Chapter 2: Pursuit
"You are untutored in slavish behavior," the man said. He turned and began walking toward his cushions, where he dropped into a reclining position. "Truthfully, I do not require a lickspittle. When I went to the market, I sought only a body to satisfy my needs. Someone to do the things I am accustomed to having done for me while I make my journey."
Sasuke was grateful for this explanation as it demonstrated, to his mind at least, duties outside of providing pleasures. He looked at the boy. "You have a slave."
The man's laugh was loud and light. A sound of delight. "Were you not in chains he would kill you for that. He is no slave. Never that. He is my alma." At seeing the confusion on Sasuke's face, he tried to explain. "He is my soul's companion. No. The soul of my soul. A part of me. Sacred. He was given me, as my due and duty, upon his birth. He has been fed by my hand, cared for by me, and no other."
"Why?"
"People of my station are required to prove themselves worthy. In my country, one of these ways is the keeping of an alma."
"Then-"
"Henceforth you will only speak when I give you leave to speak."
Sasuke kept his face smooth, but his hands curled into fists.
"Your anger amuses me. Come to me, Nameless."
The command was tangible in his mind. He was thankful that moving his feet was still up to him, but he didn't test the knowledge. He went and stood at the edge of the cushions.
"Your fists and the clench of your jaw betray you, Nameless. If so light a command heats your blood you will make a very poor slave…to most. For me it is exciting. Closer."
Sasuke took a step onto the cushions. Those eyes seldom blinked, he found. They stared at him, though the man continued to eat. Sasuke had the peculiar sensation that the man thought about far more than whatever was coming out of his mouth at a particular moment.
"On the subject of commands, I will assume you know nothing of how the chain functions. Especially given the fact that you are no slave. No. Nor are you lowborn. That shruda and cloak you arrived in were fine quality. Very fine. And your companion was similarly dressed. His speech was cultured. And his power! Yours as well. Power such as that does not come without long, arduous, careful instruction. Which is not given in any common Art guild. Mm. The more I ponder it, the more I wonder why he was so adamant in selling you to me. Did he need the funds so very badly?"
Sasuke looked him in his eyes without blinking.
The man grinned…then stopped. "By the Demon, I will take great pleasure in breaking you, Nameless. Mm. The chain. Such is its nature that once it touches an owners hand, no hand but that may set the slave free. Similarly, if ever the chain is used in an oath, such as your clever companion forced me to do, that oath cannot be undone. Not even by a person of my talents. Perhaps you wonder why. Or, as your eyes tell me even now, you think you will be different. That you will get free. The chain is…" The man's eyes left him at last as he searched for a way to explain. "The chain is a tool of balance. No. Of harmony. It is only as strong as the owner or slave it is bonded to. So. Having sworn oaths on the chain with my chakra, were I to then attempt breaking those oaths, the chain would stop me. Stop me based on the strength of my chakra. 'Twould be like battling myself. An opponent I would not wish on anyone. And were you to try doing the same, you would face opposition equal to your own power from the chain. So you see, there is no escape for you. Put it from your mind. Instead, consider this: you swore to obey. Your considerable power will see to it that you do. I am far more powerful than you. A command from me can and will be enforced should I feel opposition from you, and I can enforce it beyond your ability to resist. I can kill you with a command, Nameless. Do you understand? Speak."
"Yes."
"It is well. But take heart. Your companion was shrewd to extract the oaths he did." His left hand twisted and hefted the chain between them. "I cannot harm you in any way. Were I to try, my oath would stop me. And my oath, my chakra, is not something I can disobey without serious consequences. Most likely my death. However, I do not foresee problems. My journey is a peaceful one. I need only continue west, to the setting sun, until I reach my destination. And during that time, Nameless…I will tame you." He blinked at last. "What are you thoughts on the matter? Speak."
Sasuke had many. Chief among them, that Itachi had known back at their inn that he would extract the promises he did from this man. And that if the man was unable to hurt him in any way, or threaten him, or get rid of him, then the only way to tame him would be with the power of his mind. A mind, the man had just explained to him, that would be backed by chakra vastly more powerful than his own.
Your will can and will be subverted. You will be commanded. Possessed. Controlled.
Itachi had gone on to tell him that he could maintain himself because he was strong. And later, he had begged from him the promise not to forget him. As if he could possibly forget his only brother. But it must be a possibility. This man I'm chained to must have the ability to overpower me to such an extent that I forget even myself, as Itachi made me promise I would not do that either. Gods. What am I to do?"
"My thoughts. Why must I be tamed if my temper pleases you so? Leave me be to express my temper whenever I wish and I guarantee I will please you often."
The man had to push the bowl of dates aside, so wildly did he laugh. He writhed in his mirth. Twisted. Kicked his legs and beat at the floor. Sasuke was startled to see tears dot the man's lashes before he was done, and that end was several long minutes in arriving. Such howling. When at last the man flopped onto his back with a sigh and a giggle, he looked weakened. Finally he arranged himself in his former position and regarded him with moist eyes that were still half-closed in laughter. "Nameless. I do confess I have fallen in love with you. Of all my possessions you are beyond doubt the most treasured. By His Eye." And he collapsed in another fit of laughter.
Sasuke took the time to glance at the boy, but he sat as stoically as ever, eyes on the man.
"All right." The man wiped his eyes. "That is done. Ten Tails, you are priceless. Such wit! As to why you must be tamed? Because I wish it. Yes, your rage amuses me, since the sharper your rage, the more enjoyment I will derive from quelling it." All humor left him then, to be replaced with the watchfulness from before. "Make no mistake, Nameless. Though amusing, I will not abide a contentious slave. You are mine. So you will be as I want you. And I want you soft and willing." He retrieved the dates and ate several. "Come closer."
He took another step.
"There is much I sense about you. Something beyond the power of your chakra and body." He squinted. "Around your eyes, I think. Have you a Doujutsu?"
He tried to lie and found he couldn't. "Yes."
"Show me."
"No-" The pain of disobedience was immediate. It radiated from every pore in his body, while his brain positively erupted at the warring commands of his promise to the chain and his promise to Itachi. Behind his lids he felt his Sharingan flare, and so kept his eyes tightly shut. Let him think I grimace in pain. When he could breathe, and control was once more his, he slowly opened his eyes.
The blue ones were waiting for him. Watching very closely, without blinking. "That pain was not light, yet you neither flinched nor cried out. My pleasure in you grows by the minute, Nameless. It is well for you that I withdrew the command, else your brains would be leaking from your nose even now." One date was thoughtfully placed between his lips, bitten in half. "There are only three Doujutsu of note. Three that would cause a slave sworn to obedience to disobey. Clearly you are no Hyuuga. In any case Her Radiance, The Pure does not suffer any of her clan to leave the wildlands. Then it is Rinnegan or Sharingan. And of those two, the Sharingan is far more common. Especially as I know of only one man who bears the Rinnegan." The other half of the date was eaten. The man's eyes lowered to take in Sasuke's body again. "Uchiha are pale, as you are. Dark of hair and eye. Said to inhabit the Mists to the north before the wielder of the Rinnegan began hunting them. 'Tis said all the Uchiha are dead." A challenge in the blue. They glittered. "Are you Uchiha?"
He was expecting the pain this time, and withstood it with only a tightening of his jaw. He couldn't lie, but he could, he found, resist. Somewhat.
"I see. Your companion was cheated after all. There are no riches to equal the price of an Uchiha, much less one in possession of Sharingan. I must say, an Uchiha slave is quite fitting for one of my station." That challenging gaze left him at last. Settled on the bowl of dates and nuts. "Speak." He plucked an almond stuffed date from the bowl. Licked it of its nectar.
"What do I call you or refer to you as?"
"No comment on my observations? You may call me High One or Master, refer to me as the master."
"What are you?"
The date was nearly choked on as another laugh was startled out of the master. A short one this time. "Let me hear your theories."
Sasuke took in the whiskers and canines. "A demon."
"A man," he countered, "who is more than a man."
"You look young, yet your words have wisdom and learning."
"Suffice it to say that I am your age. Or thereabouts. My speech is the product of a particular education."
"You have far too much arrogance for one so young."
"And you have less intelligence than I was led to believe. You are strong enough to resist your oath to obey; I am a good deal stronger than you will ever be. Have I not said as much?" The master's eyes held his until the meaning was clear.
As he had every intention of resisting whenever possible, Sasuke thought it best if he showed meekness on occasion. He lowered his gaze.
The chakra condensing around the man softened. "Never insult me." The blue eyes were quite suddenly red. The canines lengthened.
"Yes. High One."
And the face was normal again, as if the bestial quality had been nothing more than a trick of the torchlight. Sasuke swallowed.
"Do you sing, Nameless?"
"No."
"Dance?"
"No."
"Are you proficient with musical instruments?"
"No."
"Then I suppose my entertainments with you will be few. No matter." He smiled. "My. An Uchiha. All is made clear; you have been left with me to escape the Rinnegan wielder. Your companion extracted the promises he did in order that you be kept safe. Who was he?"
This time the command was not withdrawn. It tightened in his mind, intensifying the pain in his body until he feared his eyes would show. "My brother," he gasped.
"Another Uchiha then. He was not unfortunate. I would gladly have accepted him too." He was quiet a time. "The one who wields Rinnegan is powerful. But not my equal. You will be safe from him. And now, let us eat." He signaled the boy, who left and returned with a large wooden platter. This was set in front of the master. "Sit, Nameless. Not there. Here, on my left. Always my left. No, do not eat. I have not given you leave to eat. You feed me first. Then my alma eats. You eat what is left." He waited. "Is my beauty so compelling that you will stare at me until the sun comes?"
Sasuke studied the bowls of food. Stews and curries of goat and lamb. Camel meat over rice liberally flecked with cumin seeds. Vegetables pickled in chili or vinegar or both, and much creamy yogurt. There were no utensils. His people did not touch food with anything but knives, spoons, and forks. Clearly, things were different here. Quelling his distaste at the need to treat food with such disrespect, he scooped up a handful of rice. Uncertain, he moved this offering in the direction of the master.
He opened his mouth.
The experience was one he admonished himself to get used to. The master's mouth sucked his fingers clean after each bite of food. When it was his turn to eat, he did so with his other hand. "May I speak?" he asked when he was done.
"No. Do not ask again. When I say speak, you speak until I say cease. Cleansing of my person, my belongings, and the vessels I eat from now falls to you. Away with these." He nodded at the platter. "This night is wasted, so we will sleep now. Be quick."
The chain allowed him to descend to the kitchens, where he found servants. They did not offer to clean the platter or its dishes, so he did so himself, as instructed. Since he hadn't been told he couldn't, he also took the time to answer a nature call in a tiled chamber lined with pots for this purpose. When he returned to the master's chamber, he found the torches extinguished save one. It showed the master waiting. The boy was absent.
"My nightly habits are usually performed later, toward dawn, but as we are retiring at this early hour you will do them now. Disrobe me and tend my hair. Then we sleep."
The lower garment was easy enough to remove. He did so while being careful to avoid contact with the master's baser parts, but the hair gave him pause. No further instructions were given. At length he looked around for anything that could be seen as personal effects. Nothing. Save a satchel to one side of the cushions. Inside, he found a brush, a ra'di, a cloak, and a large irregular circle of solid gold threaded through with a length of cord.
He brought the brush back to the cushions and knelt. The hair was looped twice about the master's neck. When it lay across Sasuke's legs in a heavy tail, he set about undoing the three-strand rope it was fashioned into. Loose, it was longer than the length of the master's body. He commenced brushing it in long strokes, beginning at the ends.
"That is good, Nameless. Very good. You've a strong arm. I am not allowed to change aught in my person until I Ascend, so I am forced to carry this hair around. 'Tis a botheration, to be sure. I have never seen hair as short as yours. The people of my land wear it long, like Hyuuga, but braided."
Sasuke worked his way up the mass.
"I noticed earlier how you avoided touching my sweetmeats. Tell me. Are you unbreached at your age in deference to a vow?"
"No."
"A lover? Your body promised to another?"
"No."
"Fear?"
"No."
"Shame? Disgust?"
"No."
"Have you mounted another at least, or are you complete in your purity?"
"I have never mounted."
"Ah, yes. I recall my lessons now. The Uchiha are the most religious clan. Pleasures are never exchanged unless a bonded pair must sire a child."
Incorrect, but Sasuke remained silent.
"A virginal Uchiha. Ten Tails. I have been favored beyond mortals this day." His voice strengthened. "That is well. I plan to breach you, but your eyes are not yet right. One catches more flies with honey, so I will wait. Until your eyes beg me for it."
Gods willing, you will never see such a look on my face.
"In the meanwhile…"
Sasuke very nearly cracked the brush against that bright head at feeling his shaft grasped. He resumed brushing with difficulty, even when he found his flesh surrounded by the silken heat of the master's mouth. His hands trembled then, and his breathing stopped, but he continued to focus on the hair he brushed.
"Your sweetmeats are as superb as the rest of you." The master leaned back, licking his lips. "Clean. No disease. Superior length and girth, though by no means equal to my own. Yours is healthy and responsive. I expect it will give us both great pleasure. That will do, Nameless. Plait it and then lie beside me. Without touching me."
And thank the gods for that, Sasuke seethed. He stretched out on the surprisingly uncomfortable cushions. Itachi, my dearest brother. Once I have implored the hells to send every demon they possess after you, I will pray equally long and hard for your success. Nothing save the possibility of that will keep me tied to this animal.
At one of the shaded balconies in the Red Palace a smallish boy/man stood gazing into the distance. Moonlight caught the jade of his eyes, silvering them. "The news you impart is not unknown to me."
The gate guard at his back trembled. "No, Your Eminence and Glory. Never did I seek to imply such. I only meant to inform, as is my duty."
"They gave description?"
"Yes, Your Eminence and Glory. Two males, similar in face, but a few years separating them."
"And did you see such?"
"No…yet I was not on duty before they asked."
"It is well. Is there aught else?"
He thought of the robed one who'd entered the night of the storm's appearance.
"No, Your Eminence and Glory."
"Leave."
The guard fled with the speed and silence of a mouse.
His Eminence and Glory turned from the balcony. His alma stood to one side. "He lies. As if I do not feel the power lying in yon house. Prepare escort. I would know the reason for such behavior."
He woke to the feel of pressure condensing in the air around him. His alma rose to stand beside him. The nameless slave he'd purchased also sat wide-eyed and attentive. He got to his feet, scenting the air. Listened to the smallest sounds of the night carried to him on the breeze.
Outside. The approach of many feet. The pressure swelling to levels uncomfortable by any save the three who now stood sweating beneath it.
Below, the main entrance was thrown open, followed by the imperious sound of heel on tile. Many heels. Yet he knew the majority of them escorted only one set of note. And when the first retainers entered his chamber bearing torches, he threw himself down in prostration. His alma followed. Nameless remained standing, surveying the scene. He yanked him by the chain, seized his head, and pushed it to the floor just as the owner of that stifling pressure walked inside.
-oOo-
He stood at ease, behind an escort of twelve. These were parted into a double row. His Eminence and Glory stared at the three bowed heads before sauntering forward at his leisure. "You have some cock to enter my land without word or greeting," he murmured at the largest one. "Who are you."
"One who has not yet Ascended."
"…Ah. That changes matters. Rise. All of you."
They stood, Sasuke sensing immediately that he was to do so last. Nor did he look at their visitor. The urge was overwhelming but he kept his eyes on the floor.
His Eminence and Glory was another matter. After a cursory glance at the giant in the middle, his eyes went directly to the one chained to him and stayed there. Then they narrowed. "By the Demon. That is no slave."
"He is. Mine. I purchased him."
His Eminence moved closer to the black-haired youth. "Such as he has never graced the flesh markets of Suna. I would know. I possess all the best flesh. Give him to me."
The master tensed. Closed his eyes in relief when he felt opposition from the chain. "My humblest apologies, Your Eminence and Glory. I cannot. I have sworn words on the chain that forbid me leaving him with another."
His Eminence blinked several times. "You deny me."
The master lowered his head further. "The chain-"
"Cease. I am well aware of the fate that awaits oathbreakers. For one such as yourself the result would most assuredly be death." A sigh, as his eyes roved over the youth…before sliding to his owner. "I have never met your like. Even amongst our kind. And since I am denied your slave I consent to have you for the remainder of the evening." He waited.
The master slowly raised his eyes. "You do me a grave honor, Your Eminence and Glory. May my humble person bring you pleasure."
Those green eyes moved up and down the large body several times. "There is no doubt it will. I've yet to meet one who can overpower me. I shall treasure the experience of having one such as you at my command. Come. Bring your slave and alma. I prefer my own quarters to this place."
Sasuke, eyes firmly on the floor, was nevertheless aware of the master's boy hefting the chest onto his back. So focused was he on the presence of His Eminence and Glory, though, that he missed the master's stare in his direction. Not until he was backhanded with enough force to make the bones in his neck creak did common sense return to him. He rushed to dress the master.
"Is he a dullard?" asked His Eminence.
"New," the master countered. The pain of hitting Nameless despite his oath had yet to fade. "Acquired only this night."
"You don't say. That sounds like a tale worth hearing."
"To be sure." He paused as he took the ra'di from Nameless and wrapped it himself. "I can scarce believe the circumstances myself."
His Eminence turned sideways, gesturing for the master to walk beside him. "You may regale me as we walk."
Outside, Sasuke thanked the gods it was still dark. He was naked as his nameday thanks to Itachi taking his clothes with him. He wondered if he'd be required to parade about in his skin during daylight hours as well. He felt horribly exposed; not since the Mists had he gone without his cloak. Anyone from Akatsuki might recognize him, but there was no one but themselves on the stretch of grass between the master's residence and the Red Palace. He folded his hands before his groin and put his head down anyway.
"Found me in the flesh markets," the master was saying. "Well aware of my power yet unafraid. Quite powerful himself. Said he had a superior individual I would be interested in."
"Still. To approach one such as yourself. A fearless man. Or desperate."
"Perhaps. But he was honorable. Arrived at the appointed hour. My slave was as purported. More, even."
So he plans to keep my secrets, Sasuke thought. His arrogance does have limits.
"And what of the man who sold him to you?" His Eminence said. "What sort of man was he?"
"Mm. A private one, I think. When he left my residence his presence was directly masked."
"Masked. A man in hiding, then." His Eminence was silent a moment. "Describe him."
"Fair. Dark of hair and eye. Slender."
"Not unlike your slave then. I find that interesting. A group of men with considerable strength entered my village not long before you did. I'm told they seek two men similar of face with few years' difference between them. What make you of that?"
Sasuke felt his breath shorten but all the master did was shrug. "No mention of pursuit was made to me. Only my slave's virtues. Which I asked for, of course."
"Of course. By His Eye, he does take the breath from me. And this man simply offered him to you." His Eminence made a low sound. "I confess myself insulted. As ruler of the land this man saw fit to enter, I should have been offered the perfection of your slave's person first. He should have been given to me. Why do you suppose he chose you? Did he know who you are?"
"Most assuredly not. All he would have known about me was my power. He couldn't have known if I had the funds to pay what my slave is worth which, truth, I do not. No sum could purchase such as he. But I believe that had I only the shake of my hand to offer as payment he would still have given him to me."
"One wonders why. Ten Tails. Such a mystery. You have given me much to reflect upon this night."
-oOo-
They arrived at the Red Palace. The escort of twelve accompanied them to a set of tall golden doors on the third floor, doors inlaid with the symbol for Sunagakure. His Eminence preceded the master inside. Sasuke and the boy brought up the rear.
Inside, all was gold against the red sandstone. Gold tile, golden couches low on the floor, tapestries of different shades of gold. They continued to the sleeping chamber where a large, sinuously curved bed dominated the room. This was covered in golden linen, topped with golden pillows, and hung with gauzy golden material of a sheer and shimmering quality.
His Eminence walked to a low table of gold filigree, where earthenware dishes, glazed and gleaming, were arranged. Fruits, dates, nuts, and wine for His Eminence and Glory. He poured for himself, lifted his goblet, and turned to regard his guest. "And now," he murmured, "for what has sizzled my blood from the moment I beheld you." He looked nowhere but at the master as he sipped. "Show me that cock again."
This time Sasuke moved at once. He unwrapped the master's ra'di, removed the orange robe, and pulled down the lower garment. Holding all this close, he backed away again, head down.
His Eminence hummed. "That is a cock to dwarf the mighty Demon's himself."
From the corner of his eye Sasuke saw him approach the master. Heard the master's grunt as His Eminence grabbed the base of his cock and squeezed. More, he released his chakra. Far more than he'd done at the master's residence. He and the boy sank to their knees, but the master stood upright, cock swollen until the veins on it were prominent.
Who are these people, Sasuke thought. How do they have such power?
The master was pulled in this manner to the bed, where His Eminence looked up at him, face red and visibly excited. "I know the rules of our kind and of the Ascension," he said. "Unless your death is imminent your power is to remain hidden. I do not ask you to violate your oaths. But short of the Arts and your true strength I give you leave to subdue me by whatever means available to you. You are to command me, beat me, draw my blood…all in the name of my subjugation. I'll not submit easily. I will fight you. And, unlike you, my Ascension is behind me. I can and will access whatever powers I choose to display. However, my strength is as nothing beside yours. Overpower me. Is all understood?"
"It is." His eyes never blinked as he stared at His Eminence, who scarce came to his chest.
"That is well. Now. Upon my command, you are given free reign with my person. When I say cease, or if I am rendered unconscious, you are to stop. Only then. No matter the sounds I make."
"It is understood."
His Eminence nodded. Sasuke, trying not to look and failing, saw him swallow. Moisten his lips. Run greedy eyes over the master's body. He even saw him trembling ever so slightly. So portentous was the moment that he found his own body quivering in response.
"Begin," His Eminence said.
"Nameless!"
Sasuke jumped hard enough to rattle the chain.
The master spoke without looking at him. "Watch." He then removed the chain from his wrist and fastened it around one bedpost.
Sasuke would never admit to what a relief it was to actually be given leave to watch. Mating was an intensely private thing to his people. Done only after vows were exchanged. Most certainly never witnessed by outside parties in this manner. It was with shame and no small amount of curiosity that he gazed toward the bed.
His Eminence still had hold of the master's cock. The master closed his own huge hand around His Eminence's throat and lifted him to eye level. His Eminence was indeed strong despite his size. Sasuke both felt and saw the way his chakra lashed about as his hands latched on to the one around his neck. The muscles in his arms stood out as he tried to pry those fingers loose. The master didn't lose his grip. Not until His Eminence was nearly as scarlet as his hair and choking for air. The master flung him to the bed.
Violent was His Eminence's coughing yet even so he rolled to his back and stretched a hand toward a corner of the chamber. Sasuke could barely tear his eyes from the way the master stalked around the bed but he was in time to see a wall of sand bearing down on the master. This resolved itself into tendrils thicker than Sasuke's limbs, which then wound themselves around the master's arms and legs. He was halted. But only briefly.
Sasuke's hand rose to his mouth to keep in his shout.
He could feel the power in that sand. Feel His Eminence increase it as the master managed a step. Then another step. His Eminence left off holding his throat to get to his knees and raise both hands to his sand. All his power was in it, Sasuke could tell. And while tremendous, it did not stop the master, who now brought forth his own chakra. Were he and the boy not already on their knees they would have dropped from the weight of it. As it was, they were forced to remain upright by supporting themselves on hands and knees.
At seeing the futility of his efforts His Eminence accessed some power that had his eyes yellow and strange. This was what caused Sasuke's near shout. The master was indeed pushed backward, his feet sliding on the tiles. And then he stopped. His head, lowered beneath that assault, now lifted to reveal his own eyes red and bestial, as they'd been at his residence. His teeth became fangs and a growl that shook the chamber had Sasuke pushing himself backward until his arse touched the wall.
The master could not be stopped. He went forward step by inexorable step. His Eminence was now sweating with effort. The master reached the bed and His Eminence fought even then, launching his compact person at the master only to be sent back to the bed by a blow hard enough to make Sasuke wince. He glanced aside to see what the boy made of this display, but the boy had his eyes on the floor.
When next he looked toward the bed it was to see the master forcing his cock into His Eminence's mouth, a hand fisted in his hair. The thing barely made it halfway. The master slapped at His Eminence's face until the smaller man made strangled sounds…but he did open his mouth wider and swallow another few finger lengths as his throat was filled. "Suck. Hard," the master said through his teeth.
How such a thing was possible given the way His Eminence struggled to breathe, Sasuke didn't know, but the man did indeed hollow his cheeks on the master's cock. The master's face tightened in approval…right before His Eminence lifted a hand. The sand lying dormant on the floor rose to life and formed spears thick as Sasuke's arms. These flew at the master and pierced clean through his body.
Sasuke yelled in triumph. Surely the master must be dead!
But no. Sasuke shrank against the wall as chakra such as he'd never felt had his hands clamped over his mouth and his eyes bulging. He all but suffocated where he sat.
The master's entire body glowed yellow. His fangs lengthened, his nails grew to claws, and his whiskers were thick and dark. The growl that came from him now shook the Red Palace itself. Sasuke's ears were bleeding, he saw when he brought his hands down from covering them. He was deaf but for a persistent ringing. That knowledge scarcely caused him to blink as he saw the spears forcefully ejected from the master's body by his chakra alone. They embedded themselves in the walls and ceiling, one directly above his head. The master's wounds—gaping, mortal wounds—closed on their own.
He then went after His Eminence.
Though much smaller, His Eminence had chakra of his own, growls of his own, that came to his defense. But not his devastating blows, his sand, or the wind that sluiced about the chamber prevented the master from beating him almost senseless or hooking his claws into him and raking him bloody. Sasuke thought maybe His Eminence yelled, but the master was in the process of pushing him to all fours on the bed. He then stretched his arse wide, opened his mouth, and sank his fangs into him. Into his arse, around his entrance, Sasuke presumed with a swallow. His Eminence and Glory's face contorted. But it held pleasure as well. He pushed back against the face buried in his arse. Reached behind himself and yanked the face deeper by a handful of the master's hair.
The master shook his head free and stood straight. His mouth was bloody. He took hold of his cock, which Sasuke noted filled his large fist completely, and set it against His Eminence's entrance. His Eminence panted in need, his eyes glazed with desire.
The penetration was not smooth by any means; the master had to shove several times, during which His Eminence cried out in pain and pleasure, before his cock was properly sheathed. The master remained that way, unmoving, until His Eminence began circling his hips, causing him to wilt and work his mouth at the pleasure this gave him. Sasuke wondered if he was speaking. Then the master dug his claws deeper into the lean flanks he held, drew back, and rammed forward again.
-oOo-
Sasuke took careful note of it all. The way the master hammered that small body unmercifully. The way he slapped at the arse he abused, or yanked His Eminence's head back by the hair. How His Eminence cried out again and again, his lust keen and sharp, a goad to the master's cruelty. He took it all and begged for more. He saw the way His Eminence drooled in the extremity of his pleasure. Saw the way his body quaked. Heard, even if faintly through the ringing in his ears, how his screams climbed in volume at the punishing pace the master set.
He couldn't look away. He was sworn to obey and so he watched. But he felt defiled at the things he witnessed. The brutality was revolting.
And yet, there were gentle moments. When the master turned His Eminence to his back and entered him that way, for instance. Or how His Eminence, legs clamped around the master's waist, ran his hands over and over the muscles in the great torso above him, how his head tossed and turned. How the master licked his face and neck almost tenderly, only to lean up and gaze down into the green eyes as his hips quickened once more. The things the master did with his mouth weren't all biting either, Sasuke observed. Sometimes His Eminence and the master exchanged strange caresses with their lips. Sometimes their mouths fused together for long minutes, His Eminence clutching the blond hair tightly. Never having witnessed mating or received his lessons in this aspect of bonding, he was left to guess what this particular act signified.
For sure he was astounded at the many positions in which mating could be accomplished. On all fours, standing, reclining, sitting…there were a wide variety of positions beyond these. He sometimes had to tilt his head until it was nearly upside down to interpret what he saw but through it all His Eminence evidenced great passion and enjoyment, though the master beat and commanded him many times. They both seemed to enjoy the standing position against the wall best, wherein the master supported the smaller man's weight almost entirely by a hand around his throat. His Eminence enjoyed pain, it seemed. More than once Sasuke saw blood coating the master's cock yet not once did His Eminence indicate that a halt to the proceedings was necessary.
Well then, he thought. That settles it. Not only has His Eminence all but confirmed Akatsuki looking for me, but this demon I'm chained to must truly be from some low pit in Hell. He even swears by some fellow demon, and possesses all the traits of a rabid animal. That he walks and talks like a man is but trickery to hide the truth. Ah, but I see him very well. Promise or no, oath or no, chain or no, death or no, I will see myself into the wind before a sennight passes. I will find a way. I will find Itachi. And I will be free of this madness. May Hell claim me for eternity before I am used in this fashion. On my life, I will not be!
They were spread throughout the village, from the filthiest slum to the prestigious camel herds and their owners. The Leader, however, stood in front of the last residence on the left in the northern prefecture, where his senses told him one of the ones he sought had lately been. He now sensed him just ahead, in the Red Palace itself. He sensed a great deal more than this. Power run amok. And such power it was. Fascinating! Here it was he'd been led to believe the First had been hidden among priests farther south. Lo and behold it was practically within sight. How the gods must love him! Proof that his was a noble quest.
Beneath his hood he smiled. Then he performed a particular hand seal to call his brethren to him. "My apologies, Uchiha. I will have to forego killing you in favor of a much worthier prize…for now."
Sasuke sat stiff and silent as the final thrusts and cries came to a halt. The bed was an unsightly mess of broken beams, torn linen and floating feathers. The master and His Eminence were across the room on all fours, ending as they'd begun. Now His Eminence put his head down on his forearms and was quiet at last. The master was still buried in his body and even now bending down to lick the sweat from His Eminence's back. "Cease," His Eminence said.
The master withdrew from his body and stood.
Several long minutes later, during which His Eminence's scratches and bruises healed before their eyes, His Eminence also stood. He made a small whistling sound, and a servant, male, came inside with a golden bowl of water and a cloth. He began washing blood and other fluids from His Eminence's body.
The master came over to them. Inspected them. Found them deaf and placed his hands first over his alma's ears. Sasuke saw the hands glow and was somehow unsurprised at this further display of power. The boy merely blinked. When it was his turn, Sasuke tried hard not to flinch. But the glow was warm and soothed the ache in his ears. When the master removed his hands he found he could hear clearly once more.
"I do believe that is the first proper fucking I have ever received," His Eminence announced. They turned and found him clothed. He stood eating from a bowl of cherries he balanced in his palm. "You. You have yet to Ascend and so have not been given a title, but if you will permit me, I would like to…" the bowl was set aside, His Eminence suddenly quiet and respectful, arrogance gone. "I would like to exchange names with you."
Sasuke quirked a brow in interest. Most lands outside of the Mists believed a name was the most personal, most sacred and spiritual thing about a person. That to utter one's name gave the speaker power over them. To give one's name was to make oneself vulnerable. A cumbersome culture, wherein one was required to be present and thus physically seen if they were to be referred to. The Uchiha often joked about nameless foreigners. South of the Mists, a name was only spoken twice, at birth and at death. And only ever given to one's life mate. Only the wildlands far to the west believed as the Uchiha did, and that a name was important, yes, but not imbued with power over another. If His Eminence and Glory was asking for the master's name it was tantamount to a declaration. It was a declaration.
A fact the master was well aware of; he was immediately prostrate, his forehead pressed to the floor. "Forgive me. I beg you. But until I Ascend commitments such as this cannot be made. I am not worthy of the honor you do me. I will give you any price you ask in replacement."
"Then you feel the same? It is only your circumstance that hinders you?"
A hesitation. "Your Eminence…"
"Cease." He looked down. Twisted his mouth. "Very well. But once you Ascend I would very much like to call you friend."
Sasuke gaped as the master crawled to His Eminence's feet, lifted one, and placed a kiss on the toes. "It will be my first duty and honor upon gaining my title. May I prove worthy."
"I've no doubt you will. Stand." He stared up at the much taller man. Glanced at the boy, then at Sasuke, who was quick to put his own eyes on the floor. His Eminence lowered his voice. "Your power is immense. And I have felt others of our kind during my own journey to Ascension. None approached your level. Are you the Last?"
Sasuke strained to hear. Peeked. Saw the master giving a faint nod. The last what?
"Then I will be favored by your friendship. A fitting pairing, the First and the Last. Go. You have given me great pleasure this night. It will not be forgotten."
The master bowed from the waist. "It was an honor to do so."
His Eminence glanced at Sasuke. "I would advise you to continue your journey with haste. I believe your slave is being pursued. You may outfit yourself from your residence." He dipped his head in response to the bow. "Peace and safety-"
"-be yours and mine," the master replied.
They left without escorts. As before, he walked behind the master's left shoulder, the boy behind his right. So long were they in the Red Palace that dawn was upon them. The coolness of the night was already giving way to warmer temperatures at the sun's approach.
Across from the residence, on the other side of the white pathway, Sasuke saw a pair of yellow eyes affixed to the bole of a date palm. Even as he saw this the eyes closed and the tree was as if normal.
The master stopped in front of his residence. Sasuke strained himself, but as per his oath to obey he could not speak unless given leave to speak. He felt sweat on the back of his neck. They were here. Not all of them but some of them. Perhaps the master, in his great unfathomable power as the last something, also sensed them. Sasuke prayed this was true, but their presence was exceedingly subtle and he was finely attuned to them and the minute disturbances they caused in the atmosphere around them. Let me speak, please let me speak!
The master only stood staring up at the residence. Hands tucked in his sleeves. Still as stone. "Nameless?"
Thank the gods!
"I feel your fear, but you worry needlessly. The wielder of Rinnegan is not here. I would sense power such as that were he nearby. He is not. Calm yourself. Your fear irritates me."
Damnation! Of course he thinks one man is the only threat; no one knows of Akatsuki outside of the Mists. Outside of my brother and myself, now. They are here and in yon house, you arrogant dungeater, and if-
"Let us go inside. We will sleep this day, after you've bathed me, then proceed fresh and rested come the setting sun." He moved toward the residence.
Sasuke actually tried to resist. Tried to remain where he was, but the pain was too sharp. He tried anyway, fighting it until he fell to his knees. The master continued inside. The chain stretched to allow this. Sasuke waited for sounds of attack but none were forthcoming. Looking behind himself, he saw and sensed nothing now. The presence was gone, likely to make its report. He got up and ran inside.
-oOo-
The master was in his sleeping chamber standing near the cushions. He was still fully dressed. "I do hope you learn to obey soon, Nameless. These childish bouts of defiance grow tiresome. I've summoned a bath. Disrobe me."
Even as he said this, servants came in bearing a large copper tub. More servants came and began filling it with plain water.
"If I must call you again, Nameless, I will begin disobeying my oaths as well."
Continued resistance was becoming too painful; the ability to sense his surroundings was being compromised as a result. At all costs he must remain aware. He went to him and began undressing him.
His Eminence was still smiling in bemusement at the destruction of his bed chamber when a servant scurried to him and whispered in his ear. He was striding from his chamber immediately, almost running in his haste, until he pulled up short in the courtyard below to see the truth for himself. Had he not been so occupied he would have sensed the arrival long before this.
One of the ornate pelangki of the Red Palace was being set down in the center of the courtyard. The curtains were hastily pulled aside, whereupon a woman's shapely leg emerged. The rest of the leg's owner ducked out. The cloak she was wearing fell around her legs to hide her completely, but he knew. He held in his smile, but it was an effort. The solemnity of the occasion must be observed, after all.
While she knelt on the starburst design that was the kneeling place for generations of Sunagakure rulers before her, His Eminence glanced around the courtyard to find that his council and advisors had already been summoned. They lined the perimeter of the courtyard in silence. Once the pelangki had been taken away, and it was just himself, the council, his advisors, and the newcomer, he cleared his throat. As ruler it was his duty to perform the first part.
"A year and a day since your journey's start. Did you draw blood?" he intoned.
"I did not," she said. Her head remained bowed, face hidden by her hood.
"Was your blood drawn?"
"It was not."
"Were you known?"
"I was not."
"Is your person intact?"
"It is."
"Stand."
She did so. Her alma stood up behind her. His Eminence had missed seeing the girl in his happiness, but he acknowledged the girl's glance now, verification that all he'd been told was the truth.
"Disrobe," he said. He waited until her alma removed her dark red cloak. Beneath she wore a tight fitting top of a dark color between grey and brown, and matching form-fitting trousers. Her feet were laced in camel-hide boots, and her hair was tamed into two corn braids. "You are no longer who you were."
The council consisted of three men and two women. They stepped forward now and surrounded the woman, each standing at a point of the tiled starburst on which the woman stood. The eldest council member spoke. "Your journey is complete and has been accepted," he said. "Ascend now, and be known as Her Blessing, The Chaste, successor to His Eminence and Glory." He was the first to kneel.
One by one the rest of the council members followed, each murmuring Her Blessing, The Chaste as they bowed their heads. The advisors were next. His Eminence, being His Eminence, was exempt. His was the duty to take the item an advisor handed to him before she knelt, and walk to the woman who stood upright. He presented it to her on both hands with an inclination of his head. "Your weapon. May you serve Sunagakure well with it."
She took it in both her hands. This was the signal for all those kneeling to stand. "As I live, so do I serve." She bowed to His Eminence, and he returned the bow.
The ceremony now at an end, the spectators all cheered with a chant of her title. His Eminence, free to do so, grabbed her in a tight hug. "Sister," he said into her ear. "Peace and safety."
"Be yours and mine. I've missed you, Brother."
-oOo-
Later the great gong announcing village news, threats, or warnings was rung three times, alerting Suna's inhabitants to palace news. They crowded the village square, spilling into the side streets beyond and standing on rooftops. The town crier announced that the sixth ruler had been chosen, her Ascension complete. "She is Her Blessing, The Chaste, may you serve her well!" And all of Suna erupted in celebration.
As per the dictates of an Ascension, celebration began from the moment the individual took office and continued for one hundred hours. There was to be no business done save taprooms and similar establishments. Ascensions were times of wild revelry and abandon and this one was no different.
-oOo-
In the Red Palace, bathed, oiled, and wearing a clinging silver shruda Her Blessing paused upon entering her brother's sitting rooms. "Gods, but I can hear the drums from here. It's worse than your Ascension by far. Almost as if they knew when my journey would end and kept drink on hand to celebrate the moment my title was announced."
"As I am certain they did. Commoners always suss out the truth." He smiled at her. She was a vision in silver, her hair a golden cloud about her face. "We've never had a female ruler in Suna. That in itself is cause for madness. On the morrow, when you walk among them, see that your guards are present. I must say, your bosom stirs my blood."
"Stop, ere I mistake you for a Hyuuga."
"Would it be so wrong?"
"To lust after your sister?" She caressed the fan on her back, the weapon he himself had placed in her hands. "I may have been without this for a year but I remember how to use it."
"Cease. The Demon take me if I do. Besides, my lust has been satisfied this night."
"Oh? And how many virgins did it take this time?"
"None. A man." He rose from his reclining position to lean on an elbow and regard her where she sat on an opposite couch. "The Last is in the village."
Her eyes widened. "Are you certain?"
A nod. "The power of him, sister. I cannot even begin to do it justice with words. He is magnificent. A god amongst mortals. Can you not feel him?"
She shook her head. Powerful she might be, but they both knew she would never be powerful enough to sense what he described. "And this is whom you laid with? Would that I'd arrived sooner. What does he look like?"
A man entered the sitting room, one neither His Eminence nor Her Blessing had ever seen before. "Yes. What does he look like?"
The master sat in the water once he'd been soaped and rinsed, eyes closed. He'd bidden Sasuke to "Stand there and do not disturb me. My bathing is more than the cleansing of my person. I must cleanse my mind and spirit as well, especially before I resume my journey. After His Eminence and Glory, this will take time."
He assumed that meant meditation. Fortune was his; in order to properly sense his surroundings he needed to quiet his mind. He couldn't do that so long as the master required he be attentive. Now that the master didn't, he was free to empty his own mind. There is no use hoping I am wrong. I saw what I saw.
He looked at the boy. For a wonder the boy was looking right at him. Alertly, not blandly as he usually did. Something told him the boy took the earlier mention of his fear seriously.
Yet the master continued to sit in his cooling bathwater. Meditating.
All right. All I need is a moment. He closed his eyes. Itachi is the cleverest person I know. He knew what this cursed chain would be like to wear, knew too that I would be sworn to obedience. Yet in the same breath he told me that I was stronger than anyone who'd ever worn the chain. That must mean he believes me capable of overpowering it. There must be a way. I must have a way to circumvent this ridiculous inability to disobey.
While his thoughts churned, he systematically subdued his conscious mind and shut out all sense of his physical body and its surroundings. He could not hear the faint breeze coming from the open window. Could not feel the tiles beneath his feet. Could not smell the soap he'd bathed the master with. He was no longer a body. Only thought. Everywhere and nowhere at once. An impression of the world in his immediate vicinity came to him thus. Things that bore life. The master, certainly. Bright and pulsing with power. The boy, nowhere near as bright, but still powerful. Trees outside. Grass. Gazelle, goats, peacocks. Lizards in shadows. Beetles in crevices. All on the surface, where things existed plainly. But beneath that surface, where things were hidden…that was where he sent his mind.
Slowly, little by little, his sense of the surface bled away. Until his thoughts hung suspended in a void. Seconds passed. An eternity. Utter stillness. Only his heartbeat. Then far and deep in the void, a pinprick. One he recognized. It was at the Red Palace.
His Eminence stared at the man as he got to his feet. He could feel his sister doing the same. What had him unmasking his chakra wasn't the fact that he'd never seen the man before. Nor was it the fact that he'd obviously infiltrated his palace unmolested. It was the fact that he had Rinnegan…yet even within sight as this man was his power was undetectable. Power such as that would be felt despite being masked. To be able to hide power of such magnitude to such an extent was not possible in the known world.
The man continued speaking. "Of course I felt the power coming from this place. Saw the owner leave a short time ago. In the company of one I was sent to retrieve, no less. But then I realized just what I was sensing. The First. In the company of the Last. Can you imagine my delight at fortune favoring me so heavily? No, I do not suppose you can. The plan is known only to a few. Truth, I am not to begin collecting the Vessels until all the Uchiha have been accounted for, but this…this is too great an opportunity to let pass. No. Though the Last must, of necessity, be left alone until the others are collected, I cannot in good conscience allow you to escape. That Uchiha will be retrieved afterward. I'm sure The Exalted will approve of my actions." He smiled. "Have you a death prayer you'd like to recite? Once we collect you, you will not be allowed to regain consciousness before extraction. And once extraction is complete you will not be alive."
Her Blessing used only her eyes to verify what her senses told her: this man was alone, but he'd just used the word 'we'. He wasn't alone, then. If, though, his companions could mask themselves to the extent this man could, the Red Palace could very well be surrounded while they stood unaware.
She had not returned before time, it seemed. "Go," she told her brother without taking her eyes off the man. "My duty is upon me."
His Eminence didn't move. Her duty was to guard him and take his place should he fall. His duty was to protect all of Suna and its inhabitants, herself included.
But this man intrigued him. "You," he addressed him. The eyes shifted from his sister to look at him. "Are you confident of success here?"
"Why, yes. I am."
"You know who I am?"
"Indeed."
"My abilities?"
"Of a surety."
Doubtful if, as he'd said, he was surprised to discover the First here. "Then nothing at all in my arsenal will upset that success. Correct?"
An inclination of that startlingly red head. "Truth."
"Excellent. I see no reason not to allow questions."
The man froze. Caution fairly oozed from him. "…Very well. Such as?"
"What plan do you speak of?"
There, in the void, other pinpricks became known. A formation. Surrounding the Red Palace. One surrounding this residence. Someone on the rooftop of this residence. And someone in this very chamber. Moving toward him.
Sasuke opened his eyes. The surface word crashed in on his senses. But he didn't lose his awareness of the silent and invisible intruder.
The master remained as he was. The boy, however, was still staring at him. Sasuke's adrenaline had his heart racing. To think that he was chained to such power and the man sat unaware. He didn't bother to turn around; at sensing the intruder's presence, the intruder in turn became aware that he'd been sensed. He stopped moving.
What can I do? I cannot speak, nor disturb yon great ass, but what can I do? The boy. He looked at the boy, met his eyes. Every line of the boy said he was ready and open for communication. Sasuke supposed he could convey a threat with hand signals, but he hadn't the first notion of the language of fingers. A random gesture would confuse the boy and perhaps bring the intruder to attack more swiftly. Certainly so. What can I do, what can I do, what can I do.
Sensing that he was perhaps about to be revealed, the intruder began moving again. Five paces between him and Sasuke. The intruder moved slowly, well aware of the power in the room, but perhaps unaware of how much the chain curtailed it.
What can't I do. I cannot disturb him, which means no sound. I cannot speak unless bidden. A gesture it will have to be, then. Wait… Can I move? He tried. No. I was told to stand here. He knew a moment of frustration so keen his Sharingan threatened to manifest.
Four paces.
Itachi implied I could resist. How? How, gods damn me. Why am I different? How am I different? The master said no slave anywhere is ever trained in the Arts. So there is that. I am Uchiha. No Uchiha has ever been chained, so there is that difference as well.
Three paces. He could feel sweat bead his upper lip and run down his temple.
Uchiha. The power of Uchiha is Genjutsu. Genjutsu manipulates the mind, the senses. The chain is essentially chakra, and Uchiha can see chakra. His breathing quickened as understanding became visible at long last. Chakra is chakra, which can also be manipulated, exists to be manipulated.
To do that he would need to see the precise way the chain—which was to say the master—twined with his chakra. A process he did not have time for at present. Not quite. But closing his eyes and accessing Sharingan heightened his senses so that he could feel the master's chakra where it lay over his brain. The weight of that chakra did not bear consideration. Immovable did not begin to describe it. But move it he would have to. Enough to get around his oath, or, at the very least, rouse the master from the depths of his meditation.
Ah, but to pit himself against this much chakra with nothing but his mind would likely kill him. I need not go far. Only as much as will allow me to cry out. To move. Gods give me strength.
Two paces.
He could all but hear his brother scream at the danger of him accessing his Doujutsu in the presence of Akatsuki, even if his eyes were closed. I will do you one better, brother. He called upon Mangekyo, his first time doing so since acquiring it a year ago. With this, his power grew immeasurably, and he thought maybe…just maybe he had a chance. Setting his chakra against the master's where it lay over his mind, he began pushing.
"The plan?" The Rinnegan bearer looked aside in thought. "No. That is private. Only The Exalted can divulge that."
"And who might that be?" His Eminence said.
"Another private matter."
"I see. So. The plan at least entails the collection of all Vessels after the eradication of all Uchiha. What in the name of His Great Eye could you possibly want with all the Vessels?" As if he had to ask. One could only want such power for the purpose of conquest.
Instead of answering, their visitor held out his hand. His Eminence's gourd flew from its standing place to settle behind the visitor. "I know this is the source of your power," he smiled. "I'm afraid questioning is at an end. My apologies for my inability to answer. Your life is now mine-"
"My power is myself," His Eminence corrected. "The gourd contains only the seeds by which I create more sand. Special, yes, but not irreplaceable, and most certainly not the source of my power. A common misconception, that my control over sand is confined to that gourd. It might have escaped your notice, but all of Suna is sand…as is the Land of Wind."
The visitor's smile froze.
"And I, being me, control every…single…grain." His Eminences' eyes turned yellow and his body began to glow.
-oOo-
Her Blessing, well aware of her brother's intent, ran and launched herself off one of the many balconies. Mid-flight she opened her fan and soared toward the village proper, sounding the alarm with a ululating cry picked up by guards spaced along Suna's wall. This conveyed to the great gong ringer in the center of town the news of attack. The gong began its deafening count of twelve, the signal for all warriors to take their places. With her brother engaged, she was Suna's general. All direction would be taken from her.
Thank the gods the drumming and revelry has stopped. She could make out villagers running as she neared them. Guards and soldiers were already lining up in formations, eyes skyward as they looked for her.
-oOo-
His Eminence watched the Rinnegan bearer as he looked at his sister's departure, then back at him. "Still confident of success?"
Such was the strain of trying to move the master's chakra that Sasuke's nose began bleeding. The cry to arms was heard distantly. He knew His Eminence had unmasked his chakra. He had time to marvel that what he'd considered His Eminence's true power in the bedchamber was in fact nowhere near.
He was nearing the limit of his strength, passing from consciousness, when he felt the intruder come up right behind him. Mere inches separating them. Any moment now, he would be stabbed through his heart. Your plan failed, Itachi. My identity was known the moment you left. The oaths you bade this brute swear on the chain have-
The master's oaths!
Strength flooded him. Enough to hang on a moment more. He cannot put me in harm's way, nor suffer me to be harmed. I need only put myself at risk of dying for the chain to prevent him from letting that happen. Gods save me from actually dying. Please. Sasuke threw every last ounce of strength he had at the master's chakra, feeling something in his brain give at the same moment, and the intruder begin reaching for him.
He was yanked to his senses by an upheaval of ungodly pain, realized the pain was from Nameless, saw his alma running toward him, and sensed that someone was behind his slave. Someone he could not see, hear, or smell, but which he suddenly felt—through Nameless—loud and clear. His first instinct was to attack, but thanks to the chain, he found himself out of the water, his fainting slave scooped up in one arm, and his alma in the other.
-oOo-
He burst through the roof, and was confronted by a man who looked like no man. The man had a weapon which he removed from his back. It was wrapped in linen, which he now began unwrapping…as he also unmasked himself.
The chakra coming from this man gave him pause. It was tremendous. And now that he was no longer simply reacting to the chain but thinking for himself he sensed many things: A female of decent strength flying toward the village, sounding an alarm; more opponents surrounding his residence; and His Eminence and Glory facing off against none other than the wielder of Rinnegan.
The opponents surrounding his residence leapt to the roof. He counted a score. Male and female, and not a one with inconsiderable chakra at their disposal. Nothing to equal him, but certainly some not far beneath the man with the linen-wrapped weapon.
He let his alma stand on his own. Nameless, he felt through the chain, was in serious condition. He looked down at him. Eyes fluttering to show the whites, nose hemorrhaging. Nameless was dying. Compelled to do so by the chain, he placed him on the roof and gently held his head between his hands. Accessed his healing and sent it forth into his slave. After some moments, Nameless became still, his face composed.
The man with the odd weapon spoke. "We do not want you yet, High One. We want that boy. The one chained to you. Step away from him and we will collect him without quarrel."
He waited until he was sure Nameless was whole. Until Nameless breathed deeply and opened his eyes. The eyes blinked in confusion then widened as memory returned. Nameless surged up, but he said, "Lie still."
Nameless did as bidden though his eyes bulged in defiance.
"Listen to me. Your pursuit has found us."
Sasuke's eyes rolled as he took in Akatsuki members all around them.
"Thanks to your brother I am bound to shelter you from all hurt and suffering. Nor can I put you at risk of hurt or suffering. Which means I cannot fight. Which means we must run and run hard. I will give you leave to speak, but speak only to me. Am I understood?"
The relief to speak was enormous, but the focus and intent he sensed from the master fair made him want to sing. This was what his brother had hoped for. "Yes."
"Can you keep up with me?"
Sasuke paused to assess the power the master had sizzling at the ready but as yet still masked. "I think so."
"It is well. I cannot fathom it, but caution dictates that I say the following: should I fall, you are free, but if I am unable to flee, and fighting becomes unavoidable, I give you leave to protect yourself. You cannot protect me. Do not try. It is against the dictates of my journey. The same goes for my alma. Am I understood?"
"Yes."
The master remained as he was, down on one knee at his side, one hand resting on his knee. Looking nowhere but at him. A posture of ease, but Sasuke could sense acutely that he was not. Rage and frustration quivered along the chain.
"Move, Nameless."
The master was gone, flying off the roof to land on one practically on the other side of the village itself, completely leaving the northern prefecture behind. The boy was scarcely three paces behind. Sasuke unleashed every ounce of his chakra and leapt after them. Not before time; the one he knew as Kisame swung his sword at him and he felt the passage of it just miss his back.
It was no easy thing to unleash one's full power, not without battle and use of the Arts, but such was the speed required of him to keep up with the master that there was no choice. He halved the distance between them, noting the chain adjust as he did so, then halved it again. Suna was behind them. They streaked along the open desert outside the village, the master leaving fire wherever his hands and feet landed. It was then Sasuke noticed how he ran on all fours.
A boom sounded behind them. Sasuke glanced back.
Kisame led the group in hot pursuit, but farther in the distance he could just make out the Red Palace at the head of the northern prefecture. Even as he watched, a tiny speck soared upward from the palace as the structure itself dissolved and became a giant ball. The ball condensed on itself. Several huge animals burst free of the ball, however, and so he knew Nagato survived.
Kisame was closing in on him. He faced forward, forcing more speed from himself, but Kisame gained another pace, and another. The master was several paces ahead, the boy just behind him. He shrank the distance between them, but Kisame leapt-
The sand between him and Kisame rose up in a wall, curved, and surrounded Sasuke's pursuers completely. A single shocked glance behind himself showed the sand sucking them down, burying them alive.
May the Gods smile upon you always, Your Eminence and Glory, he thought. But that won't hold them for long.
It did, however, hold them long enough for the master to lead them completely out of the Land of Wind, past the neighboring village, and into a stretch of scrubby grassland that held many tall hills. Each one was marked with a cave, giving testimony to a village of a different sort. They slowed to a walk. The sun was directly overhead, and villagers stared at him and the master, both of whom were nude. The master's hair was still gathered behind his head in the massive bun he'd worn for his bath. Only the boy was clothed.
They were passing through this village's market. The boy went to a vendor and pointed at a robe and a strip of cloth. He purchased these with a coin from the chest and brought them to the master, who donned the robe. The strip of cloth was placed in the satchel the boy had also had the foresight to snatch up. They continued walking.
-oOo-
Past the staring villagers was a stream where women in homespun were washing laundry and children. Past them was open land and more hills with caves. The master walked among these, noting that they were uninhabited. He selected one and went inside. Sasuke and the boy followed.
Light from without illuminated the master's carefully composed features, but his voice was like the crack of a whip. He spoke to Sasuke through lips that barely moved. "By the Great Demon's arse, what in the name of His Eye was that?"
Sasuke only blinked.
The master had to turn away to restrain himself. "Speak, may the Demon eat your liver!"
"That was Akatsuki."
"And what, by His Ten Mighty Tails, is Akatsuki?"
"You know of the Rinnegan wielder, who has a name as it happens, and his hunt for the Uchiha. No one man could ever overpower the Uchiha. He did so with the help of a secret assortment of people known collectively as Akatsuki."
The master breathed slowly, hands on hips, still facing the far interior of the cave. Sasuke waited.
"That man with the linen sword-"
"Kisame."
The boy issued the first sound Sasuke ever heard from him: a loud gasp. He saw that the boy's eyes were wide, mouth open in horror as he backed away from Sasuke. This reaction was nothing compared to the master, though, who spun around, bun flopping wildly, with his hand covering his mouth. His eyes bulged from his face.
Sasuke looked back and forth between them. "Is something-"
"You said a name!" the master hissed.
Sasuke struggled to contain his contempt, but these were serious customs he was amongst and they must be observed. "Yes. I did. I know the names for most of the savages in Akatsuki. And they number over one hundred souls. I am…sorry. I am not from these lands."
Visibly shaken still, the master nevertheless struggled to proceed. Something occurred to him. "This…" He couldn't say the name. "…Swordsman spoke to me. Said he did not yet want me. And the Rinnegan wielder was confronting His Eminence and Glory. Why? Why go to His Eminence, or refuse to attack me if whom they want is you and I was clearly an obstacle to what they wanted?"
"I do not know."
"Hmph. Well, I know something." The master's anger returned. "I know your Dakhna of a brother was shrewd beyond imagining to chain you to me and exact those words in particular. I have not been gifted, I have been cursed." He raised his left fist and rattled the chain. "Because of this I am caught in a war I will likely be forced to fight. Fighting is against my journey's dictates. My journey is mandatory for my Ascension, and my Ascension is my cocksucking birthright! FROM BIRTH I WAS GROOMED FOR THIS! But now, thanks to your brother, I must see it all violated."
"Was it not your greed to have me that brought you ruin?"
"You may lick the Demon's balls in thanks that I cannot tear your tongue from your handsome face, Nameless. Your brother is at fault."
"I like this no better than you."
A grunt. "We are in agreement then. Yet I cannot set you free, as that will put you at risk." He spat to one side to show what he thought of that. Paused. "Where is your brother?"
"I do not know. But before he came upon you his plan was to petition the high level practitioners to the east for assistance in his cause. The cause being the eradication of Akatsuki."
"A sound plan. Did you know your pursuers were in the village?"
"Yes."
"You knew they were near the residence. That was why you tried to resist going inside. What were you doing when you went against the chain during my bath?"
"Trying to warn you."
The master put his head back and closed his eyes. Sasuke heard him call on the demon for strength.
"What are we to do?" he asked.
"Do?" the master said without looking away from the ceiling. "Do. As if anything can be done while I where this filth. I cannot give you away, even. Cursed, I am." He brought his head down at last to fix Sasuke with a stare. "Here is what we will do. You will speak whenever you wish. I'll not have threats like that going unchallenged within my presence ever again. That such as they could mask themselves from me tells me I have much to learn still, which is a surprise. Next, I will continue my journey. I will Ascend. But in order to do so, I must have this chain off me. Not simply removed, as I did in the Red Palace, but unbound from my body and chakra. I can only do this if you are not at risk, and I cannot do that unless Akatsuki is dead in its entirety. I could finish them alone, were my Ascension behind me, but alas. So that leaves your brother. I believe it a safe gamble that he will go through with his plan. Which means he is heading east. The opposite direction in which I must travel…but if we travel fast enough we will reach your brother from the west. 'Tis fortunate that from Suna the practitioners to the east are roughly the same distance in either direction. If your brother is successful in winning the eastern clans to his cause, then no force under the heavens could stand against him. Not even me. There is a reason the east is called the wildlands, Nameless. The inhabitants are wild. Hm." He rubbed his chin. "My journey was to have been one of peace, but methinks it has suddenly gotten more interesting."
Sasuke refrained from commenting. Akatsuki at their backs and wildmen at their front. And this bastard was amused.
The master glanced at the light outside the cave. "We have hours until the sun sets. Let us sleep. We will need to travel like the wind come night's fall, or our lives won't be worth the cocks between our legs."
