REWRITTEN
A/N: MAN has it taken time again! (winces) I'm terribly sorry! BUT, I've got one project finished right now, and it seems my schedule won't be quite as hectic for a while, so the updates MAY start to appear faster. (crosses fingers)
Firstly, of course… COLOSSAL thank yous for those fantastic reviews! (HUUUGS, and hands some of the bribe treats promised) You guys are unbelievable when it comes to keeping up one's inspiration to write, you know? THANK YOU!
Oukey doukey, because I've got this feeling in my spine that you're starting to get pretty anxious about getting to the chapter already… Let's go! I really, REALLY hope you'll find this a ride worth your while. (chews lower lip nervously)
/ During his career as a crime scene investigator, Izumo Kamizukihad seen a huge number of things that'd followed him all the way to his darkest nightmares. What he saw that particular day when entering a deviously beautiful house, however, crossed all his darkest imaginations.
Blood… It seemed to be everywhere, along with various pieces of several human bodies. Whoever had performed the slaughter in this house had obviously meant business.
He took a deep breath, barely managing to speak. " So… What do we have?"
It told something about the severity of the situation that even his best friend, Kotetsu Hagane, seemed horrified while staring at one of the battered corpses, face chalk white. " At least five bodies – two female, three male." The man swallowed thickly, most likely to control nausea. " This… is the best conditioned one of them."
Not really wanting to, he turned his gaze, and quite soon wished he wouldn't have been on duty so he would've allowed to throw up.
There, before him on the bathroom floor, lay a body that'd been beaten up and shot to the head so badly that there was no way to identify the victim. Looking up, he felt his eyes sting just a little when seeing bloodied scratch marks on the bathroom's tiny window.
Gosh, he could almost hear the screams…!
" Don't… you dare…!"
He gasped, careful to make it silent.
What the hell happened here?!
" It's your child, goddamnit!"
Although it was the last thing he wanted to do, he approached the body, then knelt down slowly. The stench of urine and vomit he met made him want to reel backwards.
He coughed a bit before managing to pull out a tiny recorder and speak. " Victim number one, male." He gathered himself for a moment before looking at the corpse once more. " Multiple injuries, clear signs of severe abuse. Also a gunshot wound on head, caused by a weapon of big caliber." He sighed heavily, closing his eyes for a moment. " Judging by battle marks and the wounds… I'd say the victim was tortured for a long time before death."
" Don't worry – this won't take long."
It seemed to take forever before he'd finally processed the corpse and was allowed to get up. He waited for a moment before speaking. " So… Where's the next one?"
" Two bodies in the bedroom." Did Kotetsu's voice actually shudder? " I'm warning you, though. It's not a pretty sight."
" Goodnight. I hope you'll have sweet dreams."
He shuddered when turning away from the horrendous sight, feeling far more repulsed than would've been professional. He couldn't understand how he'd be able to face the rest.
The voice of one of his colleagues barely reached him. " Guys, call an ambulance!" The tone was shocked, filled with disbelief. " We've got a living one here!" /
CHAPTER 4: Shadows Arise
/ One And A Half Months Later. / (1)
Sasuke gasped loudly, uncharacteristically, while her eyes flew open and she bolted into a sitting position. In an instant she'd pulled out a weapon and pointed it towards the weight she could feel on her legs and stomach.
After a couple of seconds she first blinked, then growled with annoyance when finding nothing more dangerous than Akamaru. " That damn moron…", she snarled while putting away her weapon once more. " He should be glad I didn't finish off his mutt when he lets it hassle around everywhere."
Akamaru tilted its head, seeming confused.
Relief, however, was the main emotion. So she was in the safe house to which even Kiba and Akamaru had moved to accompany her and Naruto about three weeks ago. Everything was all right.
" Stop pestering Akamaru." She couldn't deny being surprised by hearing Naruto's chiding voice. " He's done nothing to you, okay?"
She rolled her eyes while all but pushing Akamaru off of her and getting up. " Whatever." After thinking about it for a moment, she walked towards the kitchen where the blond was working on something. " I've never thought you to be the type that wakes up early."
The man shrugged. " I… had a weird dream, and couldn't go back to sleep. I thought I should do something useful."
It was around then she started to feel a sensation of dread. Feeling almost reluctant to do so she walked closer to the blonde to find something pitch-black on a frying pan. She wrinkled her nose and felt like wincing when a horrifying stench of something scorching finally met her nose. " You don't do this often, do you?"
The blond glared at her. " Do I look like I'd be interested to hear your opinion?"
She rolled her eyes once more and sighed. " Make room." She was much too aware of how they touched each other while she took over the kitchen, starting to prepare another set of breakfast. " You can either help me or get out of here."
Naruto muttered something under his breath, but joined in anyhow.
Only the two of them didn't notice how close to each other they were and how little words they needed while working together.
-
In a room not too far away, Kiba grinned while watching the two, and scratched Akamaru's head when the dog made its way to him. " Now look at that, boy", he whispered. " It looks like we finally have some progress."
Akamaru barked as an agreement.
Yes, TenTen hated her newest mission, especially that morning after having been attacked by a 'subject' she knew as Juugo when the man had had one of his episodes. But she also had to admit that there were some tiny, forbidden highlights…
Kimimaro frowned a bit when she entered the cell he was locked into, without a doubt noticing a patched up wound on her face, and the bandage covering her hand. " You've been harmed."
She smiled, enjoying the slight bit of closeness they'd managed to gain during the passed weeks although she shouldn't have. " It's nothing serious – just tiny scratches."
The man's green eyes darkened, turned incredibly sad and ashamed. " Was it… one of us?"
Hard as she tried, she couldn't bring herself to respond. In some other state of mind she might've noticed that her hand brushed his unnecessarily while she prepared to give him a yet another injection. " I'm sorry, but I need to give you this medication", she sighed, preparing a needle that seemed horrendously long.
" It's alright." The man's response, it seemed, shocked them both. He looked away. " It… doesn't hurt that much when you do it."
Once more she was unable to hide a trace of a smile. " That's good to hear."
She lingered behind once she was done, purposely doing everything as slowly as possible. She succeeded, and was there for Kimimaro when the effects of the injection started to kick in and the white haired winced with pain. It took a long time before the man finally relaxed as pain subsided.
In the end she couldn't keep herself from speaking although she knew he was sensitive to all sounds now. " Do you… ever wish to get away?" She looked around the depressing room. " To leave this?"
The look on Kimimaro's face was incredibly sad. " No." Gosh, the man was so sincere… Yet again he looked away. " Orochimaru-sama, he… he's given me everything – food, shelter, strength, protection… It's because of him I'm alive." He cast his eyes downwards. " Besides… Where would I go? This is all I have."
She frowned, feeling sadness she shouldn't have experienced on duty. " You must have someone out there waiting for you."
Kimimaro didn't say a word. And before she could do so, either, there was loud bleeping that announced her time with him was up. She fought the urge to wince.
" I've… gotta go. But before that…" She could sense the confused look he gave her when she touched his hand while passing by. " And… Just so you know… You're not alone."
As soon as she was out of the laboratory she leaned against a wall and closed her eyes, gritting teeth.
She was dangerously close to crossing a strictly prohibited line. And she had a dark feeling it'd cost her dearly…
Later that day, Naruto was too happy about getting out of the house to wonder where they were going while he followed Sasuke into a building he'd never been in before. " I can't believe you actually took me out of the house!"
Sasuke didn't seem all that excited. " Neither can I. Now move it."
He rolled his eyes, only to discover that the gesture certainly didn't come from the bottom of his heart. (Not that he would've ever admitted it to his so-called bodyguard.)
Lately, he'd spent so much time with Sasuke that it was almost weird to even think about being without her. Besides, so long as he was finally out of the house, he didn't find her company entirely unbearable.
It was around then he started to realize where they were, and his eyes widened dramatically. He could just feel color disappear from his face. " Uh-huh…"
A friggin' shooting range?!
Was this seriously what Sasuke had been planning? A… shooting practise?
" This was Jiraiya's idea", the raven announced, her voice barely reaching him in his current condition. " He thought it'd be a good idea to teach you self protection. I tried to tell him this is a tragic mistake, but he never listens to me." He jumped backwards when a weapon was held out for him, along with earplugs.
Extremely dark memories surfaced immediately, making him shiver. Had his pride allowed such he would've sprinted off right there and then.
/ " Don't hesitate to use this, brat. If you want to hang around us, you better make yourself useful." /
He could still remember those cold eyes…
" Naruto." Sasuke's eyes were sharp and demanding, almost suspicious. " Are you okay?"
Just like back then, his hand trembled pathetically while he took the weapon, his whole being so filled with reluctance that he started to feel sick. He licked his lips and forced his breathing to even out before allowing himself to speak. " Yeah…", he whispered. " I… I'm fine… Just… I don't like these things." What a lousy understatement…
Based on Sasuke's expression she wasn't buying his explanation, but apparently decided not to press further. When he appeared unable to move, she dragged him to one of the booths, then stood close to him – very close. His shuddered a bit when he could actually feel the raven's warmth against him. (Based on how stiff she was, she wasn't sure about this, either.) The woman's hands started to lead his. " You're gonna have to remove the safety mechanism before you can shoot."
To his stun, his fingers remembered exactly what to do. Although his hands still trembled he worked fast, and in a matter of seconds a clicking sound announced that the weapon was fully prepared.
Sasuke's eyebrow was arched when she glanced at him. " You know… For someone who's never done this before, you're not half as bad as I expected."
He snorted, shuddering and feeling unnaturally hot with the raven this close to him. Little by little he started to forget his former terror. " Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
" Hn", the raven commented while he lifted the weapon.
The exact same second Sasuke fingertips brushed his hand to help him, he squeezed the trigger with a loud gasp, his eyes widening. The bang that came sounded uncomfortably loud even with the earplugs he was wearing.
His heart thumped – because of their close proximity or what he'd just done, he couldn't tell.
" Holy hell…", was all he managed to produce.
Sasuke seemed mildly annoyed when their gazes met. " You should've told me you've handled weapons before."
He scoffed, finding himself trembling. " 'You think I enjoy this?" Though in all honesty… He wasn't entirely sure if he did, in some twisted, masochistic level.
The raven snorted, and took a moment before speaking. " Are we going to keep on bickering, or do you want to try again?"
Had he been with anyone else than the Uchiha, he would've pleaded to get as far away from the building as possible. But at the moment… His blue eyes flashed. " Just give me a damn bullet and I'll wipe that look from your face."
This tiny, distant part of him couldn't stop wondering why he was so eager to prove himself to the raven.
A couple of hours later in ANBU's base building, Kakashi felt amused somewhat amused and guilty when watching Hayate approach Yuugao, who'd just returned from a yet another mission. At first everything seemed to be going exactly as planned – the man's steps didn't even weaver. But then…
He arched an eyebrow at the stormy look on his friend's face when the man returned. " What happened?"
" Absolutely nothing, that's what." The brunette coughed sharply. " She's… seeing someone." The man glared at him, which seemed almost comical, then coughed again. " I just… made a fool of myself."
He merely shrugged, feeling a twinge. " That's only a hindrance, you know? She's not married or anything."
Hayate blinked at him, then shook his head and coughed, seeming to be holding back a laugh. " You're… unbelievable."
He almost grinned until an extremely dark sensation seeped trough his whole being, making him feel cold.
Something's wrong…
That thought could barely be finished before sounds – definitely those of gunshots – could be heard from what felt like everywhere in the building. In a flash most of the people around them started to move, while others still exchanged alarmed glances.
At that moment, Kakashi understood everything much too clearly. His eyes flashed while he balled his fists. " Hayate." His voice was tight, slashed like a whip of some sort. " Start out plan C, now. We're under attack."
The man nodded, then – without wasting time on questions – started to rush away.
He followed the brunette with his gaze for a while, then started to walk the other way as fast and silently as he possibly could. He prepared his weapon on the way, his head whirring with dozens of thoughts.
Soon, however, everything there'd been on his mind simply flew away when he came to the biggest lobby of the building. A lesser man might've vomited when facing the sight he did.
Right there before him lay the bodies of nine agents. Blood and pieces he didn't even want to identify seemed to be everywhere, and looks that could only be called those of horror were imprinted to most of the dead ones' faces.
He inhaled sharply through his mouth, not wanting to meet the stench that undoubtedly lingered.
This… is a slaughterhouse…!
Just then he shivered despite himself when hearing steps, along with a sound of steel. " Don't turn around, Kakashi."
For just a fragment his eyes widened as a chilling recognition sunk in. " What… the hell are you doing here?"
In the meantime Hayate rushed through the hallways of slightly lower levels of the building, his eyes scanning around, sharpened to their very extreme.
Unfortunately, however, no amount of observational skills could've spared him from what was to come.
He didn't gasp or make any sounds whatsoever, but stiffened completely and froze when seeing a very young woman with a strange haircut and eyeglasses. She arched an eyebrow once spotting him. " Ah, so one little piggy actually dared to show up." She lifted a knife. " That's too bad for you, really."
He swallowed, evaluating his options.
He could always fight, of course, but it wouldn't be of much use – if she really wanted him dead, she'd be able to finish him off in a heartbeat.
Fortunately the decision wasn't completely in his hands. Sharp gunshots echoed through the hallway, causing the woman that'd been threatening him to retreat. " 'Sorry, but it looks like I've gotta get going now. See you later." He wasn't sure if some bullets even hit the woman while she sprinted to a nearby window that'd been left open for some reason, and jumped.
Looking towards the end of the hallway, he blinked twice when seeing Yuugao. It took a moment before his voice worked. " Thanks."
She merely waved a hand, then dashed to the window the exact same moment he did. There wasn't a trace of the mysterious attacker down below.
He frowned. " This is bad."
Yuugao nodded solemnly with agreement. They stood in utter silence for a long moment until the woman moved. " We should get going." She spoke silently, tensely, apparently suspecting that there were ears listening. " I'm pretty sure this isn't over."
In the basement floor of the building Sakura and Sai were once again trying to go through their workload without ending up wanting to harm each other.
Lately their co-operation had become easier, though. It'd been bound to – after all, they'd been working together for two months already. Of course they still fought, quite hard at times, but there were also moments of peace during which they could easily imagine doing even more projects together.
Today, they didn't get such experiences. Though for once Sakura didn't blame it on Sai. She'd had the absolutely worst night and morning with her daughter Katara being sick with a stomach bug of some sort. Only her sense of duty had kept her from staying home. And now, to enthrone the fun, she was having a splitting headache.
" Sakura." Sai's voice snatched her from self pity filled thoughts. The man surprised her with seeming mildly concerned. " Are you alright? Because you've been staring at that page for ten minutes."
She blinked – the dryness of her eyes proving that he'd been right – then sighed. " I… will be." Or so I hope. She pushed herself up from her chair. " I'll go and get something to drink so I can take an aspirin, okay?"
Apparently fate decided not to leave her alone just yet. She'd just picked up her wallet when it fell, most of its contents spreading everywhere. She spat out a list of cusses.
In her current state she didn't manage to stop Sai before it was much too late. There was something unreadable in the man's eyes when he picked up a picture of a girl with long, pink hair and black eyes – it was Katara, at the age of two. He stared at the picture for a mighty while before managing to react. " Is… she yours?"
She nodded, finding herself smiling slightly. " Yeah." She took the picture away from him, not quite comfortable with him knowing this side of her just yet – and definitely not wanting to answer any questions about the girl's father. She mused for a couple of seconds. " Do you have any family?" The change she saw upon his face almost startled her. " Sai?" Had she gone too far, been too nosy?
Sai looked away sharply, his expression turning chillingly blank. " I'd… rather not talk about it."
For some reason she would've wanted to ask more, but became interrupted when realizing that something was badly wrong. The building was completely quiet.
Too quiet.
They looked at each other, eyes flashing.
" What the hell's going on?" Sakura all but hissed, her throat tight and voice shivering with anxiety. Her heart was thumping furiously.
Sai shook his head while preparing a weapon, eyes even darker than usually. " I suppose we'll have to go and find out."
Evening had already darkened that day when Sasuke stood on the balcony of Naruto's apartment, her vacant, narrowed eyes darted towards the city spreading below her.
Seven months, huh?
One of her hands brushed her flat stomach while the other squeezed the balcony's railing so hard that her knuckles turned white.
To her, it felt closer to seven decades.
" So here you are." Naruto's voice startled her a little, although she would've never admitted it. Peering over her shoulder she found the man approaching. " Some bodyguard you are, disappearing like this."
She couldn't resist a snort. " And you actually care?"
The blonde scoffed. " Don't think too highly of yourself. I just got sick of listening to Kiba snoring." He mused for a while before going on. " 'You okay? You seem a bit pale. I mean, paler than usual."
Her eyebrow was sent twitching, but for some reason she just couldn't find the energy producing an insult would've required. They lapsed into a surprisingly comfortable silence.
Naruto wrinkled his nose when watching her pull out a cigarette and start to smoke. " Are you trying to get yourself killed or something?"
She gave him a glare, although it came out rather mildly. " Since when has the condition of my lungs been any of your business?" She didn't realize that she actually put away the cigarette.
The man shrugged. " Since you became the one who's supposed to keep me alive." She blinked once when the blonde handed a steaming mug towards her all of a sudden. The man seemed to smother a chuckle when seeing her suspicious expression. " It's tea, not poison, so you can stop looking at me like that. I figured you might be feeling cold out here."
Gosh, how hard it was to hold back a smile. She took the offering, never noticing how her fingers brushed Naruto's as she did, and looked away while taking the first sip. She was surprised to discover that the drink was in fact very good. " Thanks."
" 'Thought I owe you that much. I mean…" Naruto scratched his head, seeming sheepish. " For you having saved my life, and stuff."
" Hn."
Something that felt almost like an aura of peace lingered around them from there while they admired the city sparkling below them, neither feeling cold anymore. Had they been paying more attention, they might've noticed that they were standing much closer to each other than would've been necessary, all but holding hands.
The silence lasted for so long that she shuddered slightly when Naruto spoke. " I've always loved this view", the blonde announced, his eyes still resting on the landscape below them. She was much too aware of the fact that his hand touched hers, though it was most likely accidental. " It's easy to just forget about everything here."
She glanced towards him briefly, feeling some envy. " I wish I'd be as lucky." She didn't realize she'd murmured it out loud until feeling the man's eyes on her. Her eyes narrowed.
Damnit…
" What do you want to forget, Sasuke?" Neither noticed that the man actually called her by her name.
She shook her head, eyes narrowing even further. Naruto wasn't her therapist, only a client – she wasn't about to flood all this crap on him.
Did he just sense a pout? " You don't trust me at all, do you?"
She growled. " You're my client. Try again when you've got a doctor's degree." Looking at the street below, she gave a small sigh when seeing a very familiar figure stood there, clearly waiting. " I've gotta go for a minute. Don't you dare disappear in the meantime, understood?" She gave her now empty mug back to the somewhat confused blonde. " Thanks, for the tea." With that she walked off.
In less than a minute she'd made it to the house's staircase. Sure enough Suigetsu was there waiting for her.
He grinned when seeing her. " So there you are. 'Bout time to show up – I was getting bored."
She folded her arms with suspicion she couldn't explain. " What are you doing here? You know well you're breaking all security protocols." And how the heck did you find the address of this place?
Suigetsu shrugged. " Yeah, I do." The man tilted his head a little with an arched eyebrow. " Since when have you cared about the rules, anyway?"
She fought the urge to smack him. " You never answered my question."
Eager arms wrapped around her waistline, making her shiver ever so slightly. " Would you believe that I missed you?"
She snorted as though having heard the best joke in a long time. " No."
" Teme, where did you…?" They both looked on as Naruto peered out of his apartment. Something that a sudden might've called jealousy flashed by the blonde's face when he saw them. " Oh… Sorry."
She growled faintly. " I'll be there in a second, okay?" As soon as the blonde had disappeared she looked back at Suigetsu, stepping out of the man's hold. " Now, I've got a job to do. So let's spare the… 'fun' for some other time." With that she turned around.
She was about to leave until the man's voice stopped her. " Sasuke… How much do you know about Naruto, anyway?"
She frowned, not turning around. " He's my client, and a pain in the ass." One of her eyebrows arched a little while some very dark ideas started to rise. " Is there… something I should know?" She had a pretty good idea that she knew the answer already.
There was a moment's silence. " Just be careful, will you?" Distancing steps could be heard. " It's hard to know who you can trust these days."
" Hn."
It wasn't until the steps had disappeared completely did she dare to remove her hand from a fully prepared weapon. There was a deep frown on her face.
What the hell was going on?
Orochimaru's base building was just as dark and eerie as usual when TenTen sneaked through the hallways. It wasn't long before she distinguished Orochimaru and Kabuto's much too familiar voices.
" So our contact managed to get the information?" Orochimaru stated, sounding so pleased that it chilled her.
" That's right. We have the address", Kabuto confirmed. " It's only a matter of time before we'll be able to make our move."
" Very good." The older man apparently thought for a while. " What about our little… problem?"
" Won't be a problem much longer. Kin is already on the move, and I'm fairly certain our… subjects can be sent to perform a little field test as well."
TenTen shuddered, coming to a conclusion that she didn't need to hear anything more. Swallowing thickly, she placed one hand to her ear. " Danzou, can you hear me?" There was no response, and she scowled. " Danzou, answer me, damnit! This is an emergency."
There wasn't even the slightest sound. She produced a wide list of mental cusses while moving her hand away.
So it's all up to me, huh?
-
Inside the room, Kabuto was just leaving when his eyes met one of the screens that showed images security cameras were sending. A flash could be seen in black orbs while he observed TenTen removing a hand from her ear with an irritated expression.
" Is something wrong?" Orochimaru, who was stood before the room's window, inquired.
" I'll… tell you when I know." With that he started to walk away. " Goodnight, Orochimaru-sama."
As he'd expected, there was no response. He left the room.
While he walked through a hallway he pretended not seeing TenTen, who'd hidden herself quite well behind one turn.
It seemed there'd be interesting times ahead…
On a slightly darker side of Konoha, a huge, skyscraper sized building was almost completely dark while a tiny bird that'd in some unfortunate way ended up in there zoomed through the hallways with screeches of terror. In the end the animal found its way into a massive room that had the slightest bit of light on. It sat to a metallic bar nearby the room's roof, as though watching and waiting.
Soon a heavily pierced man with extremely chilling eyes – Pein, as his subordinates knew him, although it definitely wasn't his real name – walked into the room. " Good. It looks like we're all here."
Deidara leaned back in his chair, seeming impatient. " I was just… finishing a project, un. What's with the hassle?"
Hidan, who was leaning against a wall nearby, gave the blonde an infuriated look. " He'd probably tell you if you'd give him a chance to speak."
Surprisingly enough it was Karin who cut the fight before it got a chance to get any more annoying. She slammed a huge, thick file to a table placed precisely in the middle of the room. ' Namikaze Naruto', said a sticker glued on cardboard. " I got this." She grinned icily, revealing sharp teeth. " With causing a little bit of distraction, it was surprisingly easy to sneak into the mighty ANBU's base."
Deidara frowned with disapproval. " So you had fun without me, un? I feel insulted."
Karin rolled her eyes. " Stop being a brat. It was a three man project – you would've been in the way."
The blonde shrugged, still seeming irritated. " Whatever, un." He then looked towards their leader, eyes gleaming. " So… What does this mean? Are we ready to move?"
Pein shook his head. " No. If we want to get to this… Naruto before Orochimaru does, we'll need to come up with moves he wouldn't be able to execute."
Karin clicked. " We need an element of surprise, then."
The man nodded as a confirmation. " That's right."
" And we also need someone who can control Sasuke, knows her moves", a new voice spoke. A figure stepped out of the shadows, dark eyes filled with something unreadable. " I don't think anyone knows my sister better than I do."
Deidara grinned. " You Uchihas really are full of surprises, un." The blonde then folded his arms with anticipation. " So, when are we going to start rocking?"
Pein's eyes flashed in the light of an explosion on the other side of the city – exactly where ANBU's base was. " Now."
TBC, no?
1) That much time after the last chapter, not the flashback, of course. (grins)
A/N: (shudders) Eerie, neh?
So everyone wants our poor lil' blondie. (huggles the poor thing) Let's hope Sasuke's able to protect him from this one.
Egh, I've gotta get going now. I'm once more in a buss and there's pretty much nothing left of the battery of my laptop, so… (winces)
PLEASE, please do review – for the sake of soon appearing Christmas if nothing else. (glances with HUGE, irrisistable eyes) I may just have some holiday treats in store for you if you do… (winks)
'Til next time, everyone! I REEEEALLY hope you'll all join the ride then!
Take care! And in case I don't manage to update before that, happy, exciting holidays!
