Author's Note: Why is it everything I've written lately has been in present tense? I have no idea, myself. Also, this is another one of those 'The Sound Four survived, somehow' stories. You are forewarned.
He's changing out of his sweaty clothes when Ukon comes into his room without knocking first. Beneath the irritation Sasuke feels (irritation that might have been anger, in another lifetime, but he has learned to deal with impoliteness in Sound, if only because there is so much of it here), he is curious.
A year ago, when he first arrived, he honestly couldn't tell the difference between the pale-haired twins. It took him a day to figure out that Sakon was the one with the necklace and a week to note that they parted their hair differently, but after being here so long, those clues are no longer necessary. In another lifetime, he would have worried about staying around the same people so often that he can tell identical twins apart simply by the way they move, but here it is necessary, as their abilities are different and that split-second recognition he now possesses makes it infinitely easier to make full use of their talents on missions.
Sakon is the loud one, the talkative one, the one that argues with Tayuya at three in the morning and makes Sasuke regret that though he has the largest room in that wing of Sound, that wing is regrettably the one where Orochimaru's personal bodyguards live.
Ukon is the quiet one. He does not, as Sasuke had initially assumed, live in his brother's body twenty-four seven. He just does so while they're completing missions, to conserve his lesser stamina. Even so, Sasuke rarely sees him in comparison to the others, though that isn't because he's not there. It's just that he rarely speaks, and doesn't attract much attention. In another lifetime, Sasuke had learned that the loud ones warrant just as much watching as the ones who rarely speak, but in Sound everyone is loud, and Ukon tends to get overlooked.
Ukon has never said a complete sentence to Sasuke. Ever. He almost certainly talks often to his younger brother, as they share a room, and Sasuke has seen the elder twin exchange quiet words with Kidoumaru on occasion, but never speaks to him. It used to grate on him, but the only place he can demand words is on the battlefield, and there Sakon speaks for both of the brothers. Over time, his annoyance has faded. Sasuke by now knows how to ignore things beyond his control.
Which doesn't explain why Ukon is here now. In Sasuke's room, watching his commander take off his shirt. From any other member of Orochimaru's bodyguard, the scene would have been accompanied by an insult or at least a smart remark, but Ukon looks on silently.
That is why Sasuke is curious when otherwise he wouldn't be. Ukon is an anomaly, the only shinobi among his current subordinates that Sasuke doesn't know well enough guess his reasons for being here.
Apparently the cue the elder twin was looking for was Sasuke pulling on a clean pair of pants. Or perhaps, says the less sarcastic half of Sasuke's brain, the cue Ukon was looking for was Sasuke turning around, revealing the newly bandaged kunai wound between his shoulder-blades.
"I see my younger brother was able to land a hit after all before you shoved Kusanagi through his shoulder." Ukon's voice is deliberately neutral. Which means, according to Kidoumaru, that he isn't feeling neutral at all.
Mentally, Sasuke smirks at how shallow the other boy's reason is for coming here, before turning back around to face him. "He shouldn't have left his guard open."
"And you shouldn't have shoved a sword through his shoulder." Ukon cocks his head to one side. On anyone else, the look would have appeared considering, but on him it doesn't look like anything at all. His control of his body language is too good for that. "Why did you?"
Sasuke shrugs and pulls on a loose shirt. "Why not?"
The shirt is halfway over his head when he hears Ukon say conversationally, "You know, I really don't like that answer." The shirt is stuck on the bridge of Sasuke's nose when Ukon pulled out a kunai and threw it at Sasuke's head. Sasuke doesn't bother to dodge. He can tell by it's trajectory that it will miss him by almost half an inch, but either Ukon carries larger throwing knives than the other members of Orochimaru's guard or he somehow knows how to make them bend in mid-air, so as it happens the kunai just grazes Sasuke's ear before burying itself into the wall.
Sasuke feels the slight sting, and the blood trickling down to drip off his earlobe. His eyes never look away from Ukon's face, and he doesn't move to wipe the blood away. He can feel the anger now. In another lifetime, he would have let it out, but here loss of control is regarded as a weakness, so outwardly he remains impassive. "You know, if I told Orochimaru what you just did, you wouldn't live to see morning."
Ukon snorts, sounding for the first time like his younger brother. "Hardly. I'm too valuable for that. I'd have to seriously wound you to warrant an execution." He takes a step towards Sasuke. "Which is what I want to talk to you about."
Sasuke's gaze is even. "I'm listening."
Ukon nods in acknowledgment. He pauses a moment, as if trying to figure out how to best phrase what he wants to say, but eventually what comes out is blunt and unpracticed. "Sasuke-sama, believe it or not, I like you. So do the rest of the Four. You are much less bothersome than our last commander, and not nearly as annoying. However, wounded Sakon like that today crossed a line."
Sasuke snorts and folds his arms. "I'm Orochimaru's future container. There are no lines for me to cross."
Ukon's tone stays mild. "Not in Orochimaru-sama's eyes, maybe, but I am not him. The last time Sakon was hurt so badly outside a mission was during a spar with our last commander. And last time, I did nothing. I promised myself then, that I would never again stand by and let Sakon, or any of my comrades, be wounded by someone who is supposed to be one of us."
Sasuke raises an eyebrow, amused. He ignores the implications in the elder twin's words in favor of the obvious. He doesn't want to think about someone considering him a comrade. In another lifetime, he had learned how disastrous that could be. "Really. And what do you plan to do about it if there is a repeat performance?"
"I plan to kill you in your sleep."
It is said so matter-of-factly that it takes Sasuke several seconds to understand. Then he doesn't know what to feel. All of Orochimaru's bodyguards are belligerent and violent, but not one of them has dared threaten him in anything but jest since his arrival. "You wouldn't dare. If you think Orochimaru would execute you for wounding me, you can imagine what he'd do to you for killing me."
"I've always imagined he would torture me to death." Ukon takes several more steps in Sasuke's direction, not stopping until Sasuke can almost feel the breath on his face. "But better me than any of the others. You touch any of them again and you won't live to see morning."
Sasuke hasn't been threatened like that in over a year. He looks down at Ukon- has to look down, as the other boy is several inches shorter than himself- and examines his face. He already knows that Ukon looks nothing like Naruto. Until now, he had thought that of all his subordinates, Ukon was the least like Naruto. Not loud, not pushy, not irritatingly obtuse. But Sasuke can't say he is displeased to find out he was wrong. Orochimaru trains him religiously, but it's been forever since he was otherwise challenged.
"You know, Ukon… I don't take threats well."
Ukon doesn't move. "And?"
Sasuke has never been more thankful for the years of repressing his emotions he has behind him. It takes all his experience to hold back a grin. "And very well. I admit I went… a little overboard during the spar. It won't happen again."
Ukon nods again. "Good." He turns and walks to the door. In the threshold he pauses. "Goodnight, Sasuke-sama. Have pleasant dreams." He doesn't even sound sarcastic. Apparently his enmity has disappeared as quickly as it first surfaced.
At this, Sasuke is disappointed- so much for a decent argument. He knew he should have protested more- but he returns the farewell. "Goodnight, Ukon."
Then Ukon leaves. Sasuke watches him go. He is only mildly surprised to realize he is hard. He often was after a yelling match with Naruto. In another lifetime, he was always ashamed at the discovery. Thought there was something wrong with him. Now he just smirks, and moves to pull off his pants. Wouldn't due to dirty two pairs in a row so quickly.
He sits down on his bed and rubs absently at the front of his boxer shorts as he ponders. To think a will as strong, as unexpectedly forceful as Ukon's remaining undiscovered by him for so long. Well. Now that that mistake has been remedied, he'll have to see what he can do to get into another… argument with Ukon. Hopefully as soon as possible. This one had been so entertaining, after all.
No wonder he prefers this lifetime to the last. This time around, he isn't nearly as adverse to a little fun.
END