Kabuto gently laid Orochimaru out across his bed, watching as Orochimaru whimpered in pain and tried to find the least painful spot to lie on. Kabuto reached over to the table next to the bed where he had piled medical supplies, pulled out a cloth, and dipped it in the bowl of cold water he had placed next to the medical supplies. He folded the cloth and positioned it on Orochimaru's forehead; just below the hairline, and right above the eyebrows. The sinus pressure was probably immense by now…
Kabuto called up some healing chakra and repaired the breaks in Orochimaru's wrists, feeling the sannin's attempts to stifle the winces of pain as Kabuto lifted and wrapped his hands around the crushed bone. Within seconds, though, Kabuto had completely reconstructed both wrists, and Orochimaru was feeling slightly better from the effects of Kabuto's attention.
Kabuto reached over, got a clean cloth, and began wiping the blood from Orochimaru's body to see where the cuts really were. "Feeling a little better?"
Orochimaru nodded mutely. He was too tired and hurt to speak. Kabuto saw this and began healing the cuts, bruises, and slices over Orochimaru's beautiful skin. Kabuto was ready to skin Sasuke alive for this-and to insult him as much as to put a collar on? And then specifically instruct Kabuto to leave it?! No, there was definitely a drug in a plate tonight…Kabuto suddenly loved his position as servant to Sasuke. It usually included cooking the brat's meals…
Kabuto went over several broken ribs-all of them as a matter of fact. Orochimaru either insanely lucky or just using chakra more then anyone was aware of-not one of the broken ribs had punctured a lung. Kabuto easily put them all back together, and he could feel Orochimaru's abused muscles beginning to relax.
"How's that?"
Orochimaru reached out and caught Kabuto's hand as the silver-haired ninja reached over to brush the black hair from Orochimaru's face. He pulled Kabuto as close to him as possible-
And kissed him.
Kabuto smiled and gladly returned the gesture, running his hands down the sides of Orochimaru's face, caressing every fine bone and refined muscle-
Orochimaru pulled back, gasping. Kabuto turned around, only to find himself staring into the face of Uchiha Sasuke.
"I don't care about the two of you together," Sasuke snapped. "I want lunch, and I want it now."
"You act as though you had instructed me to make you something earlier," Kabuto said frostily. Sasuke seemed taken aback by Kabuto's boldness, and his face clearly said so. "And seeing as I had more pressing issues at hand, I took care of them first," Kabuto continued. "Now, since you have not told me to do anything, I think I'll take care of what's more important than you yelling at me."
Sasuke's hand flashed out and caught Orochimaru's slender wrist in a vice-like grip. Orochimaru couldn't suppress a whimper of fear, and he drew back as much as he could with Sasuke's imposing grip.
"You don't want him to get hurt, now do you?" Sasuke purred, pulling Orochimaru into his body. Kabuto gulped, but remained silent. Sasuke flung Orochimaru to the floor, never taking his eyes off Kabuto.
"Then cut the attitude," Sasuke snapped, kicking Orochimaru hard in the side, "And get me my food."
He stalked out, being sure to kick Orochimaru along the way. Kabuto sighed and picked up Orochimaru, cradling him in his arms and whispering calming words to him. "Come on," he whispered, helping Orochimaru stand, "You can either help me pick out drugs or you can lay down. Take your pick."
Orochimaru settled against Kabuto's chest.
"Fair enough," Kabuto said brightly, helping Orochimaru to a chair near the medical room of Kabuto's apartment. "I have this…this…and this…none will kill, but they all do different things," he said slowly, pulling drugs off a shelf and placing them in front of Orochimaru. "So, what do you think?"
Orochimaru stared at each bottle for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. He finally handed Kabuto one bottle with a few pills rattling around in it, a small smile on his face. When Kabuto saw Orochimaru's choice, he smiled.
"Good choice."
OOOOOOOOO
"Sasuke! I have your lunch!"
"Well, get in here!"
"The door's locked!"
Kabuto bit back the rest of the retort on his lips, swallowing down everything but the pure, naked facts. Moments later, Sasuke emerged, looking annoyed. "You have keys, don't you?" he snapped, taking the tray from Kabuto.
"Yes, but as you may have noticed, my hands were full," Kabuto snarled, trying as hard as he could to keep the animosity from his voice. Sasuke waved him away and muttered a curt, "You are dismissed," and closed the door. Kabuto sighed and walked away, still hiding his grin. Sasuke would be a little out of it for the next few days…
Kabuto pushed open the door to his apartment and came upon an unusual sight.
Kimimaro was holding Orochimaru in his arms.
"I feel bad," he was saying as Kabuto walked in. "Orochimaru-sama is constantly getting the worst of it, and none of us are really in for it like he is…"
Kabuto sighed and locked the door: all four locks slid into place, and Kabuto pressed a seal tag to the back of the door for extra support.
"Do you have any idea why he refuses to speak? I'm serious, this entire time, I've been trying to get him to talk…the only thing he did was kind of curl up in a ball and look really, really scared…"
Kabuto sighed. "Did you try to make him drink?"
"He took it all," Kimimaro said slowly. "I think he wants it but he's afraid to ask."
Kabuto handed Orochimaru a glass of water and sat down next to Kimimaro, waiting. Orochimaru eagerly gulped down the water, and Kabuto handed him a small, round pill.
"It's just a plasma pill," he said, watching Orochimaru draw back. "I want to replace the blood you lost."
Orochimaru nodded and swallowed the pill whole. Kabuto stood up, refilled the glass of water, and handed it to Orochimaru. Orochimaru gladly accepted it again, and Kabuto sighed.
"You can talk, you know. Tell me what you want and I'll get it for you."
Orochimaru shook his head and handed Kabuto the glass, curling up in Kimimaro's lap after doing so. Kabuto noticed, just before Kimimaro's arms fell across it, several long gashes across Orochimaru's back and a shiver if pain as Kimimaro's hands fell on top of them.
"Kimi…" he said slowly, "Move your hand for a second…"
Kimimaro lifted his arms, and Kabuto peered at the gashes. "These look like…almost like whip lashes…Orochimaru-sama, has Sasuke been whipping you?"
Orochimaru looked up from Kimimaro's shoulder, wordlessly reached out, and pulled himself into Kabuto's chest. Kabuto felt his heart breaking once more as the sannin, the once proud ruler of Otokagure, the beautiful creature he once called his master, crumpled before him. He felt a dampness pick up on his fingertips as he ran his fingers over the smooth skin of Orochimaru's cheeks. Orochimaru buried his face on Kabuto's neck, seemingly afraid to do anything but cling to him. Kabuto wrapped his arms around Orochimaru and sank back into the pillows he had set against the headboard of the bed.
"Kimi, Sasuke's been whipping him whenever he makes a sound."
Kimimaro seemed stunned to hear this. He bit his lip nervously and looked down, and Kabuto could see his young mind working to comprehend this.
"But-he's even younger then me…and even I can't torture someone like that…"
Kabuto shook his head. "I'm so sorry…"
Kimimaro pushed Orochimaru's hair back from his face, staring at the tear tracks running down the marble-white cheeks. He shook his head, and Kabuto could only see one expression on it: horror.
"Kabuto!!"
Kabuto gasped and looked up at the scream from Sasuke's room. He glanced back and forth at Kimimaro and the door, torn between two choices. Kimimaro reached out and took Orochimaru into his own embrace, nodding to Kabuto to go. Kabuto's expression was one of pure gratitude, and Kimimaro smiled when he saw it. He held Orochimaru in his arms, his only concern to comfort him. Kabuto rushed out of the room, hoping Sasuke hadn't bothered to come out of his room and scream. If the brat had come out that would mean trouble for everyone, especially Kabuto and Orochimaru.
Thankfully, the door to Sasuke's room was still closed-and locked, for that matter. Kabuto tried the knob, sighing, and pulled out the key to the door. He inserted the key into the lock, turned it, and stepped into Sasuke's room.
"What?"
Sasuke handed him a bundle of scrolls. "Go over these files, make sure they're all in order. These need to be notarized, these need to be signed, these need to be sent to Grass, these need to be sent to Sunaga, and this needs to go to Konoha."
By the time Sasuke was done piling scrolls into Kabuto's arms, the teen could have sworn he could drop them all and put a hole in the floor.
Sasuke reached over and picked up one last bundle of scrolls, dumped them on top of the pile Kabuto was already holding, and said, "These need to be burned."
Kabuto sighed, nodded, and walked out. Kimimaro wordlessly opened the door when he was asked to, holding Orochimaru close to him so the sannin wouldn't feel abandoned. Kabuto dumped the scrolls on the floor next to his bed, laid out across it, pulled Orochimaru into his body, propped himself up with multiple pillows, and picked up the first scroll. Orochimaru settled within the curve of Kabuto's arms, resting almost calmly next to Kabuto with his head resting on Kabuto's chest. Kabuto smiled. Maybe finally Orochimaru could sleep…
The door slammed open, and Sasuke stood where it used to be.
Only then did Kabuto realize he had forgotten to lock it.
Kabuto motioned fervently to Sasuke to be quiet. "I just put him down to sleep! Be quiet, I cannot have him wake up again! And the poor thing, he needs it too, after what you put him through. I know what you've been doing to him, and I'm stopping it; right here, right now." The drug shuld have taken effect...no, crap, no, this one takes longer!! Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP!!
Sasuke snorted and walked over to Kabuto and Orochimaru. Kabuto tightened his arms around Orochimaru and slightly sat up, hoping to gain a bit of leverage. Orochimaru tried as hard as he could to stay near Kabuto; he wasn't really asleep and never had been, and he doubted Sasuke fell for it at all.
"I don't buy that for a minute," Sasuke snapped. "Anyway, I need a report on casualties. Konoha is getting aggressive, and we need a strategy…"
Kabuto was not listening at all. Sasuke's words were going in one ear and out the other, and absolutely nothing was getting stuck along the way.
"Are you listening at all?!" Sasuke roared. The next thing Kabuto knew, he was flat on his back on the floor, Orochimaru standing above him, shaking violently but standing his ground against Sasuke. Kabuto pulled himself to his feet, licking the blood from his split lip.
"And in answer to your question, Sasuke-sama," Kabuto spat, "No, I'm not listening. Because it doesn't matter."
Sasuke moved for Kabuto again, but Orochimaru stepped in front of him, brandishing Kusanji and looking scared out of his mind.
"Sit!!"
Sasuke grabbed Orochimaru by the collar and hurled him to the floor. Orochimaru threw up Kusanji, nicking Sasuke's arm and fueling the Uchiha's anger. Sasuke stopped only to dig his foot into Orochimaru's side, and then continued on to Kabuto. The silver-haired ninja gasped and threw himself towards Orochimaru. There was no way Orochimaru could take it again, there was just no way!
Sasuke saw where Kabuto was going almost immediately and followed, kicking out viciously and catching Kabuto in the ribs. Kabuto flinched in pain, but kept running for Orochimaru. Orochimaru looked back forth, panicking; what could he do? Both ninja were closing in, and he knew it wasn't going to end well if either-
Sasuke caught up to Kabuto, grabbed the silver ponytail, and pulled Kabuto down to the floor, falling on top of him and crushing Kabuto beneath his oppressive weight. Orochimaru was afraid to do anything; at this range, he might hurt Kabuto. And the state he was in didn't exactly enhance performance…
"Orochimaru-sama!" Kabuto called. "Kusanji!!"
Orochimaru glanced down at the sword. What was Kabuto talking about…?
"Focus chakra through it and throw it!"
…um, what?
"Just do it!"
Orochimaru trusted Kabuto; that was a proven fact. But how much…? Well, it was Kabuto's life…
Orochimaru took a deep breath, sent his chakra into the sword, and threw it.
A/N: Review please, or no next chapter!! Sorry for the late update, I was on vacation…