Control

by Insomniac Owl

When Orochimaru reaches for his shoes, Sasuke knows he's in trouble.

It was just a word, just one tiny little word, slipping off his tongue and into suddenly still air. Then those golden eyes had gone cold, harsh and remote, and Orochimaru had smoothly disentangled his limbs from Sasuke's and rose, dressing in recently discarded robes.

Sasuke pushes himself into a sitting position, the warmth from the older man's body not yet completely gone, and watches Orochimaru with a puzzled expression. His back is toward him so he cannot see the his face, but he can imagine the expression there, blank and strangely cold, not at all like his usual mocking, teasing manner, giving the air that he can see into Sasuke's very mind to pick out what he wants - and throw away what he does not. But that expression, Sasuke knows, is gone now, though he's not entirely sure why. It was just one little word… He's not going to leave, is he?

He quickly slides from between sheets and chilly air, shivering, and steps across the room to wrap his arms around the snake sen-nin, pleading with black eyes and warm flesh, so full of life yet empty, like a doll. "Don't go," he says quietly, murmurs really, pressing his cheek to Orochimaru's back. But the older man turns, and a single glance is enough - more than enough - to make him fall silent. He removes Sasuke's arms, calmly, with a sort of remote detachedness that makes Sasuke feel even worse, and leaves.

And the room is filled with an air of awful finality, with clutching shadows and darkness that make him feel so alone…

Sasuke stares at the door for a time, bewildered and hurt, and it takes a moment longer to realize that he is standing unclothed in the middle of the room. Sense of modesty taking over, he moves to the bed and drags a sheet around his body, discomforted at how cold he is without Orochimaru near (beside above inside) him. Maybe he'll come back, he thinks to himself, drawing his knees to his chest and the sheet more tightly around him. Maybe he was only teasing after all, or maybe it's a test of some sort.

He brings his head up sharply then, eyes suddenly wide. If it is a test, then he should go after him, shouldn't he? Convince him… convince him of what? He shakes his head as he rises, dismissing the details, and drapes the sheet around his bare body as he hurries out.

The corridors to both sides are empty, lit only by feeble lanterns, and Sasuke takes a chance, heading left toward Orochimaru's room. It is a good ways down, too far to be seen by the lamplight, but he runs toward it just the same, desperate to reconcile with the snake sen-nin as soon as possible. He doesn't know quite why what he said was enough to make him so angry, angry enough to leave, but he is determined to find out, and make things right again. But he doesn't understand. It was just a tiny word, insignificant and small in the darkness.

He pushes open the door, dark eyes scanning darker darkness - no lamps are lit - but Orochimaru is not in his room. Sasuke heads toward the kitchen next, bare feet coated with damp brown dirt, cold, like the rest of him. This sheet draped around him, meant for summer use, is not enough to keep him warm, and by the time he reaches the kitchen he is shivering. Orochimaru isn't there either. He turns, intending to check the training rooms next, but as he turns he collides with something, stumbling back and blinking through the darkness. It is Orochimaru.

"What are you doing wandering the halls Sasuke?" he asks, tone still cold. His golden eyes, like a snake's, flicker downward, and he slowly adds, "Unclothed…"

Sasuke flushes, but he nevertheless steps forward, wrapping his arms around Orochimaru's waist, slipping them inside his loose robes to settle against the skin. His head rests against the older man's chest, aware of how unresponsive he is. He doesn't want to look up into his face, knowing that either he'll be forgiven, or he won't. He prays desperately for the former.

"Looking for you," he mumbles. "I wanted to know what I did to make you leave." For there is no doubt in his mind that he caused this, that it was his fault Orochimaru was s angry with him. That word he spoke, and he knows only that Orochimaru was displeased. No, more than that… furious. The look in his eyes told him as much.

Slender hands came against his waist then, pushing him firmly, slowly away. Sasuke keeps his eyes down until Orochimaru lifts his chin, golden eyes searching. He keeps silent, all too aware that in the process of wrapping his arms around the snake sen-nin, the sheet had slipped from his shoulders to settle on the ground like some great white ghost, leaving him bare and shivering. He doesn't dare kneel to retrieve it - not while Orochimaru's eyes hold his.

He barely realizes movement, barely registers that those golden eyes are no longer there, before Orochimaru's lips are on him, savagely, hard enough to hurt. Slender fingers have closed around his wrists, holding them tightly, and Orochimaru draws him close, into the folds of his robes and against his own body. Sasuke knows, in the back of his mind as he kisses the older man back, only to be completely subdued and overpowered, forced to submit, that this is his punishment. For what he said, he will have to give himself over completely, no struggle, no resistance; a doll in the hands of its master.

His lips are badly swollen and bruised when Orochimaru pulls away, moving to his neck and placing kisses there instead, sharp teeth drawing blood enough to make him whimper in pain. But he does not resist in the slightest, knowing that he will be permitted to curl up against him tonight, warm and contented after -

There is a sudden shock of pain in his neck, and he cries out, jerking away even as he crumples to the floor, screaming. Out of the corner of his eyes he can see his curse seal expanding, chakra leaking from it like vile poison. And through raven eyes clouded with pain, he looks up into darkness and Orochimaru's eyes, his own angry and betrayed. His head drops after only a moment however, unable to maintain the illusion of composure, his fingernails clawing at his neck, desperately trying to tear away the skin, to tear away the curse seal, the pain!

Slender fingers brush his cheek, cradling his face in a warm palm, the other gently pulling his hands from his neck. Orochimaru lifts Sasuke's face, contorted with pain, and smiles tolerably, the cold expression in his eyes fading into customary amusement.

And, bringing his mouth to Sasuke's ear, he whispers, in a voice low and gentle like a snake's:

"Don't tell me no."

finis