Notes, disclaimer and more: This is the sequel to 'The Sound of Fear' which can be found on my user page. It is the middle segment of an alternate universe fiction depicting the possibilities of Sasuke's time in Sound, his return and his future (respectively corresponding to The Sound of Fear, The Sound of Pain and The Sound of Fury).
This story will be (probably only after the first couple of chapters) much more deeply yaoi and sasunaru. (I've found it helps if both partners can actually see the other .grin.) It is also for the time being an acceptable T rating.
Naruto, Sasuke and the rest of their world do not belong to me however much I wish they did.
Of course, all criticism and comments are muchly appreciated.
Also and lastly, this first chapter is for Shadowbright. (Because you were so right about the comma, omg. Love.)
Enjoy!
The Sound of Pain
Chapter 1
"What the hell happened out there, Inuzuka?" The voice of the Hokage is loud and demanding, the woman herself is flustered and running to meet Kiba and his charge. Her hair is untied, robes barely holding her large chest and her eyes show hints of sleeplessness. She was taken from her bed to this meeting, that much is obvious. Behind her is Shizune, looking much more composed, if slightly rumpled. The guards step back and out of the room on an exasperated look from the Hokage and the shaken Kiba finally manages to speak.
"I'm not sure, Hokage-sama. It just... it all happened so fast." Inuzuka Kiba doesn't look well at all. He's paler than his natural tan would have anyone believe he could get, his words have a hesitant tremor to them that's too unusual for him. He has blood all over the red marks on his cheeks, in his hair and his clothes are torn, showing light bruises and cuts. He holds a limp form in his arms and only half his attention is on the Hokage's words. He seems unharmed, but looking at the dilated pupils, the shake of the hands and hearing the tremble in the words, it's obvious that he's in shock.
"Where's your captain, boy? The rest of the team?" Tsunade stalks over to the Inuzuka, intent on looking over the wounds of the only two men back from the mission she sent them on. The words out of the shock-ridden boy have her freeze in her movements, "Dead... they're all dead."
Tsunade finally takes in, really understands the tattered state in which the boy came back, his eyes unfocused and his too-tight hold on the body he holds. She softens her voice and raises the nin's chin to look at him. Seeing that Kiba is unable to form words anymore, his shaking worsening, she quickly orders, "Shizune, take him to the infirmary."
Tsunade takes the limp body from the boy's arms, freeing him of the burden of the dead so he can get some treatment. The report can wait. Kiba holds onto the man in his arms desperately enough that the Hokage has to put some actual strength into pulling the body away from him. Once the corpse has left Kiba's arms though, it's almost like he forgets it ever existed and he's tamely led away by Shizune, Akamaru following inches behind both worriedly.
There's sudden movement in the form she holds that brings Tsunade's focus back to the man. She takes in a sharp breath of surprise at having not sensed that this one still lived. She lowers the body to the ground and quickly looks him over for injuries. Her hands lightly run over the torn clothing, the blood and cut flesh of the man's chest. He's badly hurt, his heartbeat is erratic and unstable. Frowning, the blond woman focuses Chakra to her hands and quickly administers first aid. She stabilizes the heartbeat, starts the healing process in the wound, accelerating the regeneration of cells. She only looks up at his face when she's sure he'll live.
She finds two red eyes looking at her steadily and her jaw drops in surprise. "Uchiha."
His face looks calm and determined, as composed as she remembers the boy being. No hint of strain seems obvious on his face. If Tsunade didn't know for a fact that he has a hole in his stomach, she would believe him well enough to fight her. It's only in the little details that pain becomes evident. It's in the small twist of one corner of his mouth, the way his red sharingan fades back to black within a second, the little line of strain on his forehead.
His mouth opens and Tsunade holds her breath, thinking of all the trouble having this boy back will cause. She can already feel the headache and the heartache. He's caused enough of both as is.
"Don't." His voice is cool and controlled and Tsunade frowns.
"You have no say in what happens to you right now, Uchiha Sasuke. You are my patient, no more, no less." His mouth tightens in displeasure, but before he can say anymore, a wave of pain overwhelms him, freezing his features and body. His eyes roll back and he loses consciousness.
"Stubborn boy." Tsunade pulls him up in her arms, frowning at how little he weights. Fifteen year old boys should be heavier than that, shouldn't they? Especially tall ones like him. She considers her options, cursing the boy in her arms for coming back now and like this. She can't put him in the hospital until she's decided of what to do with him. She can't let Konoha know about him if she intends to exile him. There's just too many things to think about. What Tsunade needs is to earn some time. To delay the inevitable so she knows what to do when it comes. So she knows what to say to that blond-haired, blue-eyed child who wants to be Hokage when he learns that his best friend came back half dead along with news of a decimated team.
Sighing, Tsunade looks down at the black-haired boy. He looks hurt. It's the only thing she can come up with. He doesn't look evil, tainted or calculative. He just looks... hurt. "Kids will be kids." They'll make mistakes. Important ones that cause lazy Hokages way too much work on a Saturday.
Her mind is made up when she looks up from his face. She lowers him on her desk, stripping what remains of his shirt to bandage his wounds properly. When that's done, she performs a minor henge on him, giving him the look of a very cute, redheaded female nin. Tsunade then goes to the first of her ANBU guards waiting outside the door and orders, "Get me Kakashi."
When Tsunade turns back to look at her new charge, she curses, realizing she hasn't even thought of covering the boy... now girl's breasts. She covers him with a few more bandages and idly strokes a finger through the red locks. It's a useless habit but Tsunade can't quite help herself, looking down at the injured child on her desk. She's mostly curious about what happened to him. How Orochimaru runs Sound and exactly where the hell is it?
The sympathy she feels for the boy is there, but only insofar as he chose to leave and go to Orochimaru when he was twelve. Seeing all that those children can do, how strong they are... it often makes people forget that they're just children. Barely past puberty. Tsunade remembers herself at that age, thinking she was an adult. Untried by life and eager for it to come so she could call herself a woman.
Shaking her head, the Hokage stops petting the boy's hair. If trials make an adult, then this boy is an old man already. And if that were the case, he would be fully responsible for his actions.
The knock at the door interrupts her musings and she nods, glad to soon be rid of the presence of the boy. She walks to the door and lets Kakashi slip by. His one eye takes in everything the first time. He doesn't quite recognize Sasuke yet, that much is obvious by his lack of reaction to the injured girl. Good.
"Kakashi, thank you for making it so fast. We've received some bad news and I'm going to need your help."
Kakashi's eye is set on the Hokage, but the presence, the feel of the girl on the counter is so familiar it's a strain not to look back and see if he can't recognize her.
"Bad news, Hokage-sama?"
"Yes. Acording to the information we have now, Yahide's team has been decimated on their last mission. Only the young Inuzuka made it back." Tsunade lets Kakashi absorb the reported death of yet another friend before she continues, once again claiming his attention. "Kiba came in carrying a very strange burden." The Hokage leads Kakashi towards the table where the unconscious boy rests. "I performed a henge on him until I've decided what we're going to do with him. I want you to take her back to your home and take care that she heals properly in the meantime."
The second the word 'henge' is out of Tsunade's mouth, Kakashi lifts his headband, unveiling his Sharingan. His eyes widden and he whispers, "Sasuke..." A mere second later, he asks, "Do we know what happened to him?"
"Neither Kiba nor he were in a state to give any useful information." Sighing under her breath, Tsunade adds for Kakashi's benefit, "The Inuzuka was covered in blood. Mostly Sasuke's, but that doesn't account for all of it. It's imperative that no one learns of these events, Kakashi. I want complete silence on the entire issue of the Uchiha until ordered otherwise, is that clear?"
Nodding, Kakashi finally tears his eyes away from the unconscious shape of his former student, "It's clear, Hokage-sama."
"Even from Team 7, Kakashi. No one must know but you, me, the Inuzuka and Shizune until I've made up my mind about him."
"Understood."
"Good, then take him."
Another curt nod is Kakashi's answer and he slides an arm under Sasuke's knees, the other around his back, lifting him easily. He disappears through the window, carefully cradling the boy against his chest.
When he finally puts Sasuke to bed, Kakashi strips him and covers him with the blankets, thinking of how horrible that henge really is. It forbids Kakashi from really trusting his senses that Sasuke is back. That he's safe.
One hand rests on top of Sasuke's heart, feeling the steady drum, and Kakashi closes his eyes against the illusion of red hair. He can feel his student's presence better and it's comforting.
When morning comes, Kakashi still hasn't moved.
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Sasuke wakes up an hour after Kakashi finally convinces himself to leave his post. His eyes snap open and the pain floods back instantly. He clenches his fists against it, focusing on breathing steadily. When he feels he's recovered enough to attempt it, Sasuke raises up on his elbows, almost screaming at the feel of his stomach muscles tearing anew. He bites through his bottom lip and falls right back to the mattress. Long red hair flows in his face and for a moment, that completely distracts Sasuke from the pain.
Tayuya?
His taxed brain can find no other explanation and Sasuke turns his head, trying to spot the female nin. Halfway through the motion, Sasuke realizes that there's not enough white for the pain he's in. The entire line of thought has the boy's mind screaming agonizingly hurtful warnings. Tayuya... something about Tayuya.
Sudden urgency fills him, he can't explain it but he has to find Tayuya now. Sasuke grits his teeth against the pain and rolls to the side. He figures it'll be easier to move once he's on the floor. Using his legs right now seems to be begging for unbearable pain. His fingers tighten on the bedside and Sasuke pulls himself as close as he can get to the edge. He looks at the ground floor waiting for him and closes his eyes. It's going to hurt like a bitch, but he needs to find Tayuya. Needs to make sure she's okay. So he gives himself a push off the bed and lands with a dull thud and a barely muffled scream at the jolting of torn flesh. His vision swims before his eyes and he nearly loses his hold on consciousness, but the barest hint of willpower makes him hold on.
Sasuke looks up at the door he needs to go through. It looks so plainly ordinary. Nothing like the cells and bars of Sound. But that fact doesn't fully register with Sasuke. Neither do the pictures on the walls and the suspicious silence. When the door slams open and Kakashi comes in though, Sasuke freezes. He looks at Kakashi's masked face and nothing makes sense anymore. He doesn't have time to catch up with the notions his brain is trying to feed him because Kakashi is gathering him up and putting him back on the bed with more care than Sasuke can remember anyone ever showing him but Ren. It makes Sasuke want to bite Kakashi's hand, because it's the only thing he can do.
He doesn't though. He just locks eyes with Kakashi, fingers twitching with pain. He's almost delirious with it now, so he's fairly sure Kakashi must be an illusion. That admonishing look in his eyes has to be a figment of Sasuke's imagination. If Kakashi is real, then Sasuke's in Konoha. If Kakashi's real then Sound and Tayuya aren't.
If Kakashi is real, then Tayuya's dead.
It's not something Sasuke is ready to face but it doesn't seem like he'll get any choice in the matter. His swimming vision brings back the screams. The agonized screams of the beautiful, strong redhead. It brings back the noise of her bones breaking, her flesh ripping, her breathing not stopping. All Sasuke can hear is her begging him for help, all he can see is the way part of her face was cut away, how her breasts were brutally ripped off her body...
In Kakashi's bed, Sasuke convulses and screams, just once before he goes back to blissful darkness.
tbc...
For those who may be confused about Tayuya: This is an alternate universe fiction in which Tayuya did not die during the battle with Shikamaru. The prequel goes into greater details about her relationship with Sasuke than I could in just a few lines.