Bitten

vii

7.

"Can you teach me medical ninjutsu, Kabuto-nii?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Tenten wanted to hide.

It was an impulsive decision on her part.

She hoped he wouldn't take it seriously. After all, her older brother seemed to have too much in his plate lately and her adding to his burden wasn't a good idea.

Teaching a brat wasn't anyone's idea of a good time.

(Tenten could see that despite Kabuto-nii's smiles, his shoulders were tense and his eyes, haggard with a trace of self-loathing that made her chest tighten a bit.)

"Forget it, Kabuto-nii," Tenten coughed, voice calm as she valiantly tried not to squirm in her seat. "I'm still preparing to get one of the slots for the Academy after all and I'm sure-"

"You wouldn't be a bother Tenten," Kabuto smiled, interrupting Tenten with a pat on her head.

Tenten's cheeks flushed.

She forgot how well Kabuto can see through her.

(Was he always this gentle? Was his voice always this kind?)

(Why did it feel wrong when it shouldn't be?)

She was forgetting a lot of things about Kabuto-nii lately.

"Are you sure?" Tenten asked, hesitant. "I don't want to-"

"It's fine," Kabuto affirmed. "I need to take a break anyway and spending time with you is a good way to relax."

"Okay," Tenten said sheepishly.

There was silence as Kabuto's soothing chakra washed over her wounds. Cleaning up the bandages used to stem the blood from her injury, he wiped Tenten's arms with a soft, wet cloth.

"Is there anything you want to ask me?" Kabuto finally asked, breaking the quiet.

Tenten fidgeted under Kabuto's stare. It was ridiculous, her being this uneasy in the face of this kinder Kabuto but-

(There was something about this Kabuto-nii that made her feel unnerved.)

(She would have preferred to have the Kabuto she knew before - sarcastic but kind, and not this overwhelmingly gentle one that made the hairs on her arm stand up on end.)

"Do you know what happened to Nono?"

The older boy's face went rigid, his face hardening as his hands paused from his actions.

Tenten stiffened when the air around them turned cold.

Shit.

Her shit communication skills struck again. She got two for two today, Kami.

"It's just that I haven't seen her lately. She's always busy," She rambled on, trying to explain herself. "And-"

"No," Kabuto's countenance softened. He turned away from her to discard the used cloth. "I was busy with training in the hospital, you see. We're short on hands at the moment so I hadn't been able to get in touch with her lately."

"Oh," Tenten replied lamely.

She didn't speak up again when Kabuto escorted her outside lest her traitorous mouth would enhance the awkward air between them.

"The lessons would start after you get in the Academy, okay?" Kabuto finally said, his voice regaining its familiar bland tone - not the gentle one he used earlier that made her feel ill at ease. "Do your best."

Tenten tried to smile, looking at the older child anxiously. "Okay."

Kabuto looked at her seriously for a moment before chuckling. He pinched her cheeks. "Don't overthink, Tenten-chan. I'm still okay."

Tenten's eyes felt hot. "Really?"

Kabuto grinned. "Really, really." He shook his head in mock exasperation. "You're such a baby Tenten."

"I'm- I'm not," Tenten protested, trying to hold her traitorous tears back and failing. "I'm just sweating through my eyes."

"Right," Kabuto pinched her cheeks harder. "Don't worry."

Tenten forced herself to nod, staring at Kabuto-nii fiercely. "Don't leave me, okay?"

Kabuto pulled a face. "So dramatic ah, Tenten-chan. It's not like I'm leaving or anything."

"Promise me," Tenten insisted.

"Okay, okay. Kabuto-nii promises," Kabuto said fondly.

(Although Tenten didn't know what was happening-)

(Both of them knew that it was nothing but a bare-faced lie.)

(What Kabuto-nii was in was dangerous - made him hard in the way children weren't supposed to be.)

(Hard in a way the people Kyoya-san was closest to - assassins, veteran killers as much as they were called vigilantes campaigning for peace - was.)

(Like he stared at death straight in the eye and was forever marked - twisted by it in turn.)

(But she couldn't stop herself from futilely asking for assurance because maybe-)

(Maybe if she asked for it hard enough, she could convince herself that no, she wasn't too late but-)

(Tenten couldn't lie to herself.)

...

..

.

(Kyoya-san's memories pounded into her head long enough that lying wouldn't do anything to help in the long run.)