Uchiha Sasuke (
not_thedragon) wrote in
sunshineverse2015-05-12 12:23 pm
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Entry tags:
[open] 05/10 - 05/13
Who: Sasuke and friends, the children's television show that no child should watch
When: 05/10 - 05/13
Where: A hospital room shared with Kakashi and all the adults expressing affection that surrounds him
Notes: Physically, he's pretty healed up. He's mostly under observation, and his charts are very basic due to classified information.
In some ways, quarantine had been relaxing. Most of the time had been spent feeling his bones knit together in the right ways, the delicate ligaments healed in stages and left to find their natural flexibility. They still felt fragile, though no longer as hesitant as they'd been holding the pen to write his brief report, and tired faster than normal. But that had been part of basic T&I training. Hand damage. He was lucky they hadn't taken any of the fingers off.
He was lucky they hadn't done any number of things. They'd wanted to convince him more than extract intel, he thought, and had tried to convey to the interrogator -- masked, voice coolly professional but familiar. It spoke to confidence in more than one way.
It was something he might have liked to chew over with more than the silence of the cell, or the simple scrolls left to him to entertain himself.
But he hadn't been trusted. Wouldn't be for a long time, perhaps; he'd seen as much in the tight drawn lines of the faces that passed through, assessing. Even after his two agents had materialized the day before his release, smiles brittle but voices firm, one with the terrible white twist of bandage still covering his eyes: Uchiha didn't act of his own volition. He hadn't, but he'd been susceptible to control.
That was the word that kept flickering through even in the relative comfort of the hospital. The medic-nin had tsked at him but rigged him with an IV for hydration, and it was maybe irrational to want to see the tamper-proof seal on the saline drip. Definitely irrational, but ... he'd been susceptible.
He closed his eyes briefly at the knock on the door, waiting to see if the footsteps wound around to his curtained half of the room, if he'd need to -- the most relaxing thing about quarantine, ultimately, was not needing to think about what his face did.
When: 05/10 - 05/13
Where: A hospital room shared with Kakashi and all the adults expressing affection that surrounds him
Notes: Physically, he's pretty healed up. He's mostly under observation, and his charts are very basic due to classified information.
In some ways, quarantine had been relaxing. Most of the time had been spent feeling his bones knit together in the right ways, the delicate ligaments healed in stages and left to find their natural flexibility. They still felt fragile, though no longer as hesitant as they'd been holding the pen to write his brief report, and tired faster than normal. But that had been part of basic T&I training. Hand damage. He was lucky they hadn't taken any of the fingers off.
He was lucky they hadn't done any number of things. They'd wanted to convince him more than extract intel, he thought, and had tried to convey to the interrogator -- masked, voice coolly professional but familiar. It spoke to confidence in more than one way.
It was something he might have liked to chew over with more than the silence of the cell, or the simple scrolls left to him to entertain himself.
But he hadn't been trusted. Wouldn't be for a long time, perhaps; he'd seen as much in the tight drawn lines of the faces that passed through, assessing. Even after his two agents had materialized the day before his release, smiles brittle but voices firm, one with the terrible white twist of bandage still covering his eyes: Uchiha didn't act of his own volition. He hadn't, but he'd been susceptible to control.
That was the word that kept flickering through even in the relative comfort of the hospital. The medic-nin had tsked at him but rigged him with an IV for hydration, and it was maybe irrational to want to see the tamper-proof seal on the saline drip. Definitely irrational, but ... he'd been susceptible.
He closed his eyes briefly at the knock on the door, waiting to see if the footsteps wound around to his curtained half of the room, if he'd need to -- the most relaxing thing about quarantine, ultimately, was not needing to think about what his face did.
05/06 [closed; Yamato]
There was natural light in the cell, at least, let in through a cunning horizontal window recessed at the joint of wall and ceiling. He knew which part of the basement he was being kept in mostly by the angle of sun through that crack, and at least there was a way to track time passing. Five more days, probably without any --
The warning buzzer that sounded to announce a visitor to the quarantine cells surprised him. Rolling up his scroll, Sasuke stood, expecting to most likely greet another interrogator.
no subject
Protocol meant that Obito had to keep away until his student was released from quarantine, but the same was not said for Yamato and though he was here on his own impetus and not by request, he would feel better later being able to ease the other mans worries at least a little; especially since the report had been more than harrowing to read through.
Nodding to the guard on duty, he pushed through to the cell beyond and offered Sasuke a nod in greeting; features carefully schooled in neutrality so as not to provoke anything beyond curiosity at his visit.
"It's good to see you. Sasuke."
no subject
He stood straighter, though not quite at formal attention, and folded his hands behind his back.
"Yamato-san," he acknowledged. "Are you here about the mission?"
He couldn't imagine anyone would be in here for any other reason.
no subject
His mouth tugged into a half smile before smoothing again "I'm sure you've had more than enough official visits for the time being.."
His tone was wry, giving away what he knew in subtitles and settled into the comfort of parade rest. Yamato wasn't here for mission information, he had more than enough of that, no, this was for Sasuke's sake with as much leeway as he could personally swing.
"I know you have questions about the outside world and I've been given leave to answer what I can without breaching your quarantine," a warmer smile then "And there are several people who are very invested in your well being..they all send their well wishes."
no subject
Not unexpected from Yamato, perhaps, given the pattern of their interactions since they'd met, but --
You still trust me? didn't slip out. But Sasuke opened his mouth and closed it again before speaking, trying not to sound too desperate.
"The two who were with me," he said, shame colouring his voice despite his efforts: "The ones I -- hurt. How are they?"
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"Both have recovered enough to be discharged from the hospital and are on reduced duties until their rehabilitation is complete." There were more details but he didn't offer more than was necessary; another kindness maybe, but considering he was never in the habit of sugar coating mission details, it was the lesser of the two initial blows for now.
5/10
The curtain gently slides open to reveal him, with a thin, worried, but hopeful smile. He's so glad to see you.
no subject
It hadn't been that long since they'd met, technically.
"Nii-san," he said, belatedly, and looked for a smile to put on in greeting.
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Though, he cannot help a small fork of guilt. Had this been his doing, promoting Sasuke too early, letting him get in over his head...?
Hell try not to think about it, instead giving Sasuke a look over from head to toe, rather quickly.
"How are you feeling?"
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"I'm fine," he said, and pushed himself up to sit straighter in the bed. "The injuries have been healed. I'm just here for observation.
"What about you? Did you run into trouble?"
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Sasuke's state is a huge relief. They could've done much more to him.
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But that was because a captured shinobi was not meant to have done anything to be guilty for.
This, though, even without any overt sign of disappointment from anyone, which was the strangest part -- Sasuke's careful smile twitched, tension washing over his face for a moment before he remembered to put it away.
"I'm glad," he said, and was. "We were only able to get a limited amount of intel from our sector; did you find anything new in yours?"
5/10 - Mission: Linens
"Visiting hours are over. The patients need their rest," A young medic said uncertainly as she found Fugaku wandering around the floor. The irony was he'd almost found Sasuke's room by that point. She probably expected Fugaku to be belligerent or insistent that he be allowed to visit his child.
Fugaku shifted the bundle he'd been carrying instead. "I am aware of that. Would you mind giving this to Uchiha Sasuke? He's in room 573." She knew who he'd been here to see. The medic looked at the neatly wrapped blanket and pillow and then to Fugaku.
"Would you like to come back tomorrow and give them to tomorrow?" She asked hesitantly. Fugaku decided she must be younger or newer to this than he'd thought.
"That won't be necessary. Just see that he gets them when it won't interrupt his rest," Fugaku instructed. The medic took the soft bundle with a still confused look on her face. Fugaku couldn't think of anything else to say to impress the importance of the request on the girl.
"Good." Fugaku tried to convey in tone that he would certainly know if she hadn't done what he'd asked and that she would certainly be in a great deal of trouble if this thing didn't come to pass. This tone usually worked excellently with young Uchiha and rookie officers, so Fugaku left it at that.
"Have," Fugaku said, feeling there was some irony in the phrase. "A pleasant evening." The girl squeaked something in return. Fugaku gave the closed door one last look before nodding to the girl and turning to go.
no subject
He'd noticed the seals, however, triggered to alert staff if he left by the window or the door. It shouldn't have made him relax.
But he had, up until his dozing mind registered a voice he knew, and not just any voice -- one that made him straighten up in bed as if he were about to be inspected and, most likely, found somewhat disappointing. That it lingered made him step out of bed after a moment, concerned mostly for whatever night staff might be unaware that Fugaku was unlikely to be deterred by things like "visiting hours".
Yet, oddly enough, when he cracked open the door (making the orderly down the hall jump at her station and direct a startled glance in their direction), Fugaku appeared to be leaving. The nurse, her arms full of linens at what was an odd time for a change, gave him a look no less surprised, but Sasuke only stared at the retreating back.
"... Father?" The address finally slipped out, more hesitant than he ever liked to sound around his father.
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"From home. They're clean." It occurred to Fugaku then that Sasuke might not be well enough to carry bedding--either hand injuries or instability walking. Fugaku couldn't chastise Sasuke for being up when he should be resting. Fugaku has never been easy resting, even when he had an injury.
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Fugaku had begun to turn when he heard the door open. He came around as he heard Sasuke's voice. It was an odd relief to see Sasuke awake and standing on his feet. An oddly physical sensation deep in his gut too, compounding the general unease of being in the hospital. Fugaku hesitated, then marched back. He didn't take the linens, in case Sasuke wasn't yet up to carrying things around. Instead of motioned to them.
"From home. They're clean." Fugaku frowned at Sasuke. All at once he thought of how tall Sasuke had gotten, but how small and young he still seemed. Sixteen had seemed much older when Fugaku had been sixteen, but these were different times. Perhaps not for much longer, but times had been different. This might not be the first time Fugaku had to hear one of his children had been captured.
"Don't make the medics job harder by wandering around when you shouldn't. Rest when you're supposed to," Fugaku chastised somberly. "You mother is waiting for you to come home."
no subject
... had his father been worried?
It was a weird thought, one that left Sasuke blinking blankly at Fugaku for a long moment -- not so much because he didn't think that Fugaku could, but more because ... a very old, very familiar voice inside him supplied: but Itachi's fine. And he was. And so was Sasuke, physically, all the injuries long healed up, even the remaining bruises mostly invisible. He was still young enough, the medics had said.
"Thank you," he said, belatedly, stumbling now that the silence had stretched into awkwardness, and slipping unconsciously into the more familiar form of address for Mikoto. "I'm not -- I'm no longer injured. I'm fine. You can tell Mom not to worry."
early 05/11 probably
That said, his level of loud enthusiasm never really sat well with the medics and nurses, and often saw him being thrown out in order to give patients peace and quiet enough to recover properly. Therefore, upon hearing about the state of his teammate after returning from a brief outing across the border, Naruto made a beeline for the hospital.
There were some serious benefits to having heightened sensory skills thanks to his sage training, and what good were benefits if he didn't make use of them? Sasuke's chakra stuck out like a sore, memorable thumb and Naruto quickly ran up the side of the building, only accidentally peeping into two incorrect windows before he found his target and ducked in through the window.
"What've you done now, eh?" Naruto demanded as he dumped a bag on the foot of Sasuke's bed and then folded his arms in a manner not entirely dissimilar from his mother's.
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His second instinct was to carefully draw his feet up to sit cross-legged on his bed, folding his arms and generally putting himself in a position from which it would be very difficult to move quickly. Not that he could feel any trace of that easy blankness, but -- but. Just in case.
"I've done work," he snapped, trying to keep his voice level and normal. And after months of it, and far longer than that only occasionally seeing Naruto for more than a few snatched days at a time, it came surprisingly easy. "Unlike some people."
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Naruto wasn't sure, though, and poking at Sasuke straight from the off had never brought forward any successful results before, so he held back. See, he could learn his lesson. Sometimes. When it involved personal gain.
"Oiy! I've been doin' plenty, y'know!" He shifted the bag aside a little more and moved to mirror Sasuke's sitting position on the end of his bed, crossed legs and all. "I've been outta town too while you've been off explorin' or whatever."
no subject
What had been left out of his interrogation with Konoha's intel, still classified, still bodies all in a row and blood pooling --
He folded his arms, ignoring how awkward it made his position in the bed, and tucked his hands between bicep and ribcage, before delivering as unimpressed an expression as he could at first Naruto and then the bag he shifted out of the way in order to take over Sasuke's bed. Naruto's travels had been distantly on his radar (it wasn't like he was keeping track), much like Naruto's occasional brag about training (which he was keeping track of), and it wasn't like he'd been jealous, but they'd sounded interesting.
More interesting than the next two months would be for Sasuke, at least.
"I suppose being a tourist is plenty of work for you," he conceded, before not in any way expressing curiosity in the answer to: "How long are you going to be in the village this time?"
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He folded his arms, let his expression go sullen, and actually managed to withhold his answer for a moment or two... before he caved, unable to resist the sharing of information.
"I'm here for at least the month. Next month, I dunno. Depends how the borders are lookin'... They've been real tough, you noticed that?"
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Silence would work for the answer he wanted (not that he cared), too, and did within seconds. A month was longer than usual -- was Obito holding Naruto back out of concern over the situation? In preparation for the exams?
Sasuke's mouth twisted when Naruto asked if he'd noticed the border trouble, barely holding back a sarcastic no, not at all. "If border trouble is keeping you here, then you'll be here for a while."
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"Yeah? You find somethin' out while you were off on your secret mission?" What? No, of course he wasn't still sore about not being told where Sasuke had been for the past month or whatever. It wasn't like team-mates should look out for team-mates or anything.
"So what's goin' on with the borders then, huh? Y'know how much trouble I had passin' back through the small villages to get home at the start of the month?? Way too much. It was a nightmare, I've never seen it that bad." He scooted closer along the bedsheets and hunched his shoulders, the bag he'd brought laying forgotten at his knee as he focused in on Sasuke. Really he should have known better than to expect any juicy details from Sasuke, but hey, he could hope. Maybe this time.
no subject
Complaining about the small villages, clearly still active around the time Sasuke had been rescued (by Gaara and another Suna-nin and Tenten, and that stung in a weird way). His hands itched for the seal he'd been using to contain the map, the questions already on his lips for what trouble, and where, and exactly when.
And then he swallowed them. It wasn't his investigation anymore. He'd fucked up. Whatever the official reason was, whatever pretty words Obito used to dress it up, he'd fucked up. He'd blinded a man and now he was staring at a fixed point past Naruto's shoulder, rearranging words on autopilot -- he'd blinded a man so now -- no longer really seeing the source in front of him, just --
"If you've been hitting border trouble, you should report to T&I." Who was running point on the situation now? Itachi? "The sooner the better, while the details are fresh." Or the mask who had interrogated him, nondescript and noncommittal exactly as an Intel agent should be? "Provide time and date of assignments so they can be cross-referenced."
5/10
Still, he didn't run at the boy when he came in, instead checking if he was awake at all before approaching.
no subject
So it was that he was uncomfortably awake and in need of the restroom at irritatingly frequent intervals, though it would at least break up the monotony of the next three days.
He was sitting up when Obito walked in, peering at the rate set on the drip of his IV and ignoring a meal sitting on his tray table. The sound of footsteps made him still, turning his head sharply before pausing on Obito's face.
"Sensei," he said, and then more cautiously, because he didn't know what capacity Obito was here in -- "Hokage-sama."
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It was, admittedly, probably not a question that would probably get answered with anything but a 'no' but he wanted, no, needed to ask anyway.
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His body flinched.
"I am," he answered to cover it, a level of forced confidence in his tone as he redirected the hard twitch of his hands to rearranging his pillow to some better position. And the answer was true, anyway, as far as -- "I'll have a few more days of observation and then I'll be cleared for duty again."
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He reached over, slower this time, and rested a hand lightly on his shoulder. "And I believe you'll be careful until then, but I don't expect you to be a-okay with everything right this second, alright? I'm proud of you for being so strong."
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He saw the movement happening and kept his body still -- involuntarily remembered the captor he'd spent the most time with in Waterfall. Something about the way they moved was similar, a conviction in things that somehow seemed clearer now than before.
"It happens to all of us," he said after a pause, remembering what his two agents had said through the bars. "I'd rather get back to work as soon as I can. When should I report back to duty?"
He meant: when do I start the investigation up again, though at this point the situation was less one of investigation and more countermeasures.
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He squeezed his shoulder, then eased back, watching him thoughtfully. "For now, just rest and recover, the medics will release you soon. You can talk to me after that about work."
5/13
Unlike her normal behavior of knocking, Karin actually just walks right in. Eyebrow raised and just the tiniest grin on her face as she slides the door closed behind her. "So what do we have here?" She nearly sing-sons as she takes a peak at his chart before sitting at the end of the bed.
"I thought medics were supposed to know better."
no subject
One look at the visitor ends the surprise, though. He's immediately glad for the nearly-useless level of information in the charts when she looks at them without so much as a by-your-leave, as if this is her hospital and she has any right to them.
It's possible three days in hospital have made him more stir-crazy than a week in quarantine. And before that -- and before that. She actually sits on his bed, and Sasuke thinks for a very long time about not lowering the scroll he's reading and simply ignoring her. Maybe she'll get overwhelmed by something and go away. He very nearly flares his chakra spitefully before remembering that this is a hospital where the staff have no compunctions about hitting him upside the head.
"I'm not a medic," he says, trying and failing not to sound testy. "And you've barely earned that title, so I know you don't belong here."
no subject
The only downside to the visit was she didn't get any juicy bits of information to use later. Quite the pity, but she could settle for just being annoying by virtue of being there too. She much preferred that than clinging to his arm as if he could ward off a full migraine complete with light sensitivity, balance issues, and nausea. And she had to admit there was a certain amount of enjoyment to be had in the tables being turned. Especially given he had a terrible knack for finding her while she was vulnerable.
"If I remember correctly they don't employ non-medics in the medical tents during chunin exams here. So unless Konoha's standards have really dropped, you screwed up."
no subject
That leaves him with a pest that isn't likely to go away when she has a captive audience, even if he supposes a gloating idiot is better than the kinds of people Sasuke's been seeing in the past month. Knowing the comparison exists doesn't erase the irritation of the now, especially not when she's using just the right tone of voice to grate.
At least they hadn't tried to use sound techniques on him while breaking his fingers. Unconsciously, he flexes said fingers, testing their mobility.
"You don't remember correctly," he says, perfectly deadpan. "They employ non-medics if they're skilled enough. If I were a medic, I'd have to follow Tsunade-shishou's rules." And that, despite anything Obito might have wanted, was impossible. "And if you don't know those rules, you definitely don't deserve to be here."
no subject
"I wouldn't really call your bedside manner skilled." She shoots back after recovering.
She studies her nails a moment in a effort to look like it doesn't matter what he just said; that she wasn't effected in the slightest. It's good though to see his fingers twitch, her mouth spreading into a grin. Clearly she's doing her job in annoying him then.
"You think so little of me, I'm hurt." Not.