2. Break
The fact that Sakura had actually gone out for the first time in literally a year since she broke up with that French exchange student was something that Ino would not let go for an entire week.
"You've gotta do that again. That was SO much fun!"
"I'm not going to. You guys are so ridiculous. And waking up hungover when I had three papers to write for the next school day was not fun."
"But it was so totally worth it."
"Shut up, Ino, no it wasn't."
To be completely honest, it was a little fun. In reality, Sakura herself had never gotten a fake ID, only pretending that she did because everyone else around her did. And, also complying with reality, Sakura wasn't the kind of person to go out. She either practiced, did homework, and the most she did for fun was maybe surf her blog sites or watch action movies. Still, it didn't change the fact that Sakura was not looking forward to waking up five times to run into the bathroom to throw up, and be eyed with suspicion by their RA. Maybe it was exciting the first times that Sakura had done it, but in the end, it wasn't worth going out at night.
"C'mon. Naruto's coming out with us again tonight! I'm sure you two can really get to know each other even better."
Sakura's face turned two shades redder. "Ino! Shut the fuck up!"
"I'll even let you have the room tonight."
"INO!"
The blond let out a small cackle as they ran into Hinata, who gave them both a small smile. "Are you coming out with us, too, Hinata?"
"Oh, no, I have too much to do tonight."
"C'mon, you can do it all tomorrow. You both are such bums! Have some frickin' fun for once, geez!"
"Sakura, are you okay? Your face is really red," Hinata asked, putting a hand on her friend's forehead.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine." Sakura turned away from her friends, looking out the windows on the east side of the hall.
The real reason she had gone out that night was mainly for Naruto. That day, the girls had gotten together for dinner and gossiped, as per protocol. But this time, everything seemed to surround the school's mysterious mid-year transfer student. Teachers had either disappeared without explanation or randomly 'retired' in all of his classes, only to be replaced with new (and according to some sources, very handsome) teachers. One class, which was in the Bullock building, was supposed to be entirely an all-girl's class, and not only did it get a new teacher, but Naruto was in it, too.
"Now that I think about it, Naruto was in all the classes that the new teachers were in," Hinata had said that day. "I had three classes with him this past week."
At first, Sakura surmised that the boy might have had some sort of secret learning disability. Maybe he needed specialist teachers for whatever condition he had, but then she remembered that she share a class with Naruto as well. The teacher changed, but the syllabus hadn't. If Naruto had a learning disability, surely the new teacher—a gray-haired man named Mr. Crow—wouldn't just sit there and let the students do whatever they wanted in class.
But that was the only theory that made sense so far. Unless aliens were taking over, there was no other rational reason that Sakura could think of other than Naruto having a disability.
Still, one would think that someone would tell the students, at least so Naruto wasn't misunderstood or be mistreated by his peers. Not that the students at either the boys' or the girls' school were particularly sinister, because they weren't. Competitive and sometimes catty, sure, but never cruel. Bullying was not tolerated on either campus. But, Sakura supposed, she wouldn't really know. It would entirely be possible that the reason no one was saying anything was because whatever condition Naruto had was pretty bad, and maybe he had been bullied in the past. Besides, she had known most of the kids at this school since she was a child—of course she would see most of them as docile. It wasn't a big school, after all. Almost everyone knew each other, even the foreign students.
Sakura spied the boy in question walking into the Minster building through the school's front courtyard, where the administration offices were. Why? The offices were closed today, and she was sure even the school counselors were already gone. "Hey, guys, I'll see you at dinner, okay?"
"All right, well, I'll be expecting that you change your mind about coming out tonight, missy—hey!" Ino frowned as her roommate ran off. "I hate it when she does that.
Honestly, it really bothered Sakura not knowing things.
Hinata noticed that Sakura had dropped her phone. "Oh! Sakura! Wait!" Without even saying anything to Ino, Hinata, too, ran off, much to her chagrin.
"You guys SUCK, you hear me!" Ino stomped off in the opposite direction her "best friends" went, wondering why on earth they easily ditched her.
When Sakura made it down the stairs, not a single soul was in the courtyard. It made sense. It was the beginning of November, and the frigid temperatures of New England had already begun to bring in threats of weekly snow-storms.
"Sakura! Wait up!" A familiar voice echoed from above. Sakura looked up the stairwell to see Hinata running down the stairs, a large red smartphone in her hand. "You dropped this!"
"Oh, hey! It must've fallen out of my pocket."
Hinata gasped as she handed Sakura her phone. "Where are you going, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Oh, I just thought I saw someone is all." Sakura said, staring at the large double doors to the Minster building. "Do you know if the infirmary's open?"
"Why, are you feeling sick? We're supposed to have a nurse on duty here at all times, just in case. I don't know if they're gonna be in the infirmary, though." Sakura's eyes narrowed as she saw a man come through the school's front gates, wearing a brown trenchcoat and a black hat. "Who's that?"
"I don't know. How cold do you think it is outside?"
"I think when I checked the temperature last, it was supposed to be below forty."
The man, a thin, short man with strong Vietnamese features, headed towards the Minster building. "Alright, well, you wanna cut through the courtyard with me to go to see if the nurse is in the infirmary?"
"O-okay," Hinata replied, wide-eyed confusion on her face. "Are you okay, Sakura?" The man entered the building. So the doors weren't locked. That was probably where Naruto was.
"I'm perfectly fine. Now c'mon."
…
Itachi wasn't all too sure what to make of this new information. It was far too much of a coincidence, especially with the all the information that the Bureau had about Project-Hercules.
Yet here he was, far up north, sitting in a small motel room re-reading all of the case notes and reports in the thick black file Deidara had handed him a week ago.
"They found a compound," Pein had told him when he was briefing him about the situation. "Right where the military wants to plant their new little toy for a few more experiments, there is a Family compound right in the middle of the forest."
Ironic, really. Especially for the military. You'd think that they would cover their bases better, but, Itachi supposed, soldiers were far more idiotic than everyone thought. Then again, it wasn't like they knew what the Bureau knew. It was far more likely that not a single soldier knew of the existence of the Family. But they lucked out with the fact that the Bureau had been keeping tabs on both the military and the Bureau's favorite militant extremists.
Itachi hadn't had time yet to really check out the compound. He had been far too busy going around the sleepy town, and he had only gotten in yesterday night. So far, the weather was absolutely horrendous, with a mixture of icy rain and hail on his first night, and a possible snowstorm coming in from the north for his second. Hopefully the weather would better in the next few days so Itachi could get out into the forest where the satellite maps found the Family compound, but he somehow doubted that would happen.
Mindlessly turning on the TV for some noise, Itachi began to examine the pictures in the file.
"…it's an Asian INVASION in this country! There's so many of them! Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, all of the yellow-peoples from the East seem to be migrating over here. It's more common, now, to hear some sort of Asian name instead of a normal name!"
Click. No Fox News. Not that CNN was really any better.
The only new additions to the photo collection in the black file were a set of satellite images of the compound in the highest quality possible. According to the notes on the photos, the compound was on a five-acre plot of land just a few miles out, and the only way to get to it was by trekking northwest of the town on foot after a short drive down some dirt road. A more-than-doable feat for someone like Itachi, though not in this weather. If there was some off-switch to the snow-storm threats, however, Itachi would have gladly used it. Still, there was more to do than simply sniff out the Family compound. It was only about twenty miles away, and there was no doubt that whoever occupied this place would need things from this town, be it simple groceries (Itachi saw no garden, so it was safe to assume that the people were not necessarily self-sufficient) or gas for the cars parked around the compound in the photos. Even if Itachi couldn't go venturing out into the wilderness, he could certainly go around town.
And so he did, keeping the black file safely locked away in a safe he had in his own suitcase.
There was a seemingly permanent scent that hovered in the air of Promise, Maine. It was a mix of pine trees, some sort of mint, and a hint of rotting fish, though it wasn't all too unpleasant. A dull gray seemed to color even the brightest buildings in the town, reminding Itachi somewhat of those old noir mystery movies from the early ages of Hollywood. What few people were on the streets huddled with each other or kept to themselves, hands stuffed in pockets, mouths covered by scarves and thick coats. Certainly not the liveliest of populations.
Itachi found himself facing a small church, noting the upside-down, green triangle that gave off a small glow on the church's sign. "Church of Absolution", it was called. There was no specified denomination. Outside, two men stood on the steps leading up to the church's entrance, wearing black suits with the same, upside-down green triangle on the right breast pocket. When they saw Itachi, they smiled at him.
"Hello! Come to join the mass? It's about to start."
It couldn't hurt; Itachi simply nodded and followed the men inside the church. A service on a Friday—perhaps it was one of those daily mass-schedules.
Inside Absolution was certainly nothing like St. Matthew's, though it wasn't a Catholic church. The walls were plain cement and brick, with a few paintings of the Stations of the Cross all around. There was a meager wooden podium front and center of the church, though it didn't rise above everyone else on a platform. As Itachi walked in, however, he was surprised at how full the seats were, for a daily mass. In the few times he had missed Sunday services, Itachi had gone to a weekday mass at St. Matthew's, and maybe a dozen people would be in the entire cathedral. Right now, in Absolution, there were at least thirty or forty people, with a handful of empty spots in the pews. The hushed tones in the air made everything feel oddly tight in the room, and when Itachi came in, he felt everyone's eyes fall upon him. The air felt even tighter then. The whispers in the room immediately ceased.
However, they stopped looing when a woman came before the crowd, seemingly coming out of nowhere. In perfect unison, all eyes—even Itachi's—were upon the woman. She was plump, old, with graying brown hair and thick glasses. With a clap, she lifted her head, everyone else following suit.
"TODAY, GOD HAS SPOKEN!"
Though Itachi was invited to sit anywhere he liked, he chose to stand in the back of the church, finding himself oddly fascinated by the scene before him.
"God has seen the wickedness that man has continued, that man has allowed to grow." The woman looked down and around the church, her eyes lingering when her gaze found the new face in the church. "You! Have you heard God's word?"
Itachi had the right mind to turn around to leave just then, but he found himself in a humorous mood. "No. I have not."
"Reach into your pocket. What's in there?"
Itachi pulled out his phone.
"And how often do you use that?"
"Every day.
"And how often do you go to church?"
"Once a week." Itachi could see where this was going long before the woman continued. His humor had disappeared just as quickly as it surfaced as the church leader continued to speak. Something about how the phone was draining away his love for God, how salvation moved farther and farther away because of how the world was so engrossed by technology. If one was the type to believe the lizard people wore masks and paraded around the world as political figureheads and leaders, then maybe you'd be able to follow along with the logic that the woman spewed and agree with it.
The minutes following the woman's rant dragged by, and the hour's end seemed too far away for Itachi. Still, something told him it would be worthwhile to stick around, and possibly look around afterwards. Be it instinct or intuition. And this wouldn't be the most unpleasant thing he'd done on a case.
Once the mass concluded with a declaration of war "against God's enemies" (here, meaning the Devil's tools, which was technology and science), Itachi found that he didn't really need to know much else of the church. He lost the urge to look around and instead turned around to head out the door. But the grip of a pistol peeking out of a nearby man's jacket caught Itachi's eye, its owner engrossed in a conversation about something with another man in a suit. These men were different from the men Itachi had seen outside, but they wore the same emblem on the right breast of their jacket.
"Ah. Newcomer. Welcome to Absolution. What brings you here, if I may ask?" Itachi faced the old woman behind him, who had an odd smile on her face. "I love seeing new faces at our gatherings. It's as if God himself has brought you here."
"I'm just visiting some friends in town, and I stopped by. I thought this was a Catholic church."
"We're nothing like those money-grabbing hypocrites," the old woman's smile melted into a growl, and she looked as if she was about to spit. "We here in Absolution are a family. And we take care of each other. God will only save the few who are truly faithful to Him, and that will be our family."
Itachi smiled a seemingly genuine smile.
"Tell me more about your family."
…
When Hinata was younger, she had a bit of an attachment to the old Nancy Drew books. From The Secret of the Old Clock to The Captive Witness, no classic Nancy Drew book had been unread by the Hyuga heiress. In her childish youth, Hinata used to wish that she be just like Nancy Drew—beautiful, smart, and brave enough to take on any mystery, however dangerous, that reared its ugly head. But, no matter what, Hinata would never be anything more than Hinata Hyuga—quiet, with a bit of a stutter, always hovering behind everyone else.
Even now, with the opportunity of a mystery before her, Hinata cowered behind the strawberry-blonde-yet-seemingly-pink haired girl in front of her, afraid of what would happen if they were caught. Sakura assured her that they weren't really breaking any rules here. The door to the Minster building was unlocked, and if anyone asked, they had an excuse for being here, even though Sakura herself didn't tell Hinata explicitly that they were, in fact, stalking the new boy. It wasn't that hard to figure out. It was all Sakura wanted to talk about since Naruto had come to school, anyway, especially with all the other new faces popping up all over the school.
It wasn't just teachers being replaced. In the ten years that Hinata had attended St. Magdalene, the staff had always been the same, down to the lowly janitors. A new teacher always set the school abuzz, and rarely did teachers even need replacement or hiring here, or at the boys' school. Yet, in the past week alone, there were brand new janitors mopping up the floors constantly, new cooks in the cafeteria, even some new security guards. And familiar yet-often-unnoticed faces in the background were no longer there, disappearing just as mysteriously as the randomly retiring teachers.
Sakura wasn't the only one who was noticing things, and she wasn't the only curious one, either. Of the two of them, however, Sakura was the only one who actually wanted to act upon it.
At this point, Hinata was more of a Bess than a Nancy.
"Where could they be? I mean, they both probably went to the same place, but where?" Hinata knew that 'they', as Sakura mumbled on, were the new boy and the man who had come onto campus. The two girls had checked the offices on the first floors, all of which were void of any living being, and had even gone up to the President's office on the second. All that was left were the classrooms here and there, and the infirmary on the third floor.
"Who had a the bright idea of putting the nurse's office on the third floor, anyway? I mean, if someone was injured or was sick, wouldn't it be a bit of a pain to make them go up all these stairs just to see the nurse?" Sakura muttered.
"There's always the elevators," Hinata chirped softly. "And besides, there's more privacy up here." Sakura thought for a few moments, then shrugged. This logic was sound. Hinata was always much more capable of thinking things out.
"You're right."
When the two reached the third floor, they heard a man's voice echoing down the hallway.
"…joined a sports team yet?"
"I'd have to try out." The other voice was definitely Naruto's. Hinata looked at Sakura, wide-eyed. The pink-haired girl pressed a finger on her lips, signaling her friend to shush. They must have stumbled upon something. "So, no, not yet."
"You're required to join one as a student of St. Augustus, you know."
"I remember the PE syllabus."
The girls inched closer to the infirmary, noting that the door was slightly ajar. Hinata craned her neck to see what was inside, and found herself staring right at the bare chest of the school's newest senior.
Were eighteen-year-old boys… usually that muscular?
"Have you been working out, though? You seem to have gained some muscle weight."
"Just the usual stuff, though it's nothing compared to being at base."
"Ah. And do you have a new routine?"
"Just some weight lifting and some routine jogs around the track."
The girls couldn't see faces, but were both entranced by Naruto's oddly muscular arm, which had come into view. It wasn't overly muscular, much like his chest. He still seemed rather small. Still, the new boy's defined abs—defined everywhere, really—were certainly something to stare at.
There were a few moments of tensed silence as Naruto stayed where he was. A pair of hands appeared, long white sleeves covering the arms, as they pressed a stethoscope against Naruto's chest. "All right, well, again, you seem just fine, and there's not much change other than those muscles. Although, I am a bit surprised I didn't notice them yesterday." Naruto got up, and the girls looked away, hiding behind a corner. "Anyway. You know the drill. Same time tomorrow."
"Sir."
"And remember: try not to drink too much while you're here. I know you might want to have fun, but I don't think anyone really wants to find out what would happen if you mixed alcohol with the project." Hinata gave Sakura a pleading look, silently asking if they could leave now. Her heart was racing, although it wasn't out of fear of being caught.
Relenting, Sakura grabbed her friend's hand and they both silently darted away.
Once in the safety of her room, Sakura huffed, hugging her friend tightly. "Okay, so, that was pretty cool! But, you have to wonder, why is it exactly that Naruto needs a private doctor to come check up on him? Because that's who that guy is, right?"
"And from what it seems like, this might be a frequent occurrence. Maybe a few times a week."
"I can't believe no one's noticed this one yet." Sakura had this odd, satisfied grin on her face, like they had just discovered gold. "Do you have any ideas? I don't know if I've said this yet, but I'm thinking that Naruto might have some sort of weird condition, maybe a learning disability. But that wouldn't explain a physical examination—that's what that was, right?"
"Y-yes."
Pacing, Sakura scratched her elbow as Hinata sat down on Sakura's bed.
"Well, maybe it's something else. Do you think maybe it's some sort of disease?"
Hinata's heart sank. Her mind was going through the same thoughts as Sakura's, yet she saw that they were already looking at this in two different lights. How was this any of their business in the first place, and why would it matter? If Naruto was sick, be it mentally or physically, it would be up to him to tell everyone. It wasn't and shouldn't be Sakura's personal mission to figure it out by herself.
"Sakura…don't you think we should just forget about this for right now?"
Sakura stopped pacing. "Huh?"
"Um… i-it's just… I feel like we're really violating Naruto's privacy here. It's none of our business, whatever is going on with him. And he's only been here for, what, two weeks? Maybe we can just wait and see if he'll open up to us." Green eyes blinked rapidly, as if having discovered something totally unbelievable. "S-sorry… I just…I don't know."
Shoulder's slumping down, Sakura sighed. "You know, you're right. This is pretty wrong. I guess I'm getting a little bit carried away." Hinata gave Sakura a half-smile. "God, thanks for pointing it out Hinata. Really. Before I did anything stupider. I feel like such a creep now. Did I really just stalk Naruto?"
"Just a little."
The pink-haired girl threw herself onto her bed with a groan.
…
Naruto liked the idea of doing this every weekend, regardless of anything Dr. Nguyen said.
It was the exact same group from last week, much to his delight. Seeing the girls, especially Sakura, all dressed up, was truly the cherry on top. When they all got into the car, Naruto stole Kiba's beer, and Ino ended up getting everyone, save for Sakura and Hinata, their own little joint. Despite that, however, Sakura and Hinata sang along with everyone else when Kiba turned up the radio, and by the time they had gotten to the bar, everyone's throats were equally sore, even Shikamaru's. This time, Naruto got through six shots before they all headed out to the parking lot, asking Hinata to drive them to this week's party.
"It's just on the corner of Carlton and Marsh, we can't miss it—it's a big house!" Ino instructed as they headed to the car. She was the only one who noticed the three men with green scarves walking towards the group. "Hey, hey, hey, gentlemen! Wanna join us for this party?"
"Do you know who y'all are with right now?" One of them asked, voice muffled by the scarf in front of his mouth. A black van pulled up behind them, back doors opening up and revealing more men with green scarves.
"Ew, what are you guys, in a gang or something? C'mon guys, let's go—
There was a deafening pop. The earth seemed to stop spinning entirely.
Everyone watched in horror as Ino collapsed to the ground, clutching her stomach. A deep, red spot grew where her hand was.
Hinata let out a shrill scream before Sakura jumped to her roommate's side, heart pounding. The men with green scarves were now surrounding the students, all with guns drawn. Naruto's ears began to hum with a familiar sound, his head spinning as adrenaline began to pump through his veins.
"Come with us so we may cleanse you of the Devil's presence," one of the men shouted.
"What the hell are you fuckers talking about? You just shot her!" Sakura screamed back, hands shaking. "She could die! Shikamaru, call 911!"
"No! No phones! If any of you make a call," one of the men grabbed Hinata, who let out another scream. "She's going to be sent straight to hell."
"What the fuck is wrong with you people?!" Sakura's eyes were filling with tears. Naruto gulped as he counted how many guns were being pointed at everyone. He had never been trained for a situation like this. He would act, but he didn't know how.
"Who are you?!" It was odd that there was no one else around. Hadn't anyone in the bar heard what had just happened?
One of them men motioned at Naruto with his gun. "You. Come with us, or the girl is done for."
"W-what?!"
"Shut up, Sakura." Naruto commanded, never once looking at her. Her eye twitched a bit. "I'm the reason you're all here?" I thought that this whole thing was supposed to be "top-secret". Naruto almost laughed, thinking about all the lengths everyone who had been involved in the project always reminded each other of this. In fact, at some point on the base, it had become somewhat of a joke. Funny, it really was pathetic how well kept this secret was.
"Our Family means to save your soul, boy. Come with us peacefully and this won't be so hard."
Naruto spied Ino, still bleeding, on the ground. Kiba was frozen against his car, his hand still in his pocket. Shikamaru was also next to Sakura, kneeling beside Ino, hands pressed against her stomach, black eyes darting back and forth between assailants and Naruto. Hinata silently sobbed as a gun was held against her skull. She gasped, shutting her eyes tightly.
Where the hell was anyone else in this town?
"Fine. Just leave everyone else alone. Okay?" Naruto raised his arms. "I'll go with you all."
"Naruto, what the hell is going on?!" Sakura demanded.
"Sakura, shut up." Naruto glared daggers at the girl. "Just trust me on this, okay?" Tears spilled from her green eyes as the men let go of Hinata, who collapsed onto the ground, shaking furiously. All of the men lowered their guns, grabbing Naruto's arms as they pulled him to the black van. Before they pushed him in, he saw that Kiba pulled out his phone and had already dialed 911, frantically begging for help. There was a bit of relief when he saw that, and a small voice in the back of his mind told him that the others—his friends—would be just fine.
When they pulled a black sack over Naruto's head, though, he wasn't all too sure if the same could be said bout him.
