Chapter 1!
Warnings: this chapter has cursing and humiliation.
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Menma didn't open his eyes when he stirred. He couldn't hear anything around him and he really didn't want to find out where he was.
Despite the forming fears, he cracked open his eyes. Everything is blurry and colors were grouped into one another.
Soon, his vision became more solid and his thief instincts kicked in.
Closing his eyes he checks if memories are still intact. He knows from blows to the head with pots and head-on collisions with wood planks that memory is destroyed then rebuilt over the weeks.
He briefly curses his instincts as he remembers very vividly being captured by the pirates he'd only seen three days before at the stockyards. Then being hauled onto that foul-smelling ship... Later being in the hands of the Uchiha Prin-
Wait. Shit, that wasn't supposed to be remembered!
Menma did another quick reassessment of himself.
He was still bound, he could feel the ropes finally starting to chaff him. Pants... Strapped sandals.
He still had his mask on. Menma dryly chuckled, the idiots couldn't remove it.
No other real points of pain... No bruises were going to show. A scratch on the shoulder when he took out that oar...
Now. Where was he? He really didn't want to open his eyes to find out.
He could tell he was laying on his side... There was a rug under him...Wooden planks.. He was outside... In the sun. Close to the evening, judging by the cooler air.
Blinking away the grogginess, he shifted his knees and swung himself upward. His muscles and joints cried at the sudden flow of blood and change of tension, kinks and releases crack and pop all through his spine. He took a moment to roll his shoulders and relax his joints before looking out.
He was on a deck of sorts, overlooking a Asian aristocratic quarter, crowds of smaller nobles and higher ups were looking at something in the center of the yard. He couldn't quite see what it was through his vision flickering and fading before he could make sense of the scene.
"Awake?" Menma snapped his head to the speaker. Only to be sourly disappointed when he saw Prince Sasuke sitting in a chair, talking in his general direction, voice thick with sastifaction.
Menma dully noted that Sasuke had on all of his basic, black armor.
Menma muttered something about 'low' and 'scum', then turned his eyes back to the center of the courtyard.
The time was definnatly evening, judging by the gold-turned roofs and the blue shadows. Along with the fact that the sun seemed to be behind them. The air remained crisp and promised of rain. The moisture stung Menma's chest longer than it should've before it warmed to his body temperature.
He could hear yelling now, couldn't quite make it out. But then he saw...
A high turntable, a girl was strapped down on it. Her blond hair making stark contrast against the gold hues of the evenings.
She was being humiliated. Rotten food was being thrown at her. Even from here he could see she was dressed... Like a concubine. Flashy colors, see through veils. But not revealing anything to the innocently confused children. Still... She was... Pretty.
"That's not a girl." Sasuke broke Menma out if his staring. Shock, realization, and disgust crashed through Menma in a matter of seconds.
Not to the boy, but to Sasuke.
"You sick fuck." Menma said lowly as he looked away from Sasuke.
"But thats not just any boy either." Menma raised his head in annoyed intrest. Of course Sasuke would only be here to watch something he'd orchestrated himself.
"That, is Prince Naruto Namikaze." Sasuke said. Not looking away from the display of ruthless torture.
Menma snapped his head up at the prince in confusion. Shock rippling through his neck.
"What!?" Every man he'd met that came from the Namikaze rule... They were all good men who held a code of honor. Last he'd heard about the kingdom was that it was blossoming into one of the best, watched over every subject like a mother bird watches over her young.
So what was the Namikaze prince doing in an Uchiha courtyard, being humiliated and dressed as a slave?
Sasuke took a sip from his glass of wine, taking his sweet time to answer. A crazed look flashed over his face, replaced by what Menma would imagine a happy sadist. "It's a shame really. Naruto was so ready to die for his parents and subjects. No matter how fake those royalty were." Sasuke says with controlled satisfaction.
Menma can aready feel disgust and hatred towards Sasuke for destroying the place where good people were.
"I destroyed their kingdom and took their son as hostage." he paused to contain his glee "If I could keep Naruto, then I would spare the lives of their wretched subjects." he chuckles as a spoiling corncob hits Naruto's back. It squelches and the soppy kernels split in a mess before rolling off the spine.
Menma winces as pity coils in his chest. He'd heard good tales of Prince Naruto too. That he would help with manual labor.
Something royalty was never supposed to do.
He held high respect for those who would help others. Naruto was no exception.
Even darkness loves light.
"You..." Menma is enraged. He can't seem to find the words to compel his anger to the pompous piece of shit in the chair.
"You know, you remind me a lot of Naruto. You should get along quite well." Sasuke says as he waves his hand toward Naruto. A tomato bursts against Naruto's shoulder, Menma watches as the clearish red liquid dribbles down. Menma lowered his eyes when the shoulder vanished.
"I would love to have him as a real concubine. However, humiliation seems to be the way to go. I was Hoping you two could... convince each other..."
Menma let's out a low growl when Sasuke's eyes slide over to him seductively.
Menma chides within' his mind as he retorts; "You know, I used to know someone like you. He had the same hair. A bit more fashion taste... He was a bit happier, and a total slut, ladylover..." Menma stops talking when Sasuke's eyes harden at Menma's rejection. Menma grins through his mask.
"Just like Naruto." Sasuke states offhandedly before turning back to the ex-prince.
Menma already respects Naruto even more.
Menma looks back to the humiliation fest.
And he can't seem to turn his head away. If Sasuke was so stuck on this boy, there was something special about him. Royalty would rather execute the disobedient.
And the more he looked, he saw that Naruto did not fight back. He hunched over, taking the hits to the back and anywhere the nobles could reach with food. Menma cringed when someone managed to hit Naruto's cheek with an egg, yolk and white slushing over his cheek and the hard shell cracks over the impact.
But he couldn't look away.
"I hate you." Menma says through the soft fabric of the mask. He rips his head away from the entrancing scene. "You fucking tyrant." Menma's voice is low, his eyes tell of tamed fire. And for a moment, Sasuke is intimidated. Just like he was when he faced Naruto's rage.
Sasuke has blinked, Menma knows he has instilled fear into his captor.
Menma is snapped out of the staring match when a bell goes off. He sees it on a distant platform, the crowd stops and begins to disperse.
He can see, even from this distance, Naruto's body loosens and slouches. Another sensation of bile coils in his throat. The nobles begin to disappear throughout the streets and into their homes. Menma is already disgusted with the society.
"I demand that I see him. Now." Menma says as he watches the seemingly broken body collapse onto itself.
Not waiting for Sasuke's answer, Menma jumps up and off the board platform, despite his heads sharp and painful protest, along with the cracks in his knees as joints rip loudly.
Menma hears a cry from Sasuke and keeps on running as best he can in the ropes. Making a beeline for the turntable, he can hear the clanks of guards armor behind him. He briefly glances around the streets to see if there are more.
So many guards along the streets. 'Well, no chance of escape for now.' Menma resigns himself automatically.
Menma gets his face under Naruto's just in time to see his water-blue eyes. He was wearing a thick red veil that covered the top of his nose to his chin. But when he sees those eyes, right before they close, he can't help but see a fragment of his own hope reflected in them.
Two guards grab him by the arms and blindfold him. His world going dark as he halfheartedly struggles.
He can hear the others undoing the straps and pulling Naruto off of the turntable, the sounds of limp limbs crumbling onto solid material.
He can hear Sasuke's itrritated voice behind him, along with feet crunching against the ground, coming this way. "Impulsive." Sasuke spits. "Wanted to see if he was ok?" Sasuke taunts lightly. Menma tenses at the cutesy words. "It's alright. You'll see him again. Since you loved the display, I'll give you a show personally."
Menma can HEAR the smirk in Sasuke's voice. Even if he didn't do anything evil, Menma would still hate him.
He's guided into someplace unknown. He doesn't struggle. Hey, he may be a theif, but that doesn't mean he's ridiculously strong. Plus, these guards are HUGE. Best to sit and wait. Wait until he has a plan.
He can feel the cushion of some soft rug under his sandal, he knows he's in some kind of fancy room. A door shuts and Menma is shackled to a wall. They peel away his blindfold and he's greeted with a very awake Naruto kneeling on the floor and Sasuke with a barbed whip.
"Who is he?" Naruto says inclining his head in Menma's direction, food dropping off of the skin and flimsy clothes like water drops.
"Someone else who managed to catch the attention of 'The Great Bastard'?" Naruto asks snarkily and his question is answered with the crack of the whip on his back. Naruto stifled a cry under his pursed lips.
"Shut up. " Sasuke answers curtly.
Menma glances around to see that this was indeed, some kind of castle quarters. The white wash walls and the crimson colors of roses line the ceiling. A window shines light on Naruto and Sasuke, making them stand out as dark object against the light.
Menma had miscalculated, it was closer to three hours past noon. Sasuke speaks again. "I really don't understand you, Naruto."
Sasuke let's another crack loose. Menma watches as Naruto's back begins bleeding. Red streaming and parting the food liquids away as it made a trail down Naruto's back.
"I strip you of your title."
Lower back
"Your home."
Neck
"Family."
Both arms.
"And you still don't break." Sasuke slaps the whip down and this time drags it through the other wounds.
The grinding skrinch of being slowly cut fills the room. Naruto coughs before answering
"Cause I'm better than that."
Sasuke maneuvers in front of Naruto. Naruto lifts his head, flimsy concubine material sliding and skishing over the whip marks along his body.
Sasuke returns this by bending over and letting his fist fly with a punch to Naruto's face.
"WHY?" Sasuke grabs Naruto's face "You are not a prince anymore! You should be cowering and clinging! You cannot do anything!" Naruto yanks his head away from the others grasp. Pulling away before facing the other.
"Don't give me that, I am more of a Prince than you could ever be!" Sasuke responds to the remark with a kick to the ex-prince's sternum. Naruto coughs up drops of blood.
"You know," Sasuke says, bringing the whip to his own eyes for observement. "I could make all your pain go away. If you became the alliance contract and enjoyed a night with me?" Sasuke brings the whip to Naruto's lowered chin, lifting the stubborn boy's head.
Naruto's eyes burn for a second, then, wrenching his head, he bites the whip through the thick veil. He rips the device out of Sasuke's hands. Spitting it out at his side. It clatters and clicks into silence.
"Hell will freeze six times before I sleep with you."
Sasuke kicks Naruto to the ground. Naruto immediatly pulls and pushes himself back up. Only to face the retreating Uchiha's back.
"...Unshakle him." Sasuke looks numbly to Menma's direction.
" Come, men. Leave the incompetent ones behind. I will be back." He promises.
Menma is dropped from his shackles and he lands with a dulled chud, his knees bend reflexively and hold his weight in a crouch until the momentum is halted. Briefly, he notes the difference in landing on dust and rocks as opposed to soft carpets.
He watched in light amusement as a fuming Sasuke slamed the door.
He waits until the multiple footsteps fade into the rest of the castle before turning his attention to Naruto.
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TBC
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Wow. Had fun doing this. Yes, I warned you "One-Sided SasuNaru"
and hotdahwg this was what I aiming for :D
Yes Sasuke is a total brat. kakashi once remarked that sasuke has a superiority complex.
I was also trying to go more into my writing. Kind of like how the book "Eon" did.(which I command you read) Everything in that book is so fluid, that's what I'm aiming for here. Sorry if my writing appears inconsistent.