Shadow Quil: This will be a SHORT SasoSaku story, probably no more than five chapters long. It was based off of an idea from a friend of mine, Gigiceriser, and I have adopted the idea and continued it here. All credit for the basic storyline goes to her, as well as a sequence later in the story (which will be credited accordingly)
Chapter One
In the underground, there is a war; a war of titans, fought by mere humans with their toys.
Two clans that equalled power greater than one mortal could imagine shed blood like water from an overflowing river, rapid and frequent.
All it takes is one signature to sign your life to this war, yet it takes the icy hand of death to pull you away again.
The red haired man arrived at the scene of his would-be job; search out and destroy the target. It was simple enough, requiring only one bullet and a time-span if twenty minutes: five minutes to scope the building, five minutes to locate the target, three minutes to kill the target and then the remaining seven minutes spent erasing any clues of his presence. He arrived, right on time, only to find it already done.
He was good, but not that good.
His eyes scanned the area, his target dead from a single shot to the ribs – a shot that would have pierced his lung, giving him a death slow enough to get information from him. Information about what, he did not know; his task was to kill the bastard, not interrogate him, but still. It was a job done well, very well.
It was his job, done his way.
This man's name is Akasuna no Sasori, but would be known better under the name 'Scorpion'. During the day, he makes a small living as a starving artist, sculpting the beauty of the word for eternal preservation. After the sun goes down, and his dusty red hair turns to blood, his eyes going from soft mahogany to piercing rust.
Sirens down the street alerted him to the presence of the Uchiha Force already beginning to swarm the area and, kill or no kill, it was time to leave. Even with his connections to the Uchiha Police Force, there wasn't a chance of them pulling strings to get him off-the-hook when he was found at a scene with a gun – not yet fired that evening, though – and a dead body.
Climbing up a fire-escape ladder, Sasori flung himself onto a roof and scowled as he watched Uchiha Fugaku leave his car, heading to the body with a scene photographer. This had been happening for a week now; he arrived to do his job, but the man was dead and the scene was cleared. He needed to know who took his kill – but first, the boss needed an update.
He worked for the Kaguya clan, whose ties with the Uchiha clan went back many centuries. However, sometime after Uchiha Madara lost power and his younger brother took control, the Uchiha clan severed all ties with the criminal underworld and became the best police force in the city of Gakure. Despite this, their bonds with the Kaguya clan remained and, as such, when an assassin of the Kaguya family kills, the police force looks the other way.
Along this train of thought, Sasori wondered if the person who took his job was of a rival clan. The Senju clan, perhaps – or one of their allied families, but they all came under the same group when alliances were spoken of. Since the beginning of the clans, the Kagura clan and the Senju clan had fought ruthlessly, dating back to the days when ninja roamed.
A branch of the Hyuuga clan – allied with the Senju clan – broke away from them and renamed their new clan 'Uchiha', siding with the Kagura clan. It brought great shame to the Hyuuga house, who then vowed destroy every last member of the new 'Uchiha' clan for betraying them. This had yet to be achieved and, the way Sasori saw it, the Uchiha clan had established their own place in the world too firmly for them to all be erased. The Hyuuga clan's ambition, having let their problem fester too long, was null now.
He leapt from the roof and into a nearby ally, about to vent his anger on the wall when he felt the sensation of someone watching him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he froze for a moment. This could have been the one who was taking his kills, after all, but the presence felt too light for it to be someone with killing intent.
Looking around, Sasori's piercing eyes caught sight of a figure he knew well behind a wall and called out, "Deidara! Stop acting like a stalker."
"Insult me and you'll get no information, hmm," he warned, stepping out. His shining goldenrod hair contrasting with his sharp steel blue eyes, ringed with black that only made the colour stand out further. Uzumaki Deidara (codename: Katsu), a recon and destruction specialist; makes a daytime living as a potter, loved for his golden hair and eyes the colour of deep sky.
"Information on what?" sighed the redhead, rubbing his eyes as Deidara came closer and held up a small digital camera – he was a master with it, truly; he could capture a single moment with extreme accuracy, almost as if the camera was his eye.
"The chick that stole your kill," he smirked, seeing Sasori's eyes widen. Deidara, after hearing Sasori's problem from the wrong side of a locked door, had taken it upon himself to find the job-stealer.
"A woman?" he snarled, "What woman could do my work?"
"So sexist, hmm," Deidara scolded, pulling up the 'gallery' option on the camera and showing Sasori the picture. A woman, as stated, was hold an automatic sniper rifle in one hand as smoke rose from the end – recently fired. Her hair was short, cropped around her chin and spiked at the ends; the colour of pink coral. Blazing harlequin green eyes spoke joy of her – his – job completed. In her other hand, clasped tightly, was a violin case.
"Who is she?" he breathed, captured by the beauty of this killer. Deidara noticed this and grinned, pulling back the camera as he deleted the picture.
"Her codename is Rose, a mercenary working for the Senju clan," the blonde responded.
"Rose, huh?"
--
"Ah, Haruno-san, you forgot your hat!" a man called to one of his best customers as the woman walked towards the exit of the small tea shop. She smiled, her grass-green eyes sparkling softly as she placed the navy blue cap – the gift of a friend – atop her cherry blossom locks.
"Thank you," she responded as she turned away, her black jeans stretching against her legs as she moved. Her off-the-shoulder poet's shirt fluttered in the breeze when she left the shop, her arms becoming chilled while her torso was kept warm with her dark blue body warmer. Black trainers making a soft 'pat' sound as she walked, Sakura moved away from the tea shop and up the road into town.
"Haruno," a dark-skinned man called from across the street. Sakura looked over and smirked, walking to him slowly and casually.
"Hello, Omoi," she greeted carelessly. "Where're Karui and Samui?"
"Don't know, don't care," he grunted, unwrapping a blueberry lollipop and placing it in his mouth, his cheek bulging cutely when he began to speak again, "You've got another job tonight."
"Oh, goody," she rolled her eyes, "and I assume it'll have to be done quickly, too, before you-know-who turns up."
"Voldemort?" the blonde snorted, pulling the lolly out of his mouth and licking it.
"Scorpion, you moron," she snapped. "It's no wonder the girls can't stand you."
"As I recall, you're the traitor here, not me," Omoi snarled, shoving an envelope into her hand. "Here's the meeting place; don't be late."
As the teen left, Sakura opened the envelope and read the address quickly before ripping it into as many pieces as she could and dropping it in a close by bin, soon followed by a lit match. By the time the police were informed of, yet another, arson, she would be hidden in the shadows of her work. A killer for hire, though that was only what she would say when/if caught.
What she was really was far more frightful concept; a mercenary owned by the Senju clan.
--
For centuries, this war had been fought in the shadows.
For years, this war has been a losing situation on both sides.
Many deaths and endless tragedies on both sides: Kagura versus Senju.
All it takes is one signature to sign your life to this war, yet it takes the icy hand of death to pull you away again.
One girl fights to escape this life and begin another.
One man watches her live this way and seeks to end her.
Neither will succeed.
This is their story...