Hello everybody and here's another chapter to "My Life for Hire." I'm sorry for the looooooong wait but I have been busy with college and work. This chapter may leave you with a lot of questions but they will be answered later on within the story. Now on with said story.

If I haven't clarified it yet then I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with the series. If I did magical things would happen.

Chapter 3: Destruction at Its Finest

"Shit."Naruto mumbled under his breath as he was currently hiding behind an already damaged pillar. He took one look at himself and noticed the damage that was brought upon him from the attack that instigated this battle. Pieces of shrapnel were lodged into his legs and arms and there was no doubt that he had a broken rib or two. To make matters worse, his weapon was still on the other side of the room and unless he wanted to be blown to pieces, there was no possible way of getting to it.

"Come on Uzumaki!" Deidara yelled as he laughed maniacally, "You surely can put up more of a fight than this!"

The bastard was still situated at the center of the room and in no way was he trying to look for his enemy. 'He's messing with me…' Naruto thought while trying to ignore the physical pain that engulfed his body. Since that crazed maniac was unaware of his current position, now was the time to formulate a plan and almost instantly did one come to his head as his hand rested on his knife.

'Let's hope this works, because if not them I'm completely screwed.' Slowly, he pulled the knife out of its sheath and stoop up with his eyes on Deidara. "Hey! Lunatic!"

Said person whipped around and found his target only a few feet away from him, "So you decided to come out of hiding!" As soon as those words left his mouth, the Akatsuki member already through a grenade. Expecting such a thing, Naruto instantly threw his knife. What happened next surprised both members of the battle-scarred room. The handle of the knife and the grenade collided causing both objects to be sent back to their owner with less force than before. The Grenade landed only a couple feet away from Deidara and as a reaction he turned to roll out of the way. Unfortunately for him, the grenade exploded during mid-roll, forcing his body to be flung in the air.

Naruto's combat knife had hit the ground and slid until making a stop only few inches ahead of him. He was amazed that his plan had actually worked, but all thoughts of celebration flew out the window as the grenade that was previously deflected, exploded. The force of the reaction was more than expected and consequently Naruto was thrown off his feet…with the tip of his knife following in close behind. For the second time during this battle, his back hit off of the rooms many walls. Pain instantly made itself noticeable throughout his body and not even a millisecond later did it intensify tenfold. Looking down, the blonde spotted his own knife impaled through his stomach. Slowly, did he slide down the wall until he the ground and lackadaisically did blood start pouring out from his wound.

"Damn…it" He said, not above a whisper. He forced his gaze upward and saw his enemy on the other side of the room trying to pull himself up.

Though his vision was blurred intensely and his body screamed in pain, Naruto slowly began to stand. In a sloth like manner, he began to walk toward his enemy and as far as he could see, the explosives expert was losing just as much blood as he was.

Deidara got hit with the full force of the explosion which no doubt caused the bones in his back to fracture or break. Not only that, but the shrapnel from the object was implanted within his back as well, causing lacerations and possible internal bleeding.

Reaching the body of his enemy, the sapphire-eyed teen grabbed him by his collar and lifted him off the ground. "Now you're going to tell me what your organization is planning." He growled.

Deidara elicited a dark chuckle, "Looks like your dying." He said as he observed his fellow blonde.

"I could say the same to you." The teen ground out through clenched teeth. The pain was getting worse and he was losing blood by the second. Taking one hand off of Deidara's collar, he grabbed the knife that impaled his stomach and slowly pulled it out, only for it to drop to the floor with a 'clank.' "Now tell me! What are you guys planning?"

"I think it's time for the grand finale." The Akatsuki member responded with another chuckle. "I think you remember the little device I had in my hand earlier?" Slowly, he lifted both of his hands up to reveal that he had no such device in his hand.

Naruto's eyes widened significantly and the sound of the explosives in the surrounding rooms began to beep rapidly. Using his remaining strength he threw his enemy toward the ground and bolted toward the only exit, which was the door leading to the stairwell. Just before he could grab the handle and open it, the ordinance detonated and the force of the explosion caused the blonde to be thrown through the designated door. His back hit off of the wall of stairwell and he forcefully rolled down a single flight of steps.

This time his mind slipped into unconsciousness and the last thing he saw were flames roaring out of the doorway he was previously blasted through.

….

"What the hell!" Sasuke yelled as he gazed upon the tall structure known as Kogata Buki. The top of the serene building was now a blaze as an explosion unceremoniously erupted from it. The explosion rocked the whole city and the once happy civilians that littered the streets were now panicking and scrambling to get out of the area.

"The client is in there!" Sakura yelled, snapping her teammate out of his stupor. Both soldiers hastily grabbed their equipment and shot out of their parked vehicle.

The teammates sprinted into the building while pushing and shoving the panicked employees out of the way. Spotting a stairwell, they instantly ran in and up the stairs while noting that it was becoming harder to breathe. Only after a few minutes did they reach the top and Sasuke forcefully kicked down the door.

They were greeted with the sight of total destruction as the floor's roof was blown clean off, giving both soldiers a clear view of blue sky. There were small flames throughout the middle of the room while the rooms that surrounded said area were ignited in the deadly force of nature.

"Sakura look." The dark-haired team almost shouted as he pointed toward the ground. The pinkette did as she was told and looked at the battle-scarred floor only to find small puddles of blood that formed into a trail.

"It leads into the fire escape." She concluded.

"Alright, you check the area for any evidence of what triggered the explosion; I'll follow the trail and see where it ends." The pinkette gave a slight nod showing that she understood and the both of them started on their objectives.

Sakura began her investigation by checking the brightly lit rooms that surrounded the area. As she surveyed each room from its doorway, she spotted fragments of shrapnel that probably originated from detonated grenades. The next area she observed was the middle room itself and to her surprise, she spotted a knife that was imbedded in one of the walls. She slowly walked up to the object and with one hand she dislodged the weapon from its prison. Examining the blade she found that there was fresh blood on it and such liquid went all the way down to the weapons handle.

"Sakura! Get down here now!" Came the terrified voice of her comrade. With speed she didn't know she had, she quickly ran into the fire escape and down the stairs. What she saw next made her heart stop; lying there in a pool of his own blood was the one man she thought she'd never see again.

"Don't just stand there; we need to help him!" Sasuke yelled in frustration. "Help me pick him up so we can get him back to the safe house!"

Sakura, in response, nodded as she was not able to form words. Carefully, the both of them hoisted there unconscious ex-teammate onto his feet while wrapping one of his arms around their shoulders and carried him to their car.

….

Naruto groggily opened one eye and immediately shut it due to the sun's rays shining directly onto his face. He tried to roll over on his side but found it difficult to do so as pain made itself noticeable on his abdomen. Once again, he tried to open his eyes and found success in doing so as he scanned his surroundings.

'Where the hell am I?' This place didn't seem familiar at all; it wasn't a hospital that's for sure, as everything in the room wasn't painted white and it didn't look like a prison cell. This room was more like a bedroom, there was a dresser parallel to the bed with a TV hanging right over it and there was a bathroom that was adjacent to the room's doorway.

Unexpectedly, the bedrooms door swung open and in came a person that made the blonde's eyes widen slightly.

"I see you're awake, dobe."

All feeling of surprise left Naruto's body as quickly as it came and his eyes narrowed out of malice, "Where am I?" his tone was low and filled with anger.

"All you need to know is that you're safe." The dark-haired boy stated simply. "Now you should rest; we'll be heading back to Konoha by tomorrow morning."

"Unfortunately for you, I'm not going." Naruto sternly said as he tried to sit up, but found it hard to do so thanks to his injuries. "I still have a mission to complete," he said through clenched teeth as he slowly but surely managed to sit up straight.

Sasuke released a sigh and opted to lean his back against the doorway he was currently standing under, "I see you're still a stubborn idiot." He said in an antagonizing nature; this notion was something Sasuke would do on a normal basis back when they were an official team and he was hoping the simple insult would rile something deep inside the blonde. Unfortunately for him, that was not the case.

"I'm a mercenary Sasuke…and I have certain obligations to meet." Naruto pulled the covers from his legs and allowed his feet to touch the cold hardwood floor. "Now, where is my equipment?"

Crossing his arms, Sasuke chose to answer his question, "All of your things are in the next room."

Nodding his head, the blonde slowly stood up and made his way to the designated area which was a small living room and to the right of the male was the closet he was told of. Almost absentmindedly, he opened the closet and began putting his gear on. With pain shooting up his torso, he put on a white tea-shirt, which covered up the injuries on his back and his bandaged chest. Next, he put on jeans that were outfitted with anti-shrapnel material and finally he topped off his clothing set with his combat boots.

"You and I both know you shouldn't continue this mission." Sasuke said abruptly, causing Naruto to turn around and stare at him. The charcoal-eyed soldier couldn't read or find any emotions through the blonde's gaze…and that was disturbing.

"That's where you're wrong." Naruto responded in a neutral tone. He didn't speak any further for there was nothing else to say. Both he and his ex-teammate lead different lives and in the blonde's opinion, that's what Sasuke had to understand. "You and Haruno go back to Konoha and tell Tsunade that I don't need any help."

"How do you know that she's with me?" Sasuke's eyes widened momentarily before returning back to their original state.

"I'm not the same idiot that I was before." Naruto said as he strapped an ammo pouch to his left thigh, "If the Hokage sent you then I know she would send Sakura as well." He proceeded to strap another ammo pouch to his right leg, putting it in the same place as the previous one. "Now tell me," he continued, "Before you found me, did you discover a body in the aftermath of the explosion?"

Sasuke's face contorted into confusion for a mere second before he answered the question with a simple, "No."

"Then he must have escaped." Just when the blonde thought he had killed another member of the Akatsuki, he was proven wrong. Now the consequences of Deidara being alive were dangerous as he would more than likely want a rematch of their destructive battle. Even more consequential was the fact that his cover could be blown if such an event were to take place. "Go back to Konoha, Sasuke." He commanded in the same neutral tone as before, "I don't need your help and neither will I with missions to come."

"You're being stubborn!" came a voice from the hall way that ran past the room that both teens were currently in. Not more than a second later did the pinkette known as Sakura appear in the doorway. Naruto's expression completely turned ice cold and no emotions could be read through his abnormally dark blue eyes. Upon seeing such abnormality with the blonde, Sakura's rebel words were caught in the back of her throat.

Catching on to the female's predicament, Naruto immediately spoke up, "You two will leave and discontinue your mission," his eyes shifted from Sakura, back to Sasuke, "As I said before, tell Tsunade that I don't need any help with this mission." Once again his gaze reverted back to the pinkette in the doorway, "I need to leave and report back to my informant-"

A beam of light instantly hit the mercenary's eye which forced him to discontinue his sentence. Quickly, he turned his head toward the only window in the room and not too far out from the house did he spot a person who from the looks of it had a scoped weapon. Acting on instinct, words targeted toward his old teammates blurted from his mouth, "Get out of the room!"

Almost instantaneously did the sound of a controlled explosion it his ears and at that moment did he rush toward the door and push both Sasuke and Sakura from the proximity of the room. A Rocket propelled grenade busted through the window and hit the left side of the bed head on, causing the belongings and walls of the room to be blown to pieces in a sporadic explosion. The force of the chemical reaction caused Naruto's body to be flung in mid-air for a short distance before he hit the wall of the houses' hallway.

Holding back a yell, his back ricocheted off the wall and he fell to the ground. With a growl of irritation, the blonde forced himself up and immediately looked around for the other two occupants of the structure. He found Sasuke picking himself up and grabbing his sidearm from his holster while Sakura mimicked the Uchiha but instead, reached for her bull pup assault rifle that was strapped to her torso. Both soldiers of Konoha instantly ran left of the hallway and fell back into a seemingly larger room.

Naruto followed close behind and instantly took cover behind a counter that was facing the way of which the RPG was shot from. Again, another controlled explosion was heard and almost instantly did another rocket make contact with the room that Naruto was hospitalized in.

"We need to get out of this house ASAP or we'll all be dead by the time we get a chance to spot the enemy!" the blonde yelled. The two other occupants of the house nodded and quickly reacted to Naruto's demand as they bolted out of the house's front door. The blue-eyed teen himself sprang into action and followed suit and as soon as he got outside, he spotted his two ex-teammates behind a large bolder that was opposing the attacker's direction. He quickly ran over to them and slid into cover whilst breathing heavily due to un-healed injuries.

Taking a moment to catch his breath Naruto finally began to speak in a quiet tone, "The both of you listen to me…leave, now. I'll take care of whoever is attacking us, which will provide you time to escape in whatever vehicle you have.

"But what about you?" Sakura asked in a worried tone, "We can't just leave you here; you're our team-"

"Was your teammate," he interrupted, "And there's no time to argue about this. Whoever is attacking us is well hidden and we have yet to spot him. Hopefully, he's thinking that we're still inside the house."

"What happens if there are multiple hostiles and not just one?" This time Sasuke asked a question, slight worry was laced in his tone as well.

"If that's the case then I'll have to come up with a new plan…" the blonde stated as he released a quiet sigh, "Now go!"

Both soldiers of Konoha looked at each other as if debating on following through with their comrade's demands or defying his request and staying to help him. Only a few seconds later did both of them make their minds up and quietly stood from their crouched position in order to take off. Sasuke was the first to leave, sprinting toward the front of the lot which more than likely led to the vehicle they had. On the other hand, Sakura stayed behind for a few more seconds and stared at the mercenary with almost a pleading look before she finally forced herself to follow her fellow soldier. Before disappearing into the brush she reverberated a sentence loud enough for the blonde to hear.

"Please don't die." The tone of her voice matched that of the look she had on her face prior to running off.

Naruto heaved another large sigh as he prepared himself to run back toward the house to grab his remaining belongings. Counting to three in his head, he bolted up straight and putting every ounce of energy in his legs, he sprinted toward the house. As soon as he reached the front door, another rocket was set off, causing him to dive through doorway. 'Phew, that was a close one.' He thought as the rocket would have hit him dead on if it were not for the action he successfully pulled off. With haste, he ran back into the room he was in before the first rocket was set off and found that the closet that contained his gear was still intact. Once again, another rocket was fired and with speed he didn't know he had, Naruto grabbed his weapon and dashed out of the room. The RPG hit spot on and completely obliterated that area of the house, causing the buildings structure to weaken and become more fragile.

'Another rocket will definitely cause this place to collapse; I need to get out of here.' Following through with his initial thought he ran back out of the house and took cover behind the same boulder he was previously at. Whoever was shooting at him was well hidden and no doubt he or she was an expert with such heavy ordinance.

The area surrounding the safe house could be definitely labeled as forest which in turn, made it ten times harder to spot the enemy, especially if he/she sported a ghillie suit and if the person was smart he/she would switch positions after discharging there weapon in order prevent themselves from being detected.

'I'm going to have to see where the weapon will discharge next…and that means running out in the open…great.' With a deep breath the blonde prepared himself before he ran out in plain sight, and as predicted the assailant shot a rocket from his/her hiding place.

Instantly, Naruto changed the direction in which he was running and made his way toward where the weapon was discharged. Due to his keen eye and perception, he saw the slight movement of an arm before it disappeared. 'The arm seemed to be directed toward the left…'

The blonde ran into the bushes and quickly bolted left in pursuit of his attacker. Only a few seconds into the pursuit did he hear the breaking of a twig and almost abruptly did he stop. Swinging around on his foot he spotted the large weapon that he labeled earlier being pointed at his being. The person holding the weapon was indeed outfitted in a ghillie suit with a balaclava covering his/her face.

Naruto's nervousness was indeed displayed on his face but only slightly, "Who are you?" he growled.

"That…is none of your concern." The voice was that of a female.

The blonde's eyes narrowed, "You do know if you shoot that at this distance then you will die as well." The culprit did not respond, "That's the consequence of having ordinance like that; it's useless in close range combat."

Without hesitation Naruto leaped forward and grabbed the weapon by its neck and proceeded to lift it upward. As a reaction to such a move the woman accidently discharged the weapon causing the rocket to shoot off into the sky. In an instantaneous manner, the blue-eyed mercenary let go of the weapon and swept his enemy off of her feet with his right leg. Kneeling down, he brought his knife to her neck, "Now…are you going to tell me who you are?"

"If you're planning to scare me," she stated, "then you should try harder; I'm not afraid to die."

"Then I'll have to take you back to Konoha in order for you to meet someone that'll make you beg for death." Naruto said with malice.

Here's chapter 3 and once again I apologize for the long long wait. As I said at the beginning of this chapter, you may have a lot of questions and concerns about the plot or what not but they will be answered and nullified later on in the story, but if you do have questions and what not leave a comment and I will respond back. Till next time, folks!