Kisame's final moments were deep and gloomy and reflected the kind of character he is. While never getting a formal redemption, Kisame realized who he was and what kind of man before he died. That itself is a heart wrenching moment, to see that this guy notices he isn't some monster or inherently bad as some may have been led to believe.
Kabuto's back story usually gets me as well. A character we've known since the chuunin exams, who would of thought he'd have such a rich back story and history? Used by the village, forced to kill his adopted mother and then poisoned by Orochimaru's twisted philosophy. In the end, he wasn't unsimilar to Kisame. He didn't know who he was and just wanted to find that out, find the place he belonged.