Caged, Collared, Leashed
Author: Stephie P. a.k.a thesilentsenshi/kirameki
Contact: thesilentsenshi (a) hotmail . com; http / thesilentsenshi . livejournal . com
Fandom: Naruto
Pairings: SasuNaru (Possibly eventual GaaNaru or SasuGaa as well. Maybe others. Haven’t planned anything concrete out yet.)
Rating: R - NC-17 (eventually)
Summary: Orochimaru captures two jinchuuriki and gifts them to his current second in command. Will Sasuke open his heart, or has two years with Orochimaru already tainted him beyond salvation.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I own no facet of Naruto, aside from a froggie change purse that I stole from Naru-kun. xp
Warnings: Dark and angsty, slash/yaoi, possible non-con situations eventually. Possible OOC-ness, though I’ll try to avoid that. Maybe AU. Same world, but different circumstances after time-skip. Not really sure where this is going, but expect the unexpected. xD
Notes: This was based on a challenge on aff.net. I will probably deviate slightly from the challenge though I’ll do my best to do it justice. Feel free to review or contact me telling me what you think. Hopefully it won’t be too long a series. I’ll try and end it in between 5-10 chapters, more or less, though who knows for sure. XD I’ll have a more concrete idea in the next few chapters. As for pairings, It’ll definitely be SasuNaru. Though I do not believe in the whole seme/uke thing so I will strive to avoid those cliché’s. And don’t be surprised if Naruto eventually tops Sasuke. There’s no predetermined pairings or orders. Oh and future chaps will have Tem/Shika and maybe some hints of Ino/Shika. Other side pairings may pop up but they won’t take up any significant part of the story, probably. The Gaa/Naru is not definite either. So don’t be mad if that doesn’t happen. Even if it does it would be forced by a third party or one sided. Mostly I’m going for companionship between them rather than romance. Sorry Gaa/Naru fans.
Timeline: 2 years after Sasuke leaves for Orochimaru and Naruto leaves to train with Jiraiya. Before he returns post time-skip. The story deviates from the manga after that.
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x.Prologue.x
x.Caged.x
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Bone-chilling coldness seeped through the damp walls, sapping all warmth from his body, his limbs almost numbed. He wasn’t sure exactly how long he had been down here, but it had to have been several days. The hours and days bled together and with no window or way to tell the passage of time he didn’t even bother to attempt it. His only companions were the rats that skittered through the cracks in the walls. He was only fed once a day, and that was just stale bread, lumpy unidentifiable mush (cold of course) and unclean water. The demon inside him may have been sealed, but apparently it wouldn’t let him die of starvation. He wasn’t sure if he should consider that a blessing or a curse. It certainly didn’t help with the hunger pangs though.
Dull eyes opened, ears perked, and slim body tensed as he heard footsteps draw near. There were more than the usual single set of the person assigned to bring his meal, if it could even be called that. Besides, he had been fed not that long ago. He still had a few scraps of bread he wrestled away from his rodent roommates. The footsteps were still far off yet, but were getting closer with every passing second.
The boy crept silently to the far corner of the cell and hid himself amongst the darkest shadows, his eyes gleaming in the blackness. The footsteps echoed louder as they approached the cell door. He heard seals being uncast and a key scraping in the lock. The narrow door creaked loudly in the silence as it opened. A little light filtered in from a torch in the corridor.
The boy shivered imperceptibly at the sight of the unmistakable man silhouetted in the doorway. The voice that spoke was coarse and nearly inhuman.
“I’ve brought you some company, for the time being at least,” Orochimaru hissed. The boy’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t reply. The snake man moved aside and one of his subordinates entered, a shadowy lump held in his arms. At Orochimaru’s order the Sound ninja dropped the bundle he was holding unceremoniously onto the middle of the dirty floor. With a final vicious kick, that caused a groan from the bundle, the ninja left.
The boy glanced at the shivering bundle before returning his blank gaze to the man still standing beside the door.
“Now, be nice. I’d hate to have to separate you. I only have so many cells after all.” With that parting remark Orochimaru turned and shut the door with a clang. The sound of the key turning in the lock and reforming of the seals echoed in the sudden quiet. The heavy footsteps retreated, leaving the boy alone with the breathing bundle in the middle of the cell. He stared at the bundle, almost afraid, if he was even capable of such an emotion, to find out who it could be. Some poor pitiful soul Orochimaru snatched away perhaps? But despite the hope and probability that whoever was beneath that rough cloth was a stranger, something was itching at his senses. The torn and bloodied cloak covering the unconscious figure were causing the boy’s demon to claw at his seal, urging his blood lust. It was in a frenzy. Although he wanted desperately to deny it, the boy knew that scent. It was as familiar as his own. He closed off his emotions, knowing they would not help him change the situation.
He slowly extracted himself from his hiding place and crawled over to the prone form and gently pulled back the hood, confirming his fears. Sighing softly, he tried his best to reposition his new companion into a more comfortable position. Whoever it was was shivering rather badly. He gently lay the bruised head upon his lap, brushing the soft golden locks from the pale forehead, checking for fever, relieved to find the skin only slightly warm. Getting weakened by sickness would only complicate their situation. The hair was longer than last he’d seen it, however just as unkempt as always. It was the first human contact he’d had in a long time. His hand unconsciously brushed through the soft strands, but stilled when he realized what he was doing. The blond grew restless and nuzzled his side. The boy tensed, before hesitantly beginning the soothing motion again, attempting to calm his restless companion. It was rather strange, he’d never attempted comforting another before, but things were different now. And this was his friend, or at least his only ally in this dark lonely place.
He sat stiffly, still a little uncomfortable acting as a human pillow, but continuing the soothing motion of his fingers anyway. The blond, remained oblivious, unaware of his sorry state. At least his breathing had deepened into a more natural sleep, than the harsh pain filled breaths of before.
“Naruto, how could they have gotten you?”
Silence was Gaara’s only answer.
t.b.c. . .
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Other notes:
Eh, so who guessed “the boy” was Gaara? XD I’d like to know who you thought it was at first and what made you realize it wasn’t that person(or was, if you got it right). Gaara is so hard to write. Damn, why did I make him a key character. >_< Hope he wasn’t too ooc. I had to revise this chapter several times to make him fit.
Not to worry, this was only the prologue, testing the waters, so to speak. The next chapter will be longer. I’m in the middle of writing it. Don’t expect really fast updates from me though, I’m busy with RL and write in my free time. I’ll try to get the next chapter up in the next couple of weeks. Although if responses are good my muse might be inspired to work faster. This is my first Naruto fic, so I’m a little unsure of it. Feel free to tell me if the characters end up totally out of character. I’m trying to keep them in character but not sure if I’m succeeding. More characters will come into play in the next chapter. We’ll get to see what’s going on in Konoha and the Sand village, and what happened to Jiraiya.
Oh and it is my belief that Gaara is not a cold unfeeling monster. In fact he’s more emo than Sasuke, he just doesn’t show it outwardly. Also I feel after the time skip he IS more emotional or at least less closed off than he was before. So if his shields crack once in awhile(like here he was in that cell with no human contact for a very long time) don’t tell me THAT’S out of character. Trust me, once Naruto wakes up he’ll be back to normal(well if you consider him ever to be normal that is). I’m saying this cause when I originally posted this prologue I was told Gaara was OoC, so I just wanted to make my motivations for writing him this way clear.
Feedback, food for the soul
Finished 2/19/06
Notes updated 7/15/06
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