Title: Iron Chains
Pairing: Sasori/Sandaime Kazekage
Warnings: -Yaoi obviously. That back button is there for a reason.
-Though I have used some canon sources from the anime/manga to support some things within the story (such as Sasori's age when his parents died) most of the stuff here is non-canon such as the name I have given the Kazekage
-Sasori's eventual semi-insanity whenever concerning his beloved Tetsu-nii…
-Eventual dub/non-con
-This story doesn't exactly have a happy ending as it is what I imagined to have happened leading up to the Kazekage's 'death'.
-I apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes in this story. I have no such thing as a beta reader.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto… yeah… enoy?
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That stoic face, the last time he had seen it was well over five years ago, grinning and blood-stained in that room where nothing moved without strings. The shadows did nothing to hide the results of the boy's 'experiments'. A slight shudder ran down his spine as he remembered just how maniacal the boy looked back then.
"Hmm? What's wrong Kazekage-sama, not going to attack?"
The black-haired shinobi tried hard to ignore that sultry voice, to not respond to the obvious taunt and that damn smirk. He made it a mission to not react to those eyes staring back at him with so much hunger and affection he felt like either crying or running as fast as he could away from the red-haired puppeteer.
As if sensing what was going through his mind, the smirk on Sasori's face grew and he took a step closer, his current puppet moving only slightly as its master did, "Well, Tetsuya-niichan?"
"Nii-chan is pretty!"
He suppressed the urge to flinch as old (fond) memories began to surface; instead he narrowed his amber eyes into a glare. He supposed, looking back on it, that it was that very day that led to this predicament. If he hadn't made it a point to be part of the boy's life that day… perhaps the both of them, two of Suna's most powerful shinobi, wouldn't be standing on opposite sides of the battlefield. Perhaps…
/-/-/
"Tetsuya-kun, you made it! Here come look, this is Sasori!"
The black-haired chuunin could have laughed at the sheer pride he sensed from the man beckoning him over. Of course he hadn't needed any persuading as he had traveled all the way from the Kazekage's office to the hospital located on the other side of the village, just to see the birth of the son of one of his most trusted friends.
Well the birth itself had been well over three hours ago, clear proof that baby Sasori was cleaned up and nicely snuggled in a blanket in his father's arms while his mother slept peacefully in the hospital bed not two feet away, exhausted.
"Now, now Kosuke I know you're excited and all but please keep your voice down, we wouldn't want to wake up both Sasori and Yasu now would we?" Chiyo teased her son, causing a bright blush to appear on his face.
"Ah yeah, sorry" he apologized, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
At this, Tetsuya couldn't keep down a chuckle, "Well you can't blame him Chiyo-baasama, if Sasori-kun is anything like his parents, Sunagakure can expect a brighter future" he peered down at the bundle in Kosuke's arms as he said this, and smiled.
At his words, the red-haired jounin instantly brightened, "Why don't you hold him, Tetsuya-kun?"
At this, the chuunin stiffened and back away just slightly while stuttering out, "Ah no! I can't-what if I drop him?" his voice became more panicked as Kosuke walked closer, holding out his newborn son. Well you couldn't really blame him, at the young age of 9 while many claimed him to be a genius as a ninja, he wouldn't be exaggerating at admitting he had no experience handling children at all, let alone babies.
"Don't worry so much, all you have to do is hold him with your arms like this!"
"Ah but-" of course before he could even come up with another lame excuse to not have the responsibility of potentially dropping/traumatizing and/or severely injuring Sasori, the baby was already strategically tucked into his arms, head snuggled into his left arm while his right arm was positioned under the boy's knees.
Tetsuya blinked as he stared at the small being in his arms, wondering if it was even legal to be that cute…
All the while, Kosuke was grinning from ear to ear, looking (if possible) even more proud of himself.
Chiyo was just glad that Sasori hadn't woken up.
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It was exactly one year later that Tetsuya found himself hopping from roof to roof, muttering about lateness and how sticking out in the ninja world just isn't what it's worked up to be all the while keeping the box tucked under his right arm from falling due to the impressive speed he was going at.
About two minutes and twenty three seconds later, after quickly waving to every night watch ninja he came across, the black-haired shinobi finally jumped down in front of a house. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he raised his left hand to knock three times.
When the door opened he was greeted to a recovered, healthy Yasu who gave him one of her brightest smiles, "Tetsuya-kun! Come in I'm glad you made it!"
He grinned back, "Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world"
Closing the door behind them, Yasu lifted an eyebrow at him. "So you say but I've been hearing you're skills have caught the Kazekage-sama's eye, in fact didn't you just return from a mission? Shouldn't you be resting?"
"Ah well don't worry about that, it didn't turn out to be more than simple border patrolling" he modestly replied with a shrug and a grin.
Before Yasu could respond, another voice broke in from the hallway, "Oh and just what kind of a jounin gets appointed simple border patrolling?" Kosuke questioned while leaning against the doorway leading to the living room, his eyes full of skepticism.
Tetsuya's response was to shrug nervously, "Well there might have been a small ambush on our third day but…" already speaking in a low voice, his pitch drifted off as he talked.
But the couple standing next to him heard enough, "An ambush?" they simultaneously yelled, causing the black-haired ninja to wince just slightly. All of a sudden he found himself uncomfortably back into a wall while both Kosuke and Yasu began checking him over all the while talking at the same time,
"Are you ok, you aren't hurt are you?"
"Which village was it? Did they use poison?"
"You should have stopped over at the hospital first!"
"You're not bleeding are you?"
"I told you to get some rest and drop off Sasori's present tomorrow morning!"
A sigh interrupted their worrying, "I already told you two I have a meeting with the Kazekage-sama tomorrow morning plus I have another A-ranked mission afterwards so I wouldn't be able to stop by here" he explained, praying to any higher being out there that they wouldn't start fussing more about him, as he had already informed them of this before he set off on his previous mission.
Tetsuya felt his eye twitch as they launched into an even more heated worried babbling over him. He sometimes wondered if they thought he was still the helpless little orphan they had found and rescued from enemy ninja five years ago and not the (albeit newly appointed) jounin of Sunagakure he is.
Thankfully the two stopped when Chiyo came into the hallway with a crying one-year old Sasori in her arms, wondering what all the noise was about. The two had apologized profusely to both Sasori and Tetsuya all the while being scolded by Chiyo as if they were children again.
Tetsuya could practically feel the comical sweat drop behind his head.
He then glanced down at Sasori-well more like his head of red hair-in his arms, having been convinced once again to hold the infant while his parents were busy trying to calm their mother down. The baby, in turn, looked up and blinked his wide innocent crimson eyes at him.
"…you look a lot like your father but you'll probably have a lot of your mom's features as well" Tetsuya mumbled and smiled at the boy.
Sasori blinked again but then giggled happily, stretching his arms up at the shinobi to hold his face in tiny hands.
Tetsuya's eyes widened comically at this.
The other three stopped their antics to stare at the two. When Sasori let out another happy giggle, they all smiled fondly at scene.
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After that little incident, Tetsuya had set off on his A-ranked mission with two other jounin the next day. Unfortunately for the Sunagakure ninjas, a month into the observation mission, the enemy had found out about their presence due to a mishap from one of Tetsuya's comrades, the poor guy had been killed in the process. The other shinobi accompanying Tetsuya hadn't been any luckier, after just ten minutes into the fight a senbon had flown right into his neck, cutting an artery and killing him.
The fight was now down to one against three. Tetsuya began to carefully run all the scenarios that could possibly happen in his head.
His amber eyes caught something shine under the intense sun. One of the trespasser shinobi was holding three senbon in between his fingers in a throwing position; obviously being the one who had killed his second comrade. His gaze to the other two standing his left; they weren't holding any weapons but both of them had their hands fixed in a seal.
His eyes narrowed when the senbon wielder shifted, crouching lower while the other two remained in same position. The ten year old genius smirked, already figuring out their battle style. The one with the needles was going to distract him first then the other two were going to release their Justus (judging by the seals one of them was a Katon) on him.
Pity they don't know what I'm capable of…
Tetsuya raised a brow as the remaining shinobi shifted away from him (despite being tied by a rope on the ground), trembling ever so slightly. Were Kumogakure ninjas that cowardly? Ah well… that didn't matter right now, he had kept this one alive for information and if the sheer horror he was projecting from his facial expression was anything to go by, the village wouldn't have to do much to know why the three of them were trespassing on foreign lands.
He quickly performed a sign, concentrating enough of his chakra into his arms and legs to be able to carry this man who was most likely twice his own weight, if their height difference was anything to go by. But as he moved closer, the other jumped back, staring at him with wide shocked eyes "W-wha… HOW did- Kiri and Mako… why did they just drop like that, what did you do?" and then all of a sudden Tetsuya found himself being glared at with such intensity it made him pause for a second.
He sighed.
Then again, that earlier expression might have been caused by the fact that the other had thought he (for all he knew) killed his own comrades.
He scratched his head, strangely feeling as though he owed this enemy ninja an explanation. His shinobi side scoffed at the idea while the other side, raised an nurtured by two kind and caring shinobi of Sunagakure who had always taught him to respect his enemy no matter who urged him to at least tell him what happened… after all when they got back to the village who knows how long he would be allowed to know anything at all afterwards?
Tetsuya looked around the two, spotting his enemy's comrades not too far away and dragged both of them over. Careful to place the other a fair distance away from his fallen brothers while still being able to see what he was doing in detail, he placed his hand over one of them, his palm facing towards the sky.
And then he concentrated for a second and flicked his wrist upwards. The senbon that had been previously buried deep in the dead shinobi's neck shot up and out of the flesh to float in midair.
Tetsuya tilted his head towards the other, the senbon flying towards him at a dangerous pace only to stop a mere cm away from one of his eyes. The Sunagakure ninja couldn't help but smirk when he saw that the trembling had started again… in fact he could swear the other was shaking twice as hard now.
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Tetsuya blinked and stared at the small toddler of no more than three, holding his face in those small pudgy hands and smiling so brightly it could put the sun to shame. He had absolutely no idea how to respond to such a statement. "Eh?" was all he could manage.
Sasori puffed up his cheeks adorably in mock frustration (because really how annoyed could a three year old get?), tightened his hold on Tetsuya and repeated,
"Nii-chan is pretty!" and then he took a second to add, "Like a doll!"
Then a silence filled the room.
"…" because really how was any male, let alone a twelve year old genius jounin, more deadly and armed with a quicker wit than most shinobi of the desert, supposed to respond to that?
A slight movement to his left caught the black-haired jounin's eye. Kosuke had covered the lower half of his face with his right hand, his shoulders shaking slightly every few seconds while Yasu was looking at him with a look that was a mix between embarrassment and an apology.
He sighed. This was going to be a long day.
/-/
Not for the first time, the twelve year old Sunagakure ninja wished he hadn't been right.
His 'visit' to the happy family had turned out to be mostly comprised of him trying to explain to the crimson-haired toddler 'why you don't call other boys pretty… like a doll'. After an hour (or maybe two considering the sun was starting to set) of running through every detailed explanation (or as detailed as he could get considering Sasori had turned three not a week ago) Tetsuya sighed for the tenth time that day when Sasori had completely disregarded everything he said in order to ask (again), "Why?"
Long day indeed…
"…because…" Tetsuya started, trying to keep the start of a headache away "you just don't." And he prayed Sasori would understand from that, because everything else wasn't working.
"Hmm…"
Tetsuya watched in amusement as Sasori fisted his tiny hand and put it under his chin, something he probably saw his father do when he was deep in thought. He had to fight the smile threatening to reveal itself at just how cute the boy looked, knowing that showing the child any sort of positive reaction might be his undoing in this conversation.
"…but father said never to lie…" Sasori tilted his head and furrowed his brows, causing the corner of Tetsuya's mouth to twitch in an attempt to not smile (because, really, why don't you imagine that and keep from smiling at the sheer cuteness!)
"Did he? Well yes you should never lie…" somewhere deep inside his mind, he could hear somebody yell 'hypocrite!'
Sasori brightened and spread his arms out, a big smile now painted onto his face, "Yeah so that means I can't lie about Nii-chan! Nii-chan is pretty!"
And that's where Tetsuya knew he had just lost the argument.
A sudden eruption of laughter caused the two to turn their heads towards the doorway where Kosuke was leaning against, clutching his sides. Tetsuya's eye twitched and wondered whether Sasori would be traumatized if he stuck a kunai in his father.
Thankfully his thoughts were interrupted when Yasu walked over to slap her husband over the head, affectively calming him down enough to usher her son to bed, "Come on Sasori, time to sleep. You can talk with Tetsuya-kun tomorrow"
Sasori looked like he was going to pout for a moment before looking back at Tetsuya with a bright grin, "Ok good night Tetsu-niichan! I'll see you tomorrow"
He nodded at the boy with a small smile.
When Sasori was out of sight, he finally turned to the previously laughing man. Kosuke was grinning at him with a glint in his eyes. Tetsuya felt like running out of there as fast as he could.
"…what?"
"I bet it's the hair, if you didn't keep it so long maybe you wouldn't seem so feminine"
"Wha…?" Tetsuya took a step back, wide eyed but paused at the sheer amusement he saw in the other's eyes. "Kosuke… it's not nice making fun of people" especially not a male shinobi who just had his pride take a punch to the gut by an adorable three year old.
"…ah sorry" the red-haired man replied when he saw just how deflated Tetsuya looked. He then tilted his head, looking the boy over and Tetsuya could have sworn he heard the man mutter "...though I wasn't making fun of you entirely…"
But he chose to leave it at that.
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Can't be… it just… can't…
It was the only thought repeating over and over in his head, accompanied by the actual physical pain he felt at reading the death list for the week.
Can't be… can't… just can't…
He willed the names his eyes fixed on to just disappear from the list. To have just one of the characters altered or someone to tell him that it wasn't what he thought it was that they made a mistake. But the names remained and nobody told him it was just a sick joke.
Can't… can't… can't…
His hands trembled as thought about a certain five year old, crimson-haired child with a smile so bright and warm it could turn anybody's day around. His eyes widened and he fell to the ground.
God… Sasori is only five…
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Chiyo had visited him the other day. She had told him Sasori still does not know of his parents' death and then had begged him to not tell the boy until he had graduated from the academy. She hadn't needed to make him promise, he didn't think he had the heart to tell the sweet boy something that he himself still doesn't want to admit.
Besides, he himself hadn't seen the boy in well over a year busy as he is with accomplishing missions for a village on the verge of war.
But if he had been truly honest with himself, he'd say he didn't have the courage to face the boy.
That trademark ruffled red-hair, clear crimson eyes and that smile that brightened the whole room reminded him too much of Kosuke and Yasu.
"Tetsu-niichan?"
Sadness filled the teen when he looked over the child he hadn't seen for more than a year now. Those eyes once clear, innocent and filled with child-like happiness had been replaced with a blank crimson void. That bright smile that had always graced the child's face was gone, and the boy looked like he hadn't slept in days if the bags under that blank half-there stare were anything to go by.
"Sasori-kun… has… something happened?" he wanted to stab himself for the question. What the hell was he thinking asking that? What kind of insensitive-
"No… it's nothing" the fake smile he received with this answer made Tetsuya flinch. It couldn't even compared to a fake smile… it was as if the boy had forgotten what a smile is and was attempting at doing a poor imitation of it.
It was like the boy was already dead on the inside.
Tetsuya was shocked at the horrifying thought. But the more he stared at this once bright embodiment of joy, the more he found himself wanting to do something, anything to wipe that look off his face.
All of sudden, the both of them found each other much closer than before with Tetsuya's arms wrapped around Sasori's small frame, causing the surprised boy to stiffen at the contact. The black-haired shinobi frowned at the reaction; it was almost as if Sasori hadn't been hugged at all since…
He didn't dare think of it.
And then, to his surprised delight, Sasori relaxed into the hold. The boy lifted his own hands to clutch at the other's clothes and he buried his face into Tetsuya's chest. The black-haired shinobi could hear the child's breathing becoming slowed and relaxed like the rest of his body.
"You want to go get something to eat?" he smiled when the child slowly nodded his head.
Maybe things won't be as bad as he thought…
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"…Tetsu-niichan, why do people die?"
The question almost caused Tetsuya to drop his bowl of ramen. He thankfully had better reflexes and caught it before he could have an angry manager on him. Carefully setting the bowl down, he glanced at the boy who had been surprised at his reaction.
Trying to hide the embarrassed blush threatening to appear on his face, he quickly responded "Well… people live and die, it's just part of life"
"…but why do people die? Wouldn't it be better if people lived forever?" Sasori had begun to fidget in his seat as he asked this, a frown settled onto his features.
Tetsuya frowned as well, shifting his gaze to outside the shop and sighed. "I suppose it would… people wouldn't have to be sad if everybody lived forever but… if that were so then don't you think life wouldn't be worth living?"
At Sasori's questioning look, he continued "Well people say that life is only fun and enjoyable because we don't live forever. We make the best of what we have now, knowing one day it'll all end" and then he paused "Then there are those that think god is lonely and gave us temporary life so that one day we could all return and be with Him"
When he looked back at the boy, Sasori's eyes had widened considerably at his words. He chuckled nervously "Ah well… sorry was that too much?" and then sheepishly scratched the back of his head, a habit he had picked up from Kosuke. He stopped himself abruptly when he saw Sasori's flinch at the gesture.
They both turn back to their food, one deep in thought while the other berating himself for his own actions.
"Tetsu-niichan… I think if people lived forever, they would still be able to have a lot of fun every day and wouldn't have to worry about people leaving them ever." Sasori finally mumbled half an hour into poking his noodles.
Tetsuya, having already finished his own food, blinked up at the boy. "Ah, is that so?" he shrugged.
"Yeah…" and then Sasori's brows furrowed as he thought "And if god were true why would he make people sad by taking away people they love? He isn't nice…"
The boy's black-haired companion chuckled, "Hmm no I suppose he isn't…" and then he paused and crossed his arms. Sasori glanced over to see Tetsuya tilting his head left and right as he thought, "But if people lived forever wouldn't everybody be all old and wrinkly?"
Tetsuya mentally gave himself a pat on the back when he heard the other start giggling. He grinned, "See? Living forever isn't so great is it?"
"No, no I'd find a way so that everybody will be young and pretty like Nii-chan!" Sasori exclaimed with a smile more real and brighter than the last one, a glimmer of his former self finally coming out since he had been told his parents weren't coming home anytime soon. And while Tetsuya was immensely proud of himself for it, he couldn't help that mental sigh at the back of his head at being called 'pretty' again.
"Oh and how would you do that, oh great Sasori-sama?" he teased, an eyebrow raised.
Sasori's smile grew as he replied in a proud tone, "I'd make puppets!"
Tetsuya blinked, "Puppets?"
He had heard rumors going around that the famous puppet creator and master was teaching her prodigy grandson the ways of the family and that the boy had begun creating his own fairly impressive puppets while handling them with the same skill a genin did. But well… that had been a year ago when the boy was only five years old and he hadn't really paid much attention to any potentially false rumors about the family.
"Yeah, Chiyo-baachan taught me how to make them if I make one of everybody, then everybody would live forever and be young!" Sasori continued, the tone of his voice becoming louder and clearer with every word.
There was probably ten ways he could interpret the boy's words, most of which didn't seem like they could come out of a six year old's mindset. So he had dismissed them for, 'he means he can make a puppet that looks just like a person'. "Ah I see… well then with your skills, I'm sure you'd be able to pull it off no problem" supportive seemed like the best choice at the time and he didn't have one regret when he saw that bright smile in response to his words.
How was he to know that Sasori had never truly been the same innocent boy he was just two years ago? And that all the darker ideas he had tossed away at that moment would all come back to haunt him.
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So yeah it was supposed to be a one shot but… the more I wrote the more I realized this bitch is gonna be a lot more than ten pages xD so I said 'fuck it, it's way too long for that' and decided to make it into two or three chapter story instead. I'm technically almost done with the whole thing anyway so… for now I hope you enjoyed, 'specially you Neko-chan as this is your present xP