When you're a little kid, the first time you see a field all you want to do is run across it as fast as you can until you reach the end. The grass is greener than anything you've ever seen, and the magical world of your imagination makes it look like a fantastical kingdom of possibility.
To Sasuke, the field looked horrific.
"Lunges to the end of the field and back three times, then sprint back to me, and do it again backwards."
Stupid Teyaki-San hadn't even looked up from his book when he said it. For some reason, everyone expected Sasuke to be comforted by the fact that Teyaki was making Setsuna run drills with Sasuke. In actuality, it annoyed the fuck out of Sasuke to see how easy the drills were for his elder cousin. Setsuna was clearly the most in shape of anyone Sasuke had ever met.
The youngest Uchiha felt his breath coming heavy, and his chest burned as he lunged and lunged until his quads felt like they'd fall off. When he finally finished with that, Teyaki started him on a hundred crocodile pushups. These were the easy part. Sasuke had excellent upper arm strength. Or so he thought.
"Itachi-Kun, go stand on your brothers back while he does those. It'll help with your balance and help him with his strength. Go on."
Sasuke scowled up at Itachi, and got a mockingly friendly grin back in return. He buckled under Itachi's weight, finding himself unable to even do one pushup. Teyaki was displeased.
"What's wrong with you, boy?"
Sasuke grimaced. "My back hurts, Teyaki-San..." He whimpered out weakly, still trying to push himself up, but hating the pain of Itachi atop him. It wasn't a welcome pain, or a pleasurable pain, or even a tolerable pain. It was completely platonic, and completely annoying, and it fucking stung like a bitch, and ached his muscles in a way that was entirely aggravating.
"Does it? Take off your shirt."
Sasuke frowned, but obediently took off his shirt. It had only been three days since he'd lost his virginity to his uncle, and their erotic exploits hadn't died down in roughness at all since then. Sasuke himself didn't even want to see what his back looked like, so he didn't examine it in the mirror – but if the look on everyone's face when he took the shirt off was anything to go by, then he could bet it sure wasn't pretty.
Teyaki looked outraged, and Itachi looked like he wanted to be disgusted, but also was not at all surprised.
"Nagato!" Teyaki yelled, and the burgundy haired young man came up to him immediately but with grace.
"Yes, Uchiha-Sama?"
"Go fetch Mada-Kun, would you?"
Nagato nodded and bowed then walked away from the field, going off to find out where Madara had the limo parked.
When Madara was brought back to the field and saw Sasuke's shirt off, he already knew what the issue was. "Teyaki-San, it's not what it loo-"
"Madara what the hell is wrong with you?" Teyaki hissed out. "All of you, leave us. Sasuke, come here."
Sasuke almost laughed at the frightened look on his uncles face. It was funny that Madara still felt like he was getting in trouble with Teyaki for something. Sasuke himself had never been in trouble for anything, which made Madara's expression doubly hilarious.
"Madara look at his back."
"I see it." Madara responded tightly.
"No, really look at his back!"
Sasuke shivered as he felt his lover's eyes on his skin. He whimpered needfully as Madara's fingers gently ran down his back, pressing up against each bruise and bite. Now that was a pleasant type of sting.
"I think he looks gorgeous like this," Madara said audibly, refusing to be intimidated by his superior when it came to his love life.
"I think he looks like even more of a reason for the police department to be up your ass." Teyaki deadpanned, glaring sideways at his surrogate son.
Madara turned Sasuke around, ignoring Teyaki, and kissed him softly. "Put your shirt back on, love. Keep this between us."
Sasuke nodded and quickly redressed himself.
"Madara, you don't think that telling him that will actually keep the authorities from finding out, do you? You've got the former police chief working for you now, for Christs sake! You do know that he still spends his off time with the current police chief, don't you?"
Madara turned back to Teyaki and looked at him with a face that displayed cool composure. "I assure you, Teyaki-San, were you anyone other than exactly who you are – my nephew would not have exposed himself to you in the first place. Please do not doubt my ability to keep the people that I care for close to me and as safe as possible."
"It only takes one little choice to start down a road that leads to despair, Madara. Think of the choices you've made. Not letting Mikoto and Fugaku live in the wear-house with you, just because of some childhood spat between Izuna and Fugaku. See where that lead them? Imagine how different all of our lives would have been if they'd never had to live separately in the first place. They wouldn't have died that night. They'd have been safe at home relaxing, just like you were."
Madara felt his throat tighten, refusing to think of the meaning behind those words. Sure, it made it sound like Teyaki was throwing Mikoto's death in his face – but they both knew who it was that he was really saying had died for nothing.
"I never knew any of those people," Sasuke said quietly. "So I have no way of knowing if I'd have liked them better alive or dead. But I do know that my life as it is at this very moment feels absolutely perfect, and that if giving me this level of bliss is something they thought was worth dying for – I'll never think it was worthless."
Madara smiled, and pulled Sasuke close to him. Teyaki sighed. "Okay, okay. You really have done well with him Madara, just try not to entertain any kinks that'll get you twenty-five to life, okay? Sasuke, back on the ground. I want to see those push-ups. Madara if you don't want to see him suffer then I suggest you go back to your limo."
With a roll of the eye, Madara pulled Sasuke closer for just a moment, kissing him sweetly before stalking back to his car. How Teyaki always managed to make him feel like a little boy was a mystery, but he didn't mind it so much. At least he knew that Sasuke would be able to survive in a situation where he wasn't there. Although Madara seriously hoped that such a situation would never occur.
Back on the field, Sasuke managed a total of five push-ups with Itachi standing on his back before he buckled under the weight and announced that he absolutely couldn't do it anymore.
"He's got another one in him!" Setsuna yelled out cheerily, approaching Sasuke with an obnoxiously peppy gait. "Climb on up, Ita-Chan. I'm sure he can handle one more."
Itachi shook his head. "He's fatigued. Teyaki hasn't told him to keep going yet, let him rest."
Setsuna scoffed. "Oh please, I could handle more than that in my day. He's only eighteen, the world of exhaustion hasn't even presented itself to him! Here, if you won't get on his back, I will." Setsuna stepped forward then, in an attempt to climb atop Sasuke. Said young Uchiha was panting so hard that he barely even noticed the argument, but he found himself wide awake when Itachi stepped in front of him, disallowing Setsuna to move farther.
"What are you doing, Itachi? Move." Setsuna's eyes were cold, but as Sasuke meekly looked up, he might have dared to say that Itachi's were colder.
"You'll hurt his spine. Leave him. Otouto, get up and drink some water, you need to rehydrate yourself."
Sasuke nodded, in awe of the fact that Itachi seemed completely uncaring of the fact that he was standing up to the Setsuna Uchiha.
"What fucking right do you think you have to undermine my authority, boy?" Setsuna hissed out at Itachi, looking quite affronted.
"What authority?" Itachi asked with a playful smirk. "I'm sorry, cousin – but if anything you're the one offending my position. I'm on Sasuke's personal guard, you are not. From what I understand – you are not even permitted to touch Sasuke, so please explain to me how it is you think that disallowing you to harm him means I'm the villain here."
Teyaki snorted, clearly amused by Itachi's words. Sasuke knew what he was thinking – Setsuna was about to slice Itachi up into very, very small pieces.
"You're going to regret that you ever back-talked me, Itachi."
"Careful, Setsuna-San. That almost sounded like you'd forgotten what my last name is."
For some reason, Sasuke did not think that the words 'never betray' were a part of Setsuna's mental vocabulary right at that moment. Then, it happened so fast that he could barely even see what had occurred. When he looked up again, Itachi was a step away and Setsuna's sword was roughly slammed into a training dummy.
He'd missed.
For the first time in Sasuke's life, Setsuna Uchiha had tried to decapitate someone – and missed. There was only one solution. Somehow, by some grace of the Gods: Itachi could dodge faster than Setsuna could swing. It had always seemed impossible, but clearly that had been what happened. Setsuna looked just as shocked as Sasuke.
"You know," Itachi said casually, jumping back with minimal effort as Setsuna tried to strike him again. "They say that your generation produced the eight best assassins that the Uchiha family had ever seen,"
Again, Setsuna sliced through the air, and again, his sword failed to even graze.
"Apparently all of that Uchiha inbreeding managed to make the children stronger and stronger. We do have such unique genetics, don't we?"
Swing.
Miss.
Swing.
Miss.
"So one must begin to wonder, cousin. If the generation before yours was matched up and created the eight best fighters... what happens when two of those eight have a son, and he gets trained in martial arts as well?"
Miss... miss... miss... miss.
"No answer?" Itachi asked mockingly, walking up to a very out-of-breath Setsuna with a calmness that Sasuke envied. "How about I just tell you. I am what happens when you breed two of the best Uchiha assassins."
Itachi plucked Setsuna's sword from his grip as if it was the easiest thing in the world, and held it to his elder cousin's throat. "I'm genetically more advanced than you. I'm younger than you. I'm more practiced than you. I'm more thoroughly trained than you. I'm faster than you. And I'm smarter than you. I am better than you in every way. I was born an Uchiha, and forced into this life, but I have no ties with that name, and nothing left to lose if I forget that I ever even heard the phrase 'never betray.' This stupid family with its stupid rules and its stupid hierarchy isn't going to stop me from killing you if you ever try to undermine my authority again. Got it?"
Sasuke and Teyaki were both staring at Itachi as if he'd grown about eight or nine extra heads. Setsuna didn't answer him, he merely snatched his sword back and stormed off in a huff, and Sasuke decided it was about time he head back to his uncle...
"What news from the outside world, my pretty?" Madara asked with a grin as Sasuke slid into the limo.
"Don't call me that, I'm not wearing the proper shoes for it." Sasuke deadpanned with a grin of his own as he scooted closer to his uncle and laid his tired head onto the man's lap, humming softly in pleasure when Madara's fingers laced through his hair and petted him.
"Itachi beat Setsuna in a fight today."
Madara chuckled. "I'm sure the news will be braodcasting that an entire bus of people was brutally murdered by tomorrow, then."
Sasuke bit his lip to hold back a laugh at his elder cousin's expense, knowing that an angry Setsuna was bad news to a great many people.
"I was kind of shocked by it. I mean, I know Setsuna's not invincible or anything. He admits that you and uncle Izuna could both have killed him with ease back in your assassin days. He reckons you still could now, if the urge took you."
Madara shrugged modestly. "Fighting Setsuna is only easy because he's so damn sadistic, really. Anyone who fights him has the advantage of their own fear. You always fight well when you know that you'll die if you lose."
"You don't think he'd really kill a relative though, right?" Sasuke asked, looking nervously upwards as Madara's hand stopped moving through his hair.
"He won't hurt you" Was Madara's only reply, and he pulled Sasuke up onto his lap, letting him swing a leg over and straddle his thighs comfortably. "No one will," Madara continued, kissing his nephew's neck softly, against one of the still-sensitive bruises on Sasuke's skin.
"Only you," Sasuke whispered back, cradling Madara's face in his hands and leaning down to give him a slow and sensuous kiss. "You're the only one who can touch me. You always have been. You're the only one who I love, the only one who I desire. You are the only person in this world who matters. Just you. Just me. I wouldn't bat an eye if everyone else disappeared."
And Madara found comfort in those words. He was glad that Sasuke loved him so much, and he greedily coveted the knowledge that no one else mattered. To Madara, Sasuke had said something sweet – but Madara did not yet understand how serious his nephew had been. He did not yet see how effortlessly Sasuke was capable of sitting beside him and gazing carelessly down at the rest of the world as it burned.
XxBxExLxOxVxExDxX
There were many tasks that had to be performed by the chief of police that Naruto very much enjoyed. He really liked going to meetings with the city government officials, and patrolling schoolyards after dark to make sure that all the children made it home safely during dusky winter nights. He loved attending promotional ceremonies for his staff members. Even answering phones on days that weren't busy wasn't so bad, because then he could meet new people, which was always great.
What Naruto hated about his job, was the prison. He hated being there in the first place, and he really, really hated it when he had to free someone who he knew was guilty. There was nothing that got under his skin quite like having to unleash a man who he knew to be a murderer just because of good behavior. Who cares if the guy behaved properly behind bars? If we know that when he's free he goes on insane killing rampages, then don't let him go!
Unfortunately, the law was the law. Orochimaru had been sentenced with twenty years in prison, and now it was Naruto's job to release him two and a half years early because he'd gotten out on good behavior. This was a man involved with the death of countless people. He was a known assassin, and before he'd been locked up, he'd worked under Madara Uchiha himself.
But he was polite in the fucking jail-house, so Naruto had to let him out. It was absolutely despicable.
As Naruto unlocked the holding cell that Orochimaru had been transferred to the day before, he swore that he could see an amused grin on the man's overly-pale face.
"What are you smiling at?" Naruto asked in an accusatory tone.
"You're Minato's boy."
Naruto glared, not liking it when people who he didn't consider decent human beings spoke of his father. "Yes, I am."
"Minato Namikaze. Even more beautiful in death, I hear. Is it true that Madara did it himself? What a big boy, taking out his own trash."
Naruto figured that maybe Orochimaru's eye make-up was weird enough to cover the black eye that he'd just earned himself. Oddly enough, the creep had laughed on impact.
"Feisty, feisty. You'll have to forgive me, but all I've heard of your father has been from my fellow inmates. So he choked to death on his own cock, huh? Madara always was creative. Did you know he once trained nine wild foxes into fighting hounds and let them maul an entire family to death? Of course, that was during his more vicious days. I understand he's tamed down some since his brother's death."
Naruto ground his teeth, clearly aggravated by this conversation. "Yes, I did know about the fox attack. If it's of any interest to you: The police confiscated those foxes six years afterwords. I happen to have adopted them, and I personally own them now – though they're trained much better and rarely misbehave. If you don't mind following me, I'll get those handcuffs off of you and you're free to go."
"Well that's just unkind, Naruto-Kun. You lose your temper enough to punch me in the eye and now you don't even want to talk to me? So mean..."
Naruto's jaw flexed as he tried desperately to ignore the man, and he simply yanked him into the next room by the handcuffs, then unlocked them and shoved him out of the police station.
Ugh! What a fucking creep! But he was no longer Naruto's issue. Orochimaru was officially released to the rest of the world.
A/N: Another chapter down! Sorry, this was supposed to be updated on Tuesday, but my internet is down, so you've had a bit of a wait for it. The next installment is due Saturday if my time allows, and hopefully it will. Please remember to review!
I love you for reading,
-Beloved