Shin tried not to flinch. He should have expected this. He wouldn’t be working on shinobi injured in combat. He would be wounding himself and then trying to heal himself.

He took as deep of a breath as he could with his damaged lungs. “Hai, Danzo-sama,” he bowed. “It’s no problem.”

“Good. As I understand it, it’s standard practice for medic-nin.” He waved a hand. “You may go, I will call when I have a teacher for you.”

Start

“I read many things before asking you for sex,” he offered, brow creasing faintly. “I had thought to be prepared, but…little of what I read seems helpful, now that I am here.” He blinked, glanced up, held Danzo’s gaze. “I want to touch you.”

He huffed a soft breath, almost a laugh, and inclined his head. “What one does is never the same as one reads, it’s true.” He moved and settled seated on the bed. “You have permission to touch.”

It helped, and yet it didn’t; Danzo’s responsiveness, Danzo’s touch—they were terribly satisfying but nowhere near enough to sate the intensity of what he felt. He wanted more, needed more, his body speaking far more insistently than his mind at the moment.

He managed to break off the kiss a long moment later and buried his face against the side of Danzo’s neck, panting. His hands knotted in Danzo’s robes as he struggled to ease his forceful stance, to regain his equilibrium, to explain, to keep from simply kissing the other senseless again.

Danzo didn’t move, listening closely as he noted the grip on his attire, the way he was nearly trembling. It was more than worrying, and his voice was low. “Do you know what this is?” Though even if he did, it’s possible he might be incapable of saying and he was prepared for that.

“And you were…invested, as well?”

“Have you ever seen me use half measures child?”

Subtle Flaws

Sasuke averted his gaze. Perhaps it was only obvious to him. The fact that he would be tempted to one day leave in search for power. It was an option given to him. Yet he wasn’t lured to the thought when thinking himself weaker without Orochimaru’s help.

He’d only receive looks of condemnation now just because he was a ‘promising one.’ Those eyes cast down upon him always saw potential, never the flaw of how easily he was drawn in. Kakashi warned him that the curse mark would make him submissive to the Sannin’s influence. And he figured he’d never succumb to it. Evidently the Uchiha was wrong.

“Or maybe the Leaf put too much faith in the village itself,” Sasuke exhaled. “Being a disappointment is nothing new to me.” He was labeled a survivor for living through the massacre, but it was nothing to praise or bestow expectation. “With or without tied hands, I wouldn’t have held my breath for help. I learned to fend for myself. It’s no surprise that I live that way too.”

There was a long moment of pause at that, a silence as he regarded the teen. “Perhaps you have too little faith in the village then. You’ve given your cry for help, Uchiha-san. Allow others the time to answer it.”

He then pushed to his feet, turning to walk away. “I will allow you time to think.”

Winter Variations by Marek Boguszak     Photographers Website 

by  andyskeptik

“I have long kept to my word, and taken it to heart. I can only hope you have kept to yours.”

“You say that as though I have any reason not to.” He paused, then gave the teen a very dry look. “Oh yes, I do. However, I have abided your insistence, no matter how badly it’s caused your treasure to fair through the neglect. Bravo.”

Shin’s eyes widened in happy surprise. He’d expected this to be a lot harder, since he was primarily a weapons specialist, not a medical ninja. Then he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to have emotions and quickly schooled his features back into blankness.

“Thank you, Danzo-sama. Which medic should I train with? When should I start?”

He tilted his head, watching the boy for a long moment. “I’ll be sure to fetch one for you. You should be aware that you’ll have to practice on yourself, correct?”

Stopping By

Neji looked excited for a moment, smiling at him. “Really?” He wondered if the other was telling the truth though. Then he looked up at him, a bit timid. “Then… you must have stores about him, right?” The boy asked eagerly. His uncle never seemed open to share such stories. 

“I do. He was with me for a very long time and it was... a complicated matter to get him as my apprentice in the first place without rousing your clan to thinking I was deliberately angling for him. He appreciated the machinations that took, once I finally explained it to him.”

“Focus. That’s what he’s talking about. But how do I remember something that looks the same?”  He mused to himself as he attempts to remember the details and the directions of the hallways and their different lighting under the doors.

Unfortunately for him, he still couldn’t see the difference despite his efforts so he frowns in disappointment. He quickly diverts his attention back to Danzo though his dark eyes pay close attention to the elder’s words, “My mind fixed? But I still don’t understand how do I do that. Do you think you can give me an example so that I can understand better Lord Danzo?”

“Look at the forest, Kabuto, not the trees.” He gave him an arch look, seeing if that simplification would be adequate.

“A couple of days right? I’m happy to see your still alive and well.”

“Yes, just a few days. I don’t see why you’re troubling yourself making such an ordeal of it.”

“Did you mean to strengthen bonds between your clans with this marriage?  Or was it for…sentimental reasons?”  He understood it had been a ‘drunken mishap’ in Danzo’s own words, but he was terribly curious as to how and why the topic had even been broached, over alcohol or otherwise. 

“Sentimental, of sorts.” He swirled his glass with a small frown, sighing. “Mine, of course. Hiruzen had fun, I don’t doubt, but he wasn’t invested. Kagami was invested but... only then.”

Painting

Had he been less distracted he might have offered to help; as it was he simply nodded, rose, went as instructed.  He deliberated briefly over removing his pants, as he’d neither asked nor been given any indication to do so; he decided for it, stretching out across Danzo’s bed face down and fully nude.  Perhaps the original plan had only included his back, but Danzo could consider this an invitation to broaden its scope.

Danzo followed him with his inks easily. He was aware of the lulled mindset the younger man had slipped into, being far from oblivious, and he ran his gaze over the picture he made before moving over to arrange everything in reach from the side of the bed he’d be sitting on while he worked. And this way, his protege wouldn’t need to try to think while he worked.