Buried Alive – Chapter Nine: I Swear
A/N: I'm still the boss! I'm actually writing this even though at this time (01:38am, Sunday morning) I haven't actually got any reviews. Or anything at all. Still, as we are coming up to the tenth chapter, I thought I would tease the crap out of you by telling you there will be a lemon in the next chapter! If you can guess who it's between, then you get the glory of being awesome. Lemons are something I will feel perpetually awkward writing, but they turn out okay. Basically, if I think it's hot I write it down and then go say ten Hail Mary's and recite the Creed in Latin because I'd never admit something like that in confession, even if that's what it's for...Song of the chapter is 'Take This To Heart' by Mayday Parade. I would have put an MCR song here, but I generally can't listen to it without crying because I'm just that lame. I actually cried at one of their concerts when they played it. It was really awkward... Oh, and this may get a little confusing, but in case you haven't twigged yet, when I refer to 'he', I mean Itachi. Most of the time. Only if it isn't obvious, or if it's at the start of a section about him, or if he's just been introduced or something. Sorry if this isn't all that clear in this chapter!
This is thinking/dreaming.
This is regular story.
This is author's note.
This is title.
Warnings: Cursing, some implicit stuff, lemons next time. Oh, that will be so fun to write ;)
Disclaimer: Considering what's happening, it's pretty safe to assume I am not Masashi Kishimoto and I do not own Naruto. If I was profiting from this, I would probably mention it, but I'm not. The only way I'm profiting from this is the lovely reviews that make me happy
oO..Oo..oO..Oo
'Cause I'm a mess and you know that I can't help it
The drive home never seemed this long before
Killing time just a little bit faster
And I swear we'll make it
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I woke up in a bed. I got a glimpse of an unfamiliar ceiling, then pressed my eye shut again, forcefully willing myself back into my own bed in my own home. Cracking one eye open, the ceiling was still the same. Without moving my head, I looked around a little. The bed I was on was pushed up against a wall, and there was no furniture except for a small table and chair against the opposite wall. There wasn't room for anything else. The walls were painted white, put had clearly seen better days. There were no windows, and the door was shut. It was pretty safe to assume it was locked.
So the bastard was dragging this out? Why not just kill me and have done with it? The longer I was alive, the more opportunities I had to escape and alert Konoha.
But what had I expected? This was the same man who had forced me to watch my parents die over and over again for three days in my own head, and then turned around and walked away. There was no way I would get a mercifully quick death.
I patted my pockets for the kunai. Gone.
I got up, my head spinning and the edges of my vision blurring, reminding me of my head wound. I wasn't about to do anything about it, though. If I died of some kind of aneurism, at least I would die by anyone's hands directly.
Wobbling across the room, I grasped the door handle. As predicted, it was locked. I held on to it for a second, knuckles whitening around the metal as I tried to steady myself. The room span around me, the walls at random angles that shifted every time I moved my eyes. I took a deep breath and launched myself at the bed, landing awkwardly on my side.
I heard footsteps approaching, deliberately loud. I struggled to sit up, to face my probable death with what dignity I could muster. I was an Uchiha; it was the least I could do. The door swung open silently, and he walked in.
The cloak was gone, leaving his body uncovered. I was a little surprised to see him wearing normal clothes. Then I mentally chastised myself; of course he wears normal clothes. Besides being a murdering bastard and criminal, he's a pretty normal guy. With the high collar gone, I got my first look at his face for five years. He took after Father, his features more masculine and defined than I remembered. The shadowy lines running from the inner corners of his eyes alongside his nose had grown more pronounced. His Sharingan were activated. I flinched a little, cursing silently for looking into his eyes.
"I have already captured you, Otouto. What would be the purpose of trapping you in a genjutsu as well?" I bristled a little at his words, but remained silent. Unless he was going to say something useful, I wasn't talking.
He pulled out the chair from the desk and sat gracefully, eyes fixed on me. His face remained perfectly emotionless, and I tried desperately to mirror it. I couldn't look anything but blankly impassive. As long as I was unarmed, I was pretty defenceless. I figured it wasn't suicide if I tried to fight back, considering my death was pretty much guaranteed.
"Don't you want to talk to me?" I narrowed my eyes. "About our parents, perhaps?" My fingers twitched into fists. "Surely you have something to say. You clearly haven't forgotten me,"
No, I hadn't. Especially when he was using the same tone of voice he used to talk to me in when I was doing something stupid as a child. A small burst of anger shot through me. Was I still just a kid? He honestly couldn't believe I wouldn't have to grow up a hell of a lot just to get by after he-
"'You cannot defeat what you do not understand'. How many years ago did I teach you that? Six? Seven?" His voice was soft, slightly nostalgic. Actually, it was eight, but I wasn't going to say it.
I wasn't going to say anything at all.
I bottled it all up. Every urge to stand up and punch some life into his face, to jump into his arms and nuzzle against his chest, to crawl onto his lap and just sit there, all locked away. Stupid, useless impulses. Not appropriate at all, considering I was doomed here.
"So you're going to be silent?" I didn't even dignify it with a nod. He paused for a moment, before standing up and replacing the chair. "I will be back in a few hours." As he turned to walk out of the door, I silently begged him to turn around and do something, anything that would provoke some kind of reaction in me. To turn around and throw a weapon, to threaten me, to tell me something I didn't expect, to smile.
Gods, I wanted to see that smile again.
Two hours passed uneventfully, the only break in my brooding being a tall man leaving food on my desk, briefly introducing himself as Kisame, my brother's partner, before leaving quickly. I didn't touch the food, half out of suspicion, half out of spite.
After another hour and a half, the door opened again. I sat up quickly, expecting his return, but it was someone I hadn't seen before. Not surprising, really; I didn't know how many people were in this building, and I certainly didn't know their names or faces. This man was wearing the black Akatsuki cloak, hiding his body shape, and an orange mask covered his face. I didn't have much to go on.
"Hello, Sasuke-kun," he said, tipping his head to the side a little. He walked further into the tiny room, bringing him closer to me. There was something off about this person, but I couldn't put my finger on it. "Aren't you going to say 'hello' back?"
My silence spoke for itself.
"Alright, I'll introduce myself. I am Madara Uchiha, ancestor of the Uchiha clan, co-founder of Konohagakure, although I currently go by Tobi. You can call me Madara-sama when in private, but around other members of Akatsuki you should call me Tobi, Itachi excluded. Itachi knows very well who I am," his tone of voice was bizarre, switching between playfulness and arrogance and a strange insinuation. Combined with the uneasy feeling he gave off, I immediately didn't like this guy. "Still not talking? How about I tell you a little story about Itachi-kun?"
My eyes widened a little. Maybe he would tell me something useful, or let slip how to escape, or tell me how to defeat my brother. I lifted my head a little in consent.
"Well, five years ago, the Uchiha clan were planning a little uprising. Your father and all the other important people wanted more power for the clan, and, your brother being the prodigy he is, was allowed to listen in on the meetings. As an ANBU, he was duty-bound to inform the Hokage of this planned uprising. He was ordered by the village elders and the Hokage to kill every last man, woman and child in the Uchiha clan, but he begged to spare your little life. Meanwhile, he met me and I taught him a couple of neat tricks with his eyes, which he used on you to make you hate him so much. He killed the clan, traumatised you, then came running back to me and joined the Akatsuki. Was that a good story? Did that answer a couple of your questions about your Nii-san?" I flinched a little at the name, bottling everything he said away. I had to think, but I couldn't while his freaky aura was almost physically oppressing me. "Now, how about we-"
"Madara-sama!" He burst through the door, his voice quiet but his urgency still leaked through.
"Oh, hello, Itachi-kun. I was just introducing myself to little Sasuke-kun, here. I can't believe you never told me how adorable your little brother was! He's much cuter than you, you know. I really think we could-"
"Madara-sama, could you please come with me for a moment?"
"That's the second time you've cut me off today, Itachi-kun, and you know how much I dislike being cut off,"
"I apologise, but I came to inform you that your presence is requested elsewhere,"
"Ah yes, I had almost forgotten about you, what with your delectable little brother here. Still, I suppose I shouldn't neglect my duties and I should collect my due," with a nod to me, he turned to my brother. "We should be off then. I'll see you later, Sasuke-kun!" He sing-songed.
I shivered. There was something dodgy about that man – Madara Uchiha, he said his name was. But that was impossible! He died years and years ago. There was no way that it was possible for him to be walking around. And what hold did he have over my brother? A strange feeling crept into my belly, one I vaguely recognised from my childhood. No, there was no way I was jealous of something as simple as that. It was probably just from refusing to eat. Probably.
If Madara was who he said he was, then there were three Uchiha left. And the only way someone could have that kind of authority over someone as strong as my brother was by being even more powerful. Could he have some weird way of keeping himself alive? What did he want with me? And was I really cute?
No, I wasn't cute. I was definitely male, therefore I couldn't be cute. I hadn't been cute since I was a little kid, and I hadn't been a kid for years.
If what Madara had said was true, then there was a reason for what he did. Instead of anger or tears, I felt relief. There was a reason, a real reason, other than just pure malice and the intent to harm. Of course it didn't excuse what he did, but there was a reason. It was like a weight was lifted from my chest. I wouldn't go as far to say it wasn't his fault, or to justify the murders, but at least there was a reason. Obeying orders was part of being a part of ANBU, and disobeying would be treason. In fact, it seemed cruel of the Hokage and elders to make an Uchiha wipe out his own clan.
Something new shifted inside me, a new flame of hatred. There was a reason, and that reason was an order. An order someone shouldn't have given.
I felt like I could honestly face Itachi for the first time in years.
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A/N: So, it's sex time next chapter! That will be fun to write. Kind of. I found it incredibly difficult to get anything vaguely resembling Madara's characterisation – how the hell do people do it? That's possibly one of the few things I would congratulate Kishimoto on, his ability to create villains that freak me out. Madara – creepy as hell, coming close in behind Orochimaru, who makes me want to crawl under a rock and hide. But seriously, writing Madara Uchiha is super duper hard. Tell me if I did okay, because I'm not so sure I got the character right. I tried a kind of playful/evil/dominant tri-polar type thing. Hell, I even went and read the Narutopedia wiki page on him. Urk, tell me if I did good or not reviews make my day!