Naruto :: Nothing Given :: PG-13 :: no pairings
Title: Nothing Given Part 1
Fandom: Naruto
Pairings: None
Rating: PG-13 (violence, blood, language)
Genre: General
Word count: 1,024
Spoilers: Yes, up to chapter 400 or so.
Series summary: Three-shot. When his initial plan for vengeance against Konoha goes awry, Sasuke faces the consequences, burns more of his bridges, and, as always, eventually finds a way to make ends meet.
Chapter summary: Sasuke tends to bite the hand that feeds him, and Danzou is no exception.
Notes: My drabble-esque, iffy-iffy attempt at trying out the more emotional!Sasuke of later chapters. Still not sure if I like it all that much.
"We're giving you one last chance, Uchiha. You're the only one who will suffer if you throw it away rashly."
Sasuke said nothing. His muscles slack, he kept his head down, body immobile under his subtle and silent breathing.
"I'll say this once."
The hand on the back of his neck was firm, the strong fingers around his wrists unyielding and holding his arms erect on either side of him. His legs were useless, all but pinned beneath him as he was held on his knees and now stiff on the stone floor, and with the rag around his head tied so tightly that colors still flashed behind his eyelids, all he could do was listen - he could only listen to the voice he abhorred, spitting out his surname like it was vulgar, echoing off the dungeon walls in emphasis of how the tables had turned. He could only listen and imagine the man who stood in front of him, so infuriatingly close but invisible, untouchable, that offending presence enough to make Sasuke’s skin nearly crawl - much like the seals they had placed on his body to control and monitor his chakra. The man was a similar leech.
"I don't care what you told the inquisitorial squad, and I don't care what they told you." Pause. "I have the authority to alleviate your sentence."
Sasuke was silent.
"Just tell me the location of Akatsuki." Danzou waited, but again received no reaction. "...And the name of the one who told you that nonsense about your clan."
His jaw tightened imperceptibly.
"You have my word on this."
The bastard was lying through his teeth. Sasuke made every effort to keep perfectly motionless.
"...Your answer," Danzou prompted solidly after a moment of quiet, and suddenly Sasuke was hauled to his feet, either as a threat or in emphasis.
He really did underestimate his enemy, the Senju-worshipping little shit.
No, not strictly Senju; trash like this simply clung to whatever power was stronger.
With the only real motion he was allowed, Sasuke slowly raised his head to stare blindly at where he knew Danzou's face was - and then spit directly at it, despite his parched mouth.
It was a pathetic gesture, and one that earned him a solid knock to the head an instant later, but Danzou was worth nothing more, if even that. He was still reeling from the first blow when another landed hard in his stomach, making him double over with a stubbornly suppressed grunt, but the guards held him up. There was the familiar sound of metal sliding from a sheath, something cold and sharp was pressed against the pulse in Sasuke's neck, and he felt Danzou's presence draw closer.
"Don't mistake patience for pity, Uchiha." His tone had gained an obvious edge to it.
That was all Sasuke could take. Tensing enough that the guards gripped him mercilessly tighter, he ignored the gesture and echoed quietly,
"...Patience?" His voice hardened as it finally broke from its silence for that single, skeptical word. Is that what he called wiping out a hundred innocent people because he refused to negotiate? Ordering a thirteen-year-old boy to kill his family? His mother, his father, his grandparents - their aunt, who had been pregnant at the time? Sasuke resisted the emotional urge to snarl these questions at him, but his silence was no better - something blunt smashed into his face, jolting his neck, and he immediately tasted fresh blood on his tongue. He could tell that the skin on his cheek had split open in a gash, but he refused to go slack and stayed, wavering slightly, on his knees, his sore jaw now clenched so tightly it hurt.
"You can suffer for whatever lies you've been fed," said Danzou smoothly, coldly, "or save what little you have left. What happened to your clan was the tragic result of a ninja who was too dangerous for his own good, as well as those around him. Do not delude yourself with the thought that Uchiha Itachi was anything else."
You have my word on this, he'd said. What a fucking joke.
Sasuke winced as he was again forced to stand and then shoved hard against the wall with a hand around his throat. Static filled his head when it struck stone, and he nearly gagged when he instinctively tried to swallow.
"The next thing to come out of your mouth," Danzou murmured, "will be what I asked for."
There were a thousand things Sasuke could have spat back at him, hundreds of threats and hundreds of insults - but in the end, he still said nothing. That would be more infuriating. They could hold Sasuke for the information he didn't have, they could knock him around a bit, but nothing more as long as Tsunade's ban on his life was intact.
Sasuke hadn't cared for that show of pity from the Hokage - a Senju - but now he enjoyed it, secretly revered it, for the sole purpose of irritating Danzou.
A long minute passed. Finally, he heard Danzou shift, and then sure enough there came another strike to his face, the same place as before, agitating the prior injury - but beneath the rage, there was a bit of satisfaction. Danzou's act was one of equal fury.
They forced Sasuke's arms behind him hard enough to make his elbow pop, and the familiar shackles pinched and cut into his wrists as he was quickly and fully restrained. Without another word, he was half-dragged back to his cell and shoved roughly inside, barely avoiding a fall on his face, and the iron door slammed shut in a deafening clang to once again isolate him from the world above.
For a while he stood where he was, riding out the throbbing pain in his head and the lasting emotion in his chest.
This was a competition, like everything else, and Sasuke had the upper hand; Danzou had so much more that he was afraid to lose, and while he could barely afford to even touch Sasuke, it would, in the end, take nothing more than a glance to end his life.
Danzou's time was short.
Chapter 1 || Chapter 2
Fandom: Naruto
Pairings: None
Rating: PG-13 (violence, blood, language)
Genre: General
Word count: 1,024
Spoilers: Yes, up to chapter 400 or so.
Series summary: Three-shot. When his initial plan for vengeance against Konoha goes awry, Sasuke faces the consequences, burns more of his bridges, and, as always, eventually finds a way to make ends meet.
Chapter summary: Sasuke tends to bite the hand that feeds him, and Danzou is no exception.
Notes: My drabble-esque, iffy-iffy attempt at trying out the more emotional!Sasuke of later chapters. Still not sure if I like it all that much.
"We're giving you one last chance, Uchiha. You're the only one who will suffer if you throw it away rashly."
Sasuke said nothing. His muscles slack, he kept his head down, body immobile under his subtle and silent breathing.
"I'll say this once."
The hand on the back of his neck was firm, the strong fingers around his wrists unyielding and holding his arms erect on either side of him. His legs were useless, all but pinned beneath him as he was held on his knees and now stiff on the stone floor, and with the rag around his head tied so tightly that colors still flashed behind his eyelids, all he could do was listen - he could only listen to the voice he abhorred, spitting out his surname like it was vulgar, echoing off the dungeon walls in emphasis of how the tables had turned. He could only listen and imagine the man who stood in front of him, so infuriatingly close but invisible, untouchable, that offending presence enough to make Sasuke’s skin nearly crawl - much like the seals they had placed on his body to control and monitor his chakra. The man was a similar leech.
"I don't care what you told the inquisitorial squad, and I don't care what they told you." Pause. "I have the authority to alleviate your sentence."
Sasuke was silent.
"Just tell me the location of Akatsuki." Danzou waited, but again received no reaction. "...And the name of the one who told you that nonsense about your clan."
His jaw tightened imperceptibly.
"You have my word on this."
The bastard was lying through his teeth. Sasuke made every effort to keep perfectly motionless.
"...Your answer," Danzou prompted solidly after a moment of quiet, and suddenly Sasuke was hauled to his feet, either as a threat or in emphasis.
He really did underestimate his enemy, the Senju-worshipping little shit.
No, not strictly Senju; trash like this simply clung to whatever power was stronger.
With the only real motion he was allowed, Sasuke slowly raised his head to stare blindly at where he knew Danzou's face was - and then spit directly at it, despite his parched mouth.
It was a pathetic gesture, and one that earned him a solid knock to the head an instant later, but Danzou was worth nothing more, if even that. He was still reeling from the first blow when another landed hard in his stomach, making him double over with a stubbornly suppressed grunt, but the guards held him up. There was the familiar sound of metal sliding from a sheath, something cold and sharp was pressed against the pulse in Sasuke's neck, and he felt Danzou's presence draw closer.
"Don't mistake patience for pity, Uchiha." His tone had gained an obvious edge to it.
That was all Sasuke could take. Tensing enough that the guards gripped him mercilessly tighter, he ignored the gesture and echoed quietly,
"...Patience?" His voice hardened as it finally broke from its silence for that single, skeptical word. Is that what he called wiping out a hundred innocent people because he refused to negotiate? Ordering a thirteen-year-old boy to kill his family? His mother, his father, his grandparents - their aunt, who had been pregnant at the time? Sasuke resisted the emotional urge to snarl these questions at him, but his silence was no better - something blunt smashed into his face, jolting his neck, and he immediately tasted fresh blood on his tongue. He could tell that the skin on his cheek had split open in a gash, but he refused to go slack and stayed, wavering slightly, on his knees, his sore jaw now clenched so tightly it hurt.
"You can suffer for whatever lies you've been fed," said Danzou smoothly, coldly, "or save what little you have left. What happened to your clan was the tragic result of a ninja who was too dangerous for his own good, as well as those around him. Do not delude yourself with the thought that Uchiha Itachi was anything else."
You have my word on this, he'd said. What a fucking joke.
Sasuke winced as he was again forced to stand and then shoved hard against the wall with a hand around his throat. Static filled his head when it struck stone, and he nearly gagged when he instinctively tried to swallow.
"The next thing to come out of your mouth," Danzou murmured, "will be what I asked for."
There were a thousand things Sasuke could have spat back at him, hundreds of threats and hundreds of insults - but in the end, he still said nothing. That would be more infuriating. They could hold Sasuke for the information he didn't have, they could knock him around a bit, but nothing more as long as Tsunade's ban on his life was intact.
Sasuke hadn't cared for that show of pity from the Hokage - a Senju - but now he enjoyed it, secretly revered it, for the sole purpose of irritating Danzou.
A long minute passed. Finally, he heard Danzou shift, and then sure enough there came another strike to his face, the same place as before, agitating the prior injury - but beneath the rage, there was a bit of satisfaction. Danzou's act was one of equal fury.
They forced Sasuke's arms behind him hard enough to make his elbow pop, and the familiar shackles pinched and cut into his wrists as he was quickly and fully restrained. Without another word, he was half-dragged back to his cell and shoved roughly inside, barely avoiding a fall on his face, and the iron door slammed shut in a deafening clang to once again isolate him from the world above.
For a while he stood where he was, riding out the throbbing pain in his head and the lasting emotion in his chest.
This was a competition, like everything else, and Sasuke had the upper hand; Danzou had so much more that he was afraid to lose, and while he could barely afford to even touch Sasuke, it would, in the end, take nothing more than a glance to end his life.
Danzou's time was short.
Chapter 1 || Chapter 2