Work Text:
The room is damp and cold as Tenzo lay on the floor. He moves to stand up, only to find his arms bound to his body by some unseen force. Water drips from the ceiling, pooling into puddles at the edges of the room. Something about the room is terrifyingly familiar.
He is in a stone box, it seems. A prison made of huge slabs and sturdy iron bars. Outside the confines, he can make out lab equipment- vials, jars of dead things and in the back, an operating table. Huge machines loom in the darkness, casting strange shadows.
Voices approach, and a shadowy figure stands at the bars of his cell. Struggling to his knees, he watches as the shadow turns away and attends to a vial on the counter. A second figure nears, and he recognizes Orochimaru. The sannin’s face is pale and his smile sends chills down Tenzo’s spine.
Golden eyes glow in the dark.
Orochimaru corners him with that glow, forcing Tenzou to meet his gaze. Nails scrape on slippery stone as Tenzo scrambles back, panic flooded his senses.
His back hits hard concrete.
Nowhere to run.
The box seems to be closing in on him, and he wonders vaguely if this was a jutsu that Orochimaru recently acquired.
He couldn't retreat anymore, but he tried, wishing he could melt into the wall. Suddenly Orochimaru was standing in front of him, gripping slate grey hair of a kunoichi slumped at his feet. She looks up at Tenzo, eyes begging him to do something, anything- but he is paralysed at the sight of her in Orochimaru’s grasp.
“Tenzo-” She coughs as the man standing over her jerks her head and gives her ribs a kick.
“Shut it,” the pale man hisses, “I should thank you, child-” a maniacal grin overtakes Orochimaru's visage, “It was because of you that we succeeded.”
Tenzo tries to protest, but no sound comes out.
“We just have one last thing to settle- this kunoichi.” her head is wrenched up again, and she cries out. “We can't have her distracting you, can we?”
Kabuto emerges from behind the two figures, Kaiyo’s tanto in hand. Blood splatters over the man’s purple shirt as the blade is plunged into her back. Kaiyo lets out a final shutter, coughing weakly, hands reaching for where Tenzo knelt.
His blood runs cold and he fights back the urge to scream, to dig his nails into his nails into his scalp and tear. Too much blood- nonono- he has to- Blood soaks onto Orochimaru's shoulder, pooling on the ground as the lifeless body is housed onto his back.
He wraps his arms around himself to try and stop the shaking but it's futile as he watches her body unceremoniously dropped onto the operating table.
They got her- Kaiyo is dead and he could do nothing but be captured. He couldn't even stop them as Kaiyo was killed in front of him- it was his fault her life was cut short-
“Tenzo-!” now his mind was just playing a cruel trick on him. He choked- he was just hearing things- she was dead!
It was because of him that she was targeted. It was his fault that the world ended. His fault that he couldn't save his precious people. That Kaiyo was killed by a madman. The thoughts overwhelm him, his vision getting blurry as he grips his head, nearly tearing his hair out.
Orochimaru looms over him, and reaches down, maroon cloak coming into view as a pale scaly hand grasps his face. He has no control of his body, as he raises his face. Hands shake and he feels like collapsing.
Kabutos snake-like features twist into a grin before warping further. The medical ninja's jaw unhinges, revealing a black chasm that consumes Tenzo.
"Tenzo- hey, Tenzo!" His eyes tear up, hearing her phantom voice. No! She's dead- he feels winded at the thought, jostled by the void.
+++
He woke in a cold sweat, sitting up as hands shook and panic crawled up his throat. He needed- His eyes darted around the dark room, taking in white walls, simple decoration, an open window. Escape his mind supplied. He took note of the door which was slightly ajar. Another exit he catalogued the thought instinctively.
Soldier instincts told him to get up, to clear the area, to fight anything that moved. Muscles tensed as he took inventory of his supplies. The pain tee shirt held no weapons, and neither did his- boxers?
Something shuffled and he became aware of a warmth next to him. Something about the feeling grounded him, and he focused on that. The familiar presence was one that, a moment ago, he was certain he would never feel again.
In his panic, the covers had been tossed aside, spring air already cooling the fabric. Hesitantly, he looked down to the body at his side.
Her eyes are careful and calming, the deep blue irises almost black in the low light. Staying still, they watched each other. Being a former ANBU, Kaiyo knows his instincts tell him to fight if in danger. Her body was loose and relaxed, hair splayed out on the pillow, untainted by the blood of his dream. Tension melts from his shoulders as she blinked sleepily at him.
Crushing relief crashed down on Tenzo, and he took a moment to re-memorize her features. Stony grey hair, dark lashed framing those pools of blue. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and reached down to caress her cheek, brushing hair away from her face. She sat up slowly, moving with purpose. Tenzo met her half way, giving her a gentle kiss before crashing his nose into the crook of her neck.
He let the panic he felt flow through him as her arms wrapped around his neck, fingers scratching comfortingly through his hair.
"Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?" Her voice is quiet and laced with concern.
He weakly shakes his head, content to bury his face into her warmth and take in her scent.
He never thought he could have something as good as this- his whole life,Tenzo was taught that life wasn't for shinobi like him. Taught to be a nobody- no past, no future.
No place to belong. Nothing that was solely his.
But she had seen beyond the faceless weapon, seen a little boy who was lost and helped him find his way. Despite the blood and destruction, Kaiyo had reached through the flames and made a safe place for him. She became his home.
It was hard to believe that this wasn't also some twisted part of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Sometimes, in his darkest moments, he questioned reality- what if Naruto had failed- what if everyone was still trapped- what if this reality was a lie, if his relationship with Kaiyo was part of an elaborate illusion- what if what if-
But she always dissuaded his fears, questioning his logic and dispelling the oncoming headache.
She was murmuring to him, her voice vibrating against his cheek as he tightened his grip. She talked about Kazuki, and how he was getting along with kids at the academy, how thankfully mellow the hospital was and anything else that came to mind. He never in his wildest dreams would have imagined this life for himself- a kid, a partner, a cosy apartment filled with mementos and scribbled art.
Soft fingers travelled down Tenzo’s neck, worrying at the baby hairs there before she drew her arms in, separating his face from her neck. He wanted to cry at the lost contact, but her hands on his shoulders grounded him. She kissed him, starting at his shoulder, trailing up towards his jaw.
Still moving slowly, she pulled him down into the sheets, lips finally locking into his. In contrast to the earlier kiss, Kaiyo let this one go on, allowing him to explore her mouth, his tongue running over the familiar shape of her teeth.
His arms tightened again, and he could feel her soft body through the thin cotton of her night shirt. Kaiyo’s hands wandered over his shoulders, down his back, rubbing circles into the muscles there. Finally they settled back into his hair, sending sparks through his head.
They finally break apart, both of them breathing unsteadily. She allowed him to push her onto her back before curling up, head resting on her chest. Her arms held him close, and he clung to her, letting out a content sigh. Tangled into a mess of limbs, she managed to pull the covers back up over the two of them. He felt a soft kiss to the crown of his head as he drifted off to a dreamless sleep to the steady rhythm of her heart.