And All the King's Men

[endless_scrolls]

Title: And All the King's Men
Type: Fanfic
Fandom: AU!Naruto
Character(s): Tenten, Uchiha Madara; brief mention of Yakushi Kabuto
Pairing(s): None, although there's a hint of Madara/Tenten at the end if you squint a lot little.
Warning(s): Violence, delicious violence.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but these words.
Note: Randomly written fic inspired by the events and planned plots that took place at nixcore.
Dedicated to: rearrangeable. ♥~

With a hard crack of her fist, Tenten's knuckles collided against raw flesh. And the man's head turned in a quick snap to come crashing into the rusted-red brick wall behind him. She winced at the brief discomfort but passed off the lingering sting as nothing more than an afterthought. It was a minor blemish compared to all of the others she had received since entering into the business and would hardly leave a lasting mark like the rest. After all, the faint lines that traversed across the curves of her body told of much harsher tales; stories that would forever remain with her for as long as the young woman's life lasted, in or outside of the profession. And whether or not there would be a way out, the memories would always stay with her.

Realizing this truth, she whipped the arm back and followed-up the punch with an equally unforgiving back-handed fist. For all the lives she had been forced to take; for all the ones she would be loathed to take in the future. But it was no longer her choice to decide anymore.

"Enough. I'll take it from here, Miss Tenten." It was his.

Tenten had no regrets though; she couldn't. For all the dangers and risks that came with becoming his subordinate, Uchiha Madara was a man who held the power and resources that she needed. And Tenten had come to him willingly with hopes of taking advantage of that. If her services were employed to deal with the more unsavory characters who resided in the city, then all the better for it.

Deceiving the unsuspecting informant had been a simple task, a lot easier than she had ever suspected. With so much to doubt in the world and in the morale of the city, Tenten assumed he would execute a practice of extreme caution. It was the only way to survive the veiled underworld that lined the back alleys of the blooming metropolis, after all. But then again, he was young and inexperienced. Foolishly stupid. And that was his downfall.

A resounding thwack of dull metal against soften skin pulled the young woman from her thoughts and back to reality where her companion was exacting his punishment on the the spineless whelp with a walking cane. And though he was not as young as he used to be, the flash of the serpent head was still amazingly quick, catching the light of the street lamps every so often with its movements. Despite that, though, and the probable repercussion that would come of her actions, Tenten still reached out to take a firm hold of the other's wrist, stilling all further movement both violent or otherwise. If he continued to over-exert himself, they would need to request another house call from Kabuto before the night was over. And neither of them wanted that.

"You still have your condition to consider... Sir," the young woman explained, meeting his sharp look with hard determination as she spoke, "He's not worth your time, let me finish this."

He didn't say a word to her, just simply held her gaze for a beat or two more before slipping his arm from her grasp to step away from the prostrated body; a wordless sign of approval for Tenten to continue where he left off. Or in this case, to finally finish the job and silence the young man forever. He was weak, after all, and spilled all of his secrets far too quickly. If it had taken only a few strikes of Madara's cane to divulge every single one of Minato's secrets, then how long would it be before the Uchiha found their hidden treasures revealed to the world?

They couldn't let him leave that alley alive.

All was quiet and laid bare, the moonless sky giving them adequate cover and the tall buildings serving as a shelter of shadows to hide the misdeeds that were conspiring. All that could be seen or heard was the faint wheeze of the informant's labored breathing and the dulled glow that marked the limited reach of the streetlight just a few meters away. And in a single breath, she saw the flash of the Madara's lighter as he went to fire-up a cigarette; an involuntary habit that tended to calm the nerves when old injuries started to act up as a reminder of his less than youthful age. And that was all that it took for Tenten to permanently silence the night of his suffering.

With a quick rip of fabric from what still remained of his formerly clean, white shirt, she began cleansing the blade of its sins and wiping away the excess blood while she followed the Elder Uchiha out of the alley. "I never did like rodents."

"Even in this modern day and age, there will always be rats." Slowly and almost methodically, he inhaled, pulling the chemicals and smoke from the thin cancer stick between his fingers to let the intoxicating ingredients waft and waver through his system. And then with a casual sigh, they all came pouring out with ease, taking with it all the stress that had built up since the last time he subjected himself to the noxious therapy. "We do this as a favor to the world, Miss Tenten. Tell me why."

"Because," the young woman responded, an air of disconnection in her tone as she spoke. Because Tenten needed it; needed the separation from her conscious and the reality of what the young woman allowed herself to do as a living. The distance was necessary to justify playing as Gods in making the decisions of who lived and who died. Or so she reasoned. When the young woman was done cleansing her knife of any and all stains of blood, she proceeded to do the same with the cane he had left leaning against the building. The splotches of blood would dry soon if nothing was done about it, and Madara seemed like the sort to care very meticulously about his belongings. And he was generally not a man that should be bothered with minor things like maintenance and clean-up. "If we don't, they'll soon scurry into and infest our home. Rats tend to get bold when uncontested."

"Dirty things, how quickly they populate is astounding." Here, he held the lit cigarette out for her to take, letting the arm fall to his side when she finally did before continuing. "We do not support unregulated reproduction."

The other reason was one the girl refused to admit, even to herself.

"But the game wouldn't be as fun if it were easy," she scoffed with ease, her thin lips pulling to the side in an obvious smirk of amusement as she carelessly tossed the rag back into the darkened alley to rejoin with the lifeless body of its former owner. And with the white stick of tobacco and other more addicting chemicals, Tenten paused for only a brief and wary moment of consideration before she took a deep inhale of the toxins. "Besides, they have their occasional benefits. Every King needs his pawns, after all."

"And every General needs his Second. Or Third, as the case may be."

Because murder was easy, easier still after the first time. But caring for a crazed, psychopath who would sooner kill you than save you if it meant achieving his own ambitions was much harder.