Notes: Curiously, my chapters keep getting longer and longer. But I don't think you guys mind.

If you don't have any idea of what's going on in this chapter, it's okay - I don't have the faintest idea either.

10. Foreboding Winds

The 10th of August, the fourth year of peace
Konoha, the Land of Fire

11:46AM

The blurry, hazy state between wakefulness and sleep makes Sasuke lose his grasp on time. With his eyelids heavy and his head buzzing, Sasuke dozes off every now and then, sitting on the cold and uncomfortable cell floor as hours pass by. He is too tired to stay awake, but falling asleep in such a stressful situation isn't that easy either – every time Sasuke drifts off, he wakes up with a flinch soon after, his heart drumming in his chest and his breath too loud in his ears.

The few moments of rest he gets are full of nightmares. There is his dead brother, asking why Sasuke would ever kill him when Itachi loves him so. There is Naruto, his eyes red and the whiskers on his cheeks harsh, screaming that if Sasuke had just come back earlier, every member of Team 7 would still be alive. Sakura is crying. Kakashi is lying on the ground, covered in snow, his empty eyes staring at nothing. All of it is Sasuke's fault.

Each time Sasuke bolts awake from his nightmares, his eyes gravitate towards his still unconscious teacher. He checks Kakashi's pulse every time, his shaking fingers trying to find a heartbeat while his own heart thumps wildly. Kakashi hasn't moved an inch since they were brought here, and there have been no signs of him waking up. Instead, just as Sasuke feared, he is getting paler and paler, and Sasuke has no way to help him. The guards stationed in the hideout don't care about them even though Kakashi in a such a bad state – they are quite content to be sitting on the other side of the laboratory, gossiping with each other in a very unprofessional manner and throwing only customary glances at their prisoners every now and then.

With every passing moment Sasuke gets more anxious when he thinks of what will happen to Naruto and Sakura. He knows that if nobody stops Danzou, there is no way the two will make it out alive – the councillor will see them dead if only to spite Sasuke.

Sasuke's only hope is that the Council members might come to their senses and see through Danzou's lies. Or that Tsunade wakes up and beats some sense in the Council. Then they might still be able to put an end to Danzou's reign before it really even begins. All of the clan heads are aware that Danzou has taken control over the village – some of them must doubt him. They must see that when there was suddenly evidence of Tsunade committing treason just when Danzou was losing the political battle between the Fifth Hokage and him, it's too good to be a coincidence. Somebody must be asking why Naruto, the Hero of Konoha, is nowhere to be found when his more or less adopted grandmother is in hospital, or why the Fifth's prodigy isn't there to treat her. Danzou was so eager to take the power only minutes after the news about the Fifth's supposed betrayal – are the members of Team 7 really the only ones to think there is something fishy about that?

A crash at the entrance of the laboratory catches the attention of Sasuke and the guards. A tall, bulky member of Danzou's ROOT storms in with another ANBU trotting in tow. The large shinobi has markings on his uniform, identifying him as a captain, and a fearsome sword strapped to his back. He barks orders at the lazy guards, and they scramble up on their feet, their movements jerky and hasty.

"Get the boy from the cell," the commanding ANBU with a tiger mask growls. The roughness of the voice matches the animal that decorates his mask. The three less high-ranking shinobis hurry towards Sasuke, so scared of the ANBU captain that they are almost clumsy as they flail around with the keys and then point their weapons at Sasuke.

Sasuke hisses at the guards and crouches in front of Kakashi, trying to hide him behind himself, because the only thing Danzou's men can blackmail Sasuke with is the life of his unconscious teacher. Powerless to do anything in the cell that tampers with his chakra, Sasuke is backed into a corner with the three ANBUs advancing towards him from all directions. He tries to bring a chidori into life with all his might, but the cell suppresses any chakra he might have. It does cut off the guards' chakra as well, but they have weapons, and unlike Sasuke, they don't have to try to protect anyone.

It doesn't take long before the ANBUs tire of his game, and one of them kicks Sasuke into his abdomen while one of the others distracts him with a faint attack towards Kakashi. Sasuke goes down with a groan, falling on the floor and clutching his stomach. There is nothing he can do when two of the ROOT members grab him by his arms and drag him out of the cell, while the last of them stays there with a kunai pointed towards Kakashi's neck.

When Sasuke gets his bearings back, he scratches and kicks the ANBUs, struggling against them as much as he can. He doesn't want anything to do with Danzou's forces, let alone with this overly-confident bully of a captain, and he is terrified to leave Kakashi alone in the cell with that spineless lackey of Danzou's.

Tiger doesn't tolerate him fighting back.

"Cooperate or the copy-nin will die," he gnarls and marches over to Sasuke with long, heavy steps and looks down at him from his notable height. The tiger mask suits him – there is something in him that reminds Sasuke of a large feline beast. Just like a tiger, he is dangerous and well aware of that fact.

He could still be a little more original with his threats – by now Danzou and his troops are starting to resemble a broken record when they keep using Kakashi to keep Sasuke in check.

"He will die anyway so what does it matter?" Sasuke seethes at Tiger, pulling against the ANBUs' grip on his arms. What the fuck do these guys want now? "I might as well save him the pain of going slowly and kill you right now."

"With what, Uchiha? Your words might be sharp but they won't have any effect on me," Tiger mocks and dares to laugh at him. It's a dark, low sound that makes Sasuke clench his fists. If Kakashi wasn't still breathing in that cell with that ANBU hovering over him, Sasuke would have activated his sharingan ages ago.

"What are we going to do with him?" one of the guards holding Sasuke down asks. Their grip on him is tight and Sasuke's sure his arms are going to be covered in bruises in a few hours, just like the rest of him.

"I'm going to make sure that even if he manages to escape, he will never pose a threat against Shimura-sama ever again," Tiger explains, and while Sasuke can't see his face because of the white mask, he is certain that there is a smug smirk on the captain's face.

"What, is Danzou too much of a coward to rip my eyes off himself?" Sasuke laughs, eyes cold. "How very kind of you to do it for him."

"Oh no, I'm not here to take your eyes. I have something else in mind. But you will lose them eventually, don't you worry about that," Tigers hisses. His eyes, the only visible part of his face, are full of disgust and hatred. "You have stood up against Shimura-sama far too many times now. I can't let you have any chance to do it again. You Uchihas have been nothing but trouble. All this could have been avoided if you had just died along with the rest of your kind."

"That's an awful lot of anger. I only let the village know who your dear Shimura-sama really is behind all his lies," Sasuke quips back and forcefully keeps himself for glancing back into the cell to see if Kakashi is still alive. The comment about his clan burns him but he can't afford to lose his head in a blind fury now.

"You turned this village against Shimura-sama when it should have been rightfully his!" Tiger shouts at Sasuke and then, without a warning, punches him straight to his face.

White pain flashes through Sasuke as his nose cracks. The force behind the punch is so strong that Sasuke would have fallen onto the floor if it weren't for the two ANBU holding him in place. He is too shocked to even curse as Tiger continues to bellow.

"And you will pay for that, you traitor. I will make sure that you will be made to watch as your teacher here slowly withers away in front of you while you can do nothing to save him. Then you'll witness your friends getting executed as murderers. And when everything else you hold dear has been taken from you, you will lose the last trace of the Uchiha clan's heritage. Himura-sama might be above petty revenge like this, as he has time only for the village, but I will not rest until you get what you deserve – a worthless life as an eyeless being with no one to care about you."

Blood drips from Sasuke's abused nose. It tastes metallic on his lips. He spits the blood on the floor and raises his eyes calmly to meet the tall ANBU's in front of him.

"Are you in love with him or something?" Sasuke chuckles and gets another hit to his face. This time the two guards are glad to let go of him when the punch comes, and Sasuke lands sprawled on the ground. He growls curses under his breath and tries to blink the twinkling stars from his vision. The ANBUs grab a hold of him again.

"Let's see if you are as cocky when I'm done with you, shall we?" Tiger taunts him and kicks Sasuke to his already aching stomach when Sasuke tries to push himself off the cold stone floor. Sasuke swears and refuses to be helpful in any way when the two ANBUs – who seem more like Tiger's minions at this point – start to drag him towards an open area in the back of the laboratory.

If Sasuke had any doubts about this hideout belonging to Orochimaru, they leave him now. He spots a metal chain attached to the floor in the middle of the round area and he knows exactly what it is. Orochimaru's test subjects weren't always that eager to fill their part in the Sannin's various experiments and so they had to be chained in place in the middle of the seal.

Sasuke involuntarily shivers as he is pushed once again on his knees atop a complicated design of symbols. The heavy chain is fastened to his wrists. He just got out of his last seal less then twenty-four hours ago, and now he is going to get another one thrust upon him.

"It is as if a circle closes, don't you think? This jutsu I am going to cast on you was developed by your old master. It was one of the last techniques Orochimaru managed to finish before his untimely death. He could have been very useful to us for years to come if it weren't for you. So, in a way, this is his revenge from beyond the grave."

Hunched over his still hurting stomach, Sasuke tries to find a more comfortable position on the floor. He couldn't care less about the ramblings of the mad ANBU at this point, but he is forced to acknowledge the large man when Tiger crouches down and grabs his chin, yanking his face upwards.

"Say goodbye to your life as a ninja, Uchiha," the ROOT member hisses before letting go of Sasuke and clapping his hands together, "because it ends now."

Then he presses his glowed hands against Sasuke's chest, and with what feels like his own Kirin blasted through his whole body, Sasuke falls into darkness.

o0o

1:29PM

His mouth is dry.

His stomach hurts.

His whole face aches.

With a faint moan Sasuke rolls to his side and presses a hand to his sore stomach, curling on himself. Gods, it hurts. He stays there for a while, cursing his life, before he blinks his eyes open and just stares at his surroundings.

He has been dumped back into the cell. Tiger is gone, and so is one of the ANBUs – there are only the two lazy ones left in the laboratory.

Slowly, with his body stiff, Sasuke raises his hand in front of his face and squints at it in the dim light. There are no markings on the skin as far as he can see. Sasuke doesn't feel any different than before, apart from his bruised face, and the familiar feeling of weakness that used to accompany him after Kakashi sealed his chakra hasn't come back either. For all the extravagant boasting Tiger had going on, Sasuke had expected a bit showier results. He counts his limbs and his toes and his fingers – all intact. He can see. Sasuke tries out his voice, and even though it's rough and his throat hoarse, he can speak and hear. He can't check his chakra in this cell, but as far as he can see, there is nothing wrong with him.

Maybe the jutsu failed.

Sasuke has seen it happen before – it wasn't that unusual to see a jutsu just not work during his time in the Sound. With Orochimaru's tendency of inventing his own techniques, there wasn't a week that they didn't have some experiment go wrong. This wouldn't be the first time Sasuke witnesses a complicated jutsu fail like this, and it gives him the courage to think that maybe his luck has finally come along.

Sasuke pushes himself slowly upwards to a sitting position, assessing his situation, and hisses when his battered body complaints against the movement. Only then remembers that there are other things at stake than just his well-being. He stumbles up to his feet and hurries towards Kakashi who is right there where Sasuke left him, lifelessly lying on the floor with a gash on his head and blood all over his pale face. Sasuke, fearing for the worst, lays a hand on his neck.

A deep sigh of relief escapes Sasuke when he feels a pulse against his fingers – a weak pulse, but there – and he slumps down to sit next to Kakashi.

He wonders how Naruto and Sakura are doing, if they know what awaits them. Has Tsunade woken up? What does the Council think of Danzou's actions? Are they really not going to see through Danzou's farce of framing his competition and incapacitating Tsunade to get the title of the Hokage?

Before he can lose himself in his schemes of breaking out and killing Danzou slowly and painfully, he notices a movement in the corner of his eye.

Sasuke's heart jumps in his throat, because Kakashi's eyelids are fluttering.

Sasuke moves to kneel in front of him, leaning down towards his face. Kakashi's whole body tenses and there is a faint sound of discomfort.

Then he opens his eyes.

Kakashi's gaze is unfocused and foggy at first, then he squints his eyes and shifts his head to look at Sasuke, barely awake and conscious. He seems to recognise Sasuke though, because his body relaxes at the sight of the young man next to him.

"Hi," Sasuke says quietly and a rare smile flashes on his face. Kakashi blinks slowly at him, his brows furrowing as he tries to understand what is going on.

"Danzou got us. I haven't seen Naruto or Sakura since they were taken away. They're not here," Sasuke whispers, trying not to alert the ANBUs on the other side of the room. He has no idea if Kakashi is awake enough to understand anything he's saying, but it's such a relief to see his eyes open that Sasuke can't stop himself. "Danzou's planning to take our sharingans."

But before Sasuke can say anything else, Kakashi's gaze loses its focus again and after another pained noise from him, his mismatched eyes close. He fades back to unconsciousness, leaving Sasuke alone in the cell.

o0o

9:15PM

Danzou returns to the laboratory alone without his usual posse of white-clad guards tailing after him. He seems to be in a hurry – judging by the sour expression on his wrinkly face, something has gone wrong, and it hasn't been even twenty-four hours into his rule as the Hokage. His misery is enough to make Sasuke smirk to himself behind the curtain of his hair.

"I am taking the sharingans now. Go grab the boy," Danzou commands the ANBU standing closest to the cell.

"Should we sedate him first or – "

"We don't have the time. Do it, now!" the councillor roars, his face flushed and red as he keeps stealing glances back at the front entrance. "I said now!"

Sasuke hisses obscenities at all of them when one of the ANBUs opens the door and steps into the cell, pointing a sword against Kakashi's neck. Sasuke is really getting tired of this, but he knows to stay in place when the other guard comes to him and grips his hands. The ANBU forces Sasuke's arms behinds his back and presses a knee on his back, making Sasuke lean forwards uncomfortably.

"This whole plan was a gamble, and I lost. Now I have no choice but to retreat. But at least I'm taking the sharingans with me," Danzou states and reveals his right arm covered in red eyes. "Hold him down."

Danzou crouches in front of Sasuke and raises a hand to his face, pressing his bony fingers against Sasuke's forehead and cheek – just like Itachi did when Sasuke's world was still black and white and his brother was just a madman that killed his family. Danzou's fingertips are rough against his skin, and the touch makes Sasuke feel sick. The councillor brings up his other hand to keep Sasuke's head in place while the ANBU forces Sasuke to lean towards Danzou. The old man's fingers almost dig into his skull. Danzou is going to rip his eyes out of his head and this is going to hurt so much –

Something flashes in Sasuke's peripheral vision, and there is the familiar sound of a body hitting the ground. A glint of steel later Sasuke sees a sword pressed against Danzou's neck.

"Get your hands off him," Kakashi hisses and moves the blade so that there is now blood running on Danzou's skin. His voice is so rough it almost hard to make out the words. Sasuke finds himself just numbly staring at him. Kakashi is dangerously pale, shaking, breathing heavily and all the blood on his face makes him look like a serial killer – but he is awake and has saved Sasuke yet again.

"Now!" Kakashi barks when Danzou hasn't done anything to let go of Sasuke. This time Danzou obeys and drops his hands, glaring daggers at Kakashi. Then Kakashi moves his attention towards the ANBU holding Sasuke down. "You too. Hands off!"

The shinobi lets go and Sasuke leaps away from him to rush to Kakashi's side. He nods at Kakashi, moving to stand just slightly behind him. Kakashi grabs Danzou by his shoulders and starts dragging the councillor along with them, holding the sword against the man's neck as they retreat out of the cell.

"Try anything funny and he dies," Kakashi growls at the ANBU who remains standing in the farthest corner of the cell.

Just after they get out of the cell and shut the door, Kakashi winces and sways on his has barely the time to curse himself for not taking the lead from Kakashi – who is obviously suffering from major blood loss – before Danzou realises his chance has come.

Danzou elbows Kakashi to his stomach, making the copy-nin go down with a moan of pain, and then Danzou breaks free. He swirls around, his hand flying into the hand signs of a fire technique and Sasuke knows that he has to act. He barrels into Kakashi who is kneeling down on the floor and sends them both flying behind an operation desk.

Another ANBU comes through the laboratory door.

"We have to get you out now, Shimura-sama!"

Sasuke risks a glance behind the desk and sees the old councillor clenching his fists. Then Danzou nods and heads toward one of the other desks in the room.

"You might have won your eyes tonight, Uchiha, but you are still going to die," Danzou shouts and slams his hand down on something. The desk starts to glow, and Sasuke thinks it must have contained a seal of some kind when the glowing light spreads in the room with precise patterns. The whole room lights up as the sigils crawl over the walls and ceiling.

Orochimaru always prided himself on building a self-destruction mechanism in each and every one of his laboratories.

Sasuke catches the sight of Danzou and the ANBUs disappearing through the main door of the hideout, and for a second he considers running after them and having his revenge right there and then.

But then he hears a weak cough on his left and realises that won't do.

Sasuke turns his attention the man next to him.

"Can you move?" he asks and starts to help Kakashi up before the other has the time to answer.

"Yes," Kakashi hisses through clenched teeth and props himself up. "Let's go."

Kakashi throws his arm over Sasuke's shoulder for support, while Sasuke wraps his right arm around Kakashi's waist and starts dragging them forward. The distance to the door isn't that great, but they are moving slowly and the destructive seal is terribly fast.

Sasuke startles at the sound of an explosion and tries to look back over his shoulder.

"Keep going," comes the sharp command from Kakashi, and Sasuke forces himself to continue moving despite the fact that the building around them is coming apart.

By the time they reach the door, the room is filled with smoke and fire, and the whole building is rumbling like an earthquake had hit it. Sasuke slams his hand on the door handle but the door won't budge.

"It's locked. Of course it's fucking locked!" he growls and wants to rip someone's head off. Another explosion goes off and the roof comes down in the south corner of the room with thunder. How are they going to get out? This is Orochimaru's old laboratory – the Sannin must have made sure that nothing would escape through that door, so it's not worth trying any of his jutsus.

"Wait," Kakashi says, rubbing his temples, and leans more heavily against Sasuke. "You have the mangenkyoo sharingan. Can you use amaterasu?"

"Can I use what?"

"Amaterasu. It's a sharingan-based fire technique that's supposed to burn anything."

Sasuke is sure that had things gone differently, he would have heard about that technique from his parents or brother, and not from someone who is not an Uchiha, in a burning building that is about to collapse on him. How is Sasuke supposed to know if he can use a jutsu he has never heard of before?

Then a memory comes to him – what was that jutsu that killed the masked man who told him the truth about Itachi?

"Black flames, right?" he asks out loud and studies the door again. The glow of the fire is colouring the room with shades of red and the temperature is rising – they need to get out now. Guess it's the time to test whether Tiger's seal actually did something to his chakra or not.

"I guess so. It doesn't matter, just try something!"

Kakashi is not exactly helping – he sounds almost angry as he ushers Sasuke to attempt the technique. But Sasuke can also feel how heavily the man is leaning against him. Kakashi can barely stand upright when he has Sasuke to support him, and they are trapped in an underground facility that is soon to be filled with smoke and flames. Unless the roof comes down first. He is probably just as scared as Sasuke.

Sasuke tries to focus on drawing his chakra and concentrating it into his eyes. He pictures the jutsu in his mind – he wants black flames to burn down the door, no, he needs the flames to burn down the door. Everything Team 7 did for him will be in vain if he dies here – everything that Itachi did will be for nothing if Sasuke doesn't make it through now.

His chakra flares without a hitch – and then there is a piercing pain in his eyes. Warm tears of blood run down Sasuke's cheeks, and this time it's Kakashi's turn to support him. But the door is on fire with his black flames and there is already a hole to be seen in the structure. It's working.

"Well done," Kakashi breathes out next to his ear, squeezing his shoulder, and Sasuke can feel him relax just a little against his side.

When the hole in the door is big enough for them to fit through, Sasuke concentrates again and manages to calm down the flames. He helps Kakashi through, climbs after him and ushers them forwards again.

They are running – limping – up the stair when the laboratory room finally gives in. A huge peal accompanies the shaking of the building, and the air is full of dust and black smoke. It's almost too hot to breathe. Sasuke swears he can see the walls tremble as they hurry upwards.

They storm into the debris-filled room on the ground level of the house, and after a dash though the halls they are finally, finally out of the building.

They stumble a couple dozen feet until Sasuke's feet give out under him. He lands on the ground with a grunt, Kakashi falling down with him, and they both crash down far less elegantly than is usually expected from either of them.

Sasuke turns to look at the ruins of the house they just escaped from. It looks like the building gave up on itself, and after the explosions they heard, there are now flames burning down the last remains of the house.

The sky is still dark and stars are visible over the blaze. Sasuke tries to catch his breath and wonders how soon someone will come to see what is going on. It looks like the whole sky is on fire, and the burning house is like a beacon – somebody is bound to notice the mess they have made.

Sasuke has no idea what drove Danzou away from Konoha right after the old man got the position he has always wanted, but Sasuke hopes that Danzou fleeing means that the village is safe. That Naruto and Sakura are safe.

He leans back on his hands and closes his eyes, sighing deeply. Once again, a day goes by and his family is still to be avenged. But at least he is alive.

They are both alive.

He hears Kakashi shift himself into a better position. Sasuke opens his eyes to study him. Kakashi has removed his mask to make it easier for him to breathe. There's a new, light scar on his right cheek, barely visible, and dark circles under his eyes. His white hair gets almost a golden shade in the warm light of the fire. His dark eyes reflect the glow of the heat when he looks at Sasuke.

Without thinking, Sasuke spins himself on his knees, grabs the man by his shoulders and presses his lips to Kakashi's.

Kakashi is surprised for a second, too stunned to move, but just before Sasuke is about to admit his mistake and move away, he answers the kiss just as intensely. It doesn't take long until the at first rather chaste kiss turns into something else. Soon Sasuke is sitting on Kakashi's lap, pulling him closer by his shirt, the kiss a frantic clash of teeth and lips and tongues. It's been ages since anything has felt as real as the warm mouth against his, or the sting of pain from his bruised lips when there's a pressure against his mouth. One strong arm is wrapped around his waist, while Kakashi cups his cheek with his other hand, tilting Sasuke's head just a little to deepen the kiss. Sasuke tangles his fingers into the other's light hair.

It's only when his fingers hit the dried blood in Kakashi's hair that he realises what he is doing.

Quite abruptly he pushes himself off Kakashi and scoots back to where he was originally sitting. He feels his cheeks burning as he adamantly keeps his eyes off Kakashi.

"Sorry. Won't happen again," he mutters, hiding behinds his bangs, all the while screaming at himself in his mind – Why the hell did he just do that? This is the exact opposite of what they agreed on! Sasuke brings his hand up to feel his lower lip – the gash he got from Tiger beating him up has opened now, thanks to kissing Kakashi. Sasuke grimaces at his bloodied fingers. Then he spots another wound on his left arm – he must have got it sometime during their sprint out of the burning building – and focuses on prodding it to keep himself from looking back at Kakashi.

"It's alright," Kakashi chuckles and Sasuke musters enough courage to glance at him. Kakashi is looking back at him, a lazy lopsided smile on his face and Sasuke's blood still on his lips. "It's not like it was the first time either. Though a warning would be nice next time."

Kakashi grins at his own words and Sasuke is torn between snorting and hitting the man. It's so typical of this guy to just brush off an intense making-out session after a near-death experience like it's nothing. Sasuke resorts to fake-glaring, which results only in Kakashi laughing at him some more.

Sasuke leans his chin on his hand and sighs again. Kissing his former teacher aside, there are other things to worry about now.

"Danzou's gone. He won't be coming back to Konoha any time soon. How am I supposed to avenge my clan now?"

Kakashi's whole attitude changes. He straightens his bruised back with a wince, and when he meets Sasuke's gaze now, his eyes are serious.

"I will say this again – revenge won't make you happy," Kakashi says, his face as unreadable as if he still had his mask on. Then his expression softens and his voice lowers. "But I won't make the same mistake twice. If you want to go after him, I won't make you choose between your family and us. I'm glad that you decided to trust Naruto, Sakura and me to help you. Let us have your back with Danzou this time too."

Sasuke doesn't know what to say to that – mostly he just wants to kiss Kakashi again.

"Though I'm still pissed at you for leaving me like that to go after him tonight."

It's hard to say how angry Kakashi really is with him when the jounin flashes another laidback smirk at Sasuke before pulling his mask back on. Sasuke rolls his eyes Kakashi with a snort and gets up to his feet. He glances at the burning building and realises that the weapons Danzou and his men took from them must still be in there.

And then, out of nowhere, a masked shinobi appears in front of them.