Aargh...I'm running out of ideas...

Sadly, I will have to leave my computer behind for a few weeks - I'm going round places for the summer hols. I'll probably try working on paper drafts for all kinds of stories, but I might be concentrating more on Gang of the City Samurai than this one. I still need to think up something, anyway...

But, until then, I will try my best on this story!

Dislcaimer. Umm...I'm running out of witty cracks for this, too, how pitiful.

Read on!

The bright sunlight seeped into the little room through the breaks in the wooden shutters attached to the window, casting lined shadows onto the tatami floor below. The leaves of the plum tree outside waved in a slight breeze, and the birds chirped a bright chorus of morning greetings in the cool air.

Sasuke woke to those clear, light sounds, eyes unfocused, mind befuddled as his consciousness finally snapped to his brain. A calm, relaxing atmosphere had settled around him, affecting his still sleepy head and making him want to just close his eyes again. He mumbled under his breath, shifting to turn his head sideways for better comfort – and stopped suddenly as he came in contact with a sturdy body lying next to him.

Fearfully, he slowly acknowledged that his head was now resting against a firm chest, rising and falling as the person next to him breathed deeply in their sleep. Tilting his head upwards, inch by inch, his gaze climbed the torso, the slender neck, the sleeping, beautiful face –

Yukimura lay at his side, underneath the same blanket that covered him. Shuffling nervously to get a better view, he found that he had also been using Yukimura's arm as a pillow, and a great blush stretched across his face. After taking a few seconds to comprehend the shock of suddenly waking up in the arms of his master, he settled, trying to think of a way to slip out without getting noticed.

He had not forgotten the events of the previous day. He still remembered the shame he had caused, and the pain he had inflicted on his dear, former lover. However, he had accepted that when he made the decision to stay away from Yukimura, to protect him even if he meant that he would have to make himself hated enough to be kept at bay.

Yes, he was afraid. Yes, he would have wanted another way out of this, a compromise. But in all brutal honesty, he was a servant – and Yukimura himself had made that painfully clear last night. His cheeks turned a rosy colour as he recalled the final order – 'Sleep with me.' His master had not realized that he planned to make every order he uttered that was part of a plan to bring him closer, a stinging backfire to distance himself even more. He could certainly use this as one of those rebounds.

Yet…he felt oddly warm, sheltered in Yukimura's arms. Despite his misgivings, he still sorely missed his master's sweet words and kind voice, and while he couldn't remind himself of Yukimura's superior behaviour last night without a wrenching heart, he also couldn't deny the thrill he had felt when he recognized the detail of the orders. He snuggled up towards Yukimura's chest once again, deciding to pretend that he was still asleep if the man decided to wake up with him like that, and so will begin his day of ignorance and silence, as he restrained himself from falling into the older man's arms, desperately disregarding him to prevent himself from begging for forgiveness at his actions, and for Yukimura to take him back. But till then, they could stay like this. Breathing in the sweet scent of the man as he pressed up to him, he noted for the first time that he was covered in neatly layered bandages all over. With a pang, he realized that somebody had gone to the extent of dressing him over his injuries – and he had a pretty good idea who that somebody was.

Minutes later, Yukimura stirred, and Sasuke felt a sharp finger jab him gently on the cheeks. 'Sasuke,' he heard the soft, cheerful voice call from somewhere above. 'Wake up, Sasuke.'

Having practiced this in his head for the short while it had taken for Yukimura to awake, he easily slipped on his mask of indifference as he slowly opened his eyes, and looked up at his master's eager face without expression. 'Good morning, Yukimura-sama,' he greeted quietly, keeping his voice monotonic and refusing to bite his lip as he watched Yukimura's face fall from this plain reaction. Clearly, and exactly to Sasuke's expectations, he had been looking forward to the shocked and embarrassed look on his shinobi's face as he, too, rose for the morning. With hardly noticeable hesitance, he rolled away the comforting body heat and off his master's arm on which he had been laying on as a pillow, bent his knees to a kneel as he reached the edge of the futon and faced Yukimura. Before the man could say anything he was bowing deeply at him, forehead touching the bamboo stripped floor of the tatami. 'I'm deeply sorry for yesterday's affairs,' he mumbled, wincing as he imagined Yukimura's face brightening, as he took those words in the unintended way. 'I should have taken care of myself better,' he continued. 'If I had, then I would have been able to follow your orders fully without giving you the inconvenience of me passing out.'

Yukimura frowned. 'What are you say-'

'I am still your servant, Yukimura-sama,' Sasuke lifted his head to stare into the man's dark eyes. 'I am solely bound to serve your every wish, and not drag you down with difficulties I have caused to myself. If you cannot forgive me-'

'Whoa, whoa, Sasuke,' Yukimura crawled up to kneel before him on the futon. 'Why are you still acting like this? Stop calling yourself a servant – you know you aren't only one.'

Sasuke's face did not betray him of his emotions. 'I don't quite believe I am anything more…else.'

'Stop this nonsense,' Yukimura wearily passed his right hand through his hair. 'And you followed my orders to the stitch, didn't you? I had you cleaned, and a nice girl brought up a bowl of steaming water with towels, plus our meal. I fixed your wounds, since we got a good package of bandages as well. Luckily, they were none too serious. And I got you dinner – don't you remember waking up for a short while to have me feed you with some interesting methods?' He winked at the boy, now struggling inwardly to contain his alarmed expression. 'Haha…Just kidding, Sasuke. And lastly, we did sleep together last night. You were too exhausted to do anything after you ate dinner, but we shared a bed… I'll count that as good enough.'

Sasuke hesitated, uncertain if he was telling the truth and his own memory had mysteriously been wiped blank, but gave another appreciative bow all the same. 'Thank you for your leniency, Yukimura-sama. I am grateful that Yukimura-sama had assisted me in so many ways. I hope you find it unnecessary to trouble yourself with such matters in the future.'

The other man was frowning at him. 'Sasuke? Don't call me Yukimura-sama­. It sounds…strange, when you do. As well as when you talk to me in third person. Quit it. And I did those things because I wanted to, Sasuke,' He smiled, and reached out suddenly, grabbing the boy's thin shoulders to make eye contact. 'There's no need for such thanks.'

Sasuke said nothing, but got up and slipped out of Yukimura's grasp. 'I think breakfast will be ready shortly, Yukimura-sama,' he said quietly, proceeding to the door. 'I will see you downstairs, and then we can leave to follow Onime no Kyo after that.'

'Sasuke,' Yukimura called after him, but the boy strolled out, sliding the door shut behind him. He was left alone in the room, still sitting on the mattress on the floor, bitter resentment in his eyes.

He had hoped that Sasuke's mood would have improved, if only slightly, by morning, especially in one as great as this. A look of worry passed his face as he sighed and listened dazedly to the birds outside.

The girl had been kind enough to supply him with the listed items last night for the two of them, and had left him at that to tend to his small shinobi's body. He had laid it bare in his arms, the light feeling resting so comfortably against him, as he stripped the boy of his clothes in order to let the warm, soaked towel run over his grubby legs, arms and face, of course along with the wounds before setting him down on the futon to wrap him up with bandages by himself. He did not reject himself the chance to let his eyes sweep over the naked body as it lay unconscious in front of him, but he had somehow managed to finish the job and shake Sasuke awake, once again held in an embrace, as he forced the spoon of soup into the boy's slacking mouth, quite certain that his mind only half awake and, as it turned out, he did not remember any of this as he fell back to sleep immediately after finishing his meal. Having completed the dressing of the child and eaten his own dinner, Yukimura had clambered in along with the soundly sleeping Sasuke and drifted off himself, wallowed in harsh disdain for his own behaviour and actions.

He had taken advantage of the small, young boy. He knew that, but to him the only thing that mattered was Sasuke being returned to his wing, whatever method he chose to take. He was already longing for the boy and hated to see him getting hurt – not knowing what to do with the stubborn, baffling child was his own worst weakness, it seemed, when all he wanted was to see him smile and welcome every day like a normal, happy human, such as himself, may do. Yeah, right.

But, honestly, he was at crossroads. He felt constricted – as though he could not move properly in the right direction, that the more he attempted the more Sasuke will hurt himself more, and that his presence was only making things worse. Yukimura grounded his teeth together in thought as the problem fully weighed itself on his shoulders. It was unlikely that Sasuke was going to give in easily. Even so, it was obvious he had to at least try.

He got up and tidied away the futon, before advancing towards the door and down the stairs for a quick, silent breakfast.

*****

'They can't have gotten that far,' Yukimura observed as he sauntered down the dusty path with Sasuke in front of him, the small lodge disappearing into their background. 'They probably have already reached the next town by now, but we should be able to get to them in a few days time. No need to hurry so much, Sasuke,' he added, as the boy was taking quick, big steps in an effort to keep the distance between them as wide as five meters. He did not turn, and so missed the unhappy look his master behind him was giving, before tipping one of his many sake bottles slung over his shoulder to his mouth and taking a sip.

'There is a forest up ahead, Yukimura-sama,' the small boy's voice reached him, and from the hill they were walking on, he could see that indeed there was, although quite far away from their current position. 'We may have to pass through it sometime during today,' Sasuke continued. 'If you are feeling any unease-'

'I'm perfectly confident, thank you,' his master cut in, then broke out into a smile. 'Especially with you around to protect me, I feel really safe.'

A glance was tossed over his companion's shoulder at him. 'You know that if there is any danger lurking there, I am not so reliable as to ward it completely off.'

'No, I don't know,' Yukimura replied. 'I trust you, Sasuke. Don't put yourself off like that.'

Sasuke gave no answer, but kept on walking down the long road leading to the woodland. Yukimura trailed after him, eyes to the clear sky as he kept up his cheerful atmosphere through the silence that fell once again on them. Hours passed as they hiked on, and finally in the late afternoon they stood at the edge of the darkness cast by the tall, looming trees, the thicket stretching on in gloomy clusters to the unseen distance.

'Imagine how Kyo-san and the rest must have felt when they had to travel through here at night,' Yukimura said helpfully.

Since the others had left hours into the day before the two had, it was quite probable that Kyo had insisted they walk on to cover more distance, most likely to Yuya's chagrin.

They trudged on through the towering shadows, stepping through leaves and bushes as they dove deeper and deeper into the thick woods. They didn't come across animals very much, for even the birds seemed to have avoided the claw-like branches stretching above them, across the now rather camouflaged path. Little of the sky could be seen, and it was now obviously darkening into twilight, and it appeared that the sun could not shine very well through the dense arrays of leaves hanging above them on multiple, broad limbs of the trees, all huddled up together. As his master behind him started to hum a tuneless note, which cracked through the deadly silence of the forest, Sasuke bit down the urge to tell him to shut up, when he felt a sudden chill run down his spine. At the same moment, a faint, yet reeking smell reached his acute nostrils, and he stopped in his steps to have Yukimura walk into him.

The older man blinked. 'Sasuke?'

'Something's coming,' Something big. And heavy. Even Yukimura could hear the trampling sounds, as whatever it was barged through anything that was in it's way. Moments later, a ten feet tall hulk of a monster arrived, crashing through the row of trees that surrounded the narrow path they stood on. Yellow eyes rolling, they froze and focused on the two people positioned for battle, and immediately took on the challenge. The great jaw, with too many of it's teeth showing, opened to ribbons of saliva dripping from it to the ground, some arching in the air as the beast threw his head back to let out a resounding, thunderous howl to the closed heavens. It lowered it's gigantic paws, clawed and scaled to the seventh finger on each hand, and snarled in earnest, ready for the fight, the killing.

'Kenyou…?'

Yukimura threw a worried glance at his shinobi, already prepared for the battle with his Shibien held in front of him. He wasn't sure how the wounded boy could take this, and couldn't help wondering if the current disruption in their relationship will drag him down in any way.

'Sasuke…'

'Yukimura-sama,'

The voice was unexpected, and Yukimura blinked in surprise as the boy spoke. 'Eh?'

'…Please wait for me here. I will return shortly.'

He frowned, wondering if he misunderstood the boy. 'Sasuke, what are you…'

He didn't get to finish his question, as the young ninja had suddenly charged forward at the monster before them, sword flashing, with a roar that could have matched his deranged, more beast than human opponent. In a flash, he had sliced into the monster's armoured, thick skull, drawing green blood as the scream was emitted from it's throat. Maddened, the beast twisted to the side where it was sure it had seen his attacker – only to spot the small figure bounding away through the trees off the path, getting further and further away. The infuriated kenyou pounded it's heavy feet on the dirt, and blundered through the woods after the young boy, cracking through a few tree trunks with it's horrific strength. They were soon out of sight and earshot, the hollers having faded quickly away with their speed. Amazing speed, which Yukimura could not keep up with easily.

He had rushed after Sasuke only a few feet behind the monster, but was overcome by the flaying amount of dirt and their alarming pace. Sasuke, having grown up in an environment that was pretty much vegetation, must have felt at home as he leapt away, and the kenyou was of a enormous build, the muscles in it's legs can't have been something to look down on easily. Yukimura could have used his speed enhancing techniques, but the obstacles were too great – besides, thanks to Sasuke leaving him, he would be vulnerable to any other predators that popped into his wake while he was alone.

'Sasuke!!' he shouted into the silent darkness of the stretching woodland, but there was no answer, nor any small figures springing through the boughs back to him, informing him with a bored expression that he had gotten rid of the monster already.

Panting as he climbed over another protruding root from the ground, he gave up, and went back to wait on the path as Sasuke had asked him too.

Asked. Hmph, despite his politeness in the request, it would have been easily repelled if he had decided to stay long enough for Yukimura to voice his wishes. Instead, he had gone, barreling forwards to fight alone against the massive creature in some unknown distant place. He must have been truly eager to shake off his own master's trail, and get away from him to deal with the danger by himself. He had known Yukimura would insist to fight beside him, and the scar in his heart was still affecting his mind – he could not allow himself to let his master get hurt because of him. His job was to protect Yukimura, no matter what the costs.

A malicious kind of anger was evoked inside Yukimura then. Why, just why couldn't Sasuke understand? The boy took things too personally. Why couldn't he just see that the two fighting together would make the whole thing a lot less complicated, and that he was capable of not getting injured – if only he had Sasuke at his side. But the young boy wasn't about to take any chances.

Frustrated, he sat on a small rock on the other side of the path, and grabbed a large clay jug from his shoulder. Chugging down it's contents with a sort of ferocity he would not show in usual conditions, he waited for Sasuke to come back to him.

And waited.

The contrasting sizes of the two figures could have been easily spotted from thirty miles off – where normal people would be in a second if they were unlucky enough to sight the monster and it's stench. Fortunately the woods were not a favourite hangout of the town people, and many travelers were advised to stay away from it if they didn't have a lifetime's ambition of being turned into minced meat. The clearing Sasuke landed in was deserted – the number of hours they had walked since leaving the onsen inn was quite a lot, and the suddenly open sky showed exactly just how much time had gone by till now. Only a few bright, finishing rays of sun could be seen stretched across the horizon, the great ball of fire already underneath it and hidden from his point of view.

Sasuke spun around as the monster, which had always been close at his heels ever since he separated from Yukimura, crashed through the old oak trees as though they were twigs for fetching. It had not, as he had originally hoped, tired out in the least after their long trek through half the forest, but was all the more hungry for blood and supper as it saw that the boy had finally stopped moving and was accepting the fight. What was left of the soldier inside the beast was non existent as it circled him, lolling tongue making a flicking motion as though it was licking it's blackened lips, dribbling as raw hunger came to bite it in the belly. When it thought it had gotten in the blind spot of the boy, it pounced, the brown fangs wedged in it's deformed head gleaming, as it bore down on the little ninja.

However, Sasuke had of course been expecting such moves from a dull and thick headed brute like this one. Before the claws could first plunge into his head he was gone, vanished into thin air as the monster landed on it's feet, looking around in wild confusion. It had not noticed the small figure running at him from behind, but as he leapt, the sharp pain in it's back legs as long gashes were cut into was warning enough to make it twist around and slash blindly at anything that moved in his line of sight.

And it had been sure that it had hit the little flying prey, so hard that it could have been hurled all the way to the other side of the clearing. But the form just melted away, leaving a trail of foliage in it's wake. Instead, the kenyou was met with a stinging sensation as the dark sword was swung to hit his neck from somewhere below, in quite a different direction as where the last attack had landed. Sasuke was struggling to drive his Shibien through the scaly neck, teeth grinding together fiercely as he applied more and more pressure onto his blade.

Too…strong!!

He leapt back with a yell, but the monster's attack was swifter this time – it's forearm had struck him across his middle, perhaps wounding him internally as he coughed up blood when he hit the ground. His injuries from the previous nights were nothing serious – they were much like itches unable to be scratched, so he could not place his blame on them. Aggravated, he made rapid calculations as he rolled off to evade another blow.

The neck is too greatly protected…and so should any of the vital areas on this body. Where would be the softest part to strike…?

Someplace that would not be so easily reached. Not the head, or the chest. Definitely not the back, where huge spikes sprouted from the backbone. He would be impaled before he got into a meter's length of it.

It was only when the monster reared up for another blow did he get the idea. The thinner looking, paler scales covering unseen flesh – the stomach was almost unguarded, vulnerable.

Using his small size to dodge the swinging claws, he rushed straight into the unbalanced bulk of the kenyou, through it's front legs and was under the reptilian body in a matter of moments. He gripped the ground the best he could with his risen sandals as he positioned his katana upwards, before thrusting it into the beast's abdomen as deeply as he could. Hearing the monster's shriek of pain he knew that he only had seconds before it decided to flatten him, he started pushing the blade forward, through the rest of the wide stomach with a great deal of his body weight, before emerging back out through the other side a split second before the colossal body crashed down. He jumped out of the way as the thick legs struggled to rise again, and actually succeeded in doing so, allowing the kenyou to wobble away some yards across the field, leaving a trail of oozing, green blood in it's wake. However, it collapsed again before it reached the ring of trees on the other side, and did not move anymore.

Suddenly sapped of all strength, Sasuke fell into a kneeling heap as he coughed into his palm, and withdrawing his hand he saw the red substance staining it with it's dark colour. Sheathing Shibien, he observed the crumpled body of the kenyou, now lying still far away from him. He suddenly experienced a pang in his heart, and reaching up to grasp his chest, he wondered what that may have been for. He sighed, irritated with himself for not finishing this earlier, and instead making a mess of it. If Yukimura was here, he would have been a fool for letting things stretch on so long…

Yukimura…!

He jolted back to his sense, and, swaying from the dull ache on his front where the powerful arm had caught him, started back off the way he came. But not without looking up at the sky anxiously first.

How long have I been…?

The last beam of sunlight was fast disappearing, and some stars were already in view up in the heavens. The dark blue shade was stretching over the brighter, warmer colours, as Sasuke's face turned to one of horror as he finally realized the amount of time that had passed since he left Yukimura to fight the monster – and had left him alone in the dangerous midst of the forest. He was an idiot, for not considering that other kenyou may have been lurking in the place.

Fright clutching at his heart with their icy fingers, he ran back into the yawning darkness of the trees, hurdling as fast as he could towards his master, fervently praying he was fine.

*****

Yukimura sat back, his flopping head tilted up at the darkening light, or what he could see of them through the branches. Four empty jars, all of which had previously contained sake, lay at his feet in the grass. The samurai had his eyes closed, a look which could only be called peaceful upon his beautiful face, when the sound of a twig cracking under one's weight reached his attentive ears.

He jerked up quickly to find the source of the sound, peering through the gaps between the wide trunks, into the shadowed surroundings. Sure enough, the silhouette of a small, stumbling figure appeared shortly, white hair tousled and arms clutching his middle. Before he could reach the path, Yukimura was up and making his unsteady steps towards the boy.

'Sasuke!'

He looked up, and blinked as his master's rosy, worried face came right up to his, before being gripped into a tight hug which had him bending forwards slightly and Yukimura on his knees on the dusty ground in front of him.

'Yu-Yukimura…sama…'

'You're still saying that?' The annoyed, scolding voice sounded right next to his ear. The young boy shivered as it sent a wave of hot breath at it. 'I've been waiting for you for so long! Are you hurt? Here let me take a look…'

He did not reveal his blush. 'I'm alright, Yukimura-sama. You should not hold me so close, I am rather dirty, and you would spoil your clothes.'

It was only fair in saying so, as he had just romped through leaves, burr, bushes and tree roots, and had carried away bits of twig and foliage on the way. Other than that, his face and own clothes was a mess, the sprays of green blood having rained on him as he cut the beast, and the bright red was still left trickling down from his mouth, some drops of them staining his white top.

He was startled, however, when Yukimura did let go of him of the breathless embrace, and start shaking him vigorously with his hands gripping the shinobi's shoulders almost painfully. 'Why are you like this, Sasuke?' he hissed through his teeth. The boy looked up at him with masked eyes, having quickly gotten over the initiate shock and now trying to look simply curious to his master's behaviour. 'Why would you think, that I would not care for your safety more than my clothes?'

Sasuke realized he took a wrong turning in his words. 'Ah, Yukimura-sama…I am very sorry. I did not mean it to sound that way – forgive me if I insulted you -'

'Forgive, forgive, forgive!! You are always asking for that! Sasuke, perhaps one of these days I will see light in your actions, as you are always disobeying me and following your own set of rules, and maybe then I will exile you from the land of the Sanada! But,' He stared hard into the emotionless, golden eyes. 'I love you. I won't be able to go on without you. Please, Sasuke – don't leave me again.' With that, his head was buried into the nape of the boy's neck, resting on his shoulder which the firm hands still grasped. The soft breathing of the older man whispered over the smaller's back, and Sasuke's arms, still hanging limply at his side, itched to take the strong, yet sagging body in his arms and hold him towards his chest so hard that he could crush the bones there. But they did not twitch, and instead he heard his own voice talking without his consent to lead it.

'I will never leave you, my lord,' he said quietly, with a blank face. 'My duty is to guard your life, and I have sworn to do so ever since I became a Jyuuyushi. But during an ambush such as this time's, I could not permit myself to keep the danger here with you. In my foolishness, I left you alone for such a long period, a disgrace for a shinobi with a purpose such as mine to be so careless as to depart in a time of utter precaution. I am terribly sorry for that.'

The head reclining on his neck shifted a bit, a lock of dark hair falling to touch Sasuke's chest. He bit his lip, fighting back the urge to touch it, and continued on. 'We are, in all honesty, just tools – while there is no other to replace you, Yukimura-sama, there are plenty for us. Yukimura-sama,' he said sharply, as his master made a slight movement as though he wanted to retort. 'I do not expect for you to understand this, much less accept it. I am merely stating a fact, in hopes that one day, you will find reason enough to-'

But he never finished the sentence, for the next second he found himself lurching back, hitting the grassy ground as the older man's weight pushed him down. He gasped as the sheath of his Shibien, strapped to his back, dug into him as he landed heavily atop it. Arms trapped at his sides, he couldn't push away the lips that came crashing down on his, tongue slipping through the slight breaks in the boy's pink, chapped mouth, ravaging the insides of his cheeks and much farther down. Sasuke cringed when he was forced to open his mouth wider as Yukimura forced in more, splitting one edge of his dry lips as he did. He gave a sort of experimental wiggle underneath the larger body; hands immediately shot up to cup the sides of his face, raising it to press harder against the other man's. The exploration continued – but Sasuke did not budge.

When Yukimura finally pulled away, gasping for air, he too had to gulp some in to refill his smaller, squashed lungs. While he tried to make it as inaudible as he could, he still managed to wheeze out a sentence he hoped would bring his master some sense. 'You- you're drunk, Yukimura-sama…Please, cool your head a little and think of your actions-'

But Yukimura wasn't so relenting. As soon as he had let loose the words, he was pounced on again, his hair grabbed and pulled with such force it jerked his head back with a small crack. Sasuke felt hot, wet muscle slithering down his neck, lapped up again as it reached his chest. 'I'm not drunk, Sasuke,' he breathed up at the small boy, and a waft of sake washed upon him. 'What makes you think that it is alcohol that's leading me to do this, and not my own mind?'

Sasuke flinched as the slender fingers crept up to take hold of the edges of his shirt robe and pulled them apart. The cloth that held his sword, slung around his chest, was also grabbed and pushed upwards to his chin, out of the way of his now bare chest. Sasuke only barely suppressed a shiver as his master set to work on him; his body was betraying himself, his small, perked nipples too hard and erect to be normal. He was only glad that it had not affected his lower regions yet – but it was only a matter of time.

Yukimura was slowly licking his way down towards his stomach, occasionally reaching back up again to tease his nipples, then starting his long, deliberate journey back the descend. The little nubs were sensitive, at every slurp or suck on them Sasuke had to resist twitching. A little nibble and he had to bite the insides of his cheeks to stop squeaking. Perhaps Yukimura had noticed this, for he started to spend much of his concentration in twirling his thick tongue around them, prodding them tantalizingly before resulting in a sudden, sharp bite which had the boy underneath him taking a small intake, almost bleeding at his mouth.

But then he must have gotten tired of all these petty reactions. He started to move lower, and lower, and didn't come up again. Pausing at the little child's belly button, he started to tease it by picking at the smooth skin with his mouth, leaving little marks as he sucked on the drawn blood and licked the tiny scratches.

Sasuke's mind was growing fuzzy, he couldn't stop the twitches he was making. They kept on coming as though on instinct. However, when his master's roaming hands began to fumble with the thin beaded belt that kept his flimsy shorts up, he snapped awake and almost yelled out.

No…….!!

It was taunting, and unfair – he couldn't move any of his limbs from the weight, or he could hurt Yukimura by trying – and it was beautiful…but he couldn't allow it to continue.

You cannot move on without the other.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and took deep breaths to steady himself. When the golden orbs opened again, they were glassy, the canopy of leaves reflected in them.

I am not about to.

Yukimura was busy dipping his tongue into the little navel at his bare stomach, hands working to slip the miniature shorts off, when he sensed something different growing around the boy. He had also stopped moving, in that pleasurable squirming way he had. The man frowned, and cocked his head up to see the boy staring, poker faced, up towards the hidden sky.

'Sasuke…?'

The eyes suddenly rolled down to address him. 'What is it, Yukimura-sama?' he asked, no lust or wanting in his voice. In fact, there was hardly any describable emotion in it, certainly none that Yukimura had expected to hear. 'Why did you stop?'

Yukimura frowned, and shook his head. 'Nothing,' he muttered, and returned to his antics.

'No, you paused for a moment there, Yukimura-sama,' the boy continued, almost conversationally as his master dipped his head lower to try and coax something out of him. 'Why did you? Was I not pleasing you enough? Yukimura-sama, if there's something you want, then all you have to do is ask.'

The movement stopped again, but Yukimura did not lift his head. His dark hair tickled his stomach as it hung around him. 'Don't. Call me. Yukimura-sama,' he said through gritted teeth.

'I believe we have utter freedom to call you as we wish,' said Sasuke frostily. 'The others call you with that title, why cannot I-'

He broke off as the other man's teeth broke into his soft skin, but no refreshing wet came to relieve the seeping pain and blood. Yet Sasuke did not stop. 'Why can't you order me, Yukimura-sama?' he asked. Again, it was in that innocent monotone, nothing but simple, nonetheless uncaring, curiosity that came biting at the heart.

Before he could react, a large hand came swinging up at him and struck him on the cheek. Sasuke made no sound, merely closed his eyes at the sting, as he felt his now enraged master picking himself up off of him. He lay quite still, head tilted to one side with the throbbing red staring up, but as soon as his legs and arms were released he turned off from his back to face away from the straightening man, raising himself on one arm as the other subconsciously reached up to gingerly touch the slapped cheek. He stayed like that for a while, before the other man's voice reached him.

'You know very well why,' he said quietly. 'I would not order…something so vulgar of my friend.'

Sasuke's tone was equally low, hardly audible. 'Will you hit your friends, my lord?' he asked.

There was a silence. 'Get up. We need to find shelter and build up a camp. You can go clean that mess off after you find us the needed supplies.'

The boy was already on his feet, the left side of his face still swollen and blotched. His shirt was hurriedly drawn together. 'Yes, Yukimura-sama.'

He might have heard the sound of grinding teeth if he strained his hearing hard enough, but became too preoccupied when Yukimura took his first step forward. The drink was addling his brain, and even one stride got him lurching unsteadily off to the side. Sasuke was immediately beside him, slinging an arm around his own neck, supporting the drunken man. Thankfully Yukimura did not push him away, but instead leant against him with a good deal of his weight on the small boy. Loyally, he did not grumble, but swiftly led his master down the path in search for a good, temporal shelter. The hush between them was frightening, and it rang around the trees surrounding them.

To make things worse, it began raining. Setting his jaw firmly against each other, Sasuke trudged their way through the steadily softening mud.

The good side of it was, Yukimura's mind was too hazy, and the raindrops hitting his face and running down his cheeks almost looked like tears. No one would have noticed if he was really crying.

Once again, poor Sasuke. These chapters are only making things worse for him, aren't they? I just love doing that *evil laugh*.

I had forgotten about the existence of kenyous. I think they only appeared in the anime, and despite thinking they were cheesy and unoriginal, I couldn't think of any other way to fight Sasuke without involving the Mibu clan (who I try to keep away at all costs).

I was also rewatching episode 24 - the one where Yuki says he turned over to the Mibu, but then came back? I thought it was really sweet when he put off his fight with Kyo to save Sasuke...if only it wasn't for the stupid sound track they put in. I'm like, Orly, where the beep did they get that crappy song from? And just when Yukimura catches Sasuke, it goes quiet, and I'm breathing out a sigh of relief, when they end with a last bloody blast of trumpets the next second. Yup, manga's definitely better. (And they make Sasu's eyes too big. Ever noticed that?)

I had to keep reminding myself that this story was not one of explicit content. The after effects of my brain breaking from the last fic I did are still here. Though I'm glad that my fellow YukiSasu fans reviewed it, such kind people.

Waah, noirheart, I'm so sorry that I deleted your review! I didn't mean to! I just wanted to change something in the story, and it went away too! Luckily, I kept the email that FF. net sent me, so I copied and pasted on. I never knew you could review your own story. Anyway, it was such a great review, I couldn't bear letting it go!

Thank you to noirheart, Xunaly and ChainsAndRoses for reviewing! I myself am wondering just how this thing is going to conclude, hahaha...

To those who read and didn't review - REVIEW!! Yes, you. The one sitting at the computer. You have no idea how happy the above three made me.