A/N: Secrets are revealed! Suspicions are created! Itches are scratched! It's a chapter where things happen!
So now you know. Review away. Or leave death threats instead, those are nearly as fun.
"Why does this thing itch so much," came a quiet voice in the middle of the darkness.
"It itches because you're scratching at it," was Sasuke's terse reply.
"Does it ever stop itching?"
"No. It's always prickling. You just have to resist the urge to scratch at it."
As soon as he said it, he could feel the sensation of something crawling under his skin on the leaf shape engraved on his left forearm. It was the Konoha prisoner seal, put on the inmates to suppress their chakra. It was extremely effective in preventing outbreaks of violence within the jail. Mostly because, without their chakra, the men became much weaker, lethargic even, and it took them much time to regain anything close to the amount of strength they had when it they had come in.
It was a wonder Sasuke was able to push a man into a stone wall at all. But then again, this was the infamous Uchiha, the one who betrayed the village to join with Orochimaru. It was unknown how much stronger he had become during that period, and the regular chakra seal the village used had to be improved to suppress his strength.
Which Sasuke thought was just plain stupid. It wasn't like he would try to escape. He really didn't have anywhere to go. No village would have him. Even if Orochimaru could have him back, there was no way he would take him. He'd still be angry about his golden boy betraying him in more ways than one. And the only place he would like to be… well, he wouldn't be allowed there again. Nowhere near there. It just wouldn't be accepted, he'd made too many mistakes to be able to pick up where he had left off.
"Well," said Silver silently, "I guess that's what I'll have to do."
In the darkness of the cell, Sasuke smirked slightly. It had taken the seal a day to work its magic, but it had worked its magic in the end. Silver was now the ghost of the man he had been when he had entered, the lopsided smile replaced by a thin line, his eyes half-lidded in fatigue, speaking less and less with each hour.
Sasuke had to admit, he was enjoying his cellmate more this way. He became less and less annoying every minute.
"Sasuke," Silver murmured from his bunk.
Sasuke acknowledged the calling with silence.
"What did you do to get in here?"
More silence followed the question.
"You musta done somethin' bad. Y'know, the other guys talk about you a lot," said Silver sleepily, his words slurring together. The guy was fighting against the exhaustion that accompanied suppressed chakra. If he continued, he'd probably pass out.
"Really," Sasuke muttered, impassive.
"Mmhmm. They're always talkin' 'bout how you must be a real bad guy, to have gone on without a cellmate for so long. And how you never tell anyone what you did to get in here." He paused somewhat expectantly, as if hoping Sasuke would launch into his story.
He didn't.
"So how exactly did you get in here," he pressed, enunciating each word slowly so as to have them make sense."
There was a pause, in which Silver breathed in deeply, hoping the extra oxygen would bring him back from his sluggishness.
"I took down an entire village by myself," Sasuke said quietly. "I managed to kill their kage, took over their military forces, and held the biggest clan leader in the region hostage, demanding that they give me all their forbidden ninjutsu scrolls."
There was a pause then a weak chuckle from up above. "You forgot the part about the 7 tails."
"Oh right. I also demanded that they give me the 7 tails jinchuuriki," said Sasuke, rolling his eyes.
"Seriously though, why?" mumbled Silver, steadily losing the battle against the seal.
"Can't tell you. How can I be honest with someone when they haven't even told me the real reason they're in here themselves," said Sasuke, feeling as if he'd just made a move that threatened the safety of his opponent's Gyoku in Shogi.
There was a single chuckle from above. "Yeah… I guess… that makes sense…"
A pause in which the thin man breathed deeply.
"Well…I guess I'll have to tell you then," yawned Silver.
Sasuke waited, not all that impassive now.
"Hmm… well… I helped a man escape from this prison. Except I got caught." He gave a mirthless laugh. "There I was, being loyal and helping him escape from jail… but when it comes to betrayal… well, there's nobody better for it than Lord Orochimaru."
It was as if someone had sent a shock of lightening through him. Sasuke's eyes widened at the sound of his old master, surprised that this man could have a connection with himself, however distant. His being his cellmate had been no mistake. The village knew exactly what it was doing.
"Wait," he said, attempting to keep his voice steady. "You helped Orochimaru escape?"
There was the sound of deep breathing, then a dry,"Yep."
"The Orochimaru?"
For a long time, there was no answer. Then came a wheezing cough and a raspy, "How many Orochimarus could you possibly know?"
"There's no way you could have done that," said Sasuke, his mind reeling at the idea of his master at large.
"Don't doubt my capabilities," murmured Silver.
"How did you manage it? How are you tied to Orochimaru? You can't be just any of his pawns to be chosen to help him escape." He was now sitting up in his bunk, the top of his head grazing the underside of Silver's bunk.
Silver gave a weak laugh. "I guess I'm not just any of his pawns then, eh?" He coughed roughly, gasping for breath afterwards.
"I'm serious. I need to know your involvement with Orochimaru," growled Sasuke.
There was another cough. Then, "Listen, Uchiha, I'd love to tell you my story, but this thing's really taking it out of me…. I'll tell you… tomorrow."
"Silver," said Sasuke.
But there was nothing but silence.
"Silver," he called out a bit more forcefully.
Still silence.
He sighed and fell back on his bunk. He was dying to find out more. Unfortunately, Silver was fast asleep.
Today was a nice weather kind of day. The sun was bright, the trees seemed heavy with leaves, and the young members of the Hyuuga clan felt it. This was not the kind of day to sit around inside, pacing the wide corridors of the manor. They began to grow restless, the Hyuuga kids, and the queen of all restlessness herself decided to find a solution for it.
"We're going to the bathhouses," declared Hanabi, standing up in the middle of the group of young cousins half asleep from boredom.
Some kids stirred, the idea of a field trip to the bathhouses welcome after being confined inside the stuffy old clan home.
"We can't just decide to go to the bathhouse," said a kid with brown hair that stood up in all directions. "We need to tell the elders, get permission, or we're going to get in trouble."
"As if I give a damn," answered Hanabi. "Besides, if you don't want to come, you don't have to come. But I'm going. If I stay here much longer, I think I'll have to kill myself."
A few of the cousins looked worried. Having been taught to be so obedient since the time their white eyes could see, it was difficult for them to break the rules. Hanabi was different, however. Her blatant disregard for rules was strange for a Hyuuga, and yet she managed to get away with it.
"Be ready within the hour," she called back over her shoulder as she stomped off to find her older sister. She needed to Hinata out of that garden; being around that much dirt couldn't be healthy.
When she found her older sister, she was crouched down on the floor of her garden, a bunch of flowery plants beside her.
"Hinata, we're going to the bathhouses. Wanna come?"
Hinata ignored her, choosing instead to plant another one of the plants.
"Do you wanna come?" Hanabi asked, a bit louder this time.
"No thanks."
A pause, in which Hanabi stared down at her sister. Was she crazy? It could not be more fun to stay here all day than to go to the bathhouses with everyone else.
"Hmm," murmured Hanabi. "Yeah, I think you're coming."
"But I don't really want to go," said Hinata while keeping her eyes on her work.
"Well, you see, that doesn't really matter. You're going because I said so." Her tone was quite polite, but had such a forceful air of authority that it would leave one wondering who was really the older sister in the family.
"But I don't want to," answered Hinata quietly, turning the full force of the lavender eyes that had gained an edge in the last 2 years onto her younger sister.
For a second, Hanabi was taken aback. She hated when Hinata did that. It caught her out of nowhere and she still hadn't gotten used to it.
She quickly regained her composure, however. Not even the icy coldness of those lavender eyes could stop the fireworks for long.
"I've decided you're coming. It'll do you good. Besides," she said as the thought occurred to her, "we haven't hung out together anywhere fun in the longest time."
As she gave a few more pats to the already tight soil around a leafy fern, Hinata seemed to think it over. When it began to take her ridiculously long, Hanabi finally interrupted her thoughts.
"No matter how much you pat that dirt, it's not going to make me go away. Let's go," said the brown haired girl with finality.
She walked back into the house, confident that Hinata would follow. Sure enough, the soft whisper of silk could be heard trailing behind her own vigorous march.
She smiled to herself. Finally, some fun to be had.
Sasuke glared intensely at his cellmate. The guy was dragging this on much longer than necessary. Worse still, it looked like he was enjoying this more than he should.
"Are you done with your food yet?" asked Sasuke, gesturing towards the empty bowl on Silver's tray.
Silver glanced up at Sasuke with a hint of his manic smile. He scraped his spoon at the bottom of the empty bowl and stuck it in his mouth. He then shook his head, amusement dancing in his eyes. Yes, definitely enjoying this much more than he should.
Sasuke exhaled sharply through his nostrils. Since this morning, Silver had been dangling his story in front of Sasuke the way a fisherman dangled a particularly juicy worm in front of a hungry fish. It was uncanny the way this guy knew how to push his buttons after only two days.
"Stop messing around. You're done," said Sasuke, the dam of patience beginning to crack.
Silver only looked back at him with his eyes opened wide, spoon bouncing on his bottom lip. "Mmm-mmm," he muttered, shaking his metallic head. He swallowed a nonexistent bit of porridge and said, "Nah-uh. There's still a whole lot of mush left, see?" He tilted the empty bowl forward for Sasuke to see. Sasuke, however, simply pushed it aside.
"Time to speak up. You've slept, you've eaten, work doesn't begin for another 20 minutes. Talk," said Sasuke in a low voice, though the nearest convicts were twenty five feet away.
Silver cocked his head, tapping his lip in a pensive way. "You're quite an impatient one, aren't you?"
Sasuke nodded slowly.
Silver gave a single chuckle. "Guess I'm going to have to change that then."
"And exactly what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"That I have to take on the painstaking and tedious task of teaching you the importance of patience," said Silver, the corner of his mouth tilted up in his crooked smile. When Sasuke continued to glare daggers at him, he went on to say, "I'll tell it to you later. Consider it a reward for another day where you didn't kill yourself in this hellhole."
Sasuke glared at him. Silver only continued grinning cheerfully.
And there I was thinking this guy couldn't be half bad…
With an angry sound, Sasuke stood and made his way out the door.
The Hyuuga kids made their way merrily down the street, many of the girls skipping together, happy to be out of the stuffy old Hyuuga home. Four of them lagged behind the rest, acting as the supervision of the day.
Neji frowned down at the rest of the Hyuugas. Though he enjoyed the idea of a visit to the bathhouse as much as anyone else, he had decided that since he was the oldest one there, he still had to retain that air of superiority that the older clan members possessed. So, however much the inner-Neji was jumping for joy, outer-Neji remained stoic.
Next to him walked Hanabi, her boyish strut contrasting strongly with the meek creeping of the shy creature next to her. Ai clung to Hinata like ivy to a fence. The prospect of a trip to the bathhouse seemed to frighten her, so much that she jumped whenever a bird chirped overhead.
And of course, at the end, striding along with her mind seemingly elsewhere was Hinata, her eyes open wide as she gazed around the town. When was the last time she had walked outside? She began to rack her brains, sifting through the long list of plant names, best fertilizers, growing seasons, and completely bypassing the locked section where painful memories lay in storage. More than two years ago was the last time she'd been allowed to wander in this manner.
At the moment, the slow group in the back was discussing Neji's recent promotion to ANBU.
"This means I won't see you around all that much anymore," Hanabi was saying.
"Are you going to miss me," asked Neji, masking his curiosity behind a bored tone.
"Not particularly. Mostly I'm excited. Now I'll have one less person nagging me," said Hanabi.
"Y-you don't r-really mean th-that, d-do you?" Ai could never understand the playfulness of the cousins.
Hanabi twisted her head to look at her, frowning slightly. "No, I kinda sorta do."
Ai seemed shocked. "Oh," she said uncomfortably.
Hinata seemed to come out of her eternal reverie to save the poor girl. She leaned in to her ear and whispered, "No Ai, she's just messing around. She'll probably miss Neji very much. She's just saying that to seem tough."
This seemed to fix Ai's problem. She relaxed her vulture-like grip on Hinata's arm and smiled slightly.
After the short walk through a bustling Konoha, they reached the bathhouse. It was like any other bathhouse, split into a section for men and a section for women. The boys and girls said goodbye and went to their respective sides.
As they were preparing to get in, Ai noticed a strange scar on Hinata's pale stomach.
Before she could stop herself, she asked how she'd gotten that.
Hinata smiled softly and said, "It's a long story."