The Tale That Has Yet To End

by Porticulis

A stranger telling unlikely tales around a campfire to a bemused and above all, yaoi loving Tsunade, and she's glowing hotter than the flames.

The Tale That Has Yet To End- The Stranger's Tale

A womanly giggle distracted the campfire so badly it threatened to hide in the pile of logs till the woman stopped laughing in that licentious manner and desisted in making it blush a deeper shade of crimson than it should naturally be.

"That was bad." Tsunade remarked gleefully a slightly drunken smile on her glossy lips and she lowered her full breasts to cuddle the damp earth.

The campfire set her hazel eyes in a fiery gleam. The same campfire that separated the Fifth from the cloaked and straw hat- visored stranger seated opposite her. His dark reflection glittered in her eyes.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." He replied in a low, velvety voice.

She laughed, high and flirtatious.

"Sets an old woman's heart ablaze, among -other- things." She murmured, her words challenging the youthful lustre of her skin.

He returned her good humour with a soft chuckle of his own.

"You flatter me Hokage- sama. You are a wonderful audience." He complimented with a slow nod.

Tsunade's return smile glowed hotter than the flames before them.

"One wonders why I'm your only audience, why, I received such a special invitation, in such an . . . isolated place."

The mysterious man chuckled easily under her intent gaze, his chin hidden in the shadows of his dark robe.

"I just needed someone to listen to my stories. You were most kind to oblige."

"So you said." Tsunade replied simply, her smile fixed on her burning lips.

He nodded. And shifted his legs, hugging them close to his chest and added casually.

"Want to hear another story?"

Tsunade's smile deepened.

"Is it as true as the last one?" She queried eyes mischievous as she leaned the weight of her head of fair hair on her palm.

"Yes." He replied a smirk surfacing somewhere in his tone.

They shared the next bout of rich, silken laughter.

"So shall I proceed?" He asked and nodded when she nodded.

"This story, like the previous ones, involves people you might know already. There is this Jounin, Uchiha Itachi. He used to come from your village."

The man paused but Tsunade only watched him silently.

"He's a renegade. An S level wanted man. He murdered his entire clan I believe."

Once again, only that steady gaze.

"There is this other man. Hatake Kakashi. Another Jounin. Talented just like Itachi. They've met once if I'm not wrong recently, in Konoha."

He paused again but her smile lingered in silent attention. Privately flattered by this he decided to return her the gesture and launch fully into the telling of the tale.

72 Hours Plus Plus . . . Kakashi and Itachi's Tale.

Itachi . . . never thought, I'd meet you here again . . . but nevertheless . . . I've been waiting for this moment for far too long . . .

Ox, Dog, Dragon, Rat, Dragon, Boar, Serpent, Tiger!

Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!

Shurikens filled the air, a dark whirling cloud of death shuttling towards a seemingly sleeping forest.

"Doton, Doryuuheiki!"

Mud spewed forth from the bark of a tree that transformed into the likeliness of the renegade S Class Shinobi before the mud rose as a solid wall that blocked the onslaught of metal stars.

From behind the wall, Itachi laughed softly.

"Ordinary Genjutsu truly cannot fool Kakashi, even one performed by me."

Kakashi watched the shuriken peppered earth wall dispassionately.

"What's the point of protecting a Kage Bunshin?" he muttered, his uncovered Sharingan eye swirling to either corner.

An audible explosion of smoke emanated and the earth wall crumbled to the forest floor.

Shurikens sailed from behind, five dark blades slicing swiftly into Kakashi . . . that promptly exploded in a puff of smoke into a log.

Itachi stepped virtually out of thin air. He looked down at the log casually noting his handiwork.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu or . . . "

When the log transformed into a dark whirling whirlwind of kunai- armed Kakashi, Itachi didn't even blink as the kunai slammed into his raised wrist- protector.

" . . . Henge no Jutsu?" Itachi finished calmly.

Kakashi panted harshly, wincing slightly as he forced the shurikens out with his chakra. Bloodied blades thudded in the dust.

"Very daring." Itachi complimented.

"Learned it from Konoha's most surprising ninja." Kakashi replied with a grim smile.

Itachi granted his opponent a small grin and then . . .

"Mangekyou Sharingan!"

"!"

"Kakashi . . . it's over . . ."

"Uchiha . . . Itachi . . ."

Kakashi's swimming vision saw only Itachi's eyes, swirling madly before him.

"Don't tell me . . ." he whispered weakly.

"Tsukuyomi!"

The world froze crimson and ran crazily backwards. When he came to, Kakashi found himself tied to a wooden post in a world of black and red, not unlike an experience he had only a couple of years back. Itachi stood before him, coloured in the mad palette of the world of Tsukuyomi, the Uchiha Clan's ultimate Genjutsu.

Hatake Kakashi smiled despite the cold sense of dread churning in his guts.

"Swords again, or something else this time?"

Itachi closed his eyes briefly and sighed.

"Kakashi, I really don't want to have to kill you but you are persistently getting in my way."

Kakashi smiled sadly beneath his cloth mask.

"I guess it's just my luck, eh?"

Itachi met his gaze and spoke solemnly.

"The last time, swords only hurt you but didn't stop you. This time . . . I'm sorry Kakashi, I'm going to have to scar you."

Kakashi gazed silently back at Itachi.

"Is that so."

Itachi took a step closer to Kakashi, expression hardly changing.

"Just enough to make sure you don't interfere anymore."

Kakashi scoffed despite his growing panic.

"It won't be as easy as you think."

Itachi nodded grimly.

"I know it won't be. It took a lot of planning to decide what to do for the next 72 hours."

Kakashi never realised his intestines were so mobile.

"Itachi . . . what are you planning to do?"

Itachi uncharacteristically scowled and nearly whined his next sentence.

"This is your fault not mine. He had to come up with this stupid plan . . . but it's the only one I have . . ."

Kakashi blinked in honest surprise, taken aback by the sudden abnormal behaviour.

"Eh?"

Itachi raged, face flushing visibly even in the current colour malfunction.

"This is just to make sure you're emotionally scarred to my presence! And to make you more susceptible to my Genjutsu!"

Kakashi tried in vain to lean out of the sudden sound blast.

"What's with you?" he questioned, thoroughly baffled.

Itachi seemed to suddenly realise his agitation and hastily achieved a fairly believable mask of composure.

"Let it begin then." He murmured as sombrely as he could while blushing furiously.

Kakashi's eyes grew wide as a dense fog of red and black misted over his body and his shirt disintegrated into nothingness.

"Kakashi . . ." Itachi began, fingers twitching.

"For the next 72 hours, that dense fog which is a cloud of microscopic replicas of me, will exert pressure against your body . . ."

His eyebrows were having trouble keeping still now. Kakashi frowned in confusion and gulped in fear at the same time.

"Stimulating every corpuscle of those pressure receptors on every nerve ending in your body . . ."

Kakashi's eyes bulged.

"You mean . . ."

"Yes Kakashi, for the next 72 hours you're . . ."

"Going to be put through sexual teasing . . . from you?"

Itachi ground his teeth.

"You think you're so funny don't you?"

Kakashi barked his laughter scornfully.

"One, I'm not that kind of guy. Two, I'm not interested in you. Three, how exactly is this meant to be torture?"

This time Itachi smiled smugly.

"I wonder how long someone without the advanced bloodline and who tires easily from the use of Sharingan can stand such exertions."

Kakashi's smile froze.

"You can't possibly even dream of arousing me." He remarked flatly.

"I am not gay!" Itachi seethed and then suddenly self- aware, looked away abashed.

"It's your nerve endings, they can't tell the difference." He mumbled into the hem of his cloak.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow, puzzled.

"Well I'll just hang around bored for the next 72 hours." The Jounin sighed at last.

Itachi shrugged half- heartedly.

"Whatever." He mumbled and went aside a bit to sulk.

"Stupid shark face." Kakashi heard Itachi mutter and the Jounin chuckled to himself.

Looks like I got lucky this time.

He hummed softly to himself and leaned back against the post and waited patiently. The mist tightened about his body and he flinched as he willed away a ticklish caress that sighed across his chest and stomach. His abdominal muscles clenched involuntarily as the sigh of tactile gentleness undulated across the front of his bare torso. Kakashi arched his back and shifted to his side uncomfortably as the prickling sense of being brushed by tiny insistent fingers sent probing tendrils to his sides and arms.

'Damn it.' Kakashi thought frantically to himself as he squirmed so blatantly that Itachi was beginning to turn around.

He laughed nervously as Itachi turned wide curious eyes to him.

"Itachi . . . where will this lead to? Why not let's just call it quits and settle the score . . . ahah . . . another day . . ."

Itachi swept his gaze about the twitching muscles on Kakashi's bare skin and grinned slowly.

"Shark face isn't that stupid after all." He murmured as he sauntered over cockily.

"Eheheh . . ." Kakashi laughed apologetically as he looked down and winced as an involuntary shudder ran down his spine.

"Mhm." Itachi replied simply, grinning wider.

"I- Itachi- san . . ." he began in a wheedling tone.

"No." Itachi replied flatly with a bright smile.

"Ahh . . . thought so . . ." Kakashi visibly deflated and a spasm shook his body as a grimace flashed across his flushing face.

Kakashi gasped, shocked. He didn't even notice Itachi snicker. He couldn't ignore the caresses that hugged his sides and nestled the gentle inward curve of his stomach. Worse was the prickling, tickling sensation running teasingly from chest to chest, nipple to nipple. Then there was the gentle stroking behind his ears and against his earlobes that was making him feel so . . . so comfortable. He felt like snuggling something while miserably aware of how the rest of his body was jerking uncomfortably from the attention of what he pictured as millions of chibified Itachis playing with every nerve ending on his body. It wasn't erotic, thank goodness for that, it was . . . uncomfortable.

"Spare me." He croaked sincere this time as he writhed.

Itachi looked solemnly at Kakashi and sighed.

"Sorry Kakashi, even though you requested . . ."

Kakashi grimaced as he shuddered again.

"Itachi . . . hold me."

Itachi blinked not believing his ears.

"Please." Kakashi whispered so weakly that a pang of pity struck Itachi for a moment that he stepped a little closer.

"What is it?" he asked softly.

"It's a bit . . . uncomfortable." Kakashi murmured in reply and then shook his head.

"Sorry. I shouldn't be saying this. It's not very Shinobi- like."

Itachi watched the confused and frowning expression against Kakashi's brow.

"It's . . . not exactly Shinobi- like for me to do this either." Itachi conceded.

Kakashi smiled weakly and winced again.

The renegade twisted his mouth a little and gingerly placed his hands on Kakashi's shoulders. Kakashi tried to wrench his eyes open but the level of discomfort was nigh unbearable. Itachi watched impassively for a moment before finally sighing and coming a little closer so that Kakashi could rest his bare body on Itachi's clothed one and dismissed the assault on Kakashi's front torso, sending them to his back and nape instead. Kakashi leaned gratefully against Itachi.

"Thank you." He gasped, battling the sensations teasing up his spine.

"I'm just doing this to assuage my guilt." Itachi replied matter- of- factly and frowned when Kakashi trembled.

"Don't fight it so much, I was told you'd enjoy it for the first hour at least."

"Who . . . ever to- told you that . . . was a psycho . . ." Kakashi barely managed to gasp out.

Itachi pictured the sharp smile of his partner- in- crime and did have to admit privately that Kakashi had a point.

"Well some of the areas he mentioned did sound a bit dubious." Itachi hazarded.

Kakashi didn't reply but shook again, almost convulsing. Itachi bit his lip. Maybe he should have followed the instructions to the letter but to stimulate that particular area . . .it made Itachi want to bathe himself just thinking about it. Itachi absentmindedly stroked Kakashi's hair as he debated whether to do it after all.

Kakashi, mildly startled, turned puzzled to his captor.

"Y-yes?" he asked tremulously, teeth chattering from the effort of resisting the torturous sensations running up his sides.

"There's something I'm going to try, it's not supposed to make you feel like this and it isn't my intention to put you through unnecessary torture." Itachi replied gently.

Kakashi wanted to ask Itachi to just stop this entire Genjutsu but leaned into his cloaked shoulder for comfort instead, finally unable to resist the weakness.

"Kakashi . . . " Itachi whispered, stunned.

It must be really bad for the famous Copy Ninja to be rendered so weak as stoop to seeking comfort from his captor. Itachi frowned slightly and lowered his palm to Kakashi's abdomen, his thoughts probing inwards.

The prostate that's what Kisame had said, with a killer sneer. He had added that he only wished he could watch. 'Pervert', Itachi had chided with a mild glare and Kisame had only laughed and teased back with a sneered 'Virgin'. To which Itachi had asked why Kisame was so well versed in these arts. Kisame's reply was a very disturbing calculating look and a whispered, 'Do you really want to know?' and a roar of laughter from the old shark. So anyway, the prostate, Itachi concentrated on that, his fingers willing the gentle pressure into place, his head leaning in instinctively, cheek brushing against Kakashi's coldly sweating one.

Kakashi shuddered, warmth flooding him with shivering pleasure. Whatever it was Itachi had done, he wanted to be touched that way again. And it didn't stop there, the waves of pleasure swept on the shore of his body like an endless tide, sweeping all the discomforts away and leaving him cold and sweaty when they abated. His breaths quickened and he moaned without intending to when he exhaled next, right into Itachi's ear. Itachi smiled a little distantly and drew a little back. Kakashi growled softly and tried to pull Itachi back with his chin. Itachi resisted for a moment and gave in. There was no where else to go anyway.

Kakashi shuddered again and his lids fell over his eyes peacefully as if he listened to some inner tune that soothed every part of him. He smiled behind his mask, and murmured softly.

"Itachi, thank you."

Itachi's eyes narrowed ever so slightly and an odd tightness constricted his chest. Kisame's words rang hauntingly clear in his ears.

This method is very useful if you think about it, much more effective than your sword method. If it's all about the mind not being able to handle the strain well, let the mind self- destruct.

How to let it self- destruct you ask? It's simple, you make it want to strain itself. The brain's half conscious and half instinct. Most of the time the instinct runs the body while the conscious tags along for the ride and handles the stresses and strains involved.

So if it logically follows that you can invoke the instinct to carry the conscious mind down a journey that will wear it dangerously down, you will achieve a 'self- destruct sequence activation' hahaha . . .

If you stimulate these areas I've mentioned you should be able to achieve the, ahah, desired effect. When that time comes, as each climax wears him down substantially, I'd be surprised if he lasts beyond the fourth hour let alone 72 hahaha . . .

"Sorry, Kakashi." Itachi whispered too softly for the silver- haired Jounin to catch.

The surging sensations weighed too powerfully for his frame and Kakashi was compelled to shake again. A powerful pleasure that had risen to a crescendo of pain but a pain that promised such release. Sweat poured freely from Kakashi's brow and he panted a barely concealed moan into the moist fabric of his mask and shuddered again. He knew he stirred beyond the folds of his clothes and was suddenly embarrassed to be so close to Itachi and yet . . . he felt better for the contact and was loathe to lose the solid support of his strong shoulders and firm chest. He trembled and gasped. This was getting . . . too much to handle . . . A clear, low moan escaped him and turned his flushing cheeks scarlet.

"I- Itachi . . . "

Itachi turned to peer curiously into disconcerted eyes.

"Kakashi?"

"I- " Kakashi began weakly and then his face froze.

Itachi blinked in surprise and then felt the fine tremor in the man's body.

"Damn it." Kakashi hissed as he buried his head into Itachi's nape.

Itachi stood in mild confusion, aware of the growing tremors and the sudden jerks in the Jounin's body. At length Kakashi sighed softly into Itachi's neck hairs, tickling them. Itachi shrugged the shoulder Kakashi leaned on.

"Feeling better?" he queried.

"Aa." Kakashi murmured a little wearily but already he felt the persistent tide of deep pleasure sweep over every inch of his flesh from the inside.

Itachi felt Kakashi stir and tremble again against him and guessed that Kisame's plan was working just as the shark had expected. Kakashi was no slower in catching on despite the distractions.

"It's a good plan." He croaked, shaking needfully against Itachi.

Itachi said nothing even as Kakashi's chin dipped and gripped his shoulder even more tightly. Kakashi panted heavily, the sensations racing faster about him and clouding his face in sweat and heat. He quivered for a few painful minutes before slumping once more against his captor.

"71 hours and 59 minutes left." Itachi whispered as Kakashi trembled once more.

"I control time and space in the world of Tsukuyomi." Itachi went on almost mechanically, eyes expressionless as Kakashi stifled a moan.

Itachi shut his eyes trying not to pay attention to the shaking and the strangled pants.

He gauged that an hour had passed in the Genjutsu world when Kakashi's sweat had fully soaked the cloak the Jounin's head rested on. The silver- haired man was not moving save for the frequent trembling. He wasn't making a sound.

"70 hours more." Itachi murmured.

Half an hour passed.

Kakashi was breathing so hard and heavily that Itachi thought for a moment that he sobbed. When the renegade leaned his cheek ever so slightly to touch the tip of Kakashi's ear, he felt the burning warmth of the Jounin's flesh. He shut his eyes as Kakashi hastily swallowed a whimper.

Forty- five minutes later.

Kakashi's screams were low and coarse, like the roaring of a tortured beast. He thrashed weakly against his binds and half the time his sobbing gasps choked his cries. Itachi stood woodenly beside him, an unmoving pillar against the writhing form before him. Kakashi choked on another cry and fell suddenly silent, laying his head tremulously on Itachi's shoulder and whimpering softly. Itachi heard the grinding of teeth of stop and turned his head to Kakashi. He could see the darker stain of blood forming where Kakashi's lips were hidden on the cloth mask.

"It's only a Genjutsu." He murmured into Kakashi's ear.

Kakashi's chest heaved laboriously and his brows twitched but the Jounin showed no sign of acknowledgement.

Twenty minutes later.

Itachi stared blankly at Kakashi as he carefully dabbed at the sweat glistening off Kakashi's brow. Already the cloth of the head protector was soaked damp and dark. He hadn't spoken and he hadn't moved, Kakashi just breathed hard and fast, hard and fast.

Half an hour passed.

He guessed it had been a mistake to stand so close to a victim that his blood could soak your shoulder. Kakashi had bitten that deeply into his lip. Though it was merely an illusion but the scent of blood filled Itachi's nostrils with a coppery stench. It didn't stop him from tentatively leaning closer a little to feel the steadiness of Kakashi's heartbeat.

Ten minutes later.

Itachi could sense the consciousness of Kakashi slipping for the sixth time. The last time Kakashi had regained consciousness he had choked back a cry of frustration and shook violently against Itachi. Itachi had subtly increased the pace of time passing in his Genjutsu world for the fourth time then. Kakashi's chin dug feverishly into his shoulder. He was going to faint again soon.

"Itachi." Kakashi croaked hoarsely much to Itachi's surprise.

"What is it?" He whispered back softly.

"Thank you for . . . holding me."

Itachi swallowed back the tightness.

"Trying to make me feel guilty?"

Kakashi didn't respond. Couldn't respond. Itachi watched his unconscious face and narrowed his eyes.

"I control time and space here." He murmured.

Frozen crimson skies rushed crazily and the black and red lights faded. Itachi's mind drew fully back into the real world, Kakashi limp against his shoulder. The renegade Shinobi's lids quivered.

"Too much chakra usage." He gasped and fell heavily to the forest floor, Kakashi falling heavily on top of him.

"It's . . . over?" Itachi heard Kakashi rasp.

"Aa." Itachi replied simply and Kakashi released a shuddering sigh of relief.

Then the Jounin slumped unconsciously against Itachi whose lids hovered dangerously over his eyes. He had spent too much effort in conjuring up this unfamiliar method of applying Tsukuyomi. Just a little bit of sleep to regain his stamina and then . . .

When Itachi next regained consciousness, his lips were gently pushed apart, a sensation of warmth suffusing them. Warm and moist, a tongue slid against Itachi's and the renegade brushed the Jounin's cheek without opening his eyes. When Kakashi drew back Itachi blindly ran his fingers down Kakashi's bare chest, feeling every anxious twitch in the man's muscles.

"I thought you're not that type of guy." Itachi asked softly as he felt movement above him.

A soft kiss on his right lid.

"I'm not."

And another for his left lid.

"But then, I thought neither were you?" Kakashi murmured and Itachi breathed in sharply as he felt a light brush above his tented crotch.

Itachi rolled his head to his side, his right cheek against the cold, damp earth.

Kakashi let his right hand stray upwards from Itachi's tell- tale arousal to reach beneath the renegade's tight- fitting t- shirt. Itachi's stomach tensed and drew away in vain from the touch, inviting the fingers only closer and further.

"Back there all I could think of was you there before me, holding me close." Kakashi whispered as his fingers climbed to Itachi's chest.

The silver- haired Jounin lowered himself to plant a light kiss on the side of Itachi's exposed neck.

"That was a mistake." Itachi whispered hoarsely in reply.

Kakashi sent a trail of kisses leading to Itachi's chin and shut his eyes briefly as his fingers caught Itachi's right nipple and pinched hard. Itachi shook, hard.

"When I woke up, I still couldn't get you out of my mind." Kakashi murmured as he kissed the swell of Itachi's throat.

"Maybe the Genjutsu has influenced me somewhat?" Kakashi asked casually, rubbing Itachi's right nipple into his skin with a firm circular motion.

Itachi breathed shakily. His dark hair that fell towards the earth trembled with him. His lips quivered as he whispered hoarsely.

"I kept thinking of how you moaned when my thoughts touched you. How willingly you submitted to the sensations even as you fought them. Even as I slept I wondered if you were using my Genjutsu against me. Turning my attention against me."

He swallowed hard as his flesh grew more sensitive to those fingers rubbing insistent circles on his chest and shamelessly raised his neglected left chest beseechingly. Kakashi obligingly shifted his fingers and deftly pinched the aroused left nipple.

"I took off your coat while you were sleeping. That's all I'm guilty off." Kakashi whispered and bit into Itachi's neck, tugging it with the edges of his teeth.

Itachi bit back the cry and moaned deep in his throat as Kakashi soothed the bite with a hungry tongue.

"I want you." He breathed into the right ear Itachi freed when he pulled his head back in the rising tide of pain and pleasure.

"Take what you want." Itachi hissed back, his virgin flesh riding a one- way ticket to lustful wakefulness.

Kakashi paused and swallowed.

"Itachi. Can I kiss you there?"

"There?"

Kakashi slid hotly against Itachi, hands withdrawing from Itachi's reluctant flesh. His hands rested against Itachi's waist, his lips brushed the tight crotch. Itachi knew what he meant.

"Please." He whispered, barely audible.

Kakashi's fingers rose to Itachi's buckle and undid it hurriedly. Itachi responded to the urgency and raised his hips, proffering to Kakashi's lips that kissed the line of the zip even as it drew apart in his tugging hands. The boxers rose from underneath the tugged off pants and Kakashi placed his lips by its pulsing hot length. Itachi blushed in the darkness that had crept about him as he slept. His eyes remained tightly shut. He could barely breathe when he felt the weight of the elastic band of his boxers lifted and pulled down his thighs. Cold air burned against his prickling arousal.

Kakashi peered at it from half- opened eyes. A glistening bead crested the dark, crimson, smooth head. Kakashi leaned down, eyes falling shut and tongue reaching out. He tasted the slightly salty, smooth texture of precum and ran its taste fully across the roof of his mouth. Itachi shook unbelievingly beneath him. The sweep of Kakashi's moist tongue shuddered an aching wakefulness in his groin.

Kakashi swallowed and lowered his lips for the promised kiss. It trembled against his lips, heat burning against him. He let his tongue slip out and tasted it. Itachi gasped, shuddering. He hadn't expected the tongue just then.

'Does it tickle?' Kakashi wondered, slightly nervous.

But Itachi didn't protest. It must be alright then. Emboldened by this, he licked the second glistening bead that had formed. Itachi opened his lips mutely, his throat constricted tightly. When Kakashi lowered his lips next he wrapped them about Itachi's throbbing head to the latter's trembling delight. Eyes shut, Kakashi ran his tongue about the sizzling flesh he had in his mouth and Itachi's head whipped harshly to his side, his brows knitted closely together. Kakashi gripped the base of Itachi's member and felt the soft prickle of wild hair against the side of his palm. It pulsed strongly in his grip and he gingerly tightened it. He met the low moan of Itachi's approval. Kakashi carefully extended a finger to sweep across the hard shaft, warmth pulsing into his touch. Instinctively, he lowered his lips to coat the entire head and ran his tongue fully about it, attempting to wrap it. Itachi cried out softly, frightened and thrilled. His heart pounded painfully in his chest. His temples throbbed. Kakashi's nostrils were filled with the musky scent of Itachi's manhood. He felt overpowered by it, his head dizzy with the loss of blood from his yet untended shuriken wounds and the rushing excitement.

"Kakashi . . . I'm not feeling good." Itachi rasped.

Kakashi released his kiss, his fingers gently running along Itachi's shaft.

"What's wrong?" the Jounin queried anxiously.

The renegade shook his head and his lips trembled. Kakashi relinquished his grip and slid upward hugging Itachi's sides as his nervousness churned in his stomach.

Itachi turned away embarrassed with the attention.

"Nothing." He mumbled.

Kakashi blinked twice and then gingerly leaned inwards and hesitated.

"You don't . . . " he paused voice quavering.

"Am I doing something wrong?" He said finally, more than a little afraid.

Itachi swallowed and shrugged his shoulders.

"I wouldn't know." He replied softly.

"Then I . . . made you feel uncomfortable?" Kakashi pursued uncertainly.

Itachi remained silent head turned away, eyes closed tightly. Kakashi paused then rallied his courage and lifted himself up to face Itachi and looked at his tightly shut lids.

"Look at me." He whispered.

Itachi's lips trembled slightly but his lids remained shut.

"Please look at me." Kakashi insisted.

Itachi sighed, his body shuddering as he did so.

"You detest me?" Kakashi pressed.

Itachi snapped his eyes open and glared at Kakashi.

"What do you want from me?" he hissed as Kakashi leaned away from the sudden lash of anger.

"Why are you doing this? Do you really expect me to believe you want me? What is it? Why?" Itachi demanded, voice trembling in rage.

"I want . . . " Kakashi began and grimaced before he could finish, pain contorting his face.

"What's wrong?" Itachi questioned, eyes darting wildly about Kakashi's body as he got up on his elbows.

Kakashi sat back and shook his head, dismissing the concern. Itachi frowned and took both of Kakashi's arms in his hands and checked them. They seemed fine. He touched Kakashi's chest. The heartbeat seemed slightly irregular.

"Chest aches?" He asked, fixing Kakashi with his eyes.

Kakashi looked away, frowning.

"Don't have to ask. I don't want anything from you."

Itachi cocked an eyebrow and then his eyes widened in realisation.

"Turn around." He commanded.

Kakashi refused to even look at Itachi.

"I'm alright." He mumbled sulkily.

"Turn around." Itachi repeated unrelentingly.

Kakashi glanced sideways at Itachi.

"Why should I?"

Itachi growled and wrapped his arms about the stubborn Jounin.

"Ita-!" Kakashi was cut off with a wince.

"I knew it." Itachi confirmed darkly.

Kakashi winced again as Itachi fingered the shuriken wounds.

"It hurts alright?" Kakashi snapped irritably.

Itachi rounded on Kakashi.

"So why didn't you tend to it?" he demanded, drawing away from the grumpy Jounin and glaring harshly at him.

Kakashi merely glowered. Itachi sighed in resignation.

"Just turn around and let me treat it. I'm familiar with basic healing jutsu." He said finally.

"Don't need your concern, thank you very much." Kakashi mumbled, looking away.

Itachi calmed himself down.

"I shouldn't have accused you of wanting something from me." He apologised looking contrite.

Kakashi glanced at the renegade Shinobi and sighed. He got unsteadily to his feet and Itachi mirrored him.

"Going?" Itachi asked a little guiltily.

"Let me treat your wounds first?" he offered.

Kakashi looked for a few moments at his feet and then began to unbuckle his pants.

"Kakashi?" Itachi asked confused and apprehensive as Kakashi pulled both his pants and his boxers down and straightened up fully naked before him.

Itachi stared at the semi- hard Kakashi and realised he was staring and looked away embarrassed.

Kakashi stepped forward and grasped Itachi's left hand with his right.

"What are you doing?" Itachi protested and froze as the Jounin pulled his hand over the base of his member, dark hair prickling both their hands.

Kakashi guided Itachi's fingers till they gripped about the base of his shaft and tightened his grip over Itachi's hand.

"Harder." Kakashi commanded.

Itachi gripped harder mind gone past the point of thinking.

"Harder!" Kakashi barked.

Itachi's grip turned vice- like and he convulsively tugged forward, hard.

Kakashi gasped and stumbled against Itachi moaning softly as he rested his head on the renegade's shoulder.

"So- sorry!" Itachi mumbled, stunned.

"That hurt." Kakashi moaned.

"But it felt good." He added, raising his head.

"I just wanted to know if it hurt you back then when I did that to you." He explained, twin- coloured eyes glowing in the moonlight.

They stared at each other, both of them blushing.

"Er . . . not that I mind but . . . your hand . . . you can take it away now." Kakashi began awkwardly, cheeks scarlet.

Itachi dropped his hand away as if it burned which it did.

"Do you mind if I sit down, my knees are feeling a bit weak?" Kakashi muttered but froze as Itachi let his head fall against his bare chest.

"I was scared." Itachi confessed into the Jounin's firm chest, eyes staring vacantly.

Kakashi slowly raised his hands to squeeze Itachi's arms.

"So was I." Kakashi admitted.

"I've never done this before." He explained a little bashfully.

Itachi snorted in laughter and before Kakashi could take offence quickly kissed the Jounin. Kakashi stared wide- eyed into Itachi's peaceful face. When the renegade drew back he grinned wryly.

"Neither have I." Itachi replied and playfully grasped Kakashi's shaft making the Jounin's breath catch in his chest.

"Want to feel what the rest of it felt like?" He murmured, crimson eyes smouldering.

Kakashi grimaced.

"Did it really hurt bad?" he queried a little hesitantly.

Itachi chuckled and leaned forward, raising himself on his toes so that his lips caressed Kakashi's nose in a mock bite. When he drew back Kakashi looked completely mesmerised.

"Well you'll just have to find out first- hand, won't you?" Itachi breathed lustfully, sliding down, left hand gently stroking, lips parted and breath tickling hotly as he trailed downwards.

It wasn't long before Kakashi's knees gave in and after that, they were indistinct and inseparable shadows writhing rhythmically in the forest night.

Kisame didn't get it all right. Kakashi lasted a little after the 72 hours. 72 hours plus plus.

The End

The stranger looked up from the fire and gazed at the stars while Tsunade stared musingly at the flames.

"You know I don't think Kakashi would admit it happened even if I asked him." Tsunade said finally to her companion's mirth.

"Just take it as a story." He said laughingly.

Tsunade's eyes twinkled.

"I do wonder how you got to know it though." She wondered aloud.

The stranger only smiled.

She shrugged helplessly in the end.

"Oh I can't help it if you won't tell."

His next words were apologetic.

"There really isn't any way I could Hokage- sama."

He paused for a moment and then looked at her from beneath his hat.

"Would you be interested in another tale?"

Tsunade smirked and cocked her eyebrows challengingly.

"I'm game." She replied getting up smoothly, the flames illuminating the smoothness of her arms.

The stranger smiled in the shadows and watched the flames silently for a while.

"I won't be able to tell you how I got this story either," he began, eyes locked on the flame.

"It involves one of the legendary Sannin, a spy and a boy destined for a life of vengeance."

Tsunade propped her chin on her cupped hands.

"Orochimaru, Kabuto and Uchiha Sasuke?"

The stranger looked up and chuckled.

"That's exactly right."

He turned back to the fire and gazed distantly at it.

"My story begins in a secluded area in the corner of an unnamed forest. There, only candlelight wavers in the darkness and in the sputtering light, Kabuto is eavesdropping outside of Orochimaru's locked private chambers . . ."

Eavesdropping . . . Kabuto and Sasuke's story.

Kabuto stood silently, his glasses gleaming in the weak, sputtering candlelight. He seemed to stare ahead at the huge glass jars filled with obscure specimens but his eyes were vacant. His ears however hummed with an aura of chakra as he enhanced his hearing and listened in on the voices emanating from beyond the locked, wooden door of Orochimaru- sama's private chambers.

"Come Sasuke- kun, approach me."

The reluctant shuffling of feet and a sudden silence was broken in a split- second by the sound of someone patting something soft.

"Onto the mattress." Orochimaru's voice hissed pleasantly.

There was a pause of any sound. Sasuke hesitating? Most likely. Then, the sound of springs being pressed down.

"Tell me Sasuke- kun, how ready do you think you are to learn power from me?" Orochimaru queried sibilantly, his voice filled with the hint of dangerous smiles.

"Very." Sasuke said almost curtly, his deep voice carrying a very slight hint of pre- pubescent youth.

Orochimaru chuckled softly.

"Is that so."

A pause.

"Come onto my lap."

Sasuke was silent for a long time.

"Climb into my lap Sasuke- kun. Why have you grown so frightened all of a sudden?" Orochimaru hissed.

"I am not frightened." Sasuke countered a hint of anger in his tone.

Kabuto sighed. How far would he try Orochimaru- sama's patience? The doctor glanced at the floor his thoughts shifting to the possible intentions Orochimaru had.

Springs shifted and Orochimaru laughed softly.

"Good, very good."

A soft slither and a strangled, startled cry.

"Are you scared now?" Orochimaru asked a little thickly as he always did when he spoke with his long, prehensile tongue extended out.

"I fear nothing!" Sasuke spoke vehemently through gritted teeth but betrayed himself when he added in disgust. "Stop licking my arms!"

Orochimaru laughed.

"I can't bestow the power you want if you get frightened so easily." He continued thickly.

Sasuke was silent, with anger Kabuto assumed.

"The power to dissolve matter like these petty clothes you wear with mere thought . . ." Orochimaru trailed, toying.

Sasuke cried out alarmed as a faint sizzle quivered in the air and Kabuto raised his head sharply.

"What are you- ah!"

"Sasuke- kun . . . I will enjoy hearing you scream tonight . . ."

"What are you- stop! I said- "

Kabuto lowered his head as the screams echoed from the room. Quietly, Kabuto summoned his chakra back into his body.

"Orochimaru- sama . . . playing with the mouse again . . ."

Close to over an hour later.

The wooden door yawned open to reveal the clumsily redone bandages on Orochimaru's new vessel. His body steamed with rich heat but his eyes were cold and reptilian as they settled on Kabuto waiting patiently in the darkness.

"Orochimaru- sama." Kabuto acknowledged respectfully, face carefully blank.

"You heard everything?" Orochimaru hissed in a voice that coiled and sneered in the damp air of the underground chamber.

Kabuto's emotionless expression was a pale glow against the candlelight in the teeming shadows.

"Yes."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, their yellow gleam dull but the slender curve of his eyes framing them maliciously.

"I need you to check our Sasuke- kun. As a doctor." He hissed sibilantly, tone mockingly serious.

Kabuto's chin dipped almost imperceptibly.

"Yes." He replied simply.

Orochimaru smiled beneath the bandages.

"I'll be back in an hour or so. I need a walk in some fresh air." He croaked in a bemused voice and shuffled slowly toward the stone steps, movements sinuously graceful.

Kabuto stood silently and waited for the echoes of each slithering step to fade into the wall of shadow the stairway climbed into before he allowed his shoulders to fall. Slowly and thoughtfully, he turned his head over his right shoulder, spectacles- framed vision boring with seeming sight into the dark walls that Sasuke lay beyond. On Orochimaru- sama's bed, he'd imagine.

He'd imagine bitterly. But he suppressed the emotion ruthlessly. His twisted smile returned to its placid, unaffected line. He shuffled quietly towards a corner of the room where his pre- laid tin bowl of steaming water, a packet of cotton swabs and a palm- sized, glossy black, red- corked medicinal bottle sat. He would do his job and get over it. He wouldn't let the boy know how angry he made him.

He lifted the tin bowl carefully in his left palm and grasped the medicinal bottle and the packet of cotton swabs in his free hand. Light, brighter than that of the candle spilled from Orochimaru- sama's bedroom, the door left open by the master ere he parted.

Kabuto breathed in deeply and stepped lightly to the door, the frames of his glasses glinting as he came into the light.

"Go away." Harsh and muffled, the snarl emanated from a Sasuke whose head of glossy dark hair tumbled untamed over the pillows, his face buried in its feather- soft depths.

Kabuto allowed himself the faintest of smirks, the corners of his lips quivering. The boy's fine sloping back glistened yet with saliva, the rippling, tense muscles marked with brushes of dark crimson. Bruises. Good. His arms lay limply by his side, elbows bent, fingers clawing deep into the mattress, forcing spiral ridges to rise like welts from the covers. Sasuke's narrow waist seemed to slide into the covers as the light fell against the sheen of his mildly sweat- soaked flesh. The curve of his small but visibly tight butt rose like a tempting mound of temptingly veiled loaves. Unexpectedly, Kabuto found himself swallowing hard.

Calm down. This is a simple task. It would be foolish to ruin everything at this point because of a little boy. Let Orochimaru- sama favour the boy . . . he would not get involved. And then one day, heh, well one day . . . he'd see. Oh yes, he'd see.

"I'm here as a doctor, to tend to your wounds." Kabuto intoned emotionlessly, striding up to the bed despite the barely concealed flinch on the boy's unclothed body.

'Best to deal with this brusquely, the boy's more likely to keep his mouth sealed out of pride. '

Setting the warm water on the bedside table first, he placed the medicinal bottle next to the tin bowl and with his hands more free, ripped the plastic wrapper for the cotton swabs. From the corner of his eye, Kabuto sensed the boy tensing. Well, they could have done this the easy way but Sasuke . . . heh, the boy was just too cocky. Kabuto slipped his fingers into the rip he had torn and then paused. No, going straight for it would meet with too much resistance from the boy. He was going to have to take this slow, taunt him a little into submission.

Kabuto set the bag of cotton aside. He raised his right palm before him, willing chakra to flow out of his palm and fingers. How much Chakra was needed for these flesh wounds? They were merely bruises. Too much chakra and he'd knock out the boy, which wouldn't be much fun. With his left hand he roughly grabbed Sasuke's damp, curved side, noting the convulsive movement from the boy in grim amusement.

"You're bruised all over. I'm going to have to treat them." He announced matter- of- fact, working his left hand up along the tensing curve of the youth.
"Get on with it." Sasuke growled, his head burying deeper into the pillow.

Kabuto snorted softly. Nevertheless, he had much practise of reining in his emotions. He set his right hand against a dark purplish bruise on Sasuke's side. The tense muscles relaxed involuntarily as the increased chakra concentration soothed the strained muscles. Sasuke shuddered and his arched spine fell a little, tensions ebbing a little as his thoughts centred on his side in curiosity were flooded in spontaneous relief. It would ache a little, Kabuto knew. The side was a sensitive area and an increase in chakra intensity would have its side- effects but at this low level, the ache would be mild, pleasurable even. Like the ache you tease from a loose tooth. Despite his resentment, habit and professionalism prompted him to ask.

"Does it hurt?" Kabuto murmured in a voice that sounded as if it hesitated to pick gently into a throbbing hurt.

"I'm fine." Sasuke murmured, muffled by the pillow, sounding far more relaxed.

Kabuto nodded curtly, forgetting that the twelve-year-old wouldn't be able to see it. To Sasuke, Kabuto's strangely warm, strangely comforting hand drifted up his side in an expanding wave of aching relief. It was as if the nineteen- year- old, genius doctor kneaded the soreness so carefully that the ache faded even as the pain awoke from the pressure. Yet he was certain Kabuto hardly touched him. He could feel his skin prickling, as if something hovered close and he felt warmth radiating from a touch that wouldn't descend. The feverish clamminess to his skin receded somewhat and Sasuke relaxed, his head turning slightly to rest a little on his left cheek, allowing just a little more air to touch his face that was still largely cloaked in the shadow he cast onto the pillow.

Kabuto shifted his hand to the lighter bruises on the boy's smooth back, adjusting his chakra control to lower the intensity. The muscles here were already relaxed and with Sasuke spending less time fighting him and more time soaking up the treatment, the bruised flesh faded back to their natural soft teak hue.

Kabuto had shifted to Sasuke's arms. The ache here was much stronger. Orochimaru had pinned down his arms forcefully, and his arms had strained in vain as Sasuke had thrashed against the Sannin in absolute futility. Sasuke could sense the mild hesitation in Kabuto's near- touch, sensed the subtle increase in pressure and moaned softly with his lips pressed tightly against each other, a soft rumble resonating in his throat. Gradually his right arm relaxed, his right shoulder falling slightly.

Kabuto expertly readjusted his chakra control for the other arm. The boy's left arm was more badly bruised. That was to be expected as Kabuto noted with a professional's assessment that Sasuke had favoured slightly more training to the right side of his body. His left side was thus more open to injury. He applied the jutsu to the tense arm and was rewarded with that throaty rumble again. Kabuto grinned to himself. He didn't need to ask whether it hurt anymore but out of sheer malice, asked anyway.

"Does it hurt?" he murmured in false concern, watching the bruises fade away through his lenses.

Sasuke's chin dipped closer to his chest.

"Thank you. I am feeling better." The Uchiha answered indirectly.

"There's still more to go." Kabuto replied barely concealing his smugness.

The medical ninja applied a gentle pressure on the boy's right side with his left hand, wordlessly communicating his wish for the boy to turn. Sasuke grunted in sudden awareness and began to turn when he abruptly stopped. The cool touch of air against his cheek stunned him into realising tear tracks had run down his cheeks without him noticing them. Awkwardly, he turned himself face down.

"I'm alright." He mumbled tersely to a confused Kabuto.

Kabuto knew better than to ask outright for the reason. Instead he willed the chakra away from his hands and applied them to Sasuke's shoulder blades, his fingers splayed and his thumbs kneading into the boy's back. The renewed tension in Sasuke's back fought back at first, then fell away, releasing their tension as they submitted to trusted hands. Sasuke's lids lowered as he rode the easing sensation and his tense neck gradually relaxed. Kabuto kneaded patiently for a few more moments before he finally spoke again, his tone kind.

"Sasuke- kun, may I examine your eyes for a moment?"

He barely completed his sentence when he felt the tension fighting back. Kabuto kneaded quietly for a while.

"If you don't want me to, I won't." He assured and continued to work on Sasuke's back, thumbs exerting a firm, circular pressure.

Sasuke was silent for a while.

"I'm fine." He croaked.

Kabuto's brows creased briefly but certainty overtook annoyance and Kabuto guessed accurately the reason for Sasuke's sudden resistance. He smirked. Well, he was trained to handle such situations. He kneaded for a while, made sure Sasuke was fully relaxed and then gently slowed his massage bringing it to a gradual end. He summoned the chakra back in his right palm and gently stroked Sasuke's back with his remaining hand, conveying to the boy that the treatment wasn't over. His right palm stroked Sasuke's right side, the chakra intensity coaxing muscular contractions that made Sasuke instinctively raise his stomach above the mattress. It was barely an inch of space but Kabuto managed to wedge his fingertips between the soft mattress and taut stomach muscles. The mere touch made Sasuke's muscles pull back tighter and Kabuto began to make soothing noises when he felt the tension building along his young patient's spine.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to do a quick check. Just relax, you don't have to turn around." He whispered gently, his chakra- exuding fingers carefully brushing against the boy's slender abdomen.

Sasuke's quickening breath caught briefly and Kabuto let his fingers pause, carefully strengthening the resonating chakra.

"Tell me if it hurts, alright Sasuke- kun?" Kabuto murmured in a friendly voice that strongly reminded Sasuke of Kakashi for a moment.

Sasuke remained face- down and silent, his hair falling about his face. Kabuto subtly increased the pressure and noted that Sasuke's breathing didn't even quicken.

'Orochimaru- sama's been playing rough again. Just how bad is this bruise?' Kabuto thought with a frown.

Kabuto intensified the chakra concentration till Sasuke flinched above his fingers. Swiftly toning down the force of his chakra he let his fingers distance a little from Sasuke's stomach.

"Sasuke- kun, can you please help me?" Kabuto murmured gently, sincerely, using a tone that he adopted for such sensitive cases.

"What?" Sasuke queried hoarsely his voice barely above a whisper.

Clearing his throat, Sasuke tried again.

"Yes?" he asked.

Kabuto stroked Sasuke's back comfortingly.

"Can you let me know when the chakra starts to make you feel uncomfortable?" He murmured casually.

Sasuke inclined his head.

"Alright." He mumbled in reply.
Kabuto let his fingers linger for a while and in a few moments Sasuke began to squirm slightly.

"Sasuke?" He asked gently, keeping his exasperation away from his tone.

"J-just, a little bit, uncomfortable." Sasuke stuttered.

Kabuto bit back a sharp reply with regards to damage that could be done to the body when exposed to this jutsu unnecessarily.

Kabuto drew his hand away and stroked Sasuke's back as much as to ease the boy as to calm himself. When both their breaths settled down to normal, Kabuto spoke softly to Sasuke once more.

"I'm just going to check your chest." He began and exhaled evenly with effort, expecting but still not liking the tension returning to Sasuke's body.

"Don't worry." He murmured, still stroking the boy's back.

He paused for a moment, thinking.

"Just like earlier on, I'm going to ease my hand underneath your chest. Will you help me by telling me when it starts to hurt?"

Sasuke nodded into the pillow and then to Kabuto's surprise, spoke.

"The . . . it's a bit . . . sore . . .here," Sasuke began, his right hand drawing underneath his chest.

Kabuto wisely took the invitation and sent his broad hand to slide comfortingly along the bent arm and cupped the smaller hand that rested gingerly on what Kabuto had accurately guessed was the boy's right nipple.

"And . . ." Sasuke continued shakily.

"The other one too?" Kabuto finished softly, careful not to sound as if he pitied the boy.

He didn't want to hurt Sasuke's fragile pride, not while that could make his job all the more difficult. Instead he stroked the boy's back encouragingly, carefully showing affection that would not give the impression of pity.

Sasuke made a soft sound that Kabuto took as acknowledgement. His cupped right hand squeezed Sasuke's hand that had ceased, for a moment, to quake.

"I'll take care of it." He said in a helpful voice that smiled warmly, gently drawing Sasuke's hand away.

When his fingers slid back to Sasuke's nipple he could feel the tension and for once he didn't blame the boy. He found it moist, moist with blood. A bit sore? Why didn't he see it coming? Dramatic understatements never go out of style with these tragic hero archetypes.

No matter, it was easily handled.

"This might sting a little." He warned gently, increasing the force of chakra.

Sasuke was silent but his back relaxed which was a pleasant surprise for Kabuto. Sasuke's back tensed a fraction as Kabuto magnified the healing ability of Sasuke's body. The badly chewed nipple reduced its swelling and blood burned away as the tender tissue knitted itself and returned to its dull pink wholesomeness. Sasuke's back twitched only once through this entire process.

Kabuto couldn't help but smile.

His body dipped lower as he reached for the other nipple, his arm unintentionally brushing against the whole twin. Sasuke's chin dipped into the pillow. Kabuto failed to notice. He gently cradled the left nipple between his index finger and thumb. The healing process repeated itself and Sasuke managed to suppress the reflex to twitch. Unable to resist, Kabuto rubbed the whole tissue, pleased with his work. Sasuke's muscles tensed for a moment and butterflies danced in his stomach. Sasuke felt Kabuto's fingers leave his chest and touch lightly over his neck trailing tiny, sweetly- painful stings, healing the various bite marks and bruises that decked his quivering throat. The tingling warmth did not stop there, they climbed to his lips, intuitively caressing his bottom lip and following to rest on either corner of his bleeding mouth. Tissue recovered, his lips tingling to the touch of chakra infused fingers. Sasuke's lips parted instinctively, just as Kabuto dragged his fingers down, the tips of the young doctor's fingers slipping accidentally into the moist embrace of lips. Both paused for a moment before Kabuto continued to drag his fingers down, trailing down across Sasuke's chin and caressing it softly, concentrating on the raw throat that he could envision in his mind. Sasuke found his breath catching in his throat and groaned softly without intending to. Kabuto's left hand trailed across the young boy's back consolingly.

Two seconds of hard breaths later, Kabuto withdrew his hand and drew himself up, left hand idly rubbing Sasuke's back. His eyes flicked towards the tin bowl and he lowered his gaze, somewhat troubled, to the sheets he sat on. Without raising his chin back up, his fingertips traced down the curving spine to the small of Sasuke's back. He massaged the spot, fingertips applying the same constant pressure it had exerted earlier by Sasuke's shoulder blades. His fingers brushed ever so slightly against the white fabric that covered the boy's nether body.

"Sasuke- kun." Kabuto began, trying to sound as calm as he could so as to forestall as much of the alarm that he expected as possible.

"I've got some medication I want to apply." He continued and noted with some dismay that the bright boy had guessed already what he meant when he saw the tightening of Sasuke's back muscles.

Through the translucent sheet covering Sasuke, Kabuto noted deep dimples forming in the boy's butt cheeks as he instinctively tensed his muscles protectively.

"You're hurt inside." Kabuto stated half-coaxing, half- firm.

Sasuke was silent, his body taut.

"I've got some warm water," Kabuto went on wondering if he really did have any seeing that he had left it to cool for some time, "and some cotton and some medication to get rid of some of the possible germs that have been left inside of you."

Silence. Tension.

Kabuto gently drew away the sheet and Sasuke hissed furiously, lashing his head up but doing no more than that.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Kabuto began slowly, calmly drawing the sheets past the boys butt cheeks and settling just above the pale- brown nut sac that lay just beyond.

"I just want to heal you." Kabuto assured, turning to watch the raised head of wild dark hair that would not turn to face him.

"Do you trust me?" The medical ninja asked, patiently waiting beside the boy.

The reply was long in coming.

"Yes." Sasuke replied steadily at last and folding his arms beneath his head rested his chin on them.

Kabuto silently rested his warm palm on the right cheek briefly and drew it away, leaning forward towards the bedside table to retrieve the packet of cotton and the bowl of water. Chakra from his palm evoked a convection current that heated the water in the bowl. Settling it a safe distance away from Sasuke on the bed, he let his left thumb dip into the water. It was a little too hot but heat evaporated quickly in a cold underground chamber. His right fingers had already pulled out a cotton swab. Carefully he leaned in closer to the boy, positioning himself as optimally as possible for what he had to do. Ideally he would have preferred to be straddled by the young boy's thighs but he felt the boy was too young and frightened to be able to accept such a suggestion.

He dipped a corner of the cotton swab in the metal bowl and as the warm liquid climbed through the absorbent material to moisten his fingertips, he brought it to hover above the dark line in between Sasuke's tensed cheeks and squeezed. Warm water dripped with skilful accuracy right onto the fleshy notch. Sasuke shuddered as he felt the warm water cooling slowly, sliding down the line of his crack and dripping cold onto his nut sac. Just as he thought all the water had run down, another rain of warm droplets plopped between his cheeks and slid down, making him squirm. Another trail of warm drops followed, and yet another. The rhythmic run of warmth against the curving line coaxed him to relax his grip just a little.

"Do you trust me?"

A mere whisper. Sasuke found himself nodding even before he could consider if he really did.

Kabuto found himself hesitating as he poised his thumb and fingers against the yet- tensed muscles of Sasuke's butt cheeks. Admittedly, he had never had to treat a child like this before. His seniors were very adept in teaching him the art of male to male love- making and very rarely hurt him. Usually a simple cream helped, normally applied beforehand. The only thing Kabuto could think of now was some disinfectant and warm water. Hesitating for a moment longer he assured both of them.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

His fingertips pressed into the damp edges of Sasuke's butt crack and wedging them firmly, pulled apart as gently as he could. Sasuke cried out in pain masking Kabuto's sharp intake of breath. Fingers shaking for a moment, Kabuto released the pressure and watched the ripped and bloodied flesh merge sickeningly with visual agony.

When he raised his wide eyes to Sasuke's head, it was no longer raised and buried instead, back into the pillow. The boy's shoulders were shaking but no matter how well Kabuto enhanced his hearing, he heard no sobs. It would have been better if there were any. At least, Kabuto had been trained to treat patients entering shock. Crying was a good form of release and part of the natural healing process. If Kabuto knew shinobi like Sasuke, the boy was probably trying to fight it, fight the shock and fight the pain and the fear. A truly foolish concept of courage. Nevertheless, that Orochimaru- sama had gone as far as to . . .

He had seen worse than that, the series of welts and tears, far worse in his lifetime of battles and war. Yet to think that . . . to someone so young and uninitiated . . .

Of course . . . he had seen children far younger than Sasuke ravaged by war but . . . never in this fashion and certainly . . . certainly Orochimaru- sama wanted the boy to trust him . . . did he not? To go to such an extent . . . it was . . . it was . . .

Kabuto had no words for it, had no words for Sasuke. Mind whirling with a hundred different pre- prepared lines, none of them fitting the situation, suddenly the words of his senior during a lustful evening whispered with breathless reasoning, tumbled out of his lips.

"The prescription for pain is an equal volume of pleasure."

Sasuke froze. Kabuto froze. Silence lingered.

Panicking mildly, Kabuto ran his fingers in a calming circular motion about Sasuke's lower back.

"Saliva . . . saliva is a good disinfectant." He continued, quoting from memory a different line from more enthusiastic sessions.

"We don't usually need to disinfect wounds in the mouth because saliva acts as a reliable natural disinfectant."

Kabuto looked at the mass of dark hair and noted that while the boy hadn't moved, his shoulders had stopped shaking. He was listening, distracting himself from more unpleasant thoughts. That was a mixed blessing for the medical ninja right at this moment. It was good that Sasuke was relaxing even slightly but it was bad that he was trying to avert his thoughts from the incident because what Kabuto had planned was most likely going to invoke unpleasant memories. He had to ask that taboo question.

"Can you trust me?" Kabuto murmured softly, fingertips lightly circling Sasuke's back.

Sasuke's body tensed but his head nodded into the pillow. Kabuto carried on carefully.

"What I'm going to do next is, I'm going to lick your wounds."

Sasuke's body shook. The dimples deepened and then his body flinched, from the pain, Kabuto guessed. Kabuto kept silent for a while, merely making soothing noises and easing as best as he could, the tense muscles on the boy's back.

"It will sting a little, it will be a little ticklish but it will help. More importantly, it will help you heal from some of those wounds the medication can't help you with."

'Like the psychological trauma you've received.' Kabuto added to himself.

Sasuke was quiet for a while, his body stiff but still.

"I'm not afraid." He replied vaguely.

Kabuto smiled wanly. That was as close to a favourable reply he was going to get. From now on he was going to be applying on Sasuke the spiritual healing methods he learned from his seniors in his adopted family that he never thought he'd use for another shinobi of Konoha ever again. This would be, interesting to say the least.

First and foremost, he had to remove his glasses for this. When they settled safely on the bedside table, Kabuto took a deep breath and released it in a slow, stress- relieving manner.

His fingers slid down to brush the cheeks comfortingly. He allowed them to roam about the smooth, firm flesh, murmuring words of reassurance. He wasn't going to be able to verbally console the boy later on. His tongue would be busy.

Sasuke relaxed, slowly, his butt cheeks relaxing their clamping grip between each other. Kabuto's fingers trailed in a final loop of soothing contact and stopped neatly into place at the edges of the dark cleft. There was a brief ripple of fear in the muscles of the cheeks but it died away, replaced by an uneasy calm. Kabuto took the opportunity to pull gently apart.

The reddened, ripped flesh was just as disheartening a sight to witness once more as it had been the first time. The shock however was replaced by a studied examination that deepened Kabuto sense of disapproval. This wasn't the way you initiated someone, especially one at such a tender age. No matter how cocky the individual. Kabuto could feel the boy's spine shuddering. He comforted the boy for what would be the last time for a while.

"If this hurts you too much, just tell me to stop." Kabuto murmured assuringly and lowering his lids partly, let his head dip down and sideways, lips parting in a moist oval.

The first lick stung. Sasuke fought to swallow the hiss, turning it into a low, throaty rumble instead. Just as the warm dampness cooled, a second lick swept broadly at his sphincter muscle, shocking him and leaving a smarting wetness.

Kabuto paused, panting. The pleasant mixture of odours of blood, sweat, saliva, Orochimaru- sama and Sasuke was a potent drug to his system. The thought of part of what he tasted now on his burning tongue carried a hint of the taste of Orochimaru- sama thrilled him so much that he stirred even as he planned where to lick next. Either wall would do before he tried the tight, ripped ring of muscle again. He lowered his tongue, teasing it gently over a row of welts, letting his tongue linger over the wounds and feeling the boy shudder in the prolonged contact.

'Don't be so proud.' Kabuto urged mentally, 'If it hurts cry out, if it feels good, moan. No one's going to judge you now.'

Sasuke trembled against the pain and comfort pressed deeply into the centre of his conscious, choking his throat with the restraint he commanded. He was not a weakling, he would not cry, he would not moan. He could handle it. Yet something that laboured on his mind threatened to crush him. Something that had happened earlier much to Orochimaru's gleeful delight.

That shock of arousal jerking in his manhood as the indescribable agony melted into something akin to burning pleasure. The laughter of Orochimaru in his ear even as he was forced to watch bewildered at the stirring of his member.

'No, don't think about it. That's not important, getting better is, getting better and getting in good health to do what must be done.' Sasuke thought fiercely, his eyes wrenched shut so tightly, tears formed at their corners and soaked into the damp pillow.

Kabuto was thoroughly enjoying himself, making no attempt to hide it in the soft moan he hummed into Sasuke's delicate flesh. He was enjoying the heated saltiness, aroused by the hot familiar and yet unfamiliar scents. His own saliva coated his chin, made it feel damp and sticky. He licked the ring of muscle impatiently, moistening the sphincter and earning an involuntary shudder from the boy. In the fog of lust, a pang of pity ached and Kabuto reminded himself that Orochimaru had ripped tissue here. Drawing back just a little, he teased the corner of his tongue against a rip by the bottom left edge, the swollen pink wound twitching under his touch. There was a strangled cry from above and Kabuto grinned. Had he been able to speak he would have given a few words of encouragement. As it is, he gave a few careful licks to the tender spot and drew in closer, his nostrils so torturously close to the opening and the cocktail of powerful scents. He sent away the urge to touch himself, he could deal with that later, and planted what he meant as a consoling kiss on the swollen ring of muscle. Sasuke shivered and drew his legs apart to disperse the intensity, dislodging a part of the cloth to flow down the fair slope of his thighs.

Seeking to encourage, he found encouragement instead and Kabuto shifted his body urgently to respond to the vacancy by lodging his left knee in the opening, forcing Sasuke to part his thighs further to accommodate it. When Kabuto lowered his head again, his lips sucked on the steamy flesh so hungrily that the lapping sounds echoed in the chamber. Sasuke raised his head, throat tight in a struggle against the tensions that fought to rip forth.

"Let go." Kabuto breathed in between sucks, voice muffled by the saliva- coated yet tender flesh.

Whether or not Sasuke heeded his words or the force of sensations built to an irresistible crescendo, neither youth knew but Sasuke quivered as a moan, low and deep resonated to every inch of his frame, leaving him shaking as more surges of pleasure swelled from beneath his spine, like a secret channel of power spreading electrically inside of him, sending his young manhood into the first tingle of wakefulness.

Embarrassed and frightened of being discovered, Sasuke tried to bring his thighs closer to conceal an unavoidable erection that grew more prominent as jolting thrills fired from where Kabuto so painstakingly and devotedly tongued. Kabuto's left thigh stood firmly in the way and Kabuto's manhood pulsed feeling the tight clamp of Sasuke's legs, enticing the doctor to poke his tongue through the barrier- ring of muscle. Only a tip slipped past, burning in the heat of Sasuke's innermost chambers. Sasuke bit back a yelp. Kabuto exalted at his entry but wisely decided not to repeat it. He contented himself with just licking the tense muscle. Sasuke was trembling quite violently now, as if he fought something within him yet again.

A hiss escaped through clenched teeth making Kabuto raise his head from his fervent lapping.

"It's hard isn't it." He whispered knowingly, breathing heavily and licking his burning lips.

Sasuke's shoulders shook as Kabuto kissed him deep within the moist, quivering flesh before gently releasing his grip on Sasuke's butt cheeks. The medical ninja slid his body upward along the prone body and tenderly brushed the boy's left cheek with the back of his left fingers.

"You're a man already . . ." Kabuto murmured into Sasuke's right ear, nibbling the very tips of the flushing skin.

The older youth sent his right hand groping along the mattress till it brushed the boy's waist, his thumb stroking the edge of Sasuke's right butt cheek.

"A man should not . . . starve his needs." Kabuto continued, sucking on the ear tips as he whispered.

Hot tears of humiliation nestled onto Kabuto's caressing fingers. He kissed Sasuke's trembling nape.

"It's my responsibility to take care of you . . . " he murmured, turning his attentions to the boy's incredibly soft earlobe.

More tears slipping down his fingers. Shivering shoulders, shuddering breaths. Kabuto nuzzled against Sasuke's nape.

"I'm your Senpaii after all . . . right?"

Springs sank as Kabuto shifted himself to lean on his side by Sasuke's left. Sasuke sank his face to the damp pillow. Kabuto let his right hand settle on Sasuke's right shoulder, squeezing gently and letting his hand slip inwards, cupping the boy's right breast. When he tugged carefully, Sasuke's body steered unresisting to Sasuke's guiding hand. Sasuke's smooth back rose to rest against Kabuto's warm chest. Kabuto slid his left arm under Sasuke's waist, the light brush ticklish, making Sasuke jump a little. Kabuto's left arm continued up across the firm abdomen and fingers gently gripped Sasuke's right side. Sasuke shifted for a brief moment, his side tickled by the touch. Kabuto responded by pulling Sasuke closer to him with his wrapping left arm. Sasuke felt the older shinobi kiss his nape and tried to relax. Kabuto's right hand stroked the centre of Sasuke's chest, calming him.

"I'm going to start." Kabuto murmured, his right hand slipping across the muscles that had begun to tense at this piece of news.

Sasuke felt the fingers cradle his manhood, felt the warmth of those fingers, felt the light tug against his semi- hard shaft, felt the finger that slid against the moist lips of his member, felt the fingers wrapping about his shaft, pulsing as the throbbing stiffness beat with swelling intensity. He felt the first slow pump. The tongue sliding hotly across his skin, felt him suck a mouthful of his nape. Heard him ask if he was comfortable. Felt the trail of kisses when he had barely managed to murmur a reply. Sasuke felt his pleasure throb against the cage of pumping fingers, his face burning with lust- heated blood.

Kabuto fingered the warm, half- limp stirring manhood of the younger male and cradled it easily in his hand. That was when he heard the first strangled purr. Stunned for a moment, he idly ran the side of his middle finger against the growing length of the stiffening shaft. The purr had been soft, velvety, a pleasured sigh that resonated deep within the throat. Kabuto had never heard a human male sigh in such a manner. Curious, he slid the tip of his index finger against the pre- cum glistening lips of the swelling head, rubbing gently, hoping to draw out another purr. This time it was a gasp, its shocked breathlessness a contrast in pitch to the low purr earlier. Kabuto was disappointed. The boy obviously needed more stimulation to purr again. Biting his lower lip, Kabuto wrapped his fingers about the shaft, holding it tight enough to feel the pulse beating against his fingers, warming them. He waited for Sasuke to come fully erect, nuzzling the boy's nape as they waited. Stirring the hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck with his eager breath, he pumped slowly, bringing his fingers closer in a firmer grip he pushed down against the young boy's pulsing flesh. Sasuke exhaled in a sighing moan, barely audible. Kabuto grinned, kissed the boy's nape and smiled sportingly. A challenge indeed. He wondered how far he would have to go to get that purr out of his young patient. His tongue slipped out of his bemused lips and licked Sasuke's reddened nape before bringing his lips closer in for a deep kiss, picking a mouthful of skin with his blood- red lips. He ran his tongue over the mouthful, and sucked on it, moaning deep in his throat, tempting the boy to do the same. Sasuke was silent. A little discouraged, Kabuto wrapped his fingers more firmly about Sasuke's burning shaft, increasing the suction on the area of skin between his lips. Sasuke breathed harder, coarser.

"Are you comfortable?" Kabuto whispered, licking the side of Sasuke's neck.

"M-mn . . ." Sasuke rumbled as Kabuto leaned his head in, his nose just brushing the Gennin's smooth chin, tongue tracing across the shifting swell of the younger man's neck.

Still no purr. Briefly, Kabuto wondered how Sasuke would take to deep- throating. Privately debating taking this move so early on into the initiation, Kabuto kissed the tremble in Sasuke's throat and let his moist lips plant a trail of light kisses all the way back to the nape.

'Too early.' Kabuto concluded, unwilling to risk the success he had accomplished thus far.

Instead he readjusted his grip, his index finger coated with pre- cum he had failed to massage into the sensitive flesh in his distraction with Sasuke's neck. Running the slick finger up the underside of the Gennin's shaft a few strokes, he grasped the member tightly and pumped with moderate strength, preparing to work the boy into more spectacular proclamations of delight. Sasuke gasped and inhaled sharply, a faint, high- pitched moan lingering for a few moments. Kabuto planted a light kiss on the boy's cheek to comfort him. The heat was scalding hot.

'He's the flushing type . . .' Kabuto noted, amused.

Everyone flushed when worked sexually upon, but there were some who flushed easily to dark crimson mottled with purple, their bodies burning hot. From his experience, these people were always quick to buck in his grasp, their own body heat wearing down their stamina.

'Not long now.' Kabuto thought to himself and his lips encircled the area of nape he had sucked upon earlier.

Sasuke's temples throbbed. His stomach churned, his abdomen tensed. His arms ached from flexing as his nails dug into his palms trying to hold back the urge to thrash. Faintly he wondered how it was that such stifling discomfort made him desire more and more. The near- bruising grip on his manhood made him sore with the growing force in the pumping action. His skin burned to a point that chilly perspiration broke out all over him. His abdominal muscles tensed again as Kabuto's arm pulled them tighter together. Hard muscle ground against hard muscle and Sasuke found it harder and harder to gulp enough air to fuel further consciousness.

Kabuto felt Sasuke quiver in his tightened hug. The fighting quiver that he was used to seeing in the boy. The kid just didn't know how to let go. As he made loud, sucking noises against the side of Sasuke's neck, he wondered why the boy was always so defensive, even when it was so clear now that he was going to reach a shuddering climax against the older man. Frankly, he was envious of the boy's position. Half the time he had to fight the urge to grind his peaking groin into that young bubble butt. Ah . . . the dirty thoughts . . . it was really putting a strain in the crotch department. Gah, he was doing it again . . .

His own frustrated arousal urged his grip to grow rough, his pumping strokes veering towards ruthless. Sasuke gasped in protest, while his waist swayed irresistibly in rhythm to the marked rise in agonising pleasure. Kabuto grinned and pumped harder, his thumb rubbing against the slick glans, making Sasuke curse and flinch away, grinding his butt into Kabuto's groin. The older man moaned in mid- tease, his tongue slipping back into his mouth as he swallowed hard. As the grinding movements continued, Kabuto's lips parted lustfully over Sasuke's neck and he grunted soft moans, seeming to surrender completely to the sensations whilst artfully directing the auditory offensive into Sasuke's ear. His hand blurred vigorously encouraging the bucking motion that drove Sasuke to tremble fitfully against his crotch.

A convulsive movement and Sasuke gasped painfully, hissing and panting heavily, head thrown back. Kabuto moved in to cover the bared skin when he heard the Gennin cry out helplessly.

"Senpaii!" Sasuke cried out in panic hands gripping Kabuto's enveloping left arm, nails biting deeply.

Kabuto privately cursed.

'Tch, too fast.' The medical ninja thought, mildly annoyed to be taken out of his enjoyment so soon but unable to resist the excitement he felt in empathy.

Noting the death grip on his arm, Kabuto cooed a soothing stream into Sasuke's bright- red ear.

"I'm here, I'm here . . . "

Sasuke was slipping, slipping hard and fast into a violent, pyroclastic whirlpool, sucking him in searing heat and unbearable, terrible feelings that scoured his very spirit, leaving him raw and vulnerable. It seized him with the desire to cling on to someone and to be secured into an embrace, frightened by the fiery currents hurling him to the centre of the red monstrous hunger of swollen passion. The eye of the firestorm was a vortex of lava, gaping in devouring reds and the black of deepest, ecstatic agony.

He gripped the strong arm that restrained his convulsing form frightened and excited beyond what he could reasonably contain. He wanted it to end, oh he so wanted it to end but he was terrified of the intensity that he would find there.

And Kabuto, a knowing glint glimmering through the lust that set his eyes smouldering, held Sasuke as securely as he dared to, not wishing to bruise what he healed whilst hoping to heal the scars cut into the soul of this young one. Above the strangled cries of dismay, his even, gentle voice filled the boy's flailing sanity.

"I'm here . . . I'm with you . . ."

Sasuke gasped high and it choked in a moan. His breaths transcended irregular and entered the stage where a ragged rhythm of twin sighing pants and a slightly drawn out gasping exhalation surfaced tremulously. Through tear- glazed eyes his mind flashed a vision of the red lips of liquid fire hungrily stretching its maw.

'This must be it.' Sasuke thought faintly before shuddering violently.

Everything trebled. He couldn't help the cry that ripped through his throat as orgasmic pressures shattered what scant self- consciousness he had. Lava surged in his loins, melting him from inside. He burst forth, a breathless gasp burying the silent scream of pain and pleasure mounting each other in an irrational sensual cataclysm.

Kabuto seized him, tugging tightly on the boy's abdomen with his tense left arm as the boy broke his skin with his nails. His pumping barely slowed but his murmuring ceased into a long, deep kiss that Kabuto had leaned in especially for. Sasuke felt the probing tongue and didn't resist, intensely aware of the need to gasp for more air but completely compliant with the thick warmth setting sizzling delight in his mouth. At length, Kabuto allowed the boy to gulp in sweat- scented air before closing the invading distance between them, pulling the boy into a second kiss that Sasuke participated more readily in. Kabuto slowed his blurring right fist to a gentle stroke and then to a light massage with the tip of his right index finger, drawing a tiny circular pressure into the sweetly sensitive spot just below where strained pink tissue connected the engorged head to the shaft. The last milky bead swelled from the tiny lip and quivered in the cold air of the chamber.

Kabuto drew his lips away, panting, lips burning red. The tear tracks drawn recently and unconsciously down his patient's cheeks were visible in the light. Sasuke's dark eyes were clear and watched the older man intently, words shining in their depths. Kabuto watched back, reading what he could and then broke into a smile.

"Feeling better?"

Sasuke swallowed part of his breathlessness and nodded slowly.

Kabuto sighed and drew his head back to rest onto the pillow, nuzzling the dark hair before him, enjoying the distinct scent of Sasuke. His right fist relinquished its treasure, ran up Sasuke's thigh and side and stretched down to complete the hug, keeping Sasuke close to him. He hadn't worked on his own needs but at least he had healed the psychological wounds Orochimaru- sama had opened with his ungentle riding of the tender- aged youth. When Sasuke wrapped his own arms about Kabuto's, the ensuing sigh from the older man was contentment mingled with a sense of achievement and perhaps, affection that blossomed more completely when Sasuke turned to face him, eyes brimming with yearning, and kissed him.

Orochimaru stood silently in the shadows, panting heavily against the wall that separated the entwined couple and the eavesdropping Sannin. Yellow eyes gleamed weakly with drowsy lust and a sly grin curved tiredly beneath the bandages.

The End

The stranger's voice had died down to a bare whisper as he reached the end of his tale, mirroring the fire that flickered a dying dance as it sank lower and lower into the logs. When he raised his eyes, Tsunade looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"What do you think?" He said at last, breaking the crackling silence.

"It was a good story." The Hokage replied, the corners of her sensuous lips tucked up in a bare smile.

The man watched her intently.

"You have something on your mind Hokage- sama."

Tsunade shook her head with a curious smile.

"It's just that I've been trying to guess your identity without much success. I really am curious to know who is this man who tells such interesting tales." She murmured her voice full and pleasing.

The man stared into the dying flames and replied in a low voice.

"Do you really want to know?"

Tsunade watched him, eyes glowing in the drawing darkness.

"Yes." She mouthed, glossy lips articulating her desire with more than just sound.

The man smiled thinly and reached for his woven hat . . . and pulled it down further, shadowing his face.

Tsunade laughed richly.

"I knew somewhat who teases in his tales so habitually in his tales wouldn't really divulge a secret so easily." She finished with a smiling sigh.

The man accompanied her laughter and then paused, head cocked over his right shoulder.

"I could give you more time to figure out the answer with another tale." He offered temptingly.

"Tease." Tsunade scolded with a smile and leaned back against a tree stump for comfort.

The man smiled in the shadows and his clear voice spun visions in the air where orange light flirted with pale darkness.

"My story begins beneath a night sky sprayed with the eternally flickering stars and a sliver of a pale, sickle moon. A tale is unravelling . . . a tale that continues in the hearts of Men tender to the swelling bloom of wondrous pleasure . . . a tale that has yet to end . . ."

The Tale That Has Yet To End- The Stranger's Tale.