A/N: Welcome to published work number second (I'll stop counting them some day I swear). I'd like to thank everyone who gave my first endeavor a read, especially those who favorited it or put me as a favorite author or on their alert, and last but certainly not least my two first reviewers ever sasusaku779 and Mary S. Jane. Now here we are at the start of a series I've been working on for a while now, and I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: Naruto is no belonging of mine.
Warnings: SasuSaku and other little side pairings. There will be some sexual scenes later on, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Title derived from the song Vox Populi by 30 Seconds To Mars (I don't own them either for the record)
"GAH!" Akito said with a jump.
Nanami rolled her eyes, "What is it?"
"I saw another snake!" he answered with a shudder, "Nasty creatures! And in the market place? Granted it's an outdoor one, but still, come on!"
"Uh-huh, there have been quite a few of them around recently," she replied idly as she went back to picking her produce. Dismissing his bellyaching.
Akito, still stuck up on the snake, suggested, "Maybe we should talk to the Hokage about it."
"Baka!" Nanami exclaimed, "She has far more important things to worry about than a pest infestation."
Akito nodded, agreeing, but still feeling defeated.
"Alright," Nanami said, smiling, "Just one more stop, I have to pick up Granny's medication and we can go home." She turned around to bump into a tall, hooded figure shrouded in a black cloak. "Sumimasen!" she apologized, "My fault. I wasn't looking where I was going."
The man gave a small bow of his head and passed by her to the produce stand to pick up a tomato. The shop keeper looked up to see if he would try to take it without paying, and was tossed a small coin in payment for it.
Nanami and Akito began to head for the pharmacy counter when a Nanami was tapped on the shoulder. She turned around to find the hooded man holding out a wallet. Her wallet that must have tumbled out of her small purse when she bumped into him.
"Oh! Arigato," she said taking her wallet, "I didn't even realize it was gone."
The man bowed his head slightly again and almost turned to walk away when Nanami asked, "Are you new in the village?"
The man paused and shook his head.
"Huh…I don't think I've seen you around before," she mused, trying to make idle conversation and be polite to her wallet's rescuer.
The man didn't answer. Instead he turned around and began to walk away before being called to by Nanami's male companion. "Oi! You don't know too many manners do you?"
"Akito, stop. He just returned my wallet with all the money in it, you're acting like he just spat in your face!" she urged.
Akito drew a kunai out of his pouch and held it out to point at the hooded man, "You! Stranger!"
The man he addressed stopped, but did not turn to face him.
"What is your name and purpose for being in Konoha?" Akito demanded.
"Yamate! Why are you making a scene?" she whispered loudly to her companion, then said to the man, "Sir, I'm sorry about him, please go on your way."
"I'm making a scene, because I have an obligation as a Leaf Village shinobi to confront any suspicious persons, and baby, he's suspicious as hell!" he answered, "Now, what is your name and purpose in Konoha, stranger?"
The man spoke for the first time in a low voice that was ominous in the way it divulged no emotion, "It's in your best interest to put away the kunai and forget you saw me."
Akito almost asked how he knew he had pulled a kunai when the man hadn't actually turned to look at him with the weapon in his hands, but instead ordered, "Name and purpose!"
The man turned around and studied the area from under his hood before sighing, "I suppose too many people have already seen me for this incident to be easily forgotten." He was referring to the small crowd of civilians now watching their encounter. Slowly he removed his hood and inwardly smirked at the reaction he got out of his challenger who was now visibly shaken.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," he announced as he looked around at the frightened faces gazing at him, "My purpose for being in Konoha…is none of your fucking business."
With this a full team of masked ANBUs were surrounding the Uchiha, all keeping a good radius of about 5 meters.
Sasuke, unfazed by the six new opponents looked around with his bored eyes and said almost with a sigh, "I request an audience with the Hokage."
"The only audience you're getting is with the executioner of Konoha," the assumed leader shouted, "It has been declared by the Village Hidden in the Leaves that you are to be killed on sight or upon being captured you are to be put to death."
"Do you honestly think you all could kill or capture me?" Not even sparing the leader a glance as he watched as the by-standers began to leave the market square.
"Surrender now, Uchiha! Let's not make this any harder than—"
"I request an audience with the Hokage," Sasuke's voice wasn't raised, but you had to be deaf not to hear the irritation in it.
"Do you surrender?"
Sasuke didn't think such a stupid question deserved a response. Not from him anyway.
"We show no mercy for traitors!" This appeared to be the command for every ANBU under his command to launch a kunai at him. Sasuke deflected them individually with nothing more than the index and middle fingers of his left hand. They're next wave of attack seemed to be what could be referred to as a free for all seeing as there was no detectable rhyme or rhythm to their attacks. Never mind strategy.
Soon the amusement of effortlessly dodging and deflecting their attacks wore off and he vanished to reappear behind the so-called leader. The ANBUs were still frantically looking around for him when a great, black snake slithered out of his sleeve and coiled itself around the upper body and neck of their captain.
"I don't want any blood to be shed over this, so step aside."
"Don't let him get to Lady Hokage! Take him down, now!" Sasuke's hostage ordered before having his airway constricted by the large, black snake coming from the Uchiha's sleeve.
The ANBUs, as expected didn't back down, but stood prepared to attack. The rogue ninja sighed and closed his eyes, as if tired and about to sleep, but quickly opened them to reveal the blood red power of his clan. Immediately as if all their pressure points had been squeezed they all fell onto their stomachs, unconscious.
Sasuke then began to lead the ANBU captain through the village towards the main building of Konoha, where the Hokage's office was. Many ninjas crossed their path, however, they were forced to stand down because of the Uchiha's hold on their comrade. Soon they arrived inside the building and into the receptionist's room outside the Hokage's office.
"Uchiha Sasuke?" Shizune exclaimed at the sight of the man, "Wh-what the hell are you doing here?"
~()~
Goddamn it, Tsunade thought to herself. The more the Hokage looked at the facts, the more and more discouraged she got. The state of the entire Fire Country was grim as one of the southern regions had been in full revolt for the past six months. It was nothing a good amount of experienced shinobi couldn't handle, but it did take a lot of the jounins away from the village, only leaving behind the homeland security portion of the ANBUs and forcing her to assign some jounin work to chuunins and chuunin missions to genins. It was not boding well for Konoha at all. They were extremely vulnerable to attack from the neighboring countries, and with the Cloud Village close to inaugurating a new Raikage, who does not seem to want to continue his predecessor's peace talks with Konoha, things aren't exactly looking up.
Feeling like it couldn't get any worse she reached under her desk for her sake and took a swig before her jaw dropped at the spectacle that burst through her doors.
"Uchi-ya?" slightly embarrassed by her slurred speech. Admittedly it was not her first sip of sake that afternoon…or bottle for that matter, "Just what the fuck are you doing here?" Serves me right for thinking nothing else could go wrong. She thought angrily.
"Hokage-sama!" the ANBU hostage cried, "I'm sorry, we couldn't stop him! Don't worry about me just kill him!"
Shit, I wish! Unfortunately that's not how we do it in Konoha, "No comrade left behind." She assured him with a forced smile.
Sasuke only smirked, which pissed Tsunade off further because it let her know he knew perfectly well she wanted to attack him, but her morals were getting in the way.
"What do you want, you little fucker?"
Sasuke squinted as if judging her diction, then replied bluntly, "A fair trial."
A/N: Good? Bad? Continue? Abandon? Either way review please! By the way, Sasuke never met Madara so Itachi is as of yet a bad guy, as for other liberties taken with the story I think they're pretty clear, if not, tell me in your REVIEWS.
Little Side Note: I've got this whole story pretty much written so I'd like some help from you good people in deciding whether or not the rest of it shall see the light of day.
