DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. (Though the OCs are mine.)

REWRITTEN

Webs of Deception

Chapter Four

Missions Untold

Sasuke and Tatsuo were squatted on a branch of a tree. The shadows of the night hiding their presence from the two guards on the pavement below. The guards were stationed in front of large metal gates built into the stone wall surrounding an enormous mansion and its' property.

"You never told me what this mission was about," Sasuke whispered in the little girl's ear.

Tatsuo cocked his head up to him. "I didn't, did I?" The mocking in his voice received a glare from him. The corner of Tatsuo's lips twitched like he wanted to smile, but instead, he turned his attention away from him and back to the guards. "It's an assassination mission," he said without any of his previous lightness. "We were hired by a respectable family from Ina—a village on the Eastern border of Kaminari no Kuni. The General we're paid to kill, molested their four-year-old daughter on his visit there."

"How do you know he did it?" His question lacked any sort of emotion. It really didn't matter one way or another. It wasn't like all the missions he receives in Konoha were honorable. There's been times where he's been sent out to kill an individual who was only targeted out of feeble revenge, but the employer paid big bucks to get it done. And the money is all that matter.

"I have a sensitive nose," Tatsuo began explaining. "I could smell the man's scent and semen still on her and I memorized it. When we got here, I managed to get close enough to the man and his scent's the same. . ." There was a short pause before he began speaking again. "Don't worry though, you won't take any part in the actual killing." He looked back at him with a crooked smile. "Don't want you to get in trouble with Konoha's authorities."

He was about to ask how he knew so much about Konoha, but Tatsuo stood, drawing his attention to the reason why; the guards were changing shifts. "I have to say that last shift is lucky tonight," he heard Tatsuo mutter lowly. "Stay here," he order louder before disappearing in a whirlwind.

Ten minutes passed before he saw the little girl of Tatsuo walk up the street apprehensively. His chubby cheeks were red with tears falling from his eyes. "Excuse. . .me. . ." he heard her whine to the guards. "I lost m-my Tou-san. . ." -sniff- ". . .can y-you help me. . ." -sniff- ". . .I-I w-want my Tou-san. . ." Then he broke down in a fitful of sobs.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at his performance. He had to comment him for his acting stills. There weren't many people who could pull something like that off and make it look completely legit.

The guards approached the bawling girl and bent down to console her. Idiots. Tatsuo continued to cry for a few more moments, then looked up from his hands and gave the guards the sweetest smile. No tears to be seen.

From his view, he clearly saw a elegant dagger with a silver dragon's head as the handle appeared in his hands concealed behind his back. Then in one swift movement, both the guards' necks were slashed. Tatuso's face remained impassive, even when blood splattered on his face and clothes. The guards collapsed to the ground, clutching their necks as they bled to death.

A chill ran down his spine at the scene. The killing or the blood wasn't what bothered him, it was the image of a little girl doing the deed that freaked him a little. It was just creepy.

Tatsuo's daggers disappeared as he gave a curt nod in a certain direction. And within a second, Ryutaro and Tara appeared, cleaning the area up like nothing ever happened. Once done, they too disappeared with the bodies to most likely dispose of them.

When Tatsuo was the only one left, he performed too familiar hand seals. Kage Bunshin. A dent appeared in his steel walls around his heart. The force of it sent shockwaves of pain through his chest, making it feel tight—causing his breathing to come in short and rapid breaths. Stop thinking about it, he told himself. It was the only way to function. He controlled his breathing, shoving the familiarity away, and found that two Kage Bunshins replaced the two guards who were previously killed. He obviously missed something.

A tap on his shoulder startled him. More like the thought that he was so lost he let someone sneak up on him was what startled him most. In all of one point three seconds, he swirled on his toes with a kunai already in hand, and the blade against the persons neck. Only to find once his head calmed a little that it was Tatsuo still in his little girl form. He looked surprised. But the kunai to his throat wasn't what caused that expression.

The depths of his eyes, there was confusion and concern mixed in with the surprise. Confusion and concern surrounding the reason behind the action, but not the action itself.

"You have a choice now, Uchiha," Tatsuo spoke in a strange tone. "You can kill me or not. But I can already tell you, you'll regret it on some level."

He didn't understand what he meant by that. 'Regret it on some level.' Why would he regret it? There was nothing to regret. That's what he thought. But something deep inside told him differently. That same something that has him wanting to know more about him. It was infuriating.

"You don't want to hurt him again, now do you Naruto?"

Gritting his teeth, he yanked the kunai away from the slim throat. Tatsuo let a long breath slowly out, rubbing his neck where the kunai once pressed dangerously close. "Damn."

"What did you mean that I'll regret it later?" he asked.

Tatsuo's hand froze on his neck, his eyes the only part moving to look at him. His gaze guarded in a way that resembled nothing of the openness before. He diverted his eyes away, "That's. . .what I felt back then when I hurt you. I thought I killed you actually—until I checked on you."

That wasn't a dream? His heart thudded loudly as the phrase Kane said ran through his mind again. Tatsuo looked back at him then, curiosity shining through the guardedness.

"Why did your heartbeat speed up suddenly?" he asked.

"What?" The question was strange in of itself. And after Tatsuo said it, it appeared like he regretted opening his mouth. "How did you—"

"Forget I said anything." His hand lifted like he was going to scratch his head, but changed his mind by the way he clutched his hand into a fist and forced it back down. "I. . .We better get going." He turned as abruptly as he changed the subject. "Follow me." And he sped off through the trees before Sasuke could say anymore to him.

He followed. Unpleased that he didn't get any answers, only more questions and one suspicion that made the walls around his heart vulnerable to be torn down.

Tatsuo stopped a few minutes later, causing him to stop as well in front of Ryutaro and Tara. "Fill him in on certain things and give him all the necessary equipment," Tatsuo said, keeping his eyes directly on the two Akuma members. Then he disappeared in a whirlwind, leaving him crouching awkwardly in front of the other two.

"Well Uchiha, welcome!" Ryutaro announced. "Hold on. You need a mission name."

"A mission name?"

"Definitely. What, you think Ryutaro's my real name? Nuh uh. . ." Shaking his head. "You have to have a mission name. Don't want everyone to know your real one and be tied with us forever, now do we? So what will it be?"

Sasuke blinked at the man's enthusiasm. This was suppose to be a mission, not a pleasure cruise. But then again, everything Akuma has done so far has been a little unorthodox. So, why should being on a mission be any different. Seriousness was apparently not on their top list of priorities.

He focused back on mission names. It's not their real names. . . This made him wonder what they were. What was Tatsuo's? His secrets. . .that's what he wants to figure out about the Fox. There was something. God, it was so close—just at the edge of his mind. And if it was what he suspected—what he hoped beyond what he let himself believe, he didn't know how he would handle it.

"Takai," he said, speaking the name that just popped into his mind.

"Yeah—yeah, that works," Ryutaro said as he shook his head in approval. "What do you think?" his question directed at Tara, who's been staring at him the whole time.

"Yes," she spoke for the first time since he's been in their presence. "That fits quite well. Here." She handed over a pile of things to him that laid on her lap previously.

"What are those?"

"It's everything you'll need for this mission."

He eyed the pile suspiciously—until Ryutaro exasperatedly yelled, "You know, the shit won't bite you!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and grabbed the pile of items. Shifting through them, he found his Wolf mask, Kusanagi, a black cloak and an ear piece. "You're not trying to secretly recruit me, are you?" he muttered dryly as he put the ear piece on. A familiar voice being heard through it.

"Takai?" Tatsuo's original voice came over the ear piece. "Mmm. . .that ain't bad. I like it."

"Now, why would we do something like that?" Ryutaro replied with a mischievous air, apparently hearing his previous comment about being recruited. "Hey Tatsuo, are you back to your manly self?!" he asked bluntly.

"Yes, thank god. But Kane here decided it would be funny to bring me the minimum of clothing."

"Hmn, you never specified how much clothing you wanted," said Kane in a smug tone.

He heard Tatsuo growl at Kane and a girl—who he assumed was Hikko—giggle in the background. "Anyway. . ." Tatsuo continued. "Is everyone ready on that end?"

"Almost. Just need to get Takai into his outfit," Ryutaro managed to say through his laughing.

"Well, hurry up. I don't want to go in there without everyone ready."

"And what do we do?" he asked, already having his henge undone and securing his cloak on. It wasn't like they haven't seen what he originally looked like before.

"You three are back up," explained Tatsuo on the other end. "If anything goes wrong, I'm counting on you to back our asses up. Got it. Good. You ready yet?" His impatience showing in every word.

After securing Kusanagi under his cloak, putting his mask on and lifting up his hood, he responded, "Yes."

"Alright then, we're moving," Naruto informed as he emerged from the cover of the brushes. Itachi and Hikko close behind him, moving at the same pace. They crossed the massive yard toward the several french doors located on the East side of the mansion. They entered with no problems. Getting in was a breeze, it's getting out that always seems to become more difficult than should be.

"Hikko, you know what to do," he told the Dog masked woman. Who's real name was Oohiro Kyoko.

She nodded, and sped through a series of hand seals. Without speaking a word, a barrier erupted from the palm of her hands, encompassing the mansion and a few feet outside of the property perimeter. It made sure no outside influence could get in, and no one could get out. Which, if you thought about it, made it a slight disadvantage on their part. But. . .at least their target couldn't get away. Though, the person would have to get through them first, and that was unlikely to begin with.

"What just happened?" he heard Sasuke ask someone on the other end.

"A barrier of Hikko's," answered Ruri. "It's her specialty."

"Hmn."

He felt a smile tug at his lips. He knew that Sasuke was impressed with her ability, and that made him feel strangely proud. That Sasuke recognized the strength of his team enough to work beside them. Of course, he was ignoring the fact that he particularly had to threaten him to come along. But why would he think about that small little detail.

They proceeded up a flight of stairs to the second floor, he held out his arm to stop his two teammates, then pointed up. Just in time, they made it to the high ceiling as a guard came around the corner they were previously standing. The guard paused for a second to glance down both hallways before descending down the stairs to continue his rounds. Gracefully, they landed back on the floor soundlessly, continuing up another flight of stairs to the third floor—where the members of the household sleep. He glanced around at the several hallways leading in separate directions. Stupid ass mansion. Why do they always have to be so damn big?

It wouldn't be called a mansion if it weren't.

Bite me. He pointed down the hall to the right, giving a silent order to Itachi to go down. A curt nod was reply and Itachi headed the hallway indicated.

No, Kurama went on. I bet you would love the Uchiha to though.

He ignored his inner fox demon, pointing down the hallway in front of him for Kyoko to follow. She did, and now he was alone with a choice of two different hallways that were left. The left one or the right. He contemplated a moment—actually doing the eeny meeny miney mou method—before choosing the left one. "How things going out there?" he asked through his ear piece as he dashed down the hall of his choosing, checking every room as he went.

"Quiet. . .for now," responded Miki, also known by the mission name of Ryutaro.

"But when does that ever last?" chimed in Kyoko from wherever she was.

He nodded his head in agreement even though the others couldn't see him. He peeked his head into another room, finding himself surprised in what he saw. Instead of the usual fancy room like all the others he's seen, it was a staircase that led downward into shadows. Cautiously, he took each step slowly down the darken staircase—until he reached another door at the bottom. He could barely make it out, but it was a door by the way the small amount of light glinted only a little bit off the door handle. He tentatively grabbed the handle and pushed down, surprised when it wasn't locked.

Upon opening, he was faced with darkness. His hot breath filled the small space between his face and his Fox mask, causing him to sweat more. He put all his senses on high alert for anyone who might be within the room. But he found none. There was no one there. Breathing a sigh of relief, he fumbled over the wall for a light switch. When he finally found one, he flipped it on and the light illuminated the large room, momentarily blinding him. He blinked to adjust his eyes to the sudden brightness, and turned. Eyes widening when he took in the contents scattered all over the place.

In the middle of the room was a long wooden table with eight chairs; piles of papers here and there littered the top of it. At the head of the table stood a bulletin board with seven different pictures and various other pieces of paper tacked to it. His heart sped up and then froze as he took in each picture. Each one showing one of the nine Jinchuurikis and two of the past. What the. . . He stepped in front of the bulletin board and let his eyes rapidly scan over the contents, his mind adsorbing everything. He abruptly turned away from the board, breathing labored from the small amount of panic rising in his chest. There was too much information.

Rapidly, he ran his vision over the entire room, finding about fifty or so boxes stacked here and there—each labeled according to the nine Bijuu. A black granite, countered top table stood to the side with science equipment placed on top. He approached the table, haphazardly grabbing one of the vials filled with a dark liquid. Blood. He turned it sideways, reading the label: Sabaku no Gaara. Oh shit. . .

What the hell are these freaks doing with all this shit and with fucking blood too?!

Naruto was too shocked to fully comprehend what Kurama said. He turned each vial so he could read the label, and with each name, his blood ran colder. Until he came to the one that held his own name: Uzumaki Naruto. Then he grabbed and held it in his hand.

Our fucking blood! screamed Kurama in his mind.

"Kane, get over here now," he ordered in a low and even voice. "Hikko, you keep searching for the target."

Numbly, he remained standing where he currently stood, gazing down at the vial of his own blood. This ain't good—this ain't good. He continued to repeat over and over in his head like a mantra. Just standing and breathing evenly helped him get grounded again. He carefully placed the vial back into its' stand, then turned on his heels, moving to the wooden table. Determination filled him as he unraveled the scroll on top of the table. He was bound and determined to take every piece of information in this room with him.

"Taichou, what's wrong?" Ruri asked.

"Yeah, what the fuck's going on?" came Miki's voice.

After moving a couple of boxes and placing them on the scroll, he answered, "Ohh, just a drastic change in the mission." Just then, Itachi entered the room and stopped in his tracks when he saw the bulletin board.

"What do you mean change in the mission?" worriedly asked Ruri.

At the moment, Naruto ignored the question. Directing his order at Itachi as he pointed his finger vigorously around. "Grab everything. Don't leave anything behind, not even the smallest piece of paper." Turning away then and grabbing a couple more boxes.

He noticed Itachi move in hurried steps to the bulletin board, snatching everything that was tacked on it and laying them on top of the boxes that were already piled on the scroll. Then, he grabbed an empty box as he went over the countered table and filled it with the contents that were on top. His movements being more careful when he came to the glass vials of blood. Naruto focused on his task fully, grabbing more boxes and various folders and papers from the table. . .

"Oii Tatsuo!" Miki yelled impatiently. "Are you gonna tell us what's going on?"

Ruri was concerned by Naruto not responding. What if something happened to the three of them? What if one of them were hurt or all three were being held captive, and that was why he wasn't responding back to their inquiries. "Taichou. . .?"

"When I was searching through the rooms—" came Naruto's voice, filling her with soothing relief. "—I found one with tons of information on the nine Bijuu. . .and their Jinchuurikis."

She felt her stomach drop in dread at this information. "Then we don't know who gathered all the information or knows about it," she said, already knowing what they had to do.

"Exactly," Naruto confirmed. "Meaning this had just become a complete sweep. You three have the ones on the grounds. And once Kane and I get done here we'll begin with the ones indoors. Hikko, you find that fucking target. We want to make sure he's the one who's dead."

Once Naruto was done speaking, Miki and her gave their separate agreements. The youngest Uchiha on the other hand, asked, "What's a complete sweep?"

Miki turned his Dragon concealed face to Sasuke, he being the one to explain to the raven. "We originally came here to kill our target, but since things have changed, everyone gets killed." He rose from his crouched position, as so did Ruri, but she kept her eyes on Sasuke. She watched for any body language that would tell her if he held any resignation in going through with their current task. Either he had great control over his body or he had no problems in being part of a massacre.

"We're in charge of killing everyone outside the mansion's walls," Miki said. "We might want to get started." Emerging from their cover.

"Do you have a problem with this?" she asked Sasuke, the concern in her voice only there because of Naruto. Plus, she didn't want the raven to become a hindrance in this situation. That would cause too many problems that could hurt her teammates. And she couldn't have that.

She watched as Sasuke stood there perfectly still, speaking in a flat tone. "No." He followed the same path as Miki out into the open yard, holding the posture of someone who held no doubt about his abilities. He held the air of an Akuma. She followed right behind him, moving so she was now walking side by side with him on his left while Miki was on his right. Her doubts about the raven diminished with his willingness to follow orders from a team he hardly even knew. It was kind of admirable. . . or foolish. . .

They walked side by side across the yard, their cloaks billowing in the wind, their movements fluid and holding a tinge of grace. She could image what they looked like; holding a appearance that resembled three demons returning to take their revenge on humanity.

"You!" a yell was heard. She and Miki and Sasuke turned their heads in the direction. "Stop!" A guard came into view, holding his hand and jogging briskly toward them.

Next to her, Sasuke disappeared then reappeared behind the guard, Kusanagi in hand. And in one swift movement, he cut the guards' head clear off before he knew what was even happening.

Miki nodded his head, most likely because of the raven's ruthlessness. "Definitely would make a good addition to the team," he said loudly, clearly wanting Naruto to hear his declaration. She shook her head lightly, wondering if what Miki said was true. Would it be best for the Uchiha to join the team?

The noise of the previous guard brought out more guards to be slaughter.

And so the massacre began. . .

Around another corner, Kyoko opened door after door. Dammit, where is he! she screamed at herself. She desperately didn't want to disappoint Naruto for her incapability in finding their target by herself. She was the kind of person who liked to prove herself to others who've done so much for her. And Naruto, he was the only person willing to save her from a fate worse than death. From those men. . .

In her rush, she didn't notice the guard coming around the next corner. She crashed full force into him, both landing hard on the floor in a bundle of limbs. She squirmed against him and eventually untangled herself. She then grabbed a kunai from her weapons pouch and with a flick of her wrist, the kunai was impaled in the guards' neck. Blood splattering in all directions; hitting the walls and running across the wooden floor like a river.

She breathed hard when she got back to her feet, the small spout of fear easing. Without worrying about the mess she made, she continued on with her search to find their target. But each room she came upon were all empty, no General in sight. As she passed by a full length mirror, she paused, feeling someone near. Turning her head around, she looked to see if someone was there. . . but there was no one around. Then where is it coming from, she thought. Then she concentrated on that presence, and realized it was coming from behind the mirror.

Slowly, she faced the mirror. A secret passage? For a long moment, she examined around the frame. Then she came to a conclusion as she lifted her hands and tugged on the frame back and forth. And to her joy, the frame easily flung open to reveal a door behind it. Grabbing the door handle, she opened it with not even a creak. For a place that's hidden, they sure don't know how to put locks on it.

The inside of the room was dark, the only light coming from outside that gave the room a soft glow of navy blue. It was enough for her to see as she walked silently to the middle of the room. Standing at the foot of a king sized bed where a male and female laid on top sleeping. She looked more closely at the male, and almost jumped up and down cheering when it was the General she's been searching all over the place for.

"Found him," she whispered softly in her ear piece. "He was trying to hide in a secret room."

"Great work, Hikko," praised Naruto, conjuring a smile on her face. "Now get rid of him."

She nodded, "Hai." She pulled out two kunai and aimed them both at their hearts. She didn't want to take a chance that either of them living through a neck wound. She's seen it happened, and that mistake she wasn't going to tolerate. Throwing them with deadly accuracy, they both embedded deeply in both of the persons' chests. Neither so much as stirred as blood soaked their chests.

Kyoko moved to the side of the bed and pressed her index and middle fingers to the target's pulse at his throat, making sure he was actually head. And when she received to pulse she felt proud of herself. She eliminated a target all on her own with no help whatsoever.

"Target eliminated."

"Good." Naruto said, his chest swelling a little with pride. "Come find us and kill whoever on your way."

"Hai."

Itachi was just finishing up sealing the remaining items in the third scroll when the emergency siren blared through the air. Naruto covered his ears at the sudden screeching noise, the loudness hurting his sensitive ears. "Well. . ." he said as he brought his head back up and took his hands away from his ears. He just had to deal with the ache. "It sounds like they noticed our presence."

Itachi deliberately turned his head slowly to him. The Weasel mask ominous even without seeing the glare Itachi was probably giving him. He could just feel it burning a hole through his mask. He grinned under his, hoping Itachi would feel it.

Clearly he didn't, he turned and grabbed the last scroll, stuffing it into his pouch. "We need to go," stating the most obvious thing right now. And yet, he hesitated. Everyone in the building needed to be killed for the mere suspicion of researching and particularly stalking Jinchuurikis. But that could jeopardize his team, and no matter the risk of leaving these people alive was to Jinchuurikis, he would never risk his team.

"Everyone, it's time to leave," he spoke through the ear piece to his other team as Itachi and himself exited the room, climbed the stairs and emerged into the hallway. "Hikko, where are you?"

"Right here!" the voice of Kyoko came from behind them.

He glanced behind and watched as she caught up with them. "How are you guys holding up out there?"

"Oh, just fine," Miki said. "These guards aren't that difficult to fight. Though, they are like flies. When you take out one, two just replace it. You know how annoying that is?"

"Yup, I know exactly how you feel. Now, what side of the mansion are you at?"

"Ummm. . ."

"The left side," Sasuke said blandly.

"Hehehe. . .yeah, the left side."

"We'll be there in a sec." Turning the next corner in a blur and heading to the back of the mansion. He knew Itachi and Kyoko were right behind him, all three of them killing whoever came upon their path or was stupid enough to try and intercept them.

"You might want to hurry, Taichou. Reinforcements are gathering outside the barrier," informed Ruri.

They sped down another long hallway, a large stained window could be seen at the end. Perfect. He grinned underneath his mask as the window came closer by the second. He was always one to be slightly dramatic. And dramatic it was as he went crashing through the glass window and landing gracefully on the trimmed lawn outside.

Sasuke glimpsed in the direction where he heard glass shattering, and saw Tatsuo, Kane, and Hikko running across the grounds toward them. The broken window being the apparent route they took. He shook his head at the dramatics of it all, then focused back on the fight currently at hand. He used his speed to take out several guards within seconds, using Kusanagi—jutsus were not needed.

Somewhere to his left, he knew Tara fought. Probably still with a kunai, since that's the last weapon he's seen her with. Ryutaro fought a short distance in front of him. Fighting against two guards at once; using a long dagger to block their attacks with one hand and using a kunai to strike the deadly blows with the other.

He ducked from a katana swipe to his head, avoiding a clean beheading by three seconds. Sasuke rushed the man for the attempt, slicing his stomach wide open, almost slicing him completely in half. Turning quickly, he threw a kunai in a guards' throat that tried to attack him from behind. Coward. Then he cursed under his breath when he realized he missed a slight mishap in his calculations: A guard to his right who decided to take his minor distraction to his advantage. The guard lifted his katana high to strike him, and in slow motion brought it down.

It would have made contact too, if Tatsuo didn't appear out of nowhere and blocked the blow with a dagger. "Tsk—tsk, Takai. You're suppose to watch your back." Shoving the guard away and slicing his throat open.

Sasuke felt no relief. There was no fear when the possibility of death arose. There was nothing. His life meant nothing to him. "Why?" he spoke hollowly. "When I have you to do it for me."

"Spoken like a true member. I'm tempted to keep you," Tatsuo said too lowly for him to hear over the noise of the fight but through the ear piece, he heard perfectly. He stared at Tatsuo for a long moment, and even if he couldn't see the other's eyes, that familiarity resurfaced as he stared at the Fox mask. Like deep down he really knew him. But where. . .

Tatsuo was the one who broke the eye contact first. "Let's head out." He turned and headed to the East side of the barrier, where the reinforcements weren't lined up to kill them on the spot.

"Is this the usual break and meet later exit plan?" Ryutaro asked.

"Yup. But since we have an extra teammate, we'll split up into twos." He paused for a second as he took out another passing guard. "Ryutaro with Hikko, Tara with Takai, and Kane's with me. Avoid all trouble and meet up at the campsite." He finished just as they came upon the barrier's perimeter. "Now, Hikko."

Hikko did a series of hand seals and the barrier dissolved like jello. They all sped through, where a moment before stood the perimeter, and ran as a pack for a couple of seconds. Then, just as they were coming to the residential area of the village, Tatsuo shouted, "Split!" and they all separated.

Each group of two headed in a different direction to meet up at the same location. . .