Long Slide Down

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After the first time Sasuke agreed to have sex with him, Orochimaru suspected he'd anticipated something other than the man sucking him off.

When he looked at it from the teenager's viewpoint, he could understand the assumption--it had taken him over a year to get Sasuke to capitulate, and he'd succeeded thanks only to an accident: Kabuto had noticed an anomaly in one of the experiments that wound up absorbing Orochimaru's attention for nearly a month. At first Sasuke had stalked along the halls outside the laboratory, and harassed him the rare times he ventured out of the room to eat or to sleep for more than a few hours; but after a week passed, the teenager began avoiding him altogether, spending the majority of his time in one training area or another, indoors and out.

The potential of the experiment was not so great that Orochimaru neglected his other interests; he made sure that Kabuto, or, more usually--as he needed Kabuto's hands--some other highly-skilled ninja had an eye on Sasuke after that. There were still gaps in the reports where Sasuke evaded notice for ten minutes to half an hour, but he knew that those were the times the teenager spent in the underground vats' chamber, and left it alone rather than get subordinates involved.

His work with the experiments who'd been surgically forced to have the same anomaly had nearly been wrapped up when Kabuto mentioned as an aside, while washing his hands, that the reports indicated the other shinobi were having an easier time tracking Sasuke . . . perhaps because he was now spending more and more time in the halls around Orochimaru's room.

He hadn't replied, which Kabuto took as a sign to drop the subject after adding that it was making the men watching Sasuke nervous about being accused of insubordination to be in the area; and he spent the extra day necessary to wrap the tests up. But after that, he made sure to come across Sasuke in the hallway as he returned to his room.

When the teenager asked if he had time to spare now, covering displeasure and frustration with snideness, Orochimaru had only shaken his head and said that he was too tense from the last month's work. He would see Sasuke tomorrow.

As he continued down the hall, Orochimaru noted the stillness of Sasuke's body and the way his presence remained for over a minute after he'd turned the corner.

After that, it had only taken another day. He slept in later than usual (this body was already reaching its limits; it was frustrating how much care he had to pour into it), skipped breakfast in favor of an early lunch, returned to the lab to see how Kabuto had planned to dispose of the remains, and at last made his way to the training area one of the men told him Sasuke had last been seen in.

Sasuke had been stalking him since he'd left his room; but he managed to get back to the area before Orochimaru almost unnoticeably.

"I heard you've been working hard," he said as he entered the clearing, before Sasuke had the chance to speak. "Show me how you've improved."


When Sasuke finished displaying all the gains he'd made in his training that he was willing to let Orochimaru know about, he was panting; it was a quiet, mostly controlled noise, but it gave Orochimaru the opening he'd been waiting for.

He let his gaze linger on the teenager's chest for a few moments, where the light caught the faint sheen of sweat with each breath, before bringing it up to meet Sasuke's eyes.

"Impressive," he declared, with that slightly sardonic approval that had always been best for galvanizing Sasuke into action. "You've spent your time well."

"Of course," Sasuke said abruptly, before moving out of the crouch he'd finished in. He rolled his shoulders back and tilted his chin higher a moment later, clearly trying to find a way through his distaste and inexperience to present his next words.

Orochimaru was tempted to wait and see what he came up with; but with Sasuke, there was always the possibility that he would grow irritated and drop the subject before he could be caught showing a lack of talent at it. So he let the smug lift of his lips become a little more blatant and added, "I was worried you'd accuse me of neglecting you."

Sasuke shifted his feet. Orochimaru had made the double entendre as clear as he could without descending into vulgarity; but for a moment he worried that it had escaped Sasuke anyway. Then he noticed that the teenager had picked up on it--he just hadn't completely convinced himself to reply yet.

Orochimaru, again, waited. Patience was a talent he'd cultivated carefully, and it had always brought him more than it cost.

As seconds passed, sliding from a few to several and then more, with only the sound of the leaves rustling faintly above them, Orochimaru watched Sasuke's face as it became clear to him that his prolonged silence was just as much an indication that he understood as a response would have been. He started to scowl, and then looked to the side over Orochimaru's shoulder and said flatly, "You did."

It was . . . interesting, to see how Sasuke held his body with such casual, perfect poise and yet spoke with such a lack of grace or subtlety. A pleasing physical contradiction, after all frustrating numerical ones he'd been faced with over the last few weeks.

"Well," Orochimaru said, the corner of his mouth curling back, "should I make it up to you?"

Waiting for a response from Sasuke would have been a pointless murder of time. Instead, Orochimaru turned aside and took a step closer to the way back to the base, continuing to watch Sasuke as he did.

The teenager adjusted his katana behind him to buy a few more seconds, and then let his hand drop to his side. He walked past Orochimaru in silence, his only acknowledgement of the man's presence behind him being a slightly longer step he took at Orochimaru's first footfall.

He admired the way the shadows fell across Sasuke's back as they returned to the base, obliterating his curse seal and the Uchihas' fan in equal measure, and then admired the way Sasuke held himself imperceptibly straighter as he led the way to Orochimaru's rooms.


Orochimaru had always been particular about the design of his quarters--there were always at least two rooms, one that connected to the hall and one that could only be reached by going through the first, and it was always in the first one that he slept. The second room was solely to store his scrolls, papers and notes; Orochimaru knew his own skill, and also knew how quickly paper could be stolen or destroyed.

Kabuto had raised an eyebrow the first time he'd seen the setup, no doubt thinking it was poorly designed in the case of an assassination attempt, but he hadn't commented and Orochimaru hadn't seen a reason to explain. The younger man would figure it out too quickly to bother.

Sasuke had been in his quarters in all the bases before, often in the mornings when he'd woken too early or never really fallen asleep and wanted Orochimaru to teach him something new or give him a sparing partner. Kabuto refused to deal with the teenager so early in the day, and Sasuke often excessively broke bones on other Soundnins, so half the time Orochimaru agreed rather than sending him out again. Since there was nothing new in this one, Sasuke stood in the middle of it, between the door and the bed, and pretended not to look at anything at all.

That blasé expression was one Orochimaru was long familiar with, from many times before--it was the look that came from trying to hide inexperience behind detachment, nervousness behind bravado. He supposed even he had worn it once, the first time, though it was hard to imagine now. It was also more common to boys than girls, in his experience, though his results on that matter were biasedly skewed.

Orochimaru shut the door behind him, but didn't lock it--any would-be assassin who made it this far wouldn't be stopped by a simple lock, and it would unnecessarily put Sasuke further on edge. Instead Orochimaru let his hand drift from the knob and come to rest at his side, and watched Sasuke. He was curious how much of an initiative the teenager would take to convince himself that he still had some measure of control over the situation.

Sasuke stood still for almost two minutes, his body tilted away from Orochimaru but not quite towards the bed, so that the edge of the curse seal and its containment ring was just visible over the collar of his shirt. When he finally moved, it was with harsh, abrupt gestures.

The guard on his right hand was the first thing Sasuke removed; the least necessary piece of equipment, and the one on his less-dominant hand. Not that Orochimaru had expected anything else.

Sasuke paused afterward, as if unwilling to drop it on the floor but realizing that there was no table within his immediate reach. He hesitated for another moment, and then changed his grip on it and went to remove the left one as well.

Orochimaru laughed once, silently, and while Sasuke was still turned away from him. Then he moved towards the far edge of the bed and gestured to the table in the corner as he did, where he normally set his own equipment. "Over there is fine."

Sasuke didn't reply; he just moved closer to the table, which conveniently took him farther from the man. Orochimaru watched him set his katana down beside the guards, and then undo his belt. He dumped that on the table as well--though Orochimaru noticed that he took care not to let it block the katana--and then caught the extra fabric he used as padding against the rope as it slid down before draping it over the belt.

When Sasuke leaned down to start removing the first of his leg braces, Orochimaru pulled his shirt off smoothly. Sasuke's shoulders jerked underneath his own, but he continued to slide the brace down his leg. He didn't bother detaching it from his sandal, and instead pushed the shoe and brace just beneath the table with the outside of his foot even as he was removing the second one.

There was nothing seductive about the way Sasuke was stripping, and there was just enough tension running beneath his skin that it wasn't even pleasingly efficient; but Orochimaru enjoyed the show anyway. It was a familiar sight as well; even the tension always manifested in the same general areas and ways. He dropped his shirt on the far corner of the bed and started to toe off his sandals.

He tucked them beneath the foot of the bed, at the corner, because it would place them farthest from Sasuke. Orochimaru only had one spare set of shoes at the moment--there'd been no time in the last few months to get more out of one of the hidden villages--and he wasn't interested in losing these in a sudden fit of anger from the teenager. He noticed that one of the bandages around his calf had loosened where the top of his sandal had pulled at it down, but it wasn't enough to bother adjusting. In his peripheral vision, Sasuke had finished loosely folding his shirt and had dropped it on top of the rest of his things.

He finally hesitated when his hand came to rest on the waistband of his pants.

Orochimaru watched the stillness of his wrist for a moment, and then smiled and asked, "Would you like help?"

Sasuke's fingers curled. His back was turned enough that the man couldn't see his expression; but he could make an educated guess.

Sasuke shoved the band of his pants down harshly a second after that, so that they hit his knees before he lifted a leg to shake them off. Orochimaru watched as he half threw them onto the table, catching himself only a moment later and flipping one of the legs up in a motion that was supposed to look like he just didn't want the cuff dangling on the floor but which actually prevented the leg from blocking the katana. It was an almost careless move, one that could have fooled a lesser ninja and definitely would have gone unnoticed to civilians.

Orochimaru's smile widened slightly, and he stepped around the edge of the bed.

Sasuke had begun to frown when he saw that Orochimaru was still wearing his pants; but it was swept away--along with every other trace of expression--when Orochimaru tugged the covers all the way back to the foot of the bed. The teenager's face remained unchanging when he sat down on the mattress a moment later, staring at the door and loosely curling his fingers around the edge.

The mattress creaked when Orochimaru set a knee on it and then leaned his weight in; though Sasuke had gone through a few growth spurts over the last year, Orochimaru still had more mass on him. Sasuke tensed when he cupped a hand underneath his chin, but then caught himself and acted as if he'd been rolling his shoulders back.

Orochimaru recognized this, too--one couldn't have a preference for youth and strength without picking up on a few things over time. Sasuke had hit the extent of where he would initiate, coming up against the wall that so many strong and arrogant young men did: an inability to reconcile the idea he'd been telling himself about being partially in control with lying down on his back.

Orochimaru had learned how to deal with that, as well.

He ran his thumb over Sasuke's cheek slowly, just below his eye, feeling how Sasuke had learned to control himself so well that the muscles in his face remained still at the touch; and then he placed his free hand on Sasuke's chest and pushed him down.

Sasuke fought the move on pure reflex, seizing up and starting to push back, but Orochimaru pressed harder before Sasuke could brace his hands enough to have real leverage. The teenager's head was almost touching the mattress when he seemed to remember what they were doing; Sasuke stopped actively fighting him then, though his body was still so tense it barely touched the bed in some places.

Orochimaru pulled his hand away and then shifted to the side, looking down at him with a wry smile.

"This is less complicated if you aren't half hanging off the bed," he mentioned, and watched as Sasuke's jaw tightened.

Sasuke jerked both of his legs up a moment later; and, when Orochimaru shifted further to the side, he moved over enough that he could stretch them out without hitting the edge of the mattress. He stared up at the ceiling.

Orochimaru smiled again, thinner and darker, and then leaned down and pressed his mouth to the pulse behind Sasuke's right ear.

Sasuke shifted again, almost pulling away; but then Orochimaru heard him digging his fingers into the sheet on the opposite side, and he fell still, letting his breath out in a long, low exhale.

At that, Orochimaru braced an arm on the other side of Sasuke, moving one of his legs until his knee rested between the teenager's thighs even while he kept track of where Sasuke's hands were. Sasuke shifted his legs apart a fraction to avoid touching him, and then stopped when he realized he'd just opened himself, however slightly. Orochimaru only continued to smirk at that, and let his weight drop a little more, until he could feel the faint definition of Sasuke's abdominal muscles against his own. Sasuke sucked in his breath, and Orochimaru let himself down a little further, until Sasuke finally released it with a slightly shaky hiss.

Orochimaru kept the tip of his tongue pressed against Sasuke's pulse point for a few moments, long enough to feel his heartbeat as the teenager kept it even and controlled. Then he brought it up just enough to trace the shell of his ear, before slowly trailing along his jawbone. Sasuke pressed his teeth together at that, but kept his breathing the same.

Orochimaru had always considered a lack of responsiveness, when it happened, as merely a challenge; but with Sasuke, it was something more. The iron control Sasuke possessed over his body would be almost completely passed on to Orochimaru, through neurons and synapses--knowing just how far it went was almost as exciting as finally having the teenager against him in something other than a training session. It kept his every motion, even the subtlest shiftings, deliberate . . . testing.

When he reached the juncture between Sasuke's jaw and throat, he moved downward, tracing the path of his jugular vein and taking care to avoid the small scars from needles that marred his skin.

The needle marks were all along Sasuke's body, he now knew--from his neck down to mid-calf. He never had told Orochimaru where they'd come from; but then, Orochimaru had only asked once. They weren't obvious enough to be an irritant, and Sasuke was enough trouble without adding fuel to the smoldering fire. He ran his tongue along the top of Sasuke's collarbone to avoid another of the scars, and then made his way over to his shoulder.

Sasuke tensed again when Orochimaru raised himself to catch hold of the teenager's wrist and pull his arm away from his side. He kept his grip loose, just enough to tilt Sasuke's wrist and forearm out, and then continued to run his tongue along the line of his biceps.

Sasuke's arm twitched in his grip when Orochimaru slowly traced the dip along the crook of his elbow. The teenager's breathing was speeding up imperceptibly as he followed one of Sasuke's veins from there down to his wrist, lifting his arm up slightly in order to do so without moving too far off of him.

Sasuke's shoulders pressed harder against the mattress when Orochimaru swept his tongue across his palm and then into the gap between his fingers, tasting the hint of grass and rust from his demonstration earlier. Sasuke's hand had too many scars to bother avoiding, mostly burns and faint lines from kunai, but there was one needle scar on both sides of the fleshy part between his thumb and forefinger. Orochimaru avoided that spot, and instead let his tongue wind between Sasuke's other fingers, just a little too long to be normal.

Sasuke's other arm was rigidly straight at his side now, as if that could conceal how tightly he was clenching the sheet; it was rucked up almost over the edge of the mattress.

Orochimaru brought his tongue back into his mouth before tilting Sasuke's wrist, turning his hand and forearm over, and touching his mouth lightly to the middle knuckle. He braced his weight onto his elbow as he did, and then lifted his other hand and let it rest on Sasuke's chest, over his heart.

The teenager's heartbeat was still fairly even, but it was faster now; and against the waistband of his pants, he could feel the way Sasuke was hardening slowly.

Orochimaru admired the contrast of his tattooed arm against Sasuke's unmarked chest as he rubbed his thumb twice against Sasuke's palm. Then he pulled the hand away from his mouth before pressing it against the bed again. He shifted his weight a little further onto his elbow, pressing his hip against Sasuke's cock, and then tilted his head back to look at him, letting his hair slide against his shoulder rather than tossing it back.

"Am I hurting you, Sasuke-kun?" he asked, smiling faintly.

"What?" the teenager replied, voice half-strangled from all his efforts at stillness; and then he caught himself and said harshly, "No."

"Ahhh," Orochimaru replied, shifting again and feeling Sasuke's hips fractionally echo the motion, feeling the way he was beginning to respond despite his best efforts otherwise.

. . . Perhaps not his 'best' efforts, Orochimaru conceded, though Sasuke was stubborn enough to agree to sex and then attempt not to be involved in it at all. He swept his palm over the teenager's nipple briefly, paying careful attention to the beat of the heart beneath his fingertips.

"Just curious," he continued, and then tapped a finger against Sasuke's collarbone, below the curse seal. "You're remarkably tense."

Sasuke shifted slightly away at that, gaze still focused on the ceiling.

". . . I didn't notice," he muttered, even as he visibly forced his shoulders to relax.

Orochimaru restrained the urge to laugh, if only because it would cause him to lose the ground Sasuke had just given, and instead braced his arm back on the mattress beside Sasuke's (whose hand was still clenching the sheet, despite his comment). Orochimaru pushed up off his elbow at the same time, and leaned over Sasuke's chest once again, rocking his thigh against the teenager's cock as he moved. Sasuke pressed the heel of the foot that wasn't caught between Orochimaru's legs into the bed, but relaxed it a moment later.

Orochimaru dipped his tongue into the hollow of Sasuke's throat lightly, and then ran it in a straight line down his sternum and torso. Sasuke had very few of the needle marks along there; whoever he had fought with had focused on his neck and extremities, all in nonfatal areas if one had a good knowledge of acupuncture and anatomy. He shifted downward in a smooth motion as his tongue slid lower, always keeping some part of him pressed against Sasuke's growing erection to maintain the slow friction, even when he slid his other leg between Sasuke's as well. Sasuke's hips twitched slightly at that, and Orochimaru curled the corners of his lips up, pleased despite the fact that the roughness of his pants against his own cock was growing unpleasant.

He flicked his tongue into Sasuke's navel before veering to the right again and tracing the line of his pelvic bone down to his inner thigh. Sasuke exhaled tightly when the pressure against his erection disappeared, leaving it exposed to the air. Orochimaru ignored it and the way Sasuke had instinctively pushed up the first moment he pulled away, and traced the path of his femoral artery down to his knee.

Sasuke jerked and scraped his toes along the sheet when Orochimaru slid a hand beneath his thigh and lifted it, high enough that he could set his mouth against the side of Sasuke's knee and press his tongue into the faint dip where the femur and the tibia met. There was another needle scar right at the edge of his kneecap, though it hadn't gone deep enough to leave an equal one on the other side; Orochimaru had first learned about it when he noticed that Sasuke had a slight lag when turning sharply on that leg. But Kabuto had fixed the damage long ago--only an outer flaw remained. Ultimately acceptable.

Orochimaru let his hand slide downwards when he did the same with his mouth, caressing the back of Sasuke's knee with his fingers and the front of it with his thumb as he traced the definition of Sasuke's calf with his tongue.

He ran his hand down the back of the teenager's calf when he reached his ankle bone, mouthing it and then the dips and curves of the muscles below as he did; and when his hand reached Sasuke's ankle, he cupped it around the back and lifted his foot off the bed.

Orochimaru tightened his grip when Sasuke tried to jerk his foot free, and before the teenager could fight further he slid his tongue down the dip of his heel. Then he quickly--the first quick motion he'd made since pushing Sasuke down--ran it up the sole of his foot.

Sasuke flexed his foot automatically, toes curling as he tried to pull free again. Orochimaru tightened his fingers a fraction more, and Sasuke stopped with a long, angry hiss. He'd dug his other heel back into the mattress.

He could taste the grit on Sasuke's foot from his training earlier, as well as the sweat still on the teenager's body; but Orochimaru could tolerate it. He wasn't long for this body, anyway.

He pulled away a moment later, shifting up onto his knees; and then he used his hold on Sasuke's ankle to set his foot back down on the bed, placing it much farther out than previously and bending Sasuke's knee sharply in the process. Orochimaru brought his hand up a moment later, fingers drifting over Sasuke's shin, until he could settle his palm on the teenager's knee and gaze down at him.

Sasuke had squeezed his eyes shut at some point, and the sheet in his clenched fist was pulled completely up, exposing part of the edge of the mattress. He was breathing through his teeth, struggling to maintain control, but the rapid motion of his chest and the redness of his erection belied his efforts.

Orochimaru was tempted to press a hand to Sasuke's stomach, to reverse the path he'd taken with his tongue and slide his abdomen against the teenager's cock until he had his hand over Sasuke's heart again and could feel just how much he'd won so far--but he refrained. Instead, he set his free hand on the bed next to Sasuke's hip and fist, shifting his wrist slightly to adjust for the weight, and then slid the hand on the teenager's knee back down his thigh.

Sasuke's breath hitched when Orochimaru cupped his balls, and he dug his heels in deeper into the mattress.

Honestly, the teenager had acted less pained when he'd taken full-force blows to the chest in training. The fear of unfamiliar pleasure was hardly an uncommon sight to Orochimaru, but from Sasuke. . . .

Well, this was the only time the teenager's body would react this way. Once it was his own, it would never twist or tense like this again. He should try to focus on relishing the temporary, rather than on his disappointment.

Not that Orochimaru had ever been particularly skilled at that.

He swept his thumb across the front of Sasuke's sac, watching the muscles in the teenager's stomach and thighs flex as he fought the urge to push up, to push away. Then he slid two of his fingers farther back, barely touching the short expanse of skin until he found the right spot. Once he did, he pressed up hard.

"Shit!" Sasuke burst out, hips jerking and back arching slightly. The motion caused his cock to jump, and a second later he rocked his hips up as Orochimaru rubbed hard at the spot. "Fuck!"

Orochimaru smirked as he settled himself more comfortably on his knees, and then leaned down and slid Sasuke's cock into his mouth.

Sasuke didn't manage words at that. He made a strangled noise in the back of his throat as his back arched higher, forcing Orochimaru to let his hand drop away. A moment later, his knee hit Orochimaru in the side as he brought his legs in as much as possible.

It had been long enough that Orochimaru couldn't take him in in a single motion, but he could relax his gag reflex quickly enough that the teenager wouldn't be able to tell. He slid down almost smoothly until his nose brushed the hair around the base; and then Orochimaru adjusted himself so that he could slide the arm he'd been bracing beside Sasuke into the gap between the teenager's arched back and the mattress, unwilling to give back the few inches Sasuke had surrendered.

Sasuke's hips jerked hard at that, enough so that Orochimaru considered holding them down. He compromised by wrapping the hand of his arm beneath Sasuke around his hip, and gripping it tightly before swallowing hard around his cock.

Sasuke made a choked sound at that, high and almost more pained than angry.

When Orochimaru slid back, letting his tongue linger along the underside until he'd pulled away completely, he saw that Sasuke had bitten his lip hard enough to bleed--but it still wasn't enough to smother his harsh breathing. His eyes had been wide open, but when he finally realized that Orochimaru could see his face again, he squeezed them shut. Orochimaru laughed quietly, and Sasuke bit down harder.

The teenager's foreskin had glided back up partly when Orochimaru had pulled away. He pushed it down with his free hand, listening to Sasuke hiss through his bitten lip, and then took his cock into his mouth again. It went more smoothly this time, memory and lubricant combining, and Sasuke made another choked noise when Orochimaru swallowed against him once more.

He slid his hand back between Sasuke's legs when he was sure he could do it evenly, palming his sac before reaching back again. Sasuke tensed when he felt the fingers brushing against him, so Orochimaru swallowed tightly around his cock a third time before pressing up against the spot, harder than before.

Orochimaru coughed when Sasuke arched up, and then coughed again when the teenager suddenly shoved himself back, hands and feet scrabbling against the sheet in an attempt to get away. Orochimaru's arm against his back slowed him down, however, so the man was able to slither upward with him, taking a care with his teeth that he knew Sasuke--ungrateful in the clearest of circumstances--wouldn't appreciate and likely wouldn't notice.

Sasuke only had a few inches before he hit the wall the bed was against, the only thing saving him from a blow to the head being the pillow that he'd squashed between him and it in the process.

When Sasuke realized that he had nowhere else to go, he pressed the back of his head hard against the mattress, clenching his jaw and tilting it up so that Orochimaru could no longer glimpse his face.

The long line of Sasuke's throat was a fair trade, Orochimaru decided. He let up on the pressure of his fingers as he slid back up the teenager's cock, and then paused to swirl his tongue around the head and suck on it briefly before pushing down and repeating his previous actions. Sasuke made another hissing noise, and then coughed soon after; he must have swallowed some of his blood.

Sasuke didn't last long, but Orochimaru hadn't expected him to. He was still a boy, after all.

When he heard Sasuke make a sharp sound, and felt his body tense up differently than before, Orochimaru pulled back quickly. Then he brought his hand up and pressed it against the underside of Sasuke's cock, pushing it down against his stomach. Sasuke had groaned at the sudden loss of sensation, but it wasn't enough to stop him from climaxing.

Orochimaru tossed his hair over his shoulder in an afterthought, even though the strings of semen were landing across Sasuke's torso, too far to be a real risk.

He kept his hand in place until he felt the teenager begin to soften. Sasuke slumped against the bed a moment later, but arched his back right up again once he realized that Orochimaru's arm was still beneath him.

The position was an awkward one to hold for any extended period of time, especially because Sasuke didn't have enough room to sit up; so Orochimaru indulged him by pulling his arm free, trailing his fingers across his muscles and spine as he did. He shifted until he was several inches to the left of Sasuke, then settled on his side and propped his chin up on his fist, moving carefully to avoid scratching his erection against the cloth of his pants any more than necessary. He shifted again a moment later, to conceal it as much as was possible.

Beside him, Sasuke clawed his way back to self-control, and Orochimaru enjoyed the sight of that as much as he did of the naked teenager himself. The fact that he could regulate his breathing so soon, could maintain that much control over his heartbeat . . . it was enticing. Orochimaru pictured how the ink of his tattoos would look when he wore them on Sasuke's forearms, and lowered his eyelids slightly.

Sasuke pushed himself into a sitting position a few moments later, bracing his hands hard against the bed to keep his arms still. He grimaced when the semen along his stomach and chest began dripping slowly, and didn't turn to look at Orochimaru as he began speaking.

"Do . . . you want . . ." Sasuke asked, and then licked his lips, as if that would help the hoarseness of his voice.

"I'm completely sated, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru replied, telling the current truth.

Sasuke tensed at that, and his head jerked around to stare at Orochimaru. He looked back at the teenager evenly, keeping the small, satisfied smile on his lips as he did.

Sasuke twisted around a moment later, rucking up the sheets yet again with the ferocity of his movements as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He paused after just starting to push himself up, however, and Orochimaru suspected from the way the muscles in the back of his thighs and ass tightened that his legs were still trembling.

"I'm leaving, then," he said to cover his pause, voice tight with restraint but still hoarse beneath the effort.

"Very well," Orochimaru replied, still smiling.

Sasuke paused another moment, and then shoved himself off the bed. Orochimaru admired the way he wrapped his volatile reaction at being so stripped of his self-control in cold disdain and the lines of his legs as he walked with over-forced steadiness towards the table his clothes were on.

Watching Sasuke redress was another study in his capabilities--the teenager jerked his pants on awkwardly, too quickly, but began to regain control over himself once he realized he couldn't wear his shirt the way he currently was.

Sasuke kept his back mostly to him as he sacrificed his wrap to clean his chest, so Orochimaru admired the slide of muscles beneath his skin as he moved and pictured how they would shift differently when the teenager was eventually underneath him, how his spine would arc farther and the muscles of his shoulders tense.

By the time Sasuke folded his wrap in quarters, concealing the fresh stains, he was able to stand evenly and move at a pace that suggested less frenetic disgust and more boredom. He strapped his arm guards on before reaching for his shirt.

Sasuke finally half-turned towards him when he had to pull on his leg braces, and he leaned against the edge of the side table to tuck the ends of his pants into them. Orochimaru continued to lounge on the bed.

Sasuke's fingers lingered on the hilt of his katana after he tucked it back into the upper loop of the rope; it was only for a moment, but it was enough to make Orochimaru narrow his eyes. The teenager let his arm drop to his side without a word or move, however, and he left the room in silence as well.

Orochimaru waited until he knew Sasuke had turned the corner into the next hall, having long ago memorized the motion of the teenager's strides so that it wouldn't matter how silent Sasuke made his footsteps. Then he let out his breath in a quiet exhale, before pushing down the waistband of his pants.

~