(no subject)

[beachlass]

Story post - continues series from Diving

Naruto belongs to Kishimoto, not me.

Kakashi took up permanent residence in the hall outside Sasuke’s interrogation cell. Ibiki pretended that Kakashi was supposed to be there, and slowly tweaked the cell’s shielding so that Sasuke would be able to just barely feel his teacher’s presence. If he looked for it. Ibiki also informed the mission desk that they would not be sending out Kakashi or Sakura for a while, and sent a strong suggestion to Tsunade that Naruto be kept out of Konoha for as long as possible.

 

Then he brought in two of the more sadistic interrogators and left Kakashi outside while they beat Sasuke unconscious. Kakashi wasn’t even pretending to read when Ibiki sent the agents out, blood spatter on their vests and arms, and a medic’s order to file.

 

It was when the medic requested turned out to be Sakura that Kakashi began to worry about Ibiki’s plan. And how much it would take to break the young man whose brother was as adept as Ibiki at torture and who hadn’t spared family.  And why Ibiki would even try.

 

Sakura almost managed a professional detachment as she cleaned away blood and reduced swelling. She hadn’t much experience in the cells, and knew the other medics hated patching up prisoners so they could be broken up again and again. She hadn’t, however, heard many stories about medics being sent to work on people they knew.

 

Maybe traitors weren’t very common, and it was just her bad luck that her life intersected with some of the most notorious.

 

Sasuke was pale and cold. The bruises were stark against his skin – welts and even the almost black impression of fingerprints.

 

Sakura was kneeling over him, hands laced in his hair, and feeding chakra to reduce a concussion when Sasuke woke up. He blinked and winced, and watched her with careful dark eyes. Looking at her with his full attention, finally, in the way he hadn’t when they were younger, and his attention was all she wanted. When he whispered her name, she could hear the bruising in his throat – the rasp from having been choked.

 

She stood, and left the room without a glance behind. Punched a hole in the rock wall outside, and settled, shaking beside her teacher. He touched her hand briefly, and commented in an even tone, “You telegraphed that punch, and the follow through was non-existent.”

 

She laughed shakily and replied “Yeah, the wall probably saw it coming.” Kakashi bumped his shoulder against hers, and they sat quietly talking about taijutsu and then cooking and not about the young man lying beyond the open door, or the one who was still out on mission.

 

Ibiki leaned against the wall and watched Sasuke lie perfectly still. It was too dark to see his face, but Ibiki could see the uneven rise and fall of his chest, and the damp smell of the cell took on a slight salt-water edge. The door was left open, and when the conversation outside shifted, and two sets of footsteps quietly whispered down the hall and away, Sasuke finally curled in on himself.

Comments

[beachlass.livejournal.com]

I'll let it sit in the back of my head for a bit... see what surfaces.

I think Kakashi feels a sense of responsibility for Team 7. I'm not sure about guilt. I'll think about it some more.

And I think he knows that the basement cells with Ibiki and the interrogation squad is a really bad place to be... And it's not just Sasuke down there - Kakashi is there for Sakura, too.