It had been a few days since they'd returned to the underground lair. When they'd first returned Tsuki had hugged Lord Orochimaru and refused to let go of him for over an hour, she managed to alleviate his pain, but his arms still appeared dead, necrotic and bloody. Frustrated, Tsuki tried willing her chakra into him, but no matter what she did, she couldn't heal his wounds.

Kabuto, true to his word, was being nicer to her and treating her with respect. He no longer lashed out at her or gave her mean looks and seemed like he was being genuinely kind to her. Tsuki was starting to worry, though Orochimaru said her touch alleviated a great deal of pain and made him mobile again, it wasn't enough. If she couldn't figure out how to heal him, the necrosis in his arms could spread and kill him. It was getting worse; her touch wasn't alleviating as much pain as it had before.

Orochimaru had retreated to his lab, tired of her constant hugs and seeing the look of worry on her face. He often retreated to the lab, knowing each time she tried to give him her chakra it drained her. She was trying too hard and it was going to make her sick.

Tsuki sat on the edge of Orochimaru's bed with her head in her hands as frustration and anger welled up inside of her. Why wasn't it working? Why couldn't she heal him? She jumped at the soft rap at the door and slowly lifted her head turning her colorless eyes to the door as it swung open. Instinctively she tensed as Kabuto ducked inside. He noticed the sudden tension in her body and frowned slightly before recovering with a polite smile.

"His condition is worsening." Kabuto said calmly, "Whatever you're doing is effective at lessening the pain, but it's not fixing the root of the matter. Are you sure you can heal him?"

Tsuki bit her lip, "I know I can, I just don't know how to do it."

Kabuto frowned, "How can you be sure?"

"My clan can heal others..."

"Through touch, right?" Kabuto asked curiously as he stepped further into the room before taking a seat next to her on the edge of the bed. "You've just been doing it unconsciously before now, you don't necessarily understand the mechanics of it. Is that right?"

Tsuki nodded.

"You've been acting on instinct until now, perhaps you're just overthinking it and should just do what your body tells you to do." He noted.

Tsuki pondered this for a moment. He wasn't wrong. She was getting in her head a lot because she was scared. Maybe she was overthinking it, but what was her body telling her to do?

Kabuto lightly pat the worried girl atop the head and ruffled her silvery white hair, "You're doing it again."

"I'm scared." Tsuki admitted helplessly.

"Don't worry. We have a plan, we're just under some time constraints and need to hold out a few days longer. If you can keep alleviating his pain and slowing the spread of the necrosis like you have been, then it should be fine." He tried to reassure her.

Tsuki bit her lip, her stomach churned unpleasantly, Orochimaru was in pain again, but if she went to him he'd just push her away and tell her to go back to his private quarters and stay put. It was the same thing that had happened for the past three days. "I don't think I'm helping much anymore."

Kabuto kept his mouth shut, he'd noticed that whatever she'd been doing that had been slowing the spread of the necrosis and alleviating Lord Orochimaru's pain, wasn't as effective. It was most likely due to the progression of the necrosis and that whatever treatment she was administering, the dosage was too low, but if he told her this, she'd only worry. Her healing abilities were almost entirely based on instinct, she did it unconsciously and she'd just beat herself up over it.

"I think it would be best if you stayed here for today. Try not to overthink it." He noted before getting to his feet, "Don't worry so much." He offered her a small smile before slipping out of the room leaving her alone with her thoughts of self-loathing.

Tsuki flopped onto the bed as tears of frustration welled in her colorless eyes. She could sense his pain growing, it made her arms itch from her fingertips stretching past her shoulders almost reaching her chest. If it continued to spread, if it reached his heart, he'd die. After hours of self-inflicted torment, she dragged herself from the bed and trudged to the connected bathroom for what she hoped would be a relaxing bubble bath.

She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror of the dimly lit bathroom and paused. It had been a long time since she'd last been able to look at her own reflection. She always felt filthy and impure, after what had happened with the guard. The girl staring back at her in the mirror looked foreign and strange, no longer a girl, but a young woman with curves. There was sorrow and frustration revealed in her colorless eyes, but deeper down there was strength. Her mind wandered back to her life of captivity, to what the guard had done and her stomach churned unpleasantly as she realized what she'd have to do in order to heal Orochimaru.

After emptying the contents of her stomach in terror and gut-wrenching anxiety about what she'd have to do, she brushed her teeth a few times and soaked her body in the marble tub. The bathroom was huge and littered with snake accents, the sconces along the walls were cobra heads, there were ornate decorative snakes carved into the side of the tub and marble countertops.

When she sensed Orochimaru leave the lab she got out of the tub, dried herself off and wrapped her naked body in a silk robe with trembling hands. Her nerves were on edge, her stomach was twisting in knots, and her body was trembling uncontrollably as her mind kept lingering back to what had happened with the guard. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists at her side trying to will herself to calm down. This was different, this was her choice, to help Orochimaru who'd saved her countless times. It was the least she could do.

The bedroom door opened and she took a deep breath before reaching for the bathroom door with a trembling hand. She bit her lip and tried to steady her nerves as she slowly opened the door. Orochimaru was standing at his desk, bent over slightly wincing in pain. He straightened up and turned as he sensed her presence, his snake like eyes swept over her causing her heart to skip a beat in her chest.

"Tsuki, what's wrong?" He asked her through grit teeth, he was trying so hard to bear with the pain. It was getting worse, he wasn't going to last much longer.

Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest she was sure he could hear it from across the room as she slowly moved toward him trying to keep her body from trembling. She bit her lip to keep it from quivering as she felt his gaze on her, he was watching her intently trying to discern what was wrong with her. "I know what I have to do." Her voice shook.

Orochimaru threw her a curious look, "What?"

"To heal you. I know how, now." Tsuki breathed as she reached him and paused before him as her insides attempted flips making her feel more uneasy than before.

Orochimaru frowned, she was acting odd and she looked terrified, whatever it was, it scared her, "How?"

Tsuki reached for the rope cinched around her waist, keeping the robe in place, with trembling fingers. She took a deep breath, steeled herself and the robe cascaded to the floor at her feet. Her body moved on autopilot as she cleared the space between them and made a move to wrap her arms around his neck only to cut off with a gasp as he roughly caught her by the shoulders and held her at an arm's length away.

His snake like eyes narrowed. "Tsuki." He hissed, "What are you doing?"

"It'll work. I know it will." Tears welled in her colorless eyes.

"No." He glared down at her, "Stop this nonsense, Tsuki." He snapped as he shoved her away from him with enough force she stumbled backward and slipped to her knees.

"Orochimaru-sama, please. I know it will work." Fear gripped her as she thought of what was to come.

"KABUTO!" Orochimaru snarled causing the terrified girl to jump. What did he want with Kabuto at a time like this?

After a moment the bedroom door swung open and Kabuto stepped in with a bow, "Yes, Lord Orochimaru?" He straightened himself up only to stare in awe at the scene before him as his cheeks flushed crimson at the sight of the naked young woman. "What's going o-?"

"Take Tsuki to her room." Orochimaru ordered coolly. "She's to stay there until further notice."

Tsuki felt her heart drop. "What?"

Kabuto paused, "You want me to lock her in her room?"

"Now." Orochimaru hissed as the pain in his arms began to grow.

"No!" Tsuki protested as a single desolate tear slipped from her hold. "Don't send me away." Her eyes were filled with desolation and despair, "I'm sorry." She folded into herself.

Kabuto stepped forward not entirely sure what had transpired or why the girl was naked and Orochimaru slightly flushed. He bent down and swept up Tsuki's discarded robe before lightly draping it over her delicate shoulders and giving her a moment to cover herself. Her body was trembling as Kabuto lightly caught her by the arm and gently pulled her to her feet. There was slight resistance as he tried to pull her toward the door, she looked like she was about to crumble.

With a sigh, Kabuto swept her into his arms and left the room in silence. Once they were far enough away he was sure Orochimaru couldn't hear them he looked down at the broken girl, "What happened?"

"I figured out how to heal him." Tsuki sniffled.

"How?...Oh!." Kabuto's face burned as he realized what had transpired. The girl had apparently offered her body to him and Lord Orochimaru rejected her, rather aggressively. When he'd first brought Tsuki to their hidden lair, she'd suffered a sexual assault, a guard that had been tasked with watching over her as a prisoner had bound and raped her. Kabuto had never seen Lord Orochimaru express anger on that level, for days after bringing the girl back he was much quicker to anger and exploded at the smallest of things.

"I don't want to be alone again." Tsuki whimpered as they reached the room she'd been given when she first arrived at the lair.

Kabuto felt sorry for the girl. Even if Lord Orochimaru was just looking out for her well-being, he should have handled the situation a little more delicately. His steel gaze scanned the room as he pushed open the door to her cell, he shook his head as he spotted a white snake curled atop the bed. Apparently, Lord Orochimaru didn't want the girl to be alone either. "I don't think you have to worry about that." He shook the slightly comatose girl lightly in his arms and directed her gaze to the white snake.

"Yuki-san!" Tsuki cried as she wriggled out of Kabuto's hold and ran to the pure white snake with the bright green eyes.

Kabuto watched in awe as the pure white snake coiled around the starlight girl's hand and wound around her arm up to her neck before nuzzling her affectionately as if to console her. "Goodnight, Tsuki."

Those colorless eyes turned to him looking hollow and lost, "Goodnight." She replied desolately as he offered her a polite bow of his head before closing the door and locking her inside. 

Video- "In Flames" By Digital Daggers