Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. All credit of the Naruto Universe belongs to Masahi Kishimoto. I make no profit off of this.
My first fanfiction: Praise and Constructive Criticism are welcomed.
If that's all...ready. set. go!
The sun brightly shone against the clear blue sky, its blistering rays showing no sympathy on its poor citizens down below. It was only noon, the streets were practically empty, and the only sign of life happened to be inside, tucked away into the comfort of their homes. Apparently, everyone seemed to agree that today was too terrible to set foot outside. Yet, there were the few who braved the harsh weather and walked along the arid dusty streets of the Land of the Wind. Among them were two rather strange looking men.
Their wardrobe contrasted greatly against the statuesque rocky mountains surrounding the small village and as they glided up the main road, they seemed like walking advertisements. The tallest of the pair wore a purple and gray-sleeved shirt with bandages wrapped around his waist and purple pants. His long silver that was tied back and there was a look of contentment about him. On the other hand, his companion wore a simpler outfit consisting of a navy blue shirt and cream-colored shorts. His short raven-colored hair swaying back and forth against the wind created a look of importance.
Up the road they walked, passing a few nosy people looking on from behind the curtains of their windows. They ignored their stares and continued on until they stopped in front of a bar.
The silver-haired man turned to his companion, slowly lifting his finger as if to indicate that he wait there.
"Sasuke, I won't take long", he said. "As soon as I come back from the bar I want you to go in and stay there till I come and get you. Understand?"
Sasuke simply crossed his arms and looked at the man. "Fine, but don't take forever Kabuto. It's cutting in on my time."
With that, Kabuto walked inside the bar, leaving Sasuke leaning against the wall in deep concentration.
Fortunately for him, he did come back from the bar but with nothing in hand. This left Sasuke wondering why he went there in the first place. But soon discarded those thoughts from his mind and walked inside. From the corner of his eye he saw Kabuto disappear into the distance. Meanwhile, inside the bar were a few old men playing cards and drinking beer at the counter. They too were tired, probably from the weather. The atmosphere was dreary and it pulled on him. Sasuke spotted a suitable empty table for him and sat down.
"This was not what I had planned today" he thought. "I need to go back to continue training".
He sat like this for a few hours waiting for Kabuto to come by. By now, he put his thoughts of training at the back of his mind. He occasionally glanced at the old men playing cards to keep him busy.
Sasuke had been awake since dawn and spent the whole day walking from one of Orochimaru's many stations to the Land of the Wind. This journey left him both tired mentally and physically. Kabuto wouldn't explain why they had come all this way to a good-for-nothing village. To be honest, he expected to go to Sunagakure. He assumed this had something to do with spying, yet it didn't quite make sense. Usually Kabuto would go alone on spy missions.
By now, the old men at the table had given up playing cards. Sasuke had just about given up hope of returning in time for training. The sun was now setting and that meant they'd have to stay here for the night. "Great", he thought.
Just then Kabuto burst through the door and called out his name. " Sasuke! Come here quickly!"
Sasuke obliged and hurried out the door. In fact, he was relieved at a chance to get out of there. He followed the medic-nin into the bar's dark alleyway " What is it? Sasuke asked. What took you so"
He came to a full stop. A force kept him from going any further.
"Shh. Be quiet, you don't want to cause it any reason to get out" it whispered. It was Kabuto who pulled him back. He took his hand away from Sasuke's shoulder. "Sorry about that, I didn't want you to bump into it." he added sheepishly.
The raven-haired teen looked at him sternly "Bump into what? I can see things perfectly." Which wasn't true. Sasuke squinted a little to see well. The darkness made things harder on his eyesight. From what he could make out, it was a crate. It was a pretty large one too, about up to his torso. The last time he saw one like that was-
Then it hit him. "No way", he thought. "This is a container. Not just any container, but one to transport a living human. Could it be that this is one of his future experiments?"
So many thoughts were racing across his mind. It must have shown, Kabuto seemed to read his mind.
" I see you figured it out", Kabuto smiled. His condescending smile irked Sasuke to no end. "One good punch would fix that", Sasuke thought. But he settled to put up with it because he wanted to know more about this mysterious vessel.
He crossed his arms in defense and smirked. "Actually I knew it all along. I just wanted to keep it to myself. After all, this got in the way of my training. I didn't want to give you any ideas that I wanted to help"
Kabuto looked at him for a moment, contemplating on what he said. " Of course and now that everything is out, why not help me anyway?" He slowly walked up to the crate and pulled out a seal from his pocket. He performed a couple hand seals and stuck the seal to the crate. Whoever was in the crate was awake now and started pounding at it.
Quietly, Kabuto said, " It took me all day to find what Orochimaru wanted and I hope it was worth it. This time, I have no idea what might be going on in his head. This wasn't the prodigy I had hoped for."
Sasuke cringed a little. " Did he say prodigy?" he thought. " No, it's not possible. After all the Uchiha power is what Orochimaru is after. What greater power is there? " He looked at the container. " No matter what, this person won't ruin my chance of surpassing him." His arms flexed for a moment in frustration. The young teen quietly let out a huff and went into his usual stance, all while looking at the crate.
Meanwhile, the older shinobi leaned against the wall with his arms crossed against him. His furrowed face in deep concentration. Sasuke could imagine Kabuto's thoughts twisting and turning like the inner mechanisms of a clock. Time was passing by. The sky was pitch black now and the temperature cooled down. The fluorescent light of the moon replaced the sun's and gave way to an almost serene atmosphere. The two shinobi firmly stood in their place, neither of them moving or making a sound.
Sasuke closed his eyes and meditated. From the likes of how things were going today, he might be losing his place as the Sannin's number one possession. Normally, he wouldn't care about what Orochimaru thought of him. At least Sasuke was sure of his place in the snake master's eyes. Right?
The pounding on the crate died down and nothing was heard except for the faint clamor inside the bar. Kabuto walked over to the crate and began lifting it. "Hey, help me out here, its quite heavy" he said.
Sasuke walked to the other side of the crate and held onto its rope handles. The two lifted it and began carrying it to their destination- wherever that was.
"Exactly where do you plan on going?" he asked. Night pierced the sky which made travelling conditions worse.
Kabuto stayed silent for a while, mulling it over and quietly said, and "We'll be heading back to Orochimaru like we planned."
"Humph. In this time of day? I thought you'd be the type to wait till morning."
"Orochimaru needs this by tonight", Kabuto replied. "Tomorrow he'll be busy visiting his other lab experiments, he won't have time."
" When will he make time?", Sasuke was getting annoyed by this; lately the snake king was putting off their training more often. "I need to become stronger." he added.
Kabuto sighed, "I don't know for sure."
They walked endlessly for miles across the arid desert with no visible of sign of their lair. Beads of sweats dripped across their faces as they struggled to carry a very large package. The cool night had improved their work ethic. Even with the crate, they still walked faster than they did during the day.
The hours passed by and just when Sasuke started to think they'd never get there, he saw the outline of a great mountain range in the horizon. In there he knew there resided a great secret lair or nest, as he liked to think of it. A snake's nest where tunnels intertwined with one another creating passageways to dozens of rooms.
"We're here." Kabuto said.
At last they arrived at Laboratory 5, their current residence. Through a secret opening in one of the boulders, they entered the snake's pit. Sasuke's eyes were consumed by complete darkness, but it only lasted a second. Kabuto had lighted one of the torches near the entrance. They continued down a long flight of stairs only to arrive at another door. Sasuke observed how well guarded Orochimaru's labs were, this door had several locks bolted to it. On top of that you still had to perform a special seal to open it. Only Kabuto, Orochimaru, and himself knew it.
Both men put the crate down and began working diligently at the door. It groaned with every twist and turn at the handles. But it was working as each locked clicked except for one, the sealed lock. This one Sasuke wanted to do. He thought it fun actually, like a special ninja. Of course, he'd have to keep that to himself.
"Tori, Saru, Hebi, Saru, Tora, Hebi", he chanted while performing each hand seal. He repeated this three times and stood back to watch as the last lock clicked. The large stone door opened by itself and both shinobi with the crate walked inside. The door closed behind them as soon as they got in. A familiar setting was brought before them. A long narrow tunnel that led them to dozens of rooms.
" Sasuke I think this is where I'll leave you. I'm going to bring this immediately to Orochimaru. I want you to go to your room where you'll wait until you're called." he said.
" Whatever, I've done my part. What you do with that brat is none of my concern." Sasuke said. He waved his hand nonchalantly to emphasize this point.
Kabuto got the message and carried the crate to the lair's main elevator located near the entrance. It was Kabuto's only work of genius where he managed to create an elaborate elevator that took them to any direction they wanted, whether it be up, down, left, or right. He went there and disappeared.
Sasuke was left alone wandering through the hall, that he knew all to well. " Well, I'm back" he thought. A part of him enjoyed being here but only because it served as an escape. Konoha was long gone now and he was on a quest to kill his brother. The lair provided him with a sanctuary that kept him from his memories of his old home. On the other hand, he longed to have someone call out to him in a caring matter, such as a friend would. " But that's stupid, I severed my ties. What's next? What can I do now?" he thought.
Throughout all this thinking, his feet loyally led him to his room. It was located just four hallways down and to the left, fifth door down. He opened the broad oak door and closed it behind him. Darkness consumed him once again but he gracefully managed to find his dresser at the right and lit the torch above it. Now that he could see again, he lay down on his bed and surveyed his surroundings.
His room was rather small with only a bed, a dresser, a trunk for his weapons and scrolls, and a bathroom facility. Although, the bed could hardly be called comfortable with feathers stuffed into it. Perhaps to most people, they would find it heaven; a bed so soft that the unlikeliest of men could not resist. But Sasuke recognized that was he was not like most people. He needed something firm to support his back. Whenever he sat on his fluffy bed he just sank down. It was most uncool. His dresser was fine and it held nothing extravagant inside; just a few of his usual training outfits. If you looked for anything worth gazing at, it would have to be his trunk. It was made of wrought iron and adorned with a golden dragon running through it. Its great mouth opened, revealing a small latch that was kept locked at all times. Sasuke's greatest possessions lay inside. Most of them were weapons that he used on a daily basis; his katana, kunais, scrolls, etc. It covered what he really cared for the most but he never dared to show; his family possessions and that one picture of Team 7.
On to the next chapter!