Disclaimer: 'Naruto' is the property of Kishimoto-san and will never belong to me. I possess no talents in manga-drawing and as such could never be an artist capable of producing such a masterpiece. However, I am certain that the plotline is original and subsequently have not plagiarised an idea from any other author on any fanfiction site publishing 'Naruto' stories. Any similarities are by mere coincidence. Also, any non-canon techniques will either belong to me or will be the creations of other authors on this site – I will not be using one without prior permission and will give credit where it is due.
Rated: T (for mentions of suicide, some bad language and quite frequent violence)
Parings: Sasu/Saku, Naru/Hina, platonic Naru/Saku, other minor pairings.
Warning! Total Team Gai crack and minor (as in very minor) angsting at the end of this chapter.
Chapter 4 - Secret! the Blind Sharingan
Tenten hurried through the streets as she searched for her target, though the lack of solid information was infuriating her now. Not for the first time she cursed the lazy nin for not allowing her any knowledge of where to find the madwoman – she'd already checked the Forest of Death for any signs of Anko. With a small manic grin she pondered his fate, ducking through a small crowd of villagers with an apology. She leapt onto a rooftop and paused. Her eyes scanned the sprawl of streets, hunting for signs of purple hair, though none were in sight. Cursing she started to run again, all the while wishing that she had some sort of lead.
As she jumped down into the street she caught a flash of violet in the corner of her eye. She turned and smiled slowly, and with a sort of relief that the long search was finally over.
"Excuse me, Anko-san? Can I… speak with you for a moment? In private?"
Lee loitered next to the doorway, his trained ears carefully sifting through the layers of noise and debate emanating from within. He grinned when the memory of that morning's meeting drifted back, and the dreary seriousness of the air around them.
"Lee-san, we'll need a distraction, something to stop them from finding out about our actions…"
"Yosh!" the green-clad teen responded with a sharp salute, shooting Sakura a dazzling smile. "Konoha's Beautiful Azure Beast will ensure that our work remains undiscovered. If not I shall- mphf!" Tenten had managed to cover his mouth by that point, a bead of sweat trickling down the back of her neck as she apologised with a nervous laugh.
"It's okay, Tenten-san. And Lee, don't get yourself caught whatever you do, okay?""Hmm!"
He sighed despondently, silently lamenting everyone's lack of faith in him as he leant against the doorframe. Inside the arguing reached a fever pitch – it sounded like two of the council members were ready to murder each other, and Rock Lee's mood lightened. He mentally cheered as he prepared – 'If I cannot do this then I shall train my body harder than ever, so that next time I will succeed!' – and burst through the door, making a show of looking round for some enemy threat while proclaiming loudly for the 'enemies' to come out and fight him.
The councillor who had been struck by one of the doors staggered upright, more shocked than hurt, and asked rather bluntly, "What the hell are you doing here?!"
"It is my duty as an active ninja of Konoha to defend her people when they are under attack! The noise from this room must have meant that there was some conflict in here-"
"Lee," warned Tsunade in an angry tone, beginning to rise from her chair; the youth's eyes widened at the sight of her, but not for the reason they should have.
"Ah! but the honourable Hokage-sama is here! No wonder the fiends took flight! How wonderful it must be, for Age to be creeping over people but for their inner Power of Youth to not be extinguished!" His eyes sparkled as he slipped into full rant. Now here was a skill he was good at, at proclaiming the wonders of Youth to the world so they may find their own inner fire, and no manner of threat could get him to leave. At one point he broke into loud, passionate sobs and grabbed the nearest councillor in an inescapable hold; it took a while for three of the older ninja on the council to prise him off the poor man and escort Lee out of the room.
As soon as he was left alone, the faux tears dried and he grinned. Phase 1 of Mission Havoc was complete!
Hyuuga Neji was not happy. Wait, scratch that. Neji was absolutely livid. He almost found himself ready to curse fate, something he had sworn never to do again lest Tenten hail down her wrath in a rain of metal. (Tenten + sharp pointy things - only thing Neji really fears.)
His left eyebrow twitched as another peal of giggles reached him. The Hyuuga genius contemplated his options as he swilled the cold dregs of his tea around in the bottom of the beaker. Fleeing was always an option, although that would incur the fury of his female teammate. On the other hand, staying where he was seemed to be less pleasant every second – curse those foul beings known as 'fan girls'. And to think that he, Hyuuga Neji, was to be reduced to such a state, skulking in a teahouse like a common spy, dredging through the murky depths of Konoha's fathomless gossip mills.
Now he was thinking in metaphors. There really was no hope left for him, he decided with a heavy sigh, before schooling his thoughts back into line. It took little time, though, for his mind to wander again, meandering aimlessly on a complete tangent. He was convinced that some higher power – not fate, Tenten would kill him if he cursed fate – was out to get him.
Conspiracy theories. Maybe this dark agency had replaced Tenten with a flawless replication in order to sell him to these rabid fiends. A pause. Another idea. What if Tenten was in league with said fiends?
He shuddered. Fan-girls were bad enough when unorganised. He didn't want to even entertain the thought of organised fan-girlism. Fan-girls with a leader, one who had in her possession a myriad of sharp pointy steel items, including the usual kunai, shuriken and senbon. And more… unique items. He could just imagine that particular kunoichi waging war on enemies armed with the most innocent seeming of items… for some reason cheese graters sprang to mind…
No. No, he must focus. He was Hyuuga Neji, dammit; he didn't get sidetracked on a mission! Sighing once again he turned his aching, overactive mind back to the trivial chatter around him, and wondered – not for the first time – just how he got into this.
Ino was having the best luck of all of them so far (which, as we've already seen, doesn't say much). She had gained access to the Torture and Interrogation Department within half an hour of starting the 'mission'; now the only problem was one Morino Ibiki, who seemed adamant to be as uncooperative as possible. She had been sat waiting in the foyer for at least an hour now, mulling over the situation they were in without much success. Once or twice she wondered how the others were doing, especially Neji. The jounin had ended up in one of the worst areas for a guy to enter, after all, particularly a hot, single guy. Not that she was insinuating anything.
Then there was Tenten and her search for Anko – since none of them knew her habits, not even the queen of the gossip chains herself, nobody could give her much guidance. Lee had it easy, he just had to be himself. Chouji and Shikamaru had two of the more time-consuming jobs, but they were relatively easy to make up for it. Kiba too – he just had to make sure people stayed away from any tracks they left. Naruto, Shino and Hinata had one of the hardest tasks though, and Sakura. Truth be told, she was glad she was doing this rather than anything else.
"Yamanaka-san?" She nodded and smiled at the young man; he seemed to grow flustered, stumbling over his words until he managed to stutter out, "I-Ibiki-san will… see you now, Miss…?"
"Ino. And thank you!"
She sauntered past the man, deliberately brushing his hand with her own; out of the corner of her eye she saw him blush. He was kinda cute in a way, but too old for her (he must've been in his twenties at least.) Ino smirked slightly as she came to stand in front of the door, knocking lightly on its wooden surface. From within a distracted voice called for her to enter. Her smile receded, replaced by a mask of determination, and she rested a hand on the cool metal handle. 'I hope I can manipulate Ibiki somehow…' she thought as her feet crossed the threshold, into the lion's den.
While the others tackled their respective missions, three figures sat waiting at the base of a tree. It would be a while before they were able to make a move; Naruto was lightly snoring again as he leant against the stout trunk, a kage bunshin perched above his head to keep watch. The people passing them paid little attention, though, too absorbed in their own little worlds as they hurried through their lives to notice the fairly common sight of ninja taking a break from the usual bustle of everyday life.
Hinata fiddled absently with a daisy she'd plucked from the ground. Her pale eyes flickered towards the boy she admired and the slightest hint of a blush crossed her face, though it was mostly hidden by the shadows cast by the overhanging branches, and she quickly glanced away again, staring intently at the ground. For a long while neither she nor her final companion spoke, which suited them fine until the topic had to be broached eventually – Naruto's clone had moved away with the vague promise of returning with food, leaving them alone in the park.
"He has grown," Shino remarked abruptly. The Hyuuga's gaze snapped to her stoical teammate, not expecting him to initiate the conversation, but she responded all the same.
"Naruto-kun's been gone for so long… he's a different person now. He's stronger."
A small portion of Shino's face shifted, the only indication of his feelings on the topic. "Certainly he has matured, and he may put more thought into things than he used to. But it is doubtable and illogical that he has undergone an entire change of personality. The Naruto we remember has just been… turned down a little."
She nodded vaguely, then opened her mouth to speak, decided against it, and quietened again. She was saved from having to make further conversation when the bunshin reappeared, carrying a carrier bag loosely in his left hand and whistling tunelessly. He waved to them, speeding up slightly as Hinata smiled shyly at him (managing not to blush), and placed the bag down between them.
"Managed to get three bento thingies. Wake the real 'me' up; I'll probably be hungry. As for me, I'm off!" He vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving behind no trace except the bag. Shino nodded almost imperceptibly to her as he took the boxes out, and with a nervous gulp Hinata moved a tiny bit closer to their companion, lightly shaking his shoulder.
"Naruto-kun? Naruto-kun, you need to wake up now."
"Wha'… Hinata? What am I doing he- oh yeah." He seemed to be coming round slowly, too tired to think coherently. Hinata took one of the bento boxes and handed it to him wordlessly, before taking her own. With a shared, "Itadakimasu," the three started to eat, Shino turning his face away slightly out of habit. Hinata glanced at the two boys hesitantly, thoughts a whirl inside her head. 'Naruto-kun actually wanted me on this mission… I don't know how I can be of any more use than anyone else, but he chose me.'
"Eh? Hinata, is there something wrong?"
She shook her head, smiling gently as she assured them she was fine; no, there was nothing wrong. The blond seemed unconvinced but let it slide, and she turned back to her thoughts, not doubting her worth on this mission any longer.
'
Sakura stood before the door, a knot tying and untying itself in her throat. Behind her was the daunting presence of two ANBU, assigned to ensure that the Hokage's pupil was not harmed by the nuke-nin within the room, but that fact gave her little comfort. She was uncertain what her reaction would be as soon as she was in there – whether she would be able to uphold her façade or if it would fall away.
"Sakura, you realise that I cannot allow you in there alone for safety reasons, don't you. You still wish to do this?"
"Is it possible for you to wait out here?" she asked softly, directing a quizzical glance at the silent ninja standing nearby; the senior shinobi nodded, never breaking their silence, and both moved to flank the door. With a gulp she grasped the handle, turning it more firmly than she thought she would and stepping inside, closing the door quietly behind her.
"WHAT?! You mean THAT'S your excuse for getting in there?" Ino was almost laughing with nervous tension, teal blue eyes staring at her incredulously. "Sasuke-kun need's a check-up? If I didn't know better I'd say you were mad."
"It's the best I can do at short notice. And anyway, it said in clause 37 of the ninja registry laws, 'even if listed as a nuke-nin, no matter the rank, if captured they are still, by law, a citizen of the village of their origin.' Technically the worst that can happen is another medic will be assigned to it instead of me, and then I'll just have to find a way to break in or something."
The prisoner was sat up, staring blankly out of the window until he heard her entrance. With a frown he turned his head in her direction, dark eyes still unfocussed, but he did not speak. Ignoring him for a moment Sakura consulted a clipboard attached to the wall.
"Hmm… extensive burns, never saw any evidence of those… several deep wounds, potentially life-threatening… leaf-shaped scar on one wrist, looks to be self-inflicted; minute traces of poison found in your bloodstream…" She paused and addressed Sasuke directly for the first time in years. "With all of this it's a miracle you haven't died yet."
The silence that followed her statement was thick and oppressive. Sakura studied his face for any reaction to her words; when she saw none she suppressed a sigh and continued, "The burns could be from anything – an accident, a battle… an assassination attempt," still he was unresponsive, which she took to be a negative, "and those wounds I know about. But that scar, and the poison? I know none of the Oto nin use poisons so…"
She paused, comprehension dawning over her as she turned and demanded, "Uchiha Sasuke, just how many times have you tried to kill yourself?"
"Hn."
This time she did sigh, writing 'suicidal' on the piece of paper. "Since you won't tell me I'm going to have to guess. Two, three times? Five?" After waiting for an answer that was not forthcoming she uttered a short cry of exasperation and threw her hands up in despair. "Why do you have to be so difficult?"
The sharingan flickered to life for a moment as he growled slightly, the most sound he had made all day. "I have no obligation to answer you," he hissed, now red eyes staring directly at her.
"I guess not, huh?" Quashing the hurt that was beginning to rise Sakura checked the papers again. "So… since you're not answering that I'll just have to move on. Do you remember who I am?"
"…"
The pencil scratched across her report as she said out loud, "…possible amnesia; also seems to be a problem with the Sharingan…"
"…Sakura."
She started in surprise at the sound of his voice. The pencil clattered to the floor unheeded as she stared at Sasuke, astonished, and when she found her voice again she feebly joked, "So I can cross that amnesia remark off then. That's good; I hoped it wasn't actually the case, but…"
As if realising that she was rambling she fell silent. He, too, made no effort to speak and once again turned his attention away, out of the window. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for what felt like hours, but a glance at the clock over Sasuke's head informed her otherwise. Again she spoke.
"Sasuke, I'll have to take a quick diagnosis of your eyes, okay?"
The boy seemed to tense, growling slightly at the suggestion – his time alone seemed to have made him slightly feral, she noted with some degree of interest, and hurriedly scribbled that down. Sakura's eyebrows lifted in mock surprise and she asked, with some slight hint of true astonishment (although it was mostly hidden), "Is there some particular reason you don't want me to examine your eyes? Are you worried I'm gonna try and steal their secrets or something?"
"You don't want to know."
Shaking her head in frustration the kunoichi walked closer. "I'm bound by my word as a medic. Oh, and there's a certain phrase I'm thinking of using to describe you, Sasuke. And no, it's not 'traitor' or anything like that, but I think you'll recognise it all the same." She perched herself on the edge of the bed frame and told him, "You're being really, really annoying."
Placing a hand over his eyes before he could react she began to summon chakra to the centre of her palm, carefully sending tendrils to sneak in through the surface and investigate. She was being particularly gentle with this diagnosis – Tsunade-sama had never taught her how to do this so the girl had to pull in other ideas from other areas of her medical experience.
"The iris and cornea are working fine," she muttered in a distracted tone, partly for her patient's benefit. Frowning slightly she sent one probe a little deeper, investigating the inside of the eye with fascination. "There seems to be slight damage to the part which sees colour, but nothing that can't be fixed after some research… I suppose these three extra pupils surface once you activate the Sharingan, and the normal one becomes dormant?" she asked, and Sasuke shrugged. He knew nothing about how the eye worked, it just did.
"Well it does make sense, I suppose. As if it's some sort of genetic mutation, but which is mutually beneficent for the person." She breathed a sigh of relief and announced, "Everything seems to be working, so I guess my fears were unfounded- Kami! What's happened here?"
His body tensed as another probe of chakra joined the first. It was hardly a comfortable sensation, more like the pain when someone pokes red-hot needles into your skin only a little milder, and lasting for a lot longer.
"I've never heard of this before. Erosion of the nerves; something blocking the synapses… it looks like it's tied to that seal but it's of a different nature entirely… like it's got a mind and will of its own." Gnawing on a corner of her lip she drew the tendrils out and started to pace nervously. "Since when has this been happening?" the kunoichi demanded furiously, whirling round to face him.
"Couple of years." He seemed to struggle with himself briefly before drawing in a ragged breath, addressing Sakura in a hesitant voice that was so different to the cold and arrogant Sasuke she knew before. "If you're to understand… you have to know about Zero. Who he is… what he is."
"I'm listening."
He paused again, reached inside himself for an elusive memory. "When I was first marked I started to hear voices, always there, always talking to me," he confessed slowly. "Sometimes they were Orochimaru's, persuasive; sometimes I could hear ka-san and to-san; and sometimes Itachi, both before and after the massacre. As Naruto caught up to me they became angry; I know it wasn't really my family but it sounded so real."
"You wanted their support, huh?"
"Aa. …I found myself wondering – was I doing the right thing? And then, at the Valley of the End, that's where this blindness started-"
He hissed slightly, wrestling with himself as if part of him wanted the secret to remain buried, even though it was mostly uncovered now. Sakura's own mind was whirling as she pieced the fragments of information together. "You said you were Sasuke back then, but Zero was using your identity. And if he's in league with Orochimaru, and you've been out on your own, then the traitor-sannin must've abandoned you when you were no longer worth anything, right? …did Kabuto replicate the eyes or something and implant them into someone else?"
"No." There was a silence, long and thick as both tried to come to terms with the situation; eventually he managed to convey his thoughts to her. "If you were to take a blood sample from Zero… it would be exactly the same as mine."
"I see…" she murmured. 'I didn't know it was possible to make a flesh and blood clone of someone. Hell, I don't even know more than just the basics on DNA and genetics, so its unlikely I'd learn about this soon.' Suddenly a thought struck her; turning to face the prisoner she asked, "With what you've just told me how do I know that you're not Zero?"
"What you're saying is you don't trust me?" he responded in kind. "If I was Zero do you really think I'd be telling you about myself? I thought you were smarter than that."
Neither spoke for a while after his scathing remark, although part of her was unable to ignore the veiled compliment in his words; the only sounds were the clock ticking and the scratch of her pencil over paper. Finally she stood, folding her notes and slipping them inside a pocket. Their eyes met across the room, her jade to the slowly deteriorating sight of his onyx, and all the agony she had felt before entering the room returned in full force.
"Your trial is in two days time, Sasuke. Hopefully we'll have a defence by then but… it depends on whether they listen to us." Drawing a shaky breath she managed a wan smile, even though she was uncertain whether he could see that or not. "All of us… the Konoha Eleven as they call us now… we're on your side," she said. Her fingers reached out for the door handle and as she was about to open it he spoke again, haltingly.
"Sakura… arigato."
Her hand shook slightly as she slipped out of the room, leaving the ghost of a smile behind.
For a long while after her visit Sasuke just sat there, staring blankly at his hands with what sight he still retained. The backs of his eyes were burning again as they usually did after chakra had touched them. He should be used to the pain by now but it was agonising every time it happened, and no matter how many times he suffered it always seemed worse the next time…
His fingers found the scar, long and twisting, and followed it round. It was shaped like a leaf – like the one from the Konoha hitai-ate, ironically enough. He still had enough of his sight to watch as the blood leaked out, the last time he had tried to commit suicide; with a wince he remembered the sudden thrill of terror as he'd realised too late, 'I don't want to die.' But at the same time the only thing he wanted was to be freed from the hell he was trapped in…
Sighing in frustration he turned to the window again, watching the shadowy forms of things that flew past. He'd escaped one prison for a year or so only to get caught in a new one… quite possibly a permanent one.
Owari
Phew! Well, this is officially the longest chapter to date, and today (12th July) I finally got freed from the torture-house known as school! Thank you to all my unwitting teachers who didn't actually know I was writing this instead of doing coursework; I wouldn't have finished this so quickly without you.
Next chapter… hmm. Don't know, I'll have to get back to you on that one. It's kinda weird though, since I've usually got some sort of plan as to what happens next. I might put in the first of my few OCs (who will not end up as Mary-Sues; I'm only having them because of the Chuunin Exams, when they eventually come around) but then again I might not. In other words, I don't have a clue!
Heh-heh… I have officially cracked. Or am on crack. I swear that sugar tasted a little weird… blurble wurble schneep…
/falls sideways off chair/
Reviews welcome, flames used to fuel bonfires. I like bonfires. They make you all warm and happy, but not when you have to try and rekindle them. Smoke in lungs is bad.
Next Chapter
'How the hell am I supposed to keep calm, doing something like this?! Damn, I swear my respect for Shikamaru has just gone up. I don't know how he managed to keep that first mission as a chuunin going… and I can't do things as I would usually. Shino and Hinata are depending on me to act like a leader!'
A-rank break-in!(Working title, may be different)