Tribulation: Unsanctified

Written by:

Carreau Hyborean

(R'Jina Chouii)

Chapter 1) Such Poison and Sin

The grass was still wet at the current hour. Blades of vegetation fairly springing up from the soft earth like knives wielded by the hidden Danger. The sun was a fiery red, and barely visible above the mountains. Tsukiko drew her long blade and ran a slender finger down its edge. A shadowy figure watched her closely, face hidden by the dark cast by a tree overhead. Thick shrubbery hid them from view from the front. A swift katana and a sharp bearer should take care of the sides and back easily. "Are you sure you're only going to use your katana?" asked the figure with slight hesitation. Tsukiko turned up her dark eyes and her finger stopped to a halt on the blade. "There may be more than two men out there--things do not always go according to plan… We cannot afford to fail this one."

"Don't worry about me," Tsukiko breathed, getting to her knees. She fully drew the katana and watched it gleam in the sun fondly. "My Isamu has been through a lot--you know what I mean," she said, shrugging up her shoulders a bit and smiling at the man. "Isamu has tasted much blood. When I am with Isamu, you know that I have, well, 'Isamu!'" (A/N: Isamu means 'courage' in Japanese/'Tsukiko means 'moon-child' in Japanese. Very random, yes… and I'm sorry I couldn't provide more sufficient names.. ;;)

The mysterious man sighed, amused. He shook his head and knelt down to be on level with Tsukiko. "It is beyond me why you had named your noble blade 'courage.' Why name it at all? A shinobi doesn't have time for such things…. Orochimaru will be most displeased with your silly and foolish stabs at childish humor, Tsukiko." Tsukiko knelt down and brushed a layer of soft earth until a harder shell of clay lay beneath, gleaming black under the brown. Tucking her long black hair behind her ears, she sheathed her katana and drew a kunai. Taking the tip, she stabbed it into the clay, and after much struggling, the tip of the kunai dug its way into the earth. Tsukiko pressed a delicate finger into the earth, then rubbed her forefinger and thumb together. Her pale face slightly frowned, her lip curling in a cat-like expression of protest.

"Itachi-san, this place has no water… I… I am guessing that we are seventeen miles from the nearest river, where their village is. Are you sure that they are going to send scouts way out here?" Itachi reached up a hand and slowly lifted up the brim of his wide-brimmed field hat. His eyes were red with anticipation and cunning. That was answer enough for her. Smiling sweetly, she stood up and held her elbow with one of her hands. "Then I trust you." Behind his collar, Itachi's lips almost gave a small lift at the corners. It seemed as if less than seven years had passed since he had taken her away from her parents. That was when she was nine. At first, Itachi couldn't believe that Orochimaru would pair him up with such a weak and defenseless brat. Itachi placed a hand on Tsukiko's head, and she grinned.

"Tsukiko," he said in the gravely silent voice of his out of the blue, "what makes you trust me? I am a member of the Akatsuki, the mafia of Konoha… The Hokage fears us and the ANBU are terrified of our presence and works… Why is it that you trust me, after I had torn you away from your parents?" It wasn't usual for Uchiha Itachi to talk about personal feelings and truths. Tsukiko frowned again, her lips slightly parted in speechlessness. "Why is it…?"

She tugged at his cloak and drew her beloved Isamu, watching it glint. As she removed it from the bamboo sheath, the sword gave a rough, metallic sigh of its removal. "Itachi-san," she said breezily. He looked at her wordlessly in answer. "I do not need to trust you in order for me to obey you. You have my allegiance." She seized his hands and placed them on the sword's hilt, pressing the hilt to her chest, where her heart was. "I would do anything for the Akatsuki and for Lord Orochimaru, even if it should be the death of me." Itachi gave a small and cold smile; something rare for him. He looked down at her slightly-shorter-than-usual-for-a-seventeen-year-old frame, and her black, fierce determined eyes, both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. What a delightfully deadly creature. He did not remove his hand from her head.

"I know," he said. There was a moment of silence, before Tsukiko shrugged with that grin of hers again, and peered once again through the dense shrubbery. The air was still; it was much too still, and the forest mist hung around them in thick wafts. Tsukiko suddenly perked her ears up at the detection of a stirring from not very far away. Kneeling once again, she crept through the bushes, giving Itachi a last goodbye glance then moving on. Itachi surveyed her movements carefully; he couldn't find a single fault in her tactics, so he merely closed his eyes, facing off in another direction. "Goodbye, Tsukiko-chan. I except to see you in success once again."

Smiling, she crept away, disappearing. "I know." She pushed through some bushes, then squinted through the liquid-like moisture that was hanging in the air. The group she had heard was coming closer. She heard their voices through the gloom of the branches.

"So, where are we going now, Kakashi-sensei?" asked a voice that seemed over-bright for the environment. The voice as answered with nothing. "Are we training?" Another silence. "No one talks to me," the voice continued ruefully. "It's not cool, you're always leaving with us, not doing anything, I'd rather go to Ichiraku Ramen with Iruka-sensei than to stay with you guys… nothing to do! Maybe I'll just ask Ero-Sennin to teach me, instead you guys."

"Shut up, Naruto," said an oddly cold voice coming from right ahead of her. She peered through the branches, and saw the road before her. It seemed that four people were crossing. No, it wasn't the Hokage, thought Tsukiko with disappointment. But imagine Lord Orochimaru's pleasure when I bring four heads instead of one, she thought wildly. She felt that familiar tingling sensation in her stomach; she was having an overdrive of blood-lust. One of the four, a blonde ninja, had cuts and bruises all over him. An easy kill, and no fun to fight. The tallest of the four looked like a simple Jounin, which wasn't tough meat either. The pink-haired one was the same, with weak power and not much potential. But the last one… he looked terrifyingly strong; fun, real action, in four weeks of sitting around with other members of the Akatsuki. It was lucky that she wasn't wearing those long cloaks; she was donning the uniform of a female ANBU, because that's what she was before Itachi had taken her: an ANBU at the age of nine. Tsukiko crawled to the edge of the bushes, still remaining hidden, her narrowed eyes watching them intently. The one that seemed powerful suddenly became tense, and lagged behind the rest. The pink haired girl turned around and looked at the boy with curiosity.

"What is it, Sasuke-kun?" she asked, in an annoyingly sweet voice. Tsukiko snorted silently. Stupid fan girls. She will never understand why any one girl would go chasing after a shooting star would never be caught--of course, Tsukiko could not possibly understand; she had never seen another member of the opposite sex besides the men of the Akatsuki. There were not many men, and she was one of the only female members. It was easy living with them, because nobody dared to question her, or pick a fight. Not when Itachi was always behind her. The one that the pink haired girl had called 'Sasuke' looked backwards, straight at Tsukiko. Tsukiko felt a sly smile stretch her lips as she slipped on an ANBU mask; a hard white-borne clay mask with an animal face painted in red colour. It wasn't the most attractive bit of disguise--it made the most evil villain look docile (like a kitten-in-training); but she wasn' there for laughs.

Sasuke turned around and looked coldly at Tsukiko's surveying spot. "I thought I heard something," he said gruffly, his voice reminding Tsukiko of Itachi. When the raven-haired boy stepped a bit closer, she tightened her grip on Isamu, her fingers barely squeaking on the bandaged hilt. She felt her pores begin to perspire; the very thought of ripping her katana through one of the rich Konoha-nin's flesh made her body excited. The silver-haired Jounin with them turned around and looked at Sasuke with a questioning glance. Sasuke did some quick hand seals, then instantly duplicated into twelve others, each copy appearing with a soft whir. When the others stepped back, Tsukiko realized that this situation was going to be tougher than she had imagined. With the other three behind the twelve copies of Sasuke, even if she had finished off the raven-haired brat, her chakra supply would be whittled down to meek; the attacking of two Chuunin, and a Jounin would be completely insensible. But Tsukiko desperately wanted their heads. And, if her plan didn't go smoothly, then she'll be taken captured, and when Itachi and the others came for Retrieval, their heads would still end up on Lord Orochimaru's wall all the same. Tsukiko felt one more rush of adrenaline flush through her body as she suddenly sprang up from her survey spot and made herself open for attack purposely. Sasuke apparently seemed confused; he had expected her to come for a more stealthy assault. His shocked face instantly turned into one of fury. "Then I'll kill you right here!" he hissed, running at her. The duplicates stayed in one place, while the Jounin commanded the pink-haired girl to hide. This made things a bit easier. These were obviously fresh-off-the-shelf Chuunin.

The raven-haired boy jumped up into the air and drawing out three kunai, threw it, every single of their pointy tips directed toward Tsukiko's heart. She extended Isamu a third of a way out of its sheath, and by abruptly swinging at the three weapons, deflected them easily. They fell to the ground with sharp clinks. Sasuke looked dumbfounded, but continued to strike viciously, drawing his Sharingan windmill blade out. He twisted his arm back, until when he had swung the huge, lethal blade at her, there was enough force for the blade to be in her blind spot. When she swiftly evaded it, she was horrified to find that one of the points had dug their way into her arm, making it bleed heavily; it was fixed in her arm securely; the blade's tip was sticking out from behind her arm on the other side. Sasuke looked smug, but as if he wasn't satisfied enough, he threw shuriken at her as she fell to the floor, gasping. He was about to run at her again when she seized the Sharingan windmill blade and tore it out of her arm, releasing tons of blood onto the earth with loud splashing. Tsukiko bit her lip and watched as Sasuke gained his heading and ran once again at her, a huge kunai ready in his fist. When he stabbed at her, a swift smile of triumph played on his lips, only to disappear when all that lay at his feet was a log with a kunai stuck through its middle.

"Kawarimi?" he muttered, turning around abruptly. This was the perfect place to use that technique; tree branches and thick forestry were everywhere, and the only way he could find her was if he was a stupid Hyuuga. Sasuke growled as he glanced all around him, panic rising in his throat like a stone. "Where are you, girl?" he asked with frustration. When Tsukiko did not reappear, he relaxed his shoulders and let his guard down, sure that she was gone. "Kakashi-sensei," he said, still looking above him without turning around to consult his teacher. "Kakashi-sensei, I think the girl's gone…" Suddenly he heard a scream, and turned around, horror on his face like a terrified mask. "Naruto!" he shouted, running back to his team.

Kakashi and the Tsukiko were enlaced in a terrible battle, their attacks so swift that Sasuke couldn't follow. Sakura lay bleeding against a stump on the floor, kunai thickly stuck in her legs and arms. A heavy bruise was on her forehead, and she was bleeding. A cut from her thigh to her ankle fairly screamed with blood. Sasuke quickly checked her status, then got up from his knees and shouted.

"Naruto!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Naruto! Where are you, you idiot!"

"Sasuke!" came a meek voice from in the tall grass. Kuso, thought Sasuke as he ran through the grass. She used Kawarimi no jutsu to get to my teammates… what skill! She used that simple rudimentary technique to both calm and distract me! While Sasuke wove through the tall green, Kakashi was having a tough time with Tsukiko. Tsukiko had fully drawn her Isamu, slashing swiftly through Kakashi's blocking. Kakashi wasn't able to lay a finger on her; when he paused, she took the opportunity and sliced his Jounin uniform from the left to the right. The tip of the blade scratched at his skin, and she was satisfied to hear him give a quiet grunt of pain. When she landed a heavy punch on his nose, he was thrown backwards and his back smashed into the trunk of a tree. Tsukiko heard a sharp crack, making her grin. Even Jounin can easily be broken. Kakashi coughed into his mask and tasted blood on his lips.

"Curses--you're really an annoying girl, aren't you?" he murmured, struggling to stand back up. A sharp pain made his back crack backwards, and he found himself falling painfully to the floor again. "Ugh… I can't win in this state," he said to himself quietly. "N--Naruto… Sasuke, run for it, I'll catch up to you later… I'm getting out of here!" With a cry of surprise, Tsukiko saw him disappear.

He disappeared? To where, she thought with panic. Suddenly she felt something painful dig into her leg. She had stepped in front of Sakura, who had laid there, bleeding on the floor. When she had woken up, Tsukiko had been right in front of her. In her reach. Taking a kunai, she had dug it into Tsukiko's leg, causing the dark-haired girl to stumble to the ground. Sakura gasped, "I've torn open one of your largest arteries in your left ankle! If you don't forfeit, I'll have to leave you here to die!" Tsukiko grinned wickedly and rolled over to look the terrified Sakura in the eye through her ANBU mask, which was cracked in several places.

"Who says we are going to die?" she asked. "I am going to live through this." Sakura watched with horror as Tsukiko did some hand seals and placed her two fingers in the ankle that was bubbling with blood. With a flash of blue light, the wound was gone. That was when Sakura ebbed away into black.

Sasuke found Naruto curled up in the grass, his leg twisted in an odd angle. "Oh, no," he muttered, eyeing the handiwork of Tsukiko's two-minute sparring. The blonde boy gave one last stupid grin before collapsing, out cold from the pain of his leg. "Naruto, you idiot…" Sasuke turned around, alone. Sakura had fallen unconscious long ago. Only Tsukiko and Sasuke left, now.

Tsukiko removed her mask with one hand, revealing her pretty, cunning face. Sasuke smelled the distinct scent of something sweet drift past him as she released her ANBU disguise. "Just give up," she said, sounding bored, even if she had a huge hole punctured in her arm. "You are the last one of your team left…. No need to push the number of casualties…" Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He had heard a quote like that from somewhere. She was wearing an ANBU mask, and yet….

"You are associated with the Akatsuki," he said coldly, watching her with his dark eyes. She looked mildly surprised. Chuckling darkly, he said, "Only members of the Akatsuki talk like that to their prey… cold pride with tactics mixed in with every single stupid sentence…. I'm sick of being reminded of Itachi…"

In answer, Tsukiko drew her Isamu from the sheath, and swung it casually in front of Sasuke's face. "I do not need you analyzing my behavior. I have already got the entire Konoha Special Ops after me--I do not need you meddling with my matters either. So you know Itachi? It seems that everyone does… He was, after all… the one who had taught me all there was to know about how to cleanly kill someone without the unnecessary spilling of fresh, warm, blood…" Sasuke watched, speechless, as she held up her Isamu and licked the red liquid off the blade without cutting her tongue. "I have grown to love it--the screams, the terrified faces, the coldness of death… I love it all…." She looked at him stonily, before gazing at her dear Isamu lovingly. Taking the hem of her ANBU uniform, she wiped the sword and slid it smoothly into the sheath.

Sasuke couldn't believe it. Such poison and sin. Itachi taught her how to kill? That would explain why she had beaten Kakashi so easily, as well as the rest of his team. He would not believe it. He couldn't, neither, did he want to. The very thought of his brother passing on his legacy of murder to a girl like Tsukiko-- how unfortunate. He looked at her facial features in a daze. Such a cute girl. It was a waste that she had been raised to be such a deadly killer. Her lip was bleeding, and she had a cut across a cheek, under her eye. He knew it was going to leave a dark scar on that skin. But the way she looked at him, her voice and her battle stance… she looked familiar; Uchiha Sasuke did not like having memories dug up, so he abandoned the thought.

Tsukiko looked ready to disappear, but he seized her wrist and threw her to the ground, pinning her down with his knees at either side of her hips. He seized a kunai, and placed it at her neck. She didn't look fazed at the least. With a sharp pang of horror, he realized that she had meant to get herself pinned down. She looked at him carefully, before asking, "What do you want from someone like me?"

He pinched his eyes closed, then opened them again. The sweat was stinging his eyes, and the mist hadn't gotten any lighter. It was still as thick as ever. When his eyes strayed down her waist and stopped at her belt line, he stared. The sheath was that of his father's, from long, long ago; with awe, he gently touched the silvery sheath with a bloody forefinger. He looked up at her with deadly silence, before asking with a shaky voice, "Who are you…?" Sasuke's mind was in a tumble; he couldn't believe he would see such a noble family icon on such a deadly girl.

No, a deadly assassin. She was no simple, stupid girl like Sakura or Ino.

She grinned and sat back up, brushing herself off, as if the very thought of having him touch her was like being dipped in a fifty-ton dust ball. Replacing her ANBU mask, she placed two fingers to the forehead of her animal-mask and cocked her head sideways jauntily. "It has been a pleasure playing with you!" she said. "I will have to retrieve your head some other time, I guess… I shall be seeing you soon, okay? In the meantime, train. I do not want to fight such a pitiful foe. Oh, and the name--" Pausing, she shrugged up her shoulders and grinned that smile of hers. "It is Tsukiko, and it is a pleasure to have fought you… but not really." She disappeared. He could still feel the cold ivory of the Isamu's sheath underneath his fingers. His dead father's pride… the noble sword was at the hands of that girl? Sasuke felt an immeasurable about of indignant pride rise up in his chest. That katana… fall into the hands of that… that Tsukiko, a peer whose hands are filthy and stained with the blood of millions of loyal Konoha Ops… He couldn't stand the thought of it. He felt his gut wretch, remembering that there were people to take care of.

He picked himself up and stood shakily to help the others; suddenly she reappeared behind him. He knew who it was; he didn't need to turn around to find out her identity.

He closed his eyes and almost smiled.

"Tsukiko." He almost felt her movements as she put a hand on her hip.

"Our fight was short, huh?" she asked, her voice unusually high in spirits. "Well then, let us make our next battle a bit longer, okay?" she piped jovially. "I cannot say it was exactly satisfying… but, judging by what you look like, your knowledge of Itachi-san, and the Sharingan windmill blade-- you are an Uchiha, are you not? To be honest with you, Uchiha Sasuke…" His eyes widened. "Our little spar has ended with disappointing results. I really hope that you will try your hardest next time… I want to see what Itachi-san's younger brother can do--your potential--yes, that is what I want to see… until then, Uchiha." Sasuke felt a soft whir of wind as she once more vanished. He sighed, then picked up the bodies of Naruto and Sakura.

"This isn't good," he thought to himself as he towed the others away. "Funny how a such a deadly and unruly girl can manage to win a battle without saying hardly any contractions…"

He could have laughed, if only his situation hadn't been so unlucky.

It was several miles to the closest hospital in Konoha.

- - -

Sasuke leaned against the stone wall of the bridge without much ease. He was gravely worried--about this new character that had entered his life and his business. The need to follow Orochimaru seemed petty now… the priority to revive and restore the Uchiha clan seemed much more practical and logical. It seemed so much more important to revive one's family than to go chasing after a snake madman. Sasuke smirked and bowed his head, his eyes staring holes into the grass. The river was flowing slowly beside him, the stones underneath the liquid appearing to jump to the current. Rivers… they never did seem to have a beginning. But when it ends… it's gone. No turning back. The river only flows in one direction. Such a stubborn aspect of nature was that it always goes one way, whether it turns back to make a cycle or not. It was something terrible, and sometimes… Sasuke felt as if he was merely another object trapped in its continuous, vicious rounds.

Questions flooded his head, along with pre-assumed answers as Sasuke picked up a rock that had somehow managed to escape the terrible flow of the river. Feeling the smoothness of the stone under his fingers, he quickly flung it toward the river, where he supposed it belonged. He was satisfied with gentle splashes as the pebble skipped cleanly over the water. Suddenly he heard a spoken voice behind him. "You are good at that."

"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke said, sliding down against the wall until his whole form was submerged in the shadow of the bridge. At first, he thought maybe he shouldn't say much to his teacher… the interference of the Jounin, and the rest of the whole thing: soon, the Hokage, ANBU, and many others would be on his case. But, feeling that he couldn't keep everything burning inside of him forever, he felt his usually cold and wordless defenses leak. His fingers weakly gripped at the dirt underneath him. "That girl… Tsukiko-chan. I was wondering something…" The laid-back Jounin raised a brow until it nearly disappeared under his forehead protector. The peaceful silence was hanging in the air, but it carried more than its emptiness. There was a sudden drop in the atmosphere; dangerous times were ahead, and the earth recognized its time of defeat right away. Well, that was too much of a presumption. Just because Tsukiko was around didn't mean that Konoha would fall to the hands of the Akatsuki… did it? The Uchiha heir shook his head roughly. He wasn't even so sure about the safety of his own country anymore. Why was he so flipped over about some stupid girl? "Sensei… she had my father's sheath… she carries the Isamu."

His teacher shrugged carelessly. "So?"

Sasuke clenched his fists, his fingernails digging crescents into his sweaty palm. "What do you mean, 'so'? How could she have gotten hold of that sheath…! She isn't an Uchiha, so why? That shouldn't been mine! He promised he'd give me his sword, when I was just a kid--I remember…" He felt soft pressure on his crown as Hatake Kakashi laid a hand on his head. "I don't understand much anymore…"

"Just… don't worry about it," sighed Kakashi, looking up at the sky absent-mindedly. "Maybe you should get some rest; you're filling your head with things that shouldn't involve you…" His visible eye narrowed. "Shouldn't, but does." Sasuke was wordless, and kept a steady gaze ahead of him, refusing to look his teacher in the eye. Kakashi had somewhat lowered the amount of inquiries that were fair screaming at him inside of his brain. He felt his stomach churn with disgust as he remembered her smug face looking down at him.

'Our fight was short, huh?" she asked, her voice unusually high in spirits. "Well then, let us make our next battle a bit longer, okay?" she piped jovially. "I cannot say it was exactly satisfying… but, judging by what you look like, your knowledge of Itachi-san, and the Sharingan windmill blade-- you are an Uchiha, are you not? To be honest with you, Uchiha Sasuke…" His eyes widened. "Our little spar has ended with disappointing results. I really hope that you will try your hardest next time… I want to see what Itachi-san's younger brother can do--your potential--yes, that is what I want to see… until then, Uchiha.'

Sasuke was burning with fury. How could she degrade him so easily? Why didn't he affect her as he did everyone else? Even Orochimaru didn't even try to bother him, but… then again, there was that little glint in her eye that seemed to affect him just as he affected others. He felt weak; unworthy. That would have been puzzling enough, if only she hadn't been able to beat him up in five minutes flat. The very thought of it brought bile to his throat. He couldn't stand having someone stronger than him; it was that old Uchiha pride.

An image of Tsukiko suddenly flashed through his eyes; that mask that was slowly chipping away… that face, her movement, and her perfect precision and balance. She was the child of his older brother, Itachi--the man that he hated so much. Sasuke subconsciously closed his eyes and stood back up. He felt Kakashi's hand lift off of his head, and with a little 'I'll catch you later,' his teacher disappeared.

Sasuke was alone again. His fists relaxed. "That Tsukiko," he said under his breath. "Is not human… no one dares to touch an Uchiha… maybe Hyuga Neji knows about her--something about the arrogant way she spoke reminded me of that stupid bastar--"

"Sasuke."

The surprised and dismayed Uchiha boy turned around. Whirling around with a fingers straying near his kunai holster, he narrowed his dark eyes to find someone extremely unpleasant in front of him. The pony-tail, that stuck-up face, and those idiotic glasses that flash in the light: Kabuto. Kabuto smiled breezily and looked up at the sky. Sasuke stood tense, watching the evil shinobi continue to stare leisurely at the rolling clouds. It really was such a beautiful day; it was unlucky that he had to be captured in troublesome thoughts.

Kabuto raised the glasses up the bridge of his nose and surveyed Sasuke carefully. "It's pretty unfortunate that you're so troubled in your own thoughts--you can't really enjoy a day like this, considering that you're nothing but an Uchiha brat…" He watched the obvious insult sting the boy in front of him. Sasuke flinched and his eyebrows took a considerable dip, his dark obsidian eyes burning holes in Kabuto's shinobi sandals. Kabuto grinned wickedly. "I know what you're thinking about." His glasses flashed. "It's Tsukiko, isn't it?"

Sasuke suddenly turned to Kabuto with more interest, his eyes still narrowed in suspicion. "What? How do you know about Tsukiko-chan? What do you what? Tell me!" Kabuto put up his hands and when he noticed Sasuke slowly calming down, he scratched the back of his head apologetically.

"Don't get so hasty, Sasuke-kun. And my, my! Already speaking on name-terms with her? So you call her 'Tsukiko-CHAN? What happened? An incident close to you, perhaps? Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but… due to circumstances which are none of your concern, Lord Orochimaru will not allow her loyalty to him to be swayed. She is a valuable asset to him. Of course, my lord favors her a lot--" A flash of jealously actually seared across the ninja's eyes. Sasuke looked at him, dumbfounded. How could Kabuto, Orochimaru's right arm, be jealous of the place that Tsukiko held for Orochimaru? And could Tsukiko work for the Akatsuki as well as Orochimaru? Sasuke's eyes narrowed. There was a conspiracy going on, and he smelt trouble. Now, visiting that Hyuga was absolutely necessary. Kabuto babbled on, but Sasuke would hear nothing of it.

"Die, Kabuto," Sasuke muttered, dashing away. Kabuto merely smirked and disappeared.

Quickly, the Uchiha ran down the street, which was riddled with carts (and salesmen behind them). He had been offered 600 products before he actually reached the Hyuga manor.

Panting with exhaustion, he leaned against the huge wooden door for a fragment of a second before raising a fist to knock. Bnk, bnk, bnk… Seeing that no one was about to answer, he decided to intrude; scaling the giant wall until he breached its inner gates, he landed in the courtyard of the manor. There was no one; was everyone gone? Well, if that Hyuga idiot was gone, than it was okay; better having him gone than having him here. 'Wait, no, no, no!' something screamed inside of him. 'You can't just leave this place! You have something to investigate! C'mon, there's got to be a freaking maid around here somewhere! A bloody servant, anything!' Sasuke grimaced, then ran down the many hallways surrounding the courtyard, fearing that his sanity was slowly leaving him. Skidding to a halt, he heard voices.

"Listen to your uncle, Neji-sama. You must not get him angry; you know that he's the one that pays us, humble servants… haw, haw, haw…" Whoever was speaking, a worker, as Sasuke assumed, he or she wasn't getting an answer. Soon, he heard something that sounded awfully familiar.

"Hn."

'Oh, my god! That's him!' Sasuke's subconscious mind screamed. 'C'mon, round him off and speak to him about this Tsukiko!' Sasuke decided that he was going to see the doctors before this whole fiasco was over. Taking a deep breath, he flattened himself against the wall and waited until the footsteps coming toward him rounded around. He jumped out, and seeing the annoyed expression on Neji's face, scowled to intensify emotions. Neji's brow was twitching. "Uchiha," he said in that smooth, dark voice of his.

Sasuke looked at Neji just as coldly. "Hyuga."

The servant was terrified (it was an old man with an apron). "Oh, dear! Neji-sama, what are we going to do? There's an intruder! There's an intruder!" The poor man was going ballistic, unknowing that Sasuke and Neji were barely on speaking terms. Neji had looked a bit annoyed at first, but soon anger sparked his features. The servant was clearly responsible for annoying him. "Oh, my goodness… the Master will be very displeased in finding a young and troublesome Uchiha inside of his household…" Sasuke looked around. This was hardly merely a 'household.' More like a mansion, with five hundred extra rooms. The atmosphere was tingling, and the two boys were watching the servant hustle and bustle. The old man was having difficulties keeping a hold of his tray, along with keeping his apron clean. It was absolutely filthy; Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the foolish servant's clumsiness.

Neji lost his temper, a vein popping in his forehead. "Get away from here, and leave us be, Matashi." His voice was flat, and commanding, like a king in his household. Sasuke realized that Neji had been living in high-state all of his life. Neji turned his white eyes to Sasuke with much suspicion. "What is it that you need? You nearly killed him with fright--Matashi was never an actual man…"

"Do you know anyone by the name of Tsukiko? I do not know the surname, so don't ask…" Neji narrowed his eyes, and Sasuke felt even more tension seizing the air like a giant fist. The day was beautiful, and Sasuke wished with desperation that he had just stayed where he was, at the bridge, so that he could beat up Kabuto senseless… It seemed much more comfortable to do that than to speak with a Hyuga; those pupil-less eyes scared him. There was a huge silence. Neji uncomfortably found himself staring off to the side; talking with an Uchiha wasn't easy either. But Sasuke couldn't tell whether Neji was looking at him, or something else. Heck, Neji could have been looking everywhere: as in, 360 degrees of field vision. That's what a Hyuga was born to do anyway. "Tsukiko. Do you know anything about her?" he demanded.

Neji narrowed his eyes even further until they were nearly slits. "And if I do?"

Sasuke held up a kunai. "Then--I interrogate."

The Hyuga prodigy closed his eyes, a small smirk playing on his lips. "You praise yourself too much… obviously, that fat Uchiha pride has gotten to your head. Do you realize who you are dealing with, Uchiha?"

"A filthy Hyuga."

"You are bad at speaking terms; do you expect me to tell you anything after you have insulted and threatened me?" Sasuke lowered the kunai ever so slightly, obviously feeling sheepish; an embarrassed blush crept across his cheeks as he firmed his grip on the kunai. "You'd make a terrible ambassador."

"But I'm not an ambassador," Sasuke said coldly, "I am an Uchiha. Talk."

"I'm not much for talking at the moment, great Uchiha. Forgive me, Master Uchiha… I'm too busy with the duties you have given me, Master Uchiha…" Sasuke's blood boiled at the sound of the obvious sarcasm escaping from the Hyuga's mouth. Neji bit his tongue with satisfaction. He already noticed the uncommon stir of blind rage building up a hurricane in the Uchiha's mind. The very sight of an overly enraged person seemed to make Neji wish to fight--noble sparring, his uncle called it. Neji called it fun. Neji had always been the greatest fighter out of both the Main House and the Branch House of the Hyuga. Hinata… she was of the Main House… the Branch had always had to be a type of bodyguard and slave to the Main… it felt so degrading, so lesser than what Neji felt he deserved--at the Chuunin exam, Neji had resolved to kill Hinata, his cousin, so that he would spare the humiliation that he felt his family had suffered all of these years… the Main had the power to kill the Branch with a snap of their fingers… it was an old family tradition! Neji couldn't stand it. "Sasuke, what do you want? So you want to know about this Tsukiko? Come with me."

Sasuke smirked with satisfaction and followed Neji through the many twisted halls and jeweled corridors of the Hyuga Branch House. "I knew you would lower yourself as to help me, Hyuga Neji."

"I never knew you would accept my help, and come begging for it so desperately… Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke decided that it was better to shut up. Neji was pretty good at insulting and flinging back phrases. What was his tongue made out of? Poison? If it had been so, Sasuke would have believed it. Their steps resounded through the twisted hallways. Ancient oriental decorations of various origins were mounted upon the walls: fans, paintings, articles, and weapons. Katana and other noble blades gleamed in the dim lights of the Hyuga estate. The young Uchiha was painfully reminded of Isamu, and his father's sheath. Neji watched Sasuke with much care, as if expecting a rash attack. When Sasuke did not attempt any assault, the white-eyed ninja kept his eyes forward. "Where are we going?" asked Sasuke impatiently. "What's taking so long?"

"You should be more patient, Uchiha. Or is it some family trait that cannot be averted? Pff… Why am I bothering to argue with you," he said afterwards, sighing. Sasuke grimaced, and his jaw tightened in anger. Say what? "We're almost there," Neji said carelessly, looking up at the ceiling. "Although Tsukiko wasn't a Hyuga, I believe that her parents lived in the Hyuga household for a long time… she might have even lived with me, for a short period… I don't know. But if you really want to find out for yourself, here we are." They had stopped in front of a large wooden door with its paint barely chipped off; however, as old as the paint seemed, the door gleamed with a certain aspect of freshness, as if it had been newly painted.

Neji opened the door with some reverence.

"Don't break anything," Neji said crossly. "My uncle would have been be very displeased if you should ruin anything… these albums are very old." Sasuke ignored him and placed a hand on the binding of the old album that rested on a podium in the back of the room against the wall. The room itself was piled high with scrolls, records, and dusty books. The album was dark red, with leather binding and there was a stain of something dark red on the corner. Sasuke turned around and pointed at it to Neji, who shrugged. "Blood stain," he said casually. The young Uchiha was dumbstruck. How could such a stupid old album be that valuable? Was there something about Tsukiko that he didn't know?

As he leafed through the fragile album, he came across several old photos and portraits. "Who's this?" he asked. Neji strode over to him and looked at the page intently, before shutting his eyes and turning away.

"It's… no one," he said shakily.

"He looks an awful lot like you," Sasuke said thoughtfully.

"That's because… he's my father." The Uchiha looked at the Hyuga with confusion, the raising of his brow the only thing that indicated any expression of any sort. Neji knew that leaving an explanation hanging like that was something that wasn't tolerable for an Uchiha, so he found himself digging into his own memory, his mind struggling for breath as it began to upturn the earth of something long lost that he thought he never had to remember--the death of his father. "My father died… for the likes of the Main Family," Neji said stiffly into the silence. Sasuke averted his gaze from Neji's stone-like face and chose to close them. So the Hyuga had dead family members too… there was much more that the had in common than Sasuke had known. Neji continued with much hesitation. "I--We don't know why he had to die… It was… the Main Family's fault… I… I still didn't understand why my father, of all people… He was twin brothers with Hiashi-sama… and yet they still…" Neji regained his composure. "What am I saying? Uchiha, you asked about Tsukiko, so start getting the answers for yourself! Hurry, I don't have all day! I'm stuck in here, when I could be training outside…"

Sasuke sighed and flipped through some other pages. "With Dog-brow, I suppose."

Neji frowned. "Lee. And Tenten."

The raven-haired prodigy snorted and turned over a new page, examining every face, every expression… "Women only get in the way… they're a real nuisance…" Neji grimaced.

"You should not underestimate the power of the opposite sex," he said in his bland manner. Sasuke closed his eyes and laid a hand thoughtfully on the old, yellowing page. No, for the first time ever, the Hyuga was correct. Tsukiko was a nuisance, all right… but she definitely wasn't someone weak; just the remembrance of their 'little' fight, as Tsukiko called it, only made the scratches left from their battle burn as he cringed with agitation. Neji stepped toward the young Uchiha and for a split second, looked as if he would lay down the impenetrable shield that normally surrounded his stoic figure; but instead, he ended up clenching his fist. It wasn't worth it to risk a connection with this Uchiha, Neji thought as he looked aside.

Sasuke was busy elsewhere in his mind. Looking at every single photo, every picture and every portrait, he studied the faces of the young children in the family, maybe even the ones that visited the guest rooms; no sign of Tsukiko. Suddenly he spotted two people: a man and a woman were standing by what appeared to be a younger Neji's uncle. The man and the woman…. Looked familiar. Suddenly, a cold stone plummeted into his stomach. Sasuke felt bile rushing up through his throat. The man, he recognized. It was… Sasuke felt weak; he fell to his knees and buried his face with his hands, staring at the picture. The angular face, the stern eyes and the dark hair… "Father." Neji looked down at the picture, and helped Sasuke up. Sasuke was threatened to black out. He couldn't believe it. The man, he recognized. The sight of the man that he had held up as a hero was suddenly brought back up in his mind. The very scent of the album itself became over-intensifying. The woman, he did not recognize at all. So could this mean… "Father had an affair…"

Neji looked at the photo carelessly. "Ah."

Sensing the young Uchiha's distress, Neji closed his eyes and moved to close the album, but was met with Sasuke's kunai at his face. "Don't close it," Sasuke muttered. Neji paused, then stepped aside. Sasuke stood back up. 'What are you doing, Sasuke! You idiot!' The inner voice that Sasuke thought he had drowned in the blood of his fallen enemies had somehow remerged as a stronger spirit; something that Sasuke had known to be dead forever. Sasuke didn't know that he had much spirit left in him anyway.

So…. His father had an affair, huh? That would explain… Itachi's upset manner when father had returned from that little 'journey.' So little old me was too foolish to understand what had happened; my older brother had been much wiser than me… Sasuke would have understood why his father would have had an affair with this woman… she was beautiful. There was a little baby in her arms; the future of his father's innocence was to be tainted anyhow… after the infamous Itachi's Uchiha Massacre.

He had killed every one of Sasuke's family members… with his own hands. When the term 'family' is mentioned, it is actually equivalent to one 'town.' In other words, some hundreds of people killed by one arrogant ninja: Sasuke's brother, Uchiha Itachi.

Neji watched Sasuke grind his teeth. "Uchiha, you've had your time. Shouldn't it be time for you to go home?" Sasuke stood silent. He knew that he would never have a home, no matter what should happen. Sometimes, having Naruto was actually interesting. Even still--Sasuke's heart burned with fury; he hated everyone, save the ones strong enough to give him a good whipping. To defeat an Uchiha was a great honor indeed. Not to mention a blessing, requiring the greatest skills, and the honing of techniques: those hand-seals were not exactly simple to memorize.

Tsukiko-chan….

Sasuke's heart sped up just thinking about Tsukiko; the katana gleaming in his eye, and the way she flawlessly defeated him with smooth movements and expertise… just the thought of the defeat was unbearable. Her face smirked at him through the dark shadows in his head. Her lips parted, and he really almost heard her speak to him in her voice: "Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke looked up to see not Tsukiko, but Neji. Neji was looking at him with much annoyance. "You should be getting home now." Sasuke held up the album.

"Mind if I borrow this?" he asked. Neji looked dubious, but he reluctantly agreed.

"The head of the Hyuga house won't be too happy… but if you promise to return it tomorrow, then the borrowing can be arranged, Uchiha." Sasuke heartily agreed, then eagerly brought it to his apartment.

The night was dark, and the air smelt of sweetness, and Sasuke breathed it in. The smell was familiar, somehow. Taking the key and twisting it into the lock, he was greeted by the yellow light of his room. Wait… "Kuso… someone's in the house!" Tucking the small album away, Sasuke drew his kunai, watching the light glint off of their incredible sharp edges. There was no one in the sitting room.

His nerves still tight, he entered the room and closed the door with a dull slam. The sound echoed through the house; it almost seemed dead. Everything was silent; but Sasuke heard breathing. It was soft; and he could almost shivering through the hallway. The corridor was dark, and the dripping of water from the sink was the only sound. Sasuke crept down the hallway with the care of a rat in a cage full of cats. One wrong move; one stirring sound, the creaking of a floorboard, the sigh of the walls… could be the death of him. Sasuke held his breath, and leaned against the wall. The breathing was coming from a room just around the corner. Swinging into the room by flinging the door open, he held up his kunai defensively. No need to kill a few robbers breaking in to steal nothing. Sasuke never kept his precious belongings in his house. Actually, nothing was valuable to him much. There was someone sitting on the bed, waiting. The dim light coming through the window was red. Unable to see or identify the intruder, he pulled a cord on the wall, and a light flicked on.

His eyes widened as he saw who the person was. The sweet scent lifted to his nose again; that confident face, it could only be… "Tsukiko-chan," he croaked. She looked at him with the air of a child gazing at her child-hood hero. But it was clear that she was here for another reason than to chase him, like those other girls. Tsukiko sat with her legs uncrossed; her fingers were pale, and the right hand had several scratches, reminding him of Rock Lee. "Tsukiko-chan, what are you doing here?" he demanded hoarsely.

"Whatever I want," she said, leaning back and swinging her legs off the edge of the bed. "Actually," she said, a bit more seriously. "I need to talk to you, Uchiha."

He snorted. "That is all too clear, Tsukiko-chan. What do you want?" he growled.

Tsukiko tilted her head up and looked at him haughtily. "My, are not you a cold one? When we first made our little 'confrontation,' I sort of thought you to be the sentimental and caring type. You checked all of your precious teammates' bodies… something that I wish my subordinates would do when we get in trouble… which is hardly ever," she said jokingly. A shiver rushed up the young Uchiha's back. Subordinates… she had subordinates? But that was to be expected of a shinobi with a rank higher than a Jounin, or even a Black Op. She was the weapon that was to be used by Lord Orochimaru, even if she was loyal to the ranks of the Akatsuki. Itachi… "Uchiha…" she said softly. She seemed serene, her eyes lowered down.

"My brother… does he… speak of me?"

"Itachi-san is very kind to me," Tsukiko said, avoiding the question. Her voice sounded hesitant, wavering like the notes of a sad symphony. At least, that is how he thought of it to sound like. He stepped more into the room, and closed the door silently, as if the mere sound of the clicking of the lock would make her disappear. His heart was screaming, and his mind was fogged up. His eyes felt as if they would never blink; the mentioning of his brother's name always caused him to lose control of his own sanity.

Sitting down beside her, Sasuke looked down at the floor. His hostility and cautiousness disappeared with the sound of her voice speaking about his brother, and the Akatsuki. He didn't even bother to pay attention for valuable information. He just… listened. Something that he'd rarely do.

"Itachi-san… I… He is like family to me… even though we're not even related… I understand that he is your brother… I know that this is uncomfortable for you, but--I just wanted to tell you that, deep down inside, I am sure he respects you. Please, do not get me wrong. He does not love you either, but he does not hate you. So please, please, do not kill him…" Tsukiko's fingers gripped at his sleeve. He looked at the other with something misty flashing across his dark eyes. "Please… I beg you, setting aside my pride… don't kill him." That was it. The first contraction. For a split second, a trusting honesty appeared to ring through the two; but it wasn't something of true material… it wasn't long before he couldn't hold the gaze and looked once more upon the ground.

Sweeping lines with the toe of his shoe, he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry--you… must understand, Tsukiko-chan. He killed every one of us, and now you expect me to let him live? I swore the very day when I saw my family fall to the floor--I swore that I would never let him get away with it alive… But he-"

He gripped his head, as if some unknown agony was ripping through his mind; spiritual migraine.

"-He left me alive… with these memories… I… I can't bear it any more… every day, the memories grow more distinct--more defined… he did this to me intentionally… he wants me to suffer… the blood…" His eyes squinted, tears escaping from his tear ducts. "…Tsukiko-chan, the blood…"

Tsukiko raised her fingers to her lips and bit her thumb until it bled. He watched as she wiped her thumb onto her face, on the scar that he had made on their first encounter. "We all bleed--it runs in our veins, and…" she rubbed her fingers together, "… it is not something to be feared… Tsunade--she is someone that I carry a deep respect for. She knows pain. And not the kind that can be mended. For that reason, she fears the very thought of blood. But Sasuke--you are not afraid of blood are you?" The young Uchiha closed his eyes.

"No," he said after a long pause. "I am not."

He felt her fingers let go of his shirt, and he suddenly felt wholly empty, as if he was alone in the room. They were both very aware that they had been a bit too close than they would have liked, and they both understood that their thoughts were not of blood, but of Itachi. Somehow, the two things seemed to go hand in hand. Sasuke breathed in, then reached behind his head to remove his forehead protector.

Taking it in his hand, he tied it onto her arm with tenderness, his half-closed eyes dark in the shadowy evening. The red light from the window had turned to a royal purple, heralding the glorious rise of the moon. A cold but gentle wind wafted through the window and seemed to curl itself comfortably around his working fingers. For some reason, she felt as if he had woven the bittersweet curse of friendship into the metal plate upon the band. The plate itself had somehow gotten a strange glow to it; Tsukiko didn't know if it was only her; but by his silence, she knew that they were both feeling the same way. Two rivers conjoined by mere air.

Tsukiko was silent. She was as tense as a bowstring, tight and alert.

Silence.

As his fingers made the last knot, she walked up to the window, with thought of leaving. She reached up to open the window, but was stopped when he suddenly appeared next to her. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and opened the window for her, without saying a word. There was a moment of silence. When Tsukiko's narrowed, obsidian irises searched his face, she was only met by a peculiar warmth from his own eyes. As if out of impulse, she shut her eyes and faced the window, climbing out with the agility of a stray cat. No words were exchanged. She turned around and knelt down to close the window. She saw that he had seated himself at the edge of the bed. When he slightly turned his head to look at her with that coolness that made her fiery love of battle flare to his fullest extent. Her fingers strayed to the hilt of her Isamu, but she closed the window abruptly and turned away with a measure of considerable force and disappeared into the swiftly falling night.

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