Kabuto was starting to worry for his safety. Even in his weakened state after his fight with The Third Hokage, Lord Orochimaru was deadly. Upon discovering the nuisance of a girl that had taken residence in his room over the past few years was missing, he became inconsolably enraged. He was already irritable because of the immense amount of pain he was in from the injuries he'd sustained during his fight. He'd lashed out and killed over a dozen attendants Kabuto had helping to take care of him and administer the medicine he had prepared to ease his pain. He was running out of pawns to help him tend to the lethal legendary sannin.

He hadn't expected Lord Orochimaru to be so upset by the girl's disappearance and was worried about what he'd do if he found out how she disappeared. Kabuto knew the girl had no knowledge of their plans or research and that Orochimaru had successfully made her forget the location of the lair, there wasn't anything of value she could tell anyone if she was interrogated, and he'd hoped once they discovered she knew nothing, they'd dispose of her for him.

It had been nearly two weeks after the attack, Kabuto and Orochimaru had met with another of the legendary sannin, Lady Tsunade a week ago to make a deal. Kabuto hoped once his wounds healed, Lord Orochimaru would be less irritable and stop fixating on the missing girl. After the fight with The Third Hokage, Lord Orochimaru's arms appeared to be dead, they were turning necrotic and caused him a great deal of pain, if they couldn't heal him soon, he'd have to transfer bodies or there was a chance he could die. Despite his own dire situation, Lord Orochimaru had ordered Kabuto to find and rescue the nuisance of a girl. He knew she was in danger and was in too weakened of a state to save her.

Rather than agree to the deal they proposed and heal Lord Orochimaru, Lady Tsunade refused and a fight broke out. Before long they were joined by the third legendary sannin, Master Jiraiya, an annoying brat by the name of Naruto and Lady Tsunade's attendant, Shizune. Kabuto grew wary, he knew Jiraiya had been in the Hidden Leaf Village during the attack, if Tsuki was captured he probably knew about it. If he said anything about it to Lord Orochimaru, he would surely realize Kabuto was the one behind her disappearance.

Kabuto helped Lord Orochimaru summon Manda, as the other two sannin summoned their familiars. The colossal ill-tempered serpent appeared in a puff of smoke just as Master Jiraiya summoned a giant toad and Lady Tsunade summoned a massive slug.

The colossal serpent's voice roared through the partially destroyed plains causing the earth to shake, "Orochimaru, I don't appreciate being dragged here. You know I don't like being summoned, I should eat you here and now to put an end to it, but my cute servant you can't seem to take care of begged me not to." His voice sounded slightly off as if he were holding something in his mouth.

What was he talking about? Kabuto and Orochimaru both looked down at the giant serpent beneath their feet curiously.

"Please don't talk like that, Lord Manda, you will be heavily rewarded for your hel-." Kabuto tried to quell the serpents anger.

"Shut up you little bug, what could you possibly offer me to make it worth my while?" Manda roared causing Kabuto to flinch. The serpents tongue flicked upward, it was coiled around something and slowly unraveled dropping an unconscious Tsuki above them.

"Tsuki!" Orochimaru struggled to catch her in his arms, despite the pain. He dropped to his knees shielding her from the sunlight as he shook her lightly. "Tsuki, wake up."

Kabuto felt his heart pounding in his chest, this was not good. His gaze swept over the unconscious girl, she was in bad shape, her entire body was covered in bloody raw red burns, there was a deep stab wound in her shoulder and her arms appeared to be burned so severely they were a deep unhealthy purple.

"I refuse to assist you until you tell me how it came to be that my cute servant ended up in such a state, Orochimaru." The serpent hissed in rage.

Kabuto struggled to keep his cool. He stared down at the unconscious girl in Orochimaru's arms in awe as the burns all over her body slowly began to fade away. This was not good. She'd wake up, did she know it was him? He thought he was sure to catch her in a semi drugged state before dosing her. She shouldn't remember, but she was full of surprises.

"Orochimaru-sama." Tsuki's voice sounded weak as her eyes slowly fluttered open, she winced at the bright sunlight, but managed to keep her eyes open. The sun didn't seem to bother her so much when she was in Lord Orochimaru's arms. "Sorry I wasn't there to heal you." She reached a pale hand upward cupping his cheek as a single tear slipped from her colorless eyes.

Kabuto stared at the pair in awe. At her touch, Orochimaru appeared to grow stronger, his pain was ebbing away. His arm still appeared to be necrotic and black. Tsuki frowned, as she sensed that Orochimaru's wounds weren't healing completely, she'd only succeeded in easing the pain.

"That's enough, Tsuki." Orochimaru's voice was soft as he looked down at her before turning to Kabuto, "Get her out of the sunlight and protect her with your life." His voice came out in a sharp venomous hiss.

"Manda-sama." Tsuki called softly, "You promised you wouldn't be angry and would help Orochimaru-sama."

The colossal serpent didn't seem pleased with this, but reluctantly caved, "So I did." Manda sighed.

Orochimaru was able to move his arms with minimal discomfort, it was no longer pure agony. He handed the starlight girl off to Kabuto with a look of warning that was so terrifying, it made the younger male's skin crawl.

"I'll keep her safe." Kabuto vowed before taking off to find a patch of shade away from the fighting. The girl was lighter than he had remembered, she'd lost weight due to the comatose state her injuries left her in.

Once they were safely in the shade of a cluster of boulders away from the fighting, Kabuto released the girl from his hold and turned to watch the fight. A small hand lashed out lightning fast catching him by the throat and slammed his back into one of the boulders they were currently seeking shade from. He gasped as all the wind was knocked from his lungs. The small hand tightened around his throat making it impossible for him to draw breath. His dark onyx eyes flit to the frail looking starlight girl in terror, she was strong!

"If you ever put Orochimaru-sama's life in danger again, I will end you." Tsuki hissed, he'd finally pushed her too far. He threw her into enemy territory to be captured when Orochimaru needed her the most, it could have cost him his life.

Kabuto uselessly smacked at her tiny wrist in a futile attempt to get her to release him as he struggled for air.

"You will be civil to me from now on and you will stop trying to separate me from Orochimaru-sama. Understood?" Her grip tightened.

Kabuto managed a nod as the edges of his vision began to blur. Her small hand released him and he collapsed to his knees coughing and sputtering as he tried desperately to replenish his lungs with sweet oxygen. He looked to the starlight girl warily as she gracefully folded her tattered lilac dress beneath her as she sat down beside him.

"In exchange, I'll spare your life by not telling Orochimaru-sama that you drugged me and left me for dead in enemy territory." She smiled sweetly, he'd finally pushed her too far.

Kabuto managed to regulate his breathing and shot a wary look in the pale girl's direction as he realized the fatal flaw in all of his scheming to get rid of her. He'd pushed her past her breaking point and rather than cripple her as he had expected, it gave her the drive and fire she needed to be a deadly foe. She was no longer the weak terrified girl that would cower whenever he lashed out at her. Tsuki had finally snapped, she was done being the victim.

"How did you get Manda to obey you?" Kabuto asked her after a long moment keeping his tone even and light.

Tsuki shrugged, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

Kabuto frowned, "That's not it, I'm always polite to him-."

Tsuki turned to him with a sweet smile that instantly made his heart flutter in his chest and made him forget what he'd been about to say. There was an allure about her that drew him in, it had always been there but he'd tried so hard to fight it and always ended up lashing out at her in the past. Was Manda also susceptible to her allure? Is that why Lord Orochimaru kept her around? Or was he too under her spell?

"There's a difference between politeness and kindness." Tsuki said softly as the fight began. Her colorless eyes were filled with worry. Orochimaru still wasn't at his best, he was still injured. Her touch should have healed him more. If it was too severe a wound, it would require more contact to heal. Her cheeks flushed with color at this thought.

"Do you know medical ninjutsu?" Kabuto inquired, now curious about the girl as he was forced to watch over her.

Tsuki shook her head.

"You said something about healing Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto frowned.

"I CAN heal him."

"How?!" Kabuto snapped.

"It doesn't concern you." Tsuki said coolly.

Kabuto was taken aback by her new cool attitude but didn't press her further. She was stronger than she looked, she'd been trained personally by Lord Orochimaru and she somehow managed to escape captivity in The Hidden Leaf Village. He couldn't afford to underestimate her again.

Video- "Malevolence" By New Years Day