembered him being. He had to laugh, though; Orochimaru was still being quiet. He was quieter, yet had more willpower in him than eve before…Kabuto was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the Otonin who came in.

"Kabuto!"

"Wha-? Oh, sorry…what do you need?"

"Just the next box," the man replied, and Kabuto motioned to a stack next to the door. The man nodded his thanks, and Kabuto slipped back into his Orochimaru-induced daze.

OOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru's thoughts were cluttered with Kabuto.

His little pet was cute, and very intelligent-Kabuto was certainly good to have around, and he loved him beyond what anyone believed Orochimaru capable of. He was quiet, an astoundingly good actor, had an excellent sense of what to d in battle, would kill himself under torture to avoid spilling Orochimaru's secrets, and was the most loyal creature Orochimaru had ever seen.

Not to mention he had fantastic sex.

Orochimaru shook himself, bringing his wandering mind back to reality. Kabuto was probably just going to ask him if he was feeling alright-he knew he had been too quiet for Kabuto's taste, lately. And Kabuto knew him-he would be able to see immediately if Orochimaru was lying or not-

"Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru glanced up from a small locket to Kabuto, who was standing in the doorway. The younger ninja crossed the floor in several strides to stand at his side, peeking over his shoulder at the locket.

"Who did that belong to?"

"My mother."

Kabuto stepped around Orochimaru to stand by a picture on the dresser. "Is that her?"

Orochimaru looked over at the picture, then nodded. Kabuto picked it up and looked at it more closely. It was a mother and her two children and husband; one child, distinctively resembled-and was-Orochimaru, and the other was a slightly less pale child, younger than Orochimaru, and the man was a large, broad-shouldered man with Orochimaru on his shoulders. The woman, the mother, was putting flowers in the girl's hair. Kabuto glanced at Orochimaru; his eyes looked normal almost, with just a hint of gold color teasing at their black edges.

"I was thirteen."

Kabuto glanced up at Orochimaru. Come to think of it, Orochimaru never talked about his family; his past, his relatives…anything, really.

"My sister was always like you; she was only a year younger than me, twelve. My dad was this big guy, and he always wanted us to have the best childhood possible. My mom was a sweet lady; really young, and so was my dad, and she was really pretty. She would always tell us that good shin obi knew how to cook, so hurry up and learn so we could help her! My dad cooked though, so we didn't die. He taught my mom, and she got better. It was fun, though, even though I really wasn't into it at the time. My sister, though…she was Iron Chef Two. I would always laugh, but she made really good cookies so I kind of kept it to myself.

"For a while, we were happy. I had always stuck to outside, running around in the woods, using chakra to scale trees and find snakes. The snakes always liked me, so I would sit in the trees, sometimes for hours on end, with them. My dad used to take us out into the woods, camping sometimes…and I would bring along my latest pet and scare the crap out of everyone there. I can't say it wasn't fun, though…my sister would always take food and cook over a fire, and by then I knew fire jutsus, so I would light. It. My parents made a huge deal about it, but I put up with it as long as I could keep my snakes. My sister was a medical ninja.

"It was fun while it lasted-and then my village was attacked by bandits.

"I was only member of my family that survived."

Kabuto could see Orochimaru's face, turned away from him in an attempt to hide his pain. "What happened to you?"

Orochimaru took a deep, shuddering breath. "I ran to the Hokage. He gladly took me in and made sure I was on his team the next year, when genin teams were made up. I spent a while there…and then I started looking for a purpose. I had none, you see: no reason at all not to suicide, and I knew that would cause a stir. No one knew about what happened, and I had never told anyone. So I needed a reason to put down the knife once and for all." Orochimaru slowly pulled up his shirt, revealing a smooth, flat stomach-and a livid scar.

"I gave myself this trying to suicide-it took Sandaime, Tsunade, and Jiraiya to get me to stop. I used to cut all the time, but no one knew…so nothing was done." Orochimaru dropped his shirt and pulled up his sleeves, revealing the long scars criss-crossing his arms. "I never knew…and no one else did either…that someone out there didn't want me to do this to myself…and then Sandaime came along and helped me out of my pit of depression. And for a while I was alright…but then I decided to master all the jutsu known to man, and it all went downhill from there…you know the story, right?"

Kabuto nodded numbly, suddenly having an acute awareness of what Orochimaru had suffered.

"Most people said that the trauma drove me insane…they forced me in time and time again, trying to see if I was still safe…but you know me, I was having none of it…I ran."

Kabuto set down the picture, stepping closer to Orochimaru. "I thought your father was abusive…?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "My real father was…he died from cancer when I was twelve."

"…You killed him…"

Orochimaru nodded.

"Pain makes people lash out."

Kabuto sighed. "I can't believe this…"Orochimaru looked away as Kabuto put his arms around him, trying to avoid the urge to bury his face in Kabuto's shoulder and just cry.

"Too bad it's true."

A/N: Again, sorry it's so late. But it just goes to show that I mean it when I say:

No review, no update!

With all the hits I get for this it really shouldn't be that hard for you people.