Wild heart, child heart. [Sengoku Basara]
SENGOKU BASARA and all characters/ideas/concepts/places therein are not mine, although the writing certainly is.
Title: Wild heart, child heart.
Characters/Pairing(s): Sasuke and Yukimura, with wild Takeda appearances and a wandering Kasuga
Rating: PG
Summary: How to tame a tiger.
Warnings? Possibly AU.
Notes:
+ I haven’t listened to any of the drama CDs, nor do I have access to any other Japanese-only material. As such, I’ve taken great liberties with writing this fic out.
+ Working on the assumption that there’s a sizeable age gap between Sasuke and Yukimura. I’d like to assume that in this piece, Yukimura’s around six years old while Sasuke’s 17-19.
+ The title for this is taken from the 31 Days theme for August 21, 2010.
Wild heart, child heart.
“Welcome to Kai, Sasuke-kun! You must be tired from your journey, given the distance you traveled to get here.”
“No distance is too great in exchange for the honor of serving under a lord such as yourself, Takeda-dono.”
The only response he received to that was the sound of hearty laughter. The gesture was warm, genuine: Sasuke could deduce as much, in spite of the fact that he had rarely stepped out of his home village to test his skills up until that point. Nevertheless, the ninja did not change his position in the slightest - he remained in half-seiza, forehead almost pressed down to the ground in a bow. He was in the presence of the Tiger of Kai for reasons that he was yet to determine; the summons had surprised him just as much as it had surprised his brothers, his sisters, his elders in the order. For a great warlord to call upon one such as himself by name, when there were older ones, better ones…
He had faith in his skills, of course, but he, like any wise man in the making, knew his position in the world well.
“Well! Now that the formalities are out of the way, we can get down to business. Straighten up, Sasuke-kun, so that I might better explain the nature of your assignment.”
“As you command, sire.”
Sasuke complied promptly, shifting up, sitting straight-backed and at attention. Although he kept his expression carefully schooled, his thoughts were going in every possible direction. Why HAD he been called here? What was the famed Tiger of Kai thinking? It was disconcerting, in fact, to watch the man and be able to read nothing from his expression, his smile. Was this what it was like to come face-to-face with one of the most powerful warlords of Hi-no-Moto? He could only wonder how the man was during a military campaign. Thinking about it made him glad that he had been chosen to serve Kai rather than any other land. The only real problem with that was the possibility of facing Kasuga-chan on the battlefield-
“Sarutobi Sasuke!”
“S… sir!”
For one split second, he was pretty sure that his career as a ninja would end in him being reduced to a bloody splatter in Shingen Takeda’s reception hall. As such, Sasuke felt great relief wash over him when Takeda’s expression shifted from total seriousness to a wide grin.
And then his instincts kicked in and something told him that be very afraid.
“The first and only service that you shall perform for me, from this point until the grave, will be to tame a young tiger.”
Sasuke’s jaw worked for about fifteen seconds before he managed to come up with something to say, and by then? He was already too late.
“OYAKATA-SAMAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”
From where he had been sitting, the source of that battlecry was about as tiny as the voice was, and it had hurtled past him like a red and white comet shooting straight for Shingen. Shingen, in turn, simply reached out with one hand, meeting the impact head on. The resulting shockwave of the encounter temporarily stole the air from Sasuke’s lungs.
It was about then that the ninja realized that the comet was not a comet at all, but a boy with a head full of messy brown hair, decked out in a training gi. Half of his face - still round and padded with baby fat - was squished, cheek first, against Shingen’s palm, and he was making sounds remarkably similar to a growling beast as he continued to squirm in place, tiny little feet working furiously in the hopes that he’d somehow be able to drive himself forward and hit his target. At the rate that the boy was going, he was surely going to punch a small hole through the floor.
“Oho, the beast has impeccable timing!” Shingen boomed; the entire incident had left him in a good mood, it seemed. The famed general reached out with his free arm, lifting the boy up by the collar of his gi and holding turning him about, holding him - dangling in mid-air, flailing his little arms and kicking his feet - in front of Sasuke. He was vaguely reminded of how people treated feisty stray kittens.
“This is Sanada Yukimura, the young tiger of Kai.” The warlord grinned. “I trust that the two of you will do all that you can to get along.”
***
“…So at the end of it, you were summoned to Kai to become a nursemaid?”
“I’d rather be called an animal handler.”
Kasuga stared at him for about a second too long, and Sasuke was almost certain that she was going to start laughing all over again. She had just managed to stop; he hadn’t thought it possible for someone to laugh for over ten minutes.
“Come now, surely the child is not as bad as you say he is!”
Sasuke gave her a flat look. He then removed the guard on his right arm and pulled his sleeve back. There were several sets of teeth marks on it, clearly from a tiny (and human) mouth. Kasuga, at least, looked alarmed and sympathetic on equal counts.
“Perhaps you should see a doctor. Those bites may be dangerous.”
“He does not have rabies, Kasuga.” He was pretty sure Yukimura didn’t now. “Anyway, I think you can see why this is troublesome for me now.”
“Yes, I suppose I can.”
The two ninja were perched on one of the higher branches of a fir tree in a forest somewhere between Kai and Echigo - they had run into each other while delivering messages for their masters, and after a customary tussle in the treetops, had decided to catch up and exchange notes on their respective assignments. In times of relative peace, their common allegiance to the ninja village of their birth took precedence over the lords they served.
“Is the child attached to you, at least? If he has some sort of fondness for you, then that should make him easier to deal with in some fashion…”
“Have you any experience raising a child? If one likes you, it’ll follow you everywhere!” Even to the bathroom. (He still had nightmares about the first time that had happened.) “No, I don’t think this job is easy, and I’m not sure what will make it easy. I suppose I should be flattered that a Tiger of Kai thought that one from our number would be able to handle this.”
“What do you think it will take?”
“A contingent of men armed to the teeth.”
He wasn’t joking, and Kasuga knew it. The blond kunoichi chuckled. “You have defeated groups of soldiers like that, have you not? That should make you more than qualified for the job.” She stood up, then, turning towards the direction of Echigo. “I have idled here long enough. Farewell, Sarutobi Sasuke.”
He wondered, for a moment, why she had seemed particularly eager to be on her way. Then he remembered the way Uesugi Kenshin looked. Not his type, of course (for one, he was not particularly inclined towards the forbidden love between men), but Kasuga had always liked her men on the pretty side…
When he returned to Kai, Sasuke had about five minutes all to himself before he turned a corner and was ambushed, on cue, by the boy he had been charged with the duty of “taming”.
“Beware, Sarutobi Sasuke, for today is the day I defeat you!”
Sasuke wasn’t even aware of the fact that he had sidestepped Yukimura’s flying kick from the bushes; their routine was so familiar to him that it had ingrained itself into his muscles, making his body remember exactly what it needed to do before his mind had even processed the situation. The ninja effortlessly dodged the rest of the boy’s attacks, counting exactly ten seconds before he simply reached forward and planting his palm against Yukimura’s forehead, holding him at arm’s length.
“You’re still a few years too early to try this sort of thing with me, danna.”
“IT DOES NOT MATTER, FOR I, SANADA YUKIMURA, POSSESS GREAT FIGHTING SPIRIT!”
It was that self-same fighting spirit that was compelling the boy to attempt to dash against the force exerted upon his forehead by Sasuke’s palm, with a mighty battle cry. Sasuke stepped to the side, releasing Yukimura with a yawn. The boy tumbled, head over heels, thrice over. Surprisingly, by the time Yukimura righted himself, his cheeks were flushed, and the grin on his lips went from one ear to the other.
“Let’s do that again, Sasuke!”
Before Sasuke could respond with the first excuse that he could cook up off the top of his head (becoming Yukimura’s caretaker/playmate/handler had made him incredibly adept at making excuses), he was saved by Shingen’s expert timing.
“Ah, just the shadow I was looking for.” The warlord absentmindedly waved off Sasuke’s attempt at greeting him. “Come: I have a contract to discuss with you. Potential assignment. Unless,” he added, with a measured look in Yukimura’s direction, “you are busy with your duties here?”
Sasuke didn’t even bother glancing at the boy.
“Not at all, my lord.”
It was only too easy to stare at some fixed point beyond Shingen’s head, and miss the look in the general’s eyes.
“Very well.”
***
When Shingen had explained the situation to him and what he wanted Sasuke to do, Sasuke had believed that the mission wasn’t going to be a problem at all. He had good reason to: the assignment was a basic drop and go. Typical sabotage work, the sort that novices should have been able to handle without difficulty. He was among the best and brightest of his generation in the village. This should have been nothing.
Of course, what he hadn’t anticipated was the possibility that enemies of Kai would be ready for him. What he had not been ready for was the off-chance that he’d be facing a base full of soldiers ready for his arrival, together with a clutch of experienced ninja from a rival village. Still, being in the profession meant being ready for anything - or, at least, capable of responding quickly to any situation, quick enough to save one from certain death.
He must have spent about an hour trying to escape from the stronghold, and another one shaking off his pursuers in the forest. Then there was the agonizing trek, mostly on foot, all the way back to friendly territory. By the time he reached the gates of the Takeda compound, he was dirty from the road and dizzy from pain of his injuries. He was so out of it, in fact, that his mind didn’t quite register the fact that he had slumped to the ground until well after it had happened.
It was funny, the sort of thoughts that occupied a man when he was well past the point of hurting like hell and a maybe a bit loony from blood loss. It wasn’t anything that made a lot of sense - just a handful of images, old sensations, warm things. There was the crawl of the dark to consider as well. Tempting, perhaps, to just float down towards it and let go -
- and it was at that point that he stabbing pain in his side, right where one of the enemy ninja had managed to run him through. Sasuke winced, reaching for the wound and discovering that his fingers - shaking and bloody - were grasping at a shock of messy brown hair.
“…Danna?”
Yukimura didn’t answer him; the boy had somehow materialized at his side, and was currently squirming under Sasuke’s limp arm, trying, with all of his strength, to lift Sasuke up. He couldn’t remember the boy ever looking so serious, so totally determined.
“Hey, it’s all right. Just go and call for help-”
“NO!”
The vehemence of the denial caught him by surprise. It took him a bit too long to come up with something else to say, and by then, the shouting in the corridor had indicated that someone had found them both.
Throughout the entire mess of blood and agony and bandages and salve that came in the hours after, Yukimura stayed at the fringe of the action, right there at the shoji doors of Sasuke’s room, watching everything.
***
“He wandered into our capital, you know, on foot. That was how he came into my household.”
Shingen had come to visit him the evening afterward - Sasuke had woke up, in fact, to find the man already sitting beside his futon with his usual, cryptic smile. There was no trace of Yukimura anywhere; Sasuke thought to ask, but Shingen had preempted him by explaining that he had had one of the retainers cart the boy off to his own quarters. He had sat outside of Sasuke’s room, attempting to hold vigil, for a period far too long for a child his age.
“His father’s army had been defeated - the man had barely managed to make it back to the castle, and their enemies were right on his heels. He fought well, but it was not enough. I am told that Yukimura-kun watched as a unit of spear men skewered him at the gates.”
Staring at the ceiling, Sasuke realized, was about the extent of physical activity that he was capable of doing without any sort of discomfort. He would have been inclined to find it boring, but at the moment, it was useful for avoiding Shingen’s gaze.
“Yukimura carried his father on his back all the way to my home, in the hopes that we would be able to save his life. We were not. In fact, his father had been passed on long before he reached us.”
One of the shoji doors opened at that point; the retainer behind it approached Shingen quietly, murmured something into the general’s ear. Sasuke did not bother listening in: it would take too much effort. Shingen, in turn, dismissed the man and stood up.
“Rest well, Sasuke. I expect you to return to your duties promptly.”
***
“I know you’re there.”
Day three of spending just about every hour, waking or sleeping, flat on his back and bundled up in a futon, and Yukimura was hovering just out of sight but definitely NOT out of hearing range yet again. Or trying to. He was incredibly bad at being sneaky; this was just the first time Sasuke was calling him on it.
“Come out, danna. There’s no point in hiding from me now.”
There was a moment of guilty silence before Yukimura peeked out from behind the wall. Sasuke tried not to sigh.
“Don’t just stand there. Come over.”
In retrospect, he shouldn’t have been ordering the boy around - he was meant to be Yukimura’s retainer and bodyguard - but before this entire mess had gone down, Shingen had called upon him to handle the cub. He’d handle him, all right. Nothing got results like a strong voice of authority.
Yukimura was inching forward, creeping in much like a kitten might in unfamiliar territory; the boy kept his mouth shut and his gaze fixed on the floor. Distractedly, Sasuke realized he missed the noise and exuberance and the smiles. Heck, maybe he even missed the biting.
It was in that spirit that the ninja reached forward with his good arm, tugging the boy forward. There was a bit of a surprised yelp right before Yukimura went completely still against his chest.
“I’m going to sleep,” Sasuke stoutly declared, “so don’t move around so much.”
He promptly shut his eyes and hoped that sleep would indeed find its way to him. He was just about to drift off when he felt Yukimura shift, just so, right under his chin.
“Un.”
Hours later, Shingen wandered past Sasuke’s room - a quick glance in revealed the ninja sprawled out quite comfortably on his futon, with Yukimura curled up right at his side. The air was still enough for him to hear the sound of their breathing.
The warlord smiled to himself, shook his head and went on his way. He wouldn’t tell either of them about it until later, when they were both old enough to be embarrassed over their actions in equal measures.
Title: Wild heart, child heart.
Characters/Pairing(s): Sasuke and Yukimura, with wild Takeda appearances and a wandering Kasuga
Rating: PG
Summary: How to tame a tiger.
Warnings? Possibly AU.
Notes:
+ I haven’t listened to any of the drama CDs, nor do I have access to any other Japanese-only material. As such, I’ve taken great liberties with writing this fic out.
+ Working on the assumption that there’s a sizeable age gap between Sasuke and Yukimura. I’d like to assume that in this piece, Yukimura’s around six years old while Sasuke’s 17-19.
+ The title for this is taken from the 31 Days theme for August 21, 2010.
Wild heart, child heart.
“Welcome to Kai, Sasuke-kun! You must be tired from your journey, given the distance you traveled to get here.”
“No distance is too great in exchange for the honor of serving under a lord such as yourself, Takeda-dono.”
The only response he received to that was the sound of hearty laughter. The gesture was warm, genuine: Sasuke could deduce as much, in spite of the fact that he had rarely stepped out of his home village to test his skills up until that point. Nevertheless, the ninja did not change his position in the slightest - he remained in half-seiza, forehead almost pressed down to the ground in a bow. He was in the presence of the Tiger of Kai for reasons that he was yet to determine; the summons had surprised him just as much as it had surprised his brothers, his sisters, his elders in the order. For a great warlord to call upon one such as himself by name, when there were older ones, better ones…
He had faith in his skills, of course, but he, like any wise man in the making, knew his position in the world well.
“Well! Now that the formalities are out of the way, we can get down to business. Straighten up, Sasuke-kun, so that I might better explain the nature of your assignment.”
“As you command, sire.”
Sasuke complied promptly, shifting up, sitting straight-backed and at attention. Although he kept his expression carefully schooled, his thoughts were going in every possible direction. Why HAD he been called here? What was the famed Tiger of Kai thinking? It was disconcerting, in fact, to watch the man and be able to read nothing from his expression, his smile. Was this what it was like to come face-to-face with one of the most powerful warlords of Hi-no-Moto? He could only wonder how the man was during a military campaign. Thinking about it made him glad that he had been chosen to serve Kai rather than any other land. The only real problem with that was the possibility of facing Kasuga-chan on the battlefield-
“Sarutobi Sasuke!”
“S… sir!”
For one split second, he was pretty sure that his career as a ninja would end in him being reduced to a bloody splatter in Shingen Takeda’s reception hall. As such, Sasuke felt great relief wash over him when Takeda’s expression shifted from total seriousness to a wide grin.
And then his instincts kicked in and something told him that be very afraid.
“The first and only service that you shall perform for me, from this point until the grave, will be to tame a young tiger.”
Sasuke’s jaw worked for about fifteen seconds before he managed to come up with something to say, and by then? He was already too late.
“OYAKATA-SAMAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”
From where he had been sitting, the source of that battlecry was about as tiny as the voice was, and it had hurtled past him like a red and white comet shooting straight for Shingen. Shingen, in turn, simply reached out with one hand, meeting the impact head on. The resulting shockwave of the encounter temporarily stole the air from Sasuke’s lungs.
It was about then that the ninja realized that the comet was not a comet at all, but a boy with a head full of messy brown hair, decked out in a training gi. Half of his face - still round and padded with baby fat - was squished, cheek first, against Shingen’s palm, and he was making sounds remarkably similar to a growling beast as he continued to squirm in place, tiny little feet working furiously in the hopes that he’d somehow be able to drive himself forward and hit his target. At the rate that the boy was going, he was surely going to punch a small hole through the floor.
“Oho, the beast has impeccable timing!” Shingen boomed; the entire incident had left him in a good mood, it seemed. The famed general reached out with his free arm, lifting the boy up by the collar of his gi and holding turning him about, holding him - dangling in mid-air, flailing his little arms and kicking his feet - in front of Sasuke. He was vaguely reminded of how people treated feisty stray kittens.
“This is Sanada Yukimura, the young tiger of Kai.” The warlord grinned. “I trust that the two of you will do all that you can to get along.”
***
“…So at the end of it, you were summoned to Kai to become a nursemaid?”
“I’d rather be called an animal handler.”
Kasuga stared at him for about a second too long, and Sasuke was almost certain that she was going to start laughing all over again. She had just managed to stop; he hadn’t thought it possible for someone to laugh for over ten minutes.
“Come now, surely the child is not as bad as you say he is!”
Sasuke gave her a flat look. He then removed the guard on his right arm and pulled his sleeve back. There were several sets of teeth marks on it, clearly from a tiny (and human) mouth. Kasuga, at least, looked alarmed and sympathetic on equal counts.
“Perhaps you should see a doctor. Those bites may be dangerous.”
“He does not have rabies, Kasuga.” He was pretty sure Yukimura didn’t now. “Anyway, I think you can see why this is troublesome for me now.”
“Yes, I suppose I can.”
The two ninja were perched on one of the higher branches of a fir tree in a forest somewhere between Kai and Echigo - they had run into each other while delivering messages for their masters, and after a customary tussle in the treetops, had decided to catch up and exchange notes on their respective assignments. In times of relative peace, their common allegiance to the ninja village of their birth took precedence over the lords they served.
“Is the child attached to you, at least? If he has some sort of fondness for you, then that should make him easier to deal with in some fashion…”
“Have you any experience raising a child? If one likes you, it’ll follow you everywhere!” Even to the bathroom. (He still had nightmares about the first time that had happened.) “No, I don’t think this job is easy, and I’m not sure what will make it easy. I suppose I should be flattered that a Tiger of Kai thought that one from our number would be able to handle this.”
“What do you think it will take?”
“A contingent of men armed to the teeth.”
He wasn’t joking, and Kasuga knew it. The blond kunoichi chuckled. “You have defeated groups of soldiers like that, have you not? That should make you more than qualified for the job.” She stood up, then, turning towards the direction of Echigo. “I have idled here long enough. Farewell, Sarutobi Sasuke.”
He wondered, for a moment, why she had seemed particularly eager to be on her way. Then he remembered the way Uesugi Kenshin looked. Not his type, of course (for one, he was not particularly inclined towards the forbidden love between men), but Kasuga had always liked her men on the pretty side…
When he returned to Kai, Sasuke had about five minutes all to himself before he turned a corner and was ambushed, on cue, by the boy he had been charged with the duty of “taming”.
“Beware, Sarutobi Sasuke, for today is the day I defeat you!”
Sasuke wasn’t even aware of the fact that he had sidestepped Yukimura’s flying kick from the bushes; their routine was so familiar to him that it had ingrained itself into his muscles, making his body remember exactly what it needed to do before his mind had even processed the situation. The ninja effortlessly dodged the rest of the boy’s attacks, counting exactly ten seconds before he simply reached forward and planting his palm against Yukimura’s forehead, holding him at arm’s length.
“You’re still a few years too early to try this sort of thing with me, danna.”
“IT DOES NOT MATTER, FOR I, SANADA YUKIMURA, POSSESS GREAT FIGHTING SPIRIT!”
It was that self-same fighting spirit that was compelling the boy to attempt to dash against the force exerted upon his forehead by Sasuke’s palm, with a mighty battle cry. Sasuke stepped to the side, releasing Yukimura with a yawn. The boy tumbled, head over heels, thrice over. Surprisingly, by the time Yukimura righted himself, his cheeks were flushed, and the grin on his lips went from one ear to the other.
“Let’s do that again, Sasuke!”
Before Sasuke could respond with the first excuse that he could cook up off the top of his head (becoming Yukimura’s caretaker/playmate/handler had made him incredibly adept at making excuses), he was saved by Shingen’s expert timing.
“Ah, just the shadow I was looking for.” The warlord absentmindedly waved off Sasuke’s attempt at greeting him. “Come: I have a contract to discuss with you. Potential assignment. Unless,” he added, with a measured look in Yukimura’s direction, “you are busy with your duties here?”
Sasuke didn’t even bother glancing at the boy.
“Not at all, my lord.”
It was only too easy to stare at some fixed point beyond Shingen’s head, and miss the look in the general’s eyes.
“Very well.”
***
When Shingen had explained the situation to him and what he wanted Sasuke to do, Sasuke had believed that the mission wasn’t going to be a problem at all. He had good reason to: the assignment was a basic drop and go. Typical sabotage work, the sort that novices should have been able to handle without difficulty. He was among the best and brightest of his generation in the village. This should have been nothing.
Of course, what he hadn’t anticipated was the possibility that enemies of Kai would be ready for him. What he had not been ready for was the off-chance that he’d be facing a base full of soldiers ready for his arrival, together with a clutch of experienced ninja from a rival village. Still, being in the profession meant being ready for anything - or, at least, capable of responding quickly to any situation, quick enough to save one from certain death.
He must have spent about an hour trying to escape from the stronghold, and another one shaking off his pursuers in the forest. Then there was the agonizing trek, mostly on foot, all the way back to friendly territory. By the time he reached the gates of the Takeda compound, he was dirty from the road and dizzy from pain of his injuries. He was so out of it, in fact, that his mind didn’t quite register the fact that he had slumped to the ground until well after it had happened.
It was funny, the sort of thoughts that occupied a man when he was well past the point of hurting like hell and a maybe a bit loony from blood loss. It wasn’t anything that made a lot of sense - just a handful of images, old sensations, warm things. There was the crawl of the dark to consider as well. Tempting, perhaps, to just float down towards it and let go -
- and it was at that point that he stabbing pain in his side, right where one of the enemy ninja had managed to run him through. Sasuke winced, reaching for the wound and discovering that his fingers - shaking and bloody - were grasping at a shock of messy brown hair.
“…Danna?”
Yukimura didn’t answer him; the boy had somehow materialized at his side, and was currently squirming under Sasuke’s limp arm, trying, with all of his strength, to lift Sasuke up. He couldn’t remember the boy ever looking so serious, so totally determined.
“Hey, it’s all right. Just go and call for help-”
“NO!”
The vehemence of the denial caught him by surprise. It took him a bit too long to come up with something else to say, and by then, the shouting in the corridor had indicated that someone had found them both.
Throughout the entire mess of blood and agony and bandages and salve that came in the hours after, Yukimura stayed at the fringe of the action, right there at the shoji doors of Sasuke’s room, watching everything.
***
“He wandered into our capital, you know, on foot. That was how he came into my household.”
Shingen had come to visit him the evening afterward - Sasuke had woke up, in fact, to find the man already sitting beside his futon with his usual, cryptic smile. There was no trace of Yukimura anywhere; Sasuke thought to ask, but Shingen had preempted him by explaining that he had had one of the retainers cart the boy off to his own quarters. He had sat outside of Sasuke’s room, attempting to hold vigil, for a period far too long for a child his age.
“His father’s army had been defeated - the man had barely managed to make it back to the castle, and their enemies were right on his heels. He fought well, but it was not enough. I am told that Yukimura-kun watched as a unit of spear men skewered him at the gates.”
Staring at the ceiling, Sasuke realized, was about the extent of physical activity that he was capable of doing without any sort of discomfort. He would have been inclined to find it boring, but at the moment, it was useful for avoiding Shingen’s gaze.
“Yukimura carried his father on his back all the way to my home, in the hopes that we would be able to save his life. We were not. In fact, his father had been passed on long before he reached us.”
One of the shoji doors opened at that point; the retainer behind it approached Shingen quietly, murmured something into the general’s ear. Sasuke did not bother listening in: it would take too much effort. Shingen, in turn, dismissed the man and stood up.
“Rest well, Sasuke. I expect you to return to your duties promptly.”
***
“I know you’re there.”
Day three of spending just about every hour, waking or sleeping, flat on his back and bundled up in a futon, and Yukimura was hovering just out of sight but definitely NOT out of hearing range yet again. Or trying to. He was incredibly bad at being sneaky; this was just the first time Sasuke was calling him on it.
“Come out, danna. There’s no point in hiding from me now.”
There was a moment of guilty silence before Yukimura peeked out from behind the wall. Sasuke tried not to sigh.
“Don’t just stand there. Come over.”
In retrospect, he shouldn’t have been ordering the boy around - he was meant to be Yukimura’s retainer and bodyguard - but before this entire mess had gone down, Shingen had called upon him to handle the cub. He’d handle him, all right. Nothing got results like a strong voice of authority.
Yukimura was inching forward, creeping in much like a kitten might in unfamiliar territory; the boy kept his mouth shut and his gaze fixed on the floor. Distractedly, Sasuke realized he missed the noise and exuberance and the smiles. Heck, maybe he even missed the biting.
It was in that spirit that the ninja reached forward with his good arm, tugging the boy forward. There was a bit of a surprised yelp right before Yukimura went completely still against his chest.
“I’m going to sleep,” Sasuke stoutly declared, “so don’t move around so much.”
He promptly shut his eyes and hoped that sleep would indeed find its way to him. He was just about to drift off when he felt Yukimura shift, just so, right under his chin.
“Un.”
Hours later, Shingen wandered past Sasuke’s room - a quick glance in revealed the ninja sprawled out quite comfortably on his futon, with Yukimura curled up right at his side. The air was still enough for him to hear the sound of their breathing.
The warlord smiled to himself, shook his head and went on his way. He wouldn’t tell either of them about it until later, when they were both old enough to be embarrassed over their actions in equal measures.