IY: Hey all! This is an AU one-shot deal, which I personally really liked. XD
Kit: Yeah, well, you wrote it. What else could you say?
IY: Hush, you!
IY: I hope you guys enjoy this, even though the ending is angsty...
Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the great manga and anime series Naruto ((soon to be Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles)), nor am I making any sort of money off this fic. The most I'll be getting is hopefully an "A" since this was written for my Spanish class. (And no, I'm not in the stupid Spanish classes... I'm going to translate this whole thing...)
Warnings: As always, SasuNaru shonen-ai, but it's so light that they could just be considered really good friends... Language... CHARACTER DEATH! It's one of the major characters (not saying who) ((and no, it's not Sakura, so don't get your hopes up)) so be warned! I would've put this under Tragedy, but I had a feeling no one would even look at it then... U.U;
Setting: This AU was based on the world of "Alias," that really cool show that airs on ABC. Naruto is the spy/agent/whatever and Sasuke is his informer. Got it?
"Okay, listen up, dobe." Sasuke glared at the blonde man across from him, whom merely nodded and took a sip of his coffee.
"This is the layout of the building," the brunette spread the blueprint between them, sideways so that they could both see it clearly. "Memorize it."
Naruto sighed, scrutinizing the paper carefully, mapping out all possible points of entry and escape. "How much time?"
"Fifteen; twenty minutes max." Sasuke replied, gauging the blonde's response. To his disappointment, Naruto only nodded as he continued to look over the building.
"What floor is it on? How many guards are there?"
The brunette young man shook his head, "We're not sure how many people will be guarding it, but we do know that they have a rather high-tech security system."
Naruto laughed, "You guys will take care of that, right? I know how handy Shikamaru is with all his gadgets…"
Sasuke snorted, "Of course. All you have to worry about are the guards and your own stupidity, dobe."
The blonde glared, "Grr… You should be thankful that I'm not allowed to hurt you…" Seeing the brunette's superior smirk, Naruto got back on track. "What floor?"
"Third; the document will be in the main office, which is located on the south side of the building." Sasuke pointed it out on the blueprint.
"Okay… So the best point of entry would be… Here!" Naruto signaled one of the many emergency exits dotted around the rather large building.
"If you say so, dobe." The brunette smirked, "I don't care where you go in or come out, as long as you have those pictures in the end."
"Bastard…"
"The system is down; all clear, dobe." The earpiece made Sasuke's voice echo strangely in the blonde's ear.
Naruto sighed, "Right; let's get to work."
After checking that no guards were around, he snuck up to the emergency exit, finding it locked.
"Don't these people know that these things always have to be open?" With a disgruntled sigh, he fished out a lock-picker from his utility belt.
Making quick work of the feeble lock, Naruto opened the door a crack, only enough to let him slip through. It wouldn't be good if a patrolling guard noticed the moonlight shining through.
Sticking to the shadowy walls, the blonde made good time to the nearest set of stairs. He often wished he could use the elevator, but they simply made too much noise.
Reaching the top, he peeked carefully down the hallway, crouched down close to the ground. Naruto spotted only one guard, whom didn't seem like he would cause too much of a problem.
The blue-uniformed man seemed to be in his mid-forties, his black hair peppered with gray. He was tired and overworked, if Naruto could judge from the bleary look in the eyes sporadically glancing around.
"One guard on the second floor; won't be a hassle." Naruto said quietly, one hand activating his microphone while the other reached down to grab his gun.
He wouldn't use it, of course. Naruto was confident that he could take out the old geezer by hand, without using too much force.
Waiting until the guard was walking away from him, towards the office containing his objective, Naruto crept silently down the hallway.
He quickly reached the man, whom hadn't noticed his approach until it was too late. Naruto was right behind him when the man turned back, and watched as the guard's eyes widened.
"Sorry about this, old man." Naruto struck out, his fist hitting the man in the gut, causing him to double over. Taking this chance, the blonde hit the pressure point on the back of the man's neck, knocking him unconscious.
Naruto then raced to the main office, turning on his camera as he went. He was extremely conscious of the passage of time.
He opened the office door with a muffled bang but paid the noise no mind, since the guard was already out. Naruto turned on the light and then sat in the big leather chair, ruffling through the documents sitting on top of the desk.
Not finding the one he desired, he opened the desk drawers, finding more documents neatly filed in the bottom one. Looking quickly through the dated tabs, he found his objective.
Pulling out a document that was filed under January 17th, Naruto quickly spread out the various pages on the desktop. He then snapped three pictures of each page, just to make sure that the words came out clearly.
Job done, he put the papers back in the order he found them, placed them back into their file, fixed the documents on the desk, and prepared to leave. Snapping off the light switch, he closed the door behind him.
"Halt!" Naruto's head snapped to the left, to the place where the voice originated from. There he found another guard - the one he downed was still on the floor - and this guard had his gun drawn. Shit.
The blonde threw his body forwards, rolling into a small ball. He had reacted just in time; the office door was now riddled with bullet holes.
Springing up from the floor, Naruto ran down the hall in a zigzag pattern. He definitely wasn't going to make the guard's job easy.
Halfway to the stairs, the blonde paused. He could clearly hear the thundering sound of running footsteps… If he kept going, he would be caught.
Spinning around, he brought up his own gun. Hastily aiming, he let out a volley of bullets. He successfully hit the pursuing guard, but at a price.
Once he'd stopped moving, he'd become an easy target. Naruto bit his lip harshly, stopping the whimper of pain that wanted to escape.
He'd been shot.
The blonde couldn't stop to assess the damage, though. The sound of footsteps was growing steadily closer…
Glancing around for an escape route, he located an emergency exit. Rushing towards it, he found it locked. Goddamnit! These fucking doors are supposed to be open!
He didn't have time to pick the lock… Fuck it. Naruto stepped back, spun, and then kicked the door near the knob.
The movement caused a terrible pain to spread throughout his body, originating from his chest area, but Naruto didn't have time to worry about it. The first shots could be heard, and the guards were rushing down the hallway.
"Crap…" Naruto shouldered the broken door open, sprinting down the fire escape. He took the stairs two, three at a time, trying desperately to avoid the bullets starting to rain down on him.
He activated his microphone. "Sasuke! I've got the pictures, but there are a bunch of guards on my tail!"
Naruto could hear the brunette's shocked gasp through his earpiece. "What? The security system's still down!"
"Tell these guys!" Naruto cursed, a bullet had hit the railing right next to him. Fuck, I'm practically a sitting duck here… He gauged the distance to the ground. Five, maybe six feet…
Once another bullet hit the metal of the fire escape right next to his foot, Naruto made up his mind. He grabbed the railing with both hands, flipping himself over with all his strength.
Naruto gasped, pain tearing through him again as he hit the ground. He'd landed in a crouched position, but the force behind his jump had caused him to tip over onto his hands and knees.
"Hold on, Naruto! We're coming!" The blonde man smirked, even through his pain. Sasuke had never called him by name before…
He shook his head; this was no time to get sentimental… Naruto pushed himself off the sidewalk, starting to run towards their van, which was parked a few blocks away.
The bullets followed him, since the guards had continued to pursue him down the fire escape. Naruto cursed, they're really dedicated, aren't they?
The blonde felt himself slowing down; his legs were starting to shake from the strain.
"Naruto!" He looked up, since the voice didn't come from his earpiece. Instead, it came from right in front of him… There was Sasuke, followed by Sakura, their friend and medic.
Naruto reached them, giving them a shaky smile. "Hey guys… What's up?" His legs chose that moment to give out. Wonderful.
Sasuke sighed, picking him up with a hand under his knees and another supporting his back. "Dobe… How do you manage to get yourself into these situations?"
He opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Sasuke's startled exclamation. "Dobe! You're bleeding! Why the hell didn't you tell me that you'd been shot?"
"It slipped my mind?" Naruto answered feebly, his strength draining rapidly. Sasuke noticed and panicked.
"Sakura! Do something!" The pink-haired girl nodded, "We have to get him back to the van, though. I need my medical equipment."
Sasuke gave a grunt and started walking back to their vehicle, trying not to jostle the blonde in his arms too much. "Are you hanging in there, dobe?"
"Yeah. I'll be fine… I could still kick your ass right now if I wanted; you know that, right?" Naruto asked, hazy blue eyes trying to focus on the man carrying him.
The brunette snorted, relieved that Naruto could still act like an idiot. It meant that he was going to be fine… He hoped.
Upon reaching the van that housed all their equipment, Shikamaru threw the back door open for them. "What the hell happened to him?"
"Nice to see you too Shika…" the blonde said weakly. The spiky-haired young man grew somber once he saw the blood caking Naruto's form.
"Start driving to the office. I need to get him into surgery fast, if we want him to live."
Shikamaru followed Sakura's orders without complaining about how troublesome they were.
During the drive, Sasuke held Naruto's body to his; the blonde's back leaning on his chest. "How do you feel, dobe?"
"Oh, just fine bastard… Don't worry 'bout me…" Naruto's voice was startlingly frail, and it worried Sasuke immensely.
"Hn. Don't talk; save your strength." Naruto nodded, his eyes closing.
After a few minutes of silence, Sasuke started to feel worried. The blonde was never silent, no matter how many times he was asked to be so.
"Naruto?"
When he didn't receive an immediate answer, Sasuke shook the man's arm a bit. Not enough to cause him pain, but enough to ensure he got his attention.
"Naruto? Are you asleep?"
Sasuke glanced down at Naruto's face, which seemed relaxed. The brunette frowned; even if he was asleep he shouldn't be relaxed, not when he was shot and in pain…
"Dobe! Stop messing around and answer me!"
Sakura looked over at them from the front passenger seat. Seeing Naruto's blank expression, her eyes widened.
She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and went over to them, kneeling down on the carpeted floor. Sakura put her index and middle fingers against Naruto's neck, feeling for a pulse.
She bit her lip, worried. Maybe it's just very faint? Sakura then put her face in front of the blonde's, trying to feel his breath.
Sakura waited for a whole minute, not willing to accept that the reason she didn't feel anything was because Naruto had stopped breathing.
Sakura laid her head down on Naruto's chest, not minding the blood. Please, please… She waited, but didn't feel his chest move and didn't hear his heart beat.
Sakura sobbed, withdrawing her face and burying it in her hands.
Sasuke glared at her, "Why are you crying? He's fine!"
Sakura shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Sasuke… He's dead… Naruto's dead!"
Sasuke continued to glare at her, even as tears started to pool in his eyes. "No, he's not! He's sleeping! He's just asleep!"
Sakura sobbed, looking away from the desperation that was clear in his eyes. She couldn't bear to look into them…
Sasuke shifted the blonde in his arms so that he lay on the floor. "Dobe, wake up! I know you're not dead; stop playing around!"
"Dobe… Dobe! Naruto!" Sasuke shook the prone form, trying to get a response. "Naruto!" Sasuke finally started crying, still trying to wake the blonde man.
"Please, Naruto! Please, wake up! You said you wouldn't die… You promised me, Naruto! You promised, and now you have to keep it!"
"Don't leave me…" Sasuke sobbed, "Don't leave me alone, Naruto…"
Wah! I made myself cry when I wrote the ending... T.T Why do I have to be so emo?
Anyway, please review! I have an alternate ending to this planned out, since that was a requirement for the assignment. It had to have a tragic ending and a happy ending. Talk about a pain in the ass...
So! If you guys want me to, I can post the other ending as a second chapter once I'm done with it. Let me know in your reviews!