Yakushi Kabuto: Why Not To Hate Him by TimberWolf

Before I begin,
1) I know there are a lot of Kabuto haters out there. Please don't vote "no" just because you're one of them. I want your opinion of the article, not the character the article is about. If you're just going to laugh at me for writing about Kabuto, then I suggest you go and read something else.
2) This is my opinion, and I am not forcing it on you.
3) If you don't know the story up to manga volume 8 or anime episode 37, stop reading unless you want a major plot twist revealed. There are a few other spoilers too, but that's the main one if you don't know the story.
4) Warning: long article!

As a Naruto fan with an internet connection, I've discovered quite a few things about my favorite character, Yakushi Kabuto. The number-one thing I've found is simple: Kabuto is the most outwardly hated character on Naruto. I'd like to know why. Kabuto is one of the most important and influential characters on Naruto, even if he doesn't get to be in the spotlight very often. So, why do so many people hate him? Here are some reasons why Kabuto deserves respect.

Reason #1: He's a traitor.
From the beginning, Kabuto was a spy from Sound, working for Orochimaru. He betrayed Leaf, but should we hate him for that? There are 2 very hard-to-accept principals of the Shinobi way- 1) A ninja is a tool for killing. 2) Ninja are masters of trickery and deception. Haku revealed the first principal. Kabuto exposed the second. Historically, a ninja was an assassin and a spy- covering both principals. In being a traitor, Kabuto taught Naruto one of the most important life lessons ever: be wary to trust people, no matter how kind or helpful they seem.

Reason #2: He took defensive techniques and made them offensive.
It's hard to imagine a doctor fighting using only medical knowledge. While Kabuto isn't exactly a doctor, he does know quite a bit about healing. Medicine-related techniques are normally either passive or defensive. In other stories and video games, the healers either don't fight or have a strictly defensive battle plan. Kabuto took his medical knowledge and turned it into an offensive advantage. Using defense as an offense requires a lot of skill and cunning to pull off, and he does it pretty well.

Reason #3: He has a lot of self control.
Kabuto is a powerful shinobi. He beat Tsunade and Naruto right in a row without taking a break. Kakashi admitted that Kabuto is a strong opponent. He's not powerful in the way of sheer strength, like Naruto, but in the way of skill instead. Skill requires more discipline than strength to excel at, and discipline requires self-control. Also, his position as an information-gatherer meant that he had to take and re-take Konoha's ninja tests, so his skills and ability were listed as average, even though Kabuto could have probably been the top student of his graduating class, and would have probably been a jounin by now. He had to hold back, which goes completely against the way the human mind works. It's human nature to flaunt your skills. Holding back goes against human nature, and going against human nature requires a lot of self-control.

Reason #4: He's Orochimaru's lab rat.
Okay, shove all those fantasies out of your head of Orochimaru liking Kabuto because he can fight well or knows a lot about medicine. Orochimaru couldn't give a care that Kabuto can fight and perform medical jutsus. Remember, Orochimaru was kicked out of Konoha because he was doing experiments on other shinobi in order to learn forbidden jutsus. Kabuto has the ability to recover from just about any injury, no matter how serious. He's an ideal guinea pig for Orochimaru's experiments. Most, if not all, forbidden jutsus are life threatening to learn, so being the lab rat for them would not be a pleasant experience at all. Actually, it would probably be considered abuse. Kabuto puts up with being a lab rat, which is more than I can say for most people. Another thing: by using him as a spy, Orochimaru basically robbed Kabuto of a normal life.

Reason #5: He's an important symbolic character.
Think about it for a second. Each character on Naruto symbolizes a different part of the human psyche. Kabuto's symbolism is difficult to decode, but it's important. He symbolizes not only the more obvious darker things- betrayal and manipulation, but also some unexpected things- determination, mystery, and quick thinking. It's fairly obvious why he symbolizes betrayal, but the other four are a little harder to pick out. As a spy, he had to manipulate a lot of things, particularly people's minds. Determination is a little shaky, but when he fought Tsunade, he didn't back away when it looked for sure like he was going to lose. He stuck with it, and won. Kabuto can symbolize mystery because he's a traitor and a spy. A spy's job is to be mysterious, ne? No character on Naruto can symbolize quick thinking better than Kabuto. He's been backed into a corner quite a few times now, but has somehow always managed to find a way out. I could take an entire second article describing all of Kabuto's symbolism, so let's just leave it at this.

All in all, Kabuto is a vital character to the series. If Masashi Kishimoto had never put him into the series, as so many people wish, not only would we lose one of Naruto's best plot twists, but there'd also be a hole in the story. Or, someone else would have filled his position, and everyone would be hating a different character that they all love right now. One last thing: When you think about history, and what a Japanese ninja really was, Kabuto is the character on Naruto who is most true to the way of the ninja.
I hope I was able to change your views about Yakushi Kabuto, at least a little bit.

Domou Arigatou Gozaimasu. (Thank you very much.)

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