So, I'm direly behind schedule on the last chapter of One Hundred Days,
with no fewer than 15 scenes left to go, but... well, this idea came to
me and I had to get it out before it became irrelevant.
For something that was written in one go in less than an hour, I'm
pretty happy with it. It's not perfect though, so all C&C is most welcome.
Spoilers for the latest chapter of the Naruto manga (342).
Softness
A Naruto Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack
"You didn't kill any of them. You're still too soft."
"They aren't the ones I want to kill."
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Disclaimer: This story is based of the Naruto manga, which belongs to
Kishimoto Masashi, who is not me. Therefore, Naruto does not belong to
me; I'm merely borrowing it. The text of this story is mine, however,
and I'd appreciate it if it was not stolen. Joke goes here.
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"You know, Sasuke-kun," Kabuto chided as his softly glowing
hands moved lower down on the younger man's bare back, "there's a
difference between hiding weakness and stupidity."
The Uchiha shifted, instinctively pulling away from the chilly
heat of the medical ninja's chakra. As if to compensate, he then pushed
back, pressing against Kabuto's hands as though it would make the
healing process go faster. His only response to Kabuto's comment was a
grunt.
After almost three years, Kabuto was well-trained in
interpreting the varied grunts Orochimaru's current apprentice produced,
and he knew this one meant, "Shut up and heal me. I'm not here for
conversation." Kabuto enjoyed annoying Sasuke, though, and he was in no
mood to take the boy's orders.
"I mean," Kabuto continued, "it's hardly going to reflect poorly
if you said something like, 'Orochimaru-sama, one of those dozen highly-
trained jounin I just defeated me hit me with some sort of nasty poison.
Kabuto-kun might want to look at it before it spreads to every tissue in
my body."
Sasuke grunted again, and this time it meant, "I wouldn't call
him that."
"No, you wouldn't call him Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto agreed. "It
wouldn't hurt you to, though." The glow around his hands died, and they
pulled away from Sasuke's back.
"You're the only one who seems to care about that," Sasuke said.
Kabuto picked up a white towel and began to wipe away the sickly
green, half-solid mess that had emerged from Sasuke's back. "This used
to be part of your liver," he commented, before responding to Sasuke's
comment. "You're right, Orochimaru doesn't care. But that's because he
doesn't understand you." He sighed. "Not that it will matter, in the
end," he added, and the towel brushed against the dark cursed seal on
Sasuke's shoulder.
"And you do understand me?" Sasuke asked dryly.
"I've been watching you for many years, Sasuke-kun. Since...
well, you know when you would have become of interest to Orochimaru-
sama."
Sasuke gave the grunt that meant, "Itachi," and Kabuto nodded.
"I would say, Sasuke-kun, that I probably know you better than
anyone." He set aside the now-filthy towel, a green glow surrounding
his hands again before they returned to Sasuke's back. "Orochimaru
doesn't care about your insolence because he thinks it means you don't
respect him."
Sasuke responded with a grunt. "I don't," Kabuto read.
"Yes, you do, in a way" Kabuto replied. "Otherwise you wouldn't
come to him to help you beat your brother." He didn't say anything for
some time.
"So what do you think my insolence means?" Sasuke prompted after
a while.
"It means that you don't fear him," Kabuto stated. "I correct
you for your own good, Sasuke-kun. If you don't learn to fear
Orochimaru -"
"He won't kill me," Sasuke said, and it was the truth.
"No, but he could make your life much less pleasant," Kabuto
said. "You don't fear him, and because of that one day you'll cross
him." The medical ninja sighed. "And then you'll learn to fear the
hard way."
"Hmph." Kabuto knew that Sasuke meant that to signal the end of
the conversation.
That meant that he was going to continue it, of course. "That's
why you shouldn't worry about what Orochimaru-sama said."
"Because I don't fear him?"
"No," Kabuto said, pausing to take a fresh towel and begin to
wipe away another layer of poisoned mush from Sasuke's back. He made a
mental note to save a sample to reverse-engineer this poison from before
continuing. "Because he doesn't understand you."
"He thinks I'm soft," Sasuke said, and there was anger in his
voice.
"And Orochimaru-sama is wrong," Kabuto replied. "You didn't
kill those men because you didn't want or have to, that's all. You
wouldn't have hesitated if you wanted or had to."
Sasuke grunted in agreement, wincing slightly as Kabuto pressed
down a little too hard on a sore spot.
"Sorry," Kabuto apologized guiltlessly. He worked in silence
for a moment, then said, "They weren't the ones you wanted to kill, were
they?"
"No," Sasuke said.
"It wasn't too long ago," Kabuto said mildly, "that Orochimaru-
sama and I had to stop you from killing Naruto-kun and Sakura-san." The
medical ninja smiled, though he knew Sasuke couldn't see. "It's not
just Itachi you want to kill."
Sasuke grunted.
Kabuto's smile widened. "And that's how I know that I
understand you better than those two," he said. "Because if they knew
you as I do, they wouldn't chase so hard after their own deaths."
Sasuke didn't grunt, and Kabuto laughed slightly, then returned
to work.
No, he wasn't soft at all.
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Author's Random Ramblings
No, I don't think that this is what Kishimoto meant by that last scene.
It's much more likely its intended to start portraying Sasuke in a more
redeemable fashion.
But... well, it's hard not to interpret that, given his behavior toward
Naruto and Sakura before, they must be numbered among "the ones he wants
to kill." And so... this.