Kabuto's hands gently took Orochimaru's in his own, pulling the sannin closer. Orochimaru took the invitation gladly, slipping closer to Kabuto and embracing him like a brother. Kabuto returned the gesture briefly before pulling away, one hand on Orochimaru's shoulder. "Hold on," he murmured, stilling Orochimaru's movements. He produced a thin pick from his kunai pouch, which he used to pick the clocks on Orochimaru's wrists. The shackles fell away, leaving behind only the cruel bruises induced from constantly yanking at the chains in pain. Kabuto let Orochimaru lean against him as he undid the chains around his ankles, casting them aside without a care and holding Orochimaru close. Kabuto noticed, with a start, just how cruel the chains really were. They were short, thick, heavy, and worn, and the ones around Orochimaru's slender wrists even had tiny spikes on the inside that had torn up his hands. His ankles were slightly bloodied, and his neck as well, from the constant thrashing. Kabuto carefully inserted the pick into the chain on Orochimaru's neck, trying to open the lock without much success.

"The lock is bent," he grunted, pulling at it desperately. "I can't get it open…Kisame must have smashed it as a last resort to keep you here…" He gave a rough sigh, and Orochimaru shuddered once. "Well, that's that," Kabuto said. "I'll just cut them." Blue chakra flared up around his hands, but Orochimaru was still skeptical.

"Will that work?" he asked hesitantly.

Kabuto nodded. "This baby can cut through a femur in four seconds," he said dryly. "It'll cut chain." Kabuto placed his hand around the thick chain, close to Orochimaru's neck, but not close enough to burn him with the deadly chakra. Kabuto focused his chakra immensely, and he felt the chain rapidly turning to dust beneath his fingers. He smirked once and began counting off the seconds. Two…three…four…the chain severed in Kabuto's palm, and he released his grip and the chakra scalpel. "That's a record," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose and straightening. "Four seconds. Alright, up." He offered a hand down to Orochimaru, who took it slowly and gingerly. Kabuto pulled Orochimaru up and spread a long Akatsuki cloak over his shoulders, closing it in the front. "Don't ask," he said, holding up a hand when Orochimaru's mouth opened to inquire about how he had gotten a hold of the cloak. "You don't need to know. But right now, we need to get you back to Oto-"

"No."

Orochimaru suddenly looked furious, and his eyes burned with a fury Kabuto had hardly ever seen before. Not since Itachi's first rape, in fact.

"I'm killing him, here and now," Orochimaru snarled. "And you're coming, too."

Kabuto smiled. Orochimaru was back for the time: now, would he stay that way? Itachi was known for his legendary cruelty and heartlessness…how could Orochimaru possibly go up against that? Kabuto had the sinking feeling he was about to find out.

Orochimaru walked out of the cell, glaring like the devil, and most likely heading straight for Itachi. Kabuto sighed and trotted after him. It wouldn't do if Orochimaru died on them, now.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Itachi barely glanced up as someone stormed into his room. "What do you want?" he asked, never bothering to open his eyes and see who had walked into his room. Whoever it was would leave him alone if he expressed disinterest…

The slap across his face clearly said otherwise.

"I'm not your sex slave!"

And Orochimaru moved to storm out the door much in the same way he had come in, Kabuto standing by the door the entire time. Nothing more than a simple slap, but it did more to Itachi than even killing his family had ever done. Smirking viciously, Itachi stood up and caught Orochimaru's still-tender wrist.

"Hold up, sexy."

Orochimaru froze, then yanked his hand away. "I thought I made it clear that I won't tolerate you abusing me anymore," he snarled, slowly turning back around. "I'm sick and tired of being your pretty little fuck whenever you want one. Well, guess what: not happening anymore!"

Kabuto was proud of Orochimaru, to be honest. Who else could stare in the face the man who had raped them multiple times, capturing and torturing them many more, and openly defy them? Orochimaru had to be special in some way-either that, or he was clinically insane, this time with scientific evidence. Kabuto's hands were itching to cut Itachi's throat open, but he restrained himself from doing so for the time being. Killing things wouldn't help Orochimaru any.

Or would they?

Kabuto sighed. It simply wasn't worth it…

"Oh, it'll happen," Itachi said, threateningly advancing on Orochimaru. "Because if it doesn't, I'll just be creative as far as punishing you goes. So it's really in your best interest to cooperate with me."

"You really think you have all the control in the world, don't you? You think I'm just going to lie down and take it like your perfect little fuck? I'm sorry, you've mistaken me for some other helpless rat. I'm not that low and disgusting." Orochimaru stepped back, still staring at Itachi like he had grown a second head. "Now that we've established that, I'll just be going-"

Itachi abruptly threw Orochimaru into the wall, kicking him hard once he landed and slid to the ground. Orochimaru gave a low grunt of pain and reached out, trying to grab a hold of Itachi's ankle. He managed to grab the Uchiha's hand as he went to hit him again, but Itachi merely used Orochimaru's grip to manipulate the rest of his body until it was pushed back into a corner. Itachi knew he was pushing Orochimaru quite a bit here: he was just being plain obnoxious and stubborn now, but nothing Itachi couldn't break.

"You are sorely mistaken if you think I'll let you go your way after that little display," Itachi snarled, digging his other hand into Orochimaru's stomach. Orochimaru let out a surprised, half-strangled noise of pain, and Itachi smirked. He was wearing him down…

"You're worthless."

Itachi's hand moved to Orochimaru's neck, long fingers encircling it and gripping it painfully. Itachi sealed his lips over Orochimaru's, biting and nipping and scraping. Orochimaru all the while, tried desperately to get away, scratching at Itachi's arms and face.

All of a sudden, Itachi was torn away.

Kabuto was standing over Orochimaru, Itachi lying behind him, clutching at his legs and trying to move, with no success and grunts of pain and surprise. Kabuto seized Orochimaru's hand and pulled him up and along behind him as he bolted from Itachi's room. He let go of Orochimaru after swinging him around to face Itachi's door, which he slammed shut and sealed with a barrier jutsu.

"It won't stop him, but it'll slow him down!" he said, taking Orochimaru's hand again. He managed to kick in an air vent and push Orochimaru in ahead of him, yanking it shut behind him. "Now, just follow the green snakes. I marked it last time we were here."

"Genius child," Orochimaru muttered. "But to my credit, I was too busy being beaten and raped to think of that."

"Not accusing," Kabuto said. "Just making a statement. Don't be so defensive."

Orochimaru sighed. "Everyone's a critic." Kabuto made no response to this, so Orochimaru kept moving. Every now and then, he would catch sight of a little green snake on the side of the vent: Kabuto's handiwork. Some of them looked like someone had tried to erase them, but had been successful only in smudging the snakes a bit. Kabuto smiled: Sharpie was his new best friend.

"Now, just keep going straight, we're almost there," Kabuto reassured. Orochimaru continued through the vents until he hit a dead end. He glanced around, then back at Kabuto for an explanation. Kabuto smirked.

"Punch it out. It's perforated, if you know what I mean."

Orochimaru kicked down the end of the vent, revealing broad daylight. Kabuto pushed him out and jumped down, pushing Orochimaru to the ground once he had recovered from landing out of the vent.

"Stay down," he muttered. "We're still close." Orochimaru nodded, and the moved silently through the bushes. Orochimaru's heart was pounding: if he was caught, the consequences would be unspeakable-

"Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru looked up into Kimimaro's face, and felt a sudden sense of relief wash over his entire body. His legs gave out underneath him, exhausted and crashing from his adrenaline-induced high. His body was beginning to give in to the terrible abuse he had endured, and Orochimaru no longer knew whose hands he was in. He felt someone remove the remnants of the chain from his neck, gasping at the marks left by its cruel presence. Gentle hands cradled his abused body in their arms, and strong muscles lifted his body into the air. Someone was carrying him…Orochimaru gave a small whimper of pain at the pressure on the bruises and whip lashes, but otherwise did not complain. Instead, he gave himself over to the realm of sleep.

OOOOOOOOO

When Orochimaru next woke, it was to a gentle whisper.

He turned over and the soft murmur of silken sheets over a bare, but bandaged, body continued. Satin sheets covered his body, which was resting on a large number of velvet pillows. His earrings were next to his bed, placed neatly on the nightstand next to it, and his Akatsuki cloak was laid out across a chair. Upon further awakening, Orochimaru found that someone had taken measures against his nudity and given him boxers for the time. His hair had been washed and brushed thousands of times: it was silky smooth and completely clean. His body was clean as well, and freshly bandaged. Orochimaru could feel the soothing effects of the ointment on the open wounds, and also Kabuto's healing chakra in other places working its magic. Orochimaru turned over and took a deep breath. His room as suddenly much fresher, and daylight streamed in through a window with sheer drapes over it.

"Awake and wondering, hm?"

Kabuto smiled as he walked in the door. "We're at another one of your bases. It's the new one, remember? We were scheduled to go here anyway, so we just took you straight over." Kabuto sat down on the edge of the bed next to Orochimaru, checking for a fever as he did so. "You seem to have recovered nicely," he said slowly. "You slept through the rest of the day and all of the night: it's nine a.m. now. You contracted a fever overnight and we got a little worried, there, but you seem to be past that now…" Kabuto sighed and put both of his hands back into his lap. "I'm sorry."

Orochimaru stretched luxuriously, sitting up with his arms up over his head. Stomach muscles were suddenly bared, and Orochimaru shivered a bit at the abrupt lack of heat. His body was still cold from sleep. "About what?" he asked, pulling the covers up a bit. "You did everything you could, and it all worked out…"

"I was trying to keep your feelings in mind, but you only got hurt, and we barely made it out. I probably should have stepped in sooner-"

"Nonsense. It was perfectly timed. I appreciate your sense of judgment."

"When I have a chance to reflect upon my actions, I tend to think too hard about what I could have done differently and how I could have changed the outcome of the situation," Kabuto said slowly. "And I'm not talking about what just happened at Akatsuki: I'm talking about what happened when Itachi caught you before that. When he attacked you in your room…"

Orochimaru's head went down. "Is that why we're here, then?" he murmured. "Because Akatsuki doesn't know about it?"

"No," Kabuto said. "First of all, I told you, we were supposed to go here anyway. Second of all, it's a much more peaceful, calm environment, and much less dark and scary. This is just a bit nicer to wake up to, no?"

Orochimaru shrugged. "Whatever. I just want to make sure I'm not being captured, tortured, and raped…"

Kabuto snorted with laughter. "Good to know," he said dryly. "Well, you get dressed and meet me in Lab 65A, alright?" he gave Orochimaru a sweet, chaste parting kiss as he stood up.

"A surprise awaits you."

A/N: I hate midterms…school is the root of all evil…