(A/N): So this is a new story I'm trying out in place of Bandit 7, because it was originally a one-shot but some people wanted to read the next chapter, and so I thought up another story that's similar. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and tell me what you think! It's my first time writing an AU and I'd like as much suggestions as possible to make this story exciting and worth reading. :D
Disclaimer: I don't own.
She ran.
Left, right. Down. Left. Left again. Right. No, dead end. Left. Right.
She couldn't stop. If she stopped, he would find her.
And if he found her, he would kill her.
Panting, she continued running. One staggered step after another.
"Just…who…does he think he's aiming for, huh? Does he… not know how important I …how important I am in Society? Does he not know that I—"
"Shut up."
Her mouth froze, and her throat gave out a croak. He was here. But how? How had he caught up? She was the only one that knew of all the secret passageways…how could he…possibly…? She opened her mouth to scream. Scream for someone, someone, anyone, ANYONE—
But before any sound could come out, her vision faded and she collapsed.
And there she lay, in a puddle of her own blood.
And there he stood, that unseen shadow, the haunting presence, the silent killer.
Suddenly, the lights went on.
Before him stood two men in white coats and black pants, one wearing glasses and one holding a notebook and a pen.
The one wearing glasses stalked up to the felled body. He gently nudged it with his feet, squatted down, and felt the neck.
"Well done, #107. I'm proud to say that you've made improvement." He stated.
The other one, a shorter, rather plump man with an ink-smudged face, barked, "Still not good enough! Still too slow! Sasaki, take him away! We need to work on potion—what is it again? Potion 15? Yes, yes, that must be right. We need to work on Potion 15 again. He," the killer stiffened as a pen-holding hand pointed angrily at him, "is accessing it too slowly. Remember, Her Majesty said she wants it to be the best of the best. We cannot possibly let her down!"
Sasaki sighed, taking his hand away from the corpse. "Kosuke, #107 is fine as he is. We shouldn't use him too much. What if an experiment goes wrong? Wrong potion mixture? Or—"
"Shut it! Her Majesty wants the best, so we must give her the best! This way, we can be famous!" the pudgy hands came to feel his ink-smudged face as Kosuke continued, "One step closer to power. One step closer. Closer. Closer…"
Sasaki ignored his comrade as he stood and walked over to the other person there. "Come along, #107. I suppose you want to go back?"
No. #107 said in his mind. No. I don't want to go back to the cell.
He was certain he hadn't said it out loud, but the look on Sasaki's face told #107 that Sasaki knew what he was thinking.
How strange.
…//…
How much time had passed, he wasn't sure, but by the time they reached the building where his cell was, the sun was already down. He wondered why so many people pass by the building everyday but never manage to find out about what was inside, hidden behind those walls.
He couldn't blame them. After all, his cell was located in a building that looked like an ordinary house from the outside. Who would've thought that an ordinary building would be a laboratory underneath?
#107's jaw tightened as he gritted his teeth in frustration. What use was this; this assassination duty? Who is this Queen that the man Kosuke speaks of all the time? Who is she? What did she want from him?
He tensed at the sound of the door to his cell open slowly.
"#107? Son?"
Most of the tension evaporated at the sound of Sasaki's slightly trembling yet mostly concerned voice. The tall man slowly stepped in, gingerly closing the door behind him.
The 'cell' was merely just a normal room. It consisted of a bed, a small wooden chair, and a little drawer. On top of the drawer was a jug of water and a cup. A glass vile was leaning against a half eaten loaf of stale bread. Sasaki could see very well the last drop of red liquid in the vile.
Potion #15.
Suddenly, the man felt extremely guilty. Sitting himself down on the wooden chair, he leaned forwards.
"I'm…sorry."
#107's eyes widened. Sorry, he said. Sorry for what?
"Let me explain," Sasaki continued, and he knew the pleading tone was as obvious as adding oil to a cup of water, "I…Kos…Kosuke…he…"
Sasaki fumbled with his glasses before deciding to take them off. His vision blurred, but somehow to him, it was much clearer to think when the world was blurry than when the world was clear.
"When I first met Kosuke…he…he was an enthusiastic young man. We were both young, that is. He and I met in university, where we were both studying science. Even when we graduated, we were close.
Kosuke wanted to create the ideal being, perfect, and without flaw. He bragged on and on about how, someday, the 'Perfect Human' would be made, and he would be famous.
People scoffed at him, ridiculed him. Some even went as far as to sabotage his apartment, steal his money, and terrorize him. His status in Society dropped swiftly, until, one day, no one dared recognize him as an acquaintance. He became a loner.
Until then, I was always with him. I knew what he was feeling, deep down, even though he'd plaster a smile on his face. I tried to encourage him to take another road. Lead another life. But no, he was stubborn.
And one day, a man appeared at our doorstep with a letter in hand. Do you know who it was from, son?"
#107 didn't answer. A part of his brain was repeating that last word; son, son son, son, son.
"Well," Sasaki continued, placing his glasses on the small drawer, next to the vial, "it was a letter from the Queen. She requested that we create the ideal assassin for her, with a grant of the highest status in Society and everlasting wealth.
We were delighted, especially Kosuke. He thought that it was finally the time for him to prove himself. You see, he was so full of hate and fury for those who did not believe in him.
Yes," Sasaki gave a grim little chuckle under his breath, "now that I think of it, Kosuke just wanted people to believe in him. That was all.
"So we started our research right away. We grabbed any homeless person, young, old, boy, girl, healthy, weak. Any. And none worked. None showed potential, and most died almost immediately after we injected Potion #15. It was always Potion #15; the chemicals were too strong for most bodies to adapt to.
Until we met you, son.
You were able to survive and stay healthy throughout all the 14 Potions. You stayed healthy and strong. And with each Potion, each assignment, you improved. We had been hesitant to inject Potion #15 into you; what if you died?
But Kosuke was insistent. 'This is the best so far!' he had said, 'I'm not going to let this opportunity pass!'
And so, you were injected with Potion #15, and by the third assignment earlier, it was clear that you are still in good shape. In fact, you are so fantastic; I can hardly keep my eyes off you."
Sasaki sighed and leaned back into the chair.
"That is why I simply cannot understand what Kosuke is thinking. You are already perfect—in fact, you are far from perfect—yet…yet…" #107 stiffened when Kosuke looked at him with hard eyes, "did you see it? Did you feel it? Did you experience it yourself? You killed her in less than a second. There was no blood, no sign of weapons—did you even use any? No, right? It was Potion #15's work, right?"
#107 merely stared as Sasaki shook his head, his hands shaking. There was a long pause, and the assassin shifted awkwardly. Finally, Sasaki spoke, his voice raspy.
"Kosuke is mad. He has gone mad. This…if he carries on…you might not survive. You would be dead for sure. He wants to create a Potion #16…but…already…it should be at the limit. Everyone but you died from side affects of #15, and he wants to create an even stronger one! Power…yes, that's what he wants. Kosuke…he…he's filled with so much hate. So much hate. So much…"
Sasaki stood up and grabbed his glasses. Placing them on, he looked at #107.
"I…son…I…I'll set you free. Yes, yes…I'll set you free."
#107 flinched at the touch of Sasaki's hand on his arm.
"Son, I'm trying to help! I'm not going to do anything to harm you. I'm helping, helping. Helping, understand? Not harming…never harm…never…"
#107 watched as Sasaki's eyes filled with tears.
"I won't let Kosuke do this anymore. He…he…he has gone too far! No sane man would continuously kill so many people just for success! All those people from Society—used for assignments….and the people who died from Potion #15…"
Suddenly, Sasaki's arm lashed out and the vile fell to the floor, breaking in a single shatter. The red liquid seeped out and flowed into a puddle on the cold floor.
Sasaki glanced up at #107 and saw that the boy had a strange glimpse in his eyes. It was almost—almost—as if the boy was happy. Relieved, even, at the sight of the one thing that had ever caused him pain—gone, gone, gone.
Seeing this gave Sasaki courage and he made up his mind.
"I will free you, son!"
He watched as the boy turned to look at him in utter shock.
Free? Free? Those eyes seem to be questioning.
"Yes, yes," Sasaki whispered, his voice trembling for a reason unknown, "I will free you. See—see!"
He fished in his pocket for the little vial of sleeping potion, "I added this to Kosuke's beverage. He—he must still be sleeping. Now, son! We mustn't waste time, I don't even know how long the potion will last—so we must do this quick!"
But as Sasaki reached out to take the boy's arm in his hand, a voice interrupted.
"I hadn't thought I'd see the day, Sasaki."
Both man and boy whirled around to find Kosuke standing in the entrance, face hard with cold rage.
"And here I thought, Sasaki, that you would be different from the rest of them."
Out of the corner of his eyes, #107 saw Sasaki's face twist with guilt.
"How wrong I was to trust you. And for so long, Sasaki my friend. For so long."
"I am only doing what I believe is right, Kosuke."
Kosuke raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
"What you think is right? And what is your definition of right, Sasaki? To betray the trust of a lifelong friend?"
"You're wrong," Sasaki shook his head, "I am merely protecting my friend from eternal corruption."
"Corruption?" Kosuke laughed—a cold, empty, uncomfortable sound, "you call me corrupted? Me, who was the genius to come up with Potion #15? Me, who was given the privilege to assist Her Highness the Queen?"
Sasaki and #107 were both tense as they watched Kosuke laugh, laugh, laugh, and laugh.
"My dearest friend Sasaki, how wrong you are."
Sasaki felt something collide with his right thigh before he heard the sound of a bullet being fired. Looking down, he saw his leg bleeding profusely before he collapsed.
He felt #107 kneel down to help him, and gasped out amidst the pain.
"Run, son, run! You must not…must not let him catch you. The window, son!"
Sasaki could feel Kosuke laughing and coming closer.
"See what happens to those who do not place their trust in me, Sasaki? See what happens when they oppose me? Do you see?!"
Not replying, Sasaki grabbed the boy's shoulders and gave him a rough shake.
"Run! I…I will take care of this. Just leave it to me! Go, now, son!"
Another pain in his left rib, and Sasaki felt himself draining, slowly, slowly, slowly.
"I DON'T DESERVE THIS! WHY IS THE WORLD AGAINST ME?! WHY….WHY!!"
Sasaki shouted, "I believed in you, Kosuke!"
"Did you?!?! DID YOU?!?! THEN WHY ARE YOU LETTING HIM GO?!?!"
Sasaki took a deep breath and pushed #107 behind him.
"He is just a boy! He should have a life of his own! Stop manipulating those around you for your own need!"
"A FRIEND WOULD SUPPORT ME WHOLEHEARTEDLY, SASAKI!"
"BUT I REFUSE TO STAND THERE DOING NOTHING WHEN MY FRIEND IS SLOWLY SEEPING INTO DARKNESS!"
Kosuke's face twisted into an unidentifiable expression that, Sasaki deemed, was what a mad man would wear on his face.
"You are helping me?...You are HELPING ME?!"
Sasaki watched as Kosuke slowly raised the pistol again.
"Do not joke with me."
Sensing what was to come, Sasaki turned his upper body to give the boy a last shove towards the window.
"GO!"
"Do not. Joke with me."
And Sasaki felt the third pain in his chest before his vision turned black.
Kosuke…
…//…
#107 stared at the body before him, lying atop a puddle of blood.
Blood as red as that disgusting, scorching liquid.
Slowly, slowly, he walked towards the man who was named Sasaki. The man who was always protecting him. The man with the incredibly gentle and kind emerald eyes. The man who would go so far as to betray his partner.
The man who called him "son'.
The boy ignored Kosuke's insane laughter as he crouched down, one hand touching Sasaki's face. The dead man had an expression of regret, pain, and guilt. There were tears at the edges of his eyes, and the boy's finger captured them.
Examining his hand with mild curiosity, #107 stood up, ignoring Sasaki's blood that had splattered onto his cheek at the third gunshot.
"There, #107, Sasaki is dead! We no longer have a need of him, do we? Of course not! Just the two of us, #107, the two of us!"
The boy did not pay any attention to what that other man—so lowly of a creature to be called a 'man'—was jabbering on about. It was all complete nonsense anyways.
There was the feeling of anger churning inside his stomach. It did not come in hot streaks like before, when he'd felt the urge to punch that creature Kosuke after every 'assignment' he was given.
It felt cold, so, so cold.
Reveling in this sensation, the boy walked towards the remaining man.
"Yes, yes, come to me, #107! Come to your master, you pitiful creature!" Kosuke threw back his head and let out more laughter.
That was when a flash caught his eye.
"What are you doing, you filthy thing? What is with that look?! What is with that look, ah?! Do you have any idea who made you like this? Do you have any idea who created you?!"
But the person slowly walking towards him sent a chill down Kosuke's spine.
"I…I am! Yes…yes, yes! I am the one who made you! I am the one who created you, who blessed you, who graciously turned you into who you are now! Wha…what….what in the world!!.....Wh-wha…."
The chubby man dropped his pistol as his hands flew to cover his face, his eyes. The vision before him—it was haunting. Haunting and sinister and—and he had never seen anything so like the Devil.
"I…I will not be intimidated! I will not!! You cannot…you cannot frighten me!! Do not think you can!!! You…you…do not jest with me! I am….I am Ashia Kosuke! You can do nothing to me!! Nothing, you hear me?! NOTHING!!!!"
And the face of Kosuke was still twisted into a mad feral grin as the head fell onto the floor and the body collapsed.
#107 calmly wiped his hands on the white sleeve of the fat man's coat. Standing, he strode out of the room.
Without looking behind him, the boy walked down the stairs and out the main door into the empty street.
The crescent moon hanging in the sky seemed to be the smiling mouth of an invisible face that was laughing at him. Laughing and laughing and laughing. The starless sky was so dark, so black, so engulfing. It was crushing, crushing, crushing, crushing…
Suffocating.
He had no idea how far he walked when suddenly, his legs felt weak. Staggering, his knees collapsed, and #107 felt his eyes close shut before his body fell to the ground.
…//…
He awoke to the smell of something warm and pleasant, the sound of sparrows chirping, and the feeling of a soft breeze on his warm skin.
How long has it been since his skin has felt warm and the sound of birds made him lighthearted? How long has it been since he even heard the sound of birds singing? He couldn't quite remember. Perhaps never.
So he laid there, eyes wide and staring out the window, body still but relaxed underneath the blanket. He didn't care that he was in a foreign room in a foreign place; the danger was over, he was sure. That man, Kosuke…he would never come after him again.
Sasaki.
That man—he was strange. That man treated him differently than Kosuke. That man treated him like a human and not like a tool or a machine. That man gave him a warm and comfortable feeling in his body.
But that man isn't here anymore. He'll never be.
Sasaki was gone forever.
"You're awake!"
At the sound, he was immediately out of the bed, crouched and ready to strike.
"Woah! Hey, hey, go easy! I'm just here to tell you to come eat!"
He slowly straightened up from the predatory stance, examining the blonde before him with careful eyes.
"Hey, don't look at me like that! I'm not dangerous!"
The blonde's eyes were an incredible striking blue, and the three lines across each cheek seemed symmetrical.
"I'm Naruto. What about you?"
He did not answer. Instead, he continued to scrutinize the boy called Naruto. Naruto's stance was casual, but he could tell that the blonde's reflexes were quick. Naruto looked as if he was the silly street boy with no education or wit, but something about those bright blue eyes told otherwise.
"Well, are you going to tell me your name or what?" Naruto asked.
The boy did not respond, and Naruto found this infuriating. Hey, he was being polite, wasn't he? And he even stated his mighty name and asked so chivalrously for the other boy's!
Just as Naruto was about to ask—chivalrously, of course, he was nothing but chivalrous—when the strange boy crouched and tensed, letting out an inhumane snarl.
"Naruto, I thought I told you to escort him down for breakfast, not scare the wits out of him so that he turns into a wild animal."
Naruto whirled around to find a gray-haired man in his mid-thirties leaning against the doorway. His nose and mouth were covered with a black cloth, and his hat was tipped so that his left eye was covered. By the looks of the nicely ironed shirt and pants and the expensive vest and coat, he was obviously a man of wealth.
"Kakashi!" Naruto said, "it wasn't me! I was just being chivalrous, you know, manly, and this boy wouldn't even tell me his name! And I asked him politely!"
The gray-haired man Kakashi heaved a worldly sigh, "Well, that doesn't mean he has to act like we're about to kill him for breakfast, does he?" But before Naruto could argue that he had done nothing wrong, Kakashi raised a palm and said, "Alright, alright, we can discuss this later. Let's go, can we? Breakfast is waiting at the dining table, and I don't like a cold meal to start my extremely busy day."
"You always say it's your 'extremely busy day'," Naruto grumbled as he followed Kakashi out, then turned around and said in a slightly informal tone.
"Oi, come on down now, or I'm gonna leave you."
…//…
Kakashi watched as one boy burrowed his way into his omelet, and another glare at his.
Just what was with kids these days?
He coughed, "Naruto," he said firmly, and when the boy did not respond, he repeated again in a sharper tone, "Naruto,"
The blonde looked up, "Yeah, Kakashi?"
"Table manners, please. And don't eat so fast before the guest. Look," Kakashi gestured at the silent dark boy, "he's so disgusted by you that he's not only not eating, but he's glaring at the nicely cooked omelet!"
"How's that my fault?" Naruto asked, then let out a small 'Eep!' as Kakashi stepped down on his foot underneath the table.
They both turned to look at the silent boy, and the third person also looked up, having felt their heavy stares.
"Say, boy," Kakashi drawled, "what's your name?"
#107 thought for a moment.
Slowly, he answered, "Number…107."
"Number?" Kakashi repeated, voice carefully hidden of any emotion.
But the boy had returned to his animal form, teeth baring, body tense.
"Ok, ok, Number 107," Kakashi said, trying to calm the boy down.
Unfortunately, Naruto did not take up on the hint.
"That's such a weird name. Who would be named 107? What was wrong with your ma and pa?"
"Naruto!" Kakashi said in warning as the onyx-eyed boy growled.
"Right, right. My bad." Naruto hurriedly said, and stuffed a chunk of omelet into his mouth.
"…Number..107," Kakashi said, also slightly uncomfortable with the name, "do you have no other name? Perhaps…something from your mother? Your father? A relative? If I were to call you by 'Number 107' out in the streets or somewhere in public, you would easily be mistaken to be someone—or something—of possession, and I'm a man who does not wish to be that type of person."
When the boy didn't answer, Kakashi sighed, "Well, think about it. It's all fine with me, but it's just that if I were to address you in the streets, it would be a troublesome situation."
And the dining table was once again silent save for the clicking of silverware.
"…Sa….suke."
"Pardon?" Kakashi asked.
"My…name…," the dark haired boy said, " is…..Sa..suke."
"Sasuke," Kakashi said, tasting the name on his tongue.
"I thought you were Number 107?" Naruto added, then yelped as Kakashi stepped on him again.
"Sasuke, why did you decide on this name?" Kakashi asked, smiling a little in hopes of reassuring the boy.
And Number 107 thought.
Why had he thought of that name? Was it…oh. Yes, that was right. Kosuke and Sasaki. He'd taken the 'sa' and the 'suke' from both names to make Sasuke for himself.
Of course, taking Sasaki's name was almost natural, but when he'd thought of taking 'suke' from Kosuke.... But then again, Kosuke was also considered as someone who 'took care of him', in a way. It was both of them who gave him shelter, both of them who gave him food and water. And....it was both of them who died on the same night. Because of him.
So...taking the name from them....that meant...that meant...he'd live on. For them, right? A part of them would always live on with him. In the name 'Sasuke'.
Somehow, it fit. He felt the name slowly mold itself into a part of him.
And he felt a strange feeling. For once in his lifetime, and for as long as he could remember, he had something that was his own. He owned a possession. A treasure.
And as Kakashi stared at the boy, he realized that the question he'd just asked would never be answered. So he sighed and said, "That's right, boy. For you, that name is probably the most important thing, isn't it? You'd have everything to lose if you lost that name."
Sasuke looked at him, and Kakashi could feel a part of the wild inhabitant within the boy tame itself. This gave him hope that, perhaps, Sasuke would become a normal boy and be a friend and companion to Naruto and him.
"So, Sasuke, do you want to join us?"
(A/N): Well, first chapter ends! It's supposed to be a prologue, and it's kind of long too. 7 pages on my word document! (O_O). Please, please, please give suggestions.
And just to make things clear, at the beginning with Sasuke (No. 107) killing the lady, it was an experiment. Hope you guys didn't have trouble reading that.
And I know I categorized this story as 'romance' too. Sakura is coming out later.
Oh, and please review. That would make me very happy.
Your lazy-to-the-extreme-but-trying-very-very-hard-to-stay-loyal writer,
sizuka