Katsuo should be happy. He's managed to use his Mangekyou Sharingan and he's in Konoha – he is at home, albeit with the wrong passenger. Instead of being happy, he is nervous and something like fear.
A wet muzzle sniffs his hand and licks it; Raijin looks at him with those bright, intelligent eyes, and Katsuo is visibly relaxed by the comfort the wolf offers. The Uchiha ran a hand through its black fur, musing that he would have to bathe the animal sometime soon as it was covered with dried blood on it.
He is grateful for Boromir's sudden silence, walking through the Uchiha sanctuary; the only time he was here was when he was sneaking out to play a prank on his uncle. At the time, it had been a place of peace, a place he knew he would be once he became someone important in the clan.
The young man circles the sanctuary, a low voice briefly explaining to his fellow outsider where they are.
"We are in my clan's sanctuary. It's where we keep records of our ancestors, techniques, and past relics. When we were about to be killed, I thought that I would like to go to a place that gives me peace, a safe place... That place came to mind then. But it's not how I remember it. I think I only got that impression because I was with my uncle and because it meant...means...?" – Katsuo hesitates. – "Hm, it means a lot to be able to enter and leave this place, in my clan."
"He couldn't have killed them all." – Katsuo thinks, even though he feels nauseous and makes no move to leave the Sanctuary and see for himself in the clan if that was true.
Boromir is silent as he listens to his young companion, a growing discomfort at being in this dimly lit, cavernous place. There were torches engraved with symbols that lit the place and the smell was damp and earthy Boromir had no idea how anyone could feel safe or at peace in such a place.
There's something wrong there. And it's not just the earthy, musty, coppery odor, or the bad lighting. He goes to one of the shelves, following Katsuo, who had started to explore the place, with the beast in front of him.
He lets Katsuo open the scrolls – he even attempts to read the writings, albeit unsuccessfully as it's a strange language – his apprehension dissolves a bit when Katsuo explains some of the stories behind the techniques and tools they find. He is particularly impressed by the storage scrolls, and the thing Katsuo pulled out and called "tanto" and "katana", as well as other strange weapons (a giant folding fan included. How one would use a giant fan as a weapon, Boromir has no idea, but he won't insult the culture of the troublesome brat).
But when time passes and he notices that Katsuo is avoiding going out, Boromir can't hold back any longer.
"We should rest. Your clan will have accommodations for us."
"Yes. We should rest." – Katsuo agrees, sighing and biting his lips. After keeping some scrolls with him, he goes back to the entrance of the sanctuary, placing his hand on the stone and swallowing hard.
Memories of Itachi killing his kin flashed through his mind and he took his hand off the stone, shaking his head and taking a step back.
"I—I can't. I just... I... no..."
"Katsuo, calm down. We're fine, brat." – The Gondorian says, placing a hand on his shoulder, and giving him a worried look. The Uchiha feels embarrassed, looking away, holding his breath, and again standing in front of the entrance stone. He puts his hand out and closes his eyes, feeling his chakra flow and spread, activating the seal to leave the place through chakra confirmation that he was an Uchiha.
He lets out the breath he's been holding and takes a step outside. The sanctuary was a little further away from the rest of the clan, but it was possible to see the residential complex and the same structures from afar. Houses he knew the outline of with his eyes closed. The sky was clear and sunny, the breeze was nice, and he thinks he was home because it was all the same. It's all the same and for an instant, he can pretend. Uncle Kato and aunt Akane are alive, their friends were fine, and the streets weren't stained with Uchiha blood.
Another step and another and then he turns to speak to Boromir, but out of the corner of his eye, he sees a spot that makes him freeze.
"There are…too much."- He whispers, running in the direction he had looked and Boromir follows him, realizing that it is a cemetery.
"So much of them..." – Katsuo says once more, clenching his fists and cataloging the tombs.
Feeling the younger's turbulence, Boromir just watches and follows him worriedly, even more so when Katsuo mounts Raijin and runs towards the house.
With each passing street, he hears screams and perceives the acrid smell of blood in the air. There are still stains on some of the walls, the houses are abandoned and there's a scream stuck in his throat because it's a nightmare.
It's the massacre again. He's running, but there's nobody, nobody alive, not a soul left.
His vision blurs with tears and, in the house, he once lived in, he breaks out of Raijin and falls to his knees, clutching his heart and wanting to scream, but he can't.
It takes a while, but Boromir finds him. He knows it would be bad to see the tombstones, but he didn't expect that.
It was like a ghost town. No one there, every house empty, and the streets without anyone. With each step, he took the discomfort that had accompanied him since the sanctuary grew and now he knew why.
Katsuo had taken them to a city of the dead.
When he sees Katsuo, hunched over and with a desolate face, he remembers the moment he found that child – lost, hurt, in mourning... without the will to live.
Carefully, Boromir approached, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently in silent comfort.
"No one, Boromir. No one was left alive. He killed everyone."
"Perhaps...the survivors have moved?" – He attempted to spark hope in the youngest.
"I read the tombstones. There are no more survivors."
The older one stood before him, kneeling to be more on his level, to try to reach him out of that fog of despair that Katsuo was being taken over.
"Katsuo, maybe there are others. Orcs and enemy warriors would have looted and destroyed everything..."
"They weren't orcs. They were not enemy warriors. He was one of us."
Finally, Katsuo looks up at him. He is startled by Katsuo's red eyes but doesn't move away. Not when there's so much pain, so much sadness. Boromir is speechless at what he was told because this was truly terrible.
A traitor. A fratricide.
He has no more comforting words for Katsuo. Boromir hugs him, holding the child who was crying and sobbing, more and more restless.
"W-why? Why did he kill everyone? Why spill our blood, Uchiha blood, like that? How could he? Why? Why? He-he-he...! HE WAS ONE OF US!"
He let the boy scream his anger, his pain, not realizing that shadows surrounded them.
Not noticing the masked men.
ANBU.
ROOT ANBU.
Figures. Silhouettes. A dark room. Handcuffs. An uncomfortable chair. Questions.
"Why were you at the Uchiha Complex?"
Porcelain masks. Pain. Broken bones.
More questions.
"Who are you working for? What is your purpose in Konoha?"
He does not care.
Katsuo doesn't care about anything anymore.
"Identify yourself."
His lungs burned, begging for air, as one of the men in a white mask submerged him in a basin of water. His head was a mess after the torture.
Boromir coughs and tries to suck in all the air he can while he is not submerged in water.
"I do not understand!" - He shouts, voice hoarse and teeth chattering with cold, due to the freezing temperature of the water. His eyes flickered, for a moment, to Katsuo, who barely reacted to any broken bones anymore. Not even the hybrid was spared, unconscious and nearly dead beside Boromir.
"Katsuo still hasn't come out of his shock. He is not here." - He reflects, before having his head pushed into the water again.
The Regent's son had already seen much destruction, war, and violence. He'd been in life-and-death situations before and was even captured – briefly, thanks to Eru – by orcs once. The torture at that time had been for the pleasure of the orcs, but Boromir managed to maintain his courage even in that situation.
He had been only for a short time in these strange lands, under the torture of masked men and even though they were still not as violent as the orcs, his courage was wavering more now than at any time in his life.
Maybe because he knew they were human. Because they were relentless, but without any pleasure in it.
Professional. Cold. Indifferent to the suffering of others.
He could bear the laughter and jeers of his enemies. He endured humiliation and hit after hit that time with the orcs.
But that biting stillness, that calculating tone and unapologetic attitude? That was worse.
It couldn't have been long before he noticed the man, the old man, who had entered the dark room. Watching impassively, as neutral as the white masks of those around him.
At some point, he makes a hand signal that stops the torture of Boromir and Katsuo.
He was dropped to the ground, disoriented, without even the strength to change his head position, his entire body inert and shallow breaths. The old man approached Katsuo, analyzing him and, after a long silence, he spoke. Nothing in his expression changed as he spoke – interrogating, perhaps, Boromir did not understand that language. It was still a surprise when, finally, he heard a loud, pained scream coming from Katsuo
"Ka..." – Boromir tries to scream, an even sharper terror enveloping him when he sees the old man's outstretched arm and Katsuo's eye in his hand. Blood trickled from the empty eye socket down the young face. The old man slid off his sleeve, and Boromir saw a monstrosity of an arm, with eyes all over It. He said something and then...
Then Katsuo reacted.
Mangekyo Sharingan. Kamui.
Katsuo acts on instinct – transporting himself to where Boromir was and touching the Gondorian and Raijin, then immediately activating the technique again and disappearing into an invisible vortex, before he could be immobilized.
His body collapses from exhaustion not even a second later, and his last sight is of Boromir – pale, purple lips, red eyes with dilated micro-veins – staring at him with concern and the surrounding trees.
The ground under his knees is damp and the vegetation there is abundant, but there is no sign of civilization; Boromir still isn't sure if that's a bad thing, not after his recent encounter with the people of Katsuo.
He tries to get to his feet and tries to drag the boy, his protégé, with him, but he barely has the strength to do anything but hold the boy in his lap. Both are injured. Although his torture method was to be submerged in water, it wasn't before he broke several bones. Katsuo was in worse condition, however.
He couldn't save Katsuo. He could barely be sure if he himself would make it out of this alive, knowing full well that his injuries were done by professionals, that for all he knew, he could have punctured some organ and in a few hours he could die.
There was only one choice, really. So, as reckless as it was, as much as it might attract enemies, it was the only thing he could do.
"May the Valar help me in this hour."
Picking up his trumpet, he sounded it, hoping an ally would hear him.
"Boromir, son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor, fear not. I heard thy request. My people are on the way, and they will bring you safely home to me, where your wounds and that of your young companion will be healed, and there will be rest and food for you. Welcome, brave and loyal noble of Gondor, to Lothlórien."