Chapter Text
He didn’t struggle as the ropes went around his body, limp and docile at the harsh grip of the villager on his wrists. He hadn’t done anything wrong to warrant the treatment, but fear made people crueler. Sasuke knew, because he wanted to kill the man for the slight indiscretion. He did not have the hands to try.
“We can still stop this,” his mother begged, one hand on his cheek. She wasn’t allowed to be the one to tie him up, no one in his clan was, too scared they would plot his escape. To be fair, that was literally what his mother was suggesting.
“Please, Sasuke,” she whispered, his father at her shoulder and surveying his bondage with something resigned and mournful. “Please.”
“If I don’t do this we’ll all pay the price,” Sasuke said as levelly as he could manage, leaning his cheek into her hand. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Mikoto scoffed bitterly, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his neck. He wished he could return the gesture, but the villager at his back had completed his task and Sasuke’s arms were completely immobile.
“I love you,” Sasuke admitted, ignoring how he flushed. He was going to die, if there was any moment to speak to his love it was now. Sasuke felt how she clenched her jaw, holding back a sob. He looked past her shoulder to Fugaku, meeting his eyes squarely and without the intimidation he’d felt most of his life.
“I love you, father.”
His father pressed his lips together, taking quick steps to his side to furiously whisper in his ear. “I can come back later. With some men from our clan.”
Sasuke threw his eyes to the quickly darkening sky, wondering how he was put in a position where he had to fight to die. “And then we’ll all pay for that decision. Just…let it happen.”
Mikoto made a sound, pulling away from him to pet his hair. Sasuke took a breath. “Tell Itachi I love him.”
“He knows.”
He ignored the anger in his father’s voice, stumbling backwards as a villager put a hand on his shoulder and wrenched him away from his parents and towards the center of the meadow. His mother cried out, but a small crowd of soldiers had surrounded them, apologetic, but not enough to let them pass.
“It’s going to be okay!” Sasuke called out before he got too far away, using his last words just to try and soothe the hurt his family would feel at his passing. He needed to be confident, he needed to look sure.
His father just wrapped his arms around Mikoto’s waist and held tight, pulling her away as she- oh. He’d never seen his mother sob in his life.
And I guess I’ll never see it again.
His family disappeared into the trees, and Sasuke suddenly felt colder. He was in his most expensive yukata, the village having insisted for the occasion, but it did nothing against the chill quickly overtaking the meadow as the sun disappeared, the torches in the villagers hands lighting up for their journey home. The ropes looped around his torso, pressing his bound hands painfully close to his body, provided a bit of insulation but Sasuke refused to be grateful towards them.
“It’ll be quick,” Mizuki said in his ear, making Sasuke flinch. “It’s been years since his last sacrifice, he must be ravenous.”
Sasuke’s lip curled but before he could get a reply off a blindfold came around his eyes, making him flinch again. Mizuki laughed, and Sasuke spared the thought that maybe he shouldn’t be the one who teaches the children. He couldn’t remember what he did to get the man mad at him, but he’d also never particularly cared until it was Mizuki putting a hand on his shoulder and a foot to the back of his legs, forcing him down to his knees on the cold dirt floor.
“Is he secure?” someone asked, their voice old and stern, which narrowed it down to literally anyone on the council.
Pressure came on Sasuke’s wrist, pulling him closer to the ground in an awkward position. There was some fumbling behind him, and Sasuke could picture how they would tie him to the stake in the ground, something they’d painfully hammered into position hours before. When the presence behind him moved away Sasuke tugged experimentally, mouth quirking into a rueful grin. He wouldn’t be getting out.
“We should gag him,” Mizuki said, making Sasuke roll his eyes. “He’s an Uchiha. There’s no telling what disrespect he could get off before the spirit eats him.”
Some people grumbled about his tone, but after some back and forth Sasuke felt fabric shoved in his mouth and tied behind his head, vaguely noting how appreciative he was that his mother wasn’t here to see this anymore. He didn’t think anything could stop her from starting a fight, and the only thing she’d succeed in doing is further hurting the Uchiha reputation.
“Uchiha Sasuke,” an older voice rang out, gravity and power behind every syllable. Sasuke was grateful he was blindfolded so they couldn’t see his raised eyebrow.
“You’ve done a remarkable service to your village. Your sacrifice will not be in vain.”
Sasuke waited for the voice to continue, but only heard the shuffling of bodies getting further away from him.
Was that…it?
He swallowed, trying to release as much tension in his limbs as he could, but it was hopeless. He couldn’t see anymore, but he felt it as the last rays of sunlight died, leaving him alone and vulnerable in the wide open meadow that bordered their village. It was supposed to be a divine area, the meadow offering special herbs that their doctors picked early spring. It was late summer now, and Sasuke felt the coming autumn with every gust of wind, ruffling the tall grass around him and making him shiver in his bonds.
He hadn’t been stressed about this part, the waiting. He realized now with, his vision completely dark, limbs immobile, unable to even call for help, he really should have. The anticipation, knowing his entire existence was about to end with teeth in his throat or claws through his heart or-
He took a breath and held it, trying to channel the training he’d done under his brother, but a violent wind threatened to knock him over and distracted him from sinking into meditation. Sasuke sneered around the gag, shuffling on his knees to get his circulation moving. It was his last moments on earth, couldn’t he at least be comfortable? It wasn’t like he could fight the fox spirit.
His thoughts circled as he waited. He was afraid, this was stupid, it’s fucking cold, for the village, they couldn’t have at least let him wear warmer clothes? Over and over he went through the same thoughts, until a wolf’s howl took him out of his own head. He was tense, annoyed at the idea a wolf would get to him before the fox spirit and all of this would have been for nothing.
Well maybe if the damn fox was on time-
Something else howled back at the wolf, and all of Sasuke’s annoyance vaporized. So this was it.
He tried to relax, hearing a body move through the trees. He wanted to die with dignity. Let the fox chew him up and hear no screams to spoil his meal. Let him be so satisfied that he'd never demand this of his village again.
But he couldn’t help it as he started to shiver, the cold too much and too foreboding. He hadn’t done anything with his life yet. Hadn’t met anyone he loved or gone off to war or learned a trade. He hadn’t established himself, hadn’t made a name for himself, and now all his name would mean was sacrifice, a poor idiot kid who some demon had taken a liking to and who’d had to cut his life short to make sure his village was protected. It was honourable, sure, but it wasn’t very glorious. He’d achieved nothing except dying, and any fool could do that-
“Oh my god!”
Sasuke jumped, whipping his head around to try and find the direction of the sound. Hands were suddenly around his head and Sasuke yelped, unbalancing and falling backwards on his bound arms, but he somehow lost his blindfold in the process. He reared up, whining at the extremely awkward pain in his wrists.
“It’s okay! You’re going to be okay!”
The pain in his wrists lessened as the ropes around him suddenly went slack, making Sasuke’s eyes pop and stare at the newcomer who was leaning over him, fiddling with his gag with clear distress.
“Who did this to you? Who would leave someone like this?” he muttered, his eyebrows furrowed.
Sasuke reached up and tore the gag from his mouth, shoving the man away to inspect the rope in his lap.
“Fuck.”
“Hey, uh, we can get you some help-”
“You idiot,” Sasuke snarled, finally looking at his so-called saviour. He was more a boy than man, spiky blond hair framed around the dumbest expression Sasuke had ever seen and wearing a garish orange yukata, one hand raised for more “help.”
“Oi! That’s a pretty rude thing to say-”
“What did you think I was out here for?” he asked, fumbling with the ropes. The kid obviously had a knife somewhere because they’d been sliced, and that meant they couldn’t be used again. Ugh.
“U-um…” the blond said, leaning back on his heels. “Prank gone wrong?”
Sasuke was livid, his heart beating like a jackrabbit. “I’m a sacrifice you asshole. I’ve been out here freezing my ass off for hours waiting to be eaten and I’m not going to let some dumbass with a hero-complex ruin it.”
“Eh?!”
He patted around, his face twisted up in a snarl, as he tried to find the stake he’d been bound to. There wasn’t enough rope to tie him up properly, but just his wrists would do. Or maybe he could just make it look like he was tied up properly, after all it wasn’t like the fox would check.
He fumbled with the rope, clenching his jaw when he couldn’t seem to get a good grip on it. It was dark, his circulation had been fucked over for hours, so his hands were shaking. He swallowed, clenching and unclenching them, spitefully ignoring the stinging in his eyes. His hands were shaking from poor circulation. That was all.
What was he thinking before? Any idiot could die? Well it seems he was the biggest moron alive because somehow he was fucking it up.
“Hey.”
His trembling hands were suddenly grabbed and steadied, the touch making Sasuke jump. It was warm.
Sasuke looked up into blue eyes, wide and earnest and sinking into his soul like a knife.
“That’s fucked up.”
He snorted, feeling weak all of a sudden, and slumped in a more comfortable position.
“Did you do anything wrong?”
Sasuke shook his head, wanting to jerk his hands away from the blond but also not wanting to.
The boy frowned. “So they just throw you to the wolves for no reason?”
“I’m not for the wolves, I’m for the fox spirit.”
That made the boy react, sitting up straighter with blue eyes blown wide. Sasuke sighed.
The fox spirit was fearsome, said to be the colour of blood with fur as hot as flame and claws the size of a full grown man, massive form extending to the sky like the daimyo’s palace. It had only been sighted a handful of times, but there were murals in his village dedicated to the fox, and their soldiers often took the stories of their village protector out to battle with them. Their village hadn’t seen a single attack since the fox had become their protector, and Sasuke knew a lot of that was due to reputation. This kid obviously knew of it too, and would drop his rescue attempt if he knew what was good for him.
“I need you to tie me back up,” Sasuke whispered, his eyes deadened.
The blond opened his mouth and then closed it again, shuffling around anxiously. “No offense, but why would the fox spirit want you?”
Sasuke clenched his teeth, willing himself not to remember the morning he woke up to horrific claw marks down the side of his home, his auntie screaming in abject horror at who the fox had chosen to mark.
“I don’t know why, but he chose me.” Sasuke swallowed. “He marked my window.”
The kid narrowed his eyes, releasing Sasuke’s hands to cross his arms and look up in thought. Sasuke waited for the words to penetrate, as obviously the blond was slow, but when they did he suddenly hunched, putting two palms to his quickly heating face. He looked out beyond the lace of his fingers, and Sasuke took care to make his expression extremely unimpressed.
“Oh no.”
Sasuke grimaced, patting the ground around him for the rope. “Do you get it now? You need to leave me be.”
He fiddled with the rope, successfully tying one length around his wrist. He brought both arms behind his back and searched for the stake in the ground, the idea being he’d thread the rope through the stake and tie his other wrist and no one would be the wiser.
His hands were shaking again.
“The fox isn’t coming.”
Sasuke scowled, but the blond was biting his lip, looking at everything that wasn’t Sasuke.
“Or rather,” the kid allowed, “he can’t come because he’s already here.”
His heart leapt to his throat, and Sasuke whipped his head to the tree line to try and find the spirit. He saw nothing, but it was pretty dark. He thought the fox would glow like a flame, but that wouldn’t really make sense considering how well he could hide from human sight.
A hand waved in front of his face, and Sasuke had to fight back the urge to smack it.
“Er, well, I guess…” the blond got to his feet, quickly bowing. “My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I’m currently the nine-tailed fox demon charged with protecting the village of Konoha. Nice to…well, it wasn’t really a nice meeting but, well, hi?”
Sasuke sucked in a breath, held it painfully for five seconds, then let it out. (His brother was wrong, breathing exercises did nothing.)
“That’s the stupidest possible thing you could have said to try and convince me to leave.”
The kid- Naruto huffed, his features twisting in concentration…features which included whisker marks on his cheeks…coincidence.
What was decidedly not a coincidence was the red glow that encased Naruto’s body, striking out from the base of his spine into nine distinct appendages and from the top of his skull into fiery triangles. The whisker marks had thickened, his eyes red and slitted, fangs elongated, but most of all the chill in the air had entirely vanished, an almost oppressive heat bearing down on Sasuke and forcing him to gasp, scrambling away from the kid in a flurry of movement.
In the next second the heat had vanished, the dark returning easily and obscuring Naruto’s panicked expression, his raised hands open and meant to calm.
“I- ah- so there! I’m the fox spirit.”
He was posed, hands on his hips and chest puffed out like a hero in a novel, but the longer Sasuke stared the more he started to sweat, his pose faltering into something more insecure. Vaguely, Sasuke thought he should sink into a proper bow, but in the face of Naruto’s personality he found it extremely difficult.
“…are you going to eat me?”
Naruto spluttered, dropping his hero-pose to recoil in horror. “No!”
“Ah.”
Sasuke exhaled, feeling his energy sap out of him. He felt lightheaded, swaying just enough to make him brace his hands on the cold forest floor.
“What do I do now?”
He’d asked it rhetorically (philosophically?) but Naruto replied anyways.
“Go back to the village! Er…” he took a look at the ropes on the ground, on Sasuke’s slumped frame, the gag still hanging around his neck. “…or maybe you shouldn’t.”
He could picture it, crawling back to the village with his tail between his legs. He’d be disgraced, called a coward, and then simply be back here the next night, tied up even tighter and most likely eaten by wolves. Worse, his clan would probably rally, taking his return as indication to his coercion and start a riot or something. Sasuke hadn’t been coerced, he’d made the decision himself, but if he went back now he really would just be forced.
“I can’t go back,” Sasuke grimaced, picturing his mother’s sobs in his head. He’d been afraid at the idea of never seeing her cry again, but now he knew he didn’t want to see her cry again, to see the hope return only for her to have to mourn all over.
He flit his eyes back up to Naruto, watching him squirm in place. He drew his knees up to his chest, trying to trap some heat. The temperature had dropped again.
“So, what do you want from me?”
Naruto didn’t reply, his eyes wide and…so stupid. Just so painfully stupid.
“I’m an offering for the fox spirit,” Sasuke explained, frustrated. “Which is you, so…”
“That’s-! Well…”
He waited, clenching his jaw when he felt his teeth start to chatter. He may not be eaten, but his life was over either way.
A hand wrapped around his wrist, much bigger than expected, and Sasuke was jerked to his feet. He stumbled over the tall grass, fighting to catch his balance as he was dragged to the tree line.
“You’re as cold as ice,” Naruto grumbled. “Who would want a frozen sacrifice? Idiots. Fucking morons. Dumbass stupid little…”
He trailed off, cursing under his breath so colourfully Sasuke had to wonder if that was allowed.
Him being a spirit and all.
***
Fugaku came back to the meadow the following day, trailing after Mikoto with his heart in his throat. Be that as it may, his back was straight, face completely blank, in deference to the clan at his back. Mikoto was heading the procession, because no force on earth could hold her back at this point.
The meadow was empty, but they didn’t stop until they reached the point where Sasuke had stood last night, allowing himself to be tied down like cattle. It wasn’t his fault, and Fugaku wasn’t ashamed of his choice. He was just…
The ropes were in shreds, sliced so cleanly no normal blade could have done it. The dirt under them was disturbed, but it wasn’t a recognizable pattern. He could see Sasuke hadn’t struggled or fought. There was no blood.
But Sasuke was gone.
Mikoto fell to her knees, gently piling some of the tattered ropes into her hands and cupping them to her chest. She didn’t cry, having cried more over the night than she’d done her entire life, but their clan silenced themselves nonetheless.
When she lifted her head Fugaku grimaced. The time for tears was truly over.