Nurse Me

Chapter 5

“There he is,” Akira said in a low tone.

He and Saya stood quietly behind a nook in the hallway, each peeking one eye around the corner. Kabuto was down the hall rummaging around in a den. More like wobbling, actually. One of his legs appeared to be giving him trouble, or either it was a fever that had already set in that was affecting his balance.

He looked like death warmed over, even from a distance. Saya shook her head in frustration. His hair loosely hung around his face, parts of it seemingly damp.

As Kabuto turned his back to the hallway, Akira gently tapped Saya on the shoulder. He nodded his head toward the den and they both stepped out from behind the corner. Saya remained somewhat in Akira’s shadow, hoping to be a surprise when the den was blocked off by his body.

They managed to reach the open doorway of the room without making a sound. As Akira started to step forward to grab Kabuto’s arm, Saya dashed in front of him instead.

“Got you,” she laughed as she reached for him. "Hey!"

A puff of smoke invaded her vision as Kabuto disappeared. Saya coughed and stepped back until she hit a table. Akira laughed wildly behind her.

“What was that?” she asked.

“A shadow clone,” Akira continued to laugh. “Oh man, he really doesn’t like you.”

“But I haven’t done anything!” Saya shouted as she threw her arms up and turned to face Akira. Her lips pursed as she saw that he was still trying to shake off his laugh. “You shinobi are all alike. Damn stubborn.”

Akira smirked at her. “Maybe you should spend more of your time here with better company.”

A raspy cough caused them both to whirl around.

“Lord Orochimaru!” Akira exclaimed nervously.

Orochimaru sat on a couch in the corner of the room. There was only one light source coming from a table beside him, but his pale skin shone like a light itself. A book rested on the sofa beside him.

“You’re up. Again,” Saya commented. “What did I tell you about that?”

He looked up at them.

Akira cleared his throat. “Ah, what she means is that it’s not good for you in your current state. We’re all hoping both you and Kabuto can have a quick recovery.” He turned toward Saya who made her way across the room. “Saya, let’s leave him be.”

Orochimaru’s eyes seemed to dance from the light as she crossed the room. “Find Kabuto,” he ordered Akira. “He should be nearby. Saya stays.”

He glanced at her with a confused look. “Yes, Lord Orochaimru.”

Saya sat down on the opposite end of the couch. She looked down at the book. “You’re going to ruin your eyes if you keep this terrible lighting. Anyway, all you had to do was come get me if you wanted something.”

“I needed to get up,” he replied quietly.

She half laughed. “I guess it is boring lying there all day and night. Are you feeling worse or the same?”

For a moment it seemed that Orochimaru was going to lapse back into his habit of silence. Saya turned her face towards him looking to analyze his facial expression, but he stared blankly ahead.

“He’s upset because he can’t help me.”

Saya raised an eyebrow. “You mean Kabuto?” Orochimaru responded with a single blink. “He’s being very selfish,” Saya continued. “He’s hurting both of you by acting this way.”

“Kabuto is the only one out of them I have let somewhat close to me.” He closed his eyes. “You threaten him.”

Saya snorted. “It’s not like this means anything. I’ll be gone before you know it. It sounds to me like it’s a personal problem for him. Possibly very personal.”

Orochaimru quickly snapped his head toward her with a venomous look. “This does mean nothing, which is why you should watch that mouth of yours.” He softened his expression as Saya got the message, tensing and averting her eyes. “It’s a ridiculous notion to begin with. I’m old enough to be his father.”

What was he talking about? That’s exactly what she meant. She smirked despite herself. What could he do to her? “Some people are into that,” she quickly remarked.

As suspected, Orochimaru grabbed her and pulled her close to his face. “Hush,” he ordered her. While his eyes were hard and full of anger, he noticed something off about the ones he was looking into. They had absolutely no trace of fear. In fact, they seemed eager. That’s when it registered with him that she never once flinched or tried to pull away from him the times he grabbed her. Not even when he-

“You know,” he started, breaking his train of thought, “people often say ‘some people’ when they really mean themselves but are too afraid to say it.”

“Or,” Saya drawled, “maybe ‘some people’ really means some people.”

“Is that so?” He looked at her with humor creeping into his eyes.

“Yes,” she simply replied.

Orochimaru smirked as he briefly looked down at her wrist that was caught in his grip. He brought it closer to his face as he let his tongue glide over the thin skin that covered her veins. Saya’s only response was a blink as they continued to stare at each other. When his lips brushed against it, though-

“If you’re trying to intimidate me because of what I said this morning, it’s not working,” she said as she closed her eyes, eyebrows lowered in defiance.

“We aren’t discussing intimidation, but since you feel the need to mention it-” Orochimaru dropped his sentence as he leaned forward to push Saya’s head up with his own before resting his mouth on her neck.

Saya’s eyes flew open and tried to look down at him. “What are you doing?”

“Hush,” he told her again, this time covering her neck with his warm breath. He let go of her wrist to instead wrap his hand around the back of her neck as his jaw began to slowly open and close.

“Stop,” Saya breathed. “You’re hallucinating. Oh…”

She was slightly shocked when he did abruptly stop and raise his head. He stared at her with his hand still around the back of her neck. “I’m not ill yet,” he whispered. “I know exactly what I’m doing.” And with that he pulled Saya’s head closer to his, crashing their lips together.

Saya did begin to struggle now. She tried to pry his fingers away from her and push on his injured chest when that failed. Orochimaru took a sharp intake of breath, but it did not deter him. He forced his tongue between her lips and into her mouth in retaliation.

He eventually loosened his grip on her neck, and the slow movement of his jaw seemed to calm Saya. He could do worse to her if he wanted, injured or not, but he didn’t. Despite the fact that she had just met the man a day previously, she somehow willed herself to stop pushing against him. She was actually transfixed, which Orochimaru picked up on with a low chuckle as she started to kiss him back.

“Lord Orochimaru? I heard you wanted to see me?”

Saya was able to pull away in a flash as they were both surprised by the voice. She turned around to see Kabuto standing in the doorway. His eyes found hers and his face became twisted with despise. She turned back around just as quickly as a blush she knew he couldn’t see started to surface on her face.

“Although, if I’m interrupting anything I can come back later,” he added while trying to keep that despise out of his voice.

Orochimaru calmly closed his eyes. “No, Kabuto. It was nothing important. Come sit down.”

Saya stared at the wall, feeling like a ghost.