Disclaimer: Simply put... All the characters and ideas canon to Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto, and I make no money off this. The OCs, however, belong to me, as does whatever plot that shines through.
Warnings: OOCness, slash, disturbing imagery, AU and crack. Other than that, all spelling/grammatical errors are my own. If you spot any, mention them and I will fix them.
A Couple of Firsts
The first time Kimimaro had seen him, Ukon's head was all he'd seen. It had hung limply from the top of Sakon's back, like a puppet's when it lacked strings. He'd only stared for a bit - Lord Orochimaru had told him it was impolite to – but it seemed it was long enough for the boy to notice.
Ukon's eyes were as big and dark as his twin's. His lips, however, hadn't looked like his brother's at all; they were contorted; obviously the boy was displeased, and the occurrence had made Kimimaro frown – he was going to be taken in by Lord Orochimaru, that's what he'd said.
The boy should look happier.
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Their first meeting is an awkward occasion to recall, if Kimimaro is at all honest.
"Kimimaro," Kabuto had said pleasantly, a small, fake smile having graced his face, "Meet Sakon and Ukon. Twins, this is Kimimaro. He'll be training with you. Say hello."
Kimimaro's eyes ghosted over Sakon's face, as the younger boy grinned and waved and said hello jovially. He waved back absently as he peered around the boy's head to take a peek at his brother's.
Ukon hadn't been grinning, though he had mimicked Kimimaro's actions (minus the waving). His sour expression seemed to grow all the more bitter, which made Kimimaro frown as his hand returned to his side.
"Why are you just a head?" Only now did he realise how rude he'd been to ask.
Lord Orochimaru had chuckled. Ukon had frowned some more. Kabuto had seemed amused by the entire conversation (if one could call it that). However, it was Sakon that answered, "He isn't! He was just tired so I said I'd carry him!"
"Isn't he heavy?"
"No."
"Does he have a body?"
"Of course! He's just like me and you!"
Kimimaro had been sceptical.
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As teenagers the Sound Five often complain about having to share the bathroom their living quarters houses. As children, Kimimaro can remember, they hadn't had a problem with their sharing the little, white room.
He'd collected his clothes, used his newly acquired ninja climbing ability to reach a towel and had been met with the sight of the four year old twins in the bath when he'd opened the heavy door. This had been the first time Kimimaro had realised Ukon and Sakon weren't one person with two heads and believed it.
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It had taken roughly six months for him to get a word out of Ukon; eight to get a sentence and nearly a year to get a question that he or anyone else hadn't prompted for him. So, it isn't completely unexpected that their first conversation had come as a surprise for an eight year old Kimimaro.
"Why are you always here?"
It had been first time he'd noticed that the other bed in what he'd come to call his hospital room was occupied. Ukon was staring at him with large, curious eyes. He looked tremendously bored.
"I have something that makes my heart hurt. Why are you here?"
Ukon looked smaller than he actually was (which was still pretty small when compared to Jirobo, Tayuya and Kidomaru), with the hospital's mute white sheets and fluffy pillows. He had a tube connected to his right arm, that seemed to be pumping antibiotics into his blood stream – Kimimaro had spent more than enough time in the hospital to know about medical equipment. And he knew that this wasn't good.
"My immune system," He had said it in a way that suggested he still wasn't sure exactly what that was, "is weak because I spend a lot of time sharing Sakon's body. Will you get better?"
"Kabuto said I might." Kimimaro frowned, "But I don't believe him. How about you?"
"Lord Orochimaru said it will take time, but I have to spend less time inside Sakon and more time without him – just in case we lose each other when we start going on missions." His thin brows pulled themselves tightly together just above his nose, as though the idea was a very hard one to consume, "But that won't happen. I'll protect and stay with Sakon always."
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It was obvious that Ukon cares about his brother. It's almost ridiculous how loyal and together they are. Kidomaru and Jirobo call it being 'clannish'. Tayuya calls it them being fucking pansies. But Kimimaro understands why they're jealous, even if they others think of him only as a surly, Lord Orochimaru-worshipping bastard. The rest of the Sound Five haven't any relatives to be close to, not even themselves, really, despite their quite a bit more pleasant lives.
The first time it had happened, had been soon after Kimimaro and Ukon's first conversation. It was during a time when sweets were a rarity within the walls of Otogakure. Lord Orochimaru had bought them because they were doing extremely well with their training and Kidomaru had asked.
There had been three different flavours; white, dairy and hazelnut chocolate. It had come as a surprise to find Ukon and Sakon not having the same flavour. Lord Orochimaru had raised a brow at them, whilst Tayuya had crudely commented on the occurrence.
It was only when they started eating did Kimimaro understand. They'd snapped their pieces in half and swapped, meaning Lord Orochimaru's, "You can only choose one flavour" order was void.
However it wasn't until the twins had silently exchanged their pieces, pressed tightly together in the seat they refused to occupy alone, that Kimimaro had felt his stomach fill with a burning envy.
It wasn't fair how he'd had to trudge through living as a prisoner when he was with his family and training to be a strong warrior that Lord Orochimaru could be proud to call his own alone, when Sakon and Ukon had obviously always had each other.
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It was at age 11 that they'd first touched. Whether it was a conscious decision or an automatic reaction learned in their pasts, none of the Sound Five were keen on touching anyone. The twins were the exceptions, but even then, the only people they were willing to touch were each other. However, there had been something chilling about finding one of his comrades laying with his face planted in the ground. Something that had scared Kimimaro so much, he hadn't thought twice about lugging the smaller Ukon to the hospital.
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A shinobi is taught from a young age that emotions will be their downfall. They do not show when their distressed, do not show when they're happiest and they certainly shouldn't fall in love.
Kimimaro classifies this as his first betrayal of his vows to Lord Orochimaru. No longer can he honestly say he's done and become all that his Lord has wished him to, because it's so obvious he cares about Ukon it's physically painful.
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Lord Orochimaru had chuckled when he'd told them all about the 'joys' of being a teenager. Unlike they'd read in books and seen in movies, their Lord hadn't been at all embarrassed to tell them all about puberty – despite Kimimaro's strict training having failed him and causing him to leave with his cheeks tinted pink and his stomach slightly queasy.
It was soon after The Talk, at the age of 12, Kimimaro had watched his first pornographic film. It had been a complete accident that he'd found it hidden amongst the training gear and he'd always had a streak of curiosity that rivalled a dead cat's he hadn't been able to help himself.
It had been later that night, after he'd made sure the rest of his team were asleep that he'd checked the video's contents.
Unsurprisingly – in retrospect – it had been filled with voluptuous women with generous breasts that were keen to have their legs spread wide. However, the women hadn't interested him at all and he'd hardly reacted when the sex had happened – no 'getting hot under the collar' like he'd heard a couple of the older men chuckling about.
"What are you doing?" Ukon's voice was like a knife stabbing through flesh, surprising Kimimaro, despite his shinobi training. He'd made sure to punish himself for letting his guard down.
"I found it in with the training supplies." He offered as Ukon's eyes found themselves on the TV. His pale face was highlighted with icy blue and white flashes as the woman on the TV continued to moan and bounce on the man's lap.
"It doesn't look very comfortable."
Kimimaro had agreed.
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Lord Orochimaru had set Kimimaro as the first partner that wasn't his brother for Ukon on a mission. It was during the same year as their human body education, during a winter that compared to a mild one in the land of Water.
It was odd to see Ukon without his twin. Even stranger was how less graceful not having Sakon around made him. During their training they'd often fought one on one matches with the rest of their team. But never had Ukon performed as clumsily as he had that day.
He found himself agreeing with Lord Orochimaru once they'd returned and he'd given in his report. He would take more missions with the unsociable twin and because of that, he'd train more with him as well.
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He knows how his head aches after an attack. He knows how his vision swims before his emerald eyes and how his mouth feels like it's been stuffed with cotton. He also knows that he'll wake with his hand clasped in a smaller one and feels somewhat relieved each time. He'd never repeat what had happened after the first time he'd awoken like that.
His fingers had felt warm and not so unpleasantly tingly, there was something stroking through his hair and Kimimaro had been positive that the heavy stare that was being set upon his face held negative attention.
It was with practice ease he'd managed to both the perpetrator's wrists, drag them behind his back and bend him over the pristine white hospital bed with a kunai to their throat.
"What business do you have with me?" He'd hissed with his eyes trained on the swirling blur of grey hair and his heavy body laid over his attacker's.
"It's me."
Through the pounding of his blood in his ears, Kimimaro couldn't make out the boy's voice, "Who?"
"Ukon."
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It was inevitable, Kimimaro sometimes thinks, that they'd become more than comrades eventually. They were growing boys and seemingly, they were the only ones which had working chemistry between them – other than Sakon and Tayuya.
What he hadn't expected, was the reason for the inevitable kiss was because Ukon had stopped breathing after being poisoned in battle.
When it was all over and they were home, well or otherwise repairing, despite it all being because he was performing CPR, Kimimaro had held onto the feeling of Ukon's lips pressing back for a millisecond before he'd rolled over into a coughing fit and promptly vomited, because at the time he'd thought that was as far as they'd ever get.
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None of the Sound Five had looked forward to the arrival of Sasuke Uchiha. They knew what he would be used for – it was something that had plagued Kimimaro for a time after he was told for the first time. They'd known that the entire dynamic of their team would be altered for the rest of their time.
No longer would Kimimaro be the prized member of the Sound Five. No longer would Jirobo be the newcomer. No longer would Kidomaru be classified as the most strategic in the group. Tayuya would never be known as the one to have prettiest hair again (as Sakon had pointed out in one of their many nightly arguments), nor would the twins the be the only ones to wear lipstick (though the Uchiha's was only ever visible when he was on level two of his cursed mark). Everything they'd had for the passed seven years was pulled apart and stitched together around a jagged piece of plastic that refused to become one of them.
Their mission to retrieve him, though successful in its objective, was one none of the Sound Five called an amazing accomplishment: They'd all barely lived. If it weren't for their curse marks, Kimimaro is sure that the others would have been dead, whilst if Kabuto had arrived anymore than five minutes later, Kimimaro was sure his heart would have imploded in his chest.
For the first time, it had been Kimimaro that was able to leave the hospital room before Ukon could.
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Kimimaro had turned 14 three days before Ukon was released from the hospital. It was also a week after he had managed to make his feelings known with little more than a few words and a well placed gesture or three.
He'd been training when Ukon had limped towards him with a scowl that wasn't unlike the one he'd first been gifted with on his face. Sakon was doing the same thing, though his left arm was also bandaged. He'd regarded the sight with nothing more than a blank look, but it hadn't stopped the two from coming closer and sitting down under a tree to his left. Sakon had talked as though he'd had limitless topics to cover, whilst Ukon had hummed and nodded whenever he seemed to feel the need to.
It was whilst Ukon was collecting his and Sakon's dinner from the mess hall later that night when Sakon had addressed him.
"If you hurt him, I'll kill you."
At first, Kimimaro recalls, he'd thought it was Ukon that had spoken. Not because he'd mistaken his voice for his brothers, but because Sakon never threatened anyone when it came to his brother.
It was the first time he'd been threatened by one of his team. And Kimimaro hoped to keep it would be the only one.
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Tayuya calls them fairies, for their lipstick – and other 'girly' accessory – wearing ways; Jirobo calls them picky when it's his turn to cook and Sakon doesn't want bento, and Ukon agrees; whilst Kidomaru calls them cheaters when both boys act as his opponents when they play his favourite card games – and win. However, they haven't been able to wedge themselves between the twins, so Kimimaro doesn't think they should be allowed to whinge.
Kimimaro now realises that he should have expected some chafing when it came to himself and Sakon. The twins were inseparable when it counted; it should have occurred to him that Sakon would be either overprotective, possessive or an infuriating combination of both.
The first time he'd realised Sakon's plight had been after fifteen minutes of a slowly simmering argument and Kimimaro had been very close to ripping out the smaller boy's voice box.
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Kimimaro refuses to recollect the first time he'd had sex. It was quick and pointless and embarrassing and messy and he doesn't understand why he and Ukon gave it another go.
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The first time Kimimaro had walked in on a couple making out had included the Sound Five's first experiment with alcohol, a half naked Sakon and Tayuya, and a smug Ukon.
Kimimaro had been sure to learn from the experience and always makes sure to threat scan 360 degrees, lock both doors and windows and makes sure to look up before immersing himself in any activity.
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When either of the twins makes a reference to 'becoming one', Kimimaro knows better than to take it in a metaphorical sense. The first time he and Ukon conjoined was the direct result of Ukon's first show of jealousy.
Juugo hadn't known what threat was lurking to his left whenever he'd sought Kimimaro out and trained with him. For whatever reason, he seemed to be the only one capable of calming the beast, and Ukon had found it all the more repulsive that Kimimaro would let him train with them.
It had seemed that that day had been the final straw. Ukon's tolerance had snapped like an over stretched piece of string and Kimimaro had found himself practically smothered once they were away from curious eyes.
It had burnt wherever Ukon had swept his fingers inside him. Whether that was because the younger man was fingering his organs or because of the joining in general, Kimimaro had soon found out.
They'd fucked on the bed, standing up, in positions and ways that Kimimaro's 16 year old mind hadn't thought impossible. He'd taken Ukon, gasping as the man's arm sunk into his chest and reappeared through his back. He'd bit back a moan as Ukon had groped his ass, before pushing to the first knuckle deep inside him. Ukon's strong, thin legs had sunk into his hips, his heels digging into his kidneys and it had tingled and burned like a few hundred hot needles before their first stitch.
He has to remind Ukon to withdraw when they finished every time.
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Sasuke Uchiha proves himself to be the pain the Sound Five had predicted him to be. And it's with a bitter sense of smugness that they all lay collapsed around the main hall, with their lives leaking from them.
The ungrateful brat has started a mutiny. Killing all that oppose him and rallying those that don't. Lord Orochimaru isn't home, something which the Sound Five are glad about, however, it doesn't change the fact that their Lord is in grave danger and they have no way to help him.
Sakon coughs raggedly, as though he is choking on his own breath, "D'you think he'll kill him?" He calls out to the room.
Kimimaro doesn't have the energy to reply. Nor can he move anything other than his head, back and forth. His condition has worsened and his heart is hammering in his chest, ready to collapse or explode – whichever comes first.
"That bastard… We fucking helped train that fucker." Tayuya coughs up scarlet, her sneer falling away to show off a pang of agony before it's back with vengeance.
Kidomaru laughs jeeringly. His hair is a frizzy mess around his head, "Yeah… We did a good job." His snickers fade off into a wheeze.
"You still alive, fatass?"
"Barely." Jirobo's voice is rough and there is a steady stream of blood leaking from his mouth.
"Ukon?"
Sakon and Ukon are separated. There is a wall of rubble separating them, it acts like a peculiar form of torture for the younger twin. Sakon looks pained, worried, his scratched and bruised face scrunching up as though he's attempting to make sure he doesn't cry.
Kimimaro can empathise, the inability to see the unsociable boy causes him distress too, however, his stoic expression has been set and even now he finds it impossible to crack – he'd very rarely let it do so when he and Ukon were well.
Sakon calls again, and again, and is met with silence each time. Jirobo and Kidomaru can see him, but neither Sakon nor Kimimaro seems to have the stomach to ask what condition the older twin is in.
Kimimaro's emerald gaze returns to the gigantean hole in the ceiling. He has the loveliest view of the sky from where he is lying.
Kimimaro has never regretted the death of a comrade. They were doing their duty, something that should be honoured, not stomped on. His eyes blur at the edges, as though he's looking through concave glass and Kimimaro allows himself one regret, his first: he wishes he'd given into the irrational act of presenting Ukon with a flower, because if anything, it would have made the boy glower at him. Any reaction would have been clutched tightly; Ukon's stoicism is as concrete as his own.
Otogakure isn't the best place for teenage angst and romance – not even of the shinobi sort, which usually includes fuck sessions and the odd saving of one another's lives. He hopes whoever inhabits it next will remember that.
Woffy: This pairing is sorely lacking in fanstuff… Why is there nothing with Kimimaro/Ukon out there? -pouts- If anyone knows of any other fics or pics with this pair, a link would be spectacular! :P
Anyway, this fic practically wrote itself. It flew from my fingers! I was so happy to have it happen so easily after spending the past few days fighting to get the next chapter of Mortal Sensations finished (very near total failure, that is).
Now, review please! Constructive criticism is welcome, just as bad and good comments are!
Oh, and Happy Australia Day to all the Aussies out there! Don't go drinking too much now! -waggles finger-