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Chapter Text

Southern Kingdom = Tänöwill

Capital: Dorwine
Ruling House: the Uchiha
Royal residence: Pearl Palace
Family Words: "Where the sun burns, the lions rule."

Characteristics:
The Southern Kingdom stretches from the southern borders of the Zone of No Man to the inhospitable Stone Wasteland on the southernmost peninsula. It encompasses diverse territories ranging from the fertile Palm Plains and the Southern Savannahs or the Vineyard to the completely uninhabitable arid heart of the Nereder Desert, which takes up roughly a third of the entire kingdom. It is the most cultured and richest country on the entire continent, thanks largely to the abundance of gold mines beneath the Volcanic Mountains, the opal mining of the Opal Islands and the abundance of pearls in the Bay of Scallops. The climate is typically hot and quite dry in places, but dry and rainy seasons alternate periodically in much of the area.

Culture:
Southerners are a lively but very cultured people. They are very civilised, with sewage systems in the larger towns. The architecture is monumental, airy and highly ornate, typically with slender towers, columns, reliefs and stained glass windows. Celebrations (especially religious ones) are famous for the abundance of wine, singing and dancing, exquisite delicacies and sensuality. Southerners are renowned throughout the continent for their relaxed manners. Sex in this country is considered almost a lifestyle on par with all other arts. Thanks to brisk foreign trade with countries far across the sea to the east, Southern marketplaces are regularly filled with an abundance of exotic goods. Tänöwill is more literate than in other countries, using cutlery as a rule when dining, and is keen on spicy, very piquant food and personal hygiene.

Exports: gold, opals, red wine, skins and horns of exotic animals, tänöville steel, precious fabrics, spices and fruits, fish

Religion: 3 main gods: - the supreme god Izanagi, the Creator, strict, wise, righteous, Judge of souls.
- his wife Izanami, Mother of Nature, compassionate, nurturer, protector
- their daughter Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and light, gives insight into the afterlife
Other selected gods: - Tsukuyomi, god of the sea.
- Nawarashi, goddess of the desert

The ruling House:
According to legend, the first Uchiha fought the fire dragon Nerolapis and won. In exchange for his life, the dragon offered to bring him to a land where his family would rule for millennia and which he would conquer. Thus the Uchiha came to Tänöwill a thousand years ago, and in memory of their encounter with the dragon, hot dragon blood is said to flow in their veins. Chronicle records, however, prove the unification of the savage tribes under Uchiha rule and the subsequent enculturation over many years.
The Uchiha are the only tribe in all of Alqualas whose royal lineage has never been broken. Perhaps because of this deeply rooted tradition, they are a revered symbol of royalty to the southerners. Southerners are proud of their ruling family and show great respect and affection for the members of the royal family.
All Uchiha are characterized by their raven black hair and eyes, which are passed down from generation to generation. The symbol of the family is the leodemon and the seat of the House is the Pearl Palace (said to be the most beautiful building in Alqualas), which is famous for its monumentality and magnificent pearl decoration, extensive gardens with ponds, gazebos and rich flora.
The current king is Madara Uchiha, a man who is rumoured to have never seduced a single woman in his life, but countless men. He remains unmarried and childless.

Fighting style: the Southerners fight with all the usual weapons - swords, bows, crossbows, daggers... However, the typical Southern fighting style is the exquisite control of the spear, which includes various pirouettes, great speed and flexibility. This fighting is rather like a deadly graceful dance, the fighter usually tossing the spear from one hand to the other, twirling and turning it as needed.

Fauna: Leodemons - These are huge cat-like beasts that once inhabited Tänöwill and posed a great threat to its inhabitants before the Uchiha tamed and subdued them. Today, they are no longer found in the wild at all, but are carefully kept in the royal palace. Leodemons once exceeded the size of their smaller relatives, the common lions, and their fur is typically black. Eye colour varies and usually appears in shades of gold, yellow, green or blue. Leodemons have been inextricably linked to the Uchiha for centuries, and each royal descendant is given their own leodemon cub at the age of five, which they then grow up to live with for life. A bond is formed between them so magical and strong that the leodemon dies on the same day as its master.

***

Nordic Kingdom – Winterhold

Capital: Nordstone
Ruling House: Kumogakure
Royal residence: Stone Fortress
Family Words: "The House of Thunder and Axe."

Characteristics:
The Nordic Kingdom stretches from the northern borders of the Zone of No Man to the year-round frozen and uninhabitable Polar Great-Mountains and the Island of the Damned. Winterhold is a cold and harsh land with few fertile lands around Windhill Fortress and the Kerrar Highlands. It is a mountainous region, with the more continuous plains only extending to the inhospitable Ice Plains and the Winterlands, frozen for part of the year. The lands here are not very fertile for grain, but they contain a great wealth of minerals, especially iron and silver mined in the Silver Mountains, and diamonds are no exception. The Northerners are the least cultured people in Alqualas, as they struggle to survive most of the time, but they boast a pristine landscape with an abundance of mostly coniferous forests. It is the least populated kingdom on the continent.

Culture:
The Northerners are a people as rugged as their land. Literacy levels are poor and the dining culture is barbaric, but the inhabitants are men (and women) of feats accustomed to working hard and making their living from the harsh elements. Nordic architecture is primarily stone to withstand the frequent fierce gales and blizzards, austere and unadorned, with purpose overriding aesthetics. Castles tend to be dark and gloomy, but the Northerners have also adopted the art of glassmaking from other countries, so there is no shortage of windows, albeit small and often closed with petticoats. The Northern nobility and vassals (unless they are part of the royal court) live in small isolated fortresses, so the settlement of Winterhold is rather spotty. The typical Nordic drink is hot mead.

Exports: iron, furs, wood, silver, mead, fish, diamonds, whale blubber

Religion: 2 main gods - Lord of Winter, cruel, strong, male element
- Lady of Summer and Water, generous, caressing, feminine element
Other selected gods: - Crow, transports the souls of the dead to the underworld.
Jashinist religion - the only god Jashin, cruel, mad and immortal,
insatiably bloodthirsty, demanding blood sacrifices.

The ruling House:
According to legend, the members of the current ruling house in Winterhold are descendants of the ancient giants that supposedly inhabited the northern kingdom before the arrival of the first tribes. The Northerners follow strength above all else, so over the centuries there have been frequent changes in the ruling house when a ruler seemed weak or incapable. However, the Kumogakure family has ruled for several generations, and in addition to the strength that is typical of all Winterhold residents, blond hair is also a hallmark of the royal line. The symbol of the family is a crossed axe and thunder, and the seat is the Stone Fortress at the foot of the Snow Mountains. The current king is the widowed Raikage Kumogakure, also known as the Lord of Thunder, with only legitimate son Darui, bastard Hidan and a number of daughters. The hallmark of the current king is brutal physical strength and short temper.
During his father's reign, the permafrost of the northernmost island has become a place where the worst criminals, for whom execution would be too merciful, are sent to slowly freeze to death. As a result, the territory was renamed the Island of the Damned.

Fighting style: although the Northerners are proficient with all common weapons, their typical style is the battle axe, which they use to successfully slaughter their enemies and throw it spectacularly. The Northerners are not given to subterfuge and are too heavy for great speed, so they usually attack straight and full force, with a ferocious roar.

Fauna: Murdebears - These are relatives of bears, with oversized canines and blood-red eyes. Males reach the size of an adult horse and their food includes their smaller relatives, the common bears. They are usually solitary animals, but in winter they may gather in groups of about two or three animals, and the largest numbers live in Murdebear Pass, but they can be found throughout virtually all of the more northern Winterhold. They often pose a great danger and attack villagers' livestock. Hunting murdebears is a favourite, if extremely risky, pastime of the nobility.

***

Western Kingdom – Elinion

Capital: Narrowfield
Ruling House: Terumi
Royal residence: Grass Castle
Family Words: "We hear the grass grow."

Characteristics:
The Kingdom of Elinion is the most diverse of all in terms of territory, extending from the northernmost regions to the southernmost in the Black Meadows, an area covered in ash from the Volcanic Mountains. There are vast and fertile plains as well as the mountainous Sharpridges. The inhabitants of Elinion are thus the most adaptable to any climate, while the Northerners can't stand the hot southern plains and the Southerners freeze to death in the northern blizzards. The Western Kingdom is characterized by its vast expanses of grassland, and they also own the largest islands in all of Alqualas, Basilisk Island and the Queen's Crown. It is the only one of the three countries to mine copper in the southern parts.

Culture:
The Westerners are a proud and somewhat calculating people who follow the motto "when two argue, the third laughs". The majority of the population are pastoralists and farmers, moderately educated and relatively civilised. The architecture alternates between wood and stone and is quite ornate, but tends to be more naturalistic and moderate in colour, with rich murals. Typical Western delicacies include snails of all kinds and strong beer is a popular drink.

Exports: grain, copper, beer, horses, flowers

Religion: Moku - the only official monotheistic religion on the continent
- more than a god or goddess, it is a kind of worshipped power of nature and order of the whole world, which can take on a variety of male and female forms

The ruling House:
The Terumi family did not originally come from high nobility, let alone royalty. They were a knightly class, but through various stratagems over several generations rose to the court, where they subsequently unleashed a rebellion that led to the overthrow of the previous king and the establishment of the new Terumi dynasty, which has ruled ever since. However, it is not recommended to remind them of their originally lowly origins, they tend to be quite touchy about it. The hereditary mark of the royal family is red hair. Since the Westerners are the only ones of the three kingdoms to also recognize women's rights of succession, and the previous king fathered an only child, a daughter, the current queen of Elinion is Mei Terumi, a short-tempered and ingratiating woman who steadfastly refuses marriage proposals from Elinion's own nobility in the hope of securing an even nobler husband - ideally of royal blood from one of the neighbouring lands. The family crest is a horse surrounded by branches.

Fighting style: the Westerners can also use all available weapons, but they are especially famous for their cavalry. They breed a special type of horse that they train to fight from a young age, and likewise the riders are more at home on horseback than on solid ground. Their deadly troops are their archers on warhorses.

Fauna: Elinion Horses – These are a species specially bred in the western kingdom for combat purposes. They reach medium size and are fast, hardy animals, supposedly more intelligent than all other related species. They are bred exclusively in the royal studs, which are located in two locations in Elinion, and are an important and famous export. Colours range mainly in brown, from dark bronze, to chestnut, to milk chocolate, with whites being very rare.

***

Zone of No Man

In the centre of the whole Alqualas is the so-called Territory, Zone or No Man's Land. This is said to be the oldest and most magical place on the entire continent, and is entirely made up of a zone of ancient forest with only two narrow safe passages, the East and West. In the Zone of No Man, according to legend, the long-forgotten original gods, cruel and merciless, or rather some dark, intangible powers work through an innocent-looking but murderous mist that stealthily creeps up and suffocates its victims. By all accounts, anyone who spends an extended period of time in the No Man's Land (if they are lucky enough to avoid the fog) goes mad and their minds become clouded. The souls of the unfortunate victims are then said to never be at peace and are dragged down and trapped forever in the Sea of the Dead, a narrow bay adjacent to the No Man's Land where the water is so salty and poisonous that no creature can live in it, just as the entire No Man's Land is completely uninhabited by humans and animals. The only life here are trees, mosses, lichens and ferns. It is a neutral territory belonging to none of the three kingdoms.

Relations between kingdoms

Over the centuries, various battles and wars have taken place between each and all three kingdoms, and the borders of the countries have changed according to the victories of the moment. However, a long and unbroken period of peace came a century ago, when the borders were settled and Elinion, Tänöwill and Winterhold lived together in polite tolerance and respect.
Ten years ago, however, an incident occurred when Tajima Uchiha was poisoned by wine that came as a gift from the Winterhold king. Winterhold, however, denied involvement in the murder, and this sparked a war between the southern and northern kingdoms that lasted for many years, interrupted only by brief truces, and which has continued with intermittent success to the present day. Although some trade relations have continued to develop, a deep and implacable hatred and contempt for each other has settled between Southerners and Northerners.
Elinion refused to join any side from the start and to this day remains untouched by the war and neutral.

Attractions
- Several laws common to all kingdoms apply throughout Alqualas (e.g. the prohibition of subjecting a member of the high nobility to the torture law), and most local laws apply
- Special postal hawks are trained throughout Alqualas to send messages quickly (especially among the nobility, but almost anyone can use this method)
- In the early days, all the kingdoms spoke different languages, until 500 years ago when they were unified into a single language - Alqualese
- Each country has its own favourite treatments - the northerners frequent the sauna, the southerners are fond of various spas and the westerners can't get enough of mud baths

Chapter Text

Sasuke Uchiha listened to the military commander with his arms crossed on his chest. Truthfully, he would have liked to end this strategy session, but rigorous training had taught him from a young age that such meetings were vital to the progress of a battle - and after all, if he spoke up or showed any sign of boredom, Kakashi might sue his father later, earning him not only an unpleasant lecture on responsibility, but perhaps even physical punishment.
Sasuke was an unusually handsome sixteen-year-old boy. He was different from the vast majority of boys in their country, and indeed in other countries. He was not just any young man, he was the prince of Tänöwill, the southern kingdom of the continent of Alqualas. Their family words were: Where the sun burns, the lions rule. That was the spirit of the south. Like all Uchiha, he had raven black hair and eyes. Longer silky strands framed a symmetrical and well-sculpted face with the last traces of childhood, while the short spikes in the back resembled a sparrow's nest, except that they were soft and delicate to the touch. His full, sensuously cut lips lifted momentarily in a slight smirk, but the dominant feature of his face was undoubtedly his uncharacteristically large, beautiful eyes with their thick veil of lashes. They carried the fire of their owner and the spirit of their lineage, but also the tenderness and beauty of a noble fawn.
The young man was not very tall or sturdy, his slight figure more indicative of speed and agility than strength. The grace and elegance of his movements were complemented by the flowing silvery bluish robe of airy light cloth, but which he would soon cover with warrior's armour. The battle with the North was approaching. The two kingdoms, North and South, had been bitter enemies for many years. The original age-old rivalry had turned into a warlike conflict after the insidious and premeditated murder of Sasuke's grandfather ten years ago, which the northerners had so far refused to admit to, even though Tajima Uchiha had been proven to have been poisoned by wine that had arrived in Tänöwill with a friendly letter bearing the seal of the northern kingdom.

The silver-haired army commander frowned. He hadn't liked their whole campaign from the start. But the reason was not another conflict. He didn't mind, he was happy to fight for his country and his king, but he rather didn't like the three Uchiha under his nose. In fact, Madara had thrown them around his neck as a burden to show them and more importantly to teach them a little military maneuvering, boosting the morale of the men and putting the vicious northerners back in charge. Fortune, in truth, was very fickle, and victories in the skirmishes between the two nations were intermittent. So he couldn't guarantee that they would win tomorrow and, more importantly, that everyone would survive. In the meantime, according to the spies, there would be a great battle with thousands of men. He was carrying a heavy burden. He straightened to his full height and puffed out his chest. Sasuke had really been bugging him lately. They should have entrusted the entire campaign to him when it seemed as simple as drinking with his friends at the Pearl Palace. He fixed his dark eyes on the young man. "Young prince Sasuke would certainly like to reveal his own version of the entire battle. Isn't that right?" He poked at him. He would have loved to wipe that smirk off his face himself.

"The young prince agrees with the course of battle outlined by commander Hatake," Sasuke didn't let himself be drawn out and gave Kakashi an ironic bow, "except perhaps to point out that this is the fifth time this strategy has been repeated over and over again tonight. Perhaps the commander feels it would be better to go into battle sleepless and tired, but still be able to recite the plan word for word?"
Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older brother, sighed softly. He'd been thinking something similar, and truthfully it annoyed him how Kakashi was subtly letting them know he wasn't too fond of their presence, but unlike his brother he was strongly non-confrontational. Sasuke always said what he thought, he preferred to keep his mouth shut. After all, Hatake was somewhat unfair - they'd been through rigorous training in combat from a young age, so they were at least on par with soldiers, often better, and had been through some battles as well. Plus, their presence boosted the morale of the army as the men saw that their rulers weren't just sitting in the palace, but fighting their own wars. "Cut the bickering, both of you," he remarked calmly. His word carried the most weight at the moment, not having a single Uchiha of the older generation present. Itachi was, after all, the most likely heir to the Pearl Throne of the three of them. Their uncle Madara Uchiha, the eldest of the clan, had no heir - so the right would automatically pass to the middle of the three brothers, Fugaku Uchiha, upon his death. And Fugaku Uchiha was the father of Itachi and Sasuke, so if he ruled one day, the right of inheritance would naturally go to Itachi.

Kakashi felt like snorting in displeasure like a horse, but he controlled himself. The youngest Uchiha annoyed him at times. "As prince Itachi wishes," he replied in an unctuous voice. He felt and was responsible for their lives, and the lives of the thousands of soldiers who camped around their tents. Perhaps he had been too careful, but he did not want to cause their deaths because of his own carelessness. He folded his arms across his chest and ran his eyes over everyone present. In addition to him and the young princes, there was Yamato, one of the best warriors in the army, who was Sasuke's escort, and finally Shisui, who was eating grapes even in this dire situation. That greed will kill him one day! "Does everyone agree with their position then?" He waved his hand towards a map dotted with tiny figures of cavalry, foot soldiers, and hordes of enemies.

A chorus of assent rumbled through the command tent. Sasuke and Shisui had one infantry squad each, Kakashi and Itachi commanding the cavalry. Truth be told, if one looked more at ability, then Sasuke and Shisui were better riders than the long-haired Uchiha, but Itachi had the most important position.
Shortly after the last details were agreed upon, Kakashi finally released them. "Gods, it's dark... we've been there for almost five hours," the youngest of the clan yawned, shivering slightly as the night breeze brushed against him. He still couldn't get used to the fact that it was far colder here, near the northern borders of Tänöwill, than in their friendly warm Dorwine. But as soon as he got goosebumps, a cloak of camel hair suddenly wrapped around his shoulders. He looked back and gave Yamato a slight smile. "Thank you," he appreciated his concern.

"The southern parts of our country are much more pleasant than the local borders. You must know how to keep warm," the brown-haired man replied. He, along with Hatake, were warriors and rarely laid aside their armor and wore only plain clothes. They felt like naked men and always wore at least a proper sword belt at their waists or light leather armor like he did now. Tomorrow he would put on the solid dorwine steel and mark it with the blood of the northerners.

Sasuke winked at Yamato in the darkness, "There are many ways to keep warm, not just with clothes. Maybe with good tänöwill wine, or some pretty hot sex."
"Sasuke!" Itachi gave his younger brother a light slap, "if only father could hear you." The truth was, however, that the southern nation was much more benevolent in various ways. Including on the issue of sexuality. Fugaku might not approve, but Madara himself, king of Tänöwill, was renowned for his affection for men. It was even said in the country that he had never fucked a single woman in his life, but countless men.

"Sasuke is right," Shisui caught the word and threw down the bare tassel of grape wine. "What kind of members of a nation renowned for fighting and a lover's passion would we be if we forgave ourselves for spending our last moments in the warm arms of a lover or mistress before a fight. I'm guessing all the guys in the camp are dreaming of where they could shove thein cock," the eldest Uchiha giggled, slapping his cousin on the butt. "Good thing you're leading the infantry tomorrow. Otherwise, you'd have a hard time sitting on a horse."

"Hey!" Sasuke objected, poking Shisui indignantly in the ribs, "What do you mean? Who says I'm going to get fucked? What do you know about my preferences..." He hadn't actually done it with a man before, at least as far as the direct act was concerned. Though he couldn't claim any experience... he had to keep himself from looking back at Yamato.
"I don't know if the phrasing lover's passion is the right term, Shisui," Itachi interjected, "a lot of people just think of us as perverts."

"But a lot of people don't care who's fucking who, as long as they're having a good time and the kingdom isn't ripping the bread from their mouths," Yamato noted expertly. "There will always be evil tongues who find this hobby useful to throw dirt on your clan."
"That's right, so, Sasuke, you better give a good moan to the whole camp, so everyone gets something out of it too," Shisui laughed, "There are some spies around anyway, so give them something to tell the northerners about what hot lovers we are."

"Shisui!" Itachi shouted back, blushing slightly at the conversation even though it didn't touch him personally. But he loved his little brother more than anything, and the glutton was still spoiling him like that. And the worst part was that Sasuke let himself!
"Tsss, that's what the guy who's fucking with that nasty Kakashi says to me. Rather you, Shisui, make sure you can do something in the infantry tomorrow. If Hatake fucks your ass up today, you're going to have a hard time fighting," the youngest Uchiha shot back at his cousin's nagging.
"Sasuke!" Itachi horrified. This obscene tipping was uncalled for in his opinion. "At least you have some sense."
"But Itachi," Sasuke smiled sweetly at his brother, "we're still on the better side of Alqualas. I hear the northerners are fucking their goats."

"Exactly, but you know what, Itachi, we'll bet. If we win tomorrow, I promise not to say a word about these things, and if we lose, I'll bring you a goat to fuck so you won't be sad," Shisui teased, grinning happily as his cousin looked disgusted. He wouldn't fuck an animal even if it was the last living thing in the world.

Sasuke laughed as his brother cracked up in annoyance and a shower of unflattering adjectives rained down on Shisui's head. "With the Tänöwill's penchant for experimentation in sex, we might as well be glad we're in the world at all," he stated amusedly. As far as the royal family was concerned, at least, their father was perhaps the only pure heterosexual, and Madara was still teasing him for some youthful incident that to this day no one would divulge, no matter how much they pry. Uncle Izuna also preferred women, but now and then he also had some experience with a man.

"What about you, Sasuke, you don't want to bet on anything?" The eldest Uchiha asked excitedly. He couldn't help it, food and jokes just belonged to him like a horseshoe to a horse. Firm and steady. Plus, he liked bets of all kinds. Especially ones that brought him some sort of benefit. Occasionally, he'd help himself to victory with a little bribe to the right person, but fortunately no one had found out yet. He could be a skillful talker when he wanted to be.

"Well, that depends on what would be at stake," the youngest Uchiha chimed in. By then they had stopped in front of the royal lay where their tents were. "Hey, Naruto," he snapped his fingers at the blond servant, "bring some wine, we need to wash down the hours we've been debating." Hatake didn't allow alcohol at war councils, sucker. In some ways he was a stickler for discipline, just like their father. But a drop before bedtime couldn't hurt.
.
"How about your warrior?" Shisui quipped slyly. He didn't have a Kakashi behind him, he'd said he'd stick around the map for a while, so he could afford to provoke like that. If he tried it in front of him, he'd take a beating later. "Are you going to put Yamato on the spot, or are you a pussy who's afraid of a challenge?" He teased his cousin's pride. He knew all too well how to take him on. After all, they had also grown up together in the palace since they were young.

Sasuke snorted in irritation. He didn't like these provocations, and besides, he didn't like the thought of the brown-haired soldier in someone else's bed. "There's a loophole in your suggestion, Shisui. I can't put Yamato in charge, he doesn't belong to me," he reminded his cousin that slavery had been abolished in their kingdom a hundred years ago by Indra Uchiha. True... not that the white flesh trade wasn't still a bit dysfunctional here, but it was forbidden in terms of legislation, and Fugaku was pushing Madara hard to punish such cases.

"Really? I thought he was running after you like a dog. He looks like yours, only you're missing the leash," Shisui teased, but it seemed that was too much even for Yamato himself, who gave him a mean look. Perhaps he could hold back a little after all, as the rustling of the tent's fabric and the heavier footsteps of the warlord outside the young servant echoed behind him. He didn't want to get an earful before the battle like a little boy.

The youngest Uchiha, however, was not worried about Hatake's arrival. He did acknowledge authority figures, but mostly family ones, the ones who had somehow drilled the fact that he was supposed to obey them into his head since childhood. Moreover, the allusion to Yamato had touched him, so that a second later the cold blade of his tänöwill steel dagger touched Shisui's throat. Even though Sasuke was almost a head shorter, he was lightning fast at the draw. "You'd better watch your tongue or you'll lose it," he growled.

It was clear to Shisui that he had overreacted. Sasuke was easily excitable, but apparently he had goaded him more than was healthy. Knives were rarely drawn. He swung his arms in a defensive gesture. "Relax, Sasuke, you know I talk shit sometimes. No need to get so hot," he soothed his cousin.
The army commander watched the situation with a frown. He would leave them alone for a while and save the northerners the trouble of letting them kill each other. Like little kids. Especially Shisui, he seemed like perhaps he wouldn't grow out of this and remain the same rascal. He liked that about him, but sometimes he could appreciate a little more seriousness and responsibility. "Save the bloodshed for tomorrow."

Sasuke measured Shisui with a fiery gaze for a moment longer, until his black eyes sparkled, before finally withdrawing his dagger and sliding it back into its sheath. "Don't get involved in what's between me and Yamato anymore... or you'll lose more than just your tongue, and Kakashi here probably wouldn't like that," he grinned, his eyes flicking momentarily to the pouting commander as well.
"Sasuke, calm down. And you, Shisui, stop provoking," Itachi stepped in between his two kinsmen, "We have a fight tomorrow, so no arguments. If you don't cooperate, it could cost you your life too."
The youngest Uchiha tossed his head defiantly. He hadn't started it after all! Instead of making any more comments, he just nodded to Naruto to pour him a glass of wine.

The eldest Uchiha relaxed and took the offered cup of wine. He may have been the oldest of their younger generation, but Sasuke wasn't much into listening. He washed down the taste of the blade on his throat with a sip. Tomorrow would see who would survive the battle and with what result. He sat back in his chair, intending to grumble for a while.
Kakashi and Yamato looked at each other, and the look in their eyes said they were thinking the same thing - too hot-blooded Uchiha. Apparently the calm and composure was concentrated in Itachi and there was none left for the others. For a moment there was complete silence around them before the brown haired warrior decided to break the silence with a question: "Sasuke, did your father forbid you to take Mäelys with you?"

"Yeah... which is pretty unfair," the youngest Uchiha complained, nodding his head sourly towards Shisui, "uncle Izuna can't do much about it. After all, the leodemons are our clan animals and have grown up with us since they were little... their teeth and claws are useful in battle too, so I don't know what father's playing at." He sipped indignantly. Mäelys was his leodemon. Black all over with steel-blue highlights, gorgeous, dangerous, and unwilling to submit to anyone but Sasuke. Leodemons were large demonic feline beasts that once lived in the southern savannahs long ago. They were said to have posed a threat to the southern peoples for millennia until the first Uchiha conquered them, and the leodemons have faithfully accompanied them ever since. It was a fact that every Uchiha had a leodemon as a symbol of belonging to the royal family. They were kept in the Pearl Palace for this purpose, and each newborn Uchiha was given a lion cub at the age of five, which then grew up with them until they were an inseparable pair.

"Maybe he was just worried about getting in the way. Animals have no sense of our strategy and could dart anywhere, and you could follow him. But don't worry, he's well taken care of at the Pearl Palace. I'm sure Mikoto and his female leodemon follow him. You know they have a certain affection for each other. I mean, if Mäelys ran away, do you think he'd be able to find you?" Maybe the dogs and cats were able to return home, but would the leodemon be able to find its owner?

"I'm sure he would," Sasuke said with conviction, "Remember, leodemons aren't just any animals. They were here long before humans, and they are said to have different abilities." He didn't quite believe at least half of them, for example, that they could make themselves invisible. That superstition probably originated with the way leodemons hunted - silently and lethally, sneaking up on their prey almost noiselessly and taking them down in one leap, biting through their throats in the process. Prey often only saw them at the moment of attack, hence the rumours of their magical powers. But other superstitions were more believable, such as the ability to sense danger.

"Then make sure they keep a good eye on him in the palace. It's dangerous for a leodemon to travel here," Hatake hissed, having had his own somewhat painful experience with the species. Shisui's pet from the beginning of their relationship had been rather grumpy about someone stealing his master and doing strange things to him. He had been bitten a few times, but thankfully he had gotten used to it and it wasn't too bad. Only occasionally, when he was particularly restless, he would growl menacingly at him.
As if remembering him, a black velvet body stretched between the sheets and went to rub against its owner with a grace all its own.
"Grapeon, have you run away again?" Shisui sighed, crouching down beside his big cat-like beast. Immediately, he began a muffled groan, sounding dark yet friendly. "Have you been running around camp again?" He pestered his beast, noticing how his legs were covered in mud up to his belly. It rained often now in the fall, and the farther north they were, the more intrusive and uncomfortable the wet and cold became.

"I hope father will make sure that doesn't happen... since he's forbidden me to bring him along," Sasuke snorted, taking a thoughtful sip of wine. He had missed Mäelys. The leodemons were free to roam the palace when they were with their owners, but once their owners left, they were locked away in a large enclosure in the gardens for safety. They did not have a bad time there, they tried to provide them with every comfort, but they were still separated from their owners, which was hard to bear with such a strong bond between these beautiful animals.
"Don't worry, hopefully we'll be back soon... this battle could be decisive for some time, according to our scouts' reports no reinforcements have arrived yet," Itachi remarked, looking to the north as if he could hopefully see across the entire camp, hills and valleys, to somewhere near the seat of Winterhold.
"Hopefully," Sasuke said, finishing his goblet and handing it back to Naruto, "I don't know how about you gentlemen, but I'm going to bed. I don't want to be yawning when I kill the Northerners tomorrow."

Yamato started to get up and follow the young man, only to be stopped by a grip on his forearm. "Come on, you're not his tail," Shisui hissed to him in amusement, but mostly quietly so his departing cousin wouldn't hear him.
The man jerked away from the Uchiha. "If I'm going to be of any use tomorrow, I'm going to my tent too..." he snorted irritably. What was Shisui even thinking? He recoiled away, waving his cloak violently behind him. Curious little fella.

Sasuke poured himself another glass of wine at his retreat, but this time he had to serve himself. Of course he could have called a servant, but he'd rather have privacy now... for certain reasons. For he expected Yamato to come to him again. It was such a tradition of theirs, they didn't even agree on it beforehand. After all, there was something to Shisui's words about passionate southerners. At the very least, these things warmed up better than wine before a fight on an autumn night.

Yamato needed a moment to calm down, and walked around part of the camp. Most of the soldiers were asleep, but some were playing dice or cards. The cold chill of the air drove the discomfort of Shisui's prodding from his mind. All that was left in his mind were thoughts of the young Uchiha, who was surely waiting in his tent. He didn't hesitate to go to him. The guards let him in without a word, and he slipped into the dimly lit tent. The yellowish glow gently illuminated the young man's naked body partially wrapped in soft furs. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," he nodded to the nearly drained glass of wine.

"Too long... considering how much I want you," Sasuke replied, sitting down on his bed with his legs under him. The sun shone for most of the season in Tänöwill, tanning his skin to a warm golden color, though the members of the ruling family were not as swarthy as the common folk. They did spend a lot of time outdoors, most of the day, but they did not work as hard in the sun as much of the population. Because of this, and of course because of the hygiene they took great care to maintain, Sasuke's skin was soft and smooth, unmarred by any dried dirt, unruffled by hard fabrics, untainted by disease.

Yamato walked over to the bed and leaned against the young man. "Then I shouldn't keep my prince waiting," he purred, stroking Sasuke's cheek while lifting his head up. "What if he was languishing like your leodemon. I can't allow that." He brushed his set lips lightly. At first he couldn't admit that he had sold his heart to such a young member of the royal family, but his feelings were stronger.

"I think so too," Sasuke whispered into Yamato's soft pillows, closing his eyes in contentment. They went from a gentle rubbing to a full-blown kiss rather smoothly, and soon deepened it by engaging both tongues.
It had been several months since they'd started dating. Yamato occasionally trained Sasuke in sword fighting at the Pearl Palace. In truth, however, the youngest Uchiha was more of a southern style of fighting - that is, with a spear or short dagger, he was quite good with a bow as well.

The brown-haired man knelt down on the bed beside the young man and pushed him against himself. His firm, beautiful body slid smoothly under his fingers. It was beautifully heated from the furs and he couldn't wait until they were body to body together. Taking the goblet from the Uchiha, he set it on the table so he could roll the royal pup in the fuzzy furs. "How much cold are you?"

"Terribly," Sasuke lied with a wistful sigh, "it's freezing cold here at the northern border... if you don't keep me warm, I'll soon have frostbite, and you must protect your prince from such a fate." He had long since ceased to be ashamed in front of Yamato, and in one movement he pulled him down on top of him, brazenly began to unfasten the straps of his leather armor, and pressed his mouth to his exposed throat.

"I'll have to, I don't want to get hung for failing to protect you," Yamato sighed contentedly, having to brace himself against the bed to keep from smothering Sasuke with his weight. The cub already had a lot of experience in undressing him, and after a moment he felt the armor loosen so he could pull it off. He took it straight off with his shirt and still managed to unbuckle his sword belt before hot lips found his again and he clung to them hungrily. The holster with the weapon thudded dully against the floor and the fabric rustled. "You're always so fierce," the warrior purred, inhaling Sasuke's divine scent right at the source.

"The Uchiha are a hot-blooded clan," Sasuke unknowingly confirmed what Yamato and Kakashi had thought only an hour ago during their confrontation with Shisui, "It is said that the first Uchiha fought the dragon Nerolapis and defeated him. However, when he wanted to kill him, the dragon offered him a gift in exchange for his life - a kingdom to rule forever and the power to conquer it. Thus, it is said, the Uchiha came to Tänöwill thousands of years ago, gifted with dragon power, conquered the land and tamed the leodemons. As a testament to Nerolapis' gift, hot dragon blood has flowed through their veins ever since."

"And that's why they're so untamable and can't be subdued right away," Yamato said in a veiled tone. He loved the young man with all his heart. So intense was the feeling that at times it made his heart clench pleasantly, his knees weak, and he felt like sacrificing anything for Sasuke. He was simply infatuated, and thankfully it seemed to be mutual. "Or would there be someone who could subdue the Uchiha for a moment?" He whispered in the young man's ear.

"It's very rare," Sasuke groaned as Yamato's hot breath tickled his sensitive earlobe, "but on rare occasions... aaah... the Uchiha will submit. Especially if he falls in love." His hands moved to Yamato's hips so he could press his pelvis harder against him. He could feel the hardening manhood pressing against his own, and it made his pulse quicken. Eagerly, he began to rip off his lover's pants as well, so he could finally feel him body to body.

The last bit of clothing hit the floor and there was nothing stopping the two men from pressing against each other and letting their hot bodies slide over each other. "You're absolutely delicious. I'm surprised Mäelys doesn't take a bite sometimes. Because I'd love a piece of you," he purred sensuously, grinding harder against the aroused lap. He lasciviously circled the young man's ear with his tongue and his lap tingled heavily as Sasuke let out a fuckable whimper.

"I'd let you do it," the youngest Uchiha groaned, his slender thighs straddling Yamato's hips as he thrust his pelvis against him like a real fuck, making their manhoods rub together. He realized that this might have sounded ambiguous - Yamato had been hinting for about three months now that he would love to make love to him, but he was still hesitant to make the move. What about his pride if he let himself get fucked? Wouldn't that make him look effeminate if someone found out?

"Really?" Yamato replied excitedly, kissing the young man softly on the lips. "Because I'd love to visit the places you've been steadily and persistently denying me." It would certainly bring them great success to humble something like this before battle. He would be able to kill an entire army by himself the next day from the euphoria of the experience. He definitely had a strong sense of excitement now, and his eyes reflected the anticipation of what his beloved would say.

Sasuke became nervous. He didn't mean it that literally again, it wasn't just pride, he was still a little worried about the act itself - what if it was uncomfortable? Somehow he couldn't imagine how something like that could bring him physical pleasure. "W-well... you know, that probably wouldn't be very practical... um, before a battle like this," he tried to grind out of the whole situation, "Shisui's right about something, I'd probably have a hard time walking after such a... um... intervention."

The brown-haired warrior thought about it for a moment, and on one hand, Sasuke was right. He was basically a virgin in that regard, and if he were to walk badly and get injured tomorrow because of it, he wouldn't forgive himself. He was silent for a moment, and in the end, reason prevailed. "Alright, I'll wait then, but promise me that after the battle you'll give yourself fully to me body and soul," Yamato uttered determinedly, trying to coax a promise out of the prince.

***

In the next chapter:

"No one will strip you of your maleness."
"Look at me when you come.“
"Damn, Shisui, you're so passionate."
"I can't believe it!"
"You bastard."

Chapter Text

The young aristocrat licked his lips somewhat nervously. Yamato had asked no little of him. He liked him, in fact he was convinced that he loved him, but he wasn't sure he was capable of giving up his pride enough to allow such a thing. "I... I don't know," he hesitated, "I don't think a prince should allow someone to strip him of his maleness. At least, that's what father keeps saying." It was true, though, that Fugaku was opposed to homosexuality in general.

"No one will strip you of your maleness," Yamato retorted immediately, striking the iron while it was hot. "Does it seem to you that Shisui would suffer in any way from being fucked by an army commander? I think he still looks the same as before, and maybe even happier," he cooed condescendingly, kissing the young man on the ear. His heart was racing, but in a nice excited rhythm.

"No, but... I would be playing the role of a woman, wouldn't I?" Sasuke suggested with concern. Not that Shisui's ability to fight and act like a man had changed in any way since he'd slept with Hatake... it was just that what if Yamato and the others took him in a more subservient, effeminate, submissive way after all? He bit his lip, trying to find the answer in Yamato's eyes.

"After all, there is no need to distinguish between the roles of man and woman in the act of lovemaking. Women are here to bear children and raise them. That is their role. I can assure you that I see nothing feminine about you now or in the future," the brown-haired warrior assured Sasuke. He wanted to comfort him when he saw the look on his face and wasn't sure.

Sasuke considered the pros and cons for a moment as Yamato kissed his neck. On the one hand he found it somewhat humiliating, plus he had no idea how he would like the progression of sex, but on the other he was actually quite curious... Shisui kept raving about it, what would it be like? Plus, he really liked Yamato. "Well... maybe... I'll think about it during the battle," he licked his excited lover's lips.

"Sasuke," Yamato grumbled with a sigh, "you're delaying the decision again. Don't you love me and can't even promise me something like this? I was hoping that perhaps it shows how devoted I am to you, and I would love to share every moment of my life with you." The warrior felt somewhat disappointed, was it so disgusting and distasteful to the young prince that he wanted to keep putting it off?

"You're horrible," Sasuke scolded his protector with a laugh, placing his palm on his cheek that was scratching through the day old stubble, "You just won't rest until I let you get up my ass, will you?" He squinted his eyes slightly and puckered his lips thoughtfully. "Okay," he agreed, still slightly reluctantly after one last hesitation, "if we win tomorrow, I'll let you. You have my word as Prince of Tänöwill. But on one condition-you keep it to yourself. You won't brag about it."

"I accept," Yamato replied happily, kissing Sasuke on the lips. He was very pleased that he had managed to extract the promise. There was only one thing left to do - for them to win tomorrow. The way he and Hatake had pictured the fight, the victory should be theirs. "And then we could do other things tonight," he uttered breathlessly as the first innocent kiss escalated into a wild game. It made his heart pound hard and his lap tingle hotly.

The young Uchiha said nothing in agreement, his actions spoke louder than words. He plunged his tongue into Yamato's lips, savagely plundering them while he slipped one hand between their naked heated bodies and wrapped both of their erections against each other, then began to frantically jerk them off. He loved it when their cocks were squeezed together like that, while at the same time he pulled their foreskins together in a regular rhythm. Lasciviously, he bit Yamato's bottom lip, gently at first, then a little harder.

The brown-haired warrior groaned and began to lightly grind against the prince's hand. Tenderness and love washed over him for the most wonderful being under the Tänöwill sun. He still couldn't believe how lucky he was that Sasuke had chosen him and allowed him to get body to body and maybe even somewhere into his soul. At times his affection was so burning that he longed to be with him all the time. Generally, it was more like he'd gone the bodyguard route to those around him.

Sasuke moaned softly into Yamato's lips. The brown-haired swordsman was the first man he had ever been intimate with. Of course, he'd had plenty of experience with women in his sixteen years; it was common in Tänöwill to start a sex life before the age of fourteen. Who knows, maybe he had already had a bastard somewhere, but no woman had yet come forward with a claim. Prostitutes usually knew how to keep it from getting pregnant.

Yamato swayed and sat up. He let Sasuke settle on his lap. He wanted to touch him on every inch of skin. To caress that royal silk and look at everything greedily. He wanted the prince too much to let him hide under him. He liked to watch, after all, and he liked it even better when Sasuke played with himself, teasing him with his gaze before allowing him to get close. It always gave him a pleasant thrill.

Sasuke willingly settled on top of him, of course, so that their groins were pressed together as much as possible, and let himself be nurtured. He returned the caresses liberally, mapping his shoulders and chiseled chest as he had so many times before, his skin decorated here and there with a battle scar, claiming his lips and rocking lightly on his lap. It was racy. The Northerners, they said, didn't know how to enjoy sex and everything around it. Apparently, they just pushed in, thrust a few times, and that was it. No foreplay, no finish. Like animals. They're the ones who elevated sex to an art form.

The brown-haired warrior transferred all his feeling into the movements and touches he used to caress the prince's body. He was so young, so handsome, yet so skilled in many ways. If only tonight hadn't ended and they could have spent this night together forever. It was not given to them. Tomorrow they must go to battle, but they would go with the feeling that they had left one hot night behind them. He added his own hand to Sasuke's and intensified their wanking.

The black-haired young man felt that the air in the tent was beginning to warm up with their humming. He certainly couldn't claim to be cold anymore, even here on the northern border. He sighed sharply, measuring his lover with the fiery gaze of his dark eyes. Wonder they didn't rain sparks as the urgency in his lap increased and the speed of their movements grew. "Look at me," he commanded breathlessly to Yamato, "look at me when you come. I want to see your eyes while you do it."

The brown-haired warrior looked up to his prince, his eyes clouded with excitement and the coming climax, and he complied willingly with the order. He was drowning in the black depths of the Uchiha's eyes, his lips dry from the heat. His heart pounded like a wild bird in a cage, eager to come with his beloved. He gripped the young man's hand tighter and almost brutally forced them to jerk off. "'Moan my name,' he pleaded hoarsely.

Sasuke planned to oblige his lover. He groaned in pleasure, taking in not only Yamato's quickened breathing as a racy soundtrack, but also the slightly wet sounds as their palms slid over their squishing erections, which were all damp with pre-ejaculate. He could feel the balls pulling tight against his body and his dick twitched. "AH! Yamato!" He exclaimed lustfully, his face contorting into a blissful expression as he reached orgasm.

Yamato tried to contain as much of the young man's climax as possible. To savor it and remember it. The bliss he had helped bring him to. Unable to delay it any longer himself, he groaned throatily as their hands grew even wetter with spurting cum. "S-sasuke," he moaned, pressing the prince even further against him. He felt like there was nothing better in the world at the moment.

Sasuke rested his chin on Yamato's sweaty shoulder and hugged him tightly, not caring that he'd smear his back with cum. However, there were enough things to wipe themselves in, and even a lavor of water that was heated on hot coals so they could even get a makeshift wash. "You have such a sexy voice when you reach climax... I think even the guards outside got a hard-on from you," he whispered in the brown-haired swordsman's ear.

"I rather wished it couldn't be heard all the way outside, but this tent is so small I can't even hope for that," the brown-haired warrior sighed edgily. "It was supposed to be just for you. No one else deserves to hear something like that," he purred, kissing the young man on the shoulder. He felt wonderful, so nicely uplifted above the ordinary hardships of life, with only his beloved in his arms.

The young Uchiha's words warmed his heart. He and Yamato were truly devoted to each other, he had even thought many times that he would quite like to spend the rest of his life with him. Granted, it was generally required to have a wife and produce offspring, but that was beside the point. Uncle Madara also had no wife and no children, yet he had ruled Tänöwill for ten years.
"Hmm, I'm glad to hear that," he hummed in Yamato's ear, biting his lobe gently before stretching out like a cat on his lap. "I'd like a good drop of wine to finish."

"A lover and the red gold of our land is more than I could ask for," Yamato purred, not really wanting to pull away from the young man. However, after much coaxing, he prevailed and slid off the furs and onto the cool ground. He cleaned his hands and reached for the metal jug. It was suspiciously light. "I really kept you waiting a long time. There's only perhaps a sip of wine left."

"Oh well," Sasuke sighed, rising completely naked from the bed to walk over to Yamato to see for himself the lack of wine. "That's infuriating," he grimaced, and thought for a moment about whether to send for Naruto to get him some more of the red stuff somewhere, but finally had another idea. "I'll go to Shisui's for wine. The bastard always has more brought into his tent than he can drink himself," he decided, also cleaning himself of their ejaculates before he could put on his clothes.

"Shall I go there?" Yamato offered immediately, but by then the prince was already pulling on his clothes. Before he could escape, he pulled the young man to him. "But don't stay there," he cooed sensuously, "the night isn't over yet and I have other plans for you... so hurry." He wouldn't go to Shisui's tent, he wouldn't dare, and the supply wagons were much farther away from them than the prince's cousin.

"Don't worry, I won't keep you waiting long. Make yourself comfortable for now," Sasuke winked at him, pulling on his boots. He threw his camel cloak over himself and walked out of the tent, shoulders squared. He nodded to the guards keeping watch at his entrance. Not one of them dared to give an expression to what they had heard in the previous half hour.
As he approached Shisui's tent, however, a grin began to spread across his own face as a muffled groan of bliss drifted towards him. So his cousin wasn't slacking off either. However, the soldiers at Shisui's entrance crossed their spears in front of him.
"Prince Shisui does not wish to be disturbed," one of them said rehearsedly.
Sasuke measured the two men with a piercing gaze. "Prince Shisui is my cousin, and family members are certainly exempt. Let me in immediately or I'll have you flogged this very night," he reminded them coldly that Shisui was not the only one of royal blood here.

The soldier who had spoken shifted nervously and looked at his colleague who was keeping watch with him. Truthfully, neither of them wanted to feel the lash of the whip because of the nobleman's capriciousness. But an order is an order. So he tried to appeal to good manners and reason. "Prince, surely you hear what we hear. Would it not be advisable to postpone the visit until later?" He tried to put it as gently as possible. Generally the Uchiha didn't like to be defied.

"No worries, I won't be staying," Sasuke grinned. He will just nudge Shisui lightly and take the wine. He was on a good whim after all, he had experienced a hot-tempered moment himself a few minutes ago. "Will that do?!" He frowned at the guards, who were looking uncertain. Wasn't he presenting them with an easy choice, should they obey one prince or the other? In the hierarchy of the royal family, however, Sasuke stood a notch above Shisui. He was quite amused by their predicament.

Inside the tent, the two lovers had no idea what was happening at the entrance. "Damn, Shisui, you're so passionate," Kakashi breathed wistfully, burning up. They were fucking pretty vivaciously. They were still sipping wine in the tent and needed to break out. He felt hot lips on the side of his neck, whispering perversions of what they could still get done today, how beautifully they could fill the remaining time until dawn. What if this night was their last. They wouldn't sleep through it all.

Meanwhile, Shisui's guards outside had solved their dilemma and bowed to let Sasuke in. The youngest Uchiha had walked into the tent beforehand with a meaningful smile and an amused expression, but it magically transformed into a disbelieving eye roll as a scene opened before him that he hadn't expected in the slightest! His cousin was doing the deed in the rolled out bed, holding Kakashi's hips and giving him a good pounding. Shisui to him! Shisui, such a greedy little idiot, was fucking the great honorable Kakashi!!! It completely pinned him in place for a few moments.

Neither of the men noticed the incoming visitor. Their activity was too busy on all their senses and they had no time for anything else.
"S-shisui," Kakashi groaned, arching all over as his lover slipped out completely and thrust back in violently. A bead of sweat trickled down his scalp at how intensely and passionately the young prince was taking him. He always managed to surprise him as he sizzled with energy and activity in bed. He almost couldn't believe he could like it. In fact, everyone thought he was the one who was fucking Shisui, not the other way around. But the Uchiha was one hell of a lover.

When Sasuke recovered from his initial relief, his corners twitched. And they twitched and twitched until he started laughing out loud. It was funny how both men jerked in horror, only now acknowledging his presence. "I can't believe it!" Hiccupped the youngest Uchiha laughing, pointing a finger at the mortified pair, "so Hatake is going to let you...? Hahaha, I would never have thought of that in my life! Well, at least it's obvious that he'll submit to his prince all over the place." Of course, he wasn't mean enough to spread that pep talk all over the camp, but he had to tell Yamato how he caught these two here.

Kakashi couldn't believe the cheeky pup had not only snuck in, but was laughing at them! He blushed, and it wasn't just from the hot-blooded activity, but from the embarrassment of being the one to catch them, Sasuke. How could he have gotten in? He'll take that up with the guards. If it had been anyone else, but that little sassy puppy!
Shisui just stared. "Sasuke, what do you want here?" he rasped before clearing his throat to get his voice right. His mind didn't wonder what his cousin could possibly want here. They had already discussed everything in the meeting and he wanted to finish what he started. He was still hanging out in the hot body of the army commander and felt the urge to fuck him hard and squirt him so he would be sitting pretty on his horse tomorrow.

"Wine, what else," chimed in Sasuke, for whom this spectacle was the unexpected gift of the evening. So with that revelation, he'd be enjoying Kakashi's next meetings! Subtly of course, so that only he and Shisui would understand the hints. "I'm out of wine, and you're always hiding here..." he illuminated his presence, casually walking over to the table to grab one of the pitchers. Tsss, he had three full ones here! "Go ahead," he urged the hardened lovers on his exit, "Surely, Shisui, Hatake hasn't offered you his ass from all sides yet. Give him a good poking, maybe at least tomorrow he won't be so grumpy and obnoxious." With a chuckle, he climbed out of the tent again, leaving the two to their own devices.

Hatake mentally promised the young man some sort of revenge. He would give him more. Too bad he hadn't torn him apart like a snake at the meeting today. And it was even more of a pity that he was the Prince of Tänöwill and he couldn't lay a hand on him. He cursed the way the sudden, unexpected thrust had thrown him off balance. "Shisui! W-wait... we can't c-contin-ahh!"
"We have to," the Uchiha replied simply and took up the wanking. He'd deal with his cousin tomorrow, but right now he just planned to make one army commander come and fuck him hard. He was too hot to let it go today.

Sasuke returned to his own tent in an even better and more uplifted mood than when he left it. He was smiling and his eyes sparkled with pleasure. He had learned things today! It was a good thing he'd gone alone and not let Yamato go, the guards wouldn't have let him near Shisui, and then he would no doubt have gotten wine elsewhere, thus depriving himself of such knowledge. Under the hungry gaze of his lover, he threw off his clothes again and moved back to the bed Yamato had warmed for him with two goblets and a pitcher of the best tänöwille red. "You wouldn't believe what I saw at Shisui's," he chuckled.

"From the way you're smiling, it was definitely something special," the brown-haired warrior laughed lightly. By his own judgement, he reckoned Kakashi and Shisui had been fucking around, but on the other hand, he didn't understand Sasuke's disbelief. What? After all, sex between them wasn't exceptional. They knew about them. "Tell me what they do there that's so special," he sipped his wine. Full of fruit flavor and aroma.

"They fuck, of course. But there'd still be nothing weird about that..." Sasuke paused dramatically before drawing out his trump card, "...if Shisui wasn't fucking Kakashi, however." Considering Yamato had just been sipping wine, his lover gagged at such peppery information, and had to pound his back to expel the liquid from the inappropriate places. "Now that was a waste of good wine," he chided him amusedly.

"Then you're not supposed to say something like that to me when I'm drinking," Yamato hissed in defense, coughing for a moment before he could gather himself. "Did Shisui really fuck Kakashi?" He assured himself once more in disbelief. Sasuke gave him another nod to confirm it. Something unreal. Such a shame he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. He almost didn't believe it. To be told by anyone other than Sasuke, he wouldn't believe a word he said. "And how did they look?" He asked as he realized what it must have looked like in the tent.

"Like... like ecstatic," Sasuke shrugged, before realizing that Yamato probably didn't want to know that, "Yeah, you mean when I got there? Well, they weren't thrilled. Shisui was more freaked out then, but I guess Kakashi wanted to kill me. Good thing he just had his dick up his ass and couldn't make it happen. Hahaha, if you'd seen that! I mean, getting fucked by someone like Shisui... I would never say that to him." Satisfied, he also took a sip from his cup. The pleasantly rich taste was delicious and warmed his stomach.

The brown-haired warrior just shook his head at that, but he thought to use the situation to his own advantage. "I would never put it past them either. Kakashi is so tough and manly, and sex in that position didn't take away from his manliness at all, did it?" He asked deliberately, with the clear implication that he was pointing out certain facts.

Sasuke had to simper. He took the goblet from Yamato and set it beside the bed, as well as his own, and the pitcher, and then immediately rolled the brown-haired swordsman onto his back in bed. "You bastard," he tittered at him teasingly, "I played into your hands, didn't I? It didn't, that's true. It's just strange that he lets himself go like that."

"I guess he just likes it so much on this side that even though we may find it strange, he lets himself get fucked." Yamato absentmindedly stroked Sasuke's ass and squeezed it gently. "You see, even the army commander himself likes it so much that he'll have it done before a battle where he'll be in the saddle for several hours. That's saying something."

"The army commander sleeps with Shisui for a long time, and if he has a penchant for this, then he's undoubtedly had his ass fucked enough, so he'll move tomorrow . I'm afraid I don't have that kind of training. But I promised you something, didn't I?" He kissed his lover seductively on the lips and teasingly cupped his crotch with his palm, "the night is still young though, and I'm curious to see what kind of piggy banks you've come up with in the meantime."

"I remember it very well," Yamato nodded. "We'll do other things today, then," the brown-haired warrior purred, kissing the young man first on the lips and then lightly on the ear. "I want to make you come at least twice more," he whispered sensuously in his ear, licking it lasciviously, "to taste you and please you." He adored being able to nurture his prince, yet not spare him in the arena.

The sensual promise made the fine hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck stand on end, and a bolt of pleasure shot through his body like a lightning bolt as the older man caressed his sensitive lobe. He certainly wasn't going to object to such an action, and of course he was counting on all the pleasurable activities to be reciprocated for Yamato. Literally royally. "I only hope that after such a passionate evening, I'll be capable of something on the battlefield tomorrow," he purred almost like Mäelys, cupping Yamato's still flaccid manhood in his palm. "Mmm, I'm going to give you a good hard-on, and then you can show me what you can do with it... and your mouth."

The brown-haired warrior held the young man by the mouth and hotly attended to his weakness. He loved the heartfelt moans and sighs that poured through the darkness of their tent. "You're so untamed," he growled, his palm brushing against the taut manhood in his lover's lap. "I can't wait to make you come. I'm going to suck every last drop out of you. Then we'll swap. I'm going to fuck your mouth and give you a nice cum that you won't even be able to swallow it all," Yamato promised, and before Sasuke could say anything, he rolled him underneath him and began kissing him passionately.

The guards at the entrance to Sasuke's tent sighed. It was quite a thankless task at times, guarding the prince's safety like this when they could hear everything going on in the tent. Like almost all soldiers who had learned of the lack of women in the army, they didn't disdain their male counterparts when it came down to it, so it couldn't be said that the things disgusted them. Rather, it was annoying to try to ignore them on the grounds that it wouldn't accidentally affect them themselves. So the brown-haired swordsman was lucky to be able to do it with the prince himself. It looked like they were in for a pretty long night as well, just not as pleasant as inside the tent.

***

In the next chapter:

"For Tänöwill and for the King!"
"Shields!"
"Now you'll die, you little Southern brat!"
"Come on, help me with him!"
"Stop him at all costs!"

Chapter Text

The next day, the sun was slowly creeping out from behind the hills and the morning mist was rolling over the grass. Soft clouds of steam billowed from the men's mouths as the chill of night still prevailed. The horses tossed their heads restlessly. There was an almost eerie calm after the previous clatter and bustle. The soldiers were ready for battle. They knew that many would fall or be wounded today. Some of them were doing it for prestige, to bring glory to their families, others just for the pay. Money was a very big attraction.
Hatake staggered in his saddle, and the youngest Uchiha looked back at him mischievously. He pierced him with an unpleasant look and paid him no further attention. He must not be distracted by anything.

Sasuke was in high spirits with Yamato at his side. He'd had a very exuberant night, and despite the fact that it had been quite challenging at times, he was energized. His chest was also warmed by the peppery secret he had found out completely by accident last night... and now a fight awaited them.
The youngest Uchiha, like his brother and cousin and basically like all Uchiha, had been trained in combat since birth. With different weapons, with different masters. He'd been in several battles and all of them had been victorious, thanks in large part to his own abilities, but also of course in some part to Yamato and the others, he'd come out of them almost unscathed each time. At that age, he considered the whole war not only a matter of honor and pride, but almost a sport. A pleasant diversion.

Kakashi trotted ahead of the troops. He saw fear, apprehension, but also the excitement of battle in their eyes. It varied according to the experience that one soldier or another had already had. He must encourage them all. Show them that what they were fighting for was not just a mere whim of the king or his whim, but a regular attack on their country, which they must defend. He couldn't let the Northmen break through their chicas and get as far as Dorwine. "Soldiers," he shouted loudly as he drew rein to his white horse, "we have a battle to fight. It may not be another of many like so far! We'll push those Norse bastards back where they belong. We will not let them ravage our fertile fields. We will win here tonight and show Winterhold who's boss!"

The army responded with a thunderous "For Tänöwill and for the King!". Today's battle promised victory, but not just any partial victory - it promised that men would be able to return to their wives, families or lovers. The Northerners were already within their territory, just a short distance from the border, and today they would drive them back to the desolate, inhospitable North. They were vastly outnumbered, and apparently Raikage, the ruler of Winterhold, could no longer find reinforcements.
Their chicas moved forward. The soldiers marched in steady ranks with spears and shields and swords and daggers. Few fought with a war-axe, that was more of a Norse weapon. The South recognized slender light blades and weapons. The archer squad was also particularly dangerous.

Kakashi waited for the Uchiha to move to their troops and called for an attack. He knew full well that the barbarians hadn't chosen this place to fight at random. It gave them a definite advantage since they had to climb up a very slight hill against the forest. Hopefully the Nordic king wasn't cowardly enough to hide in them and wait for them to run into it. The common footmen were the first to disperse forward, followed by the archers. The cavalry rolled up on either side and waited for the time being.

Sasuke led his troop, trying to keep his temper in check. He couldn't wait to stain the blade of his spear and then his sword with the blood of his enemies. But despite his youthful indiscretion, he knew that to rush forward without thinking would be sheer madness. He allowed himself a brief sideways glance a hundred yards to the left, where walked Shisui with his unit. Their infantrymen would launch an attack. His heart began to pound rapidly and excitedly in his chest. He had seen them! He could see the cowardly dogs waiting for them up in among the trees.

Kakashi's horse shifted restlessly, tossing its head. He was transferring the feelings of his rider onto himself. Hatake was not happy with the position they had. In fact, even though they were outnumbered, they still might not win. They were exposed here and only Itachi was hidden behind a slight hill. They couldn't hide more of their power. He looked back at his riders. Their armor glinted in the rising sun, and if they were going to parade through the royal city today, he would be much happier. Too many good men of Tänöwill will die. He kept his gaze fixed on the woods. The bastards still hadn't come out of the woods, and their massed army was over halfway up the hill. What was their plan? Did they really want to fight in the forests like barbarians? Something like that didn't suit their strategy. They needed the northerners on the plains. Finally, with a deafening roar, a wide line of soldiers appeared at the top. But they did not run down, and it soon became clear why. Archers.

The youngest Uchiha quickly realized the danger they would soon be exposed to. "Shields!" he shouted to his men, "into turtle formation, now!" As if on command, the trained soldiers raised their shields above their heads, while those on the edges formed a defensive rampart. A few seconds later, a typical hiss sounded and a shower of arrows swept through the sky. They dug into the hardwood, breaking, but a few even found a loophole between their protective cover. A few soldiers winced in pain, but there were perhaps only two fatal wounds. Sasuke didn't have time to count the wounded, as they always had a short period of time where they could move a little faster, that was when the archers recoiled their bowstrings and took aim, otherwise this formation was uncomfortably slow. However, they kept moving on with fairly small losses until they were at a suitable distance. "Now let's show them what the south can do! Let's kick those goat-fuckers northern asses!" Sasuke shouted at his soldiers, receiving a bloodthirsty howl in response. His troops rushed into direct combat.

The army commander was fidgeting in the saddle, and it wasn't just because of a fucked-up night. The Northerners were playing something with them and he had no idea what. He was missing something. Maybe Itachi could detect it. He was very clever, but he wasn't fierce. Maybe he could find out what they were hiding. Whatever it is, they'll deal with it. Any man from the south country will give his life for two Norse dogs. The men were getting restless. They wanted to fight, but their time had not yet come. Damn it, are they all Winterholders? The spies said there were supposed to be many more. Kakashi watched as the two young Uchiha expertly led their soldiers fearlessly forward under showers of arrows. There was another barbaric roar, and at last their moment seemed to have come. "Follow me!"

Sasuke swung his spear. He stabbed and slashed the Nordic soldiers, his long rack able to keep their swords, which were short, away from his body. But he had to be careful not to let anyone cut the hilt, then he too would have to resort to this weapon. However, he was so well trained with the spear that no one had managed it yet, he was as quick as lightning as the spear was quite light as most of it was made of wood, not metal. Moreover, he could turn it so deftly in his hands that in a second he was able to cut through the enemy in front, and in another second he was facing the northerner in the rear. His polished fighting style resembled a deadly, dangerous dance, but there was something fascinating about his graceful movements compared to the clumsy, ungainly Northmen.

The horses' hooves were thundering through the meadow and the horseshoes were tearing out pieces of sod that fell back to the ground as they rode. "Swords!" Kakashi shouted, leading his troop from the flank to charge at unprotected enemies. He planned to put a quick end to the fight, and slaughter as many enemies as possible before the opposing cavalry appeared. Just in the front line, he wanted to show the men that their commander was not a quitter and, like the Uchiha, was not afraid of blood and enemies. The horses neighed in pain and the first line fell to the ground. It flashed through Hatake's mind that the northerners were much smarter than he had calculated as he flew downwards. Apparently Winterhold had managed to dig deep and wide pits with sharp stakes overnight, where many horses and men were now dying, stabbed through. The white-haired commander felt that he had been run over by a truck as he landed on the ground. He rose to his knees uneasily, feeling shaken. By then other riders had swept past him, their horses leapfrogging their fallen comrades and managing to get past the vicious trap. The Nordic cavalry rolled out of the woods to protect their foot soldiers. Hatake looked pityingly at the dying white horse. The faithful horse he loved dearly was writhing in an agony of pain with a punctured belly. In his eyes he saw mad fear and suffering. Given more time, he would have ended his suffering quickly. With an aching heart, he averted his gaze and ran forward. He would cut off a few heads and hopefully catch another horse. There were already a few running with empty saddles, and he was rather clumsy on the ground as a heavyweight.

Sasuke allowed himself only a brief glance in Kakashi's direction. His heart bled for the poor animals. Of course he pitied his fallen comrades as well, but there was something incredibly inappropriate about the death of a horse. Men knew who and why they fought, but these noble animals did not. They were dying in pain and they didn't know why. It was with all the more fury that he took on the Nordic bastards. "Into them! Beat the fuckers so they'll always remember what Southerners are!" he yelled at his men, having just gathered enough breath. The fight was arduous, but thankfully they still only had infantry troops against them, for the rest of their cavalry had clashed with the enemy's, so at least for now they were keeping them from the unit.
Just as he was taking a breath to motivate himself further, he was confronted by a fellow who embodied the true essence of the north - massive and sprawling like a murdebear, a dangerous northern beast. Sasuke was faster, of course, but he hadn't counted on the fact that if he drove his spear into him, the hulk would catch the pole just in front of the spearhead sticking out of his body instead of ducking with a whimper. The young prince couldn't believe the man could stay on his feet, but either he had missed important organs or this guy was made of some pretty tough dough. Either way, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pry his spear from the man's massive paws, becoming unprotected. Shit! He tried one more time to get his weapon back, only by then another soldier had already attacked him and his heavy sword had cut the handle of his spear in half. Sasuke had to draw his sword as well.

A few dozen meters away, Shisui and his troop were at the exposed end of two armies. He was doing his best, and the morale of his men was only boosted by his presence. He didn't have the graceful and agile fighting style of his cousin, and he had already lost a spear through his own fault, but he was trying. He fought with all his might and only hoped that the rest of his family was doing better than he was. For he had already had a slight wound on his forearm as he had let his spear break. Kakashi had often told him during training that he was good, but too rash and didn't follow through. And maybe he shouldn't have drunk so much wine yesterday. Was his stomach like water, or was it the delicious mutton? Anyway, he wasn't in his best form and hoped the barbarians wouldn't kill him. Suddenly there were too many of them, pushing them back. Damn, now they could use Itachi's support!

The youngest Uchiha cursed venomously when he had to use his sword. Not that he couldn't use it, but the spear was as good for him to wield as his own hands, the sword wasn't as good, even though Yamato was constantly improving his swordsmanship. The only lucky thing was that he had a weapon made of tänöwill steel, it was the best in Alqualas, yet relatively light, lighter than the Nordic irons. He fought like a lion, and his leather armor already bore red splashes of blood and other bodily fluids. There was a problem when he had to retreat a few paces because a rider raced in front of him and his opponent, and as he backed up, someone's corpse got under his feet. He stumbled and landed hard on the trampled ground, his sword flying out of his hand in the process.
"Now you'll die, you little Southern brat!" growled his opponent, and stabbed.
Luckily, Sasuke had good timing and rolled aside, but his attacker was still after him and he didn't have enough time to get up or grab his sword to defend himself. Anxiety flashed in his eyes, but by then he saw Yamato's bloody blade run out of the northerner's stomach.

The brown-haired warrior tossed the dying man aside and helped Sasuke to his feet. He winked at him devotedly. "Find your weapon quickly," he urged the prince, facing another enemy alone to buy him time. He didn't guard him, but he was there if he was needed. The Uchiha knew how to take care of himself, yet his heart always clenched with an uncomfortable and intrusive fear when the prince crossed swords with someone. He was skilled, but still too young.

Sasuke returned Yamato's glare with just one small smile before lunging for his sword. There would be time for words of thanks later, for now he had to rejoin the fight. He slashed and stabbed, his blade sinking against his opponent's blade every so often. Suddenly the battle bugles and blood-curdling screams of their soldiers reached his ears. Itachi rode out with his unit to help. His face brightened mischievously as he noted the panic in the ranks of the northerners. They hadn't expected to have a backup troop yet.

Shisui was relieved to hear the horn blowing. In truth, his squad was starting to get very tired, and he was getting sick to his stomach. He vowed never to eat and drink immoderately before a fight again. Now he prayed to the goddess Amaterasu to let them live a little longer before the fresh warriors came running. They huddled together to give the horses of Itachi's unit room. His forehead was beading with icy sweat and his stomach was doing somersaults as they rode past them. He was sure to vomit.

The youngest Uchiha has relaxed. The victory was theirs! True, it had been a pretty tough fight, but now he had no doubt in his mind that the northerners had it figured out. Itachi's cavalry rode into the roughest of cuts, crushing the enemy with success. From the woods came the sound of winterhold horns, calling the Northmen to retreat. They would flee like cowardly dogs, flee well beyond their borders, and return to their sovereign with tails drawn back.
"Looks like you'll be shoving your cock tonight after all," he called to Yamato in amusement as he swung his sword for practice.

Itachi's unit was spreading death across the battlefield, driving all the northerners back into the forests. The sound of the winterhold horn only drove the enemy back. But some of the fleeing men were thinking not only of saving their lives, but also of preserving the rest of their honor and getting a nice purse of gold. The king promised a hefty reward to anyone who captured a high-ranking southern nobleman. And just as they were making their escape, one stood by. It was quite obvious by his appearance that he was no ordinary man. There were two of them, the job could be a success. One of them nodded to his crony and grabbed the bridle of the horse running around in confusion.

Sasuke allowed himself to be lulled into a sense of security. He knew that their enemies were retreating, but somehow he had forgotten to include in his reasoning that an animal driven to retreat is usually the most dangerous. He had just managed to take down one of the Nordic bastards, only he had stopped watching his back in the intoxication of victory. Suddenly he felt something heavy crash into him, and at first he thought it was a stampeding horse, but then someone squeezed his wrist hard from behind to prevent him from swinging his sword.
He cowered, expecting every second for a sharp blade to plunge into his back, but nothing of the sort happened. Instead, someone hissed in his ear, "You're coming with us, southern puppy."
"What the hell...?!" He gasped in incomprehension, but when a second soldier in heavy armor appeared before him, leading a horse by the bridle, it dawned on him.
"Never!" He shouted, bucking against the man trying to hold him. He still had his sword in his hand; he could have fought back.

While Sasuke wrestled with the men, Yamato was busy. He couldn't even turn around to look back at Sasuke, or he would have the sword in his stomach in an instant. Damn. He wasn't exactly three steps away from him either. He was relieved to notice Kakashi riding towards them, though.
Hatake tried to weave his horse as quickly as possible through the men on the battlefield. The horse's hooves slipped in the blood-soaked ground, yet he spurred it towards Sasuke. He quickly discovered what was happening. Surely he would not lose Uchiha at the end of the battle! He reached the group just as the young man's sword was knocked from his hand. He tried to kill one of them from the saddle, but missed. It didn't seem like it, but taming a runaway horse and hitting the enemy was sometimes a big problem.

"Watch out for the silver-haired one," growled the man, who grunted as he tried to hold the squirming young man. Hell, they'd need help from someone else, so far the only luck they had was that the rest of the Tänöwillans still had work to do, plus Sasuke's unit had thinned out the most given that they had the most pressure directed at them. "Fuck, you little bastard, calm down!" He was going to have to break the royal prince down a bit, but it was hard to do when he was glued to his back. He'd rather need his comrade to slap him around a bit, only with this he seemed to be focusing more on the commander of the southern army, as he was already turning his horse to return. Maybe they should have skipped the whole reward thing and saved their bare lives, but there was no backing down now.

Kakashi spurred his horse with his heels and started back. He didn't rush the horse and concentrated more on shooting, but the northerner wasn't giving in. At first it looked like he was going to parry his sword, but the sucker chopped his horse in the shoulder. The brown stallion reared up with a grunt of pain and rolled backwards. Hatake felt the horse squeeze the life out of him. He gasped in surprise, sparks flashing before his eyes as the horse rolled him under. He thought that once the stallion got up he would be able to continue, but the animal groaned in pain and stopped moving as the twitching stopped. The northerner finished the horse and he remained helplessly wedged in. He tried to pull himself up, but several pounds of dead weight would not let him go. He had faced death many times, but never this defenselessly. A creeping chill gripped him, allowing him nothing but to watch his coming end.
The man crossed his horse's legs and smiled mischievously. "Say hello across the river, you southern bastard," he growled, reaching out to strike.

Meanwhile, Sasuke rebelled against his captor. He no longer had his sword, but the dagger remained at his waist, if he could reach it... But the northerner wasn't going to let him get that far. He tripped him from behind, and as the young prince collapsed to the muddy and bloody ground, he roughly kneed him so that he could tie his hands behind his back with a torn belt from his armor.
"Forget it! Get your filthy hands off me!" Snarled the black-haired youth, squirming like a fish.
The enemy soldier had no time. Every second was precious, and the southern cavalry was coming, besides, if more of their men noticed what was going on... "So you won't give up?!" He growled, turning the prince to face him so he could punch him several times with his fist.
Sasuke thought he might have a concussion, the metal glove hurt like hell. He felt the hot wetness as blood rushed from his nose, his lip splitting from the inside as he took another blow, his teeth turning red. His head spun and his resistance weakened.

The white-haired commander lying among the corpses saw death in his eyes for the first time in a long time. They were truly terrifying and bloody. With his breath held, he lay paralyzed in all sorts of shit, unable to even raise his arm to try and defend himself against the approaching blow. Slowly he felt himself half conscious.
The northerner was not laughing inwardly in wonder. He would kill the commander of an entire army and be famous. Even more glorious than when they took the young nobleman. Before he could finish moving his sword, a crossbow bolt bit deep into his shoulder. The archer was standing quite close and it jerked him backwards. Still, the tip of the sword ripped through Kakashi's body, drenching him in hot blood.

Meanwhile, the other Norse mercenary finally managed to tie Sasuke's wrists together behind his back. Hail! The horse that his crony had led was shifting impatiently from foot to foot, and it was a wonder that he had even stuck around. The man glanced back at his army comrade and saw that he had taken it in the shoulder, but of course it was nothing. As long as the silver-haired man had stopped threatening them. "Come on, help me with him!" he shouted at the soldier, roughly lifting the half dazed Sasuke to his feet.
"No... no, I won't let that happen!" the youngest Uchiha squirmed, though not nearly as much as he had in the beginning. He had to blink to stop the squinting in front of his eyes, and a gush of bloody spit spurted out.

"Shit," the northerner sputtered as the second arrow flew past him. They had to move before the archer could reholster his crossbow. He ran to his comrade, ripping the arrow from his body with a pained whimper as he went. He helped to throw the young man out in front of the saddle and was about to swing himself up into the saddle. Only he hadn't counted on his fellow tribesman being as mean as those southern whores. He pushed him away from the horse, surprisingly into the arms of a soldier who ran toward them. He cursed his brother in arms to the tenth knee and willed himself to confront the brown-haired warrior.

They lost, that's true. They had to withdraw permanently from the Tänöwill territory they had laboriously conquered for so many months. The king will be furious... but on the other hand, he'll be in the clear. He'll be carrying a valuable gift, he'll get a pretty big reward for it.
The youngest of the princes came as if in a bad dream. They couldn't have kidnapped him, they couldn't have! He refused to go to the dirty north into enemy territory! "YAMATO!" He yelled at the top of his lungs at his beloved, but in his mind he knew it was useless. Yamato had no horse, he would never catch up. In the distance he could see Itachi, who had only now noticed what had happened, rushing towards them at a gallop, but he was too far away.

Shisui threw up his breakfast, leaning on his sword as he did so. It was just his luck that the northerners were already on the retreat and he had a couple of men behind him to protect his ass while his stomach convulsed. Once the spasms had subsided, he looked around the battlefield. He was still in command of an infantry unit and had to live up to his command duties. Things were looking good everywhere, except for a sort of struggle quite far away from him. He could just see someone, some northerner, hauling his cousin away like a sack of hay. Itachi, of course, took off after him, alone! They'd have to stop him. "Stop the prince!" He shouted to the few riders who were nearby, "stop him at all costs!"

Itachi drove the horse like a madman. They... they were kidnapping his brother. His little brother! He couldn't let Sasuke fall into captivity. Captives are often tortured. Captives even got killed. The thought was unthinkable. He didn't care that he was a prince himself, that he shouldn't leave the army on his own. There was only one thing on his mind, he had to save his brother. He galloped past a bleeding, half-draped Kakashi. He galloped past a struggling Yamato who, despite the strain, was shouting something at him but couldn't understand. He galloped further, into the forest, until he crossed the border of the south. He heard someone chasing after him, hell, he wasn't the best rider.

The three riders that had started to follow the fleeing Uchiha had a hard time catching up to the prince. The forest forced them to go slower, and soon they began to approach the No Man's Land zone. A chill ran down everyone's spine at the mention of this area. There was a perpetual fog here, and it was said that a stronger power resided here, taking lives without question. No one ever saw anyone properly, but all who survived the crossing spoke of the nagging feeling that someone was always watching them, breathing down their backs, waiting for stragglers. Too bad they didn't take all the northerners when they passed through. As soon as they could catch up to Itachi to ride alongside him, they swatted at his reins and stopped their horses.

"How dare you?!" Itachi freaked out, "let me go right now, you hear?! They kidnapped Sasuke... they kidnapped your prince! It is your duty and mine to save him! It's an order, I give you an order!" It was strange and painful to see Itachi, the very Itachi who had always been perfectly in control and handled everything with calmness and diplomacy, completely lose his composure in fear for his little brother. He tugged the reins from the soldier's fingers, a half-mad look on his face. When he failed to pry the bridle free, he lashed the man across the face with his riding crop. "You MUST obey me!" He shouted at them, "if you don't let me go now, I'll have your shins hacked off in camp and paid off with fifty lashes!"

The soldiers would normally have let him go, but they figured out why prince Shisui had sent them after him. They couldn't lose another member of the royal family. Winterhold would have too many aces up his sleeve. They won the battle, but they couldn't lose the advantage. The man who should have been whipped again caught him and yanked him out of the prince's hand. They began to fight among themselves until they were jerked from their saddles and rolled between the horses on the ground, where the tug-of-war had already turned into a regular battle.
The rest of the men jumped down from their saddles and looked around uneasily. The place looked hostile, and whenever something rustled, they looked back. Mostly it was fleeing northerners. There was a pained cry from the fog. They shouldn't stay here too long.

"Prince, be sensible... you cannot go after them alone, it would do no good, you would only be willingly giving yourself into the hands of the northerners," another of the soldiers tried to reassure Itachi, "your brother would not wish that."
"Sasuke... don't tell me what Sasuke would or wouldn't want! You don't know him!" shouted Itachi, trying to wrench himself from the burly man's grasp while the third was already unwrapping the rope so they could get him back at all. Though he knew the soldier was right... this wasn't what Sasuke would have wanted, but what did it matter? Didn't anyone here realize the danger his little brother was in? Why was everyone around him acting like he was doing something crazy, he just had to get Sasuke back at any cost!

"It's for your own good," the soldier replied as he caught the rebel's wrists in the prepared noose and tied them tightly together. An Uchiha without free hands was not such a dangerous foe. He twitched, jabbing curses and threats, but could do no more. Well, almost. "Fuck," one of them cursed as Itachi kicked him as they tried to get him into the saddle. Uchiha were pretty wild, as they said.

Itachi hissed with rage and made up his mind to have these guys crucified in the camp. If they hadn't stopped him, he surely could have saved his brother! His heart was bleeding as the three of them jumped into the saddle, took the reins of his horse, and took off at a gallop back with him, away from Sasuke, away from any hope of catching up to the northerners. All the way back to the battlefield, he had been calculating all the things he would have them do while torturing them before executing them himself. It was astonishing the horrors the soft-hearted Itachi could concoct.

***

In the next chapter:

"They kidnapped Sasuke... they kidnapped him."
"I will not leave my brother to the Northmen!"
"We'll get back his head!"
"I want to speak to your commander."
"Well, say goodbye to your tongue."

Chapter Text

While Itachi chased the soldiers through the woods in pursuit of his brother, a victory roar echoed across the battlefield. Men raised their weapons above their heads and cheered. They finished off wounded enemies and helped their own. Yamato ran up to Kakashi, who looked as if his last hour had struck. Half of his face was completely white and the other half red. Plus, he looked like he was starting to pant. "Hey!" he shouted to the man nearby. "Come help me," he ordered, and together they managed to lift the corpse of the horse and pull the army commander out from under it.
Kakashi's face contorted in intense pain as they pulled him out. His second fall from the horse had already claimed his injuries. He felt the horse had crushed his leg. On top of that, he was starting to go into shock as he could no longer see out of one eye and a maddening pain throbbed through his head. He wanted to reach in, but someone stopped him. What if a piece of his head was missing? Would he die now or later from blood poisoning?
Yamato held Hatake's forearm and gave orders. Surprisingly, the men obeyed him without talking, and he didn't even hold a high position in the army. After all, he seemed to be the only leader left with Shisui. Itachi and Sasuke were gone and Hatake was wounded, unable to command.

"Stretcher, quick! And tell the doctor that this takes priority!" shouted Yamato to the nearest men, who ran to find something to carry Kakashi to the camp, or to find a medic to take care of him in the field. Yamato's stomach lurched slightly as he saw how his general was doing. He could easily identify that the sword wound had gone to the left side of his cheek and hit his eye. If he didn't bleed out, he would surely lose it. "You'll be fine," he assured Hatake, not entirely convincingly, however. He wasn't sure if the injury was too serious. But all of that only added to the terror that had gripped his heart from the moment he'd seen Sasuke on that horse with the Nordic soldier. "He's been kidnapped," he whispered absently in Kakashi's direction, oblivious to the fact that the silver-haired commander was busy with himself at the moment. And maybe he wasn't even saying it to him, but to himself. "They kidnapped Sasuke... they kidnapped him," he repeated as if in a trance, perhaps to make himself believe the horrible fact. He couldn't protect him. He had failed, he had lost him. They'll kill him for sure. He should have done something, he should have prevented it! He shouldn't have let Sasuke move an inch from him. He stared frantically off into space, wishing he could bury his face in his hands, but still holding Kakashi's forearm so he couldn't feel his face and realize he wasn't the same.

Kakashi was beginning to panic. Images of the current and earlier battles flashed through his mind as corpses lay scattered across the ground, and occasionally some of them could be seen with their brains split open. Did he have something similar? Is his brain coming out of his head? Why isn't he dead already? Frantic thoughts and intense pain kept him so fully occupied that he couldn't keep a clear mind. He was restlessly going mad, and he kept wanting to touch his head. The medic who had been summoned had to tie his hands to his belt in order to give him the initial treatment.

Yamato stayed at the doctor's side in case he needed anything, but in his mind he was out of it. There was cheering all around, they had won the battle, they had won an important stage of the war, they had driven the Northmen back to Winterhold, Tänöwill was free again. But the exuberant celebration did not concern him at all, it sounded alien, distant. They won, but they lost their prince. They lost Sasuke. He lost him.
He noticed a strange group of riders just emerging from the forest. Three soldiers leading Itachi between them on horseback. So they stopped him... Probably a good thing, he couldn't have done anything against the northerners alone.

The doctor gave the commander a makeshift treatment and had him quickly carried to the tent where he continued his treatment. They peeled Hatake out of his armor like a shrimp out of its shell and set about treating him properly. The doctor had to have two good men on hand to hold Kakashi in place. He cleaned and stitched up the wound near his eye, and of course had to get rid of the rest of his eyeball or it would have festered badly. It was very painful and he did it without anesthesia. There was no time for such things. He flattened his right leg while screaming in pain and fixed it with a splint. He left the rest to the squaddies and walked away to the other wounded. He wouldn't stop today.

***

It took many hours to clear the wounded from the battlefield, collect the weapons, round up the horses into a herd, and gather the corpses into a single pile. The mass grave would be dug tomorrow, there was no time for such a thing today.
Darkness had fallen, and word was already spreading throughout the camp that the youngest of the princes had fallen into captivity. It was a bittersweet victory celebration. The royal family was their symbol and no one knew what would happen to Sasuke now. It was also dealt with in the main command tent, where Itachi, Shisui, Yamato, and despite the protests of the doctor and the others, the crippled Kakashi was brought there.
"I will not leave my brother to the Northmen!" shouted Itachi at Shisui, who tried to suggest to him that pursuing the rest of the northern army wasn't wise, "Are you crazy, I should just leave him there?! Who knows what they'll do to him!"

"He's of royal blood," Kakashi replied softly and weakly. He was still deathly pale, but he still wanted to live up to his post. "No one will harm him. They're not that stupid, he's worth a lot to them when they want to negotiate." He hypnotized the wine on the table. If he'd drunk a lot, it might have stopped hurting, but in the morning his head would have been splitting wide open.
"Just like Kakashi says," Shisui nodded, "we have a lot of wounded, and how many fighting men do you need to get Sasuke back? A hundred, five hundred, a thousand? Who knows where he is, and maybe he's already in some winterhold stronghold. It's foolish to go there when we're so weakened."

"I don't care!" Itachi growled, slamming his fist down on the table until the red liquid from the pitcher splashed onto the map of the northern border. "The northerners are capable of anything... what if they want revenge?! We'll get back his head!" He began pacing the tent like a leodemon that had been locked in a too-tight cage.
Yamato was also all pale, but for a different reason than having lost so much blood. Though it was true that he had the impression that his heart was bleeding. "Itachi's right, we can't leave Sasuke behind," he huffed, "Relying on his origin alone is too big a risk. We need to round up all the men we have left and get him back."

"Yes, we won't leave him behind, but only the king can order an attack on Winterhold. So far we have defended the homeland from raiders, but the king of the Northmen has many more soldiers than we have seen today. I will give the order to move north only if Madara agrees. Until then, all arbitrary actions are treason," Kakashi warned the two men who clung to Sasuke the most to remain calm.

Itachi gasped. "You one...!" He walked over to Kakashi with a few brisk steps and clutched his shirt to his chest, ignoring Shisui's yelp for him to get a grip. "First of all, no one here intends to attack Winterhold. We're just taking back what was stolen. And secondly, until the message from the capital arrives, I represent the royal will. I don't give a shit what your beef is with my brother. Sasuke is your prince, so if you're going to leave him behind just because you don't like his behavior..."
Yamato shifted unsteadily from foot to foot. He loved Sasuke, but he knew that Kakashi wasn't settling personal scores with him, he just had an unbiased view. Damn it! He couldn't think clearly about the whole situation when he was so worried about the young man. But it looked like Itachi's rough treatment would soon shake the last of Hatake's strength.

Kakashi gathered all his strength, grabbed the young Uchiha by the coat and put as much authority into his voice as he could. "I represent the royal will here," he growled dangerously, yet with a subtle sign of weakness as the injury and pain debilitated him too much. "If I remember correctly, the king put me in charge of the army and you in charge of my lieutenants, who are to gain experience alongside me. You're too preoccupied, Itachi." He couldn't give orders to members of the royal family. Such authority was not given to him. He couldn't afford to put command in Itachi's hands.

The long-haired Uchiha met Kakashi's gaze for a long moment. "You're right, you're in charge of the army, but you're a spineless bastard. Protecting members of the royal family is your first duty, so if you don't give the order to rescue my brother, I'll go retrieve him myself. You're not giving me orders, Hatake Kakashi. Not me," he assured him coldly and was about to leave the tent, but Shisui grabbed his shoulder.
"Itachi, wait... wait, please! Calm down a little, listen. Listen to me!", Shisui restrained his cousin almost forcefully, "None of us here underestimate the risk Sasuke is exposed to. But if you die needlessly in the process of saving him, you won't help him. Please wait four days until the hawk from the Pearl Palace arrives. Uncle Madara and your father and my father will decide what to do next. I swear, if they give the order, I'll be the first to put on the armor. You're not the only one who cares about Sasuke, but you're the only one who's being unreasonable."
"Unreasonable?!" Itachi snapped, "Sasuke could be dead in four days!"

"Itachi, I beg you too," Yamato joined Shisui and walked over to him. "I know exactly how you feel, and I myself would prefer to run north with my bare hands and rip Sasuke out of those barbarians' hands, but I don't want to jump to conclusions. Give it four days, and then I'm sure the king will agree and we'll head for Nordstone." The brown-haired warrior felt tired and completely drained of energy after today, but if they were to go north, he would run all day for his love.

The appealing nobleman snorted like an irritated horse. His eyes darted from one pale face to the other, but it was clear that he was unlikely to find an ally in this. He was forced to concede defeat, though the thought of not being allowed to do anything for four days made his stomach turn. "All right," he muttered between his teeth, glancing once more to the troop commander. "As general, you will bear the responsibility for Sasuke's kidnapping. I'll ask the king to have you whipped when you return to the palace. And remember, if Sasuke dies in that captivity... you won't survive my brother much longer," he warned icily before leaving the tent, all desperate and pissed off.

Kakashi didn't make much of the threat. In fact, if he survived tonight, everything else that would come his way would be a walk in the park. He was a member of the high nobility, and the king could punish him many times other than physically. No one could ever be sure of property and land. Madara had everything confiscated when he committed treason. The loss of the prince was indeed a serious matter, but he himself went to defend him. But explain to the shepherd why the wolf ate one of the three sheep. "I hope he doesn't do anything stupid."

Shisui shook his head. "Sasuke is his weakness, but he's never broken his word," he said, though it didn't sound entirely safe. "I just hope you're right and that Sasuke is too valuable to be hurt," he sighed, pouring himself a glass of wine to calm himself, which he drank almost to ex. He had a feeling that if he hadn't, he would have really lost not only his cousin, but his lover as well. If they got Sasuke back, Madara would punish Kakashi, but not execute him. If he dies, even a high title won't protect him.

"Shisui, help me to my bed. We don't have to deal with anything else today," Kakashi spoke softly, and it was obvious that just sitting was wearing him down a lot. Hopefully he'd be a little better tomorrow. He felt like he'd rather die himself, and he preferred not to even look in the mirror. At the same time, Shisui comforted him that the wound wasn't too big, but he didn't believe it. He had definitely lost at least half his face. The doctor had done some serious embroidery.

***

Sasuke was far from a quiet prisoner. Even on horseback he was constantly squirming, though he knew that such a fall at full speed would hurt a lot, but anything was better than being captured. The northerner in the saddle had to keep pulling him back up, cursing venomously, but he had to admit he was a good rider. He expertly guided the horse as they passed through No Man's Land, and was soon beginning to catch up with the rest of the Norse army.
The young Uchiha struggled to wriggle his wrists out of the straps. He was only hastily bound, and clearly felt that with a little luck he might be able to free his hands. His mind raced that he still had at least a dagger at his waist.

"Fuck, don't keep twisting, you southern son of a bitch," the uncouth northerner growled, dragging the young man to the saddle again to keep him from sliding to the ground. They could have ridden slower now, they had reached over a dozen soldiers who looked like sniveling dogs, but an unpleasant grin settled on their faces at the sight of his catch. "I say, fuck it. You're not going anywhere anyway. Your men left you for dead and they're not even looking for you." Which was weird enough. He felt like they should be prosecuting them, and instead, nothing.

The prince of Tänöwill vowed not to waste his breath on the Nordic bastard, it was beneath him. Instead, his heart raced more violently when one of the straps binding his hands actually loosened. Finally! With the last seizure, a crackling sound was heard and his wrists snapped apart. Before the northerner could recover, he fumbled to his waist. He was really bad at riding like this, but he didn't need to see the soldier to know roughly where to stab. The silver glint of a blade flashed through the air, and his dagger pinned the enemy's thigh to the saddle in a second. In the painful roar that followed, he managed to slide off his horse. He staggered badly, and was lucky enough that another horse hadn't stepped on him the next instant, but he was free! He scrambled quickly to his feet.

None of the surrounding northerners had expected the bound youth to be free, and were quite startled as their comrade roared unexpectedly. Still, their training had worked for them. They drew at a moment's notice and did not hesitate to besiege the prince like a hungry pack of wolves. "Where do you think you're going, little one?" one of them said, teasingly trying to poke the young man. But the blade was deflected by a bloody dagger.

Sasuke saw that it was bad. There were at least eight of them and he was alone. Even if by some miracle he managed to defeat them, some of the others were already turning their horses when they saw what had happened. If only he had his spear, but all he had left was his dagger.
"Just stay here with us, our king has put a hefty bounty on you. Hey, guys, do you think the reward will be for the whole body, or will just the head be enough?" provoked another of them.
"I saw him on the battlefield commanding a unit. Are the southerners so short of men now that they'll put a kid like that in charge?" scoffed another. They were amused by how they were only half-seriously threatening Sasuke, and the young prince was deftly fending them off. He was pretty quick, they had to admit.

"If they have more of those brats in their army, I'm surprised they were able to defeat us. We should have taken a pack of murdebears. They'd have shit themselves in fear and run," another one prophesied, and more crowded around Sasuke until he had a needle of set weapons around him.
"So, little one, what are you going to do to us? Are you going to pin us with that needle?" Another spoke up, while behind him he heard a foul curse as someone helped the rider carrying the prince bandage his leg.
They looked the young man over and assessed him. He was too young for them, but his armour was fine, though utterly useless, for it hardly protected him. It was a wonder he had survived the war. And those fine fabrics, my goodness, they'll never wear that. It was immediately obvious that the young man belonged to the nobility and, by the emblem on his chest, to the royal family.

Sasuke had been taught that if he got into enemy territory, it was better not to give in to affectation, not to let it show. He was trying really hard, but you could still see his chest heaving with suppressed rage. Those northern bastards were making a dirty joke of him! What kid?! He was already sixteen! The worst part was that he was aware of how bad the situation was. He couldn't fight them, and though the thought alone burned him deeply, he realized he would have to... give up. Give in to those stinking fuckers! His fingers itched with how badly he wished he held his spear in them instead of his dagger, his squinted dark eyes measuring the soldiers standing around hatefully and haughtily, but still, after much hesitation, Sasuke slowly slid the ornate dagger back into its sheath. "I want to speak to your commander," he announced contemptuously to one of the mercenaries, "take me to him immediately."

The men were silent for a moment before bursting into a roar of laughter. For the situation the young man was in, he could be pretty cheeky. "So the little prince would like to speak to the commander, hahaha... you're no more than a mangy dog here, who occasionally gets a gnawed bone thrown at him," one of the men growled evilly at him, putting the tip of his sword to his throat. "Drop the dagger and get on your knees, you southern bastard," he ordered sharply, and the rest of the men waited tensely to see what the southerner would do.

"No Uchiha will ever kneel before a Nordic motherfucker, you whore-born goat-fucker!" Sasuke exclaimed fiercely, an untamed glint in his eyes, "Take me to the commander immediately, or you'll get a terrible beating!" What dare they even approach him?! The northerners were really just a bunch of barbaric uncivilized uncouth people.
"Wow, he's got some nerve, doesn't he?" sneered one of the soldiers, "How about cutting out his cheeky tongue?"
"Who knows where he's stuck it," snorted another, amused, "Southerners are all perverts."

"They're all fucking with the men over there. Somebody's fucking this puppy anyway. Surely the southern pigs wouldn't pass up such nice meat... I'm pretty hungry, who's gonna have a roasted noble tongue with me?" He urged the other men to cooperate, grinning evilly. First they have to catch the little guy and tie him up, and then they'll do things to him that he's certainly never experienced before.

"When I return to the south, I'll bring your heads with me as a gift," Sasuke growled, tossing his head to get a loose strand of black hair out of his eyes.
"Where do you get that assurance that you'll ever return to the south?" The honey-sure mercenary retorted, gloating, "And if you do... certainly not in the same condition you got here."
"Come on, let's show this nestling that the north doesn't coddle the south," the other suggested, stepping closer to Sasuke. Before he could even touch the young prince, however, the tänöwill steel flashed through the air again and a shallow wound opened on his face.

The wounded man growled angrily and touched his cheek with his fingers. The tips of his fingers immediately turned red. "Scum, drop that dagger immediately or I'll cut it off with your hand," he threatened dangerously, clinking the young man's weapon. He had the advantage of a good fifty inches of solid nordic iron on his side. The prince would need the tongue, but not the hand.

Sasuke didn't react verbally to the threat, just measured the man with a hateful gaze of large black eyes. "I think we've given him a choice... no one will blame us if he suffers any of those injuries," another soldier chided, and the circle of northerners closed even tighter around Sasuke. "I could use that dagger quite a bit," he continued, eyeing the ornate weapon lustfully, "I hear tänöwill steel is the best... well, we'll see."
The young prince understood that his defenses would soon be breached, but he wasn't about to give up without one last attack. "Do you want it?" He smiled with dangerous sweetness at the soldier, "there you have it!" With a practiced motion, he flicked the weapon and a scream cut through the surroundings as the smooth sharp blade pierced through his eye and into his brain. He may have lost, but at least he had shed as much Norse blood as he was capable of under the circumstances.

The men growled like irritated bears. If the young man had been an ordinary soldier or peasant, they would have riddled him from all sides. The cornered animals bite hardest, but they have already stripped this prey of all its teeth. "Grab him and let's cut out his cheeky tongue," barked one of them. Two of the men grabbed the young man by one arm each, and the third kicked his legs from behind to bring him to his knees. "Well, kitty, how do you like it on your knees? Say something more while you can." The other men held Sasuke's head and pried his jaws apart.

"Anyway, it's not the first time he's been on his knees like that... I bet he's sucked some cock in that exact position before," one of them giggled, "has anyone fucked your royal mouth yet?"
"How dare you! Let me go right now, you fucking cowards! Seven to one you dare, but you proved too well in the field that you're worthless fuckers, who - ughhh!" Sasuke twitched, but someone clamped down hard on his chin and jaw and he couldn't bite down properly. They opened his mouth like he was some sort of disobedient dog. It was humiliating! But fear really gripped his insides as the thought of being seriously tongue-deprived flashed through his mind. He could never speak again!

"Nice last words, that's just the truth. Wait until he's without a tongue, all he'll be able to do is mumble, hahaha, you'll be a tongueless southerner," sneered the guy who was fiddling with his dagger and waving it provocatively in the young man's face. The men had to work hard to keep Sasuke in place. Cheering and talking dirty, they cooled their thirst after losing the fight. In the group, the aggression increased and sustained. They were all pulling together. "Damn, he's got it pretty slippery then," complained a man as he tried to grab the prince's tongue and pull it out. As they played with the little boy, a few more northerners gathered around, heading in the same direction, curiously craning their necks to see past their fellows. " Finally! Now say goodbye to your tongue," the man chuckled, putting the dagger to his tongue.

Sasuke's eyes sized up the weapon fearfully. His mouth was already bruised enough from the previous battlefield situation as he had been punched several times until his teeth had torn his inner gums, but those were injuries that would heal. If he lost his tongue, it would be forever, he wouldn't grow a new one. To add to his own horror, he realized he was shaking. His heart was racing in his chest, as if its own beat was saying goodbye to a part of his body he desperately needed to communicate. No! He would not give such pleasure to those foul barbarians. By force of will, he tried to control the trembling so as not to show his fear. He wished he could even control himself enough not to scream when they did this to him, but he suspected he himself only wished for something like this. He closed his eyes tightly and tensed up preemptively, expecting intense pain any moment as the iron blade bit into his sensitive tissue.

The men hooted loudly and cheered amongst themselves. They commented playfully on the trembling of the young man's body, grazing on his fear. The guy with the dagger let the blade nick a little, just enough to stain it with blood before he withdrew. With a wave, he forced the soldiers to let go of the pup and pounded Sasuke with his fist so that he collapsed to the ground in the dirt. "That's for my friends, you southern bastard," he growled, spitting in disgust. "Give me the rope. We'll tie him up and let him walk nicely behind the horse, since he's been riding and not liking it." Some of the men could not resist the temptation and kicked the prince a couple of times in the side.

Sasuke told himself that when he got out of all this, he was going to give those bastards a good beating. No executioner, no peaceful trial. He'd deal with them in person, confront them, and when he had a spear in his hand, he'd see who would laugh. That one thought kept him from sinking so low that he would have collapsed like a coward. He would not do such dishonor to his name. But there was also a gnawing thought burning in his mind that maybe... maybe he might not get out of this either. "Look at how he's sizing us up," one of the soldiers snorted, deliberately tightening the rope around Sasuke's wrist until it cut sharply into his skin, "do you think you're anything more, little prince? Here in the north, your title is shit!" It pissed him off incredibly how arrogant the bastard was being. Even when they tied him up, he acted like they were just troublesome insects to him. Cocky bastard!

"Don't worry, he'll shut up. It's a long way to Nordstone. With no food and no fur to keep him warm at night, he'll still be whining at our feet for us to give him something," the guy snorted and tightened the knot at his saddle. "Why don't we see how the southern whores can run?" He turned to his cronies. After all, they'd still have a nice time humiliating a member of the royal family after a losing battle.

"Course he will," laughed a Northerner, measuring Sasuke's clothes dubiously, "once we get a little closer to the Snow Mountains, he'll freeze. At Murdebear Pass, in fact. I bet he's never even seen snow in his life."
"They're all warm-blooded shit in the south, they can't stand a proper winter," another soldier concluded, gloating at the young man, "and then if he whines, we'll let him keep warm... but only with his own body. He'll show us what he's learned in that big southern brothel. Such a royal bitch."
Sasuke frowned in disgust. Having anything with a northerner... he'd rather freeze to death. He would never fuck with anyone from Winterhold in his life!

The soldier swung himself up into the saddle and turned provocatively to Sasuke behind him. "Stretch your legs hard, or you'll be digging your nose in the ground," he then chuckled, urging the horse into a trot. They jogged a bit down the path before turning and running back. The little prince had to run nicely after them. The remaining soldiers made a strand along the path, whistling and cheering the rider to go further.

Sasuke was used to running and was fast, but the kind southern weather was no match for the conditions he was now exposed to. His lungs were filled with unexpectedly cold air, and no matter how trained he was, he couldn't match the trot of a horse. He held out for a long time, but the longer the march dragged on, the more there were moments when he was forced to slow down from physical lack of strength, and then the rope always gave a good jerk to the ground, and the horse dragged him along for a while, to the cheers of the northern bastards, before the soldier stopped so that he could get up and not lose him altogether.

It took a day's ride to Windhill, the first fort from the border where they were to assemble, once they had crossed the No Man's Land across the Western Crossing after a week. They were mostly on foot, and they had wounded with them who had managed to get off the battlefield. However, they had to camp in Winterhold for the night. They tied the young men to their horses and sat around the fires themselves. There were some who had a sip of brandy and let it circulate. Their outstretched arms warmed in the heat of the leaping flames. Yet there was no sound of laughter or light-hearted conversation. They had lost. The king will not be pleased, and the southerners will begin to indulge again.

Sasuke needed several hours to recover after a long journey. He felt a searing pain in his chest and every time he took a breath, his throat stung. He didn't know what it was because he had never caught a cold. He'd never made it this far north, and if he'd experienced any inclement weather, he'd always had a cloak or a fur coat. Now he felt like he was completely cramped and his muscles weren't listening to him as well as they normally did. He desperately needed a drink, his lips were completely dry despite the humidity of the surrounding air. But he wasn't going to beg. Instead, he discreetly looked around for a nearby rock. Once everyone was asleep, he could try to cut the ropes.

***

In the next chapter:

"Who's all effeminate and on his knees now?"
"At dawn, we leave for Nordstone to see the king."
"I'm supposed to watch him."
"Don't look at me like I've eaten your horse."
"A wild fox would rather bite its paw off than stay in a trap."

Chapter Text

The fittest men kept watch at night. Who knows, maybe the southerners will rise up and come for the prince under cover of night. The news that they had caught the royal little prince spread among the soldiers like a flame through dry grass. A small silver lining to the whole sad affair. Hopefully tomorrow they will at least get some warm food in the fortress and be able to lay their heads warm for the night. They'd all prefer to return to their families for the winter anyway. Which may well happen. Winter has been harsh in the north and abundant in snow. The southern army of softies could never make it to Nordston.
No one took any notice of the young prince. Everyone had enough to worry about, and every single one of them had a growling in their stomachs.

Sasuke never knew how bad the nights in the north could get. As much as he hated all northerners, he had to admit they were pretty resilient in this one. While he shivered with cold, the men in the camp were going through their posts, and apart from the occasional sip of mead to ward off the chill, there was no sign of any particular hardship.
The young prince tried to cut the hempen ropes with a square stone he could reach, but it was like trying to hold a mouthful of water in his outstretched fingers. He was shaking like an aspen leaf, trying to curl up as close as he could to hold on to the last vestiges of warmth. The back of his throat tickled more and more, and by morning he was coughing. He was chilled to the bone, which must inevitably have had its consequences.

The men knew in the morning that Sasuke was not well. His eyes were glassy and he seemed to have a temperature, but no one showed much interest in him. No one felt sorry enough for the young man to give him a drink. He was trash to them, a Southern softened bastard, and they treated him accordingly. They tied him to the saddle again, and let him go on his way. They had few horses, and rather carried the wounded. There was no room for the prince on them.

Sasuke's condition had only one advantage. Today the soldiers didn't drive the horses at a trot. Another run in the cold air the southerner might not last, and to get the king's reward, they'd have to bring him alive. True... the Raikage would undoubtedly pay well even for a dead one, but a live one was worth even more.
The young Uchiha was not one to talk. He hadn't responded to insults the previous days either, but today it wasn't just out of his own pride, but because he had his own self to deal with. He was on fire, and yet he was cold. His head ached from dehydration and his surroundings melted before his eyes at times. Perhaps he had never been so dirty in his entire life.

The group of soldiers gradually grew as they approached the fortress and met more and more groups. There were a lot of survivors, yet so damn few. They also hoped that their commander had survived and was returning with them. They hadn't seen him anywhere yet, but maybe he was already there. He rode a strong and reliable Nordic horse. Behind the fortifications, they joyfully hugged their friends and their brothers from their unit. They were all keenly interested in who they were dragging along, and Sasuke could hear a lot of new curses and landed a few spitballs.

If Sasuke had had the strength and energy, he would have looked around the town quite a bit. The northern architecture was the same as the north itself - austere, windswept, solid, dark. If his gaze met a Northerner's, hatred and contempt dripped straight from dark irises despite everything. He ignored the insults, bore the indignities with his head held as proudly high as possible, at least as far as his health would allow. His wrists were raw from the ropes and he was wracked with fever and chills, but he assured himself that he would not be overcome. They might break him in body, but never in spirit. He would not allow it.

The soldiers immediately checked to see if the commander was in the fortress. Glory, he survived. They sent him a message saying they had something interesting for him, that they had captured a southerner. After all, word had already spread throughout the fortifications and it would be a matter of time before someone brought it up. The man who had caught Sasuke walked beside him on a cane. The wound was quite painful and was beginning to fester. Scumbag, he'd like to do the same to him, but whatever, now he'd grab his purse and invite the buddies who helped guide the young man out for a round tonight.

The young Uchiha was well acquainted with the royal house of Winterhold. Even though they were enemies, their names and likenesses were burned into his memory, just as the genealogy master had taught them. It was part of a noble upbringing. So when he heard something about Bee, the connections immediately popped into his head. The brother of the king himself, if his information was correct, had commanded the previous battles. He was led to the Windhill fortress, straight to the hall where a burly, stocky man in well-fitting clothes and furs was already waiting for them.

Bee honestly didn't expect that they could still get something so valuable in their hasty retreat. He waited impatiently for the group to appear in the hall. Two men led a dirty young man between them, with a third limping behind them. They brought him in front of him and without much force brought him to his knees. The commander watched the immature youngster with interest. He wasn't going to be fooled if his own men were going to trick him and put who knew who in southern rags. The light southern-style clothing and the not-so-durable armor with the Uchiha family crest on his chest made it clear who he was dealing with. Even the young man himself, despite his illness and filth, maintained aristocratic features. Ebony black hair and dark eyes... these were all Uchiha traits. There was no doubt that the young man was truly royalty. "What's your name?"

Sasuke didn't want to kneel in front of any Nordic ruler and tried to get up, but the soldiers held him down tightly. He toyed with the idea of not answering at all, but Bee was no ordinary mercenary, he was a noble. If he was going to negotiate with anyone in this stinking country, it would be with members of the royal family. "I am Sasuke Uchiha, son of Fugaku Uchiha, the first of that name, Prince of Tänöwill," he barked acidly, fighting not to cough. Speaking made him weak, and his chest felt like it was pricked by needles. He eyed Bee from beneath his closed eyelids with undisguised disgust, yet not with the same contempt as the soldiers. He was an enemy, he was a hated member of a hated family, but he was a nobleman, he was basically his equal. Likewise, he sensed that even Bee looked at him differently than the rest of the army.

The king's brother was amazed at the wild and fierce look on the young man's face, despite his condition. There was something about the southern blood that was wild and hot. "For a prisoner, you act like you're in charge." He took the written bounty from the sergeant and handed it to the limping soldier. "The reward is rightfully yours, it certainly wasn't easy to hunt him down." He glanced at Sasuke thoughtfully. It was a good thing they had him, otherwise his brother would surely rip his head off when he saw him in Nordstone.

The young Uchiha had tried to carefully memorize the faces of his tormentors during those two days. One day he would get them, and the one who was now contentedly fingering a thick purse of coins would be the first to be killed. As soon as the grip on his shoulders loosened as the soldiers relaxed, he scrambled to his feet. He waited to see what would happen to him now. Windhill would undoubtedly only be the first stop, he had a feeling Bee would definitely want to take him to the capital. Only he worried in his mind that if it got any colder heading north, as it probably would, he'd freeze to death before he got there.

Bee dismissed the soldiers and stood alone in front of Sasuke, looking him over. He had never seen the youngest Uchiha before. The only time he had seen Madara and Fugaku with his own eyes was a long time ago, when a truce had been arranged for a while. He hadn't seen them since. It seemed to him that the young man should rather belong to the eldest Uchiha. He had the same implacable fire in his eyes. He was just quite tiny. "I guess you've figured out where your next path will lead, your bad luck is that you're not of our ilk."

"We each have our own," Sasuke replied hoarsely, trying hard to suppress a cough, "your soldiers would have been roasted in the south, perished in a sandstorm, died of thirst, drowned in the winter rains." He couldn't help it, for a moment he was overcome by a lung-breaking cough. But the irises, glistening with fever, bore no trace of taming. "However, by treating the royal prisoners, you only confirm the Norse uncivilized and barbaric. What could I expect from vile assassins, too," he growled afterwards to cover a moment of weakness.

"Rather, you southerners are pretty soft and can't stand anything. A little snowstorm would blow on you and you would run away in fear. That's also why the Uchiha could never hold the more northern lands over the No Man's Land. You are spoiled and effeminate," he poked the young man provocatively in the chest. He saw that he had hit the mark and Sasuke meant to defend immediately. He pounded him with his fist until he broke at the waist and sagged at the knees. "Any northerner could have stood this and faced me proudly."

"Really?" Sasuke hissed contemptuously as he tried to breathe out the blow before he could straighten up again, "in that case, it's interesting how spoiled and effeminate southerners have managed to kick your northern asses and beat you in every battle for the last month. Maybe it's because of the commander?" He could see Bee's angry intake of breath all too well, and since he'd provoked him like that on purpose, he knew what was coming too. He ducked sharply, and a massive paw whizzed over his head, the second of the thwarted attack enough to kick Bee solidly in the crotch. "Who's all effeminate and on his knees now?" He chuckled as the Northern man dropped to his knees, cursing, hands pressing into his lap.

The commander hadn't really expected such a thing. Despite his impoverished condition, the puppy was very good at defending himself. With a wave of his hand, he called off the guards who wanted to come to his aid and stood up. His eyes blazed with anger and his palms itched badly. "I'd like to strangle you myself," he said between his teeth, "but you're too valuable to do that." He raised his voice so that everyone in the hall could hear him, "If anyone hurts this kitty, it will be your pity, you will be a head-shorter size, the crows will eat your eyes."

Sasuke blinked in surprise. What was that? He didn't know whether to laugh or just wonder. In truth, it hadn't occurred to him that the brother of the Norse king had a penchant for something like poetry. Either way, though, he could be glad that Bee had forbidden further physical torture. He sighed in relief, at least he would get himself together a bit, though his fate was still very uncertain. He wondered what would happen to him. Probably the Raikage would demand a ransom for his life. They didn't have anyone decent to barter with in Tänöwill, just a few of the lower nobles of the North. Five years ago was different, they even captured a prince, but returned him for a hefty sum of gold.

The commander still took a moment to stop himself from hitting the young man with an additional blow. He'll leave it to his brother. He was a lot more short-tempered than he was, and a hothead. If Sasuke put on a show in Nordstone like he did here, it might be a wasted trip for the Uchiha. "Omoi, take the guards and get the Uchiha cleaned up and taken care of. And give him our clothes. I don't want him to freeze before we reach the capital." Bee turned on his heel until his fur cloak fluttered and walked to his room, where he was sure there was delicious mead waiting for him.

When the soldiers tried to catch Sasuke, he barked at them that he could walk on his own. He had no chance to escape anyway. They brought him to one of the rooms and prepared a bath for him. Though the young prince greatly resented having three other northerners in the room with him, and he winced a bit, the hot water was too much of a temptation to warm up. He was finally able to scrub off all the mud and grime, and his golden skin soon shone like honey silk again, as did the bluish sheen of his black hair.
He put on his nordic clothing with shame, almost as if it might stain him again. At least his original clothes had been washed and folded, not thrown away. He was left with light southern armor with the royal crest, but he was given a fur cloak over it. He was also left with a gold family ring with a large blue sapphire and an ornate engraved U.
They let him go to the bathroom and brought him food and drink, both of which Sasuke sniffed suspiciously and tasted cautiously at first. He remembered all too well how the bastards had poisoned his grandfather. He eyed even more suspiciously the sort of thick syrup Omoi had given him after dinner. "What's that?!"

"It's cold medicine. It will help you get rid of your fever and cough," Omoi explained briefly, offering the young man a small cup of the medicine again. "There's nothing wrong with it," the servant assured the prince, finally adding. "If we wanted to kill you, we would have done it on entering the fortress. Bee wants you alive. Please take the medicine, it will make you feel better."

Sasuke hesitated a moment longer, but the truth was that he was in really bad shape. A hot bath had helped a little, but he would mostly need to sweat and warm up for at least a few hours. Every coughing fit felt like it was tearing his chest apart. His black eyes locked onto Omoi's. He was the first person here to treat him more or less decently, and he had a feeling there was no lie in his gaze. So he nodded and emptied the tiny goblet. The next instant he grinned in shock. "It's sweet!" He exclaimed. Most of the medicines he had experience with were bitter and disgusting.

"Of course, there's honey in it for the kids to eat," Omoi smiled in amusement and took back his cup. "I'll leave you the mead to warm you up and the water. I'm still to tell you to get ready in the morning. At dawn, we leave for Nordstone to see the king." The servant smiled dreamily, he would finally be able to return home. Hopefully Karui hadn't found anyone yet. He would have loved to propose to her, but so far he had nothing to dazzle her with.

The young Uchiha nodded again. In truth, he was looking forward to getting a good night's sleep. As he walked past the windows, he managed to notice that he was quite high up. Even he, who liked and often climbed walls, trees, and rocks, wouldn't be able to handle this, let alone in this condition. So he assumed that no one would be guarding him in the room, probably just putting guards outside the door. At least he might be able to get up early in the morning and try to find some makeshift weapon in the room to defend himself.

A tall man stepped into the room, and it was a wonder he had made it through the door. He would have matched the local commander in height, but not in looks. The rough-hewn body was draped in Nordic clothing and armor. A heavy iron sword swung at his waist. The warrior's whole appearance was dominated by the suspicious piercing eyes of a cunning man. His semi-long brown hair, common among the Norse, was loose. His face was grim with lips drawn into a tight line, as if to say that nothing nice could ever come out of them. "I'm supposed to watch him," he grumbled in a deep baritone to the servant, fixing his eyes on the young man. He was supposed to guard this? The commander didn't know what to give him to do anymore either. He would much rather behead southerners than babysit them like children.

Sasuke returned the man's look without much interest. An unquenchable fire still burned in his eyes that had nothing to do with the fever consuming his body. He had to admit that he was quite annoyed at how small he was compared to most northerners. Sure, he was still growing, and even in the south his stature was more petite, but here in Winterhold it somehow stood out more. Especially against this guy! He wondered vaguely if he was the brother of the thunderer who'd impaled him on the battlefield. Either way, he was in no state to be particularly interested in anything but a little warmth right now. Of course, the bed in the chamber didn't resemble his royal bed at home in the Pearl Palace in the slightest, but it was a bed and there was a thick blanket on it. That was all he needed at the moment. Omoi bade him even a slight bow of farewell and left the room. Sasuke waited for the huge man to stand in front of the door outside, but he just folded his hands at his sides and had no intention of leaving. "I'd quite go to sleep," he pointed out gruffly, thinking he might as well take his seat.

"No one's stopping you," the man replied disinterestedly, standing like a rock in front of the door inside. A boulder that someone had rolled into the room to keep the young man from escaping. A cocky little prince who thinks everyone will jump at his whistle. No way, here he is in the North, and it doesn't coddle anyone. "Don't look at me like I've eaten your horse," he growled unpleasantly, returning Sasuke's gaze firmly. He looked like a little northern boy now, but when he was led, he looked more like a poor mud-stained southern nobody.

Sasuke understood that this guy was probably ordered to watch him in his room, not in front of it. He snorted: "I'm honored that Bee has such a high opinion of us southerners, since he feels that I might be able to get out of here without a northern nanny, perhaps." He walked over to the table to pour himself a glass of mead before bed. He grinned in disgust as he drank. Ugh, such shit! He missed the tänöwill red. Nothing was good in the north, not even the booze.

Kakuzu folded his hands on his chest and watched the young man. He didn't let his face show what he was thinking. In his mind, he despised Sasuke. He was proud of his homeland and what it had to offer them. Surely the cup the prince was grinning over contained the finest mead in all the north. The nobility and royalty always had the best. "A wild fox would rather bite off its paw than stay in a trap."

"I quite like my hands," Sasuke assured him coldly, not intending to talk any more. Instead, he crawled under the fur blankets and pulled his knees up to his body to build up as much heat as he could. He was still pretty miserable. He didn't even bother to turn off the torches, not caring how or if Kakuzu would sleep at all. His only thought was to get a little warmer.

The brown-haired thunderer stood at the door all night. He kept watch over the southern whelp, but gave no hint of whether he liked it or not. It was a duty like any other. Standing guard at the front gate or watching the little prince in the warmth. It didn't matter, though this duty was more pleasant. If he slept a little, he didn't have to worry about missing anything nefarious in the area. Plus, he was a light sleeper, so any rustling woke him up immediately.

Sasuke exhaustedly fell asleep rather early, his body desperately needing to replenish its energy. Of course, he often woke up at night coughing and wheezing, his head was throbbing and he was sweating, but at least he was warm, and thanks to the medicine, he was regenerating a bit after all. He didn't take much notice of his brown haired guardian, he was rather busy with himself. It wasn't until morning that his sleep calmed and relaxed. Perhaps out of a subconscious effort to protect himself in enemy territory, the young man buried himself so thoroughly in his furs that he resembled more of a little moving mound on his bed.

Kakuzu waited for the servant to appear and disappeared for a moment. Someone else had taken over guarding the little one, and he was going to stretch for a while before heading off to march to Nordstone. He also wanted to pack up the few things he had, but mostly he wanted to pleasure himself with the nice coins he'd won yesterday at the dice. He loved the jingle and shine of them. He tried to have as many as he could, but it didn't always work out. Still, he had a much heavier purse than most of the other soldiers.

Omoi woke Sasuke in the morning with a modest breakfast and more medicine. He had him bathed in warm water to remove the sweat and dressed in a combination of northern clothes, southern armor, and a northern cloak. The young prince certainly looked better than when he was brought in yesterday, already resembling a member of the royal family again. "How far is it to Nordstone?" He asked the servant informatively. One of the soldiers who had captured him had talked about going through Murdebear Pass or something like that.

"About three weeks in the summer months on horseback, but I think it'll take us a lot longer now with the army at our backs, and if there's snow in the pass it'll be very difficult. Luckily the murdebears don't dare to take on such a large group of people, so we don't have to worry," Omoi sighed while talking a bit more. "And if I may ask, prince, how far is it to the Pearl Palace?"

Sasuke wondered for a moment if he should divulge such information to Omoi, but this was, after all, something that even in the north, over the map, they could calculate quite well. "A month from the northern border of Tänöwill," he replied, trying to suppress a grimace as he took a sip of mead to warm himself, "three weeks at a time when the Nereder Desert can be crossed, but that's usually only two weeks out of the year." He looked out the window thoughtfully. It looked like he would soon see snow for the first time.

"Whew, that's a long way," Omoi lamented. He loved his country. Its harshness and cold beauty, but sometimes he wanted to go south. All the strange fruit, the warm wind, the sea of flowers and the beautiful girls. He'd like to see what the bards sang about on long winter nights. Maybe one day, when he's done with the royal court, he'll be able to travel. That is, if he doesn't get married before then.

"Yes," sighed the young Uchiha, who had just realized, even with Omoi's sentence, how terribly far away he was from his home now. But to cover the brief flash of sentiment, he took another sip of mead and shook his head. "Well," he glanced at the fair-haired servant, and though he was in a predicament and speaking to a Northerner, to his own surprise he managed a slight smile, only halfway across his mouth, but still it brought out the extraordinary beauty of his face. "Then don't keep your great commander waiting long," he ironized, nodding to Omoi to lead him to the throne room.

Bee was already in the throne room in full regimentation, still distributing the final tasks to his captains. Outside, everyone was bustling and preparing to leave. Originally, over fifteen thousand men were going into battle. It wasn't the entire army of the north, but they figured it would be enough, especially if they could help themselves with a minor trap against the cavalry. It wasn't enough, they lost almost half their soldiers. It was sad, but somewhere in the south, seven thousand good northerners were rotting away, never to return home. The brave commander of the army decided to leave three thousand men in the local fortress. Windhill was a good fortress, sturdy, and the first to be hit on the road from the south. With the rest he would march north and leave it to his brother to decide how the men would spend this winter - in the army or at home with their families.

Sasuke, who was feeling a little better today, although he was still running a fever and coughing, carried his head proudly upright, as befitted an Uchiha. Any insults the soldiers uttered he passed over with ignorance or a contemptuous smile. When everything was ready to go and the supplies of food, equipment and tents were loaded onto the wagons or attached as loads to the horses, two soldiers approached Sasuke to tie his hands. "Are you so afraid of me that I could be so dangerous without a weapon? I'm flattered," he called with a snort at Bee, who just scowled at him. The mercenaries tightened the ropes until they cut into his wrists again, but he didn't allow himself a single hiss, didn't blink an eye. A mild surprise awaited him in the courtyard as he was led before his horse. It was huge! Their thoroughbreds in the south were not so sturdy and strong, but they were lithe, light and fast. With his horse, Sasuke could leap wondrously high hurdles, but with this monster... he couldn't even climb it, let alone with his hands tied!

Sasuke was given one of the better horses ridden by nobles and higher ranking soldiers, such as Kakuzu, members of the royal guard. The horse was beautifully grown, strong and tough. The luxuriant mane fell around his neck, keeping him warm in the winter months and warming someone's cramped hands under it. His strong legs could climb many a pass, protected by long roos. Their calm nature made them excellent traveling companions. At Nordstone, they were also trained as warhorses, making them equal enemies and not just ordinary riding animals. All the men looked expectantly at the young man to see how he would handle his horse. He looked like a crumb against it.

The black-haired prince ran his cuffed palms over the animal's fur at first, just to make sure it wasn't some beast that would immediately go limp at his touch. However, he had a chance to test its gentle nature a few minutes later when he tried to scramble into its saddle. Just getting his foot high in the stirrup presented a problem, he felt ridiculous and clumsy, but to climb up gracefully as he could on his own horse turned into a desperate struggle to at least grab the pear of the saddle. The men burst into laughter as Sasuke couldn't reach up there and there was no way he could swing his leg over. At least the horse stood calm and friendly, as if it wasn't even aware that a little man was trying to climb onto its back.

Bee swung gracefully up on the back of his stallion, the size of his horse beautifully balanced by his sturdy physique. They looked as if they were made for each other. Together with his soldiers, he laughed at Sasuke's fruitless efforts. "If the prince of Tänöwill can't mount his horse, he'll have to walk," he sneered. That was what he had gotten for kicking him yesterday. "Or we'll give him a pony to make the journey go faster," he giggled with the troop.

"I'd quite like to know," Sasuke snapped loudly to the general mirth of his predicament, "what you compensate for with such big horses up here in the north. Guess you don't get your manliness elsewhere, huh? After all, I'm not surprised, after what I felt yesterday..." He grinned mischievously at Bee, wiping the smile off his face. The soldiers hissed like a ball of vipers instead of laughing again. Sasuke was already wondering if it really would be easier to walk, he didn't want to fall off this monster.

The king's brother felt like whipping the prince across his face to make him realise his place. However, he restrained his hand and snorted at Kakuzu, who was sitting on his horse nearby, "I'm putting the prince in your charge until we reach Nordstone." The brown haired man was one of his best men. It was said that he preferred money to his own honor, but so far he had never betrayed him. He performed every task without a word and with precision.
Kakuzu grinned inwardly. Now he was going to babysit a southern kid? That's great. He jumped off his horse and approached the struggling young man. He let him stood in his linked fingers and tossed him up so vehemently he almost flew off the other side.

Sasuke didn't seem too thrilled with the choice either, though of course he hadn't had much experience with Kakuzu otherwise, he probably had a problem with any northerner. Perhaps he'd still be at his best with Omoi, but he was a servant, not a soldier, so it wasn't likely that someone like that would be put in charge. Still, he said no more, settling himself in the saddle so that he wouldn't fall, his bound hands at least catching on the pear, since the reins were refused to be entrusted to him. If nothing else, he had to at least admit that it was a much better journey than the last time. This time he might at least get to see some of the north properly, before he had to concentrate on just running the whole route.

***

In the next chapter:

"Southern little prince sees snow for the first time."
"Aren't you afraid you'll be eaten by a murdebear?"
"You can't escape me, remember that."
"What the fuck are you doing?!"
"If Bee finds out, he'll have you executed!"

Chapter Text

The army started to march. First went the cavalry, followed by the infantry troops, and finally the supply wagons and necessary equipment. The men did not walk cheerfully and it was a rather sombre procession through the autumn landscape, which was slowly but surely going to sleep. The trees waved their bare branches and only the conifers were green. The animals fled from them, and only a careless bird sang here and there. There was only the clatter of hooves, the clink of armour. Gone was the merry singing of soldiers' songs when they marched south.

Sasuke looked around as he rode. The forests here were dense and mostly mixed, but spruce and other coniferous trees became more prevalent the further north they went. The landscape was also quite different from the south. The bluish outlines of mountains rose in the distance, their peaks disappearing into the mist. It was inhospitable, desolate and cold, and he saw none of the bright, vivid colours he was used to from Tänöwill. After about four hours of driving, he suddenly noticed that something strange had begun to fall from the sky. It was different from the raindrops, much lighter, much slower, white as milk.

The main road was wide enough to pass two large cars, so the ride was also four riders side by side. The soldiers did not fail to notice how strangely the prince looked up to the heavens and examined what had fallen on his glove. When they realized what was happening, they started laughing. " Southern little prince sees snow for the first time." "Look at him, hahaha, staring like a calf at a new gate." The men perked up a little when they could make fun of something and not have to trudge through the countryside like sniveling dogs.

Sasuke gave them the evil eye, but they were right. It was the first snow he'd ever seen in his life, and he was quite surprised. He'd only heard stories about snow, and didn't really know how he imagined it. When one flake landed on his face, it made him go cold, which was uncomfortable, but just watching those fluffy little crumbs drift peacefully to the ground... well, it was kind of nice. At least while it looked like this, if he'd seen an actual Nordic snowstorm, he'd probably change his mind pretty quickly.

The wandering resembled more and more a funeral procession. From morning till night the men made their way through the countryside, and there seemed to be no end to the journey. For the first few days, no one missed an opportunity to humiliate Sasuke or spit abuse at him. As the days passed, it was less frequent and more a reaction to the haughty actions of the prince himself, who sat on his horse like a little elf.

The youngest Uchiha was gradually finding out the hard way how incredibly cold the north was. There, in the chambers of the Pearl Palace, by the Bay of Scallops, where the kindly sun shone for most of the year, he had no idea of the unbelievable chill nature could create. A freezing wind blew through their tent regularly from the evening onwards, so he spent most nights crawling under the furs all covered up, until Kakuzu once teasingly asked him if the Uchiha had any moles in the clan.

The mountains were slowly approaching and the cold was even stronger as the chill breathed from the mountain tops. The highest ones held ice and snow year round. However, the first snowflakes had already formed a light fluffy blanket on the rocks. A gap opened up between the high rocks in front of the marching army. A Murdebear Pass. The path was difficult in summer and almost impassable in winter for the uninitiated. Now they still had a pleasant passage by local standards. "Aren't you afraid you'll be eaten by a murdebear? This pass is famous for them," Kakuzu asked amusedly as the young man measured the mountain range with interest.

"I'm not afraid. First of all, I'm convinced they'd go after the horses first, secondly I think even if they wanted human flesh there are better catches than me, and thirdly Bee has to protect me because if I die he'll return to Nordstone a loser without an ace up his sleeve and your king will tear him apart," Sasuke listed to him with cool logic and smiled at him with superiority. However, despite his words, he looked around the immediate area thoughtfully. "How big are the murdebears?" He asked a little more quietly so the rest of the soldiers wouldn't hear him. He wondered if anyone here had ever encountered the beasts up close.

"Males like the horse you sit on," Kakuzu replied smoothly, as if describing the size of his dinner. "In winter, they gather in packs. If you meet them, nothing will save you. They'll hunt anything, anytime." Occasionally, there was a problem with a murdebear in a more remote populated area. The people there were too close to the wilderness. They had tasty pets and the wildlife was starving. So they had to send a strong crew on horseback to kill it.

Sasuke swallowed dryly. That big? He hadn't expected that. He shivered a little, but surprisingly it wasn't from the cold this time. He measured his bound hands unenthusiastically. If a pack really attacked them, he wouldn't be able to defend himself at all. His wrists were bound and he was completely unarmed. In some normal terrain, he might still be able to rely on his speed, but packed like this in Nordic clothing and in such unpleasant conditions, he wouldn't be able to run properly for a hundred meters.

"Don't worry, they'd deal with you quickly." Kakuzu startled the young man, seeing him flinch. "One wave of the paw and Crow would come for you, to take you to the underworld. After all, dying under the fangs of a murdebear is no worse than dying in battle. The tribute of the North. The gods want our blood, and whenever they please, they will take it," Kakuzu spoke, gently pulling the horse's bridle to make it go slower.

"What strange gods you have," Sasuke snapped, trying to hide his fear, "Our gods require only the sacrifice of the land they have given us and made fertile. Wine, bread, milk and meat and fruit. When they demand blood, it is only animal blood. They punish only when we oppose their will. They are not cruel rulers, but protectors and patrons of the land and sea. Their will is in every leaf, every grain of sand. They speak with the voice of the southern breeze, the sound of the rain, the roar of the waves. They are loving but just."

"Softeners, like everything in the south," Kakuzu laughed heartily. It was a strange laugh. One wasn't sure if there was more irony and resentment in it than joy and amusement. "Our gods gave us this land and free will. They demand nothing from us but mead and blood. It is the sap of this land that gives it the will to live and survive. The people of the north can do and endure far more than the southerners because of their blessings."

"Really? It's strange that seven years ago when the army of the north marched south to attack the Pearl Palace, two thousand men died in the Nereder Desert and the rest turned tail back to the north. The skeletons of those poor men have long since been covered by the sand, but occasionally one of them is uncovered as an eternal reminder. The people of the north are cowards, barbarians, uncouth and murderers who know only how to kill viciously, roar and fuck goats," Sasuke grumbled between his teeth.

Kakuzu fisted his hand in annoyance until his glove squeaked. His hand itched intensely as he wanted to reach out and punch the little cocky guy in the face. The only thing holding him back was the order that nothing must happen to the prince. If he ever got so mad at the puppy that he couldn't hold back, he'd kill him. Sometimes he'd have a fit of rage and then he'd be unstoppable. "The homo southerners never made it to Nordstone either," he snorted dryly, turning forward.

Sasuke curled his upper lip in contempt. In fact, it wasn't the first time this guy had praised northerners to the skies while considering southerners soft. Then who was being cocky here. The rest of the journey that day was more or less uneventful, except that by evening they had reached the regions where the snow already lay on the ground like a thick white blanket, at which the young man also tried to disguise how fascinated he was by it, at least on sight. He was not so much attracted to the touch.

Towards evening they camped in front of the hardest part of the pass. In the morning they would have to face a steep climb, wading through high snow and a sharp wind that whipped the peaks almost constantly. Kakuzu was still sick to his stomach of Sasuke's taunting and was plotting his revenge. Sure, it might have been a bit childish, but the southern pup had certainly never experienced anything like it. He tied up his horse and bent down to take a nice snowball bite. Then there was nothing easier than to hit the turned Uchiha by the neck.

Sasuke shrieked, as he was terribly frightened when something horribly cold splattered on his neck. Immediately he began to scratch wildly to shake the snow off of himself, and the soldiers standing around, who had originally also been frightened by his scream, burst into loud laughter. Kakuzu offered them a good entertainment. "Come on, guys, shall we show the southerner a real nordic snowball fight?" One of them hooted, and as if on cue, they all bent down for powdered ammunition. "Don't you dare... aaaaaaah!" Sasuke was soon engulfed in a shower of snowballs until it looked like he was about to resemble a snowman.

Occasionally, one of the balls would hit someone it shouldn't have originally, and the snowball fight would turn into a regular All Against All war. Sasuke was the only one who couldn't defend himself properly, and just took cover from the snowballs. The rest of the team took to the battle more vigorously. No lightly whipped balls, but solid large balls flew through the air like an angry flock of hornets. It might even have been serious if a cheerful smile had not appeared on the faces of many of the men, and for a moment they became carefree children again.

In truth, the young Uchiha didn't understand this fun at all, and he thought that perhaps he could slip away subtly in the general merriment. He wasn't thinking about how he himself would survive in the freezing northern wilderness right now, but he wanted to get away. Stealthily, he crept under the belly of his horse, not even too difficult at his height, he just had to stoop a little, and made his way to the edge of the nearest forest. He had not gone ten paces, however, before a hand grabbed him by the collar of his cloak and a deep voice murmured behind him, "Where do you think you're going?"

Though Kakuzu was also drawn to the snowball figt with the others, he still hadn't forgotten his task. If Sasuke ran away, Bee would definitely have his head knocked off. It was already clear to him that once the young man got the opportunity, he would take it. He ran a few steps to the little one, clutching his fur collar. "You can't escape me, remember that," he assured the young man, jerking him back towards the campsite.

Sasuke was disappointed that his plan hadn't worked, but the worst part was that a few soldiers figured out his plan and landed a few more balls on him as punishment. One splattered on his face until he started coughing and sputtering. It was clear to him that he would have to be cured again for a few days after this, as he felt that the cold of the snow was biting into his bones. Fucking cold north and fucking barbaric northerners!

The commander of the army, seeing that something was happening by the horses, came to check on his men. What wonder, then, when a great snowball splashed against his armour, and he looked evilly at the men who were frolicking about. If only they were making a target of themselves, but as he deduced from Sasuke's appearance, the southern prince had taken the brunt of it. "What's going on here?" He growled loudly at the soldiers, who immediately made like snarling dogs and pretended like they weren't doing anything. "Didn't I say that no one would touch the prince?"

"But no one touched him, we were attacking from a distance," one of the soldiers remarked in residual exuberance, but he crouched down as soon as Bee's scowl landed on him. "Sorry, commander," he humbly pointed out, "it won't happen again." Sasuke snorted. He didn't trust too much that they wouldn't find another fun way to do something to him instead of snowball fight for next time. He tried to control his shivering, but he had snow everywhere and was shaking with cold so badly that his teeth were chattering softly. His golden skin was now rather white and adorned with bluish lips.

"Get out there and set up camp, or I'll have you whipped like dogs," Bee barked at them in exasperation, watching the soldiers swarm quickly out of his reach. "Kakuzu, take him to his tent then. I don't want any more incidents before we reach Nordstone. Keep an eye on it." He wanted to avoid anything happening to the young man before their arrival.

Kakuzu pulled Sasuke aside a bit while the soldiers began to do their thing, and threw a fur over him, which the young prince immediately snuggled into, but was still shivering. At times he had the feeling that he wouldn't even make it to Nordstone, freezing somewhere along the way, but he held on to the thought that he would surely return home soon, to the warm plains of the south. Surely... surely they wouldn't leave him here.

The brown-haired guard stood like an impassive pillar by the trembling youth. He was no longer surprised that the southerners hadn't flocked north as he watched the prince. Too mellowed and unable to withstand the cold, and apparently unable to maintain their own temperature. The soldiers were moving rather quickly. The construction of the tents was nothing complicated, yet they were able to withstand the strong winds and rain.

Once Sasuke's tent was finished, the young Uchiha let Kakuzu lead him into it. It took a few more moments before a servant brought them some hot coals to warm them up, and the southern prince felt like he could move his fingers again after a long time. Even so, he crawled into his bed as soon as possible for safety, which was shaking all over as he shuddered from the cold beneath it. If Nordstone was still far to the north, and if they didn't have good heating in the Stone Fortress, perhaps he would die there before he was redeemed.

Sasuke's guard sat down on the chest and watched as the fur the young man was hidden under shivered. He took a nice swig from the flask himself, and when the servant brought a pitcher, he didn't dawdle and went to pour for the prince as well. He must keep him warm somehow, if he is ordered to look after a southern boy like a nurse. He threw back the blankets. "Drink this, or the cold and sickness will beat you down."

"D-don't you have any mulled wine in your s-stock?" Sasuke groaned in a croaky voice, measuring his cup with feverish eyes. He hadn't gotten too used to the mead yet, but seeing Kakuzu's grin, he took the drink from him and downed it down, coughing at the end as it was too much alcohol for him all at once. He then burrowed back into his furs like a mole, trying to control his teeth from chattering. He was still terribly cold, the mead had warmed his stomach, but it hadn't reached his fingertips.

The burly man paced around the tiny tent for a moment before sitting back down on the chest and lazily began to sharpen his sword. After half an hour, the constant coughing and wheezing began to annoy him. By the gods, the mead wasn't working at all. If he drank as much mead as the prince, he'd be completely heated. After another hiccup, he took a deep breath. "I have to do something about you," he grumbled gruffly, and began to take off his clothes.

Sasuke didn't notice his actions at first, or rather he thought Kakuzu was looking for more furs to throw over him. It was only when the rustling became highly suspicious that he poked his head out from under the bedding to see what was going on. When he saw Kakuzu undressing, he panicked, "What are you doing?!" He yelped in alarm as the soldier gradually exposed his muscular chest, "what the fuck are you doing?!"

"Haven't you ever heard that fucking can warm you up the best?" Kakuzu said, chuckling in amusement as the pup rolled his eyes at him. "I won't miss fucking the prince's ass." By then he was already taking off his boots and pulling down his pants. Kakuzu was a member of the royal guard and as such was an excellent fighter. His physique matched it. A manly chest and several scars proved that experience was not free. "Come on, hurry, so I can get some sleep tonight."

"You shit yourself, didn't you?" Sasuke yelped, bolting upright on the bed with surprising speed, "I'll never lie down in bed with a northerner!" Despite the tense situation, his eyes automatically swept over Kakuzu's burly figure. Hmm, he was pretty grown up, had to give him that. Most Winterholdians were very big and burly, but Kakuzu was truly the epitome of the most rugged of the North. He was still the enemy, though. "Don't come any closer!" the young prince warned him, and in a subconscious effort to protect himself, he clutched his fur as tightly as he could. But he had a feeling that if there was a confrontation, physically he would definitely not be up to him. Moreover, he was seized with another coughing fit.

"Annoying," Kakuzu snorted grumpily as he tried to get under the blanket and the furs. "Come on, little one, don't fight back. If you rebel, it'll hurt," he warned Sasuke, ripping the fur from his hand. "Don't you want a hard northern cock inside you? You'd finally get a taste of a real man." The warrior was amused by the young man's terror. He couldn't understand that the prince believed him so. If he was a northerner, he would have fucked him gladly and right away.

"Never! Touch me and I'll make you a castrated man, you cattle! I'll personally cut your balls off! Don't touch me! If Bee finds out, he'll have you executed!" Sasuke threatened in terror, fighting back tooth and nail. There was no way he was going to have his first sex with a man in some cold wilderness, frozen, with the temperature... and especially not with a Nordic bastard! When Kakuzu fumbled at him, he fired a fist, but as shaky and frightened as he was, it didn't give the mercenary any work to dodge, and then suddenly strong hands clamped down on his arms and yanked him into the bed. In an instant he was trapped beneath the burly man, measuring him fearfully with large, touching eyes.

"Or have you never fucked with anyone before? You haven't let anyone into your ass yet?" Kakuzu grinned triumphantly, grazing on Sasuke's fear that was completely oozing out of him. It was intoxicating and he was thoroughly enjoying himself. "I'll be the first to fuck a southern little prince, such an honor. I'm looking forward to slamming into you. I'm going to stretch your ass and tomorrow you'll be begging to walk." He tried to fight the prince, who was clearly dreading the possibility of spending the night with him.

"No... no! You can't do that! Surely you can't, Bee ordered that nothing can happen to me!" Sasuke argued desperately, thrashing about underneath Kakuzu, ironically rubbing against him more than if he had remained completely still. He definitely spat a lot of germs at him as he had to cough a few times, but it didn't change anything - the brown-haired man was clutching him underneath him like he was in a pincer and grinning at him, which was particularly frightening. "D-don't do that, I've never... never..." Sasuke swallowed dryly.

"Really? I was under the impression that southerners don't turn down a single opportunity to fuck, but it seems like you're somehow belated. Don't worry, we'll catch up that together tonight," he threw himself at the young man so that he could feel his short, startled breath on his face. He smelled good of mead. Sweet and intoxicating. He liked that combination on long winter nights. He was having a lot of fun in his head. A southern prince who looked like he knew and understood everything and yet was still unmarked.

Sasuke bit his lip. If this tug-of-war had any advantage at all, it was perhaps that he wasn't so cold anymore, even if he was still colder than normal. "W-we southerners only have sex with someone who is worthy," he replied, his heart beating furiously like a trapped butterfly in a net, "only with someone who can enjoy it, who is a passionate and experienced lover. Not with some redneck who knows nothing of foreplay! Sex is an art, not a desolate need. Let me go or I'll scream!" It flashed through his mind whether the brown-haired man would have let him go if... if he'd begged. But he'd better bite his tongue off, he wouldn't beg!

"Come on, you're not going to scream for help like a woman, are you? I thought the Prince of Tänöwill had much more pride and didn't whimper at every sign of fear. I'm surprised they even sent you to the battlefield if you can't defeat one northerner." And he thought the most amusing thing today was a snowball game with the soldiers. At least he knows something to make fun of in the future. Sasuke will hate him for it, but who cares about a little southern prince.

"What dare you?! Put a spear in my hand and see which of us laughs! You motherfucker, how dare you even-" Sasuke's indignant speech was cut off by a shriek as Kakuzu spread his legs and fit himself between them. He may have been wearing pants, but the brown-haired soldier was completely naked. He could feel him on his body, feel his manhood! He blushed involuntarily, until it was a wonder that his blood had heated up enough for him to be able to do that at all. Anyway, his face immediately looked cuter and healthier.

The brown-haired soldier decided to prod the prince one last time before he gave him a break. However, the cub was squirming nicely underneath him and trying to resist, though he did cough at times like he had in the last campaign. He pressed against his lap and leaned down to his neck, where he began pressing hot kisses. He wasn't doing it with the intention of arousing himself, but it was unexpectedly pleasurable and Sasuke smelled special. Something... like it reminded him of a hot summer. "Don't worry, you'll love it when I bump you on my cock, and you'll moan when half the camp hears you."

"N-no... no! No, I don't want... I don't... I don't want...!" wailed Sasuke, trying to ignore his body, which was not like his mind, making no distinction between a southerner or a northerner, sensing only the other person's surprisingly hot and, in a way, sensual presence, stimulating him with those leisurely thrusts and warm lips. "No-oo! Nghh..." A silent moan escaped the young prince, much to his own dismay.
Just at that moment, Omoi entered the tent, bringing the evening's medicine to the southern aristocrat. He froze when he saw Kakuzu's clothes on the floor and Sasuke struggling against the soldier in the bed. He didn't know what to think of that, because on the one hand the prince was obviously refusing, but on the other... well, those flushed cheeks and the now and then suppressed gasp of pleasure... maybe he liked it.

"Show me a little of your southern hottie side," Kakuzu purred contentedly, thrusting harder. Like a good soldier, he soon registered someone's presence and noticed they weren't alone in the tent, glancing back at Omoi. "Do you need anything? The prince is busy right now. He's too eager to taste the hot Nordic seed." The commander might not be happy, but he wasn't hurting the prince, he just wanted to warm him up.

"I-I just brought medicine to make him feel better," Omoi gushed in amazement, his eyes darting from one to the other before he set the small cup on one of the tables. Maybe the prince was getting better without it.
Sasuke finally registered the other man's presence as well. "No, he's raping me! Go get Bee! Tell him he's... aah... tell him he's raping me! I don't want it-ooh... make it stop!" He watched as Omoi shrugged awkwardly and walked away. "Now you'll be executed," he snapped vindictively to Kakuzu. Damn it, just make Bee hurry up or it wouldn't look like rape any longer. Those movements were so... and on top of that, Kakuzu's lips, which were unexpectedly soft, albeit narrow... and anyway, that prickly two-day growth... He couldn't control himself. His own lips pressed against the soldier's throat for a moment, as if to taste his skin, just briefly, fleetingly, perhaps to justify it as an accident.

The brown-haired soldier froze for a moment as he was taken aback. Seriously, southern whores would let anyone have it, even if the young man seemed to be resisting. He pulled away, snorting in disgust at how he'd let it go so far and how Sasuke had given in to him far too easily. He'd thought he'd be more resilient after all the talk, but he figured that if he really wanted him, he'd succeed and the prince would still be coming out to meet him and impaling himself on his manhood. He went back to his original intention. He lay down on his side next to the prince and pulled him into his arms, despite his protests, and pressed himself against him as hard as he could. He did not move anymore.

Sasuke blinked in surprise at the sudden change. What was that supposed to mean? He figured Kakuzu must have been startled by the threat, after all he had assumed the commander would show up soon. It might have seemed more logical to him if Kakuzu had left the bed altogether, but perhaps he wanted to disguise it as... merely warming up?
Meanwhile, Omoi had arrived at the king's brother's tent. "Commander," he bowed to the burly man, "I was just in prince Sasuke's tent and..." He hesitated, it was so delicate. But what if the young man really was in danger? "And you know... Kakuzu is with him... in bed. Naked," he bit out with considerable embarrassment, "the young prince claims he wants to rape him."

Bee was just sitting at the table, fiddling with a knife and sipping mead. He was surprised he didn't throw it out of his mouth as he started to laugh at what he heard. He hadn't heard anything better in a long time. If he didn't have any self-respect, he would have gone in there himself and still ordered Kakuzu to fuck him hard. It was admittedly most strange that a member of the royal guard who didn't like southerners and always looked like a curmudgeon would go to such lengths to do something like that. "As long as he doesn't kill him," it had already happened that Kakuzu had killed a rival in the heat of the moment, "I don't care. All I care about is bringing him to Nordstone alive, and whether he gets his ass fucked or not is irrelevant. He already misses it anyway. It's been a couple of days since we captured him, and I hear the southerners are still fucking like rabbits."

Omoi licked his lips uncertainly. He didn't think it should be taken so lightly, after all, it was Bee himself who had declared a week ago that nothing could happen to the prince. And in his opinion, then, such a humiliation was perhaps worse than any injury, not to mention that Kakuzu could inflict that on him as well. He always looked so uncouth.
On the other hand, he'd also heard that sex was something of a hobby for southerners. Southern brothels were famous all over Alqualas, wild beauties who knew all the kinkiest secrets, and handsome men who weren't afraid to experiment. Maybe the prince actually had some experience, maybe he knew what and how to do so it wouldn't be so bad for him. After all, part of him seemed to think it wasn't entirely against his will...
Finally, he decided to take another look at the tent, just from the outside, to hear what was going on. He bowed to Bee again.

"Don't fidget," Kakuzu ordered the young man as the prince continued to squirm in his arms. "How am I supposed to sleep in here if you're still fidgeting." It was a very pleasant place to lie in the soft fur, and the southern man was finally ceasing to be a piece of ice. They could warm up nicely at night. After all, it used to be a Norse custom to pass on warmth in this way. In the hard winters and cold nights, the Nordic people, man or woman, could share a bed with other people so they wouldn't freeze to death.

***

In the next chapter:

"Because our balls don't freeze in the south."
"Murdebear!"
"Prepare to defend!"
"Is the prince wounded?
"Fucking southerners!

Chapter Text

Sasuke, however, wasn't too happy about having his ass basically pressed into Kakuzu's lap. Not that the soldier was trying anything else, but he still felt vulnerable. After another fight, he managed to roll over to face him. "You mean you're going to be like this all night?!" He gasped at the audacity. He couldn't believe the soldier had just invited himself into his bed! And anyway, Bee hadn't even bothered to arrive! Those were quite the manners, up north...
Omoi, meanwhile, had returned to the prince's tent, but from a different side than the entrance, and was pricking up his ears. It almost seemed like nothing was happening there, had Kakuzu stopped? Or maybe... were they done?

"Yes, you need to warm up, or do you want to shiver to death from the cold? Whatever, I think it'll be quick for you," the brown haired man assured the young man. "Don't you guys warm up at night down south?" He asked, as if it was something normal for all people in the world, but maybe the southerners had enough heat at night and didn't need to warm up after all.

"No... because our balls don't freeze in the south," Sasuke retorted, but he had to admit there was something to Kakuzu's point. After all, his body was a welcome source of warmth. He bit his lip, gods, how low he had sunk, if he was even eager to warm up with the northerner. "If you try anything else, you'll regret it," he warned, before hesitantly reaching out and burying his face in Kakuzu's broad chest.

Kakuzu held on for a moment, but had to chuckle in amusement. Sasuke was great at threatening him, but that was about the only thing. He couldn't scare him with anything. He had no power here, no weapon, and perhaps he couldn't even find an ally. To him, they were all enemies who had captured him. "Lion cub, you shouldn't threaten when a man wants to do you good, and now sleep, you're awfully mouthy."

Sasuke jerked slightly at the address. Lion cub... no one had ever called him like that. Kakuzu probably got it from their close association with the leodemons they had in their emblem. It surprised him because it was... well, maybe a little dehonest, but... nice. Few here had called him anything but some sort of insult. He didn't even get up any verbal reaction because of it, instead he gave Kakazu one more goodnight coughing fit, but then just settled more comfortably in his strong arms and closed his eyes.

A member of the royal guard had been keeping Sasuke warm in his bed all night, and in truth he had slept royally. When the prince finally warmed up and didn't chill, it was very pleasant. He woke up in the morning nicely heated and no stiffness in his limbs or back bothered him. The little cub was too snuggled up to him. This was the way to be with an enemy, if the southerners saw him... "Get up," he shook the Sasuke vigorously. He could hear the swarming of men from outside. Soon they would have to move out again.

The young Uchiha woke up soon enough, and since he didn't feel very safe in enemy territory, he automatically made a quick movement towards his waist where he normally carried his dagger. However, he quickly ran out of context, of course he had no weapon, and he was sleeping with a northerner to boot! He pulled away from him sharply, blushing. He couldn't believe he had slept so well, he hadn't woken up once all night. Plus he was pretty warm, he didn't even want to dig himself out of bed into the freezing cold outside.

"Well, well, I didn't bite you," Kakuzu growled, rocking himself into a sitting position. He'd get dressed before Omoi came in and gave them weird looks. He searched the ground for his pants, a strong chill biting into his skin. Somehow the night had gotten noticeably colder. Maybe winter would come much sooner this year than they expected. If that happened, he hoped they would be in Nordstone by now and wouldn't have to drag themselves anywhere.

Sasuke consistently averted his eyes and, with a sigh, put on his southern armor himself and draped his cloak over his shoulders. It was a good thing the northern gear he'd been given back in Windhill included really warm fur boots, because his toes would probably freeze in his original tall goatskin boots.
Omoi did indeed appear shortly afterwards with breakfast, mead and other medicine. He acted more embarrassed than ever, his eyes darting exploringly from the prince to the soldier and back again.
The young Uchiha thought he must have blushed all the way to his bottom when he realized what the servant must be thinking. He preferred not to ask why Bee hadn't arrived that evening, and he especially hoped that any false rumors about what he and Kakuzu had or hadn't done that night hadn't spread to the army.

Kakuzu left Sasuke with Omoi and disappeared for a while. Outside, a strong wind buffeted him, trying to sweep away anything that didn't hold up too well. It was bitterly cold. Crossing the pass wouldn't be doubly pleasant in this wind. He went to procure horses and also to find something to eat for himself. The men were no longer huddled in groups around the fires as they had been yesterday, but were packing up and getting ready to go. Many eyes were fixed on the mountains that towered above them. They were volatile and treacherous.

When the time for leaving approached, Sasuke's hands were tied as usual. Kakuzu had to help him onto the huge horse, but since this was repeated every morning, it was no longer the target of the other men's amusement and comments as it had been the first time. Sasuke exhaled unenthusiastically as a massive cold wind leaned against him and blew cutting flakes of snow into his face. He wasn't particularly looking forward to the day's march, but he could actually be glad he was riding. If they weren't enemies, he would almost feel sorry for all the soldiers who had to walk on top of that.

Once the procession got moving, a few more snowflakes joined the strong winds. Such gentle little messengers. The men huddled in their cloaks and hunched under the uncomfortable and intrusive wind. Kakuzu spurred his horse forward with his heels. He wasn't too keen on wading through the snow and braving the unpleasant weather conditions either. Occasionally, he glanced behind him to see if Sasuke hadn't been blown away.

Sasuke didn't really look around much anymore. For one thing, the harsh, snow-covered landscape looked the same to him, perhaps only the snow was getting heavier, and most of the time he kept his head as low as possible to protect himself from the fan that occasionally knocked his hood off his head. However, he couldn't help but notice that besides Kakuzu, Bee from the front of the group glanced back at him now and then. Most of the time he had that weird grin, but occasionally there was something thoughtful in his expression.

Bee rode in the lead, his horse making the first path into the snow. Sometimes he took turns with the other riders, because it was very tiring and he didn't want to harm his horse. They didn't get the best weather for the crossing. If only it hadn't snowed, but apparently the gods in heaven had torn the blanket and more and more was coming down. Aside from braving the weather, various thoughts were running through his mind. Like one about last night. Did Kakuzu really fuck the prince? He didn't think much of it. He was sitting on his horse with no problem at all. He had two explanations. Either nothing happened, or Sasuke was used to having his ass fucked. He could have flipped a coin, which is true.

The caravan of soldiers battled the weather. It was little better when they passed among the high rocks, which seemed to threaten them with their blackened jagged blades peeping out of the icy cover, but when they found themselves on the wide plains, where nothing impeded the freezing wind, which brought with it more and more flakes of snow, their progress was by far the most difficult.
Sasuke had the impression that he was freezing to the bone again. He was curled up on his horse like a poor, warm-loving kitten, and he wasn't even worried about falling off this cold-blooded horse anymore. No doubt his legs were already frozen to the saddle. By the afternoon, he'd lost his sight. Not that he had gone blind, but the density of the blizzard had reached such a degree that he could see only white ahead of him with occasional dark smudges. He didn't understand how anyone could determine the way in this weather, since he couldn't see a step.

The army commander would be lost if he didn't know this road by heart. There were plenty of switchbacks that ended in a steep cliff, and in this weather, an entire army could easily die there. Nothing for the ignorant and inexperienced. He led the troops through the worst blizzard they'd encountered on the whole journey there and here. He could barely feel his hands, didn't even know if they were gripping the reins or if they had long since fallen out of his hands. They'd have to get through this, maybe once they got down lower on the other side the blizzard would let up.

Sasuke closed his eyes now and then, almost as if he was sleeping, but in reality he was trying to detach himself from the horrible travelling for a moment. He was just thinking that maybe somewhere along the way it would bury them completely when another sound pierced through the whining wind - the eerie distant roar of something huge and alive. Something that was also wandering the windswept plain, no doubt looking for something to eat. He heard several shouts that sent an unpleasant wave of fear down his spine - "Murdebear!"

Just as the army commander thought that fortune had begun to smile on them and the blizzard was letting up, he saw a large dark mountain in front of him. At first he thought it was a rock, but as soon as it started moving, it was clear that they were in big trouble. "Get your weapons. Prepare to defend! Murdebears!" he shouted to his men in the back. He hadn't meant to attack them, only that it was clear from the roar that they were on the hunt and certainly hungry, or else they would be holed up in dens at such an ungodly hour.
The men drew their swords and gripped the reins tighter in their clenched fingers, but that was already the first animal near them. With a roar, it ran towards them to hunt a tasty dinner. The horses looked very tempting, but first they had to get rid of those pesky screaming pidgeons.

Sasuke's heart was pounding somewhere in his throat when less than ten meters away from him, with a thunderous thud of huge paws, galloped a beast that - just as Kakuzu had described - was as big as the horse itself, yet twice as massive, with bushy black fur and devilish red eyes. It resembled a properly overgrown bear, but its long canines protruded from its menacing mouth like walruses, not to mention its terrifying claws capable of tearing apart a victim in an instant.
The men screamed and the horses shied in terror, as did Sasuke's. The young prince soon discovered that his initial guess was wrong. The gelding jerked beneath him and snapped his reins out of Kakuzu's horse as well. The Uchiha, with his hands tied, had no chance to properly grab onto anything, and as the horse reared up on its haunches with a startled neigh to keep from crashing into another rearing horse, the black-haired youth flew out of the saddle. In spite of the fresh dusting, the fall on the icy ground hurt pretty badly, and as he hit his head he was surprised not to lose consciousness. Worst of all, however, he was suddenly unprotected and could be trampled by another horse at any second, not to mention attacked by a ferocious monster.

Kakuzu had to work alone with his horse to keep from being thrown. It looked like the murdebear had chosen him to eat. He drew his sword and wasn't going to give in cheaply. Only his horse thought otherwise and wanted to run away with him. He kept it short, but it kept bucking and the wild animal was coming too fast. He tried to parry the massive paw with his sword, but he would have much preferred to hold a long spear in his hand. He felt a violent crash as the murdebear jerked his horse to the ground. He didn't know how, he was rolling on the ground, his sword somewhere in the snow. Damn. He quickly tried to jump to his feet. He gasped in pain as he hit his side in the fall. He felt like a defenseless puppy, but if the gods had sent for him today, he would at least give them a great show. He was ready for an unequal fight. He'd rip the eye out of the murdebear's socket before he got cut in half!

Sasuke also scrambled to his feet, trying to keep his balance as he was shaken. Horses and soldiers were running all around him, and the angry roars of the murdebears, which were obviously more numerous than the one that had attacked nearby, reached him. Damn it, he needs to free his hands and get a weapon! But how... HOW?!
It looked like his desperate wish had been answered, because he saw someone's sword lying around a short distance away. Glory! He rushed towards it, frantically trying to cut the ropes that bound his wrists. It wasn't easy, they were so stiff with frost that they had perhaps taken on the hardness of stone. Besides, it was really hard to handle his sword like that. Before he could complete his plan, however, one of the beasts, driven by the soldiers, came into close proximity, paw swinging at them, roaring so loudly that it must have echoed off the surrounding rocks.

Kakuzu's vision quickly took a turn for the worse when the murdebear took him down with his paw and threw him into the snow. Instead of finishing the man off, he rushed over to the crippled horse and with one mighty bite, broke his neck and decided to drag him away. With a roar it called its comrades to it. They had their catch, now they needed to protect it and drag it away. The rest of the pack tried to return to their comrade.
"Let them go," Bee ordered, moving through the soldiers to get them to back off. He didn't need more dead and wounded than he had. Besides, there were three of the beasts. If it had been one alone, he might have let it be killed, but it was too much. Plus, even with a giant army behind him, there wasn't more than enough room for thirty men.

If he hadn't just experienced such an overwhelming shock, Sasuke would probably have at least thought about escaping. But looking at the retreating murdebears, which were even more terrifying than the narrative in the end upon close encounter, he hadn't even thought of such a thing. He just stood as if frozen to the icy surface. Not even puffs of steam came out of his mouth, adorned with bluish lips, as if his lungs were filled with nothing but cold air. In fact, he had reached the point where he was hardly even cold anymore, his body almost paralyzed, and he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to make a move again. He staggered slightly, and an involuntary thought flashed through his mind that he wished the soldiers would leave him here now. Just a little nap in the snow...

Kakuzu scrambled to his feet and hissed in pain. The murdebear had crumpled him. The only lucky thing was that his armor was solidly plated, or it would have surely ripped him apart. He watched as the beasts dragged the corpse of his horse away, leaving a red line behind. He should feel sorry for the riding animal, but it was just a horse. He might have another. Crouching, he went off to find Sasuke. He'd lost him in the attack. He found him standing frozen in the snow, knee-deep in frost. He looked whole and unharmed. Good thing he was. "The first encounter is the most terrifying."

Sasuke slowly turned his head towards him. Even Kakuzu's voice reached him, somehow distantly, but he wasn't sure if it was due to the lingering noise and howling wind or his own state of absolute cold. He tried to say something through his chilled lips, but no sound came out. With all the struggling, his fur-lined hood came off his head and his raven hair was full of snow. Its obsidian blackness contrasted sharply with his now downright white skin. If it wasn't for the slight movement of his eyelids and his somewhat upright posture, the young man would have resembled a corpse.

The brown-haired northerner took a better look at the young man. He looked strange somehow. Could he have been so disturbed by his encounter with the beasts of the north? He grabbed the prince by the shoulders and shook him vigorously. These southerners can't stand anything, he growled in his mind. "Damn it, do you hear me?" He barked at the young man as he shook him a second time. Slowly the men and horses calmed down. Casualties were being surveyed and someone led Sasuke's horse.

"Yeah... leave me alone..." whispered Sasuke, but it sounded oddly whistling, as if inflammation had settled on his vocal cords. Plus, he felt so insanely tired all of a sudden after the previous drama... His eyelids drooped, he staggered and fell into the snow.
The commander of the army approached just as Kakuzu was lifting the young man back to his feet. "What happened? Is the prince wounded?" He growled, his eyes focusing on the half-unconscious youth. That would be fucking bad, losing their only trump card before they got to the capital.

"I don't know, he must have been blown away," Kakuzu noted Sasuke's condition dispassionately, having to hold the young man as he coughed a long, ugly cough. Omoi's medicine didn't seem to be working much. He leaned the young man against himself and lifted his head up. The young man seemed to be a little out of it and looked exhausted. All the while he was riding a horse!

Bee cupped the young man's chin and forced him to look up into his face. Fever glistened in the dark eyes. "Damn southerners," the commander grunted, letting go of Sasuke, "can't stand anything. We can't go on any further today, the poor thing might not survive. We'll find a suitable place to camp. You'll ride with him, Kakuzu, I don't want to lose him anywhere else. You guarantee him with your neck." He'll have to send a medic to Sasuke later to mix him something stronger. He untied a flask of mead from the saddle and pressed it into Kakuzu's hand. "Give him a drink before you mount. And the rest of you, get back to your seats! Let's go!" He raised his voice even higher so the rest of the soldiers could hear him.

Kakuzu growled softly that he was no babysitter, but an order is an order. "Drink," he held the neck of the bottle to Sasuke's mouth. He rolled his eyes as the first sip spilled onto the young man's chest. "Well just swallow nicely, it'll do you good," he grumbled gruffly. Such a shame, and he didn't want it. Mead was a gift not to be wasted. He and another soldier threw Sasuke into the saddle and he jumped up behind him. He had to hold him with one arm to keep him from slipping. The horse tossed his head in displeasure as he carried an unusually heavy load.

Meanwhile, word had spread among the soldiers that the southern prince seemed to be in bad shape. Immediately, gloating bets began to be made as to how long he would last. Many of the mercenaries thought he would not survive the night, some others said he was more likely to be beaten by another journey, a few guessed he would make it to Nordstone.
Fortunately, the descent from the pass was not far off. Gradually the snow was diminishing and larger and larger trees were growing to protect them from the strong winds. There they finally came across a nice sheltered spot where they could set up camp early. They had to put up the southern prince's tent first, as the commander had ordered. Then, when Sasuke was dragged half-conscious to his bunk, a military doctor came to see him.

The Norse guard stood by while the doctor listened with his ear to Sasuke's chest to the whistling and wheezing sounds the young man made. It was clear to him what was wrong with him, and he didn't even need to examine him. In truth, he didn't give Sasuke much hope. Only strong individuals, drenched in mead with a hot broth of herbs, had emerged from this one. It used to be a difficult procedure.
"Commander, it must be pneumonia," the doctor announced with great concern, carefully covering the young man with his fur. "I'm not sure he'll make it. Obviously this climate is not too kind to him. I'll give him the best I have, of course, but he needs to be kept calm and warm. I'm afraid he shouldn't continue on to Nordstone, or he might not survive."

"Shit!" Bee's thunderous curse rang through the tent like the crack of a whip, "Fucking southerners! One breeze and they'll fall down!" He started pacing back and forth across the space like a grumpy bear. If he loses Sasuke, his brother will tear him apart like a snake. Surely then he'd learn how incompetent he was, that not only would he lose battles, but he couldn't even take care of the southern kid, their most valuable ace up their sleeve. Maybe... maybe he could have taken some measures to prevent that? After all, the prince had everything he needed - Norse clothing, a tent, and medicine.
He took several deep breaths to control his anger. He must calm down and think logically. "I want you to treat him with everything you have. He must not die. We'll hold out as long as necessary," he muttered between his teeth, "Two soldiers to keep him warm day and night. Any mead you bring him, warm it first. Booze, herbs, concoctions, furs... I don't care how, but we've got to get him out of this or the king will go on a rampage and the southerners..." He grinned. Southerners were softies, but if their prince died here, it would be very bad. They were very vengeful.

Kakuzu watched everything impassively, leaning against the travel chest. Judging by the young man's condition, he was really inclined to start digging his grave in the frozen ground. He really didn't look his best. Pale, just cheeks flushed with fever, all completely limp. He had to carry him to the tent in his arms as he was no longer able to walk on his own two feet. He himself, and surely the rest of the army, would not be at all pleased that they had stopped for a prince who had caught a cold.

"As you wish, commander," the military doctor shrugged and went to dig out the strongest herbs from the medical supplies. He wasn't too optimistic in his prognosis either, but he would have to do what he could. The only chance he saw was in the prince's healthy youth, at this age the body regenerated faster, but then again he wasn't in his prime yet.
Bee marched around the tent in a huff for a moment longer before deciding he wasn't going to be of any use here, he'd rather kick those lazy asses outside. "What are you looking at?" he huffed at Kakuzu gruffly, "strip and warm him up, I think I said that clearly."

The royal guard stood at attention as the commander bellowed at him, and had no choice but to obey. Last time, he'd considered it an exception. He didn't utter a word of protest and laid his warm cloak on the chest. Gradually he removed his leather armor, growling under his beard that as an elite soldier he was wasting his skills on babysitting and was no good for anything but a bed warmer. When he was half naked to the waist, another thunderous warrior figure walked in.

The blue haired burly man with the shark eyes nodded unenthusiastically at his comrade in arms. Bee had bumped into him on his way out of Sasuke's tent and immediately assigned him to a task that, as a guardsman, was thus his first time performing. "Are we both supposed to warm him up?" He raised an eyebrow, and when Kakuzu nodded, he snorted: "We're going to get pretty wrinkled, then. Twenty years in the army and what am I going to see? I'm supposed to be making a stove for a southern chick, I'm done," he complained and also started to put his clothes away.

"An order is an order," Kakuzu replied dryly, loosening the drawstring of his trousers. "Take it positively. When was the last time you lay in a soft bed?" He wanted to say that he couldn't even remember, but he held his tongue. He didn't want to jinx himself by saying he'd already warmed the cub up. So he hoped he wouldn't have to lie with the pup all through his illness and take turns with someone. He really didn't want to remain a heating pad. Just let the others get a nice bite of being a pushover for the little prince too. They've already teased him about being his babysitter.

"Hmm, at least it's something. Though I will say, if I could choose, I definitely wouldn't use that bed with you and the southerner," Kisame chuckled, giving Kakuzu an approving wink to see what was between his legs. In the army, quite a lot of people were kind of superficially familiar with each other in that way, for example, most of the time washing used to be done en masse. Kakuzu wasn't bad at all in private equipment, but then again, neither was he. Personally he wasn't particularly fussy, he liked women's skirts better of course, but when there was a shortage in the army some concession had to be made and that was pretty good too.

"So would I, but the commander has a different opinion on this than the rest of us." Kakuzu debated whether he'd let the young man freeze to death, or take pity on him if he had a choice... If nothing came of it, he'd move on. He couldn't possibly care about every little one he met along the way. "All right, let's go at him." He chuckled in amusement at how ambiguous that sounded, and lifted his fur.

"Really like that?" Kisame grinned, coming around the bed from the other side. The young prince seemed completely oblivious to the world around him, and every breath he took whistled like a melusine. The two naked soldiers clung to him from one side each. "Damn, what's the use of warming up? He's burning pretty good himself," Kisame stated as he reluctantly hugged the fever-ridden body. However, the young man's hands and especially his fingers were completely cold. With a sigh, he took one small paw in his large hand.

"A moment ago he was shaking like an aspen. You know that, southerners. What they call winter, we call the hottest summer. In fact, I'm surprised their army made it all the way to the border and didn't freeze on the way." He took the young man's other hand and clasped it in his palm. The prince was such a tiny thing compared to them. A piddly little earthworm between two pieces of proper beef.

"Yeah, they're not used to a little discomfort. A little snow blows and they're freezing," Kisame laughed. He was silent for a moment, but his mind was racing with all the information he knew about Tänöwill. "I've heard that the Pearl Palace is the most beautiful building in all of Alqualas... do you think that's true? I've only seen it on the mosaic by the sauna," he suggested thoughtfully. He might hate southerners, but he wasn't completely unfair. There were some good things that came from the south. The best wine and women. He'd only known one southern woman in his life, and that was when they'd raided some lands north of the Nereder Desert years ago. A wildcat, she showed him things he'd never dreamed of.

"I rather wonder if it does honor to its name and is studded with pearls. I'm sure if a few were lost, no one would find out and I could cash them in nicely... But that's just bullshit. I guess the south doesn't have much money. Look at the armor that kid's wearing. It's a wonder he survived the battle intact and didn't get torn apart." Kakuzu was still amazed at that. He didn't understand how a shaky lion cub with his nose up could lead a troop and still survive in the thick of it.

"Hmm, who knows. Maybe it's more like covered with nacre, right?" Kisame tried to engage his imagination for a moment, though he didn't have much of one. A white palace glistening in the sun like diamonds. Sometimes he'd quite like to see it, but he'd certainly never get that far south. He turned his attention to Kakuzu's next words instead. "I guess the southerners are so weak they couldn't even carry that armor," he chuckled, "but it also boggles my mind. Such a tiny little cub, I could tear him at the waist if I wanted to... how old could he be?" He didn't know much about the royal family in the south.

"It's hard to say, he looks about fifteen. He looks like a malnourished underweight according to our kids." Kakuzu paused for a moment before chuckling as something occurred to him. "Remember Hidan, he looked even worse as a kid and grew into a pretty solid man. He can carry armor and a war axe. If the prince survives this, maybe one day he'll grow up to be a man." The North is making men out of boys, maybe Sasuke will get his act together here.

"Yeah, Hidan. He's been taken care of in the castle too, he's gotten a proper diet and upbringing... hmm, though I guess the upbringing didn't work too well," Kisame said with a frown. Hidan was king Raikage's bastard. His mother was a young maid from the kitchen. She was also so tiny, she bled to death in childbirth, and oddly enough, Raikage let the boy live and as a bastard he was allowed to stay in the castle. Although a bastard, he was somewhat infamous for his cruelty and sadistic tendencies.

***

In the next chapter:

"Raikage is the only one who can tame him."
"Do you think he'll survive?"
"Hey, little prince, get up."
"Stop it right now!"
"Yamato, not now... not here..."

Chapter Text

"He's a jerk. He's too good with the sword, but he lacks absolute discipline. No wonder the king didn't send him to fight with us. Remember the Battle of Black Creek? He rode like a madman. No one could get to him. If I hadn't known his mother by sight, I'd believe she was a dwarf and she and the king sired a berserker. A strong but mindless warrior," Kakuzu rated the bastard. He didn't like him personally, he always had a mouth full of shit.

"Yeah, he just enjoys maiming and killing people for fun," Kisame shrugged, "Raikage is the only one who can tame him. Remember what he did that time the king left the fortress for a month? He had his master flayed because he didn't like that he was giving him too many etiquette lessons." The young bastard was too rough even for him, and that he was not immediately afraid of anything.
Sasuke whimpered something incomprehensible and attempted to curl up into a ball, but the two burly bodies got in the way.

"That was pretty ugly. Darui didn't have time to intervene." Sometimes it was a knife fight between the two men in the castle. Darui was the Raikage's firstborn son, and as such, he had been raised to take his father's throne. Hidan seemed to be quietly envious of him, so he found his outlet elsewhere. "I'm almost surprised he didn't join one of those tribes in the west that sacrifice human hearts and then eat them raw. He would have fit right in."

"He would. I guess those of the royal families can afford anything," Kisame summed up, and they were silent for a moment. There was already quite a bit of heat under the fur, even the young man between them had melted enough to start moving a little now and then. He had nowhere to go, though, with the Northmen's penises poking at him from both sides. "How long should we keep him warm, didn't Bee say?" Kisame asked, as the cub's nape dug under his chin.

"Don't even ask. Two soldiers to keep him warm day and night. I hope we'll take turns, then, because I'm sure I'd get sick of lying around and doing nothing, too, and I doubt anyone would think of me as a little prince of the south. I can see the guys rolling the dice on who gets to go," Kakuzu chuckled as he pictured the rest of the guys he belonged to.

"Yeah, but there's seven thousand guys here, I'm sure it won't turn out on us anymore," Kisame stated optimistically, pausing for a moment before he pitched in, "Do you think he'll survive? Maybe it would be enough... you know. A little push here." The soldier's strong fingers almost tenderly and lovingly traveled higher up Sasuke's chest, squeezing his throat slightly. "We could have spared him the torment and moved on right away in the morning."

"It would probably be better for him. Nothing good awaits the southerners in the north, but imagine what it would do. The Uchiha would pounce on us like their leodemons. Instead of a peaceful winter by the fireside, we'd be facing a bitter war. I believe they'd want revenge far more than they did for the old man we supposedly poisoned. What a crock. The North has no need for such vile intrigues. Elinion in the west put it on us anyway. They always stick their noses where they don't belong, and then blame it all on the Northerners," Kakuzu grumbled. Sometimes he got too old for intrigue. Fighting, blood and gold, that was what he understood best.

"Yeah." Kisame sighed and let the young man go. The pup immediately coughed, and he didn't even give him a good squeeze. "I hear the king is having some trouble with Elinion right now, too. Mei's quite the fury, they say he refused her marriage proposal and she's threatening war too. You know what would be bad? If the west allied with the south. We couldn't defeat two kingdoms," Kisame reasoned with mild concern, trying to smooth back Sasuke's hair. Not that he was doing it out of the love of his heart, but it tickled terribly under his neck as it stuck out like hedgehog spines on the young prince. "I guess it's really best not to tease the Uchiha too much."

"Mei is indeed a fierce ruler, and I really wouldn't want to meet her hordes of spearmen and horsemen," the brown-haired man nodded in agreement. "I'm proud to be a Northerner, but it really pisses me off how everyone despises us. Like we're anything less," he snorted in disgust, and in the end all anyone hears is the clink of coins anyway. They're beautiful, cold and impartial. You can do anything with them, and some people will sacrifice the most precious thing for them - their lives.

Kisame licked his lips thoughtfully. This annoyed him too, but... well... they honestly despised southerners and westerners too. And yet, he'd also seen times when the south and north were allies. Or maybe not exactly allies, but at least they respected each other. Rulers sent each other courtesy gifts on birthdays, the new heir to the throne... that sort of thing. It was all screwed up by the mysterious death of Tajima Uchiha ten years ago. His thoughts were interrupted by a military doctor who entered the tent with a steaming cup.

Kakuzu guessed that Sasuke would need to be roused to drink something that also smelled strange. He shook the little one, but all he got was a dazed blink of his eyes. "Hey, little prince, get up," he wasn't about to give up right away, and decided to give a light pat on the cheek as well, which was quite a feat of strength on his part. Something like that had to have woken the dead by now.

Sasuke opened his eyes. Someone was shaking him until he felt like he was going to shake his bones, and he could feel the slaps on his face. It took him a long time before he could even focus on Kakuzu's face. His eyes burned badly from the fever and he felt dizzy. His chest was on fire.
"Prince, can you hear me? You need to drink this," the doctor approached him and offered him a decoction of herbs. He mixed the strongest ones he had, adding a drop of alcohol to burn off the bacilli and bitter drops he had obtained across the sea in the far east.

Both men were at the doctor's beck and call. They held the young man's head and mouth so he could drink nicely. He sputtered his first sip to them as he was not very cooperative and was completely dazed from his illness. Then, fortunately, the swallowing reflex kicked in and somehow they got the rest of the liquid into him. Well, they would only drink that themselves if they were on their deathbed.
"If this doesn't kill him, nothing will," Kakuzu grinned as the little one whimpered.

"It would be best if he got some food in himself too. He must have something to draw energy from," the doctor sighed, touching the young man's forehead carefully. He heated like a stove, on the contrary he would need to bring his temperature down again, but he couldn't risk any cold pack, let alone uncover him for a while, he might as well dig his grave. He finally solved it with a cold compress on his forehead, urging both men to try to get something into him when Omoi brought dinner.
The whole unpleasant procedure had woken Sasuke up a little, and though he was still somewhat out of his mind, he couldn't miss the fact that there were two naked men in bed with him. "What... what are you doing here... you perverts, get out..." he hissed helplessly.

"You see him, he's almost dead, but he's thinking of naughty things immediately. We would so miss fucking southern ass," Kakuzu joked at Sasuke's expense. "Or perhaps you'd like to, Kisame?" He hadn't described his comrade-in-arms much, that he liked and readily sought out male company in bed. Anyway, knowing him, he couldn't wait to chase a girl with blonde hair in the castle.

"Of course I would," Kisame laughed mischievously. He, on the other hand, had the complete opposite tactic to scare Sasuke. Or at least he thought the opposite, since he had no idea how Kakuzu had recently scared the young prince with the same thing. He deliberately took his chin and licked his own lips meaningfully. "It wouldn't even take much work now that he's as weak as a fly. I'd take him nicely and fuck him into unconsciousness," he continued, amused by the way the black-haired boy pulled away in fear. He obviously still had the strength for that. "Take it easy, you ill puppy, I'm just kidding. I'd have to be ordered to do that," he assured him. Or he'd definitely have to be hornier than he was now.

Kakuzu grinned in amusement as the little one pressed against him. He couldn't really choose which side, he was pretty much sandwiched between them. "Watch yourself. Kisame will breed anything on command," he prodded the other soldier, immediately taking a good jab in the shoulder. "Okay, I'm kidding, he doesn't fuck chickens, he'd tear them apart with his dick, but he can fuck any mare." Now he's definitely pissed off.

"You should keep your mouth shut so shit like that doesn't come out," Kisame growled uncomfortably, scowling at the other soldier, "I've never fucked a mare, and of the two of us, I'm not the one who's into boys' asses."
"Y-you'll settle those disputes somewhere else... out of my bed!" Sasuke tried to command, but considering he coughed nastily right afterwards, it probably didn't have that much effect.

"Well, but that awful fat woman they had in that brothel south of Nordstone, you hammered that one solid. We must have poured a quart of mead into you, but you fucked in front of the whole pub. That was a mare, she had an ass like a brewery gelding," the brown-haired soldier reminded his colleague, his chest heaving with laughing. He took no notice of the young man's protests.

"Tss, at least she was something to grab onto. You're the one who should be fucking mares, or rather stallions. Everybody knows you're such a stickler for never wanting to spend too much in a brothel. Then you're horny and obnoxious," Kisame shot back, grinning wickedly.
Sasuke was really miserable and wasn't in much of a mood to listen to this, but he figured he probably couldn't get them out of bed. So at least he tried to lie down so that he wasn't touching either of them.

"What?!" Kakuzu growled dangerously. He might have been a little more sparing, but he didn't consider it a bad trait. "If anyone's horny and obnoxious around here, it's you," he hissed snidely, lifting himself up on the bed. "I'd like to see you if Hidan ordered you to fuck a mare. You'd ask him sycophantically how fast, wouldn't you?" poked Kakuzu thoroughly, and saw a dangerous glint in the other man's eye. Truth was, the northerners were hot-headed and dealt with everything in a hand-wringingly terse manner.

"Don't pretend, you'd fuck anything if someone promised you a single copper for it," Kisame retorted, "you'd stick your dick in a sow if it got you money!" He also reared up menacingly on the bed. It actually looked kind of funny on the one hand, considering that both soldiers were naked, but they were measuring each other with such fierce looks that it smacked of beating above on the southern prince.
Sasuke groaned at the unfriendly situation, preferring to stick his head under his pillow without worrying about getting drenched by the tile.

"Tss," Kakuzu hissed, poking Kisame indignantly in the shoulder. Pretty firmly, to give the mountain of mindless flesh some pain. "You think I'd do anything for a copper? You're sorely mistaken. You're the one who listens to the whistle. Kisame here, Kisame there. Fuck this, suck that," the brown-haired guard teased almost resentfully. He may have been sparing and careful with the copper, but too much was too much.

"I never got orders like that... but if I did, I'd ask for you and I'd shove it up your ass, you'd be a sight to behold," Kisame barked, and of course he didn't take the jab, he returned it nicely to Kakuzu. They might have really gotten into a fight over the young prince if Omoi hadn't entered the tent with a hot dinner.
"What are you doing here?" He raised his eyebrows as he saw the two angry soldiers across from each other and Sasuke huddled wearily in his furs.

"Nothing," Kakuzu muttered angrily between his teeth, reaching out to smack Kisame for his disgusting bullshit. He wouldn't take a fucking from him in his life. Not from anyone, anyway. The other soldier was quick, even for his hulking frame, and caught his hand before it landed. He grunted in displeasure and went into the fight much more seriously. He wasn't going to take everything lying down. Stupid bastard, he's still going to make that toothy face at him.

Omoi couldn't believe that the two of them were having some personal disputes in the prince's bed! Not to mention the tactlessness of something like this made it look like they were going to smash the dark-haired man between them. "Stop it right now!" he shouted at them with a scowl, setting the dinner on the table, "If you continue to endanger the prince like this with any arguments of your own, I'll report it to the commander. And if you two can't get along, I'll ask for one of you to be replaced."

The royal guards held each other's arms as they played a little tug-of-war, measuring each other with fiery eyes, Kakuzu's almost murderous. The throaty growls and the dripping of spittle from bared fangs was a wonder to hear, but instead of two beasts there were only two men. They both knew full well that Bee would have them whipped like disobedient dogs, and they weren't about to give in to that.

The fair-haired servant poured hot mead into a cup and walked over to the bed, where he tried to pull the young Uchiha into a sitting position. "Prince, you must drink and eat something," he coaxed, but Sasuke didn't feel much like crawling out from under the pillow, let alone eating anything.
Kisame fried Kakuzu with another unkind look before reluctantly letting go of him to help Omoi with the nestling. Wow, if only he'd been offered smoked ham, eggs, bread, and mead like that, he wouldn't have hesitated.

Kakuzu mentally growled that this was a shitty military life. Watching over a stupid little kid, warming him up like some kind of dog, and he can't even get a handshake with Kisame yet. He was pretty pissed off and it was only with a lot of self-denial that he was able to control himself and pull away. He would have loved to wring the bastard's neck.

Kisame managed to get the cold little one out of the fur and lifted him up into a sitting position. Omoi had to hold the mead to his mouth much like the doctor had some of the herbal concoction earlier, but at least this one didn't sputter as much. The best mead, also! It was worse with the food, because the young man didn't want to eat by himself, but he didn't want to be fed either.

"If he doesn't want to, I'll finish it for him," Kakuzu offered, seeing the little one stubbornly resisting eating anything. "After all, no one has ever starved to death in one day. You could talk about it, Kisame," he reminded the soldier teasingly. No one believed his story about being left surrounded in the western fortress and having to starve eating the flesh of fallen comrades. He had told it so often that everyone took it as a stale rumor and didn't care about the truth.

"Yes... it's a pity we didn't have you there then, that would have been meat," the blue-haired soldier shot back with a derisive snort.
"That's enough," Omoi interjected, who was also slowly losing his humor and more importantly his patience with the two. "In case you haven't noticed, things are about to get pretty messed up here, because if the prince dies in the north, we're not going to have a truce for the winter, but a pretty stiff war, the Uchiha will want revenge. Do you think we have few enemies they can ally with? The doctor said to keep him in peace, so if you can't keep the peace here, one of you will leave immediately and be replaced by another."
"Did you hear that? Get out," Kisame grinned at Kakuzu. So, taking care of a southern kid wasn't a job worthy of him, but on the other hand, the bed was soft and warm and maybe he could sip on some royal mead...

"Shut up, or you'll be out," the brown-haired soldier shot back just as nastily. He didn't want to get out. Who knew how long they'd be squatting here for this little boy, and he didn't feel like warming himself by the fire with the others. And maybe he'd have to go and do something. In the forest for wood or to hunt. There were seven thousand soldiers here, and they'd eat something, though rations would surely be cut. No one will like Sasuke anymore if they can't even get a decent meal because of him.

Omoi and Kisame tried to get some more dinner into the young man for a while, but he looked half out of his mind and was still squirming like an eel, hardly managing to force a few bites into him. In the end, Omoi left the tent all dejected, having been told by Bee that Sasuke needed to eat. He's gonna get a good scolding. Before he came out, however, he warned the two soldiers to stop arguing, that if he heard one more fight from the prince's tent, he would inform the commander.

***

Sasuke, stricken with a serious illness, was not alone in bed for a minute. Someone was always lying with him. Kakuzu was with him most often, but even he had to stretch his legs, or he would have become uncomfortable from lying down. The guys were starting to taunt him that he really was like a royal guard dog. He would climb into bed with his owner. He's even gotten into fights with some of them over this and there have been minor skirmishes. After he broke one of their noses, they calmed down a bit, but it was clear that the furtive glances and audible whispering continued. The brown haired soldier just rolled his eyes as the little one started coughing again, as if he was going to expel his lungs. He pulled the fur tighter to his neck.

Sasuke was never really sick in the south. Sure, during the rainy season or when the sea got very cold, he would get the occasional cold, a fever, sometimes a stomachache, a few diarrhea or vomiting... but he had never had anything serious. Most of the times he had to see a doctor were related to various injuries he had sustained in battles or training.
This was different. Pneumonia could put men stronger than he was down. His whole body was running a fever, yet he was often shaking with chills. His chest was on fire, and every compulsive cough was painful, as if his chest had been torn by a murdebear claws. He had been drenched with foul bitter herbs and hot mead, forced to eat, and had sturdy Nordic bodies pressed against him day and night, but it seemed that nevertheless he was going to lose it.
Three times a day the sullen commander came to see him, perhaps as if he believed that if he could just pick the right moment he would see an improvement. The soldiers were pretty tired of the prolonged encampment that had been ordered, especially as their food rations had been reduced, as expected, since their supplies had not counted on such a delay. They spat at the southern prince and prayed that he would finally either recover or die. The first would probably be better, as they didn't feel much like getting into any more battles. At first they were not happy about having to go around warming the young man, and they rolled the dice as to who the unpleasant duty would fall to, but after a few days they recognized the benefits of this guardianship. A warm soft bed, a warm body, and an occasional sip of good mead or something better to eat. Gradually their dislike of this duty lessened until they slowly began to fight over who would stay with Sasuke this time.
Most of the time the black-haired boy stumbled somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness, occasionally delirious and seeming to think he was back in his native land to the south. He called his brother, his father, and his mother, and often another name was heard. "Yamato..." he whispered as he cuddled up to Kakuzu, "Yamato, not now... not here..."

Kakuzu had already wondered several times who this Yamato was. The other names they had been able to connect to the royal family, but this man eluded them. Who was he? Obviously someone who was very close to Sasuke. A family friend or perhaps a very close buddy? They were at a loss. The brown-haired northerner took a moment to figure it out. He didn't normally get much out of Sasuke, he was almost always asleep or completely out of it. He decided to try and answer the prince. "Why not? Isn't this place nice?"

"Someone might come... they'll find us... you know father doesn't approve," the young man breathed into Kakuzu's shoulder. His breathing was now dragon-like in its heat, as hot as it was due to his elevated body temperature. He had also been sweating quite a bit under the furs with the soldiers despite the freezing weather and the smoldering gale outside. If it was a different situation, they would have looked like they were having a really wild fuck. "Please, Yamato... we have to leave, let's get out of here..." whimpered Sasuke, shivering.

"And where are we going? What are we going to do there?" Kakuzu asked, raking back the young man's hair. It kept falling into his face and sticking to his sweaty temples. Several times he had the urge to pull out a knife and just cut it off so it wouldn't bother him. After all, this was extra work. So he let it go.

"On the coast," Sasuke suggested, as if he was actually talking to Yamato, "the sea is warm, let's go for a swim..." In his impoverished state, the young Uchiha was at least projecting pretty sunny visions of his beloved south. Warmed sandy wastes washed by the azure waves of the Bay of Scallops. "And then on the beach... what would you like to do...?"

The brown-haired northerner assessed, piecing together in his mind a mosaic of what he had heard from the young prince. It was strange at best. The thought kept popping into his mind that this Yamato was probably not just any friend. He might try to check it out. After all, if he was wrong and it wasn't true, there was no one else here besides the two of them and Sasuke was completely out of his mind and wouldn't remember. "I'd fuck you just the way you like it," he tried to fire off sharply.

"Yamato." If Sasuke's cheeks weren't already this hot with fever, he'd surely still be blushing. "I told you I'm not ready... give me time. I want you, but... I'm scared," he apologized to Kakuzu, not even realizing where he was or who he was with, "but if you want... let's do what we did last time..." Sasuke pressed harder against the northern soldier, and though his eyes were still closed, his soft lips parted slightly as if in anticipation of a kiss.

Kakuzu's eyebrows shifted higher in mute surprise. The little cub could tell all on himself in a fever. Not only did it reinforce his assumption that the prince, as he expected, was attracted to men, like most southerners, but he also learned that the pup had never fucked with anyone before. That Yamato was a loser for not having rolled this lion cub over and fucked him senseless long ago! Not that he intended to do such a thing. It was a southern little prince, he was just surprised. "And what did we do last time?"

"You know," Sasuke muttered, shuddering a little in displeasure as he should have had Yamato's mouth pressed to his lips long ago. "Don't tell me you forgot I swallowed your cock... you moaned so loudly Mäelys came to see..." he reminded his would-be lover of their hot moment. "Don't you want me to do it to you again? I'll suck every last drop out of you..." he offered to Kakuzu, which was ironic considering how fiercely he had resisted the first time the Nordic warrior had tried to warm him up that day.

The burly northerner just stared in amazement at where it was coming from in the prince. He had originally thought that his hands would be broken if he touched him inappropriately, and instead the little one was this fierce! Kakuzu grinned and leaned over to Sasuke so he could whisper in his ear. "I'm sure it sounds great, but I'd like to finally fuck you. Do it for me." Good thing no one was with them right now. It would have been a shame to miss the opportunity to find out things like this and still make the young man angry.

"Yamato, I don't know... Shisui said that it hurts a lot the first time and there's too much blood, and for two days you get terrible diarrhea...", Sasuke interpreted Shisui's gloating that his cousin had teased him with when he found out that he had something to do with his sword master. Sasuke didn't believe it anymore today, of course, but apparently there was still a small hidden part of him that was strongly impressed. Maybe that was the real reason he hadn't let Yamato do it yet.

Kakuzu stammered for a moment before letting out a booming laugh. Was this what the prince believed? It was all bullshit. His chest shook mightily at how amused he was. Really, this Yamato was probably a terrible lover if he couldn't explain to Sasuke how things worked the first time. He'd only ever fucked trained or paid men. There weren't that many people to choose from up north. They didn't fuck like those southern rabbits.

Sasuke flinched as Kakuzu giggled. This didn't fit his rather idyllic ideas of Yamato and a sunny beach. He curled into a ball in subconscious defense and coughed a few times. The pain in his lungs wasn't part of his daydreaming either, he blinked a few times and almost seemed to wake up for a moment, but eventually his mind returned to a state in which its owner was better. And the body could fight the illness better too.

When Kakuzu finished chuckling, he looked at the huddled nestling. Sasuke seemed even much smaller and tinier than before. Could the disease have drained him so much that he was disappearing before his eyes? He wondered if he would feel sorry for the Uchiha if he died. In truth, he wasn't sure. On the one hand, he'd prefer to send him south and get rid of him so he wouldn't have to babysit him, but on the other, he was a great pawn for Winterhold.

The military doctor did his best, and although it looked hopeless many times, after a week Sasuke's condition finally started to improve. The fever slowly subsided, and the young man regained consciousness at longer and longer intervals, began to communicate coherently, and most importantly, the terrible coughing improved. His every breath no longer sounded so whistling.
When the medic voiced the confident assumption that the young man would survive, a huge stone fell from Bee's heart. Damn puppy, he'd scared him badly and delayed him, but more importantly he hadn't lost him, his brother would have torn him apart.
The somewhat unpleasant part of Sasuke's recovery, however, was that he wasn't so willing to spend time in bed with two naked northerners anymore. He had begun to refuse that part of his treatment, and with great reluctance he had finally agreed to a compromise. Two were no longer necessary, but one man would be in bed with him.

When at last, after two weeks, they folded their tents and prepared to march, there was clear relief on most faces that they would no longer be sitting still, but would finally be moving forward. The horses were given saddles, and the prince looked like a little marble on his horse as he was wrapped in furs to keep him from getting sick again. He wasn't completely healthy yet. Kakuzu tied his horse's bridle to the saddle again and jumped into the saddle. He looked back.

Sasuke's dark eyes met Kakuzu's for a moment. Most often, he was the one who had stayed in bed with him for the past week. Actually, before that too, but he hadn't noticed it as much. Though he consistently turned away every time Kakuzu dressed or undressed, and he hadn't been too keen on letting him press too much these past few days, he'd gotten to know this brown-haired soldier much more intimately than he'd counted on. So that was the experience of the North.

The brown-haired northerner studied the pale lion cub for a moment before turning back to the front. If they dumped him in the snow, they wouldn't find him, white as he was after his illness. Maybe he'd catch some color at the king's big fireplace in Nordstone. He nodded to the prince and spurred the horse on with his heels. The stallion tossed his head and stepped forward obediently. They had a long journey ahead of them before they reached the capital.

***

In the next chapter:

"Is he an Uchiha?"
"Take him to the dungeon and call the executioner to get ready."
"You northern bastards, you will regret this!"
"Queen Mei is arming."
"Only Darui will come with me."

Chapter Text

They moved further and further north. Once they got away from the pass, they passed snow-covered fields, villages with smoke rising from their chimneys, and larger towns huddled together under the cover of the Snowy Mountains, which loomed majestically in the distance. It was said that snow did not melt there all the year round, but Nordstone still lay a week or so south of them.
It was a satisfaction to Sasuke, but more of a bittersweet one, that Bee was now much more concerned about his safety, even in terms of diet and fur count. He was obviously worried that he might lose his triumphant catch at the last minute. Fortunately, Sasuke had recovered quite well from his pneumonia. He was still coughing and his temperature still spiked here and there, but after immediately administering another disgusting concoction of herbs, he was fine again.
About a month and a half after Sasuke was captured, the gates of the capital city of Winterhold welcomed the rest of the army. The huge settlement took up about fifty square kilometers and was dominated by the Stone Fortress, a sturdy structure of gray stone, battered by countless gales, yet majestic in its rugged way and fascinating in its raw inelegant strength, as were the mountains towering high above it.

It was already known throughout the city that the North had lost. The hawk brought the scroll a few days after the battle and gradually the information spread from the royal castle to the serfs. No one liked the fact that the south had won and now they were going to take it out on them. The only thing that pleased the people was the capture of the prince. However, they also immediately converged along the streets to catch a glimpse of the Uchiha. They murmured amongst themselves and glared at the young man in furs. One of the braver ones dared to throw a piece of cabbage. A few joined him, but the soldiers quickly stopped them. In a skirmish with the common people, the advantage was on their side. Moreover, Bee had ordered that Sasuke must walk to the castle unharmed, to which everyone giggled, and with honor.

Sasuke looked around unenthusiastically. He didn't like it here any more than anywhere else in the north, and he hoped in his heart that this would be the last stop where he wouldn't even linger too long. Surely the Raikage had managed to come to an agreement with Madara on the ransom in the meantime, and they'd be sending him back soon. He wasn't looking forward to the prospect of having to make the same journey a second time, but it was still better than lingering in enemy territory for even a day longer.
They walked steadily up through the city, following the road that led to the Stone Fortress, whose gates also opened wide before them. Most of the soldiers were immediately dismissed to the barracks, but the royal guards remained in the castle. They dismounted from their horses in the courtyard and Sasuke sighed. He would probably meet the king in a few minutes.

In addition to the royal guards, the Raikage's vassals had dismounted. There were eight of them, and the rest of the ones that didn't go south were guarding the western border from Mei, lest she accidentally come to grab a piece of land. The king couldn't manage the whole country alone. He needed support from all the important families who had influence, money and soldiers. The nobles of the land recognized him as their king, and he wanted to show them that he was worthy of their trust. Vassals needed to be respected and acknowledged. Raikage could not afford to lose them. Also, the north could fall apart and he would end up being king of only Nordstone and the surrounding areas.
The group of men ascended the staircase to the throne room where they were already expected.

The young Uchiha didn't particularly appreciate the huge room. Yes, it was majestic and ornate compared to the castle from the outside, flanked by thick columns and with the banners of the north hanging everywhere, but like perhaps all of Winterhold it was dark, desperately dark with only a few windows, the only illumination provided by torches and fire pots. With what nostalgia Sasuke now remembered the slender elegant towers of the Pearl Palace, the tall windows through which the sunlight streamed all day. Their palace was illuminated by natural light, airy and light. Here, everything was dark, harsh and smoky.
He tried not to notice all the courtiers who had gathered in the hall to welcome the king's brother and his vassals, watching him intently, whispering something excitedly, and some even pointing fingers at him. He walked proudly behind Bee, and the nearer they advanced to the throne, the more massive and growing was the figure that sat upon it.

Raikage sat on the great throne where his father, grandfather, great grandfather, and others of his family sat. They still enjoyed the favor of the people and tried to keep it. His first born son sat on a low chair to his right, and the rest of the family stood below the dais, a massive throne of stone sitting on top. He had been waiting for his brother for a month now, wanting to be sure that they really did have an Uchiha and hadn't caught an ordinary southerner. Most importantly, he had to blame Bee for the delay. He waited until everyone had fallen to their knees and watched where the southern prince stood. He found him very quickly once his brother had bowed like everyone else. The Uchiha remained standing. He frowned.

There was no way Sasuke was going to bow down to a foreign king, though he had to admit that this was one to respect. His uncle Madara, the eldest of the clan, had respect too, but a sort of natural one, it just radiated from him like it did from his father, but with Raikage it was backed up mostly by a brutal physical appearance. Surely he must have had a giant or a troll among his ancestors, otherwise he couldn't imagine it! He was even a little taller than Bee and more massive. The circumference of his thigh was perhaps the same as Sasuke's waist measurement. Blond hair slicked back, a small sandy mustache, and a short beard gave him a stern, unforgiving look.

Bee looked back and saw that the little guy had reared his head again. One thing about his illness was beautiful, he didn't resist, but with his health came a rebellious nature. It was useless to ask Sasuke to willingly kneel on his own. He could see in his eyes that he wouldn't do it even if he begged. "Kakuzu," he hissed at the guard near him to do something about it.
The brown-haired northerner mentally complained. There's a cross to bear with this southerner. He nudged his neighbor and the two gunmen stood shoulder to shoulder with the young man. Leather gloves gripped the prince's shoulders and pushed. It was obvious he would not relent. Kakuzu kicked the young man from behind below the knee and by then they had managed to get him to his knees.

Sasuke hissed, he hadn't been treated very gently, but he hadn't really expected it. He glanced up at the Norse king, not flinching as stern eyes bore into him. Just let the Raikage see that he would never conquer the south.
Bee waited a moment longer before his brother motioned for him to stand. "My King," he addressed him respectfully, "we are returning from the southern border, where unfortunately our army has suffered... hmm... several defeats." He winced as it rustled disapprovingly through the hall. He was doing the best he could, dammit! "But I hope your anger is tempered by the successful capture of a member of the Uchiha royal family. The youngest representative of the south, the second son of Fugaku Uchiha - Sasuke Uchiha. Deal with him according to your own wisdom and will."

The Raikage stood up and walked down the low stairs to the men. He stood in front of the kneeling Uchiha and motioned for him to let go. He regarded him thoughtfully. He had to be sure they had the right one. The manner was typical of the haughty southerners, the blackness of his hair and eyes the same as Madara's had been when they had met in a meeting once. The young man wore a northern dress and southern armor. Though it was light, too light for his taste, it showed that it was of the finest material, artfully crafted and decorated. It was the kind of armour no ordinary man could wear. He raked Sasuke's left hand sharply and gripped it tightly. He lifted it closer to his eyes and turned it back up. On the leather glove, the annoying family's clan ring glistened. He plucked it from his finger. "How can you prove that Uchiha blood runs through your veins?"

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sasuke snapped sharply as the blunt man robbed him of his family heirloom, "you better give it back!" The ring was worth a lot to him, not financially, though of course he would have gotten a fortune for it, it was gold and dominated by a stunning beautiful sapphire, but most importantly it had been given to him by his father, it had been in their family for centuries. That was why he hoped the Raikage just wanted to see it, after all he couldn't steal it from him in such a rude way. Seriously the king of the rednecks, just what's the truth.
Bee wondered if his brother needed any more proof. After all, everything about this kid screamed royalty. Well, true, he could have had him scrubbed up a bit before arriving, to bring out the purity and smoothness of his skin, typical of a nobleman, but there was no time for that. "Your Highness," he interjected with a suggestion, "When prince Darui... hmm... spent some time in the south five years ago, he undoubtedly must have met Sasuke Uchiha. He can prove his identity."

The Raikage was aware that everything confirmed the young man's affiliation, but he wanted to be one hundred percent sure before he started negotiating with the south. If he was holding the wrong person, it could backfire badly. With a wave of his hand, he summoned his son to his side. "Is he an Uchiha?" He pocketed the ring.
Darui looked at the young man. It had been a few years since he had been to the Pearl Palace. He only vaguely remembered Sasuke. He had only been there a short time before his father had gotten enough gold to redeem him. Plus, he'd grown from a kid to a young man in those five years. He hadn't denied his Uchiha features. The whole family bore a strong resemblance. A lightly cut face, aristocratic bearing and coal black. "Yes, he is an Uchiha, father."

Sasuke also gave Darui a brief look. He remembered him a little better, partly because the Norse prince had been about twenty years old at the time of the kidnapping, so he hadn't changed much since then, and partly because he was the first northerner he'd ever met. Raikage's maneuver hadn't escaped his notice, though. "Give me the ring back," he growled, tossing his head to get a loose lock of raven hair out of his face. He couldn't believe the way everyone was treating him. Sure, Darui had also been the subject of an exchange back then, and the southerners hadn't reacted warmly to the northern prince either, but at least they'd left him with all the privileges and more or less the respect, no one had even thought to rob him! They only confiscated his weapons, which were returned to him just before his release.

"No, it's proof that you're here. I'll keep it in case your family needs to prove your presence in the Stone Palace," the King of the North replied dryly, wondering how he was going to handle the situation. The southerners know he has been captured, and though Winterhold has lost, this is a gift of fate he must not waste. He's got the southerners in his grasp.

The young Uchiha gritted his teeth. That was some manners! What was he surprised at, there were only the rude ones living in the north. He looked around the throne room with disdain. He would never call this stinking dump a palace. He wished Raikage and Madara had come to an agreement quickly, but he would have to reckon with the fact that it would take a few days for the hawks to even travel such great distances.

The king clasped the rebellious prince's muzzle in his fingers and eyed him intently before releasing him. "Take him to the dungeon and call the executioner to get ready," he ordered next. He entertained a look of disbelief in his black eyes. Surely the southern whelp hadn't expected that. Certainly he thought they would host him, worship him, nurture him. Surely he knew something, and they were already finding out how much he was telling them about his homeland.

"What?!" Sasuke blurted, his eyes bulging as two soldiers approached him, "are you crazy? What executioner, what's that supposed to mean?! Let me go!" That was the second time in five minutes that the Raikage had knocked the wind out of him, but this time even more so than before. He was struggling, but he was still pretty weak from the pneumonia, and even if he wasn't, all these strapping Winterhold gorillas were still damn strong. "What kind of manners are these? You northern bastards you will regret this!" He noticed Raikage and Bee looking behind him with satisfaction, Darui looked sort of neutral, and then there was another white-haired man whose violet eyes blazed with excitement.

As soon as the heavy oak door slammed behind the prince, his shout of protest almost died down. Raikage turned to his brother and placed a hand on his shoulder in a compelling manner. "I'm not too pleased to see you come back like a sniveling dog after such a hopeful battle, but having an Uchiha saved your ass. Go get some rest for now and I'll have you summoned later," he motioned to his vassals, taking his brother with him. "You come with me now."

Bee expected Raikage to still want to talk to him, so he joined him without protest. Darui and Hidan got up as well, then they all headed to the adjacent parlor where the meetings were usually held. There was a large lacquered oak table there, and though the army commander would have preferred to be somewhere in bed or at dinner by now, he sat down on his brother's left. Along with them, the old master and the commander of the royal guard were still in the room.

The king waited until everyone was seated. "I know what the losses are from the scroll you sent. Our situation is not rosy. The only thing saving us is that Uchiha. So we can dictate the terms. The southerners will take it out of our hands. I've already received two scrolls from them," he slid two small rolls toward Bee, brought by the hawks from the south. He waited for his brother to read it. Everyone else knew what it said. They had discussed it several times.

"Softies," Bee snorted in amusement. King Madara was an excellent diplomat, he had to admit, but he still felt that the request for the prince's return was somehow too much of a plea. If Sasuke had been the heir to the throne, he might have understood, but unlike the Raikage, who had one legitimate son and one bastard, the Uchiha were many. One more or one less, whatever. Still, it put them in an advantageous position. "This is our chance to heal. The south is rich. The gold will replace the military losses and rebuild the army," he reasoned afterwards.
"Uh, uh," interjected the old master, who was belching on his cane, half his face perpetually hidden by bandages, with a cross-shaped scar on his chin, "I would like to point out, Your Highness, that the south is not the only problem now. You know that the hawk from the west has also come. Queen Mei is arming. I think it is clear who will be the target of her attack, and it will not be the south."

Raikage snorted in irritation, like a bull in a too-tight pen. "Yes, I know, that Elinion fury won't rest. First she wants to conquer our land through marriage, and if there's no other way, she wants to take it by force!" The king banged his fist on the table in irritation, but no one flinched. He did it often and they were used to it. "Damn Mei," he sputtered in disgust, "we can't ignore this. The question is when she wants to attack. If she goes to war now, it will be sheer folly. The soothsayers have predicted the winter to be hard and long. I'd be in favor of peace of arms."

"We all would, father," assured Darui the king, biting his lip thoughtfully, "the westerners will be more accustomed to our conditions than the southerners. Their country is small but long, the northern part already reaching roughly to the area where Nordstone lies."
"If Elinion allies itself with Tänöwill, it doesn't matter what natural conditions would play in our favor," the royal guard commander growled, unfolding a map of Alqualas on the table, "wars are won by soldiers, and as far as I know, the southerners haven't suffered as many casualties as we have. Their army is strong, and the Elinion one hasn't fought a war in ten years, so it's grown nicely. Two armies the north will succumb to."
"How could we have prevented such heavy losses in Tänöwill territory?" Bee objected gruffly, "The Uchiha know their country a thousand times better than we do..."
"Yeah, and it cost us a thousand times more men," retorted the guard commander, "We must prevent their alliance at all costs. Let's return the boy to them."

Raikage paused, thinking. He was usually a hothead and made decisions on instinct, but here the future of the entire country was at stake and he didn't want to make a decision that would destroy them. "No, we'll keep the Uchiha as a hostage. If there's a clash with Mei, the south won't even come near us if we have him," he spoke his assumptions aloud, looking at the faces of those present. They didn't have much choice.

"The Uchiha won't like that," Darui remarked, "Do you think it's a good idea? How long do you want to keep him here?"
"That's obvious, isn't it? For as long as it takes," the fair-haired, violet-eyed man replied in Raikage's stead, chuckling, "even if they pull up to Nordstone with an entire army, just showing them him with a knife at his throat will get their tails wagging again."
"Hostages are handy, but it's not exactly an honorable move," the royal guard commander objected, "we might offend Tänöwill. They'll be worried about the prince's safety."

"It has already been done. Having him here and not answering scrolls from the postal hawks must be pissing them off to the max," Raikage snorted. He hadn't freaked out when they'd taken Darui, either... maybe a little, within reason. He wouldn't leave the firstborn to the southerners, after all. Sasuke was the youngest of the entire family. He wasn't that important in terms of status. "We'll discuss his fate at the grand council, but I think we all want what's best for our country."

"Maybe we could give him back to them a little bit at a time, since they're so worried about him," Hidan suggested with a grin, "maybe a finger... or a whole hand..."
"Arbitrarily mutilate a member of the royal family? You must be out of your mind," Darui growled at his half-brother.
"Don't be a wimp," Hidan snorted, "he would survive, he can hold a sword with one hand after all."
"Great idea," Darui complimented him ironically, "this is exactly why everyone considers Winterhold barbaric and uncivilized. This would only confirm that reputation."

"Shut up," Raikage shouted angrily at them, who was often annoyed by the arguments between his sons. He didn't understand from whom Hidan had inherited his temper. His mother had been so sweet and kind, and this? If he wasn't sure he was his, he'd rather have him sacrificed to the gods. "That goes for everyone, especially you, Hidan, no one can mutilate an Uchiha. He came here in one piece, he'll leave in one piece, is that clear?!" He snapped at his grinning son.

Hidan shrugged, not daring to protest against his father. If he had his way, he'd play nice with the Uchiha and send him south in pieces. Politicking wasn't much for him, let alone any diplomacy.
"We'll have to allocate him chambers," Bee interjected, glancing at his brother, "I don't think you can leave him in the dungeon. Not for comfort, but for the cold. You know the trouble we had just on the way here. He nearly died in the pass."

"Southerners can't stand anything," the Raikage wrinkled his nose. His men could withstand blasting winters and face ice blizzards, and the Uchiha? A little blow from a gentle pre-winter breeze and it nearly put him down. "So be it. I'll listen to what he knows first, then assign someone to watch him. There's no way he's getting away from us. He's valuable prey that we need to keep for as long as possible. Anyone else have anything important to discuss before the big meeting?"

No one present made any further comments. Bee was glad to get some sleep, the commander of the guard still wanted to check on his soldiers, and what Danzou had been doing all night was something no one wanted to know.
"Father, I don't know if this is a good idea," Darui said a little later when Raikage wanted him to come with him to question the prisoner, "I think you can manage with the executioner on your own..."
"I'll take Darui's place," Hidan volunteered immediately, "and if Ibiki runs out of strength, I could..."

"I know you'd prefer to take on the interrogation yourself, Hidan, but I need the Uchiha to survive this in good health. I still want to return him unscathed. Only Darui will come with me," Raikage decided, continuing to walk with his son. He was his rightful successor and as such should know what the king had to do, even if he didn't like it. Also, if the Uchiha told them something secret, Hidan might just spill the beans somewhere.

The violet-eyed man looked disapprovingly after the pair of departing men. How terribly annoyed he was that he was a mere bastard and Raikage had treated him so often! Surely, he could have ended up far worse, he had practically all the privileges of nobility except for the Raikage name. How many times had he thought that if it weren't so dangerous, he would somehow remove Darui... then he would one day sit on the stone throne and then Winterhold would know a time like he had never seen before!

The king of the north continued with his son down into the dungeons beneath the fortress. They walked through dark, dank corridors lit by torches. There were many dungeons further below, where traitors or people awaiting interrogation were imprisoned. He entered the torture chamber, where a young man was already waiting, his hands tied to a bolt in the ceiling.
Ibiki was preparing tools of various shapes. One thing they had in common, they were dangerously sharp and could do terrible things in his hands.

Sasuke couldn't believe what was happening to him. They dragged him here like some kind of criminal, into a filthy stinking hole, and it looked like they were going to torture him! But they couldn't, they certainly couldn't, there was a law for that, it was all over Alqualas. Half-naked and tied up like hunted game, he had to watch in mounting horror as the terrifying scarred man had the irons fired and inspected the various knives, pliers and brands.
When Raikage and Darui appeared in the room, he immediately snapped at them, "What the hell are you playing at! This is completely unacceptable! If you don't let me go now, the king will take it as an insult to the entire Tänöwill!"

Raikage was not at all upset. He considered him more of a shouting child than someone he should respect. Madara, for example, was a great man. You could tell he was smart and cunning, but this little guy? "If you tell me what I want to hear, we don't even have to resort to such things as flaying, nail pulling, or castration," he haunted the Uchiha, pulling a red-hot iron from the coals and eyeing it with interest.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Raikage. Up until now, he had assumed that this was all a masquerade to humiliate him, but that the king wasn't serious. "You... you can't do that," he blurted out in a slightly strangled voice, his heart racing in his chest, "using the law of torment against a person of noble status is forbidden. There is a law for that, and it applies throughout Alqualas." He nervously squinted at the brand the Raikage held in his hand. An ominous orange glow flared brighter as the burly man blew on it, and a few sparks flew off the instrument. He could almost feel the incredible heat it radiated, and even though the dungeon was cold to the point of goosebumps appearing on his bare arms, he wouldn't like to feel this on his body.

The king went back to the Uchiha and waved the red-hot iron in front of him, letting him feel its heat on his face. The little one was so ridiculously scared! No northern man would flinch from hot metal. Southerners are soft. He amused himself by the way the young man twitched and tried to dodge whenever he moved the rod. "Yes, I've heard of such a rule, but in Winterhold, my rules apply, and if I tell Ibiki here to cut your cock off, he'll do it, and no one in my country will say an inch." He was aware that the nobles had privileges, yet they were having a very friendly conversation.

"Try it, you Nordic bastard!" The young Uchiha yelped, because the idea really scared him a lot. That he should lose his manhood?! I'd rather lose his head! He wouldn't survive such a disgrace anyway, he wouldn't dare go back to Tänöwill as an eunuch. "If any of you so much as touch my cock, I'll make sure the whole north disappears from the map!" He threatened, though of course he himself, and very likely Madara as well, didn't have the means to make such a thing happen.
Raikage was obviously aware of this as well, which annoyed the hell out of him, and as an amused smirk began to spread across his face, he shot out his right foot and hit the king of the north in the knee with a powerful kick. He didn't quite make it to the crotch like he had with Bea the other day, and he didn't quite get Raikage to kneel, but he did get a pained grunt and a slight buckle in satisfaction.

A throbbing vein popped in the king's temple. A sign of absolute fury. As soon as he recovered from the cretinous pain, he gave the young man such a punch that his head almost flew off, and scooped him up several times in the stomach to make him realize where his place was. He hated people who resisted him, and hated even more those who fought back viciously.
Darui stood by, watching his father give the young man a pounding with folded arms. True, he was overdoing it a bit, but he wasn't going to stop him from doing it because he didn't want to get hit too. Slaps and fists flew in all directions as the Raikage got going. He and Ibiki looked at each other. He might not even need him. The king will be fine on his own.

***

In the next chapter:

"Do it and you'll regret it."
"I wouldn't make it worse if I were you."
"Answer me and I'll be lenient."
"Where do you keep the supplies for the army?"
"You can't... please!"

Chapter Text

The dirty ground between the southern prince and the northern king was decorated with several stains of a mixture of blood and saliva that Sasuke coughed up. A punch to the face tore his gums and lip from his teeth, the blows to his stomach making him gag. It took a moment before he recovered and was able to stand up straight again. "Bastard," he hissed hatefully, glaring at Raikage with contempt, "I can see that the king of the north is a great hero if he can pacify a bound enemy." He had generally gotten the impression during his time in Winterhold that the northerners were very strong - especially when outnumbered roughly ten to one, or when their opponent was chained or weakened.
His response was a violent clenching of his jaw, and he felt the heat of red-hot iron near his neck. They met each other's gaze, large obsidian eyes staring into small black irises. Sasuke swallowed dryly. He was scared, but he didn't flinch this time. "Do it," he hissed defiantly, "do it and you'll regret it."

Raikage felt a foreign hand on his shoulder and snorted in displeasure. Sasuke must not be left with permanent scars from the torture. That could really be a problem when he returned. He was aware of it, but anger clouded his reason. He pulled away. "I'm not getting my hands dirty with southern blood anymore," he uttered in disgust. Anyway, the little thing wouldn't last and would come crashing down and spill everything they wanted right away. He sidled up to Ibiki and whispered in his ear what to do with the young man. "Let's start with the first question then. How strong is the southern army, how many men, weapons and supplies do you have?"

Sasuke snorted. The Raikage was obviously expecting him to give a full report on the state of their army here. He knew a lot, but not everything, and even if he did, he certainly wasn't going to reveal it to the enemy. "Kiss my ass," he advised the fair-haired ruler, straightening his head. He still sort of hoped the king was just scaring him with this. Surely he couldn't really torture him, that would be a diplomatic scandal.
Darui shook his head with a sigh. He had years of experience with his father and knew he couldn't stand resistance. True, he could appreciate pride, but when he set his mind to something, he usually got it too.

Raikage waved his hand to give space to the executioner, who stroked his tools with an almost affectionate look. He picked up a long knife and tested the blade with his finger. It was as sharp as a shard. It would cut through the insides in a heartbeat. He walked over to the young man who still seemed to be hoping for something. He ran a thickened hand over the unprecedented smoothness of the skin. This was the skin of an aristocrat who had never had to bend his back to death in the field under the sun. "One or two ribs?" He asked lazily, as if asking how many apples you wanted at the market, and put the knife to his side between two protruding ripples and pushed. Immediately blood began to push into the cut. Ibiki's eyes sparkled. He simply loved his job.

Sasuke yelped half in shock, half in pain, it was hard to tell which was predominant. Instinctively, he flinched until the chain binding him to the ceiling rattled. He really cut him! It wasn't a joke or an idle threat. Raikage really wasn't shy about letting him be tortured! "Are you out of your mind?!" He yelled at the two members of the royal clan, though it was understandably directed primarily at the king, as Darui stood sort of impassively by, " LET ME GO IMMEDIATELY!" His tenor echoed throughout the dungeon, filled with disbelief, shock, anger... and hiding an undertone of fear.
"I wouldn't make it worse if I were you," Darui remarked, giving Sasuke a straight face. He didn't really know exactly how old he was, but he looked about fifteen.

"One will be enough, Ibiki, but nice and slow to get something out of it. Until he answers, keep going," Raikage decided, piercing the young man with the hard eyes of a Nordic ruler who could withstand not only the wild winds of nature, but the wild gusts of politics as well. In the end, no one can resist Ibiki.
The executioner continued, pushing the knife nice and slow and steady. He had many years of practice at this. He'd held this thankless job since time immemorial. He finished the cut and moved a little below the rib to continue as if he really wanted to cut it out. A red streak ran down the young man's side and seeped into his trousers.

The black-haired youth tried to hold his tongue, but it was terribly difficult. He had suffered some scrapes and cuts many times in training and of course then in battles, but the difference was that on the battlefield he had to focus on fighting, on staying alive at all, so the adrenaline rush was raising his pain threshold. But that wasn't the case now, and his mind could fully register the monstrous thrust of the blade that was opening his skin and spilling his Uchiha blood.
When Ibiki picked a spot to continue, he flinched. It probably wasn't exactly heroic, but it was simply his body's automatic response to avoid further pain. He didn't say anything, however.

Raikage let the executioner continue his work. He wasn't going to relent until he heard what he wanted. The young man before him was a fountain of knowledge and he was sure he would yield soon. Two little scratches like that were just fun. Ibiki turned to him with a question in his eyes. He nodded for him to continue. He still had anger simmering in him and would have preferred to put his hand to the work himself, but the young man might not survive his next blows. Already he could see his face swelling and surely a bruise like thunder would soon appear.
The executioner picked his spots with relish and continued. He neatly sliced through each gap between the ribs on one side and then the other. Beautiful. Sides flushed with blood, pooling in rivulets to form an intricate web. Sweat beaded on his victim's forehead. He looked forward to the feeling of a job well done as the prince began to spill out the answers. "Answer," he bellowed at the young man.

Sasuke hissed like a southern cobra, and you could see him biting his already injured lips to keep from making a sound, but the muscles in his neck were tensing and the pain was most clearly reflected in those beautiful dark eyes. He wasn't a child anymore, but he wasn't an adult yet either. He wasn't as battle-scarred and hardened as Yamato or Kakashi. The hot rivulets seeping into his pants soon began to be redeemed by painful moans, like the whimpers of an abused puppy. Several times his lips quivered and it looked like he was about to speak, but in the end he always just clenched his teeth harder.
Darui was not as enthralled by the bloody spectacle as his father. He was a northerner, he wasn't immediately thrown off by anything, and in fact the sight didn't even make him sick, but he didn't particularly identify with the Raikage's attitude - torturing a nobleman, and almost a child at that. "If you answer the questions, no one will hurt you," he reminded Sasuke.

Ibiki's hands were pretty much tied based on what Raikage ordered him to do. Normally, Sasuke would have a few burns by now, but the order was clear. No permanent injuries or scars. He understood why the king had ordered it, but he was a little sorry. "Now, prince, will you speak?" He asked calmly as he put the knife away. The young man shook his head in stubborn defiance, however, probably thinking that he was finished, and he had only just begun. He drew thick long metal needles through the fire. Holding Sasuke's pectoral muscle, he stabbed the needle into the flesh and let it peek out a little further, then again. He made a nice little skewer on his chest.

Sasuke cried out for the first time. It really hurt badly and he couldn't stay quiet anymore. "Thirty thousand!" He moaned, hoping that would be the end of it. He was surprised that the state of the southern army had not been ascertained by the northern scouts, but the truth was that they were understandably not sending all their men to the battlefield. He was sick of himself, he felt like a traitor, but... it really hurt.
"Thirty?" Darui repeated after him in surprise, exchanging a quick glance with his father. They hadn't been expecting such a large number, though the truth was that there were more people living in the south than in the north, they had plenty to choose from for the army.

Raikage smiled triumphantly. It was here, the first swallow that would bring more with it. He had assumed that Sasuke would start talking after a few more cuts, but he seemed more resilient than he had expected. Maybe the southerners were just a little less softened than he thought. The interrogation wasn't over, however. "And how are they equipped? How many infantry, archers, cavalry, and heavies do you have?" he wanted to know as Ibiki set about piercing another needle.

The black haired youth whimpered as the long thin thing worked its way through his skin, muscle and tissue. Red droplets ran down his chest to his stomach, pooling in the hollow of his navel. He thrashed his bound hands until his screams mingled with the metallic clangs, dodging away from Ibiki's tools, but he couldn't flinch far, and besides, the executioner was used to the restlessness of his victims, took it for granted. "Please, enough!" Sasuke blurted out. This was the first time he had ever begged anyone in the northern territory.

"Answer me and I'll be lenient," Raikage replied firmly, looking at his son. He didn't look very enthusiastic, but at least he wasn't like his bastard. Every time he saw the fanatical enthusiasm with which he peered under Ibiki's hands, he wondered just who he'd inherited it from. "Just to answer my question, how are your armed forces divided?"

Sasuke hesitated. He didn't want to divulge such important information, he didn't want to betray his country, he just wasn't strong enough to withstand the physical pain. Few men were, anyway. Another stab quickened his decision. "Four thousand cavalry, eight thousand archers and heavies each, ten thousand infantry!" he wailed, hoping that now his suffering would finally end.

"Where are your troops stationed? Surely you don't have them all in one place," Raikage continued on with his questioning, just as Ibiki had done with his work. Cooperation with the interrogated must be maintained. Plus, since they weren't using any harsh coercive measures, he didn't have to worry about him collapsing in the middle of the interrogation.

"I don't know!" Sasuke half lied. In truth, he wasn't entirely sure where any part of the army was, and most of all, he assumed they had regrouped during the month and a half or so he had spent captive in the north. He could have told Raikage what it had been like before he was kidnapped, but he didn't feel much like revealing that either.

"You really don't know?" The scarred executioner asked, sticking another needle in. The young man's chest was riddled like meat ready for the spit. Beautiful and tasteful. Too bad the prince didn't appreciate it as much as he did, that he could show how torture techniques could be an art. "I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you. I like doing this job, and the more you resist, the longer I can play with you."

"Please, that hurts!" Howled the young Uchiha pleadingly as his chest began to become a bizarre little pincushion, "I don't know, I really don't know what it's like now... please stop! You promised to stop!" It was probably foolish to try to invoke some sort of law, but he couldn't give up hope that the Raikage might order him to stop the torture after all.

"No one here promised you anything," Ibiki replied shortly, and proceeded to the next devious plan. This often worked a lot more than letting go of a vein. He picked up a leather pouch with a powdery white mixture on the table. "Southerners live by the sea, but maybe you won't be so used to sea salt if you're from the palace." He scooped up a good handful of salt and rubbed it into the young man's sides.

A scream echoed through the dungeons, which must have been heard in the other prisoners' dungeons. The salt in the living wound burned perhaps almost as much as the red-hot iron that had threatened Sasuke Raikage before the torture began. The black-haired youth was thrashing about until he was almost in danger of dislocating his wrist, his face drawn into a grimace of pain as his screams echoed off the stone walls.
Darui stared at the ground. He resented it, but he did not openly confront his father. He only hoped that the southern prince was resilient enough to survive the rough treatment without permanent harm.

Raikage eyed the little pup with distaste. He writhed like a worm. He wondered what it would look like if they tortured Madara. Likewise, or would this pampered cub just not stand for anything? "Tell me what I want to know, and maybe Ibiki will relieve you," he urged the prince to speak. He had all night. He'd find out everything he wanted to know and everything Sasuke would know. In the end, he even liked to humble the southern man like this.

"YOU FILTHY FUCKERS, THIS IS AGAINST THE LAW-AAAH!" Sasuke's yell died in another scream as Ibiki gloatingly pressed salt even into the wounds that still had the ends of needles sticking out of them. The young Uchiha was experiencing pain unlike anything he had ever known before. It was an experience that put his pride to a severe test, breaking his will, crumbling his self-control into tiny shreds. "ENOUGH!" He shouted as all his thoughts revolved around making it finally stop.

The king wondered when something would finally come out of Sasuke, but the pain seemed to be clouding his mind too much to answer them. So he let him get a thorough thrashing before he gave Ibiki his instructions. There was a loud splash as the executioner doused the young man with a bucket of water. He walked over to the staggering youngster and grabbed him by the chin. "Speak or you will get it again!"

Sasuke's condition was not rosy. Although the water washed away the salt that was causing him agony, it also made him shiver in the cold dungeon and threatened him with the return of a lingering illness. The knife and needle wounds bled, not severely, but persistently, and hurt like hell. But perhaps the worst was his psyche. For the first time in his life he knew what it was like to lose all privileges and status, what it was like to be tortured. "If I say so..." he whimpered desperately, "will it end?"

"If you answer absolutely everything I ask, it will," the king assured the prince. After all, once he had all the valuable information, there was no reason to continue the torture. He has to figure out later where to put Sasuke and how to guard him against escape. He would prefer to leave him down here. No one has ever escaped from here, but Bee warned him. He didn't want the young man to die of disease. Especially not now. He'd still be accused of torturing him to death.

"But I don't know how it is now," Sasuke sobbed, "originally twenty thousand soldiers were sent to the northern border to meet the Winterhold army, and ten thousand men remained in reserve in Dorwine. But now the Tänöwill army will surely be regrouped." It stung his heart to realize that he hadn't actually had a single mention of his family dealing with the kidnapping so far. He suspected that going headlong after him would probably be foolish, but... damn, did they really not send anyone to rescue him?

"Where do you keep the supplies for the army? How much gold does the royal treasury receive annually?" The king of the north continued to ask. "I want to know how many iron, silver and gold mines you have." Such a huge army must be something for the Uchiha to pay for, and the question is where they get the money. If he could cut off their access to money, their army could soon fall apart as well.

Sasuke pulled out of the grip of his jaw with the Raikage's fingers and averted his eyes. He remained silent. It was already completely against his mind to divulge information about the state of the army, but the most important points of the economy of the entire Tänöwill? That was completely out of the question. Of course, he didn't even know everything, for example, he had never been particularly interested in the gold intake, but it was probably a lot. Their gold mines west of the Athyen Valley were rich.

"Speak, or do you want some salt again?" Raikage threatened, and it was obvious that Sasuke didn't feel like talking. He shook his head grumpily. "Suit yourself, little prince. Ibiki, cut his balls off. At least we'll make sure he doesn't fuck with anyone in the south or north again."
The executioner walked over to the young man and pulled his pants down to his knees after a slight twitch. "Oh, what do we have here?" He said mockingly, taking the young man's manhood in his hands. "And do you just want me to cut them off or do you want me to slice them up first?" He asked while he held them up nicely and measured where the cut would lead.

The black-haired young man panicked. The thought of actually letting the Raikage deprive him of his privates was far beyond anything he could hope to endure. "No, NO! Don't touch me, you filthy Nordic dog! Let go of me! You can't... please! Not this!!!" he screamed hysterically, trying to escape at all costs. He kicked like a wriggling colt until Darui was ordered by his father to hold him back a little from behind, not caring how much he reopened the wounds he had inflicted so far. "Please, please don't do this...! It... it better be the irons..." the young man wailed in dismay.

"No, depriving you of your cock is much better. Just think, you'll be able to guard your harem if you can't fuck those women. I'm sure Madara will use you for something else. A eunuch like that in the family will surely please," Raikage teased the young man. "But if you change your mind and want to tell me something after all, I'm here, otherwise Ibiki can't wait. Speak up, or you'll only have a dick to piss on." Every guy was worried about his dick. It was his pride and a necessary part of his body.

Sasuke's lips quivered. If Raikage did that, his father would no doubt be furious and Madara wouldn't let it go. It would certainly lead to more battles, but even if Tänöwill won... what good would it do him? He would be crippled, incomplete, devoid of manhood forever. He faced a terrible choice. He loved his country and didn't want to betray it, but he didn't want to return to it as a castrated man. "Please..." he said brokenly, looking pleadingly at the king of the north, "stop this."

"Answer what I asked you and my other questions and we'll leave your balls where they are," the king offered the young man. It couldn't be said that the nestling didn't hold anything, but he started singing too fast for his liking. He still looked like a kid anyway. He was really surprised they let him lead the troop. Madara must have been out of his mind to send him onto the battlefield this immature. Their children would have endured more than that.

Sasuke shivered. It was uncomfortable enough to feel someone else's nasty cold hands in such intimate places, let alone with the threat of a cold blade. He fought a hard internal battle before his lips moved of their own accord: "Seven gold mines, two silver, four iron. I don't know how much gold the royal treasury receives annually, probably a lot, I'm not the treasurer! Enough already, leave me alone, that's enough! This is totally unacceptable, I'll report it to the king!"

Raikage laughed in amusement. "I have no idea how you would do that. You're here for now, so you'll obey my rules. So you better answer the rest of the questions I ask you. You refuse once and you're a castrated pig," he finally threatened, standing resolutely in front of the prince with his hands folded at his sides. He was even quite amused at how scared the little one was, and yet they'd hardly done anything to him, based on all that could have happened here. "So... I want to know what Tänöwill has planned. Will Madara want to ally with the west or accept some sort of marriage propsal? With whom would it be?"

The young Uchiha swallowed dryly. Despite his young age, he was oddly often part of debates regarding high politics, so he could see a little into future plans. They had a huge number of marriage proposals of course, as royalty they were in demand, let alone when they had three young men at their disposal at once. Even he himself already had a few noble women interested, but it wasn't something that was being taken seriously yet.
Rather, there was the matter of queen Mei. The inquisitive western woman knew Madara's reputation all too well, yet she had already made several advances towards him. Madara, however, had usually wooed her with some expensive and valuable gifts and uncertain promises, several times considering offering her Izuna or Shisui as a husband. Of course, an alliance with the west was directly offered.
But these were already too intimate plans; it was only discussed in the inner circle of the Tänöwill council. He was not allowed to reveal this! "I don't know," Sasuke lied quickly, and to give his argument some support, he quickly blurted out, "I don't have access to the Tänöwill council! Only adult members can go there..." Actually, that was true too, but Madara made an exception for him.

"That may be true, but you can't hide things like that in the family. Who did you choose for queen Mei? I doubt Madara would go himself, but maybe one of you young ones could. They say Mei has a fondness for bunnies. Maybe they promised you, and to avoid having to let you go, they'd rather send you into battle to die so they can say the marriage can't take place, but knowing Madara, he's probably already managed to sign some sort of agreement to get something out of it," Raikage theorized aloud. He had no doubt that the southerners had already caught the eye of the Elinion Queen. Maybe he should have married her after all. The west would be his, and he would let the queen sit on her throne. Who said he'd have to keep her in the Stone Fortress. But Elinion's motto was: We hear the grass grow. And he preferred snow and ice to the great grassy plains.

Sasuke averted his gaze. He wasn't a very good liar, he couldn't look Raikage in the eye. "I don't know, uncle doesn't talk to me about his plans and no one bragged about getting married," he blurted out, wincing when Ibiki's grip on his lap tightened slightly, something he might have appreciated in another, completely different situation, but now it was just awkward. His mind raced, wondering what his father would say if he saw him like this, divulging sensitive information here under the weight of pain...
Darui furrowed his brow thoughtfully. It was clear that the west wouldn't remain neutral for long, in fact it was almost a miracle that Elinion hadn't gotten involved in the war sooner. Because of his father's refusal, things weren't looking good for them, he had heard somewhere that the wrath of a scorned woman was worse than hell, and in Mei's case he would almost believe it.

The king of the north was disappointed that the prince knew nothing. Yet these political intrigues were boring, tricky, but important. "Tell me, does your country have any other allies besides Elinion? Do you have any enemies? A revolution, a religious movement, or an armed group?" He hoped there was something Sasuke would know, and he was going to get it out of him too. "And look at me when I talk to you," he growled.

The young Uchiha felt the Raikage take him sharply by the chin and turn him to face him. He knew full well how the northerners could use such information to weaken their country. They may have been barbarians, but they certainly weren't fools, at least in the royal family. Calculating was important for governing. He tried to gather the last vestiges of inner strength to oppose Raikage. "I won't say another word to you," he whispered softly but firmly.

"Suit yourself, you puppy. Ibiki, cut off his cock and balls and then shove it all up his ass," Raikage barked dangerously. He hated being contradicted. Everyone in the courtyard stood at attention when he appeared as well. They knew it was better to get along with him. "Then we'll cut his fingers off one by one and shove them up his ass so he knows he's totally fucked," the king threatened sharply.

Sasuke rolled his eyes in dismay. Until about twenty minutes ago, he would have thought the Raikage was just bluffing, but so far he had lived up to almost everything he had threatened him with. He'd always had this idea that he'd die a hero in some glorious battle... and so far it looked more like he'd simply be tortured to death in a cold, dirty Winterhold prison. But he will betray his country no more. He shivered like an aspen as he closed his eyes tightly and clenched his jaws together in anticipation of the pain. Perhaps he might faint here at the first cut.

The executioner looked to his king for guidance on what to do with the little one. The king's nostrils quivered with rage and it looked like he would rather have Sasuke dismembered. He waited for him to nod for the next course of action and brought the sharp knife to the tender skin of his privates. He'd castrated a lot of guys in his lifetime for things they'd done and things they might not have done. More bloody drops ran down to the ground.

The black-haired youth screamed and jerked, but Darui was still holding him from behind, so he had nowhere to go. It wasn't a deep wound, more like a scratch, but it hurt like hell in an intimate place. Decent bruises were already starting to appear under the metal cuffs as Sasuke desperately jerked at his bound hands. It was a good thing he was still a little dehydrated due to the sickness he'd suffered, he probably wouldn't have survived if he'd added a shameful puddle to all the humiliation.

Ibiki was well aware of the order. The Raikage had instructed him that no permanent consequences must be left to Sasuke, and thus he was proceeding with the utmost caution. He had only given the little cub a slight scratch, though it looked as if he had actually cut it off.
Raikage huffed in displeasure. He thought he could get a lot more out of the southern prince, but apparently even he could resist. Probably he really wasn't one of those people who would blurt out everything under threat and still denounce their neighbors of the worst crimes. "Fine, we'll talk again another time," the king hissed unkindly. "Have him treated and lock him in his chambers," he ordered before turning on his heel and leaving.

Sasuke opened his eyes sharply, but only saw the Raikage's retreating back. He wanted to call out something to him, but he wasn't sure he even had the strength to even breathe, let alone speak. Slowly, however, an incredible relief began to spread through his body. It might not be the last time he visited the torture chamber, but at least it was over for now. He glared hatefully at the scarred executioner, who released him and straightened up with a huff. His face showed obvious disappointment.

***

In the next chapter:

"Did they send the hawks?"
"I'm not gonna bite it off."
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"H-h-help me."
"You'd be surprised!"

Chapter Text

Darui had a soldier summoned, who was subsequently sent to fetch Kabuto, their royal rancher. In a way, he was also quite glad they got it over with, he took no pleasure in watching it happen. "Once he's been treated, have the guards bring him upstairs, we'll see what chamber we assign him," he ordered Ibiki, before giving Sasuke a brief nod and heading out of the torture chamber as well.
"Hey!" Sasuke yelled nervously, "wait!" He didn't like the idea of being left alone here with the executioner at all.

Darui still looked over his shoulder at Sasuke. He looked like he wanted something. However, he didn't want to linger too long. He didn't like this place, and yet his father made him watch often enough. He said a king must not only be able to decide what sentence to impose, but he must be able to carry it out. It's easy to leave the dirty work to others. So it happened that the Raikage himself beheaded the condemned. Fortunately, he hadn't sentenced anyone yet, so he didn't have to do that. In battle, he would kill as many men as necessary, but killing a defenseless man was not his cup of tea. "What do you want?"

The young prince hesitated. He wanted Darui to stay here, at least until the doctor arrived, but to say it out loud would not only be extremely childish, but foolish. So the only thing he could think of to delay Darui slightly was to ask questions. For a change, the other way around. "Has my family... given any information? Did they send the hawks?" He asked the question that burned his tongue the most. No one had told him anything yet, and he wondered if they were solving his kidnapping in the south. They must be dealing with it! Granted, he was only third in the line of succession to the throne, and when Itachi ever had children, things would shift again, but still! He was still part of the family.

"Yes, the hawk has come and also gone," Darui replied shortly, and was about to leave again. "Don't worry about anyone caring about you. Otherwise we wouldn't have kept you here," he added, disappearing behind the door. He needed to get some fresh, cold air quickly. He already felt like he was suffocating downstairs. He didn't understand how Hidan could shut himself in there with those poor losers all day.
Ibiki, meanwhile, began cleaning his tools and watching the little guy still bleeding. Such a shame they didn't let him play with it a bit. This will heal up in no time and he won't know anything about it anymore.

"But... wait a minute!" Sasuke called after Darui, but the Nordic prince was obviously in a hurry. Not that he was all that surprised, it was really disgusting here, but being left alone in the presence of the executioner was considerably unnerving, especially when Ibiki had started polishing other tools he couldn't use on him as if by the way, and he was clearly unhappy about it. Pliers for ripping flesh and nails, or ripping out tongues, pointed bayonets, brands...
Sasuke tried not to watch the morbid scene too much, and just prayed that the maniac wouldn't stick around with him for Gods knows how long.

The executioner was just about to give the southern prince some small scare, but before he could carry it out, the heavy wooden door of the torture chamber creaked open. He grinned. The bespectacled man with the entourage was here. He wrinkled his nose at the nosy jester. Everything about the human body interested him, and he didn't deny that he was smart, but he just didn't like him.
The gray-haired man shifted the tiny glasses on his nose and looked at the young man in surprise. In truth, he had expected a much worse injury than these few scratches. "Prince Sasuke, if I heard correctly. I'm sorry to see you in such an uncomfortable situation, but the king has allowed your treatment. Untie him and place him on the table," he ordered the two soldiers that came with him.

Sasuke sighed. He hated doctors, he found their procedures unpleasant, painful, and sometimes humiliating, but of course it was largely bias, as it always depended on the type of injury or illness. However, at this point he was glad that at least someone had finally arrived who might be able to give him some relief, as the salt residue in his wounds burned terribly and generally he was still bleeding.
He staggered when the guards finally unshackled him, still feeling weak, but when they tried to lead him to the table he protested, "I can walk on my own!" He pulled up his pants shakily, no longer intending to show himself as cattle in the marketplace. He stumbled to the table and measured it a little suspiciously, but perhaps there was no subterfuge. At any other time he would have gracefully jumped up on it, but now he was glad he'd scrambled up on it at all.

Kabuto set to work. He had one of the soldiers hold the torch across from him so he could see under his hands. It would definitely take a few stitches. He'd definitely be working on some ribs. First he must pull out the metal needles that still hung in the prince's chest. He dipped the cloth in the liquor to have it ready and began pulling at the metal. It was covered in blood and slipping through his fingers. "Shit," he hissed, as he couldn't help it.
By then Ibiki had joined them, and without any further ado, he rather decisively relieved Sasuke of his torture implement.

"Ouch!" The southern prince groaned, his hand automatically reaching out to the wounds, which bled more as he pulled out the needles. He wasn't sure if it would have been better if Kabuto had pulled it out slowly or if Ibiki had done it all at once like that, but either way he had no doubt that the executioner certainly hadn't done it to perhaps shorten his suffering. He'd prefer to be done with it all, but he'd probably need a few bandages before the doctor let him go. All he wanted now was to crawl under some warm fur somewhere, lick his wounds, and preferably sleep it all off.

A much more heartfelt groan sounded as Kabuto pressed the alcohol-soaked cloth to the wounds. "Well, you've got to hold on to something," the doctor chided the prince, nodding to the other man to hold Sasuke's hands. He had experience with struggling patients. Occasionally he'd had to amputate someone's leg, and most of the time it was patients who didn't want to part with it, even though it was all blackened and in danger of total blood poisoning.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. It wasn't exactly the first time he'd encountered something like this, he'd taken a few of those cuts in battles, but it wasn't pleasant in the least. The worse was yet to come, however, he guessed, as Kabuto began to prepare his tools for sewing. Damn it! He just hoped this Nordic doctor was skilled. He'd already seen a few botched procedures that left nasty scars. "Won't-doesn't it grow back on its own?" he wondered.

Kabuto raised one eyebrow, wondering if the little guy was just kidding. Obviously not. "No, it needs to be stitched up. I thought southern warriors weren't afraid of needles when they go up against northern swords," he spoke calmly, but there was a smile in his voice at the situation. He considered the prince still a child. He may have commanded soldiers, but he was clearly not fully mature yet. Who knew how old he was, fifteen? Maybe a little older.

The young Uchiha sighed. He didn't respond to the mild teasing, in truth he was used to much worse insults from the northerners. He could use some mead right about now, though normally he rather despised it, he was used to fine tänöwill wine. But at least a few sips would be handy now to raise his pain threshold, however he probably couldn't count on something like that here. "Go ahead," he nodded reluctantly at the doctor, clenching his jaw tightly.

The doctor still forced a piece of wood between Sasuke's teeth. He'd seen the man bite his tongue off in cruel pain. In the prince's case, he didn't want to neglect anything. After all, the king wouldn't like it and might pay the price. He looked around for a place to start and pulled out a piece of catgut. It was made of animal intestines and would pull out his stitches in a week or two. His admiration for science and healing was immeasurable. He loved to research and refine recipes for medicines. He stuck the needle in the first spot.

Sasuke jerked and gave a muffled whimper. He tried not to squirm too much, but it was awfully hard as the thin needle bit into the tissue, over and over again. It couldn't be said that Kabuto was deliberately dragging it out, but the young Uchiha soon realized that he was obviously a naturally precise person, and he was taking his time. He dug his fingers into the edges of the table, beads of sweat popping out on his body despite the cold dungeon. He bit into the wood, and painful moans came from his mouth against his will. When he could stand it no longer, the guards had to pin his hands to the stone surface to keep him from pushing Kabuto away.

"It's almost over," Kabuto soothed the young man, sewing up even a cut that an ordinary northerner would have left alone, but for the prince's utmost consistency. He put down the needle and wiped all the wounds with alcohol to cleanse them of blood, and anointed them with a slurry of honey and resin. A proven remedy for these wounds. He bandaged it until Sasuke looked like he'd been put into a new blouse. He couldn't do anything about the swollen face, but he still remembered that Ibiki was rampaging down below as well, and wanted to pull the young man's pants down.

The black-haired youth had been quite obedient up to now. He was a bit twitchy, true, but he was letting Kabuto do his job, which wasn't exactly a given with him either, as Shikaku, their royal physician at the Pearl Palace, had learned several times. But he didn't at all like the idea of some Nordic stranger, albeit one educated in medicine, touching his private parts. Even Ibiki's hands were making him sick as the bastard groped him.
"Hands off!" He growled, pulling himself up to a sitting position with surprising speed, pulling his knees together, "Thanks for the treatment, but that's enough."

The doctor grunted in displeasure as the young man responded with lightning speed. "I'm not gonna bite it off. I just want to see what Ibiki did to you there and if it needs stitching up. You've got enough blood there to deal with it," he pointed out to the prince, but seeing that his words were obviously not going to resonate, he motioned for the two soldiers to help him. In the end, even Ibiki had to add his hands to the work, and he vouched that if the little guy kicked him one more time, he'd nail those legs to the table.

"Let me go, do you hear?! No! Don't you touch me, you filthy cattle! If you so much as touch me, then... so..." Sasuke yelped as his pants were pulled down to his knees again, the cold air pinching his sensitive areas. One of the guards held his upper body in place while the other and Ibiki tried to keep Kabuto and them from kicking out their teeth. It was definitely clear by now that they were going to take at least a few bruises. "I'm warning you! You touch me, and when I return south, I'll demand your head!" He threatened Kabuto, even though he knew himself that the Raikage probably wouldn't allow it.

"He's pretty cheeky for someone who was just tortured" one of the soldiers laughed and there was a pained yelp as Kabuto didn't hesitate and quickly cleaned the wound of blood. Luckily, even as he sighed inwardly, it wasn't for stitches and he just rubbed the wound with healing ointment. At once, Sasuke was dropped like a dangerous snake, so they wouldn't get a blow from him. "I'm done," the doctor announced, "take him upstairs to Sai, he'll know where to put him."

Sasuke tried to hide his shame with a hostile frown, but the flushed cheeks were convicting. He adjusted himself again in a flash, and didn't even think to thank the doctor for his remaining medical attention. He climbed down from the table and reached for the rest of his clothes. It was about time, he was getting a bad cold again and his chest was burning slightly, though the superficial wounds were currently hurting more, albeit treated. He gave the executioner one more hateful look before he let the soldiers lead him away from the dungeons, back up into the main halls of the Stone Fortress.

The soldiers led the young man through an intricate network of corridors from the catacombs up into the chambers. Sai led them to rooms that were in one of the several towers of the fortress. The prince could not escape through the window. Indeed, the man who was already waiting inside would make sure of that.
Kakuzu grumbled discontentedly under his beard, what a shame he was the one to be guarding the little one. Commander Bee must have done it on purpose. He'd pitched him to the king as the best adept, and before he could blink once, he had the young man in charge. But he couldn't defy the king's orders. He sourly pierced Sasuke with his gaze as he appeared in the doorway.

The young southern prince was glad to have finally made it to the chamber where he could rest after his painful experience, but what awaited him there did not please him much. "What the hell are you doing here?" He hissed, returning Kakuzu's unpleasant look. He had already managed to calculate that his tower chamber would be much colder than the ones in the main building, as there was already quite a gale whining outside. But he supposed he could be glad they hadn't really left him in a cell somewhere, Raikage might have been capable of that since he'd already let him be tortured in defiance of the laws of Alqualas.

"What would you say? I'm supposed to be guarding a southern kid from running off," the brown-haired northerner snorted in exasperation, folding his arms on his chest in displeasure. If only he'd been paid extra! Tss, they said it was part of his service, so he shouldn't be grumbling. He'd rather spend a week cleaning the stables than babysitting. On the way to Nordstone, it wasn't so bad, taking advantage of Sasuke getting the best. Sharing a warm bed with him, but now he's got it again. Maybe when they sell the young man back to the Uchiha, they'll roll in some coin.

Sasuke met the soldier's gaze tensely for a moment, but after all he'd just been through, he didn't have the energy to argue today. He was weak, his wounds hurt a lot, and he wasn't in the best shape at all. He jerked his head irritably towards the guards. "Go on, I want some privacy. I'm sure your comrade," he snapped his eyes at Kakuzu, "will handle it here."
The soldiers seemed to hesitate for a moment, but eventually just bowed slightly and went on their way. Sasuke decided to ignore the scowling guard, there was never a good conversation with him anyway, and besides, all he needed right now was peace and booze. He dragged himself over to the jug of mead, having to hold onto the table to keep himself up, the walk over here had taken almost the last of his strength.

Kakuzu watched the young man disapprovingly as he barely dragged himself along. He looked far too good to have just come out of the torture chamber. Ibiki had to tame himself anyway, otherwise there was no way the Uchiha would be able to walk. He had seen many of those fall into his hands. He himself had already had the honor of tasting what was in the jar. The best mead in the Stone Fortress. "I see you're starting to pick up the Norse ways. You don't even have to be forced into mead anymore," he chuckled.

"This shit doesn't even compare to tänöwill red," Sasuke snapped, "but it's got alcohol in it, and that's enough for me at the moment." He poured shakily and emptied the goblet in several thorough gulps. The mead warmed his stomach, at least he had some warmth somewhere, otherwise he was all chilled again. He glanced at the prepared dinner beside him. Smoked ox tongue, poached eggs, lettuce leaves, ham, cheese and a whole loaf of bread. It smelled pretty good and he probably should eat something, but he wasn't sure he had the energy for it.

The grumpy northerner watched the prince turn up his nose at the feast that awaited only him. Bring this into the barracks of the royal guard and it would be dust in a second. "If you won't eat it, I'll gladly sacrifice myself. We don't waste in the north." He's heard that southerners enjoy everything to the fullest, and what they can't get down their throats out of exuberance is thrown away.

Sasuke's dark eyes bore into Kakuzu's face. The northerner was pissing him off beyond belief, what did he even think of himself?! He just stared at him for a moment without saying a word, but then he thought of a way to return the mercenary's insult. With an effort he sat down at the table. He had to struggle to get in at least a quarter of his entire dinner, not because it wasn't good, but he was so out of it from mental and physical exhaustion that he didn't actually feel hungry.
However, once he had stuffed what he could into himself, he slowly stood up again, and with a twinge of gloating, placed the tray of feast neatly on the floor. "Eat your leftovers, mutt," he smiled sweetly at Kakuzu and moved over to the bed.

Kakuzu didn't move. A cheeky cub, but there was no denying the Uchiha could act like a prince. He was confident and tried to be above it all. In fact, he thought he'd make him return the teasing somehow. He'd already managed to notice that the young man was taking it hard and was skilled at defending himself with words. "When I meet the king's dogs, I'll throw it to them," he retorted coldly. After all, he had been ordered not only to keep an eye on Sasuke, but to keep him warm if he needed it again. The king had demands, then, he had to say.

Sasuke assumed that was enough for the day and no one would be looking for him until morning, so he stripped off his southern armor and, after a brief hesitation, his shirt. This outfit of his was already pretty dirty and sweaty anyway, he sincerely hoped he could at least give it to the maids to wash. The cool air immediately bit into his skin, though blood-stained bandages were wrapped around his entire chest. Shakily, he crawled onto the bed under the furs and tried to control the chattering of his teeth. He hadn't gotten used to the northern climate yet, and he sincerely hoped he wouldn't have to.

The Northerner leaning against the chest wondered in his mind. It looked like the little prince had let a few drops of blood. He didn't classify it as flayed, that would make Sasuke look much worse. He would have to wait until tomorrow to find out what had happened to him, or ask Ibiki. Maybe he'll be in a sharing mood. He'll have to take turns with someone anyway. He's gonna drag Kisame into this. The bastard was laughing at him for this anyway. Just let him have a good time babysitting a southerner. After a good half hour of absolute silence, the burly northerner spoke. "You gonna shake for a long time, or are you gonna put your pride aside and take the dog to bed?"

"I-I-I don't sleep with d-dogs on principle!" Sasuke blurted, trying to breathe under the blanket, but his fingers were still cramped. What the hell was it that he couldn't warm up?! It flashed through his mind, willy-nilly, what a surprising amount of heat Kakuzu's body was giving off when he was ordered to lie with him during the trip... He watched as the brown-haired man shrugged indifferently and announced that he was going to lie down in the anteroom next door then. He bit his lip. Is he really going to leave him here in the cold?! Of course he was going to, since he'd basically ordered him to.
The young Uchiha was having a hard internal struggle, and as Kakuzu was already reaching for the doorknob, with an undertone of desperation, he yelped, "W-wait!"

Kakuzu turned around in surprise, still holding the door open. He had some idea, but he wondered if the young man would actually say it. "Do you want anything?" he asked shortly, yawning demonstratively. In truth, it was getting deep into the night and he wanted to get some sleep after the day's march. And now he wouldn't even be able to afford the hard sleep he was used to in the fortress, but rather a lighter one so he could hear the prince's every move.

Sasuke had a feeling that he was going to be recovering from the whole north thing for a long time. The conditions here were forcing him to do things he wouldn't have thought of doing otherwise. Like sharing a bed with the enemy... "H-h-help me," he whispered defeatedly, because if he didn't warm up, he wouldn't sleep. He saw Kakuzu raise an eyebrow and cross his arms over his chest. Damn it! That couldn't pass his lips. It looked like it was almost physically hurting him as he added, strangled and most reluctantly: "Please."

So the prince was getting over himself, and there was nothing more to say when he resorted to begging. "You are fortunate that the king has ordered me to watch over you and keep you warm if need be," Kakuzu added by way of explanation, not at all admitting that lying with the young man was not a nuisance. He didn't much like being cold himself on long winter nights. They sometimes made a general assembly in the barracks when the blizzard attacked for a few days, and everything that came out froze. He began to put away his clothes.

"No, keep your pants on!" Sasuke stopped him firmly as Kakuzu began untying their laces. He blushed as he realized how chaste and almost fearful that must have sounded, but... Kakuzu's nakedness was simply embarrassing. Not that it wasn't something to look at, and perhaps that was why he wanted to avoid something like this. Granted, he had no thought of anything sexual at the moment, let alone with a northerner, but... like any southerner, he was a bit of an aesthete. He could appreciate a nice guy.

Kakuzu held his hands back and chuckled inwardly at the young man's embarrassment. "I thought you'd gotten used to it by now, after all the time you've been sick," he spoke aloud, to point out that he was the one who had kept him warm during those many freezing days and nights. "But I understand that, as an unmarked man, you're not used to looking at another man's cock." Prince had told him all sorts of things during his fever.

Sasuke looked away. What a scumbag, mocking him like that! He remembered that in a weak moment the other day, when he'd scared him, he'd inadvertently revealed that he'd never done that with a guy before. "You'd be surprised!" He retorted defiantly, trying to distract himself from the flush of his cheeks, "I happen to bet I've had more experience with men than you!" He didn't really know where Kakuzu stood on sexual orientation, so he assumed he was interested in women and that the instance where he'd made a would-be sexual pass at him was really just for effect.

"Sure, what's the bet?" The brown-haired northerner nodded immediately. Betting was his hobby. He liked to bet on a good horse or rider, on a great dog, just something he was sure would bring him a win. He was a little sorry that the little cub didn't have any money on him to deprive him of, but perhaps he could offer some interesting consideration. Plus, he wanted to punish Sasuke a little for his talk.

"Um... bet?" Sasuke blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected Kakuzu to take him at his word, he just slapped it. But it looked like he was going to have to finish the game to save face. "I don't know... I don't have anything on me at the moment besides my clothes," he shrugged, "unless I can pay you off when I get back south, which hopefully won't be long... Could you stop standing there and get into bed already?" He still had goose bumps on his arms and thighs.

The northerner did not linger outside and slipped under the young man's fur. He wasn't at all warm underneath it, as he would have been comfortable. He was really going to have to heat it all up himself. Southerners are strange when they can't even keep their own body heat. "It'll be an easy reward," Kakuzu smiled, which in his case looked pretty scary. "If I win, you'll do to me what you did to your Yamato last time in the tent."

As the relief that perhaps he was finally warming up spread across Sasuke's face at first, now, as if by magic, his expression changed back to a disbelieving, shocked grimace with a helpless roll of his eyes. For a second, he just stared at Kakuzu like a freshly ploughed mouse, before he abruptly straightened into a kneeling position to have at least a small sense of superiority that he might for once tower over him. "How the hell did you find out about Yamato?!" He yelped, "who told you... no one in the north can know... HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT I'M DOING WITH HIM?!"

Kakuzu chuckled quietly at the prince's indignation at first, before bursting into a full-blown laugh. The little cub really didn't remember anything, and yet in his feverish state it looked like he wanted to fuck right away. Such a shame, he should have taken advantage of it. "I know all about you two because a southern man who had a bad fever and was delirious told me." Watching the transformation of emotions on Sasuke's face was really fun.

Sasuke opened and closed his mouth several times like a fish out of water. Did he really tell on himself?! But how else would Kakuzu know? Such things may have been an open secret in the palace, but they weren't brought out in the open; after all, the northerners could hardly be interested in love affairs, only politics. No one in Winterhold knew about his relationship, the only source could have been him.
Despite how cold his hands and feet were, he could almost have sworn he could have fried an egg on his face when he imagined what he could blurt out in a weak moment. He took several breaths to say something, but his voice always caught in his throat. This was probably the first time Kakuzu had really gotten to him in a while. It was the first time he'd run out of words.

The brown-haired northerner didn't understand what the young man was doing at first, before he realized he had no way to answer him and continued to giggle in amusement. He almost couldn't believe that this lion cub with a sassy mouth had run out of words. Beauty, he would try his best in the future, because getting such people in a tight spot was difficult, almost impossible. "I can't wait for you to suck my cock. Yamato says you have the most skillful tongue in all of Alqualas. I hope he wasn't lying," he remarked jokingly, rather than genuinely interested in the technique.

"The bet doesn't have a winner yet!" Sasuke objected quickly, jabbing a finger at Kakuzu's chest in a huff, "and how could you dare yourself to listen to such... such personal things anyway! Filthy... you should have shut me up for not being ashamed!" In his mind, though, he was aware that the brown-haired northerner wasn't the only one to blame. It was just that - how could he influence something he didn't even perceive properly? Why did he have to say such things in his fever? "And stop fucking laughing, tease me some more and I'll throw you to my leodemon... when I get the chance!" He tried to regain his lost ground.

"Nobody's afraid of those kitties of yours. They're locked up in the palace so they don't escape, and you only have them for bragging rights," Kakuzu replied giggling. Apparently he had found the young man's weakness. He'd have to remember that in case there was a verbal argument again in the future, so he'd have something strong in his vocabulary to counter Sasuke.

"Those kitties would tear you apart in a split second," Sasuke growled, "That's what we do in the south with all the traitors and captured northerners we don't need for anything." It wasn't true, but it was a rumor, and he wasn't about to refute that rumor. Reluctantly, he lay down again and put his cold palms to Kakuzu's side to warm them as punishment.

The northerner hissed at the young man's cold hands. Quite as if he was outside throwing snowballs with the children. His warm skin didn't like it much, but it soon got used to the discomfort. "So? How experienced are you? By your own words, you haven't fucked with anyone and I have, so I win. When can I pick my reward?"

***

In the next chapter:

"You're a very curious lion cub."
"I'll keep my word when the time is right."
"You really are a barbarian."
"That's a dirty slander!"
"Get out of the way, bastard, I have an appointment with the king."

Chapter Text

"But... but... sex doesn't mean more experience..." tried Sasuke to argue, though he was beginning to get the impression that he was really talking to someone who had experienced far more in bed than he had. But he couldn't say he wasn't surprised. "You fucked with a guy?" He asked rather intrigued, and then immediately chimed in, "And were you on top or bottom?"

"You're a very curious lion cub," Kakuzu snorted quite gently. The previous joy still hadn't worn off of him. "I've fucked a lot of guys, and I've certainly got a lot more experience than someone who hasn't let anyone into his ass yet." He still found it funny anyway. A horny southerner and still a virgin. Sometimes it occurred to him that people fucked in the south from perhaps as early an age as possible.

"Hey, I've fucked, too," Sasuke objected offended, "a few maids in the palace and then a few women in the brothel... But I'm surprised you've fucked men. I thought you guys up here in the north were uptight and couldn't even enjoy sex. I guess some foreplay and afterplay is a completely unknown thing to you. Plus, I hear you fuck goats. What do you say, is it true? You have that experience too, hmm?" He teased, trying to distract Kakuzu from the losing bet.

"And you fuck corpses," Kakuzu retorted, annoyed. Necrophilia figured in the sometimes very nasty gossip, as one of the controversial hobbies of southerners. After all, both nations had a way of throwing dirt at each other. The young man was accusing not only him but his whole nation of something he had no idea of, but perhaps a stay in this mansion would open his eyes in that direction.

"Excuse me?!" Sasuke sputtered indignantly, "in all my life I have heard of only one such case that my uncle punished with a dungeon and a public flogging! Defaming the dead is forbidden in our country! Not to mention the fact that in Tänöwill, burial is very soon after death... bodies decompose quickly in the heat." He firmly turned his back on Kakuzu, as if they were two quarreling spouses. He even considered sending him away from the bed, but... it was really getting warm with the northerner with him.

"Okay, okay... so if I win, what about my reward?" Kakuzu wasn't going to be put off. It seemed to him that Sasuke wanted to jinx it. He's still going to show him that it's not a good idea to bet with him. Just let the southerner have his way with what he had so recklessly made. He'll have a royal good time at his expense.

Sasuke rolled back to face Kakuzu and stuck his tongue out at him in a completely un-noble manner. "As I recall, I didn't deny you the reward," he retorted vindictively, finally able to contradict the brown-haired northerner again, "I was just wondering how you came by the information." It was clear to him, though, that he wasn't going to get off on Kakuzu's win as such; the bastard had used his words to great effect. "So you'll have to choose another reward," he added quickly as his guard frowned, "what do you want?"

"You want to wiggle out of this?" Kakuzu asked, pinching the young man's nose. "Don't southerners know how to keep their word? I want what I want, and you can't offer me anything else if you have nothing, and the soldiers robbed you of your last gold." What a pity, he could have bargained with the prince for a purse of gold.

"I don't want to, I keep my word, but..." Sasuke blushed. If Kakuzu was a southerner and he wasn't being held captive in enemy territory, he would even consider it, after all physically the brown haired man looked good. "I can't do this. It's too intimate and you're my enemy," he argued, as if trying to convince Kakuzu to come to his senses.

"Is that a problem? Most guys would fuck you for just that, but whatever. I'm going to guess that southerners can't keep their word, as they say," the northerner teased the prince, trying to see how far he could drive him. He was quite daring, but he doubted Sasuke would go complaining to the king. He was too proud for that, as he had noticed in the days he had accompanied the young man.

"Southerners can keep their word!" Sasuke bristled like a porcupine, a black fire lighting in his eyes, "but as I said - we didn't agree on the win beforehand, I didn't agree to your proposal. If you're expecting me to suck your dick, forget it, I'm not doing that with the northerners. If you don't want to wait for me to return to the south for your reward, then lower your... physical demands."

The northerner was amused by the young man's fiery indignation. In truth, he was muddying the waters a bit. Sasuke wasn't going to be told, and he wasn't going to force it, he wasn't all that eager. He wondered, given his condition, how abrupt and articulate he could be. "Alright, I'll postpone my reward until later then. Just making sure I don't forget."

Sasuke tried not to let it show, but sighed inwardly. He had been worried that he was really going to have to get physical with Kakuzu somehow. "Fine, fine," he muttered, now a lot calmer, "I'll keep my word when the time is right." Or rather, when he returned to his beloved Tänöwill. He was glad that Kakuzu's presence was already making him feel a little warmer.

Kakuzu pulled the cub into his arms after a while. It seemed to him that the warmth was still escaping somewhere, and it didn't linger under the fur at all. However, they also had a gap between them, as per the henchman. He pressed the prince lightly against himself, but it seemed he must have overdone it, because he got a completely unexpected reaction. Although, he might have thought of that.

Sasuke cried out loudly in pain as Kakuzu's bear paws wrapped around him, squeezing the fresh stitches unmercifully. He instantly lashed out like a wounded lion cub, fixing him with reproachful eyes. Maybe the thunderer hadn't done it on purpose, but he probably couldn't distinguish how much power he was using, he was probably used to dealing with gorillas like himself.

The northerner waited a moment to see if a slap would come his way. Then he might not be able to hold on either. They locked eyes for a moment, as if the little one was waiting for something... Is he supposed to apologize? He snorted in disgust. He's making a bed warmer and he's going to have to apologize to a prince who can't stand anything. He narrowed his eyes and growled, "Sorry," sounding more like he wanted to bite him than he really meant it.

The young Uchiha squinted his eyes. It was probably a similarly forced apology as his plea earlier, they had nothing to reproach each other for. Both of them were adept at batting the other away, insulting or putting the other in awkward situations. "You really are a barbarian," he hissed afterwards, snuggling up to him with a frown to fulfill Kakuzu's original intent, but staying with his back to his side, not facing him. He had to sigh at how much he would love to be lying here like this with Yamato right now.

The northerner made a face like a murdebear on the prowl, preferring to say nothing. He's a malnourished cub. He didn't press him anymore. He was sure that, like last time, the prince would snuggle on his own in the night. It was obvious he was used to sleeping in a bed with someone else. He snuggled, sniffing him, his hand occasionally holding him. Apparently it was the Yamato. He'd have to wait and then they'd enjoy some nice warmth together.

Kakuzu had to wait another half hour or so before Sasuke warmed up enough to finally sleep peacefully, which he really needed right now after all the physical and mental torture. Only when he had fallen into a deeper sleep did he contentedly curl up against the source of the warmth, even laying his head on his chest now and then. He didn't hum the name in his sleep, but Kakuzu's reasoning was otherwise sound.

The brown-haired man let the southern cub snuggle against him, running his hand lightly over the hair that tickled his chest. He was surprised at how soft and pleasant it felt. He was used to northerners having rather harder hair. He could smell the scent of herbs on the young man. Kabuto must have really worked hard. He used something really strong. Eventually, fatigue overcame even him and he began to breathe calmly and contentedly in a duet with the young prince.

***

Kakuzu couldn't sleep in the morning, he was used to getting up very early and the little prince was still up at midnight. So he let him roll around in his furs and went to relieve himself and refresh himself. He enjoyed the luxury of being able to wash his face with water and dry himself with a sheet in the morning. In the wilderness, his nose would have been in danger of frostbite in the winter. Plus a hot breakfast in the kitchen, who could resist scrambled eggs and fresh bread. Almost like manna, after biscuits, patties and over-salted meat on the march. He took over breakfast for the prince. He was sure he wouldn't move today.

Sasuke was awakened in the morning by a knock on the door. Well, actually it was more like the midmorning, he really had slept for quite a while. With a hiss, he sat up in bed and immediately felt perhaps a dozen cuts that the executioner had inflicted on him the previous day. Even normal movements were quite painful. " Come..." he rasped in a croaky voice as his throat was still dry before clearing his throat and calling out louder, "Come in!"
A young servant with pale skin, short black hair, and a strangely artificial smile entered his chamber carrying a large ceramic basin of warm water, from which tiny clouds of steam rose and formed vaporous spirals in the cool morning air, and towels. At the same time, a grey-haired man with a ponytail, whom he had recognized yesterday, entered. The royal physician.

Kabuto closed the door behind him and peered over his thick glasses at the sleepy young man. "How do you feel, prince?" He examined him with a practiced eye. At a glance, it was obvious that he was paler than he should be. He hoped he hadn't added a fever or a widespread infection. The king had laid it on his heart to treat Sasuke with the best he had. And he was a classy doctor, no village medic who put fresh cowries on bruises and goat urine on toothaches. Herbs and poisons were his thing. The difference between them was often in the quantity.

Sasuke swallowed a sour note, wondering how he could possibly feel having been tortured the day before, and on top of that, he must have a chamber in the coldest damned tower in the enemy castle. He didn't want to outright antagonize this man, it could cause him great inconvenience in the future, as Raikage was hinting that he might still fall into the hands of the executioner at some point... He swallowed dryly.
"Probably better than yesterday," he shrugged. It hadn't been better. The most he could say was that it hadn't gotten worse, and the bleeding cuts had become scabs, but otherwise it still hurt. With a sigh, he rose from the bed and was instantly shaken by the cold Nordic air. "Don't open it!" he barked at the servant, who headed for the window to air it out. That's right, he'd rather suffocate than freeze to death.

"A little fresh air would do you good. You should start getting used to the Nordic climate. It may be that you will be here for a long time." There were whispers through the fortress that Sasuke would be a prisoner for an extended period of time. Most people seemed to like it. He would keep them safe from attacks from the south. He loved his country, but he loved peace even more. It gave him plenty of time to innovate his healing techniques and try new things. With all this war mummery to keep stitching wounds, amputating limbs whether septic or frozen, and there was almost nothing better. Some more intestinal infections, lest he forget. "Sit in the chair. Let me take a look."

"I certainly don't intend to stay here much longer," Sasuke assured him as diplomatically as he could, looking around. His chamber was probably one of the better ones, yes, but aside from the massive ornate canopy bed, everything here was Nordic-style - simple at best, with some scenes carved into the hard, unyielding Nordic redwood. Dark colours predominated, reds and browns. It was such a contrast to his beautiful open air chamber in the Pearl Palace, from which he could step out onto his own balcony and the whole royal city lay at his feet. Here the windows were small and he almost wondered that there was glass in them at all. He sat down on a heavy velvet-covered stool.

Kabuto set to work. He carefully unwound the bandages that would come to be washed and ironed so they could be used again. He would give the prince a new one not yet used, like the rest of the royal family. "Looks nice," he uttered as he pressed a finger to the wound to see if any pus would ooze out from under the scab. The young man hissed in pain, but otherwise held on. "I'll put some healing ointment on it..." The puncture wound on his chest in particular was quite hot, but so far no inflammation. The door creaked open behind them.

Sasuke actually accepted Kabuto's care quite gratefully, the healing salve was cold, like everything in the north, but he didn't mind it here. He looked back at the newcomer. Voila, his watchdog. "I didn't know dogs brought breakfast," he remarked with a raised eyebrow.
"Will you wish me to send a barber here, prince?" Sai asked, meanwhile, setting a bowl of water and towels brought to him on one of the tables for his morning hygiene.
Casually, the young Uchiha raked the tousled hair at the nape of his neck. It hadn't gotten that bad yet. "No," he decided, "but I need to wash it."
"We'll set up a bath for you tonight," Sai promised.

"I didn't know the southern lion cub almost had his dick cut off by the executioner," Kakuzu shot back just as caustically. He didn't like being called a dog, even though it might have seemed that way. The doctor seemed to know that, but the young servant was staring at him like he'd eaten a mouse. "What are you looking at. Ibiki must have boasted that he was holding the prince's balls," he chuckled cheerfully. In truth, the executioner handed it to them rather juicily. As it was his job, he could speak the words, but otherwise one didn't get a word out of him.

Sasuke blushed. "That's a dirty slander!" He growled angrily, praying that Kabuto wouldn't also want to treat a certain cut... on his private parts. Besides, it was only part slander, the bastard really did have his valuables in his filthy claws, but it was thankfully only a shallow cut. It stung pretty bad to see the young black-haired servant's corners twitching, and he had to pretend to fluff the towels. "Anyway, get out of here, you're not needed for a medical procedure or breakfast," he tossed his head defiantly.

"Yeah, don't bark. You're not at home here," Kakuzu replied, grinning as if he'd won at least a pocketful of coppers at cards. He turned on his heel and was about to leave. "I hear you whined like a puppy when he put the knife to your cock. Like Please, please let me keep my sword, I'd like to poke some more," he parodied Sasuke's voice, and before the young man could say anything, he slammed the door behind himself.

"What a bastard!" Sasuke spat out the curse, red with humiliation. Not that Kakuzu's words were actually spoken, but... he begged, he couldn't deny it. "You too, out, I can handle myself," he barked at the smirking servant, who bowed to him, telling him to call if he wished, and then left the chamber. Damn the northerners! At least Kabuto was only doing his job, no innuendo.

Kabuto kept a professional face and didn't let it be known that he was amused as well. After all, he'd had Ibiki's work under his nose far too often and knew what the executioner could do with his victims. Sasuke still got off very well. He bandaged the wounds and prepared herbal drops for Sasuke to use. From what he had heard, he was prone to colds. "I recommend resting and keeping warm for a few days until the wounds calm down." He was going to say And then you can take a walk, but who knew if he was under a curfew.

"Thank you," Sasuke got out of himself with a small nod, though it was against his nature to thank the northerner. But at least this wasn't an outright enemy, he wasn't a soldier or a member of the royal family. He put on the new clean clothes he had prepared and rinsed his hands and face in the basin of hot water. He felt a little better now, after all, and while the doctor took his leave of him, he sat down to breakfast. He supposed that some one of the damned Norse family would soon pay him a visit, to inform him what and how. Surely they must have come to an agreement somehow!

***

Hidan was just walking into the courtyard when he met a group of two. His grin widened. It still stung that he couldn't assist in Sasuke's torture! And yet, he was sure he was far better at the executioner's craft than Ibiki himself, and that was saying something. He would pull things out of the prince that he had no idea about. He was really good at it. "Well, well, where did the little prince go?" He stood deliberately in the middle of the corridor so they couldn't pass.

Sasuke measured the white-haired man with the cold gaze of his dark eyes. "Get out of the way, bastard, I have an appointment with the king," he returned the ironic diminutive insult. Actually, it wasn't even an insult, but the truth. He knew full well that Hidan was not a legitimate descendant, but a bastard son of the king and Gods knows what harlot.
The Raikage had only had him sent for this afternoon, after the great council meeting, so Sasuke assumed that perhaps his stay here in the north was coming to an end. Surely they had already agreed on a ransom.

The white-haired man giggled mischievously. The kid doesn't know anything yet. Such sweet ignorance. "Even though I'm a bastard, I'm still on a higher rung than you," he uttered honeyedly, scrutinizing the young man before him as if he'd seen him naked. He could vividly imagine his muscles tensing in pain and biting his lip to keep from crying out. An eternal pity he wasn't there. "The king will wait a moment. I'm more interested in you," he purred with that oddly dangerous undertone.

The black-haired youth sensed something in his voice that made the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and he had the urge to flinch away from him, but he didn't. On the contrary, he took a step closer to Hidan with his head held proudly high, and even though the king's bastard was older and taller, he looked up at him with disdain. "Really? No wonder you're interested in pureblood princes when you're just a suffering, unwanted appendage at court yourself," he hissed, his black eyes measuring with his violet ones. He didn't know how dangerous a man he was up against, but he liked the way he gritted his teeth angrily.

If Sasuke hadn't just gone to the king, he'd be lying in the dust with a broken nose. He felt like knocking out at least half his teeth and breaking his limbs in a roundhouse. Apparently the prince was too used to everyone kneeling meekly at his feet. "Blood is blood. So make sure I don't suck every last drop of yours," he growled so icily that the hallway grew even colder, "I hear southern blood can warm northerners the most." With a dark warning he passed the men and continued on. He would repay Sasuke everything with interest.

Although the young Uchiha was chilled by the tone of his threat, he didn't really make much of it. He was counting on his immunity, similar to the immunity Darui had in the south when he was captured. True, the Raikage had shown him what he was capable of yesterday, but in the light of today he realized one thing - none of the injuries the executioner had inflicted on him were permanent. He could have done far worse to him.
He motioned to the scowling Kakuzu for them to continue on their way. They didn't go to the throne room like yesterday, but to the small chamber next to it where the council was meeting.

In the room, the king was already sitting in the middle of the table, with his brother and son beside him. They were his greatest support in making decisions and ruling Winterhold. The motto of their house was: The House of Thunder and Axe. But they couldn't make all the decisions themselves, for besides them, there was the Dodai, the treasurer. An elderly man with a rather stern expression, who managed to put the whiners who asked for money in the chair with one eye that they didn't even make a sound. He managed to keep all his paperwork precise, clear, without fraud and double-entry ledgers, as some smart-asses were fond of. Even the church had to be represented, without it there could be no government. The Lord of Wind and Winter was one of the most important deities in Winterhold. The people begged him with their sacrifices for leniency, for a milder and shorter winter. Many sacrifices were also made to his wife, who represented the summer months, fertility and harvest. The country needed a high priest, and that was the surprisingly young but very passionate Shi. He gave his all to his work and was very dedicated to it. Rumour had it that his predecessor had fucked one of the Norton harlots to death, but perhaps that was just a rumour. Shira was a very charismatic and capable guard commander who had faced southerners and westerners in many battles. He was very sophisticated and handsome. Many women in the capital sighed when he passed by. Especially when they saw that the seat at his side was still empty. He hadn't rushed to the hut yet, though he had been in the arms of the women in the pleasure house often enough. And the last member was the very mysterious Danzou. He had no official position, but his influence and power stretched all over the world. He had strings to pull everywhere. He was a spy for the king and knew everything first. He could sometimes do unprecedented things.

Sasuke stepped before the Nordstone Grand Council, accompanied by Kakuzu, and had to hold on to keep from grimacing. He refused to grace those present with any sort of bow, though he did slide his gaze over some faces, especially those unfamiliar to him. Then his gaze landed on the king at the very head of the large council table. "You wished to speak with me," he spoke calmly, not even a question, more of a statement, "well? How did you and Tänöwill agree?" He supposed not yet with the south, since the hawks took varying lengths of time to deliver messages, depending on how far they were going, but they had certainly made some demands, or at least consulted on them now.

No one spoke first and they left it to the king to speak. They deliberated for quite a while and many opinions were given as to the state of the country and abroad. What influence Sasuke might have on it. They talked for most of the morning and besides Sasuke, the expenses of the campaign, the crop failure in the west, and the bandit bands that were banding together into a larger group were all discussed. There were a lot of demands for the king to deal with, and many were put off for the next few days.
"I'm sure you're wondering what I have planned for you," Raikage snapped back, slightly irritated by the young man's arrogance. He'd rather have him whipped! Such disrespect. Darui was certainly the one who'd behaved better in the south. The hawk had come through with the terms of the exchange, but had decided to ignore it and send the homo assholes down south on completely different terms. "After consultation, I've decided you'll stay here through at least the winter and into the spring." And maybe even into the summer. Depends on what Mei comes up with when the roads thaw and the passes and straits are cleared.

Sasuke heard the words, but their meaning seemed to reach him very distantly, so for a while he just stood rigidly and stared into the king's small and narrowed eyes. All winter? All winter until spring?! The first month of winter hadn't even properly ended yet, and Gods knows how long winter lasted here in this damned snowy dark end of the world. When he spoke, his voice was strangely croaky, strangely strangled.
"All winter, into spring?" He repeated after the king, daring to take a step closer. If the Raikage was even considering such a thing, he decided to put his pride aside at least a little and at least address him with a title to bring him to his senses. "Majesty... you can't be serious. I mean... er... such hospitality is really not necessary," he stammered as diplomatically as possible.

Raikage leaned back against the back of his chair, fiddling with the quill laid on the table. He had knocked the little guy's breath right out of him. He certainly wasn't expecting this. He probably thought they'd send him home and collect the gold. He's more important to them than a pile of gold. They can always get that, but not long-term protection. "Like I said, you're staying at the Stone Fortress until spring. And when the first snows melt, we'll see if we can send you back or not." He wasn't going to explain to the young man why he wanted to keep him here.

"Majesty." Sasuke, in a terrifying vision of not days or weeks, but months spent here in this primitive, cold fortress, stepped even closer. "Allow me to doubt that decision. I... believe my family is willing to pay a ransom in the amount you set. There is certainly no need... no need for my presence here. I don't belong here," he tried desperately to force the idea of a speedy departure from Winterhold into his mind. The king looked quite unapproachable, but yet even he could not have the need to keep him here. Why?

The other men didn't move a muscle as they saw the vein in the king's temple. He was difficult to deal with, as his opinion differed from theirs, it cost them much restraint and patience to explain. Suddenly the monarch slammed everything down on them and left the room. As expected, the Raikage slammed his hand on the table until the ink squid jumped. Bee didn't bat an eyelash, he was used to his brother's angry outbursts from a young age. The rest of them twitched slightly.
"You belong or you don't, I don't care. You're our prisoner and you'll obey what you're told, no questions asked!" He growled in exasperation. He didn't like the young man overturning his decision, though it was to be expected.

To his horror, Sasuke realized that the king was not only serious, but also had no intention of arguing about it. His head spun, but to show weakness in the presence of so many northerners of importance seemed unthinkable. It seemed to him that his heart had grown as heavy as one of the rough, massive boulders of which the Stone Fortress was built. He could not stay here. He couldn't stay in the North for so long, and now he couldn't stay here, in this hall.
He said nothing more, and with an insolence all his own, he didn't even wait to be dismissed, he simply turned on his heel and headed out. He had a feeling that if he didn't get some fresh air immediately, Kakuzu would have to revive him, and neither of them seemed to want that.

Kakuzu could well see how the Raikage had to hold on to keep from jumping on the young man as he fled. He made his way quickly after him, not looking the least bit friendly himself. He was looking forward to getting rid of the arrogant little kid, and instead he was going to be stuck with him for months! He wanted so badly to roll his disapproving eyes in that hall, but he didn't allow himself to.

***

In the next chapter:

"Winters are long and hard."
"Only cowards escape."
"My family won't allow it..."
"Come on, lion cub, there's some warmth waiting for you."
"Southerners like cocks, don't they?"

Chapter Text

The young Uchiha headed the way he had been led to the Stone Fortress. He wanted to go to the courtyard, he wanted air and light above all, though it was getting dark awfully early in this cursed north, and now it was almost dark. In truth, though, it almost looked as if he might have wanted to get away altogether, so confidently did he head for the main gate, where two guards stood.

The guards, as soon as they saw the young man coming towards them as if he was on fire at his heels, stood in his way and drew their swords. They recognized the prince by the snorting Kakuzu who ran after him. Already word had spread to all corners of the fortress as to who had come with the army and who was guarding it, lest the little golden bird should fly away from them. "Stop, you won't get out alive!" warned one of the guards.

"Let me into the courtyard," Sasuke growled, giving both men an unpleasant look, "I want to get some air, so step back. As far as I know, I have the right to move freely in all areas of the castle, that includes the courtyard." Admittedly, he had to have a scowling escort walking everywhere with him, but he didn't add to that, after all, he had just walked up behind him with a curse.

Kakuzu was only a step behind the young man and stopped behind him. He purposely didn't step into the altercation, wondering if the young man would get what he wanted or not. He would have preferred to just guard him inside then, but there were several gates leading from the courtyard, and it would take him a long time to get completely out through them. He folded his arms across his chest and waited.

The soldiers looked at each other uncertainly. They had been briefed on the southern prince's presence with Kakuzu, but... could they let him go now when he seemed to be in such a hurry?
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Will that be?!" He snapped at them, "I'm just coming from a meeting in the Small Hall, where the king informed me that he values my presence in his castle so much that he would be honored if I would grant it until spring. You can come with me to verify this, at least I will inform your lord at once of your defiant behaviour."
The irony could be detected in Sasuke's voice, but soldiers weren't here to do much thinking, their dominance was in their muscles, not their brains. And they certainly weren't interested in incurring the Raikage's wrath, they didn't meddle in the games of high nobility. "Forgive us, prince," they merely muttered, opening the gate wide for him.

The brown-haired northerner felt like smacking his forehead. At the sound of the king's name, the trolls turned tail like snarling dogs and retreated. Sasuke was right in that he could in the courtyard. He quickly trotted out after him so he wouldn't lose him. He didn't want to get in trouble for not watching one cub in the first few days.

Sasuke leaned over the stone railing, breathing deeply. He was immediately shivering from the cold, he wasn't even wearing a fur coat and the wind was pretty cold, occasionally blowing a snowflake into his eyes, but he didn't care now. He didn't care if he caught a cold or froze to death, he needed to digest the horrible fact that was being presented to him.

Kakuzu stood a short distance away from the young man, looking like he was in a comfortably heated room. It was rather balmy outside today. A light frost, but nice and sunny, which was rare. He liked this kind of weather. You could see far and wide. Unlike Sasuke, who was staring blankly ahead, he tore his gaze away from the frightened young man and looked into the distance. Small and larger houses huddled under the walls with snow caps. The royal city was large, and in the distance rose a white line of snow-capped mountains. "Winters are long and hard," he said.

"Thanks for the information," Sasuke snapped. His insides seemed to freeze, but even there, in the Small Hall, he could still hear the king's voice announcing the words of his sentence. All winter long... He had been anxious, and he still harbored a small hope that this... this was something that the South would not agree with. His family would never go along with it! Wouldn't they? Would they let him die in the cold and snow? He'd have had a hard time just getting here, he might not survive another bout of pneumonia. He looked down at the stone courtyard covered in a layer of white down. Wouldn't it be easier to just swing over the railing and get it over with quickly?

The burly northerner recognized the look of desperate men who didn't believe they could survive the turmoil of war. Sasuke looked the same, only it wasn't combat that awaited him, but a luxurious prison in the icy north. He grabbed the young man firmly by the shoulder as he leaned too far over the stone walkway. "Only cowards escape," he spoke shortly, but as if he could see right through Sasuke. "In the end, the sun will rise and the snows will melt. Pray to your gods that it happens soon."

Sasuke blinked. It was only a brief moment of helplessness and despair, but it could have been fatal. He was already catching vertigo, not from the height per se, the slender elegant towers of the Pearl Palace were much taller, but from the overall situation. His eyes wandered to those of Kakuzu, and for perhaps the first time there was no disgust, hatred or contempt in them. For a moment, it was as if he had put aside the mask of the prince of Tänöwill and allowed himself to be just Sasuke Uchiha, a sixteen year old youth currently terrified at the joyless prospect. It was only a moment before he blinked his eyes again, but by then a hulking figure in a warm fur cloak was heading up the stairs towards them.

But he was not alone; a dark shadow had joined him. Eventually the two figures leveled their stride, one almost eagerly, the other sullenly. They reached the pair by the walls. Kakuzu turned and nodded slightly. Not to the bastard, but to his brother, who had apparently come to comfort the young man. Darui had always been reasonable and kind. It was obvious that his father's wild blood had been diluted in his mother's womb.
"Our little prince has gone to air,“ Hidan was the first to speak, eyeing the young man with amusement. He pretended to be above it, but he felt all too well that he was not.

"It's too stuffy inside," Sasuke muttered, turning back to the railing as if he was most interested in the view, which was already almost dark anyway.
"Of course," Darui grumbled, his eyes flicking over the young man's inadequate clothing, "you shouldn't spend time outdoors without proper fur. You're courting another bout of pneumonia." He turned to Kakuzu. "Have a warm cloak brought to the prince at once. Make it happen," he ordered, then leaned thoughtfully against the railing beside Sasuke. He wasn't particularly fond of southerners, and this boy was pretty cheeky to boot, but... there was something interesting about him, like there was something unique, something precious underneath the spikes and thorns and sharp tongue. At least he got that impression. Anyway, he felt quite sorry for him, he himself had only been in southern captivity for the necessary length of time. He had stood against his father in this vote, but had failed.

Hidan stood at Sasuke's other side and grinned at him. "You got it clear. You're as stiff as sable shit by spring. No southerner can survive a northern winter." He didn't believe the Uchiha could stand it here. He'd surely die. If not from a cold, he'd surely die of boredom in the chamber. He reckoned he wouldn't be going out much since he was already shivering like a greyhound.

"Hidan!" Darui shouted at his brother. But he could not truthfully refute his words, for he knew of no southerner who might wish to linger in the north through the winter. "The prince will have all the hospitality and comfort of the chambers of the Stone Fortress," he declared. By this time a servant had rushed up to them and wrapped the young man in a cloak of wolf-fur.
"My family won't allow it..." whispered Sasuke, as if trying to convince himself, "I can't stay here all winter..." There was an almost pleading undertone in his voice, against his will.
Darui looked at the boy for a moment, wondering what he could say to comfort him. There wasn't much. "You know, winter in the north has its bright sides," he finally pitched in, "the beautiful ice flowers up there in the mountains, and sometimes the skies here in winter glow green and red and purple, it's beautiful. You'll have stories to tell."

"Unless you die or the frost burns your eyes and you go blind," Hidan added quickly, ignoring his brother's frown. He didn't understand what he didn't like, he was only describing the beauty of the north and its dangers. He should be grateful that he was basically warning him. "Mommy's pet will eventually get a good hardening, or do you want to run south and wipe your noodles on her skirt?" The white-haired bastard teased the Uchiha mischievously. Maybe it was the fact that he had never known his mother's love, but he could manage without it. And now he found comfort in something else entirely.

"My mother is a pure woman, from a noble family. Yours was a whore, and you can never erase that. You have no rights, no property... not even a name. You're a nobody. I may die here, in the north, but I will die as Sasuke Uchiha, prince of Tänöwill. When you die, no one will mourn for you, and soon all of Winterhold will forget you, and even your filthy gods will turn away from you," Sasuke spat out in spite.
Darui chuckled inwardly. He certainly wouldn't grieve for his half-brother then, he was a bully and a maniac and as far back as he could remember, there were always problems with him because he only listened to their father.

The white-haired bastard's gaze flamed. Sasuke dared to say out loud what most people only dared to whisper. He may have been a nobody, but if his entire family died, he could take the throne. He suppressed the strong urge to just shove Sasuke and throw him over the edge to break down in the courtyard below. No, he would have his revenge in another way. The Uchiha would still regret not helping him to the otherworld today. His life will be a nightmare, he'll make sure of that. "I'll remember that," Hidan replied as icily as he had in the hallway when they met before, with the promise of endless days of suffering and pain. He disengaged from the group and walked proudly away.

Darui stared after his brother. "That was not wise, Sasuke," he allowed himself to address the young prince by name, "it was true, but not wise. Hidan is a twisted, dangerous man. Better try to ignore his insults." Unless it was already too late, as he feared. His half-brother never forgot. But he didn't want to scare the southern prince with his infamous deeds now; he'd had enough for one day. "You should return to your chamber. Dinner will be served soon, and I'm sure you'd like a bath. And by the way, you'll be dining with the royal family from tomorrow, it's my father's orders. Kakuzu, see to it and now take the prince back," he nodded to the brown haired guard without asking what Sasuke wanted. It was for his own good, he could well see him stop shaking. Frost was most dangerous when he stopped feeling it.
"But...!" the black haired youth wanted to protest. Still, Kakuzu obeyed the order and led him away.

***

Kakuzu had been the prince's bodyguard for almost two weeks, and he was getting used to his new position. He wasn't exactly brimming with happiness, but what could he do? Nothing. Together, he and the young man were getting along. Accompanying someone for days was boring, he couldn't even go play dice and cards with the members of the royal guard. Eventually, he took the little one with him. At first the men mocked him for being like a chicken, but they soon got used to having a southerner with them and tolerated him. Moreover, no one wanted to make the king angry. They knew the Uchiha was important. The brown-haired northerner felt uneasy today. He hadn't been there in a while, but to take Sasuke with him? He looked at him quizzically.

It had been two weeks now, and Sasuke still couldn't believe the bitter truth that weighed on him. He was a hostage here, a political prisoner, and he would remain so for a long time. Only the first month of winter had passed, and according to Kakuzu, there were at least three more to go. In the north, he said, the snow fell in November and didn't melt until late April. The thought of spending that much more time in that horrible place was more burning, more acrid and more painful than the frost that drew patterns on the window of his chamber every day.
He passed awkward moments every day in the company of the king, the prince, and the bastard at lunches where the king was mostly stubbornly silent, Darui attempted to make superficial conversation, and Hidan poked him. The latter was like a flea in a fur coat, making his stay in the Stone Fortress unpleasant with his insults and taunts, which Sasuke - it had to be admitted - repaid handsomely. At least the Raikage hadn't handed him over to the executioner a second time, and the wounds sustained in that first torture had finally closed and healed.
Right now, he and Kakuzu were headed to some room his guard called a sauna. He had heard of it in the south, but had never encountered it. It was always warm in Tänöwill, and especially in Dorwine, sometimes to the point of being oppressively hot, and no one needed to warm up there yet. He measured the wooden door suspiciously. "How does it work?" He asked Kakuzu.

"It fires up and the heat warms the space inside. You can pour water over the hot stones to moisten the air. You sit inside as long as you can, and then you go outside. All northerners do it. That's how we keep diseases away from our bodies," Kakuzu explained. The sauna in the Stone Fortress worked every other day and was used by almost everyone in the palace. It was a very popular activity to get clean and not freeze to death at the same time. He liked to come here. It was good for his limbs. It kept them nice and warm and bloodied. "Strip naked. No clothes are worn there," he urged the prince, who was looking at him like a hatched chicken.

"Are you crazy?" Sasuke yelped, "I'm supposed to strip naked in front of strange men... uh, I mean, northerners?!" He wasn't sure he wanted to go to the sauna under the circumstances. Although the prospect of warmth - real warmth at last - was more than tempting. It seemed that no one was in the sauna yet, which was probably a minor miracle, or maybe it was the fact that, if he had heard correctly, a council meeting was in progress, so no one from the royal family could be here except Hidan, and no one of any importance either.

"If you're ashamed, it just shows that the southerners are effeminate," Kakuzu snorted, already halfway undressed. The leather armor was already on the bench along with his sword and blouse. He couldn't wait. Especially since it looked like no one was there. He was going to have a good time inside today. He was sure his lion cub had never experienced anything like it. "Come on, who's last is chicken," he blurted out, a little too playfully for his nature.

Sasuke reluctantly began to undress. Truthfully he wasn't competing, Kakuzu had a head start anyway, plus he was embarrassed. He'd seen his guard naked a few times before, but he'd never seen him... all on its own, a small moment of concern flashed through his mind as to whether he'd like him, but he immediately dismissed the thought. Why the hell should he?! He was just a smelly, obnoxious northerner. Slipping out of his pants, he immediately covered his lap with his hands instead and looked around with flushed cheeks as if to make sure no one saw them.

Kakuzu chuckled in amusement as Sasuke tried to cover up, yet he always felt that southerners had no problem with nudity. He could be a statue himself. A solid northern body fortified by the unkind landscape, the harsh cold, and military training could easily withstand the chill that pervaded the room. His skin was adorned with many scars he had acquired in various battles, he had served the king for quite a number of years too. Norse honor had never allowed him to run away from a fight like a sniveling dog. "Come on, lion cub, there's some warmth waiting for you."

The young Uchiha flinched as Kakuzu placed his calloused paw between his shoulder blades to push him closer to the door, which he soon opened. A surprisingly hot air breathed on him from the room, instantly transporting him back to his beloved south with a sensation. The brown-haired member of the royal guard ushered him inside, where several wooden benches were set up, the dimness provided by only a few torches and glowing coals radiating heat, giving the impression of a red-hot furnace with a stifling heat rising from it. He hadn't expected anything like this in the north.

The burly northerner sat inside on the lower step to adjust to the temperature first. It was freezing outside, and here it was like summer in the hot south. "Don't stand there like a chaste virgin and come and sit down," he urged the young man who was still covering himself. He sat down himself, nicely straddling and letting his face warm up with a blissful expression.

If the young prince hadn't just been attacked by the heat, he might have blushed, but it wouldn't have shown anyway. He tried to force his eyes not to slide to Kakuzu's private parts, but not that the northerner made much of an attempt to cover himself. He sat down a good meter away from him with his legs under his chin and exhaled contentedly. The warmth gradually spread to his fingertips, and when he closed his eyes he might as well have been riding on the edge of the Nereder Desert.

The heat had a much stronger effect on Kakuzu. He felt as if he had been thrown into a hot furnace. The difference was that he was here willingly. He leaned forward and used a wooden ladle to dump water on the hot stones. The water hissed violently and discs of white steam rose into the air. "You don't have that in the south, do you?" he said, turning to Sasuke. He looked like he was having a nice time here.

Sasuke opened his eyes and fixed them on his guardian. "We don't, it's true," he admitted with an idle shrug, "but we don't need it either. It's quite normal for summer to be like this in the warmer regions of Tänöwill." However, he was also sweating much less than Kakuzu. He felt at home in the sauna. While the brown-haired soldier had to breathe through his mouth after a while because the heat was too deadly for his nasal mucous membranes, making him even more like a panting dog, Sasuke melted like an icicle, and the most content expression since he was captured settled on his face.

The brown-haired northerner had to wipe his forehead to keep the drops of sweat out of his eyes, but it was a futile effort. It poured from him like a thunderstorm. Outside the door of the sauna there was a clatter, a rumble and a thud, as if something heavy had fallen to the floor. A moment later, the source of the noise appeared in the doorway.
"What do we have here," the charismatic leader of the guard uttered, "a southern prince and his minion." Making nothing of Kakuzu's murderous stare, he and six other guardsmen walked in and squeezed onto the benches.

The black-haired young man was quite startled as a small crowd of naked Nordic soldiers suddenly burst into the sauna, as usual they were all muscular creatures, a head or two taller than him and twice as massive. The room was full of them, and in an attempt to escape any physical contact with them, Sasuke moved closer to Kakuzu, but it was futile. Before he knew it, he was sitting sandwiched between Kakuzu and another burly man. When they were all comfortably seated, the poor boy looked completely out of place, like a small hummingbird in a flock of vultures. And wherever he looked, naked men everywhere! He felt that he really must be blushing more than the heat made possible.
Kisame noticed the prince's predicament. "What's the matter, you're dodging your eyes like a spotless virgin," he hooted cheerfully at the dark-haired man, "southerners like cocks, don't they? More than pussies, from what I hear..."

"They say the king of the south never wet his cock in any pussy," Shira, the leader of the guard, said cheerfully, raking his dark hair back so it wouldn't stick to his face. "What kind of a monarch is he that he is unable to provide for his offspring." He could fuck all he wanted, he didn't care, but the clan had to be preserved. That's what every monarch always tried to do. A proper boy and a couple of girls to marry. If Raikage married Mei, they'd have one less worry, maybe even two. The Uchiha wouldn't have had to dare to united kingdoms.

"We know how to enjoy sex in Tänöwill," Sasuke tried to snap back, but it sounded more like a kind of beep surrounded by northerners, "We do things there you'd never dream of, and it brings us pleasure like you can't even imagine. And the main thing is that the Pearl Throne has an heir of Uchiha blood - my father, and after him my brother." Truthfully, he hoped Kakuzu wouldn't rat him out, he was speaking confidently here, but unfortunately the brown-haired guardsman knew all too well where his experience stood on that score.

"Yeah, you can do that, like fuck your mares. I hear it produces mutant men. Half horse and human. They're so ugly you send them to the mines to do the hardest work," Shira uttered aloud a popular saying in the north country about the depravity of the southerners and their treatment of degenerate humans. They were the ones who, right after birth, made it easier for the child not to suffer. They sacrificed it to the gods and prayed that the soul would go in peace.

Sasuke turned a sour eye. "No one does anything like that in the south... but you know what, even if they did, they're still better tänöwill mares than your women. I hear you have such ugly Norse women that you'd rather fuck goats," venom spat back at the guard commander like a cobra. Though in truth, the sauna was immediately filled with the disgruntled hisses of the soldiers until Sasuke had to hold himself back from flinching a little.
"I think I'll personally see to it that our precious guest gets a good bloodying when we're done with the sauna," Kisame remarked with a vengeful look as he wish to whip the young man with birch twigs.
The black-haired man blinked in incomprehension, he had no idea how things worked in and after the sauna. What did Kisame mean by that?

Kakuzu did not interfere in the conversation and did not take sides. He had his own work to do to hang in there a little longer. Sweat was pouring off him.
"You can do that," Shira nodded. "I'll be glad to help you. Too bad it's not summer, nettles are much better... And you, Sasuke, watch your tongue. You've already got a few enemies in the fortress, so don't get any more," the guard commander pointed out that he was taking it in an uplifting spirit and with humor, whereas the young man was breathing fire and brimstone.

Sasuke just grinned wryly. In truth, he felt that he had all enemies in the fortress, there were only very bright exceptions that were quite polite to him. Raikage's son Darui and a few servants, maybe even some of the soldiers, but he hardly ever actually spoke to them.
Conversation had stalled, in truth the northerners were busy with themselves, panting with heat and sweating profusely, now and then someone would pour a basket of hot coals and a blinding wave of steam would rise, but Sasuke was enjoying it. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at all the cocks around him, not lowering his legs for a moment to expose himself, just breathing in the heat that heated his whole insides. Wow, he must tell Kakuzu that they were going to come here every day!

The brown-haired northerner couldn't take it any longer. He was almost panting as the heat burned him. He felt like it was going to burn his eyes and nose hairs off at any moment. He had to get out now. He didn't even try to look at the naked little one next to him anymore. "I'm coming out," he grumbled to the others, slowly getting up. He had shot out the door once too quickly and passed out in the doorway as he was too overheated. Should he go straight out into the snow?

The northerners were gradually leaving. Sasuke just watched in amusement as all these tough, snow-beaten men squirmed and sweated and died of heat. They wouldn't survive two days on the deserts of Tänöwill, he thought mischievously. He was blissful. Finally the last soldier left him and he was alone in the sauna. Wonderful! At last he could sit down normally, hmm, maybe he would stretch out quite a bit...

The men were outside pouring cold water over themselves, a fine steam rising from their hot bodies. If they had been a flock of girls, they would have squealed under the cold water, but as men they gritted their teeth and hissed. They knew it was necessary for the body's resistance to the local landscape and disease. Some took bundles of flexible birch twigs in their hands and whipped their fellow tribesmen. The skin massaged and bled nicely. They kept waiting for Sasuke, but he didn't appear. They dried themselves with the prepared cloth and sat on the benches. It was good to give the body a rest and let it cool down before the second round. They sipped lukewarm tea with a drop of mead secretly added.
"Shouldn't we go get him?" Shira echoed, glowing red all over as he was pumped up. He was sure to tame some dragoness in bed tonight. He always had a big appetite for sex after the sauna.

Sasuke would be lulled almost to sleep by the pleasant heat and darkness. This was perhaps the only room in the Stone Fortress, the only corner that wasn't bitterly cold. Too bad he couldn't arrange something similar in the chamber he'd been assigned... He was just reminiscing about the long, warm summers spent bathing in the Bay of Scallops at the Pearl Palace when the sauna door opened and Kisame's head peeked in. "Can't you knock?!" Sasuke growled, lightning quick to pull his knees to his chin again.
Kisame passed his bark without comment, grinning instead. "Come out, little one, or you'll fry. It's not healthy to stay in there that long in one go," he urged.
"For northerners, maybe. I can stand it," Sasuke argued.

"Come out, you don't sauna like that. You have to follow some rules," Kisame countered, not understanding how the young man could stand it inside. He'd already melted like all the other northerners, whereas Sasuke looked like he'd been born in a sauna. They must get him out or he might as well die. The king wouldn't thank them.

Sasuke sighed. Is he supposed to go back to the cold? He didn't feel like it, but he really couldn't spend all day here. "Alright, last five minutes," he promised Kisame, and when the soldier was gone, he tried to build up as much heat as he could in that moment before reluctantly getting up and heading for the door. He assumed that everyone had already left and only Kakuzu would be there waiting for him.

As soon as the young man appeared in the next room, Shira and Kisame got up and grabbed the birch branches. "Finally, we thought you weren't coming out," the guard commander smiled and swished the twigs across his palm briskly. It pinched them nicely. It wasn't meant to create pain. "Come on, it's your turn." The young man covered his crotch chastely again, as if he thought perhaps they were about to bite it off.

"What?" didn't understand Sasuke, who didn't like the presence of the soldiers or the things in their hands. What were they going to do with them? He backed up. But as his attention focused solely on Shira and Kisame, he didn't notice Kakuzu with a bucket of water. "What do you want to do with those bran-" The young prince's question was lost in a heartfelt cry as his watchdog poured an entire bucket of cold water over his head. The shock nearly gave him a heart attack.

***

In the next chapter:

"And don't worry, I can wield steel just as well."
"Oh, so you'd like to cross swords with me?"
"Father, please, give me the southerner."
"I'll get along with him."
"I'm not afraid of any bastard."

Chapter Text

Kakuzu sneakily held Sasuke down so he wouldn't run away from them, and the other two men launched themselves at Sasuke. In a moment he was glowing red like a ripe apple from the local orchards. They didn't spare him much, they meant to get a little revenge for his talk, and pushed maybe a little harder than they needed to. And they got a great fun out of it. It's good for the kid. He looked sickly.

Sasuke squirmed like an eel in Kakuzu's paws, shrieking and cursing and fighting back until now and then one of the three had a wildcat-like scratch from his nails, but they seemed to be enjoying his resistance just that much more. He couldn't say that the blows were downright brutal, but the flexible wands were damn stinging with more force! He winced as he got a few on his ass as well, noting that he couldn't cover himself anymore with the damn bastard holding him down.

When they released him from their clutches, one of the soldiers doused him with cold water again. The young man glared at them, yet it was normal procedure. "Here's a cloth, dry yourself and we'll be back in a minute," he handed the young man a piece of cloth to dry his body. In the meantime, someone also served spiced tea in a mug for the prince. Kisame was quite amused, Kakuzu, the meanie, didn't seem to have explained to Sasuke how things worked in the sauna at all.

Poor Sasuke was as freaked out as a freshly plowed mouse. Just a moment ago, he was lounging in the warmth, and then suddenly he got a beating! He quickly wrapped the cloth around himself and accepted the clay jar.

"So how do you like the sauna up north?" Kisame chimed in, patting the stunned prince on the back until he almost pushed him forward.

"This is the conclusion it must have? If it was without that..." grumbled Sasuke, huddling into the fabric, though he wasn't that cold after all.

"It has to," Shira snapped, making room for the young man. "You have to shock your hot body to cool it down and then the sickness won't touch you. Why do you think northerners are so resilient? It's because they go through this at least once a week, and the harsh north can't beat anyone. That's why southerners can never make it north. They don't know our tricks." He scratched at the scar on his chin. Sauna was a national activity that perhaps everyone practiced.

"Hey, look," the young prince gave him a sour glance, "you northerners couldn't make it in the south either. Especially now that I've seen you dying of heat, and it's perfectly pleasant there. In the south you'd die of dehydration, heatstroke, sunstroke... we all have our own." He sipped his tea, not even wincing at the admixture of mead. Somehow he'd gotten used to drinking it. Now that he wasn't in such shock anymore, he could take a good look around. Wow, he hadn't even noticed this before. There were various trophies from Tänöwill hanging on the walls! "And after all, I see you like the southern decorations," he chuckled.

Shira looked lazily at the walls, perhaps only now realizing that everything was originally southern. It had been here for a long time. "The king wanted to build something exotic that no one here has, so the royal architect obliged." In addition to all sorts of weapons that they considered too light and useless, there were many mosaics of southern scenes, the sea and sunlit plains. When a visitor came to see the king, he was always highly complimented on the original local sauna.

"Oh, of course," Sasuke laughed, walking over to one of the walls. He reached out and almost lovingly ran his fingers over the sand dunes composed of miniature polished colored glass. "Tänöwill culture is famous," he remarked casually, "You should see the Pearl Palace. It's the most beautiful building in Alqualas, with lots of slender turrets and domes. It glitters from a distance, and in the glow of the setting sun it gleams as if the whole palace were made of gold. Words cannot describe it... you have to see it."

"Too bad it isn't, we could go loot it," Kakuzu uttered, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he would be the first to fill his pockets with gold and jewels after the raid. They all knew his fastidious nature and love of gold.

"Such a palace must be stupid to defend if it's all windows," uttered Kisame, who was studying the mosaic along with Sasuke. The fortress windows were small and could be used as shooting galleries.

Sasuke shot a disapproving glance at his guard. Greedy bastard, culture meant nothing to him. He didn't comment aloud though, instead turning to Kisame. "The palace itself may be, but Dorwine is surrounded by a series of strong forts that will hold off the army before it can reach the palace. Not to mention that the gates of the Pearl Palace are made of the toughest southern woods, and it also has secret exits that only members of the royal family know about..." Sasuke suddenly fell silent guiltily as he realized that he shouldn't be telling his enemies such things.

The charismatic guard commander grinned in amusement as he leaned against the wall. "So I'm counting on you knowing about everyone. I'm sure the king would be interested, if he hasn't already dragged it out of you on your first day in the torture chamber." He could see the young man losing his inhibitions in front of them, a normal southerner wouldn't say it so easily. Secret entrances were crucial in a siege.

The young Uchiha swallowed dryly, trying not to let his nervousness show. "I-I think I'll go to the sauna again," he muttered, trying to slip through to the heavy wooden door, but Kisame caught him by the arm.

"Not so fast, not enough time has passed," he chuckled, "your hot southern blood might boil over too, watch out for that."

"Exactly, the king wouldn't have praised us if we'd let you boil in the sauna," Kakuzu pointed out, turning his mug of tea into himself. He could tolerate a lot more mead in it, but he could have that later. "Sit your ass down, we'll let you in in a minute." He noticed that the young man liked it there. At least he would be happy with something up north. It's always cold here and cold there.

Sasuke frowned slightly and brushed a lock of hair back from his forehead. He didn't like the fact that he - a southern prince - was being ordered around by a northern soldier, but given that he was at a considerable disadvantage at the moment if he started any sort of commotion, he preferred to keep his mouth shut. Instead, he reached for the Tänöwill lute that hung among other trophies. Hmm, he hadn't played it in quite a while. He deliberately plucked the strings to test if it was in tune.

The men scattered around the room watched Sasuke's actions with interest. Especially when he picked up a musical instrument. No one could play it, except perhaps the bards who had traveled to many countries and sang all sorts of songs. The northerners loved music, whether it was bagpipes, strings or other wailing instruments.

As Sasuke's fingers ran over the strings, the young prince's face contorted as the tone tugged at his ears. "That one is as out of tune as a pig," he stated with a shake of his head, "doesn't anyone here care?" He didn't wait for an answer, however, and took up the tuning of the lute himself. In Tänöwil, it was part of the good manners of a nobleman to be able not only to fight and act diplomatically, but also to dance and ideally to play something. Again and again he gently moved the tuning mechanism until he was satisfied. Then he settled comfortably with the lute, his slender fingers running over the strings. The room was filled with the mellifluous tones and sweet melodious voice: "From the battlements my strained note sounded as my master gloriously rode out of the gates..."

No one present dared to interfere. No one had expected in the least that the young man could play a musical instrument and sing beautifully at that. In the north, dancing with an axe or a sword and the sound of clanging steel were more valued than dancing and the gentle caress of strings. Some of the men considered Sasuke an even softer southerner than before. Still, they acknowledged that he was a fine player. Perhaps he could sing at a party in honor of a distinguished guest or just for the fun of it.

Sasuke took little notice of the northerners. The music transported him back to his home, and on the rare occasion that he was warm after a sauna, he'd be almost too happy. He closed his eyes and focused purely on the play of his fingers, blending into the melody and putting his all into the singing - even the northerners had to know it was coming from the heart. His voice was clear, tenor, not as gruff as the voice of the masculine Winterholders. He played a total of three songs before ending the musical moment with one last rousing note, letting the melody fade for a minute before standing up with a sigh and returning the lute to the wall.

There was a moment of profound silence after the last note had sounded, before a mighty clapping was heard, joined by another. Several men, including Kakuzu, acknowledged the prince's performance with satisfied applause.

"I can see that southerners are schooled in lesser skills, but you're doing well," Kisame spoke aloud, patting the young man on his bare back until the poor man jumped forward as the burly guardsman leaned into him.

The black-haired youth hadn't expected his play to have such a positive response, but despite the fact that they were enemies... well, it was quite nice, even conjuring a slight smile on his face that wasn't tinged with irony or anger this time. "It's part of our noble manners," he shrugged, winking at Kisame: "And don't worry, I can wield steel just as well. You can try it out sometime if you have a training hall somewhere inside."

"Oh, so you'd like to cross swords with me? I'd be happy to challenge you," nodded the thunderer immediately. He reckoned he could beat a little boy like that like nothing. "I'll make you a piece of meat," the guardsman teased cheerfully. The prince may have commanded a troop in the army, but that didn't mean he'd be a good fighter, and he was too young. Surely he wouldn't even break a sweat before he was knocked down.

"I can defeat anyone with a spear," Sasuke puffed, though it wasn't exactly true. His master, Asuma, as well as his uncle Madara and often his father still managed to get him during training. He still had a lot to learn, but he was really good with the spear.

"I wouldn't cross with Kisame if I were you," Shira snorted, "You might end up as a greasy spot too, and the Uchiha probably wouldn't pay us much for that."

"I wouldn't take a sharp iron to him. We've got enough training weapons, but if he wants a spear, a broom handle might be enough." Kisame amused a few of his fellow tribesmen who were listening to what was going on. He was one of the very good fighters and wasn't afraid of any of his opponent's weapons. Spears were only good for him for hunting wild game.

"Fine, we might as well get started now," Sasuke said confidently. At least it would be one of the few distractions here in the Stone Fortress. Most of the time, he was terribly bored, as the library here wasn't particularly large and taking a walk outside was out of the question due to the cold.

"If you want to fight in the sheets, it'll be pretty comical," Kakuzu interjected into their conversation, "but you can save it for tomorrow, I think we can go back to the sauna now, it's about time."

Sasuke was the first one inside, lounging in the warmth. It was just obvious that the nudity shared with the Nordic men hadn't grown on him yet. He would get used to it in time. These things were normal in the sauna and the prince's behavior was a source of amusement. Twice more they sweated profusely and then cooled off with the shock to harden their bodies and banish all their ills. There was nothing better in the north than a sauna and mead in the prevention of the vicious ills of the human body.

***

The Raikage's private chambers were the largest in the entire Stone Fortress, and of course, the most lavish. Tapestries of military victories hung on the walls, and a huge fireplace kept the servants burning day and night. The king of the north now sat behind his massive carved desk, a stack of papers before him, but perhaps even more annoying was his bastard who stood before him, again humming to him about the prince of Tänöwill.

"Father, please, give me the southerner," Hidan begged as if Sasuke was some sort of thing he could get as a gift, "I'm sure I can get a lot more out of him than Ibiki did in that lame interrogation. He'll sing like a bird under my hands, you'll see." A hint of cruel excitement flickered across his face.

"No," growled the king of the north uncomfortably, and with his quill he signed the parchment and held the wax over the candle for a moment to make the seal. Though it was cold and everything was covered in snow, there were still things that had to be dealt with even at this time of year. "You're awfully annoying. The prince mustn't leave any lasting damage or the Uchiha will eat us alive in the spring. And whoever fell into your hands did not leave in health. So get along with him."

"But father, the Uchiha are going to eat us alive anyway. Besides, they're as numerous as dogs, they don't need this one... As far as I know, he'll never get the throne if his brother sires some bastards. I'm not saying we have to kill him, but you can live without a leg, without an arm, without eyes, without a tongue, too," Hidan begged, and you could see his mouth widen in a sadistic grin at the thought, "let me finish what Ibiki started." As much as the Raikage tried to give his bastard an education, diplomacy just never did the trick for him.

Raikage's temple was starting to get a vein, as it did every time he talked to his bastard. He would strangle him with his own hands one day. Or maybe he should have done it a long time ago, but it was still his blood. "No, like I said. When the Uchiha captured Darui, they didn't chop off his arms or legs either," he pointed out that the southerners had been pretty mild back then, wanting only his son's weight in gold, which was insignificant in relation to his life. He needed a successor. "If he has an accident and loses his tongue or any other limb, I'll have you nailed to the king's gate," the king threatened.

Hidan backed off a little as he saw that he had angered his father. The Raikage was the only person in the world he listened to and respected, even if he strongly disliked it. He frowned in displeasure, but he really didn't want to end up as an ornament on the main gate, to have his eyes pecked out by ravens and his tongue blackened. It looked like he really wasn't going to get to play with the southern prince properly in the torture chamber. "As you command, father," he boomed with a barely suppressed undertone of indignation, bowing slightly to the king. " I'll get along with him," he promised, but a sudden inscrutable look came over his face as he turned to leave.

"I'd advise you to," the king shouted after him, exasperated. Someday he'd actually do something with him. He'd most like to send him to a distant fortress to be put under maintenance, but he was sure he'd be condemning a lot of people to suffering by doing so. At least here in Nordstone he had him under surveillance. He still couldn't understand how his sons could be so different. One was like fire and the other like ice. Unpredictable and calm. It's a good thing he had someone to hand over the kingdom to, because Hidan would have raised hell and the vassals would have quickly deposed him. He took another leaf from the pile and grunted in displeasure as his eyes slid to the thickly lettered lines.

***

For Sasuke, being in the north was an ordeal, but he was slowly getting used to it. He missed the warmth and light terribly, nostalgically remembering the airy, light and sunlit from morning to evening Pearl Palace, the vast gardens with exotic trees, flowers and small oases with birds, the sandy beaches and the warm sea with its salty embrace. Of course, even more than the home itself, he missed the people in it. His family, his uncles and cousin, his beloved leodemon Mäelys. What would he be doing now? And Yamato... Here and there he dreamed of his touches and kisses at night, and then woke up in the morning aroused, which he tried to hide carefully from Kakuzu and all the servants.

After discovering the benefits of the sauna, Sasuke would have liked to go there every day, but Kakuzu, the bastard, wouldn't agree, saying it wasn't healthy. But he would often visit the sauna room with him, where the young prince would spend long moments playing the lute. His melodious singing usually attracted a few servants or guards, and after a time, even when they saw the black-haired young man and Kakuzu heading for the sauna, they would leave their work and sit around to listen to the weaving and exuberant tones and southern songs with their strange tunes.

Other than that, Sasuke would occupy himself with reading the meager writings contained in the library at the Stone Fortress, sometimes going to watch Kakuzu play cards and dice with his cronies in return, and other times he'd bundle up in whatever furs they brought him and go for a walk with the brown-haired soldier, at least in the small snowy grounds, to get some fresh air at all. Then he usually ended up in the stables with the horses, petting the huge northern beasts, letting the groom tell him about them, or even helping to comb them.

Sasuke wasn't the only one in the fortress who wanted to make the long winter somehow shorter. The king's bastard had plenty to do, too. He had to assist in every interrogation, but in the winter, people were calm and peaceful to the point of being infuriating. So he contented himself with other pious activities. Sometimes he watched a southern minnow stroll through the fort, accompanied by a thunderer. His father's words still loomed in his mind as if freshly spoken.

When they met in the corridor, he did not step aside, but stopped them. "Where are you going?"

"To the Bird Tower," Sasuke replied, automatically taking a defensive stance. He and the white-haired bastard were at loggerheads, Hidan never missing an opportunity to tease or insult him, and he returned the favor. It was unpleasant to have such an enemy here in the Stone Fortress, but what the hell. Everyone was an enemy, after all, though at the moment he more or less respected everyone but Hidan. "I'd like to see the royal falcons," he added with a shrug. He would have loved to send a message to Tänöwill as well, but Kakuzu himself had eyes like a hawk.

"Great, I'll go see the birds with you," Hidan decided, not caring if Sasuke wanted to or not. He has to try, so he tries. It would end up having a few benefits if he was more moderate with the prince. "Don't smirk, I don't bite. Or are you afraid to come with me even though you have that bear behind your back?" He snorted a little so Sasuke wouldn't sputter too much.

"I'm not afraid of any bastard," Sasuke assured him, not forgiving himself for reminding Hidan of his position. "Come with us, then," he urged him afterwards, as if showing him what grace. He saw the sinister glint in those violet eyes and waited for the white-haired man to return the insult, but strangely enough, he didn't, just fell into line at his side without a word. The young Uchiha had the vague impression that all of the subordinates here were somehow afraid of Hidan. He noticed the fear in their eyes when his name was spoken, but couldn't figure out what it was. After all, he was just a bastard, he had no power, he couldn't show off.

The white haired man made a face like he had won a big trophy and lined up at Sasuke's side. Maybe it would be good to give a good impression. "Doesn't it still blow your mind how Kakuzu keeps running after you like a child?" He ignored the guardsman's exasperated huff. "I'd have whisked him away a long time ago." After all, he put up with very few... more like none. No one was guarding him, and yet there was always something coming to his father which he didn't need to hear, and then there was a clatter.

"Well, considering he doesn't talk much, it's not too bad, though I admit I'd be happier without him," Sasuke admitted, not caring too much that Kakuzu could hear him, "He's still looking like a kakaboo, I hope it's not contagious." The strong guardsman had his bright sides sometimes, though. Especially on really cold nights, when he needed a little more warmth than his furs could provide... He had to admit, he didn't find the warming up as horrible as he did in the beginning.

Kakuzu frowned a lot more than usual, and it wasn't just because of Sasuke's words, but because of Hidan. Somehow, he didn't like it and he didn't like being around him. Ideally, he never wanted to see him, but it wasn't possible well enough when he had to accompany the Uchiha.

"Still, I'm surprised you haven't left here already. The guards at the gate sleep at night. They're easy to slip past, and you'd get away like a shot from that dog of yours, too. Really, you haven't tried it once?" Hidan asked. He would have escaped the first night he was captured.

"I tried it in the daytime," Sasuke admitted. He'd probably done it three or four times, right off the bat. He'd verified that he could outrun Kakuzu, he was quick as a weasel against the burly Nord, but there were always enough other guards around to catch him. The problem was, he couldn't quite imagine how he was likely to make it back south now in the winter anyway. When he thought of the monsters in Murdebear Pass... he shook his head. "It's awfully cold at night," he added more reluctantly. At night, he struggled to even keep his body temperature up, let alone try to escape.

"The flower of the south is not immune to northern frosts," Hidan shook his head as if he had discovered a new continent. He measured everything by his yardstick. That meant he looked to no one, did what he wanted, and had no remorse. "But don't worry, spring will be here soon," he prophesied like a priest. The truth was that the soothsayers had predicted this winter to be a long and cruel one. Their sacrifices were probably small; if he had, they would surely have been satisfied.

For once, Sasuke ignored the insult haughtily. By then they were climbing the spiral stairs of the Bird Tower, and he had to concentrate mostly on not slipping. They were pretty icy, and the Bird Tower caretaker had to sprinkle them with small stones. "I wish," said the young Uchiha longingly, "the springs in Tänöwill are beautiful. In the N-thaniel valley, meadows of splendidies bloom every year. They are tiny purple flowers, reminiscent of the purple seas, everywhere you look. And not far from Athyen, dragon's breath grows again, it looks like spilt lava."

Hidan shook his head as if he was interested. Shit! Flowers were only good for cattle. Such gibberish about spring, if only the southerners were a little bloodthirsty. Maybe they'd find common ground. They could wax poetic about the thick, warm blood flowing through their fingers as he ripped his victim's heart from its chest. The intoxicating scent of it, which could send him into a magical high. An enchanted look settled on his face that had nothing to do with Uchiha flowers.

Together they reached the top, where in a large tower chamber with galleries, through which a chill wind was blowing, a large number of cages with predators were placed. Postal hawks and the king's hunting falcons. Sasuke walked from lattice to lattice, quite intrigued, watching the noble birds gaze at him with watchful eyes. At Hidan's command, a falconer approached them to tell the southern prince something interesting about all the birds of prey, until Sasuke wondered where the bastard suddenly had so much courtesy and respect.

The white haired man kept close behind the young man, surprisingly no more innuendo or unpleasant talk. Rather, he was trying to keep his mouth shut. Indeed, sometimes speaking was silver, silence was gold. Perhaps for the first time he saw that this saying seemed to have a true basis. "You look cold. You should go warm yourself by a fireplace somewhere. I'd like to invite you to my chambers for some warm mead," he offered the young man as they came down the stairs, even conjuring what looked like a genuine smile on his face.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Hidan had been giving him hell in the Stone Fortress for weeks now, and now suddenly he wanted to be friends? What was that supposed to mean? He paused and eyed the Nordic bastard suspiciously. A sharp gust of wind knocked the hoods from their heads and his longer black strands of hair flew around his handsome face. "You're inviting me to your place for mead? After everything you and I have said?" He pointed out, referring to the fact that they'd been quite at each other's throats so far, "why did you suddenly change your mind - do you want something in return or what?"

Hidan had a quick answer on his tongue, "My father told me that I should be more respectful to you, and I decided to comply. You are a southern prince, not the son of a groom." True, he would have treated a groom's son differently long ago. "I hope you will accept my invitation," he added helpfully as Kakuzu rolled his eyes after the young man.

The young Uchiha licked his lips. Well, it sounded partially plausible, he noted well that the Raikage was about the only one whose word was true on this scumbag. At least he had observed that at the communal lunches. But would the white-haired man choose to keep it outside the feast hall? "Don't take this the wrong way," he began, quite diplomatically, "but... hmm... I'd rather leave that for another time. I'd like to take a hot bath before dinner."

The white-haired bastard mentally cursed. He made no sign of himself. "All right, whatever you want. I won't force you to do anything," Hidan replied condescendingly and walked away with a small bow. He still had a few things to take care of.

Kakuzu somehow didn't like the whole thing. He watched the departing bastard with his arms folded across his chest, frowning. He had never seen Hidan act like this before.

***

In the next chapter:

"Haven't you changed your mind?"

"Victims scream when they die."

"Don't you like it?"

"I'm not afraid."

"I've always wanted to get to know southerners up close."

Chapter Text

Sasuke thought it was strange too. And he didn't stop wondering for the next week. Hidan's behavior towards him had completely changed. Every day he found him and accompanied him under various pretexts, laughing loudly at his jokes and now and then complimenting him, recommending the choicest delicacies at the table and telling him insightfully about Winterhold and the Stone Fortress, listening even to him when he spoke of his homeland. True, the southern prince had the same impression that he didn't much like Hidan - he noted well the satisfied look that crept onto his face when he told of something sadistic, his favorite stories were of torture chambers and battles. He sensed the cruelty in him, and normally would have avoided him, but for the moment he took Hidan's interest in him, as his stay in the fortress had at least become a little more entertaining.

But not everyone was so happy about their new friendship. Raikage didn't say a word but watched his bastard thoughtfully at lunch, Darui frowned and cast strange warning glances at Sasuke, Kakuzu grew more bitter by the day. But the young Uchiha, in his naivety, took no notice, and after a week, finally nodded at Hidan's invitation to a private dinner in his chambers. He intended to dress a little more appropriately for the occasion. He had black trousers, high boots, a white silk shirt and a velvet coat with a lion embroidered on it. It wasn't a leodemon, but at least they had something that resembled his affiliation at least a little. A heavy, smooth sable cloak complemented everything.

The servants brought it to him and spread it out on the furs of his bed. "Kakuzu, turn around," Sasuke ordered his guard dog when everyone else had left his chambers. Kakuzu wasn't usually present in the morning when he changed, joining him after breakfast, but this was an exceptional situation and he still didn't want the northerner to see him naked, which was ironic after all the saunas they'd had together. Except he kept covering himself up in there anyway.

The burly northerner raised one eyebrow in surprise. "Haven't you got used to it yet?" He rolled his eyes and only reluctantly turned away. He hooked his thumbs into his leather belt and stared ahead. He supposed the little one must be used to it by now after all the saunas and drinking with the other guardsmen. It looked like he wasn't. He snorted quietly when he heard the rustling of fabric. Somehow the southerners had made a big deal out of it. The north was more open about it.

Sasuke made no comment. In fact, he was well aware that for a southerner, he was a bit more shy about it. Shisui, for example, had a habit of bathing with the soldiers in rivers and streams. He threw off his current cloak, unbuttoning his coat and pulling it over his head along with his shirt. The slight muscles on his back bulged, and the play of torches and candles accentuated the graceful curve of his spine with soft shadows as he pulled down his trousers.

Kakuzu waited impatiently for the cub to change, his eyes darting to the mirror. In it, he saw the reflection of a young man calmly undressing. He didn't seem to notice him, so he flinched at the sight. After all, he had no need to ogle the southerners through the mirror. His conviction only lasted a few seconds before his eyes slid to the side again. He looked around with self-denial, but why not look when the lion cub was finally not hiding behind anything.

The black-haired youth ran his hand over the fabric of his coat with interest. Velvet was beautiful in the north, better than in the south. In Tänöwill they excelled at weaving silk, lace and brocade, but here they used heavier materials. He straightened up. He should change as quickly as possible, because it was very cold. Fortunately, the illness he had suffered had not taken much of a toll on his body, and Ibiki's work was no longer visible either. He was a bit thinner than when he was captured, but he was still a beautiful sight to behold. He wasn't very tall or burly, but he was lean as a doe and lithe as a leopard. The golden tan of his homeland had slowly faded to a lovely almond color, and his soft skin glowed with purity. Muscles loomed on his arms, legs, chest and stomach, and his smooth back gave way to a narrow round bottom with firm hemispheres.

Kakuzu found himself staring too longingly at Sasuke's reflection in the mirror. He could admire him from all sides. He looked so different from all the men he had met. He was youthful, with softer features. Exotic. He was tempted just by the mediated view and relished it. His eyes roamed over the smooth skin with interest. He knew it well, the way they often lay together at night, and yet he suddenly felt the urge to touch it. To slide down nicely and squeeze the bulging buttocks in his hands. Damn, he had to bite his lip to keep himself in control as the young man bent over, exposing his entire bottom to him beautifully.

Sasuke had no idea about Kakuzu's peeping, he calmly pulled his black pants on and a sort of disappointed gasp sounded behind him. He turned sharply, but the brown-haired man still had his back to him. He hadn't noticed the reflection in the mirror, so he assumed it was more likely to be a display of impatience. So he shrugged to himself and pulled on a clean snow-white shirt, coat and boots. He fastened his cloak around his shoulders and only now availed himself of the services of the mirror to see himself in it. Well, southern clothes would fit his body better anyway, but he'd probably freeze to death in that, and this wasn't bad. He looked noble, as befitted a prince.

The burly northerner tried to mask his disappointment with a grim expression. He was becoming disgusted with himself. Sasuke had somehow quickly gotten under his skin. It shouldn't be like this at all. He shouldn't have even laid a glance on the southern man. Instead, he had almost licked the mirror a moment ago! He hadn't felt such a weakness and urge in a long time. "Haven't you changed your mind?" he asked the prince about dinner.

"Why should I?" Sasuke asked in amazement as he buckled his silver belt, his fingers casually running over the loop where his dagger normally hung. He wasn't allowed to carry any weapons in the Stone Fortress, and it annoyed him quite a bit. "I hope this is more fun than those lunches in the company of the king. Raikage is a pretty boring companion, you know?" he uttered with a snort. He'd learned over the past few weeks that the king of the north didn't like jokes and didn't really talk much. He was like a slumbering grumpy bear.

"The king is just maintaining his respectability and esteem," Kakuzu replied simply, thinking his own thoughts. Hidan had a reason for everything he did. Sometimes they didn't understand him. But no one dared to defy him. Such servants would then occasionally appear in remote places, dismembered, mutilated, and the victims of a dark ritual.

"Sad that he has to maintain it at the expense of his sense of humor," Sasuke said, "My uncle has authority, respect, esteem, and reverence, and he likes to laugh anyway." True, Madara's humor was quite specific and not to everyone's taste, but humor it was.

The young Uchiha turned to leave. "Take me to the bastard's chambers then," he nodded to Kakuza. He was quite excited, Hidan had promised to get wine somewhere instead of the everlasting mead.

"As you wish," Kakuzu replied. He couldn't stop him, and since it was his wish, he granted it. After all, more and more he was really feeling like a watchdog and a lackey. If he could, he would immediately switch and return to his unit. True, all they could do now was go catch some stragglers, but it was much better than sitting at a desk twiddling his thumbs all the time.

The southern prince followed his guardian. Torches flickered in the cold corridors, their flames fluttering in the gentle breeze. Even though the windows were petticoated for the night, the corridors still blew through. Kakuzu led him to the north tower. Sasuke hadn't been to these places in his time here, and it seemed even more gloomy than the rest of the castle. They reached a corridor that ended in a heavy ornate door, but before they got there, the black-haired youth suddenly stopped. "What is this?!" He blurted out, staring in horror at what looked like pedestals on which the antlers of hunted game were displayed. Only instead of horns, they were posthumously grinning skulls. Human skulls!

Kakuzu didn't like this corridor, and he could also count on one hand the number of times he'd been here. He glanced briefly at the decorations on the walls. The mockingly grinning skulls with deep empty sockets could frighten more than one maid. A slight chill ran down his spine as well. "These are the ones who crossed Hidan's path and clashed with the evil one." Surely there would be many innocents here. Sometimes he didn't understand how the Raikage could turn a blind eye to this atrocity.

Sasuke looked briefly at the brown-haired soldier and swallowed dryly. He tried not to acknowledge Hidan's cruelty, but this... Sure, even in Tänöwill they sometimes impaled the heads of traitors and criminals on stakes, but only as a warning, and after a while they buried them anyway so that even the filthy ones could come to peace, but these ones would probably never reach it. He had wavered in his decision to spend the evening with the Nordic bastard, but he couldn't back down now. He couldn't let it look like he'd gotten scared when he saw a few human skulls. He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

The sturdy northman opened the massive door after the announcement and let the prince in. He stood by it himself, as far away from the white-haired bastard as possible. He kept a stone mask on his face, pretending he wasn't really there.

Hidan sat in a cushioned armchair by the lit fireplace, eagerly awaiting his visitor. "You're here finally," he uttered with the satisfaction of a leodemon seeing a piece of delicious meat. And he grinned as the young man surveyed the wall decorations in amazement. He didn't have a pile of furniture and decorations all screaming that someone of royal lineage lived here. His room was dominated by a large altar with lit candles whose wax dripped to the floor in massive icicles. In the flickering candlelight, a painting of a strange masked man could be seen dancing on the bodies of his enemies. The stone counter before him bore clear signs of regular sacrifice. There was still fresh blood on it.

Sasuke averted his gaze from the repulsive scene. Mentally resolving that this was the last time he would visit the chambers of the white-haired bastard, he rather regretted his decision to be talked into tonight's dinner. Couldn't someone have warned him? He cleared his throat and tried not to let the morbid mood of the room show on his face. His corners twitched slightly in a sort of fake smile as his eyes returned to Hidan. "Your chambers are quite secluded," he stated matter-of-factly, taking the other chair across from him without question, "you're not very social, are you?"

"Victims scream when they die," Hidan replied simply, as if he'd mouthed a line about the vagaries of the weather. He noticed a slight hint of fear flit across the young man's face, though he immediately tried to mask it. He shuddered inwardly. "But don't worry, you're not in the order today. Come to the table so we can have dinner. I had wine brought as promised," he motioned for the prince to take a chair at the table.

"That's... um... kind," Sasuke muttered, and as much as he didn't want to believe it, for perhaps the first time he was glad to have Kakuzu with him as a companion. He knew that the brown-haired man was primarily there to keep him from running away, but in a way, he was also there to protect him. It was also why he often kept him warm at night.

He moved to a simple table made of dark wood, and while Hidan ordered his guard to pour them some wine, since he had no other servant on hand at the moment, he looked over the courses that had been prepared. Partridge with bacon stuffing and plum sauce, a fresh loaf of bread and coleslaw with nuts, honey cakes with almonds, and roasted chestnuts. It all smelled wonderful and Sasuke realized he was really hungry.

"Take what you want," Hidan urged the young man not to be shy. He put a whole partridge on his plate and began to eat. He broke it in half and began to work the meat deftly with his fingers. He noted with displeasure that the meat was too cooked for him. He liked it when it was still half raw and oozing blood. Today he'd let it go. He's got a guest. "What do you think of the wine?" He asked as the young man took a sip.

"Good," Sasuke nodded, meaning it sincerely. It certainly wasn't up to their southern wines, the northerners just didn't know how to grow it, in fact they didn't have the conditions for it. That Tänöwill red from Vineyard, that was something! But even though he would have called it slop at home, it was the first wine he had tasted in a long time, so he liked it. "Semi-dry, I think it's from the foothills of the Kerarr Highlands?" He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"That'll be right, there's no wine grown anywhere else, and the southern wine was already drunk before the first snow fell anyway. You've got a good guess, Sasuke," Hidan winked at him slyly, licking a chewed bone from a partridge. He didn't hesitate to lick his fingers nicely. My goodness it wasn't so bad after all. Nicely seasoned. He reached over to tear off a piece of bread, wiping the grease off his plate some more. "Don't you like it?" He asked as Sasuke stared at him for a moment.

"No, it's wonderful," Sasuke assured him, quickly returning his gaze to his plate. The food was indeed delicious, but the way Hidan was eating... In many ways, the young Uchiha was convinced that the Winterhold people were indeed complete barbarians when it came to dining culture. They had probably never heard of cutlery before in their lives, they went about everything with their bare hands, and even the cups and goblets had to be fitted with tiny decorative protrusions to keep them from slipping off their greasy fingers. Sometimes they gobbled like animals, burped contentedly, and if it was in the banqueting hall, threw the bones on the floor where the castle cats or dogs found them. It was extremely unpleasant for Sasuke, but when he demanded a fork and knife they stared at him as if he was mad, so he preferred to stop trying. Still, Hidan had made fun of him in those first few days for eating shyly like a woman, as he tried to dirty his fingers as little as possible.

The white-haired bastard let the guard refill his wine and reached contentedly for another partridge. He dipped the severed flesh liberally in the plum sauce and munched almost contentedly like a pig at the trough. "It's good that you like it. Eat well so you'll have the strength to brave the north." If Sasuke had been looking at him, he would surely have noticed a strange mischievous sparkle in his eyes, as if something else was encoded in the sentence.

Sasuke took a quick sip of wine to calm his stomach, which was a little queasy at the sight of Hidan. He continued to eat his dinner in a much more refined manner than the northern bastard, cutting his meat into much smaller pieces, washing his hands in a bowl of water, and cutting his bread.

When they got to the desserts, they slowed the pace. "What does your father even say about your... er... chamber decor?" Sasuke asked conversationally, unable to imagine how Raikage might tolerate it.

"Nothing, he gave me some himself. Most of them are enemies of the north. I was happy to take care of them. They all ended up spilling everything they knew." Hidan dreamed for a moment as he revelled in the recent torture in the dark dungeons of the fortress. If only there were more of these traitors. For his taste, he had few under his belt. "What do the southerners decorate their chambers with?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. So Raikage not only tolerated it, but even approved of it? He couldn't get his head around it. "Wild animal skins, tapestries, and mosaics," the southern prince replied, finishing his goblet before washing his hands again and wiping them on a clean cloth to signify that he had finished eating. "In Tänöwill, the masters are fond of decoration. It's part of the culture. I've noticed that in the north... hmm... you don't give much to art and culture, do you?" He tried not to sound too dismissive, given that Hidan had invited him to dinner.

"We don't crave pomp, but we prefer what we can experience to what we can look at. Beauty lies in the transience of the moment. Something that won't be repeated," Hidan grinned at the young man, also washing his hands in his bowl. "What about you, do you rake in the riches and revel in them, or can you also have a proper animalistic time with your lovers?"

Sasuke blushed slightly. "Don't you know what southerners are famous for? Wine, gold, culture... and sex," he answered Hidan indirectly, whereupon an amused snort came from behind him. The southern prince quickly fried Kakuzu with a look. The damn northerner knew full well where he personally stood on sex and nudity, but he hoped he wouldn't comment on it out loud.

The white-haired bastard noticed Kakuzu's snort and drew his own conclusions. "I know what southerners are famous for, but I'd be interested in you yourself. Do you have a reputation as a heartbreaker, the best fuck around, a bottomless throat, or have you earned nothing of the sort yet? I'd be surprised. Everyone must be falling at the prince's feet begging him to choose them." He saw that this made Sasuke uncomfortable. Maybe he'd learn something juicy. He'd love to go south one day and experience all the shenanigans they talked about firsthand.

Sasuke squirmed slightly. This conversation was uncomfortable, he was well aware that he himself wasn't doing much honor to his nation's reputation yet, but... he wasn't completely inexperienced, damn it! "Well, yes, several women have had the honor of knowing my affection," he stated as haughtily as he could, pouring himself some more wine. "I assure you, I can enjoy physical pleasure to the fullest. It is a true art. In Tänöwill, women devote themselves to it just as much as to cooking, weaving and washing... they learn the art so that they are ready to please men in every way," he explained.

“And what about the men? Are they not expected to do anything? I've heard that southerners don't pick and choose who they invite to bed. They like to have fun with women and men. What about you, Sasuke, do you prefer a woman's pussy or a man's ass?" Hidan asked, almost piercing the young man with his gaze. This was a straight to the point question and he had a few more in store.

The black haired youth blushed slightly again. But in the end... what would he deny. "True, we southerners are not picky about this. After all, in some ways a man can satisfy you as well, if not better, than a woman. They say in Tänöwill that only a man knows what makes a man feel good. As for me...“ Sasuke swirled the rest of the wine in his cup, ”I'm willing to be satisfied by a man."

"So you haven't escaped the ways of the south either. If you know what you want, then how many have you had? I mean lovers and mistresses. One, two, ten or more? Tell me, how skilled a stud are you?" Hidan was very curious, but also, he who asks, learns something. Who doesn't ask, dies like a fool. He was forging the first option. Mostly he liked to find out information from the other guy himself.

Sasuke licked his lips. He had a feeling that his answer wasn't going to be spectacular, but considering Kakuzu was still in the room with them, he couldn't completely lie to Hidan. "Nearly two dozen women have tasted my Uchiha seed and... hmm... one man-lover," he muttered with a clearing of his throat, and to forestall any bastard comments, he immediately returned the question himself: "How about you? Are you having sex with the castle maids or going to the brothels?"

The white-haired bastard laughed in amusement. So the little one in front of him hadn't had much of a taste yet. "I go wherever my feet take me and fuck what I ask for," he said in a polysyllabic tone. Truth was, he liked to humiliate his victims most in the torture chamber, where, if the usual interrogation didn't break them down, with his cock in their ass, a few of them had already started singing like blackbirds in the spring, too. "So you're still such a little cradle. How about I order you to fuck that minion of yours?" He threw in amusedly.

The thought brought a smile to Sasuke's face, especially when he glanced back at Kakuzu's indignant expression. It would probably look pretty comical if he was fucking such a piece of beef. He turned his eyes back to the white-haired bastard. “Well, I don't think the watchdog here would like that, but with all due respect, Hidan, even if you did, I wouldn't let you order me around,” he gently indicated the bastard's position. "I also only do it with who I deem appropriate," he added.

Hidan, however, didn't seem to have any reaction to what Sasuke wanted or didn't want. Truthfully, if he had actually ordered either Kakuzu or Sasuke to fuck together, it would have been amusing at best. The guard would obey him, no doubt about it, the problem would be with the prince. "The north may be merciless, but southerners are like snakes, they say they can slip out of any knot. Is that true, would you get out of the ropes if you weren't guarded by a dozen men like you were on the way here?"

The young Uchiha blinked in surprise at the sudden change in conversation. In truth, he had never heard such rumors about his compatriots, but perhaps it stemmed from the fact that they were often less massive in the south, so they could get away with a lot. And after all, he wasn't going to talk Hidan out of it. "Sure," he shrugged confidently. His wrists were a bit narrower, and in truth, he'd gotten out of those knots on that horse he'd been captured on just after the battle, too, before the other soldiers caught him.

"I don't really believe it. I'd like to see it with my own eyes," returned Hidan eagerly. "It's one thing to talk about it and another to prove it. Is it really no problem to show me?" He asked overly sweetly. There were all sorts of things being said about southerners, maybe with Sasuke he'd be able to verify some of them for himself.

Sasuke hesitated. He had knitted himself quite a whip, he hadn't thought of Hidan wanting to check. Damn it, what now? If he didn't get out of his ropes, he'd lose face in front of him... but if he refused, he'd actually lose face too. If it wasn't so freaking cold in Winterhold, he'd probably have beads of sweat standing out on his forehead right now. "Well, I don't know... it's getting late..."

"Not much time for this. I'm sure you'll be out of this faster than you could reach your chambers... Or are you afraid?" Hidan teased the Uchiha slyly. He had noticed that he could get the young man most upset when he doubted his pride, courage, and family. When he attacked any of those areas, the young man could get pretty heated, or say something in affect that he wouldn't normally say.

The prince of the south grimaced. He's not gonna be insulted by some Nordic bastard! "I'm not afraid," he said, straightening his head with dignity. He knew what he had to do, and he only hoped Hidan didn't have deft enough hands to tie perfect knots. “Alright, tie my hands,” he reluctantly stepped up to the white-haired man's game and set his wrists, “I'll show you how the southerners are able to escape captivity.”

Kakuzu only rolled his eyes. The little one was no lion cub, but a proper donkey. He didn't like Hidan's train of thought one bit, but he couldn't say a word out loud. Sasuke was rushing into something he had no idea about.

Hidan's eyes flashed triumphantly and he walked over to the chest from which he pulled a rope. "I'm curious to see how you'll perform, then," he smiled dubiously, untangling the coiled nooses. He loved the smell of hemp rope and even more the smell of fear that often accompanied it.

Sasuke said nothing in response, already cursing himself for letting himself get caught up in something like this. It was already clear to him that he was going to be in big trouble, but in his naivety he assumed that he would just drop himself in front of the bastard if he didn't get out of it. That certainty was compounded when the white-haired man began to tie his wrists. He held on like a sheep. Hidan tightened the ropes until they were cutting into his tender skin, but he didn't allow a single hiss to escape past his lips. Within a short while his hands were thoroughly bound and suddenly an unpleasant sensation came over him. Only now did he realize how vulnerable he was in this position, unable to use his hands to defend himself. He swallowed dryly and began his efforts to free himself from the knots.

The white-haired northerner was smiling more and more delightfully. Sasuke's efforts were futile. He made sure the young man didn't wriggle out of the ropes. A pleasant certainty was beginning to grip him that there would be more interesting things happening from now on than a simple dinner and sipping wine with a foreign prince. Now he was going to jump at it. "Well? It's impossible, isn't it?" He grinned triumphantly. "You get out of here," he ordered Kakuzu with a nod of his head to go wait in the hallway.

Sasuke quickly lifted his head and blinked at Hidan in incomprehension. "Wait, Kakuzu!" He overrode the white-haired man's order with his own, scowling a little at the bastard. "Why are you sending him away?" he raised an eyebrow. He didn't much like the oddly calculating smug look that spread across Hidan's face. "You know, I think it was enough for one night. Thanks for dinner, and now untie me. I'm going back to my chambers," he announced to the bastard in as firm a voice as he could muster.

Hidan promptly grabbed Sasuke by the loose end of the rope and pulled him to himself with a jerk. "You're not going anywhere, little one," he grinned, dropping the mask of would-be nice nobleman completely. The look of a ravenous beast grinding its teeth on a poor victim spread across his face. “Get out,” he gave Kakuzu a sharp order, seeing how he hesitated. Even though he was supposed to be protecting and guarding the Uchiha, his word was stronger now.

“What dare you?!” Sasuke sputtered indignantly. Hidan was holding him on a rope like some kind of slave! Hell, and he was even willingly submitting to being tied up. The worst part, though, was how the white-haired man's face completely changed. He was still smiling, but suddenly completely different. Cruel. “Let me go now!” He growled, jerking his bound wrists. "Hey! Where are you going?!" He looked back at Kakuzu as his guard dog headed away with a grim expression.

"He obeys his master," the white-haired man hissed contentedly and pulled the young man towards him. Sasuke fell on him, surprised at how roughly he had treated him. He drove into the young man's disheveled hair from behind and gave a good squeeze. He threw his head back and bared his throat. Almost fetishistically, he breathed in his body odor and licked the pale skin lasciviously. “I've always wanted to get to know southerners up close,” he growled with a strange dark undertone.

Sasuke got goose bumps, and it certainly wasn't just the ever-present cold. He wasn't a complete fool, recognizing the hidden longing undertone in Hidan's voice, and for the first time, an icy chill settled in his stomach. Before, he had also shivered now and then while inspecting the decorations or hearing Hidan's speeches, but they didn't directly concern him. This did. "Save your appetite," he snapped, trying to stumble backwards. His deep, dark eyes looked into violet ones. Sasuke could feel his heart pounding with nervousness. "You mustn't touch me," he reminded Hidan, "the king has decreed that nothing must happen to me." It was all he could count on.

***

Chapter Text

"My father talks a lot. You won't lose your head... maybe just your innocence if you lied about your lover," Hidan chuckled half madly. He saw it there, saw the fear that was clawing its way up from the depths, and he wanted to feed on it, wanted to suck it into every pore of his being and feed on the pain and suffering. "Father doesn't care what happens to you, what's important to him is that you live... Besides, no one said I was a bad lover. I'm sure you'll enjoy it, just submit to me."

Sasuke's pupils dilated with a fear he could no longer hide. He really wanted him...! “I'll never lie with a northerner!” He blurted out what he had already told Kakuzu once. He meant it in an intimate sense now, of course, because otherwise he had shared a bed with his guardian many times. "What are you playing at?! I thought... that in Winterhold... southern practices, as you call them, don't hold!" He meant sex between men, but come to think of it, Hidan hadn't actually said outright that he slept with women. He said he'd fuck whoever he wanted. He flinched when the white-haired bastard ran his thumb over his lips and winced again, but the cheeky bastard dared to grab his chin hard! “Let me go, you cunt,” he hissed.

"Well, well, the lamb is trying to bleat. Come on, admit it, you're stupid. You walked right into my trap, and all I had to do was be a little nice to you. If all southerners are as gullible as you, I'm surprised someone didn't blow your kingdom long ago... Anyway, I'll show you things you may never have experienced," Hidan promised confidently. It was clear to him that this little one had never experienced rougher treatment. He could tell. “If you don't want to lay with me voluntarily, I'll just do it my way.” He gripped Sasuke's jaw tightly to keep it from slipping and pressed his lips roughly against his.

Sasuke blinked in disbelief. When he first started dating Yamato, the brown-haired swordsman had always meekly asked if he could kiss him, and this rude barbarian was just going to steal his lips for himself? Gritting his teeth tightly, he wasn't about to allow Hidan access to his mouth, and as soon as the bastard pulled away for even a moment, he immediately shouted, "What do you think of yourself?! You insolent bastard, I'll have you skinned if you even..." He didn't have time to finish his sentence because suddenly Hidan slapped him hard until his head popped to the side. He yelped in pain and shock and looked up at the white-haired man, almost stunned.

The white-haired man looked down on the young man, like a master to a servant, or rather like a king watching the swarming scum under the walls. “Watch your tongue, southerner, lest I cut it out and present it to Jashin as a bloody sacrifice,” he threatened, meaning it dead serious. No one had ever died from cutting off his tongue. Such a mace, for instance, was a tool worthy of the gods. They could inflict insane pain with minimal damage. The best methods were still when there was a lot of blood flowing. Who knows what noble southern blood tastes like...

The young Uchiha opened his mouth, but couldn't get a word out. Hidan's actions had shaken him considerably, he was used to being shown a certain amount of respect even here in the Stone Fortress, though the soldiers on the way here had teased him quite a bit the other day. But this was something else, other than Ibiki's interrogation and the few blows he had taken from Bee and Raikage, no one had laid a hand on him. "I-I want to go back to my chamber," he announced to Hidan, though it sounded almost ridiculously childish in the situation. He wanted to back away from the white-haired madman, to keep him away from his body.

"It's too late for that, little ass. Do you think that having you here so helpless and having listened to you all week that I'm going to let my trophy go now? You're a fool if you're hoping for something like that. I'm gonna fuck your ass so hard tonight, they'll hear you all the way down on the south battlements as I screw you here." Hidan revelled in describing in as much detail as possible what would happen to his victims. He was aroused by the strong waves of fear that came from the prince. Gently, almost lovingly, he stroked Sasuke's hot cheek. "Have you made your choice?" He purred.

Sasuke shivered. It had scared him the other day when Kakuzu had frightened him with similar talk on the way to Nordstone, but Hidan seemed deadly serious! Surely he couldn't have had his first experience with a northerner! “Don't do this, I... I've never... I've promised Yamato that he'd be the first...” he blurted out a little incoherently, as if perhaps the white-haired man had been softened by a promise he'd made to his lover in the south. He took a step back, but Hidan immediately pulled him close again, much closer than he would have liked. He could smell his body odor; he certainly hadn't bathed in some time.

For Hidan, it was as if someone had waved a red flag in front of the bull's nostrils. "That makes it even better! Inexperienced southern little prince impaled on my lap. I love the idea. At least then you can tell your Yamato what savages northerners are and that they can fuck all night." A pleasant feeling of satisfaction coursed through his body. That guy would be staring when they got Sasuke back in the spring. He'll have plenty of experience to spare.

"Never! You're not getting my body, you filthy bastard of a kitchen whore!" Sasuke rebelled and forcefully wrenched himself away from Hidan. Then again, he wasn't exactly weak, though against the burly northern gorillas it seemed his strength was simply no match for theirs. He ran away, but in his desperation he forgot about the rope binding his hands, the end of which Hidan still clutched. The white-haired man stopped his escape with a jerk so violent that the black-haired youth lost his balance and hit his head hard as he fell, but even that wasn't enough for Hidan. He dragged him toward him on the ground like a hunted animal!

"Your tongue has grown quite sharp, but don't worry, when you scream in pain you won't utter a word of insult," Hidan said darkly, grabbing the young man by the hair. He forced him to his feet and threw him into the bed. “Enough with the talk, let's fuck,” he growled as he knelt down next to Sasuke, who tried to pull away from him but only got more tangled in the bedding. "Are you that scared of a proper Nordic cock? And they say southerners don't miss a single opportunity to fuck. Bullshit!"

Sasuke struggled and kicked, but with his hands tied his options were pretty poor. "Touch me, and when I return to the south, I will demand your head!" He shouted, pushing the white-haired man away from him as hard as he could. "Your father will find out about this and have you castrated!" He threatened falsely. He wasn't entirely sure what kind of relationship Raikage had with his bastard, now that he wasn't saying anything about the cruel decorations in his chambers. Hidan was in the process of trying to remove his boots, and he just hoped he couldn't undress him through his bound hands.

"Shit, don't move or I'll smack you," Hidan growled in exasperation as he almost got kicked in the teeth. He hadn't expected Sasuke to be so lively. “If you don't stop, I'm going to castrate you when I've had my way with you, if you're so damn excited about it.” Boots might still be okay, but taking off his pants was a fight like fighting a slippery snake. He couldn't get to the shoelace as Sasuke kept thrashing to get away from him. “That's enough!” he ordered loudly. “Calm down or I'll sacrifice you to Jashin!”

"What dare you do this to me?! I'm the prince of Tänöwill and you're just a dirty bastard with no name, just like your fucking god!" Sasuke snapped, still holding on to the hope that Hidan would realize his position. To show his deepest contempt, he lifted himself up and graced Hidan's face with a well-placed flush. "I'm pissing on your god and you, and if you don't let me out of here right now, you're going to bloody regret it, you goat-fucker!" He added menacingly.

Hidan looked for a moment as if he had been struck by lightning. He couldn't believe that Sasuke had managed to cram so much profanity into two sentences, which angered him to the highest degree. A light of hope flickered across Sasuke's face for a moment, hoping that the bastard had recovered, before the cold violet eyes of a man capable of anything focused on him. He slapped the young man so hard his head almost popped off, and immediately pulled him close to him by his coat. "You can shit on all the northerners, but don't take Jashin in your mouth! I may have meant to be lenient with you, but I can see that shitting on good manners is the way you want to go." He reached to his side where he drew his dagger.

Sasuke was surprised he couldn't hear the rattle inside him. His cheek was quickly swelling, and he could tell by the throbbing pain that his face would be all blue tomorrow, but that wasn't what bothered him the most. His dark eyes stared in horror at the cold grey blade that glinted ghostly in the torchlight. It must have infuriated Hidan to the highest degree. His throat tightened with anxiety as he tried to gauge from the white-haired man's face what he wanted to do. Was he going to kill him? He looked capable of it. The obsidian pools flickered in alarm at the altar marked with the blood of the victims. Would he end up as one of them? He knew the Raikage wanted to keep him alive at all costs, but would Hidan follow through?

The white-haired bastard was about to let his hand drop and the blade sink into the flesh. Only with the greatest effort could he restrain himself and just swung the dagger angrily. His father would have killed him if he had sacrificed the prince. Nothing happened at first, until a few drops of blood appeared on the young man's face from a shallow cut. Hidan seemed bewitched, drawn to him. He didn't hesitate to loom over the stiffly lying young man. He licked the drops of blood. The taste, it was warm, soft, with the warm tone of the south. Much better than the scum that swarmed the city.

The black-haired youth felt nothing at first, the blade so sharp it cut the skin completely smooth. Only after a few seconds did it begin to burn, let alone when Hidan dug his tongue into the wound. He winced, but this still wasn't so bad. He'd had similar scratches from Mäelys. There was something of a downside to having a huge pet with sharp claws, when the leodemons got wild, the Uchiha were sometimes full of scratches. Now, though, he could be glad he'd gotten off so lightly. He contorted his face in disgust, but let Hidan taste his blood, hopefully that would calm him down and bring him to his senses.

Hidan cocked his head and stared at the ceiling for a moment with a fanatical look. Waves of excitement and lust swept through him. He wanted more than delicious blood. He wanted flesh. He wanted to conquer this body. His eyes dropped back to the prince, who didn't seem to be breathing. The white-haired man licked his lips hungrily. “Delicious,” he cooed, as if he'd just taken a sip of the finest mead. He grabbed Sasuke's coat and shirt and began to vigorously tear them apart with his dagger, nearly disemboweling the young man in the process.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Sasuke yelled in a slightly higher voice than normal, "stop it! Don't tear it up!" He didn't care so much about the clothes, after all they weren't his and he had others here in the north, but Hidan wanted to take them off! "Stop it, you hear me?! Ow, damn it!" As he struggled, more than once the tip of the dagger met his skin again. He thrashed like a worm on a hook, the snapping and tearing of heavy cloth pulling at his ears. It took Hidan a few minutes, the velvet was resilient, but after a while he was stripped of his decorative coat and tearing the linen shirt was apparently easy for him now. The horrified eyes of the half-naked prince stared back at him.

The Nordic bastard was panting like he was coming off a hard run, and it wasn't just the fight with Sasuke, but the excitement of the skirmish and the blood that got his blood flowing like sun sap in the trees in spring. His eyes were obscured by a fine haze of madness. He stared at the terrified victim. Red drops pearled here and there on the delicate skin, his chest heaved jerkily, and his black eyes, full of fear, dominated everything. He held the young man's hands behind his head and ran his palms over the naked torso. He didn't speak, which made it all the more frightening.

Sasuke tried to push him off of him, but Hidan was damn heavy and had the look of a maniac. The heavy silence added to the tense atmosphere, and the young Uchiha tried to break it, "You won't get away with this... Once I get out of here, I swear I'll talk to your father! I... ouch!" The white-haired man toyed with his nipple with his fingers, but suddenly squeezed it hard, and Sasuke could clearly see the satisfied smile as his face contorted in pain. He'd seen that look before, back with Ibiki, but Hidan enjoyed it perhaps even more.

Hidan was just fluttering inside. After a whole week of grovelling and listening, he'd had enough. He let his inner animal wake up, opened his cages, but still left a collar around his neck to partially tame him. Sasuke had to survive. He was still licking up the tiny droplets of blood that had sprouted on his chest, and by then his lap was straining. His breathing became deeper and thicker. An increasingly strong desire filled his insides. So far, he had only grazed with his eyes and touch. But he still couldn't see all of the little one. He reached into his pants.

"No, Hidan, NO!" Sasuke panicked as the northern bastard began to rip at the laces of his latest clothing. He managed to kick him hard again, even hitting him in the chin as he flexed out. This time he was slapped from both sides until his eyes momentarily glazed over and blood rushed from his nose. His resistance weakened as he needed to recover, but even that moment was enough for Hidan to strip him completely naked. Immediately, he instinctively pulled his knees to his body and curled into a ball.

Hidan grinned happily as he fought with the young man to see him completely naked. He finally managed to stretch his legs and sit them up. He was already coping with his bound hands handily. He grabbed the end of the rope and pulled it to his side next to his body so he could enjoy himself and Sasuke couldn't knock his teeth out. A triumphant smile spread across his face. He massaged his own swollen crotch. He needed to fuck.

The redness in Sasuke's cheeks was no longer caused by Hidan's slaps alone. His slender naked body had the bastard exposed! With growing horror, he noticed how hungrily and eagerly the white-haired man was sizing him up. While he didn't know what he was used to, he suspected that he didn't exactly have the southern prince in his bed every day. Sasuke was definitely different from the ailing, dirty, untrained subordinates, he was a nobleman through and through and it showed. He saw Hidan's pants lift and his heart leapt to somewhere in his throat. His lips quivered. "Please..." he got out against his will.

“What are you pleading for?” Hidan rasped hoarsely, his eyes devouring him greedily. He was like a stud colt in a herd of ordinary horses. Beautiful, young and wild. Where were the poor bastards he'd had in the past. He'll probably move south if they're all like that. Then he could take someone every day to play with. They say money can buy anything in the South. What if he had a harem of pleasure slaves who looked like Sasuke? That's a great idea. He ran his fingertips over his stomach before he visited the young man's groin.

The Uchiha twitched as if Hidan had stabbed him with a sword. He jerked his wrists spontaneously, but the northerner held him steady. He shuddered, trying not to show how uncomfortable it was to feel his hand right there! “H-Hidan, if... if this is about how I've been acting, then...” Sasuke felt the words knot in his throat, but forced himself to say them even though he hated to, "then I promise I won't make any more insinuations about your position. Nor to your origins. But let me go." He'd rather endure the bastard's taunts until spring than be raped by Hidan here!

"It's too late for that. Like I said, I don't forget," Hidan reminded the young man that he had alienated him long ago and words of comfort and contrition would not heal the old grievance. "For a southerner, your equipment is pretty much worthless. They say you have a monstrous dicks, but if I 'd jerk you off, it might turn out to be true." He noticed how the prince resented being touched in intimate places.

Sasuke inhaled sharply. He happened to be solidly equipped, true, not extreme, but pleasantly above average. "Don't touch me, you... freak!" He sputtered, grinding into his grip. He winced as Hidan tentatively pulled down his foreskin, revealing his virgin pink glans. He felt like he might die of humiliation! "Get those filthy claws off my cock, or... or...!" Hidan's laughter cut into his ears, he was cruelly amused.

"Or what? Are you going to talk me to death?" taunted Hidan, untying the drawstring of his own trousers. He slipped his hand inside and sighed contentedly. He was aroused and eager to vent not only his violent urges, but his sexual ones as well. “Let's see if you're good at cackling, even if I fuck you in the ass,” he announced to the prince as a fait accompli that he was going to fuck him good and easy. He just needed to roll him over onto his stomach.

As soon as Sasuke sensed his intent, fear overwhelmed him so that all pride went by the wayside. He had originally thought he could do it on his own, but now he realized he couldn't resist even if he tried. He fought Hidan like a leodemon, but he was losing and that was when he started screaming. “ HEEEEEELP!” He yelled, until it bounced off the walls of the chamber. He realized with despair why Hidan had such secluded chambers. But... he had to summon someone! Someone was standing outside the door. "HEEEEEEELP, KAKUZU!"

The burly northerner was leaning against the wall, his arms folded against his chest in frustration. He recognized the lust in Hidan's face all too well. He'd seen it many times before when he'd left prisoners to him. It was the look of a man capable of anything. It was clear to him that he wanted to subdue the lion cub. Break his pride and bring him to his knees. He had to clench his fists when he heard the argument, but he could not be deaf to the cries for help. He walked abruptly into the chamber. What if the bastard wanted to kill him?

Hidan, meanwhile, managed to get the black-haired youth on his stomach after a rough scramble, leaving Sasuke twitching helplessly beneath him. However, when Kakuzu burst into the room, desperate hope rose in his heart. He looked pleadingly and fearfully to his guardian. He knew all too well in the few months he had been here what Kakuzu's greatest motivation was. "Kakuzu, please help me! I'll... I'll pay you! You'll get what you ask for, but please help me!" He whimpered in fright, because Kakuzu was his only salvation at the moment.

Kakuzu wasn't expecting this, to be honest. He thought Sasuke would beg for help to do this out of kindness and love for his fellow man, and he struck immediately at his weakness. He stepped over it indecisively. It wasn't just the money, he'd certainly like a pouch with many coins, but going against Hidan was bad in itself. Before he could resolve the internal contradiction, a sharp voice cracked through the room.

"Get out!" The white-haired bastard growled authoritatively. "Get out the door and don't you dare stick your nose in here again, or I'll personally see to your punishment." Hidan didn't let the words out of his mouth as an idle threat, but as something that might actually happen.

"NO! No, Kakuzu - PLEASE!" Sasuke yelled, struggling hard against the white-haired man, surprisingly not knocking him off of him. The bright dark eyes were wide with horror. His face was still all swollen and sensitive on one side. But the worst part was that he could see in the brown-haired man's face that he was not very willing to defy the madman's orders. He tried another way. "BRING THE KING!" He blurted out desperately, almost certain that the Raikage wouldn't allow this, "help me, Kakuzu, PLEASE! Bring-ughmmm!" Sasuke's mouth was clamped hard by Hidan's palm, but the young Uchiha bit down hard until he could clearly feel his fangs breaking the skin.

Hidan hissed as Sasuke bit through the skin on his hand. Son of a bitch, he's gonna show him what he is. Just deal with the guard dog first. "Don't you dare go anywhere if life is important for you," he growled warningly. "Get out behind the door and stay there. Then I'll call for you," ordered the bossy bastard. He would yet show the two who was master. He watched as the guard hesitated for a moment before turning to leave.

“Kakuzu!” Sasuke wailed tearfully as the brown-haired northerner covered the distance between the bed and the door with long strides. He knew he wasn't going to get any help. "KAKUZU!" He shouted in a last ditch attempt to coax him to stop. When the burly man looked back, their eyes met. Sasuke's dark pools flooded with tears - for the first time since his capture! "Help me, please..." he whispered, quietly this time, but loud enough to be heard, "please..."

Sasuke's begging was so pleading that Kakuzu actually hesitated, but Hidan unceremoniously pushed the young man's face into the bedding and fixed him with a chilling look that warned him that he had been deadly serious about his previous words. The burly northerner disappeared behind the door, hoping he wouldn't have to explain to the king why he hadn't prevented his son from defiling and harming the southern prince.

"No one will help you. You're all mine," the white-haired man hissed to Sasuke, his knees spreading his thighs apart until there was a strangled groan.

The black-haired southerner tried to twitch, but with his hands tied, his options were very limited. Moreover, Hidan was pushing his head into the sheets so hard that he was running out of oxygen, but much worse was when the bastard's hand greedily went between his tiny cheeks and spread them brutally. He whimpered and clenched as hard as he could.

He gasped in horror at the thought of Hidan taking him. It wasn't just that he didn't want to do it with a Norse bastard. He didn't want to experience his first sex with a man like this. In Tänöwill, virginity was valued at most by royal brides who had to bear legitimate offspring, but otherwise it had little value to southerners. Virginity meant inexperience, and southerners liked experienced mistresses and lovers. But with him, it was different. It mattered to him.

"I'm sure you'll have a great time the first time," Hidan prophesied obscenely, running a finger over the tiny opening that clenched under his touch. "Nordic cock... you'll have a story to tell yours back home. I'm sure you won't want him anymore once you get used to a good hard Nordic fuck." The white-haired man figured that if he could get away with this, he could fuck the prince until spring. Great idea.

Sasuke shook his head furiously, at least as much as Hidan's grip would allow him to, and hummed into the fabric in protest, but he wasn't much understood. Plus, he was really choking now, and the white-haired man must have known it. He pulled him up by his hair, but the young man had barely had time to gasp once before he was forced to cry out when Hidan suddenly plunged his index finger into him without any oil! Sasuke's face contorted in pain and humiliation.

The scream was like a balm to Hidan's soul, what more could he ask for than a large dose of whimpering and moaning from his victim. Carelessly, he pulled his finger out of Sasuke and stuck it inside again. The young man's pleading screams only encouraged him not to hold back at all. "You're going to make my lap swell with rebellion. You feel it,“ he pressed his lap against his thigh, ”I'm about to drive it into you to the root. You'll be singing a whole different tune by then."

"No, don't! Ouch, please stop!" wailed Sasuke as Hidan fingered him roughly. Unlike the white haired bastard, he wasn't the least bit aroused, he was wracked with fear. He thrashed like a fish on a hook, squirming and writhing, but the older man still played cruelly at his clenched hole, his nails tearing at the delicate mucous membrane, whether it was intentional or not. It burned, it tore, and Sasuke couldn't believe this was really happening to him.

Hidan breathed hoarsely as the possession of his prey turned him on, and he had a hard time holding back. Not for Sasuke's sake, but for his own. He wanted to enjoy him nicely. He could feel his body tense and stiffen in terror beneath him. He loved all of this, bringing perverse desire and vice. Jashin would surely praise him. It was only with great difficulty that he worked two fingers through, and he even spat a little on them to make it easier.

The play of Sasuke's muscles flexing in the soft orange gloom of the torch as the young prince tried to escape must have been fascinating in a perverse sort of way. He was praying to his own gods, but it seemed that the bloody false god that Hidan worshipped had far more influence in the chamber dedicated to him. Sasuke felt the brutality with which the bastard's fingers dug into him, deeply, and deeper still, as far as he could. Soon the bastard's free hand had to rest its full weight on his shoulder blades to hold him in place at all. He heard his excited panting and a few drops of sweat fell on his smooth back. Hidan's privates brushed against his thigh again and again, making him want to vomit.

The white-haired bastard was intoxicated with all his senses. He didn't know which to prefer. The intense smell of fear and sweaty southern flesh filled his nose. As Sasuke struggled, his body temperature rose and the smell grew stronger. Almost like an aphrodisiac. His eyes devoured the spectacle. The writhing young man trying to escape him. He longed for his blood, which still flowed from the shallow wound on his cheek. It was so sweet and intoxicating.

Sasuke gave a strangled yelp as Hidan suddenly gripped the hair at the back of his neck and yanked his head back sharply. He could feel the northerner leaning in towards him, and hot breath tickled the side of his cheek as Hidan's fingers continued to roughly penetrate his most intimate orifice, acting so rough that the black-eyed youth feared that if he didn't get inflammation from the scratches inside, it would be more like a minor miracle. "Stop!!!" he hissed.

"I promised you'd enjoy it," Hidan hissed, licking slowly at the young man's cheek, scabbed with red blood. His lap tingled as the amazing taste of the life-giving liquid spilled over his tongue. He cocked his head and howled throatily. He was like a wild beast feasting on a tasty piece of meat. He wanted all of Sasuke, to penetrate him, to humble his Uchiha pride and fuck him hard, to finally know what it meant to have his cock inside him.

The young Uchiha had never before been able to properly understand why all of Hidan's servants were so afraid of him. He assumed he was just an unimportant bastard who couldn't show off too much. But now... now he understood what kind of monster was behind those violet eyes. It was a terrifying realization.

When Hidan finally pulled his fingers out of the man's body with a wet sound, Sasuke automatically felt relief. At least until the sickening grunting sound echoed behind him.

***

In the next chapter:

“Jashin, this is for you.”

“I haven't seen such bravery in a long time.”

“The dog has its tail between its legs and is afraid to come in.”

“KAKUZU!”

“The Uchihas will eat us alive for this if they find out.”

Chapter Text

Hidan dragged the saliva from his heel before spitting it onto Sasuke's most intimate spot. He had neither the time nor the desire to look for something greasy to lubricate him. He wanted to fuck right now. He squeezed himself between the prince's thighs with difficulty and spread his knees as wide as possible. “Your ass is nice and tight, I'm sure it can't wait for me to stick it in there.” He was already crushing his fingers, and now he would feel it on his own manhood. He moved as close as possible and felt like he was taming a restless stallion.

Sasuke's eyes widened in horror as Hidan half-leaned on him and something round, smooth, and, despite its velvety skin, hard as Tänöwill steel appeared on the narrow ring of his sphincter muscles. "You can't do this! You c-can't..." he managed to say in a higher voice than usual, trying to bring his legs together, but the white-haired man kept spreading them with his knees. He felt completely tense as he tried hard to deny him access. His sphincter was clenched tightly, but he prayed that it would be enough. Hidan would surely tear his frenulum!

The white-haired bastard pushed, but the little one clenched terribly, unexpectedly strongly. He chuckled amusedly. No one could resist him forever; everyone eventually succumbed to pressure, and he got what he wanted. Sometimes it went faster than slower, depending on the individual. “But I can, and I must. For Jashin! The whole fuck will be just for him, and then I'll give him your blood too!” He pushed hard and tried to force his way in brutally.

“NO! NEVER! I will never allow a northerner… aaaaah! Enough!!” Sasuke’s fingers dug into the backs of his own hands, his heart pounding wildly against his ribs, and the growing panic completely paralyzed him. Hidan growled like a bloodthirsty beast behind him and rammed his cock into the entrance of his body so violently and forcefully that it resembled the conquest of a fortress with a battering ram. Sasuke felt his muscles stop obeying him, and as soon as he relaxed a little, Hidan roared triumphantly. The young southerner was trembling with fear that he would get inside him, but it soon became clear that due to Sasuke's mental strain, the spasm had not completely subsided, and the black-haired young man realized that the bastard was simply too big for that tiny hole. He couldn't fit. For a moment, he thought he had won and whimpered with relief.

Hidan snorted irritably as his plan failed. He had no intention of giving up, now that he had embarked on such a conquest. “Damn it, relax or I'll tear you apart,” he growled menacingly and, without warning, leaned his chest against Sasuke so he couldn't move, spread his buttocks with both hands, stuck his fingers in his ass, and tried to open the tight hole as much as possible and push himself into it.

“OUCH!” Sasuke cried out as Hidan roughly spread the small hemispheres of his buttocks, and for a moment he was afraid that he would tear them apart completely, and on top of that, his rough fingers found their way into his crack again. “You son of a bitch, you’ll never get me,” he gasped under his weight as the white-haired man quickly replaced his fingers with his manhood again. He kept stretching his ass as much as he could and tried to fuck him. It hurt as he tried hard to push himself into him. “Fuck you! You and your dirty Jashin!” Sasuke spat out the curse like poison. He heard an angry gasp behind him, and then several things happened at once.

Hidan's fury reached its peak and added vehemence to his movements. The white-haired northerner put all his strength into a single decisive thrust, until the virgin hole couldn't withstand the onslaught and the sphincter muscles tore in two places at once, allowing Hidan's cock to plunge into the narrow heat. At the same time, a deafening roar cut through the room, and Sasuke's eyes flashed red with pain.

The white-haired bastard thrust himself in all the way to the root. He possessively claimed the virgin hole for himself and nearly went deaf from the screams. Yet it only further titillated his perverted lust and increased the level of pleasure already coursing through his veins. The perversity of the act reached its peak. Hidan felt like he was in a vice, the asshole squeezing him like nothing ever had before, almost tearing his cock off. His eyes clouded over with unbridled lust, he pulled back and thrust hard. It went smoother now that the mucous membrane was stained with blood. “Jashin, this is for you,” he said devotedly to his idol, and perhaps the candles on the altar flickered faster, as if his god had accepted this strange sacrifice.

Sasuke's eyes filled with tears that wet his cheeks like two salty streams, bearing witness to his suffering. The knowledge that he was no longer a virgin, that he had been deflowered by a shameless Nordic bastard, burned into him like a hot brand, but what was that compared to the unbearable pain Hidan was causing him as he began to thrust regularly and deeply. He screamed and yelled in vain, hoping that someone would come and stop it, but nothing happened, and Hidan could do whatever he wanted. He raped him with perverse sadistic pleasure until his balls slapped against his ass and the bloodied cock brutally disappeared into him to the root. At the same time, the bastard crushed his hips, then one of his palms moved higher and squeezed him under the throat, as if he wanted to feel the resonance of his vocal cords.

Kakuzu clenched his fingers into his palms in the hallway and cursed himself for being a coward. Was he really so afraid of Hidan that he refused to help Sasuke? He left the little lion cub to be devoured by the demon. He found enough excuses to justify his decision to himself, yet the screams pierced his ears like the angry wail of sirens. He put his hand on the doorknob once, when Sasuke was moaning in pain inside. But he let it go. His fear of the bastard was doing its job. He couldn't go against him, he would pay with his life. He hoped that Hidan had enough conscience, or at least feared his father, for the prince to survive.

Sasuke felt hot blood spilling into his tortured insides, felt it wetting his thighs, felt its heavy, iron-like smell, but the injuries, the screams, the pleas, the crying... none of it softened Hidan, who continued to take him in a way Sasuke could never have imagined. He impaled him on himself, thrusting it all the way in, pushing through the wounded tightness that, willy-nilly, massaged him with an unimaginably painful spasm that permeated every particle of the prince's body.

The young man did not stop screaming, but his voice began to skip and falter, as it was too much for his vocal cords.

The white-haired bastard lived up to all the rumors circulating about him in the fortress and the surrounding town. A heartless bastard who never had enough and devoured anyone who crossed his path. He enjoyed every thrust, ravaging Sasuke like a beast unleashed, not only raping him, but brutally destroying the young man's entrance. He no longer restrained himself, his lust dulling his already weak sense of responsibility to an absolute minimum. He reveled in his power and did not hesitate to squeeze the prince's throat a little when the high-pitched tones of his singing turned into intermittent croaking.

Hidan's panting, heavy excited breathing, and the perverted wet squelching of thrusts sounded in the background of Sasuke's painful croaking. Hidan filled the torn ass with heavily scratched, abrasive mucosa faster and faster, and the black-haired young man's last efforts to resist slowly faded away. In the end, he just lay there, moaning in pain and desperately praying for it to end. Red flowers bloomed before his eyes every now and then, especially when Hidan deliberately pulled it out completely and then thrust himself back inside with a beastly thrust. He pounded him from the inside and aroused himself with perverted remarks.

The royal bastard was nearing his climax. He made no secret of the fact that he didn't care about Sasuke's condition. He was even glad that he was suffering so much, and he felt his resistance weakening. A sign of his victory. In the end, he got what he wanted, as always. He moved his pelvis violently, like an animal on the verge of absolute pleasure, leaning on the headboard with both hands. He didn't need to hold the prince at all. With his last thrusts, he almost fucked him to the edge of the bed. The young man almost fell over. He groaned throatily and almost pierced the southerner through and through as he wanted to thrust his manhood as deep as possible into him. With his senses intoxicated, he ejaculated everything he could into him.

Sasuke was shaking as if he had chills again. Not only had Hidan raped and maimed him, but he had also marked him. He wanted to vomit, but he was too weak even for that. The white-haired bastard clung to his back and panted contentedly in his ear. He didn't pull out until he was completely soft, which took another few minutes. When he finally pulled away and released Sasuke's hole, the bed beneath the two men was stained with red liquid, and a mixture of blood and semen flowed from the prince's anal opening.

The southerner sobbed softly, too paralyzed by pain and humiliation to even move. His eyes were washed with tears, and a nice bruise was slowly beginning to form on his face, while a cut gleamed on his other cheek.

Hidan felt a wonderful sense of satisfaction spreading through his body, mixed with physical and mental gratification. As if in a trance, he pressed his hand between Sasuke's buttocks, causing the boy to whimper as he rubbed against the torn entrance to his body and gathered blood and semen on his fingers. He stood up and walked over to his altar, kneeling before it like the greatest penitent. “Jashin, accept this sacrifice I have made for you.” He wiped the fluid on the sacrificial stone, and the room suddenly darkened. Hidan's whispered prayer echoed in the silence of the room, and it seemed that the bastard's bloodthirsty god had accepted his sacrifice. It slowly disappeared into the stone until there was not even a stain left.

The young Uchiha trembled even more — it was as if the room had suddenly grown cold. He closed his eyelids tightly and curled up into a ball like a beaten, tortured puppy. He choked on his own tears and felt as if his anus had been torn to shreds. His entire lower abdomen was on fire despite the cold that shook his body. He had raped him. He had humiliated him. He took him like the lowest southern whore. He had violently robbed him of what should have been an exceptional and beautiful moment he was supposed to experience with the one he loved. He wanted to die, to fall asleep and never wake up, to detach himself from all the pain.

The scene in the room looked strange. A raped young man huddled in bed and a passionate follower of Jashin in front of his idol, naked, with bloodied hands and lap, praying fervently. Hidan prayed devotedly and zealously. He would give his god anything... anything he asked for. He wanted to please him as much as possible. After many minutes, he turned away and walked over to the bed. "Sasuke, I hope you enjoyed that, because I'm going to fuck you again."

Those words pierced Sasuke like a sharp dagger. His dark eyes, reddened from crying, widened in horror, and for a second it looked like he might faint from fear. With his last ounce of strength, he tried to get as far away from the monster in human form as possible, falling off the bed with a painful moan and trying to crawl away across the cold, dirty floor, leaving a bloody trail behind him, while cruel, mocking laughter rang in his ears.

Hidan was enjoying himself and wanted to scare the young man even more, so he caught up with him in two steps and dragged him back to the bed by his arm. “I'll fuck you so hard that even your own mother won't recognize you,” he promised as he tried to get between his thighs. But the young man was weak, and his resistance soon broke. “You're not much of a whore, you don't spread your legs willingly enough for that, but you're more than good enough for me. Jashin demands much more blood,” he terrified the little one. It wasn't true, his god was fully satisfied.

Sasuke whimpered and moaned, any rough handling of his injured parts was torture, let alone when Hidan wedged his fingers between his buttocks again. This time it was even worse because he laid him on his back, so he had to look into his face. He tried to push him away, pressing his palms against his broad shoulders, but he was exhausted from the constant struggle, blood loss, and pain. He started crying. He knew he was showing weakness, that it was childish, but he couldn't hold it back. He wanted to say something, but only a wheeze came out of his mouth. He couldn't speak; he had shouted himself hoarse.

The white-haired bastard just laughed amusedly at the tears shed. They never moved him enough to regret his actions. Rather, they were always proof that he had done the right thing. He let the little one cry for a while longer. “I haven't seen such bravery in a long time,” he sneered, "but I'll let you go today. My god is sated enough. Call your guard dog to carry you away." He wrapped himself in his robe and went to drink a glass of wine. He was parched after all that fucking.

The black-haired young man felt as if he was about to faint at any moment. Hidan's clarification of the time frightened him. Today... With a trembling hand, he pulled the shreds of his clothes toward him. He wanted to put them on, but it hurt. Every movement hurt. “Ka-ku-zu,” he tried to spell, but he couldn't do it, he couldn't make a single loud sound, he could only croak and whisper. “Kakuzu!” he called desperately, but it was just a broken wheeze that couldn't penetrate the heavy oak door.

Hidan was enjoying Sasuke's predicament and sprawled out on a cushioned chair. He had no intention of lifting a finger for him. He reached for a honey cake. It came in handy. A sweet ending to a wonderful day. “Just try. The dog has its tail between its legs and is afraid to come in.” Perhaps he had never sacrificed royal blood to Jashin before. No wonder he sucked it up so greedily today.

“Kakuzu. Kakuzu!” croaked the young Uchiha, who was already a little paler as he continued to bleed. Not heavily, but still. He was cold and the pain was overwhelming him. He closed his eyes for a moment, it would be so easy to surrender to the darkness... Hidan's malicious voice brought him back to reality:

“If you don't call him, I'll take it as a sign that you want it again.”

Sasuke mobilized all his strength with horror: “KAKUZU!” It wasn't a scream; he simply didn't have the strength for such a loud sound. He just hoped that the nasty bastard behind the door had heard him.

The burly northerner had been pacing behind the door like a restless dog for quite some time. The silence was much more terrifying than the screams. Did he kill him? That question constantly dominated his mind. He heard a muffled voice through the door, which apparently belonged to Hidan, babbling something to his fucking god. But he couldn't hear Sasuke. He resorted to pressing his ear against the door and eavesdropping. He heard the last cry of his name and immediately went inside. It looked worse than he thought!

Sasuke tried to cover his nakedness with the remains of his clothes, but his thighs, smeared with blood up to his knees, were eloquent enough. Cold sweat stood out on his creamy skin, and bruises were already faintly visible on his hips. His eyes were hurt, red from crying, his hair tousled, matted with sweat and tears. His swollen face, with bruises and a bright red cut, underscored his miserable condition. The difference from the young man who had proudly entered these chambers at the beginning of the evening was stark.

Kakuzu stared at the young man like a calf staring at a new gate, barely managing to maintain his favorite stone mask. His lion cub was ravaged, as if an entire army had taken turns on him, not just one madman.

“Take Sasuke to his chambers and do with him as you please,” Hidan ordered the guard. He didn't have all night, even though it was fun to watch Sasuke try to preserve what was left of his pride. He was sure he had shattered it so badly that he would never recover. Someone completely different would return to the south.

The burly northerner swallowed all the words that were on the tip of his tongue and approached the bed.

Sasuke couldn't forget that Kakuzu had left him in the lurch, that he hadn't helped him when he needed it, but he still felt a twinge of gratitude when the brown-haired northerner took his own cloak off his shoulders and wrapped it around him. He couldn't suppress a painful groan when Kakuzu lifted him up like a feather. He couldn't bring himself to look at Hidan, who looked like he was having the best time of his miserable life, but his eyes involuntarily fell on the altar with burning candles. The altar that had soaked up his own blood... His head slid helplessly down Kakuzu's arm as they finally crossed the threshold of those devilish chambers.

The sturdy northern man's footsteps echoed loudly through the rooms, his soles slapping sharply against the cold stone floors. Kakuzu would have preferred to take one of the shortcuts he knew to get to the doctor, but he couldn't carry the torch himself. So he had to stick to the main routes, where the torches were still burning. Why did Hidan live at such a remote end? he grumbled irritably to himself. He was a little angry with himself for letting Sasuke get hurt like this. When he saw him, he... nothing. He doesn't feel sorry for anyone, he scolded himself. Soon he arrived at the servants' wing. He kicked open Kabuto's door. “Get up, we need you!”

To be honest, Sasuke didn't notice much besides flashes of light and darkness through the pain of his broken body, but when Kakuzu burst in and barked at someone, he opened his eyes and was horrified to find that his guard dog had woken the doctor. “No!” he croaked and grabbed Kakuzu's shirt from the front, his grip not as strong as usual, but all the more desperate, “n-no, take me... to the chamber... no one must k-know about this... no one...” Perhaps only the king, but he would talk to him personally if he ever got out of this. All he wanted now was to lick his wounds, alone, without any witnesses to his humiliation.

“Sasuke, in case you haven't noticed, the blood is running down to your ankle,” Kakuzu hissed firmly. He was exaggerating a little, yes, but it definitely wouldn't heal on its own. Now that things had gone so wrong, he had to make sure the young man got out of this mess. What if the angry king had his head cut off just to relieve himself? He definitely saw it as a likely possibility. “Kabuto, get the stitches ready.”

“I don't care... they can't see me like this...” Sasuke whined, but it was too late, because the gray-haired doctor had already woken up from his sleep and was lighting a torch.

Kabuto was used to being woken from his dreams from time to time, because illnesses and injuries usually didn't care whether it was day or night. He threw a cloak over his nightclothes and took a few steps toward the two figures in the doorway. Only in the light of the fire did he recognize the guard and the young southern prince. He whistled softly; the young man looked miserable at first glance, although he couldn't see anything except a swollen face and a cut wound, as he was wrapped in Kakuzu's cloak. “What happened? Did the king have him tortured again?” he wondered.

“No! D-don't say anything... if you say a word...” Sasuke gasped exhaustedly at Kakuzu.

"It was Hidan," Kakuzu said despite the protests, "I need to fix him up, or the king will be furious... maybe he will anyway." He just hoped that the punishment for his head wouldn't be too severe. He wasn't really to blame for anything, although if he had gone against Hidan, the king would have praised him, but the angry bastard might then have secretly taken his life, and he was happy in the north.

Kabuto frowned. It wasn't the first time he had seen a victim of the king's bastard's rampage, but he was surprised that Hidan had dared to injure the prince. The young Uchiha was their only hope for a winter truce with Tänöwill. He closed the door behind the pair. "Put him on the table," he told Kakuzu, clearing the wooden slab.

For such a big man, Kakuzu was surprisingly gentle, but Sasuke still groaned as the brown-haired northerner moved him onto the hard piece of furniture. However, he didn't want to let go of his cloak.

"Sasuke, let it go," he urged the prince emphatically, trying to wrench the fabric from his fingers, but it almost seemed as if they were cramped. "Kabuto needs to treat you." He was tempted to slap the little guy a bit to calm him down. He seemed a little hysterical, like some frantic woman who someone wanted to look at her breasts in a bar. They just wanted to help him.

When they finally managed to free the lion cub from the fabric and rid him of the shreds of his own clothing, Kabuto adjusted his glasses on his nose. At first, he expected to see traces of Hidan's favorite torture — deep cuts, missing pieces of skin, burns from irons. The cut on Sasuke's face was shallow, but it wasn't the reason the gray-haired doctor swallowed hard. The blood was concentrated on the inner thighs, sticking them together, staining the skin scarlet down to the knees. He didn't even have to examine Sasuke to understand how Hidan had toyed with him.

He looked up at Kakuzu. "The Uchihas will eat us alive for this if they find out," he muttered unenthusiastically.

"I don't doubt it. You can't erase memories, can you?" Kakuzu asked, with a tiny hope that the doctor might know something that would help them. All he knew was stuff like hitting someone over the head, maybe that would work. Fuck, couldn't he really resist? Well, it was too late to regret his actions and wonder what might have been. It had already happened, and no one could undo it.

"Only magicians from Nanden, from lands far across the sea to the east, can do that," Kabuto shrugged and tried to spread Sasuke's legs so he could look at the wound, but the cub wasn't willing to spread his thighs in the slightest. He remembered well how many men he had needed to treat his private parts after Ibiki's torture.

He sighed. "I need to hold him down. If you can't do it alone, call a few more guards. Have one of the servants bring some hot water," he instructed Kakuzu and went to prepare everything he needed. A needle, silk, alcohol, cloth, ointment...

Kakuzu looked at the prince, who was glaring at him accusingly and warningly. He snorted and disappeared into the hallway. He was only supposed to watch him; no one said he had to defend him from members of the royal family. He wondered how he could keep this from as many people as possible. He would have liked to call at least Kisame to his aid, but he was on duty today. Damn, he'll have to manage on his own. He summoned a maid to bring hot water immediately and stopped at the storeroom for a few things he would need.

Meanwhile, the medic tried to reason with Sasuke. "Prince, I know it's unpleasant, but your wound needs to be treated," he explained patiently, "you're still bleeding, that's not good. I need to stitch the wound." He tried to wedge his hand between the young man's thighs, but Sasuke whimpered and kicked him like a wounded horse. Kabuto cursed, but when the youngster tried to climb off the table, he pushed him back. He was quite surprised that he still had any strength left; he looked like he was on his last legs. He had the impression that his memories of the north would be quite bad.

A burly northerner burst through the door and saw that Kabuto had not yet dealt with the young man, as expected. He untangled the hemp rope. "Don't look at me like that," he shouted at the surgeon, whose eyebrows shot up, "you said to bring help, so here I am." He was strong enough to hold a runaway horse, but the mare wouldn't need anything sewn up at her butt. For such delicate work, the prince would have to be calm.

Kabuto preferred not to say anything and was just glad that Sasuke had practically no power here in Winterhold. He didn't want to be punished for depriving the prince of his freedom, but there was nothing he could do. With Kakuzu's help, they rolled the lion cub onto his stomach and finally spread his legs before tying them to the table legs at the knees. The wounded boy's cries pierced their ears, and even Sasuke's curses, most of which were directed at the north, were strangely heartbreaking. Soon there was a knock from the maid bringing hot water.

The burly northerner blocked the entire doorway when he opened it for the maid and took the boiling water. He didn't give her a chance to peek into the room, even though the poor girl stretched her neck as far as she could. He slammed the door in her face. He didn't want the prince to suffer even greater shame by having her spread the news around the fortress. Something would leak out anyway. "Kabuto, get started so we can get this over with as quickly as possible." Hidan saved them some work by tying Sasuke's hands. They didn't have to bother with that, just securing the loose end to the table.

Because it was night, the gray-haired doctor had to bring as many candles as possible to the table to have enough light, and he just prayed that Sasuke wouldn't throw himself around too much and knock one over. He would have preferred to give him an opium decoction, both to relieve the pain and to make him fall asleep, but the problem was that it took effect slowly, and he didn't dare let him bleed for so long. He would give it to him later so that he could at least sleep a little for the rest of the night.

He dipped a sea sponge in hot water and began washing the fresh and dried blood from his thighs to see if he had any wounds after all. However, it seemed that all the red liquid came from a single source. He took a deep breath and nodded to Kakuzu. "Spread his buttocks," he ordered.

Kakuzu sighed. He would never have believed what he would do in his lifetime. Defending his country proudly, guarding the southern prince like a dog, and now assisting in stitching up his butt. With a bitter expression, he spread his firm buttocks apart until the young man whimpered in pain and red drops rolled out of the wounds again. Today was a first. He had never had the opportunity to see anything like this up close, and honestly... he would rather have done without it.

Kabuto examined the torn rectum. He had seen a few torn asses that had fallen into Hidan's hands, but the bastard had never been this brutal to anyone before. If someone had told him that Sasuke had been raped by a murdebear, he would have believed it; he must have really taken him like an animal. "Nasty wound," he said quietly, dipping the cloth in alcohol. "Winterhold is my home... but sometimes I'm ashamed of some northerners. Now hold him tight."

A desperate cry of pain pierced the room as the pungent liquid met the open wounds. Sasuke could no longer produce such a loud sound with his destroyed vocal cords, but it still echoed, and the boy writhed in Kakuzu's grip until the ropes creaked.

The brown-haired northerner didn't have to hold the young man as tightly as if he wasn't tied up. He tightened all the ropes firmly. He watched Kabuto's deft work. There was something almost fascinating about how he managed to sew something that was barely visible by the light of candles and torches. With his clumsy hands, he would be more likely to chop off a cow's head than sew something so delicate.

***

In the next chapter:

"Next time, you shouldn't resist."

"Under your command, Tänöwill lost a member of the royal family."

"Surrender your sword."

"Your Highness, I don't deserve such a title."

"You understand what that means, don't you?"

Chapter Text

Kabuto's fingers worked the needle and silk in a learned way. It was difficult in such a tight space, more than once he had to unwittingly stick a finger up the cub's ass to make sure he was only sewing the outer muscles, if he overdid it he might do more harm than good. He was sweating, not that he wasn't. In the candlelight you could see his forehead swarming with clear droplets, but his eyes were steady and focused behind the lenses of his glasses. Sasuke's cries didn't faze him; he was used to the screams of patients. It had taken what felt like an eternity, and Hidan's work had only required a total of five stitches, two and three in two places, but the smaller the wounds, the more precise the stitches had to be in a delicate spot.

At last, instead of scraped tissue, one could see artful stitching. Kabuto washed the tortured anus with a warm chamomile decoction to remove blood, semen and soothe the scratched and abraded mucous membrane. The wounds still bled a little, but only slightly. He added an ointment of jindava and calendula, lubricated the poor whimpering squeaky thing inside as well, and pressed a clean mule between its cheeks.

He disinfected the wound on his face, inspected the bruises on his body with a disgruntled squint, and advised Kakuzu to put a cold compress on his swollen face in the chamber. “Let him drink all of this,” and he placed the bottle of opium in his hand.

The burly northerner freed the prince from his bonds and wrapped the poor man in his cloak. "Thanks, Kabuto, I'll see you in the morning, but I don't think I need to tell you that," nodding his thanks for his work, he made his way to Sasuke's chambers. They walked through the cool corridors and Sasuke was strangely quiet for someone who had been whining and moaning earlier. He looked haggard, as if he'd been through intense weapons training and a long horseback ride. He wasn't talking to him. There was a quiet tension between them that was almost deafening.

Sasuke got the impression that if he had ever reached the bottom of his powers, it was now. As Kakuzu gently laid him down in his chamber, he curled up in a defensive position under his fur. In this position, he looked even tinier, more vulnerable, and more lost than ever on the large bed. He shook with pain, grief and humiliation, and sobbed softly. His head ached with dehydration, his lips were dry and his eyes burned with tears, his throat was also raw as his vocal cords had been injured, but worst of all was the still lingering sharp pain in sensitive places. He tried to tell himself it was over, it was over, but it wasn't helping. It had happened - Hidan had raped him. How could he live with that now?

Kakuzu walked over to the young man and placed a large, warm paw on his shoulder. He felt the urge to express his empathy somehow. Yes, he looked like a boulder, but he felt sorry for the young man. He looked abused... What was he talking about? He didn't feel sorry for Sasuke at all, not even a little. He'd seen many of Hidan's victims, and he didn't treat anyone like a prince. He wanted to open his mouth to say he was sorry. Instead, something else came out: “Next time, you shouldn't resist.”

The young Uchiha vowed never to speak to Kakuzu again. Not that he'd ever consider him a friend or anything, but... after all... in the back of his mind, he sort of hoped that he might have cared for him maybe a little in the time they'd spent together. Just a sliver. But no. He'd betrayed him, hadn't lifted a finger to help him, and tied him up like a cattle. He didn't want to see him, didn't want to talk to him... But what he said scared him enough that he had to break that decision. Frightened, he raised his dark eyes to him. "N-next time...?" He breathed.

"The fact that you survived means Hidan will want you again. He always does that with his victims. With him, it's better if you die right away. He has a way of messing with his victims." Maybe the king himself will come to some sort of sensible conclusion and banish Hidan for this. Everyone would be relieved to not have to see that bastard anymore.

Sasuke felt his throat tighten until he couldn't speak. It was unimaginable that he would have to relive the horror again... or more! "He can't," he finally managed to hiss, "h-he just can't..." The king must have decreed that nothing could happen to him. He must talk to him about it, he mustn't let it happen.

"Hidan doesn't ask if he can or not. Here, drink this," Kakuzu handed the young man the bottle, but the little one was so weak it would have fallen out of his hand. He propped his head up and put the bottle to his lips. "What are you waiting for?" He tried to nudge the young man to drink the painkiller. Only the boy looked completely shocked.

"N-no, no, let me... I have to see the king..." pushed Sasuke him away lamely. He originally wanted to wait until morning, but after what he heard from Kakuzu, he couldn't delay. Raikage had to stop this, now! "Let go!" He protested, but no sooner had he tried to lift himself up into a sitting position than a cruel stab ran through him. "That hurts," escaped him desperately.

"Drink it, or I'll pour it down your throat by force," Kakuzu threatened gruffly. Waking the king now at night was tantamount to suicide. He was already grumpy during the day, he didn't want to see the look on his face at midnight. "Everything can wait until morning and nothing will get away from you. You wouldn't have missed three steps anyway," he warned him that he was physically down and it wasn't a good time to go out.

Sasuke had no choice, Kakuzu pried his jaws apart, he had to swallow. It was bitter, but not nearly as bad as the nasty concoctions they made him drink when he had pneumonia. Once the opium medicine disappeared down his throat, Kakuzu finally seemed satisfied. “T-then bring him...” he huffed, his eyes searching the northerner's, “bring him... if you have the balls, at least for now.”

The burly northerner growled like an irritated bear. He would have thrown himself at the murdebear to show his boldness. He would have laughed in the eyes of the gods and urinated on their idols, but to go and wake the king? That's like going to tease the Dark Lord with a hazel wand. He wondered what he should do and not completely throw himself off. He didn't want to be called a coward. “Alright, I'll bring him,” he sighed and got up to leave.

The young Uchiha breathed a sigh of relief. Something at least. He watched as Kakuzu walked away deliberately. He was feeling bad. The pain slashed through him almost as much as the chills, and whenever he thought about what had happened that night, an icy hand gripped his insides and his eyes filled with tears of their own accord. He tried to suppress them, tried to calm himself, to preserve some last shred of dignity for when Kakuzu and the king returned, but it was hard.

His bottom ached as if someone had impaled him on a red-hot spit, and his lower abdomen twitched now and then with pain. He waited for the Raikage, mentally trying to formulate the sentences he would say to him. He didn't know how long he waited, but gradually he began to feel strange. His head was spinning a little and he was starting to feel sleepy. But most important of all, the pain had dulled its edges a little. So where the hell is Kakuzu?! He tried to stay awake, but sleep was so merciful compared to reality... He just closes his eyes for a moment. Just for a moment...

Kakuzu leaned against the wall in the hallway, waiting for the little one inside to fall asleep. He made no effort to follow through on his words. Everything would wait until morning. After staring at the opposite wall for a long time, he slipped inside like a mouse, to the point of being unbelievable given his stature. He reached the bed and stripped off. Knowing the prince, he would need a lot of warming up. He lifted the furs and slipped under the covers behind the lion cub. He was fighting like leodemon today, but it still wasn't enough. He gently brushed the black hair back from his face and let him press against himself. Today would be a day long etched in his memory, and he only hoped that this unpleasantness with Hidan would indeed be the last, but he had a nagging suspicion...

~~~

*southern troops returning to the royal city*

The sunlight streamed through the tall, narrow, stained-glass windows, casting fantastic patterns on the polished black marble floor with its soft, gilded green carpet. The gold, in fact, dominated the decoration of the whole elegant hall, as airy and bright as a day in the south itself. In the arcades at the sides of the room and in the galleries above, large groups of chattering courtiers were gathered. They were whispering urgently, talking among themselves, disputing and arguing, until the whole hall was filled with more noise than the waves of the sea washing the shores not far beyond the palace walls.

Up on a raised platform, with several steps leading up to it, stood the Pearl Throne - a magnificent golden chair with mother-of-pearl decoration, shaped like a golden water lily. In it sat Madara Uchiha himself, the first of his name, the King of Tänöwill. He was in his late forties, but his thick, rich mane of black hair without a single grey hair made him look younger than he really was. Perhaps the burly figure of a demigod with muscles of steel also added to this. Though a king, Madara had never succumbed to the temptations of too much good food and drink, and constant training in battle and on horseback had made him lean and strong. He wore a gown of red-gold silk tied with a belt bearing the Uchiha family crest, and on his head sat a crown resembling a rather simple but elegant golden tiara inlaid with mother-of-pearl and opals. Even under normal circumstances this man was respectable, the natural authority of his personality enhanced by his illustrious war record and reputation as a consummate diplomat, a stern but fair ruler, a learned politician and a cool warrior.

Even if some fool had not responded to his natural charisma, the huge black lion Zephyr sprawled at his feet as a symbol of power, his eyes like two impenetrable emeralds measuring the man on his knees in front of the stairs, his tail flicking restlessly.

The grey haired army commander, with his eye patch, meekly bowed his head to the ground. His dress and armour showed that he had covered many miles in the dust of the roads and the mischief of the weather. He reckoned that after such a long march they would be left to wash and refresh themselves. Instead, almost immediately after dismounting, he was to report to the throne room. The king was certainly not idle. Surely he wanted to hear about the battle and the losses immediately. The hawks could only bring back dry and brief information. For a month he had been wondering how the king would look when he returned. Under his command, they lost one of the Uchiha. According to the hierarchy, he was one of the least important, so he was betting heavily on it. "Your Majesty..."

Madara Uchiha's dark indigo eyes were as unreadable as his leodemon's, and his mouth was completely unsmiling as he looked down at his troop leader who had lost an eye in battle.

“Hatake Kakashi,” the velvety, dangerous voice of the king crackled through the room, which was enough to instantly quiet the whispers in the hall that a pinhead could be heard to fall on the black marble. If the gray-haired man thought his military victories would wash away what Madara considered a transgression, he was wrong. The black-haired king was not in the habit of beating around the bush. "Under your command, Tänöwill lost a member of the royal family. You let my nephew fall into Norse captivity, and in doing so you weakened the position of the entire south. The royal family is the symbol of the country, and it was your duty to protect it at all costs,“ Madara threw in his face mercilessly, ”what words will you utter in your defense?"

Kakashi swallowed hard. This was bad. He had assumed that his brothers were most important to the king, who were his support and mentors, and he had never felt that he had any attachment to the younger generation. "Your Highness, I have done everything I can to protect your nephew. I defended him with my own body..." he spoke to the hushed hall.

A short distance away from Madara on the lower dais, someone snorted in protest. It was Itachi, who felt that Kakashi could have done much more. It still stung that they had detained him and not let go at the barbaric northerners to rip his brother from their ugly clutches.

“Indeed?” The irony dripped from Madara's voice like the sweet honey of southern bees. His eyebrows barely lifted, yet his expression hardened and his eyes flashed with an icy glint that would have flattered the peaks of the Polar Mountains far to the north. He slowly turned his head to his younger brother, who sat in the ornately carved chair to his right. “Fugaku, would you kindly remind Lord Hatake of the words of his oath?” He asked.

If Madara's expression was for the most part unreadable, Fugaku's face was all too readable. It was his son, after all, who was now imprisoned in Winterhold, and concern for him marred his face with a pale tinge, yet he regarded the silver-haired soldier with fixed anger and contempt. Beside his chair, the leodemon Morger sat as still as a statue, his green eyes fixed on Kakashi. “I place my fate in the hands of my king,” Fugaku replied promptly, "I accept this sword and swear to use it to defend my sovereign, the royal family, and my entire realm, even at the cost of my life. My life is service. My body is steel. My blood is the tears of my enemies. From this moment until my last breath." In Tänöwill, knights were given a new sword when they were knighted - usually forged from tänöwill steel with a hilt inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

Madara nodded slightly to Fugaku as a sign of thanks and turned his eyes back to Kakashi. “To defend the royal family... even at the cost of my life,” he repeated the words of the oath slowly, the black embers of his eyes burning under the silver-haired man's skin, accusing him. “Tell me, then, how it is that you kneel here at my feet - alive and well - while your prince lingers in Norse captivity?” he hissed. He did not shout. Madara rarely shouted; he didn't need to. The dangerous pitch of his voice didn't need to raise in volume for everyone in the hall to hear.

The army commander's heart fell somewhere deep in his pants. He had never been afraid to go up against a horde of enemies, to face the weather in full armour, to make tough decisions, but to be rebuked by Madara himself was a testament to many things. He was beginning to get the feeling that he wasn't going to get out of here alive and get hacked to pieces by one of the leodemons. The tradition said that anyone who felt the grip of their jaws never survived, and whispers liked to spread these things around, rooted in the exaggeration that anyone who fell into disfavor was eaten alive, torn apart and mauled. Today, the rumors become reality. He must try to talk himself out of it. "Yes, Your Highness, I remember my oath. You entrusted me with your army and your nephews to fight the northerners. I tried to accomplish my task with all my might... I understand that I failed you. I will accept my punishment, whatever it may be," he added humbly, hoping that his pity and his efforts to bring out a shred of understanding in the king would save his life.

There were whispers in the throne room as the courtiers began to lean in again, arguing about what the king would do with Hatake. Some were betting on certain death, others argued that Kakashi was a member of too high a nobility for that. Madara quieted the murmur with a single lazy motion of a raised forearm, and everyone began to prick up their ears again to make sure they didn't miss a word. The king leaned forward slightly and placed his palm on his leodemon's head. Zephyr yielded to his hand, but did not take his eyes off the kneeling man. A low growl escaped his throat.

“Itachi informed me that you and my nephew had some sort of argument,” Madara stated quietly, looking at Hatake searchingly, "were the arguments the cause of your oath breaking? Have you forgotten what your position is - beneath my nephew? Have you lost respect for your prince? Or did you not consider him important enough to warrant your efforts to save him?"

"No, Your Majesty, I have treated Sasuke with the respect he is due... The disputes have mostly been over his discipline. I tried to impart the art of war to him as you instructed. I would never have dared to involve any intrigue in his rescue. I did everything I could to save him." He could have sent a large party of horsemen to the north, who might or might not find the prince or fight the northern dogs for him. Faced with the king, he saw that he should have done it. It would certainly look better than waiting with folded arms in camp.

“Everything... except perhaps laying down your own life, as your oath commanded, or perhaps sending soldiers to rescue him,” Madara snorted ironically, and several of the courtiers chuckled nervously. Zephyr slowly stood up ominously. A quiet, eerie symphony resembling a distant roar of wind echoed from deep within his massive chest.

Madara Uchiha frowned. The hawk with the message of Sasuke's capture had arrived too late. By then, he could not simply order the pursuit of the northerners - they were too far away. The black-haired king straightened on his throne. “Rise, Hatake Kakashi.”

The grey-haired, dusty and tired army commander rose and stood proudly. If he was to be punished, it would be with his head held high and his heart not sinking. Maybe he really did make a mistake this time, but it happened. He just didn't know if he should be more afraid of Madara or his leodemon, who looked like he wouldn't mind jumping down his throat. For once even outside of the fight he was glad for the armor on his chest, one couldn't see his heart beating nervously. It was a wonder it wasn't beating against the iron decorated plate and wire shirt.

“Lord Hatake,” Madara addressed him again formally, signifying that the sentence was about to be pronounced, "you have entrusted your fate to your king, hear therefore my sentence: you have dishonoured the honour of your position, and have failed to do the duty which your oath enjoined upon you. You have endangered the position of Tänöwill. You are no longer worthy to wear the sword of chivalry. I strip you of your title and your position as commander-in-chief of the army. The estates of Holygrove, Dewold and the Blue Moors will be forfeited to the Crown. You may retain the Deley estate. You have led our armies to victory many times, and your king is merciful." Madara's lips curled icily, "You will continue to be reassigned as commander of the city guard. Surrender your sword."

Several nobles in the gallery chuckled. The Deley estate was a tiny castle, more like a larger farm, and the commander of the city guard was an insignificant position in the court.

Kakashi was so shocked he didn't move. He couldn't believe that with just a snap of his fingers, the king had stripped him of all his possessions and knocked him from his brightest position to the bottom. The post of commander of the city guard didn't have a good reputation and no one liked the man in that position. He would never look at the palace again, if only the king would let him call him. He doubted he would ever want to see him again. Apparently he had taken too long. Two members of the royal guard approached him and took the sword they had placed in Madara's hands. He opened his mouth to at least try to put up some sort of defense against such a harsh punishment, but the king's icy stare choked any words in his throat. Did he really care that much for his nephew?

There was a look of satisfaction on Fugaku's face. Punishing Kakashi might not remove his worry and grief, but it did at least ease the terrible feeling of helplessness a little. Personally, he still advocated physical chastisement in full view of the entire Dorwine, but Izuna reminded them that Kakashi had too many military victories under his belt. The Small Council already felt that Hatake's punishment was too severe, but Madara was strangely adamant.

“I expect you to plead for Sasuke's happy return in all your prayers from now on, Hatake Kakashi,” the king continued, his black eyes fixed on the silver-haired man's stricken face. “After all, it is in your own interest,” he added quietly and dangerously, “I assure you that if my nephew dies in Northern captivity... the last thing you will see in this world will be my smile as I personally cut out your other eye and see to it that you die in excruciating pain.” As a confirmation of Madara's words, Zephyr's warning growl echoed through the throne room. The lion's roar could give anyone less hardened the creeps.

Itachi didn't blink an eye, sizing Hatake up with a frown. It was obvious on his face that his only regret was that Madara had personally claimed the privilege of torturing Kakashi in case something happened to Sasuke.

Kakashi bowed stiffly at the king's beckoning and was about to leave. His gaze still managed to wander to the row of Uchiha where his most beloved stood. He could sense the same shock on his face that he still felt inside himself. With the stride of a newly humbled noble, he walked out of the throne room. He did not head for the city barracks, but for the gardens. He wanted to seek solace and peace there after the shock. He did not look much at the courtiers and nobles standing around as he left, yet he did not escape the vengeful and mocking sneers. It was beautiful to see the rotten elite chasing after nothing but tinsel. He sat down on a stone bench. He would wait for Shisui.

“My Lords and Ladies,” Madara's voice soothed the noise that had occurred after Kakashi's departure as everyone had to comment on the news amongst themselves. Zephyr lay back down at Madara's feet. “I'm afraid the position of army commander has now become vacant,” the eldest Uchiha stated, and nearly every man in the hall perked their ears and puffed out their chests in a rush as it became clear what was to come. “The armies of the south cannot be without their general,” the king of Tänöwill replied afterwards, his gaze slowly sweeping over the clusters of nobles in the room, "I would like to offer this honorable position now to a man who has served the Crown long, faithfully, and honorably, and who attends all the most important military councils. A man who has taught the princes of the south the art of war with the sword. A man whose devotion and bravery gives courage to every soldier in the army. Come forward, Yamato Tenzou."

Yamato almost stared at Madara with his mouth open. He could barely keep it closed. He hadn't expected anything like this. He thought the king would choose someone more suitable, someone more noble. He felt too ordinary for such a fate. Yet their ruler was not exaggerating when he said why he wanted to grant him this title. He slowly stepped before the throne, but did not take the sword. Instead, he knelt on one knee. “Your Highness, I don't deserve such a title. I must therefore refuse. I know it is presumptuous, but please give the sword to someone else. I want to continue serving you where I am.”

A murmur spread through the throne room, both indignant and astonished. Some of the more prominent nobles whispered among themselves, wondering why Yamato, who did not belong to the high nobility, should be given such an important position, while others found his refusal strange.

However, the king seemed completely oblivious to his courtiers. He thoughtfully sized up the kneeling brown-haired man and casually stroked his leodemon's thick mane with one hand. “I decide who is worthy of what position. Why are you convinced that you do not deserve this title?” he finally asked Yamato.

“If I accepted, I would no longer be able to travel north as your messenger. I could no longer be your voice and travel,” Yamato said calmly. As commander of the army, he would have to remain with the troops and forget about trips to the enemy. Moreover, it wasn't just a glamorous position involving invitations to various balls and parties full of food, drink, and the cream of society, but it was also a great responsibility. He would have to make decisions for thousands of men. Plan and strategically assess future battles. He always wanted to be by Sasuke's side, as his partner and guardian. He wanted nothing more.

Itachi licked his lips thoughtfully. He knew why Yamato didn't want to be the commander of the army and would rather be an ordinary envoy. After all, his relationship with Sasuke was something of an open secret. He looked curiously at his uncle. Madara didn't like it when someone contradicted him, but on the other hand, it probably wouldn't be practical to force Yamato to do so.

Madara ran the tip of his index finger over the ornate sword on his knees and kept his eyes on the brown-haired man. Everyone was waiting for his decision. “Very well,” he finally nodded, “I release you from this obligation. You may leave.” As soon as Tenzou bowed and thanked him and walked away, Madara himself stood up and looked around the courtyard. “Dear sirs and ladies,” he addressed everyone present, “The Small Council will discuss this matter in the coming days and select the most suitable candidate for the newly vacant position. You may now disperse.”

There was a commotion as groups of nobles, larger or smaller clusters, or individuals slowly left the hall. Madara turned to his family. "I will convene the Small Council this evening. I want you all to be present in the Council Chamber. Itachi, Shisui, I know you are tired from your journey. Go bathe and refresh yourselves, and I will expect you at seven o'clock."

***

Kakashi sat in the garden, playing with the stem of a blossoming flower between his fingers. It smelled wonderful, yet it failed to cheer him up. The place at his waist suddenly felt strangely empty. He felt out of place. He had been the commander of the army for many years. He had served his king faithfully, and now he was being discarded like a mangy dog. He was disappointed and angry at the same time. At himself and at Madara. But the past cannot be changed, and he cannot conjure up the young prince with a snap of his fingers. In this strange state of mind, he heard footsteps approaching. He quickly got up. “Shisui...”

The oldest young man of the last generation of Uchihas looked around discreetly, as if to make sure no one was nearby. “Come to the gazebo,” he urged Kakashi to move to a nearby wooden structure overgrown with camellias. It seemed that only in the safety of the privacy that the hidden spot provided did Shisui relax a little. He looked up at Hatake. “This is pretty screwed up,” he said, sitting halfway on the wide wooden railing. “I didn't think my uncle would be so... so strict. But when I think about it, he always kind of favored Sasuke.”

“I didn't expect such a harsh punishment.” To be honest, Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if the king had him imprisoned. It seemed that only his blue blood and previous merits had saved his life. “Yes, I may have made a mistake, but the city guard? I might as well be a farmer,” he said with considerable exaggeration. His livelihood had shrunk to a pittance compared to what it used to be.

Shisui licked his lips and looked thoughtfully at Kakashi. Yes, that was exactly what he was thinking. Now he was just an ordinary commander of the city guard. Instead of war strategies and grand battles, he would be dealing with drunken brawls and thefts at fish markets. It was a steep fall from being a respected nobleman and general to a nobody in the Dorwine guard. He sighed. “You understand what that means, don't you?” he said quietly, “you won't be living in the palace anymore...”

“I'll probably have to make do with the city barracks and my old-new residence,” replied the gray-haired man wearily, rubbing his face. He looked up at his lover, who looked thoughtful. “Will the guards let me into the palace to see you, or will I have to jump over the garden walls?” he asked, trying to sound cheerful. Visiting each other would be difficult, but not impossible. “Shisui, has something happened?” he asked, puzzled.

***

In the next chapter:

“It was nice with you.”

“Bastard... we should have executed him.”

“As long as Mäelys is alive, Sasuke is alive too.”

“Enough!”

“You want to join forces with Elinion...?”

Chapter Text

Shisui bit his lip. "You don't understand, do you?" he muttered reluctantly and reached for a red camellia blossom. "Kakashi, you've been demoted. Not only are you banned from the palace unless you have something to discuss with the king... But the two of us can no longer see each other. I am the prince of Tänöwill. It would be inappropriate for someone to see us together," he said evasively. He liked Kakashi, he was good in bed, but... now he was nobody.

For the second time that day, Kakashi was completely stunned. Shisui had just told him that he was no longer interested in him because of his position? "I thought we loved each other. Shisui, I love you. You're not going to throw away everything we've been through just because I'm becoming commander of the guards?" He couldn't believe it and felt like he was in a very bad dream. He tried to grab his lover's hand, but he pulled away.

"It was nice with you," Shisui admitted, adjusting Kakashi's coat, which was a little crooked, "you're good in bed, I liked fucking you. But you know, what use is a lover to me in the stinking alleys behind the palace walls? I want someone noble, someone I can have close by all the time and who I wouldn't be embarrassed with if someone caught me with him." He wasn't as good a diplomat as Itachi, he didn't know how to sugarcoat harsh words.

The gray-haired man's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe how Shisui had failed the first test of their relationship. He had proven himself to be superficial and hypocritical. "Shisui..." he breathed in amazement. This was a really hard blow. Madara's punishment was partly deserved, but the blow from his lover was mean and sudden. He felt betrayed, perhaps even worse than when he lost his eye. That had felt like death, but he had a good vision that he would recover, but from this? He would never recover from this. "Please tell me this is a joke." Uchiha sometimes had a strange sense of humor.

"I wish," Shisui shrugged. If he had any remorse, it was only slight. After all, that's how it was—he was a prince. Kakashi no longer had any status. He couldn't just hook up with anyone. Sure, visiting a brothel here and there was tolerated, but not a serious relationship with someone of low birth.

He approached Hatake and pulled his face toward him. He kissed the completely stunned man on the mouth and provocatively ran his tongue over his lips before pulling away. "Don't worry," he whispered in his ear, "if you ever return to court, there will be a place for you in my bed. Until then, thanks for everything, Kakashi."

Kakashi's knees buckled and he slumped down onto a nearby bench. With wide eyes, he watched the receding back of the one who should not have betrayed him and kicked him aside like a stray dog. He felt terrible. In his mind, he cursed all the gods, even those he didn't pray to, for allowing this to happen. If Sasuke hadn't been captured, nothing like this would have happened. On the other hand, Shisui's true face had been revealed to him, and it was very ugly and superficial. In a moment, he might pull himself together and go see his new workplace.

***

The sun was still in the sky, though much lower now, coloring the western sky pink. In the south, it was getting dark late, even though the days were getting shorter with the coming winter. Orange rays fell diagonally into the Council Chamber, much less ornate than the throne room, yet still breathtaking with its many colorful mosaics and paintings.

"We should immediately equip the army and march north," Itachi declared, urgency evident in his black eyes. "We still haven't received a response from Winterhold to our first message—it may already be too late!"

"Exactly, Itachi. It may already be too late," Izuna gently reminded his nephew, "and if it is too late, it would be foolish to waste more lives."

Fugaku fidgeted with his quill, and he himself most wanted to lead a large party north and recapture his son. The rashness of youth had been replaced by the experience gained with age. "The journey north takes a very long time, and Nordstone itself is far to the north. Before we get there, the roads will be covered with snow and ice. Our horses will break their legs and our men will freeze to death. If we had the creatures spoken of in legends, it would be much easier, but unless you have two dozen hippogriffs, Itachi, it would be madness to venture there." He was too tormented by his son's fate, and it was clear from his face that he hadn't slept a wink in a month. "If only Kakashi had done what he was supposed to do! Everything could have been different."

"I tried to make him do it," Itachi growled, his hands clenching into fists in anger as he was still burning with memories of how arrogantly Kakashi had refused his insistence that they set out immediately after Sasuke. "Bastard... we should have executed him."

"It's not that easy, Itachi," Hayate, the treasurer, interjected. He still looked sick and frail, but he understood numbers like no one else. "His Majesty may have unlimited power, but you know very well that ruling must be based on the people... and the nobility. And Hatake was a member of the high nobility. If the king started executing nobles for minor missteps..."

"Minor missteps?!" Itachi interrupted loudly, "My brother, the prince of Tänöwill, may be being tortured somewhere in the north right now, and you call that a minor misstep?!" He turned to Fugaku. "Father... we can't just sit here with our arms folded and do nothing! Sasuke's life may be in danger!"

Fugaku looked thoughtful. He had turned this idea over in his mind many times and pondered what to do. "The only thing protecting him is his origin. Raikage surely knows that he has a treasure in his hands, and no one will harm him. He can demand anything for Sasuke. I hope it turns out the same as when we captured his son, and soon a hawk will fly in with a message. Does the royal treasury have enough gold?" he asked the treasurer.

"Hehe, it's a good thing Sasuke is so small. They should fatten him up in the north so they can get more gold for him," chuckled Shisui, picking dirt from under his fingernails with a knife. The loss of Sasuke was a big problem, he understood that, and in a way he felt sorry for his cousin, even though he sometimes annoyed him.

Itachi shot his cousin a scorching glance, but no one responded to his remark.

"The royal treasury has enough gold, even though we'll have to cover the losses in the army and pay the mercenaries' wages," Hayate shrugged, "of course, it also depends on the amount of the ransom. If they want to ransom the young prince with gold, it shouldn't be a problem, but it would be worse if they wanted to pay in pearls, for example..."

"Great, really great," Itachi said angrily, "we have to wait Gods knows how long without a single piece of evidence that my brother is still alive..."

"Itachi, we do have proof that Sasuke is alive. Mäelys. You know very well that the bond between a leodemon and its master is so strong that they both die on the same day," Izuna reminded him, "as long as Mäelys is alive, Sasuke is alive too."

Itachi had to admit this argument was valid, even though he didn't like it. "But who knows what they'll do to him there..." he objected with concern. "The northerners are capable of anything. What if they cripple him? He's your nephew, uncle!"

"I haven't forgotten that for a moment, Itachi," Izuna assured him.

Madara sat very quietly at the head of the table, his fingers intertwined to support his chin. His eyes darted from one man to another. He always listened more than he spoke at meetings. He evaluated, considered, and thought.

However, there was one woman in the room who loved the lost family member the most. She was his mother. She still couldn't get over the fact that she had lost her son. She didn't like fighting like this. It was pointless and stupid, but the men still wouldn't listen and continued their childish squabbling with the north. She constantly went to check on Mäelys, even though in recent days the leodemon had taken over her chambers and lay next to her lioness. He looked so sad, and neither comfort nor a delicious piece of meat could cheer him up. She looked at Madara with sad dove eyes. He was the leader of this family and country, and she hoped he would not leave her son at the mercy of the northerners.

"As Fugaku said, the roads to Nordstone will soon be impassable for the army," argued Izuna, "and besides, even if you, Itachi, managed to get your army to the Stone Fortress itself, that castle is high up in the mountains and our army is not used to fighting in the snow. The siege would take months, even assuming the northerners didn't defend themselves, which is ridiculous. Besides, it's thousands of miles away from here, how would you supply the soldiers? They would starve before the city did."

"So you just want to wait and see what condition Sasuke is in, or if they'll even return him to us?" Itachi retorted combatively, "That's your strategy - to do nothing?"

Izuna was about to protest when Madara's voice rang out: "Enough!"

All the Uchihas fell silent, and the eyes of everyone present obediently turned to the king.

Madara raised his head. "If I believed that our army could successfully pass through the northern wilderness and engage the Winterholdians, I would not hesitate," he said, nodding to Itachi. "But Izuna is right. Our troops cannot do this. Don't interrupt me, Itachi," he scolded his nephew when he saw him about to object. "But there is another way to the north. A longer way... but safer. A way that, at best, would not weaken our army... but strengthen it," he suggested.

Fugaku held his breath. "You want to join forces with Elinion...?" he exhaled.

Izuna looked at his older brother, half admiringly, half thoughtfully. "It would take a long time... almost three months. The Nereder Desert is impassable at this time of year, so we would have to send troops through the Southern Savannahs, the Athyen Valley, the Palm Plains. Even after crossing the Elwin Isthmus, they would still have to traverse the Sharpridges. Only westerners know the passes there, and even then it would still be a long way to Nordston. All this assuming that Elinion would accommodate us."

"In order for Elinion to join us, we must offer them something they have long desired..." Fugaku said meaningfully, looking at his brother and nephew. "As you are surely aware, Mei of Grass Castle desires a prominent husband. There are four men here whom we could offer her. In exchange for the promise of marriage, she will surely help us." He hated to think that they would have to sacrifice one of them to go west to the queen of the grassy plains. But it seemed there was no other choice. Perhaps they would even buy her for a nice sack of gold. However, he was sure she would want to get everything she could out of such a deal. "Do you want to play with matches like we did when we were young?" he asked with a very slight hint of humor.

There was complete silence at the conference table for a few moments, which was finally broken by Itachi: "Father... if it helps us get Sasuke back, then I... I'll marry her."

"Don't be silly, Itachi," Izuna shook his head and looked a little more sour, "your father sees four possibilities. I see only two. Madara is king, if he married Mei, it would mean the union of the kingdoms, and I don't think that dragoness would want to give up her throne. Your father is married, and if... hmm..." He glanced briefly at his eldest brother. "If Madara leaves no heir, it is very likely that you will one day sit on the Pearl Throne. So what would be the point of you going to Elinion?"

"You mean..." Itachi whispered.

"...that only I or Shisui are being considered," Izuna muttered.

"There is a fifth possibility," Hayate interjected, "the youngest prince, Sasuke. If the two allied armies could rescue him from captivity, he could marry the queen. He is from an important lineage and could one day become the king's brother."

"Sasuke won't like that very much," Itachi remarked.

"He wouldn't like anything that doesn't have a dick between its legs," Shisui remarked sourly. He didn't like the idea of getting married. He had heard that the Queen of Elinion was a pretty vixen, but in his opinion, she was already old. He didn't want an old hag who would hang around his neck until her death and nag him about his reign.

"Shisui," Fugaku hissed unpleasantly, still quite indignant that his son was hanging out with his sword teacher. He had been assured that he didn't have to worry about his descendants, but when he saw how things were going with Madara, he was a little afraid. It was necessary for their family to grow, not shrink. "Izuna should marry you off as soon as possible." He felt that his brother was giving him more and more freedom and was pretty much letting him do whatever he wanted.

"I wouldn't say Sasuke is the only one who prefers the male body," Madara said quietly, staring intently at his eldest nephew. "I hope you made it clear to Hatake in the gardens today how things stand." He saw the surprise spread across Shisui's face that he knew about their meeting. "Don't cast stones if you are not without sin yourself. And if you have no useful suggestions on how to get your cousin back, there is no need for you to be here, Shisui," he continued in a warning tone.

"Come on, gentlemen," Izuna intervened with a cough. "Shisui, kindly keep your comments to yourself if they are not relevant," he said, not wanting to appear unable to control his son. "Let's get back to the topic at hand. Who are we going to offer Mei?"

"It's like throwing one of you into the jaws of a crocodile. You or your son. Maybe we'll flip a coin..." Fugaku said grumpily. If he chooses Izuna, he condemns his brother to an unpleasant life far from his native dunes. If he chooses Shisui... he is young. He has a lot ahead of him, but he is not as close to him as his brother. "Let's vote," he said aloud after a long pause. "I vote for Shisui."

Madara had the power to decide, of course, but he didn't want to. His father, Tajima Uchiha, never listened much to his advisors and mainly followed his own instincts. People feared him, but his power was stubborn and forced. He was a tyrant. Madara, however, wanted to be smarter. "I vote for Shisui," he said calmly, having come to the same conclusion as Fugaku.

Itachi swallowed hard. He hated this whole decision-making process, but... Sasuke was the most important for him. He was willing to pay almost any price for his freedom. "I vote for uncle Izuna," he muttered reluctantly.

Hayate licked his lips thoughtfully. He would have preferred to offer Sasuke to the queen, but if not him, then he thought they should come up with the most significant match for the throne after the young prince. "I vote for lord Izuna," he added.

Shisui felt like cattle at a market, where the best cow is sold to the highest bidder. He didn't want to be in a gilded yoke in the slightest. It was mean, and if he took responsibility, he would impress his family a little, but it wasn't worth it. "I vote for father," he said calmly. If his father chose him now, it would be a draw. Checkmate. They would get nowhere, and in the end, his uncle would probably have to decide.

Izuna didn't look at either of them. He stared at his clasped hands and thought. He had toyed with the idea of marrying Shisui off several times. The Queen of Elinion would be a good match—after all, his son had little chance of ever ascending to the Pearl Throne. It would be ideal; as the queen's husband, he would have the entire West at his feet. But... he didn't want to force him into it; he was his son, his blood. He took a deep breath. "I vote... for myself," he said with determination in his voice. Sasuke was his nephew. If marriage to Mei was the price for his life, he would pay it.

Fugaku nodded his head in gratitude. He was a little sad that he would probably lose his brother, but at the same time he was glad that he had sacrificed himself for his own son. Sasuke's rescue was obvious. "Should we send a messenger to Elinion or wait for the hawk from the north? I have no doubt they will send it." Raikage must let them know how he envisions the whole thing. What he wants in exchange for Sasuke.

"We should send a messenger right away," Itachi suggested immediately. "The sooner we dispatch the army, the better. Every day Sasuke spends in the north is risky."

"But what if Winterhold really just wants ransom?" Hayate objected. "Shouldn't we wait to see what their conditions are before we start conspiring with Elinion behind their backs?"

A new debate erupted. Madara clasped his hands together again and scanned the emotional faces with his anthracite eyes. Finally, his gaze met the doe-like eyes that were very similar to Sasuke's.

"Mikoto," he addressed his sister-in-law, "you haven't said a word since the beginning of the meeting. What is your opinion?" It was a kind gesture from the king. After all, women usually had no place at state meetings.

The noblewoman ran her hands over her long embroidered dress and, surprisingly, returned the men's gaze with firmness. "As a mother, I would prefer to go to Sasuke myself without delay, or send a messenger to Elinion today, but I don't want to rush anyone into marriage if they don't have to. So I would wait for a letter, even though my heart is gripped with fear and anxiety." Sometimes she idyllically imagined them living somewhere as an ordinary, respectable family. Perhaps as shoemakers, tailors, or farmers, as far away from political intrigue and the court as possible.

Madara did not take his eyes off Mikoto, and although his face was a mask of indifference as usual, it was clear that he was thinking. Black eyes gazed into black eyes before the long-haired king nodded. "I think that's a reasonable opinion. I will send a second hawk to Nordston today. We will wait for the terms of the ruler of Winterhold, but our army will be on alert and ready to set out westward at any moment," he announced the next course of action aloud.

"But...!" Sasuke's brother wanted to desperately object, but Madara did not let him finish:

"That is my decision, Itachi."

***

Hidan slowly trudged through the corridors of the fortress with a look of annoyance on his face. His father had summoned him, and he really didn't want to go. He had a rough idea why, and it had come too quickly for his liking. After all, he was still breathing, and he hadn't done anything serious to warrant such a reaction. Maybe his father would praise him for showing him the ways of the north in every respect. He imagined he would receive at least a medal when he knocked on the walnut door of his study.

"Come in!" a stern voice called from inside.

Raikage paced the room like a caged tiger. Early in the morning, he had a visitor—old Danzou, the master of whisperers, who informed him with a sly grin about the events of the previous night that had managed to leak out to him. It was astonishing what that slimy snake had managed to dig up so quickly and what someone had told him. The northern king summoned Kabuto to confirm the rumor, and Kabuto confirmed it. He couldn't believe it!

The white-haired bastard walked in and immediately recognized his father's rage at the door. Not that this was unusual for him, but it didn't look like it would be a calm discussion ending with a mild reprimand. "Father, did you call for me?" he began casually, looking like an angel with no dirt under his fingernails to confess.

"You raped him!" Raikage boomed like an approaching mountain storm, lightning flashing from his small dark eyes, "I told you clearly that nothing must happen to the southern prince, and you didn't obey me!" He could only hope that Kakuzu would be a faithful guard dog and not allow Sasuke to get to the postal hawks at any cost. The Uchiha must not find out about this.

Hidan didn't even flinch; he was used to his father's outbursts. "Nothing happened to him. He's alive and well," the white-haired man defended himself calmly, shuddering inwardly as he remembered yesterday. "Besides, he started it. He shouldn't have provoked me." Blaming others was something he had always been good at. The main thing was to get away unscathed.

"Alive and well... and stitched up, as I heard," Raikage growled, and his massive fist slammed down on the table so hard that ink splashed out of the inkwell. He walked menacingly over to his illegitimate son. "I don't care what he said to you or what you said to him. What do you think the Uchiha will do if they find out before we exchange him for ransom in the spring?!"

"They won't find out. That cold-hearted bastard guarding him will make sure of that. Those lice-ridden southerners will have to wait until spring. Anyway, they're already piling up their shitty gold somewhere in the south, which they're so proud of, so they'll have something to trade. Father, let me play with him, now that I've gotten so good at it. I'm sure he'll be singing our tune by spring and won't say a word to the Uchihas."

"Really?! But someone other than that prince's hawk could bring it south! If the whole fortress knows about it, the risk increases many times over! I should have you flogged and sent to the Island of the Damned!" Raikage barked angrily. The island he was talking about was located in the North Sea on the coast of the Snow Mountains, even further north than Nordstone. There was a prison colony there where they sent the worst scum.

"So we have spies here?" Hidan asked with enthusiasm that was completely misplaced. He didn't want to spread anything southward, of course, but rather liked the idea that if they caught the spy, he could take care of him. His question only made his father even more angry. "Calm down, father, you know that anger won't solve anything."

A vein throbbed violently on Raikage's forehead, and his fist struck like lightning. It knocked Hidan to the ground to show him his place. "You won't tell me how to handle things!" the older man shouted, shaking the windows, "What good has your foolish act done? Nothing but trouble! You're always causing problems!"

The white-haired man's nose began to bleed, and his skull rang as if he had stuck his head into a bell at high noon. His father was as strong as an ox. Sometimes he wondered if he would knock his head off with a single blow. He would have liked to snort discontentedly. He held his sleeve to his nose and scrambled to his feet. His left cheek throbbed with pain, which didn't bother him that much, but he was going to be really pissed off when his vision became blurred as his cheek swelled up. He'd probably go stick it in the snow. "No one will find out, because no one has any proof."

Raikage frowned and returned to pacing around his office. If he knew that it really wouldn't reach unauthorized ears, he wouldn't care. After all, it was said that all southerners were fags. He just needed to keep Sasuke alive, in one piece, and not tarnish his image as a prince too much, so that the Uchihas wouldn't take it as too much of an insult. Whether he liked it here or not, or what kind of relationship he would have with his sons, didn't matter to him. "Are you absolutely sure that Kakuzu and Kabuto are the only ones who know the truth? And that they won't blab to anyone?" He raised his eyebrows.

"No one saw him. I swear by Jashin's blood that it was just those two. I'll talk to them, they'll surely understand that it's better to keep quiet than to blab. I'll fucking show them what's what," he chuckled hoarsely as his nose swelled up. He'll need at least a bucket of snow to stop it. At least Sasuke couldn't complain that he was the only one bleeding. 

"You're the only lucky one," Raikage declared, folding his arms as he watched the fair-haired bastard. "I'll say it again—I don't want to see any permanent injuries on him.  When he leaves Stone Fortress, he won't be missing a single finger, a single tooth... anything. If you break this, I'll skin you alive this time, do you understand?!" he yelled at Hidan so that he would remember it well.

"If I must," Hidan grumbled discontentedly. He hated it when his father forbade him to do something, but he didn't dare break the rule. He knew very well what cruel punishment would follow, and it wasn't worth it. He had endured beatings with a cane from his tutor when he was young, but his father... that was something much worse. He didn't want to piss him off so much that he lost control.

"Now get out of here and make sure no one finds out about this," Raikage growled, glaring at his illegitimate son. He had a terrible urge to slap him again to calm him down, but it wouldn't have the desired effect now. Hopefully, these rumors won't spread beyond the Stone Palace. He would have to complain to his brother. Bee was returning from a reconnaissance mission this week; he had sent him to check on the provinces to see how well-stocked they were for the winter.

The white-haired young man walked away in disgust, muttering under his breath about how unfair the world was. They had a beautiful pet at home, and he couldn't play with it... but wait, hadn't his father said that he mustn't cause it any permanent injury, that for once he would refrain from tearing out its nails, cutting off its fingers, and mutilating its body with instruments of torture? He would figure out how to tame the young lion from the south and turn him into a cuddly kitten. He would crush his self-confidence and send him back south a complete nobody.

***

In the next chapter:

"Get out of my way."

"You're so naive."

"Give me a spear."

"I'm not done with you yet."

"Three days from today, in this hall."

Chapter Text

Sasuke limped behind Kakuzu. It was already late morning when he finally managed to recover enough to be able to leave the chamber. That morning, with Kakuzu's generous assistance, he had undergone a second humiliating treatment, but even that did not change the fact that his stitched sphincter muscles hurt terribly and made every step a torment. However, that did not stop him from meeting with the king himself. The Raikage had to know what had happened, and most importantly, he had to forbid Hidan from doing this! Ideally, he should severely punish that perverted bastard, but after several weeks in Winterhold, Sasuke was no longer so naive.

He looked extremely pitiful. A blue-red bruise spread across his face under one eye, and the other cheek was adorned with a dark red scab from a cut. His face was dull with a slight fever, and his tone was wheezy as his vocal cords were still damaged.

The burly northerner deliberately walked slower than usual. However, he did so inconspicuously, not wanting to appear as if he felt sorry for the young man. To be honest, he looked terrible, almost as if the entire unit had taken turns in taking him on twice over. He had already had a serious conversation with Hidan. The bastard was afraid he might blab something, and his threats were vividly described as to what would happen to him if he spoke. He definitely didn't want to experience them firsthand.

Finally, they stopped in front of the largest chambers in the entire Stone Fortress. Torches blazed on both walls of the corridor, and the double doors were made of beautiful dark walnut. Sasuke waited until Kakuzu knocked several times with a massive knocker, and after being invited in by his guard dog, he entered. He remained in the hallway; according to the court etiquette he was accustomed to from the south, Kakuzu should announce his visit, ask for permission to enter, and bring him in once the Raikage agreed.

"What is it now?" growled Raikage gruffly, who didn't like being interrupted while he was working. What's more, the fact that he saw Kakuzu meant that the southern brat was somewhere nearby. With a wave of his hand, he stopped his guard from speaking. He knew that sooner or later Sasuke would show up and complain. "Come in," he called out loudly and leaned back in his carved chair, a cheerful fire crackling in the fireplace nearby, warming the room.

The young Uchiha tried hard to keep his gait as confident as possible, but it burned so badly! With a pained grimace he struggled to suppress, he stepped before the king of Winterhold and almost blushed when he noticed the Raikage raise his eyebrows at his appearance. Damn it, noble ladies in the south sometimes used a fine powder made from crushed talc or chalk, which they then applied to their faces to cover imperfections. He had never used it before, but he could have used it now to at least soften the purple bruise on his face, but in this barbaric country, he could only dream of such a thing.

"Your Highness," he began, his voice a little hoarse, glad that he could at least speak, "I come on a certain matter..." He shifted uncomfortably and glanced nervously at Kakuzu. Did he have to be there? He would have preferred to speak to the king without witnesses.

The King of the North didn't want to waste time beating around the bush and got straight to the point. "I've already dealt with Hidan. You can return to your chambers," he explained all too simply, eyeing the young man's injuries. He didn't look too good, and he didn't want him to get any sicker. He had to tell the doctor to do his best. Bee had told him that this southern prince wasn't built for the harsh north and had to be treated with care. Hopefully, he would make it through until spring.

Sasuke blinked in surprise and opened his mouth slightly. He hadn't expected this at all. In fact, he was a little shocked that the king had found out what had happened so quickly. How long would it take for the news to spread throughout the castle?

"I-see," he said somewhat belatedly, suppressing the urge to ask how Raikage had dealt with Hidan. Instead, he decided to make sure. "So... so there won't be any more... incidents... in the future, right?" he stammered hoarsely.

"I explained clearly what I don't want him to do, so I hope he understood and will act accordingly," Raikage assured the young man, who was staring at him wide-eyed. He seemed surprised that he knew. He would have been more surprised if he didn't know, after all, he is the king, and he should know what's going on. "Anything else?" he asked in a tone that clearly indicated that if it wasn't important, he didn't want to hear it.

The black-haired young man lowered his eyes. Perhaps a month ago, he would have insisted that Hidan be punished for what he had done to him and would have wanted at least a public flogging in the courtyard, but after all the lessons the north had taught him, he refrained from such outbursts. "No," he muttered dully and nodded his head slightly in a kind of bow, although he still would not stoop so low as to actually bow before Raikage. "Thank you, Your Highness," he mumbled and turned to leave without looking back at the burly northerner.

"Kakuzu, you stay here," Raikage stopped the guard and waited for the beaten lion cub to leave the room. He wanted to talk to the guard alone. He motioned for him to come closer to the table and pierced him with a gaze that was perhaps even sharper than his weapon. "You know what you have to do, and you know what you mustn't do. I want you to make sure that Sasuke doesn't suffer any permanent harm. I explained this to Hidan, but sometimes he is too impulsive and unpredictable. You are responsible for him with your life, now go." With a wave of his hand, he let the northerner leave.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had begun to trudge back to his chamber, lost in his own thoughts. He felt miserable, there was no doubt about that. He could only console himself with the thought that something like this would never happen again, but it was little comfort. He would have to live forever with the fact that he had been raped by a Nordic bastard, that he had taken possession of his body. What would he say to Yamato when he returned south? That he had been deprived of his primacy by the damned bastard son of the Nordic king?! If only he could carry a weapon... he would take revenge on Hidan with his own hands.

It wouldn't have been enough for that day if the originator of it all hadn't been walking down the hallway. A smug smile settled on his face when he saw the young Uchiha. "Well, what do I see here, all alone in the hallway? Did you sleep so badly that you didn't visit my father until noon? It's clear that different customs prevail in the south." Hidan was having a great time, even though half of his face was noticeably swollen, despite cooling it with snow for at least an hour.

The black-haired young man felt his insides contract into a cramped knot. He couldn't believe his luck! After all that, to meet Hidan here... He had to hold himself back so as not to back down in front of him; he still had some pride left. With only a tiny bit of satisfaction, he noticed that Hidan's face bore traces of the blow, but he didn't have such colorful decorations there. At least not yet. His whole body ached, but he still tried to muster as much courage as possible. "Fuck you, you insignificant nobody. Get out of my way."

"What a lovely invitation. I didn't expect you to enjoy it so much yesterday that you want to honor me with another visit," Hidan purred contentedly and approached Sasuke to within a foot. "I promise it'll be nice and wild and rough. My dick still twitches when I think about fucking you yesterday." All of today's unpleasantness was offset by the divine experience.

Sasuke felt nauseous, but apart from stomach acid, he had nothing to vomit, and he couldn't even think about breakfast today. He swallowed desperately to keep his gag reflex at bay. "Nothing like that will ever happen again!" he gasped weakly, praying that Hidan wouldn't come any closer, as his mere smell made him feel sick. "Your father gave me his word," he added to support his claim.

The white-haired bastard laughed half-madly and closed the tiny distance between them. "You're so naive," he whispered in his ear as he held him roughly by the back of the neck and licked his ear. "I'm going to fuck you every day until you leave," he scared the little guy, feeling him tremble slightly with great satisfaction. His little sparrow was completely beside himself with fear. He pulled away when he heard footsteps. The guard dog was heading towards them. "Get ready, asshole, I'm taking you next week," he cooed sweetly and turned on his heel.

Sasuke trembled, terrified by Hidan's mere proximity. Memories of the previous night came back to him in vivid detail, with all their horrific details. His pupils dilated as he watched the bastard's back recede from them, his words still ringing in his head. He didn't mean it, he definitely didn't mean it, he was just scaring him! Raikage had assured him that he had taken care of it. Yet he felt a sudden weakness overcome him. His head spun, and as he began to fall unconsciously, strong arms supported him from behind.

Kakuzu walked gloomily toward the young man, who almost fell into his arms. Bastard, who knows what he told him. He could imagine what it was. The young man was completely pale, almost like the snow on the mountains that had fallen fresh yesterday. He didn't think Sasuke would be able to make it back to his chambers, which were quite far away, in this condition. He tucked his lion cub under his knees and lifted him into his arms. 

"I'm fine," Sasuke piped up, but his voice lacked strength and resonance. His pulse was very low, his blood seemed to crawl through his veins like frozen sap. "Let me go, I can walk myself," he whispered, but physically he could only muster a weak resistance, which was practically negligible for someone of Kakuzu's stature. The poor boy looked smaller in the bear's arms than he actually was. "Someone will see me like this..." 

"No, they won't," the northerner assured the prince, though he said it only to calm him down. He felt that the sixteen-year-old boy in his arms was a shadow of the Uchiha he had escorted from the room yesterday evening. How the world can change... or rather, people can change in a single night.  After passing through two corridors, he had the feeling that the young man might even like it. He didn't look entirely happy, but he looked calm.

It wasn't easy for Sasuke to admit it, but Kakuzu's embrace was... just somehow safe. Even though it was probably just an illusion, he simply felt that nothing could happen to him like this. Perhaps that feeling stemmed from memories of his more distant childhood, which was probably the only period in his life when someone carried him in their arms more often. Even so, he was glad when the door to his chamber appeared before them. He was beginning to think that the safest thing would be to spend the rest of the time there until spring and not go out at all.

The burly northerner put the young man to bed and covered him with furs. He looked as bad as he had when crossing the pass. Hopefully, he would recover. Not only would Raikage have his head cut off, even though he couldn't help his illness, but it also bothered him to see him in such a state, whether physically or mentally, which had certainly suffered greatly.

***

The sound of wood clattering echoed through the large hall as training swords collided. Sasuke panted and dodged Kisame's attacks. He was a little slower than usual because the experience Hidan had forced upon him had taken a toll on his physical health, and his butt had only recently healed. In the end, however, he welcomed the opportunity to do something, because he had grown tired of hiding in his room for more than a week.

Kakuzu and several other guards stood by the walls of the room, interested in seeing how the southern chick would fight. They laughed, cheered, and placed bets on the winner of this round.

So far, it looked pretty even. Kisame's blows were strong and fierce, and it was clear that he could physically crush and overpower the young man, but Sasuke, despite his indisposition, was still much faster than the northerner. He deftly dodged his attacks and retaliated with his hair damp with sweat.

Kisame tried to show Sasuke that even though he was holding a wooden sword, he could still be dangerous with it. But the kid was unexpectedly agile, and Kisame couldn't use his full strength because Sasuke always managed to slip away and dodge his attacks. Kisame began to get angry, and his blows became even stronger, faster, and more forceful.

Sasuke tried to use all the lessons he had learned from Yamato. Exploit his weakness, as if he could hear his beloved voice in his head. Kisame's weakness was anger and inertia, which was a result of his enormous strength. He waited for the right moment, and when Kisame swung at him with a growl, he slashed his arm with his sword in the direction of his strike like lightning.

The burly northerner felt the blow like an elephant feeling an ant bite, and his eyes flashed with anger. The men around them chuckled amusedly and continued to watch them closely. They knew their tribesman and his berserker fighting style, but the southern prince hid unexpected fighting skills.

“Come on, take him down,” someone in the crowd shouted, and it was unclear which of the fighting pair he was talking to.

The black-haired young man could clearly see that the fact that if they had sharp swords, Kisame's hand might now be hanging by a thread, angered the northerner. He narrowly dodged another blow and was forced to retreat sharply and bend down before the new strike. He immediately crossed swords with the blue-haired man, but did not let himself be drawn into a stalemate, dancing aside and attempting to attack Kisame's side. But the warrior deflected his effort and swung at him so violently that the young prince managed to dodge the sword, but not Kisame's boot, which dug into his ribs and knocked him to the wooden floor.

The men by the walls shouted loudly, but Sasuke did not give up yet. The wooden sword flew out of his hand as he fell, but when Kisame approached to finish him off, he rolled nimbly to the side and performed an elegant leap from a lying position, then lunged for his sword, and a second later he was facing Kisame again, breathless, with his weapon in hand.

“That cub has courage,” Kakuzu’s amused voice could be heard among the others.

Kisame was also breathing heavily as he tried to hit the little guy. He couldn't believe he couldn't finish him off. Usually, he was the one who had the upper hand and gave everyone a good beating, but for the first time in a long time, someone with a different fighting style showed up, and he wasn't ready for it. He was quite surprised, because the southern army fought similarly to them. So where did the prince get this clownish fighting style, where he could hardly hit him and he kept dancing around him?

“Kisame, put some life into that dying,” Shira called out to his subordinate, who had just joined the spectacle. “You’re not going to let yourself be defeated by a southerner,” he egged him on.

The two men resumed their battle. Sasuke saw Kisame raging because he couldn't get him, but he didn't let himself be lulled into a false sense of security. In fact, his swings were so powerful that he could have broken his arms if he had slashed him across the wrist, for example. After all, his ribs still hurt from that kick, and he was sure to have a terrible bruise.

When Kisame attacked again, he responded with a counterattack, and perhaps that was a mistake, because the power of the northern man's blow was tremendous, causing his wrist to ache painfully and the sound of splintering wood. His sword broke like a tree trunk after a powerful lightning strike. Damn it! He saw a hint of triumph in Kisame's eyes and jumped back sharply before the blue-haired man could put his own sword to his throat.

Kisame went after him, and Sasuke performed several backflips, throwing the northern man off balance enough to slow him down slightly. That was enough. He waited for him by the wall, and when Kisame started running again, he took a deep breath. It was risky, but it could work. Instead of dodging again, he moved towards him, but just before the collision, he dropped to the floor and used his own weight for momentum - like a snake, he slipped between Kisame's legs and escaped to the other side of the hall before the soldier could recover.

“Give me a spear,” he shouted at the nearest men, “the fight isn't over yet.”

The men were very surprised by how agile the young man was, like a weasel. Their training hall had never seen anything like it before. They all fought in the classic Nordic style—brutally, with full force, and with the aim of immediately crushing their opponent to a pulp. Pirouettes, turns, and jumps were of little use to them. With heavy swords and even heavier leather or metal armor, such things were unthinkable.

Kakuzu reached into the rack and threw the prince a wooden stick that replaced a real spear. They didn't train with it much, or at most they tried to defend against it. He was quite curious to see how his lion cub would perform. He was glad that he had recovered and was able to talk to him more properly. Last week had been terrible. He understood the reasons, but it was unpleasant.

“Do you think that little stick will do you any good?” Kisame snorted mockingly. He thought he would break the shaft, just like during training with the other men, and be the winner.

Sasuke felt much better with a spear than with a sword. The spear was like his third arm, long and deadly. He faced Kisame. Both were already sweaty and out of breath, but also exhilarated. “I'll show you what southern fighting style means,” the young prince promised the northerner with a dangerous undertone, like a leodemon growling.

He attacked first, just to test him. The spear had the advantage of keeping his enemies at a distance, which was especially useful in Kisame's case, as his blows were so powerful. With practiced movements, he parried his sword swings and continued to use his flexibility. He always let Kisame strike and blocked his sword with his long spear if he got too close, or hit him with the shaft.

He provoked the burly man by dancing alternately to the right and left, attacking from the side, from below, or, conversely, jumping like a cat and striking from above. The spear in his hands turned into a lightning-fast tool, he tossed it from one hand to the other, spun it in his palms as needed, and the wooden stick struck Kisame's unprotected areas again and again. Not fatally, but if it had been a real spear, the northerner would have been bleeding from at least a dozen wounds. Sasuke was playing with him. He would not have stood a chance in a man-to-man fight, but this was his turf, his sandbox. The elegance and grace of his movements were remarkable and fascinating in his entire fighting style. He was just beginning to think that it would all end and Kisame would be finished.

Kisame was already irritated like a freshly awakened murdebear, baring his bloodthirsty fangs and his eyes glowing with a strong desire to bring his opponent to his knees. He tried his best, but the little one was deliberately toying with him. That annoyed him even more than if he had defeated him with a single blow. He felt like it was just mocking him.

The commotion of the men and the banging of training weapons attracted the attention of the white-haired bastard, who was looking for his lackey, among other things. He entered the training hall, where he found both of them. He needed Kisame for something in town, and it was always nice to see the young man. “What do I see here? The southern ass wants to turn my aide into a pin cushion. If you defeat him, Sasuke, I'll invite you to the same dinner as last time,” he said loudly so that both fighters could hear him clearly.

Hidan's arrival, and especially his words, which sounded completely innocent to most of the men in the hall, had a strange effect. Sasuke, who had been so confident and agile until then, suddenly seemed to lose his sparkle. Those of the northerners who were closer could almost see the young Tänöwillan flinch and his dark eyes nervously dart toward the bastard.

From that moment on, the practice fight began to turn in Kisame's favor, so unexpectedly that half of the soldiers fell silent in disbelief. Sasuke's movements lost their effectiveness, and the black-haired prince completely stopped attacking, only dodging Kisame's blows. Instead of concentrating on the fight, his obsidian pools constantly darted toward Hidan, as if Sasuke wanted to make sure he was still there. It seemed that the southern boy was afraid for the first time since entering the training hall. Not of his powerful opponent, but of the white-haired bastard who was grinning slyly by the wall.

Kisame would normally have eased up or ended the fight when he saw that Sasuke was completely out of it, but in the heat of battle, he craved only Sasuke's blood. He swung his sword like a mighty oak branch and looked almost like a titan about to crush a poor mortal. And he wasn't far from doing so. The wood groaned and cracked as the shaft of the makeshift spear split in two, and the young prince fell to the floor. The mighty warrior swung his sword, and it looked like he was about to cut off the young man's head at best.

Sasuke hissed in pain. A large splinter from a broken spear had pierced his hand. Under normal circumstances, this would not have stopped him. No, even though he had landed hard, he would still have been able to dodge the blow, roll away, jump up, and grab a new weapon... But now was not normal. Not when the man who had violently taken his virginity, taken him, and wounded him in spirit and body was standing just a few feet away. He remained lying where he was, as if unaware of the impending danger.

“Kisame!” Shira thundered warningly, because it looked like his subordinate was going to take the kid down. What the hell happened to the prince?! Just a few minutes ago, the same situation was no problem for him.

The blue-haired berserker seemed to hear nothing but his own voice urging him to destroy his opponent. He reached out to deliver the final blow to Sasuke. Something fast appeared in his field of vision, and the falling wooden sword struck metal.

Kakuzu rushed to Sasuke's aid. He could see very well that his friend was only half aware of his surroundings and had not noticed the commander's voice. He fearlessly stepped in front of Kisame, raising his sword against his comrade to save the lion cub's pretty neck. He forcefully pushed the warrior away and held the cold iron in front of him as a warning. He was responsible for the cub, and he didn't want anything to happen to him either.

Silence fell over the training hall. Some soldiers were still somewhat stunned by the surprise; it had all happened so quickly. One moment they were watching an impressive duel, and the next, the prince's life was almost at stake. Of course, most of them wanted Kisame to defeat the southerner and show him what the north was capable of. But like this...

Sasuke looked up. He was still a little out of it, but now he had Kakuzu's broad back and his massive frame as a human shield in front of him. He had no illusions that the guard cared about his fate; he had been ordered to do so by the king himself. “I give up, you win,” he muttered indifferently and slowly got to his feet. He was sweaty and bruised, his ribs and tailbone hurt, and there was a splinter stuck in his forearm, which he was now trying to remove.

Kisame slowly awoke from the daze of battle and gradually relaxed his stance. He realized that he had probably gone too far. His commander was glaring at him quite unpleasantly. It happened, and Sasuke survived, so it's okay. He nodded in agreement. He ran his fingers through his sweaty hair and stepped aside so that others could continue training.

Hidan stepped toward the prince but was met with an outstretched sword. “Move, dog,” he growled warningly and pushed the blade aside. He stopped beside him and growled more quietly. “Don't stand in my way, or I'll sacrifice you to Jashin, and know that he likes rivers of blood.” Then he turned to the southerner. “It wasn't the worst, but I'm quite surprised that your army managed to win when its commanders let themselves be brought to their knees by a simple wooden sword.”

Sasuke returned Hidan's gaze. He looked into those cruel purple eyes and tried not to flinch. Just being near the bastard made his stomach churn, and besides, he had made a complete fool of himself two days ago. As soon as he was able to sit up again, Raikage insisted that he continue to attend communal lunches, now with the king's brother Bee, which made the whole thing even more unpleasant. However, when the servants placed stuffed partridges with plum sauce in front of him, he had to quickly leave the room so that he could vomit outside the door and not at the table.

“If I had a real spear, Kisame would have lost so much blood during the fight that he wouldn’t have been able to get up at the end,” he said quietly, continuing to pull the wood out of his forearm as if nothing had happened. Above all, he must not let himself be provoked!

Kakuzu wondered where this strong urge to turn around and execute the white-haired bastard with a single slash was coming from. It shouldn't bother him at all. Hidan was simply the worst thing to come out of the royal family, and today, for the second time, he had the urge to defend the lion cub. But then again, the bastard had the upper hand.

"If you were a proper soldier, you would kill him with one blow, but I realize that you prefer other types of spears that can pierce a person in unexpected places. I would like to show you mine again. Right now, if you're interested." Hidan was thoroughly enjoying himself, even though he had feared that this winter would be as long and boring as the chronicles of their family.

Sasuke's painful condition was evident in his sudden shallow breathing and averted eyes, but otherwise the young prince tried hard not to show how much the words affected him. Finally, he pulled out the splinter and his forearm began to bleed slightly. How ironic that he always shed blood in the presence of the white-haired bastard...

“What happened will never happen again,” the black-haired man said in as firm a voice as he could muster, “I assure you that I will never set foot in your lousy chambers again, and keep your stinking spear away from me, or you'll lose it.” He meant to end the conversation and leave, but Hidan stood in his way, and since he never wanted to touch him again, he wanted to walk around him, but the bastard kept blocking his path.

“Come on, kid, where are you going? I'm not done with you yet,” Hidan croaked and grabbed the young man by the arm. “Come on, let's sacrifice some of your blood to Jashin. He liked it last time and wants to taste it again.” His god craved the prince's blood, and he experienced that desire with him. He wanted to give him anything he asked for, and the southerner was quite desirable. After all, a few days after fucking him, he couldn't think of anything else but where he could bend him over and fuck him again.

A sharp slap echoed through the training hall, causing the men to turn in alarm toward the pair of noblemen, even though one of them was only half noble. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke noticed Kakuza staring at them like it was springtime, but he didn't care. The only thing that mattered was that Hidan had let go of him, and his face was quickly turning red.

“Don't touch me, you son of a bitch!” growled the young prince, and his dark eyes flashed with untamed pride, indicating that despite what the bastard had done to him, he had not completely broken him. Fear also aroused aggressive defensive instincts in him.

Hidan stared at him in complete bewilderment for a moment, not expecting Sasuke to defend himself in any way, but soon his eyes were clouded with displeasure. So this little brat was getting cocky. He'd show him what he was made of. He'd regret hitting him. He raised his fist to immediately repay the brat. “Shut up, you little goat turd.”

Sasuke anticipated Hidan's reaction; it was clear that he would not take it lying down. He ducked, and the fair-haired man's fist whizzed past him. He jumped back so that the bastard wouldn't knee him in the teeth, and stood about two feet away from him. He was shaken by anger for all the pain and injustice Hidan had caused him. He intensely wanted to get back at the bastard. He stared at him with black eyes.

“Hidan, son of a barbarian king and a kitchen slut,” he sneered contemptuously, emphasizing his mother's origins, “I challenge you to a duel. Three days from today, in this hall.”

Hidan looked at the young man sharply. He couldn't refuse, it would be incredibly humiliating. “Fine, rat brain, I'll be here. Make sure you're able to crawl here,” he warned the young man darkly and turned on his heel. Just you wait, little prince, he barked discontentedly in his mind, next time I get my hands on you, you'll see what it means to feel Jashin's wrath!

The young Uchiha watched Hidan's retreating back with satisfaction. He was almost certain that this bastard couldn't be a worse opponent than Kisame. After all, in that short time, he had already noticed that he was even more hot-tempered and easier to provoke. He would take advantage of that. He would defeat and humiliate him in front of everyone.

He brushed the damp hair from his forehead and also headed away, accompanied by a stunned Kakuzu and the half-doubtful, half-admiring glances of the other men.

***

In the next chapter:

“Get rid of his dog, I don't want it here.”

“Who ordered that?”

“What the hell do you think you're doing?”

“The king will find out about this!”

“The crows will peck your eyes out tomorrow for this!”