Annie: wow! Since people kept on reviewing even after I decided to give up on this story for awhile, I thought I owe it to them to keep wirting so I wrote this next chapter and had fun with it. Everyone's like when is the romance gonna start? So I started it here, sort of anyway, so now this story is in full swing! Yeah! While typing this I was listening to "Left Behind" by: Slipknot, so it might seem kinda rocky, if you know what I mean, but I got to unleash my bad side, to an extent. My real bad side has not yet been uncaged, so like yeah, keep on reviewing and I will keep on writing. Sorry if Shizune seems a little OOCish, but I've never seen an episode with her in it nor have I read manga with her drawn, so I get my info from the fan fictions I read about her, so if she doesn't seem to be Shizune, sorry for that. Hope you won't stop reading just because of that.

Chapter five

Guilty Payback

-Sparkling angel, I couldn't see
your dark intensions, your feelings for me.
Fallen angel, tell me why?
What is the reason, the thorn in your eye?-

Kabuto cursed under his breath as he walked down the dark hallway, hating himself for having to call on such a dumb person for help and hating himself for trying to help these people anyway. It was obvious that Sakon and Kimimaru were going to die, and he was now starting to realize that things would have been better if he'd just put them out of their misery the moment he found them, but with Shizune here now and Orochimaru bent on their survival, he had lost the game. If only he hadn't been so conceited to think he could do something like this, but then again, he'd always been this way. He always put way too much responsibility into his own hands and now he was paying for it.

Shaking those thoughts from his head, he continued his quick walk down the corridors, never once taking a misstep though this place was so huge it could take you weeks to get back on track if you got lost. He knew this place like the back of his hand and he was used to it's dark shadows lurking everywhere around him. He was headed to Kimimaru's room, and as he walked, he silently prayed that Kimimaru was still alive. Truly, he had been doing better than Sakon, but he was still barely able to keep his strength up due to the disease. Kabuto knew he'd die from it eventually and all his efforts to save him would always be in vain, but still Orochimaru wanted him to live as long as possible. That meant Kabuto would have to wait on him until he breathed his last dying breath.

Kabuto's footsteps thudded down the hall as he hastily walked dreading when he'd reach Kimimaru's room. Kimimaru had been staying in his room due to the fact that he was terrified of Kabuto's medical lab, the entire place bringing horrifying memories swirling back to him to an extent that he nearly went into shock. Though Kabuto had complained against it highly, Orochimaru had told him Kimimaru could have whatever he wanted to make himself more comfortable, so now Kabuto had to take this long walk just go to see a person who could die any minute.

Lately he found himself complaining about a lot of things and though he hated it when Orochimaru got mad at him for being so stubborn, it didn't bother him that much. It was just that lately, there had been a lot of stuff to complain about and he hadn't missed out on one thing. He was still tired and now he was hungry too, adding to his foul mood as he finally reached the door leading to the Kaguya's room. Reluctantly, he grabbed the silver doorknob and twisted it to the left, hearing a pleasing clicking noise on the other side as he pulled the door back and walked into the dark room.

Inside, it was cold and empty, the only light coming from a small dying candle sitting on a desk next to Kimimaru's bed. Kabuto always felt on edge in hear, the rancid smell of dried blood and death plaguing this room to point that made him feel sick. This place disgusted him to indescribable measures and he hated having to come here and take more orders from the delusional Kimimaru.

"Who's there?" A weak voice coughed from the darkness, answering Kabuto's question and making him sigh with relief, Kimimaru was still alive. The Kaguya clan member was lying on his bed, blood soaking through the sheets as he stared up at the ceiling with blood shot eyes. He looked terrible, his skin ghostly pale, his own blood changing the color of his clothes.

"How are you feeling?" Kabuto asked as he approached the boy, looking over him and sighing when he realized that he was still losing a great deal of blood. If things continued at this rate he'd be dead soon, but it wasn't like Kabuto was going to tell him that.

"I'm going to die," Kimimaru wasn't stupid, he knew the truth even without Kabuto blurting things out to him. Kabuto only shook his head sadly.

"With that attitude you will," he griped, making Kimimaru feel even worse. He was drowning in his own sea of self-pity, having nothing to do but watch as his life slipped away before his eyes.

"It doesn't matter…" Kimimaru protested weakly, his voice barely a whisper as his lips quivered, blood trickling down his chin as more bubbled up in his throat making him cry out suddenly. Kabuto nearly jumped at the sound of Kimimaru's sickening cries of pain, the voice sounding both unnatural and sickly, the tone sending chills down his spine.

With a heaved sigh, Kabuto took one of the white cloths lying on Kimimaru's desk and wiped off his bloodied face. Kimimaru whimpered quietly, the pain too much for his weak body to bear much longer. He was silently slipping into darkness, and there wasn't much Kabuto could do for him except feed him painkillers until he was dizzy.

"Do you need anything?" Kabuto finally asked when Kimimaru calmed down, wanting more than ever to be dismissed.

"No…you can leave…" Kimimaru groaned and turned over on his stomach, trying his best to disappear into the world of dreams and leave this world of pain behind him, but sleep would not come. He closed his eyes and let the pain overtake him, its burning sensation flowing though his veins as he heard the door close and he found himself alone in the darkness again.

"Kabuto!" He jumped as soon as he heard another voice in the empty hallway, not expecting to meet any one else trekking these dark halls as he turned around, heart beating fast. The moment he saw who it he sighed, cursing himself for his on foolishness and plastering a fake smile of his face.

"What do you need now?" he scoffed, receiving an annoyed glare from Shizune.

"Does the sound village have any stores that sell medical supplies?" she asked, sounding impatient and hasty. Kabuto was silent for a moment, not expecting that question at all. He thought about asking why, but instead he only replied coolly.

"Yes, there is one, but you'll probably never find it." He sneered with a slight bit of malicious humor, making her even more angry. Her morning had started off rotten and now he was acting like this. She was getting tired of him acting all high and mighty and pushing her around.

"Well what do you suppose I do?" she asked smartly, replying in the same icy tone that he had used," I know, you can come with me and show me where it is, no come on!" Before he could reject her request she grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hallway, acting the same way he had this morning, giving him some pay back.

Kabuto sighed with dread as she pulled him down the hall, doing her best to remember how to get to the front door, Shizune tried to remember the way there but failed, taking a wrong turn and finding herself hopelessly lost.

"Need some help?" she heard Kabuto ask from behind, but instead of sounding mean and conceited like she thought he actually sounded like he wanted to help, instead of pestering her with humor.

"Lead on," she finally sighed, giving up her tough act and letting him led her down the dark corridors.

The walk to the sound village was far from pleasurable, rain poured down from the sky, soaking Shizune and Kabuto to the bone as they mad their way through the dark forest outside the village. The entire time neither one said a word, too caught up in the cold world around them to notice the growing silence. Kabuto was annoyed at Shizune for taking him along with her but he had to face the facts, she didn't know much about how to get around here so he'd just have to be nice or else she'd probably turn up and leave without a second thought.

He sighed with relief as the large gates surrounding the village came into view, quickly his pace he caught up with Shizune.

"Come on," he ordered as they slipped through the front gates entering the hidden village of sound. Inside, things didn't look the way Shizune had expected at all and for a village that Orochimaru had put together, things actually looked pretty normal. There were small, peaceful looking houses, a large dirt street running between rows or them and a few scattered shops and stalls around town. Except for its smaller size, it had a good resemblance to the leaf village.

"Come on, this way," Kabuto said hastily as he led her down the empty streets. No on else was out in rain pour, unless they were stupid, people were inside their cozy warm homes. Kabuto hardly seemed bothered by the cold rain, but Shizune wished she was back home inside her nice warm house, forgetting all about this. She felt stupid for getting herself into this situation. However, she had found herself completely out of bandages while treating Sakon earlier and they needed more or else their patients would die. Plus most of the pills and concoctions in that medical lab hardly looked safe to use on people, so she thought she might as well get what she needed at any store that sell the right supplies. Most normal stores sold things like bandages so this wouldn't be hard, she hoped that was true at least.

"There's a store just around the corner," Kabuto said causally, acting as if everything was completely normal, though it was raining down a storm.

Shizune's eyes darted to the dark corners around here, suddenly sensing the presence of others as she slowly became more on edge, a feeling of dread flooding over her senses. She was about to say something to Kabuto, but her words were cut off before she could even speak, three dark figures leaping out in front of her.

She backed up, fearing shining in her eyes as the figures cut her from her guide, forcing her back into the dark, misty world.

"Hello little missy," a cold voice jeered from the darkness around her, making her terror rise," what cha got in the bag?" she clutched her medical bag tightly in her arms, knowing exactly what these men were here to do.

"Over my dead body," she growled, hugging the bag close and wondering why she had let herself fall so far behind Kabuto, he was probably at that store by now, wondering where on earth she was, but it wasn't like she could just walk up and tell him. She squealed with surprise as she pushed into the mud by rough hands, her skirt soaked with the wet liquidy mud, she glared up at the stranger, her black bangs falling into a messy jumble over her face.

"Now miss, why don't you hand over the bag and we'll just be on our way," the stranger laughed maliciously, sending chills down her spine. She cried out as the bag she'd clutched so preciously was ripped from her hands and she fell on her back into the cold mud.

"GIVE THAT BACK!" She screamed angrily, but was only greeted with a punch in the face sending her back into the mud, crimson tricking down her sore face.

The men around her laughed, their eyes glowing with malevolent humor as they watched Shizune struggle, trying her best to act tough and get her belongings back. However, her efforts were in vain, it was three against one and she was destined to fail. The man holding her bag laughed cruelly, his messy brown hair covering up most of his face, plastered to his head by the heavy rain. The other men's details were completely unseen, cloaks covering their faces in darkness.

"Lookie here," the man jeered as he reached into her bag and pulled out a few supplies," looks like this missy is a medic." Shizune gritted her teeth, telling herself not to get too angry or else she'd surely get herself into even worse trouble. There had to be a logical way out of this even though things looked pretty bad. She couldn't let them take off with all that supplies, some of those things had cost the leaf village a great deal of intelligence and yen to acquire and she couldn't let these losers sell them or do whatever else they might have planned.

She felt like hurling every insult she knew at them, but that wouldn't get her anywhere, no she needed to do something smart, but she had no weapons on her except her fists and how could she expect to take on three alone. Suddenly, a voice gave her the answer to her question.

"Hey, what do you guys think you're doing!" Kabuto growled, his voice shaking with anger as he approached the group of thugs, rushing to Shizune's rescue. However, he hardly looked like he was happy about it, glaring at her crossly as he made his way between her and the man, his hands twisted into tight fists.

"What are you gonna do about it!" The man snickered mockingly, but Kabuto looked far from intimidated.

"Give her back her bag and we'll be on our way," he said defiantly, meeting the man's low tone as he heard chuckles from the men behind him.

"You really think things are that easy!" the man said in his icy voice, glaring at the silver haired man with his blazing eyes," well let me show you…" his voice trailed off as he suddenly broken off in a snicker.

"What-!" Kabuto's voice was cut off suddenly as a scream escaped Shizune's lips watching as her protector fell into the mud. A man stood directly behind Kabuto, a vile looking smirk on his face. In his rough hands he held something that made Shizune shrieked, a dark looking weapon with crimson splattered on its surface, a crowbar. She couldn't believe the nerve of these men, to do such a thing, and only over a simple bag. Looking at their cackling face she started to wonder if she should just let them have it, but then again, she knew they wouldn't let her off so easily.

Her eyes darted to Kabuto as he struggled back to his feet, still bent on protecting her even though the odds were against him. Fear clouded over Shizune's eyes as she watched, they were completely at these men's cruel mercy, but Kabuto wasn't one to give up. He looked the man right in the eyes, his glasses smeared with mud.

"Consider that a warning punk," the man laughed vilely, his deranged cackle sending more chills down Shizune's spine as she kept praying this would end before anyone really got hurt.

"I won't say it again," Kabuto growled," give her back her bag and we'll be on our way!"

"OR WHAT!" The man taunted, suddenly slamming his fist into Kabuto's face and sending him sprawling into the mud. Shizune felt her own anger rising watching helplessly as Kabuto tried again to stand up and fight, never backing down, but his efforts were vain. Sitting up in the mud, he felt a sharp pain shoot up his back as his face was pushed into the dark mud, the man slamming his foot down on Kabuto's back, laughing with malicious humor. He let out a squeal of pain as he pushed into the mud, finding it unable to breath as he received a mouth full of wet dirt from his scream. Shizune only watched in horror as the man continued his beating.

Nothing else seemed to matter as she watched the figures around her jeering, her own rage feeding open her as she felt herself slowly losing control ,too enraged to care about her own actions anymore. Kabuto thrashed about in the crimson splattered mud, his lungs begging for the oxygen he couldn't draw in, the only thing he could see was darkness, his face being pushed farther into the wet combination of water and dirt around him. The man's foot pressed hard on his back, forcing him to stay under the surface of the dark liquid, forcing him to choke on it as he found a bitter taste entering his mouth.

"STOP IT!" Shizune shrieked as she watched the man kick Kabuto again, letting him free for mere seconds and then pinning him down again, enjoying the way he choked for air every second he was released from the death grip. His head felt light and he was having trouble thinking, his entire body breaking down as he felt a sick feeling enter over his body, his vision swirling with colors as a sudden cracking noise entered his ears and his body went limp, shadows engulfing him as he let his own sanity slip away.

"KABUTO!" Shizune cried, he was no longer fighting the man, his body completely still as he received another blow, the kick tossing his limp body, the impact rolling him unto his back. Shizune gasped, noticing that his eyes were closed, crimson spurting out of his open mouth.

She couldn't take it in, looking away so that she couldn't see his beaten figure. She didn't even notice as the men disappeared into darkness, still cackling madly as they threw her useless bag into the mud, enjoying Kabuto's defeat so much that they forgot all about what the fight had started over in the first place. They had had their fun.

"Kabuto?" Shizune shook her head and edged towards him, ignoring he rain and mud all around her, eyes filled with anguish, she stared at him pitifully, biting her lower lip and praying he wasn't dead. All day she'd been mean to him, and if she'd hadn't been so intent on pay back, they wouldn't have ended up here and he wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Burying her head in her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks, she realized that this was all her fault and now, the mistakes were unfixable…

Shizune: Whoa…that was creepy, but seriously I could have taken them on.

Annie: sure….whatever you say.

Shizune: is Kabuto dead? Cause if he is you're joining him!

Annie: that is to be revealed in the next chapter! And you can't threaten the author or else I give you purple feet and lice in the next chapter! Hahahaha!

Shizune: grrrrrr….I WILL KILL YOU!

Annie: AHHH! Review and get this crazy lady away from me!