Chapter 7: The Cost
Neji waited until all Hyuuga left the Dome. Itachi felt a welcome lessening of the strain he labored under. He was able to stand with only Sharingan, and breathed a sigh of comfort. Her Radiance linked an arm through his. After vanishing the chests of jewels with a few words, Neji led the way out of the Dome.
Having been kept pure, as per the dictates of his clan, Itachi was wholly taken with touching a woman. Even so innocuous a touch as Her Radiance's arm through his. She is Her Radiance to me no longer, but my wife. Her arm was soft as goose down. Small. Her head did not reach his shoulder. He looked down at it, noting the high gloss to her hair. How thick it was. As black as Sasuke's. She smelled of some exotic spice, something that quickened his pulse. Her bare hip brushed his leg; his cock responded at once by swelling to full strength. Being nude amongst people was a thing he yet struggled with. Being erect was a harder stone to bear…but one aided by the fact that all around him were nude. I do not see how I will possibly be able to call this place home. Sasuke. Sasuke's life is worth any price, even one so bizarre as this. That wretch had best find himself grateful when next I see his mulish face. He'd like as not open his veins at suffering a tenth of the trials I've shouldered on his behalf.
Outside was bright sunlight and marbled walkways awash with scented water. Willow trees trailing fronds in pools artfully carved of natural stone. Before him stretched verdant hills and valleys as far as the eye could see. Precisely tended lakes, stone basins spilling into tiered waterfalls. And everywhere lilies. A paradise. He lost himself to the beauty, noting the Hyuuga here and there and the way their nudity complimented the surroundings. When they came upon a colossal jade and marble structure of carved columns and archways, he paused.
"Our home," Her Radiance said. Her smile was enough to rival the sun, and her eyes were jewels that put her diamonds to shame. She pulled him inside, where Neji disappeared.
-oOo-
They came upon him on one of the upper levels, in a room open to the sky, yet floored in grass. A closer inspection revealed the floor to be a depression, one in which earth had been poured. Flowers abounded. A dais sat to one corner, filling a quarter of the room. Beyond this stood three enormous arches, open to the sky, that afforded one a view of the Dome half a league distant, and the homes and buildings of… He did not even know the name of this village. Before the middle arch sat a wide pedestal of vine-carved jade from which Neji turned with a handful of grapes. He popped one into his mouth. "And now," Neji said. "Let us discuss richer pursuits. War has its place. Our chambers is not one of them."
Neji walked toward him. No man he knew moved in such a manner. Like an animal. Proud. Commanding. A god over his creation. "What would you have us discuss?" Her Radiance moved away to lounge on a chaise that stood upon the dais.
"Why, the only thing I consider of note at this point in time," Neji purred. He held out the grapes. "The manner in which our union will be made flesh."
"I see. Why is this a matter for discussion?" He took the grapes offered.
"I imagine having both husband and wife did not feature in your plans whenever the topic of family came up."
"Truth."
"Perhaps you only envisioned a wife, your matings to be done only with each other."
"Truth."
"Naturally, your matings will be done with me, as well as with Her Radiance should she accept you – "
"Have no fear," she called down with a laugh. "I will most definitely accept him."
Neji indulged her laugh with a smile and bow in her direction. He turned back to Itachi. "She has not accepted me, as I've said. Her Radiance stands unbreached. As you are also unbreached, you two may not touch each other. Not until one of you receives instruction. I, but of course, will be happy to give that instruction. Just as you may seek to receive that instruction elsewhere."
"Not permitted to touch… Elsewhere?" He looked between one smiling face and the other. "You do not mean someone other than one of us."
"'Tis precisely what I mean." Neji gave a nod to reinforce this.
"I see. In fact, I do not see at all, but why is my wife forbidden to me?"
"Our wife is not forbidden. Hyuuga do not greet innocence with innocence; ignorance cannot give or receive pleasure. Innocence, in our lands, is always greeted with knowledge. One unbreached must be breached by one learned in the ways of the flesh."
"That is not the way of Uchiha. We only bond with those untouched."
"That is known to me. But you are not married to – "
"Forgive me. I recall what you said but moments ago. Do you tell me that you lie, even now while married, with those not your wife?"
"Of course."
"No."
"Your pardon?"
"My husband lies with no one save me and our wife."
"Nothing is denied in the Land of Lilies."
"You will be denied this, Hyuuga Neji. Nor will my, no, our wife lie with any save her husbands."
"You command me? Commands do not exist here."
"I but inform."
"You are married to Hyuuga – "
"And you married an Uchiha. A thing unasked for. I gave you my life. You bound it to your own. If I am your equal then my voice, my wants, my life is equal. You are my husband, that is my wife, and Uchiha… do not… share. It stretches my limits to claim you both. To touch others besides does not enter the brain. No one save me puts hand to what is mine or that hand will be parted from its body."
Neji's clenched jaw belied the casual way he stood. It was upon his tongue to inform this Uchiha precisely to whom he was speaking, and where precisely he stood. The man is nothing short of outrageous. Hair unbound, eyes red, jaw shadowed…entirely too tempting. Gods. He dropped his eyes to the cock he'd stolen glances at since first meeting Itachi. Saliva gathered in his mouth so that he was forced to swallow.
However. This notion of ownership must be addressed. "Itachi…"
"There is no word that will sway my mind."
"My appetites are not light. Nor are they infrequent. You would burden yourself in this manner? Whilst shouldering the needs of our wife?"
"You'll find Uchiha do not shirk their duties."
"And you'll find flesh pursuits are never described as duties here. They are pleasures."
"You'll not find me wanting."
"The will may be present, but the body might be lacking. You've no training or skill."
"Truth. And I may not have clan, nor blood, nor even home, but in my life I have yet to fail a task set before me. I will meet your needs. Husband. And once our wife is breached, she will share the pleasures, sating you further. If she accepts you."
"Do you know? I cannot recall ever feeling so…annoyed. Even the word is foreign." He looked to their wife. She was highly diverted; so wide a grin had not graced her face at any time in his memory. But she dropped her eyes to her own handful of grapes, and that settled the matter.
"Very well," he told Itachi. "I will concede to you in this…provided you concede to me when our time is at hand. Is it agreed?"
Itachi studied the flex of Neji's jaw. The way his long and muscled body was like a creature waiting to pounce. At the manhood stiff with thwarted desire. "It is."
"Gods grant our time be soon. Having never been denied, I find I am not a patient man. Worth mention as well is this: the longer I am forced to wait, the hotter my needs will burn. Ah. But I must needs remember I am married to an Uchiha. A clan well-acquainted with fire, were you not?"
Itachi watched as he strolled out of the room, presumably to another part of the house. There lies trouble. Concede, he says. And so I shall. When the times comes. That time was not now. For now, he had a bride from the gods awaiting him.
He climbed the dais. "May I share your seat?"
"You need not ask." She curled her legs beneath her.
Sitting beside her was less strenuous than earlier. "Your Radiance, I – "
"My name is Hinata."
He took her hand. Brought it to his lips. "Your name is heard and honored. Hinata. I must tell you of the glory you bring me. None in my clan were displeasing, yet none could ever have equaled you. Should you agree to bear my seed – "
"I do. Most eagerly."
"Then you will found a nation of Uchiha the likes of which has not been seen in this world."
"And I shall be proud to do so. Yet do not shorten your own measure, husband. An Uchiha of your caliber can but elevate our offspring, and the name Hyuuga."
"I will defer to your judgement." He tried a smile. It came easier than he would have thought, given his tribulations of late. It was answered in kind and his heart lightened. For the first time since selling him, Sasuke's absence did not weigh quite so heavily.
"Your handling of our Neji was most enjoyable. I pray it happens again soon."
"On the subject of Neji…well…upon the matter of contention…that is to say…"
"You wish to know when you and I may join flesh?"
His face warmed. She threw her head back on a laugh that heated the rest of his body.
"I will let you know. Fear not."
"It is well." The tears dotting her lashes were enough to squeeze his heart. "There is no beauty in this world save what sits beside me. I should like a bath. And then I should like to hear of your people. Your customs. And of you."
"The gods save me. Never have such words been put to my ears. You may have me offering my virtue ere the sun sets."
"You would find me ready and willing."
Well before the Truth Stone, the master dropped them outside a village and sniffed toward it. Peered hard. "At this hour, the inhabitants are like as not asleep. I am absent seal or identifying items that would name my status, thus guaranteeing service at this unserviceable time of night. I will fuck the Demon ere I wait another moment to continue my travels." He surveyed his party, who watched him in turn. "We must acquire food enough for us all. Enough to last a month or more. Water. Water above all."
"What of clothing for yourself and your slave?" Sakura asked.
"No. We must cross the Desert of Truth in the truth we were born with, else the Hyuuga rise from the sands and Pass us. Not that I'd go easily. Ten Tails, let another thwart me in any fashion. I will drink that one's blood. At any rate, the Land of Lilies does not allow clothing either."
Ino put a hand over her mouth. "Do you mean we are to travel nude in the presence of men? And remain so within an entire village of them? Surely, they would not harm us for wearing aught? Great Mother save us!"
"The Demon only knows what they would do," the master spat. "Yet those are their ways and we would do well to heed them if we seek their aid."
"I thought we were traveling to my brother," Sasuke said. "That he might undo the chain."
"And should he prove unable, the Hyuuga are my next choice."
"That changes matters. What of payment?"
All saw the way the master's lips pursed before he could bring himself to look at his slave. When he did, it was with fists clenched and brows lowered. "What. Payment."
"My brother, my elder brother that is, he said one could not ask the Hyuuga for aught without paying for that ask. Something of sufficient value to the ask itself." He plucked at the manacle around his neck. "If my brother in all his might is unable, then undoing this cursed thing would be a very big ask indeed."
The muscle in the master's jaw jumped rhythmically as he considered this. "Do any amongst you have coin?"
All shook their heads.
"Then 'tis likely I will pay with a service of some kind. I care not. Nameless. Take your brother to yon village, bring food and water."
"How?"
"Use that beshitted brain, do not bleat about how!" He saw his hair was yet untamed and gathered it into a coil he twisted round and round at the back of his head. "Steal. Kill. Bargain. Do not return empty-handed."
Sasuke gave a snort, then turned to Her Blessing. "My apologies for not addressing you sooner, Eilin. Henceforth, you'll not receive such neglect from me. Nor will your life and care fall to another unless I am unable…which…I suppose I was, now that I reflect upon it. However, I will not fail you again."
She dipped her head. "You have not failed me. Your brother performed exceptionally in your absence."
"He brings me much honor. Is there aught you require from the village?"
None present, with the exception of His Eminence, had ever seen so soft a smile on her normally stern features. She was made beautiful by it, a fact her betrothed noticed. "No, husband. Your safe return, only."
He bowed and leapt away, Konohamaru at his heels.
-oOo-
She watched him until her brother came over to stand beside her. "I confess, I had many doubts about this union," he said. "Yet it seems you've chosen well. He is a worthy man. So easily did he cultivate the bond between himself and the alma, that the boy chose to save your life. As his sister. I approve. How soon will you let your betrothed plant his seed? Suna needs children."
"My children will be Uchiha."
"Can you not spare a few for the sands of your birth?"
"A few? How many do you expect me to have?"
"I expect your betrothed, of a clan also decimated, will make every attempt to breed as many children on you as is physically possible."
"Hmph. Whether or not any will be given to Suna would be up to my husband. I, however, am not inclined. Do not misunderstand me," she said when his face stiffened. "Sunagakure will ever be in my heart. The loss of our people will pain me for as long as I draw breath. But I will be Uchiha. My children will be Uchiha. I look to my future."
"A future you would not have had absent my intervention, nor one that would have been granted had the council known you and I would be the last of our people mere hours after the contract was drawn."
"Truth, you are a cad. A heartless phel. Thank your Demon my fan was lost in The Mists. I would reunite you with our people."
"My apologies. I only meant – "
"What of your own seed? I am certain one such as yourself could find a bride to help repopulate our homeland. Ever have women flocked to your beauty. You could seed dozens of women and rebuild our land within a single generation." She cut her eyes at the Healer, who looked away.
His Eminence also looked at the one named Healer. She was now talking to the girl he thought of simply as Child. During the weeks he'd waited with those girls, he'd become acquainted with their faith. I assumed theirs was a celibate order. Perhaps I should ask. Yet, surely a faith that shunned all worldly pursuits would also abstain from carnal endeavors? In the stories they'd told of their community, no mention had ever been made of a daughter or healer leaving the fold in search of marriage.
He kept his eyes on her. Her stares had been noted, of course. He'd attributed them to awe of his status. Perhaps, he conceded as he watched her cheeks pinken at his stare, there was another reason. Her chakra is almost beyond belief. Not far short of my own. Well, no, she does not approach me, but she is certainly far above my sister. Nor is she as meek as her faith would have one believe. He'd seen her anger. A most fascinating creature, was the healer. She would give him unparalleled children. Strong and fierce. The notion bore consideration.
Sasuke crouched in the grass a hundred paces away from the nearest house and stared at the village. There was no light at any window. Konohamaru hunkered at his side. After several moments of silence, he directed a whisper at him. "I know little about the Desert of Truth. For instance, whether or not fire is allowed, and thus cooking. We will err on the side of caution. No cookware. That narrows what we may bring by a considerable margin. Besides which, the master will hardly stop long enough to cook. I do know crossing that desert will take weeks. No meat unless it is dried, then. Biscuits, perhaps. Fruits and roots that will serve the first part of the crossing. Water above all, as the master said. Containers for it." He turned to the attentive face beside him. "Gods see that I am never forced to ask you to be less than you are, or to violate your beliefs. Yet our circumstances are plain, so I must ask: Is the treachery we plan beneath you?"
"No, brother."
"Then we steal. Quietly. Make twenty clones. I will do the same. Take any cured meat you find. Bread. Oh. Preserved fruits or any preserved thing. But water more than anything." He frowned. "Come to think on it, bring a pot, and any tea you find. Enough tea cups for all. Past time I stopped behaving like a savage. The master may do his worst, gods take him."
Konohamaru laughed, then clapped a hand over his mouth. His eyes were glassy with mirth.
"What? Come, you may laugh whenever you wish, only do not wake the village."
"'Tis naught. Your face when you said that. I do like whenever you disobey your master."
"Was he cruel to you?"
"Never. 'Tis simply a delight to see him wroth."
"Is he wroth often?"
"Since purchasing you, certainly."
"Not before?"
"Wroth?" Konohamaru wiped his eyes. "I do not think so. Yet, I cannot say he was happy either. Our lives were of such boredom before his journey. He would speak to me at times. Often, in fact. But never of pleasures. I believe he only found pleasure in cock and cunt, or in mastering something new from the Arts. Never have I seen the rages you give him. 'Tis my new favorite thing. And you, brother." He gave a shy smile. "You are my favorite thing above all. There is much to delight in since your master bought you."
"Hn." Sasuke studied those clear brown eyes. "You, little brother, are a treasure. As pure a soul as I have ever known. May the gods never part me from you. Come. Delight yourself with theft this night. And wake no one."
-oOo-
They all stared at the large mound of stolen goods. Great barrels of water, with wooden ladles to scoop it. A table cloth. A teapot and six tiny stoneware cups.
The master glared at Sasuke and spoke from lips pinched hard in one hand. "Why do I see jars of jam, a dozen cakes, and so much fruit? That is an entire bull's carcass. Eight dozen loaves of bread. Shit I've no name for. The Demon's cock, have you no sense? We are to take as little as possible that speed might be ours."
"And starve in the process?" Sasuke said. "Besides, this food will be sealed away. 'Twill make no difference to our speed as we will not be carrying it on our backs. Did you forget?"
"Did you forget the larger the item that must be sealed, the more chakra it requires?"
"'Tis not as if you suffer from any lack of chakra. Nor, for that matter, do I. I will seal our food, if it is of concern to you. Better. You will not be able to withhold aught from us should we wish to eat. Now, then – "
"Cocksucking phel."
" -the jams can be eaten with the bread. The cakes can be soaked in rum and thus preserved for weeks."
"What is rum?"
"A thing we drank in The Mists at the solstice festivals. Not unlike sake. But stronger. Far stronger, by the smell of that cask."
"A thing to cloud the senses then. Are you aware of the pissing cunt you are, Nameless?"
"The fruit," Sasuke went on, "can be dried. I – "
"Think you I will waste days while you play housewife drying fruit? Next you will tell me you plan to make soap and candles."
"I think, given my chakra type, that I can dry both meat and fruit in an hour's time. It could be done during one of our rest periods."
The master closed his eyes.
"I, for one, think your slave's solution to the dilemma of food an ingenious one. He must be commended," Sakura said. "Perhaps, if you are as keen to be off as you say, your time would be better served praising such resourcefulness rather than condemning it."
"Did anyone ask you to speak?" the master said.
"I do not require anyone's permission to speak!"
"And I am not required to take you anywhere."
"Nor are you taking me anywhere. You are not in charge of my comings and goings. I travel of my own accord, as guest to Her Blessing and her brother His Eminence. But if you've plans on hindering me in any way," she continued in a lower voice at seeing the master's red eyes, "I will take much pleasure in showing you to whom you speak."
To the fascination of all, the star on her brow began to change its shape.
"By the Demon's Eye, I do give up. May you all be cursed to eternal hell." The manacle that circled the master's wrist dropped to the grass absent its owner.
Silence.
"Well, then," Sasuke said. He picked up the manacle. "Sakura, Ino, separate the fruits from the meat. My brother will assist you. Eilin," he turned to Her Blessing. "Begin soaking the cakes, if you please. Your Eminence?"
"I am at your service."
That gave Sasuke pause. He moved closer to the shorter man while the others bustled about. "I cannot express the depth of my shame and sorrow over the loss of your people. 'Twas my fault." He gave his lowest bow and held it.
"No, Nameless. 'Twas not. Rise." He looked him in the eyes. "Akatsuki followed you to my city, yes. But they pursued the Vessels, so 'tis likely they would have come upon me at some point regardless. What happened to my people was my fault. I did not heed your warning not to go to them. I brought their ruin upon them."
"But had I sensed Zetsu – "
"'Twas the chain. Not any lack in yourself. It clouds your senses." He lowered his voice. Chose his words carefully. "More, it binds you to him, does it not? Binds you to his body?"
Sasuke watched Konohamaru filch a plum. Sakura smacked his hand. The image blurred, though he fought against the tears.
His Eminence stepped close. "I see the way it does. He scratches his leg, and you scratch the same place. If he looks at you when your back is turned, you stiffen. When I came upon Akatsuki's lair to find you riding his sacred essence… riding it…truth, I nearly perished from shock. Yet never would such a thing have been possible had your bond to its host not run deep."
"It deepens by the hour," Sasuke whispered. "At times, I can feel naught but this chain…and through it, him."
"Unfortunate. Half one's prowess lies in their senses. You are effectively deaf and blind. Not what one needs when walking into the danger we approach."
"Most certainly not."
"Nameless…you are resourceful. I have seen this. So, I must ask. Should the Hyuuga or your elder brother fail, have you an alternate plan?"
"For removal of the chain? No. How could they fail? My brother was the one to forge the bond. The Hyuuga are the mightiest clan living."
"Your brother did naught but instruct your master on the words to be spoken. The bond was forged, and continues to be so, by your chakra and that of your master."
"The bond is still being forged? How? Was it not set the night I swore those hideous oaths?"
"I do not know that I can explain it in terms you can understand, but…the bond is like a living thing. Growing, expanding, pushing towards…"
"Yes? Towards what?"
"Truth, I do not know. It would seem toward complete unity between you and your master. Tis no ordinary bond, Nameless, but one forged by an Uchiha and a Vessel. Unthinkable."
"You speak as if there is no hope. If my brother cannot undo this, then surely the Hyuuga – "
"Do you know what happens when you mix clay, soil, and water? You make stone. The elements cannot then be separated. So too have the elements of you, your master, and this chain wrought a thing unbreakable. I do not know that there is a soul in possession of the power it would take to release you. Yet if that power exists, I do not think you would survive the attempt."
Sasuke buried his face in his hands. "No. Please. Do not say that."
"Tis why I said an alternate plan would be helpful."
"What – "
"Acceptance. Accept that this may be your life now. Embrace the bond, rather than resist. Bring yourself peace. Perhaps…perhaps now is not the time to have a wife. After all, what can you really offer her? If you are bound to another? Truth, given the slaughter of our people, she is needed to provide offspring for Suna. She – "
"Truth? You would strike me in this manner while I grieve? I would not have thought you capable of such behavior. My betrothed stays with me. She will be my wife, and our children will be Uchiha. How dare you suggest otherwise." He stormed away.
His Eminence grabbed his shoulder. "I meant no offense. However, I do not wish the suffering you and your master live with to fall on my only remaining kin."
"Fear not. Betrothal to your sister makes you my brother. You have me and Itachi. But suggest again that I leave my betrothed and I will not forgive it."
"Brother. Very well. I will call you as such, henceforth. My apologies." He bowed. "I have behaved ill. It will not happen again. Your trust is well-placed in me. I will guard your back. As will your betrothed. As does your little brother already. You are beset, but you are not alone either. Know it for truth. I'll not bring up the subject of your children and Suna again. Now. How might I be of service?"
-oOo-
Ino watched the way the Uchiha directed His Eminence to make a smokehouse with his sand. Once done, he and His Eminence began butchering the bull. "Your brother is quite clever," she told Konohamaru. He and Sakura sat with her around the fruit. "What is his name?"
"Of no concern to you."
"I suppose, since you are Uchiha now, that you too must help rebuild the clan."
Sakura gasped. "Ino."
Ino ignored her. Konohamaru frowned. She took the opportunity to meet his eyes, though it caused her innards to shiver. "Perhaps you, too, should be married."
"I? Married?"
"But of course. You are no longer alma. You may breed." Ignoring the scowl on Sakura's face, she added, "Your hair is beautiful."
Konohamaru looked from Ino's reddening face to his braid, where it sat in the grass beside him. He picked it up and examined the end.
His Eminence, Sasuke found, was a willing worker, though clearly unaccustomed to labor of any sort. When the meat and fruit were dried, and the other foods adequately stowed, they settled for the night in their thicket, each to his own. His little brother came and curled up at his back. 'Twas an action that put a smile on his face, but the smile soon vanished.
He could scarce remember anything of his captivity. Least of all the short time he'd controlled the Demon. I suppose I released it. Yes. I did watch with Konohamaru as it tore the village asunder. 'Twas like the shadow of a passing thought, that memory.
'Nameless.'
That memory was clear as glass. The detail with which he felt himself called. 'Twas not only a voice in his head, but a pull in his flesh. A twist in his guts. The tip of a finger drawn along his nerve-endings. Something wakened in him then. And when he returned to the master's mind…when he faced him, he knew the most unthinkable urge. A need to bite and claw and savage that tall body with the doleful expression. These were feelings not his own. Feelings he felt the moment his name was called. This, coupled with pity for his pain. The hurt he felt over Itachi selling him. But most of all, the seething rage and impotence, the sheer insult that he'd been tortured…and the enormous shame, guilt, and regret that he'd been unable to protect him. All the master's, felt as if he'd lived the emotions himself.
'Twas an unwelcome bath in sensations he considered in violation of their respective selves. One's feelings were a private matter. This unadorned view into the recesses of the master's heart left him feeling as if his very skin no longer fit him. Then too, there was the nature of the feelings themselves. When in the caves after the battle in Suna, he'd gotten a glimpse. But this was far worse. 'Twas almost worse than the torture to feel so cherished by the master while also being so hated. He is yet a brute.
And when he took his hands to link with him, he nearly emptied his stomach, so much stronger did the awareness become. For a time that felt an eternity, he lived within the master's mind and body, and the master in his. When the link was found at last and the master flung him away, 'twas more than the sense of being dropped from a height. Aside from the rain pelting them, he felt as if he'd been taken from warmth and dropped into a lake. A jolt to his mind as well as his body.
Upon arriving here, it helped immeasurably to have a task and his little brother to talk to. Anything to shift his mind from that ever-increasing awareness, that pull. But then His Eminence and Glory had to make that comment. And thus was the entire mess brought to the fore of his thoughts once more. As if 'tis ever far. Gods. Would that I could leave this world. That Akatsuki had Passed me when the chance was theirs. Truth, I care not for aught. Not Itachi, not The Mists, nor even vengeance. Gods have mercy upon me. Take pity. This chain is not a thing that can be borne. I offer my life. Take it in any manner fitting. I'll not offer the slightest complaint.
Konohamaru stretched, pressing their backs together.
The memory of him entering his cell eased his misery. Enough for him to sigh, maneuver onto his back, and drop an arm over his eyes. No. I can do this. I will be whole once more, absent this filthy chain. I have faced worse. I need only empty my mind and center myself.
Centering, or becoming one with the void, was another thing Itachi had taught him. Their father, blessed be his eyes, had ever been busy with clan duties. Their mother less so, but she was not adept at training in aught save Genjutsu or weaponry. For the basics of his foundation, Itachi was his teacher. A custom in their clan. Elder siblings taught younger siblings their foundation; parents taught specialties in the Arts.
Begin with your skin and work your way inward, Itachi would say. Focus on what you feel…and eliminate it. On what you hear…then silence it. Your sense of smell…no more. Now you are inside your body. Feel your blood, your heart. The ceaseless rush of one, the unfailing beat of the other. They draw farther away with each breath. Inhale. Exhale, and push all away. All. And now it is just your breath. Filling your lungs, taking away the world. Away. Away. It is gone. There is only you. You are the void. And now you are naught.
How many hours of tearful frustration had he spent in his youth on simply trying to ignore his skin? Countless. Itachi would make him sit motionless until he achieved it. Discipline, little brother. If you insist upon feeling, then feel the flat of my hand on your cheek. Focus. You may eat after. No, you may not piss. Cease your howling, else I give you true reason to scream.
Now he reached the awareness of his breath in minutes. Gone, the roughness of soil and rocks, the wind's bite, Konohamaru's heat. Gone the weight of the chain, awareness of the master's shame, the tide-like sound of his blood, the pump of his heart.
Deep.
Dark.
Silence.
Light flashed off steel knives as they tore at his face, his chest, his groin. Kabuto's smile was just as sharp, Zetsu's laugh just as piercing. All was overlaid by the sight and stench of his blood flying every time a blade slashed or was yanked free. His pain was loudest of all, a scream to wake the dead –
-oOo-
"Gods, brother!" Konohamaru was sitting bolt upright, his eyes wide as marbles. "You near frightened me into the afterlife. What is it?"
Sasuke blinked at him…then realized he was sitting up as well. Winded. Mouth stretched so wide his lips were cracked. "I –" He wiped a hand over his brow. It came away wet.
"I never heard a scream so loud. Were you bitten by some creature?"
"No."
"Are you ill?"
He could feel those knives still. He passed a hand over his chest. The feeling was dwindling. "No." He saw the way Konohamaru's hand shook as he ran it over his braid, how his breathing, too, was yet unsteady. Pity washed away the last of the images. "I am sorry."
"What happened?"
"I... think I was sleeping. A dream."
"Bad?"
He nodded. "Akatsuki. Their sport with me."
"I see. Well. You are in need of distraction, then."
"Desperately." He looked around. Sakura was wide awake and frowning in their direction, but Ino snored at her side. Her Blessing stared at him. He gave her a reassuring nod. His Eminence was nowhere to be seen. He looked back at Konohamaru.
"It is well, brother. I will provide a topic to occupy your mind. One of sufficient interest to erase your terrors." Konohamaru tucked his legs under himself, already in higher spirits.
"You would do this for me? Are you not tired?"
"I am not. And I would do anything for you."
Warmth reduced the clammy sensation he'd woken with. "Very well, then." He crossed his legs. "What shall we discuss?"
"Cunt."
"…What?"
Konohamaru nodded. "I have decided I must have it. And I know just the one. Ino's. She yearns for me."
"Have you gone mad?"
"Yes, brother. And a sweet madness it is. When I was alma, I felt the urgings of any male. My cock stood as stone times beyond count on a given day, but alma do not engage in flesh sport. Ever. They are pure manifestations of their master's soul, and must reflect such. Truth, I did often wonder, as my former master had cock and cunt enough for ten men, why it was I could not reflect this too. Alas. Those were the rules by which I lived, and I upheld them without deviation.
"But now I am free. I am become brother. I have family. So, I may fuck. Gods, I can scarce bear the wait. I must taste cunt soon, brother. And it will be Ino."
Sasuke was stricken by the most unholy urge to laugh, rage, and faint, all at once. He stared at his little brother's nodding head until he thought to say, "But why her?"
"'Twas she who called my attention to my new status. She said I may marry. And as Uchiha, I must do my part to rebuild the clan. And then she said my hair is beautiful."
"I see. 'Tis a riveting concept, that there are now three to rebuild the clan instead of two. One I had not thought of. But, brother, Uchiha do not touch any in desire save their spouses. Do you plan to seek her hand in marriage?"
"And starve my cock on one cunt before it's even fed? I need proper flesh sport, with many a cunt to choose from. Hers is merely the first."
He had to bite his tongue to tame his dismay. The boy was a boy, unlearned in the etiquette of aught but serving a brute. "Do you plan to ask if she will lie with you?"
"You said I may do what I wish, touch what I wish, have what I wish. I mean to simply take her."
"You jest. Tell me you jest."
Konohamaru shook his head.
"I told you those things in regards to yourself and lifeless objects, not people. A person's body is their own. You are entitled to naught they do not permit you. Is my little brother an animal, then?"
"No. But he craves cunt! And there one sits, ripe for the fucking."
"My ears play me false. I can scarce believe what I hear. Konohamaru. 'Tis rape, what you speak. I will see that you never become a man ere I let any brother of mine force himself upon a woman. And Ino is yet a child. You are a child."
"She is five and ten, I asked her. And I am nearly a man grown. 'Tis certain I am old enough to have cunt."
"It is not our way. Are you not Uchiha?"
"Yes! But…I am neither born nor bred to it. You cannot deny me this. Brother, please. Please, I must have cunt. 'Tis a fire in my loins. I but wait until we are in the desert, our journey begun. Please?"
The tears standing in those woeful eyes were his undoing. Konohamaru's tone said he would not do it without his blessing, yet he would give his eyes to have that blessing.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. After several minutes of careful thought he said, "It pains me to deny you. I am glad you brought this to my attention. 'Twas the right thing to do. And you speak truth: you are neither born nor bred to the dictates of our clan. I must teach them to you gradually. Give you time to understand and assimilate them. But heed. What you want is a serious matter. If…if it is your decision to have flesh sport, then you must receive instruction. And as I am eldest family present, that instruction falls to me. Are you ready?"
"For instruction? Now? I have permission to fuck, then?"
"If you demonstrate to me a full understanding of your instruction…yes. I will grant leeway in this. In deference to your origins."
"May I kiss you, brother?"
"After. Attend."
"Yes, brother…but you did say you are not learned in this matter."
"Matters of the flesh are in two parts. The first part is moral. The second is physical. My father taught me the morals of flesh matters when my voice changed. I will teach this to you now. Is it understood?"
"Yes, brother. I am ready."
His Eminence found his tail-brother not many leagues distant, sitting upon the edge of a brook hardly wide enough to be called such. He was digging up stones, crushing them between two fingers, and sprinkling the grains in the water.
"Tis as far as I can travel from his side," he said upon hearing His Eminence arrive. "And even this is agony." He squeezed another stone.
His Eminence folded himself beside him. Watched with interest how the stones become dust. "Your plight is a burden, I've no doubt. Why do you not come back, that we may travel towards the solution?"
"I must needs quiet my thoughts. Find myself. See that my mind is once more my own." He glanced at His Eminence's frown. "I may not be able to hurt that ill-born Uchiha, but the others enjoy no such protection. I find the notion of spilling their blood…attractive just now."
Another stone was reduced to powder with the pinch of thumb and forefinger. His Eminence dug a stone from the earth and contemplated it. "I take your meaning. Yet, can you? Quiet your mind?"
"…No." This time the stone was as large as a cat's head. It disintegrated with the clench of his fist.
"How shall we proceed, then?" He tried squeezing his stone. 'Twas no bigger than a bird's egg, but it did crumble.
"Do not ask me aught. Answers to all but the simplest questions evade me."
He chose a larger stone. Squeezed until his head throbbed with the effort. The stone at last split in two. The halves sat on his palm. As a Vessel, he was stronger than the average man. But his particular strength lay in chakra. The Last was not using chakra to crush his stones. He studied the halves. "Perhaps meditation?"
"That, too, is beyond me now. Truth, I am more useless than a babe." He chose another stone, one the size of his fist. Stared at it. Crushed it with barely a flex of his hand. "Would that Nameless' head were that stone."
He gave up trying to achieve powder from the halves of his own stone and leaned on an elbow. "Your strength is astounding."
"Much good it has done me of late."
"And your chakra is…frightening, if I speak truth."
The blue eyes were daggers as they lanced his way.
"I find myself with questions. Perhaps they are simple enough for you to answer. May I?"
"I've naught else to occupy me. Ask."
"I am not known for my tact. The questions are blunt. I mean only to understand."
"Ask."
"Very well. Given your strength, why? Why are you so…helpless? You've no control whatever over your sacred essence. The Exalted bested you with ease. How is this possible? How were you sent on the journey to Ascension absent full training? I know children more skilled than you."
"Your questions touch upon things I do not speak of."
He waited.
"My training could not be completed; my handler left."
"What!"
"It could not be helped. He said it was a matter of my safety. That he must see to something and then he would return. Bid me wait a month."
"Has the month gone?"
"Five years have gone."
His Eminence sat upright in his horror. "Are you…the Demon's Eye. You do not jest, do you." His heart was thunder, eyes nearly out of his head.
"'Tis fact."
"But how could your country assign you Ascension absent your final test? Absent training? How are you to succeed?"
"They assigned me nothing. My country does not know of me."
"Ten fucking Tails! Gods!" His Eminence shivered hard. "I cannot fathom what you speak. It does not enter the brain. How is that possible?" He bit his lip. "Where…from where do you hail?"
"The Land of Fire."
His Eminence moaned behind a hand. "Not that cursed place." He shook his head, then switched to rubbing his arms up and down. "A leaderless wasteland. The last ruler was elderly. Long since Passed."
"Yes."
"Who selected you for Vessel?"
"I was not told. Nor was I told who was Last before me. Until the Exalted mentioned 'twas my mother."
"But that would mean you are of the Uzumaki clan." He was in exceedingly delicate territory. "And if I remember my lessons well, the Last's Vessel was wed to your land's last great ruler…one of the fabled Namikaze tribe."
"You know more than I, then. I was hidden at birth with my handler. By my handler. When I Ascended, I was to have brought order to my land, and receive all my due…including knowledge of my origins. Am I truly a ruler's son? Did you know my father?"
The Demon's Eye, Cock, Arse, and Tails. To have known naught but such wretchedness… "That would have been impossible. I am your age or younger. My father did. Told me tales. Did you remain hidden the five years your handler has been missing?"
"Yes. The Temple saw to my comforts. Flesh, food, drink. But it was I and my alma. Alone. For years. A day came…my nameday…when I decided to forge my own path. The Land of Fire is afire with pillaging, poverty, famine, lawlessness. I am needed. Desperately. I…left. On Ascension. With my alma. Of my own accord."
"But this is not done, Tail-Brother. A land must pick a son or daughter of their soil, preferably from the loins of the existing ruler, and send that one off with their blessing to complete the journey, else 'tis not valid. Surely, you know this?"
The Last looked at him with eyes drowning. "And if I complete the journey correctly without such blessing? With an alma to testify to its accuracy? An alma who is no ordinary orphan, but in fact the heir to my land's last ruler? Who would deny me? My land stands in ruins, Your Eminence. They need a leader. One powerful enough to unite the warring tribes."
He ran a hand over his bun.
"At any rate, I have failed. As you've said, I had no means to succeed. I have violated every dictate of my journey, lost my alma, my wealth, my freedom." He rubbed his left wrist, staring into the distance. "I can feel him. As if he sits beside me. He fears to sleep. 'Tis at once a curious and terrifying thing, this bond. I feel it strengthen by the hour. A steel cord wrapped round us. Tightening. Drawing us ever closer to each other. The more I fight, the more I bleed. I know his pains, his wants, what humors him…and yet I have never hated another as I do Nameless. Insolence aside, he views me with contempt. Were it not deserved, I should want to murder him for that alone. I cannot so much as receive respect from a girl. Certainly, I can protect no one. Not even myself. Worthless, is what I am. The sacred essence itself named me a useless bitch. 'Tis naught but truth. Ten Tails, I cannot even respect myself." He swallowed. Two tears rolled down his whiskered face. "I should never have left my valley. I know that now. But that nameless Uchiha dog's cunt is the cause of my ruin. He has taken everything from me. Everything. I would violate every oath known to the heavens, hells, and all the demons if I could but stop his breath. 'Twould be worth all else that has happened."
His Eminence frowned at a handful of grass, trying to see a solution. There was none. "Despair has us by the throat. Fate has dealt us each a mighty blow." That large head was bowed. He got up and went to him. Stood before him, lifted his face. "But I am not done yet. Nor are you. Let us support each other."
"How?"
He dried each cheek. Such wondrous eyes. The mouth full, pink, and soft. How well he remembered its talents. "The Hyuuga. You…may be freed from the chain. I will attest to your journey's completion. You will Ascend. I will help you quell the unrest in your land, and then you…you will lend me men and women to rebuild mine. A charter between us, our lands, and our people. That is how. And that is after. We have now. And now, Tail-Brother, I would have other comforts. Comforts I feel certain you need as well." He ran a finger along one black brow. An odd thing for such a fair-haired one. "What say you?"
The Last grabbed him and fused their mouths on a sigh. His lips and tongue were searing, flavored with grief, yet just as commanding as he remembered. Massive arms wrapped round him, rolled with him to the grass, burying him in muscle and heat. He sent a hand towards that cock he craved…and found it soft.
A growl. The Last stiffened, his face hovering above him, eyes turned inward. Then, "No. No!" He wrenched himself free to stand quivering, eyes red. "The Demon take me."
His Eminence got to his feet, brushing grass from his hair. His disappointment was keen. "That chain is an insidious thing if it can muzzle such as you so easily. I fear for your life should the Hyuuga fail. For myself, I plan to ban chains when Suna is rebuilt." He gave his tunic a last tug. "Come. I am for camp. If I cannot have cock, then I will have sleep."
Itachi studied the small hand he held. Over the hours, he'd grown comfortable enough with his wife to recline beside her on the chaise. The feel of her silky length along his body was enough to dry his mouth and have his cock hard, but their conversation kept him from behaving crudely. "It would seem the rules of your land are few," he said. "Deny no one, truth in all things. How is peace kept? It seems a recipe for disaster."
She laughed. "Reflect a moment. Imagine a traveler came to us. Knowing that we do not deny, he could ask for our lives. Any faced with Passing is given the chance to speak their last. I could choose my last words to be a request of my own: the traveler rescinding his request. Or I could use those words to end his life. In terrible fashion. Even if his ask was not for life, but for all the wealth in our lands…I could then ask for something of my own. Something greater, of ruinous price. This is known of Hyuuga: Let your ask be honorable and humble, else you find yourself asked in turn of what you cannot pay. And any who cannot pay for their ask, pay with their lives."
"As I have done."
"As you have done. But we do not marry the greedy. Or liars. Or foreigners. All foreigners are blind to us. They fail to see the purity, simplicity, and harmony of truth. You are rare." She tilted her chin to look into his eyes. "And your beauty quickens my pulse. Touch me."
His limbs froze. Even his breath. Only a moment. "Where? How?"
"Wherever you wish. I am yours, am I not?"
"I am unlearned…"
"And I have seen much. I can assist. Touch what lays before you, husband, ere my ardor cools."
All parts of her fascinated him. But it was her face that drew his trembling hand. The gentle slope of her nose, the shallow depression beneath it. Her parted lips; pale pink, dewy, plump. Her eyes held the faintest tint of lavender, a color he'd never imagined one's eyes could have. They captured him, drew him down, until his lips met hers in a touch utterly soft that set his blood boiling.
Her hand slid behind his neck, into his hair, as her mouth opened beneath his.
"Now this is a sight to come home to."
They broke their embrace in time to see Neji climbing the steps to the dais.
"Please," Neji said. His voice was silk. "Do not stop on my account. Two unbreached souls on the cusp of violating themselves and the pleasure they could know. By all means. Continue."
"I like your tone ill, Neji." Her Radiance sat up and pinned him with a stare. "'Twas my choice."
"Our wife has been telling me of this land and its ways," Itachi said as he got to his feet. "There is a festival at the next full moon."
"The Feast of Virtues."
"Yes. Wherein all the virgins of the land choose mates for the night to instruct them and initiate them into the world of flesh matters."
"A night then followed by the Week of Delights. Come to your point, dear husband."
Itachi made note of the tight jaw, the unblinking eyes, the way Neji grasped his elbows from behind his back. "I have a solution to our dilemma."
"Do tell."
"Upon the night of the Feast…though I cannot touch anyone but my wife – "
"You choose not to."
"Yes. Well. Though that be truth, I devised a plan wherein I may receive instruction and yet remain pure to her touch."
"I stand breathless."
"Clones. I shall make clones to participate in the Feast, thus receiving the instruction I lack while preserving my purity."
Neji was silent for many moments wherein he looked nowhere but at Itachi. Itachi looked to his wife, who glowered at Neji's head with a rare expression of distaste.
"Let me see if I understand," Neji said. "Rather than pair your clones with me, your husband, you would pair with others. But then I, too, may indulge my desires with others. Using clones. That is an inspiring plan. I shall do so at once."
"No."
Neji raised a brow. "No?"
Deny no one. "I do what I must, that I may satisfy my husband and wife. You are not in need of instruction."
"I am not. But I am in need of flesh. Do you know what I felt today to walk amongst my people and know that from now until the moment of my Passing their bodies are forbidden to me? A grave thing. A very grave thing. I shall try hard to impress upon you the full measure of that gravity when our time together arrives. I little expected the gift of marriage to lock me away from the life I know. No matter. I have conceded in this. Yet, if clones are allowed then I will avail myself."
"Neji. Husband. Please. I would not give you cause to regret your generosity. Nor is it my intent to debase the welcome you have extended me. But what you speak is not done in my clan."
"Neither is what you speak. And your clan is no more, you are Hyuuga now – "
"I am Uchiha, and ever will be!"
Neji's taut smile blossomed to a grin of pure violence at seeing the flames surrounding his husband. At the accompanying Sharingan. "Will you, now. Mm. Allow me to give you this instruction, then, at the very least." The smile vanished. "Never threaten me."
The weight of Neji's Byakugan was like to having a boulder flung at one's chest. The fraction of a second he took to note the way it delayed his senses ever so slightly, how that miniscule delay allowed Neji's inhuman speed to send a wave of chakra at him, nonetheless did not give a chance to stop that wave from sending him crashing through a pillar. He struck back with a Genjutsu that staggered Neji where he stood, even as he himself twisted to land on his feet. While Neji blinked away the effects, he waded in.
-oOo-
She'd been with Neji from the moment of her birth. There were hazy memories of him carrying her in her infancy, but her true recollections became clear only once she'd begun her Arts training. He'd trained beside her for years. In all that time, she'd never seen aught from him but equanimity. Steadfastness. Calm confidence. Always composed, was her Neji. All Hyuuga were composed. High emotion did not exist in the Land of Lilies. None were denied aught, and her land was one of plenty. Suffering, strife, crime…these were foreign problems. They did not occur in what outsiders called the wildlands. To see her habitually unflappable kinsman lose his composure more than once in a single day was rich fare.
But to see him wroth…
He battled their Itachi with an iron jaw and Byakugan exposed. His blows were devastating. She could feel others of the clan stopping at their activities to gaze toward her residence and watch the battle for themselves. Such an occurrence did not live in their memories. For herself, never had her blood sizzled the way it did at seeing Itachi slam Neji to the floor with such force that the marble cracked. How Neji's bones remained intact was testimony to his careful use of chakra. Her skin was aflame with the blows Neji landed in turn, each the weight of a falling mountain. Itachi withstood it all. He held himself back from more specialized Arts, she could tell, in favor of using his fists. Both of them. This was not true battle, but a bid for dominance. There was none of their clan who matched Neji in Taijutsu. Nor did their prized Itachi; but he withstood or evaded, or else met Neji with such skill of his own that he was not bested. Not once.
The calm and staid lifestyle of the Hyuuga had never wakened desire in her. She'd never felt any emotion strongly. It was the way of their clan to dampen their power with a diet and pursuits that kept their blood cool. Neji was a comfort. A lifelong companion, but not one who'd ever moved her to share flesh. Desire had been a fleeting thing for her in her youth. Now, it was simply something that happened around her. Never was she inclined to participate.
The moment she beheld Itachi, his looks called to her. So unlike her clan. To discover him Uchiha was a treat from the gods. Her words had proven true: he brought much change with him. And to feel her blood heat for another at long last was the biggest change of all. From his impassioned words, to his dark eyes, to the power she could feel throbbing inside him…everything about him was a siren's call. To name herself fascinated was an understatement.
Itachi sent a hand like granite past Neji's blocking maneuver, shoving him off his feet with enough force to have Neji flying across the room.
She rose. Breathless. Her need coating the insides of her thighs, her limbs strengthless with longing. She went to Itachi before he could advance on Neji again, and took his sweaty face in her hands. "Now," she said.
Itachi focused on her with difficulty. "Your Radiance?" His eyes searched hers, full of confusion.
"I would have us join here, now. This instant."
"I…wife, are you certain?" He looked behind her. Neji was getting to his feet.
Her ardor cooled at once. An answering rage unlike anything she'd experienced replaced it. She struck him viciously, wanting the excitement of his fury to return. He responded without thought, backhanding her so that she went sprawling to the floor, blood filling her mouth. Her entire body roared to life with a lust she thought would kill her.
-oOo-
The man is insane, Neji thought at seeing their wife spin to the floor in a swirl of hair. He freely courts death. Not even Hinata's Arts masters dared strike her so brutally. Truth, he'd never seen her raise her hand to another. She was ever gentle as a breeze. Calm as a child sleeping. To see her excited was to see the Sun split in two. He held his breath, sure she would rise and slaughter their witless husband.
The moonlight showed her a creature maddened: neck and chest red with blood from her split lip, her breathing deep, eyes wild. She launched herself at Itachi, seeking his mouth with inhuman sounds of greed, and he understood at last that the key to Hinata's desire was violence.
Itachi was startled, but gamely met her passion with his own. Even so, their Uchiha floundered. As any untutored soul would.
He hastened to them, keen that they should each get the most from this encounter. "Do not loosen your grip, husband, else you risk her lust evaporating. Treat her roughly. Yes. Shy not from use of tooth and nail. Mark her. Yes." He watched the way Itachi slammed her to the wall. How he raked a hand up the thigh she wrapped round his hip. The way he savagely pulled her hair. He does not need much instruction. His normally silent cousin sobbed openly as Itachi bit her neck hard enough to draw blood, then silenced her with another bruising kiss.
Moving carefully, he leaned against Itachi's back and put his lips to his ear. "Do not hold back. You must unleash yourself upon her as you would an enemy. Do not fear she will be hurt. She is equal to aught you can do to her body. Do not stop unless she tells you…and perhaps not even then."
He backed away to watch, hoping it was enough, that the fabled passion of the Uchiha had not been overstated.
-oOo-
He was grateful for Neji's words. A guide where he felt lost amongst the heady sensations of touching his wife, at feeling her hunger for him. He was in danger of shaming himself, but held to Neji's instruction. Truth, it was sound advice; there was no way for him to weather the storm of his own lust otherwise. He threw himself past the reach of reason, becoming as mindless as his wife. She clawed his face and kissed him furiously; he sent a hand questing between her thighs to find her hot and soaked and quivering.
On the floor. Her smooth limbs locked around him. Her mouth against his ear, panting her urgency, her fever for him to join them as one. He found himself at her entrance. Ravening, now. Drunk on her smell. Her cry of greed when he slid into her, the way her body gripped his length, did indeed unman him before he could begin to pleasure her. Thank the gods he was too mad with lust to soften. Still, the release left him dizzy. He dropped his forehead to hers, struggling to hold himself upright lest he crush her.
"Ride her well, husband." Neji. In his ear again. "Even if it Passes you. Master yourself. Find your strength. Punish her with it. Use her until her tears tell you she is well-pleased. Now, Itachi. Move."
He pushed to his hands and brought himself to purpose. There were some minutes wherein his body needed to learn the rhythm, as did hers, but an uneven pace came soon enough. Too soon. Gods, the feel of her. Like hot oil. Poison to his control, a whip to his lust. He moved on her with all the force at his command, feeling as if his very nerves were shredded at her scream of his name. She tore at him, scouring the flesh from his chest, back, and arms, crushing his shoulders in hands he would not have believed capable of such strength. He was a man no more, but an animal frenzied at his first feeding. Voracious. Heedless of aught save his cock in her, the need to devour her. Hinata was no better. She bit him. Hhe slapped her, only for her to erupt with even greater passion beneath him. And then she reversed their positions. Surely, he would Pass where he lay, Pass from her wildness.
Neji came and sat on his legs behind her, guiding her hips, whispering to her as he'd done to him. Her movements were tamed, gained their own rhythm, and then she was riding him so fiercely, he released his seed again. She gave a grunt of approval. Slowed her movements to a tortuous undulation in vicious disregard for his sanity. She was relentless. No matter that he struck her with fists, pulled her hair, sat up and bit her face…she did not stop riding him until he'd climaxed yet again.
He slumped in her grasp for an eternity, their sweat cooling as she stroked his head. When he recovered, he swung her to her back once more.
Something black woke in him. Resentment at a marriage outside his choice. The sale of his brother. His fear of Akatsuki. Uncertainty of the future. His parents' sacrifice. And always, the annihilation of his clan. Raw as he was now, absent composure and reason, these secrets were laid bare, exposed. An evil he never acknowledged in himself showed its fanged countenance: He covered her nose and mouth with a hand, cutting off her breath. Held her face tightly, watching her watch him, until he closed his other hand around her throat. He straddled her thus, leaning all his weight into his hands.
She was strong. At first her body did not respond, but when it began to… when knowledge that he did not jest widened her eyes, such fierce pleasure stabbed through him that his own breath caught. Let them see I am no easy meat. Shackle me at your peril, Hyuuga. Her face was red, then purple, but he could also feel her skin heat. She clawed at him, eyes bulging. He clamped his teeth on her fingers when they passed his face. Bit until he tasted blood. Relished the way her heels drummed, how her body bucked beneath him. He strengthened his hold, digging his nails into her cheeks and the soft flesh of her throat until he broke skin. His eyes were locked on hers. No one owns me. No one. When her eyes glazed over and she began to slip from consciousness, he entered her ruthlessly, hard as steel. She made a sound in her throat as he sheathed himself to the root, a guttural sound of pure need that had him releasing her face at last. She choked on air, sobbing his name in broken tones that were further jarred by his violent thrusts. She held to him as if to life itself when her body seized, then surged wildly beneath him in a climax that drenched his cock in searing heat.
But he did not stop. Tears did indeed pour from her, but he did not stop, not when his muscles quivered from strain, not when he thought he'd be blinded if he released himself again, and not when she went limp from repletion. Not until she begged him in a hoarse and shivering voice, from lips swollen and bleeding, did he withdraw from her and flop to his back. She curled away from him.
Neji watched for a long time after they finished. Perhaps an hour. He was by turns aroused, shocked, and disgusted at the performance between his wife and husband, but it was a disgust heavily laced with captivation. He'd pleasured himself with a hand more than once throughout…until he heard the snap of his wife's arm when Itachi wrenched it behind her back. His blood cooled considerably at that. He marveled that she used the arm after, clearly enjoying the pain it brought her.
She was long since asleep when Itachi rose. He watched him inspect his bloody knuckles. The way one forearm was raw, the skin torn from it in a patch that was unsightly. Similar marks adorned other parts of him. A few bite marks still leaked. His hair dripped sweat. Itachi looked at him.
Fascinating creature. He met Itachi's stare. 'Twas brought home to me with clarity how little I know him. Not at all, in fact. I would not have believed him capable of the violence against a woman he displayed. Truth, I did bid him do precisely such, but his actions far exceeded my suggestions. And Hinata was indeed well-pleased. 'Tis doubtful any performance after will ever equal what he gave her tonight. A proper initiation. He showed true skill in discerning her wants and needs. More so than I ever would have. I thought her done for this world at one point, so savagely did he treat her. And she craved it. Another thing I would never have guessed had I not seen it in truth. A dangerous man, this Uchiha. Honorable, but ruthless beyond expression when provoked. I would not have him as an enemy. Better I open my veins than ever play him false. How utterly exciting.
Itachi walked toward him.
"Well, Itachi of The Mists. How was your first taste of flesh?"
"Hopefully, equal to my second."
"Your pardon?"
"I would now taste my husband."
His heart missed a beat. "Do clarify."
Itachi reached forward and plucked a lock of Neji's hair off one shoulder. Examined it. Wound the end round his finger. "Is it not plain? I have breached my wife. Known her, and her me. I am now free to enjoy the same privilege with my husband. Do you object?"
At feeling those fingers brush his skin, his cock stirred. "You used her for hours. Are you fatigued?"
"Do I appear so?"
"You do not."
Itachi moved closer, standing between his feet. Their cocks brushed each other. Itachi did not recoil from the touch. Only looked at him. "You may now instruct me." A smile curved one corner of his mouth. "And impress upon me the full gravity of confining yourself to my person."
"As inviting as that is, you swore to concede to me in this. I will say what happens next. Not you."
Itachi adopted silence.
Neji took his time studying him. Analyzing all he'd learned and gleaned about Uchiha Itachi in the short time he'd known him. Proud to a fault. Inflexible. Given to certain notions, and will hear naught against those beliefs. Can compromise, but not easily. Gives in to naught unless that thing cannot be avoided. And then only if that thing will be of benefit to him. A stubborn man, as well as fascinating and ruthless. He ran his eyes down Itachi's bleeding, sweat-slicked body. And one not acquainted with touch of any sort, if I understand Uchiha practices correctly. He swore to concede, yet he will not do so graciously. Even taking into account his commitment to pleasing our wife, his passions have yet to be truly awakened. What I witnessed was Hinata's lust dragging him in its wake; he was helpless not to give in and respond in kind. Even needed my prompting to assure him it was all right to do so. He'll not come to the touch of a man willingly. Not in his heart. That much is plain by the set of his jaw. He will allow my hands on him, but not embrace the experience. Ah, but if he did, I would have the sort of encounter one dreams about. Never have I bedded one who was unwilling, unlearned, and untouched all at once. Well. I suppose he isn't untouched. Merely untouched by a man. Yet I mean to have him submit to passion. So, then. How best to proceed?
Upon returning to camp, the strain his body suffered at being so far from Nameless at last withdrew. He waited, letting the knots in his muscles unravel. Nameless sat speaking with his new brother. What words they exchanged had his slave feeling shock and dismay, but also compassion.
His slave was clothed. Garments taken from the village. A simple tunic that clung to the width of his shoulders. Loose trousers. Sandals. His hands, smooth with youth yet capable of much, made gestures in the air as he spoke. The moon picked silver glints tinged with blue from his hair. Your beauty is a curse almost worse than the chain.
Nameless turned to look at him. He neither shied nor flinched from the look.
There were a few more words exchanged, but Nameless got up and came to him. His body throbbed at the proximity. "I would speak with you," Nameless said. "If that is allowed."
"Speak."
"In private."
They walked until they were out of sight of camp. A clearing in a copse of towering oaks. He stopped where the moon's light was brightest. Nameless stopped before him. "What," he said.
"His Eminence has been telling me of the chain. How there may not be a force capable of undoing it." He explained in detail. "If no one can help us, then we put ourselves at the mercy of the Hyuuga needlessly."
He closed the distance between them. Nameless maintained the eye contact. Did not move away. "Can you live thus?" he murmured. "As my slave? For the remainder of your days?"
"Am I truly your slave if I can disobey as I choose?" He swallowed. "If I can command you?"
"Have a care. I may Pass you yet."
Sasuke waited. "You will not. I can feel your intent. Your body. Your thoughts and emotions. Nothing of you is hidden. I fear you know as much about me, so let us end these threats. Our time would be better spent towards a solution."
"If your brother or the Hyuuga cannot help us then there is no solution. We live as one and Pass as one."
"I cannot bare it."
"Nor I."
Sasuke was shocked to realize the master's face was bent over his. Their words were whispers. Their noses scarcely a breath from touching, their chests all but pressed to each other. The master's knuckles brushed against his…and the master's eyes were of a brilliance that locked his throat. "What is happening?"
"Would that I knew."
Such despair swamped him at that moment that Sasuke couldn't tell if the emotion was his or the master's. "It will kill us, will it not? It grows stronger each day, as if it feeds on our blood."
"I will not be slain by the likes of this chain." The master pulled himself upright with an effort. "Nor will you. If you could survive the past month, you can survive this. We make for Hyuuga land."
Sasuke let him get a hundred paces before he followed, but even at this distance he could feel the heat of the master's body. Feel his gaze as if it yet lingered. His flesh pimpled at the memory of feeling the master's heart. As if it beat in his own breast. He hugged his arms.
Itachi, Itachi, Itachi. There are no words to express the magnitude of the wrong you have done me. This chain meant to save me instead kills me each day. Should I be so unfortunate as to see your face again, there may be naught left of the brother you once knew. You stupid, wretched, ill-born, phel-cursed swine. You are worse than a swine. You are a disgrace. Forget you? I may yet. My mind may be ripped from me, all memory of who I am swallowed by this chain. Because you are, and ever have been, too blind to see what was before your face: I am all the blood you have in the world. Safety was by your side. Not in the care of a man you know naught about, or chained by a device you little understood. May you die, Itachi. May you rot, and may you be cursed to slavery ere justice comes for you. I wish you to know my torment as your own. A swine's cock is what you are. I hate you.
He watched the fluid movement of muscle in the master's back as they walked. The flex of his arse. The powerful legs. The bun he wore came undone, uncoiling to the ground, where it dragged for some time before the master wound it up again. His tears were ceaseless.