When all I wanna do is wrong...

[remaketheworld]

Characters: Sasuke eyes_that_burn & Obito remaketheworld
Verse: TBD
Status: Closed Log



He’d been caring for Sasuke the past few days while the teen waited for his eyes to heal after they’d transplanted Itachi’s eyes into his head. The other Uchiha had been surly and crabby but it was nothing new by now. Sasuke was so angry all the time he couldn’t figure out what a healthy outlet for that anger could be even if it was staring him in the face.

So instead he brooded and sulked—though he certainly didn’t seem to think that way but Obito knew better—and was generally a pain in the ass. Thankfully, he had some experience dealing with prickly people thanks to both his own experiences with the Clan and all the various antisocial personalities he’d had to put up with in his time with Akatsuki. They didn’t hire s-rank criminals for their shining personalities, they hired them for their skills and psychotic lack of conscience. So really, Sasuke was almost a walk in a park compared to some of the people he’d had to deal with over the years.

“Your eyes are looking much better. I think by tomorrow we can leave off the bandages entirely and see how you handle a low-light environment. I don’t know if you’re up for walking around in daylight but I think you should be able to handle low torch light and probably moonlight if you’re hankering to take a walk outside. I’m sure you’re restless after so many days of being confined to bedrest.”

With the bandages over his eyes, Sasuke wouldn't be able to see the speculative look that shot across the older man's face. Nor could he know his new ally had taken to leaving the mask off in his presence thanks to the fact he couldn't see his face. Obito didn't know if Itachi's compulsion to use Amaterasu imbedded in Sasuke's eyes had run their course or if it would transfer over to Itachi's eyes as well.

Either way, if he had to deal with the irritation of Sasuke unconsciously trying to light him on fire with Amaterasu every time he caught a glimpse of his face...it would make the next part of Obito's plan rather tricky to say the least.

He had been mulling over ideas of how he could better draw the younger man into his sway. After the episode with the pain medication mere days before when Sasuke had clung to him thinking he was Itachi, he'd seriously considered trying to take on more of a brotherly role with the boy before discarding it as being unworkable. He already had plenty of brother issues and the last thing Obito wanted was for him to transfer his complicated feelings for Itachi onto him.

So instead he'd begun to toy with the idea of seducing Sasuke instead. He wasn't particularly attracted to him but he'd certainly done far more morally reprehensible things in his quest to complete the Eye of the Moon plan. If he could tie the boy to him on an even deeper emotional level then so be it. He'd do whatever he had to do. Though he was all too aware of the dangerous ground he would skate by doing so.

Obito didn't know what all Orochimaru had done to Sasuke during his time with the old snake but he knew about the Sannin's creepy predilections towards pretty young flesh so it would not be beyond the realm of possibility to think he had made some unwanted or unsavory advances towards the teen at one point.

And the very last thing he wanted was to be counted on the same level as Orochimaru with Sasuke considering what the brat had done to him in the end.

"Though there is one final thing I wanted to talk with you about." He finally admitted, almost musing out loud to himself more than to Sasuke.

Comments

[eyes_that_burn]

There was no discussion of the things that transpired when Sasuke was under the influence; he remembered them, vague incidents that seemed almost dreamlike, talks with his brother, moments of familiar interactions that had never transpired in real life. Sure, it had felt real, but it wasn't, and he wasn't foolish enough to believe it had happened. His brother was dead. He was making peace with it, the malicious, violent way only he could.

He didn't take the medication again, either. That loss of control, of self, was more than he could bear, a frightening aspect he wasn't ready for. One time was enough. And while the pain was screaming some days, he dealt with it through meditation, through silence, until it was manageable. Sasuke could handle anything.

Or so he would often tell himself.

While Madara plotted, Sasuke focused on himself. On plans. On strategy. On what his next move was. On how much stronger he was now. He felt Itachi's strength inside of him, and it helped. The resolve was a wall, and he sat atop it, eager for the moment he could take on his former team, on Konoha itself.

The only time he wasn't focused on it was when he was outside, the sun warm against his face, the sound of the leaves rustled and moved by wind. For a moment, he could forget his anger and just be overwhelmed by the intense sensations of the world around him. And in a way, he was thankful for those rare moments. They cleared his mind, cleansed his palette.

Today held none of that, however. Today had him locked up in his room, his normal clothes forgotten in place of a comfortable yukata as he sat on the bed, restlessly balancing a kunai on the tip of his finger. There was something so calming about the way it moved, it swayed, even without him consciously altering his hand; it made him almost feel as though he was training, even if he wasn't. Those things were left for when the elder Uchiha wasn't here, when he could practice his kata, could work on his pushups, his situps, on everything else. Being blind excused nothing. Laziness was not an option.

The kunai started to tip one way, and with a flick of his wrist, Sasuke let it begin to topple before grabbing the handle. He calmly set it on the bed next to him as he tilted his chin up, over, following the sound of that voice. Madara had been easier to get along with lately, not a friend, no, but someone who understood his pain. Whether that was real or some persona, he didn't know, but there was a mild comfort in it.

"Mm?"

[remaketheworld]

They were Uchiha and not talking about things was sort of what they did. They repressed and refused to talk about their issues which was why their clan as a whole was a bunch of mental basket cases probably. There was only so much emotional repression you could stand before you started to come unglued at the edges. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, when an Uchiha tended to come unglued, it was often in an explosive and destructive as hell manner.

He wasn’t surprised Sasuke didn’t take the offer of the pain medication again and truth be told he would have probably done the same thing in the younger man’s place. No…in fact he never would have taken it in the first place but that was because Obito knew how treacherous he could be on a personal level and he’d never trust someone like himself. But Sasuke had trusted him at least so far as to accept the pain medication from him not knowing if it was drugged or poisoned with something else. Obito wouldn’t go so far as to say that meant his kinsman trusted him fully but it was a promising start at least.

And his next plot, while risky, could also net him an even more useful way of binding Sasuke to him.

There was a part of him, the part that might even contain a speck or a ghost of the person Obito had once been who questioned the morality of his current plan of action. Shinobi had been known to use sex or their bodies to gain exclusive access to targets for exploitation and assassination at times, yes. And really, this was hardly any different but it wasn’t something the callow young man he’d once been would have ever considered acceptable in a million years. Of course, that young man was long gone and might as well be buried under three tons of rock as far as the man he’d grown up to be was concerned.

Of course, the presence of that kunai was mildly worrisome but for a man like Uchiha Obito, it was a non-issue. Thanks to the Shodaime’s DNA implanted in his body, he could heal from most anything the teen could dish out with that simple bladed weapon. It would take far more than a kunai to kill “Uchiha Madara” after all.

The past few days had been almost pleasant. Sasuke had been almost pleasant or at least more tractable, especially after their visits to the outside. Obito didn’t think he was at risk of developing any real emotional connection to his distance cousin but he’d come to tolerate him more as a person. But at the end of the day, he knew that tolerance could only take root so far because in the end, he was still an asset.

And he had a job to do.

“An experiment if you will, in curiosity perhaps.” He stepped in closer to where Sasuke was seated in the bed and smoothly palmed the discarded kunai which he secreted away in his own weapons pouch near silently thanks to the weaponry’s well-oiled and honed quality. Obito debated whether to inform Sasuke he was going to touch him or if he should just go ahead with what he had planned.

There were benefits and drawbacks to both options. If he told him, it would give the teen warning to tense up and perhaps even prepare himself for an unknown attack. But if he didn’t warn him and just went ahead with kissing him then he might over-react or have a violent reaction to the sudden movement. The sad fact of the matter was, Obito didn’t exactly have a lot of experience in seduction games. He’d done plenty of seducing people’s wills through his words and manipulations but not a whole lot of the other.

He finally opted for a middle ground where he stroked the pads of his fingers along the line of Sasuke’s jaw before he leaned down to press his bared lips against the younger Uchiha’s. Like most of their kind, “Madara” tended to favor unscented products which left no discernable trace of smell. Nothing could be deadlier for a ninja who was in a mission to broadcast their location by using overly flowery bath products or hair care items which could provide a keen-nosed enemy with valuable clues as to your location.

But this close, Sasuke would be able to pick up the faint traces of the older man’s scent. Honing oil and metal from his weaponry, leather from the armor he wore and something vaguely woodsy beneath all of that. Something earthy and almost pleasant in the way it mingled with male musk. It wasn’t hard to picture this man standing in the middle of a forest but considering he possessed both the Mokuton and tended to hang around with plant people, perhaps that explained the scent?

[eyes_that_burn]

Experiments.

The word had old meanings, drudged up long ghosted feelings and memories, of hallways at night when he still smelled fresh of Konoha after Orochimaru had taken him in. How many giant containment tubes had he walked past? How many eyes, sky-high on drugs, stared at him through green liquids? How many times had the screams woken him up in the middle of the night, and how many times had he seen people removing bodies while he looked the other way?

How many had he saved in the end?

"I don't like experiments," he muttered, listening to the sound of Madara's voice and trying to gauge where he was. Close. Sasuke's hand went to the bed, trying to pretend to adjust his seating, realizing too late that the kunai was gone; Madara had taken it, hadn't he? Dammit.

Did this have to do with his eyes? His heritage? Was this a test with his sight? Was it--

--a kiss?

What--what the--

Shock. Shock was a weird thing, how tight it made his body, how it sucked out his breath, how it made his thoughts stop. There were little things he noticed, that earthy smell mixed with oils and metals, how half the lips felt different than the rest, textures that felt so off in ways he didn't understand. Sasuke tried to picture it in his mind, piece it together, but even that thought was replaced with the weirdness of the scenario.

The kunai-- What sort of experiment was he doing!?

Hands found the other's clothes and pushed him back as he panted softly, as if he had just been in a fight. Flushed. He was flushed and unsure, caught between anger and disbelief. Who--why--

"Did you fall?" he whispered, because the only kisses he had ever received were from falling, accidents in the making. But no, no, it couldn't happen to Madara in the way that it had to Naruto; he was too good for that.

"What the hell was that?"

[remaketheworld]

To a certain extent, Obito could understand Sasuke’s mistrust and disgust at the whole concept of experimentation. After all, he too had spent years dealing with Orochimaru’s disgusting propensity for experiments and testing ethical boundaries. Obito knew his own moral compass didn’t exactly point true north by any stretch of the imagination but he’d always found Orochimaru to be unsavory to deal with and hadn’t exactly mourned his loss when he decided to betray Akatsuki and set out on his own.

He didn’t think he was the type to be overly moved by any clan loyalty either but he’d found the man’s obsession with Uchiha to be very suspect and the way he’d panted after first Itachi and then Sasuke to be borderline hilarious in retrospect.

Yet here he was planning to try and seduce his younger clansman in no doubt much the same way Orochimaru might have once done. The irony was not lost on him. Sure, he could justify his actions by trying to claim his intentions were slightly less unsightly than the old Snake’s in that he didn’t want to steal Sasuke’s body for his own perverse attempts at immortality. But he fully intended on using his kinsman for his own benefit all the same. Perhaps not out of some need for physical release, no…but he was going to use him all the same. This was just yet another ploy on his part to tie Sasuke closer to him.

And Obito had no interest in trying to lie to himself about the loftiness of his attentions or how this would just serve to further his plans to bring the world back into order. Nor was he willing to examine his motivations too closely lest he find something he would prefer remained unacknowledged. Like how this prickly young man reminded him of another prickly young man who he’d once desperately tried to compete with only to fail every single time. Kakashi had been a genius and a prodigy much like Sasuke was and he’d been just as stuck up and arrogant but Obito refused to look at the teen and see his former friend reflected back at him.

To do so would just give his past more control over his future and that was something Obiti couldn’t allow.

When Sasuke’s hand fumbled about for the kunai, Obito knew he’d been wise to move it out of reach because otherwise who knew what the younger man might have done when he kissed him otherwise. The older Uchiha wasn’t exactly an expert on the subject of kissing by even by his reckoning that the way his own scarred lips pressed against Sasuke’s could only really be described as relatively chaste. Obito didn’t know how the other male would react and wasn’t willing to endanger his mouth or any other parts of his anatomy to potentially violent mauling from angry teeth if Sasuke decided to overreact.

But his distant kinsman just sort of…froze which hadn’t been the reaction he’d been expecting truth be told. Still, he allowed himself to be pushed away only for Sasuke to ask him what had to be the single most unexpected question of all.

Had he tripped and fallen up against his mouth?!

Truly?? What the hell did he think this was? Some terrible civilian pratfall filled soap-opera? A ridiculous manga?

“No, I didn’t fall, and if you can’t tell what a kiss is then there are some serious holes in your education that concern me more than a little bit.” ‘Mardara’ sounded like he couldn’t decide if he was affronted, exasperated or even amused by the entire travesty.

[eyes_that_burn]

Sometimes, it felt like it.

Even with the blindfold in place, Sasuke’s scowl had weight, had power. The sneer of his lips flashed a bit of teeth, not because of the kiss itself, but because of the mocking that accompanied it. He knew what a damn kiss was; his cheeks had enough sense to go pink over it, so that was something. But that didn’t mean he had one before.

Well, a real one, anyway. Those ones with Naruto, he wasn’t sure how to classify them still, other than accidents he hoped to forget. Right?

“Shut up,” he muttered, not wiping his lips, but licking them instead. Feeling the taste, remembering how that scarred mouth felt, abiding by the only sensation he could use for this. Did that count? Was Madara his first…kiss? And, most importantly--

“Why did you do that?” Skeptical, careful, the words were slowly muttered. Reasons, lines, he wanted to know everything that spurred on such a drastic and unpredictable move, more unpredictable than any other person he had met (baring one). Was there a method to his madness? He couldn’t be anything as simple as lonely, as reaching for another human being in times of distress; Sasuke wouldn’t believe that. Couldn’t let himself believe that. Madara wasn’t that human, wasn’t that weak. And Sasuke liked to pretend that he himself wasn’t either.

He had said experiment. What did that even mean?

Fingers curled in the bed’s sheets, knowing now why that kunai was stolen, hating that he was so blind that he couldn’t see the other man’s face, read his expression, know him. What was he thinking? What was his body language? How much was Sasuke missing by being sightless? How many answers would he have?

Madara had the power, and it enraged him.

“What did you mean before, when you said ‘experiment’?” he snapped, trying to rest in the anger because it was better than being confused, lost, unable to determine emotions and motivations. His jaw tightened, head raised high, as if he could convey his own strength in a motion. Lies, though. It was all lies.

“Is that what that thing was?”

[remaketheworld]

He wasn’t intimidated by that scowl any more than he was intimidated by Sasuke’s perpetually foul attitude. It would take a lot more than his sour disposition and teen angst to bother Obito. Compared to some of the previous members of Akatsuki, he was borderline pleasant.

Obito was pleasantly surprised to see the twin flags of color tinge Sasuke’s cheeks beneath where the bandages covered his face. Those calculating eyes watched him and cataloged every reaction including the fact that his distant cousin didn’t rub at his mouth but instead licked at his lips. Was he nervous or seeking out the taste of Obito’s mouth? It wasn’t as though the kiss had lasted long enough for him to leave any lingering trace of saliva or anything else on those pale lips. All in all, it had been a rather chaste kiss.

“Because I wanted to, of course,” The older ninja pointed out evenly. ‘Madara’ doubted Sasuke would accept the answer at face value but perhaps he might. Judging by his reaction, he suspected the boy wasn’t used to people deciding to lean in and kiss him so boldly which was surprising considering how intel had said Sasuke had a veritable herd of fangirls back in Konoha. Of course, he’d never shown any interest in them and quite frankly, outside of the Kyuubi host, never showed a strong emotional bond to anyone else. This was why Obito had figured it was a relatively safe bet to see if the so-called Last Uchiha was batting for the same team and was therefore dooming his clan to extinction by virtue of his own homosexuality.

“It was an experiment in so much as I wanted to see if I would enjoy kissing you. Surely I don’t have to inform you you’re an attractive young man. The hoard of simpering girls you leave in y our wake proves that if nothing else. But seeing as how the last time you saw even a hint of my bare face you very nearly burned me alive, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to see if I would enjoy becoming intimate with you. That’s it, no other ulterior motives, I assure you.” He murmured smoothly, that deep voice taking on an almost hypnotic quality. It was a complete lie of course but Sasuke didn’t need to know that.