"Pardon?" Menma quirked a brow, easing back off the bed. He then looked down at his arms to his hands and feet. "I'm very much alive, Uchiha."
"No, no...they must have taken you somehow." Sasuke conjured up a new theory since the funeral was a closed casket. It began to prove to be true very fast when the blond actually looked concerned about something. "Do you know where you came from?"
"Uhh, I'm an orphan, basically," Menma said with a shrug, remembering being told that his parents had abandoned him after the age of five but he had no memory of it. He did have a memory when he turned thirteen but nothing truly concrete before that. That still sounded far fetched to this day. He started to simmer, wanting to believe that Kakashi and the gang would never lie to him. There was a part of him that screamed otherwise often. "If what you're saying is true, we might need to do a little more than leave right now."
He picked up his jacket and tossed it to Sasuke. "Put that on. Its padded."
"Okay." Sasuke caught it and slipped it on, eager to get out of there so they could talk more, hoping he was right. In their rush, he noticed the blond wasn't wearing anything to secure himself. "What about you?"
"Hm? I like being shot." With a chuckle, Menma tightened his strap. "Naw, in all seriousness, I'll be fine. It's you that needs to be worried." He smiled, walking over, grabbing his backpack. "By the way, here, take mine and leave yours. I'm sure you have nothing of importance in it."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, not growing accustomed the tactless attitude just yet. He switched out backpacks anyway because he really didn't have anything besides school work .
"Oh, do you have any kin here?" Menma asked as he walked back to the door, removing the sheet and peeking outside through the window where he spotted no one. 'That's odd…' Frankly, he'd expected Kakashi to show up with the rest by now.
"No. Itachi is in colle-"
"Good to hear. Do you have a cell phone?" he interrupted, glancing back at the raven before scanning outside the door again.
Sasuke blinked, taken aback. "What? No.. I got it taken up some days ago."
"That's perfect! Let's move," Menma ordered, opening the door and motioning for the raven to follow.
"We should just call the cops." Sasuke stood his ground, growing aggravated that the blond for asking all those questions with no explanation. He prepared to say something else but Menma ceased movement and pulled out his gun, laughing softly.
"Okay, Uchiha. You're cute and all when you try to think, but right now, I need you to follow me-"
"No! Narur-Or Menma, whatever! We could make this so much easier if w-" Sasuke lost his voice instantly when the blond fired off a warning shot a good bits away from his head. He yelped, crouching down and clutching his ringing ears. Even though there was a silencer, his hearing was impaired enough to where he could barely make out whatever the blond was saying till they moved close enough.
"..-they are useless. And now you have a reason to be hard of hearing. So this is the last time I'm going to ask for your obedience." He took a knee, lifting the raven's chin with the tip top of his barrel. "I won't miss a second time."
Sasuke swallowed hard, biting his lip to stop himself from crying. When his breathing was under control after a few timed breaths, he nodded, eyes down. He should've expected nothing less. They weren't friends or allies by any means. All he was, was a means of info. He didn't know whether to blame the people that took his friend or accuse the blond personally for not at least feeling that this kind of treatment was wrong. Perhaps he himself had made a lapse in judgement.
Menma grinned and re-holstered his gun after a good second passed. He patted the raven on the head, saying, "Don't worry. All things considered, I'm gonna let you continue to call me whatever it is you've been calling me."
Sasuke remained motionless, ears still covered. His wrist was seized and pulled to force him along out of the infirmary. They walked in silence, giving him time to seriously reconsider everything. 'I need Itachi! This isn't...He can't be...' Now he had a headache to add to list of things the new kid was putting him through. That didn't stop him from thinking hard to find a way out. He knew the cloaked bastards were out of the question, but the blond seemed to be avoiding them too from the way he was checking the corners. Maybe he could somehow use that to escape. 'Maybe.' He thought more on that, stopping only when his kidnapper did the same suddenly.
Menma had spotted two of his pals with assault rifles around the corner. He considered pretending he had captured Sasuke, but the odds that his mentor had put a watch out on him were to high. Since the men had their backs turned it wasn't a major problem anyway. All he had to do was keep straight to the stairway. Taking the elevator would be to noisy. He looked back to the raven and whispered, "Ssshhh," with an index to his lips. He crouched, bringing Sasuke down as well and prepared to move.
But Sasuke didn't budge, startling the blond teen out in the open. His wrist was yanked, but he didn't move. He'd come to a conclusion. Menma needed him alive or he wouldn't have risked going up against those guys that he clearly worked with. He might be beaten or shot, but not killed.
"We have to go!" Menma ushered quietly, knowing the other men could turn around at any moment. "Do you want to die?!"
"I'm not going anywhere with yo-!" The raven was cut off and forced back against the corner, a tanned hand back over his mouth.
"What the fuck is wrong with you? Keep your voice down!" He snapped in the teen's ear before listening out, hearing footsteps. "Shit!"
Menma had no choice but to drag the squirming raven back down the hall, away from the oncoming threat. He managed to open a door to an empty classroom and shove the younger teen in it. He followed up by shuffling himself inside afterwards and closing the door quietly as possible just in time as the two men rounded the corner with their guns raised. He backed away from the door slowly with his own sidearm at the ready.
"Let me g-"
"Shut it!" He aimed his Beretta at the defiant raven as quick as he lashed out at him.
"Kill me then."
Those words sent the blond a wave of conflicting emotions that he didn't understand. His deciphering was interrupted when he heard the footsteps coming closer. He quickly grabbed the raven by his coat and dragged him out of eyesight from the door to among the desks.
"Okay, drama queen, I need you to scream first," Menma demanded, sneaking back over to the teacher's desk, hopping over and behind it.
Sasuke stood there muddled by the task, receiving a hand motion to hurry. He gave up on trying to make sense of the blond's random actions and decided to make a break for it. The door jerked open before he could even step towards it. Both men filed in, drawing their weapons right on him. He didn't understand why they didn't fire right away, but he was sure they didn't have the time to ask that themselves before they were both pistol whipped unconscious from behind. It happened so fast that it startled him.
Menma walked over the bodies, kicking their guns away and snickering. "They are so going to be pissed when they wake up."
"So you really do know them?!"
The blond shrugged at the question, checking the safety on his gun to make sure it was on before re-holstering it. He hadn't planned on killing his comrades or cohorts if he had a choice. "I've worked with them before somewhat. They're 'good' guys. Hell, actually this one right here was... my…" He trailed off when he heard clapping that definitely wasn't coming from Sasuke.
They both turned to the doorway, only one of them surprised to see the cherry blossom girl back. She continued to clap for a second, coming to a drawl with a pop of her gum.
"Sakura!" Sasuke didn't know why she was there, but he was sort of happy about it. His relief vanished when she gave him an uninterested glance that sent a wave of uncomfortable vibes all over.
She switched her focus back to the blond. "Are you adding this to your bucket of fuck ups?"
Menma grinned, arms out with a shrug. "You say that as if you have more success than me."
Sakura laughed, a hand on her hip. "More than me? Oh please. I'm the one student that's devoted the most." She strutted over, a hand remaining on her hip while the other arm swung freely at her side against her mini skirt.
Sasuke backed up, feeling something bad was about to happen. He watched her stop right in Menma's face and smirking. Strangely enough, the blond's tough guy act diminished right before his eyes and was replaced with something equivalent to a self conscious adolescent.
"Sakura, please. You guys have the school locked down already so you don't need me right now. I promise I'll come back when I'm done if he's telling the trut-"
She quickly silenced the blond with a thumb over his lips, moving them closed with a twitching smile. "I don't give a damn. You broke protocol."
"But I-!"
Sakura slapped him without restraint, achieving more of a reaction out of the Uchiha in the room than the one she struck. She quickly grabbed his jaw forcefully and made him look at her. "I told Kakashi you'd go AWOL for that worthless piece of shit. Somehow he gives you the benefit of the doubt anyway! You're just like the worthless ones that reportedly left."
Menma shoved the girl off, her words clearly stabbing through without much effort. With fist clenched, he grumbled, "They were not worthless!"
"Then prove that you're not! Kill him." She gestured to the ogling raven fleetingly with unsettling excitement in her voice. "Kill him and maybe Kakashi will forgive you. I might even forgive you."
Sasuke stepped back, scared out of his mind for the blond was pretty riled up now. He slowly looked towards Menma who never took his own eyes off the girl.
"No," Menma scoffed flat out, a snarl on his lips. "I don't take orders from Jiraiya's top whore."
Sasuke caught the familiar name, trying to remember where he'd heard it from.
"At least I'm top of something. Where are you still?" She grimaced a second before throwing a swift punch that the blond managed to block with an arm up. She wasted no time and went for a sidekick that was easily pushed back down, giving her balance to duck and so dodge the blond's back fist, catching him in the stomach.
Sasuke didn't know why he was watching the spontaneous fight instead of escaping, but he was beginning to wonder if the blond was trying and if he should help. Reason being because the girl was relentless. She didn't let up and used every ounce of Menma's size against him. Worst part, he could tell that Menma knew this too, but didn't see why he wasn't changing tactic then.
It didn't take long before she knocked her opponent off his feet and rolled over onto him in a straddle position near his face, swiftly withdrawing his gun and pressing it against his temple.
"Always top." Sakura smirked, though breathing deeply.
"Oh god, don't flatter yourself." Menma spat up crimson in her face from his busted lip as a bonus. He was struck across the cheek with his gun for a response. 'Fuck!' he groaned inside, rendered incapable of holding the assaulted area when she suddenly brought her knees painfully down on his outstretched arms. 'What's taking her so long?!' he began to worry slightly that he'd might have to find a way out of this on his own.
"Try and stay dead this time." She sneered, fingers entangled on top of blond hair to hold his head down as hard as possible, pulling the trigger equally so. Nothing happened. "What the hell?!"
Sasuke released a breath he didn't know he was holding, beyond happy the gun didn't go off. That was short lived though when the girl figured out the safety was on. Knowing his word had no real weight in their feud, he tried anyway. "Sakura, you don't have to do this!"
"Oh shut up you whiny twat! I'll take care of you in a bit." She waved the weapon his way, tugging Menma's hair to remind him she hadn't forgotten he was there.
"Now, back to the dead ki-" Something struck her against the neck, putting a pause in her words. It was a sharp pain that didn't knock her over, but it made her feel the area, fingers floating over something feathery, elongated and familiar. Drowsiness started to take over while she pulled out the dart and looked towards the doorway, catching the blurry image of her supposed partner.
"You... little…... traitorous bitch!" Sakura stammered, losing her strength to even hold herself up and so eventually collapsing aside the blond at an awkward angle.
Menma pushed her off as soon as possible, taking his gun back afterwards. Relieved, he tipped his invisible hat off to his savior in the doorway. "You had me worried you wouldn't show up for a minute, Hinata. Thank you!"
'Hinata?' Sasuke couldn't believe the middle school looking lass from before was apart of this odd 'group'. Though it explained why he didn't recognize her before. It dawned on him at that moment, 'They must all be stolen children too.'
The young girl barely smiled, holding her dart gun close, cautious. "No problem, but what are you doing? Your Sensei has requested we check in on you."
"I know, I know, but hear me out!" he begged again, walking over to the girl and grasping her shoulders. "Remember that weird kid I was telling you about in the hallway? I think he might actually know who I really am."
Hinata glanced at Sasuke and right back to her committed brother, expression dull. The raven didn't lift a finger to help Menma at all during that fight, so how was he useful? In her opinion that is. "Are you sure?"
"Yes!" He waved Sasuke over ecstatically. "Don't worry. She won't put a bullet in you like Sakura, but don't test her."
Sasuke wasn't so sure about that. He took his time nearing them, listening intently to their conversation. He could already tell that she didn't seem to like him very much, not understanding why.
"You claim you're aware of the danger, yet you didn't really fight back against her. Why is that?" She asked, peering up at the blond skeptically.
Menma released her shoulders, eyes searching for anything else to look at. "Well, besides the fact that you two are always together, she's still family… I love you all no matter what happens."
"What do you mean by that?"
He finally looked her way when he heard a low sniffle.
"...Oh, of course you're not coming back." Hinata fought back a tear, knowing she was right when he smiled sheepishly. She let out a sigh, frowning and leaning in face first against his chest. With Menma being the only guy she got along with now leaving, she couldn't take it, but she understood. They likely weren't his real home anyway, but at least he had a choice. She felt his arms come around her but it didn't ease anything.
"If he's lying, I'll come back. "
Hinata nodded, believing him . "And if he's telling the truth then you'd better watch your back."
Menma knew she meant that when she returned the hug. He thought it would be easy to end the embrace after that but he was too fond of her.
For Sasuke, this was kind of weird and somewhat painful for him to watch giving all he'd been through as well. He so tried to leave, only to be caught by the book-bag again.
"Nice try, Uchiha."
Sasuke didn't respond and so stayed put, letting his silence speak for itself. At least he didn't have to look at them anymore.
"Sasuke."
He clearly heard her call his name, but didn't bother to turn around. For his insubordination, he was spun back and pinned against the wall, a dart gun under his chin.
"You better start having his back...please?"
Sasuke didn't take her as a threat due to how small she was compared to him. He did relate to her feelings at least. "... I'll try."
"Good!" Her spirits lifted rather quick with a slight pat to the raven's chest. "I'll buy you two some time."
"You don't have to do this, Hinata." Menma knew the consequences very well if she did. "Why don't you come with us instead?"
"No...I have scores to settle, you know that." She gestured to the raven with a thumb out after that statement. "You're going to need to seriously brief him though and prep him if he's going to survive with you and you with him."
Menma dreaded the task already. "I will 'try' along the way," he confirmed with a grin, grabbing Sasuke by the jacket sleeve and pulling him over.
The raven just rolled his eyes, dying to say something smart.
"I hope you both try hard as hell. Kakashi will not like this." Hinata mumbled the last part, glancing over at her unconscious partner and the two other guys before walking out of the room.
Menma understood as plain as day, pulling the raven along after her. His mentor was going to lose his everlasting mind, and the punishment might be more severe than lashes on his face. He didn't have it as bad as Sasuke if they were caught. He was a 100% positive that the raven would be killed on sight or tortured in some way by his mentor alone. At that thought, his grip on the jacket tightened a bit. He didn't know why. It was just a feeling of sorts.
Ignoring the involuntary reflex, he continued to follow Hinata down the hall and to the stairway that lead out to the back of the school. They hurried down, forcing Sasuke to keep up. Upon reaching the bottom, the young girl stopped them with an arm out. Her pale lavender eyes scanned the exit door, sensing something off when she heard a clink. "I think Neji is out there."
"You can't be serious! Orochimaru said he'd put him on a leash back at the compound!" Menma released the confused raven so he could go over to the exit and kick it open, catching the door before it closed back. He came to find she was right, and that made him groan in aggravation.
Outside in the rain stood the older teen they called, Neji. A boy with envious long hair. He wore a black jumpsuit and had a katana in hand propped up against his shoulder.
"Menma! My naive brother, why did you drag my sweet little cousin into your desertion?" He smirked, ignoring the downpour.
Before the blond could retort with equal venom, Hinata stepped around him. "Go," was all she said before drawing her weapon at her surprised relative.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
Menma hesitated before he grabbed Sasuke a minute later and made a run for it, hoping to high heaven she'd be okay. A shrill scream pierced through thunder, causing the blond, already a good distance away, to stop and look back. His eyes widened in horror and concern upon seeing Hinata had already been disarmed and was bleeding.
Sasuke looked back as well, not liking the odds of the match by the way she was getting cut over, and over, and over again. He could tell that Menma wanted to go back now to help more than ever. But he himself wasn't ready to watch the blond be sliced up till someone else arrived.
"We have to go!" Sasuke took hold of Menma's hand this time and managed to pull him away, their feet pounding the wet grass and splashing in small pools they dashed over. The adrenaline drove them to the far corner of the school in the front where they stopped to catch their breath. The storm soaked them up more.
Menma checked around the corner, seeing no one around at the front of the school. He looked back to the raven who hadn't stopped panting. "You have a car?"
Sasuke shook his head, gulping in air. "M-My brother drives me to school."
"Ah, fucking great. Follow me!" He grabbed the unprepared raven's hand this time and broke out running again across the front yard of the school. There was no time to argue and he was glad that Sasuke didn't object. They made it pass the entry steps and down the stairs to the lot area. He looked around at all the cars as the raven tried to catch his breath for the second time. He soon spotted a nice charcoal vehicle he liked. "We'll take that one."
"We can't steal a," Sasuke paused, hands on his knees and breathing hard, '...car."
Menma grinned shaking his head. "I think you'll be saying that a lot." He grabbed the weary teen again and forced him along, knowing he'd have to seriously improve the other's cardio drastically if possible.
Once at the car, he immediately broke the back rear door window in with his elbow, an alarm went off instantly. He could hear Sasuke trying to complain but it was useless with him being out of breath. Chuckling, he reached inside and unlocked the driver side door. He followed by opening the front side and slid on in to work on cutting off the alarm.
A scream broke his concentration, causing him to move up and out of the car just to see Neji with the raven in his grasp.
"Menma, you know I'm honestly surprised you left her like that for someone we don't even know." He shook his head, pressing his sword into Sasuke's back under the book bag a little more, loving the twinge from his prey.
"She's literally your family, man. You wouldn't kill her." Menma began to question his own statement when he saw Neji grin.
"Right. I'll dispense of this nuisance then." He drew his sword back, prepared to ram it through the pest until a bullet tore through rain and his shoulder, forcing him to drop his katana and release his captive. He grasped his bleeding wound without a sound, blood oozing out between his fingers. Shocked and pissed, he scowled at the one responsible. "ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!"
Menma tried to ignore his comrade's pain as he caught the raven that had ran to him. He wasn't sure why he switched the safety off and pulled the trigger so damn fast. It was like it was automatic of sorts... That doesn't mean he didn't feel beyond terrible and awful about it though. It showed in his voice when he meekly said, "Get in the car and cut the three wires I have pulled out with the knife from my bag...I'll take care of the rest.."
Sasuke obeyed, shaken still. He moved out of the blond's arms to ease inside the vehicle, looking back to see Menma walking over to the bleeding maniac. Deep down he wished Menma would shoot him again. At the same time, he understood they were definitely all brainwashed or something by the looks of it and therefore hesitant to turn on each other. Withdrawing from their situation, he attempted to focus and turn his attention to the task given
Menma stopped a few feet away from his comrade. "Neji, I am so, so sorry, man. I...I really need some time to find out a little about myself is all!"
"You sound exactly like them!" Neji spat in gritted out pain, grabbing his weapon of choice back off the ground, disregarding the betrayed feeling inside and out. There was no way he'd let him escape alive like the others had, especially not now when they were so close. "If you want to leave us so bad as well, you'd better shoot me again!"
