Pairings:
Ocx Asuma & Kurenai's daughter (The Non-Existent Pairing!) (...Mine?)
Implied SasuNaru/ Magnet Shipping (MINE!)
Implied One-Sided SaiNaru/ You Not Emo Enough Shipping (MINE!)
This was a two-page narrative for English. I ended up writing six pages (front and back) with no problem. And then, to make the story fuller here, I added about two more pages worth. xD
Now if only I could do the same for my ACTUAL stories. *facepalm*
Either way, because this was a school assignment, there are NO swear words…for once. So no warning on language. I also take on a very old way of speaking when I do English assignments. It's so freakin' weird. xD
Summary: A normal mission turns into a tragedy as Naruto faces betrayal once again.
Warnings: Song-fic, betrayal, implied slash, OCs, maybe a bit of OOCness, character death, blood, fighting scene.
Um… if you want to think of this story as Past!Mpreg, you can but I originally wrote adoption. I honestly don't care, just know that Sasuke's kids are Naruto's kids through whatever means.
I also named Asuma and Kurenai's daughter Anzu because there's no official name right now and Kishimoto believes it's a girl. xD
This story is based off of Attack by 30 Seconds to Mars.
'Thoughts.'
"Speech."
Attack
"Anzu! Wait up!" Birds chirped in annoyance of the sudden disruption in the formerly peaceful afternoon. The leaves swayed in the wind, summer's heat being gently pushed aside for autumn.
A girl, Anzu Sarutobi, with black, curly hair tied back into a messy ponytail and brown eyes, stopped in her fast-paced run and turned around. A panting boy with cropped, black hair and sapphire eyes stopped in his run to rest with his hands on his knees in front of Anzu. The girl laughed again in amusement.
"You're not exactly in shape, Etsuo." The boy, now dubbed Etsuo, shot a glare at Anzu.
"We've been traveling for the last six hours at top speed; I have the right to be tired!" His response was another laugh.
Anzu and Etsuo had on similar outfits, a uniform that consisted of dark blue pants that stopped just above the ankles. Anzu's top was a black jacket with white, thin straps over the arms. Etsuo wore a mere short-sleeve shirt that matched his pants. On their feet were sandals made for long travels on foot and on their heads (or left forearm in Etsuo's case) was a blue, cloth band with metal on it. In the middle was a symbol that depicted a leaf.
They sat next to each other on the dirt path that led to their home, the Hidden Leaf Village. Etsuo's pale skin was noticed more than Anzu's light tan in the warm atmosphere.
The forest that surrounded their home was tinted in warm browns, inviting people to just sit and watch and listen. Hear the squealing squirrels gather food in preparation of winter. Watch the fox slink towards its prey, with the silence of night in its paws, as it swiftly killed its prey and moved away to enjoy its dinner.
Hear the chirping birds have afternoon conversations with their neighbors before heading towards their own nests. Watch the sun's final farewell as it sets, its blessed light sneaking through the smallest of holes, only to return the next day with a cheerful hello.
The forest was still with peace; something that put Etsuo and Anzu on the edge.
Something was way too quiet, so quiet it didn't bother the animals. Their wariness was rewarded when a kunai, sharpened and glistening with well-concealed poison, dug itself into the tree behind them. They were on their feet in an instant as their enemy, five ninja, made themselves known. They all wore white masks and a uniform of a black, sleeveless jumpsuit, sandals, and two katana on their backs.
Anzu inwardly shuddered; not only outnumbered but possible overpowered. This was a fight that could end in death.
"Don't worry, we can take them." Etsuo's low whisper brought Anzu back from her dreary thoughts. She snuck a look at her best friend who was only two years younger of her 13 (their heights showed it).
Anzu could remember that day. It wasn't long ago, just a week before they took this mission.
-Flashback-
"C'mon Anzu, just once?" Etsuo's voice sounded tired, almost pleading. He asked the same thing every time they saw each other for the last six months, and every time, Anzu would say no.
His father, the leader of their home, once compared their interactions with himself and his secretary, Sakura Haruno, when they were younger. After so many rejections, Etsuo almost expected the answer.
"Yes." There it-wait what?
"Y-yes?" Etsuo felt relief and joy take place of his initial shock. Anzu's smile wavered.
"You don't-"
"Of course I do!" He cut in, "I didn't expect you to say 'yes' this time, that's all."
His response was a hum; Anzu usually made a sound effect with her mouth when she agreed or found something funny. This time, it was one of agreement.
She had been asked by her mother to give Etsuo a chance.
It was the least she could as a reward for his persistence, besides, it was always fun to hang out with the other. This kind of 'hanging out' was just more in the way of her road to greatness to her. They agreed on a time and date and the choice of casual clothing.
Later in the day, we can find the two long-time friends laughing at a joke Etsuo had made, keeping to his namesake. Anzu couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't agreed to this … date in the first place. "Date" seemed such a foreign word to her. Though she had been called cute and beautiful quite a few times, she hadn't been interested in love.
What she had wanted was to make her late father proud by being a good, no, amazing ninja. Things like 'puppy love' and actual love didn't really fit into that goal. It wasn't until her mother and teacher, Shikamaru, sat her down did she finally decide to take a chance, one she was not regretting.
Their laughter slowly subsided as the day turned into night. Their date had led them to sitting in a small, forest clearing near the village. Now with the waxing half moon as their witness, Etsuo shyly placed a hand on hers. She grinned back at him in reassurance.
The fireflies that had decided to play in the last month of summer seemed to dim their lights a little. The chirping crickets and the rustling of leaves seemed more silent.
Time was slowing; Anzu just knew it.
"Anzu…"
She couldn't stop her smile from growing bigger. "Yeah?"
"I want to promise… that whenever we have a mission together, that I'll protect you with my life!" His serious tone left Anzu speechless. Such a proclamation shouldn't be made out of nowhere.
When she told him this, he said he had thought long and hard before making this decision. Anzu's gut twisted uncomfortably, a feeling she couldn't place welling into her body, making the hairs on her arms stand on end.
"Why?" She asked. An incomprehensible look swept through Etsuo's eyes, darkening them slightly, then disappeared.
"That's something I'd prefer you learn on your own." Was all he said. Anzu frowned, but didn't protest. She was sure she could figure it out, and once she did, she would tell her friend of what a foolish reason he had for such a promise.
The instance of stopped time ended, the sounds of the forest reaching their appropriate volume. Only now, they seemed to whisper Etsuo's proclamation in the cooling night.
"I promise you…"
-Flashback End-
Naruto Uzumaki couldn't keep the pained scowl from appearing on his face. Just a few minutes ago, he was staring out the windows behind his desk in his office when Sai, a sickly pale man with eyes so dark you couldn't see the pupil, had burst into the room with no warning.
ROOT ninja, a horrid organization in the village that Naruto had believed had disbanded when the original leader, Danzou, a war veteran, died, flanked his two sides.
They were all dressed similarly to the enemies that are attacking Etsuo and Anzu.
Surprised, Naruto had blown his blond hair out of his blue eyes before addressing his friend.
He wished he hadn't. "You what?!"
Sai's face didn't change from the emotionless face that Naruto thought he had cracked years ago; it was a product of being in ROOT. All the members had an icy atmosphere surrounding them, because all emotions were locked away and only the desire to kill when Danzou wanted them to was left.
Naruto didn't know exactly what happened to cause such people, but it was horrible, inhumane.
"I sent my ROOT ninja to assassinate your son. His heritage of being part of the traitorous clan called the Uchiha was barely savaged through his relations with you, Lord Hokage. We had figured that if he shows promise, he would live."
The tone turned cruel, matching the rare display of fury and hate on Sai's face, "However, his recent actions of fraternizing with the Sarutobi clan has led us to this very moment."
Naruto's hands slammed onto his desk causing many of the papers on it to topple over and fall onto the ground. The blond's voice was angry and dangerous. "So because my son has Uchiha blood, you're going to kill him?"
"No, it is because of the romantic interactions between him and Anzu Sarutobi that he is to be killed." The answer only added to Naruto's ire.
There was also betrayal; a bitter emotion that came from blatant disrespect to himself as well as a threat to his family by those he presumed to be one of his closest friends. However, something as petty and somewhat unreasonable couldn't possibly be the only reason for this stunt.
"What's the other reason?" The blond relished in the slight widening of the eyes demonstrated by Sai.
Sai regained himself and brushed back a strand of ebony-hair, an amused and crazed grin decorating his facial features.
"To believe that you've gotten so observant."
"It comes with the job." Naruto growled out, impatient. He needed to form and send a rescue team. Those two wouldn't last long in a fight against ninja trained from birth to kill.
Everything hurts; what were they thinking?
Clinking sounds of metal versus metal disturbed the once-upon-a-time peace. The grass and nearby shrubs were stained with crimson from six of the seven combatants. The animals had fled from the site for safety.
Two, limp figures lay on the ground, the first kills of the fight. Anzu was barely standing; she had heavy injuries on her legs and a cut on her head bleeding into her right eye. Etsuo was suffering from the loss of his left arm and charred legs from an exploding tag on top of cuts on his remaining arm and legs.
Anzu wanted to cry. How did so much go wrong in such a short amount of time?
Etsuo dodged another kick and threw a kunai at one of the remaining attackers. She barely managed to sidestep a critical attack to her chest and kicked the enemy's legs out from under them.
Wincing, she stabbed her kunai through his chest, aiming at his heart and instantly killing the ninja. Slowly standing up, Anzu couldn't hide the tiredness in her grim eyes. Her mind swam with questions.
How long have they been fighting?
How much longer until it ends?
Naruto couldn't stop the sneer. Of all the reasons for this stunt, it was petty jealousy, hate, and revenge.
"How stupid and demented can you be?!" Sai had expected this reaction, anticipated it. He knew Naruto wouldn't understand, but that was okay.
After all, Naruto didn't know about the assassins sent after his other six children, Akira, Ita, Chi, Tenshi, Chidori, and Raiden. Nor did he need to. By the time Naruto undoubtedly killed Sai and received the information, they would all be dead.
As long as all the traitor's children died and died with them by Naruto's hand, it was fine.
Everything would be fine.
"The traitor, Sasuke Uchiha, did not deserve your pity or attention. The children Sasuke Uchiha left behind do not deserve it either; the honor of having such a caring Hokage like you as his father is lost on him!" Sai was shouting by now, shocking Naruto into submission.
Sakura, with pink hair tied up into a neat bun and beautiful emerald eyes, stormed in with Shikamaru, a man with ebony hair tied up into a high pony-tail and a slight tan, at her side.
Sakura wore a black blouse with a pink skirt and black shorts underneath.
Shikamaru's attire consisted of a black, long-sleeved jumpsuit and green flak jacket.
Naruto's own clothes were similar to Shikamaru's; he just had the traditional Hokage coat on that was white with red flames on the ends and kanji symbols for "sixth" on the back. The hat that went with the cloak was placed in the desk.
Both Sakura and Shikamaru were Naruto's secretaries with Sakura being his main that brought in and took away paperwork. Shikamaru came in to play at times of war or when the village was attacked as he was an amazing strategist. The normally lazy man had a look of anger on his face. Sakura's eyes betrayed the pain she was feeling.
They had heard everything from the closed door before thinking enough was enough and barged in. Sai didn't acknowledge the glares he was receiving. He stared at Naruto whose eyes were hidden by his bangs. Shikamaru went to restrain one of the ROOT ninja when Naruto spoke.
"Sakura. Gather Hinata and Kiba and report back here for a mission debriefing. Shikamaru, alert Chouji and Ino of this development and have every ninja in the village prepared to protect the village and civilians from the ROOT. Once you are done, report back here to report." His head was down and his voice was quiet, but held the authority that made you shut up, listen, and follow.
Shikamaru gave a startled grunt before recovering with a 'yes sir' and disappearing in a puff of smoke. Sakura still stood there, shell shocked. Naruto finally lifted his head; warm sapphire eyes turned to a cold cobalt. "What are you standing there for? Move! Now!"
Shaking herself out of her reverie, Sakura bowed and disappeared in the same manner as Shikamaru. The blond Hokage turned his angry glare on Sai who, to his credit, was able to hide the wince from how much hate was barely contained in it.
"As for you, you are under arrest under order of the Hokage. You are stripped of all titles and wealth which will be given to fund the Ninja Academy. Ibiki and Anko are to interrogate you and your group while Shino and his team will search your headquarters for further evidence of your crimes. I, Naruto Uzumaki, Sixth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, strongly plead for death penalty for existing crimes."
"I expect nothing le-" Sai was cut off.
"You are not allowed to speak! While you call out Etsuo, your own fellow ninja, and his father and siblings as traitors, your plans of treason make you out as the same." Sai's eyes brightened with anger at the statement.
"How so?" The question was growled. Naruto sneered in disgust.
"By sending those from an organization that was supposed to be disbanded to attack ninjas who are not only of the same village, but are both prominent clans of the village, you not only insulted and hurt me, be me as the Hokage, the village I had sworn to protect, their clans that serve the village, and threatened the security of all villages. I believe you have done more than enough to deserve the title 'traitor'." White smoke caught all of the occupant's eyes. Naruto knew that these newcomers were to be the rescue team and inquiry team.
After briefing them on their mission to either find and rescue Etsuo and Anzu or to search the ROOT headquarters, he returned to staring out the window at the forest that circled the Hidden Leaf. Sai and his ninja were being restrained by Shikamaru and Rock Lee, and enthusiastic man clad in a green jumpsuit and orange leg-warmers with black hair styled into a bowl cut.
All of Sasuke's children had been attacked and no one knew how extensive the injuries and damage was at that moment. Naruto could barely stand waiting for the news; there were far too many scenarios, some worse than others.
He couldn't lose them now. Not when all of this has happened.
"Naruto." Shikamaru called out to his friend, worried.
"Take them away to the Interrogation Center. I'll be here to await the rescue team." The answer sounded tired and weary. Something Naruto never was until the day of Sasuke's execution a couple years after Etsuo's birth.
Shikamaru bit his lip; he could see Rock Lee shuffling awkwardly out of the corner of his eye as they both waited for their friend and leader to say anything else. Silence dominated the room.
"Of course, Lord Hokage." Shikamaru replied slowly after a few moments. All they received was a curt nod. They were dismissed. Sharing a worried look, they left in a puff of smoke. Naruto was left alone to his thoughts.
Heavy gasping from both parties as they circled each other echoed through the sheltered clearing. Only one enemy ninja remained; the other at the cost of Anzu's ability to stand. Unless they were rescued and she received immediate medical attention, she wouldn't count on being able to use her legs ever again. Etsuo was now standing in front of her, kunai posed for attacking.
The other ninja, the strongest and the leader of the group, had stayed behind until only one of his comrades had remained standing. He was only slightly wounded while Etsuo was struggling to remain standing. Anzu was lying on her good side, her hands outstretched to nowhere. She whimpered in pain.
Etsuo spared a glance towards her, his mistake. The other ninja took advantage of Etsuo's distraction ad landed the final blow, a glinting katana with crimson blood strewn dauntingly over it through Etsuo's gut. The boy opened his mouth in a silent scream before his body fell slack, lifeless. Anzu felt her heart stop as she foolishly reached for her friend. "No!"
'Etsuo… Etsuo…" Her mind repeated a mantra of woe. Her cries of refusal to believe her friend was dead transformed into sobs that wracked through her body. Not able to take it, she screamed her heart out for help.
"There they are!" The familiar sound of Sakura's voice had never seemed so amazing.
She and the enemy ninja both took the time to look back in the direction of the Hidden Leaf. The ninja, rushing in order to complete their mission, turned around, back facing the village, and kicked Etsuo's body off his sword. She weakly glared at him through her tears at his disrespect for the dead. He started towards Anzu.
He didn't get very far when Sakura socked him clean on his right cheek, effectively cracking his mask and shattering his jaw. Two other ninja joined in the fray, but Anzu didn't care. She had her eyes focused only on Etsuo. Weakly, she dragged her tired body over the coarse, ruined ground, evidence of the rough and dangerous body that had been fought.
A tremble ran through her the ground, jarring her. She gritted her teeth in pain, her eyes squeezed shut. Suddenly, something rough brushed the tips of her outstretched hand. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she slowly lifted her head from the ground.
Etsuo's blackened, fingers rubbed her fingertips, a sign that he wanted to comfort her. His face was horribly bruised and dirty with blood and mud, eyes barely showing any life at all.
Yet, that same, strange glint in his eyes was there...
It was staring at her as if she didn't have a swollen cheek or black eye or dirt and blood on her face, as if she was the best thing that he ever saw.
Run away… run away…
I'll attack!
Run away…run away…
Go save yourself!
Run away… run away, now!
I'll attack! I'll attack!
"I… promised… you…" His voice was weak, a ghost of what it usually was. The light flickered before finally dying. Something in Anzu snapped as she gazed into Etsuo's empty eyes.
She couldn't take it, it was too much.
Salty tears running down her face, she rubbed her face into the ground. Anzu now knew what that glint meant and what she had lost, what had driven Etsuo to such an extreme promise.
Pained sapphire eyes stared into the brightly decorated bedroom, Etsuo's room.
He couldn't help but compare himself with his predecessors.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Anzu's late grandfather and Third Hokage, had been betrayed by his former teammates when they went behind his back to annihilate the Uchiha clan.
Tsunade Senju, a woman Naruto had affectionately called 'Grandma Tsunade' to her displeasure and the Fifth Hokage, had been betrayed by her teammate when he left the village with plots to destroy it.
Now he had been betrayed by someone who he thought he could trust.
Your promises…they look like lies….
Your honesty like a back that hides a knife!
How could he not see the glinting knife?
He knew from the start that Sai hated being compared to Sasuke. When the Uchiha had been dragged back, Sai had openly told Naruto how much he despised Naruto's warm attitude towards the Uchiha and that he hated how the Uchiha didn't even appreciate it.
Naruto knew that, behind closed doors, Sasuke was very happy. When he tried to tell Sai this, the other had scoffed and said that it was a trick. He had then walked away, leaving a confused Naruto behind.
After that, Sai gained the habit of leaving the area if the conversation even looked like it was heading towards Sasuke. After Sasuke's execution (he was only dragged back to reproduce and was to be killed once the children were of age), Sai had almost immediately asked Naruto to be with him.
Naruto, still haunted by Sasuke's death, had turned away and said no. He told the Sai that he was too much like Sasuke. He didn't want the other man to be some sort of replacement or worse- a rebound.
Sai's face had been... scary to say the least.
After that... the man had simply disappeared. Distraught of losing another close person in a small fraction of time of losing his closest, Naruto had sent search team after search team, each coming back with sorrow-filled faces.
Naruto sunk lower into his depression. The Village Hidden in the Leaves itself seemed to be under a blue haze.
Ninja and citizens alike were doing anything to cheer him up. Whether it'd be by sending him gifts, making him home-cooked meals, or re-creating his past pranks (which managed to make the smallest of smiles appear after a while), the pain started to slowly ebb away with time.
However, it primarily because of Sasuke's children was he able to finally smile again, but now...
Akira, the oldest and an ANBU, had been on his way to their home when he was attacked. He had dispatched them quickly and headed for home where the second-and-third-to-last youngest, Chidori and Raiden, were. Chidori was horribly injured from protecting her blind twin and Raiden was in shock. They were expected to make a complete recovery in a few months, a year at the most.
Akira himself had a few injuries on his arms. He'd need physical therapy.
Tenshi was at the Ninja Academy as she was requested to demonstrate the Sharingan to one of the classes when she was attacked. With the backing of all the Chunin teachers and nearby Jonin and Genin, the team dispatched to kill her were quickly killed without harm to the Academy students or the Academy itself.
Ita and Chi, both who were Chunin and in Suna with Gaara at the moment, were safe. He knew that Gaara wouldn't let anyone touch his self-declared god-children if he felt that they were a threat.
Etsuo, the baby of the family, however...
Naruto eyes squeezed shut as the memory of the two gurneys rushing past by him, one with a heavily injured Anzu and the other with a body covered with a sheet. It was a sign of a body so damaged that the med-nin wanted to spare people of the sight. His enhanced sense of smell catching wift of the smell of blood and death only confirmed his fear.
They had been too late to save Etsuo.
Anzu was in extensive care as well as scheduled to be released into mental therapy. He had given a solemn Shikamaru the task of telling Kurenai this as he was in no state to do it himself.
Unable to continue staring into the room, Naruto turned away and closed the door. A door of what he once considered able to lead to joyous laughter and smiles was nothing more than a gateway to painful memories now.
Anzu was sitting up in her hospital bed, the IV beeps steady and constant. She would be fine physically, the doctors said. Her mental stability was another story.
Her mother had burst into the room before collapsing near the hospital bed in sobs.
The full moon's light flooded the room with its ethereal, mysterious luminosity. A hollow laugh escaped her parched throat; it really wasn't that long ago from their date, was it? After that one time, she had wanted to go on another, and another, and another.
She didn't expect this. No one did. No one had expected for such a thing to happen and now that it has, it shocked everyone.
What did they have now?
A mass amount of broken ninja who couldn't believe it when they knew it themselves to their hearts that what could happen was possible and happened in other parts of the world.
A mother who's heart couldn't reach her unresponsive daughter.
A Hokage who believed everything that happened was his fault and was barely comforted by his remaining children.
A crazed, heartbroken man who had decided the fate of others and was to face judgment by the Hokage.
A girl who had lost her best friend and love.
What made it worse was that Etsuo would never know.
Memories of the fight kept her up, they gave her nightmares. In no way was it the Hokage's fault... it wasn't.
It had to be hers, if she wasn't so weak, then Etsuo wouldn't have been fighting alone at the end. He wouldn't had let down his guard for that one moment.
A sob wracked through her body as her heavy crying resumed. Her soul was crying out for her lost love. If she or anyone else had been paying attention, they would have seen a pale and translucent Etsuo kneeling beside her.
His left arm was on her right shoulder, lending her comfort.
His sapphire eyes were alive with love.
End
Sarutobi clan: This family is revered and highly respected in the village. Etsuo, being of the disgraced Uchiha clan, and Anzu, being of the honored Sarutobi clan, being together has ended up with something akin to Romeo and Juliet, a tragic end.
"Top Speed": I would say, for these guys, it'd be 90 miles an hour. So Etsuo and Anzu have, theoretically, traveled 540 miles in six hours on foot. If we were to visualize where they were when they were attacked, they would be about 30 miles away from their village (3 minutes), hence the quick rescue.
From oldest to youngest: Akira (Male;18; ANBU), Tenshi (Female;16;Chunin), Ita (Male;14;Chunin), Chi (Male; 14;Chunin), Chidori (Female;13;Genin), Raiden (Male; 13; Med-Nin in Training; Blind), Etsuo (Male;11;Genin).
I figured that since Anzu is a Chunin in this story, a Chunin is allowed to take a Genin with them on a mission if it's simple. Their mission? Deliver a scroll of ingredients on how to make awesome ramen from Naruto to Killer Bee. All they had to do was reach the border since they were only taking it part of the way. It's kind of sad.
My teacher thought it was really good (worth 93%!) but he said I needed to add more detail. I got a chance to get extra-credit by making two paragraphs describing my room.
Those two paragraphs ended up being almost one page (front and back).
Interesting, since my mom said lessen the detail. O_O
What do you guys think?
Anyway, fav, alert, and most definitely review! I really want to know what you think, even if it's a little sour or confused. :D
Name Translations:
Etsuo- Laugh/Laughter
Anzu- Peach
Raiden- Has to do with lightning
Akira- ?
Tenshi- Angel
Ita- ?
Chi- ?
Itachi- Weasel (Sasuke had twin boys, so he decided to fragment Itachi's name into theirs)
~Kitsune-Ohime-Sama~
(Word Count is over 4800! O_O)