In good company
One: Wayward Yolk
Sasuke is drinking the yolk of his second egg--raw because Sasuke won't admit it, but he really doesn't know how else to eat them, his mother never got around to teaching him those things--when he hears the gagging.
He puts the glass down with a decided thunk and cracks the third and last egg against the edge of the mug. Briefly, momentarily, his sharingan flares into life. There's nobody in the room, Sasuke knows for sure, so he pays it no mind. It's his imagination, he reasons, because for the past three hours, he tolerated Naruto's and Sakura's incessant prattle and he can still hear the echo of their conversation ringing in his ears (Maybe you shouldn't cut your hair, Naruto, Sakura pointed out, you might look good with a short pony-tail. Really Sakura? Because Iruka-sensei grew out his hair when he was young, and I wanted to--and where is Kakashi-sensei, he's so late...)
Sasuke rubs the bridge of his nose, trying not to think too much about the headache that's starting, a familiar thud-thud-thud in his ears. He figured, for the first few days, that Sakura and Naruto becoming friends will be a good thing. But now, they're eating his ears off, not giving him even the few, tense moments of silence that used to define their relationship. Now...
Now, he has a day off, courtesy Hatake Kakashi--who never showed up, Sasuke thinks with a scowl--so he's left with nothing to do. He could have trained with Naruto, but that would also involve paying for the inordinate amount of ramen Naruto would want afterwards for lunch.
But then again.
Sasuke accidentally breaks an egg in his anger at the memory of it.
Then again, Naruto wasn't too concerned when Sasuke said no to lunch plans because...Neji, the blonde mumbled under his breath, and smiled. And isn't that just precious. Him and Hyuga goddamn Neji.
"Spec-fucking-tacular," Sasuke grumbles and flicks off shards of egg shell into the sink. He licks the drops of yolk on his fingers and hears it again, the muffled gagging. He glances over his shoulder at the sound--and frowns when he catches a glimpse of his living room, overflowing with scrolls, weapons, maps, clothes. And Ichiraku ramen take-out boxes.
He returns to the eggs. It's not as if he wants to eat ramen with the moron.
And besides, Sasuke repeats to himself decisively and heads towards his bedroom, there's laundry to do. An entire pile of it, occupying a corner of his room, and even Naruto, the observational king that he is, has noticed that Sasuke wore the same shirt for the past three days. He glances briefly at the offending KONOHA SUMMER FESTIVAL 2002 shirt--speckled with mud now, looking so old and tattered Sakura says it's a crime to even own it, but it can't be that bad, probably can get another evening out of it...
Sasuke nudges the door to his bathroom open with his foot and places the cup of egg yolk in the sink. The bathroom is so small it doesn't even have a counter, only a cabinet behind the mirror. He keeps his eyes on the yolk as he drops his pant and stands front of the toilet bowl. Eating it raw smells a little strange, sure, but he needs his protein and he really doesn't want to waste time making something out of an egg. His mother used to do that for him more than a decade ago...
Growling under his breath--goddamn son of a bitch Itachi took even the joy of eggs out of his miserable fucking existence--Sasuke pushes down the flush with his foot and zips up before snatching the cup from the sink again.
He tips the cup to swallow a mouthful of yolk, determined now. Nap. That's the game plan for the day, he thinks, finishing off breakfast and wiping at his mouth with the back of a hand-- "Doesn't the kid have any hygiene?"
"Punk didn't wash his hands even."
And there is no possibly way Sasuke didn't hear that because it's right in front of him. He stops instinctively, to avoid crashing into the person who should be in front of him (but isn't, he panics), and his foot tangles in a stray shirt on the floor. "Fuc--" He's falling face-forward even before he can finish the word, dredges of egg yolk flying out of the cup to land on carpet, clothes and bed sheets. He's in a defensive stance with a kunai held up the second later, crouching low to the ground. Sasuke breathes through his nose slow, deep, and easy because there are people here--and he can't see them.
Steady Uchiha, he tells himself, and grips the kunai tighter, knuckles white and bones nearly creaking from the pressure. He scans the room and his eyes land on the yellow stain of egg yolk in front of him, accusing, proof of the voices he heard. Because no matter how cluttered his house gets, Sasuke never trips. He hears laughter, and then, "That's right, kid. Fear the wayward yolk--"
"What's he defending against--"
"You see anything?"
"No...Odd."
Silence again. Sasuke spins around, heart racing now. He heard that. There are voices, three--four--distinct voices. And not his neighbors, couldn't be his neighbors, because the voices are right there--one coming from behind him, one from next to him, one ahead of him, and another still from the door. He can't smell anything other than the usual filth of his apartment, can't hear anything aside from the noises outside, his neighbor upstairs. And he can't feel any chakra aside from the ones he always keeps tabs on--Naruto a bright, fierce flare somewhere in the center of town, Sakura steady and strong from outside the Village, Kakashi sinewy and lightning quick in the Hokage Tower. Nothing else. Sasuke's legs are starting to cramp with all the adrenaline now, and he shifts his position a little, breath quickening.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Beats me."
"Where are you?" Sasuke hisses and hates himself for it. Never call out an enemy, Kakashi's voice whispers in the back of his mind, just as Sasuke inches towards his living room where his weapons are scattered. Never reveal your weakness--"Show yourself."
"Okay. So now he's lost it." It's a voice from right next him.
"Where are you?" Sasuke snarls and it takes only one hundredth of a second for his eyes to bleed into sharingan, such a knee-jerk reaction that he doesn't even notice until his senses become painfully heightened, vision tinged red at the edges, the headache a loud thunder in his ears now.
And he sees them, lounging casually at different spots in his room: One sitting on his bed, leaning forward to look at him, dark black hair spilling over his shoulder a little. Another standing next to him, towering almost. Sasuke looks up from his crouch, sees an amused smirk and white eyebrows raised high. A third--is that Naruto? No, can't be--sitting at his desk, politely peering over the scrolls laid out there. And a fourth-- "Sarutobi-sensei," Sasuke mumbles and instinctively abandons his defensive crouch and drops to one knee, head bowed respectfully. "Hokage-sama." And he stays like that for a split-second before it hits him, the utter absurdity of that, so he pushes himself to his feet again. "What?"
"Ah," Sarutobi mutters looking a little surprised. The expression vanishes quickly. "Sasuke, you can see me."
It talked, Sasuke thinks, and he backs away reflexively one step, another, foot sliding on egg yolk on the floor. Sarutobi's eyes crinkle into a smile--he's dead, he shouldn't be here--and he gestures at the people around the room. "Sorry for dropping in like this unannounced, but we were taking a stroll through Konoha and I wanted to introduce my friends here--"
The door bell cuts him off, shrill and insistent in the apartment, and Sarutobi falls silent. Sasuke flinches at the sound but keeps his eyes trained on Sarutobi (dead, dead, dead, dead). There's a split-second, and then loud banging. "Sasuke! Open or I'll kick the door down!"
Naruto.
"Visitor," says the man with white hair, and jerks a thumb over his shoulder towards the door. "Doesn't sound too happy."
"I mean it Sasuke, you better open this door or so help me god--" Sasuke inches towards the door. This is a trap, an illusion. Itachi, a voice whispers in his mind. Which means Naruto is in danger, so he has to get Naruto out of here because the idiot will kick the door down if Sasuke doesn't open it. "--you're in that dump of yours because--"
Itachi is here and how did he manage to penetrate Konoha so easily? How had Sasuke walked into the illusion so blindly, and what kind of illusion is this anyways? Sasuke edges out of the bedroom, eyes still trained on the Hokage and the other three. He takes a few short steps across the living room and fumbles behind him for the door knob, hands sweating, straining with an effort to not visibly shake. "--Sasuke, you jerk, stop ignoring me. If you're reading porn--" A loud gasp as Sasuke opens the door. "Oh my god, Kakashi-sensei lent you his porn didn't he?"
Not even bothering to turn around, Sasuke hisses, "Get out."
"What the hell? You're blowing me off for porn?"
"Idiot, I mean it. Leave, go get the Hokage--" And he's about to close the door when Naruto shoves it back up against him. The door hits Sasuke square in the back, knocking the breath out of him. And Naruto is inside now, hair looking wind-swept and wisps of straw-blonde hair floating around his face. Within reach of any possible attack trajectory coming from the bedroom, Sasuke thinks, and ignores Naruto's angry "What is your problem?" in favor of pushing the blonde back up against the door, using his body to protect him. It must be instinct--all those years of saving the idiot's ass--because Sasuke bites down a reflex and leaves himself so terribly, horribly open to attack and stares down the intruders. "Sasuke, what the hell are you--"
"Shut up, you fucking moron." Sasuke reaches behind him, feeling for the kunai holster on Naruto's thigh, still watching those people peering curiously from his bedroom door.
"Stop groping me, you pervert!" Naruto slaps Sasuke's hand away from his body and knees Sasuke in the small of his back. And Sasuke holds his ground--save him protect him Naruto--and his sharingan swirls so fast, he can feel the back of his eyes tingling with it.
Naruto is in line of fire from those intruders. One, two, three, four quick hand seals, a bite to his finger, blood drawn and smeared into a semi-circle, and there's a protective wall around Naruto. 2.35 feet from here to Sasuke's weapons scattered on the coffee table--jump, land, crouch, and he has his sword drawn in one hand, kunai holster in another. Judging by the chakra signatures of these people, they're powerful. He stands no chance. "Naruto," Sasuke says, slowly. "Leave. Get the Hokage--"
"Naruto," one of the men breathes out and pushes out into the living room. He hesitates for a split second, and then takes a shaky step towards Naruto. And that barrier around Naruto isn't strong enough, will never be strong enough for a man whose chakra is making Sasuke's hair stand on edge.
"Stay away from him," he hisses, drawing himself up as tall as he can without abandoning his stance. The man looks surprised for a moment, and stops.
"Excuse me?" The man asks, sounding amused, as if he's humoring Sasuke for the moment.
"One step closer to him, an inch, and I'll kill you," Sasuke snarls, and is surprised to hear the honesty in his own words. His blood is pounding now, thrumming in his veins in synch with the chant in his mind. save him protect him Naruto save him protect him get him away
"What the hell?" Naruto takes two short, easy steps around Sasuke, past the barrier, and begins to pick his way towards the kitchen, muttering under his breath about pigs, Uchiha freaking Sasuke can't even clean up after himself and is stoned and reading porn to top it all off--
Sasuke watches, eyes widening in horror because his apartment is so small, Naruto is practically walking into the enemy's arms at this point. "Naruto, don't--" And Naruto walks right through the man, breezing past him without even a glance. The man's body flickers one before becoming solid again. He looks down at himself for a split-second, glances briefly at Sasuke with narrowed eyes, before turning to follow Naruto into the kitchen. Sasuke lunges, killer's instinct so honed in him now that it's one, two, three kunais whistling towards the man's vital spots, the sword already drawn back to go right through his jugular, razor-sharp strings already between his fingers, lasso-ing around the man's torso and pulled back so roughly that it's sure to cut his body in half--
The kunais land with dull thuds on the floor, lodging themselves into hardwood, his sword swings through the air, nearly toppling him from the unexpected lack of resistance--he'd expected a head to roll with the amount of power he put behind that swing--and his strings land pathetically by his feet, limp and not a trace of blood on them.
The man pauses in his trek towards the kitchen and turns to stare at Sasuke, an eyebrow raised again. "Where are your manners?" He tugs on blood-red robes hanging on his frame, rolling his shoulders a little. "Stop interfering."
Sasuke's palm starts pulsing with chakra--he has to kill him fast, quick, efficient, and what better way than this, he'll vaporize the man's heart for trying to get near Naruto--"Enough, boy."
But it's already done, and the next instant, the apartment is filled with noise, thousands and thousands of birds chirping, his veins throbbing with the amount of energy he put behind this attack. Sasuke focuses some of the chakra up to his eyes, sharpening the sharingan even more: 1.2 steps to the right, the man can escape the attack, but Sasuke will be prepared with a kunai; .34 steps to the left and he can attack Sasuke at his weak spot, but Sasuke will take that hit and slam his fist through his heart anyways.
This is an assassin's attack, Kakashi's mind floats into his head. Use it when you want to kill.
In the short sixteen years of his life, Sasuke has already used it effectively four times. This is the fifth--and the ball of chakra keeps growing, keeps sparkling and crackling with energy, he didn't even know he can make it so powerful--and Sasuke will be damned if he misses this time.
The man's eyes widen slightly when Sasuke nearly disappears in a lunge towards him, pushing himself forward with chakra, eyes swirling an angry red. "I said, stay away from him."
"Sasuke, you freak what the hell is all that nois--"
There's a soft, cold pressure on the back of his neck, at the knob of his spine, and suddenly, the chakra in his hand frizzles and falls silent, sending Sasuke sprawling into the ground, head making painful contact with the hardwood.
His vision fades into black just as he hears Naruto's surprised "Sasuke!"
**
Kakashi is there when he wakes up. "Naruto," Sasuke gasps and pushes himself up into a sitting position, eyes wild. "Where's Naruto? Is he all righ--"
And as if on cue, the door bursts open and the blonde darts in. He's dressed in dark jeans and a black turtle-neck, the sleeves of which are bunched up around his elbow. "You moron, couldn't you have waited for me before you woke up? But no. You live in a dump and I had to take out your trash and--"
"You took out the trash?"
"And did your laundry, the dishes, organized your scrolls in alphabetical order..." a voice pipes in. "Got on all fours and cleaned the whole damn house, the kid."
"Must be a nervous tic," someone else interjects.
Naruto's eyes are almost ice-blue in his worry and he frets his hands about, making odd gestures. "I didn't mean to--"
"You didn't do anything, Naruto," Kakashi cuts in softly. He puts a hand on Naruto's shoulder and edges him out towards the door. "Go tell the Hokage that there's nothing to worry."
Naruto frowns and pushes Kakashi aside to walk back to Sasuke. "Are you sick? Was it the curse seal--" Sasuke's hand comes up instinctively to the tattoo on his neck and he digs his nails in, trying not to wince at the expression on Naruto's face.
"Curse seal? What curse seal?" A voice, and Sasuke swivels his head to his left where it came from.
"Those men," Sasuke breathes out. "They came for you..." Doesn't Naruto remember?
"There were no men," Naruto says apologetically and waits for Sasuke's reaction with fearful eyes. There were no men, Sasuke repeats to himself and says it again just to be sure. But there's no time to feel or even look surprised because the expression on Naruto's face--is that pity?--makes Sasuke smooth his features down.
He has enough problems up in his head. Hearing voices, seeing things, would be the least of them. "Of course. I was just practicing."
"Oh, we were here all right," comes a taunting voice.
"You saw us, boy."
"Almost tried to kill me--"
"You're already dead, Namikaze--"
"Enough," comes Sarutobi's voice, "He can hear us."
Sasuke swallows on the irrational fear crawling up his spine. "Naruto," Kakashis' voice again, patient. "That was an order. The Hokage, now, please."
The expression on Naruto's face makes even Kakashi's eyes soften, but the blonde gets up anyways. He looks down at Sasuke, face going through so many emotions it's hard for Sasuke to even keep up. They stare at each other for a few moments before Naruto raises his hand and slaps Sasuke upside the head. Hard. "Ow--"
"Pull something like that on me again, Sasuke," Naruto seethes, voice low, "And I'll twist your balls off."
And then he's gone, a flash of blue, black, and gold. Sasuke raises a hand to rub gingerly at his head when he sees the bandages around his arm, the one he used for the chidori. The swathes are thick, coming down from his elbow and wrapping around each one of his fingers. Kakashi waits until he hears the loud bang of the front door before turning to Sasuke. "Well," he says, politely, and Sasuke has been with Kakashi enough years to know exactly what that tone means. The last time Sasuke abused the chidori--an unnecessary kill, one just for his ego, one that put Sakura in danger--Kakashi used the same voice to invite Sasuke to a training session. Sasuke spent three days out cold in a hospital after that.
Kakashi watches as Sasuke plucks at the bandages, trying to reveal the damage he's done. The swaths fall off gently from his hand and he winces at what he sees. There are angry red track marks going all the way up his elbow, and his palm is actually scarred with deep, black lines. "You blew the chakra pathways to your last two fingers because they couldn't take the load," Kakashi explains, and leans against the reading table--which is spotless, Sasuke notices and can't help but be impressed at Naruto's efficiency. "Your thumb, index and middle are intact. So you'll be able to perform jutsus still. Thanks to Sakura."
Sasuke flexes his fingers and nearly doubles over with the pain that shoots up his arm. He takes a few deep breaths until the fog in his vision disappears. "What are you doing here?"
"The entire village felt what you pulled, Uchiha," Kakashi says, amiable still. He pauses for a split-second before saying, still so very polite it makes Sasuke's skin tingle in anticipation, "You should rest."
Kakashi pushes himself off the table to walk out the bedroom. Sasuke watches him with narrowed eyes. There has to be more, should be more--At the door, Kakashi turns, looking as if he just remembered something trivial. "Oh, and Sasuke, the Hokage was telling me. The well on Monument Hill is empty. Refill it with water from the lake by tomorrow evening."
Sasuke can't help himself. "How?" He snaps and winces the instant he says it.
Even with the mask, Sasuke can imagine Kakashi's smile. "A bucket of course."
**
The well on Monument Hill is not a well. It is a decorative man-made pond installed towards the end of the Third Hokage's reign in honor of the fallen warriors of the Great War.
Sasuke dumps the twenty-third bucket in and stares at the small puddle by his feet. His left arm is aching now, hanging limply by his side and heavy with bandages. His right palm has a small groove where the bucket's handle digs in. The lake, thankfully, is only two hundred feet away from the foot of the hill.
Kanaye, he calls loudly in his mind. There is a stir of chakra, but the snake does not appear. "Son of a bitch," Sasuke growls under his breath. He raises his arms up in front of him and does a few quick seals, wincing when chakra runs down over-taxed pathways in his left arm. There's a split-second, and then a snake is rising to meet his gaze in front of him.
It's a black-mamba, so gray and sleek it almost blends into the coming dawn. "Well, I better get rats out of this," Kanaye mumbles and slides up Sasuke's extended arm, giving him a quick bite on the back of his hand before wrapping lazily around his neck. Sasuke sucks at the puncture wound, scowling when he tastes something sweet.
"Stop biting me with poison," Sasuke hisses in tongue, and scratches absent-mindedly at Kanaye's underbelly.
"I'm hoping you'll die from it one of these days." Kanaye swivels his head around to take stock of his surroundings. "What? No battle?"
"No, really. You think?"
Kanaye's head snaps and his teeth sink into Sasuke's carotid. "Lots of poison in that bite," Kanaye mutters darkly. "What is it?"
"Help me heal," Sasuke mumbles, embarrassed at the request. But these are his snakes, and they've seen him in worse condition--after Orochimaru tortured him the first time, and when he limped back to Konoha, dragging Orochimaru's body behind him--so he swallows his pride and starts to undo the bandages. Kanaye slides onto his left arm and coils lightly around the wound, his tongue flickering out to taste the scars on Sasuke's palm. He's nearly four feet long, still a teenager in snake years, but when he wraps around Sasuke's arm, he covers nearly every inch of skin.
"Well," Kanaye mutters, and falls silent. Sasuke feels the careful, contemplative prod of snake chakra, cool and soothing against the burn under his skin.
Three hours later--when Sasuke is carrying up his fifty-third bucket--Kanaye says, "I'm bored," and tightens his coil around Sasuke's arm.
"If you squeeze me anymore, I'm going to gouge your testes off with a kunai," Sasuke snaps in human tongue--because he doesn't know how to say 'testes' in snake yet.
Kanaye, and all the other snakes, occupy a place in Sasuke's mind and have access to his thoughts. So it's no surprise when Kanaye says in human tongue, sounding as amused as a snake can sound: "Testes, noun, part of the male reproductive system. Repeat after me," He pauses a split second to make sure he has Sasuke's attention before hissing out a long, vulgar sounding word.
It doesn't sound anything like testes."Kunai," Sasuke mutters still in human tongue, feeling his lips twitch, "Meet Kanaye's balls."
"Testes," Kanaye repeats, and hisses the word again, which is now longer and more vulgar than before. Sasuke ignores him, but when he goes downhill to refill the bucket, he makes sure to dump his left arm--and Kanaye--into the pond water. Kanaye bites him.
**
When he wakes up, Kanaye is nowhere in sight. His left arm is pounding, his legs are still cramped from the punishment of the day before and--the clock reads 10:07, which means he's late for training. Again.
Sasuke trudges into the bathroom and manages to get ready in ten minutes. When he opens the closet to pull on fresh clothes, he sees that the mess inside is completely gone, replaced with rows of neatly hung up pants, shirts folded into perfect squares in perfect towers. "Such a fucking woman, dead last," Sasuke mutters under his breath, and pulls out pants and an old shirt that he may or may not have used to clean the kitchen counter with.
He doesn't have time to shave, so he scrubs angrily at stubble before strapping on his kunai holster. Somewhere in the apartment, he knows that Kanaye is lounging in a tight curl. It must be the snakes, Sasuke thinks. He's starting to become like them--languid, lazy, and entirely uninterested in doing anything with twenty-four hours in a day.
Or maybe it's Kakashi's influence. Kanaye, he calls out with his mind and doesn't hear anything. So he tries again, this time in snake's tongue. "Kanaye."
"Here," Kanaye hisses back, and in the next instant, he's crawling up to curl around Sasuke's injury again.
"I'm late," Sasuke mutters. "You should have woken me up."
"I was asleep too," Kanaye snaps and settles comfortably against Sasuke's skin. The healing begins again, soft, feather-light touches that makes his skin itch. "Keep me today too, I'll heal you."
"I thought you'd be tired," Sasuke says, and closes the door to the apartment behind him. The snake healed him all day long yesterday and even through the night. He's half-way down the stairs when he realizes that maybe--just maybe--a few protective seals around his door won't be a bad idea today. He walks back up to his apartment door to make hand seals.
"Don't underestimate me," Kanaya says and pauses to watch Sasuke's seals. "You're getting paranoid."
"Let's not talk about that," Sasuke mumbles under his breath, and finishes the trap.
On his arm, Kanaye yawns widely, revealing two razor-sharp teeth. His tongue flickers out once, and then twice before he asks, "You meeting the dog-master today?"
Dog-master, which in snake tongue means Kakashi. Sasuke's snakes have their own names for everyone in his life: Fox-child for Naruto, Time-witch for Hokage, and Plum-wine for Sakura. They haven't told Sasuke yet what they call him.
"As always," Sasuke mutters, and tries not to think about the fact that Shikamaru's team has already started their own independent missions. Because Shikamaru actually passed the chuunin exams--and he hadn't. Sasuke fingers the curse seal on his neck automatically, scratching it until the skin starts to tingle with feeling again.
"Fudo says that it's good that you still have a master." Kanaye shifts slowly on his arm, getting more comfortable, and falls silent again to heal. By the time Sasuke reaches the bridge, it is already 10:35 and Sakura has a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"One, you're late," she snarls when Sasuke ambles up. "Two, what were you thinking the other day with that stupid, stupid, stupid--"
Naruto joins in. "And he calls me a moron--"
"I can't believe you, Sasuke--"
"And I don't even get a thank you for cleaning up his shit--"
"You cleaned up his apartment, Naruto? Oh, thank god, he lives like a pig--"
Naruto's angry blue gaze narrows and he points an accusing finger at Sasuke. "And look at what he's wearing today! I did your laundry, you ingrate--"
Sasuke wants to point out that Naruto is a moron, that he doesn't live like a pig thank you very much, and that his apartment is still clean except for a few dishes rotting in his sink. Also, since this isn't the KONOHA FESTIVAL 2002 shirt, could they please stop complaining? But just as he's about to, Kakashi appears with a soft pop.
Immediately, Naruto and Sakura abandon their tirade against Sasuke and turn on Kakashi. "You're late--"
"By three hours--"
"Once, can't you be on time once--"
Kakashi clears his throat. "There," he says, pausing for dramatic effect--or to actually come up with a decent excuse, Sasuke isn't sure--"Was a toxic spill in the south end of the forest."
Sakura throws up her hands with a frustrated growl and turns to Naruto for back-up. They console each other in their misery, shaking their heads and whispering some sort of archaic chant that Sasuke figures will probably deliver Kakashi's--and his--soul to Hell for eternity.
Kakashi smiles pleasantly at Naruto and Sakura before turning to look at Sasuke, the snake on his arm, and take in his bedraggled appearance. There's a split-second and then, Kakashi's hand is on the back of Sasuke's neck, gripping hard and pushing him towards the far end of the bridge. Sasuke matches his pace with Kakashi's and tries not to stumble when Kakashi gives him a particularly rough shove before letting go. Sasuke is almost Kakashi's height now--nearly 6'2''--and broader in the shoulders, but that doesn't mean that the jounin is any less intimidating. "You were late to practice again today, Sasuke," Kakashi says.
Sasuke scoffs and turns his head away from Kakashi's lazy gaze. Naruto and Sakura are talking to each other on the opposite end of the bridge, Sakura gesturing wildly and Naruto nodding his head in understanding. On his arm, he feels Kanaye shift languidly.
"Kakashi," says a breathless voice.
"Ah, I told you, didn't I Namikaze? He's jounin now, quit the ANBU a few years ago. Our best," comes Sarutobi's voice.
There's silence, and then, sounding so fiercely proud, "Naturally. He's my student."
Sasuke's frozen, listening to the side-conversation. Kakashi doesn't talk about his teacher, his past team, about anything. This Namikaze in his mind, though, thinks that he was Kakashi's teacher. Either Sasuke has a really creative imagination, or...
"Well?" Kakashi interrupts, a little sharper.
Dog-master is angry, perhaps you should retreat and take cover.
I'm not going to retreat. He was late, too, Sasuke thinks, and winces at how much like a whine that sounded. Kanaye doesn't say anything else. "I slept in. The alarm clock didn't go off."
"Oh?" Kakashi hm-s under his breath. "And as far as your snake is concerned."
Kanaye lifts his head. Tell the Dog-master my name. "Kanaye," Sasuke translates.
"Kanaye," Kakashi corrects, expression unchanging. "You can leave Sasuke for the day, please."
"But he's--"
"Healing you, I see that," Kakashi interrupts and looks down at the snake again. "Leave, please."
If Kanaye wants to, he can kill Kakashi with his poison in 67.34 seconds. But he, and the other snakes, respect Kakashi for some unknown reason, so Kanaye nods once before disappearing in a small puff of cloud. Sasuke hides a wince when the pain returns to him as sharp, silver-quick streams up his arm. If Kakashi notices Sasuke's discomfort, he doesn't say anything, just looks pointedly at Naruto and Sakura.
With a scowl, Sasuke turns on his heels, about to join the other two when Kakashi adds, pleasantly, "Oh, and Sasuke? You can join Lee in his fifty laps around the village today."
In his mind, he hears a voice, as if the person's standing right next to him. "Dear lord, Kakashi, you've grown to be quite the teacher."
**
Lee looks up when he sees Sasuke, perched high up on the village wall. He waits for Sasuke to drop down from the wall and land neatly on the outside of the village before he asks, "Late to training again, huh?"
Sasuke growls under his breath and falls into place next to Lee. It's become routine now, and Sasuke hates to admit it, but it isn't the worst punishment in the world, running with Lee. At least, unlike some people he knows, Lee doesn't blab unnecessarily except for the occasional and enthusiastic "time of our youth" profundity. They get ready silently and when Lee offers weights for Sasuke, he shakes his head. His body is aching still, and he's not sure he can take a single step with an extra fifteen pounds on each foot.
A voice again. "Fifty laps, huh?"
"I'm betting seventy-five, he'll drop down dead before the fifteenth."
"Hundred on twenty."
"Hundred on five," says another voice, taunting. "He's still exhausted from yesterday."
"Enough," Sarutobi sighs again. "He can hear us, I think." There's silence after that.
Sasuke ignores them and when Lee gives him a curt nod, they take off, following the wall as it curves around the circumference of the village. A little unnecessarily, Sasuke looks over his shoulder to see if they're being followed. Next to him, Lee yells out, "You want to grab lunch at the sushi place after this?"
Sasuke pretends to think it over--he has a reputation to maintain--but it's a lost gesture around someone like Lee, so he yells back, trying to ignore the cramp in his leg and the pain in his arm, "Fine."
He does all fifty laps, and in his mind, the voices haggle over who owes what to whom. In the end, everyone loses and grumbles about the utter unfairness of it all. It must say something about the state of Sasuke's life because he bites the inside of his cheek to stop the triumphant grin that's threatening to break over his face.
**
Sakura is waiting by the entrance and when she sees Lee, she gives him a soft, shy smile. Lee returns it with a grin, and the three of them walk in. Which is where Sasuke sees them--Naruto and Neji, sitting at a booth, talking with heads bent close.
Lee tenses next to Sasuke, giving him a quick glance. Sakura offers, voice a little hesitant, "Maybe we should get ramen? I'll just tell Naruto that we--"
"No," Sasuke hisses and walks purposefully up to the table.
Naruto looks up when Sasuke slides into a seat, and taunting smile comes readily to his face. "Kakashi-sensei's really pissed off at you, huh?"
Sasuke scowls and turns his face away from the utter and shameless lack of space between Naruto and Neji. A waitress comes to take their orders and vanishes for a few minutes before bringing out a tray laden with bowls. Once she serves the food, she turns to leave, gaze lingering on Sasuke. For the heck of it--such a petty, petty way to feel better--Sasuke gives her an appreciative glance. She blushes, stammers an 'enjoy' before disappearing. Naruto kicks him under the table, scowling. "No shame," he snaps. "No shame at all."
Sasuke bites down the Look who's talking that's crawling up his throat and settles for a smirk instead. His gaze lingers just a little too long, and Naruto turns back to Neji to finish his sentence, entirely oblivious to the expression that crosses Sasuke's face at the gesture. He should be used to this by now, he thinks, but it's useless when he's sitting right across from Neji and Naruto. Because when Sasuke left to go to Orochimaru, apparently Neji stepped in neatly by Naruto's side.
Apparently.
Sakura growls before ordering everyone to eat and stop being such men around her, didn't she get enough already, and where's Tenten anyways, there needs to be more estrogen at this table?
Neji shrugs his shoulder at the question--and the movement, so deliberate, so slight--makes his shoulder brush against Naruto's. When Sasuke breaks his chopsticks, the wood splinters into several pieces. Growling, Sasuke stands abruptly, excusing himself to get another set of chopsticks. He's at the counter, asking for another pair, when he feels Neji standing next to him. "If you're going to act like a prick," Neji says calmly, reaching for a handful of napkins, "You should leave."
Sasuke stares into Neji's milky blue eyes and clenches his fist so hard the bones start hurting. "Fuck off, Hyuga." And it's such a pitiful come-back, even he knows it.
Neji smirks at him, wicked and triumphant. "Cat got your tongue, Uchiha?"
Sasuke glances briefly over at Naruto, who's laughing at something that Lee is saying. If he were to punch the Hyuga and walk away with his blood on his knuckles, Naruto will never, ever forgive him. Not after... "If you hurt him," he says instead, and is about to round off the sentence with a threat--
"Not everyone's like you," Neji snaps and turns his back on Sasuke's expression.
"Well, that's interesting," says a voice by his side. "Your son's in demand, Namikaze."
"Shut up," comes another, sounding unbelievably angry. "They should both be castrated."
"They're teenagers," comes Sarutobi's voice, sounding calming. There's a few moments of silence as Sasuke gathers his anger and pride, watching as Neji slides back into his seat next to Naruto. Then, the same voice--Sarutobi's--offers, "Sasuke, perhaps you should..."
"I know," Sasuke mumbles under his breath, wondering why he's even listening to this insanity in his mind, and heads back to the table. He's surprised when there's a cool, oddly gentle, touch on his shoulder as he starts to eat, head bowed over his food so he doesn't see Naruto's soft, fond gaze on Neji.
**
How it started is entirely irrelevant, in Sasuke's mind, because all that matters is breaking a few of his bones. Just for the heck of it. "You don't want to get on my bad side," Sasuke scowls and twists Neji's arm a little more.
"Oh, do tell, Uchiha," Neji drawls, and does a half-twist to get Sasuke off him. Sasuke lands a few feet away on all fours, grinning. Neji gets into a stance, his bandaged arms nearly glowing with the chakra running through them. He considers Sasuke for a moment before activating the byakugan, eyes freezing into a steel-gray blue.
Sasuke growls low in his throat and crouches lower to the ground. He won't need the sharingan to take Neji down. "Oh, shit," Sakura swears somewhere to his right. "I'll go get Kakashi-sensei or Gai-sensei. Whoever..." Her voice starts to fade when she takes off.
"Or the Hokage!" Naruto yells and turns to Sasuke. "What the hell Sasuke, we're just sparring." On the other side, Lee is trying his best to calm Neji. "Come on, buddy. This isn't--"
Sasuke smirks, the taunt coming easily to him. There's centuries of feuding between the two clans. He and the Hyuga are, by birthright, obliged to carry on the discussion. "Byakugan, if you're too afraid to attack--"
"You're the one who's talking, Sharingan." Neji lunges, nearly blurring in his speed, but Sasuke--injured, tired, and exhausted as he is--has never felt anger like this before.
Training, Naruto suggested at the end of lunch, and after half an hour, this is where they are.
Kick-block-punch-throw-duck-punch-kick- and Neji stumbles back with the force of that attack. He re-centers himself and stares at Sasuke, fingers bending a little. "You're at a disadvantage, Uchiha. Your muscles are overused, your left arm is practically useless, not to mention you're left-handed, and you can barely make jutsus. Give up now."
"Listen to him, boy," comes a voice.
"Withdraw. This isn't your battle."
"Try and make me me," Sasuke snarls, and he sounds animal to his own ears. "Just try and fucking make me."
Neji appears a few inches from him again, and their fists are flying. Ignoring the pain, he brings up his hands, makes a few quick seals, takes in a deep breath and blows so hard his teeth sting from it and he can't breath for a few minutes. There's a ball of fire in front of him, blinding in its heat and light, and when it vanishes, Neji is barreling towards him, an angry, spinning tornado of kunai. It's Tenten's technique, Sasuke's seen it before, but Neji has modified it.
A split second, and he has a barrier up in front of him. The blood line that Sasuke draws on the dirt quivers with each kunai that slams into the shield. It's weak--holds barely any chance against Neji's attack--but it's enough for Sasuke to make a few more seals. The pain in his arm is screaming now and the scars on his palm are bleeding. He draws his sword with his right arm, balancing it. It's still a new technique, so new that Neji--not even Naruto--will be the first to see it. And live.
For sentiment's sake, Sasuke calls this the Up Orochimaru's Ass Jutsu.
"Here we go," Sasuke mutters under his breath, and the sword starts to fizzle and sparkle with chakra. The kunai's stop flying, and Neji pauses for a moment to give the sword in Sasuke's hand a quick glance. It reminds Sasuke so much of Orochimaru's expression when Sasuke did the same only a year ago.
One, Sasuke counts in his mind, spreads his legs, grounding himself. Two, Sasuke breathes, moves his left hand along the length of the blade. Three.
"Sasuke, whatever you're doing--" Sarutobi's voice, sounding urgent.
"Now," Sasuke growls, and pushes chakra into his left foot. He spins in a half-circle, blade sizzling in mid air. A whip of blue comes off the blade and crackles against the ground, a safe two feet away from Neji who jumps back at the attack. When the dust settles, there's a deep, three foot trench in the ground where the whip made contact.
The surprise in Neji's eyes--which quickly hardens into anger--makes it worthwhile. "What was that?"
"Fire," Sasuke snarls.
"Fire?" It's not Neji, but Naruto. "That didn't look like--"
"Lightning," Sasuke modifies, still not looking away from Neji. "Too scared, Hyuga?"
"How did you do that?" It's Lee now, sounding breathless. "What was that?"
"I," Sasuke snaps, relishing the sound of it. "I am an Uchiha."
"And I," Neji counters, grinning, rising to the challenge. "I am a Hyuga."
He makes a seal--a twitching movement of his fingers--and suddenly, Sasuke feels his hands spasm into rigidity. "You didn't think the kunai was actually an attack," Neji snarled. He makes a small finger movement and a muscle in Sasuke's right arm twitches, pinning it to his side. "Pathetic."
Sasuke narrows his eyes, focuses his concentration, and realizes that somehow, sometime, somewhere, Neji got to his chakra pathways. Clavicular and antecubital, comes Iruka-sensei's voice in his mind, and he can almost see his old Academy teacher, pointing at the life-size anatomy poster on the blackboard. "I haven't used my sharingan yet," Sasuke says and closes his eyes, feeling the familiar twinge of sharingan. Without opening his eyes, he asks, "You want to settle this now? Byakugan or sharingan?"
"Neither," comes a tight, female voice, and the earth crumbles under Sasuke, walls close around him, and Sasuke sees darkness.
**
Kanaye is there when he wakes up, looking angry. A rattle snake comes into view beside him. "Fudo," Sasuke tries to say, and swallows dirt. The two snakes watch him as he leans to the side and spits and gags. "I think I ate a worm."
"You," Fudo hisses, rattling his tail dangerously. "Are a moron."
"I realize," Sasuke groans and winces when Fudo snaps his head and bites him on the forehead. This will hurt later, he can already feel it. "My arm," he says, and when he looks down, there's a cobra, coiled around tightly, pulsing with chakra. "Ishi."
"Shut up," Ishi snaps, sounding so very, very angry it makes Sasuke wince. He's angered the snakes twice before, and they let their feelings be known in ways that were almost always painful, if not a little messy. "Just shut up."
Sasuke gags a few more times and when nothing comes up, he sticks a finger down his throat and forces himself to heave. Kanaye coils tightly around his neck, squeezing a little too hard to help the process. "That's--" Sasuke drags in a gasp of air. "Good--" Another gasp. "Thanks--" A final shuddering breath. "Kanaye."
"I should kill you," the snake mutters darkly and gives one more warning squeeze before sliding off.
"I know," Sasuke drones out in monotone, "That was reckless of me, I wasn't grounded well enough, I could have blown my body to--"
"You have no idea," Fudo snaps, and there's a loud pop.
Sasuke tries not to look, tries so very hard, but then, he hears a female voice. It's deep, resounding, and commanding in the small room; Fudo very visibly flinches. "Well, boy." Sasuke manages to look at the snake, a giant, yellow python spotted with orange and brown.
"Holy shit," comes a voice--another one in his mind.
"Maybe we should leave, Brother? She's powerful."
"How did he summon her? How did he summon any of them unconcious? Did you see anything, Tobirama?"
"No, I didn't, Brother. Sarutobi?"
"They summoned themselves," comes the quiet, disbelieving voice of the Hokage. Sasuke ignores the side-conversation and focuses on meeting the eyes of the snake.
She is the mother of all the other snakes, and for this occasion, she's downsized herself to fit into the room. Rin takes a deep breath, her throat becoming thick with the motion, and flickers out her tongue. "I should eat you," she says after a while, her tail tapping the ground at a slow, steady rhythm.
Sasuke has only see Rin in this world twice. The first was when she tested him to see if he was worthy of their kind. He remembers Rin's fang sinking into his back to touch the knob of his second lumbar spine--an initiation ceremony--her poison like lightning thrumming in his blood. The second was when he fought and killed Orochimaru. Both times, he was about the size of one of her fangs. Oddly enough, crammed into the same room as her, he feels much, much smaller all of a sudden.
The fact that she's summoned herself out of the Other World speaks volumes, Sasuke realizes, about just how utterly and devastatingly stupid he was.
"Instead," Rin snarls, "I will just kick your stupid, adolescent ass."
"Hey," Kanaye mutters, sliding away quickly. "Wait for us to get out of the--" Sasuke takes a deep breath and braces himself when Rin lifts his body and slams it against the wall. The plaster cracks.
"Can't I just get grounded?" Sasuke breathes, trying for a joke. She doesn't look amused, so he curls up into a ball to defend himself. Rin throws him out the window and down three stories.
**
"Ow," Sasuke moans and writhes pathetically on Rin. He's spread out on her belly, in the center of her loose curl. Ishi is working to heal his left arm, Fudo is patiently pushing his tibia back underneath his muscle, and Kanaye is curled up next to him, gloating. Rin breathes in, and the movement makes Sasuke rise about two feet into the air. When she exhales, he comes gently down again. He tries again because he knows, very well, just how much of a sucker Rin is when he's in pain. "Ow."
"Shut up, boy," Rin snaps, sounding angry, but her large, large head comes into view to check on him anyways. Her tongue flickers out and slobbers saliva on his body. Sasuke wipes at it his face ineffectively, only gets a mouthful in his throat for the effort. "It'll heal you," Rin says, her hiss so loud in his ear that it's ruffling his hair. Scowling, Sasuke turns onto his side and stares down at the forest canopy a hundred feet below.
"Play with fire like that again, boy, and I'll eat you. It's been a while since I've had human," Rin mutters to herself and settles her face down a few yards away from Sasuke. Her golden-brown gaze is sharp in the moonlight, flickering with anger. "The stupidity. The utter stupidity..."
Kanaye giggles and Sasuke slaps at him, his hand weighed down by Rin's slobber. Immediately, Rin's voice comes back, loud as thunder. "Enough, you two. Boy, sleep."
"You could have just grounded me, you know," Sasuke mutters, and closes his eyes when he hears Rin's soft hissing-laughter.
"You don't want to be grounded," Kanaye mutters, raising his head a little. "Trust me."
"What are they hissing?"
"Getting kind of annoying..."
Rin's head snaps up, her entire body tensing. "Intruders," Rin growls and her body shivers with anticipation. Sasuke pushes himself up into a sitting position, wincing at the strain. "You hear them? Oh, thank fucking god--"
"Who?" Fudo asks, head swiveling around.
"I don't hear anything," Kanaye offers and looks up at Rin's flickering eyes. "You do?"
"Shush, boys," Rin says, and swivels her head around, searching. "I don't see--"
"Here, look," Sasuke says, and puts his hand on her skin, concentrating. He's done this before, when he was nearly blind with one of Orochimaru's jutsus. And because Sasuke and his snakes are one and the same, bound by chakra and blood, they see what Sasuke sees.
He sends in slim stream of chakra into Rin's skin, and then opens his eyes, sharingan swirling with life now. They're there--all four of them--standing around at different spots on Rin. Sasuke glances up to see if Rin is looking in the right direction. He points at the four men. "There, Rin." The large snake looks down, where the four are lounging, and her eyes slit with recognition.
"Ah..." She clears her throat, and then rasps out in human tongue, "The Chieftan."
"Hello, Rin," Sarutobi says, looking up with a smile. "It's been a while."
"You brought guests," Rin says, scowling a little, and then lowers her head to rest it on her stomach, a few feet away from Sasuke, blinking lazily. Her tongue flickers out dangerously. "It's rude to intrude on a snake's nest, Chieftan. You should know better."
"I do, I do," Sarutobi conceds, looking apologetic. He indicates the other three and sits down cross-legged, entirely comfortable around Rin in a way that Sasuke has never seen a stranger act before. "But some rules just don't apply anymore when you're dead."
Sasuke decides that now, if any, would be a good time to faint. "Aw fuck," he mutters, and he does.
Faint, that is.
End of Part One