Disclaimer: The term for this kind of writing is FANfiction, if you aren't sure what that means, look it up :P
A/N: I revised and extended some dialogues of the last chapter, so if you've been following this story already and dropped by to read the latest chapter;) maybe you want to reread the scenes with Sai first... If you're new, then please go ahead and read on.
Chapter 7 Reactions
"You don't know if you want to find him? Or you don't know if he's dead?" Shikamaru prodded calmly. He had a strategy, and it involved seeing if the other was interested in finding his brother.
"That's none of your business." Sasuke bit out.
"You know, I could try to find out to whom he was sold off and what happened with him. Wouldn't that be better than not knowing at all?"
"Why are you focusing on my brother? I did not ask for him, I asked for the Uchiha files."
"I focus on him because he probably is the only other living person mentioned in those files you want. Knowing what is written there will change nothing, but knowing what happened to your brother might."
"By all means: Try! I doubt you'll get far." Sasuke taunted. He didn't want the other to go searching, although he longed for the answer, to be honest. The other had resources and freedom he didn't, the other might succeed, whereas he didn't even have a chance to begin with.
"And why's that?"
"Because if he changed masters at any point, you might have to find every single one to track him down. The slave houses do not have a central archive, and the papers go with the slave. Some houses may be organized enough so you can look up the slave code, but it's not a given. Some simply sort transaction dates. You'd have to either know the date, or a certain time range for them to look it up, without it you're gonna be lost. That's how these things work as far as I know. The papers go with the slave. If the change of masters happened outside of a slave house, there might only be a paper in his records, but none at any place for you to search for. And that is if he still is a slave. If he isn't… well, in that case, you won't find him at all."
"I see. I'll keep that in mind." Tatakai had given out plenty of information, even though he'd presented them in a way that made it clear that he seriously doubted him to succeed and was mocking the idea. Shikamaru found it informative enough and it would help him to get started.
"Do you know his slave code? Or should I go back to Sakura's to look it up?"
Tatakai narrowed his eyes slightly in thought.
"I only know mine, I never got a chance to read through my papers to learn his. And I have no idea how the coding works..."
Yes, Shikamaru thought. The other was more willing to give him answers than he'd wanted to admit in the beginning.
"Tell me yours."
"OSA0742" He said it like an unpleasant fact to be brushed aside, nothing to identify himself with.
"Hmm, the letters could stand for the place that registered you. The numbers could be consecutive. Do you remember where you've been brought to?"
"Slave House Kansei, Ishigakure. I have found no relation between the letter coding and that place's name… But if your theory is right, then my brother's code would probably be OSA0743 or onwards."
Indeed, Shikamaru's impression, that the other was interested in this, was only cementing more so. The Uchiha let more information slip than ever, and willingly so. Even though the info could be looked up and he would be doing that later. It had still come from him. The fact that Tatakai had chosen a higher number, was also a little detail that he found worth considering. It suggested that the brother might have been captured after Tatakai. Though he couldn't be sure, it was a possibility.
"I'll go to Sakura and check your papers, and I'll tell you if you were right, afterwards. If you want to get a look into your papers yourself, you should just ask her. I doubt she'd mind… Anyway, I really did want to know about your mission at the festival."
"Ask Kakashi" Tatakai said coldly.
"I thought I'd give you a chance, but I will do that, then. Also, there are some things I wanted to ask you, concerning future missions."
Tatakai's gaze turned into a glare.
"Your slave seal… I know this is information you probably don't want to share, but it's going to be important if you're accompanying us on higher ranking missions. As in 'more dangerous' ones. I need to know if it could interfere with the missions, or your condition at any point."
Sasuke contemplated, considered telling him, though unwillingly so. He knew Shikamaru hadn't asked this to possibly gain leverage, to glean information that he could be controlled with. But that didn't change the fact that it could be used that way if he revealed the slave seal's secrets. It was something he wasn't willing to risk. No slave was.
"It might" Sasuke's voice was icy.
"I see. Please consider sharing the details. If it interferes within a fight, things could get ugly."
Sasuke said nothing, only responding to Shikamaru's latest Shogi move by countering it with one of his own. He'd been distracted, not focussing on the game before him. He could see he'd already made some poor decisions and the game probably wouldn't last much longer. But while it irked him that he'd lose again, he didn't mind the reason to depart.
They continued in silence until the game was over. Somehow both had understood that the conversation was done. Shikamaru came to the door to see him off, thanking him for the game and his time… as if he had had much of a choice.
Annoyed, he kicked a stone in front of him on his way home.
00000
Tsunade sat in front of her desk. She had just skimmed through a book that covered manipulation-seals. Specifically she had looked through the section on slave seals. Shikamaru had not come back yet, so she had felt it safe to assume that the slave indeed was an Uchiha. Considering his heritage, the respective powers and lack of knowledge about him, she had felt the need to take preventive action, especially now that he was about to go on missions.
They didn't know how much Tatakai knew about the seal and its workings. She was pretty sure that he knew more about the punishment functions than the book described. The book was rather vague about that and what the intentions upon creation were, which was unsurprising, considering that this was an ancient sealing ritual and the creator was unknown.
The part she was worried about him knowing was that the seal would cease to exist if Sakura died. He might not be able to right out kill her, the book was clear about that, but the seal did not force him to protect her at all costs and that meant that he could possibly maneuver her into a situation where she could get killed through a third party or other circumstances.
That was one part. The other was that even though he didn't grow up here and wasn't even sworn in, he'd go on missions. He was bound to find out about state secrets, their way of operating. They didn't know about his abilities, about possible connections outside. If he turned against Konoha and Sakura died, there would be no device to control him. So if she could make it more difficult, make it safer for the village, she'd do it.
There was also the fact that he, being an Uchiha, made it their business on a state level. She preferred to know what she was at and if he gave them reason, she wasn't above interrogating and incarcerating him. But they had enough ways to keep him busy and keep him from digging up the Uchiha's secrets, so she was fine with letting him be as long as he didn't push any official rules. Keeping him enslaved for now would ensure him to be somewhat compliant in any scenario.
There was the knock she'd waited for. Sakura slipped inside.
"Tsunade-sama, you called for me?"
"Yes I did. I did some research on slave seals… I know you'd prefer to release him, but considering the recent developments with having him participate in missions I want to create a safety-net. I'll explain what I'd like to do first."
Tsunade wouldn't explain the safety-net itself, nor the true extent of its purpose. She'd just skip that part, instead opting for Sakura to work out her own interpretation without correcting or misleading her.
"Slave seals work as a connection between the master and the slave, the master being in charge. Now if one of them dies, the seal of the one remaining alive will disappear and lose its effect since the connection sustaining it would have been broken. However, there is a way to bequeath the seal in case the master dies. I'm not expecting you to die, but just in case anything happens, I'd like us to perform this. It won't take away the rights, only pass them on in case of death. If we decide to free him before, it will lose its effect, you don't need to worry about that."
Tsunade observed Sakura to make sure she followed.
"If you die first though, the slave seal would stay on him, since it would continue to work off my chakra, though I'd still have to get the master counterpart of the slave seal to take charge. No one else could though, since he is already marked and connected to me. Here: This is the process for bequeathing." She pointed towards the respective passage in her book and gave it to Sakura to read.
It described a sequence of hand signs and which blood would be required when.
"You want to do this now, right?" Sakura didn't look too happy about it, but she focussed on memorizing the hand signs even so.
"Yes, that was the idea."
"Alright, I got it." She finally spoke. Tsunade prepared two needles for pricking their fingers, then Sakura moved her fingers into the sequence of signs, pressing two fingers on her invisible seal afterwards. It appeared with a slight glow.
She then pricked Tsunade's thumb, pressed it upon the seal, until it had soaked in the drop of blood. Releasing the Hokage's hand, she took her own, pricking her thumb with the other needle, then moving it to her neck, sealing her decision with her own blood. The glow slowly diminished after the soaking, and the seal gradually faded back into its invisible state.
"Thank you Sakura... By the way, Shikamaru is in charge of researching your slave's background, so he should be the one to talk to, should there be something. Tatakai himself of course should not know about any of this. Understood?"
"...I understand"
"Then you are dismissed."
00000
Shikamaru's prodding still fresh on his mind, Sasuke's thoughts were a mess. He'd asked the very questions that Sasuke never voiced, never dared to. Itachi, was he dead or alive? It shouldn't be a question. He had no right to die, he'd promised he'd search. His brother hadn't abandoned him, he hadn't!
But it had been three years now.
That had precisely been why he'd tried to pay so much attention to how the Slave Houses handled their paperwork, even though he'd never even got to read his. It was how he knew that slaves were hard to trace, hard to find, and that no one really cared.
And why should they? He kicked another stone. He'd overheard them, back then, in the days before Itachi turned himself in.
One slavehunter had asked if it was safe. Sasuke had been bound and safely tucked away in a locked room, waiting for something to happen and for the first time unable to release his chakra outside of his body. Back when he hadn't known yet that it was the collar's doing and not the seal they'd placed on him.
"Ah, you know, they only agree to take those that have no ties left. These brothers were strangers in town, never integrated into society. No one will bother to look for them. They'll just assume they've moved on."
The casual way these words had been spoken had burned into his memory like hot iron into skin. The shame and guilt of having been caught in such a trap. The hope, no, knowledge, that his skilled brother would bust him out.
His promise to himself that he wouldn't let something like that happen again. And if it meant following Itachi's advice and being more social; to integrate into society. He would have been willing to do it, then. All for naught.
Hopes had been crushed so cruelly, the guilt in him still strong. He'd been his brother's downfall.
Kicking pebbles along the way, Sasuke had barely registered returning home. He'd been taking out some eggs and rice, starting to fry them in a pan. It all had happened on autopilot. While waiting for both to be cooked however, he felt his seal flare up. The suddenness of the sensation and its atypical character, woke him from his trance. This was no summoning, no tracking him. No, this was something else, something he didn't know.
Displeased, he froze, waiting for the feeling to pass, focusing on the feeling and trying to figure out what this could mean. He thought to feel the slight trace of an unknown person next to his mistress' presence, though he couldn't glean anything more about it. It was too faint. Then the glow slowly faded.
Sakura hadn't involved him, she'd just meddled, that much was clear. She had done something without telling him in advance, and there had been no trace of anything indicating she might have required the assistance of her slave. He had no clue what had happened and it made him feel excluded, out of control. A slave seal could be somewhat beneficial. For the brief moment when the connection was fully established, when an order was given, it piped through a lot of additional, unvoiced information. And while he despised the seal, it was useful to know the emotional baggage that an order carried.
This had not been an order though, he'd felt the seal, but not much else. She hadn't tried to connect with him, she must have done something else with it. And he was in no mood for anyone compromising his being, especially behind his back. It pissed him off.
As much as he disliked the thought, he knew he couldn't do much about it now, so he continued preparing the meal. His mistress would return soon, and once she got home, she would have to justify herself to him.
The food was done and just simmering by the time he heard the door open. She entered the kitchen, opening her mouth, but Sasuke cut her off.
"What did you do?"
His cold eyes met her puzzled ones.
"What did you do with the seal?"
"Oh, right. It didn't hurt, did it? I'm…"
"What. Did. You. Do?!" He was suddenly standing very near, right in front of her, almost towering. She took a step back cautiously. He took one forward.
"I tested something, alright? Don't worry about it, it wasn't dangerous. The opposite, it was a safety measure."
Sasuke wasn't happy with the vagueness of the answer. It had the taste of hiding something, but he knew he had no way to make her tell him.
"Don't ever mess with those seals behind my back ever again!" He ordered.
"I'm responsible for you. I'll take action as I see fit."
She got a bitter laugh in return. "So, just because the seal makes me a slave, I can't take care of myself?"
"That's not what I meant, and you know it."
This: Just brushing off what he'd said. It only made him angrier. Most of the time she acted as if he was an equal, refusing to acknowledge the order of things the slave seal brought. She went as far as giving him freedom where he wasn't supposed to have any, like supporting his training, instead of telling him to stop or use it for her own gain.
She had almost deliberately kept out of his business, refusing to ask the questions he could see in her gaze. She must have tried to keep him at a distance, he realized. It had seemed like she was trying to give him a life, instead of controlling it.
But she would also give him silly little jobs to accomplish. Little responsibilities. It felt more like pretense than anything else. She clearly had managed it all on her own before.
And now she had gone and meddled with the seal, claiming it was for safety. If his or hers, she hadn't said.
He realized that he'd been scrutinizing her during his silent contemplation. She was looking at him unsurely as a result. Annoyed, he turned away, grabbing the pan from the stove and slapping the food onto their plates.
"Why again are you mad at me? I must have overheard the exact accusation." She huffed, taking her seat. When he didn't reply, she quickly thanked for the food, took a bite, then looked at him expectantly.
Did she really expect an answer? Ignoring her question, he sat down as well and started to eat. He'd said it all. At first she looked like she wanted to start shouting, annoyed that he dared to do this, but then she fisted her hands and blew her bangs. Sasuke concentrated on the taste of the eggs which had taken a bit too much color, while she still seemed to force herself to relax.
Finally, she sighed, seeming to decide against pressing the issue, and so they continued eating in silence until she apparently felt the need to interrupt once more. Dear God.
"Uhm, we are going to evaluate your skills today. That means you will fight Kakashi, me and possibly Naruto, too. We will go to meet the others in about an hour, so let's finish up here and get ready, alright?"
"Hn" ...ts, as if he'd have a choice…
00000
They stood by the bridge. Naruto had already been waiting when they arrived. To Sasuke, he always seemed to be.
This would probably be the first somewhat serious fight he had in a while. Weight-wise, he was still on the light side, but his strength and stamina had rapidly increased over the past few weeks. He still felt some gaps here and there, but his now adolescent body and the boost the hormones had given it, did even that out a bit.
He couldn't help the anticipation he felt within. After the stirring of emotions Shikamaru and then Sakura had triggered this noon, he just itched for a good fight. Equipped with his sword and the borrowed kunai and shuriken, he couldn't wait …
But, nothing happened. They just stood there, waiting. No one spoke. The silence did not help to keep him distracted, and so he drifted off to his musings. It was easy to do so now. He wished back the blanking-out he'd have in his cell in the slave house. But ironically it just wasn't possible to drift back into that state anymore.
No ties left… Itachi's downfall. Hope that had been shattered. He had promised, said he'd keep looking.
Uncertainty. Pain, all consuming pain. This hollow feeling. Guilt that emotions couldn't register. Not anymore. Detached. Waiting.
Waiting was all he could do, up till now. Wait for his brother, wait until something changed, now wait until Shikamaru turned something up. Hah, as if.
His fingernails dug deep into the wooden bridge handle as he grabbed onto it to keep himself calm.
It was his fault. Of course he knew. The thought had hit him a thousand times. They had used Itachi's little brother to get to him. They had known that they dealt with ninja's, they'd known that he, Sasuke, was the weaker one. They'd suspected that he was his weakness.
Itachi's weakness.
But now, Sasuke finally had the chance to train again. He would not be weak again, he would not be caught by surprise again. No, he'd make sure of it.
Itachi's weakness.
He, Sasuke, was still a slave. What guarantee did he have… He could still be controlled, subdued so easily… what if… what if… Itachi got rid of his weakness?
An involuntary shudder went down his spine, but he couldn't stop the thoughts from spinning.
Wasn't it only natural? His family, their family… Sasuke faintly remembered their demands, their constant attention. He'd often wondered if Itachi had just snapped. He had seemed guilty afterwards, but they'd lived on. Itachi had lived on. He had gotten rid of his boundaries. Of his family… What if he'd done it again?
It had been three years, after all.
He wouldn't even need to kill… his little brother could not invoke any consequences for him. He was without ties after all. How likely was it to simply forget… forget about his little brother?
Could he forgive his brother? Would he do the same? Get rid of his weakness, his ties to his brother. Was it weighing him down? Could he forget... move on?
'No one will bother to look for them',... ties might have saved them... him… the thought brought bitter amusement. It was all too late now.
00000
Her slave, how she hated that word, was clearly fuming. It wasn't that he was showing much expression, no, he was as closed off as ever. She could see his tension in other things. She'd been observing him for a while now. His eyes were coldly fixated on the water, spaced off, in some dimension that only he had access to. Thinking about it, she wasn't that surprised, she knew how grating waiting could be. After all, they were the students of the one infamous Kakashi. Yeah, he wasn't as intimidatingly famous for his skills to them, more so famous because of his habitual lateness. Which they'd forgiven easily once they'd known that he always forgot time at his teammate's grave.
Tatakai must have had an awful lot of time to pass back then in those cell units where she'd found him in. Spacing off probably had been the only thing he could easily do there. His posture was somewhat rigid now, fingers that dug into wood, knuckles turning white. He looked itching for a fight, and she wasn't sure if approaching him now would be safe.
Naruto, she saw, was also finely in tune with the signals the other gave. She'd never understand how Naruto could sometimes be so perceptive, when he clearly acted like such a blockhead most of the time. However, she knew he'd grown up observing people, wishing to be part of whatever he saw. And being in the same team with him had opened her eyes eventually. He indeed spent much more time observing than pranking people. She assumed that was why his pranks were useful for ninja life. He based them off things he'd observed. Despite the craving for attention he'd felt, which had mostly been answered in some negative and possibly stunting way, he'd actually learned a lot by getting people into weird situations. He just hadn't let them bring him down, ever.
Glancing back to Tatakai, she wondered if he was angry because of her and the seal. He hadn't given her a chance to ask about his meeting with Shikamaru. Had they gotten somewhere, reached some kind of understanding? She sure hoped so. And then, there were her own worries. She would evaluate him, his skillset. She would push him to see if he could hold his own. She needed to know now. She wouldn't be able to do her job right if they took on missions above his skill level. And neither would he.
Yes, Tsunade had signed him up for missions, but now that her initial panic had abated and Kakashi had informed her that they'd evaluate him, she realized they would base the missions upon his skill set. They wouldn't take him on missions above his skill level. Still, it put her ill at ease.
Kakashi, when he finally arrived, brought some ridiculous excuse about some appointment with the hair-dresser which no one bought, then they took off to the training ground.
"Alright, the purpose of this afternoon is less training, but more so to evaluate our new team member and to get familiar with his techniques. Mainly, this will be to figure out how well you can hold your own in a fight, Tatakai. You will fight me first!"
Tatakai didn't reply, only took a few steps forward then facing Kakashi, emotions storming under a calm facade.
00000
Their fight had been intense. Kakashi was mulling over his findings as he watched Naruto and Tatakai next. The slave certainly had had a good teacher, he had known that before, but not to what extent. Now, having built up his stamina and endurance to a reasonable level, his Taijutsu was proficient. His speed was astonishing and his use of Genjutsu actually quite well placed from a tactical point of view.
Instead of basing the fight on Genjutsu itself, he only seemed to make use of it for miniscule amounts of time, often dispelling it before even he, Kakashi, had properly detected what it was. It had taken him a whole while to figure out, too. Many lesser ninjas might not have realized that something had been going on at all.
Furthermore, while he had shown a variety of nature transformations, he had displayed a preference for lightning based Jutsu (though he apparently did not have anything that was even close as powerful as Chidori). Speed for hand seals, with which Kakashi had a very hard time to even see without the Sharingan and considerable sword wielding skills.
He, too, had used some shadow clones occasionally to stay safe. He did seem comfortable at the offensive though, thrive on it really.
Kakashi couldn't help but think back on his earlier discoveries. The reaction to the Sharingan, a trick he hadn't used in this fight, but especially the fact that the other had known ANBU sign language.
There was a connection between him and Konoha and he wondered if the Nara had figured it out. When he had told him his findings, the other hadn't seemed surprised, but he hadn't told him anything, either. Shikamaru held his trust though, so he would let him handle this business, even if he wasn't entirely comfortable having a member on his team who might or might not have had some negative history with Konoha.
Tatakai had already shown tactical thinking in past group exercises, and again today. He was not to be underestimated. It also bothered Kakashi slightly that he had felt like the youngster had held back some, though he really could understand why the other wouldn't want them to know everything. Well, they could work with what he did show for now and it was reassuring to know that he had more potential. Kakashi focused back on the fight at hand.
Both boys seemed to enjoy the challenge. Tatakai seemed more at ease now that he was fighting Naruto, and Kakashi knew it was not the skill that made the difference. It seemed that both, while not quite going all out, they were not holding back much either. Tatakai was probably still having a bit of an advantage over his lesser known fighting style, but his body was not yet at its full capacity, either. Overall, the fight seemed surprisingly balanced.
Tatakai was proving that he was quite capable of fighting against multiple opponents, he also was supplying his performance with a bigger variation of elemental Jutsu now, apparently instead of using Genjutsu.
Rightnow, he could see him move through another set of hand seals with uncanny speed, forming chakra around his forearm, then running ahead and grazing as many clones with it as possible. The technique, though much weaker than Chidori, was used quite similarly. He again had shown to be able to control multiple nature transformations. Kakashi wondered what his affinity was. Lightning and Fire Release seemed both quite equally strong. He hadn't used Lightning too often though, nor had he shown any stronger Jutsu with it. He'd used both Releases only with relatively non-descript techniques. There were maybe a handful that he knew himself, as well as some that seemed familiar, like he'd seen them before out on a mission and Kakashi wondered if the other did this on purpose. Using generic Jutsu to keep them from pinpointing who had taught him.
The strategy he had applied to find the real Naruto had taken out quite a few of the clones, plus Kakashi knew, should he have hit real Naruto, he'd might have paralyzed him too, for a moment at least. Naruto was already preparing his next Jutsu, another one on the more powerful side.
Kakashi decided that it was enough for the moment and called them off. It ended in Naruto complaining, which resulted in an insult from Tatakai.
It did cross his mind that Tatakai was truly living up to his name rightnow. He looked rather unhappy to have been interrupted, even though he had called Naruto childish for complaining.
"Alright, last round. Sakura?" Kakashi had kept a close eye on the slave, and surely, the reaction was one of barely concealed displeasure. Something he had expected. Still, the boy brushed the sweat from his brows and waited for Sakura to step forward and for Kakashi to give the signal to start.
00000
Sakura was annoyed. The whole thing had started out well enough. Tatakai opened the fight with an offensive move, barely leaving her time to react before he executed the next. She had stomped the ground, sending him flying and had been satisfied then. After all, he had caught himself easily and had pressed on.
He had fought well, too, challenging her nicely. Even though he hadn't tried any possibly lethal attacks, he still had managed to push her into a corner one time, not letting her near his body again. It had just been a moment, that a tad of fear had surged through her, but it had probably been the moment things had started to turn sour.
She had been holding back, her super strength and medical Ninjutsu could cause severe damage, and some even kill immediately if not blocked some way. Holding back made sense for that fact already. She had instead been opting to paralyze him again, but he had not let her near enough for her to initiate her techniques, having learned from the last time she had blocked his chakra. He didn't seem to go all on out, but quite challenging in the boundaries of this being an evaluation fight amongst teammates.
She had tried to get him to come near her, and he had, at first, his speed being scary. She had known though, for them to see what would happen, she'd have to risk it. It would be a test for them both. A test if he could handle her, but also if she could handle his speed. He had faltered right then and drawn back.
It took her awhile to notice, but somehow the fight was not as challenging as before. It was almost as if he was not into it anymore, almost as if he was holding back in a different way. Just pushing her so far that he knew she could take it without too much difficulty.
Therefore, she was annoyed. And having blocked another one of these attacks he put up too easily, she was starting to get fed up.
"Tatakai, what's this? Am I not good enough to be pushed to my limits by you? Huh?... Do not hold back on me! Don't dare even think about it. Got it? Don't underestimate me."
She punched the ground again, sending stones flying with the shockwave, just to where he was. He had barely blocked the rubble and was still thrown back several meters.
She ran after him. He stood still, but evaded her direct hit at the last second. Speeding in for a counterattack. She barely moved out of the way in time, but he was already there, grabbing her wrist. Then, as he was trying to use her arm as a lever to twist her to the ground, he caught her gaze. As he stared, he made her come to a halt and she felt a weird feeling wash over her. Knowing almost immediately that he had cast a Genjutsu, she dispelled it easily. This was nothing challenging. She felt him twist her around in an attempt to pin her to the ground and quickly substituted herself. He had not even attempted to break her wrist.
She saw that he was breathing hard, gritting his teeth. He also seemed a shade paler than when they had started out. But he had shifted back into a fighting stance, making hand seals at a rapid speed, keeping a keen eye on her. Another Genjutsu. This time it had taken her a tad longer, also because he had mainly manipulated her hearing. She'd never encountered a Genjutsu like that before. Naruto's voice had sounded quite convincing, it hadn't tipped her off. The only thing that had, was a slight change in her chakra flow, it was still astonishing her, how aware she was of her own chakra. Awareness came of course with controlling said chakra, but she had been told multiple times that her grasp on it was extraordinary, which had made it possible for her to become one of the best medics alive.
She brushed it aside, dispelling the illusion easily, but when she had to do so for a third time she was starting to wonder… The fourth time, she started getting rather annoyed. Didn't he get it? Genjutsu wasn't going to work on her! Yes, he had tried different things, different levels, but it seemed that he hadn't caught the root problem as her ability to detect it. Instead of feeling flattered that he had a hard time figuring her out, it left a bitter taste in her mouth. She needed to know if he could protect himself.
She noticed his breathing was unnaturally hard for having only tried to trap her in illusions repeatedly. And he was grasping his arm, which somehow gave her the impression that he looked like he was in pain. But he was already shifting into a stance again, creating hand seals, so she ignored her thoughts, focussing on the fight.
00000
The gates of Konoha were reaching towards the sky imposingly and Sai was glad to see them. The young man had made it back close to record time, having lost any interest in drawing outside these walls after his unexpected run-in with Tatakai's brother. With the elder Uchiha.
He reported his arrival to the guards and they let him pass. Walking through the streets, he pondered over his report. He would have to report the run-in with these ninjas too, though he already knew that he couldn't go into detail after the Weasel ANBU had made clear that it was Danzo's business. When he arrived, he waited for an audience with the Hokage.
Ever since he had become a member of Team Seven, all his missions had been approved by the Hokage. There was a simple reason for it, too. Danzo had a lot of ninja slaves and units that weren't on the Hokage's radar. It was much easier to send them on an unsanctioned mission than someone, who was involved with a team that the Hokage personally was invested with. Danzo had gotten his way with getting Sai into the Team, but the price for it was that Sai primarily would answer the Hokage and not him anymore. Danzo could request him, and did so, but Tsunade always knew about it.
Of course both sides knew that he was a spy, reporting Danzo on a regular basis. But neither of them knew exactly how much information was transferred. And while Sai still let Danzo believe that he was his faithful slave, he didn't report nearly as much as he could have, withholding information whenever he safely could do so. He didn't know if he really fooled the man, but he knew that Danzo couldn't easily replace his position in the team, therefore he felt relatively safe.
Finally he was called in and bowed in front of the head of the village.
"Tsunade-sama, the mission was a success. I already wrote my report on the way back. Here." He handed her the scroll and then went on giving her a summarized version of the mission progress and what he had learned, all the while keeping Danzo's requested details to himself. However, he did inform the Hokage about the run-in he had as well as he could.
"There is something else I need to report… On my way back I, by chance, met two individuals. They wore dark cloaks with a stylistical red cloud pattern. I assume it is some kind of organisation. I recognized one as Sakura's slave's brother and spoke with him. Originally the brothers were from Konoha. I'm not sure where the brother's loyalties lie, but he made it clear that he is loyal to his brother..."
"Tell me his exact words."
"I can't." Sai stared at her impassively and she realized that to find out anything more, her best chance would be to ask indirectly. She'd had to do it before, and had some practice in it, therefore, but it was always a bit of a lucky gamble to hit a good question. An idea flashed through her already (plus she still needed to brief him of Shikamaru's mission to unravel the mystery Tatakai presented). She would keep that in mind for after questioning.
"If they're from Konoha, do you know which Clan they derive from?"
"Yes."
Her eyes widened in surprise, she hadn't thought that that question would actually get her an answer. If Shikamaru was right, they would be Uchiha (he hadn't reported that he was wrong yet, which made her suspect that he was, indeed, right). And if that was true, then they must have lived hiding their identity. Therefore, she had expected it highly unlikely that Sai had found out, so she was all the more surprised that he sounded so sure. It was worth trying to get confirmation on it later.
"You've mentioned two individuals? What about the other one?"
"I thought I'd seen his face before, and hence checked with my Bingo Book. It was Hoshigaki Kisame of the Hidden Mist. I however wasn't quite finished with my report, there is one more thing I can mention." Tsunade made a sign for him to continue and Sai did.
"The brother asked me to pass a message to Tataki: To make it his mission to protect Naruto from him."
An order for Tatakai? A message that the other must have known would be reported back to her?
She had recognized the organisation when Kakashi had reported it already, another Akatsuki sighting, a newly identified member, Hoshigaki Kisame. And a tip, a carefully placed intel, a warning!... That was unexpected. She really needed to confirm or deny the affiliation of the clan she suspected, if the man Sai had spoken to had told the truth at all. Sai had sounded pretty convinced though.
"Have any of them attacked or threatened you?"
"Doujutsu based, yes. Determined my loyalties and intentions, told me the messages, then knocked me out."
Doujutsu, an eye technique, that also spoke for the Uchiha-theory.
"So you met an Uchiha." She stated, matter of factly. Sai's reaction of course was minimal, the surprise quickly masked, but she had seen it and it answered her question well enough. She'd think about this after he had left.
"I have issued Shikamaru with a mission upon request. He is mission-leader and the mission is about Sakura's slave intentions and identity. Therefore, please report what you can to him also. Tatakai is to not-know about this mission nor anyone's involvement in it, Sakura is also only minimally involved. Alright, I need to think about these new components. I'll call you back here if needed, for now you're dismissed."
Sai bowed, then left to give Danzo his report and pass on his message.
00000
He had underestimated the impact of cultivated chakra. He'd only felt it briefly before, never like this. The ache had spread all over. Digging his skin, screaming. She had pitted him against his limitations and he was paying for failing to meet her expectations.
He had thought to be accustomed to pain before. Being a Shinobi usually heightened one's pain tolerance; so compared to a civilian, the pain he could endure without breaking a sweat was much higher. It was how he had managed to live throughout his years of slavery, how he had gotten through relatively unscathed so far.
It had never been this bad though. He hadn't had a ninja as owner, not since the day he'd been captured. He had forgotten how it was. Those first days as a slave had been overwhelming on every level and he had thought that the intense sensations back then merely had been him adjusting to the new subjugation. He'd been wrong, he realized. It hadn't primarily been due to him getting used to the slave seals properties, but rather due to his owner's chakra, and he had never expected it to be like this. Eating him up like acid, burning. Making it harder than ever to focus, to fight. The relief that taking action brought, was hardly worth the effort. And the increase of pain over time as she grew more and more displeased, didn't allow him to get numb either.
The seal had been activated and he didn't know how much more he could take. He could not do what she asked for. He was stuck, no matter what he did, he'd push one ban or another and suffer for it. This wasn't about her skill in battle, she was probably holding back, too. This wasn't about him hiding his identity. It wasn't about winning. It had all turned into pain with no escape.
And he knew, she didn't even realize what she had done… what she was doing right now. Her mindless comments had made this fight living hell. Again he moved through hand seals. The action had become instinctual. He couldn't think clearly. He was running, the action bringing the pain a tad down… or was it only distracting? His vision swam, the aim was off. He was doing worse. Why did Genjutsu not work on her? It would have been so much easier… so much less painful…
He was panting. Having come to a halt again, he leaned on his sword to keep balance in his crouched footing. He noticed himself shaking. Dammit. He turned his head to locate the Kunoichi, barely hearing anything. His ears were singing. The view was limited and he did not know where Sakura had gone to. Desperately he scrambled to his feet, but he had barely started when his vision turned black and his limbs refused to work.
Sasuke twitched in the dirt.
00000
Far away, a brother was sitting on his bed in an Akatsuki hideout close to Konoha. They had made it there in record time and he needed rest. A run-in with some hunter-nin had been an unpleasant annoyance, and while he had let Kisame deal with most of them, the running still had taken a toll on his lungs. He felt like shit, though lately he'd felt like that all the time. He'd need to restock his cough suppressant, and the little amount of painkillers he allowed himself only took off the bare edge. More would interfere with his skill, and he couldn't allow that. He was waiting right now for the painkillers to kick in, breathing shallow and feeling sore.
His brother had reappeared. The years of fruitless searching had an end. It had to be the real thing, he believed Sai's story. The shinobi had been consistent with his answers and what he said fit Sasuke.
It was frustrating. All these years he'd imagined meeting his brother again, hearing of him somewhere, freeing him. But now that he finally heard of him for real, he was on a mission and about to pretend to capture Konoha's Jinchuuriki. And his brother was back in Konoha where he actually had a chance of a decent life, slavery or not. He couldn't take Sasuke away again. He didn't want to take Sasuke away again. But he'd make sure his little brother was safe and could build up a life without him.
Just a bit longer. He had to hold on to life just a bit longer. He owed his little brother at least that much.
A/N: Soooo, a bit of a cliffy, sorry.
also worth mentioning: one Year working on this fic! Tomorrow this story is officially one year old.
Thank you all that followed and faved this story so far, your support means a lot to me, I'd love to hear what you think as well. A special thanks to fugitivus for your review, and BribriG for your encouraging words. I'm trying my best.
All those who have been silently reading though, if you want me to keep on writing and updating regularly, give me some feedback to work with! Writing so much and on such a complex level is a huge time investment, and the lack of response is a bit sad. So I might put this on the backburner for a while if this keeps up. My life is very busy and updating regularly is exhausting.