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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, property of Masashi Kisimoto.
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As the night drew in, the trees around them became shapeless masses that could hide a myriad of enemies. Kabuto didn't like night time in general, because it made a mission so much more dangerous – indeed the only positive thing he could find about it was that it highlighted Orochimaru's pale face, so that he stood out every time Kabuto dared glance behind him.
Just as the darkness seemed to become unbearable, they came upon a small orb of light ahead. As the team grew closer, it was recognisable as a camp fire, with a couple of tents alongside.
The men stoking the fire were rough-looking and taciturn. The first had broad shoulders and an untidy beard, and seemed to enjoy sharpening his hunting knife. The second was more slight and nervous, as his little eyes kept darting round the clearing. Neither spoke to the other for several long minutes, until eventually the smaller one piped up,
"Someone's been trailing us, and since it doesn't seem very valuable, maybe we can just give it back! Come on, when they told us to take the scroll, they didn't sound like they wanted it that badly…" the man whined, reminding Kabuto strongly of a rat with its tail caught.
The bigger man sighed at his companion's incompetence. "Of course they 'sounded like they wanted it', I overheard them saying it was a scroll of great power that only they could unlock. Now, enough of your cowardice, we need to get going."
Rolling his eyes and chuckling, Orochimaru stepped forward into the firelight, and waited patiently for the men to notice him.
"Excuse me, old man," the tall man barely looked at him, "we are working here. If this happens to be your normal fishing spot, we're moving on already." Orochimaru raised a single, elegant eyebrow, and beckoned to Kabuto. Leading Kimimaro, Kabuto walked to flank his master. There was a split second as both the expressions of their enemies became terrified.
"It's –" Kabuto had seen this reaction many times before, when the opponent realised that he was facing one of the Legendary Sannin – and that retreat was the best option.
"Run!"
So both the men ran for their lives, the smaller man whimpering as he fled. The fire they had left behind slowly fizzled and burned out.
Snakes slid from underneath the hem of Orochimaru's robe, and slithered in and out of the belongings that had been left behind. Soon one re-emerged carrying a scroll in its teeth. Kabuto felt the warmth of reflected happiness, as his master's smile lit up the trees. Kimimaro was impassive as always, although he did stare at Orochimaru, face upturned, as though he was a pet waiting for a treat. The comparison was startlingly accurate, mused Kabuto, but his train of thought was broken by Orochimaru's next words.
"You know what this means, don't you?" Kimimaro nodded emphatically, but Kabuto just smiled at the looks on both his companions faces. The little trainee with a bone problem – the amount of milk he drank was unbelievable – was just gazing up at Orochimaru as if in presence of a god. The light did help the image, but Kabuto acknowledged to himself that he would have to agree with Kimimaro just this once. The soft evening light accentuated his master's striking cheekbones, while the piercing golden eyes looked at him from underneath dark lashes, and the portrait was completed by a silky curtain of ebony hair. Kabuto shuddered slightly, and hoped the trees would conceal his transgression.
"Hmm… the enemy, whoever that is, is now using other people to perform important tasks for him – people who are not even ninja, as useless as the examples you just saw now. That is to our advantage. Now we must find the hand behind these inept puppets, and break it."
That night Kabuto found it hard to sleep, and when he did, his dreams were filled with flashes of pale skin and haunting laughter.
When Kabuto woke, the sun had just peeped over the horizon, and the sound of chattering birds signalled the beginning of the day. He scrambled up from between Orochimaru and Kimimaro, and began to make breakfast. All of the Sound Four (apart from Jiroubou, who had appreciated it) had always teased him about his ability to cook, but he thought of it as an advantage, and relaxed as much as he could while preparing the scrambled eggs.
The crunching of the leaves behind him caused him to spin round, startled. The brilliant smile that awaited him was bordering on menacing, but Kabuto was as unfazed as ever.
"Good morning, Orochimaru-sama. I didn't expect you to be up this early, or otherwise I would've made breakfast earlier…"
The smile was there again, only this time a touch less intimidating, thought Kabuto.
"I think we need to talk about something, Kabuto."
The trained medic-nin analysed his own symptoms in seconds. He was sweating, forcing himself not to shiver – a chronic case of abject terror. Oh well.
"You are uncomfortable with Kimimaro-kun being on this team. Why?"
Kabuto was always nervous when being asked to voice an opinion, as this was when it was hardest to guess what kind of answer his master wanted.
"I… think that he needs too much protection, Orochimaru-sama, and might have been better left back at base." Orochimaru nodded, as though considering the idea, but his head was tilted such that it was hard to see his face.
"Strange… I think we work together very well. Especially if we had to go into any villages – Kimimaro-kun could seduce any kunoichi for information."
Kabuto felt his cheeks redden. So that was it – his master enjoyed having a pretty face on the team. He cringed at the bitterness of his thoughts – he had always felt himself inferior to Kimimaro, as Kimimaro was to be the next body for Orochimaru, and because he was (so Kabuto thought) undoubtedly prettier. He wondered if any of this resentment was showing on his face, he was hiding it relatively well, but Orochimaru was still smiling with all the glee of someone who has just had their suspicions confirmed.
"But that isn't to say you are entirely without use… if we had to extract any information from unwilling shinobi, you would undoubtedly be useful in that, what with your charms and methods of interrogation."
It took a few seconds for Kabuto's brain to process this twisted compliment – and when it did, he found it almost impossible to prevent his face turning the colour of a ripe tomato. It didn't help how close his smirking master was standing.
"Uh… thank you, Orochimaru-sama." He spoke quietly to conceal his trembling voice, but there was one thing he longed to know.
"And how would you help in the seducing of ninja?" He realised too late how he had dropped the formal suffix. That would have been bordering on rude even in normal company. His heart rate quickened frantically. The sweat that had been dripping between his shoulder blades pooled in his lower back.
Golden eyes pinned him to his seat, looking him up and down like an animal ready for slaughter, and when Orochimaru spoke it was with the low purr of a hungry predator.
"Did I hear correctly that you, a lowly sub-ordinate, were asking me, a Legendary Sannin, whether I prefer kunoichi or shinobi?"
Kabuto was shaking now, he could feel it, and he was starting to feel sick. Death seemed now as pleasant an option as it had ever been. The Sannin bent down so that his golden eyes were locked with Kabuto's dark ones. He replied with a chuckle,
"For the answer to that, Kabuto, I think you would have to ask Jiraiya."
Kabuto let out a cry, and ran for the forest where he was violently sick.
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Hehe C: I think I may become an OroJira shipper. It's so funny