Naraku's Phoenix: Every time I hear Shippuden Sasuke's theme song I think of Joss Whedon's Firefly.
Thank you to my amazing readers and reviewers: EvilFaerie17 and HunterAzrael. Keep an eye on your PM boxes. I'll be sending you both something special between now and the next update.
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Ch. 6: Dangerous Territory
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Kiba guided Sakura through a secondary inner gate that was connected to a large, concrete building. The door shut behind them on its own, and Kiba and flipped a few switches on the adjacent wall. Ceiling fluorescents buzzed to life and lit up a maze of grayed hallways. Still clinging to her side, Kiba led Sakura down the third hallway on the left and opened a small door that could easily be mistaken for a broom closet. Once inside Kiba found the light switch and revealed that the mystery room was an office. He let go of Sakura and closed the door behind them, locking it with a soft click. Sakura walked to the center of the room and surveyed her surroundings.
"May I take your coat?" Kiba asked with faux politeness. Sakura's eyes narrowed as she reluctantly undid her buttons.
'This better not take long,' she thought.
Kiba stood behind Sakura and bent his head down so his mouth was hovering over the side of her neck. Kiba cupped her shoulders, kissed her neck and felt Sakura stiffen. The puffs of hot breath sent shivers down her spine. He smirked and slipped her coat off, letting it drop to the floor and then kicking it aside.
"What's your angle?" she asked.
"45 degrees with you bent over the desk at 90." Kiba said suggestively. He left Sakura standing in the middle of the room and sat on the edge of the desk behind them. Sakura rolled her eyes.
"You're still as classy as ever." Sakura kept her face forward and her back to Kiba while he loosened his scarf and chucked it aside with his gloves.
"And you're still a touchy bitch," he snapped before changing the subject, "Word on the street is you're getting married, soon."
Now that caught her attention. Sakura spared a glance toward Kiba and saw him shed his coat and untuck his shirt.
"Word travels fast," she said with a raised eyebrow.
"Not really," he replied, "Your father came to us with the proposal a few months ago."
This time Sakura whipped her entire body around. She looked at Kiba, stunned. Kiba was halfway through undoing the buttons on his shirt.
"Oh? You didn't know?" continued Kiba, "Well, I'm not surprised. He was going to keep it from you until he finalized all the arrangements." Kiba finished unbuttoning his shirt and Sakura fought to hide the blush that was creeping on her cheeks.
'What is he doing?' she thought.
Kiba pretended not to notice her reaction while he slipped off the cotton obstruction hiding his muscles. His undershirt clung to every definition. Sakura had to make herself look away.
"So you said, 'No?'" asked Sakura. Her tone held the slightest touch of disappointment. Kiba chuckled.
"Obviously."
Kiba crept closer and closer to Sakura, and before she could force herself to look at him it was too late. Bare, well-toned arms snaked around her smaller frame and jerked her forward so she crashed into a naked chest. Too occupied with not looking at him, Sakura hadn't realized when Kiba discarded his undershirt. Now, trapped in his embrace, Sakura tried to stay focused on their topic of conversation.
"Why?"
Kiba smiled and tenderly entwined his fingers in her hair and grabbed a fistful of pink locks. He yanked her head back so hard she thought her neck might snap. Kiba walked her over to the front of the desk and bent her, backward, over the edge. Using her hair as leverage, he forced her down further. Sakura winced and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"Why would we?" he seethed, "Your father was the one who took our business model and fucked us over. And as appealing as the offer was to fuck you back, as compensation, our marriage would have been nothing but a stain of humiliation on the Inuzuka name. You've stolen our business, you've stolen our customers and with that you've stolen our livelihood. Like hell we were going to let you treat us like a charity case when you're the ones who should be on the ground licking our boots." Kiba loosened his grip in Sakura's hair and pulled her back to a standing position.
"But, considering the circumstances," he continued, "I think I could settle for you sucking my cock."
"Fuck you, Inuzuka."
"Too late."
Kiba let go of Sakura and smacked her across the cheek. Sakura followed the motion of the hit and teetered ungracefully across the floor until she was abruptly stopped by the adjacent wall. Sakura's knees buckled and she slid to the floor. Before she could lift a hand to her aching head Sakura was jerked back to her feet. Kiba shoved her face into the wall and yanked her sweater up.
Sakura wanted to puke.
Kiba went down the small of her back and removed a light pink revolver from its paddle holster. He left Sakura leaning against the wall while he unloaded it. All five rounds clattered to the carpeted floor. Kiba flipped the cylinder back in place and tossed the unloaded gun on the pile of clothes he discarded earlier.
"Can't have that, now, can we?" he laughed, "Don't you trust me?"
Still leaning against the wall Sakura turned her head to look at Kiba - her gaze full of malice.
"Is this how you treat someone who's better than you? Just because you run your business like a child doesn't mean you have to act like one."
"YOU ARE NOT BETTER THAN ME!"
Kiba kicked Sakura's shin and grabbed another fistful of hair. He yanked her back and slammed her head into the wall for a second time.
"Is any of this getting through to you!" he yelled in her ear, "You can't fuck people over and still call them your friends!"
Kiba grabbed Sakura's shoulder with his free hand and swung her body into the desk. It wobbled when she hit the corner, and a cup of pencils toppled overhead. Sakura dropped to the floor, again, and rolled on her side to cough. As Kiba watched her his voice softened from yelling and dropped back to a normal level.
"And you don't know how long I've waited to say that," he said.
Kiba slowly approached Sakura and knelt beside her.
"You aren't allowed to take advantage of me, anymore."
He rolled Sakura onto her back and climbed on top of her.
"Because I've decided to take advantage of you."
Kiba felt Sakura's right knee bend and he pinned the corresponding arm above her. His hips kept her in place and his other hand reached up and stretched the expensive sweater fabric over her shoulder. His head dipped down to the crook of her neck where he bit and suckled her skin. Sakura fidgeted and Kiba slapped the side of the desk with the full of his palm. Her head jerked away from the noise and that gave Kiba the angle he needed to keep lapping on her neck. Sakura shivered and her breathing slowed.
"Kiba…," she whispered.
Kiba smiled and nibbled on her ear.
"Remember when we were kids?" he asked, "Playing 'Doctor' was your favorite game."
Kiba's left hand trailed down from her, now relaxed, wrist to her elbow, over her shoulder and cupped her breast. He slowly started massaging it through her sweater. Sakura was surprisingly calm. Small kisses followed up the curve of her chin.
"Kiba…," whispered Sakura, again, this time her voice was higher pitched…almost forced. Kiba growled.
"Can't you say anything else, Haruno?"
No reply.
"Sakura?"
Kiba lifted himself from Sakura's torso and almost wet himself when he saw streaks of drying blood making patterns on the back of his hand. His gaze darted from there to Sakura's drooping eyes and, from there, to the spot on the wall where he'd been so harsh with her.
There wasn't much, but flecks of blood seemed to overtake the room and choke him.
"Oh, shit!" exclaimed Kiba. He started snapping his fingers. "Uh…Sakura! Stay with me Sakura! Come on, um…shit! I'm sorry, Sakura! FUCK! I'm sorry!" Panicking reaching a new level, he leaned further down and screamed in her face, "SAKURA! WAKE UP, BITCH!"
It was at that moment the office door behind them burst open and split from its hinges. Before Kiba could turn around and discern what was happening he was smacked from behind with a metal folding chair.
Kiba's head spun as he was forced off of Sakura. Using the desk as leverage he managed to get back on his knees only to have his neck engulfed by a pair of strong arms. The world started to get fuzzy.
"What did you do to her?" a venomous voice spat in his ear.
Kiba gurgled.
"Argh! I don't have time for this!" yelled the stranger.
Kiba was released and thrown headfirst into the front of the desk. Ripples of cracked wood splintered from the point of impact.
Not a second later, Sakura felt herself being lifted from the floor. Her rescuer cradled her bridal style and cupped the back of her head to stabilize her neck. She was still conscious, but barely.
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"Here, catch," said Sasuke, flipping the glass tumbler toward Gaara.
"Who would've thought that would take so long?" whined Naruto, "I bet the girls are already finished."
"Then they would have called us," said Sasuke, "Come on, there's still time. What do we have left?"
"A hubcap and a picture of one of us high-fiving a police officer," read Neji, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd prefer if we collected these things as far apart from each other as possible. Should we split up?"
"Please," said Naruto, "they'd get together and accuse us of cheating, or something stupid. Besides, I don't know my way around here, very well."
"I say we go for the hubcap, first," said Gaara, "it's probably the easier one to get, and if we get caught stealing that'll just bring the cops to us."
Lee laughed and clapped Gaara around the shoulder.
"You're strange, but I like you."
"Don't touch me," Gaara snapped cooly.
"Ok," said Lee, and he removed his arm just as quickly.
"Before we go any further," interrupted Neji, "Does anyone know how to remove a hubcap?"
Nobody answered.
"Does changing a tire count?" asked Lee.
"Technically that would give us the hubcap," said Neji, "but I think carrying a whole tire would garner to much attention."
"Don't you just hit it until it comes off?" asked Sasuke.
"That might trigger an alarm," said Gaara.
"We can go to that junkyard place we passed on our way to the bar," interjected Naruto.
"That was 20 minutes ago!" shouted Sasuke, "You couldn't have told us sooner?"
"Maybe I would have if someone wasn't so anal about completing the list, in order."
"That is my one OCD - do not judge me for it!" yelled Gaara. Sasuke groaned.
"Whatever. Let's get it over with."
Lee broke into a sprint and circled Naruto.
"Hey, Naruto-kun, I'll race you!" Lee smacked Naruto on the back of the head and ran ahead of the group, cackling like a maniac.
"Oi, Fuzzy-brows! Get back here!" yelled Naruto angrily. The blond, oblivious to everything else in the world, gathered all his energy and chased after Lee. The other guys sighed and followed at their own pace.
"I may be getting ahead of myself," said Neji, "but I don't think I like him. He's too obnoxious."
"Which one?" grumbled Sasuke.
"Does it matter?
By the time Neji, Gaara and Sasuke reached the junkyard they were surprised to see Naruto and Lee waiting for them outside the gate. Naruto was crouched and inspecting the ground while Lee was off to the side practicing his punches in the air.
"Where's the hubcap?" asked Sasuke. Naruto cut him off and stopped the others in their tracks.
"Shh! Something's not right," he whispered.
"What do you mean?" asked Neji.
"The gate is open," said Naruto.
"So?"
"So," continued Naruto, "Look at the plaque - it's clean. Someone went through the trouble to wipe away the snow."
"Maybe someone was just checking the address," said Sasuke.
"That's possible, but unlikely."
"So what, the girls got here, first?"
"Yes," said Lee, jabbing the air in rhythm with his breathing, "And they're still in there so warm up while you can!" Lee started adding blocks to his imaginary combination.
Neji was about to open his mouth and ask Lee why, but thought better of it and turned to Naruto, instead.
"What's he talking about?"
"Something is about to go down if it already hasn't. We might have to fight," explained Naruto who finally stood up. He gestured for everyone to follow him as he pushed on the exterior gate. He pointed at the ground. "There's the girls' footprints going through the gate. Assuming they would leave the same way they came, there would be an extra set facing the opposite direction on their way out. But if you look past the entrance," he continued, opening the gate further, "You see an extra set of footprints, but they're facing the same direction as the first."
"And they're at least two sizes larger," observed Neji.
"Bingo," said Naruto.
"So what do we do?" asked Gaara, "There's no guarantee the girls are still in there - if they ran into trouble they might have found another way out."
Lee dipped, swished around and popped up in front of Gaara.
"Don't care! I'm going in. Haha!"
"Hold it!" yelled Neji as he grabbed Lee's collar, "I don't know how fighting works where you're from, but we'll gain nothing by blindly running inside."
"We'd have surprise," said Naruto.
"Or a bullet in the neck! We don't know these people."
"Didn't we come here for a hubcap? When did this turn into a hypothetical rescue mission?"
Neji, Gaara and Naruto overtook the conversation and weren't getting anywhere with it. Lee took to punching a telephone pole, but he kept darting glances toward the gate he was so tempted to charge through.
"Idiots," muttered Sasuke, "I'm surrounded by idiots." He growled and shoved a hand inside the right pocket of his coat and whipped out a crumpled cigarette package. With a bit of work his last cancer stick came free and he threw the empty pack over his shoulder. Sasuke's left coat pocket produced a scratched silver lighter and it took several impatient clicks before it ignited. Sasuke took long, harsh, continuous drags and he was down to the filter in less than a minute. Throwing the butt onto the ground, he squished it under his boot and took a deep breath. Any annoyance he felt moments before was now a faded memory.
Until Naruto accidentally pushed Neji into Sasuke's back.
Sasuke's irritability regrew in record time.
Just as quickly as Naruto pushed Neji, Sasuke shoved Neji to the ground. Everyone shut up and stared at Sasuke as he stormed up to the gate and stood glowering in the entrance.
"Listen up, fuck-jacks!" he yelled, "I'm cold, I'm tired and I'm out of smokes! Now everyone, inside! We didn't come here for nothing, and I'm done waiting for one of you to blow fairy dust out your ass!" The guys dropped their jaws and watched Sasuke kick the fence and flip off the world.
Sasuke repositioned the scarf around his neck and stormed down the aisle between gates, following the footprints. The only sound he made after his outburst was the was the soft crunches of snow beneath his feet as he walked away. The four remaining boys continued to stare blankly at the empty spot where he stood. Naruto cleared his throat.
"Does anyone have a cigarette?"
A stunned Lee ruffled through his pockets.
"I do," he said. Naruto clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Approach with caution."
"I'm on it!"
Without a moment to lose, Lee ran through the gate.
"Come on," said Neji, "Let's go find the girls."
"Do I have to?" whined Gaara.
"Yes! It's a man's duty. They could be in trouble." With that Neji disappeared through the gate leaving Naruto and Gaara behind.
"Fine," sighed Gaara, "Let's go save the ladies, unless of course the bad guys are ladies, too. In that case we just sit back and let them work it out - hopefully in the form of topless wrestling."
"Seriously? Look around you, man!" exclaimed Naruto, "It's freezing, out here! Who in their right mind would start a topless wrestling match?"
Gaara paused.
"Topless snowball fight?"
Naruto rolled his eyes and groaned before entering the gate.
"You're a mess."
"I would be more than happy to initiate!" Gaara called after him. He frowned and slid past the gate, quickly following and catching up with the rest of the guys at the corner.
Elsewhere, in the middle of the junkyard, Ino and Tenten stood shivering and glaring while Kiba's gang kept their eyes on them. Shino was twirling Tenten's kunai around his fingers.
"Nice, knife," he said, "I'm guessing it's new?"
Tenten sneered. "Why?" she asked, "Interested in buying some?"
"Just making conversation," smirked Shino. He chucked her knife as far as he could toward the heaps of scrap behind them. Tenten glared and shifted her gaze toward the door Kiba and Sakura passed through.
"Haven't they been in there long enough?" she asked, "How long does it take to throw a chair and have a hissy fit?"
Shino laughed.
"I'm afraid tonight might be different. The Inuzukas have been getting together with their affiliates to discuss how to handle the Haruno situation. Kiba's probably giving her an earful, right now."
"Or some loving!" burst a voice from the crowd. "Didn't they used to go out?"
"Oh, please!" yelled Ino, "That's ancient history!" She sneezed. "And dammit, can't you hold us hostage inside?" Ino's plea went unanswered. Tenten walked up to Shino.
"Whoa, back up," Tenten said, "What do you mean by the Haruno situation? If you're planning something stupid - because let's face it, that's how all your plans turn out - you should know that my family will bite back before you can lay a hand on them."
Shino seemed to contemplate her words for a moment and casually tossed his pipe on the ground behind him. He took a quick, audible breath through his nose, lifted both arms and immediately shoved Tenten, backward, with all his strength. Tenten yelped as she fell and Ino almost tripped over herself as she rushed to her friend's aid. Ino dropped to her knees and pulled Tenten to a sitting position where she cradled her.
"You're such an ass, Shino!"
Shino retrieved his pipe and donned a fresh dose of rage.
"Stay away from us!" Ino yelled, "Don't come any closer!"
"Or what?" said Shino.
No sooner had the words left his mouth when something harsh bulleted through his skull.
"Son of a bitch!" he cried. Shino fell to his knees cradling the side of his head and gasping for air between shots of pain. Another frozen globe whizzed overhead and hit someone in the crowd. Suddenly, the junkyard became a battlefield.
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Neji's reflexes allowed him to grab Lee's collar before the overly-excited boy could bolt.
"Cool it!" he reprimanded, "I don't care how good a fighter you are, being outnumbered is still a problem. And we don't want the girls to be caught in the middle."
"Neji, I can do it! Let me go. I want to fight."
"And you will," replied Neji, "but we need to be smart about it."
The gate where the girls climbed over was now unlocked so the boys slipped through with ease and continued following footprints to the center of the junkyard. They stopped a few piles back when they saw the mass of people with pipes and chains. In the middle of the crowd they could make out Ino and Tenten, but Sakura was nowhere to be seen. The leader of the group, they assumed, was talking to Tenten and twirling a knife. Every now and then he'd say something that would make the other guys in his group laugh. The more time passed the more Ino and Tenten paced uncomfortably, and the fact Sakura was gone and her friends were still there added to the mystery.
The boys needed to get closer to figure out what was going on, and to do that they needed to rescue Ino and Tenten. They were prepared to fight, and Lee heavily insisted upon it.
Lee pouted as Neji held him back. The boys huddled up to discuss their next move.
"So what now? Anyone have any bright ideas?" asked Gaara. Naruto perked up at the sound of his voice.
"Ooh, I do!" he exclaimed, "Or, well, Gaara does, but I'm claiming it!"
Gaara looked toward him with a raised brow.
"Spit it out."
Naruto grinned. "Well, it was something you said, earlier…"
Naruto's voice trailed off into hushed tones as the other four boys huddled closer together to hear the plan.
One minute passed and the boys spread out and set to work. Tenten and the leader guy were becoming more argumentative. He pushed her to the ground. It was time to move. The boys would have to work with what they had and go from there.
"Ready?" whispered Naruto. Everyone nodded.
"FIRE!"
The first snowball hit Tenten's attacker with a satisfying burst. He fell to the ground shouting curses, followed by two of his comrades who jumped to a standing position to assess the situation. The flurry fury began.
Sasuke took the most joy in taking out his targets, erupting in maniacal laughter as they fell. The junkyard gang were at a loss of what to do. Their pipes, chains and knives were not exactly ideal weapons for a snowball defense. Naruto and Gaara shifted around the group and covered Lee who abandoned his snowballs in favor of disarming the junkyard gang, reveling in the moment. Neji, dodging the flying bodies Lee was producing, swooped in the center of the chaos and pulled Tenten and Ino from the fray.
"Where's Sakura?" he said.
Stunned at how fast everything was happening, the girls just pointed to the door she and Kiba walked through, earlier.
"Wait here," he said, and Neji dashed through the door.
After the door fell shut behind him, the chaos outside became silent. Neji took a moment to pause and catch his breath before taking steady strides down the main hall.
Thwack.
Neji stopped and held his breath. He heard someone coughing followed by a deeper voice that was muffled by the walls. Quickly, Neji turned down the next hallway and rushed forward to the only door that had extra light peekingaround the edges. He could hear the deep voice, clearly, now.
"WAKE UP, BITCH!"
Neji wasted no time in throwing all of his weight into his shoulder and forcing it through the cheap, wooden door, which splintered off its hinges. After surveying his surroundings the way only an experienced fighter could, Neji instinctively pulled the folded metal chair from the wall and knocked the shirtless man off of Sakura as if he was swatting a t-ball from its post.
When Sakura didn't move Neji swooped down on Kiba and started choking him by steadily applying pressure to the carotid artery.
"What did you do to her? he spat.
The boy gurgled as his consciousness was being taken from him. Neji peeked at a droopy-eyed Sakura still lying on her back.
"Argh! I don't have time for this!"
Neji threw Kiba headfirst into the desk and tended to Sakura. He saw a splash of blood streaked through the clumps of tangled hair and he carefully lifted her from the floor.
For Sakura, everything was a blur. Before she realized her rescuer had transferred her from his arms to another's, she heard Tenten's soothing voice whispering affirmations in her ear. She was stroking Sakura's hair and telling her everything would be all right. Sakura was struggling to stay awake, even in the freezing temperature of outside.
'My coat.'
Somewhere, in the distance, she heard a car alarm followed by a smash that seemed to silence it, and then, quietly, Ino's shaken voice.
"Hello? Tsunade? We ran into some trouble. Sakura's hurt."
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Naraku's Phoenix: Ooh, this chapter was tough. There was originally nothing written for Sakura's rescue. What do you think about the backtracking after the page breaks? And don't forget to check my dA for new art!
Preview for Chapter 7: Midnight Snacks and Saline Packs
"So how're you feeling?" he asked.
Sakura groaned and lightly ran two fingertips across her bandaged forehead.
"Like a fucking ray of sunshine," she bit back, "What do you think?"
Sasuke pulled the open bag of chips to his lap and scooted closer to Sakura. He lowered his face next to hers and whispered, "If you want, I've got something that can help your headache."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, but it'll cost you."