Chapter 6: Longing and Bitter Alliances
Head in his hands, Naruto tried not to scream. Instead, he marched his bedroom. Unfortunately, he had already thrown the alarm clock. There was nothing left he wanted to break. With a sigh, he fell on his bed, sprawled out spread-eagle.
The day had been a complete disaster, starting with Shikamaru demanding he to go in for questioning and ending with him realizing that even the little children were calling him "coward" or "Uchiha lover". He supposed a village dealt with war in different ways. The children liked to pretend they were fighting the evil their mothers and fathers fought against. That evil included Sasuke. Naruto shook his head, collapsing on his bed. It was past time he accepted it…
Sasuke had returned to Madara despite Susano'o's extraction, despite Naruto's words, and above all, despite the fact Naruto had given himself to Sasuke. He was angry with himself. He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to forget that evening…
It hurt him to think about it, and it infuriated him beyond all words. How could he have been such an idiot? He should have knocked Sasuke out and dragged him to the Hokage Tower by his stupid, spiky hair. Yeah, he should have knocked him out and carried him back…
If he had done that, he wouldn't be in this situation. He dreaded anyone finding out the truth. Not because of what they might say or think, but because he didn't want to relive it. It hurt in ways he didn't think he could hurt. And to think he thought he had experienced heartbreak with Sakura!
It was the pain of being abandoned. Of being loved then thrown away. For Naruto, after a childhood filled with rejection and loneliness, this kind of betrayal hit home. How many nights had he lain awake at night, wondering what Sasuke was doing that very moment? He had lost count.
Did Sasuke ever think about it? Was he wondering what Naruto was doing? Could he care less?
Sasuke had been his rival, his best friend, his goal, his closest bond, and now a one-time lover. Maybe it was only natural to want to feel so close to someone so important, but he had never tried to face these feelings for Sasuke before. He had always known his feelings were intense, maybe a little too much, but he hadn't confronted it before. Maybe he had always known it, ever since he was thirteen and watching Sasuke closely, feeling his heart flutter or his face turn an embarrassingly blotchy shade of red when Sasuke talked or taunted him. Back then, he'd convinced himself it was because Sasuke was such a prickly little bastard, that just being close to him made Naruto angry and too flustered to think.
He smiled a little at the memory, at the absurdity of it. But it was short lived.
This felt worse than when Sakura had pretended they hadn't had sex. Worse than her false confession. That had made him angry, that had made him hurt. This? This made him feel numb when he thought about it, which was strangely worse than feeling something.
Groaning, Naruto made himself get up and head for the refrigerator, only to discover that he needed to be go shopping-badly. A lone bottle of mustard, a jar of pickles with only one spear left floating in the acid green juice, and a moldy looking peach was all the fridge held. Naruto grimaced and slammed the door shut. He would have to go out.
He donned khaki cargo pants, some sandy brown flip flops, and an orange shirt, grumbling all the while. It was late afternoon, the autumn heat was sweltering, and the only wind that blew gusted hot air. Naruto wished he had stayed in his air conditioned apartment. He fingered the bills in his wallet and trudged on.
"Oi, Naruto!"
Silently cursing, Naruto turned to smile broadly at Kiba, Sai, Ino, Hinata, TenTen, Shino, Neji, Chouji, Shikamaru, and to his dismay, Sakura. It was just his luck to bump into the whole fucking gang.
Sakura stiffened when she saw him, emerald eyes wide. She made a show of tucking her short pink pixie cut behind her ears and started babbling to Ino, but the act only made her stick out even more because Ino was too busy trying to flirt with an unresponsive Sai. Naruto ignored this and strode over.
Kiba grinned wolfishly. "So you finally crawled out of your hole! Does the sunlight burn? We thought, you know, being so depressed over Sasuke and all, that you weren't going to show your face today."
Naruto snorted. "What, and give the ladies something to cry over? Nah, I got bored, plus I'm hungry," he added with a grin. The group groaned.
"I'm not paying for you," Shikamaru insisted, casting a dark look at Chouji. Everyone knew he wouldn't dare admit this was because the Akimichi clansmen had tagged along and could easily eat the restaurant out of business. Naruto shrugged. He was about to say he had some cash to burn when he noticed the scrutinizing look Neji was giving him. The Hyuuga was frowning, brow furrowed. Naruto pretended not to notice.
"Maybe I'll catch up with you guys later," Naruto said instead, noticing the look of relief on Sakura's face. He had to admit, he wasn't excited about spending an hour or two next to her either at the moment, but she could at least say hi to him. They were still friends and teammates, after all. He hadn't even realized she had returned from her mission with Kakashi and Sai.
To everyone's surprise, Sai spoke up before Naruto could turn away. "Naruto, even I am aware that this is unhealthy behavior. I understand how much Sasuke meant to you, but we are all still here, as your true friends, to support you." Coming from Sai, words like these were a shock, and Naruto only stared. He hadn't expected such a sweet reply from Sai. It almost unnerved him. He blinked.
"Oh, er...Well, thanks, Sai." In the end, Naruto gave in to the pressure to join them for dinner. He carefully avoided sitting next to Sakura, but that only got him sitting across from Neji's analytical stare.
The Hyuuga hadn't said much. He had commented shortly on the mission Sakura had been on, talked with Hinata about her day, and conversed quietly with TenTen about her newest addition of weapons. Other than that, he merely listened, his opaque lavender eyes drifting over to Naruto every now and then. By the end of the first half hour, Naruto was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the attention. He laughed easily with the others, talked, and joked, ignoring Neji's gaze. No one else, however, seemed to notice.
Did Neji have some sort of new grudge against him? Naruto hadn't known Neji to be so opinionated about Sasuke. To take some of the heat off, Naruto suddenly directed a question at him.
"Hey, Neji, did you hear about the special team that's been sent out?" There was a sudden silence. Apparently, everyone had been carefully avoiding this topic out of respect for Naruto's feelings. The food arrived, and the buxom waitress winked at Naruto as she set down the food.
Neat lines and grooves appeared above Neji's brow as his furrowed his eyebrows further. "Yes, of course, I am part of the team. Lady Tsunade finds the Byakugan to be most useful in such situations."
Naruto nodded, shoving some barbequed pork in his mouth. He tried to smile through a mouthful. "I figured as much. So, will anyone else be gone? I just wanted to know who's gonna stick around, since I'm gonna be stuck here and all." He lifted his gaze.
Shikamaru nodded warily. "I will be."
Naruto nodded. Of course Shikamaru and Neji would be sent. Shikamaru was a rare, one in a thousand genius and Neji's Byakugan was useful. The point of the question was to see how Neji responded to him about the subject, but Naruto had not detected a hint of malice. Irritated, he quickly changed the subject. Soon, the whole table was laughing again, and even Sakura met Naruto's gaze and smiled.
By the time the bill arrived, Shikamaru winced and Chouji insisted that since barbeque had been Shikamaru's idea, that he should cover half of Chouji's portion. They bickered for a while, but in the end, Shikamaru gave in. Naruto handed some money to Shikamaru and thanked everyone for a good time.
"Wait," Kiba grabbed onto Naruto's sleeve. "We're gonna go drink a few beers and get a bonfire going. It's probably the only night we're all going to be together before something big happens again."
Naruto grimaced, but hid quickly behind a bright smile. "Sure!" He trailed after the group, a few paces behind..
Naruto stared at the froth coating the surface of his beer. The smell was unappealing. The whole scene was unappealing. Kiba was teasing him about it.
"Come on, your body breaks it down so fast it takes forever for you to get buzzed. One drink isn't gonna kill ya."
Naruto shook his head, suddenly tired. "I'm gonna go crash," he said quietly. He said his goodbyes, but before he could leave, Neji spoke to him.
"Are you feeling well?" he asked suddenly. Naruto blinked.
"Fine. Why?" he wondered, suspicious.
Neji shrugged. "There's a disturbance in your chakra balance. It's odd, I've never seen that with you. It's as if it's not correctly proportioned." He frowned, sipping his beer and grimacing. Naruto shrugged, thoughtful.
"If you're feeling weak, perhaps you should pay a visit to Tsunade," Neji advised. "With the Akatsuki after you, and the Kyuubi sometimes unpredictable, it's best to look into these things."
"I'm not feeling weak," Naruto said, irritated.
Neji shrugged again. "Fine then. I'm just telling you what I saw."
Shaking his head, Naruto left. He stopped by an open grocery store and picked up a few things before continuing his journey back to the apartment building. It was finally cooling down, and the dying light cast long shadows that played along the ground. Ever graceful, Naruto stumbled on a jagged rock shooting up out of the dirt road. The milk tumbled out of his bag and rolled. Cursing the pain in his toe, he bent to pick it up, but not before realizing where he was.
It was site of the old Uchiha compound. He stared, shivering suddenly, and walked towards it. When the ghetto had still been standing, before Pain's attack, children only entered it on a dare. They teased each other, saying its alleys were haunted with the screams of those Itachi had ruthlessly slaughtered. Now a small garden, complete with a white marble memorial at is center,had been erected in honor of the dead clan. Not offering the dead clan something would have been considered callous, since it was such huge part in recent history. Naruto ventured towards it, squinting at the white marble memorial.
The names of all the deceased were listed in neat characters. Judging by the lack of flowers and gifts at its base, the memorial hadn't been visited for a while. A sadness enveloped him. A small ginkgo tree stood a little off to the right of it, and Naruto realized there were names carved into the wood. Curious, he bent towards it to get a better look.
There were random names. Names of friends, lovers, names of those who had died during Pain's attack. Some of the lovers' names, he realized, were Uchiha names. Perhaps some villagers who had been involved with an Uchiha clansmen had carved their initials together into the tree. Some had drawn hearts around the names, others had slashed the names at the bottom making a small border. There was a hollow in the tree, and nestled inside, was a kunai. Naruto held it in his hands, looking at the bark.
Feeling stupid, angry, humiliated, sad, and most of all, aching for his former best friend, he carefully carved his and Sasuke's initials into the tree. He stared at the simple characters for a while, and almost laughed at himself. What was he going to do now, draw some sappy heart around it?
The tears came unbidden as he stared at the initials. He bit his lip, hard enough to taste a coppery tang, and in his mounting frustration, slashed at their initials until they weren't readable. He was quietly sobbing by then. Kunai still in his hand, he sat down on the memorial, resting his forehead against his knees.
"Fucking bastard," he sniffed. Naruto quickly swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand and stood, thrusting the kunai back in its hollow.
"Next time," Naruto promised, his voice low, "I won't let you go."
Not to mention that next time, the Uchiha will probably be in for an ass-kicking of a lifetime.
The sudden appearance of Takumi startled Tsunade. She was slumped over paperwork, eyelids heavy. She had had the immense pleasure of speaking to the Elders about battle tactics and she was hoarse from all the yelling she'd done in the end.
The old bags! At least they were happy with Naruto safe in the village. Although Tsunade couldn't say she was happy about it, but given how Naruto had acted, maybe it was for the best. Just for now, she promised herself. She wouldn't do this to him much longer. Just enough to drive her point home.
She flinched, startled, when the ivory bird mask appeared before her. She cursed, standing. "Has something happened?"
"My lady, I've only come to report," Takumi said apologetically.
Sighing, Tsunade slid back into her chair. It was a normal report concerning Naruto. Nothing strange had happened.
"If I may?" Takumi began, a little uncertainly. Tsuande raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?" She asked wearily.
"While I agree that Naruto needs to understand Sasuke's enemy status, I highly doubt, after trailing him, that he will ever look upon the young Uchiha the way you wish him to. Not by force like this. He is young, and quite passionate."
This talk was taking Tsunade by surprise. It was not often Takumi took an interest in his charges, or thought it was important enough to offer Tsunade herself advice on how to handle the youth. She stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.
"I understand you are giving him time to think about the dangers the Uchiha poses, and he could have handled his situation differently and more professionally. But I fear keeping him in the village and forbidding him to fight the Uchiha will only do harm."
Tsunade frowned. "I want him to realize what he should have done differently. There are too many dangers out there for him to act so rashly and do what he wants. It can come off as selfish instead of passionate," Tsunade insisted.
Takumi shook his head. "My llady, forgive me, but he is no longer a young child you can punish with a time out. There is something about him that makes me feel as though he is hiding something about their encounter-"
Tsunade rose, fearing the worst and jumping to conclusions in her mind. "How are you certain? What have you discovered?"
Takumi chuckled at her question, it was a weary sound. "I am a father of four, my lady. My two oldest are eighteen and twenty, I know what it looks like when passion scars a young heart."
Tsunade's brow wrinkled as she gave this thought. It was the not the type of answer she had expected.
Sasuke grimaced against the howls, screeches, growls, and pitiful whines. Madara had transported all of Orochimaru's and Kabuto's combined works into dungeon-like cells in the deepest part of the caves.
Some looked human, but their eyes conveyed otherwise. Some were grotesque forms of man and beast, unable to free themselves from their curse mark form. Sasuke thought of Juugo, the otherwise quiet and gentle young man he had originally recruited for his team before joining Madara. When Sasuke saw these people, he thought of Juugo, and his dangerous split personality.
"Water," a man with paper-thin skin and eyes with yellowed whites whined. "Water!" He reached out for Madara's sleeve, but Madara was faster. The man fell away with an inhuman shriek and scuttled along the stone floor, his eyes burning a fierce orange color.
"Just as you left them," Madara said, looking to his side where Kabuto stood.
The silver-haired medic nin only stared at the experiments. "You should weed out the strong from the weak," he suggested. "When the full moon arrives, only the strongest will reach their potential. It's still easy to differentiate them at this state and predict who will be of more use, and who won't. The weak are likely to escape, some may even try and seek solace within the walls of the Leaf and sell out what little they know about you. They have been prisoners after all. It's crucial to find out whose mind is the weakest, the most human. Those aren't the ones you want swarming the Leaf," he advised with a smile.
Madara considered this."Very well," he agreed. "Sasuke!" He looked for Sasuke's sihouette. Sasuke stiffened, fixing the man with a burning glare.
"Weed them out," Madara ordered. Sasuke glowered at him.
"Do whatever you must to enrage them. Inflict Susano'o on them for all I care. See which ones are useful. Kill the rest." Madara left Sasuke with Kabuto then, disregarding a young woman's scream of terror, half of her face obscured by rough, opaque scales. The din rose as those who were human enough to care realized what had just been ordered. When Sasuke only scowled Madara stopped before he could exit to look back on Sasuke..
"Now!" he hissed, and vanished, no doubt to attend to one of his little war meetings. Madara was using small forces to inflict acts of terrorism and violence against the villages of the Allied Shinobi Forces. It was the best he could do at this moment without his cursed army. They weren't ready to go all out. So for now, it was guerilla warfare; a small gap of relief for the Shinobi before the large battles raged again.
Kabuto remained, still wearing his slimy smile. "What are you waiting for? Don't tell me you've gone soft." He clucked with a disappointed 'tsk'.
"How about I throw you in with them and we'll see how soft I really am," Sasuke challenged darkly.
"Oh, that's it. I'm sure mere talk of this makes Susano'o's bloodthirst unbearable," Kabuto with a an unimpressed chuckle. With Kabuto around, Sasuke was ready to blow a fuse. He glowered at the medic nin. What exactly was his game? It was obvious he was aware something was off about Sasuke, but if Kabuto was already curious, why hadn't Madara said or done something about it? Was the older Uchiha really that oblivious to him? Sasuke doubted it. One thing remained certain: Madara was oblivious to the fact that he could no longer summon Susano'o.
"What kind of information do you want?" he asked, wary.
Kabuto chuckled. "I want information only you can give me. Tell me a little, and, I'll weed out the lab rats myself. I know just by looking who's useful and who's not. I'll play along with your little game, though. It's obvious to me you aren't Madara's man. Then again, you've never been anyone's man but your own."
"That seems like a small reward for important information." Sasuke quipped. Kabuto made a show of pondering over this, obviously enjoying it.
"Tell me what I want to know, and I'll help you destroy Madara," he said at length. Sasuke frowned.
Kabuto continued, "My research, Sasuke, includes bloodline limits and forbidden jutsus. Orochimaru and I were always attempting to create a powerful vessel, but each time, our creation died. I need new samples. Orochimaru failed to acquire the Sharingan, but I…I have different plans." Sasuke smothered his anger at Kabuto's explanation.
"I want the remaining bodies of Pain. I know Madara has taken care to hide them." Kabuto got straight to the point.
Sasuke looked at him, surprised. "No, you want more than that."
Kabuto grinned. "Sharp boy. I want your word." Sasuke waited for him to continue. "I want word that when this is done, you'll come with me."
Sasuke snorted. "You're a cocky bastard. Why would I come with you?"
"Because, Madara himself isn't my goal. I came here for protection…and for you. Mostly for you."
Sasuke looked sideways at him. Kabuto's skin had a more pearly sheen to it than he'd remembered, and his eyelids were ringed with light purple shadows. Kabuto was dealing with some black art. He sucked in a breath. Then he smirked at the dawning realization.
"You're trying to be Orochimaru," he said, and laughed. it was a chilly sound, and it reverberated off the stone rooms. The experiments shrieked and threw themselves at their steel bars.
Kabuto grimaced."If you come with me, I promise no harm will come to Uzumaki."
Sasuke glared at him. "He doesn't mean shit to me," he lied smoothly. Kabuto considered him for a moment.
"Don't make me prove you wrong, Uchiha," Kabuto hissed. A pearly white snake suddenly shot out from his sleeve, darting to the nearest cell. The woman whose face was half obscured in scales sobbed desperately, begging for mercy, but the snake shot at her, fangs outstretched, and buried itself in her neck.
Her shrieks were the only sound in the cells for a long moment. Dark blood gushed from her neck, splattering in a sick mess on the ground at her feet. She clawed at the snake, but finally slipped in her own pool of blood and lost the battle. More snakes rushed from under Kabuto's cloak, out of his sleeves, and visited each cell, attacking only the ones they smelled weakness on. The warm stench of fresh blood made Sasuke wrinkle his nose, and the screams and shrieks made his head hurt.
Kabuto nodded, satisfied. "They know which ones aren't fit to be here." The snakes returned to him slowly, crawling back up from where they had sprouted. One slithered lazily around Sasuke feet, climbing up his legs and coiling around his shoulders before hissing threateningly in his ear. It plopped softly on the floor and hurried back up Kabuto's sleeve. Kabuto fixed a coal black eye on Sasuke, who shook his head.
"You're stupider than I thought if you think your snakes can frighten me."
"Maybe I don't scare you yet, but I promise I'll make you twist and turn in agony. I promise you'll feel pain in that hole you call a heart. You just have to give me a chance."
Sasuke was tempted, oh so tempted, to run Kabuto through with his blade. The medic nin was lost to a dark and sinister scheme, and it was obvious to him that the Kabuto had acquired strange powers. It was not the place to fight him. Not yet. Soon, definitely soon.
Kabuto spied a bucket and a mop hanging by the entrance to the room, which he promptly threw at Sasuke's feet. "Clean it up. You don't want Madara thinking you can't handle a little bloodshed."
Sasuke clenched his fists. Who the hell did this fucking bastard think he was? He picked up the mop, but not before swiping the handle at Kabuto with a fearsome jab. Before it could hit the medic nin in the jaw (which had to have been no more than half a second) a snake jumped from under Kabuto's cloak, taking the strike and holding the wooden mop handle between its glistening fangs. Sasuke frowned. The snakes made up Kabuto's defenses…a sort of ultimate defense, but how well did to work?
Poison glinted pale yellow on the snake's fangs, and dripped slow as honey down to the stone cold floor. Sasuke was watching it drip when he realized Kabuto was talking to him.
"Five minutes," Kabuto was saying. "The poison works in five minutes. It curdles your blood, makes it thick so it doesn't circulate correctly. The part of the body that's been bitten turns black and rots. Your heart can't pump the curdled blood and you die."
"I'm not afraid of death." Sasuke answered, his voice flat and void of emotion.
"Watch again, don't look away," Kabuto hissed, and sent his snake towards the man with the burning orange eyes. He was laughing with relief in a corner at being spared, his trousers soiled from his fear. He was still laughing as the snake shimmied up to him, biting him on the ankle.
At two minutes, the man's laughs stopped and turned into whimpers. His face pinched and he clutched as his chest. His foot slowly darkened, turning a violent shade of purple before swelling grotesquely and turning black.
At three minutes, his face was swollen and purple, eyes so wide they were white. His tongue flopped out of his mouth as he tried to speak.
At four minutes, he had stopped trying to cry for help and gave up on squirming. Dismally, he tried to curl up in a tight ball in the corner, pulling a rotted blanket over his shoulders.
He never got to pull the blanket over himself. He shuddered, and was still.
"Five minutes," Kabuto repeated in a long hiss. Sasuke stared at the body, and he knew the demonstration wasn't to frighten him of his own death. He was silent.
"Madara believes you are still overcome. I'm not sure what happened to you, but let's just say I've acquired certain…abilities. As I've said, my research is focused on rare bloodline limits. Congratulations, Sasuke, you've caught my sole attention, being the last of your people." Kabuto's eyes gleamed, and Sasuke wondered if it was more than that.
"Do you remember what I did to Orochimaru before he could acquire my Sharingan?" Sasuke asked, eyes cold. Kabuto remembered how Sasuke had absorbed him, but he seemed undeterred by this.
Kabuto shrugged, petting his snake almost lovingly. "My current research is bound to please Madara. I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it as well. The deal stands. Come with me when all is said and done, and no harm will come to Uzumaki. I'm sure as time passes, you'll find my deal most alluring," he promised darkly.
Sasuke glared at him. The fact that Kabuto made a show of knowing something he didn't made him uneasy. It could, however, be no more than a bluff. A stunt to try and show off his newly acquired power. What could he hope to achieve by showing Sasuke the deadliness of his snakes? Fear? Sasuke wasn't afraid, not for himself, anyway. His eyes found their way to the man in the cell, and he thought of Naruto with mounting unease
It would never get that far, Sasuke promised himself.
"There is a right time and place for everything, you'll come to find," Kabuto said, studying Sasuke's features for any betrayal of emotion.
Sasuke considered this. "I will come to you when the time is right, but not for what you want. When that time comes, not even Madara will be able to shield you."
"Confident words, but they are empty to me. Come when that time arrives, and we shall see." Kabuto flashed a toothy grin, needle like teeth glinting in the gloom. "I'm guessing you will withhold any information concerning the bodies?" he ventured.
Sasuke snorted. "Ororchimaru was a sick man. You're no better. I'll leave the dead to their peace," he decided.
Kabuto nodded curtly, seeming to suck on his teeth in thought. "Come to me then, Sasuke, when the time is right," Kabuto said again, and vanished, leaving Sasuke alone in the gloom with the moans and gore of the dying and frightened experiments.
Madara was waiting impatiently in the cave he'd dubbed his hall, a place for meetings and discussions. He was becoming increasingly angry as he listened to the incessant buzzing of the fools he had hired as his army.
They were doubting Sasuke's ability to capture the Nine Tails, of course, and were simply begging Madara for the chance to reap the glory. Kisame was adamant, and Madara wanted nothing more than to run him through.
"The Nine Tails is Sasuke's task," Madara said shortly. His eye narrowed when Kabuto's presence was announced and he entered the room.
"The job is done," The medic nin said vaguely, leaving some of his companions wondering. Madara nodded stiffly.
"Might I have a word?" Kabuto suddenly ventured. Madara glared at the fools gathered around him.
"Leave us," he ordered. Grudgingly, casting dark and murderous looks towards the newcomer, the rogue nin left.
Madara fixed his crimson eye upon Kabuto coldly. "I would be careful, if I were you, Yakushi," he warned in a low voice.
Kabuto chuckled. "Even a man who holds himself equivalent to a god faces mortal peril, Madara."
Madara glowered, not pleased by the comment. "You're wearing thin my hospitality."
Kabuto shrugged. "I'm creating an army for you, Madara," he pointed out. "Which is, by the way, coming along rather well." Madara waited, silently allowing him to continue. He could sense there was something Kabuto was holding back. Something smug in his voice.
"I have mastered Orochimaru's forbidden technique."
Madara's eye widened slightly. It was interesting news. "You claim to raise the dead?" Madara asked, amused. Kabuto grinned, and his hands worked quickly. A summoning. Coffins burst through a cracked stone floor, and the wooden tops flew away, squeaking on their hinges.
"Itachi, Sasori, Kakuzu." Kabuto gestured to the gray, eyeless corpses. Madara was impressed, but not that impressed.
"I know you, Yakushi," he began. "You turn your back on a man as quickly as a chameleon changes its colors. You actually think you can lure me into thinking you're valuable enough to have at my side. It's impressive, but your soulless soldiers won't gain you a hand in my plan."
"I'll give you more, if you hand over Sasuke," Kabuto said suddenly. Madara sucked in a breath in a wave of fresh anger.
"You've been trying to lure him away," Madara accused.
Kabuto didn't deny it. "Give me Sasuke," he continued as he summoned another coffin that burst from the split stone floor. "Help him come to me, and I promise no harm shall come to this body." The top fell away and Madara gaped in amazement, and utter horror, at the shriveled corpse inside.
"How?" He could barely breathe. He'd been so careful...or so he thought. Wildly, he backtracked through his memories, looking for a weak spot somewhere in his plan.
Kabuto grinned evilly. "You have severely underestimated me, Madara Uchiha. I have grown."
Madara stared, breathless, at his own corpse. It was still intact, skin and all. His once handsome face,, sunken, gray, and skeletal, stared back at him with angry red eyes that constantly whirled and spun. Yes, Madara had been keeping himself alive through a most unusual and unique Sharingan technique. It was an illusion most difficult to master, one that seemingly cheated death. As long as his body failed to decompose under the space-time illusion, and his eyes continued to stare, his soul lived on through the illusion. It gave the body Madara inhabited the ability to become an illusion, allowing him to slip through the air like a ghost.
"He'll not come to you," Madara said, meaning Sasuke, and cast a wild glance towards Kabuto. Kabuto shook his head. "Not willingly."
"As if he'd go to you if I ordered it?" Madara laughed harshly.
"He will if we play him right. He is only human, after all," Kabuto reminded him. Madara eyed him shrewdly.
"I will not deny myself my rightful vengeance." He saw no need to hide anything further from this calculatingly cool medic nin, whom he immediately despised with every fiber of his being.
"Then take your vengeance, and give me the boy after, by force if you must. I cannot seem to sway him."
"Of course not, he is his own man," Madara scoffed.
"Something we have in common," Kabuto said with a smile. He pressed on, "I'll help you bring the demon child safely into existence, and help you rise to power. But in return, you must shield me and you will let me have Sasuke." He gestured towards Madara's coffin.
Madara mulled it over. "It cannot be helped," he decided.
Sasuke shivered as he washed the blood from his hands in the cold water of the waterfall. The autumn chill gave the water a bite like ice. The blood swirled away pink in the frothy white water, and Sasuke thought of Naruto.
He splashed water on his face, feeling a familiar stirring within his body. The day had given way to night, and he stared up at the stars, bright as candles. If only they could warm him.
Naruto had been so warm. The thought came unbidden. He grimaced. Naruto was like the sun, and Sasuke? Sasuke was nothing but a shadow slithering through the night. He thought he had known nothing but darkness and cold, but then…
Naruto had shown him what true warmth felt like. A warmth he had probably shown Sasuke since their days together on Team seven, but after a time Sasuke had been too jealous, too bitter, and too confused about how he felt to completely recognize it for what it was.
Warmth…he remembered it from when he was young, naïve, and innocent. It was the gentle touch of his mother as she rocked him in her arms and sang him to sleep. It was the reluctant yet proud smile that rarely graced his father's rough features. It was hearing Itachi say "I'm proud of you, little brother." That is what warmth had felt like. It had been a distant memory, until Naruto and the evening two long weeks ago.
That was a different warmth. The type that settled in Sasuke's belly and made him grin like a fool. Sasuke cast a wary eye around him before shucking off his clothing and wading into the water. Even with the chill, his erection stayed firm and full as his mind drifted to that night. It was maddening. He groaned, willing it away, but the more he wished for it to disappear, the more he thought of Naruto.
Hesitantly, he reached for himself, cautiously stroking his length. He forgot about the chill. His fingers glided over the silky skin slowly at first. He imagined the cornflower eyes blazing, dark and heavy lidded.
"Sasuke." Even Naruto's breath had smelled sweet against Sasuke's cheek. Even then it had been warm. Sasuke shivered.
"Sasuke." Naruto's voice hovered deliciously between a growl and a low moan. The feel of his skin, so hot, so warm. The feel of his strong hands, the ripple of muscle underneath his sun-kissed skin…
Sasuke hissed and arched, pumping faster. Lips so full, mouth so inviting. The tight heat that awaited him…
He bit back a moan. Sasuke imagined Naruto's voice once more. If only he could hear it, it would surely send him over the edge-
"Sasuke? Is that you?"
Sasuke froze mid-pump. On the other side of the pool, Suigetsu's pale head had surfaced, violet eyes ogling him with a mixture of mischief and glee. Obviously the youth had blended in with the water and had most likely been floating around the entire time. If mere looks could kill, Suigetsu would have died instantly.
Instead, Suigetsu skipped out of the water and laughed, leaving Sasuke to throw a rock at his retreating back.