Ruptured Life by Kael

Chapter 2


They continued driving silently for a couple hours after their original rush– silent meaning no actual interaction between them...at all.

You could now see the sun just beginning to rise from the east, golden light cascading through the trees as they drove past a small town. No, I mean a really small town– as in three houses in the general vicinity of each other. Sasuke sighed, they were now officially in the middle of no where.

Completely ignoring the breath taking 'Middle Of No Where' sunrise, the Uchiha brothers stared blankly at the road ahead of them, both absorbed in their own thoughts. That is– until Itachi's cell phone started ringing...

...and ringing...

...and ringing...

...and ringing...

Itachi flipped open the phone– recognizing the caller ID, he pressed talk.

"ITACHI! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Shouted an enraged Kisame through the phone, making both Uchiha's ears ring.

"Calm down, Kisame. I'm just now entering Sand country." said Itachi in the most monotone voice Sasuke had ever heard his brother use.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BAD THINGS HAVE GOTTEN?! ...WAIT! DO YOU HAVE SASUKE?!" Kisame shouted, suddenly ready to assume the worst.

"Yes, Kisame. Sasuke is sitting right next to me. Would you like to talk to him?" Itachi said, still in monotone.

Sasuke was now watching his brother with interest as he spoke to Kisame– wishing he knew what they were talking about.

"No, that's okay. As long as the brat's alright."

"He's fine. So would you care to explain how bad things have gotten?" Itachi said, a frown marring his features.

"Zetsu has a bullet in his shoulder, Sasori's house burned to the ground...and..." Kisame left off.

"And?" Itachi prodded.

"...I'm...I'm lost..." Admitted Kisame quietly.

"What was that?" asked Itachi, slightly mocking. "I couldn't quite hear you...perhaps if you said that louder."

"I'M LOST!" Shouted Kisame, obviously more than a little embarrassed by his admission.

"Alright Kisame, what is the nearest thing to you?"


Somewhere of unknown precedence Kisame squinted out his wind shield...to either side...and behind him...

Sand. Desert. Sand. Desert. And more Sand.

"A large sand dune slightly to my left."

"Is there anything else?...A road maybe?" Inquired Itachi, with a hint of sarcasm.

"No...just the sand dune...and my tire tra—nope...no tire tracks either..." Said Kisame, slumping in his seat.

Chucking on the other end, Itachi answered," You– my friend are in the middle of sand country. Congratulations."

"Gee thanks, I owe you a bunch. Now how do I get out of here?" asked Kisame, feeling rather grateful to have such a wonderful friend as Itachi.

"Just keep driving in any direction until you find civilization again. It shouldn't be too hard to ask directions from there." explain Itachi.

"Alright." Agreed Kisame, driving straight ahead. "So where is the meeting place?"

"I don't know Kisame. Why don't you call the others, figure it out, and then call me back, okay?" suggested Itachi, again using his deadpan voice.

"Alright. Now in the mean time, stop somewhere and buy the kid some breakfast."

"Okay, talk to you later." Click.

Click.

Sighing, Kisame kept driving in a straight line...or at least what he hoped was a straight line. Up a sand dune...down the sand dune. Up the sand dune...down the sand dune. Up the sand dune...down the sand dune. Drive for a bit...up another sand dune...

Kisame sighed. This could take some time getting to that civilization Itachi spoke of.


It was now about 5 am in Sand country, and Sasuke was officially bored. It had been about an hour since they passed anything that resembled a building, let alone a town. So once again– he attempted to question Itachi on their little escapade.

"Itachi...where are we going?" asked Sasuke, boredom dripping from his every word.

"I don't know Sasuke– as soon as Kisame calls back, we might have a semblance of an idea." explained Itachi, his eyes still on the road.

"Okay...where are we...now?"

"Umm...you know, that is a very good question. My guess would be that we are in Sand country...somewhere."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"You mean to tell me that you have no idea were we are?" asked Sasuke incredulously.

"I didn't say that...I said we're in sand country."

"No you didn't...you said that would be your guess. You have no idea where we are!" accused Sasuke.

"Not true! We are heading North West, and we came from South East. Therefore we are either in sand, or almost there. But for the fact that there is so much sand on either side of us– I would have to say that we are in sand!" Emphasized Itachi.

"...how do you know we're heading North East?" retorted Sasuke, not believing his brother.

"..."

"We're lost...aren't we?"

"No...we've just deterred from our original way, and are taking a slight detour." explained Itachi, defensively.

"Ah huh...sure, Itachi, whatever you say." Sasuke answered, leaning his head against the tinted window, suddenly very tired.

"Hey, Itachi?" asked Sasuke.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you get me up at one am this morning?" He asked drowsily.

Glancing over at his younger brother, Itachi noticed just how exhausted Sasuke was. He'd come home an hour after midnight, backed their things, and left. Sasuke must have been exhausted to begin with because it had been Friday night. The end of the week was always a tiring time for Sasuke.

"Get some rest, and I'll tell you when you wake up." Itachi said quietly.

Sasuke yawned, closed his eyes, and drifted into a deprived slumber.

Itachi watched as Sasuke fell asleep, feeling regret for the dangerous situation he had just placed his younger brother into. Orochimaru was not a nice person. Getting involved with that man was a one way ticket to hell. Name any crime, Orochimaru had committed it. Name any drug, Orochimaru sold it. Look at someone who passes you on the street– more than likely that person has had either a direct or indirect affiliation with him. Orochimaru would torture people for his own enjoyment, and Itachi had just dangled Sasuke in front of his nose.

Maybe things would miraculously get better?

He highly doubted it.


Sasuke was suddenly startled awake by the ringing of Itachi's phone.

It rang...

Sasuke groaned as Itachi didn't pick it up. In his half asleep daze, he reached for the phone, and flipped it open.

"Hello?" He asked somewhat groggily.

"...hello." answered what could only be described as a slimy voice.

"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded, realizing that this man was clearly not one of Itachi's friends.

"...and who might you be, surely not Itachi." the man said.

"...no..." Sasuke answered cautiously.

"...Might I know a name?..."

"What is your business with my brother?" demanded Sasuke.

" Your brother... Well, this is quite a development... Sasuke? I presume." inquired the snake– for Sasuke had already deemed him to be one.

Now he was rather suspicious, how did this man know him?

"...How do you know my name?"

The snake chuckled– as the man spoke, Sasuke could help but shiver at the danger dripping off his next words.

"That is not important. You see, Itachi has fallen into some trouble as of late, and I'm having difficulty locating him...You wouldn't happen to know where he is...would you?"

Sasuke was panicking now– why would his brother be in trouble. Who was this person trying to find him? His mind immediately went back to the fact that Itachi had roused him at the ungodly hour of one am to pack their things and leave. But information wasn't liable unless you knew the source.

"Who are you?" he nearly whispered.

The man chuckled again.

"My name is Orochimaru, I do hope we will meet in the near future..." Orochimaru hissed.

Sasuke nearly dropped the phone, he was so utterly afraid. Orochimaru– whoever he was had a voice that promised suffering. Death.

Trembling, he brought the phone back to this ear. He gulped.

"I'm s-sorry, I h-have t-to go now. Bye!" he stammered, slamming the flip-phone shut. He threw it onto Itachi's seat, and brought his knees to his chest, trying to rid his mind of that chilling voice. He was still trembling– he wanted more than anything to know where Itachi was.

Where was Itachi anyway?


Meanwhile, just over the next sand dune Kisame and Itachi where having a heated argument about where the car was, and just how stupid the sand dunes were. Both were standing right in front of what was once Kisame's car, that was now smoking piles of scrap metal.

"Kisame, are you sure this is the right way?" asked Itachi for what seemed the hundredth time.

"No I'm not, Itachi, I'm just as lost as you are!"

"I am not lost, I have just deterred from my original path, and am taking a slight detour. I am completely aware of where I am." Defended Itachi, who hated not being in complete control.

"Sure Itachi, so then where are we?"

"A short distance away from the car, all I did was walk over the sand dune to see your exploded car refuse."

"The only reason my car exploded was because of the stupid sand dunes! Why does there have to be so many frick'in sand dunes? Why can they just change the scenery every once in a while? I swear! I went over at least five hundred of those stupid things!" Kisame ranted.

"You counted?" Asked a skeptical Itachi, eyebrow raised.

"...no, I lost track at 172." admitted Kisame.

"Are you sure you lost count or is it that you just can't count past 172?" asked a smirking Itachi.

There was a silence were you practically see Kisame's eyes flashing as he stomped over to Itachi. Making eye contact, Kisame's face was about five centimeters away from Itachi's.

"I'm not stupid, Itachi, you said to head toward civilization, SO I DID!" exploded Kisame. Sighing, he glanced toward the wreckage of his car, only to see mini dunes instead of the large pile of scrap metal.

"SHIT! Now you can't even see the remains!" Shouted Kisame in frustration.

Itachi let out a sigh, "Alright, let's find my car, already. Kisame, why don't you go to the top of that sand dune and look from up there, and I'll look down here."

"Okay." grumbled Kisame, stumbling up the steep sand hill. Kisame is a rather large guy, so he made a funny picture stumbling up said steep sand hill. So when he reached the top, practically breathless, and still huffing, raise his hand to block the sun as he surveyed the surroundings, he looked like a shark having an asthma attack on top of a sand dune.

He frowned, turning back to Itachi, who was still at the base of the sand dune, he shouted, "ITACHI! I CAN'T SE—" he was interrupted as his foot caught in the sand when he turned to find Itachi, and he was jerked back onto the dune. In his confusion, Kisame started to roll down the opposite side of the dune, and as it was a rather large dune, he started to pick up speed. As he rolled down the hill, he opened his mouth to let out a rather strangled scream, also managing to get a mouthful of sand in the process. He continued rolling, coughing out sand, picking up speed, and screaming at random turns, until he abruptly ran into something very, very hard.


Inside the car, Sasuke screamed as a face print made itself known on Itachi's side of the car accompanied by a loud 'CRACK!'
Kisame groaned, extricating his face from the side of Itachi's car.

"...Itachi...I think I found your car..."


"ITACHI! I CAN'T SE—" Came Kisame's voice, suddenly cut off.

Itachi turned to look for Kisame, but he wasn't on the dune anymore.

Then came a scream. A scream that rather resembled a cough, hack, scream, cough, cough. Yeah, that was it. So Itachi went to investigate, climbing the dune with ease.

CRACK!

Wait! Was that Sasuke? Why did he scream?

Finally reaching the top, Itachi could barely hold in his fits of laughter as Kisame struggled to pull his head out from a box shaped dune.

"Pfft!" Itachi struggled to remain indifferent, but it wasn't working.

Itachi looked like he was having a convulsion before finally bursting out laughing at Kisame's dazed look. (Alright so Itachi's a bit OC, but wouldn't you be too?)

"SHUT UP ITACHI!" Hollered a sand covered Kisame, indignantly from his sitting place beside the car-shaped dune.

Itachi was still fighting giggles as he made his way down the steep sand hill, shaking his head in amusement.

"Honestly Kisame, you can't even locate a car without having some mishap." Gloated Itachi.

"Th'SHUT UP! Be'th'ides I think I th'auma'th'ized your brother, I'th'hachi. OI, GAKI! YOU TH'IN TH'ERE?!" Shouted Kisame in an attempt to connect with Sasuke.


Inside the car, Sasuke was trying his hardest not to look at the indentation to his left.

"...OI, GAKI! YOU TH'IN TH'ERE?!" Yelled a voice that he vaguely recognized as Kisame's.

Sasuke had gone kind of into a panic, because Itachi was gone, some weird guy had called him, and now all the windows had been covered in sand. Not to mention the large indentation!

"YEAH!" He yelled back.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Hollered a voice he now recognized as Itachi's.

"I'M FINE!"


Itachi looked at Kisame strangely, frowning, "Kisame, why are you talking like that?"

"I got th'and on mah th'ounge."

"Oh. HEY SASUKE, CAN YOU OPEN YOUR DOOR?" yelled Itachi.

On the other side of the car-shaped dune came the sound of falling sand, and then–

"Ah!!"

They ran to the other side, Kisame still muttering.

They could clearly see the opened door, but all you could see of Sasuke was a flailing arm and leg sticking out of a pile of sand.

Itachi quickly rescued his younger brother from the sand, at which time Sasuke proceeded to cling to his brother– refusing to let go of his grip around Itachi's waist.

"Where did you go?" demanded Sasuke, still a bit traumatized.

Itachi sighed. "Kisame's car exploded, so I had to go get him."

Sasuke nodded, understanding. Then he turned his attention to Kisame who was muttering away a few feet away from the brothers.

"Th'tupid th'and, can't th'wim in the th'tupid th'and..." Kisame muttered.

"Kisame, why are you talking like that?" asked Sasuke, puzzled.

"I got th'and on my th'ounge." grumbled Kisame.

"Did you just say you got sand on your thong?" asked Sasuke incredulously.

"NO!!"

Shaking his head, Itachi explained, "Kisame got sand in his mouth, Sasuke."

"Oh."

"Alright Kisame, get in the back, and we'll leave." said Itachi.

And with that Kisame clambered into the back, and Sasuke in the passenger seat. Itachi was just getting in when he noticed he would sit on his cell phone.

Stopping, he asked Sasuke about it, "Sasuke, why is my cell phone on my seat?"

Almost immediately, Sasuke looked troubled, "um...someone called."

"Who?"

Sasuke swallowed.

"Sasuke. Tell me."

"A...man called asking for you...he...he called himself Orochimaru..." admitted Sasuke.

Itachi stiffened. "What did you tell him?" he demanded.

"He asked me where you where...I hung up...He knew who I was, Itachi...how does he know?" inquired Sasuke.

"SHIT!" cursed Itachi. If Orochimaru had talked to his otouto, he ought to have figured out that Itachi had taken him along. Damn! Orochimaru wasn't stupid, he'd find out a way to cause them pain, and soon.

Itachi let out a sigh. He started the car, and drove back the way they had come.

He'd think of a way out of this somehow– he had to.

Anyhow, until then he'd just have to protect Sasuke by going into hiding.

Why hadn't he just taken the cell phone with him. That would have solved this problem, and Orochimaru wouldn't have had the slightest idea to where Itachi had hidden his little brother. But no, Orochimaru was now fully aware of were Sasuke was– find Itachi, find Sasuke.

Oh well, right now he had to concentrate on getting together with the rest of Akatsuki.

Itachi smirked, his gang of murderers, and skilled fighters were by far a safer environment to survive in than this.

Just you wait Orochimaru, you'll never get your hands on Sasuke.


Hey Minna!

So here's Chapter 2! How is it? Good? Okay? Anyway, in a future update I will be giving Leader-sama in the Akatsuki a name, like a real name? Poste your suggestions! It has to be a Japanese name...sorry, can't be American. You can't name a leader of a dangerous gang Jeff...it just doesn't work. Anyway, feel free to comment!

Ja ne,

Kael