Gravity Chapter 4: Strange Encounters, a naruto fanfic

A.N.

To those of you that are reading this please note that there is a story before this. It's called Slowly Slipping Away and it's found in my page. I follow the manga as closely as possible so this is the Shippuden part of it.

Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: Naruto does NOT belong to me.

Sayuri and any characters that have not and will not appear in the manga and/or anime are completely original.

Reviews are ENCOURAGED! Thank you.

Strange Encounters

Sasuke Uchiha's dark eyes narrowed at the sky, taking note of the absent sun. It was too early in the morning. Thoughts about the young heiress came to mind. Would she be awake right now? No, she liked to sleep in until just before the sun rose. He silently grimaced at the direction of his thoughts. He could not be allowed to think of her. That damned girl was a distraction! He quickly did away with them before turning to his partner watching silently as she too stared at the eastern sky with yearning.

Does she like the sun too? He almost growled, his self control was wavering…he had managed to keep his wondering thoughts at bay until last night when he had found the idiot girl walking down the hallway and soaking wet of all things! He shouldn't care though, and so he didn't.

"Let's go. We're wasting time." He grumbled as he stalked past her towards the forest.

"Ok." She whispered as she followed closely behind before taking off into the woods. Both frowning, one because of his developing obsession over a particular leaf konoichi, and the other because it was too early in the damn morning to be moving about like this.

XXX

The leaves brushed past her legs as the two continued to travel. It wasn't until he dropped down to a lower branch that she noticed something odd. Her body seemed to go on autopilot and followed the Uchiha as he continued to travel downwards.

Their surroundings seemed quiet enough. The wind blew softly providing them relief from their hot summer environment. However she felt a strange tingling in the back of her mind. Something…no, someone, was following them. And that someone wasn't alone. She noted as she landed next to Sasuke with a light tap.

"Is everything alright?" she spoke in a hushed tone as her eyes scanned the area.

"Yes, I still have the scroll." Came his answer.

Her brows furrowed. Why would he say that? She had the scroll in her pack…unless…unless her suspicions were correct and there was a group of ninja trailing them. But whoever it was she couldn't for the life of her figure out where they were. And judging from the way the Uchiha's eyes flashed red, the coma marks around his iris spinning, he couldn't figure it out either.

A small green leaf floated onto her shoulder. Intrigued she moved to pluck it off and stared at it, a small pout forming on her lips for a small second. She turned to the Uchiha for another before realization hit them. Quickly they jumped out of the way just in time to watch as a ninja landed two kunai in hand.

He's rogue. She concluded as she took in his form, no headband anywhere on him. Crap! She took hold of a tree branch using it as leverage to swing herself out of the way of incoming shuriken. She crouched and moved to the branch directly in front of her as another ninja suddenly appeared beside her aiming a punch at her face. Sayuri blocked it as she was pushed into another branch further down. Suddenly the ninja disappeared into the forest. The young brunette cursed as she tried but failed to pinpoint her assailants location.

Taking out her kunai she spun them in her index fingers before her right arm swung to her back as she turned stabbing the ninja in the shoulder. She yanked him by the collar she glared as she took another kunai and struck at his abdomen just before she left him to fall through the shrubbery and collide with the hard ground. She heard a small grunt before she was on the move again leaping down onto the ground, just in time to watch as the young Uchiha rammed a Chidori into the other man's chest.

"I think it was just them." Sayuri commented after a shaky minute.

"Hn…" he turned his back to her as he tried scanning the area one more time. He stiffened suddenly as he turned around just in time to catch as one more ninja leapt at Rei's back.

Sayuri watched in a daze as Sasuke suddenly disappeared, only to reappear to her right taking a hit that was clearly meant for her. In a quick movement she leapt into the air landing behind their attacker and snapping his neck. She took a step back as his body fell off to the side, her golden eyes looking over her companions form as he pulled out a senbon from his arm. He looked at the piece of metal for a small second before throwing it aside.

"Are you ok?" she asked but was only ignored as he once again turned his back to her.

Dark orbs tried to focus on the trees, but his vision began to blur the images together. Suddenly he felt heavy as his body slowly fell under the pressure of gravity.

XXX

"Sasuke!" he heard Rei's alarmed voice call out, yet it sounded too distant, briefly he noted that this was the first time she actually called out his name. His blurred green and brown image of the forest was replaced by a blob of purple and blue. He heard his name being called out again and felt his body shake but he could not make out the words or feel the movement.

His eyes strayed upwards trying to focus on something until the blurred image before him started to take a form. Rei…his muddled mind supplied. Her face showed a hint of worry as she looked from him then to her left and right before returning to him. That's when the image became distorted once more before clearing up. There in place of Rei, was the girl that had haunted his dreams, everything about her was just as he imagined…Except her hair, he noted as it was longer as it spilled over her shoulder in a braid.

He felt her hand touch his shoulder and she continued to move her mouth but he could hear no words. Slowly he forced his hand to grab her small hand in his as he continued to stare, watching as she paused before using her free hand to shake him once more, her face now in full on worry. Suddenly the image began to flicker between Rei and Sayuri until his vision was obscured in darkness.

XXX

"Shit!" she cursed as she shook him again and again. "Damn it, Sasuke!" she looked at his face noticing how his eyes focused on her face only until suddenly she felt a hand on hers. "Sasuke, can you hear me? Answer me!" she demanded until his eyes closed. With a small gasp she leaned down to put her ear near his nose hearing as the teen took shallow breaths. Biting her lip she looked at her surroundings once again. Quickly she moved to the dead ninja pulling his pouch of she opened it, her eyes widened a bit as she looked at the small bottles of poison and senbon. In a swift movement she opened her pack and placed the small pouch inside before she turned to the fallen Uchiha.

Pulling him up by one arm she wrapped her arm around his waist as she slowly stood up. Using one hand she made a single hand sign focusing her chakra on her body molding it to that of the earth element. With a small intake of breath she moved to leapt into the trees moving quickly in search of a small town.

XXX

Sayuri watched as Sasuke slept, lost in his own world. She glanced over to the syringe on the desk that held the antidote to the poison in his bloodstream. The hotel clerk knew of a doctor that was good with poisons, once she had given him the small flask it took him only a couple of minutes to figure out what it was and how to counteract it. Apparently it was quick to disable someone but not quick enough to kill them.

Perhaps it was never their intention to kill them…maybe to take them hostage? Who knows. All Sayuri was sure about was that the idiot Uchiha had placed himself between her and the unknown ninja, taken a hit that was meant for her and that now she sat at his bed side with the antidote in hand wondering if she should give it to him or not. It would only take three more days for him to die…Or I could just end it now…he is an S-Class criminal. She thought as she looked at the kunai on her lap.

She watched as his chest slowly rose and fell with each breath he took, watched as he became paler than he already was. Should she just let him die? Should she kill him? She wondered. But he saved her life…

It's not what people do, it's who they are. Her mind supplied and silently she agreed. Some decide to work as medics others are store keepers, housekeepers, teachers, and ninja. We are ninja by choice and not because we were forced into it. We chose to put our life on the line for our village, for our families, for our friends. We are trained, we preformed missions, and we worked together.

Our training consisted of exercises in which we worked on our chakra control, our weaponry, our combat skill, our jutsu, and our killing abilities. We were trained to perform quickly and efficiently. We were trained to leave nothing behind that might incriminate us. We were trained since children alongside our friends and teachers. We were prepared for everything…or so we thought. She slowly tugged at the hem of her sleeve.

During our academy years, as Genin, Chunin, Jonin, and even ANBU, we were never thought how to kill our friends. With a sigh she looked at the antidote again. So when we come face to face with the enemy who just happened to have sat next to us at one point in the academy, who we happened to have talked to, who was our team mate at some point in our life, who was there for us when we needed someone to listen, who trained with us, who we have come to care for…

"How exactly do we kill them?" She whispered as she stood her hand wrapping around the cold metal. How do we deal with all the feelings that come rushing back to us when we see them?

Her hand shook as it clenched over the kunai her eyes trailing over his slumbering form then over to the antidote. I am an ANBU… she reminded herself. All S-Class criminals are to be disposed of…Her breathing quickened as she took a step closer.

How do we ignore the fact that we care as we stand there with our weapons facing them ready to end it all?

The answer is simple. We can't. We can't do away with our feelings because we are human, and humans have emotions. "But as an ANBU it is my job, as hard as it is, to get the job done." She whispered as she stood over him.

XXX

The wind's picked up… Kenji noted as he watched the tree branches hit his office window, in his hand a small scroll. He looked at it once more reading over her hurried writing. He has to admit, he was worried, during the three weeks of her absence going to four, and he couldn't help but wonder if she was safe. Imagine his surprise when he finds out that this entire time she had been training alongside the Uchiha avenger and that, it would seem, no one suspected a thing.

In his mind he still remembered the rambunctious little girl that knew how to push his buttons when she was young. He still saw the hurt child after the death of her mother. The lost, empty look in her eyes after the loss of her clan was still in the front of his mind. But only one memory pestered him more than the rest. The one of the broken child, barely six years old as she woke and knew nothing of her life, never in his entire life has he seen something like it.

To be fine one day, only to have lost everything the next… He re-read the scroll, his only proof that she was safe.

Kenji found himself sighing for the umpteenth time that evening. He was getting old.

XXX

Moriyo sat on the railing outside her apartment as she stared at the night sky, frowning slightly at the absence of stars that day. Kakashi's team had returned, and of course the idiot had over exerted himself. She pouted pushing herself off the rails and landing on the empty street.

The village was mostly abandoned as the day turned to night. Briefly she wondered about Sayuri. Was she safe? Of course she was! That girl would always be safe…at least…she hoped. Running a hand down her face she growled not liking her train of thought.

Be positive Moriyo…she warned herself as she continued her wondering journey. "Huh?" she stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed a certain silver haired Sharingan wielder orange porn book in hand.

"Yo." He saluted from his spot on a bench.

She felt her eye twitch. "Shouldn't you be at the hospital gee…I don't know…resting!" she almost growled.

"Nice to know you care about my health, Moriyo." The woman in question scoffed.

"As if!" She crossed her arms and looked away.

Kakashi eyed her as she glared at her left refusing to have eye contact with him. He wondered what she was doing walking the dark streets of Konoha this late at night. She had left the village once…was she planning on leaving again? He wondered. Back then she had only been 20 when she made the decision of leaving. Her mind was set on abandoning the village that did not want to look into her best friend's death.

Kaminari and Sayuri had been attacked within the village walls…yet no one came to their rescue. No one heard the tortured screams that Sayuri had claimed to have heard come from her aunt. No one bothered to help the head of the Marihasha look for the murderers. He had to admit, Moriyo had a good reason for leaving the village.

"Where were you going?" he found himself asking. Orange eyes swept to him, analyzing, calculating.

"For a walk…" she watched as his postured seemed to relax a bit before she scoffed. "Did you seriously think that I would leave? I mean come on Scarecrow, I don't even have my shuriken holster!" she pointed at her thigh, to which he gave a light chuckle.

The two then began to laugh lightly together in what felt like years to them. In reality neither one of them bothered to come together after Kaminari's death, she was after all the only reason they were ever in each other's presence to begin with. The dark haired, golden eyed, Marihasha was best friends with Moriyo. Moriyo, for her part met Kakashi through the ANBU as they were almost always paired off together, and in all honesty neither one of them could stand the other for more than was necessary. What with Kakashi being cold, indifferent, and "a total jerk," as Moriyo would put it, and with Moriyo being too loud, cheerful, and "a complete mess of a ninja," one could only imagine why they hated each other's guts.

Then one day at the time they were all just sixteen, Kaminari tagged along on one of their missions, she and Kakashi hit it off from there, much to Moriyo's chagrin, and everything from then on involving Kaminari and Kakashi seemed to somehow include Moriyo in her best friends attempt at finding a lover for her. However, it all went crashing down after her death just days after her 20th birthday. Kaminari found dead in the outskirts of the village, Sayuri found unconscious a couple of feet away from her. After that day Moriyo had insisted that they find the ones responsible, but the council rejected her request and she was left angry, disappointed, and vengeful.

How was it possible that one of Konoha's finest konoichi was brought down in her own village? That was the question that haunted her every day up until the fateful night she left the village under the approval of the third Hokage. It wasn't until she heard the news of Orochimaru possibly being within Konoha, that she returned suddenly remembering that Kaminari had left a legacy. From then on Moriyo's entire dedication went to making sure that Sayuri was well prepared, that she became a ninja that rivaled her aunt, and most of all that she was always safe.

"Any news on her?" Kakashi's question managed to snap Moriyo out of her train of thought. Giving him a look she sighed.

"It's ANBU confidential…do you really think Kenji would tell me about it. The only thing I got going for me right now is that he's not freaking out and going on a rampage."

"Hmm…" he rubbed his chin. "Then when if see him deploy every ANBU available will be when we know that she's in danger." She smiled at that and nodded.

"You're not as dense as I thought Scarecrow." She grinned at his glare.

XXX

The kunai hovered mere centimeters away from his neck, her hand trembling slightly as she continued to stare down at him. She pulled back and an in a swift motion placed the metal item back in its pouch. She cursed under her breath running a hand over her face in exasperation. One ninja! She couldn't kill one ninja! What the hell was wrong with her? She fought to keep herself from punching a hole through the wall as her anger and confusion rose. With a sigh she moved to the syringe, taking the bottle with the antidote before drawing the popper amount into it. Moving with the grace that only a ninja could have she quickly injected the nullifier into his blood stream and stepped back to place used needle on the small desk. Her feet proceeded to take her out of the room, sliding the door shut quietly behind her just before she walked down the empty hall.

XXX

"Big brother," A six year old Sasuke walked alongside a twelve year old Itachi.

"Yes?"

"Where are we going?" Sasuke asked as they started to climb the stairs that ran up a hillside near the forest of area of the leaf village.

"I want you to meet someone."

"Someone? Is this someone the same girl father told you to guard?" His black eyes focused on his dear older brother who, in turn, nodded his head once as they walked through the slowly opening gates revealing two masked guards both with their arms crossed over their chests.

"Good afternoon, Itachi." One of the guards said as he closed the gate to the compound. His face was covered by the same type of mask that Sasuke saw in his brother's room the other night, except this mask was shaped like a monkey's. How strange…Sasuke thought as he looked from one masked guard to the other.

As the two young Uchiha walked through the area Sasuke took notice of the children that played by the small river, most played with the fire that they had conjured up themselves through a jutsu. There were boys, about Itachi's age who moved the earth and girls who used the wind to dry their wet clothes. As they ventured further into what seemed to be a small version of the village, he saw older kids who had graduated from the Academy teaching the younger ones how to control the elements, beside's them was a small group of boys who made lightning appear out of their fingertips as the others watched in amazement.

The adults walked among the children, paying no mind to them. When something went awry and the children lost control of their elements the adults would quickly dodge whatever was being hurled at them, be it a fireball, bolt of lightning, mound of earth, or even a gust of wind. If dodging was out of the question they would unconsciously activate their bloodline limit and deflect the attack.

Sasuke took in everything with wonder. How was it I didn't know about these people? He asked himself as he walked through the streets.

"Here we are." Itachi's voice drew him out of his musings as they stood in front of a tall house.

The door suddenly opened and out came a woman with blonde hair and green eyes. She looked surprised to see them but was quick to smile. "Good afternoon, Itachi." She bowed. "And this must be your little brother, Sasuke." She said bending down to get a better look at him, her green eyes sparkling. "I'll tell you, Lady Sayuri hasn't stopped talking about how she's finally going to meet you today." She turned to Itachi who smiled at the woman. "She's in the garden." The two boys bowed and entered as the woman stepped aside.

"Thank you Mikiko." Itachi bowed and headed straight down the hallway. Opening the sliding door Itachi stepped in followed by Sasuke who was right on his tail; there he saw a small girl plucking the daisy's around her. She looked up and almost instantly her face lit up.

"Itachi!" she ran towards them. Sasuke watched his big brother catch the young girl in his arms picking her easily off the ground a smile on his brother's face.

"How are you, Lady Sayuri?"

"I'm fine, thank you." She smiled up at him then turned to the boy next to them a curious look on her small features. The younger Uchiha watched as his brother slowly placed the small girl directly in front of him.

His obsidian eyes stared at her intently as he took the young girl in, her head tilted to the side. Long auburn hair poured over her shoulders and bangs framed her face. Her cheeks were tinted a light pink and her eyes were like nothing he'd seen before. Blue and red stared into his coal black. It was at that moment that a red tint covered his pale cheeks. She was the prettiest girl he'd seen.

She blinked at him. "Hi, I'm Sayuri!" she grinned extending a small hand out to him.

XXX

Black eyes slowly opened before wincing away from the sunlight. Again? He almost growled as he moved a hand to drape over his eyes. Not even when he was miles away did he get a break from the girl. Stiffening he quickly sat up trying to make sense of where he was. His eyes slowly traveled around the sunlight room landing on the desk next to him where a syringe laid.

Where the hell was he! Had he been captured? He sensed a small pulsing of chakra slowly approaching the door to his room. Moving quickly he took the syringe and stood by the door just as it opened, the person coming in was suddenly pinned against the wall with a dull thud as their chest collided with the wall, the needle at their neck.

He stood close pressing his body to that of the intruders to keep them from breaking free. He was about to stab them in the neck until a calm voice brought him back from his murderous intent.

"What do you think you're doing?" it had said. His brow furrowed, he knew that voice. Taking a step back he saw short purple hair, eyes narrowed before moving to spin her around and shoving her back into the wall. Golden eyes stared up at his, annoyance in them as she glared at the arm that pinned her to the wall and back at him. "Would you mind?" she asked, again in a calm manner, not letting her anger seep through.

Sasuke took several steps back and watched as she slipped the kunai in her hands back into her pouch. If she hadn't spoken when she did, he would have killed her. She thought as she unconsciously touched her neck, as if verifying that she was indeed ok. Her golden eyes glared at the small object in the Uchiha's hands before stalking over to him and snatching the offending piece of plastic and throwing it away.

"Where am I?" he was still apprehensive, because in all honesty he knew nothing of the girl in front of him. She could have taken him hostage.

Said girl crossed her arms before answering with that soft voice of hers. "It's a hotel near the beach, we're not too far off from the border. How are you feeling?" He must have looked confused since she sighed and pointed at his arm, which he now noticed was bandaged. "You took a hit for me, the ninja's senbon were poisoned."

It all came back to him now. They were on the way to the Iron Wall hideout before he sensed that they were being followed. Whoever it was they were good enough to hide their chakra seeing as even with his Sharingan he wasn't able to pinpoint their exact location. They were attacked and he managed to kill one off just as Rei had shown up, and if the idiot girl had bothered to keep her defenses up she would have noticed the last member of the rogue ninja jump at her. Suddenly the image of a young brunette girl crossed his mind and just as quickly as it had appeared it was gone.

"How far off the border are we?"

"About ten minutes away, I checked last night." She answered as she leaned against the wall.

"Good. Let's go."

XXX

The sun shined brightly as they crossed the ocean via a boat that was being guided by one of Orochimaru's subordinates. The salty water sprayed on them once in a while whenever the waves were too strong. Sayuri looked off to the side ignoring both of the male's gazes on her. Ever since they had arrived the guide practically drooled over her, and Sasuke for his part stared blankly at her almost as if he was trying to solve something.

The girl with long brown hair was definitely Sayuri. It had to be, those mismatched brown eyes couldn't be replicated by anyone. Sasuke watched as Rei frowned at the distance, could she be Sayuri? No, Sayuri's chakra was distinctive, he now recalled. It didn't pulse like Rei's did…no, Sayuri's chakra was definitely not so subtle. Slowly he got up as they reached the shoreline to the small island where Orochimaru's southern border laid. Rei quickly followed closely behind him as the ventured further into the island.

Reaching the gate as it opened before them he continued on before they were suddenly greeted by a redheaded woman. Sayuri noted as the woman's red eyes seemed to linger hungrily over Sasuke's form before flashing in anger at her.

"What do you want?" she all but demanded of the two.

Sasuke turned to Sayuri then and motioned to her pouch. In a swift motion she took out the scroll and handed it to the girl who snatched it out of her hand. She almost growled, but settled for a light frown before her face went back to neutral.

The redhead read the scroll quickly before she looked back up at them. "This way." She turned on her heel and walked further inside of the stone base. The two followed, gates closing behind them with a loud clang.

Loud cries for help were what caught her attention first. Sayuri looked around her environment noticing that they was surrounded by jail cells. She fought to keep a startled gasp from escaping her lips as a hand suddenly shot out and graved her arm in an iron grip.

"Help us!" the withered man pleaded as she tried to loosen his hold. When she was finally able to break away he began to plead louder. "PLEASE!" he cried out as she walked further away.

"Just ignore them." The redhead said. "They're always like that." The three walked down the hall then rounded the corner and continued, the cries and curses becoming distant echoes. They arrived at a fork and stopped. Turning to them she pointed to her left. "The office is that way…" Sayuri and Sasuke looked at her for a second. "Well? Go on." She gestured for them to continue.

Warily Sayuri moved first followed by Sasuke and the girl. She reached another fork and turned around to ask which way to go but found herself alone. Sayuri growled in anger. "Ugh, that bitch!" she stomped a foot before marching back the way she came. "Where the hell are they!" she grumbled as she kept going straight in search for the Uchiha and the redhead.

XXX

"Why did you bring me here, Karin?" Sasuke asked ignoring the way said girl batted her eyelashes at him.

"Hmm?" she smiled as she took off her glasses, a blush on her cheeks. "What do you mean, Sasuke?" she put emphasis on his name as she all but latched on him.

The Uchiha sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Why did women have to be so annoying?

XXX

"Where the hell did they go!" she walked down the hall opening and closing doors, finding the rooms empty. Suddenly she came to a stop as she heard a shrill voice coming from it. Leaning in she pressed her ear against it.

"Oh Sasuke! You're such a bad boy!" there was some shuffling and a giggle.

Sayuri pulled back a blush spreading over her cheeks, hand twitching as she felt strangely jealous. That…that…Jerk! She glared at the door before deciding that standing idly before the wooden contraption was just not going to cut it for her, and so she kicked it down.

A startle yelp came from the redhead as she scrambled to get off Sasuke's lap. Rei glared at her before turning her gaze to the Uchiha. "Are you two done now?" she asked and for the first time since he had met her, Rei sounded genuinely angry. Standing up he walked over to Karin, reached around her to get a small package and turned to walk out the room.

"Let's go." Was all he said, the journey back was made in an awkward silence.

A.N.

There you have it. The fourth chapter!

Just a bit of information I thought you might find intersting:

Sayuri- usually means Small Lily, but the Kanji used to write her name (早百合) means Early Lily. A play on her name since she always wakes up early enough to see the sunrise, but tends to be late when it comes to other things such as meetings, like you've seen in Slowly Slipping Away and early on in this story with the meeting between her Diachi, Hajime, and Kenji at ANBU HQ.

Kaminari- means Thunder, her name plays on her personality as her element is lightning, hence her golden colored eyes. She died at age 20, a couple of months before the death of Sayuri's clan.

Rei- means Lovely but it also means Nothing or Zero, it works both ways because Sayuri designed her to specifically attract the attention of men due to her subtle beauty, however it also means Nothing because in reality Rei does not exist, she is instead, a disguise.

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