Leave the Winter on the Ground

Naruto said, I wish he'd done it when he knew what he'd done. What it meant. You know?

Kakashi had been able to respond with the truth, He could do it because he didn't know.

Naruto had been talking about Orochimaru, but Kakashi's reminded of the exchange now, accompanying Mikoto and Hiashi into the Sabaku stronghold. He finds some amusement in the thought that this is indeed turning into, as that shaggy shifter boy called it, exorcist HQ: the centre of power has shifted.

Mikoto moves through the shifters like a benevolent renaissance queen, kindly allowing her subjects to gaze upon her. Hiashi moves through them like a rather less benevolent renaissance king, baffled and disgusted to find himself faced with the riff-raff.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi spots Naruto hanging off the Sabaku girl's shoulder, flushed and unsteady as his friends hurry him out of sight. He won't last much longer.

Rather confirming this, Sasuke enters the meeting room wearing Naruto's garish and overlarge jumper, presumably to cover up bloodstains from working on the seal.

He greets Hiashi politely enough, and spares a flash of a smile for Kakashi. One of those expressions he used to have as a child, that strike you like lightning. He's colder with Mikoto, and – fundamentally relaxed around her in a way he's never been before. Presumably he will know for sure now that she's his mother, but he will know it as information from a birth certificate and Google images, not in a way that matters to him.

"We don't need an audience."

Minato nods, and at his gesture the rest of the shifters file out. Minato himself remains, which seems to be an acceptable compromise.

"It's time for you to come home," Mikoto says. She's immaculate as always, in a cream polo shirt that hides the collar of bruises from when Sasuke almost strangled her to death. If she's been affected by her husband's demise, it doesn't show.

Kakashi had a similar thought seven years ago: that if she'd been affected by the loss, enslavement and torture of her youngest child, it didn't show.

He's honest enough to admit that this means nothing, that he can't read her secrets on her face. He thinks, with no little dislike and no little admiration, that she's got blood like liquid brimstone.

Sasuke smiles what Naruto calls his shark smile: half smirk, half sneer. "I'm comfortable where I am."

"This isn't a suitable environment."

"That's my call."

"You're a minor," Mikoto starts, in the same mild, cutting voice she's had for as long as Kakashi's known her. He's never once head her raise it, not even in battle. He has imagined it whispering dirty words to him, though that was a long time ago.

Sasuke tilts his head. "But you relinquished my guardianship to Orochimaru when I was eight." He smirks again, that thin slash of predator teeth. "I believe he's not in a fit state to make any decisions."

There's a bit of dirt under his nails and a spattering of pimples just under his ear that Kakashi would like to linger over and lick, enjoying the oily, salty taste that differs from the rest of Sasuke's skin – obvious signs of stress and sloppiness and boyhood, which utterly fail to humanise him. With Sasuke always being compared to Itachi and then the seal, they've all underestimated him: Uriel's a heavenly storm brewing inside him, lightning running in his veins.

"Some unfortunate events have occurred," Mikoto says.

She's making the same mistake Orochimaru did: thinking Sasuke will be easier to handle without his memories. In fact, Kakashi's beginning to suspect, it's quite the opposite.

"A crusader who's attacked has every right to take whatever necessary action to defend themselves," Sasuke says, reasonable and thoughtful as though they're discussing exorcist law as a matter of interest.

"Indeed," Hiashi says with relish.

Mikoto looks Sasuke square in the eye, to all appearances completely unintimidated. "Are you intending to kill me?"

"Of course not. That would be heresy." The deepest insult of all: it would be heresy to kill her because and only because Sasuke doesn't need to kill her in order to be safe from her.

Instead Sasuke lifts his hand, sketching an outline in the air. It looks like kanji at first, complicated swirls and slashes, but it's something far older, and far more dangerous than that. The seal takes several minutes to finish, a glowing, aggressive design that Sasuke carries in his palm like a star plucked from heaven.

He takes a blade from his belt, one of the ones he nicked off Kakashi yesterday, and spears the seal on it.

Mikoto finally starts to stand when Sasuke stops in front of her, but it's too late. It's seven years to late.

Her head falls back, her face a white mask, as Sasuke carves the seal into her chest, just at the base of her throat.

"This is the seal Orochimaru bestowed on you?" Hiashi inquires with interest.

"A lesser version of it," Sasuke says. "It can only have full effect on an unhatched power."

Where Sasuke had nothing, outside of the self-defence release, Mikoto will at least have the magic of a lowly exorcist, of someone like Hinata or Ino. Sasuke, in her position, would have broken through it within a year. But Hanael isn't Uriel, and Mikoto has never been reckless or desperate.

"Go," Sasuke tells her, "and sin no more."

This snide, elliptic reminder that she can't even kill herself without suffering eternal condemnation is what Kakashi has traditionally thought of as Orochimaru's cruelty, even when it's been Sasuke exhibiting it. But that's not as easy anymore – he has to either assume that Orochimaru has fundamentally warped Sasuke's personality, on a deeper level than memory can affect, or he has to accept that on some level it was always Sasuke's cruelty.

"Indeed," Hiashi Hyuuga says. "Let's go. There are certain matters we must attend to."

In the corridor outside the meeting room, Sasuke disappears swiftly – the Sabaku girl leans out of a doorway, hissing at him to, Come now, if you're going to come at all.

The second Mikoto and Hiashi are out the door, Minato touches Kakashi's arm. "Itachi can unseal her, surely?"

"I doubt he will."

"She's his mother."

Finally Kakashi has the impossible realisation: he's over Minato. That's such a stupid thing to say, and there's nothing endearing about Minato having fits of naïveté anymore, only this dull irritation. Still, there's history between them, and this doesn't cost Kakashi anything: "She undertook aggressive action against a stronger crusader, and the seal won't have any meaningful impact on her ability to exorcise. He won't see any reason to interfere."

"God damn it all." This might have been cathartic for Sasuke, might have offered a certain poetic justice, but it's bad news for the shifters, as Hiashi's far less tolerant of what he calls inferior races than Mikoto.

"The realistic worst case scenario," Kakashi says, "is Hiashi takes over the Council, and we don't get Itachi to take responsibility for Oto, which means the fundies breaking out on their own. That'll entail a lot of large-scale attacks, and when shifters retaliate, Hiashi will ally with the humans against you."

"Does Sasuke understand that?"

"I don't know." Kakashi shrugs, a light and affected gesture very different from Sasuke's sharp, masochistic shrugs. "He should be able to figure it out. But I can't imagine that'd matter enough to him to change what he did."

"Bloody Uchiha."

And Minato's just tired, just sick of all this, and Kakashi does understand, even sympathise, but it's – it's over. "Sasuke doesn't actually owe you anything."

Minato gives him an appraising look. "Neither do you. You never did."

Easy to say now, of course, when Kakashi's already paid his depts.

"Yui," Minato says at last. "Did you want to do it?"

This, this calmness, is why Minato's love can't matter. A love that can be moved on from or forgiven, what's the worth of that? It's just a whisper on the wind, a transient pleasure with an aftertaste of poison, slipping like water from your grasping hands.

"It was just something I had to do."

"I see," Minato says, and maybe he does.

xxxxx

Naruto's in that strange place where he's perfectly aware of everything around him, but unable to connect. He sees the world in detail, but through this red filter, and he can't seem to control where he's looking.

There's something hard underneath him: he's lying on a table. Correction, being held down on a table.

He's sweating badly, and hurting. It's the bad kind of hurt, the sort that Kyuubi can't heal.

Then finally Temari throws open the door, and they're safe now: Sasuke's here. The smell of him calms Naruto momentarily, soothes the desperate strain. But it can't halt the earthquake wrecking him, the tsunami wave of frustrated magic that tears through him.

"You need to unseal the bond," Temari tells Sasuke. "He's dying."

Naruto makes this cracked sound that meant to be a laugh. He's not going to die now. Not when he's finally got Sasuke, and Sasuke's finally okay, and – he tries to jack-knife up, but the hands holding him down won't allow it, and he almost drowns in his own puke, gagging on boiling blood.

"I'm working on it," Sasuke snaps.

Naruto believes him, if nothing else because Sasuke would never bother lying to a shifter. He'd have done it once, when he was sealed, but it will be a ludicrous idea to him now, like lying to a house pet. Naruto suddenly thinks maybe that's what it was, that first night when Sasuke allowed Naruto to hug him – Naruto had interpreted it as Sasuke recognising that Naruto had a place in his life, but it might just have been Sasuke allowing Naruto's exuberance the way he might've allowed a loyal guard dog to lick his face in greeting.

"Just let him bite," Temari snaps. "You're too slow."

There's a cold moment of palpable hesitation, but only a moment. Sasuke hoists himself up on the table, pulling the jumper away from his shoulder.

The seal glistens and taunts right in front of Naruto's eyes, and the hands can't hold him anymore.

He surges forward, snapping his jaws shut around Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke hisses, sharp and loud, and claws at Naruto's hair. Fire brims in his hand – he won't be able to pull Naruto away, not without tearing his own body apart, but he can certainly burn him off.

Kakashi's voice, incredibly far away: "Don't smite him!"

That's weird but also good, because there's no way Naruto could survive that now, no way for him to heal himself if Uriel strikes out. He clings to Sasuke like a monstrous tick, tearing at the seal with his fangs and letting his mouth fill with Sasuke's flesh and blood.

Sasuke's clavicle snaps with a sharp, lovely sound.

And finally, finally, as Kyuubi's fangs saw through Sasuke's flesh, the seal starts to give. Awareness of Sasuke seeps back into Naruto: he's been so far underwater that sunlight was just a hazy memory, and now he's breaching the surface, filling his lungs with air.

He makes these gulping, sniffling noises of relief, nuzzling his face against Sasuke's shoulder and throat.

Sasuke pushes at his forehead. "You're done, get off."

Naruto sits back reluctantly, fingers catching clumsily in Sasuke's jumper. Sasuke's clearly in a lot of pain, his face white and his shoulder looking like nothing so much as minced meat, splintered bone poking out of torn skin. His hand twitches oddly, like he can't quite control its movements.

Temari hands him a towel, and he presses it against the mess, whitening further. "You better fucking not have crippled me."

"I should be able to help you now." He leans forward, only one of those walls of holy light slams up and blocks him off. "I'm not going to hurt you! I – it hurts me too." His shoulder tingles and burns with phantom pain, and he could cry with the relief of it, the wonderful return of shared sensation.

"Whether you mean to is one thing," Sasuke hisses.

"Come on," Naruto challenges. "How much worse could it get?"

Because Sasuke's bleeding rather badly, the towel already soaked and leaking down his chest and stomach. His mouth purses. "Fine."

The restraining light winks out, and Naruto inches forward carefully, carefully. "I wanna – I'm gonna lick. Okay? The energy will feel unclean to you, but you gotta let it through for it to work."

"Just do it," Sasuke snaps.

Kyuubi's power covers Naruto's tongue, thick and alive. He licks at the bleeding meat exposed, and under his touch the bleeding thins. The worst of the breaks start knitting up, and new skin grows.

Once, he could've healed all of this instantly. Today the worst of it gradually fades.

Sasuke flexes his hand, apparently satisfied that he can move it again.

xxxxx

Afterwards, in the kitchen, with Naruto left behind in sullen sleep, Sasuke turns to Kakashi. "You told me not to smite him."

"Yes," Kakashi agrees. "I did."

Sasuke lifts an eyebrow, half teasing, half annoyed. "You might have considered the why implied."

"I made you a promise," Kakashi tells him. "That I'd look after him for you."

Sasuke eyebrow climbs even higher. "You sound like I knew I was going to get amnesia."

"Maa, in retrospect I think you just expected to die. You know, blaze of glory, murder/suicide with Itachi."

"Hmm." Sasuke's eyes are distant, his fingers fiddling at his wounded shoulder.

Kakashi thinks how he can no longer read Sasuke, this new Sasuke, and then has to amend that thought: he hasn't been able to read Sasuke for years. He gets it right sometimes, but fundamentally it's like reading German novels, collecting familiar words from a mess of guesswork and getting parts catastrophically wrong, whole pages incomprehensible. "Did you mind?" he asks. "Did you want to smite him?"

"Not particularly."

They're standing here together, quite close and no dramatics, as if years of love and betrayal of that love have never happened.

The Sabaku girl leans in through the doorway. "Another bloody exorcist for you."

Neji, unlike Hanabi earlier, is visibly discomfited by the shifters. They're both arrogant, both obviously consider themselves superior, but Hanabi's so certain of her higher status, she has no fear of contamination or defilement.

Kakashi recalls her teasing Neji – she can be an enticing girl, with a blunt trauma kind of charm – about shifter pleasure slaves, which according to a history book Kakashi planned to nick off her at first opportunity had used to be quite the rage in certain parts of the world.

Neji's response had been immediate and unhesitant: Of course not. I don't fuck animals.

He had not been exaggerating. He had not been trying to insult anyone. Kakashi had never heard him sound so artless, or so honest.

He'd blushed furiously, as Hanabi threw back her head and laughed, but he hadn't been able to take it back. They'd both looked at Kakashi – Neji with consternation and Hanabi with frank speculation. They couldn't have been ignorant of the rumours about Kakashi and Minato, either of them. Kakashi had smiled lazily and winked at Hanabi, not disabusing them of the notion that he'd spent his childhood being deliciously defiled by the Hokage.

Naruto had been there too, but nobody had bothered looking at him. It occurs to Kakashi to wonder if Naruto remembers that exchange, looking at Sasuke with years of longing and Sasuke looking back with no memory of those years.

In the present Neji's embarrassingly careful not to look directly at Sasuke. "I'm here with a mission," he says, procuring one of the atavistic scrolls some of the elders fancy.

Kakashi breaks its seal, keeping one eye on Neji's hungry staring just at the edge of Sasuke: at his shoulders, his feet, the tips of his hair. Sasuke's finally catching on and directing a frown at him.

"Well, what do you know," Kakashi drawls. "How about it, Sasuke, do you feel like exorcising some demons with me?"

"I suppose."

"Then I suppose we'd better leave, we've got some distance to cover."

"Then I'd rather not." He doesn't say it in front of Neji, but the tilt to his shoulder, the way his gaze slips towards the doorway, point to Naruto.

"It's a Council order," Kakashi says. "Of course you're free to defy it if you like, but I'm not sure this is the hill you want to die on."

"Jesus." Sasuke sighs, impatient. "I thought they knew better by now."

Kakashi shrugs. "I imagine Hiashi's testing his wings. There'll be conflict sooner or later, but I don't know that this is the time."

"Fine. Let's do it."

Sasuke marches out of the room. Kakashi pauses in the doorway, looking back at Neji. "Are you coming as well?"

"I've been assigned a different mission."

"Ah. Too bad." Kakashi kind of means that, because Neji's crush on Sasuke has always been premium entertainment. He kind of doesn't, because it can't compare to Sasuke himself.

Unsurprisngly, he finds Sasuke back in the room where they left Naruto.

Sasuke sends him a bad-tempered look, as though Kakashi's accusing him of something. "I didn't let him massacre my shoulder just to leave him to die now."

"He should be all right."

"I doubt it."

Naruto's oddly pale under a violent flush, and tossing and turning like a feverish toddler. Sasuke rests his fingers on Naruto's forehead, and Naruto calms immediately, his skin regaining healthy colour as he turns his head into Sasuke's touch.

"Naruto," Sasuke says, in a sharp but rather warmer voice than Kakashi would have expected. "Wake up, idiot."

Naruto obeys with a grumble, eyes slitting open even as he sleepily nuzzles into Sasuke's hand. The smile he directs at Sasuke is blinding.

"We're going for a cleansing," Sasuke says. "You want to come?"

"Like you need to ask." Naruto sits up yawning, orange energy spilling over his arms and straining towards Sasuke.

xxxxx

All the way to the exorcism, as Kakashi drives, Naruto can't stop talking. He's always had so much to say to Sasuke, and there's always been so much boneheaded, blinding conviction in him. He gestures; he laughs; he insults and argues and teases, so many expressions Sasuke won't remembering ever seeing before but responds to as if he has, as if he knows that Naruto knows him.

It was no use, Kakashi could tell Itachi. Sealing off the bond, it doesn't change anything. Sasuke's still in love with Naruto, you can't change that.

He'd say it, except he promised Sasuke to look after Naruto – the one thing Sasuke's ever asked him for, this one thing that Kakashi will give him – and it wouldn't be in the spirit of that promise to provoke Itachi into killing Naruto.

"Blasphemy," Sasuke says from the backseat.

"No," Naruto argues; smiling, convinced. "If God is as vast as that, he is above blasphemy; if he is as little as that, he is beneath it." These will be Sasuke's words, quoted back at Sasuke: Naruto won't associate them with the original writer, but with grade school Sasuke.

In the rear-view mirror, Kakashi watches Sasuke watch Naruto, and for possibly the first time he thinks that Itachi's … stupid, hampered by his extreme holiness. Itachi won't be able to admit to himself on any level that taking Sasuke's memory had anything to do with erasing Naruto – as Kakashi recalls, Itachi isn't even admitting to deliberately having robbed Sasuke of the majority of his trauma. But a true genius is incapable of making errors of that magnitude, and Itachi's the greatest genius in all the long history of mankind: both more and less than human.

And he was always jealous of Sasuke's affections. Told a sullen kindergarten Sasuke to get along with Kakashi, started out finding the Kakashi-niisan stitch cute – until Sasuke actually did start getting along with Kakashi, developed a relationship with him independent of Itachi. Then, suddenly, Itachi took a sharp step back.

It's a disgrace, Mikoto told Itachi, shortly before Sasuke was handed over to Orochimaru. One would think you love him more than you love God. And he doesn't even reciprocate, does he? You're throwing away all your gifts, all the grace bestowed upon you, throwing away your soul, for a sinful boy who'd choose a shifter over you.

This was in response to a silly childhood incident. Itachi had said he didn't have time to go with Sasuke to – Kakashi can't even remember what it was, some childish activity or other. Sasuke hadn't been happy about it, but he hadn't been unhappy either: it was expected. Then at the last minute Itachi had rescheduled and offered this information to Sasuke as a treat. Sasuke had shrugged up at him in surprise, I already made plans with Naruto.

He'd had the sense to leave quickly afterwards, even back then, to make sure Naruto wasn't exposed to Itachi.

Sasuke's always been possessive of the people he likes, and Naruto's certainly no exception. They were both children of very, very important parents, so incidents were few and far between, but they did occur – and as Naruto stepped between Sasuke and rowdy shifters, so Sasuke always stepped between Naruto and over-zealous exorcists. For a long, long time, the only way Orochimaru could make Sasuke act like he wanted it was by threatening Naruto instead of Sasuke himself…

Even Itachi, it seems, can't change this. Trying to keep Sasuke from Naruto has always been like trying to hold back the sea.

"Hn," Sasuke mutters in the present. He slouches down in his seat, eyelids hanging low and heavy.

Naruto gives him a besotted smile sharp with Kyuubi's teeth, watching Sasuke fall asleep. He takes Sasuke's hand and holds it in his own, stroking it with fingers and energy. Sasuke's eyes move under his lids, restless with dreaming, and his hand twitches in Naruto's, but he doesn't wake until Kakashi drops Naruto off at their accommodation.

"I could – "

"No," Kakashi tells him. "You'll only hurt yourself and get in the way. Go wait in your room like a good little boy."

Naruto pouts, but doesn't run after the car when Sasuke slams the door shut in his face and Kakashi drives off. He just stares after them, and – Sasuke's staring back, Kakashi notices.

"Ah, young love."

Sasuke snorts, undoing his seat belt and climbing into the front seat. "What's mine stays mine."

"I doubt very much that Naruto will argue with you on that account."

Sasuke just smirks, this incredibly young and smug expression that he probably imagines is secretive.

Kakashi resists the urge to flick his nose, because he lost that right a long time ago, and parks the car. "Well then. Let's get to it."

Sasuke's smirk broadens, sharpens – it reminds Kakashi acutely of Kyuubi, and it occurs to him to consider how open the bond really is now, after Kyuubi bit through the seal. Naruto's too antsy, too undone, for Kakashi to believe that he can really feel Sasuke, beyond a general awareness of him. But Sasuke… Kakashi can't know for certain, but the bond may well be pulling at Sasuke, on a level too instinctual to be noticed, anymore than one notices one's own heartbeat.

He leans on the car, watching Sasuke exorcise. There's no need for Gabriel's interference, and Sasuke takes such visible, vicious joy in letting Uriel emerge and sing his war songs. Kakashi can remember that, from back when being a crusader, being Gabriel's chosen, was his whole and entire justification for existing in the world. When he had a calling to live for, and nothing else. Before he discovered that that wasn't enough, that if the sole purpose of his life was being Gabriel's, then his life was empty, and exorcising became a job like any other.

He doesn't move as he discovers Itachi, walking calmly towards them up the hill.

He just say, "Sasuke", and Sasuke turns around. Kakashi watches him watch Itachi's approach, reading neither love nor hatred in Sasuke's watchful, fearless face.

The last of the darkness fades at Itachi's approach: the heavenly light Lucifael always exudes, automatically and unconsciously, is stronger than the full-force attack of many a weak exorcist.

"I would speak to you," Itachi tells Sasuke.

"So speak," Sasuke says.

As usual, they're standing within touching distance. Unusually, this time Sasuke's the one who nevertheless appears untouchable.

Kakashi takes the hint and sits in the car, offering them a semblance of privacy.

Itachi seems thoughtful but somewhat distracted, until he puts his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, right over the seal he placed there. "You have been interfering with this."

"You have no business putting seals on me."

Itachi lifts an eyebrow. "You sealed Mother."

"She tried to give me away to Orochimaru. She had it coming."

"Ah," Itachi agrees. He moves his hand away from Sasuke's mangled shoulder, touches his face. "You're not wrong."

Sasuke stares at him, unmoved. "Don't touch me. Did you know Mother meant to hand me over to Orochimaru?"

"She told me afterwards."

Sasuke tilts his head back, away from Itachi's lingering fingers. The glint of teeth between his lips suggests he could bite. "And did you come after me?"

"Did I need to? Have you not proven your worth by overpowering Orochimaru?"

Sasuke's mouth thins. He repeats, "You have no business putting seals on me."

"Perhaps I am testing you," Itachi says, "as God has used you to test me. The bond is heresy, but I have cleansed you of its taint. You may redeem yourself now, you may choose better, choose to be God's. And if you should fall now, with no ties and no memories, your fall will be conclusive. It will be inherent, it will mean you were born to fall."

"God alone may judge me," Sasuke snaps.

In different circumstances, Kakashi would be amused to see Itachi looking at Sasuke the same way Naruto looks at Sasuke.

"Do you love God best?" Itachi inquires. "Is there anyone on this earth you would choose over him?"

Kakashi wonders if he could attack Itachi by slamming open the car door, or if it would incinerate on contact.

But Sasuke doesn't need help. "Does my calling come first? Yes. Is there anyone on this earth I would choose over Uriel? No. Nobody."

No one could suspect him of lying.

Itachi kisses his own fingertip and then presses it to Sasuke's face. Kakashi remembers this: forehead, mouth, cheekbone, cheekbone, the sign of the cross painted in skin and saliva over Sasuke's face. Only in Kakashi's memory Sasuke welcomed it.

Itachi kisses his forehead, lifts his chin and lingers over his mouth, and Sasuke pushes him away. "No." He rubs at his mouth, roughly, until the chapped skin gives and bleeds a little. "I want none of that."

Itachi has never looked more besotted, more passionately or delusionally entranced.

Kakashi has never been gladder to see a text from the Council. He leans out of the car door. "Itachi, aren't you on your way to handle those devils over in Glerdone? They're expecting you."

Itachi tilts his head the way he does when he's hearing voices, but eventually he nods. After he's turned his back, a long lingering stare later, Sauske's quick to climb into the car, his mouth pursed furiously. In different circumstances, Kakashi would enjoy telling him it looks like a pout.

"Let's go."

"Itachi's touched," Kakashi remarks.

Sasuke snorts, a sound like spitting. "He wishes I'd touch him."

"I meant –"

"I know what you meant. Fuck it. Just drive."

Kakashi turns on the radio and concludes that Itachi's still searching futilely for a way to deal with Sasuke, which is unlikely to end well for anyone involved. He recalls talking to Shikamaru, years ago now, about Ino's self-starvation, and thinks he can perhaps liken Itachi's feelings for Sasuke to an eating disorder, which as far as he's ever been able to understand has less to do with beauty ideals and more to do with a compulsive desire for control and purity based on self-hatred. Ino described constantly craving food, obsessing over it, being so starved she could only feel good, feel human, when she ate – but hating herself when she did, it meant she was a failure and weak. She had long stretches of time when she simply didn't eat, and felt she finally didn't have to be ashamed of herself anymore. Then, quite suddenly and for no particular reason, she'd break and stuff her face, uncontrollably, and in the moment it'd be the best she'd ever felt but afterwards she hated herself more than ever, she was pathetic, disgusting, all unclean flesh. Sometimes she'd tell herself she could handle the whole thing rationally and normally, that she could have whatever foodstuffs at home without binging, could eat normal-sized portions and it wouldn't be a big deal – but always it took so little, maybe just someone glancing at her plate, and she'd hate herself again and she had to get rid of the food.

All in all, Kakashi imagines that might not be dissimilar to how Itachi feels about Sasuke: he has long stretches of time when he has nothing to do with Sasuke, and presumably tells himself he's finally transcended this last human weakness. Then he breaks and gorges himself on Sasuke's presence, and subsequently hates himself even more, and projects that on Sasuke. Again and again he'll have told himself things can be normal, they can be normal, Sasuke could be in his life and Itachi wouldn't obsess, he wouldn't sin. But the desire to sin would be there, under his skin, and the opportunity to indulge must be removed, it must, or it would cost his soul…

It doesn't make a lot of sense to Kakashi, but then Itachi doesn't make a lot of sense, and for all Itachi's ascetic tendencies he's melodramatic at heart.

xxxxx

Naruto feels the exorcism less this time, and yet is hurt worse by it. Once – two days ago! – Uriel could've run through his veins too, burning but marginally safe. Now he only feels pain, something alien tearing at him.

But it wasn't a huge infestation. For two crusaders, it was quickly dealt with: indeed, Naruto can't figure out why the Council bothered sending them, except Google finally tells him Ibiki Morino has family in the area. Hiashi will be keen to keep up his good relations to Morino, after his…coup, or whatever you should call it.

Naruto shifts, holding his breath as the movement feels like his intestines might spill out through his stomach.

Hiashi's coup, which was made possible by Sasuke dealing with his mother.

Kabuto tortured far beyond any personhood, Orochimaru dying a slow and painful death, Fugaku dying a very different but equally slow and equally painful death, Mikoto sealed and so locked into a life of humiliation and suffering that can only end if she condemns her soul… Cruelty comes naturally to Sasuke, he takes revenge like he was born to it. Naruto thinks how Sasuke will be able to observe his parents' torment for years, without having to expend any further energy on it himself, and there's no need for secrecy or excuses when everything he's done is quite legal.

He rolls over on the couch he's lying on, fingers scratching and pressing against the seal. He's alone in their quarters, though since the exorcist magic has faded by now it shouldn't be long until Sasuke and Kakashi return.

The people who presently enter the room, though, are human.

Naruto drags himself into a sitting position, rubbing the cooling pain sweat from his hands. "Hi?"

Human leaders, who introduce themselves and tell him the situation in Rain County has erupted again. Naruto sighs, disappointed but unsurprised: Tsunade can't control Gaara, who'll have regarded Stonehall as less of an atrocity and more of an inspiration.

Inevitably, the horse trading starts. The humans seem to believe this is the perfect opportunity to revisit some agreements, and apparently prefer negotiating with Naruto over approaching Dad.

Naruto presses a hand to his stomach, pushing back against the last bright jolt from the seal. He thinks of Kakashi, of Tsunade, of Dad's face at Mum's funeral. He's tired of compromise, of overlooking what can't be forgiven.

And these people, as Sasuke keeps reminding him, are only human. They're easy to dominate, now that Naruto's prepared to do it.

"But you see," he breaks in, "I'm done."

They go quiet.

Part of him has always known that he can do this. Make people shut up, make people obey.

He hasn't wanted to.

He still doesn't think it's ideal, but he's done with looking the other way, with conciliatory, with sacrificing and bending their necks for a hypothetical common good that never materialises.

"Gaara's establishing shifter rule in Rain? That's great." He lifts a hand, still greasy with pain sweat and his own blood, keeping them quiet. "You haven't done so well ruling us. Let's see if we can do better. I'll even let you have voting rights, when we're ready for elections."