A/N: I've been wanting to do something like this for a while, and it's been floating around in my head for a long time. Now, I'm finally putting it to…er, Internet, and you can all marvel at the beauty. So…here's the first chapter…?

"You didn't kill him!"

A voice screaming in denial…but whose was it? Kabuto had no idea.

"You didn't kill him!"

There was nothing he could do. Warm blood soaked his fingers, a painful reminder of what had happened.

"Tell me you didn't kill him-!"

The resounding crack could be heard throughout the room, and possibly into the next. Kabuto was thrown to the floor by the punishing hand that had just spilled the blood of the person Kabuto had lived for…up until now.

"Shut up, you piece of crap. Orochimaru was useless to me now. He had to go."

"You're blind! I loved him!"

Kabuto wasn't even sure if the person was him, or someone else altogether. But from the sound slaps he was getting, he was fairly certain it was he.

"I loved him and you murdered him!"

Sasuke shrugged and kicked the kneeling medic in the ribs. "Too bad."

Kabuto's sobs were wracking his entire body now. This was one thing he could never hide: his love for Orochimaru. And now he was gone…Sasuke had imprisoned him in his own mind.

"Take me instead! Let him go!"

Sasuke couldn't take it anymore. Once Kabuto had calmed down, he would listen to him. But for now, Kabuto needed to sleep and try to better absorb the shock. He kicked Kabuto on the back of the neck, expertly knocking out the sobbing medic. Sighing, he simply walked away.

If Kabuto was going to absorb the shock, he better get used to seeing the body.

That was then. Now, Kabuto sat quietly in his room, idly fingering the edges of a piece of paper he had found in Orochimaru's room. A last plea for help, something he hoped would have gotten to Kabuto sooner…maybe if Sasuke had left him alive and Kabuto found the note…it was his fault.

"Done moping yet?"

Sasuke stood in the doorway, one hand resting on his left hip. Kabuto glanced up, saw that it was him, and looked back to the piece of paper.

"Don't make me come over there."

"Don't make me get up."

Kabuto sounded so crushed Sasuke almost regretted killing Orochimaru. Well, technically the bitch wasn't dead. But sure as hell he wasn't here anymore. And that was why Kabuto was moping…

Sasuke sighed and walked over to Kabuto watching the other male flinch away when he heard Sasuke's footsteps.

"I can bring him back."

"What's the catch?"

Well, at least Kabuto had retained his brains...so Sasuke would give him a quick, direct answer. "He remains my slave for the rest of his life."

Kabuto sharply looked up at Sasuke. "In other words, my own selfish desires or Orochimaru-sama?"

"Hey, he might want a second chance at life. "He may not screw it up so bad this time." Sasuke stood up, leaving Kabuto speechless with rage. "Think about it. You have a week before I crush this annoyance-and you, for that matter."

Kabuto gasped. No…his worst nightmare was coming true…

"If the only other option is death, then bring him back!"

Sasuke smirked. Well, that was easy. Now for the jutsu…and I need a decent body. Well, those shouldn't be hard to come by.

Sasuke slipped through the lair, heading for the dungeons. He knew Orochimaru kept…a lot down there, really, and he might have stashed a spare body down there as well. He hoped it would be easy enough to find one; he wasn't in the mood for any crap, and he just wanted this over with.

Well, there were two ways to do this: ask people, or just pull someone random. Well, try screaming at people first. It worked with Kabuto.

OOOOOOOOO

Kabuto almost started when the door slammed open.

Sasuke threw someone down in the room with a curt, "Clean him up," and walked away again, slamming the door-again

Long black hair…dead white skin…

"Orochimaru-sama!"

Kabuto had the sannin in his arms in a second, picking him up, pressing him to his chest, gently kissing him-

"Kabuto…why would you bring me back to live like this…?"

"Sasuke was going to kill you if I didn't bring you back," Kabuto whispered. "And I thought that maybe you could do it differently this time…so you could get Sasuke's body after all…"

Orochimaru sighed. "Yes, dying wasn't my original plan...and I was sick to begin with."

Kabuto nodded. "D-Did I make the right choice…?"

Orochimaru sighed. "I suppose so…but we have to do this quickly."

Kabuto nodded again and pulled Orochimaru up, feeling the blood soaking his hands as he did so. "You're hurt…!"

Orochimaru simply nodded. Kabuto sighed and half-dragged, half-carried Orochimaru to the bathroom. He set Orochimaru down on the closed toilet lid and began hunting for bandages and some sort of ointment. Orochimaru sat quietly, thinking over his current situation. In a way, Sasuke had made a critical mistake. By keeping Orochimaru as close as a slave, Orochimaru had just about free access to…anything, really, and he could probably pick up information. He could assassinate Sasuke with a bit of help…fairly easily, actually. But he had to do it quickly. If Sasuke planned to bind him with some sort of jutsu, he was helpless. Unless Kabuto…

"Orochimaru-sama, I'm going to need to see your stomach."

Orochimaru understood what Kabuto meant and pulled his shirt off. Kabuto crouched down and began wiping the blood off, trying to see where the actual wounds lay. Orochimaru tried to hide his flinches of pain, as they would only worry Kabuto, but when the ninja came to the bruise on his stomach where Sasuke had kicked him especially hard, he couldn't help but whimper. Green chakra immediately glowed around Kabuto's hands, and he healed the mark-and the broken ribs that lay underneath. He began to whisper soothing words to Orochimaru as he worked, knowing the sannin was in pain. He couldn't stand this-Orochimaru was in so much pain, and he knew he couldn't completely erase it, only ease it for the time being. And then Sasuke would come back and imprint fresh marks on Orochimaru's beautiful, flawless skin, and Kabuto's heart would break for Orochimaru once again.

"Kabuto…"

Kabuto looked up at Orochimaru's face and wiped a bit of blood from his cheek. "What?"

"What are we going to do…in the meantime?"

Kabuto sighed. "I don't know…I just don't know…"

Orochimaru seemed to think this over for a moment. "Well…I guess we could just go along with whatever happens…it might not be that bad…"

"Or it could be horrible!" Kabuto cried. "Orochimaru-sama, Sasuke only needs a few hours to break you completely! He knows your weaknesses-and after being with you for so long, who wouldn't? Sasuke might have found out who knows what and made them talk-it's not safe to-!"

"Not safe to what?"

Kabuto turned around. Sasuke was standing in the doorway, the most damnable smirk on his face. "You're right, in a way. I don't need much time to break him. But you're wrong in that I know that much…I never really cared about Orochimaru, just his jutsu. And I was only in it for Itachi, really. Once I get my revenge I was just planning to leave. But then I found out Orochimaru was still going to try for my body, and I realized something had to be done to prevent that. And so, I moved to kill him. But he was being a real pain in the ass, so I decided I would make it difficult for you and leave his fate in Kabuto's hands. I knew Kabuto's love for Orochimaru would cloud his judgment, and putting a time limit on only doubled, maybe even tripled, the pressure, further clouding Kabuto's mind. I disrupted his thinking by introducing him to the mutilated body just after the trauma was introduced, and it seemed to work fairly well. I beat some sense into Orochimaru, and I knew that would really kill Kabuto even more, seeing his precious Orochimaru kicked around a bit."

Kabuto pulled Orochimaru into his arms as he stood up. "What do you want? Just leave him alone!"

Sasuke smiled and stepped forward, catching Orochimaru's hair. Kabuto froze, afraid to hurt Orochimaru by trying to get him out of the way. Sasuke pulled Orochimaru out of Kabuto's arms and into his own, wrapping his arms around the other male's shoulders and sliding one pale hand into the arch of Orochimaru's back. Sasuke tipped Orochimaru's face up to his own, taking a good look at his features. There was sress, of course; a bit of trauma, concern, and...something else...fear...Orochimaru couldn't help it; his heart began to pound, his breathing picked up, sweat dripped down his spine into the small of his back-he fought down a whimper as Sasuke applied more pressure than was comfortable to a particularly nasty bruise. As Sasuke leaned down over the trembling sannin, he realized how badly Orochimaru was shaking. Why…? This man was supposed to be the fearless sannin, the heartless ruler of Otokagure-

"Let him go!"

Sasuke ignored Kabuto completely and pressed his lips to Orochimaru's. Kabuto didn't know what to think…now he knew what Sasuke's intentions were. This wasn't going to be pretty…this whole affair wasn't going to end well...

As Sasuke pulled back from Orochimaru, he felt the sannin grow heavy in his arms. Sighing with annoyance, he threw Orochimaru back to the ground.

"You're pathetic."

Kabuto gathered Orochimaru in his arms again, watching Sasuke's movements carefully. If the younger ninja decided to attack-

"I want him back in an hour."

Kabuto breathed a sigh of relief as Sasuke walked out and held Orochimaru close. The trembling was terrible; Orochimaru was visibly shaking, and probably because he knew what was coming. Kabuto began to whisper calming words to him, occasionally kissing him and constantly running his hands through the other's hair. Orochimaru seemed to be responding to the gentle touches and caresses; his trembling was slowly fading. Kabuto heaved out another sigh of relief; he was finally calming Orochimaru down.

But he only had an hour to keep him that way.

Then Sasuke would come back…and there would be nothing he could do.

OOOOOOOOO

Kabuto was still sitting with Orochimaru. After another few minutes of trying to quiet Orochimaru down again, the sannin finally allowed Kabuto to start bandaging his wounds. But he was still frightened if Kabuto made any sudden moves, and he seemed flighty and on edge.

"Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru glanced down at Kabuto. The genin was wrapping bandages around his torso, and was kneeling to do so. Kabuto looked up as he finished and continued,

"I have a plan to hold off Sasuke long enough for you to take his body."

A/N: Well, that's that. Please review, I think this is going to turn out really well. I appreciate suggestions and all, so don't be shy! I don't bite…no, really!! Review please!!