Sasuke stares at the closed door for minutes—maybe hours—before he shakes off his shock. Then he backs up in his cage and falls bonelessly onto the green beanbag behind him.
It's a lie, Sasuke is sure of it. Oki-Itachi's apology is a lie meant to trick him, just like all the other nice things he did for Sasuke earlier. They have to be lies...but then why did the Oki verbalize his apology to Sasuke? What was the point in Oki-Itachi verbally lying to Sasuke when he's under the impression the Chibi doesn't understand human speech...unless Oki-Itachi said it specifically because he thought Sasuke couldn't understand him, so he wouldn't have to feel embarrassed about apologizing genuinely.
For a second Sasuke dares to consider if Oki-Itachi has realized the error of his ways and the apology was an attempt to get it off his chest, but then Sasuke remembers what the sharkman said.
"It's bad enough we're going to have to delay its training."
The Chibi's brow furrows as he recalls the sharkman mentioning he needs to undergo some type of training. This "training" is probably related to whatever these missing-nin want to use him for, and must involve Oki-Itachi, otherwise the sharkman wouldn't have said, "The min-nin being your brother's counterpart should make it easier to train... You're already connected."
So Oki-Itachi is supposed to be "training" Sasuke, and to do that, the Oki needs to connect with him?
Sasuke's expression darkens, a low growl rumbling in the back of his throat. No wonder Oki-Itachi kept acting so nice and gave him that fake apology, the human needs Sasuke to bond with him. The Oki doesn't actually regret any of the suffering he's caused, and even if he did it doesn't change what he's done!
Sasuke punches down on the beanbag, his fist sinking into the cushion and quaking with rage. To think Sasuke almost fell for the Oki's act when he of all Chibi should know better. Sasuke's counterpart and he both learned how great of an actor human Itachi was on that night when Oki-Itachi admitted he'd been pretending to be a kind, caring older brother while all along the man really only sought power and to test his abilities.
Sasuke's jaw clenches, hate mounting in his chest like lava about to erupt from a volcano. However, the Chibi's thoughts are interrupted by the sound of footsteps.
Sasuke sits up, listening to the footsteps stop outside the room and hesitate by the door. Immediately he knows it can't be Oki-Itachi right as the door flies open and crashes into the cavern wall.
Sasuke flinches at the noise while the blond shinobi from earlier strides into the room, his blue eyes flitting about the space until he spots the cage.
"Ah, there you are!" The blond's face lights up, and Sasuke doesn't like the curious gleam in his eyes as he nears.
"Deidara-senpai!" A man wearing an orange mask pokes his head into the room, glancing around nervously. "I don't think this is a good idea, Itachi-san might get mad if he finds out you went into his room!"
The blond—Deidara—rolls his eyes and scoffs. "Yeah, right." He bends down so his giant face hovers over Sasuke, who stands up to feel a little less vulnerable. "When have you ever seen Itachi get mad, or yell? I bet he doesn't even have feelings!" He snarked.
"Ooh!" The masked man exclaims loudly enough to grate on Sasuke's nerves. "I didn't think about that! You're so smart, senpai!"
Deidara bares his teeth victoriously, and his smile reminds Sasuke of a cat's leer when it spots a mouse. "Of course, I'm a genius, un!" The blond boasts while the masked man approaches him from behind, only to gasp upon seeing Sasuke.
"Woow!" The man leans over Deidara to get a closer look, shoving the blond to the floor in the process. "It's so tiny and cute!" He gushes, his lone black eye peeking through a hole in his mask, and Sasuke backs away as far as he can from him because there's something off about the masked man, a quiet malevolence swirling in his gaze that's at odds with his childish demeanor.
"Tobi!" Deidara snarls, lurching up and purposely head-butting Tobi's stomach as he rises.
The masked man chokes and falls to the floor, clutching his stomach while Deidara shouts over his whimpering. "You idiot! You almost broke my nose!" The blond rubs the bruise already forming on his snout and glares over his hand. "Stop being so clumsy!"
Tobi curls up in a fetal position. "I'm sorry, senpai! I won't do it again."
Deidara scowls. "You better not," he warns, though his expression morphs into a smirk as he turns to Sasuke. "Just get out, and let me know when Itachi comes back."
"But I thought you didn't care if Itachi-san catches you—"
"Tobi—" Deidara hisses through clenched teeth, glaring over his shoulder and Tobi scrambles to his feet with a fearful cry, running out and slamming the door behind him.
"Newbies..." Deidara scoffs before looking back at Sasuke with a sharp smile.
The Chibi moves into a fighting stance, raising his arms in front of his chest and adjusting his footing for better balance, but this merely amuses the human.
"Aww," Deidara coos mockingly, "Look at the little ninja trying to act tough."
Sasuke narrows his eyes, but can't do more while the blond unlocks the cage and sets the top aside on the table. The Chibi is considering leaping out and making a run for it when Deidara's hand snaps around his body faster than he can blink.
Then he's swung up so fast the wind rushes past his ears while Deidara squeezes him bruisingly tight.
"Oh, I can feel it's little heart racing. Is it scared?" Deidara pulls the Chibi up to his face and something inside Sasuke instinctively recoils at being so close to an Oki. Humans aren't supposed to know about Chibi kind, and it feels wrong having such a large being stare him down while the Oki's fingers keep him trapped, hand fully capable of crushing him at any moment.
Sasuke's unease mixed with the fact Deidara is holding him tightly enough to aggravate his injured leg motivates Sasuke to take a chance and bite the blond's thumb.
"Ow!" Deidara nearly drops him, having not anticipated Sasuke biting him like Oki-Itachi had, and Sasuke wiggles in the looser hold until he's freed one arm, but then Deidara's grip tightens and Sasuke chokes.
"You," Deidara hisses. "You think you're better than me just like him!" He glares while Sasuke gasps for air, wondering what in the world Deidara is talking about until he recalls the blond pointing out his resemblance to Itachi. Is that what this is? Deidara came in here to take out his disdain for Itachi on Sasuke just because they look similar?
The Chibi is mildly miffed by the comparison to Itachi's counterpart, but is more focused on finding a way out of his situation when the human brings him closer to his face and demands. "Don't you?"
The Chibi is struck by an idea then and sucks in a deep breath like he's about to speak, something the blond notices and is genuinely shocked by.
Except it's not words that come out of Sasuke's mouth, but saliva, which he spits straight into Deidara's eye.
The giant yelps, his grip loosening as he slaps a hand over his afflicted eye, and the Chibi uses his free arm to lug himself out of the shinobi's hold.
"H-hey!" The blond releases his eye, but can't move fast enough as Sasuke dives under Deidara's cloak sleeve and starts crawling up his arm.
The world is dark and muggy under the cloth, the skin beneath him slick and hard to grip, yet Sasuke doesn't stop even as the Oki shouts. "What are you doing!?"
Sasuke clambers over Deidara's elbow, his breath hot under the confined clothing while he climbs as fast as he can with his injured leg. He's forced to stop though when Deidara's arm begins flapping down and up, bouncing the Chibi and making Sasuke cling to the limb as the blond tries to shake him loose.
"Get off!" Deidara growls while Sasuke starts to lose his grip, grunting when his bad leg smacks into his good one as Deidara's arm swings him back and forth. Yet desperate not to lose what might be his last chance to escape, Sasuke digs his nails into the Oki's skin.
Deidara shrieks, arm stilling as it seizes up with pain, and Sasuke uses the opportunity to crawl up to his shoulder while another Oki rushes into the room.
"Senpai?" Tobi sounds concerned. "What—"
"It's trying to escape!"
The cloth above Sasuke suddenly indents in the shape of a hand as Deidara's attempts to pin him through the cloak, but Sasuke throws himself over the Oki's shoulder, latching onto the inner fabric and sliding down it until he hangs below Deidara's neck where the Oki can't easily reach.
"It's on my back, get it!"
Sasuke should probably feel more concerned when the collar above him is pulled away, shinning light on his hiding place while Tobi peers down at him, but Sasuke can feel his chakra awakening and spreading steadily across his body like a warm ocean breeze. It's a matter of seconds before he regains all of his jutsu abilities, and though he needs a little more time, Sasuke is sure he can make it.
"Got it!" Tobi reaches down Deidara's back faster than Sasuke is expecting, but the Chibi swings himself over Tobi's hand, lands on the masked man's arm, and leaps just high enough to catch the end of Deidara's ponytail.
The blond yelps, reaching for his head, and Sasuke moves behind Deidara's ponytail so he can't be grabbed. "My hair!"
"Hold on, senpai!" Tobi pushes the ponytail aside and the Chibi doesn't move as Tobi plucks the back of Sasuke's cloak and yanks him up, not noticing that Sasuke has latched onto some of Deidara's hair.
"Ahh!" Deidara screeches shrilly while Sasuke maintains his grip even as a couple of blond strands are plucked out.
Tobi releases Sasuke, startled. "S-senpai?"
"What is going on in here?"
Sasuke recognizes the gruff voice coming from the doorway and smirks when the sharkman steps into this room because this was the distraction he was waiting for.
Tobi swivels towards the sharkman, waving his hands frantically. "It's nothing!"
"Why are you in Itachi's room?" The sharkman cuts him off, turning suspiciously to the blond who is wide-eyed. "And why does Diedara look like he's been fight—"
Sasuke clambers to the top of Deidara's head and stands, instantly capturing the sharkman's attention.
"Hey! The min-nin is—"
Sasuke's chakra flares like a firework going off in his body, and Sasuke drags every ounce of his newly-awakened chakra into his eyes, activating his three tomoe Sharingan.
The sharkman stiffens as Sasuke captures him in a genjutsu, and the Chibi leaps onto the immobile man's shoulder, not bothering to look back as the sharkman pulls out two kunai from his pocket and swiftly tosses them at Tobi and Deidara's heads.
"Kisame!?"
Sasuke smirks while the sound of fighting ensues behind him as he grabs the shark—Kisame's—cloak and slides down the man's back, hoping the missing-nin remains under the illusion he's surrounded by enemy ninja until he's made it out the room.
"Kai!"
Sasuke's hopes are dashed when one of the Oki frees Kisame from his genjutsu, but thankfully Sasuke is already at the bottom of Kisame's cloak and letting go of the edge to drop to the floor.
His broken leg stings on impact, but Sasuke forces himsef into an awkward sprint through the doorway when Deidara shouts. "It's getting away!"
The ground trembles beneath Sasuke's feet as the Oki shinobi chase after him into the hallway, merely a couple feet behind.
Yet Sasuke doesn't stop even as Tobi shunshins directly in front of him, the masked man's entire countenance deadly serious as he hisses. "You can't escape, little Uchiha."
A chill runs down Sasuke's spine at the drastic shift in personality, but the return of his chakra emboldens him, so Sasuke shunshins past the masked man until his broken leg forces him to stop in the base's living room.
The Chibi's leg drums with pain while he zeroes in on the cave entrance, which looks a mile away to Sasuke though it's actually only a few yards. Yet the Uchiha can't even consider making a run towards it as he spots two unfamiliar Oki ninja sitting on gray couches to the left of him. One missing-nin is lounging on the longer sofa, a huge red scythe set against the couch arm by his feet while the other missing-nin sits upright on the couch across from him, holding a pen over a ledger in his lap. Though the shinobi stiffens and his head snaps over to Sasuke when he senses the Chibi enter the area.
Green, pupilless eyes bore into Sasuke, and the Chibi's gaze darts longingly to the door when the man sets down his ledger and gets to his feet.
"There you are!" Deidara shouts behind Sasuke, and the Chibi doesn't think before dashing under the nearest couch, which happens to be the one the scythe-wielder lies on.
Sasuke resists the urge to cough as dust floods his airways, and he pushes through the cobwebs and grime until his palm touches the wall the couch's back is set against, knowing it's the only place where the Oki can't reach him.
"So the korobokkuru has escaped," Kakuzu says in an even tone.
"The what?" The man with the scythe asks, sitting up based on how the couch springs groan above Sasuke.
"Korobokkuru is what we call min-nin in my Village."
"That unholy thing Leader bought is on the loose?"
Sasuke would be offended by the man's callous talk of him, but is too busy watching out for any grabby hands coming his way.
"So it would seem." Kakuzu's feet shift towards the right as he says, "I assume one of you let it escape."
Sasuke imagines the sudden silence is because Tobi and Kisame are staring at Deidara while the blond attempts to think of an excuse.
"Well, you see..."
"No matter," Kakuzu approaches the couch, and the cushion shifts above Sasuke as the scythe-wielder moves out of the way, muttering about how he doesn't want the 'unholy creature' to soil him. "I shall retrieve it." The man drops to his knees and lowers his head until his green eyes hone in on Sasuke. "A min-nin is too expensive to replace."
Kakuzu's hand creeps a few inches under the couch, and Sasuke prepares to stab the hand with his Chidori spear once it gets closer. However, Sasuke's gapes when the skin above the missing-nin's wrist unstitches itself, revealing gray tendrils that rise out of his arm like serpents.
The Chibi switches tactics right as the tendrils zip towards him, hands flying through six signs before he spits fire at them.
They all roast in the scarlet flames except for one, which whips around the fire to coil around Sasuke's ankle.
Sasuke cries out as he falls onto his back and is dragged forward by his bad foot. Yet through the haze of pain, an idea sparks in his mind, and Sasuke inhales a deep breath, building up chakra in his throat.
He waits to be pulled out from under the sofa and to see Kakuzu hovering over him before unleasheing a stream of fire up towards the green-eyed man's face.
"Woah!" The sycthe-weilder shouts in surprise while Kakuzu merely turns his head so the flames harmlessly bypass him, but the second his green eyes are off Sasuke, the Chibi's palm sparks with a lightning blade and he slices through the tendril tied to his ankle. Kakuzu refocuses on him, more tendrils rising from his arm, but Sasuke rolls to his feet and leaps up onto the couch cushion.
"I got it!" Deidara lurches forward as Sasuke bounces on the sofa, only for the Chibi to slash at the blond's hands with his Chidori spear, forcing the Oki to rear back. Then Sasuke jumps up towards the sofa arm, intending to leap his way to freedom while using his lightning to keep the enemy ninja away, when suddenly an invisible force wraps around his body and freezes him midair.
What!? The Chibi's eyes widen and he releases his Chidori spear as the force drags him past Deidara and Kisame's shocked faces and dumps him onto an unfamiliar Oki's pale hand.
The human's fingers close around him and Sasuke immediately unleashes lightning over his body, but the hand around him doesn't so much as twitch in response.
Sasuke stops releasing electricity, his Sharingan eyes widening because surely the human is in pain. Yet the hand around his body is secure, so Sasuke throws back his head to see what type of person could handle his lightning.
Just to choke at the sight of two violet, ringed eyes—Rinnegan eyes staring him down until the red-headed man turns aside. "Itachi." Sasuke twists left to see Oki-Itachi standing behind the man near the base's entrance, his ebony gaze resting on Sasuke. "I thought you said the min-nin was injured."
"He is," Oki-Itachi steps forward, brow furrowing slightly as he takes in Sasuke's frazzled appearance. "His leg is broken."
"Yet despite this, the min-nin managed to escape its cage, elude several S-rank shinobi, and even injury one of them." The Rinnegan man gives Sasuke a calculating look and the Chibi trembles at the sight of the legendary dōjutsu.
Only for Deidara to scoff, glaring at Sasuke. "It didn't injury me!" He smoothes down his hair, though some parts still stick up as he stutters. "I just fell."
Oki-Itachi's eyes shift to the blond and narrow. "You fell in my room?" His voice turns icy. "And I suppose you just happened to knock off the cage lid as you fell, allowing the min-nin to escape?"
Everyone except the man with the Rinnegan is taken aback by the thinly-veiled accusation in Oki-Itachi's voice, having never seen the Uchiha so outright antagonistic.
"Ha!" The scythe-wielder cuts through the tension, cackling loudly. "I guess there are emotions in that blasphemous husk of yours, huh, Itachi?" Then a manic grin upturns his lips as he side-eyes the blond. "How about I sacrifice Deidara to Jashin-sama? He's clearly a nuisance and I bet his blood will be pleasing to—"
"I am not upset with Deidara."
All the shinobi turn to the redhead as he says, "Though I hope Deidara will not be so reckless in the future." The blond shrinks under the man's gaze, hearing the warning in his tone until the man looks back at Sasuke. "But even if it was by accident, Deidara has revealed the min-nin is capable of fighting despite its injury."
Oki-Itachi stiffens, but doesn't say anything while his leader says, "Let the min-nin rest for three days, then you must begin its training, Itachi."
The Uchiha nods, though there's a tightness around his mouth while he speaks. "Yes, Pain-sama." He raises his hand and Pain sets the shell-shocked Chibi in Oki-Itachi's palm.
Yet the tiny ninja can't do a thing as the larger Uchiha's eyes bleed into his Mangekyō Sharingan, and Sasuke's lesser eyes are no match when a genjutsu order slams into Sasuke's brain.
The world spirals into a kaleidoscope of red and black until Sasuke is dunked in an ocean so dark he can't see his own hands in front of him before he sinks into oblivion.
—
Sasuke wakes up on the beanbag in his glass cage, a soft cloth draped over his body and dull orange light warming his skin. Yet Sasuke feels cold as he sits up, muscles aching, head spinning, and chakra so absent it feels like someone carved a hole in his chest.
After some seconds, the vertigo passes, but Sasuke feels no better. The Chibi stares blankly at the wall ahead, the stench of failure diluting his senses while he blinks at the gray desk lamp next to his cage on the table, which certainly wasn't there earlier. Though the lamp's warmth isn't unwelcome, even if it does nothing to lift Sasuke's mood because Sasuke is locked up again. This time for good. No more second chances, no more escape attempts, Sasuke is truly trapped this time.
Sasuke hangs his head and maybe would have lamented forever if the door didn't suddenly creak open. An Oki steps into the room, but Sasuke doesn't turn around, knowing who it is.
"You're awake," Oki-Itachi says quietly, walking up to his cage.
Sasuke doesn't acknowledge his words, and a full minute passes in silence until he hears the cage top being opened. The Chibi drags his eyes up and stands when Oki-Itachi dips his hand into the container because Sasuke has had enough manhandling today.
Yet Oki-Itachi's hand never strays from the other end of the cage as the human deposits something into his food bowl. Sasuke watches Oki-Itachi's hand leave warily so doesn't see what he's been given until the Oki secures the cage top and Sasuke turns to the food bowl. Then his eyes widen.
"I remember my mother used to complain about rabbits sneaking into her garden, nibbling on her fruits at night." Oki-Itachi watches the min-nin slowly approach the plump tomato sitting in his food bowl, nearly as tall as him. "But eventually she noticed the bite marks were too small to come from a rabbit, and the mouth size didn't match any animal she knew of."
Oki-Itachi stops there, but Sasuke doubts he needs the Chibi to confirm the truth. To explain that when they were kids, Itachi used to take Sasuke to the Oki garden at night. It was only on special occasions, like when Sasuke had a bad dream or Itachi needed some fresh air, and his brother only ever took him out after sunset since daytime was too risky—though Sasuke always thought that made the experience more magical.
They used to play hide-and-seek under the peppermint leaves, inhaling their sweet scent and using the fireflies fluttering above to find each other in the darkness. Sasuke would slide down the chili pepper stems, his brother catching him at the bottom, or they'd tie the vines into a makeshift swing and ride it together while eating their fill of juicy fruits. Sometimes they even went over to the koi pond, Sasuke marveling at the giant fishes' glittering scales while they drifted up to the water's surface.
Sasuke's stomach growls, disrupting the memory, and Sasuke clutches his abdomen as pain blossoms in the pit of his gut. He hasn't eaten all day, and though he's faced far worse starvation in the past, his hunger mixed with his worry over Itachi's fate as well as the stress from trying to escape three times in the past day have left Sasuke famished.
Still, he can feel Oki-Itachi's eyes on him and the Chibi won't give in to the human's attempt to get into Sasuke's good graces. He won't fall for such false kindness again.
Someone knocks on the bedroom door and Oki-Itachi moves to unlock the entrance—was there always a lock there?
Kisame stands in the doorway, and Oki-Itachi shifts aside so he can walk in. The older man raises a brow at Sasuke's stance, his crossed arms and face turned away from the tomato even as his Chibi stomach cries with hunger.
"Still being stubborn, huh?" Kisame turns to Itachi. "I can't tell if that's an Uchiha thing or just a you two thing." He gestures between the Chibi and Oki Uchiha while Sasuke scowls at the comparison because Oki-Itachi is nothing like his kind older brother.
Oki-Itachi ignores the teasing and says, "It's Konoha protocol not to accept food from enemy shinobi after one's been captured, as most Konoha-nin would prefer to starve rather than sell out their comrades." His raven eyes stare deep into Sasuke's. "I suspect the min-nin of Konoha have a similar protocol, but it's pointless for him to follow it now when we won't be using him against his own kind."
Though Oki-Itachi is speaking to Kisame, his eyes remain on Sasuke and the Chibi can tell he's being addressed even as Oki-Itachi looks away.
"Well, if that's what you think is best," Kisame turns to leave. "I'll let our leader know we got the min-nin to eat."
Oki-Itachi closes the door behind him, twisting a lock over the knob before moving towards the drawer by his bed. He removes his cloak and Sasuke looks away as the human gets prepared for bed, both of them ignoring how Sasuke's stomach releases another piercing wail while the tomato twinkles enticingly under the lamplight. Regardless, even after Oki-Itachi retires to bed, Sasuke refuses to give in as he lays back on the beanbag, determined to suffer through hunger pains all night long if he has to.
—
The next morning Itachi slips his cloak on, ties back his hair, and is making his way out the door when he stops to check on the min-nin.
His lips twitch as he takes in the tiny shinobi curled up on his beanbag, stomach bulging under his cloak while only the tomato stem and seeds remain in his food bowl.
A spark of amusement lifts the corner of Itachi's mouth as he whispers. "Sleep well, Little Sasuke," before closing the door softly behind him.
Sorry I took months to update, but I had a bit of writer's block for a while. Still, this story will probably take another few months to update since I've got a couple other stories I want to focus on, but even if it does take a while, know that I'm not planning on abandoning this story any time soon!
Also thanks for the review and all the support you guys have given this story :)
Next time: Sasuke adjusts to his new life with the Akatsuki...
