Naruto - Two Leaves, the sound of a fan
Kabuto and Sasuke, humidity and rising suspicions. And Orochimaru.
For 30_evil_deeds. References to chapter 289, but you can miss them if you want.
Two Leaves - the sound of a fan
They were back in Rice Field country at the moment, in the Hidden Sound proper; the weather was hot, but most importantly, humid. Kabuto loathed the humidity, the way sweat made his glasses slip on his nose and forced him to constantly pause and readjust them before he could get back to what he was doing. He found excuses to stay in the underground as much as possible, preferably either at the cages or in his clinic, though Orochimaru's quarters would do if necessary.
He couldn't exactly ignore a summons, after all.
It was routine; Orochimaru wanted to look over the month's medical records, see who posed a threat to success and needed to be weeded out of active duty. Kabuto lived in a state of suspicion as natural to him as breathing, and knew if the man had suspected anything of his latest actions, the quality of his hand-writing would have been different. There would have been slight dips in the ink where Orochimaru paused to pick which word or phrase would leave him tense but not paranoid enough to come in overly armed.
The only irritating thing was that Orochimaru's quarters had to be reached through an entrance that was outside, rather than connected to one of the underground corridors. The walkway along the area had a splendid view of the cavern that edged part of the Sound, though Kabuto didn't see what use Orochimaru had for it besides occasionally issuing orders to his higher-ranked shinobi.
Kabuto also didn't see what use Sasuke had for the view, but the boy was there, leaning over the railing as he came down the stairs and absently fanning himself as he stared out at the formations. He was standing in a spot that was just out of view of the majority of the doorway, and partially blocked from it by a pillar.
Kabuto took a few steps past the door and stopped next to him, readjusting his glasses and rubbing away the sweat on his nose with a thumb. "Horrible humidity, isn't it?" he commented.
Sasuke grunted a reply, tone neutral but fingers pressed tightly against the wooden handle of the fan. He was waving it now in a rhythmical movement, one Kabuto could probably time, rather than the lazy motions of before when Kabuto's footsteps hadn't been audible yet.
"It's a shame we can't spend the summers farther inland," he added, gazing past the walls of the canyon. "At least then there wouldn't be the sea to deal with."
"Why is there only one base farther inland?" Sasuke asked, and there was a sharpness to his voice that belied his languid stance. He had a cut in his lip, a slightly ragged wound where he'd recently bitten through the muscle.
He knew something, or had a guess and wanted to bring Kabuto around to telling him. It wasn't subtle, but Sasuke had dropped the pretences of subtlety around Kabuto after the seventh month. It made it a little harder to tell when the boy was trying to manipulate him now, but it wasn't difficult yet.
"It's more difficult to carry the experiments overland," Kabuto answered honestly. "Shipping them brings less questions, and less risk of contact with enemy shinobi."
"Mn," Sasuke replied, loosening his grip on the fan slightly before retightening it. "What experiments are so important to him that he has to work on them even while he's dragging m--us around?"
Kabuto shrugged lightly, turning and leaning his back against the railing. "Orochimaru-sama is usually preoccupied with several projects at once."
"I meant to ask," Sasuke said, and his voice was equally as neutral and congenial as Kabuto's had been, though a harsher flatness remained, "why have all the recent experiments been eye jutsu users?"
Kabuto quirked his lips up, and pushed away from the railing. "Now, Sasuke-kun," he said as he readjusted his glasses, "there's some things I'd get into trouble for telling you. Knowledge isn't free, after all."
Sasuke's face was tilted just enough that the boy was staring at him now, trying to read him. Kabuto smiled and walked toward the doorway.
Sasuke had still smelled like sex, so Kabuto let his footfalls echo as he picked his way through the halls in the quarters. Orochimaru was dressed when he arrived in the main room, and had thoughtfully opened a window in the one beyond it.
Sasuke was gone by the time he returned to the walkway; he'd left the fan sitting on the railing. Kabuto resisted the urge to flick it over the rail and into the canyon as he passed, and instead made his way back to the coolness of the underground area.
I'm really enjoying this game, you know.
For 30_evil_deeds. References to chapter 289, but you can miss them if you want.
Two Leaves - the sound of a fan
They were back in Rice Field country at the moment, in the Hidden Sound proper; the weather was hot, but most importantly, humid. Kabuto loathed the humidity, the way sweat made his glasses slip on his nose and forced him to constantly pause and readjust them before he could get back to what he was doing. He found excuses to stay in the underground as much as possible, preferably either at the cages or in his clinic, though Orochimaru's quarters would do if necessary.
He couldn't exactly ignore a summons, after all.
It was routine; Orochimaru wanted to look over the month's medical records, see who posed a threat to success and needed to be weeded out of active duty. Kabuto lived in a state of suspicion as natural to him as breathing, and knew if the man had suspected anything of his latest actions, the quality of his hand-writing would have been different. There would have been slight dips in the ink where Orochimaru paused to pick which word or phrase would leave him tense but not paranoid enough to come in overly armed.
The only irritating thing was that Orochimaru's quarters had to be reached through an entrance that was outside, rather than connected to one of the underground corridors. The walkway along the area had a splendid view of the cavern that edged part of the Sound, though Kabuto didn't see what use Orochimaru had for it besides occasionally issuing orders to his higher-ranked shinobi.
Kabuto also didn't see what use Sasuke had for the view, but the boy was there, leaning over the railing as he came down the stairs and absently fanning himself as he stared out at the formations. He was standing in a spot that was just out of view of the majority of the doorway, and partially blocked from it by a pillar.
Kabuto took a few steps past the door and stopped next to him, readjusting his glasses and rubbing away the sweat on his nose with a thumb. "Horrible humidity, isn't it?" he commented.
Sasuke grunted a reply, tone neutral but fingers pressed tightly against the wooden handle of the fan. He was waving it now in a rhythmical movement, one Kabuto could probably time, rather than the lazy motions of before when Kabuto's footsteps hadn't been audible yet.
"It's a shame we can't spend the summers farther inland," he added, gazing past the walls of the canyon. "At least then there wouldn't be the sea to deal with."
"Why is there only one base farther inland?" Sasuke asked, and there was a sharpness to his voice that belied his languid stance. He had a cut in his lip, a slightly ragged wound where he'd recently bitten through the muscle.
He knew something, or had a guess and wanted to bring Kabuto around to telling him. It wasn't subtle, but Sasuke had dropped the pretences of subtlety around Kabuto after the seventh month. It made it a little harder to tell when the boy was trying to manipulate him now, but it wasn't difficult yet.
"It's more difficult to carry the experiments overland," Kabuto answered honestly. "Shipping them brings less questions, and less risk of contact with enemy shinobi."
"Mn," Sasuke replied, loosening his grip on the fan slightly before retightening it. "What experiments are so important to him that he has to work on them even while he's dragging m--us around?"
Kabuto shrugged lightly, turning and leaning his back against the railing. "Orochimaru-sama is usually preoccupied with several projects at once."
"I meant to ask," Sasuke said, and his voice was equally as neutral and congenial as Kabuto's had been, though a harsher flatness remained, "why have all the recent experiments been eye jutsu users?"
Kabuto quirked his lips up, and pushed away from the railing. "Now, Sasuke-kun," he said as he readjusted his glasses, "there's some things I'd get into trouble for telling you. Knowledge isn't free, after all."
Sasuke's face was tilted just enough that the boy was staring at him now, trying to read him. Kabuto smiled and walked toward the doorway.
Sasuke had still smelled like sex, so Kabuto let his footfalls echo as he picked his way through the halls in the quarters. Orochimaru was dressed when he arrived in the main room, and had thoughtfully opened a window in the one beyond it.
Sasuke was gone by the time he returned to the walkway; he'd left the fan sitting on the railing. Kabuto resisted the urge to flick it over the rail and into the canyon as he passed, and instead made his way back to the coolness of the underground area.
I'm really enjoying this game, you know.