Reise zu Reinkarnation

II

The darkness was suffocating, he couldn’t cover his ears, and they wouldn’t shut up. They were arguing again, like they always did, over who’s escape plan was better, never mind the fact that he was bound in a chakra absorbing straight jacket in the first and foremost cell block where ANBU could easily keep an eye on him, as they had for the two years since his capture. Being in prison wasn’t so bad; he got regular meals, a place to sleep, and he was allowed time to bathe and have a quick jog. He was constantly restrained and they constantly argued and ne never really got a moment’s peace. He knew his guards couldn’t hear them; no one except him could. And they fought like cats and dogs and at times like an old married couple. When they did shut up, it was when he spoke something that made sense to them, but after a few moments, they’d start up again, this time arguing a new point of the same old argument. When he slept it was worse because he was right there between them and they still didn’t shut up, so his sleep was restless and he hated waking up tired.

Uchiha would be on the left and Orochimaru on the right and they would yell back and forth above Sasuke’s head and it hurt. For two years they just kept arguing, fighting over Sasuke like a perverse game of monkey in the middle, only instead of a ball there were words and instead of switching places and continuing the game, one was erased forever. Thankfully, though, Uchiha and Orochimaru were at such odds with each other that Sasuke was safe.

He didn’t move from his cell the day the guards disappeared. There was an aborted jailbreak because there were some guards left, all ANBU veterans that had nothing better to do that sit around playing mahjong and kicking the crap out of the would-be escapees’ asses. News was limited within the complex, so what little was thrown Sasuke’s way he coveted like a precious gemstone one finds only in a lifetime of painstaking search. So he knew that during the last two years Konoha had been in a state of chaos, what with a high profile wedding all the ‘Kages attended and there was a huge ceremony that had fireworks going off until early dawn. He hadn’t slept at all that night, listening to the booms and the cheers and wondering what was going on. He wished he could’ve been there, if only to see the fireworks. Still, his soft inquiries had been met with stellar ANBU silence, so he’d given up. He’d find out eventually, either through inmate chatter or whispered conversations from the guards. Sometimes, their conversations weren’t hushed at all, because they believed no one was listening. Or they were baiting the inmates, daring them to attempt a jailbreak. Prison duty got boring after a while, Sasuke assumed, and the ANBU needed something to occupy their brains.

He’d figure it out. He was, after all, a genius. Still, it gave him something to concentrate on, the mystery of events, that he could ignore the two arguing and occupy his brain. Also among the things he did to occupy his mind was make up jutsu. He’d follow the patterns of chakra in his mind’s eye, imagining the hand signs and when they didn’t fit or seem to work in his imagination, he erased them. Simple as that. It kept him busy and behaved and most importantly, quiet. As long as he was quiet, the guards spoke freely around him while he bathed or took his time to exercise. He didn’t run during his exercise time either, instead meditating for about twenty minutes before beginning the gentle movements of Tai Chi, relaxing himself with the strange katas. And his guards allowed him his strange katas because they didn’t set off the famous jounin warning bells. The movements were just a melding of mind and body, a moving meditation.

When again confined to his cell, he tried to sleep or at least rest in the void he’d managed to eke out where he couldn’t hear anything but muffled arguments from Uchiha and Orochimaru. He felt rested but tired when he left the void, but rest – what little he got – was better than none at all, so he dealt. It was all Sasuke could do. He did what he could to keep from going completely crazy, as if he wasn’t already.

Then his questions were answered, two years and six months to the day he was put in this confined space, as salvation arrived. Sasuke didn’t recognize the man who stood before him, dressed in the customary robes of the Hokage. The Hokage he remembered was most decidedly a woman. Perhaps, one of those celebrations had been to instate this man? If so, then where was the other Hokage? Had she died? Orochimaru felt a bit gleeful at that thought, but even he admitted it would take Hell’s own army to kill that harpy.

Electric blue eyes watched him from the other side of the bars, lips drawn in a thin line that made the whisker-like scars on his face all the more prominent. Sasuke stared for a long while, even as the nearest ANBU opened his cell door to allow the Hokage inside, close to what they knew was a traitor. Who was this man? Sasuke wracked his brain for an answer. They were staring at each other, black on blue, studying, gauging, weighing. It was unnerving Sasuke enough that he had to curl his right hand into a fist, just to stay his movements. Nervous ticks wouldn’t be smiled upon here, especially in this sort of situation. The ANBU that hovered nearby were almost daring Sasuke to try to attack the Hokage, just to give them an excuse to beat the shit out of him, maybe even kill him.

“Naruto,” Sasuke whispered, finally having forced the answer out of Uchiha. Naruto smiled, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Hey Sasuke. Wanna get out of here?”

Sasuke blinked, flicking his gaze from Naruto to the tensed ANBU behind him. Naruto nodded a little bit and drew back, turning to head out of the cell and out of Sasuke’s life for who knows how long, all because Sasuke was taking forever in answering. It was a ploy, Sasuke knew, but he didn’t want to stay in this place forever. He wanted to see the sky, feel the sun, and hear the birds. In here, he’d be lucky if he got to hear even music.

“Am I allowed?” Sasuke finally asked as Naruto moved closer to the cell door, almost out of it, the closest ANBU jumping to grab hold of the bars, ready to close it the moment the trailing hem of the Hokage’s robe left the cell. The Rokudaime of Konoha turned back to him and nodded, hand up to pause the ANBU’s movements.

“Yep. Pardoned all your crimes this morning. You’re a free man now.”

Sasuke hauled himself to his feet, watching ANBU file in to remove the chakra-depleting straight jacket. As his arms fell free to his sides, he studied Naruto, head tilting.

“What will I do?” he asked hesitantly, softly.

“Well, let’s go discuss that.” Naruto replied, holding out his hand to Sasuke. Hesitantly, Sasuke reached out his own hand and slipped his fingers around Naruto’s, moving forward when the blonde pulled him, taking his hand more fully into his hold.
As Sasuke stepped from prison grounds with Naruto, he looked up into the sky, tracing the clouds with his eyes. He thought the sky and clouds were the most beautiful things he’d ever seen.

Beside the Hokage, though, even the clouds paled in comparison.