Thank u for the food! Also elau pwease ty <3
You're welcome!
Also I wrote the whole scene in one shot so you get all of it
ELAU:
The secure cells used to be underground, dug deep underground into solid stone, then lined in layers of wood, metal, and stone, all covered in seals that the Uzumaki had designed generations ago. There are still two of those, but the other six have been lifted up on wooden stilts, forty feet above the ground, and covered in chakra-repelling seals. If anyone ever manages to get through the walls, they’ll be extremely visible, and have a difficult time avoiding a fall. Most of the time, though, the majority of cells are empty.
Itama climbs the ladder to the only cell the guards are watching, and hauls himself up to the narrow edge surrounding the cell. There are minimal handholds to help edge his way around to the opposite side, and the door—the only part that responds to chakra instead of resisting it—opens under his hand.
“I’m going to kill you,” the Uchiha hisses from inside.
Itama bites his lip to keep from laughing again. “I see you’re awake now,” he says instead as he steps inside and closes the door.
“Fuck you!”
Less than two feet inside the door is a wall, which blocks any prisoner’s sight so they can’t see that they’re not outside. Itama stands facing it until his eyes adjust to the dim light, then slides sideways into the room.
The Uchiha has been stripped of everything he was wearing, and redressed in green and cream. Itama would blame Kawarama for the color choice, but really any Senju—except Hashirama—could be responsible. Both of his ankles are chained to the wall, but the chains are long enough for him to comfortably reach about half of the room. He has his back to a corner; whether it’s defensive or if he was just examining it in hope of an escape Itama can’t tell. His mouth is twisted in a scowl.
The seals on these cells aren’t pleasant, but they’re useful. Itama brushes a hand over the wall and doesn’t react outwardly as the seals rush in, and he can feel how the Uchiha has yanked on the chains since waking up. Multiple times, not all together, and stronger than most civilians but not strong enough to be a shinobi. The seals can’t record sound precisely enough for Itama to know exactly what the Uchiha said while alone, but it was mostly short and sharp, often loud. Often at the same time as he yanked on the chains. Cursing, Itama thinks, not that he expected any less.
The sensations cut off when his hand loses contact with the wall, and Itama sits against the opposite wall from the Uchiha, his legs folded so he can’t attack quickly. “Has my brother spoken with you yet?”
“Fuck you,” the Uchiha snaps again. “Fuck off and die!”
Itama bites the inside of his lip again. The seals would have told him if Hashirama had been here, but he’s only visited once, with Kawarama, just after the flurry of several shinobi going in and out, when they brought the Uchiha in. “Well I think he’s still busy, so I’ll assume not. You should know that you aren’t in danger here.”
The Uchiha scoffs. “A pack of Senju hunt down an Uchiha, and I’m supposed to believe you aren’t going to kill me? Did you forget to poison me before lying?”
“If we wanted to kill you, I would have done it before you started running. Or I would have let you do it.”
“So you’re going to dissect me first,” he says flatly. The first hint of hesitation enters his voice when he adds, “Or—steal my bloodline.”
Tobirama and Kawarama were both disappointed about not getting to dissect him, for… mostly the same reasons, in almost opposite proportions. Tobirama surely will be in here with every diagnostic jutsu he knows trying to study the Uchiha anyway, and probably heal any old injuries he can find as an excuse to explore further.
Regardless, Itama says, “Neither of those. You’re a hostage. We’re hoping to negotiate with the Uchiha to end the war.”
“Oh.” The Uchiha studies Itama. “Well you’re wasting your time. The clan head hates me, so you should just kill me now.”
That could be a problem, if the Uchiha isn’t just a good liar. Tobirama has been able to sense this Uchiha living alone outside the compound, and the main family visiting frequently, and this plan was built on the assumption that they would all be too attached to this Uchiha to risk his life by refusing to negotiate. The clan head, Takami, visits the least, but they had assumed that was because his duties kept him busy.
But there’s no way to know until the letter is sent, and an answer received. Or not. “Is that enough to stop him from doing his duty to protect his own clan?”
“It’s my job to protect myself.”
“Is it? I thought you were a civilian.”
That earns Itama the most ferocious scowl yet. “I’m still an Uchiha!”
“The Uchiha don’t protect the civilians in your clan?”
“It’s none of your business!”
It’s not likely to be important information, nor is Itama likely to get an answer now, so he hums and lets it go. “May I ask your name?”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Ah. Thank you, we’ll let your clan know that Uchiha Go-fuck-yourself is here.”
The Uchiha doesn’t laugh, but his face twists through an array of bewilderment, annoyance, and suspicion before he says, “That’s an awful joke.”
“I can only work with the material I have.”
The Uchiha sneers. “And I’m your material?”
“The conversation is,” Itama says. “Will you tell me your name?”
The Uchiha sneers at him silently this time.
Itama gives the silence a few seconds before moving on. “I am Senju Itama. Do you know of me?”
The Uchiha watches him silently for several seconds before nodding.
“Then I won’t repeat what you know. Anija will come here to speak to you later; nii-san and Kawarama might as well.”
“To torture me?”
“You’re a hostage,” Itama repeats. “We don’t torture hostages.”
The look the Uchiha gives him screams I don’t believe you.
But there’s no sign of worry or fear, so he probably doesn’t actually expect to be tortured, so Itama lets it go. “I’d still like to know your name.”
“Are you just going to keep asking that?” the Uchiha demands.
“I might.”
Itama does. He lets the topic drift for a few sentences, then asks again, and again, and again. By the time the guard arrives with onigiri, Itama still hasn’t gotten an answer.
He’ll try again another time. He waits until the Uchiha gives in and starts eating, then leaves.
When Itama reaches the ground, Mito is waiting. “Onee-sama.”
“Itama.” Mito smiles. “You were meeting Kawarama next, I heard?”
Itama nods.
“Let me walk with you,” she says.
Mito also asks how Itama is doing on the walk to the training ground, but she’s easier to reassure than any of Itama’s brothers are. Or possibly she’s better at hiding it; Itama doesn’t know her as well as he wants to yet. Regardless, once Itama has assured her that he’s perfectly fine and will only need to eat a bit extra to make up the energy healing requires, she leaves him at the training ground with Kawarama and Sumire.
