Naruto Fic: Prisoners
naruto_wishlist authors were revealed today! Another thanks to my writer for that, who I now know is alerted. She wrote "Phone Sex" for me, which is really sexy, and sits just on the edge of angst occasionally, and doesn't tip over, and that's just how I like it. Everyone should read it.
Now, if you want an angst-fest, I suppose you can read my story for naruto_wishlist. It was my first time writing Kakashi/Sasuke, and it ended up darker than things I write, generally.
Fandom: Naruto
Title: Prisoners
Pairing: KakaSasu
Warnings: Teacher/student, underage (everything you expect in a KakaSasu story).
Rating: NC-17
Word Length: 4,000
Summary: Coming back to Konoha was only the beginning for Sasuke. Now he has Kakashi trying to make things better. Written for mukky in the naruto_wishlist 2005 fic exchange.
Author's Notes: It has been pointed out to me that Itachi actually can turn off his Sharingan, he just rarely does so. I considered taking it out, but it's one of my favorite parts, so it stays. We'll just pretend that Sasuke doesn't know as much about his brother as he thinks he does, when really that distinction goes to me. *sigh*
Kakashi was surrounded by the sound of his own footsteps. For a master shinobi, this was highly disconcerting. No matter how quietly he stepped, the tiny stairwell magnified the noise a hundredfold.
At least it gave him something to think about beyond what was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.
Sasuke's cell was as bad as he remembered it. The last time he had seen it, it had housed (for an extremely short period of time) the man who had unleashed the Fox on Konoha. At the time, he had wanted to look into the eyes of his teacher's killer. Now he was staring through the bars at his closest student.
It was a dank hole, reserved for the rare criminals who could terrify a village filled with trained assassins. Underground, no windows, even the persistent noise of dripping water - it was the definition of a manmade cave.
At first glance, the cell appeared to be empty. Sasuke was in the deepest shadows in the far corner of his box, seemingly hiding from the sliver of light shining down the stairs from the prison proper.
As Kakashi waited, the prisoner stepped forward. From the brief glimpse he got, he knew the eyes were a solid red.
"May I come in?" Kakashi ventured.
Sasuke's only response was to shift his expression from nonchalant to irritated.
Taking that as an invitation, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke and materialized on the other side of the bars.
"I never taught you that jutsu, did I? I guess I was too busy teaching you assassination techniques. I bet now you wish we'd focused on teleportation instead, though, don't you?" He scratched his head, as though he had just realized something. "Oh no, that's right. With your eyes, you could work out that trick easily. But you don't have enough chakra for the most basic jutsu. Am I right? They keep you in the dark, let your muscles atrophy, and only give you enough food and water to keep your bodily functions intact."
"Why are you here?" This emerged from Sasuke's throat as the dry crackling of someone who hasn't spoken in weeks.
"I wanted to see how you are."
"And..."
"You aren't well. Why don't you deactivate the Sharingan to conserve chakra?"
"I can't. I'm just like him now."
With Sasuke, one never had to ask who "him" referred to. In fact, one generally didn't want to, because it was almost guaranteed to send him deeper down the dark path he had chosen. Kakashi wanted to tell Sasuke that he would never be like his brother, but he wasn't sure of that anymore. That was one of the things he was here to find out.
"So, you've seen how I am. Leave."
"Sasuke, I'm just here to help you. I'm going..."
"There's something I've always wanted to ask you, Kakashi." His voice had lost most of the unused, grating quality. As he became more accustomed to speech, he settled back into his old deep, earnest tone. "The entire month we were on that mountain, I wanted to ask you. But anytime I tried, you made it very clear that you didn't want to talk about it. Damn it, Kakashi, let's talk about it!"
Sasuke moved towards his teacher, narrowed the gap between them so Kakashi could feel his breath warming the fabric covering his neck. He looked up at Kakashi and whispered, "Where did you get the Sharingan?"
Kakashi's visible eye widened. The moment he had always known would come was here, and he still wasn't prepared.
Sasuke's eyes were murderous as he continued. "Did you pull it from my relative's skull with your bare fingers? Did you have Uchiha blood under your nails, dripping down your knuckles?" He advanced towards Kakashi with each phrase, and Kakashi backed, unprepared for this onslaught.
"Did you pin him beneath the weight of your body as you worked on him?" His voice had risen from a cold whisper to an enraged shout. Soon, the guards would come to investigate, and find that Kakashi had snuck in here.
"Was he still breathing when you started?" Kakashi felt the chilled stone wall against his back.
"What about when you finished? Answer me!" Sasuke screamed.
Kakashi tentatively reached out and touched his shoulders. The alien sensation seemed to jolt Sasuke back to a temporary sanity.
His voice dropped to a whisper, and fear shined through the crimson of his eyes. "Get me out of here, Kakashi."
Before he could respond, Kakashi heard the guards approaching, and disappeared.
***
"Please, Hokage, listen. He can't stay there. He is only receiving enough nutrition for a normal ninja to survive. The Sharingan use so much chakra, they are converting all his food to their use. His body is wasting away. And the isolation is only making his mental state worse."
"The guards and prisoners are terrified of him as it is,” Tsunade responded. “If we restored him to complete health and brought him into contact with people, I can't imagine how they would feel. I have enough people pressuring me to execute as it is. If he hurt or killed someone, I don't think we could keep him alive. Why are we having this conversation, anyway?" She turned to give Kakashi her most daunting leader-like expression. "I remember forbidding everyone, and you specifically, from seeing him."
Kakashi's eye and the twitch of his mask indicated that he thought this was entirely beside the point. He gave his leader his most discomfiting stare.
"Well," Tsunade's expression softened as she settled back in her chair, "at least this proves that my jounin are more resourceful than Naruto; it isn't close to time for me to hand over the reins to him yet. I believe he is still making his daily frontal assault on the prison?"
"Yes, actually the distraction he was causing made my penetration that much easier. Really, I think it’s mostly a gesture on his part. I don't think he knows just what he will do when he gets to Sasuke. I do know that I don't envy you if Naruto ever does get down there to see his dying friend." He gave her a pointed stare with this last statement.
"Kakashi, what do you want me to do? I can't put him into the main area of the prison."
"Then release him. We don't have any solid evidence of him doing anything criminal beyond going to Orochimaru. He wouldn't be the only one in the village guilty of that."
"Anko came back to us of her own will, ready to share valuable information. And she was contained for a period as well."
"Sasuke might be willing to share once he recuperates more. If he receives the proper treatment and incentive."
Tsunade's eyes closed and she rubbed her temple violently. "I'll talk to the Council. This conversation is over."
"Thank you, Hokage." With a bow, Kakashi exited her office.
***
After many closed door meetings, petitions from all sides (except Sasuke's own) and heavy negotiations, Sasuke was released. To the custody of the Hyuuga clan.
The Hokage refused to speak with Kakashi on the matter, but he convinced Shizune to have a drink with him and explain the reasoning.
The Hokage (with the Council's input) had decided that the prison wasn't the proper place for the last member of the Uchiha clan, but they couldn't decide where to put him.
They said that Kakashi hadn't proven himself equal to restraining Sasuke three years earlier, and so they didn't trust him now. His few friends who would be willing to have him might not be capable either, once he regained his strength.
The Hyuuga had a compound filled with many of the village's strongest ninja. While there had been much animosity between the Uchiha and the Hyuuga in the past, the Council felt they could be trusted, especially after the negotiations were over. In exchange for taking Sasuke in and only harming him if it were absolutely necessary, the Council would be willing to overlook even more of the practices the clan engaged in behind their walls. Also, their taxes would be greatly reduced for the next four years. Everyone had a lot to gain from this.
"Do you think the Fifth would let me visit him? Kakashi asked, after ordering Shizune another drink for her trouble.
"Maybe. I'll broach it with her." She considered him carefully. "Why are you so persistent about this boy?"
"He's my student."
"And when was the last time you dropped in on Sakura? There would be a lot less paperwork involved in that."
***
They stared at each other, a bare table separating them. Kakashi didn't ask what happened to him between the time he left the village and when Anko informed the Hokage that Orochimaru was dead (the fizzling away of a curse seal is apparently a painful process, sure to notify the bearer of such things). Or why the ANBU had found Sasuke, covered in someone else's blood mingled with his own, wandering through the forest, incoherent. Sasuke didn't answer.
Sasuke didn't ask the questions that still lingered after their encounter in his cell. Kakashi didn't volunteer any information.
It had been like this for a month now. Kakashi had been granted permission by the Hokage and the Hyuuga head to visit Sasuke once a week.
Every week he visited, and they glared at one another or sat almost comfortably, Kakashi reading Jiraiya’s latest masterpiece, but without a word being exchanged other than Kakashi's greeting and farewell.
Today, however, as Kakashi got up to leave, Sasuke broke his silence. "Why do you keep coming here?"
"Because you need me to." Feeling satisfied with the brief look of shock that passed over Sasuke's features, Kakashi turned and left.
***
"I'm still in prison, you know."
"You're a traitor. That's where they put traitors."
Sasuke drew in on himself again.
"Besides, it doesn't look like they're treating you that poorly. You're gaining weight back. If they beat you, they're obviously taking care to hide the bruises."
Kakashi brushed Sasuke off to his face, but he did take his complaint to heart. Sasuke was kept isolated from everyone except Kakashi and the Hyuugas, who possessed varying degrees of wariness and indifference when it came to Sasuke (the only exception being Neji, who was still angry about the wasteful mission he had been sent on three years earlier for Sasuke’s benefit).
Naruto had been permitted to visit Sasuke once. His presence upset his teammate's fragile mental disposition too much, however. His hosts had to contain him and expel Naruto from the compound when they sensed Sasuke forming the Chidori under the table.
Sakura hadn't tried to visit him yet. She knew it would upset her too much.
Sasuke was used to being alone, and seemed to prefer it that way. It was the isolation combined with the containment that seemed to be bothering him. He was a ninja, and he needed to be able to exercise his muscles, to train. Kakashi knew, however, that the villagers weren't ready for this yet.
***
After a few months of Sasuke behaving himself and pacing around every inch of the Hyuuga compound (every inch he was allowed to tread on, anyway), he was permitted to venture outside the walls of the Hyuuga estate.
He was allowed to leave once a week with Kakashi, and they could only be gone for a maximum of two hours. They were not allowed close to the villagers. Sasuke was not allowed access to weapons, nor was he allowed to train in ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu. When asked if Sasuke was allowed to breathe, as this was the first step in the Uchiha trademark fire techniques, Tsunade informed Kakashi he wasn't funny.
"These are necessary precautions when dealing with a returned missing-nin."
"I just wonder how these restrictions affect his recuperation."
"When he shows signs of wanting to recuperate," Tsunade responded, "we'll talk about it."
***
Avoiding villagers meant going to the forest, but not to any of the popular training grounds.
They ran from tree to tree, exploring the woods as Kakashi had not done since he was a small boy.
Though he didn't say anything, Kakashi knew that Sasuke was grateful for the chance to really stretch his muscles. His body wasn't prepared for the exertion, though. He had to stop often to catch his breath.
Kakashi never suggested that he should slow down. He just stopped whenever Sasuke needed, and waited until he was ready to go on.
The village of the Leaf existed in a perennial summer. All was green around them as they stood under the awnings of the trees.
Kakashi always tried to veer their outings toward places he remembered as being particularly beautiful, and he was seldom disappointed.
He was always afraid that they would arrive at a place once thick with trees only to find them in ruins or perhaps populated only by saplings, struggling to put out roots. The destructive capabilities of many of the villagers were staggering, and battles and training sessions took their toll on the forest constantly. Most of his places, thankfully, were out of the way enough that they had been spared this fate.
Sometimes he felt the urge to share his knowledge of Konoha's flora with Sasuke, but he knew from experience that the boy would merely act disinterested and give Kakashi a look that clearly said, "Why should I give a shit?" so he just took him to the places, and let him experience them.
A part of him hoped that Sasuke would remember why the village was beautiful. The more cynical part of him knew that he would be lucky if Sasuke ever thought anything was mildly pleasant again, but the small part of him still hoped.
***
Kakashi arrived at the Hyuuga compound, nodded to the man on guard duty, and went to collect Sasuke. When he found him he looked positively surly, but didn't seem willing to say what was wrong.
After they had run for a while and he was taking his first break, he came out with it. "Where were you last week?"
"I was on a mission in the Wind Country. Why are you so upset? It's not the first time I've missed a visit."
“Just let me know not to expect you next time, all right?”
“I’m sorry I had to go. Next time I’ll send word.”
Sasuke nodded in response. He was studying Kakashi carefully.
His teacher continued speaking. "Are you ready to go? You look rested."
Rather than continuing the excursion, however, Sasuke advanced toward Kakashi. There was no killing intent, no malice emanating with his chakra.
What was there seemed strange, nothing he had ever expected from Sasuke. It threw Kakashi off guard enough to allow Sasuke to get his hands under his vest.
Sasuke was tentative, running hi hands along Kakashi's shirt, exploring. He outlined the abdominal muscles with his thumbs, finding the distinctions between each one. He glanced up at Kakashi, wanting to see how he was being received.
Those crimson eyes reminded Kakashi of who this was and what he should say. No, this was not what Sasuke needed. No, they should head back now. No, this was not in the terms of his agreement with the Fifth. All he managed to get to his lips, however, was "Sasuke."
At this affirmation, Sasuke took his hands from under the vest and promptly ripped it off, pulling it apart at the center. Kakashi would have protested that the zipper was easier and made for less difficult explanations to others, but then Sasuke's hands were on him again. His fingers ran across Kakashi's stomach on the way to his back.
Sasuke pulled him closer to himself, running hands up and down his back, inside the waistband of his pants. He was exploring, asking nothing from Kakashi in return, although the hardness pressed against his thigh suggested this wasn't entirely for Kakashi's benefit.
Sasuke's hands were stroking his ass, cupping and moving, his fingers making the nerves dance, while pressing Kakashi's cock against Sasuke's hip with each movement.
His eyes were closed, his mind racing with sensations he hadn't felt in years. He was so lost in himself that he was a second too late in noticing Sasuke's grab for the kunai.
His eye shot open, but in that second Sasuke had brought the knife to Kakashi's throat. The eyes that looked up at him seemed to be trying to engender trust, though - as much as those cold eyes could.
So, he didn't stop Sasuke from making a slash with the kunai. With a flick of his wrist, Sasuke cut through the fabric that connected his mask to the rest of his shirt.
Apparently he had decided to respect Kakashi's privacy concerning his face, but not to respect the integrity of his clothing.
The last shred of his will evaporated with that movement of the knife. His hands found Sasuke's hair and skin and his entire world was reduced to the tree at his back, the hip pressed against his groin, and the teeth at his neck.
Sasuke grew frustrated and ripped Kakashi's shirt down to the hem. As Sasuke's tongue ran across the line of his collarbone and then he started sucking on his nipple (causing Kakashi to buck unexpectedly) Kakashi forgot to ask Sasuke how he expected him to go back to the Hyuuga household looking like this.
Everything was a blur for Kakashi from this point forward. He seemed to remember pulling Sasuke's clothes off and Sasuke being put out as the shirt got caught temporarily around his head. There was some memory (and evidence found later) of fingernails scraping across his back, inside his thighs, and across Sasuke's hips. He pretty clearly remembered being shaken by the sight of a dark black tattoo on Sasuke's left hip identical to the one that used to be on Orochimaru's forearm. Apparently Sasuke had been prepared almost completely for becoming his master's vessel. Most vivid, however, was the memory of an insurmountable tension and waiting and the knowledge that it would never end, he would never feel right again followed by lightning bliss and release into Sasuke's warm mouth and hot moisture all over his hand and a small part of his brain telling him it came from Sasuke before he sank into darkness.
***
He woke up to a twig scratching against his naked back. His eyes confirmed that he was wearing nothing but his head protector and mask and that, although he last remembered Sasuke as wearing less, he was now fully clothed and sitting under a nearby tree, staring blankly ahead.
Kakashi performed a few seals to complete a water jutsu to clean himself off, and pulled on his clothes which were still intact. He was surprised to find that all of his weapons were still in their pouches - until two hours earlier, he would have expected Sasuke to take one if given the chance.
However, Sasuke had definitely proven that Kakashi didn't know him as well as he pretended to.
"Sasuke, why..." The question was left hanging in the air.
"Because I needed to."
***
He had trusted Sasuke. He had told him to wait right where he was while Kakashi teleported to his apartment, changed his shirt and vest, and returned. With this schedule, they could make it back to the Hyuuga compound five minutes before their deadline.
Before today, Kakashi would have cast a containment jutsu on him for the ten minutes he would be gone. That no longer seemed appropriate after what had happened today. Whatever had happened today.
Kakashi had returned, however, and there was no trace of Sasuke.
He began to summon tracking dogs, but was interrupted by the appearance of Kotetsu and Izumo.
"The Fifth sent us," Kotetsu explained. "Uchiha has been located, and she demands your presence immediately."
***
"I don't know if I could be more disappointed in your handling of this, Kakashi," Tsunade began. "You seemed to be making some real progress, and then you let this happen."
"May I ask one question, Hokage? Where is Sasuke?"
"I'll show you. Perhaps then you will understand the full severity of your situation." She reached down to pull a large glass ball on a burgundy pillow from under her desk. "Not many people know about this," Tsunade continued. "It belonged to the Third." She made a seal and concentrated on the globe. Sasuke appeared, a cut on his cheek and red marks around his eyes where bruises would no doubt soon appear. He was pacing back and forth in a small room. The stone walls appeared to be those of the prison.
"As you can see, Kakashi, he is safe and, although unhappy, unharmed."
"Where did he go?" Kakashi asked. "Was he running away again? Did he hurt anyone? I can see he's been fighting."
"He doesn't seem to have been running away. They found him at his house. He didn't actually put up much of a fight, the men I send just, er, expected him to. They were a little overly exuberant."
"Do you know what Sasuke was doing?"
"Just getting a taste of freedom or indulging in nostalgia, as far as I can tell. But we're going to find out if he had any other plans."
"You're going to interrogate him."
"What I do with him is the business of myself and the Council. What you do with him, however, is also the business of myself and the Council. And I saw you doing some rather unorthodox things with him."
He had been so concerned about Sasuke that he hadn't let the situation fully sink in yet. Tsunade had seen everything that had gone on during today's visit with Sasuke.
"So, is this an important part of the recuperation process, Kakashi? Not only do I not think a romp on the forest floor with his most trusted authority figure is appropriate or healthy, you endangered the entire village. You let him obtain a weapon, you left yourself and the villagers completely vulnerable as you slept, and then you left him by himself! I know you trusted him, but you had no right to make that decision for everyone else."
"It won't happen again, Hokage."
"Of course it won't. Tomorrow morning you will leave for the Rock Village for an information-gathering mission of an undetermined length of time, a minimum of four months. You will set up an identity there and send reports to us at least once a week. The only correspondence you receive from Konoha will pertain to your mission. Izumo and Kotetsu are waiting to brief you on the details." Tsunade paused and considered Kakashi. "I will not report on your actions of today to the Council beyond the fact that you let Uchiha Sasuke escape from you, but no real harm seems to have been done."
"Thank you, Hokage."
"You are dismissed."
***
Kakashi sent word through Genma, one of the guards assigned to Sasuke while he was going through the interrogation process, that he was being sent away and didn't know when he would return.
He knew he wasn't supposed to have contacted Sasuke, but the hard work he would put in during the next few months would make up for any small transgressions now.
In the thin hours before he had to leave, Kakashi went to the memorial stone to tell Obito how badly he had screwed things up and how he didn't know exactly which parts to regret.
He found he couldn't regret what he was being sent away for - he couldn't regret sex with Sasuke, and he didn't regret trusting him, even if that trust had been betrayed. He did regret not telling Sasuke the truth about his Sharingan, about Obito. He deserved to understand.
Mostly he regretted that which he had no control over - Sasuke's decision to leave, Tsunade's decision to keep him imprisoned for so long, and Kakashi's own loyalty to his village, which kept him from breaking Sasuke out and running for freedom right now.
Now, if you want an angst-fest, I suppose you can read my story for naruto_wishlist. It was my first time writing Kakashi/Sasuke, and it ended up darker than things I write, generally.
Fandom: Naruto
Title: Prisoners
Pairing: KakaSasu
Warnings: Teacher/student, underage (everything you expect in a KakaSasu story).
Rating: NC-17
Word Length: 4,000
Summary: Coming back to Konoha was only the beginning for Sasuke. Now he has Kakashi trying to make things better. Written for mukky in the naruto_wishlist 2005 fic exchange.
Author's Notes: It has been pointed out to me that Itachi actually can turn off his Sharingan, he just rarely does so. I considered taking it out, but it's one of my favorite parts, so it stays. We'll just pretend that Sasuke doesn't know as much about his brother as he thinks he does, when really that distinction goes to me. *sigh*
Kakashi was surrounded by the sound of his own footsteps. For a master shinobi, this was highly disconcerting. No matter how quietly he stepped, the tiny stairwell magnified the noise a hundredfold.
At least it gave him something to think about beyond what was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.
Sasuke's cell was as bad as he remembered it. The last time he had seen it, it had housed (for an extremely short period of time) the man who had unleashed the Fox on Konoha. At the time, he had wanted to look into the eyes of his teacher's killer. Now he was staring through the bars at his closest student.
It was a dank hole, reserved for the rare criminals who could terrify a village filled with trained assassins. Underground, no windows, even the persistent noise of dripping water - it was the definition of a manmade cave.
At first glance, the cell appeared to be empty. Sasuke was in the deepest shadows in the far corner of his box, seemingly hiding from the sliver of light shining down the stairs from the prison proper.
As Kakashi waited, the prisoner stepped forward. From the brief glimpse he got, he knew the eyes were a solid red.
"May I come in?" Kakashi ventured.
Sasuke's only response was to shift his expression from nonchalant to irritated.
Taking that as an invitation, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke and materialized on the other side of the bars.
"I never taught you that jutsu, did I? I guess I was too busy teaching you assassination techniques. I bet now you wish we'd focused on teleportation instead, though, don't you?" He scratched his head, as though he had just realized something. "Oh no, that's right. With your eyes, you could work out that trick easily. But you don't have enough chakra for the most basic jutsu. Am I right? They keep you in the dark, let your muscles atrophy, and only give you enough food and water to keep your bodily functions intact."
"Why are you here?" This emerged from Sasuke's throat as the dry crackling of someone who hasn't spoken in weeks.
"I wanted to see how you are."
"And..."
"You aren't well. Why don't you deactivate the Sharingan to conserve chakra?"
"I can't. I'm just like him now."
With Sasuke, one never had to ask who "him" referred to. In fact, one generally didn't want to, because it was almost guaranteed to send him deeper down the dark path he had chosen. Kakashi wanted to tell Sasuke that he would never be like his brother, but he wasn't sure of that anymore. That was one of the things he was here to find out.
"So, you've seen how I am. Leave."
"Sasuke, I'm just here to help you. I'm going..."
"There's something I've always wanted to ask you, Kakashi." His voice had lost most of the unused, grating quality. As he became more accustomed to speech, he settled back into his old deep, earnest tone. "The entire month we were on that mountain, I wanted to ask you. But anytime I tried, you made it very clear that you didn't want to talk about it. Damn it, Kakashi, let's talk about it!"
Sasuke moved towards his teacher, narrowed the gap between them so Kakashi could feel his breath warming the fabric covering his neck. He looked up at Kakashi and whispered, "Where did you get the Sharingan?"
Kakashi's visible eye widened. The moment he had always known would come was here, and he still wasn't prepared.
Sasuke's eyes were murderous as he continued. "Did you pull it from my relative's skull with your bare fingers? Did you have Uchiha blood under your nails, dripping down your knuckles?" He advanced towards Kakashi with each phrase, and Kakashi backed, unprepared for this onslaught.
"Did you pin him beneath the weight of your body as you worked on him?" His voice had risen from a cold whisper to an enraged shout. Soon, the guards would come to investigate, and find that Kakashi had snuck in here.
"Was he still breathing when you started?" Kakashi felt the chilled stone wall against his back.
"What about when you finished? Answer me!" Sasuke screamed.
Kakashi tentatively reached out and touched his shoulders. The alien sensation seemed to jolt Sasuke back to a temporary sanity.
His voice dropped to a whisper, and fear shined through the crimson of his eyes. "Get me out of here, Kakashi."
Before he could respond, Kakashi heard the guards approaching, and disappeared.
***
"Please, Hokage, listen. He can't stay there. He is only receiving enough nutrition for a normal ninja to survive. The Sharingan use so much chakra, they are converting all his food to their use. His body is wasting away. And the isolation is only making his mental state worse."
"The guards and prisoners are terrified of him as it is,” Tsunade responded. “If we restored him to complete health and brought him into contact with people, I can't imagine how they would feel. I have enough people pressuring me to execute as it is. If he hurt or killed someone, I don't think we could keep him alive. Why are we having this conversation, anyway?" She turned to give Kakashi her most daunting leader-like expression. "I remember forbidding everyone, and you specifically, from seeing him."
Kakashi's eye and the twitch of his mask indicated that he thought this was entirely beside the point. He gave his leader his most discomfiting stare.
"Well," Tsunade's expression softened as she settled back in her chair, "at least this proves that my jounin are more resourceful than Naruto; it isn't close to time for me to hand over the reins to him yet. I believe he is still making his daily frontal assault on the prison?"
"Yes, actually the distraction he was causing made my penetration that much easier. Really, I think it’s mostly a gesture on his part. I don't think he knows just what he will do when he gets to Sasuke. I do know that I don't envy you if Naruto ever does get down there to see his dying friend." He gave her a pointed stare with this last statement.
"Kakashi, what do you want me to do? I can't put him into the main area of the prison."
"Then release him. We don't have any solid evidence of him doing anything criminal beyond going to Orochimaru. He wouldn't be the only one in the village guilty of that."
"Anko came back to us of her own will, ready to share valuable information. And she was contained for a period as well."
"Sasuke might be willing to share once he recuperates more. If he receives the proper treatment and incentive."
Tsunade's eyes closed and she rubbed her temple violently. "I'll talk to the Council. This conversation is over."
"Thank you, Hokage." With a bow, Kakashi exited her office.
***
After many closed door meetings, petitions from all sides (except Sasuke's own) and heavy negotiations, Sasuke was released. To the custody of the Hyuuga clan.
The Hokage refused to speak with Kakashi on the matter, but he convinced Shizune to have a drink with him and explain the reasoning.
The Hokage (with the Council's input) had decided that the prison wasn't the proper place for the last member of the Uchiha clan, but they couldn't decide where to put him.
They said that Kakashi hadn't proven himself equal to restraining Sasuke three years earlier, and so they didn't trust him now. His few friends who would be willing to have him might not be capable either, once he regained his strength.
The Hyuuga had a compound filled with many of the village's strongest ninja. While there had been much animosity between the Uchiha and the Hyuuga in the past, the Council felt they could be trusted, especially after the negotiations were over. In exchange for taking Sasuke in and only harming him if it were absolutely necessary, the Council would be willing to overlook even more of the practices the clan engaged in behind their walls. Also, their taxes would be greatly reduced for the next four years. Everyone had a lot to gain from this.
"Do you think the Fifth would let me visit him? Kakashi asked, after ordering Shizune another drink for her trouble.
"Maybe. I'll broach it with her." She considered him carefully. "Why are you so persistent about this boy?"
"He's my student."
"And when was the last time you dropped in on Sakura? There would be a lot less paperwork involved in that."
***
They stared at each other, a bare table separating them. Kakashi didn't ask what happened to him between the time he left the village and when Anko informed the Hokage that Orochimaru was dead (the fizzling away of a curse seal is apparently a painful process, sure to notify the bearer of such things). Or why the ANBU had found Sasuke, covered in someone else's blood mingled with his own, wandering through the forest, incoherent. Sasuke didn't answer.
Sasuke didn't ask the questions that still lingered after their encounter in his cell. Kakashi didn't volunteer any information.
It had been like this for a month now. Kakashi had been granted permission by the Hokage and the Hyuuga head to visit Sasuke once a week.
Every week he visited, and they glared at one another or sat almost comfortably, Kakashi reading Jiraiya’s latest masterpiece, but without a word being exchanged other than Kakashi's greeting and farewell.
Today, however, as Kakashi got up to leave, Sasuke broke his silence. "Why do you keep coming here?"
"Because you need me to." Feeling satisfied with the brief look of shock that passed over Sasuke's features, Kakashi turned and left.
***
"I'm still in prison, you know."
"You're a traitor. That's where they put traitors."
Sasuke drew in on himself again.
"Besides, it doesn't look like they're treating you that poorly. You're gaining weight back. If they beat you, they're obviously taking care to hide the bruises."
Kakashi brushed Sasuke off to his face, but he did take his complaint to heart. Sasuke was kept isolated from everyone except Kakashi and the Hyuugas, who possessed varying degrees of wariness and indifference when it came to Sasuke (the only exception being Neji, who was still angry about the wasteful mission he had been sent on three years earlier for Sasuke’s benefit).
Naruto had been permitted to visit Sasuke once. His presence upset his teammate's fragile mental disposition too much, however. His hosts had to contain him and expel Naruto from the compound when they sensed Sasuke forming the Chidori under the table.
Sakura hadn't tried to visit him yet. She knew it would upset her too much.
Sasuke was used to being alone, and seemed to prefer it that way. It was the isolation combined with the containment that seemed to be bothering him. He was a ninja, and he needed to be able to exercise his muscles, to train. Kakashi knew, however, that the villagers weren't ready for this yet.
***
After a few months of Sasuke behaving himself and pacing around every inch of the Hyuuga compound (every inch he was allowed to tread on, anyway), he was permitted to venture outside the walls of the Hyuuga estate.
He was allowed to leave once a week with Kakashi, and they could only be gone for a maximum of two hours. They were not allowed close to the villagers. Sasuke was not allowed access to weapons, nor was he allowed to train in ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu. When asked if Sasuke was allowed to breathe, as this was the first step in the Uchiha trademark fire techniques, Tsunade informed Kakashi he wasn't funny.
"These are necessary precautions when dealing with a returned missing-nin."
"I just wonder how these restrictions affect his recuperation."
"When he shows signs of wanting to recuperate," Tsunade responded, "we'll talk about it."
***
Avoiding villagers meant going to the forest, but not to any of the popular training grounds.
They ran from tree to tree, exploring the woods as Kakashi had not done since he was a small boy.
Though he didn't say anything, Kakashi knew that Sasuke was grateful for the chance to really stretch his muscles. His body wasn't prepared for the exertion, though. He had to stop often to catch his breath.
Kakashi never suggested that he should slow down. He just stopped whenever Sasuke needed, and waited until he was ready to go on.
The village of the Leaf existed in a perennial summer. All was green around them as they stood under the awnings of the trees.
Kakashi always tried to veer their outings toward places he remembered as being particularly beautiful, and he was seldom disappointed.
He was always afraid that they would arrive at a place once thick with trees only to find them in ruins or perhaps populated only by saplings, struggling to put out roots. The destructive capabilities of many of the villagers were staggering, and battles and training sessions took their toll on the forest constantly. Most of his places, thankfully, were out of the way enough that they had been spared this fate.
Sometimes he felt the urge to share his knowledge of Konoha's flora with Sasuke, but he knew from experience that the boy would merely act disinterested and give Kakashi a look that clearly said, "Why should I give a shit?" so he just took him to the places, and let him experience them.
A part of him hoped that Sasuke would remember why the village was beautiful. The more cynical part of him knew that he would be lucky if Sasuke ever thought anything was mildly pleasant again, but the small part of him still hoped.
***
Kakashi arrived at the Hyuuga compound, nodded to the man on guard duty, and went to collect Sasuke. When he found him he looked positively surly, but didn't seem willing to say what was wrong.
After they had run for a while and he was taking his first break, he came out with it. "Where were you last week?"
"I was on a mission in the Wind Country. Why are you so upset? It's not the first time I've missed a visit."
“Just let me know not to expect you next time, all right?”
“I’m sorry I had to go. Next time I’ll send word.”
Sasuke nodded in response. He was studying Kakashi carefully.
His teacher continued speaking. "Are you ready to go? You look rested."
Rather than continuing the excursion, however, Sasuke advanced toward Kakashi. There was no killing intent, no malice emanating with his chakra.
What was there seemed strange, nothing he had ever expected from Sasuke. It threw Kakashi off guard enough to allow Sasuke to get his hands under his vest.
Sasuke was tentative, running hi hands along Kakashi's shirt, exploring. He outlined the abdominal muscles with his thumbs, finding the distinctions between each one. He glanced up at Kakashi, wanting to see how he was being received.
Those crimson eyes reminded Kakashi of who this was and what he should say. No, this was not what Sasuke needed. No, they should head back now. No, this was not in the terms of his agreement with the Fifth. All he managed to get to his lips, however, was "Sasuke."
At this affirmation, Sasuke took his hands from under the vest and promptly ripped it off, pulling it apart at the center. Kakashi would have protested that the zipper was easier and made for less difficult explanations to others, but then Sasuke's hands were on him again. His fingers ran across Kakashi's stomach on the way to his back.
Sasuke pulled him closer to himself, running hands up and down his back, inside the waistband of his pants. He was exploring, asking nothing from Kakashi in return, although the hardness pressed against his thigh suggested this wasn't entirely for Kakashi's benefit.
Sasuke's hands were stroking his ass, cupping and moving, his fingers making the nerves dance, while pressing Kakashi's cock against Sasuke's hip with each movement.
His eyes were closed, his mind racing with sensations he hadn't felt in years. He was so lost in himself that he was a second too late in noticing Sasuke's grab for the kunai.
His eye shot open, but in that second Sasuke had brought the knife to Kakashi's throat. The eyes that looked up at him seemed to be trying to engender trust, though - as much as those cold eyes could.
So, he didn't stop Sasuke from making a slash with the kunai. With a flick of his wrist, Sasuke cut through the fabric that connected his mask to the rest of his shirt.
Apparently he had decided to respect Kakashi's privacy concerning his face, but not to respect the integrity of his clothing.
The last shred of his will evaporated with that movement of the knife. His hands found Sasuke's hair and skin and his entire world was reduced to the tree at his back, the hip pressed against his groin, and the teeth at his neck.
Sasuke grew frustrated and ripped Kakashi's shirt down to the hem. As Sasuke's tongue ran across the line of his collarbone and then he started sucking on his nipple (causing Kakashi to buck unexpectedly) Kakashi forgot to ask Sasuke how he expected him to go back to the Hyuuga household looking like this.
Everything was a blur for Kakashi from this point forward. He seemed to remember pulling Sasuke's clothes off and Sasuke being put out as the shirt got caught temporarily around his head. There was some memory (and evidence found later) of fingernails scraping across his back, inside his thighs, and across Sasuke's hips. He pretty clearly remembered being shaken by the sight of a dark black tattoo on Sasuke's left hip identical to the one that used to be on Orochimaru's forearm. Apparently Sasuke had been prepared almost completely for becoming his master's vessel. Most vivid, however, was the memory of an insurmountable tension and waiting and the knowledge that it would never end, he would never feel right again followed by lightning bliss and release into Sasuke's warm mouth and hot moisture all over his hand and a small part of his brain telling him it came from Sasuke before he sank into darkness.
***
He woke up to a twig scratching against his naked back. His eyes confirmed that he was wearing nothing but his head protector and mask and that, although he last remembered Sasuke as wearing less, he was now fully clothed and sitting under a nearby tree, staring blankly ahead.
Kakashi performed a few seals to complete a water jutsu to clean himself off, and pulled on his clothes which were still intact. He was surprised to find that all of his weapons were still in their pouches - until two hours earlier, he would have expected Sasuke to take one if given the chance.
However, Sasuke had definitely proven that Kakashi didn't know him as well as he pretended to.
"Sasuke, why..." The question was left hanging in the air.
"Because I needed to."
***
He had trusted Sasuke. He had told him to wait right where he was while Kakashi teleported to his apartment, changed his shirt and vest, and returned. With this schedule, they could make it back to the Hyuuga compound five minutes before their deadline.
Before today, Kakashi would have cast a containment jutsu on him for the ten minutes he would be gone. That no longer seemed appropriate after what had happened today. Whatever had happened today.
Kakashi had returned, however, and there was no trace of Sasuke.
He began to summon tracking dogs, but was interrupted by the appearance of Kotetsu and Izumo.
"The Fifth sent us," Kotetsu explained. "Uchiha has been located, and she demands your presence immediately."
***
"I don't know if I could be more disappointed in your handling of this, Kakashi," Tsunade began. "You seemed to be making some real progress, and then you let this happen."
"May I ask one question, Hokage? Where is Sasuke?"
"I'll show you. Perhaps then you will understand the full severity of your situation." She reached down to pull a large glass ball on a burgundy pillow from under her desk. "Not many people know about this," Tsunade continued. "It belonged to the Third." She made a seal and concentrated on the globe. Sasuke appeared, a cut on his cheek and red marks around his eyes where bruises would no doubt soon appear. He was pacing back and forth in a small room. The stone walls appeared to be those of the prison.
"As you can see, Kakashi, he is safe and, although unhappy, unharmed."
"Where did he go?" Kakashi asked. "Was he running away again? Did he hurt anyone? I can see he's been fighting."
"He doesn't seem to have been running away. They found him at his house. He didn't actually put up much of a fight, the men I send just, er, expected him to. They were a little overly exuberant."
"Do you know what Sasuke was doing?"
"Just getting a taste of freedom or indulging in nostalgia, as far as I can tell. But we're going to find out if he had any other plans."
"You're going to interrogate him."
"What I do with him is the business of myself and the Council. What you do with him, however, is also the business of myself and the Council. And I saw you doing some rather unorthodox things with him."
He had been so concerned about Sasuke that he hadn't let the situation fully sink in yet. Tsunade had seen everything that had gone on during today's visit with Sasuke.
"So, is this an important part of the recuperation process, Kakashi? Not only do I not think a romp on the forest floor with his most trusted authority figure is appropriate or healthy, you endangered the entire village. You let him obtain a weapon, you left yourself and the villagers completely vulnerable as you slept, and then you left him by himself! I know you trusted him, but you had no right to make that decision for everyone else."
"It won't happen again, Hokage."
"Of course it won't. Tomorrow morning you will leave for the Rock Village for an information-gathering mission of an undetermined length of time, a minimum of four months. You will set up an identity there and send reports to us at least once a week. The only correspondence you receive from Konoha will pertain to your mission. Izumo and Kotetsu are waiting to brief you on the details." Tsunade paused and considered Kakashi. "I will not report on your actions of today to the Council beyond the fact that you let Uchiha Sasuke escape from you, but no real harm seems to have been done."
"Thank you, Hokage."
"You are dismissed."
***
Kakashi sent word through Genma, one of the guards assigned to Sasuke while he was going through the interrogation process, that he was being sent away and didn't know when he would return.
He knew he wasn't supposed to have contacted Sasuke, but the hard work he would put in during the next few months would make up for any small transgressions now.
In the thin hours before he had to leave, Kakashi went to the memorial stone to tell Obito how badly he had screwed things up and how he didn't know exactly which parts to regret.
He found he couldn't regret what he was being sent away for - he couldn't regret sex with Sasuke, and he didn't regret trusting him, even if that trust had been betrayed. He did regret not telling Sasuke the truth about his Sharingan, about Obito. He deserved to understand.
Mostly he regretted that which he had no control over - Sasuke's decision to leave, Tsunade's decision to keep him imprisoned for so long, and Kakashi's own loyalty to his village, which kept him from breaking Sasuke out and running for freedom right now.