I should really start looking into contacting a beta, just to be sure my grammar and spelling doesn't one day hit a snag...

Anyhow, I decided to explore the unique realm of Naruto/Tayuya, given the fact that two of their stories were what dragged me into the pairing to begin with. (Yellow and Red Makes & Sound of Freedom.) The catch at the beginning was that I wanted something more unique and different, without having to contort the entirety of the Naruto universe and timeline; enter, Tayuya surviving but being kept on lockdown.

I'm not entirely well-versed with the history, as it has been well over a year since I bothered reading the manga. (Even though I was that one kid who got on the computer every Thursday evening, when the translated copy of the newest chapter was released.) But that gave me the idea that grew into the chapter before you.

I'm not prideful enough to ignore reviews or opinions, so I'm hoping if I made any error in the continuity, minor or major, you guys will inform me. This is all loosely based months prior to The Last, so anything from that timeframe will have little to no impact on the story, in the foreseeable future.

Off-Topic: Anybody else ever seen, 'Lastman'? An animated series based off a French comic? Pretty effing epic...but I recommend you avoid it, if you're against sexual content or mild violence.

...

"Three-hundred and twenty-four." she sighed, diagonally etching a small line against a group of four others. Reaching down to her wheelchair, she rolled a bit backwards and took a longer look at the numerous rally marks across the enclosed wall. "Six years and twelve weeks...fuck, wait, I forgot about leap year. That makes it six years and eleven weeks." she added, running her hands through the red locks of her hair. Ever since the first day she had been placed in maximum security, she had kept an exact count of the time spent on lockdown.

Over the course of her sentencing, once it became evident that she had given up on any idea of escape, even less for treatment of her legs, she had been moved down to a lower tier prison. It was't near the village, which was evident from the small hole they called a window; barely three inches in diameter. Not that it mattered, anyhow, as her own mind was now institutionalizrd to the bland walls of stone that blocked her off from the world. Outside, all she saw was the winding mountains in the distance, arid tundra in between.

"Fuck, this thing is itching again." she groaned, as she slipped a finger between the skin of her neck and the metal cuff that wrapped around her throat. She could feel the occasional hooks that engraved to the nerves beneath the surface layer and prevented any flow of chakra within her body, save for the necessary amount to remain alive. Initially, it had been mental torture for her, to be reduced from the formidable Sound Four to a mere cripple of a prisoner.

"Hm, Tayuya, right?" asked a voice, male by the firmness and slightly deep tone. She couldn't help but widen her eyes, as the sound of another human being registered in her mind; even the guards rarely spoke to her, when they brought her the usual three small meals per day. With so little contact to another soul, even her attitude had gradually changed from the rebellious mentality to a more somber attitude. But she'd be fucked over on her own gravestone, if she ever forgot her own name.

"...yeah?" she replied, unsure as to what caused anybody to come approach her cell. Without warning a ray of illumination fill the darkness of the hallway and leaked into her cell, she just barely could make out the tall outline of a robed man. She winced, her eyes ringing in pain as the darkness she was accustomed to was replaced with actual light. "Sh-shit!" she hissed, raising a hand to her eyes. She heard a shuffle of movement, and quickly panicked when the ides crossed her mind that she had chased off her only human interaction in what could have been years.

"Is this better?" asked the same voice from just moment ago, as the echo of a flicker preceeded a few light being turned off. Tayuya nodded and lowered her hand, this time allowing her eyes to gradually adjust to the sensitivity. When the figure returned, she was able to make out the black coat and orange pants he wore, which likely covered a lean body frame. She didn't know if it was the lack of exposure to other people, or her own supressed hormones, but her eyes immediately travelled to the young man's face and took note of his more defined features. "Alright, well, let's get started. I came down to interview you, and get a better reading of your condition." stated the shinobi, causing her to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"...why?" she croaked out, without intending to. She had once placed a sense of pride in being able to act on the moment without giving into pressure, but now she was at a loss for proper words. This had been the most anybody had spoken to her since her imprisonment, and it was almost mind-numbing. The way his lips moved to each sound, and now she could hear his soft breathing. So many things she had once taken for granted, now seemed like a heaven-sent gift.

"For reasons that are confidential, I can't say. However, I made it a personal goal to oversee each of Konoha's prisons for a few days...how are you doing here? Have you been treated inhumanely in any fashion?" he answered, following up with his own questions. Tayuya watched his every movement, and found herself distravted by the way he stood and crossed his arms as he spoke. It almost caused her to forget he had asked her something.

"I...I haven't actually...spoken to somebody in a while. Almost forgot what it...was like..." she mumbled, causing the young man to raise an eyebrow at her statement. It was then, that she realized her had the brightest yellow-hued hair she had ever seen. Only one person she had ever met in her life had that color of hair, and now that she looked closer, she recognized the three whisker marks on each side of his cheeks. "You're that annoying kid...one of the few that came to retrieve the Uchiha...right?" she whispered, her voice growing quiet. She remembered him being much more of a shortstop, yet that was either due to faulty memory or the fact that he had since grown.

She was betting on the latter, not the former.

"Hm, yeah, I wondered why you seemed familiar...you're one of the ninja from Oto, aren't you? The ones that participated in escorting Uchiha Sasuke to Orochimaru." he responded, with a surprisingly welcoming tone. She had expected a much harsher approach from him, but he caught her completely off-guard with his warmth. "I didn't expect any of you to have survived...but that explains why you weren't part of the Edo Tensei during the war, when Kabuto ressurected the others in your team." he added, with a small smile and chuckle. Tayuya widened her eyes, before glancing back down at the floor with a weak laugh.

"So, four-eyes was involved in a war? I never thought he'd learn Orochimaru's jutsu."

"He did, although, no body wojld have guessed he could revive an entire army of thousands." shrugged the blond, as he leaned against the bars of her cell gate. Tayuya felt a warmth creep along her cheeks, as the light reflected on the young man's facial details. She could now see the softness of his skin, in contract to the much slimmer frame that encompassed his body; she had been a shining at one point, and she could still tell that he was likely defined from his own career.

Something about the boy screamed that he wasn't a pushover; much more caring and kind, but almost the same overwhelming intensity she used to get when she was in the presence of Orochimaru.

Or was it just the fact that a fully able shining stood before her, when she was just a cripple? Fuck, she hated her life sometimes.

She should have ended it when she first woke up from beneath that tree.

"You shouldn't be thinking like that, you know. There's still a lot to live for in life, and your condition and present situation is nothing worth dying over." stated the blind, catching the red-hair prisoner by surprise. He had addressed her entire train of thought, and understood every question running though her mind? How had he done it? "I can't read mind, if that's what your thinking. I can simply read intentions and emotions; a part of my training from years ago." grinned the shinobi sheepishly, as he scratched his head in embarrassment. Tayuya raised an eyebrow, before shaking her head with the most subtle hint of amusement.

"You've grown, damn.." she whispered, turning her chair back to face the wall and its markings.

"...you've been here this long? I'm assuming each dash is a day, considering you have them sorted into groups of seven?"

"Yeah, it helps keep me busy...kills the time, you know?"

"Yeah...they don't have books for you? Anything remotely close to keeping you entertained? With how calm you act, I'm surprised they won't allow you at least something to pass the day." he added, running his eyes along every corner of the cell. He only now noted how empty and cold it seemed, a sheer hole of desolation. He'd need to do something.

"Me? A shining arrested for the kidnapping of an Uchiha, and assault on Konoha and Suna shinobi? Fat chance, honestly."

"Give me a moment, I'll be right back."

"Wh-what?"

The blond didn't respond, as he turned his back to her and quietly walked back out of the hallway, closing the door to the main offices outside. She couldn't hear or see anything anymore, and the darkness that was kept at bay by the little light, now engulfed her vision once again. It didn't take but a few seconds for a lump to form at her throat, when she realized she already missed the human interaction between her and another human being. "...come back..." she mumbled, keeping her best effort to hold back the words.

Shit, it was the worst fucking feeling in the world.

Seconds turned into minutes, and soon she began to lose hope he'd come back. He didn't give her any hint at lying, or that he intended to simply leave her high and dry; she simply knew there was were circumstances that may have held him back. Anybody that could come and go between this facility and others alike, wasn't just some common nobody. They had to have influence and purpose, which meant he had sway in the outside.

"...if that's the case, he's likely a busy guy now. He probably has shit to fucking do, things more important than talking to a people." she murmured to herself, twiddling her thumbs together. When had she become so depressed, anyway? Up until now, she'd been fine with being alone. "...so why does it fucking hurt now?"

"So-sorry! Had to go ask for a book, but all they had were dictionaries and encyclopedias!" hugged a voice, as the front. door swung open with a loud clatter. Tayuya wasn't expecting thw sudden entrance, and let out a shrill gasp as she tumbled out of her chair, landing painfully on the floor. She didn't intend to, but the shock caused her to incite an involuntary response.

"FUCK, DICK-HEAD! HAVE SOME DAMN TACT!" she shouted, before covering her mouth as a guard rushed in and quickly pulled the blond back. Strangely enough, her first fear was that he'd turn away and leave her alone again. She didn't want to lose the communication with another person. "N-no! It was an accident-"

"Back away from the gate! Uzumaki-san, clear the spa-"

"No, no...it's alright, I have this handled. I rushed in and startled her, so the reaction should have been expected. Return to your post, Touske, and thank you for the quick response...I'll let your superiors know you have good reaction time." smiled the blond, receiving an appreciative nod from the guard. Tayuya watched him walk back to the offices, but not before he gave her a stern gaze. Years ago, she would have laughed it off, but now it did make her tense up in anxiety. "...again, sorry for scaring you. I wanted to give you this...it's not the...greatest book, but it's better than nothing..."

Tayuya couldn't help but pick up the exasperated sigh in his words, and as she took the small novel, she felt the cool touch of metal brush against her fingers. A flashlight?

"So you can read in the dark." explained the man, with a chuckle. Tayuya nodded and accepted the book, before letting out a weak laugh she she saw the cover and title.

Icha Icha Paradise.

"A sex story? Is this you trying to seduce me? So desperate for attention, you resort to seducing girls in prison?" she half-joked. He blushed and turned to look away, before shrugging shyly.

"N-no! Just trying to be nice...a future Hokage needs to be down to earth, but also know how to relate to all his subjects." he answered, before groaning and rubbing his temple. "Damn, that was...supposed to remain a secret...I suck at being a Hokage-In-Training."

For the first time in a long time, Tayuya laughed. Not quietly, but loud enough that her throat and stomach began to hurt. The entire time, the blond idiot never left, and their conversation soon carried on.

She didn't miss the bandages that wrapped across his entire right arm, however.

...

"...it seems these people never do learn, huh?" asked Kakashi, as he stroked his chin while lost I'm thought. His free hand ran across the map that was sprawled out across his desk; fingers tracing across various point in the map that were highlighted and circled. Each point, as he had been informed, was the site of an attack on trading caravans. "No matter how much the idea of peace draws closer, some people cannot resist giving in to the temptation of crime." he sighed, before looking up and awya from the map. He caught sight of a young man, with a cigarette in his mouth, who was standing idly by a large window.

"They were coordinated, so I can tell these aren't the traditional highway bandits. Each strike came at precisely the same time, while at a minimal distance of safety; they were spread just enough to divide any nearby shining, without sacrificing the possibility of regrouping later on...that's why Kiba's tracking unit initially had a tough time catching up to them."

"And you believe they'll strike again? Lady Mizukage already stated that she had a similar recurring issue a year ago, before they-"

"-stopped, and just months later we begin having the same problem. Thare are robberies with implemented strategies, which means we have to approach them as we would a high-profile ambush."

"So what would you suggest, Shikamaru?"

"I'll round up a squad, hand-picked by myself. Kiba and Shino are available, which will provide excellent tracking and scouting. I want to also contact Ibiki, since Ino is already on a mission, for possible interrogations...and I'll need another heavy hitter, so I want to loo-"

"I'll go." interrupted a voice, causing the two present shinobi to snap their heads up to the main doorway leading out of the Hokage Office.

"Sasuke?"

"No, it's Itachi, I just happened to have changed my name last week. Who else could I be? I don't happen to see Sharingan users frolicking about the streets of Konoha." answered the Uchiha with a familiar tone of dry sarcasm; subtle enough that it blended with his usual monotone voice. He walked up to the two men, and took a deep breath as he examined the map. "I know there was a camp roughly sixe miles away from two of the sites, centered between them, although I last spotted it a month ago. If we're not assuming the people were little more than vagabonds, and they were the same people who assaulted and robbed the caravans, they aren't carrying the spoils with them."

"Which would mean they at least have another camp, where they're storing the rewards...it would fit in with theit profile of leaning towards careful planning. That also means there is a likely chance that there is more than just one forward camp, from where they're coordinating these attacks."

"...but to do that, they have to constantly be communicating between each other. If we attack only one camp, and they suddenly stop contact with the others, that may raise an alert that they've been compromised."

"...than I have to change my plans, because we'll need more aggresive tactics. Sasuke, do you remembwr how many peop-"

"There were exactly twelve men and nine women, most of them in their mid-twenties to early thirties; only one of them looked to be an older female, possibly in her late forties." answered the Uchiha, without skipping a beat. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, nd instead turned to Kakashi.

"Assuming they have multiple encampments; we'll need two scouting-forward parties, four men each. Once they've tracked and mapped out every possible camp, we'll organize four attack units of three men, and send two units to each of the close two camps."

"Seems rather underwhelming don't you think? They could be outnumbered six to twenty." replied Kakashi, before Shikamaru shook his head.

"We'll have the souring-forward units in standby; we send one to each of the same camps to bring it at a one-two ratio. From the reports, the bandits were coordinated, but they weren't any major threat in terms of sheer power. Sending units of strictly Jonin should be enough to capture or eliminate them."

"...I'm starting to miss the days, when bandits were simple thugs." sighed Kakashi, as Shikamaru rubbed his temples.

"I miss the days when I could lay down in the grad for hours and not worry about these nonsense." added the Nara, as he and Kakashi began chuckling. They exchanged amused glances, before looking around the room for the Uchiha.

He was already gone.

...

"...and then I came out with an uppercut, and knocked him right out of the competition. That was just before Sasuke's fight, but he got his time limit extended due to people wanting to see him go against Gaara." finished Naruto, as he grinned sheepishly, rolling his left arm as if to subtly flex his muscles. Tayuya took note, but bother pointing it out, as she took in every word the blond spoke to her. They had been wasting away the better part of an hour talking about their pasts, but she would admit that Naruto, as he preffered she call him, dominated eight to ninety percent of the actual topics.

"So that was just before the attack, right? Before Orochimaru and Suna..."

"Yeah, the attack on the village, when the old man...yeah..."

Tayuya held back a nervous sweat, and turned her head to the ground; there was never any solid evidence that directly tied to her involvement in the Sandaime Hokage's death, nor his battle with the Snake Sennin. Despite the methods her interrogator took, Orochimaru had made sure to seal certain knowledge away, out of anybody's reach. However, now she felt a bit of pressure form at her throat, when she took note of the young man's saddemed expression.

Perhaps it was out of survival, or a selfish need to avoid losing what little contact they had, buy she decided against revealing any of that to him. What he didn't know, wouldn't hurt him, right?

"...so how is the world now? You said that Kabuto was still at large? What about Orochimaru? Has anybody done him in yet?"

"It's much better now that the five major villages are at stable peace; slowed down the number of misions, but there's always more to do in other fields...and Kabuto? No idea, honestly, Sasuke never went in depth after their fight. As for Orochimaru, he's under constant surveillance, but he sometimes stops by Konoha. Kakashi actually brought him in to help Tsunade when I had my arm repla-...er, when I needed medical attention." he smiled. He really needed to get his mouth in check, for the sake of his future occupation.

For a brief moment, Tayuya remained silent.

"...what do you mean Orochimaru is allowed in Konoha?"