The Not-So-Prodigal Son Returns
There are a few things you should know before reading:
One: I do not own Naruto.
Two: This started as a drabble and sort of exploded.
Three: This is in an alternate universe with a modern lifestyle/current technology on the canon map.
And four: After debating it for a while, I used the English version for mentioned countries rather than Konoha or Oto. Sorry if this turns anyone off.
Beta'd by SimplyCliche
What does one say to parents they haven't seen in nearly three years?
Walking up that last step and entering through the front door is too strange. What if they don't even live here anymore? For all he knows, they could have moved in his absence.
Unlikely, Sasuke berates himself. He's been trained to pay better attention to his surroundings. There is still an Uchiha family crest on the mailbox. His nerves are making him careless.
Taking that last step, Sasuke shifts awkwardly on their porch and thinks ringing the doorbell is the right thing to do.
Should he do it now? Isn't ten P.M. on a Tuesday a little too late for visitors? Although he used to live there so technically he's not a visitor, right? Or is he? Maybe his family held a funeral for him years ago after his sudden disappearance.
How is he supposed to tell them he was kidnapped? They must have assumed something had happened after he didn't come home one day, but still; it's a shameful thing to announce. Perhaps he won't have to say anything at all.
How will they react when they see him? Pissed? Well, maybe his Father. 'What kind of kid gets into a car with strangers?' Sasuke pictures the stern man asking.
The kind that gets blackmailed. However, telling them that will bring up more problems.
His mother must have worried a lot about him at first. Now, it's been long enough that he's not quite sure what she'll think.
Then there's his brother, the teenage genius. Definitely not a teen by now, did he worry or have the time to help the police in their search? They must have looked, but it didn't matter. They never found him (which wasn't necessarily a bad thing). In spite of all his struggles, Sasuke is proud he rescued himself in the end. At least he has his dignity in that.
It took a long time, but eventually he was able to escape from the island he was shipped off to. It wasn't as hard as one would think to get away from his captors.
No, the difficult part was getting back here, both physically and mentally. A story he'd think about later.
Taking a breath, he presses the doorbell.
The sound rings through the already quiet house. Although unlikely, it's possible no one's home.
His mother was always a stay-at-home mom. She used to work with Sasuke's father (back before they got married) at the Uchiha Security Office (1). So, she should at least be there if that was still the case.
His father always worked a lot of hours. It wouldn't be too surprising if he isn't home.
Itachi? Who knows if he still lives with their parents. He should be just old enough to have his own place by now...
A chilly, fall wind runs through his white jacket, rattling the wind charm hanging off the dark porch light as it goes on to shake the nearby dying tree leaves.
Sasuke impatiently shoves a fallen strand of hair out of his face.
The silence stretches.
How many seconds have passed? Or has it been a minute?
Shouldn't there have been enough time to get to the door by now?
Maybe this was a bad idea. His family must have forgotten about him and moved on. Who was he to drag up old memories? He could go back to Sound and-
The door opens. Sasuke feels a weight drop further down his stomach. This is the most nervous he's felt in a long time. He has to focus on his breathing so he doesn't take any sharp breaths.
His mother stares.
Sasuke notices her dark circles, but otherwise, she looks like she hasn't aged a day.
Just when he thinks his mother's face cannot pale any further, her mouth falls open. "Sasuke?" Mikoto's voice is hoarse.
Not knowing what to say, he nods.
And that's all it takes. She launches herself at him and squeezes. She's just as warm as he remembers - warmer even.
"My baby! Where have you been?! Wait till your father sees you! Do you have any idea how worried we were? Are you okay? Just - where have you been?!"
She pushes back, her hands on his shoulders. She's looking up at him, eyes wet. "Oh, look how big you've gotten." He is about three inches taller than her now.
The weight has climbed its way to his throat. "I'm sorry" is all he can say in response. He has always hated upsetting his mother.
Choking back a sob, she hugs him again. He finds himself awkwardly patting her back, not having much experience in comforting others.
"Mikoto, what's going on out...Is that Sasuke?!" His father exclaims.
After another moment of disbelief, he now has four arms around him instead of two. This is the first time Sasuke can recall Fugaku voluntarily hugging someone other than his wife. It makes this experience even stranger.
The group hug ends quickly; his mother pulls him inside and closes the door. The house still has the same cinnamon smell it's always had. "You're freezing," she says.
Sasuke shrugs. Despite his long stay in warmer climates, he is used to cave-like temperatures. If anything, it made the decaying smells in Sound more bearable.
"Let's go sit in the living room." Fugaku goes through the Northern archway.
Sasuke quickly takes off his combat boots and follows suit. He sits on the edge of the nostalgic love seat, conscious of the bag on his back.
A tan couch and two matching arm chairs are still arranged the same way around the fireplace but a new picture is now centered above. His father has an arm around his mother; Itachi is sitting off to the right side. None of them are smiling, a somber portrait. It suits their serious family.
To his left, Mikoto fidgets nervously on the couch, looking like she's not sure whether she wants to hug Sasuke again or shake answers out of him.
His father goes first. "Why don't you start by telling us where you've been?"
It's humiliating to admit he was whisked away by a recruiting-blackmailing-crazy who fancied himself a scientist. Did he also mention the rumors of the man being a bit of a pedophile? Rumors generated by the man's bad habits, persona and the fact that the guy preferred to perform his experiments on the young nonetheless. Sasuke had never seen any evidence other than creepy stares and lip licking. His virgin ass survived, but still, his reputation would be more tarnished than it already was.
Back to the point, the Uchiha family is known for their protection and security services. Sasuke is the first one of them to ever have been kidnapped. Although, technically speaking, he ran away. He had gotten into the car with Orochimaru willingly, more or less.
That doesn't make Sasuke any feel less embarrassed. After all, saying he left on his own will make his mother feel more upset.
Therefore: "I was on an island off the coast of Sound country."
He looks up at them; they are waiting for more of an explanation. "It's one of their military testing sites."
"What on earth were you doing there?" His father's nostrils flare. The man has always been lacking in patience.
Sasuke continues as if he wasn't interrupted. "I was taken there for an experiment. The scientist wanted to take Naruto instead... I couldn't let him."
There, the embarrassing truth was out.
They can think whatever they like. Orochimaru was trying to approach the blond. Sasuke, being an Uchiha, wasn't about to let anything happen to the Fire Lord's (2) only son. He had intervened and threatened the curious man to take him instead. Fortunately, the psychopath had humored him and ushered him to the car.
Did Orochimaru know who his first target was? Maybe. Did he care about the possible war that would have caused? Probably not.
Going with him was the best and worst decision Sasuke had ever made. His best friend wouldn't have lasted in Sound. Not only that but the political ramifications that would have occurred had Naruto been taken... Even at twelve, Sasuke hadn't wanted that to happen.
The knowledge that he was paying the price for the safety of his family and friends is what got him through the next three years in hell.
Naruto probably never even noticed his sacrifice. To him, it had to have looked like Sasuke stood him up one day when they were supposed to meet after school. Later, he must have learned that the Uchiha got snatched. That was better than the truth.
"Oh, Sasuke..." His mother grabs his hand and looks at him with clear pity in her eyes. Maybe there is a little bit of pride in there too. She's going to cry again.
Sasuke doesn't know how much more of these feelings he can take. Mostly, he is only used to caution, disgust, frustration, boredom, and, sometimes, a little excitement. Those are normal. These emotions of guilt and shame need to be disposed of. He just wants to leave.
Standing up, he notes that his father is still giving him a dumbfounded look. "I should go."
Mikoto stands, hands now placed firmly on her hips. "Don't. You. Dare. We still have a perfectly good room upstairs with your bed in it. Isn't that right, Fugaku?"
That seems to break the man's uncomfortable stare. "It's a little musty but I'll go retrieve clean sheets."
"Good, I'll make some phone calls. The police need to know our son is back, and I'm sure Itachi would like to see his younger brother."
Sasuke's heart skips a beat. He's almost relieved he hasn't seen Itachi yet. He doesn't need to be judged by everyone in his family all at once. No matter what everyone thought, he would have made the same decision every time. He does not want their pity. Being an experiment wasn't all bad. He'd received some perks. Okay, no, it was still terrible.
Mentally preparing himself for another meeting, he follows his father up the stairs and into his old room down the hallway.
It's just like he remembers it, albeit a bit dusty. A bed in the center, plain white walls, a door leading to a bathroom, and a modest brown desk on the left side across from a chest at the foot of the bed. On the back wall, two blue curtained windows. On the wall to the right, a bookshelf and a small walk-in closet.
The pair silently changes the sheets. After, Fugaku mutters something about calling Minato and checking on his wife and exits the room with the old sheets in tow. This leaves Sasuke to finish putting on the pillow cases and throwing on a comforter. His father probably decided to save any questions for another time when he can stomach more answers.
Done with the task, Sasuke rubs his eyes, shrugs off the backpack and falls onto his bed. He just wants to sleep.
The past few days he's only been able to squeeze in a nap here and there. It wasn't easy finding a way to travel back to Fire country. It doesn't help that his time in Sound has trained him to wake at the slightest noise or change in air pressure. Unfamiliar environments are the worst places to get any sleep…
He is lying down on his bed, a cheap cot in the corner of his dark room. He doesn't have a blanket but at least he has his own space. Not everyone here is so fortunate.
He rolls onto his back and ignores a scream. After seven months here, he's almost learned to sleep through them by now. However, that last one seemed to be more high-pitched than usual. Orochimaru must be working on something new. Something painful.
Sasuke hopes it fails. He doesn't need them to try it out on him too. He's had enough modifications. Honestly, he's surprised he's still alive.
The screaming continues and then there are scales. Scales. Moving over his leg. Dammit! Another snake is in his room.
It seems to be curling around his calf. He subtly looks down and makes out the figure. His eyes adjust, everything lightens and switches to shades of green and black. It makes it difficult to tell the color of the reptile, but Sasuke recognizes that pattern. This snake, in particular, seems to like to crawl into his room once a week or so and curl up for warmth. If it would go back above the ground, it wouldn't have to deal with the cold temperatures here.
Sasuke leaves it be. It's not like he was going to get much sleep tonight anyway.
Suddenly, a familiar scent hits his nose.
Sleeping gas!
Jumping up, he ignores the hiss and the bite to his leg. There are more important things than poison he's practically become immune to.
Sasuke can't breathe. He stumbles to the door to find it locked. Not surprised, he tries pulling on the handle anyway. It doesn't-
The sound of the carpet getting pushed down near the end of the hall alerts his conscious mind. His eyes snap open, left hand automatically going for the switchblade in the pocket of his pants. His thoughts catch up to his actions. He's at his parent's house, not in some underground research facility. He releases the handle and closes his eyes.
It's hard to judge how long he has nodded off for. His stomach feels a little squished from lying on it so... maybe an hour?
The footsteps are heading this way.
Not too long after, a knock sounds on his open door. He already knows it's his mother without looking just by the faint smell of her vanilla perfume. He opens his eyes to be polite.
"Sorry, I wanted to let you rest a little more but I couldn't help myself. Are you hungry? When was the last time you ate? I can warm up some leftovers from dinner."
He rolls over and sits up, never one to pass up his mom's cooking. It has been a while since his last meal.
"I'll follow you into the kitchen."
Pleased, his mother gives him a smile and turns back. "Your brother will be here in an hour, I'll prepare something for him as well."
He follows her downstairs, through the hallway and the area with the breakfast nook before they get to the kitchen. "What has Itachi been up to?"
"School and work mostly. He went back to the university to get his doctorate. This is his last semester before he graduates." Mikoto opens the fridge and pulls out some Tupperware.
Sasuke has to raise an eyebrow. For Itachi, that was probably taking it slow. He had just earned his master's degree when Sasuke left. Itachi was fifteen. He seemed content working with their father at the time.
"He's not planning on taking over the family business?"
"He's been working the job on the side. After you disappeared..." Sasuke's mom pauses after setting a pan out on the stove. "Well, let's just say Itachi became distracted."
"Wha-" Sasuke starts.
"Anyway," his mother cuts him off, "I notified the agency and local police station. We will be going down there following a scheduled check-up with the Tsunade tomorrow morning." She turns back to put the leftovers in the pan making it clear the conversation was over.
Sasuke stares at her back. His father and mother were very adamant in teaching their kids manners. Although Itachi seemed to be instinctively born with them, it took Sasuke a little while longer to perfect them. Now, here she is, cutting him off to the change the conversation. Alarm bells inside his head flare.
Something strange happened to Itachi. That wasn't the worst of it, though... they scheduled Sasuke a doctor's appointment. Did they not hear him when he told them he was an experiment? Or maybe it was because they heard him.
Fuck.
Is there a way to get out of it? They're not going to like what they find. Maybe he could play the trauma card? Could he handle the embarrassment if he did? Were they going to make him see a therapist next?
"I'm going to add some vegetables, how does a salad sound?"
"Fine," Sasuke absentmindedly replied to his mother. Tomorrow is going to be even worse than tonight. What if they kept him in the hospital longer so they could do more tests? What if Fire's government got involved? If they wanted a weapon, Sasuke was already planning to start working for his father straight away. But he was going to do things on his terms. Not theirs.
Sasuke did not come back so he could be a lab rat/soldier again. He just wanted what was left of his life to be normal(ish). See the family, make sure his ex-best friend was living a good life, attempt to start an alliance between a broken Sound and the thriving Fire Nation, and work in the family business. Those were the only things he wanted.
He was going to make sure he got them.
-A N-
(1): In this world, the Uchiha Security Office (USO) is like the Secret Service. Sort of.
(2): Not a reference to Avatar. This is not a crossover nor do I like adding OCs to the fanfiction that I write. Also, I didn't feel right using the "Kage" title as I'm already using the English names of Sound and Fire.
Questions and comments are very much welcomed. Let me know what you think of this piece. As mentioned, this was supposed to be a drabble/one-shot so I might keep it this way if no one protests. However, I ended up writing out quite a few more chapters for myself and wholly intent to keep doing so. Let me know if I should share or if I should keep this a single chapter.
P.S. I'm aware that I should be working on my other story, HTURW but I've been a little stuck. I'm not giving up on it, I just find this one more enjoyable for the mean time. It's fifty times easier to write. Chapters are about 1,000-2,000 words shorter than I normally do but that would just mean faster updates.