Chapter Text
“Your highness this is the prisoner we discussed about” the voice was not hard to recognize, he had even come to fear it, the same voice that welcomed him every morning in that dark cell to ask him the same questions. However, the person with him caught his interest, a high-ranking general would call very few people your highness and he was almost certain that the queen was not in front of him, only brutes would show to a woman such a poor sight. Two other possibilities came to his mind and only one made sense to him prince Naruto, the heir to the throne. He knew he was in the castle, he knew he was fighting with his own soldiers, it made sense that he wanted to check his most important prisoner.
“I hope you find satisfying the measures we have taken to ensure the safety of the cell…” Kakashi kept talking but he did not need to listen this part, he was already well aware of everything they had done to keep him there, two simple elements had actually been enough: the heavy chains around his linked to the floor long enough to reach his bed and a bucket, and black blindfold constantly covering his eyes.
During this conversation he noted something: Kakashi was the only one speaking, this would seem such a small detail, but it brought huge satisfaction to the fallen prince as his torturer received his same treatment. So many times, in the last week, the prisoner had asked him, begged would have been a more appropriate word but the prince’s pride would not accept it, for the pain to end but silence was his only answer. A small smile appeared on his face, he knew the darkness would have hidden it, as the general’s achievements were listed but ignored.
In the same way they arrived, they left after a couple of minute not one question had been asked to him, good, he thought, questions only bring pain.
“Kakashi you need to listen to me. Your method is not working”
“Sire, with all the due respect we need the information, and we need them quickly. We do not have time to try anything else.”
“You had one week, and frankly I do not know what more you could do to him, I have seen what conditions he is in, was whipping him a necessity? And how many times? I guess at least 20 but it was too dark to see clearly. Do I even have to talk about his hands, how many nails did you take?” the general had been silent a slight shade of shame seemed to have covered his eyes and that probably stopped the young prince.
“Listen: I have known you my whole life, I am aware that every action of yours is taken in the interest of our nation, but if he has not talked after everything he has endured, he will not talk at all. Time has come to find another method and I have just got the perfect idea”.
“What are you thinking about?”
“He has been in a cell in complete darkness for a week, the only person talking to him was his torturer. In his situation a gentle word might cause more damage than the knife.”.
He could hear steps approaching, his meal was arriving but there was something wrong with them.
“You have never been here before” he said as soon as the stranger opened his cell, the guards still insisted on locking it even if he was chained to the pavement…
The mysterious man laughed warmly when he heard him, he was definitely not a guard.
“They said you could recognize me, sir, but I didn’t think so soon. Please tell me what exposed me?”
“Your pace, the guards have a steadier rhythm even when they are not marching”
Naruto smirked the prisoner was as observant as he imagined, his plan was working.
“Oh well, sir, you’re right. My name’s Menma”
Sasuke knew he should not ask so many questions, but finally someone was answering them, what damage could do a stupid question cause?
“Why did they send you Menma?”
So, the prisoner was asking questions, this was good, for a week he had only received them, even beaten when he spoke without permission, but he did not want to think too much about that, he did not like the situation, but war was war and so many lives were at stake. The fastest way to gain his trust would be to answer his questions truthfully…as truthful as it could be the story of a prince disguised as a servant.
“You know, guards do not want to come down here, when they bring you food they need to be close enough to let you reach the plates, it’s the chains they say, but I do not ask too many question, not a good thing my old man often said, anyway they say you bite, you kick and they are not allowed to fight back”
Sasuke could not help the proud smile on his face
“Anyway, my old man often said if you wanna keep a job, do what the others don’t wanna do. So, I’m here, bringing food to the prisoner no one wants to get close to, hoping for a promotion”
“He seems like a very wise man” he knew he was making a mistake, but this man was a civilian and the last time he talked about something different than the war seemed so far. A week ago, he would have never answered the man but now he needed this, something that could resemble normality, a normality he missed so dearly.
“Oh well I came here for the food, you have broth today” actually every day…but the man could not know that, he kept talking about his life and his job while he ate, he found his voice incredibly relaxing, after the battle he had been constantly on edge but the more at ease he got the more he realized how tired he actually was. Somewhere deep in his mind he knew this state was dangerous, but he just didn’t want to think about that.”
“It’s time for me to go Kakashi-sama will ask me why it took me so long, I’ve just got this job, I can’t already cause trouble, ah the guards said they are sending you a doctor later, I think it’s my duty to warn you” it was pleasant to be treated like a person again, that was definitely not his duty: the guards usually would not talk to him at all also the doctor sat in silence next to him, but he still could not decide if he honestly did not know this or he was trying to help him, and if it was the latter, what was the reason?
“See you soon, Sas’ke” the prince’s eyes widened, only his brother called him by his first name and now this stranger dared to use it, a week ago he would have had the man severely punished for such a disrespectful action, but now he did not care he was just tired.
“See you Menma”.
“More careful, your highness, you must avoid leaving your left side open in this way you can get defeated easily” Orochimaru was always correcting him but for once it was taking more than a couple of seconds to lose, he knew his teacher was not going easy on him, he never did and maybe he was finally learning how to hold his own
The summer breeze blew gently on his face, it seemed like the perfect day to ride and enjoy the warm season, but his father would have not allowed him to skip training, he was an Uchiha, he needed to be strong, and so here he was on the training field with his sadistic teacher.
“Orochimaru-sama” his father had completely taken him by surprise, but he was still able to ward off his teacher’s blow.
“I have heard about Itachi’s improvements lately. I must say I am impressed, you are doing an excellent work with him”
“Sire, I thank you immensely for your praises, but I do not deserve them, the merit goes to the prince. Those achievements are easy when such a natural talent is combined with a meticulous and restless training. You must be proud of him, he is becoming quite a remarkable young man” Orochimaru spoke calmly while fighting the young prince. His pupil was getting more and more tired leaving, at the end, his left side completely open, he easily took advantage of this making the boy fall on the ground.
His father shook his idea disappointedly.
“I wish I could say the same about your youngest son, your majesty, but I guess not everyone can have Itachi’s talent. “continued Orochimaru.
“Sasuke come here” his father’s tone was serious, he knew what he was thinking, he would never be like Itachi. Sasuke knew that, everyone knew that and still the king could not help the disappointment whenever he compared his two children.
“Yes Father” the boy said getting up as fast as possible.
“Repeat me who you are and what is your duty”
“I am Sasuke Uchiha prince of the Fire land, my duty is to protect my nation and my family from his enemies” the boy repeated those words, he had come to learn by heart
“Exactly and how do you plan to protect your family if you cannot even defend yourself, you are old enough now to understand your duty and stop wasting your time. I do not want to be disappointed again”
“Sire he is just a child” his mother tried to intervene.
“That is the problem: you keep treating him like a child when he is already nine, Itachi had already started fighting with real swords at his age” and so he left without giving her the time to reply, quickly followed by the snake who kept listing Itachi’s successes, after all the future king was not a disappointment.
“Sasuke you do not have to listen to your father now, he is only worried. The situation is getting more difficult, he didn’t mean to…”
“No mother, he is right. I need to work more if I want to make you proud of me”
The queen smiled and hugged her little child, but then a drop of water fell on his cheek followed immediately by another, was it raining? But the sky was so clear this morning, he looked at his mother she was still smiling but blood had started seeping out of her mouth, her skin was becoming paler but she kept smiling, the water kept falling from the cloudless sky, and her mother was becoming transparent but she kept smiling.
“Sasuke I am already so proud of you” she said before vanishing completely with the training field and everything surrounding him, only darkness stayed and water. He was now completely wet and then…
Then he woke up soaked and incredibly cold in his cell
“Good morning your highness, did you sleep well? I hope you don’t mind how I chose to wake you, I thought you were in desperate need for a bath” he could hear Kakashi’s grin in his voice
“Well Kakashi I really thank you for your help but you did not need to trouble yourself so much, you could have just given me the key to my cell and my chains and I would have taken care of that by myself , after all I am sure that would not be such a problematic request I can hear them hanging from your belt”
“So, you do know how to speak, why don’t you put that tongue of yours to a much better use, you know what I want to hear”
This time Sasuke stayed silent, he could hear the older man approaching him, the general sat on his bed and grabbed his left wrist, he did not resist, it would have only amused the other, after all how could he fight chained to the floor. He felt a wooden stick caressing the skin of his hand as his grip got tighter
“Come on, princeling, it does not have to go this way just tell me where your camp is located. I know you are aware of the exact position, after all you chose it”
He did not speak nor move he knew what was coming
“You asked for it, kid” and he pushed the sharp end between his middle finger and the nail, Sasuke bit his lip until it was bleeding, he would not scream, he would not give the man this satisfaction too.
“ Maybe you remember better the location of the camp now” Kakashi left the stick still deeply embedded in his skin as he moved, probably to take another stick or something else to torture him, if he had to guess, a whip, his finger was throbbing, it was getting harder to focus as he felt his hand getting covered in blood and the pain of the previous sessions did not help either.
Kakashi returned after a couple of seconds and this time when he sat what he pressed slightly against his skin was a knife, it was the first time he used one.
“I hate repeating myself, would you like to add something?” as he pushed the stick even deeper in his finger
“Nothing to say? That’s fine”
This time he could not stop the scream from leaving his lips as he felt the blade digging through his arm, he had gotten used to the sticks, but this caught him by surprise, the knife was jagged and it would tear his tissue at every movement”
“You know you can’t really complain, you practically asked for this and you could stop it at any moment “ as he spoke he kept twisting the knife in his arm the pain was sharp in his arm.
The pain was vanishing slowly as every feeling in that arm, he knew what this meant
“I could stop it for now by telling you the location, and even if tomorrow you don’t come back you will be here the day after maybe asking about the wards, same promises, and then you will ask how to reach my brother, but I cannot betray Itachi, he is the only family I have left” flashes of his mother corpse came to his mind her pale skin was covered in blood but she was still smiling, that smile had haunted his dreams for almost ten years now.
“So Itachi is at the camp” his eyes widened how could he have been so stupid to let such an information slip.
“Well I guess it must be so from how rigid you got, it was not what I asked but this information will be useful”
He was fighting to stay awake, he needed to persuade Kakashi that he was wrong.
This was a battle he could not win and in his those last moment of awareness he realized that he had failed also the last member of his family.
“Your highness I have news for you “Kakashi had run immediately to the prince
“What’s happening Kakashi?” Naruto was in his room studying the maps as he did everyday now, they needed to find a new strategy if they wanted to win this war, and nothing could be more useful than the environment in these situations.
“The prisoner has started speaking, he told me that king Itachi is at the camp, he has left the capital unguarded”
“I will inform my father immediately, we cannot take important decisions without his consent but Kakashi how is Sasuke?”
“Do not worry, my prince, he is in no condition to run at the moment”
“That’s not what I meant, I know that he didn’t give this information willingly so how is he?”
“I will probably send a doctor soon, he passed out before I left”
“and you left him unconscious and wounded” he left his maps running towards the door.
“Where are you going sire”
“To help him, send Sakura as soon as possible”
He grabbed some bandages and water while running to the prison.
The raven seemed still unconscious, his skin was even paler than usual, his arm laid limp on one corner completely covered in blood, the dagger still in skin.
“Oh shit” he reached him immediately trying to stop the bleeding and cleaning the injury to prevent an infection.
“Your highness” a pink haired girl entered the dark cell, she appeared as shocked as him seeing the raven.
“Sakura-chan you need to help him”
“Naruto, I will need your assistance here, I will start by removing the stick, the risk of causing damage is smaller for the finger, you must keep him completely still, so I can complete the operation and remove eventual splinters, the arm will be more complicated…”
Naruto did not listen what she said afterward, he just grabbed the already limp body.
As he was standing in that dark room, he had the impression of seeing it for the first time.
There was not much light, Sakura had brought a candle to work. The only sources of light were a small window just outside the cell and the staircase that led to the upper floor, well maybe it was better like this the darkness hid the misery in there. It hid the bed covered in blood, the dusty floor and it hid the prisoner.
The fallen prince was so pale that contrasted everything around him like a star in the night sky, but the similarities ended there, nothing glorious could be said about Sasuke now. They had covered his eyes so that he could not use his family’s strongest weapon, they had done so even after they had him locked, chained, tortured, starved and…
…and…
… and the truth was that he had locked him, chained him, starved him and tortured him even if it was not his hands acting, all of this happened because he had ordered it, he had disobeyed his father, called him weak for not having the guts to make such a decision but now he finally understood him, his refusal to play with human lives, how arrogant he had been.
The idea seemed perfect at the beginning, the prince didn’t even appear human in his mind, he had seen him on the battlefield, ruthless covered in the blood of his comrades: he did not appear human back then.
How could he imagine that under that armour there was a boy even younger than himself?
He thought that the mission would be easy, even quick. After all, why would they train a prince to suffer such a treatment in silence for so long.
He certainly would have not survived.
At first he did not even want to see him, he stayed in his room studying the maps, but then the days went on and they still did not have new information, so after one week he decided that he wanted to see for himself this monstrous creature that could survive such hardships in silence.
What he found was not a monster but a guy just like himself, blinded, hungry but still loyal to his own land
and there was no one but himself to blame for his fate.